My introduction to the Western Rite

The Mass vs. The Divine Liturgy

Whereas Byzantine Rite parishes use the Divine Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great (and, in monasteries, St. James), those in the Western Tradition have a variety of different rites they celebrate, though the most common are the Divine Liturgies of St. Gregory and St. Tikhon, based off of the Traditional Latin Mass and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer respectively, both of which are commonly just called Mass. The parish I attended was actually a former Anglican parish and so used the Liturgy of St. Tikhon, though they do occasionally celebrate the Liturgy of St. Tikhon during Lent.

The usage of pews, statues, altar bells, and organs, coupled with the lack of an iconostasis, Byzantine crosses, or eastern style vestments all seemed foreign to me, the hour long service as opposed to the 2 and a half hour one I'm used to was certainly a very jarring change, albeit a welcome one. On one hand it seemed alien, like I was in another world, though on the other hand it felt almost like I was coming home to some extent. After all, my ancestors were Western Orthodox if you go far back enough in history, so I did feel some strange sense of connection despite not quite being able to put it into words.

Parishioners

The parishioners are all wonderful, many of them were at least passingly familiar with the existence of Byzantine Rite Orthodoxy, but some had never been to an eastern church before. Antiochian Orthodoxy in particular is often seen as a church of primarily converts, but for the Western Rite this is particularly true. In fact, I would go so far as to say a Western Rite parish is one made entirely of converts, seeing as that is sort of it's target audience. The priest himself there is a former Roman Catholic, and a few of the parishioners are former Syriac Orthodox (more on that later). The small size of the parish gave it a much more tight-knit feeling than my home parish, everyone here knew each other as opposed to where I usually attend where you can go there every service for years and still not know even half the people.

Funeral

Unfortunately, an older woman in the parish who I was told was a pillar of the community passed away about a week ago and her funeral was held the day before I wrote this blog post, this was not only the first Western Rite funeral I have been to, but also my first funeral I had attended at all, and although I never knew her personally, I could tell that she truly did make an impact on those who knew her and were privileged enough to call her their friend or family member.

One moment of the funeral service that preceded the Requiem Mass stood out to me. The coffin was a bit in front of the altar and the casked was open, allowing those who knew her to come and pay their respects, her daughter came up and put her hand on the coffin, at which point she knelt down crying and saying "I want my Mommy". This was particularly humbling to me as I realized that will eventually be my own mother, and should I ever have children, they will say the same of their grandmother, and then of me eventually. Death is the great unifier, and though my faith proclaims that death is not merely the end, but rather a new beginning, that is hardly a comfort to those of us who are still on this side of eternity.

Requiem Mass

A Requiem Mass is a service performed for the repose of the souls of one who has died, the particular Requiem Mass I attended was the most packed I had ever seen this parish. Whereas every other time I have attended the parish was not even a quarter full, this service it was nearly impossible to find any room. It was not too particularly different from the Masses I experienced before, though certain parts were omitted, the language was more oriented towards the repose of the deceased's soul, and there was overall a more somber atmosphere about it.

Internment

The internment was the part of the experience that felt the rawest, for lack of a better term. Seeing the coffin lowered and seeing the people place flowers on top once it was interred really set in the fact that she was gone more than anything else. I never knew her, but decided to pay my respects regardless by placing a flower on top of the coffin. I began to tear up as I performed this action for reasons I cannot explain, perhaps it was the reality of the situation setting in on me, perhaps it was the knowledge that this happens to us all, it may have been both or it may have been neither, but either way it was a sobering and emotional moment for me.

Oriental Orthodoxy

Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the apostolic churches that reject the Council of Chalcedon and adhere to the Christological model of Miaphysitism, it consists currently of the Armenians, Syriacs, Malankara, Coptics, Ethiopians, and Eritreans (there are smaller ones but they are unrecognized so I will not cover them in this blog post). They are unfortunately in schism with both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, though admittedly both types of Orthodox are significantly closer to each other than either of us are to Rome. The deceased in question (as well as some of the other parishioners who were her friends) was former Malankara Orthodox, so there was a significant presence of them at the funeral and internment. 

A Malankara Priest

I had a very nice time speaking to the Malankara priest in attendance, we spoke about his background, the Council of Chalcedon, and the possibility of reunification. Speaking to him and other members of the community made it more apparent how similar we are to each other, and that one day, God-willing, the schism will hopefully be overcome.

A parishioner

At the internment and at the lunch held at the parish afterwards, I got to have a very lovely conversation with a Malankara woman named Elaine, she told me a bit of her story and how she was raised Latin Rite Catholic, eventually married a Byzantine Catholic, adopted a Russian boy, and how that later led her to Oriental Orthodoxy, her story truly is fascinating, but what I enjoyed most about our conversation was her talking about her unique calling that she feels. We spoke for a bit about the role of the deaconess and the part that women played in the early church. She is currently taking a Coptic theology course to get a Bachelor's if I recall correctly and also runs a YouTube channel meant to present church history to the spiritually confused in a more presentable and approachable way. If it's your kind of thing you can check her out here, it is not the kind of content I typically watch but I do find it to be very charming.

Takeaway

Western Rite Orthodoxy is a beautiful bridge which serves to introduce the West into the Holy Church of the First Millennium and I will certainly be attending again.