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Dear Friends,

I have a question to ask in the spirit of Christians getting to know each other's traditions and beliefs better....

In my church, the Greek Orthodox church, many of our weddings throughout the U.S. are between Orthodox and Christians of other faith traditions.

In the past decade, I have noticed something very nice which is given out to all the guests at the church. It is a printed bulletin explaining exactly everything that occurs in the elaborate Eastern ritual, and what it represents. I think that this is great and really undoes alot of the mystery...(for those with a knowledge of ecclesiastical Greek, there was no pun intended there! )

I think that it is a good tool to help Christians who are guests at a ceremony understand and respect each other.

Do the Eastern Catholic churches do this too?

In Christ,
Alice

Dear Alice, I mentioned quite a few months back that at the "conservative" Jewish wedding I attended for my nephew and his Orthodox Jewish bride, they too handed out a small pamphlet that explained everything that was happening and the biblical reasons. Everything that was not said in english was also translated. Any way, I found this absolutely fasinating.

I think this is a great kindness from the hosts at any of these religious ceremonies, whether they be interfaith celebrations or merely as a courtesy for those in attendence.

Dear Rose,

Please forgive me for not remembering your post

Was the ceremony Jewish or was it Christian?

In Christ,
Alice

Why? Would anyone want to undue the Mystery?
We try to explain things to death. Mystery is itself that "Mystery".
Maybe this idea that everything has to be explained rather than experienced is the result of a Western mentality.
Stephanos I

Dear Father Stephanos,

I think that anything that will explain our wedding ritual's important symbolism and its rich theological basis to our brethren that discount such things as 'pagan' and 'strange' is ultimately a good thing for the state of ecumenical relations... Don't you think?

Respectfully in Christ,
Alice, who knows many young cradle American Orthodox of second, third and fourth generations who themselves don't even know what it all stands for-- including myself at the age of 22 being led around the altar in the 'Dance of Isaiah'! (If you would have asked me then, I would have answered, 'and what exactly is the dance of Isaiah'???) I got married in Athens, and despite knowing Greek, the ceremony 'was all Greek to me'!!!

Surely it is only polite to explain to strangers , or those how do not understand , what is going on , in something as important as that ?

You never know - your explanation , simple though it may be , may actually encourage them to return the the church.

Alice and all,
Actually, we plan to do something like this for our daughter's wedding. I don't know if we will send it in the invitations or hand it out at the ceremony. How have you seen it done, Alice? Which do you think will be more helpful?
My perspective is that I attended Divine Liturgy for the first time without any intro or knowlesdge of it. Subsequently I read and questionned and the more I learned about the signifigance of what was happening the more I could understand and participate in the worship. For me, "come and see" was enhanced by what I read and learned.
Michele

Hi Michele,

At all the weddings I have been to, they have either been handed out as the guests arrived in the church or were place on the pews or seats.

In my humble opinion, this might be better than sending them with the invitations, as most will probably forget to bring them there, or may not read them, or if they have read them, may forget what they read and the correlating symbolism by the time the wedding day arrives.

With love in Christ,
Alice

Explaining is a good thing, that is how people learn. You never know who you might influence to explore Eastern Christianity more by given a description of the service. Having a resource on hand is a good idea to explain the awesome event.

There are any number of pamphlet editions of the Betrothal and Wedding service, and it is normal to distribute one or another of these to those in attendance. One of the best such pamphlets is available from Saint Vladimir's Seminary, with the commentary by Father John Meyendorff (memory eternal).

Incognitus

With all due respect...I think they wish to distribute these materials in order to enhance the experience of the Divine Liturgy. I would think it especially beneficial in the weddings because there are so many guests who can use that aid...it is a way to share the tradition. Sometimes they take the pamphlets home too and read them again.

Glad to hear that is being done at Matthew and Sarah's wedding, Michele.

In Christ,

Porter...

Dear Alice,
It was what is called a "high Jewish wedding" ceremony. Within the pamphlet, it was described each action that took place and what the biblical reference was. It added so much to the service.

Even the ceremonies prior to the wedding, i.e. when each guest was presented to the bride; when the groom signed the marriage contract in the presence of the rabbis and other males and then how they all came out arm in arm singing and dancing toward the bride; when the bride and groom were lifted on chairs as others danced around them; when certain members of the family performed before the seated bride and groom. And everything had a biblical reference.

To tell you the truth, it was one of the most beautiful weddings I ever attended. And because of the information provided from the old testament, it gave everything so much more meaning.

Dear Rose,

It sounds beautiful and I am so glad that you shared!

I find Jewish ceremonies very beautiful and very symbolic, and we share so much Old Testament symbolism and ritual with our Jewish brethren in the Eastern rite of Christianity. I think that they would be pleasantly surprised if they ever knew!

In Christ,
Alice

I was just emphasizing that we need to "live the mystery". There are those who want to explain to death everything we do in the liturgy.
Explantion should be a part of catecheses outside the liturgy.
I know my own experience of coming into the Church as a protestant, it wasnt explained to me, I experienced Christ holy prensence in the Liturgy.
Stephanos I

Incognitus
You said that there were pamphlets available thru St. Vladimir's press. Could you direct me to those? I did see a book that looked like a fairly extensive treatment of marriage, but I am looking for more of a booklet or something small to hand out at my daughter's (rapidly) upcoming marriage in the Ukranian Catholic church.
Thanks
Michele