Ancient tradition

Tuva Blom, 4, along with her father, Andreas Blom, participate in a Greater Lent service at Holy Theophany Orthodox Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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12:40 AM

MARK BARNA The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Amid burning candles and glowing icons, the Orthodox choir lifts up its voice during an evening service. As incense fills the air, about 50 parishioners bow, make the sign of the cross and join the choir in singing psalms.

Offering an Old World ambience and elaborate liturgies dating to early Christianity, Holy Theophany Orthodox Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., is a respite from the noise and clutter of modern society, parishioners say.

And with Great Lent that began March 10, church members are preparing to go deeper into the tradition as Easter approaches.

But wait — didn’t Lent start Feb. 6 on Ash Wednesday? It did for Catholics and some Protestants. But Eastern Orthodox churches follow a different calendar, a holdover from their ancient past.

In the Eastern Orthodox faith, Great Lent lasts 40 days, until April 18. Easter will be celebrated on April 27, while most Christians observed it on March 23.

Despite some basic similarities, Great Lent is more demanding than the Lent practiced by many other Christians, Orthodox leaders say. Moreover, the Orthodox faithful fast not only through Lent, but also during Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday and Holy Week. From Monday until Orthodox Easter, congregants refrain from consuming meat, dairy products, fish, wine and olive oil. They avoid malicious talk and many refrain from sex.

“Lent is a time of spiritual cleansing, renewal, purification,” said Anthony Karbo, priest of Holy Theophany. “Life is not food. Life is not entertainment. Life is not earthly gratification. It is becoming more human, more like Christ.”

Strict Lenten practices reflect claims by the Orthodox that they’re bearers of early Christian teachings, which are manifested not only in determining Easter dates, but also in the faith’s rites, rituals and liturgies.

That’s a big attraction for some.

Matt Duncan, 47, converted to Orthodoxy because he felt separated from church history as a nondenominational Protestant.

Olga Ciesel, 33, converted last July because her evangelical church was “putting God in a box” through its dogma.

Anders Blom, 33, converted in September because the preaching at his evangelical church was market-driven, he said.

“Orthodox teachings have stood the test of time,” Blom said. “They are not teachings that serve popular culture.”

For about 1,000 years, the Orthodox and Catholic churches were one Christian body. Doctrinal disputes eventually led to their schism in 1054.

At the time, Orthodoxy was already spreading throughout Russia (then called Rus’), Bulgaria and Serbia. Eventually it became the dominant faith in Russia, parts of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. With 160 million members worldwide, the faith is second only to the Catholic Church in Christian adherents.

Yet Orthodoxy has been slow to catch on in the United States. According to a study released in February by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, only 0.06 percent of Americans are Orthodox.

Long services, ascetic practices and hard-to-grasp teachings are reasons for the low numbers, Karbo said.

“People want a passive, entertaining, consumer-driven Christianity,” he said. “That’s not Orthodoxy.”

Cal Peters, the choir director at Holy Theophany, is drawn to the rigors of the faith. During Great Lent, he plans to fast, attend multiple services each week, say his daily prayers, refrain from gossip and banter, and regularly recite the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

“Lent helps me gain discipline,” said Peters, 39. “It is participating in the sacrifices Christ went through.”

Simon Scionka and his wife, Ira, will be celibate during Lent, while also fasting, attending services and saying the prayers.

Orthodox practices “have changed me dramatically,” said Scionka, 27, who was raised Protestant. “It’s about not living for myself but for others.”

Fasting is hardly a novelty among the Orthodox. They fast about 180 days a year, including every Wednesday and Friday.

But Great Lent intensifies the practice.

“Lent reminds us that we eat food to live; we don’t live to eat food,” said Dennis Schutte, priest of Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church in Colorado Springs. “The true food is God.”

ORTHODOX TIMELINE:
THE DATING GAME:
For about 1,000 years — until 1054 — Orthodoxy and Catholicism were one church grounded in the apostolic tradition. Key dates in the history of the Orthodox church:

150 AD: Liturgical church worship begins to take shape.

325 AD: First Ecumenical Council held. Christianity becomes the official religion of Rome.

787 AD: The dispute over whether the veneration of icons, part of Orthodox worship, is idolatry is resolved when the Seventh Ecumenical Council approves icons for worship.

988 AD: Conversion of Russia — then called Rus’ — to Orthodox Christianity begins.

1,000 Orthodoxy spreads into Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

1054: The Great Schism: Orthodoxy and Catholicism split.

1204: Catholic Crusaders sack Constantinople, the center of Orthodoxy during the Byzantine Empire.

1794: Missionaries arrive in Kodiak Island, Alaska, marking the arrival of Orthodoxy in North America.

2006: Pope Benedict XVI meets with Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Greece, to discuss relations between the two churches. Nothing substantive came of the talks.

SOURCE: Collier Press and Gazette research

The reason Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different date from Catholics and some Protestant faiths is mind-bending.

Catholic and Orthodox churches agree Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

Orthodox churches follow the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C., and Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and followed in most countries, including the U.S.

And, unlike Catholics, Orthodox churches honor the fourth-century decree that Easter always comes after Passover.

As for the full moon, Catholics determine it using church tables, while Orthodox churches use astronomical charts. The churches also calculate the vernal equinox differently.

Source: www.factmonster.com

“Lent is a time of spiritual cleansing, renewal, purification. … Life is not food. Life is not entertainment. Life is not earthly gratification. It is becoming more human, more like Christ.”

Anthony Karbo

Priest of Holy Theophany Orthodox Church

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