What's the problem with a public recitation of the Rosary in a Byzantine parish?

[Draper]

You are simply wrong on this point. Please read this: ewtn.com/library/curia/eastinst.htm The issue of Latinization is about the entire scope of praxis not just the DL.

Your presupposition about things being “attacked” because they originated in the West has no foundation.

While I would agree that overzealous can be a problem in these matters, I have not encountered ignorance or anger. Such a harsh judgment requires a compelling evidence.

Does this strike you are overzealous?

What possesses you to suggest that there wasn’t “considerable discernment as to what is best for a given parish” ?

I think ignorance of what actually constitutes so-called “latinizations” is what confuses many ECs who seem to level the claim at any opportunity.

In my EC parish any discussion of a parish difficulty is quickly fortified by charges of at least one “latinization” not only to derail the conversation, but to provide some level of expiation of the difficulty. I think that’s very much a conditioned relax by some ECs and some EC parishes in general.

Just look at the contents of this thread…

 

[dvdjs]

I think ignorance of what actually constitutes so-called “latinizations” is what confuses many ECs who seem to level the claim at any opportunity.

Actually some confusion as to what constitutes a Latinization also appears in your postings. Please read the “Instructions”.

It is a simple matter to differentiate authentic versus imported tradition. Some, unfortunately, stop there. But the Instructions also indicate that we should accept the organic development of tradition. What is organic? Answering that question requires some heavy lifting - real research into the how, when and why of the development.

On the other hand, even organic development can be rank growth that need to be pruned if it is interfering with authentic tradition. And thus, St. JPII very clearly noted that some imported devotions that had become popular in the East would need to be stopped.

In the end, EC churches must be EC in praxis and in phronema. If, as it appears, your pastor sees the need to move the parish in that direction, then you should be helping the parish by supporting rather than second guessing him.

 

[babochka]

I think ignorance of what actually constitutes so-called “latinizations” is what confuses many ECs who seem to level the claim at any opportunity.
.

I’m wondering… did you read the document at the link provided? It does an excellent job explaining what latinizations are, and why they are problematic and should be removed where already established and avoided in the future. It also makes clear that latinizations are not only liturgical.

Some highlights which seem pertinent to this discussion:

—to lead to a more profound understanding of the immense richness of the authentic Eastern traditions, which are to be scrupulously maintained and communicated to all the faithful/quote]

Such affirmation contains a clear condemnation of any attempt to distance the Eastern faithful from their Churches, whether in an explicit and irreversible manner, with its juridical consequences, inducing them to pass from one Church to another,[15]** or whether in a less explicit manner, favoring the acquisition of forms of thought, spirituality, and devotions that are not coherent with their own ecclesial heritage,**

and thus contrary to the indications so often emphasized by Roman Pontiffs and expressed, with particular force, already in the Apostolic Letter of Leo XIII.

**

Certainly, the tendency to reduce the specific heritage of the Eastern Churches to just its liturgical dimension should not be encouraged

**

. The attraction exerted by the sacredness of the rites, the intense emotion arising from the poetic dimension of the texts, has possibly led to an excessive emphasis of the exterior or emotional aspect, an easy place of refuge for those who deny the liturgy its necessary link with life. **This is what has sometimes led the same Eastern Catholics to perceive only the liturgical patrimony as being specifically their own, conforming themselves instead, for the other aspects of spirituality, to the Western sensibility considered as common to the Universal Church. Rather, the value of Eastern theologies and spiritualities, understood as part of the undivided heritage of the Universal Church, is a fairly recent discovery, as is the emergence of the importance of particular disciplines. **

This final quote probably can be used to bolster your position, though I don’t see it in the same way as you do.

It is not good that the particular devotions, which contribute to the spiritual life of the faithful, turn out to be extraneous to the heritage of each Church: if, therefore, they develop independently from this patrimony, they could give rise to “parallel” forms of spirituality.** But since these devotions are by now much diffused in the Eastern Catholic Churches and, in fact, feed and comfort their faithful, it would be seriously imprudent and a sign of pastoral insensitivity to believe that they must simply be eradicated. The authorities of the Churches are to concretely promote an authentic mystagogical formation of the faithful and, in the first place, of the ministers, toward a spirituality that flows from their own liturgical traditions. Enriched by a better formation, the faithful will gradually become more capable of living and rediscovering the riches of their own liturgy. Such pastoral action should take inspiration from the recommendation in n. 13 of the conciliar Constitution on the sacred liturgy: “Popular devotions of the Christian people (…) should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it, and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any of them.”**

Simply removing it from the liturgical schedule of a particular parish doesn’t seem to me an attempt to eradicate it from the practice of the faithful. Perhaps it was not done with sensitivity. Perhaps no prior attempt was made to provide better formation in Byzantine spirituality so that they were naturally drawn toward authentic Byzantine practice. Either way, I see no attack on the rosary. I see a pastor attempting to do what he is called to do over and over again in this document. Maybe he could have done it better, maybe not. I’ve learned in my discussions with you that we see things very differently.

 

[babochka]

No, I mean praying the chotki. A very common colloquialism in the East.

Ok. I’d never heard it phrased that way. I did a quick google search, found just a few references to “praying the chotki” or “pray the chotki”. There were a few references, nearly all from Roman Catholic sources.

 

[ByzCathCantor]

Ok. I’d never heard it phrased that way. I did a quick google search, found just a few references to “praying the chotki” or “pray the chotki”. There were a few references, nearly all from Roman Catholic sources.

Yes, substituting “chotki” for “rosary”