The Holy Sacraments
Holy Baptism
Holy Baptism is one of the four compulsory sacraments of the Orthodox Church which sanctifies and gives strength to the faithful. When one enters the baptismal font they are not only cleansed from sin, but also reborn through God's Grace. This death and resurrection is real, as they literally die to the old person and are reborn in Christ. The water used in Baptism is salvific water. Once blessed by the Holy Spirit it becomes, as emphasised in the service of Baptism, a fountain of incorruption, a gift of sanctification, a remover of sins and a protection against infirmities.
Christ Himself establishes the sacrament of Baptism in the New Testament. He instructs the Apostles to Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
(Matthew 28:19).
This is a definite and clear command from our Lord to firstly make disciples, which involves catechising those who wish to enter
the Christian faith, and secondly to baptise them in the name of the Holy Trinity. Here we have Christ giving us the essence of
the sacrament. However, the Church over time, which is guided be the Holy Spirit, has decided on how the sacrament is to be
conducted and celebrated.
For the sacrament of Baptism to be complete and valid the following needs to occur:
- The Epiclisis (calling upon) of the Holy Trinity — the Baptism must take place in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for it to be canonical.
- Three immersions in water, which symbolises Christ's three-day burial and resurrection. Through ecclesiastical economy the Church allows a person to be sprinkled (or even baptised in the air) if they are in danger of dying and are unable to be immersed in water. However, sprinkling water is performed in extremely rare situations and the Church has never made this a general rule as practiced in the Western Church.
- A canonical bishop/priest performs the Baptism and must not be forced or pressured to conduct the sacrament. In the case of an emergency a deacon can baptise as seen occurring in the New Testament where Philip baptises the eunuch (Acts 8:38). In the instance where there is no priest and the life of a person is in danger, then even a layperson is able to baptise. These types of Baptisms are still recognised by the church as valid and canonical. However, if the person baptised by a layperson recovers and is taken to church, then everything in the sacrament is conducted as normal, except the three immersions.
- Preparation is required prior to Baptism. In the early Church all who wished to be baptised were catechised first for a number of years. However prior to this, in order to see if they had serious intentions in being baptised, the candidates were first brought to the bishop and asked to answer certain questions regarding their conversion to the Christian faith. Once this was complete, the candidates were considered catechumens and underwent catechism. Infants were excused from this and could still be baptised without having to prepare themselves. Today in the Orthodox Church the catechisms are conducted mainly at the door of the church looking towards the West, symbolising how we are still in the dark and yet to be enlightened. Here the priest asks the candidate (or the godparent if an infant baptism is being conducted) to renounce Satan three times. Then the candidate looks towards the East and is asked three times if they pledge allegiance to Christ. Following this they are asked to confess their faith in the Trinitarian God by reciting the Creed. Once all this is completed then, and only then, does the priest proceed with the sacrament of Baptism.
Finally, we also have the Baptism of martyrdom. In the early church many became martyrs without yet being baptised. These people were still recognised as saints and members of the church since they were considered as being baptised in their own blood. For example, Herod murdered 14,000 infants that were not baptised; however, we still commemorate them as saints seeing as they died martyrs.
Chrismation
The mystery of chrismation (Gr. Ευχέλαιον) is the second of the three sacraments of initiation, representing a necessary step in the process of catechumens' integration in the Church. Chrismation is performed by either the bishop or the priest, who, after calling the power of the Holy Spirit upon the newly illumined, or baptised, anoints them with the holy and great myrrh, saying: the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In the life of the newly illumined, chrismation corresponds to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ at the river Jordan (cf. Luke 3:21–22). Also, it corresponds to the very nature of the Church, or the people of God, journeying in history under the Pentecostal dew of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:1–4). As such, the newly baptised become pneumatophores, bearers of the Holy Spirit, experiencing in grace the existential conformity with both Christ and his Church.
Through chrismation the newly baptised receive the energies (cf. St. Nicholas Cabasilas, The Life in Christ 3:4), gifts or charismata of the Holy Spirit (cf. Isaiah 11:2), being confirmed as members of the priestly people of God (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). The two aspects, the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit and the ecclesial dimension, appear as a common denominator of the two main ways of administrating chrismation — the laying on of hands (the initial fashion, as performed by the apostles) and the unction. Both ways, the visible sign (the laying of hands and the unction) indicates the ecclesial aspect while the charismata indicate the active presence of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, the two aspects concur to the realisation of a complete theandric, or divine-human, life (cf. The Life in Christ 3:2) of the newly illumined, within the people of God. By taking further and consciously the spiritual path, of the virtuous life, the horizon of divine participation — in the Holy Spirit, through Christ, to the Father — is open to those receiving chrismation (cf. The Life in Christ 3:5–6).
As already stated, chrismation was performed originally by the apostles through the laying of hands (cf. Acts 8:14–17). Very
soon, however, the practice of unction became largely used (as suggested in 1 John 2:20), either because the apostles were unable
to attend all those baptised or in order to distinguish chrismation from the sacrament of ordination. St. Nicholas Cabasilas
considers both ways as efficient: Scripture says that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid hands upon those who had been
initiated. Now too the Paraclete comes upon those who are being chrismated
(The Life in Christ 3:1).
The Orthodox Church administrates the two sacraments of initiation — baptism and chrismation — within the same service (for infants and adults alike), given their existential value, of fully regenerating the inner being of the human persons and their integration in the Church. In turn, the Roman Church separates them for catechetical reasons. Thus, in the Roman rite, confirmation, the equivalent of chrismation, is administrated at the end of the catechetical instruction (when children are about 12 years of age). In line with the Roman practice, some Protestant Churches perform the ceremony of confirmation only for adults and teenagers, but do not consider it a sacrament.
Holy Eucharist
Holy Eucharist is the most sublime Sacrament of our Church, the Mystery of Mysteries, the Sacrament of Sacraments. It is the eternal Sacrament whose value is incomprehensible and incalculable, and whose position in the worship of our Church is unique. The Eucharist is the centre of the Church's life. It is the completion of all of the Church's sacraments, the source and the goal of all of the Church's doctrines and institutions.
In every other Sacrament we invoke God's blessings on some material element and ask that it be sanctified. This element could be water, oil, etc. Only in Holy Communion do we invoke God's blessing upon the material elements of bread and wine and ask God not only to sanctify them, but also to change them. We ask God to change what the bread and the wine are by nature into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
As a result, when we receive Holy Communion, we receive Jesus Himself into us. So great is this mystery that we are left without any possible response which could express what God has done for us. Therefore we offer the only response we can: thank you. As a word, the term Eucharist means thanksgiving.
As well as an act of thanksgiving, the Eucharist is a sacrifice. This can be seen from the text of the Liturgy — Your
own from your own we offer you…
In other words, at the Eucharist the sacrifice offered is Christ Himself. Christ is
also the one who performs the act of offering. He is both victim and priest, both offering and offerer. In the prayer the
priest reads before the Great Entrance, he says, For you are the one who offers and is offered…
As well, to you
we offer
— the Eucharist is offered to the Trinity.
The Eucharist is not a bare commemoration nor an imaginary representation of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, but a true
sacrifice itself, yet on the other hand it is not a new sacrifice, nor a repetition of the sacrifice on Golgotha, since the Lamb
was sacrificed once only, for all time
. The events of Christ's sacrifice — the Incarnation, the Last Supper, the
Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension — are not repeated in the Eucharist, but they are made present.
This most divine Sacrament was instituted by Jesus himself at the Last Supper, on the night of Holy Thursday, just before He was
betrayed and then given over to death upon the cross. The Bible relates that during this meal Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke
it, and gave it to His disciples and said, Take, eat, this is my Body which is broken for you, for the forgiveness of sins
.
Then He took the cup with wine in it, gave thanks to the Heavenly Father, and gave to His disciples, saying, Drink from it all
of you, this is my Blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins
.
Interestingly the Bible tells us the Last Supper occurred in the upper room
. Most of the distance between Heaven and earth,
in terms of getting us to Heaven, is covered by Jesus Himself. He does however want us to cover a very small proportion of this
distance, to rise above the world and its pleasures, above materialism etc.
It is clear that Jesus wanted the Sacrament of the Eucharist to continue for subsequent centuries, until He should come again, for,
after he instituted this Sacrament on Holy Thursday, He added the exhortation to His disciples, Do this in remembrance of Me
(Luke 22:19). Preserve this Mystery as a continuous and eternal institution for your sanctification and salvation. The Apostles,
and those that followed them, obeyed Jesus in this, and have continued this Sacrament up till our times.
In the early Christian Church the celebration of the Holy Eucharist was connected with a common meal. This meal took place every evening and at its close the Holy Eucharist was consummated. Prayers and benedictions were said, hymns were chanted and sermons delivered.
The connection of the common meal with the Eucharist gave rise to abuses, which led, somewhat late in the Apostolic age, to the gradual separation of the two rites. The Holy Eucharist was performed in the morning, and the common meal in the evening. In the early years the celebration of the Holy Eucharist was the task of the Apostles. But as Christians increased in number and as time passed, the Holy Eucharist became the task of priests and bishops, whom the Apostles ordained and to whom they transmitted the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Since then the prayers, supplications and hymns used in the Holy Eucharist began to be written down in books.
For very many centuries now the Eucharist has been celebrated within the Divine Liturgy, usually the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and occasionally of St. Basil. These two Liturgies probably received their present form in the ninth century. It is probably not the case that they were written exactly as they now stand by the saints whose name they carry. It is quite certain, however, that the Eucharistic prayers of each of these liturgies were formulated as early as the fourth or fifth centuries when these saints lived and worked within the Church.
For the most part it is only the Orthodox and Catholic churches which hold to the belief that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ. Other Christian churches accept Holy Communion as a valid observance. What they cannot accept is the belief that there is a real change in the elements of the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of our Lord.
All Christian traditions enormously respect the Bible, and the Bible supports what we Orthodox believe about the Eucharist. As
mentioned above, the Bible reports Jesus saying of the bread, this is my Body
, and of the wine, this is my Blood
. In
the Gospel of John, chapter 6, we learn that Jesus exhorts the Jews to believe in Him. The Jews, in turn, ask for proof. The
response of Jesus is that He is the bread from Heaven, and He tells them that if they eat of this new bread they will never die.
Jesus then went on to explain that this new bread is His flesh! The Jews clearly understood what Jesus had said, for immediately
they questioned, How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?
(John 6:42). If Jesus' words were only symbolic, He could have
at that point explained this to them. He, instead, confirms that they had understood correctly, and tells them: …unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you
(John 6:53). Those that heard these words
understood completely, and John reports that many of Jesus' followers found these teachings so shocking that they no longer
followed Him. If Jesus had been speaking only symbolically, He could have brought back those that left by explaining what He
really meant. Instead, in answering those that doubt, Jesus said, Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son
of Man ascend where He was before?
(John 6:61–62). In other words, why is it so hard to accept that bread and wine can
become His body and blood, when, as God, Jesus can do anything, including ascending to where He was before, in Heaven.
There seems to be some difference between the way Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches understand the moment of
consecration
— at what moment the miracle occurs. According to medieval Latin theology, the moment
is the moment
the priest reads the Words of Institution — This is my Body… This is my Blood…
According to Orthodox
theology, there is no one moment of consecration, rather the entire Eucharistic prayer — Thanksgiving, Anamnesis, Epiclesis
— all form and integral part of the one act of consecration.
While Orthodoxy has always insisted on the reality of the change — the bread and the wine become in very truth the Body and
Blood of Christ, it has never however attempted to explain the manner of the change. It is true that sometimes Orthodox
theologians will make use of what came out of Latin scholasticism, the term transubstantiation
(in Greek
μετουσίωσις). Orthodox however generally emphasise that the manner of change is a mystery and must always
remain incomprehensible. St. John of Damascus put it as follows:
“If you enquire how this happens, it is enough for you to learn that it is through the Holy Spirit… We know nothing more than this, that the word of God is true, active, and omnipotent, but in its manner of operation unsearchable”.
Holy Unction
The service of Holy Unction is a most ancient service of the Orthodox Church. As a mystery
(or sacrament
), it
defines physical things and actions through which God gives his grace (his blessing) to those who are involved. This
giving
by God is mystery because God works in a way that we cannot really explain or define.
The most important scriptural passage relates directly to Holy Unction and is found in the Holy Epistle of James the Apostle in the New Testament (James 5:14–16). In this reading, the apostle gives instructions for responding in a spiritual way to sickness. The Priesthood, a pray of faith and anointing with oil are shown as the fundamental parts of this Christian response. The results are equally fundamental: salvation, healing and forgiveness of sins. All these elements are clearly seen in the service of Holy Unction.
The service of Holy Unction is spiritual medicine for sickness which has at its heart a spiritual disease — our mortality which we inherit from the sin of the spiritually human nature that we all share. Sickness is not only physical and mental it is the result of the sinful nature we possess.
The service of Holy Unction is held in times of sickness and as a preparation for our celebration of the eternally salvific
act of the death and Resurrection of our Lord at the time of Holy Week and Easter (Pascha). These show clearly that Holy
Unction is inextricably linked not only to actual sickness but to God forgiving us our sins. It is the response of the Tax
Collector who enters the Temple to pray; he falls down upon his knees in humility, bows his head, beats his breast and says
God, be merciful to me a sinner
(Luke 18:13). He repents by confessing his sins before God.
In its original form, seven priests were needed for the conducting of this service — a symbol of the completeness of the prayers of the Church. Over time, because of the difficulty in gathering seven priests together at one time, five, two, or even one priest would conduct the service.
The basic items of the service as it developed were:
- Oil — the means through which God brings his blessing upon us,
- Seven candles — the light of Christ in our midst,
- A bowl of flour — which would be kept after the service and from it would be baked a loaf of
Prosphora
for use as the bread for the service of Holy Communion, - The priest(s) — gathered together as vehicles of God's grace and as ones who intercede for the people, asking God to bless and lift up him who is need before God,
- The readings and the prayers — a service of listening to God, preparation for the grace which God gives to us and our response to him, in humility, faith and expectation, and
- The blessing and anointing with oil — literally God
blessing us
.
In some Christian groups the service of Holy Unction is reserved only for those who are dying or who are in danger of death.
For other groups, anointing with oil
is only a symbol of our prayer to God for healing. However, for the Orthodox,
Holy Unction is a physical celebration of the grace of God as it related to our constant walk through this life — our
journey of faith. It is truly a mystery
of the faith because through it God works within us — healing, raising
up, strengthening, blessing and bringing us to eternal life.
The service of Holy Unction is an action by God who, using things created, brings us his blessing. This sacrament is also our prayer to God; we approach God in humility and faith, relying upon His love for us. God hears our prayer and, like in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–37), God finds us lying by the roadside, beaten and injured by the troubles and blows of this life. He pours his healing love upon us and bandages our broken body and soul. He lifts us up and cares for us. He brings us back to health in his presence and restores us to life once again.
Confession
Confession is an important and integral aspect of Christian life. Its foundation is Scriptural and its practice goes back to Apostolic times. The ongoing forgiveness of sins in the Church rests in Him that makes all things possible in the Church: the Holy Spirit sent by Christ from the Father to those who are His.
When Jesus sees the Apostles after His resurrection, He breathes on them and says, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive
the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained
(John 20:22–23). The
presence and the power of Christ's forgiveness remains in the Church in which all of His gifts reside.
Jesus tells His disciples to hear the sins of the people and impart His forgiveness, just like at the Last Supper He tells them
to perform what we know as the Eucharist and Holy Communion. Confession was a public part of Christian life in the early
Church. In his epistle, James teaches his readers to confess your trespasses to one another
(James 5:16). In fact, in
the early Christian Church, confession was public. Secret and private confession (at home by oneself) is a modern idea
completely unknown in the Bible and throughout Christian history. A Confession which is not made before God, humanity and
creation, is no confession at all. This is the Orthodox Faith.
In the early Church, confession was made to the whole congregation. Afterwards the priest read a prayer over the person which manifested God's forgiveness. With time this practice became difficult to keep up because of growth in Church membership. Confession to the whole congregation ceased by the fourth century and the priest came to represent the whole congregation in Confession.
The priest would hear the person's sins, offer guidance and encouragement and then pray over the person. This is how confession is still practised today. Confession is totally based on the Bible and Holy Tradition. Any person who is seriously trying to live an Orthodox Christian life will go to Confession regularly. They will choose a priest they feel comfortable with and make time to confess their sins and seek guidance in their spiritual life. The priest is not a judge, but a fatherly friend. He cannot forgive sins, only God does that, but Christ has given him the authority to hear sins and pray over the person for forgiveness. The priest helps our confessions to be more reflective, less rationalised and more honest. He can act as a mirror for us which feeds back things we would be more likely to avoid on our own. The priest may guide us into a deeper prayer life and Scripture reading. He slowly becomes what the Orthodox call, our Spiritual Father, nurturing us with the words of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in our Journey to the Father.
If you haven't been to confession, then pray for guidance, see a priest and make some time to get together. Ask him how you should prepare and then make the commitment to seek regular confession in a spirit of sincere repentance and faith in God. The rewards to your life will be immense.
Marriage
The sacrament of marriage, or crowning, is performed by the bishop, or priest, to a man and a woman who — being blessed
with love and mutual respect — want to share their lives as husband and wife. Their commitment is expressed by the rings
they exchange and by partaking from the common cup
. In the scriptural readings within the service, wedding appears as
endowed with mystical character, taking place in the Lord
(cf. 1 Corinthians 7:39). Thus, the apostolic pericope
(Ephesians 5:20–33) asserts the sanctity of marriage by assimilating it to the communion between Christ and his Church.
In turn, the gospel reading of the change of the water into wine (John 2:1–11), suggests marriage's dimension of
spiritual transformation.
According to the first prayer of betrothal (preceding the sacrament of crowning), God is the one who calls people together into
union and blesses them with love. In our tradition, consequently, love is never treated lightly as merely natural
or an
ephemeral event of chemical reactions. The synaxis of love manifests a mystery of divine-human interaction, on the one hand
through the mutual affection and agreement of the groom and the bride, and on the other hand through the blessing they receive
from above. In addition, there is a related aspect indicating the significance of marriage: the whole ritual points to the
Christian wisdom and sacrificial spirit to which the two are called together. This aspect is suggested by the remembrance in
the ceremony of a series of saintly families — icons of wisdom, commitment and blessed life. Also, by the crowns
bestowed upon the groom and the bride, crowns of martyrs, indicating the spiritual, or ascetical, dimension involved with living
together in Christ (as further suggested by the mystical dance around the book of the Gospels and the holy cross).
In fact, living together requires a mutual predisposition to make room to one another and to grow in communion, goals impossible to attain without small sacrifices for the sake of one another. This dynamics of sacrifice determines St. Maximus the Confessor to point out the validity of both ascetic ways — marriage and celibacy — with respect to realising the virtuous path (see his Difficulty 10:31a5). The idea, ultimately, of both the order of the service and the traditional literature (worth mentioning here St. John Chrysostom's homilies dedicated to marriage) is that without spiritual progress there is no accomplished married life.
The wedding was initially performed as a blessing within the frame of the Divine Liturgy, to indicate the ecclesial dimension of the event. Only after the eighth century did it became a separate service, comprising moments and prayers with strong mystagogic character.
There is a series of differences between the various ecclesial traditions with respect to marriage. In the Roman rite marriage
as a sacrament is unique and therefore people are unable to divorce and remarry; another feature, suggesting the natural
dimension of it, is the fact that the recipients are also considered performers of the sacrament; probably related to this
natural
aspect, Roman clergy cannot marry. To the Churches of the Reformation, marriage rather is a contractual bond
than a sacrament and therefore can be dissolved for innumerable times. In our tradition, the sacrament of crowning is performed
once and for all. However, our Church approaches life realistically, allowing people to divorce and remarry but no more than
two times; usually, the second and the third weddings are not considered sacraments and the prayers they comprise have a
penitential character. This indicates again, even if indirectly, the spiritual dimension of marriage in the Orthodox Church.
Holy Orders
During his ministry Jesus appointed the twelve apostles to continue his Work.
“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those he himself wanted. And they came to him. Then he appointed twelve, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons” (Mark 3:13–14).
An apostle, being one of the twelve apostles, was therefore someone close to the Lord who was called by Him, sent out into the world to proclaim the Gospel through preaching, teaching and bearing witness to the Kingdom of God through miracles in the Holy Spirit:
“These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying
Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying,” (Matthew 10:5–8).The kingdom of heaven is at hand.Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give
But the apostles were not just disciples of a great Teacher, who were merely sent to convey his teaching to others. Their apostolate also had a sacramental dimension. In other words, the Lord Jesus also conveyed upon them the Holy Spirit, through which the invisible power and authority of his ministry would be forever united to their mission, visibly. As eye witnesses of the Death and Resurrection of Christ they became confessors of the Truth of the Gospel and received the authority to manifest the invisible presence of the Risen Christ in their respective ministries to the world, after Pentecost.
Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you
. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if
you retain the sins of any, they are retained
(John 20:21–23).
The highest visible action of this Mystery was the authority to preside over the Eucharist (the celebration of the Lord's Supper in Holy Communion) and to administer membership into the Body of Christ through Baptism, as well as oversee the other Sacraments of the Church.
But, as the generation of the Apostles dies out, the authoritative witness of the Risen Christ had to be transferred from one
generation to another. The Church had to preserve the purity of this witness to the Faith once for all delivered to the
saints
(Jude 3).
Just as Jesus appointed or ordained his apostles, the apostles in turn ordained their successors through the Sacrament of Ordination. Ordination is a sacrament or of the Church, in that the Church acts through the Holy Spirit, to transfer the apostolic ministry to successive generations.
Candidates were called by the Lord, because they possessed certain spiritual gifts
of leadership and manner of life
that would help strengthen the Church (1 Tim. 3:1–12, cf. 1 Cor. 12:4–11). Their successors were the bishops,
presbyters and their assistant's the deacons, who presided over the Eucharist as the Apostles had done. The sacrament was
carried out by the grace of God, through the apostles prayer and the laying on of their hands
upon the head of a
prospective candidate (Acts 1:23–26; 6:6; 13:3; c.f. 2 Tim 1:6–7). Through the laying on of hands, the Holy
Spirit descends upon the candidate for Holy Orders, sanctifying him and empowering him to be a shepherd and minister of
Christ, to preach and to teach the Word of God, to administer the sacraments and to guide God's people towards salvation.
These three orders of clergy are called Holy Orders. As its name signifies, Holy Orders are the appointment by God to organise the leadership of the Church of Christ.
In the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch, who said of the three orders of the clergy that they have been appointed
according to the mind of Jesus Christ, which (clergy) He has established in security, after His own will, and by His Holy
Spirit
(Ign. Phil.)
The Greek word for bishop (episcopos) means overseer
. The Holy Orders are a calling to oversee
the
teaching and sacramental presence of Christ in the Church. The Bishop is seen as the father of the Local Church —
the Shepherd who manifests the place of Christ in the Church, and carries in his ministry the doctrinal and sacramental
fullness of the Gospel. St. Ignatius again taught that the local unity of Christians in Christ is clearly and visibly
imaged by unity in the person, or office, of the bishop. Unity in the bishop is a living image of unity in Christ.
“It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon the bishop even as we would upon the Lord Himself” (Ign. Eph. 6). “…take heed to do all things in the harmony of God with the bishop presiding in the place of God” (Mag. 6). “For when you are subject to the bishop as to Jesus Christ you appear to me to live not after the manner of men but according to Jesus Christ…” (Tral. 2) “…let all reverence… the bishop as Jesus Christ”. (Ibid. 3) “Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church” (Smyr. 8).
As Church membership increased, the various needs of the laity (the un-ordained faithful) had to be met, in addition to teaching, such as overseeing the church locally and philanthropic work. Bishops and/or presbyters (i.e. priests) were in turn appointed in cities and towns were the apostles had preached and planted churches. This is seen in the Apostle Paul's ordination of the Presbyter/Bishop Timothy to the city of Ephesus:
“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:12–16).
The presbyter was appointed to preside over the Eucharist and the Sacraments in the local church (with the exception of Ordination itself), in the absence of the bishop. The local presbyter was the bishop's representative in the Eucharistic Assembly of the local Church.
The philanthropic ministry and the assisting of the bishop/presbyter in the Divine Liturgy were entrusted to the deacons who were specifically ordained for this ministry. (The deacon cannot preside over the Eucharist in the absence of the bishop or presbyter). In the Acts of the Apostles, we have a record of the appointment of the first seven deacons in the primitive Church:
“Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said,
It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them” (Acts 6:1–6).
It is also clear from the above that ordination was not an isolated affair, conducted by the clergy alone, but was
indeed an action of the whole Church, as the Body of Christ, through the prayer and affirmation of the whole People of
God. And so ordination occurs today, in all three orders, as it did in the beginning, not as a private appointment, but
as an action performed in the Divine Liturgy, and affirmed when the whole People of God proclaim Axios
(His is
worthy!) at the end of the ordination. Even a bishop must be ordained with the assent and laying of hands of a
college
of three or at least two other bishops.
The fact that the apostles kept ordaining others to carry on their work, is amply testified in Scripture and in the writings of Church fathers such as Eusebius of Caesarea. Eusebius for example spoke of St. Polycarp who became bishop of the great ancient city of Smyrna as having been ordained by the Apostles:
“Pre-eminent at that time in Asia was a companion of the apostles, Polycarp, on whom the eye-witnesses and ministers of the Lord had conferred the episcopate of the church at Smyrna” (Eus. History of the Church, 3, 36).
This, Eusebius claimed, guaranteed the orthodoxy
and purity of the Christian Faith as it had been received from
the Apostles. In later years, other bishops like St. Irenaeus who was bishop of Lyons in Gaul in the late second
century, would claim the validity of his priesthood, against false teachers, through tracing it back through his master
St. Polycarp of Smyrna. Polycarp had been ordained by St. John the Evangelist.
This is called Apostolic Succession. The fact that every Orthodox Priest, Bishop and Deacon in the present day, can
trace back their priesthood to the Apostles through Apostolic Succession, is a great testimony to the one and undivided
Church of Christ that has always existed since apostolic times and that it is truly One, Holy Catholic and
Apostolic
.
While other churches that claim to be Christian also claim apostolic succession for their respective clergy
, it
is an undeniable fact that historically, the Eastern Orthodox Church (and to some degree, the Roman Catholic and
Oriental Orthodox Churches) claim an unbroken connection with the apostolic era.