Don't know where to go - Eastern or Western?

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I put up a recent post up about the different experiences in rites. And after looking into the books, the songs, the liturgies, I don’t know where to go. I love the Greek, Old Slavonic, Aramaic, Arabic and so many; but I just don’t know where to go. The Latin Mass is brilliant, yet the Greek is moving and Slavonic is inspiring. Many of the others I’m speechless for. But now I’m in some trouble. I don’t know where to go or what to do about it.

Can someone help me?
 
I put up a recent post up about the different experiences in rites. And after looking into the books, the songs, the liturgies, I don’t know where to go. I love the Greek, Old Slavonic, Aramaic, Arabic and so many; but I just don’t know where to go. The Latin Mass is brilliant, yet the Greek is moving and Slavonic is inspiring. Many of the others I’m speechless for. But now I’m in some trouble. I don’t know where to go or what to do about it.

Can someone help me?
There are 23 Catholic churches sui iuris. If you are a Catholic, the norm is to go to your parish of your Catholic church based on where you have established a residence. If you were baptized as an adult, then the Catholic church you choose at baptism is yours, but if as an infant, then the church of the Catholic father (or mother if the father is not Catholic).
 
There are 23 Catholic churches sui iuris. If you are a Catholic, the norm is to go to your parish of your Catholic church based on where you have established a residence. If you were baptized as an adult, then the Catholic church you choose at baptism is yours, but if as an infant, then the church of the Catholic father (or mother if the father is not Catholic).
So I can’t choose for myself?
 
So I can’t choose for myself?
Well… If you were born Catholic, then you are technically born into the Rite of your Father (or Mother if Dad isn’t Catholic).

Then, the Pastor of the local Parish you live in for your Rite is responsible for your soul.

That’s not to say you can attend another Parish or Mass at another Rite.

Now, I would personally argue that it’s better to change Rites than to leave the Catholic Church.

So I would suggest that you speak to some priests. The Pastor at your Parish and then perhaps at some of the other Rites you are thinking of.

Ultimately, in my personally opinion … Staying Catholic is the Right choice, no matter the Rite.

God Bless
 
There are a lot more Latin Catholics than eastern. It does not preserve the eastern Catholic churches if their members participate and support the Latin Church primarily, neglecting their own. I suppose that the Latin Church is not so vulnerable. You can attend, but to be ascribed is a different matter. I’ll give you an actual example. We have Latin Catholics that have become a regular part of our Byzantine parish, yet their infants do not receive communion like the Byzantine infants.
 
I put up a recent post up about the different experiences in rites. And after looking into the books, the songs, the liturgies, I don’t know where to go. I love the Greek, Old Slavonic, Aramaic, Arabic and so many; but I just don’t know where to go. The Latin Mass is brilliant, yet the Greek is moving and Slavonic is inspiring. Many of the others I’m speechless for. But now I’m in some trouble. I don’t know where to go or what to do about it.

Can someone help me?
Pray on it this is something that only you and God can decided on. This is going to be a very tough choice for you and I will keep you in my prayers
 
Pray on it this is something that only you and God can decided on. This is going to be a very tough choice for you and I will keep you in my prayers
I agree with the above. Remember that a healthy spirituality is not contingent upon sentiment - which is neither necessary nor sufficient. Just because a liturgy is aesthetically beautiful to you this week does not mean it will help your prayer life. Often I’ve seen people get this Eastern infatuation, it lasts for a year or two and then they’re happy just returning to the Latin Church because they’ve cycled through all their options of rites. But one must remember that we do not go under a transfer of rite but rather of Church - the implicit assumption is that you should cling to not only the beautiful liturgy but the theology, the customs, the regulations, the hierarchy. Prayer is the way to truly determine if these are feasible things to change in a long term projection.
 
So I can’t choose for myself?
Of course you can. You would have to know what parish you were last affiliated to, write to the bishop overseeing that diocese (or, rather, contact the Chancery), and inquire about the steps to be followed.

The issue here is quite simple: transfers can be denied. One must know exactly why he no longer wishes to belong to the Latin Church, and the reasons must be excellent. Same applies from any Eastern Catholic Church - in fact, the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Rites is much more strict about this, emphasizing the need (and duty, even) of the lay faithful to grow in knowledge, understanding, and love of the rite they belong to.
Christian faithful are also to foster an understanding and appreciation of their own rite, and are held to observe it everywhere unless something is excused by the law.
The eparchial bishop to whom the care of Christian faithful of another Church sui iuris are committed is bound by the serious obligation of providing all the things in order that these Christian faithful retain the rite of their own Church, cultivate and observe it as much as they can
With due regard for the right and obligation to observe everywhere their own rite, lay persons have the right to participate actively in the liturgical celebrations of any Church sui iuris whatsoever, according to the prescripts of the liturgical books.
Lay persons should study zealously their liturgical, spiritual, theological and disciplinary patrimony, so that mutual goodwill, esteem and unity of action between the lay members of different Churches sui iuris is fostered, and so that the variety of rites does not harm the common good of the society in which they live, but rather may daily lead more to the same good.
No one can presume in any way to induce the Christian faithful to transfer to another Church sui iuris. No one can validly transfer to another Church sui iuris without the consent of the Apostolic See.
In the case of Christian faithful of an eparchy of a certain Church sui iuris who petition to transfer to another Church sui iuris which has its own eparchy in the same territory, this consent of the Apostolic See is presumed, provided that the eparchial bishops of both eparchies consent to the transfer in writing.
If I were in your position, I’d consider learning more about the Latin Church and its amazing wealth of traditions, both in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite.

Try to attend the Holy Mass and receive the Sacraments at one parish, registering yourself there, and yet visit from time to time other parishes, of Western and Eastern Catholic rites.

Try to attend, if feasible, to attend the liturgies celebrated by religious communities (some of them allow the lay faithful to attend the Holy Mass or join them at some of the prayers for the Liturgy of the Hours).

That which I advise I have been doing. I am particularly fond of the Maronite rite myself.

Mind you, what you are experiencing in terms of liturgy, others experience in terms of spiritualities in discerning a vocation to religious life. Carmelite, Franciscan, Benedictine, and so forth…all are fascinating in their own way…each with a different way to live the religion…and it can be hard to discern where is one called…I even know a couple of priests and religious who after going through the difficulties of discernment and living in their vocation, they discerned an additional call to establish a new community with a very specific mission…what you face is not unusual! 🙂

The point is that God is providence. If you were born into the Latin Church, then it is quite reasonable to assume that this is the tradition in which the Lord has willed you to grow in holiness.

Some spiritual direction may also help 🙂 Your desire to change from the Latin Church may reflect issues, natural and spiritual, that you have been battling with, and yet you perceive Christ’s call to be united with Him within the Church He founded. But one can be a good Latin Church Catholic no matter what is going on around us.

John was at the foot of the Cross after Judas had betrayed the Lord, Peter had denied Him three times, all the other apostles had run away, the High Priest and all the religious of Israel had condemned Him, the king of Israel had mocked Him, the Roman governor had tortured Him, and the people had rioted to have Him crucified.

Now the Latin Church may not be something of which the world speaks highly, and it is definitely not a confraternity of saints (more like a hospital of very sick people, sometimes surrounded by wolves in sheep’s clothes and hired servants disguised as shepherds) but it is still holy, because it was chosen by Christ who placed as its head His own Vicar. The temptation to depart from the Latin Church can be great (I know this firsthand in several ways) but it’s just that: a temptation. After all, did Paul not speak of the Church as follows:
I think that God hath set forth us apostles, the last, as it were men appointed to death: we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.
We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honourable, but we without honour.
We are blasphemed, and we entreat; we are made as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all even until now.
I write not these things to confound you; but I admonish you as my dearest children. For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you.
 
Now the Latin Church may not be something of which the world speaks highly, and it is definitely not a confraternity of saints (more like a hospital of very sick people, sometimes surrounded by wolves in sheep’s clothes and hired servants disguised as shepherds) but it is still holy, because it was chosen by Christ who placed as its head His own Vicar. The temptation to depart from the Latin Church can be great (I know this firsthand in several ways) but it’s just that: a temptation.
Well said. Don’t let the secular world’s fallacious depiction of the Roman Church sway your opinion. Yes there are sinners in the Church (there are wolves in sheeps clothing everywhere and in every rite - sinning is a sad condition of the human person), but the media has an agenda against the Roman Church in particular.
 
Considering medial image was something what has not absolutely come into my mind. When one goes through relable statistics learns that churches are much more save than homes (well, some sects could be exception) and that some churches many-times smaller in number have had many-times more abused children. Catholic Church is statisticaly in “better half”.

And to your question:
You can be also enjoying visiting and following two or three different rites, attending mass according to feast in church with celebration better fitting your attitude to the feast… You can personally follow practices from more than one rite. You can be Byzantine cantor, Latin catechist, Ethiopian drummer, Coptic iconographer, and fan of Syriac prayers. Well, probably not all of this. But this is not only about masses. Maybe you could be happy in Byzantine liturgy or Chaldean mysteries or elsewhere but maybe discipline of fasting could be something not very pleasantly followed. Maybe prayers of hours would be strange for you and rosary superb (or vice verse). Try and you will see, switching rites (in fact sui iuris churches) is not to be hurried.
 
You can personally follow practices from more than one rite. You can be Byzantine cantor, Latin catechist, Ethiopian drummer, Coptic iconographer, and fan of Syriac prayers. Well, probably not all of this. But this is not only about masses. Maybe you could be happy in Byzantine liturgy or Chaldean mysteries or elsewhere but maybe discipline of fasting could be something not very pleasantly followed. Maybe prayers of hours would be strange for you and rosary superb (or vice verse).
I know I’m not in communion with any of you, but for whatever it is worth, I would strongly advise against the above advice. With all due respect to Nestor Kea, this kind of approach tends to produce a faith that is enamored of all the neat “things” out there to sample from, but in the end is about as deep as the shallow end of a kiddie pool. Not to be rude, but taking bits and pieces of distinct heritage while discarding those things that are ‘strange’ or ‘not very pleasant’ to you is just about the worst kind of cafeteria religion imaginable. These are ancient churches, rituals, and practices, not your buffet to pick and choose from. If you are going to be Byzantine, be Byzantine. If you are going to be Syriac, be Syriac. If you are going to be Latin, be Latin. While there’s nothing wrong with reading up on and praying to and taking inspiration from saints from another church (I was still a Latin when my priest introduced me to St. Ephrem the Syrian, for instance), this idea that you can tailor your own religious experience according to what you like and don’t like won’t get you very far…at least not with anyone who is serious about the faith and making sure that you are well-formed in it.
 
Thanks for correcting my “advice”. I was not serious when saying he could be six-ritual, I just wanted to show he can enjoy East in its many forms as well as West. So many practices would not be possible and if, not working. But attending e. g. Byzantine liturgy and still being Latin seems OK to me.
 
So I can’t choose for myself?
Don’t know if you saw post 5, it was not linked.

You have the most power in the church of ascription, and also the most obligations, since there are certain rights and obligations pertaining to the Church sui iuris that you are ascribed to canonically, in addition to the universal Church. The clergy are bound to administer the sacraments per their Church sui iuris, but with regard for the sacramental discipline of those receiving, which is limiting. Examples eastern canon law:CCEO
12.1. The Christian faithful are bound by an obligation in their own patterns of activity always to maintain communion with the Church.
12.2. They are to fulfill with great diligence the duties which they owe to the universal Church and to their own Church sui iuris.
14 All the Christian faithful have the right and the obligation of working so that the divine message of salvation may increasingly reach all peoples in every age and in every land.
15.1. The Christian faithful, conscious of their own responsibility, are bound by Christian obedience to follow what the pastors of the Church, as representatives of Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or determine as leaders of the Church.
15.2. The Christian faithful are free to make known their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires to the pastors of the Church.
15.3. In accord with the knowledge, competence and position which they possess, they have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the pastors of the Church their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard for the integrity of faith and morals and reverence for the same pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons.
16 The Christian faithful have the right to receive assistance from the pastors of the Church from the spiritual goods of the Church, especially the word of God and the sacraments.
17 The Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescriptions of their own Church sui iuris, and to follow their own form of spiritual life consonant with the teaching of the Church.
18 The Christian faithful are free to found and to govern associations for charitable and religious purposes or for the promotion of the Christian vocation in the world; they are free to hold meetings to pursue these purposes in common.
19 All the Christian faithful, since they participate in the mission of the Church, have the right to promote or to sustain apostolic action by their own undertakings in accord with each one’s state and condition; however, no undertaking shall assume the name “Catholic” unless the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority is given.
20 The Christian faithful since they are called by baptism to lead a life in conformity with the teaching of the gospel, have the right to a Christian education by which they will be properly instructed so as to develop the maturity of a human person and at the same time come to know and live the mystery of salvation.
21 Those who are engaged in the sacred disciplines enjoy a lawful freedom of inquiry and of prudently expressing their opinions on matters in which they have expertise, while observing obsequium for the magisterium of the Church.
22 All the Christian faithful have the right to be free from any kind of coercion in choosing a state in life.
23 No one is permitted to damage unlawfully the good reputation which another person enjoys nor to violate the right of any person to protect his or her own privacy.
24.1. The Christian faithful can legitimately vindicate and defend the rights which they enjoy in the Church before a competent ecclesiastical court in accordance with the norm of law.
24.2. The Christian faithful also have the right, if they are summoned to judgment by competent authority, to be judged in accordance with the prescriptions of the law to be applied with equity.
24.3. The Christian faithful have the right not to be punished with Canonical penalties except in accordance with the norm of law.
26.1. In exercising their rights the Christian faithful, both as individuals and when gathered in associations, must take account of the common good of the Church and of the rights of others as well as their own obligations toward others.
26.2. In the interest of the common good, ecclesiastical authority has competence to regulate the exercise of the rights which belong to the Christian faithful.
32.1. No one can validly transfer to another Church sui iuris without the consent of the Apostolic See.
32.2. In the case of Christian faithful of an eparchy of a certain Church sui iuris who petition to transfer to another Church sui iuris which has its own eparchy in the same territory, this consent of the Apostolic See is presumed, provided that the eparchial bishops of both eparchies consent to the transfer in writing.
36 The transfer to another Church sui iuris takes effect at the moment a declaration is made before the local hierarch or the proper pastor of the same Church or a priest delegated by either of them and two witnesses, unless the rescript of the Apostolic See provides otherwise.
35 Baptized non-Catholics coming into full communion with the Catholic Church should retain and practice their own rite everywhere in the world and should observe it as much as humanly possible. Thus, they are to be enrolled in the Church sui iuris of the same rite with due regard for the right of approaching the Apostolic See in special cases of persons, communities or regions.
403.1. With due regard for the right and obligation to preserve everywhere their own rite, lay persons have the right to participate actively in the liturgical celebrations of any Church sui iuris whatsoever, according to the norms of the liturgical books.
 
Sorry I’ve been quiet, but my work suddenly exploded on me. And I’ve been way too busy. But I am still reading posts here.

Just letting you all know.
 
Dzheremi, excellently put 👍
That’s not excellent advice, i.e., it’s compartmentalizing (the rigidity of this stance is not catholic at all), i.e., we are not just a static federation of independent churches in communion with each other, i.e., there is nothing wrong with adopting prayers/ practices from other sui iuris churches/rites (that is one of the benefits of belonging to the Catholic Church you can get to experience all the varied ways one can practice the faith).
 
That’s not excellent advice, i.e., it’s compartmentalizing (the rigidity of this stance is not catholic at all), i.e., we are not just a static federation of independent churches in communion with each other, i.e., there is nothing wrong with adopting prayers/ practices from other sui iuris churches/rites (that is one of the benefits of belonging to the Catholic Church you can get to experience all the varied ways one can practice the faith).
Canon law calls for Catholics of the Eastern Churches to live the praxis of their Rite.
 
Indeed, Aramis, and I have suggested nothing else, just for the record (e.g., if you’re going to be Byzantine be Byzantine, etc).
 
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