WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR UNION OF BREST
Pope John Paul II Holy Father Celebrates Divine Liturgy to Commemorate 400th Anniversary 7 July 1996 Praised be Jesus Christ! 1. “Ut unum sint”. The words of yesterday’s evening liturgy resound again today in this Vatican Basilica. This is the place where four hundred years ago the representatives of the Metropolia of Kiev met Clement […]
FOURTH CENTENARY OF THE UNION OF BREST
Pope John Paul II Apostolic Letter of the Supreme Pontiff issued November 12, 1995 The day is drawing near when the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will celebrate the fourth centenary of the union between the Bishops of the Metropolia of Kievan Rus’ and the Apostolic See. The union was effected at the meeting of representatives […]
VATICAN II PRAISED EASTERN TRADITIONS
Pope John Paul II General Audience 9 August 1995 1. On the topic of ecumenism, what the Second Vatican Council says about relations between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church is particularly important: the current separation cannot make us forget the long way we have come together. “For many centuries the Churches of […]
THE LITURGY IN THE EARLY CHURCH
How Our Lord celebrated the first Divine Liturgy is clearly delineated in the New Testament accounts of the Last Supper. We have had portrayed for us there the simplest elements of that Most Holy Sacrifice. Our Lord took the bread and wine and prayed over them, He offered them up to the Father with a […]
RITES
As a direct consequence of the persecutions the entire experience of the Church was fluid for its first four centuries. That, of course, includes its liturgical practices. Communication, hindered as it necessarily was, made any standardization of practices in worship a slow process indeed. As in any police state, even in our own times, it […]
HOW DID THE VARIOUS RITES ORIGINATE?
Try to imagine yourself in Jerusalem, shortly after the Ascension. Try. Christianity had just been born, though nobody yet thought of it in those terms. Christ has only just hours before commissioned certain men to “feed my flock.” Empowered by Him, these men are commanded now to teach men the truths about man and man’s […]
JOINT PATRIARCHAL STATEMENT
between His Holiness Mar Rophael, I, BiDawid, Catholicos Patriarch, His Holiness Mar Dinkha, IV, Catholicos Patriarch, and their respective delegations concerning proposals for the re-establishment of full ecclesial unity between the Chaldean and Assyrian Churches of the East 1. On Friday, 29 November 1996, at the Chaldean Chancery in Southfield, Michigan (USA), the two Patriarchs […]
The Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite
Four liturgies are celebrated in the Byzantine Rite: The Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and of St. Basil the Great consist of three parts: the Preparation, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Liturgy of Sacrifice. 1.The Preparation begins with the priest saying the Prayers of Intention, donning the liturgical vestments, and proceeding to the prothesis. Here, […]
The Sign of the Cross in the Eastern Rite
The sign of the cross is an important expression of faith and is frequently used during services. In the Eastern Churches, the sign of the cross is made with the right hand. The thumb with the first two fingers are joined at the tip, symbolizing the Blessed Trinity. The remaining two fingers are closed on the […]
RITES AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Unity in Faith …. Diversity in Rite The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ nearly two thousand years ago through His apostles and disciples. The Church consists of the faithful united though the Holy Spirit by faith, the seven sacraments, and leadership. The visible head of the Catholic Church is the Pope of Rome […]