www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Eucharistic Adoration

Most people know that our family is sojourning in a Roman parish since there are no Eastern Catholic parishes nearby. I do occasionally visit an OCA mission parish about 20 miles South of here but we are members of a large Roman parish which has some wonderful priests on staff and the Faith faithfully preached. Our teenage kids like the youth group in the parish (a good combination of fun times and some serious preaching/counseling...I listen in to the presentations sometimes )and we make sure they get there! Last night I dropped them off and noticed the new Eucharistic Adoration chapel was open (Monday had been the inaugural day.) There were actually several people who were going into the chapel...I decided to check it out.

Now, there was a time I would not have been caught dead in a Eucharistic Adoration chapel. This may be surprising to some folks but there are some Eastern Catholics who develop an antipathy to anything Roman and I fell into that category a few years ago. While some Eastern Catholic Churches have imported Benediction, for example, it certainly is a latinization and the concept of adoration of the Eucharist outside of Liturgy is foreign to the Byzantine Church. I knew that Bishop Kallistos had written:

Orthodox, however, do not hold services of public devotion before the reserved sacrament, nor do they have any equivalent to the Roman Catholic functions of Exposition and Benediction, although there seems to be no theological (as distinct from liturgical) reason why they should not do so. The priest blesses the people with the sacrament during the course of the Liturgy, but never outside it. (The Orthodox Church, p. 292)

But there was a time in my spiritual journey when I would not have darkened the door of an Adoration Chapel since it "wasn't part of my spirituality" whereas the real reason was because it was a Roman devotion and Roman was something I just didn't do. Yet, I could visit Coptic parishes and really enjoyed that. I even got permission to receive the Eucharist in an Assyrian parish on one occasion. The last couple of years I have come to realize that just because something may have become a symbol of latinization in the Eastern Churches doesn't make it less "catholic" than an Akathist or the Agpeya or the Hudra. Certainly I felt that Romans were most welcome to visit our parishes and experience our spirituality. If so, how could it be wrong for us to occasionally find some benefit in Roman spirituality? I would still say that one should not minimize one's own spiritual patrimony nor do I encourage latinization. But, there are treasures in each ritual Church.

After my experience last night at the Adoration Chapel I would say that Eucharistic Adoration is a treasure of the Roman Church. There were about 8 of us in silent worship of the Lord. Some were in obvious prayer. Some were silently reading Scripture. Others were meditating. And I think some were just experiencing the peace of being in the presence of Christ.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not encouraging our churches to adopt Roman devotions. We have enough to do in restoring our own traditions without adding elements from other Churches. But, individually, I think it is imperative for us to deeply respect the traditions of all the ritual Churches in the Catholic Church. Being open to experiencing treasures from these various Churches may also be of spiritual benefit.

Dave Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

The last post is an amazing coincidence. On the way to school this morning I was reflecting on the Eucharistic adoration and benediction practised in Byzantine Catholic parishes on East Slovakia (Presov and Kosice), and was wondering if this was common. It seemed a little odd that a rite should used leavened eucharistic bread and then import azymes to allow for a devotion which is outside this rite. Is this common practice?

With love in Christ-
Mark, monk and sinner.

Fr. Mark,

Adoration and Benediction in the Byzantine Catholic Church? All Latinizations. Totally against the Eastern mindset to 'adore' or 'expose' Holy Communion rather than consume it. The last time I witnessed it was thirty years ago in my home parish.

I might add that one of the parishes in question had 'folk-masses' with musical instruments and displayed 'icons' of the Saced Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

As an Orthodox I found this shocking, but should add that there were also exemplary Byzantine Catholic parishes which stuck to Eastern Tradition.

With love in Christ -
Mark, monk and sinner.

Fr. Mark,

The proper way for Byzantine adoration of the Holy Gifts is to have the Holy Gifts placed in a Chalice/Ciborium with a lid. There should be no actual exposition at all, but only Adoration (preferably in the form of a Moleben to Christ), supplication, and benediction. Unfortunately some have picked up the practice of using Latin Hosts and Monstrances as you witnessed. However, I believe this is mostly confined to Slovakia and Ukraine where some want to differentiate themselves from the Orthodox.

I would have to disagrre with Joe. The practice of Supplication of the Holy Gifts, while originally a Latin devotion, has been around in the Rusyn Church for many years and is really a completely Byzantinized service. Our Byzantine Supplication and the Latin Exposition have nothing in common other than the people are blessed with the Holy Gifts, so it really isn't a Latinization anymore.

As well, most of the rhetoric used to justify why we should not continue this practice does not apply to the Greek Catholic Churches of Carpatho-Rus, Slovakia, and Hungary. Most often used is "We didn't have the Reformation or denial of Real Presence so we don't need Adoration like the Latin Church does." Well the Greek Catholic's of the above areas were affected by the Reformation and did have to deal with Lutherans, Reformed, and others who denied the Real Presence as Catholic and Orthodox believe it. And while yes our primary way of honoring the Holy Gifts is partaking of them worthily, most (if not all)of those who practice Adoration do just that. A much worse Latinization in my opinion would be that during Adoration, the Moleben is discarded in favor of Latin novenas or other devotions, something I find totally unacceptable.

In actual practice, very few Ruthenian parishes in the US practice this anymore, but I see no reason to put down those devoted to this service which many grew up with.

In Christ,
Lance

Lance,

Nobody is putting down anybody. The topic was about a particular service, not any particular people.

This is a very interesting thread.

I think that the whole idea of Eucharistic Adoration in the Byzantine Church must be looked at in the light of our Eucharistic theology. For us in the East, Christ is not primarily shown in the Eucharist, He is given. First and foremost, the Eucharist is super-substantial Food and Drink. Can we in the East develop a theology that supports Eucharistic Adoration in a manner other than that which is appropriate with the administration of this Holy Mystery? To date, no one has done this.

I do not in any way condemn our spiritual ancestors for this custom. They were doing what they thought correct and the idea of Eucharistic Adoration is certainly not 100% wrong. It just does not fit with Byzantine theology. At a very crass level it almost seems that it is merely playing with one's food outside of dinnertime. Yet the Roman Catholics do indeed seem to have benefited from this devotion (but even they probably would not have developed it if there had been no Protestant Reformation).

When I was growing up the Byzantine version of Eucharistic Adoration was celebrated on first Fridays (in both my Byzantine Catholic parish and the Johnstown Orthodox parish up the street). For me, it never made much sense. Most of our parishes dropped Eucharistic Adoration in the 1970's and 1980's. Only a few parishes in the Pittsburgh area (which experienced the greatest amount of Latinization) still celebrate it.

Fr. Marked referenced parishes with icons of the Sacred Heat of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Before I could comment on this I'd want to know more details. There are numerous Orthodox parishes here in the United States that had these icons on their icon screens. In the early days of the emigration from Europe the people didn't exactly bring icon painters with them and resorted to simply purchasing the four-color prints (which were, of course, printed by the Roman Catholics). I'll bet that in the first half of the twentieth century there was not a single Byzantine household (Orthodox and Catholic) that did not have a framed icon picture of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart hanging somewhere.

I think we need to follow the example of our hierarchs. They only celebrate this service once a year at Otpust, and only because it has been a custom for over 65 years. Eventually it will be replaced with a more authentic service but for now we must respect the pray needs of those Byzantines who were raised with this spirituality. At the parish level it has fallen into disuse almost everywhere (except for a handful of the hard core Latinized parishes).

When I attened Eucharistic Adoration in Ruthenian parishes, the species wasn't exposed. The priest would use the ciborium, not a monstrance. It was a beautiful service. It was called "Molebin of Jesus, Lover of Mankind"

Joe,

Your correction is noted, but can we say a service is Latinized without saying those who are devoted to it aren't? Yes the service began in the West but I say again: when done properly the service is truly a Byzantine one even if peculiar to Greek Catholics of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Administrator,

I do not find it at odds with our Byzantine spirituality at all, done properly the Holy Gifts aren't exposed so the mystery is maintained. The priest/bishop blesses with the christogram, the hand cross, the Gospel book, the candle, all symbols, icons, types of Christ. The Holy Gifts, are the Symbol, the Icon, the Type par excellence precisely because while they are the Symbol they are at the same time truly the Body and Blood of Christ. Therefore being blessed with the Holy Gifts, even outside of a Liturgy in which one partakes of them does not seem inappropriate, at least to me. As Dave relates, I think sometimes we assume that becasue something did not originate with us it is not compatible with us. I think it hard to argue that Adoration of Christ, be it through an Icon, the Gospel Book or the Holy Gifts can be wrong or incompatible with our theology. I do agree with your conclusion , we should follow the lead of our bishops.

In Christ,
Lance

I would like to add one single think: please do not forget that Eucharist Adoration, although a common practice in the Latin Church from the X or XI century, is also "strange" to the liturgical tradition of the Latin Church. I mean Eucharist Adoration is strange to the liturgical tradition of the Roman Chuch in the same way that, for example, the celebration of Easter Vigil is Saturday morning instead of the evening would be found strange by Saint John Chrysostom or Saint Gregory the Theologian.

Here again we have the question...where do we draw the line in the historical sand? Did the Byzantine "tradition" stop developing and evolving at a certain point in time or does it continue to do so today? As Lance very convincingly pointed out (at least in my opinion) we in the Catholic Byzantine tradion have made this tradition our own and have taken a western devotion and made it over into a Byzantine one. I have never seen this rite performed and have been told I probably never will...but I have read the ritual and except for the blessing with the Sacred Elements, it looks nothing like the the Latin Benediction ceremony (which I have done myself many times). Don

Unless I am very much mistaken, the cathedral in Presov used a monstrance for adoration. I would love to be proved wrong!!!

As for the 'icons', the Immaculate Heart of Mary was a very large painting ensconced in a side altar in the cathedral(?) in Kosice.

With love in Christ -
Mark, monk and sinner.

Perhaps Dave found Eucharistic Adoration so meaningful exactly because he has been attending a Latin parish given the current relative lack of the 'experience of mystery' in some of them. I too found a need to 'prolong the experience' when I was attending Latin services. I don't feel that need in Eastern churches. But I would be inclined to agree most with the 'administrater'. In the Byzantine churches the Gifts are meant to be 'given and received' not gazed at. Icons are for gazing--perhaps in a church without icons this need has been met through an alternative eucharistic practice.

Thank you Lance.

In words and rhetoric, and especially in chant, this service is a masterpiece. However its seed was planted, the fruit is organically us. I think that the idea of discarding it in an effort to more traditional is misguided, IMO. It would be like throwing out prostopinije in favor of Byzantine chant.

Dear Friends,

I grew up with the Supplicatory Service of Adoration of the Eucharist - my grandfather who was an Orthodox priest (involuntary draft of 1946 ) for 20 years continued to practice it in his village. He used to sing "O spasitelnaya Zhertvo!" frequently.

Patriarch Josef Slipyj did one hour of private Eucharistic Adoration daily - he used to attend St Neilos Church in Rome for this.

As a matter of fact, many of our confessors and martyrs under the Soviets were avid Adorers of our Lord in Holy Communion, privately and with the Supplicatory Moleben.

The fact is that when the Orthodox held discussions with the Protestants in the 17th century, I believe it was, the issue of the Eucharist, of course, came up.

While the Orthodox responded, as did the Administrator, in terms that reflected the dynamic worship we give to Christ in Holy Communion (i.e. "given"), the Orthodox ALSO said that we also worship Christ in Holy Communion on the Altar during the Divine Liturgy.

So this is my personal take on how to arrive at an integration of one and the other within the context of our traditional Orthodox-Catholic liturgical piety.

Number one - the Supplicatory Service was developed in our Church not because of Protestantism, since that wasn't an issue with us, but precisely because of the Latinization, not of our idea of Holy Communion, but of our Liturgy way back when.

We know that with the progressive Latinization of our Liturgy, in some areas more than others, and the downplaying of specifically Byzantine rubrics that emphasized the worship of our Lord in Holy Communion during the Liturgy, the path was set for paraliturgical devotions in this regard.

Isidore Dolnytsky admitted as much - as did Myron Fedoriw in his remarkable little work on Byzantine church music.

It is true that Dolnitsky published his Akathist to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Conception to prevent Eastern Catholics from attending Latin parishes. There was a tremendous interest in these devotions among Eastern Catholics in the 19th century and before and we would have to review possible reasons why - there are many to choose from.

It is also true that East Slavic Orthodoxy was generally impacted by western pietistic devotions as well, as we know. Orthodox saints even practiced them, everything from the Joys and Sorrows of the Mother of God, a form of the Way of the Cross, the Rosary (western version) etc.

Let's leave that for now . . .

The RC Church that led the way in paraliturgical devotions to Christ in Holy Communion is now emphasizing the containment of this within the parameters of the Mass itself.

The structure of their Mass is such that they cannot, as much as they would like to, bring the Supplicatory Service into the body of the Mass.

In fact, one view is that the Supplicatory Service in the West developed as an imitation of the Byzantine Rite of blessing the faithful with the Chalice at the end of Holy Communion!

If that is so, and I don't know (never went to seminary, you know), then we already have the Supplicatsia within our Liturgy and our job is to emphasize it rather than go beyond the Liturgy by way of paraliturgical devotions in the first instance.

We should emphasize the formal offices of preparation before and after Holy Communion - the Old Believer offices are particularly long and beautiful.

As a matter of act, the Old Believer traditions of attending the Divine Liturgy are not only zealous but they really do help one's focus on the Mysteries being celebrated.

For example, when the Priest uses incense, the Old Believers extend their hands, palms upward and recite the Psalmic phrase: "Thy Good Spirit will lead me in the land of righteousness (3 times)." There are many others.

Having truly "lived" the Liturgy, we then approach the Holy Mysteries, kissing the edge of the Chalice and going to the left to wait for the Priest to come and touch our foreheads with it etc.

We experience the exhilaration of being blessed with Christ Himself in the Chalice - the essence of the paraliturgical Supplicatsia Service.

Our preparation for Holy Communion for next time, say next week, should involve reciting a portion of the preparatory prayers each day, prostrations etc.

And the private practice of prayer before the Altar is something that every Christian is entitled to do.

We see this in a section of the Way of the Pilgrim who goes out of his way to pray before the Holy Gifts as they are carried to a sick person.

We see this in the pastoral life of St Dmitri of Rostov who, when he visited the outposts of his charge, always paid attention to the way in which Holy Communion was reserved and honoured in the parish church.

(He once attended a "primitive" parish and asked the priest where he kept the Holy Communion since it was not on the altar. The priest didn't even understand what "Communion" was! The attendant, who understood the ways of the people there said, "Where do you keep the 'Extras'?" At this, the priest smiled and showed the Metropolitan a cardboard box, to his horror . . .).

Again, our martyrs and confessors gained much inner strength and resolve from their private Adoration of Christ in Holy Communion. It should be seen as an extension of that we give our Lord in the Divine Liturgy and as a preparation for the Divine Liturgy and a worthy Holy Communion.

If we can do without monstrances etc., that would be a good thing . . .

But we can't tell our people used to the Latin forms that they are not in keeping with our spirituality unless we emphasize our Byzantine spirituality of Holy Communion so as to draw them to the "better part" at least as far as our own traditions are concerned.

Again, as our lamented former parish priest once said, "We have always had the Supplicatsia in our Divine Liturgy - it is just that everyone is in too great a hurry to notice it . . ."

I know that there are some Byzantine parishes in western Ukraine where 24 hour Adoration is done in Church, including even small children. My godson's uncle is a priest there who promotes it and he told me that even schoolchildren ask to be assigned a daily hour - the entire village takes turns, even throughout the night . . .

Also, I remember the story of a group of Ukrainian Catholic nuns who took turns doing 24 Hour Adoration. A group of them were placed on a freezing mountain peak by the KGB to allow them to freeze slowly . . .

After three days, the police came back to collect the frozen bodies.

Instead, what they found was the nuns, still alive, and singing their Eucharistic hymns . . .

Alex

I've never seen Eucharistic Adoration outside of Liturgy in the Eastern Church and I would not encourage the importation of such a devotion (marvelous as it is!) into places where it is not now done. What I'd like to see is this:

Byzantine parishes offering the full range of Byzantine services and the faithful encouraged to follow Byzantine spirituality. This, I think, is imperative for our Churches to recover. Vespers and Matins are an integral part of our tradition and they should be made available to our people. The minamalistic approach to our services and traditions needs to be abandoned with due regard to pastoral needs.

So, in a given area where both ritual Churches exist both expressions are there for the faithful and those who need to hear the Gospel. People could experience a fuller range of the Catholic Church by visiting either Church (this also would apply to other ritual Churches than Roman or Byzantine.)

Having said this I do maintain that one should try to follow one's own spirituality as much as one can but not be closed to other spiritualities in the entire Catholic Church.

Dave Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

I think y'all are missing the point. It's justy as Dave is saying: There's this sense of, "We can't do that because it's Latin! It's foreign to the Byzantine mindset! It's just not done!"

In Christ there is no East or West, as an old Protestant hymn puts it. He transcends all our categories, all our man-made boundaries. And what are we experiencing at Eucharistic Adoration? Christ. The Christ who transcends all and reconciles all. The Christ Who is the author of all our devotions and practices, Eastern and Western. What we experience there, IOW, is infinitely bigger than our boundaries and biases.

If an individual feels drawn to Eucharistic Adoration, I don't think he or she should refrain because it's not part of his or her patrimony. There are a bajillion different ways of experiencing Jesus...and each one of us is drawn to a different cluster of ways, because each one of us is an individual, and our relationship with Jesus is utterly unique.

There is a wonderful Perpetual Adoration Chapel at St. Gabriel's Church in Charlotte, NC. When I enter that chapel, the Presence of Jesus flattens me against the wall. I have never experienced anything quite like it. Do you think that I wouldn't experience Jesus there in that powerful way if I were Byzantine? (I happen to be Roman, but please don't hold it against me. ) Jesus is objectively there, whether I'm "Jew or Greek, slave or free."

Of course He's just as much objectively THERE in the liturgy, at the Consecration and at Communion, and that is the first and foremost place where we are called to experience Him. But there is something very special going on there in that Adoration Chapel...it's different, it's unique, and it is the sovereign work of God. As such, it is not something one can only experience and appreciate if one is Roman. It is objectively THERE. And it is incredibly powerful.

It's a voluntary devotion. It's imposed on no one, not even in the Latin Church. It should not be imposed on Byzantine parishes if they don't want it. But as Dave says, if it's available in your community, and if you feel drawn to it, you shouldn't hold back out of fear of "latinization." It isn't "latinization" you encounter in an Adoration Chapel. It's Jesus.

For my part, I want all the Jesus I can get. The more the better -- whether the context is Eastern or Western. The main goal, after all, is to get closer to Jesus, not to be ritually more "pure."

Jess' my 2 cents' and take it from whence it comes....

ZT

P.S. Re "icons are for gazing": Agreed. But there's nothing wrong with gazing at Jesus Himself, who is Truly Present in the Monstrance, Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity. It's not like this is some sort of psychological crutch that we poor deprived Latins need because we don't have much else. :p Remember, the practice of Eucharistic Adoration arose and flourished at a time when Western liturgy was rich, beautiful, and reverent. So liturgical deprivation doesn't explain its appeal!

All I can say is: Try it, and you'll see what I mean. It has to be experienced to be believed.

Jesus wants to be exposed and adored in this way, IMHO. That is why He led the medieval Western Church to develop the Adoration practice in the first place. (Nothign hapepns outside of God's providence, after all.) Anyway, He has told countless saints and mystics that He pours out special graces when He is exposed and adored. I have experienced this. "Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait pas."

ZT

A couple of considerations not yet raised.

For me the real issue is not whether any individual might or might not find it a graced experience. We each much follow the leading of the Spirit, no question.

Qua Churches and with respect to our public liturgical worship and the idiom in which we choose to proclaim the Gospel, we might wish to consider:

--whether Adoration/Suplicatsia helps us to Return to our Byzantine Roots;

--whether it helps us to be more in step with Orthodoxy or more out of step, i.e. whether it takes out away from the general liturgical life of Orthodox or Byzantine Churches;

--whether the Orthodox [not "in Communion with Rome"] will recognize themselves [as it were] in our liturgical life, [once, recently, when some Orthodox Church reps observed a Liturgy [faithfully served] in one of our Churches, one exclaimed: well now I see that unity may indeed be possible!]

--whether it will be an aid or obstacle to reconciliation with the Orthodox

yet another 2 cents.

cix

herb.

Cool!

That is indeed a consideration.

That's why Dave's solution is the best, IMHO: Let Latin Churches have Adoration; don't impose it on Byzantine parishes. But by the same token, Eastern Catholics can and should feel free to avail themselves of the treasures of both East and West. E.g., if a Latin parish with Adoration coexists with a Byzantine parish (without Adoration) in the same town, the members of both parishes should feel free to avail themselves of each other's spiritual treasures. That way, each parish preserves its patrimony, while individuals within the parishes can be spiritually fed in whatever way the Spirit leads.

Blessings,

ZT

Does anyone know if the ACROD still has this devotion? Or if they have dropped it, when and why that happened?

Today's local paper, the Medford Mail Tribune, carried an article about the new adoration chapel and included a picture. Check out the online story:

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2002/1015/local/stories/05local.htm

Dave Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

Dear Zoe-Theodora,

I would like to share some thoughts about the Eucharist with you and all the members of this forum. I belive in the real presence of the Lord in the bread and the wine that by the power of the Holy Spirit become the Body and the Blood of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is a sacrament (a mistery "mistirion" in Greek), and sacraments are means by wich the Christian faithful receives the Holy grace. Holy grace means to take part in the life of the Holy Trinity to become one with God ("theosis" in the Eastern theology). The presence of Christ in the Eucharist has got a sacramental character. Our Lord gave us the Holy misteries saying these words "Take and eat it, this is my body", "Drink of this all of you, this is my blood". The Lord did not say "Take it and put it in the mostrance" (I hope that none of you will not find my words offensive I just want to make me clear). Our Lord did institute the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist for our sanctification (for the forgiveness of our sins, for the salvation of our souls, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the inheritance of his Kingdom, for a more spiritual life, for better relationships with our brothers... )not in order to be adorated in the Holy Gifts. Both in the Latin and in the Eastern Divine Liturgy, after the communion the priest does "consume" the Eucharistic gifts. The presence of the tabernacle in our churchs, has got only one purpose, the communion under special circunstances (communion of the sick or of those who can not take part in the Holy Liturgy). The tabernacles are not intended, from the historical point of view, for the adoration of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The Latin "tradition" of giving the Holy Communion to the faithful from the Holy Gifts reserved in the tabernacle during the Holy Liturgy (mass), the Adoration of the Holy Gifts and the blessing with the mostrance are recent traditions and have nothing to do with the ancient tradition of the Church of Rome (in the Byzantine tradition the priest gives the blessing making the sign of the cross the Holy Gifts after the communion saying "Save, O God, Your people and bless Your inheritance"). We can not close Jesus in the tabernacle or in the mostrance. The II Vatican Council tell us to venerate the Holy Gospel in the same way we venerate the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Eucharist being the Body and blood of Christ and the Gospel being the Word of God. The Church (the Catholic Church) tell us to look for the presence of the Lord not only in the Eucharist (bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit) but also in the Gospel (Christ is the Word mede flesh) and in our brothers in Christ (communion of the saints). The Most Holy Eucharist should not be and is not a "devotion" (I really do not like this word) but the center of the life of the Church (people of God). "Devotion" means for me "particular" "private", something like saying the rosary at home or, in the Byzantine tradition, to drink holy water every morning before going to the work. The Eucharist has not a "private" character but a strong communitarian character. The adorarion of the holy gifts in the Latin Church is a difficult liturgical and theological problem and the Fathers of the II Vatican Council knew it, it is because of it that they avoided to directly address the issue of Eucharistic devotion.

Yours in Christ,

Francisco

Dear Francisco,

You've made a good and well-balanced argument from both Eastern AND Western points of view, based on liturgical, scriptural and devotional sources.

Alex

Estimado Francisco:

I respect your views on Eucharistic Adoration but some seem to be contrary to the belief held dearly by Roman Catholics like me.

For a concise exposition of the origins and practice of Eucharistic Adoration, may I suggest a reading of an article on the matter by the late Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. at:

http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/HISTOREA.TXT

AmdG

Dear Est-Amado,

I don't think Francisco is contradicting anything here, especially not RC teaching.

Vatican II did consider itself facing an issue with respect to Adoration of the Eucharist outside of Mass.

The view was that the old Mass had tended to alienate more and more Catholics to the point where it was something celebrated by the Christian elites i.e. priests etc. whereas the laity said their rosary et al. during it - to keep themselves occupied . . .

It was that perceived chasm between the static devotion to the Eucharist outside of the Divine Liturgy and also a perceived overemphasis on it to the detriment of celebrating the Eucharist in the dynamic manner of Mass participation and Holy Communion that became a real issue for the Latin Catholic Church.

I believe that is what my friend, Francisco, is highlighting!

Alex

Dear Alex:

I was referring to Francisco's previous post wherein he stated that Eucharistic Adoration is "strange" to the Latin tradition.

I took the word "strange" to mean "foreign," which Francisco must have translated from the Spanish derivative word "estrangero."

Fr. Hardon's article traces the history, growth, and development of this Catholic devotional practice over the centuries, which shows that this "Catholic doctrine" somehow inheres, or is innate, in the Latin tradition and is, therefore, not at all "foreign."

AmdG

We have two perpetual adoration chapels in Grand Rapids.

I along with various other parishioners visit there from time to time.

(I especially like having the opportunity to spend time there on my birthday, which I have done frequently.)

The thing I like about it is the fact that one has access to the chapel twenty-four hours a day. The fact of the Blessed Sacrament being exposed does not really impact my attendence, although it might have in the begining. I would continue to go there if the Sacrament were reserved in a tabernacle.

I'm glad that the option exists for myself and for you also Dave!

With Best Wishes to All!
Stefan

Dear Amado Guerrero,

The chapter "Apostolic times to early middle ages" of the article of Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. reaffirmes me in my conviction that the Eucharistic Adoration outside the Eucharist is completely strange (strange:1)being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected 2)
not known before 3) being or from or characteristic of another place or part of the world) to the ancient liturgical tradition of the Church of Rome. That is form the 11th century that, according to this article, "the churches of Europe (Western Europe)began what can only be described as a Eucharistic Renascence. Processions of the Blessed Sacrament were instituted; prescribed acts of adoration were legislated; visits to Christ in the pyx were encouraged; the cells of anchoresses had windows made into the church to allow the religious
to view and adore before the tabernacle". I t was in the 13th century that "Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of Corpus Christi".

The Adoration of the Eucharist outside the Eucharist itself has not the sacramental, sacrificial and mystagogical ("misterical" if you prefer from "mistery" "mistirion" in Greek "ceremony for those iniciated in the Christian faith") character of the celebration of the Eucharist (Divine Liturgy, Holy Mass)itself. The Eucharist is not only the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ but also a Thanks-giving, we give thanks to God the Father for his Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit (Cretion-Redemption-Sanctification) and the memorial of Christ Death and Resurrection ("Do this in memory of me"). Well I think that Eucharistic adoration is something quite poor if we compare it with the celebration of the Eucharist itself. Why to visit the tabernacle everyday (something very good) if the Chuch gives you the opportunity of taking part in the Divine Liturgy/Holy Mass and receiving the Holy Communion everyday (something much better indeed)(at least in the Latin Church, in the Byzantine Church they have got aliturgical days)? Are not you a living tabernacle of Christ and temple of the Holy Spirit after receiving the Holy Communion? Are not we, the Christian faithful, expected after taking part in the Eucharist to be able of recognize the presence of Christ in the face of our brothers, specially in those we are suffering? Is not the Church -people of God- the mystical Body of Christ being Christ our head? To use the words of the article Eucharistic Adoration could be understood ( I try to be extremely careful with the words I am using)like an intend to separate "the Eucharist as Sacrifice,Communion and Presence".

Yours in Christ,
Francisco

Dear Amado,

Did you know they are thinking of beginning a saint's process for Fr. John Hardon?

His catechism and his other books on comparative religions and denominations were 'must-reads' for me.

He was very traditional.

When commenting on why the seeming de-emphasis on the cult of saints today in the Latin Church, I believe his response was, "The veneration of saints is a good thing, but too much of a good thing . . ."

He must have had his tongue in his cheek when he wrote that!

Magandang Omaga!

Alex

I have very much enjoyed reading the various contributions to this thread. It has raised two questions for me.

First, in what ways in the Byzantine rite is adoration and worship offered to the Eucharistic Christ, present in his body and blood?

Second, when Christ is present in his body and blood, do you have the sense that he is personally present? Do you, for example, actually address prayer to the Eucharistic Jesus present under the species?

When I recently asked this of an Orthodox priest, he was perplexed and it took some lengthy conversation for him to see what I was asking. He finally replied that the personification of the Holy Gifts was alien to the Byzantine sensibility and tradition. "They ARE Christ's Body and Blood; yet we cannot pray to THEM as such," he said. Do you agree?

Prayer personally directed to the Eucharistic Christ began to appear in the West around the 9th century or so. My private hypothesis is that before such prayer can happen, there must first develop an apprehension that the consecrated elements are the personal presence of our Lord and not only just the presence of his body and blood. From the Sarum rite, for example, the celebrant says the following prayer before immediately before receiving communion:

But if you think this is uniquely a Western practice, consider this remarkable prayer of Philoxenus:

What is your spiritual and liturgical experience of our Lord's personal presence in the Blessed Sacrament? Do you believe that here we have a real difference between the Eastern and Western apprehension of our Lord's sacramental presence in the Holy Eucharist?

Pax,
Alvin+

Greetings, Fr. Kimel, and welcome to the Forum!

I think that the reason Byzantines are perplexed by such questions is that, for us, Jesus is not primarily shown in the Eucharist. He is given. When we look at the Eucharist as the giving of super-substantial Food and Drink, discussions of Eucharistic Adoration always seem to come across almost as playing with one�s Food.

There are prayers in the various Eastern Christian traditions that speak directly to the Eucharistic Presence but even these are different than those in the Christian West. They generally praise Christ and thank Him for his Gift of the Eucharist and the power of the Eucharist in our lives. An excerpt from the Akathist for Holy Communion might help to put this into perspective: Through the envy of the devil who spoke through the mouth of the serpent, and through the eating of the forbidden fruit, the whole human race lost Paradise and was given over to death. But by tasting of Thy most pure Body and Blood all men are again granted eternal life, and rise up to their former state. For the communion of Thy life-creating Mysteries is a remedy against the serpent�s poison, and is the seed of immortality. Wherefore, I gratefully cry to Thee: Alleluia! (from the Jordanville �Book of Akathists�)

Thank you to all of the participants for a very interesting thread.

Admin

IMHO, eastern christians can find comparable mysticism and piety in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts- especially if they are familiar with directions for worship in the Abridged Typikon (OCA publication in English; there is no unabridged typikon in English yet.). The additional prostrations, circumambulations at the Altar, censer being carry backwards but facing the Gifts, additional kneeling- all are outward demonstrations of increased reverence for the Holy Lamb in the Artophorion and elsewhere as the service proceeds. It seems to me that adoration has always been part of eastern religious expression especially in this context, and that the Roman approach is not really needed within Byzantine worship as a result.

Bless me a sinner, Father Kimel!

Actually, what I find perplexing is why you are not already in union with Rome!

(And that's really none of my business!)

Apart from the wider liturgical context of your questions, it is a fact that Eucharistic Adoration is indeed popular in many Eastern Catholic Churches.

Latinization notwithstanding, our Eastern Catholic martyrs and confessors were most devoted to the Blessed Sacrament.

Patriarch Josef Slipyj attended the Church of St Neilos in Rome to do Hours of Adoration.

St Pavel Gojdicz OSBM spent many hours before the Blessed Sacrament as did others.

This devotion, including Perpetual Adoration, is most popular in the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine today - I understand it is also popular in some Orthodox parishes as well.

The Melkite Greek Catholics formally approved of "Corpus Christi" for their Church and have a Eucharistic Supplicatory Service in their prayerbook as well.

(I too am devoted to Adoration - I think it is a beautiful and helpful devotion!)

The Communion preparation prayers that every Byzantine Christian is expected to say demonstrate the extent to which a personal belief in and relationship to Christ in Holy Communion is truly a part of our Eucharistic life in Christ.

The Canons to Jesus and His Most Holy Mother, the Canons of repentance and to Christ in Holy Communion, the Akathists, the prayers of the Saints, especially the Prayer of St Dmitri of Rostov - the West has nothing like these!

But the emphasis is on the "dynamic" aspect of reception of Holy Communion rather than on the "static" Presence of Christ (quoting from Archbishop Raya of the Melkites).

As one goes up for Communion, one kisses the edge of the Chalice that signifies the Wounded Side of Christ from Which we are nourished.

One is also touched at the forehead by the same Chalice.

The prayers of preparation for and thanksgiving after Holy Communion are often part of the Liturgy as well.

Plus the fact that the blessing of the people with the Communion Chalice, something the Western Rites don't have but have relegated to a paraliturgical service, has ALWAYS been an integral part of our Eastern Liturgies.

Alex

Greetings, Alex. (I think I'm going to have to find a more formal appropriate introduction to my replies to you. We Western Christians are at such a disadvantage here. We sound so prosaic.<g>)

If you ever have some time on your hand, would it be asking too much for you to provide some examples of these prayers. I'd love to see them. I do have a copy of St Dmitri's precommunion prayer, which I think is absolutely wonderful.

Thank you.

In Messias,
Alvin+

Bless me a sinner, Father Kimel,

Yes, Fr. John Whiteford's "Orthodox Liturgical Resources" has a list of Akathists and Canons.

Just type in "Orthodox Liturgical Resources" in any search engine, and his site will come up.

The Anglican Blessed John Mason Neale translated the Orthodox Akathist to the Passion of Christ - and did a wonderful job!

If you are interested, I've done a few other Akathists that our Administrator has kindly agreed to present here on the Town Hall.

The Byzantine tradition is to recite three Canons, (to Jesus, Mary and the Guardian Angel) and two Akathists to Jesus and Mary, prior to Holy Communion.

Fr. Whiteford's site has links to other Eastern liturgical sites, as you will see.

Alex

Dear friends,

Reading these posts has reminded me of my own spiritual connection to Saint Bridget of Sweden and Blessed Mary Elisabeth Hesselblad. Blessed Mother Elisabeth, a convert from the state Lutheran Church of Sweden, became Abbess of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget and was dedicated to achieving the reunion of Scandinavian Christians with the Catholic Church and the unity of all Christians.

Like many before her, Mother Elisabeth developed a strong devotion to the adoration of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament, having initially felt His presence during a Corpus Christi procession before her conversion.

I have always been grateful for the Eucharistic Presence of the Lord in the hospital chapels where I have gone to pray during trying times. I am very grateful that my parish Church offers 24 hour Eucharistic adoration and see it making a comeback in other parishes in my area.

I find it to be a very beautiful spiritual practice of the Latin church.

Khrystyna

Dear Khrystyna,

Yes, and ALL of the beatified Byzantine Catholic New Martyrs loved Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, including Met. Andrew Sheptytsky and Patriarch Josef Slipyj.

I guess some Latinizations are worth keeping, no?

I think I may get the "Orthodox Police" after me now . . .

Alex

Yeah well I have to admit that I thoroughly appreciated my unexpected 2 hours today - wonderful , peaceful and incredibly helpful.

And I must admit not one Latin Prayer was said before Our Lord today - honest - all were Eastern and seemed [ sorry folk ] absolutely natural to use.

Anhelyna

Dear Anhelyna,

Don't fight those feelings, Girl!

If they feel overwhelming at times, just flow with them and let it happen!

We are only human and therefore the flesh is weak . . .

Alex

Alex, as long as you are not confined in an "unOrthodox" facility!!

I'm thinking back on the words of the spiritual director who supported me during my journey into Catholicism. She suggested that because of my own particular background I would probably be "weaving in and out of many catholic spiritualties" which would offer me the best in all of them. Deeply rooted in her own Catholic Ursuline spirituality she was nevertheless a tremendous admirer of Eastern Christian spirituality.

That is sort of how I see the Christian journey these days. Yes, Eucharistic Adoration will probably remain a Western Christian devotion just as some Eastern devotions are unique to that tradition. But our journeys as brothers and sisters in Christ may sometimes find us "crossing over" to the other's spiritual practices from time to time while always remaining rooted in our heritage, and I find that to be a real blessing.

Khrystyna

Strange you should say that Khrystina - the 'crossing over' bit I meant.

Earlier in the thread Alex said

I do so agree - and I find I am using such Canons and Akathists more and more in my prayer life. Somehow they express what I feel far more than Western prayers do. One of these days I am going to be asked about the Cross on the front of my Prayer Book -" What's that sloping bit ? " I can see it coming

Anhelyna

I cannot help, but wonder if this is another litmus test question in order to gauge how "Catholic" us Byzantine Catholics are? If your question is sincere, I apologize for being blunt. Questions regarding our "Eucharistic worship," dogmas about Mary, and the like begin with a context of assumptions that do not consider the likelihood of an Eastern perspective or allowance for one. The question is wrong. Eucharist is not to be adored or petted or sweetly gazed at, but CONSUMED. It is food, hence even the popular teaching about not chewing it does not apply. It is heavenly food; it is to be eaten; it is to be consumed; we are to partake of it; it is a part of our call to participate in the Divine nature.

Our Lord even said, "Take, EAT, this is my ..." We Byzantines only do what our Lord asked of us. We take his words seriously. Anything else is a derivative of this basic command.

The Eucharist is naturally respected as the Body and Blood of Christ at the Liturgy, of course. Why wouldn't it be? Is your question one that demands a list of actions and words used at the Liturgies that indicate that we DO consider it the Body and Blood of Christ?

Joe

Dear Anhelyna,

To thine own self be true in your appreciation for Eastern spirituality!

Ironically, at Lent I find myself reverting often to my Lutheran upbringing in that I find myself often before a Crucifix, meditating with St. Bridget upon the Lord's passion. Luther, sharing the East's devotion to the Resurrection referred to Christians as "an Easter people" but with St. Paul "gloried in the Cross of Christ".

I must add, too, that a congregation of Lutherans singing the hymns of the Resurrection is a formidable thing!!

Khrystyna

Joe T wrote:

Yes, your apology was quite in order, as your rude "bluntness" was certainly out of order. I can assure you that I have much better things to do than to join a Byzantine bulletin board and instigate silly arguments.

Contrary to what you here assert, it's clear from all of the above contributions to this thread that there exists a diversity of practice and understanding within Eastern Christendom. While there may be serious reservation among most Orthodox believers regarding the practice of adoring the Blessed Sacrament outside of the Divine Liturgy Eastern Christians do adore the Eucharistic Christ within the Divine Liturgy. Apparently, the fact that Christ gives himself to us as food and drink does not necessarily imply that he is not to be adored and worshipped under the sacramental forms.

If adoration of the Eucharistic Christ is appropriate within the Eucharist proper, and if the Eucharist may be reserved, and if our Lord's sacramental presence is permanent, then it's difficult to see how anyone can declare that adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of the Divine Liturgy is "wrong" and contrary to the institution of Christ.

In Messias,
Alvin+

.

Bless me a sinner, Father Kimel!

While Cantor Joseph has presented the traditional Eastern liturgical view here, you are quite right in what you say.

The Eucharist is truly adored in the East within the context of the Divine Liturgy.

In the Ethiopian tradition, I believe, the priest actually kisses the Eucharist following the Epiclesis.

And in the classic rebuttals to Protestant overtures, the Eastern Orthodox Church emphatically affirmed that Christ in the Holy Eucharist is to be adored and worshipped!

As Byzantine Christians approach the Eucharist, they are to make one last full prostration to the ground before the Chalice. Afterwards, they are not to do any prostrations throughout the day as they have themselves become living chalices containing our Lord.

Orthodox Archbishop Kallistos Ware has also said there is no theological, versus liturgical, reason why Orthodox Christians should not show honour to our Lord in the Holy Eucharist outside of the Divine Liturgy.

But in the Eastern Catholic Churches, especially the East Slavic Churches, Eucharistic adoration is very strong, especially in the "old country."

Our New Martyrs practiced it fervently i.e. St Pavel Gojdic and St Theodore Romzha of the Ruthenians and the Ukrainians and Russians as well.

St Basil Velichkovsky reported that this became a favourite devotion of Orthodox who came into communion with Rome and who even insisted on kneeling a lot on Sundays, even after he asked them not to break the Eastern rubrics in this regard . . .

And just before Gorbachev helped bring the USSR to a long-overdue close, the story circulated about a group of Byzantine Catholic Ukrainian nuns who were dedicated to perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.

They were sentenced to death and placed on a high, frozen peak where people froze to death quickly.

Their guards returned there after three days to find the nuns sitting in a circule, singing their Eucharistic hymns and perfectly warm . . .

We also get a hint of Orthodox desire for such adoration in the Way of the Pilgrim where the Pilgrim "prays and worships" before the Holy Gifts being brought to an ill person.

Alex

.

>>>The Canons to Jesus and His Most Holy Mother, the Canons of repentance and to Christ in Holy Communion, the Akathists, the prayers of the Saints, especially the Prayer of St Dmitri of Rostov - the West has nothing like these!<<<

I suppose that Novenas and litanies are the closest thing the West has in this regard.

I love to pray the Communion Akathist before Mass. It truly puts me in the correct frame of mind.

Columcille

Dear friends,

In all humility (I hope!) I would suggest that the main thing for all Christians here, East or West, to remember is that the Sunday (or daily) liturgy in which we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord is the chief and normative liturgical event in our lives. However, with all due respect to Joe's comments, the fact that Eucharistic devotion is not mentioned in Sacred Scripture is not a determining factor in my own appreciation of Eucharistic devotion. Catholic spirituality, East and West, has undergone many developments since the beginning of the Christian era and we have never been hemmed in by the literal restriction of the written Word in our practices as have some non-Catholic Christian traditions.

Having said that, this Latin Christian would never in any way consider the East to be deficient in its Eucharistic practices because they do not mirror those of the West. Why on earth would they?

For those of us who are guests on this Eastern forum, perhaps we sometimes need to be more careful in how we state our questions, not their content. We should feel free to question and ponder but always in the context of our mutual bonds in Christ.

Khrystyna

Dear Cantor Joseph,

Yes, I know you do, Big Guy!

There was much that our Lord left up to His Church to do upon reflection on His words and actions, and certainly liturgical worship is one of them.

And our liturgical heritage is also inspired by the Spirit and informs and nourishes our faith as a living experience and encounter with God and Christ.

(Now how's that for someone who didn't go to seminary? ).

I'm off on a cruise later so have a great week!

Alex

Thank you, Alex, for your thoughtful post (as all of your postings invariably are).

On this question of eucharistic adoration versus eucharistic communion, why would we want to divide that which the Fathers and Saints always keep together in catholic wholeness? The Son of God did not incarnate himself in human flesh to be an object of adoration--he came to save us from sin and bring us into the triune life of God--yet once we recognize who is present before us, we inevitably and rightly adore and worship him. "My Lord and my God!" the Apostle Thomas declared.

If the Divine Liturgy is itself a participation in the Divine Liturgy in heaven, then we will adore him in the Eucharistic elements, just as the angels and saints adore and worship him eternally at the messianic banquet.

Certainly St. John Chrysostom well understood the adoration of Christ in the Eucharist:

The oft-quoted words of St. Augustine:

And then there is the remarkable prayer of Philoxenus that I cited in my first posting to this thread.

Several years ago I had a lengthy email conversation with an Orthodox monk who was working on his doctorate at Drew University. He was quite hostile to prayer directed to the personal presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. I'll never forget two things that he said:

First, he accused Western Christians of artolatry, which I never quite understood as applied to the discussion we were having, since we were not discussing "when" the bread and wine became the body and blood of Christ. He made a distinction between the presence of our Lord's body and blood and our Lord's personal presence. For this monk, it is Christ's body and blood that is present under the forms of bread and wine but not Christ as person. Thus prayer directed to the Holy Gifts is inappropriate. It was because of this reply that I later took up the matter with an Orthodox priest and theologian, whom I cited in my first posting. As I said, he too was puzzled by my question. Thus his reply to me: "They ARE Christ's Body and Blood; yet we cannot pray to THEM as such."

Second, in answer to my question why Orthodox Christians did not reverence the Reserved Sacrament, the monk replied that outside the Divine Liturgy Christ's presence was "inert." What a very different sensibility. For those of us who practice eucharistic adoration outside the Mass, our Lord's sacramental presence is never inert, never lifeless. Which sensibility do you think best captures the faith of the Church catholic?

In Messias,
Alvin+

Bless me a sinner, Father Kimel!

Well, not all of my posts are as you so kindly say!

There is no doubt but that some Easterners tend to go overboard in trying to show "difference" between East and West where no such difference exists.

Kallistos Ware pointed out once that when the Assumption doctrine was proclaimed by the RC Church, there were Orthodox who said Orthodoxy never held to it . . .

With respect to Eucharistic Adoration, the East would prefer to maintain it within the Divine Liturgy and anyone wishing to practice Eucharistic Adoration may certainly do so.

In fact, the Eastern Catholic Church is currently very much like the Anglican Church in a number of respects.

We too have our "Low and lazy, Middle and hazy, and High and crazy!" (As now retired Canon Greene told me once).

There is the venerable story of how St Pavel Gojdicz, before he was arrested by the soviets, would spend his last hour in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. And how he would be kicked by his captors for continuing with the Divine Liturgy, fermenting wine from grape juice squeezed out of the raisins he received for his rations . . .

Our Patriarch-Confessor, Josef Slipyj, did his hour of Adoration at the Church of St Nilus in Rome and never missed it.

It could just be that the Adoration of the Eucharist is very much an emblem of Latin Catholicism and therefore it is suspect in and of itself.

The same could be said of the Rosary devotion, although St Seraphim of Sarov, St Seraphim Vyritsky, St Seraphim Zvezdinsky and a host of others practiced a form of it daily and recommended it to others.

St Tikhon of Zadonsk had a whole series of life-size icons that was a form of the Stations of the Cross . . .

There is even a miraculous Orthodox icon of "Our Lady of the Scapular" in the town of Horodyshchenske . . .

Of course, when the Rosary became very popular in the Russian Church, the Orthodox denied they borrowed it from the West (which probably happened as groups of Uniates returned to Orthodoxy), but said, instead, that the Eastern Church received the rosary revelation from Our Lady AHEAD of the West . . .

If Eucharistic Adoration ever became really popular in the East, perhaps this tactic could be employed again so everyone would be happy!

Kissing your right hand, I again implore your blessing, Reverend Father in Christ!

Alex


And we

Dear Alex,

Please, do not forget that the Christian East is not only Russia and Ukrania. Nobody can deny the strong Western influence on the theology, liturgy and popular devotion of the Rusian and Ukranian people in different periods of the history of these Churches but, please, do not forget that this influence was completely unknown in other areas of the "Byzantine or Eastern Oikoumene" or had a completely different character. For instance both the Ukranian and Armenian Churches had somekind of Western influence but this influence has got completely different character according to the different historical periods they received this influence and the Western people they were in contact with.

Yours in Christ
F

Dear Francisco,

The Eastern Church isn't only composed of Russians and Ukrainians?

Since when?

Latin influence has been felt, as you know, amongst Greek theologians, as Fr. Meyendorff has pointed out throughout his writings.

There were even Greek Orthodox theologians who accepted such RC doctrines as the Immaculate Conception - and who fully understood the Augustinian concept of Original Sin.

Only those Orthodox Churches were free of Latin influence that did not come into direct contact with the Latin Church.

Even the ever-so Byzantine Melkites accepted several Byzantinized Latin feasts.

And sometimes Latin influence in certain Eastern churches exists while the Orthodox in those churches steadfastly deny that it does.

And to point out, as I have, those Latinizations does no one any good . . .

Alex

Dear Alex,

Would you happen to know where I could find the text of that Supplicatory Service of Adoration? It would be interesting to see how something which had its origins in the West was Byzantinised.

God bless,
Alphonsus Josaphat

Fray Josafat-Maria

This is a quick translation of that typically used for eucharistic benediction in Slovakia (Same is usually used in Ukraine without the Ruthenian Saints):
Holy God Holy Mighty Holy Immortal have mercy on us 3x
From plague, famine, fire and war deliver us o Lord
From a sudden and unprovided death, deliver us o Lord
We sinners beseech You God, hear us
We sinners beseech You God forgive us
We sinners beseech You God have mercy on us
O Jesus, O Jesus, O Jesus Son of the living God have mercy on us
O Maria o Maria, o Maria virgin and mother of God save us
Saint John the Baptist pray to God for us sinners
Saint Joseph defender of the Catholic church pray to God for us sinners
Saints Cyril and Methodius pray to God for us sinners
Saint Josaphat bishop and martyr for Christ pray to God for us sinners
Blessed Martyrs bishop Pavol, bishop Teodor and priest Metod pray to God for us sinners
Holy (insert name) pray to God for us sinners
Save Your people o Lord 2x
Save Your people o Lord and bless Your inheritance
And govern it and exalt it forever. For all days we will bless You and we will praise Your name forever- vouchsafe o Lord this day to save us from sin. Have mercy on us o Lord, have mercy on us. May Your mercy be on us o Lord for we have hoped in You. In You o Lord we have hoped and we will not be ashamed forever.

Another which we use in Slovakia, but I have never personally seen in Ukraine is:

O mighty Lord be always with us for we have no other helper in distress besides You. O mighty Lord remain with us.
Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise Him in the highest!
Praise Him all His angels. Praise Him all His hosts.
Praise Him for His mighty acts, praise Him according to the multitude of His greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of trumpet, praise Him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with timbrel and dance, praise him with strings and flute.
Praise Him with tuneful cymbals, praise Him with cymbals of jubilation.
Let everyone who breathes breath praise the Lord.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and forever and for the ages of ages. Amen.


Taken from page 118 of this common pew book which we use in Slovakia: Hore Srdcia
https://www.scribd.com/doc/225592495/Hore-Srdcia-Kopia

Praised be Jesus Christ!
Here’s the "official" English translation of the Supplications from Moj Molitvennik by the late Fr. Grigassy: