Seeking to try Byzantine Catholic Liturgy one of these Sundays

[Mary_SHAV]

Well, that was actually another important question I should have asked… so Roman Catholics are allowed to receive communion in the Eastern Rite Churches? I wouldn’t ask that because the Eastern Rite Churches aren’t Catholic… I would ask that out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament. Any church has the right to say who can receive Communion and who can’t.

I would never ask that question pertaining to my attending
a Roman Rite church. Someone who does not share our
Catholic belief in the Body and Blood of Jesus or in a
state of mortal sin could be refused. But, if you are a
Catholic, in good standing with the church and the state
of grace…certainly you may receive Communion.
That is a universal teaching of our Catholic beliefs. Just
know in advance how we receive the Sacred Species,
watch what others in line do. I always tell my little grand
children to pretend they are a baby bird, open wide,
head back. Hands folded on chest, never allow the
Spoon to touch your lips. Hope this is helpful to you.
Others may have a more helpful hint for you.
“Hospody pomyluy”

 

[ChadS]

Hi Rick,

Another church you might want to check out, if you have the chance, is St. John Chrysostom located in the Run in Greenfield. It’s the church that can be seen on the right from the Parkway heading out of downtown towards the Squirrel Hill Tunnels. The church is beautiful inside. They are Byzantine Catholic and I believe (so don’t quote me on this) that their DLs are Saturday at 5:00 and then Sunday morning at either 8:30 or 9:00 (I’m not sure which).

Yes, any church that is communion with Rome you can receive the Eucharist at. This includes all the different rites mentioned in this post.

ChadS

 

[theistgal]

St John Chrysostom in Greenfield is indeed a beautiful church. Difficult to get to by way of public transportaion from the university though.

 

[SVP]

St John Chrysostom in Greenfield is indeed a beautiful church. Difficult to get to by way of public transportaion from the university though.

 

[bpbasilphx]

The requirement in Van Nuys was that one of the Paschal Sunday DL’s be that of St. Basil. So, lacking a deacon, and to hold his voice through Pascha, only one was. The pastor had the OPTION to use St. Basil for any of them. Likewise, same for Nativity of Our Lord. ISTR a couple others where it’s encouraged.

**To be precise, Vespers with the Liturgy of St. Basil is celebrated on the EVES of Nativity, Theophany, and Pascha, that is, on Holy Saturday.

If Christmas or Theopany fall on Sunday or Monday, Friday is aliturgical, St. John Chrysostom (not as a Vesperal Liturgy) is celerated on the Eve, and St. Basil on the Feast itself.**

 

[Aramis]

Well, that was actually another important question I should have asked… so Roman Catholics are allowed to receive communion in the Eastern Rite Churches? I wouldn’t ask that because the Eastern Rite Churches aren’t Catholic… I would ask that out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament. Any church has the right to say who can receive Communion and who can’t.

Yes, it is permitted for any Catholic in union with Rome to receive any sacrament except ordination from any parish in union with Rome.

Some dioceses/eparchies have stringent rules on preparedness (for example, recent confession being defined as within a week…), but in such cases, it is commonplace for confession to be available easily. Call ahead.

In general, if you are in a smaller parish, it’s best to talk to one of the Clerics (priest or deacon) before hand so they know who you are, and let them know who you are, where you are from, and so they can tell you how that particular parish receives the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In stricter places, if you need to hit confession before reception, usually the priest will hear it before morning prayers.

In some Byzantine traditions, the celebration and preparations begin Saturday night, with Vespers, followed by confession; then on Sunday morning, Matins and the Divine Liturgy.

Calling ahead on Friday gives plenty of time for information.

 

[ChadS]

St John Chrysostom in Greenfield is indeed a beautiful church. Difficult to get to by way of public transportaion from the university though.

“Difficult” isn’t the word. If you don’t make the bus schedule right you’ll miss the one you need and run the risk of missing the Divine Liturgy all together. Since they’ve made several series of cutbacks to Sunday bus service the one that runs down by the Run, instead of running every hour or so is now pretty much every 2 hours, so not very convenient.

ChadS

 

[Volodymyr]

Now our poor Ukraina is being pulled also by west - the Sojma Rusiniv (Сойма русинів) has brought a protest in Uzhorod Court saying that they are being discrimated. Do these Rusins make up the Rutheninan church?? Any political activities with this Sojma??

Дискриминация Украиной
автохтонoв Подкарпатской Руси
http://avtohtonkarpat.narod.ru/PR-erb.gif

http://avtohtonkarpat.narod.ru/PR-flag.jpg
НОВОСТИ

http://avtohtonkarpat.narod.ru/few02.jpg

 

[Formosus]

What exactly does that have to do with the topic at hand?

 

[Volodymyr]

Are you asking what Rusins have to do with Ruthenian Church? These are source of such church in zakarpatia and slovakia. In Ukraina these are in national parliament called Soima, leaders are mostly Orthodox of canonical Ukrainian church - very proud to be canonical. Their leaders have said would seek to join Serpian Orthodox church rather than join so-called Filaret church. I am just interested to find if Rusins in America have such political acvivity, if are mostly Catolic or Orthodox.

Also I am surprised that you, Formosus, want to be Ukrainian Greko Catolic and have the Military Orthodox hymn on your sait which is used now by political party Single Fatherland. Here is the song sung in Russian.

files.pobeda.ru/music/svet/svet-07.mp3

 

[Formosus]

My appreciation for monarchy and traditional military tunes is not necessarily linked to my religious views. I appreciate music for the music itself and the song is traditionally a pan-slavic tune. Who uses it today is not my concern (especially since it was used by the Reds as well). If you want my own political views I will gladly give you them in a private message. My attraction to the Ukrainian Catholic church is spiritual and my knowledge on the politics of Ukraine is not that vast.
As for my previous remarks. This topic isn’t about political activity of ruthenians in the US or in their homelands. This is about a fellow Catholic who wants to experiance a Byzantine Divine Liturgy and is asking for advice on where to go or attend. You could have easily just made a separate topic for that subject rather then takeover this one .

 

[rickpitt49]

Well, I attended Holy Spirit this morning in Oakland, and I was captivated by the Divine Liturgy… a bit hard at times to follow because the choir started singing in another language, but the priest was relatively easy to understand. Everything was sung, which was different for me… but at least the missal had the music to go along with the responses… that way I didn’t sound like an idiot trying to sing along.

 

[KathleenElsie]

Hey, I’m looking to go to a Byzantine Rite church in the next month or two for a liturgy just to see the differences with the Latin Rite for myself, but I would like to see how it works beforehand. Can anyone point me in the direction of a Byzantine missal or something that outlines the liturgy? Thanks.

St Mary Romanian Byzantine Church
Administrator: Rev. Paul L. Voida
318 26th Street
McKeesport PA 15132-7014
Tel.: 412-673-5552
Fax.: 412-664-2718

 

[ChadS]

Rick,

If you’re also interested the Greek Orthodox Cathedral is located in Oakland right on Dithridge and Forbes. It might be interesting to see their Divine Liturgy and get a sense of their worship styles.

ChadS

 

[rickpitt49]

Rick,

If you’re also interested the Greek Orthodox Cathedral is located in Oakland right on Dithridge and Forbes. It might be interesting to see their Divine Liturgy and get a sense of their worship styles.

ChadS

I’ve definitely thought about that (St. Nicholas, that is), but isn’t it sinful for a Catholic to attend an Orthodox Divine Liturgy?

 

[Kielbasi]

I can see this is going to be an interesting trip using Port Authority buses… I’ll have to do my research on how to get to McKees Rocks. lol

It was tough to get to the McKees Rocks Bottoms by bus on a weekday 30 years ago when I used to work there and there was a lot of industry there.

Getting there on Sunday morning would truly be problematic to say the least.

But Pittsburgh has plenty of byzantine rite churches, a couple on the Southside, some more in the valley in Homestead, Duquesne(the city not the school) and McKeesport. So you should have no problem.

 

[Aramis]

I’ve definitely thought about that (St. Nicholas, that is), but isn’t it sinful for a Catholic to attend an Orthodox Divine Liturgy?

I can’t speak to the sinfulness, but it is explicitly permitted by canon law; the only time it fulfill the obligation is when one can not get to a catholic parish; since the sunday obligation is voided in such case anyway, the only obligation that would matter would be the annual communion requirement.

 

[Nicholas82]

I’ve definitely thought about that (St. Nicholas, that is), but isn’t it sinful for a Catholic to attend an Orthodox Divine Liturgy?

Of course not. The Catholic Church certainly doesn’t consider a Catholic attending an Orthodox Divine Liturgy to be sinful in any way. As for your “sunday obligation”, I believe you would still be expected to attend a Catholic church, Roman or otherwise as well. You could easily attend a Sat. evening Mass and Divine Liturgy at the Orthodox Cathedral on Sunday.

 

[rickpitt49]

Of course not. The Catholic Church certainly doesn’t consider a Catholic attending an Orthodox Divine Liturgy to be sinful in any way. As for your “sunday obligation”, I believe you would still be expected to attend a Catholic church, Roman or otherwise as well. You could easily attend a Sat. evening Mass and Divine Liturgy at the Orthodox Cathedral on Sunday.

Gotcha… thanks.