FSSP vs. EC

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holdencaulfield

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Hello everyone. I have come to the time of my Confirmation. However I am unsure about where I should be in the Catholic Church. I would like some suggestions from everyone here on this forum. I am stuck between going to a FSSP parish or a Ruthenian Catholic parish. I will talk about each one for a little bit.

FSSP Parish:

This was a very nice parish when I visited it. I would say that it had about 150 - 200 people at the Mass I attended. I attended the High Mass in the middle of the day. They have one Mass every weekday, and three Masses on Sunday. They seemed very traditional. People there were very reverent they bowed to the Blessed Sacrament, wore head coverings, ect. There seemed to be a wide age group there as well. The interior of the parish was very nice, they had prayer candles in front of the Statues by the Alter Rail. It seemed very nice. It takes about 20 minutes for me to get there without going on the highway.

Ruthenian Catholic Parish:

This was also a very nice parish, however it had one big downside. It was very tiny, I would say it had about 35 - 50 people at the Divine Liturgy that I attended. They have one Divine Liturgy every weekday, and they only have one on Sunday. They seem to follow the Gregorian Calendar, however with the Greek Feast Days. The inside was very nice, however a little small. They had some very nice Icons, and I loved the Iconostasis. People seemed to be very reverent, and bowed to the Blessed Sacrament on entry. Only thing was one person lifted their arms up during the Eucharistic Prayer. People also lit candles before the service. I liked it, however I don’t know if it would be to small for me. It was about 15 minutes away from me, and I had to take the highway. I just don’t know if it would be too awkward to enter such a small parish. Also the only other Eastern Catholic parishes in my city are about an hour away.
So with that being said I would like to start a discussion. 🙂
 
What it really comes down to is: Are you, spiritually, a traditional Roman Catholic or a Ruthenian Catholic? Everything else (art, architechture, theology, praxis, chant, liturgy, devotions, etc.) will flow from that.
 
Well, it makes a difference on whether or not you can choose to switch or not. Certain Churches require a certain age before one can switch.

When I was at the Ruthenian Church the priest said he would Chrismate my kids and allow them to receive the Eucharist even though they were all under 6 and we were officially Latin.

I’m also curious as to why you weren’t Confirmed at 12 or 13 like everybody else, are you a convert?

This decision is not to be taken lightly, discuss it with your Spiritual Father. Don’t take advice from armchair theologians on the internet.
 
Yes I am a convert. I have not been Confirmed in either the Roman Church or one of the Eastern Churches. I am deciding between the two.
 
Only thing was one person lifted their arms up during the Eucharistic Prayer.

**It’s not uncommon for the faithful to take the orans position from time to time, especially among the Melkites.

One thing about the Churc in any liturgical tradition: there is room for personal expressions of piety in them all.**
 
@bpbasilphx:

I know, I just assumed that it was frowned upon. This was a Ruthenian Catholic Church by the way. I don’t know. I guess I will just visit and see what seems better.
 
You are also going to have to be careful about which parishes you joing. On the one hand, in a Latin parish there is the danger that you might be entering a more modenrist parish, You have to be very discerning and make sure the priest is a good and solid one. On the other hand, when entering an Eastern Parish there is the danger that you might be entering a parish that rejects many of the essential dogmas of Catholicism like the Papacy, the Immaculate Conception, Purgatory, etc, referring to them as nothing more than “latinizations”. In the East, just as in the west, there are good parishes and bad parishes. That’s the nature of living in a fallen world.
 
East_and_West said:
You are also going to have to be careful about which parishes you joing. On the one hand, in a Latin parish there is the danger that you might be entering a more modenrist parish, You have to be very discerning and make sure the priest is a good and solid one.
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Well they are FSSP so I don’t think that is going to happen
On the other hand, when entering an Eastern Parish there is the danger that you might be entering a parish that rejects many of the essential dogmas of Catholicism like the Papacy, the Immaculate Conception, Purgatory, etc, referring to them as nothing more than “latinizations”. In the East, just as in the west, there are good parishes and bad parishes. That’s the nature of living in a fallen world.
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Well I don’t think that this one would be the case. They have a picture of Pope Benedict XVI in the front of the parish. They didn’t say the Filioque however I assume that’s normal for Eastern Catholic parishes.
 
holdencaulfield said:
Well they are FSSP so I don’t think that is going to happen
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You are absolutely right. I didn’t realize that it was a FSSP parish. How silly of me.
holdencaulfield said:
Well I don’t think that this one would be the case. They have a picture of Pope Benedict XVI in the front of the parish. They didn’t say the Filioque however I assume that’s normal for Eastern Catholic parishes.
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I pray you are right. Eastern Catholicism can be quite beautiful when it is faithful to the magisterium of the Church.
 
holdencaulfield said:
What would be the best way to tell, just from the Liturgy?
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You would have to talk to the priest. Ask him if he believes in Papal Infallibility, the Immaculate Conception, Purgatory, and all of the Ecumenical councils after the seventh. If he starts to come up theological excuses to opt out these teachings then you know he is not faithful to the Church. But, if like my former Ruthenian Pastor, he says that you can’t disagree with those teachings and call yourself Catholic, then he is probably solid.
 
East_and_West said:
You are also going to have to be careful about which parishes you joing. On the one hand, in a Latin parish there is the danger that you might be entering a more modenrist parish, You have to be very discerning and make sure the priest is a good and solid one. On the other hand, when entering an Eastern Parish there is the danger that you might be entering a parish that rejects many of the essential dogmas of Catholicism like the Papacy, the Immaculate Conception, Purgatory, etc, referring to them as nothing more than “latinizations”. In the East, just as in the west, there are good parishes and bad parishes. That’s the nature of living in a fallen world.
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Can you quote from any documents of the reunions involving the Melkite Church, the Ukrainian and Ruthenian Churches and other Eastern Christian Churches that reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church that these Roman Catholic dogmas were to be observed in order for these churches to be considered “In Union with Rome”? I have yet to see any such dcumentation so I do not believe this to be a true statement.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

U-C
 
May I out of curiosity just ask why you aren’t even considering joining a regular latin rite parish celebrating the ordinary form of the Mass?
 
Ungcsertez said:
Can you quote from any documents of the reunions involving the Melkite Church, the Ukrainian and Ruthenian Churches and other Eastern Christian Churches that reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church that these Roman Catholic dogmas were to be observed in order for these churches to be considered “In Union with Rome”? I have yet to see any such dcumentation so I do not believe this to be a true statement.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

U-C
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Don’t be ridiculous. You know that in order to be Catholic you have to accept all of the teachings of the Church. I so tired of some of people who think that you can rebellious and disobedient to the teachings of the Church just because you are not Latin. Its completely unacceptable. As for documents, Eastern Bishops participated in the first Vatican Council. They may have not like the outcome but the decision of the council was the decision of the council. Deal with it buddy. We are not a pick and choose Church. We are not protestants. We have a magesterium for a reason. If you don’t agree with the teachigns of the Church, then why bother being Catholic?
I don’t care if its modernist in the western Church, or those who want to be “orthodox in communion with Rome”, there is no room for such disobedience in the body of Christ.
“You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of hell will prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”
 
East_and_West said:
Don’t be ridiculous. You know that in order to be Catholic you have to accept all of the teachings of the Church. I so tired of some of people who think that you can rebellious and disobedient to the teachings of the Church just because you are not Latin. Its completely unacceptable. As for documents, Eastern Bishops participated in the first Vatican Council. They may have not like the outcome but the decision of the council was the decision of the council. Deal with it buddy. We are not a pick and choose Church. We are not protestants. We have a magesterium for a reason. If you don’t agree with the teachigns of the Church, then why bother being Catholic?
I don’t care if its modernist in the western Church, or those who want to be “orthodox in communion with Rome”, there is no room for such disobedience in the body of Christ.
“You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of hell will prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”
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I’m serious, what document, Papal Encyclicals, writing, comentaries, etc. where it states this? I have yet to hear any Eastern Catholic hierarch ever state this in writing. Until you can produce such in writing, I will remain an Eastern Catholic who does not believe this to be true.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

U-C
 
Ungcsertez said:
I’m serious, what document, Papal Encyclicals, writing, comentaries, etc. where it states this? I have yet to hear any Eastern Catholic hierarch ever state this in writing. Until you can produce such in writing, I will remain an Eastern Catholic who does not believe this to be true.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

U-C
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Well, let’s see. Frist Vatican I proclaims an anathema on anyone who denies the doctrine of Papal Infallibility. It proclaims an anathema on anyone who denies the doctrine of the Universal Jurisdiction of the Pope. So techinically, you, if you deny these doctrines, are under an anathema. Sorry buddy but that’s life.
 
East_and_West said:
Well, let’s see. Frist Vatican I proclaims an anathema on anyone who denies the doctrine of Papal Infallibility. It proclaims an anathema on anyone who denies the doctrine of the Universal Jurisdiction of the Pope. So techinically, you, if you deny these doctrines, are under an anathema. Sorry buddy but that’s life.
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…must have missed the clause that spelled this out for the Eastern and Oriental Catholics. I bet if I asked the Melkite Patriarch he would disagree with your assumption. 😉

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

U-C
 
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