www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Alcohol Consumption at Church outside of Service

So wife & I went to a parish orientation at a local RC after Mass yesterday evening. Afterwards they had a reception with snacks and wine. This was held in the narthex. It surprised me and scandalized my wife especially since we were just feet from the baptismal font. Seemed very odd to us -- so much so that my wife & I left immediately.
I really can't get my mind around this... having alcohol right after Mass.
Thoughts?

Maybe there is something about the context I am not understanding, but I don't think I would have thought anything of it. Is it just that it was in the narthex?

Very often after the Divine Liturgy is finished in my parish, the bar in the hall opens, and many of the men drink horilka together.

I could be persuaded otherwise, but I was raised with the notion that 'if you couldn't do it in the presence of the Lord, then you probably shouldn't be doing it at all.' That being the case, I am not sure that a chaste drink among members of a church community is that worrisome.

But I don't mean to dismiss your concerns, so feel free to point out any angles I might be missing.

Yes I have been trying to think of it from different angles... and thank for articulating what you did above. That's the angle I have been pursing but didn't quite have the words. That'll give me a little more food for thought.

I would suspect that being scandalized by consumption of wine in the church after mass or any other time, in moderate amounts and for a social purpose, is probably an exhibition of a Protestant prejudice. The couple of times I have been in Europe, among Roman Catholics who were highly religious, I think the last thing they would be is scandalized unless the wine ran out before they had gotten their share.

Christ is risen!

No, there is nothing scandalous about it. In fact, the Typikon followed by churches of the Byzantine rite prescribes the consumption of wine during or after services on numerous occasions of the church year (including after Vespers and Divine Liturgy of Great and Holy Saturday, after which the brethren are directed to take their seats and listen to the Acts of the Apostles as they drink their portion of wine and eat -- I think -- figs or dates or some other fruit).

... and the narthex can double up as the trapeza/refectory.

Is there really a narthex, or is there just an area of the nave behind the last row of pews? I certainly don't object to drinking after Mass. Holding a reception inside the body of the church is objectionable though.

What kind of snacks? I find eating meat in church to be much more objectionable than drinking wine.

Fr. David

When I raised an objection to certain young adult evangelisation activities (movie nights, bible study etc) amongst Orthodox on the grounds that they could be seen as too Protestant, somebody said "ah, but you add alcohol and it makes it Orthodox."

Vodka if you're a Slav, retsina if you're Greek, arak if you're Middle Eastern.

Some parishes and monasteries in the Slavic tradition have the "zapivka" where unconsecrated wine is actually passed out after Communion or made available on a tray to "cover the Mysteries" or make sure everything is washed down.

We rent rooms from a large Protestant church and when we celebrated our 25th anniversary, we invited the pastors (husband and wife) to join us for the banquet. They were invited to speak and mentioned how much our presence had influenced them. In particular, they mentioned that when we offered a luncheon for their congregation and served wine at it, they promptly decided that that was a great idea and they would do that for their future events! Hopefully we have touched them in other ways also ...