Part Three, Our Church Life

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9)

Perhaps one of the most sensitive and important topics is the participation of the laity in the life of the Church. The problem in this matter sometimes reaches unacceptable limits, and the reason for that is the absence of a true ecclesiastical vision on this matter. It sometimes seems that there is a quasi-conflict between the clergy and the laity in “managing the affairs of the Church”!

Perhaps the error begins with the theological basis, which separates the royal priesthood (general) from the priesthood of the clergy (special). We consider that the laity possess the royal priesthood while the clergy possess the “secret of priesthood” - the special. It may seem strange to some that a clergyman would talk about his royal priesthood because it is a special priesthood!

One of the most important ritual practices in the life of the Orthodox Church, which is absent in other churches, is the temporal integration of the three basic sacraments, that is, the completion of the three sacraments (baptism, thanksgiving, chrismation) at the same time, directly with the rite of baptism. The Orthodox Church did not arrive at this experience for social reasons, but rather as a result of theology and a special understanding of the role of the Christian and the purpose of his life. Perhaps in this practice lies the answer to the question about the role of each of the “laity and the clergy” in the Church.

 There is no doubt that the laity have a role in the life of the Church, and that the clergy also have a role, but what is the difference? Is there any distinction? What is the true Orthodox practice that does not see in the two roles a contradiction or conflict, but rather sees the necessity of reviving the role of every baptized Christian as a priest of the Most High? Is there a division of roles, or is there harmony, or integration? Or hierarchy? Are the proposed solutions an “administrative” issue or do they have a deep ecclesiastical (ecclesiological) dimension? These and other questions deserve our contemplation of the concept of the divine mysteries that shape our lives and give us our place in the Church, and thus determine the role of each of us.

The sacrament of baptism is the event that unites us, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to the body of Christ - the Church. The Church has decided to nourish its members with the precious blood and body of the Lord from the moment they enter this body, because with this nourishment “we live and move and have our being.” We are not here discussing the necessity of beginning communion from the day of baptism, but the specificity of our topic requires us to pause at the unique practice of the Orthodox Church in granting the sacrament of the anointing of the Holy Chrism directly with baptism.

The Apostle Peter repeats a phrase from the Book of Exodus: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (59)However, the priesthood in the Old Testament was a function reserved for the tribe of Levi. (60)This priesthood did not become general until the time of the New Testament. Thus all believers now become, after their forerunner (Jesus), priests of the Most High. “And he (Jesus) is an anchor of the soul, sure and sure, entering within the veil, where Jesus entered as a ‘Forerunner’ for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (61)This is why Peter generalizes this priesthood to all believers: “You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” (62)Thus, according to Peter and Paul, all believers share in the altar with Jesus, the great high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek.

The mystery of anointing in the Old Testament was limited to kings, priests, or prophets from among all the people! But the New Testament and the practice of our Orthodox Church have made the combination of the mystery of baptism, thanksgiving, and chrismation together evidence that every baptized person immediately became (or was set apart to become) a priest, king, or prophet. These gifts are no longer unique to some individuals among the people, and the beloved John separates the unbelievers from the believers, saying, “That they may show that they are not all of us,” based on the mystery of anointing, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.” (63)Here, “you” refers to all believers, not just the apostles or priests. The “people of God” in the New Testament have all become priests, kings, and prophets; they share in Jesus’ royal priesthood.

The mystery of the anointing with the Holy Chrism is the mystery of the consecration of the “baptized” to a “priest” in the rank of the royal priesthood, a mystery that gives the baptized a “royal” right and the gift of “prophecy,” but at the same time, this consecration brings with it all the responsibility that accompanies him. From the “anointed ones of the Lord,” that is, the people of God, some go out to a special “service” in the Church that takes care of teaching and rituals, and they become “priests” in the special and ritual sense of the word. What distinguishes the priest from the believer is the type of service, not an ontological difference. For example, if an Orthodox priest leaves the priesthood for some reason, he loses this “service” and thus immediately loses the gift and grace, and therefore he no longer holds the “priesthood” and can marry, while if a Western priest leaves this service, for them he maintains this priestly status (ontologically) and is considered a priest who has ceased to serve, and he no longer has the right to marry! For us, the priesthood is a gift in the sense of service.

These three gifts—“king, priest, prophet”—are not beautiful poetic words or obscure liturgical language. But they express perfectly the nature, duties, and rights of every baptized and faithful person in the Church. They are the only words that answer the many questions about the role of the clergy and the laity in ministry. Our Orthodox theology does not use these words (laity, clergy). There are priests and there is the faithful “people of God,” and this people bears the grace and responsibility of king, priest, and prophet. “Go and preach to the nations” is a phrase of Jesus addressed to all people. But “whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them…” is addressed to the apostles and those whom they condition by laying on of hands. Every baptized person who has received the anointing of the Spirit has become an apostle in the sense of “the one sent.” He is a human being who preaches in his own way, and this preaching is the goal of his life and his witness in the world in which he works and lives. This world from which he is preached is the offering that the believer raises to God as a “sacrifice of praise” as a priest in every divine Mass.

“Just as the anointing was given to the prophets to make them prophet-kings, so now Christians are anointed with the divine anointing to become kings, prophets, and servants of heavenly mysteries,” says Saint Macarius.(64) And with him also Al-Harith, Bishop of Caesarea. (65)Thus, the mystery of anointing gives three gifts: royal, priestly, and prophetic.

Royal Talent 

St. John Chrysostom considers that the “image of God” in man is his “kingship.” Just as God is the King of heaven and earth, of visible and invisible things, so man is in his image the King of earthly things and all visible things. He relies on the words of the Holy Bible, that after saying “Let us make man in our image and likeness,” he continues, “And let them have dominion over the birds of the air and the fish of the sea…” He considers this royal authority to be his authority over the material world and his spiritual world as well. It is authority over creation on the one hand and over the self (desires and passions) on the other. That is why the phrase “royal splendor” appears in the ancient Antiochian “Offering of the Mass.” This splendor means authority over matter and desires, that is, liberation from the slavery of the world and worldly things. The whole world is at the service of man’s spiritual life, and all human desires are directed toward satisfying the true and spiritual human thirst. It is the kingship of the spirit’s dominance over matter, the opposite of man’s slavery to material things. Jesus is a king, for he said: “Satan comes and finds no power in me.” It is the royal authority that comes from the freedom of the children of God, that is, from the purity of life. Man has royal authority to the extent that he can dominate the world around him and within him. (66). And likewise St. Gregory of Nyssa says: “The kingship of the soul appears to the extent that its desires are freed from the world, because freedom is the quality of kingly masters.” Man is the “king” and master of the world, created to rule in it, possess it, and make it a kingdom for God. When man is attached to the world, the world rules over him, but when he leads the world to its end, he becomes a king in it; thus, when he is freed from its temptation, he rules over it, and if he is deceived by it, he becomes a slave in it. The spiritual man is freed from worldly things and, by his freedom of choice, leads the world as its master to its final end, to make it a kingdom for God. This royal authority (freedom and sovereignty) alone qualifies man to return the world that God has given him to its Giver (God), in a hymn of thanksgiving. Therefore, man’s kingship qualifies him for his priesthood.

Priestly talent 

The royal priesthood sees in “everything” of the world “something of God”. Therefore, the secret of the beauty of this priesthood is that it considers everything as having the potential for a “relationship” and is not merely blind matter! The priesthood of man is the priesthood of love. Nothing in the world is independent in itself, and its value does not lie only in its quantity or usefulness. The criterion of the value of anything in the world is the love that we can create between us and it. Everything in the world and everything in it exists so that we can establish a “relationship of love” between us and it. This is within the framework of the materials of the world, so how much more so in the rational and free creation in it, man! This is the secret of the priesthood that began with God, that He loved us while we were still unworthy and sinful, “we did not love Him, but He loved us first”. Everything in the world is not an object of use and consumption, but rather an opportunity for love. Such priestly love makes everything have a dignified existence and gives this existence a real meaning. That is why man gives names to things, to express his relationship with them. Man is in the image of God, therefore he is the being who enters into communion-relationship with everything and with every being around him. This relationship between man and everything around him takes its highest form when it becomes an expression of his thanksgiving to God. That is why the expression of the offering in the Divine Liturgy sums up the whole meaning of human life and depicts the full truth of the human relationship with the world: “All these are yours and are yours, and we offer them to you in thanksgiving for everything and on behalf of everything.” Man is not only a free being, or a rational, thinking being, but also, by the Christian anthropological definition, he is a liturgical being. That is, he gives thanks from everything and on behalf of everything in the world.

The believer is a priest who first offers himself, according to the words of the Apostle Paul: (67)“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your rational worship…” This is what every believer offers in the Divine Liturgy. According to the “Letter to the Tarsians”: “When monks offer their virginity as an offering (sacrifice to God), they perform a priestly work.” Minucius Felix (2nd century) states: “Whoever saves a soul from danger is a priest to God. This is the true worship before God: the offering of purity, the offering of charity, and the love of the truth.” (68)According to Origen: “Everyone who has received the chrism becomes a priest and offers his burnt offering within himself, lighting the fire of the altar with his hand… If we deny what is ours, or take up our cross to follow Christ, then we offer a perfect burnt offering. Or if I give up my body… or love the brethren to the point of giving myself for them, or if I strive for truth and justice even to the point of death… If the world dies to me and I die to the world, then I offer the true sacrifice on the divine altar and become a priest of the Most High.” (69).

The “sanctification” mentioned by the Apostle Paul, and the “purification of the self” always referred to in ascetic literature, mean the offering of oneself as a sacrifice, thus becoming a priest. Chrysostom calls the mother of the seven Maccabees a “priestess” who was conditioned by the offering of her seven sons as burnt offerings, one after the other. The Canons of Hippolytus (3rd-4th centuries) allow confessors and martyrs to perform the divine mysteries as priests (a special priesthood) in an exceptional manner. (70)Saint Gregory the Theologian says: “No one is worthy of the sacrifice, the sacrificer, and the high priest except he who has previously offered himself to God as a living sacrifice.” (71).

Saint John of Damascus likens the sword that pierces the Virgin's interior. (72) As the Song of Songs says, “oil poured out.” (73)The Divine Liturgy, in which the priestly work is carried out in its absolute form, is not the work of a group of priests (the clergy) but rather the work of the people (Λειτουργία), in which all the faithful offer their world to God as an offering and sacrifice of thanksgiving, mercy and peace. Transforming the world into a kingdom is a priestly task, the priests of which are all the faithful. Man is a “thankful being,” that is, a priest who takes the whole world to return it to God as an offering and sacrifice.

Prophetic talent 

The prophet is not a magician, a seer, or a soothsayer. The prophet is he who reads into the ordinary events of history and the course of daily life the “will of God.” He is he who discerns, discovers, and proclaims the will of God. In this way, the previous definition comes close to the meaning of the word “theologian.” Thus Ecomenius says: “We are kings because we rule over our passions, priests because we offer ourselves, and prophets because we teach great truths.” (74)A prophet, according to Theophylactus’ definition, is “one who sees what no eye has seen and hears what no ear has heard.” (75). What distinguishes the prophet from the ordinary person is that he does not speak from his own mind, unlike the false prophets and teachers who speak from their own “own ideas.” “This is what the Lord says,” with this phrase many prophets began their teachings. The prophet is the messenger and voice of the kingdom in a world that forgets God. Therefore, he is eschatological, messianic, and renewing in the secular world and in the kingdom of Caesar. The prophet is the one who calls for changing the face of the world and for the presence of the kingdom. The prophet brings to the world what is not from him but from God. The prophet loses this talent when he maintains the faith, but to the point where he does not skimp on some concessions. The ordinary believer and the prophet differ in that the former accepts a “bazaar” for grace, selling the truth in exchange for concessions to the demands and trends of the world, while the prophet knows “that the kingdom is being taken by force” and believes that Jesus “overcame the world” and he is one of his followers. The prophet is the one who has the right side, but always and not circumstantially. He is the friend of the bridegroom who rejoices only at the bridegroom’s wedding, and he decreases so that the Master may increase. The prophet is the one who has separated his life to become an angel who prepares the way for the second coming of Jesus. He is the forerunner who lives for the coming of the one who is to come. He is in the world but not of the world, and he is not greater than his Master even if the world hates him.

This prophetic message is handed down to us by the Church in the sacrament of the anointing with chrism on the day of baptism, in addition to the gift of the general priesthood and the royal gift of man.

Some of the “people of God” volunteer for a special priesthood. This special priesthood carries a specific gift and characteristic, which is none other than “fatherhood.” This is a tradition that goes back to Saint Ignatius of Antioch, the God-bearer. (76)The liturgical functions and characteristics of the sacrament of the priesthood seek to express this fatherhood of the people. As stated in the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”: “The bishop is our father after God… because he generates us from water and the Spirit, renewing us and granting us adoption.” (77)The excommunicated priest loses this role and for this very reason he loses his priesthood. This is why the Church in its first centuries elected for this sacrament - the sacrament of priesthood and birth in the Spirit - monks or men with high spiritual gifts and a degree of holiness that would allow them to lead the people of God, give birth to them and include them in the sacrament of divine adoption.

 Therefore, there have always been men and women in the Church whose talents qualified them for spiritual “fatherhood” or “motherhood” without carrying the message of serving the holy mysteries, that is, the special priesthood. Monasteries remain a living example of this. There we find many monks who are fathers and among them are very few priests, whose number varies and is proportional to the liturgical needs of the monastery. Therefore, the monk does not have a special priestly rank, but rather is an example of the true royal general priesthood. Therefore, the royal priesthood of the people of God and of monks and nuns has one spiritual dimension in its essence and goals. We (the Orthodox) do not have two spiritualities, a spirituality for the weak and the laity and a spirituality for the strong, the monks and priests, as is generally the case in the West! The requirements of the spiritual life and its talents are granted to everyone and are required of them (the royal priesthood) equally. And the priests-clergy are thus equal in vocation, in principle!

But the difference that we notice today between what is required of the priest and the “laity” was not present in the minds of the Holy Fathers and in our holy tradition. This distinction between “clergy and laity” began to appear not in the desert but in the cities, especially in the fourth century after the Christianization of the empire. Then classes of Christians appeared who wanted to be exempt from the “narrow way that leads to life” and from all its requirements and ideals, and thus began to create a new degree of Christian ethics mixed with concessions, claiming that it was the path of secular life! These people diluted the requirements and image of the general royal priesthood, and returned to the priests-clergy in their own priesthood those spiritual “ideals.” Thus, over time, many of the “people of God” have abandoned the depth of their royal priestly calling, while the necessity of electing priests under conditions that achieve the purity of the priestly calling (kingly calling first) has made the image of the general priesthood generally confined to priests. The number of believers from the people of God who behave in a worldly rather than a priestly manner according to their calling has increased, and the need for priests-clergy who are devoted to caring for and tending to the “laity” has grown! The people of God learn to the extent that the general priesthood seems to be confined to the private priesthood (wrongly). This error reaches unacceptable limits when it also assigns holiness to priests, or to a more hideous extent when it looks at the laity with an inferior view, as if holiness is not for them and is not their goal.

Priest (special priesthood) - The cleric is a chosen and selected person from among the spiritual talents of the royal priests, when the Church delegates him to a special liturgical and educational service, through the sacrament of the Holy Priesthood. If the clergy must be elected from among the “talented”, this does not mean the opposite, that spiritual talents are limited to the clerics! The members of the special priesthood must be from among the best sons of the general priesthood, yes, but the special does not cancel out the general in terms of spiritual talents.

There are several interpretations of the words of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians: “But you (all believers) are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed some in the church: first, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers.” (78) Then “powers, and after that gifts of healing…” It seems from Paul’s words in that chapter that the Corinthian congregation was suffering from chaos, unrest, and a defect in the church organization, so Paul sends them these clear words: First apostles, second prophets, third teachers. In previous eras, it was common to interpret these ranks as exactly corresponding to the rank of apostles first (disciples of Christ), then secondly the rank of bishop (prophets), and thirdly the priests (teachers). After that comes the rank of the charismatics of the people, which are lower ranks…! But the Orthodox understanding of this verse is completely different from this explanation. Because the meaning of the word “prophets” in Paul does not refer to the bishop. The evidence for this is that he refers throughout the text, especially in (14, 29), to the presence of more than one prophet in Corinth when he says, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge…” While the church custom was and still is to assign one bishop to each parish, citing this number of prophets obviously assumes that not all of them were bishops or even priests.

 The word “apostle” or “prophet,” in the language of the Apostle Paul, did not at that time mean priestly degrees, as much as it referred to those to whom the secret of the divine plan was revealed. Therefore, in his letter to the Ephesians, he tells them about “the mystery of Christ,” that is, the divine revelation and the secret of the plan, which had not been revealed before (in the generations) as it has been revealed today “to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (79)From this we realize that first, the “apostle” is the one who saw Jesus in his glory, during the three years of his preaching on earth or his appearances after his resurrection, so Paul boldly calls himself an apostle even though he was not with Jesus in his earthly life. Second, the “prophet” is the one who witnessed the divine revelation and sees the Lord Jesus spiritually in his glory. “For even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no longer according to the flesh, but according to the glory.” (80)This prophetic gift (knowing the secret of the plan and proclaiming it) is also for the royal priesthood and is not exclusive to the clergy as a special priesthood, although those elected to the special priesthood must and are supposed to be from these prophets. Thirdly, the “teachers” are the members of this body who have not reached the vision of Jesus in glory but are able to teach and contribute to the evangelization.

The Church has been tormented in many eras by the selection of priests and bishops who do not possess these spiritual gifts required of everyone and confirmed in priests. How can we separate for the special priesthood believers who have not preserved the gifts of their royal priesthood first? This question has been asked in the history of the Church many times! The gifts required of the clergy are not gifts above what is in the general royal priesthood, but they must not be lower than that. The clergyman in the conscience of the Church is like an apostle and a “prophet” first, then the Church separated him to serve the life of sanctification, care and education.

The issue, that is, the contradiction between the need for bishops and priests and the spiritual gifts required before that, became critical, especially in the time of Saint Symeon the New Theologian and even in the time of Saint Gregory Palamas, and the ecclesiastical experience resulted in the selection of bishops from monks only (as a certain general framework), that is, from those who were careful to preserve their spiritual royal, priestly and prophetic gifts and did not ask for anything except the one needed.

This strange and alien development in the life of the Church, which corrupts its nature (ecclesiology), that is, the restriction of spiritual gifts to the clergy without the laity, or at the very least the introduction of a great distinction in gifts between the “two classes”, was done because of the spiritual laxity that has become acceptable to many. Where holiness is no longer the desired goal, where they confuse Caesar with God and where “Christian” people live in a secularism subject to materialism and submissive to the world instead of carrying the message of sanctifying the world and the priests in it.

The sacrament of Chrismation was not previously given with the sacrament of baptism, but was exclusively for the enlightened and prophetic converts to Christianity, that is, it was for confirmation and sealing of the gifts of faith. The believer was considered a member of the body of Christ on the day of baptism. Later, the seal of the sacrament of Chrismation was given to confirm his enlightenment and understanding of the mystery of the dispensation and the vision of Jesus and His glory.

But the Church, after its societies became Christian and baptism was no longer given to converts from pagan religions as before, but rather to children of Christian families, then it found no point in delaying communion or postponing the sacrament of Chrismation, because this child was born only for this purpose, for his enlightenment, prophecy and priesthood, and the cases that do not achieve this are the failed cases and not the natural ones. Christians do not marry and have children in order to leave them to fate, but from the moment of marriage they dream, plan and serve the sacrament of giving birth to saints and prophets in the Church. Linking the sacrament of Chrismation to the sacrament of baptism is a golden opportunity, but if we lose its essence it becomes a judgment. As are all the sacraments of the Church, a grace, so is the sacrament of the holy Chrismation. The advantage of grace, because of its high price, is that when it is corrupted it becomes a scandal! This is why cries are sometimes raised here and there about contradictions in the practice of the holy mysteries! This is true. But the solution is to practice these divine mysteries in their true spiritual dimension and not in superficial formalities within the framework of custom and sectarianism!

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,” the Apostle Paul continues, “so that you may proclaim the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Amen

(59) 19, 6.

(60) Deuteronomy 10, 8.

(61) Hebrews 6, 19.

(62) 1 Peter 2:5-9.

(63) 1 John 2:20.

(64) Sermon 17, 10 [PG 34, 624].

(65) PG 106, 509.

(66) Ecomenius, “On the Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians,” [PG 118, 932].

(67) Romans 12, 1-2.

(68) Octavius C32 PL 3, 339-40.

(69) “On the Commentary on Deuteronomy,” 9.9 [PG 12, 521-5].

(70) See in Greek: Paul Evdokimov, “Orthodoxy,” p. 387.

(71) Hoskier, The complete commentary of Oecumenios in the Apocalypse, Michigan 1928, p.37.

(72) Luke 2:35.

(73) 1, 3.

(74) PG 118,932.

(75) PG 124, 812.

(76) “Letter to Magnesia,” 3, 1; also “Letter to Smyrna,” 8, 1.

(77) 2, 26, 4.

(78) 1 Cor 12:27-28.

(79) 3, 5.

(80) 2 Cor 5, 16.