“We do not change the boundaries marked out by our Fathers. We keep the Tradition we have received. If we begin to lay down the Law of the Church even in the smallest things, the whole edifice will fall to the ground in no short time.”
- St. John of Damascus
Are they any Latin Rite views/insights into this quote- especially regarding how much our traditions have changed in the Latin Rite Church?
Part of this runs back to the distinction between doctrine and discipline. The phrase “law of the Church” can refer to either one or both. Canon law can be called the law of the Church, even though it reflects discipline and can change. The phrase “law of the gospel” can also be called the law of the Church, even though it reflects doctrine and cannot change.
I don’t know the context of the quotation from St. John, but if I had to guess, I would guess he is referring to the latter: we cannot change doctrine even in the smallest things.
The Orthodox Churches also believe in a distinction between doctrine and discipline. As just one example among many, various Orthodox churches use different liturgies. Some use the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, others the liturgy of St. Basil, and there are several others in use as well. The fact that there are different liturgies is already an example of the distinction between discipline and doctrine, but even their names indicate this same distinction. St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom both modified earlier liturgies and created their own. You might say…they revised the liturgy. Which is what Vatican 2 did. Therefore, this has precedent among the saints.
In my experience, Catholics and Orthodox treat the doctrine/discipline distinction differently, even though we both believe in it. Perhaps we place different things on either side of that divide. I’m not sure, I can’t think of any examples right off the top of my head.
But what St. John Chrysostom wrote seems to refer to doctrine to me, and that definitely cannot change. It does not imply that the Church cannot change disciplines, it is actually very traditional to change disciplines whenever there is a good reason for it.
Does that help?
