Rites of the Catholic Church

There are many expressions and modes of worship that are distinctive to individual cultures within the Catholic Church due to the spreading of the followers of Christ throughout the world from the very beginning of the history of the Church. This has caused many different forms of worship to develop. Together, these forms of worship make up the Church's rich liturgical tradition. Each one of these rites is in communion with the others. The main source of communion, the Eucharist, is something all the rites of the Catholic Church share. Though each rite shares the same apostolic origin and Sacraments, they differ in external form, and each preserves its own linguistic, artistic, architectural, spiritual, and cultural heritage. A rite represents a tradition about how the sacraments are celebrated in each one. As the early Church grew and spread, it celebrated the sacraments in the best way for the individual cultures to understand them and receive them. These differences occur without ever changing their essential form and matter. The Pope is shepherd of the rites, but is also administered by either  a Patriarch, a Major Archbishop, or a Metropolitan, And, all of the rites come under the jurisdiction of the Pope through the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, which is one of the offices of the Roman Curia.

Some of the more popular rites are the Roman Rite, Alexandrian Rite, the Antiochene Rite, the Armenian Rite, the Byzantine Rite, and the Chaldean Rite. And, from these rites, come a total of another 21 rites. The Roman Rite of the Catholic Church is the most widespread rite. It is used in the Diocese of Rome and includes the Latin Rite. It was founded by St. Peter in Rome around 42 A.D, and the successor of St. Peter, the Pope, is the head of the Roman Rite.  The Alexandrian Rite originated in Egypt and includes the Coptic Rite and the Ethiopian Rite. It has its liturgies in the languages of Coptic, Arabic, and Ge'ez. The Antiochene Rite is named for Antioch, which was in ancient Syria. The Church of Jerusalem influenced it as it developed. It includes the Malankar, the Maronite, and Syrian Rites. The liturgies are said in Syriac and Arabic within these rites. The Armenian Rite has origins that trace back to the early Fathers of the Church, and it uses the language of Armenian as for its liturgies. The Byzantine Rite originated in the ancient imperial see of Constantinople as is the most widely Eastern liturgical form. And, originating from this rite are the Albanian, Belarusion, Bulgarian, Greek, Greek-Melkite, Hungarian, Italo-Albanian, Romanian, Russian, Ruthenian, Slovak, and Unrainian Rites. The Chaldean Rite is most popular in India and the Middle East. Churches that are part of this rite are the Chaldean and Malabar Catholic Churches. The language used for the liturgies of this rite are Syriac, Arabic, and Malayalam.

I myself am of the Maronite Rite. The Masses that I attend at my Church are not very much different from those of the Roman Rite that I attend at my school. In fact, the only real difference between the Maronite Catholic Mass and the Roman Catholic Mass that I can really notice is the language the liturgies are in. Also, the way we offer peace to one another and the method in which we receive the Eucharist are a little different. When I receive the Eucharist at the Maronite Mass, the priest dips the bread in the wine and places it in our mouths. And, when he gives a blessing to those who do not receive the Eucharist, he taps the gold plate with the bread on the head of the person. But, overall, the masses of the two rites are very similar.