What is Byzantine, Eastern theology like? I’ve tried pressing through in Western philosophy, science, and theology but I find it all to be too heavy and intellectual to tackle, it’s intimidating. Any recommendations on select Eastern readings, where to start?

What is the nature and purpose of Eastern spirituality as opposed to the Roman approach?

I’ve been a Catholic for almost 6 years and still don’t feel natural or at home it.

Hello,

Our orthodox brothers and sisters are in the midst of their Holy Week. I was reminded of a very strange element of the Holy Thursday divine liturgy; it is the one time of the year when a composite Gospel is read. What does the priest say, " the gospel according to..."

I wanted to know the history of this composite Gospel reading. Any good scholarly articles or books you would recommend?

Thanks!

I feel like I have heard somthing St. charbel said about prayer ropes, talking about how they are useful? Does anyone know of this? Or does anyone know if he had a fondness for them?

Lurking this subreddit the past few months has made me very aware of the eastern catholic traditions. However, I have decided to become Orthodox. Thank you all!

Thank you everyone that helped me with the letter to The Eastern Bishop. We are starting the process now to change rites to go over to the Byzantine Church and need to write our current Bishop to get permission. If you changed rites what did you write to your current Bishop to get permission to go? Thank you in advance!

Do they have their own catechism like the Ukrainians or do they use another churches?

I feel called to learn about him, did he ever write any books?

Just a question im Syro-Malabar catholic and I am a bit confused on what to put for flairs. I think Syro-Malabar follows the East Syriac rite tho. Im going to leave my flair as East Syriac then

When is it appropriate to claim to be Eastern Catholic as a Latin transplant? After a month? year? Maybe after you’ve canonically switched rites? I have seen canonical Latins claim to be Eastern Catholic after adopting their traditions, is this appropriate?

So im not used to eastern things and had to get used to alot of it.I will most likely go again. I only have one question. Some people did a left, right, left greeting durring the usual peace be with you. How is it done properly? What else should i know? I

Hey everyone recently I have become a Roman Catholic at this last Easter vigil my finance and I have been attending a Roman rite parish since but we are heavily interested in going to a eastern rite church and parish what would be the biggest differences and smallest also are there any culture shocks thanks in advance ! - Anthony

I was at a Ruthenian Catholic parish and during their intentions they said “for all orthodox Christians.” I was wondering if I was in the wrong Church but then they said Pope Francis’ name as well. Is the intention “for all orthodox Christians” common among Ruthenian parishes?

Does anybody know what the Divine Liturgy for the deceased is? There a Ukrainian Catholic Church near me that has Divine Liturgies on weekdays for the deceased. Does anybody here know what that means?

I'm a Roman Catholic (of the Traditional Latin Mass variety) who also frequently attends the Divine Liturgy at a Ukrainian Catholic Church. I have never been to a Maronite Liturgy but I live near Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church in Easton, PA. I'm curious about how Communion is received? Do you just open your mouth? Tongue in or out? Any posture I should be using?

Like I said, I'm a Latin Mass attended so I have never used my hands to receive, always on the tongue and kneeling, and at a Byzantine Liturgy the Eucharist is always deposited via a spoon into an open mouth by the priest while standing with arms crossed over your chest, hands on shoulders. If I attend the Maronite Liturgy I want to do it right. Thanks for any info!!!

I am not unto SSPX neither a sedevacantist I am just asking for trivia

Edit: I mean SSPX itself not some other organization with ties to SSPX

Are there any Bibles out there that include iconography integrated into the texts, like with Illuminated Manuscripts?

Glory to Jesus Christ.

Roman rite with a question!

Do eastern catholics have their own Church doctors? Like Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventura, Catherine of Siena. Laurentius of Brindisi, John of the Cross and so on.

Just curious because I love the eastern Theology and I would like to get more into it!

God bless yall.

Does the Maronite Catholic Church have screened confession, or is it only face to face? Which Eastern Catholic Rites have screened/ veiled confession?

I was raised in the Latin Rite mostly by my Roman Catholic father. My mother is Eastern Orthodox from Russia and I’ve always felt more connected to Slavic culture in all ways but religious.

Now, I’m discerning between Orthodox and Catholic. I know ethnicity should not play a role when deciding denomination so I looked at Catholic and Orthodox theologies exclusively.

After studying both religions for a while I’ve decided that Catholicism just makes more sense to me and I do not want to abandon my Catholic faith but I have a sense of longing to reconnect with my heritage and I feel like I would have a greater sense of belonging in the Byzantine Rite.

So, does this seem like a valid reason to start attending Byzantine liturgies?

Just posting to say I attended byzantine liturgy for the second time today, and like the first time, I was almost disappointed when it ended, I could have stayed for hours I think. I grew up Latin Rite, left the church, and have made my way back recently. When looking for a new parish I realized there was a byzantine parish near me so I went. I'm just so happy, I don't remember ever feeling so calm and fulfilled at mass. Bc of my relationship(hea currently agnostic but attends church with me semi regularly) I can't take communion currently but even so, I felt the true presence so strongly. I don't have really any religious friends so I'm posting here, thanks for reading!

Hi Brothers & Sisters in Christ!

A bit about me first. I am a Roman Catholic but have developed a deep love for Eastern Christian spirituality & tradition. It started in 2020 with the Jesus prayer which greatly improved my relationship with Jesus & my prayer life. Since then I have tried to incorporate more Eastern traditions into my private devotions. Unfortunately, there are no Byzantine rite Catholic churches around where I live, although I did go and worship at a Divine Liturgy at a Russian Orthodox Church a few years ago. Because there aren't really any Byzantine Catholics around here...I have come here in search of guidance.

A few months ago I got the Publican's Prayer Book & began studying up on Eastern prayers that I could incorporate into my daily prayer rule. Here is what I am currently doing:

• Morning Prayers: I rise at 6:00 am and pray, "O God be Merciful to me a sinner" with three metanies (which I think are like a bow?) I follow this with the Lord's prayer & some personal conversation with Jesus. After that I pray the Morning Prayer on page 58. I also read from the Psalter each morning & night.

• Throughout the day I pray from the, "Prayers During the Day" on pages 57-64.

• Night Prayer: I pray the night prayer on page 62 and then before bed I do the Evening Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ on page 88 followed by the Examination of Conscience and then I select one of the prayers to pray before bed.

Throughout the day I also carry my chotki with me & pray the Jesus prayer throughout the day. In the evening or my free time I try to read from the Bible whenever I can.

My questions:

1- For those more experienced than me with the Publican's Prayer book - am I using it right? I would like to do a more complete prayer of the Horalogion of the Hours but I'm often not able to due to my work during the day, which is why I opted for the shorter versions of the hours in the first section in the book.

2- Is this, generally speaking, a good prayer rule?

Thank you brothers and sistere in Christ for any wisdom or guidance you may have for me!

Does anyone have a pdf of the prayers for the naming of a child (8th day) for the Ruthenian church?

We just had a new born and our parish doesn’t have a copy.

For context I live in America and have relatively recently started attending a ROCOR parish. Before that I attended an OCA parish.

What spurred this post was a recent comment made by someone high up in our church about the war in Ukraine. This conflict was branded as a holy war against the “Satanist West” by this individual. As someone who lives in “the satanist west” this was a concerning statement. It also adds another layer of dissonance on top of us praying for Ukraine in the war, but now we are praying for a member of the Satanist west?

I have also heard priests talk about the mission Orthodox Africa (a ROCOR initiative to grow in Africa) with it being heavily implied that the American government is trying to physically harm or even kill the priest running it. The entire milieu seems anti-American which is weird given our entire parish (clergy included) are non-Russian and mostly converts.

Is such anti-American sentiment common in Eastern Catholicism?

I'm new, looking into Orthodox/Catholic faith and want to know how you would respond to some of the science claims that we are all one consciousness and that our reality we experience through space time is just a headset. I find this idea unnerving. Thank you

I've been reading about a few Armenian saints post Chalcedon that are recognized as saints in both the Catholic and Oriental Orthodox communions, such as Saints Gregory of Narek (doctor of the church), Nerses Shnorhali, and Nerses of Lambron.
Does anyone know if there is a list somewhere of all the Catholic saints (post schisms ideally) that weren't officially or publicly Catholic?