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Dear Anton,

Well, I'd certainly give it my best shot(s) .

Vodka is, after all, the Ukrainian Kozak antibiotic.

As nature intended . . .

Alex

Dear John Scotus,

(If you had some Irish in you, I could call you "Eriugena" too!)

Yes, they are your martyrs too.

But there will always be that tension between Rome and Particular Churches.

It is really at an administrative level. And certainly, we've had separations from Rome in our past.

There is sometimes a false view of the church advanced (and I'm not saying you are advancing it, Great Ukie Friend! ).

We belong to the Universal Church THROUGH our participation in our Particular Church.

Just as you belong to the Universal Church through your membership in the Particular Latin Church.

When I met the Pope in July of last year, I briefly and respectfully quipped that we were both members of Particular Churches in union with Rome . . .

He smiled and nodded approval . . .

But that doesn't prevent us from criticizing Roman bureaucracy when it tramples on our rights and privileges.

These days, we just ignore it as so much foul language that one finds written on the sidewalks by hooligans (you can go for that drink right now if you wish ).

But separate from Rome? Rome will have to throw us out if it ever gets tired of looking at our Ukie pusses . . .

I was thinking of a more elegant way to end this post, but one just didn't come to mind . . .

Alex

Perhaps its my upbringing in the UK but that last comment has different connotations here in the Uk... or maybe I've been watching too much Eastenders..

Rakia beats vodka any time

Anton :p

Dear Anton,

My apologies!

What does "Rakia" taste like?

Alex

Vodka - ughhhh! Rakia Being a bad Old Believer I enjoy rakia, not to mention tea and potatoes.

Mark, monk and sinner

Forgive me, Holy Father, and Bless!

What can you tell us about that non-alcoholic drink Old Believers have?

Is it the same thing that is served at Orthodox funerals, since spirits (the kind you drink) are not allowed.

Alex

Braga is drunk at funerals as well as weddings. This is like mead and despite Old Believer protestations IS alcoholic.

A none alcoholic honey drink was used with the blessing of the kutia in honour of a saint in the mediaeval Russian rite. It was blessed and partaken of at the end of the vespers.

In all seriosness, the dietry restrictions were accepted by the popovtsy as being a cultural thing at the end of the last century. Even the pomortsy have fallen into the vice of tea drinking and the thrice cursed heresy of eating potatoes and using 'plants from beyond the sea'.

The Serbian wife of a dear priest-friend of mine includes rakia - of the slivovitsa persuasion - to be part of the rubrics for celebrating any feast - together with another heretical drink... Turkish coffee.

You see Alex... I am actually very liberated and progressive

S Bogom -
Mark, monk and sinner.

Forgive me, Holy Father Mark, and bless!

Yes, I hope to one day achieve your standard of "Progressive Conservatism!"

My father, (+memory eternal!), was a beekeeper and he used to make a very good mead.

He also had the special blessing of the bees at the beginning of the season on the feast of St Alex the Man of God (March 30th) and since I was born a day earlier, that is how I became an "Alex."

He also had a shrine made of a bee box on a stand containing the icons of St John the Baptist and Sts. Savvaty and Zossimas of Solovetsky.

The bee-yard was also where I met my first Old Believer. He crossed himself with two fingers and then explained to us what that was all about . . .

Alex

)Father Mark is right..its made from plum (like a brandy). Obviously a man of great sense!
Its quite sweet and good to drink with a nice trapeze of food! IT is our national drink of course (so ignore all the Serb/Greek/etc protestations!)

On a by-note, in Bulgaria I used to love to drink something called boza? Not sure how to explain it..but have any of you heard of it?

Anton

There is always, Pravoslavni Cerkvi )))

We are already the Orthodox Church! Our full communion with Rome is the crown of Orthodoxy.

Any more cliches ?

Amen! Our communion with Rome is also what makes Romans Catholic, and not just Roman.

Dear Brian,

"Any more cliches?"

I don't know if you can call this a cliche, but how about:

"Holy Elder Rasputin, pray unto God for us!"

And yes, as I've said before, if my Ukrainian Catholic community would ever be found between a "Rock and a hard place" with respect to Rome, and I had to choose between Rome and my community, it is with my community that I stay.

Is that enough for you, Big Guy?

Alex