drools …What’s that like, the Romanian Church? How’s that different?
AND, what is it like, you being one branch of one religion and your wife being another? Do your children understand? Looking forward to your reply when you get back!
As their mother and I are divorced, that’s not a problem.
Mom got tossed out (father confessor told her that if he had to leave the altar at the consecration to escort her out personally, he’d do so). When the divorce went through (usually there’s a year’s penance afterward of automatic excommunication) the priest told me to come to communion if I wanted that Sunday, as I “had done enough penance.” So it gives you an idea about how that was.
Mom went to the Romanian Church (an canonical no no, as she was under Church discipline), but went through two parishes. She ended up at Willow Creek (a mega church here), which the boys refer to as “the Church where we don’t pray.” Once, my older one (at the time 7) asked if people like his friend Ben (goes to a Latin Church) have icons. “Yes,” I said, “other people have icons. But some don’t, like grandma” (my mother is still nominally Lutheran). "And like mama’s church. They don’t have a cross. Why not? (the pastor, using marketing methods, which he repented of last year, said that the church doesn’ have a cross because it turns people off and is a downer). “Because they think it makes people sad,” I said. He paused for while, looking very pensive, then he exclaimed “tsk! and they called that a Church. It’s not a Church, it’s a mall.” Out of the mouth of babes…
Besides that, there’s not much to tell. We have some Romanias who come to our Church, I go to the Arab Church often enough, where they had a Romanian monk who was caretaker to the weeping icon, and who was deeply loved and missed by the Arabs, we go to Greek Churches on occasion (for instance on Great and Holy Wednesday they have an early unction service which fits in for visitation). While we are there the boys see a lot of their classmates. Beside our Church being all in English (it started as a Bible study at Wheaton College: the priest always jokes that the Almisry boys will complain that they didn’t understand a thing because it was in English), the Arab Church being half in Arabic (the boys and I normally pray in Arabic), the Greek Church being half in Greek (I tell them this is the language of the NT) and the Romanian Church being all in Romanian (the Church is actually the Patriarchal Cathedral for the ROC in America: interesting, the semon is usually given, all in Romanian, by an American priest who had gone to Romania as a Baptist missionary. Things didn’t go according to plan.
), they don’t see much difference. Even when go to the Coptic Church (“the Church that speaks mummy”
), nothing different. The only major thing has been they are interesting in the stories of the icons, as usually these are different. When we went to the New Gratian monestery (Serbian) in Libertyville, we had to go around the entire Church and see all the different saints on the walls (the Church is large and covered top to bottom. If you are nearby definitely see it: it’s gorgious) and their stories. My younger son was thrilled to see over 7 icons of his patron, St. Stephen. They’ve communed in all of them so that’s not an issue. They will NOT commune in Willow Creek, nor buy the line that is sold there, though they will comment that “they got this right…they got that right.” When I showed our antimensis to them, my one son said “mama’s Church of course doesn’t have one. They don’t have half of what we got.”
Their grandmother is still Romanian Orthodox, and I try to expose them to as many Romanian Orthodox as possible, but they only notice a difference in language. And food, more cabbage at the Romanian Church.
They did notice a difference when we went to the Western Rite Orthodox (I go for moral support: I’m a big supporter of the WRO), but that was basically that they had musical instruments (which they questioned if that was proper), the Eucharist was different (they’re not used to wafers, or even the flat leavened loaves), and the rubrics were somewhat different. But otherwise, they treated it as any other Orthodox Church.
I might add, my one son is especially aware of differences. When he was 2, when he saw a Church on TV, would stand up and cross himself.
Once, when the TV was showing the Unitarian Church Frank Lloyd Wright built, he didn’t notice anything Church like about it. Out of the mouths of babes… At age 8 he critiqued the sermon at Willow Creek that was comparing evolution, creationism and the omphalic argument (the universe was created “old”).
Back to your first question: the Romanian Church is unique in that all its liturgical language is modern and up to date. The Patriarchate updates the translations periodically. The Romanians kneel more, and still have the big to do with memorial services (the Arab clergy have toned that down, and the converts never had it before, so have a natural WASP sense of restraint). And given the nature of the language, is sounds like Italian with a Russian Accent.
Oh, and by the way: they like Fr. Corapi and Fr. Larry Richards. I listen to a lot of Relevant Radio. They do notice the East/West difference: once, when Fr. Loya’s show “Light of the East” came on (usually we are in Church then, but this Sunday we were going to a friend’s church. Btw. Fr. Loyo’s Church in part is made up of parishinors which share a common history with the parish where I converted to Orthodoxy) they immediately exclaimed “that’s our music!”
