Melkites

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John_of_Patmos

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How close are the Melkites to the Antiochean Orthodox, with Latinizations and such? In other words, are they essentially Antiochean Orthodox in communion with Rome?
Could a Caucasian fit into the Melkite Church well? Do they have any good seminaries in the US? Monasteries?
Are the Melkites the most ecumenical Eastern Catholics?
Thank you!
 
John_of_Patmos said:
How close are the Melkites to the Antiochean Orthodox, with Latinizations and such? In other words, are they essentially Antiochean Orthodox in communion with Rome?
Could a Caucasian fit into the Melkite Church well? Do they have any good seminaries in the US? Monasteries?
Are the Melkites the most ecumenical Eastern Catholics?
Thank you!
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You’ve asked a lot of great questions here! Essentially the Melkites, in their de-Latinized form, are identical to their Antiochian Orthodox counterpart, save for the celebration of a few local saints. Here in the U.S. they often use our Liturgical books (i.e. the ones published by Sophia Publications, the Eparchy’s publishing company), and we often use theirs (for that matter, the Greek Orthodox also frequently use our liturgical books). It has been the goal of the Melkites to essentially be Antiochian Greek Orthodox in communion with the See of Rome. In fact, there was no clear cut separation of the Melkites/Antiochians from Rome until the 18th Century, but the history there is rather complicated. The success of that goal, sadly, varies from parish to parish. You will still find here in the U.S. Melkite parishes that are heavily Latinized. Our current bishop is working hard to eradicate those lingering Latinizations, but there is only so much he can do without the cooperation of the laity and some few clergy.

Whether or not a white male would fit in at a Melkite parish really depends on the parish. At my own parish, a good number of the faithful are caucasian, with some Asians, Indians, Africans, and Hispanics as well as the Middle Eastern element. The majority of our clergy are caucasian (all 5 deacons as well as our pastor. Of the two priests that assist our pastor one is from Lebanon [but has been here longer than I’ve been alive], and the other is of Middle Eastern descent, although I believe he was born here in the U.S.). That being said, I’ve heard of one parish at least who will all but throw you out of the church for not being of Middle Eastern descent. The best way to find out is to go to the parish nearest you. In general the Arabs are extremely welcoming to visitors.

(Cont.)
 
John_of_Patmos said:
How close are the Melkites to the Antiochean Orthodox, with Latinizations and such? In other words, are they essentially Antiochean Orthodox in communion with Rome?
Could a Caucasian fit into the Melkite Church well? Do they have any good seminaries in the US? Monasteries?
Are the Melkites the most ecumenical Eastern Catholics?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
At one point there was a Melkite monastery here in the U.S. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit just over a year ago. Sadly the monastery has been closed down - it closed just a couple of months after I visited. But we do sorely need a monastery. Were I not already married I would seriously be considering approaching the bishop and asking his permission to either reopen the monastery or establish a new one.

In recent decades the Melkites, along with the Ukrainians, have been the most ecumenical of the Eastern Catholic Churches. In fact, the project of de-Latinization and the reestablishing of authentic Eastern heritage at Vatican II was spearheaded by the Melkite Patriarch Maximos IV and the bishops accompanying him. Such great luminaries as His Beatitude Patriarch Maximos IV, Archbishop Elias Zoghby, Patriarch Gregorios III, Archbishop Joseph Tawil, Archbishop Joseph Raya, et al. are among the most well-known of those Melkite Greek Catholics who were/are actively working for a restoration of communion between themselves and the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, as well as to Rome itself. 👍
 
Phillip_Rolfes said:
At one point there was a Melkite monastery here in the U.S. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit just over a year ago. Sadly the monastery has been closed down - it closed just a couple of months after I visited. But we do sorely need a monastery. Were I not already married I would seriously be considering approaching the bishop and asking his permission to either reopen the monastery or establish a new one.
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Is that St Basil’s in Methuen? If so, I’m not sure it was ever a real monastery in the true sense, but anyway, doesn’t it still exist as the BSO centre, or has that been closed too? :confused: If not, which monastery do you mean?
 
malphono said:
Is that St Basil’s in Methuen? If so, I’m not sure it was ever a real monastery in the true sense, but anyway, doesn’t it still exist as the BSO centre, or has that been closed too? :confused: If not, which monastery do you mean?
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The monastery to which I was referring was “Our Lady of Solitude Cloister” in northern PA. I don’t know much, if anything, about St. Basil’s.
 
I would love to visit a Melkite parish, but unfortunately the closest is about 300 miles away 😦
 
Don,

If it’s a good parish, I think you’d be pleasantly surprised at just how “Orthodox” the Melkites are. 😃 I know that if/when my wife and I move from the D.C. area, we are really going to miss our parish, especially if there isn’t a Melkite parish near our new location.
 
John_of_Patmos said:
How close are the Melkites to the Antiochean Orthodox, with Latinizations and such? In other words, are they essentially Antiochean Orthodox in communion with Rome?
Click to expand...
I have yet to attend an Antiochian Orthodox liturgy (such a parish exists in the city I call home for most of the year, so I’d like to get there eventually). I’ve been to a Melkite church three times in the past month–one Sunday morning during Lent, the evening of Good Friday, and the morning of Easter Sunday. The liturgy was about as far as you can get from the typical Latin Novus Ordo Mass; the most suitable word to describe the experience would be along the lines of “awe-inspiring”.
Could a Caucasian fit into the Melkite Church well?
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The Melkite parish I’ve been to has most of the liturgy in Arabic. I can understand some parts–e.g., “Al-Abb wa al-Ibn wa al-RouH al-Qudus” is “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”–but most of the time I’m pretty lost. 🙂

If you don’t know any Arabic and like to understand exactly what’s being said, you might want to look for a Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish instead. Though you might be lucky enough to find a Melkite church with an English liturgy.
Do they have any good seminaries in the US? Monasteries?
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Unfortunately, I can’t speak to these matters.
Are the Melkites the most ecumenical Eastern Catholics?
Click to expand...
The people I’ve met at the Melkite Church have been warm and friendly thus far, though my experience may be so positive because (1) I’m a completely blind twenty-something Caucasian who comes alone, and (2) I’m learning both Modern Standard and Lebanese Arabic. Also, the priest has even told me that we can make a habit of sitting down to talk after Sunday morning liturgy. Only one other priest has made a similar offer to me before.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Tikram, ya akhi kariim! (You’re welcome, my dear brother!)
 
John_of_Patmos said:
How close are the Melkites to the Antiochean Orthodox, with Latinizations and such? In other words, are they essentially Antiochean Orthodox in communion with Rome?
Could a Caucasian fit into the Melkite Church well? Do they have any good seminaries in the US? Monasteries?
Are the Melkites the most ecumenical Eastern Catholics?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
The answers to the first three depend on where you go. (though, generally, the answers are “fairly close, yes, yes”) Unfortunately, I can only say “go to your local parish, attend it for a few weeks, and see if you feel at home there”.

For the past 10+ years, the Melkites have not had a seminary and have sent their seminarians to other jurisdictions. As mentioned in other posts, I’m unaware of any monasteries per se. And unfortunately, it’s IMO impossible to answer the last question. 😉
 
I guess I can only speak to how well a Caucasian would fit in.

Being a Caucasian male, I don’t think anyone looked twice at me when I’ve visited the Melkite Church. I’ve been to the Cathedral in Boston as well as a parish in Rhode Island and everything has been fine. Both the churches have an English (often with some Arabic) DL as well as a second one in Arabic on Sundays.

Hope this helped!
 
MarkosC said:
The answers to the first three depend on where you go.
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Just so. The first Melkite parish I belonged was mostly people who had grown up LC. It was rare to hear anything but English there.

My second Melkite parish (after I moved several years ago) was much more ethnic – although even there you’d hear more English than Greek or Arabic.
 
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