Someone asked me once, why do you Ukrainian Greek-Catholics sing so very much? My response was two-fold. First we like to sing and second when we approach Almighty God, Who is greater than any king or emperor, we show Him honor by communicating in the greatest form possible, musical prayer.

Man’s ability to sing and create music is one of his greatest abilities. We use this great ability to make our interaction with God special. Of course there are prayers that are recited just because they are more difficult to sing and, some prayers, like the Creed, are so important that we want to make sure that all feel comfortable praying them. There are several of the priestly prayers that are recited so that all may truly find it easier to understand them. But in general we sing our prayers of worship to honor our great King.

I have also been asked why we don’t genuflect. In the East, kings and emperors were never genuflected to but rather a bow was made to them to show respect. So we bow our heads to show respect to our God and then we also cross ourselves, praising the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Someone recently asked me: When is it proper to cross ourselves? We cross ourselves whenever we hear the names of our God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Should we cross ourselves when the priest turns and blesses us? It is personal preference. Traditionally a priest’s blessing is received by simply bowing to him in thanks. He, you will notice, bows to you when you sing: “and with your spirit.” This tradition is followed because the names of our God are not said at that time. But again, the Eastern Church does not hold uniformity sacred.

Another person asked me, When are we supposed to stand, kneel and sit. The books don’t always give us the directions. Again uniformity is really not important. We must remember that “pews” with kneelers only became popular here in the states and that it was Protestantism that introduced pews. The true Eastern tradition was to stand throughout the Liturgy and, if one was tired or older, to sit at seats against the side walls. Even the major Western Catholic churches in Europe don’t have permanent pews.

I think that it is important that we feel we can respond to the various parts of the Liturgy the way that we want. Of course if you are sitting and someone in front of you is standing, it blocks your view. We should be guided by courtesy and the Spirit.