MYSTERION KAI

LEITOURGIA
LIVING SACRAMENTALLY

A short course in Orthodox

studies
Church of St John, Parramatta
11 May 2010
Revd Dr Doru Costache
SAGOTC
 Our quest…
 …is to seek a sanctified and saintly life
 Romans 6:3-4 …don’t you know that
all of us who were baptised into Christ
Jesus were baptised into his death? We
were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, we too may live
a new life (walk in the newness of life)

2
 Our way…
 …is to live
 a sanctified life of private and public
devotion (μυστήριον)
 and a saintly life of fellowship and
compassion (λειτουργία)

3
 Secular experience
 The weekday rhythm: 8 hrs (or more)
at work + 1 hr at the pub and/or
watching TV
 The weekend rhythm: sports on
Saturday + lots of food, ‘fun’ and drinks
for the rest of the weekend

4
 Christian experience
 The weekday rhythm: 8 hrs (or more)
at work + ???
 The weekend rhythm: sports on
Saturday morning + Christenings /
weddings / memorials + lots of food,
‘fun’ and drinks for the rest of the day +
attending the Divine Liturgy on Sunday
+ more Christenings / weddings /
memorials + lots of food, ‘fun’ and
drinks for the rest of the day

5
 Comparison
 Similarities: the same rift between the
weekday experience and the weekend
experience
 Differences: Christians follow a more
complex pattern, having some exposure
to the Church’s liturgical life during
weekends

6
 Comparison
 My contention: what many of us hold
currently to be Christian experience is
merely a traditional-like reiteration of
the rift characterising the secular
approach to life

7
 The challenge
 Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the
Profane: modern secular experience as
a ‘profane’ reiteration of what he
considers as the sacred or religious
experience of the ‘difference of level’
 To what extent is the ‘difference of
level’ between the sacred and profane
rhythms a characteristic pertaining to
Orthodox Christianity?

8
 On the one hand, yes
 Practically speaking, most people
cannot attend the services taking place
on weekdays  the rift as a reality
 Liturgically speaking, there are
differences between the weekday
services and the weekend services 
the rift is consecrated

9
 On the other hand, no
 Daily Christian life as a unified
experience of faith, acknowledgment
of God, prayer and the practice of
discernment and compassion  no rift,
no difference of level

10
 Public and private
 The problem seems to consist in the
division of public (weekdays vs.
weekends) and private (we are
Christians every day of our lives)

11
 Against Eliade
 Religious experience in Orthodoxy is not
characterised by the ‘difference of level’
between sacred and profane
times/places
 External circumstances like time and
place do not annul our Christian
commitment to life
 The answer is much more complex
within our tradition

12
 The challenge
 The experience of the rift affects our
understanding of life  we tend to
behave as secular people during the
week and we ‘Christianise’ our
experience in weekends
 What do we do to bring together our
public and private rhythms?

13
 Toward a solution:
praxis
 Currently, a minimalist approach in our
churches, with just matins and liturgy on
special days throughout the week,
leaving the rest of the weekdays without
moments of sanctification
 Morning services on weekdays cannot
be attended by most people – what can
be done?

14
 Toward a solution:
praxis
 Why not including vespers or any other
short services throughout the week,
mostly in the evenings?
 The practice of the early Church
 The practice of other Christian
denominations

15
 Toward a solution:
praxis
 More services = more reasons and
opportunities to bridge private and
public devotion = progress in the
personal and communal quest for
holiness

16
 Toward a solution:
praxis
 Practicalities: nothing innovative about my
proposal, since the Εὐχολόγιον contains the
seven ‘sacraments’ and other services,
performed occasionally, when the need arises
 Some can be adapted to the weekly rhythm
 Examples:
 Unction
 Blessing of waters
 Various prayers

17
 Toward a solution:
praxis
 Practicalities: nothing innovative about my proposal,
since the ῾Ωρολόγιον contains the seven ‘lauds’ (or
‘praises’) and other services, usually performed
daily in monasteries
 They all can be adopted by the weekly rhythm
 Examples:
 The hours: 1st , 3rd , 6th and 9th
 Matins
 Vespers
 The Typika

18
 Toward a solution:
theoria
 The mystagogical approach to ritual makes us
understand the reasons behind the services
 Moments of exposure to the divine wisdom
(readings, teaching)
 Moments of thanksgiving and doxology
(remembrance of God)
 Moments of sanctification, creating a blessed
environment for our lives (mysteria,
sacraments)
 Moments of communal interaction and the
practice of compassion (leitourgia)

19
 Praxis and theoria
 A moment of sanctification within the
private life: the mystery/sacrament of
confession
 Christ as a healer
 Self-examination and cross-examination
of life
 Spiritual guidance for
 A better articulation with the ecclesial
mindset and life
 Proficiency in the social practice of
discernment and compassion
20
 Praxis and
theoria
The mystagogical approach helps us
bridging private and public

21
 A unified experience
 The sanctified life (μυστήριον) creates the proper inner
disposition and environment that through the
mystagogical interpretation applies the liturgical
paradigms to every day life as an experience of
acknowledgment of God and compassion (λειτουργία)
 The practice of grateful acknowledgment
 The practice of charity under various forms
 All these lead to a eucharistic-like experience of
transformation of oneself, the environment and the
relationships between them

22
 The liturgical
paradigm:
communion
 Ἀγαπήσωμεν ἀλλήλους, ἵνα ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ
ὁμολογήσωμεν. Πατέρα, Υἱὸν καὶ Ἅγιον
Πνεῦμα, Τριάδα ὁμοούσιον καὶ
ἀχώριστον.
 Let us love one another that with one
mind we may confess: Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, Trinity one in essence and
inseparable.

23
 The liturgical
paradigm: blessing
 Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς καὶ ἡ
κοινωνία τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος εἴη μετὰ
πάντων ὑμῶν.
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God the Father, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit, be with all
of you.

24
 The liturgical
paradigm: askesis
 Ἄνω σχῶμεν τὰς καρδίας.
 Let us lift up our hearts.

25
 The liturgical
paradigm:
acknowledgment
 Εὐχαριστήσωμεν τῷ Κυρίῳ.
 Let us give thanks to the Lord.

26
 The liturgical
paradigm: mission
 Ἐν εἰρήνῃ προέλθωμεν.
 Let us go forth in peace.

27
 Recommended
reading
 Fr Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of
the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy,
Crestwood: St Vladimir’s Seminary
Press, 2004
 Available online via Google books

28
 Download this
presentation
 http://www.scribd.com/KangaDoRoo

29