There are many objections to the Orthodox Western Rite. Many are founded on ignorance and can simply be either disregarded or educated away according to mood or circumstance, (such as the lady who flat out refused to believe that anything but the Byzantine Rite was ever used in the Church and tried to convince me that the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom was commonly used in England prior to the Schism). Others do actually have some basis in reality and in genuine concern for the proper passing on and living of the Orthodox Faith and for the spiritual well-being of Orthodox people. These deserve more attention and ought to be taken on board to one degree or another. There are yet others which cannot be so easily categorised because their proponents see them as so self-evident that, in expressing them, they do not often go beyond a brief statement, expecting that this will be readily understood and agreed upon by all right-thinking people, (i.e. people like them). The truth is that this simply serves to further polarise already opposing viewpoints. Then listening stops as, due to human weakness, both sides become defensive and dig their heels in.
One example of this is the position that holds that the restoration of pre-schism western services for use in the Church is "liturgical archaeology". This sort of disparaging terminology may serve as a self-congratulatory mantra among those who already agree with each other but to those who remain to be convinced, it simply shows a lack of respect and a dismissive attitude. Reliance on such belittling expressions instead of actual reasoned and coherent thoughts also suggests a severe lack of confidence in a very weak argument. This may be an inaccurate assessment but it is precisely the picture painted by the way in which this is often presented.
So, let us examine the reasons why people perform this "liturgical archaeology".
Well, it all seems to be happening!
After decades of existing as a handful of scattered monastic communities and hermitages, it seems as though the Western Rite within the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad is well on its way to being much more firmly established.
First, we got the informal decision of the Synod of Bishops that all Western Rite communities in ROCOR would be given stavropegial status - itself a great blessing, for it freed bishops from having to look after communities whose rite and culture they did not understand and communities with unsympathetic bishops striving to survive against all odds, generally making things easier for everybody concerned and removing some of the barriers that the previous unhelpful situation placed before those who might otherwise explore Orthodoxy as a spiritual home. After all, who wants to join an isolated mission whose ecclesiastical status is volatile and whose stability is precarious at best?
Then a number of parishes and missions started to apear: some of them newly founded, some of them developed from study societies, and some of them received from independent jurisdictions. The most signficant of these were perhaps the reception of the former HOCACA at the end of last year, and the encouraging news of the discussions with the Orthodox Church of France. This is all very encouraging, although it does raise some questions about the haste of things and the stability and formation both in the Faith and the priestly life of those being received.
Now, within the past fortnight, we have received news that the Council of Bishops has established a Western Rite Vicariate, giving much greater structure and stability to the Western Rite effort, and quite possibly addressing the matter raised in the previous paragraph, as now people are actually being received into something that is integrated and should now begin to operate as a unit. The recent meetings and proposed conferences, I am sure, will add to the stability, structure, and growth into a functional family.
Now, to top it all off, if anything makes a bold statement that the Western Rites of the Orthodox Church are as full and legitimate an expression of the Holy Orthodox Faith as any other, it is not that their forms of services are blessed for use, or that they come directly under the jurisdiction of the First-Hierarch himself, or even that those who belong to those rites are increasing in number, but rather the remarkable fact that ordinations are now being done at a western Pontifical High Mass, by an Orthodox bishop in western vestments, and using the Roman ordinal. I am almost sure that this combination is a first in modern Orthodox history and it speaks volumes, opening the way for people to trust the Church in its western expression with the salvation of their souls. May we soon begin to see Orthodox Saints whose lives have been formed in the Western Rite - the true test of its Orthodoxy.
I am truly delighted by this as an Orthodox Christian with western roots, who loves the western hymns, liturgies, and Saints, and I hope that this will also prove to have great missionary potential across the world but particularly in these isles where many of those Saints once sang those hymns and prayed those liturgies.
I thoroughly look forward to further developments and the video footage that we have been promised of this weekend's ordination. Please pray for Dom Joseph of Christ the Saviour Monastery as he is to be ordained to the diaconate.
I leave you with a photo-video collage from 2007, which brings back memories.
Last year, I posted this, wondering what had become of the excitement surrounding the supposedly imminent restoration of communion between the Holy Synod of Milan and the Russian Orthodox Church (Milan was once in communion with ROCOR, whence it acquired its hierarchy). I had welcomed the rumours, which I had heard from two independent and reliable sources, so could only conclude that whatever discussions had taken place had come to nothing. There was no public news about this, to my knowledge. I did, however, wonder at how this could ever have gone ahead with such public and vociferous opposition to the Russian Church from certain quarters within the Milan Synod. Other individuals aside, it is no secret that Archbishop John of New York is no fan of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Over the past few days, things have taken an interesting turn. Archbishop John has been elevated to the rank of Metropolitan and appointed leader of a new metropolis of North and South America, and the British Isles, formerly the American dioceses of the Milan Synod, along with its deanery of two priests in the British Isles. Remaining in communion with Milan, this new metropolis has been granted autonomous status.
At the same time, the Milan Synod issued a statement, reproduced on the news blog of Bishop Abbondio of Como, to the effect that it is not engaged in fraternal relations with any Russian breakaway group but only the Moscow Patriarchate. To my knowledge, this is the first public acknowledgement of any movement of Milan in the direction of Moscow, and I wonder whether it may be a sign of things to come.
Could it be that the release of Archbishop, now Metropolitan, John into his own autonomous synod was simply Milan's way of "trimming the fat", unburdening itself and thus allowing itself to move more freely to pursue what it had seemingly tried to pursue a little over a year ago? It seems curious that, a mere few days after all of this transpired, this document of the new metropolis was posted for public consumption.
Let's see where this goes. I, for one, shall continue to pray for communion with Milan under its head, Metropolitan Evloghios. I have long sympathised with this particular Old Calendar synod, if not for its stability then certainly for its resistance to some of the ecclesiological heresies that seem to be plaguing much of the Church today, and hoped for its restoration to the Orthodox Church. I do believe that it will be a healthful presence within the Moscow Patriarchate should this result in communion. It only seems unfortunate that any such good news will not apply to the former Milan clergy here in Britain, at least for now.
May God bless their efforts.
Many of you will probably know about The Way, which is an Orthodox catechetical course, presenting the basics of the Faith in an Alpha-style format but with actual substance. I know that my local Antiochian parish ran it a couple of years ago and it seemed to have worked well. Well, it seems that, earlier this month, the course materials were made available as a DVD set with instructional material for organisers. It may be purchased from Amazon or Gazelle Books.
I must say that I am disappointed by the region encoding. From my past experience of working in a Christian bookstore, I know that the majority of Christian DVDs, whether they depict worship, lectures, documentaries, films, concerts, or just about anything, are not region encoded, precisely because the motives of controlling distribution and making a substantial profit are usually not the primary concerns of the publishers. Yet, if the Amazon listing is correct, the DVDs for The Way are encoded for region 2, essentially placing a restriction on how widely they can be used. I do not understand why they would do this.
That said, I do like the approach of the publicity video. There is no false glitz or hype. It doesn't try to grab people's attention through empty gimmicks but simply presents the content in an adult fashion for adults. I, for one, appreciate not being patronised in the way that Christian outreach efforts often do in tryng to re-package the Faith but which almost always seems like desperation. If we truly believe that what we have to share with the world is what it is, then we shouldn't need to fall back on such things, and this seems to me to show great faith and confidence that the "product" needs no embellishment.
Here it is:
The missions belonging to the Western Rite within the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad have launched a society to raise funds for their growth and work. I am sure that any assistance that you are able to give would be gratefully received and will go towards the spreading of the holy and saving Faith, for the salvation of God's people.
I would like, if I may, to draw readers' attention to Nathan's blog, where he has recently revealed his other talents as a film producer and screenwriter, and announced plans to produce a film about the life of St Moses the Black. It sounds a truly exciting project and one that will, no doubt, be greatly beneficial to many people. We could all learn from the life of St Moses, abandoning those things that separate us from God and neighbour, rejecting our shame at confessing them, and seeking as best we can to follow the way of Christ.
I now have the DVDs of the lives of St Elisabeth the New Martyr and St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, and I think that such presentations of the Saints are splendid, both for their edification of Christians and for their potential use in missionary activity.
This project needs monetary support. Please contact Nathan through his website if you think you might be able to help.
An American-based friend recently sent me a message, asking about efforts on the part of Orthodox churches in Britain to reach out to Forward in Faith. I very rudely failed to reply in a timely fashion so have decided to make a blog post out of it in the hope that this will go some way towards appeasing the wrath of my acquaintance. I just hope that I don't offend too many people by responding publicly.
The answer is that I know of very little that has been organised on any sort of large scale. There is the quiet evangelism among individuals, for which Orthodoxy is known, but there's nothing such as the OCA's outreach to ACNA. While Metropolitan Jonah's address to their conference was outstanding and inspiring, and no doubt ideal for that context, it was tailored for a situation that is so far removed from the reality of church life in Britain as to be largely an irrelevance to us.
The impression I have got over the years, both as an Anglo-Catholic and now as Orthodox who hears the views of Anglo-Catholics about Orthodoxy, is that English (the factors facing those in Scotland and elsewhere may be different) and North American Anglo-Catholics simply do not understand each other.
Last year there was talk of reconciliation discussions between the Church of Russia and the Holy Synod of Milan. I heard about this from two sources, independently of each other. At one time I was told it looked likely that this would all be resolved by the end of last year and that Milan would be similar to ROCOR - an autonomous/semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church.
I was very much looking forward to that. I have considerable respect for the Milan Synod and am acquainted with their "local" priest (these terms are relative, after all), with whom I was quietly hoping my parish could establish good relations.
So what happened?
It occurs to me only this evening, on election day, that, had we thought of it, my parish could have made enquiries about having our church used as a polling station. I don't know whether groups can volunteer their buildings or whether they must be approached but it would have been a good way of getting local people in through the door to see what it's like while they went to cast their vote. Who knows whose curiosity may have been piqued?
How disappointing!
Again we pray Thee, look down with mercy upon our Church, do Thou strengthen, establish and increase her, and evermore defend her against the wiles of her enemies. Do Thou cast down all dissension, schism, heresy, apostasy, and unbelief, and spread abroad in our land, and in every place, piety, devotion and zeal for Orthodoxy; illumine those in ignorance and error, and those enslaved unto sin, and soften the hardness of their hearts, that they may come to know Thee; help them and us to live holy and blameless lives, and root the saving Faith firmly and make it to bear fruit in our hearts; we fervently entreat Thee, hearken and have mercy.The above is one of the supplementary petitions customarily included in the Litany of Fervent Supplication at the Divine Liturgy. It is called the Litany of Fervent Supplication because, having just been nourished by the readings of the Holy Scriptures and having them expounded, we are called to implore God for his mercy in even greater earnest, with our whole being. The deacon exhorts us with the words, 'Let us all say with our whole soul and our whole mind; let us say:', and the next two petitions are, 'O Lord Almighty, God of our Fathers, we pray Thee, hearken and have mercy', 'Have mercy upon us, O God, according to thy great mercy; we pray Thee, hearken and have mercy'. The people respond with a threefold, 'Lord, have mercy'.
The deacons also led the people in prayer, standing in their midst, asking for the peace of the world, for the union of all and for whatever other petitions or needs the faithful requested.
