Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Melkite Divine Liturgy

Wow! Sunday for the first time I attended a Melkite Divine Liturgy. I have to say I have never experienced the Divine Liturgy like this. I am still struggling to put into words what and how it was different as it is the same sacrifice with some very similar prayers. The Liturgy seemed to flow easily and more logically than I have experienced with either the Novus Ordo or the Extraordinary form.

Now I am certainly not ready to apply to change rites, but I am yearning to attend another Melkite Divine Liturgy like nothing before. Not kneeling and not genuflecting was hard. Doing a little research into the rite over the past days has made me understand the rite is not just the Liturgy and there are many things which culturally I would have to figure out-after all I have been Roman for 49 years.

I am not sure if after one experience I can communicate what I found at Our Lady of the Cedars which I haven’t found anywhere else. Perhaps the presence of God was more profound or visible. Perhaps the community of worshipers (including the priest and deacon) seemed to be both more casual (no, casual is not the right word- perhaps humble) and intense at the same time.

For the Melkites, this was not the first Sunday of Advent. The Gospel was about the blind man trying to reach Jesus over the objections of the crowd. One part of the homily struck me: the deacon told us that in contrast to the crowd which tried to prevent the blind man from reaching Jesus, the Church’s mission (and thus ours) is to help “the blind” reach Jesus. It seemed to me that the Melkite Divine Liturgy was trying to help this blind man (me) reach Jesus this past Sunday.

Oremus pro invicem!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Samuel and andrew got to serve the Melkite rite in Connecticut when we visited the family. The devine liturgy is very enjoyable.

Jim Dorchak

Anonymous said...

Jim, Good to hear from you again. Hope all is well down South.

Jim

TS said...

Amen and amen. Eastern liturgies do seem to have a better flow, and it is somehow more "casual" and at the same time more intense.

Zoupa said...

Jim,

You know that is my ancestral Heritage. Both of my family lines are Melkite. One of these days I will have to make the time to visit one of the more developed/beautiful Melkite churches.

Jim A.