Praying under all circumstances

edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
Im a devout copt.
But, in life I realised that being coptic in cities where there are no Coptic Churches is quite hard.

So, I went to the Catholic Church, and frankly, not only could I pray, but I enjoyed it, and my prayers were answered.

Is that bad to go to the Catholic Church? After all - we should " pray that God teaches us to pray in all Circumstances"?


Comments

  • QT_PT_2T,

    I personally think it's better to go to a Catholic Church than to not go to church at all, but I'll call your attention to this discussion:

    http://tasbeha.org/content/community/index.php?topic=7897.0  (fifth, steventh and eighth comments)

    George
  • Excuse me: but

    this statement "


    You ask, will the heterodox be saved… Why do you worry about them? They have a Saviour Who desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own sins… I will tell you one thing, however: should you, being Orthodox and possessing the Truth in its fullness, betray Orthodoxy, and enter a different faith, you will lose your soul forever.

    "

    Has nothing correct about it. If someone is Orthodox and becomes Catholic, it does not mean they are going to hell!!! That is basically saying that all Catholics are going to hell!!!!

    That is completely ridiculous!

    I am Orthodox. I love my Church, its rites and its richness. However, in times where it JUST ISNT THERE... i.e. there is no physical building or Coptic Community in a city, the next best option is the Roman Catholic Church. That's all I am saying.

    If there were two Churches side by side: a Coptic and a Catholic, I'd go to the poorer, less decorated Coptic Church. However, if the Catholic Church was right near my home, and the Coptic was so far away and going there meant I'd have a headache from the noise, then is going to the Catholic in that case bad??

    What are the rules governing Copts in such situations? Are we allowed to go to Catholic Churches in situations where we have no Orthodox Church??

  • The rule is, as always, you should ask your FOC about your own circumstances.

    What might be OK for one person might be harmful for another.

    Have you spoken to your FOC about your problem with not being able to concentrate at this particular Church, if not then the discussion here is only hypothetical and should not be applied to anyone's actual situation without discretion.

    Father Peter
  • Fr. Peter,

    This is a new topic... this topic is if there is NO coptic Church in an area - are you allowed to go to the Catholic?

    My goodness - iM not suggesting that it doesnt matter if you lose your Orthodox Church. For me, it matters!! But, in cases where there are no Orthodox Churches, would it be OK to just go to the Catholic??
  • If an Orthodox person is in a place very far from any Orthodox Churches, first of all Oriental Orthodox, then Eastern Orthodox, then it might well be good for that person to find fellowship in a traditional Roman Catholic congregation, but this should be discussed with that person's FOC. There are no black and white answers and therefore it is not appropriate to look for a simple black and white answer.

    In one situation God might call that person to establish a small Orthodox prayer group, in another he might require that person to make great efforts to attend an Orthodox liturgy, even if it entails a long car drive. So it is not possible to say, 'If you are far from a Coptic Church go to a Catholic one'.

    It would seem that even general advice would be to seek another Orthodox Church first, and in any case not to receive communion at a Roman Catholic Church, and when seeking a Roman Catholic Church, in extremis, to find a traditional one if at all possible.

    Father Peter
  • [quote author=peterfarrington link=topic=7975.msg103011#msg103011 date=1242119716]
    If an Orthodox person is in a place very far from any Orthodox Churches, first of all Oriental Orthodox, then Eastern Orthodox, then it might well be good for that person to find fellowship in a traditional Roman Catholic congregation, but this should be discussed with that person's FOC. There are no black and white answers and therefore it is not appropriate to look for a simple black and white answer.

    In one situation God might call that person to establish a small Orthodox prayer group, in another he might require that person to make great efforts to attend an Orthodox liturgy, even if it entails a long car drive. So it is not possible to say, 'If you are far from a Coptic Church go to a Catholic one'.

    It would seem that even general advice would be to seek another Orthodox Church first, and in any case not to receive communion at a Roman Catholic Church, and when seeking a Roman Catholic Church, in extremis, to find a traditional one if at all possible.

    Father Peter


    Father, Your response really put a smile on my face...
    You know why?

    Go on ask me why?





    OK.. i'll tell you. Because, I ended up doing EXACTLY that by myself.  I mean, the LAST place I wanted was a Catholic Church, and yes, I went to another Orthodox Church, and had communion there.. but their mass was always in Slavonic (??) i think! Or russian? I couldnt tell the difference.

    And then, the funniest part, out of all the Catholic communities, the only one whom i really found were Orthodox were, as you correctly pointed out, was the "Traditionalists" - but guess what??

    Go on guess???



    OK.. I'll tell you:

    The "Traditionalist" Catholics are excommunicated from the main Catholic Church. In fact, for a catholic to go to a traditionalist liturgy, and have communion, they must be rebaptised again! Wow!

    Anyway, they don't accept Orthdox Christians in the mass to partake of the Communion. We are heretic for them, and they are still heretic for us. But their values, and their dogmas are closer to ours! This is for sure!!!

  • Brother, you dont realise that your prayers are always heard from god. you dont need a church to pray to god...but you need a church to take the holy communion.
    An Example: The monks in the wilderness pray in the mountains,dune etc...not in a church :)
    so you dont really have to go to a catholic church.
    Build a bond between you and god...make that bond powerful with prayer from the heart...prayer with no objective is like a gun which has no bullets to kill the devil. prayer with an objective to thank god, praise him with hymns and to ask for help , destroys the devil.

    god bless you...and always beleive that you are being watched by god.
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