Between Liturgical Service and Spiritual Service
Between Liturgical Service and Spiritual Service
Some priest-fathers have almost all their time occupied with liturgical services, to the extent that no time remains for the service of spiritual matters…
An endless whirlwind of wedding prayers, engagements, funerals, fortieth-day memorials, and vespers consumes their time. In the morning there are times for oil lamps, baptisms, third-day prayers, and private liturgies…
Perhaps they do not stop at this, but also perform similar liturgical services in other churches, by invitation from some of their loved ones and acquaintances, or out of courtesy to some of their friends and relatives in other areas…
Some priests in villages or Upper Egypt find themselves subject to local customs that consume even more time, such as walking in funeral processions through the streets, going to the cemeteries, and remaining in condolence tents until a late hour of the night… this with regard to condolences…
As for weddings, there are rural customs of participating in celebrations and banquets that take additional time. And if the priest participates in these with regard to the wealthy, the poor reproach him if he does not treat them in the same way…
If financial matters related to the priest’s income become associated with these liturgical services and courtesies, the priest’s attachment to these services becomes even more complicated…
Amid all this we ask: where is the spiritual service?
We say that the remedy requires the ordination of a greater number of priest-fathers. Yet these new priests may be ordained, and the problem remains as it is! All that happens is that the number of priests attending funerals, weddings, and courtesies increases, so that you may find a funeral attended by perhaps seven priest-fathers, while spiritual meetings are not attended by a single priest-father, under the pretext of lack of time…!!
With this situation, the spiritual work of the priest diminishes, and this has its serious and harmful results, which are not hidden from anyone…
1- The direction of the priest-father changes, and his concern for spiritual work decreases; consequently his personal spiritual life declines, and people’s view of him changes from a spiritual person to a courteous individual and a liturgical servant…
2- Perhaps even in the liturgical service itself, its spiritual character diminishes, and it becomes marked by speed or routine, and is not imbued with the spirit of prayer… and perhaps also there are no sermons during vespers or liturgies from the priest-father, and this responsibility is entrusted to some laypeople…
3- Perhaps if the priest’s spiritual services decrease, his spiritual readings and meditations also decrease, and his personality changes.
4- People become spiritually weary, because they were not expecting such a situation. And the thought may war against them that the priestly service hinders spiritual life!!
But the opposite is true if they see good examples of priests who care for spiritual service, and through whose blessed hands God makes His work succeed…
5- The priest feels that he is falling short in his spiritual work, and that service in this condition cannot comfort his conscience or the consciences of the people…
The matter therefore needs treatment. What is it?
Proposals Presented for Treatment:
1- The priest-father should feel that his spiritual work is the first among all his responsibilities and concerns. Consequently, he should feel a strong commitment toward spiritual service and approach it with greater seriousness.
2- The priest-father must be bound to fixed services in which he cannot fall short. The members of the congregation should feel the stability of these services and the priest’s commitment to them, so they do not request him for another service during them, realizing in advance that such a request would disrupt the service and cannot be carried out…
3- The priest-father should not forget himself and his spiritual service amid the courtesies he deems necessary. He visits and fulfills the duty, and in love withdraws, without wasting more time in courtesy than is necessary.
4- The priest-father should mix his liturgical service with spiritual work.
If he prays vespers or a liturgy, he must deliver a sermon, or at least have his fixed sermons in the church.
If he visits a home on any occasion, he should have a clear and fruitful spiritual work during this visit.
This is the difference between social courtesies and spiritual work.
The work of the priest-father is a purely spiritual work, even during courtesies, and even during liturgical work as well…
5- The liturgical service that is performed with the spirit of prayer and supplication, and without routine, undoubtedly leaves a spiritual effect on the soul of the hearer.
Thus the liturgical prayers are not merely a liturgical act; they have their own spiritual depth.
They indeed belong to the rites, but they are a spiritual work.
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