On Sacraments #
Is it necessary for a Christian to know about the Church’s sacraments? #
It is indeed very necessary, for by them we are all sanctified and hold onto salvation. Those who are ignorant of them or neglect them are lost. (Great Catechism, chapter on sacraments).
What is the essence of the Church’s sacraments? #
The essence of the sacraments lies in the very visible signs of their performance, which are perceptible to our senses and are filled with the grace of God, ordained by the Lord, which not only signify but also accomplish and fulfill our justification and sanctification. As St. John Chrysostom says to the people: “For the Lord God, in the depth of His wisdom, has given to man, clothed in a visible body, His invisible gifts under visible and bodily signs. For if man had only a soul without a body, like the angels, then indeed he would receive God’s gifts without these material and sensory visible signs. But since man is clothed with a body, he cannot receive God’s grace without these visible and sensory signs” (Great Catechism, chapter on sacraments). In agreement with this, St. Simeon of Thessalonica says: “Since we are dual beings, consisting of soul and body, Christ has given us sacraments with two aspects, just as He Himself truly became dual for our sake, remaining truly God and becoming truly Man. Thus, by the grace of the Spirit, He spiritually sanctifies our souls, and by the sensory elements of water, oil, bread, the chalice, and other things sanctified by the Spirit, He sanctifies our bodies and grants us perfect salvation” (Conversation on the Sacraments and Mysteries of the Church, ch. 8).
How many sacraments does the Holy Church have for our sanctification? #
According to the explanation of St. Simeon of Thessalonica: “There are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, as Isaiah says (Isaiah 11:2), and there are seven sacraments of the Church performed by the Spirit. These are: baptism, chrismation, communion, priesthood, marriage, repentance, and anointing with oil” (On Sacred Rites and Sacraments, ch. 1).
Who instituted these sacraments? #
St. Simeon of Thessalonica writes that all these were instituted by Jesus Christ our God and by His divine will through His disciples (ibid., ch. 8).
Who should perform these sacraments? #
According to the Great Catechism, no one except ordained hierarchs, to whom the authority has been given by the Lord God through the laying on of hands of apostolic successors, should perform these sacraments. For God has appointed orders and offices in the Church, as the holy apostle Paul says: “And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11). And in another place, he says: “No one takes this honor upon himself, but he must be called by God, just as Aaron was” (Hebrews 5:4). For if in the Old Testament no one dared to perform the mysteries without consecration, much more should we not dare now. Therefore, at the Last Supper, the Lord made His apostles priests, and after His resurrection, He commanded them to baptize all nations and gave them the authority to forgive sins (Great Catechism, chapter on sacraments).
What should someone do if they are unable to find an Orthodox priest to perform a sacrament? #
Where an Orthodox priest cannot be found, the person desiring to receive the sanctification of the Church’s sacraments must diligently seek out such a priest, not only nearby but even in distant areas. If they hear of such a priest’s presence somewhere, they should go to him to fulfill their desire. However, if, despite this willingness to make an effort, they cannot fulfill their desire, then they should pour out this need before God and ask Him to, in His way, fulfill this great deficiency. The Great Catechism, in the chapter on sacraments, says: “Baptism, communion, and repentance are so necessary for everyone’s salvation, just as a ship is necessary for crossing the deep sea, without which no one can be saved, except if they are unable to receive them, though they desire them.”
Can the desire for the sacraments justify the Priestless Old Believers (Bezpopovtsy)? #
The sanctifying grace in the Church’s sacraments, as well as the justification in desiring them, holds power only within true faith. True faith includes believing that all the Church’s sacraments can exist until the end of the age, as Christ Himself said: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica and Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, explain this, saying: Christ did not say this because He would no longer be with us after the end of the age—how could that be, when in His prayer to the Father, He says: “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory” (John 17:24), and a little earlier: “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one” (John 17:22), “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:23)—but that He will be with us in His Holy Mysteries until the end of the age. He said this also so that now, after His ascension and until His coming again, when He is invisible, no one would think that, being invisible to us, He is no longer with us. But rather, everyone should believe that He is always with us and becomes one with us in His Mysteries. Then we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2), as His beloved disciple says, and so “we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17), as Paul teaches (Simeon of Thessalonica’s response to the question of why the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is not performed during the fasts except in Great Lent, and Germanus the Patriarch’s explanation of the Divine Liturgy).
The Old Believers (Bezpopovtsy), however, by denying the current existence of Orthodox priesthood and the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ on earth, clearly do not believe in the Lord’s promise mentioned above. Therefore, they cannot even genuinely desire to receive the Church’s sacraments. And if they speak of desiring them, they do so only to cover up their unbelief in this matter.