Catechism & Etiquette

The Church, Her Services, and Basic Church Etiquette

Etiquette

Preface

When you first came to the Church, how many of you were worried about doing something “wrong,” something out of step? How many still are? Perfectly normal. One of the burning desires for most of us who have come to the Church is to learn “all the things”. What are we supposed to do, when are we supposed to do it. Some may also even wonder why do we do it that way. These are some of the things I want to explore with you today.

Intro

• In the Holy Church, there are certain ways of doing things, certain commonly accepted practices.
• A handy way to think about these is this: there are Capital “T” traditions, and little “t” traditions.
• Both of these are valuable, important, and worth knowing about.
• T-traditions are dogmatic, immutable, and usually universal—the perpetual virginity of Mary, the two natures of Christ, the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
• t-traditions are the result of the experience of the Church in a particular place across some period of time. These are customs that are intended to protect and amplify the T-traditions but are not themselves dogmatic or immutable. So, you may see these vary from place to place, even from parish to parish. What happens in one village, may not exactly happen in the next village.That’s okay. The needs of one community can be different from another community. And Orthodoxy is not a monolith. It is harmonious, it is One, but that Oneness can be expressed in a multitude of ways.
• One other thing: very often in Orthodoxy there is an ideal form. This is a model that we should have in mind. It is something that we aspire to. But it may not be what everyone does every single time. It may be adapted. When we talk about these “rules” of conduct—what we do—it is important to understand that not everyone will hit the strictest mark, in fact, hitting that mark may not be appropriate in most cases.
• I’m going to try to show you an ideal. You will have to decide, sometimes with guidance from your priest, how strictly you will be able to adhere to this ideal.
• Let’s take a field trip into the Church.

Entering the Church

• When we approach the Church we enter first into the Narthex.
• This is not just a lobby. Not just a waiting room. This is a holy place. There are whole services that are appointed to be served in the Narthex. The baptismal and churching services begin out here; in some traditions, the wedding service begins here. In the ancient practice of the Church, this area was reserved for the catechumens during the Divine Liturgy. Still today, when visiting certain monasteries, only communicants in good standing are permitted to go farther into the Church than the Narthex.
• When we enter the Narthex, we should prepare ourselves. This is the first step into the Church. We stand in front of the door and make the sign of the cross.
• We enter reverently. The first thing you will often see are icons—icons of the parish’s feast, icons that are important to the community, perhaps icons of the feast. We venerate these icons.
• We see candles. When we light candles, we are not just creating atmosphere. We are making a sacrifice. This is a vestige that remains of the Old Testament Temple worship where animals were burned in sacrifice to God for the sins of the people. The candles represent our prayers.
  
  

Enter Nave

• Now in the room that contains the Holy Altar. This table represents the throne of God, the tomb of Christ, and the Ark of the Covenant. It contains relics of the saints. Moreover, it is the most holy place on earth because it contains the Body and Blood of Christ.
• We enter humbly and with reverence and respect. Each time—not just at service times.
• More signs of the cross.
• Venerate the icons.
• Light candles.
• Cross yourself when moving through the nave, crossing the center.
• About venerating icons. How to do so.
• About making the sign of the cross:
  • Form of it.
  • It is blessing ourselves. It is guarding ourselves.
  • Prostration
  • Metania
  • Bow
  • Standing
• When leaving—same thing. Stop, turn towards the altar, make the sign of the cross. Depart.
• Posture in Church during Services
  • Standing
  • Standing is polite
  • We stand when we are in the presence of authority
  • We stand to show respect
  • And it is the normal posture for Orthodox worship
  • And by far most Orthodox churches throughout the world do not even have chairs in the center of the nave—there is no place to sit for most
• Rules of thumb:
  • If someone is blessing you, you should be standing (bowing to receive the blessing, of course)
    • Waving a cross at you
    • Shaking a censer at you
    • If the holy gifts are in the nave, you should be standing
      • That means all through communion
    • Any time anything is processing through the nave, you should be standing
    • When we say the Our Father and the Creed, you should be standing (generally, if you are saying the prayer)
    • Most basic rule: If the presiding celebrant is standing, you should be standing—you should never be in a more relaxed posture than the celebrant
    • BUT—standing is not magical
      • o It is not a sin to sit and it is not an ascetic feat that guarantees you a spot in heaven if you stand
      • o If you are elderly or infirm, then you can certainly sit
      • o There is no time when we are “supposed” to sit, but there are certainly times one can sit if he needs to
• How to address clergy
  • Three degrees of major clergy
    • Bishop
    • Priest
    • Deacon
  • Each of these partake of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, and bears the image of Jesus Christ, but do so in different ways
    • The bishop presents an image of Christ as King
      • And so he wears a crown
      • And sits on a throne
    • The priest presents an image of Christ as shepherd
      • He leads and tends a local flock
    • The deacon presents an image of Christ as servant
    • Each of these images is important and necessary for us to see Christ clearly in all of his roles
• What is our pastor’s title?
  • Not “Father”
  • Father is an informal and familiar term of endearment
  • It is not a title
  • A priest’s title is “Priest” or “Archpriest” and if one is being formal, that is how he is referred to or addressed. Formal address also includes “Reverend” or “Very Reverend”.
  • So, when we pray for our priests, that is how we should refer to him—the Priest “John”.
  • But in conversation we typically use a more familiar mode and call him “Fr. John”.
  • In any case, we do NOT call him Mr. (last name) or just his first name—that would be impolite and rude.
• When we address a bishop, we likewise have formal and informal forms of address
  • Metropolitan Joseph and Bishop John, or Bishop Nicholas are the formal titles
  • Formal address includes “Your Grace” for the bishop and “Your Eminence” (metropolitan) and “Your Beatitude” (Patriarch or other head of an autocephalous church)
  • Informally:
    • “Sayidna” is an Arabic word that means “Master” but its connotation is softer, more like “our beloved master”—it has a familiar edge to it. Sayidna is the familiar, informal way we refer to a bishop of any rank.
    • This can vary by language—so if referring to a Greek bishop say “Despota;” if referring to a Russian bishop say “Vladyka” And, of course, you can use English and say “Master”
• When we address or refer to a deacon, of course, we use their formal title
  • He is Deacon Nicola, or Archdeacon Workineh, formally. Formal address also includes “Reverend,” just as for priests.
  • Just as with a priest or bishop, it is inappropriate to refer to or address a deacon without his title.
    • Informally, he is Deacon, Father Deacon, or Father
      • Now this usage does vary a bit across the traditions
        • It is more common to hear Father or Father Deacon in the OCA and ROCOR, and among Antiochians in the northeast; it is more common to hear just Deacon in other places
• What about clergy spouses? How do we call them?
  • Because husbands and wives are “one flesh” by virtue of the mystery of marriage, the wife shares in some sense in her husband’s ministry.
    • As a result, we extend an informal honorific to these wives
    • The wife of a priest is
      •  “Khouriyeh” in Arabic—feminine form of “Khoury,” which is Arabic for priest
      • “Presbytera” in Greek—feminine form of “Presbyter,” which is Greek for priest
      • “Matushka” in Russian—literally means “little mother”
    • The wife of a deacon is
      • “Shammasseh” in Arabic—feminine form of “Shammas,” Arabic for deacon
      • “Diakonissa” in Greek
      • Russian uses “Matushka” for deacons’ wives as well as priests’ wives.
      • It is polite and proper to refer to a priest’s or deacon’s wife with these terms of honor when we speak to them or about them
• When you meet a priest or a bishop, take a blessing (not just in Church)
  • Touch the floor, not a metania
  • Hands palm up, crossed, right over left: “Father, bless!” or “Master, bless!”
  • We ask for a blessing from the hand of the priest or bishop because their hand consecrates the bread and wine to become the very body and blood of our Lord for us
  • For this same reason, we do NOT ask for the blessing of a deacon (because his hand is not blessing the elements for us)

Services

• O Heavenly King
  • Why do we start with that prayer?
  • It is the common starting point for all services because we call upon the Holy Spirit to come and work in us so we can properly worship our Lord.

• Church teaches us through our worship
  • Church’s services are not a random collection of prayers and hymns
  • They follow a pattern
  • They form a rhythm—a repeating cycle around which we are to build our lives
  • These are the principal tools that the Church uses to fashion us into the image of Christ
    
    
• Services
  • What are the services of the Church?
  • Daily Cycle
    • Evening
      • Vespers— at Sun setting. (It might be done at other times)
      • Compline—before going to sleep
      • Midnight office—midnight
      • Orthros—at dawn
    • Morning
      • First Hour—6:00 a.m.
      • Third Hour—9:00 a.m.
      • Sixth Hour—noon
      • Ninth Hour—3:00 p.m.
  • These services are made up of both static elements (things that don’t change from day to day) and variable elements (things that change)
    • There are actually several cycles that work together to determine the variable elements at any service
      • What day of the week it is
      • What date of the year it is
      • Where we are in relation to Pascha (Easter)
        • Etc.
    •  But if you looked at the services on paper, the thing that would jump out at you is that the Psalms are everywhere
      • The Old Testament Book of Psalms is by far the most utilized source for our services.
      • The Psalms are a golden thread that connects and unifies the liturgical life of the Church.
      • The Psalter is really the Church’s most basic prayer book.
      • If you pray the entire daily cycle for one week, you will pray the entire Psalter.
      • During Lent, we do it twice in a week
    • The Daily Cycle is the Church’s method of “sanctifying time”—we are taking time and making it holy, setting it apart for God’s use
      • For most of us, the full Daily Cycle of services is not a practical goal
        •  In monasteries it is commonly done—a good reason to visit a healthy monastery
        • At home, these services are usually condensed to Morning Prayers and Evening Prayers
        •  It is important that you do not neglect these opportunities for prayer
      • What is not included in the Daily Cycle
        • Divine Liturgy. It is a service outside of time that can be offered once a day (except during Great Lent).
      • This Daily Cycle is repeated every single day
      • And each day has its theme:
        • Sunday—Resurrection; Sunday is a mini-Pascha.
        • Monday—Holy Angels.
        • Tuesday—Holy Prophets, particularly St. John the Baptist.
        • Wednesday—Cross (betrayal) and the Virgin Mary (Theotokos).
        • Thursday—Holy Apostles and their successors the Holy Hierarchs, particularly St Nicholas of Myra.
        • Friday—Cross (crucifixion) & the Virgin Mary (Theotokos)—BTW this is why we fast on Wed and Fri.
        • Saturday—All Saints; especially all those who have departed in the hope of the resurrection and life eternal.
      • Remember when I said that the Church teaches us through her services?
        • That is true
        • Services are didactic tools
• Orthodox pro tip: If you want to know what the Church teaches about anything, look to the hymnography
  • So, if you want to know what the Church believes about the Holy Angels, look at the hymnography for Mondays. It’s in there.
  • If you want to know what the Church teaches about Mary, look at the hymnography for one of the Marian feastdays—her Nativity, her Entrance into the Temple, her Dormition, etc.