N
Nzie
Guest
I’m a Latin Rite Catholic who is strongly considering requesting leave from my bishop to join the Ukrainian Catholic Church. There’s been a lot of good information in this thread, but having been where Francis is I’d like to weigh in.
My folks started taking us on occasion to a Ukrainian Catholic church not too far away when I was a pre-teen. Slavic roots notwithstanding, I didn’t know a word of the language, any cyrillic script, etc. It’s a small parish and at the time it was about 70% Ukrainian-language 30% English. Over the years, it’s become more like 50-50. (I had occasionally been to Melkite liturgy as a kid because my parents are Cursillistas and the Cursillo was at a Melkite church but it was all English and I was young.)
All the things you love about traditional Roman Rite worship are there. Yes, there are some barriers (like language) but they’re not insurmountable.
I would highly recommend making a Ukrainian Catholic church your first visit to the Eastern Rite. This is not because UCC is any better than any other Eastern Rite Church, but because they’re the largest (about 5 million)-- and that means resources. What resources, you may say? Well, bilingual missals! I visit a tiny (like, 5 rows of pews) church and they have side-by-side Ukrainian and English missals-- including ones with the Ukrainian transliterated. They also have the most churches in the U.S. of any Eastern Rite Churches, so they’re easiest to find.
Here are some keys for following along:
Latch onto repeated phrases- such as
Hospodi pomilui. (Lord have mercy.)
Svyati Bozhe, Svyati Kreepki, Svyati Besmertni, pomilui nas. (Holy God, Holy Mighty [One], Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.)
These are often repeated a lot- so if you can pick up the sound it can help you find your place if you get lost during a non-English part of the liturgy. The repetitions are marked.
Be aware that Slavic chant tends to repeat- and in-song repetitions aren’t marked in the missals I’ve seen. So just keep an ear out.
Get there early enough to review the missal beforehand. I still do this because I like to read over the parts I don’t catch so I can really appreciate them. For instance, the prayers the priest prays silently during Liturgy are incredibly profound.
Receiving communion: You are Catholic, and you can totally receive communion. If you have experience receiving on the tongue, it will be helpful, but unlike the Latin Rite, where intincture is generally frowned upon, it’s standard in Byzantine- both species are given to the communicant together being dropped from a spoon. (They also do not have the tradition of unleavened bread, so be aware.) The priest says a prayer for each person- it starts “Servant of God” – and that’s where your name goes so if you haven’t had a chance to meet the priest (and perhaps even if you have) just say it right then, he’ll repeat and finish the prayer. There may or may not be a cloth for you to hold under your chin, and you basically tilt your head up and open your mouth and he drops it in. Wait till he finishes the prayer to leave, crossing yourself is fine, you may wish to follow what you see others due as recently I’ve noticed more parishioners at ‘my’ church crossing their arms over their chests after receiving commuion. There is also always an icon on a stand- a lot of people reverence the icon when they get to it in the communion line.
Other than that, don’t sweat it- people are not going to judge you if you don’t know everything to do. We were very warmly welcomed- crazy yelling ByzCath ladies aren’t standard.
(As far as the creed goes, the UCC I go to doesn’t use the filioque clause, and as far as I’m aware it’s permissible just as other differences are permissible- such as the different understanding of sin (no explicit doctrine of original sin). The filioque clause was added to combat a particular heresy and there are some good arguments against it- specifically that it seems to make the Holy Spirit the least person of the Trinity - proceeding from the only other two could do that).
Best luck Francis - do give it a try. Call over and talk to someone about wanting to find out more (“breathe with both lungs”) and ask what you should do.
~Nzie
My folks started taking us on occasion to a Ukrainian Catholic church not too far away when I was a pre-teen. Slavic roots notwithstanding, I didn’t know a word of the language, any cyrillic script, etc. It’s a small parish and at the time it was about 70% Ukrainian-language 30% English. Over the years, it’s become more like 50-50. (I had occasionally been to Melkite liturgy as a kid because my parents are Cursillistas and the Cursillo was at a Melkite church but it was all English and I was young.)
All the things you love about traditional Roman Rite worship are there. Yes, there are some barriers (like language) but they’re not insurmountable.
I would highly recommend making a Ukrainian Catholic church your first visit to the Eastern Rite. This is not because UCC is any better than any other Eastern Rite Church, but because they’re the largest (about 5 million)-- and that means resources. What resources, you may say? Well, bilingual missals! I visit a tiny (like, 5 rows of pews) church and they have side-by-side Ukrainian and English missals-- including ones with the Ukrainian transliterated. They also have the most churches in the U.S. of any Eastern Rite Churches, so they’re easiest to find.
Here are some keys for following along:
Latch onto repeated phrases- such as
Hospodi pomilui. (Lord have mercy.)
Svyati Bozhe, Svyati Kreepki, Svyati Besmertni, pomilui nas. (Holy God, Holy Mighty [One], Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.)
These are often repeated a lot- so if you can pick up the sound it can help you find your place if you get lost during a non-English part of the liturgy. The repetitions are marked.
Be aware that Slavic chant tends to repeat- and in-song repetitions aren’t marked in the missals I’ve seen. So just keep an ear out.
Get there early enough to review the missal beforehand. I still do this because I like to read over the parts I don’t catch so I can really appreciate them. For instance, the prayers the priest prays silently during Liturgy are incredibly profound.
Receiving communion: You are Catholic, and you can totally receive communion. If you have experience receiving on the tongue, it will be helpful, but unlike the Latin Rite, where intincture is generally frowned upon, it’s standard in Byzantine- both species are given to the communicant together being dropped from a spoon. (They also do not have the tradition of unleavened bread, so be aware.) The priest says a prayer for each person- it starts “Servant of God” – and that’s where your name goes so if you haven’t had a chance to meet the priest (and perhaps even if you have) just say it right then, he’ll repeat and finish the prayer. There may or may not be a cloth for you to hold under your chin, and you basically tilt your head up and open your mouth and he drops it in. Wait till he finishes the prayer to leave, crossing yourself is fine, you may wish to follow what you see others due as recently I’ve noticed more parishioners at ‘my’ church crossing their arms over their chests after receiving commuion. There is also always an icon on a stand- a lot of people reverence the icon when they get to it in the communion line.
Other than that, don’t sweat it- people are not going to judge you if you don’t know everything to do. We were very warmly welcomed- crazy yelling ByzCath ladies aren’t standard.
(As far as the creed goes, the UCC I go to doesn’t use the filioque clause, and as far as I’m aware it’s permissible just as other differences are permissible- such as the different understanding of sin (no explicit doctrine of original sin). The filioque clause was added to combat a particular heresy and there are some good arguments against it- specifically that it seems to make the Holy Spirit the least person of the Trinity - proceeding from the only other two could do that).
Best luck Francis - do give it a try. Call over and talk to someone about wanting to find out more (“breathe with both lungs”) and ask what you should do.
~Nzie