Greetings everyone,

Hi, I am so exicted to be here. I was referred to this site by ByzCathCantor. I am very interested in learning more about the Eastern Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

I am a Latin Rite Catholic who yearns to experience the riches of the Eastern Catholic Church and the Orthodox. As one of my friends said, that soon I would be breathing with my other lung, and from the little I have learned, I believe that lung is quite operational.

I am going to be doing some reading, and I am going to apologize forewith if some of the questions I ask are basic. I don't know a whole lot about the Eastern Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, so I may be asking some basic questions.

I am excited because later this spring I am going to get to visit an Eastern Catholic Church and an Orthodox Church for the first time.

I just wanted to say hello.

God Bless,
Anathema Sit [more on why I chose this username at a later date.]

Christ is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!

Welcome to the forum. We're glad to have you join our own learning process as we explore the differences and the riches of the Eastern Churches, both Catholic and Orthodox. You might start your exploration by reading the thread at the top of Town Hall entitled "Who We Are."

Again, welcome.

Bob
Moderator

Greetings Theophan,

I will do so. Thanks for the welcome.

GB
Anathema Sit

Anathema Sit, Welcome to the Forum! Feel free to ask your questions and no need to apologize for any question, we all learn from each other here!

Please let us know your experience with the Byzantine Catholic church and Orthodox (and, which jurisdiction as they do tend to differ somewhat from each other) and just enjoy all the many informative threads that are posted here!

God bless you, S'bohom!

JEK

Hello A.S.

Hmmm..as one who speaks the Greek language, I am wondering why you have chosen the word 'Anathema' for a name?!?

( A formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine.)

It makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Anyway, WELCOME! Where in Italy do you live? I *love* Italy so much...the people, the food, the culture, the landscape, the history, the architecture--need I say more?!? I don't know if I will ever be able to visit there again, but Italy is definitely in my heart and my soul!!

Alice, Moderator

Hmmm..as one who speaks the Greek language, I am wondering why you have chosen the word 'Anathema' for a name?!?

( A formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine.)

Ouch, thats navigating treacherous waters...

I have to concur with Alice, did not catch that on the uptake as I read the post but honestly did not pay attention to the call name as we have so many different titles for people who sign in.....

Would you be willing to shead some light on the i.d. A.S?

Welcome. What sorts of things will you be looking to read in the first instance?

Timothy (Bishop Kallistos) Ware's 'The Orthodox Church' is always a good read by way of introduction, while Alexander Schmemann's 'For the Life of the World' is indispensible on the Eucharist. Finally, for a superb theological survey of the East's foundational Christological understanding, 'Meyendorff's 'Christ in Eastern Christian Thought' can hardly be beat.

Regardless, greetings in Christ.

Greetings JEK,

Thank you for the warm welcome. May I ask what you mean about jurisdiction, I'm unfamiliar with the word when it is used with the Eastern Churches and Orthodox Churches context.

Do you mean like saying Russian Orthodox Church and Eastern Byzantine Catholic?

Greetings Alice,

Nice to meet you.

I get a lot of reactions to this particular user name, but I will share in this thread of why I chose it.

When I was orginally picking this name for another forum, I wanted a name that would stand out and be unique.

For me, my number one occupation is to grow in a deeper and closer Union with God. I wanted a user name that would remind me of this. When I see the user name Anathema Sit, it reminds me that whatever in my life that would interfere with Union with God, then I declare it to be Anathema Sit. Anything that would impeded me following God's will is also declared Anathema Sit.

It is also a subtle reminder for me to post charitable and encouraging posts, as I would hate to be declared "Anathema Sit" and be banned :grin:

Sorry for the uncomfortable feelings my name has evoked. I am sure that my posts will later on dispel any negative connotations that my name may bring to mind. :grin:

I love Italy. <grins> I absolutely enjoy going to the Papal Masses in Rome and the rich history of this country. I would rather not give out the city as to my residence. I only gave the country because it was required to do so to join the forum.

I am also at home in the United States of America as I have friends and family there as well as the United Kingdom and Austria.

God Bless,

Greetings Slavophile,

I am reading the Face of God, forgot the writer.

I guess I am interested in reading very basic books that will give me an introduction to the Orthodox and Eastern Churches. I know that the Eastern Churches have a way of understanding philosophy differntly from the Western Church, what book would you recommend that can help me to learn how the Eastern Churches understand philosophy.

I will look into these three books. Thank you for your recommendations.

God Bless,

For Byzantine Catholics (Ruthenian), a few interesting introduction books are Eastern Catholics in the United States of America, A Brief Explanation of The Eastern Catholic Churches, American Eastern Catholics by Fred J. Saato and The Eastern Catholic Churches: An Introduction to Their Worship and Spirituality by Joan L. Roccasalvo. These books are all very reasonable in price and can be obtained from the Byzantine Seminary Press among other topics (they offer a very extensive catalog on lenten based books and essays).

http://www.byzantineseminarypress.com/categories/Books/

My apologies A.S., what I meant by "Jurisdiction" is ACROD, MP, OCA, ROCOR (also previously known as Synod), U.O.C. of the USA, GOARCH (i.e. American Carpatho Russian Orthodox Diocese, moscow patriarchate, Orthodox Church in America, Russian Orthodox Church Outide of Russia, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, etc.

The Byzantine Catholic Churches tend to be a bit more easy to denote, The Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church in America, the Ukrainian Catholic Archepharchy of America, Melkite Greek Catholic Church...Epharchy of Newton, etc. Some of the Orthodox "jurisdictions" also have splinter groups so it gets a bit fuzzy at times.

Sorry for the confusion, my apologies.

A.S. Would you be so kind as to tell us a bit about Rome? I am very interested in hearing about the Collegium Russicum and any other information you would be so kind as to pass along. I have been to Eastern Europe 15 times but I highly doubt I will ever be blessed to see the Eternal City.

Thank you!

Greetings JEK,

Thanks for passing on these books and link. I will certainly look into it. I'm just
thankful to be getting books that are very basic.

I remember my first Latin Catholic book I read, Catholicism for Dummies <hee hee>, that book was like a starting point, whatever caught my interest I just kept looking for books on it. So I was hoping to do the same for the Eastern Churches and Orthodox Churches.

Thank you for your recommendations.

God Bless,

Greetings JEK,

Yikes. Is there a nice little table that will make this all make sense. I did not know there were all these divisions. If there is a table or a chart that lists all of this, please do by all means link it.

I'll try to list the jurisdiction even though I have no idea of what I'm doing or what to ask to find out what jurisdiction a Church belongs too.

Perhaps just listing the Church's name or the parish's name will be a bit easier for me.

God Bless,