The Roman Catholic Church is the Roman rite within the larger Catholic Church, with all various liturgical rites in union with Rome. This differs from the Orthodox churches of the East, which broke their union with Rome in 1054 A.D. Eastern-rite Catholics mention the Pope in the anaphora, or Eucharistic Prayer, and are part of the Roman Catholic Church, not the Orthodox Church.
The Roman rite is by far the largest and most widespread of the two churches, as they both believe in the Trinity, the inspiration of the Bible, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eastern Catholics are in full communion with the Pope and members of the worldwide Catholic Church but are not members of the Latin Church, which uses the Latin liturgical rites.
The Latin Rite is a church that developed in western Europe and northern Africa when Latin was the language of education. The Romanian Rite, centered in Romania with a significant population in the United States, reunited with Rome in 1697 and uses Modern Romanian in their liturgy. In 1948, they were forced to join the Romanian Orthodox.
Eastern Catholics are in full communion with the Pope and members of the worldwide Catholic Church, but they are not members of the Latin Church, which uses the Latin liturgical rites. The diocese of Rome is of the Latin rite, governed by the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.
There are 23 Churches united to the Latin Church that are neither Latin nor use the Roman Rite, although they are in communion with the Bishop. As the Bishop of Rome, the head of the Latin or Roman rite is St. Peter, who founded the Latin or Roman rite.
Interactions with the Orthodox Church have caused internal problems, particularly in America, due to the Latin Rite being the majority rite of the Roman Catholic Church.
📹 Are Roman Catholics Welcome In A Byzantine Catholic Church? (East vs West Differences)
In this video, Father Tyler Strand covers the main differences between Eastern and Western Rites of Catholicism. If you enjoyed …
Can Roman Catholics go to the Eastern Rite?
The Consecration of the Eucharist during the divine liturgy of Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches is valid. A Roman rite Catholic can attend Eastern Catholic liturgies and receive Communion without issue, fulfilling their Sunday/holy day obligation. However, Eastern Orthodox liturgies do not fulfill the Sunday/holy day obligation to attend Mass. Catholics should not receive Communion at Eastern Orthodox liturgies, except in certain circumstances. To distinguish between Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, contact the local diocese.
Do Orthodox pray the rosary?
The Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox religions diverge in their utilization of prayer ropes, which typically comprise 50 or 100 beads. These ropes are employed in place of the traditional rosary, which includes the Hail Marys, Our Fathers, and the Apostle’s Creed, in the recital of the “Jesus Prayer.”
Is there a difference between Latin Catholic and Roman Catholic?
Roman Catholics are members of the Catholic Church, which is headquartered in Rome. Latin Catholics are members of the Latin Church, which is the largest of 24 autonomous churches in the Catholic communion.
Can Latin Catholic marry Orthodox?
A Latin Catholic couple or Latin Catholic priest is required to conduct the ceremony in an Orthodox church. Similarly, an Orthodox priest is obliged to perform the wedding in an Orthodox church.
What Bible do Russian Orthodox use?
The Elizabeth Bible, also known as Yelizavetinskaya Bibliya, is the official version of the Bible used by the Russian Orthodox Church. It was published in Russia in 1751 under the assistance of Elizabeth of Russia. The Elizabeth Bible was the third complete printed edition in Church Slavonic, following the Ostrog Bible of 1581 and the Moscow Bible of 1663. In 1712, Peter I of Russia ordered the printed Church Slavonic text to be compared with the Greek of the Septuagint.
The revision was completed in 1724 and was ordered to be printed, but Peter’s death in 1725 prevented its execution. The manuscript of the Old Testament of this revision is in the synodal library at Moscow. The work of revision was resumed under Elizabeth of Russia in 1744, and the revised Elizabeth Bible was published in 1751. Three other editions were published in 1756, 1757, and 1759, with the second being somewhat of a revision.
Is Orthodox stricter than Catholic?
The Orthodox Church permits married men to be ordained as deacons and priests, but bishops must be chosen from monastic ranks and remain unmarried and celibate. The marriage of priests who have already been ordained is also not allowed. The Catholic Church is generally stricter, with certain exemptions, and all Catholic priests are expected to be celibate and unmarried. Despite centuries of attempts to unite the two Churches, the main issue is papal primacy, with the Orthodox Church unlikely to accept the authority of the Pope, as this would compromise their beliefs.
Is the Roman Catholic Church the Latin rite?
The Catholic Church, unlike the Roman rite, is composed of 23 distinct Churches or rites, with Eastern Catholics numbering around 16. 3 million. The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches defines “rite” as the liturgical, theological, spiritual, and disciplinary heritage of each autonomous church, distinguished by people’s culture and historical circumstances, that finds expression in their way of living the faith.
How is Orthodox different from Latin Catholic?
The Catholic Church maintains that the Holy Spirit has its origin in God the Father and proceeds to Jesus Christ the Son. In contrast, the Orthodox Church holds the conviction that the Holy Spirit has its source in God the Father alone.
Are Orthodox services in Latin?
The liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church is Ecclesiastical Latin, while the Eastern Orthodox Churches utilize Ecclesiastical Greek and Church Slavonic, as well as Romanian, which has been employed in Orthodox liturgy since the eighteenth century.
What rite does the Orthodox Church use?
The Western Rite is a religious practice within religious communities outside the mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church, including the Communion of the Western Orthodox Churches and the Orthodox Church of France. There are also a few Western Rite communities among the Old Calendarists, such as the former Western Rite Exarchate of the Holy Synod of Milan and the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of North and South America and the British Isles. Independent Western Orthodox churches and monasteries are not part of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Western Rite parishes are found almost exclusively in countries with large Roman Catholic or Protestant populations. There are numerous devotional societies and publishing ventures related to the Western Rite. Western Rite Orthodoxy remains a contentious issue for some. Julian Joseph Overbeck, a former Roman Catholic priest, worked to establish a modern Orthodox Western Rite in 1864. He converted to Lutheranism and married, and in 1865, was received as a layman into the Russian Orthodox Church.
Which is higher, Roman Catholic or Latin Catholic?
The Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church are, in fact, one and the same entity. However, the Latin Catholic Church represents one of the 23 churches under the authority of the Pope, comprising approximately 97% of the Catholic Church membership. The remaining 3% of Catholics are members of the remaining 22 worldwide churches.
📹 Liturgical comparison: Orthodox vs Catholic
Liturgical comparison. Comparing liturgical differences between Roman Catholic (non-Vatican II) and Orthodox. Roman Rite vs …
I’m an Orthodox bishop. I don’t think one can celebrate a liturgy exactly the same way twice. But it is always a joyful service, according to the location and the different ritual. I know that I can not serve the Liturgy exactly the same way each time. There are so many liturgical moves according to the geographic location.
At two point of this article the viewers can see the Rites of the Malankara Orthodox Church. This is an Oriental Orthodox Church which uses the Divine Liturgy of St. James which is one of the longest Mass ceremonies. In fact the church at 6 mins in is in fact my own church. (imagine my surprise when i saw my Godfather :D) The service being conducted at the 6 min mark was a processional for easter. The second article 7:30min was the beginning of Mass. Once the processional around the altar is finished the Trisagion begins. Our service contains both West Syrian and Malayalam the local language. Before our church split in the 1900s I believe the majority of our services was in Syriac but local priests and lay people desired to understand the meaning of the services rather than keeping it a mystery. A priest once told me that even the Bible used in the church uses a different codex than most, the Syrian Peshitta. Its nice to see the similarities between the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and the Catholics. Lots of similarities between vestments.
Both of them are beautiful and express the pure faith of the sacrifice our Lord and King Jesus Christ gladly shoulderd on Golgota, in order to reconicile mankind with the heavenly father. The seperation is one of biggest tragedies in history. There is a deep crisis of faith in the catholic church. About 150 years ago, our Lady of La Salette let the children know about what the church is now facing. But do not despair the catholic tradtion is spreading itself again. It’s just a matter of time. Deo Gratias!
As an Orthodox, I do not think that the rite styles is a problem for a rapprochement, since in case it happens both must be maintained because they are traditional. However, I say that the main thing that the Roman Church must change is how the Head of the Church should perform their duties and other theological dogmas applied after schism.
I love the Roman Catholic Church but we really need a return to traditional liturgy. Enough with the Protestanization!!! Thankfully, due to the monarchial style of the Church, all that is needed is a new Pope that respects tradition and the problem will be solved. I love Pope Fancis’ works especially in charity and social work, but hopefully the next pope restores the tridentine mass to all churches. God Bless Cardinal Burke!!!!!
First, the comparison is confusing: there is a disorder in the presentation of the structure of both liturgies (the Roman starts with a Cardinal giving the final blessing!). Second, there’s a mixture of pontifical and non-pontifical high Masses, both sung or not, from the Western side. And finally, there is a combination of different Eastern rites -starting with a hierarchical Russian Byzantine rite and ending with a common Antiochian rite (as far as I am aware). From the (Roman) Catholic side, I’d like to point out the fact that the Holy See has stated officially that all Catholic rites –Western and Eastern- are equal in dignity and importance.
I’ll never understand why Vatican II didn’t simply approve use of the Tridentine mass in the vernacular, with good, dignified, formal translations. You chose odd moments to compare. I’d have expected equivalent points of the services, but they’re in completely disjointed and only superficially similar. “Here’s an Orthodox bishop at the altar; here’s a Roman bishop at the altar. Here’s a Roman bishop censing; here’s an Orthodox bishop censing. Here’s the Roman rite where they ring some bells; here’s an Oriental rite (Syriac?) where they ring some bells… The eastern rites shown aren’t even all the same ones, and some are much better organized and executed than others. There’s really no true comparison here.
The Russians know how to build a church! Chuch of Christ the Savior is today wonder of world. The Eastern orthodox Christian Church has never changed the lit. Sad, Roman Catholic Church should go back to their Latin masses. St John wrote a beautiful liturgy for all time. People need to check out the Russian Church rebuilt by millions of orthodox Christians since 1985.
Finally, a fair and honest presentation of the Catholic liturgy. Too often, dishonest members of the orthodox church presented the worse liturgical abuses from the 60s 70s and 80s to show the “superiority ” of the orthodox liturgy over the Catholic liturgy. These liturgical abuses, while not completely eradicated, are becoming a think of the past, particularly with the younger and more traditional clergy being ordained to the Catholic priesthood.
In all honesty and let’s be really honest here the orthodox and Catholic Church believe in very similar things the main reason they are still separate is because of politics. The orthodox bishops love their independence and don’t want to submit to Rome in any shape or form. While the pope is in no way willing to tone down his authority for the sake of reunification.
Author, you are slightly confused in the Byzantine rite) For example, in the beginning, why compare the beginning of the Eucharistic Canon (in the Liturgy, which serves as Bishop of the words “lift up our Hearts…” are pronounced from the pulpit with dikirim and trickeries in hand) with the usual blessing of the cardinal, although this should be compared with the time when the Roman rite sing the Sanctus
The Tridentine Mass only started to be a code in 1570. I agree that this should be preserve. But I also agree with the use of Novus Ordo because it uses the vernacular language. In using the vernacular language, we will be able to pray by our hearts. Using the Latin Language will take time for some to understand it. Others will not even take time to study the language. It is just like what Jesus said in the Bible about people who are praying repetitively but not using their hearts. To make Jesus Christ the center of the celebration, just focus in the Eucharist. I am thinking of the format of Tridentine Mass but with a vernacular language.
As an Eastern Christian, I don’t like how the Roman bishop here just holds his hand straight when blessing people. In the Byzantine East, both Orthodox and Catholic, a priest or bishop holds his hand so as to form the Greek letters “IC XC”, which are the initials for “Jesus Christ”. A few of my Roman Catholic priest friends, upon learning this have started doing it themselves😀
I attend a parish that offers the true Roman Rite, not the Novus Ordo bastard rite. It is under the care of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest. I am going in the new seminary of the SSPX. I also have a Ukrainian Catholic Church near me where they offer the Byzantine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
I attend Vatican 2 and comparing it with Latin Mass😢It’s disgraceful but I love Vatican 2 Priests as well. They are Nice People😢I want to go to Traditional Latin Mass but it’s hard to find one where Im living. Plus I’m only 16 Years old. I have to follow my parents to Vatican 2 and I refuse to eat the Body and Blood. I’m waiting till I go to Latin Mass which will take forever…
hi guys i am a catholic from philippines. i have a question guys, what if we use tridentine mass in a vernacular form, what if we use gregorian chant in our own language, its possible right?,, first time to watch tridentine mass in youtube by cardinal bruke and it actually make me happy. i really feel that im with god sorrounded by angels who sungs a beautiful chants. its actually make me tears, tears of joy. i love it and thank you for sharing the article. god bless you all.
Only the smallest fraction of Roman Catholics attend this more traditional rite. The majority of Roman Catholics have never even seen it. Secondly, look at the Liturgics and the Liturgical music at some of the world youth conferences presided over by Pope Francis himself. It is difficult to call things “abuses” when they have the blessings of the Pope and the local Bishops and we are not talking about the ’60s, ’70-s, and ’80s. So this is by no means a fair representation of Roman Catholic worship in the 21st century. The Orthodox Liturgy is truly ancient and changeless, thanks be to God.
I am an Orthodox who knows the basics in Byzantine music. Jeeez the Russian rite’s 18th century music irritates me to the point that i rly prefered the Old Roman rite😅. If you take out things like partaking only in the Body of Christ and the other heresies of the Catholics in their mass, the Old Roman Catholic mass is totally fine and gorgeous.
The Divine Liturgy seems to be more elaborate, bringing one to the threshold of heaven on earth. The Mass seems to force one to examine into theirselves with its simple but majestic austerity. Both do the purpose of bringing man to God. I do wish the Maronite Catholics were shown though. Great article!
The question is why 99 % of Roman Catholics cannot find their traditional liturgy celebrated, at least, in their Cathedrals and why the Greek Orthodox can. And why 99.99 % of the top hierarchy of the RCC especially the Pope not just don’t celebrate the traditional liturgy but despise it and why ALL the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church does just the opposite.
There is nothing to compare, because each rite emphasizes an eternal truth in a more particular way. The Most Holy Trinity is most emphasized in the Byzantine rite, and the Passion of Christ in the Latin rite. Since celebrated according to the Faith, all rites are the Renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross. Different angles of the same reality.
I’m a traditional Roman Catholic and have been since I was 19 years old. I was baptized Catholic at age 1 in 1964 but wasn’t raised Catholic because of the changes brought in by the Second Vatican Council. I’m blessed to have two parishes that do the traditional Latin Mass in the city where I live. The traditional Catholic Mass and the Byzantine Mass are both beautiful and holy.
I’m not coming down on the Orthodox Church, but do you really think that God really requires all this “pomp and circumstance”? Can you see Jesus doing this during His ministry here on earth? He humbled Himself to show us how we should conduct ourselves. I’m just saying the example we see in scripture shows us a very simple, loving, compassionate ceremony of The First Eucharist.
I understand not wanting to show the novus ordo mass to represent Roman Catholicism, but to be fair the novus ordo mass is the only real sanctioned mass allowed in the Roman Catholic Church without special permission besides the eastern Catholic liturgies which do not represent the vast majority of Roman Catholics. So it’s a little misleading to use the traditional Latin mass to represent Roman Catholicism when it is hardly found, especially now after the Pope’s recent letter.
The illustration of the Roman liturgy here IS NOT indicative of the regular parochial life of a Roman Catholic. They were kind in their presentation of the Roman Liturgy not to include the NOVUS ORDO. The Orthodox have not suffered this diabolical infiltration of their liturgy ever. I would love to be able to attend a VALID ROMAN MASS close to my home. Instead, the only think within reasonable driving distance is NOVUS ORDO celebrations which ARE NOT AT ALL Catholic. I attended a Presanctification service in an Orthodox Church, a very small Orthodox Church here in South Carolina. It was in English, and done with absolute stunning reverence. It was NOT a Sunday Mass. I cannot attend a Sunday Roman Mass any place that comes close to the majesty of the Orthodox Liturgy. Again, they were kind in this illustration. I hate when Catholics present themselves as the TRUE CHURCH…when the TRUE CHURCH died in 1965 as a visible sign to the world, she exists in catacombs and one day it will take a reunification with the Orthodox to put us back on the right track. In the mean time do not let any Catholic tell you our liturgy comes close to the Orthodox Liturgy on a regular basis. What you saw was EXTRA ORDINARY…Believe me.
Ortodox is catholic too, ortodox Catholic and Christians catholic … Catholic means universal church.. difference christans have pope and ortodox have bichop or chief priest . But same god, same Saints, same bealives … Christians can go to ortodox church normaly because are the same … But with out pope … We are looking for god Jesús not a person…
The Title is not versus, is should be LITURGICAL COMPARISON: BETWEEN ORTHODOX AND ROMAN CATHOLIC. NOTE PLEASE ORTHODOX CHURCH IS ALSO CATHOLIC, FOUNDED BY JESUS THROUGH THE APOSTLES. EACH 12 APOSTLES FOUNDED A HOLY SEE. Before SAINT PETER REACHED ROME, THERE IS ALREADY A CATHOLIC CHURCH, in ANTIOCH and IN CONSTANTINOPLE. THE MODERN CATHOLIC LITURGY IS PROTESTANTISM. ORTHODOX LITURGY OF BYZANTINE RITE IS SIMILAR TO THE TRADITIONAL MASS OF ROMAN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, NOT THE NOVUS ORDO. NOVUS ORDO MASS IS FROM THE PROTESTANT REFORM OF MARTIN LUTHER. PLEASE VISIT FACE BOOK PAGE VIOLATION OF THE NOVUS ORDO MASS. AND YOU WILL SEE THE DIFFERENCE.
Traditional liturgies of The Roman Catholic (Latin rite) all Orthodox liturgies SHOULD express the same reality across time/ space Jesus promised to be with us until His return Bread and wine become the body blood soul and divinity of our Most Holy Savior Jesus Christ. Whether east or west this is the reality that we enter into in our Catholic and Orthodox liturgies. Should anyone preach anything different let them be anathema. I had a Greek Orthodox father and an Irish Catholic mother we should pray and sacrifice every day for the reunion of the Church according to God’s will not ours. As the church travel this period of great apostasy we will see traditional Christians scourged just as Christ was. The human institutions of the church are proceeding towards entombment. We may now be in Gethsemane or nearing Golgotha. Fear not Christ has conquered. We preach Christ crucified but He is risen! The scourging of the human Church will be followed by a glorious period of holiness.
The article shows ritual differences,these are not really important and can coexist as iin they did for centuries .Actual differences are 1)the partial communion of the faithful with ONLY THE BODY OF CHRIST in the Roman Catholic Church while in the Orthodox they receive full communion BODY AND BLOOD 2)The use of UNLEAVENED bread by the Roman. Church while the Orthodox use LEAVENED as they emphasise on the Eucharistic as a feast of Resurrection 3)The Roman Catholic use PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS while the Orthodox do so ONLY ON WEEKDAYS OF THE GREAT LENT
It’s not accurate statement, because in many examples stated as snapshots from Orthodox Church, is actually from Coptic Church. At the examples we can see the differences between the Eastern (Orthodox) Church, with a rite more absolute and with more observance of the structure, as opposed from the Oriental (Coptic) Church. So, the article is NOT a comparison between Orthodox and Catholic mass. (Coptics may call themselves as “Orthodox Coptics”, but Copic Church is not related at all with the Orthodox Church, and that means that Orthodox and Coptics have not in Communion). But now, this week is dedicated to unity between Christians. This week we pray together, Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants for unity under Christ. So, peace to all of us.
The two rites were going to be different whether or not there was a 1054. I don’t know what the orthodox are doing during their Divine Liturgy. Beautiful as it is in music and liturgical expression, I can never understand the multiple signs of the cross during the liturgy. When is the Liturgy of the word? What is the moment of the offertory? What is the moment of consecration? Why such an amount of in and out over and back with the belled cencer? Beautiful as it is and the magnificent vesture and headwear and the sonorous voices of the cantors the liturgy seems to my western eyes as though it is going nowhere. Compared with the Roman right the latter is more austere and measured whilst the orthodox are in and out of the Holy of Holies with bells and candles. I would love to learn the Orthodox liturgy but it is much too complicated and no silence whatsoever. I like to know what Im doing and when? Novus Ordo is beautiful when celebrated properly The High Latin Mass is beautiful and the low mass is also very beautiful. the Orthodox congregation are exemplar in their attention to the Divine Liturgy and seem to be at peace even though they have to stand for hours. if we had an orthodox liturgy in our parish it would empty the church after the first Sunday. If the Novus Ordo was celebrated in the Orthodox Church it would also empty the Church as the Orthodox is too rich for out appetite and time consciousness and the Novus Order to meaningless and bare for the Orthodox. Long live both traditions!
The Roman Rite used to have rood screens too. These are still in place in some Latin Rite Churches. It might be better to have used French recordings of the traditional Roman Pontifical High Mass. Also maybe find better recordings of the Syrio Malabar Rite without modern additions such as microphones.
When you say “non-Modernist” you’re clearly look at the ideal rather than the reality; the reality is, most priests don’t know or care about Latin, because Jesus can hear our prayers no matter what language we speak, the Catholic Church started to exist only after Vatican 2, and we should pay no attention to the last 1,000 years and instead talk about being relevant in the modern age.
Actually, this should be Liturgical comparison: Orthodox (Greek it looks like; probably Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom) vs Catholic (Roman Latin Rite). The Eastern Rite Catholics have pretty much the same exact Liturgy as the Greek Orthodox to my knowledge. +++Edit+++ Grammatical Corrections
Le rapport de ces DEUX CULTES doit quitter les aspects émotionnels et le ritualisme. Leurs différenceS ne tiens pas dans la “lingerie”et les “fumeroles” et des accents linguistiques et culturels légitimes. Mais pour essentiel à la FIDELITE à l’enseignement évangélique/ PAIN et VIN et Demande “ecclésiale”(Prêtres et Fidèles) à Dieu de la réalisation du MYSTÈRE EUCHARISTIQUE, qui n’est pas œuvre INCANTATOIRE mais action de l’ESPRIT. Tout es ainsi (presque)résumé !
The Catholic mass, even in its traditional form, still seems more shallow and modest compared to Divine Liturgy. Eastern churches have this mystery, rituals and gestures that a simple man cannot understand. It’s much more rich and solemn, the choirs are simply divine and brig shivers down your spine, the iconostasis is a beautiful wall that separates heaven from earth, the priests look more manly and wear beautiful vestments, the way they incense the altar and the rest of the church with thurible looks different and faster (they use one hand for this!), the priests are in constant motion (they don’t stand most of the time in one place with folded hands like the Latin rite priests do) and they have more liturgical tools that I can’t understand its meaning. Also, they bless people with a small gilded cross (sometimes wooden), not like the Latin rite priests who simply do this with their hands. Also, the presence of icons is simply stunning. The Roman churches have too many statues and paintings and the organ music spoils the mystical mood.
I never ever have seen such a stupid comparison, First the distance between the divine liturgy in orthodoxy and the liturgy of Trente among Traditionalist couldn’t be bigger. The liturgy of Trente is a construction from the 17th century and not the original old catholic liturgy as some state. The divine liturgy is from the 6th century and is original. Secondly there is a profound other conception of the understanding of the church in orthodoxy versus this ultra conservative Catholics. Vatican council II has removed all the negative issues and condemnations to Orthodoxy. De traditionalist hate every opening to other churches also to Orthodoxy. Also there is no comparison possible not on theological basis, in celebrating the Eucharist etc. Finally the real Old-catholic tradition was lost with the contra-reformation. Only in some Anglican churches (High–church), Old -Catholic traditions (Union of Utrecht) en some Lutheran church in Sweden they did preserve elements of the old Church before the Reformation and even before 1054.
Tridentine Mass is only practiced by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, so it is not only the allowed form. Novus Ordo was approved by the Pope and the Fathers of the Vatican II to be used by the Latin Rite. Jesus Christ did not put his back to the disciples in the Last Supper that is one of the reason why we have the Novus Ordo. So many people loves to have their mass in their own dialects that is another reason.
The liturgy of Vatican II is the official liturgy of the Catholic Church. it does not emphasize so much the aesthetic aspects of the liturgy, but aims to involve worshipers more directly in it, in line with the teaching of Jesus, who celebrated the first Mass in simlpe surroundings, using Aramaic, the spoken language common to him and his disciples. No doubt the Orthodox liturgy, especially when celebrated by the Patriarch of Moscow, is magnificent. And the Solemn Latin Mass is magnificent as well. However Jesus did not teach that prayer should be magnificent, but that it be sincere and direct, and open to all. Those who put so much store by the “beauty” of the Latin Mass, and condemn the official liturgy of the Church, are toying with heresy, substituting aesthetic gratification for true worship. No doubt this is why they are so proud of being “rebels” who dare to criticize and defy the Church. In Russia, there were serious conflicts between the Old Believers, who retain the liturgy that was standard before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, introduced in 1652–1666, and the official church issued an anathema against them. This led to periods of persecution by the Tsarist regime and to the dispersal of Old Believers to remote corners of Russia and to other countries. The most notable disagreement was over the correct (orthodox) way of crossing oneself. Most Old Believers, of whom there are about 2 million worldwide, have not returned to the official Church, though they have been invited to do so.
If Jesus was alive today. He would say what the heck is going on. All the money wasted on uniforms (Vestments)and churches. He would come and throw all these people out of the churches ans spend the money on helping the poor. Especially in countries that have no social security like us Australians. Very threatrical but so un real. No wonder the young give churches a big miss.