www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Byzantine Chapel at the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari

Has anyone ever seen or attended a Divine Liturgy at the Byzantine Chapel located in the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Bari? I am curious to know more information about it. The chapel is also referred to as the "Orthodox" chapel.

Is this chapel a "common chapel" where Byzantine Catholics and Eastern Orthodox may celebrate the Divine Liturgy, or is this chapel specifically under Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction?

I know there are Orthodox parishes in Bari, but is there a Byzantine Catholic parish(Italo-Greek/Albanian?) in Bari as well?

Thank you.

Dear Griego,

There is an Orthodox chapel there, as I understand, as the Catholics and Orthodox share in the Myrrh of St Nicholas, the miraculous substance that exudes from the Saint's relics (it also exudes from St Andrew's relics whose shrine is in Amalfi, not too far away from Bari).

Alex

I read somewhere that Roman Pope Paul VI had "de-canonized" St. Nicholas, St. George the Great Martyr, St. Valentine and other important saints, and that they're no longer part of the Western Calendar.

So St. Nicholas isn't a Catholic saint anymore, or is he??

A saint cannot be "de-canonized."

--Mark Therrien

Some saints may have been taken off the Roman Catholic calendar, but they weren't "decanonized". I don't think the three saints you mentioned are among the ones taken off.

In Christ,
Anthony

I believe the saints mentioned were made "optional memorials" or some such business; the same thing happened to St. Christopher, too, right?

Dave

I just came across this:

"Since the 1968 revision of the Roman Catholic calendar, some have wondered if Nicholas is still really a saint. This revision did remove forty saints, but not Nicholas. Commemoration of ninety other saints was made optional, meaning that celebrating their feast days was no longer required for faithful Catholics. Nicholas was one of this group, but that does not mean he and the others are not real saints. In the case of Nicholas, the Church even stressed that there was no doubt of his authenticity. The calendar reform, with fewer universal feasts, allows more local customs, feasts, and saints to receive special attention. It relieves the whole church of the necessity to observe saints which might not have local, cultural, or ethnic connection. The calendar reform did not remove St. Nicholas from the roster of saints but did remove his feast from the universal liturgical calendar. This means that the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6 is not obligatory according to Roman Catholic law.

The Papal Court stated, "Saints who lost their places or whose feast days were demoted from universal to optional [e.g. Nicholas] in the new edition of the liturgical calendar are still to be venerated as they were before the calendar's updating."

So, not to worry. Good Saint Nicholas is properly called a saint and it is right and good to celebrate his feast day."

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=234

Griego,

The Basilica is under the jurisdiction of the Dominicans and also is, apparently, called the Shrine of Christian Unity. From what I understand, the 'Orthodox Chapel' is a chapel within the basilica that was granted to the use of the Orthodox, but not sure by whom or when.

Many years,

Neil

I visited there in 1990, but the priest was in the middle of the Mass and so I was not able to speak with him. My own time was short. The shrine is below ground level and very beautiful.

The setting for the basilica, including the surrounding "old town," is most Byzantine.

The following is the link that I have for the Ecumenical-Patristic Greco-Byzantine Theological Institute of Saint Nicholas (L'Instituto di Teologia Ecumenico-Patristica Greco-Bizantina "San Nicola") which has its headquarters there:

itesnicola.op.or/basilica/ochapel

I was not successful in linking to it today.

With love in Christ,
Andrew

Also see:

http://www.basilicasannicola.org/it/index.htm

I didn't see anything about the Byzantine Chapel on it, though.

I am almost certain that the chapel is regularly used by Orthodox and is under Orthodox auspices. There is also a Russian Orthodox Church in Bari if I am not mistaken.

Dave

Chtec,

On the website listed above, click on the "L'Architettura" link, then click on the "La Cripta" link which is located at the bottom of the page. Scroll down the page and you will find the link that says "Capella orientale". It will give you a short description in Italian of the Byzantine chapel as well as an image of the chapel iconostasis.

griego

Here is an image of the iconostasis of the Byzantine Chapel in the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Bari:
[Linked Image]

A rough translation of the Italian webpage suggests to me that the Holy Father accepted requests of the Dominican Fathers and the Bishop of Bari that, in the spirit of ecumenism arising from VII, a Chapel be established for use of the Orthodox. (I can't tell if it's also used by ECs.)

Andrew, I had the same link as you, but found that it and several other Dominican (OP) links related to Bari appear to be outdated. I finally encountered a webpage that informed me of a change in web address; however, it didn't seem to work either. It was only after Dave posted his link that I was able to get there at all.

Many years,

Neil

Happy Feastday of Saint Nicholas!

Here is a link to an article from a past edition of CNEWA magazine about the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Bari. The writer mentions attending a Divine Liturgy at the crypt. The liturgy was for the Italo-Greek/Albanian Catholic community.

www.cnewa.org/magazine-pdf/Vol23-1997/V23-No4-Jul-Aug97/pdf23-4-5.Bari.pdf [cnewa.org]

Note: Will need Acrobat Reader to view article

Thanks everyone for the links because when I was at San Nicola in 1989-1990 I don't believe that the Byzantine Chapel had been constructed! I remembered the crypt when I saw it on the links, but not the chapel.

The Italo-Greek-Albanian community (Eparchy of Lungro) does not have its own church or parish in Bari.

In Christ,
Andrew