What is the place of scripture, sacraments and liturgy of Orthodoxy?
The place of scripture for adherents of Orthodoxy is the church building. Orthodox churches have a distinct, recognisable style among other church architectures. The church building has many symbolic meanings, one common concept is that the Church is the Ark of Salvation (Noahs Ark). Each church is created with specified qualifications based on what the apostles said in the Bible. Because of this, most Orthodox Churches are rectangular in design on the inside although there are other popular shapes such as cruciform, cross-shaped or dome shaped buildings. Icons can be found adorning the walls of churches and often cover the inside of the structure completely. There are many different icons within the Orthodox church including depictions of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and many saints. The veneration of icons is directed towards the person they represent not the relics themselves, they connect the worshiper with the spiritual world and with God. Church liturgies are often two hours or more and frequently use incense singing or chanting and hide parts of the liturgy from view by an iconostasis or curtain or barrier. Many passionate orthodox followers also maintain small house shrines and pray in the morning and at night. These usually consist of a number of icons placed in a corner or a shelf where people of the family can go to pray in private.
Below are some examples of simple family icon corners and some greek orthodox churches
Below are some examples of simple family icon corners and some greek orthodox churches
Bibliography of this page:
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s817554.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s817554.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church