Do Thou, O Lord, protect us, guard us ever from this generation.
Psalm 12:7
Think of the Church as a giant puzzle with thousands of pieces. Each piece is distinctive and unique. There are corner pieces, edge pieces and middle pieces. Some pieces are just one color, and others have an array of colors. All the pieces come together to make up a beautiful scene. Each piece is necessary to complete the puzzle. If even one is lost, the puzzle will be unfinished.
The Church is very similar. The whole puzzle is the entire world of Orthodoxy, millions of Orthodox Christians all over the world. The whole puzzle is broken down in sections, called Archdioceses or Metropolises. These sections are broken down into parishes. And these are broken down into families and individuals. To the person reading this message, you are not only the smallest unit of the church, one person, but you are a vital link in the chain. Without you, the puzzle is incomplete.
When we pray for protection of the whole body of the Church, we are praying for every piece of the puzzle—The individual Christian, the Christian family, a parish, the priest, the Metropolitan or Archbishop and the Church as a whole.
In our divine services, we pray for the church in various petitions:
~For the stability of the holy churches of God and for the unity of all (the whole Church)
~For this holy house and those who enter in it (our parish)
~For pious and Orthodox Christians (each individual Orthodox Christian)
~For our Archbishop (name), the honorable presbyters, the deacons in the service in Christ and all the clergy and the laity (for the Bishop who leads one’s respective Metropolis, for all those who are ordained as clergy, and for all of the laity, again the whole church)
~For the Holy and Great Church of Christ (the whole Church)
~For our sacred Archdiocese/Metropolis (for our specific unit in the Church)
~For this parish (our specific Church community)
~For every city and country and for the faithful who dwell in them (all Christians)
~Having prayed for the unity of the faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit, let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God. (We are all in this together. United we stand, divided we fall)
We pray these petitions because we understand that one Christian is no Christian. We are Christians in that we relate to other Christians. In the Orthodox world, we submit to the authority and direction of clergy who are ordained to lead the Church. These petitions remind us that we are not alone in our Christian journey, that we have supporters and encouragers around us. We pray for these petitions because they remind us that we are part of a whole.
There is a unified body of Christians who call themselves Orthodox. We are not independent groups, but share a common history, theology and practice. Orthodoxy is about belonging. On the altar table in every Orthodox Church, there is a cloth called the “Antimension,” which literally means “instead of the table.” This cloth is unfolded after the reading of the Gospel at the Divine Liturgy. The Holy Gifts are set on it, and while the chalice and paten are on the altar, the Antimension is open. It is a defined space on which rests the Holy Gifts, so that if a crumb of the Body of Christ falls while it is being broken and transferred to the chalice, it will fall on the cloth and be easily gathered and placed in the chalice, so that not one element of Holy Communion falls and is lost. The Antimension is signed by the Bishop or Metropolitan (head) of the respective Metropolis. This is a sign of unity and belonging. We all belong to the authority and responsibility of an Hierarch. And just like we don’t want one crumb of the Body of Christ (Holy Communion) to be lost, we don’t want one member of the Body of Christ to be lost. The Antimension provides the perfect visual metaphor of the unity of the church. Without a signed Antimension, there can be no church community.
The prayer that we are reflecting on is offered shortly before the end of the Divine Liturgy. Praying for the whole body of the Church reminds us that our identity as members of the church does not end once the Divine Liturgy is over. We are members of the Church at all times and in all places. Each of us is a small piece of the whole, and we want God’s protection especially when we are not in church. We want His guidance in our daily spiritual lives, and in our jobs, our families and all that we do.
It is important that in our daily prayers, we pray for the entire body of the church—for our priest, our bishop, our fellow Christians and ourselves. It is important that we pray for the part of the church we cannot see—the Christian struggling with temptation or sadness, the one who is sick or suffering. We are part of the Church. In our personal devotion, we need to pray for the whole body of the church and the individual members of it. When Jesus was betrayed, He made sure that none of the other disciples was captured or harmed, which fulfilled a prophecy which said, “Of those You gave Me, I lost not one.” (John 18:9) The same is true for the Church. We do not want one to be lost. This is why we pray for the entire body of the Church.
O Lord, bless those who praise You and sanctify those who put their trust in You. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Protect the whole body of Your Church. Sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house. Glorify them in return by Your divine power, and do not forsake us who place our hope in You. Grant peace to Your world, to Your churches, to the clergy, to those in public service, to the armed forces, and to all Your people. For every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from You, the Father of Lights and to You we send up glory, and thanksgiving, and worship, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Pray for the Church today!
