Liturgical Flexibility

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Comments

  • "It is subjective to the congregant how he wants to experience the liturgy."

    I disagree. The liturgy is heaven on earth and as such is an objective reality of life in the Holy Trinity through the person of Jesus Christ.

    You can either experience it objectively, or not experience it at all, instead experiencing a figment of your own imagination, or more likely, something boring and meaningless.
  • Thank you qawe for putting in better terms than I could have. It is the life of liturgy that is missing, this focusing in communion with God, not just in the moment of physically placing the mysteries in one's mouth, but through the entire liturgy we are experiencing this communion. This liturgy overflows into our experience with the Body of Christ as fellow members grafted into His Body, and also as ministers of the Life of Christ to the whole world (those suffering and ill and poor), bringing His Light inside us to the rest. This is liturgy, and we seem to have cut it off and created this disjunction and disconnect. Everything we do should revolve around the liturgy.

    Today people think of the liturgy as a dead ritual where we come listen to Abouna sing some nice words and eat and drink Jesus' Body and Blood.

    As for the rituals, it seems that such elaborate explanations for the rituals were not needed in the early church when they were far simpler. The purpose of these rites and rituals are to help us understand the service and illustrate its meanings and only needed straightforward debriefing as is seen in St. Cyril of Jerusalem's Chatachesis. Today everything has been over ritualized from the movement of one arm, to the direction I move my foot, to the way I place my hand on the floor. Its this over layering of rules and ritualization of customs through the years that give young deacons the impression that this one big custom rather than the Holy Tradition of God. For example why is it when someone doesn't use the 'lafayif' they get told they are breaking the tuqs. This was a roman custom that found its way into our church when we used to place the Body into our own mouths. Once the Priest began placing it there was no real reason to use them.

    This is what I'm saying the liturgy should be practical, alive and dynamic in its expression and manifestation, not a custom that is set in stone without meaning (and often times meanings are invented for it). Fr. Tadros Malaty in his book on Tradition describes tradition as dynamic.

    God Bless
  • Thank you qawe for putting in better terms than I could have. It is the life of liturgy that is missing, this focusing in communion with God, not just in the moment of physically placing the mysteries in one's mouth, but through the entire liturgy we are experiencing this communion. This liturgy overflows into our experience with the Body of Christ as fellow members grafted into His Body, and also as ministers of the Life of Christ to the whole world (those suffering and ill and poor), bringing His Light inside us to the rest. This is liturgy, and we seem to have cut it off and created this disjunction and disconnect. Everything we do should revolve around the liturgy.

    Today people think of the liturgy as a dead ritual where we come listen to Abouna sing some nice words and eat and drink Jesus' Body and Blood.

    As for the rituals, it seems that such elaborate explanations for the rituals were not needed in the early church when they were far simpler. The purpose of these rites and rituals are to help us understand the service and illustrate its meanings and only needed straightforward debriefing as is seen in St. Cyril of Jerusalem's Chatachesis. Today everything has been over ritualized from the movement of one arm, to the direction I move my foot, to the way I place my hand on the floor. Its this over layering of rules and ritualization of customs through the years that give young deacons the impression that this one big custom rather than the Holy Tradition of God. For example why is it when someone doesn't use the 'lafayif' they get told they are breaking the tuqs. This was a roman custom that found its way into our church when we used to place the Body into our own mouths. Once the Priest began placing it there was no real reason to use them.

    This is what I'm saying the liturgy should be practical, alive and dynamic in its expression and manifestation, not a custom that is set in stone without meaning (and often times meanings are invented for it). Fr. Tadros Malaty in his book on Tradition describes tradition as dynamic.

    God Bless
  • Hi Katanikhoros, here's a paper you might like: "Philanthropia in Liturgy and Life”
    http://www.svots.edu/sites/default/files/basilsce.pdf

    It talks about St Basil (one of the saints who we ascribe authorship of our anaphoras) and the connection of liturgy served on the altar (which fed the faithful) and leitorgia of the table (which fed the needy).
  • edited February 2015
    When I said it is subjective, I was referring to the connection an individual experiences with the Liturgy. Yes we can say objectively that the angels and saints are joining with us and the Body of the Lord is there but it is up to us how we want to experience it. For example, a couple can go to Italy and have a great time, enjoy some really great food, stay in a wonderful hotel and another couple could have visited the sample places, eaten in the same restaurants, and yet they did not enjoy it. That is not to say that they were not objectively 'experiencing' the same things. However, they were not experiencing it the same way, therefore it is subjective.
  • I do however agree regarding the fact that we have over ritualized some things. A great example like you mentioned is not being able to pick up the Body of the Lord in case it drops on the floor. Its funny how people think it to be inappropriate to touch it despite it going into our own bodies! It is also sad that they think it to be more permissible to stay on the floor until abouna picks it up rather than having it touch my hand. :/
  • qawe, 
    that was truly an excellent article that summed up the issue so well.

    Thank you,
    God Bless
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