I Will Not Speak of Thy Mysteries

Further, many of our larger services (like the ones from Holy Week and Pascha, plus the liturgies at gatherings such as the OCA All-American Councils) have been transformed into media events, with the audiovisual cacophony of flashes, shutters, beeps, and the paparazzo-style camera-raised-above-the-crowd shooting effect all working against those who would like to pray in peace. We generally discourage, if not prohibit, this behavior at weddings, but it’s tolerated all the time at other big services. I’ve had photographers shooting over my shoulder while I commune the faithful. It’s rude. Not every aspect of every event need be recorded for posterity. [NB: Courtesy calls for most photography undertaken in a religious service to be unobtrusive. Ask permission first. Turn off the flash. Turn off the beeps. Turn off the autofocus assist lamp. Use a camera with a quiet shutter. Remember to pray.]

Lest this sound too cranky (and, please bear with me, for I want your input), I should say that I am not opposed to all church photography. I wonder, though, whether we would be better served by having fewer publicly-available recordings of sacramental services and individuals in intimate moments of participation in the grace of God therein. In place of this, we could make the emphasis of our photo- and videography the salvation available in Christ Jesus. Good relationships begin with introductory discussions, not with full family details. We Orthodox are justifiably enamored of the beauty of our worship, but it seems that photographs of the faithful partaking of the Body and Blood of their Lord, or being immersed in the waters of Holy Baptism, etc. are of minimal evangelistic value, at least for those viewing them on the web. (That is, who would become an Orthodox Christian because he saw a baptism on the internet?) For those images and videos of interest to the communal family, such as baptisms, weddings, and so on, perhaps they could be protected and accessible only to the members of the parish. We could let sermons and material for the unchurched predominate on the public areas of church websites.

So, my questions for you are:

1. What do you think about my concerns? Is there too much or too little being made accessible everywhere? Is what I’ve said much ado about nothing?
2. What, if anything, should be done?
3. What should drive our use of photographs and other media? Is the current use helping or hurting?
4. In many ways, “the horse is already out of the barn” on this issue. Is there a basis for trying to undo this, at least in the future?

In the interest of discussion, I give a couple of other patristic citations. This first one is from St. Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 313-386), in his introductory address to the newly baptized. His lectures introduced these new Christians, most of whom hadn’t even heard the Lord’s Prayer prior to their entry, to the fullness of life in the Church. He cautions them to guard what they learn:

When, therefore, the Lecture is delivered, if a Catechumen ask thee what the teachers have said, tell nothing to him that is without. …  So too the sick ask for wine; but if it be given at a wrong time it causes delirium, and two evils arise; the sick man dies, and the physician is blamed.  Thus is it also with the Catechumen, if he hear anything from the believer:  both the Catechumen becomes delirious (for he understands not what he has heard, and finds fault with the thing, and scoffs at what is said), and the believer is condemned as a traitor. But thou art now standing on the border:  take heed, pray, to tell nothing out; not that the things spoken are not worthy to be told, but because his ear is unworthy to receive. -St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Prologue to the Catechetical Lectures, 12.

Then there’s St. Basil (AD 330-379), who, in defending the divinity and personhood of the Holy Spirit, makes reference to the propriety of speaking of those things maintained in pious silence. Read this carefully:

Page 2 of 3 | Previous page | Next page