Article: What's behind the curtain?
This blog is a re-hash of an earlier post with some additions. Apologies for the recent silence as been trying to put into words a flood of thoughts and understandings influenced by Mathew Gallatin's Ancient Faith podcast titled 'Sola Scriptura and Philosophical Christianity
Fr. John Behr once elaborated, “each person has to be responsible for themselves coming to Church and being a member of the Church. Why are you coming to this Church is what we should ask people ... just because my parents did and my parents before that did? Or is it because I believe that here I encounter the Lord of all Creation of this history, the one sitting at the right hand of the Father, tangibly… perceptibly .. and become His Body.
In the Indian Orthodox Church, too often we begin discussions and clarifications by thinking only of our culture, the traditions or the Apostolic roots through St Thomas. While these are important as it shapes our identity, they by no means should be the reason why we are members of the Church.
As an example, we are sometimes asked about the closed curtain that separates the altar from the rest of the Church. Other Oriental Orthodox churches also use a curtain, and in the Eastern Orthodox churches an iconostasis (usually a wooden wall or screen) serves the same purpose of demarcation.
Often the reply is that the curtain has been part of worship and Liturgy by the “true” Church for thousands of years, thereby using an argument that because the Church is ancient it is by some mathematical formula automatically “truth”. Or, the question itself is just dismissed, often with an explanation that these are simply rituals and old “traditions” of the Church that are of lesser importance. Worse, an admonishment (often tinged with anger) is directed at the person asking the question, along with unsolicited commentary on the poor job the parents did raising that person.
Mostly, the dictionary explanation is shared that the curtain is the symbol of the sky separating heaven and earth, with the Madbaha signifying the heaving and the unveiling of the curtain denoting the opening of heaven.
The manner in which we answer these questions are very important, as it reflects our own understanding of our Faith. More so, by not taking our answers seriously we also inadvertently perpetuate the misunderstandings and misconceptions on our pre-denominational Christian Church. It is a sad reality that rather than being identified as members of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that preserved the fullness of the Holy Trinity by the blood of martyrs and struggles of the Saints, our Church is rather associated with stagnation - a Church that is more obsessed with tradition, rituals and ethnicity rather than the “Authentic Jesus”.
We must remember that as Orthodox Christians we are constantly challenged by the true teachings of the Church to “think about our Faith actively” in order to become effective witnesses for Christ. The Truth is not hidden from us but rather in plain sight and close reach i.e., through the Qurbana and the Sacraments.
However Sunday attendance alone will never be sufficient to fully understand, and often the first step to move our personal relationship closer to the One True God may be as simple as picking up the Bible. St John Chrysostom (remembered in the fifth Thubden as Mar Ivanios) clearly stated that the cause of all evils in the Church comes from not knowing the Scriptures. More recently, Dr. Geevarghese Mar Ostathios Metropolitan also emphasized that the sacred traditions of the Church will never contradict Scripture, and that in fact “we must always explain the Scriptural truth in the context of the sacred traditions of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and not establish any dogma on the basis of the traditions alone”.
So, given all this, the question comes back - how do we answer the question on the curtain?
Dr Bradley Nassif advises that we should always start with Christ – “we need to show how he relates to everything in the Church. Talk about Christ first and foremost, and from Him then we go out to the Icons and the Priest’s vestments and other things”.
So, why the curtain?
It’s important to remember that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ did not change God (Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Isaiah 46:9-11; Ezekiel 24:14, James 1:17), but rather changed mankind. In Matthew 5:17, Christ clearly says as much i.e., "do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill”. The God of the Old Testament is and always will be the same loving God that Jesus Christ revealed to His followers.
We were taught by Christ Himself to be perfect like the Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and it is because of our shortcomings we cry out in His Presence “Kurielieson” asking our Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy on us, for as hard as we try there is no doubt all of us will require the Grace of our Lord to forgive our shortcomings.
A true understanding of this makes it easier to explain that the curtain is not a symbol the Church uses to divide people into “holy” and “regular”. Rather as believers in Christ when we look at the curtain we remember what’s behind the curtain. The Madbaha is the most sacred place in our Church because of the altar on which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are worshiped and glorified, and on this altar mere bread and wine is made through the Holy Mystery into the real body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 6).
As Christians, we are called to challenge our understandings and relate to the Scriptures, and always “think about our Faith actively” and calling ourselves Orthodox does not excuse us from this duty. We should all have confidence that the Orthodox Faith does keep the Gospel central in everything we do in the Church, and more discussions within the Church should be encouraged to trigger in each of us the humility and understanding that will then lead to the revelations that unlock the beauty of Christ’s teachings.
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mathew 18:3-4)
Fr. John Behr once elaborated, “each person has to be responsible for themselves coming to Church and being a member of the Church. Why are you coming to this Church is what we should ask people ... just because my parents did and my parents before that did? Or is it because I believe that here I encounter the Lord of all Creation of this history, the one sitting at the right hand of the Father, tangibly… perceptibly .. and become His Body.
In the Indian Orthodox Church, too often we begin discussions and clarifications by thinking only of our culture, the traditions or the Apostolic roots through St Thomas. While these are important as it shapes our identity, they by no means should be the reason why we are members of the Church.
As an example, we are sometimes asked about the closed curtain that separates the altar from the rest of the Church. Other Oriental Orthodox churches also use a curtain, and in the Eastern Orthodox churches an iconostasis (usually a wooden wall or screen) serves the same purpose of demarcation.
Often the reply is that the curtain has been part of worship and Liturgy by the “true” Church for thousands of years, thereby using an argument that because the Church is ancient it is by some mathematical formula automatically “truth”. Or, the question itself is just dismissed, often with an explanation that these are simply rituals and old “traditions” of the Church that are of lesser importance. Worse, an admonishment (often tinged with anger) is directed at the person asking the question, along with unsolicited commentary on the poor job the parents did raising that person.
Mostly, the dictionary explanation is shared that the curtain is the symbol of the sky separating heaven and earth, with the Madbaha signifying the heaving and the unveiling of the curtain denoting the opening of heaven.
The manner in which we answer these questions are very important, as it reflects our own understanding of our Faith. More so, by not taking our answers seriously we also inadvertently perpetuate the misunderstandings and misconceptions on our pre-denominational Christian Church. It is a sad reality that rather than being identified as members of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that preserved the fullness of the Holy Trinity by the blood of martyrs and struggles of the Saints, our Church is rather associated with stagnation - a Church that is more obsessed with tradition, rituals and ethnicity rather than the “Authentic Jesus”.
We must remember that as Orthodox Christians we are constantly challenged by the true teachings of the Church to “think about our Faith actively” in order to become effective witnesses for Christ. The Truth is not hidden from us but rather in plain sight and close reach i.e., through the Qurbana and the Sacraments.
However Sunday attendance alone will never be sufficient to fully understand, and often the first step to move our personal relationship closer to the One True God may be as simple as picking up the Bible. St John Chrysostom (remembered in the fifth Thubden as Mar Ivanios) clearly stated that the cause of all evils in the Church comes from not knowing the Scriptures. More recently, Dr. Geevarghese Mar Ostathios Metropolitan also emphasized that the sacred traditions of the Church will never contradict Scripture, and that in fact “we must always explain the Scriptural truth in the context of the sacred traditions of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and not establish any dogma on the basis of the traditions alone”.
So, given all this, the question comes back - how do we answer the question on the curtain?
Dr Bradley Nassif advises that we should always start with Christ – “we need to show how he relates to everything in the Church. Talk about Christ first and foremost, and from Him then we go out to the Icons and the Priest’s vestments and other things”.
So, why the curtain?
It’s important to remember that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ did not change God (Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Isaiah 46:9-11; Ezekiel 24:14, James 1:17), but rather changed mankind. In Matthew 5:17, Christ clearly says as much i.e., "do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill”. The God of the Old Testament is and always will be the same loving God that Jesus Christ revealed to His followers.
We were taught by Christ Himself to be perfect like the Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and it is because of our shortcomings we cry out in His Presence “Kurielieson” asking our Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy on us, for as hard as we try there is no doubt all of us will require the Grace of our Lord to forgive our shortcomings.
A true understanding of this makes it easier to explain that the curtain is not a symbol the Church uses to divide people into “holy” and “regular”. Rather as believers in Christ when we look at the curtain we remember what’s behind the curtain. The Madbaha is the most sacred place in our Church because of the altar on which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are worshiped and glorified, and on this altar mere bread and wine is made through the Holy Mystery into the real body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 6).
As Christians, we are called to challenge our understandings and relate to the Scriptures, and always “think about our Faith actively” and calling ourselves Orthodox does not excuse us from this duty. We should all have confidence that the Orthodox Faith does keep the Gospel central in everything we do in the Church, and more discussions within the Church should be encouraged to trigger in each of us the humility and understanding that will then lead to the revelations that unlock the beauty of Christ’s teachings.
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mathew 18:3-4)
Comments
The "then" is still not within our grasp, although we get a taste of it. We live in an in-between stage of the Kingdom of God already but not yet in our midst. We are not yet privileged to see everything clearly and need faith to be patient, not demanding of our God, in a state of waiting.
Come to think of it, that's an important Advent theme as well.
It is indeed true that the Parousia and the coming of New Kingdom has not hapenned yet, and hence we are in a state of waiting. But it is also true that particularly in the Eucharist, the kingdom breaks in on us. At the the Eucharist when we face God, we are in present at the marriage feast of the Lamb. He is the Alpha and the Omega, when we are in Him, time, age etc do not figure.
Our Church has maintained this eschatological vision.
For me the curtain also serves the purpose of the separating the divine from the more profane.
In our secular, rights-oriented world, we cannot bear exclusion.
Yet as it were, the Orthodox Churches and all of Apostolic Christianity did the same.
When everything is Holy, nothing is really Holy.
This sense of sacredness, of the presence of Divinity, and the feeling of awe that one must feel in the presence of God, is something the Rood Screen inspires in us.
Suraj
To Suraj's point I would add that the curtain is simultaneously a reminder that all in the world is not yet holy, but also a sign of promise that the Spirit will one day transfigure all creation (the world beyond the curtain) and fill it with His glory. That transformation has already begun, but not yet complete. The curtain points to what is (all creation is not yet holy), but also of what will be (God's holiness will fill all creation).
That being said, I think we must be careful that we do not make the curtain into an absolute requirement of orthodoxy. The apostolic Roman Church, strictly speaking, never possessed an equivalent of the curtain. I think the Armenians have never used a curtain, but I'm not sure. Furthermore, even the Byzantine tradition shows some variance in its use of the iconostasis. For example, the Greeks tend to leave the royal doors (the two central doors) open throughout the Eucharistic liturgy, whereas the Slavs open and close them at various points. This diversity of practice should caution us against regarding the curtain as some original apostolic ingredient of the Eucharistic celebration. It is an element that developed in time, and though I doubt that the Apostles themselves used it (or if they did, that they used it the way we do), it bears witness to a very important truth: when Christ is done, He will be all in all.
Regarding the Roman churches, isn't it true that prior to Vatican II most churches had a similar separation using a low railing? I thought I read that in the Pope's book 'The Spirit of the Liturgy' ...
I was once told by a rather reliable source that the communion rail was first introduced to keep animals from wandering into the sanctuary in the days when people used to bring their animals--e.g. their horses or their offerings--into church. In the cathedral of Siena, for example, they still bring a horse into the sanctuary several times each year during the city's festivals (a practice which continues from the Middle Ages).
Absolutely agree that the Screen cannot be made an absolute requirement for Orthodoxy.
IMO Armenian Churches do have the screen, although one is not sure if they have abandoned them in America and Europe where Western churches would have been converted for use by the Orthodox.
http://www.epilgrim.org/badarak.htm
These pictures at the Catholicosate of Cilica in Lebanon seem to testify to the use of the Screen among the Armenians.
Joe a related point is that we often tend to abandon certain aspects as non essential or 'old world carry overs'; like specific postures for prayer and liturgy, the way our churches are built, instruments that do more harm than good have been added to embellish the liturgy; none of this adds or subtracts from the grace of the sacraments or their efficacy ofcourse.
But I think it begs the question; how did these customs and small "t" traditions come into place; if prayer sitting on a pew is just as valid as prayer standing , then what is the reason for standing. Standing for long is difficult and my back hurts as does yours; then why has the Church chosen the more difficult way.
Now please understand that I am not condemning anyone who sits or placing an extra yoke, but I wonder
why do the Orthodox normatively stand?
I believe that before we often change such things, we must also understand "spiritually" and not merely "contextually or culturally" why we do, what we do.
When I say this , I am often misunderstood on ICON and elsewhere as a sort of new Pharisee; but this feeling has sort of grown in me.
You will get my point when you see some of the older Churches in Kerala and the new one at Parumala; what changed? Is it primarily simply an issue of aesthetics? If so why do the pilgrims prefer to pray at the tomb and avoid the new Church. The new Church was created by one of the best architects around, why does it then not touch the soul?
My question therefore is; Is there something we do not see and perceive?
Hence I sort of feel, that should we lose the curtain tomorrow, we would have actually lost something, something arguably small and seemingly insignificant; but still something.
Doestevsky talks about beauty saving the world, I wonder if all this ties in together .
Forgive my long digression, it has nothing to do with your post, nor your comments, but just raising some topics for discussion.
Hope kindred souls like you guys understand
WH,
Is not the pulpitum and rood scree a Latin rite equivalent of the screen/iconostasis.
Suraj Iype
As you said, traditions do not necessarily affect the "efficacy" of the Holy Mysteries. The Eucharist is the Eucharist whether or not a curtain veils the sanctuary. Yet my experience is that asking what is "necessary" for a sacrament to be valid/efficacious is already a bad move. With time, it inevitably tends toward a kind of theological and liturgical minimalism which in turn reduces the Mysteries to mechanical processes--or worse, things--that "dispense grace" as though it the Church were some kind of divine vending machine (or "sacrament stations", as one of my Catholic friends says).
For this reason I think the traditions of our Church and the other Churches manifest the way in which our forefathers and forefathers received the Gospel and handed it on. It would be foolish for us to just omit or modify whatever it is that we think needs updating. My own tendency as a former Russian Catholic is to keep everything! True, our traditions are always in need of purification so that they reflect rather than obscure the Gospel, but it seems to me that that purification and renewal is something that takes a lot of time and even more discernment on the part of the whole Church.
And so, back to the curtain. Like Suraj, I think the removal of the curtain, though it would not necessarily efface the Gospel in any way, would be the loss of one our Church's most powerful symbols of the eschatological dimension of the Eucharist. My experience of Holy Tradition is always mediated by traditions, and their diminution would, at least for me, loosen my grasp (if one could call it that) on the faith which has come to us from the Apostles.
P.S.: Regarding the rood screen, my understanding is that is particular to English churches rather than to the Roman Church as a whole. I suspect this because the ancient churches in Italy that I've seen do not have a rood screen but rather a very low communion rail. But I could certainly be wrong about this...
Yes I think we are on one page, here.
As you said asking what makes an Eucharist valid is the first false move.
As Fr Schemann book says " For the life of the world", that is what the sacraments are meant to be, there can not be a tendency towards minimization here.
Suraj Iype
Yes I think we are on one page, here.
As you said asking what makes an Eucharist valid is the first false move.
As Fr Schemann book says " For the life of the world", that is what the sacraments are meant to be, there can not be a tendency towards minimization here.
Suraj Iype