www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall This really happened

I have a somewhat lighter story about language and the Divine Liturgy. About a month ago, schedules required that we attend the Divine Liturgy in Arabic, rather than English - first time for my two small ones. Caelin, who is 6, religiously (no pun intended) follows the Liturgy in the booklet, was somewhat frustrated by the language gap, and - at one point - apparently felt that we had been standing an inordinate length of time (since she couldn't relate what was happening to the text and instructions on which she relies). As she was becoming fidgety, the deacon turned and spoke, after which everyone sat.

After sitting, she suddenly rose, stuck her head out into the aisle and said - quite loudly and clearly in the otherwise quiet church - 'thank you'. I looked at her, questioningly and she whispered 'I was getting tired, so I wanted to thank Father Deacon for letting us sit, whatever he said.'

Many years,

Neil

At Holy Transfiguration, the Liturgy is pretty much straight out of Raya's Byzantine Daily Worship, but the parish has a small booklet for visitors, which, however, omits much that it sort of assumes a person will already know. It is interesting to watch people get lost in the booklet once we get to the propers, or when the Litany of the Catechumens is chanted, or wondering what comes after "Glory to the Father. . . "

And when we switch to Arabic in mid-stream, they give up all hope.

TERRY:

That reminds me of the parish near us when we went to California for a family wedding in September. The first two liturgies were Vietnamese, the third Thai, and the evening Korean.

BOB

I once read a story about a town in Vermont that had two Roman parishes, one Irish, the other French-Canadian. I guess to save money, the two churches were built back-to-back, the Irish entering from one side, the French from the other. The weird part was every Spring, the French would have a service to bless the Beaujolais Nouveau, while on the other side of the wall, the Irish were having a service to bless those who had taken The Pledge. Catholicism is indeed a big tent.

As children, we spent our summers at my grandmother's house. The 9:00 Mass at St Michael's, the Irish parish, was attended in great numbers by aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as Grandma. My cousin and I, to prove our independence as 'big boys', would frequently plan to walk to church, attending a different Mass. Sometimes, because the day was hot or rainy, we'd detour and instead go to St Louis de France, the French-Canadian parish that was half-way between home and St Mike's.

Inevitably, we would be found out and roundly scolded for attending Mass where we could not benefit from the sermon (given always in French at St Louie's). We were mystified by Grandma's apparent ESP and only learned years later from an aunt that we were turned in each time by my grandmother's dear friend and neighbor, a French-Canadian Huguenot, who would spot us entering St Louie's as she left her church across the street.

Many years,

Neil

Did you ever get around to learning French?

Fr. Serge

LOL

Bless, Father,

The Jesuits spent 2 years trying to teach it to me in high school (and a year in college - where I took it as an alternative to taking a math course that I was dreading). I managed to use bits and pieces of it in Viet Nam and can stumble through reading documents and short pieces of text - but, truth be told, no one would say that I learned it.

Many years,

Neil

But surely all "real Melkites" speak French. Il faut etre toujours fideles a rit Melchite!

Fr. Serge

(P.S. Sorry for the lack of French accent marks on this program.)

LOL - if were necessary to navigate the Food Fair, I'd likely do better at it. I have always, however, been able to make my way - with patience and a dictionary at hand - through articles in Le Lien.

Many years,

Neil

Deleted - wrong post. Feeling very blonde at the moment! (Apologies to blondes!)