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Text Box: THE BASILIAN FATHERS (The Society of Clerks Secular of Saint Basil) REUNIFICATION PROSPECTS BECOME INCREMENTALLY LIMITED By + Paul, S.S.B. If you are Roman Catholic and easily offended you may wish refrain from reading this - but if you so do you will simply be ignoring very important maters. The prospects of reunification of the Roman Catholic Church with the Orthodox Catholic Church and it numerous Jurisdictions (Churches) have become markedly less likely as regards the Latin Rite (Western Rite) of the Roman Church if the handling of All Saints Day as a Holy Day of Obligation (for Orthodox, this means a Great Feast), abortion advocates reception of Holy Communion, voting practices regarding abortion and reception of Holy Communion, Liturgical Discipline, Clerical Dignity, and numerous other matters, are indicative of the sanctioned, official policy and practices of the Roman Church. While none of the problems are beyond cure or reversal as are those similar problems extant in the Anglican Communion (Church), strenuous, immediate action is required by Rome if reunification is to be achieved. Liturgy and Ordinations While the Byzantine (Eastern) Rite of the Roman Catholic Church appears to remain valid, the official practices of the Latin (Western) Rite create increasingly strong questions of its validity. The valid Latin Mass (the Gregorian Mass and Tridentine Rite of the Roman Church, its Apostolic Succession, and Sacraments were examined by the Russian Synod in the 1600’s and determined to be valid). This valid Mass or Divine Liturgy was officially replaced by Pope Benedict XVI with the Novus Ordo or New Mass

Text Box: which does not explicitly state the intention to confect the Eucharist. There therefore is a strong question as to the intent of the Novus Ordo liturgy. By the year 1970, Roman Catholic Priests of the Latin Rite were no longer ordained expressly and explicitly to be Priests and to confect and administer the Sacraments, but rather were and continue to be ordained to be leaders of the community in prayer. Anyone can be so ordained. The omission of ordination to a Priesthood which is empowered and ordered to confect and administer the Sacraments means the authority to confect and administer the Sacraments does not exist. It appears the Byzantine Rite of the Roman Catholic Church does continue to ordain its Priests to be Priests, but the Latin (Western) Rite does not appear so to do. There can be no unification or reunification amongst or between those who pray a valid Divine Liturgy as do Orthodox, and those who pray a “liturgy” of severely questionable validity as that of the Novus Ordo for there is no commonality in either the most fundamental prayer or the Sacrament of the Eucharist which is the foundation and source of all of the other Sacraments. Nor is it possible for there to be a union of the known and acknowledged valid Priesthood of the Orthodox with the now questionably valid Priesthood of the Roman Latin Rite for there can be no union of the valid with the actually or potentially invalid. One does not mix pure water with an unknown liquid and then drink it. Holy Days “de-obligationized” The handling of All Saints Day, Saturday, November 1, 2008 A. D., by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, combined with the Roman practice of fulfilling one’s obligation to participate in Mass (Divine Liturgy) on Sunday through attendance at a “Vigil” Mass on Saturday afternoon even before sundown, are indicative of a Roman hierarchy which perceives no validity in

Text Box: its Mass (Divine Liturgy). In the Archdiocese of New Orleans, All Saints Day was de-holydayed, or, rather, de-obligationed. The official notice of this states: “Pastoral Bulletin for October 29, 2008, By: pkocke, Thursday October 30th 2008, from Deacon Jesse Watley, Executive Director, Dept. of Pastoral Services (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans) THE SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS This year the Solemnity of All Saints falls on a Saturday, November 1. Mass attendance for this Holy Day is not required since it is on a Saturday. While Mass attendance is not obligatory, the day is still a Holy Day.” (url: http://www.arch-no.org/ and http://www.arch-no.org/News.php?mode=read&id=307&title=Pastoral%20Bulletin%20for%20October%2029,%202008) Does this mean that when Christmas occurs on a Saturday it remains a Holy Day but attendance at Mass is not obligatory? This correlates with the Roman practice of fulfilling one’s obligation to attend Mass (Divine Liturgy) on Sundays by attending a Sunday Vigil Mass on Saturday. The most common attitude observed in those who attend these Vigil Masses is that they, “Get it out of the way,” or, “Get the obligation out of the way,” . . . so they can what? Have a full Sunday free to do what? Worship God?!!!! Not likely! There are two prime types of vigils applicable to Divine Liturgy for feasts of Saints. One is the day prior to the feast. The other coincides with sundown of the day prior to the feast to midnight. The one which coincides with sundown is a retention of the Jewish practice of having a day be from sundown to sundown, as opposed to the Northern European practice of having a day be from sunrise to sunrise.

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