Attending Orthodox Easter Mass

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just_came_back said:
I thought a practicing Catholic could receive Eucharist in an Orthodox church so long as he asked for permission from the priest?
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Celticnovice said:
He can but the Orthodox priest can also say No. It happens in the middle east where individual Catholics/Orthodox are cut off from their churches for safety reasons
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What’s your source. My understanding was the churches aren’t in Holy Communion. I think there’s a statement on communion in my missalette saying Orthodox can’t take Holy Communion.
 
ComeHome2Rome said:
for what it’s worth, there is no Orthodox Church that celebrated Pascha/Easter today. Pascha is in May this year, so you have time to decide whether you will be supportive of your daughter’s attempt to expose your grandchild to Christianity by attending with them.

It sounds like regardless of their upbringing neither your daughter or son-in-law believed and neither have been active in their childhood Faith.

It’s good that they want to attend Divine Liturgy now 🙂 They will have to repent & get married (in the Church) before they can baptize & raise their child in either Faith.

The Catholic Church recognizes the Orthodox Mysteries as being “valid”. Be joyful, it’s Orthodoxy their considering as opposed to some other Christian or non-Christian religion.

I hope they do fall in love with Jesus and get their lives and marriage right with God and raise your grandchild in authentic Christianity - Orthodox or Catholic is far better than Protestant or Non-Christian 🙂
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Very well put. Thank you!
 
dennis01 said:
My understanding was the churches aren’t in Holy Communion. I think there’s a statement on communion in my missalette saying Orthodox can’t take Holy Communion.
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There are certain limited cases where intercommunion is permitted, like danger of death or where there is no way to recieve from a minister of one’s own Church.
 
IgnatianPhilo said:
Intercommunion shouldn’t happen period. No matter the situation. But Its impossible for there to have been an orthodox easter Liturgy since Our lent has pretty much only just begun and easter isn’t for like another month.
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Thank you. I mistakenly thought the Orthodox would celebrate Easter on April 7. I understand now it will be in May.
 
Rawb said:
Well, perhaps they’re in Finland. The Finns have to celebrate Pascha according to the Western calendar for some weirdo legal reason. Still, more likely yeah, you have until May 5th to make up your mind one way or the other.

You could go just as a cultural experience. Pascha is something every Christian should see at least once. It’s amazing.

Permits it possibly. I suspect certain priests I know wouldn’t give Communion to a non-Orthodox, even a Roman Catholic (maybe an Oriental Orthodox), on their death bed without a renunciation “of their former delusions” for fear of bringing condemnation upon the person Communing. At any rate, this doesn’t sound like an emergency :rolleyes:

BTW, we’re not all “material” heretics according to your above definition. I’d be a Formal Heretic! 👍
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Thank you for the information and clarification.
 
dennis01 said:
Thank you for responding. My daughter, with the participation of her husband, has demonstrated a strong interest in the occult and is big on “role-playing” games. He has a couple of siblings who are active in the Orthodox church.
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Wow! Bottomline: They are both adults and at times we may not accept their decisions, so all we can do is pray for them.
 
dennis01 said:
My daughter, her husband and their son joined us for Easter services today at a church relatively close to their home and roughly 40 miles from our home. He’s nominally Orhodox - it’s an ethnic affiliation, he doesn’t attend services and apparently wasn’t brought up with any religious education.

Our daughter was raised Catholic and underwent 12 years of parochial school.

She lived with this man for several years before they wed in a civil ceremony. Initially we were able to get them to attend Catholic services on Christmas and Easter where we live. That ended shortly after our grandchild was born (more than a year after their marriage) several years ago.

After Mass today, when I wasn’t around, my daughter invited my wife and me to join them for Orthodox Easter services near their home. My wife, unaware of some of the distinctions between Catholics and Orthodox Catholics, said sure thing. Hours later, my wife mentioned it.

During the ensuing discussion, she cited our joint interest in our grandchild receiving a religious upbringing.

Joining the three of them at the Orthodox Easter Mass, she reasoned, might encourage our daughter and her husband to regularly attend (Orthodox) Mass with our grandson.

I cited a variety of reasons for not wanting to attend the Orthodox Mass that include not wanting to encourage the raising of our grandchild in a “sister church” that views Catholics as heretics.

Your perspective would be appreciated.
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One thing is for sure. The Orthodox Easter Liturgy is glorious. I’ve attended one at an OCA parish a couple years ago. I still think about it on occasion. It was simply beautiful beyond words.
 
dennis01 said:
My daughter, her husband and their son joined us for Easter services today at a church relatively close to their home and roughly 40 miles from our home. He’s nominally Orhodox - it’s an ethnic affiliation, he doesn’t attend services and apparently wasn’t brought up with any religious education.

Our daughter was raised Catholic and underwent 12 years of parochial school.

She lived with this man for several years before they wed in a civil ceremony. Initially we were able to get them to attend Catholic services on Christmas and Easter where we live. That ended shortly after our grandchild was born (more than a year after their marriage) several years ago.

After Mass today, when I wasn’t around, my daughter invited my wife and me to join them for Orthodox Easter services near their home. My wife, unaware of some of the distinctions between Catholics and Orthodox Catholics, said sure thing. Hours later, my wife mentioned it.

During the ensuing discussion, she cited our joint interest in our grandchild receiving a religious upbringing.

Joining the three of them at the Orthodox Easter Mass, she reasoned, might encourage our daughter and her husband to regularly attend (Orthodox) Mass with our grandson.

I cited a variety of reasons for not wanting to attend the Orthodox Mass that include not wanting to encourage the raising of our grandchild in a “sister church” that views Catholics as heretics.

Your perspective would be appreciated.
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And her husband could easily say, ‘I don’t want my daughter being influenced by people who view the Orthodox Church as schismatic/heretical.’ what you think about what church your granddaughter is raised in is meaningless and irrelevant. If anyone is going to lose out it is you, because it is your daughter and her husband who will decide what church to raise their daughter in. You have to accept their decisions. It’s not like this is a question of them doing. Something immoral. It is the Orthodox Church, not a pagan cult.
 
jimmy said:
It’s not like this is a question of them doing. Something immoral. It is the Orthodox Church, not a pagan cult.
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Teaching someone error is immoral, regardless of degree.
jimmy said:
Niether does your assertion that the Orthodox are material heretics. Don’t be passive aggressive.
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I was clarifying a statement that they weren’t heretics.
 
devoutchristian said:
Teaching someone error is immoral, regardless of degree.

I was clarifying a statement that they weren’t heretics.
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And then Celticnovice responded to you. Both posts were off topic. It is passive aggressive to respond with a negative assertion and then tell anyone who responds to you they are off topic.

We could debate all day about the Orthodox Church and whether they are heretics and the spawn of satan, and we would probably still disagree at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter what you think is immoral. If they decide to join the Orthodox Church, and her father decides to oppose it, he will lose. He isnt the one who is making the decision. The potential is that it will destroy the relationship with his family. Maybe you think it would be good for him to stand firm against the EO church at all costs, but I don’t agree. You reduce everything to loyalties and you lose the whole point. It isn’t even loyalty to Christ that you focus on, it is loyalty to a bishop on the other side of the world that is going to destroy the relationship of the family.
 
Please go, enter the service with a spirit of prayer, and pray hard. 😃
This may be a door that’s open just a crack. Do not slam it shut.
Try to speak positively about your experience to them afterward. Christ is present there, so is the Blessed Mother. If only they would be willing to take Them by the hand, they may begin a first step on a journey back to Christ. This may be a very strategic time, be crafty as a fox. Storm heaven! You don’t know where things will be in 5 years from now because of this event. Be smart.

Christ is Risen!
Indeed He is Risen!
 
Look jimmy, religious disagreements do not the destruction of a family necessitate. If they decide to break contact because the OP is Catholic, then that’s their problem.
 
devoutchristian said:
Look jimmy, religious disagreements do not the destruction of a family necessitate. If they decide to break contact because the OP is Catholic, then that’s their problem.
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It is actually the OP that is questioning whether he should go because he might be ‘encouraging’ them to become Orthodox. Its one thing for him to not go because he isnt Orthodox, it is another if he doesnt want them to be Orthodox. That attitude isn’t a good one. It is irrelevant whether he wants to ‘encourage’ them. They are going to make their decision regardless of what he or anyone else thinks. If he is going to put barriers up in his family, he will have to live with them.
 
dennis01 said:
What’s your source. My understanding was the churches aren’t in Holy Communion. I think there’s a statement on communion in my missalette saying Orthodox can’t take Holy Communion.
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I think you should carefully read your missalette. At least in Texas it says that there is no objection to Orthodox recieving Communion, but for them to respect the discipline of their own Church, which of course forbids intercommunion. I have heard that in dire emergencies this can be waived but requires permission.
 
This might be helpful to reassure you if they do end up fully participating in the Orthodox Church

usccbpublishing.org/client/client_pdfs/7-050bi.pdf

I helps to explain how the church sees the relationship between the two churches and how it might affect an inter-church marriage.

Note specifically the portion that says that if the children are brought up in the Orthodox faith, this is not considered to hinder the relationship between the Catholic spouse and the Catholic church since the Orthodox faith is considered by the Catholic church to have authentic doctrine, sacraments, and spirit of Christian living, although it is recommended that the children be given a healthy respect for both traditions.
 
newlywed8 said:
Note specifically the portion that says that if the children are brought up in the Orthodox faith, this is not considered to hinder the relationship between the Catholic spouse and the Catholic church since the Orthodox faith is considered by the Catholic church to have authentic doctrine, sacraments, and spirit of Christian living, although it is recommended that the children be given a healthy respect for both traditions.
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Of course a Catholic must still raise the child in the true faith if it is at all possible.
 
The Orthodox Churches in my neck of the woods don’t have a Divine Liturgy like on their Pascha like we have Easter. We had five masses Easter day plus the Easter Vigil. They have only one Liturgy at 12am - 2:30 Sunday. Last year I went to their church at the usual 10am expecting a great DL but found an empty parking lot, locked doors and nary a sign of life. I went to a different Church and found just people cleaning up. They said, “oh yeah, we did that a midnight.” I was bummed. So don’t make the same mistake I did if you go. Check their schedule first.
 
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