First Divine Liturgy

  • Thread starter Thread starter theyoungmonk
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

theyoungmonk

Guest
Praise be to Jesus Christ!

I am sure you have seen all this before but I hope you will all be patient and help me with these questions, that somehow I could not find answers to on this site or beyond it.

I am finally going to be able to attend a Divine Liturgy (Parish of the UGCC) on Sunday the 14th of July.
I have wanted to go for a long time indeed I was considering learning better about and maybe even being received into an Eastern Rite when I first converted but I was “tricked” by my original parish (a pretty normal OF place) into being received into the Latin Rite seemingly due to a mix of prejudice, ignorance and a desperate need for more numbers to put on their forms.
I was then told that effectively as I was a Latin Catholic I could not attend a Divine Liturgy (“English must put up with English”) and even if I wanted to there were no churches within reach. I have now discovered that was a lie and, thank God, will all things going as I hope attend within the fortnight.

As I have not managed to go I have few questions on Practical matters as I find the wealth of information a bit overwhelming and sometimes conflicting.
  1. When should a reverence be made?
  2. How should communion be received (What is all this I hear about telling your name to the Priest?)
  3. Is there a good guide to help follow the Liturgy so I don’t get completely lost?
  4. Any other general advice?
I may add a bit more as I recall it. Thank you for your patience with this rather rambling post and I look forward to reading any replies.

Yours in Christ
L-J
 
theyoungmonk said:
Praise be to Jesus Christ!

I am sure you have seen all this before but I hope you will all be patient and help me with these questions, that somehow I could not find answers to on this site or beyond it.

I am finally going to be able to attend a Divine Liturgy (Parish of the UGCC) on Sunday the 14th of July.
I have wanted to go for a long time indeed I was considering learning better about and maybe even being received into an Eastern Rite when I first converted but I was “tricked” by my original parish (a pretty normal OF place) into being received into the Latin Rite seemingly due to a mix of prejudice, ignorance and a desperate need for more numbers to put on their forms.
I was then told that effectively as I was a Latin Catholic I could not attend a Divine Liturgy (“English must put up with English”) and even if I wanted to there were no churches within reach. I have now discovered that was a lie and, thank God, will all things going as I hope attend within the fortnight.

As I have not managed to go I have few questions on Practical matters as I find the wealth of information a bit overwhelming and sometimes conflicting.
  1. When should a reverence be made?
  2. How should communion be received (What is all this I hear about telling your name to the Priest?)
  3. Is there a good guide to help follow the Liturgy so I don’t get completely lost?
  4. Any other general advice?
I may add a bit more as I recall it. Thank you for your patience with this rather rambling post and I look forward to reading any replies.

Yours in Christ
L-J
Click to expand...
I believe that they have books that you follow along in, I think they have symbols to indicate when to reverence and make the sign of the cross.

Communion is received by intinction, they dip the sacred host into the precious blood and put it onto your tongue. In some places (this is the case in the Maronite parish where I go to) at communion the priest will ask for your baptism name and address you as “servant [baptism name]” when giving you communion.

I think really you should just show up and follow along in the book with everyone else. I think at most parishes they will tell you exactly what page to turn to. It certainly helps if you have someone next to you that knows what they’re doing and can give you some guidance.
 
theyoungmonk,

I am sorry you were lied to by your OF parish. Latin parishes should encourage, not discourage, engagement with the Eastern Churches.

Back in the mid 1990s my OF parish, St. Mary’s, began standing during the Eucharistic Prayer in solidarity with the Byzantine Catholic parish across town, also named for the Blessed Mother. It piqued my interest in Eastern Catholicism and it was not long after that I experienced my first Byzantine Divine Liturgy.

I now know, in retrospect, that it was an error for my pastor to have us stand during the EP. (It was corrected by our next pastor.) Each particular Church should keep to its own liturgical laws and traditions. But God nevertheless brought good out of it – my appreciation for my Byzantine Catholic brothers and sisters.

I pray you will enjoy your first Divine Liturgy.
 
theyoungmonk said:
I was then told that effectively as I was a **Latin **Catholic I could not attend a Divine Liturgy ("**English **must put up with English")
Click to expand...
I just had to chuckle at the above contradiction. As Ratzinger once said, “Is there a Latin Rite at all any more?” Too bad he was spot on with his rhetorical question.
 
There is a booklet on the pews, that you can follow the different parts of the Divine Liturgy.

Cross yourself from right to left (the roman custom is left to right). For example (if wrong please someone correct me). In the name of the Father[head]–> the Son[middle of your chest]–> and the Holy[right shoulder]–>Spirit[left shoulder].

You have to also keep in mind that greek catholics follow a One Year cycle of readings (if you know the Traditional Latin Mass it is pretty similar, in the Novus Ordo there is a Three Year cycle of readings). For this you can check in any orthodox site. I, for example, I subscribed at Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America mailing list (if there’s any catholic site providing the same thing, please let us know).

You can venerate the icons.

Don’t be ashamed to make new friends. They are always excited when they see someone new at the service.
 
CompSciGuy said:
I believe that they have books that you follow along in, I think they have symbols to indicate when to reverence and make the sign of the cross.

Communion is received by intinction, they dip the sacred host into the precious blood and put it onto your tongue. In some places (this is the case in the Maronite parish where I go to) at communion the priest will ask for your baptism name and address you as “servant [baptism name]” when giving you communion.

I think really you should just show up and follow along in the book with everyone else. I think at most parishes they will tell you exactly what page to turn to. It certainly helps if you have someone next to you that knows what they’re doing and can give you some guidance.
Click to expand...
Communion will be distributed on a soon. There is no “host”…a small piece of leavened bread soaked in the precious blood.
 
UncleBill said:
Communion will be distributed on a soon. There is no “host”…a small piece of leavened bread soaked in the precious blood.
Click to expand...
It depends on what rite. In the Maronite church I go to they use a host and dip it in the blood.
 
theyoungmonk said:
Praise be to Jesus Christ!
  1. When should a reverence be made?
Click to expand...
Dear L-J, as a piece of general advice, try not to be too concerned about things like exactly following all the right postures and signs of the cross at all the right times. We are less concerned with doing everything in lockstep with the rest of the congregation as in the Latin rite. Especially if it’s your first Divine Liturgy, just try to pray and absorb yourself in the chanting and worship of God.

Nevertheless, some general guidelines. There will be an icon on a table (tetrapod) in the middle of the nave. When entering the church the custom is to venerate this icon: approach, make the sign of the cross, bow, and kiss the icon. During Liturgy we generally make the sign of the cross at every mention of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, and several other times too.
theyoungmonk said:
  1. How should communion be received (What is all this I hear about telling your name to the Priest?)
Click to expand...
Since it is a Ukrainian church communion will be received from a spoon. The priest will be holding the chalice containing small cubes of the leavened host floating in it. You approach with your arms crossed over your chest - which mainly to keep them out of the way and reduce the risk of knocking into the chalice.

In the Byzantine rite there is no such thing as receiving a sacrament anonymously. As you are receiving, he will say (depending on the translation) “Servant of God (L-J) receives the precious body and blood of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, for the remission of his sins, and unto life everlasting.” So - the priest may ask your name when you approach the chalice. If he doesn’t ask - that’s fine, he may just call you “Servant of God.”
Oh, and don’t try to say “Amen” after. in the Russian tradition we kiss the base of the chalice after receiving - not sure if the Ukrainians do that too.
theyoungmonk said:
  1. Is there a good guide to help follow the Liturgy so I don’t get completely lost?
Click to expand...
See this article: 12 Things I wish I had known … first visit to an Orthodox Church. It is written for first time visitors to a Divine Liturgy. Much of it applies to us.
 
Symeon said:
In the Russian tradition we kiss the base of the chalice after receiving - not sure if the Ukrainians do that too.

See this article: 12 Things I wish I had known … first visit to an Orthodox Church. It is written for first time visitors to a Divine Liturgy. Much of it applies to us.
Click to expand...
I’ve been to some Ukrainian Churches (both Orthodox and Catholic) where the chalice is kissed and I’ve been to some where it has not. The priest was pretty taken-aback the one time I kissed the chalice at a church where this practice was not performed. 😃

But L_J, I would just not be the first one to receive communion, watch what others do in this matter and follow suit.
 
theyoungmonk said:
  1. When should a reverence be made?
  2. How should communion be received (What is all this I hear about telling your name to the Priest?)
  3. Is there a good guide to help follow the Liturgy so I don’t get completely lost?
  4. Any other general advice?
Click to expand...
Hi L-J -

My advice would be to go to the church a little early, and seek out either the Priest or one of the Deacons (or just someone who looks like they belong there!) and ask them these questions. If it’s anything like my Byzantine Catholic church, they’ll fall all over themselves to help you! 😃
 
Just to add that in some Ukranian Catholic churches, you kiss both the base of the chalice and the hand of the priest after receiving. But as others have said, just immerse yourself in the Divine Liturgy and don’t be too concerned about getting everything right.
Blessings for your first Divine Liturgy! 🙂

A link you might like…
stmichaelscherryhill.com/#!etiquette/c1rej
 
Thank you very much for all your advice, I am now feeling a bit happier now, as it was quite overwhelming to start. I will look through all the links and definitely take the advice about finding a member of the Clergy before the Liturgy.

By the way when you enter the Church what is the correct form of respect towards the Blessed sacrament as I am pretty sure that genuflection is a more Latin thing, is it just a normal reverence or is it slightly more than that(I wondered if it was a triple reverence)?
 
theyoungmonk said:
By the way when you enter the Church what is the correct form of respect towards the Blessed sacrament as I am pretty sure that genuflection is a more Latin thing, is it just a normal reverence or is it slightly more than that (I wondered if it was a triple reverence)?
Click to expand...
Russians and Greeks cross ourselves (one cross) when we enter and leave the temple. Whenever we walk in front of/past the Holy Table where the tabernacle rests we also cross ourselves. Assuming they have an iconostasis, the Holy Doors will be closed when you come in, unless you arrive after Liturgy has already begun, and so you won’t be able to see the Holy Table and the tabernacle yet. For Russians and usually OCA we have no pews so we often move about in the course of Liturgy, and would cross ourselves (one cross) when we walk across the middle of the church, i.e. walk in front of the Holy Table.

We reverance icons when we enter for the first time, and when we are leaving. Those include the icon of Christ to the (liturgical) south of the Holy Doors and of the Mother of God on the liturgical north of the Holy Doors. That necessitates also walking in front of/past the Holy Table and tabernacle when walking from the Christ Icon to the Mother of God Icon so we would cross ourselves then.

You should just ask, as was suggested, and do what others do. Different jurisdictions have different practices, and even different parishes do things differently. I don’t think anyone else crosses them selves as much as Russians do. 🙂
 
theyoungmonk said:
I have wanted to go for a long time indeed I was considering learning better about and maybe even being received into an Eastern Rite when I first converted but** I was “tricked” by my original parish (a pretty normal OF place) into being received into the Latin Rite **seemingly due to a mix of prejudice, ignorance and a desperate need for more numbers to put on their forms.

L-J
Click to expand...
L-J
Since you were a Baptized Christian when you were received into the Catholic Church then regardless of which Church sui juris in which the Rite of Reception occurred you would have been received canonically into the Latin Church.

See this article Church Ascription Upon Conversion “BAPTIZED NON-CATHOLICS COMING INTO FULL COMMUNION WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH” by Eastern Catholic canon lawyer Fr. George Gallaro

Baptized Christians who are living their liturgical life in an Eastern Catholic Church can be Chrismated in that Church sui juris and received into the Church there, but again, the person is canonically Latin, until they request a change of Church and the bishops agree to the change.
 
5Loaves said:
L-J
Since you were a Baptized Christian when you were received into the Catholic Church then regardless of which Church sui juris in which the Rite of Reception occurred you would have been received canonically into the Latin Church.

See this article Church Ascription Upon Conversion “BAPTIZED NON-CATHOLICS COMING INTO FULL COMMUNION WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH” by Eastern Catholic canon lawyer Fr. George Gallaro

Baptized Christians who are living their liturgical life in an Eastern Catholic Church can be Chrismated in that Church sui juris and received into the Church there, but again, the person is canonically Latin, until they request a change of Church and the bishops agree to the change.
Click to expand...
Well I am not sure where you got the idea I was unbaptized when I entered the Church. I was Baptised, confirmed and Received my first Holy Communion all at once when I was received.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top