{"id":70440,"date":"2019-07-18T00:01:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T07:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=70440"},"modified":"2019-07-30T11:52:15","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T18:52:15","slug":"byzantine-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2019\/07\/18\/byzantine-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Byzantine Liturgy is great For kids…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This past week, a friend of mine visited my Byzantine Catholic parish. Afterwards, she admitted that she had been rather apprehensive about how her small child was going to react to the whole experience. After all, she knew that the Byzantine Liturgy was typically ninety minutes long, rather than the forty-five minute Mass which her son had previously been used to experiencing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though I have no children of my own, I offered the somewhat counter-intuitive claim that the Byzantine Liturgy is in some ways better suited to children than a Novus Ordo or Tridentine Mass. A bold claim, I know, but I stand by it! So, here are my top ten reasons why I think the Byzantine Liturgy is great if you have small children…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Reason #1: No long silences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Times of extended silence at church are wonderful. They give you time to calm your mind, find rest your soul and contemplate God. Of course, if you’re a parent, these are also inevitably the times during which your toddler either has a meltdown or loudly announces to the congregation that he’s just done a big poo… Fortunately, in the Byzantine Liturgy there are far fewer moments of silence in which this can happen – our constant singing will cover up a lot! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reason #2: Rarely a dull moment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related to the first reason, it’s worth pointing out that there’s rarely a dull moment in the Byzantine Liturgy. It is highly immersive, full of sensory experiences, making it well-suited for children as well as adults. As mentioned above, we are almost always singing. Not only that, the sanctuary is full of colour. The various gates on the icon screen will open and close. We stand. We sit. We bow. We make the sign of the cross. Objects are incensed and anointed. There are processions inside the church by the clergy and altar servers. Sometimes even the entire congregation processes around the exterior of the church! There are icons to kiss and candles to light. It’s not unusual to see parents taking their children to light a candle even during the prayers and nobody bats an eyelid. At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the congregation often receive blessed bread (“Antideron”) and are anointed with oil on their foreheads. So, as Liturgies go, ours is pretty action-packed even if you’re not an altar server<\/a>, giving the kids lots to see and experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reason #3: Big families<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just the other day on Twitter, I saw a chap complaining about noisy children on planes. He said,“You decide to have them, you deal with it alone, at home, and don’t travel until they’re capable of it without trouble”<\/em>. I asked him if he had kids…he said no. I asked him if he’d done any baby sitting…he said no. Unsurprised by these answers, I suggested to him that perhaps he should actually spend some time looking after children before begin quite so ready to criticise parents…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This isn't a question of why the kids cry. We understand why they cry. Forcing the rest of us to deal with it is unfair and inconsiderate. You decide to have them, you deal with it alone, at home, and don't travel until they're capable of it without trouble.<\/p>— Joe Piscopo (@Joe_MLB_MAN) July 15, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>