www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Priests and Hunting

Originally posted by mike ross:
existance. Shame on you hot-house types who try to put false guilt on honest hunters, who spend an honest dollar, for the chance, and enjoyment of the hunt and if chance, and God permits , to bag clean game in the natural environment. mik, Pa Hunter..!

Originally posted by incognitus:
The average priest presumably CAN go hunting - that is to say, he is capable of doing so. However, he MAY NOT go hunting - that is to say, he is forbidden to do so. One quite possible reason for this prohibition is the danger of killing a human being (it happens quite frequently in hunting accidents).

Incognitus the Culture Vulture

Window Quarterly
Vol. 2, No. 4, 1992
Copyright 1992

[Permission is granted to use, print, reproduce this article
provided the following acknowledgment is given: From
Window Quarterly 2, 4 (1992); ACRAG c. 1992.

***

A Sacrifice of Praise: Blessing of the Madagh

by Michael Findikyan

A ceremony which is unique to the Armenian church is the
ritual of the Blessing of Madagh. In this ceremony an animal
such as a chicken, dove or lamb is brought to a special stone
altar in the courtyard of the church. There the priest blesses
salt, feeds it to the animal and offers special prayers, psalms
and hymns. Then the animal is led away to a separate
building where it is slaughtered.

The ritual, which because of the ignorance and apathy of the
officiating clergy has been abbreviated and ritualized to the
point of meaninglessness, has become the victim of the same
fate as the slaughtered beast. According to current pietistic
customs, after the brief ceremony, the person offering the
madagh rushes home with the meat of the sacrifice and gives
a portion of it to each of seven neighbors. After that, they
cook the remaining meat and host a festive (and sometimes
raucous) day-long celebration with the participation of
relatives, friends and neighbors.

This ritual is very common in Armenia, where people offer a
madagh sacrifice as a pious gesture on various occasions:
upon the baptism or wedding of a child, on a birthday, to
honor a special guest, or as a memorial to a loved one on the
anniversary of his death.

But visitors to Armenia are regularly horrified and repulsed
when they witness the seemingly barbaric ritual, so unlike
the decorous ceremonies they have seen in the Armenian
Church in the west. Others remember the universal Christian
teaching that Christ's death on the cross became the final and
ultimate sacrifice, rendering any others superfluous. They
accuse the Church of perpetuating an obsolete Jewish
custom, thereby denigrating the saving act of Christ and the
entire new covenant. Indeed, this ambivalence regarding the
madagh reaches back to at least the time of St. Nersess the
Gracefilled (11th century), who found it necessary to devote
a portion of his famous pastoral encyclical to defending
Madagh against the attacks of those who called it a "Jewish
sacrifice." At the same time he corrects errors which had
crept into the performance of the ritual.

To determine whether such objections are legitimate, one
need only turn to the words of the rite itself. First, however,
it is essential to understand the concept of sacrifice as
witnessed in the Old Testament.

ATONEMENT BY SACRIFICE

According to Jewish understanding as revealed in the Old
Testament, the one God dwells among his people Israel and
in return for his promise of blessings, he expects above all
their absolute acknowledgement that he alone is God. This
they must demonstrate by unwavering obedience to his will.
The first commandment makes this clear: "I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods besides
me." [Ex 20:2-3] A transgression is therefore dangerous not
so much in itself, but rather because it represents a lapse in
obedience which calls into question the community's
absolute allegiance to God.

Consequently, to become reconciled with God, a sinner must
make atonement for his transgressions. This is much more
than "paying for your sins." It means that in the wake of his
aberrant behavior, the transgressor must do something to
once again prove beyond any doubt his utter fidelity to God.
Offering a sacrifice is the only way this can be done. When
one takes something of great value and offers it to God for
His sole use, this is a radical and unmistakable, ontological
affirmation of one's allegiance to God. When Abraham,
following God's instructions, took his son Isaac to a
mountain, gathered wood. laid it on him and "took in his
hand the fire and the knife, "Abraham was prepared to make
the ultimate ontological demonstration of his total
commitment to the One who said to him, "Take your son,
your only son Isaac, whom you love...and offer him...as a
burnt offering..." [Gen 22:2] There is no other rational
explanation why a man would kill and burn his own son:
Either he is lunatic, or he actually believes in the voice of
Him who instructed him to do this.

The Old Testament is replete with examples of individuals--
and at times the entire nation--making animal sacrifices to
God to atone for their sins. The opening of the book of
Leviticus,which is appointed to be read during the madagh
ceremony, describes the manner in which a person should
make offerings to the Lord: "If his offering is a burnt
offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish;
he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he
may be accepted before the Lord...and it shall be accepted for
him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull
before the Lord; and Aaron's sons the priests [the "Levites",
hence "Leviticus"] shall present the blood, and throw the
blood round about against the altar that is at the door of the
tent of meeting. And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut
it into pieces; and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire
on the altar, and lay wood in order upon the fire; and Aaron's
sons the priests shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in
order upon the wood that is on the fire upon the altar...And
the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, as a burnt
offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord."
[Lev 1:3-9]

Blood was considered the seat of life, and throwing the blood
around the altar was understood to be an essential element of
the ritual of sacrifice for atonement. More important,
however, is the notion that the animal to be offered was
"without blemish." (Madagh means literally soft, tender,
delicate, young; these describe the kind of animal which is
suitable for sacrifice). Offering a deformed or sick animal to
God would not be a true sacrifice, and would amount to a
half-hearted affirmation of God. To be effective, the one
offering a sacrifice must choose a prized possession (as
Abraham did), slaughter it at the altar of the One God
(thereby dedicating it to him) and then after giving a portion
to the officiating priests, burn the remains totally and
completely, thereby assuring that God is the sole beneficiary
of the sacrifice. No part of the animal may remain, and/or be
eaten or used in any way. This is the power of the ritual. To
destroy an animal (or other prized possession) and effectively
"waste" it is absurd. The only other explanation is that the
person destroying the animal is not wasting it, but dedicating
it to an unseen but living deity, and ipso facto affirming his
fidelity to that deity. Note that God has no particular need
for charred animal carcasses; but he is pleased by the faith
affirmation of those who make sacrifices in his name.

CHRIST'S ETERNAL REDEMPTION

Of the five scripture readings appointed to be read during the
ceremony of the Blessing of Madagh, three of them deal
with the traditional Old Testament use of atoning sacrifice
(Lev 1:1-9; 2Sam 6:17-19; Is 56:6-7). But the prescribed
New Testament readings make it clear that even though the
Madagh ceremony is rooted in the sacrificial rituals of the
Old Testament, however it does not at all contradict or in any
way minimize Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

The Epistle to the Hebrews includes the most explicit
assertion of Christ's redemptive sacrifice in the New
Testament: "But until Christ appeared as a high priest of the
good things that have come, then through the greater and
more perfect tent...he entered once for all into the Holy
Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own
blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the
sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and
bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the
purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to

serve the living God." [9:11-14] The Blessing of Madagh
ceremony includes a passage from the end of this argument
which suggests that the emphasis of Madagh is not
atonement for sins, but rather worship and charity: "Through
[Jesus Christ] let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise
to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for
such sacrifices are pleasing to God." [Heb 13:15-16]
Madagh is the actualization of these two mandates: "Offer
up a sacrifice of praise," and "share what you have."

Indeed this is confirmed by the prescribed gospel reading
from Luke: "He also said to the man who had invited him,
"When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your
friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors,
lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But
when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame,
the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay
you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
[14:12-14] It is clear that the compilers of this rite have
made it their duty to affirm the traditional use of animal
sacrifice, while providing a different purpose for the ritual.
This is proven beyond any doubt in the prayer of blessing.

SHADOW OF TRUE SALVATION

The author of the prayer clearly recognizes that the slaughter
of animals is not expected by God and is no longer
efficacious for the atonement of sins. He affirms that God
has no "need" for a sacrifice, or anything else, when he
addresses God as the "Saviour who lacks nothing." He also
quotes Psalms 50 and 51 in which God rejects animal
sacrifices in favor of "a broken heart and a humble spirit."
Though the prayer establishes that in former times God was
pleased by the sacrifices offered by mankind, such as the
sacrifices of Abel, Noah and Abraham, nevertheless true
salvation results from Christ's coming into the world and the
tradition of offering animal sacrifice is a mere "shadow of
the true salvation to come."

Nevertheless, avowing all of this, the author boldly
beseeches God to receive this sacrifice the same way he
accepted the sacrifices of our forefathers, "as a burnt offering
of rams and bulls and as ten thousand fattened lambs." But
again in the next breath the prayer declares that we will not
rejoice in this sacrifice, but "in your salvation," in "the
spotless faith of the Holy Trinity," and in the "power of the
sign of your all-conquering cross."

Therefore we have in this prayer a confession of the power of
sacrifice to please God with the acknowledgement that
salvation comes only from Christ. We must conclude that in
Madagh, the Armenians have preserved what they consider a
radical act of faith affirmation. Standing with Christ on the
ephemeral bounds of the old and new covenants, they utilize
the ritual of animal sacrifice for its supreme ontological
value as an indisputable demonstration of faith and worship,
and simultaneously they make a definitive and eloquent
confession of Christ as saviour. In this sense, the rite is a
real tour de force.

Furthermore, the New Testament readings indicate that the
emphasis in this rite is not on the slaughter of animals, much
less for the atonement of sins. Instead, there is a clear
emphasis on charity. Clearly the meat from the sacrifice is
intended to be fed to "the poor, the maimed, the lame, the
blind." Unlike the Jewish sacrifice, there is no evidence in
this rite to suggest that slaughtering the animal is anything
more than the necessary means to this end. It seems
gruesome to many only because our sterile modern western
culture insulates us from the vivid details of what is, for most
of the world, a daily and rather mundane task.

MADAGH IN MILWAUKEE?

In the Armenian Churches of the United States, the rite of
Madagh has been reduced to the serving of dainty boiled
lamb finger sandwiches after the Divine Liturgy on April 24,
in commemoration of the martyrs of 1915. As such, the
modern-day ritual lacks what we have found are the two
essential elements of the ceremony, personal sacrifice and
charity. It follows that in this guise, the ceremony is equally
anemic as an act of affirmation of faith in God. Instead of
striving to preserve the original spirit and purpose of the
ritual, we have mindlessly preserved its physical elements,
which, in twenty-first century America, are ripped out of
their intended context.

What is needed is a creative reunification of ritual and
context. It is not necessary to slaughter animals on the steps
of the Armenian Church in Milwaukee, Fresno or Montreal.
What matters is that the donation be a sacrifice. In the same
way that in former times a person sacrificed an
"unblemished" young animal, the meat of which is food for
many days, and the fur of which is clothing for many people,
likewise today, a Madagh offering must have such value that
the person offering it feels the loss of that which he has given
up. In sacrifice, the hurt of loss is transformed into the joy of
giving and of pleasing God.

Beyond the sacrifice itself, the gospel passage from the rite
declares that all the fruits of the sacrifice must be given to
"the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind..." No part should
be enjoyed by "your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen
or rich neighbors." These deserve our charity as well, but the
fruits of Madagh are reserved for those who "cannot repay
you."

Finally, sacrifice and charity come together when standing
before the altar, the offering is made to God reading the
words of the prayer.

Recently five students went to a grocery store and pooling
their limited money, they bought 40 pounds of chicken. That
night, with great care they washed the chicken pieces, placed
them on baking sheets, flavored them with spices and baked
them. Later they wrapped each piece individually and placed
them all in large cardboard boxes. The next evening they
brought the boxes to church, and placed this sacrifice at the
foot of the holy altar. Standing reverently in the quiet peace
of the darkened church, they read aloud the appointed
passages from Leviticus, from 2 Samuel, and from Isaiah and
following those, passages from Hebrews and the Gospel
according to Luke. One of them then stepped forward, in the
midst of the saran-wrapped offering, and read the words of
the prayer: "...Receive from us by your mercy this gift, for
the pleasure of your all-powerful will. Receive, O Lord our
loving God this gift which we have promised and pledged to
you...Receive, O provident God this sacrifice which we lift
up and offer to you...Receive it, O compassionate Lord and
liken it to the blessed offerings of the holy forefathers..."

Having made their offering, they proceeded downtown,
where they fed those "who cannot repay you."

***

PRAYER OF MADAGH

Almighty God, you are praised by the highest heavenly
orders and you are worshiped by those of the earthly realm,
O God the Word, with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
In the beginning you imprinted the shape and example of the
good things to come. For although mankind fell from his
rightful place in paradise by the instinctive artifice of the
crafty deceiver [Satan], who made promises of noble glory,
nevertheless when mankind multiplied and became
numerous upon the earth, you were pleased by the pious
deeds we offered to you as sacrifices upon the altar.

Like the sacrifice of Abel, who by being sacrificed, was
called just; and Noah, when he left the ark, offered there a
fragrant oblation to you for God. And Abraham, being
tested, offered the true burnt offering and typified your
incorruptible death on the cross.
And therefore, O Lord our beneficent God, we ask and beg
you, receive from us by your mercy this gift, for the pleasure
of your all-powerful will.

Receive, O Lord our loving God this gift which we have
promised and pledged to you in our affliction, when we
called to you and you saved us.

Receive, O provident God this sacrifice which we lift up and
offer to you, O Saviour who lacks nothing, whose mercy and
compassion are incomprehensible and infinite.

Receive [it], O compassionate Lord and liken it to the
blessed offerings of the holy forefathers, and dissociate it
from the false sacrifices and pagan burnt offerings of satanic
idolatry.

By Moses your holy and blessed prophet you commanded
your people Israel to offer you burnt offerings. And by other
holy ones, [you commanded that] animals be brought to the
door of the tent of meeting before the Levite priests. By
placing their hand upon [the animal] and and letting its
blood flow upon your holy altar, O God, transgressions were
forgiven and prayers were answered. But this was [only] a
shadow of the true salvation to come, which was granted to
us by your coming into the world.

For you yourself, O most-merciful and beneficent Lord, by
your prophetic spirit, said through your prophet, 'I do not
accept your fattened bulls . Rather offer to God an offering
of blessing, and willfully offer a bloodless offering--a broken
heart and a humble spirit, which God will not despise" [Ps.
50:9; 51:17].

But now, we sinners who are unworthy fall down before your
compassion with humble hearts and we beg you for the great
love [you showed to] your beloved ones, our fathers.

Look down upon this our offering and receive it from us as a
burnt offering of rams and bulls and as ten thousand fattened
lambs.

Answer our prayers, O Lord, so that we not be put to shame
before our enemies. But rather let us delight and rejoice in
your salvation.

For if by your gaze you can weigh all the mountains and the
hills and the fields; and you hold heaven and earth in your
hand, and you are seated in the highest heights upon the
throne of the cherubim and hell is not invisible to you; and if
giving you all the four-footed beasts and all the animals [in
the world] is still not sufficient as a burnt offering to you,
then how do we dare to offer [you] a sacrifice?

But you, O Lord, were pleased to become incarnate for us,
and by your holy apostles you taught us the spotless faith
which is the Holy Trinity, by which you made us worthy to
be called brothers and sons by your incorruptible body and
blood, O God the Word.
Now, therefore, O miraculous Lord, receive from our hands
this gift of sacrifice by the intercession of the holy Mother of
God, and by the power of the sign of your all-conquering
cross which we worship continually.

And by the prayers of the holy apostles and prophets and the
blessed martyrs who shed their blood in return for your
blood, O Lord, grant the petitions of those who make this
offering and grant them forgiveness of their sins. Increase
the flocks and the herds and all animals and the prosperity of
your servants. Make the clouds rain sweetly upon our fields
and grant the fruit of profit, and dispel from us the snares of
Satan.

So that standing here in piety and in your pleasure, we might
be worthy to meet you when you are revealed in your glory
on that awesome day when you come again from heaven to
apportion [to us] according to our works. For you are worthy
of glory, dominion and honor, now and ever and unto the
ages of ages. Amen.