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Dear Friends,

A number of our Eastern Catholic Martyr-Bishops practiced devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

And this is no longer considered "Eastern Catholic."

May I ask something that I've always wondered about?

When we no longer "officially" as Eastern Catholics venerate the Sacred Hearts, is it because we've discarded a former Latinization, or have we replaced it with something else?

I once remember reading a statement from the Ruthenian bishops saying that the Sacred Heart devotion is reflected in the Eastern veneration for "Christ the Lover of Mankind" depicted with an open book with words of love written on it.

Your comments?

Alex

I was always told that the devotion to the sacred heart as they are found in the Western tradition, were like a kind of "naturalism", not because of the meaning of that devotion, which truly represents the meaning of the love of Jesus Christ to mankind (this was the original devotion that exists in France), but because of the way it is depicted and practiced. The realistic paintings that tend to emphasize the physical aspects of the heart as a bleeding heart with a knife, and specially those devotions used in Spain when the penitent who goes to confession has knife and stabs the heart several times to "represent" how the world hurts Jesus' heart. These kind of aspects of the sacred heart may not be compatible with the Eastern tradition.

About the simple removal of the devotion to the sacred heart, this is a good question. Its is probable that removing a Western devotion in order to restore a traditional Eastern devotion is good, but i also wonder if this has happent.

I remember reading an article about the case of Ukraine, where as you said, the Bishops have tried to "get rid" of the via crucis tradition, the rosary, and devotions to the sacred heart, but this was done without any explanation and people felt really upset. And they felt really sad because according to them, these devotions were part of what made them remember that they were Catholic during the Soviet period.

Not so long ago, I read that some greek-catholic priests in Ukraine issued a document blaiming Ecumenism for the de-catholicization of their Church, and Rome for "selling" them back to the Russians. From what the girl who helped me to see what the letter meant said, it was full of ROCOR-like vocabulary and fury against the "ecumenical heresy". If I am not mistaken, these prtiests later placed themselves under the omphor of the Society of St. Pius X, what a mess!

Do you know something about this?

For me it seems that devotions go through various types of transitions over the centuries as a natural part of their evolution.

For instance, during the era when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received her revelations of the Sacred Heart, devotion to the Holy Family was immensely popular, in a way that it is not these days.

In fact, around one of the first crude pictures of the Sacred Heart, a pen and ink drawing of the Hear of Jesus designed by the novices of the Visitation convent where Margaret Mary was novice mistress lists the names Maria, Ioseph, Anna, and Ioachim in the four corners of sheet of paper the picture is drawn upon.

Blessed Francois de Laval, of the same time period instigated public confraternities of the Holy Family, some of which still exist in Quebec, but not on a similar grand scale.

I think that devotion to the Sacred Heart has somewhat diminshed in the West also, although still popular, there are no longer the "public acts of Consecration and Reparation" prayed after Mass by the priest on the feasts of the Sacred Heart, and Christ the King, respectively. Is there such a strong emphasis on the Sacred Heart today as 50 or 60 years ago? I don't think so, (although I am only 37 and wasn't around then and can't say for certain ).

Have we really replaced the Sacred Heart devotion in the Ukrainian Catholic Church?? Of course not. If we had done it effectively there would not be these squabbles about it now, home and abroad.

In some aspects of our Renewal, we in the Eastern Churches have acted hastily, leagalistaclly and without adequate preperation of the clergy as well as the laity.

In a similar vein, even though I don't support praying the Stations publicaly, I don't want to see the Stations of the Cross removed from the walls of our parish church until we (a) build a new one, or (b) don't use them for 20 years. Removing would not be psychologically healthy and therefore not spiritually healthy for the community.

With best wishes to everyone!
Stefan-Ivan

Dear Friends,

Patriarch Lubomyr led the Stations of the Cross procession through the streets of Lviv last year. I guess some Western things are still popular in Ukraine.

John
Pilgrim and Odd Duck

Hi,
I just want to point out that devotion to the Sacred Heart has a long history. People tend to think it started with St.Margaret Mary. There is a short history of the devotion in the Western Church right here [monksofadoration.org] . In the 13th century St. Gertrude the Great [newadvent.org] was known for her writings on the Sacred Heart.

Alex, you have raised a wonderful question! How about us RC's who are attracted to the eastern catholic churches, learning about the churches, the beautiful divine liturgy, eastern theology and devotions, yet do not wish to offend or promote latinization, and have personal devotions to the Sacred Heart or Stations of the Cross? Alex has in other posts persuasively made the point that the rosary with its variations has Eastern and Western roots. We have in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere eastern catholic and roman catholic churches side by side, how common is it that personal devotions are "hybrid" from both east and west?

Slava Jesu Kristu,

I often feel that devotions to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts as practiced by our Eastern Fathers were more due to the spirit of the times than anything else (religious sensibility notwithstanding). To adopt them, as wonderful as they may be, in our Churches is against our praxis. There is nothing wrong with any WEstern devotion, but we must see to it that our prople know their Eastern conterpart. For instance, as with so many Western devotions, we have Akathists which point to the same goal - Theosis.

Dmitri

Dear TG,

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has posted on this thread - I've learned things from you ALL that I've not thought of.

It was, TG, St Seraphim of Sarov and his followers, St Seraphim Vyritsky, St Seraphim Zvezdinsky, St Alexandra of Diveyevo et al., that inspired in me an appreciation for the Rosary?Psalter or Rule of the Mother of God from an Eastern point of view.

As a matter of fact, I'm writing an Akathist to Our Lady of the Rosary right now .

From the Eastern point of view, the Western devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus presents a number of liturgical/theological issues of a problematic nature.

The display of the organ of Christ's Heart as an object of worship when liturgically we focus on the Whole Christ, as an example.

The Latin Church has also struggled with this point and there is even a directive from Rome NOT to display the Sacred Heart apart from the whole Person of Christ.

There is the issue of invoking the Heart of Christ AS IF it had a personality of its own - although devotees of the Sacred Heart know it is the Lord Jesus they are invoking.

But contemporary Latin devotionals tend to direct prayer to the Person of the Lord Jesus and then make mention of His great love for us in His Heart.

There is the issue, that I don't pretend to completely understand, of why God needed a Human Heart to love us with - Nestorian overtones and the like. I've heard that from Eastern Catholic priests and I will just make mention of it here, but I don't really understand it.

The question then is, as you've inspired just now in your post, TG, is there an Eastern corollary to the Western devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?

And yes there most certainly is.

This is made mention of in St Nicholas Cabasilas' work on the Divine Liturgy, published by St Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Nicholas, who was praised by RC theologians as a "solid Greek theologian," made specific reference to Orthodox worship of the Heart of Christ.

The Orthodox commentary in that book on his words says that Eastern devotion to the Heart of Christ is more liturgical and ecclesial than the "individualistic, pietistic" devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the West.

I'm just mentioning this to try and understand what is being said here.

A qualitative difference is being drawn in terms of how East vs West liturgically worship Christ under the aspect of His love for humankind and under the aspect of His Heart.

But both traditions clearly DO make use of the symbolism of the Heart.

AND, to make matters even more confusing , St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain CONTRADICTS St Alphonsus Liguori when the latter said that the Heart is ONLY a symbol of Christ's Love. Nicodemus says, "No, the Heat is more than merely symbolic - it is where we think and where love is truly generated."

So, I'm going to assume that both traditions, East and West DO worship the Heart of Christ.

But that they do so in different ways.

The East bases its worship entirely on its liturgical tradition where there are MANY references to the Wound in Christ's Side, that we drink and are nourished at the Wound in Christ's Side etc.

The East also has the practice of kissing the base of the Communion of Chalice following Communion as a symbolic act of reverence for the Wound in Christ's Side.

In addition to iconographic Crucifixes depicting the Wounded Side of Christ, from which flows Water and Blood, forgiveness and mercy, there are some icons, like that in my avatar, that depict Christ pointing to the Wound in His Side - Fr. Walter Kern of the Buffalo Archdiocese did an interesting analysis of this.

Other Icons of Christ the Merciful, the Love of Mankind depict the Saviour holding a book that is either decorated with hearts (please see my avatar again) or else holding an open Gospel book with His own words of love written on it such as "I give you another commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you" or else "Come to me all you who are weary . . ."

So it is truly the case that devotion to Christ the Lover of Mankind is totally and integrally linked to the liturgical tradition of the Eastern Church - it is really the sum of the Christian Gospel and union with the Lover of Mankind is the sum of the Christian life.

There is also Orthodox devotion to the icon of the "Mother of God of the Seven Swords" or as it is also called "Simeon's Prophecy" (concerning the sword that would pierce her soul or heart).

The official Orthodox Akathist to this icon, which I read in Slavonic last night, is not only incredibly beautiful and inspiring, it does make mention of the heart of the Mother of God, and, at one point, invokes it directly, as one would find in a Latin litany!

Anyway, some food for thought.

Alex

Oooops, please excuse my prior post!

Dear Alex,

Well, as it turns out my birthday falls on the Roman Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Is there perhaps an English translation of the Akathist you mentioned?

Khyrystyna

Dear Khrystyna,

There is not, but I could do one. I'm gettin REAL good at the Old Church Slavonic language.

I'm also as good at it as I am at English, y'a know?

It is a beautiful Akathist and just as soon as I find another job, I'll see if I can translate it.

Alex

Dear Alex,

Your gracious offer is most appreciated!!

Khrystyna

Dear Khrystyna,

For now, if you wish, you can say the refrain 150 times:

Rejoice, O Most Sorrowful Mother of God, transforming our sadness into joy!

Alex

Oh Alex, how beautiful! Thank you so much!

Khrystyna