www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization St. Louis Byzantine Catholic Mission

JPP:

Maybe I just missed it in quickly reading over this thread, but just in case it is really missing, I would like to say thank you for the time, work, money, and prayer that you are spending in building up the mission in St. Louis. It sounds like you are growing in numbers, and my guess is that you all will continue to grow into the fullness of the Eastern practices that brought you to the mission in the first place.

Some of the comments made here lend themselves to misunderstanding. There is a common goal of working restore and revitalize Eastern practice in the BCC and other ECCs. What this means, precisely (tradition/organic growth) and what pastoral sensitivity is required in working to this goal are matter for a particular church, and parish, respectively, to work out. The strong opinions (even the chuckles) of people from other parishes - and even people from other particular churches - probably shouldn't be taken as a sign of disrepect for your community, the rosary, or St. Therese; I think they just reflect the sense that these posters have of how the goal should be generally pursued. I like FDD's gentler suggestions "to also introduce" more Eastern devotions. Adding is more important that subtracting.

djs:

Thanks for the input.

We are kind of stumbling around in the dark in St. Louis without a church, priest, deacon, or choir. But we do our best, love Jesus, and love the Divine Liturgy.

Speaking of the choir, we do have one person who serves as the cantor although I do not know what training he has had. The congregation probably sounds horrendous to an outsider. Very few of us can carry a tune, much less read music, but we sing our hearts out. I love the Thrice Holy Hymn (that is probably the wrong title) and sing it at the top of my lungs in my dull, boring, monotone voice. My Guardian Angel cleans it up for me before it reaches the altar in Heaven.

We are saying Matins, or something like that, two hours before the Divine Liturgy on Easter Sunday. It will be a new experience for most of us so we will need to learn as we go, so to speak.

In many respects, our little Mission seems to be more devout than any other Church whose services I have attended over the past 50 years. We basically do not know any of the Liturgy by heart, but that is what makes it all the more special. I have no doubt that Mary, our Mother, and St. Therese, the patroness of missions, are holding our hands as we stumble around.

JP

djs:

Another thought just struck me. The Archdiocese of St. Louis Roman Catholic Church has closed 50 or more Churches, and is in the process of selling them.

We would appreciate any prayers that Jesus will turn the heart of Archbishop Burke to give us a Church. It may sound a bit too far-fetched, but that is how Mother Teresa got a building in India, and Mother Angelica got her EWTN building in Alabama.

Come to think of it, that is how the nuns got their new grade school in the movie The Bells of St. Mary.

We will get one of those closed Churches if the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Therese ask Jesus for us. We just need to be persistent in our prayers. Luke 11:5-8; 18:1-7.

JP

Prayers that your mission gets its own "home" someday soon---that will make a tremendous difference. Our mission parish has been in existence for about 6 years now. This will be ur first Pascha in a church building. Before that we celebrated all the Divine services in various barns. We froze in winter and cooked in summer. (Our last Christmas in the barn we started when we started Matins the temp in our holy barn was below freezing.)
My daughter and I were taking today about the co-mingling of traditions...both the east and the west have beautiful traditions and para-liturgical devotions. And both should be cherished and nourished. But when you mingle the two, they loose their clarity---sorta like mixing paints when you end up with a muddy brown.
From the beginning of our mission we have celebrated the full liturgical cycle--Vespers on Saturday evening and matins followed by Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. All in English. Few of us are native EC's. But this parish is our spiritual home and we are trying by the grace of God to be that light set on a lampstand, witnessing to the love of God in the world. It is the best any of us can do.
Perhaps if my daughter is fortunate enough to participate in the liturgy with you in St. Louis, she may be of some assistance. She has a trained voice and knows the Liturgy--though your particular usage will be different from what she is used to.
All I can say is that for us the liturgy in its fullness is a great gift. Everytime I am blessed to participate in the liturgical celebrations with the community of the faithful here, I rejoice in God for the gift He has given us in this tradition an dfor belonging to His Church.
Blessings to all
Alice

To one and all:

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I have carefully read each post several times in an attempt to make sure I understand what has been communicated to me. I am beginning to get at least a little bit of a feel of what you are explaining to me.

Of course, I will never give up my devotion to the Rosary to the Blessed Virgin Mary or the Novena to St. Therese, the Little Flower. I was in pretty bad shape when I spent the summer of 1999 in the cardiac ward. My cardiologists fail to understand why I have no doubt whatsoever that my prayers to Mother Mary and to St. Therese are what got me out of the hospital. The doctors will learn on the Judgment Day of the true power of God.

I promised Sts. Mary and Therese to do my best to assist the local Eastern Catholic Church once I got out of the hospital. Little did I know at the time that I was making a promise about the tiny St. Louis Byzantine Catholic Mission. Nevertheless, I would never ask to be allowed to be released from the promises I made seven years ago.

Everyone reaches a fork in the road of life from time to time, and may take the wide and easy path instead of the straight and narrow path. When you do this, you don't have to go back to "Start" as if life were a board game. You only need to ask Jesus for help, and He will knock down the wall and bring you back to the straight and narrow path.

As we work to build the St. Louis Mission into a Church, there will be times when we take the wide and easy path. Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Therese, and you will help us to get back on the straight and narrow path.

Imagine the stories we will get to tell each other in Heaven!

JP

JPP

No-one expects you to give up your personal devotion to the Rosary - but they are personal and also private.

The Akathist hymn was mentioned - you don't need a Deacon to teach you about this - it's is available on the Internet
The Akathist Hymn [fatheralexander.org]

Indeed, OLSL, you are doing fine...

Some others:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=akathists
http://hometown.aol.com/leoignatius/akathist.html
https://www.byzcath.org/etc/AkathistLeonidFederov.pdf
https://www.byzcath.org/sites/alex/web/
and quite a few others.
FDD

No wonder Fr Dcn Diak is smiling at my comments

He knows how new an EC I am - and the struggle I had getting there.

JPP - I wonder if you have found the EC Version of the Angelic Salutation ? I quote here from a version from a Canadian Anthology

Rejoice , Mother of God , Virgin Mary full of grace , the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women , and blessed is the fruit of your womb ; for you have borne Christ the Saviour and Redeemer of our souls

I get shivers down my spine every time I pray this - somehow it touches me more than the Latin version.

It is a plain statement of fact - nothing more , nothing less.

Two things:

First, I apologize for my delay in responding to the recent post by Our Lady's Slave of Love. I have no one to blame but myself. That said, I do not recall the title of the book that had the Angelic Salutation, but it was nearly identical to the one you quoted. How can anyone doubt the veracity of any of the Sacred Traditions about Mother Mary when he or she reads the Angelic Salutation? Does not the Divine Liturgy contain a prayer referring to her as more powerful than the cherubim, greater than the seraphim, or something like that?

Second, Bishop John of the Eparchy of Parma visited the St. Louis Byzantine Catholic Mission to preside over Divine Liturgy this Palm Sunday. We had a large (for us) turnout of 24 people, most of whom had no idea the Bishop would be there; thank you, St. Therese!

Bishop John said that it was a bit like being on the Frontier as he watched us transform a Roman Catholic Perpetual Adoration Chapel into a Byzantine Chapel in less than 15 minutes. I started to hand him the candles to put on the altar before the Liturgy started, until I suddenly realized who he was. Bishop John is so charming that he probably would have been more than happy to help us set up the altar.

He appreciated we still found the time to recite the Scriptural Rosary when he saw how pressed we were for time to set up for Divine Liturgy - the Rosary was barely finished before the prayers began at the side altar.

This may not have been the most inspirational Divine Liturgy in the Eparchy this weekend, but we did have a Bishop, two bi-ritual diocesan priests, two bi-ritual Jesuit priests (from SLU) and 24 people who couldn't carry a tune if our lives depended upon us.

The angels take our off-key songs and transform them into Heavenly music as they ascend the ladder from Earth to Heaven. Nobody should be ashamed if they sing in a monotone, like me; just sing away knowing that your Guardian Angel will clean up the music, so to speak, before it reaches Heaven.

JP

It sounds positively glorious!

Vladyka John is a saint IMO, God Grant him many years!

God Grant the mission (and future parish) in St Louis many years!

Prayers and best wishes as you proceed.

+T+
Michael