Interested in Byzantine Catholicism

[Peter_J]

Communion is from a spoon.

Unless it’s a Melkite parish.

 

[Peter_J]

That going to a Byzantine liturgy isn’t a big deal.

Or I should say, it could be a big deal inasmuch as your first time could lead to you going to hundreds of Byzantine liturgies.

 

[Aramis]

So the panachida takes 20 -30 minutes or so. I’m not sure what metavania is, so I don’t know how long it lasts.

Probably means mirovanije, the blessing of bread and annointing with oils.

 

[UncleBill]

Why? We only have a priest available maybe Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Sunday, and very few parishioners come other than Sunday. I must say, I am one that usually misses Saturday because I have children and get caught up with different activities they are involved in.

Our Liturgical life is directed by the Typicon…the Typicon forbids both the litany for the dead AND the Panachida to be prayed on Sunday, as Sunday is the day of Resurrection…sort of like why we don’t kneel on Sundays.

Liturgy is not something we just do because it is convenient or because there are more people attending…we follow (or should follow) the rules Holy Tradition and the Fathers have given us.

Here is a link to an article on the Kollavedes controversy addressing this issue.

orthodoxwiki.org/Kollyvades_Movement

 

[ByzKat]

UncleBill:

The article you quote contains a further link with the text:

The Ecumenical Patriarchate by decisions of the Holy Synod finally put an end to the ‘kollyvades’ issue, by ruling that memorial services could be held as circumstances demanded and that Holy Communion, with the proper preparation, could be received frequently

So it’s not obvious to me that “the Orthodox position” is that a panachida must never be celebrated on Sunday, independent of circumstances. This is definitely a matter of jurisdictional practice and economia; our local ROCOR parish routinely celebrates panachidas after the Sunday Divine Liturgy, for 40 day and 1-year memorials.

 

[rciadan]

…At least you’ll have gone the one time.

I would fervently suggest you plan from the beginning to go at least two times, because the first, having never been before, may be more confusion than anything else. You may be overwhelmed with just trying to “keep up” with what is going on. The second time will be more relaxed and you will be more prone to allow yourself to just “experience” it.

 

[nschmitz10]

I’m a Roman Catholic, but often attend the Ukrainian Catholic Divine Liturgy, and I enjoy talking with the Byzantine priest. He has helped me grow closer to God. I strongly recommend attending Divine Liturgy. Catholic Answers offers many resources in helping understand the Byzantine Rite.

 

[Peter_J]

I’m a Roman Catholic, but often attend the Ukrainian Catholic Divine Liturgy

That’s just how I started: attending a UGCC parish every other week or so. (Then after some months of that, I started going to a Melkite parish every week. Now it’s more than ten years later and I’m still going to a Melkite parish – not the same one, though, since I moved several years ago.)

 

[Peter_J]

I would fervently suggest you plan from the beginning to go at least two times, because the first, having never been before, may be more confusion than anything else. You may be overwhelmed with just trying to “keep up” with what is going on. The second time will be more relaxed and you will be more prone to allow yourself to just “experience” it.

I quite agree. And even then, I’d say don’t assume a “final decision” at that point.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the myriads of Latins-gone-East who say “The first [or second] time I went to the Byzantine liturgy, I could tell it was for me. I’m still going there X years later.” That’s great, of course; I’m just saying that I think it is also fine if someone initially thinks “This is what I want for the rest of my life” but changes his/her mind later on.

 

[rciadan]

I quite agree. And even then, I’d say don’t assume a “final decision” at that point.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the myriads of Latins-gone-East who say “The first [or second] time I went to the Byzantine liturgy, I could tell it was for me. I’m still going there X years later.” That’s great, of course; I’m just saying that I think it is also fine if someone initially thinks “This is what I want for the rest of my life” but changes his/her mind later on.

Wise words. Even though I became enamored with the Divine Liturgy almost immediately, there were still other things to take into consideration before I decided to make it my parish. I wanted to understand at least the general overview of the theology of the DL, some of the history of the Church, and to some extent, how the Church hierarchy works, etc.
I guess it is a little analogous to “getting to understand her a little and find out if you want to know more about her…and get to know the family a little, too, before you marry her.”
Does that make sense?