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. Western Rite Orthodox Christians hold in common the full Orthodox faith with their brethren of the Byzantine Rite, and at present, all of the bishops who care for such parishes are themselves followers of the Byzantine Rite.
| This article forms part of the series on the Western Rite | |
| History | |
| Rule of St. Benedict Nineteenth Century Twentieth Century Criticism | |
| Liturgics | |
| Liturgy of St. Gregory Liturgy of St. Tikhon Liturgy of St. Germanus Sarum Rite Gallican Rite Stowe Missal Service Books Vestments | |
| Groupings | |
| Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate Society of St. Basil Orthodox Church of France | |
| Monasteries | |
| Christminster Saint Petroc Holy Name Abbey (Old Calendarist) | |
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Modern History
The United States
The Antiochian Archdiocese received the most stable and successful group of Western Rite parishes, the Society of Clerks Secular of St. Basil, in 1961.
The Church of Russia received a New York Old Catholic community in 1962 as Mount Royal Monastery, and later moved to Woodstock, New York, under Archbishop John (Wendland) of the Russian Exarchate of North America. Later, this community was received by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, under Archbishop Nikon (Rklitzsky). In 1993, the monastery was renamed to Christminster and moved to Providence, Rhode Island, under Bishop Hilarion (Kapral) of Manhattan (since transferred). It's present abbot is Dom James Deschene.
Elsewhere
In 1995, the Church of Antioch also established a British Deanery to absorb converts from the Church of England. Not all of these parishes are Western Rite.
Western Rite Orthodoxy, in Australia and New Zealand, has arisen mostly from Anglican and Continuing Anglican communities. Archbishop Hilarion (Kapral) of Sydney, ROCOR, received some communities under his omophorion; while others have been received by Archbishop Gibran and Metropolitan Archbishop Paul, both under the Church of Antioch.
Other small groups following the Western Rite have been received, but usually have either had little impact, or have declared their independence soon after their reception.
Some Western Rite parishes are also in the Oriental Orthodox churches. The Syrian patriarchate of Antioch consecrated Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvarez as Archbishop of Ceylon, Goa and India in 1889, authorizing a Roman rite diocese under him; in 1891, the Syrians consecrated the aforementioned Joseph René Vilatte as archbishop for the American Old Catholics
Liturgy
North American Western Rite parishes generally follow one (or sometimes both) of two types of traditional Western liturgical traditions. The majority celebrate the Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow, which is an adaptation of the Communion service from the 1928 Anglican Book of Common Prayer and The Anglican Missal in the American Edition, as their Sunday liturgy. Until 1977, all Western Rite parishes celebrated only the Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great, which is a modified form of the ancient Mass known to Roman Catholics before the liturgical reforms of Vatican II in the 1960s. Many parishes within the Western Rite Vicariate continue to celebrate the Gregorian liturgy. However, most WRV parishes celebrate more than one weekly liturgy, and many of the Tikhonite parishes celebrate the Gregorian liturgy on weekdays. The complete Roman rite of Benediction is also authorized.
The Western Rite liturgy has much less repetition than its corresponding elements in the Byzantine rite, and generally has a more brisk, succinct manner to it. Celebrants wear distinctive Western vestments, and the faithful follow pious devotional customs particular to their tradition, as well.
The development of the current use within the Western Rite Vicariate is of particular note:
- Metropolitan Antony was well aware that the Western Rite was “a work for specialists.
