What an amazing parish!

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What a lovely church. I loved the pictures.

I have a question though on their list of requirements for eligibility to take Communion:
  1. you have been to Confession at least during the past Easter Season;
  2. you have fasted (from midnight {medical condition excepted});
Can someone explain these? Are these addressed only to the Eastern Catholics? It doesn’t appear to be. But I thought Latin Catholics only had to follow their own discipline (one hour fast), and I’ve never heard of a requirement to Confess “at least during the past Easter Season.” Did they mean Lenten season?
 
While you are bound to the rules of your own sui juris, you also have to respect the traditions of the sui juris you will be visiting. For example, do you think you can kneel for Communion at St. Elias just because you are a traditionalist Roman Catholic?
 
Just beautiful! I wish I had known about it when visiting family in Canada - I would have visited it ! 🙂
 
anp1215 said:
It means what I said-no food or drink (except water or medicine) for one hour prior to the reception of the Eucharist.
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In a parish like that, this would mean you would be able to eat half an hour after liturgy had started.

Bring a picnic basket and a blanket. 😃
 
ConstantineTG said:
While you are bound to the rules of your own sui juris, you also have to respect the traditions of the sui juris you will be visiting. For example, do you think you can kneel for Communion at St. Elias just because you are a traditionalist Roman Catholic?
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No, but that is quite different given that reception of Communion takes place during the liturgy and fasting takes place privately.

But I don’t see what that has to do with my question-I asked about the different fasting disciplines, not the different norms for reception of Communion.
 
anp1215 said:
No, but that is quite different given that reception of Communion takes place during the liturgy and fasting takes place privately.

But I don’t see what that has to do with my question-I asked about the different fasting disciplines, not the different norms for reception of Communion.
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God sees what you do in private 😉

As St. Ambrose said, follow the tradition where you are at (when in Rome…). So when in St. Elias, do as the parishioners of St. Elias does.
 
ConstantineTG said:
God sees what you do in private 😉
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So God would be displeased with a Roman Catholic for following the discipline of his/her own church?
ConstantineTG said:
As St. Ambrose said, follow the tradition where you are at (when in Rome…). So when in St. Elias, do as the parishioners of St. Elias does.
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I’m not trying to be argumentative. This just doesn’t make sense to me. Catholics are bound to the disciplines prescribed by their own particular church. They may certainly take on extra fasting time if they wish as a personal discipline, but they aren’t required to.
 
anp1215 said:
It means what I said-no food or drink (except water or medicine) for one hour prior to the reception of the Eucharist.
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You are quite correct.

Do what you like, stop for a big pancake breakfast before you get there (with heaps of butter and syrup), you can pack it to go and eat in the parking lot, or in the narthex … and by the time the Eucharist is offered at St Elias, an hour will have passed and you’ll be ready.

No one will ask you any questions, even when they smell the pancake syrup. The priest has to give you communion because you are a Catholic under the Pope, whether he thinks he should or not he has no choice and no say in the matter.
 
The Gospels have some admonition against pride in fasting or scrutinizing the fasting of others. Why is that message so hard to grasp?
 
Hesychios said:
You are quite correct.

Do what you like, stop for a big pancake breakfast before you get there (with heaps of butter and syrup), you can pack it to go and eat in the parking lot, or in the narthex … and by the time the Eucharist is offered at St Elias, an hour will have passed and you’ll be ready.

No one will ask you any questions, even when they smell the pancake syrup. The priest has to give you communion because you are a Catholic under the Pope, whether he thinks he should or not he has no choice and no say in the matter.
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Do you have some sort of problem with my Church’s fasting disciplines? Geez, I truly wish that I hadn’t even asked about it. I thought this forum was here to help others to understand Eastern Catholicism, not to be on the receiving end of snide remarks from Orthodox Christians about things that aren’t really of any concern to them.
 
anp1215 said:
Do you have some sort of problem with my Church’s fasting disciplines? Geez, I truly wish that I hadn’t even asked about it. I thought this forum was here to help others to understand Eastern Catholicism, not to be on the receiving end of snide remarks from Orthodox Christians about things that aren’t really of any concern to them.
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I must agree. Someone asking a serious question should not be castigated in such a manner. I too have questions regarding such issues.
My own intuition seems to tell me that I should follow the fasting requirements of whatever Rite I am to receive in on any given Sunday. My understanding of the Byzantine Rite is that it is the same as in the Latin Rite. I hope to be politely corrected if I am mistaken. However, if I were to receive in some Rite where fasting from midnight is the normal requirement, then I would respectfully obey the requirements for the Rite I am about to receive in.
 
Some Orthodox like to brag about their fasting, how long their liturgies are compared to ours, etc. I guess this guy never read the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.
anp1215 said:
Do you have some sort of problem with my Church’s fasting disciplines? Geez, I truly wish that I hadn’t even asked about it. I thought this forum was here to help others to understand Eastern Catholicism, not to be on the receiving end of snide remarks from Orthodox Christians about things that aren’t really of any concern to them.
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rciadan said:
I must agree. Someone asking a serious question should not be castigated in such a manner. I too have questions regarding such issues.
My own intuition seems to tell me that I should follow the fasting requirements of whatever Rite I am to receive in on any given Sunday. My understanding of the Byzantine Rite is that it is the same as in the Latin Rite. I hope to be politely corrected if I am mistaken. However, if I were to receive in some Rite where fasting from midnight is the normal requirement, then I would respectfully obey the requirements for the Rite I am about to receive in.
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Thanks for your thoughts. I honestly was just curious as to what the law says, as I had never seen this written on any other Eastern Catholic Church’s website. I had never considered the differences in disciplines and to what extent (if at all) Catholics are supposed to follow the disciplines of another Church of which they are not a member if they should visit. I was just wondering if this is addressed in any official document or Canon Law. I find the implications interesting. It’s just a hypothetical discussion. I’m obviously not planning to visit this parish (I live in Texas!) and don’t have any plans to visit an Eastern Catholic Church in the near future. And I certainly don’t plan on chowing down on a Big Mac outside before walking in should I ever visit one!
Cecil_Corn said:
Some Orthodox like to brag about their fasting, how long their liturgies are compared to ours, etc. I guess this guy never read the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.
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I guess not. Oh well.
 
I think this thread reflects one of the differences between the West and the East (to the extend that these categories can be used). The Latin Church has a tendency to be very scrupulous and to explicitly state everything! Thus, all the extensive canons, councils, declarations etc… In the East, the idea of specifying the entirety of one’s faith, specifying all of one’s obligations is not present (at least to the same extent). Hence why Orthodox often have problems with explicit declarations of doctrines (even though they may admit to believing something similar). They simply do not see the need to ask such questions. In my own Church, there was not even an understanding of “the 7 sacraments” until the connection with Rome. The very concept of making a list of “the Mysteries” was foreign to our tradition and we had other “Mysteries” than just the 7. I do not think many Eastern Christians would ask the question “do I have to _____ ?” Such a question would be quite foreign to their traditional thinking. It is more typical for a Latin to worry about such things (possibly because disciplines change more in the West).

Furthermore, Orthodox are always sensitive to the decline of asceticism among Latins, since it is considered vital to Christian living in the East (every Christian is required to be an ascetic to some degree). I hope this clears up some stuff, though I may be wrong. I would like to see us all get along. Heyschios was being uncharitable, but I hope you will forgive him. In the little that I’ve interacted with him, he has been a very civil and welcoming poster. I trust this is uncharacteristic of him, and hope he will apologize (though Cecil Corn’s comments do not help the dialogue much either…).
 
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