The practice of catechumens departing — the tradition of unbaptized attendees (catechumens) leaving the Orthodox Christian liturgy after the reading of the Gospel — is deeply rooted in the history and dogma of the Orthodox Church.
St. John Chrysostom, St. Dionysios the Areopagite, St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, St. Nicholas Cabasillas, Elder Athanasius Mitilinaios, Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, and Metropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotis.
The witness of our saints is that catechumens must depart.
What do our saints & elders say?
The catechumen cannot take part in the celebration of the sacrament of the Divine Eucharist and especially in the liturgy of the faithful, in which the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Entering the Orthodox Church
Knowing that the word of God concerning the Mysteries may harm the weak rather than being of benefit to them, St. Paul wrote to the Christians of Corinth: 'I have fed you with milk, not with solid food' (1 Cor 3:2). How much more so, then, should the catechumens be nourished with easily digestible food? The Church 'allows the catechumens to hear the sacred words of the Psalms and the divine reading of the Holy Scriptures, but she does not invite them to the sacred rites and contemplation [of the Holy Mysteries] that follow.'
— St. Dionysios the Areopagite, Church Hierarchy; quoted in The Divine Liturgy: A Commentary in the Light of the Fathers
The sermon was traditionally done after the Gospel reading, so that the catechumens were able to leave the building right after it.
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Entering the Orthodox Church
Thirdly and finally, this prayer is fitting for those who will commune because of the place where it is recited within the Divine Liturgy, namely, after the catechumens are dismissed and only the faithful remain, after the transubstantiation of the precious Gifts, and before the Church calls forth those faithful prepared to commune by crying out: 'With the fear of God, with faith, and with love, draw near.'
— St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, Concerning Frequent Communion
The catechumen even participates in the first half of the Divine Liturgy until the reading of the Gospel and the relevant prayers that are said afterwards. We know very well that after the Gospel certain relevant entreaties are made towards God and then the deacon announces: 'All that are catechumens, depart, catechumens depart. Let no catechumen remain. Let us, the faithful, again and again in peace, pray unto the Lord.' Following this announcement, the catechumens leave the church, and the faithful remain inside while the Divine Liturgy continues.
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Entering the Orthodox Church, p. 34
The Church urges the entire assembly of the faithful to pray for the catechumens, even though they are still strangers. Indeed, they do not yet belong to the Body of Christ, they have not partaken of the Holy Mysteries; they are still apart from the spiritual flock... They stand outside the royal court, far from the sacred forecourts. That is why they are sent away before those fearful prayers [of the Anaphora] are said. So she asks you to pray for them, that they may become fellow members with you and no longer be strangers and cut off.
— Apostolic Constitutions, 8.32 PG 1.1132B; Apostolic Tradition, 17, SC 11bis, p. 75
Since we are about to proceed to the sacrifice, at which the uninitiated have no right to be present, the priest dismisses from the congregation of the faithful those whom we call catechumens, because so far they have only received Christianity orally and by instruction; first, however, he prays for them. This is his prayer: that their initiation may be completed by the grace of Baptism at the proper time. The reason for his prayer is the glory of God: 'That they also may praise with us Thy venerable and glorious name.'
— St. Nicholas Cabasilas, A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy
Tell me, suppose someone was invited to a feast, and was to wash his hands, and sit down, and be all ready at the table, and after all that, refuse to partake. Is he not insulting the man who invited him? Were it not better for such a person never to have come at all? Now it is in just the same way that you have come here. You have sung the hymn with the rest: you have declared yourself to be of the number of them that are worthy by not departing with them that are unworthy. Why stay, and yet not partake of the Table? “I am unworthy,” you will say. Then you are also unworthy of that communion you have had in the prayers. For it is not by means of the offerings only, but also by means of those songs that the Spirit descends all around. Do we not see our own servants first scouring the table with a sponge, cleaning the house, and then setting out the entertainment? This is what is done by the prayers, by the cry of the herald.
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Thus then they were not worthy so much as to set foot on it, but afterwards they came near and beheld where God had stood. And you may, afterwards, come near and behold; however, when He is present, depart. You are no more allowed to be here than the catechumen is. For indeed, to have never reached the Mysteries is not at all the same thing, as, when you have reached them, to stumble before them and despise them, and to make yourself unworthy of this.
— St. John Chrysostom, On Ephesians 3, 4–5, PG 62, 28–30; NPNF (V1-13), 63–65; quoted in Concerning Frequent Communion
According to our saints, we will also find that anyone who will not partake of Holy Communion, should depart when catechumens are told to depart as well.
Do your hear, my brother, what this great teacher of the Church [St. John Chrysostom] says? That those who are not prepared to receive Communion (though they do not have an impediment) are not even worthy to attend the Divine Liturgy. But how do you respond? You say: “If this is how things are, then I just won’t go to Liturgy at all.” No, my brother, no. You are not even allowed to do this, for you will be excommunicated, as the Holy and Sixth (Quinisext) Ecumenical Council decrees...
— St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, Concerning Frequent Communion
Those who are under a rule and are not receiving Communion must depart from the Church at the point of the Divine Liturgy where the priest says: “As many as are catechumens depart,” and stand in the narthex. But during Vespers and Orthros, they are to stand in the Church.
— St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, Exomologetarion: A Manual of Confession
The Divine Liturgy, which we are interpreting in these sermons, my beloved brethren, is divided into two basic parts. The first is the Liturgy of the Catechumens and the second is the Liturgy of the Faithful. From the beginning of the Divine Liturgy until the Gospel and the prayers that follow, the catechumens could also be present, that is, those who are preparing to be baptized, but when the deacon says, "As many of you as are catechumens depart; catechumens depart. As many of you as are catechumens depart: let there be no catechumen. As many as are faithful, again and again, in peace let us entreat the Lord," then the catechumens leave and there remains until the end in the Divine Liturgy those who were baptized and therefore are Orthodox Christians.
Catechumens in the ancient Church were a class of people who were preparing for Holy Baptism and who not only were taught about God, but at the same time, with appropriate education, tried to purify their hearts from the passions, that is, to heal the passive soul. That is, they learned what sin is and how they can be freed from sin and united with Christ. The Catechumens, who were about to be baptized, were called illumined, because after a while they would receive the Grace of the Holy Spirit, the illumination of God.
The faithful were those who had been baptized, those who had been illumined, that is, those whose passive souls were cleansed of their passions and whose nous had received the energy of the Holy Spirit, and for this they had noetic-heart prayer. They had the preconditions to remain until the end of the Divine Liturgy and of course to commune of the immaculate mysteries, the Body and the Blood of Christ.
But even if some of the faithful had fallen into some sin, which meant that they lost the Grace of the Holy Spirit and ceased noetic prayer in the heart, or denied Christ, a sign that they had lost the Holy Spirit, they were expelled from the ranks of the faithful and they stood among the penitents, which means they left the Holy Temple after the reading of the Gospel together with the catechumens.
This distinction between the Catechumens and the Faithful, made in the liturgical texts, shows two truths.
One is that being a Christian is not a given with Holy Baptism, but one needs to live the truths of the faith. That is, the revealed truth must be assimilated by the spiritual organism of man and become blood and food. Faith is not a theoretical acceptance of the truths of the faith.
The second truth is that to participate in the Divine Liturgy is a serious matter, since it has to do with the inner life of man. The more inner purity one has, the better one participates in the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is not only what is said and chanted, but also what is done internally. In the Divine Liturgy the Triune God acts, the angels and the saints and the Panagia Mother of Christ are present, that is, it is a gathering of the heavenly and earthly, angels and people, living and reposed. How can one get a sense of this reality if one does not have a pure heart?
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Catechumens and the Faithful
The catechumens were permitted to attend Church, to stand in a designated place, and attend a part of the Divine Liturgy, but not all of it. They stayed in Church, prayed with others, listened to the readings and preaching; and after the deacon said the Ektenes and other special petitions for the catechumens, he called them to leave the church. Only when they had all left would the Divine Liturgy continue. And because only the faithful attended it, it was called the Liturgy of the Faithful.
The ancient Church most certainly did these things. But what is our modern day Church doing? Unfortunately, She leaves Her doors open, and anyone can walk in and attend the Divine Liturgy without exception ‒ individuals who have committed horrible sins, who have scandalized the people, who do not believe in anything the Church teaches, but speak disrespectfully and blaspheme. Many are attached to error, heresy, and anti-Christian organizations. Our Church has become like the unprotected vineyard. The fault rests with us, the bishops, who will not imitate the example of the holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church. Let us hope that new days will come to our Church, when She will again be like She was in the ancient days of Her glory.
— Metropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotis of Florina, On the Divine Liturgy: Orthodox Homilies
This is the meaning of: “The doors, the doors...” said by the priest before the Creed of Faith during the Divine Liturgy. It instructs the guards of the church or the door watchmen to close the doors to keep any unbelievers from entering. Not even a catechumen could stay; the catechumens were not permitted to stay during the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. They had to leave before the prayers of holy Eucharist. The doors were closed after the catechumens were escorted out, and only the faithful could remain during this part of the Divine Liturgy to receive Holy Communion.
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Now after this insight describing the early Church, what can we say about our contemporary church? How does it measure up to these practices of the early Church? Is the Church today closed or open? The Church today is wide-open! Not only do the doors not close, but also we often have no clue who some of these people are that go in and out of our church; and worse yet, in large cities the priest does not know his flock nor does the flock know the priest. We do not know each other. However, in the early Church when the priest would call out, “The doors, the doors,” the faithful would search to their left and to their right. This was to make sure that only known members of the Church would occupy these spaces. This, by the way, is spelled out in all of the ancient liturgies. The idea was that an unidentified member, an unknown person, could not remain in the church.
— Elder Athanasius Mitilinaois, Homilies on the Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 181
It is good and blessed for catechumens — for their own sake, for their own spiritual benefit — to depart after the Gospel and the prayers for them, to go nearby, in the hall or some room, to spend time in further catechetical instruction by some means, either reading on their own or being taught by someone (through video or otherwise).
They will rejoice the greater on the day of their illumination and participate more perfectly in the manifestation of the Uncreated Grace of God.
— Archpriest Peter Heers
The inspiration for this post
An inquirer said the following:
"I usually depart when they say so, but someone told me that I don't have to depart from the church when they say 'catechumens depart, let no catechumen remain' because it's an old practice..."
When we proudly speak of our ancient faith, how can we justify discarding ancient traditions as old and outdated? When we speak of our apostolic tradition, how can we discard the clear consensus of our saints as unimportant? Is this attitude compatible with a genuine love for Orthodoxy?
We must speak, and correct others, if they share this incorrect teaching. It is not diplomatic nor loving to be silent on these matters.
Anyone who is capable of speaking the truth but remains silent, will be heavily judged by God, especially in this case, where the faith and the very foundation of the entire Church of the Orthodox is in danger. To remain silent under these circumstances is to betray these, and the appropriate witness belongs to those that reproach (stand up for the faith)."
— St. Basil the Great