Eastern Orthodox worship
worship in this article is distinguished from Eastern Orthodox prayer in that 'worship' refers to the activity of the Christian Church as a body offering up prayers to God while 'prayer' refers to the individual devotional traditions of the Orthodox.
The worship of the Eastern Orthodox Church is viewed as the church's fundamental activity because the worship of God is the joining of man to God in prayer and that is the essential function of Christ's Church. The Eastern Orthodox view their church as being the living embodiment of Christ, through the grace of His Holy Spirit, in the people, clergy, monks and all other members of the church. Thus the church is viewed as the Body of Christ on earth which is perpetually unified with the Body of Christ in heaven through a common act of worship to God.
This article deals first with the various characteristics of Orthodox worship, aside from its theological foundations as laid forth above, and then continues to give the services of worship themselves and their structure.
Characteristics of Eastern Orthodox worship
Physical
As explained above, the Orthodox draw no distinction between the Body of Christ in heaven and that on earth, viewing both parts of the church as inseparable and in continuous worship together of God. Orthodox worship therefore expresses this unity of earth and heaven in every possible way so that the earthly worshippers are continually reminded through all their senses of the heavenly state of the church. The particular methods for doing this are very far from arbitrary but have been passed down from the earliest periods in Christian history through what the Orthodox call "Holy Tradition".Sights
Probably the most striking aspect of Orthodox worship is its visual characteristics. These are many and varied, always conveying in the most striking colors and shapes possible the various phases and moods of the church both as they change throughout the year and in individual services.Icons
Icons are used to bring the worshippers into the presence of those who are in heaven, that is, Christ, the Saints, the Theotokos and the angels. The Orthodox believe these icons do more than visually remind the viewer of the fact that there are saints in heaven, they believe that these icons act as 'windows' into heaven through which we see those saints, Christ and the Theotokos. It is for this reason that God the father is traditionally not represented in icons because He has never shown His form to man and therefore man should not try to represent His form in icons. It is because of the connection which these sacred pictures have with their subjects that Orthodox Christians regularly venerate them even as Orthodox still living on earth greet one another with a kiss of peace, so do they venerate those who have passed on through their icons.Architecture
Both the internal and external forms of Orthodox churches are designed in imitation of heaven. The internal layout consists of three main parts: the narthex, nave and altar. The royal doors divide the narthex from the nave and the iconostasis divides the nave from the altar. The narthex or porch is the entrance to the church building and not yet the actual 'church' proper, and is a small open space often with some candles to buy before entering the church itself. Once through the doyal Doors there is the nave, which is the main and largest part of the church building. Here all the laity and choir stand during worship; it is shaped rectangularly in the back, opening into two wings forming a cross towards the front. Through the iconostasis lies the altar. This area is considered the most holy of the whole church, and laity other than church personnel are discouraged from entering. The altar is square and at its center is the altar table on which the Eucharist is celebrated and which only clergy may touch. There is no direct entrance to the outside of the church to the altar, only the deacons' doors and a door to the sacristy. The main entrance from the nave to the sanctuary, the "beautiful gate", cannot be used by deacons and laity, only by priests or bishops.Vestments
All those above lay status wear some form of vestment to distinguish their office. There are many offices and each has its own distinctive vestment and each set of vestments becomes increasingly elaborate as the rank of the wearer increases; this principle also holds true for how weighty a service is being served. All these vestments are in the style of robes made of colored and decorated cloth. The colors of all the vestments change according to what feast the church is celebrating. For instance, for about two months after the celebration of the Resurrection, all church vestments are bright white and red whereas during the solemnity of Lent they are dark purples; thus, vestments serve to express the 'mood' of the church.Processions
As most actions in Orthodox worship, processions are most often used to commemorate events and also, of course, to display items of religious, and particularly Orthodox, significance. Their most fundamental purpose however is, as everything in Orthodox worship, to aid in the edification and salvation of the worshippers by giving glory to God. Processions are always led by a number of altar servers bearing candles, fans, crosses, banners or other processional implements relative to the occasion. After them come the subdeacons, deacons and archdeacons with censers, then priests and archpriests and so on up the clergical ranks. This is the very 'ideal' in processions, most do not contain all these elements because the occasion may not warrant it. The reasons for why various processions are done at various times vary greatly.Candles
Candles are used extensively throughout the church during services and after. They are viewed as continual, inanimate prayers offered by the candle's 'benefactor' to God or saints usually on behalf of a third party, although they can be offered for any purpose. Candlestands are placed in front of particularly significant icons throughout Orthodox churches, these always have a central candle burning on behalf of the church as a whole but have room for Orthodox to place candles. In particular candlestands are placed in front of the four principle icons on the iconostasis: the icon of Christ, the Theotokos, John the Baptist and the temple's patron. Candles are not restricted to this usage however, besides being used in processions a candle is kept burning above the royal doors in the iconostasis, candles in a seven-branched candelabrum are burned during services on the altar as well as other candles used at various times in the church year for special purposes.Sounds
The Eastern Orthodox Church traditionally does not use any instruments in the liturgy, instead relying entirely on choral music and chanting. Essentially all the words of Orthodox services, except sermons and such, are either chanted or sung by readers and choirs and when possible the congregations.Chanting
Nothing in Orthodox worship is simply said aloud; although priests and, occasionally deacons, recite certain prayers or petitions silently everything audible is sung or chanted. Chanting in the Orthodox tradition can be described as being halfway between talking and singing; it is musical but not music. Only a few notes are used in chanting, and the chanter reads the words to these notes at a steady rhythm. The notes and rhythms used vary according to what the occasion is, but generally chanting is relatively low-toned and steadily rhythmic creating a calming sound. Chanting not only is conducive to a calm and elevated state of mind but also allows chanters to read through large portions of texts more clearly and quickly than possible with normal speech while also conveying the poetry in the words. That is the essential reason for chanting. Worship at its heart is a song and is beautiful; therefore the words of Orthodox worship cannot be simply said but must be melodiously chanted to express the true nature and purpose of the words.Singing
Depending in large part on local custom, a pair of groups of chanters or of choirs do the singing, although sometimes the entire congregation does so.For for the composition of religious music, traditionally a system of eight is employed and many melodies are composed in each echos. The proper of much hymnography is derived from a book, the Octoechos, with texts for each weekday in each tone, and the tones rotate weekly.
Singing naturally developed from chanting but, unlike in the west, Orthodox music developed from a Greek musical background. Even though Orthodoxy has spread and its music adapted to its various regions, still Orthodox music is distinctive from European music. Singing is used in place of chanting on important occasions thus some things which are chanted at minor services are sung at more important services. Singing is as varied and multi-faceted in its forms as chanting and vestments, it changes with the church 'seasons' of commemoration thus singing during Great Lent is always somber and during Holy Week nearly becomes a sorrowful dirge while during Pascha and the Paschal season the notes are high and quick and as joyful as they were sad during Lent. The power of music is not lost on the Orthodox and it is used to its full effect to bring about spiritual renewal in the listeners.