Categories: orthodox-life, other-churches
Date: 07 July 2007 08:21:07
On the Feast of St John's Nativity [Julian Calendar: a Happy Feast Day to St John's Nativity to all on the Julian Calendar!], I took myself to St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church at Waverley for "the centenary of the decision of the Holy Synod of Russia to permit the adaptation of services taken from the Book of Common Prayer for use by Orthodox people" (from the booklet provided on the day).
His Eminence, Hilarion, ROCOR Archbishop of Sydney was present at a Mattins and English Rite Mass, celebrated by Fr Michael [Superior of St Petroc Monastery in Tasmania], Fr Barry Jefferies [Superior, St Stephen Mission] and Fr Deacon John Whiteside [Good Shepherd, Melbourne].
Only a small congregation, 13 during Mattins, increasing to 16 during Mass were there: a few I recognised from my previous visits to St Mary's [a friend, who is now an ordinand up in Brisbane, worshipped there], so they no doubt came along to see what it was about. Two able chanters, as well as an acolyte and another, I believe, deacon from the Russian Church, celebrated the occasion. I would've thought more would be present, but I suspect the Western Rite is very much a minor thing down here, if not in Orthodoxy in general.
It was a beautiful service, and it was wonderful to hear some of my favourite hymns used as part of the Mass [Holy, Holy, Holy and Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence -- which we have in the Byzantine Rite on Holy Saturday, but I prefer the Western version, especially with a glorious descant!] and the simple plainchant was also music to my ears. It was also beautiful to hear a number of the prayers, both those found in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer and those added in.
That said, it did show me how much I love the Byzantine Rite and its services: Western Rite is not my thing. I know it may be very helpful to those who are searching and seeking from a Western Liturgical Background, or even from a Western background as Byzantine Rite Orthodoxy can be very foreign, but I have found my home in the Byzantine Rite.
Also, and no offence is meant [and I apologise for any caused], I found this particular instance of Western Rite Orthodoxy [this is my only group liturgical worship experience] very "British" -- to be expected perhaps, given it is Western Rite based on English use and given at least two of the priests were from England [judging by their accents] -- and seemingly an appeal for converts, mainly getting this impression from the leaflet in which I read about "the ecclesiastical invasion of Augustine" and Western Rite (WR) Orthodoxy being a way "for western people to return to ... the ... Church founded by Christ" -- the Byzantine Rite did fine for me. The content of the St Petroc Monastery website and this website [on the same server as the Monastery's website], British Orthodox Christian Heritage Resurgence, seems to be a call to disaffected "Westerners", Anglicans of British heritage in particular. I seem no harm in spreading the news about Orthodoxy, but I do worry when a call is made to the disaffected alone, or to a particular group -- perhaps an appeal to British Christianity may work well in England; in multicultural Australia? -- I'm not so sure.
Note that I am only talking about my experiences today: not WR Orthodoxy as a whole. I use a Benedictine Prayer Book for my Prayer Rule, so I am not anti-WR wholesale. I know there is a place for it, and a need for it, as the Byzantine Rite can be very foreign to some, but I do worry about this instance of it here and the method and target of its "outreach" on that website.
A Mystery Worship report may be submitted to Ship of Fools in the near future, depending on how my memory goes.