Is it OK for me to attend an Byzantine Easter service?

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David_Chryso

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I just joined the Church last Easter and have been looking at the Byzantine Catholic rites. As our Holy Father JP2 has said I want to “breath with both lungs”. The spirituality and beauty are drawing me. I would like to attend a Byzantine service at Easter. I have tried to contact to priests and have not gotten a reply. Is it wrong for me to join my Eastern brothers and sisters on such a special day? I really want to go but I don’t want to desturb them or offend them. Any ideas on whether or not it is proper or allowed for me to attend?
I would have to travel a ways to attend. FYI
 
David_Chryso said:
I just joined the Church last Easter and have been looking at the Byzantine Catholic rites. As our Holy Father JP2 has said I want to “breath with both lungs”. The spirituality and beauty are drawing me. I would like to attend a Byzantine service at Easter. I have tried to contact to priests and have not gotten a reply. Is it wrong for me to join my Eastern brothers and sisters on such a special day? I really want to go but I don’t want to desturb them or offend them. Any ideas on whether or not it is proper or allowed for me to attend?
I would have to travel a ways to attend. FYI
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There is no reason why you should not be allowed to attend Pascha at a Byzantine Catholic Church. As a canonical Latin Catholic, you can even receive communion there. I wouldn’t take the lack of response too harshly. It could simply be that they’re busy or that they’re not too tech savvy.

I’ve found that the best way to contact Eastern priests is to attend the parish and meet the priest in person. Perhaps you can go to Divine Liturgy on a Sunday during Lent, and after the Divine Liturgy, introduce yourself to the priest.
 
Go, go, go!

Sit back, relax and watch what’s going on. Take in the beauty of the Divine Liturgy. Eastern Catholics are used to us Latin rites visiting, so don’t be shy 😃 The more you attend the more you’ll learn.

The Byzantine Divine Liturgy is the same representation of the Last Supper as the Roman Rite Mass. The Divine Liturgy is offered by a validly ordained priest recognized by and in union with Rome. So your Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation will be fulfilled!

The Eucharist is given on a spoon. The priest will drop in into your mouth. Don’t close your mouth while the spoon is still in there :eek:

God bless,
ZP
 
Why not? I have attended Divine Liturgy in a number of Eastern Catholic churches of different rites, and found the people and clergy most welcoming. One Ruthenian priest, who later was a bishop, joked about the number of “Latin spies” who attended his parish on Sundays and Holy Days.
Enjoy. And, provided you are in a state of grace, join in Holy Communion, too.
 
I am a byzcath in Romania. I frequently attend the romcath Divine Service here, when at my parish the Mass is at unconvenient time for me. I go to the romcath cathedral (where there are several Masses squeduled), I go to confess my sins, I take the Holy Sacrament there. This is the literally meaning of the concept of “full communion”.
 
The parish that I want to attend is quite far away so I will be unable to attend before Pascha. I have been to a Divine Liturgy before and am aware of how to recieve. I did go to Vespers at the parish I want to attend and they were very inviting. They reminded me that there were several different rites is the Catholic Church and invited me to com back whenever I could. I was only concerned that Easter might be too “intimate” for nonregular members to attend. I am very excited to go and will take my 3 daughters to show them the beauty of the East and the joy of being in communion with them. I can’t wait!😃
 
It should be a great experience. I suspect their service may be quite a bit longer than the Western Church’s service; so be prepared.
 
Easter is likely to be about the most crowded a parish (any Catholic or Orthodox Parish) gets; Christmas is about as bad.

All the twice-a-year crowd tend to show up. Plus a lot of “eastern attending in the Latin Church” come visit for Easter or Christmas.

Further, lots of protestants who are “between parishes” show up. A lot of “I read the bible” types also tend to hit the nearest church for Christmas and Easter, too. These folks can be amusing to watch during liturgy… usually quite lost, and wondering what the * is going on, and what language that is, and choking on the thick clouds of incense. I do feel sorry for them, since most presumed they’d see a pageant, sing a few hymns, and hear a sermon, sit on a nice comfy pew and be done in an hour or two. But then they instead get Resurrection Matins, and a 2 hour DL, and clouds of incense… overwhelmed with Smells & Bells, Songs and standing…

Plus the curious Latins…

All in all, a parish with a nominal 50/week can hit 150+ attending, and over 80 being communed.
 
David_Chryso said:
I would like to attend a Byzantine service at Easter. I have tried to contact to priests and have not gotten a reply.
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Try contacting the deacons. He/they might be better able to reply. As others said, like everywhere, other people will come who don’t usually come. You may want to ask what time to arrive if you want to find parking and to get inside 🙂

You could ask also when does that parish bless their Pascha baskets. You might be able to join in that also.
 
In my Ruthenian parish, average attendance is 10-20 people (that might be a bit generous, acutally). On Easter we can expect 50 or more. Like any church, we have higher attendance on Easter. In addition to first time visitors, we often have family members of parishoners, former parishioners, or current parishioners who can’t regularly make the drive. We are usually thrilled to have visitors. I think Easter is a perfect time to visit, but be prepared to be there a long time.
 
David_Chryso said:
The parish that I want to attend is quite far away so I will be unable to attend before Pascha. I have been to a Divine Liturgy before and am aware of how to recieve. I did go to Vespers at the parish I want to attend and they were very inviting. They reminded me that there were several different rites is the Catholic Church and invited me to com back whenever I could. I was only concerned that Easter might be too “intimate” for nonregular members to attend. I am very excited to go and will take my 3 daughters to show them the beauty of the East and the joy of being in communion with them. I can’t wait!😃
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You may also want to try and find out what services they will be having and the times.

Many Rutheian parishes will have Resurrection Matins on Saturday evening and Resurrection Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. The Resurrection Matins service should not be missed.
There is no communion service as part of the Resurrection Matins service so, you may have to go back on Sunday morning.
 
Absolutely! In fact, our priests actively encourage guests at any time, including holy days.
 
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