Liturgical Ecclesiology of the Sacrament of Ordination in the Eastern Rite

Abstract

The subject matter of the above paper is the role and position of the Church community in the rite of ordination to the priesthood in the byzantine tradition. It has been considered the split of the orthodox ministers into the church ministers (lower ordination) and ordained ministers (higher ordination). The influence of the local community upon the election of the candidates to priesthood has been weakened with time and nowadays within the Orthodox Church only the local bishop decides about the appointment of the new ministers and only the imposition of hands is regarded as the sacramental rite. The contemporary liturgy of ordination, however, has preserved some significant elements reminding us about the former equal importance of the community influence, who used to elect by offering to God and at the same time to accept their shepherds. This role of the Church is expressed by three main parts of the rites: 1) the election of a candidate, 2) the imposition of hands of the bishop and prayer, 3) the reception of ordination and of the newly ordained. Out of the presented liturgy of ordination one can draw the outline of the eastern ecclesiology of the sacrament of ordination, already elaborated by Prof. N. Afanasiev. This kind of liturgical ecclesiology may be of some help to the contemporary Church in regaining her more active role in electing and apointing her ministers and shepherds.