The Question of Uniformity in the Church
Services Discussed at the Council of Hierarchies of the Russian Orthodox Church
Abroad 1951 by Archbishop John (Maximovitch).
The divine services and rites of the Orthodox Church, having
as their foundation one typicon and preserving commonality in all that is
substantially important, are extremely different one from another in practice.
Not only are the customs of different countries and local Churches different,
but even in the bounds of a single region, sometimes even in a single city, the
customs vary greatly in churches located close to each other. More than once
the question has arisen regarding the introduction of a single common
abbreviated typicon which would be mandatory for all churches. However, what
may be only a theoretical decision may be in reality impossible to carry out
and even harmful if attempted. The difference in the carrying out of the Church
typicon comes about because of the strength of customs that have taken root.
Sometimes these customs have deeply sensible meanings, but sometimes the meanings
are quite nonsensical; thus, they remain because of the zeal and determination
of those who carry them out. Without a doubt, we must take into consideration
that which has been accepted as sanctified custom; that is, what has been
accepted from antiquity as having been established and which has entered the
consciousness not only of the clergy that carry it out but of the laity as
well. However, we must give considerably less weight to that which is only
common practice; that is, to that which is merely a habit of those who carry it
out, not having an inner meaning and not having entered into the consciousness
of the laity. We must hold onto the first as long as they are of benefit to our
activity, as long as they do not contradict the Church typicon. As for the
latter, one may give only a common rule: the closer it is to the Church
typicon, the better. Our Church typicon is not a compilation of dead rules and
it is not the fruit of some abstract desk work, it was imprinted on the
spiritual experience of holy ascetics who came to fully understand the depths
of the human spirit and the laws of the spiritual life. The Holy Fathers
themselves experienced the battle with the infirmities of soul and body, as
well as the means for their healing; they came to understand very well the path
of prayerful podvig and the power of prayer. The Church typicon is a guidebook
for training and schooling in prayer and the more it is adhered to the more
benefit is derived from it. In the case of the inability to fulfill all that is
laid out in the typicon, we must fulfill all that is in our power, preserving
its general structure and main content. It is necessary, on the one hand, to
fulfill the principal characteristics for a given service unchanged in its
composition and that which maintains its identity separate from others. On the
other hand, we must try as much as we can to fill in those parts of the
service, which, changing according to the day, express the meaning and reason
of the commemoration of the day's event. Divine Services combine in themselves
prayer, which is lifted up to God by the faithful, the receiving of God's grace
in communion with Him, and the instruction of the faithful. The latter consists
of teaching through reading in the divine services and hymns, catechism, and
instruction in the Christian life. The divine services in their composition
contain all the fullness of the dogmatic teaching of the Church and set forth
the path to salvation. They present invaluable spiritual wealth. The more fully
and precisely they are fulfilled, the more benefit the participants receive
from them. Those who perform them carelessly and who shorten them by their
laziness rob their flock, depriving them of their very daily bread, stealing
from them a most valuable treasure. The shortening of the services which comes
about through lack of strength must be done wisely and performed circumspectly
in order not to touch that which should not be tampered with.
Specifically, at Vespers Psalm 103 must be read in
its entirety; if it is sung it is allowable to sing only a few verses, but with
majesty. Preferably, the verses of Psalms 140, 141, 129, and 116, which begin
with the words "Lord, I have cried," will be always sung in full, all
of the stichera absolutely.
On the prescribed days it is necessary to read the
Old Testament readings and to perform the Litia.
Matins must be served in the morning. Serving
Matins in the evening, except for when the All-Night Vigil service is held, is
not allowable because, by doing this, essentially the morning service, which is
very necessary for the faithful, is abolished; even a short church attendance
in the morning has a beneficial effect on the soul, while sanctifying and
giving direction to the whole day. The Six Psalms are not to be shortened; also,
it is necessary to read the Lauds psalms in their entirety. Reading should not take the place of singing except when there is
absolutely no one who is able to sing, since the effect of singing is much
stronger than reading and very seldom is reading able to substitute for
singing. Do not dare to leave out the Theotokia after the Troparia and other
hymns, for in them is given the foundation of our faith-the teaching of the
incarnation of the Son of God and of the Divine Economy.
The Hours must be served exactly without
omissions, as they are already so short. All three psalms of each Hour must be
read, as well as the assigned Troparia and other prayers. At the end of each
Hour special attention must be given to the prayer, which expresses the meaning
of the sacred event commemorated at the given hour.
Liturgy must be served, if impossible daily, then
at least on all Sundays and Church Feast Days, without taking into account the
number of faithful that are able to attend the service. The Liturgy is the
Bloodless Sacrifice for the whole world and it is the priest's duty to serve it
when required. It is positively forbidden to skip any part of the Service Book
(sluzhebnik). It is also necessary to fulfill the given hymns for the Liturgy.
Included are Psalms 103, 145, and 33:if Psalm 103 is shortened because of its
length (although it is better not to do so), then in any case Psalm 145 must be
sung from the beginning to end, except for the days in which both of them are
replaced by the antiphons. Psalm 33 is replaced only during Bright Week by the
singing of "Christ is Risen"; as for the rest of the year, it is to
be read or sung in view of its edification and there is no justification for
its omission. That troparia which are appointed for each given Liturgy are to
be sung and in their proper order, since they are the festive part of the
Liturgy. The Church typicon also refers to preserving accurately the order of
the Epistle and Gospel readings. If this is adhered to, then throughout the
whole year, in those churches where the services are held daily, the Gospel, as
well as Epistles, will be read in its entirety. That order requires that the
cyclic reading be read necessarily; its replacement by the festive readings
happens only on great feast days, but then the cyclic reading is not omitted;
it is read on the preceding day, together with the ordinary readings: on medium
rank feast days the consecutive and festive readings are read. The reading of
only the festive readings, that is, with the omission of the ordinary, is
called "irrationality" by the typicon because when this is done the
whole meaning of the division of the readings in the specific order is
transgressed and those who do this show their lack of understanding (of the
meaning of the divisions).
The remaining sacraments, as in all of the order
of services in the Book of Needs, also must not be shortened except for dire
need, and even then only by adhering to all that is essential and the order of
the service, remembering one's accountability before God for the damage done to
the souls of the flock by one's negligence. Everyone, while celebrating divine
service, must fulfill it more precisely and with better execution so that,
bringing spiritual benefit to others, he himself in the Day of Retribution may
be likened to the servant who brought forth the ten talents and hear: Well
done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few
things.
