www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology The Doors, explain please

During liturgy the priest says "The doors, the doors" could someone explain the meaning of this ?
Thanks.

It supposed to indicate that the service of the Word has ended and the service of the Eucharist is beginning. This is when Catechists are excluded from the room. Check the doors to see that all catechumens are outside the door. I like the custom and wish we would follow through on it.

Dan L

Uhhh Dan...

that would be Catecumens.

Catechists are the ones that do the teaching.

The doors The doors!!!

That is before the Creed, and the answer is twofold.

Based on the mystagogical approach used in the early Church, the neophytes were gradually initiated into the Mysteries. They could not stay for the Anaphora until they had reached a certain point in their catechesis but could stay up to that point and listen to the Word and homily which assisted in their catechesis. The catechumens were thus asked to leave at that part of the Liturgy.

Secondly, as there were a multitude of Christological and other heresies raging, those who did not profess the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed were being asked to leave as they were not allowed to be present during the Anaphora.

There was a seperate minor order of Door-keeper in the Great Church whose task was to be the liturgical bouncer, and the doors referred to in this exclamation by the Priest are not the Holy Doors but the doors in the Narthex leading to the outside of the Church.

After this exclamation, he turned all out that needed to be outside, and he would then keep anyone else from entering from the outside.

The doors, The doors, guard the doors; In wisdom let us be attentive!

Originally, after the litany of supplication, (and if included, the litany for the departed), comes the litany for catechumens before the Cherubic hymn. At the end of the litany for catechumens, before the two prayers of the faithful:

"All catechumens, depart! Catechumens, depart! Let none of the catechumens remain; all the faithful, again, and again, let us pray to the lord in peace." (1966 Divine Liturgy, Byzantine Seminary Press)

I think the admonition (The doors...) before the creed was to make sure that all the catechumens have departed by this time.

Steve

Well in defense of Dan, currently in the Roman Rite with the state of many RCIA programs which sometimes border on heresy, you may well be asking the "catechists" to leave for the liturgy of the Eucharist.

Just to add a little bit. This command is directed at the Doorkeepers who were usually women. They were to look around the church to see if there was anyone that should not be there and to escort them out. Further, it was also the time that they would close the doors and stand there.

In the Melkite Eparchy of Newton, Bishop JOHN (now the Eparch Emeritus) had asked the deacons (it's really the deacon's role to say this) to omit the reference to the doors unless there are catechumens present. In my parish, we frequently get Latin catechumens who come to experience the richness of our Eastern traditions. They do experience the prayer for the catechumens (we have to teach them to respond "Lord have mercy" after the petitions for them). The deacon also proclaims "All catechumens, depart. Catechumens, depart. All catechumens, depart. Let no catechumen remain." -- but we ask them to stay to experience the rest of the Liturgy.

Fr. Deacon Edward

Dear Fr. Deacon Edward,

I understand that deacons were often employed as "bouncers" at this point in the Liturgy . . .

We were at a talk on the role of the diaconate and there was a football coach there with rippling muscles . . .

The speaker turned to him after explaing this point and said, "you would have made an excellent deacon!"

I believe it was Mykola Hohol/Gogol in his commentary on the Divine Liturgy who said that at the "Doors, the Doors!" we should each make an interior act of casting outside of our hearts all that does not completely belong to Christ as we prepare for the Liturgy of the Word!

Alex

While I know that it means that the doors are too be closed to those outside the Church, I always thought there was also a mystical meaning referring to the opening of the doors of the Mysteries with the recitation of the Creed...
-D

Right you are. I guess I was thinking of catechists didn't do such a good job and the priests would chase the rascals out. O, will I ever get this right?

Dear Daniel,

I'm sure Mykola Hohol would agree with you!

Alex

Bless you my friend for coming to my defense. You got it exactly right...I wish. I may have to again become a catechuman if I don't straighten up.

CDL

Mr. Nichols, your allegory works as well. By the way, I am enjoying the CET list now that I finally figured how to get on it.

The first time I read the phrase, "the doors, the doors," the first thing that went through my deranged mind was "the windows, the windows." It read like a poor translation of dialogue from a bad opera. I understand the meaning, and some of the posts here have added more knowledge to my understanding of it. It has been dropped from our Byzantine Liturgy, although it is still printed in the books. I suspect many may not even know what it means anymore. I am going to keep the explanations posted here to share with others when the subject comes up again.