www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy Whew! I just had the worst nightmare!

You did not have a dream about the RDL then. As I have pointed out MANY times, the RDL does contain references to "men" and "man" as inclusive nouns.

I really find this kind of exaggeration to be distasteful. Disagree if you want to -- but refrain from exagerrating the faults. I have much more respect for arguments that acknowledge the good while criticizing the bad. But arguments that are exclusively negative and ones that make exaggerated claims are distasteful and untruthful.

We use both depending on the text.

" Birth-Giver of God" was coined by Isabel Hapgood, if memory serves me correctly. Alas, it does not accurately translate "Theotokos" either. But Hapgood has been strongly influential for more than a century.

"Bohoroditse" is simply a Church-Slavonic calque of "Theotokos".

Fr. Serge

Oh please. Everyone here knows I have great respect for the Latin/Eastern Catholic Church. True, I am very happy in the Holy Orthodox Church, but it is not meant to disparage any other Church. The OP was tongue and cheek. My contribution was in that vein. I know that you and I agree on very little when it comes to the RDL, but there is no need to bash my post and then start listing problems that the OCA are experiencing---now THAT is insulting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is a viscious attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


If you want to begin a thread that criticizes and bashes the OCA, then you have free-will. This forum deals specificly with the RDL----AND MANY HERE HAVE BEEN TERRIBLY INJURED BY IT.

Forgive me, as I can see that you were offended by my post. The problems the OCA is having are well-known; yet there has been no post by any Greek Catholic rejoicing in the fact that their communion has been untouched by these problems. That is a significant fact.

I believe your post was terribly uncharitable. I was offended by it.

An additional point behind my raising this issue is to demonstrate that some of the claims made by supporters of the RDL about the nature of the personal attacks against them and the RDL are not unfounded.

There is a personal edge, an angry tone, to some of the posts that are objectionable. I am hopeful that they will completely stop.

Agreed. But we have Bohoroditse. My question is, what does it convey?

Theo --- tokos
God ---- child-bearer (as explained in a previous post)

Boho----roditse
God ---- ?????

What then for the ????

Dn. Anthony

I converted to Holy Orthodoxy for a myriad of reasons�mostly doctrinal. However, the travesty of the RDL was the straw that broke the camel�s back. It was the springboard for my conversion. Week after week I sat in the pew with my wife and child at the Ruthenian Catholic Church in a cloud of disbelief. I could no longer sing. I could not bring myself to recite the neutralized language. I could not even say the Creed any longer!!! It was impossible for me to stay in the Byzantine Catholic Church.

So you see Fr John, the RDL was a true and living nightmare for me. I am at peace once again in the Holy Orthodox Church. There is no triumphalism. There is no insult to you. You are at peace where you are�and I am at peace where I am.

The anger and defensiveness of your posts are becoming tedious for me. You are approaching Holy Week and I have just begun Great Lent, so I am going to leave this forum for a while. My conversations with you are not conducive to retaining my peace. I will pray for you and your family.


May the remainder of your Lent be blessed.


The most wretched of all sinners,
Recluse

Amen! Although I too have had occasion to clash with individuals that have voiced strong opinions against the RDL, I wish to join Recluse in wishing all Eastern Christians a Blessed Holy Week or beginning of their Lenten Journey (whichever event they are celebrating). I think we can all take a moment to pause and reflect upon those ideas which bring anger into our hearts, and how we may cleanse those feelings in order to more fully take part in our worship of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection for our salvation.

Hello Deacon Tony,

I believe the translation for Boho-rodice that you are looking for is God-birther.

A student

Thank you "student"; I agree: A+.

If you wish to get angry at the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, as well as Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI on the issue, I certainly can't stop you from disagreeing with me. In January of this year Pope Benedict said in the general audience in the Paul VI Hall:

"Theotokos" is the title officially attributed to Mary in the fifth century, exactly by the Council of Ephesus in 431, but affirmed in the devotion of the Christian people already since the third century.

The earliest known usage is the prayer "Under thy patronage" - Sub tuum praesidium" or in Slavonic "Pod Tvoiu Milost'" (I have the Greek text but it's not handy to the computer). It may go back to the second century.

Why does this word disturb people?

Fr. Serge

Good question. I don't get it either.

I love the word -- but I just wish we could all say it the same way. People around here have a tendency to say "Theee-a-tokus".

Who are the you, Nestorius and Dioscorus?

Yes, this illustrates my observation very nicely, that Theotokos is NOT transliterated in the other (Latin and Slavonic) languages.

Greek: Θεοτόκε

Latin: Sancta Dei Genitrix

Slavonic: богородице дѣво

Sub tuum praesidium [en.wikipedia.org]


Dn. Anthony