Somebody ( I think Uncle Janko) here wrote that Lutherans in Eastern Europe use the Litutgy of St. John Chrysostomos. I am wondering what they do with the special prayer in honor of the Blessed Virgin that comes right after the consecration and epiclesis " We offer this sacrifice in honor of the undefiled, most holy, most pure, Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary ?" Somehow that just doesn't sound very Lutheran to me.
Lutherans ? Yes, but Janko said Lutherans, too, use that ancient Byzantine liturgy. I am wondering if they modify it to eliminate "Catholic/Orthodox" elements that might be offensive to Protestants.
Read the Lutheranized Byzantine Rite for yourself here: http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/saintsophiaseminary/chapelenglish.html Some Lutherans use this; most use a version of the Roman Rite. We categorically deny that the Mass is a sacrifice, amending either the Roman or Byzantine rite accordingly, so there is little question of "offering" it in honor of anybody. We do not make liturgical amendments to placate Protestants, among whom we do not number ourselves. We honor the Blessed Virgin as Theotokos/Mother of God since Jesus Christ is true God and true man; in reaction to overemphasis on Mary, we tend to make almost nothing of her liturgically. Since this is not too germane to distance education (!), I don't want to enter into an extended discussion. If you have more technical liturgical questions, you might contact the Ukrainian seminary directly.
Thanks Thank you for the reference; it was very helpful. You are, indeed, an most interesting and learned individual with stores of arcane knowledge.