What materials does one need to study our Ruthenian Recension? Perhaps we could do this here across the Internet?

Check out the Patronage Church's website. Lots of good stuff is there, including the Recension in Slavonic. Too bad I can't read Slavonic.

Yet.

Here's a link. Go here. Go, poke around.

Help is on the way for those unable to read Church-Slavonic but still wanting to know more about the Ruthenian Recension. The Patronage web-site is doing service worthy of high praise in making so much material available: floreat!

Once you get into this, it becomes clear that learning Church-Slavonic - and yes, that includes the alphabet(s) involved - is unavoidable. As Father Taft has put it, he learned from Mateos that an essential of liturgiology is to learn languges, then learn more languages, then learn still more languages (I'm sometimes amazed that Father Taft even speaks to me, since I have no Syriac - but we've been friends for many years). It would be hard to improve on that advice. In the case of Liturgy in Church-Slavonic, one needs Church-Slavonic.

It does have an unexpected benefit - Church-Slavonic is in some ways a remarkable reproduction of liturgical Greek.

Help is on the way!

Fr Serge

Fr. Serge,

Your last post made almost no sense! What help exactly is "on the way"? A translation of the Church Slavonic? (presumably without any of the pitfalls of the current transaltion issues so dominant on thes fora?) An easier, quicker way to learn Church Slavonic?

Curious,

Steve

Dear Curious Steve!

All translations have pitfalls - take from me; I've been doing translations for almost 50 years.

Ways to learn Church-Slavonic? Hmmm. Well, almost anybody can learn the alphabet, given a normal standard of literacy. Beyond that, I fear, there are not too many easy and quick ways. When I was in high school I used to go to service armed with a Church-Slavonic book in one hand and an English book in the other. Meanwhile I was taking a Russian course. Taking a Russian course is still a reasonable approach, even though they are two different languages and even though Church-Slavonic is the direct ancestor of Bulgarian; modern Bulgarian is another story and modern Russian is a help in dealing with Church-Slavonic.

Jordanville has published an admirable grammar of Church-Slavonic - the book is in English, which may seem bizarre but is nevertheless helpful.

But none of those are quick and easy. So what did I mean when I promised that help is on the way? Patience; all will be revealed! [One difference between me and the IELC is that I don't have the option of saying "like it or lump it"; the worst thing I can say would be "if you don't care for my work, go and do a better job!"]

If you're still dying of curiosity, try reading some of the neighboring threads.

Fr. Serge

Steve,

I have to agree with Fr. Serge. The way I picked up Slavonic was first, through a study of Russian and, secondly by attending the DL with an English-Slavonic service book.

Mark - it's even more fun at Vigil, with a Sbornik in one hand, a Hapgood in the other, and precious little light!

Fr Serge

Here's a link on learning Slavonic:

http://justin.zamora.com/slavonic/

Hope this helps!

The reason I posted my earlier question is the way you worded your post, indicating that "help is on the way" for those who do not read Church Slavonic, then you immediately extol the virtues of learning Church Slavonic. Not all of here are so gifted as you in reading Church Slavonic. I gather then, by your statement that help is only on the way if you undertake to learn Church Slavonic, otherwise without an agreed upon translation of said recesnion, most of will have to trust whatever you tell us.

Your gathering is not entirely accurate. But I do ask a bit of patience, bearing in mind that your humble servant is not anybody's liturgical commission and has neither the rights nor the obligations of such an official structure.

Learning Church-Slavonic is a good thing to do, and beyond a certain level is unavoidable. But I realize that not everyone is about to do that, or able to do that.

Fr. Serge