From west to east...your reasons?

[catherineajt]

I was wondering about those posters who were raised/baptized in the Western tradition, and who now worship at an Eastern Catholic church. What drew you to the Eastern Catholic church? In my case, it was a roundabout route from the Roman Catholic church, to Orthodoxy, and now Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic.

I find in the Divine Liturgy a fullness of worship that I personally did not feel in the Latin Mass. I find myself drawn to icons and not to statues. I love the Jesus Prayer. There are many other subtleties of the Eastern Rite I like, but those are just a few.

 

[Mickey]

I was wondering about those posters who were raised/baptized in the Western tradition, and who now worship at an Eastern Catholic church. What drew you to the Eastern Catholic church? In my case, it was a roundabout route from the Roman Catholic church, to Orthodoxy, and now Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic.

I find in the Divine Liturgy a fullness of worship that I personally did not feel in the Latin Mass. I find myself drawn to icons and not to statues. I love the Jesus Prayer. There are many other subtleties of the Eastern Rite I like, but those are just a few.

I am in agreement with the same reasons as yourself (except I took the path of Roman Catholic–Byzantine/Ruthenian–Holy Orthodoxy).

I also like the mystical nature of the East, the hesychastic tradition, incense, fasting, and much, much more!

 

[Allyson]

The nutshell version:

For me, it was the theology and the liturgy of the East that lead me from the Latin Rite to the East. I am also a member of the Ruthenian-Rite. The theology and spirituality, which always go together in the East, clicked with me - to use a cliche. I also attended a very welcoming parish much like the one you first attended (referring to your comments in another thread). In fact I thought of them while reading the other thread.
Things go deeper than that, but this is what I am most comfortable saying in a public forum.
I was not alone among my circle of closest friends in making this change. I will add that while many of my other friends understood my change, because they knew me, many people who I met later didn’t get it. Of course it also hard to explain to anyone who has no idea what you are talking about. That’s when you invite them to come one Sunday. It is great when people come to know and see the multiplicity of Liturgical traditions.

God Bless,
R.

P.S. Sorry for the wandering post.

 

[Aramis]

I was wondering about those posters who were raised/baptized in the Western tradition, and who now worship at an Eastern Catholic church. What drew you to the Eastern Catholic church? In my case, it was a roundabout route from the Roman Catholic church, to Orthodoxy, and now Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic.

I find in the Divine Liturgy a fullness of worship that I personally did not feel in the Latin Mass. I find myself drawn to icons and not to statues. I love the Jesus Prayer. There are many other subtleties of the Eastern Rite I like, but those are just a few.

For me, it was the Divine Liturgy of St John, the use of Iconography, the singing of the entirel liturgy, and the differences in both calendar and approach to integration of the calendar into divine worship.

But also, I was considering Russian Orthodoxy, but couldn’t get over the part in the Gospel of John: “Feed My Sheep”. I could not justify exiting the union with the See of Peter if there was a road to what feels like authentic divine worship in union with the see of Peter.

 

[MoreThan1Hat]

I was wondering about those posters who were raised/baptized in the Western tradition, and who now worship at an Eastern Catholic church. What drew you to the Eastern Catholic church? In my case, it was a roundabout route from the Roman Catholic church, to Orthodoxy, and now Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic.

I find in the Divine Liturgy a fullness of worship that I personally did not feel in the Latin Mass. I find myself drawn to icons and not to statues. I love the Jesus Prayer. There are many other subtleties of the Eastern Rite I like, but those are just a few.

At first it was the obvious reverence and belief in the True Presence of Christ…then, since I am a person who always wants to know “why”, I began to search my liturgical heritage and discovered that the Moravians (the Protestant denomination into which I was baptized as an infant) originated in much the same part of Eastern Europe as the Ruthenians. That seemed to sort of tie up a spiritual loose end, for me, and as I had always been much more comfortable with icons rather than statues, the Jesus Prayer rather than the Latin Rosary, I just never looked back.

Add to that the feeling that, even at my very first Divine Liturgy, I had connected with something unfulfilled to that point (even though I knew none of the hymns or the chant melodies, it didn’t bother me a bit to just be swept along in the experience of “heaven come down to earth.”)

I don’t think I could be anything BUT Eastern now.

 

[Ghosty]

My reasons are perhaps a little bit more “bland” than most others who will post here. I’m technically still a Latin Catholic, but I practice full time in the Melkite Church (though I still participate in pastoral events and certain Holy Days at our local Dominican parish, which I adore).

What drew me initially was the Liturgy time; when I entered the Catholic Church as an adult (I was Baptized Catholic as a child but not raised as a Catholic past First Communion, which I didn’t even believe in when I received it) the only time I could make it to Liturgy happened to be the local Melkite/Maronite Mission. So I went, got to know the community, formed bonds, and gradually became a member of the community.

Of course I love the Divine Liturgy, and the flavors of the Byzantine tradition (if I didn’t then I wouldn’t remain there), but I guess it wasn’t so much about feeling unfulfilled in the Latin Church, or being overwhelmingly drawn to the East the way that many here describe it (I wasn’t suddenly awe-struck by the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, at least any more than I am by any other Liturgy, Latin or otherwise, but that may be because I’m accustomed to a very reverent Dominican celebration of the Mass). I’m still amazed and awe-struck at the mysticism and richness of the Latin Church, and I love its devotions. I just also feel the same way about the Melkite Church and the unique Byzantine traditions, and the Melkite Church happens to be my “home” spiritually if not on paper.

I’m a Catholic in the general sense of the word, and I find myself “at home” in the Catholic Communion. The fact that I can worship within and fully embrace the Byzantine and Latin traditions without having to compromise either is a wonderful gift of our Communion, and I feel blessed to be able to partake in that mystery.

When I’ve settled what my path in life will be I will quite likely go through the full Canonical Transfer if my vocation doesn’t take me towards a Latin religious Order. I certainly didn’t leave one for the other, though, I simply became more Catholic for exploring more broadly and deeply.

Peace and God bless!

 

[Kielbasi]

What drew me initially was the Liturgy time; when I entered the Catholic Church as an adult (I was Baptized Catholic as a child but not raised as a Catholic past First Communion, which I didn’t even believe in when I received it) the only time I could make it to Liturgy happened to be the local Melkite/Maronite Mission. So I went, got to know the community, formed bonds, and gradually became a member of the community.

What’s a “Melkite/Maronite mission” ? Are the two rites said on alternate Sundays? It would seem to me that a Melkite/Ukrainian mission would be more logical, as Melkites and Ukrainians share the same liturgy.

 

[Ghosty]

What’s a “Melkite/Maronite mission” ? Are the two rites said on alternate Sundays? It would seem to me that a Melkite/Ukrainian mission would be more logical, as Melkites and Ukrainians share the same liturgy.

It’s a mission that was originally run by the Maronite Church, but had a mixed congregation. It is now run by the Melkite Church, still with a mixed congregation. There is currently no Maronite clerics operating with the Mission, but certain Maronite customs are honored by the Melkites, such as certain Feasts (St. Maroun is a MAJOR one, obviously) and Holy Days like Ash Monday. Otherwise it’s entirely Melkite in its practice, and we also have a number of Antiochian Orthodox families who are regular attendees.

Peace and God bless!