Eastern Lutheranism (also known as Byzantine Lutheranism or Byzantine Rite Lutheranism) refers to

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

churches, such as those of Ukraine and Slovenia, that use a form of the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. The canonical hours a ...

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, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

, while incorporating theology from the Divine Service contained in the ''

Formula Missae Formula missae et communionis pro ecclesia Vuittembergensi (1523) was a 16th-century Latin liturgy composed by Martin Luther for Lutheran churches in Wittenberg. ''Formula missae'' was based on the medieval Mass, only replacing the Canon of the ...

'', the base texts for Lutheran liturgics in the West. The Byzantine Lutheran Rite includes the '' filioque'' in the

Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is ...

, albeit placing it in brackets. Eastern Lutherans use the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...

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 date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a phy ...

and thus observe feast days and liturgical seasons, such as

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast, ( Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning "Great 40 Days," and "Great Fast," respectively) is the most important fasting season of the church year within many denomin ...

, 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. Posture during worship, such as bowing, 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 d ...

includes persons esteemed in Eastern Christianity, such as

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of ...

and

Nestor the Chronicler Saint Nestor the Chronicler ( orv, Несторъ Лѣтописецъ; 1056 – c. 1114, in Principality of Kiev, Kievan Rus') was the reputed author of '' Primary Chronicle'' (the earliest East Slavic letopis), ''Life of the Venerable The ...

, as well as those specific to the Lutheran Church, such as

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 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 kno ...

and

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

. The Byzantine Rite was first used in the

Ukrainian Lutheran Church The Ukrainian Lutheran Church (ULC; Українська Лютеранська Церква), formerly called the Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, is a Byzantine Rite Lutheran Church based in Ukraine. The Eastern Christia ...

. The first published Liturgy of the Eastern 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 is the incorporation of positive atheism or non-theism into political regimes. It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments. It is a form of religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically l ...

. From 1939–1945, many Eastern Lutheran clergy were martyred 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, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

, where they died. During this time of the

persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union Throughout the history of the Soviet Union (1917–1991), there were periods when Soviet authorities brutally suppressed and persecuted various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on State interests. Soviet Marxist-Lenini ...

, property of the Lutheran Church was expropriated. After the collapse of USSR, the

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 one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

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

See also

References

External links