Someone had asked me why we don't have the stations of the cross in our parishes any more. From this person's perspective this doesn't make any sense because all prayers help us to get closer to God and in his mind were all Catholics so there shouldn't be a problem. Like this person many approach tradition from the perspective of: "all catholic spirituality is the same".We should make the most of using anything that will help us get closer to God. On the other hand, we need to be sensitive to the diverse gifts that we have in our traditions. Being that Great Lent is around the corner I thought I might demonstrate in a few ways we discover some diversity among latin and byzantine traditions
There was a TV program on a few years back that showed some of the extreme practices of religious groups. Included in the program were certain Catholics in the Philippines who during Lent would have public displays of extreme self mortification and even a parade of people that were physically crucified. These groups are not an official representation of Roman Catholic teaching, but they do represent the Latin spirituality in its extreme form.
Throughout Roman Catholic history self mortification has been part of their spiritual heritage. Even today there are groups in the Latin tradition that beat themselves with whips, such as opus dei. There was even a testimony of a nun and others who claimed the last pope whipped himself. When understood properly self mortification for Roman Catholics is a way to identify with Jesus Christ. This identification leads one to share in Christ's suffering and to express a remorse for ones sins or a contribution in paying one debt for sin (penance). During lent we see the amplification of this spirituality, especially in the prayers of the stations of the cross.
In the Byzantine tradition we have similar practices of self mortification, which are highly practiced during lent. We fast, do prostrations, and have all night vigils to name a few. However, our understanding of self mortification is not the same as it is in the Latin tradition. As I pointed out, in the Latin tradition self mortification leads a person to identify with the redemptive suffering of Christ, which at times leads to some to extreme practices. It could be said for the Byzantine tradition instead of "identifying" with Christ through mortification we seek his "identity" or indwelling presence. For the most part, mortification in the byzantine rite is a way of purification rather than a penance. Through our mortification we seek to participate in the divine nature rather than to imitate the sufferings of Christ or show penitential remorse for sin.
Obviously the spiritualities behind some of the Lenten practices comes from how our two traditions have come to understand sin. Properly understood the byzantine tradition takes a therapeutic approach to sin in its spirituality where as in the Latin tradition we find a forensic approach. Based on this the answer to the person to why we don't have the stations of the cross is simple: we practice spirituality differently. Each tradition reflects how it has come to understand the mysteries of divine revelation.There is something very unique and special about the way each tradition reflects the same mystery in diverse ways.
There was a TV program on a few years back that showed some of the extreme practices of religious groups. Included in the program were certain Catholics in the Philippines who during Lent would have public displays of extreme self mortification and even a parade of people that were physically crucified. These groups are not an official representation of Roman Catholic teaching, but they do represent the Latin spirituality in its extreme form.
Throughout Roman Catholic history self mortification has been part of their spiritual heritage. Even today there are groups in the Latin tradition that beat themselves with whips, such as opus dei. There was even a testimony of a nun and others who claimed the last pope whipped himself. When understood properly self mortification for Roman Catholics is a way to identify with Jesus Christ. This identification leads one to share in Christ's suffering and to express a remorse for ones sins or a contribution in paying one debt for sin (penance). During lent we see the amplification of this spirituality, especially in the prayers of the stations of the cross.
In the Byzantine tradition we have similar practices of self mortification, which are highly practiced during lent. We fast, do prostrations, and have all night vigils to name a few. However, our understanding of self mortification is not the same as it is in the Latin tradition. As I pointed out, in the Latin tradition self mortification leads a person to identify with the redemptive suffering of Christ, which at times leads to some to extreme practices. It could be said for the Byzantine tradition instead of "identifying" with Christ through mortification we seek his "identity" or indwelling presence. For the most part, mortification in the byzantine rite is a way of purification rather than a penance. Through our mortification we seek to participate in the divine nature rather than to imitate the sufferings of Christ or show penitential remorse for sin.
Obviously the spiritualities behind some of the Lenten practices comes from how our two traditions have come to understand sin. Properly understood the byzantine tradition takes a therapeutic approach to sin in its spirituality where as in the Latin tradition we find a forensic approach. Based on this the answer to the person to why we don't have the stations of the cross is simple: we practice spirituality differently. Each tradition reflects how it has come to understand the mysteries of divine revelation.There is something very unique and special about the way each tradition reflects the same mystery in diverse ways.
