I’m going to do that thing again – that thing of encouraging you Latin-Rite Catholics out there to dip your toe into the Eastern Catholic waters.
Not as a tourist, not as an observer at a zoo, but as a Catholic with other Catholics, worshipping God in ancient rites. Yes, it is confusing – even with a book in hand, you are not quite sure where everyone is all the time – but that is part of the fruit, I think. A letting go, a deepening of a sense that something is going on here, something vital and awe-some, even if I cannot fully follow along. For that is what life is. I may want to control it or feel as if I fully, intellectually understand the why’s and what’s of the events in my life and, most importantly, where God is in every iota of it but that’s really too bad, isn’t it?
When we went to the Divine Liturgy at the Byzantine Rite mission in East Tennessee a couple of years ago, Michael remarked that the liturgy raised questions – you leave (if you are unfamiliar with it, I suppose!), wondering what this or that was all about, and it invites you to dig deeper in answer to those questions even as at the same time it invites you to stand humbly, understanding that this is Mystery here, and this is what Mystery is – beyond, yet gracefully here.
Some things I think a Latin Rite Catholic, new to the Eastern Catholic liturgies, might learn or take away:
1) A sense of antiquity and rootedness. Yes, there have been (contested and controversial) changes to one version of the Byzantine Rite liturgy over the past few years (commenters, please add specificity to my vagueness if you like), but for the most part, you are blessedly free from the committee and patched-together yesterday feel that afflicts so much of what we experience in a normal Latin Rite Sunday Mass.
And I’ll note that every Eastern Catholic liturgy I’ve attended so far has been mostly, if not all, in English.
2) An encounter with beautiful, prayerful liturgical traditions – such as that in the Melkite Catholic rite of gathering around, close to the deacon as the Gospel is proclaimed. What is worth thinking about, too, are the times in which we try to do something in the Latin Rite – sometimes it works a bit, other times it doesn’t. Why?
3) Physicality – lots of bowing and kissing of icons and crosses, crossing oneself and so on.
4) Amid the elaborate ritual and lengthy prayers, a relaxed sense of what the congregation does. There is a busy-ness, a looser feel to the congregations at the few Eastern liturgies I have attended. Most people do, indeed, stand when everyone else is standing (which is most of the time) and cross themselves when the Name is mentioned and so on, but not everyone, and there is a lot of coming and going, seemingly random candle-lighting and so on. As well as the fact that hardly anyone was there for the first twenty minutes…
5) The organic integrity of the chanted liturgy. I must say that is attendance at the Eastern Catholic liturgies that helped me understand the concept of “singing the Mass” as opposed to “singing at Mass.” Chant is, I think, the natural language of vocal prayer – not recitation, but chant, even if that chant is nothing more than a sing-song. There was one aspect of this last liturgy that was recited – the prayer before reception of Communion. But that was it.
6) A pretty direct encounter, I think, with the catechetical function of liturgy. Praying the Divine Liturgy, you say two things over and over, in many forms: Lord Have Mercy and God is holy. In the Latin Rite, we often seem to think that the main catechetical take-away from Mass involves what is said in the homily. But that does not capture it. Then entire liturgy is a moment in time when we worship and we are formed and shaped by the words we say (or chant), the words we hear, the gestures we use and the images that surround us.
7) An insight, perhaps, even if you have never attended the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite, what that is all about. Yes, there is a degree of vocal congregational participation that is not the norm in the EF in most places, but the ancient structure of the iconostasis, the separation of that activity from the congregation, as well as the priest’s prayers offered while the congregation is busily chanting its own thing puts the fearful concept some have of the EF, as they contemplate the inaudible canon or ad orientem or even Communion on the tongue into a broader context of ancient liturgical practices and sensibilities.
It is not all roses, of course. Life-long Eastern Catholics might have different observations to make – which they have here before – for example that the full-throated congregational participation in chanting the Liturgy I’ve encounter is not universal, and perhaps is not even the norm. The casualness about congregational participation and attendance might cross over into other attitudes towards living the faith. But that’s the way it goes for all of us, Western or Eastern. The Heaven on Earth that graces us in Mass, in the Liturgy, is indeed only a glimpse.
And as in Heaven, there are many rooms. Thank God for all of them!
Crafts & Vintage
Great recommendation and insights Amy. When trying to describe what liturgy should “feel” like, I tell people that the Latin Rite Mass should look more like the Eastern Rites than a Lutheran service.
Although many Easterners advised us during the late-1960s reforms, I find the Extraordinary Form more like the Eastern liturgies I have attended than the Ordinary Form. The chains of responses between priest and servers (or people, in a dialogue Mass), the “liturgical polyphony” visible in such things as the former practice of singing the Sanctus over the first part of the Canon, and the richer ceremony all seem more Eastern to me.
Perhaps, though, it’s not so much a case of Eastern-ness as it is different incarnations of the same understanding of liturgy.
Yes, “Physicality,” but also, it’s important to remember that much of this physicality consists of making physical gestures of humility, mortification, self-effacement, and penance, and not in celebrating the wonderfulness of one’s self or one’s community, as physical participation seems to be construed in some other versions of the liturgy.
There is a busy-ness, a looser feel to the congregations at the few Eastern liturgies I have attended. [… T]here is a lot of coming and going, seemingly random candle-lighting and so on.
I’ve always loved going into downtown cathedrals in big cities when mass is going on (like St Peter’s in the Loop in Chicago). People are going to confession, praying, lighting candles (well, not in Chicago, IIRC), and all around is the re-presented, objective, sacrifice of Christ being offered. The offering is made and the Father is worshiped whether or not I have time to stay or hurry on. There’s a powerful feeling of being invited to enter into something greater, the heavenly liturgy, which depends not on me.
For those of you in Florida, I heartily recommend SS. Cyril & Methodius (Ruthenian) Byzantine Church in Ft. Pierce. I live over an hour away, so I can’t get there every week, but I try to get there at least once a month. It’s a small congregation (40-50 families) and a small church, but it is truly beautiful inside and it’s one of the few small Byzantine churches that I’ve been to that gets the music right, all the time. The liturgy is a beautiful experience. The priest, Fr. Mike, is a successful architect Monday thru Friday, and a weekend pastor. He preaches wonderfully.
It’s the best Eastern Catholic church I’ve been to in Florida and one of the best on the whole East Coast. I used to live in DC and that area has a number of ECath churches with good liturgy, plus it has a very wide assortment of rites.
I went to a Melkite Divine Liturgy a few years ago on the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple, which is apparently an important Feast in the East. It was a weekday, and what I remember most about it is that there were all men there. There were about 15 men, myself included. I was sitting in the middle of the Church, and just before the Liturgy started one of the men asked me if I would like to join everyone else up front, which I did. And the Priest encouraged everyone to participate, which everyone did, as best they were able. But I just thought it was interesting how this parish did not seem affected by the stereotype of Church as a place for pious women and the elderly. I’m not sure why they had such a strong presence of men, but I think the Liturgy probably has something to do with it.
Amy, you’ve summed up what I’ve experienced the few times I’ve been privileged to attend Divine Liturgy. I’m always impressed by two things: how small I am and how great God is, and how much He loves us. It really is heaven meeting earth in a way that’s more tangible than the Latin Rite IMHO. It involves all the senses. I’m a singer and I find the chants easy enough that I’m joining in halfway through the liturgy. I understand the role of liturgy in the life of the Church (and in the life of the Christian) much better after being at Divine Liturgy.
The Ruthenian parish I attend does not have the coming and going and random candle lighting. Fr. is not tolerant of any “going” until the liturgy and any extra prayers we might be doing that day are completed. I have seen a bit more latecoming at Orthodox parishes, where Matins goes on for an hour and a half before the hour and a half long liturgy proper starts, and latecomers will venerate icons and light candles before settling in to participate in the liturgy.
The Ruthenian liturgy is the one which has the unfortunate changes Amy mentioned. One is leaving “men” out of the creed just as the Roman rite is putting it back in. (You know, “for us men and for our salvation” vs “for us and for our salvation.” ) The worst one is at the very end, where “For Christ is gracious and loves mankind” has been changed to “For Christ is good and loves us all.” Father obediently ” says-in this case sings-the black, but I must say he looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth the first few months of this. The Ruthenians are the Eastern rite whose hierarchy are known for trying to be like the Latins, only, apparently in this case, at least 20 years behind. I don’t think any of the other Eastern rites have done this. I hope we will soon be pasting strips of paper over our books correcting this folly. (They pasted strips of paper over the old books to remove the filioque from the creed when Rome permitted them to do so seven or eight years ago.)
I assure you that you would soon be able to follow along, if you attended for say a month of Sundays in a row. It is a lot easier than following the EF because you can hear everything.
The Eastern rite used to say the canon with the royal doors (the ones right in front of the altar) closed, making the experience essentially like the silent canon of the EF. I have been to one Orthodox (ROCOR) church which did this; the congregation sang something else while the priest said the canon. I confess I am missing whatever it is that makes this a good thing, either in the Eastern rite or in the EF. People I respect and admire tell me it is, and they might be right, but so far, I don’t get it. Anyway, now in the Ruthenian rite, the royal doors are open and you can hear the priest say the actual prayers of consecration, although they are not sung out like the other prayers.
One thing that has happened to me by attending the Eastern rite regularly (for two and a half years now) is that I have developed a different liturgical sensibility. Just for instance, having the priest face the people seems a bit discordant to me now. Clapping in church just doesn’t seem appropriate. Extended hugging at the kiss of peace seems out of place. Unvested lay people involved in liturgical functions, such as EM’s taking chalices off the altar and putting the empty ones back there,which I used to do myself, or a pants suited nun setting up the altar during mass and folding the corporal over the cup and paten afterwards, make me uncomfortable. Things being what they are, this might not be a good thing. I think if a lot of people got accustomed to the Eastern rite and brought that sensibility back to the OF, it would be a good thing eventually, but for any individual in the short run, it could make worship impossible in certain settings in which he or she (in this case she) was able to worship before.
Susan Peterson
While I now attend Roman Catholic Masses, for some time I attended a Byzantine Catholic parish. One blessing that Byzantine Catholics enjoy that the Orthodox do not is congregational singing. In an Orthodox liturgy it is the choir doing most of the singing — no unlike in the Old Mass. Of course the choral music can be breathtaking, but it does not have the visceral effect that actual congregational participation has.
Great observations, Amy. As one who has attended and been drawn to both the Divine Liturgy (at the same Byzantine mission in East Tennessee you attended) and the EF, I now have a deeper appreciation for the beauty of our Catholic Tradition.
The Mass, as it is celebrated in the Latin-rite parishes that I have attended, has been essentially “protestantized” – in most places, it seems that there has been a thorough and conscious effort to eliminate any sense of Divine Mystery. The elimination of chant and polyphony in favor of contemporary “songs,” the rejection of incense except for a few major feasts, the proliferation of lay “ministers” around the altar, communion in the hand rather than the tongue, and the casual laid-back attitude of most celebrants all contribute to the loss of the Sacred, the sense that it is truly God we encounter in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Is it any wonder that so many Catholics are confused about, or reject, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
Given all of this, Susan Peterson strikes the nail on the head for me. As was said of the Doughboys after WWI, “How can you get ’em back to the farm after they’ve seen Paree?” – or as the Psalmist put it, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” Having been touched by the beauty of true worship in both the Divine Liturgy and in the EF, I find it almost impossible to attend the typical Sunday Mass and maintain a spirit of reverence and worship. What is one to do? What would you recommend, Amy?
It was a beautiful experience to be a part of an Eastern Rite Mass during the recent 49th International Eucharistic Congress.
Mark R, you are generalizing too much from your particular experiences with specific Eastern Catholic and specific Orthodox congregations.
My experience, also limited, has been that there was more and better participation by the congregation at the Orthodox liturgies. But then, most of the Orthodox liturgies I have attended have been Antiochian Orthodox, where the congregations have a larger percentage of converts and are therefore more “intentional” and participatory. For instance the music is extremely well done by the choir and very much participated in by the congregation, at Fr. Gregory Matthewes-Green’s parish, Holy Cross in Linthicum Md. (I was told that he was a good liturgist while yet an Anglican.)
However I did once attend a very intense ROCOR liturgy where the small congregation participated completely; in fact I think the congregation was the choir; there was a woman who was clearly in the position of music leader though. I inched forward to a place where I could see the music and texts and particpated the best I could. I think maybe they thought I might be one of them because I can sing “Hospodi Pomilui” ! (Lord have mercy in Slavonic.)
In the smaller of the two Ruthenian parishes I attend, there was much more participation until the new music came in. It is only a little bit different, but that was enough to discourage people. They do participate, but much less. It is picking up a bit, but not up to its previous level. However, when they sing parts in Slavonic, necessarily with the old music, the participation is wonderful. So long as I had a side by side missal, (transliterated, not in the Slavonic characters) I would be happy to have the whole liturgy in Slavonic. These old city churches are being kept going for these old folks-why deprive them of the words and music they worshipped with for most of their lives? In the larger one, there is a very well trained choir, but the director likes to show off rather than to encourage the congregation. Even on the choir’s day off, he will chant part of the liturgy not to one of the 5 alternatives in the new book, but to something more fancy and interesting to him, which effectively shuts up the people. He sings well and does an amazing job with the choir (they sing without any instrumental accompaniment, you know) so it is difficult to criticize him-I judge it to be useless and probably not my place. But, what I think is that they should pick ONE of the chant alternatives and use only that one until everyone is comfortable with it.
Anyway, the issue of congregational participation vs choir singing is not one that falls along Catholic vs Orthodox lines.
Susan Peterson
As a newly ordained priest, I concelebrated at the Syro-Malankar Rite this past weekend. It was amazing.
Hi Amy,
Some info I thought you’d appreciate…
Ukrainian Catholic churches vary when it comes to singing. Assumption BVM in Elkins Park, PA (Philly burbs) has a choir but everyone also sings. On the other hand, you mostly hear the choir singing at St. Michael’s (in Huntingdon Valley, not far away), although some do sing. At Presentation Of Our Lord in Lansdale (about 30 mins away) the congregation sings – there is no choir. Both parishes in the Lehigh Valley – Holy Ghost in Easton and St. Josaphat in Bethlehem – have parishes who sing the entire liturgy.
Much has been said about “Divine Liturgy” vs “Mass”. Linguistically, Ukrainian Catholics go to “служба”. Nobody says “going to Liturgy” or “going to Mass”.
Language: Most Ukrainian churches will have the Liturgy entirely in Ukrainian or in English with certain prayers in Ukrainian (e.g. the Lord’s Prayer). The priest will typically give the homily in both, one after the other. Most of the priests are Ukrainian, and went to seminaries there, so some of them won’t speak English at all.
Also, many of them are married – most of those I’ve met at least. I know of one who isn’t married though, other than Archbishop Soroka and the other bishops.
I’m not aware of any controversies regarding the Liturgy at the Ukrainian Catholic churches I attend, although they did “black out” the “and the son” in the Creed in the ubiquitous small black liturgy books last year. The rest of the Liturgy is indistinguishable from that used by the Greek Orthodox (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom), with the exception that prayers are offered to the Pope before the Patriarch. They use the word “Sabaoth” in the Sanctus as one hears it in Spanish (not in the U.S. though – odd), Latin, and Greek.
BTW, all Ukrainian Catholic Churches offer prayers to “Patriarch Lubomyr” after the Pope and before their Metropolitan and local bishops. Cardinal Lubomyr Husar hasn’t officially been given the title “Patriarch” by the Pope, but nobody cares. He’s the Patriarch regardless. His history is quite interesting! He’s actually an American, although he gave up his citizenship when he returned to Ukraine. Also, he was ordained a bishop without permission from the Holy See (calling Bishop Fellay!) which irritated the Curia but was completely licit at the time according to the Eastern Canons. I think Eastern Canon law has changed since then.
Two things you repeat in the Ukrainian Liturgy are “Lord have mercy”/”To you O Lord”. There is no repeated line “God is Holy” but there is a prayer: “One is Holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.”
One of the few benefits of Vatican II was the recovery of their own traditions by many Eastern Rite Catholics whose churches and worship had been heavily Westernized in the USA. My experience with Eastern Rite Catholic worship has been uneven. Good with Ukrainians, ear-splittingly horrible with some Ruthenians. Excellent with the Russian Catholic churches originally established by Jesuits from the Russicum.
The difference, and one that is driven home to me with every Novus Ordo Latin Rite Mass I attend, is purpose. For the East, it’s worship. For the average, middle-classs Catholic parish, it’s a get-together with a helpful talk. Yes, it would be nice if the West would learn from the East, but my experience is that the vast majority of clergy, musicians and laity are quite comfortable with the status quo.
When I came to the Roman Catholic Church in 1990 after 20 years in the Orthodox Church, I hoped that I could bring at least some part of the East’s immense treasury of music and poetry to the West. After a few slap-downs, I backed off. I think it’s probably time to work at this again. And I will.
When trying to describe what liturgy should “feel” like, I tell people that the Latin Rite Mass should look more like the Eastern Rites than a Lutheran service.
Father Dan, as a former Lutheran I heartily agree. Although I have attended Roman parishes since my conversion I am seriously thinking of going to the Ruthenian Byzantine parish in my neighborhood (thanks, Susan for the info!)
It seems that all the western rite parishes in my area are either infected with a Protestant ethos or are heavy on the social justice aspect of Catholicism.
At the parish I currently attend there is a strong charismatic component. Every week we have to endure the clinking piano music, hymns taken from an evangelical publishing house and columns written in the monthly newsletter by a well-known evangelical author. I really feel sorry for the elderly parishioners who half the time have a dazed look on their faces and wonder what is going on anymore.
The Deacon (who, forgive me, is one of the worst homilists have ever heard) stated on Sunday that the church building is “just a building.” Yes, I get that the Body of Christ is made up of living stones and we the true temple of God. But the church building was consecreted, set apart as holy to God and his people — it houses the tabernacle and the Real Presence. With that kind of teaching no wonder some people feel like they can commune with God just as well on a Sunday nature hike (and they can, but it’s pretty hard to celebrate the Eucharist alone).
I’m frustrated. Very frustrated and I’m not sure I can endure much more. My need for a sense of the numinous and the mystical is very hard to meet in the average Roman parish.
I think it’s time to head East.
Re: Ukrainians
It was my understanding that sluzhba means “service”. Liturgy = service. So they are saying they’re going to Liturgy, but in cooler wording. Yes? No?
Re: Maronites
This Sunday at the Lebanese Festival in Dayton, Ohio, which is really the St. Ignatius of Antioch Maronite Catholic Parish festival, there will be as usual a Mass at ten in the morning. (The festival part doesn’t start up each day until lunchtime.) I’ve missed it every other year they’ve offered this, but darn it, this year I will go!
Dear Amy:
I’m glad you appreaciate the “other lung” of the Church. As a shameless plug, I invite you and any of your readers in the Charleston, SC area to visit our little Melkite community.
Christine,
I sympathize with your issues with the average Novus Ordo Mass. Have you ever attended the Tridentine Mass? I have a sense of Heaven and Earth meeting when I attend that Mass. I get tears in my eyes at the beauty of the liturgy and the sense of God through all the ages, present for us on the altar. If one is offered anywhere near you, you might want to try that.
I was a liturgical know-nothing when I came into the Church, having mostly come to conviction about the Church through issues concerning authority, the biblical canon, etc. But after coming into the Church I ended up going to St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Grand Rapids, MI most Sunday mornings. Some new Catholic friends told me I should attend the “Latin Mass” at Ss. Peter and Paul on Sunday evenings. I didn’t know anything about liturgy at the time, but the “Latin Mass” was the Ordinary Form celebrated in conformity with liturgical Tradition (much like at St. Agnes in St. Paul, MN or the various Oratories). So I was inoculated from the first from the silly ideas that a) one can’t worship in a language one doesn’t know and b) the priest “facing the people” is some sort of essential. I also realized that a) chant is the music of worship and b) the altar is not a stage for the parading of endless pageants of Christians to be applauded.
It wasn’t till much later that I actually learned anything about the Liturgy according to books, but since then I’ve always felt the nagging feeling Dave Wells and Christine have about the extremely ordinary way the Ordinary Form is celebrated. I now live in St. Paul, MN and attend a very good and vibrant parish that isn’t too bad and is very family-friendly, but liturgically I still feel a bit waste-landish–and I cherish every visit to St. Agnes or to St. Augustine’s in South St. Paul for the EF or to any of the Eastern parishes. But I also have very holy people in my parish who also feel this way and soldier on. So I’d feel guilty transferring from the parish, but lately, especially, I’ve been feeling a need again to be at liturgies celebrated in more continuity than we get in the ordinary parish.
I’m not sure this comment has any point other than to sympathize with others. Perhaps, though, the point is that Summorum Pontificum raised my hopes in a way that was too high for the reality. Maybe now I just need more patience.
I have some Catholic friends from Michigan who now go to an Eastern Rite church a half-hour drive away. Part of it was the richness you described, but a good hunk of it was to get to a church that followed God rather than the liberal Latin Rite churches in our hometown.
Mary Jane:
You write, I hoped that I could bring at least some part of the East’s immense treasury of music and poetry to the West. After a few slap-downs, I backed off. I think it’s probably time to work at this again. And I will.
Perhaps it is not so much the east’s treasury of music and poetry that need to be brought to the West, but the core understanding of liturgy that is behind the music and poetry, which the West’s own traditions share. I like to say that frequent attendance at a Byzantine liturgy gave me a new appreciation for the integrity and liturgicality of the Western tradition, and an increased desire to bring the traditional understanding of liturgy which the East so well incarnates back into the West.
Liturgy is not an invariant and pure product of “Eastern” or “Western” culture, of course, but I for one believe that the West needs to recover its own tradition, which is different from the East’s but understands the numinous aspect of liturgy in like fashion.
At my Ruthenian parish in Roswell, Georgia (Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church), our former cantor spent a good several months preparing the congregation for the new liturgical settings before we were to start using them, and the transition seemed to go pretty smoothly. Sometimes people will bounce back to the old wording, but it happens less and less often as time passes.
One change I particularly like is the replacement of “Mother of God” with “Theotokos,” a much more descriptive and accurate title for Our Lady.
The mystery, the sacredness, the acute awareness that liturgy is the space where the human meets the divine…those are the reasons I came to the Eastern church.
The prayers of the Eastern liturgy remind us starkly that we are sinners who come before God in need of salvific grace, something that I found lacking in the Latin rite. Perhaps it’s just the experience I’ve had with the Eastern Catholic churches here in the South, but the priests seem to be unafraid to proclaim Church teaching on sensitive subjects like abortion from the pulpit.
To all of our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters posting on this thread, could any of you kindly recommend a good Eastern Catholic prayer book that would introduce me to some standard Byzantine prayers? I am aware of the Byzantine Catholic Book of Prayers which I have seen on the Pittsburgh Byzantine Seminary press website, but am wondering if there are others.
Also, in light of the revisions to the Divine Liturgy, will they be on conflict with existing prayer books?
Thanks so much. Gina, your comments are very helpful.
Oh, I meant to address Kristen’s comments also. My mom was Lutheran and my Dad Roman Catholic. Although my sister and I were raised Lutheran Dad took me to his church on occasion when I was still small. I still vividly remember the scent of incense, the beauty of the Gothic church and its magnificent statuary, etc. I do remember the Tridentine Rite and agree that it is very beautiful.
The problem is access. Even with the Holy Father’s Motu Proprio suburban parishes don’t seem to be in a hurry to implement Masses in the Extraordinary Form. I would have to travel a considerable distance to find one and with the price of gas these days, my hubby would not be happy about it.
There is a lovely Chapel associated with the Society of St. Pius V not too far from my home but I’m not about to attend Mass at a sedevacantist church.
The Ruthenian Byzantine Church down the road from me, however, is becoming very attractive to me. I’m not looking to formally change rites as I may be moving from the suburb where I live in a few years when I retire and it’s not always easy to find an Eastern Catholic parish. But I’m finding the Divine Liturgy more and more attractive for all the reasons stated above. I’ll probably be going there this weekend (note to self, do not, repeat, do NOT forget — no Communion in the hand in the Eastern Rite).
Readers wish to know more about the Eastern churches should take a look at The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey by Ronald Roberson, CSP. The complete text is available here on the Web site of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
I would encourage those who are interested in Eastern Christianity to consider forging a connection with the Society of Saint John Chrysostom: http://www.ssjc.org/index.htm
THE SOCIETY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM IS AN ECUMENICAL ORGANIZATION OF CATHOLIC AND ORTHODOX CLERGY AND LAITY, WORKING TO MAKE KNOWN THE HISTORY, WORSHIP, SPIRITUALITY, DISCIPLINE AND THEOLOGY OF EASTERN CHRISTENDOM, AND FOR THE FULLNESS OF UNITY DESIRED BY JESUS CHRIST.
As chairman of the Youngstown-Warren Ohio Chapter,
http://www.byzantines.net/stjohnchrysostom/
I would encourage those who desire the unity of the apostolic churches to consider forming a chapter in their locale–especially if there are apostolic churches in close proximity to each other.
From comment 22: “but I for one believe that the West needs to recover its own tradition, which is different from the East’s but understands the numinous aspect of liturgy in like fashion.”
I agree 100%. It seems to me that most of points 1-6 could be equally applied to traditional Roman rite. I think someone who is used to a TLM would feel pretty comfortable at an Eastern liturgy.
I don’t mean to bash the ordinary form, but when you survey the various Eastern rites together with the two forms of the Roman rite, only the OF sticks out like a sore thumb. Shouldn’t that be some kind of red flag?
Dear Amy,
There are dozens and dozens of elements one could choose to describe about the Divine Liturgy and Eastern worship, and you’ve made excellent choices here.
What I appreciate the most is your invitation to Roman rite Catholics to take the time to come and WORSHIP with their Eastern Catholic brethren. Indeed, at one point in the Liturgy we sing: “Come and let us worship and bow before Christ….”
Too many times when Roman rite people attend Liturgy as visitors they are so totally caught up in the differences, and trying to “understand” everything, that they easily forget they are there to WORSHIP with us. One of the most frequent comments I get from visitors is, “I didn’t understand anything that was going on.”
To some extent I do sympathize, but to be so caught up in “differences” rather than trying as best as possible to absorb the Liturgy, and pray it with us as well as you can is not helpful.
“Understanding” is often over-rated, but a “worshipping” soul can never be. Thanks so very much for mentioning us as Catholics once again, and encouraging others to know us a bit better.
As much as I love daily Mass in the Latin rite [mostly because of the better quality of homilies at daily Mass], it seems to me that one of the aspects of Eastern liturgy that is almost universal is the relative scarcity of liturgy during the week. Liturgy is less common and more formal.
I have wondered if the “quickie” daily Mass that we see in many urban parishes isn’t a contributing factor to the West’s less formal and less reverent liturgy.
Just a thought.
I have been fascinated with eastern christianity for some time. My best friend is a Romanian Orthodox. I would attend Easter Vigil. It was beautiful indeed, yet in Romanian lacked an understanding that for me is essential. Liturgy yes is to be savored and enjoyed, yet also understood. Even Latin is familiar to me, yet when I sing Holy, Holy, Holy Lord I am moved to tears because it’s in my own language. Latin is exotic for me and I fear that’s the only draw I would have for a Latin Liturgy. I like the Novus Ordo. Am I the only one who enjoys lifting up the Eucharist with the priest to all the church and perhaps the world, Saying Behold The Lamb of God? Liturgy done well is wonderful, moving, and transcendental. I fear that a coming elitist mentality of those who enjoy the Extraordinary Form will only widen the natural evolution of Liturgy. The Mass of Paul VI is not a pedestrian or banal liturgy, it’s the celebration by the people. It still is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It’s the poor catechesis that has made the Mass less reverent, not the Liturgy itself.
Gina,
Glory to Jesus Christ!
The Greek may be more descriptive, but it seems out of place in the English Liturgy. Sort of jarring, some of our Older members are a bit remiss with the changes. Some of our Younger families have moved over to other rites. A few have entered Orthodoxy.
John
Sal, you’re not the only one.
I attended Orthodox (OCA) Divine Liturgy for over a year before my confirmation in the Catholic Church (Roman- and that’s one “caveat” for you Orthodox friends out there!)
I still miss the Divine Liturgy. And yet I love the Ordinary Form of the Mass. Despite the many blogosphere complaints, you are not by any means the only one who finds the ‘Novus Ordo’ Mass transcendent.
Re: #8,
Susan, I have had much the same experience as you describe. In particular, I find Mass-facing-the-people offputting and distracting when I attend a Latin Catholic Church.
I have it at third hand that there is much irritation in various quarters in Rome about the awful new Ruthenian version of the Liturgy — not only the translation and its obeisances towards “inclusivity,” but also the cutting out of most litanies (and repetitions), and perhaps worse of all the requirement that the priest say aloud prayers that have always been said “in a low voice” such as the Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn (i.e., the long prayer that he says while the Cherubic Hymn is being sung) — and also at the way in which the Eastern Churches Congregation seems to have been “asleep at the switch” (or charmed into lassitude by Fr. Taft) when it approved it.
The Ukrainian English translation is semi-literate, and certainly ungrammatical, at certain points; and on top of that the Ukrainian Catholic bishops in America decided 20-30 years ago to simply adopt the American Catholic Church’s ICEL English version of the Creed (changing the “we” to “I” however), the Sanctus, and the Lord’s Prayer. One, at least, of the Ukrainian Catholic bishops here in America is very keen to try to adopt the new Ruthenian version, and about 5 ot 6 years ago the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of St. Josaphat in Parma produced its own monstrous and unwieldy Liturgy book, which has many of the same objectionable features (and ideological assumptions, seemingly) of the new Ruthenian typicon. The Melkites have a fine translation, although I hear with some unease that a “revision” is in the works.
I am thinking of the Maronite community around Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, about 20-25 years ago, so it probably has changed since then. (I am not Lebanese and know it only as a visitor) Yes I can see that the icons, chant etc can enhance one’s experience. But it struck me as intensely political (truly Byzantine in politics as well as liturgy!). It also felt as though the praying was something the priest did and the rest of us were more or less present, perhaps paying attention and perhaps milling about.
I wonder about 2 things: 1) is the desire to know more about Eastern liturgy the same search that motivates other friends of mine (ex-Cath) who investigate Buddhism, with its chants and incense? and 2) what is it that Eastern speaks to some people and, say, a more robust (sort of Pentacostally, for want of a better word) worship speaks to Hispanics? It seems to be more than just culture as people seem to reach outside of their own culture. Is is neuro diiferences? Or what?
Thanks for this, Amy!
Here in metro Detroit, we have some unique opportunities for Roman Catholics who wish to learn about and worship with our fellow Catholics from the East, as well as our Orthodox brothers and sisters: two points.
1) We have a large Chaldean (Iraqi) community, with 6 parishes. In addition to worshipping with these folks, some of us find it a very powerful faith experience to be in close solidarity with our Iraqi friends as they go through such agony in their homeland.
2) We have a group called An Orthodox-Catholic Witness in Metropolitan Detroit that sponsors an annual event meant to bring Roman and Eastern Catholics, and Orthodox, together to learn about our traditions. Two years ago, over 225 folks came to learn about “Icons: East and West”. This October 23 we will focus on “Holy Things for the Holy: Dressing for the Sacred” and learn about the liturgical vestments of our traditions. It will be at Sacred Heart Byzantine Catholic Church in Livonia, light dinner at 6PM and the program beginning at 7.
I wonder about 2 things: 1) is the desire to know more about Eastern liturgy the same search that motivates other friends of mine (ex-Cath) who investigate Buddhism, with its chants and incense? and 2) what is it that Eastern speaks to some people and, say, a more robust (sort of Pentacostally, for want of a better word) worship speaks to Hispanics? It seems to be more than just culture as people seem to reach outside of their own culture. Is is neuro diiferences? Or what?
Certainly not in my case. I’m just finding that Eastern Christians seem to have more reverence and fidelity to the ancient traditions than is often found in Latin rite parishes these days. I would gladly continue attending the Novus Ordo which, when it IS celebrated with reverence and attention is more than adequate, but I can’t seem to find it close at hand anymore.
I love the physicality of Eastern worship, how the Trinity is continually invoked and blessed during the liturgy, the more (to me) balanced reverence of the Theotokos, the angels and saints and so much more. And last but not least, the magnificent beauty of Eastern churches.
So Amy Welborn attended her first Divine Liturgy in East Tennessee. Would that be Holy Resurrection in Seymour Tennessee? The mission that was basically started by the Gogar family of Knoxville Tennessee.
I’m a life long Latin Rite Catholic who lives in Sevierville TN. which is about 10 miles from Seymour. I started attending Holy Resurrection two years ago. I love the Divine Liturgy! The first two Sundays it was difficult to follow the Divine Liturgy, but I quickly learned how to navigate the book.
Now two years later I am altar server for Holy Resurrection. And I 49 years old! Once an altar boy always an altar boy.
Anyway, thanks for a wonderful story about the Catholic Eastern rite.
Actually, that wasn’t my first. I think my first was on the Feast of the Dormition the year of the huge east coast blackout, in Cleveland. I am pretty sure that was Ukrainian Rite.
Here’s some great information posted on the website of Our Lady of Fatima Byzantine Catholic Church:
And Diversity in Unity
Rev. Hieromonk Eugene Ludwig, OFM Cap
Eastern Catholics share many things in common with their Latin Catholic brothers and sisters. They also have their own particularities which make them to be distinctively Eastern. A few “whys” may serve you better than a long list of “whats.” Knowing the facts that we use leavened bread, that we surround the celebration of the Word and the Eucharist with a different ritual or follow our own liturgical calendar is not the key for understanding our particularity. These and many other practical differences are in themselves not very important. It is rather that taken together they concretize a theology and a spirituality which is Eastern and not Western.
The way we approach liturgy and the values and expectations we bring to it may serve as an example. Your liturgy represents a way of responding to the greatness and the holiness of God’s presence: a certain kind of sober reserve and directness and an unwillingness to “waste time.” In other words, you bring many cultural values and rules of polite behavior for receiving any dignitary and apply them to worship. We do the same thing: it’s simply that the rules and values we bring with us are different.
Good Roman liturgy is orderly; clergy and congregation come in, go to their places and stay there until needed. Nothing is more destructive of good Roman liturgy than someone moving around out of place “trying to be helpful.” Good Roman liturgy is concise; your liturgical texts say what they have to say and they end. Take the collects or opening prayers of your liturgy as an example. They are brief and virtually all follow a model which I might typify as “God, because this is so, we ask you to do thus and such. Amen.” Your Mass may be quite simply recited, or it may be quite elaborate with choirs and musical instrumental. Variety and creativity are values for you, and if you live in a typical parish you have a liturgy committee which spends a lot of time selecting hymns, planning the important liturgies of the year, etc.
We bring a different set of values to our Liturgy and we follow eastern rules of politneness and hospitality. We greet the greatness and holiness of God’s presence with ceremony, every flattery. Liturgical texts are long and God can not be mentioned without including a few adjectives referring to God’s goodness, mercy, power and providence. You may find our texts as prolix as we find yours terse.
For us, the Liturgy is our first experience of the life of heaven where we will sing the praises of God for all eternity. This is why a Byzantine church is constructed with an icon screen and its central gates standing before the sanctuary within which stands the altar or Holy Table, and there are icons of the saints all about the church. We are in God’s presence in the company of the saints. If the walls of the church are frescoed in the traditional Byzantine fashion, the icons of the saints never come all the way to the floor, only to about the shoulder level to remind us that we have our particular space in which we must live our out Christina lives.
Byzantine practice knows only the sung Liturgy, and it is the liturgical text itself which we sing. In our tradition we sing the Liturgy; we do not sing at the Liturgy. There are almost no places in any of our liturgical services where we need to decide what to sing. On any given Sunday, we may use a different melody for a particular text, but the liturgical text itself is quite fixed. There will be no big discussion about what to do for Pascha (“Easter”) this year, we will do and sing the same things we’ve been doing and singing for centuries. Variety is not a liturgical value for us; the value for us is familiarity. That value makes is possible for an average parish to have a beautiful celebration of a rather complex liturgy without a great deal of worry about the details of production, and allows the worshipper to have a deeper level of attention. A service where we had to search through hymn books or a “creative” liturgy would be terribly distracting for us.
For us the Liturgy and the various offices such as Matins and Vespers are the bearers of Christian Tradition. The liturgical texts have a significant theological content and the entire liturgical action and text, not just the reading of the Word and the homily are didactic. We possess our theological and spiritual traditions primarily as liturgy and prayer. Take, for example, this text which we sing whenever we celebrate the Eucharist:
“O only begotten Son and Word of God, although you are immortal, you condescended for our salvation to take flesh of the holy God-bearer and without undergoing change you became incarnate. You were crucified for us, Christ God, and by your death you trampled upon death, you who are one of the Holy Trinity and are glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit; save us.”
Every time we celebrate the Liturgy we sing and pray our catechism!
In the course of the Liturgy there will be incensations all around the church, processions with the Gospel book and with the bread and wine for the Eucharist. People will reach out to touch the gospel book as it is carried by. Bodily posture is important also, whether it be making prostrations during Lent or standing on Sundays and during the Easter season to celebration the resurrection. Light, color, motion, smell, posture, all these inclusions of our human bodiliness in our prayer, are part of Eastern liturgical and spiritual tradition. As another example, our people tend to take the fasting seasons seriously, but our tradition also has festal periods during which all fasting is forbidden!
We could detail many other differences, but the important message is that these particular differences form a coherent whole which has its basis in certain values and ways of understanding God and ourselves. We don’t claim their superiority; we do claim their authenticity as traditional Christian values, and it is this Christian authenticity which we are determined to preserve within the Catholic communion.Take a guided visual tour of Divine Liturgy at Our Lady of Fatima.
This article really puts into words what I’m struggling to formulate in my own mind.
Yes, the Novus Ordo CAN be celebrated with reverence but since Vatican II it has become more “bare bones”, in my estimation. We rarely use incense, the liturgy is often spoken rather than sung, and the observation made above that the Roman rite is more “practical” and “orderly” seems very true.
I love the mystical aspect of Eastern worship, how it uses all the senses to pray (as the Roman rite still does in the EF) and really seems to be a meeting of heaven and earth.
To MB (comment #35):
I find one of the strongest attractions of the Eastern Rite to Westerners is the sense of mystery that surrounds it. Mystery, properly defined, is something that is revealed. The Eastern mentality does not need everything to be explained. In fact, many things can not be. The Holy Mysteries are something you open your heart to and God reveals them, sometimes by words, sometimes by art, sometimes by movement, etc. It’s more contemplative in that sense. I find that in the Western Rite, particularly in the OF, everything needs to be shown or explained. It can get overwhelmingly didactic at times. Not so in the Eastern Rite. It’s more transcendent.
I’m Hispanic and I was in the charismatic renewal for a while. Nowadays I’m more attracted to more traditional styles of worship and the Eastern Rite. Charismatic worship is not really something foreign to Hispanic culture – it actually complements it very well. One only need look at our folk festivals to know we like our celebrations loud with lots of music and dancing. We’re not a stoic culture; we wear our hearts on our sleeves. So it’s natural for us sing and clap and move our bodies when we worship God. I still go to charismatic Eucharistic Adoration when the CFR’s do it (I live in New York).
As someone who is also a classically trained singer and of a more melancholic temperment, I’ve always been attracted to chant, incense, and all the things that are a part of more traditional styles of worship. When I discovered the Eastern Rite, it was if I’d found a gold mine. Again, it’s the stronger sense of mystery and transcendence that draws one in. One hears the still, small voice – and one is attentive.
You mentioned the Maronite Church you visited was intensely political. I find every parish is political – some intensely, some not so much. It’s everywhere. It’s part of being human and being plugged into a culture. You can’t escape it, not this side of eternity. In their case it’s understandable due to an increasingly hostile environment towards Christians in their homeland. Many of them fled here to escape that. It can be off-putting, especially if you’re a visitor and you have no familiarity with their liturgy. C’est la vie.
I hope I’ve answered your questions or at least given you some insight. I’m no expert; I’m working out my salvation in (holy) fear and trembling just like everyone else.
Re: #34
William Tighe said: “The Melkites have a fine translation, although I hear with some unease that a “revision” is in the works.”
Dear Bill:
Fear not! We have been using the ad experimentum Divine Liturgy text since it was made available. (I am told we are one of three congregations currently utilizing it.) It is straightforward and well versed. The rubrics (as such) are aimed more for the laity, but beyond that we have a more faithful text.
Next time you’re down our way, stop in and check it out.
Fr T
Susan in #8 wrote “I have been to one Orthodox (ROCOR) church which did this; the congregation sang something else while the priest said the canon. I confess I am missing whatever it is that makes this a good thing, either in the Eastern rite or in the EF.”
What I’ve come to appreciate in the EF and the Anglican Use to an extent, is how this layering of different actions/prayers at the same time reflects how each “order” within the church, the priest-celebrant, the deacon, the clergy-in-choir (or the lay substitutes in a schola), the laity all have their own liturgy. For years we’ve heard the rather ideologically slanted translation of “leitourgia” as “the work of the people”. Actually, a liturgy is a work on behalf of the people. So Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross is the great Liturgy; all of our individual liturgies, whether at Mass or the Divine Office are participations in that one Liturgy. The OF of the Roman Rite has streamlined things so that only one thing is going on at a time.
This reminds me of the way fiction (heck, nonfiction too) for young people usually has only a few characters, a single plot. Literature for more developed readers has multiple plots going on, more characters, etc. Well, that’s what we have in contemporary worship now–children’s liturgy. The EF and Eastern Rites are a more mature form.
(BTW, Sorry I missed speaking with you in Boston last weekend!)
I agree that the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church are indeed a glimpse into the fullness of the liturgy. I’m no liturgical scholar—at least not formally—but the significance of the theology incorporated in the Eastern rites is much more than what we see now in the West. Even in the fullness of beauty present in the most “well-celebrated” Latin rite Mass, there is something about the Revelation-esque symbolism of the East which retains a grandeur above and beyond what Romans can hope to achieve. The utter antiquity of the Eastern rites alone is enough to make them beautiful; older isn’t always better, but it is always more authentic, particularly when speaking of authenticity from the perspective of proximity to the Church Fathers, and ultimately a proximity with Christ, spiritually as well as historically. We are, after all, of the mindset that Jesus is not most fully present in the assembly of believers, but in his divine personage, manifested in flesh and blood, and in the liturgy of Last Supper!
Even in the fullness of beauty present in the most “well-celebrated” Latin rite Mass, there is something about the Revelation-esque symbolism of the East which retains a grandeur above and beyond what Romans can hope to achieve.
I think that part of that is because of essential differences between Eastern and Western Liturgies. The old Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Liturgy notes that “the original Roman Rite was very plain, simple, practical.” This is seen the “low Mass”/”high Mass” distinction in the Extraordinary form, which may be somewhat foreign to the East. There are probably many factors that led to these differences in traditions. Jim (#40) mentioned that weekday Liturgies are less common in the East, and I think I read once that part of this is because they ordain married men to the Priesthood, so the same kind of daily schedule as in the West is not expected of Priests.
I don’t think Romans need to try to match Eastern grandeur, because have our own history and spiritual tradition. I think the simplicity aspect of the Roman rite can be a form of grandeur. But I think the grandeur of the East reminds us what is behind that simplicity, lest we forget what is happening invisibly.
*And of course, we have our own reminders. Incense, chant, etc. are as much part of the West as the East. But we don’t use them all the time, even in the extraordinary form. Weekday Masses tend to be more practical. But ideally we should use incense, chant, etc. on Sundays and Feasts at the very least, and more often when possible.
This has been a profitable exchange. One question I have of a local nature: why are there no Eastern Catholic parishes in Ft. Wayne, Indiana? Does anyone have any idea? Moreover, does anyone know of any Eastern Catholics (Melkites, Ukrainians, Copts, et al) in town who might want to consider organizing a pan-Eastern parish? I’d be VERY interested in hearing from such people, and they should e-mail me directly: adamdeville@gmail.com. The closest parish in northern Indiana is Mishawaka, where St. Michael’s Ukr. Greco-Catholic parish is located, but that’s a good 2 hours away. Everything else–in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and southern Indiana–is more than 2 hours away, which is too much. Let’s start something here!
I have to put it out there: I’m an evangelical protestant, lately become more interested in liturgical traditions. I’ve started attending a Anglican liturgical service, as it seems a nice way to ‘ease myself in’, but I have to admit I’m a little scared to try an Orthodox or Catholic service (not the least because Catholicism does not consider me baptised at all).
Any advice for someone willing but anxious?
Hi Damian! Of course Catholicism considers you baptized – if you were baptized with a Trinitarian forumula. Catholicism wouldn’t even refer to you as a “convert” – since you are already a Christian. If you chose to cross the Tiber, you would be “entering into full communion.”
Just go to any Catholic (or Orthodox) church for a visit!