Prayers of Eastern Christian Churches at the Papal Funeral

Washington Post ^ | 4/8/2005 | n/a

[Pyro7480]

Click on the link above the watch and hear the Prayers by the Eastern Churches at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

[Pyro7480]

I thought the whole funeral was beautiful, but it was great to see, and especially hear the prayers of the Eastern Churches, both Eastern Rite Catholic and Orthodox, there. A coworker of mine is a subdeacon or deacon at a Melkite Catholic Church, and he has an extraordinary knowledge of Eastern Catholic chant. He said that most of this was done in Greek, with chant in Arabic (which I recognized from attending Maronite Divine Liturgies) towards the end.

[LizardQueen]

I was fascinated by their different vestments. Some of the headgear looked like crowns, which I thought was a little odd but I don't know much about the Orthodox churches. The only outfits I've ever seen before were the black robes with the flat hats.

LQ

[Pyro7480]

Catholic and Orthodox ping!

[Pyro7480]

Ping!

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Yeah. They brought in all the Jedi Knights of the Eastern Churches. That was a fantastic and historic moment. Chanting in Greek and Coptic. Was there any Syriac or Slavonic, I couldn't tell? The ABC gang were chattering.

[Pyro7480]

My coworker said it was mostly Greek, with the Arabic at the end. You can tell the difference, because the Arabic sounds similar to the call to prayer at mosques.

[Pyro7480]

You should really watch this segment of the funeral, if you didn't see it already! Click on the link above.

[bobjam]

It sounds similar to mosque calls because the muslims took their chant style from the Coptic Church when they took over Egypt. It's awesome to hear the Gospels read in that chant.

[bobjam]

Archbishop Williams was at the funeral, but I didn't see him on TV. I don't know if Archbishop Akinola or any other Anglicans (real ones, not Griswoldians) were present. The vested eastern patriarchs were the ones in communion with Rome- Byzantine Catholics, etc. Those standing nearby with the black cassocks and black head dresses were those eastern bishops in communion with Constantinople and Moscow.

[Siobhan]

It was inspiring to see and hear the WHOLE church.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

It was a great series of prayers.

[ninenot]

Absolutely thrilling to see the WHOLE Church.

What a Peter he was!!

[blinachka]

What I saw (I'll watch it all later this evening) was in Greek. The chanting of "Hristos Aneste!" (Christ is Risen!).

It is: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life"

[MarMema]

So far all I hear is Greek. Koloko will know who most of them are.

[FormerNavyBrat]

bump

[FormerNavyBrat]

I thought it was absolutely breathtaking--it sent chills up my spine.

[lightman]

When I noticed that the wind had closed the book I was (and continue to be) filled with a mixture of holy awe and fear.

Several years ago there was a brisk wind at the Easter vigil which, for the first and only time I can recall, completely consumed everything in the fire pan. Nothing--not even an ash remained. Remembering Elijah on Mt. Carmel I perceived this as a sign of a great work of God.

The year was 2001.

When I look at lower Manhattan I think I know what the sign foretold.

We won't know about this one until after the fact.

[FormerNavyBrat]

I'll admit to knowing next to nothing about the Eastern Churches, but was intrigued today after the Holy Father's funeral mass. I did a little searching and found this site if anyone is interested: http://www.agpeya.org/index.html It's the Coptic Book of Hours, with lots of great audio.