How many times do you pray in a day?<\/p>\n
By Ida Indawati Khouw<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Almost all of Indonesian dictionaries should be
\nrevised now especially regarding religious terms as some of them
\nare no longer suitable.<\/p>\n
Some terminology, for years associated with Islam like shalat
\nor solat or salat, and ruku (deep bow from the waist), now also
\nbelong to Christianity due to the presence of Orthodox Christians
\nhere.<\/p>\n
The famous Indonesian-English Dictionary by John M. Echols and
\nHassan Shadily, for example, translates salat as \"ritual prayers
\nand actions performed five times daily\", whereas congregations of
\nthe Orthodox Churches also perform the ritual, not five but seven
\ntimes a day.<\/p>\n
The rituals of the ancient Christian religion, which initially
\ngrew in the so called Eastern world, are, indeed, something new
\nfor Indonesians who are familiar with Western Christian religions
\nlike the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant churches.<\/p>\n
Congregations of the Orthodox Churches consider that their
\ndenomination is older than Catholicism or Protestantism.<\/p>\n
According to the Encyclopedia Americana the Orthodox Churches,
\ngenerally called the Eastern Orthodox Churches, are a family of
\n15 self-governing Christian churches, but those existing in
\nIndonesia so far are the Greek Orthodox and the Syrian Orthodox
\nChristians.<\/p>\n
Many people might be surprised witnessing Orthodox Christians
\nperforming their shalat rituals just like Muslims.<\/p>\n
Prior to a discussion about the Syrian Orthodox Christians on
\nJl. Cikini Raya in Central Jakarta last week, for example, the
\nfaithful began with the shalat and chanting of Arabic Holy Bible
\nverses, the same way Muslim's recite the Koran.<\/p>\n
While Muslims have prayers five times daily, both the Syrian
\nand Greek Orthodox Christians perform the shalat seven times a
\nday following the tradition of Judaism. This tradition existed
\nlong before Islam, but the ritual was given new exegesis, namely
\ncentered in Christ.<\/p>\n
Bambang Noorsena from the Institute for Syriac Christian
\nStudies said in his paper that the seven-time prayers start at 6
\na.m., when the followers, before they do anything, ask God to
\npurify their hearts.<\/p>\n
\"The prayer, conducted during sunrise, also reminds us about
\nthe resurrection of Jesus,\" said the man who once made a special
\nstudy on the Syrian Church and its liturgy at Bab Touma Seminary
\nin Syria.<\/p>\n
The second is performed at 9, the time when Jesus was
\nsentenced to death and His disciples felt the presence of the
\nHoly Spirit. This is followed by the midday prayer, the time when
\nHe was crucified.<\/p>\n
A prayer performed at 3 p.m. is to commemorate the time when
\nJesus died. At about 6 p.m. the congregation performs another
\nprayer to remind of the time when Jesus's body was taken down
\nfrom the cross.<\/p>\n
The last two shalat are performed before sleeping,
\ncommemorating the entombment of Jesus' body, and at midnight
\nfollowing His word that He will come again to the world like a
\nthief at night, that is why people should always be on guard.<\/p>\n
The ritual movements include ruku (deep bow from the waist),
\nand sujud (bow from kneeling position and raising the hands).
\nThe congregation also has their own kiblat (direction) which is
\ntoward the East, at first following the Judaism practice.<\/p>\n
\"That early Christians performed the prayers, actually, can be
\nread in the Bible, for example in the book of The Acts of The
\nApostles,\" said Bambang, who introduced the Syrian Orthodox
\nteachings -- centered in Antioch, Syria, the only church which
\nstill maintains the language of Jesus, the Aramaic language -- in
\nIndonesia in 1997.<\/p>\n
That Christians here, in general, do not perform such prayers,
\nBambang said was because of adaptations done by Roman Catholic
\npopes for the sake of fulfilling modern life pursuits, \"the
\nrituals disappeared further after the Protestant reformation.\"<\/p>\n
Unlike the Greek Orthodox Church, the Syrian one has yet to
\nestablished the church here. \"We should have a priest if we want
\nto establish the church. Moreover, I don't have intention to
\nbuild one. I just maintain it as a study center.<\/p>\n
\"I want to show that Christianity did not come only from the
\nWest. The ancient churches, actually, have similar roots with
\nIslam,\" said Bambang who claimed that there are about 3,000
\npeople regularly joining his study center.<\/p>\n
He hoped that by knowing the \"meeting points\" between Islam
\nand Christianity, hostility between them which occurs so often
\nhere could be eliminated.<\/p>\n
The Gereja Ortodox Indonesia (GOI -- the Indonesian Orthodox
\nChurch), which is under the patriarch of Istanbul, is located at
\nthe housing complex of film artist Roy Marten in Jatiwaringin
\narea (East Jakarta).<\/p>\n
Every Sunday morning, tens of congregations perform what they
\ncall the holy liturgy in the church which is full of Eastern
\nChurch icons.<\/p>\n
The women worshipers wear head scarfs and perform the ritual
\nseparately from the men. You will hear continuous chanting of
\nprayers of adoration lasting for about two hours. No rows of
\nchairs, musical instruments or choirs like those at most churches
\nhere.<\/p>\n
The church interior follows that of the Greek Orthodox Church
\naround the world namely having a \"holy\" room, forbidden to all
\nbut priests and those baptized in the Orthodox way. Within the
\nroom are the implements with which the priests prepare bread and
\nwine for Holy Communion.<\/p>\n
The bread is prepared by the congregation in their homes where
\nthey fast for six hours during the preparation for the sake of
\nself purification.<\/p>\n
\"Before the communion, the unleavened bread should be signed
\nby a cross stamp which we have distributed to our congregations,\"
\nsaid GOI priest Daniel Bambang Dwibiantoro, who introduced the
\nOrthodox Christian faith in 1988 and claimed to have about 2,000
\nfollowers at present.<\/p>\n
Daniel said that the holy liturgy, flavored with incense
\nfragrance, was a \"drama\" of Jesus' whole life. \"That's why all of
\nthe liturgy's parts are the commemoration of Jesus' life stages,\"
\nsaid the man who wears long robes everywhere.<\/p>\n
Besides the weekly liturgy and shalat, the GOI congregation
\nalso perform other prayers for their daily needs, for instance at
\nthe ceremony to construct a house, to purify a house and before
\ncultivating the land.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/how-many-times-do-you-pray-in-a-day-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}