www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Rite of Receiving Monastics from other Churches and Holy Protection Monastery

Pictures of the reception of Holy Protection Monastery into the OCA

http://www.oca.org/pages/events/2003/10.October/1028MiamiFL-Protection/index.html

(I revised this post to re-direct the focus, thx.)

Yes, they were received into the Orthodox Church in America last week. There was a previous thread on this subject.

Priest Thomas

No Commitment, how sad.

https://www.byzcath.org/bboard/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001268

thats the old threat on this subject

daniel

We cannot judge their motivations. I assume that after much prayer, fasting, and reflection, they felt that their home was in Holy Orthodoxy. God be with all His Monastics!

Thread*

As a Byzantine Catholic prelate once said, "Our mission is to disappear." And so one by one they dox out, to disappear into Orthodoxy where they don't have to worry about being "too Orthodox" or "too Eastern."

Nothing is perfect, but at least they don't have to be apologetic within their own church. They can just move on to evangelize without the identity hangup. No need to have permission slips to be who they are. They, like Nike, will "just do it!"

What can our church do to be of greater service in the future? Does this event ring a bell where it counts? Does anyone care? Will it be met by defensive listening and rationalization or will we just look away like nothing happened?

Lately, I've been hearing about several of our church properties being given or sold to the Orthodox. What does this problem reflect?

Should we be seeking to earn up more indulgences at the next Otpust?

Will Ss. Cyril & Methodius Seminary become nothing but a prep school for St. Vlads? Will experience in our eparchies become nothing but an internship for Orthodox communion? Will potential converts just pass the Greek Catholic "GO" square and go directly to Orthodoxy thus by-passing any potential confusion and unnecessary polemics?

At least their clergy can marry since they don't have the burden of following the Latin model or filling out those scandalous permission slips.

I guess we should wish them well and offer our prayers for success in their ministry.

Joe

Well, the difference with this thread is that it will be focused on the ritual of receiving monastics. That would be a good re-focus.

The pictures were really helpful. I have never seen the rite performed before. Their temple is REALLY nice. They all seemed really happy. God bless them.

It looks like the priests were received through vesting and communion am I wrong?

And in regard to JThur's statement:

The future of our Church will be in the hands of our Hierarchy in how they want to direct us. Our Church will be a *pit stop* on the way to Orthodoxy for some and for others like me who have converted to Orthodoxy (OCA) and come back, the Ruthenian Church is my home; because I saw the grass was not really that much greener over there:) I discovered that when I became OCA that I was already Orthodox as a Ruthenian Catholic. In fact when I was Chrismated into the OCA afterwords I had felt in my soul that I had done a wrong thing in repeating a Sacrament that I already had. In other words as a Byzantine Catholic the Holy Spirit was already with me. For me to go back into the OCA would be a sin; because, I believe, the Holy Spirit has placed me in this particular Church, warts and all. I would be blaspheming God who has already sealed me unto the day of redemption in the Byzantine Catholic Church. Just as it is my view that it is wrong for already sealed Orthodox to become Byzantines. But that is my personal doctrine on that matter.

Just some thoughts on that.

I have St. Tikhon's Great Book of Needs with the Rites for the Monastic Tonsure, but is there another Rite for "receiving" Monastics from the Catholic Church?

thx.

Dear: J Thur,

Christ is in our Midst!

Your words sound some times like that is whats happening to our Byzantine Catholic Faith. In our Ruthenian Seminary we have like 10 Seminarians.
I dont know what we can do.

Daniel

Daniel,
10 Seminarians is great, it is a step forward. Last year I believe we only had 2.

Next year, I hope we have more, at least one more....


David, the Byzantine Catholic

Glory to Jesus Christ!

As a prospective monastic vocation for the Eparchy of Van Nuys, (to Holy Resurrection Monastery), I am still very happy that these monks have found a home in the OCA. I have come a long way from my "Extra Ecclesia (Romana) nulla salus" mentality, and I am now convinced that, for some people, it is a good thing for them to convert to Orthodoxy. They have different struggles than the "Uniate" monastics will have to face, but they will not have to face OUR struggle, i.e. the struggle of a child between two divorced parents (Rome and Constantinople). Maybe that's a good thing for them, maybe just going to live with their mother (Orthodoxy), is better than our situation than living with our father (Rome) and visiting our estranged mother only on holidays, and receiving a very chilly reception at that. Some people are not capable of doing that, and that's fine. Only God can change the human heart.
But for us who do stay, we have to try to accomplish a very bold experiment. An Orthodox priest once told me that the problem between the two churches is that they do not "be" the same, it is an ontological difference. This of course has to do much with the issues of personhood and freedom, conciliarity and authority, etc. Even if we argue that things are not that different, that this priest along with Zizoulas, Yannaras, and other Orthodox theologian are building the walls between the churches too high, it is still evident that the everyday ethos that governs ecclesial praxis is radically different. The job of the Eastern Catholic is to be a sign to the world that one can "be" differently than the Latin Church and still be in communion with it. At times, this task can be as futile as watering a dead stump to make it blossom, but our only hope is that this dynamic communion was in existence for hundreds of years, and nobody even batted an eyelash about azymes, conciliarity, the Filioque, etc., etc., etc. The "Unia" have to be a revelation to the world that the Churches are in a process of convergence and not the Pope's "freak show" of icons and priests with long beards, a replacement for Orthodoxy, or the sister that ran away.
I am not very optimistic, but with God, anything is possible. One monk (Eastern Catholic) once told me that, if he could not live a life of authentic Byzantine monasticism in communion with Rome, then he would become Orthodox without any regrets. So my attitude is: hang on to the Church of my fathers (the Catholic Church) for dear life, but if I fly off, it really isn't the end of the world. I am happy for this new monastic community, but I just hope they don't see the Catholic Church as a prison they needed to escape from. That would be the worst thing of all.

Arturo

Joe,

I had the occasion of meeting one of those former-Catholic-seminarians-Saint Vladimir-alumni-ordained Orthodox priests last week at our parish, Fr David Anderson. In fact he had returned to the Ukranian Catholic Church. During our last year of diaconal formation at Ss Cyril and Methodius, another St Vlad grad returned Byz Cath, Fr Joe Raptosh was our moderator for the pastoral counseling practicum. Who knows there could be more. Perhaps the Orthodox communion is proving to be an "internship" for our Church?

Dear Fr. Deacon John:

This could be a classic case of reverse osmosis!

And why not?

AmdG

As the saying goes, "The grass is always greener on the other side." And like I state in my earlier post, "Nothing is perfect" either.

I guess the ideal would be to be who we are without apology. Maybe this is asking too much?

Bad experience also plays a role in those who jump ship or mutiny. The reasons could also be personal.

Other "revert" clergy also went on elsewhere the first chance they got. I guess we can call that opportunism.

Many just give up and chuck it all. This is the statistic we don't study much. We beat our breasts when we make a convert, but remain silent when a greater number just ... disappear.

What can we do to convince the stray sheep to remain?

Joe