Greetings in Christ:

I am a Roman Catholic who is seriously considering crossing over to the Melkite rite. My question is in regards to daily prayer. I used pray the Roman Office but the translation is awful and it was not enriching my prayer. Is there a Byzantine daily prayer book available online? If so, where and what is it like? Any help is appreciated. Also, can I have my expected baby baptized in the Melkite rite without having had changed rites yet?
Many thanks!

I don't know about online resources, but as has been mentioned many times on this forum, probably the best all-in-one daily prayerbook for Easterners is "Byzantine Daily Worship" by Archbishop Joseph Raya. It has the daily offices, the Akathistos, Divine Liturgy, a basic menaion and assorted other goodies all in one compact volume. You can get it from a variety of sources. I think Light & Life has it. I know Br. Mark at Holy Trinity Monastery carries it. He's at (724) 287-4461.

I dunno what the regs are amongst the Melkites. I know lots of folks in my (Ruthenian) parish who have not done a formal change-of-rite, and whose kids were baptized, chrismated, etc. in our church. Check with the pastor, but if there is no impediment, go where the Holy Spirit calls your heart, and worry about the paperwork later.

Best,


Sharon

Sharon Mech, SFO
Cantor & sinner
sharon@cmhc.com

Personally, I find "Byzantine Daily Worship" by Archbishop Joseph Raya to be excellent for my purposes. However, if you are particular about the quality of translations, you should be aware that it was done much more informally and with less scholarly resources than the English translation of the Roman Office was.

K.

"I am a Roman Catholic who is seriously considering crossing over to the Melkite rite."

One quibble -- the Melkites are a sui juris Church, not a "rite". There is no "Melkite Rite", but rather a Melkite Church that follows the Byzantine Rite. The Melkites are Byzantines.

"My question is in regards to daily prayer. I used pray the Roman Office but the translation is awful and it was not enriching my prayer."

When I was a Roman Catholic, I used to pray the office from the "Christian Prayer" series. I have to say that I struggled with the translation as well. It is scholarly accurate, as Kurt points out but, well, I guess I just didn't find the text very inspiring -- it seemed rather dry to me, even after praying it for many months. I personally prefer the translations of the same psalms, for example, that appear in Byzantine Daily Worship or the Byzantine Book of Prayer published by the Ruthenian Metropolia.

"Is there a Byzantine daily prayer book available online? If so, where and what is it like? Any help is appreciated."

I don't think there is one online, unfortunately.

My advice when beginning with Eastern style prayers is to start slowly. The offices are not structured in a very user-friendly way like they are in the present-day reformed Roman office. I don't know anyone (Eastern Catholic or Orthodox) who regularly prays the full offices in the Byzantine tradition -- they are simply too long and complicated. And, as much as I like Byzantine Daily Worship, sometimes the complexity of the offices (ie Vespers and Matins) in that volume makes my eyes glaze over.

There are standard morning and evening prayers (private) for Eastern Christians -- these are more commonly used by individuals than the offices are. They are probably a better place to start for a taste of Eastern spirituality.

"Also, can I have my expected baby baptized in the Melkite rite without having had changed rites yet?"

Talk to your priest about that one. The applicable canons say that one is to be baptized in the ritual church of one's father -- but in my experience, there is a lot of pastoral flexibility exercised in this area, particularly if people are actually long-time attendees in a parish of a different sui juris church. It depends on your own situation, I think. In my case, our son was baptized as a Melkite while my petition was still pending -- but I don't think that the local Melkite priest would have refrained from baptizing him had the formal petition not been lodged, I don't know.

While the importance of the formal change of church should not be overstated, at the same time it should be given some thought (not in haste, but slowly over the course of a few years), because it has consequences down the line in terms of where one gets married, etc. I have heard of canonical Romans baptized and raised as Byzantines who had difficulty getting married in the Byzantine Church because they were still canonically Roman.

Brendan

[This message has been edited by Brendan (edited 01-04-2001).]

Dear Veritas & Vita,

Christ is in our midst!

Many of the Orthodox service books are online. Check out:
http://www.sspeterpaul.org/priest.html

many other texts, in official and experimental translations are available, it makes an interesting search!

in Christ,

Elias

Veritas Et Vita,

I have had my feet in both Roman and Eastern camps of morning prayer. A couple of observations comparing the Roman Catholic "Christian Prayer" to "Byzantine Daily Worship":

[*] The translations in "Christian Prayer" are indeed terribly insipid. Not at all conducive to a rich prayer life. BDW is light years ahead here.


[*] In "Christian Prayer", there is lots of emphasis on God the Son, somewhat less on God the Father. The Holy Spirit is virually neglected. This reflects the current state of Roman spritiuality. BDW is very Trinitarian.


[*] The choice of psalms and Bible readings in "Christian Prayer" are very nice. Usually there are 2 psalms, one Penitential and one a psalm of praise. There is a 4-week cycle for reading the psalms. BDW is much more ambitious, with a 1-week cycle for reading all the psalms, which are read largely in sequence. And, as Brendan said, the layout is fairly confusing. My impression is that very few people follow the full Matins in BDW.

My solution for morning prayer has been to follow the format of "Christian Prayer", but to substitute a better translation for the psalms and readings. In the remaining time, I read excerpts from BDW or other Eastern sources.

In Christ,
Steven

Many thanks to all of those who replied to my question. One more question, however. I live in Rhode Island and I would like to know of a Byzantine bookstore or a monastery near me that I may browse some books. Any ideas?

Greg