The Christian Discussion Thread X: Originally there were 15

[Salus Maior]

So, you can't pick a Blessed?

I have no idea. I never asked anyone, that’s what I’m saying.

I asked Fr. Mike and he said you can you can also take Venerables as name saints.

[Luminesa]

I have no idea. I never asked anyone, that’s what I’m saying.

I asked Fr. Mike and he said you can you can also take Venerables as name saints.

Yup! And this is why it’s always good to ask questions. Otherwise, you never know what you don’t know.

[Diopolis]

Due to recent disagreements I've had with a bunch of Orthodox positions on things like whether other churches have sacraments, I'm seriously considering talking to my local Catholic priest about RCIA. I'm kind of fed up with the triumphalism in the Orthodox Church, how we tend to disrespect other churches, and lastly that some of our positions appear obstinate. I still harbor serious doubts about Papal infallibility, but I'm semi-convinced that the Pope of Rome does have a unique position in the early Church, as attested by many fathers even in the East. I'm also disappointed by the lack of engagement with the world I've encountered in Orthodoxy regarding relatively little charitable activity from parishes and dioceses, up to and including that some dioceses actually refuse to do interfaith charity. I still think the Orthodox Church is venerable and has valid sacraments, but I have serious doubts about its claim to be the "one" true Church now. This could be a passing feeling, but I felt I should give a heads up about it.

Why don't you drop by a Catholic parish sometime soon and check out the church?

[United Muscovite Nations]

Due to recent disagreements I've had with a bunch of Orthodox positions on things like whether other churches have sacraments, I'm seriously considering talking to my local Catholic priest about RCIA. I'm kind of fed up with the triumphalism in the Orthodox Church, how we tend to disrespect other churches, and lastly that some of our positions appear obstinate. I still harbor serious doubts about Papal infallibility, but I'm semi-convinced that the Pope of Rome does have a unique position in the early Church, as attested by many fathers even in the East. I'm also disappointed by the lack of engagement with the world I've encountered in Orthodoxy regarding relatively little charitable activity from parishes and dioceses, up to and including that some dioceses actually refuse to do interfaith charity. I still think the Orthodox Church is venerable and has valid sacraments, but I have serious doubts about its claim to be the "one" true Church now. This could be a passing feeling, but I felt I should give a heads up about it.

Why don't you drop by a Catholic parish sometime soon and check out the church?

I plan on doing so, probably the one closest, but RCIA would be a hassle because I move back and forth between school and home, and I also worry there will be a bit of a culture shock coming from the Orthodox liturgy into a Novus Ordo parish (both of the ones I saw near me used contemporary worship music).

[Diopolis]

As an aside, my RCIA class has recently started talking about confirmation Saints, and after some deliberation I've decided to pick

(Image)

, the last Habsburg Kaiser as my baptismal Saint.

A historically interesting choice, certainly; but he's not a saint; he was beatified in 2004, but hasn't been canonised.

Are Catholics allowed to take non-canonised but beatified individuals as their name saint? Asking out of curiosity, not to contest the point.

The difference between a blessed and a saint is not one of sanctity. A saint's cultus is approved as an example for the whole church; a blessed's cultus is approved only for a part of the church, but not considered to necessarily be a worthy example for parts of the church which do not have a special connection to him. A classic example would be Charlemagne, who is a blessed with a public cultus approved for the parts of the church located in territories which he once ruled, but not for the broader church. He will probably never be canonized for, a variety of reasons. On the other hand, Jose Sanchez del Rio was a blessed whose cultus was approved for the parts of Mexico which took part in the cristero revolt, whose cultus was later judged worthy of being expanded to the entire church.
As an aside, this is one of the beefs I have with current policy in the Vatican; beatification is often a step on the way to canonization, but it is not necessarily an indication that an individual must be canonized.
So the TL;DR version is that it could potentially be appropriate to take a blessed as a confirmation saint, but it's not the norm and would definitely not be suitable for any individual to take any blessed.

[Luminesa]

Why don't you drop by a Catholic parish sometime soon and check out the church?

I plan on doing so, probably the one closest, but RCIA would be a hassle because I move back and forth between school and home, and I also worry there will be a bit of a culture shock coming from the Orthodox liturgy into a Novus Ordo parish (both of the ones I saw near me used contemporary worship music).

I mean, contemporary music in Mass can feel off, but you should join a church because you feel this is how you can best worship God. Not just for the music, though as a choir-girl I can tell you that good music does help worship a lot.

[United Muscovite Nations]

I plan on doing so, probably the one closest, but RCIA would be a hassle because I move back and forth between school and home, and I also worry there will be a bit of a culture shock coming from the Orthodox liturgy into a Novus Ordo parish (both of the ones I saw near me used contemporary worship music).

I mean, contemporary music in Mass can feel off, but you should join a church because you feel this is how you can best worship God. Not just for the music, though as a choir-girl I can tell you that good music does help worship a lot.

Contemporary music doesn't feel like the best way to worship God, though, is what I mean.

[Diopolis]

Why don't you drop by a Catholic parish sometime soon and check out the church?

I plan on doing so, probably the one closest, but RCIA would be a hassle because I move back and forth between school and home, and I also worry there will be a bit of a culture shock coming from the Orthodox liturgy into a Novus Ordo parish (both of the ones I saw near me used contemporary worship music).

Traditional Latin mass parishes are rather known for using private instruction rather than RCIA. I don't know what eastern rite parishes do, but the process for joining the church through one of them may well be simpler from eastern Orthodoxy than otherwise. Both of those options- and also most Anglican ordinariate parishes- are going to use a far more reverent liturgy than a typical Novus Ordo.

[Salus Maior]

I asked Fr. Mike and he said you can you can also take Venerables as name saints.

Yup! And this is why it’s always good to ask questions. Otherwise, you never know what you don’t know.

I have been, it's just that everyone has been giving me ambiguous answers until now.

[United Muscovite Nations]

I plan on doing so, probably the one closest, but RCIA would be a hassle because I move back and forth between school and home, and I also worry there will be a bit of a culture shock coming from the Orthodox liturgy into a Novus Ordo parish (both of the ones I saw near me used contemporary worship music).

Traditional Latin mass parishes are rather known for using private instruction rather than RCIA. I don't know what eastern rite parishes do, but the process for joining the church through one of them may well be simpler from eastern Orthodoxy than otherwise. Both of those options- and also most Anglican ordinariate parishes- are going to use a far more reverent liturgy than a typical Novus Ordo.

I'm afraid neither of those is a viable option for where I'm located.

[Salus Maior]

A historically interesting choice, certainly; but he's not a saint; he was beatified in 2004, but hasn't been canonised.

Are Catholics allowed to take non-canonised but beatified individuals as their name saint? Asking out of curiosity, not to contest the point.

The difference between a blessed and a saint is not one of sanctity. A saint's cultus is approved as an example for the whole church; a blessed's cultus is approved only for a part of the church, but not considered to necessarily be a worthy example for parts of the church which do not have a special connection to him. A classic example would be Charlemagne, who is a blessed with a public cultus approved for the parts of the church located in territories which he once ruled, but not for the broader church. He will probably never be canonized for, a variety of reasons. On the other hand, Jose Sanchez del Rio was a blessed whose cultus was approved for the parts of Mexico which took part in the cristero revolt, whose cultus was later judged worthy of being expanded to the entire church.
As an aside, this is one of the beefs I have with current policy in the Vatican; beatification is often a step on the way to canonization, but it is not necessarily an indication that an individual must be canonized.
So the TL;DR version is that it could potentially be appropriate to take a blessed as a confirmation saint, but it's not the norm and would definitely not be suitable for any individual to take any blessed.

Apparently Blessed Charles has a pretty decent following in the US, so I've heard.

Probably because a selfless, self sacrificial moral leader is something Americans want and haven't gotten.

[Diopolis]

Traditional Latin mass parishes are rather known for using private instruction rather than RCIA. I don't know what eastern rite parishes do, but the process for joining the church through one of them may well be simpler from eastern Orthodoxy than otherwise. Both of those options- and also most Anglican ordinariate parishes- are going to use a far more reverent liturgy than a typical Novus Ordo.

I'm afraid neither of those is a viable option for where I'm located.

Home or school?

[The Archregimancy]

I'm not Catholic, so have no brief to defend the Papacy.

But it's not a secret that there have been bad Popes and good Popes; and that some of the bad Popes were spectacularly bad.

All the same, I'd rather criticise the Papacy for things it's actually done wrong rather than things that more likely than not never happened. So the 10th-century pornocracy? Very, very bad. Covering up 20th-century child abuse? Very, very bad. The Banquet of Chestnuts? Meh.

I know Orthodoxy is different with Confirmation, but who is your saint? Just curious.

Destroy all Arians!

[United Muscovite Nations]

I'm afraid neither of those is a viable option for where I'm located.

Home or school?

Either one, there's no Eastern Catholic Church nearby that I'm aware of, no Anglican ordinariate, and the only Latin parish I know of is Nashville that's not SSPX.

[Diopolis]

Home or school?

Either one, there's no Eastern Catholic Church nearby that I'm aware of, no Anglican ordinariate, and the only Latin parish I know of is Nashville that's not SSPX.

SSPX conversions are sometimes recognized by the local authorities, sometimes not. Either way, they have ordinary jurisdiction for about half the things they do now, and claim supplied jurisdiction on the other half.
Wait, you're in Tennessee? The fathers of divine mercy are somewhere around there and offer a relatively reverent novus ordo, or at least I've heard they do. Probably still a drive.

[Luminesa]

Yup! And this is why it’s always good to ask questions. Otherwise, you never know what you don’t know.

I have been, it's just that everyone has been giving me ambiguous answers until now.

I was saying that more to admonish myself, lol.

[United Muscovite Nations]

Either one, there's no Eastern Catholic Church nearby that I'm aware of, no Anglican ordinariate, and the only Latin parish I know of is Nashville that's not SSPX.

SSPX conversions are sometimes recognized by the local authorities, sometimes not. Either way, they have ordinary jurisdiction for about half the things they do now, and claim supplied jurisdiction on the other half.
Wait, you're in Tennessee? The fathers of divine mercy are somewhere around there and offer a relatively reverent novus ordo, or at least I've heard they do. Probably still a drive.

What city are they in?

[Luminesa]

I mean, contemporary music in Mass can feel off, but you should join a church because you feel this is how you can best worship God. Not just for the music, though as a choir-girl I can tell you that good music does help worship a lot.

Contemporary music doesn't feel like the best way to worship God, though, is what I mean.

I getcha. Going to the cathedral for Mass is always a treat because A.) there’s a cafe right next to the Cathedral that I just recently found, and B.) the music at the cathedral sounds heavenly because they have an organ and traditional music.

[Diopolis]

SSPX conversions are sometimes recognized by the local authorities, sometimes not. Either way, they have ordinary jurisdiction for about half the things they do now, and claim supplied jurisdiction on the other half.
Wait, you're in Tennessee? The fathers of divine mercy are somewhere around there and offer a relatively reverent novus ordo, or at least I've heard they do. Probably still a drive.

What city are they in?

I'm not sure. I've just met people at traditional Catholic gatherings who claim to drive to a reverent novus ordo from the fathers of divine mercy who live along the border between tennessee and kentucky.
Edit: They're actually in Auburn Kentucky. I'm not sure where that is. Here's their website.

[United Muscovite Nations]

What city are they in?

I'm not sure. I've just met people at traditional Catholic gatherings who claim to drive to a reverent novus ordo from the fathers of divine mercy who live along the border between tennessee and kentucky.
Edit: They're actually in Auburn Kentucky. I'm not sure where that is. Here's their website.

Yeah, it's pretty far.

[Angleter]

Home or school?

Either one, there's no Eastern Catholic Church nearby that I'm aware of, no Anglican ordinariate, and the only Latin parish I know of is Nashville that's not SSPX.

This website might help with finding a nearby TLM. Even the churches that only do a TLM once a month will probably have a relatively reverent Novus Ordo and a decent RCIA / instruction programme.

[United Muscovite Nations]

Either one, there's no Eastern Catholic Church nearby that I'm aware of, no Anglican ordinariate, and the only Latin parish I know of is Nashville that's not SSPX.

This website might help with finding a nearby TLM. Even the churches that only do a TLM once a month will probably have a relatively reverent Novus Ordo and a decent RCIA / instruction programme.

None nearby. Also I'd rather have a reverent novus ordo than a TLM because I want to be able to understand the mass.

[Salus Maior]

As an aside, my RCIA class has recently started talking about confirmation Saints, and after some deliberation I've decided to pick

(Image)

, the last Habsburg Kaiser as my baptismal Saint.

Firstly, good luck on your journey to Baptism!

Second, why did you choose him exactly? Do you feel a special conenction to him?

Oh, I missed this post.

I did post my reasoning here:

It's a pretty awesome story that's for sure xD

I decided to pick Charles after reading a biography on his life, honestly in a lot of ways he exemplifies the man I always wanted to be. Very self-sacrificial, devoted to all his duties, to his family, and very devout.

Although I can expand on it a little. For one, I'm a sincere monarchist although that's mostly the "how" I came to learn about him rather than the "why" I decided on him. I bought a biography on him and honestly before it even got around to him becoming the Emperor I started leaning towards picking him. He's just a very inspiring man when it comes to his devotion to the faith, his family, and all the duties handed to him. One example that I felt a connection to while I was reading about him was when he was given the Order of the Golden Fleece, which was a chivalric order that was typically given out by the Emperor to high class Austro-Hungarians and generally taken for granted, Charles went out of his way to research the founding manuscripts of the order so that he could stay true to its original meaning and virtues and act accordingly.

He generally is someone I aspire to be like.

[Aeritai]

So what's your opinion on some Christians that use fear to get people to believe in our Lord?

Like for example when the Super Blood Moon happen last month some Chrisitans, but not all started preaching about the end times and scaring people.

And it is in my personal opinion that we shouldn't use fear to get people into our faith rather we should preach more about God's love for everyone and to show everybody he is a good Father.

[Minachia]

So what's your opinion on some Christians that use fear to get people to believe in our Lord?

Like for example when the Super Blood Moon happen last month some Chrisitans, but not all started preaching about the end times and scaring people.

And it is in my personal opinion that we shouldn't use fear to get people into our faith rather we should preach more about God's love for everyone and to show everybody he is a good Father.

We're supposed to fear and love God.
Sure, we should preach about His love, since that's what'll get people to accept His word, but they also should know that they should fear the Lord.