Naturally these debates are of great interest to Catholics, especially since many of the topics mirror the history of the liturgical reform in the Latin West, and many of the arguments (and much of the rhetoric) used by the various sides to these intra-Orthodox debates echo the arguments and rhetoric used by Catholics in our own debates. (I would like to add that in observing these debates, we Catholics should resist either of two excesses: the tendency to uncritically praise everything that the East does in liturgical matters, and the desire to force the Eastern Churches to adopt a Latin mindset, disrespecting their own ancient and legitimate traditions.) These are in addition to older but still smoldering controversies, such as the calendar debate.
To show our (mostly Catholic) readership a glimpse of where things might be headed, I would like to point out the following passages:
From an article marking the first anniversary of the enthronement of Kirill as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia:
When Patriarch Kirill celebrates Divine Liturgy, sound amplifiers make every word he utters audible in every corner of the church – including the Eucharistic prayers that priests usually speak quietly at the altar during the main part of the service.
For a long time, Eucharistic prayers said aloud have been a mark of liberalism in the Russian Orthodox Church. In Russia, few priests had the bishops’ authorization to do so, and conservatives regarded the practice as inadmissible. But Patriarch Kirill resorted to high technologies to resolve the controversy – no one can accuse him of articulating those prayers loudly. At the same time, everyone can hear them. Thus the service becomes more intelligible and parishioners feel more closely involved in it.
Apparently, the late Russian Patriarch Alexy II did something similar:
Up to Patriarch Alexey’s time, it was common almost everywhere to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ very rarely, and people were not given communion on Nativity, Theophany, and Pascha at all. Patriarch Alexey, from the first day of his patriarchal ministry to the last, whenever he had the strength, himself communed everyone who strived to come to him to the very last person. He blessed people to commune often as well as on the feasts, and during the celebration of the divine liturgy he recited all prayers aloud. At some point, probably from over tiredness, he started to have problems with his voice and microphones began to be used. Due to that, probably not without God’s Providence, everyone who was standing in the church could hear the patriarch reading the priestly prayers in the altar and he was reading them in an absolutely marvelous way: with unusual simplicity, magnificence, and with some sort of inexpressibly beautiful intonation. Thus, the patriarchal liturgy became accessible, in much more fullness, to all the worshippers.
Photo source: link.
