Eastern Catholic Churches Poised To Novus Ordoize Their Liturgies

[Apotheoun]

The following is taken from the [i]Instrumentum Laboris[/i] for the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East:


[size="3"]B. A Renewed Liturgy Faithful to Tradition

70. The Second Vatican Council declares that the liturgy "is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows." In a particular way, the central character which all Eastern Churches give to the Divine Liturgy is expressed, among other things, in an ample, rich variety of rites. Research into the harmony of rites, strongly recommended by the Second Vatican Council, can draw attention to this topic, which is of prime importance in the Christian East. Precisely because the liturgy is so strongly rooted in Eastern culture, the Divine Liturgy today is capable of not only keeping alive the faith of believers but also attracting the interest of those who have drifted from the faith or those who do not believe.

71. In this regard, many responses express a desire for liturgical renewal, which, while remaining firmly grounded in tradition, takes into account modern sensibilities as well as present-day spiritual and pastoral needs. Other responses mention specific cases where renewal is being attempted through the establishment of a commission of specialists for the reform of the liturgy.

72. The most significant aspect of the advances which have taken place in liturgical renewal thus far is the translation of liturgical texts and devotional prayers into the vernacular – principally in Arabic – so that the people might better participate in the celebration of the mysteries of the faith. In this regard, while few prefer to maintain the original language, the overwhelming majority voiced the idea of adding the vernacular to the original language.

73. The responses also mention the necessity of subsequently undertaking the work of adapting liturgical texts for use at celebrations with young people and children. This would be a matter of simplifying words and expressions and suitably adapting them to the mentality and imagery associated with these groups of the Church’s faithful. At the same time, this work would not simply translate ancient texts but use them as an inspiration in reformulating texts which would be faithful to the cultural patrimony handed down from ages past as well as an updated outlook on the contemporary world. As indicated in some responses, this task should be done by an interdisciplinary group comprised of liturgists, theologians, sociologists, pastors and lay people, who are engaged in liturgical programs.

74. Suggestions favouring liturgical renewal also include the area of popular piety. In fact, some responses mention that devotional prayers should be enriched with theological and biblical texts from both the Old and New Testaments. In this regard, the efforts and experiences which have borne fruit in the Latin Church could be of great assistance.[/size]


Source: [url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kGqJR0Cxu7wJ:www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20100606_instrumentum-mo_en.pdf+Instrumentum+Laboris+%22The+Catholic+Church+in+the+Middle+East&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us]Intrumentum Laboris[/url]

[CatherineM]

That could potentially be huge.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='09 July 2010 - 03:10 PM' timestamp='1278709846' post='2140093']
That could potentially be huge.
[/quote]
Yes, it could lead to mass confusion within the Eastern Catholic Churches comparable to that experienced by the Latin Church at the end of the 1960s.

[Nihil Obstat]

Maybe it'll make you less smug.


JK, of course!!

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' date='09 July 2010 - 03:32 PM' timestamp='1278711144' post='2140105']
Maybe it'll make you less smug. [/quote]
Nah, I'll just be smug in a confused fashion.

[CatherineM]

I would think even more so. At least when Vatican II happened, the culture of practically the whole world was changing at the same time. People could point to the 60's and say it was done because of that. I don't have any idea if the Eastern Churches are having trouble with falling numbers, or something else that this is coming up now.

[Apotheoun]

Interestingly the Ruthenian Church in America has already experimented with modernizing and abbreviating the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and so far the effects have not be good. I would not be surprised if in a generation or two the Ruthenian Church in America ceased to exist.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='09 July 2010 - 03:34 PM' timestamp='1278711242' post='2140108']
I would think even more so. At least when Vatican II happened, the culture of practically the whole world was changing at the same time. People could point to the 60's and say it was done because of that. I don't have any idea if the Eastern Churches are having trouble with falling numbers, or something else that this is coming up now.
[/quote]
Yes, in the United States the Eastern Catholic Churches continue to lose members, e.g., the Ruthenian Church in the United States has fallen from around 250,000 members to less than 100,000 over the last 30 years. Sadly the collapse of the Ruthenian Church has accelerated with the institution of the Novus Ordoized liturgy introduced by the council of hierarchs five years ago.

[LouisvilleFan]

There's nothing wrong with going Novus Ordo with yo' liturgies.

There's been talk ever since Vatican II that the Latin Rite will implement Novus Ordo, but we don't see much of it in action.

Edited July 9, 2010 by LouisvilleFan

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' date='09 July 2010 - 04:46 PM' timestamp='1278711965' post='2140126']
There's nothing wrong with going Novus Ordo with yo' liturgies.

There's been talk ever since Vatican II that the Latin Rite will implement Novus Ordo, but we don't see much of it in action.
[/quote]
Uh........ wait, what?

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' date='09 July 2010 - 05:46 PM' timestamp='1278711965' post='2140126']

There's been talk ever since Vatican II that the Latin Rite will implement Novus Ordo, but we don't see much of it in action.
[/quote]

[Ed Normile]

Deep inside I have this feeling that if I wanted to worship God with my gospel and mass being translated into the Vulcan language, doing so with the utmost respect due to God and his church, if possible [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/saint.gif[/img] , that God would still love me and appalaud my efforts.

ed

[CatherineM]

I did a Klingon wedding once, but a Vulcan mass would be new.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA8drfZwnXQ[/media]

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Ed Normile' date='09 July 2010 - 04:00 PM' timestamp='1278712854' post='2140142']
Deep inside I have this feeling that if I wanted to worship God with my gospel and mass being translated into the Vulcan language, doing so with the utmost respect due to God and his church, if possible [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/saint.gif[/img] , that God would still love me and appalaud my efforts.

ed
[/quote]
I am not worried about translation issues (except of course when the "translation" uses so-called gender neutral language); rather, what concerns me is the modernization of the liturgy in order to conform better to the needs of "modern man," whatever that loaded term means. In the end the modernization of the liturgies of the Eastern Catholic Churches will have a bad impact upon them internally, while also damaging ecumenical relations with the Eastern Orthodox who already think that the Roman Church and those associated with it (i.e., Eastern Catholics) are liturgical Protestants.

Edited July 9, 2010 by Apotheoun