I

The Eastern Church is little known in the West, and it would seem that there is not much desire on our part to alter that condition of things. As the Eastern Hemisphere is separated from the Western by the Ural and Carpathian ranges, so is Eastern Christendom separated from Western Christendom, and more effectually, by the mountain barriers which our ignorance, prejudice, and indifference have set up. But it is well to remember the German proverb, Behind the mountains are also people, and that the people who are behind those mountains which have been the growth of centuries, form nearly one-fourth of the followers of the Faith of Christ, or about one hundred million souls.

The causes which have led to this indifference on the part of the West towards the East are many, but there are two which might be mentioned as being perhaps the chief.

(I.) The first of these is the inherent peculiarity of temperament, which finds its expression in habits of thought, and modes of action, in the East, against which the spirit of the West frets, and for which it has neither sympathy nor toleration. The quiet, meditative restfulness of the East--its satisfaction with past attainment in the matter of Doctrine and Worship, its wistful retrospective gaze upon magnificent accomplishment, which the experience of centuries of trial has only intensified, are totally alien to the active, speculative, hopeful spirit of the West. Attainment is the boast of the East, and in that it rests content. Progress, achievement, is the craze of the West. Those temperaments, so obviously diverse, have for long parted company.

(II.) The other is the great Roman Church. Inspired with that spirit which commends itself to the Western mind--its activity, its aptitude to fit itself to the ever-changing circumstances of the times, its progressive spirit, its thirst for achievement--characteristics without which it could scarcely have survived amid the crash of falling empire, and the chaos of barbaric anarchy which marked its birth--that Church for the past nine centuries has obtruded itself upon our attention, and claimed, nay demanded, our consideration. It pervades the West, its advocates are ubiquitous, its influence is everywhere felt. It was a knowledge of that Church and a very real acquaintance with its spirit and methods, which enabled the reformers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to successfully wage war with it; and we realise that, in these days, to retain our freedom we must keep ourselves in touch with it, and by full and fresh acquaintance continue armed against its persistent aggressiveness. We are out of touch with the East, at no point do we come in contact with it; we have nothing to fear, though we might have something to hope from it. But we are in the West, and whether we will or not the Roman Church is always with us, and unceasingly demands our attention. So the Eastern Church fades from our view: out of sight it is out of mind, and it is the Roman Church that bars our vision.

But the Eastern Church deserves better at our hands than to be thus forgotten. In these days of unrest, when men's minds are unsettled on so many questions, a strange, alluring calm pervades our spirit when we overtop the barriers and look down upon the peace and quiet of Eastern Christendom. There, in all her pristine simplicity and attractiveness, as in the golden days of the Empire, as in the fierce conflict of the early middle ages when John of Damascus whetted the sword for the conflict, so now under the misrule and tyranny of the Turk, she holds in quiet restfulness the simple faith committed to her by the Apostles and Fathers, the same Church now as then.

Do we forget that the Fathers of the Eastern Church formulated our doctrines, and shaped our Creed, guarding it in every item with jealous care? Do we forget that the Churches founded by the apostles in Syria and Asia Minor still hold by the apostolic doctrine, and are parts of that great Church? Do we forget that the creed framed at Nicea is practically our creed, even as it is the creed of the Eastern Church? Do we forget that with unbroken succession, from the dawn of Christianity down to the present day, the bishops of that Church have handed on the torch of truth? We reap the blessings of Eastern fidelity to Christian truth, and forget, or ignore, the source whence it came to us. The high-sounding pretensions of Rome hide the facts of the case from us, and Rome, the first great dissenter from the Catholic Church, would not only claim for herself what does not belong to her, but would brand as schismatic and heretic all who differ from her in doctrine or practice. What modern Christendom would have been, had the Roman schism of 1054 never taken place, it is difficult to conceive. The suggestion opens up to our minds an alluring prospect, for we cannot forget that the revolt of the reformed faith in the sixteenth century was not from the faith of the East, but from the Roman Church with its accumulation of intolerable abuse.

II

Prior to the fall of the Empire in the middle of the fifteenth century, the Greek Church comprised within her borders, Greece, Illyricum (Dalmatia), the islands of the Archipelago; Russia; Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine; Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia; Arabia, Persia, and Mesopotamia. After that disaster she fell into a dependent condition in those territories secured by the Turk. In the eighteenth century Russia claimed separation from Constantinople, and has been governed since by a Holy Synod; and when the new kingdom of Greece was established in the early part of last century, the Church there, in like manner, claimed a distinct organisation. Scattered portions of the Church, chiefly in Hungary, Servia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and in Poland, which, while following the Greek rite, accepted the supremacy of the Pope, united themselves, A.D. 1590, to the Roman See. But those Uniat Greeks, as they were termed, after 250 years, returned to the Eastern Church, in part associating themselves with the Russian Church, and in part with the See of Constantinople. Servia has now its own Metropolitan.

At the present time, the Eastern Church may be thus grouped--

I. The Greek Church proper.

II. The Heretical Churches.

III. The Russian Church.

I. The Greek Church comprises those peoples who speak the Greek language. Among these are the independent Church of Greece, the Apostolic Churches of Asia Minor, and those Uniats in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula who returned to their former allegiance to the Patriarch of Constantinople. In this group we may also include the independent Church of Servia.

III

In common with the Roman Church, the Greek Church has seven Sacraments. These are--the Eucharist, Baptism, the Holy Chrism, Penance, Matrimony, Unction of the Sick, and Ordination.

IV

The following is a typical plan, roughly drawn, of a Greek church.

1. The Bema; 2. The Altar; 3. The Prothesis; 4. The Diaconicon; 5. The Iconostasis; 6. Doors; 7. The Ambon; 8. The Nave; 9. The Narthex.

From this plan it will be seen at a glance that a Greek Church consists of four parts: (1) The Bema or Sanctuary, which contains the altar, and on either side the Prothesis and the Diaconicon. From the choir the Sanctuary is separated by the Iconostasis, which answers to the altar rails in a Roman Church. (2) In front of the Iconostasis is the Choir, not architecturally separated from the Nave, but occupying the eastern end of it. (3) The Nave. (4) The Narthex. In some of the larger churches there are two Nartheces--the esonarthex and the exonarthex, the latter serving the purpose of an extended porch.

To look at the arrangement and detail of the church more particularly--

The (ἅγιον βῆμα) Bema or Sanctuary, for the due celebration of the Holy Mysteries, occupies the eastern end of the church. Only priests are allowed to enter the Bema, and by them it can be entered only after fasting and prayer. The altar which stands in the Bema is built of stone, Christ being the Head of the Corner, and the Foundation Stone, and is furnished with candles, a copy of the Scriptures, and the Cross.

The Prothesis, to the north of the Bema, is a small chapel, on the table of which the sacred offerings are prepared for the altar. The chapel of the Prothesis is separated from the Bema by a wall to which entrance is had by a screened doorway.

The Diaconicon is to the south of the Bema, and contains the sacred utensils and vestments. It is of inferior sanctity, but the clergy of the lower orders are not allowed to enter it.

The Iconostasis is the screen which separates the sanctuary from the choir, and is so called for the reason that certain icons or pictures are depicted on it. It is of panelled wood, sufficiently high to hide the interior of the sanctuary from the worshippers. In some cases it is simply a curtain of some cloth fabric. It has three doors leading to the Prothesis, to the Bema, and to the Diaconicon. On either side of the door giving entrance to the Bema are the icons of our Lord and of the Virgin Mother--the one to the right and the other to the left. Other icons are displayed over the screen, which in many cases is quite a work of art.

In front of the Iconostasis is the choir, and opposite the Holy door leading to the Bema is the Ambon, from which the reader recites the scriptures, and from which, on special occasions, sermons are delivered.

The Nave is that part of the church designed for the accommodation of the male portion of the congregation.

The Narthex gives accommodation to catechumens and penitents, where the Gospels can be heard, but from which the celebration of the Mysteries cannot be witnessed. Late comers usually content themselves with a place in the Narthex in order not to disturb the service. The Narthex is in some cases vaulted, as are also the aisles, so called, over which are galleries for the accommodation of the female portion of the congregation; where these are awanting, women are accommodated in the Narthex, as the division of the sexes during worship is rigidly maintained.

There are no seats in a Greek Church, as the recognised posture during worship is standing. In some churches narrow stalls are built in which the worshipper can stand, leaning forward, and resting his elbows during the long service; and in a church which the writer visited some years ago in Constantinople, there were in those stalls narrow ledges upon which the knee can be rested. Organs are not used in the services; but as the greater part of the service is chanted by the singers, vocal music in some cases is carried to great perfection.

V

The services of the Church are contained in seventeen quarto volumes of closely printed matter. Of these, from a Western point of view, the most important would seem to be:

The Euchologion, which contains the offices of S. Chrysostom and S. Basil, and those for Baptism, Burial, etc.

The Triodion and Pentecostarion contain the services for Lent and the three Sundays preceding it, and for Pentecost. Those two volumes contain the most attractive of all the services of the Church, and their hymnody, which includes much of the work of S. John of Damascus, is incomparable in the whole range of the service books.

VI

The veneration of saints and relics took its rise on the overthrow of paganism at the time of Constantine. It was very natural that those who had suffered martyrdom at the hands of pagan persecutors should at that time be remembered; and so it came to pass that churches were considered honoured above all others which contained the relics of those martyrs. The bones of Christ's witnesses were removed from their lonely graves, where they had lain long neglected, and were deposited under Christian altars. Saint's days were appointed upon which their deeds were rehearsed and their lives commemorated. From a veneration of the saints it was a short step to their invocation, and what helped the Church to take that step was the difficulty felt by men in regarding Jesus Christ as being at once God, and the Mediator between God and man.

The chief of saints is the Mother of our Lord after the flesh. The title applied to her--Mother of God--is quite intelligible, when we recollect the strife of the Arian controversy, and the determination of the Church to maintain the eternity of the Son and His equality with God.

Saint worship is not countenanced: saints are venerated and invoked, but not worshipped. Ignorant people in the East, even as is the case with ignorant and superstitious people in the West, in all Churches, fall into divers errors; but the invocation of the saints is quite intelligible to the ordinarily instructed minds in the Church, and in their view in no way robs the Three One God of the worship and glory that are due to Him alone.

There are no images in Eastern churches. The onslaught of the iconoclasts of the ninth century stripped Eastern worship of much that beautified and embellished it, but icons, or sacred pictures remained, and are held in as profound veneration, as is the image of any saint in the Church of the West. The icons are very varied in their representations. They represent our Lord and Joseph and Mary; the apostles, saints, and martyrs; and some of them depict interesting incidents from the scriptures. Prayers are said before them, that a devotional spirit may be aroused and sustained by the scene depicted. In the commoner churches those icons are in many cases miserable daubs, but in some of the larger and wealthier churches, and in many of the older buildings where they are executed in mosaic, they are often works of the highest art.

Unlike the Roman Church, the Greek Church claims no infallibility. Works of supererogation are not allowed, and there are consequently no grants of indulgence or dispensations. The state of the dead is final--the souls of the departed passing at once into a state of bliss or torment. Purgatory therefore is disallowed, and prayers for the dead are but a pious custom, by which the memory of the departed is kept fresh.

VII

From all this, and from what went before, it must be very obvious to everyone that more than the Filioque contention separates the Greek from the Roman Church. They are diverse in spirit and totally irreconcilable in doctrine and practice. They are in reality two Churches--have been so from the first, and must to all appearance continue so to the end. Nor are we very hopeful that more than a very sympathetic interest in the great apostolic Church can ever result from an increased knowledge of that Church on the part of the Reformed communions of the West--and surely that may be attained; but we must look beyond the self-assertive Roman Church, and by earnest enquiry seek to acquaint ourselves with its history, doctrine, and practice. Such a study will reward us by creating a lasting bond of sympathy with that Church, and by broadening our outlook, which has in the past been too much confined within the limits of the horizon bounding our own communion--a narrowing and pride engendering condition in truth. And from the varied contents of the voluminous service books of the Greek Church--the work of devoted men in the early centuries, who lived so near to the source of our common Christianity--may be culled many flowers with which to beautify the temple of God in these latter days. A specimen of what those books contain may be seen in the contents of this volume.

VIII

It is a very remarkable fact, and certainly not to our credit, that, with the exception of a very few who have made the study a specialty, our educated men shew a most unaccountable ignorance of the most attractive and valuable material for praise and prayer contained in the service books of the Greek Church. We have learning far more than enough, and zeal enough for the pursuit of study in other departments, but this unworked field lies fallow, and no one thinks it worth his while to cultivate it. That the study will reward the student, although not in a material sense--for the meaningless prejudice of the great mass of our people for what is local, and against the thought of the stranger, no matter how beautiful it may be, has still to be reckoned with--yet in the highest sense as conferring upon him a new delight, there can be no doubt; for after the necessary expenditure of patient application, and the passing of the initiatory stages, which in every department of study are somewhat trying, the attraction will begin, and the subject become positively fascinating. To any one having the lyrical gift, and the necessary qualifications for the study of Greek, those service books might prove a mine of treasure inexhaustible. In the seventeen quarto volumes which contain the Greek Offices, there must be material of one kind or another for many thousands of hymns; yet when hymnal compilers ask for hymns from the Greek for their collections, they are not to be had save in the few renderings made by Dr. Neale.

We have not treated the Latin Church after that fashion. There is not a hymn of real merit in the Latin which has not been translated, and in not a few cases oftener than once, with the result that the gems of Latin hymnody are the valued possession of the Christian Church in all English-speaking lands.

One does not proceed far without making some discoveries which may account, to a certain extent, for the neglect of Greek hymnody by those men who are best qualified to pursue the study of it. The writers are not poets in the true sense, and their language is not Greek as we have known it. None of the hymn writers in the service books, or out of them, is a poet of more than ordinary merit; although when John of Damascus forgets his adversaries, and dispenses with his rhythmical peculiarities, and gives forth the utterance of his deep devotional nature, he proves himself to be worthy of the title--The greatest of Greek Christian Poets.

The Greek language lived long and died slowly, and the Christian hymn writers wrote in its decadence. It was then an instrument that had lost its fineness and keenness and polish, not the language of the men whose thoughts still charm the world, and who, by its deft use, gained for themselves and for their work immortality. It has little of the subtlety and suggestiveness of expression, the variety of cadence, and the intellectual possibility of the Greek of the classical writers. It was a language, moreover, crippled by the introduction of ecclesiastical and theological terms and phrases, which stubbornly refuse to lend themselves to classical rhythm. Such a language cannot be expected to have attraction for men to whom the classical poets are a delight.

But it may be objected that Latin hymnody was also produced when the language was in a state of decadence. That is doubtless a statement of fact. But here again we are brought face to face with the dominant influence and age-long sovereignty of the Roman Church in the West, and with the fact that we have derived very largely from her, and to a much less appreciable extent from the Eastern Church. The Roman Church, with all that she had to give, laid hold of the West, and the Eastern Church, lying beyond the mountains, was forgotten.

The hymns of the Greek Church are still in rhythmical prose--strangely oriental in structure--with the exception of those by John of Damascus, which are in iambics; and difficulties confront one on every page. What lines will reward the work of rendering? Prayer, Gospel, psalm, hymn, and exhortation follow each other, and are sometimes strangely interlaced. Where does one begin and another end? Then there is meaningless repetition which must be passed over, and expressions demanding modification. The symbolism is extravagant, and sometimes a single hymn is crowded with figures the most grotesque. Sifting and pruning are needed before a cento can be formed which would commend itself to modern taste.

But when all has been said, there remains much that is both beautiful and attractive. Some of the hymns and fragments are most chaste and tender in their simple expression of Gospel truths, which are so attractive to all true hearts, no matter by what creed dominated.

The remarkable simplicity characterising those hymns, constitutes, strangely it may seem, no small difficulty for the translator. The mere rendering of them into English prose is a comparatively easy task, and can be of no value to any one but the specialist; but to take the unmeasured lines and cut them to form stanzas, and in the process sacrifice nothing of their spirit to the exigencies of rhyme and rhythm, is a task by no means easy. But such drawbacks and difficulties are by no means insurmountable, and with the growing interest in hymnody which characterises our time, it will be strange if, in the years to come, the Greek service books are not made to yield their tribute to the praise of the Christian Church in the West.

The hymns of the service books have a variety of characteristics, and are distinguished by terms, the meaning of which in some cases being extremely vague, and in others to be derived from the subject of the hymn, or from its form, or perhaps from the time, place, or manner in which it is sung. As we have no corresponding words in our language for the greater number of these, it is necessary to retain the original terms.

The Canon is the most elaborate form into which the praise of the Church is cast. A canon consists nominally of nine odes, for the reason that there are nine scriptural canticles employed at Lauds, viz.--(1) The Song of Moses after crossing the Red Sea; (2) The Song of Moses in Deut. xxxii.; The Songs of (3) Hannah; (4) Habakkuk; (5) Isaiah; (6) Jonah; (7) The Three Children, first part, and (8) second part; (9) Mary (the Magnificat), Simeon (Nunc dimittis). But the second ode is generally omitted from the canon on account of the denunciations of God against Israel which it contains, and the canons of the great fast are made up of those rejected odes. As reference is made in each ode to the canticle of the same number--e.g., in the sixth ode to Jonah's prayer in the whale's belly, a considerable amount of ingenuity has been expended to secure that reference. The effect in many cases is somewhat grotesque, but it is remarkable with what skill it has, in so many cases, been accomplished. The result has been to multiply types to an extraordinary extent.

The Hirmos is the first stanza of the ode. It may, or may not, have a connection with the stanzas following, but its function is to give them their rhythmical model.

The Troparion.--Troparia are the stanzas which follow the hirmos. There are usually three in a Greek ode, but the number may exceed that. The term is no doubt derived from the verb τρέπω, to turn. The troparia turn to the strophes of the hirmos as to a model.

Scattered over the canon is a variety of verses variously named. The Kathisma occurs after the third or sixth ode of the canon. The term is applied to the verse for the reason that it may be sung during a pause in the service, as the word (καθίζω) from which the term is derived would indicate.

The Kontakion occurs after the sixth ode. The term may be traced to canticum, or more likely κοντός short, but it is of very doubtful derivation.

The Hypacöe, another obscure term, occurs after the third ode.

The Icos follows the kontakion after the sixth ode.

Each ode is followed by a Theotokion (θεοτόκος), God-bearing. This is a troparion dedicated to the Virgin Mother. In some cases a stanza depicting her at the Cross follows, called Staurotheotokion.

Stichera are a series of verses, in some cases taken from the Psalter.

Idiomelon.--Unlike the troparion, which follows the model set by the hirmos, the idiomelon has no model. Stichera Idiomela are a collection of irregular verses.