What most of us know about a Byzantine Mass can be summed up in three words: chanting, icons, and incense.

Friar Mike Lenz knows considerably more. Since April of 2004 he’s been celebrating the sacraments in the Byzantine Rite in three of the many parishes in Pittsburgh that trace their spiritual heritage to the Great Church of Constantinople. “I’ve always had great love for the churches of the East,” says Mike, who still helps out on weekdays and Sundays at Roman Rite parishes. As a bi-ritual priest, he was especially sensitive to the unification efforts of Pope John Paul II. Mike agrees that “the Church is a body that has two lungs; one is of the East and one is of the West.”

For those unfamiliar with Eastern Rites, Byzantine Catholics are Orthodox Catholics who embrace full communion with the Church of Rome and its pastor, Pope Benedict XVI. (The Greek Orthodox and other Eastern Orthodox Churches are not in communion with the Pope.) It was another Pope, John XXIII, who described Eastern churches as “the treasure of the Catholic Church.”

For those raised in the Roman Rite, a Byzantine Mass is like a trip to foreign shores. “In the Church of the East, you use all your senses,” Mike says. “When you come into the church, you don’t genuflect. People bow, cross themselves and kiss the icon of the parish. You can smell the incense right away. Everything in a Byzantine church is symbolic. There are bright-colored icons in reds and blues and greens, and a lot of gold. There’s just so much to see. The whole idea is that when a person comes to church, it reminds them of heaven.” During the liturgy, “People chant back and forth with the priest. In Roman Catholic churches, we pray for the Pope. In Orthodox churches, they pray for the Bishop of Constantinople. It’s a different liturgy, different hymns, a different culture. Whatever country the Byzantine Rite is in, they use the language of the people.”

Mike has always been drawn to the Eastern Church, inspired by his bi-ritual brothers in the Vice Province of the Holy Savior, friars Roland Maruscak, Francis Duchala and Joseph Portasik. “Roland and Francis were pastors of Byzantine parishes for quite a few years. It was always in the back of my mind that I would like to get involved.” In the 1980s, Mike was granted faculties for the Maronite rite, the Lebanese branch of the Catholic family. “When we merged with SJB Province, I was in Cincinnati and still had this interior longing to work with the church of the East. When I came to Francis Duchala’s funeral (in Pittsburgh, March of 2003), I saw priests from the eparchy (Byzantine diocese), talked to them and became aware that there was a real need for help” in their parishes. “In the Pittsburgh area there are a number of Byzantine churches, and many do not have a resident priest.” Unfortunately, “There are very few men answering the call in the Byzantine seminary.”

Mike started his petition process after consulting with Basil Schott, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. “You have to get an indult from Rome, write a letter to Archbishop Basil, get the Provincial’s permission and send it to the Vatican.” Last year after receiving confirmation from Rome, he began on-the-job training, concelebrating with a priest-mentor to whom he was assigned. First he had to learn a new vocabulary, and a few new moves. “The liturgy (called the Divine Liturgy) is long and quite complicated, with a lot more rubrics than in the Roman Mass.” Cantors sing from a choir loft, without an organ, using simple melodies for the opening and closing hymns.

American Byzantine parishes have their roots in many countries, says Mike, including Greece, Slovakia, Romania, Russia and the Ukraine. The Byzantine Rite spread through Eastern Europe following the Great Schism of 1054 in which the patriarch of Constantinople (Byzantium) and the Pope in Rome excommunicated each other, creating a rift between the Byzantine and Latin churches. Migrating to the United States, practitioners of the faith congregated on the Eastern and Western sides of the country. “There are a lot of Byzantine churches in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,” Mike says. “Many are in older neighborhoods. Many people travel for miles” to worship. “There is loyalty not just to the church but to the rite.”

Although he considers himself a novice, “I feel very spiritually fulfilled doing this,” he says. “I really love the simplicity of the Latin Rite, and I really love the mystery of the Eastern Rite. The beauty of the Catholic Church is that we have so many different rites, yet it is all one faith.”

A fourth friar has been assigned to the House of Prayer in Ava, Mo., according to friar Mark Ligett. “His name is Fred Radtke, and he is a member of the Sacred Heart Province. Fred is a liturgist and a former missionary to both Africa and Bolivia. Most recently he has been doing vocation work for the SH province. So now the core group is: Fred Radtke and Michael Jennrich from Sacred Heart, and Josef Anderlohr and myself from SJB!” Renovations on the house and guest hermitage are almost finished. On April 5, Kenn Beetz and Norbert Bertram drove a truck to Ava containing a batch of furniture donated by Tim Sucher after the closing of St. Christine Friary in Detroit. “We are so grateful for Tim's gift to us, and for the moving services of classmates Kenn and Norb,” said Mark. Norbert was all fired up about the project when he got home. “We have a place that has a nice, large gathering room,” he said. “They’re creating a nice chapel. There’s a well-equipped kitchen. A big open staircase goes up to a knotty-pine room full of windows. That’s where the craftwork will be done. A small shed on the property is being remodeled for a hermitage. Down the hill there’s a stream and a place to sit. It’s ideal—a wonderful setting, a great place for guys to go if they want to get away and have some quiet and peaceful time.”

Recently, workers delivered a new air conditioner to the side entrance of St. Francis Seraph Friary in Over-the-Rhine. Friary cook Buzz Boyd signed for it, left it sitting in a cart in front of the propped-open door and notified maintenance man Joe Russell that it had arrived. Joe went to retrieve it, came back looking puzzled and asked Buzz, “Where is it?” Buzz went to check. The air conditioner was gone. Apparently, in the minute or two he left it alone, a pair of opportunistic thieves had grabbed it and made off down the alley. Tom Dehmer, subbing for Sr. Bernadette, was coordinating a sandwich delivery and noticed two guys carting away a box. He figured they were removing the old air conditioner.

During their recent trip to Italy, friar Bert Heise and his sister, Mary Lou, got to Rome the Monday after the Pope died and made it into St. Peter’s shortly before crowds lined up for visitation. “Preparations going on everywhere, setting up chairs and barricades (both inside and out),” Bert wrote in his journal. “Reporters and TV people from all over the world all over the place, a sea of satellite dishes. Hundreds and hundreds of police. No cars. Streets are blocked off way out. And by the time we leave we will have to walk 10 or 15 blocks to get a taxi. They are setting up mammoth TV screens along the route that the crowd will take to view the body. Everywhere there are hospital tents and ambulances. Side streets are also filling up with people—and by the time we leave about 2 p.m., people will already be lined up in the hot sun for the visitation which will not start until 8 p.m.” After leaving St. Peter’s, “We visit Marcello’s Restaurant down from the main gate to the Vatican. I first ate here in 1974 and have gone back every time I have been in Rome. Marcello still remembers Mel Brady, who frequented the restaurant after I introduced him to the place. Had my picture taken with Marcello in front of the St. Francis picture Mel gave him.” Mel died shortly after Bert got home.

“Things are looking better!” says Vocation Director Don Miller, who shares this information from Catholic Trends, a bi-weekly newsletter from the USCCB: “The number of post-college men preparing for the priesthood in 2004-2005 fell by 41 from the previous year for diocesan prospectives but rose by 64 for those who are members of religious communities. This number for the dioceses is the lowest since CARA started gathering statistics almost 40 years ago. The number for religious communities topped the 1,000 mark for the first time since the 1990-1991 report. The lowest for religious was 771 in 1997-1998. The present enrollments are 2,307 for the dioceses and 1,001 for religious communities.”

Friars Jack Wintz, Al Hirt and Duane Stenzel were sought out by the media for their insights and opinions following the death of Pope John Paul II. Duane did interviews with Louisiana’s Channel 5 and two daily newspapers. Al was on TV in Cincinnati, asked for his thoughts about the future of the Church. And Jack spoke to a Fox TV news reporter about his book, A Retreat with Pope John Paul II: Be Not Afraid, as well as coverage of the Pope in St. Anthony Messenger.

A neat idea from St. Mary’s in Bloomington: Each year, the second Sunday after Easter, the parish hosts a “Catacombs Mass” in its basement. The event replicates the secretive atmosphere endured by early Christians driven underground by persecution. Participants are blindfolded and led downstairs, says pastor Ric Schneider, where the presider urges congregants to be quiet lest they draw the attention of a vigilant Roman guard.

Friar Jack Wintz and Carol Ann Morrow of SAMP contributed four new chapters to Anthony of Padua, Saint of the People, a revised/expanded edition of the booklet first published as Saint Anthony of Padua, The Story of His Life and Popular Devotions (edited by friars Leonard Foley and Norman Perry). The original booklet included devotions, legends and perspectives on Anthony. The new chapters discuss Anthony’s spiritual brotherhood with Francis, his life as a contemplative, a guide to appreciating popular legends surrounding Anthony and information about the places where Anthony lived and ministered. It’s available for $6.95 through St. Francis Bookshop (800-241-6392) or St. Anthony Messenger Press (800-488-0488).

The selflessness of former friar Brennan McNulty and his wife, Bettyann, so inspired their neighbors in Winton Place that they were nominated for the “Hometown Heroes” section of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The McNultys, who through the years have fostered 98 teen-age boys released from reform school, were profiled in a March 21 story in the Local News section. Known as the “go-to” people, Brennan and Bettyann help their neighbors by running errands, attending the yards of the elderly, plowing driveways, finding bikes for needy children, assisting at church and nearby schools and caring for stray dogs. According to Ron Perry, former president of Winton Place Community Council, “They never stop giving. They’re always there.” The McNultys, residents of Winton Place for 35 years, have five children and six grandchildren. Brennan is a mechanic for Cincinnati Public Schools.

Riding the Metro, walking blocks in the wind and rain, visiting the Hill, marathon meetings and little sleep; the March 11-17 meeting of the ESC-JPIC Council in Washington, D.C., required significant stamina! We began by joining about 900 Christians, including friar Tim Sucher, from many different churches in the Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) for Global Peace with Justice, March 11-14. This was a wonderful gathering of greatly diverse Christians, all sharing concerns about decisions being made by our government. We were concerned about the lack of environmental protection, the attempt to privatize Social Security, the elimination of many safeguards for the poor in the 2006 Budget proposal, the war in Iraq, the proposed Energy Bill and much more. There was an incredible unity in the midst of diversity, and the energy of this many Christians wanting to “Walk the Walk” was truly inspirational and reassuring.

One of the most significant sessions for me was the presentation on Social Security (SS) by Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget Policy Priorities. His clear analysis of Social Security concluded that it is not in crisis but simply needs some adjustments for long-term viability. His data showed that doing nothing (though he wasn’t advocating this) was actually better than the President’s plan for privatization, which would essentially cut SS benefits for widows, orphans and the disabled as well as younger workers, while increasing the deficit. And he made recommendations for keeping it solvent years into the future.

Included in the EAD were visits with representatives and senators, as well as a rally on the Capitol lawn to advocate for a budget that reflected our Christian values. It was moving to see hundreds of us gathered, with the Capitol dome towering behind the speakers, praying and loudly proclaiming, “The budget is a moral document.” Tim and I joined a Presbyterian gentleman, a retired principal of St. Bernard High School who knew many of the friars and Oldenburg Sisters, in a visit to our Rep. Steve Chabot’s office. We met with a legislative assistant about our many concerns for the poor. The assistant surprisingly recognized my name from the many letters I write. When I commented that Mr. Chabot didn’t usually vote the way I wanted him to, the aide responded, “Yes, I noticed that, too.” It was good to know that at least our letters are read, if not always effective!

Following the EAD, the JPIC animators from CMSM met and then visited two Congressional offices, that of Rep. Chris Smith (R) of New Jersey and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D) of Connecticut. They are both Catholics who clearly believe that their faith should influence their work in Congress. Rep. DeLauro, an Italian-American, was especially inspirational in her energy and commitment to her faith. She was grateful to know that we shared many of the same advocacy initiatives.

Following all of this activity we met as a Council for another one-and-a-half days! Colombian friar Fernando Figueredo Garzon, OFM, joined us for the week to learn how we operate here in the U.S. and to help us understand how the Franciscan family works together in Colombia. One of the humorous moments of the week occurred one evening when several of us, including Fernando, decided to explore some of the monuments in D.C. We were standing in front of the White House, observing it brightly lit in the dark night and taking a picture of Fernando. When we turned to leave I heard an exclamation coming from Fernando. I asked him to repeat it. In his thick Colombian accent accompanied with hand gestures, he summed up his reaction to seeing the home of the leader of the world’s superpower. “It is so small!” Sometimes it takes an outsider to put things in perspective.