The Orthodox Church has established a tradition of performing many rituals that affect the life of a believer in different ways, but at the same time always establish his connection with God. Some of them came to us from biblical times and are mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, others are of a later origin, but all of them, together with the holy sacraments, are components of the general spiritual foundation of our faith.
The difference between rituals and sacraments
Before starting a conversation about what church rituals are in Orthodoxy, it is necessary to emphasize their fundamental difference from other forms of religious services, which are called sacraments, and with which they are often confused. The Lord gave us 7 sacraments - this is baptism, repentance, anointing, marriage, communion, blessing, priesthood. When performed, the grace of God is invisibly communicated to believers.
At the same time, the church rite is only part of earthly reality, elevating the human spirit to the acceptance of the sacrament and directing its consciousness to the achievement of faith. It should be remembered that all ritual forms receive their sacred meaning solely through the accompanying prayer. Only thanks to her, action can become a ritual, and the external process can turn into a rite.
Types of Orthodox rites
With a great deal of conventionality, all Orthodox rites can be divided into three categories. The first includes liturgical rites that are part of the general order of liturgical church life. Among them are the blessing of the Holy Shroud, the year-round blessing of water, as well as the blessing of arthos (leavened bread) on Easter week, the church ritual anointing with oil, performed on matins, and a number of others.
The so-called worldly rites belong to the next category. These include the consecration of the home, various products, including seeds and seedlings. Then it should be called the consecration of good beginnings, such as the beginning of fasting, travel or building a house. Church rites for the deceased should also be included here, which include a wide range of ritual and ritual actions.
And finally, the third category is the symbolic rites established in Orthodoxy to express certain religious ideas and are a symbol of the unity of man with God. In this case, the cross sign can serve as a vivid example. This is also a church rite, symbolizing the memory of the suffering endured by the Savior, and at the same time serving as a reliable fence from the action of demonic forces.
Anointing
Let us dwell on some common rites. Everyone who had to attend church in the morning (a divine service performed in the morning) became a witness, or perhaps a participant in the ceremony, in which a priest performs a cruciform anointing of the believer's forehead with blessed oil called oil.
This church rite is called anointing. It symbolizes God's mercy being poured on a man, and he came to us from Old Testament times, when Moses bequeathed to anoint with holy oil Aaron and all his descendants - ministers of the Jerusalem Temple. In the New Testament, the apostle James in his conciliar epistle mentions his healing action and says that this is a very important church rite.
Unction - what is it?
In order to prevent a possible mistake in understanding two common rituals - the rite of anointing and the sacrament of unification - some clarification is required. The fact is that in each of them, sacred oil is used - oil. But if in the first case the actions of the priest are purely symbolic, then in the second they are aimed at the calling of God's grace.
Accordingly, the sacrament of congregation is a more complex priesthood and is performed, according to church canons, by seven priests. Only in extreme cases is it possible to commit it by one priest. The anointing with oil is performed seven times, with excerpts from the Gospel, chapters from the Epistle of the Apostles, and special prayers designed for this occasion. At the same time, the church ceremony of anointing, as mentioned above, consists only in the fact that the priest, blessing, puts the sign of the cross with oil on the forehead of the believer.
Rites associated with the end of human life
An important place is also occupied by the church rite of burial and the subsequent commemoration of the deceased. In Orthodoxy, this is given special importance in view of the importance of the moment when the human soul, having parted with mortal flesh, passes into eternity. Without touching all of its sides, we dwell only on the most significant points, among which the burial service deserves special attention.
This memorial service can be performed on the deceased only once, in contrast to the requiem, lithium, commemoration, etc. It consists in reading (singing) the established liturgical texts, and for worldly people, monks, priests and infants, their order is different. The purpose of the funeral service is to ask the Lord for the remission of sins to His newly reposed slave (slave) and to give rest to the soul who has left the body.
In addition to the funeral service, the Orthodox tradition also provides for such an important rite as a memorial service. It also represents prayer singing, but in duration it is much shorter than the funeral service. It is customary to make a memorial service on the 3rd, 9th and 40th day after the death, as well as on its anniversary, namesake and the deceased's birthday. When the body is removed from the house, as well as during the church commemoration of the deceased, another rite of worship is performed - lithium. It is somewhat shorter than a memorial service and also runs in accordance with established rules.
Consecration of homes, food, and good beginnings
Sanctifications in the Orthodox tradition are called rites, as a result of which the blessing of God descends on a person and on everything that accompanies him in this earthly life. According to church doctrine, until the second coming of Christ in the world around us, the enemy of the human race - the devil - will invisibly do his dirty deed. We are doomed to see the external manifestations of his activity everywhere. But man cannot resist it without the help of heavenly forces.
That is why it is so important in church ceremonies to cleanse our homes from the presence of dark forces in them, to prevent the evil one from entering us along with the tasty food or to put invisible obstacles in the way of our good undertakings. However, it should be remembered that any rite, as well as the sacrament, acquires the grace of force only under the condition of a steady faith. To sanctify something, while doubting the effectiveness and power of the rite, is an empty and even sinful act, on which we are invisibly pushed by the same enemy of the human race.
Water blessing
One cannot but mention the rite of blessing water. According to established tradition, water blessing (water blessing) is small and great. In the first case, it is performed many times during the year during prayers and the sacrament of Baptism. In the second, this rite is performed once a year - during the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
It is established in memory of the greatest event described in the Gospel - the immersion of Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan, which became the prototype of the ablution of all human sins, taking place in the holy font, opening the way for people to the bosom of Christ's church.
How to confess to receive absolution?
Church repentance of sins, regardless of whether they were intentionally committed or ignorantly, is called confession. Being a sacrament, and not a rite, confession is not directly related to the topic of this article, and nevertheless we will briefly dwell on it because of its extreme importance.
The Holy Church teaches that everyone who goes to confession must first of all come to terms with their neighbors if he has had any quarrels with them. In addition, he must sincerely regret what he had done, otherwise how can he confess without feeling guilty? But this is not enough. It is also important to have a firm intention to improve and continue to strive for a righteous life. The main foundation on which confession is built is faith in God's mercy and hope for His forgiveness.
In the absence of this last and most important element, repentance itself is useless. An example of this is the gospel Judas, who repented of betraying Jesus Christ, but who succeeded because of a lack of faith in His boundless mercy.