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Hello. I have seen it said that the East has a different spirituality than the west. I did some searching on the differences, but couldn't seem to find an answer. I know the East has different beliefs on some matters; would that be the same as spirituality? And I hope this is not too many questions in one post, but do Eastern Catholics have a more Eastern Orthodox understanding of original sin and salvation than do Western Catholics?



Thank you,

Andrea

You ask all the hard questions first. In as much as everyone will have a different answer on what spirituality is it's hard to quantify, but I'd make the following general points on how Eastern Christians have found God

1. The average Eastern layperson prays the liturgy more completely and differently than a Western layperson, in general. A Westerner using the Divine Office would be rare, but in the East it is a much larger part of waht happens in private and in CHurch, and of course the Divine Liturgy is regarded as prayer instead of celebration..maybe..

2. It's said that the Eastern churches are monastic churches; laypeople see asceticism and prayer as for them, not just for priests or monks.

3. The Jesus prayer is the ultimate form of private prayer, not Lectio Divina as in the West.

4. I feel that there is more emphasis on corporate rather than personal spirituality; the community, of which clergy are a part, encounter God together, not as isolated individuals as sometimes viewed in the West.

Don't know if that helps; you ask deceptively hard questions! Welcome to the forum.

Ned

Thank you for the response. Today I found a website that explained some of the differences, and I guess I did ask a difficult question. I have a tendancy to do that.

Andrea

Nothing wrong with that Andrea - that's how we all learn.

Awkward questions make us think - and that's a good idea

Welcome to Byzcath

Shlomo Andrea,

Actually there are 4 Eastern Traditions: Byzantine, Antiochene, Alexandrian, and Armenian. Of those the different Churches within those traditions do have some differences between eachother.

To understand Maronite Spirituallity I would recommend Fr. Anthony Salim's book Captivated By Your Teachings.

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

Thank you for that clarification. I will look into the book you suggest.

Andrea

Short answer: yes.