Doru Costache - The Ecclesial Synaxis 3

[Published in The Greek Australian Vema, March 2009, 8]

THE ECCLESIAL SYNAXIS EPITOME OF A LEARNING SOCIETY (Part 3) Revd Dr Doru Costache Many contemporaries from outside the Church, and (unfortunately) many from within, claim that they cannot ‘understand’ and ‘taste’ the Divine Liturgy given its intricate and highly symbolic structure. And indeed, there is something that keeps them away from the holy synaxis: it is the lack of sensibility for existential symbols and the absence of any serious ideal of personal renewal that characterises contemporary culture. Living on the surface and ignoring the challenges of the Gospel, prevents people from navigating through the dazzling spirals leading to the inner abysses of personal life, or the newness of life. I know ignorance is bliss (the terrible motto of our times), yet are people to any extent aware of humanity’s celestial destination? And if not, how can we bring our lives to fulfilment? No wonder, therefore, that many cannot grasp and taste the meaning of our transformative mysteries, which are existential in nature and remote from today’s superficiality… Nevertheless, beyond this contemporary indisposition towards the message of personal transformation (μετάνοια), there is no sealed lid placed over the teaching of the Divine Liturgy; everything can be learnt, including the existential symbols within the rite of the holy synaxis. As an educational framework – expression of a learning society – the liturgy offers an inbuilt hermeneutical ‘mechanism’ that guides those willing to learn towards the actual meaning and purpose of the movements, gestures and words embedded in the making of the liturgical order. Perhaps less visible, this ‘mechanism’ can nonetheless be found in the prayers recited, mostly silently, by the bishop/presbyter. In the following, I will explore the most relevant passages from various prayers within the order of the Divine Liturgy ascribed to St John Chrysostom. These prayers are located mainly (yet not exclusively) in the first part of the order, within the so-called ‘liturgy of the catechumens’ or ‘liturgy of the Word’, which has a very strong educational character (obvious in the Christological hymn ‘Onlybegotten’, the procession of the Gospel, the biblical readings and the sermon). The first explicit occurrence of the catechetical or educational theme is in the prayer of the third antiphon. The end of it reads: ‘fulfil now the petitions of your servants for their benefit, granting us the knowledge of your truth (τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς σῆς ἀληθείας) in the present age, and in the age to come eternal life’. Making allusion to the promises of the Lord that he will be with the two or three gathered in his name (see Matthew 8:20), and that our requests will be granted (see Mark 11:24), the prayer voices the most arduous desire of God’s people: to inherit the eternal life or to attain the fullness of life. The sentence quoted above shows, however, the Church’s awareness that there is a logical, and chronological, succession between knowledge of truth and the inheritance yearned for. In this point, perhaps the text alludes to Genesis (chapter 2) narrative of the two paradisiacal trees, at the same time echoing its canonical interpretation. According to this interpretation, the tree of life would have been accessible only through the exercise of right discernment upon the ambiguous fruit of knowledge of good and evil; in other words, only if the characters in the narrative had passed the test of wisdom, choosing the spiritual path, would they have been granted the fullness of life. This is precisely the meaning of the request formulated by the prayer: if Adam

and Eve have failed for imprudently taking a different path than that of divine wisdom, we, God’s people, know that only by acknowledging the revelation of the truth from above can we reach what was promised to us from the foundation of the world (cf. Matthew 25:34). In light of this text, it becomes obvious that to be an Orthodox and inherit the blessings takes the effort of patiently learning the divine and enlightening truth, as delivered, proclaimed and interpreted within and through the holy synaxis or gathering. Subsequently, the prayer of the Trisagion (thrice-holy) hymn acknowledges God as the one who gives ‘wisdom and understanding (σοφίαν καὶ σύνεσιν) to those who ask’ or as the source of true knowledge. By contrast to the fallen world, which promotes the arrogant claim of self-enlightenment and thoroughly ignores God, God’s people are acutely conscious that humanity needs true spiritual guidance in order to escape from the misty labyrinth of confusion and pointlessness. Therefore, the Church takes the humble approach – ensuring its successful journey towards the fullness of life – and asks for guidance towards discernment (on the footsteps of the famous Psalm 118 of the Septuagint), whose witnesses are the Orthodox bishops faithful to tradition, rightly teaching the word of God’s truth (τῶν ὀρθοτομούντων τὸν λόγον τῆς σῆς ἀληθείας). The holy synaxis in its entirety echoes this request for illumination, driving the believers to learn through the rites, step by step, the alphabet of spiritual life. Characteristically, by the end of the Divine Liturgy, God’s people acknowledge: ‘We have seen the true light (εἲδομεν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν), we have received the heavenly Spirit (ἐλάβομεν Πνεῦμα ἐπουράνιον), we have found the true faith (εὓρομεν πίστιν ἀληθῆ), worshipping (προσκυνοῦντες) the undivided Trinity, which has saved us’. It is about more than an intellectual quest for truth. The ecclesial principles of learning are very different from their secular counterparts; the divine truth and wisdom or the true light – transcending the habitual functions of cognition – are sought after and discovered (εὓρομεν) only by taking the humble path of awe and doxology (προσκυνοῦντες); only those truthful to God receive (ἐλάβομεν) the Spirit, who simultaneously bestows upon them wisdom, spiritual insight and the fullness of life. This alphabet of spiritual life is discerned mainly through the scriptural readings, accompanied by a prayer with which I shall deal, God willing, next time. For now, let us pursue our exploration of the liturgical order. The next relevant moment to our topic is that of the litany for the catechumens (in the congregations were they exist). The believers are exhorted by the presbyter/deacon to pray for those who undergo the period of catechetical instruction, so that God himself ‘may teach (κατηχήσῃ) them the word of truth (τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας)’ and ‘reveal (ἀποκαλύψῃ) to them the Gospel of righteousness (τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τῆς δικαιοσύνης)’. Here, again, recurs the major theme of the liturgy, that of God’s people being theodidaktos, or taught-byGod, and thus secure on the path toward perfection. The lines of the litany echo St Paul’s frequent warning that the Gospel preached in the Church is not of human origin, coming from God (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:23; Galatians 1:12), apparently alluding anew to the failure of Adam and Eve who abandoned the divine wisdom. One way or the other, teaching/learning is an essential part of Christian becoming. The catechumens will be incorporated into the ‘holy, catholic and apostolic Church’ (note that catholicity means here fullness and not a certain Christian denomination) only after being solidly established through teaching/learning on the safe grounds of ecclesial phronema or mindset, thus experiencing the spiritual awakening (signified by the ‘sobriety/vigilance (νῆψιν ψυχῆς) of the soul’ referred to in the prayer after the consecration of the holy gifts).

Within the part of the Divine Liturgy reserved for the faithful, after the catechumens leave the worshipping community, the second prayer for the believers in the order of St John Chrysostom reads: ‘Grant also to those who pray with us, O God, progress in life (προκοπὴν βίου) and faith (πίστεως) and spiritual understanding (συνέσεως πνευματικῆς)’. The message is clear: within the holy synaxis, notwithstanding its holistic character – given that it encompasses both the educational aspect and the experiential, or existential, one – the process of teaching/learning is ongoing. None among the believers can claim he or she knows everything or discerns all the nuances, ramifications and implications of the ecclesial faith and life. And since the προκοπή asked from God means at the same time progress and perfection, this further implies that through the liturgy we are constantly challenged to grow spiritually towards a state of maturity that still eludes us. Therefore, God’s people learn to travel within the truth (the ecclesial phronema) and towards the fullness of divine truth (‘the unity of faith’, asked for immediately before the prayer ‘Our Father’), as a key to unlock the garden of delights, which is the newness of life and the heavenly kingdom. The attainment through teaching/learning of wisdom or the ecclesial phronema (whose paragon remains the Symbol of Faith, discussed last time, together with the anamnesis of the anaphora, or the offering prayer), represents however not just a personal benefit for the believers but also a duty and a task appointed to God’s people as a whole. Recalling God’s mercy bestowed upon his people and learning the ways of divine wisdom, the faithful are supposed to witness these to the society at large, so that all are given a chance for a change of life. This aspect is clearly pointed out by the bishop/presbyter when reciting, silently, the penitential Psalm 50 (while incensing): ‘I will teach transgressors your ways, and the ungodly will return to you’. Likewise, it features as a commitment of the congregation, through a dialogue between the celebrant and community. The bishop/presbyter exhorts: ‘Let us go forth in peace’, and God’s people reply: ‘In the name of the Lord’. These words do not announce the end of the holy synaxis; they actually reflect the missionary character of the Church. More specifically, after receiving wisdom from above (through the scriptural readings) and becoming partakers of the divine life (through holy communion), we go back into the world as bearers of peace – a mystical name of Christ – with the purpose of proclaiming this wisdom, this peace and this new life to the world. The learning community becomes a teaching community, for the life of the world. All the above cannot be learnt at once or without the right propensity to approach the Divine Liturgy with patience and humility. But for those who dare to know, nothing will prevent them from finding the rhythms of spiritual life as experienced through the holy synaxis.