Introduction to The Western Liturgies
First let us agree that there is no such thing as “Western Rite”
but there are Western Rites. Having established that, we must
acknowledge that in the Orthodox West there were several rites and
numerous uses. The primary families: Roman, Ambrosian, Mozarabic,
Gallican and Sarum each had uses. It is only with the advent of the
printing press, well after 1054 that we begin to see some way of
insuring a measure of uniformity.
So, for the researcher, if for instance, one wanted to use a
Gallican Liturgy we first need to ask what year, what province, what
diocese, and. even perhaps what parish! As there was no printed form
and Liturgical books were rarely uniform, some variety was expected
and not at all seen as anything but catholic. The challenge of the
restoration of the Western Rites in Orthodoxy includes having to
make sound and prudent choices on what texts and translations to use
and inevitably someone will be displeased.
The current uses in Orthodoxy include expressions of all of the
families of Western Rites above, and then some! Perhaps one of the
most striking is the Liturgy of Dom Augustine of Mt Royal. It is a
worthy expression of a Roman Liturgy in the Carthusian mode. It was
blessed for use in Holy Orthodoxy and still is used at Christ the
Savior Monastery (ROCOR) in Hamilton, Ontario and Holy Rood
Monastery in Jacksonville Florida. On the other hand in the United
States, the Antiochian Archdiocese took an Anglican Liturgy,
“Orthodoxized” it and issued it as the Liturgy of St. Tikhon. In
point of fact, it is the Liturgy of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
to which an epiclesis has been added and other minor changes made.
One of the ROCOR priests, Fr. Aidan Keller has done extensive
research on the Sarum rite and has published a Sarum Missal and
Companion volume. The Fraternity of St Gregory Liturgy is basically
the Dom Augustine Liturgy to which the following has been added: the
Deprecatio Gelasii (the Roman Litany of St Gelasius from the late
400’s), an Old Testament Reading, the Litany of St Martin (Ambrosian)
and the Dismissal of the Catechumens.
Below you will find a number of Western Liturgies in the
vernacular. They are meant to fan your further study and
appreciation of the Liturgical Catholicity of the Orthodox Churches.
We are blessed to present to you for your perusal and study the
original Order of Celebration of the “Dom Augustine” liturgy. No
changes were made in this document for fidelity to its place in
Western Rite history. Though phrases like “world without end”,
“transmuted”, and “quire”, can be rendered today as “unto ages of
ages”, “changed”, and “choir”, we can still see the noble simplicity
of a Liturgy which, when celebrated using the rubrics of the
previous document posted, is reminiscent of a Carthusian Use Roman
Liturgy. Note: All files are in PDF format.
LITURGY/RUBRICS TEXTS
The Order for the Celebration of the Restored Western Orthodox
Liturgy
The Directions for the Celebration of the Restored Western Orthodox
Liturgy
The Gallican Liturgy
The
Fraternity of Saint Gregory Official Liturgy
The
Liturgy of Saint Gregory - Traditional Language
The Sarum Liturgy
The Shorter
Saint Colman Prayer Book
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