www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Eucharistic devotion among Byzantine Catholics

Thank you, Alex and Doulos for your responses.

During the first few minutes of EWTN's coverage of the papal visit to Ukraine, retired Metropolitan Archbishop Stephen M. Sulyk was interviewed.

When asked by the host, Raymond Arroyo, how the Ukrainian Catholic Church survived during the years of persecution, Metropolitan Stephen gave a couple of examples including the following:

"There was(sic) Basilian sisters that came to Archbishop Metropolitan Andrew Sheptitsky in 1936, asking for permission to have perpetual adoration in their chapel. He inquired of their-how many vocations they had, how many novices and he decided, 'No, that is too big of a burden for such a small community.' They decided on their own-the perpetual adoration. So, the Church was liquidated, they changed their habits. They went to work-two,three of them, and two,three of them stayed at home and had perpetual adoration-two kneeling and one watching constantly if someone was coming in. Someone would come in, they would consume the Blessed Sacraments(sic), then wait for a priest to consecrate again. They lasted through all these 45 years of underground existence; they kept on perpetual adoration. That is faith."

[QUOTE]Originally posted by basil:
FWIW, No Melkite churches in this country observe Feast of the Divine Body, nor does Feast of the Holy Eucharist appear in the office books published by Uniontown. For that matter, they don't have "Feast of Our Lord, Lover of Mankind"--Sacred Heart by any other name--in their books, either.

Dear basil,
You are mistaken. There is at least one melkite parish in this country that did observe the Feast of the Divine Body. I was there at the parish to celebrate the feast. Please see my prior posts for details.

Happy Feast of the Theotokos of Fatima!

Byzantino, you might be interested in the Sisters of the Most Holy Eucharist founded by Bsp. Nicholas, hieromartyr in 1957. They were active in the Lviv Metropolia and the Mukachevo Eparchy.


[This message has been edited by Doulos of Fatima (edited 07-13-2001).]

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The Eastern Orthodox do venerate the Holy Eucharist when it is being carried to the sick (as shown by example in quote from the PILGRIM). In pious Orthodox Communities where the Most precious body and blood is still taken in the chalice to those sick and unable to come the Church was taken out of the Church by a Priest carrying the chalice proceded by deacon or subdeacon with a censor, and a Reader or altarboy carrying a lit processional lamp. All Orthodox when this chalice passes kneel or bow and cross themselves. The priest would enter the home of the villager, commune them and then travel to the next house. In some monasteries this still occurs when the heiromonk proceeds to commune the monsatics in the infirmary or in their cells.

This veneration however was still in the confines of the Divine Liturgy and the offering of communion from the Chalice prior to it being entirely consumed. The veneration did not occur outside the activity of Communion.

Your brother in Christ,
Thomas

Dear Byzantino,

Perpetual Adoration of the Sacrament is different, I feel, from the liturgical Eucharistic celebrations outside the Mass.

It is a private devotion even when done perpetually by individuals and so I don't see it as contradicting the Byzantine tradition - although the Orthodox would disagree.

I have met Ukrainian Catholic Priests from the "Old Country" in whose villages perpetual adoration has renewed the people spiritually.

Even children take their turns at doing one hour of perpetual adoration in the Church.

The priest showed me the prayerbooks they use and they are most edifying.

May God grant us all the Grace to spend an hour a day before His Altar!

Alex

Diakonia (Vol. 33, Issues #2 and #3) has a fascinating two-part article on "The Life of Feodor Romzha" by Fr. Constantin Simon, S.J. The two-part article is based on information from the archives of the Russicum in Rome, where Blessed Theodore was a student. It is worth reading. Following is a section that mentions Blessed Theodore's devotion to the Eucharist.

"...He knelt only during Lent or at liturgically permitted times, but he did fall to his knees during the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. In spite of his love for the ritual traditions of the Russian Orthodox, he did not refuse to sing the little office(moleben') of the Blessed Virgin during May or of the Sacred Heart in June- both of these were popular Catholic devotions of the time. He liked saying the rosary and even celebrated Benediction with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament according to local Greek Catholic custom without protest. He probably recognized that these were important symbols for the local Greek Catholics-in spite of his love for the Russian tradition practiced at the Russicum."

Prior to the Revolution in Russia, Catholics (Byzantine and Latin)and Orthodox would come together and form associations and pray for unity. Associations were formed in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev. Blessed Exarch Leonid Feodorov and Servant of God Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky were involved in the formation of a couple of these associations. Patriarch Tikhon even gave his personal endorsement to the association formed in Moscow.
The association formed in Kiev practiced Eucharistic devotions as part of its prayers for unity.
The following excerpt comes from the chapter titled,"Russian Catholics and Ecumenism in the 20th Century" by Irene Posnoff. This chapter is from the book, "Rediscovering Eastern Christendom: Essays in Commemoration of Dom Bede Winslow" :

"...a reunion movement took shape at Kiev organized as an 'Association of St. Leo the Great'(St. Leo, Pope of the Council of Chalcedon has always been greatly venerated in the East). It was organized by Fr. Alexander Strelnikov, professor of theology and parish priest of the Orthodox church of St. George. Professors of theology of Kiev, Orthodox priests, Catholic priests of the Eastern rite and one of Latin rite, belonged to this association.
Mgr. Alexis, Vicar General of Kiev, gave it his sympathetic encouragement. Its members undertook to promote unity by prayer and action. The association met every Thursday, in a church whose member was a rector, for a special ceremony which might be called 'Eucharistic Vespers'. The Host, the seed of union, as Fr. Deubner called it,'kindled the zeal of souls and gave men of good will that harmony which it signifies'. The royal Doors were open and the canon of communion was sung. Then an Acathistos of the Blessed Sacrament,framed between two sermons, one dogmatic, the other moral or ascetic, about the Eucharist and Christian unity."

I have never heard of an Akathist of the Blessed Sacrament. Has anyone ever
heard of this akathist before? I am interested in learning more about this.

Dear Byzantino,

Your favourite Uniate here! I hope I'm not being too presumptuous . . .

There is both a Canon and an Akathist to Holy Communion that were popular at one time in both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.

The Canon is still used in the prayers of preparation for Holy Communion. It is to be found in the Jordanville Prayer Book and is a very ancient Canon.

The Akathist is more modern but is perfectly in keeping with Orthodox spirituality as it too is an Akathist of prepartion for Holy Communion, and not of Eucharistic Adoration.

I believe the main refrain of this Akathist is:

O Jesus, my God, come and live in my heart!

Alex

Dear Columcille,

How very wonderful to hear from you, even if it is to be corrected .

Yes, I didn't remember the refrain, but you obviously do.

But, as it says in the Psalms, to be corrected by a Righteous Man is like an anointing . . .

And to hear from you is always an anointing, my friend and Servant of Christ!

Please accept my Spiritual Kiss of Greeting and of the Peace of Christ!

Alex

The same to you, friend.

You mentioned the Jordanville Prayer book in one of your previous posts. I actually just obtained a copy for myself. The prayers are beautiful and the Communion Rule is something that I enjoy reciting. Aside from a reference or two to the "Western heretics", its an excellent resource of prayers and spirituality.

BTW, my nephew is home and doing well, by the Grace of God. I thank you for your prayers

Columcille



[This message has been edited by Columcille (edited 08-01-2001).]

Dear Columcille,

I must say that somehow I knew he would be doing well.

There is nothing the Spirit cannot conquer.

Prayer is our weapon.

Yes, those Western heretics again . . .

Actually, I have the ROCOR Old Believer's prayerbook (just a general mention of heretics which I take to be those who don't Cross themselves with two fingers ).

They have quite a long selection of Communion Prayers.

The Orthodox have long prayers. And as long as they don't expect me to recite them while standing at street corners, I am O.K. with that .

God bless you ever so richly, friend and Servant of Christ,

May the God of Miracles cover you and your nephew with His Hand as He did with Moses and bring you every heart-felt wish of yours to fruition!

Alex

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Orthodox Catholic:
[B]Dear Byzantino,

Your favourite Uniate here! I hope I'm not being too presumptuous . . .

There is both a Canon and an Akathist to Holy Communion that were popular at one time in both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.

The Canon is still used in the prayers of preparation for Holy Communion. It is to be found in the Jordanville Prayer Book and is a very ancient Canon.

The Akathist is more modern but is perfectly in keeping with Orthodox spirituality as it too is an Akathist of prepartion for Holy Communion, and not of Eucharistic Adoration.

I believe the main refrain of this Akathist is:

O Jesus, my God, come and live in my heart!

Alex


Ah, Alex, my favorite Uniate , how are you doing? Thank you so much for your reply. You always come through for me. Thank you.

I just have one question. You mentioned that the Jordanville Prayer Book has the Canon, does it also then contain the Akathist to the Blessed Sacrament?

God bless you,
Byzantino

Dear Byzantino,

No, it doesn't, but if you e-mail a mailing address, I would be happy to send you a copy of the Akathist and the Canon, if you don't have it.

Your favourite Uniate,

Alex

Alex,

Would you send me a copy of the Akathist and Canon as well? Thank you my friend!

Don