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Our (Byzantine Catholic) Bishop will be visiting our mission church soon, and I was wondering if anyone can tell me or point me in the right direction for the answer to my question: how do you properly welcome a Bishop? Is there a suggested ceremony, tradition, or script? Please help.

We always greet him "at the doors of the narthex" with flowers, bread, and cheese, and the keys, and he always re-entrusts the keys to the pastor.

The family chosen is often in traditional ethnic garb.

The bishop should be travelling with the bishop's ceremonial books, and thus should have the hierarchical DL with him. Your pastor should be aware of the issues.

The bishop might choose to vest in the nave, or vest in the sacristy; it varies by bishop and by nature of the visit. A full HDL includes the vesting in the Nave.

The bishop will need a chair before the holy table if celebrating the HDL, rather than celebrating a normal DL as primary celebrant.

Best bet: contact the chancery office, and ask. They will let you know what your bishop is expecting. (Odds are, they will call you back after asking him!)

I've never seen a Ruthenian bishop celebrate a hierarchical Divine Liturgy according to the Archeiretikon and the Ordo Celebrationis.

Cheese?

Dave

I'm not sure if I remember all the details about this or not. Back about 1995, I remember Metropolitan Judson being vested at a Liturgy at Holy Resurrection and wearing a white klobuk. I seem to remember it was a gift of the monks at Holy Resurrection and was kind of a big deal at the time.

My memory is kind of vague on the other details. Perhaps others were there and remember?

Bishop George celebrated a modified HDL in Anchorage many years ago. He skipped the vesting in the nave, but otherwise...

Bishop Gerald, also, uses the abbreviated HDL from time to time, tho I've only seen full HDL's from the RO and AO...

But I've also seen an RO bishop celebrate the normal DL of St John as sole celebrant.

I thought the traditional greeting for the Bishop was with bread and salt. And often flowers as well.

However, different particular churches may have different traditions.

If one's Bishop is from Parma, or Green Bay, cheese may be appropriate.

This link may be of some help at a rudimentary level. Please note that the Ruthenian Archieraticon is also used by the Ukrainians. The notes at this link are in regards to this Archieraticon.
http://www.saintelias.com/ca/hliturgy/index.php

It is not necessary for a bishop to celebrate a hierarchical (pontifical) Divine Liturgy every time he celebrates. For instance, if he is celebrating in a church or chapel outside of his diocese, it many not be proper for him the celebrate pontifically, as that would usurp the position of the local ordinary. And he may choose not to celebrate pontifically in his own diocese if his presence is informal.

That said, not once have I ever seen any Ruthenian bishop celebrate a pontifical Divine Liturgy according to the text and rubrics of the Archeiretikon. In fact, there are elements the Ruthenians have inserted that are not in the Archeiretikon (e.g., the processional hymn "You Have Entered, O Noble Archpriest"), in addition to the myriad things they leave out. Vesting in nave is very much the exception to the rule--in almost every case, the bishop entered vested and did not change vestments at all in the course of the Liturgy.

I seriously doubt there are many in the Metropolia who would be able to celebrate a full pontifical Divine Liturgy according to the book, without extensive boning up and prepraration.