The issue of the role
of women in the Orthodox Church is a very current one, which has been examined
in many books, articles, conferences and discussions. What is the role of women
in Orthodoxy today?
Women in the Church are
Saints. We have countless female Saints even living amongst us today. Walking
into an Orthodox Church we identify that there are as many female saints as
there are male ones, through the icons which adorn the building and by listening
to the Synaxarion of the Church, which is read during the Matins Service. The
greatest female Saint, of course, is the Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, who in
Greek is known as Panagia, the all holy one.

Another important role
women maintain in Orthodoxy is that of the priest’s wife. This is an important
calling within the Church life. The priest’s wife maintains a role in the local
community, she is honoured in this role, given the title papadia or presbytera
in Greek. This elevates her to a role, which she upholds next to her husband.
Being a priest’s son, myself, I observe the importance of the papadia; women
prefer to speak to her, take her advice on issues, even concerning theological
enquiries. Interestingly enough, St Basil the Great had stated that the priest
wife is able to be part of the confession of a woman and give her advice. This
exactly shows the significant role she plays within the local community and
Church. That is why it is helpful, in a parish to have a married priest. He,
through his wife and even his children, is able to achieve a greater ministry
in the Church. An important and ever growing role women are gaining is that of
teaching, either at a Sunday school level, a school or university level.
Spiritual motherhood is another function women have, especially in the monastic
context.
An example everyone can
relate to, especially here in Great Britain, is the existence of the Ladies
Societies, which exist in every parish. They assist in the ecclesiastical life
in numerous ways, including raising money for the community, the church,
serving on parish councils, assisting for the major events of the community,
helping fellow Christians who come from Greece, Cyprus and other countries for
health issues to Britain and many more. It is, therefore, apparent, that
without women, our churches would not function as well as they do.
I think it’s important
to talk about women as chanters, firstly, and then about female deacons, to
identify the practice and the Tradition of our Church on these matters. When looking at the history of Byzantine
Hymnography and Music we easily identify the fact that it is dominated
primarily by men. Women are not totally absent; they are, however, the
exception to the rule. The most famous woman hymnographer is of course Kassiani
the Hymnographer (known also as Kassia or Eikasia); she is known for the
Troparion of Kassiani which is chanted during Matins of Holy Wednesday,
considered as one of the greatest masterpieces within the Byzantine
hymnographic tradition.
She was born between
805 and 810 AD in Constantinople, during the reign of Emperor Theophilus
(829-842 AD). She was known for her beauty and her cleverness. It is believed
that she was part of the ceremony for the bride choice for the Emperor
Theophilus, which was organised by his step-mother Euphrosyne. During this
ceremony the emperor would choose his wife by giving her a golden apple.
Dazzled by the beauty of Kassia, the young emperor approached her and
said: “All the bad things came to this
world from a woman” referring to the sin and suffering that resulted from Eve.
Kassia then answered: “And all the good things came from a woman”, referring to
the Theotokos and to the hope of salvation from the Incarnation of Jesus
Christ. The emperor’s egoism was injured, which resulted in his rejection of
Kassiani, choosing Theodora as his wife.
We know that Kassiani
in 843 AD founded a cenobium in Constantinople, near the western walls of the
City, where she became the first abbess. It was at this monastery that she began
her hymnographical work. St Kassia also wrote secular songs and poems on moral
themes which were witty, often crass, sometimes funny, and usually defended
women’s rights. She was in close contact with the Monastery of Stoudiou, which
played a key role in the re-publications of Byzantine Liturgical Books during
the 9th and 10th centuries AD, preserving thus important works. Kassia was not the
only female monastic hymnographer. We also know about Thekla, Martha, Theodosia,
Kouvouklisena, Palaeologina and many more.
In our churches, here
in Great Britain we find that women do chant during the services, giving
therefore a richer variety of sound and musical expression to our daily
worship. The important factor is to offer hymns and chants to God, as we claim
during the Divine Liturgy: ‘Praise the Lord, O my soul: while I live I will
praise the Lord; while I exist, I will praise my God.’ In Psalm 50, chanted
during Matins, we read ‘O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth
Your praise.’ Therefore, despite Byzantine music being a complicated musical
system, whoever is able to chant should do so.
Moving on, now, to the
deaconesses. Female deacons existed during the first centuries of Christianity.
In Scripture we find the word deacon in a number of instances, referring to
women. Such is the case with Phoebe, who is believed to have been the person
entrusted by St. Paul to deliver his epistle to the Romans from Achaia. In the Epistle to the Romans (16:1), we read
‘Phoebe as serving the Church of Cenchrea as a deacon.’ Phoebe is thus accepted
as being the prototype of the women deacon and the first deaconess of the
Church. Like St Stephen for male deacons, St Phoebe became an example of faith and
service for female deacons. The Orthodox Church also honours St Lydia and St
Tryphena, by commemorating them as deacons. The same applies to St Priscilla
and St Junia.
A deaconess was
honoured as being ‘a type of the Holy Spirit.’ She had a number of duties. She offered
pastoral diakonia and charity work and she also had distinctive liturgical
functions. They had a very significant
role; for example, in the Apostolic Constitutions we find that, no woman was
allowed to speak to the bishop or any deacon, without speaking first to a
deaconess. Additionally, the deaconess
also administer Holy Communion to women who were ill, either at their house or
the hospital. She would also give donations to the needy women. Pastoral care
was also part of the job description, including visits to heathen households so
to minister them. However, the most important liturgical services were offered
by the deaconesses during the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism, in
particular the baptism of women. Without a female deacon, the baptism of adult
women could not take place, due to issues of propriety.
It is interesting to
identify that despite the existence of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church being
extinct, there is a small number of exceptions to this rule, which come to us
from the 20th century from the East. Before the 1917 revolution, the Russian
Orthodox Church prepared some schemes to restore this order. In Greece St
Nektarios of Aegina actually ordained a nun on Pentecost Sunday 1911. Today, there are a few deaconesses in the
Orthodox Church; according to one Greek newspaper, To Vima, there are only
three Greek deaconesses, without giving their names. It merely states that one
is undertaking missionary work in the Far East, the second was ordained by late
Archbishop Christodoulos of Greece, when he was still Metropolitan of
Dimitriados, and the third lives in Constantinople.
The role of the women
in the Orthodox Church is an important issue. However, the distinction which
exists in our world and in the Church, between women and men has no effect to
our salvation. This is also expressed by St Gregory of Nazianzus, who stated:
‘The same Creator for man and woman, for both of them the same clay, the same
image, the same law, the same death, and the same resurrection.’ The existence of the sexes does not show
discrimination but complementarity and reciprocity. This is also highlighted
when identifying the existence of thousands of female saints. They are honoured
and remembered in the Church daily.
The most important
woman saint is, of course, the Virgin Mary. Her role in salvation is crucial. According
to the great ecclesial vision, Mary is not the “model” only for women, the
prototype of submissive, passive, and oversweet femininity which women today
are no longer able, no longer want, to identify themselves with. Mary is not a
goddess either, a symbol of a feminist Christianity which is implicitly or
explicitly opposed to a masculine Christianity centered on Jesus. . . According
to the Orthodox understanding, Mary is fully human and represents all of
humanity, the complete humanity which God, in his grace, wanted to freely
associate with the realization of his loving plan. She is a sign, the anticipation
of a human person entirely given to the Lord, the ultimate eschatological
realization of man-anthropos.
The Orthodox faithful
always pray to her, saying ‘O, Holy Mother of God intercede for us.’ This
intercession is also evident in the iconographic tradition, whereby the
Theotokos Platitera is depicted in the Sanctuary, between Heaven (the dome) and
the earth. During the Divine Liturgy we sing the hymn: ‘It is truly right to
call you blessed, who gave birth to God, ever-blessed and most pure, and Mother
of God. Greater in honour than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious
than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Word; truly the
Mother of God, we magnify you.’ This hymn, exactly, shows her importance for us
Christians; the role she played and continues to play within the Body of the
Church. God in his love sent his Son to be a man, whilst in return humanity
offered Saint Mary the Virgin to be the cleansed and perfected vessel in which
humanity and divinity meet in the God-manhood of Christ.
Therefore, Mary, the
Mother of God, the Theotokos, played a key role in the salvation of mankind.
Without her, Jesus Christ would not be able to be born into creation. In this
woman, in this mother sanctified and made fruitful by the Spirit, the divine
Agape – Love - took a human body.
The role one maintains
in the Church is actually not important, in regards to salvation. This is
pointed out when looking at the categories of saints that we have in Orthodoxy;
we have, for example the apologists, the equal to the Apostles, the Holy Martys,
or even the fools for Christ. These people, women and men, were not priests; in
many cases they had a troubled road to salvation; nonetheless, they reached it.
Salvation, theosis, which is the objective of Christianity, of our communion
with God is reached not by who we are in the Church, a priest, a chanter, a
member of staff or even just a simple participant. It is reached if we follow
what Apostle Peter says in the Book of Acts (2:38): ‘Repent, and let every one
of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ Therefore, Salvation is more
than forgiveness. It is a genuine renewal of man. And this renewal is effected
not by the discharge, or release, of certain natural energies implied in man’s
own creaturely being, but by the “energies” of God Himself, who thereby
encounters and encompasses man and admits him into communion with Himself.
Women are, of course,
present in the New Testament period, where they played a key role in the life
and ministry of Jesus Christ. Women had profound personal relationships with
Jesus of Nazareth: Martha and Mary, Lazarus’ sisters, the Samaritan woman at
Jacob’s well, with whom the Lord had a “theological” conversation, Mary of
Magdala of the “Easter garden” story and many more. Jesus allowed women to
touch him, in both the physical and spiritual meaning of the word. He was not
afraid of being in contact with them even when one was a prostitute. He had
compassion for their suffering. . . His disciples were surprised by this
attitude which contrasted so sharply with rabbinical principles (Jn 4:27 and Lk
7:39). Such an attitude indicated a spiritual direction, introducing a new
level of understanding and relationship between women and men.
Their significant role
in Jesus’s life is also evident through the fact that they were the first who
witnessed His Resurrection. The second Sunday after Easter, the Orthodox Church
celebrates the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers. This day commemorates when the
women disciples of our Lord came to the tomb to anoint his body with myrrh-oils
but found the tomb empty. As the women wondered what this meant, angels
appeared proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead. In the Gospel of
Matthew we read: ‘And as they went to tell His disciples,[b] behold, Jesus met
them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped
Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to
go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.’ (Matthew 28:9-10). Also we sing on
this day a number of hymns. One of them proclaims: ‘Unto the myrrh-bearing
women did the Angel cry out as he stood by the grave: Myrrh-oils are meet for
the dead, but Christ has proved to be a stranger to corruption. But cry out:
The Lord is risen, granting great mercy to the world.’ Therefore, we can
identify the significant and central role women played in Christ’s life and in
the life of the Church.
From the above, we
understand that the role of women in the Church is considered a ministry. This
ministry, in all of its expressions within the Body of the Orthodox Church, is
a service offered in the name of Christ. Every expression of ministry,
therefore, is meant to build up the body of Christ so that the Church,
following Christ’s example – who came to serve and not to be served -, serves
the salvation of the world.
Orthodoxy promotes and
proclaims equality between women and men, maintaining, however, different and
distinct roles within the Body of the Church. Women are the backbone of the
Church in that they are the backbone in their respective parishes and homes. The
role of a woman and a man in the Church is the same, meaning that we are all
members of the Body of Christ. Therefore, the Church is a community in faith,
hope and love for both women and men, of the mystery of individuals, ineffably
equal yet different, in the image and the radiance of the divine Trinity.