FOS SUMMARY - The Lord of the Rings-Living the Sacraments
Introduction: Sacraments: Events Transcending Time
by Dorothy Poli & Daniel Padovano & Helen Tellas
September 23, 2008
“In the current series, The Lord of the Rings, FOS examines the Grace of God that is provided to the faithful through the Sacraments of the Church. Each of the seven sacraments is discussed in light of Tolkien’s famous trilogy with clips of the film shown at the sessions. In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien addresses the timeless problems of human nature by writing his own myth that echoes what the author sincerely believed to be the truths of Christianity – truths that offer solutions to these problems of human nature.
Like the Parable of the Prodigal Son, The Lord of the Rings emphasizes God’s Grace and forgiveness. Both stories describe how God uses ordinary and imperfect people to accomplish His Will by providing His spiritual Grace through the Sacraments.” Within this series, special attention is given to the application of each Sacrament in the contemporary circumstances of our lives.
In this journey of life each of us has been given a ring similar to the ring given to the Prodigal Son by his Father upon the former’s return home. The ring is the Church. We are given the fullness of the Church at baptism. The question is: What do we do with it? The Church then becomes both our inheritance and responsibility. Our responsibility is to live a sacramental life which allows us to grow in the image and likeness of God and reflect that on the world in order to influence and change the world. We change the world by changing ourselves first.
In Orthodoxy, Sacraments are living eternal realities that transcend time. They are not static one-time events but physical symbols that extend beyond that moment eternally and awaken our spiritual perception. In Hinduism, there is a similar notion in the nurturing of the “third eye” to see what other people do not see and to see creation as it really is; that is, to discern divinity.
The Orthodox Church has seven Sacraments, Baptism: Chrismation, Holy Confession, Holy Ordination, Holy Unction, Marriage and Holy Communion. While there are seven Sacraments, originally, the Orthodox Church never had a limit as the Church Fathers held that every event is a sacrament.
We are called to live a sacramental life. This means not only attending church and partaking of the Sacraments; it also refers to how we live outside of church. The Sunday liturgy is an extension of the liturgy we are to live day to day; the “overture” of how to live our life during the week. We are called to constantly offer a liturgy of ourselves to God and to others and, with the cosmos, glorify God constantly and eternally.
The Sacraments introduce us to the mystery of God and deepen our knowledge, intimacy and experience of Him. In Patristic thought, God as mystery can never be fully understood and can never be contained. However, the mystery of God is constantly unfolding as God is constantly revealing Himself. The Sacraments, “mysteria” in Greek, denote the experience of something life-giving happening yet never fully understood or defined. The Prophet Isaiah indicated that we as the created cannot know our Creator (however brilliant or rational we are) in saying: “How can the pot (mankind) know the potter (God)?” However, the pot can become like the potter albeit not the potter himself, i.e. we can grow in the image and likeness of God but we can never be God.
The mystery of God is being revealed in Jesus. In the Old Testament, man and God were separate. Connection is reestablished through Jesus. Jesus Christ is the Son of the God Who came into the world to die and resurrect so we can have access to God. In the Old Testament, no person ever saw God. With Jesus, people see the face of God and live. Jesus is the key connecting us to God. In Jesus, the Theanthropos (God-man), God becomes man, so man can become god. God descends to man, so man can ascend to God. Jesus is the bridge between the divine and the temporal. The more we experience Jesus in the Sacraments, the more He transfigures us in order to come closer to God.
The Sacraments make God accessible to us through Jesus. Jesus took away His Divinity and put on human flesh and “tented and tabernacled” with us. God’s uncreated energies as described by St. Gregory Palamas are at work in the Sacraments and this is what enables individuals receiving the Sacraments with faith to be touched by God. As always, it is our choice (by means of free will) to accept God’s invitation to participate in the sacramental life of the Church and let those energies work in our daily lives and in our journey back home to God. Fr. Frank says the Sacraments “are the gateways into the Church and they unleash divinity to all of us.’
Canon Law holds that missing three consecutive Divine Liturgies can result in excommunication. It presupposes that the main reason to attend the Divine Liturgy is to receive Holy Communion. To miss liturgy is technically making the statement that one does not really need Jesus. One is committing spiritual suicide. Therefore, being a church member in good standing means one is living sacramentally and within the rhythm of the Church which guides one in their spiritual path. We go not only to worship God with our spiritual siblings but also to eat together like a family, in order to be sanctified and strengthened by and united to Christ.
We eat when we are told not to (God warns Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) and we don’t eat when we are encouraged to do so (the Last Super / Holy Communion). When we don’t eat, we are not living sacramentally. In doing so, we are starving ourselves spiritually. Without partaking of the Sacraments, we become spiritually anemic.
The icon of a holy person is an expression of living sacramentally. According to St. John Chrysostom, icons are expressed most truly in the presence of holy persons because Christ is alive in those persons such that one sees Jesus. This affirms what
Theology of Separation and Connection in Church Architecture
Western Christian (Catholic and Protestant) theology differs from Orthodox theology as to God’s presence vis-à-vis mankind. In western Christianity, God created and stepped back and removed Himself from mankind. Michelangelo’s “The Creation” painting in the Sistine Chapel shows Adam’s hand outstretched and reaching for God but not touching as God’s hand pulls back from Adam. Another example is Gothic architecture; Gothic churches and cathedrals (after c.800 A.D.) have triangular shaped roves extending to infinity. This gives the impression of heaven and God being far above and beyond mankind’s reach or grasp.
Orthodox (and Romanesque) churches, in contrast, form a dome. Domes were created in this context to represent a theological position – that while God is transcendent, He is nevertheless immanent and with His creation, still within sight, grasp and touch. In Greek icons, man’s hand is outstretched and God’s hand not only extends beyond man’s hand but also grabs man by the forearm.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
The Lord of the Rings film is a paradigm of our journey. Destroying the ring is the culmination of the journey. The ring has the power to create evil within the person wearing it. It can overtake the bearer’s will and inner self and cause one to lose their will to evil. Ultimately, it is Christ Who destroys our ring and replaces it with a new signet ring of the Church.
The Hobbit (Frodo Baggins) is a Halfling; it is he who carries the ring. The hobbits are small (in the book series they are about half an average man’s height, but with bigger feet). The hobbits are an allegory for man. They are small, representing humility and simplicity. Sin reduced man both in spiritual and physical stature according to Scripture and the interpretation of the Church Fathers. While sin diminished humans, even in this imperfect state, we can do great things if we allow God to work through us.
Frodo receives the ring on his Uncle’s 111th birthday. Fr. Frank pointed out that J.R.R. Tolkien used numeric symbols. Here the number 111, if added together 1+1+1, totals 3; 3 being the number of the Holy Trinity. Frodo shares his uncle’s birthday and on this day Frodo turns 21; 2+1=3. Birthdays also represent the beginning of life – as in Adam and Eve who are also the unfinished works of God and in that sense they are Halflings. In the book series, Hobbits come of age at 33 years old, which is the age Jesus was at the time of his Crucifixion and Resurrection.
At some point in the film, we see the effects of the ring. The ring changes Sméagol into Gollum. Sméagol kills his brother because of his (Sméagol’s) desire to have the ring. This is an allegory to Cain’s murder of Abel. After killing his brother, Sméagol becomes possessed by the ring and it changes him both physically and emotionally, He morphs into a twisted, disfigured creature named Gollum. He speaks in plurality as if he does not know who he is or where he is going.
Like Sméagol who kills and steals, so does Satan as he stole the birthright of Adam and Eve as children of God. Fr. Frank makes an analogy to the ring. When we wear the ring of the world, we too become disfigured over time. And when we sin, we think we can hide but in fact evil still sees us.
The Fellowship (as in The Fellowship of the Ring) starts out on December 25, which is Jesus’ birthday. The ring is destroyed on March 25th, which is the Feast of the Annunciation. This is also the traditional date given for the expulsion from the Garden of Eden; the beginning of the battle between good and evil. Also, on this same day that we were expelled is the announcement of Jesus’ entry into the world in order to bring us back.
The positioning of the icons on the iconostasis represents the expulsion and return. The Archangel Michael is portrayed on the far left door and the Archangel Gabriel on the far right door. This door, with his icon recalls our expulsion from
It is the Archangel Gabriel who will announce the Last Judgment and be there as the righteous reenter heaven. When the processions end, those in the procession re-enter the altar area through Archangel Gabriel’s door on the far right. The procession’s reentry represents mankind’s return to heaven.
The Lord of the Rings also has references to the three natures of Jesus Christ - Priest, Prophet and King. These three natures are represented by Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn. Frodo, the ring bearer, represents the Priest. Frodo acts and thinks with his heart. It is his heart that pushes him forward, much in the same way that a priest is inspired to act by his own heart.
Gandalf represents the prophet. The prophet thinks with his head; he guides and teaches. In the ecclesiastical realm this is the office of Deacon. The Deacon can read from scripture at Divine Liturgy with the exception of the Gospel which is read by the Priest or Bishop.
Aragorn represents the King. He works with his hands, using his sword as a warrior to defend the realm. In ecclesiastical terms, he is the Bishop, the head of the church and its chief administrator as well as spokesman, representative and defender.
For us, the relevant question is ‘How are we going to live in these times and what is our role in them? ‘
FOS Summaries are synopses of discussions points, organized and presented conceptually, in a session's dialogue and Q&A among Fr. Frank and FOS participants. The Summaries' authors further elaborate on certain ideas from a theme offered by Fr. Frank. All Summaries are approved by Fr. Frank prior to e-mail distribution. Past summaries can be found on the Cathedral website at http://www.thecathedral.goarch.org/FOSSummary/.