But even to those presbyters who were spiritually endowed with such great blessed care, the apostle Paul had to add: “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Distinguishing well those who were born in Christ by the Holy Spirit, the apostle knew and saw that false pastorship was beginning to grow.
Was it entrusted to the presbyters of the church of apostolic times to perform what is now called sacraments? The apostle James in his epistle says: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith (not the statutory order of prayers performed by the priest-sacrificer—V. A.) will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” It is unlikely that this was an established rite (order) of the sacrament. More likely, it was one of those blessed actions (Spiritual Gifts) of various kinds, which the church, rich in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, knew (knew) at that time.
In general, at that time, sacraments were performed by the joint (Eucharistic) assembly of the church (ekklesia), the performance of sacraments (more precisely: the order of sacraments) by the clergy separately from the people of God was unknown at that time. All were one. Tertullian (3rd century) directly points out that the difference between the clergy (presbyter, bishop) and the “laity” was not established by Christ and the apostles, but in later times. We know that for a long time, penance was public, before the entire church (Eucharistic parish), and the whole church imposed penance if necessary. The laying on of hands on the chosen was not individual but a joint (liturgical) act of the church. Baptism could be performed by any member of the church (we are talking about water baptism—baptism with water in the order of the catechumens, who will then be prepared in the church by the spiritual (Christians-spirit-bearers: prophets and teachers) for baptism with the Holy Spirit at their time (known to the Holy Spirit and the Christians-spirit-bearers to whom He reveals the mysteries of human hearts). The Eucharist was performed at love feasts (agape). Communion was performed after the supper, as at the Last Supper: first they ate the Bread, and then they drank from the Cup in turn. But later, various kinds of divisions, improprieties, temptations, complaints that grew in the communities (for example, see 1 Cor. 11), led to the necessity of removing all blessed actions of the church from the general course of life and making them separate acts. Sacraments were discussed in detail in Part II. We said that there is a Sacrament (the gift of the Holy Spirit) and there is an order of the sacrament (whose task is to create the best conditions under which a person (properly catechized, that is, who is in humility and contrition of spirit) can receive the anointing, the pledge of the Holy Spirit). So, sacraments are performed (the Gift of the Holy Spirit is given) only eucharistically (that is, by the whole parish in the context of the Liturgy-Eucharist)—outside the Body of Christ (the Eucharist in the broad sense of the word—see Part II), the Holy Spirit is not given,—therefore the order of the sacrament, for the sacrament to be effective, must be performed by the entire community-parish (this, speaking scholastically, is a necessary condition for the effectiveness of the sacrament). Therefore, the order of the sacrament is performed by the entire parish! But since the then parishes over time began to consist mainly of those baptized with water, and not the Holy Spirit (that is, of the catechumens preparing for baptism with the Holy Spirit, preparing to receive the Fire of Divine Love in their hearts), as we saw, there appeared the ministry of overseers (bishops-presbyters) for order, elders, stewards. Since the order of the sacrament was performed by the entire community (and not just the spiritual: apostles, prophets, teachers, and those who were in the Holy Spirit and shone with various Spiritual gifts—this is the true clergy; and not as now, when priests-sacrificers, stewards are called spiritual, clergy—this is complete deception and misunderstanding), then in the order of the sacrament it was necessary to oversee order (so that everything was in order and decent). Therefore, where there is no order in the community (especially during the performance of the orders of the sacraments—creating the conditions for the revelation of the Kingdom of God—the Kingdom of Peace, Order, Love), there is a need for an overseer (bishop, presbyter), who will ensure order and the proper (according to the order) conditions for the Revelation of the Resurrection. Therefore, without a bishop-presbyter (overseer for the proper performance of the order of the sacrament), sacraments are not performed in the church. Thus, the orders of the sacraments are performed by the entire Eucharistic community-parish under the supervision of the bishop-presbyter (whom the church has chosen for this ministry of leading the assembly—see Part II). And later there was a substitution and a catastrophic misunderstanding: since without a bishop no church (liturgical) act (order) is performed, the catechumens concluded that the bishop performs the orders of the sacraments, that he is somehow special (a priest, hierarch) in relation to the people (“laity”—as the pagans later began to call the people of God). And then they came to the extreme catastrophe—all the orders the priest began to perform for the people, and not with the people; the priest became the lord who ruled over the people of God… (see in detail in Part II). Thus, over time, those authorized by the people to manage the household (stewards: bishops, presbyters) gradually receive authority to perform the orders of the sacraments (that is, authority to oversee the proper, canonical performance of the orders of the sacraments). Later, presbyters (bishops) began to be called priests, clergy (in the pagan sense), in contrast to the people of God, the faithful, who ceased to be (the royal priesthood) priests (because the order was performed by the entire church, and the presbyter only supervised order, the proper performance of the order by the entire community), and