130 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



The Greek Catholic Church and Rites 



The language, liturgy and ceremonies of the Greek Church 

 are substantially the same, whether the persons using them 

 are Catholic or schismatic. Such changes in the public pray- 

 ers for the church authorities as will indicate whether they 

 are in unity and harmony with the Holy See at Rome are 

 made, but in general, the same service books can be used for 

 all the principal parts of the Mass alike in the Greek Catholic 

 or in the separated Greek Churches. There are some differ- 

 ences of faith, however, nowadays, between the Catholic and 

 separated Churches. 



The form of the Greek altar and sanctuary, and even of 

 the entire church, is different from the Roman or Western 

 ones. The Ruthenian and Russian churches are fond of a 

 peculiar cross, known as the Slavonic cross, which consists 

 of the usual cross with the head-board and the foot-piece 

 added to it. Usually the foot-piece is expressed by being 

 placed slanting across "the upright stem. This form of cross 

 is used outside of the churches, and on the outside of prayer- 

 books, etc., and is not used in the Greek churches of other na- 

 tions. The Ruthenian or Russian churches are usually sur- 

 mounted by bulbous domes of Byzantine-Slavic origin, which 

 have a mystical significance. Where one central dome alone 

 is used, it represents Our Lord ; where three are used, it is 

 either the Trinity, if they are of equal size, or Our Lord 

 and the Old and New Law, if two of them are smaller; and 

 where there are five domes on the church, it represents Our 

 Lord surrounded by the four Evangelists. 



The altar is usually nearly square in form and is arranged 

 so that the clergy may pass entirely around it. On the north 

 or "gospel" side of the altar (usually against the wall), is a 

 smaller altar or table of oblation, on which the Proskomide 

 or first part of the Mass is said. The sanctuary is divided 

 from the rest of the church by the Iconostas (Greek, ikonos- 

 tasis) or picture-screen, which has three doors in it. The 

 icons, or church pictures, which must be in every church, are 

 Our Lord on the right-hand (or epistle) side, and Our Lady 

 on the left-hand (or gospel) side. Other pictures may be and 

 usually are added to beautify the iconostas. This is simply the 



