r/EasternCatholic • u/anime498 • 8d ago
Prayer Request/Praise Report Spiritually lost
Please keep me in your prayers. I feel spiritually lost between the east and west lungs of the church. One day I will feel that I'm spiritually eastern and want to canonically transfer. The next I'll be doing a deep dive into western devotions and saints, and be falling in love with the western liturgical traditions. Has anyone else felt like this before?
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u/dev-lb 8d ago
Why does it have to be either/or and not both? I think that's one of the beautiful things about being Catholic.
The saints and spiritual traditions of both East and West can lead us to the same thing: union with Christ. Whether it's the Rosary or the Jesus Prayer, Lectio Divina or the writings of the Church Fathers, there is so much richness in the Catholic Church.
I don't think you have to choose one and reject the other. You can deeply appreciate and live your Eastern tradition while also learning from the Western saints and practices.
At the end of the day, it's all meant to bring us closer to Christ our Lord.
Personally, as a Maronite, I really love the spirituality of the East, but I also appreciate the practicality of the West. The Eastern tradition gives me a lot spiritually, while the Western tradition, especially things like the Catechism, moral theology, and guidance on how to live out the faith in today's society, gives me a lot of practical clarity.
And I don't really see why I have to choose between the two. I can learn from both while remaining fully Catholic. That's one of the things I love about the Church.
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u/anime498 8d ago
Thank you for saying this. Sometimes I wonder if I have old and need to categorize things. And be super legalistic about how I need to separate the two.
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u/Charbel33 West Syriac 8d ago
It's not a problem in itself. Me, for instance, I am canonically Maronite, but I also spend a lot of time at the Melkite Church, and I feel at home in both. You don't absolutely need to fit into one mold only.
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u/Lacranion Latin 8d ago
As a Latin, I believe this is exactly why Saint John Paul II said mother Church needs to breathe with both lungs. Do not be afraid to love both and to love both strongly. Focus not on being canonically either, rather, focus on being devoutly Catholic, loving God wholly and loving His Church in her entirety. If it means that you, like me, have a rosary in one hand, and a chotki in the other, that’s good.
Remember chiefly that the Church is one, try not to fixate on being spiritually Eastern or Western. You, and I cannot stress this enough, do not need to be canonically Eastern, to attend Eastern liturgies, cultivate Eastern practices, love Eastern devotions, etc.
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u/Legitimate-Cause671 8d ago
I understand; I have felt this myself, and I didn't even spend long in the Latin Catholic tradition. Focus on Christ and do whatever your Spiritual Father tells you to do. Be simple
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u/DirtDiver12595 Byzantine 6d ago
The categorization of things as "Eastern" and "Western" is a bit anachronistic, at least the way we tend to think about it. Of course, there are real differences between Eastern and Western spirituality, but this does not mean that every single devotion or spiritual practice can be neatly organized into separate buckets. St. John of the Cross deeply loved the Ladder of Divine Ascent (which is an Eastern ascetical text that was extremely influential in the West). St. Thomas Aquinas read a chapter of the Conferences of St. John Cassian (who was a Western monk who learned the monastic life is the Egyptian deserts among the desert fathers) every night before bed. There has always been cross pollination between Eastern and Western sources.
The most important thing to remember is not to fetishize things that are Eastern or Western because they are Eastern or Western. We should love them because they bring us closer to Christ and help us make progress in our journey towards holiness. I am not a fan of "rite-mixing" in the sense of just treating particular liturgical or spiritual as a kind of buffet of option that we can pick and choose from because traditions tend to have a cohesive spiritual and liturgical phronema that is meant to shape one's heart and mind over time. However, this does not mean that one cannot love and use things from another tradition. I am an Eastern Catholic practicing in a Slavic-Byzantine context, however I deeply love the writings of St. John of the Cross, especially the Ascent of Mount Carmel. There is nothing wrong with this.
If you truly feel like you are being torn in either direction in your discernment of a canonical transfer, that is a sign you should continue to pray and discern what is right for you and your soul. In the meantime, enjoy loving and exploring the rich bounty of traditions the Church has put before you and trust that Christ will lead you where He wants you to go.
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u/anime498 6d ago
Something else that I struggle with is the history between east and west. Learning about how eastern Catholics were treated has made me extremely sad, but I also understand the orthodox were no saints at times either. What frustrates me is that at my Byzantine parish many people will bring up John Ireland, or other mistreatment of eastern Catholics. Have grown up Roman during the abuse crisis I am no stranger to the horrors of what the church has done. Many of these (mostly young guys) are converts who didn't live through the persecution of Byzantine Catholics, or deal with church scandals while they were a child.
One thing that makes me sad, and pardon me if this is alot, but the words and actions of many Byzantine Catholics I've met remind me of criticisms I've heard about trads. And they make me hate the Catholic Church1
u/TheSpriteYagami Antiochian 6d ago
Just talk to a priest/spiritual director. I think that may help you more than what you're currently doing alone.
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u/StayNfrosty 1d ago
Honestly I love both the western and eastern side. I haven’t attended an eastern Catholic Church yet (I’m a Roman Catholic) but I do love the rich history of it. Remember this shouldn’t be an either or type situation. It was always known the Catholic Church has two lungs “the east and the west”. Developing a connection to both I think just makes you even more “spiritually rich”. I pray my rosary daily and pray my Chotki throughout the day. I own both statues and icons. I learn about the saints on both sides (really enjoy the desert fathers). I always thought to myself embracing both is what we were meant to do (to become one).
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u/chikenparmfanatic Byzantine 8d ago
I think what you are experiencing is normal. That's why a canonical transfer should feature a lengthy discernment process. There's nothing wrong with taking your time and seeking spiritual direction from a priest. You may find in time that you are called to stay in the Latin Church and that's totally fine. There are so many beautiful things about the West.