The Rite Switch: why Roman rite Catholics become Eastern rite

The words "Byzantine" and "Greek" in the past have been used to describe the Eastern Catholic Churches, which consist of seventeen churches with roots in particular countries, all in full communion with the Pope. The largest ones found in America are the Ruthenian (Eastern European), Melkite (many countries of the Middle East), Maronite (Lebannon), Ukrainian (Russia), and Coptic (Egyptian) churches. Eastern rite liturgies are characterized by sung liturgies, elaborate vestments, small congregations, and varied ethnic customs, reflecting the traditions of the different countries of the rite.

The Eastern churches draw their membership mainly from their home countries, with a small representation in America. In the "melting pot" of America, a slowly growing trickle of Roman Catholics, when exposed to the Eastern churches, find something they'd like to make their own.

Changing rites (as the process is sometimes called) from Roman to Eastern used to be near-impossible. Under the new code of Canon Law it is somewhat easier, but still an involved process. Most Roman Catholics who switch rites attend an Eastern church for years before considering making the change, and many never switch.

This process can't be called "conversion" because each Catholic church - whether Eastern or Western - contains the fullness of the truth as revealed by Christ. Catholics who switch rites are merely embracing a different expression of that fullness.

Author Connie Marshner had grown up in a nominal Catholic home. When she returned to the practice of her faith as an adult, a friend brought her to a Byzantine parish, and she was immediately hooked. "It's so mystical and yet so accessible. The language so beautifully captured me." The liturgical environment also drew her in. "The fact the whole congregation sang was just so dynamic. Everyone there was 100% there. Automatically, you knew you were part of a community."

Marshner and her husband are long-time members of Holy Redeemer Melkite Church in McClean, Virginia, a new congregation with many former Westerners mixed in with its Arabic population. The exterior of the church is unassuming, but the interior is rich with wood trim and original icons, including a huge painting of Christ the Pantocrator (Supreme Ruler) set into a recess in the drop ceiling.

Divine Liturgy on Sundays is crowded with people of all ages and races. Two choirs, one for adults, one for children stand on either side of the front altar, in front of the iconostasis (a wooden screen separating the congregation from the sanctuary). A crowd of priests, deacons, and acolytes resplendent in embroidered robes stand before the gates of the iconostasis, chanting. The servers - mostly young fathers - carry incense and golden ceremonial fans - ripidia -- representing the wings of cherubim. Everyone sings vigorously, though few songbooks are in evidence. Babies cry, children run up and join the children's choir and then slide back to their parents at whim, but no one seems distracted.

Marshner loves the way children are incorporated in the liturgy. "It's very easy for children to take to the Byzantine liturgy because it involves all the senses - the incense, the vestments, the singing, the processions. A mother with lots of small fussy children has a much easier time." "There are no cry rooms," she notes. "If you have a crying baby, you just walk up and down the aisles and let them stare at the icons and the candles and they quiet down. Besides, no one really hears them because of all the singing. The only long quiet time is during the homily."

Consideration for his children also impelled her husband, William Marshner, a Lutheran convert, to switch rites. Marshner, a theology professor at Christendom College, explains, "I'm a theologian. I get my satisfaction out of dogma. But I couldn't expect my children to do so. I wanted my kids to have a very strong flavor of the sacred. I knew it would draw them back to the Church despite any troubles they might have."

Melkite priest and former Roman-rite Catholic Fr. Constantine Belisarius sees the recent influx of Westerners into the Eastern Churches as perhaps correcting a historical imbalance. He notes that in the New World, the Western Church was quick to declare its supremacy, and often Eastern Catholics were proselytized away from the rites of their birth into Roman Catholic churches. "There was ethnic tension. Some Eastern Catholic immigrants remember as children being told by Roman Catholic peers, 'You're not really Catholic.' That hurts."

Such tensions, most often fueled by misinformation, persist today. Fr. Constantine knows of a Ruthenian-rite Catholic who, while hospitalized, was refused Communion by the visiting Eucharistic minister. "You're not Catholic," she was informed. Fr. Constantine laments, "This is plain ignorance on the part of Roman Catholics. It's costly ignorance for the Catholic Church."

While many Eastern priests are enthusiastic about the addition of Westerners to their formerly exclusively ethnic congregations, not everyone sees the situation as positive. Fr. Joseph Amar, a Maronite priest who teaches classics at Notre Dame University, doubts that the rite-switchers have "an authentic attraction to the Eastern rite." He suspects that many of them are "discontented Traditionalists" yearning for the Tridentine rite. "The Eastern churches aren't some kind of pristine Christianity. People who expect that are in for some real surprises."

Fr. Constantine admits, "Angry Roman Catholics can be a real millstone around the neck of an uneducated Eastern rite pastor. But if you can educate them, if they're willing to embrace the Eastern tradition, you can get them beyond being reactionary." He says he knows people who initially came to an Eastern rite church because they were angry "but they aren't angry any more."

Fr. Richard Roher has encountered some "Roman malcontents" in the early years of his new Ruthenian parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Carey, North Carolina. But "they didn't stay. Once they realized the parish wasn't going to ever look like a 1950's Roman Catholic church, they left. Folks don't stay here long if they're angry with the Church. We make it clear that we love the Church and they won't find a sympathetic ear here."

Around 70% of his congregation are former Roman rite Catholics, and he himself switched rites six years ago. "When I first got here, there had been some 'Latinization' of the church, but I phased those traditions out. I'm very, very Byzantine," he says. Most of the switchers, he admits, "are young families with children. The children are very involved in the liturgy, and that keeps the parents coming. Parish members have told me they've gone from dragging their kids to Mass to cutting vacations short because their kids insist on being home for Divine Liturgy!"

The church also attracts Protestants, who are the majority in the area. "The best compliment I've gotten was from a Baptist who said, 'This is a Christ-centered church!' after she'd been here once. Our emphasis on Scripture and the patristic tradition attracts them." Some have even begun taking instruction to become Catholic.

George and Ann Lally are two Irish Catholics who joined Fr. Roher's parish. They were attracted by "the sense of community, tradition, and reverence. Fr. Rick does an exceptional job of explaining things we'd taken for granted about both rites." Their children love the church, particularly their son, who serves at Divine Liturgy. The whole family has "grown spiritually" because of the Church. They switched rites six months ago.

In a more typical situation, Stanley Budzinkski became interested in the Eastern churches when he began dating a Ruthenian Catholic. "I had gone through Catholic school all the way through and never heard of the Eastern Churches," he confesses. "It was a big mystery to me when I first started dating Jenny." But investigating the Ruthenian rite of the Church brought him to "fall in love. It was so much to my liking. God works in so many different ways."

Budzinski married his girlfriend and became a Ruthenian over twenty years ago. Later he underwent training to become a cantor in St. Mary of the Dormition Church in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania.He treasures the rite's many ancient devotions to the Virgin Mary, including the moleben service and the akathist - a sung litany of Mary's titles.

Rev. Mark Melone of the Melkite Parish of St. George in Sacramento, California, notes that 50% of the priests in his diocese are former Roman Catholics. He attributes this to Eastern Catholicism's "integrated spirituality" as well as to the fact that they were the first to use English in their liturgies in this country. "In a sense, our tradition is more personal and less cerebral. We tend to have smaller communities, and everyone gets involved."

He himself became Melkite in his college years, before becoming a priest over twenty years ago. For himself, the Melkite church resonated with his Italian background and upbringing. "I found the Byzantine rite expresses my Mediterranean Christianity a lot better."

Another new Melkite parish is run by Fr. Daniel Munn, an Anglican-turned-Catholic priest. He and his wife and four children entered the Catholic Church sixteen years ago. He hastens to say, "Now, I didn't become a Melkite because of their married clergy, which is what everyone thinks." His varied life as a "failed atheist" married to a Southern Baptist took him in and out of the Episcopal church and into Catholicism. The Eastern tradition had attracted him for a long time. "I'd always thought I'd join Greek Orthodoxy if I left Episcopalianism," he admits. "But that's not what God had in mind."

Recounting the bureaucratic hurdles he had to leap to become a Catholic priest, he says, "The Eastern Church has a definite gift for spirituality, but you can't beat the Roman Church when it comes to administration." In the end, it was easiest for him to enter the church via Roman Catholicism and be granted bi-ritual faculties. "All I had to do was encourage a latent schizophrenia," he jokes.

Although he is pastor of St. Ignatius of Antioch Melkite parish in Augusta, Georgia, he still celebrates the Western liturgy in a local Roman-rite parish every week. "I love everything about the Catholic Church in a way that someone not reared in it does, but there's something very special to me about what Eastern Christianity has preserved and makes alive. So asking me which rite I like better is like trying to decide which one of your kids you love better."

Regarding the status of the Eastern churches in America, he says, "I think the Eastern Church serves a good purpose in reminding the Roman part that Catholicism really is a universal Church embracing more than just Roman Catholicism." He adds, "I always tell my Roman rite friends that they have to go to Divine Liturgy at least one time before they die so that when they get to heaven, they'll know what God is doing."

In recent years, the Pope has called attention to the treasures and contributions of the Eastern Churches in his 1995 encyclical "Orientale Lumen" (Eastern Light). "We believe that the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ's church … the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition, so as to be nourished by it and to encourage the process of unity in the best way possible for each."

Fr. Joseph Francavilla, pastor of Holy Redeemer, says that the Eastern Churches are richly gifted with their very ethnicity, a balance to the universality of the Roman rite. "The Church is important not just because it is universal but because it is particular. In the Eastern Church we rejoice in the fact that the Church is mine." In addition, they are an almost prophetic sign of unity. The Eastern Churches are "monumental proof that the Church doesn't have to be Roman in order to be Catholic. We remained in charity and communion in Church in Rome without being Roman."

Fr. Constantine agrees, "The Church realizes that people stand before God in different postures. It's one of the great strengths of the Church and it's too bad that people aren't familiar with it. My feeling has been that if we fostered the Eastern Rites in America we could convert the whole country."

An excellent find! May I make several suggestions?

According to their web site:

*Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 and 11:00 am. as we celebrate the divine liturgy. Following the divine liturgy, join us for complimentary coffee and snacks. *

Call ahead to inquire which of these liturgies is in English. There will be elements of the liturgy in both Aramaic and Arabic, and this will give you a greater appreciation of the beauty found in their prayers.

Stay for the refreshments! The pastor will undoubtedly recognize a new face and come over. Engage him in conversation - the Maronite priests are highly educated and full of information! (Our pastor is fluent in 6 languages, has a working knowledge of 3 others and can read Ancient Greek, Latin and Aramaic). Use this opportunity to ask him questions.

Before attending, read the following from Our Lady's Maronite Church in Austin, TX. It will prepare you for some of the differences. Trust me, the first time I attended the Maronite liturgy, I had some inkling of what to expect but would have preferred to know more.

About the Rite

Note that in the Eastern Churches, most catholics make a profound bow towards the Tabernacle, while blessing themselves. This is the equivalent of genuflection in the Western Rite.

Also, communion is by intinction and on the tongue. Only the priest, bishop or deacon may touch the consecrated host. There are no EEMs. The priest will dip the host into the Precious Blood, place it on your tongue and say: "Receive the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, for the remission of sin and eternal salvation."

Note too that the entire liturgy is chanted; it is a dialog between the celebrant and the congregation. The 'tone' of the chant, dates back to the 1st century!

The consecration is in Aramaic, using the language and words of our Lord, at the Last Supper. During the liturgy, the priest will bless the congregation often, occasionally using a handcross. After reading the gospel, he will hold up the Book of the Gospels, and say: "This is the Truth!", will then bless the congregation with the Book itself.

Just prior to communion, the priest will bless the congregation with the Holy Mysteries. He will elevate the chalice and ciborium and use them to bless everyone in the form of a cross. After communion, this same blessing takes place. At those times, the congregation stands - again, this is a great sign of respect in the Eastern Rites.

If you do decide to go, promise yourself that you will attend at least 3 times. The first time is disorienting, the 2nd time is a bit more comfortable and by the third visit, you will be able to fully absorb all of the liturgy.

Please let me and 'Sandyeggo' know how it goes!

Poosh BaShlomo (Peace be with you!)

After fixing up the little shrine, he worked with the parish community to help them achieve their goal of having a real church. Last year, they purchased an abandoned protestant church nearby and he, along with the men of the parish, have worked industriously to renovate the old building.

This sounds wonderful. But at the same time you have to recognize that this is not really traditional in reality, even if it is in spirit. The people at your chapel are trying to recreate lost traditions, just like traditional Catholics are doing with the tridentine rite. I give them full credit, of course, but still we need to recognize that the eastern rites were not miraculously preserved intact.

In fact, it sounds as if the spirit of that one priest is primarily responsible for what you have there. Thank God for the handful of priests like him who have fought to preserve tradition, whether in the Maronite rite or in the Roman rite.

My wife and I travel to St. Petersburg Florida on a regular basis and attend Mass at a Ukrainian Catholic Church when there. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is very beautiful however, not easy to follow if you're not familiar with it. My only faux pas came during the recital of the Creed. In their version of a Missal it reads:

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father (and the Son.).

So I said the words "and the Son" and was the only one in the congregation to do so. I don't know if that's the norm in Eastern Rite Churches or a Parish prerogative. Anyway, I figure when in the Ukraine, do as the Ukrainians do :-) Or something like that.

Here's the link to the Parish.

Epiphany of Our Lord

The people at your chapel are trying to recreate lost traditions, just like traditional Catholics are doing with the tridentine rite.

Actually, I neglected to tell you that their 100 year old church collapsed and that is why they are using the shrine as a church. The parish turns 100 years old next year.

There are many Maronite communities across the US in a similar situation. In each instance, they use whatever facilities are available to them and are actively raising funds to build a new church or renovate an old one. Essentially, the Maronite Catholic Church is thriving in the US and spreading into new communities, like Las Vegas, NV and Tulsa, OK.

Coincidentally, next year when we move into our 'new' church, Father will also offer the Roman Rite mass. He hopes this will accomodate those Roman Catholics who will be losing their local parishes, when Bishop Hubbard closes two of his churches in that community, later this year.

"Fr. Joseph Amar, a Maronite priest who teaches classics at Notre Dame University, doubts that the rite-switchers have "an authentic attraction to the Eastern rite." He suspects that many of them are "discontented Traditionalists" yearning for the Tridentine rite. "The Eastern churches aren't some kind of pristine Christianity. People who expect that are in for some real surprises.""

That about sums it up. Make the traditional Latin Mass freely available - not just once a week in an old bomb-shelter 40 miles out of town - and interest in converting to the Eastern rites will dwindle. Until then, the Byzantines (particularly the more tradition-minded among them) continue to provide some shelter in the storm for all those who, in good conscience, can no longer assist at the novus ordo.

I will probably have to dress nicer than when I go to my normal parish. I usually go in a dress shirt, pants and shoes and am often the best dressed (young) male there.

It's summer! That would be considered very appropriate attire. It's unusual to see someone dressed in jeans, except for an occasioinal stray ;-D

Just to give you a 'taste' of the intense depth of this liturgy, at the conclusion of the 'Qoorbono' (the word Mass is Latin - though some of the Maronites do refer to it as such), the priest silently prays:

"Remain in peace, O altar of God,
and I hope to return to you in peace.
May the sacrifice which I have offered upon you
forgive my sins, help me to avoid my faults,
and prepare me to stand blameless before the throne of Christ.
I know not whether I will be able to return to you again to offer sacrifice.
Guard me, O Lord, and protect Thy Holy Church
so that She may remain the Way of Salvation and the Light of the World."

One question, do they use leavened or unleavened bread as hosts?

Unleavened. From what I have read, there was a time when they used leavened bread but the Maronites were latinized many years ago and the hosts are identical to those used in the Latin Rite mass. Maronites cultivate profound adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, seeing in the Holy Eucharist the Risen Christ who sent to us the Sanctifying Spirit. They are also deeply devoted to Mary, The Mother of the Light, hailing her strength and fidelity in the title of "Cedar of Lebanon."

An interesting note. The Maronites have remained faithful to the Chair of St. Peter from the very beginning. In 517 AD, 350 Maronite monks were martyered defending the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon. That day is celebrated on July 31 of the Maronite Calendar. During the many years of persecution the maronites kept the faith pure, authentic, and free from heresy, handing down only what was delivered to them from their fathers who inherited it through the apostles from Christ. Thus their faith, like the cedars which surround Lebanon's mountainous region is deep rooted and firm. The Maronites have always had a great attachment to the mother of God, Mary who's intersection has brought them out of times of hardship and trial.

That about sums it up.

Not really. That may have been his experience but it has not been mine, nor that of the pastor at our Maronite Catholic Church.

"Discontented" traditionalists will not find the Maronite Rite anywhere near a substitute for the Tridentine Rite. They are very different. In your defense, however, I will note the following remark from an old Maronite who was born and raised in Lebanon. This gentleman is well into his 70s and recalls the pre Vatican II Maronite Rite when the entire liturgy was in Arabic. He commented to me one evening, after attending a beautiful 'Adoration of the Cross' Lenten service (all in Syriac), that this brought back memories from his childlhood when the entire liturgy was chanted by a choir in Syriac. He then noted that he felt great sympathy for the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre. "What's wrong with them wanting to celebrate the liturgy to which they are so devoted?"

This gentleman, however, has adjusted to the changes in the Maronite liturgy. He is not waging war against it. He is the one who does the readings each Sunday in Arabic. He hosts our 'Gospel Soiree', when we gather with our pastor to study the bible. Both he and his wife are devoted to their Maronite liturgy, be it in Arabic, Syriac, English or Swahili.

I must confess I've never partaken of the Maronite rite, though I've enjoyed the Ruthenian Byzantine rite on numerous occasions. The parish priest had some sympathy for traditionalists of the Roman rite reeling after all the changes instituted at Vatican 2, but he was far more angry at the "sacking of Constantinople" many centuries earlier. Although I appreciated the beautiful liturgy, including the incensing and veneration of all the icons, some of the doctrines (e.g. a maximum of 40 days in purgatory) and the omission of the Filioque from the creed was problematic. I also noted that ecumaniac inroads were being made, such as including orthodox "saints" (who never recognized the pope or the concept of papal infallibility - limited as it is) on their liturgical calendar.

I must confess I've never partaken of the Maronite rite

Don't know where you live but you can certainly do a google search using the words "maronite" and "your state".

The Apostles Creed is identical to that in the Western Rite.

Like most Eastern Rites, the Maronite Catholic Church incorporates the Trisagion into its liturgy. The priest faces east, towards the Crucifix when he prays:

The celebrant sings three times:

Aramaic
Qadeeshat aloho; Qadeeshat hyeltono; Qadeeshat lomoyouto.

English
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One

As he chants the last phrase, he makes a profound bow towards the Crucifix, as do the acolytes.

The congregation responds: Itraham alein.

English: Have mercy on us.

The celebrant concludes:

O holy and immortal Lord,
sanctify our minds and purify
our consciences,
that we may praise you with pure hearts
and listen to your Holy Scriptures.
To you be glory, for ever. Amen.

The Maronites have been associated with the Chair of St. Peter from day one. There is no comparable equivalent in the orthodox religions, nor have the Maronites ever separated from Rome, despite being victimized by its attempt to latinicize their liturgy.

The Maronites have an expression:

"The Maronite, works, builds, and plants as if he is celebrating the liturgy. His whole economy has a sacramental taste and a liturgical savoring- the vine and the wheat for the bread and the wine of the Eucharist; the olive tree to make the holy oils; the mulberry plant to weave the altar cloth and the vestments for benediction. All of which are signs of the hereafter." Father Michel HAYEK

They have remained faithful to the Magisterium for 2000 years. It is a beautiful and faith filled liturgy. If I can assist you in finding a Maronite Church in your community or help in any other way, please do not hesitate to ask. It cannot replace the Tridentine Rite; rather, it brings its own spiritual depth to those who seek a closer relationship with our Lord.

Why not ask Sinkspur what I have said that is over the top? I have said I believe JPII is a bad pope--but I've said this from the beginning. I have also said that Assisi I and II bring him close to the brink of material heresy. That is not sedevacantist--many solid Catholics think this. This does not mean I think the Pope is illegitimate--after all, he is not formally heretical. Sinkspur can't seem to make these essential distinctions. As for not addressing me directly--he may just be tired of having been told so often his random barbs don't add up--like this one about my being a sedevacantist. He makes the charge--but doesn't back it up. He confuses criticism of the Pope with denying his legitimacy. That's nonsense.

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