www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West An odd idea

I had an idea. I thought that instead of full out switching rites (as many EC-intrigued RCs wish to do), I could compliment my Latin Church experience using some Greek Catholic spirituality, aka Jesus Prayer, but yet retaining some Latin things, like the Divine Office, essentially creating what one could call "Western Rite Eastern Catholic". Is this a good idea?
I mean, there are still plenty of things I like in the Latin Church, particularly the familiarity, and the (once) wide variety of Liturgies. But, I have found same Orthodox style prayer to be beneficial.

It's what I do. I now incorporate what I'm discovering in the Eastern traditions with that which I can still appreciate about the Latin Church. While I usually attend the Divine Liturgy on Sunday these days, I often go to Mass during the week. Also, while I love to pray the Eastern hours, now, I never had an issue with the Latin Rite office and so I pray either/or, now. I have a Jesus Prayer rope and a rosary.

There are things about contemporary Roman Catholicism that I had to leave behind for my own good, among them the emphasis on esoteric modern movements, private revelations and their attendant devotions, and the RC blogosphere (which I find negative and unhealthy, and obsessed with Republican politics, homosexuality, Tridentine Mass-related issues, and Pope Benedict's clothes).

I think what I find myself becoming a part of is a Christianity which is neither strictly Western nor strictly Eastern, but one which is willing to embrace the best of both the East and the West (and also of the Oriental Church). Private devotions and chaplets and apparitions just aren't for me and my late discovery of the East has shown me that those things haven't got to be embraced. But I also recognize that, whereas there is alot about devotional Roman Catholicism that I can't stomach, there is still plenty that is good that I can embrace, along with the good I have found in the East.

I'm happy to imagine myself as an orthodox Catholic Christian who dwells within a pan-traditional milieu. It doesn't matter which rite within that milieu that I formally belong to, really. I don't need to legally switch to another rite that I might come to appreciate more than my own in order to more fully experience that newfound rite. Trying to live the life of a Christian according to the Gospel message in the context of the worship life of Christ's authentic Church is what matters. Where "home" is according to the paperwork needn't box one in.

Sounds like more pragmatic than odd. Bloom where you're planted. Do whatever it takes to bloom - but BLOOM!

Well said, sielos.

Great thread! As a Roman Catholic this is exactly the way I try to do things as well. To both of you guys(John of Patmos and Roman Interloper), it's nice to know there are others out there who think this way.

Nice to know I am not the only one thinking this way, too! There are no hard and fast rules here, and those who claim otherwise are probably just a bit closed-minded. As long as we keep our focus on the Resurrected Christ, He will lead us wherever we need to be. Worrying too much about whether a devotion or practice is too Eastern or Western is just a needless distraction. Everything can complement each other if viewed in the right light, IMHO.

Hannah319:

I was, at first, I think...and perhaps others have shared this experience...not so much concerned about whether or not something was more Eastern or more Western, but rather, of the Eastern and the Western approaches, which was more authentically Christian.

I've come to the conclusion, however, that God would not burden me with wading through all the history of the differences between the Eastern Church and the Western Church in order to figure all that out on my own. Instead, it seems perhaps that I was being shown that some of those things that didn't necessarily make sense to me about the RC Church don't actually seem to make sense to (or be relevant to) Eastern Christians, either, and my recent exploration of Eastern Christianity may have been His way of showing me that there is a way to be Christian, a way to be Catholic, without any reference in one's journey to any of those things that were vexing me.

Does no one in the murky outer reaches of the blogosphere realize that this is a blueprint for syncretism? Sorry, boys: Kipling had it right. "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet."!

Slava Isusu Khrestu

The idea sounds interesting but from my Orthodox perspective, I wonder how this would help in the unity situation with us in the Orthodox Church.
I have heard countless times from Ukrainian Catholics, " We are a bridge between the Eastern Church and the Western Roman Church".
I know that many in my community look with suspicion at the Ukrainian Catholics who have statues, stations of the Cross, Rosary prayers instead of a Panahyda at he prayers for the dead, Resurrectional Orthros that last 20 minutes just to mention a few. Would we be looking at the future for our Church as some kind of morphed Orthodoxy that the west would say is now more legitimate?
this seems like a dangerous area. I suspect that in time, the East would eventually lose its identity and become "truly Catholic",in the eyes of the westerners, when they are 100% like Rome and not like what we truly are.

I have noticed, on this forum, the great interest in the Old Believers and their practices and Orthodoxy. I wonder what they would say if some the the Eastern Catholics became more western? I suspect that the OLdbelievers would not be amused but would point a finger that would be shaking negatively.


Just me thoughts.
Unworthy
Kolya

Ot'ets:

The opening of Kipling's ballad doesn't end where you end it, however. It continues...

"Oh! East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat. But there is neither East nor West, border nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth."

Stated otherwise...

"For through faith you are all children of God. For all of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28).

Dear John:

I am some what hesitant to post regarding the above but I feel compelled to do so regardless. I have been down this road and it caused me great spirtual distress and confusion and I ended up changing to the UGCC but then found myself converting to Orthodoxy. With that said I have no regrets. In short, I put my toe in the East and found myself taken by it thanks be to God !

Seraphim

Apparently not. But in this age, what could be more natural? Perhaps a little Yogic mantra with a side of Latinizations and modernism, to go?

I always believe that the entire praxis is a big picture, and the traditions and practices are pieces of the puzzle. You can't fit different pieces of two different pictures to form a new picture puzzle. It does not make sense, nor will it make a pretty picture. That is why many Eastern Christian resist Latinization. Not that the Latin practices are a bad thing (at least from the Eastern Catholic perspective) but that it just does not fit in the entire puzzle of Eastern spirituality.

note what I have bolded - confusion is not good for anyone . You can only go so far trying to combine the East and West - eventually you have to make a decision .

In my more optimistic younger days I would have said that union will come fifteen minutes after the parousia. I take a dimmer view in my old age: at least half an hour, if not longer!