Melkite Divine Liturgy

RileyG

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Hello!
I may be attending a Melkite Divine Liturgy shortly (It's Eastern Catholic)

What is proper ETIQUETTE?

Do I make the Sign of the Cross right to left and touch my heart?

No spoon, just communion by intinction, correct?

Thank you so much! :) I will have to ask my religious studies professor if her Melkite Priest friend is coming soon or not...hopefully.
 

Tallguy88

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Only Mel kite I know of is Irish Melkite. I haven't seen him post here in nearly a year.

I certainly don't have an answer to your questions. I'm sure they're used to Latin Catholics visiting and not knowing what's what. The fact that you have a general knowledge of Eastern Catholicism puts you further ahead of the pack.
 
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Anhelyna

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RileyG - I'll check on this for you - but I will say you do not have to Cross yourself as we do - stick to your RC version .

My main suggestion would be to make sure you are not at the front of the Temple as you will find it hard to keep an eye on what other people are doing . I know you will want to see as much as you can - try about half way down :)

I'll be back :)
 
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Fantine

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I listened to a talk by a remarkable Melkite priest once. He is the director of the Centre for Christian Nonviolence, Father Emmanuel Charles McCarthy. He was a co-founder of Pax Christi with Dorothy Day.

And, amazingly, he was an attorney, Notre Dame professor, and married father of 14 before becoming a Melkite priest (which obviously is why this Bostonian became a priest in the Eastern rite).

Center for Christian Nonviolence EMEA

That's all I know about the Melkites--this progressive lion of God.

I hope you enjoy the service.
 
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GoingByzantine

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I have attended liturgy at a Melkite parish before, it was St. George in Milwaukee and it was quite a pleasant divine liturgy. The tones were way different then those of my Ukrainian parish, or any other I have been to but I was able to keep up with it. :)

Crossing was from right to left with your index and middle finger to your thumb, you don't have to do this as Anhelyna said, do what you are comfortable with.

Communion was delivered via intinction, but not with the spoon. The priest takes the bread by hand, dips it and then puts it directly into your mouth.

Hmmm...I'm trying to remember anything else that stood out, there was quite a bit of Arabic and Greek but that is going to vary from parish to parish.
 
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Eretria90

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Hello!
I may be attending a Melkite Divine Liturgy shortly (It's Eastern Catholic)

What is proper ETIQUETTE?

Do I make the Sign of the Cross right to left and touch my heart?

No spoon, just communion by intinction, correct?

Thank you so much! :) I will have to ask my religious studies professor if her Melkite Priest friend is coming soon or not...hopefully.

No idea how the Melkite divine liturgy differs from the Romanian Byzantine liturgy I attended this past weekend. I guess that depends on whether they are doing the Divine Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, or of Presanctified Gifts (depending on which day you attend divine liturgy).

My parish does Communion by intinction.

And honestly I don't think anyone will notice which way you cross yourself. When I attended divine liturgy I crossed myself the "Latin way" (to be honest I didn't realize I was crossing myself at all); no one is paying attention to you when you cross yourself during the "Glory Be," they are paying attention to the liturgy. I'm sure there will be nitpickers out there who think otherwise.

Just go and don't worry if you don't know what you're doing. Assuming there's some sort of missal that your Melkite parish offers to follow along with the divine liturgy, you should be able to follow along quite easily. My Byzantine parish had books to follow along with the divine liturgy. For the most part I was able to follow along.

There's a Melkite parish in the area that offers the divine liturgy in both Arabic/English and surprisingly, even Spanish! My parish seems to consist of grandchildren of Romanian parents, people with other European ancestry, and Hispanics. The divine liturgy is done in English at my parish.

I highly recommend contacting the pastor or deacon(s) of the Melkite parish before attending divine liturgy if that makes you feel more confident in attending; I contacted the pastor of my Byzantine parish and he showed me around the church, with me attending divine liturgy that same weekend.

Despite my awkwardness, introverted personality, and shyness everyone was nice to me, despite the fact I am a (hopeless?) single.
 
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Antoninus

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I go to a Ukrainian Catholic parish, but I'm friends with a Melkite priest in Connecticut. At his parish the Divine Liturgy is mostly in English with some Arabic and Greek. The style of chant is closer to Greek Orthodox. You are right they give Holy Communion by intinction, but without the spoon.
 
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GoingByzantine

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No idea how the Melkite divine liturgy differs from the Romanian Byzantine liturgy I attended this past weekend. I guess that depends on whether they are doing the Divine Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, or of Presanctified Gifts (depending on which day you attend divine liturgy).

It would not differ much at all; Melkites and Romanians are both Byzantine Rite. The main differences are going to be when it comes to the hymns, chances are the tones are going to be different. Some of the wording is going to be a little different here and there as well, but all in all the divine liturgies are going to be very consistent across all Byzantine Rite churches.

I love it! I have been to many Byzantine Rite parishes across the country, and each time I can almost instantly join in, especially now that I know the DL of John Chrysostom by heart. :) If you stick with your Romanian parish, I bet you will find the same to be true for you as well!
 
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RileyG

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No idea how the Melkite divine liturgy differs from the Romanian Byzantine liturgy I attended this past weekend. I guess that depends on whether they are doing the Divine Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, or of Presanctified Gifts (depending on which day you attend divine liturgy).

My parish does Communion by intinction.

And honestly I don't think anyone will notice which way you cross yourself. When I attended divine liturgy I crossed myself the "Latin way" (to be honest I didn't realize I was crossing myself at all); no one is paying attention to you when you cross yourself during the "Glory Be," they are paying attention to the liturgy. I'm sure there will be nitpickers out there who think otherwise.

Just go and don't worry if you don't know what you're doing. Assuming there's some sort of missal that your Melkite parish offers to follow along with the divine liturgy, you should be able to follow along quite easily. My Byzantine parish had books to follow along with the divine liturgy. For the most part I was able to follow along.

There's a Melkite parish in the area that offers the divine liturgy in both Arabic/English and surprisingly, even Spanish! My parish seems to consist of grandchildren of Romanian parents, people with other European ancestry, and Hispanics. The divine liturgy is done in English at my parish.

I highly recommend contacting the pastor or deacon(s) of the Melkite parish before attending divine liturgy if that makes you feel more confident in attending; I contacted the pastor of my Byzantine parish and he showed me around the church, with me attending divine liturgy that same weekend.

Despite my awkwardness, introverted personality, and shyness everyone was nice to me, despite the fact I am a (hopeless?) single.

Aren't you a Anglo-Catholic in communion with Rome IIRC?

Thanks! :)
 
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RileyG

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I go to a Ukrainian Catholic parish, but I'm friends with a Melkite priest in Connecticut. At his parish the Divine Liturgy is mostly in English with some Arabic and Greek. The style of chant is closer to Greek Orthodox. You are right they give Holy Communion by intinction, but without the spoon.

I thought the Ukrainian-Greek Catholic Rite does Holy Communion via Spoon?
 
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It is funny how HARD it is to go back! I went to a Catholic funeral and attended stations of the cross last year. I swear crossing left to right felt SO UNNATURAL FOR ME! I crossed myself the Western way for 30 plus years, I spend four years Orthodox and, bam, it just feels like the default!

RileyG - I'll check on this for you - but I will say you do not have to Cross yourself as we do - stick to your RC version .

My main suggestion would be to make sure you are not at the front of the Temple as you will find it hard to keep an eye on what other people are doing . I know you will want to see as much as you can - try about half way down :)

I'll be back :)
 
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Irish Melkite

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Riley,

You've been given pretty good information by the posters. The Melkite Community in Nebraska is located in Lincoln and serves the Divine Liturgy at St George Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church there at 10am - every Sunday, I believe.

The priest serving there currently is a member of the Benedictine community at Mount Michael Benedictine School in Elkton - Father Daniel Lenz, who I think is a bi-ritual Latin priest, rather than an incardinated priest of the Eparchy of Newton of the Melkites.

As my sister, Anhelyna, has said, don't worry about crossing yourself in the Latin form - most all Eastern Catholics in the US are very attuned to Latin visitors and will pay no mind to it (yes, they'll recognize that you're a visitor, but that's mainly because our congregations tend to be small compared to a typical Latin parish, and folks generally know one another, at least by sight, if not personally). Expect to be standing a lot and sitting occasionally, but don't expect to be kneeling. Communion, as has been pointed out is by intinction - the Melkites being the sole Byzantine Rite Church that doesn't use a spoon. You'll receive standing, open your mouth, and the presbyter will place the consecrated bread in your mouth - it will be leavened, not the host to which you are accustomed.

The Liturgy will be served principally in English, with some Greek. No substantial amount of Arabic will be used unless the congregation is heavy with recent immigrants, which I'm almost certain is not the case for this particular mission. You will not hear the Filioque intoned, regardless of liturgical language.

There are two main Traditions in the Byzantine Rite - the Greek and Slav - differences are mainly notable in the style of chant. The Melkites employ a form of the Greek Tradition, as opposed to the Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Russians, and other Eastern Catholics from Slav nations (Romanians somewhat bridge the two Traditions, though they lean to the Slav).

Afterwards, the community is likely to gather in the church basement or hall for 'coffee and' - feel free to attend - it's likely someone will invite you anyway. The Lincoln Community is a rather diverse one as I recollect - you're likely to find more former Latins than cradle Melkites.

If you've any specific questions, feel free to ask. As TG noted, I've not posted here in a while, but I'll keep an eye out.

Many years,

Neil
 
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RileyG

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Hello IrishMelkite,
I will not be attending the Melkite Community in Lincoln- although I would love to sometime. I believe there is a Ukrainian Parish in Omaha as well. Those are the only two Eastern-rites I am aware of that are in my state.

(I have family who lives in Lincoln- and they are part of a Latin-rite Parish. Lincoln, and Omaha for that matter, are heavily Catholic).

I am not sure where the priest is from, nor is it confirmed if he is coming to our community or not.

Thank you so much for your info. :)

BTW, I do not currently live in Nebraska, though it is "home".
 
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