www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy subtle changes

This is my very first post, so pls be patient.
I have a question that I can't find an answer for.
I grew up in the Byzantine rite, went to catholic school, married, had my children chrismated. I stopped going to liturgy for over 15 years but came back and rejoined my parish. I've noticed changes to the liturgy. The biggest two, referring to Mary as Theotokis and standing through the entire liturgy. I was taught to kneel during the consecration and communion. I was never taught to call Mary Theotokis. I had to Google the meaning. There are also small variants in some prayers and the tones of hymns have dramatically changed. I thought I lost it until I found my old school liturgy book to confirm what I knew. Could someone pls be kind enough to answer my question? Sorry for the long post. Thank you.

Hi AnnaG. I am not the best person to answer your inquiry, although it appears no one else is.

Traditionally, kneeling was banned on Sundays, since some of the earliest days of the church (~325 AD). The reason is that kneeling is a penitential posture, and on Sundays we celebrate the resurrection and victory over sin and death. In early Christianity, kneeling on Sundays was seen as denying Christ's resurrection.

In Western Christianity (Roman Catholics), practices diverged over time (e.g., kneeling on Sundays and some other things). There's a bit of discussion here: https://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbt...ly-church-canons-and-kneeling-on-sundays

Your parish's former practice was what's known as latinization, or replacing our authentic Eastern traditions with Western/Roman traditions. Especially since the Second Vatican Council (1960s), there has been a drive to remove latinizations and return to our traditions. Part of this standing. Some related discussion is here: https://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/73680/a-question-about-latinizations

The different hymnal tunes is probably just a liturgical choice. For most parts of the Liturgy, there are options for which tune to use.

As for why your parish never used to use the title "Theotokos," I have no clue.

Let me know if you have more questions (and maybe someone else can help answer as well). I hope this helps

Christ is in our midst!!

AnnaG:

Welcome to the forum. We hope your timewithus will be spiritually beneficial.

Bob
Moderator