www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West How do you know it's time to start moving?

This is the first post I've read today and I've begun this day with a huge smile! Thank you, because this is exactly what I needed to read. Of course it then begs the question that if this is so, why not simply convert to EO since, liturgically speaking, this is where I am the most fulfilled. I asked point blank the GO priest if he believed the CC had valid sacraments and his only words were, "I can only speak for my church and not for anyone else's." Sometimes what someone does not say is more revealing than what they do say.



I've been reading Ware's The Orthodox Church and appreciate the recommendation above. I meet regularly with spiritual director (as recent as yesterday) and he knows everything. I do not believe at first he grasped the magnitude of this, but he does now.



Actually, next week I'm on retreat at a hermitage. It's an RCC hermitage, silent (nearly 7 days), handful of retreatants, with a chapel with icons, a version of an iconostasis which I hadn't realized was based on the Eastern Church, although not an elaborate version. I've been "praying and praying and praying" and if it weren't for that, I should've lost all of my peace.

Again, thank you everyone for being so helpful and it's reassuring to read your posts, especially those who've already been through this.

Glad

Glad,

Welcome to the board. I am a former Melkite Catholic who became Orthodox this past Theophany. It took me 12 years of reading, praying, and searching to make the decision. Feel free to PM me if you wish. There are others who have made the journey from Catholicism to Orthodoxy and vice versa. I recommend getting comments from people on both sides of this journey. Whatever you do, do it prayerfully and in accordance with your conscience. Also, separate from the doctrine/theology from the personal failings of institutions and people. If you don't, you might find yourself too discouraged and end up in no church. Every Church has a shameful history of scandal. God bless.

Joe

The question "How do you know it's time..." bring up an important issue: the understanding of time. Might I suggest reading that excellent book When Angels Fall? The author's comments on the understanding of time which she found among the Orthodox are important.

Fr. Serge