Russian Orthodoxy

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Do Russian Orthodox parishes offer Daily Mass much like how Roman Catholic parishes do? Is there an equivalent?
 
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But the masses in the monasteries are open to the public, right?
 
Salibi said:
But the masses in the monasteries are open to the public, right?
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Yes but in Europe at least we are advised to understand that monasteries are special places. Sometimes the priest may refuse to give the Eucharist unless he heard your confession himself.
Monasteries are for devotional people aka monks and nuns. Many people believe their Eucharist is ‘more special’. So I find it reasonable that they want to make sure people who receive are ready for it.
Confession at monasteries I have heard to be tougher and more detailed and even of people receiving 2 years ban and such.
Monasteries are stricter. And I feel they are rightly so.
 
Interesting. Thanks for the info. I now have other questions actually, but I don’t want to hijack the OP’s thread.

OP, would you kindly allow me to ask questions on your thread?
 
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Mary888 said:
Yes but in Europe at least we are advised to understand that monasteries are special places. Sometimes the priest may refuse to give the Eucharist unless he heard your confession himself.
Monasteries are for devotional people aka monks and nuns. Many people believe their Eucharist is ‘more special’. So I find it reasonable that they want to make sure people who receive are ready for it.
Confession at monasteries I have heard to be tougher and more detailed and even of people receiving 2 years ban and such.
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Are you referring to Catholic or Orthodox monasteries?
 
No- not like a Roman Catholic parish would. For example, every once in a while, we’ll have liturgy during the week to commemorate a saint that is very beloved, or if it is the parish feast day, or something of that nature. If it is a feast day of the Church, then there will be a liturgy, or if it is during Great Lent, then we will have pre-sanctified liturgy on Wednesdays. However, usually, there are no daily liturgies. Some parishes will have daily Matins and Vespers though.

As was already stated, you really won’t find daily liturgy outside of a monastery.
 
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That definitely sounds like an Orthodox monastery situation.
 
traditional_1 said:
Do Russian Orthodox parishes offer Daily Mass much like how Roman Catholic parishes do? Is there an equivalent?
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In the US, the answer is typically no. Even the larger Orthodox parishes I am familiar with do not have daily Divine Liturgies. They may offer Divine Liturgy one week day and have Vespers a few weeknights as well.

Orthodoxy doesn’t really have a daily version of the Divine Liturgy that would be short enough to fit into a typical lunch hour for example. Orthodoxy just hasn’t developed the practice of daily Eucharistic services outside of a monastic setting.
 
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In theory, the Divine Liturgy is daily in the East, outside of Lent.

In practice, there aren’t enough people or resources to do this in most parishes.

Mine, for example, has Wednesday liturgy during the week, sometimes replaced with an adult ed class.

And in Lent, the East fasts from the liturgy during the week, but with a presanctified liturgy on Wednesday and Friday.

The monastic version is normative, but you could count the parishes worldwide that keep that schedule on a hand or two . . .
 
In this sense, does the “life” of a married Orthodox priest more reflect that of a Protestant Minister than a Catholic Priest?

The typical Protestant pastor may spend the week meeting with his flock, attending meetings, preparing his sermon, etc… but there isn’t that same daily focus on the sacraments. At our cathedral, for example, there are four daily Masses and 7 Sunday Masses, plus 3 confession times daily… the priests in residence have a very much full time liturgical / sacramental role.
 
Admittedly I bristled a bit in the comparison to a Protestant minister, but I know you meant nothing untoward by it. But by your explanation of what you mean that does seem to fit, perhaps with a few caveats. If a parishioner requested to see a priest for confession, They would do so. Likewise bringing the Eucharist to the home bound or ill.

Another factor that plays into this, though it impacts Sunday most obviously, is that in the Orthodox church, the Eucharist may only be served on a given altar once per day and a Priest may only serve once per day. Unless a parish is large enough to have a chapel with additional altar and a second Priest, at most there will only be one Divine Liturgy per day.
 
And I assume Orthodox priests still have a daily office to pray, as Catholic priests do?

If, for example, Matins and Vespers are not served communally in the parish, would a priest still pray them privately, as in the Roman Rite?
 
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twf said:
And I assume Orthodox priests still have a daily office to pray, as Catholic priests do?
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I believe that’s the case, though I would be rather hesitant to say so authoritatively. In any case I’m not sure if that requirement would extend beyond the canonical hours as both Vespers and especially Matins would be pretty significant time commitments. Matins alone generally takes at least an hour to read through.

This is total speculation but I suspect Bishops would set their Priests up with a prayer rule that balances the need for prayer with the realities of duty to family. How that’s accomplished, I have no idea.
 
That makes sense. I know Latin deacons are expected to pray much less of the Office than priests, as the former are generally married and the latter not.

And of course the post-Vatican II Liturgy of the Hours, when recited in private, is much shorter than say the monastic office…
 
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twf said:
And I assume Orthodox priests still have a daily office to pray, as Catholic priests do?

If, for example, Matins and Vespers are not served communally in the parish, would a priest still pray them privately, as in the Roman Rite?
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I would be surprised if Orthodox priests have an obligation to pray the hours in the same way as Latin Rite priests do. Eastern Catholic priests do not. Vespers, in particular, is designed to be prayed within the parish setting.
 
The Russian Patriarchal Cathedral in London (UK) has daily evening service (usually vespers, sometimes other or with additions) and it has daily Divine Liturgy in the mornings except on fast days (Great Lent) when Liturgy is not served (there is another service instead) and excepting Mondays when the Cathedral is cleaned after the week and even busier weekend. There are several priests and deacons serving the cathedral (which is also considered to be a parish in its own right), plus the bishop, so it is not a problem to have a daily Liturgy (with the exceptions noted above). Such is the practice also in most large Cathedrals and churches in Russia itself.
 
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Isaac14 said:
is that in the Orthodox church, the Eucharist may only be served on a given altar once per day and a Priest may only serve once per day
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That’s the case in the RCC, too–in theory.

In practice, almost all have a dispensation.

Some EC fully follow the rule you describe, though. There is an anguished papal writing, I forget which, that despairs over RCC priests rushing to beat EC priests their altars in the morning and say a Mass to prevents by the EC!
 
One Mass per priest, yes (though as you say many priests say more out of pastoral necessity)… but I didn’t realize the “one Mass per altar” rule was in effect?
Maybe once upon a time when cathedrals were built with countless side altars.
 
It’s not so much “per altar” as that a parish should have a mass, not multiple (or at least a single public Mass–we’re above my pay grade there!). Even with multiple altars, multiple masses is an aberration.
 
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