Should Eastern Catholics incorporate western devotions like Divine Mercy?

[SyroMalankara]

It’s just quite evident that our Lord allowed Sr. Faustina to live in an area with heavy Byzantine Catholic presence, as did Blessed JP2 - who’s mother or grandmother it is said was Ukrainian Catholic.

Do you think God wanted to revive the Liturgy of the Latin West, perhaps by reminding the West of it’s Traditions? Look to the East for it’s adherence to Tradition and follow suit? This looking to each other for strength will naturally lead to a wealth of understanding, without violating the canons against blending Rituals and creating hybrids that are unrecognizable to either church.

 

[aemcpa]

Do you think God wanted to revive the Liturgy of the Latin West, perhaps by reminding the West of it’s Traditions? Look to the East for it’s adherence to Tradition and follow suit? This looking to each other for strength will naturally lead to a wealth of understanding, without violating the canons against blending Rituals and creating hybrids that are unrecognizable to either church.

I am certainly of the opinion that the West needs to reclaim its tradition and its heritage, and that the East is an inspiration to that effect.

We’re not talking about blending rituals or violating canons. We’re only talking about an indulgence that is available to the entire Church and recommended to the entire Church, and asking whether any Eastern Catholics took advantage of it, and if so, how did that play out practically speaking?

 

[Peter_J]

Surprised I had to wait this long for this one to finally post up, this is the reason for the deliberate inattention to this great feast of God’s Mercy in the Eastern churches. I really appreciate your candor, and it explains why what many believe is the most important and promising spiritual development given to the universal church in the last 80 yrs. of modern church history is met with indifference and even derision in the east; how sad this is even worse because we know part of the great hope in the Divine Mercy Apostolate was that it would be a vehicle for reunifying the church, east and west, but that pride still holds it’s sway in the east is what we have to face. It’s just hard for some of us to fathom these extremes of anti roman fanaticism.

Well, I think the explanations that have been provided here since your earlier post were sufficient; so I’m not going to say much in response to your latest comments. (Feel free to go back and re-read the various comments that posters made already.)

 

[UncleBill]

Surprised I had to wait this long for this one to finally post up, this is the reason for the deliberate inattention to this great feast of God’s Mercy in the Eastern churches. I really appreciate your candor, and it explains why what many believe is the most important and promising spiritual development given to the universal church in the last 80 yrs. of modern church history is met with indifference and even derision in the east; how sad this is even worse because we know part of the great hope in the Divine Mercy Apostolate was that it would be a vehicle for reunifying the church, east and west, but that pride still holds it’s sway in the east is what we have to face. It’s just hard for some of us to fathom these extremes of anti roman fanaticism.

And the fact that this “feast” was put on the calendar on the Sunday after Easter makes NO sense at all! Yeah lets spend half of holy week and all of Easter week concentrating on the Divine Mercy chaplet makes NO liturgical sense AT ALL from either a Western mindset or Eastern! It is just nuts!

 

[dzheremi]

Surprised I had to wait this long for this one to finally post up, this is the reason for the deliberate inattention to this great feast of God’s Mercy in the Eastern churches…] It’s just hard for some of us to fathom these extremes of anti roman fanaticism.

Kind of like how you’re deliberately ignoring Jonah’s Fast/the Fast of the Ninevites every February, right? For shame, you anti-Oriental fanatic!

 

[Lester_S]

I am certainly of the opinion that the West needs to reclaim its tradition and its heritage, and that the East is an inspiration to that effect.

We’re not talking about blending rituals or violating canons. We’re only talking about an indulgence that is available to the entire Church and recommended to the entire Church, and asking whether any Eastern Catholics took advantage of it, and if so, how did that play out practically speaking?

Well, practically speaking, it can come down to increased prayer, like the Jesus Prayer;helping the priest before liturgy; spending time with a family, after liturgy; or actually taking care of necessities, in place of more desirable to dos, during the day.

 

[aemcpa]

And the fact that this “feast” was put on the calendar on the Sunday after Easter makes NO sense at all! Yeah lets spend half of holy week and all of Easter week concentrating on the Divine Mercy chaplet makes NO liturgical sense AT ALL from either a Western mindset or Eastern! It is just nuts!

What else is the Passion of our Lord except His Mercy? The prayer “Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us” is from the Good Friday liturgy, so it makes perfect sense that the novena would be tied to Good Friday. Perhaps it should end on Good Friday to make more sense, I suppose.

 

[UncleBill]

What else is the Passion of our Lord except His Mercy? The prayer “Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us” is from the Good Friday liturgy, so it makes perfect sense that the novena would be tied to Good Friday. Perhaps it should end on Good Friday to make more sense, I suppose.

The Trisagion prayer is from EVERY prayer service prayed in the Byzantine Churches, not just Good Friday.

Have you ever even attended an Eastern Liturgy?

And to spend Easter week praying a novena to the Divine mercy makes NO liturgical sense.

 

[Lester_S]

The Trisagion prayer is from EVERY prayer service prayed in the Byzantine Churches, not just Good Friday.

Have you ever even attended an Eastern Liturgy?

And to spend Easter week praying a novena to the Divine mercy makes NO liturgical sense.

I think I get more out of weekly Stations of the Cross, after looking at it, liturgically. That’s if I had to choose a practice, from a Latin perspective

 

[UncleBill]

aemcpa why do you seem so intent on imposing Latin devotion on the Eastern Churches?

Rome has told us over and over to remove Latinizations from our Ritual, such as the filioque, stations of the cross and the rosary, and to rediscover our traditions. Why are you so intent to go against numerous Popes as well as the Second Vatican Council to make us Byzantines adopt Latin practice?

Our tradition is our own…we need not adopt Latin feast days or practices to remain catholic!

 

[brumano]

Not sure why the Latin feast should take priority over the Eastern Calendars, it’s no less Ethnic/Cultural than the Eastern ones.

We Syriacs celebrated “New Sunday” not Thomas Sunday or Divine Mercy. We received Divine Mercy at the Liturgy as we do each Sunday and every Divine Liturgy.

I personally take offense at “Brumano’s” above post.

There’s is an ethnicity to the origin and source of this devotion and the feast, and that is in eastern roman catholicism, poland is in eastern europe, it remained faithful, very faithful to the roman catholic church throughout many various trials and struggles throughout it’s history; but the grace of Divine Mercy is non restrictive; obviously, it’s meant for the universal church that even takes in non catholics and even has graces offered for non christians! As the prayer says, have mercy on us, and on the whole world. What you call this latin feast should take some precedence over the existing feasts wherever they have been celebrated. Here’s the reason why and it doesn’t have anything to do with latins wanting to exert themseves over easterners or anybody else; Divine Mercy incorporates the spirituality and the lustre of all the feasts into a concentration of prayer and worship that renews and reinvigorates the antiquated feasts without detracting or degrading them.
How would New Sunday be destroyed by celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday on the same day? Then yours and all the churches in the entire world would be brought together in unity, God’s Mercy builds up it does not destroy.

If the usual week to week reception of the Eucharist that we carry out had satisfied the God of Mercy, he would not have needed to initiate this communication with His people as he has. Look at all that has happened, all the while that millions go to communion every week, thinking as some say here that because of this they don’t need the special intentions of the feast and the graces of the Divine Mercy; what lunacy.

You’ve got every right you want to take offense, but where was it ruled that we cannot be offensive, or offended? What if we want to take offense at every chance, so what? what good will that do?

 

[Peter_J]

I’m not one to push for expansion of Divine Mercy Sunday. Nevertheless, I don’t agree with this:

And the fact that this “feast” was put on the calendar on the Sunday after Easter makes NO sense at all! Yeah lets spend half of holy week and all of Easter week concentrating on the Divine Mercy chaplet makes NO liturgical sense AT ALL from either a Western mindset or Eastern! It is just nuts!

 

[Peter_J]

Kind of like how you’re deliberately ignoring Jonah’s Fast/the Fast of the Ninevites every February, right? For shame, you anti-Oriental fanatic!

Hey don’t make me come over there! :hey_bud:

 

[UncleBill]

I’m not one to push for expansion of Divine Mercy Sunday. Nevertheless, I don’t agree with this:

The prayers we pray publicly and privately should reflect the liturgical season we are celebrating…to be praying and meditating on the sorrowful passion of Christ during the Pascal season makes NO liturgical sense. It is much more in line with Lent than Easter.