We have various days and seasons of Fast in the Byzantine Rite but, in this pamphlet, we will limit our presentation to the pre-Paschal Fast known as the Great Fast. It is called the Great Fast not only on account of its duration (seven weeks) but mainly on account of its importance for the spiritual renewal of the faithful. In the Old Slavonic, the Great Fast is called ” Svjata Chetyredesjatnicja,” meaning the Holy Forty Days while in English, it is called Lent from the Anglo-Saxon Lencten, meaning spring. The Great Fast can be described as a forty-day period of prayer, penance, and spiritual exercises in preparation for the proper celebration of Easter. Continue reading →

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord in the Byzantine Rite is one of the Twelve Great Feasts and is a holy day of obligation for all ByzantineCatholics.

On that day we commemorate the completion of Christ’s work of our salvation, the glorious entry of our Lord in His human nature into heaven, as well as His pledge of our own glorification with Him. Continue reading →

TROPARION For the first three centuries the liturgical worship of our Lord Jesus Christ concentrated around the feast of His glorious resurrection, the Holy Pasch, exalted by the Fathers as “the Feast of Feasts” (St. Gregory of Nazianzus). During the fourth century another fundamental mystery from the life of our Savior, namely His nativity, was introduced into the cycle of liturgical celebrations by the Church. With it the celebration of our Lord’s incarnation, the feast of the Annunciation, made its way into the liturgical year. Continue reading →

Ancient and local tradition and written documents regarding the apostolic work and martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul in Rome validly serve as the historical foundation for the universal celebration of their feast. The solemn commemoration of these two leading Apostles takes place on June 29th, a feast day of obligation in the Byzantine Metropolitan Province of Pittsburgh. The feast is preceded by a shorter or a longer period of fasting referred to by the faithful as “Petrovka,” meaning Peter’s Fast. Continue reading →

According to the venerable tradition of the Byzantine Rite Church, which was confirmed by St. John Damascene (+ 749), the Blessed Virgin Mary as a child was brought by her parents, SS. Joachim and Anne, to the temple as an offering to God, and she “grew up in the house of God, nourished by the Holy Spirit … Thus she sought holiness and was shown to be a holy and wondrous temple worthy of the Most High.” (cf. The Orthodox Faith, IV, 14) This mystery from the early life of the Blessed Mother in our Byzantine Rite is commemorated on November 21, with the feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God and Ever Virgin Mary Into the Temple. In Church-Slavonic the feast is called, in a shortened form, – Vovedenije. Continue reading →

On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII solemnly proclaimed the centuries-long belief that the “Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of Her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” (Apost. Const. “Munificentissimus Deus,” n. 44) This solemn proclamation of the dogma of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven fittingly describes this crowning event in the life of the Most Holy Mother of God, whose liturgical veneration originated in the East. Continue reading →

The Byzantine Rite boasts of two formularies of the Eucharistic sacrifice, namely, the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. In this leaflet we shall examine the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which at the present time seems to be more popular and is celebrated more frequently in the Byzantine Rite. Before the tenth century it was just the opposite : the Basilian Liturgy was celebrated more often. But because of its brevity, in time, the Chrysostomian Liturgy prevailed. Continue reading →