www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy Vladyko Blahoslovi.... why Reverend Father Give the blessing?

... then not even fix the first words of the Liturgy the people are supposed to hear (which, despite all the changes, you are still stuck with the improper "Reverend Father give the Blessing."

I don't expect any explanation from those that "are in the know."
Although it would be kind and loving to explain why with all the spirit of change the first line of the new liturgy couldn't even be fixed.

It is certainly true that despota means, literally, �Master.� ... The change of title for human beings serving in a particular role was deliberately changed, since �Master,� in English, is no longer the ordinary greeting for bishops or priests.

https://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbt...a&topic=0&Search=true#Post207105

Now do you get it?

To whom (if anyone in particular) is this question addressed?

how do I say it....

That �Master� is an (antiquated?) address for young males and therefore should not be used can not really be an issue. The people are used to the term in addressing God/Christ, for instance in the �reader prayers,� �O Master forgive our transgressions...�, in the �mercy� Troparion �offer this supplication to You, our Master� at the very beginning of the anaphora, �With these blessed powers, O loving and kind Master,� and the Communion prayer �Remember me O Master.� I don�t think anyone would be taken aback by the deacon�s �Master give the blessing� (is this in fact the only �public� use of the term for the priest in the liturgy?). Most of the uses of master by the deacon are a quiet dialog with the priest (e.g. proskomedia). As a deacon, I feel that �Reverend Father� and worse �Most Reverend Bishop� is an unnecessary complication, a dreadful mouthful and a pain in the neck --- totally uncalled for wordiness. It is such a relief when (still kept even in the Passaic liturgikon) I can say �Master bless the warm water.� To me, Master is efficient, direct, and snappy: as it comes to us it applies equally well to bishop, priest, and God; and given its use for the latter, the former two should not have a problem with it being applied to them. [Also, it circumvents honorific titles that are inappropriate in the liturgy.]

I wonder too why the liturgy, especially the anaphora, uses it, along with Lord, as the exclusive address for God. Is the term Father purposely avoided in direct address, except for the unavoidable use in the doxologies? Is there a deference in not using it, even in the anaphora, so that we can climactically, say �Our Father�? If so, the use of �Reverend Father� has done the liturgy a great disservice.

... the reason for "vladyko" in the Slavonic ( = Master) or "Despota" in Greek ( = Master) is because that is how those dignitaries were addressed in ordinary life. It is very unlikely that people today will suddenly start calling me "Master" instead of "Father." In regard to liturgical texts, the Byzantines tend to use the address "Father" for the first person of the Trinity for very solemn prayers, it has a kind of exclusivity because it is used in the prayer the Lord taught us, and it was at one time a part of the "disciplina arcana." [emphasis added]