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SECUNDUM ORDINEM FIANT

The Vicariate Ordo

By V. Rev. John W. Fenton, Assistant to the Vicar General

St Paul concludes his several chapters on liturgical directions with these words: “Let all things be done decently and in order” or “according to order” (secundum ordinem). (1 Cor 14.40) The Apostle’s point throughout this section (1 Cor 8-14) is that liturgical worship is not according to the whims of the presider, faithful, or anyone else; rather, it is orderly. This liturgical orderliness is inherited from the Old Testament worship prescribed by the Lord, and it helps unify both in the moment as well as across various boundaries. To borrow St Paul’s words from another place, liturgical order aids in “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ” (Eph 4.3). Continue reading “SECUNDUM ORDINEM FIANT”

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The Concept of Merit in the Western Rite

By Fr. David McCready

Today, by the mercy of God, as we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, she who merited to bear Our Saviour,[1] I begin this study, asking that, through her prayers, what I write may be true and in accordance with the Orthodox Faith, the Faith revealed to us by her Divine Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be all glory for ever. Amen.

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Introduction

In the sacristy of one of the churches of the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, there exists an altar missal from which a careful hand has excised every mention of the word ‘merit.’  Such an assault on the venerable liturgical heritage of the Elder Rome appears contrary to the Orthodox phronema, which is ever respectful of what has been handed down to us by tradition (1 Corinthians 11, 23). But merit language is not simply part of our liturgical patrimony: it is part of the theological and spiritual inheritance which we have received from the great Fathers of the Latin church, including St Cyprian, St Ambrose, St Leo, St Benedict, and St Gregory the Dialogist. Shall we also take a pen and strike through their writings? Continue reading “The Concept of Merit in the Western Rite”

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Why the Eastern Orthodox Church Needs the Western Rite

Moving Past Polemics, Restoring the Whole Tradition,
and Fulfilling our Mission in the West

By the Very Rev. Fr. Patrick Cardine
St. Patrick Orthodox Church, Bealeton, Virginia

Originally published in The Basilian Journal V. 2.n.1 Fall 2020 #3
As a companion discussion, listen to the Gazette Podcast episode, “Moving Past Polemics.”

Continue reading “Why the Eastern Orthodox Church Needs the Western Rite”

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Reflections on the Eucharist

By Fr. David McCready

Introduction

When Our Lord Jesus Christ established the mystery of the holy Eucharist, He took bread saying, ‘This is My Body,’ and then took the cup saying, ‘This is My Blood’ (Matthew 26, 26-28; Mark 14, 22-24; Luke 22, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 11, 22-25). For this reason, as well as on account of the Lord’s teaching in the discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6, 22-59), the church has from the very beginning confessed the eucharist ‘to be (εἶναι) the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, that flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father of His goodness raised.’[1] And this is what we confess today. As we say prior to Communion: ‘I believe, O Lord, and I confess … that Thou art truly the Christ … and that this is truly Thine own immaculate Body, and that this is truly Thine own precious Blood.’ Continue reading “Reflections on the Eucharist”

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Western Rite Orthodoxy: An Apologia — Part 2

By Fr. David McCready

In the first part of this article we saw that the Fathers, who are the teachers of our holy Orthodox faith, not only recognized the variety of different rites which prevailed in the early church, but actively extolled this diversity. Our conclusion, therefore, was that of Fr Schmemann: ‘Orthodoxy has no objection to the Western Rite as such.’1

In this part, I want to look at the question as to whether or not the rites actually practiced today in the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate are Orthodox. Continue reading “Western Rite Orthodoxy: An Apologia — Part 2”

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Western Rite Orthodoxy: An Apologia — Part 1

By Fr. David McCready

Part 1: The Witness of Tradition

Cet animal est très méchant. Quand on l’attaque, il se défend. I was reminded of this old French saying the other day, when, in what was quite a stark critique of the western rite, a certain priest-blogger accused those who questioned his theses of being overly defensive! In his hostility to the western rite, this blogger represents, I believe, only a small minority of Orthodox; as a western-rite priest, and, before that, as a western-rite seminarian, I have in general encountered nothing but warmth and welcome from hierarchs, clergy, and lay-people alike, both in the Antiochian Archdiocese, and in other jurisdictions as well. This said, there are some folk who do have honest concerns and questions about the western rite, and it is them especially that I want to address. I shall begin by looking at how Tradition vindicates the principle of a western rite, looking at the witness of the Fathers, at the post-patristic period, and at the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Continue reading “Western Rite Orthodoxy: An Apologia — Part 1”

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Reclaiming All Paul’s Rs: Apostolic Atonement by Way of Some Eastern Fathers

In this essay, Edith M. Humphrey, seeking to recapture a holistic view of the atonement,  focuses on the way that key Pauline texts (especially Colossians 1, Galatians 3 and 2 Cor 5) were read by fourth- and fifth-century interpreters. She argues that a full picture of the atonement needs to emerge that incorporates redemption, reparation, representation, righteousness, rescue, recapitulation, reconciliation, and revolutionary recreation. This full picture is drawn from the entirety of what Christ was, is, and did pro nobis,  and with some surprises for those who draw too strict a line between “Western” and “Eastern” interpretations of Paul. Over against N. T. Wright’s insistence that atonement needs to be reimagined, Humphrey argues rather that it needs to be retrieved. In the patristic commentators, Humphrey demonstrates, we can find such a vision of the atonement.

Continue reading “Reclaiming All Paul’s Rs: Apostolic Atonement by Way of Some Eastern Fathers”
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Forming the Soul With Western Culture

This essay is an edited version of “Forming the Soul”, which appeared in The Orthodox Word Vol. 19 #1-2, 1983, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA.

By the Sisters of St. Xenia Skete

To come to Orthodoxy from the world of today is to come from emptiness to riches, from shallowness to depth, from shams to a reality so all-encompassing that it can, at times, leave one quite uncertain as to the possibility of existing both in the Church and in the “real” world.

Continue reading “Forming the Soul With Western Culture”
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2018 AWRV Conference Keynote

Si fueris Romae, Romano vivito more; si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi.

“If you are at Rome, live in the Roman manner; if elsewhere, live as they do there.”

When St. Augustine arrived in Milan, c. 387 A.D., he observed that the Church did not fast on Saturday as did the Church at Rome. He consulted St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who replied:

“When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the Church where you are.” 

I would like to argue that we live in the West, in “Rome” as it were, and should follow the customs of the ancient Christian West, of Rome.

Continue reading “2018 AWRV Conference Keynote”
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Original and Ancestral Sin: A Church Dividing Issue?

When asked about the topic of Original Sin, many Orthodox Christians will proudly claim the Orthodox Church does not believe in Original Sin. They explain they believe in “Ancestral Sin,” instead. Some even go so far as to call Original Sin, as understood by the Roman Catholic Church, “a heresy.” This, again, is a typical response from many Orthodox Christians, especially those who have a negative attitude towards anything “western.” But is this the official teaching of the Orthodox Church, and do all subscribe to that understanding? Has the Orthodox Church ever condemned or denied Original sin in favor of Ancestral Sin? 

Continue reading “Original and Ancestral Sin: A Church Dividing Issue?”