Popular Piety vs. Real Piety
My recent letter to ICON
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Dear All:
In reading the ICON thread about Church music and choir responsibilities, I’d like to reference the following 5-year old video I found on the “other” forum:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3064136024677620812&hl=en
I’m not highlighting some particular aspect of the Patriarchal faction as in error. In fact, I am well aware that the Metran faction indeed has had just as many “mooninmel” and “unchinmel” Qurbanas. My point is that when we, as a united Church, have lost sight of exactly why we come together to celebrate the Eucharist, our most Holy Sacraments are turned over on their heads into a mere spectacle.
Why really do we come together to celebrate the Liturgy? We are gathered together as a complete Church at the Lord’s Table. The focus of the Service is in the hands of the priest who leads the congregation together in a sacred mystery. What happens in the Liturgy, while not just a commemoration, is, indeed in the same spirit as that Eucharist offered on the table by Christ in the upper room two millennia ago. There was no choir and no musical accompaniment.
I am not saying that Church music is unnecessary. What I am saying is that what is really at the core of the Liturgy is the Sacrifice being offered, and around that core we, as a Church, have added many layers. We have chants, vestments, icons, instruments, and particular architecture because there is a mystical experience of the Liturgy that is being enhanced. These layers, though very beautiful and rich, are necessary and vital only as far as they point to the core of the Sacrament. The beauty of the Church, the voices of the choir, or the brightness of the vestments are all a sideshow to the main event taking place on the altar table.
Personally, I’m inclined to say that a Liturgy could (though not should) be simply spoken without any sort of tune. In fact, I’d be willing to say that if we did that many more would actually be in touch with the whole point of the Service. The real experience of the Eucharist is not in the supporting beauty but instead in the Truth that is spoken, which is beautiful. That is why Eucharists have been celebrated throughout history in attics, catacombs, and even in gulags.
This is the distinction between popular piety and real heartfelt piety. Are we the real Church, the body of Christ, or are we just a shadow of that body, turning over that which has been handed down to us over for that which we like instead? Do we have clericalism or do we have priesthood? Do we have rituals or sacrament? Do we have legalism or Faith? We would do more to act like the real Church than merely saying that we are so.
When our real piety is turned over on its head, we end up with things like 101-mel Qurbanas. The real organic participation in the Eucharist, and the movement of the soul that takes place, has been replaced with a spectacle of color and sound. The priests and deacons have become actors instead of mediators. The choir, which has a real necessary role in the Church, has become a show on its own.
When we forget the heart of our Sacraments, we end up with the “Manglish” transliterations. What is the point of these? Transliterations are so non-Malayalam speakers can feel as if they are participating, and so non-English speakers can feel like there is unity in the Church. Perhaps this is why I can’t expect to see a transliteration of English into Malayalam script.
When we lose sight of the real core of our Apostolic heritage as the Church, we end up desperately searching for a way to stem the tide of people choosing other faiths. I can not blame someone for leaving the Orthodox Church because they have never felt ministered to nor that their identity in the Church is central to their being. If Sundays are taken over by performance and not sincere worship, than hearts truly searching for Christ will wander. I am truly convinced that the Orthodox Church is complete and has everything to offer anyone who will receive it, but that message of completeness and continuity has no real weight unless it’s genuinely and clearly conveyed on a Sunday to Sunday, parish to parish basis.
---
Dear All:
In reading the ICON thread about Church music and choir responsibilities, I’d like to reference the following 5-year old video I found on the “other” forum:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3064136024677620812&hl=en
I’m not highlighting some particular aspect of the Patriarchal faction as in error. In fact, I am well aware that the Metran faction indeed has had just as many “mooninmel” and “unchinmel” Qurbanas. My point is that when we, as a united Church, have lost sight of exactly why we come together to celebrate the Eucharist, our most Holy Sacraments are turned over on their heads into a mere spectacle.
Why really do we come together to celebrate the Liturgy? We are gathered together as a complete Church at the Lord’s Table. The focus of the Service is in the hands of the priest who leads the congregation together in a sacred mystery. What happens in the Liturgy, while not just a commemoration, is, indeed in the same spirit as that Eucharist offered on the table by Christ in the upper room two millennia ago. There was no choir and no musical accompaniment.
I am not saying that Church music is unnecessary. What I am saying is that what is really at the core of the Liturgy is the Sacrifice being offered, and around that core we, as a Church, have added many layers. We have chants, vestments, icons, instruments, and particular architecture because there is a mystical experience of the Liturgy that is being enhanced. These layers, though very beautiful and rich, are necessary and vital only as far as they point to the core of the Sacrament. The beauty of the Church, the voices of the choir, or the brightness of the vestments are all a sideshow to the main event taking place on the altar table.
Personally, I’m inclined to say that a Liturgy could (though not should) be simply spoken without any sort of tune. In fact, I’d be willing to say that if we did that many more would actually be in touch with the whole point of the Service. The real experience of the Eucharist is not in the supporting beauty but instead in the Truth that is spoken, which is beautiful. That is why Eucharists have been celebrated throughout history in attics, catacombs, and even in gulags.
This is the distinction between popular piety and real heartfelt piety. Are we the real Church, the body of Christ, or are we just a shadow of that body, turning over that which has been handed down to us over for that which we like instead? Do we have clericalism or do we have priesthood? Do we have rituals or sacrament? Do we have legalism or Faith? We would do more to act like the real Church than merely saying that we are so.
When our real piety is turned over on its head, we end up with things like 101-mel Qurbanas. The real organic participation in the Eucharist, and the movement of the soul that takes place, has been replaced with a spectacle of color and sound. The priests and deacons have become actors instead of mediators. The choir, which has a real necessary role in the Church, has become a show on its own.
When we forget the heart of our Sacraments, we end up with the “Manglish” transliterations. What is the point of these? Transliterations are so non-Malayalam speakers can feel as if they are participating, and so non-English speakers can feel like there is unity in the Church. Perhaps this is why I can’t expect to see a transliteration of English into Malayalam script.
When we lose sight of the real core of our Apostolic heritage as the Church, we end up desperately searching for a way to stem the tide of people choosing other faiths. I can not blame someone for leaving the Orthodox Church because they have never felt ministered to nor that their identity in the Church is central to their being. If Sundays are taken over by performance and not sincere worship, than hearts truly searching for Christ will wander. I am truly convinced that the Orthodox Church is complete and has everything to offer anyone who will receive it, but that message of completeness and continuity has no real weight unless it’s genuinely and clearly conveyed on a Sunday to Sunday, parish to parish basis.
Labels: choir, liturgy, orthodox, piety, spirituality
posted by street theologian @ 8:43 PM
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