THE ANCIENT DIRECTIONALITY OF CONSECRATION: THE MALE PRINCIPLE IN LITURGICAL ACTION

The Metaphysical Order of Creation Pictured in an Icon of Christ Imparting Light and Life to the World from On High (Generated by Dal-E) 

"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." - John 1:5

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

THE DIVINE ORDER: CONSECRATION AS IMPARTATION

From the beginning of creation, the activity of God follows a clear direction: He imparts life, sanctifies, and transforms by His own sovereign will. This movement of consecration is a one-way transmission, never reversed, and always flowing from the holy to the common. It is the divine act of impartation that renders creation sacred and makes the holy stronger than the unholy, as light is stronger than darkness. 

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3)

Here we see the first instance of this sacred directionality: the uncreated Spirit of God moves upon the chaotic waters, imparting order and life. Just as the Spirit acts upon the waters, so throughout salvation history, God initiates, bestows, and consecrates. The Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament alike maintain this movement - never is holiness drawn out from below, but always given from above.

This pattern is evident in God’s consecration of the Sabbath: "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made" (Genesis 2:3). Here, God imparts holiness to a specific day, setting it apart from the rest of creation by His divine act, not by any intrinsic quality of the day itself.

The Psalms reinforce this principle:

"He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth." (Psalm 72:6)

God’s action is always descending - His presence, His grace, and His holiness come from on high. The Prophet Isaiah, too, speaks of this divine impartation:

"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)

The Word of God does not ascend from man to God; it descends from God to man, imparting life and accomplishing its purpose. This same principle governs the liturgical actions of the Church. The priest, standing in the place of Christ, invokes the Holy Spirit, and by divine authority, sanctifies the matter of the sacraments.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Catechetical Lectures, underscores this divine initiative in the sacraments: "The Holy Spirit comes down from heaven and hovers over the waters of baptism, making them life-giving, just as He did at the creation" (Catechesis III, 3). This Patristic insight connects the Genesis account directly to liturgical practice, reinforcing the consistent downward movement of holiness.

CONSECRATION AS DIVINE PENETRATION

The Hebrew cosmology reveals a universe shaped by God’s active impartation. In Genesis, it is not only the Spirit that moves upon the waters, but God’s Word that penetrates the void:

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." (Psalm 33:6)

The divine utterance brings forth creation, just as Christ, the eternal Logos, enters into the world, bringing life and light:

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4)

This divine penetration of the created order is mirrored in the covenantal relationship between man and woman. The marital act, sealed in blood, is a sign of God’s covenant with His people. Just as the husband enters the bride and imparts life, so God enters into creation, bestowing sanctity upon it, defining it, and giving it life. This is why Scripture consistently presents God as the Bridegroom and His people as the Bride, because these human functions reflect the eternal truth of Creation.

The prophet Hosea declares:

"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi [my Husband]; and shalt call me no more Baali [my Master]. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies." (Hosea 2:16, 19)

Christ, too, confirms this:

"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice." (John 3:29)

As the Bridegroom, Christ gives life to the Church. He does not receive life from her; rather, she receives all from Him. In this same way, all consecration in the Church follows this divinely ordained directionality: holiness is imparted from the sacred to the common, from the giver to the receiver, from the active to the passive, and from the Sacrificer/Sacrificed to the Altar, the Womb and the Holy Temple consecrated for the dwelling of God - and never the reverse.

This theme was further developed in Patristic thought, especially in the doctrine of the Logos Spermatikos (λόγος σπερματικός), or the "seminal Word." First articulated by St. Justin Martyr, this doctrine affirms that all truth, wherever it may be found, originates in the Logos of God, who implants His divine seed (σπέρμα) into creation. St. Justin writes:

"For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the seminal Word, seeing what was related to it. But they who contradict themselves on the more important points appear not to have possessed the incorruptible seed of the Word, and to have known neither Him nor His truth." (First Apology, 46)

Here, the Logos is not merely an abstract principle but a dynamic, life-giving force that enters into creation, shaping and sanctifying it. The Greek Fathers, particularly St. Maximos the Confessor, further developed this idea, understanding the Logos Spermatikos as the principle of divine impartation, planting divine truth within the created order. St. Maximos states:

"The Logos of God is sown as a seed in the nature of all beings, and thus He has made all things participate in Himself." (Ambigua, 7)

This concept aligns perfectly with the Syriac directionality of consecration. The Logos enters creation, just as holiness enters the common elements of the sacraments, sanctifying them. This is why all sacred acts follow this movement - holiness is always imparted from above, never drawn up from below.

The Book of Revelation reinforces this imagery with Christ’s triumphant return as the Bridegroom: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7). The Church, as the Bride, is prepared and sanctified by the Lamb’s initiative, not her own.

THE PLATONIC AND NEO-PLATONIC FOUNDATIONS

The early Church did not develop its theological language in a vacuum. The Greek philosophical tradition, especially Platonism and Neoplatonism, provided a framework for understanding divine action. In Platonic thought, reality is structured hierarchically, with the Good (or the One) imparting being, life, and order downward. Plotinus, the great Neoplatonist philosopher, describes this divine outpouring:

"The One is all things and yet none of them; it is the source of all, because it overflows with power." (Enneads, V.2.1)

This concept mirrors the Christian understanding of divine impartation: God, who is beyond all being, bestows holiness upon the world. The Fathers, particularly St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Dionysius the Areopagite, integrated this hierarchical cosmology into Christian theology. St. Dionysius, in his Celestial Hierarchy, writes:

"Every perfect gift and all divine participation comes from above, descending from the Father of Lights, by whom all things are sanctified." (Celestial Hierarchy, III.1)

St. Gregory of Nyssa adds: "The divine nature, being infinite, pours forth its gifts without diminution, sanctifying all that it touches" (On the Making of Man, 23). This Patristic synthesis of Greek philosophy and biblical revelation underscores the unidirectional flow of consecration.

This understanding reinforces why consecration is always a descending act. Just as the One overflows into creation, so too does the priestly action of impartation follow the divine order, bestowing grace and sanctity upon the material world. Historically, this hierarchical framework influenced the Syriac liturgical tradition, evident in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, one of the oldest Eucharistic prayers, which invokes God’s sanctifying power to descend upon the offerings: "May Thy Holy Spirit come, O Lord, and rest upon this oblation… that it may be to us for sanctification."

THE PATTERN OF LITURGICAL CONSECRATION

This divine order governs every sacramental action. The Church, following the example set by Christ and the Apostles, always imparts the holy to the common:

- The laying on of hands in ordination bestows apostolic authority and grace from the bishop to the ordinand. (2 Timothy 1:6)

- The invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist sanctifies the bread and wine, making them the Body and Blood of Christ. (Luke 22:19-20)

- The anointing of oil consecrates and heals, as seen in the practice of the Apostles: "And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." (Mark 6:13)

- The sanctification of material things follows the same order—holy water is poured into common water to sanctify it; consecrated Chrism is mixed with fresh oil to extend its holiness; the Precious Blood of Christ, when mingled with unconsecrated wine, sanctifies and transforms it into the Blood of Christ.

At no point is this directionality reversed. The common does not sanctify the holy; the holy sanctifies the common. This is the divine logic that governs consecration.

The Epistle to the Hebrews provides further biblical support: "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins" (Hebrews 5:1). The priest’s role is to mediate divine gifts downward, not to draw holiness upward.

Liturgically, the Syriac tradition exemplifies this in the Qurbana (Eucharistic liturgy), where the priest prays: "Send down, O Lord, Thy Holy Spirit upon these gifts, that He may make this bread the Body of Christ and this cup the Blood of Christ." This directionality also exists in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in the Greek Tradition, where the Epiclesis says, “O Come, Holy Spirit, and transform these gifts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” The descent of the Spirit mirrors the descent of divine grace throughout salvation history.

Historically, the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) affirmed this pattern by restricting sacramental authority to bishops and priests, reflecting the apostolic tradition of impartation. Canon 19, addressing the restoration of lapsed clergy, assumes this hierarchical order, ensuring that only those duly ordained could consecrate.

THE MALE PRIESTHOOD AND THE PRINCIPLE OF IMPARTATION

Because the work of consecration is an act of impartation, it belongs rightly and exclusively to the male priesthood. The priest does not receive from the altar; he imparts to it. He does not passively observe; he actively bestows.

St. John Chrysostom, reflecting on the priesthood, declares:

"For the priestly office is discharged on earth, but it ranks among heavenly ordinances; and very naturally so: for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself, instituted this vocation, and persuaded men while still abiding in the flesh to represent the ministry of angels." (On the Priesthood, Book III)

The priest, in standing at the altar, represents Christ, the Bridegroom. He does not receive consecration from the Church; he imparts it to her, just as Christ gives Himself to His Bride.

This is why the Church has never permitted women to function in priestly roles. To do so would contradict not only the sacramental theology of consecration but the very fabric of creation itself. Saint Irenaeus, in refuting heretical distortions of the faith, emphasizes:

"That which is mixed with the unconsecrated does not sanctify, but is sanctified by the holy. So too, the Eucharist is not sanctified by our faith but by the Word of God and the invocation of the Holy Spirit." (Against Heresies, Book IV, 18:5)

The priesthood cannot be altered without dismantling the very nature of divine impartation. As Christ acts upon His Bride, so too does the priest act upon the altar. This is the divine order.

St. Paul’s instruction in 1 Timothy supports this: "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1 Timothy 2:11-12). While debated in modern contexts, the early Church understood this as reflecting the priestly role of impartation, rooted in the male representation of Christ.

Historically, the Didascalia Apostolorum (3rd century), a Syriac church order, explicitly states: "It is not lawful for a woman to baptize or to be ordained, for this is reserved to the order of men, who stand in the place of Christ" (Chapter 15). This early witness reinforces the male priesthood as intrinsic to the directional flow of consecration.

SUMMARY

The directionality of consecration is not an arbitrary ecclesiastical rule but a reflection of the divine pattern of creation. Holiness is imparted, never self-generated. Consecration flows from the sacred to the common, transforming and elevating, just as God sanctifies His people. The priesthood, bound to this divine action, belongs to men, for it is their role to bestow and impart, just as it is the Church’s role to receive and be sanctified.

Any attempt to invert this order is not simply an innovation - it is a rupture with the very fabric of liturgical, biblical, and cosmic reality. The Church, in fidelity to Christ, preserves this mystery, ensuring that the work of consecration remains as God Himself established it from the foundation of the world. As St. Ignatius of Antioch writes: "Let all things be done decently and in order, according to the will of God" (I Corinthians 14:40), a call to uphold the divine economy in its fullness.

COLLECT

O Almighty and Everlasting God, who in the beginning didst move upon the face of the waters, imparting life and sanctifying thy creation: Grant, we beseech thee, that we may ever receive thy divine grace as thou hast ordained it from above. As thou didst consecrate the elements of thy holy mysteries by the Word of thy Son and the descent of thy Spirit, so grant that we may ever receive holiness as thou dost impart it. Preserve, O Lord, the sacred order of thy Church, that as Christ hath given himself for his Bride, so may thy priests, standing in his place, bestow that which is holy upon thy people. Keep us ever in the pattern of thy divine economy, that we may never seek to reverse or upend thy sacred order, but may always receive from thee that which thou dost graciously give; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen.