WHY THE DEDICATION? A HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF CHURCH DEDICATION

WHY THE DEDICATION? A HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF CHURCH DEDICATION 

REV. FR. EMMANUEL EMENIKE ONYIA

INTRODUCTION 

The Church is understood as the Assembly of God’s people gathered to celebrate the divine mysteries, usually within a specific community that provides a specific place and space for this celebration. With time this specific place and space becomes a habitual place of meeting and there a building is being erected for worship. So, through the deep relationship between the building and this Assembly of God’s people, the building takes the name of the assembly which is the Church and so the building is often referred to as the Church. As the assembly gives its name to the building, they accord it the reverence necessary and if they feel the necessity and the joy of reserving it exclusively for worship of God by means of an action that expresses this decision and more importantly to call down the favour of God upon it. The liturgical process of obtaining this statue is called the Rite of Dedication of a Church. 

So, reflecting on the Rite of the Dedication of a Church according to the Handbook for Liturgical Studies volume v pages 333-376, which presents to us the historical progression of the rite of dedication of a Church, starting from the Pre-Constantinian period, the period between fourth to seventh centuries, the rituals of the eighth century, the rite of dedication from tenth to the fifteenth centuries down to Vatican II, we will understand the important value of a dedicated Church. 

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 

Prior to the first three centuries of Christianity, there was no need for any ritual for the dedication of Church because, there were no churches as the historical condition of Christians at this period do not permit the construction of buildings for worship do to recurring persecutions which made them lack juridical personality. So, the communities were reluctant to providing a building for worship. However, towards the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century the disciples had adopted the Pauline idea of “spiritual worship” where they talk about the human person as the temple of the Holy Spirit where true worship occurs. Hence, the notion brought about a profound change in the attitude of the disciples towards the temple of Jerusalem and the Levitical worship. This made them to regard the temple to be not just the physical structure like the temple of Jerusalem but spiritual phenomena that reside in the soul of the human person. For them, it is better to dedicate to God a sanctuary in our souls by practice of virtues, having right spirit, a pure heart and a sincere soul where true sacrifices are offered to God through the practice of justice, love and charity just as apostle Peter instructed them in 1Peter 2:5, that they should build themselves into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And also following St. Paul admonition in 1Corth. 3:16 saying: “do you not know that you are God’s temple, God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple”.

 However, the Christian community following the event of Pentecost do gather together to celebrate the memorial according to the command of the Lord. Every day as the spent time together in the temple they also broke bread at homes and ate their meal with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people (Acts 2:46-47). With time, they turned their homes into special place of Christian worship. Example of some of these houses were clearly mentioned in Acts of the Apostles, starting from Acts 1:13, talking about the “Upper Room” where the disciples met, together with certain women including Mary the mother of Jesus, the house of Mary the mother of John whose other name is Mark (Acts 12:12), the house of Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus, the house of Philemon in which the community at Colossae gathered (Phlm. 2).

So with constant meeting and celebration of the Eucharist in these same houses in an atmosphere of faith and fellowship, they turned into a fixed place of Christian worship which was consequently adopted as a place of worship with an architectural works. Nevertheless, since the supreme celebration of Christian worship which is the Eucharist begins in a house at the upper room the Christian communities have to continue to celebrate it in a house.           

However, between the periods of 3th to 7th centuries religious freedom was granted by the edict of Licinius and Constantine in 313 when the Christian communities enjoyed the right to own places of public worship. This brings us to another stage, the stage of securing and building a place of worship and the need to consecrate these newly built places of worship. At this point, the Christian communities have to face a very important challenge, which is the challenge of the choice of an architectural model for place of worship that is different from Jerusalem temple, synagogues, and pagan temples rather they chose as a model the basilica forense and a civic building that had plenty of rooms for meetings as these were essential requirement of the Christian liturgy. So within the second half of the fifth century to seventh century there were already some ritual sequences that would be more like elements that makes up the dedication of the Church given the rise to the spacious rite of the dedication of a Church. These elements include: the celebration of the Eucharist, deposition of martyrs’ relics, anointing with chrism, wishing with water, the sign of the cross and the first sign of regression.

 The Celebration of Eucharist: At this period, given the important of Eucharistic liturgy as associated with the idea of a ‘sacrifice’, Eucharistic celebration becomes the essential act in the dedication of a Church. 

Depositing of Martyrs’ Relics: Another element necessary for the rite of dedication of a Church is the placing of martyrs’ relics beneath the altar of the sanctuary, this began around second half of the fourth century in certain places of the northern Italy and the East as well. So many factors brought about the introduction of this element in the rite of dedication of a church such factors include: first is the fact of the history of worship which is found in the very ancient act of veneration of martyrs which brought about the adorning of their tombs with decorative components, building of monument or small sacred shrines over their tombs, celebration of the Eucharist on the anniversary of their martyrdom, pilgrimages to their tombs in order to obtain protection and help. 

So it is the desire of each community to posses the relics of the great heroes of faith which is a thing of great joy for them. Also the idea of placing the relics of the martyrs in altar comes from the relationship between the ‘martyrs and the altar’ which is attested in the book of revelation 6:9 where, at the opening of the “fifth seal,” the seer discovers under the alter the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given. Following this is the consideration that the greatest honor that can be given to witnesses of Christ is to bury them beneath the altar where the sacrificial offering of their Lord is perpetuated. So the altar and the relics of martyr symbolizes the present of Christ with his most outstanding witnesses which brings the complete meaning of regarding the building as Church. 

Anointing with Chrism: The rite of anointing of the alter which originated in the East as early as the patristic age has it theological value from the church’s reflection on Christ where they reached the identification between Christ and the altar as atlare Christus est following Pauline allegory where the “rock was Christ” and Christ means “ Anointed ”. Therefore, the altar which symbolizes Christ needs to be anointed in order to be a complete symbol of the “Lord’s Anointed”.

The Washing with Water: Between fourth to Seventh centuries the rite of washing is another element used in the dedication of a Church. This rite of washing and anointing with chrism are two ritual elements that liken the dedication of the Church to Christian rite of initiation. 

The Opening of the Door: Another element in dedication of a Church is the rite of opening the door. This rite is simple and solemn, showing Christ the King of glory represented by the book of Gospel enters the sanctuary of the new people of God, thereby fulfilling symbolically the ancient liturgy of entrance into the temple.   

The Sign of the Cross: This rite is traceable to seventh century where bishops, on entering a new Church traces a large cross in the form of X on the floor, which was later expanded by adding the writing of the alphabet, in Greek and Latin, on a double layer of ashes strewn on the ground a rite signifying taking of possession.

Nevertheless, the rite of dedication continues to develop from tenth to fifteenth century and later Pontificals down to Vatican II. At this Period the rite of the dedication of a church that is found in the Roman Pontifical is very fine and rich but it no longer meets modern needs and situations because it is too long and the fatigue caused by such long and complex rites becomes excessive for consecrating bishops. So there was a liturgical reform just before the opening of Vatican II. However, the ritual in Ponitificale Romanum 1961 which was promulgated on April 13, 1961 contained the rite of the dedication of a Church titled Ordo ad ecclesiam dedicandam et conserandam was divided into four parts: the washing and dedication of the Church, the deposition of relics and the Holy Mass. However, from the day of promulgation of the constitution sacrosanctum Concilium in 1963 to 1977, the Roman liturgy had been a subject of a far-reaching enthusiastic and radical renewal. So there was redaction of the Ordo didicationis. The ordo contains now seven chapters starting from the placing of the first stone of the Church; the dedication of a Church, the rite which is in four parts: first the introductory rite which includes the assembly of the community at another Church, the procession to the new Church, the station at the threshold of the Church, the opening of the door, the blessing and sprinkling of water. The second part contains the liturgy of the word which includes the showing of the book and opening of the book. The third part is prayer of dedication and anointing which include singing of the litany of the saints, the deposition of the relics, prayer of dedication, the anointing of altar and walls, illumination of the altar and the Church. The fourth part is the Eucharistic Liturgy. 

CONCLUSION 

The main reason why we dedicate a Church to God is to show the theological understanding of what a Church represent, that the Church building is a sign of God’s worshipping community, pointing out that the people should be aware that the holiness of the building depends not on the “blessed stones”, but on the saving words proclaimed in it, the holy sacrifice offered there, the sacraments of salvation celebrate there and the presence of the Holy Spirit who dwells in the hearts of the faithful gathered in the Holy Assembly for worship. It reflects the Church’s idea of itself and its fidelity to Christ. Also, it reflects the ups and downs of the Church’s own history with its cultural changes, its political and social situations and the theological emphases that have succeeded one another through the centuries.  

Therefore, as we gathered today to dedicate our Church, St. Pater Catholic Church Odoragushin, we are also rededicating ourselves once more to God. This is because we are not just dedicating the structures but also the souls of all who gathered here for worship, for we are made to know through St Paul that our bodies are temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So, today is a special day for all who have gathered here. It is a day we renew our commitment to God. It is a day we obtain special grace to be more prepared to embrace our heavenly temple where we will behold the face of our Loving God. 

Hence, I say congratulations to all who have gathered here today for this dedication, especially the parishioners of St Peter Catholic Church Odoragushin and our dearest Mama, Christiana Otedola Doja who celebrates her 90th birthday today and dedicating this Church to God in thanksgiving to God for the awesome gift of life.