Evening star., 1939-08-29
Byzantine Rite
Used in Mass
Al Catholic u.
Seven Priests Sing
In Ceremony at
Pax Romano Congress
(Picture on Page Az

VOnlc ana Ukraln1an and Arabic.
but not in Latin, seven priests sang
mass in accordance with the luxuri-
Gus Byzantine Rite today at the
Shrine of the Immaculate Concep-
ton at Catholic University. 1t was
an extraordinary ceremony, perhaps
the first time such a "concelebra-
ton" had been held in the United
States.
The cruciform shrine was crowded
Tor the occasion, with laymen and
youths associated with the Interna-
t1onal Congress of the Pax Romano,
in whose honor the Confederation
was arranged, and with the men
md women attached to the religious
orders whose houses are in Brook
land. All of these religious orders
are accustomed to mass celebrated
by the usual Roman rite, following
the hturgical pattern of the West
ern church. There Latin is tho
language, and the richness of the
pageantry is less than in the Byzan-
tine.
Veil Figures in Rites.
At the center of the altar stood
the Very Rev Philemon Tarnavsky,
chancellor of the Ukrainian Diocese
of the United States. He wore q
inter through most of the mass. and
half way down his back from the
inter flowed black veil. At the
Conservation of the bread and wine,
| the veil and inter were removed
and two priests, one at each side,
held ar oblong silken cloth abov,
his head
The Very Rev. Tarnavsky was the
chief concelebrant. The celebrant
was the Right Rev. Bernard Ghos'n,
who, in red episcopal robes, sat with
in the chancel on a throne. The air
was filled with incense. The chant.
ing in the several languages was firm
and vigorous. And the answers to
| the priests chanting was musically
intoned in Ukrainian by the choir
OF New York and New Jersey Ukrain-
ian Catholics, who were directed by
Theodore Kaskiw.
On each side of the Very Rev.
Tarnavsky were three priests, in
| varying veStments, each of whom
| joined in the celebration by chant
ing the particular part of the mass
assigned to him. Thus, the Very
Rev. Tarnavsky opened by chanting
in Ukrainian the long litany for
peace and unity, in commemoration
Of the Blessed Virgin. Then the
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rite, dressed in white chasuble
with golden threads, chanted the
short litany in Greek.
Colored Chasubles Worn.
The Rev. Emil Annenevich,
Ukrainian, wore a blue chaSuble
glittering with gold threads. The
Rev. Cyril Amid of the Melchite
rite wore chaSuble which was
cloth of gold. The Rev. Alexis Vis-
locky and Desiserius Simkow, Car
patho-RusSians, were in chasubles
which were chiefly white except
that each had a brilliant square
patch of red in the center of the
back. The Rev. Amid chanted in
Arabic and the Revs. Vislocky and
Simkow in Slavonic. In honor of
the language of the United States
the Very Rev. Tarnavsky said some
prayers in English.
At the foot of the altar throughout
most of the mass was the Rev. My
ron Plekon, Ukrainian, the deacon
of the celebration. The Rev. Fred
erick H. Chase, doctor of Oriental
ecclesiastical studies, from Lynn,
Mass, delivered the sermon, speak,
ing on Need for Study of Church
Unity Among Catholic University
Students" The mass continued for
almost two hours.
The Byzantine rite is representa-
tive of the unity of the Roman
Catholic Church and of its liturgical
notifications to meet local require
ments. 1t dates from the 4th CEN
tury, when the decline of the West
ern Roman Empire was enhancing
the Importance of the Eastern EN-
pire, whose capital was Constanti-
nople, or ByZantium. Among the
leading fathers of the Eastern
Church were st. Basil, Bishop of
Caesarea, and ST. John Chyrsostom,
Bishop of Constantinople. To both
of them is attributed the develop
ment OF the Byzantine rite.
No Variations in Essentials.
In essentials, including the recog-
milton of the papal supremacy, there
is no variation between the Byzan-
tine and the Roman liturgies. The
Byzantine is observed through the
Levant, the Balkan countries and,
formerly, in Russia The missals for
this rite are printed in Greek, Sla-
vonic, Roman and Arabic characters.
Prayer, work and thought in
terms of peace were urged upon
delegates to the Pax Romano Con-
gress by President Roosevelt last
night in message of welcome.
The message, in letter form, was
addressed to and read by Edward j.
Kirchner, president of the Pax Ro-
mana Congress.
I'VE must pray for peace, we must
work for peace" the President
wrote And we must think in terms
of peace and have faith that de-
spite all discouragements councils of
wisdom ultimately will prevail
among nations so that every contro-
versy will find it's solution in the
arbitrament of reason rather than
in an appeal to arms"
In welcoming the delegates the
President added that "in trouble
some times like the present" it was
most heartening" to know that the
congress would be held
He also extended to the Pax
Romano and the American
Student Conference, meeting in con-
junction with the congress, wishes
for "all success in their efforts to
promote peace, with all its attendant
blessings"
Earlier Pope Plus XII sent "a great
and particular apostolic blessing" to
the congress, whose motto is "The
peace of Christ in the reign of
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