First visit to an Eastern Church?

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ConstantineTG said:
How come that even in Eastern European videos, I never see it? Or am I missing something here?
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I travel extensively in the Byzantine home countries and you will find most women cover their heads in both catholic and orthodox churches. Even here in So Cal where I worship about 2/3 of women cover their heads.
 
5Loaves said:
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St. George’s shows the Rosary on their schedule. This isn’t so unusual for Ukrainians. I have learned on this forum to appreciate/accept with an open heart the fact that many Ukrainians want to pray the Rosary and have Stations of the Cross. ** Here in SF they have vodka shots with Agape!** 🙂 We had champaign for our deacon’s birthday and anniversary of ordination. Is that a Latinization? 😉
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I can personally vouch for that 👍.
 
ciero said:
Head covering is a BIG part of TRADITIONAL Byzantine praxis…
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At Holy Virgin Cathedral, ROCOR, there is a box of scarves to borrow in the narthex. I wouldn’t enter without a scarf on my head . And pants on women there? No way. (On the other hand it’s not unusual for the young women to be in skin tight dresses they seem to have been poured into and stiletto heals, something, heals, Vico provide visual effects for in another thread:D .)

At the OCA I go to I’m not sure I’ve ever seen head covering, but I am never there on a Sunday. I see plenty of women in pants in that parish. Again this is usually a festal vigil or a weekday feast. Maybe the Sunday standard is different.

I believe the OCA in Oakland is largely headcovered, no women in pants.
Code: 
I don't recall if the women at St. Michael's covered their heads or not, but they certainly would not look askance at anyone who did.
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This would be the same at OLF. We have a young Ukrainian who always wears a scarf. We had a Ruthenian by marriage who always wore a hat. On the occassions when I’ve ended up supporting the Book of the Gospels on my head I’ve wished I had a scarf on-- I’m often nervous my hair will end up attached to the Book.

When I go to a parish that is new to me I usually wear a large scarf or shawl over my shoulders which I can pull on my head if it seems prudent.

TrueLight I bet at St. Michael’s they will be delighted to see you whatever you choose to do re your head. If it’s a mantilla they’ll recognize you right away as a Latin. 😉
 
5Loaves said:
If it’s a mantilla they’ll recognize you right away as a Latin. 😉
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TrueLight said:
Awesome!
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The thing is, it doesn’t have to be a mantilla in the Latin church either.

I just don’t know how the mantilla became de rigueur for traditional Latin Catholic women.

The mantilla is Spanish so I suppose it’s possible that Mexicana/Philipina women wore them a lot in those days, but in the parishes I frequented all my life (I worshipped all over Chicagoland, USA) they were not to be seen until the SSPX came to town, and then usually on the younger women who perhaps had little to no memory of how it was for us before.

I am getting on in years, but when I was growing up all the women covered their heads, and no one wore mantillas. At least not in my area. The women wore scarves of a variety of colors (but very simple), hats and a popular doily kind of thing they pinned on. My grandmother, a Latin rite Roman Catholic from Poland, always wore a babushka (the word means grandmother, but we also used it to mean the scarf), which was a scarf no different from what the Ukrainian Catholic women were wearing. And she did not take it off after Mass, she wore it outside in the garden and shopping on the street.
 
Hesychios said:
I just don’t know how the mantilla became de rigueur for traditional Latin Catholic women.
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Jackie Kennedy. I remember it well. 🙂 Her “fashion” sense was very powerful; she was so unique. You can catch a glimpse of her wearing one for her visit to the Vatican in this old newsreel min 1:07-1:24 In pre-Vatican 2 women began wearing them to Mass after the Papal visit in response to her and her amazing sense of fashion. Before that it was hats, or scarves in the Latin Church for Mass. Before Jackie mantillas were kind of for funny old ladies who insisted on their old Spanish ways. 😉 After Jackie they became the norm at least in the US.
 
Hesychios said:
The Russian Catholic movement was very recent, at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. In fact it was more of an intellectual movement, and not a mass movement, so the numbers have always been rather small. The Russian Catholics understood that they were not supposed to differ in practice from the Russian Orthodox, and this was confirmed for them by the Pope. A recent problem is that the movement has been so small that the Pope has not been naming bishops for them, however those clergy assigned to the task of caring for these people have generally been very serious about maintaining an authentic practice and are very studious on the subject.
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(I’m sure, for anyone else reading, here you are referring to Russian Greek/ Byzantine Catholics not Russian Latin Catholics which also exist.)

When we have had lectures in our parish about our heritage we were told that Russia was not part of the great East–West Schism of 1054. Then at some point, I’d have to go back and read up, a large group in Russia identified itself with Holy Orthodoxy and a much smaller group continued to see themselves as in communion with Rome. So we have never seen ourselves as “uni…” in the sense we never understood communion had been broken. Then of course with the Bolshevik Revolution our people ended up in forced labor camps or escaped to China. Our parish community came from Harbin, China as did many Russian Orthodox.

I realize this is an oversimplification. 🙂

We have been blest to have clergy committed to our Orthodox heritage. I don’t know about the other Latin Bishops, but from the Latin chancery under which we are, we have been told they know us to be a self-governing Church and as such they keep out of our business unless asked. 🙂
 
5Loaves said:
Jackie Kennedy. I remember it well. 🙂 Her “fashion” sense was very powerful; she was so unique. You can catch a glimpse of her wearing one for her visit to the Vatican in this old newsreel min 1:07-1:24 In pre-Vatican 2 women began wearing them to Mass after the Papal visit in response to her and her amazing sense of fashion. Before that it was hats, or scarves in the Latin Church for Mass. Before Jackie mantillas were kind of for funny old ladies who insisted on their old Spanish ways. 😉 After Jackie they became the norm at least in the US.
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Interesting.

I always associated her with pillbox hats…
 
Hesychios said:
Interesting.

I always associated her with pillbox hats…
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Absolutely! 🙂
The elegance she brought to the White House was so unique. Like Grace Kelly however even in slacks and a sweater she looked like a million bucks. 😉
 
Hesychios said:
The thing is, it doesn’t have to be a mantilla in the Latin church either.

I just don’t know how the mantilla became de rigueur for traditional Latin Catholic women.

The mantilla is Spanish so I suppose it’s possible that Mexicana/Philipina women wore them a lot in those days, but in the parishes I frequented all my life (I worshipped all over Chicagoland, USA) they were not to be seen until the SSPX came to town, and then usually on the younger women who perhaps had little to no memory of how it was for us before.

I am getting on in years, but when I was growing up all the women covered their heads, and no one wore mantillas. At least not in my area. The women wore scarves of a variety of colors (but very simple), hats and a popular doily kind of thing they pinned on. My grandmother, a Latin rite Roman Catholic from Poland, always wore a babushka (the word means grandmother, but we also used it to mean the scarf), which was a scarf no different from what the Ukrainian Catholic women were wearing. And she did not take it off after Mass, she wore it outside in the garden and shopping on the street.
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I guess it depends on where you are. I grew up in an Irish Catholic parish in NY before Vatican II and most women wore a mantilla, some scarves and hats but the mantilla was the norm.
 
So when I looked at St Michael’s service schedule, I noticed that they have confession before Vespers.

If I choose to go to confession, am I allowed to confess to an Eastern Catholic priest?

If so, how is it different from a Latin rite confession?

Thanks.
 
TrueLight said:
So when I looked at St Michael’s service schedule, I noticed that they have confession before Vespers.

If I choose to go to confession, am I allowed to confess to an Eastern Catholic priest?

If so, how is it different from a Latin rite confession?

Thanks.
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Of course you are. The only thing that you can’t get from another Rite strictly is ordination. And since you are a lady, you really can’t get that at all 😉

If they follow the tradition strictly, it will be face to face by the icon of Christ at the iconostasis.
 
TrueLight said:
So when I looked at St Michael’s service schedule, I noticed that they have confession before Vespers.
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A common practice.
TrueLight said:
If I choose to go to confession, am I allowed to confess to an Eastern Catholic Priest?
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Yes
TrueLight said:
If so, how is it different from a Latin rite confession?

Thanks.
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Don’t worry about it, most Eastern Catholic priests are familiar with the Latin form, some are actually canonically Latin priests (with faculties). Discuss it with him, he can lead you if need be. I think eastern priests are generally not sticklers for form, but they have their own prayers they must recite.

Normally though, confession is in the open, before a hand cross and a Bible, or an icon.

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The Russian Catholics will try to maintain the Orthodox customs and traditions of their mother church, so if you became a regular the priest (who can be your spiritual father) can teach you anything you want to know. You probably already do a regular/nightly examination of conscience.

If you are curious, this is a good brief article.
 
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