Pope St. John Paul II said often that the Church must breathe with both lungs referring to the Western and Eastern Churches. In Ut Unum Sint, written in 1995 he said ” the vision of the full communion to be sought is that of unity in legitimate diversity”. Yet, more than 30 years later many Catholics have barely heard of the Eastern Catholic Rites let alone ever attended a Divine Liturgy or visited an Eastern parish. Eastern Catholics remain a great untapped resource and hidden treasure in the Church. They are fully in Communion with Rome yet retain their distinctive heritage, customs, and liturgy bringing the diversity Pope John Paul spoke of. Here are just a few things I have discovered from my brief experience with Eastern Catholic churches and people.
1. Small Parishes Thrive
A small, tight-knit parish is, from my experience, the norm in the East. A Byzantine priest once told me that, traditionally, Communion would be distributed using people’s names and when the parish had gotten so large the priest could not remember everyone’s names it meant it was time to start a new parish. While this may not be feasible even among the smaller Eastern communities spread throughout the US and even less so in our populous Western dioceses it is a beautiful ideal. Practicalities often make many small parishes financially and logistically impossible, of course. But the spirit of a tight-knit community who spends time in genuine friendship, who are known to their pastor is certainly one to emulate.
By Jari Kurittu – originally posted to Flickr as St Elie – St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6899415
2. Fasting Isn’t Just for Lent
In the East, specifically the Byzantine tradition, organized fasting is far more common. Their calendar includes 4 fasting seasons as well as a number of other days of fasting. The traditional Eastern dietary restrictions are also more limiting, excluding not only meat but fish and often dairy, eggs and oil as well. For someone not accustomed to it, this may seem like a severe regimen. Interestingly though there is an emphasis on personal discernment as to how one can best keep the fast this season. The ideal is presented and each person discerns how much of that ideal they can realistically commit to. All in all, it is a very human way of implementing fasting. The frequent nature of the call to fasting in the Byzantine calendar keeps the need to mortify ourselves a constant reality. Western fasting used to be more frequent and strict and perhaps there is something to learn from the Eastern Church in this regard for our own personal practices.
3. Pews are Protestant
When we picture the interior of a Catholic Church we usually picture pews. They are the standard today. But it was not always so, and in a few Eastern Catholic parishes it still isn’t. The Byzantine parish where I attended my first Divine Liturgy had only a few pews on the edges, mostly used by the elderly or during homilies. For most of Divine Liturgy the people stand, the posture of respect. Pews became popular after the Protestant Reformation when other denominations installed them to give people’s legs a needed rest during lengthy sermons. While we’re not likely to start a movement to remove all pews we can remember that our pew, like our church is for everyone.
4. Using Icons to Pray
In the last few years there seems to have been a rediscovery of the beauty of iconography among Latin Rite Catholics. For the East, these images have a special significance. Icons are reverenced, kissed, bowed to. Their style is full of rich symbolism and meaning but also an accessible beauty. An icon is not painted but written; the iconographer prays through the painting of it. Icons are described as “windows to Heaven” and invite us to contemplate the person or scene depicted. This is not simply a beautiful piece of art or a painting to hang on the wall. Since they are made with a particular set of rules, often copying more ancient icons, they are not an artist’s personal interpretation. Icons can serve as objects of contemplation, guiding prayer. When you reverence an icon you reverence the person depicted.
5. Children Participate in the Liturgy
In most Eastern churches, children receive Confirmation and Eucharist when they are baptized as infants. They continue to receive a small amount of the Sacred Species each Sunday throughout their lives. This is distinctive from our Latin tradition of waiting until the age of reason for First Communion. Both customs developed in authentically Catholic traditions and remain valid today. In an Eastern parish, children go up at Communion time to receive the same as everyone else. Some may be guided or held by their parents who bring them literally to Christ. Children are not only welcome they are expected at liturgy. It is a stark difference from certain stories one hears of children’s catechesis during Mass or parents who feel their only place is in the cry room. There was a distinctive atmosphere in the small Byzantine parish my family attended when my daughter was young. Instead of having to contain my toddler, prepared to run to the back if she made too much noise she crawled around being smiled at by fellow parishioners or held in someone’s lap. Children are not just the Church’s future, they are the church.
6. Prioritize a New Mother’s Rest
Before that baby is baptized, confirmed and communed however, there is a waiting period. In the Eastern Church a woman who has just given birth does not attend liturgy or other services at church for a full 40 days. She rests, she spends time with her baby, she heals. When she does return a special rite and blessing is held for her referred to as a “churching”. The whole Church used to have a similar custom. Today, it is shocking how many women one sees in Catholic mom groups on the internet asking if they should feel guilty for missing Mass just a few days after giving birth. The East has retained this tradition which honors the sacredness of motherhood in a particular way. In a culture that prioritizes going and doing, there is something to be learned from a custom that demands someone rest even from church services.
7. Lord Have Mercy: Something We Should Ask More Often
While not all Eastern Catholics celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom many do. It is likely the Liturgy used at the Eastern Rite parish closest to you. During that Liturgy the prayer “Lord have mercy” is repeated as many as 40 times with some variation in local custom. The depths of this phrase are beyond the scope of this article. God in his goodness wishes to give us his mercy and we as sinners need it. Asking for His mercy is an essential part of our Christian life. Including this phrase on repeat drives home its importance and the importance of praying it often.
The Eastern Catholic Churches have much to share with those of us raised in the Latin Rite. While much of what is in this article only references my own experience with the Byzantine Rite, even more treasure is to be found in the other Eastern Rites and churches. Learning to appreciate these treasures and even incorporate some of them into our own spiritual lives can help us we to breath fully with both lungs.