www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West What Do Latins Like About The East , And Vice Versa.

Glory to Jesus Christ!
Glory to Him Forever!

Dear all,

As a Roman Catholic, I like the following about the East:

1) Beautiful and reverent Divine Liturgy
2) Emphasis on Theosis
3) Emphasis on "acquiring the Holy Spirit."
4) The beauty and theology of the Mystery of Crowning.
5) Icons
6) The idea that the liturgy speaks apostolic doctrine, not just pretty words.
7) The Jewishness of the Eastern Church.
8) How the Eastern Church has built cultures (e.g. Ukrainian, Russian, Greek) the faith influences even what you eat, and run your home!

There are many more things, but those are the main ones.

A sinner,

Adam

Columcille, Sweet cabbage and noddles would be one form of "Halushky". The Galician variant would be Halushky (dumpling noddle) with brindzha
cheese. Smachnoho!

Ung-Certez

Why do y'all have to post about nifty food when it's late, I'm hungry, and haven't the foggiest notion of how to make anything like this?

Aside from the fact that I love the Divine Liturgy, I must say that I really appreciate how the Eastern parish really "does Sunday" -- both in worship and in community -- I mean, they all stay there for the coffee hour afterwards for a while -- instead of just taking off! And they dress appropriately as the rule rather than as an exception.
The Cherubic Hymn, the procession of the Holy Gifts, -- and the sense of timelessness -- there is no time, it seems time has been suspended there. I love that feeling, don't you? There is also the sense of 'you have all the time in the world' when people go up for Holy Communion - I can't receive, because this is an Orthodox parish, but I enjoy how people are very much 'not rushed' and appear to approach the Mysteries with a sense of joy and - as I say - not being rushed. A very nice thing. I'm sure it's like that in Eastern Catholic churches as well and I do mean to attend soon!
Steve/Inawe, what nice things to say about the forum. How awfully nice and eloquently said.
Reminds me of what someone said -- who said this? -- "In heaven, we will speak and know one another with a glance of the soul." (A friend of mine quoted this, but I can't recall which saint in history said this or something similar).
So might we all be in the Communion of Saints, in this world and in the next!
C of S ( I can only hope )

What I admire about the Roman Church, is the Latin Mass. Bewteen high school and college, I have six years of studying Latin and have a great love of the language. I have a Vulgate Bible that I read from time to time.

I think much is lost in the new order of the Mass. The guitar playing and charismatic feel takes much away from worship. Also the interior of the churches are like Protestant churches.

This is what I like about the east, from the little I know and have experienced:

Icons
the music
the trisagion
the emphasis on the Trinity and its constant invocation
the liturgy as heaven on earth
the beauty
theosis (what little I understand about it)
the prayers I�ve read here and elsewhere online
again, the music
a sung liturgy
liberal use of incense
bowing (though I like kneeling too :p )

What do I love about the East?

The Liturgy

The understanding that theology is grounded in worship, prayer, and Eucharist.

The beauty and grace of the Liturgy.

The sense of tradition and antiquity.

The sense of mystery

Icons

Facing East for worship

The Theocentricity of her Theology

The authority of Scripture and Holy Tradition.

The commitment to the ecumenical creeds, councils, and dogmas.

The importance of the Fathers.

The recognition of mystery.


What do I like about the West (Roman Communion)?

Sense of Catholicity

A real desire to embrace both Augustine and the Cappadocians in her theology and spirituality.

The insistence to always transcend the provincial.

Theology

Willingness to move beyond exposition of the Fathers and to think deeply on the truths of revelation.

Theological creativity.

Openness to truth as found outside the Church, for all truth is God's truth.

What do I love about the West as embodied in Anglicanism?

The liturgy and the poetic cadence of Cranmer.

The gracefulness of evangelistic mission and presence.

The quiet, balanced sense of prayer.

Stain glass windows

Gothic cathedrals

(The last two of course are shared with the Latin West.)

Glory to Jesus Christ!

As for the East, I like everything, so I won't elaborate...
But since switching over to the Eastern Church, I guess I can say that I miss, most of all, the silence. I was a Latin traditionalist, so most of the time, the Mass was done in whispers in Latin. While I now see that this is far from ideal, I miss having to serve Mass kneeling with my hands pressed together. (I'm just a nostalgic altar boy at heart!) I also miss the Gregorian chant, that cannot be compared with any other type of sacred music. There is a special type of solemnity to the traditional Latin rite that cannot be put into words that the Byzantine Church does not have, although you could argue it has something better.
As far as theology and morals, I can only say that sometimes I miss the Latin precision and discipline that was emphasized in my seminary days. Everything was "X is always Y. Now, Y is always Z. Thus, all X is Z", etc. In many cases, I sometimes think the whole "oekonomia" thing goes too far. God is a big mystery, yes, but I think, at least in some venues, this goes too far. Sometimes I feel I am taking apophatic theology to the point of agnosticism. Maybe this is just a personal problem, but as a Latin, I think there were times I felt "more sure" of things.
Just some thoughts.

Arturo

Arturo, next time you are in Los Angeles, make sure you go here: http://www.op-stjoseph.org/nuns/angels/

You will love the beautiful silence of the nuns' adoration chapel!

Well, before Internet it was almost impossible to find complete information about the Orthodox (faith, liturgy, chant). When I was a very little kid, I remember that in Easter you had to stand up too much and it's very heavy for children. I was choir singer when I was a kid and we used to sing sacred music in Latin sometimes, and my mothers friend had an Old Latin Missal so i got very interested in Latin liturgy and Church (and the missal had biographies of saints and popes). But when I went to a Roman mass in my town I was like surprised because it was very different from the Palestrina chant and text in Latin. But I still get very interested in the West, there are so many great saints and the popes.

Moreover, the spiritual strenght of the Catholic Church is enormous, and this Pope has a lot of authority and teaches traditional values, and his leadership is good for Christians, more in a Catholic country. That's why it's always great when a Roman Bishop or a priest preaches and holds the orthodox faith (without "O" ) because Catholicism is the spiritual strenght of a nation. Churches of East and West have experienced moments of prosperity and holliness, but also moments of difficulties, and the speldor of the Roman Church will sure be back.

What do I like about the East?

The beauty of the liturgy, the icons, my prayer rope, the incense, the Cherubic hymn, the sense of awe and mystery, the Jesus Prayer, the sayings of the desert ammas and abbas

What do I like about the Roman Church?

Eucharistic adoration, holy water, missionary zeal

What do I like about Anglicanism?

Soaring liturgies, freedom of interpretation, the Book of Common Prayer, our Hymnal

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE (CATHOLIC) WEST, AS A NON-ROMAN CATHOLIC OBSERVER:

+ Eucharistic Adoration
+ Evangelization
+ Apparitions of the Most Blessed Virgin
+ Intellectual stimulation
+ Logic
+ Structure
+ Emphasis on God's Justice
+ Tendency not to "sugar-coat" things
+ Solemnity of Liturgy
+ Pan-national emphasis
+ Gregorian Chant
+ Stigmata
+ Saints who have made it clear that it is possible to be both Roman Catholic and extremely mystical (St. John of the Cross, St. Padre Pio, Mother Theresa of Calcutta)


WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE (CATHOLIC) EAST, AS A NON-EASTERN CATHOLIC OBSERVER:

+ Otherwordliness of Liturgy
+ Icons
+ The submition of the intellect to the soul
+ Emphasis on God's Mercy
+ Devotion and recognition to the history and heritage of the Church
+ Union with the Bishop of Rome*
+ The contribution of a well-rounded catholicity to the Holy Catholic Church

Logos Teen

*Remember, I'm speaking about the Eastern Catholic Churches, not the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

I think for many of us, what we admire today about the Catholic church is same thing John Henry Newman admired -- the great dynamo that is the Catholic Church. In the present day, Catholicism is a very effective evangelizer -- in Africa, in Asia and other lands. It is also a strong voice for justice and peace in the world.

What does Orthodoxy have? The tendency is to first say our liturgy. However, if I stop and reflect as to what has brought new members to my parish, maybe for only a quarter was it the liturgy. For about half it was marriage, so I must say what is best about Orthodoxy is we must be good looking people who attract others as spouses!

For the remaining quarter, they are mostly former catholics of a certain generation and of conservative temperment, but who had great difficulties with Humanae Vitae.

Axios

in the Roman Catholic tradition i love litanies and novenas, the stations of the cross, the Pipe organ during the mass, and heavy eucharistic adoration.

in the eastern churches i love the heavy emphasis on sacred tradition, chanted divine liturgy, sacred icons(and other eastern art)

Last year my class-from my Roman Catholic grade school- took a field trip to my parish. I remember that my teacher, who was born before vatican II, said that he liked how our priests face the altar. He also said that he liked our Iconostas because it reminds him of the communion rails. He also liked our chants.
As for me I like the OLD Roman Catholic Cathedral in the Gothic styles like Notre Dame, and I also like the Cathedral of St. James Compestalla in Spain. These old and beautiful churches are a great tribute to the Roman Catholic churches.

-Katie g