Hymn of Entry: Liturgy and Life in the Orthodox Church
Overview
Theology, as seen by Archimandrite Vasileios, is by its very essence liturgical; it is not a philosophy or a system but the expression of the church’s mystical life. Vasileios argues that “The first Christians lived their theology totally and with the whole of their bodies, just as they are baptized with the whole of their body and soul into the new life.… Thus their liturgical gatherings were an initiation into the mystery of theology … the mystery of theology was celebrated in their lives, and they attained to the knowledge which is eternal life.”
Top Highlights
“This is characteristically expressed in the way that it is placed on the altar in the Orthodox Church, for it is within the Church that the ministry of the Gospel is accomplished.” (Page 18)
“However, those things which the world could not contain if they were written in detail are found, made known and lived in the Church, where Jesus Himself lives.” (Pages 17–18)
“Worldly knowledge, which sees things from a human point of view and mechanically, is sterile and lifeless. Knowledge in the Holy Spirit, which presupposes the death of man, ignorance of the world, and our resurrection into a new form of perception, is the only knowledge which is communicable; it can be passed on organically. When it is offered, it gives life. And it is offered by virtue of its very existence, because in it there are no barriers of time or place. The opacity of corruption is absent, and so knowledge moves without hindrance. It ‘blows where it will,’ bringing life to unknown corners: preparing the new leaven which causes the whole lump to rise.” (Page 39)
“If the theological nourishment, the food and drink of the Word, does not come first, if the liturgy of the Word is not completed, then we cannot proceed to the celebration of the mystery. ‘You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you’ (John 15:3); ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ (Matt. 4:4).” (Pages 31–32)
“The Church is Christ, His Body living in history. It is summarized in each of the faithful, who is the Church in miniature. The personal consciousness of each of the faithful has an ecclesial dimension, and every problem for the Church is the problem of the personal salvation of each of the faithful.” (Pages 20–21)
- Title: Hymn of Entry: Liturgy and Life in the Orthodox Church
- Author: Vasileios of Stavronikita
- Series: Contemporary Greek Theologians
- Volume: One
- Publisher: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press
- Print Publication Date: 1984
- Logos Release Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Orthodox Eastern Church › Doctrines; Orthodox Eastern Church › Liturgy; Spirituality › Orthodox Eastern Church
- ISBNs: 0881410268, 9780881413854, 9780881410266, 0881413852
- Resource ID: LLS:HYMNOFENTRY
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:03:27Z
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JOSE RAMON SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ
10/3/2023