Archbishop Sheen

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IrishMelkite:
Jeff, good to see you posting here - it’s been quite a while since we had a discussion. I’m honored by your description of me as the “resident expert”; you’re not exactly without some significant expertise yourself 👍 .
Thanks Neil. Though ‘expertise’ probably overstates my level of knowledge on pretty much any sort of subject. I ‘lurk’ a lot on the Eastern Catholic forum, but scarcely ever have much to add. Fr.Amborse, yourself, and a few others keep the discussions lively–though things quickly go over my head. Oddly I found this thread by searching for posts on Fulton Sheen–a favorite author of mine though I’ve only rarely heard him on radio or TV. I keep promising myself to pick up a copy of his “LIfe of Christ”. My old copy got soaked and mildewed beyond salvage some years ago, and while I have checked out library copies whenever I wanted to re-read it for Advent, I’d still like to have a copy of my own again. Just never think of it when I’m scouring for books.

I don’t suppose anyone could point me to good threads or other information on various ‘Eastern’ rites? There’s a Maronite Church named St. Raymond’s a handful of blocks from where I work at in downtown St. Louis. I drive past there every time I refuel one of our company’s vehicles. I keep telling myself that sameday I want to pop in there and watch the service. Unfortunately, I get off at 5:00 in the morning, their services are at 10:00, and it’s not the kind of neighborhood where I want to take a nap in my car for 4 hours. I’ve never tried to drive all the way back into St. Louis just to attend. Anyhow, I’m equally curious about that church, the ‘Melkites’ (since Neil’s nickname made me aware of them)-- and so forth. Frankly I was pretty much stone-ignorant of Eastern rites generally till coming to this forum, though I was vaguely aware of the Maronites since spotting them some years after I moved to St. Louis. As long as we’re speculating that Archbishop Sheen may have had Ruthenian faculties–is there info on them as well somewhere?

I may even have asked something like this once or twice before. Sorry but I seem to have forgotten anything I might’ve read. Don’t derail this thread, please. Just point to some links where these things have been discussed elsewhere. Thanks!
 
It’s a shame we only have 20 minutes to correct typos. Sorry Fr. ‘Amborse’, aka Abrose.
 
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johnnykins:
Interestingly the Melkite Cathedral for the Eparchy of Newton is actually located in the West Roxbury section of Boston - near but not in Newton. I don’t know, but I suspect the proximity - indeed the co-location of the two Sees - probably played into the situation as well.
Johnny,

Actually the Melkite Cathedral is in the Roslindale section of Boston, as is the Eparchial residence and chancery. However, until a few years ago, the latter were situated in an old mansion on Dartmouth Street in Newton - beautiful but expensive to maintain. A decision was made to resite them on the periphery of the Cathedral property, something that had been considered in the mid-60s when the Cathedral was erected but deemed impractical then because of added construction costs to the fledgling exarchate. The jurisdictional title derives from the location in which the incumbent hierarch was resident when the jurisdiction was elevated from an apostolic exarchate to an eparchy.

The proximity of the Sees was an effect not a cause. Cardinal Cushing’s close personal friendships with Melkite clergy in the Boston area, his strong support in Rome for erection of a US Apostolic Exarchate for the Melkites, his close friendship with Patriarch Maximos IV, and the presence of two Melkite parishes and the Basilian Salvatorian seminary within the territory of the Latin Archdiocese of Boston were compelling factors in the decision to site the Exarchate in Newton. The Cardinal had previously assisted the Salvatorians to obtain the valuable property on which they erected their seminary, motherhouse, and retreat center and made significant financial contributions from his personal funds to meet the associated building costs.

The Cathedral itself was built on prime real estate, purchased from the City of Boston. Without the Cardinal’s extraordinary political connections, the Exarchate would likely never have convinced the City to sell the parcel to it, certainly not at any affordable price. The Cardinal again made significant financial contributions from his personal funds toward the construction costs of the Cathedral. In his first pastoral message, at Christmas 1970, Archbishop Joseph Tawil, of blessed memory, then-Exarch and later first Eparch of the Melkites in the US, spoke of the then-recently reposed Cardinal:
We cannot be grateful enough to those Roman Catholic bishops of this country who took the steps necessary to preserve our heritage while we had no hierarchy of our own on these shores. We think most of all of the late Cardinal Richard Cushing, undoubtedly the greatest benefactor of our church in the United States. Thanks to his apostolic openness and love, he worked for the establishment of our exarchate and generously endowed it with his psychological and financial support once it had been erected. For this reason we have directed that a solemn Liturgy be celebrated annually in our cathedral to perpetuate his memory.
A large mosaic portrait of the Cardinal hangs prominently in a place of honor in the Cathedral narthex, above a plaque that reads, simply, Richard Cardinal Cushing, Our beloved benefactor.
May his memory be eternal and thrice-blessed.

Many years,

Neil
 
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flameburns623:
I don’t suppose anyone could point me to good threads or other information on various ‘Eastern’ rites? There’s a Maronite Church named St. Raymond’s a handful of blocks from where I work at in downtown St. Louis. … Anyhow, I’m equally curious about that church, the ‘Melkites’ (since Neil’s nickname made me aware of them)-- and so forth. … As long as we’re speculating that Archbishop Sheen may have had Ruthenian faculties–is there info on them as well somewhere?
Jeff,

Saint Raymond’s is actually the Cathedral for the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon in Los Angeles of the Maronites (long story, short version, the Maronite Eparchy for the Western US was originally sited in LA, relocated to St Louis, but the jurisdiction has not yet been retitled).

Some excellent sources for info on the Maronites:
Also, see the summary piece on the Maronite Church by Father Ron Roberson, CP, on the Catholic Near East Welfare Association site. I’d give you a direct link to the particular page but the CNEWA site appears to be down tonight - most unusual.

The main CNEWA page is cnewa.org/home.aspx. Click on “Resources” on the left side of the home page, look for a link to the “Table of Contents” for Father Roberson’s book, and select “Maronite Church” from the list of Catholic Churches in the ToC (that’s from memory, but it should be reasonably accurate).

(going to split this reply, as I’m otherwise going to exceed 5K words sooner or later)

(continued)
 
Finally, as to the Byzantine Ruthenians:

The same CNEWA site referenced above as to the Maronites and Melkites has an excellent summation of the Ruthenian Church as well.

Excellent resources for learning about the Ruthenians:

The Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholics
Hope these help. Any specific questions, just ask.

Many years,

Neil
 
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Freeway4321:
Saint Joseph Melkite Catholic Church
angelfire.com/ex/st.joseph/index.html

Good resources on this site. Including chant in arabic! 😃
To say nothing of Sitto’s (Grandmother’s) Kitchen, with its wonderful recipes. Saint Joseph’s, one of our first churches in America, is a wonderful parish community with which I’ve had the joy to share many times over the years. Abouna Alam and his parish have done wonders with their website 👍 .

Many years,

Neil
 
Irish Melkite:
Johnny,

Actually the Melkite Cathedral is in the Roslindale section of Boston, as is the Eparchial residence and chancery. However, until a few years ago, the latter were situated in an old mansion on Dartmouth Street in Newton - beautiful but expensive to maintain. A decision was made to resite them on the periphery of the Cathedral property, something that had been considered in the mid-60s when the Cathedral was erected but deemed impractical then because of added construction costs to the fledgling exarchate. The jurisdictional title derives from the location in which the incumbent hierarch was resident when the jurisdiction was elevated from an apostolic exarchate to an eparchy.

The proximity of the Sees was an effect not a cause. Cardinal Cushing’s close personal friendships with Melkite clergy in the Boston area, his strong support in Rome for erection of a US Apostolic Exarchate for the Melkites, his close friendship with Patriarch Maximos IV, and the presence of two Melkite parishes and the Basilian Salvatorian seminary within the territory of the Latin Archdiocese of Boston were compelling factors in the decision to site the Exarchate in Newton. The Cardinal had previously assisted the Salvatorians to obtain the valuable property on which they erected their seminary, motherhouse, and retreat center and made significant financial contributions from his personal funds to meet the associated building costs.

The Cathedral itself was built on prime real estate, purchased from the City of Boston. Without the Cardinal’s extraordinary political connections, the Exarchate would likely never have convinced the City to sell the parcel to it, certainly not at any affordable price. The Cardinal again made significant financial contributions from his personal funds toward the construction costs of the Cathedral. In his first pastoral message, at Christmas 1970, Archbishop Joseph Tawil, of blessed memory, then-Exarch and later first Eparch of the Melkites in the US, spoke of the then-recently reposed Cardinal:

A large mosaic portrait of the Cardinal hangs prominently in a place of honor in the Cathedral narthex, above a plaque that reads, simply, Richard Cardinal Cushing, Our beloved benefactor.
May his memory be eternal and thrice-blessed.

Many years,

Neil
Thanks Neil. Very interesting. Guess I never quite knew where Roslindale ends and West Roxbury begins. 🙂 There is a large Melkite and Maronite population in Birmingham (I know - “knock me down with a feather!”). I once had a long discussion with a Presbyterian friend about the different Catholic rites - even mentioning Archbishop Tawil. Within a week he had to travel with a lawyer who happens to be Melkite. The poor guy still can’t figure out how a Presbyterian was so conversant on the topic! My dentist is Melkite - you should have seen his face when I first went to him and asked how Archbishop Tawil was. No a usual question from non-members of St. George’s.
 
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johnnykins:
Guess I never quite knew where Roslindale ends and West Roxbury begins. 🙂
Johnny,

If you know the area, as seems to be the case, the middle (literally, the solid center line) of the West Roxbury Parkway is the dividing line. Roslindale is to the north of same (closer to Boston proper); West Roxbury is to the south of same (heading toward Dedham).
There is a large Melkite and Maronite population in Birmingham (I know - “knock me down with a feather!”).
My friend, Pani Rose, who posts here, is the wife of Deacon Stan, a Ruthenian deacon who serves Saint George’s Melkite Church in Birmingham. It’s a wonderful parish with a great pastor in the person of Father Archimandrite Frank Milienewicz and was pastored by Archbishop Joseph Raya, of blessed memory, prior to his elevation to the episcopacy.

Many years,

Neil
 
Today I had two very interesting conversations with a Latin Rite Monsignor of the Diocese of Peoria who is working on the Sheen Cause for Canonization.

In answer to my original four questions:
  1. How often did he exercise his biritual faculties?
Monsignor told me at least six times a year. Archbishop Sheen would sometimes even offer the Divine Liturgy as his “private Mass”. He had a Byzantine chalice in his private chapel, which Monsignor tells me was very ornate, and may have been imported from Russia.
  1. Were his non-Latin faculties in the Byzantine Rite in general, or in a specific Church in particular, for example, Ukrainian?
Monsignor told me that Archbishop Sheen had to get permission from the Holy See to become biritual, and he also had to get recommendations from his Latin Rite Bishop(I assume the Bishop of Peoria, IL) and from the Byzantine Ukrainian Bishop in Philadelphia. So I guess his “birituality” would be with the Byzantine Ukrainians.
  1. When did he become biritual?
When he was still a Priest, I am not sure what year. If you want more information on this, I can ask Monsignor again.
  1. Why did he become biritual?
Monsignor said that Archbishop Sheen(while still a Priest) had a large radio audience of Catholics that were both Western and Eastern. He was apparently asked to become biritual as a way to increase the visibility of the Byzantines.

Archbishop Sheen also celebrated an outdoor Divine Liturgy for thousands of people on the 100th Anniversary of Byzantines in the United States in about 1954. I believe that this took place in Philadelphia PA.

Again, if you have any more questions, please post them here, and I can get ahold of Monsignor again.
 
Bishop Sheen also celebrated an outdoor Divine Liturgy for thousands of people on the 100th Anniversary of Byzantines in the United States in about 1954. I believe that this took place in Philadelphia PA…
Actually it was at Uniontown, PA (aka “Uniontownski” for the annual labor day weekend pilgramage to the Mother of God, Help of Christians.

Oh how I wish I could have gone this weekend.

Stupid car problems!
 
I came across something, and I can’t remember where, where it was stated that the first mass in English televised in the US was a Eastern DL served by Archbishop Sheen. I think it was some story about the background of Vactican II deciding on allowing the vernacular in the Latin rite.
 
Oddly I found this thread by searching for posts on Fulton Sheen–a favorite author of mine though I’ve only rarely heard him on radio or TV.
Fifty or so talks by him are available free on the web. I forget the website. There are also sites which sell them.
 
Here is a little tidbit about Archbishop Sheen.
Do you know how Martin Sheen and Bishop Sheen are related?
They’re not. Martin Sheen took the name Sheen as an actor because he admired Bishop Sheen. Bishop Sheen might have been Msgr Sheen at the time.
 
Regarding the vesture in which Archbishop Sheen is garbed in the photo posted by Deacon Ed. I agree with Father Ambrose that he appears to be wearing presbyteral vestments with an episcopal mitre. I suspect that the “mix and match” was lost on those present at the Latin cathedral and mayhap on a well-intentioned but ill-informed hierarch.
Although the picture in the much earlier posting is far from clear, it is possible that the Bishop is vested in the priestly phelonion with the episcopal omophorion - as was usual (and obvious in very many icons) before the imperial sakkos was adopted as an episcopal vestment (the mitre was not commonly worn by bishops at that time (if at all)). There appears to be a large cross, typical of the omophorion, on the front left shoulder and the possible traces of a similar large cross to his right. Note also from the photographs in the following link olfatima.com/December%207%202006.html that the Bishop, now vested in the sakkos, appears to be wearing the omphorion with the longer part hanging to his right (the same side as the epigonation) whereas it is normally worn hanging from the left shoulder amongst Orthodox bishops.
 
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