www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Things Latins Shouldn't Say In A Byzantine Church

A lot of good ones have been taken, but...

1. Wouldn't it be shorter if you guys didn't sing everything?

2. Don't you have a Saturday evening Mass?

3. When do you guys shake hands with each other?

4. (During penitential services during the Great Fast) Did you get those prostration moves from Islam?

5. Wasn't Christ actually born on December 25th according to the "normal" calendar? (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

6. (On a related note) What do you mean it's December 25th on your Church's calendar? The whole world knows that today is January 7th!

7. Doesn't anyone ever worry about getting sick from everyone using the same spoon?

8. Why does your priest say "all you orthodox Christians" when he comes out with the cup and saucer thingies?

9. I came to Good Friday services and now you tell me there's no communion?

10. All these paintings everywhere and none of them looks like a real person.


That's enough for now.

Yours,

halychanyn

Dear Paul,

What follows is a true story, and I don't mean any offence by it.

This past August, a group of friends and I met up in the DC area for a few days, and one of the things we did during that trip was attending the ordination of a Byzantine Catholic deacon at a church in Virginia. This was the day I had the pleasure of meeting Father Deacon El Pekarik, who posts here sometimes.

Anyway, while we were driving to the church, we took a wrong turn, and so we had to turn around, re-trace our steps, and try to figure out where we were going. Eventually, we got on the right path, and we were headed towards the church, but we weren't seeing it. Eventually, we saw a sign in the distance advertising Bingo, and I told my friends that the church must be here, since that was a sign for Bingo, and Bingo's the fifth mark of the Catholic Church. :p Sure enough, the next sign we see after the Bingo sign is the sign for the Byzantine Catholic church we were going to be visiting, and at this all of us, Catholic and Orthodox, had a good laugh, and it was a good start to a lovely ceremony and reception. It was a fun afternoon.

+ + +

gtJC!

A few years ago I was actually told by an RCIA director...

they're...
every...
bit...
as...
catholic...
as us.....


toodles & God bless, sUSAn

Dear Susan:

Some of the folks around here are even MORE big-C Catholic than many Latins.

Yours,

halychanyn

In all fairness, these "things one shouldn't say in an Eastern church" also apply to members of the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches! I have heard the same or similar comments from Eastern Christians. Sad, but true.

In any case, sometimes people ask questions or make comments we think are funny (or stupid) because they have not been exposed to the East. Their concept of "church" or "Catholic" or "Orthodox" is based on limited experience. Often, if they are open to learning, they'll walk away edified after we simply explain our tradition.

This is a good thread, though.

Dave

Glory to Jesus Christ,

On a Friday night, after an apolegetics class at the parish given by our Byzantine Catholic priest to many Latins in attendance, I went back into the church to kiss the icons before my long ride home. I saw a woman kneeling in our pews (yes, unfortunately we have pews, but no kneelers). I kissed the icons, and as I was going out, she asked, "Do you guys have the Blessed Sacrament here?" I took her to the front of the iconostasis, and showed her the altar.
"It's in that church-looking box right there on top of the altar."
She genuflected.
Oh well.
Sincerely,
Arturo

Bingo?

Yes, we have bingo at St. Ann's.

It raises $62,000 a year for the parish.

Now go to our parish site and see what a beautiful parish we have. That money has been put to good use and I personally have no problem with Fr. Mike doing what ever he must to insure that the parish is there for years to come.

What I DO have a problem with is the reason why Fr. Mike had to do this in the first place.

Catholics are NOTORIOUSLY STINGY with their money. We closed a parish down in central PA (I think it was Williamstown) because they wouldn't open their pocketbooks. They kept tossing the same $5 a month in the plate. I guess they expected that the bills would be paid by magic or something like that. I heard this directly from Fr. Mike. They were warned for a year before the parish closed down that this was going to happen and they did nothing.

I really don't know why the word "tithing" is considered a curse word, but the looks one gets when one mentions it makes it clear that money is a priority that priests should not talk about in their homilies.

Maybe for the future it would be a good idea that we teach our ECF kids about tithing and catechize our converts to understand that this is what God expects.

Brother Ed

Mor Ephrem,

Excellent! My wife and I had a similar experience a few years ago.

My wife and I were attending the National Association of Pastoral Musicians convention in Pittsburgh. One of the prayers services scheduled, Festive Vespers for St. Vladimir, was to be at the local Ukrainian Catholic parish. However, around 600 NAPM members signed up for the event (bus rides included) and the Vesper service had to be relocated to a bigger church � our Ruthenian Metropolitan cathedral on the south side.

Unfortunately, due to the many extra buses called in to transport the NAPM convention attendees to the vesper service, some bus drivers were not too familiar with the south side, especially the location of our cathedral. Some who were there on our bus did have an idea and assisted the bus driver with directions.

When we were driving down the road that our cathedral was on the bus driver passed up the main entrance to the parking lot. All the passengers knew that this cathedral was �Catholic� because of the BINGO sign on the front lawn and not because of any cathedral sign.

We all screamed, �THIS IS IT! STOP! THERE IS A BINGO SIGN HERE, IT MUST BE THE PLACE!�

The driver stopped and backed up in order to turn into the drive. We all had a good laugh and none of the Latin Catholics who were attending needed to ask if we were really Catholic.

Joe Thur

Brother Ed,

Please, don't tell Father Loya that a priest can't raise enough money to make a beautiful Church. He's been preaching tithing for years, we don't have bingo (thank God) or any other form of gambling, and you should take a look at our Church!
http://byzantinecatholic.com/

"I really don't know why the word "tithing" is considered a curse word, but the looks one gets when one mentions it makes it clear that money is a priority that priests should not talk about in their homilies."

Dan Lauffer

Brother Dan --

That indeed is a beautiful parish!! Thank for those wonderful pictures.

I am interested in something. What percentage of your people would you say are "cradle Catholic" either East or West, and what percentage are converts like you?

Brother ED

Brother Ed,

I'm not sure I know but my guess would be 60-65% Cradle Eastern; 15-20% Cradle Roman; 15-20% Converts from no affiliation or Protestantism. Katie G. might have a better handle on this.

Dan Lauffer

BTW Of those who post from our congregation I am the only Protestant convert; three are from the RC; and one is a cradle Eastern (Katie G.)

Dan Lauffer

Dan

I remember your parish when it was at 49th-Seeley in the Back of the Yards. The gangster Joe Soltis aka "Polack Joe Saltis" used to live across the street from it, he belonged to the nearby RC Church, St Michael the Archangel though.

Brother Dan,

A beautiful Church indeed !!!

Truly blessed.

james

I can't believe no one used this one:

"Excuse me, but I think you guys forgot 'and from the Son' in the Creed."

Thanks for the humorous thread!

I've gotta add my two cents as an RC theology student who is getting ready to write a paper on the clarity of the Eastern concept of Theosis compared to the Latin Augustinian counterpart of original sin, purgatory, etc. ...

The Bishop of my own diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA, banned bingo, fairs, raffles, etc., in 1995. This was quite a radical action for an RC bishop (and apparently for EC as well, after reading this thread!). It didn't hurt us financially, though we're hurting now with the abuse scandal.

We have no Eastern Catholic Churches in our diocese, so my first (and so far only) EC experience was at St. Gregory of Nyssa Byzantine Catholic Church in Beltsville, MD., and it was a pure and holy joy! I was somewhat disappointed, however, to find kneelers and the recitation of the rosary when I was looking for a pure Eastern experience. And I loved the incense, the chant, and everything else about the worship. It was a highlight of my religious life, and I can't wait to go back (especially since that will also mean a visit with my daughter and her husband)!

I am trying to introduce my diocese to the beauty of the Eastern Churches, but video resources are so limited! Why? I've gotten a couple of videos from the Eparchy of Parma, and "Light of the East" from EWTN, but Eastern liturgy is so rich and beautiful that it should be more readily available to those of us in the RC who are eager to discover our "other lung".