The House Of God: Architecture, Vestments & Religious Articles (Discovering Orthodox Christianity)

hello and welcome to discovering Orthodox Christianity I'm Stacy Spanos your host for the series of programs designed to explain the basic teachings of Orthodox Christianity we're honored to be filming at the Holy Cross Chapel on the campus of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox school of theology in Brookline Massachusetts in today's program we'll discuss the house of God architecture vestments and religious articles used within the church our distinguished guests are dr. Helen C Evans she holds the position of Mary and Michael G harris curator for Byzantine art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City nice to have you here we also have here today dr. Anton C frame he is the director of religious education for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and also author of the book the educating icon thank you for being with us today dr. Evans let's begin with you Orthodox Church architecture is certainly very distinct how so explain to us the many different facets of the church well Orthodox Church architecture as we think of it is like the building we're in a centrally focused building with a dome originally Orthodox Church architecture was far more varied and you see it's the monastery of st. Catherine at Sinai a church built by the Emperor Justinian which is still a basilica but by today we think generally of this tradition that begins really in the middle Byzantine period where the church is brought together and in a very protective to me a very enveloping space where you enter through the narthex where you leave the secular world and prepare to come into the holy in the Middle Ages they were often tombs in that area and then into the nave which is where we the lay public gather and then you have the icon screen the Econo status the barrier and beyond it the apse with the altar which is where the Eucharist is prepared and therefore in many ways some a sacred part and above us we are protected in a way by an image of Christ Pantocrator in the dome above the portion where we the congregation are and in the apse the image of the Virgin who is a mediator she is of Earth and of heaven and mediates between us there are many many ways to read these images and they all speak to reaching from the the earthly level to the divine let's go back to the narthex this is the the front doors and what does that signify there the narthex it's the transitional space you as Helen was saying you you're in the world you're walking down the street and you just don't want to jump in to this holy environment that the church building is and so the narthex the entryway becomes this transitional space where you can begin to focus begin to observe your dedication by lighting a candle venerating the an icon greeting your neighbor that kind of so that you're preparing you to walk into the nave and participate in the worship service the liturgy of that day the whatever it happens to be so then you enter the nave right what is a decorum for being in the name the nave me enough it comes from North East which means the ship it's the Ark we're so we're in this Ark and we're gathered around to hear the words of the prayer is to attend to the scriptural readings to sing the hymns of praise that the congregation will sing to God and then to participate in the sunday liturgy the Eucharist in the meal the Last Supper where it's being recreated in some ways for us so that we can participate in Holy Communion so at a very practical level you should be respectful should be recognizing you're in a holy place we think of the sanctuary behind the icon Trina is the holy place but it's the Holy of Holies the holy place and so we really should be respectful proper decorum and behavior you know it's not a place to go running around and things like that and the altar is of course where the mystery of Christ kind of all comes together for Orthodox Christians tell me about some of the things in the altar dr. Evans the the objects that are on the altar and we have some of them here are the objects that are used to prepare and then to serve the Eucharist which is an avocation of the Last Supper and the gathering together of the disciples with Christ and we in a way become part of that Brotherhood of disciples by the activity of participating in this event though we don't actually know what the first Christians in 50 80 used for the Eucharist but they have to have had a container that held liquid and they have to have had as something that held bread because he said to take the bread and the wine in memory of him we have these works that show in a way the fact that all the traditions remain the same they also evolve and the two silver pieces probably pewter are copies of a patent the flat dish for the bread and the chalice for the wine from the sixth century this is a replica of something that was used in the sixth century so very simple 500s very simple but the original would have been a yard wide and it would have been the plate would have been silver it's the original they're examples at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington they are huge they speak of like an immense number of people coming together to participate and if you look at the chalice this one is maybe half our third of the side of the originals that you have a huge very welcoming bowl for the wine and a small knock so that you would be holding it separately and back in the the olden days did they sip from the cup now the priest gives us feeds us through a spoon for phrase the the practice of using the spoon came about as I'm told in the ninth tenth century prior to that yes people would have partaken straight from the cup itself or the cup would have a large cup could be used and over for a large congregation then parceled out into smaller cups for people to drink from but this became a much more efficient way of doing it and also allowing there was a concern for the proper respect that you don't come here and gulp from this chalice you just take a sip that's you know so this idea that you can kind of imagine somebody said well if I'm if I just drink more I'll be more holy or better communion I'm sick maybe I'll get a little yeah and so the church wants to say no no no just a small spoon rolls enough so talk to me about the difference in the styles here well it goes back to all the things that have happened the Christianity is existed now for more than two thousand years and what was the style of one century is replaced by the style of the other the use remains the same what I find fascinating about the evolution is that it becomes more theatrical that the chalice is now here and you have a large space so you have something that you can present quite dramatically and the patent has also been put on a stand so the ability of the congregation perhaps to see in to the altar and to see what is happening is clear are these would have been used before the icons block the view of the altar it may have been a different sense of what is a type of performance that we are invited from this section to participate in without actually particularly for women entering this the holiest of holy are so because women do not have access to the sanctuary with just a couple of here exceptions with the proper blessing to do a tab technically no person who doesn't have a task male or female is allowed in the sanctuary but in a convent a non man to the sanctuary or something like that tell me about something that embarrassingly enough I just learned about shortly after well September 11th of 2001 in many churches and correct me if I'm wrong is in all churches there is something called a relic in the sanctuary what is that well a relic is a piece usually a bone fragment because they can last a long time of the saint of a saint but it could be a relic of other items as well but we'll leave it with the the Saints a part of their body a part of a bone fragment and this becomes another connection between the believer the faithful and this individual you're in by being in the presence of the relic you're being in the presence of the person whose relic it is and in the church going back to the very early on 2nd century Christians would gather around the relics of their saints to celebrate the Eucharist to pray to sing praises to God honor the life of this usually frequently martyr and participate in the life of the church in this way and so today the relics could be placed in a in a table in the altar table as part of the consecration of a church so that to remind us of this gathering around the body the relic of the saint but they could also be placed in small reliquaries just as fancy or as simple as these objects in front of us for direct veneration processions and cetera and I should explain I learned about it on September shortly after September 11th because of the Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed that was at the base of the towers on that tragic day yes so you can think of some object from that church as becoming a relic of that and so to be in the presence of that item that object is to be in the present to remind us everything to do with that day and then Church that's why we go to plate even with September 11 that's why we still gather at places that have part of the our iron structure of the building that too is a relic of that event there are different styles in churches when it comes to Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox with Russian orthodoxy we tend to think of those beautiful golden domes in the churches how what are the differences what Russian churches originally the first generation of them are built by men going from Constantinople they are converted from the Imperial Center and there's a wonderful primary text about Russian visitors being sent to Constantinople and writing back that when they were in high Asafa they didn't know if they were in heaven or on earth and that that was the religion they should convert to so the first generation is really not very different probably there were many more golden domes in the Byzantine world and we think up now and certainly in Novgorod the highest afiyah and Novgorod is an evocation of Constantinople over time the Russian churches many of which were built in would get these fantastically shaped domes the onion domes and other shows that st. Basil's in on Moscow right outside of the Kremlin and the Red Square has all sorts of domes and they are gilded so we think I miss being very different but if you went inside and followed the paths that are needed for the performance of the religious rites they're not that different right it again I think it reflects this an aesthetic that the Russian tradition has they from what I've been told they like things that are tall and very dramatic and it reflected in there and it reflects in their architecture it needs to stand out in some way and the modern the Greek aesthetic was a little bit different and remain stayed the same just as our American aesthetic about architecture is very different and I'm thinking about my home Church in Florida it does not look like a traditional Church like this one does and apparently that that's okay that's okay it could cite it certainly does inside I'm sure it looked very similar to this but it could be everything from the tradition of how the community built it or bought it from someone else how they try to make it work for what they had available to them and both financial resources the size of the community things like that and then or did they go and build it and again we see here in the United States architects looking at the standard tradition of a dome and apps this layout and then saying well we can use different materials we confuse it with a different eye piece because this is America we wanted we do things a little different we have our own aesthetic and so especially from the 50s through the evening down to today but certainly fifty sixty seven nineteen fifties sixties seventies we see this very kind of a what some people called neo-byzantine this kind of mixture of traditional with something very very modern sometimes it worked well sometimes it didn't right good frankly right a Greek Orthodox Church yeah in Church in Milwaukee was one of his last Commission's it was built in the late 50s and he designed it but it looks like a quintessential Frank Lloyd Wright you know it's Frank Lloyd Wright a structure yeah you know it's Frank Lloyd Wright but he is Frank Lloyd Wright did he designed everything from the building to the pews to the icon screen everything that was so this obviously there are certain rules that the architect has to follow at least in terms of the interior not necessarily the exterior well I think the the biggest rule is to separate the congregation from the holiest of Holies the way Frank Lloyd Wright did his icon screen is not like any other one I've ever seen instantly Church you know the architect an architect today will we say will work with the community that needs to build something they'll work with do we want we need an Rx a nave a sanctuary we need space for people to move around those plans get approved at some point by metropolitan yes the congregation will send their plans to the local bishop for approval for both the architect the design fear on the understanding that he probably has a little more experience doing this than a typical congregation well and then also approve who designs the icon screen who designs the who paints the icons all of those kinds of things just so that things are done well and properly and again thinking of things that a congregation wouldn't think of like you know where do you how do you get people from one end of the building to the other and comfort and safety does the altar have to face any particular direction the tradition as they face east face the Rising Sun is that always done not always sometimes the real estate doesn't quite do what you want to do right yeah but more often than not that's what they try to make it happen how does the architecture of the church reflect the artwork inside well usually it's it's built enough at the same time the artwork is added that they are on the same period but sometimes you have very very modern buildings in which you have brought very old images it doesn't even here in this church which is a 20th century mid 20th century Church there are elements that were built that were contemporary with it but evoke different periods in Byzantine art so I don't think you can ever think of it as a one has to be like the other it's what you want it to be is harmonious and I think perhaps to go back to your question about Greek versus Russian Greek architecture like Greek traditions often stresses the harmonious the symmetrical the balance the calm as opposed to the dramatically exaggerated are unbalanced and that that it gives you as in this building a sense of peace to be in the space let's talk about some of the vestments the priests and the Deacons wear and I know you have we have an icon here if you could hold that up and give people an example of what we're talking about what I'm holding up is an icon of st. Ambrose and we know Ambrose Ambrose of Milan fourth century bishop of the church and he's wearing a bishops vestments but what's interesting we know it's well we know it's a Bishop's residence it is because he's wearing the traditional great OMA Farian of the bishop we think of the bishop wearing this very large wrap over everything else which crosses on it and it carries down over here and down in front of him and it's the quintessential vestment of a bishop it's kind of what signifies this is a bishop of the church as opposed to the more simple stole the effective Helion of the priest which is the piece that runs it goes down his neck and in front of him or the or Ariane they're kind of this belt like item that the Deacon wears and holds up when he's singing the petitions so we those so each rank of clergy has these distinctive elements to it and to them rather and yet even in this icon we know there's a bit of an anachronism here why well bishops didn't always wear this this is a later tradition it was and so again as the church became more of developed and in the first six centuries you couldn't tell a priest form a bishop from a deacon yeah so they all kind of look the same but as things become more structured more and rigorous around that then the rank became important and so the clothing item begins to reflect the rank just think of it in kind of military terms oh that's a bad analogy in some ways you can tell the generals from the privates so dr. Evans from an artist perspective when you look at the vestments what do you think because some of them are especially during services especially during Holy Week are quite beautiful oh they're exquisite and some of them some of the most beautiful all are not just the patterns because I find in this tradition where you use a play of crosses against voids and you can read them in many ways to be exceptional you have the ones that at the greatest are walking icons they are the narrative scenes of the life of Christ or images of Christ and the Virgin where if you think of the stationary icons the icons that are the architecture of the Pontic Rother and the dome the Virgin in the apse and then add the priests coming and going wearing them there they're kind of the most moveable of icons and bring the whole meaning of the church to life and were meant to do that so it was always meant to have a deep meaning what we think is that in the first generations just as we don't know what you first used to hold the wine we don't know what the men who were serving at war but that they're wearing the dress in some way that was what you wore in the second third century which was a large tunic and that that then evolves into the basic level of the priestly garments and the more elaborate ones as he was saying get added as you are increasingly identifying rank and and to a degree certainly in the later centuries taking on the role of the secular authority that is eroding and we did not discuss this in the icon segment but I'd like to bring it up now because I see this icon the priests who do this with their fingers does that mean well it's a gesture of blessing you can see it in the icon of Christ John the Baptist's and it's the gesture of blessing the traditional blessing was we'd be done with two fingers and then to make the sign of the Cross and then over time the Byzantines get especially in icons it style eise's it into this rather elaborate gesture and it becomes a Krista Graham it the tradition today would tell us that we're forming the letters IC XC in our fingers Jesus Christ Isuzu Christos and so it's not even so even the messages it's not the priest whose blessing you or the bishop its Christ but it starts out as a very much more simple gesture with two fingers we see today sometimes just the hand as a gesture of blessing let's talk about the significance of the sensor that is used in the service explained to us what that is well the sensor is as a wonderful container for incense which when lit perfumes the space and the Deacon swings it and it is so much a role that the Deacon does that Stephen the proto mater the first Saint is shown as a deacon and he's often shown from the very earliest times swinging a sensor so in a way his we associate it with him and sensors were used everywhere they were used in pagan temples they were used in your private homes why were they used probably to make the air smell better it's a luxurious gift it's it's among the gifts to the Christ child gold and so from the beginning the idea that you would have this association but and your question points to a lot of these things that we instantly go jump into the kind of mystical spiritual religious realm had very very practical purposes perfume the air the the Jews practiced animal sacrifice but around that sacrificial table they're burning a lot of incense because as you can imagine sacrificing animals is not isn't pleasant to the senses and so you're trying to offset some of that now people back then is you know are quite would've gonna custom to animal flesh and all these kinds of things but again it's trying to do this in a way that was pleasing to God cover up what needed to be covered up and and so and then we begin then to ascribe other kinds of significance to it as we begin to reflect on it and certainly by today when we're not doing any of those kinds of things and another beautiful symbol that is used in the the Divine Liturgy is the Bible and we've got an example over your shoulder there talk to me about the significance of what is on that Bible and are they all the same in each Orthodox Church um okay it's it's the book of the Gospels it's the book of the daily new testament gospel lectionaries the four evangelists for the law not the full Bible not even the full New Testament basically the daily reading of one of the four got one of the four evangelists that's done every day within the liturgical cycle of the church and most of them are there printed in such a way so that they're here's the section you read today here's the section you read tomorrow and then other kind of events and services and things like that and then this book is bound and then becomes decorative over time again they probably weren't always this elaborate and certainly not as elaborate as the one we have here to remind us of this is an important text part of the theater your eyes going to be grabbed to this I need to pay attention to this and also our respect this is the word of God the word of God is a treasure we're going to cover the word of God in our best finery and is it standard what symbolism is on the book here the Gospels here well not altogether if you to go back to our icon which in the depiction of the gospel that he is holding it's decorated with rich jewels so the decoration with rich jewels and gold is I think something that one aspires to through the centuries because this is a pattern that's very similar to the one that you see on the 6th century icon that Christ of Christ at Sinai holding a gospel of what is usually added our images of the four event Julis because it's their words that through which God Christ is speaking on them you can have crosses you can have as on this one beautiful flowers auspicious symbols that are not necessarily in the beginning totally of concrete in a religious image and you are more than anything else showing that you respect the quality of what the word is and recognizes its significance and as you remember in the service the book is brought in and its process process so to have something that responds to light and sparkles is important what does the Orthodox Church say dr. frame about the trend now towards things a little bit more ornate a little bit more embellished because a lot of people say Christianity is about keeping it simple example well I think the two examples here show that over time our understanding of who we are as Christians and as church also reflects that these things and so we right now so we would say this embellished quite elaborate patent and chalice is reminding us of the heavenly kingdom when you're with the king you want to bring out the things that are the most elaborate the most beautiful that you can have and we would associate that with these two items here but yet we're in a moment perhaps now - or some people are saying no well we've that King was a simple King Jesus he never wore a crown he never wore fancy you know robes or anything like that and so the style would reflect this the one that's in right in front of me much more simple and so we're constantly navigating through that you also often hear the term house of God do we have a responsibility to keep faithful to that term is this a house of God I think all Christians have a responsibility to and wherever they are worshiping all respect that term yeah we say this is the place where God wells where we interact with God most directly yeah I can step outside in the courtyard here and interact with God in prayer and things like that but it's here where it's more a little it's more concentrated in some way more focused and trying to draw me in more intentionally than when I'm walking down the hill and admiring the trees and the flowers and I can look at those trees and flowers to say what a wonderful God we have gave us these things but yeah it's the house of God and it's consecrated I mean to agree that's what you're saying this is a space that was built and people of faith came together and said this is a place we will worship why would you go still term holy that this is a holy space this whole building and holy olt at its core understanding was set apart and so this place was set apart for one task and one thing only and that was to glorify God wasn't meant to you know become a kitchen it wasn't meant to be something else it wasn't meant even to be a TV studio which some people have doing this here but we're doing what are we doing it here well because this is a teaching the church is also a teaching space we have a pulpit where the congregation is instructed we have a place where we can gather around and we can hear a sermon and we hear the word of God read to us so we can learn it and so this this space is becoming just a new place with a new medium of expression and to communicate the same gospel truth that I can read to you or preach to you from a pulpit dr. Braam and dr. Evans thank you so much for your time and to see more programs in the series discovering Orthodox Christianity please visit youtube.com slash Greek Orthodox Church I'm Stacey Spanos thanks for joining us you you

Channel: GreekOrthodoxChurch

Views: 8,593

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Keywords: Greek, Orthodox, Christian, America, Vestment (Garment)

Id: v9PZDCsdU1M

Length: 32min 21sec (1941 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 03 2013