Eastern Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev on the Importance of the Lex Orandi

Carlos Antonio Palad dug up the following statements made by Eastern Orthodox bishop and theologian, Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, and posted it over on Rorate Caeli. It considers the relationship of the lex orandi and lex credendi.

"Another divorce which needs to be mentioned is that between theology and liturgy. For an Orthodox theologian, liturgical texts are not simply the works of outstanding theologians and poets, but also the fruits of the prayerful experience of those who have attained sanctity and theosis. The theological authority of liturgical texts is, in my opinion, higher than that of the works of the Fathers of the Church, for not everything in the works of the latter is of equal theological value and not everything has been accepted by the fullness of the Church. Liturgical texts, on the contrary, have been accepted by the whole Church as a 'rule of faith' (kanon pisteos), for they have been read and sung everywhere in Orthodox churches over many centuries..."