Sacraments

Through the persons of the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit, God is present in all places and filling all things…truly near to us. Our lives and all of creation point to and reveal Him.

There are special experiences in our corporate life as Orthodox Christians when the perception of God’s presence and actions is heightened and celebrated. We call these events Sacraments, or Mysteries. Sacraments because they are sacred and Mysteries because we don’t know how they work to disclose God to His people…we just know that they do.

Parts of the Sacramental services date back to the time of the Apostles and most use some of the material world such as water, oil, bread and wine of God’s revelation. They are outward, earthly signs that His creation is good and can be a vehicle of the Spirit. They affirm that God became material (matter) when He entered into creation as Jesus Christ and His purpose of doing so was to redirect the fallen world away from itself and oward glorification of its Creator.

The Sacraments are the Eucharist, Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick.

Sacraments also serve to make us receptive to God. His Holy Spirit works through all of them to affect our personal relationship to God and to each other…leading us to Christ who unites us with the Father. By participating in the Sacraments, we are able to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and become more like Christ.
This process of becoming like God, or theosis, takes place within the context of a believing community.

Holy Orders or ordination, is the ritual where men are embraced into the priesthood, each representing the living icon of Christ among the church worshippers. There are three main orders which require this…Bishop (a successor of the Apostles), Priest and Deacon who act in the name of the Bishop. They are responsible to lead the members of their communities of faith in the right direction, toward a moral and holy life and toward spiritual health. Each has equal powers within the church.