www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Eastern Catholics in Opus dei

I was wandering if there are any Eastern Catholics that are involved with Opus Dei. I have read "The Way" by St. Josemaria Escriva and really enjoyed the message for the layman to be called to holiness and to take their Faith seriously. How well would an Eastern Catholic fit into Opus Dei? Has anyone had any experiences with Opus Dei?

Mike

Not at all. Opus Dei is a personal prelature (non-territorial diocese) of the Latin Church. An Eastern Catholic I know was contemplating membership but found that Opus Dei makes no accomodations for Eastern Catholics. If one wants to be a member one must take on their rule which includes many Latin devotions, Eastern equivalents may not be substituted. But as this is a Latin jurisdiction that makes perfect sense.

Some Eastern Catholics are "Cooperators" with "The Work." Membership in the Cooperators is open to any and all people of good will who support the spirit and ideals of Opus Dei, regardless of jurisdiction or even faith.

God bless,

Father Deacon Daniel

"Opus Dei, qui tollis pecuniam mundi, dona nobis partem!"

Father Serge:

If I may say so, you have a great sense of humor.

BOB

I know a number of folks in Opus Dei. On point: I know a supernumerary who is a Syro-Malabar Catholic. While he is a member, and still Syro-Malabar, he does practice all the Latin devotions and prayer norms that go with being a supernumerary. Unless no one noticed with him, he is proof that Eastern Catholics can join.

It should be noted that the Opus Dei prayer norms are not clerical. The lay members are not obliged to the Roman office for instance. The prayer norms are very Roman however. Not being in Opus Dei I can't tell you about them in great detail, but the Angelus, Rosary, daily mass (or as often as possible), works of penance and mortification, as well as refections on certain topics each day of the week are the ones I know of from friends.

As for would an Eastern Catholic with an established eastern spirituality fit in well? I imagine Father Deacon Daniel is correct. Regardless, Opus Dei is not an easy organization to join. It takes ~1.5 years of classes, in addition to them knowing the candidate real well (i.e. the candidate attending Opus Dei events regularly for a non-trivial period of time, which would probably include becoming a cooperator and attending a cooperator's circle regularly). In short you really can't accidentally join them and be committed to something that you didn't know about. If you are curious, going to some of their stuff would be the way to learn more about them.

Justin

I used to have an Opus Dei spiritual director. He was a good man, very devout and deeply practical.

However, when he found out that I had a growing love for Byzantine spirituality, he said that I was spiritually sick because I should have been satisfied by the Novus Ordo and the normal Roman piety, and that my interest in the Byzantine tradition was a sign that I was becoming too "singular" and that I had an unhealthy desire for new things.

He then blew his top when he learned that I was attending an indult Traditional Latin Mass.

I never went back.

The problem, I think, is that St. Josemaria Escriva emphasized two things:

1) Roman-ness. As he himself used to say: "Be more Roman each day!"

2) Ordinariness. Among other things, this means not looking for singularities or for extraordinary forms of piety.

These teachings, of course, have their context. I'm sure that St. Josemaria Escriva -- who had a deep love for the Church -- never meant his teachings to be taken to mean that there should be no variety in the spirituality and rites of Catholics.

The problem is that some Opus Dei priests take his teachings too literally, and combine it with what can only be called as a too positivistic and juridical a view of orthodoxy. So, for them, ordinariness and Roman-ness mean accepting only the Novus Ordo (albeit well celebrated) as their liturgy (hence the remarkable silence of Opus Dei regarding the Tridentine Mass), and using only the usual means of Roman piety (rosary, Way of the Cross) as their spiritual expression. And there is a tendency in Opus Dei to mistake "Roman" for "Catholic", as if the two are coextensive. What chance does the Eastern Rite have in Opus Dei?

Even the modern Roman Liturgy of the Hours -- which should be the expression par excellence of Roman lay piety too -- is not used by the numeraries, because according to one numerary I asked, "it is only for priests"

That is truly fascinating, AsianPilgrim. Thanks for broadening my knowledge today.

Fr David Straut

Dear Bob/Theophan,

You may indeed say so - compliments are always welcome! I once jokingly threatened to found a religious order dedicated to the spiritual edification of the wealthy and privileged, and two friends immediately remarked that I was too late - Opus Dei had already copyrighted the idea!

Fr. Serge

I used to have some Opus Dei friends but they said they could no longer associate with me because I was in the Orthodox Church. They also said that their spiritual advisers were quick to use the phrase, "Don't be holier than the Pope." And yes, their spiritual readings were very controlled and in obedience they could not question the novus ordo or attend the Traditional Latin Mass. Now that the Pope is allowing the Traditional Latin Mass, I wonder if they have changed their minds?

I went on a retreat as a new Catholic at the LA house and it was awful. I got yelled at because I didn't know I was to reuse the cloth napkin. I also was not allowed to run to the car after the evening activities.They actually had a lock from the inside that I couldn't open. There weren't any pictures of other saints. They had a few of Mary and nothing but the founder. They also deprive you of a basic amount of sleep and the food was not enough to be satisfied.They also said he was the first saint to say the laity could become saints. That is just a lie. My friend from Canada told me about her time with them and said the same thing.

My friend from Columbia who is now a Benedictine priest in Italy said they tried to get him to join in Columbia. He said they could care less about the poor. He said it was for the upper middleclass and the rich. It is like a cult

Elizabeth Maria I would say to your ex-friends that the Pope has many Orthodox friends so maybe they are not the Obedient Catholics they fancy themselves!

My friend from Columbia said the same thing!

I wasn't going to post anything but since others have mentioned things that cause rational people to hesitate with regard to Opus Dei, I must say that I have had negative experiences as well. We were once invited to a "party" that was a social event for Opus Dei folks. My wife, who is a licensed counselor, was told that her soul was in jeopardy because she studied and practiced Psychology. I was also told by a woman that I could not be considered a Catholic theologian unless I studied Latin and scholasticism. She was a member of our Melkite parish and was always worried that we were quasi-schismatics. Also, my dear friend (who is ex-Opus Dei) told me stories about Opus Dei members fraternally correcting one another (for example, if one were to spend less than 10 minutes in contemplation after receiving the Eucharist, one might be approached by a fellow member and "encouraged" to do so." There were other things that I have personally seen happen in Opus Dei to reinforce the negative vibes I already had. I apologize if this offends anyone, but it is all the truth.

Joe

Dear Father Serge,

Just because one has a copyright, does not mean that one knows how to implement it. Your proposed order would probably be of much benefit to people who need a lot of spiritual help.

St. Josemaria Escriva celebrated the TLM until the morning of his death, as he had an indult to celebrate it in his private chapel. While his attachment to the TLM has often been explained away as due to old age and deteriorating eyesight, his 3-volume biography by Andres Vazquez makes clear that he keenly suffered from the liturgical reform, from the abandonment of the rubrics that he held so dear.

St. Josemaria also ordered that all Opus Dei oratories keep to "ad orientem" altars -- an order obeyed in Opus Dei until the mid-1980's. In this, he was remarkably prescient.

Incidentally, St. Josemaria Escriva went to Greece in the 1960's, and was known to have observed the Greek Orthodox liturgy a couple of times. That is remarkable, given that at that time, attendance in non-Catholic liturgies was strictly prohibited. He also bought an Orthodox icon as a gift for Paul VI. As I said in my OP, St. Josemaria was himself a man of the Church, with a deep appreciation for the Fathers and Doctors and for the richness of the traditions of the Church. He himself was certainly not "anti-Eastern." And if you read his life, he also had a deep love for the poor and the sick. He never intended Opus Dei to be for the elite only.

I love St. Josemaria Escriva. It is Opus Dei as it developed after his death, that I can't stand. Opus Dei today is, sadly, a caricature of what St. Josemaria wanted. From my own experience, it seems to me that Opus Dei has developed an extremely narrow sense of what Catholic orthodoxy is.