www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News RIVER BLESSED IN SACRED OBSERVANCE

None of the Byzantine Catholic parishes who blessed the river in Wilkes-Barre are on the Julian calendar. From what I understand, this past Sunday was chosen because it was when the clergy were available (after many house blessings and such). It just happened to be the eve of Theophany on the Julian calendar.

What a happy coincidence! My compliments to Wilkes-Barre. Incognitus

The large city lake near us has been blessed twice now, most recently yesterday. Next year, it will be thrice-blessed.

David, I completely disagree with your statement on the calendar. If a parish wishes to honor the traditional calendar, which should be up to the people in the pew and noone else, it should certainly be able to. Other eparchies allow the use of the Julian Calendar.

The enforced use of the New Calendar by the hierarchy has occasionally been followed by some disastrous consequences.

I disagree with you on this.

As I said, this will really hurt people who travel as they could possibly miss Holy Days.


David, the Byzantine Catholic

What about priests that have to take care of multiple parishes (which is getting more and more common with the shortage of clergy)? If one is Julian Calendar they don't have to try and bilocate. What the people in the parish want and considerations for the pastor are both much more important considerations than a few people travelling here and there.

Dave,

It sounds like you want to worship the Calendar rather than worshiping God on a feast day.

God is NOT bound by calendars. So let go of it.

By the way, Julian Calendar to me is a PAGAN calendar. Gregorian is a CHRISTIAN Calendar. Think of that. But I don't care who follows which.

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine
(who doesn't care if it's Gregorian or Julian Calendar, just as long we worship God who isn't bound by calendars)

First let me say this (I know I have not raise this before but I feel I should).

My given name is David, not Dave. So please, when addressing me, use David, or DavidB if you wish to differentiate me from the other Davids here.

I have no idea where you got this bit of nonsense.

What I am talking about is this..... If I attend a parish that is on one of the calendars and I have to travel for work.

If this travel is over a Holy Day and the parish in the city I have traveled to is on a different calendar, then I will miss my chance to celebrate the Holy Day.

To say I am wrong on this means you miss the mark and I am happy to be wrong.

If I wished to be uncharitable I would tell you what you could do with yourself.

Seems you have something to let go off, as a calendar is a thing, it can not be pagan or christian. It is the use of a thing that determines that.

I wish to follow a calendar that is the same as the calendar I follow in my everyday life. This way I do not have to separate my Christian life from my Secular life.


David, the Byzantine Catholic

On the subject of blessing water, do man-made canals count? Here in the dry hinterlands of the Sonoran Desert that's all we have .

Actually Deacon John, it's even worse than you thought.

In the old country they would go to the river (or lake) and cut cubes of ice to form a cross a the site where the water would blessed.

So if you ordered some ice from a local company and put it in the church parking lot with a tub of water to bless, you would have about 4 minutes in which you would have to complete your services before things started falling apart

I find it hard to think of a calendar accepted by the universal church for centuries and many Eastern Churches still today as a pagan calendar. Considering Gregory XIII only issued the bull promulgating the revised calendar for the Roman Church in 1582, it is relatively recent compared to the use of the Julian.

Like many other things after Christ, the Julian Calendar has also been brought into a Christian use and perspective with its use as an ecclesiastical calendar.

Dear Ice Lovers, I was recently looking at some pictures from a water blessing in Siberia where the cross was cut in the ice, each cross beam about 20 feet wide, the water blessed, and then the young men (and the old priest monk) promptly jumped in afterwards.

I can see the Greek tradition of throwing the cross out into a warm body of water. I think jumping in the water in Siberia would be a bit on the nippy side for me.

Our lake wasn't even close to frozen over but we still didn't take a swim...

Of course God is not bound by calendars; He is Author of times and seasons. On the other hand, it is impossible to find a liturgical calendar which meshes perfectly with the secular calendar. The secular world does not celebrate the Transfiguration of Our Lord, neither on 6 August nor on 19 August, and it is a matter of chance if in a given year one is a working day and the other is not.
But if it makes you feel better, even Jordanville compromises to the extent of celebrating Saint Job of Pochaev on Labor Day, since lots of people are able to come to the monastery that day for the pilgrimage.
Incognitus

Hello Father Deacon John,

The Environmretal Protection Agency (EPA) considers man made canals (dry or not) and dry arroyos, and dry stream beds as "waters of the United States"

No kidding.

Paul

Since we are on the topic of water, here is a link to an article titled, "The Meaning of Water in Christianity" by Alexander Pokhilko.

http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/12/5.aspx

On the subject of blessing water, do man-made canals count? Here in the dry hinterlands of the Sonoran Desert that's all we have [Big Grin]

Maybe if they were blessed, you might get some water to fill them! There is water in the ground somewhere.

But I congratualate the prests who take the time to do this. As Christ Sactified His creation, once again these Holy Men are taking time to remind us of His love for every part of it. I am sure the waters were rejoicing at the fresh bath of regeneration.

David
Just want to remind you that not "all" Byzantine Catholics follow the Gregorian Calendar. There are some who still use the old Julian Calendar.
Stephanos I