www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Rite of Receiving Monastics from other Churches and Holy Protection Monastery

Dear Cantor Joseph,

Ultimately, I see conversion from one Church to another as an Act of God . . .

Alex

I know that most of the Eparchys it seems like, dont like the Byzantine Monastic to
be Totaly Orthodox in Practice, which i believe will be the conversion of many
byzantine monastic communities, to Orthodoxy. This is the Second one i know
of that has Converted to Orthodoxy. One Ruthenian and i believe the other one
was Ukranian. God Bless.

In Christ+
Daniel

Dear Daniel,

That's a very good point, Big Guy.

As a matter of fact, our Basilians consciously maintain many Latinizations for fear that "too much Orthodoxy" will "infect" us with "Orthodox schism." (I've seen that in print).

Fr. Irenaeus Nazarko OSBM in his commentary on the Synod of Zamoisk, says that that Synod confirmed certain "Catholic" elements in the "Uniate Church" such as Eucharistic adoration etc. As if we weren't "Catholic" without them!

And we have a genius in my parish who goes around crossing out the "Orthodox" in "All you Orthodox Christians" in our Liturgy booklets . . .

Alex

I agree, we need to focus more on the Church Alumni Association (tm) then we have been. It has been said that the second largest Christian group is not protestantism, but lapsed and former Catholics.

I think the opposite is the case. The monks have shown a great commitment to following their conscience and what they feel is the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this matter. Also this shows a commitment of public support from the OCA hiearchy.

Conversion is an extremely complicated process and there is a tendency to reduce it to this or that reason. It is a complexity of emotion and inspiration, of positive and negative feelings. And as one poster mentioned above, past personal experience can often be critical in the final decision about making a "jump". Speaking of Fr. David Anderson, I heard from him several years ago mentioning some very negative experiences in the Ben Lomond affair.

[Ultimately, I see conversion from one Church to another as an Act of God . . .

Alex]

Looks like if it wasn't for the Holy Spirit working overtime we Orthodox Catholics would be in deep trouble. From a post I just posted on another forum on this very subject from and Orthodox stand point -

The new chosen auxilliary bishop (Tikhon) is a convert which, if I am correct, makes over half of the Bishops in the OCA converts.
In a recent conversation with my parish priest, he tells me that this year there is a high enrollment in our three seminaries of either seminary students or those who are studying Orthodoxy through various other correspondence programs, etc. through the seminary programs. Think he said the total is somewhere around 200 total. The vast majority being converts to Orthodoxy.

Though my heart is gladdened by this news it is somewhat saddened by the fact that our own cradle Orthodox have the lowest statistics of enrollment. So I guess we can but thank God for those he is sending to us.

An example of what I am talking about is in the Spring/Summer issue of 'The Spirit of St Tikhon's' seminary newsletter which reflects the statistics of only one of the three seminaries -

Student Body - The commencement of the 64th year of our theological school saw the largest incoming class of seminarians ever! Currently a total of 59 men are registered in the two programs of study in preparation for the Holy priesthood. In addition, 27 individuals are taking courses on a part time basis in Extension Studies, and 14 others have been studying "Introduction to Orthodox Christian Spirituality" on-line in the Distance Learning Program, which began last semester.

On the present enrollment of 59 students: 30 are new this academic year and 29 are returning upperclassmen. By the program: 39 are Master of Divinity students, and 20 are Diploma Program students. By marital status: 31 are married, and 28 are single. Thirty students live in the Seminary dormitory, and 29 live off campus.

Of these 59 seminarians, 42 of them are being educated for the Orthodox Church In America. Of the remaining: 6 are from the Antiochian Archdiocese, 2 from the Church of Russia, 2 from the Moscow Patriarchal parishes in this country, 2 from the Serbian Diocese in America, 2 from the Alexandrian Patriarchate, 1 from the Bulgarian Diocese in this country, 1 from the Jerusalem Patriarchate, and 1 from the Ukrainian Church in the United States. Five of these are foreign students, and the average age of the seminarians is 32 years.

Of the current enrollment, 45 students (an unprecedented 76%) are converts to Orthodoxy - that is startling news! This is truly a credit to the missionary zeal and labors of the hierachs and clergy of the Orthodox Church in this country. However, when one factors out the remaining 14 students those that are foreign born, the sad statistic is that a very small percentage of the seminarians are American born cradle Orthodox. This presents us with a serious challenge: to re-claim our own parishes as a primary source of vocations to the Holy priesthood.

========

Interesting, isn't it? Seems the Holy Spirit is working overtime to ensure a future for Orthodoxy here in the U.S.

We are all suffering from the materialistic society we live in.
Orthodoc

OrthoMan,

You make an excellent point, something that has always been of great concern to me. Actually, the number of converts in the church is a two edged sword. On the one hand, it shows great vitality in the church. On the other hand, it shows that many of the the so-called cradle Orthodox have either lapsed or have left for other faiths. We know this is true - I've served too many funerals for Babas whose families have completely left the Church. So sad.

But it is common to now see the names "Fr. Athanasius Jones" and "Fr. Innokenty Smith" on the clergy lists. IMHO, there is a difference between a priest who converts, say, at seminary, and one who has been Orthodox all his life. Both are priests and both bring their own insights to the priesthood, but nothing can really replace being a life-long member of the Church. That is not to disparage convert priests in any way. Nothing brings me greater joy than to see that our seminaries are filled to overflowing, regardless of the path they make to the Church.

The only comfort in all of this is that the children of today's convert Orthodox are tomorrow's cradle Orthodox.

PT

Here is the official statement of the OCA regarding their reception:

http://www.oca.org/pages/news/news.asp?ID=426

Former Byzantine Catholic Monastery received into Orthodox Faith

MIAMI, FL [OCA Communications] � His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, received two monastic priests and three novices from the former Eastern Rite Catholic Monastery of the Holy Cross here into the Orthodox Faith during a visit October 27 and 28, 2003.

With the acceptance of the monastery and its brotherhood into the Orthodox Faith, the monastery was rededicated in honor of the Protection of the Virgin Mary.

In March 2003, Metropolitan Herman received a letter from Archimandrite Gregory [Wendt], the monastery�s abbot, requesting that the brotherhood be received into the Orthodox Church and that the monastery be accepted as a monastery of the Orthodox Church in America. For a number of years, the monastery was within the Ruthenian Byzantine Rite Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, NJ. In response to the petition, and with the concurrance of His Eminence, Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South, Metropolitan Herman directed Protopresbyter Robert S. Kondratick and the Very Rev. David Brum to visit the monastery in April. They also visited Holy Cross Academy, a school serving over 300 students operated by the brotherhood, of which Archimandrite Gregory serves as headmaster and president. After conducting a thorough investigation of the monastery, its history, and its brotherhood, Fathers Kondratick and Brum reported that they saw no obstacles to accepting the community into the Orthodox Faith.

After careful scrutiny and further contact with Metropolitan Theodosius and members of the OCA�s Synodal Administration, members of the Holy Synod of Bishops, at their fall 2003 session, decided to receive the monastery and its brotherhood into the Orthodox Faith.

On October 27, Metropolitan Herman and His Grace, Bishop Mark, retired Bishop of Boston, were welcomed at the monastery by Archimandrite Gregory and the community. After a tour of the monastery grounds and a visit to the academy, the Very Rev. Philip Reese, rector of Miami�s Christ the Savior Cathedral, celebrated Vespers in the monastery chapel, which is adorned with unique frescoes depicting many of Christ�s miracles. During the following morning�s Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Herman received Archimandrite Gregory and the Priestmonk Damian into the Orthodox Faith and tonsured two of the community�s three novices. Clergy and faithful from across the state participated in the Liturgy and reception and warmly welcomed the monastic brotherhood into the Faith.

Photos of Metropolitan Herman�s visit to the monastery may be found on the OCA web site at The Orthodox Church in America Receives Holy Protection Monastery.

---

Regarding �cradles� � I don�t know of one person in my family that married another Byzantine Catholic. 100% of my aunts, uncles, father, siblings, and cousins married non-Byzantine Catholics, including me. There aren�t that many loving relationships developing between the youth within parishes. They are all looking elsewhere.

Inter-marriages, including those within the Catholic communion, can be a strain. How can one even consider ministry in the church if one is having difficulty trying to convince one�s spouse to remain in one�s cradle church?

Those who do proceed to enlist in church service are met sometimes with politics. Some churches are not to be confused with �organized religion.� When leadership is lacking, which is often the case, one is met with a potpourri of petty power struggles and a considerable lack of communication and professionalism. The experience can be discouraging. Ask three clerics a question; get four different answers.

For one who has learned well his ECF training, despite the pressure to be a �real� Catholic, finally realizes that his church is being run by absentee desk bishops somewhere in the bowels of Europe, the real modus operandi is exposed. The Byzantine Ideal is just that: an ideal having nothing to do with reality. A thousand encyclicals on the beauty and wonder of the Eastern Church cannot muster enough �carrot� to keep cradles at home. One learns that all that talk is just that: talk. It is also a major difficulty when one does love his Eastern Church AS AN EASTERN CHURCH and experiences pastors who have a heart-throb to be Latin Catholic.

This is probably why �cradles� are the least likely pool of people to rely on in the future of any church. Only those who are still gleaming with twinkling eyes and a panting breath of idealism may keep the lights on. Let�s pray for their efforts. Someone needs to bury us according to our own traditions.

Joe

Dear Cantor Joe,

My eyes are twinkling bright!

And I know many more like that.

The Holy Spirit is at work

Love in Christ
Michael

I don't know anything about the Fr Joe Raptosh case but I do know of Fr David Anderson, spoke to him on the phone, and am friends with one of the people from his parish that came back to Catholicism with him. I do NOT think that we should be rejoicing in receiving deposed clergyman from the Orthodox Church--especially when we whine so loud when one of our guys who is already laicized hops the fence to Orthodoxy and magically reappears as an Orthodox priest without any pretence of reordination. I am well aware that there are two sides to every story and hence I am not disparaging Fr David or saying he didn't have true motives, but what I AM saying is that such things should be handled in a very quiet way.

I don't have a problem with switching from one side to the other in either case IF THE MOTIVES ARE CLEAR and there are no preconceptions that are wrong; if John Doe believes like an Orthodox, then he should go Orthodox; if Bill Doe is Catholic at heart then he should go Catholic. We are blessed in this nation to have the freedom to do that. I don't want it to sound relativist but I think for the good of the entire communion it would be good to have members agreeing on these things.

I think if the monastics at that community had fled at the moment of their prior "problem" then that would have been indicative; however, they did not and waited another 1-2 years and moved cautiously which I think is good.

anastasios