Byzantine Rite...Why?

[Javl]

I’ve noticed in some posts in different threads that many Roman rite Catholics are changing to the Byzantine rite. Out of curiosity, may I ask why? Is it the Novus Ordo mass, or…?

PAX DOMINI

Shalom Aleichem

 

[Angel_Gabriel]

i can’t officially change until there is an Eastern Catholic Parish here in my city. (we’re in the process of setting up a ukranian catholic mission)

but I’ve always been drawn towards the East. Indeed, if the Orthodox and Catholics repaired the Schism i’d hop on over to my local Orthodox Church ASAP (there are 3 in my city).

i don’t think the NO had much to do with my decision…I am drawn to the East and the Orient b/c of their traditions and because I love Middle Eastern Culture and history…i’m particularly enamored of the Maronite and Coptic Churches.

 

[5Loaves]

Christ is in our midst!

I’ve noticed in some posts in different threads that many Roman rite Catholics are changing to the Byzantine rite. Out of curiosity, may I ask why? Is it the Novus Ordo mass, or…?
PAX DOMINI
Shalom Aleichem

I myself don’t see a relationship between the NO and the Divine Liturgy that you suggest. I’m in contact with folks who regularly participate in the Extraordinary Form and I experience a similar disconnect for myself with them as with those who prefer the NO.

I think it’s an ethos, a sacramental liturgical world view distinctly different from the west. I’d suggest checking out Catherine Alexander’s interviews with the monks of Holy Resurrection Romanian Catholic Monastery including “Eastern Catholic Theology” Part1, Part 2, and really all the interviews.

(You mention Byzantine which these videos are, tho the monks do speak of the other Eastern Catholics, clarifying that they recognize they are speaking from a specific Eastern view which doesn’t represent all of the East.)

Also useful are the videos at EasternChristianMedia.com including “The Invisible Made Visible “ series 1-4.

 

[KyivAndrew]

I’ve noticed in some posts in different threads that many Roman rite Catholics are changing to the Byzantine rite. Out of curiosity, may I ask why? Is it the Novus Ordo mass, or…?

PAX DOMINI

Shalom Aleichem

Dear Javl, you may not get many immediate answers on this subforum because quite a bit of the regulars are cradle Eastern Catholics, which might make it presumptuous of some of us to speak on behalf of those who changed to the Byzantine rite. There are, however, some quite prominent posters who have taken the journey and may still post.

I as a cradle Ukrainian Catholic can only talk to what I see to be the differences in the respective mass/liturgies, prayers, Holy Days, etc. from my perspective.

I believe there is much beauty in the Byzantine rite, what with the icons, iconostas, incense, and “majesty” if you will when the liturgy is sung by the entire parish. (a spoken liturgy doesn’t do it justice). I think some from the Roman rite tired of the attempt to become modern in some parishes with guitar playing, etc. but I am not sure and do not want to cause offense.

On the other hand, when I attended University and a Catholic college, I found Roman Catholic masses (at an old-style Church) surprisingly peaceful when I prayed and found the stillness of God. It was a welcome relief from the stress of student life. Since that time, I wonder if that particular Roman Catholic Church has changed its approach. Not sure.

I would say there is much to be said for both, and that I am in no position to comment on the journey of Roman to Eastern Catholic. Not sure this helps. God Bless!

 

[gloria97000]

My change from Roman to Maronite was for several reasons, including the reverence of the Maronite Liturgy, the deep respect for all the Sacraments, the welcome extended to my children, and the poetic beauty of the spoken hymns. The Maronite church is the only church I have ever attended where I didn’t feel out of place…and my physical appearance does NOT make me fit in! I also found that my personal spiritual experience was best expressed and understood by the Maronites, and the Lebanese culture suits me very well!
I have been to Traditional Roman Masses, and left disaffected by how separated I felt from the Liturgy and the priest, frightened by how harsh some parishioners were toward their children. I have left OF Masses in an area where I didn’t grow up, and found myself very confused at cultural references that everyone else thought I understood. The Maronites explain their culture!!

 

[corsair]

Being a tradional Roman Rite Catholic, I suppose I can speak as to why I have an interest in the Byzantine Rite. First of all I definately prefer the EF Roman Rite BUT these are getting to be tough economic times and my closest EF parish is over 2 hours drive each way. whereas there is a Byzantine church slightly less than one hours drive. I do not like the OF form because I find it shallow and sometimes down right offensive.

So I’m looking for real reverence. I think I might find it in the Byzantine Rite but it is so different that I’m doing a lot of research before I leap.

I think that a lot of Latin Rite Catholics are doing the same thing as me. The “happy, clappy, Gloria” is not my cup of tea.

 

[Cluny]

So I’m looking for real reverence. I think I might find it in the Byzantine Rite but it is so different that I’m doing a lot of research before I leap.

Just don’t expect to find the way Latin parishes were in the USA before Vatican 2.

Accept the Byzantine Liturgy (or the Liturgies of other Eastern Churches) on their own terms.

You can find the Melkite English version of the Divine Liturgy at

www.melkite.org

 

[datingtrappists]

I have not made the leap, and at this time, I’m unsure if I will (I attended my first Divine Liturgy this past June, 3 months ago). However, I can’t imagine not attending Great Vespers Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy Sunday morning, and I have to say, that I have a great and growing respect and affinity towards the Byzantine Rite. Perhaps, for me, what draws me the most to the Byzantine Rite and Eastern spirituality is that I’m also drawn to monasticism (please pray for my vocation!) and the spiritualites of both are similar… more similiar, I feel, than the Latin Church and monasticism. There is also much more that draws me to the Byzantine Rite that I can’t explain very well and for that matter, I can’t put it down in mere words, but it touches and stirs something deep inside of me that even the Extraordinary Form can’t (and, like with Divine Liturgy, I can’t imagine not going to EF on Sundays).

 

[Javl]

I thank you all who have responded so far. I now understand your reasons. I have also
been to a Liturgy of an Eastern Rite Church ( Melkite ) and do find it beautiful and quite
spiritual. But, being a “hard core” traditionalist, I also find the Tridentine Mass
beautiful and spiritual. I feel peaceful and very close to the Lord at this Mass. Although
the center of any Mass or Liturgy is the Eucharist, I do find the NO Mass too much like
a protestant service and find no reverence or spirituality in it. After all these years, I still
cannot get used to it. Oh, well. Again, thank you all…

PAX DOMINI

Shalom Aleichem

 

[datingtrappists]

I thank you all who have responded so far. I now understand your reasons. I have also
been to a Liturgy of an Eastern Rite Church ( Melkite ) and do find it beautiful and quite
spiritual. But, being a “hard core” traditionalist, I also find the Tridentine Mass
beautiful and spiritual. I feel peaceful and very close to the Lord at this Mass. Although
the center of any Mass or Liturgy is the Eucharist, I do find the NO Mass too much like
a protestant service and find no reverence or spirituality in it. After all these years, I still
cannot get used to it. Oh, well. Again, thank you all…

PAX DOMINI

Shalom Aleichem

Disclaimer: I am but a neophyte in learning about the Eastern Churches… if I get terminology wrong, please correct gently!

Javl,

It’s not that I don’t find the Extraordinary Form (or even the Novus Ordo, when prayed how it’s supposed to be according to concilliar documents) beautiful or spiritual at all… if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be singing in the Schola at all. In fact, attending my first EF is what kept me from leaving the Church at that time (I am also a convert from protestantism). The only churches I had atteneded up to that point had a very “happy-clappy” music and attitude. I agree that, when improperly done, the NO is very protestant in style, and besides the Eucharist, can even been more protestant than the protestant church I grew up in, which was what I called Catholic ultra-light (it was a liturgical Presbyterian church). The only guitar played at the service was at the Christmas Eve service for a couple of years for “Silent Night”. However, I have prayed a very proper and reverent Novus Ordo (just got back from one, actually), and I do find that very beautiful, prayerful, and if that and an illicit EF Mass were just down the road from me, I would attend the NO.

I think for me, the Divine Liturgy and the EF compliment each other very well, and what may be… “missing” (for lack of a better word) in one is supplemented by the other. I don’t see that they’re contradictory at all… They help compliment each other. The priest at the Byzantine Rite explained it much better than I can ever hope to do, but I’ll try. The Eastern Church has more of a feminine feel and the Western has more of a masculine. Neither is wrong or bad… it’s just the reality of the situation. To paraphrase Pope John Paul II, experiencing all that the 22 different suri iuris Churches is like breathing with both lungs. I didn’t realize how starved for oxygen I was until I did just that.

I apologize for my weak attempt at an explaination… but this is one matter in which words fail me greatly.

Aleichem Shalom! Dominus vobiscum!