Eastern Catholic Thoughts on Prayer for the Conversion of Greek Schismatics

[Byz_Guy]

I was reminded of this prayer the other day as I was leafing through an older Eastern Catholic prayer book:

**Prayer to Mary Immaculate for the Conversion of Schismatics

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, we Thy clients and children of the Holy Catholic Church, confident of Thy great protection, beg of Thee, deign to obtain of God the Holy Ghost, for the reverence and glorification of His eternal procession from the Father and the Son, an abundance of His graces for our misled brethren, the Greek Schismatics, that being enlightened by His grace, they may return to the fold of the Catholic Church under the infallible guidance of their first Shepherd and Teacher, the Pope of Rome, and thus united to us by the bonds of our faith and one charity, they may in union with us glorify the Blessed Trinity by their good works and glorify Thee, O Virgin Mother, full of grace, in time and for eternity. Amen. Hail Mary…3 times**

This is taken from Heavenly Manna: A Practical Prayer Book of Devotion for Greek Rite Catholics, published by the Orders of the Sisters of St. Basil the Great in Uniontown, Pennsylvania in 1941, p. 204.

As I researched the prayer I discovered that it actually was a translation of one of the prayers from the Raccolta and had been assigned an indulgence by Pope Pius IX in the year 1869. For example, it can be seen here in various online editions of the Raccolta, such as at the Internet Archive:

archive.org/stream/theraccoltaorcol00unknuoft#page/n223/mode/2up

and here at Google Books:

books.google.com/books?id=W8kCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA416#v=onepage&q&f=false

One can also find it online at some Catholic sites:

ageofmary.com/prayers/conversion-of-greek-schismatics.html

Interesting how the prayer touches on the Immaculate Conception, Dual Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son and also papal infallibility.

I also noted that the phraseology “under the infallible guidance” was included in this indulgenced prayer a year before the Vatican I definition.

I was curious as to the views of Eastern Catholic members here about this prayer. Is this something that in your opinion reflects an older view of the relationship between Catholicism and Orthodoxy? Or, since this was once an indulgenced prayer, is this something that would still be viewed as expressing what are the errors of the Orthodox Church? Also, Is this something that some Eastern Catholics might still pray?

 

[ByzCathCantor]

I could not offer a well supported explanation for the inclusion of this prayer in the good Basilian Sisters’ prayer book. I could only say that historically this book was published during a period when our Church in the US was being systematically “Latinized”, and there were continued separations of the faithful, with some turning to Orthodoxy. It was an undoubtedly sensitive subject to many Byzantine Catholics who remained faithful to the Catholic communion, despite the circumstances.

It seems this prayer might have had a separate and distinct “entendre” for American Byzantine Catholics at that time, many of whom ended up having families divided (between Eastern Catholicism and Orthodoxy) by the circumstances of that era, among other consequences. The Church was still referred to as “Greek Catholic” at that time (as opposed to Byzantine, in the case of the Ruthenians), so it is distinctly possible this prayer, from a Catholic source, could have been used for this adapted and unique purpose.

 

[Byz_Guy]

Well, yes, by today’s standards the prayer book Heavenly Manna was very latinized. I notice a couple of interesting differences between the indulgenced prayer that was in the Raccolta and the prayer as it appears in Heavenly Manna.

Instead of “holy Catholic and Roman Church,” the Heavenly Manna version has simply “Holy Catholic Church.” There’s no way to know if that was purposely done.

The Heavenly Manna version uses “misled brethren” instead of “separated brethren.”

I’ve seen an edition of Heavenly Manna with this prayer from the early 1960s but I have not found any editions that were published after Vatican 2.

Apart from the historical considerations, I’m interested in how Eastern Catholics would view this prayer today. Is it a prayer that still has value?

I’d also be curious what Latin Rite members of the Forum would think of it? Especially since it has been picked up by some Catholic websites.

 

[ByzCathCantor]

Well, yes, by today’s standards the prayer book Heavenly Manna was very latinized. I notice a couple of interesting differences between the indulgenced prayer that was in the Raccolta and the prayer as it appears in Heavenly Manna.

Instead of “holy Catholic and Roman Church,” the Heavenly Manna version has simply “Holy Catholic Church.” There’s no way to know if that was purposely done.

The Heavenly Manna version uses “misled brethren” instead of “separated brethren.”

FWIW - your observations on “modifications” would support the working theory I had suggested - this prayer might have been adapted for an express and unique purpose.

I would also add that in my years in the Ruthenian Church, I have never seen this prayer published elsewhere nor have I heard it recited in practice.

I’ll look forward to other comments and observations!

 

[5Loaves]

It seems this prayer might have had a separate and distinct “entendre” for American Byzantine Catholics at that time, many of whom ended up having families divided (between Eastern Catholicism and Orthodoxy) by the circumstances of that era, among other consequences. The Church was still referred to as “Greek Catholic” at that time (as opposed to Byzantine, in the case of the Ruthenians), so it is distinctly possible this prayer, from a Catholic source, could have been used for this adapted and unique purpose.

I appreciate your nuanced consideration of a content in which this prayer can have been devised and used, ByzCathCantor. Thank you.

 

[5Loaves]

As I researched the prayer I discovered that it actually was a translation of one of the prayers from the Raccolta and had been assigned an indulgence by Pope Pius IX in the year 1869…

One can also find it online at some Catholic sites:

ageofmary.com/prayers/conversion-of-greek-schismatics.html

….I was curious as to the views of Eastern Catholic members here about this prayer. Is this something that in your opinion reflects an older view of the relationship between Catholicism and Orthodoxy? Or, since this was once an indulgenced prayer, is this something that would still be viewed as expressing what are the errors of the Orthodox Church? Also, Is this something that some Eastern Catholics might still pray?

My view is it belongs in another century. It grieves me to see that it may be promoted by Catholics in this day and age. The use of the very term “schismatic” is so offensive. As we know the Catholic Answers Forum policy is that “…the use of the terms schismatic or heretic may not be used as generic descriptors for any of the Eastern or Oriental Churches, whether Catholic or Orthodox.” Thanks be to God!

 

[Alexander_Roman]

I’ve always found it so very amusing how those who promote prayer for the “conversion of schismatics” are often themselves disobedient to Rome and are therefore in a kind of schism.

Traditional Roman Catholics, of varying degrees, tend to disagree with Rome on this or that (as if they knew better and are themselves the true interpreters of the faith for all time).

In fact, that is exactly what happened when East broke with West. The changes that the West brought in were unacceptable as dogma to be imposed on the East. The East affirmed that the new doctrines from the West were not only not in keeping with its own apostolic and patristic tradition, they contradicted ecumenical councils that affirmed otherwise.

From the Christian East’s point of view, the papal West placed itself outside the Church as a result. But the East could live with that until 1204 when Roman Catholic Crusaders attacked the primatial See of the East and committed outrageous blasphemies against Eastern shrines. The West really was barbaric, as the East had long thought, after all. Yes, similar outrages had been committed by the Byzantines against Western Catholic areas - but Constantinople is the Eastern “New Rome.” The impact was the same as if the Byzantines had sacked Rome itself.

Those websites would probably do better to promote prayers of repentance by Catholics for all offenses commited by both Latin and Greek Catholics against the Orthodox over the years.

Blessed Hieromartyr Leonid Fyodorov was an eye-witness to the thousands of Orthodox Christians being martyred by the Bolsheviks at the height of the Red Terror. In his diary he wrote, "And these are the people the (RC) Poles want to “convert!”

Alex