Royal Oak, MI: Masses in different Catholic Rites

I am told that there will be a series of Holy Masses celebrated in different Catholic Rites at the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, MI.

This sounds like a splendid opportunity.

March 4th was the Chaldean Rite
March 11th is the Maronite Rite.
March 18th is the Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite.
March 25th is the Syro-Malabar Divine Liturgy.
April 1st is Romanian Byzantine Rite Vespers and Pre-Sanctified Liturgy.

All Liturgies are at 7pm at

Shrine of the Little Flower
2100 W. 12 Mile Rd.
Royal Oak, MI 48073

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23 Comments

  1. John Enright says:

    I wish that I lived there. I’d go to each of the liturgies. Since I live in Philadelphia, I guess that I’ll have to try for it here. Maybe I can convince the Archdiocese to do something along these lines!

  2. don Jeffry says:

    Hopefully the next time they organize this, they will invite me to say the Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Ambrosian Rite.
    don Jeffry

  3. Bob K. says:

    Great News!. Wish I could be there. It would be very interesting and educational.

  4. Ann says:

    WOW, I would love to live where I could experience the different rites. What a treasure they have available.

  5. William says:

    I wish I lived near there, I always wanted to attend a Marionite liturgy.

  6. William says:

    Correction: Maronite

  7. Steve says:

    Attn: John Enright
    There are many opportunities to attend other Rites
    Of the Catholic Church without leaving Philadelphia.
    There is the Byzantine Ukranian Cathedral of the Im-
    Maculate Conception at Franklin and Brown Sts., St.
    Maron Church in South Philadelphia, Holy Spirit
    Byzantine Church also in South Philadelphia, the
    Syro-Malabar Rite in North Philadelphia. I have attended
    many Eastern Rites while living in Philadelphia. The
    Extra-Ordinary form is celebrated every Sunday at Our
    Lady of Consolation in Tacony and the Ordinary form
    Of Mass is celebrated in Latin every other Sunday at
    The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul at 18th
    & Race Streets.

  8. Joe says:

    sounds like a great opportunity! very small point: technically the Byzantine service is not a Mass (or a Divine Liturgy) since no consecration will take place.

  9. John Enright says:

    Steve: THanks for the info. I just never knew this! I’m going to experience the Catholic world now.

  10. TJM says:

    Now that’s diversity that I can respect! I am very happy for the folks in Royal Oak, Michigan. Tom

  11. Michael says:

    Does the Shrine record these wonderful events? I’d like to add to my DVD collection these diverse expressions of the one Holy, Apostolic, Catholic and orthodox faith.

  12. Wonderful! I pray that all goes well and that all go!

    I wish someday that I can attend the Armenian rite. I have had the opportunity to attend both a Coptic liturgy and an Ethiopian. My hope is that all Latins who attend rediscover the Catholic breadth of their own liturgical tradition!

  13. Mitchell NY says:

    What an excellent idea for every major Diocese to implement. I can not think of a better way to promote choice and show the Holy Father our support. I hope the Pope some how gets wind of this and sees his dreams for the Church slowly bearing fruit. I think it would be uplifting for him in these turbulent times…..

  14. andrew says:

    I attended this evening, and I was certainly not alone. Many people in the area are taking advantage of this unique opportunity. In the Detroit area you are able to get to any Catholic Rite that you can choose. I don’t have the data, but the celebrant said all of the Rites (all 22 Sui Iuris Oriental Churches and the Latin Rite) are celebrated in Detroit. I don’t think Ambrosian (or any of the other Western Rites for that matter) is available.

    The Maronite Liturgy was celebrated in English and Syriac with some chant in Syriac that was very beautiful.

    If you want Armenian, I suggest St. Vartan’s in Detroit. I’ve never been, but that would be the place. According to this website: http://www.geocities.com/wmwolfe_48044/St_Vartan.html they celebrate “Holy Badarak” in Livonia, MI at Sacred Heart Byzantine Catholic church. The website also has a link to the Armenian Eparchy for the US and Canada.

    We got it all!

  15. Will says:

    When I lived ‘back east’ I went to a Liturgy at St. Vartan’s. It was beautiful. Now I live in Wyoming, but even out here we breathe “with both lungs.” Wyoming Catholic College celebrates the Byzantine Divine Liturgy every week.

  16. Pseudomodo says:

    We celebrate the Eclectic Rite in our parish…

    Just because!

  17. irishgirl says:

    Wonderful to hear!

    In my part of Upstate NY, there are three Eastern Rite churches: Maronite, Melkite, and Ukranian Catholic. [is the last one with Rome? Hope I’m not wrong on this]

    I’ve been to the Maronite church more often than the other two.

  18. Robert Badger says:

    There are many opportunities to attend Eastern Rite liturgies in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In one parish, they have both Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites. Also, near the seminary, there is a small Armenian Catholic Church I used to love to attend on the free weekends from the seminary.

  19. Dr. Eric says:

    I have had the opportunity to attend:

    The Mass of Paul VI

    The Mass of Pius V

    The Divine Liturgy of Sts. John Chrysostom and Basil the Great in the Ukrainian Recension

    The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in the Ruthenian Recension

    The Chaldean Liturgy (in Detroit)

    And, the Maronite Liturgies (there are many anaphorae.)

  20. Christbearer316 says:

    I live in Lansing, MI and was able to attend the Maronite Divine Liturgy last night at the Shrine. It was my first time at the Shrine and it is beautiful. The Maronite Rite is incredibly beautiful quite an experiance. I was amazed to find out that the Maronite Rite has 150 Anaphorae (only 9 are translated into english). It was a great evening and Liturgy. It was alittle weird being in an octagon shaped Roman Catholic church with the main altar in the very middle though.

  21. Michael says:

    I would be interested to learn which of all those Catholic liturgies the commenters had experienced are really counterparts of their original forms as celebrated in their non-Catholic “mother” Churches. Maronites, who have no “schismatic” counterpart are generally looked upon with contempt by others, and are referred to as “eastern rite Latins”. I understand that one of their priests serves the Melchite community in London, and is making a bit of a cock-up of the Melchite Liturgy, among other things: with girls in the procession of the Great Entrance. On the other hand, their “schismatic” counterpart – the Antiochian Orthodox Liturgy is impeccable.

    The Maronites themselves are served by another priest, and celebrate in a Latin parish church – versus populum, with girls in the sanctuary. Chaldean, Ethiopians, and Eritreans also use Latin parish churches and celebrate versus populum. I have attended the Liturgies of their “schismatic” counterparts too: Nestorian, Ethiopian, and Eritrean – the resemblance is very remote.

    The Melchite and Ukrainian Liturgies are ad Orientem, but only the Ukrainian Liturgy has remained unspoiled.

    So, unfortunately there are abuses in the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches too, not only in the Latin Church.

    A good account of the divisions in the Malabar Catholic Church in India is in the Vikipedia – a conflict between those who want to restore their ancient rite, and the Latinizers whose product isn’t much different from our Novus Ordo.

    Vatican II requested of all of them “to retain at all times their own liturgical… rites”; “take the necessary steps to return to their ancestral traditions” (OE 6); “loyalty and devotion to the ancient traditions of the East” (24). Congregation for the Eastern Churches published, in late nineties, a long document about their liturgies, insisting on preservation of their heritage (10); with a separate paragraph (107) about prayer facing the east. But…

  22. Joe says:

    dear Michael,
    I have seen “altar girls” in Greek churches.

  23. Michael says:

    Joe
    Thank you for the information. To my knowledge their canons forbid women to enter the sanctuary.

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