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kingvozzo
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| Posted: April 05 2005 at 9:33pm | IP Logged
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jdostalik wrote:
Janette,
My mom mentioned Our Lady of Lebanon to me. She has heard wonderful things about it as well. It is a Maronite Catholic church. They have a website and you can see their sanctuary; it's beautiful.
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Thanks for the link about this church. I used to live in Lewisville, and we attended the most awful church. I had serious concerns at the time about the validity of the sacraments even being celebrated there, but the pastor always had very reasonable sounding explanations, making sure to say he had the Bishop's approval. If I knew then what I know now, I would have left that parish immediately! Anyway, I really wasn't familiar with the Eastern Rite at all then (still not as much as I'd like to learn), and we tried to attend Mass at the other Catholic Church in town---Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church! Unfortunately, the Mass was not celebrated in English. We didn't feel that we could really attend Mass there.
Fortunately, God saw fit to have my family move, where we're in a place where our faith and committment have grown tremendously.
A good resource is the Easter Church forum http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/forum25.htm
The moderator has a very good website also
http://www.east2west.org/
Enjoy the journey!
Noreen
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jdostalik
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Hi again Victoria!
Thanks again for sharing.  Your icon corner sounds lovely; I think I'll steal that idea. What icons do you have there? Also, where do you purchase your icons? Do you know of a Catholic source for icons? I found one Catholic icon company online, but the icons seem to look a bit "wrong", i.e.: three dimensional instead of two dimensional, no layering or texture, etc.
I now have three icons: one of Our Lady of Perpetual Help that I mentioned in my first post, an icon of the Theotokos Enthroned with John the Theloogian ( a birthday gift from my son, John Pauls, godmother), and one of Christ as the Vine with all the Apostles as the Branches. I have started to mount them in a corner of my family room and think it would indeed be lovely to have the kids examine their conscience and pray through out the day there. We have a family altar as well right next to the icons, so it could work well.
I do know that I would like to find a beautiful icon of Theotokos of Czestochowa. I know this is the icon that John Paul II prayed in front of in Poland when he was a seminarian. I think he had a copy under the Crucifix in his personal chapel in Rome as well?
Now, I just need to buck up and try to attend the Divine Liturgy soon at St. Basil the Great. How long does the Liturgy last? I have heard it can be about 2 hours!!
See what you get for being so sweet and answering my post!! More questions!!!
God Bless you and yours, Victoria! Oh, and thanks for asking about Baby Tess. She is doing great--back to her sweet self...
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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jdostalik
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| Posted: April 05 2005 at 9:59pm | IP Logged
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Noreen,
Thanks for the links. I can't wait to check them out. It will have to be tomorrow as the kids are still awake and I have to put them to sleep! Nothing like adjusting to the time change to throw a kink in the little bit of routine we have around here. 
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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chicken lady
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| Posted: April 06 2005 at 8:45am | IP Logged
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I thought I would jump in on this thread as we love the Eastern Churchs, we have a Maronite rite, not to far away, we attended the Byzatine for a while, and I must say we LOVED it. Our dilemna came when it was time for our oldest to receive first communion. My dh decided we were latin through and through, and that this was just not OUR culture. Although Our Culture is so lacking!!  As a result we started to attend the traditional mass (tridentine),literally wept the first mass, our hearts were at home, we had found what we as post Vatican ll generation, did not know existed. We frlt some what like Chesterton, when he wrote Orthodoxy!! LOL!! We then read further on JPll directive to Bishops, calling for a "generous and widespread application of the tridentine mass", .
Long way of explaining that I wish you the best in your journey, you have been given great reading resources, I LOVE Catherine Dougherty's writings!!
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Victoria in AZ
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[QUOTE=jdostalik] Hi again Victoria!
What icons do you have there? Also, where do you purchase your icons? Do you know of a Catholic source for icons? I found one Catholic icon company online, but the icons seem to look a bit "wrong", i.e.: three dimensional instead of two dimensional, no layering or texture, etc.
I do know that I would like to find a beautiful icon of Theotokos of Czestochowa. How long does the Liturgy last? I have heard it can be about 2 hours!! [QUOTE]
Oh, but I love the questions as this is my very favorite subject  Happy Tess is her sweet self.
Liturgy is usually about 1 1/4 hours. Now this does not include the hour-long Orthos (Matins) that precede Liturgy. You are not obliged to attend Matins. Also, during Lent, we use the Liturgy of St. Basil and that adds another 15 minutes. The amazing gift is that this time flies by. None of us complain about the length. Because we are in heaven Special Holy Days can be 2 hrs.
You already have a wonderful start on your icons. We have two shelves of icons: Holy Resurrection, Jesus the Teacher, Mystical Supper, Nativity of Our Lord, Crucifixion, Holy Family, Theotokos, Archangels, St. Nicholas, and the kids have more in their rooms. Ideally I'd have all the feast days and put out that icon for a week or month. But money and space are an issue.
Most of our icons have been gifts. Many Byzantine or Orthodox churches have gift shops. Recently I have purchased from www.skete.com. The less-dimensional icons may have been from www.monasteryicons.com. I love their catalogs and cut them up for lap books and arts/crafts. We also buy their incense.
A book for children, complete with stickers, is _How To Pray with Icons_. Believe Seton carries this.
You could google Theotokos of Czestochowa. When I did this many Orthodox Church gift shop websites came up. Buy what speaks to you, moves you to pause and pray. The main idea is that your prayer comes from your heart more than your head.
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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Victoria in AZ
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molly wrote:
| we started to attend the traditional mass (tridentine),literally wept the first mass, our hearts were at home! |
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Molly, thank you for jumping in--so glad you did. Thank you for sharing about your journey.
Yes, yes, yes. To be moved to tears at Liturgy. That's what I wanted too. You are home! For some people that call will be Tridentine, others Byzantine, and still others feel at home in the New Mass. God is so good to allow us such joy where we are called.
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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jdostalik
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| Posted: April 08 2005 at 5:47pm | IP Logged
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Dear Molly,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think that my dh is a Latin Rite through and through....He isn't too interested in attending the Divine Liturgy but he is willing to go with me--and I need to be grateful for that!
I've never attended the Tridentine Rite Mass but have heard lovely things about it. I have often wanted to attend with my oldest dd, who has begun studying Latin...
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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jdostalik
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| Posted: April 08 2005 at 5:53pm | IP Logged
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Okay, I finished reading Catherine Doherty's My Russian Yesterday's and it was unbelievably moving...It really brought home to me the devastating effect that Communism had on Russia...to go from such a devout country to the country with the highest abortion rate in the world...
I got the Madonna House catalog, can any of you recommend any other of the books by Doherty for me to read next? I could buy the whole catalog--they all sound so great that I don't know where to start...
And I was so excited to see Archbishop Raya's writings on the Byzantine Rite offered in the catalog as well. Any suggestions there?
Oh, and did any of you see the Eastern Bishops and Patriarchs praying at the end of the Holy Father's funeral Mass? I only caught a bit of it... I got up at 3 am to watch but the baby didn't let me get to the end of the Funeral. I hope to see it replayed on EWTN later tonight.
I'm rambling, time to get dinner on the table!!
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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Victoria in AZ
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jdostalik wrote:
| Oh, and did any of you see the Eastern Bishops and Patriarchs praying at the end of the Holy Father's funeral Mass? |
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We did!! And we smiled through the Eastern prayers because they were so familiar to us Stayed up late last night to watch an EWTN replay wanting to share this part of the funeral Mass with dh, but we all fell asleep
Sorry I cannot personally recommend any other Madonna House books, but you sure have me wanting to read _My Russian Yesterdays_. So many books and so little time
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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Victoria in AZ
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jdostalik wrote:
| I've never attended the Tridentine Rite Mass but have heard lovely things about it. I have often wanted to attend with my oldest dd, who has begun studying Latin... |
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I encourage hs families to attend an Eastern-rite Liturgy with the motivation of a history lesson. St. John Chyrsostom wrote his Liturgy in the 4th century and you can count on one hand the additions/changes to it since then. An amazing feat of preservation awaits us
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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jdostalik
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| Posted: April 13 2005 at 9:47am | IP Logged
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Hi Victoria!
Another question for you if you have the time...
Are you familiar with the Akathist Prayer to the Holy Virgin?
If you know this prayer, in what context is it used--in a prayer service, perhaps? My Eastern Orthodox friend has invited me to go with her to venerate the Kursk Root Icon and I am trying to determine if I should go or not...as it will be held at a OCA parish and not a Catholic church.
Our Holy Father, John Paul II, was very supportive of venerating icons in his apostolic letter on the Veneration of Holy Images. I was so excited to find this encouragement of iconograpy by JP II!!!
Thanks in advance!
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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Victoria in AZ
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jdostalik wrote:
Hi Victoria!
Another question for you if you have the time...
Are you familiar with the Akathist Prayer to the Holy Virgin?
If you know this prayer, in what context is it used--in a prayer service, perhaps? My Eastern Orthodox friend has invited me to go with her to venerate the Kursk Root Icon and I am trying to determine if I should go or not...as it will be held at a OCA parish and not a Catholic church.
Our Holy Father, John Paul II, was very supportive of venerating icons in his apostolic letter on the Veneration of Holy Images. I was so excited to find this encouragement of iconograpy by JP II!!!
Thanks in advance! |
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Ah, I hope you didn't miss this gorgeous service. I was out-of-state for a week and away from my computer. Yes, never miss a chance to praise Our Lady 
I had just attended my first Akathist Prayer service myself the week before. It was amazingly beautiful. It seemed every bit of poetic praise to Our Lady that you could dream of was poured into the Akathist. The context it is used in is a community prayer service. But also, one could recite the Akathist prayers at home. There have been miracles attributed to the Akathist.
Yes, of course JPII would praise iconography! It is Catholic and we are one holy Catholic Church.
Most certainly you can pray together at an OCA parish. It IS Catholic. We would not be allowed to receive Eucharist at an OCA, but that would not be an issue at an Akathist prayer service as it is not a Liturgy and no Holy Communion is distributed.
Thank you for asking. I had wanted to run home from the Akathist and tell you all about it anyway! Here is one stanza from the Akathist to the Holy Virgin:
The Archangel was sent from Heaven to cry 'Rejoice!' to the Theotokos. And beholding You, O Lord, taking bodily form, he stood in awe, and with his bodiless voice he cried aloud to her such things as these:
Rejoice, you through whom joy shall shine forth. Rejoice, you whom the curse will vanish.
Rejoice, the Restoration of fallen Adam. Rejoice, the Redemption of the tears of Eve.
Rejoice, O Height beyond human logic. Rejoice, O depth invisible even to the eyes of Angels.
Rejoice, for you are the King's throne. Rejoice, you bear Him, Who bears the universe.
Rejoice, O Star revealing the Sun. Rejoice, O Womb of divine Incarnation.
Rejoice, you through whom creation is renewed. Rejoice, you through whom the Creator is born a Babe.
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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jdostalik
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Hi Victoria!
Thank you so much for the beautiful quote from the Akathist. I especially love, "Rejoice, you bear Him, Who bears the universe."
I didn't make it to the Akathist Prayer Service; dh worked late that night...but my friend took some lovely pictures that I got to see...
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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Victoria in AZ
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jdostalik wrote:
I didn't make it to the Akathist Prayer Service; dh worked late that night...but my friend took some lovely pictures that I got to see...
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Ah, you know how fast a year goes...it will be here again before we blink
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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jdostalik
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Yes, you're right, Victoria..time does fly!
Hey, do you know of a good source for purchasing a hand-painted icon? My friends who are now Greek Orthodox were received into their church a few weeks ago and I was thinking of getting a hand-painted icon for them as a gift...Have you ever had one commissioned? I really like the icons from Skete and I remember earlier in our conversation that you have ordered from them as well, but was wondering if you had a good recommendation for hand-painted icons (not more than $100!  ) ?
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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Victoria in AZ
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jdostalik wrote:
Hey, do you know of a good source for purchasing a hand-painted icon? My friends who are now Greek Orthodox were received into their church a few weeks ago and I was thinking of getting a hand-painted icon for them as a gift...Have you ever had one commissioned? I really like the icons from Skete and I remember earlier in our conversation that you have ordered from them as well, but was wondering if you had a good recommendation for hand-painted icons (not more than $100! ) ?
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Wow, Jennifer, you are a friend with great ideas. Can I be your friend too
I've never even thought about commissioning an icon. I think Skete also does hand-painted icons. If you have a particular icon in mind, you might google the name. I did that once and came up with a bunch of gift shops in Orthodox Churches. Many of those icons were hand-painted. Sorry not to be of more help.
Looks like your friends will become an excellent source of Orthodox info as well A traditional wishing them well would be: God grant you many blessed years in health and happiness.
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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jdostalik
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Thanks for the compliment, Victoria..I already consider you a friend!
Thanks for all your help with all my "newbie" questions...These friends are godparents to two of my children (they were Roman Catholic) so I wanted something to let them know how special they are to our family...
BTW, I just finished my latest Catherine Doherty book (after My Russian Yesterdays that Jenn recommended, I ordered Not Without Parables..a beautiful book with spiritual stories from Russian pilgrims she met as a youth... to her ministry to the poor...to her own imaginative stories of redemption... )...I have to say this woman is a marvel and I am so excited to begin reading ALL her spiritual writings...She has been made Servant of God and I am praying for her intercession for reunification of East and West...
Servant of God, Catherine, Pray for Us!!
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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cathhomeschool
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Victoria in AZ wrote:
The Archangel was sent from Heaven to cry 'Rejoice!' to the Theotokos. And beholding You, O Lord, taking bodily form, he stood in awe, and with his bodiless voice he cried aloud to her such things as these:
Rejoice, you through whom joy shall shine forth. Rejoice, you whom the curse will vanish.
Rejoice, the Restoration of fallen Adam. .....
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What a beautiful prayer! I think that the biggest "tug in my heart" towards the Eastern Catholic rites is the great respect and beautiful reverence (in the Liturgy) that they give to Mary. (While at the same time always relating her to her son, acknowledging that she is who she is because of Him.) Obviously the Eastern Orthodox religions share this great devotion to Mary also. How I wish that we had an Eastern Rite parish nearby that we could at least visit from time to time!
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Victoria in AZ
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Jennifer, beautiful prayer for reunification. That would be heavenly.
Janette, the reverence given to Mary is gorgeous. A loved one in my life was sharing her interest in The DaVinci Code. When this leaned toward the feminine divine, I brought up the Eastern continual praise of Mary. Can't get much more feminine!
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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Kelly
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Hey Jennifer,
If you are looking for icons, check out Ebay. You can find a huge selection of newer icons there, at really reasonable prices. You can also find older icons, but you have to watch out for high prices and inconsistent quality.
My mother and I started collecting icons 25 years ago and had a lot of fun learning about the different icons. Studying icons would make a great Rabbit Trail! Not only are they beautiful, historic, artistic and meditative, but the fact that the painter prayed the whole time they were being painted makes them extra special!
Kelly in FL
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Eastern Rite Catholicism
