What draws you to the Eastern Church?

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Greetings 5Loaves,

Is a spiritual father in the Eastern Churches like a spirtiual director in the Latin Church?

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
 
Anathama_Sit said:
Okay thanks so much for the answers.

I can understand why Eastern Cathlics would abstain from animal products, but what is the significance of abstaining from olive oil? I use that all the time. <the only oil I use, I am allergic to coconut oil>

Then I pretty much observe the rules of the Great Fast on Fridays and during Lent already, WOW, How cool is this??? I fudge a bit when I have hardboiled eggs. How else can you get protien if you do not eat animal products? I am sure butter is out too right?

I wonder how much I do that is actually Eastern and I don’t know about? 😃

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
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You can combine vegatable protiens to get a complete protein, like corn and beans.
Soy and tofu are also good protein sources.
 
Greetings Andrewstx,

That is very good to know. I was wondering are there any Easter Churchs in Texas? My friend lives there and was wanting to know. I knew there was one in Austin and San Antonio but they are Maronite. My friend wanted to see if there was a Byzantine Church?

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
 
Anathama_Sit said:
Greetings Andrewstx,

That is very good to know. I was wondering are there any Easter Churchs in Texas? My friend lives there and was wanting to know. I knew there was one in Austin and San Antonio but they are Maronite. My friend wanted to see if there was a Byzantine Church?

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
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There are no EC churches in my part of the state West TX on the NM border. I hear there is a Ruthenian church in the Dallas area The Colony.

There is one Orthodox church Antiochian that I am a member of in Odessa, only 40 miles away.
 
Greetings Andrewstx,

Isn’t Odessa near Midland Texas if I remember aright? I shall pass on the Church in Dallas to my friend. Thank you so much.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
 
I wish there’s an EC parish here in the Philippines. I want to visit one.
 
Anathama_Sit said:
Greetings Andrewstx,

Isn’t Odessa near Midland Texas if I remember aright? I shall pass on the Church in Dallas to my friend. Thank you so much.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
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Odessa and Midland are only 20miles apart.

We are now using a Presby church, but when our own church is built it will be in Midland.

Groundbreaking is this month.
 
andrewstx said:
Odessa and Midland are only 20miles apart.

We are now using a Presby church, but when our own church is built it will be in Midland.

Groundbreaking is this month.
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Greetings Andrewstx,

Where in Midland is it going to be? This is great news.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
 
Anathama_Sit said:
Greetings Andrewstx,

Where in Midland is it going to be? This is great news.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
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It’s going to be where Golf Course Road spits from Scharbuer Drive if you know where that is.

Our deacon used to live there. It’s famous among Midlanders called the carousel house used to have carousel horses in the yard, of course all of that will go.
 
We are excited to be building our own temple. There have been Orth missions in Midland before but they always failed from the lack of a temple.

Holy Cross will be the first Eastern church for 120 miles.

There are Greek churches in Lubbock and San Angelo, and an Antiochian and Greek church in El Paso 300 miles away.

Everyone here is Baptist, church of Christ or “non denominational”.
 
The Ruthenian cathedral is right down the street, I can walk! 🙂 Warm and friendly people, (warm church in the winter too!), friendly approachable priest and deacon who is married; the customs like blessed bread and anointing with oil, the fasts. The liturgy isn’t being changed and is dignified, reverent and God centered, and also in English. Also nationality - I’m Slovak and Polish.

Lived here 11 years before I learned I could go there. I wish the Eastern and traditional forums could be combined. I never even looked at the Eastern Catholic forum before, until I started attending the cathedral. It would help others learn about the East imho.

Thanks. Glory to Jesus Christ!
 
pollycarp said:
The Ruthenian cathedral is right down the street, I can walk! 🙂 Warm and friendly people, (warm church in the winter too!), friendly approachable priest and deacon who is married; the customs like blessed bread and anointing with oil, the fasts. The liturgy isn’t being changed and is dignified, reverent and God centered, and also in English. Also nationality - I’m Slovak and Polish.

Lived here 11 years before I learned I could go there. I wish the Eastern and traditional forums could be combined. I never even looked at the Eastern Catholic forum before, until I started attending the cathedral. It would help others learn about the East imho.

Thanks. Glory to Jesus Christ!
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The Ruthenians did actually “change/revise/reform” their Liturgy (the DL of St. John Chrysostom) about four or five years ago. If you check out a Melkite or Ukrainian parish you will hear the difference. The reforms in the Ruthenian Church have actually driven a number of Ruthenians into other Churches - i.e. Melkite, Ukrainian, and even Orthodox.

In general the Liturgy in the East is almost constantly being changed, but the changes are so minor that they’re almost unnoticeable. Usually the changes have to do with updated translations that attempt to more accurately reflect the original Greek and/or Slavonic texts. The Melkites recently reformed/revised their English translation of the DL of St. John Chrysostom. The translation revisions are very minor, especially when compared to the revisions the Ruthenians went through, and the current revisions of the Roman Missal. For all intents and purposes the current English translation of the Melkite DL is almost identical to what we’ve been using since Kyr Raya did the first translation way back in the 1960s. There was some word changing as well as some unfortunate word elimination, which resulted in slightly less poetic sounding prayers in my opinion. But in general it’s still a good edition of the Byzantine DL according to the Melkite usage. They also made some “new” things optional, such as a “kiss of peace” exchanged among the faithful. Such things are actually very old traditions, and the current Melkite usage has made them optional in an attempt to restore them. But whether or not these “innovations” are used is up to the discretion of the local bishop and/or the celebrating priest. When Bishop Samra was at my parish I don’t recall him using any of the innovations. In fact, I think he just stuck with the Raya translation as opposed to the revised one. 😛

As far as joining the Eastern Catholic and Traditional Catholic forums, it won’t happen. Many “traditional” Catholics tend to be very hostile towards Eastern traditions and theology, especially when they diverge from Roman theology.
 
andrewstx said:
It’s going to be where Golf Course Road spits from Scharbuer Drive if you know where that is.

Our deacon used to live there. It’s famous among Midlanders called the carousel house used to have carousel horses in the yard, of course all of that will go.
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Greetings Andrewstx.

I remember vaguely about where that is. I have passed all this information to my friend. He thanks you.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit

p.s. Where is the Greek Church in San Angelo, Tx? What rite is it?
 
Greetings Pollycarp,

Thanks for sharing what draws you to the Eastern Churches. Hearing about the Divine Liturgy is making me excited for my first one.

Greetings Phillip Rolfes,

I consider myself as a Traditional Catholic, it is sad that many are not open to the beauty and the richness of the Eastern Churches.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
 
Anathama_Sit said:
Greetings ThatOneGuy92,

Yes by all means do so. I am very interested in what is drawing you to the Churches of the East.

I can hardly wait to read your response, and thanks for asking.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
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For one thing I love, love, LOVE the Divine Liturgy. And Orthos (Matins). Haven’t gotten around to Vespers yet, but I’m sure I’ll love it too! The whole liturgical life is definitely something that deeply resonates with me.

However, that is not what really first drew me to the Eastern Church(es). I would have to say that what first got my attention was the spirituality. This may surprise you coming from a Lutheran, someone who shares a common liturgical/spiritual inheritance from the Latin tradition, but Eastern spirituality in many ways is extremely close to Lutheran. What I mean by this is that there is (at least, in my humble opinion and observation) an emphasis on personal repentance, humility, and trust in God.

This is not to say these things do not exist within the Latin tradition, for they most certainly do. However, I suppose it is the way things are expressed. It is… difficult to explain, especially if you are not familiar with Lutheran spirituality/piety. Growing up, there is a huge emphasis upon how we stand sinful before God, and that all are called to repentance. And yet, at the same time, there is such an emphasis upon God’s Love and putting one’s trust completely in that love.

Again, this isn’t to say that this does not exist within the Latin Church. Ugh, I’m probably not expressing myself very well. I suppose, simply put, there is a connection between Eastern theology/spirituality and Lutheran theology/spirituality that rather deeply resonates with me.

And it all funnels back into the Liturgy and prayers. That faith in the absoluteness of God’s love, despite our unworthiness, is so beautifully expressed. The constant cries of “Lord, have mercy!” The constant assurances that God does indeed “love mankind”. Such things, though perhaps not constantly and as elaborately echoed, are the rhythm that has been taught to me since childhood.

I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it here. For now 😃
 
I grew up in a Byzantine (Ruthenian) parish, but attended Roman Catholic school. I always loved the Divine Liturgy, but as a kid, I wished it were just a bit shorter. My family sort of drifted away from the Byzantine church when I was in 4th or 5th grade, mostly because it was easier with school commitments (and the fact that the school parish was right across the street from where we lived, while the Byzantine parish was a 40 minute drive). I always missed it, though. About 15 years ago, when I was 27, I decided to go back for a visit. I felt like I was home, but I didn’t return at that time. I would occasionally visit, particularly when I felt spiritually “down”. The ability to effortlessly engage all my senses in the liturgy and feel in the presence of God is the main draw of the liturgy for me. Particularly, now that I have young children, I rarely get to really pay attention, but I still feel like I have prayed.

When I was dating my husband, I brought him to the Byzantine, and he didn’t particularly like it. We were married in the Roman church, and continued to visit the Byzantine Church once a month or so, but it was always an accommodation to me. After our first child was baptized (in the Roman church), the Byzantine priest asked if we would like to have him Chrismated and receive Holy Communion. This was a new idea to my husband, but he absolutely love the idea of young children receiving these Sacraments. It just made sense to him. By this time, we were about 30-40% time in the Byzantine parish, and my husband was starting to really learn the liturgy. Our second child was born and Baptized in the Roman church, and Christmated and received Holy Communion in the Byzantine Church. By the time the next baby came along, I asked my husband if we could just have him Baptized in the Byzantine parish and make a commitment to the parish. We now have 5 children and haven’t really looked back. My husband would definitely answer your question with “infant communion”. That is what drew him initially, and he is now starting to adopt much of Eastern spirituality as his own. He also loves the theological richness of the liturgy.
 
Greetings ThatOneGuy92,

Wow what a powerful testimony. I am not familiar with the Lutheran beliefs, but the way you talk about the Liturgy just makes me really excited. I do think I will be quite comfortable when I go visiting an Eastern Church for the first time. I am not interested in changing my rite at this time, but how I long for the richeness and depth of the Eastern to enrich my life.

Not to get off topic here, oh wait I created the thread, I can ask a question :D. Do Lutherans believe that you can lose the state of grace?

I like the Lord Have Mercy quite ofen. I like the Jesus prayer of the Eastern Tradition too. If anything the short learning of the Eastern Churches in the last two days have served to enrich my life and am thankful, quite thankful.

Thank you for taking the time to write that, and I understood what you were saying only by the Light of the Spirit.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
 
Greetings Babochka,

Another testimony of the Liturgy. I think it is interesting that infant baptism drew your husband to the Eastern Church. I understand they do this in the Latin Rite too. I know there’s differences in between administering the Sacraments to young little ones in both Rites, perhaps when I get bold enough, I may start a thread on here, but am trying to shy away from the issues that spark debates. For now, I am trying to see the similarities between both Traditions and work from there.

If the Liturgy is as beautiful as many in this thread have said it is, I expect I will be in tears for it, because Tridentine Mass is beautiful and mysterious to me. I hope and pray, and am very confident that I will feel very much at home in both Eastern and Western Churches. I have found in my short experiences with those in this forum that you guys have been so open and accomdating to my questions.

When I visit an Eastern Church later this spring, I shall have to write of my expereiences of it in this thread. Thank you so much for answering my question and again providing me with yet another facet of this brightness of the Eastern Churches.

God Bless You,
Anathama Sit
 
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