www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Processional fans

I'm interested in knowing who has processional fans in their Greek Catholic/Orthodox parish. The reason I ask is that my OCA parish doesn't have any. They never had them. I would guess that most parishes have them.

So far the head honchos of the parish seem to not want to buy any. "We never had 'em, why do we need them now" kind of mentality.

We have them at the UGCC parishes I work in, and use them when there are enough servers. I also use them at the appointed times to fan the gifts as a deacon.

I could see in a parish without enough servers and/or without a deacon where they might balk at the $400 or more needed for a set and the base.

Diak, I see your point, as we don't have enough servers, and no deacon. The point that I've brought up to them is that they are a proper liturgical appointment in a Byzantine church, even if they are rarely used.

WE have them in my parish (www.uocc.ca [uocc.ca]), but then it is a Cathedral. I have seen them when visiting smaller parishes but not necessarily used during the service, unless it is a special service like a visitation of the Bishop.

In Dublin we have a nice set of ripidia, which are almost always used.

Fr. Serge

You could always ask if you could buy and donate a set?

We had rapidia at my home parish, but their use hinged -- as Father Deacon Randy alluded -- on how many altar servers were available at a given service.

We use ours pretty much always.

I've already donated a kadilla. (When I joined the parish, the one in use had no bells and was pretty much worn out...couldn't tolerate that! ) The fans are another story.

We have a pair of liturgical fans, but I have never seen them used.

-- John

A few years back when I was in Cleveland I visited a Ukrainian Catholic parish...Holy Ghost was the name I believe. They used processional fans. That visit was actually my first time in a Byzantine church, and it was very impressive.

We have them in our Carpatho-Rusyn Byzantine Catholic Parish. The servers use them. I have never seen them used by deacons in our parish.

We have just started to use the ripidia when Father can round
up enough servers, which he did today. I have advised caution,
given the very cramped conditions under which we worship. I suspect they are responsible for a small scatch on the icon of
Christ Pantoctator, on the wall behind the Holy Table, to be
attributable to them.

I am surprised that any Byzantine-Slav church wouldn't have them
on hand, given our very Old Testament view of the altar as the
Holy of Holies. (I have cleaned them and am sure that they did
not cost a lot).

Edmac

We had them in my former Byzantine Ruthenian parish, but in our small OCA mission we don't have them (yet?).

Tim

The OCA parish I belong to was formed from a Greek Catholic parish right around the corner. That parish was very latinized. So some of these latinizations were carried over when the Orthodox church was formed. Some persist to this day, such as the lack of fans, and kneeling during the Our Father.