www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology ?communion in BC services

Hello all, I am currently a Roman Catholic who is very interested in attending services at my local Byzantine Church. Is it wrong for me to take communiion during the BC services? I am assuming that I can but just wanted to check to be certain.
Thanks!!
GabrielleC

Hi,

Not at all!

Not only you can, but you should. If you are a faithful of any Catholic Church (including the Latin), and you attend the Liturgy celebrated by any Catholic minister of your particular Church or any other Church in full communion with yours and if you are properly disposed to receive the sacraments, then you should receive.

So, go ahead and open your heart to the Eastern spirituality you will experience, and crown the experience by receiving the Lord in Holy Communion.

Shalom,
Memo

Welcome to the forum.

In answer to your question, in short, Absolutely.
As a Latin Catholic you are free to participate in and receive the Most Holy Gifts at any Eastern Catholic Church (so long as you are properly disposed)

Brad

PS. I would recommend that you speak to the priest beforehand, introduce yourself at the Church you are planning to attend.
Our Eastern brethren receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ under both species and you may find this a bit different that in the Latin Church.

Dear Gabrielle,

Well, I don't know how it is done in the RC Church, but in the BC Church one may only go to Holy Communion IF one has gone to confession when one is conscious of grave sin and IF one is in full communion with the Church, including obeying the Pope.

So IF and only IF these conditions are met, you may approach the Holy Mysteries in the BC Church . . .

Again, I don't know how it is done in the RC Church . . .

Alex

I actually called my local BC church (St. Michael the Arch Angel) to ask some questions and left a message. I understand that the pastor is in charge of 2 churches that are about 30 miles apart,so he must be unbelievably busy. I don't think I will get a return phone call. So, it is really nice of all of you to help me out. For the last year I have felt compelled to go to this church but have not had the courage to just go. Call it social anxiety but I just like to know what I am doing before I offend someone -especially where someone's religion is concerned.
thank you all!!!
GabrielleC

I actually called my local BC church (St. Michael the Arch Angel) last week to ask some questions and left a message. I understand that the pastor is in charge of 2 churches that are about 30 miles apart,so he must be unbelievably busy. I don't think I will get a return phone call. So, it is really nice of all of you to help me out. For the last year I have felt compelled to go to this church but have not had the courage to just go. Call it social anxiety if you will, but I just like to know what I am doing before I offend someone -especially where someone's religion is concerned.
thank you all!!!
GabrielleC

Sorry for the double posting!!!!
GabrielleC

My apologies for contradicting Alex - but it is quite common in Greek-Catholic Churches to communicate Eastern Orthodox faithful without blinking so much as an eyelash. It is, of course, forbidden to coerce such Eastern Orthodox faithful, but if they present themselves in the normal fashion for Holy Communion, it would be abnormal - and contrary to Catholic teaching - to refuse them.

Incognitus

This is prety much how it's done in the Latin Church. Although, comparing the number of communicants on Sunday and the number of confessees on Saturday afternoon, It would seem to me that many of the parishoners of my parish are infact without sin.

Brad

Dear Incognitus,

Did you have a bad weekend or something?

I was simply referring to the case of RC's approaching Holy Communion in our EC parishes and the rules they must follow if they are to be admitted.

Of course, the Orthodox are welcome ANYTIME!! The rules don't apply to them!

We are talking LATINS here!

(In my parish, we have several Orthodox visitors who attend Divine Liturgy and who also go to Communion with Father's blessing).

Alex

I am really sorry that my asking this question seems to have sparked a wee bit of a controversy. Thank you for all of your wonderful information!
Gabriellec

Dear Brad,

I went to an RC priest for confession once and he told me to "go on, stop wasting my time, I've got some real sinners to confess . . ."

Evidently, he didn't think that my calling the Administrator a name here for his spelling of the word, "Kyiv" constituted a sin . . . (That wasn't the only sin I confessed on that occasion, mind you).

I was too ashamed to go to one of my own EC priests to confess this - and if I told him some people think me to be "anti-Russian," I was afraid the priest would break out into applause and disrupt the church services . . .

What you said reminded me of what Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said on one of his TV programs:

"It used to be that only Catholics believed in the Immaculate Conception. Now everyone seems to think they are immaculately conceived . . ."

I got into a lively discussion about the usefulness of confession in my religion class one day.

When they asked why confession wasn't so popular, I simply had to say, "It's because we've forgotten our manners in modern society. We've forgotten to say "I am sorry" when we offend anyone, let alone God!"

What do you think of that?

Alex

Dear Gabrielle,

You have done nothing of the sort, Friend!

I was trying to be a bit humorous and it just went over Incognitus' tonsure . . .

Alex

Dear Orthodox Catholic,
Do BC have regular religious classes for their adult members? When people switch affiliations from Wester/Latin to Eastern/Byzantine, do they go to a special class?
Thanks,
Gabriellec

Dear Gabrielle,

The parishes I know don't have regular classes for RC's wishing to go to the UGCC or other EC Churches.

The priest, in my experience, will simply recommend a reading list and perhaps go through a series of talks with the candidate.

One priest friend of mine has "loads" of Tridentine Catholics who now comprise about half of his total parish!

They cross themselves with three fingers, but continue to go from left to right.

They have learned to sing the Liturgy in Ukrainian . . .

And they are more active than the Ukies in the parish . . .

They are also now more vigilant about the whole subject of "Latinizations."

But in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, save for a few parishes, you have the best of both worlds - the Latin AND the EC traditions!

I understand there are a couple of our theologians trying to discover where our forefathers got that "canon" that says "If anyone does not use Ukrainian as the liturgical language of our Church or in the church halls during the time for coffee and dessert afterwards . . . ANATHEMA!"

I'm pretty sure someone just made it up and that there is no precedent for it in any of the Fathers . . .

Alex