Living Tradition in the Orthodox Church

Eleana Silk, Librarian, St Vladimir's Seminary

What is living tradition? It is what we, as Orthodox Christians, want to pass down to our children. It is what makes the church alive and Living (with a capital "L"). It is what one does as a parishioner in one's local church -- actions, celebrations, and practices. Living tradition is comprised of the teachings of the Church which are then made real in the everyday events and practices of the faithful. Jesus Christ himself is the Tradition (with a capital "T") that guides us in these living traditions (with a small "t"). So these actions, celebrations and practices remind us that we belong to Jesus Christ and are therefore called to live a Christ-centered life.

Let's be specific. Central to our actions is our participation in the Divine Liturgy where we receive the Eucharist. As adults, and, more specifically, parents or godparents, we want our children to attend church regularly and receive communion. We desire that they be in communion with God and the parish community. But it is by our actions as adults that we teach our children. If we do not receive communion regularly, for example, our children will not want to receive regularly either. Nor will they value participation in the life of the church if they do not see adults placing a high value on church life.

The life of the church has many facets -- the reading of scripture, liturgy, the lives of saints, and dogmas (such as those expressed in the Nicene Creed). As Orthodox Christians, we need to be educated in these as they are what mold us into Christ-likeness. By our behavior in the parish community and the neighborhood where we live, we live out these teachings. Our children watch us, as do other Orthodox adults and perhaps even the Buddhists and Moslems who live on our street. When we witness properly to these people, the living tradition of the church can be seen in us.

Let us tell an anecdote that demonstrates the way in which a church practice, or tradition, can develop, perhaps even negatively. Orthodox Christians have been known, at times, to practice certain traditions (with a lower case "t") long after they can remember how or why they came about. My own home parish in Michigan, for example, used to celebrate the Paschal Divine Liturgy at midnight, which is the typical time to hold a Paschal service. At a certain point, however, they began to celebrate the Liturgy at 10 am on Pascha morning. This was the practice I was familiar with as a child growing up in the church in the 50's and 60's. Until recently I never knew why. This tradition developed during the Second World War when the streetcars in my city had limited hours of operation and people could not get home from church late at night. Needless to say, the war ended, but the tradition continued.

When we talk about piety in the church, we can think of more anecdotes that illustrate how pious practices are also changeable. Practices considered very pious by Orthodox Christians in one time and place, can be considered strange or unnecessary by Orthodox in another time and place. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, many parishioners, on Good Friday, went up the steps of the church and approached the Tomb of Christ -- on their knees. Nowadays, we would consider this tradition very strange indeed! Our piety is more subtly expressed. A bow or a prostration during Great Lent can mean just as much as approaching the Tomb on one's knees. But whether extreme or subtle, we know that all piety, all living tradition, is to be an expression of the living tradition within us, and is there to remind us that we belong to Jesus Christ.

The living tradition associated with the sacraments of the church can be elaborate. Baptisms, weddings, funerals, and ordinations, all have traditions peculiar to themselves. At baptisms, some godparents hold candles decorated elaborately with flowers and ribbons, while others use plain candles. Similarly baptismal robes can range from plain to fancy. The wedding tradition of the bride wearing only white developed in the late 1800's – before that time, she simply wore her best dress. Such practices however, tend to underscore the same theme—the giving of one's best to God, offering a sacrifice of the material goods God has so generously given us.

Funerals are another ritual that demonstrates Orthodox traditions with a lower case "t." The liturgical rubrics (rules) allow funerals at certain times and days, but not on others. For example, funerals are not permitted on Pascha. While such a rubric stays the same other practices may adjust to a surrounding culture. The tradition of using funeral "homes," for example, has been integrated into Orthodox practice only in North America. In some parishes however, funeral homes are not used. The dead are laid out at home or in church. Each culture manifests this living tradition in different ways. In Eklutna, Alaska, the Athabascan cemetery has "spirit houses," wooden houses built over top of the graves, to identify the people buried there. (Until recently there was no written Athabascan language, so this visual tradition of spirit houses expressed the familial and tribal relations of the dead.) Hence we see how the living tradition of the church can be diversified.

Since living tradition is defined by what we pass on to successive generations, it follows that we should actively educate Orthodox young people. Recently the Orthodox Christian Education Commission, or OCEC, (producers of church school curriculum) developed a new eighth grade church school manual and learned an interesting lesson in the process. Commission members were asked to list those things that, ideally, every church school student should know by the time they reach eighth grade. The list was well over 100 topics in length. Topics included such things as: the Trinity, the Theotokos, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Old Testament, New Testament, lives of certain saints, ethics, and of course, Jesus Christ. Commission members found it difficult to keep the list to a manageable size. After discussing and presenting possible lessons, they realized that there was one overarching theme that might tie all of the others together. This was spirituality -- the life of personal prayer. It is through such prayer that living tradition, passed down from generation to generation, is internalized in each one of us. When the traditions of the everyday life of the Orthodox Christian are done for the sake of appearances; when, so to speak, "our heart is not in it," it is in fact true -- our heart is not in it. When our heart is truly in it, then Christ himself is in us. It is this internalization that enables the true content of all of our activities -- Jesus Christ -- to shine through us. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).