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Response to Father Deacon Paul (to read his comment click here)
All though I respect you and venerate your efforts to defend the unborn I must humbly contradict your position. If you would Father Deacon, allow me to be the “fool” to say that Eucharistic Adoration has no place in the Eastern Church and it is not a replacement to “what has been successful in the past”. All though it can initiate Hesychia (stillness) it is not Hesychasm and will never replace 2000 years of developed Eastern tradition. Your position is genuine, and this Latin tradition has its own beauty. However, whether you know it or not by promoting such a position, as a member of the Eastern Catholic hierarchy, is in fact an effort to “Latinize” our tradition.
You said,” Before anyone shouts This is not our Tradition; this is a latinization stop and think”. Well Father I did this very thing. I thought very deeply and recalled special memories in which Jesus Christ awakened my heart to the reality of his love when I stood before him in Eucharistic adoration. One memory in particular is when I was at grad school at Franciscan University. We had above our dorm a special chapel where perpetual adoration took place. In addition, to the real presence being venerated there was an icon on the wall of the Theotokos that had a reference to evangelization below it. I used to retreat there daily to pray and have nothing negative to say about the practice. It is beneficial in every way and has the ability to awaken people to the path of stillness. However, it is not a replacement or the answer to the renewal of Hesychasm in our tradition.
Eucharistic adoration is proper to the Latin liturgical tradition in many ways. As you know the Latin liturgy is christocentric. It focuses upon the exclusive work of Christ in the forensic realities of his life. Christ crucified renews the broken covenant with mankind and establishes his reign on Earth. Through his suffering the price was paid for our failure to love God. He does the work that we cannot do and pays the covenantal sanctions by his suffering for our failure. The response to this great reality by the Latin Catholics is found in great acts of gratitude, penance, and the celebration of him who gives himself body soul, and divinity through the most precious sacrament. The acts of course are continued on by veneration of Christ through the sacrament. This is only to say a few things about the beauty of this tradition and its capacity to make a person feel right and loved by God.
Eucharistic adoration could never theologicaly fit into the liturgical vision of the Eastern Church for many reasons. As you also know the Eastern liturgical tradition is Trinitarian through and through. Instead of focusing exclusively upon Christ and the crucifixion we find a heavenly celebration. We enter into the heavenly presence of God in the entire Liturgy-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The divine energies of God penetrate us as we experience the trinity throughout the liturgy. Christ (real presence) is present through the whole liturgy and most present at the time of Eucharistic consecration, where he is accompanied by a myriad of angels in order to take his seat in our heart. It is at the act of receiving the Eucharist that all the divine energies that are present in the liturgy come to penetrate the depths of our being. All the energies existing in Christ become our own through this act of liturgical “synergy”. From this experience we take up the work of deifying the whole nature-Theosis. We learn to discover Him within, which is the work of Hesychasm. This is why Eucharist adoration will always remain foreign to our tradition for this very reason.
When it comes to Hesychasm we find our tradition showing the way to bring our Trinitarian experience to every aspect of our being. In the liturgical experience we find God sharing the fullness of himself with us, making us partakers of the divine nature. This reality remains within us hidden in the heart. The goal of the Hesychast is partake of the divine nature at all levels of humanity (Theosis). This is achieved by discovering Hesychia (stillness) of body and mind. By achieving Hesychia (stillness) of the body the Hesychast learns self control in calming the passions that constantly distract us from discovering the Christ hidden in the heart- through fasting, vigil, sleeping on the ground, spiritual reading ext... In the Hesychia (stillness) of the mind the Hesychast learns to silence temptation by continually invoking the name of Jesus Christ. Consequently, your solution to have Eucharistic adoration is not a replacement of Hesychasm, even though it can initiate it.
You ask “what is solution”. The solution is to reeducate and to renew our traditions given to us by our fathers. The Latin Church has its own beauty and is able to meet the needs of mankind in a unique way. We have our traditions that God gave us, for they to have a unique answer to the struggles of mankind. We need a “New Evangelization” in our churches. One which leads us to discover Christ hidden in the heart, one that speaks the tradition of our Fathers in a modern voice.
Please know I say these things in humility and with love for our Eastern Traditions.
For further reading click (adoration revisited)
All though I respect you and venerate your efforts to defend the unborn I must humbly contradict your position. If you would Father Deacon, allow me to be the “fool” to say that Eucharistic Adoration has no place in the Eastern Church and it is not a replacement to “what has been successful in the past”. All though it can initiate Hesychia (stillness) it is not Hesychasm and will never replace 2000 years of developed Eastern tradition. Your position is genuine, and this Latin tradition has its own beauty. However, whether you know it or not by promoting such a position, as a member of the Eastern Catholic hierarchy, is in fact an effort to “Latinize” our tradition.
You said,” Before anyone shouts This is not our Tradition; this is a latinization stop and think”. Well Father I did this very thing. I thought very deeply and recalled special memories in which Jesus Christ awakened my heart to the reality of his love when I stood before him in Eucharistic adoration. One memory in particular is when I was at grad school at Franciscan University. We had above our dorm a special chapel where perpetual adoration took place. In addition, to the real presence being venerated there was an icon on the wall of the Theotokos that had a reference to evangelization below it. I used to retreat there daily to pray and have nothing negative to say about the practice. It is beneficial in every way and has the ability to awaken people to the path of stillness. However, it is not a replacement or the answer to the renewal of Hesychasm in our tradition.
Eucharistic adoration is proper to the Latin liturgical tradition in many ways. As you know the Latin liturgy is christocentric. It focuses upon the exclusive work of Christ in the forensic realities of his life. Christ crucified renews the broken covenant with mankind and establishes his reign on Earth. Through his suffering the price was paid for our failure to love God. He does the work that we cannot do and pays the covenantal sanctions by his suffering for our failure. The response to this great reality by the Latin Catholics is found in great acts of gratitude, penance, and the celebration of him who gives himself body soul, and divinity through the most precious sacrament. The acts of course are continued on by veneration of Christ through the sacrament. This is only to say a few things about the beauty of this tradition and its capacity to make a person feel right and loved by God.
Eucharistic adoration could never theologicaly fit into the liturgical vision of the Eastern Church for many reasons. As you also know the Eastern liturgical tradition is Trinitarian through and through. Instead of focusing exclusively upon Christ and the crucifixion we find a heavenly celebration. We enter into the heavenly presence of God in the entire Liturgy-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The divine energies of God penetrate us as we experience the trinity throughout the liturgy. Christ (real presence) is present through the whole liturgy and most present at the time of Eucharistic consecration, where he is accompanied by a myriad of angels in order to take his seat in our heart. It is at the act of receiving the Eucharist that all the divine energies that are present in the liturgy come to penetrate the depths of our being. All the energies existing in Christ become our own through this act of liturgical “synergy”. From this experience we take up the work of deifying the whole nature-Theosis. We learn to discover Him within, which is the work of Hesychasm. This is why Eucharist adoration will always remain foreign to our tradition for this very reason.
When it comes to Hesychasm we find our tradition showing the way to bring our Trinitarian experience to every aspect of our being. In the liturgical experience we find God sharing the fullness of himself with us, making us partakers of the divine nature. This reality remains within us hidden in the heart. The goal of the Hesychast is partake of the divine nature at all levels of humanity (Theosis). This is achieved by discovering Hesychia (stillness) of body and mind. By achieving Hesychia (stillness) of the body the Hesychast learns self control in calming the passions that constantly distract us from discovering the Christ hidden in the heart- through fasting, vigil, sleeping on the ground, spiritual reading ext... In the Hesychia (stillness) of the mind the Hesychast learns to silence temptation by continually invoking the name of Jesus Christ. Consequently, your solution to have Eucharistic adoration is not a replacement of Hesychasm, even though it can initiate it.
You ask “what is solution”. The solution is to reeducate and to renew our traditions given to us by our fathers. The Latin Church has its own beauty and is able to meet the needs of mankind in a unique way. We have our traditions that God gave us, for they to have a unique answer to the struggles of mankind. We need a “New Evangelization” in our churches. One which leads us to discover Christ hidden in the heart, one that speaks the tradition of our Fathers in a modern voice.
Please know I say these things in humility and with love for our Eastern Traditions.
For further reading click (adoration revisited)
One of my Latin-rite parishioners once asked me: "How come we never have adoration?" I answered: "We have constant adoration." She had come to confuse "exposition" with adoration. I added that the question would be tantamount to asking why my neighboring Latin Church doesn't have an iconostasis.
ReplyDeleteMy dear brother in Christ,
ReplyDeleteA sincere and fraternal discussion is good; please take no offense to any of my comments; I shall take no offfense and will cherish your comments. By the way, I commend you for your evangelization efforts. May God continue to bless this ministry.
Your theological statements are impeccable. There is a place for theology but one must admit that it doesn't bring a whole lot of people into the Church. Neither did Christ preach theology; that was left to Saint Paul. Through the Epistles, Tradition, and the Church Fathers we more fully understand the apologetics of our Faith. Christ taught strongly that we must be like little children, their innocence and humility is "Christlike."
Hesychasm brings back to adults this trusting child within us. The formula for regaining innocence is fathered by Christ's Spirit, the Comforter. it isn't obtained by formulae. The Jesus Prayer is one of the ways through which one tries to attain Theosis. But surely it's not the only way. Did Christ break down salvation by East and West? "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.(Gal3:28)
The Eucharist should bring all Christians together, not separate them because of ritual. At the time of the Great Schism there was much bitterness towards the West because of the use of unleavened bread being used for the Eucharist. How foolish that seems now.
The Eucharist is the foreshadowing, correction, it is MORE than a foreshadowing, of the Beatific Vision. To dwell in its Presence is to be open to the Creator of All, His Word, and the Comforter. One should become absorbed by The Uncreated Energy; with this nourishment one can go forth re-Energized. In stillness before the awesome undivided God He shares with us His Peace. Is this not the intention of Hesychasm? From there we "go forth in peace."
We are told that Divine Liturgy should only be celebrated on Sundays, and that only once. This "easternization" will withhold the Eucharist from those who want to partake. How odd this seems to me. Christ told Peter "feed my sheep"; yet the sheep are being starved by the shepherds.
God has gifts for each soul; He loves every person equally; and He knows what we need. We must be careful that our theory doesn't stand in the way.
With warm regard,
Father Deacon Paul
Dear Deacon Paul,
ReplyDeleteI have read your comment to mixing Churches. Please make note that there are no longer any Rites. We are all Churches in our own right.
That being said, Pope John Paul II has declared that the Catholic Church breathes with two lungs. Both of these lungs and distinct and differerent in its laws, spirituality, culture and Traditions. It is clearly evident in the United States and Canada that the Eastern Church, in order to be accepted by the Western Church had to take on the trappings of the Latin Church. That is our problem, not the problem of the Latin Church. We prostituted ourselves for the sake of acceptance.
Again, Pope John Paul II, knowing and accepting the valuable heritage of faith, spirituality and ritual of the East told the East to go back to their roots. This is exactly what the East is now doing in to United States. The Orothodox never took on the trappings of the Western Church. We never should have either.
Following the recommendation of Pope John Paul II, we are now taking back our Eastern Church, its culture, spirituality and Traditions. It is about time. The two lungs must breath together but differently. We must live side by side, running in tandum unfurling our different expressions of the same faith but always united in Chirst and the Triume God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
St. Paul described the Church as a diverity. Lets make sure that united in Christ, we continue to show that diversity of Churches within the One Holy and Catholic Church.
Deacon, if you are of the Eastern Church of the Catholic Church which is Universal, please do most mix the Churches together. You will be doing a disservice to the Eastern Church in general, and to call of Pope John Paul II to go back to our roots. Be proud that the Catholic Church breathes with two lungs. This underscores the true unity of the Catholic Church called Universal. We are of the East, our faith comes from the East, our spirituality comes from the East, our laws of the Church come from the East. Let us live our faith as an Eastern Church.
“If any one saith, that, in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship…neither to be venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor to be solemnly borne about in processions…or, is not to be proposed publicly to the people to be adored, and that the adorers thereof are idolators; let him be anathema.”—Thirteenth Session CANON VI,
ReplyDeleteDon’t forget to add that this is from the Latin Tradition-"Council of Trent”. This tells me you are either a Roman Catholic who does not understand the Byzantine tradition or someone who is Latinized trying to Latinize other Eastern Christians. This was written in response to the Protestants, not Byzantine Catholics wanting to be true to their traditions.
ReplyDeleteBallard, dont accuse guests on your site as ignorant Latins or latinizing Byzantines. Such is uncharitable and unnecessary. With that said... seeing as how validly consecrated bread/wine IS God and it is orthodox to adore/worship God, what is the problem? Tradition? Tradition is picked up over time, the traditions the Eastern Christians have now, they didnt always have. Adoring the Eucharist/God should not be seen as an authentically "latin" practice in and of itself. I agree, we should promote the retention of authentic traditions according to the Church in question BUT certain traditions, if helpful in bringing the individual to God, should be made available or at least not shunned. If you disagree, respond charitably...
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious what they were doing. Guests engage in conversation they don’t do a drive by. Maybe you don’t deal with this problem as regularly as I do so I understand your accusations.Tradition is not picked up over time. Catholics believe in Tradition with a capital T.Tradition is assimilated and incorporated. East and West developed differently in there relationship to the mysteries. Our Byzantine tradition has a unique vision of God, just like the Latins do. To bring this tradition into ours will not contribute to what is organically byzantine.
ReplyDelete"Popular devotion at the Great Entrance found a more willing protagonist in Symeon than it had in [St. Nicholas] Cabasilas. He holds that veneration of the gifts is perfectly justified, since they are already images of the Body and Blood of Christ, comparable to, though greater than, icons. They are, as St. Basil called them, antitypes of the Body and Blood of Christ, and have already been offered to become the Body and Blood. Symeon reckons worse than iconoclasts those who criticize such veneration as idolatry. He encourages the veneration even of holy vessels which are empty, "for they all partake of sanctification, the holy gifts being offered in sacrifice in them." Perhaps Symeon was deliberately trying to correct what he considered Cabasilas' mistaken caution. But his use of the word antitype is significant, for in the anaphora of St. Basil it is used of the consecrated gifts. Symeon here reflects the view by now deeply ingrained in Orthodox eucharistic piety, that a certain holiness attaches to the bread and wine from the time of their preparation in the prothesis. This is in fact implied in the prayers said during the proskomidia, and by the ceremonial surrounding both that rite and the Great Entrance." The Orthodox Liturgy (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996) p. 169.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with Eucharistic adoration, as it is in the roman Church. As it says in the book this is normal practice for the byzantine church. Not sure your point here?
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest that the personal devotional impulse fed by Benediction and Exposition in the West are fulfilled by the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the Byzantine tradition?
ReplyDeletea wonderful, thought-provoking post
ReplyDeleteFr Deacon- about 1 Divine Liturgy per week- I believe that would be increased for our days of obligation and solemnities- but of course- we are not in a little 300 person village- for pastoral reasons, there can be more than one Divine Liturgy per Sunday (we have 2 because there are 2 missions)
If Eucharistic adoration is simply prayerful awareness of God's presence in the Eucharist, in a church or chapel with the Eucharist reserved (for the sick, for example), then this is neither East nor West but natural.
ReplyDeleteThe Eucharistic exposition that evolved from people wanting to see the Eucharist because they were afraid to receive it is neither Eastern nor Western but particular to a certain point in the history of the Roman (Latin) tradition. Today Eucharistic exposition is yet different.
Contemporary Eucharistic exposition and the adoration that goes with it is more commonly practiced by those who receive frequently. The exposition only makes sense in the Roman Church, where the host can be displayed in a monstrance. But the adoration, as noted above, can be helpful in all traditions. Indeed, there are collections of prayers that may lead a person to thankful adoration, awareness of the precious gift of the Eucharist.
Theology is important but sometimes a theological explanation of a popular practice ignores the actual function of that practice in the life of the faithful. There are many forms of adoration. Just as it seems odd in my Byzantine upbringing to take the chalice filled with the precious gifts in a procession through the streets, it seems odd to castigate Eastern Christians for spending time in quiet prayer adoringly aware of the real presence in the Eucharist held in the tabernacle.
After all, the Divine Liturgy rarely has much quiet time. Yet the practice of silence is critical to a life of prayer. Where better to start such practice?
I think that issues such as the relationship (if thats the right word) that people have with the Holy Mysteries can be extremely complex, personal and even emotional. I know my father grew up in a parish where eucharistic exposition was done regularly. Though he is against such practices in our churches, he still cries when he hears those melodies used for "supplikatsia". For our latin friends, I understand your unrelenting defence of this, but you are not us and should focus on your own problems. I have lots to say about roman issues, but it is not my tradition, not my problem.
ReplyDeleteFor my eastern friends, you are better off spending your quiet, contemplative time preparing for confession and the reception of the Holy Mysteries. Way more consistent with eastern practice . Do you know what is way, WAY more profound than looking at Jesus? Becoming a holy vessel yourself. YOU, becoming a temple for Christ's body and blood. And then read all the prayers after communion. It sums it all up.
I don't know where Fr. Paul got his idea of having liturgy only on Sundays, that is very uninformed. There are liturgical propers given for every day of the year, just don't forget to do vespers, matins and the hours too!!!
One liturgy on sunday is ideal for most communities. If you are packing a church twice on a sunday morning, build another church and ordain another priest (that means not hiring one from Ukraine or Poland).
thank you!
irg