Going to Byzantine service tomorrow

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Good Morning all:
I’m going to attend a service at a local Byzantine church tomorrow morning. As a Roman Catholic I know we are in communion with them, but how should I dress? I am a “Saturday Catholic” and my parish is pretty laid back on dress overall. I’m thinking slacks and a polo shirt. Does this jibe? It’ll be weird enough not knowing all the P’s & Q’s of the Mass, I want to dress properly. :confused:
Thanks all
 
Patchunky said:
no but comfy shoes 'cause we don’t kneel
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Agreed! Head covering - not the norm by a long shot these days. Mode of dress? Should be respectful, but depends on the parish. Many, however, seem to be drifting toward the more casual modes of dress, except on Great Feasts.

BTW - I just realized I’m speaking from my own experience in the Ruthenian Church. Which Byzantine Church will you be attending? Ruthenian? Ukrainian? Melkite? etc. That might modify the answer somewhat …

I do hope you are enriched by the Divine Liturgy and have the same experience as that of the envoys of Prince St. Vladimir of Kiev who, upon visiting Constantinople as part of their mission, went to Hagia Sofia and reported back as follows:

“We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations.”

This is the Byzantine tradition.
 
P.S. You may indeed, as a fellow Catholic, receive the Holy Eucharist if you are properly disposed. Just bear in mind that the Eucharist in Byzantine tradition is bread and wine, administered by the priest via a small spoon. The priest normally calls one by name when administering - we often tell visitors to state your name for the priest after he says “The servant of God __________”) as you approach.

To receive properly and without incident, you will need to tip your head back, do not extend your tongue (as is instinctive for many RCs) and allow the priest to administer the sacrament. Do not say “Amen” afterward. So long as all goes well, the spoon does not even touch the recipient, so you need not have any sanitary concerns. Just observe “the regulars” as you are in line for Communion.
 
mellowcheddar said:
Good Morning all:
I’m going to attend a service at a local Byzantine church tomorrow morning. As a Roman Catholic I know we are in communion with them, but how should I dress? I am a “Saturday Catholic” and my parish is pretty laid back on dress overall. I’m thinking slacks and a polo shirt. Does this jibe? It’ll be weird enough not knowing all the P’s & Q’s of the Mass, I want to dress properly. :confused:
Thanks all
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Wonderful!
There are lots of threads here about what to expect going to an EC Divine Liturgy for the first time. Know that the Proskomedia, Liturgy of Preparation starts earlier and out of sight of the people so there is really something important going on behind the iconostasis when you arrive even tho it may seem like nothing has started yet. 🙂

It’s fairly typical there will be something more than just a coffee hour afterwards, since we fast over night and Liturgy is fairly long. Definitely plan to stay, eat and visit with people. 🙂

They will undoubtedly be very used to having visitors who are unfamiliar with the Divine Liturgy.

If you were coming to my church I’d say wear your long underwear. It is very cold in our temple. But that is true in a lot of Latin Churches around here (SF Bay area). 🙂 I usually have on two layers of fleece, a scarf around my neck and leggings and thick socks. Sometimes you can see your breath…

There are some ECCs which are on the old calendar and celebrated the Nativity of Christ today. If this is one of them they will be extra festive, although we on the new calendar just celebrated Theophany and are definitely very festive. 👍
 
mellowcheddar said:
Good Morning all:
I’m going to attend a service at a local Byzantine church tomorrow morning. As a Roman Catholic I know we are in communion with them, but how should I dress? I am a “Saturday Catholic” and my parish is pretty laid back on dress overall. I’m thinking slacks and a polo shirt. Does this jibe? It’ll be weird enough not knowing all the P’s & Q’s of the Mass, I want to dress properly. :confused:
Thanks all
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Did you get there? How did it go? 🙂
 
Well, I didn’t go yesterday due to sheer laziness, but there is a 12:10 service today and I need to go to the bank up there anyhow, so I’ll have some culture after I go to the bank! I hope jeans will be OK. I can always scope out the attendees, and if it seems too lowbrow I’ll just slink out the door I came in. As mentioned before the dress code at my church is pretty relaxed. It’s a very “come as you are” parish.
 
ByzCathCantor said:
P.S. You may indeed, as a fellow Catholic, receive the Holy Eucharist if you are properly disposed. Just bear in mind that the Eucharist in Byzantine tradition is bread and wine, administered by the priest via a small spoon. The priest normally calls one by name when administering - we often tell visitors to state your name for the priest after he says “The servant of God __________”) as you approach.

To receive properly and without incident, you will need to tip your head back, do not extend your tongue (as is instinctive for many RCs) and allow the priest to administer the sacrament. Do not say “Amen” afterward. So long as all goes well, the spoon does not even touch the recipient, so you need not have any sanitary concerns. Just observe “the regulars” as you are in line for Communion.
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could you verify please, so you don’t believe the host is bread and wine as a symbol? and how does he put it on a spoon, just the wine on a spoon?

How does he remember everyones name, now that is a miracle.👍
 
Luvtosew said:
could you verify please, so you don’t believe the host is bread and wine as a symbol? and how does he put it on a spoon, just the wine on a spoon?
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All Catholics and Orthodox believe in the Real Presence.

Reference to bread and wine would be only as ‘accidents’, sometimes referred that way in shorthand. The gifts are bread and wine, the Eucharist is Body and Blood. So don’t you worry about that. 🙂
Luvtosew said:
How does he remember everyones name, now that is a miracle.👍
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The priest will remember most names in the parish if the community is small. Otherwise a visitor should announce his or her name. There will be two altar servers (perhaps a subdeacon) or gentlemen (probably - hopefully in suits) holding a red cloth, you can tell them your name and if the priest did not catch it, the server can tell him.

In the Byzantine-Slavonic tradition, the Lamb of God (the ‘breadlike’ host) is immersed as a loaf into the chalice with the ‘winelike’ Blood. The priest will take a spoon of gold to separate a small portion for you.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSABXRKwsqsdoH1HlEb8ZToWgNA31RWaoz8ptt07-00QuArzICFxu-kD0YR



http://www.saintelias.com/foto/big/commfrp&turko_hierxelia.jpg

 
Well thank you, I’m sure they just drop the host in your mouth, or use a different spoon each time?🙂
 
Luvtosew said:
Well thank you, I’m sure they just drop the host in your mouth, or use a different spoon each time?🙂
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There is one spoon for everyone. The advice for Eastern Catholics is to tilt your head back, so that it can drop in. I can remember an occasion where the host would not drop off and the priest tapped one of my teeth 😃

However I can tell you that among the Orthodox almost nobody tilts their heads back like that. I think it perhaps is something that is taught in Catholic seminaries after the Redemptorists and Jesuits discovered how it was being done, and they recoiled in horror. 😃
 
mellowcheddar said:
Good Morning all:
I’m going to attend a service at a local Byzantine church tomorrow morning. As a Roman Catholic I know we are in communion with them, but how should I dress? I am a “Saturday Catholic” and my parish is pretty laid back on dress overall. I’m thinking slacks and a polo shirt. Does this jibe? It’ll be weird enough not knowing all the P’s & Q’s of the Mass, I want to dress properly. :confused:
Thanks all
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A word of advice, be very careful on how much you participate to the Divine Liturgy. You might get addicted to it. 🙂
 
Luvtosew said:
could you verify please, so you don’t believe the host is bread and wine as a symbol? and how does he put it on a spoon, just the wine on a spoon?

How does he remember everyones name, now that is a miracle.👍
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I thank our ever dependable Orthodox friend Hesychios for the detailed clarification and visual aids!

Of course, I in no way intended to even suggest that the most Holy Eucharist in the Eastern Catholic church is merely symbolic. However, as the means of reception of the Body of Christ or / and the Blood of Christ in the Latin tradition is quite different (as one can see from the photos above), this is oftentimes an effective “shorthand” way of describing it.
 
**There is one spoon for everyone. The advice for Eastern Catholics is to tilt your head back, so that it can drop in. I can remember an occasion where the host would not drop off and the priest tapped one of my teeth **

:eek::eek::eek:
 
Luvtosew said:
**There is one spoon for everyone. The advice for Eastern Catholics is to tilt your head back, so that it can drop in. I can remember an occasion where the host would not drop off and the priest tapped one of my teeth **

:eek::eek::eek:
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😃

I was the same way.

It takes some getting used to, eastern Christians are a bit ‘earthier’ don’t you think? 😛

It adds a new dimension to one’s sense of ‘community’ …

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmg2cdiAfYWQk8sAUL8HirEXH7y-pvH_eRz7aLAOJVFUWYoN1y5w

These guys are ready!
 
Luvtosew said:
**There is one spoon for everyone. The advice for Eastern Catholics is to tilt your head back, so that it can drop in. I can remember an occasion where the host would not drop off and the priest tapped one of my teeth **

:eek::eek::eek:
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It’s also worth noting that the priest usually has to finish what’s left, as the consecrated elements are only reserved during certain times of the year. That is, he eats what’s left after all of the communicants have eaten from the same spoon. As our priests told some of the more squeamish folks in our into to Orthodoxy class, “we have to finish what’s left, and we don’t get sick; believe in God, and you’ll be fine.”
 
mellowcheddar said:
Well, I didn’t go yesterday due to sheer laziness, but there is a 12:10 service today and I need to go to the bank up there anyhow, so I’ll have some culture after I go to the bank!
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Wow. Must be a pretty substantial parish if they have weekday Divine Liturgy. 🙂 Around here only the ROCOR Cathedral has daily Divine Liturgy, plus Vespers & Matins. I wouldn’t expect there to be many people there on a weekday, probably a cantor doing plain chant rather than a choir, possibly no deacon (major player in DL), and no eating together afterward. Not much of an introduction for you to us… but I could be wrong… 🙂
 
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