www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Upon reception, does my name change?

Hi, all.

I entered the Catholic communion after being raised in the American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Church.

My name at baptism was Tikhon, however this is not my legal first name (my parents knew that not everyone is Slavic, so they gave me a more Anglicized name).

Upon entering the RCC, I was told that the rite of reception has no special name taking ritual. (there is no Eastern Catholic Church in my diocese, so I was received via the Latin Rite Novus Ordo mass at the local campus ministry.)

My name on my chrismation and baptism certificates is Tikhon. Is this still my name?

I was named after St. Tikhon of Moscow, which is all well and good, except he is not venerated in the Roman communion, nor are any "Tikhons".

My middle name is Mikhaylo, so I've been saying that my patron saint is now St. Michael.

How does this work? No one at my diocese had ever encountered an Eastern Christian wanting to join the Roman Catholic communion, so they didn't really seem to know what to do with me.

Thanks!

Tikhon

Tikhon:

Christ is born!!

No, your name does not change. First of all, it's a fine name and we ought to be glad that the community is now expanding its list of future saints. Most of the names you will find in the West are those of Western saints. Be proud of the name you were given.

The Catholic Church does not frown on you venerating a saint from your childhood--there are plenty of holy men and women who are not and have never been related to the Catholic Church. Orthodoxy has plenty of good and holy people that we can all take inspiration from. So don't be worried about any of that. There are many Catholics who venerate Orthodox saints privately, so there is not the complete break that you may think your move has made necessary. I have a devotion to St. Nektarios, for example, as well as St. Ambrose of Optina, and Cyril and Athanasius of Alexandria.

On another note, you have merely changed your address. Change between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches IMHO is not so much conversion as changing your patriarchal allegiance. That will make many on both sides of the aisle angry. Let them get over it. I have known and lived with people of sincere faith in both communions and really get offended when people at this time in history start with the old polemics against each other. We have many hurdles--and they are not to be taken lightly--to being one in eucharistic communion. But in the meantime, we must all struggle to get our relationship with the Lord right. And we must follow the Holy Spirit as He leads us. I'm sure that your move didn't exactly make your parents and family thrilled. In the end, you will grow in Christ in the community you have chosen. But you need not sever your relationship with your old community altogether unless you wish to do so. Your former brothers and sisters will be disappointed, perhaps angry. But your faith struggle is the cross you have been given and, like the Lord, will make you despised by some. Shoulder that cross and follow the Lord.


What a shame. How about supporting you, encouraging you, helping you to grow in the Faith? BTW, that's what we try to do here.

Bob

Theophan,

Thank you very much. Your entire message speaks to the genuine, sincere and ever-present "καθολικός" ("catholikos" - universality) that truly exists in the Roman Catholic communion, one of the reasons why I've joined.

I'm very excited that my name is still Tikhon, I've grown quite attached to it!

I know that Catherine Doherty had icons of St. Seraphim of Sarov all around her Madonna House complex (and secretly, I had a small Byzantine-style icon of St. Therese of Lisieux in my prayer corner all of my life!)

I know that in the spirit of "οἰκονομία" ("oikonomia" - not quite adhering to the letter of the law in the spirit of genuine Christian love and charity), both St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. Therese of Lisieux are in heaven, rejoicing at the sight of Our Lord's loving face!

Your post really lifted me up - I thank you.

I rather love that I can wear my Slavic-style (3 bar) baptismal cross around my neck, and my woolen scapular with miraculous and St. Benedict's medals sewn in.

Thank you so much.

This forum has already done so much to help affirm my identity as a Byzantine Catholic.

Err Tikhon - though you were received into Catholicism in an RC Church you are not an RC - you are very much an Eastern Catholic.

Tikhon:

Christ is Born!!

Catholics aren't perfect. Neither are many of us "universal" in our thinking--I think of those who still don't know anything about the Eastern Churches or who look down at them as "less than" (something that could not be further from the truth). I can think of many clergy who are openly hostile, for example.

OTOH, there is some small progress being attempted at the level of where we live--in parishes. My pastor has been asked by our bishop to undertake further study in ecumenism and he told me he is especially interested in the Eastern Churches. He is beginning a master's program offered via distance learning from the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. He hopes to add something to his seminary teaching because at present there is nothing being done about this topic in the seminary where he teaches. Can you even fathom this, at this date? Nothing is being done to prepare future priests in the Latin Church to know and understand the Eastern Churches--not to mention our Protestant brethren.

IMHO, one needs to understand one's neighbor. And ISTM that this means letting the neighbor tell his story from his point of view without prejudging his position from one's own point of view. That's tough. ISTM that the tendency is to filter what the other is saying through one's own prism and that always leads to distortions and negativity.

If you want to know what the master's in ecumenism looks like, go to the Ukrainian Catholic University website in English and look at the course descriptions. There is hope.

We've got a long road to walk--together.

Bob

Is there no Greek Catholic, or Byzantine (Ruthenian Catholic) parish by you?

Actually, there is Saint Tikhon the Wonder Worker, Bishop of Amathus in Cyprus. He is recognized by the Latin Church. He was a baker's son who gave all he had to the poor and was consecrated bishop of Amathyus by St Epiphanius.

He energetically fought paganism and the cult of Aphrodite in particular. His Feast day is June 16th in the Roman martyrology with a full Office in the Byzantine Churches.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, venerated by the Russian Catholics and not a few Ukrainian Catholics, was referred to by Dom Aelred Graham in his book, "Catholicism" in very commendable terms.

St Tikhon of Zadonsk prayed the Jesus Prayer incessantly, read the Gospel (and insisted all Christians should, as well as apply it to their lives), received Holy Communion frequently.

He had a life-sized series of pictures depicting Christ's way of the Cross in his cell.

I'd recommend St Tikhon of Zadonsk to any Latin Catholic!

Alex

Dear Tikhon,

You wear a scapular with the miraculous and St Benedict's medals sewn in?

Doesn't everybody?

During the time of the Kievan Baroque in the Orthodox Church, the scapular and the medal of the Immaculate Conception were in widespread use among Orthodox Christians who even took the bloody vow to defend to the death the Immaculate Conception, including St Dmitri of Rostov and a number of others.

Professor Florovsky even made a disparaging comment about the Kievan Mohyla Academy saying that its professors spent so much time in the 19th century composing services to the Immaculate Conception etc.

Scapulars, Little Offices, the 15 Prayers of St Brigitte etc. were also very popular among Orthodox in that era. There are today Orthodox icons of the Mother of God holding the Carmelite scapular (e.g. Horodyschensky Orthodox monastery and the Letychivsky Icon of the Mother of God).

St Seraphim of Sarov has a growing following in the Latin Church and an icon of him was presented to the Benedictine Monks of the biritual monastery of Chevetogne.

The abbott was very happy to have received it and the Russian Orthodox press actually praised the monastery for its excellent execution of the Russian/Byzantine Rite in its Eastern chapel . . .

Alex