All people who post on modern politics, secular matters, and heresy will be kept on a tight leash, posts being deleted and people being blocked as the administrators see fit. The Orthodox Church is one of the three main Christian groups (the others being Roman Catholic and Protestant). Each bishop has a territory (see) over which he governs. Differences in praxis ("practice") tend to be slight, involving things such as the order in which a particular set of hymns are sung or what time a particular service is celebrated. A minority believe that it was a seder or Passover meal, a position consistent with the Synop… The catechumen is fully immersed in the water three times in the name of the Trinity. Matter is not considered to be evil by the Eastern Orthodox. 3. Churches with irregular or unresolved canonical status are entities that have carried out episcopal consecrations outside of the norms of canon law or whose bishops have been excommunicated by one of the 14 autocephalous churches. Almost nothing is read in a normal speaking voice, with the exception of the homily if one is given. [144].mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. This unity of the Church is sometimes called the communion of the saints.[115]. The word "orthodox" means "right believing" and was adopted to signify the true religion that faithfully followed the beliefs and practices defined by the first seven ecumenical councils (dating back to the first ten centuries). The writing and acceptance took five centuries, by which time the holy scriptures themselves had become in their entirety a part of holy tradition. This fact is witnessed to by St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), who, in his Discourse on the Sacrament of Baptism, describes the service in much the same way as is currently in use. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not employ central governing because all bishops are equal. Implied evidence for this comes mainly from two sources, namely, the Bible (in order to cause the victim to die faster, his legs were broken so they could not support his weight and he would suffocate)[citation needed] and iconography (all early depictions of the crucifixion show this arrangement, not the later with feet on top with single nail). [citation needed], The small top crossbar represents the sign that Pontius Pilate nailed above Christ's head. Orthodoxy does not openly promote statuary, although it is not expressly condemned, instead limiting itself primarily to two-dimensional iconography. The other ordained roles are presbyter (Gr. The Communist authorities closed down the prison in 1952, and punished many of those responsible for abuses (twenty of them were sentenced to death).[215][216]. Parts of each service remain fixed, while others change depending on the observances prescribed for the specific day in the various cycles, ever providing a flow of constancy within variation. At these crucial moments in the history of the church, it found itself able to rebuild on the basis of the faith as it was kept and maintained by monastic communities, who subsisted without reliance on the community of the state or popular culture and were generally unaffected by the materialism and rhetoric that often dominated and threatened the integrity and stability of the urban churches. The Pope of Rome at that time held the position of primus inter pares ("first among equals") and, while he was not present at any of the councils, he continued to hold this title until the East–West Schism of 1054.[71][72][73][74]. Both the intent and the action were separate from God's will; it is that separation that defines and marks any operation as sin. Eastern Christians maintain that they acknowledge the true doctrine of God in the right (orthodox) way. When the star is seen, people lay the table ready for the Christmas supper. Christianity in 9th-century Rus. It is separated from the nave by "The Royal Gate". The time and type of fast is generally uniform for all Orthodox Christians; the times of fasting are part of the ecclesiastical calendar, and the method of fasting is set by canon law and holy tradition. Most members today are concentrated in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and Asian Russia, in addition to significant minorities in Central Asia and the Levant, although Eastern Orthodoxy has spread into a global religion towards Western Europe and the New World, with churches in most countries and major cities. The Eastern Orthodox Church also has many associated traditions (sometimes referred to simply as customs), compatible with its life and function, but not necessarily tied so closely to the faith itself. Those who have left Orthodoxy and adopted a new religion, if they return to their Orthodox roots, are usually received back into the church through the mystery of Chrismation. The Eucharist is the center of life in the Orthodox Churchbecause the Church is primarily a eucharistic community. Children are considered full members of the church and stand attentively and quietly during services. But the Eastern Orthodox do believe that the holy scriptures testify to God's manifest actions in history, and that through its divine inspiration God's Word is manifested both in the scriptures themselves and in the cooperative human participation that composed them. [214] In some other Communist states such as Romania, the Romanian Orthodox Church as an organisation enjoyed relative freedom and even prospered, albeit under strict secret police control. The icon is venerated and often candles and oil lamps are burnt before them. Their members are called Orthodox Christians, although there is another group of Churches called Oriental Orthodox that is not in communion with the Orthodox Church. For many Orthodox Christians an important form of prayer is the Jesus Prayer. ); Tuesday is dedicated to the prophets and especially the greatest of the prophets, St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord; Wednesday is consecrated to the Cross and recalls Judas' betrayal; Thursday honors the holy apostles and hierarchs, especially St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia; Friday is also consecrated to the Cross and recalls the day of the Crucifixion; Saturday is dedicated to All Saints, especially the Mother of God, and to the memory of all those who have departed this life in the hope of resurrection and eternal life. Personal prayer plays an important part in the life of an Orthodox Christian. The church has developed eight modes or tones (see Octoechos) within which a chant may be set, depending on the time of year, feast day, or other considerations of the Typikon. [34][35] This name and longer variants containing "Catholic" are also recognised and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers.[36][37][38][39][40][41]. Although all of the groups of Old Believers emerged as a result of opposition to the Nikonian reforms, they do not constitute a single monolithic body. According to Orthodox theology, the purpose of the Christian life is to attain theosis, the mystical union of mankind with God. One of the three branches of world Christianity and the major Christian church in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the Orthodox church, also sometimes called the Eastern church, or the Greek Orthodox, or Orthodox Catholic church, claims to have preserved the original and apostolic Christian faith. A free-standing cross, bearing the body of Christ, may stand behind the altar. Aspects of the iconography borrow from the pre-Christian Roman and Hellenistic art. Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not created, of one essence with the Father through whom all things were made. In addition, struggles between Rome and Constantinople to control parts of Southeastern Europe resulted in the conversion of some churches to Rome, which then also used "Greek Catholic" to indicate their continued use of the Byzantine rites. The primate of the Polish Orthodox Church is referred to as, sfn error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFWare1993 (, "Statistical database: Population Census 2000 – Religious affiliation" . Life on earth is God's gift, to give humankind opportunity to make their choice real: separation or union. Time, geography, and even practical reasons for fasting is described as `` non-Chalcedonians '', the. Major sacraments, of which the Church to the authority of Pope administered by bishops [ ]. Sacrificial bread and wine are believed to become the body 's primary desire for food greater Cleveland to all... 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