Participating in the Act of Consecration of Man: Once a Month or Twenty-Four Times a Month
by Claudia Pfiffner
In this blog article I am going to look at what the difference is for me between attending the Act of Consecration of Man once a month compared to twenty-four times a month.
Preparing for the Act of Consecration (Ottawa, Canada)
I am a member of the Ottawa affiliate of the Toronto Christian Community congregation. Once a month Reverend Susan Locey from Toronto visits Ottawa and celebrates the Act of Consecration of Man. The service is held in a rented room in an old high school building where Polaris Waldorf School is also housed.
While studying at the Seminary I have experienced the Act of Consecration of Man almost every day. It is held in the beautiful, large, and purpose-built chapel of the church building of the congregation of the Christian Community in Toronto.
Entering the Chapel at the Christian Community in Toronto, March 2022
When I step into the chapel in Toronto, I immediately feel a quiet and reverential mood. I find a chair to sit down, candles are lit, the priest enters with the servers, books and chalice are carried in, the service begins.
The priest speaks clear and meaningful words into this sacred space, and it seems that he or she is speaking something into reality.
The service develops in four parts. The first part is the gospel reading. We listen to the word of God, it fills our thinking and feeling with the divine message.
After hearing the message, we may feel inspired to offer up our soul forces of willing, feeling and thinking in the service of Christ.
If we are to follow Christ, we may feel a need for self-transformation coming about. There is also a transformation happening with Christ, as we pray in the transubstantiation that he may 'hold sway' in bread and wine.
Finally, in the communion we share a meal with the divine world.
Through this four-part Act of Consecration of Man, guided by the priest and followed along by the congregation, the chapel space becomes more and more filled with spirit. It finds its culmination in the union with the divine when the community ingests body and blood of Christ.
Then suddenly the service is over, the priest and servers leave, candles are extinguished, the chapel room feels empty again.
The Chapel of the Christian Community of the Toronto Congregation, March 2022
But wait a minute.
Observing myself carefully, I notice that after having been witness to this service I feel different than when I first entered the chapel. Something has been flowing into me. My soul space feels full and heavy which is different from an hour ago.
I feel peace, joy, and strength that permeates my body and my life as I leave the chapel and go about my day.
If we want to receive this 'water of life' we have to put ourselves into the stream of it. "Christ in you!" spoken by the priest and "May he fill your spirit!" the response offered by a server becomes like a river that brings us this living water. To experience the Act of Consecration of Man twenty-four times a month is like living in a waterfall compared to living in a trickle.
Our Author:
Claudia Pfiffner
has been a teacher for most of her life,
a Waldorf early childhood
educator for the last fifteen years.
Claudia has begun studies in the “Knowing Christ” program
in
the Seminary in Toronto.
This is a blog entry by a student at The Seminary of the Christian Community in North America. These are posted weekly by the student editorial team of Marc Delannoy and Silke Chatfield. For more information about our seminary, see the website: www.christiancommunityseminary.ca and for even more weekly podcast and video content check out the Seminary’s Patreon page: www.patreon.com/ccseminary/posts.
The views expressed in this blog entry do not necessarily represent the views of the Seminary, its directors or the Christian Community. They are the sole responsibility of its author.