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Prayers for Victoria!

Alex

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From what I've read GoFundMe does not have the best reputation. There have been several cases of irregular activities with that firm.

I understand that a person needs to be debt free when entering monastic/religious life. However, if the applicant's debts are paid off via donations, and then later, the applicant decides the monastic/religious life is not for them, are those who donated reimbursed?

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The reputation of "GoFundMe" is irrelevant to this particular discussion. Though you are certainly free to research better ones and suggest them to those involved.

Should the individual discerning a vocation ultimately decide not to enter a monastery, that's OK. The website clearly notes that this person is in a period of discernment. The discernment is for the Lord's will. Whatever it is, one prays the Lord grants it to those seeking it. Asking about refunds is a bit silly. [A not dissimilar analogy would be if you made a donation to your parish for a new furnace and then was upset because they bought a different brand than you prefer, and you asking if they will give the money back to anyone who did not get exactly what they wanted.]

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I was only asking a question and do not appreciate my query being dismissed as being "silly". A former entry mentioned this monastery was not sanctioned, I wondered why someone would use an online fund collection secular company when there are other groups sanctioned by the Catholic Church (i.e. Mater Ecclesiae Fund, the Laboure Society). As for analogy, donating for a church furnace and not getting the brand one wants is confusing, the furnace would be obtained either way, here, if someone obtains donations to enter the religious life, pays off their debt and then decides through discernment it is not God’s will to go farther, what happens to the funds collected?

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Originally Posted by rtarums
I was only asking a question and do not appreciate my query being dismissed as being "silly".

But, you see, it is!

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A former entry mentioned this monastery was not sanctioned,

You should read the thread in its entirety

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I wondered why someone would use an online fund collection secular company when there are other groups sanctioned by the Catholic Church (i.e. Mater Ecclesiae Fund, the Laboure Society).

Because GoFundMe is very public and much more visible to those who might choose to donate.

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if someone obtains donations to enter the religious life, pays off their debt and then decides through discernment it is not God’s will to go farther, what happens to the funds collected?

It would seem that is a matter for the moral discernment of the individual who was the recipient of the funds. It's not a question that anyone here can answer - only she.

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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It would seem that is a matter for the moral discernment of the individual who was the recipient of the funds. It's not a question that anyone here can answer - only she.
Many years,
Neil

Let us pray then that she has the moral discernment and remains permanently in the order. God Willing.
S'Bohom
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It has become common for those entering religious life to enlist the generosity of others to help them settle their debts. It's certainly a common predicament.

There is simply no doubt at all about the community's being sanctioned or not. Look at their website and their facebook page. Or look at the eparchy's website. The original poster, John Michael, raised some question about the community's canonical status but not whether it was sanctioned and supported by its bishop. Frankly, I still don't understand the original concern. Full canonical establishment as a monastery is a goal they are working toward--as it has already been pointed out, they say that explicitly on their website.

I rejoice to see the emergence of a traditional monastic community with so much evident vitality and energy. May there be many more.

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This may be off topic but what type of tradition are you referring to?

I am thoroughly confused as to the attire that is being utilized at Christ the Bridgegroom. Why does it seem that they are going backward in time. Even the head of their group "Mother Theodora" was originally a Sister of St. Basil the Great for 13 years and wore a modern habit.

Both my beloved sister and dear Aunt were Byzantine Benedictine Sisters. They and other sisters in various other orders fought long and hard for modernization which Rome graciously approved of many years ago. Part of this modernization was their habit. Bishop Nicholas Elko of the Byzantine Catholic Church realized the need for modernization and began the order of Christ the Teacher which was a progressive order for the 1950s. He chose to utilize a habit the corresponded to the changing times.

As a modern Catholic woman who has watched the forward march of the Holy Catholic Church into the future to stop now and go back five centuries is mind boggling.

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Why are you so concerned about external appearances ?

I'm not saying anything against the use of 'modern attire' by monastic communities but it was my understanding that in the USA ' traditionally attired' RC Orders , at least among the women's orders , were seeing far more applications than those in communities wearing 'modern attire'.

How far do you wish to take modernisation ?

Do you wish our priests to modernise the Liturgy and stand behind the Holy Table and face us as is done in the modern Latin Catholic Church ? Do you wish to return to the days when our churches did not have Iconostases in the rush to expand and 'modernise' ?

I have memories of someone in the Vatican telling us to return to our roots - and our root are very very firmly traditional.

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Bishop Nicholas Elko of the Byzantine Catholic Church realized the need for modernization and began the order of Christ the Teacher which was a progressive order for the 1950s. He chose to utilize a habit the corresponded to the changing times.

Could you please link me to the web page of this order so I could see the habit corresponding to the changing times ?

I can find nothing about this order - is it still in existence ?

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Originally Posted by rtarums
This may be off topic but what type of tradition are you referring to?

I am thoroughly confused as to the attire that is being utilized at Christ the Bridgegroom. Why does it seem that they are going backward in time. Even the head of their group "Mother Theodora" was originally a Sister of St. Basil the Great for 13 years and wore a modern habit.

Both my beloved sister and dear Aunt were Byzantine Benedictine Sisters. They and other sisters in various other orders fought long and hard for modernization which Rome graciously approved of many years ago. Part of this modernization was their habit. Bishop Nicholas Elko of the Byzantine Catholic Church realized the need for modernization and began the order of Christ the Teacher which was a progressive order for the 1950s. He chose to utilize a habit the corresponded to the changing times.

As a modern Catholic woman who has watched the forward march of the Holy Catholic Church into the future to stop now and go back five centuries is mind boggling.
What is more mind boggling is that all the Orders that modernized are on the verge of extinction, receiving no inquirers and yet continue to insist that modernization was a good idea. The Byzantine Benedictine sisters are so few and so aged they had to sell their monastery to Coptic Orthodox nuns, in ten years or so none will be left. The Basilian sisters seem headed the same way. The Order of Christ the Teacher is no more. Archbishop Elko was disgraced and not allowed to return to the Byzantine Church when he returned to America, so much for modernization. On the other hand, those monasteries that are returning to authentic Eastern monasticism, including the habit, are adding new young members.


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Bishop Nicholas Elko of the Byzantine Catholic Church realized the need for modernization and began the order of Christ the Teacher which was a progressive order for the 1950s. He chose to utilize a habit the corresponded to the changing times.

This whole sentence terrifies me. Thank God for Vatican II and the call to reclaim our authentic Traditions! Bishop Nicholas did a lot of good, like English language liturgy and helping expand westward (my parish was established when he was Bishop of Pittsburgh) but he also did terrible things like not allowing new or remodeled Churches to have Icon screens.

Didn't he serve as a Latin-rite bishop before his passing?

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Could you please link me to the web page of this order so I could see the habit corresponding to the changing times ?

I can find nothing about this order - is it still in existence ?

It would seem, or atleast I hope, that like most things in the Church that want to correspond "to the changing times" it has changed itself out of existence.

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I, for one, am grateful for the fruitful witness of the Sisters at Christ the Bridegroom & am blessed to have my family know them & have visited their monastery a few times. May they continue to grow & blossom!

On a related note, this is from Sr. Gabriella at Christ the Bridegroom...

My heart sings and my eyes tear. Eternal memory Sr. Flora!

Sr. Flora, the Sister who gave us our monastery when we were just starting, passed away yesterday. She and Sr. Adalberta previously lived in our building for many years and took care of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch and its pilgrims. The have lived for the past seven years at Regina Health Center and have beautifully continued their ministry of prayer and service for their fellow residents. Please pray for the repose of Sr. Flora, as well as for Sr. Adalberta who mourns her passing. We are so grateful to these Sisters for the gift of their monastery, and especially for their love and prayers.

In blessed repose, grant, O Lord, eternal rest to your departed servant Sr. Flora and remember her forever.

http://www.geaugamapleleaf.com/obituaries/sr-mary-flora-kovics/



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My original point about Christ the Bridegroom and the revival of traditional monasticism really had much less to do with the habit in particular than with their form of life. I believe that the revival of traditional monasticism is vitally important for the life of the whole Church, east and west.

What I meant was that the Byzantine religious communities had come to be organized along the lines of religious orders in a modern sense, and they are largely engaged in a variety active apostolates. For sure, that isn't only a problem for Eastern Catholics. For example, most Benedictines communities in the U.S. staff schools or parishes or some other apostolate. In this country, monastic communities rarely got to be really monastic, as they were enlisted to teach in schools and undertake any number of other services to the Church.

The western Benedictine communities that sought to restore a more authentically monastic life (like Mount Saviour in New York or the Weston Priory in Vermont) tended to be very warm toward vernacular liturgy and other commitments that might be called broadly 'reformist.' Whether or not sisters engaged in an active life of service to the Church wear a traditional habit is far less important to me than it seems to be to you or Nelson. What is more important to me is that we also have communities that are genuinely monastic, whether of nuns or monks.

Caleb

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