praying4patience
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Spirituality of the Eastern Churches
The spirituality of the Eastern Churches is considerably different from that of the Western Church. The prayers of the Eastern Churches, liturgical and otherwise, are much more poetic than those of the West. There is an old saying:"Westerners think with their heads, Easterners think with their hearts" and I believe that there is a great deal of truth to that. The Western Liturgy as it has developed over the centuries has had a tendency to be rather stoic, matter-of-fact and to-the-point. It has very few repetitions. It says what it has to say and is done. The Eastern Liturgies, on the other hand, resemble more of a dialogue of love-it is as if the lover is speaking to his beloved, and wants to express so many things about her that he can't stop speaking-a dialogue between Christ the Bridegroom and His Bride, the Church. Many, many prayers are addressed to Christ as the Lover of Mankind-constant reference is made to His inexpressible love for man. These concepts are very infrequent in the liturgical traditions of the Latin Rite, and many of the ones that appear in the new Roman Liturgy have an awkward, Twentieth Century feel about them. For example, compare the prayers for peace from the West and East.
Prayer for Peace from the Traditional Latin Mass
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church, and grant Her the peace and unity that are agreeable to Thy will, Who livest and reignest forver and ever. Amen.
Prayer for Peace from the Maronite Anaphora of St. Celestine
O God, Who art the immesurable sea of tranquility and ever flowing spring of love, by the Cross of Thine only begotten Son Thou hast removed all obstacles to harmony; Thou hast united heavenly and earthly creatures; by the power of Thy Lordship Thou hast reconciled the world. Unite us then, we beseech Thee, in a true bond of love and tranquility that we may give peace to one another. Then we will be worthy to praise Thee together with Thine only begotten Son and Thine all-Holy, good and life giving Spirit, now and always and unto ages of ages. Amen
Many prayers of the Eastern Churches go on and on, when a similar prayer in the Roman Rite would have said what it had to say and been done with it. Not only are the prayers more lengthy, but they also express a depth of emotion that is only infrequently found in the Roman Rite.
I will be presenting more examples of Eastern Spirituality in this thread on a regular basis. If anyone has any thoughts about how Eastern Christian prayer has impacted their spiritual life and their relationship with God and Man, please don't hesitate to post them here.
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3/30/2006, 9:00 pm
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camabeach
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Re: Spirituality of the Eastern Churches
That is a beautiful prayer. I have to admit that I really don't like the "hurry-up" daily Masses that I've attended. When the prayers are long and thoughtful, addressing our Lord with reverence and love, it really makes you come out of yourself and into the Presence of God.
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7/22/2006, 10:48 pm
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Onuphrius
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Re: Spirituality of the Eastern Churches
The Traditional Latin Liturgy still retains a lot of the eloquence and poetry that the Eastern Liturgies have. The New Roman Liturgy has been mostly stripped of this, which is one reason that I don't attend it.
When we get rid of ancient prayers and traditions and try to 're-invent the wheel', we inevitably suffer from it.
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7/25/2006, 5:51 pm
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