Orthodox means “right glory” (orthi-doxa) in the Greek. It was used since the fourth century to describe a Christian doctrine and a way of life conforming to the Apostolic teaching concerning Jesus Christ and the Church. It is living out the Apostolic witness to Christ daily, that has been shaped and tested through generations of personal and direct experience of the Holy Spirit poured out in the life of the Church. The emphasis is on continuity and tradition, a holding of the original faith through all ages and in all places. Sharing this common worship, doctrine, ministry and fellowship today are four of the ancient Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem) and various self-governing churches and daughter churches, which were established in Russia, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, America, Finland, Japan, Byelorus’ and Ukraine. There are an estimated 250 million Orthodox persons in the world today. In Canada there are approximately one million, including Greeks, Serbs, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Antiochian Orthodox, Syrians, Romanians and Russians, and those whose ancestors form the subject of this exhibit, the Orthodox Church in America, now numbering approximately 77 parishes and monastic communities across Canada from Victoria to St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Orthodoxy is a universal, apostolic faith. It is one to which even Western Europe can trace its roots, as it was Orthodox for more than a thousand years. St. Patrick of Ireland, for instance, is a much-revered Orthodox saint, whose memory is celebrated on March 17 on the Gregorian Calendar (which is the same as March 30 on the Julian Calendar). Unlike the West that in its various parts passed through a period of Renaissance, Enlightenment, the Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation, much of the Orthodox East was subject to the rule of the Ottoman Turks, and was not influenced by these factors. Instead the emphasis was on holding fast to the faith, teachings and traditions in the face of centuries of repression. As such, it has maintained its unbroken historical and theological connection to the New Testament Church.

Holy Tradition

The living consciousness of the Church, its continuity with the Church of the Apostles lies in Holy Tradition, the beliefs and practices upheld by the Orthodox, in keeping with Biblical meaning and symbolic Christian truth. The Orthodox Church is rich in holy tradition, beliefs and practices passed from one Christian generation to another. These include important tenets, such as the ever-virginity and all-holiness of the Virgin Mary, who is called the Mother of God, because she bore His Son, Jesus Christ. It also includes the Church’s sacraments. Tradition also includes practices such as triple immersion in baptism and making the sign of the cross, and certain habits, such as facing east for prayer.

Doctrine

The doctrine of the Orthodox Church is based on Holy Tradition, the Bible, the writings of the Church fathers, who succeeded the Apostles, and the seven ecclesiastical councils held in the history of the Church, including the Council of Nicea (the chief creed of the Orthodox is the Nicean Creed). Despite individual, cultural influences in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and in the way things are done (rubrics) of the Orthodox churches in various lands, the core of beliefs forming the faith is the same.

Sacraments

Sacraments, as God’s saving energies in the life of the believer, are central to the faith. A life without the sacraments is seen as a life without God. One of the Church’s key functions is to make these sacraments available to members: Baptism, Chrismation, Marriage, Ordination, Confession, Holy Communion and Holy Unction, and many others. Settlers arriving on a frontier would find the lack of sacramental life incongruous to a life of faith, thus making the establishment of churches paramount.