Melkite Greek Catholic wedding

[Kitsune633]

Hello I am posting this because I am curious in the wedding traditions of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. I want to know how is it performed, what traditions does it follow, how is it different from a Latin Rite wedding. Does it have any Arabian influence or anything that was influenced by Arabic culture? I want to know the traditions of this Eastern Catholic Church because of the curiosity that never ends.

 

[scottywolf777]

Hello I am posting this because I am curious in the wedding traditions of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. I want to know how is it performed, what traditions does it follow, how is it different from a Latin Rite wedding. Does it have any Arabian influence or anything that was influenced by Arabic culture? I want to know the traditions of this Eastern Catholic Church because of the curiosity that never ends.

i found this site which will get you started:
they refer to the sacrement of matrimony as the holy crowning and features a crowning ceremony of bride and groom like in all eastern churches that I’m aware of.

mlilies.com/melkite/holycrowning.shtml

 

[Cluny]

The only “arabian” influences in any Melkite service is the Arabic language.

Usually in the USA, English is used.

The service itself, like all other services, is pure Byzantine, indistinguishable from the other Byzantine Catholic churches or the Orthodox Church.

 

[Aramis]

The service itself, like all other services, is pure Byzantine, indistinguishable from the other Byzantine Catholic churches or the Orthodox Church.

The Melkites sometimes use Dipping of individual pieces of the precious body, unlike most other Byzantines, and have a few other distinctive elements… but one must be very attentive and aware to notice those. Also, with the new English translation, they have different wordings in the English liturgy from the Ruthenians and Ukrainians (and probably others that have approved English, but that’s neither here nor there).

They also use the DL of St. James on rare occasions; some other Byzantines do not. (It’s not approved for use in the Ruthenian church, for example).

 

[Kitsune633]

Uh the link doesn’t work, can anyone give me a new link pointing me out on Melkite wedding traditions or how it goes?

 

[scottywolf777]

Uh the link doesn’t work, can anyone give me a new link pointing me out on Melkite wedding traditions or how it goes?

I just tried it on yahoo. You’ll get a page not found 404 but if you scroll under it you’ll see a thing that says something about a melkite crowning click that and it should work. It gives the same exact spot that i copied off the computer url bar. I don’t know why it does that

 

[kaiserhaus]

I am Melkite Greek Catholic. The Church was founded by St Peter before he went to Rome. It is where “Christians” were first called that. It is Arabic in culture and tradition. The reason Greek is in the name is because the Divine Liturgy is Greek based (almost indistinguishable from the Greek or Russian Orthodox). Our Liturgy is sung in Arabic, Greek, English and even a little Spanish now and then! Melkite comes from the term “Melka” which means the “king’s men” and it was coined when the great schism with East and West was taking place. The “melkas” chose to stay with the King or Holy Roman Emperor and were then called Melkites. The Melkites are very active in both worlds…the eastern and the western. Pope JPII said the Church had two lungs - we should all learn to breathe from them both…eastern and western. The Melkites have a set of tones they use for Divine Liturgy and they differ greatly from other eastern rites. Ruthenians have their own tones and their own wording, as one of the commentators stated previously. Many parishes on the east coast use more English in their Liturgy. Our parish is very much a first-generation immigrant parish and we use half English and half Arabic, on alternating Sundays. The sacraments are done very differently from the Latin rite Church. We baptize, confirm, and give Holy Communion to infants. We use the Annointing of the Sick whenever anyone asks. We do annointings for traveling; annually everyone’s cars are blessed, too. There is a blessing for just about everything. The Crowning Ceremony is absolutely amazing. I was married in the Latin rite and when we celebrated our 25th Anniversary, we had a crowning ceremony. My husband is an ordained Melkite deacon and he and I have journeyed many years in our faith. It was a personal high point to be crowned. The couple do not crown themselves, as in a Latin rite marriage, where the priest is just a witness. In the Melkite (and most eastern rites) the priest marries the couple and he performs the sacrament. We become a domestic church and our crowns are symbolic of the crowns we receive in Heaven. You can always google Melkite wedding traditions. You can also check with the Eparchy of Newton, the only one in the USA. www.melkite.org.

There is much to be gained from venturing to the eastern side of the Catholic Church. There is beauty we can learn and faith we share. We also attend Latin rite masses and are still active in all our godchildren’s lives, even though they are still Latin rite. Our two eldest sons are still Latin rite. Our youngest is Melkite. We breathe heartily with both lungs!!

 

[kaiserhaus]

P.S. The Holy Bread is leavened in the Melkite Church. When you dip it in the Precious Blood, that is called “intincture” and the priest places it on your tongue. Some other rites use a spoon. We only use a spoon once a year; during Lent. The bread is leavened because the eastern rites follow a different scripture than the Latin rite. But it’s all Jesus!!

 

[ciero]

The Melkites sometimes use Dipping of individual pieces of the precious body, unlike most other Byzantines, and have a few other distinctive elements… but one must be very attentive and aware to notice those. Also, with the new English translation, they have different wordings in the English liturgy from the Ruthenians and Ukrainians (and probably others that have approved English, but that’s neither here nor there).

They also use the DL of St. James on rare occasions; some other Byzantines do not. (It’s not approved for use in the Ruthenian church, for example).

I have been to the Liturgy of St. James in the Ruthenian church on MANY occasions. There is even pictures of it being celebrated at the Ruthenian seminary in Presov floating around the net.

 

[Shiranui117]

The bread is leavened because the eastern rites follow a different scripture than the Latin rite. But it’s all Jesus!!

? Forgive my ignorance of Eastern Christianity, but can you elaborate on this?

 

[kaiserhaus]

Sure. Here is a great article that really puts it all into perspective. If you need more detail, let me know: prosphora.org/page27.html

The Eastern rite Churches tend to lean toward the Orthodox in practice of their Liturgies and Traditions. There are many local parishes who have developed their own "t"raditions (small “t”) but those are not necessarily the same as those adopted by the Church at large and have a capital “T”. Let me know if this helps!:newidea:

 

[Shiranui117]

Sure. Here is a great article that really puts it all into perspective. If you need more detail, let me know: prosphora.org/page27.html

The Eastern rite Churches tend to lean toward the Orthodox in practice of their Liturgies and Traditions. There are many local parishes who have developed their own "t"raditions (small “t”) but those are not necessarily the same as those adopted by the Church at large and have a capital “T”. Let me know if this helps!:newidea:

Ahh, thank you very much, that was an excellent and very intriguing read.

 

[Aramis]

I have been to the Liturgy of St. James in the Ruthenian church on MANY occasions. There is even pictures of it being celebrated at the Ruthenian seminary in Presov floating around the net.

It’s not approved for the Pittsburgh Metropolia. What they do in Presov may or may not be approved, but I don’t have access to those rubrics.

 

[ciero]

It’s not approved for the Pittsburgh Metropolia. What they do in Presov may or may not be approved, but I don’t have access to those rubrics.

It may or may not be approved for the Pittsburgh Metropolia but it is often served within the Pittsburgh Metropolia(Van Nuys eparchy or whatever they now call it )