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But our Lord also said something else: "Where two
or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst"
(Matt. 18:20). And in his High-priestly prayer to His Father, He uttered
these holy words concerning those who believe in Him: "That they may be
one, even as We are One" (John 17:22).
We Orthodox Christians comprise the one Body of Christ's Church, the one
House of God, as it is written in the Scripture: "Christ as a Son over
His own House, Whose House are we" (Heb. 3:6). Here is another world,
different from the vain world that surrounds us. Here is a holy world,
God's inheritance. Here is a world of prayer. And this expresses its
very essence: life in this special world is a life of prayer - prayer as
communion with God, as glorification of God. And more - through prayer
we are able to have communion with the entire world of heaven: with the
angels, prophets, apostles, martyrs, hierarchs, the righteous ones, and
a particularly joyous communion with the Most Holy Virgin, the Theotokos.
Here is the prayer which we Christians who are still citizens of earth
offer for one another. Here we also have our prayer for those close to
us, who have departed this life, and here is our appeal to the saints
that they, too, raise their prayers on behalf of our beloved ones. This,
then, is the fullness of prayer.
Communion with God is prayer
In its fullness prayer is most completely achieved in the Orthodox
temple. The Church is a world of prayer, and the place of prayer - its
fullness - is the temple. Therefore the Orthodox temple itself is called
a church. Here is the catholicity, the comprehensivity, the universality
of the Church, as it was expressed by the holy Apostle Paul in his
Epistle to the Hebrews: "Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are witnesses in heaven, and to God the Judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb. 12:22-23).
Man was created to glorify God and to rejoice in union with his Creator.
With the fall of Adam, the law of sin took root in the human race,
despoiling the close relationship man enjoyed with God in Paradise. But
through God's infinite love, man was given the opportunity to regain
harmony of soul and restore the bond with his Creator. This is most
readily attained through the Church which guides man in the way of
repentance and sets him on the path of true faith, teaching him to
rightly glorify' God - which is the very meaning of the word
"orthodox." And how do we glorify God?
The general principle of Orthodox worship is expressed in the words of
the Psalm: "Let every breath and all creation praise The Lord."
All of nature, in and of itself, glorifies the Lord. For this
reason, in our churches various elements of nature - incense,
blessed water, blessed oil, wax candles, palm branches - all serve to
the glory of God, and to the fullness thereof.
If nature offers itself in praise of its Creator, how much more should
man, the crown of creation, give glory to God. In like manner,
therefore, we join our physical bodies in the act of worship - whether
in standing, kneeling or making prostrations - in fulfillment of the
Apostle's injunction: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1).
How often we hear the familiar call of King David's Psalm: "Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name" … 'All
that is within me' - of course, all the best and most noble
energies, abilities, talents - God's gifts - are called to glorify the
Lord. Through love for God expressed in words of prayer, homilies,
chants, painting, architecture … using everything that contributes to
the magnificence of the temple and its Divine services, we strive to
thank the Lord for those gifts He has bestowed on us. Of course, not
every art form lends itself to this purpose. Instrumental music, for
example, tends sooner to divert our attention from feelings of reverence
and awe than to inspire them. And statues, aside from their ancient
association with pagan worship, are ill-suited - because of their
earthly solidity or form - to represent the life of the spirit, to
direct our gaze heavenward. Moreover, the soul and the spirit are
expressed primarily through the eyes which, in sculpture, are left
empty.
Above all, it is through prayer that we glorify our Creator
Prayer is an expression of love towards God and towards our
neighbor. Prayer is that bond of love which unites the Church on earth
with the Church in heaven. Let us strive, then, to enter more deeply
into the world of prayer found in the holy Orthodox Church, to develop a
constant awareness of God's presence, and to recover that blissful state
experienced by Adam in Paradise, a state of communion with God, for
which we were created.
Missionary Leaflet # E01
Copyright © 2001 Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, Ca 91011
Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
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