My Witness

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Jofantioch said:
So beautifully put.
I was struck by Orthodoxy by the faith of the common Orthodox in Russia. I am in awe of St. Theresa of Calcutta (believe her to be a saint), though she is Roman. I love the nun who prays night and day in that little chapel in St. Peter’s in Rome. The faith and the Love is what crosses all boundary, not rhetoric and law. Christianity is all about Love, and there is an abundance of it in the Roman Catholic Church.

God bless you
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Praise God!!! There is an abundance of that in both of our Churches.
 
mardukm said:
(CONTINUED)

It is possible that a lot of Oriental Christians are overly hellenized. Granted much of the accessible literature under the heading of “Orthodoxy” comes from the Eastern Orthodox. Understandably, these Oriental Christians view Eastern Orthodoxy as the standard for their understanding of spirituality, the meaning of Liturgy, eschatology, ecclesiology, etc., etc., etc. The sad thing is that along with this understanding, comes a definite anti-Latin mindset. Anything that looks and smells Latin, must be an intrusion into “genuine” Eastern/Oriental Tradition. This is FAAAR from the truth, my brothers and sisters in Christ. The Easterns have their own venerable Tradition, and Orientals have our own unique identity, not influenced by the polemics of the 12th thru 15th centuries between East and West.
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Greetings my Coptic brother! (My wife and I are Coptic Orthodox converts and I am considering future conversion to the Maronites).

“It is possible that a lot of Oriental Christians are overly hellenized” Boy aint that the truth! I’ve been arguing with my wife about converting to East Catholic from being Coptic Orthodox. And like you, I have noticed some parallels with the Latins. I have been arguing with her because even though I explain the mainy things East Catholics have in common with Orthodox in general she keeps insisting on polemical sayings that they are “Two different Faiths” and I have begun to mention the various things that Coptics have in common with Rome as well as mentioning Chalcedon (where many people likewise say we are two different faiths from the EO).

She reads EO materials constantly to the point of almost believing she is EO. Which I did myself earlier and its common for my parish to do that teaching sunday school classes etc. with Greek Orthodox and other Orthodox materials.

While we have much in common with the EO. There are also differences. Their very much is bias when talking about Rome vs. the EO. Where anything that is negative on the Latin side is amplified ten fold, and the problems on the EO side are automatically dismissed as not being very important.
 
Dear brother Addai,

Welcome to the board and to the Catholic Church!!! I am so glad to read about your conversion (as noted I use the term “translation” for myself, and I respect others who believe their move to the Catholic Church was a “conversion”). I am sorry I cannot post more.

I would just like to suggest that your wife become more attuned to her Oriental Orthodox heritage. Some of the distinguishing elements of Oriental Orthodoxy (distinct from Eastern Orthodoxy) are:
  1. Penitential spirituality
  2. A greater appreciation for juridic ecclesial authority (this is most evident among our Syrian brethren, who regard the primacy and authority of St. Peter among the Apostles, handed down in the heirarchy, as part of the DOCTRINAL FAITH - a point that has been a springboard for reunion talks between the Syrian Orthodox and the Catholic Church).
  3. belief in the simplicity of God (though we accept a distinction between Essence and Energy of God, we believe, in conjunction with all the early Fathers of the Church, that God is simple; i.e., you won’t hear Oriental Orthodox say “the Essence IS God” and “the Energy IS God,” which our Eastern brethren are more likely to annunciate)
Coptic Orthodoxy in particular has these other distinctions:
  1. Appreciation for study as a means to know God (this is distinct from the Palamite spirituality of our Eastern brethren).
  2. Belief in the Natural Law (this is an especially prominent feature of the Alexandrian Fathers; modern Eastern Orthodox deny the Natural Law - if our discussions in this site with our EO brethren is any indication)
  3. Identical Canon of Scripture as the Catholic Church.
These are just some of the more important distinctions that we as Oriental Christians (and Coptic Christians in particular) have about our unique identity. As you’ll notice, these are also some of the similarities we have with the Catholic Church. The issue about the Canon of Scripture might strike a chord with you and your wife, as you were former protestants.

The BEST thing about being in the Catholic Church is the breadth of her Traditions. Within it, and despite the differences, we can commune with our Eastern and Latin brethren. I feel especially blessed that we can commune with our brethren in the Assyrian Church - as you know, we could not have done this in the Coptic Orthodox Church, who have a historically bad relationship with the Church of the East.

That’s it, for now. Sorry I cannot contribute more at the moment.

I also wanted to let you know that my knowledge of your conversion has brought a gleam of light into my otherwise harried life at the moment. Thank you for the wonderful news.

Abundant blessings,
Marduk

P.S. Regarding my name - Marduk is actually my name. It is not a normative Coptic name. I don’t think it is normative period. I am a second-generation American, and my parents lived through the crazy sixties, and were a bit affected by the free-thinking of the time (though not TOO much). I have Persian in my blood, and my parents thought it would be “unique” to name their son after an ancient Persian deity that was a force for good. Some of my friends just call me Mark.
 
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