Western Rite

The Western Rite is a strand of Orthodox Christian worship based on the liturgical traditions of the ancient pre-Schism Orthodox Church of the West. They hold in common the full Orthodox Christian faith with their brethren of the Byzantine Rite.

Liturgy

Western Rite parishes generally follow one (or sometimes both) of two types of traditional Western liturgical traditions. About 75% use the Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow, which is an adaptation of the 1904 Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The remaining 25% use the Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great, which is a modified form of the Tridentine Mass known to Roman Catholics before the liturgical reforms of Vatican II in the 1960s.

The liturgy has much less repetition than its corresponding elements in the Byzantine rite, and generally has a more rational, succint manner to it. Celebrants wear distinctive Western vestments, and the faithful follow pious devotional customs particular to their tradition, as well.

Congregations

By far the largest group of these parishes in North America is represented by the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) also has a small number of Western Rite parishes and one monastery.

The Orthodox Catholic Church of France—which is currently of ambiguous status in world Orthodoxy, but at one time was cared for by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco and later by the Church of Romania—also uses a Western Rite liturgy based on ancient Gallican liturgical materials.

An Orthodox Unia?

The situation of Western Orthodox parishes has been compared by some with the analogous status of autonomous Uniate churches under the Roman Catholic Church. For centuries, there have been hierarchical churches in full communion with and in subjection to the Vatican, but which the Pope allows to follow liturgical customs and rules like those of the Orthodox Church, (e.g., they confirm newly baptized infants via chrismation, they have married priests, their churches have iconostases, etc.). Additionally, as the Uniates share a common dogmatic requirement with Latin Rite Catholics, the Western Rite Orthodox share the same faith as their Byzantine Rite brethren.

However, unlike the Uniates, Western Rite Orthodox congregations are not mainly the result of large-scale ecclesiastical political machinations and schism but rather of small-scale genuine conversion to Orthodoxy by individuals and congregations.

It should also be noted that there are also a number of groups who follow various Western rites and may call themselves Orthodox but are not part of or in communion with the Orthodox Church.

External links

• Western Orthodoxy
• The Unofficial Western Rite Orthodoxy Website
• Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Liturgies

• Text of the Liturgy of Saint Gregory
• Text of the Liturgy of Saint Tikhon

Introduction and History

• An Introduction to Western Rite Orthodoxy, An electronic version of the now out-of-print Conciliar Press booklet; edited by Fr. Michael Trigg, Ph.D.
• The Western Rite: Its Fascinating Past and Its Promising Future, by Fr. Alexander Turner
• On the Western Rite Edict of Metropolitan Anthony (Bashir), by Fr. David Abramstov, in addition to an excerpt from the report of Metropolitan Anthony (Bashir) to the 1958 Archdiocesan Convention
• Western Orthodox Christians: Who Are They?, from Christminster, a Benedictine Monastery under ROCOR
• What is Western-Rite Orthodoxy?, by Fr. Patrick McCauley
• The Twain Meet, by Fr. Paul W.S. Schneirla
• Western Rite Orthodox in our midst: Ad Fontes!, by Dr. Alexander Roman

Apologias

• Comments on the Western Rite by Bishop Basil (Essey) of Wichita
• Lux Occidentalis The Orthodox Western Rite and the Liturgical Tradition of Western Orthodox Christianity, with reference to The Orthodox Missal, Saint Luke's Priory Press, Stanton, NJ, 1995 by the Rev'd John Charles Connely (PDF)
• Doctrinal Issues: Western Rite Orthodoxy, from the Diocesan News for Clergy and Laity (February 1995), Greek Orthodox Diocese of Denver
• Western Rite Orthodoxy: Its history, its validity, and its opportunity, by Annette Milkovich, including an interview with Fr. Paul W.S. Schneirla, constituting a rough Western Rite "FAQ"
• Occidentalis - A Weblog of Orthodox Catholic Christianity in the Western Rite tradition

Criticism

• The Western Rite, by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
• Notes and Comments on the "Western Rite", ibid.
• News: Bishop Anthony Issues Encyclical on "Western Rite"
• Correspondence on the Western Rite between Bishop Anthony (Gergiannakis) of San Francisco and Fr. Paul W.S. Schneirla
• Some Thoughts on the "Western Rite" In Orthodoxy, by Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia
• The Western Rite - Some Final Comments, by Fr. Steven Tsichlis
• On the Question of Western Orthodoxy, by Patriarch Sergius I (Stragorodsky) of Moscow in a letter to Vladimir Lossky
• The "Western Rite": Is It Right for the Orthodox?, by Fr. Michael Johnson