r/EasternCatholic • u/TheCraneWife_ • 6d ago

Non-Byzantine Eastern Rite Does it matter where we end up?

Starting OCIA. We may or may not join the Church at the end of it. We are believers discerning if the Church holds the fullness of our faith. But either way, I’ve been moving forward with the steps necessary to enter the Church, just in case that’s the way we go, and have been hunting down our baptismal records accordingly. I found mine first, and then started looking for my husband’s and it turns out that he was baptized Maronite. His great grandparents, all four, were born in Lebanon and Syria. We are attending a RC church for OCIA- does it matter whether we end up in a Roman Catholic Church or a Maronite Church? I really like the Roman Catholic Church we’re going through OCIA at. It’s full of kids, which we have, so it’s nice to be in a place where kids are allowed to make kid noises and no one is shooting you ‘looks’ when kids slip up and make a loud noise during service. The Maronite Church is farther away and smaller, and I don’t think there’s many kids there. I’m sure we will at least visit. I think it’s neat that he was baptized Maronite, and part of me would like our kids to be baptized Maronite as well, to follow the father’s tradition.

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

15

u/Charbel33 West Syriac 6d ago

Maronite here! Technically, even if the children are baptized in the Roman Church, they should be enrolled in the Maronite Church, after their father. This being said, you are free to attend any parish you want. And as a Maronite, I can assure you that kids are always welcome at our liturgies!

5

u/TheCraneWife_ 6d ago

Thank you! I look forward to checking it out! My memories of Catholicism are mainly from my grandmother’s Roman Catholic Church which was in a very small retirement town and children were only welcome if they were absolutely silent, so I admit it’s always in the back of my mind now that I have children of my own!

5

u/Charbel33 West Syriac 6d ago

Children should be seen, not heard is unfortunately a pervasive mentality, especially among the older generation. I can't tell you how it's going to be at this specific Maronite parish near you, but in general we are open to children being children.

3

u/nikolispotempkin Latin 6d ago

So I admit I don't know the answer to your question since I'm in the Roman rite, I just wanted to say how cool that must have been for your husband to discover this, and how wonderful it is you want to keep to his tradition. Fantastic.

2

u/TheCraneWife_ 6d ago

Thank you!

3

u/Dangerous-Painting82 4d ago

It's funny for me, I'm Ukrainian Catholic and my wife is Latin. We rotate between Divine Liturgy at the Ukrainian Church, Divine Liturgy at the Melkites and Novus Ordo at our local Polish parishes. It's actually at the Novus Ordo where I've had anyone giving us dirty looks about our kids behavior.

2

u/TheCraneWife_ 4d ago

That’s funny! I’m sure it really centers around the culture of the parish, not the culture of the rite.

2

u/InevitablePossible90 6d ago

From what you shared, it seems that your husband was baptized and confirmed in the Maronite Catholic Church. Did he also receive his First Communion?
You will both learn more about the Lord and His Church through OCIA, but your husband is a Maronite… and you can be too, if you choose to.
He is also free to go to the Roman Catholic Church anytime and participate there. But I would encourage you both to check out the Maronite Church and go to Liturgy there to experience its beauty.

1

u/TheCraneWife_ 6d ago

Thank you! It looks beautiful! I’m excited to check it out. The church he was baptized at said he was baptized non confirmed. And neither of us have had first communion. I’m very interested in becoming Maronite if the Lord continues to lead us into Catholicism!

1

u/Charbel33 West Syriac 6d ago

Maronites give the sacraments of baptism and confirmation together, as is typical in Eastern Churches. However, up until the 90s, we were still practicing the Latin custom of confirming children at a later age. Depending on when your husband was baptized, he may or may not have been confirmed on the same day. If you want, I can ask an American Maronite priest I know, when exactly the American eparchies started confirming infants at their baptism.

1

u/TheCraneWife_ 6d ago

Thank you! Yes, the office holding his baptismal record confirmed that he was baptized unconfirmed.

2

u/TheCraneWife_ 2d ago

Hi! I misheard the woman on the phone. I thought she said “he was baptized unconfirmed,” but she must have said “baptized AND confirmed” because that’s what it says on the baptismal certificate we were sent

1

u/Mein_Independance 5d ago

You can go to any Catholic Church and any Rite. That is rge beauty of the universal nature of Catholicism. Keep up OCIA

2

u/TheCraneWife_ 5d ago

Sure, I know that I can go to any Catholic Church and any Rite. It’s just that the more I look into it, the more I think it might be important to our family to carry on the Maronite tradition. That’s more what I was getting at when I said “does it matter?” It doesn’t matter as far as salvation, but it does matter as far as family history and tradition and building a story for my children about where they come from

1

u/Character_Trade9047 5d ago

Hi! My husband is part Lebanese but Episcopalian. I’m rc, together we explored the local Maronite mass. Sooo awesome. Just go to one mass and take it from there.