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Question 97.
Your blessing dear Father
Christopher,
It seems there are some liturgical practices and objects that have a
jewish origin. For example the curtain and the washing of hands.
Regarding the curtain a friend once told me that historically it should
be divided in two representing the curtain of the Temple that was torn
during the crucifixion. Do you have any thought about that?
What's the meaning of opening and closing the curtain at specific times?
For example, the curtain remains half opened during an interval of the
liturgy of the pre sanctified gifts. What's the theological meaning for
that?
Akakios
Answer to Question 97.
Dear Akakios,
There are indeed many liturgical practices that have a Jewish origin and
this is only to be expected because the Christian church is the
fulfilment of the Jewish expectation. The first Christians were Jews and
continued their worship in the Jewish tradition which they took and
adapted to the new Christian faith.
In the Old Testament the veil in the temple was a constant reminder that
sin renders humanity unfit for the presence of God. The word “veil” in
Hebrew means a screen, divider or separator and its purpose was to
separate a Holy God from sinful man. Whoever entered into the Holy of
Holies was entering the very presence of God. In fact, anyone except the
high priest who entered the Holy of Holies would die. Even the high
priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only pass through
the veil and enter this sacred dwelling once a year, on a prescribed day
called the Day of Atonement. To do this the high-priest had to make some
meticulous preparations: He had to wash himself, put on special
clothing, bring burning incense to let the smoke cover his eyes from a
direct view of God, and bring blood with him to make atonement for sins.
("But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a
year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the
sins the people had committed in ignorance.") (Hebrews 9:7)
So the presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain
during the history of Israel. However, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the
cross changed that. When He died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple
was torn in half, from the top to the bottom. Only God could have
carried out such an incredible feat because the veil was too high for
human hands to have reached it, and too thick to have torn it. The
curtain was about 60 feet in height, 30 feet in width and four inches
thick. Furthermore, it was torn from top down, meaning this act must
have come from above.
We understand by this that with the veil torn in two the Holy of Holies
was exposed and God’s presence was now accessible to all. The torn veil
symbolises Jesus’ body sacrificed for us, opening the way for us to come
to God. As Jesus cried out “It is finished!” on the cross, He was indeed
proclaiming that God’s redemptive plan was now complete. The age of
animal offerings was over. The ultimate offering had been sacrificed.
The Holy of Holies is a representation of heaven itself, God’s dwelling
place, which we now have access to through Christ. St. Paul writes:
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for
us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And [having] an high
priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith." (Hebrews 10:19-22)
As for the curtain we have in our churches today, I cannot see why it
should be divided in two as it does not have the same purpose as the
veil of the Jewish Temple. Probably this is represented by the royal
doors which are usually two panels. In the Old Testament the curtain was
to keep sinful humans separate from God. The holy Fathers liken the
royal doors (properly translated from the Greek –The Beautiful Gate, the
curtain and in general all of the Iconostasis as a boundary between two
worlds: the Divine and the human, the permanent and the transitory.
Although it is a screen dividing the Divine world from the human world,
the Iconostasis at the same time unites the two worlds into one whole in
an image that reflects a state of the universe where all separation is
overcome, where there is achieved a reconciliation between God and the
creature. Standing on the boundary line between the Divine and the human
are the Icons of Christ, the Mother of God, and the Saints who show us
the way to this reconciliation.
As for why the royal doors and curtain are opened and closed, this has
some symbolic meanings at certain parts of the liturgy, but I cannot
think of any theological reason for this practice. In fact in the Greek
churches it has almost been abolished during the liturgy and only
observed during the weekday vespers without entrance, compline, the
ordinary hours when there is no Gospel reading and during the first part
of matins until the reading of the Gospel. During these services there
is no practical reason for the royal doors and curtain to be opened.
(see reason below)
In the early Church there were two schools of thought that developed
around the same time: the Schools of Alexandria and Antioch. Although
both Christian they developed different interpretations of scripture and
most of the early heresies derived from taking one or the other of these
teachings to extremes. The theology that prevailed and what we call
Orthodox was a good balance of both schools.
The Christological approaches of the two rival theological schools of
Alexandria and Antioch were influential in how writers understood the
symbolic and mystical interpretations of the Divine Liturgy. Authors
stressed the school of thought of their own time and place and thus we
see that writers of the Alexandrian school of thought, which stressed
the divinity of Christ to the almost exclusion of his humanity, gave
emphasis to the heavenly level and the eschatological aspect of the
Liturgy, while writers from the literally minded Antiochian School,
which stressed the humanity of Christ, gave emphasis to the historical
aspect of the Liturgy; seeing in every action of the Liturgy a dramatic
re-enactment of the Passion of Christ.
The closing of the curtain after the Great entrance with the Holy Gifts
is one of these re-enactments. With the Priest entering the Sanctuary
with the Chalice and Paten, Christ has been Crucified and taken down
from the Cross. The Sanctuary becomes the tomb and the Holy Altar the
actual stone where Christ’s body was laid. As the Priest sets the Paten
and the Chalice upon the Altar and removes the veils, he takes the Aer
from his shoulders and covers with it the holy gifts. As he does so, he
says the following hymn: "Down from the tree Joseph, a godly man, took
Thy most pure Body, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, and
laid and closed it in a new sepulchre." At this moment the Priest
represents Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus who took care of Christ’s
burial. The Aer which covers the holy gifts has two representations,
first it represents the linen sheet with which Joseph wound Christ’s
body and secondly it represents the stone which Joseph placed upon the
tomb and which was later sealed by the Roman guards. Then taking the
censer the Priest will cense the holy gifts. The censing of the Holy
Gifts now on the Holy Altar represents the aroma of the myrrh and sweet
spices that Joseph and Nicodemus used for the burial. The closing of the
curtain also represents the sealing of the tomb with the stone which
will later be opened at the time of communion symbolising the
Resurrection and the opening of the tomb. Thus with the Antiochian
interpretation, the Great Entrance takes us back into time to re-live
the events of Christ’s saving Passion and Death and burial as though
they are happening now in front of our very eyes.
In general the closed curtain at other times is a monastic custom
because the priest during the other services mentioned above does not
serve them from the sanctuary, but stands in a pew outside in the nave
or the narthex of the church. The only time he enters the Sanctuary is
to cense during the Vespers without Entrance.
Some of the monastic customs were adopted by parish churches. One of
these is the closing of the Curtain or Royal Doors during the Communion
of the Priests at the words «Πρόσχωμεν. Tα Άγια τοις Αγίοις» (Let us
attend. The Holy things unto the Holy).
In monasteries, during this time, the Abbot and then the brethren
according to their rank, will very quietly and reverently go one by one
and kiss the Icons on the Iconostasis then standing in the middle of the
Church will bow to all the brethren asking forgiveness. This custom was
copied by Parishes, but without the solemn and reverent order of the
monks. Like many things in Parishes, the people have no idea of order
and would all rush to kiss the Icons before receiving Holy Communion and
in many places would sound like a stampede of cattle. With the curtains
closed, many people very wrongly and irreverently treat this time
similar to an interlude at the theatre and start talking among
themselves: all that is missing is the popcorn. Far from being an
interlude, this time should be used to recollect our thoughts and pray
from the heart that God may find us worthy to partake of the fearful
Mysteries without condemnation. In an attempt to bring back some order
at this most solemn time, many Parishes have put a ban on kissing the
Icons at this time and purposely leave the curtain open so that the
people can see that the service is not in an interlude but is still
continuing with the preparation for Holy Communion. So whether it is
right or wrong to leave the curtain opened, circumstances have forced us
to find solutions to teach the people a sense of orderly conduct. Sadly
we still have a long way to go. You need only be witness to the
communion of the people on the Great feasts. They completely ignore the
proclamation “With fear of God, faith and love draw near” and with a
disorderly madness everyone pushes to reach the Chalice first, stepping
on each other toes in the process.
I do not have a curtain where I serve so I have no problem with
symbolisms, but in general I believe that the curtain should remain
opened during the entire Liturgy. I know that the Russian and Antiochian
Churches have customary times of opening and closing the curtain at
various times during the Liturgy, but as I cannot think of any symbolism
behind this, I can only put it down to customs which vary between
Orthodox churches of different nationalities. But if you hear of any
other reasons for this practice I would love to know.
With love in Christ
Fr. Christopher
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