What are some differences between a Catholic Mass and an Orthodox Divine Liturgy?
(I believe that is the right word for Orthodox Service)
All I know is That during the Divine Liturgy you stand the whole time.
One significant difference is that portion of the Anaphora prayers called the "epiklisis" — the calling upon the Holy Spirit to descend and change the bread and wine in to the body and blood of Christ is *missing* from the Roman mass. In the Roman mass, the change is considered to occur as the priest quotes the words "This is my body… this is my bloood". The Orthodox Divine Liturgy contains those words, but there is an additional prayer:
"Priest (in a low voice): Once again we offer to You this spiritual worship without the shedding of blood, and we ask, pray, and entreat You: send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here presented.
Priest: And make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ.
Amen.
Priest: And that which is in this cup the precious Blood of Your Christ.
Amen.
Priest: Changing them by Your Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen.
"
In some parishes (including ours) the prayers are said aloud, and the various "Amen"s are spoken by the people.
Which is another point. There must be lay persons at an Orthodox Divine Liturgy. It is not allowed to have a liturgy with only clergy present. The people must be there, too, so there are no "private masses" in Orthodoxy.
powered by Yahoo Answers
November 08 2009 07:52 pm | Uncategorized
goodluckwithhat on 09 Nov 2009 at 1:25 am #
I think, but don’t know for sure, that at least some Orthodox sing their service. Look it up in Wikipedia.
References :
HTacianas on 09 Nov 2009 at 2:15 am #
They are nearly identical. At one time they were the same with only the most minor differences.
It was one of the early commentators that spoke about the differences between Alexandria and Rome: "When I am in Rome I do as the Romans do". It’s where we get the old saying from.
References :
brian on 09 Nov 2009 at 2:52 am #
that NEDM cat with the pope hat on is full of win. great avatar.
References :
Jack (Catholicism is the Truth) on 09 Nov 2009 at 2:59 am #
HTaciana is actually incorrect. There are some major differences. The Orthodox Church uses the Byzantine Rite, which is much different. The Orthodox mass is also two hours long instead of one.
References :
IJR on 09 Nov 2009 at 3:25 am #
The Divine LIturgy is chanted, sometimes in the Ethnic langauge of the church.
The Priest will generally face the Altar with his back to the congregation
All the same elements of the Mass are part of the Divine LIturgy. The Processional, The Gospel and Epistle, the blessing of the faithful, the Consecration of the gifts. They are essentially two seperate ways of doing the same thing.
The Eastern Catholic Church also uses the DIVINE LITURGY. There are a few Biritual Catholic Priests that can say Mass and the Divine Liturgy with permission of the Church.
It is true that some older Orthodox churches do not have pews, but most in the United States do. Traditionally, you did stand during the entire service, now it is only required to do so during the Gospel and the Consecreation of the gifts. If you wish to stand for the whole service (up to two hours!) you can.
References :
pudlasz on 09 Nov 2009 at 3:54 am #
Eastern Orthodox Christian Liturgy: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4580591168826014920&ei=RiLuSv6PJKac2wLYzK3JBQ&q=eastern+orthodox+liturgy+&hl=pl&view=2&dur=3
watch and compare to the RC Mass
References :
OPsaltis on 09 Nov 2009 at 4:31 am #
One significant difference is that portion of the Anaphora prayers called the "epiklisis" — the calling upon the Holy Spirit to descend and change the bread and wine in to the body and blood of Christ is *missing* from the Roman mass. In the Roman mass, the change is considered to occur as the priest quotes the words "This is my body… this is my bloood". The Orthodox Divine Liturgy contains those words, but there is an additional prayer:
"Priest (in a low voice): Once again we offer to You this spiritual worship without the shedding of blood, and we ask, pray, and entreat You: send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here presented.
Priest: And make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ.
Amen.
Priest: And that which is in this cup the precious Blood of Your Christ.
Amen.
Priest: Changing them by Your Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen.
"
In some parishes (including ours) the prayers are said aloud, and the various "Amen"s are spoken by the people.
Which is another point. There must be lay persons at an Orthodox Divine Liturgy. It is not allowed to have a liturgy with only clergy present. The people must be there, too, so there are no "private masses" in Orthodoxy.
References :
http://www.goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_texts/liturgy_hchc
Kristin on 09 Nov 2009 at 4:56 am #
OPsaltis: Thank you for showing us part of the text of the Divine Liturgy, but I need to correct your comments about the Catholic mass.
First, neither Catholics nor Orthodox priests are allowed to say private masses. I’m pretty sure that rule was made before the schism.
And the Catholic mass does include an epiclesis, although Catholics do consider the words of institution to be the moment of change in the Eucharistic elements. Before the 1960s, the epiclesis was rather indirect, which many found unsatisfactory. But the text of the Novus Ordo mass said in Catholic churches today includes an explicit epiclesis. There are three options:
Pre-consecration:
II: Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy,
so that they may become for us
the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
III: And so, Father, we bring you these gifts.
We ask you to make them holy by the power of your Spirit,
that they may become the body and blood
of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
at whose command we celebrate this eucharist.
IV: Father, may this Holy Spirit sanctify these offerings.
Let them become the body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord
as we celebrate the great mystery
which he left us as an everlasting covenant.
Post-consecration:
II: May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ
be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.
III: Look with favour on your Church’s offering,
and see the Victim whose death has reconciled us to yourself.
Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood,
may be filled with his Holy Spirit,
and become one body, one spirit in Christ.
IV: Lord, look upon this sacrifice which you have given to your Church; and by your Holy Spirit, gather all who share this one bread and one cup into the one body of Christ, a living sacrifice of praise.
References :