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Can anyone recommend a good pamphlet or booklet that we can have printed up to give to visitors to explain Eastern Catholicism to visitors?
I have noticed several times recently that we have had visitors leave in the middle of the Divine Liturgy, and I am guessing that they don't feel completely convinced that they are in a Catholic church. I'd love to have something available for them, preferably published by a mainstream Latin organization, like the Knights of Columbus.
Other than our picture of Pope Benedict, I can't think of anything else we can do, but I'm open to suggestions.
Elizabeth
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I'm sure that there will be many resources suggested by others on this site, but let me suggest that no book or pamphlet will be as effective as a word of greeting from a layperson (perhaps when putting a pew book into the visitor's hands) and a brief word of welcome from the celebrating priest and/or deacon mentioning that your Church is in full communion with the See of Peter. That word of welcome could be expanded to mention that all Catholics are welcome to share the Eucharist with you and explaining how this is done in your parish.
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I'd love to have something available for them, preferably published by a mainstream Latin organization, like the Knights of Columbus. You just piqued my interest  Yes, that is entirely the kind of thing for the Knights to be doing. I'm going to start asking around. Maybe my parish Knights could do it. Put in a brief note from our District Deputy (he runs the level above the council and below the state organization) that three new councils started during his term, two of them Eastern Catholic. (hmm, maybe I should have called him before typing this :)). We have a great two-page thing posted at the back of the church that I want for handouts, comparing and contrasting the focus (such as latin focusing more on Paschal Sacrifice, and Eastern more on Ressurection; latin more on Last Supper, Eastern more on Celestial Lituergy, etc.). We greet visitors at the door; Brother usually suggests that they not take a book but just absorb the experience the fist time, but this greeting gives a chance to absorb how much information is needed (we rarely get someone who thinks that we're latin, and I've never encountered someone leaving partway through [though there was an interesting discussion with a coulple of tridentine types recently  ]). hawk
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The KofC has had a booklet on the Eastern Churches for many years. It's titled "The Eastern Christians and Their Churches". It has been a long while since I looked at a copy, so I'm hesitant to say whether it's a good text or not. It's sad, though, that we need to look to "mainstream Latin organization(s)" to let other Catholics know that we are Catholics. However, I readily admit to an advantage in that a large mosaic portrait of Cardinal Cushing, of blessed memory, adorns the narthex of our Cathedral and offers a rather tangible evidence of our relationship with our Latin brethren (though, as I think about it, as a result of his generous philanthropy and ecumenism, there are portraits of the beloved Cardinal in many an unlinked venue - Jewish, Protestant, and Orthodox  ). Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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Looks like the author, Father Steve Hawkes-Teeples, is teaching at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, and was getting his doctorate there while Fr. Taft was still teaching there. I look forward to what you think about it. Too much, 42 pages, for me to print or to read on the computer monitor.
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A 42 page booklet on Eastern Christianity and the sole references to the Antiochian Orthodox and Melkite Greek-Catholic Churches occur in lists of EO & EC Churches on pages 40 and 41??
There's a place at which his phrasing makes it sound as though the Malabarese are Byzantines.
His reference to icons as 'pictures' is sad and the good Father is dreaming in the passage where he makes it sound as though the Ruthenian Metropolia is at the forefront of ordaining married men to the priesthood.
And I gotta tell ya, one needn't be an Italian linguist to say 'huh' when you read this in the glossary:
"Abbey of San Nilo: (Italian, Monastero esarchico di Santa Maria di Grottaferrata):"
Elizabeth, my friend,
I'd get a bunch of copies of 'ONE' - CNEWA's magazine - or their publication by Father Ron Robson - either would serve your purpose much better than this booklet. It's worse than its predecessor ever was.
Many years,
Neil, who thinks Father skipped a class or two
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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A 42 page booklet on Eastern Christianity and the sole references to the Antiochian Orthodox and Melkite Greek-Catholic Churches occur in lists of EO & EC Churches on pages 40 and 41??
...I'd get a bunch of copies of 'ONE' - CNEWA's magazine - or their publication by Father Ron Robson - either would serve your purpose much better than this booklet. It's worse than its predecessor ever was...
Neil, who thinks Father skipped a class or two (LOL) Apart from your criticisms I think 42 pages is too much to hand out for a visitor just wanting something basic about the ECCs. Father Ron Robson's book is 240 pages. It's an impossible task but I think 10 pages is more realistic for someone just curious about the ECCs. The Orthodox churches I've gone to all seem to have more or less the same hand full of tracts about Orthodoxy and also about Sacred Icons, which are fairly brief. One Orthodox parish I visited last year had prepared little small shopping bags with handles ready for visitors. Inside were about 4 tracts and a mug with the church's logo on it, and a coupon for a free cup of coffee.
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hmm, I see Father Robson has added a significant amount of material to what used to be a relatively brief reference.
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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A 42 page booklet on Eastern Christianity and the sole references to the Antiochian Orthodox and Melkite Greek-Catholic Churches occur in lists of EO & EC Churches on pages 40 and 41??
There's a place at which his phrasing makes it sound as though the Malabarese are Byzantines.
His reference to icons as 'pictures' is sad and the good Father is dreaming in the passage where he makes it sound as though the Ruthenian Metropolia is at the forefront of ordaining married men to the priesthood.
Neil,
True, the Melkites were a bit shortchanged in the text. Useing the term "pictures" for icons may seem a bit sacriligious to us but remember this is directed towards the Western Church membership.
The text is 30 pages; the rest is glossary and references.
Father Steven put together the program for the first Pittsburgh diaconate class and was the director before he was appointed to the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
I am appreciative of his efforts, as I was a member of the first deacon class. May God grant him many years!
Fr Deacon Paul
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Shlomo Elizabeth, Can anyone recommend a good pamphlet or booklet that we can have printed up to give to visitors to explain Eastern Catholicism to visitors? Here is what I have created as an opening for visitors to my parish. Fush BaShlomo, Yuhannon THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
As Christians went forth from Jerusalem they encountered different traditions, cultures, customs and languages, soon the Church became a communion of Churches united in love with each other, looking to the See of Peter in Rome as the first among them all. The Gospel of Christ has reached the four corners of the world.
Jesus prayed for their unity, “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). For Catholics united with the Pope in Rome, there is already an amazing unity even within the reality of cultural diversity. The Catholic Church, comprised of 23 Eastern Churches and 1 Western Church, is a communion of Churches, with the Pope as the visible head, “gathered in the one spirit, breathing as though with two lungs - of the east and of the west - and burning with the love of Christ in one heart - having two ventricles.” (Sacri Canones; Pope John Paul II)
One of the Eastern Catholic Churches is the Maronite Church. She has Her own hierarchy composed of a Patriarch who is Her father and head, and over forty Bishops who shepherd the many Eparchies (Dioceses) in Lebanon, the Middle East and throughout the world. The Patriarch governs the Church in a synodal manner with his body of bishops as is customary in the Eastern Churches.
EASTERN CATHOLIC CHURCHES
There are six major Holy Traditions of the Catholic Church, they are the:
Alexandrian (Coptic & Ge'ez)
Western Antiochene-Edessan (Syriac)
Eastern Antiochene-Edessan (Chaldean/Assyrian)
Cappadocian (Armenian)
Constantinopolitan (Byzantine)
Latin (Roman)
Each Catholic Church practices a common faith according to one of the six major traditions. The Maronite Church follows the Antiochene Tradition.
All Churches within the communion of Catholic Churches share the same:
Dogmatic Faith
Seven Mysteries (Sacraments)
Moral Teachings
Unity with the Pope of Rome
All Catholics believe the same truths of the faith yet worship differently. One could say they share the same essence of faith, but have a different expression of that faith. Each Church embraces its own culture and tradition to express Her faith in Jesus the Risen Lord.
Each of the Catholic Churches:
Encompasses a unique liturgy, theology, spirituality and discipline;
Is characterized by Her own cultural and linguistic tradition;
Is guided by a Patriarch, Major Archbishop, Metropolitan or other Hierarch, who along with their Synod of Bishops are in full communion with the Pope, the Successor of Saint Peter in Rome.
THE MARONITE CHURCH
The Maronite Church dates back to the early Christians of Antioch where “they were called Christians for the first time” (Acts 11:26). She still uses as Her liturgical language, Syriac, a dialect of the Aramaic that Jesus Himself spoke, and takes Her name from the hermit-priest, Saint Maron, who died in 410 AD.
The Maronite Church has been enriched by three centers of learning and culture:
Antioch
A city in West Syria (now Turkey) that served as a center of commerce and education and was known for its Greek and Syriac culture. Antioch gave the Maronite Church much of her unique liturgical life.
Edessa
A prominent city in ancient Mesopotamia, which had a Semitic culture and influenced the prayers and hymns of the Maronite Church. It was also the home of Saint Ephrem, Doctor of the Church, who gave the Maronite Church much of Her poetry and prayer.
Lebanon
The land that provided a safe haven to establish a stable monastic and parish life, as well as schools to educate the children of the close knit and devout Maronite families. Maronites have been a positive force for the development of Lebanon as a country of peaceful coexistence for all peoples.. Maronites now live in many cultures, their Mother Church is in Lebanon and daughter communities exist throughout the world.
Contributors: Monsignor Ron Beshara, Father Abdallah Zaidan, M.L.M, Chorbishops Seely Beggiani and Michael Thomas and Bishops Roland Aboujaoude and Bechara Rahi
Feast of the Holy Cross 2008
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Useing the term "pictures" for icons may seem a bit sacriligious to us but remember this is directed towards the Western Church membership. Deacon Paul, Let me just note that my reaction to the booklet overall was not colored by the lack of reference to the Melkites or Antiochians, odd as I found it when I realized that the only formally designated Patriarchal Church in the Byzantine Rite was completely ignored in the text. While I'm glad to learn that Father Stephen contributed greatly to the success of the diaconate program, I'm nonetheless unimpressed with the description of icons, regardless of the audience for which the material was written. Here's the text: Many Eastern Churches have used various icons in their services for
many centuries. Most are painted on wood, but they are also painted as
frescoes on plaster. The Romanian Church has distinctive icons painted on
glass and even on the outside walls of Churches. For Eastern Christians,
icons are treated like the pictures of loved ones: they are kept at hand and handled with loving gentleness. Certainly even the simplest peasant
understands that the icons are not magic idols, but pictures of Christ and
of beloved Christian heroes. Something along these lines might have been a more meaningful explanation for the average Western reader (the majority of whom will - to their loss - never see a Romanian icon reverse-painted on glass): As a rule, statuary is not found in Eastern churches. Instead icons, depicting Christ, Mary, or Saints are prominently displayed and often carried in procession. Most are painted on wood, although they are also crafted in other media. Appearances vary from highly stylized to what might look to be 'folk art', reflecting the cultures from which they originate, but all are objects of veneration. Eastern Christians do not worship icons but believe that reverence afforded to an icon is likewise accorded to the one depicted in it. So many icons tell a 'story' of the Faith that they are often described as 'theology in color'. I would not dismiss the entire text out-of-hand, but I'm disappointed in it, even understanding the limitations of space afforded in which to describe two millenia of faith, belief, worship, praxis, etc. Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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