Maronite Mass and Lecture on Latinizations of Eastern Rites Held at Centre Saint-Paul in Paris, France

On Tuesday, 27 October, a Maronite Mass was celebrated at the Centre Saint-Paul, a chapel of the IBP in Paris’s 2nd arrondissement. Father Chamoun presided before the faithful and the clerics who serve the chapel. Lovely chants were led in particular by a cantor.

The Mass was followed by a lecture on latinizations, which the source describes as efforts to borrow certain Western cultic and liturgical elements and transpose them to the Eastern communities united with Rome. Father Chamoun placed these efforts within the movement begun by the Council of Florence in 1439. After the union with Constantinople failed, several communities nonetheless came to unite with the Roman See. The Maronites, the source notes, take pride in having always been with Rome, and Leo X called them “a rose among thorns.”

According to the lecture, the wider environment of Eastern Christians was threatened by Islam, and borrowing from the Latins also offered a form of protection. The process of union continued through the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and later unions followed, including one in 1932 under Pius XI with the Syro-Malankars.

The source reports that Eastern communities united with Rome have adopted Western customs, such as the Gregorian calendar and the feasts of the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacred Heart. It states that the practice is not the only feature of what it calls “uniatism,” a grievance it says the Orthodox have raised in particular against the Greek Catholics. Russian Orthodoxy, the source adds, has also undergone latinizations, such as in icons, and in the 19th century, responding to theologians who tended to elevate the Virgin Mary to a fourth person of the Trinity, it was necessary to resort to Western theology. The source says the subject is therefore more complex, and it also cites examples moving in the other direction, such as the reclining Virgin at Chartres Cathedral.

Father Chamoun is quoted as saying, “as long as the exchange does not touch the essence of the faith, it is acceptable.” Keeping the essence of the faith distinct from borrowed customs reflects the call to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

The source also reports attempts at “modernization” of Eastern rituals during the 1970s, which it says did not succeed. It mentions Masses with guitar and states that the differences do not threaten the unity of the communities, as seen in Maronite seminaries. According to the source, the Lebanon War prevented the distortion of the Maronite rite. It concludes that young people today are drawn to a more authentic life.

Source: Read the original report (translated from French)