Dear Brethren in Christ,

I am starting this thread so that we may brainstorm ideas on how to resist the Modernist, Offensive Parts of the NEW Liturgy. Please respnd with your ideas. I will post several of my ideas now, after a bit of a "disclaimer type" paragraph regarding the first idea.

First of all, I believe that we Byzantine Catholics have really done ourselves, our Bishops, our Monastics, our Clergy, our potential Clergy (Vocations), potential coverts, and most of all our God a great disservice by lack of monetary giving. Our lack of monetary giving has greatly aided our lack of evangelization and our Church Closings. Our lack of Monetary giving has also taken away much? most? all? of our bargaining power with our Bishops. It seems the only way our Bishops can get any money out of us is by seizing our Parish bank accounts and selling our Churches. I usually do not agree when the Bishops do this, however they probably would not forcefully take our Churches and Bank Accounts if we gave our Parishes and Eparchies the money that they our due in the first place.

Here our some of my brainstormes (obviously far from perfect) resistance ideas:

1.) Idea #1 has a great deal to do with my paragraph on our failure as Christians at Christian Stewardship. This failure, unfortunately gives us little credibility in implementing my idea #1. My idea #1 is to send very substantial, VOIDED checks to our Eparchies for their respective Eparchial Appeals. Included with the VOIDED Checks we would include a very regretful letter explaining why we VOIDED our checks and wrote new Checks to another, Religious Organisation, perhaps to a ROCOR Monastery. Unfortunately our past shamefully small giving to our Eparchial appeals takes away much of the bargaining power of this tactic, however I think it would still have some impact. Particularly from young Orthodox Catholics fresh out of College/technical school, etc. that are serious about being good stewards and will actually write substantial checks to their parishes and Eparchies.

2.) Refuse to recite the Modernist parts of the Liturgy in the peoples part. For example, if a Modernist Troparion says, "Because You are Gracious and Love Humankind, Us all, etc." We could sing "Because You are Gracious and Love Mankind!" Our Priests may lose their jobs for correcting their parts, however, I doubt the Laity will lose their jobs for Chanting Corrected versions.

3.) After the NEW Liturgy Books are published and distributed, Bring whiteout/ink pens/etc. to Church each Sunday and correct one book per week. For example cross out or white out the "hu" to leave mankind. Unfortunately, at one point our poorly catechized Church members would cross out "Orthodox Christians," now we are afflicted with "Christians of the True Faith." Now it is our turn to make improvements.

Incogneats,

I think your ideas here for a "resistance movement" would only be counterproductive and may only add strength to the "perfect storm" which is starting to brew. I fear that if it goes uncontrolled or if its negative energy is not somehow diffused and turned by grace into something positive, it may lead to schism (once again) within or a large exodus from our Metropolia.

I think an authentic Christian posture to take is one of humble regard for the authority of our hierarchs coupled with a deeply felt passion for our tradition. Ecclesia is not the place for methods of socio-political resistance, including vandalism of property and other acts of protest. All these activities do is to generate hostility and create an environment where Christian fraternal dialogue becomes impossible.

Have you asked your spiritual father about what you are proposing? Do you even have a spiritual father?

My advice is to channel your passion into prayer and discernment of what to do. "Zeal for your house consumes me" should not in any way be confused with "burning down the house"!

Christianity is the great resistance movement against the gates of hell...and the battle is within (our own "middle earth" if you will). If you must resist, do it on your knees. "We battle not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of darkness." Without that type of prayerful discernment, any other type of protest is pure prelest.

Gordo

Incog...,

I do understand your frustration but your response will only be perceived as cynical. I agree with Gordo. I would add, come to the August conference if the Lord should grant us that opportunity, that is being put together as we write and pray.

CDL

A word of warning:

There are two tried-and-proven-worthless techniques which people are tempted to try again in painful situations:

a) boycott the Church;

b) stop giving money.

DO NOT GIVE IN TO THESE TEMPTATIONS!

If you go away, you surrender. The position you want is:

We are NOT going away; we come to Church faithfully, we support the Church financially and in other ways, and this is what we require!

It's much more effective!

Serge Keleher

Bravo Father!

Excellent advice! Change can only be effected from within and not by those outside.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

We should refrain from using the word "modernist" to describe anything new that we don't like. Modernism is an error about the nature of revelation, as described in the 1907 encyclical of St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis.

Dear folks,

Rather than indulging in a tantrum and holding back your generous tithe, tactics with which your shepherds are long familiar, why not try something really unique like doing the hard work of drawing up a systematic letter of concern, to be hand delivered to the Metropolia and taken simultaneously to Rome, with a systematically prepared Appendix or set of Appendices where the places of concern in the new Divine Liturgy are presented in a rank order of concern beginning with those things that run counter to Catholic theology and doctrine?

You can fly a messenger or even two to Rome for a day or so with what it would cost everybody to get together over a few beers at a faux conference.

You also need to know what has happened to any translations of the rest of our liturgical prayers. You need to know how the chant has been "revised."

And I would put "inclusive" language at the very BOTTOM of the list because you'll fix MOST of that when you go after false doctrine or bad theology contained in those tortured translations.

Any attempt to put a slogan forward to make it "easier" to rally round, will come back and smack you in the face. The resistance you are proposing requires more hard work than hot air and false promises.

The real problem here, lest you forget, is the fact that one bishop has inordinate influence over three others, including our Metropolitan. Loose sight of that and you've lost altogether. That kind of inordinate influence must be countered with hard cold theological, doctrinal and grammatical fact -in three languages- and the grace of God.

Eli

PS: "loose" is the voluntary plus-imperfect future for the verb meaning: If I can't find my glasses my brain doesn't work, and I can't talk on the phone either.

Eli

With hold funding! This is the advice giving by EWTN almost on a weekly bases.

1. I say, start with the Bishops Appeal. No more money! If churches close then perhaps it is better they close.


Why should I pay money so the Bishops can spend it on such things? How can the Bishops pay for pew books if they don't have the money to pay the printer?

Instead of giving your tithe to the Church give it to ACROD, a charity, to the Vatican directly, etc...

EWTN targets a robust youthful densely populated Church. Our people have starved the Church long enough as it is and nothing good has come of that, except that they are aging and still annoyed and in some ways neglected now, or abandoned as a reward for poor judgment in more robust times. So, at the risk of repeating myself:

Dear folks,

Rather than indulging in a tantrum and holding back your generous tithe, tactics with which your shepherds are long familiar, why not try something really unique like doing the hard work of drawing up a systematic letter of concern, to be hand delivered to the Metropolia and taken simultaneously to Rome, with a systematically prepared Appendix or set of Appendices where the places of concern in the new Divine Liturgy are presented in a rank order of concern beginning with those things that run counter to Catholic theology and doctrine?

Eli

To whom in Rome do you propose this letter should be delivered, when and how?

Serge Keleher

Dear friends,

Don’t expect Roma to tolerate a spirit of rebelliousness.

The Vatican would rather see the whole enterprise wilt on the vine and blow away in the wind than give in to threats or a schismatic tendency. Very few people (clerics included), outside of the Pittsburgh Metropolia would understand or care about the issues confronting you.

I have two suggestions:
(1) Wait to see how the new liturgical texts work out, it might be fine. I know that there are concerns but I guess I personally would have a lot more confidence in the new translation than most people.

(2) Be prepared to walk away from everything. This would mean leaving all the property behind and it is a very serious thing to contemplate. Organize an association and be prepared to found a new parish under the auspices of Johnstown or some other Orthodox hierarchy. It should never get to this point without first making an attempt to live with the new translation.

If you find that the issue has blown over satisfactorally you can gift any money you have raised to the parish.

+T+
Michael

Fr. Serge is quite right. You have more credibility with the higher ups if you remain good, faithful parishioners as opposed to being a disturber of the peace.

A real nice solution to this whole mess is that you can reconcile yourselves and come back to your UGC mother Church

But seriously, this whole situation and the prospect of contacting your hierarchs should be approached with prayer, respect, and cool heads. This is all from experience.

-uc

p.s. Never sign a letter to your hierarch as "Anonymous." It will be in the trash can quicker than the junk mail. Always sign your letters with your full name.

That's a very good question. One that probably could be answered once a letter and appendices are drafted. If the issues are substantial then there are several places that such a letter might go. My primary message was that any appeal to Rome should be done vis a vis, and one should not leave without a Protocol reference number from at least one of the curial offices.

Eli

How about a group of competent persons going to Rome to make their case?