www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Byzantine Village II

Sounds like it is time to return to the talk of the Byzantine Village! It has been a while since we have done so. Who would like to start the thread?

Interesting topic Wondering - I believe it can be found in the depths of Town Hall

I did a search of Town Hall and all of the Forum for Byzantine Village. I couldn't find anything. What was that? It sounds intriguing.

Tim

It should be there somewhere - it was of great interest to several of us. Perhaps we should just start a new one (village and thread).

Fr. Deacon,

Would you please do the honors?

CIX! Glory to Jesus Christ!

Since I can't locate the older thread as well, I don't recall exactly where we left off. Perhaps a poem to start - from Wendell Berry:

The river takes the land, and leaves nothing.
Where the great slip gave way in the bank
and an acre disappeared, all human plans
dissolve. An awful clarification occurs
where a place was. Its memory breaks
from what is known now, begins to drift.
Where cattle grazed and trees stood, emptiness
widens the air for birdflight, wind, and rain.
As before the beginning, nothing is there.
Human wrong is in the cause, human
ruin in the effect--but no matter;
all will be lost, no matter the reason.
Nothing, having arrived, will stay.
The earth, even, is like a flower, so soon
passeth it away. And yet this nothing
is the seed of all--the clear eye
of Heaven, where all the worlds appear.
Where the imperfect has departed, the perfect
begins its struggle to return. The good gift
begins again its descent. The maker moves
in the unmade, stirring the water until
it clouds, dark beneath the surface,
stirring and darkening the soul until pain
perceives new possibility. There is nothing
to do but learn and wait, return to work
on what remains. Seed will sprout in the scar.
Though death is in the healing, it will heal.

While it may seem a Quixhotic venture, I think many are yearning for the opportunity to celebrate one's faith in a more full manner liturgically, spiritually, and communally/culturally as well as be part of even a small restoration of Christian culture.

May we be bearers of the struggle of the perfect to return. And may those good shepherds of the villages, recently beatified by Pope John Paul II, intercede for us all.

Would we be allowed to pray the full recension? Would we need to request an indult? Would the Pope issue us a Moto Proprio? I was being sarcastic with the second and third questions.

I know someone who has lots of inexpensive land surrounding and a real desire to form a Byzantine community. It is close in proximity to a major city, has low cost of housing, high job diversity, and a temperate climate.

We have talked about this for years. We should get a group together on Yahoo or somewhere and start making it a reality. Communities such as this average 5-10 years to move from planning to reality, so there is no time better than the present.

PS Thank you to Fr. Anthony whose tireless work to administer and moderate this forum is immensely appreciated while my own short-comings continuously create new work for him.

Would Weird Al do a parody on us, "Living in a Byzantine Paradise?" There actually are several communities in Tennessee that have done exactly what you propose. There was an article in the local newspaper this morning about a self-sufficient group in middle Tennessee called the People of the Living God. They are one of 15 groups living in this state who have banded together to share common interests.

Thank you Father Anthony. We certainly do make lots of work for you. For that I apologize. Sometimes things do wander a bit. (And wonder as well!)

Tim

I can speak best to what my own Eparchy and Church allows. The UGCC has made the Ordo and the books from Rome normative and mandatory according to an act of the Synod ratified by Patriarch Lubomyr. Thus any priest is free to take the entire Liturgikon if he desires, and the 1988 Synodal edition of the Liturgikon includes all of the text necessary to do so in full compliance with the Rome Ordo (as does the accompanying Anthology pew book). When serving Typika and Divine Liturgy I have even taken the troparia on the Beatitudes on occasion - I have yet to hear one complaint from fuller liturgies.

While not a village, but certainly in the village "mode", what was done at St. Elias in Canada is certainly a good model, especially liturgically, for what can be done in a country parish "from scratch". Many years to Archpriest Roman and his parish.

When forming a college, there should be a faculty of one heart in instilling the educational vision of the founders in order for that to happen. Likewise there has to be a similar sort of "faculty" cohesive sense in the founders of such a community as we are discussing. First and foremost there must be fundamental commitment by the clergy and the founding families to make something happen, and to be willing to celebrate in the fullness necessary for such a place to be the beacon of beauty and Light that it can become. Since the Liturgy is our source and summit, that has to be in good order as a first step preceding the communal. Someone who understands what the whole thing is about and is thus able to better provide for the spiritual needs of the fledgling community.

Some may accuse such a thing as smacking of elitism or being utopian but I say it is merely the manifestation of our Christian desire to live in the fullness of our liturgical, spiritual, cultural and communal identity. And we must go where the Spirit leads us to do that.

Good idea. One question:

Where's the pierogy ?

-- John

"Where's the pierogy ?"

It all depends on what kind you want. Believe it or not, I've never been a big fan of the potatoe/cheese kind. I much prefer sweet cabbage and lekvar. And, of course, since we are having a big discussion on liturgy, vernacular or Church Slavonic in the liturgy and many other things, we might have to decide on how we're going to spell things--pirohy? Pierogie? Pierogy? Halupki? Golumpki? Oh my, this could turn ugly!

Timbo the bimbo!

I also prefer the kapusta kind rather than barabolya. Ne pierogi (Polski), ale VARENYKY!

In the summer blueberry varenyky smothered in sweet butter, or I'm taking my baba's pyrohy and going home to my Byzantine village !