Catechetical materials re the East

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Phillip posted this elsewhere and I was going to continue with more but decided to split off to a new thread so we can add more on this specifically. I am always interested in discovering new materials and being reminded of ones that have become lost in my piles of books etc. šŸ™‚

So Phillip wrote:
Constantine,
Check out ecpubs.com. There you’ll find all the catechetical resources I mentioned, plus some others. You’ll also find the wonderful books by Archbishop Joseph Raya (not his translation work, but his catechetical/pastoral work), some stuff by Fr. Robert Taft, and a good deal of other things. Also, if you’re looking for some other great catechetical material check out oltv.tv. We have an ā€œAdult Enrichmentā€ program which contains numerous series on many topics. One of my personal favorites is ā€œGreat Feasts of the Churchā€ by Prof. Richard Schneider from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. šŸ‘ (I may have also had a large hand in producing that series :D)
I was going to make these same suggestions you’ve made, Phillip, no surprise there. šŸ˜‰ I’ve mentioned in other posts here recently that from their children’s section Domestic Church Resources I often refer to their The Twelve Great Feasts: Part 1 The Handbook. for adult catechetical sessions in my Latin parish around those feast days.

From St. Joseph School for Boys Bookstore also intended for children, I use ā€œIcon Flashcardsā€. I don’t own holy icons for all of the 12 feast days so these are handy to bring to sessions for the display area and also each card talks about the icon and the feast.

At a recent church festival I picked up The Nicene Creed for Young People by Anthony M. Coniaris from Light & Life Press. Each of the 85 pages reflects on one or a few words of the Creed. This book for me is more like a way to simply walk through the Creed reflecting on words we may have become so rote in reciting, and so be brought to a deeper hearing, praying. He provides at the end a handful of ā€œdiscussion startersā€ questions for each ā€œchapterā€ and for the introduction, all of which are appropriate to ask in an adult catechetical session. (I love the CCC and use it all the time, but it was in fact written originally as a resource for our bishops and while I want every Catholic to know about it, it is definitely written from the Latin mind, and beautifully so, and at a level which is often above basic introductory catechetical sessions.)

Both the priest in my ECC and the Orthodox parish I also attend talk about the Liturgy as* the *catechesis and I’m 100% with that. I love using parts of the liturgy whenever possible. I am only teaching in a Latin parish RCIA so I use short chunks now and then when something in our hymns has such imagery of something that is being discussed. In the Latin Church RCIA the gospel reading from the past Sunday is the starting point. In The Winter Pascha a large section of each chapter Fr. Hopko quotes parts of the festal liturgy which is just what I like. šŸ™‚
 
Good idea with making its own thread 5Loves šŸ‘

I’m looking at those books Philip suggested and may buy a copy for the parish. I may also use them to teach the Byzantine Rite to the RC Prep Schools. I found an interesting entry in the Grade 6 program that one goal is to have students familiarize themselves with the Byzantine Rite. I’m trying to get a parish visit program going by getting the RC kids to come for Divine Liturgy one Sunday. I already have the support of one pastor in the Eparchy (surprisingly, not the parish I go to, haven’t had the chance to talk with my priest yet :D).

I’ve also sent an email to the consultant for Religious Education of the archdiocese, I also have the support of another PREP (Religious Ed.) coordinator of a RC parish (again, not the one I belong to :D)
 
Greetings all. šŸ‘‹

On top of the catechetical material already recommended I would also suggest owning the full set of liturgical books. The least expensive copies I’ve been able to find are the ones published by the Eparchy of Newton. They are generally held in fairly high regard, and I hear are even used by some Orthodox Churches. The Menaion (or at least the Festal Menaion), coupled with the Lenten Triodion and the Pentecostarion, opens up for us in song and poetry the mysteries proclaimed throughout the Scriptures. Add to this the Octoechos and you pretty much have an entire Scripture commentary at your fingertips. Also important is the Euchologion, the texts for the celebration of the Sacraments. The texts in the Euchologion enable us to enact and truly live the mysteries proclaimed in the Scriptures. Eastern Christian Publications sells a one-volume Euchologion which I believe is the one typically used among the Melkites. It’s good, but somewhat abbreviated. We also sell a couple of books, such as the Rite of Baptism, which contain the Scripture references that occur within the various liturgical celebrations. This is one of my favorite features because it allows me to go back to the Scriptures in order to fit the liturgical services into the Biblical context, and likewise to understand the Scriptures in its liturgical context. For example, who would’ve thought that the Rite of Baptism is a living commentary on St. Paul’s Epistles, especially Romans! 🤷

Anyhow, long story short, a great catechetical program should be thoroughly familiar with the liturgical services as a whole, not simply with explaining the 7 Sacraments, the essential dogmas of the Faith, etc., not that those things are unimportant.

Those are just my thoughts. I feel I’m not being very clear, but I’ve been pretty worn out lately and my brain is all fuzzy. I’m sure you all know how that goes. 😃

ICXC + NIKA,
Phillip
 
What is the Byzantine Rite?
The ā€œByzantine Riteā€ refers to all of the Liturgical services (Mass, the Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours, etc.) as celebrated by the Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox Churches (as John Paul II would say, the ā€œEastern Lungā€ of the Church). The Byzantine Rite is another part of the Catholic heritage, along with the Roman Rite and other Rites of the Catholic Church. šŸ™‚
 
Sorry for asking such juvenille questions but…

When EWTN shows a Mass at the Vatican, at times there are men with beards and they are wearing a black headdress and a black robe.

Are they Byzantine Catholic?
 
Sorry for asking such juvenille questions but…

When EWTN shows a Mass at the Vatican, at times there are men with beards and they are wearing a black headdress and a black robe.

Are they Byzantine Catholic?
Yes. They could also be Orthodox attending an Ecumenical Service. You mean like this:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTIaVdr_e1TSrIzx6TBRvbYiJRPwso5XoshI2KF9ZJHtxVg1kCg

But normally when saying the Divine Liturgy, they would be vested, something like this (for Ukrainians):

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRHJm1aJQEngYBF4ctfRziCHCBsJoLwdYi0lxRIjJcJ1vDD4DyG
 
Excellent, thanks.

When did the Byzantine Catholic Church unite with Rome (or were they always united)?
 
In the Byzantine Catholic Church, can priests marry?

Do you have various types of Masses as we do here in the U.S. (sorry I’m not familiar with the proper names of the various types in the U.S.) The traditional Latin Mass and the modern Mass?
 
Excellent, thanks.

When did the Byzantine Catholic Church unite with Rome (or were they always united)?
There are 14 Byzantine Catholic Churches. Unless you refer to the ā€œByzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, Sui Iurisā€ā€¦ which is part of the Ruthenian Catholic Church.

The Italo-Albanians have always been in union with Rome; at least one anti-pope tried to suppress them, rather unsuccessfully, and that was less than a decade in length.

Italo-Albanian Catholic Church Never separated
Ukrainian Catholic Church 1595
Belarusian Catholic Church 1596 (But they have no current hierarchs)
Eparchy of Križevci 1611
Albanian Catholic Church 1628
Hungarian Catholic Church 1646
Ruthenian Catholic Church 1646
Slovak Catholic Church 1646
Romanian Church United with Rome 1697
Melkite Greek Catholic Church 1726
Greek Byzantine Catholic Church 1829
Bulgarian Catholic Church 1861
Russian Catholic Church 1905
Macedonian Catholic Church 1918
 
Well, I’m evidently having some senior moments… šŸ™‚ Apparently in some edit I lost part of what I wrote from my original post. I thought, I know, I wrote about how much I also like Bread & Water, Wine & Oil: An Orthodox Christian Experience of God by Archimandrite Meletios Webber from Conciliar Press. It’s very accessible and I think captures life in the East. It’s been quite a while since I read it, tho I’ve picked it up and glanced through it a number of times since I first did read it through.

(I meant also to say that Fr Coniaris quotes C.S. Lewis in the first page of his Creed book. Where would we be without Lewis? šŸ™‚ )
 
I’m looking at those books Philip suggested and may buy a copy for the parish. I may also use them to teach the Byzantine Rite to the RC Prep Schools.
Phillip recommended a variety of materials from ecpubs.com which I seconded as excellent resources. šŸ™‚

I thought you said a while back that your first experience with the Divine Liturgy was this past Oct, like maybe two months ago. Am I remembering that wrongly? :confused: Have you connected yet with a spiritual father, or mother? What is his thinking about this idea that you " teach the Byzantine Rite" to RC youth?

I’d suggest it would be a good thing for you to make arrangements for someone to come and present. about the ECs at the RC schools. I’d think one of the EC clergy or their wives would be good for doing the content…

I really appreciate your enthusiasm…
and I hope you’ll find a way to begin to slow down, maybe get off the computer for a few days a week for the rest of the Nativity Fast period and just give all the material you’ve read and conversed about and the liturgies you’ve taken part in begin to settle in. šŸ™‚
Good idea with making its own thread 5Loves šŸ‘
Thanks.
It’s Loaves, not Loves… šŸ™‚
 
Phillip recommended a variety of materials from ecpubs.com which I seconded as excellent resources. šŸ™‚

I thought you said a while back that your first experience with the Divine Liturgy was this past Oct, like maybe two months ago. Am I remembering that wrongly? :confused: Have you connected yet with a spiritual father, or mother? What is his thinking about this idea that you " teach the Byzantine Rite" to RC youth?

I’d suggest it would be a good thing for you to make arrangements for someone to come and present. about the ECs at the RC schools. I’d think one of the EC clergy or their wives would be good for doing the content…

I really appreciate your enthusiasm…
and I hope you’ll find a way to begin to slow down, maybe get off the computer for a few days a week for the rest of the Nativity Fast period and just give all the material you’ve read and conversed about and the liturgies you’ve taken part in begin to settle in. šŸ™‚
Someone with the enthusiasm should do it šŸ˜‰
Honestly, at this point I feel I may be a little ahead than life long Byzantines with my catecethical learnings. I’m not going in-depth anyway but more like a beginner’s guide. Just to increase awareness. Plus teaching also helps me learn more for myself.
Thanks.
It’s Loaves, not Loves… šŸ™‚
I know. But, Freudian slip 😃
 
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