Eastern Lutheranism (also known as Byzantine Lutheranism or Byzantine Rite Lutheranism) refers to Eastern Protestant Lutheran churches, such as those of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, that use a form of the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

as their liturgy. It is unique in that it is based on the Eastern Christian rite used by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, while incorporating theology from the Divine Service contained in the '' Formula Missae'', the base texts for Lutheran liturgics in the West. Eastern Lutherans use the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

for the

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

and thus observe feast days and liturgical seasons, such as

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast (Greek language, Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή, ''Megali Tessarakosti'' or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, ''Megali Nisteia'', meaning "Great 40 Days", and "Great Fast", respectively), is the most impor ...

, in a fashion similar to Orthodox customs. As such, many Byzantine Lutheran holy days are shared with those of the

; in addition, Eastern Lutheran churches are constructed in accordance with

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...

. Posture during worship, such as

bowing Bowing (also called stooping) is the act of lowering the torso and Human head, head as a social gesture in direction to another person or symbol. It is most prominent in Asian cultures but it is also typical of nobility and aristocracy in many E ...

, is identical to that in other parts of Eastern Christianity. Within Byzantine Rite Lutheranism, the

calendar of saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

includes persons esteemed in Eastern Christianity, such as John Chrysostom and Nestor the Chronicler, as well as those specific to the Lutheran Church, such as

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...

and

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

. The Byzantine Lutheran Rite was first used in the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. The Byzantine Lutheran Rite includes the '' filioque'' in the

Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining creed, statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Counci ...

, albeit placing it in brackets. The first published Liturgy of the Byzantine Lutheran Rite was in 1933. The English text of the rite now in use is almost identical to that of the original printing. Some contemporary communities such as the Eastern Rite Community (Ostkirchlicher Konvent) in Germany and the Czech Republic, and the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia also utilize the Byzantine Rite. In the region of Galicia, Eastern Lutherans were persecuted by the communist régime, which instituted a policy of

state atheism State atheism or atheist state is the incorporation of hard atheism or non-theism into Forms of government, political regimes. It is considered the opposite of theocracy and may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments ...

. From 1939–1945, many Eastern Lutheran clergy were killed for their faith. Theodor Yarchuk, a priest who was a major leader in the Ukrainian Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession was tortured and killed in Stanislaviv by communist authorities. Many Ukrainian Lutheran laypersons were also sent to the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

, where they died. During this time of the persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union, property of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church was expropriated. After the collapse of USSR, the Ukrainian Lutheran Church experienced a revival.

References

External links

Liturgy in EnglishByzantine Lutheranism by Rev. David Jay Webber
{{Byzantine Rite, state=expanded Eastern Christianity Lutheranism in Ukraine

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Lutheran liturgy and worship Lutheran denominations established in the 20th century

See also

References

External links