Sanctification of Life: Sacraments in the Eastern Churches

The aim of this course is to provide course participants with a historical, theological, and pastoral overview of the sacramental life of the Church that ows out of the Christian identity we acquire in baptism and the Eucharist. We will examine Eastern and Oriental Orthodox rites of marriage, confession and reconciliation, anointing of the sick and ministry at the time of death, and the funeral (including the rites of the post-funeral period). Students will learn of the diversity in these rites and their enactment among the various Orthodox traditions, as they respond to the pastoral, formational, and missional challenges facing the Church in the 21st century.The rites under consideration in this course are celebrated at pivotal moments in human life, and thus can be understood as life cycle rituals. As such, these rites have profound pastoral signicance, and constitute some of the most signicant occasions in which the Church oers pastoral care to its people. Given the pastoral signicance of these rites, their discussion in this course will devote signicant time to pastoral issues and the dynamics of the interactions between ritual actions and pastoral care.At the end of the course the student is expected to:-explain how each of the rites studied in this course have developed historically in both their own tradition, and in one other Orthodox liturgical tradition outline an understanding of the pastoral dimensions of anointing of the sick, ministry at the time of death, the funeral and post-funeral rites, confession and reconciliation-Demonstrate comprehension of their chosen traditions theology of sacraments and their relation to Christian life, through written and oral communication-Apply their knowledge of theology and practice of the churchs pastoral rites in analysis concrete pastoral situations