Talk:Little Entrance

I think we need to be careful not to take something we have heard and report it on a website as THE meaning of the phenomenon in question. Under "Meaning," the author identifies the meaning of the Little Entrance as "the movement of the entire Church through its Head Jesus Christ, in the person of the celebrant, to the altar which symbolizes the Kingdom of God." Yet different authors througout Orthodox history give varying symbolic interpretations. Regarding the Little Entrance, St Maximos the Confessor (7th c.) says it represents Christ's coming in the flesh, His death and resurrection. St Germanos of Constantinople (8th c.) sees it as the coming of the Son of God into the world. Nicholas of Andida (1th c.) and St Nicholas Cabasilas (14th c.) asssociate it with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. Symeon of Thessalonica associates it with the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the coming of the Spirit. Also, the altar is understood by some writers to represent the tomb of Christ. -- Fr Lev

I agree with you, Fr. Lev. I think this is one of the purposes of NPOV - that we should provide attribution as well as a broad descriptive overview. So and so says this, so and so says that, and here is some of the reasoning behind each approach. We have an epistemology rooted in revelation, but our knowing is not without proper reason. Our worship is "reasable" or "rational" according to the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. We should amend this text to take the interpretations you mentioned into consideration. Of course, some description of the whole trend towards mystagogical interpretation would also be good to have as background, and so on. — FrJohn (talk)