www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Moleben

Good Morning:

I am wondering if any Ukrainian Rite Catholics of the Forum could assist me with pronunciation. I am trying to pronounce the word Moleben. A good UGCC lady friend of mine in the environs of Bethlehem, PA told me that the word is pronounced Mo-lab-en, yet I have seen it written as Mo-lie-ben. Does this mean that it is pronounced Mol-ee-ben?

Is it OK to sit when praying a Moleben or Akathist in private. I do not wish to be irreverent. I do not think that I could stand during an entire Akathist when praying it privately.

Thank you

Mol-yeb-en.

Well, at least that's the way we Ruthenian/Rusyns pronounce it - either EC or EO for that matter....

I have been chanting the Emmanuel Moleben (needs the Cyrillic letters to be properly pronounced)

It has been a wonderful experience ... as we pray through the actions of the Moleben (lighting candles, censing etc)

The Gospels are beautiful in their approach to Nativity!

Truly a transforming experience

We are so happy we started this in our prayer group.

Somehow, I think God is happy that you are praying. I don't think He is so worried about you not being able to stand throughout. Have a seat when needed, and keep on praying.

That's how my wife and daughter pronounce it, and they studied Slavonic at Georgetown and Harvard, Penn and Chicago respectively. I'm not going to tell them they're getting it wrong.

Ah, it almost makes it sound like it should be Mol-Eh-Ben, the way it's spelled, coming from a Bavarian German heritage (with Slavic blood, because my mother's family came here during Imperial Germany days, back when it was a larger country), but regardless, I do think Slavonic's a much easier language to pick up on than the language of Das Vaterland, but hey, Mol-Eh-Ben, Mol-Ye-Ben, regardless, we'll know what it is.

Then again, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is also a fellow Bavarian, so you could ask him about how he would pronounce it.

The e is actually a "ye". Return to the Cyrillic.

Ach, das ist sehr gut. *Ahem*

Anyway, that does sound about right after all. Maybe I was thinking of the German "Leben" (Life) when I saw that in Moleben, and was thinking of that pronunciation of it. Although I know that Moljeben is Prayer in Russian and Slavonic, and rightfully so. See, correct pronunciation changed the spelling to make it clear, yet even so...

Not in Ukrainian, as "Молебень" is rendered with "е" (e) and not "є" (ye).

Stuart is correct, Mol-yeb-en in Church Slavonic, Old Russian and Carpatho-Russian. Diak is correct for High Ukrainian and New Russian.

Alexandr

Well, even though the Slavonic is correct with Moljeben, let's not forget that a good lot of Ruthenians hail from Slavic countries in which Cyrillic alphabet is not even used, such as Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, and Hungary, and the spelling is Moleben from those countries, which can be quite misleading. If you look at the parallel RDL, you'll know that the Slavonic is written in Slovak/Croatian text, so obviously you know that this is a given. Although not sure about the pronunciation from those countries, though.