I decided that I would attend a 10:00am Divine Liturgy, for the feast of the Transfiguration at a local Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church, in Allentown PA. When I got there the doors were locked, only two people, including myself, were waiting. 9:58 still locked. Decided not to wait and went to a local Antiochian Orthodox Church, 10 minutes late, but better than nothing. Several people were present and we had the blessing of the harvest. Very warm and friendly parish. What is up with Byzantine Catholic parishes these days?. One I go to, UGCC, doesn't even use incense, the other only one or two people show up for a feast day. And in this case the priest can't even get out of bed on time. Sorry for my ranting, but for someone who trying to be the best Catholic I can, this surely doesn't help!.

Be the best Eastern Christian you can, and forget about the management.

LOL!

It's probably unfair to assume the priest didn't show up because he couldn't get out of bed. More likely he had a sick call or something.

The numbers are typical. There are a number of parishes in New Jersey where a dozen people on Sunday is average. Pennsylvania is not as bad but not far behind. The bishops and priests all say the Ruthenian Church is in free fall. The liturgical revisions only succeeded in chasing away more people. We could close half the New Jersey churches and no one would notice. Thanks, bishops, for killing our church.

To be fair, the Ukrainians are not far behind. But they don't have an RDL to chase away the last few people. The OCA ain't exactly healthy, either.

The Byzantine Catholic church in Irving, TX (of all places) is pretty light on Latinisms, and has pretty good weekly turnout with lots of young families attending.

St. bail's Irving

OK as I posted above St Basil's is wonderful -- but far away for my family. All the RC's anywhere near our house are....uhm.. lacking (IMHO)liturgically.
The UGCC that isn't too far away is rather Latinized and has all people's parts in Ukrainian.

So thank God for Byzantine Catholic Churches or else I'd be insane!

~~ Not to say I won't go Orthodox one day ~~

The Byzantine Catholic Church in San Diego, where I am a member and Catechist is lacking Latinisms and also has a wonderful turn out of young families (including mine) on Sundays and a good showing on Holy Day services.

Our parish, while we do use the RDL, is averaging over sixty people (and that is being conservative) on Sundays and if I may say so are very Orthodox in our Liturgical praxis.

We should not idealize other Orthodox and Greek Catholic jurisdictions they may not have the same problems as the Ruthenian Church because they are not perfect either. How many Orthodox Churches are full on all Holy Days? How many actually offer services on them? I think the answer would surprise us. Renewal is needed across the board in Eastern Christianity.

We should pray that the Ruthenian Church can refocus on our Tradition and start to grow again through evangelization. Our new Metropolitan has a large task at hand and let us pray that he (whenever we get one) is up for the challenge. Our Mother Church is thriving maybe we can learn from them and our Church can have a spring time.

Maybe forty years of lethal persecution is just the thing we need.

Our San Antonio Byzantine Catholic community has been in existence since March 27. We just adopted the name St. Anastasia. We are able to have Divine Liturgy every first and third Sunday and have scheduled Divine Liturgy for every major feast day through Christmas. Our attendance is about 20 each Liturgy with most being young families. We are attracting new members. Our liturgy is very Eastern with few discernible Roman influences, save those that are there because the diocese owns the space we meet in. We have a few Byzantines, a few Ukrainians a few Romans and a lot of enthusiasm. Maybe the Southwest is where the BCC has a future. By the way, none of the Romans have any interest in Latinizing the Liturgy or traditions of the Church.

It's encouraging to read the reports of new parishes and the enthusiasm they have for our patrimony. It's also encouraging to note the honesty people have towards the real problems and their sources. Let us pray for renewal from the top down. Or even for renewal from the bottom up.

I attend a UGCC parish in northern California. Today, the Feast of the Dormition, we will be serving Orthros and the Divine Liturgy beginning at 8:00 a.m. --- with no Latinisms. There are no Orthodox parishes in this area. The Roman parishes do not require attendance today; it is no longer a day of obligation when the feast falls on a Monday.

Santa Pragmatica, ora pro nobis!

Change is not always a good thing...Thank goodness, the great Ecumenical Council of the Orthodox Churches did not take place yet, or we may have made convenience type changes that we would have now regretted.

The problems in the Roman Catholic Church are not from the Vatican Councils. They are from liberal takeover.

The Ruthenian Church has the same problems. Liberals redesigned the Divine Liturgy to suit their own theology. And then they wrapped it into political correctness. Bishop William routinely says that we must "make progress with the Liturgy." Is there any wonder why people are leaving?