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Latin, Eastern liturgies set for Lent
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 27, 2009
Detroit — This Lent, National Shrine of the Little Flower Parish, Royal Oak is honoring the liturgical roots of the Catholic Church, and not only of the Latin rite but also four of the Easter rite Catholic traditions.
Five Masses will be held consecutive Wednesday evenings at the church to honor the Chaldean, Maronite, Syro-Malabar and Romanian traditions, as well as a Tridentine Latin solemn High Mass, added to the program because of interest.
Although most Catholics worldwide are of the Latin rite (even if their liturgies are primarily celebrated in vernacular languages), all of the 22 other rites are in full communion with the Vatican.
Upcoming Masses – or Divine Liturgies, as the Mass is called in Byzantine Catholic rites — are all at 7 p.m.:
• March 4, the Chaldean Catholic Church, Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle (based in Southfield); celebrant will be Fr. Stephen Kallabat, pastor of Mar Addai (Chaldean) Parish, Oak Park.
• March 11, the Maronite Catholic Church, Maronite Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn; celebrant will be Msgr. Michael Kail, pastor of St. Sharbel (Maronite) Parish, Warren.
• March 18, a Tridentine Latin Mass; celebrant will be Msgr. George Browne, a senior priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
• March 25, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago; celebrant will be Fr. Varghese Naickamparampil, pastor of St. Thomas (Syro-Malabar) Parish, Southfield.
• April 4, the Romanian Catholic Church, Byzantine-Romanian Eparchy of Canton, Ohio; celebrant will be Fr. Emmanuel Samayoa, pastor of St. John the Baptist (Romanian-Byzantine) Parish, Detroit.
John LaCroix, director of adult faith formation and RCIA at Shrine, said the series of liturgies is being offered not only for the adult education/formation program, but for a spiritual experience for Lent.
He said he gets a lot of questions about the Church and its history, and as part of the regular program, he teaches about the different rites of the Catholic Church.
He likened the Church to one tree with a lot of branches. "It is one Church, but it has all these different traditions throughout the world," he said.
One thing LaCroix said he discovered in his research was that, in the Maronite and Chaldean rites, they say the words of the consecration in Aramaic, which was the language spoken by Jesus, so they are saying what Jesus is believed to have actually said at that time.
The four Eastern–rite Masses will be celebrated in English except for the consecrations. "People will be able to understand what's going on," he said.
So people can be better equipped for the liturgies, LaCroix is writing a series of articles preceding each Mass for Shrine's bulletin; they can be viewed at the parish's Web site, National Shrine of the Little Flower. Click on "Shrine Herald."
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