Orthodoxy (translated from the Greek word "orthodoxy") was formed as the eastern branch of Christianity after the division of the powerful Roman Empire into two parts - Eastern and Western - at the beginning of the 5th century. Until the end, this branch took shape after the split of the churches into Orthodox and Catholic in 1054. The formation of various kinds of religious organizations is almost directly connected with the political and social life of society. Orthodox churches began to spread mainly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Features of faith
The Bible and Holy Tradition are the basis of Orthodoxy. The latter provides for the adopted laws of the Ecumenical and Local Councils, of which there have been only seven in all time, as well as the works of the holy fathers of the church and canonical theologians. To understand the features of faith, you need to study its origins. It is known that at the first Ecumenical Councils of 325 and 381. The Creed was adopted, which summarized the whole essence of the Christian doctrine. All theseOrthodox churches called the main provisions eternal, unchanging, incomprehensible to the mind of an ordinary person and communicated by the Lord Himself. Keeping them intact has become the main duty of religious leaders.
Orthodox churches
Personal salvation of the human soul depends on the fulfillment of the ritual prescription of the Church, thus, there is communion with Divine grace, given through the sacraments: priesthood, chrismation, baptism in infancy, repentance, communion, wedding, unction, etc.
Orthodox churches spend all these sacraments in divine services and prayers, they also attach great importance to religious holidays and fasts, teach the observance of the commandments of God, which the Lord himself gave to Moses, and the fulfillment of his covenants described in the Gospel.
The main content of Orthodoxy lies in love for one's neighbor, in mercy and compassion, in the refusal to resist evil with violence, which, in general, constitutes understandable universal norms of life. The emphasis is also placed on enduring the meek suffering sent by the Lord in order to be cleansed from sin, pass the test and strengthen faith. Saints of the Orthodox Church are in special reverence with God: the sufferers, the poor, the blessed, the holy fools, hermits and hermits.
Organization and role of the Orthodox Church
There is no single head in the church or spiritual center in Orthodoxy. According to religious history, there are 15 autocephalous churches independent in their management, of which 9 are headed bypatriarchs, and the rest - metropolitans and archbishops. In addition, there are autonomous churches independent of autocephaly according to the system of internal government. In turn, autocephalous churches are divided into dioceses, vicariates, deaneries and parishes.
Patriarchs and metropolitans lead the life of the church together with the Synod (under the patriarchy, a collegiate body of senior church officials), and they are elected for life at Local Councils.
Management
Orthodox churches are characterized by a hierarchical principle of governance. All the clergy are divided into lower, middle, higher, black (monasticism) and white (others). The canonical dignity of these Orthodox churches has its own official list.
Orthodox churches are divided into universal (world) Orthodoxy, which includes the four most ancient patriarchates: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, and the newly formed local churches: Russian, Georgian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Cypriot, Helladic, Athenian, Polish, Czech and Slovak, American.
Today there are also autonomous churches: the Moscow Patriarchate has the Japanese and Chinese, the Jerusalem Patriarchate has the Sinai, the Constantinople has the Finnish, Estonian, Cretan and other other jurisdictions not recognized by world Orthodoxy, which are considered non-canonical.
History of Russian Orthodoxy
After the baptism in 988 of Kievan Rus by Prince Vladimir, the formed Russianthe Orthodox Church for a long time belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and was its metropolis. He appointed metropolitans from the Greeks, but in 1051 the Russian Metropolitan Hilarion became the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Before the fall of Byzantium in 1448, the Russian Orthodox Church gained independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Metropolitan Jonah of Moscow stood at the head of the church, and in 1589, for the first time in Russia, his own patriarch Job appeared.
The Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (it is also called the Moscow Orthodox Church) was established in 1325, today it has more than one and a half thousand churches. The monasteries and parishes of the diocese belong to 268 chapels. Numerous districts of the diocese are united in 1153 parishes and 24 monasteries. In the diocese, in addition, there are three parishes of the same faith, fully subordinate to the bishop of the Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Krutitsky and Kolomna Juvinaliy.
