www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West What would you say?

A couple (few?) years ago, in the same RC church I just mentioned above, we were informed that the new directive was to stand after communion, and that we would begin doing so immediately. That is the *only* church in which I have seen this done uniformly, and it really came across to us in the pews as that we were doing something wrong by praying and reflecting after reception of the Eucharist, instead of standing and communing (?)[and singing vapid music ]. A couple of days ago, I found a link to a Vatican document instructing the American hierarchy that they were not to discourage the faithful from kneeling rather than standing.

I started attending the local Byzantine parish before the rest of the family. Due to confirmation classes, etc., we were generally stuck going to different masses (ok, and my refusal to attend the 11:00 that the confirmation classes were forced to attend was a factor [I couldn't maintain a prayerful or charitable state there]).

Anyway, I took the twins, who were very happy to go with me due to the friends they found there [First week, as the ECF bell rang, the director asked if they'd like to attend, and they popped out with, "If she is!"]. Then they came a couple more times, then my eldest [her classes no longer required the 11:00].

After the first couple of trips, Sister was explaining the various colors of vestments to their third grade class. Kaitlyn popped up, and offered, "The priest was wearing blue at my daddy's church on Sunday."

"I don't think so; blue isn't a vestment color."

"My daddy goes to a Byzantine church."

"We don't want to get into that now."

In the following weeks, we finally accepted that 'manda's desire to change rites with me was real, not just about the confirmation classes [which were a travesty, but that's another topic] and allowed her to withdraw, and soon the entire family was with me. When I switch, the twins will switch with me, she'll file her own, and her sister probably will, too.

Still, though, getting back to the original topic of the thread, we refrained from teaching the twins to cross the other direction until that summer, out of respect for Sister. [Who still thinks I should find another parish instead of changing rites.]{1}

This year, at their new school, their teacher actually asks them in class about how things are done in the Byzantine church.

hawk

{1}compounding matters, I'd been a draftee fifth grade teacher at the school the year before.

I would suggest to this priest that these customs he thinks are eastern may very well be the ancient western customs (now abandoned) as well and he should probably realize he could very well be insulting the practices of the matyrs of Rome in the earlier centuries and look to the East as a place to learn from not reject.

I dont think western or eastern catholics can be expected to immediately adapt very easily to each others Churches as far as bowing/genuflecting and direction of cross signing. These are things done almost subconsciously by habit. However if the Eastern custom is any closer to what the apostles themselves did I would tend to suspect it is the better one to use in all churches.

I have been mildly chastised before by a latin deacon for "prostrating like a moslem at prayer" once before but otherwise no one has ever thought it unusual if I practiced slightly different customs at a western liturgy. No one can make too many sign of the crosses