Sincerely yours,
Hiereus Efim Dovitas
37. 1995, Be’er Sheva
L
ETTER FROM
E
FIM
D
OVITAS TO THE
L
ATIN
P
ATRIARCH OF
J
ERUSALEM
(Copy to the Abbot of the Carmelite Monastery of Stella Maris)
Your Excellency,
Pressing circumstances oblige me to address to you a letter the nature of which profoundly dismays me. However, my Christian duty has prompted me to write it since, as I am profoundly persuaded, the information contained therein requires close scrutiny on the part of those in charge of the Latin Patriarchate.
Coming to Israel in 1980, since 1984 I have served in a pastoral capacity within the Orthodox Church in Be’er Sheva. In the community which I lead the service is conducted in the Church Slavonic language, which is in accordance with the spirit of the Orthodox Church. The greater part of my parishioners are Russian or Russian speakers and only at Easter do we joyfully mark the festival with proclamations in many languages of Christian Churches.
Within the tradition of the Orthodox Church since ancient times, two variations of the liturgy have been accepted, that of Vasiliy the Great and of St. John Chrysostomos, to which we adhere.
As a specialist in the sphere of the liturgy, I am also well familiar with the structure of the Latin Mass in its generally accepted version. It is well known that in local churches certain variations in the service are permitted in respect of the sequence of the reading of psalms and hymns. However, in the churches both of the Eastern and Western rites there exists an immutable liturgical canon.
Some time ago there came into my hands by chance the text of a Mass which has been adopted for service in the Church of Elijah by the Spring on Mount Carmel, entrusted to your wardship. The text, compiled by the father superior of the Church of Elijah by the Spring, aroused in me such profound consternation that I have considered it my duty to forward it to Your Excellency for your information. In the depleted text the Symbol of Faith is absent, and this circumstance alone is cause for concern.
I cannot imagine that a service of this kind has been approved by the Holy See.
Efim Dovitas, Priest of the Russian Orthodox Church
38.
T
EXT OF THE
“S
UPPER OF
R
EMEMBRANCE
” (L
ITURGY
)
OF THE
J
EWISH
C
HRISTIAN
C
OMMUNITY OF
H
AIFA
,
COMPILED BY
B
ROTHER
D
ANIEL
S
TEIN
(After the lighting of candles and pronouncing of the blessing)
DANIEL. The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
CONGREGATION. Amen.
(Psalms 43 and 32, or Penitential Rite)
Readings—Psalms and canticles.
Sermon.
Bracha (Blessing)
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, maker of heaven and earth.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders (Psalm 72:18)
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who created people in the image of Himself and created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:27)
CONGREGATION. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. (Psalm 72:18)
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who covenanted with Abraham and his descendants.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be …
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, gracious and merciful, liberating and redeeming, who delivered us from captivity in Egypt and has now assembled the sons of Israel 2,000 years after their dispersal.
CONGREGATIONn. Blessed be …
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, for the Torah which He gave us through Moshe, His servant, and through the prophets who came after Him.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be …
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who in the fullness of time sent His only Son, Jesus of Nazareth, to be our Savior.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be …
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has found it meet to renew His covenant with us through His Son and to join all the peoples of the earth in sharing the inheritance of His children.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be …
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by His great mercy gave us new life in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be …
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, pouring down upon us his spirit for the forgiveness of sins and leading us along the path to our inheritance.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be …
DANIEL. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, faithful in His every word.
CONGREGATION. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. Blessed forever is His glorious name. May the whole world be filled with His glory! Amen! Amen! Amen.
DANIEL. The Lord be with you.
CONGREGATION. And with you.
DANIEL. Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh.
CONGREGATION. Let us acclaim His name together. (Psalm 34:3)
DANIEL. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Trisagion.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
CONGREGATION. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of His glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh. Hosanna in the highest.
ALL. May the Lord hear our prayers and send us His holy spirit that we may become one in Jesus Christ, His Son, in the hour when we celebrate the feast of the covenant as we were commanded.
Remembrance
DANIEL. When the time came He took his place at the table, and the apostles with Him. Then He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:14–19)
Blessed be the Lord our God, ruler of the world, who causes bread to come forth from the earth.
CONGREGATION. Amen.
(They receive the bread.)
DANIEL. He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you. (Luke 22:20). Do this in remembrance of me. Blessed be the Lord our God, ruler of the world, creating the fruit of the vine.”
CONGREGATION. Amen.
(They receive the wine.)
DANIEL. Each time you eat this bread and drink from this cup, remember the death of our Lord until He comes.
CONGREGATION. We proclaim His death and testify to His resurrection until He comes. Maranatha!
OR
DANIEL. Each time we eat this bread and drink from this cup, the Messiah is with us and we are with Him.
Praise
Psalm 23 (or another)
DANIEL. Sing a new song to Yahweh, for He has performed wonders.
CONGREGATION. His saving power is in His right hand and His holy arm. (Psalm 98:1)
DANIEL. Great is Yahweh and worthy of all praise, His greatness beyond all reckoning.
CONGREGATION. Each age will praise Your deeds to the next, proclaiming Your mighty works. (Psalms 145:4)
DANIEL. Yahweh is generous to all, His tenderness embraces all His creatures.
CONGREGATION. All look to you in hope and you feed them with the food of the season.
DANIEL. With generous hand, you satisfy the desires of every living creature. (Psalm 145:16)
CONGREGATION. Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, ruler of the world, feeding all.
Hymn of thanksgiving.
DANIEL. Give thanks to Him and bless His name, for Yahweh is good.
CONGREGATION. His faithful love is everlasting, His constancy from age to age. (Psalm 100:5)
DANIEL. He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He laid down for a thousand generations, which He concluded with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He established it as a statute for Jacob, an everlasting covenant. (Psalms 105:8–10). You freed us from slavery through your great mercy and in the desert you did not leave us and gave us, Lord our God, manna about which neither we nor our fathers knew. We praise you for the bread with which you fill us and for your word which you have put in our hearts, we praise you Lord, Father of our Master, Jesus. You have blessed us through Him, through the Messiah, with all heavenly blessings.