The Eastern Rite Catholic churches are communities that follow a form of the Eastern liturgy but which are under the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff rather than one of the Eastern Orthodox patriarchates. Renewal in the Eastern Catholic churches has involved a slow process of the rediscovery and implementation of a variety of ancient traditions of worship.
The Second Vatican Council in its Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches expressed its high esteem for the rich traditions of these churches and urged the latter to preserve and honor their liturgical rites and restore them where they had been altered or abandoned. Changes within Eastern Catholic liturgical rites since that time have come about at a slow pace through local desire to return to authentic traditions as well as through the urging of the Oriental Congregation in Rome. Many of these changes have appeared in the form of the return to traditional vesture and the reintroduction of ancient liturgical anaphoras (central eucharistic rites) and prayers. Alongside these, in many places, the vernacular has replaced the ancient languages in liturgical celebrations, and many of the Latin Catholic liturgical insertions have been dropped.
Not all of these Latin influences (Latinizations), however, have been forsaken everywhere, since some of these practices (such as prayers before the statues of saints, the rosary, stations of the cross, and daily Mass) have become identified in the minds of the uninformed faithful with tradition itself. Nor has the return to traditional ways been complete where it had begun. The return to ancient architectural settings and liturgical forms still remains a challenge for many Syriac churches that await the reintroduction and use of the bema (a central platform for the liturgy of the Word), the lack of which leaves many of the prayers and liturgical actions out of tune with their proper liturgical context. Along with these, some juridical restrictions are still in effect and are in need of reform (e.g., the married priesthood is still restricted outside the immediate jurisdiction of these churches).
The carrying forward of this process of returning to tradition has become even more of a challenge in recent times, since many of these churches have considerable immigrant populations in the West, creating new pastoral situations and the need for liturgical recontextualization and readaptation. Thus, not all practices within a church’s liturgical tradition would be appropriate for modern needs, and prudent adaptations by liturgical commissions would be necessary. Many of these adaptations have taken the form of liturgical abbreviations and simplifications where the reform efforts are unorganized and without clear directions. Alongside these efforts lies the urgent need for the religious education of the faithful to enlighten them about the riches of their traditions, along with the arts and means of appropriating these traditions for modern needs. Much in this regard depends on the leadership and direction of the persons in authority in these churches—especially on their discernment of a clearer sense of future directions for their people—together with the liturgical and catechetical commissions in their diocese and the cooperation of the Latin church.
In the following paragraphs, I have sketched some of the efforts in liturgical reform made by the various Eastern Catholic churches in their attempts to return to tradition and to keep in step with the times. In many cases, these reforms are small and uncoordinated. They reveal the complexity of carrying forward such a challenging task and how much more effort and organization need to be undertaken.
The Maronites
The liturgical reforms in the Maronite church worldwide began in the early 1970s and continue today. The renewal, or better said, restoration of the Maronite Sunday liturgy began in both Lebanon and the United States (which has more than 50 parishes) through the guidance of the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for Eastern Churches in Rome and the activities of the Patriarchal Synod and Liturgical Committee in Lebanon to restore the Maronite liturgy to its original framework. These reforms have led to the restoration of the cycle of prayers and hymns of the Sunday liturgy of the Word, as well as the uncovering of a very rich tradition of liturgical prayers and hymnals. While the yearly cycle for this Sunday liturgy has been recovered—replacing the single form which had become common up to the end of the 1960s—the architectural aspect, including the use of the bema (an enclosed platform), still remains to be restored. Many of the prayers and sacramental forms in this tradition, originally in Syriac, have been translated into Arabic and English for modern-day use.
Among the restorations of the Sunday liturgy have been the separate preparation of gifts at a side altar and the dropping of the penitential rites and offertory prayers which were Roman additions. Thus the Mass begins with the liturgy of the Word, with its own proper focus that is separate from the rites around the altar. The offertory procession has been restored with its prayers and incensing. The bema, however, has not been reintroduced as yet, and thus the first part of the Mass is held in front of the altar with the priest and deacon facing the people. Some of the litanies for this part have been abbreviated. The veil in front of the altar has not been restored. Among the innovations, the priest now faces the people during the liturgy of the Eucharist, and some of the prayers from the Anaphora of Sharar and priestly prayers have been dropped or abbreviated. The traditional formula for the words of the institution has been restored with its variant forms according to the different anaphoras. The epiklēsis has been brought to its proper position as an integral part of the consecration. Attempts at restoring early Maronite musical and hymnal forms have been made at the Holy Cross University and Maronite Seminary in Lebanon. In the United States the office, along with texts for all the sacraments, has been translated (and also revised) into English. Some experimentation at integrating the matrimonial rite or the office with the Mass has also been attempted. With the exception of a memorial Sunday liturgy, however, only a few Maronites attend their own parishes on a regular basis.
The Malabar Churches of India
Liturgical reform in the Malabar rites in Kerala was becoming evident after the Vatican Council, as the main liturgical language was changed from Syriac to Malayalam, the native tongue. An experimental version of the Chaldeo-Malabar rite in Malayalam was implemented and approved by the Oriental Congregation in Rome in 1968. This text of the Mass—Qurbana—with some adjustments was fixed in 1981. The latter move, however, has been criticized by scholars who consider the fixing of the present text as obstructing the process of return to authentic traditions, a process which is not yet liturgically completed and which still has a good residue of the old Roman rite practices. In this rite, too, the bema needs to be restored.
A similar case can be made for the Syro-Malabar churches, which have also translated their liturgical forms into the native tongue Malayalam. A few diocesan variations of the Sunday celebration have emerged. The first part of the Mass—the liturgy of the Word—is often celebrated with the priest facing the people. For the eucharistic liturgy, depending on local piety, the priest either faces the people or turns his back to face the altar. In the last few years, there has been a preference in some dioceses to have the priest turn towards the altar with his back to the people. A very few churches still use the original Syriac for consecration. Participation in the liturgy is adequate due to the original participatory nature of the liturgy and because of the present use of the vernacular along with hymns and songs in Malayalam.
As with the other Eastern rites, office prayers seem to have fallen from use. In the place of the office in many homes, family prayer is common where the rosary is often recited. Vocations (calls to the priesthood) are high and many priests are from the middle-class and from among those families that pray together. Parish priests often live together in basic support groups. All these elements—the use of the vernacular in liturgical prayer with participation, prayer at home, and community life for the clergy—seem to enhance the spiritual life of the community. The need to continue the process of reform and renewal, however, is evident. There are still old customs, especially towards women, that are in effect and that need to be changed (e.g., the purification of the mother before the baptism of her child). Some reforms also appear to be taking place in the Syrian Orthodox Church (rite of Malankara). A recent Synod in Kottayam has enacted reforms to enhance the role of women in the church. Among these are the following: young girls, and not just boys, are taken around the altar at their baptism; no longer does the first child to be baptized in the newly consecrated font have to be the male; and the bishops are encouraging women to read to the congregation from the Bible during the liturgy and to take part in the general meetings of local parishes.
The Melkites
The Melkites have adapted their liturgy to local languages wherever they have immigrated; thus, English was in liturgical use in the United States and Canada three decades before the Vatican II reforms. Other liturgical reforms, however, have taken place, mainly in the form of dropping some of the Roman liturgical insertions and devotions. The original Greek usage is very limited, and in the West either English or Arabic (in the case of newcomers from the Mideast) dominates. Priests tend to improvise and select their own prayers based on the three anaphoras and the litanies combined. An abbreviated version of the Mass has been provided for priests where parishioners have complained about the length of the Sunday liturgy. Attendance, especially of youth, tends to be low.
The biggest immigrant Melkite population is in South America (followed by the U.S.), especially in Brazil, which also has the lowest church attendance. In the United States, where there are about 40 Melkite parishes, regular Sunday church attendance is low, and on average the American-born Melkites attend more often than the Mideastern ones. Shortages in the number of priests constitute a major problem for this immigrant community spread over vast areas. The Sunday Eucharistic celebrations have been supplemented with a religious education program for youth, prepared in the early 1970s, that is common among all the Byzantine rites, with adaptations made by each.
The Ruthenians and the Ukrainians
There has been a limited change within the Catholic Byzantine rites of the Russian traditions. Liturgical reforms and renewal have taken the form of dropping many of the old Roman rite insertions along with reductions of litanies and of some priestly private prayers. In some parishes in the United States, daily Mass has become an accepted tradition. Frequent Sunday communion is now encouraged. Most Sunday liturgies among the Ruthenians are sung in English, while among the Ukrainians a few are still celebrated in the native language. New translations of liturgical prayers have appeared, depending on the efforts of each diocese, along with pastoral applications suited for local needs. Most eucharistic liturgies are conducted from behind the iconostasis (a screen, with icons, separating the altar area from the nave), including the liturgy of the Word in some dioceses. In most dioceses, however, the priest comes out to read the gospel to the people and to preach from in front of the iconostasis. Other developments within the Byzantine Catholic communities are appearing very slowly in the form of local adaptations arranged mostly by liturgical commissions in each diocese.
Differences in Sunday eucharistic celebrations between the Orthodox Byzantine churches and the Catholic ones in the United States show that the Orthodox tend to use choirs, while the Byzantine Catholics have relied mostly on cantors who lead the people in singing the liturgical prayers. The strong presence of Russian Orthodox churches in the U.S., along with a major seminary and publishing press (St. Vladimir’s), as well as other Orthodox seminaries, has further helped to establish this Byzantine tradition and make it known and better understood. Some considerations towards further church renewal have been suggested by a few on both the Orthodox and the Catholic sides. Among these have been the creative use of the iconostasis in liturgical celebrations, the readmitting of children’s communion after baptism for Catholic Byzantine churches, and greater liturgical participation by all. However, no major changes are planned or expected on either side.
The Armenian Catholics
There is a strong national and ecumenical affiliation between Catholic and Orthodox Armenians (as well as the few Protestants) with a common sense of being united as one ethnic and Christian people. The co-suffering of the Armenians under persecutions in this century has strengthened their sense of affiliation and communion. On the Catholic side, this sense of unity is expressed in terms of liturgical conformity with the Orthodox. Another way in which Armenians have shown their sense of unity is through their social clubs and schools which welcome all Armenians and even share in a common religious education. Memories of persecution as well as of recent suffering and the earthquake tragedy of the Armenians in the former Soviet Union have brought the parties into even greater national and spiritual communion.
The Mass, as in the Orthodox liturgy, is still celebrated in classical Armenian. However, some adaptations and abbreviations have been made. For example, at the liturgy of the Word, the Scriptures may be read in modern Armenian, and the sermons are in the vernacular to facilitate understanding. In the United States, preaching is done sometimes in English along with modern Armenian. Most Roman introductory prayers and insertions were dropped after the Second Vatican Council. Thus the present form of the Catholic Armenian Sunday liturgy is in conformity with the Orthodox, the only difference being of brevity in some places.
The Copts
The Copts of Egypt constitute a sizable majority among the Christians in the Middle East. Most of these are Orthodox, with a small minority of Catholic Copts. There is also a sizable number of immigrant Copts in the West (in the U.S. the Orthodox have 35 churches). It would be best to describe liturgical developments in this rite primarily in terms of lingual adaptations for the benefit of the new multi-lingual congregations emerging today. In Egypt, the Sunday Eucharist is celebrated in Coptic and Arabic, while in the United States it is a trilingual celebration in Coptic, Arabic, and English. The celebration lasts more than three hours. The Catholic Copts, fewer in number, celebrate the same liturgy but in a more abbreviated form.
Summary Observations
It would be reasonable to conclude from the above observations that long-term planning is necessary and even essential for a worthy process of liturgical reform and renewal for the Eastern Catholic churches. When a clear outlook to the future is lacking, the liturgical process becomes lost in its direction, and many “band-aid” solutions to keep up with the times begin to emerge. These temporary solutions, often in the form of improvisations, do not draw properly on the riches of that church’s tradition, nor do they adequately meet the spiritual needs of the faithful. It would be of great importance that Eastern Catholic bishops work collaboratively, with frequent consultations with the laity, to ensure that this process continues to perform adequately over the years. Since many of the Eastern churches today experience themselves as over-extended minority communities around the world, the interest, support, and cooperation of local Latin rite churches would be important in helping these Eastern Christian communities to value and share their heritage.