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Greetings brothers!

My name is Felipe and i'm a young Roman Catholic from Brazil, but recently i've been attending Div Liturgy in a Greek Melkite parish in my hometown. To be honest, i'm in love with the eastern way, but i'm not comfirmed yet. Is it okay to recive the confirmation in Eparchy or do i have to formally change to the Melkite Church ? i plan to get marry one day, but a i also want to be a deacon, i also have to change from RC to Melkite? (My English is not that good, hope you undertood what i wrote)

Christ is in our midst!!

Felipe, welcome to the forum. You have many questions in this short first post. My advice to you is to discuss this with your parish priest and then approach the Melkite priest.

You say you have not yet been confirmed. I have to ask if you are old enough to make this decision. Making a change in ritual churches is a big step. You don't mention how your parents think about this. You don't mention how this might affect your eventual marriage. I can speak from experience that this can be an obstacle that will come up.

That said, there is no reason you cannot continue to worship and receive the Holy Mysteries in the Melkite parish. You do not, however, have to change churches this quickly just to do that.

Bob
Moderator

I see. I'm 19 and i agree with you. I go to Divine Liturgy on saturday and TLM on monday. Thanks for answer my question, may God Bless you!

God Bless you Felipe. I am a Roman Catholic hoping to switch to a Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church, who as also attended a TLM prior to this. I understand your love for the Eastern Liturgy. All I would encourage first is that you make sure you will be comfortable with this situation for life. Once you make a canonical switch it's unlikely you will get permission to switch back. It's not impossible, but it "is" unlikely. And the Eastern Churches have a different code of canon law. Make sure you are comfortable living your life according to the spirit of the Eastern Churches as laid out in the Eastern code of canon law. Make sure you are comfortable with Eastern spirituality and theology.

My initial reason for going to the Byzantine Church was to escape the mess the Roman Church was in. I couldn't handle the TLM vs NO bickering over the Mass. It robbed me of my spirit and put me in a place where I stopped practicing the faith altogether for almost two years. Upon discovering the Divine Liturgy and the awesome community at St. Anne's, I found a place where I could "escape". This is a TERRIBLE reason to join an Eastern Church. But this was my initial motivation for attending. However, the more exposure I had to the Divine Liturgy and the more reading I did into Eastern theology, the more I found myself resonating with the Eastern approach to communion with God. And having since adopted the Morning and Evening rule of prayer as outlined on this website as part of our family Prayer Rule, I can say that I find myself enamored with Eastern spirituality. So much so, that I no longer find myself attached to Western Liturgies or devotions. I will always find the TLM beautiful, but it no longer resonates with me the way the Divine Liturgy does. So take things slow brother. I know all too well that initial urge to just jump in head first. But trust me. It takes time. Let the Holy Spirit move you where He will. In the mean time, do some reading or studying with Eastern priests, practice some devotions on a consistent basis. Let the life of the Eastern Church enter you and THEN make the decision (at your priests discretion) to enter the Eastern Church.

Christ is in our midst!!

Colin:

For someone who is struggling himself, is it not a bit presumptuous to offer advice to another person? Is it not altogether sinfully judgmental to say that the Roman Church is in a "mess"?

Your opinions and comments have eternal consequences and, if I may offer a humble suggestion , they are not spiritually helpful for you or anyone else. You are skating, IMHO, on the edge of denying the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist in the Latin branch of the Catholic Church. There is no "Novus Ordo" Liturgy; it is the "ordinary form" that has been given to us after the consultations of the Vatican Council in the 1960s. We are not asked to like it; we are given it to sanctify us. There are places where this usage is not done well; there are other places where it is done majestically. There are 25 minute celebrations and there are hours-long celebrations. It is not for us to judge competent authority that has decided that this will be our regular usage. You will only be judged by Christ on what you do and how you act and what witness you give to others.

Be careful.

Bob
Moderator

Respectfully, if the Second Vatican Council and the aftermath of the Roman Church (as well as the current and last handful of papacies) shows us anything, it's that competent authorities no longer exist at the Vatican...

The SSPX make valid points for why one can not be canonically bound to attend a novus ordo. If someone in the Roman Church couldn't make it to a TLM or Eastern Liturgy, and there only option was a novus ordo, they can not be morally obligated to attend if said novus ordo was damaging to their faith. And the novus ordo has killed the faith of countless, my own family nearly included.

Christ is in our midst!!

The SSPX is not part of the Catholic Church. Their pretense at interpreting canon law or other opinions are no more valid or worth anything than if the interpretations or opinions were made by anyone else outside the Church. What good is the opinion of someone outside the house looking in the window? I'd rather take my instructions from someone inside.

Bob

The SSPX are and have always been inside the Church. They lack canonical authority over the disagreements between their society and the modernists in Rome. But they have never at any time been in schism. JPII excommunicated the Bishops, not the society. And Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications because he knew they were unjust. He restored some faculties to the SSPX and Pope Francis somewhat recently restored the rest. Their sacraments are valid and licit. This is the position of Popes Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Christ is in our midst!!

Why are we talking about the SSPX in an Eastern Christian forum?

Colin, the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches are not a place for disgruntled members of the Latin Catholic Church to hide or escape. That idea and that action have caused no small amount of problems for both. If you have a genuine desire to be part of the liturgical, spiritual, and canonical tradition of the Christian East, that is one thing; hiding out because of anger over one's current position is not.

Bob

Agreed. I was stating that my initial desire that drew me to Eastern Catholicism/Orthodoxy "was" escapism. I also stated this is a horrible reason to join an Eastern Church. Then I mentioned that after constant exposure to the Divine Liturgy and reading about Eastern theology (and adopting a few spiritual devotions, like the Rule of Prayer offered on this website) I found myself being drawn in to the Eastern life. So much so, that I no longer feel connected to western devotions. I don't feel torn between Rome and the East anymore. I feel torn between EC and EO. The only reason I spoke of the SSPX was to defend them from false claims being made against them. Respectfully Bob, you mentioned the SSPX and made the claim that they are not part of the Catholic Church. This is simply not true and so I was just trying to defend the SSPX as they are often on the receiving end of false statements and I wanted anyone reading these posts to know that the SSPX are and always have been in the Catholic Church. But there's no further need to discuss them as you rightly point out, this is an Eastern forum.