www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Expanding the Lectionary

I was wondering, if there have been proposals or ideas to expand the lectionary of the Catholic Byzantine Divine Liturgy; in light of how the lectionary of the Latin-Rite was expanded following the transition of the Mass to the Novus Ordo?

Of course, I hope I am not suggesting a radical change in the Byzantine DL but was basically proposing for a greater study of the Word in the Divine Liturgy without diluting or saturating the liturgy itself.

I hope I haven't touched on any sensitivities regarding this issue as I am of the firm belief that the lessons in the Gospels and New Testament are central and unique to our Christian discipleship. However, this by no means, overwrites the lessons found in the Old Testament. After all, Jesus came to fulfill the Old, not abolish it. (Don't remember the verse, but He has a point.)

There are Old Testament readings in Vespers. Also, there are multiple Old Testament references in the propers of the Divine Liturgy.

I would question how successful the new Roman lectionary has been but that is another subject.

It is possible that � working together � the Byzantine Church (Catholic and Orthodox) will someday make adjustments to the lectionary.

It is my belief that we first need to restore Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy in every parish and celebrated it according to the official books. That would greatly increase the number of readings and go a long way to properly forming our Church. For example, for the Feast of the Dormition (beginning at Vespers tonight) there are 3 Old Testament Readings, a Gospel at Matins and an Epistle and Gospel at the Divine Liturgy tomorrow morning. That�s six readings!

Father David Petras (in his Typicon) offers extra Old Testament readings for the Sundays of the year. They are not part of the Byzantine Lectionary but from the Syrian tradition. I don't recommend them but also won�t argue with anyone taking �extras� after the Vespers is celebrated fully and correctly. I would also hope they are never required. Official adjustments to the Lectionary can only be accomplished by all of the Byzantine Churches (Catholic and Orthodox) working together.

One point on the Roman Lectionary. Somewhere I read an article that noted that many who embrace the current three-year Lectionary like to boast that it includes a lot more of the Scriptures. But an alternate point is that the old Roman Lectionary included a lot more of the important readings. We hold the Gospels apart from the rest of Scripture. Then there is a distinct order of authority in the rest of the books of the Bible. Altering the Lectionary to include a wider selection of Scripture might not be a good thing. It might be best to keep the focus on the more important readings. The Church Fathers who gave us the Byzantine Lectionary might just have known what they are doing, and we should be careful about altering it.

I hope we leave the lectionary alone.

Fair enough. Case closed.

It would be useful, particularly in the Ruthenian jurisdiction, for more parishes to institute Vespers and Orthros.

My priest would love to do that - now only if people would show up..... I can't sing so I could not cantor, plus I can only drive so many 80 mile round trips to my parish (I go to daily Divine Liturgy 2-3 a week)

Administrator,
Where might I find all of tonight's Vesper readings?

Since Lent it is a bit easier reading the lectionary, but before then the selections seemed rather arbitrary and unconnected making it difficult to find a theme. Maybe it's just me, but I kept trying to figure out why the two readings were chosen.

At the moment they are listed on the home page. Or you can go to the "Lectionary" page and look them up (click on "Lectionary" at the top left of the Forum or go to the main website and you'll find it under "Resources").

Dear Indigo,

This evening's Vespers readings (for the Dormition) are

Genesis 28:10-17
Ezechiel 43:37 to 44:4
Proverbs 9:1-11

These are the "common" Vespers readings for the Mother of God, and are also used on her birthday (September 8) and Annunciation (March 25), so you can see that sometimes there is no strong tie between a reading and a PARTICULAR feast. On the other hand, the readings for some feasts are more particular; for example, the Vespers readings for the Transfiguration concern Moses and Elihah (who appeared with our Lord on Mount Tabor) and the vision of the "glory of the Lord".

Try to find a copy of The Year of Grace of the Lord, by "a monk of the Eastern Church", from St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. It does an admirable job of explaining the relationships between the various readings for each Sunday and feast.

Dear Administrator (John),

While I agree with your points, it's also true that some of the organization in the Typikon is hard to recapture - for example, there is an entire cycle of Saturday readings for the Divine Liturgy, with its own organization, but how few parishes celebrate a Saturday morning Divine Liturgy in North America! Even in the "old days", the Velikij Sbornbik omitted these celebrations. On the other hand, it seems that in many places, Vespers WAS celebrated on Sunday evenings as well as Saturday evenings.

Yours in Christ,
Jeff

The Ukrainians, and I cannot remember if it is in Canada or America, allow, as an option, a two year Gospel cycle for the Sundays after Penetcost replacing the normal readings with the readings prescribed for Saturday.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Actually I wish we would restore the full usage of the Psalms within the Divine Liturgy itself...especially at the Great Entrance.

In ICXC,

Gordo