Actually, not all Orthodox priests are called that, for example, the patriarch should be addressed "Your Holiness", the Metropolitan - "Your Eminence" or "Most Reverend Vladyka", "Your Eminence" or "Vladyka" to the bishop; The abbot of the monastery, the archpriest or archimandrite is called "Your Reverend", the hieromonk or priest is officially called "Your Reverend" or "father", and the hierodeacon is called "Father Deacon." Priests, according to the church charter, should address the flock "Your Beatitude" or "brothers and sisters." "Father" is an unofficial appeal to a priest-pastor whom the parishioners know well and from whom they spiritually feed. This address should not be used when dealing with deacons and monks-monks - a monk can be called an "honest father", "father". There is also a vocative form of this word - "father", which is also often used.
Where did the "father" come from?
The word “father” itself derives from the noun “father” (batѦ), “father”, “father” (Belarusian), which the ancient Slavs first called male relatives - brothers, uncles. According to data from the "Etymological Dictionary" by Max Vasmer, the noun "batya" comes from the Proto-Slavic word batę, bat'a. Then they began to call the father of the family, the head of the clan, and in the Middle Ages they began to call the head of a group of people, community, Cossack chieftain or commander of a military unit. In the Russian army, fighters sometimes call their commander that, a person who takes care of them and is close to them. The address "father" appeared by adding a diminutive-affectionate suffix to the word "father" and quickly became entrenched as an appeal to a strong, intelligent and able to protect other men within the family. This appeal, as it were, simultaneously includes the man in the family, emphasizes respect and love for him and recognizes his leadership. Quite quickly, they began to turn to the priests, who often knew the life of parishioners well, baptized children, buried their fathers, and, as best they could, supported the families of parishioners in difficult times.
"Father" means "native", "own"
This appeal to Orthodox priests is disliked by Protestants, who are always guided by the principle of solo scriptura, which literally means “only Scripture,” and indicate that in the Gospel Christ forbade anyone to call himself “a reader or a father:“ Do not call yourself teachers, for one your Teacher is Christ, nevertheless you are brothers, and do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father ... “To which one can object that, firstly, Orthodox priests do not call themselves“ fathers ”, none of they do not say: “I am father Vladimir” or “I am father Nikodim. This is what the flock calls them. Secondly, parishioners, calling the priest a priest or addressing him “Father!”, Are, as it were, turning to God through the priest. Thirdly, the Protestants take the words of Christ out of context, because in the Gospel, pronouncing them, he speaks of the scribes and the Pharisees, who hypocritically call themselves “teachers”, “instructors” and “fathers”, while they themselves lie on their beds, revel in power and require the flock to fulfill those requirements that they themselves do not intend to fulfill. In Orthodoxy, the apostles, who called their flock their children, always went to suffer first and endured more than followers and disciples. In addition, when they call Christians children, they have always called Christ their father. Seeing their sacrificial love, the parishioners of the early Christian church began to have brotherly and son love for them, and therefore called them "fathers." In addition, addressing a priest or monk with the word "Father!" Or "Father!" In no way violates the first commandment of the Old Testament, given by God to Moses: "I am the Lord, your God ... may you have no other gods before Me." (Ex. 20: 2–3) because no one deifies a priest by such conversion. Rather, as in the old days, this address includes the parish priest in the family circle of close and dear ones.
In church practice, it is not customary to greet a priest with the words: "Hello".
The priest himself, introducing himself, must say: "Priest (or priest) Vasily Ivanov", "Archpriest Gennady Petrov", "Hegumen Leonid"; but it would be a violation of church etiquette to say: "I am Father Mikhail Sidorov."
In the third person, referring to the priest, they usually say: "The Father Superior blessed", "Father Michael believes ...". But it hurts the ear: "Priest Fyodor advised." Although in a multi-clergy parish, where priests with the same names may appear, they say to distinguish them: "Archpriest Nicholas is on a business trip, and Priest Nicholas gives communion." Or, in this case, a surname is added to the first name: "Father Nikolai Maslov is now at Vladyka's reception."
The combination "father" and the surname of the priest ("Father Kravchenko") is used, but rarely and carries a tinge of formality and detachment. Knowledge of all this is necessary, but sometimes it turns out to be insufficient due to the multi-situational nature of parish life.
Let's consider some situations. What should a layman do if he finds himself in a society where there are several priests? There can be many variations and subtleties here, but the general rule is as follows: they take blessings first of all from senior priests, that is, first from the archpriests, then from the priests (The question is how to distinguish this, if not all of them are familiar to you. a hint is given by the cross worn by the priest: a cross with an ornament - necessarily an archpriest, gilded - either an archpriest or priest, silver - a priest). If you have already taken a blessing from two or three priests, and there are three or four other priests nearby, take a blessing from them. But if you see that this is somehow difficult, say: "Bless, honest fathers" and bow down. Note that in Orthodoxy it is not customary to use the words: "holy father", they say: "honest father" (for example: "Pray for me, honest father").
Another situation: a group of believers in the courtyard of the temple approaches under the blessing of a priest. In this case, you should do the following: first, men come up (if there are clergymen among those gathered, then they come first) - by seniority, then women (also by seniority). If a family is suitable for blessing, then the husband, wife, and then children (by seniority) come first. If they want to introduce someone to the priest, they say: "Father Peter, this is my wife. Please, bless her."
What should you do if you meet a priest on the street, in transport, in a public place (in the mayor's office, shop, etc.)? Even if he is in civilian clothes, you can approach him and take his blessing, seeing, of course, that this will not interfere with his work. If it is impossible to take the blessing, they are limited to a slight bow.
At parting, as at a meeting, the layman again asks the priest for blessing: "Forgive me, father, and bless."
Code of Conduct When Talking to a Priest
The attitude of a layman to a priest as the bearer of the grace received by him in the sacrament of the Priesthood, as a person appointed by the hierarchy to shepherd a flock of verbal sheep, must be filled with reverence and respect. When communicating with a clergyman, it is necessary to ensure that speech, gestures, facial expressions, posture, and gaze are decent. This means that the speech should not contain expressive and even more rude words, jargon, which are full of speech in the world. Gestures and facial expressions should be reduced to a minimum (it is known that stingy gestures are a sign of a well-mannered person). In conversation, you must not touch the priest or be familiar. When communicating, a certain distance is observed. The violation of the distance (being too close to the interlocutor) is a violation of the norms of even worldly etiquette. The pose should not be cheeky, let alone defiant. It is not customary to sit if the priest is standing; sit down after being asked to sit down. The gaze, which is usually the least subject to conscious control, should not be intent, studying, ironic. Very often it is the glance - meek, humble, downcast - that immediately speaks of a well-mannered person, in our case, a church person.
In general, you should always try to listen to the other, without bothering the interlocutor with your verbiage and talkativeness. In a conversation with a priest, a believer should remember that the Lord Himself can often speak through a priest as a minister of the Mysteries of God. That is why parishioners are so * attentive to the words of a spiritual mentor.
Needless to say, the laity are guided by the same in their communication with each other; norms of behavior.
How can laymen communicate with each other correctly?
Because we are one in Christ, believers call one another "brother" or "sister." These appeals are quite often (although perhaps not to the same extent as in the Western branch of Christianity) are used in church life. This is how the faithful address the entire congregation: "Brothers and sisters." These beautiful words express that deep unity of believers, about which it is said in the prayer: "But all of us, from the one Bread and Chalice of those who commune, unite to each other in the One Spirit, Holy Communion." In the broadest sense of the word, both a bishop and a priest are also brothers for a layman.
In the church environment, it is not customary even to call elderly people by their patronymic, they call only by their first name (that is, the way we approach Communion, to Christ).
When lay people meet, men usually kiss each other on the cheek simultaneously with a handshake, while women do without a handshake. Ascetic rules impose restrictions on greetings of a man and a woman through kissing: it is enough to greet each other with a word and tilt of the head (even on Easter, rationality and sobriety are recommended, so as not to add passion to Easter kissing).
Relations between believers should be filled with simplicity and sincerity, humble readiness, if wrong, to immediately ask for forgiveness. Small dialogues are typical for the church environment: "Forgive me, brother (sister)." - "God will forgive, you forgive me." When parting, believers do not say to each other (as is customary in the world): "All the best!", But: "Save, Lord," "I ask for prayers," "With God," "God's help," "Guardian angel," etc. .P.
If confusion often arises in the world: how to refuse something without offending the interlocutor, then in the Church this issue is solved in the simplest and best way: "Excuse me, I cannot agree to this, because it is a sin" or "Excuse me, but this is not the blessing of my confessor. " And thus the tension is quickly relieved; in the world it would take a lot of effort.
How do you invite a priest to fulfill the requirements?
Sometimes it is required to invite a priest to perform the so-called requirements.
If you know the priest, you can invite him over the phone. During a telephone conversation, as well as during a meeting, direct communication, they do not say to the priest: "Hello", but build the beginning of the conversation like this: "Hello, is this Father Nikolai? Bless, father" - and then briefly, succinctly state the purpose of the call. Finish the conversation with thanksgiving and again: "Bless." Either from the priest, or from the one standing behind the candle box in the church, you need to find out what needs to be prepared for the arrival of the priest. For example, if a priest is invited to give communion (admonish) a sick person, it is necessary to prepare the sick person, clean the room, take the dog out of the apartment, have candles, clean boards, and water. For unction, however, candles, cotton pods, oil, wine are needed. During the funeral service, candles, a prayer of permission, a funeral cross, a veil, an icon are required. Candles, vegetable oil, holy water are prepared for the consecration of the house. The priest who is invited for the service is usually impressed by the fact that the relatives do not know how to behave with the priest. Even worse, if the TV is not turned off, music is playing, a dog is barking, and half-naked youth is walking around.
At the end of the prayers, if the situation allows it, the priest can be offered a cup of tea - this is a great opportunity for family members to talk about spiritual matters and resolve any issues.
Hieromonk Aristarkh (Lokhanov)
Trifono-Pechenga Monastery
I asked purely about his narrow concept, relating specifically to priests. And not those who once lived a long time ago, who, in principle, could be called fathers, but about those who are now among us. If we consider human fatherhood in a broad sense, then I see 5 such concepts:
1. The father is the one who gave birth to you in the flesh.
2. The Father is a spiritual one who brought you to faith in God and cares for you (this is what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 4:15).
3. Father - that is, a person who has achieved such spiritual growth (1 John 2: 12-14; 1 Cor. 3: 1-3).
4. Father or fathers - that is, ancestors, ancestors, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc.
5. Father - as the priest is called.Perhaps this concept is even broader, but so far I have found only such, so to speak, 5 points, of which the 4th point is the answer to your question: as I understand the quotations from the Bible you quoted. And the 5th point is my question, which is still not quite clear to me.
Click to Expand ...
In the church, the priest is called "father" because he performs the spiritual birth of a person in the Sacrament of Baptism. "Jesus answered and said to him: truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again, cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus says to him: how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mother's womb a second time and be born Jesus answered: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised at what I told you: you owe you The Spirit breathes where it wants, and you hear its voice, but you don't know where it comes from and where it goes: this is the case with everyone who is born of the Spirit "(John 3: 3-8).
Spiritual birth takes place in two ways: the Sower is God, but the cultivator (through whom it was done) is the priest (as in the carnal birth, in which the source of being is God). Therefore, a person's participation in spiritual birth is not fiction, but reality (as in the carnal birth, from this no one doubted that the carnal parent can be called "father", although in the true sense only God is the Father). God baptizes, but also the priest: "He (the Incarnate God) is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (John 1:33), but "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel" (1 Cor. 1:17) (that is, to baptize Christ sent In the church, such people are called "priests", which distinguishes, but does not oppose, the ministry of the presbyter - preacher).
In the Sacrament of Confession, spiritual birth is renewed, and in the Sacrament it is brought to Perfection. And the Sacraments are given through the hands of the clerics - the clergy ("no one by himself accepts this honor, but called by God, like Aaron" (Heb. 5: 4).We call "father" not only the one who specifically baptized me, confessed and communed, but the entire clergy of this church. Because the perfect thing was accomplished not according to the personal merit of those priests, but according to the priestly grace (1 Tim.4: 14, Heb. 6: 2), which was upon them. We accept them as stewards of the Mysteries (Sacraments) of God (for example, baptism, the sacrament of confession) ("everyone must understand us as servants of Christ and stewards of the Mysteries of God") (1 Cor. 4: 1). We accept priests in this way, because we have the commandment: "Whoever receives you (the apostles-ministers, and those who sit on their seats), receives Me, and whoever receives Me, receives Him who sent Me; whoever receives a prophet, in the name of a prophet, will receive the reward of the prophet; and whoever accepts the righteous in the name of the righteous will receive the reward of the righteous (without consideration of personal merit) "(Matthew 10: 40,41)
added: 17 Sep 2014The Bible distinguishes between proper and common nouns. A common name indicates an image, a particle of which comes from the Prototype (or gives a likeness).
Therefore, the names "Father" and "Teacher" are proper for God, and common nouns for people.
There is even such a name for "god". For our Creator, it is our own, and for humans, it is a common noun.
"I said: you are gods, and the sons of the Most High are all of you; but you will die like men and fall like any of the princes" (Ps. 81: 6,7). Man is called "God" because he is the image and likeness of God. Like triangles with similarity. They're alike. So man is like God. And, as an image-icon, it is called God. There are facets of the similarity between God and man. In this likeness, man is called "God" by the Creator Himself and the Archetype.
John 10:34. this word of God sounded to man here: "God said: let us make man in our image in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep in earth "(Genesis 1:26).
If in human nature there is something for which a person is called "God" (the image and likeness of God), then no less in the clergy there is something that likens them to the Father and the Teacheradded: 17 Sep 2014The most important thing is the liturgy. During the liturgy, the priest is an icon of Christ, giving and refracting. If you accept this, then according to the law (Matthew 10: 40,41) you make the priest the image and likeness of the Father, who fed you the Manna that came down from Heaven, and the Teacher.
added: 17 Sep 2014Eldership, that is, teaching, for a priest is his second duty (and it does not lie with every priest, in the sense of the word, therefore it is translated as "eldership"). This is a separate issue. In relation to "fatherhood" it has a meaning as - communicating the conditions for accepting the seed of a new birth (parable of the Sower)
Questions of an external pious everyday life often concern parishioners of many churches. How to properly address the clergy, how to distinguish them from each other, what to say when meeting? These seemingly little things can confuse an unprepared person, make him worry. Let's try to figure out if there is a difference in the concepts of "priest", "priest" and "priest"?
Priest - g the main character of any worship
What do the names of the ministers of the church mean?
In the church environment, you can hear a variety of addresses to the ministers of the temple. The main character in any worship service is the priest. This is the person who is in the altar and performs all the rites of the service.
Important! Only a man who has undergone special training and is ordained by the ruling bishop can be a priest.
The word "priest" in the liturgical sense corresponds to the synonym "priest". Only ordained priests have the right to perform the Sacraments of the Church, according to a certain order. The official documents of the Orthodox Church also use the word "priest" to refer to one or another priest.
Among the laity and ordinary parishioners of churches, one can often hear the address "father" in relation to one or another priest. This is an everyday, simpler meaning, it indicates the attitude towards parishioners as spiritual children.
If we open the Bible, namely the Acts or the Epistles of the Apostles, we will see that very often they used the address “My children” to the people. Ever since Biblical times, the love of the apostles for their disciples and the believing people was comparable to that of a father's love. Also now - parishioners of churches receive instructions from their priests in the spirit of paternal love, therefore such a word as "father" has come into use.
Father is a popular appeal to a married priest
How does a pop differ from a priest
As for the concept of "priest", in modern church practice it has a certain scornful and even offensive connotation. Nowadays it is not customary to call the priesthood priests, and if they do, it is more in a negative way.
Interesting! During the years of Soviet power, when there was strong oppression of the church, all clergymen were called priests. It was then that this word acquired a special negative meaning, comparable to the enemy of the people.
But even in the middle of the 18th century, the term “pop” was in common use and did not carry any bad meaning. Basically, only lay priests were called priests, and not monastics. This word belongs to the modern Greek language, where there is the term "papas". Hence the name of the Catholic priest "Pope" came from. The term "priest" is also derived - it is the wife of a worldly priest. Priests are often called priests among the Russian brethren on Mount Athos.
In order not to get into an awkward position, it is worth remembering that now the term "pop" has practically gone out of the vocabulary of believers. When addressing a priest, one can say "Father Vladimir", or simply "Father".It is customary to address the wife of a priest with the prefix "Mother".
For a believer, it does not matter with what words he addresses a clergyman. However, the traditions and practice of church life develop certain forms of communication that it is desirable to know.
What a real priest should be
Instead of a preface
Hello, Thomas magazine. I recently went to the temple. The service was going on, they read, it seems, the Gospel. We read for a long time and incomprehensibly, however, I made out a phrase that sounds something like this: Christ categorically forbids calling everyone except God fathers and teachers. This caused me some bewilderment, because in the church they call priests exactly that way (Father Sergius, Father Vladimir). And one of my Christian friends says that Orthodoxy has long since departed from the commandments of Christ. And as an example, he also speaks about this practice of calling priests fathers. My Orthodox grandmother constantly goes to church, but for some reason she only sighs when I ask her this question. Perhaps this rule does not apply to priests? And if not, then it turns out that, being a Christian, I cannot call my own daddy a father?
Oleg
In the Gospel, addressing the apostles, Christ really utters the words: “... Do not call yourself teachers, for you have only one Teacher - Christ, you are still brothers; and call no one on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven; and do not call yourself instructors, for you have one instructor - Christ ”(Gospel of Matthew, chapter 23, verses 8-10). This commandment is remarkable in that it ... has never been fulfilled by Christians! Since the inception of the Church, priests have been called "fathers" and "mentors." Outside the temple, for example, in schools, the same Christians, without hesitation, called and call their teachers teachers. And even more so it concerns the appeal to his own father.
Already the apostles, to whom, in fact, the words of Christ were addressed, not only did not forbid, but the first began to call themselves fathers, instructors and teachers. The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Corinthian Christians writes: “... Although you have thousands of instructors in Christ, but not many fathers; I have begotten you in Christ Jesus by the gospel ”(1 Cor. 4:15). That is, he calls himself the spiritual father of the Corinthian Church. The Apostle James advises: “Do not many become teachers” (James 3: 1). In general, in their epistles, the apostles very often used the address: "my children." Only those who, in turn, were called "fathers" could address their listeners in this way.
How can we explain this contradiction between the Gospel quotation and the behavior of the apostles? Either they went against the commandment of their Teacher, misunderstood and distorted His teaching - or Jesus, not allowing Christians to be called “teachers” and “fathers,” nevertheless meant something other than a formal prohibition to use these words in addressing people.
If we accept the first option, we find ourselves in a dead end: all the Gospels are written by the apostles. It turns out a logical contradiction: if they themselves were called “teachers” and “fathers,” then why in general it was necessary to leave this commandment of Christ in the Gospel? For the sake of exposing ourselves?
If we trust the disciples of Christ and, in the end, just common sense, then this commandment must be understood somehow differently. Then what exactly did Jesus mean?
It is necessary to read this phrase in context, without tearing it out of the gospel narrative. After all, the Bible is not a collection of quotations, but a coherent and coherent text. Christ spoke words about fathers and teachers in Jerusalem a few days before the crucifixion. Then the city was especially crowded, because the Easter holiday was approaching. Christ, knowing what will soon happen to Him, uses this time to deliver His last sermons.
However, the then religious teachers of the people - the Pharisees and scribes - used the people who came to Jesus for their own purposes. Considering Christ to be a false prophet and false messiah, they, with a large number of witnesses, tried to discredit Him, to catch Him in some phrase, which could later serve as a reason for accusation.
After yet another failed attempt by the teachers and fathers of the Israelite people to “catch Jesus in his word,” Christ turns to people with harsh accusatory speech against their religious leaders:
“On the seat of Moses * sat the scribes and Pharisees. So, whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do; but do not act according to their works: for they speak and do not. They bind heavy and unbearable burdens and lay them on the shoulders of people, but they themselves do not want to move them with a finger. Yet they do their deeds so that people can see them; they expand their storehouses ** and increase the exclamation *** of their garments; they also love the presentation at feasts and the presidency in the synagogues and greetings in popular gatherings, and that people call them: “teacher! teacher!" And you do not call yourself teachers: for you have one Teacher - Christ; yet you are brothers. And call no one on earth your father: for you have one Father, who is in heaven. And do not call yourself instructors: for you have one instructor - Christ. " (The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 23, verses 2 - 10).
From the context it is clear that we are talking about things more important than word usage. Christ here denounces a certain state of the person who has taken upon himself the teaching. Firstly, Israeli teachers themselves do not follow what they teach, and secondly, they suffer from vanity.
These Gospel words, of course, refer not only to those whom Jesus directly denounced, but also to modern Christians and their mentors. What can the teacher's vanity pour out into, why did Christ denounce him like that? Imagine, for example, a history teacher who declares in lectures: “I am the creator, ruler and engine of world history. Everything that I am telling you - I created myself. " Probably, such a person will not cause anything but regret. After all, everyone understands that a teacher of any discipline is just an intermediary in the transfer of knowledge, and his teaching is service. Whether it's history, mathematics or chemistry.
This applies even more to religious teachers. Their calling is to serve God. And a person who forgets this, according to Christianity, cannot be called a teacher. This is the kind of teaching that Christ denounced. And in this sense, followers of Christ really cannot and should not be called teachers.
If the priests teach and preach without pretending to the exclusiveness of their mission, realizing that the teaching they preach is not their own, and they only lead to Christ, then nothing prevents them, like the apostles, from being called teachers and fathers.
But if you suddenly hear that someone, even a priest, calls himself “the new Christ”, “the source of revelation”, “the founder of the third covenant” - or even simply declares the exclusiveness of his spiritual experience as the only true one - he is not going to true Christianity has nothing to do. Very often, it is precisely such people who, taking the commandment of Christ out of context, interpret it as a prohibition on word use and strictly forbid calling themselves fathers, mentors and teachers. Usually in sects everyone calls each other “brothers”. What changes from this? Never mind! You can issue thousands of instructions prohibiting the word "father", but still become a real idol for your followers. At the same time it is modest to be called "brother". But what difference does it make to whom the deceived people give their apartments and slavishly obey - X's father or Y's brother?
Those who made the greatest contribution to the development of the Christian doctrine are usually called the fathers and teachers of the Church. But they have never arrogated to themselves the title of saviors of humanity. The apostles compared themselves to farmers working in a field that belongs to God. Therefore, priests - spiritual fathers and teachers, are always very afraid to become Fathers and Teachers for their spiritual children, that is, instead of Christ's teaching, to teach something of their own, and instead of leading a person to Christ, to lead to oneself.
Roman MAKHANKOV
* Moses' seat is a metaphorical image of teaching. It was the prophet Moses on Mount Sinai who received from God and transmitted His Law to the Israelite people. That is, he was the first teacher in Israel.
** Repositories - bandages or boxes with the words of the commandments of God, which the teachers of the Jewish people made on their foreheads and on their hands in accordance with the command of God Himself. These bandages were called “vaults” because they kept the people from forgetting God.
*** Voskriliya - so that the people of Israel would not forget God, He commanded to sew hyacinth tassels to the edges of clothing. Thus, the "garment resurrection" consisted of purple-blue tassels sewn to the edges of the outer garments of the Jews. Both the "vaults" and "exclamation" were only supposed to remind the people of God. But Israel's religious teachers have turned them into symbols of their power.