Sorry it’s taken a few weeks to write this, things got kinda hectic around here and I wanted to make sure I really did this entry justice. Sunday, October 9, I attended a church service completely different than any I have ever experienced. Because of my communications class, I had to pick such a worship experience, and I decided to go with a group to an Antiochian Orthodox Church. I’ll warn you now, this post is incredibly long.
We arrived just before Matins, or the morning prayers, to find the priest behind the alter chanting in prayer. In inside of this church, though much smaller than I expected, was ablaze with color from the numerous pictures of icons that covered the walls and the iconostasis – a “divider” or sorts between the main part of the church and the alter that had three arched doorways. After a few minutes of us lingering in the outer part of the church (what some call the narthex or foyer), the priest actually came out to greet us. He was very friendly, although I did notice he did not shake our hands and almost the first thing he asked was if we were Orthodox or not. We went through the usual where we were from, how we had found the church, etc. The priest also seemed caught a little off guard that we were there for Matins – apparently most people don’t attend this in this particular church. He did explain it to us somewhat and after inviting us to sign the guestbook, take some of the brochures about the Orthodox church, and a bulletin, he returned to the alter (behind the iconostasis) and continued with prayers. Before he began the Matins, he came out and introduced us to the chanter.
Matins consisted of chanting prayers back and forth between the priest and chanter. They chanted in tones, which sounds something like monotone only with a little variation here and there. There was no music at all, just the chanting. It was actually really beautiful. My friends and I were the only ones in the congregation for Matins, although about half way through the deacons and alter boys showed up, and an older gentleman who sat right in front of us. Apparently we were supposed to be standing when he came in, because he immediately motioned for us to stand. There was no pause between the Matins and the Liturgy, the regular service. I suppose it might just be easier from here on out to explain different things I noticed.
There was a lot of standing, sitting and making the sign of the cross. A lot of the Liturgy was like the Matins – almost everything was chanted instead of spoken, although there was music added at different parts of the service. The chanting now went between the priest and the congregation. There was a book that the service followed, and I presume they follow the same service every Sunday, because almost everyone had it memorized. It actually created this awesome sense of worship – these people could focus on the true meaning of the words and seemed very reverent towards God. Another thing that was impossible to notice was the icons. There were pictures with gold backgrounds of all of the saints, Mary, and Jesus; a very large golden Bible, an incense lamp (I think that’s what it was – the priest shook it while walking around the alter and around in the sanctuary several times; it also had bells on it and the smell of incense was very strong), numerous candles, most in red sconces, a large golden cross and a large golden star like symbol.
The priest and deacons also kissed many of the icons, something I had never seen anyone do before. As a matter of fact, my friends and I actually participated at the very end of the service, when everyone lines up to “venerate” or kiss a small silver and red cross the priest holds. I admit, it felt rather strange. I can see how it shows great love though. During a time that the Methodist church often calls the “Passing of the Peace” – a time when people greet one another and shake hands or hug – this congregation actually followed the Biblical verse of “greet one another with a heavenly kiss.” They gave peck kisses on the cheek to one another as a sign of greeting; they shook our hands though – I have a feeling they realized this concept was new and uncomfortable to us.
The prayers in the service repeated a lot. Again, I felt a certain beauty and reverence in this. They did mention Mary or as they refer to her “Theotokos,” which means “Mother of God” in their chants and prayers, but I never really felt they were actually praying to Mary too much. At different time during the service, the priest, deacons, and alter boys would come out into the sanctuary carrying some of the icons. As they passed, people in the congregation would make the sign of the cross and bow. You also had to turn to follow the priest. This meant, from where we were sitting, we had to turn completely around in a circle as the priest passed.
Communion was probably the most interesting part if the service. There is blessed bread and consecrated bread. The blessed bread was cut into large pieces and put into a large chalice, which stood to the left of center. The consecrated bread is a smaller piece that was consecrated to be the Body of Christ and placed in a chalice with the wine. Every one files up to the priest, who holds the chalice and a spoon. The deacons stood on either side of the priest with a red clothe held between them, seemingly to catch dribbles, because when someone received communion, they went up and knelt slightly and the priest placed the wine and bread in their mouth while he prayed over them. I also found it interesting that many little children went up and received communion – a few really little ones were carried up to receive communion. Since my friends and I were not Orthodox, we could not participate in communion, but we could partake of the blessed bread, which several people brought back to the pew for us.
I have probably forgotten to mention several things about the service, but this post is already incredibly long. If you’re curious about this type of church, go visit one. The people at the one we visited were very friendly. I also got a deep sense that these people really love and know how to worship Christ. Something to think about . . . .
The churches I have been to so far have not had websites, but this one does, so I’ll put the link over there on the sidebar if you’d like to check it out. Their site also has some pictures of the beautiful sanctuary.
