I was at Uniontown this weekend and i must say that the youth presence was great! We got together and made a list of points to talk to the bishops about. It was mainly about how we want to see our church in the future and wat we think needs to happen to make our church survive.
some of the things were:More old Slavonic in the liturgies, more youth interaction with the rest of the parish, more open house to other religions,the choice of sitting or standing, and bringing back the more traditional styles of architecture in our church.I think it was a great weekend and can't wait to go back.

-Katie g

I was very impressed by the witness of our youth. There must have been close to 100, wasn't there? You all acquitted yourselves wonderfully and were examples of and to all the believers. If I recall, you also called for a renewed emphasis upon vocations.

God grant you many blessed years.

Dan Lauffer

Dear Katie,
Could you please elaborate on what you mean by this? Thanks.

Yeah sure i meant that we as teens think that we need to get more people to visit our churches. Whether they be Roman catholics protesants or even people who used to be Byzantine. We think that like once a month we could have an open house night or something.is that any better if not i will tryto do better.

-Katie g

That's fine, I get it now. Thanks. I think teens are in a perfect position to invite their friends to the Byzantine Catholic church; they just need to be able (to explain) and inspired/excited to do so.

When I was a teen, my parents pushed me to join a youth group at the local Assembly of God church that a friend of mine was part of. (I don't know if he was really an Assembly of God member or not--he never actually talked about his religion.) This youth group had others like me who were not previously members of the Assemblies of God religion, but through their involvement with this youth group, many did join that church. Fortunately I never got caught up enough in it to do that (I was not particularly grounded in my Catholic faith but knew enough to explain the typical things when they came up, e.g., "Why do you pray to statues?" when it was "discovered" that I was a Catholic).

Anyway, with the good things I saw going on with the teens at Uniontown, if those things can be replicated on a smaller scale in a parish, I imagine that this could be a wonderful way to introduce more teens to the Byzantine Christian way of life. Our teens can do that!

My Dear Ruthenian Friends,

Just a note to congratulate you and your entire Church for maintaining such a well-attended pilgrimage at Uniontown!

I heard of it even before I came to this forum and have always wanted to attend it.

May it grow and develop each and every year, bringing fresh visitors to it, and drawing all to the Lord and His Most Holy Mother!

Alex

Katie, I guess the ethos is really different out here in the West. I can't imagine any of our teens in Seattle even thinking of suggesting a need for more Slavonic. To my own thinking, the use of Slavonic is anti-missionary and anti-Cyril-and-Methodius. There are very few self-identified Slavs in our parish, and I can't imagine hoping for church growth by bringing in persons with a nostalgia for Slavonic. There just aren't that many around here. We're mostly melting-pot white Americans, with some folks of Chinese, Japanese, or Native American descent. Church survival may require us to look outward to the culture we live in and to our own demographic realities.

I do encourage you to keep thinking of the Church as your own and to continue to take responsibility for her. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Michael,

If Katie were presenting the ideas of a group of traditional Roman Catholic young people who said about things they "think need to happen to make our church survive; some of the things were:More *Latin* in the liturgies," would you say this was anti-missionary, anti-evangelism, anti-Gospel? No? I didn't think so.

Hi L-R,

I don't see where Latin in the Roman church is part of any successful recipe for evangelism. Methinks you assume too much. As it is Mr. Brooks comments are, well just opinion, and he may be right.

And neither Slavonic or Latin are anti-Gospel, I don't see where you got that.

Perhaps the best we could say is Slavonic should be used where the people call for it, there are plenty of parishes east of the Mississippi that have ethnic congregations that may appreciate it. Katie G is calling for it and that is fine for her parish if it works. Mr. Brooks comments were very respectful and he stated that in his region the people wouldn't appreciate it.

Most non-Byzantines have never heard Church Slavonic, have no nostalgia for it and aren't any more interested in worshipping in Slavonic than Nepalese or Swahili. I see that the Divine Liturgy is really beautiful in any language but newcomers are more comfortable with the vernacular. They will learn the prayers and therefore the theology of the church in their own language, foreign (or archaic) language prayers force people to learn about the faith outside of the liturgy, that's a natural obstacle in the first few visit's of a potential convert. Especially since we are notoriously bad at bringing people in, greeting them warmly or following up after they have not returned!

If there are people out there that remember and want Slavonic in their parishes, they should definately ask for it. But as far as what Mr. Brooks has to say, I am still inclined to agree.

that other Michael

Coalesco, thank you for defnding my position better than I could have done myself. Lemko Rusyn, I certainly did not state or even remotely suggest that persons who want a non-English liturgy are "bad", anti-Gospel people. I would say to Roman Catholics that a Latin liturgy is probably not the way to evangelize America, which does not deny that a Latin Mass meets the pastoral needs of a minority of already-evangelized folk.

So, yes, a Slavonic Liturgy is anti-missionary, unless your work is in a Slavic enclave. It is anti-Cyril-and-Methodius because they made great sacrifices to translate the liturgical patrimony into Slavonic rather than insisting that the Slavs pray in Greek, and we should, largely, follow their example.

I don't think what was said at Pilgramige would hurt at all. in our area- the midwest/eastern Byzantine churches- this is what the youth wants. It has been spoken by those who represent their churches if it works to help their church grow then i don't think it is wrong. However, if we lived in an area where the majority of our church had no affiliation with Slavonic then i would say don't use it at that church. In truth our church is hurting and we need to do whatever works-and that is reasonable in our church teachings- to save it and keep it going. Old Slavonic would not be sung every sunday but if the people like it and it something they want to have then maybe it should/could be used once a month.

-Katie g

Funny how people stopped going to Mass once they got rid of it.

I know a Jesuit missionary in Nigeria whose people beg him for the Latin Mass.

Progressives should look at the numbers, drink a cup of coffee, and WAKE UP.

LatinTrad (in union with Rome, don't worry)

Well said, Katie. I think most folks do not realize that, as Byzantine Catholics, or even as Christians, or as Americans and the heirs of Western Civilization, "the Turks are already at the gates of Constantinople". We must all become spiritual and cultural survivalists.

Dear Friends,

Our Vidpust cannot compare to yours, and we too had young people.

I've often wondered how people, like our Administrator, who accepts the full Eastern position on indulgences, view the Vidpust at Uniontown?

It's something I wonder about myself . . .

Alex

Dear LT,

I am spiritually uplifted by the "Ordo Missae" of Pope Paul VI. I fully support the use of the 1962 missal as granted by Pope John Paul II. Persons who are spiritually attached to that rite should have it available to them. I also think it was a mistake to completely dump Latin from the current Mass. Kyrie Elieson (Greek), traditional hymns such as Tantum Ergo and other Latin hymns should continue to be sung to carry on tradition.

You and I share some things about Roman liturgy and I do respect and support you for your opinions.

But, I can't agree that the sole reason Mass attendance decreased is because of the change from the 1962 Roman missal.

Other things were occuring simultaneously in the Latin Church: Humana Vitae (most Catholics rejected the teaching), the steady rise in divorce and remarriage among Catholics, and the crazy rebelliousness against all institutions including the Catholic Church during the 1960's
and 1970's.

I believe your statement was incomplete and an oversimplication. Maybe I misread you
(mea culpa!). I know that posts can be limiting in expressing our complete thoughts.

When Pope John Paul II offers Mass in the new rite hundreds of thousands, even millions show up. Even young people attend the Pope's Mass in huge numbers.

Best regards,

Paul