www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology The Courage to Be Ourselves

What I think we need today, is the courage to be ourselves. We shouldn't be afraid of calling ourselves "Orthodox in Communion with Rome", of having our priests wear beards and cassocks, of removing the pews, and all other forms of latinizations. I think that only by fidelity to the heritage we share with Orthodox not in communion with Rome, can we truly shine as a witness that there can be union between the patriarchal see of Rome and the Eastern Churches, whether Byzantine or not. I know that I have said before that I favor liturgies with large amounts of foreign languages, but I have come to the realization that while I may indeed favor such a thing *personally*, it is our tradition as Eastern Christians to use the language understood best by the laity (and the clergy!). Which in this country would be English. I think that, depending on the ethnic background of a parish and its jurisdictional affiliation, foreign languages appropriate to what I just mentioned can and ought to be used, but not at the expense of a largely English liturgy. What I mean is, that churches of the Byzantine-Slavonic tradition such as Russian Greek-Catholic churches, should certainly have some Slavonic in the liturgy, if only for a few "Gospodi pomiluy's" or "Slava's". I totally disagree with those that might say that even this little amount of foreign language would be incomprehensible to someone not of this background. We have enough pew books, service books, and prayerbooks today with bilingual pages in English-Slavonic, English-Greek, English-Romanian, English-Arabic, or what have you. And as I said before, while I enjoy a liturgy which is completely in Slavonic, without my knowledge of the language and a good service or prayer book, I would be lost .

What I guess I was trying to say when I started out, is that the recovery of our Eastern Christian traditions, theology, architecture, etc. happens to be--in my humble opinion--the way that we truly *can* be an example that union between East and West can work, and not only *can* work in theory, but *does* work. This is why I applaud the recovery of tradition by many parishes today and their dedicated clergy and laity. God grant them many years! Mnogaya leta!

In Christ,

Timothy, servant of God

Gospodi Iisuse Khriste syne Bozhiy pomiluy mya greshnago!!!

P.S. I have no doubt that much of this has probably been said before by others, but I wished to express my *own* view on the matter .

My most favorite CD is one of Vespers for the Feast of St Nicholas sung in Ukrainian. I like foreign languages also. Having said that, I think that for our parishes to really become evangelistic (and that is part of what the Gospel calls us to do) is to consider putting all our liturgies in the language of the people we are trying to reach (or do we leave that to the Romans?)

What are the languages the people speak at coffee hour after Liturgy? Those are the languages we should seek to include in the Liturgy.

David Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

You are very right. And I certainly do see your point. By the way, I wanted to make a note that as part of our recovery of Eastern Christian tradition, I also meant Eastern Christian spirituality, such as the "spirituality" of St. Seraphim of Sarov and so many other great saints of the Eastern Church.

Gospodi Iisuse Khriste syne Bozhiy pomiluy mya greshnago! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

In Christ,

Timofey, rab' Bozhiy (Timothy, servant of God)

I also wanted to say that I think that since there are some very good and prayerful English translations of the Divine Services of the Orthodox Church done by many jurisdictions, that we should also use them in the churches in communion with Rome. I use Russian Orthodox liturgical and service books exclusively at home.

Of course all of this is just my opinion...

Timofey, r.B.

Timothy:

I am just curious. You refer to yourself as a "Russian Greek Catholic" living in Hershey, PA. I know we have a beautiful Ruthenian church in Harrisburg and that there are some Orthodox parishes in the vicinity as well. I am not aware that there is a Russian Greek Catholic church there. Might there be one and if not, where do you attend services that would be conducted in the Russian tradition, using Russian pronunciation of Church Slavonic as you often reference?

Regarding liturgical translations, it is a fact that most jurisdictions, Orthodox or Catholic already have the vast majority of services published in English. To move away from these and make use of others' work would be difficult from a variety of perspectives. Of course, one may use whatever they like, in personal prayer and devotion.

I've always felt that we need to have the "courage to be ourselves." That is an undeniable premise. I only caution though that being ourselves involves much more than copying this or that Orthodox jurisdiction. Even among those jurisdictions themselves, there is great variety and differing of emphasis. I agree that what must be done, is to be faithful to the spiritual heritage we have received, first and foremost.

This spirituality however, involves much more than removing pews from churches or having priests walk the streets in robes, wearing long beards. In the year 2003, these cultural and historical practices may not necessarily be appropriate and do not represent the heart of either the Christian message itself or the particular Byzantine focus of that message. What is of primary importance is that we learn to be faithful Christians first, because this is an area which is often lacking in all of us. While scrupulous liturgical practice can be beautiful and desirable, it does not overpower the spiritual life taught by Jesus in the Gospels.

Each time and age has made provisions for the outward manifestations of the faith. This is "organic development" as it regards the liturgy and the spiritual life. To return to a more archaic use of certain material signs and symbols can leave serious gaps between what we believe interiorly and how we manifest our faith externally, through the liturgy. I do not advocate major reforms in our liturgical services, but only to continue on the path of natural development that has occurred in every time and place. This means making certain adaptations to the particular circumstances in which we live and includes such things as street dress for clergy and a more applicable manner to employ the tools of fasting. Remember that most all of the liturgical and ascetical practices we have inherited were themselves devised in response to the needs of the periods in which they were created, building upon tradition as it was received, but not being slavish to it. Vestments and clerical attire were once common street dress.

Cassocks certainly have thier place in church and church-related ministry, but we do not have to adopt the common street dress of the 18th. century to be faithful witnesses to our Byzantine heritage. Beards can convey an "Orthodox ethos" but it is important to remember that it is what's in a priest's or cleric's heart and the fruits of their ministry that is ultimately important, not how they appear on the surface. A priest can look as Orthodox as can be, but have little concern for people in his inner most thoughts. Hopefully, these are rare, but the point needs to be made. Remember too, that it was in his teaching and preaching and ultimately, in the "breaking of the bread" that Jesus' followers were able to recognize him and understand the good news of the kingdom that he was sent to inaugurate. Also, one needs to be attentive to cleanliness and personal hygiene. We have different resources and expectations than perhaps 150 years ago and I believe that God demands that we make good use of them. Also, it is important to know that not every Orthodox priest wears a cassock in the street or has long, unkempt hair. Many follow the practices common to most clergy today.

Especially during Lent, let us remember to focus on the heart of our faith, which is the mission of Jesus as gleamed through scripture.

Thank you and God bless you.

Fr. Joe

Dear Father Joe,

Bless!

I wish that there was a Russian Greek-Catholic Church somewhere near I live, but there isn't. There are definitely a few Orthodox parishes nearby (OCA, Serbian, Greek, Bulgarian), but when my health permits me to attend Liturgy or other services, it is that "beautiful Ruthenian church" you mention, St. Ann's, that I go to. If my health permitted me, I'd probably go and attend Great Vespers at one of the Orthodox parishes. However, since I'm not able to do so it doesn't really matter.

I refer to myself as a Russian Greek-Catholic because I am an Orthodox Christian in Communion with Rome that follows the Russian tradition. Privately, at least.

I didn't mean to imply that cultural or liturgical customs were more important than faithfulness to Eastern Christian theology and philosophy. Nor did I wish to imply that uncut beards and a cassock, etc. were any indication of a priest's inner spiritual sense. Indeed, a clean-shaven priest may be more faithful to the Christian faith and Orthodoxy in particular...which counts much more than an external appearance.

May we all have a blessed Great Fast!!!

In Christ,

Timothy, servant of God

Dear Timothy, some of us aren't afraid to wear beards and call ourselves Orthodox in communion with Rome.

The strides the Greek Catholic Churches have made since Vatican II has been tremendous, although we still have a long way to go. Several Greek Catholic eparchies regularly now ordain married men in the USA. All three sacraments of initiation are given to infants in all Greek Catholic eparchies.

The Divine Praises, especially Vespers and Matins, are being reintroduced places. Real progress has been made. But any progress needs to be centered on furthering the Gospel and bringing forth the Kingdom of God both in and out of church. Any actor can put on a costume. There has to be heart and actions to match the clothes.

Why not in Greek???

Dear Timothy,

Yes, some of us like long cassocks, pectoral chains etc.

But my wife has told me to "cool it" at least for the Great Fast . . .

I agree with Fr. Joseph - you should listen to him.

I know I do!

Alex

Fr. Joe is right that cassocks are not essential but I certainly think they work to our advantage. I have been at pilgrimages when there are a group of priests together, some in Roman collar and others in cassocks. Time and time again I have witnessed that people go to the priest in the cassock first because he looks like a priest. Cassocks convey an image of comfort and accesibility. The Roman collar looks to "professional" and too cold.

Should cassock wearing be mandatory at all times? No. Should it be encouraged as streetwear? yes.

Those who argue that it is an eighteenth/nineteenth/fourteenth (pick your century; I've heard them all!) century development confuse me. Mitres are a 14th century development. Vestments are a 2nd-3rd century development. Monasticism is a 3rd-4th century development. Hesychasm was a 14th century development. The Church develops! It devoloped cassocks for a reason, and they should stay.

anastasios
(who does not think cassocks are the most important thing but is merely responding fervently in this context)

I agree with our brother Anastasios. Of course, there are those who live for the robes, but in all seriousness, the "approachable factor" is to be considered. When I wear my blacks during liturgy, I have gotten more newcomers approach me afterwards to ask questions and to talk.

This reminds me of a stockbroker who worked out of a brokerage office in my former company's building. I once noticed his license plate with the letters DD BONDS on it. I approached him and told him that I liked his plate. He told me that he did it for fun since he was in the brokerage business not knowing that he would gain so much cold-call business simply because folks noticed it, took him for a serious broker, and gave him business. He laughed because half of his new retail brokerage business came from people noticing his license plate!

Can the same go for those who wear appropriate cassocks or razons(sp?). Would you approach Fr. Joe Playboy or Sr. Jane Barhopper with personal and spiritual issues? Just wondering.

But, then again, we don't need altar Nazis measuring the length of one's beard to determine the degree of one's orthodoxy or wooshing silk around while denouncing those clergy who wear lace. There is, I believe, a time and a place for everything, especially for those married clergy who still like to take their wives out on a hot date.

Joe

Dear Cantor Joe,

Since going off topic is nothing new for me , when are you coming to Canada?

(Should I look for the "Man in blacks?"

Alex

Dear Anastasios the Seminarian,

We had an Orthodox bishop here a while back, as I've said before, who wore his full everything.

People stopped in the hallways to ask for his blessing, Roman Catholics mostly, they smiled, bowed and nodded their heads.

We knew we had a bishop amongst us!

Do the seminarians at St Vlad's wear cassocks?

Alex

Dear Alex,

We seminarians do not wear our cassocks in class as in some other seminaries but do wear cassocks in chapel.

In Christ,

anastasios

Alex,

I already went, saw, worked, and left last week. Didn't get out much since we worked twelve hour days.

Canada is nice. The place around Mississauga and Oakville is really built up, eh?

Joe
(who doesn't wear his blacks at work)