Roman Catholic visiting an Eastern Catholic Church

[A_G]

I am a Latin Rite Catholic. I know that if I attend a Sunday Mass at an Eastern Catholic Church, it fulfills my Sunday obligation. After all, we are still Catholic, same religion just different rites

Now let’s say I attend Easter Sunday Mass in my RC parish. Then next Sunday, I attend Mass at an EC church, and it just so happens to be Easter Sunday according to that EC calendar. The calendar for Latins, and the calendar for that Eastern church is different in this example, meaning Sunday #1 is Easter according to Latin Rite, and Sunday #2 is the first day of Easter according to the EC.

Would I be celebrating Easter Sunday (the “first” Sunday of Easter) twice then? If on that second Sunday, instead of going to my RC parish to “stay on track” and celebrate the second Sunday of Easter, I attend an EC church to celebrate Easter Sunday again, are my obligations still fulfilled? Am I “missing out” by not “staying on track” or keeping up with the timeline (Second Sunday of Easter, Third Sunday of Easter, etc …)

Am I getting things “mixed up” due to the two calendars, is what I’m getting at…

Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

[AlOtto]

I am a Latin Rite Catholic. I know that if I attend a Sunday Mass at an Eastern Catholic Church, it fulfills my Sunday obligation. After all, we are still Catholic, same religion just different rites

Now let’s say I attend Easter Sunday Mass in my RC parish. Then next Sunday, I attend Mass at an EC church, and it just so happens to be Easter Sunday according to that EC calendar. The calendar for Latins, and the calendar for that Eastern church is different in this example, meaning Sunday #1 is Easter according to Latin Rite, and Sunday #2 is the first day of Easter according to the EC.

Would I be celebrating Easter Sunday (the “first” Sunday of Easter) twice then? If on that second Sunday, instead of going to my RC parish to “stay on track” and celebrate the second Sunday of Easter, I attend an EC church to celebrate Easter Sunday again, are my obligations still fulfilled? Am I “missing out” by not “staying on track” or keeping up with the timeline (Second Sunday of Easter, Third Sunday of Easter, etc …)

Am I getting things “mixed up” due to the two calendars, is what I’m getting at…

Thanks in advance for your responses!

If you follow this line of reasoning you would never be able to attend a Liturgy outside your own Rite…as the calendars rarely coinside.

 

[dancingcrane]

Eastern Catholics use the same calendar as Roman Catholics and the modern secular world, the Gregorian calendar. Any Catholic of any rite is welcome in any other rite, and celebrate Easter on the same day. The liturgical calendar of feast days and saints days are different, but not incompatible. For example, Easterns celebrate the beginning of Lent on Ash Monday rather than two days later.

Eastern,Oriental and Western Orthodox use the Julian calendar and calculate Easter differently. They are not in communion with Rome, and while they do have valid priesthood and sacraments, they generally will not allow Catholics to receive.

 

[RyanBlack]

Eastern Catholics use the same calendar as Roman Catholics and the modern secular world, the Gregorian calendar. Any Catholic of any rite is welcome in any other rite, and celebrate Easter on the same day. The liturgical calendar of feast days and saints days are different, but not incompatible. For example, Easterns celebrate the beginning of Lent on Ash Monday rather than two days later.

Eastern,Oriental and Western Orthodox use the Julian calendar and calculate Easter differently. They are not in communion with Rome, and while they do have valid priesthood and sacraments, they generally will not allow Catholics to receive.

Actually, a number (probably a majority worldwide) of Eastern Catholics follow the Julian Calendar and observe Easter with the Orthododox. Some Eastern Catholics in the Americas (I believe a majority) use the Gregorian Calendar.

 

[iohanne]

No. The obligation doesn’t have anything to do with following a liturgical calendar. It’s about getting together on the 8th day of the week, the day of the Resurrection and worshiping the LORD within one’s faith community and attending the eternal sacrifice of Christ.

The liturgical calendars were a later development and it is only the most primitive meaning which is obligatory and binding on all Catholics. It is of course a spiritually beneficial to follow along with one’s own liturgical calendar and enter into the rhythm of the Church’s inner life but again, it is not binding.

 

[5Loaves]

As** iohanne** indicates, the “Sunday obligation” you refer to is to assist at Mass on a Sunday. Easter or Pascha is the Feast of Feasts so of course we all would want to be there!

If you come to Pascha at my Eastern Catholic parish you would indeed becoming a different Sunday this year since we are on the old calendar for Pascha. And you’d be coming for Divine Liturgy of St. Basil Great and Holy Saturday afternoon and again at 11PM for Reading from the Acts followed by Vigil, Matins & Divine Liturgy and then sometime around or after 2AM feasting on everything we’ve been fasting from.

 

[dancingcrane]

I stand corrected, thank you! After some research I realised that there are indeed Eastern Catholics who celebrate on the Julian or revised Julian Calendar, even here in the States. Even in the Gregorian calendar, you’ll find differences in naming the Sundays and seasons. Like ‘first Sunday after Easter’ and ‘second Sunday OF Easter’ are the same day, and there are no ‘Sundays of Ordinary Time’, because all the rest of the Sundays of the year are counted from Pentecost.

I’d suggest not getting too worried about the different calendars, just go to open your heart to the Lord and receive Him. For myself, I’d be happy if all Christians celebrated Easter on the same day always, as one way to strengthen our witness to the non-Christian world.

 

[ByzCathCantor]

From an Eastern perspective, we celebrate and commemorate the Resurrection every Sunday, not just on Pascha. So, that you would have attended the Divine Liturgy on “two Easters” is really of little consequence, other than to say that you would have experienced some liturgical observations and practices which occur during the 40 day Paschal season. Certainly these are different from what you would have experienced in the Latin Church observance.