www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy My Thoughts on the RDL

Here are my thoughts on the "Revised Divine Liturgy" in the Pittsburgh Ruthenian Metropolia:

If we cannot show and demonstrate to the Orthodox and to all other inquirers that we are able to be fully Orthodox while in communion with Rome, then serious Orthodox clergy and lay people will never take us seriously or even consider re-union with Rome. Until we embrace the fullness of the Ruthenian rescension with unabridged services and a fuller cycle of services (Great Vespers on Sat. eve, Matins and Liturgy on Sunday AM) and we act like we are serious about being truly faithful to our Eastern Christian heritage, we deny the holy intentions of our bishops who signed and approved the union with Rome. I don't know the text of the Union of Uzhhorod, but the Union of Brest for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church specifically states that we must not change or modify our services from that of our heritage (i.e. that of our Orthodox brethren), and the late Pope John Paul II called for us to fully embrace being Orthodox in communion with Rome. This is not, in my opinion, to win Orthodox to something different from themselves, but to gain a unity of East and West under their own legitimate hierarchies, structures, and rites. Until we do this, I think the trend will be continued for serious Greek Catholics in America to go to Orthodoxy, rather than for Orthodox to consider re-union with Rome. Except for the commemoration of the Pope and otherwise as we have promised in our acts of Union, we should attempt to be indistinguishable from the Orthodox and faithful to the fullness of our Ruthenian rescension as it is laid down in the service books (and I don't mean the RDL ones!). When we do this, I think the true intentions and spirit of our union with Rome will be realized, and both East and West will be blessed because of it.

In Christ,

Tim

Since I have seen this noted in many posts, I do want to point out that this is not the only "authentic" Orthodox cycle of services. The Russian Typikon prescribes a Vigil for Saturday evening so that Great Vespers and Matins (ending in First Hour) are prayed on Saturday evening. The Hours (3rd and 6th) are then prayed on Sunday morning before Liturgy.

In many OCA parishes in this country, this has been "reduced" for pastoral reasons to Great Vespers on Saturday evening, Hours and Liturgy on Sunday mornings.

The only ones who consistently pray Orthros/Matins and Liturgy on Sunday mornings among the Orthodox in the US are the Greeks and the Antiochians -- this is because they follow the Greek Typikon. There are OCA parishes that follow this format -- but it is not consistently followed in all parishes as it is in Greek and Antiochian parishes. I have never been to a Greek or Antiochian parish on Sunday that did not serve Matins (with their own distinctive abbreviations -- the way in which the service is abbreviated differs).

Fr. John,

It doesn't really make a difference whether a Vigil is served every Saturday evening with Hours on Sunday, or Vespers Saturday evening with Orthros (and maybe Hours) on Sunday. The point being made is that the BCC (and, sadly, many EC Churches) pretty much ignores Vespers, Orthros and Hours. How/when these are served is irrelevant.

Are Vespers, Orthros and/or Hours served in your parish?

I was only suggesting that the Vespers, Matins, and Hours not be ignored, no matter which way it is done.

Tim

My guess is most Orthodox people are not all that familiar with the status of the liturgy in the Eastern Catholic churches, nor would it be a major concern for them. I would also guess it isn't an issue that would influence relations between the two sides.

Yes, Tim excellent points and your meaning is well understood. Even though there are two ways of celebrating the Vigil cycle (the Vsenoshchnoje Bdenie of combining Vespers and Matins for the All-Night Vigil or the separating of Great Vespers and Matins as is done in Greek and Balkan usage) the obvious bottom line is to celebrate these services to restore a fuller Sunday cycle of services, regardless if one parish serves one style or the other.

Interestingly enough, Fr. Borys Gudziak has pointed out that the Vigil cycle in parish use in the Ruthenian provinces around the time of the Union generally followed a more Greek- or Balkan-style way of separating Vespers and Matins, although individual monasteries and parishes did use the more "Russian" style of uniting the two. That is another great thing about the Kyivan tradition - both approaches are available and acceptable.