Does the latin rite have any impact on your life?

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Before I elaborate on my question I would like to apologise in advance for probably getting some terminology wrong. My knowledge of the Eastern Catholic churches is still limited, so please correct me and point in the right direction.

What my title means is this: being a minority in the Catholic church, how much does that position influence your spiritual life?

Do you follow what goes on in the latin rite?

Are you concerned about problems concerning our liturgy and things we have to deal with? For example, I doubt anyone here would obsesses over the question of how to receive communion in the latin rite and what that means for the quality of worship, but do these questions reach you? Can you relate to them in any way? Do you see it as the latin rite issue only? (I’m just using the way we receive communion as an example because it has been such a hot topic lately, but any other issue applies.)

I look forward to your answers and comments.

 

[mardukm]

Dear brother in Christ,

Personally, no. But I think that is because I did not grow up Catholic. I recognize the bishop of Rome as the head bishop of the universal Church, and don’t view his statements in that role as statements of the Latin Patriarch, but of the Pope. IOW, I am not inclined to immediately view his directives as Pope as one Patriarch lording it over other Patriarchs. I understand he has a definite God-constituted role as head bishop of the Church universal, which is to care for the welfare of the Church universal, but also another role as Patriarch of the Latin Church that has nothing to do with my own particular Church.

My wife is a Latin Catholic, but we SHARE EACH OTHER’S spirituality, instead of letting one override the other. That might be difficult to comprehend for some.

I’ve noticed that there are some members here in ECF who view actions of the bishop of Rome as Latin Patriarch to be determinitive or ominously portentious of his relationship with the other Churches in the Catholic communion. I confess that I don’t share that perspective. For instance, there was a thread in the past which discussed the Pope’s power of deposition where no reason was given (supposedly), and the only examples that were EVER given were instances WITHIN the Latin Catholic Church. I had/have no reason to think that this could happen in my particular Church. Our Canons are clear that the process of deposing a bishop within a Patriarchal jurisdiction (personal or territorial) starts within the Patriarchate, so the Pope cannot canonically depose one of our bishops on just his say so. I’m sure, however, that other EC’s or OC’s might have that fear.

Blessings,
Marduk

 

[jwinch2]

My wife is a Latin Catholic, but we SHARE EACH OTHER’S spirituality, instead of letting one override the other. That might be difficult to comprehend for some.

I think that is wonderful. How do you handle attending Mass/Divine Liturgy?

In Christ,

 

[Wesley7]

Yes, prayers offered at Mass are much more effective than saying prayers at home.

 

[BVM_1221]

Before I elaborate on my question I would like to apologise in advance for probably getting some terminology wrong. My knowledge of the Eastern Catholic churches is still limited, so please correct me and point in the right direction.

What my title means is this: being a minority in the Catholic church, how much does that position influence your spiritual life?

Do you follow what goes on in the latin rite?

Are you concerned about problems concerning our liturgy and things we have to deal with? For example, I doubt anyone here would obsesses over the question of how to receive communion in the latin rite and what that means for the quality of worship, but do these questions reach you? Can you relate to them in any way? Do you see it as the latin rite issue only? (I’m just using the way we receive communion as an example because it has been such a hot topic lately, but any other issue applies.)

I look forward to your answers and comments.

First, read my signature:yup:

In my case, I became a Catholic several years ago, at age 60 or so. Western Rite. A year ago I began attending the Eastern Rite Church. I have had no inner conflict over the two. I rather like being a part of both

As a simple example, I now have lots more prayers to choose from.

If I have a half hour of quiet time, I can recite the Rosary. If time is short, I can recite the Jesus Prayer. And so on.

As for the never-ending squabbles between the traditionalists and everyone else in the Western Rite, I wish they would learn some Christian Principles especially around election times.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

A year ago I began attending the Eastern Rite Church. I have had no inner conflict over the two. I rather like being a part of both

I would like that too. I love the divine liturgy, it is beautiful. I attend mass in EF and have found deep connections with DL. It has the same kind of a feel for me, the same sense of worship.

 

[Halyna]

Ok, here’s my experiences. I am an Eastern Rite catholic. I moved to a small town and I have loads of Roman Catholic churches I can attend, but my nearest Eastern Rite church is quite a ways away. So, instead of the possible sinning, I’ve been attending the Roman Catholic churches near by.

1. Anything that is done in latin I have a problem with (even when sick and ‘attending’ mass on EWTN. If I cannot understand the prayers, I cannot relate to it. Yet in the Eastern Rite, Old Slavonic which is very close to the Ukrainian language in which I am affluent, I can understand every word.
2. Genuflection vs Metania: I still do Metania when I’m in a RomanCatholic church. Reason being: in Metania I praise out loud: My Lord and My God!. OK, like it or not,I am praising my Lord. I sometimes see (though I try not to watch out) that people sometimes genuflect, sometimes half genuflect, but that I feel is none of my business. We all praise God as we feel fit.
3. Communion: I could not understand communion in the hand AND as the more I read even Mother Teresa said that communion in the hand was the biggest sin in the church today. I believe under normal circumstances that communion should be received and handled only by consecrated hands (that is my priest). I am a health care worker and know for fact that the human hands are the dirtiest part of a human body,much more so than those parts you would normally think of as dirty. Then too, I want to spend my heart’s time on the receiving of the Eucharist and not have to worry about dropping it (which I almost did one time). That is the Body of Christ. I will not take communion in the hand.
4. What I do love about RomanCatholic masses is that I close my eyes most of the time and I cannot be distracted and can concentrate on every single word. One of my favorites is “Glory to God in the Highest…” in the beginning of the mass. I get overjoyed and teary eyed right in the beginning of mass and that feeling carries me though the entire mass.
5. I am one of those who was ‘singled out’, humiliated in public by Roman Catholic nuns in high school. If they knew what they were doing (Father, forgive them for they not know what they do), so as I enter any Roman Catholic church I first pray to be ‘invisible, that I may praise God with all my heart and not be noticed or intimidated by others’.
6. I used to be very uncomfortable with the peace greeting but the more I attend, the more I feel that when we greet each other, I truly mean what I say to them and I truly feel they are genuine in offering me peace too. That took some time to get used to.

Remember Bill Cosby’s humorous recordings about Noah and the flood…when he said at the end: You and Me, Lord, its just You and me… that’s what I connect to.

 

[MrPip]

Ok, here’s my experiences. I am an Eastern Rite catholic. I moved to a small town and I have loads of Roman Catholic churches I can attend, but my nearest Eastern Rite church is quite a ways away. So, instead of the possible sinning, I’ve been attending the Roman Catholic churches near by.

1. Anything that is done in latin I have a problem with (even when sick and ‘attending’ mass on EWTN. If I cannot understand the prayers, I cannot relate to it. Yet in the Eastern Rite, Old Slavonic which is very close to the Ukrainian language in which I am affluent, I can understand every word.
2. Genuflection vs Metania: I still do Metania when I’m in a RomanCatholic church. Reason being: in Metania I praise out loud: My Lord and My God!. OK, like it or not,I am praising my Lord. I sometimes see (though I try not to watch out) that people sometimes genuflect, sometimes half genuflect, but that I feel is none of my business. We all praise God as we feel fit.
3. Communion: I could not understand communion in the hand AND as the more I read even Mother Teresa said that communion in the hand was the biggest sin in the church today. I believe under normal circumstances that communion should be received and handled only by consecrated hands (that is my priest). I am a health care worker and know for fact that the human hands are the dirtiest part of a human body,much more so than those parts you would normally think of as dirty. Then too, I want to spend my heart’s time on the receiving of the Eucharist and not have to worry about dropping it (which I almost did one time). That is the Body of Christ. I will not take communion in the hand.
4. What I do love about RomanCatholic masses is that I close my eyes most of the time and I cannot be distracted and can concentrate on every single word. One of my favorites is “Glory to God in the Highest…” in the beginning of the mass. I get overjoyed and teary eyed right in the beginning of mass and that feeling carries me though the entire mass.
5. I am one of those who was ‘singled out’, humiliated in public by Roman Catholic nuns in high school. If they knew what they were doing (Father, forgive them for they not know what they do), so as I enter any Roman Catholic church I first pray to be ‘invisible, that I may praise God with all my heart and not be noticed or intimidated by others’.
6. I used to be very uncomfortable with the peace greeting but the more I attend, the more I feel that when we greet each other, I truly mean what I say to them and I truly feel they are genuine in offering me peace too. That took some time to get used to.

Remember Bill Cosby’s humorous recordings about Noah and the flood…when he said at the end: You and Me, Lord, its just You and me… that’s what I connect to.

As one who was Byzantine Catholic and then Orthodox, I’ve come back to the Catholic Church. The nearest ByzCath parish is too far away for us to get to due to my wife’s health issues, so we attend, quite happily, our local Roman Catholic parish–4 minutes away.

As far as we’re concerned, the Catholic Church is the Catholic Church. Period. Different modes of expression of that catholicity, but Catholic nonetheless.

I prefer receiving Holy Communion under both species, particularly as is done in the Eastern Rites, however, I have no problem receiving it in the hand and then drinking from the chalice, as is instructed by both St. Cyprian of Carthage and St. Cyril of Jerusalem, amongst others.

The Novus Ordo Mass is certainly not the DL of St. John Chrysostom, but it accomplishes the same end, and can definitely be just as reverant and beautiful as the DL.

I was raised as a secular Jew so appreciating and combining the spiritualities of East and West in the Catholic Faith is not a problem for either me or my wife who was raised in the Roman and Byzantine Catholic Church. So, yes, the Latin Rite has a huge impact on my life and it’s as wonderful as the impact the Eastern Rite had and continues to have!

In Christ,
Jeff

 

[brasta_septim]

Well, I was raised on the Novus Ordo, latin-rite Mass, but was nevr particularly religious until I turned thirteen- then I started exploring the rites. I started out by attending one EF Mass, and loved it; I’ve alos been to a few Anglican-Use parishes, but didn’t like them that much; too much anglican influence for me. I’ve never attended a Divine Liturgy before, but I’ve seen them on tv and love them, even if a Western Mass is easier to follow. In my personal spirituality, I practice more of a mix of Traditionalist Catholic and Orthodoxy, leaning particularly towards the Eastern side. That is, icon veneration, the Jesus prayer, singing Akathists and the like. I even use both the Orthodox Horologion and Latin Traditional Breviary for the Divine Office, sometimes in conjunction for the same hour. Also, I use the Orthodox calendar (NEW) if there aren’t any feasts on the Genral Roman Calendar.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Before I elaborate on my question I would like to apologise in advance for probably getting some terminology wrong. My knowledge of the Eastern Catholic churches is still limited, so please correct me and point in the right direction.

What my title means is this: being a minority in the Catholic church, how much does that position influence your spiritual life?

Do you follow what goes on in the latin rite?

Are you concerned about problems concerning our liturgy and things we have to deal with? For example, I doubt anyone here would obsesses over the question of how to receive communion in the latin rite and what that means for the quality of worship, but do these questions reach you? Can you relate to them in any way? Do you see it as the latin rite issue only? (I’m just using the way we receive communion as an example because it has been such a hot topic lately, but any other issue applies.)

I look forward to your answers and comments.

I would have to say Yes.

As a Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic who is a member of a Latin religious order what goes on in the Latin Church is right there in front of me. Also my community prayer life, that is daily prayer (Morning, Evening, Mass) is of the Latin rite. God willing I am ordained, I will be bi-ritual but my initial training in the theologate is in the Latin rite, for me to get facilities in Byzantine rite I will have to take the extra time to learn how to do it and I am unsure if I have that time or the ability to learn it (due to illness) but my wish/hope is that I will be able to.

 

[TrueLight]

As a simple example, I now have lots more prayers to choose from.

If I have a half hour of quiet time, I can recite the Rosary. If time is short, I can recite the Jesus Prayer. And so on.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

As far as we’re concerned, the Catholic Church is the Catholic Church. Period. Different modes of expression of that catholicity, but Catholic nonetheless.

So, yes, the Latin Rite has a huge impact on my life and it’s as wonderful as the impact the Eastern Rite had and continues to have!

What an interesting religious background you have

I completely agree about what you wrote on the Catholic church and different modes of expression. I definitely want to learn more about eastern spirituality and practices and use that to enrich what I already have. I think the whole latin rite would benefit from more influence from the east these days.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

God willing I am ordained, I will be bi-ritual but my initial training in the theologate is in the Latin rite, for me to get facilities in Byzantine rite I will have to take the extra time to learn how to do it and I am unsure if I have that time or the ability to learn it (due to illness) but my wish/hope is that I will be able to.

I hope things will work out with this.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

In my personal spirituality, I practice more of a mix of Traditionalist Catholic and Orthodoxy, leaning particularly towards the Eastern side. That is, icon veneration, the Jesus prayer, singing Akathists and the like. I even use both the Orthodox Horologion and Latin Traditional Breviary for the Divine Office, sometimes in conjunction for the same hour. Also, I use the Orthodox calendar (NEW) if there aren’t any feasts on the Genral Roman Calendar.

I wasn’t raised in the faith but converted in my teens. After 16 years on NO I discovered the traditional Latin mass and suddenly the Catholic faith revealed a completely new side to me. Being what is called a ‘traditionalist’ around here, I am also drawn to other traditional expressions of our faith.

I love the Jesus prayer and have a few icons around the house. I think that’s a good start

 

[ConstantineTG]

I have a rather negative impact on my life, after a lifelong positive impact of the Western faith in my life. The sad part is that I haven’t even been Eastern Catholic for a year, yet some RCs treat me as if I wasn’t Catholic at all.

But being a life-long RC, the Western praxis have nurtured me to where I am today.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I have a rather negative impact on my life, after a lifelong positive impact of the Western faith in my life. The sad part is that I haven’t even been Eastern Catholic for a year, yet some RCs treat me as if I wasn’t Catholic at all.

That’s a shame. In my experience many (if not most) RCs don’t have a clue about the Eastern rite churches. Whenever I bring this up in conversation I get a confused look and am asked if I have made a mistake and mean Orthodox. It is probably for this reason that people look at you with suspicion, like you are not the ‘real deal’.

 

[ConstantineTG]

That’s a shame. In my experience many (if not most) RCs don’t have a clue about the Eastern rite churches. Whenever I bring this up in conversation I get a confused look and am asked if I have made a mistake and mean Orthodox. It is probably for this reason that people look at you with suspicion, like you are not the ‘real deal’.

That is the problem. Because they do not know any Catholic Church besides the Roman Catholic Church, they conclude that if you are not Roman Catholic, then you are not Catholic.

 

[brasta_septim]

I wasn’t raised in the faith but converted in my teens. After 16 years on NO I discovered the traditional Latin mass and suddenly the Catholic faith revealed a completely new side to me. QUOTE]
I should probably admit right now I’ve only been to a Tridentine Mass once, and loved it; however, I am physically unable to go to the TLM every Sunday since there are no priests or parishes offering it around here. I still attend the Mass of Paul VI at my home parish. Luckily, my own parish priest is strictly orthodox (lowercase) in practice. I say I’m Orthodox Catholic not because of the rite; I’m Latin-rite. But I tend to veer towards Byzantine practices often, and have attended several Divine Liturgies of the Melkite Catholic Church.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I’m so glad you loved the TLM and I hope you will have more opportunity to go in the future.

It is interesting that more and more people are exploring other rites in the church. In my parish for a couple of years we had one young woman who was an Eastern Catholic but prefered the TLM. I guess it goes both ways.

 

[Vico]

Before I elaborate on my question I would like to apologise in advance for probably getting some terminology wrong. My knowledge of the Eastern Catholic churches is still limited, so please correct me and point in the right direction.

What my title means is this: being a minority in the Catholic church, how much does that position influence your spiritual life?

Do you follow what goes on in the latin rite?

Are you concerned about problems concerning our liturgy and things we have to deal with? For example, I doubt anyone here would obsesses over the question of how to receive communion in the latin rite and what that means for the quality of worship, but do these questions reach you? Can you relate to them in any way? Do you see it as the latin rite issue only? (I’m just using the way we receive communion as an example because it has been such a hot topic lately, but any other issue applies.)

I look forward to your answers and comments.

I do read about what happens in the Latin Church, and the universal aspects also, by subscribing to the Vatican Information Service. When I receiving communion in the Latin Church I do so “on the tongue” standing, and do not receive from the Chalice. That seems the closest to the Byzantine, to me. I have a difficult time crossing the opposite way when in a Latin Church, and I genuflect instead of bow at appropriate times. I don’t know the hymns, so it is difficult to join in. Usually I would only assist at the Latin Mass if I was there for penance or for a Feast of a Saint I honor, or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (The Conception of St. Anne is not celebrated in my Byzantine Catholic parish).

Some matters are universal so I study those. There are portions of the Roman Curia that have competence with respect to the eastern Cathoic Churches:

Congregations

1. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
2. The Congregation for the Oriental Churches
3. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
4. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints
   Tribunals
5. The Apostolic Penitentiary
6. The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
7. The Tribunal of the Rota Romana