www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Typika service and the Latin church Sunday obligation

Glory to Jesus Christ!

This past Sunday, my girlfriend and I drove out to the local Ruthenian parish with the intent to attend a Divine Liturgy. We had gone once before (on Meatfare Sunday to boot! We were treated like kings after Liturgy!!) and had hoped that we would be able to get out there again before the Academic year ended. Sadly, we just now found time. Anyway, we arrived on Sunday, took our places, and we were greeted by a woman who welcomed us and then said "I'm sorry about this... there's been a change in plans. Since Fr. O'Brien is on his way to an ecumenical conference in Istanbul, we were hoping to have another priest fill in for him. However, the only one we could find has come down with pneumonia in both lungs. So there'll be a deacon from Olympia coming in to offer a Typika Service."

Halfway through the service, my girlfriend and I simultaneously asked each other "Does this fulfill our Sunday obligation?" We are aware that attending a Divine Liturgy does, but we're not sure about a Typika service since there's no actual consecration and last Sunday was not an "aliturgical" day in the Latin church (as far as I'm aware, us Latin church folks only have two). Can anyone familiar enough with the Eastern and Latin Canons help us out? Thanks a million and may God richly bless you today.

Typika is the equivalent of a Latin Communion Service in the absence of a priest. If no Divine Liturgy/Mass is available there is no obligation, however people are encouraged to attend the Typika/Communion Service if offered. Since you were making a good faith effort to attend Liturgy to fulfill your obligation but there was no Divine Liturgy there was no obligation to fulfill.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Well - an interesting situation - note I do not call it a problem.

You went to this Church in good faith, expecting there to be the celebration of the Divine Litrugy.

Sadly due to unforseen circumstances , their Priest was away , and though a 'stand in ' had been arranged this, due to illness ,did not come about.

Because of all this the Parish had arranged for a Deacon to come and lead them in a Service of Typica.

This seems most commendable - the parish did not actually cancel Services that day - and they did do what would hopefully would be done in any Parish without a Priest.

Typica, part of the Liturgy of the Hours, is also the service which is taken in place of the Divine Liturgy, on aliturgical days as well as when no priest is available. As such it will fulfill the Sunday Obligation.

Yes, it is a truly amazing parish! There is a philosophy professor at Gonzaga University who is an Antiochian Orthodox sub-deacon who has a son who left Orthodoxy for the Byzantine Catholic Church and is a parishioner at Ss. Cryil and Methodius. He was sort of our introduction to the Eastern Churches. I would have loved to participate in their ECF program this year, but this is also incidentally the year of my homecoming to the Catholic faith (I was a member of the Lutheran church, Missouri Synod), and my spiritual director urged me to complete my Western formation before investigating Eastern formation. Anyway, this friend of ours shared his experiences with my girlfriend and invited us to come out sometime. I'm so glad we did!

I'm going to place an order with the Byzantine Seminary Press for lots and lots of books on the Eastern Churches and the wisdom of the Early Fathers to read this summer when I'm home (and, sadly, two hours from the nearest Byzantine Catholic Church). Thank you for your prompt reply to my question. I'll probably have a bazillion more in the weeks to come.

Christ is Risen!

Dear Nerd, you might want to consider your "obligation" as a larger one to your ritual tradition. Of course the Typika fulfills any obligation you may haveif a priest is not able to serve Divine Liturgy. I served Typika for several months at a parish that had no priest until a priest could be reassigned and moved there. I also coupled the Typika with some of the Little Hours (3rd and 6th) preceding it to enhance the service.

It is certainly not the ideal situation for a parish, but is certainly a way to give God glory through the Divine Praises when the full Divine Liturgy cannot be served because of serious circumstances. At some smaller monasteries and sketes there is also no regular Divine Liturgy except on major feast days and the Typika is read daily.

The general Byzantine sense of "obligation" is quite different from the Latin. The view of obligation is to pray according to the tradition of the Church as handed down to us by our forefathers, whether that is attending the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Praises (Vespers, Matins, etc.) as one is able. The Latin approach is to reduce obligation to the reception of the Eucharist and attendance at Mass. The Byzantine sense of this is much larger and broader.

Elaine at Icon and Book Service (www.iconbook.org [iconbook.org]) also has a great selection of books and the store is an outreach of Holy Cross Monastery in Washington D.C. I suggest you start with the "Light for Life" series, "The Face of God" by Archbishop Joseph Raya and the "Orthodox Way" by Kallistos Ware. Read the "Way of the Pilgrim" also when you get a chance.