The New Service Books
Part 1: Introduction
On June 29,1999, the council of hierarchs of the Byzantine Catholic Church sui juris of Pittsburgh promulgated a new Particular Law, which included the following canon:
Canon 707 §6. The metropolitan Liturgical Commission is to prepare a standard text of usage for the Divine Liturgy. This is to be adapted to modern times, legitimate organic development of the Liturgy.
On January 6, the hierarchs promulgated the new standard text for the Divine Liturgy, along with service books, music and other materials to be used in implementing the new text. Copies of the following were sent to each parish, mission and religious house in the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and the Eparchies of Passaic, Parma and Van Nuys:
- A pair of Liturgikons (priest's service books) for the Divine Liturgy of our holy father John Chrysostom and the Divine Liturgy of our holy father Basil the Great.
- A copy of the new people's service book, entitled The Divine Liturgies of Our Holy Fathers John Chrysostom and Basil the Great.
- A Cantor's Companion which includes guidance to those who read or lead the singing at the Divine Liturgy.
- A set of compact discs containing recordings of the music in the people's service book.
- A DVD of the celebration of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, using the new text.
- A DVD of a presentation on the new text.
- A copy of Father David's Petras' book, Time for the Lord to Act: A Catechetical Commentary on the Divine Liturgy.
The following paragraphs, from the Foreword to the people's book, describe the scope and intent of the new text:
This edition of the Divine Liturgy with propers and commons has been prepared for the use of the faithful in the Byzantine Ruthenian Metropolia of Pittsburgh by the Intereparchial Liturgical Commission and the Intereparchial Music Commission. The text has been translated from the Greek original, compared with the Church Slavonic.
This new translation seeks to be consistent in rendering biblical and technical terms, faithful to the vocabulary and thought of the text's original context in the patristic period, but also accessible to a contemporary American congregation. In a few instances, textual criticism based on the witness of manuscripts has guided the translation.
In general, translation of biblical quotes and allusions has been guided by The New American Bible (1970-1991) and by The Psalms (The Grail, 1963). In practice, biblical allusions have usually required fresh translations both to capture the distinctive readings of the Septuagint Old Testament and to accomodate the new context of these biblical texts in the Liturgy.
The musical settings are based on the Ruthenian tradition that has been handed down from one generation to another. After extensive research, discussion, and detailed comparision of various written and oral sources, the Intereparchial Music Commission has compiled the plainchant settings of the Byzantine liturgy found in this book. The musical renderings of historic scholars have been carefully adapted to accomodate the new English translation provided by the Intereparchial Liturgical Commission.
As of June 29, 2007, the
hierarchs have ordered that only the new texts
be used for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine
Catholic Church sui juris
of
Pittsburgh.
What are the differences betweeen the old and new service books?
This is a more complicated question than it may appear. When the current English translation of the official Church Slavonic service books was promulgated in 1964, it was done with the understanding that certain rubrics would be ignored; a wide variety of local customs continued unchanged. Furthermore, new texts and rubrics for the Divine Liturgy were promulgated in the Eparchy of Parma (1970, also used in the Eparchy of Van Nuys which was later created out of the Eparchy of Parma) and in the Eparchy of Passaic (1996). As a result, four different texts of the Divine Liturgy (three old and one new) are currently in use in the Byzantine Catholic Church.
More about the new text and rubrics
The new people's book contains music (in the traditional Carpathion chant or prostopinije of the Byzantine Catholic Church) for all services. This marks a change from previous service books, and the resulting standardization will require adjustments in parish singing. Other music (such as choral arrangements) may be used as long as the new texts are utilized; however, cantors and readers should be familiar with the new musical settings even if not all of them are sung in a particular church.
More about the new musical settings
Comparison of the new music settings with the 1965 and 1970 settings
How will parishes implement the new service books?
Each eparchy will provide guidance on how the new service books are to be used; in addition, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute will provide additional materials to assist in this process. The Cantor Institute website will also provide additional music for Vespers and Matins, and instructional materials on liturgics and prostopinije chant.
Advice on implementing the new service books - in preparation