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Question 91.
Father Christopher, greetings
I hope You are well.
I was just wondering if You would be able to explain why we conduct the
εγκαίνια service of a church and what significance this has.
I ask this because I know of churches which are fully furnished --with
altar, templon, iconography and all-- having been used for holy services
prior to their εγκαίνια. Also, today in Melbourne were the θυρανοίξια of
a newly built church, but not the εγκαίνια, and services are conducted
in this church.
Kissing Your right hand,
Evangelos
Answer to Question 91.
Dear Evangelos,
The Εγκαίνια is the service whereby a temple is dedicated and
consecrated to God and from being just a common building is transformed
into a house of worship and prayer and the table is transformed into a
sacrificial Holy Altar. The word itself (Εγκαίνια) reveals that
something from being old becomes new and in this case from common
becomes holy and sacred. The consecration of places of worship has a
history that goes back to the Old Testament and the consecration of the
Tabernacle of the Covenant and was consecrated by Moses according to
God's instructions. Before its official use everything from the tent and
furnishings had to be sanctified with the anointing oil. The same was
done with Solomon's Temple. In fact the Jews have till this day a feast
called the Dedication also known as Hannukah. It was instituted in the
year 165 B.C. by Judas Maccabeus, his brothers, and the elders of the
congregation of Israel in commemoration of the reconsecration of the
Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and especially of the altar of burnt
offerings, after they had been desecrated during the persecution under
Antiochus Epiphanes (168 BC). The feast of Dedication is observed for
eight days from the 25th of Kislev (usually in December, but
occasionally late November, due to the lunisolar calendar). The Feast of
Dedication is also mentioned in John 10:22 where it mentions Jesus being
at the Jerusalem Temple during "the Feast of Dedication" and further
notes "and it was winter." The Greek term used in John is "the renewals"
(Greek – ta Εγκαίνια).
We do not know if the Apostles had similar dedication services for
places of worship but during the persecution years the Christians
resorted to the catacombs and performed the Divine Liturgy on the tombs
of the martyrs. After the persecutions they began building churches and
according to the historian Eusebius, these were dedicated with great and
splendid services. From that time to the present day the consecration
services for churches have always been a spiritual Panegyric supported
by the people's faith and the living tradition of the church. The
Εγκαίνια service is without a doubt associated with the importance the
church gives to the temple as a liturgical place and house of prayer for
its people and to the importance it gives to man who as a liturgical
being has as his purpose in life sanctification and theosis.
In fact everything the church does has as her main focus the salvation
of man. For an Orthodox Christian salvation is union with Christ. This
union with Christ is called the "Life in Christ". The centre of this
"Life in Christ" is the Holy Altar, as well as the services which are
related to it (the Sacraments). Because the Holy Altar is so important
in the life of an Orthodox Christian, the service of Consecration
centres around the Holy Altar Table.
In theory no service is possible before the Holy Altar is first
consecrated. We can compare this to a person's baptism and Chrismation.
A person cannot partake of the church's Mysteries before he is first
baptised and chrismated to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit;
likewise the Altar cannot be used before it is first baptized and
Chrismated. During the consecration service the altar is first washed
which is the baptism and then chrismated with the Holy Myron. Also in
the centre of the altar are, placed and sealed, small fragments of
relics from three saints so that just like in the days of the catacombs
the Divine Liturgy is performed on the tombs of the martyrs.
But as you have noted there are churches that are fully furnished and
offer all the services without having first been consecrated. This is
because of the use of the antimension. This is a rectangular piece of
cloth with the icon of the Epitaphion of Christ printed on it and small
particles of relics sown into the border. During the consecration
service of a church many antimensia are also consecrated and are used
today as portable Holy Altars. The use of the antimension goes back to
the very early centuries.
In the early Church the bishop was the normal celebrant of the Eucharist
and the priests were only his helpers similarly as deacons are today to
priests. A priest could not offer the Liturgy on his own. As the Church
grew and more churches were built, priests were appointed to serve the
Liturgy on behalf of the bishop and as his representative. But there was
a danger that deposed or heretical priests could also offer the Liturgy
on their own, so a system giving authority to the canonical priest had
to be invented. This is where the antimension came into use. It was
consecrated and signed by the Bishop during the Consecration service of
a Church and given to the priest as a letter of authority. The bishop’s
signature on the antiminsion signified the bishop’s permission to the
priest to serve the Liturgy on his behalf. This is why even today we do
not serve the Liturgy directly on the holy altar, even if it has been
consecrated, but first unfold the antimension kept on the altar and
serve the Liturgy on this. Before the Great Entrance with the Holy
Gifts, the priest kisses the icon of the Epitaphion printed on the
antimension, but also the bishop's signature, signifying his recognition
that he serves the Liturgy only as the bishop's representative. When a
Metropolitan bishop dies, the new bishop must consecrate many new
antimensia so that all the churches under his jurisdiction can obtain a
new antimension signed with the new bishop's name. The antimension also
has a practical use because it safeguards any particles of the holy body
should they fall from the paten. The particles fall directly onto the
antiminsion and are easily retrieved by the Priest. Today the meaning of
the antimension as the bishop's authority to the priest has been
forgotten and is just considered as a portable holy table where we can
take and use to serve the Liturgy in other places other than the
permanent holy altar.
There are many reasons why a church delays having a consecration
service. Firstly there is a large cost involved and this is taken up by
sponsors (Godparents) if they can be found. Many things are needed for
the Εγκαίνια and some of the materials like rose oil and vestments for
the Altar and for the priest are very expensive so churches wait until
they find the sponsors who can afford to take up the cost. Sometimes the
church will wait until the feastday of the saint to whom the church will
be dedicated to have the Εγκαίνια, but this has also to coincide with
the bishop's program, so if he has prior engagements the Εγκαίνια will
have to wait until the next year. In older times before we had cars, it
was very difficult for bishop's to reach certain villages. In our
village the church was built in 1850 (according to the Icons that we
have). The nearest town is Limassol but in those days there was no
bishop of Limassol and it came under the jurisdiction of the bishop of
Kitiou (Larnaca). For the bishop to travel by donkey from Larnaca to our
village it would have taken him many days and the Εγκαίνια of our church
was actually performed approx. twenty five years later. If the use of
the antimensia was not possible, the villagers would have gone without
services during all those years.
Sometimes small churches with small sanctuaries do not allow for the
Εγκαίνια service. A certain amount of space is needed for the Εγκαίνια
because a lot of things have to be laid out and if there is no room or
running water then things become very difficult. In such cases the
bishop will probably just perform the θυρανοίξια service. The θυρανοίξια,
literally meaning the opening of the doors, is not supposed to take the
place of the Εγκαίνια service. It is basically the service of the
blessing of Waters (Αγιασμός) performed outside in front of the closed
western doors with troparia, readings and a prayer taken from the
Εγκαίνια service with the intention of giving the church an official
opening of being offered to the worship of God. We can say that the
θυρανοίξια service is an econimia until the actual Εγκαίνια service can
be performed.
Fr. Christopher
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