by Tom Brennan,
As Protestant and Roman Rite Christians celebrated the Resurrection in Israel last weekend and Passover continues, our Greek, Russian and Byzantine brothers and sisters observe Easter a week later with ancient rites and ceremonies that take us back to the days when Roman Emperors ruled from Constantinople and the aroma of incense and glow or candles and lanterns astound the senses and life the spirit.
Israel is the only nation in the Middle East that includes freedom of worship as one of the guaranteed rights of its citizens. Christians are respected citizens and the majority are members of the Greek Orthodox denomination which is the largest Christian group in Israel. Although the majority of members are Arabs, the liturgy is in Greek and the hierarchy is appointed by the Greek Patriarch. The Arab majority has encouraged the hierarchy to allow Arabic to be used in the liturgy instead of Greek. The clergy are Arabs. The principal Christian Holy Places are administered by the Greek Orthodox Church as well. The church’s origins trace back to the Church at Jerusalem, led by James (Yaakov), the brother of Jesus (Yeshua) and the liturgy, vestments and sacraments are Byzantine in origin. Attending ceremonies at Greek rites is a view to the Eastern Roman Empire and the Christian Roman Emperors.
The Greek Orthodox Church includes other Eastern Rites as well. The end of the Temple and the final revolt by the Bar Kochbar forces saw the Romans rebuild Jerusalem fully on a Roman grid, renaming the place Aelia Capitolina. When Constantine became Emperor he divided the huge expanse of Rome into Western and Eastern Empires, he chose the strategically critical place he called Constantinople as his capital. When the city which was Rome dissolved into a pillaged and ruined former world capital, the new city thrived and expanded, lasting over a thousand years. The Byzantine Empire held the Greek Church and its rites close. The Church retained the Julian calendar which Julius Caesar had caused to be devised to replace the complex Roman calendar, thus the difference in observances of Christian feasts and holy days.
At one sad time in its administration of Jerusalem, the Byzantines evicted the remaining Jews. Persian and Muslim domination lasted through 1918 and the State of Israel has reversed the actions of the Byzantines and welcomed back with open and equal arms the Greek Orthodox Church. Perhaps only Israel with its guarantees of religious freedom would be destined to reverse past persecutions and evictions of those who persecuted them.
Attending Easter rites conducted in the Greek Orthodox liturgy at the Holy Places in Jerusalem is a witness to an elaborate past of faith. Seeing, hearing and sensing the visions and scent of incense in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is well worth a lifetime of waiting. Don’t wait a lifetime. Plan to visit Israel.
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