Heaven’s Worship

What shapes the liturgy and the Church? Are these structures and movements left to the wisdom of bishops, or is a more transcendent principle at play? St. Maximus the Confessor gives a brief argument for the cosmological parallels to the liturgical tradition of the Church. He does not approach this task with bravado or condemnation. Maximus, rather, embodies the virtue and humility he advocates are instilled through the liturgy. “And imitating this widow, I have offered to God and to you, beloved, as you requested, these small and insignificant thoughts and words brought from my insignificant and poor understanding and tongue as small copper coins.” (pg 98-99)

For Maximus the realities undergirding the church are best understood through neo-platonic categories. The manifestations of church architecture and liturgy are participations in the eternal heavenly forms. He not only considers humanity to be the image of God, but the Church also; “Because the Church is in the image of God, the liturgy functions as a map to the entire universe.” (pg 37). The movements of the liturgy and the life of the Church are participations in the very life of God. We know the Logos by embodying the activities of worship in His Church. The simple eternality of God cannot be apprehended by man. We can taste aspects of His divine transcendence, however, by moving through time in accordance with His character. The liturgy will train the soul to imitate God on earth.

“The Holy Church of God is a representation and image of the entire universe, which submits in visible and invisible realities, because the Church contains the same oneness and diversity in God…But again, the Church is one in substance. The Church is not divided by her parts on account of the difference of parts themselves to one another, but rather she dissolves her differences in the name of the parts themselves by her reference to the unity. She displays that both the sanctuary and the nave are identical to one another and illustrates that each one exists in the other according to exchange although each one is established by itself.” (pg 55)

Maximus is arguing that the one and the many is found in the Trinity, and is likewise imaged in the Church. This is seen in the variety of service offered by the clergy and laity, in the varied locations of the Church are met with their unity of participation. These actions are given to one another. The clergy’s work in the sanctuary is echoed by the laity in the nave. The substance of their life of prayer is the same in substance, but economically it manifests diversity. The very cosmic nature of the Church, then is shaped after God’s nature and therefore is fit to shape the souls of the worshippers after God’s nature. It is liturgical discipline that will orient the soul to be more like the unchanging love of God. The habit of embodying the same rhythm of prayers every week provides a sense of the eternal unchanging mind of God, yet the pursuit of this rhythm in love will enrich the rhythm so each week more love is present because the discipline was received with joy.

This liturgical discipline is found in a very common liturgical service found throughout the ancient church as performed in a standard church architecture;

The service begins with a procession (first entrance) by the bishop/clergy. This is a representation of Christ’s first advent. He brings freedom from bondage and a new rule. The bishop is a vice-regent that governs under the yoke of Christ, not with a sword but with the gospel and reconciliation. The next movement involves the readings of Scripture. This catechizes the soul in faith, righteousness, and the other virtues required to live in harmony with God. In addition to the readings, holy songs are sung (psalms, hymns, and responses such as the Gloria in Excelsis and the Kyrie Elesion). These adorn the virtues and add to the virtues love. As song belongs properly to lover and beloved. This portion culminates with the reading of the Gospels from the Solea. The Gospel reading is the climax that unifies the soul and the Church. God condescends in particularly in the Gospel so we can see Him by our eyes of faith this is symbolized by the bishop descending from his throne. The doors to the Narthex are then closed so the unbaptized are shut off from the remaining mysteries. Just as the gospel brings the sword dividing the old man from the new. Only the new men will be able to partake of the holy mysteries in communion. Once the catechumens have been closed off, Holy Communion is processed in to the sanctuary as the new covenant enters the world in the incarnation. Once the mysteries have entered the faithful exchange the kiss of peace showing that grace has made them one, one body, one love, one of the many. Once their love is affirmed, their faith is confessed in the Nicene Creed, this faith is adorned with the worship of the triune God in the Trisagon hymn of the angels from Isaiah 6. This teaches the soul that it is present in heaven and it is taking for its own heavenly angelic praise. The common love, faith, and hope lead the soul to embodying its adoption as a child of God as the Our Father is prayed asking for daily bread which will be consumed shortly, after the hymns of God’s holiness are sung as the soul delights in its beloved coming to the table. The climax of body and soul is the partaking of eucharist, as Maximus states:

“For believe that we have partaken of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through grace by faith here in this present life, and we believe that after keeping the commandments to the best of our ability, we shall partake in these things in the very reality – in the age to come according to that which is ultimately true.” (pg 88)

Once again Maximus is tying the liturgical action to the metaphysical reality and ultimate hope of the Christian. His understanding of divine participation is echoed in Isaiah 6, Ezekiel, and Revelation. These texts show worship on earth as a manifestation of heavenly angelic worship. It is worship that trains the soul to be a citizen of heaven. Worship hands the faith down. Worship brings us into the communion of saints. The structure therefore is not a “stylistic” choice, rather it is a metaphysical principle. This liturgical form is nearly identical to the outline described by Justin Martyr in the second century, as well as in harmony with the rhythms of tabernacle and temple worship. This uniformity through the ages betrays an apostolic origin. That the historic liturgies of the Church, while not expressly printed in the New Testament, appear to be an apostolic tradition handed down from generation to generation shaping saints and martyrs for centuries.