|
to St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Christian Archdiocese of North America, under the primacy of His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP Saliba. We celebrate the Orthodox Faith in the ancient Western Rite (the Rite of St. Tikhon) and are members of the Western Rite Vicariate. In 1958 Metropolitan ANTHONY (Bashir), of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America was authorized by Alexander III, Patriarch of Antioch to introduce the Western Rite, as approved by the Moscow Synod, into his archdiocese. Since that time a number of people, individuals and sometimes-entire congregations, have become a part of Holy Orthodoxy through the Western Rite. The use of the Rite of St. Tikhon, a form of worship reflective of the ancient Anglican tradition, restores to its proper place the traditions of worship and piety characteristic of the ancient Church throughout the western world prior to the Great Schism (circa. 1054). When the East and West split, these western expressions of Orthodoxy were torn asunder from the Holy Apostolic Church. Preserved and developed by the Anglo-Catholic tradition within western churches, these beautiful traditions, duly reviewed and corrected as necessary at the request of Bishop TIKHON (later to be Patriarch of Moscow and martyred under the Communists) who at that time was the only Orthodox Bishop in North America. The Western Rite has restored to the Orthodox Church her rightful heritage of the beautiful western forms of worship and enables Americans to worship in a way which speaks to their hearts, language, music and traditions. of our religious experience (John 16:48-59). We believe that Jesus Christ is truly present in an inexplicable, mystical way in the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:22-25, I Corinthians 11:23-26). All Orthodox Christians are united with God through Christ's offering of Himself as the great High Priest, and with all other Orthodox Christians in a common bond of faith and practice. Unfortunately there are serious divisions in the Christian community. Many people who hold claim to Christianity do not have the same beliefs about God that we hold. For some people communion is merely the opportunity to share a sense of "fellowship" with everyone present regardless of their beliefs and practices. We believe that such a practice cheapens and trivializes communion and denies the basic Biblical understanding of what communion is all about. As St. Paul says, those who do not discern the Body and Blood of Christ partake of their own peril (I Corinthians 11:27-28). While many non-Orthodox Christians may individually hold the same or similar views as we hold, we cannot examine each person on their beliefs as they come to the altar rail, so only Orthodox Christians may receive communion. However, you are invited and encouraged to come to the altar rail for a blessing from the priest and to receive a piece of the non-sacramental Pain Benit (Antidoron). This is a bread of fellowship which is not the Holy Sacrament, but a sign of our wish to include visitors in a sense of fellowship and hospitality in our Lord Jesus Christ. Rite usage. The earliest historical references to the use of the blessed bread at the Mass are mentioned in the 118th letter of St. Augustine to Janauarius, and in the canons of a local council in Gaul in the seventh century and has no connection with the Agape Meal. The use of the "Pain benit" as it is called in the Western Rite or the "Antidoron" as refered to in the Byzantine Rite, developed long after the Agape Meal had ceased to be an ancillary custom in any of the liturgical rites and has neither an inherent theological nor liturgical necessity nor connection with the offering of the Divine Sacrifice. Originally it was used in some areas by local parishes as a substutute or "solatium" for catechumens, for members of the Church who were undergoing the rigors of penance hence were not allowed to receive the Blessed Sacrament or for those unable to be present at the Holy Sacrifice. Those undergoing the rigors of penance were on strict fasts and the blessed bread was a small respite from that fast. They, like the catechumens, were required to leave before the Offertory. This was true of the Church in both the east and west. The Greek term Antidoron, is used in the Byzantine Rite, means instead of the gift and reflects the fact that originally it was for those who, for the aforementioned reasons, were unable to receive the Blessed Sacrament. It should be noted that after the Fifth Century the reception of the Blessed Sacrament by the laity became less and less frequent in both the East and West. This, combined with the decline of the rigors of public penance caused a sharp decline in the number of those who were fasting. In the West, for these reasons, the custom of the blessed bread, never a universal custom, declined in usage. The bread first begins to be mentioned in the eastern texts in the ninth and tenth centuries. In subsequent centuries the canonical regulations of the Russian and Greek Churches came to require that the blessed bread should not be distributed to non-Orthodox persons or persons undergoing penance before absolution; this a reversal of the reason for its original use. There also arose the need to "Cover the Holy Gifts" lest a person who had received the Most Precious and All Holy Body and Blood inadvertently spit forth a particle from the mouth while singing or praying and to prevent choking. It was also felt appropriate that those who had fasted from the previous evening in preparation for receiving the Holy Mysteries should be fed something lest the "Faint by the wayside" for want of nourishment. With the continued infrequency of reception of the Holy Mysteries by the laity, the bread in the east, and where it survived in the west, became in effect a replacement or antidoron for the Blessed Sacrament, the original reason for the breads usage having long vanished. Today this is an optional custom in the Western Rite and the use of "Covering the Holy Gifts" never having been seen as a definite need in the west. It may properly be viewed as a pious custom of fraternal charity and consolation to all those who attend the Mass but are unable to receive the Blessed Sacrament. It should be blessed using the formulary using as found in The Ordo of the Western Rite Vicariate so as not to be misinterpreted as part of the Holy Eucharist. The bread need not be be specially baked and may be blessed prior to Holy Mass or at the Asperges. The bread should not be placed on the Altar for reason already mentioned and should be distributed at the end of Mass as people are leaving the Nave of the church, not immediately following the reception of the Blessed Sacrament. It should be placed near the door to be taken by all after they greet the priest, if it be the custom of the parish. These admonishions are to ensure the total ceremonial preeminence of the reception of the Sacred Body and Blood and to avoid in everyone's mind any possible confusion or symbolic commingling of this bread with the Blessed Sacrament of our Lord's Body in the consecrated Host. Fair Use Notice: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of political, human, religious, and social issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. For more information go to: . http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
