Sunday at church, some recent newcomers from the Roman Catholic world were saying that they had been attracted to our Ruthenian Church by its liturgical classicism and dignity. When I informed them that what they admired may be soon swept away by the ”New Revised Liturgy,” they quickly asked, “And has anyone organized a PROTEST over this?”

They explained that the Romans had accepted the Novus Ordo fourty years ago without a whimper, but that “In the years since, we have learned to protest and make our voices heard.”

So, how can we get started?

1. Tell your priest that you, as one who pays the freight for this operation, don’t want your Divine Liturgy revised.

2. Write to your Eparch and tell him you don’t want your Liturgy revised. Tell him that you are holding up your response to his Eparchial Appeal, and giving it prayerful consideration, until he gives a satisfactory response.

3. Write to Metropolitan Basil Schott and tell him you don’t want your liturgy revised, and that you are holding up your response to the Eparchial Appeal until you receive a satisfactory response from him. His address is: Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, 66 Riverview Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15214. I plan on calling his office at 412-231-1697 and also faxing him at 412-231-1697.

4. Print several copies of the Revised Liturgy and show them to the influential people in your church, pointing out that the Little Litanies have been scuddled, inclusivist language has been added, and giving your other concerns with the perceived weaknesses in the draft document. You can download a draft of this document at: Click Here

5. Every one of our parishes should have one or two copies of Fr. Serge Keleher’s book circulating amongst the people. Ask that the book be kept moving from family to family, each week. Talk up the issues.

6. If the Revised Liturgy is introduced in your church, tell your priest that you will be leaving for a few weeks, “checking out” other churches… and that your envelopes will be going with you.

Unfortunately, our dear priests will have no voice in the matter. Their jobs, their insurance and their retirements are contingent upon absolute obedience to the ecclesio-ologarchy. But you and I, who pay the freight, can speak out with impunity.

Once the New, Revised Liturgy is distributed and is in the churches, it will be too late. Figure that the existing Liturgy books will be burned immediately. “The old books were dilapidated… the Health Department made us burn them,” or some such, we will be told.

Let’s get busy, before our Liturgy is taken from us !

Time was when practicing the Faith was centered in prayer, fasting, and alms to the poor. The above proposal does not do that for me. Sorry.

Before anyone decides to start picking at this post or the poster, I am going to remind posters that any personal comments will be dealt with severely. If you want to respond to the initial post in charity and by observing the rules of this forum, please feel free to do so. If not please don't post. This will be the only warning in anticipation.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+
Administrator

Dear Pravoslavna - thanks for the endorsement of my book!

Father Serge

I agree with this sentence Jim. I would add that our Divine Liturgy is central to who we are too. Most folks that have come to our Church have been evangelized and drawn by the liturgy.

Imagine if we were allowed to experience all the beauty of our complete Carpatho-Rusyn rescension!

This could be the genesis of real renewal in our Church.

We need to pray, fast and offer alms that the recasted Divine Liturgy disappears before we do.

As Pravoslavna observes ... we also need to act.

In Christ,

John

I'm afraid that it's a bit like the silence of the lambs within the Metropolia these days...everyone may be a bit gun shy since the days of KOVO in the 1930's.

Perhaps the Ruthenians need an injection of some good Lebanese blood into their parishes...better yet, import Lebanese parish council members! You want a recipe for action? You got it!

In all seriousness, if you consider the # of members from the Metropolia that actually participate on this forum, I doubt any great national movement of "filial/fraternal protest" could originate. But then again, given the size of most parishes, the voice of two or three families could have a real impact.

Perhaps a summary of the key points of Father Serge's wonderful book could be published as a leaflet (along with information on how to obtain a copy) and distributed by concerned laity. Leaflets have a great tradition within history - some have even been known to influence the course of events.

Surely there is no harm in making sure the flocks are well informed.

Hmmm - those familiar with the history of Kyivan Rus' will remember the prominence of the brotherhoods in times of ecclesiastical crisis, and how they printed materials, provided catechesis, etc. Perhaps the time is right for the revival of the brotherhood - given the current climate and circumstances.
FDD

5. Every one of our parishes should have one or two copies of Fr. Serge Keleher’s book circulating amongst the people. Ask that the book be kept moving from family to family, each week. Talk up the issues.


I would also suggest in fairness to also supply copies of Fr. Petras' book "Time for the Lord to Act".

Having some Lebanese in the parish is an excellent idea - especially if they can cook Lebanese food.

Fr. Serge

I'm Roman Catholic, I sing in the choir of a Tridentine Latin Mass chapel, but I am very appreciative of your tradition. Please organize yourselves to defend your liturgical heritage! Don't become a Byzantine Novus Ordo!
Why don't you prepare sample letters for people to download, print, distribute, sign, and send to their Eparchs and the Metropolitan?

Does this book address the questions at issue? I understood it to be a reprint of his articles in the Horizons newspaper, which, despite their virtues, did not address the reasons behind the translation choices. In other words, I don't see it as a counterargument to Fr. Serge, but rather as addressing different questions. If that's the case, why provide it?

Pseudo,

I did not read Fr. Serge's book and I am in the process of reading Fr. Petras'. I believe both views should be given equal time.

I have noticed that some issues of concern are addressed, such as "Father, give the blessing" versus "Master, give the blessing" and why prayers will now being taken aloud. If this book is part of the catechesis from the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia in the US, it should at least be given the same consideration as a publication with an origin outside the US.

I have not the faintest objection to giving Father David Petras's forthcoming book serious consideration; his scholarly credentials are good. But I have every objection to the "geographic bigotry" which Zeeker offers to my book, which he confirms that he has not read. This is not the scientific approach to anything.

Fr. Serge

Forgive me Fr. Serge,

I would be happy to also read your book and give your views consideration. I however do have to first give my allegiances to the Pittsburgh Metropolia because that is where I was born and raised, and whose leaders I am under the jurisdiction thereof. I have not come across your publication at our Seminary, Monastary nor Uniontown. Is it available in the United States?

BTW, I do not consider my views "bigotry", but I am offended by those on the forum (not yourself) who automatically attack the Liturgical revisions based mostly on the fact that it is changing the last 40 years. If these people are musically knowledgable, it should be easy to see that the music we are currently following was much more of a departure from our previous Slavonic services than the music being proposed.

-Z-

Seems to me all this is just one of the unfortunate side effects of belonging to a "top down" church.

If you've chosen to be Catholic, you've chosen to allow those placed above you in the hierarchy to make these important decisions for you - and if you don't like what they decide, you can protest all you want, but ultimately you only have two choices:

1. take it, or
2. leave it.

If you want to belong to a church which takes direction from the laity rather than gives it to them, you picked the wrong church. That may sound harsh but that's the way it's been for about 2,000+ years now.