www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Kneeling on the Feast of the Holy Cross

Glory to God for all things!

Dear friends,

A friend told me that it was customary for Ukrainians to kneel during the anaphora on the Feast of the Holy Cross. Some other Russians claim that it is contrary Russian (Muscovite) practice kneel during that feast. The only exception being prostrations made before the cross. What is your verdict?

Presviataya Bogoroditse Fatimskaya, spasi nas.
RusOrthCath martyrs and confessors, save us.

Paul, I've not heard that one about kneeling during the Anaphora. Many of the more latinized Eastern Catholic parishes kneel from Svyat Svyat Svyat until the Dostoyno for nearly every liturgy.

The veneration/elevation of the cross is properly meant to take place during Matins, but since most parishes don't have Matins it is taken at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy.

Generally there are prostrations/kneeling during the elevation of the cross, and later at "Chrestu Tvoemu" which is taken instead of the Trisagion, but the rest of the Liturgy is as usual in terms of posture (standing).

Sometimes at the end of the Liturgy I have seen the priest again come out for "Save your people O Lord" and another veneration with three prostrations.

[ 09-11-2002: Message edited by: Diak ]

Dear Paul,

Some do kneel for the service of the Elevation of the Cross, including Ukrainian Orthodox, but this could very well be due to Latin habits dying hard.

Another interesting Greek Orthodox practice is to fast for the two weeks prior to the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross, as is done for the Feast of the Dormition.

Crosses on that day are decorated primarily with Basil since this word, of course, means "King."

The practice of elevating a Cross to the four directions in cross-wise fashion actually comes from Coptic Egypt and the Celtic Church had a practice where Christians prayed three Our Fathers to the four directions each.

If anything else comes to mind, I'll let you know . . .

Alex

In regards to the Ruthenian and Ukrainian manner of celebrating the Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Holy Cross, it is a day of penitential character all around. There is a strict fast prescribed on that day and dark colored (usually red) vestments are used then and throughout the postfestive period. This is, as is well known, one of the two Sundays during the course of the entire year, when bright vestments are not worn on a Sunday according to our usage. Kneeling and prostrations are part and parcel of both the penitential character of the feast and also to show particular honor for the Life-giving Cross.

Kneeling during the anaphora and also at the pre-communion rite (One is holy . . . ), while reflecting a Latin-rite mentality towards respect and adoration of the Eucharist, is nonetheless widely practiced in churches of the Ruthenian recension, although this is gradually beginning to decline.

It is our tradition that, during the hymn, "We bow to Your Cross . . . " "Krestu tvoyemu, poklonayemsja, Vladyko . . . " a metania (low bow, touching one's hand to the floor or almost to the floor, but without a full prostration on the ground itself) is made at the words, "poklonayemsja" or "we bow." This hymn is sung after the decorated cross is placed on the tetrapod, during its initial bringing out from the altar. It also, as has been mentioned, replaces the trisagion during the feast and, according to some usages, during the entire postfestive period. In many of our churches, this hymn is again sung three times, at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy and other services.

A point of discrepancy comes in during this latter repetition of the hymn, because some liturgists rightly point out that any type of prostration after receiving the sacred mysteries, is inappropriate. Be that as it may, it is very difficult to have the faithful differentiate between the various times when the hymn is sung and there is a very natural tendency to make the metania at the corresponding words mentioned above. To try to create different practices for varying points in the service is, in my opinion, too much for the average worshipper to have to consider and also disrupts the flow of the traditional manner of expressing this hymn.

While the Greeks generally use fresh basil to decorate the Holy Cross, our tradition has been to use roses or other red-colored flowers, in the form of a circular wreath, placed around the hand cross (or sometimes another ornate cross), which lies flat on a tray, not in an upright position as some others practice. Our imagery reflects both the blood of Our Lord, poured out on the Cross and also the eternal, circular nature of Christ's paschal sacrifice. It also hearkens to the "victory" of Christ, in which our salvation was won, in connection with the wreaths of laurel leaves with which winners of olympics and other contests were crowned. This same imagery of course, is also applied to the martyrs, who "fought the good fight and finished the race."

So, in a nutshell, these are some concerns with regards to kneeling and prostrations as they relate to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross according to our recension.

Fr. Joe

[ 09-12-2002: Message edited by: Fr. Joe ]

Bless me a sinner, Fr. Joe,

As I see you've read a bit about these things , I wanted to ask you what a "Vozdvyzalny Khrest" was?

Is it a processional Cross?

Also, what is the history of the use of the three bar Cross with slanted footrest in your Church?

Alex

http://sor.cua.edu/Feast/Zuyoxo.html

Dear Alex:

Interesting observations. Actually, while I enjoy reading theology, liturgy and church history very much, quite a bit of one's knowledge of these types of things, as I'm sure you'll concur, comes from years of seeing and doing them in church. There are not many resources that can truly replace the "living experience" of being a Greek Catholic Christian - Ukrainian, Ruthenian or however one wishes to refer to it. And one unique benefit of having our own seminary is the fact that it affords the students daily participation in the divine services, which besides the obvious spiritual graces, is an invaluable teaching tool as to the manner of celebration and knowledge of liturgical chant.

Today, in my parish, use of the three-bar cross is more or less out, although I have seen stronger opposition to it in some other churches than among my people. Nevertheless, having a largely "third wave" immigration population in the parish, there are many things which the people associate so strongly with the "Russian way" that, as I'm sure in most Ukrainian churches in Canada too, the symbolism has changed so greatly that they no longer represent or speak of the people's faith and piety. For this reason, while there may still be a three-bar cross or two around the church, I can assure you that they are not being installed at present, nor would I recommend it or try to push the issue.

One time, after the former pastor, my predecessor, installed new carpeting in the sanctuary, not a few of the people were "appalled" because it was red in color and therefore both Russian and communist. To that priest, as it probably would have been to me at the time, it simply did not give reason to think twice about choices of color. But, times change. Soon, God-willing, there will be the occasion to replace this carpeting and I think that a nice blue will be a better choice for my parishioners.

As to the use of the three-bar cross among American-Ruthenian parishes, this is not a negative issue, but it continues to be seen as either the "Byzantine cross," the "Slavic cross" or something similar to this. Because of the sad loss of closeness to the mother eparchies, as we have discussed before, current trends in Zakarpatya are simply not picked up on by many American born Carpatho-Rusyn Greek Catholics (or Orthodox for that matter). So, for most Ruthenians here, there is no problem at all with the use of this cross and in fact, it is promoted as an identifying symbol of the Byzantine Catholic Church.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this, since for those American born, the three-bar cross gives off a positive image. The same is not true however, for those Carpatho-Rusyns/Ukrainians living in the Carpathian homeland. I have both seen in person and heard tell of, on not just a few occasions, of visitors from Subcarpathian Rus' who upon attending the Greek Catholic Ruthenian churches in America, are greatly surprised and even offended to see the prominence of the "Russian cross." As you know, for them, as also for our people in Halychyna, the images drawn up by this cross are simply too painful for them to expect its use in their churches, which are now restored after the horrible decades of Soviet and Russian terrorism. Seeing that type of cross so widely promoted in their sister churches in the "free world" - America, comes as quite a shock to those whose experience of being Byzantine or Greek Catholic is quite different from that of North Americans.

Unfortunate further, is the fact that, for many immigrants from Transcarpathia that choose to remain in America today, they end up feeling much more comfortable in one of the local Ukrainian Catholic parishes (not a bad thing in itself of course), where at least they can converse in their language, be understood and understand and eventually, that is often where they attach themselves on a permanent basis. To me, while I understand the circumstances that have created this gap, it is a great loss to the Ruthenian Metropolia parishes, not to be able to serve our own people in addition to those welcome parishioners of other backgrounds. Perhaps another argument for greater unification between the jurisdictions in the US?

Concerning the "Vozdvyzalny Khrest," this term is something that I have not heard that much. You are most likely correct in that the etymology of the word would seem to point to a processional type of cross - "a raised up cross" or one "lifted on high" as in the title of the feast of the Exaltation (or better, Elevation) of the Cross - "Vozdvyzennya Kresta." I'd be interested to receive a confirmation on this term. I'll ask one of the parishioners if they are familiar with the particular reference. Maybe you can also provide a concurrence on this point.

God's blessing be upon you as well as all those who will celebrate the feast of the Precious and Life-giving Cross of the Lord this weekend.

Fr. Joe

In reference to the "three bar cross" it should also be mentioned that in Subcarpathian Rus' which most often fell under the domain of the Hungarian imperialism, the use of this cross (with the slanted foot-rest) was strongly discouraged and sometimes even forbidden. This occurred for a similar but at the same time different reason as the one which discourages its use in modern times.

For the Hungarians, the three-bar cross also identified strongly with things Russian and it was absolutely imperative for them, that "their" Carpatho-Rusyns in Hungary (Uhro-Rusyns) be separated as much as possible from all things Russian, definitely anything Ukrainian or Galician and most things Byzantine. Therefore, they promoted a new type of cross, which I'm sure you have all seen. It is three-barred, but the bottom bar is not slanted, but straight or parallel. This style of cross can be seen on many of the Greek Catholic churches built in the United States before 1970 or so. The "magarized cross" became standard in both the old and new worlds, as a sign of a distinct "Uhro-Rusyn" (Rusyns of Hungary) identification. Needless to say, this type of cross has now fallen much into disuse and taken its rightful place in the annals of anachronism.

Interesting, but hardly surprising is that the departed Archbishop Thomas V. Dolinay, whose heritage was in a strongly magarized, priestly-class family, chose to use the "straight-bar" cross on his episcopal coat of arms. Anyone who has ever seen his crest will know what I am referring to.

Just another point of reference regarding Carpatho-Rusyn use of the three-bar cross.

Fr. Joe

[ 09-12-2002: Message edited by: Fr. Joe ]

Bless me a sinner, Reverend Father,

Yes, the situation is as you say among our Ukrainian Catholic people, although Eastern parishes among us make wide use of the three bar Cross with the slanted foot-rest.

The Ukrainian Orthodox have turned it into something of a banner of their Orthodoxy, as also obtains among the Old Believers and the Russian Orthodox.

I myself love that Cross and have it everywhere . . .

As you know, the slanted foot-rest comes from the prayer of the Lenten Ninth Hour where it is compared to a scale.

Our people of old saw Christ leaning toward the good thief, releasing His right foot as He put pressure down on His left foot.

They saw this as Christ lifting up the good thief for his faith and defence of Himself, something in which we share, as we pray the prayer of the Good Thief before Communion.

Our people also did not know what "NIKA" was and so devised a Slavic interpretation: Na holhofti Iskupil Kroviyu Adama - NIKA.

Met. Ilarion Ohienko wrote the book entitled, "The three bar Cross with the slanted footrest - the national Cross of Ukraine."

It is becoming less of an issue among our people up here who see it as a true Eastern Cross with the four-pointed Cross as a Western Cross.

Alex