THE BEAUTY OF THE HOLY ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN
RELIGION
Text and idealized plan (but not
icons) are
©
2000, 2003, 2004 by Orchid Land Publications
[last updated 20040727]
The beauty of Orthodoxy is manifest in different facets of the whole--in the coherence of the Orthodox Faith (and the lack of contradictions like inherited guilt and so on); in the piety of its Saints, in its adoration of God; in its icons of Jesus, the Theotokos and other Saints and its veneration of them; in its temples (where the parish or diocese had has the taste and funds to erect edifices that conform to the spirit of Orthodox houses of Worship); and so on.
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If a religion is beautiful, that is not a sufficient reason to em- brace it; truth is more important. But since beauty is part of true religion, a religion lacking beauty is not a religion that one should embrace. |
When you enter the most authentic Orthodox temples or look at pictures of them in a well-made book, you are at once struck by differences from what you are used to in Western architecture. You notice how shadow and light create a certain atmosphere--there are no stained-glass windows or chairs; and you cannot fail to note the icons on the walls and especially on the iconostas(ion) that screens off the nave from the hidden Sanctuary or Holy of Holies, where the Altar is. (See further on.)
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The iconostas(ion) has three doors with different names. The double-doors in the middle have an icon of our Savior (never shown in agony but always in repose) to the immediate right; farther to the right is the of St. John the Forerunner and Baptizer (closely associated with our Savior). To the immediate left of the doors in the middle is an icon of the all-holy Theotókos. To the left of her icon is that of the icon of the Saint or event that the parish is named for or an icon of the Annunciation with the Archangel Gabriel. The subdeacon's door on the far left usually portrays the Archangel Gabriel; the deacon's door at on the far right usually portrays Michael, the other of the two best known Archangels. Inside the nave, below the steps leading up to the iconosstas(ion), is the analogion, a lectern, shaped like the back of a dove with spread wings, that holds the Gospel as the deacon sings it. The marriage rite takes place at this lectern. |
Take, for example, the excellent photograph of the
Church of the Portaissa at the Holy Monastery of Iveron on Mt. Athos seen on p. 26 of The
glory of Byzantium (published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art--or to a lesser extent,
six pages earlier in the same volume, the photograph of St. Luke's temple at Phokis.
In the former, note not only how the light comes down from windows in the high dome, but
also the icon of Christ Pantokrator ("Almighty") in the dome itself; and note the
shrine to the Theotokos in the nave, with a rug for prostrating in front of it. Then
note the icons in this book themselves. They are neither abstract nor realistic;
they try to convey a spiritual reality through the medium of special paint made of egg
tempera and the wood they are painted on. (See icons
of different persons and events here.) For example, the Crucifix on p. 159 does
not show our Savior writhing in realistic agony but in a beatific pose. And why does
the centurion in the same votive plaque have his fingers touching in the way a bishop
blesses his flock? The Theotokos and Saints in other icons don't look realistic but
quite strange, though certainly not "abstract." (On the
cloisonné enamel of the necklace on p. 333, Panayía's image comes near to being abstract.)
In fact, Eastern iconography stands somewhere between the abstract and the
realistic and romantic, though it lacks the sentimentality of some Western
portrayals of the Theotokos and the realism of our Savior's anguish on the
Cross. Eastern icons of the Crucifixion in no way resemble those of Dürer.
Once one gets used to icons and come to appreciate
Eastern iconography, Romantic Western
portrayals will be much less appreciated and indeed
alien if not off-putting in terms of the religious purposes of art (if not of
art in general). A great collection of books on Orthodox iconography
can be found on the site of Dormition
Skete). The Western portrayals that I know of since El Greco that
most nearly resemble Eastern iconography are to be found in the Christian art of
Watanabe. I admire his portrayal of the three Magi kneeling in front
of the Theotokos with her Child. Certain icons are often found in
certain parts of a temple. Christ the Pandokrator (Almighty) sitting on
His throne belongs on the ceiling of the main dome; the Platytera Theotokos (her
arms are outspread, and the Christ child sits on her lap) is often found in the
apse dominating the Sanctuary, where the square Altar stands. Other
typical icons in the temple and on the ikonostasion are listed at the end of the
following diagram:
An interesting design that could inspire modern adaptations of its form is seen in the ancient Serbian monastery of the Gratsanitsa, on the left below; the structure on the left of this image may be a baptistery (that is where it would usually be located, though there may be a separated kiosk-like phiále): Note the absence of windows in the lower part of the area where the people stand. Orthodox temples lack windows in the part where the people stand: Light comes in front the lantern window in the tower. There are no chairs except for the infirm and pregnant.
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Where is the Orthodox architectural genius that can change the foregoing into a modern idiom WITH NO LOSS─the way John Tavener and Ivan Moody have done with Byzantine music? On the latter's "typikon" message board on eGroups, a site is referred to where one can download and play mp3 Slavonic liturgical music (using, e.g., winamp). |
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The above temple is the prevailing design for an Orthodox parish temple in Alaska and Japan. Above the part where the people stand is a round tower topped by an onion dome; the square tower containing the narthex (vestibule0 has a similar round structure atop of it. A cathedral usually has a flatter round dome topped by an small tower with an onion dome. Light comes in from lantern windows in the (often short) tower below the dome or in the dome itself. A three-bar Cross stands at the top of everything.
The temple above is a contemporary
American Greek Orthodox Church.
Notice the absence of windows.
Holy Trinity Seminary Temple
CLICK HERE and go to "architecture"
CLICK
HERE ON OVER-ROMANTICIZING ORTHODOXY
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As of 8-7-00, .MP3 music clips are being added to the more important subpages of this website. You can listen to them with Nullsoft Winamp Version 2.64 (either the lite version or the full version) audio player--downloadable at no cost from www.WinAmp.com/getwinamp/. Some of the longer tracks on the more important subpages take awhile to come on. Orthodox clips can be brought up by clicking the following selections: |
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SLAVIC |
GREEK |
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The Orthodox anthem par excellence is the Paschal tropary (see the note on opR175.html). You can listen to the Greek music (sung in English) by clicking on the foregoing; or else you can click the much longer Slavic version. For contemporary music of excellent quality and beauty composed in an Orthodox style, search your catalog for John Tavener, Ivan Moody, Arvo Pärt, and others. |
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Some day, I may add a discussion of the furniture (lecterns, etc.) in a temple. For now, it will suffice to say that in some parishes, the women stand on the left or Theotokos' side (or in a balcony), while the men stand on the right side of the temple.
There now exists a vast selection of Orthodox singing from various choirs in the English-speaking countries as well as from countries with proportionately larger Orthodox populations. There exist traditional divine Liturgies and Vespers or Vigil services (as well as similar compositions by Rachmaninoff, etc.) as well as music for Christ's Birthday and His glorious Resurrection--in Slavonic, Greek, and English. The following, available from the main Orthodox booksellers (CLICK HERE; or try Amazon.com) can be recommended for novices (along with the contemporary John Tavener's compositions--especially Byzantia [EMI records Ltd. & Virgin Classics) and Ivan Moody's Passion and Resurrection on the Hyperion label, which captures the Orthodox style and mood.
The divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church (in English; DLCL001--from an Australian parish choir) might well be your first selection.
Highly commendable English renderings of the divine Liturgy are The divine Liturgy (OCA1192 or SVRL582--sung by three Russian Orthodox seminary choirs in the USA) and The divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (OPS 30-78--a Greek Orthodox choir singing in unison).
New-comers to Orthodox singing may find the Russian music for the Creed and Lord's Prayer (these are said in the Greek tradition) very wonderful and not least the two Psalms and Beatitudes sung at the beginning of the Slavonic divine Liturgy. I will never forget first hearing the Alleluïas between the Apostle and Gospel lections in the first Ukranian temple I attended; this hundred-voiced choir in Chicago has never in my experience been equaled. One version of the Cherouvikon (sung at the Great Entry) sung in Greek temples is breath-taking; it's difficult to find it the way the writer first heard it many years ago in a Greek temple, but the rendering in The divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom comes close. Extremely moving also in the Greek divine Liturgy is the Communion anthem in the last part of the divine Liturgy), Aineîte (from the Psalms: "Praise the Lord from the Heavens! Alleluïa"). But aside from these especially exquisite compositions, the whole divine Liturgy and Vespers are inspiring. It is unfortunate that many temples lack adequate choirs for an adequate presentationof this music--or use cantors instead of a choir. The reader is advised that the anthems are not the same at every service; some vary from Lordsday to Lordsday or for some days following a major Festival; others may vary quite rarely, say in the last two weekdays of holy Great Week preceding Holy Pascha.
Among the many excellent collections
of ecclesiastical music in Slavonic are three I will venture to suggest to the
new-comer:
--the one-disk collection, Im Goldglanz der Ikonen (In the golden glow
of icons ,sung by an academic choir in Russia; BMG Classics LC 0202). -- the
two-disk collection, Russian voices (Koch-Schwann 3-1595-2 Y4x2; with an
absolutely magnificent photograph of an Orthodox Church on the informative
booklet that comes with these disks).
--two collections sung by the Valaam Brotherhood; try Taste the fountain of
immmortality (Conciliar Press #992821--sung mostly in unison or with a
faux
bourdon).
For a certain cast of mind, there is supreme beauty in the coherence and harmony of a cognitive system. It is not unlike the order and concord that one finds in good music. But if discord can play a valid rôle in music, this does not seem to be the case in cognitive pursuits, where harmony, the coherence of the details, and the way the assumptions of the system surmount potential contradictions give æsthetic pleasure in manifest truth. For both those who are and who are not "cerebrally" oriented, there is of course great beauty in the form as well as the content of many Orthodox prayers and in much of Orthodox piety. There is beauty in the lives of Saints who have endured persecution and torture, and others like the ex-harlot, St. Mary of Egypt, who is commemorated during the fifth week of the holy Great Fast. Orthodox beauty is thus holistic. Orthodox Worship is meant to be a foretaste of the Worship in Heaven (cf. Heb. 8:5). While we believe that Christ is bodily present in the Eucharistic Gifts, there are no special services in Orthodoxy devoted to exposing and worshiping them. But the uncreated Presence or Shekhinah or Energy is manifest as Heaven coming down to earth.
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Where are the talented Orthodox writers to write Orthodox dramas about our heroes--like the Western Man for all seasons? Yes, there was Dostoyevskiy, espeially his Brothers Karamazov; but what is there in our own day? Where are Orthodox authors of books and films--like Western films on a Saint's life or about Buddhists searching for wisdom? Fortunately, there are musicians; but where are the novelists, playwrights, and film-makers? Can a new English-speaking Dostoyevski arise to portray Orthodoxy as it is lived and believed--our Worship, piety, and core beliefs? Why is there no Orthodox Rogeropoulos and no Orthodox Hammersteinoff to create something like SOUND OF MUSIC in an Orthodox format? |
TO ORDER ITEMS
SEE ALSO R16 & R130 & R202 & R54
ICONS: R34, R61, R46 (R41, R200); MUSIC: R243
THE PEARL--Hymns by St. Efrem of Syria
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