EASTER FOR EASTERN CATHOLICS

by JAMES READ
F,IGHT million Catholics have never been to a Latin Mass, and if truth were told, are quite happy if they never do go. These are all loyal members of the Catholic Church, but cling lovingly to rites, many of which were a thousand years old when the present Tridentine Latin Mass was compiled in the 16th century.
The Eastern Catholics have been formed by sections of dissident churches, who have returned to Communion with the Holy See.
A month after Latin Catholics have celebrated Easter, they will have theirs, for they follow the ancient Julian calendar. April 26 is the day when they celebrate Easter, the Feast of Feasts, as they call it.
Many Catholics who go to their parish church on the
Eastern rite celebrations. Naturallx, you can receive Communion, just as in any other Catholic Church.
The visitor is often puzzled to see so much that is different and many familiar sights are missing. Icons take the place of statues. Just as you pray in front of a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Eastern Catholic prays before an icon of Our Lady, under one of her eastern titles. You may already be familiar with Our Lady of Vladimir, an icon now popular in the West.
In place of the sanctuary rails found in a Western church, is a .large screen covered in icons, called the iconastatis. It has three doors, which are closed for most of the service. As the people can't see what the priest is doing, a
deacon leads the people in their prayers.
There is a service of about 30 minutes, during which the priest prepares the bread and wine. Unleaven bread is used and the bread resembles a cottage loaf. Only part of the loaf is consecrated. the remainder is cut in cubes and distributed to all the congregation at the end of the service. This is the antidoran, or blessed bread.
To watch the ceremonial preparation of the bread and wine, it is best to attend the Eastern liturgy in a Western church, where there is no screen to obstruct one's view. This is possible in areas where there are not sufficient Eastern Catholics to afford their own church.
Much of the liturgy consists of litanies, such as "Litany of Peace" and the "Litany of Supplication."
As in the West when Latin was used, the people do not generally understand the langauge used in Eastern services. In Britain, the Eastern rites most usually encountered are the Russian, Ukranian and Byellorussian. In all these, Staroslav, sometimes called Church Slavonic is used. In the Middle East, Arabic is sometimes used, but more usually, it is a dead language such as Ge 'Ez.
The part of the service most remembered by visitors is the Great Entrance. The priest and deacon take the Gospels in procession. leaving the screen by a side door and re-entering the sanctuary by the centre door, which they call the "Royal Door."
The visiting Latin-rite Catholic watching this rich ceremonial, invariably wonders what will happen at the Consecration. At the end of the service, he invariably comments: "I missed the consecration," The consecration is not outwardly marked by any equivalent of the Western sanctus bell.
During the Canon, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. While they believe in transubstantiation, they are often reluctant to state the exact second in the Canon, when the miraculous change occurs.
This is typically Eastern, they accept Mysteries of Faith, and cannot understand Western Christians who seek reasons and precision. It is for this reason, that the Orthodox often accuse Catholics of hair splitting. "We have God's word, that is sufficient. We're not concerned with why or how."
Eastern-rite Catholics do not genuflect. It is a purely Western custom, and the Real Presence is honoured just as much by a bow from the waist, Communion is received standing and is given on a spoon.
At the end of the service, go up to receive the Antidoran. There will be two icons on a prayer desk, these are kissed before returning to your pew.
After the sersice, you can
look around and perhaps peep behind the iconastatis. The altar will have a tabernacle on it, often shaped in the form of a church. This will be a box with one large central dome and four small domes at the corners. In Britain, disused chapels have been purchased, so the typical onion-shaped domes, such as those on the Kremlin in Moscow are absent.
Everything you see in the church has some symbolic significance. The large dome on the roof represents Our Lord, the four smaller domes are the four evangelists.
The icons all around the wall remind the faithful that we are surrounded by the saints who unite their prayers with us. These Catholics call their icons "Windows into Heaven," through which the saints gaze down on us.
The priest goes around the church greeting the icons as if the saint was physically present. At the great entrance, all the saints are invited to come into the sanctuary, to join the priest as he offers the sacrifice of the Mass.
In recent years, with an in
creasing interest among Western Christians of these ancient rites, some priests have decided to hold some of their liturgies in English. By this means, the visitor can participate more fully in the services.
As the priests and their congregations are usually exiles they still hold their regular services in the traditional language. Priests only celebrate the liturgy once a day, so there is not a choice of times for Mass, as is the case in Latin rite churches.