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The Orthodox Pages email: pater@christopherklitou.com
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
15th OCTOBER 2009 |
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Question: We hear from various people that before coming for Holy Communion we must first have confession and/or fast a few days otherwise we cannot have regular communion. What is the correct ruling?
Answer: You were baptised a few days ago so confession at this moment doesn’t apply to you. For the majority of people, confession is a necessity, but not every time before having Holy Communion. On an average basis people should confess 2-3 times a year unless they have committed something that would bar them from receiving Communion. In general we tell people that if they keep all the fasts of the year – Great lent, the Christmas fast, the August fast and the Apostles fast and every Wednesday and Friday, then there is no need to do an extra fast to receive Holy Communion. To those that don’t keep the fast then we tell them to fast a few days beforehand. Fasting in general, has nothing to do with receiving Holy Communion but it can help people prepare for what they are about to do. As for regular Communion, people should have regular communion, but not necessarily every time they attend the Liturgy. We should always be prepared for Communion. The biggest danger of having regular Communion is that we might take it for granted which is a grave sin. People must prepare to receive the precious Body and Blood of Christ. Fasting can help and also the Preparation prayers which we say the evening before and in the morning before coming to Church. But in general our way of life should be a preparation for Communion. After we partake we do not forget that we have received Christ into our bodies, but continue to live our lives as though we are preparing to receive Christ for the first time. In this way we are always prepared. Everyone should look into his heart and examine whether his way of life makes his worthy of Communion. Of course nothing that we do can make us worthy: in the Divine Liturgy the Priest exclaims before Communion: “The Holy things unto the Holy”. None of us are holy so in reality no one should approach, but we do in anticipation that we are standing with Christ after his Second Coming and we dare to approach because Jesus said to us “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:53-54). But if the night before someone was at a party drinking and dancing then certainly it would be better for him not to partake of the Mysteries as this comes nothing near to the ideal preparation. One should always remember that Holy Communion is like fire and as gold is purified by fire so also does it purify the worthy but fire also burns many things and it can be a burning fire to the unworthy. As for Confession, it isn’t necessary to have confession every time one is contemplating to receive Holy Communion. If for example you tell a small “white” lie with the intention of protecting someone’s feelings – these kinds of small sins can be mentioned collectively when you come for general confession, but if the lie was to intentionally cause harm to someone then this is a sin that would bar you from communion and it would be best to come for confession before having Communion.
Question: Father, we hear of people going to the river Jordan and being baptized. Is this a proper baptism and why on returning home are they are called Hadji. What is this all about?
Answer: The word Hadji is a Turkish word meaning pilgrim. In general everyone who has visited the Holy places is a pilgrim, but we don’t all add the word Hadji before our name and call ourselves Hadji-George or Hadji-Christopher. Today, for us living in Cyprus, it is very easy to visit the Holy places as Israel is a neighbouring country and there are many organized weekly trips that take you to most of the biblical places, but in the past things were not so easy and very few people took trips abroad. Those who did visit the Holy Land were those who went with the intention of being baptised in the Jordan and on their return home were known as Hadji. But there is a great misunderstanding of the word baptism. As we heard last week there can only be one baptism as we proclaim in the Creed “I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.” If we were to perform another baptism we would be considered heretics, so want is this baptism in the river Jordan? What actually takes place is the service for the sanctification of the waters and not the Baptismal service. Once the priest blesses the waters the people dressed in their white robes enter the water similar to when someone is baptised. Thus they receive the blessing of the waters, but it is not a baptism for the remission of sins. They are imitating and following in Christ footsteps who was also baptized by John in the river Jordan just as they follow Christ by visiting the various stations of the Passion leading to Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre. The misunderstanding that it is an actual baptism is rather widespread among the people and because of this many decide to receive it late in life when their bodily passions have died so that they can remain pure.
Question: At funerals why are the coffins opened and buried opened?
Answer: In the past, people did not have the services of a Funeral Director and the choice of coffins etc. In villages for example, the church had a coffin that was used for all the funerals. After the funeral service the coffin was carried to the cemetery were the dead person was removed from it and buried in a sheet. At the very end of the burial service the priest pours oil on the body and with a shovel takes some earth throwing it on the body saying “Thou art earth and to the earth thou will return” referring to when God took the dust from the ground and created man. Thus it was the custom to bury the dead without coffins which also allowed for the body to return directly to the earth from which he was originally taken. Today in Cyprus, this custom of opening the coffin at the cemetery still remains and it is lowered into the grave opened as people believe that the earth coming into direct contact with the body helps it to dissolve quicker. Personally I think this is rather macabre and very distressing for children young and old to see the bodies of their parents being covered with all the earth. I do things a little different. At the start of the burial service I have the lid of the coffin removed. After the prayers I pour in a little oil and a small amount of earth and water and then have the coffin covered again before it is lowered. In this way I fulfil the tradition of putting earth on the body. I must admit that I’ve had mixed reactions to this practice as many people believe that the coffin must be lowered open and make a point of telling me that I am doing things wrong and that the body won’t decompose easily. The truth is that it is not the earth that decomposes the body but the lack of oxygen. If a dead body is left out in the open it will decompose just as easily as it would if it were in the ground. Let us not forget also that in the early centuries of Christianity people were buried in caves as Christ was and in special mausoleums or catacombs.
Question: In the Resurrection Icon Christ is holding two people by the hand. Who are they?
Answer: Let’s have a look at the Icon in question. The Icon is known as the Resurrection Icon and also as the Descent into Hades. In truth, there is no Resurrection Icon as no one actually saw the moment of the Resurrection. You have probably seen Icons showing Christ above an open tomb holding a flag, but such representations are not in the spirit and teaching of the Church. What this Icon actually shows is the moment just before the Resurrection. After his death on the Cross, Christ’s soul descended into Hades where he preached salvation to those already dead. The Apostle Peter in his first Epistle says that: “He went and preached unto the spirits in prison”. (1 Peter 3:19). The Icon shows Christ as the victor over death symbolically represented with Christ trampling underfoot two crossed leaves of hell’s doors, which He has pulled down. Below the doors, in the black abyss, is seen the defeated figure of Satan held prisoner with shackles and chains and in the black abyss can be seen broken chains, nails and keys again referring to the shattered chains of hell with which Satan held mankind prisoner. With his right hand Christ raises Adam from the grave and with his left Eve who represent the whole of humanity who with his Resurrection are freed from the bonds of Hades and are saved by faith. To the right of Christ we see King David and King Solomon and behind them John the Forerunner pointing out to others Him whom they had prophesied and whose coming they had foretold. In life, John the Baptist preached and prepared the way of the Lord and pointed out Christ the Lamb of God to Andrew and John. After his death he preached in Hades of Christ the Saviour and again prepared the way of the Lord. The Icon shows him pointing out to Christ as if saying, behold this is the Lamb of God of whom I told you off, he has come and will deliver us all from this place of bondage. On Christ’s left are Moses holding the Law in his hand and righteous Abel and Aaron.
Question: In some Dormition Icons we see in front of the Icon a man with an angel cutting off his hands. What is this meaning of this depiction?
Answer: Tradition tells us that when the Mother of God fell asleep, the Apostles prepared to bury her all-pure body. The holy Apostles Peter, Paul, James and others of the Twelve Apostles carried the funeral bier upon their shoulders, and upon it lay the body of the Ever-Virgin Mary. St John the Theologian went at the head and the other saints and a multitude of the faithful accompanied the funeral bier with candles and censers, singing sacred songs. This solemn procession went from Sion through Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane. With the start of the procession there suddenly appeared over the all-pure body of the Mother of God and all those accompanying her, a resplendent circular cloud, like a crown. There was heard the singing of the Heavenly Powers, glorifying the Mother of God, which echoed that of the worldly voices. This circle of Heavenly singers and radiance accompanied the procession to the very place of burial. Unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken aback by the extraordinarily grand funeral procession and vexed at the honour accorded the Mother of Jesus, complained of this to the High Priest and scribes. Burning with envy and vengefulness toward everything that reminded them of Christ, they sent out their own servants to disrupt the procession and to set the body of the Mother of God afire. An angry crowd and soldiers set off against the Christians, but the circular cloud accompanying the procession descended and surrounded them like a wall. The pursuers heard the footsteps and the singing, but could not see any of those accompanying the procession. Indeed, many of them were struck blind. In the Icon is depicted the Jewish priest Athonios, who out of spite and hatred for the Mother of Jesus, wanted to topple the funeral bier on which lay the body of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, but an angel of God invisibly cut off his hands, which had touched the bier. Seeing such a wonder, Athonios repented and with faith confessed the majesty of the Mother of God. He received healing and joined the crowd accompanying the body of the Mother of God, and he became a zealous follower of Christ.
Question: In some Icons of St. George depicting him on a horse there is a boy riding with him holding a jug. Who is the boy and why is he depicted with St. George?
Answer: There are several versions to the story concerning the boy. The one generally excepted is that in Mytilene on Lesbos there was a church dedicated to Saint George. While planning the attack against this island, the Arabian pirates from Crete chose the day of the feast of the saint, when all the inhabitants were together in the church to celebrate the liturgy. Amongst those taken into captivity was the young and very handsome son of a widow. The Emir of Crete made him his personal cupbearer. For the whole year the despairing mother prayed to St. George hoping to get her son back. With particular fervour she prayed to the saint on his feast-day, in other words on the anniversary of her son’s kidnapping by the Saracens, for his safe return. At that very moment, the boy was giving a cup of wine to the Emir. Unexpectedly St. George appeared on a white horse, caught the boy and brought him to his mother’s house. All the inhabitants of Mytilene revered the saint for his miraculous rescue of the boy. The event is dated to 867 which coincides with the Arabian rule on Crete from 824 to 961. The Icon shows the boy in Arabian clothing and still clutching the jug with which he was pouring wine into the Emir’s cup.
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