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John In addition to the site that Anthony posted, you might also want to check out 2 recent postings here: FAQ for Byzantine (& Other Eastern) Catholics Rites in the Catholic Church 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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If you don't already have a "prayer corner" in your home, set one up. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like-- but you should have in it some icons, particularly of Christ and the Blessed Virgin, a cross or crucifix, a little vigil candle or hanging lamp that you light in times of prayer, and a small table or chest where you keep the Holy Bible, rosaries, prayer ropes, holy water, prayer books, an incense censer, etc.
What this will do is to give you and your family a common place to gather and pray together. I never really knew how to pray until I had an icon corner... now it's like my little place where I can retreat from the world and stand in the presence of the Holy Trinity.
Another thing that might help (it's helped me, anyway): instead of simply saying the prayers, chant them! I find that when I just say the prayers, my mind drifts and I'm not actually thinking about the words. When I CHANT them, I find I concentrate better, and I'm actually praying instead of simply repeating the words. But then I'm really musical, so it might not work for everyone. But try it. :-) Praised be Jesus Christ! Thanks for the advise! We do have lots of Imagery around our house but we are now talking about getting Icons. I have been chanting the prayers, I find that I am more at home with this rather than just reading them. I made myself a prayer rope with 100 beads so that I could say the Jesus prayer, I have tried it on my rosary but divisions of the beads throw me off, so I put one together. My wife is being treated to an opera on Sunday, so I will have to attend the RC parish near my home. Pray for me, for I do not want to go there with an "Attitude." My wife got mad at me the other day she prepared steaks and boy were those perfect. However, I started tearing into them and in the middle of it, I decided that I wasn't going to eat the whole thing because 1) I really really really liked it so much and while it was on a tuesday, it would be better to eat less as a sacrifice, and 2) It was getting near to gluttony which is one of my biggest problem areas. I should have just said that I was full, but she wouldn't have believed it because I can put away at least a pound and a half of steak at a sitting (this being one of my problems) and stopping at about 2.5 oz is very strange for me. The Lord is giving me lots of blessings. John
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[QUOTE]Praised be Jesus Christ!
Thanks for the advise! We do have lots of Imagery around our house but we are now talking about getting Icons.
I have been chanting the prayers, I find that I am more at home with this rather than just reading them.
I made myself a prayer rope with 100 beads so that I could say the Jesus prayer, I have tried it on my rosary but divisions of the beads throw me off, so I put one together.
My wife is being treated to an opera on Sunday, so I will have to attend the RC parish near my home. Pray for me, for I do not want to go there with an "Attitude."
My wife got mad at me the other day she prepared steaks and boy were those perfect. However, I started tearing into them and in the middle of it, I decided that I wasn't going to eat the whole thing because 1) I really really really liked it so much and while it was on a tuesday, it would be better to eat less as a sacrifice, and 2) It was getting near to gluttony which is one of my biggest problem areas.
I should have just said that I was full, but she wouldn't have believed it because I can put away at least a pound and a half of steak at a sitting (this being one of my problems) and stopping at about 2.5 oz is very strange for me.
The Lord is giving me lots of blessings.
John [/QB]
Praised be His name forever!
Wow, it sounds like you're not having any trouble getting into Eastern spirituality-- you made a prayer rope, that's neat! I have one I ordered from Eastern Christian Supply. It's prominently displayed on my "home altar", but I don't take it up as often as I should. Was it you who mentioned that you were reading "Way of the Pilgrim"? Great book!
And I'll pray for you when you have to go to the Roman Mass... I understand EXACTLY where you're coming from. Last Easter Sunday, I arrived at church only to find that the liturgy had started an hour early (because of work, I had not been able to go their the week before and thus did not get a bulletin). I had to go to my nearby Roman church and... well, let's just say I was far from Resurrection joy.
The last Roman Mass I went to was a "teen life" Mass, and the music was absolutely awful. Same old crappy 70's hymns-- just "jazzed up" with drums and guitars. The setting of the Gloria sounded like something from the musical "Chicago". It SO bad it was almost a mockery of it.
When it comes to "bashing" the Roman church, I'm one of the worst. I've just really come to have a distaste for anything Roman... it's really bad. I'm trying to work on that, but it's hard.
God bless,
Karen
Slava Isusu Christu!
Karen
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Originally posted by Saintclare74:
[QUOTE]Praised be Jesus Christ!..........
And I'll pray for you when you have to go to the Roman Mass... I understand EXACTLY where you're coming from. .....
The last Roman Mass I went to was a "teen life" Mass, and the music was absolutely awful. Same old crappy 70's hymns-- just "jazzed up" with drums and guitars. The setting of the Gloria sounded like something from the musical "Chicago". It SO bad it was almost a mockery of it.
When it comes to "bashing" the Roman church, I'm one of the worst. I've just really come to have a distaste for anything Roman... it's really bad. I'm trying to work on that, but it's hard. God bless,
Karen Karen please try and continue to work hard on that last paragraph - some of us have no option but to stay there even though we would prefer to be elsewhere. I will agree that there is plenty wrong with the Litrugy of the RC Church and yes , from what I have heard a Life Teen Mass has to be seen to be believed. However the Lord is still present there and we should treat His House and lLturgy with the respect due to Him Anhelyna - the Eastward tilted Latin
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Karen,
I'm going to make this an official request -- refrain from any bashing on this forum, especially when it comes to a sister Church.
Edward, deacon, sinner and moderator
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Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear friend in Christ John,
You may obtain a chotki at the parish. They have several kinds, I picked up one there.
I also ordered a prayer rope from John Michael Talbots' Little Portion skete. It's very nice and useful at home, but not for carrying around, the knots are too far apart and it came with a crucifix at the end of it, it's bulky.
But really you don't need a chotki. Any small chaplet would do, I have used Franciscan penance beads successfully, I carry them everywhere, and often I have prayed without any physical aid. In my case they are more useful in telling me when to stop praying than in counting! I always lose count and I just figure what's the point?
My prayer corner is very spare in appearance. One Icon of Christ Blessing, one cross of San Damiano, one or more candles. It is a corner of my library/computer room.
I also have one seat and a small table for any prayer book I might use. It's quiet there, with room for a family to pray (if I had one) but a very simple space. I usually will stand when I pray.
I love the Mass, if I cannot attend Divine Liturgy for some unfortunate reason I will definately go for the Roman Catholic Mass. I must be unique in that respect, it was not disatisfaction with the Roman liturgy of Paul VI that caused me to look for the Byzantine church. It was something else entirely.
Peace in Christ,
Michael, that sinner
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Originally posted by Coalesco:
I love the Mass, if I cannot attend Divine Liturgy for some unfortunate reason I will definately go for the Roman Catholic Mass. I must be unique in that respect, it was not disatisfaction with the Roman liturgy of Paul VI that caused me to look for the Byzantine church. It was something else entirely.
Slava Isusu Christu! Michael, Not so unique, my name-sharing friend! I, too, looked Eastward not out of dissatisfaction with the Latin Church. It just felt more like home, spiritually. I regularly go to Mass with my girlfriend on Saturday nights, after she gets out of work (she has to work on Sundays now, unfortunately). Come Sunday, I'm up for DL. I feel more "catholic" going to both, for some reason. In Christ, mikey.
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I'm Eastern Rite and I love the Mass too. And I keep my rosary beside my bed, and since it's convenient, sometimes I pray the Jesus Prayer on it. 
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Coalesco,
San Damiano Cross in your prayer/icon corner ?
How did you peek at mine?
james
ps- my nxt grandson is on approach to the runway.
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I love the Mass, if I cannot attend Divine Liturgy for some unfortunate reason I will definately go for the Roman Catholic Mass. I must be unique in that respect, it was not disatisfaction with the Roman liturgy of Paul VI that caused me to look for the Byzantine church. It was something else entirely. Glory to Jesus Christ! I only asked for prayers that I will attend the Liturgy without grumbling and complaining. While the local Parish has very good Priests (they are very orthodox and teach the truth) the problem for me is the music. I used to sing in the parish, and the problem, for me, is the music director keeps choosing songs which are really bad for liturgy, including some contemporary christian songs that are not approved. I can bash with of the best of them and right now I am trying not to. I was talking to a friend of mine who was really concerned about me looking East, and I assured him that it isn't out of rejecting the west that I am looking this way, it is because I am finding a wholeness in the eastern rite that I have never experienced before. John
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Glory to Jesus Christ!
A quick question on Phillip's Fast:
Are eggs considered meat? The reason that I ask is that I am on a high protein low carb diet. With mean being one of the chief choices for those on this diet, I am looking for things that I can eat on Monday Wednesday and Friday. While I could eat tofu, that would be an extra penance, that I am not sure that I would be able to do.
Of course, if the Lord Jesus asks me to eat Tofu, I will, and hopefully I would do it joyfully.
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Originally posted by John Gibson:
I only asked for prayers that I will attend the Liturgy without grumbling and complaining. While the local Parish has very good Priests (they are very orthodox and teach the truth) the problem for me is the music. I used to sing in the parish, and the problem, for me, is the music director keeps choosing songs which are really bad for liturgy, including some contemporary christian songs that are not approved. Hi John, I was only making a general statement because I seldom see anyone say nice things about the Mass here on the Forum. I wasn't commenting on anything anyone said, just interjecting another viewpoint. I hope and pray that you will have a good worship experience Sunday and have no reason to be aggravated. A parish near where I live near LaGrange has an excellent choir that was doing some English Renaissance type hymnody. You know what I mean? William Byrd and Christopher Tye kind of stuff, simply beautiful. On another occasion I heard them do a duet, just two young ladies that sounded so beautiful. That's when I joined their parish! Shortly afterward I found the Byzantine church I was searching for all along and all that other stuff became less important. I joined the Byzantine parish.
I was talking to a friend of mine who was really concerned about me looking East, and I assured him that it isn't out of rejecting the west that I am looking this way, it is because I am finding a wholeness in the eastern rite that I have never experienced before.
John
I have run into that reaction myself many times. I am convinced that people with that viewpoint are still confused about the relationship between the churches. I think it is fear for your wellbeing out of an innocent lack of knowledge. Pray for him and be patient. Invite him to the parish, there is a large photo of father with the Pope right on the wall. Eggs? I don't think so, but the particulars about the Philips Fast are better answered by someone more knowledgeable than I. Wasn't there a thread about the fast somewhere here? In Christ, Michael, that sinner
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Sorry - I seem to hae stirred things up a bit.  I have to remain in the West - no realistic option to do otherwise - but my heart is now very firmly in the East. Like the others I go to Mass in an RC Church but whenever possible [ sadly not as often as I would like or want ] you will find me in a Ukarainian Catholic Church. I also use a Rosary and Chotki and a Prayer Rope. [ and I have on occasions dropped my Prayer Rope in Church and try explaining what it is to a puzzled old lady ] I love the East and at times it hurts because I cannot really become part of it canonically but I have to say I would not be running from the RC Church but I most definitely would be running to the Eastern Catholic Church. However I also hae to say I am grateful for all I have learned in my time as an RC [ 22 years now], and frankly I can't abide seeing it bashed. Anhelyna
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Here is a thread from last year on the Philip's Fast with the usual cast of characters in which our lovely Anhelyna plays a major supporting role.
https://www.byzcath.org/cgibin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000868#000000
It should be informative (and maybe entertaining) to reread these comments!
Michael
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James! Another grandchild coming? How does that happen? Are you putting too much pepper on the kiszka? You must have a wonderful big family! Congrats again! 
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