There is no kneeling; parishioners stand or sit.[/caption]
Name of Church St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Parish
Parish Address 1305 S. Lander St., Seattle WA 98144
Phone number 206-329-9219
Website https://stjohnchrysostom.org/
Divine Liturgy Saturday, 4:30 pm (Great vespers with Divine Liturgy). Sunday, 10 am (with Matins at 8 am) Tuesday – Friday, (Matins with Divine Liturgy), 8 am Byzantine liturgies are sung and mostly in English. There is no kneeling; parishioners stand or sit. All ages receive Communion; the Host is dipped into the chalice with a spoon and administered to the faithful. Visiting Roman Catholics may receive Communion. Watch past liturgies on the parish Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StJohnChrysostomByzantine.
Holy Mystery of Repentance Saturday, 3:30 – 4:15 pm and by appointment.
Names of priests Father Michael Mandelas, pastor. Listen to his past homilies: https://stjohnchrysostom.org/homilies/. He is a solid priest, and offers reverent liturgies.
School No.
Parking Street parking and there is a small lot.
Additional observations St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church is in union with the Bishop of Rome, but is an Eastern Catholic rather than Roman Catholic church. They have the same faith and seven sacraments, but different customs and ways of celebrating liturgy. It traces its roots back to Constantinople (once called Byzantium). Two Greek missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, brought the Byzantine way of worship to Central and Eastern Europe. Some of these Catholics emigrated to the United States and brought with them the Byzantine rite and traditions. St. John Chrysostom is part of the Holy Protection Eparchy (diocese) of Phoenix (www.ephx.org). Icons are prominent inchurch, including an icon screen in the front of the church with doors which the clergy can access the sanctuary.
Nice!!!
There is no kneeling, but during the Great Fast (i.e., Lent) there are plenty of prostrations.
There is, rarely, kneeling. And, yes, this past Wednesday’s service had 350 prostrations!
But, usually, it’s not that intense. And, worshippers simply do the best they can. Some make a profound bow, touching (or near) the floor with their right hand.
If you click the link to their facebook page you can see the service.
Their Prostrations are kneeling and leaning forward to the floor, like Muslims do.
Our prostrations are full body on floor.
Christians were doing prostrations like that long before there even were any Muslims. A priest demonstrates it below: if you’re interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3_A8tiDsQ&t=25s
And, Jews prostrate themselves similarly.
https://www.google.com/search?q=jewish+prostration+video&oq=jewish+prostration+video&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigAdIBCDYwMzBqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:dd9a5eda,vid:M2v3eLX-RHc,st:0
Lent or Great Fast is a great time for any Christian to pray this way as we await our Passover with the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
When you wrote that you prostrate yourselves 350 times in one service, I was taken aback because, as a Catholic, a prostration is full body contact with the ground, sometimes with the arms outstretched.
But I looked it up and saw how you do prostrations and it is most known to Americans as the way the Muslims pray.
Might I ask, in the Latin/Western Church, are only full body prostrations permitted?
And, so it’s clear to readers, you probably meant, “as a Roman Catholic,” as we Greek Catholics (and other Eastern Catholics) are also Catholic.
Maybe people think we pray (in posture) like Muslims because Muslims in the US now outnumber all Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians in the US.
Prostrations are rarely done.
I think you can pray privately however you want.
When you talk about the various churches, I think we are called Latin Catholics, but that could get confused with those who attend the Latin Mass.
I have little exposure to Eastern Catholics, except for some Byzantine.
I did not know there was another form of prostrations until you said there were so many in one service.
What do you call your services? Mass?
You’re correct. You’re Latin Catholic, a member of the Latin Church, which has the Roman Rite (mostly). We call our Eucharistic Liturgy “Divine Liturgy.” (Liturgy is a Greek word and Mass is from a Latin word.) The Latin Church is Western from the Western half of the Roman Empire, while the Eastern Churches are from the Eastern half of the Roman Empire (The Byzantine-rite family of Churches is rooted in Constantinople, previously known as Byzantium, hence, Byzantine.) Thankfully, any Catholic is free to attend any Catholic service and (if properly disposed) receive Holy Communion.
Deacon, thank you for the interesting links. At a small chapel where the main church did the Ordinary Latin Rite, some Asian ladies did the prostrations called Kowtowing. When I was younger and went there for Adoration, I would do it, also, as I Ieft the chapel taking care that no one was behind me for modesty’s sake. The Jewish rabbis or cantors on one of your links wear long prayer shawls that covers their backsides when they kneel down. Some of the ladies at the Extraordinary Latin Rite wear long shawls too while prostrating.
These prostrations are usually done as private devotions after the Mass during Adoration at the Extraordinary Masses. Occasionally a person will do them at the Consecration during the Mass in an aisle but in a way that does not disturb the other parishioners.