The Jubilee of the Eastern Churches provides the faithful with an opportunity to learn about the Eastern Churches’ history and contribution to the Catholic Church.
“The Church must breathe with her two lungs!” (Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, 1995).
PRAYER
All thanks to him who saved our race
from slavery to sin and death!
He reconciled us with the hosts
above, who scorned us for our sin.
Blessed is he who had mercy,
who sought and found us, and rejoiced.
He symbolised our straying and
returning in his parable:
He named our race the heir and son,
who strayed returned, who died and rose.
He gladdened all the hosts above
through our return and our rising.
The great love which the lover of
our race showed cannot be described.
For from our race, he took on flesh
and reconciled us to himself.
It is a thing too great for us,
it is a new thing he has done.
He has made his temple our flesh,
in which he is worshipped be all.
O come, earthly and heavenly,
and marvel at our lofty place.
Our race has reached the greatest height
of infinite Divinity!
Heaven and earth and all therein
give thanks to him who renewed us,
For he has wiped our sins away,
named us his Name, and has crowned us.
Worthy is he of praise and thanks
from every mouth, who raised us up.
Let us proclaim our praise to him,
forever and ever, Amen.
(Glorification Hymns from the Chaldean liturgy)
TEACHING
From Pope Paul VI’s Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite, Orientalium Ecclesiarum (1964):
“2. The Holy Catholic Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, is made up of the faithful who are organically united in the Holy Spirit by the same faith, the same sacraments and the same government and who, combining together into various groups which are held together by a hierarchy, form separate Churches or Rites. Between these there exists an admirable bond of union, such that the variety within the Church in no way harms its unity; rather it manifests it, for it is the mind of the Catholic Church that each individual Church or Rite should retain its traditions whole and entire and likewise that it should adapt its way of life to the different needs of time and place.
“3. These individual Churches, whether of the East or the West, although they differ somewhat among themselves in rite (to use the current phrase), that is, in liturgy, ecclesiastical discipline, and spiritual heritage, are, nevertheless, each as much as the others, entrusted to the pastoral government of the Roman Pontiff, the divinely appointed successor of St. Peter in primacy over the universal Church. They are consequently of equal dignity, so that none of them is superior to the others as regards rite and they enjoy the same rights and are under the same obligations, also in respect of preaching the Gospel to the whole world (cf. Mark 16, 15) under the guidance of the Roman Pontiff.”
From Pope Leo XIII’s Orientalium Dignitas, on the Churches of the East (1894):
“The Churches of the East are worthy of the glory and reverence that they hold throughout the whole of Christendom in virtue of those extremely ancient, singular memorials that they have bequeathed to us. For it was in that part of the world that the first actions for the redemption of the human race began, in accord with the all-kind plan of God. They swiftly gave forth their yield: there flowered in first blush the glories of preaching the True Faith to the nations, of martyrdom, and of holiness. They gave us the first joys of the fruits of salvation. From them has come a wondrously grand and powerful flood of benefits upon the other peoples of the world, no matter how far-flung. When blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, intended to cast down the manifold wickedness of error and vice, in accord with the will of Heaven, he brought the light of divine Truth, the Gospel of peace, freedom in Christ to the metropolis of the Gentiles.”
TESTIMONY
“The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is a communion of 24 individual Churches from the six liturgical traditions (Roman/Latin, Alexandrian, Antiochian, Armenian, Byzantine, and East Syriac/Chaldean). The Syro-Malabar Church (traditionally called Saint Thomas Christians) is the fruit of the apostolic ministry of St Thomas the Apostle in South India and belongs to the East Syriac tradition. The significant difference is in the celebration of the liturgy, mainly the celebration of the Eucharist which we call Holy Qurbana. All the Eastern liturgies stress more the sacrificial and mystery dimension of the Eucharist.
“I would say that one of the gifts of our Church is its liturgical tradition, which is very ancient, arising from the East Syrian heritage. It can be said that the Syro-Malabar Church is ‘Indian in Culture, Christian in Religion, and Oriental in Worship’. Being a migrant community in multicultural Australia, we can contribute our own cultural and religious traditions. Daily family prayer, fasting and penance especially on Fridays, and during seasons of Lent and Annunciation (Advent), are important hallmarks of our community.”
– Emeritus Bishop Bosco Puthur of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St Thomas the Apostle, Melbourne (NCE Interview).
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
For the faithful of the Eastern Churches, that by your grace, O Lord, they may be blessed with peace and prosperity in their homelands.
We pray to the Lord.
For the universal Church, that guided by the Holy Spirit, it may be continue to reinforce the unity between all Christians.
We pray to the Lord.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Ut Unum Sint, on commitment to Ecumenism (Pope John Paul II, 1995).
Eastern Catholic Churches in Australia (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, 2016).
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