What Rite Can I Follow?

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PrayerforMercy

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I am new here and have a few questions.

I was baptized protestant and confirmed Latin Rite.

Is the type of Rite you are in dependent on confirmation or just baptism? In other words, could I have no rite assigned at all unless I choose one?

Also, I’m practicing Eastern Rite. Can I follow the holy days of obligation from the Byzantine Rite instead of the Latin Rite without officially switching rites? Or am I bound to the Latin Rite obligations and only free to add Eastern ones if I desire?

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
You are free to attend liturgies in whichever particular Catholic Church–Latin or Eastern–that you’d like. However, you are bound to the law of the church to which you are enrolled. So if there is a day of obligation in the Latin Church, you are bound to attend Mass (or the Divine Liturgy) on that day. (As an aside, contrary to what some will tell you, which readings are used or which celebration is observed does not affect whether your obligation is fulfilled; the canon simply requires that you attend Mass on the day of precept or the evening before in any valid Catholic rite).

Enrollment in a church typically occurs at baptism as an infant, and it defaults to the church of the father. If the parents are of different ritual churches, then they may specify that the child will be enrolled in one or the other (but not a ritual church to which they do not belong–for example, a Latin mother and a Ukrainian father could not enroll their child in the Maronite Church). As you are a convert from Protestantism, you were automatically enrolled as a Latin, since those entering the Catholic Church are enrolled in whatever particular church corresponds to where they were previously–e.g. a Greek Orthodox would become a Greek Catholic, a Ukrainian Orthodox a Ukrainian Catholic, etc.; a Protestant would become a Latin Catholic. Note that the ceremony in which one is baptized or confirmed does not actually affect canonical enrollment–a Latin priest can baptize the child of Ukrainian parents, and the child is still canonically Ukrainian.

In short though, you are canonically Latin, and you are bound by the days of precept and fasting of the Latin Church. You are free to attend whichever liturgies you like, whether Latin or Eastern, and either will fulfill your obligation (remember of course that it is the Eucharistic liturgy–either Mass or Divine Liturgy that satisfies the obligation, and not simply Vespers or Typika).

-ACEGC
 
Thanks for your answer. So, I’m Latin Rite, then.

Here’s an example of the confusion I’m talking about.

My Ukrainian Catholic Church (of which I am a member) is having Synaxis of the Mother of God in the morning. I am going. On Jan 1, there is the Feast of the Circumcision,** which is an Eastern Catholic holy day of obligation.**

At the Latin Rite Church, there is Solemnity of the Mother of God on Jan 1. which is also a holy day of obligation.

I choose the Feast of the Circumcision and I think I would have already done the Solemnity of the Mother of God (but on a different day.)

Having to go to the Latin Rite Church also on Jan 1 for a holy day of obligation feels wrong.
 
It doesn’t matter whether you go to a Byzantine Church or Latin Church, a Maronite or Syro-Malabar Church, as long as you attend the Eucharisitic Liturgy of a Catholic Church you have met the obligation you are bound to by your canonical Church( the Latin Church). It doesn’t even have to be the feast of the day, it could be a wedding or a funeral even. So it would be fine if you went to the Byzantine Church on the January 1st, and they are celebrating the Circumcision of Our Lord. In addition, as a member of the Latin Church you are under no obligation to fulfill the days of Obligation of the Byzantine Churches, of course you are free to attend tomorrow the Synaxis of the Theotokos,
 
PrayerforMercy said:
Thanks for your answer. So, I’m Latin Rite, then.

Here’s an example of the confusion I’m talking about.

My Ukrainian Catholic Church (of which I am a member) is having Synaxis of the Mother of God in the morning. I am going. On Jan 1, there is the Feast of the Circumcision,** which is an Eastern Catholic holy day of obligation.**

At the Latin Rite Church, there is Solemnity of the Mother of God on Jan 1. which is also a holy day of obligation.

I choose the Feast of the Circumcision and I think I would have already done the Solemnity of the Mother of God (but on a different day.)

Having to go to the Latin Rite Church also on Jan 1 for a holy day of obligation feels wrong.
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Really, for Ukrainian Catholic Church, Jan 1 (Gregorian) is only recommended. The holy days of obligation are these six (Gregorian), in addition to Sundays:1. Theophany, January 6
2. Annunciation of the Mother of God, March 25
3. Ascension of our Lord, Thursday
4. Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29
5. The Dormition of the Mother of God and Ever-virgin Mary, August 15
6. Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas, December 25
Similarly, the Byzantine (Ruthenian) USA has five of the above, but omitting the Annunciation.
 
Thank you, I am very relieved!

So, any Liturgy or Mass counts as long as I go on that day of obligation? That is awesome and I am happy about that.

I have a daily mass obligation anyway (whenever possible) because I’m a Secular Carmelite. I just didn’t like the idea of having to go twice in one day because of Church laws.

I was looking at the liturgical calendar on our church website and Jan 1 was listed as a Holy Day of Obligation. I could have read it wrong. It looked like it was marked that way. I know I’m not bound by the Eastern Holy Days, but I want to be bound by that. I want to do both as much as I can.

Thanks Vico and Psalitte.
 
PrayerforMercy said:
Thank you, I am very relieved!

So, any Liturgy or Mass counts as long as I go on that day of obligation? That is awesome and I am happy about that.

I have a daily mass obligation anyway (whenever possible) because I’m a Secular Carmelite. I just didn’t like the idea of having to go twice in one day because of Church laws.

I was looking at the liturgical calendar on our church website and Jan 1 was listed as a Holy Day of Obligation. I could have read it wrong. It looked like it was marked that way. I know I’m not bound by the Eastern Holy Days, but I want to be bound by that. I want to do both as much as I can.

Thanks Vico and Psalitte.
Click to expand...
So more generally they are as below.

The 12 Great Feasts and Other Important Feasts for eastern Catholics:
  • Code: 
     September 8, the Nativity of the Theotokos
  • Code: 
     September 14, the Exaltation of the Cross
  • Code: 
     October 1, The Protecting Veil of the Theotokos
  • Code: 
     November 21, the Presentation of the Theotokos
  • Code: 
     December 25, the Nativity of Christ *
  • Code: 
     January 1, The (Hypapanty) Circumcision of Christ
  • Code: 
     January 6, Theophany *
  • Code: 
     February 2, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
  • Code: 
     March 25, the Annunciation **
  • Code: 
     The Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) *
  • Code: 
     The Ascension of Christ *
  • Code: 
     Pentecost Sunday *
  • Code: 
     June 24, The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
  • Code: 
     June 29, The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul *
  • Code: 
     August 6, the Transfiguration
  • Code: 
     August 15, the Dormition of the Theotokos *
  • Code: 
     August 29, The Beheading of St John the Baptist
  • Melkite, Byzantine, and Ukrainian Holy Day of Obligation
    ** Ukrainian Holy Day of Obligation
Ten universal Latin Catholic Solemnities also include five more:
  • Code: 
     January 1, The Mother of God
  • Code: 
     March 19, Saint Joseph
  • Code: 
     The Holy Body and Blood of Christ Sunday
  • Code: 
     November 1, All Saints
  • Code: 
     December 8, The Immaculate Conception / The Conception of Saint Anna (Dec. 8 or 9)
 
edward_george said:
You are free to attend whichever liturgies you like, whether Latin or Eastern, and either will fulfill your obligation (remember of course that it is the Eucharistic liturgy–either Mass or Divine Liturgy that satisfies the obligation, and not simply Vespers or Typika).
Click to expand...
While this is true for Latin Catholics (and I understand that the OP is a Latin Catholic), for Byzantine Catholics, Vespers (or another non-Eucharistic service the evening prior to the Holy Day) does fulfill the obligation.
 
Thanks so much for all these responses. This is great information. I’m learning a lot.
 
Shlomo ( Peace in Aramaic),

I would like to correct a misperception that many Roman and quite a few Eastern Catholics have: that is calling our Churches rites. We are FULLY Catholic and FULLY sui iuris Churches. That is we contain all the components needed for salvation.

A rite represents a Church’s Liturgical Tradition. For example, we Maronites use the Antiochene Rite, where as the Melkites use the Byzantine Rite and you Romans have the Latin Rite, the Ambrosian Rite, the Mozarabic Rite (the Bragan Rite is the Portuguese version of the afford mentioned rite) and the Gallican or Lyonnais Rite.

Therefore it is incorrect for someone to call themselves or others *****-Rite Catholics. We are Maronite Catholics, Melkite Catholics or Roman Catholics.

FYI because we do not have an Orthodox counterpart we Maronites do not have to put Catholic in our nomenclature since it is implied.

Fush BaShlomo (Stay at Peace)
 
Interesting. I don’t conflate the churches themselves and rites, but I do here people say, “Latin Rite,” and “Byzantine Rite,” but “Eastern Rite Catholic,” is probably the best descriptive. Is that kind of what you’re saying?
 
“Rite” generally refers to the liturgical usages–there are six Rites within Catholicism. “Church” or “Particular Church” or “Church sui iuris” refers to the Churches themselves, which practice the different rites. There are 22 of these in union with Rome. So the Byzantine Rite is used by the Ukrainians, Greeks, Melkites, and so on. “Particular Church” is a term easy to foul up as well sometimes, since in Canon Law this can either refer to a sui iuris ritual church, like the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, or to the local church, like the Diocese of Cleveland.

-ACEGC
 
PrayerforMercy said:
I am new here and have a few questions.

I was baptized protestant and confirmed Latin Rite.

Is the type of Rite you are in dependent on confirmation or just baptism? In other words, could I have no rite assigned at all unless I choose one?

Also, I’m practicing Eastern Rite. Can I follow the holy days of obligation from the Byzantine Rite instead of the Latin Rite without officially switching rites? Or am I bound to the Latin Rite obligations and only free to add Eastern ones if I desire?

Thanks for any help you can offer.
Click to expand...
You can attend any Church in communion with The Holy See.
More information here: byzcath.org/
 
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