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I was raised evangelical protestant, and and after much historical and theological study, was joyfully received into the Catholic faith (Latin rite) in 1998. It was later my privilege to live with a Byzantine Catholic priest for two years, and in my current parish, I assist in cantoring for the Divine Liturgy.

My question is this: where are the other zealous folks like yourselves in the Byzantine parishes?

Generally speaking, the Orthodox churches I have been to, whether Greek or Antiochian by their strong ethnic solidarity, or the OCA with its genuine converts, seem to actually have people (under age 50) who participate in the singing of the liturgy and the general life of the parish.

But where is the energy and youth of the Byzantine Catholics? Do teenagers and young families just leave for the closest Latin or Protestant mega-church?

I have no ethnic or ritual axe to grind here, and would certainly rather see them go to Rome than nowhere at all...but honestly...sometimes I feel that ecclesiologically, my heart is attached to a sinking ship! Can you share with me some examples of church growth from among the Byzantine parishes? (I am not referring to just numbers or the stuff of popular evangelical seminars.)

I do not wish to be critical here. I am really looking for some positive and encouraging examples. I saw that the Byzantine.net chat forums were cancelled due to lack of interest. Is Byzantine Catholicism only something for a few odd "specialists?" Of course, that is a rhetorical question...

Waiting for more good news,
Robert
"ProdigalSonG"

Here's some good news.

Our own David Ignatius Brown (in a parallel thread) alerted us to a pretty cool parish:

http://www.saintelias.com/

It looks really active.

Seems to be full of young families.

Apparently has it own share of converts (the deacon's name is "Kennedy", the Subdeacon is a "Tibor", and a parish counciller is a "Geraghty", and one of the kids seems to be African or African-Canadian).

The Youth Group looks pretty lively.

In fact, the Youth seem really involved in the Liturgical Services!

Services seem to be predominantly in English, but with enough Ukrainian to satisfy those who need Ukrainian.

Check it out, take heart, and kill the fatted calf!

Happy "Feast of Stephen" (either Calendar)

Herb

I think part of the answer to your question is the aging population in many areas where the children have moved to other parts of the country for employment. These children were raised in a time when many churches were very Latinized. There was not the empahsis on the difference in our understanding of our faith and traditions. Often the children are not in the Byzantine or Eastern Rite Church. In these churches there seems to me there can be somewhat of a defeatest attitude. They have gone from lively active parrishes to just the seniors in the pews. It is very frustrating. Unfortunately many were never taught the tools of evangelization. Whether that be a hand shake to a stranger coming in, or talking with the person standing on the street.

Our church is very active and alive. In fact Fr. Frank announced 3 engagements on Chistmas Eve. The Church is vibrant in all areas of its faith and practices. And they are a people that are not timid about sharing their faith, and spend a lot of time in prayer and scripture reading. We have a lot of Bibles in our Church written in Arabic.

If you want to see a parish come alive give them this book. "Divine Liturgy According to St. John Chrysostom with Scripture references and commentary" by Fr. Theodore Bobosh
http://www.light-n-life.com/landl2-cgi/select2.pl?ID=DZAC110&Category=57&Search=&istart=

When you put a tool like this in the hands of the parrishoners you give them the weapon to stand before anyone and explain their faith. Empowered by the Word of God in relation to the Divine Liturgy, there is no timidity. Then you see a people that have the tools to talk about their faith and are able to explain it in a much simpler manner.

Rose

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I personally have little concern about the future of Eastern Catholicism. I have faith that there will continue to be faithful and pious Eastern Catholics who will both hold onto and spread their glorious traditions.

Frankly, sometimes I'm more worried about the future of Roman Catholicism.

ChristTeen287

Thank you for your replies.

I have been to liturgies where I had that "heaven on earth" experience so often described by the newcomer. However, this past Sunday, I must say the singing was so disharmonious I felt a sense of agony. Excruciating is the word that comes to mind.

There were three visitors, and I couldn't help notice them supressing their laughter, but it was not maliciously intended: it was how some people naturally respond in a very awkward situation. One regular worshipper described it as "white noise."

I think the visitor's problem is two-fold in our church:
1. Frankly, the singing in our liturgies (unless the attendance is so low that the cantor is able to drown out the other voices) is an assault on the sensibilities.
2. The layout of the liturgy book is such that even the most eager are not able to follow along. Not everything the priest prays is in the book, so the visitor assumes he is at the wrong place, starts flipping pages, and then eventually gives up. There are no notes for the musically interested to follow.

Help! Even if the singing is good in your church (and I am working on a plan to help improve it in ours!), isn't there something we could do so that the visitor can follow the liturgy more easily? Any ideas??

I tend to tell people that really like having the book in front of them that if they think they are lost to hold on tight and 90% of the time we will get back to the place they are at in the book. I do agree that since the priest is now instructed (at least in the Passiac Eparchy) to say more prayers aloud, it has caused additional confusion when trying to use the older pew books. And not only for visitors.

A missal (what would be the correct Greek term?)that has everything in service order and labeled by date would be nice. If most or all of the text is available online or at least in soft copy, it would not be hard but would be time consuming to put something together by doing a lot of cutting and pasting. Musical notation would be more difficult. And unfortunately we as a church do not have the resources to publish such things routinely. Plus there is so much variation based on how feasts fall from year to year that a comprehensive book might just be impossible.

I'd like to commend our administrator for the work he has been doing in this area. Also the Passiac Presanctified Liturgy books published by Eastern Christian Pubs were a step in the right direction as far as a book that is easier to follow.

I have to second, third and fourth St. Elias (although we've been talking about that place a lot longer on this forum than you realize, Herb...

When I visited the first time in 1998 it completely changed my outlook and vision of what a parish could become and we have visited regularly ever since. The median age of the parishoners is probably in the 20s.

You can also check out St. Michael's Russian Catholic website at
http://www.stmichaelruscath.org/. They also have a strong contingency of young people. Young people are drawn to solid tradition, not trendy modern stuff. The experience of the Latin church proves that out. Our more "Orthodox" parishes often enjoy the most growth. And both St. Michael's and St. Elias prove that English need not be a hindrance to liturgical beauty.