Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

remplaza_fecha, ultimafecha, var, 2017, 2012, of, the, orthodox, for, jun, mar, jul, sept, android, part, can, find, substitution, tag, post, dateheader, mass, according, to, st, germanus, paris, apology, all, 13, oct, 18, 12, apr, 21, feb, 16, 2013, aug, 31, 27, posts, not, that, creation, rejoices, about, me, from, mouths, saints, featured, readers, my, blog, why, add, yourself, previous, search, by, topic, or, date, other, blogs, read, sites, like, bethany, third, second, culture, things, take, granted, first, what, in, name, ash, wednesday, on, canonicity, whatever, may, be, rocor, western, rite, developments, render, unto, caeser, night, vigil, pedantry, fast, please, lent,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (622), and (239), that (184), this (107), not (74), for (73), #orthodox (68), was (67), with (57), church (56), share (48), are (47), have (43), which (40), from (38), but (36), mass (34), rite (33), our (33), who (32), you (31), been (28), they (28), has (27), there (27), all (26), western (26), liturgy (26), what (26), had (25), one (25), very (25), would (24), any (23), churches (22), germanus (22), byzantine (20), people (20), into (19), gallican (19), these (19), when (19), your (18), will (18), fast (18), being (18), facebook (17), here (17), know (17), other (17), more (17), some (17), such (17), his (17), those (17), were (17), communion (16), posted (16), part (16), their (16), ancient (15), responses (15), pinterest (15), blogthis (15), email (15), them (15), cyprian (15), its (14), where (14), like (14), time (14), android (14), out (14), how (14), then (14), only (14), about (14), clergy (14), practice (14), eastern (14), rocor (13), over (13), 2005 (13), may (13), lent (13), labels (13), just (13), bishop (13), day (13), can (13), after (13), might (13), ago (12), liturgical (12), 2006 (12), 2010 (12), way (12), see (12), much (12), life (12), orthodoxy (11), faith (11), years (11), russian (11), did (11), use (11), used (11), name (11), than (11), yet (11), god (11), many (11), holy (11), ashes (11), deacon (11), new (10), among (10), 2007 (10), things (10), others (10), also (10), think (10), perhaps (10), most (10), while (10), custom (10), let (10), year (9), place (9), 2012 (9), point (9), according (9), well (9), fact (9), divine (9), however (9), true (9), another (9), shall (9), uncanonical (9), saint (9), peace (9), paris (9), rites (9), 2009 (8), own (8), read (8), june (8), july (8), 2011 (8), iphone (8), now (8), cannot (8), something (8), english (8), word (8), great (8), say (8), made (8), indeed (8), form (8), make (8), because (8), simply (8), canonical (8), faithful (8), ash (8), sung (8), roman (7), asked (7), hymn (7), february (7), march (7), april (7), august (7), apps (7), find (7), don (7), seems (7), seem (7), thing (7), must (7), whether (7), decree (7), really (7), before (7), little (7), even (7), head (7), gospel (7), given (7), text (7), silence (7), gauls (6), french (6), through (6), again (6), books (6), first (6), old (6), found (6), fasting (6), christians (6), prior (6), sense (6), christian (6), morning (6), lord (6), give (6), already (6), spiritual (6), various (6), should (6), christ (6), rather (6), modern (6), particular (6), tell (6), times (6), cross (6), known (6), mark (6), take (6), michael (6), priest (6), century (6), catechumens (6), elements (6), trisagion (6), litany (6), creation (5), ask (5), back (5), always (5), forms (5), news (5), canons (5), death (5), later (5), october (5), proper (5), september (5), december (5), january (5), 2017 (5), technology (5), prayer (5), order (5), spirituality (5), why (5), come (5), having (5), within (5), far (5), too (5), meaning (5), came (5), until (5), service (5), good (5), present (5), often (5), does (5), become (5), clear (5), less (5), making (5), different (5), ought (5), kiss (5), independent (5), under (5), comes (5), seen (5), heart (5), him (5), appear (5), myself (5), done (5), therefore (5), experience (5), anaphora (5), entrance (5), letters (5), stole (5), music (4), state (4), look (4), please (4), discussion (4), days (4), three (4), since (4), november (4), ecclesiology (4), synod (4), john (4), saints (4), posts (4), sunday (4), terms (4), long (4), finally (4), takes (4), during (4), course (4), call (4), isn (4), forth (4), greek (4), night (4), understand (4), question (4), presented (4), prayers (4), particularly (4), post (4), further (4), bishops (4), directly (4), quite (4), served (4), least (4), canonicity (4), apostolic (4), catholic (4), services (4), could (4), examples (4), anybody (4), today (4), called (4), human (4), same (4), situation (4), number (4), tradition (4), wednesday (4), familiar (4), reason (4), heads (4), faces (4), never (4), visible (4), curious (4), face (4), free (4), break (4), hands (4), criticism (4), curiosity (4), writings (4), worship (4), intend (4), neo (4), near (4), authentic (4), survives (4), worn (4), kyrie (4), eleison (4), rejoices (3), otherwise (3), radio (3), monastic (3), marriage (3), started (3), blog (3), pass (3), yourselves (3), conference (3), began (3), simple (3), easy (3), effort (3), published (3), hours (3), following (3), app (3), language (3), unity (3), ritual (3), overlap (3), parish (3), last (3), phone (3), previously (3), learn (3), means (3), want (3), referring (3), spring (3), hear (3), makes (3), example (3), refer (3), serving (3), saturday (3), prayerful (3), sometimes (3), bring (3), account (3), thus (3), either (3), attention (3), article (3), right (3), russia (3), without (3), answer (3), real (3), matter (3), few (3), pray (3), opponents (3), reasons (3), member (3), certainly (3), questions (3), yes (3), brothers (3), love (3), succession (3), body (3), nothing (3), mother (3), purpose (3), nor (3), difficult (3), heritage (3), whose (3), full (3), months (3), earlier (3), non (3), imposition (3), became (3), upon (3), piety (3), widespread (3), light (3), longer (3), lasting (3), mention (3), rubrics (3), sarum (3), missal (3), context (3), start (3), focus (3), bow (3), poor (3), words (3), father (3), online (3), catechumen (3), led (3), emperor (3), able (3), faced (3), person (3), once (3), mean (3), altar (3), deacons (3), monastery (3), liturgies (3), reading (3), thoughts (3), apology (3), west (3), manuscript (3), complete (3), possibly (3), dalmatic (3), seven (3), calls (3), immediately (3), parishes (2), expressed (2), due (2), net (2), journey (2), 2019 (2), keto (2), readers (2), enjoy (2), articles (2), design (2), puerto (2), rico (2), francis (2), assisi (2), took (2), evening (2), blogs (2), anglican (2), corruption (2), triodion (2), small (2), diocese (2), scripture (2), conversion (2), current (2), personal (2), yourself (2), featured (2), subscribe (2), similar (2), feel (2), bear (2), trap (2), getting (2), got (2), operating (2), intuitive (2), both (2), works (2), unlike (2), removed (2), get (2), quick (2), act (2), probably (2), sort (2), lenten (2), terminology (2), seasons (2), though (2), expressions (2), assume (2), apostles (2), recently (2), vigil (2), spend (2), accustomed (2), realise (2), chrysostom (2), early (2), benefits (2), received (2), entire (2), ourselves (2), effect (2), matsan (2), initial (2), manner (2), deepening (2), relationship (2), premise (2), expression (2), itself (2), render (2), detailed (2), historical (2), comparison (2), suggest (2), greeted (2), thought (2), friends (2), affected (2), understood (2), group (2), likely (2), each (2), assessing (2), striking (2), suggested (2), misdirection (2), continue (2), vicariate (2), commission (2), consider (2), sisters (2), lineage (2), sustained (2), merely (2), best (2), rome (2), litanies (2), permit (2), metropolitan (2), reception (2), plethora (2), nobody (2), apart (2), basis (2), apparent (2), foundation (2), claim (2), status (2), knowledge (2), history (2), latter (2), despite (2), precisely (2), largely (2), themselves (2), disparage (2), value (2), perpetuate (2), neither (2), moscow (2), local (2), recognise (2), carried (2), eucharistic (2), term (2), differences (2), label (2), reference (2), stand (2), alone (2), wider (2), armenian (2), oriental (2), police (2), legitimately (2), applied (2), common (2), understanding (2), adhered (2), entering (2), seemed (2), keeping (2), entered (2), cases (2), members (2), wasn (2), using (2), outside (2), jerusalem (2), expressing (2), view (2), customary (2), dismissal (2), former (2), penitence (2), eventually (2), numerous (2), testament (2), dust (2), thrown (2), sign (2), saviour (2), disfigure (2), smudge (2), specific (2), giving (2), noticeable (2), surely (2), heard (2), matthew (2), placed (2), distributed (2), possible (2), case (2), provenance (2), mainly (2), world (2), latin (2), inclined (2), penitent (2), intended (2), two (2), important (2), significance (2), experienced (2), worth (2), seeing (2), hearts (2), genuine (2), chosen (2), man (2), heavy (2), bread (2), flesh (2), proof (2), friend (2), mouth (2), ear (2), feet (2), men (2), reward (2), secret (2), lay (2), treasures (2), moth (2), rust (2), thieves (2), steal (2), culture (2), patron (2), feast (2), taking (2), turns (2), door (2), entry (2), ordained (2), reader (2), subdeacon (2), told (2), carthage (2), answers (2), entirely (2), saw (2), persecution (2), offered (2), false (2), hiding (2), doing (2), reality (2), shortly (2), granted (2), tone (2), reverence (2), doesn (2), continuous (2), manuscripts (2), blessed (2), composed (2), stood (2), community (2), office (2), subject (2), debate (2), nuns (2), week (2), felt (2), epiklesis (2), silent (2), celebrant (2), leave (2), natural (2), ever (2), role (2), preparation (2), sanctuary (2), instructions (2), depart (2), worst (2), procession (2), attempt (2), fascinated (2), fellow (2), martin (2), born (2), white (2), african (2), german (2), family (2), surname (2), south (2), east (2), table (2), commonly (2), extant (2), closely (2), description (2), treatises (2), 6th (2), 20th (2), result (2), writing (2), written (2), performed (2), deception (2), deal (2), estimate (2), observer (2), influence (2), incipit (2), development (2), feature (2), wear (2), universal (2), aware (2), standard (2), remnant (2), branch (2), anciently (2), candelabra (2), importation (2), attentive (2), calling (2), accompanying (2), chants (2), ascend (2), skip (2), tnb, bethany, missions, views, herein, solely, except, stated, mistakes, misrepresentations, failings, patience, forgiveness, weblog, official, site, rudder, gwenn, welcome, orthodoxchristianity, monachos, patristic, study, sites, institution, dating, prehistory, mankind, government, religion, associated, orthumanitas, lucernare, liturgiae, causa, afternoon, monday, sept, lasted, midday, friday, oct, faci, success, oremus, 100, delicious, low, carb, meals, budget, martina, slajerova, fair, winds, press, garden, window, stories, longtime, sergei, sveshnikov, rocorstudies, texas, 2023, consult, turned, vision, arts, journal, marks, 8th, centenary, 3rd, 1226, movement, 2013, commercialism, struggles, percy, dearmer, pascha, haiti, film, diy, climate, change, academics, poll, ordination, global, warming, milan, mysteries, iconography, whinge, shangai, san, francisco, mission, doctrine, hymnody, humour, kalendar, events, miscellany, video, previous, search, topic, date, add, prostrations, mouths, atom, older, collection, reviews, favourite, promised, review, endorsed, moral, responsibility, flaws, prevent, falling, caught, apple, hype, shiny, around, system, fairly, typical, google, products, easily, customisable, layout, appearance, functionality, work, easiest, permanent, screen, rid, update, past, fortnight, version, released, taken, together, grateful, goods, strangeness, speaking, seemingly, calendars, periods, shorthand, literally, easter, northern, hemisphere, coined, throughout, synonym, unusual, fasts, lents, interested, saying, dormition, springtime, pedantry, dread, strange, cathedral, brief, repast, anointing, mindful, apologies, escape, better, greeting, resurrection, trial, completely, inaccessible, diligent, coming, praises, thanks, obliged, return, master, pardon, failures, sobriety, ready, praise, king, james, bible, translation, desired, title, drawn, konstantin, reaction, nile, river, egypt, consideration, assertions, supposedly, between, show, believe, begging, struggling, falls, logical, fallacy, clos, finding, require, qualified, evidence, manageable, close, requires, examination, circumstances, unto, caeser, awoke, shock, waned, somewhat, whom, corresponded, hurt, loss, bewilderment, thin, air, checked, occidentalis, yahoo, broken, busy, looking, prayerfully, situations, discussions, preceding, business, usual, highlighted, suddenness, thick, charged, pastoral, care, internet, host, public, speculation, innuendo, insensitive, unseemly, gloating, perception, almost, delusional, ostriching, charity, everybody, wellbeing, patient, awaiting, clarification, mentions, forthcoming, letter, addressed, set, integration, lacking, complex, indicated, publicly, picture, emphatically, bleak, wait, developments, embrace, greet, ethos, reveal, salvific, towards, episcopate, doctrinal, tradtition, opinion, ecclesiastical, regarding, suppose, demonstrate, seek, councils, apply, rigorously, undoubtedly, phanar, hosted, pope, commemorated, alongside, ruling, subdeacons, marry, antiochian, offering, eucharist, weekdays, nicolae, corneanu, romania, actions, contravene, canon, sure, research, generate, calendarist, condemns, disobedience, wonder, listed, above, distinct, arise, autocephaly, autocephanlous, passing, confirm, challenges, roc, america, founded, autocephalous, gone, unrecognised, remaining, agree, authority, issue, highlight, filled, contradiction, inexperienced, uneducated, mind, serve, weapon, segregation, kallistos, diokleia, ecumenical, council, patriarchate, constantinople, create, situ, locally, living, cells, gradually, interesting, kind, disagreement, weakness, nurture, desire, demarcate, somehow, demarcation, imagined, effective, defintion, sharing, indepedent, communions, counter, constable, orders, force, said, functioning, agent, teachings, roots, orthodoxwiki, refers, faithfully, meanwhile, fronts, patricarchate, subsequently, recognised, shifted, certain, consecrated, suddenly, deemed, taught, adherence, thrust, arguments, degree, partisan, serbian, sinai, rest, considered, elsewhere, bizarre, whatever, yesterday, orthdox, alike, ceremony, excommunicate, impose, indirectly, mourning, reminder, mortality, job, joshua, lamentations, ezekiel, warns, dark, wee, places, mixed, oil, purposes, darker, hue, causing, stay, occurred, excerpts, wondered, interpret, priests, deliberately, placing, references, specifically, similarly, facial, relevant, rubric, says, precise, specified, perfectly, assumed, woodcut, depicts, sadly, learnt, anglophone, european, countries, dry, sprinkled, barely, below, sprinkling, employed, recent, popes, action, sorrow, sins, attitude, mindset, pledges, repentance, amendment, need, fruit, lives, occasion, liturgically, imposed, forehead, method, prefer, adopting, encounter, street, corner, drive, thru, ashings, feeds, increasing, numbers, selfies, physical, prevalently, internalising, allowing, passions, subdued, imbued, grace, neighbours, sake, salvation, isaiah, afflict, soul, down, bulrush, spread, sackcloth, acceptable, loose, bonds, wickedness, undo, burdens, oppressed, every, yoke, hungry, house, cast, naked, cover, hide, healing, speedily, righteousness, glory, rear, guard, cry, pity, honoured, envy, eye, bodies, avarice, ceasing, run, sin, eyes, disciplining, glare, sinful, listening, evil, talk, gossip, foul, unjust, abstain, birds, fishes, bite, devour, afterwards, laity, higher, dignitaries, hypocrites, sad, countenance, assuredly, anoint, wash, sees, openly, earth, destroy, heaven, destroys, treasure, adoption, exciting, story, hope, interacted, interactions, explained, catechumenate, calendar, miracle, colossae, passed, enquiry, explain, advice, reflected, based, guided, knocking, seeking, abandoned, changing, stuck, caused, begin, exploring, clarity, pivotal, immensely, hoped, decius, hard, fallen, sacrifice, signed, documents, claiming, preserve, safety, nobleman, unfair, resources, privileges, stopping, cost, difficulties, pose, valerian, stayed, pastor, arrested, martyred, boldly, confessing, advocate, blessing, graciously, interceding, throne, kontakion, honour, shepherd, sacred, divinely, wise, doctrines, shown, boundary, stones, marking, bore, witness, courage, wherefore, extol, martyr, entreat, saved, ancientness, rich, truth, regardless, steeped, cycle, hymns, bodily, acts, 1000, reconstructed, half, happy, incorporate, academic, scrutiny, appropriateness, channel, bit, worrying, decades, consulting, singing, omitted, counterparts, struck, lived, critics, enthusiasts, direct, intimate, occasional, visit, uses, actual, sacramental, homely, communicants, drank, chalice, lectures, cyril, describes, lips, sanctified, waters, baptism, sealed, chrism, catechesis, sacraments, ill, chanted, aloud, spoken, audibly, merits, reproduce, noting, fixed, anaphoras, mostly, variable, season, catechetical, benefit, lost, prayed, quietly, deafened, astounding, audible, happen, reserved, kisses, sing, responsory, seeming, reverent, beautiful, shows, exchange, needn, excuse, chat, childhood, teenage, contains, exclusively, protestant, formally, fell, disuse, omitting, maundy, thursday, gesture, kissing, becomes, poignant, marker, passion, performs, gifts, transfer, recensions, notice, absent, unable, dismiss, expectation, avoids, oddity, exist, omit, generally, genuinely, enter, ceremonies, perambulation, homage, existed, centuries, revised, skete, contain, worthy, correct, hardly, anywhere, decade, 1700, developed, significantly, accretions, obsolete, remnants, differently, obscuring, parts, reconstruction, invites, cumulative, refreshingly, actualises, still, markedly, contemplation, replace, singers, sight, trying, correctly, pronounce, exhausting, rewarding, communities, managed, acquire, recorded, sheet, excited, prospect, excitement, disappeared, realised, hundreds, usually, mine, lover, palm, luzé, france, himself, irish, parents, black, kittitian, ancestry, four, generations, slaves, subdiaconate, convert, lutheranism, decidedly, american, nigeria, latvian, canadian, jewish, spanish, visited, novice, utterly, fantastic, international, knows, breadth, jesus, luke, north, recline, kingdom, relied, essentially, surviving, anything, fragments, related, descriptions, relatively, compile, resembling, ancestors, denis, contemporaries, problem, authorship, dispute, across, suggestions, texts, 7th, shattering, sorts, attributed, surfaced, repose, hand, secretary, behalf, clearly, highly, knowledgeable, details, tells, glimpse, formed, sainted, wisdom, generosity, besides, celebrated, beacons, follow, undermining, revelation, pious, woman, nun, credibility, age, women, contributions, greatly, valued, attribution, try, noble, applauding, welcoming, intimately, knowing, wrote, authenticity, resulting, reliably, objections, series, gathered, second, charge, brought, against, byzantinisation, insertion, incorporated, restored, restoration, address, separate, unobtrusive, interrupt, flow, fewer, extensive, certanly, palatable, encountered, approximately, win, accurate, generous, wanting, attribute, inflated, figure, intention, cause, imagine, observation, impression, incorrectly, identified, extraneous, importations, firmly, established, vernacular, fertilisation, absolute, certainty, referenced, festal, seasonal, universally, discounted, possibility, slim, margin, uncertainty, nature, distinction, theirs, stikhar, oversimplification, robe, type, vestment, goes, names, nearly, top, everything, else, outer, garment, coptic, ethiophian, exception, beneath, mislead, thinking, peculiarities, mandatory, celebration, ambrosian, mozarabic, youtube, shouldn, fail, newbie, element, repetitive, fooled, prevalent, byzantium, ninefold, beginning, petitions, survive, corresponding, single, sources, general, intercessions, responded, petition, substituted, model, content, necessary, fulfil, lamp, borrowing, altars, forgotten, simplification, ceremonial, candles, held, ambo, returned, usage, stationary, points, remember, diaconal, practical, ordering, kneel, directs, bless, cup, instances, auditory, everyone, secondary, worldly, distractions, fully, mystery, pertinent, textually, explicitly, eschatological, confession, equivalent, phrased, remains, incidentally, mortal, keep, apt, absence, original, sonus, spirit, next, instalment, applies, curiously, pointed, negative, exhortations, response, sanctus, click, agios, identical, position, blesses, unique, thrice, high, presbyterium, ascends, cathedra, preside, assembly, consecration, presiding, third, frivolous, england, profile, sidebar, main,

Text of the page (random words):
0 among others yet the saviour warns us in quite clear terms not to disfigure our faces in order for our piety to be seen by others this certainly ought to make us at least think about the widespread custom of being seen with a dark smudge or cross on our faces and how wee see this in light of this gospel particular in places where the ash is mixed with oil for the specific purposes of giving it a darker more noticeable hue and causing it to stay in place for longer yet surely it cannot be that this has never occurred to anybody before surely others have heard the excerpts from st matthew s gospel and wondered how to interpret them in light of the liturgical practice that they have always known of priests deliberately placing a visible and sometimes lasting mark on the faces of the people it is curious that all of those old testament references make mention of the dust and ash being specifically thrown upon the head there is no mention of making a mark on the face similarly the rubrics of the service books make no mention of making a visible facial mark in ash but state simply that the ash shall be placed on the head the relevant rubric in the sarum missal simply says afterwards the ashes shall be distributed on the heads of the clergy and laity by the higher dignitaries making the sign of the cross with the ashes the precise manner of how the ashes are to be distributed is not specified and it seems perfectly possible to me that this is the case because it was simply assumed that clergy would know how to do it here is a missal woodcut that depicts the same thing sadly i do not know its provenance it was only a few years ago that i learnt that it is mainly in our anglophone world that the cross on the face is as widespread as it is and that in the latin church in many european countries the custom is for the dry ashes to be sprinkled over the inclined head of the penitent in the form of a cross which is then barely if at all noticeable to anybody could it be that this is the more ancient custom and what is intended by the rubrics below we see the sprinkling form of the imposition of ashes employed in the cases of two recent popes what is important is the action of the imposition of the ashes and its significance to the penitent a sorrow for sins and the attitude and mindset that pledges repentance and amendment of life a conversion of heart there is no need for a lasting mark on the face intended to be seen by the world let our lasting mark be the visible fruit that we bear and that others see in our lives do you fast give me proof of it by your works if you see a poor man take pity on him if you see a friend being honoured do not envy him do not let only your mouth fast but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands and all the members of our bodies let the hands fast by being free of avarice let the feet fast by ceasing to run after sin let the eyes fast by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful let the ear fast by not listening to evil talk and gossip let the mouth fast from the foul words and unjust criticism for what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes but bite and devour our brothers st john chrysostom the proof of fasting on the one occasion that i experienced ash wednesday liturgically in an orthodox context in rocor the ashes were imposed using the visible cross on forehead method however i must say that am inclined to prefer what seems to be the more ancient custom and i would ask our clergy to consider whether it might be worth adopting this practice at a time when we can encounter such things as street corner and drive thru ashings and when it is difficult to look at our facebook feeds at the start of lent without seeing increasing numbers of ash wednesday smudge selfies perhaps the focus in how this day is presented to the people of god ought to be less on the physical mark and more prevalently on internalising within our hearts the meaning of the lenten fast allowing our passions to be subdued and our hearts imbued with the grace of god so that they may spring forth in genuine love for ourselves and our neighbours for the sake of our salvation is it a fast that i have chosen a day for a man to afflict his soul is it to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes would you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the lord is this not the fast that i have chosen to loose the bonds of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out when you see the naked that you cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh then your light shall break forth like the morning your healing shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you the glory of the lord shall be your rear guard then you shall call and the lord will answer you shall cry and he will say here i am isaiah 58 5 9 email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest posted by cyprian labels lent liturgy spirituality western rite 0 responses on canonicity whatever that may be i came to orthodoxy through the russian orthodox church outside of russia in 2005 at the time rocor was in communion with the serbian orthodox church the orthodox church of jerusalem and the orthodox church of sinai to the rest of the eastern orthodox churches rocor was considered uncanonical at the time there were many articles published on rocor clergy blogs and elsewhere expressing the view that this was a bizarre use of the word canonical the thrust of their arguments was that referring to rocor as uncanonical seemed to have little to do with the degree to which rocor adhered to the canonical tradition of the church and more to do with the fact that it wasn t in communion with the churches using the term in this partisan way in 2007 rocor entered into full communion with the patricarchate of moscow and was subsequently recognised as canonical by the other eastern orthodox churches the language used by rocor shifted at this point and we too began to refer to certain other churches as uncanonical despite us having been in communion with many of these very same churches only months earlier in fact in some cases it was members of our very own holy synod that had consecrated the bishops of these churches which were now suddenly deemed uncanonical this was very difficult to understand for many of us who had been taught that canonicity is not about being in communion with one group or another but rather about faithful adherence to the canonical tradition of the church how could we look at these churches that adhered faithfully to the canons of the church and tell them that they were uncanonical meanwhile entering into communion with churches whose practice on a number of fronts seemed not to be in keeping with canonical tradition i am now a member of the orthodox church of the gauls which is not an eastern orthodox church and makes no claim to be such we are part of a different communion of orthodox churches our faith our teachings as well as our spiritual and liturgical life are orthodox our bishops have their apostolic heritage in the same succession and lineage as the eastern and oriental orthodox churches and we are in communion with other churches with similar roots yet many within the eastern orthodox church refer to us as uncanonical indeed the orthodoxwiki article refers to us as independent this latter term is particularly interesting in a sense i can understand one communion referring to another as uncanonical when there is any kind of disagreement human weakness will nurture a desire to demarcate others as somehow not like us and perpetuate that demarcation even if the differences are imagined rather than real such a label is an effective way to do this however it is more difficult to understand the reference to us being independent by what defintion is the orthodox church of the gauls independent we do not stand alone we are part of a wider communion of orthodox churches sharing the same orthodox faith and practice if we are indepedent then so is the greek orthodox church the armenian apostolic church or any of the other member churches of the eastern and oriental orthodox communions of churches but this seems a very counter intuitive use of the word independent as it would be if a police constable operating under orders as part of a police force were said to be functioning as an independent agent the word simply cannot be legitimately applied to that situation according to any common understanding of the word in the english language regarding canonicity i suppose that this just isn t something that we feel we must demonstrate to others we merely seek as best we can to order our life on the apostolic orthodox catholic faith are there canons of the ancient councils that we do not apply rigorously yes there undoubtedly are yet has the phanar not hosted services in which the pope of rome has been commemorated in the litanies alongside the ruling bishop does the greek orthodox church not permit subdeacons to marry do the antiochian and russian orthodox churches not permit the offering of the eucharist on the weekdays of lent was metropolitan nicolae corneanu s reception of communion in a catholic church not greeted with nothing more than a please don t do that from the holy synod of romania all of these actions contravene at least one canon or another and i m sure that a little research could generate a plethora of further examples yet nobody perhaps apart from our old calendarist sisters and brothers condemns these churches as being uncanonical on the basis of these examples of apparent disobedience of the church s canons so i must wonder how my church is any less canonical than those listed above some might say that we are uncanonical because our foundation as a distinct church did not arise from a decree of autocephaly from our mother church yet did what is now the russian orthodox church have such a decree or did it claim autocephanlous status for itself anybody with a passing knowledge of orthodox history will confirm that the latter is true yet nobody today challenges the canonicity of the roc on this basis and despite the orthodox church in america having been founded by precisely such a decree has its autocephalous status not gone largely unrecognised because the remaining eastern orthodox churches cannot seem to agree among themselves who has the canonical authority to issue such a decree neither an ecumenical council nor the patriarchate of constantinople or of moscow nor any other mother church can create a new local church the most that they can do is to recognise such a church but the act of creation must be carried out in situ locally by the living eucharistic cells which are called to gradually make up the body of a new local church metropolitan kallistos of diokleia my purpose here is not to disparage the good and holy people in any of these churches but rather to highlight that the entire modern discussion of whether a particular church is canonical is filled with so much contradiction and misdirection as to be of very little value if any at all and seems to my inexperienced and uneducated mind to serve little purpose other than as a weapon to perpetuate segregation it is my opinion that when assessing the orthodoxy or otherwise of any ecclesiastical body t he questions asked should simply be these is this church s faith and practice an expression of orthodox doctrinal spiritual and liturgical tradtition is this church s episcopate part of the lineage of the apostles through sustained orthodox succession does the ethos of this church reveal the salvific love of christ towards his creation if the answer to these questions is yes then perhaps we ought to consider whether we can embrace them as sisters and brothers in the life in christ and greet them with a kiss email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest posted by cyprian labels church order church unity churches ecclesiology 0 responses rocor western rite developments i awoke in the early hours of saturday morning to be greeted with the news of this decree of the synod of bishops after the initial shock had waned somewhat my first thought was for those who have become my friends who are directly affected by this among those with whom i corresponded there was a very clear sense of hurt loss and bewilderment it must be understood that for many this came out of thin air i checked the occidentalis yahoo group to see if there was any further news at the time there was no discussion of the matter at all likely because the news had broken less than 24 hours previously and the people directly affected were busy looking after each other and prayerfully assessing their own situations what was most striking though was that the discussions of the preceding few days suggested business as usual this highlighted for me the suddenness of all of this please pray for those in the thick of this and those charged with their pastoral care in the days since the decree was published the internet has been host to much public speculation innuendo and misdirection there has been insensitive and really quite unseemly gloating from opponents of the western rite over their perception of its death in rocor as well as an almost delusional ostriching by those who seem to think that life will continue in the vicariate as before i think that charity and everybody s spiritual wellbeing would be well served by some prayerful and patient awaiting of further clarification the decree mentions a forthcoming letter to be addressed to the vicariate clergy as well as a commission set up to look after them and their proper integration into rocor life something that has been lacking until now for various and complex reasons at least one member of that commission has since indicated publicly that the picture is emphatically not as bleak as the wr opponents might perhaps like to think and that the western rite shall continue in rocor while making clear that things will certainly be different perhaps we should just wait and see email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest posted by bb 1 responses render unto caeser no i don t particularly like the king james bible either but it s the only translation that has the desired effect in a blog post title so there it is my attention has recently been drawn to this article by a konstantin matsan my initial reaction was that de nile is not just a river in egypt it seems however after further consideration i think that mr matsan is right in that too often all manner of assertions are made about the supposedly deepening relationship between church and state in russia without any effort being made to show the premise to be true i believe that begging the question is the expression that he is struggling to find but he ...