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Dear friends,
My wife and I are puzzled and are requesting your help to settle a question that we have.... Our 6 month old daughter Ana, will be getting batpized in the Greek Orthodox Chuirch in May. Now that she's moving her head around in her crib.. all her hair is falling out and is only left with a 3" tail in the back....
We want to cut it..so it's the same length as the rest of her hair... some of our fiends have said that we cannot cut her hair as it's against tradition....
Can someone please clarify...
Thanks,
Brad
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Dear friends,
My wife and I are puzzled and are requesting your help to settle a question that we have.... Our 6 month old daughter Ana, will be getting batpized in the Greek Orthodox Chuirch in May. Now that she's moving her head around in her crib.. all her hair is falling out and is only left with a 3" tail in the back....
We want to cut it..so it's the same length as the rest of her hair... some of our fiends have said that we cannot cut her hair as it's against tradition....
Can someone please clarify...
Thanks,
Brad If you are a Latin Catholic how is it that your daughter is being Baptized, Chrismated and receiving Holy Eucharist in the an Orthodox Church?
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Mary Louise, Brad's wife is Orthodox and, although he is in Canada, those of us who have been familiar with the circumstances of his family's life for several years see them as a concrete example of what is described in the USCCB's publication - [i]When a Catholic Marries an Orthodox Christian[/i] [usccbpublishing.org]4. What About The Upbringing Of Children?
The couple should address this sensitive question before the wedding. In the course of preparing for marriage, each party is likely to be asked to promise in some way to baptize and raise any children in his or her own church. Both churches consider this to be a serious matter. In the United States, where Orthodox are small in number compared to Catholics, this question touches upon the future of Orthodox churches in our society.
The Catholic party should know that if — given the circumstances of the marriage — the children are brought up Orthodox, his or her relationship to the Catholic Church will not be jeopardized. Since Catholics and Orthodox share the same sacraments, the spiritual formation of children in authentic Christian doctrine and ways of Christian living would, for the most part, be similar in either church. In any case, since double membership is not possible, the children will need to receive the sacraments and be educated in one church or the other. That said, marriage also includes a special obligation for the couple to make every effort to help the children to know and appreciate the traditions and practices of the churches of both parents.
5. How Can We Live Out Our Christian Faith Together In A Catholic-Orthodox Marriage?
When a Catholic and an Orthodox Christian are joined in matrimony, they will have many opportunities to illustrate, through their married life, the spiritual and theological loseness of our two churches. Under some circumstances this may include sharing in the Eucharist, but the two churches have different views on this question. The Catholic Church offers to Orthodox Christians the Sacraments of Penance, the Eucharist, and the Anointing of the Sick when they ask for them of their own free will and are properly disposed. But Orthodox pastors instruct their faithful not to receive Communion in a Catholic church. Both churches have the conviction that only those united in the same faith can share the Eucharist. For the Orthodox, this implies that the Eucharist can be shared only with Orthodox. For Catholics, the level of unity in faith that already exists with the Orthodox allows such sharing to take place. Consequently, a couple’s desire to share the Eucharist, just as they will share the Sacrament of Marriage, touches on different points of view and practices that are not easily harmonized.
Couples should place high priority on becoming familiar with each other’s traditions, customs, and devotions. This can be as routine as saying grace before meals or sharing fasting practices. They may wish to attend services with one another while allowing each to participate fully in his or her own parish. The family can also attend many other kinds of services together, apart from the Eucharist, that do not highlight the exclusion of any members of the family. Vespers, Scripture celebrations and study, and seasonal services for Advent or Lent are all good examples. In some areas it may also be possible to join with other Orthodox-Catholic couples to share experiences and support one another. Above all, couples need to learn to pray together.
In this way, a Catholic and an Orthodox married to each other can provide a concrete example of how the faithful of our two churches can relate to one another with respect and love. May the Holy Spirit, who brings life to both our churches, bind all such married couples together in perfect love and make them a living sign of that unity for which both Catholics and Orthodox pray. 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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Neil- I hope my question wasn't rude in its brevity. I know it wasn't helpful to the question asked, but I didn't want to presume anything given the circumstances as described. My thought was to ask the Presbytera re the haircut.  The document you quote was unfamiliar to me. Thank you for it! I'll have to read it more slowly later, but I'm grateful to see our Bishops have written what seems to be a thoughtful and serious addressing of this challenging issue. I'm unfamiliar with that whole series of Bulletin Inserts from the USCCB I see this comes from. Looks like more good resources there re other topics .
Last edited by likethethief; 02/16/10 04:56 AM.
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Mary Louise, The text is modeled from discussions by the The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation and the Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops. The NAOCTC is sponsored jointly on the Catholic side by the USCCB and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and on the Orthodox side by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of America (SCOBA). There are similar documents relative to Oriental Orthodox-Catholic marriages. I think it is further elaborated in the Pastoral Guide [usccb.org]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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Mary Louise, The text is modeled from discussions by the The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation and the Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops. The NAOCTC is sponsored jointly on the Catholic side by the USCCB and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and on the Orthodox side by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of America (SCOBA). There are similar documents relative to Oriental Orthodox-Catholic marriages. I think it is further elaborated in the Pastoral Guide [usccb.org]Many years, Neil I'm familiar with the NAOCTC. This Pastoral Guide is new to me. Thanks!
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Dear friends,
My wife and I are puzzled and are requesting your help to settle a question that we have.... Our 6 month old daughter Ana, will be getting batpized in the Greek Orthodox Chuirch in May. Now that she's moving her head around in her crib.. all her hair is falling out and is only left with a 3" tail in the back....
We want to cut it..so it's the same length as the rest of her hair... some of our fiends have said that we cannot cut her hair as it's against tradition....
Can someone please clarify...
Thanks,
Brad I cannot recall such a tradition in either the Serbian or Russian Church but I stand to be corrected. Of course it makes sense because of the saymbolism of the tonsure at Baptism. It is a symbol of the first fruits and the first sacrifice which the child is able to offer to God. It is the first thing which the child has been able to "produce" on its own and offer to God. It is also seen as a sign that God may in the future ask even larger sacrifices from the newly baptized as an adult than just a few snips of hair. But I am not an authority on this matter and the Greek people have customs not always shared by other Orthodox Churches.
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As the resident Greek Orthodox here *wink*, I have never heard this and have had two babies who had haircuts before their baptisms. It may be some kind of * folk tradition* from the area which these people come from? I hope that Ana is now well. My prayers and thoughts are with you all, dear Brad. Wishing you and your family a blessed shared ( ) Lenten season! Alice
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We have heard from those familiar with Greek, Russian, and Serbian traditions that there is no Tradition of the Orthodox Church that forbids a haircut before tonsuring at Holy Baptism. This is convincing evidence in itself. The people telling you about this "tradition" must be referring to a local folk custom, which has no binding authority for all Orthodox Christians. I would add this observation: there could not possibly be any real Tradition that haircuts are forbidden before tonsure at Baptism because adults all have had their hair cut before they get baptised. If this folk custom cannot be applied to adult candidates for baptism, how can we expect it of child candidates?
Fr David Straut
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Thank you all for your help... I'm still a little confused...
Jackie thinks that we shouldn't cut it.. .but I'm an advocate for the haircut.....
stay tuned....
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