Study Texts of Translations of the Liturgical Books of the Ruthenian Recension

Volume I - The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

The attached document containing the text of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Ruthenian recension) is intended to be the first in a series of study texts (for private study and use only) of Byzantine-Ruthenian Liturgical texts. The goal of this project is simple – to provide the most complete, exacting and literal translations of the official 1942 Služebnik (Liturgicon for the Ruthenian Recension published at Rome) and other liturgical books in English (in full conformity with both the Liturgical Instruction and Liturgiam Authenticam), while also respecting what has been memorized (by Ruthenians) since the first official translation was published in 1964 (1965) by the Byzantine Seminary Press (Byzantine Liturgical Conference). It is my belief that preparing such study texts and putting them online for everyone to examine would be very useful to anyone desiring to study and learn the Liturgy, and hopefully will foster love for authentic Liturgy. It is also my belief that the direction the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church should have taken was to simply prepare new editions of existing liturgical texts with corrections rather then disrupting the life of the Church with a major liturgical reform that takes us further away from other Byzantines (both Catholic and Orthodox).

Since I am not a linguist I needed a simple approach to this project. I compared the texts word-for-word from both the 1964 Ruthenian Divine Liturgy and the 2006 (2007) Revised Divine Liturgy to all of the translations in my possession (emphasizing those translated from Slavonic but also using translations from Greek). I then noted each difference and consulted competent linguists who were kind enough to answer many of my questions. In addition I used Archimandrite Serge Keleher’s review of the text of the Revised Divine Liturgy, confirming his recommendations that I accepted with others. I present the results in a four-column side-by-side comparison. Column 1 is the 1964 translation. Column 2 is the 2006 Revised Text. Column 3 is what I call a “2009 Pastoral Update”. Column 4 is a “Possible Future Update” that is even more literal but probably too major a change at present. I very much continue to recommend to the Ruthenian bishops that they rescind the Revised Divine Liturgy and return to a corrected version of the 1964 (perhaps along the lines of what I offer in Column 3).

The texts contained herein are surely full of mistakes, both in translation and in typographical errors. I invite any and all to help me find the mistakes so that the final version I put online is as good as is possible. Columns 1 & 2 need review to match the 1964 and 2007 texts exactly, as they are existing texts. Columns 3 & 4 need review for accuracy to the official 1942 Služebnik (the Liturgicon for the Ruthenian Recension) published at Rome and which we share with other Ruthenians (Catholic and Orthodox) by those who have the language skills. They also need to be reviewed for style, grammar and readability. This document is currently being reviewed by several competent linguists but it seemed best to open it up to others. If you are interested your comments are welcome! Find my mistakes!

I have prepared the document so that it is easy to follow. Using the 1964 as the base text changes that were made in the other columns (“2007 Revised Divine Liturgy”, “2009 Pastoral Update”, and “Possible Future”) are background highlighted in yellow (see the document as the forum won't let me do it easily). Questions and comments that need to be addressed are in blue. There are also several cases where I noticed that certain phrases in the official Greek Orthodox and the forthcoming new Roman Catholic translations of the Creed are identical, and where I suggest possible edits to the 1964 translations to match. These are shown in green. Such changes are a logical step towards a common translation and are actually directed by the “Liturgical Instruction”.

The bulk of the textual changes I have made are in the rubrics and the texts prayed by the priest and deacon and each needs verification. Currently, there are less than 10 changes for the people’s texts. It is my intention to update this document (online) several times until the texts are in good shape. Then I will present it as a study text on the main website. I have prepared similar reviews for other liturgical texts and will be posting them online soon (Basil is next in a few weeks, followed by a corrected version of the Pew Book, then Vespers and Matins). Texts will be accompanied by the appropriate rubrics from the Ordo Celebrationis and the Časoslóv (Horologion) with the source of each text identified by color. Comments may be made on The Byzantine Forum (we may set up a separate forum if there is enough interest) or to me via e-mail.

Thanks! And please pray for me!

John Vernoski - jvernoski @ byzcath.org (remove the spaces) – April 5, 2009

Notes:

1. Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher is required to view the document.

2. If you are a serious reviewer willing to make comments and want a color paper copy but don't have access to a color printer please contact me.

3. General relevant comments can go in this thread. Specific comments on texts should be started in new threads (appropriately titled). The moderator will be ruthless in deleting all comments that are not about the texts or in other ways wander from the topic.

4. See also useful information at this page, including a link to the Služebnik.

February 2010 - The above document is now very much out of date - a lot of work has been done to make the updated text both more literally accurate and more elegant. Watch for an update soon.

That is truly a substantial body of work !

Thank you, Adminstrator, for posting that.

Indeed. Very impressive.

Need Slavonic version of the rubrics, unless we use the appropriate volume of the Ruthenian Recension published by Eastern Christian Publications.

Thank you John for this .

It's been a huge amount of work , I"m sure.

There's a lot of reading to be done now

The Recension Liturgicon of the Chrysostom Liturgy, excerpted from the Služebnik, is available as a 8.7MB pdf here. The 1965 English Liturgicon translation ( link ) of the rubrics is quite faithful in general and follows the Slavonic. Rubrics as found in the Ordo are available as the 1955 translation in English and the original Latin.

AJK,

Thanks. I have hard copy, but an electronic copy makes it easier to do cut and paste work. I will pass this on to my wife, who is doing the translation review.

Thank you for posting John! Most impressive/comprehensive! Definitely alot of reading/comparing ahead!

Reader Chris/Job

Oddly enough, there does not appear to be a Church-Slavonic translation of the Ordo Celebrationis. It certainly exists in Ukrainian, in English (at least 3 translations) and in the original Latin. One would expect to find it in Hungarian and Slovak, but so far one would expect in vain.

Fr. Serge

This is first rate scholarship. Sensus fidelium in action. If the bishops rescinded the RDL and promulgated this corrected 1964 they'd go from be despised to being celebrated heros. I'm going to go through it line by line and pass the word to others to do the same. There is hope and excitement here.

Thank you, Esteemed Administrator! And don't forget to do the music, too!

Thank you all for the comments. I've received a number of supportive comments via PM and even more via e-mail and phone.

Currently, I expect the first round of comments to be received by about the end of April. Then when I get the document updated I will replace the pdf with an updated version.

A "Study Text" update to the 1976 Basil Divine Liturgy is done, but needs a bit of editing yet. I am hoping it will be uploaded for review before I start reviewing and possibly incorporating the comments received on Chrysostom. The "Study Text Pew Book" update will follow after that.

Please spread the word on this project. Since this is a web project there is no formal end date. My expectations are that about June 1 it will be ready to post on the web and publish in print, but that additional corrections and improvements could be done anytime (especially on the internet editions).

This 2009 Pastoral update, is it an official change to the Ruthenian Liturgy? So it would be making changes to the 2007 Liturgy?

No, it is not an official change to the texts of the Divine Liturgy. As indicated above it is merely a study text for private use. It does nothing but offer suggestions. It is not authorized for public celebration and, again, is intended only for study. The 2007 Revised Divine Liturgy is incomplete and has a number of translation inaccuracies, including some doctrinal problems. The 2009 Pastoral Update takes the 1964 text (which was memorized) and corrects inaccuracies. It is in full compliance with both the "Liturgical Instruction" and "Liturgiam Authenticam". The 2007 Revised Divine Liturgy is not in compliance with these excellent directives.

Many of us hope and pray that the Council of Hierarchs will rescind the 2007 Revised Divine Liturgy and promulgate the normative, official Ruthenian Byzantine Divine Liturgy, and issue a corrected version of the 1964 translation. The change the Ruthenian Church needs is to grow towards our official Liturgy, not away from it (as the RDL takes us).

I'll go with the older translation.

Didymus the non Doubter

I printed this. It is very good. There are not a lot of changes to the old text. This is the kind of change our Church needs.

Keep writing to the bishops!

Thank you so much... It will take me a while to read it all!!! But is is wonderful!! thanks!

it tells me i cant download it :(:(

May 4, 2009: The file in the original post has been updated with a newer version. The changes from the initial draft are mostly typo corrections, a few word changes, plus the addition of a few questions. It is still very much a work in progress and changes to the 1964 should still be considered as nothing more then possibilities (though most seem to bearing out in the ongoing reviews by experts in Slavonic).

A few have stated they cannot download it. Try right-clicking and saving, then opening from your computer's hard drive. As noted above you will need the Adobe Reader.

July 9, 2009: I'm posting an update since I regularly receive questions about the status of this project. It is progressing, but it is summer and I really had no idea as to how long volunteers would take to review the text. The project marches forth but will probably take another month or two. The text of Basil is prepared and ready for review but I have decided to hold off for a bit. Since I've separated out the unique Basil text from the text that is common to both Basil and Chrysostom I may simply append it to the above pdf the next time I update it. Also, a similar multi-column effort comparing the "Pew Book" texts is in preparation.

Thanks to everyone for the tremendous and positive feedback on the project. Please pray for this effort and for all those involved. And keep praying for the Ruthenian bishops, that they reject the Revised Divine Liturgy and embrace the full Byzantine Liturgy (correctly and completely translated).

Christos Voskrese!

I enjoyed your work, John. It was helpful to have this, so that the layman can see what changes were made to our Liturgical Services. I noticed the horizontal inclusive language, the shortened antiphons--perhaps like the Greeks with a repetition of the "Through the prayer of the Theotokos, O Savior Save us" taken instead of the full antiphons, use of Theotokos instead of Mother of God, concelebration notes, but overall the RDL is not offensive to me. I did like the use of Theotokos. But, I see your point that it would be best to have a good translation of the editio typica in Revised Liturgical English--perhaps something like the OCA has. I thought the RDL was the fruit of Metropolitan Judson's desire to restore the Rusyn Church in America to its Orthodox roots. I am confused about this, but will leave it to the 'big boys' to fight over it. I am sure your argument will prevail with Pope Benedict in office. I will sign your petition, if you have one.

In Christ God,


Robert

Robert,

Thank you for the comments!

Much work has been done on the text (the one posted is now a year old!). I am hoping to release a public draft of fully updated Chrysostom and Basil Liturgicons soon. I just received back another review of Chrysostom from one priest who has 2 questions that I need to investigate to ensure literal faithfulness to the Slavonic normative text. After a public draft with request for review and comment (most likely several months) the books will be published as a study text and made available to anyone who wants it, especially students of Liturgy and libraries. The comments from those who have reviewed it are incredibly positive, so maybe the work will plant seeds in the Church.

When the Liturgicons are ready I will update the "four column" linked above.

John

Christ is Risen!

Dear John,

No, thank you for all of the hard work you have done for the Church! I am sure you will be rewarded in the future for this. Hopefully, in the future all Churches of the Constantinopolitan Tradition can get together and have a Common Translation with reverent American English usage. God is doing amazing things now; it could be a possibility.

I hope you had a blessed Pascha!

In Christ God,


Robert

If not in this world by this Church, then in the next one by the One who founded all Churches.

I actually have pdf versions of these ready to post. But since the Revised Grail Psalter has now received Vatican approval and will be available in a few weeks I'm going to hold off. I'd like to review the Revised Grail Psalter to see if it is suitable for use (corrected to the LXX). If it is there are a number of direct psalm quotes that could be updated and it is best to do that (or at least make a decision not to do that!) before posting the Liturgicons for public draft review.

I also still need to update the 'four column' with the latest draft texts. Meanwhile, the update to the texts given in the Levkulic Pew Book is moving along nicely and there is a start on the texts of Vespers and Matins.

First thing, try chanting the most common ones aloud, to see if it works.

Yes, of course. And I also have a multi-column of Psalm 50 and etc. for review purposes, as well as one for the psalm verses used in the Liturgy already underway (with a column kept free for the Revised Grail). [But at this point I would not change the verses used in the Sunday/Daily antiphons.]

It should be interesting!

A quick google search yielded nothing. For my interest, does anyone have a pdf of the proposed RDL text in a ukrainian language version?

The Ukrainian Greek Catholics are not revising the Divine Liturgy or the other Divine Services. At their 2006 Synod they reaffirmed the liturgical books of the Ruthenian recension.

I've been receiving requests for copies of the updated liturgicons. I am still waiting for the final texts of the Revised Grail Psalter so that they can be reviewed to see if they are suitable for use in the liturgicon (and other Divine Services).

As the project stands, the updates to the Divine Liturgies Chrysostom and Basil are done. Chrysostom is in regular use by a few priests outside the Ruthenian Church. Basil was used throughout the Great Fast this past year. Several of the reviewer priests have provided good, scholarly feedback and the issues they have raised have been addressed. It is very interesting (and good) to hear from several priests that both liturgicons "pray naturally and easily". If I had known that the Revised Grail Psalter was to be delayed this long I would have moved to the public draft review & comment stage of the project back in January (I did not want to publish it and then have to immediately revise it should it be decided to use the Revised Grail Psalter). But as the publishers of the Revised Grail Psalter seem to be saying it is only "weeks" until the final RGP is available I might as well wait and hope that they are accurate in their time estimate.

Please note that the four column is very much out of date. Consider it to be an early first draft. A good deal of work has been done on it by several people, including Forum folks like Deacon Tony (ajk), Stuart's wife, and Stuart (many thanks to all of them!).