Ch 15 Foundations of Orthodox Spirituality

What does the word ‘spirituality’ refer to?

spirit

How does someone receive spirituality

attending public prayers in religious places but others consider it as slightly more personal. Some feel that spirituality can only be felt in God-man relationship, others experience it through yoga, reading spiritual books, or helping others. No one can equalize the spirituality of each person and how it reflects in their live. It is essential to see a transformation through a spiritual life rather than a single spiritual experience.

How is spirituality seen in the Old Testament?

The central aspect of the Old Testament spirituality is the covenant relationship with God and the specially chosen people. God made a covenant with Abraham and promised the redemption of whole nations through his offspring. Abraham believed this covenant and trusted the Lord. The Old Testament spirituality is also based on the fear of transcended, powerful God through experience of man. Fear doesn’t keep men away from God but leads to complete submission and trust in God. Chosen people like Abraham, Noah, and Moses experienced this glory and power of God. Moses is considered one of the father of spirituality in Old Testament period. God chose Moses and appointed him to save Israelites from Egypt. The Israelites experienced the power of God and they feared and submitted themselves to God and His commandments. These incidents show God’s glory and power and His upper hand to communicate with man combined with His love to be with man

How is spirituality seen in the New Testament

The spirituality in New Testament is Christian’s response to God’s saving initiative from generation to generation. The spirituality is related to experiencing God and participating in the mystery of incarnation of God. The early Christians believed that Christ will come back within a short period of time; their spirituality was eschatological. The sharing of wealth equally among themselves is an example for this. They gave more focus to evangelical works, breaking of the bread, and secret prayers in the midst of persecution. Early Christian spirituality was Christocentric and Early Christian churches considered martyrdom as a sacrifice and practical method of spirituality. As the persecution lessened during the period from 3rd to 8th century, the opportunity for martyrdom became rare and Christian spirituality began to be centered on asceticism and celibacy. Some chose to live in the wilderness while some chose to lead lives in monasteries which were prominent centers of practical Christian spirituality.

What is eastern spirituality and its importance.

It’s based on the Holy Bible and traditional teachings of early Christian fathers, martyrs. An early believer can experience spirituality in an individual and communal level, both in this world and the eternal world. Eternal life of eastern spirituality is a continuation of the spiritual life in this world. The presence and work of Holy Spirit is given importance in eastern spirituality. The eastern gives more importance to the divine intervention in all aspects of life and believes that God’s presence in their life and sacraments are beyond the limits of human intelligence. They don’t separate worldly and spiritual life and rather continue their worldly life in a spiritual way. The Orthodox Church has two branches (Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church) that have common beliefs in Trinitarian worship and similar liturgies. The difference is in the nature of Christ. Eastern Orthodox Church believes that Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully divine while the Oriental Orthodox Church believes that Jesus is perfect in divinity and humanity but that both natures were united in a single nature ‘without mingling, confusion, or alteration.’ It is called Monophysite at first but now miaphysite. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches are working together to clear these differences though communion between the two Churches but there hasn’t been a communion yet. The Universal Syriac Orthodox Church is one of the major Oriental Orthodox Church and it has its own identity in spirituality similar to any Orthodox Church. Our spirituality is ecclesiastical and constantly related to prayers, worship, and sacraments. It is restricted to rituals and practices in our daily life and it is difficult to differentiate spiritual and non-spiritual matters. The church gives a spiritual tint and explanation to everything in life, accepting it as a blessing

What are the important aspects of Syriac Orthodox Spirituality

1. Holy Trinity Centered: Our Church’s spirituality is centered on Holy Trinity. We experience God’s boundless love through the New Testament fathers and Old Testament fathers. Jesus is the fulfillment of this everlasting love and his salvific acts give assurance to an eternal life. We experience this love through the intervention of Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in each faithful person and leads him
2. Sacrament: Sacraments are therapeutic medicine for the soul’s transformation. By participating in the Holy sacraments, each person is transformed into an inseparable part of the salvation that Jesus Christ defined. In Holy Baptism and Holy Mooron, a person gets rid of his/her old sinful self, joins the Church that is the body of Christ and becomes the son or daughter of God the Father and receives the Holy Spirit. A genuine confession and acceptance of Holy Communion helps strengthen our spirituality. The Holy Qurbono is the ultimate form of all worship and focuses on the whole incarnation of Jesus Christ and second coming. This sacrament is above the limitations of place and time and gives great opportunity to experience heavenly bless and the presence of Holy Trinity and angels in heaven. It is a heavenly feast and beyond human comprehension. By continuing with this Sacrament we experience Jesus by receiving His Holy Body and precious Blood and uniting with Christ.
3. Worship and Prayers; The Church gives importance to worship and prayers on a community basis rather than individual level. The language of prayers is plural and it is rare to see the use of first person in prayers. The prayers are usually led by clergy. There are preset prayers and hymns in the worship, which allow more discipline and exact guidance for the faithful. They are formulated by spiritual enlightened fathers or saints preventing any self exaltation and help us have a balanced and meaningful prayer. The main aspects are praise, adoration, confession, repentance, thanksgiving, petitions, and intercessions. We must have prayer lives with our family.
4. Theology: We must learn theology. The prayers and liturgy are treasures that let us learn the theology of the church. They aren’t just prayers to God but contain different faith aspects, ideologies, and respectful advises. The prayers and songs in a burial service are not just prayers for the departed souls but contain advice for the living and describe the fearful Judgement Day as well as the beauty of eternal life in paradise or horror of everlasting life in hell. The prayers and songs of Lenten period teach us the importance of showing mercy towards poor and needy. The intercessory prayers in our Holy Communion for the needy, widows, afflicted, poor, and oppressed, show that our spirituality is not limited towards God but can be extended towards humans as well.