Orthodox considering Conversion to Traditional Catholicism

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aussie_melkite

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hi there all.
Im a convert from Catholicism to Orthodoxy whos actually considering return to the Roman Fold- through the Traditionalist movemnt and I was wondering How does an ex-Catholic turned Orthodox be recived beack into communion with the Catholic church???

Ill give u abit of a back ground. I was an Eastern Catholic, bought up from the age of 8 in the Roman Church (as here were no eastern catholics where my family moved to)

However I was never impressed with the New Mass at all, and suffered from discontent about it for quiet afew years…until it came to a head one day when the Archbishop of the Diocess I live in refused me Holy Communion cause i knelt to recive.(which is definatly a Latin thing not an Eastern one…but in Roman Churchs I prefer to do it the Old fasiohed Roman way)

this for me was the finail straw, I picked up and swore I would never go to a Catholic church again as I belived she had turned her back on her own Traditions.

I then spent several months convering to Orthodoxy…and for a while I convinced myself that the Pope is not the head of the Church, and enjoyed the amazing Liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Faith…howver not logn ago i felt sumthign was amis…I decided to back to drawing board and look objectivly as the Argument for and against The Primacy of the Pope, and ultimatly i came to the conclusion that I belive the Peter was given an authority above the rest and that Authority still lies in his sucessor in Rome, the Pope.

SO now Im intellicualy a Catholic again (though i still will not go to the New Mass unless its Nessary)…and I found myself a Traditional Latin Mass here in Brisbane, however I have not as yet approched the priest and I was wondering, how is a ex-catholic turned Orthodox recieved back into the Church?
 
Aussie Melkite:
Its great that you are coming back home. I think that the first thing you should do is find a good traditional minded priest. Have him hear your confession, and tell him everything regarding your various conversions from Catholicism to Orthodoxy and back. You may need to make a profession of faith, this is basically reciting the Nicene Creed in front of witnesses. This may not even be necessary. I hope you find a good parish. In regards to the Novus Ordo, would you attend one if celebrated solemnly with the priest facing the altar, just altar boys, good traditional music, inclusion of Latin, and communion rails?
 
hi there,
welcome back my brethren! I’m no expert in theology, but if i can at the least give some insight, im happy.
why not approach the priest, i mean orthodoxy is our closest relative… they have almost the same practices…

yes, you hit it on the nose, the papacy. I know a lot of protestants out there still argue our lineage back to Peter, but looking at our history, WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE THAT LINEAGE back to that saint that Christ asked thrice to feed and tend his sheep!!!

I would approach the priest and please don’t let one man’s action(the bishop who refused you communion) let you get derailed. it is actually a great sign of humility to accept his decision to do so and go on.

jr:)
The Peace of Christ be with you
 
starchyp said:
Aussie Melkite:
Its great that you are coming back home. I think that the first thing you should do is find a good traditional minded priest. Have him hear your confession, and tell him everything regarding your various conversions from Catholicism to Orthodoxy and back. You may need to make a profession of faith, this is basically reciting the Nicene Creed in front of witnesses. This may not even be necessary. I hope you find a good parish. In regards to the Novus Ordo, would you attend one if celebrated solemnly with the priest facing the altar, just altar boys, good traditional music, inclusion of Latin, and communion rails?
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I might consider doing a Novous Ordo if it was celbrated in this way…However Im convinced of 2 things regurding the Novus Ordo. they are:
  1. it is 100% valid and to deny this is herasy
  2. that whist its valid its really not a very good Liturgy, its far remvoed from the Old Mass and the Divine Liturgy of the eastern church, and i personaly believe that after Vat 2 the New Mass was created, alongside the New Anglican “Mass” and the New Lutheran “Mass”, as an ecumenical gesture…which is very nice (i believe we should work with other christians) however not the Sacred Liturgy.
(for the record I was and have remained a supporter of Vatican 2: but from what ive seen of the Catholc Mass in the Latin Catholic world, the whole thing has been abused and misused…and consdering that I have perosnaly been hurt (refused holy communion) as a result of the New Mass, Id be hesitiant to attend one again…the Church (in my perosnal Opinion) needs to return to the “Mass of Vatican 2” which is the Old Mass and apply its proposed changes to that, rather than creating an entire new mass (novous Ordo)
 
Aussie Melkite:
I am very glad that you are returning home. I prefer the Latin Mass, now known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The NO is now the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. I hope you know of the Pope’s motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum.” Anyways, I love the EF, but where I live, San Fran., our Abp does not seem to kind to those attached to the EF, and the closest ones are over 45 minutes away, plus I have to cross the bridges. It is just a hassle. Anyway, I usually go to mass at the Church near my house, usually on SAT at 4:30 vigil, as it is usually quieter than Sunday, no altar girls, no clapping, no bad music. The filipino priest who says mass on SAT is solid, and he even says the absolution formula in Latin:thumbsup: . So, it is ok for me to go there. If I had a choice, its Latin Mass with lots of incense and nice vestments and gregorian chant. The reason I learned of the Old mass is through music. My group, the San Francisco Boys Chorus, started singing requiem Masses and other Latin masses by Mozart, Schubert, etc. I became interested, and thank God, may even have a vocation.🤷
Have you seen how mass is said on EWTN? It is very reverent, with latin, good music, altar servers who are MEN. Its awesome, and I wish the OF was always said like who they say it on EWTN. I hope all goes well for you. Please pray for me.
 
starchyp said:
Aussie Melkite:
I am very glad that you are returning home. I prefer the Latin Mass, now known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The NO is now the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. I hope you know of the Pope’s motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum.” Anyways, I love the EF, but where I live, San Fran., our Abp does not seem to kind to those attached to the EF, and the closest ones are over 45 minutes away, plus I have to cross the bridges. It is just a hassle. Anyway, I usually go to mass at the Church near my house, usually on SAT at 4:30 vigil, as it is usually quieter than Sunday, no altar girls, no clapping, no bad music. The filipino priest who says mass on SAT is solid, and he even says the absolution formula in Latin:thumbsup: . So, it is ok for me to go there. If I had a choice, its Latin Mass with lots of incense and nice vestments and gregorian chant. The reason I learned of the Old mass is through music. My group, the San Francisco Boys Chorus, started singing requiem Masses and other Latin masses by Mozart, Schubert, etc. I became interested, and thank God, may even have a vocation.🤷
Have you seen how mass is said on EWTN? It is very reverent, with latin, good music, altar servers who are MEN. Its awesome, and I wish the OF was always said like who they say it on EWTN. I hope all goes well for you. Please pray for me.
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Thank you for your kind thoguhts, I shall pray for u please pray for me during my journey back to Rome…as even though Ive made up my mind, it will be a tough decision to leave my Orthdoox Church (which is 3 minuets walk from my house)

Im lucky in one regurd…there is a Latin mass about 8 minutes by train from where i live…so I dont have that far to travel
 
You lucky guys! In Portugal, there is not a single regular TLM! Nor 45 minutes away, nor 8, nor by train, neither by car. 😃

Aussie Melkite,

What an amazing story, in fact. Praying for you, so that you may return to full communion with Rome and the Church, and may be forgiven of your sins. The advice that I would give you is that you should find a good, orthodox priest and ask him to be your confessor or/and spiritual director. Believe me, that’s very important for you to grow in your spiritual life and your acquaintance and intimacy with Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
 
The Eastern liturgies ARE traditional, and they do exists in Australia.
 
DAPDN said:
You lucky guys! In Portugal, there is not a single regular TLM! Nor 45 minutes away, nor 8, nor by train, neither by car. 😃 .
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It’s not available (TLM) in my Archdiocese either unless I travel 2.5 hours (about $35 in gas). The only Latin NO that I know of here is 1.75 hours away from me but from the north side of the Archdiocese it would be over 4 hours.
 
If you returned to the Catholic Church, you would be canonically whatever Eastern Catholic ( I assume melkite) church you were a member of before. Then you would have to request a canonical transfer to the Latin church to be a latin Catholic. A convert from Eastern Orthodoxy need only to recant their schism publicly and to have any potential canonical penalties lifted by a priest with proper authority or a Bishop. That is something to talk with the priest about though. I would say that perhaps you should re look into your Eastern Catholic heritage before running off towards Latin Catholicism though.
 
So you are reverting on your terms then?:confused:

I agree with the poster that said you should evaluate things with the eastern church you were? Still are? a member of.

As far as I can tell, as a non baptised person, for what it is worth…

You can not make this about your desire for a great Divine liturgy, or a great Holy Mass…

You must make harder decisions than this IMHO.
 
Ok, permit me to chime in for just a sec.
aussie_melkite said:
hi there all.
Im a convert from Catholicism to Orthodoxy whos actually considering return to the Roman Fold- through the Traditionalist movemnt and I was wondering How does an ex-Catholic turned Orthodox be recived beack into communion with the Catholic church???
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One Big question which I don’t expect you to answer here but with your priest is: Where you re-baptized? If you were then there is a problem sacramentally speaking and it will require extra steps.
However I was never impressed with the New Mass at all, and suffered from discontent about it for quiet afew years…until it came to a head one day when the Archbishop of the Diocess I live in refused me Holy Communion cause i knelt to recive.(which is definatly a Latin thing not an Eastern one…but in Roman Churchs I prefer to do it the Old fasiohed Roman way)
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A lot of people have had trouble with the Ordinary Form of the Mass but this is not due to the Form itself but to a vagueness as to how it is to be properly celebrated. Expectations from the liberal and the conservative sides are not really meet. This is not the fault of the Mass itself but of our leaders who have failed to teach us what we are properly to expect.

I admire your spirit to want to do things the old way, for there is nothing wrong with it, but we should also remember that the Bishop not us is the administrator of how liturgies will be celebrated in his diocese.

We should have dialogue with the Bishop and not try to force his hand. If we have a Bishop who cares for us and listens to us he will hopefully find a way to give us liturgies that will lead us to increase in holiness and is pleasing to God. This can be done with the Ordinary Form, the Extra Ordinary Form or the Eastern form. I really wish and pray that more of our Bishops were open to having Eastern parishes in their diocese. Many protestants who will just not convert to the “Roman” Catholic Church just might to an Eastern Catholic Church.

My suggestion to you is to embrace and love your Eastern heiratage. You are perfectly free to commune with the Latin Rite, after confession and reconciliation of course, and I hope you will be a voice within our Church for reverant liturgies and sincere believers.

If you had said that you were born Orthodox, I would actually suggest that you stay in orthodoxy, unless you felt you could not at the behest of your conscience, since you would then be a pro-union force in Orthodoxy. However, as you were born a Catholic, and a member of the legal see of Antioch I really must suggest that you come home to the Catholic Church.

Anyway, welcome back, for I am sure you have gone that far by now and remember to love the Lord our God with all you heart, all your soul and all you might.
 
aussie_melkite said:
hi there all.
Im a convert from Catholicism to Orthodoxy whos actually considering return to the Roman Fold- through the Traditionalist movemnt and I was wondering How does an ex-Catholic turned Orthodox be recived beack into communion with the Catholic church???

Ill give u abit of a back ground. I was an Eastern Catholic, bought up from the age of 8 in the Roman Church (as here were no eastern catholics where my family moved to)

However I was never impressed with the New Mass at all, and suffered from discontent about it for quiet afew years…until it came to a head one day when the Archbishop of the Diocess I live in refused me Holy Communion cause i knelt to recive.(which is definatly a Latin thing not an Eastern one…but in Roman Churchs I prefer to do it the Old fasiohed Roman way)

this for me was the finail straw, I picked up and swore I would never go to a Catholic church again as I belived she had turned her back on her own Traditions.

I then spent several months convering to Orthodoxy…and for a while I convinced myself that the Pope is not the head of the Church, and enjoyed the amazing Liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Faith…howver not logn ago i felt sumthign was amis…I decided to back to drawing board and look objectivly as the Argument for and against The Primacy of the Pope, and ultimatly i came to the conclusion that I belive the Peter was given an authority above the rest and that Authority still lies in his sucessor in Rome, the Pope.

SO now Im intellicualy a Catholic again (though i still will not go to the New Mass unless its Nessary)…and I found myself a Traditional Latin Mass here in Brisbane, however I have not as yet approched the priest and I was wondering, how is a ex-catholic turned Orthodox recieved back into the Church?
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No offense, but there should be no ‘traditionalist movement’. We are one. We are ‘Catholic’, after all.
 
KingAlfred said:
No offense, but there should be no ‘traditionalist movement’. We are one. We are ‘Catholic’, after all.
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It’s a good thing that our Holiness disagrees with your misconstrued concept of unity, as is evident in the Holy Father’s release of Summorum Pontificum (one rite, two forms).

There is no way that the Classical Mass could lead to disunity. In fact, it has just the opposite effect - how many disenfranchised Catholics have returned because of the Classical Mass? I know I did. :).
 
notsmart said:
You can not make this about your desire for a great Divine liturgy, or a great Holy Mass…

You must make harder decisions than this IMHO.
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I must disagree with this advice, liturgy is very much a catalyst for conversion and a good one at that. The liturgy is absolutely central to our faith.In fact, according to Lex orandi Lex Credendi, it is in the liturgy that our faith is found. Enshrined in the traditions and rubrics of the liturgy is the very essence of Catholicism and we should never forget that. So when one is attracted to a liturgy, in a real sense they are attracted to the faith which the liturgy embodies.

Also, the desire for the liturgy is ultimately the desire for Christ. For it is through the liturgy that we receive Christ and become united with Him. Many liturgists have even argued that liturgy is what sustains the Church. For it is through the liturgy that we become a Church, united in the sacraments. Quite simply, without liturgy or the Sacraments it provides, we have no Church.

There is also a side story I want to share to make my point even further. The Church of Rus, that is the parent Church of the East Slavs (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine) has a very interesting tale about it’s creation. The story goes that Saint Vladimir (the king) sent emissaries to all the corners of the Earth, in order to find a new faith. Eventually the emissary came to Constantinople, where the emissary reported that he had seen heaven on Earth. Soon afterwords, the people of Rus converted.

I know that I reverted because of liturgy. In fact, too many souls have been saved by the beauty and majesty of the liturgy. Thus I am very confused when you say that we should “look for more”. Where else could we look? The essence of our faith is in our liturgy.
 
Now to address Aussie Melekite…
DEO GRATIA!

Welcome home, frater ;). I have a very similar experience myself. Although I was raised in the Roman rite, I have an Eastern heritage. My experience in my diocese was not a good one, and despite going to mass every Sunday and attending Catholic schools I found my faith was empty. The only thing which renewed my faith was liturgy. Specifically my Eastern liturgical heritage brought me back. Thankfully, I never ventured outside the jurisdiction of the Holy father, having stayed within the Ukrainian Catholic Church for a period. While still in the Eastern Church I found the Traditional mass and my heart melted… and I even saw the flicker of a vocation when I went to that mass.

If your are being called to the Traditional Mass, or at least think you are… then explore it! It is as simple as finding a good traditionalist priest and attending his parish.

I have to admit that I was appalled by some of the advice on this thread. Whatever you do, do not remain outside of the Pope! Your soul is not worth “unity” or whatever that above poster was suggesting. I’m not implying that Easterners are condemned, hardly, but rather that if someone recognizes Petrine supremacy, then they have an obligation to be under his guidance. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit that we recognize the authority of the Pope, and so we should respond to this gift appropriately by entering the Church which recognizes this fact.

Anyway, your conversion brightens my day. Thank you, and Thank God for another soul returned :).
 
Freshman88,

And you don’t believe that those who suffer with a poor liturgy, who attend to pray for those there to improve are worth it?

IOW, is it about the personal gratification of the individual attending, or is it about the person who sits and sees its rotten, and stands by to be there to pray feverently for it to be…

Or is it better to just run and bail?
 
Bottom line no priest or minister of Holy Communion is allowed to refuse some one that is against what the church teaches I just became a minister of Holy Communion and that is what I was taught I don’t think Saint Padre Pio would even do that and we know how hardcore he was about confession

there is only one Church of Christ the Catholic Church

don’t focus on things like how the mass is run that is not what it is about it Mass is about the Eucharist and being part of the communion of saints

you think you got it bad try being forced to go to a Protestant Worship service or Chapel as they call it 3 times a week as a requirement for College

Peace,

Tobit777
 
You do realize that there are still allot of priests and Bishops who are not to receptive of the Extra-Ordinary Form of the Mass yet. If you really want to come back to Rome, may I suggest the Eastern Rite. You may be disappointed if you have to go to another Church and find a happy clappy Mass. This whole return to tradition may take a long time. At least with the Eastern Rite it will be pretty consistant liturgically and spiritually. Just my thoughts.
 
Or simply when in Rome do as the Romans do
I humble myself every day at these Protestsant worship services so if anyone is at a Church that you’re not used to respect their service
Practice humility

Peace

Tobit777
 
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