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Correcting some misconceptions about the A.W.R.V. (Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate). A thread:
(Pictured above is the seal of the AWRV)
In this thread I plan to respond to three more common, yet incorrect, objections against the Vicariate.
These three misconceptions are as follows:
1.) We use azyma (unleaven) in the Eucharist.
2.) We do contemplative/imaginative prayer.
3.) We don’t venerate/kiss icons and view them as a window to Heaven, as taught by the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
1.) We use azyma (unleaven) in the Eucharist.
2.) We do contemplative/imaginative prayer.
3.) We don’t venerate/kiss icons and view them as a window to Heaven, as taught by the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
The first misconception is the claim that we use unleavened wafers akin to those used by the papists.
The truth is that the hosts used in the masses of the AWRV absolutely are made from risen (or leavened) bread. When the hosts are baked, they are baked to rise. This is even in the directory of the AWRV itself. (WR Directory, Sec. C4)
The second misconception is the claim that we engage in “imaginative prayer.” This, like the last, is also a common, yet incorrect, concern voiced.
The reality is that the Vicariate outwardly forbids such “prayer.” (WR Directory, Sec. H2)
The third - and final - misconception is that we don’t kiss/venerate icons as taught by the Holy Orthodox Church, nor do we have the view of iconography of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
This, however, proves false when one goes to basically any WR parish under AWRV - you can find flat or three-side relief iconography (as opposed to freestanding statue). The Vicariate also does not encourage anything deviating from the Seventh Council on this teaching.
Pictured above is an icon on the north wall for veneration at St. Vincent of Lerins Antiochian Orthodox Church in Omaha, NE.
A quick word on church imagery: it tends to fall into one of three categories:
1.) explicitly venerative (like the icons you see with candle stands in front)
2.) general liturgical (e.g. a fresco, flat icon, or relief behind the altar)
3.) purely decorative
1.) explicitly venerative (like the icons you see with candle stands in front)
2.) general liturgical (e.g. a fresco, flat icon, or relief behind the altar)
3.) purely decorative
(an example of “purely decorative” being the statues on Christ Savior Cathedral in Moscow)
While freestanding statues get a little iffy arguably in the first category, they have existed many times throughout Church history in the other two. Hagia Sofia had statues which were purely decorative, and so does Christ Savior Cathedral in Moscow today.
Anyways, that was really the point of this thread: to correct the record on three often raised points. Personally I’ve always maintained that there is no good case against WR as a concept, but there have been issues with implementation. That said, these three aren’t among them.
