USING THE SACRED HYMNS IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH TO GLORIFY THE ALMIGHTY GOD AND AS A THEOLOGICAL TEACHING TOOL

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND SHALL ALWAYS BE.

Using the Sacred Hymns in the Orthodox Church to Glorify the Almighty God
and as a Theological Teaching Tool.

"Let our mouths be filled with Thy praise, O Lord,
that we may sing of Thy glory; for Thou hast made
us worthy, to partake of Thy holy, divine, immortal,
and life-creating Mysteries. Keep us in Thy Holiness,
that all day we may meditate upon Thy Righteousness.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

"Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death
by death, and upon those in the tomb bestowing life."

The Hymn to the Theotokos

"It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos, Ever-Blessed
and Most Pure, and the Mother of our God. More honorable
than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare
than the Seraphim: without defilement you gave birth to
God the Logos/Word: true Theotokos, we magnify you."

"We praise Thee, We bless Thee, We give thanks unto Thee,
O Lord. And we pray unto Thee, O our God."

"Thou hast Ascended in glory, O Christ our God, granting joy
to Thy Disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Through the
blessing they were assured that Thou art the Son of God, the
Redeemer of the world!"

"Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone to the world the
Light of Wisdom! For by it, those who worshipped the stars,
were taught by a star to adore Thee, the Sun of Righteousness,
and to know Thee, the Orient from on High, O Lord, glory to
thee!"

One of the great holy Fathers of the Church Saint Gregory Palamas speaking on the significance of the hymns in Church services says, "Whoever attunes himself and studies the meaning of Sacred songs from the beginning to end will find himself approaching God." In the New Testament, Acts 16:25, says, "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." Although beaten and imprisoned, the holy Apostles were "praying and singing." Also in his epistle to the Ephesians, Saint Paul writes, "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God" [Ephesians 5:19-21]. At the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ Saint Luke the Evangelist writes: "And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" [Luke 2:13-14]. In the Book of Revelation 4:8-9, Saint John writes: "The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within, And they do not rest day and night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, is, and is to come!" Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him Who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever.." This suggests the essence of their ceaseless activity: to praise God (the very liturgy which the whole cosmos is called to make) and praying without ceasing. Their hymn," Holy, holy, holy" like that of Isaiah’s Seraphim (Isaiah 6:3) praises God Who is Lord of history and fills heaven and earth with His glory.

Prophet Isaiah’s Doxology was part of synagogue worship and was incorporated into the worship of the Church (1 Clement 34:6-7). Another form of his hymn, the Trisagion [Hoy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal], have mercy on us!"] reverberates through the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church. The Eucharistic Prayer of the Divine Liturgies of Saint John Chyrsostom, Saint Basil the Great, Saint James the Apostle refers to the perpetual thrice-holy hymn of the "cherubim and the seraphim," thus blending the visions of Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Saint John, and underscoring the Divine Liturgy on earth IS ONE WITH THE HEAVENLY LITURGY OF HIS ANGELS AND GLORIFIED SAINTS.

In Revelation 4:10 the elders participate in the heavenly worship through the physical acts OF PROSTRATION [falling down; seek  1 Kings 11:16] and casting down their crowns. Prostrations ( Gk, Metanoies),a significant feature of historic Christian worship, is based on Holy Scripture and signifies profound humility before God. The Old Testament has an abundance of hymns, psalms and songs. An example is "The Song of Moses” [Exodos 15:1-21], when the Almighty God parted the Red Sea and Moses along with the Israelites crossed over safely offered a song of thanksgiving
to God, saying: "Let us sing to the Lord, for He is greatly glorified. Horse and rider He has shown into the sea. The Lord became my helper and the shield of my salvation, He is my God, and I will glorify Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him…" In Genesis 4:21, Jubal was the one who invented musical instruments such as ".psaltery and harp". However, the period of Samuel, David, and Solomon was considered the golden age of Hebrew music. [Exodos 15:1-2]. Elements of the Hebrew liturgical tradition at the Temple continued in the Christian tradition.

Orthodoxy has a wealth of musical tradition which surpasses all others. What we have inherited is derived from the Byzantine era. There are many holy Fathers of the Church i.e., Saint Ierotheos, Saint Ignatios and Saint Dionnysios the Areopagite and others who composed music and form the hymnology of the Church around the 3rd century. Others followed around the 6th century such as Romanos the Melodos. Following the fall of Constantinople in 1453 A.D. The hymnology of the Church began to improve greatly and it is basically the Byzantine Ecclesiastical music that we enjoy in our churches today. Instrumental music was not permitted in the Orthodox Church for the Holy Fathers and Church Synods felt that musical instruments would give a worldly character to the worship.

According to the Russian Primary Chronicle (a work of history compiled in Kiev in the 12th century), the envoys of the Kievan Prince Vladimir, who visited Hagia Sophia Cathedral in 987 A.D. reported: "We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendor or beauty anywhere upon earth." After investigating the Jews, Muslims and the Germans with disappointment, the Russian envoys visited Hagia Sofia and after witnessing the Orthodox mystical and beautiful worship they said: "we are at a loss to describe it. We only know that God dwells there among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."

Orthodox Ecclesiastical music was also used as an instrument of educating the faithful and teaching them the pure and unadulterated faith. Orthodox Christian needed to be protected also from the many heresies spread by those who had fallen away from the True Faith. Much of our Orthodox Theology is contained in the hymns and iconography of the Church. Both music and iconography have been utilized to maintain Orthodoxy. Therefore these two sacred tools are more than methods or art to enhance the beauty of worship and the interior of the place of worship.

From time immemorial man has had an innate need to worship His Creator and God. However, not all kinds of worship are accepted by Him as in the case of two brothers Cain and Abel. God accepted Abel and his gifts, because Abel had a good heart. He discerned through faith the Lord’s coming incarnation and His sacrifice as a lamb for the salvation of the world [Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51; Hebrews !!:4; 12:24).  The Lord rejected Cain and his gifts.  Why? The inward state of his heart was not right with God.   But He reproved him for not having a right heart and was filled with turbulence because of the passions.  Cain refused to deal with his passions through repentance.