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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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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”