“ORATORY OR THE ROSARY? A NONEXISTENT CONTROVERSY”1 IN THE GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH
“ORATORY OR THE ROSARY? A NONEXISTENT CONTROVERSY”1 IN THE GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH

Summary/Abstract: As soon as the introduction of the Rosary in the ritual of the Greek Catholic Church had occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century, a debate concerning this aspect was brought about. The strongest objections invoked the desire of maintaining the Eastern specific features and of Latinisation. Despite these objections, the Rosary, which started as a private devotion, managed to become one of the most frequent devotions practiced by the Greek Catholic believers. The introduction of the Rosary did not exclude the Oratory; it only completed the Marian devotions. The act of instituting the Rosary within the ritual of the Greek Catholic Church can be subscribed to the general policy of the Holy See which aimed at promoting the Marian cult, notably after the apparition at Lourdes, when the dogma of the untainted conception was decreed. The Rosary constituted only a means of attracting believers back to the Church by means of devotion accessible even to those illiterate.

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