Attending both Eastern and Western Rites

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nickybr38

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I really wasn’t sure where to put this question so here I am…

I have recently discovered an Eastern Rite Parish in my area. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond their control they are only able to have a service once a month.

I have decided to begin attending the Eastern Parish.

So I will be attending the Eastern Rite once a month and Latin Mass the other three weeks of the month.

My reasoning is simple: There is beauty in both Rites and I’ve decided; why settle for just one when I can enjoy both lungs?

Has anyone else done this? Any advice for how to proceed? Should I speak to the priest of my current parish and just let him know that I will be missing once a month? The priest from the Byzantine parish already knows that I am from the Latin Rite and he doesn’t seem the least bit bothered.

Also, what are some good resources to learn more about the Eastern Rite? I’ve discovered it’s nearly impossible to get information about the Eastern Rite! Seriously… it’s like this secret society within Catholicism! LOL!
 
Prepare to be deluged with criticisms, some valid and probably some debatable, about your terminology.

As for how to proceed, I don’t think there is any reason you need to tell your priest unless you serve as a lector or something like that and so there is a practical reason to let someone know you will not be there on certain Sundays. Of course if you are worried he’ll think you are skipping mass or if you want to get spiritual advice from him about it there is, presumably, no harm mentioning it to him.
 
Aelred_Minor said:
Prepare to be deluged with criticisms, some valid and probably some debatable, about your terminology.

As for how to proceed, I don’t think there is any reason you need to tell your priest unless you serve as a lector or something like that and so there is a practical reason to let someone know you will not be there on certain Sundays. Of course if you are worried he’ll think you are skipping mass or if you want to get spiritual advice from him about it there is, presumably, no harm mentioning it to him.
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My terminology is wrong? >.<
 
Hi nickybr38 🙂

It’s awesome that you will be attending a parish of an Eastern Catholic Church. I hope the experience will enrich you. All visitors are welcome!

God bless!

Rony
 
nickybr38 said:
My terminology is wrong? >.<
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Technically, no. All the words/phrases Aelred Minor would point to could be used the way you used them.

But it doesn’t matter because we know what you mean. You’ll learn nuances and precision like when to use the word rite and when to use the word church as you grow and engage.

Don’t worry about it.

Just go and see where the Lord leads.
 
nickybr38 said:
My terminology is wrong? >.<
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Not exactly but there are some members here who will insist on “politically correct” terminology. For example, “Eastern Rite” should, technically, be “Eastern Church sui juris” and heaven help you if you suggest the word “Mass” iso Divine Liturgy. 🤷 That sort of thing. But anyway, it’s not something I’d sweat .🙂
 
Ah! I see! Well, as I’m brand new to the Eastern Rite/Church/Liturgy, I think it’s okay for me to make mistakes. 🙂 I know ABSOULTELY NOTHING. Except that they are legitimately Catholic and in union with the Pope.

I was concerned, at first, that they were Orthodox but was comforted when we prayed FOR the Pope several times in the Liturgy. 🙂
 
nickybr38 said:
Ah! I see! Well, as I’m brand new to the Eastern Rite/Church/Liturgy, I think it’s okay for me to make mistakes. 🙂 I know ABSOULTELY NOTHING. Except that they are legitimately Catholic and in union with the Pope.

I was concerned, at first, that they were Orthodox but was comforted when we prayed FOR the Pope several times in the Liturgy. 🙂
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Welcome to the Light of the East!
 
I actually do something similar to what you’ve described above. There is a very tiny Ukrainian Catholic church about 25 minutes away from where I live. I attend the Divine Liturgy there every other week. i’d go every week, but something usually comes up.

Sadly, they aren’t able to have the Divine Liturgy on Sunday since the priest serves a parish over an hour away, so the Liturgy is at 3pm on Saturdays. It doesn’t count for my Sunday obligation, so I go to Mass Sunday as well.

But yes, totally attend both! It is truly wonderful to “breathe with both lungs” with our faith.
 
nickybr38 said:
I have decided to begin attending the Eastern Parish.

So I will be attending the Eastern Rite once a month and Latin Mass the other three weeks of the month.
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That is what I said in the beginning. Then in a month I was exclusively attending the Eastern Catholic Parish. Then 2 years later… let’s leave it at that 😉
 
I do something similar to this, I go to divine liturgy on Saturday evenings (when I can) and then go to traditional Latin mass on Sunday afternoons. There is nothing wrong with this. Spoil yourself. I doubt that the priests in either parish keep close track of who is in mass/liturgy as most parishes have considerably large congregations. Your Latin rite priest isn’t going to get upset that you are trying to enrich your faith.
 
ConstantineTG said:
That is what I said in the beginning. Then in a month I was exclusively attending the Eastern Catholic Parish. Then 2 years later… let’s leave it at that 😉
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Hahah. Well, that’s not likely to happen. This parish only offers Divine Liturgy once a month. Even if I wanted to switch completely I couldn’t.

Query!

If one is exclusively an Eastern Rite Catholic, but the only parish within driving distance (next parish if four hours away) only offers Divine Liturgy once a month, how would one fulfill their Sunday Obligation? Are they required to attend the local Latin Rite the other three weeks when their priest is gone?
 
nickybr38 said:
Hahah. Well, that’s not likely to happen. This parish only offers Divine Liturgy once a month. Even if I wanted to switch completely I couldn’t.

Query!

If one is exclusively an Eastern Rite Catholic, but the only parish within driving distance (next parish if four hours away) only offers Divine Liturgy once a month, how would one fulfill their Sunday Obligation? Are they required to attend the local Latin Rite the other three weeks when their priest is gone?
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🍿 you’re opening up a can of worms with that question lol! some would say that yes you are required to attend the nearest Catholic church for Sunday “obligation” (a rather foreign concept in the East) whatever Rite it uses…others would say that attending an Orthodox Divine Liturgy or Vespers/Matins is ok since it uses a catholic rite as well…

FWIW I know a family of Ruthenian Catholics who attend Vespers regularly at the Antiochian Orthodox Church in our city but have yet (AFAIK) to attend Mass at one of the many Roman Catholic Churches…when we have Divine Liturgy (2-3 times a month right now ) they will come to that.
 
Angel_Gabriel said:
🍿 you’re opening up a can of worms with that question lol! some would say that yes you are required to attend the nearest Catholic church for Sunday “obligation” (a rather foreign concept in the East) whatever Rite it uses…others would say that attending an Orthodox Divine Liturgy or Vespers/Matins is ok since it uses a catholic rite as well…

FWIW I know a family of Ruthenian Catholics who attend Vespers regularly at the Antiochian Orthodox Church in our city but have yet (AFAIK) to attend Mass at one of the many Roman Catholic Churches…when we have Divine Liturgy (2-3 times a month right now ) they will come to that.
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I don’t think this particular parish has any of that (Vespers, etc). Do the Eastern Catholic Churches not have a Sunday obligation?
 
nickybr38 said:
I don’t think this particular parish has any of that (Vespers, etc). Do the Eastern Catholic Churches not have a Sunday obligation?
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Well…the subject of “Obligation” in a legalist sense isn’t commonplace in the East as it is in the west.

For example, some Russian Orthodox “Old Believers” don’t even have a priesthood anymore. They do reader services instead.

Angel Gabriel was right about opening up a can of worms on that though! 😃 There’s a lot of debate as to what Eastern Catholics should do. However, since you are a Roman Catholic, and this is a sticky situation, let’s just not concern ourselves with it right now. 🙂
 
But seriously… guys… where can I learn more about the Eastern Catholic Church? Any links you can point me too? Books I can read? Because I’m lost. Learning about Roman Catholicism is easy… learning about Eastern Catholicism? Not so easy.
 
nickybr38 said:
But seriously… guys… where can I learn more about the Eastern Catholic Church? Any links you can point me too? Books I can read? Because I’m lost. Learning about Roman Catholicism is easy… learning about Eastern Catholicism? Not so easy.
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I’m skipping all the debating that was done earlier about ECC vs EO…

I think honestly, it depends on which of the Eastern Catholic Churches, you are interested in. Many of them have either an official Catechism of their own, or an unofficial one. And many have websites that are really great.

If you want to learn about the Chaldean one, our bishop Mar Sarhad has a great amount of information that can be found at the diocese website: kaldu.org

The liturgical stuff is at: kaldu.org/joomla/index.php/liturgy

It also includes theology/history/hagiographical information.

And actually, the calendars actually have a lot of information about our church, its history, saints, and spirituality.
2013 - a great review of the Chaldean liturgical year and spiritual points thereof: kaldu.org/joomla/index.php/liturgy/liturgicalcalendar

2012 - information on our diocese and its activities: kaldu.org/joomla/index.php/liturgy/liturgicalcalendar/2012

2011 - a review of the Chaldean liturgical year and the reform of the liturgy:
kaldu.org/2011/2011Calendar/01January.html

2010 - has a nice timeline of the Chaldean church history: kaldu.org/2010/2010LiturgicalCalendar/01January.html

2009 - A review of some saints of our church:
kaldu.org/2009/2009LiturgicalCalendar/01January.html

There’s a mistake in the October entry for St. Miskenta and her two sons. It says it was during the reign of Yazdegard, but it should say Shapur II…

I hope that helps… visit the local Chaldean Church and talk to its priest or deacons… they can probably help you with more information too. 👍
 
nickybr38,

We are Eastern/Oriental Catholics. As Eastern/Oriental Catholics, we share in unity with each other and with the Roman Catholics the following points:
  1. Holy Faith and Morals.
  2. Holy Mysteries (Sacraments)
  3. Holy Hierarchy (Pope and Bishops in full communion with him)
The 3 points above are often termed the “essentials” of being a Catholic.

We are differentiated, in a legitimate and complementary way, from the Roman Catholics and from each other (there are various kinds of Eastern/Oriental Catholics) with the following points:
  1. Theologies (How we express the Faith)
  2. Liturgies (How we celebrate the Sacraments)
  3. Spiritualities (How we pray)
  4. Disciplines (How we govern ourselves)
The four points above are often termed the “tradition” or the “patrimony” of the various Catholics.

As far as our non-Catholic counterpart Churches who hail from either the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, or the Assyrian/Ancient Churches of the East, these Churches share with us a common and basic traditions:
  1. Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics are counterparts, sharing a basic tradition.
  2. Oriental Orthodox and Oriental Catholics (Antiochene/Alexandrian/Armenian) are counterparts, sharing basic traditions (three main traditions).
  3. Assyrian/Ancient Christians and Assyrian-Chaldean Catholics are counterparts, sharing a basic tradition.
By the terms common and basic, what I mean, is that the tradition possesses the minimal amount of characteristics in theology/liturgy/spirituality/disciplines that would be able to distinguish that particular tradition from another tradition.

So for example, I, as an Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic, do not share the same basic tradition (theology/liturgy/spirituality/disciplines) as my Byzantine Catholic brethren, even though we are both Catholics, but the Byzantine Catholics do share that basic tradition with the Eastern Orthodox, even though the former are Catholics, and the latter are not. So to give an easy and uncomplicated example, with regards the liturgical aspect of a tradition, the Byzantine Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox both celebrate the basic text of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. My liturgical tradition, however, does not celebrate that liturgy, instead, we celebrate the Holy Mystery of Sts. Addai and Mari, a liturgy that is not celebrated by the Byzantine Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.

I realize this may sound strange to those unfamiliar with us, but at least, I hope I clarified a few things, and didn’t confuse you too much. 🙂

God bless,

Rony
 
nickybr38 said:
Hahah. Well, that’s not likely to happen. This parish only offers Divine Liturgy once a month. Even if I wanted to switch completely I couldn’t.

Query!

If one is exclusively an Eastern Rite Catholic, but the only parish within driving distance (next parish if four hours away) only offers Divine Liturgy once a month, how would one fulfill their Sunday Obligation? Are they required to attend the local Latin Rite the other three weeks when their priest is gone?
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Unless otherwise dispensed, yes.

If the local Roman parish is particularly toxic, one may be able to get a dispensation, but don’t count on it.
 
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