A Response to “On administering Holy Communion in a Time of a Plague”
This was sent to me and deserves a read. You can read the Calivas article here . We can all agree that we are living in unusual times. However, the nature and extent of the illness that we face, and the proper response of the Church, is a matter of much disagreement. We have seen various responses to the COVID-19 epidemic: calls to close our Churches as infectious vectors, and demands to open them as places of spiritual healing. Directives a) ordering the cessation of sacramental life as part of an effort to “flatten the curve,” and cries for access to the divine grace that flows forth from those very mysteries; b) calling for the restriction of “at-risk persons,” and serious questions about the validity of such controls, c) instructions to liturgists to wear personal protective equipment during the celebration of the divine services and the distribution of the holy Mysteries, and uncertainty about the fitness of such practices. Who has been championing what and on behalf of whom? The ...
Thank you for posting this beautiful work. It is a particularly interesting painting in that it appears to show a historic church that is in the process of being restored to worship. I saw many churches like this when I travelled to Russia 10 years ago - the structure of the building has been restored (very likely by the government), and it has just recently been handed over to the Church. Thus the iconostasis is a temporary structure and there are a few moveable icons and furnishings, but no frescoes. I also notice that the service is taking place at the south side chapel, not the central altar. Perhaps this small corner of the building is all that has been made ready for worship so far, and restoration of the main altar awaits more funds or more worshippers. It is a poignant vignette showing a condition so typical of Orthodoxy in recent years. The painter has chosen to show the church flooded with light as a metaphor for the restoration of worship.
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