[Pyro7480]

I thought the whole funeral was beautiful, but it was great to see, and especially hear the prayers of the Eastern Churches, both Eastern Rite Catholic and Orthodox, there. A coworker of mine is a subdeacon or deacon at a Melkite Catholic Church, and he has an extraordinary knowledge of Eastern Catholic chant. He said that most of this was done in Greek, with chant in Arabic (which I recognized from attending Maronite Divine Liturgies) towards the end.

[LizardQueen]

I was fascinated by their different vestments. Some of the headgear looked like crowns, which I thought was a little odd but I don't know much about the Orthodox churches. The only outfits I've ever seen before were the black robes with the flat hats.

LQ

[Pyro7480]

Catholic and Orthodox ping!

[Pyro7480]

Ping!

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Yeah. They brought in all the Jedi Knights of the Eastern Churches. That was a fantastic and historic moment. Chanting in Greek and Coptic. Was there any Syriac or Slavonic, I couldn't tell? The ABC gang were chattering.

[bobjam]

Archbishop Williams was at the funeral, but I didn't see him on TV. I don't know if Archbishop Akinola or any other Anglicans (real ones, not Griswoldians) were present. The vested eastern patriarchs were the ones in communion with Rome- Byzantine Catholics, etc. Those standing nearby with the black cassocks and black head dresses were those eastern bishops in communion with Constantinople and Moscow.

[MarMema]

So far all I hear is Greek. Koloko will know who most of them are.

[FormerNavyBrat]

bump

[FormerNavyBrat]

I thought it was absolutely breathtaking--it sent chills up my spine.

[FormerNavyBrat]

I'll admit to knowing next to nothing about the Eastern Churches, but was intrigued today after the Holy Father's funeral mass. I did a little searching and found this site if anyone is interested: http://www.agpeya.org/index.html It's the Coptic Book of Hours, with lots of great audio.