[ Archive for August, 2006 ]

Family Evening Prayers

Posted by Eric (August 23, 2006 at 2:12 pm)

In preparation for a recent family vacation, I put together a set of evening prayers [PDF], plucking some of my favorite pieces out of the Vespers book from the Metropolitan Cantor Institute. I hesistate to share this for two reasons:

1. I did not obtain permission to use any of this (not necessary, I believe, for limited private use).
2. This is really quite a hack job, not up to my usual standards.

To obtain the pieces that comprise this 8-page booklet [PDF], I used the camera tool in Adobe Reader, set at a high resolution, and then edited each image with Corel PhotoPaint and laid it all out with CorelDRAW, from which I generated the PDF. So you’ll see all kinds of different type size and such.

Anyway, it’s just a draft. I found in practice that it’s a bit too long, especially with the First Kathisma, which I included because it’s my favorite part of Vespers. But I offer these prayers[PDF] here for others to try out and comment on, with a view to producing a tidier version in the future.

Note: This prayer booklet is “booked,” meaning that the pages are laid out for back-to back printing on standard letter paper, to be stapled down the center. So you’ll see pages 8 and 1 on the first PDF page, 2 and 7 on the next, etc. If you’re not up to printing them as a booklet, you could just cut the printed pages in half, put them in the right order, and staple them. I had a few copies made and stapled for cheap at a local copy shop.

See also: Evening Prayers at ByzFaith.

Posted in Prayer | 3 Comments »

My Inconvenient Church

Posted by Karl (August 8, 2006 at 3:02 pm)

My church is very inconvenient. It’s not particularly close; I have another Catholic church across the street from me. It makes no accommodations for my convenience: there is no Saturday evening Mass where I can discharge my Sunday obligation, and the liturgies are long. I can never plan anything for a Sunday afternoon because I can never be sure how long the liturgy will be. Just when I think that I have it timed, there will be a baptism, or a procession, or a series of special prayers, and all of my timing is lost. There is no early service. There is one liturgy at 10am, for the whole parish. I can’t slip in at 7am for a short liturgy as I could at the church across the street from me.

I have to give up meat every Friday, when the rest of the Church has abandoned this practice. There are numerous days of obligation, which are never, ever moved to the nearest Sunday, which means I must often re-arrange my schedule, arrange babysitters, and otherwise turn my life upside down in order to attend church during the week. Inf fact, a few years ago Good Friday and the Annunciation coincided; rather than move the feasts, we combined them, and a most inconvenient and confusing day of liturgy ensued. Every liturgy is long, always more than an hour, and occasionally more than two. Everything is always sung, without the comfort of an accompanying organ or musical ensemble.

There are no creature comforts, no cry room, and few pews. Many of us stand the entire time. In Lent, we have to kneel and do prostrations, but—get this—there are no kneelers! One kneels on the cold, hard, terrazzo floor.

Why would anyone want to be a part of such a church, especially when there is another, easier church across the street? I wasn’t born into this church, and I have no ethnic or cultural ties, but I chose it. I have no one to blame but myself. I chose it, and you couldn’t pry me away with a crowbar.

(more…)

Posted in General, Liturgy | 22 Comments »