www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Spiritual stuff?

Hello everyone. I have been looking for a way to make myself spiritually stronger so I can resist the temptations of the world and Satan. I am trying to get the "armor of God." As you can see, it is very hard to be both a christian and a adolescent living in the 21st century. It is even more frustrating to see the Latin church, the one I belong to, to tolerate so many evils. So I heard from some eastern catholic guy in a forum that Eastern Catholicism has some nice spiritual exercises (I don't know if that is the correct term) that are a lot better than the Latin ones. However, I also heard that Eastern Catholics do not have devotions, and any devotion in Eastern Catholicism is a Latin thing that shouldn't be there. So what do you guys do to make your spirituality better?

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Both Eastern and Western traditions have excellent devotions; unfortunately these are spiritual gifts which we sometimes don't accept with open arms. You will see variations, both in details and in practice, but they exist in all "limbs" of the Body of Christ, the Church.

Next to the celebration of the Eucharist, fasting and prayer are powerful weapons against the deception of Satan. The Eastern Tradition with it multiple strict fast prescriptions call for a strong personal discipline, as does the fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water as requested by the Virgin Mary, especially for the Western Church. Of course, all Christians have Scripture, the basics for our Faith.

Personal prayer "at all times" is easily possible in the Eastern Tradition with the Jesus Prayer; in the Western tradition with the Rosary. Many think the Rosary is too difficult, but if you pray just one decade at a time, but all throughout the day it is not hard at all.

The Western Church has received the grace-filled gift of Eucharistic Adoration along with other devotions; the East has Vespers, Matins, Molebens and Akathists for various occasions and Saints.

What I'm saying is that God has graced both the East and West with the gifts that enable anyone to become holy; it is up to each one of us to decide to follow God's will.

May the Holy Spirit guide you,
Father Deacon Paul

Thank you Father. Your answer was good. However, I would like to know what prayers can be said at home. While there is a Byzantine Catholic mission near me, the divine liturgy is at 10 am and my dad will probably not take me because it's too early. So as I said last time, I will have to wait until I get my license early next year. So is there anything that I can do at home?

You can watch live the Divine Liturgy and other services here http://www.holyghost-byzantinecatholic.org/ The schedule is on the link.

On the home page of byzcath.org look at the bottom right and you will see where you can download audio of Holy Week and Easter services.

http://metropolitancantorinstitute.org/Publications.html has .pdf versions of many services that we call "Reader Services." They can be said at home without clergy. For now, ignore the music, just pray the words.

Eastern Christians Publications has a subscription offer email the daily Hours and a sample is available http://www.ecpubs.com/daily-office.html

All the info which is contained in these links may be overwhelming; I suggest that you pick only one....try it a couple days a week. When you are ready for more then choose another.

Post back after you take a look.

Thank you all. I viewed all your links and I am very interested on the link that slavipodvizhnik gave me. I found some nice prayers and aricles on that website, however, is it ok to pray them when the prayers are from the orthodox church? or do eastern Catholics use those prayers too?

My Spanish is poor, but I'm sure that Slavipodvishnik wouldn't recommend anything which teaches against the Faith.

There are numerous prayers which are common among Eastern Catholic and Orthodox. There are others which flourish only within some ethnic traditions, be it Serb, Russian, Rusyn, Mexican, Polish, German, etc. Have no fear if they speak to your soul.

The only caution would be if a prayer may seem to cause division or criticism, then leave it alone. Prayer should bring peace and not agitation. That being said, should a prayer cause disruption between choosing a materialistic concern or a spiritual one, you should hold onto it.

Here's the same page in English.

http://www.fatheralexander.org/page6.htm

The website is that of the late Bishop Alexander (Mileant) of ROCOR.