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Could someone enumerate what things are strange or foreign in the Byzantine Rite that are mitigated in the Western ? IOW, what is done in the WR that makes a Westerner feel more at home ? Other than organs for keyboard pounders
and there are a lot more moving sections (whatever it's called -- where what's said and chanted changes according to the day's relation to Pascha, feasts, what saints are celebrated that day, etc.),
It most certainly 'tis. But can it be sung with an organ?
Thanks.
It most certainly 'tis. But can it be sung with an organ?
Four bare walls and a lone empty cross? Yes, that would be rather depressing...
I have found a Western Rite Orthodox mission that isn't too far away. I personally am beginning to fall in love with the Byzantine Liturgy, but I am thinking it might be easier for my wife and kids to come along, if the Liturgy is at least somewhat familiar to them.
Could someone enumerate what things are strange or foreign in the Byzantine Rite that are mitigated in the Western ? IOW, what is done in the WR that makes a Westerner feel more at home ? Other than organs for keyboard pounders
That's pretty much the same reason I decided on Eastern Rite. WR would have seemed too much like remaining Anglican. Also, I wanted to experience worship as it was for most Orthodox, so that wherever I might travel, I would know the liturgy.I think that it seems clear that WRO is a legitimate way to go, and I have never been, so I have no context with which to comment one way or the other, but I would say this; familiarity can be good, but I truly cherished the feeling that I was entering something more ancient and "other" than that which I had grown up with. Of course, my parish conducts the DL primarily in english, which likely made it easier to appreciate, but still.
Well--and this is coming from someone who converted to the Orthodox faith in spite of the Eastern Rite, who much preferred Western liturgy at the time, and who has since become a reader in an Eastern Rite jurisdiction (so I'm committed, happily, to the "other side") yet still retains a fondness and a friendship with the Western Rite parish in town (whew!)--I can tell you that some of the things that appealed to me were the streamlined liturgy (not as repetitive, much more linear in form and function, the solemn, quiet movements done in spoken (and not sung) voice, the austere, humble surroundings (that do include icons, btw, but just not as many, as imagery in general and iconography specifically didn't play as big a role in the West as it did in the East), the familiar chant/hymnography, the architecture and aesthetics--the sight of the gospel book being carried out in procession by the vested priest with crucifer proceeding is wonderful to behold--the bringing of Ash Wednesday and other pious western traditions into the Church and baptizing them with a full understanding of what they're for--all this and more is why the Western Rite can (although it remains to be seen if it will) be a welcome presence within the Orthodox family--a severed branch being grafted back into the Olive Tree of the Church, so to speak.
Hope this helps.
Rdr David
Welcome to TAW, David. I've been here for several months now, and it's probably been my favorite Orthodox hangout. Lots of helpful exchanges. Thanks for that quick education in the WR.
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