Latinization of the Maronite Church

[Filii_Dei]

But then it could be argued that much of Western civilization has its ultimate roots in the East, including its philosophy, medicine, science, mythology, art, etc., I would think. I mean how long did it take the West to realize the world was not flat when the Greeks had already developed solid geometry models of the earth long before Christ?

Forgive me if I’m reading your post wrongly, but is there an issue to this?

I’d give the much-cliched response that the West and East don’t exist in separate universes. There was a lot of cross-pollination, and at least in the early church, before traditions were concretely established and codified, I presume that there was a lot of exchange in practices as pilgrims and missionaries crossed borders and converged upon Jerusalem.

Furthermore, the Eastern Church is geographically closer than what the Asians would consider ‘East’. Even then, paper managed to make its way from China to Western Europe, so why not other things as well?

Whether such exchange is still acceptable, is of course, an issue that could be taken to a different thread.

 

[Deacon_Yuhanna]

These cogent postings illustrate the point I was making. That is, when a person from a Latin background looks at the Maronite Mass, he sees many familiar aspects. The trick of the eye is that they all appear to be Latin, but some in fact have Eastern roots and have been Latinized, while others have Latin roots and thus are genuine Latinizations. Therefore, the Maronite rite is not so Latinized as may seem from simply matching similarities. Yours in Christ, Deacon Yuhanna

 

[ProVobis]

Forgive me if I’m reading your post wrongly, but is there an issue to this?

Now that you mention it, I guess I’m totally lost in the discussion. They call it Latinization where I see it as Americanization, so I’ll refrain from making any further comments here.

 

[Michaela1]

I have recently discovered the Maronite service and love it! It is quite different, in a very positive way, from the Latin service. I feel a much greater spirituality in the Maronite service. There are prayers said in Aramaic. Incense is used. They do not kneel. The Eucharist involves intinction and is received on the tongue by all. Their sign of peace seems much more genuine to me and is much warmer. As Deacon Yuhanna said, “There are many small details which individually might be found elsewhere, but make a cumulative difference.” I hope there will always be a difference between the Latin and the Eastern Catholic rites because that way we will always have choice.

 

[bkovacs]

Here is a real nice Maronite Church. This church seems more Eastern than Latin.
ourladysmaronite.org/