The History of the Orthodox Church

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and founded the Church through His Apostles and Disciples for the salvation of the human race. The teachings of the Apostles and the Church spread far in the years which followed. Many Churches were founded, but all were united in faith, worship, and the partaking of the Sacraments.

To the group of Churches founded by the Apostles themselves belong the five Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome. The Church of Constantinople was founded by St. Andrew; the Church of Alexandria by St. Mark; the Church of Antioch, and Churches of Jerusalem, and the Church of Rome by Sts. Peter and Paul. Those Churches founded in later years, through the missionary activity of the first Churches, were the Churches of Sinai, Russia, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Finland, Albania, America, and many more. St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church of Webster is a Church under the Jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

From her beginnings in Palestine, the Christian Church spread rapidly throughout the Mediterranean area and the Middle East through the efforts of missionaries, of whom the Apostle Paul is recognized as the greatest. By the beginning of the fourth century, the year 313 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great declared Christianity to be the officially recognized religion of his Empire, which at that time included parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The seat of the Empire was moved from Latin Rome to Greek Constantinople where a new culture, the Byzantine, flourished. In the year 1054 AD, the Church split, during what is historically called the Great Schism, as a result of dogmatical as well as cultural and political differences. As a result of this split, the Church of the East began to be called by the name of the Eastern Orthodox Church while the Church of the West, the Roman Catholic Church.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, with its history that dates back to the very origin of Christianity, is rich in tradition and the beauty of its ritual. But even more important than these outward expressions is her strict adherence to the Teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The Orthodox Church was not effected by the Renaissance, the Reformation, or the Counter Reformation. The Orthodox Church alone has reserved intact the True Faith of the early Church as founded by Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

THE TEACHINGS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

The teachings of the Church are derived from two sources:  Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition, which complement each other. As written in the Holy Gospel according to St. John: ...and there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. These unwritten teachings were transmitted orally by the Apostles and came down to us in Sacred, or Holy, Tradition.

The faith and doctrines of the Holy Orthodox Church can be found in the Holy Scriptures, Divine Revelation, the Decrees of the Ecumenical and Local Councils, the Liturgical Services, the Writings of the Church Fathers, the Lives and Teachings of the Saints, the Canons, Iconography and Church Architecture. We believe that the Lord, Jesus Christ, is truly God, the Saviour, and Son begotten of the same substance of the Father before all ages. He is truly man, like us in every way, except sin. We believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, this  being confirmed by the Second Ecumenical Council in the words used in the Creed:  And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father.....

Orthodox Christians worship God in Trinity, and honor and venerate the Saints and ask their intercession before God. Of the Saints, the Mother of God, the Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin, Mary, holds a special place because of the supreme blessing and call she received from God. According to the Canons of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, we venerate the Sacred Icons and Holy Relics not in themselves, but as representations of God and the Saints. We venerate icons, worship belongs only to God.

Orthodox Christians recognize Seven Sacraments, or Mysteries: Baptism, Chrismation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Ordination, Marriage, and Holy Unction. The sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation (Confirmation) are the means of entrance for the Christian into the Church. For without dying to the old man, and putting on the new in Baptism, we cannot receive the inheritance of the Kingdom which Christ restored to us. With Chrismation, we receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit of God, in the form of a dove, descended on Christ, we receive Him in the Holy Chrism, becoming partakers of the fullness of Christ. In the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we partake of the true Body and Blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine, for the remission of sins and for life eternal. As it is written, Except ye eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you. In the Sacrament of Penance, Christ gives to us, through the Priest, a Father Confessor, the forgiveness of the sins we commit after Baptism, if we truly repent of them. These Sacraments of the Church are essential for the life of all Christians.

By the laying-on of hands of a canonical Bishop, Divine Grace descends on he who is being ordained. This basic Sacrament of Ordination has provided uninterrupted succession to Orthodox clergy from the Holy Apostles and the establishment of the Church on the day of Pentecost. Divine Grace also sanctifies the union of two people in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, as Christ blessed the wedding at Cana of Galilee by His presence and the performance of His first open miracle. Infirmities of the body and soul are healed through the Sacrament of Holy Unction.

Briefly, these are some of the basic teachings of the Orthodox Church. The Church is ONE because our Lord, Jesus Christ, founded only ONE Church. It is HOLY through the sanctification of its Founder and Head, Jesus Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit. It is CATHOLIC because it is universal and knows no limitations of place or time. It is APOSTOLIC because it was founded by the Holy Apostles. This is the Orthodox Church -- the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

THE ORTHODOX TEMPLE OF WORSHIP

The interior of an Orthodox Church is designed to speak to the worshipper, to establish the mood for worship, to preach the Gospel through architecture and icons, and to elevate one's mind and heart to the God one comes to praise and worship.

The narthex, or vestibule of the church, represents this world in which man is called to repentance. The nave represents the Kingdom of Heaven. Passing from the narthex into the nave of the church symbolizes the Christian's entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. The icons at the entrance to the nave, in the vestibule, remind the Orthodox Christian that Christ and the saints are his invisible hosts when he comes to the church. The Orthodox Christian's first act upon entering the church is to salute these icons by making the Sign of the Cross and kissing them. Often the worshipper also purchases and lights a candle upon entering the narthex as a reminder that he or she is to reflect the light of Christ in the world. The worshipper might also light additional candles for living and departed family members and friends.

The church edifice is considered to represent the universe. The ceiling represents heaven. The floor of the church represents this world. The Altar uplifted from the floor by a series of steps and suspended, as it were, between heaven and earth, gives expression to the fact that its purpose is to life us up to heaven through the Teachings of the Gospel and the Grace of the Sacraments, both of which emanate from the Altar.

There is a hierachical plan in the way the icons are arranged in the Orthodox Church. The high place, in the Sanctuary, is reserved for our Lord, as High Priest. Then in the large vault, over the Sanctuary, is the figure of the Mother of God, the link between the Creator and the creation. The icon of the Resurrection reminds us that the Resurrection of Christ from the dead is one of the basic dogmas and the foundation of our Orthodox Faith. Next there are the icons of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the angels, apostles, and saints on the iconostasion, or icon screen. These constitute the Church Triumphant in heaven. The floor level of the church is reserved for us -- the members of the Church Militant. Thus around the figure of Christ is gathered His entire Church, both that in heaven and that on earth. The Church is a palace for the King of Kings. This explains the extensive use of royal colors:  gold, red, white, etc. The fact that the church is the palace of God's presence gives expression to our faith that, even now, earth is changed into heaven whenever the Eucharist (the Divine Liturgy) is celebrated and Divine Grace is received. The Iconostasion, or icon screen, separates the nave from the Holy of Holies from the remainder of the temple. On the screen are placed icons, or religious pictures of Christ, Mary, and various other saints. All these invite the faithful to a worshipful meditation of God.

The Royal Doors in the center of the icon screen are called royal in view of the fact that Christ the King is carried through them in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist as the priest brings the precious Body and Blood to the faithful. They remind us that Christ alone is the door leading to communion with the Father:  No one comes to the Father, buy by me. (John 14:6)

Christians need to realize that they are pilgrims in route to heaven. Here we have the role of iconography in our churches:  to represent some of the major phases of salvation history to the worshippers and to provide a reminder that the small local parish is in communion with the angels and saints. The whole story of the incarnation is depicted on the walls of an Orthodox Church. They are sermons in form and color. They are prayers enshrined in painted wood and canvas, sanctified by the Church's blessing to inspiration and instruction. It has been said that the Orthodox Church has two Gospels:  one written and the other visual, consisting of the icons. Icons are not considered to belong to the realm of art but to that of theology. We say that icons are "written" not painted. An iconographer is the writer of icons according to strict Orthodox tradition, not just an artist who paints holy pictures. Icons are visual sermons. They make real the persons they depict. For this reason Orthodox worshippers do no hesitate to kiss the icon. This reverence is not intended for the painted representation, but for the person depicted thereon (whose presence the icon actualizes). Icons are considered to be window through which worshippers gaze into the world beyond time and space and are reassured that this earthly pilgrimage is only the beginning of another fuller life. Icons are Windows into Heaven. Just as Christ used His physical body to communicate with man, so the Church today continues to use the material world (wood, paint, canvas, gold, etc.) to make God known to man. During the services of the Orthodox Church, the priest censes first the icons and then the entire congregation. In so doing, the Church honors not only Christ, His Mother, the angels, saints, and martyrs, but also the living icon (image) of God which every faithful Christian bears.

From the beginning Christians honored the memory of those who died in the persecutions. The tombs of the early martyrs were held in high veneration. On the anniversary of their death, the Liturgy was celebrated on their graves and a sermon was preached. This was practiced especially during the first 300 years of Christianity when worship was entirely underground, in the catacombs, where the tombs of these early martyrs were easily accessible. From this early Christian custom has come the practice of placing the relics of some martyr in the Holy Altar Table of each church upon its consecration. It represents that the Church is founded on the sacrifices of the martyrs.

The Tabernacle is kept in the center, on top of the Holy Altar. In the Old Testament the tables on which God had written the Ten Commandments were kept in the tabernacle. In the New Testament it is the Lord Jesus Himself who dwells here. His precious Body and Blood are ever kept in the tabernacle. The church, then, is truly the House of God. God is ever present here in a very real way. This is why the Orthodox Christian makes the Sign of the Cross whenever he or she passes before the Holy Altar. The Eternal Light is the votive light that burns before the Tabernacle on the Holy Altar Table. It burns constantly to denote that the Lord Jesus, Who is the Light of the World, is present in the Tabernacle. The Gospel Book is enthroned constantly on the Holy Altar, where Christ is present as the Word of Life in the Gospel Book and as the Bread of Life in the Tabernacle.

The Table of Preparation is a small altar table to the left of the main Altar behind the icon screen. Here the people's gifts of bread and wine are prepared before the Liturgy and later carried in a solemn procession to the main Altar. An icon of the Nativity of Christ is found on the Table of Preparation to signify that it represents the manger of Bethlehem. Just a Jesus was born in Bethlehem, so through the Eucharist He comes to be born and dwell in our lives today.

For further information on the Orthodox Church, please contact Fr. Florin Craioveanu, c/o Saint John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church, 202 North Walnut Street, Webster, TX  77598. Pastor's Telephone Number: (281) 235-4263. Church Telephone Number: (281) 554-7223. Email address: stjohnclearlake@comcast.net.