On Orthodox Worship

"I suppose some people have zeal, but the point is actually not to have a bunch of emotional ecstasy. Worship, like all of Orthodox life, is to be sober – absolutely not dour or down-in-the-mouth, but primarily connecting with God in the innermost center of our being – which in Orthodox Theology is the heart, but please do not understand this as having to do with emotionalism.

The heart – also described as nous, which also does not mean bare intellect – is the aspect of our being created by God to connect with him. The mind is found in the heart, as is the will, the emotions, the intellect etc. They are all to be in their proper place, “overseen” as it were by the heart in connection with the Godhead. So sobriety and nepsis – alertness, the ability to be wholly present in every moment, is the ideal for Orthodox worship.

There is no dualistic pitting of intellect against emotions. And sometimes, for whatever reason, people find themselves in tears, but it is nothing like worship in Charismatic churches, with which I have experience, having been involved with the Vineyard for several years. I have found it intensely liberating.

There has not been one Sunday since I began attending my parish church that I have not had the sense of having worshiped God, including the Sundays where a man unknown in the church wandered in off the street and right up to the Holy Doors, or when a dear elderly man had a spell and had to be taken to the hospital, with the emergency crew coming right into the nave and strapping him on the gurney during the Great Entrance. Of course, not everyone is focused all the time  This is not a new problem – see this from the writings of a 7th century priest from what is now Iraq (noted by Fr. Ted Bobosh at his blog):

“I shudder to mention something else that is the most dreadful thing of all done by people who show contempt: at that dread moment which makes even the rebel demons shake, I mean at that awesome point when the Divine Mysteries are consummated, when angels and archangels hover around the altar in fear and trembling, as Christ is sacrificed and the Spirit hovers, many of these people will, on one occasion wander about outside, on another will come in according to their whim and stand there, showing their contempt by yawning as though at their excessive burden, being tired of standing up. At the moment when the priest is making this great supplication on their behalf, deep sleep gets the better of them, so slack are they; at this moment which causes even the dead to awaken, here are these people, fully alive and supposedly running after perfection, nevertheless sunk in sleep, or wandering about, waiting expectantly for when they can quickly leave their place of confinement; for the Jerusalem of light and life is like a prison to these people — the place where Father, Son and Spirit dwell, where spiritual beings and the bands of saints together give praise and glory before God in holy fashion. And once they have received the Living Sacrament they push their way out in haste, before the communal thanksgiving is made.”

You should go to an Orthodox Divine Liturgy some time, if you haven’t already."

+ Dana Ames, Comment on http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/fr-ernesto-on-music-in-orthodox-worship, October 11, 2012 at 3:42 pm

"There is something about our relationship with God that is like music from another room. In this case I do not mean to infer the “upstairs room” to which secularism would tend to relegate God. Rather, there is a room in which we often find ourselves, where, for whatever reason, we have closed our eyes and ears to God....It is in such times that “music from another room” occasionally breaks in on our quiet ignorance. Several people have made comments here about the effect that Orthodox hymnography played in their conversion.... I was no stranger to good Western Christian music – but this belonged to another world." 

+ Fr Stephen Freeman, Music from Another Room, http://glory2godforallthings.com/2007/07/29/music-from-another-room/

"I agree that we have to minister to a culture, but I do not think that each age group’s niche music is the same thing as culture – nor many other facets of American life. Having drive-through communion, for instance, (which is done in some few Protestant places), certainly incorporates an element of American culture – but it borders on blasphemy. Where do you draw the line when it comes to enculturation? I draw the line at accepting the received Tradition of the Church and translating that into our culture. This, of course, is a difficulty with Evangelicalism in which the Tradition of the Church has been rejected in favor of modernist assemblies.

If the Tradition of the Church is followed it will certainly mean that worship will be liturgical (which is not foreign to American culture) and according to the form given us from the Fathers, though it will be in English and in music that is accessible to Americans (thus far, the range of music within Orthodoxy has been sufficient for American evangelism, though we continue to write more). But our lives will be focused on the Gospel, and the Traditions of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as given to us by the Fathers (Orthodoxy and Orthodopraxis). This is the saving work given to the Church."

+ Fr Stephen Freeman, Mission and Worship – America and the Orthodox, http://glory2godforallthings.com/2007/11/26/mission-and-worship-america-and-the-orthodox/

"There is no way to say to someone, “Our music is superior to yours.” That’s a very arguable statement. I do prefer the theological substance and meat of an Orthodox hymn when compared to the average American “praise song,” but I will not claim musical superiority. What I can observe is that Orthodox music (indeed Orthodox everything) is not market driven. It is what it is and you learn it as it is. The same is true for the faith. We teach what was given us and what has been “organically” part of the Orthodox Tradition. The faith remains the same whether the “market” is a village in Africa or a suburb of Los Angeles. It is thus truly “inclusive” and “universal” in the extreme."

+ Fr Stephen Freeman, America and the Church – More Thoughts, http://glory2godforallthings.com/2007/11/23/america-and-the-church-more-thoughts/

May we live out our Orthodoxy in union with God and Glorify the Holy Trinity.

Je Nai Nan.