Each semester at the seminary, we host a couple of Saturday vigil Masses that accompany some sort of event. The best part of this is that the next day, on Sunday, we are able to go to Mass anywhere in the Diocese that we want. Normally, a group of us attend one of the local TLM options. I have a classmate who essentially wants nothing to do with the TLM, but he does take a great interest in the Eastern Rites of the Church. I have studied the act of liturgy for years now, so I figured it was time to gain some new perspective on what Jesus's instructions for worship actually were. So this week, I decided to have my friend take me to his favorite Divine Liturgy in the area.
Going into this, I knew that the Eastern liturgy featured lots of singing, no kneeling, and lots of standing. I knew that things like ad orientem were retained, especially since Pope Francis mandated that one of the Eastern traditions maintain their ad orientem posture. Other than this, I had no idea what to expect. 

We walked in, and it was very close to how I imagined it. I saw some pews, many families, and a massive iconostasis with the three doors. In the pews, there were "hymnals" / missals that had the chants for the liturgy. Before the liturgy began, the cantor announced all of the page numbers they would be using, but without overdoing it like saying: "Welcome to Holy Resurrection Parish! We are glad you are here! Please join in singing X on Page ###, that is Page ###" or something similarly overkill. She simply acted like she was one of the fellow worshipers and kindly said what page the propers were on and what chant tone were using in the book. 

The worship itself felt very familiar in structure to the western rite, especially as I have studied the history of the western liturgy. There were readings, psalms, an elevated Gospel reading, a homily, petitions, and a distinct liturgy of the Eucharist. The part that suprised me the most was how much the deacon was annunciating. It was almost as if the deacon was the bridge between the laity and the priest in the sactuary who spent most of his time at the altar. There was a significant amount of time where we weren't just listening to him like in the Novus Ordo. It felt much more similar to the TLM where the choir / people are praying at a different pace than the priest himself. 

The part of the liturgy that seemed to be healing to me was that it didn't seem like it was trying to keep the laity engaged. Over and over, the deacon would chant "let us be attentive" before something was prayed or recited from Scripture. As a consequence, the attention was placed on the words themselves instead of somebody trying to make sure I was feeling well fed with lots of eye contact. I felt like I was asked to give of myself the entire time through the paying attention and singing instead of feeling the need to be "getting something out of it." The attention wasn't placed on the laity or the deacon or the priest. It was entirely fixed on God. This was also reaffirmed by the amount of holy Icons in the church itself. There were many giant icons of Our Lord, and it was clear that all of us were visitors into His house, not that we were trying to invite God into our house that we built. 

I also found it interesting how chill everybody was acting. There wasn't much silent time at all, so the kids weren't much of a distraction. I didn't feel like I was being judged for not bowing or crossing myself at 100% of the appropriate times. Nobody there was being super precise or scrupulous with following all of the postures in perfect sync. It was healthy, yet the fear of God was maintained with the presence of the iconostasis and the dozens of times we chanted, "Lord have mercy". 

The best way to describe the liturgy was that it felt organic. It felt much different than anything in our western culture, and you could tell that it wasn't created by a group of men in a discussion room like the Novus Ordo was. Everything flowed flawlessly, and all of the tiny details in the rite made it quite easy to pray and stay focused. Overall, it was a great experience. I definitely appreciate certain things in the latin rite more like the emphasis on silence, but I feel much less intimidated about advocating for more chant in the latin rite. Chanting the propers and / or psalms isn't that big of a barrier if you have a good cantor / choir. I know that a lot of millenial and gen z music directors are putting a big emphasis on this, and I am glad to help in any way that I can including working on my own personal singing capabilities. Luckily, I have a few friends who are a part of this "reconquista" of sacred music, so I have plenty of resources to turn to. 

Do any of you have other takeaways from attending an eastern liturgy?