www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy Can a deacon...

I have seen bishops, priests, and deacons from E. Catholic and Orthodox churches serve panakhydas, molebens, akafists, blessings, etc., together. I have also seen E. Catholic subdeacons and readers serve in an Orthodox church for Divine Liturgy and Vespers. I have also seen an E. Catholic priest stand at the altar, vested, during a DL at an Orthodox church with a bishop present, and when it came time for the Consecration, the priest merely took a few steps back from the altar, then moved back to his spot for the "It is truly right" hymn. This priest chanted litanies and doxologies as well.

My question is this: Can an E. Catholic deacon serve during a Divine Liturgy or Vespers in an Orthodox service, and vice versa?

No. It isn't permitted.

He can attend the services in riassa but not serve in the services...

Thanks for your responses.

The Malankara and Syriac Churches do not generally have a problem with this, as long as Eucharist isn't shared.

Orthodox Deacons have offered incense during the Catholic priest's celebration of Liturgy etc

I think the answer is that Catholics consider the Eastern Orthodox liturgy a true celebration of the Eucharist. They permit their laymen to receive communion at Orthodox services if no Catholic priests are available, so I would imagine by extension if no Catholic priest were available, a Catholic deacon could serve and commune by the same rule.

It goes without saying that the Eastern Orthodox don't view it this way, and whilst the Catholics might be happy for their laypeople to approach Orthodox priests for Communion, Orthodox priests won't give it to them. There was a very brief period in the seventies where the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow patriarchate) allowed Catholics to receive communion due to there being few or no Catholic clergy in Russia, but this was quickly repealed and now the Russian Church prefers not to draw attention to this.

On the other side of the coin, the Catholics might be happy to give communion to an Orthodox layperson or deacon, but the Orthodox Church forbids them to accept it. Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) clearly con-celebrated and communed with Catholics in the seventies, but once again, the Russian Church prefers not to draw attention to this these days.

For what its worth, I saw with my own eyes Bishop William of Passaic fully vested in the nave of the church, seated opposite of Archbishop Demetrios, in St. John's Orthodox Church in Perth Amboy, NJ at the late Metropolitan Nicholas' fiftieth jubilee. He gave the Metropolitan a blessing at the end. Of course, you all know that I see this a good thing, but not all Orthodox ( or BCA) would agree! He did not, of course, commune, or approach the amvon.

The Church of the East (Assyrian) and the Chaldean Catholic Church routinely practice intercommunion. When I brought my Eastern Christianity class to Mar Mari Assyrian Orthodox Church we were welcomed to partake of the Eucharist. I was deeply moved by this act of brotherly love!

That would depend on the situation. Here locally the Greek Orthodox parish is right next door to our local Byzantine Catholic parish. When they only had a part time priest, he directed his flock to attend our DL and to receive communion when he was not in town. This was not an off-the-wall decision. The Orthodox priest was good friends with our former pastor. He "audited" our DL before instructing his people to attend which was approved by his bishop and he accompanied his flock to our parish for their first visit.

Our former pastor has passed and theirs has moved to another location and there is once again a fence (both physical and metaphorical) separating our two parishes...

I served at a Divine Liturgy celebrated by Metropolitan Basil, of Blessed Memory, (at the Maronite Shrine in Ohio)where two UOC-USA deacons were fully vested in the Altar, but did not serve, and received Communion from the Metropolitan's hand.

So maybe it's not as uncommon as many would like to think.

WHile I havn't seen clergy endorsed inter-communion as such, I have witnessed many examples of such 'grass routes' cooperation between parishes most often dependent upon the attitudes and charity of their pastors. HOWEVER, I am not deluding myself as many of the faithful DO partake of communion in spite of the lack of official approval.

You know, most of my fellow Orthodox love to state that Florence was rejected by the lower clergy and the faithful - hence the Bishops were discredited and the council disavowed in the East.

God works in strange ways and perhaps when the time is correct, the higher-ups in Rome and the ancient Orthodox sees will find the same occurring in reverse. Just thinking.....