According to Vatican figures, there are an estimated 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the world. Without Eastern and Western influences, the Catholic Church’s history would be incomplete. There are a twenty-three distinct churches that are in communion with the Church of Rome. Each of these particular churches has a its own unique spirituality and worship. These churches are diverse but unified. Despite the fact that there are twenty million Eastern Catholics, many Roman Catholics are unaware of them or do not consider them to be Catholic. The largest group of Eastern Catholics participates in the Byzantine, or Greek tradition. Eastern Catholicism recognizes the Pope as the head of the whole church and is united by the common faith in the doctrines of the Catholic Church. Furthermore, Eastern Catholics are orthodox in their liturgy, spirituality, sacred art, and theological outlook (Holy Monastery).
First Impressions
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For my fieldwork, I chose to participate in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Catholic worship at the Holy Resurrection Monastery in Saint Nazianz, WI.
During my visit I learned from the Holy Resurrection Monastery that the most important room is the church or chapel because it is the center of their lives. Most of the prayers and sacramental celebrations take place in the chapel.
Before entering the church, members of the congregation kissed a picture of an idol outside the door, made the sign of the cross, and brought a candle in. Upon entering the church, parishioners moved to a small stand in front of the altar and kissed the icon with reverence. Many of the monks that entered would kiss the icon at the small altar and then bow to each of the icons on the the icon screen. In Byzantine theology, icons are not just pictures. Icons are windows into heaven and are used as tools for prayers. Eastern Catholics pray before the icons for what they represent, not praying to
them. After completing this, the monks and parishioners would light their candle and place the candle into a basin of sand. The Holy Resurrection Monastery use candles made out of beeswax. These candles symbolize the hard work of bees and represent the hard work of the monks. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) The candles are also an illustration of Christ illuminating humanity and the world. They also believe that as the candle burns and the wax is consumed by the flames, any wickedness also disappears. http://www.easterncatholicchurch.org/worship.html#4 Before the Divine Liturgy begins, the priest and bishops are setting out the gifts or preparing the bread and wine at a side table. At this time, the iconostasis is closed. Mainly used in Byzantine churches, an icon screen or iconostasis separates the congregation from the altar. The iconostasis is a large piece of furniture that measures at least several feet high and can occasionally reach the ceiling. The iconostasis has three screens, “or curtains”, surrounded by several panels that are opened and closed throughout the Divine Liturgy. On each side of the curtains are pictures of icons, usually featuring Jesus, the Mother of God, and particular saints pertaining to each church. Each of the screens or doors in the iconostasis are symbolic. The central double doors are called the Royal Doors, also known as the Holy Doors, and considered to be very sacred. These doors can only be entered by ordained clergy during certain sacred parts of the liturgy. The door on the south side is known as the Deacon’s Door and the door on the north side is known as the Server’s Door. The icon screen is symbolic of the throne of God and is viewed as either a link or a point of separation. The icon screen represents where heaven and earth meet. It links the space where the heavenly mysteries are enacted and where the Church lives and struggles. It also represents the separation between us and God by showing us his immense love and the span of distance that God has to endure to reach us (Rocco). The format of the Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Church is lengthy and includes many little additions that indicated a time of when we lived a less hurried life. Inside the altar there is a square table, called the Holy Table, on which the Eucharist is offered. At the Holy Resurrection Monastery, the monks begin their litany, or petitions, much earlier in the morning. The public part of the liturgy begins about three hours later. When we entered the chapel there was a monk reciting verses. This is known as the “little office” in the part of the preparatory service that consists of three antiphons of psalm verses and refrains, each followed by a brief litany and a prayer. Antiphons refer to the psalm text in the Liturgy, but more so to the way in which they were sung (Appleyard).
This primary source document has been collected, translated, and published into the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. Due to several language translations and lack of a professional editor, it is noted that many of the documents collected have errors. This specific entry is titled Jesuit 's Interpretation of Gender Roles and dated 1633. The author is also listed as Pierre Biard, however the author and/or date is very questionable and possibly wrong. I will explain my disagreements later on, but for the sake of this review let us just say the author is Pierre Biard.
Icons are not portrayals of scenes like stained glass windows, they are of one or two people, a holy portrait. Iconography is not restricted to the church but can also be displayed in houses or worn as jewelry.... ... middle of paper ... ...
...rulers were unsuccessful and that iconophobic views would help strengthen the Byzantine Empire. (pg. 247) Under Leo’s command a council was assembled and met at Hagia Sophia three times to discuss the matter of icons. (pg. 249) Leo’s report was read and those who did not agree with it were spit on, beaten, or dismissed from the council. (pg. 247) On the third day a proposal was created and approved in favor of iconoclasm. (pg. 247) The previous teachings of Hieria were subjected as being right in which they stated that “images are essentially idols, icons of Christ either circumscribe his uncircumscribable divinity or split his divine and human natures, and images cannot convey the resurrected glory of saints”. (pg. 247) Although Leo had suggested that images be removed from reach in churches, the council had not done much to actually engage in iconoclasm. (pg. 250)
Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church ultimately had more differences which ended up causing their split, they once had quite a few a similarities. The churches shared “many of the same prayers and liturgies” (“Eastern Orthodox”, 2001 para.1). Both the Eastern and Western churches had a difference in opinion in defining and numbering sacraments but they did agree on what the seven major sacraments for their churches should be. They also agreed upon that the male clergy should consist of bishops, priests, and deacons.
Christianity has evolved over several centuries into three major branches, and from there they have been further divided into numerous denominations. The branches are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Roman Catholicism is headed by the Pope and is known for several distinctive beliefs and practices that set them apart from the rest of Christianity. Eastern Orthodoxy is not one united church; instead it is an association of thirteen self-governing bodies denominated by the nation where they are located. Each church is headed by a Patriarch. The Patriarch of Constantinople is recognized as the universal patriarch, he is the closest counterpart to the Roman Catholic’s Pope, he enjoys special honor but has no real power the
Although the Eastern orthodox church shares roots with the Roman Catholic church, they have many contrasting beliefs.
Roles of the Catholic Church in Western civilization has been scrambled with the times past and development of Western society. Regardless of the fact that the West is no longer entirely Catholic, the Catholic tradition is still strong in Western countries. The church has been a very important foundation of public facilities like schooling, Western art, culture and philosophy; and influential player in religion. In many ways it has wanted to have an impact on Western approaches to pros and cons in numerous areas. It has over many periods of time, spread the teachings of Jesus within the Western World and remains a foundation of continuousness connecting recent Western culture to old Western culture.-
Christianity has several branches with the largest one being the Roman Catholic Church, which has approximately 1,100,000,000 followers. The second largest is the Orthodox Church with 225,000,000 followers. Eastern Orthodoxy became a distinct branch after the 11th century when they realized that there were too many technical differences in belief between the eastern and western sides. Following all of Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy relies greatly on doctrine. They follow the Bible, believe that there is only one God, and must go by other “laws” of their religion. A subject of importance to them is marriage, which has specific laws of its own.
St. Clare of Assisi was an Italian saint, and she was born on July 16, 1194 and died August 11, 1253 , at the age of 59. She was born in Assisi and her name birth was Chiara Offreduccio. St. Clare is honored in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran Church. She was the founder of the Order of Poor Ladies. St. Clare was born into a wealthy family, who lived in a palace in Assisi. Later in life she entered into Clare's monastery, along with her sisters Catarina and Beatrix. St. Clare was raised a woman of prayer, and through her life she blessed many around her which led to her ordination.
I believe that Father Aidan Kavanaugh wrote his book, Primary Source Readings in Catholic Church History, in historical fiction for many reasons. One reason is that it puts you back into history. It helps the reader understand the book more when there is an example of historical fiction. Another reason is that it promotes multiple perspectives. How you see history and how the writer sees history are two different perspectives. It is important to see where the author is going with his story. The last reason is that it pique’s the reader’s curiosity. I like it when a book has a fictional story to make me wonder. Historical fiction books helps me relate more to the topic of the book. Overall, I think that it was a great idea
However in contradiction to all this freedom the Vatican Council's declared that there would be only one church of Christ. The Vatican’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions reaffirmed that there is only one Church of Christ that is fully in possession of the truth of the Gospel; that is the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
On October 11, 2015, I visited the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, it looked more like a temple than a cathedral church. The first part of the service was prayers, as I walked further into the sanctuary I could hear the prayers being recited almost in a chant like way. The priest who was doing the ceremony had on a robe just the priest in the Roman Catholic Church. Now I was brought up complete different when it came to Christianity, I was taught there is only one god and that you serve him know matter what; nonetheless, I was not taught to pray to saints or the apostles. Therefore, this was a major shock to me because of the way that this church prayed, and how they conducted their service.
Politics played a pivotal role in the establishment of Lutheranism. As Luther’s ideas were gaining popularity, the Protestant Reformation began. Luther’s ideas eventually formed a sect of Christianity known as Lutheranism. Lutheranism gained popularity amongst humanists and university students. When the Catholic Church’s power began to decline, Charles V attempted to salvage the remaining power. He wanted to preserve the church and unite the Holy Roman Empire by merging all the city-states into one big country. The different heads of state and the princes within the Holy Roman Empire disliked Charles V’s idea, because it would take power out of their hands. Thus, the princes started supporting Lutheranism because it was the only opposition to the Catholic Church and Charles V’s plan. In
The word view salvation in relations to works, and believe that salvation from works is a misleading believe that have cost people their ticket to heaven. There had been numerous of people who have tried to explain the truth about salvation and works. However, they give up or distort the truth. Others have tried to unmask religious, cults, and sects. They have also failed for different reasons. Others have succeeded in explaining certain beliefs, based on their own understanding or the word of God. The few people who have fully succeeded have made history for their achievement. A known person who challenged the Catholic Church was Martin Luther, who was driven by fears of hell and God’s wrath that lead him to became a monk.
I was raised by catholic guidelines for the way of living, behaving and the ways I viewed the world. My schooling life has been through catholic institutions, which has been unusual considering my father is Coptic and my Mother is Catholic. As I attended St Mark’s primary school, it was prominent theme that Catholicism was essential. Beginning of primary school, I was taught early about the Catholic faith and how to behave like a good catholic.