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In some publications I've read about Ukrainian Catholicism, there are references to devotion to the Sacred Heart and the use of the Way of the Cross as some of the Latin devotions that the Ukrainian Catholic faithful have adopted as their own.

How widespread is the devotion to the Sacred Heart, and the use of the Way of the Cross, in Greek Catholic churches?

What I do know for certain is that these devotions remain very popular and widespread in the Maronite, Armenian, Malabar and Chaldean Catholic churches. A friend of mine went to Egypt and came back with videos of an Armenian Catholic church -- with big, sculpted Way of the Cross and statues of the Sacred Heart, Immaculate Heart of Mary (I think), etc.

The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is striving to be rid of such things.

Egypt is a different matter. Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting the Coptic Orthodox Church over Pentecost. I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the visit. But I was more than a little startled by some of the allegedly "Orthodox" devotionalia. In the main Coptic shop for such things (in Shubra, which is a strongly Christian district of Cairo) one could purchase such items as a plastic statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I could go on, but I'd rather not.

I hasten to add that one could also find beautiful things at low cost - including Coptic prosphora seals, hand-carved, Coptic icons (quite authentic and pre-Byzantine into the bargain; not my own preference but any museum of iconography should have some), and so forth.

The Pope's comment on Protestantism was pithy and to the point: "Oh, them - they're the ones who eat meat all year round, like dogs!" The Pope also was so generous as to give me a beautiful Coptic pectoral Cross, a splendid Coptic hand Cross - and, on learning that I was connected to Patriarch Maximos IV, a beautiful photograph of himself (Pope Shenouda) with Patriarch Maximos.

Fr. Serge

Well, given that Roman Catholics are no longer bound to abstain from meat except on Fridays, and that almost all hierarchies have reduced this to either 1) abstaining only on Lenten Fridays, and fasting and abstaining on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; or, 2) as in the case of my country, dispensing even with the obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays of Lent, with fasting and abstinence remaining obligatory only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; I don't think we have any reason to be prouder.

It seems that the Copts put great importance on fasting. I recall reading an anecdote to the effect that, once, Pope Shenouda (or was it Pope Kyrillos VI?) said: "I see that we (i.e., Catholics and Copts) share the same faith, but the Catholic Church has abolished fasting, and without fasting there is no Church."

Last year I had a priest from the UGCC tell me that while he fully supported the restoration of Eastern traditions, he was in favor of retaining the Stations of the Cross, which he added was extremely popular at his last parish.

I know the Ukrainians have a 15th Station, which is the Resurrection, but I havent actually attended an Eastern Stations of the Cross.

Mt parish doesn't have Sacred Heart devotions, but the topic has come up in homilies before.

The Stations of the Cross (or, better, the Way of the Cross) appears to have been derived from the Orthros of the Passion (often called the "Twelve Gospels" which we keep in the night from Holy Thursday to Good Friday. Those who have sung that service in full will not hesitate to agree that it's lovely, and that doing it once a year is quite enough!

Fr. Serge

How long does it take Fr Serge ?

Well, I'm not Fr Serge, but in my parish it takes about three hours.

Fr David Straut

Some versions of the Stations do have a 15th Station. In some churches, there is no 15th Station; instead, there is an entire "Via Lucis" or "Way of the Resurrection" for use during Eastertide.

St. Alphonsus Liguori also had a "Way of Bethlehem", consisting of 12 stations commemorating the Nativity and Infancy of Our Lord.

I've been googling around and run across references to Ukrainian Catholic churches (and even one Basilian province) dedicated to the Sacred Heart. There are also Ukrainian Catholic institutions devoted to the Immaculate Heart and the Immaculate Conception.... the cathedral in Philadelphia, for instance!

I think it will prove very difficult to eradicate these devotions from Ukrainian churches for the very simple reason that, in much of Catholic devotional literature (not to speak of the pronouncements of many Popes), these devotions are treated as being somehow integral to being Catholic... there is this sort of theme, to the effect that "if you are Catholic, you must pray the Rosary... and adore the Blessed Sacrament... and be devoted to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary."

Given the current revival -- with a vengeance! -- of pre-Vatican II devotions and spirituality in the Church, I think that there may actually be renewed pressure on Eastern Catholics to adopt Roman / Latin piety.

I believe that one of the remaining challenges in the relationship between Roman and Eastern Catholics, is how to redefine "Catholic spirituality" such that a proper distinction can be made between "Catholic spirituality" and "Roman Catholic spirituality"

I don't know of anyone re-introducing Latin traditions in the UGCC, but others may know more. Actually I know of several RC parishes in the Diocese I live in, where there are no Sacred Heart, Rosary devotions etc, so I would logically think that it would be the goal to begin there.

At my parish, I'd say most people already carry Rosaries, and there's usually a few of us saying it prior to the Ukrainian Liturgy.

A UGCC priest from Ivano-Frankisk I spoke to recently said that they do an all city Way of the Cross with the mayor often taking the first leg of the event. He admitted that it was not a widespread practice in Ukraine (certainly not in the less Latinized Eastern region parishes), but was liked by the people and by the politicians who could be seen to participate by their constituents.

Dear Friends,

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Just a comment on this most interesting topic.

The 15 Station Way of the Cross is popular in many western Ukrainian EC and UAOC parishes. I have a copy of a UAOC publication that promotes the setting up of the 15 stations all around the interior of parish churches, as is obtained in RC parishes.

The Sacred Heart picture can also be found in parishes of the UOC-MP in western Ukraine since this devotion has tended to be a kind of "measure of Christian faith" throughout the area there - which is not to say that this devotion is uniform. It was very popular with our EC New Martyrs. And Orthodox "Baroque" Saints like St Dmitri of Rostov had what some have termed a devotion to the Sacred Heart (e.g. Fr. Ireney Nazarko OSBM in "Svitlo"). There is also the St Vladimir's Seminary publication of St Nicholas Cavasilas' work on the Divine Liturgy where mention is made of the Heart of Christ and the introduction goes to some lengths to distinguish this reference from the Western "Sacred Heart of Jesus."

There are also comments about the role of the heart in the writings of St Nicodemus the Hagiorite that appear to go beyond even when St Alphonsus said about what the symbolism of the heart represents (Alphonsus believed it to be a mere symbol of love and Nicodemus said it is more than such).

Just wondering what connection, if any, there MIGHT be between a revamped Sacred Heart devotion as a help to the Prayer of the Heart (?) Or the veneration of the edge of the Chalice after Communion as symbolic of the Wounded Side of Christ. Could this not exist as a "devotion" in its own Rite?

In my town, the Way of the Cross is popular because people appear to have an immediate relation to and understanding of it.

St Peter Mohyla, the Orthodox Metropolitan, was known for the many devotions he developed based on Western models (ostensibly to keep Orthodox Christians from wandering elsewhere should they feel attracted to them). He even translated the "Imitation of Christ" at one point.

In his era, the 15 Prayers of St Birgitte of Sweden were translated into Slavonic (there is a site on the internet that has it), the Little Office of the BVM and a number of other classic Western devotions. Certainly, St Dmitri of Rostov loved his "Tale of the Five Prayers" and prayed the 15 decades of the Rosary daily, together with the Western practice of saying a "Rejoice O Theotokos Virgin" at the start of every hour - day and night.

Mohyla is well known for the creation of the "Passia" or a Moleben-like service that is held on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of the Great and Holy Fast. There is a reading of two chapters from each of the four Gospels on the Passion of Christ, to be followed by an Akathist to the Passion perhaps and the singing of special troparia on the sufferings of Christ that are taken from those in Holy Week. There was no set form in the beginning for the Passia and they are very much loved in the Russian Orthodox Church in particular.

Would anyone know where an English/Slavonic version of the Passia can be obtained on the internet or purchased from a bookstore? Your kindness would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Alex

Glory forever

That is very interesting+

sorry that plus signs supposed to be a period

None of the UGCC parishes I have ever attended have had Stations or the Devotion to the Sacred Heart as part of their experience. An interesting note about the Stations of the Cross, a devotion or practice which is called various names, is that when St. Francis travelled to the Holy Land in the 1200's he found there Christians (not Roman Catholics) who followed a devotion similar to this. I believe that there is also an ancient tradition in the Church that the Mother of Our Lord herself did begin a devotion which commemorated the sorrowful Way of the Cross. I know I have heard that, perhaps someone else could give some early source information on that topic?

Dear Rybak,

You make an excellent point - the Franciscans built the Stations of the Cross on the existing Eastern Christian practices of praying at the various sites associated with Christ's Passion in Jerusalem leading up to the Church of the Resurrection/Holy Sepulchre.

In fact, the Orthodox Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk actually had large paintings of Christ carrying His Cross to Calvary set up in his cell.

There are a number of versions of the Stations of the Cross and there was a devotion of the SEVEN times Christ fell under His Cross (rather than the three noted in the popular version).

St Innocent of Odessa was the author, I believe, of the Akathist to the Passion of Christ and in the 1893 version published by the UGCC Stauropeghial Institute, there is included his five prayers at the beginning in honour of the Five Wounds of Christ (doubtless in imitation of the very popular Chaplet of the Five Wounds). The Akathist resembles in a number of ways on the Via Dolorosa and is used widely in Russia on the Sunday evenings of the Great Fast as part of the "Passia" service.

The tradition of the Most Holy Theotokos meditating and praying at the sites of Her Son's Passion is an ancient one and there is a deuterocanonical text (that is used for the liturgical service for the Dormition)that mentions this.

As she knew the end of her days on earth was approaching, the Mother of God visited the various sites and told those with her that "this is where my Son was scourged, and this is where . . ."

This is described in some detail including her petition to her Son asking Him to grant her requests whenever she prayed to Him on behalf of someone on earth who begged her intercession.

The book also affirms that the Theotokos had become quite popular throughout Jerusalem and the surrounding area as a Wonder-worker and many sought her out for her advice, guidance and, of course, the benefit of her prayers.

A number of our parishes not only have the devotions mentioned above, but a number are also adding the Moleben in October in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Now that poses a real dilemma for me!

A good weekend to everyone and don't miss Saturday Night Live this week . . .

Alex