Gleb Tikhon Vasilyev M Phil in Theology

The Christian Justification of the Body in the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

The human body was unambiguously condemned by some of the most influential philosophers of antiquity, especially by the Platonists and NeoPlatonists. One can find pejorative comments concerning the human body in the works of Plato 1 , Plotinus 2 and many others. This is not accidental. Such a contemptuous attitude towards the things of our sensual and changeable world is an intrinsic feature of Platonic philosophy. Despite the fact that Early Christianity was primarily Platonic in orientation the Christian theological attitude toward the human body is rather positive. It is arguable that a radical justification of the human body can be found in the author of the Gospel of John 3 , the epistles of Paul 4 and then in the works of the Apologists5 and the Church Fathers.6 This is by no means not accidental, for the incarnation of God is one of the central teachings of Christianity. This incarnational core of Christian teaching is above all expressed in the Byzantine Liturgy. To be sure, the Liturgy in its initial sense is a bodily activity: it is the bringing, the offering and the sharing of bread and wine transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

1 2

For example, in Phaedo, First Alcibiades, Cratylus. Plotinus. The Six Enneads (4.8.The souls descent into body) 3 Jn 1:14; 1Jn 1:1 4 1 Cor. 6: 19-20; Rom 6: 12-13. 5 Irenaeus, Against Heresies (V, 6, 1); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (IV, 26) 6 Gregory of Nyssa (PG 44, 225-229), John of Damascus (PG 94, 1297-1300), John Chrysostom (PG 49, 121) etc.

Men experience the external world through the medium of their five senses. The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom supposes the participation and therefore the sanctification of all the human senses.7

Hearing speech - singing music According to the Orthodox Service book the deacon says quietly the words of Psalm 50 before the opening exclamation of the Liturgy: O Lord, Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise standing before the Sanctuary doors. The singing of the psalms and hymns and the reading of the Scriptures was the initial form of Christian worship. The petition on them that sing is an integral part of the Litany of Fervent Supplication. Although the service is performed mainly by the clergy and choir, lay people praying in the church cannot be said to be passive. The Liturgy is the people's work (leitourgia= leit/laos + orgos/ergon) and it supposes the concordant prayers of the whole community. This is

expressed in common reading, singing and listening to Scripture as well as edifying texts, hymns and psalms. Music has become an integral part of the Liturgy. On the other hand, there is a danger of turning worship into a concert insofar as one puts an undue emphasis on the musical component of the Liturgy. Apparently, in order to prevent this abuse, the silent Mass has become popular in the Catholic Church, for the music of the Mass sometimes can be very sensual. By contrast, it is difficult to imagine a silent version of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. However, one might ask: 'What if a man is born deaf?' Would the Liturgy in such circumstances not affect him? In such a case, the Liturgy would still affect the deaf person because he would then be thrown back on relaying on his other senses

Wybrew, Hugh. The Orthodox Liturgy: the development of the Eucharistic liturgy in the Byzantine rite. St Vladimirs Seminary Press. 2003. P.177.

in order to participate in the liturgical work.

In fact, the rthodox Liturgy

provides an excellent opportunity for such participation. Nevertheless, a deaf, blind or disabled person cannot be ordained as a priest according to canon law. In other words a dumb person can participate in the service but the service itself must not be dumb. The texts of the anaphora of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom indicate that human singing is somehow complementary to the heavenly angelic singing.9 Yet it is impossible to speak about human singing out of the context of the human body.10 Moreover, there are no grounds for ascribing corporeality to the angelic singing.

Sight gestures poses Silence is sometimes helpful for prayer. Darkness also sometimes helps. For instance, there is the practice of saying weekday prayers in a completely dark church at the Monastery of St John the Baptist founded by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) in Essex. This practice is justified by the fact that the highest level of concentration on inward spiritual activity was achieved by hermits and recluses who had spent many years living and praying on their own in caves. Nevertheless, the Liturgy supposes the church is alight for the service. According to the Typicon, during the Liturgy all the lamps have to be switched on and the candles must be lighted on the altar. Thus "sight" is clearly presupposed to be necessary for participation in the Liturgy. If the imposing solemnity of the Orthodox Liturgy with its two entrances (The Small and Great Entrance) can be explained through the influence of Byzantine court ritual, at least some of the liturgical gestures possibly go back to the apostolic
8 9

Zavaritsky D.A. Uchebnoe posobie po surdoperevodu Bozchestvennoy Liturgii. St-Pb, Iskusstvo Rossii,2002. It is meet and right to hymn Thee Singing the triumphal hymn, shouting, crying aloud, and saying With these blessed hosts, O Master, Lover of mankind, we also cry aloud and say.. 10 For example, we can speak about the prayer of the mind or the prayer of the heart but we cannot speak about the singing of the heart. Singing is the act of the body which is contrasted by the ascetic writers with prayer as the act of the mind.

epoch. First of all, prostrations, genuflections (or kneeling) and "orant" (i.e. hands raised and set apart with palms facing outwards) are to be said among them.11 The theme of liturgical gestures has become topic of great research in recent years and received the most attention from modern Catholic theologians 12 . However, these scholars have emphasized the necessity of bodily participation in the Liturgy rather than the importance of liturgical participation through the sense of sight. Many theologians point out the passivity of lay people who pray sitting in church. When the Orthodox Liturgy is celebrated people can gaze at the numerous icons on the iconostasis and the frescoes on the church's walls. The candles which were lighted in front of the icons probably played a functional role: they were kindled to see the icons better before electricity.

The Sense of Smell Christ, our God, we offer Thee incense as a pleasing spiritual fragrance. Having received it upon Thy heavenly altar, send us in return the grace of Thy most holy Spirit. Deaf, blind and mute parishioners can also feel the rhythm of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom through their sense of smell. The censing either forestalls or accompanies or completes many liturgical actions. In particular, if there is a deacon serving the Liturgy, there will be the censing for the Proskomedia, for the Small Entrance, during the reading of the Epistle, for the Great Entrance, after the Eucharistic canon and after Communion.

11 12

John 17:1, Luke 22:41, Acts 7:59, Acts 9:40, Acts 20:36 etc. Kunzler Michael. The Church's Liturgy. New York London. 2001. A. Gerhards. Vorbedingungen, Dimensionen und Ausdrucksgestalten der Bewegung in der Liturgie. In: W. Meurer (Hg.): Volk Gottes auf dem Weg. Bewegungselemente im Gottesdienst. Mainz 1989, 11-24.16.

The Sense of Touch The blessing of the human body through the sense of touch is another common practice, which is reflected in the order of the Liturgy. All the clergy are obliged to kiss the icons of the Saviour and of the Mother of God after the prayers of the entrance. They make three low bows before the holy altar and kiss the Gospel book in the sanctuary. Afterwards the clergy put on their vestments kissing every detail of it. The Gospel and the altar are kissed many times at the prescribed moments of the service. The kiss of peace, when the priests kiss each other with the words of greeting Christ is in our midst and replying He is and shall be, can be experienced only in the sanctuary nowadays, unfortunately. Still all the participants of the Liturgy kiss the icons before the beginning and after the service. They also kiss the chalice after receiving the Holy Communion and the Cross at the end of the Liturgy. The priest prays after the Holy Communion with the words of the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, this hath touched my lips, and taketh away mine iniquities, and purgeth away my sins (Is 6,7).

The Sense of Taste The communion of the Body and Blood of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine is the culmination point of the Holy Liturgy involving the sense of taste. There is a special article in The Word of Instruction13 pointing out that the taste of wine has to be identified with Communion. Taste and see that God is good (Psalm 33:9). Psalm 33 is sung according to the Typicon at the very end of the Liturgy.

13

This text is sometimes published as an attachment to the Orthodox Service Book

Sin can be defined as an attempt to deny God made by a created person. It caused disorder within created reality breaking the harmonic unity of the angelic world and the natural unity of humankind. The human body and the senses are subjected to sin. To overcome this involvement in sin requires, on the one hand, an ascetic human effort and, on the other hand, Gods grace and help. This is that ascetic effort which is mentioned in the prayer before the Gospel: trampling down all lusts of the flesh, we may pursue a spiritual way of life The thought about Gods support of humankind is expressed in the following words of the Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn: None is worthy among them that are bound with carnal lusts and pleasures, to approach or to draw nigh, or to minister unto Thee, O King of glory, for to serve Thee is a great and fearful thing even unto the heavenly hosts themselves. Yet because of Thine ineffable and immeasurable love for mankind, without change or alteration Thou didst become man, and didst become our High Priest, and didst deliver unto us the ministry of this liturgical and bloodless sacrifice, for Thou art the Master of all Thus, we can see that the five senses of the human body are truly involved in all aspects of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. Moreover, any person who either was born disabled or somehow lost any of their senses still has a good chance to participate in the Liturgy through his or her other remaining senses. They participate, that is, not only spiritually but also bodily through involving the whole of their human nature in public Christian worship by praying in accord with the other members of the community. These mutual liturgical prayers can be considered as real overcoming of the consequences of sin through the human

ascetic effort and Gods grace sanctifying the human body, which becomes the true temple of the Holy Ghost.14

14

1 Cor. 6: 19