Robert Hegwood
21-09-2006, 11:39 PM
In the Church it seems there are a number of sacramentalized relationships, some indeed like ordination or marriage being ranked as holy mysteries of the Church. But there are other relationships that are established within the Church that are ordered below these...like being tonsured as a monastic, made an abbot/abbess, sponsorship/godparent, spiritual father/mother, adelphos (sic?)/sacramentalized friendship, and perhaps others, yet all of these are considered in their various appropriate contexts to be "saving relationships"...if my understanding is correct.
I have two questions. First, what, if any, other kinds of sacramentalized relationships are provided for in the Church?
Second, what is appropriate should one of these relationships "fail" or be hindered seriously in some regard? Can the Church bless others to "fill the gap" as it were. For example, say one's baptismal sponsors/godparents from one's infancy (or whenever) lose contact over the years or were never deeply engaged in those responsibilities to begin with, so that in effect its like the person baptised had no sponsors. And let us further say, the person concerned grew up nominally but did not ever begin to seriously learn about and engage their faith until late youth or adulthood. Can another person in the Church be a "surrogate" godparent...to provide them with the help and guidance their own godparents were supposed to give?
My own thinking...perhaps wrongly is that there are no such things as "sacramental substitutes". If a marriage fails and ends in divorce there is no such thing as a surrogate spouse to be recrowned with...though with an economia another noncrowned marriage can be entered into. Yet it seems not all such relationships are necessarily permanent ones, since there are certain conditions where one can change spiritual parents (I think). Godparents though strike me are more to the marriage side of things, an unvoidable relationship even if it remains pragmatically unfulfilled.
If that is the case what would a person do who needs someone functioning like a godparent in their life but whose own godparents are MIA, if they are known/remembered at all? Can another member of a parish do this for them, or would that just fall under the catagory of being a good friend?
I ask because I know of a young person in our parish who has recently moved into town, cradle Orthodox, but not really raised very much in the Church...and so functionally more ignorant about the faith than most catechumens. This young person is seriously interested in learning the faith and is attending Divine Liturgy and our catechumen classes. Several of the adults have taken various degrees of interest in being available to field questions and offer pointers and encouragement, but there is no one "offical"...and maybe there doesn't need to be with so many looking after him.
Anyway, I am wondering what kind of blessed relationships exist in the Church for those like him, or is "surrogate godparenting" just a "it takes a village/parish" kind of thing as the Lord wills.
Insights anyone?
I have two questions. First, what, if any, other kinds of sacramentalized relationships are provided for in the Church?
Second, what is appropriate should one of these relationships "fail" or be hindered seriously in some regard? Can the Church bless others to "fill the gap" as it were. For example, say one's baptismal sponsors/godparents from one's infancy (or whenever) lose contact over the years or were never deeply engaged in those responsibilities to begin with, so that in effect its like the person baptised had no sponsors. And let us further say, the person concerned grew up nominally but did not ever begin to seriously learn about and engage their faith until late youth or adulthood. Can another person in the Church be a "surrogate" godparent...to provide them with the help and guidance their own godparents were supposed to give?
My own thinking...perhaps wrongly is that there are no such things as "sacramental substitutes". If a marriage fails and ends in divorce there is no such thing as a surrogate spouse to be recrowned with...though with an economia another noncrowned marriage can be entered into. Yet it seems not all such relationships are necessarily permanent ones, since there are certain conditions where one can change spiritual parents (I think). Godparents though strike me are more to the marriage side of things, an unvoidable relationship even if it remains pragmatically unfulfilled.
If that is the case what would a person do who needs someone functioning like a godparent in their life but whose own godparents are MIA, if they are known/remembered at all? Can another member of a parish do this for them, or would that just fall under the catagory of being a good friend?
I ask because I know of a young person in our parish who has recently moved into town, cradle Orthodox, but not really raised very much in the Church...and so functionally more ignorant about the faith than most catechumens. This young person is seriously interested in learning the faith and is attending Divine Liturgy and our catechumen classes. Several of the adults have taken various degrees of interest in being available to field questions and offer pointers and encouragement, but there is no one "offical"...and maybe there doesn't need to be with so many looking after him.
Anyway, I am wondering what kind of blessed relationships exist in the Church for those like him, or is "surrogate godparenting" just a "it takes a village/parish" kind of thing as the Lord wills.
Insights anyone?