Western Rite

From OrthodoxWiki
Revision as of 13:40, February 8, 2005 by Joffridus (talk | contribs) (Liturgy)
Jump to: navigation, search

The Western Rite is a strand of Orthodox Christian worship based on the liturgical traditions of the ancient pre-Schism Orthodox Church of the West. Western Rite Orthodox Christians hold in common the full Orthodox faith with their brethren of the Byzantine Rite.

Liturgy

Western Rite parishes generally follow one (or sometimes both) of two types of traditional Western liturgical traditions. About 75% use the Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow, which is an adaptation of the Communion service from the 1898 Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The remaining 25% use the Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great, which is a modified form of the Tridentine Mass known to Roman Catholics before the liturgical reforms of Vatican II in the 1960s.

The liturgy has much less repetition than its corresponding elements in the Byzantine rite, and generally has a more rational, succint manner to it. Celebrants wear distinctive Western vestments, and the faithful follow pious devotional customs particular to their tradition, as well.

Congregations

By far the largest group of these parishes in North America is represented by the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) also has a small number of Western Rite parishes in addition to one monastery located in Rhode Island which follows Benedictine liturgical traditions.

The abbot who led this monastery, named Christminster (or Christ the Savior Monastery), into communion with ROCOR once remarked to St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco that it was difficult to promote Western Rite Orthodoxy, whereupon the saint replied: "Never, never, never let anyone tell you that, in order to be Orthodox, you must also be eastern. The West was Orthodox for a thousand years, and her venerable liturgy is far older than any of her heresies."[1]

The Orthodox Catholic Church of France—which is currently of ambiguous status with regard to world Orthodoxy, but at one time was cared for by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco and later by the Church of Romania—also uses a Western Rite liturgy based on ancient Gallican liturgical materials.

It should also be noted that there are a number of groups who follow various Western rites and may call themselves Orthodox but are not part of or in communion with the Orthodox Church.

An Orthodox Unia?

The situation of Western Orthodox parishes has been compared by some with the analogous status of autonomous Uniate churches under the Roman Catholic Church. For centuries, there have been hierarchical churches in full communion with and in subjection to the Vatican, but which the Pope allows to follow liturgical customs and rules like those of the Orthodox Church, (e.g., they confirm newly baptized infants via chrismation, they have married priests, their churches have iconostases, etc.). Additionally, as the Uniates share a common dogmatic requirement with Latin Rite Catholics, the Western Rite Orthodox share the same faith as their Byzantine Rite brethren.

However, unlike the Uniates, Western Rite Orthodox congregations are not mainly the result of large-scale ecclesiastical political machinations and schism but rather of small-scale genuine conversion to Orthodoxy by individuals and congregations.

External links

Liturgies

Introduction and History

Apologias

Criticism