Last night there was a special Ruthenian-rite liturgy (a member of the Byzantine rite family) celebrated by Fr. Anthony both to commemorate the Dormition of the Theotokos and also to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. The liturgy was celebrated at OLP because St. Basil in Los Gatos is too small, and Fr. Anthony teaches RCIA and other classes at OLP.
There were large icons of our Lord and the Theotokos set up near the communion rail. Several members of St. Basil's parish were present to chant -- the liturgy was mostly in English, though there was a bit of Church Slavonic before communion. Fr. Mickey concelebrated -- he is biritual (Roman and which Byzantine rite?) and one of my mother's (many) favorite priests. The pastor of OLP concelebrated, along with one of the elderly priests who often celebrates Mass there. I didn't recognize the deacon or the gentleman carrying the crucifix. (He had an accent -- I heard him talking at the reception. Australian maybe?)
The liturgy, including the veneration of the cross and icon of the Dormition, was about 2 hours and 15 minutes -- I stood the whole time and wouldn't have minded it, if my back hadn't been bothering me. It's been a while since I've attending a Byzantine-rite Divine Liturgy, and I've missed participating in one. As I haven't been able to go down to St. Basil so far, I decided this would be the best opportunity for me to do so and to celebrate the anniversary of Fr. Anthony's ordination.
I like the litanies of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Often it seems like the laity have more to sing/say in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom than in the classical Roman rite. The new Roman rite may have attempted to improve this, but it has its own problems. The petitionary prayers are a litany, but often they seem so un-traditional, especially when there is ad-libbing or when they are changing from week to week. I think even at St. Thomas these prayers are not constant. Someone has claimed (I've forgotten the source) that the latter part of the Roman canon has the petitions; adding a litany to the rite is redundant. But why not keep that part of the canon silent and proper to the priest, while the laity have another litany? Yes, I am advocating a change to the Roman rite. That's nothing new.
At the reception one of his friends and associates told Fr. Anthony's story -- apparently while in charge of RCIA at OLP he introduced the scrutinies, and Fr. Sweeney encouraged him to do so. Apparently OLP was the first parish to introduce the full RCIA? I miss Fr. Sweeney.
There was an attractive young woman attending liturgy nearby. She seemed rather pious; a tall girl too, 5'9" or so? I'm not sure if she was there with her sister(s) and mother.
One of Fr. Anthony's classes:
Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
Related links:
CE: Ruthenian Rite
Pope Pius IX 13 May 1874 The Greek-Ruthenian Rite
Carpatho-Ruthenian Plain Chant
Carpathian Plainchant
Byzantine Catholic Liturgical Chant
Byzantine Catholic Daily Prayer and Lectionary
Horologion
Adoro te Devote
Study Text of the Ruthenian Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Ruthenian Byzantine: Ordo Celebrationis Vespers Liturgy
An Eastern Catholic Examines Liturgical Problems
Response to Father Keleher - The Website of Father David Petras
Liturgical Reform in the Byzantine Church
East Meets English
An minor unfortunate incident at the reception -- apparently there was a meeting of some of the Hispanic parishioners. It ended and some of them were talking loudly in the hallway outside the hall/gym. A few came into the gym and continued talking. Others went to get food. Maybe one of the sisters invited them to have some food, but I thought their actions just reinforced the worst stereotypes. Now, there were some whites at dinner who were talking amongst themselves instead of listening to the speakers, but at least they were not talking loudly.
There continue to be segregated communities within the parish, and I do not think this is a good thing. Do the parishioners feel much tension or friction? Small problems can lead to big problems. Is there an attempt being made to learn English and to associate with non-Hispanics? And are the non-Hispanics welcoming?
Misc:
SF Gate interview with Neil Marshall
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