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Tässä kommentti paikallisesta liturgisesta muuntuvuudesta vuosisatojen kuluessa
Comparative liturgy has shown, that liturgical developments prior to the standardization of rites via liturgical books (a. by book-printing, b) the concept of an editio typica in hte Roman Rite, stemming from the 19th century as prooven by the editions of the Roman Missal) do NOT evolve at the same pace within the orbit of one and the same Rite, understood here strictly as 'a self-defined way of being Church, inclusing liturgy, canon law, spirituality and even theological expression.
This holds true to all treditions. cfr. the great variety of liturgical and thus spiritual expression already in the western church, toletan-roman, toletan-mozarabic, Braccarensis, Lugdunensis, Mediolanensis, prior to the 19th century the Ritus Patriarchinus Aquileiensis, the many old diocesan liturgies in Germany and elsewere: cfr. Treverensis, Coloniensis, Moguntinus, Leodiensis etc and up to Vatican II the Rites of the great Religious Families; despite the fact of belonging all to ONE and the Same ‘PAtriarchate’ of Ancient Rome; sunject to the same Canon Law and the same theological consensus of mostly scholastic Theology.
From the 12th century onwards we see a stronger proliferation of ecclesiastic identity particularly in the Byzantine East, as now a new concept starts to develop; that of the ‘national Church’ versus the Mother Church - the Great Church of the Empire of East-Rome; slowly developing proper ecclesial centres, forming themselves into autocephalous entities up towards a ‘national-ethnic Patriarchate; here though leaving behind the ancient ‘Pentarchy’ as defined by the first four ecumenical Councils dowm to Calcedon. [earlier precedences in answer to the ‘challenges of power, resp. hegemony linked to these councils exist amon the ‘Monophysite’ Churches of Armenians, Copts and Syrians, only the latter though encompassing at least a genuine arab thnic element as well - the East Syrians even more open to ‘non-ethnic’ syriac converts to make the picture even more complicated]
Thus for the Byzantine Rite the absolute reference is no longer the Great Church - Aghia Sophia in Constantinople, especially as her liturgical practice suffers severe decline after the 4th crusade (after 1204) and the fall of the Capital into the Hands of the Osmanli in 1454. By these dates byzantine Slav xpctianity is already deeply steepes into byzantine heritage, at the same time already deeply inculturated (cfr. Cyrill & Methodius, resp. especially their disciples having found refuge in the byzantine orbit after their forced exile from Greater Pannonia as the Latin West winning the battle for this mission-territory, going into the recently xpctianized Kingdom of the Bulgarians and returning to xpctianize Rus’ and the slavic peoples on their way North toward the Carpathians and beyond into Kiev and even further North in the now deeply byzantine form taken from the Rite of the PAtriarchal Cathedral of Constantinople; the first monasticism of SS. Anthony and Theodosius of the Kievan Caves being that of the Monastery of Studios of Constantinople, having passed via Mount Athos).
These factors as those of impeeded communications, national politics and possible aliances, resp. wars, economics and other forms of interchange wth neighbours and even further West, form ‘liturgical periferies’ and independent entities that cease to follow the pace and fate of the mother Church, that has lost influence outside the hellenic churches, espedially with the rise of Russia as Patriarchate and Tsardom, defining itself als the ‘Third Rome’ even deep down into the popular ‘Psychy’; while Ruthenians on either side of the carpathian mountains being forced into the state of minority, by the Polish-Lithuanian, resp. hungarian state, cling to their ‘orthodox-oriental - Churchhood’ as instrument of identity and self-definition; thus both tend to be rather conservative and preserve older ‘cathedral’ customs’ of the great Church of Constantinople, resp. the monasticized forms transmitted via Studite Tradition. Examples for this are: many parts of the Liturgy of the Hours, esp. at Matins and Vespers sung; in the current greek Tradition (stronger defined by the so called neo-Sabbaitic Synthesis, elaborated esp. on Mount-Athos around the 15th century, dowmplaying cathedral elements like chant and more elaborate ritual employing a larger amount of ordained ministers, typical to the cathedral Tradition in general - and the complete reelaboration of the greek Typicon in the 19th century in the Typicon tês Meglélês Ekklêsías of the Constantinopolitan Patriarchate) they are simply recited: the openig Psalm of solemn Vespers 103, the Kataxíoson, on major feasts the solemnly chanted so-called Velichanie - Magnifications sung with Ps. 135 are totally unknown. Taken from the older studite tradition, devotional offices of Moleben in honour of the Lord, our Lady or the Saints, resp. Parastas/ Pannychida for the Departed, both formed on the same liturgical pattern with elements from Matins, are still somehow known amon the greeks as Paraklisis/ Moleben, but except on most rare occasions are never celebrated; Parastas being totally unknown. The only public prayer for the Dead used on a larger scale is the last part of Parastas, in slv. Litija, the greeks calling it Trishaghion as it starts with the Thrice-Holy. The in liturgical sources once known solemn funeral for the priests, carrying 5 in some ruthenian sources 7 Episltes & Gospels seems to have fallen into total oblivion among greeks and even Serbians. Present greek tradition - not to count the wealth of local Traditions on Mount Athos - including the Melkite Tradition can be ‘accused’ of a certain reductionism in comparison with the slavic Traditions; the ruthenian customs, despite some forms of once atrocious latinisms, still bear common elements closer to the Old Believers than to the present ‘Synodal-Rite’ of Russian Orthodoxy.
Sorry for boring everyone else with this long essay