Visited a WR parish... loved it

[AMM]

Last weekend I went up to Maryland to go to St Gregory the Great Orthodox Church, an Antiochian WR parish. I absolutely loved the service. The hymns and tunes were familiar to me, and the people were incredibly friendly and welcoming. One lady (the wife of one of the priests) welcomed me and my girlfriend and helped us along through the whole service, balancing the bulletin and missal and hymnal. Fr Nicholas did a session called "Ask Abouna" during coffee hour which was really informative. I want to go back in a couple weeks to experience it again. My girlfriend loved it too; she said she felt like she was understanding what was happening instead of just being confused and stressed the whole time like she feels at the Byzantine parish I'm a catechumen at.

All around, a great experience. Everything I expected and more. I'm looking forward to going back and paying more attention, seeing the differences between the Western and the Eastern rites. Glory to God for his priests and servants at this parish!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

WR?

 

[Tigger45]

WR?

Western rite.

 

[ArmyMatt]

awesome! glad you had a great experience!

 

[archer75]

That's cool. Glad it went well.

I haven't been to a Western Rite Orthodox service ever. I'd love to. Did they have pews?

 

[AMM]

WR?

Sorry -- western rite

awesome! glad you had a great experience!

thank you Father!

That's cool. Glad it went well.

I haven't been to a Western Rite Orthodox service ever. I'd love to. Did they have pews?

Not pews technically, but chairs. (And kneelers for the consecration)

 

[Virgil the Roman]

Blessed Be God! Glory to Jesus Christ!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Never visited Western Rite. Not sure what I think of it. At least it's Orthodox!

 

[tapi]

Whatever works for your salvation works for me Great to hear you enjoyed the service.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I'm still hoping to visit one soon. There's a Russian one not too far away.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And especially glad for your wife's sake.

The music was familiar? What sort of music was it? We're the hymns common to your background? I'm curious now.

And Glory to God!

 

[Babe Ruth]

WR?

Yeah, when I saw that abbreviation.. I ignorantly thought: a wide receiver parish.

With week 1 imminent, I have football on my mind.

 

[Ioustinos]

For those interested, Sub-deacon Adam Roberts has made two documentaries on the Western Rite within the Antiochian Archdiocese. You can find the documentaries here:

https://www.orthodoxwest.com/

 

[AMM]

I'm still hoping to visit one soon. There's a Russian one not too far away.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And especially glad for your wife's sake.

The music was familiar? What sort of music was it? We're the hymns common to your background? I'm curious now.

And Glory to God!

The chant tones were a mixture of Gregorian chant (which I'm familiar with) and English chant (less familiar). The text of two of the hymns were essentially the same as some hymns from my background, possibly just translation differences, and some of them were musically identical to what I'm familiar with. It felt like home. The hymnal was huge; sometime I want to just browse through the hymnal and see all the hymns that are there that I'm familiar with, and which are new to me.

For those interested, Sub-deacon Adam Roberts has made two documentaries on the Western Rite within the Antiochian Archdiocese. You can find the documentaries here:

https://www.orthodoxwest.com/

This is a really good documentary! I watched it a couple weeks ago.

 

[~Anastasia~]

The chant tones were a mixture of Gregorian chant (which I'm familiar with) and English chant (less familiar). The text of two of the hymns were essentially the same as some hymns from my background, possibly just translation differences, and some of them were musically identical to what I'm familiar with. It felt like home. The hymnal was huge; sometime I want to just browse through the hymnal and see all the hymns that are there that I'm familiar with, and which are new to me.


This is a really good documentary! I watched it a couple weeks ago.

Thanks for the info!

I hope I get to go soon myself. Since the one nearest to me is on a different calendar, I might be able to catch a major feast day during the week.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

That's what's so cool about Orthodoxy. We have something for everyone. Imagine a parish completely devoted to Wide Receivers!? Very cool.....WR parish.

 

[Jesus4Madrid]

That's what's so cool about Orthodoxy. We have something for everyone. Imagine a parish completely devoted to Wide Receivers!? Very cool.....WR parish.

Yes, exactly. And others devoted to every other position. Except K. Those are Roman Catholics.

Wait, what?

 

[abacabb3]

I'm going o a cousin's wedding in North Carolina. Any WR parishes down that way or do I have to start going north to Virginia?

 

[ArmyMatt]

I'm going o a cousin's wedding in North Carolina. Any WR parishes down that way or do I have to start going north to Virginia?

check the Episcopal Assembly site

 

[~Anastasia~]

http://www.assemblyofbishops.org/directories/

 

[Ioustinos]

I'm going o a cousin's wedding in North Carolina. Any WR parishes down that way or do I have to start going north to Virginia?

There is a Western Rite mission parish in Gastonia, NC.

https://www.rocor-wr.org/holy-wisdom-gastonia-nc

https://www.holywisdomrocor.com/