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Ora_et_Labora_1
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Is there an equivalent to the Preface in the non-Latin liturgies? If so, are there any specific ones for the case of a “Nuptial Mass”?
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malphono
Guest
Yes. It’s the Preface.
No, there’s not one specific for a “Nuptial Mass.” The Preface is part of the Anaphora. 
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MorEphrem
Guest
I’m probably incorrect, but by preface do you mean the preface of the anaphora (Eucharistic Prayer)?
If not, I assume the part prefacing our equivalent of the Liturgy of the Word. In that case, I can’t speak for the Byzantine rite, but in the West Syriac rite in every liturgy there is a hoosoyo (forgiveness) before readings that is composed of four parts: Proemion, which introduces the idea of whatever is being feasted, Sedro, which is a series of petitions related to the purpose of that feast, Qolo, which is a hymn related to the purpose of that feast and a concluding Etro, a prayer in which a priest offers incense.
So for instance since it’s the season of the Holy Cross an appropriate hoosoyo would begin with a doxology pertaining to the cross, followed by a list of petitions asking to be signed and protected by the Cross, a hymn about the soteriological function of the Cross and then concluded by a priest burning incense in commemoration of the redemptive Cross.
If not, I assume the part prefacing our equivalent of the Liturgy of the Word. In that case, I can’t speak for the Byzantine rite, but in the West Syriac rite in every liturgy there is a hoosoyo (forgiveness) before readings that is composed of four parts: Proemion, which introduces the idea of whatever is being feasted, Sedro, which is a series of petitions related to the purpose of that feast, Qolo, which is a hymn related to the purpose of that feast and a concluding Etro, a prayer in which a priest offers incense.
So for instance since it’s the season of the Holy Cross an appropriate hoosoyo would begin with a doxology pertaining to the cross, followed by a list of petitions asking to be signed and protected by the Cross, a hymn about the soteriological function of the Cross and then concluded by a priest burning incense in commemoration of the redemptive Cross.
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Ora_et_Labora_1
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So varying Prefaces is a charicteristically Latin thing?Yes. It’s the Preface.
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malphono
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Basically yes. In the Syriac Churches (and I believe this is true for the rest of the Orient and the Byzantines as well), each Anaphora has it’s own Preface. So the Preface only varies depending on the Anaphora being used.
I seem to recall something about the Mozarabic Rite having a lot a variant Prefaces. Almost daily, I think, but I suppose patrick457 would be better suited to supplying details.
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Denho
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Indeed, the chant for them is also quite fun. You can hear one here:Basically yes. In the Syriac Churches (and I believe this is true for the rest of the Orient and the Byzantines as well), each Anaphora has it’s own Preface. So the Preface only varies depending on the Anaphora being used.
I seem to recall something about the Mozarabic Rite having a lot a variant Prefaces. Almost daily, I think, but I suppose patrick457 would be better suited to supplying details.
youtu.be/0guT53naKxQ
And that video has some commentary that says a bit more:
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Aramis
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The byzantine rite divine liturgy has no preface, per se. The opening of the liturgy is the invocation of the Liturgy, and right into the first litany. The beginning of the anaphora is a run of fixed texts, one each for the two divine liturgies (St. Basil, St. John), and they’re pretty similar, and the first is a secret prayer while the people sing the cherubikon. The cherubikon is fixed text, but proper melody.
Crowning in marriage is also not traditionally done during the Divine Liturgy, either; it’s a separate sefvice by tradition, but may be followed by liturgy. (Likewise, consent is traditionally obtained before the crowning liturgy.) (Our parish’s last one was a saturday afternoon at 3ish; vigil liturgy was at the normal time, saturday evening at 6.)
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has the text up: goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_texts/wedding
Note even the absence of the inquiry of consent… that’s obtained separately.
Crowning in marriage is also not traditionally done during the Divine Liturgy, either; it’s a separate sefvice by tradition, but may be followed by liturgy. (Likewise, consent is traditionally obtained before the crowning liturgy.) (Our parish’s last one was a saturday afternoon at 3ish; vigil liturgy was at the normal time, saturday evening at 6.)
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has the text up: goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_texts/wedding
Note even the absence of the inquiry of consent… that’s obtained separately.
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malphono
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Whether or not the word “Preface” is used, the Byzantines do have the same thing. It’s the “Prayer to the Father” (after the universally used “Let us lift up our hearts”) and it is indeed “fixed” according to the particular Anaphora, albeit that the bulk is traditionally a “low-voice” prayer.
In the Syriac Churches (and the books don’t use the word “Preface” either), it’s the same thing. The prayer (actually 3 prayers: low-voice, aloud, low-voice) is always to the Father and is also fixed by Anaphora.
Both are analogous to the Latin “Preface” and serve the exact same purpose.
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Aramis
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The Roman preface is a proper (variable), not and ordinary (fixed), and is a public prayer. The Byzantine rubrics there are that it be spoken softly while the people sing the cherubikon; it’s therefore a VERY different function based upon how the OP is asking about them.
The Roman preface is specifically both prayer to the father and instruction of the people. The Byzantine is not instructional; it is preparation of the clergy.
So, by being secret and during a public prayer, it’s NOT the same as the Roman preface with an instructional role. Due to the rubrics, the Byzantine is heard only by clergy and servers.
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malphono
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The OP’s question was very simple:
and the answer to that question is “Yes” irrespective of whether it’s said aloud or in low-voice.
The answer to the second part of the question
is “No” since (a) there is no “Nuptial Mass” as such in the Orient & East and (b) the prayers in question are fixed according to the Anaphora used.
Whether it’s “instructional” or not isn’t really the point. And I didn’t say they were “the same” but merely that they are analogous and serve the same purpose insofar as they are Prayers to the Father.
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Ora_et_Labora_1
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Many thanks for all those who answered.
I forgot that the Nuptial Mass is a sort of votive Mass, and as non-Latins don’t have the concept, then anything analogous to it doesn’t exist outisde of the Latin Church.
I had heard about the Mozarabic having an almost daily varying Preface.
Some one once mentioned to me that the Bragan rite only had one Preface, but I’ll have to look into that to acertain the veracity of such a claim.
I forgot that the Nuptial Mass is a sort of votive Mass, and as non-Latins don’t have the concept, then anything analogous to it doesn’t exist outisde of the Latin Church.
I had heard about the Mozarabic having an almost daily varying Preface.
Some one once mentioned to me that the Bragan rite only had one Preface, but I’ll have to look into that to acertain the veracity of such a claim.
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patrick457
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Exactly. And the Mozarabic Illationes (which is what it was called in that rite) could oftentimes be very long, especially when compared to the Roman Prefaces. This is what Dom Fernand Cabrol had to say about the Illatio:Basically yes. In the Syriac Churches (and I believe this is true for the rest of the Orient and the Byzantines as well), each Anaphora has it’s own Preface. So the Preface only varies depending on the Anaphora being used.
I seem to recall something about the Mozarabic Rite having a lot a variant Prefaces. Almost daily, I think, but I suppose patrick457 would be better suited to supplying details.
We are obliged to say the same thing of the “Illatio” itself. The Mozarabic books offer the richest and most varied collection of “Illationes;” hardly a Mass but has its own; some of them comprise many columns of text, and if they were sung, these must have lasted at least half an hour. We will attempt presently to discover their authors. But we may say at once that they form a dogmatic collection which is priceless for the study of theological history in Spain during the Middle Ages, and a collection which, it must be confessed, has as yet been but little studied. It contains pages which do honor to the learning, the depth, and the culture of Spanish theologians from the fifth-ninth centuries. We have treated the question of the orthodoxy of this liturgy elsewhere (see “Liturgia,” p. 816). Here and there we do doubtless find a few singular opinions, but taken as a whole what riches of doctrine, what fervor of faith and piety i Here are real theological theses, and long panegyrics for the Feasts of Saints, especially for the Saints of Spain, like St. Vincent or St. Eulalia. We will mention only the “Illationes” on the Samaritan, on the man born blind, on fasting, on the Trinity, on the Descent into hell, on the Patriarchs, etc. (The first of these are in the “Liber Sacramentorum,” edited by Dom Ferotin, pp. 167, 178, 184, 224, and 290; that on the Patriarchs in P.L., Vol. LXXXV, cols. 271 and 287. See also the “Illatio” on the Trinity, col. 281.)
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patrick457
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To confess something, I was the one who posted that video. Good ol’ times.
As the others mentioned, in the Byzantine liturgy at least the text of the Anaphora is really more or less invariable, unlike the Latin equivalents of it. Eastern liturgies know many anaphoras, but each of them is almost completely invariable; by contrast, the Roman Rite had for centuries only one the Roman Canon, but it has variable parts according to the liturgical year, mainly the Preface. In other Latin rites (such as the Gallican liturgies and the related Mozarabic) the prayer after the Sanctus and the prayer after the Institution narrative till the doxology - called Post Sanctus and Post Pridie in the Mozarabic, respectively - are also completely variable.
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Ora_et_Labora_1
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Thanks for the link!
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Aramis
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Only three are used for the Byzantines, and of those, 1 is almost exclusively Antiochian & Melchite, used by them 2 times a year.To confess something, I was the one who posted that video. Good ol’ times.
As the others mentioned, in the Byzantine liturgy at least the text of the Anaphora is really more or less invariable, unlike the Latin equivalents of it. Eastern liturgies know many anaphoras, but each of them is almost completely invariable; by contrast, the Roman Rite had for centuries only one the Roman Canon, but it has variable parts according to the liturgical year, mainly the Preface. In other Latin rites (such as the Gallican liturgies and the related Mozarabic) the prayer after the Sanctus and the prayer after the Institution narrative till the doxology - called Post Sanctus and Post Pridie in the Mozarabic, respectively - are also completely variable.
The liturgy of St. Basil is prescribed for specific times, and proscribed for almost all others. The liturgy of St John is the “routine” anaphora.
Votive propers have worked their way into at least the Ruthenian church - specific changes for liturgies following on from baptism are allowed. The Anaphora is unchanged, but the propers in the Liturgy of the Word may have the baptismal propers added, and “All you who have been baptized” is sung in place of two other hymns if that’s done.
Likewise, propers for certain national feasts (4 July, Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day) are extant and permitted, but not required, within Pittsburgh Metropolia. They are not in the pewbook, but are distributed via Metropolitan Cantor Institute.
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