FOR UN-ORTODOSSO Cristiano
WHO LIVES IN ITALY [1]
Italy, as you know , is a majority Catholic country officially. It 'good to keep in mind that the Church of Rome for a thousand years was the most prestigious Orthodox patriarchate dall'Xl century and only began to separate from communion with our Church in successive stages by changing the liturgy, dogma, spirituality and ecclesiastical discipline.
Up to ten centuries ago baptized by immersing in kolinvìtra [2] like us, gave communion with the wine together with the true bread, did not use the host as they do today, made the sign of the Cross Orthodox, their liturgies were very similar to ours, they had no statues, frescoes and icons, but the Eucharistic table and stood behind the iconostasis and their priests, were married as ours.
How many of us can witness, Catholics are often good people, friendly and hospitable, some against us shows a special affection and often we are invited to participate in their masses, with the assurance that it would be the same. This is because most Catholics ignore our rules and are convinced that no substantial difference between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Sometimes we also feel indebted to these people who provide time and material aid in support of immigrants.
At present, however, even if relations between our churches have improved, However, they have still not returned to orthodoxy, and then there is no sacramental communion with them. This means that when an Orthodox receive a sacrament from a Catholic priest, is automatically carried out by the Orthodox Church. For the Orthodox there is no danger more serious than that. Even accepting the idea that Catholicism and Orthodoxy or Protestantism and Orthodoxy are the same thing, it means denying the orthodox faith: this is also a danger for the soul.
To get away from this danger we must remember that:
1. No Orthodox may receive Holy Communion in the Catholic Church, or else by Catholic priests.
2. No Orthodox can confess or receive any blessing from a Catholic priest.
3. Marriage to a Catholic is allowed as an exception: it must be celebrated in the Orthodox Church and the couple have to promise in writing that the children will be born will be baptized and educated in the Orthodox Church.
4. When an Orthodox ill should receive the holy oil alone by Orthodox priests.
5. When he dies an Orthodox funeral should be done by an Orthodox priest, possibly in an Orthodox church.
6. The houses we live in can not be blessed by Catholic priests.
7. Best to avoid all public functions of the non-Orthodox (Masses, rosaries, prayer meetings gender gap), unless it is weddings, funerals and other events friends or relatives.
8. If our children go to school in Italy should not follow I'insegnamento religion.
9. is not good for our children to learn the Catholic catechism.
10. can not be a witness at the marriage of Catholics, nor be godfather to their baptisms, communions or confirmations, even if their priests themselves admit it.
In the event that someone misinformed has committed any mistakes listed above, should know that there is still time to fix, as soon as possible if you contact an Orthodox priest for confession.
E 'must be very careful to greek or Uniate Catholics (eg . Italo-Albanians in Italy ) [3] . They are priests who belong entirely to the Vatican, even if we celebrate the liturgy. Often they are born in our country, speak our language, know our traditions and are willing to swear on the Gospels that are truly Orthodox in practice, however, are real disguised as Orthodox priests, Catholic priests, teaching them to recognize: if you hear them preach that there are differences with the Catholic Church, then you have to do with one of them: in this case is all that We wrote above about the Catholic sacraments.
does not matter if you celebrate it as we, in our language and our rite, because the Orthodox liturgy and the priest who celebrates must actually belong to the Orthodox Church, not a foreign body that mimics.
Unfortunately, you can also meet some Orthodox priest who shares. argues that these beliefs or even that there will not be long before the reunification of the churches: these people should be avoided because they not only risk their soul, but can also affect your own. Every so often, meetings are held between Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. The fact that often there are also priests of our Church, does not mean that the union has already done, just that we study and reflect on the true teachings of Christ and engage the ideas and positions.
The sacred canons Orthodox priests also prohibit the wearing of our church to participate in the priestly garments or even part of them as the epitrachìlion [4] .
Those clerics who violate these provisions commit a very serious sin, because the Orthodox liturgical vestments should be worn only for the Orthodox liturgy.
What to do in Italy to avoid losing the right way? Find the nearest Orthodox Church, no matter if it belongs to another patriarchate. The idea that the Church and nationality must match is a heresy condemned two centuries ago. Wherever there is an Orthodox Church are at home because the Church is the true home of Orthodox Christians.
Get at least the New Testament and some books of prayers of our Church (Psalter, Book of Hours). If the Orthodox Church is too far, try to get there at least once a month. The other Sundays, at the same time when we celebrate the Divine Liturgy at home to pray before the icon reading the Orthodox prayer books and the New Testament.
We all know that it's hard to live in a non-Orthodox, but we must remember that the hard work that we do not lose our way in these conditions, has a lot of value before God
NOTES
[1] Handbook spiritual survival an Orthodox Christian who lives in Italy "from his site: www.wordpress.com;
[2] kolinvìtra: Source used for baptism by immersion, normal practice in the Byzantine Church. It is also used for the blessing of the waters of the great aghiasmos Theophany. Usually located in the narthex ;
[3] ns. added;
[4] Epitrachìlion : Priest Stole, made up a large piece of fabric, folded and sewn along U the inner edge, turned around his neck comes to the feet. It is decorated with crosses and ends with a fringe. It symbolizes the grace of God minister lavished on the exercise of its functions. It is eminently priestly symbol. The priest should always be covered when chairing public oration. According to Simeon of Thessalonica, it is so essential that if the priest has it, before presiding over any liturgical function must bless a piece of cloth or a rope and Porsel way of it.
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