ΤΗΕ ROLE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

The church – a “funeral home”

Unfortunately, this is the current state of our Church: a divorce office, a marriage and baptizing office! So, people come and say:

“I want to get married. Let us set a date, Father.”

“Alright, I am happy for you, but are you spiritually ready for that?…

If a couple comes across a pastorally responsible and spiritually healthy priest, who would ask if they confess regularly, they will ignorantly reply “But, Father, we just want to get married.”

Do they actually know what they are up to? If they never go to confession, how successful do they think their marriage would be? How are they going to enter into the mystery of this sacrament, if they have not yet entered the mystery of repentance (Metanoia) and purification from their sinful passions? They will get nothing at all. They will come and stand before the priest as Hollywood actors, having absolutely no clue about what they are supposed to do, and so will also their “best man” do. No clue, either! He thinks he will just have to change the position of the wedding wreaths over the heads of the newlyweds, smile at the photographer, and that’s all.

This way, they sadly fail to “enter” into the true theology of this Holy Sacrament (Mysterion).

How pitiful, our Holy Sacraments have ended up being just a means to show off our wealth and nothing more… Instead of being THE significant and spiritually shocking event of partaking of the Devine Grace, it is usually a cheap “fiesta”!!!

Sadly, nobody pays attention at what’s happening during the ceremony, this Holy Sacrament! An absolute disrespect… The priest and the attendants are just actors, who are needed to give life to this theatrical performance! What a disgrace…

It is often written in the wedding invitations: “You are kindly invited to the show etc. … that will take place in the church of … etc.…. with leading actors (mentioning the names of those to be married) and so forth…”

The reason for turning the Sacraments of Baptism and Marriage into a stage performance is because we lost the real meaning of them and not consider them therapeutic anymore (healing methods of our Orthodox Church).

We no longer live the therapy given by the Holy Sacraments (the orthodox Christian Baptism, the orthodox Christian Marriage, the Mysterion of Repentance). We no longer experience all of what happens to our very existence during these Holy Sacraments, when we participate under proper conditions.

A very common practice among modern couples is what they usually do when they meet a traditional priest, who objects to the way they want to get married. They immediately go and find another more convenient priest “next door”, at the adjacent parish! Why? Because the “convenient” priest does not tell them to go to confession before the marriage, and other such allegedly (by secularists) weird things!

A very sad situation, indeed, in our very Orthodox Church… all our institutional persons are suffering from the same spiritual illness…

So, if anyone wants to figure out how all this started and how we ended up facing these problems, they should read Adamantios Koraïs.