User:Sophroniscus
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Hagios 0 Theos
Hagios Iskiros
Hagios Athanitos
Eleison imas.
Sophroniscus was the father of Socrates...
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[edit] Who am I?
I am simply a Roman Catholic, a Lay Carmelite, who some twenty years ago discovered the beauty of the Byzantine Catholic Church. I instantly fell in love with the singing. I had attended the Divine Liturgy there ever since until February 2005, when I attended a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church... I love all the Eastern Churches and as a rule, attend an Eastern Catholic Liturgy every week.
It is my desire that all that I do should be marked with great equanimity. It is better to let the nations rage than to be dragged down into their errors. For God has abandoned the world to its darkness.
[edit] A Little History
Born in Toledo, Ohio, my family moved to Alabama when I was eleven years old. I attended Auburn University where I earned a Bachelors degree, and later a Master's degree in Mathematics. I taught Mathematical Sciences at Eastern Kentucky University. While there I was the faculty sponsor for the newly formed Judo Club. (Yes, I studied Judo while a student at Auburn.) After two years teaching I moved to Columbia, SC and took on a computer job. After two more years I moved to Georgia, where I have lived ever since.
[edit] The Maronite connection
Once, some years ago, I had occasion to visit the city where I was born. It was a business trip. But I took the time one night to visit my godparents in the company of my aunt. As we were waiting for dinner we engaged in some pleasant conversation. My aunt (God rest her soul) took the occasion to point out how my godparents needed to pray for their wayward godson. She said that I attended a Byzantine Catholic church, and so was doomed to suffer in hell for all eternity. I corrected her, pointing out that Canon Law explicitly allows one to attend the Divine Liturgy in any Catholic rite.
She was not impressed by my argument, however.
After dinner my godfather told me that he was pleased by my choice of churches. For he and his wife were Maronite Catholics! To think that at my Baptism I had been entrusted in a special way to these Eastern-Rite Catholics -- it is more than I can understand. Surely, the Holy Spirit has a sense of humor... --Sophroniscus 22:10, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] The love of wisdom
I have a lively interest in the love of wisdom, especially in the link between the Categories and the Elements and the link between the Soul and the chakras.
I am fascinated by the strange views of western philosophy, and how the West views Eastern thought. We say that the Greek philosophers were Western. But we say that the Greek Church is Eastern. How completely absurd! Personally, I draw the line between East and West the way the Romans did it, between the two empires, East and West. Christianity originated in Palestine, an Eastern country. It has much in common with Semitic and Greek thought. It is therefore an Eastern Religion. In the same way, the Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and all the rest were clearly Eastern. Reading them in this way makes an enormous difference in the way one understands them.
The position of Aristotle in Western philosophy is of particular interest, for he is called, not "a philosopher" but "The Philosopher," an absurd appellation. At the time, of course, the Scholastics of the West knew virtually nothing about Plato. They blindly supposed that Aristotle's criticism of Plato was absolutely true. In the Neo-Platonic schools on the other hand, Aristotle's works were studied as the "lesser mysteries" while Plato's works were studied as the "greater mysteries."
[edit] Faith versus Good Works
Recently a friend criticized the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh (the Ruthenian Catholic Church in the USA) on the grounds that it emphasizes good works rather than faith. This complaint, of course, goes back to Martin Luther and his theory of 'Sola fide,' that salvation comes through faith, alone.
[edit] Historical background
I would begin by granting that some of Luther's concerns were valid. This should come as no surprise to anyone. The Council of Trent required the Church to make numerous changes in its day-to-day practice to eliminate abuses that had become all too common. These abuses, however, were those of the Western Church, that is, the Roman and Gallican/Celtic churches. Neither the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh nor the Ruthenian Catholic Church were involved in these abuses. Indeed, at the time of the Council of Trent, the Ruthenian Catholic Church didn't exist, per se, but was a part of what would one day come to be known as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Ruthenian Catholic Church was created at the Union of Uzhhorod in 1646, long after the Protestant Reformation. The Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh was created in 1924 due to cultural differences between people from Carpathian Ruthenia and Ukraine --- differences which were of little importance in Eastern Europe, since these two groups lived in different areas. When they came to the United States, however, their differences were all too obvious. Eventually it seemed best to divide the Ruthenians from the Ukrainians.
[edit] East is East; West is West
Without a doubt, Eastern Christianity looks very strange to Western eyes, be they Catholic or Protestant. How easy it is to condemn what one doesn't understand!! Taking a quick look at such a church one can easily get the wrong first impression, judging it only in terms of one's immediate culture.
I would emphasize the fact that the culture shock that one may experience in such a church isn't really a Catholic versus Protestant divide, but a more basic divide between East and West.
The Eastern Catholic churches frequently find themselves condemned on all sides. To the Western mind they are at best, odd. To their non-Catholic brothers in the East, they seem to be traitors. Why do they do it? Why not slip their bonds to the East and disappear into Western culture --- or else join their non-Catholic brothers?
The answer would seem to be that they recognize a need to stand apart from the divisions which characterize so much of what Christianity has become. Thus they represent the last vestige of the original unity of the Church, East and West.
[edit] Pig Roast
The annual pig roast at Epiphany Byzantine Catholic Church is scheduled for Sunday, May 15th, 2011.
Supposedly Bishop William will be coming down from New Jersey to celebrate with us... but bishops schedules are always subject to change. If he can not make it, I'm sure Father Scott will fill in for him.
In any event, the Episcopal Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is scheduled to start at 10:00 AM. Lunch follows the liturgy. I will probably bring kimchi. Father Scott will provide the pig.
I would invite all of my friends to attend. The church is at...
2030 Old Alabama Road
Roswell, GA
I expect that the Divine Liturgy will be 100% in English... though the cantor may wish to throw in a few words in Old Slavonic. You never know about cantors...
As in the past, music will be provided by the Atlanta Polka Band...
[edit] Middle-Eastern Food Festival
The 46th Middle-Eastern Food Festival at Saint John Chrysostom Melkite-Greek Catholic Church] is scheduled for...
featuring Middle Eastern food, deserts, church tours, music, dance, children's activities and cultural items.
Music provided by the renowned performers Albert Agha and Ensemble
The church is located at 1428 Ponce de Leon, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30307.
The Food Festival is a fundraiser so be sure to bring your wallet.
The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom starts at 10:30 AM Sunday morning for those who would like to attend.
[edit] Contributions
[edit] New Pages
I have created the entries below...
Addai Albino redwood Aleixo de Menezes Blessed Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Blessed Candlemas of San José Blessed Joseph Vaz Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh Carmelites of Mary Immaculate Categories (Stoic) Christifideles Coonan Cross Oath Dharna Differentia Doctrine of Addai Dreamz Eastern Religion Ecklonia Ecklonia cava Economia Economy of Salvation Ellen Airgood François Poulletier de la Salle Gehanta Genus (philosophy) Holy Qurbana Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari Infant Communion Inherence Interactive Intelligence, Inc. Jacobins (religious order) Joe Ransdell Kamelaukion Lailat al-Ma'raj Lanka Lay Carmelites Lerpong Wichaikhammat Local hidden variable theory Maranatha Mariam Baouardy Martin Knutzen Ochus Bochus Our Lady of Mount Carmel Padārtha Padroado Participation (philosophy) Pendilia Precious Blood Presanctified Liturgy Robert Wardy Sacred Mysteries Sacramental matter and form Sacraments of Initiation Saint Alphonsa Saint Simon Stock South of Superior Stephen Menn Synod of Diamper The Hallowing Of Nestorius The Hallowing Of Theodore of Mopsuestia Thabilitho The Egoscue Method The Theology of Aristotle Third order William C. Skurla William Davis William H. Davis Western Religion Words of Institution
[edit] Minor Changes
I've made minor changes to the entries below...
Abselema of Edessa Agapism Al-Kindi Altar stone Ann Coulter Antimension Asa Candler Apatheia Apathy Apodicticity Arame Assyrian Church of the East Ave verum corpus Baptism Bhumibol Adulyadej Blessed Maria Theresa Chiramel Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic Cartesian Meditations Category Category (Kant) Categories of the understanding Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography Cholesterol Christos voskrese Chrysippus Circle of fifths Communion for the Disabled Community Comparative religion Consecration Constantinople Denny Schaffer Divine Liturgy EDTA East Syrian Rite Eastern Roman Empire Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Epiclesis Epictetus Epoché Essence–Energies distinction (Eastern Orthodox theology) Blessed Eufrasia of the Sacred Heart of Jesus First Communion Garcinia Gethsemani Ghost Festival Goa Inquisition Great and Holy Friday Gregory Dialogus Happiness Is a Warm Gun Hero Engine Hierarchical Communion Historical roots of Catholic Eucharistic theology Edmund Husserl Hylomorphism Immanuel Kant Jean Kennedy Smith John Cassian Krill Lèse majesté Library of Alexandria List of Patriarchs of Babylon Liturgy of Addeus and Maris Knanaya Kottayam Malayalam films of the 2000s Mamta Mohandas Matter Maximos Megarian school of philosophy Menezes Nice (disambiguation) Nobel Peace Prize Noche de las Brujas Null subject language Nyaya Oratorians Orientalium Ecclesiarum Paedo-Baptism Paphnutios of Egypt Philip's Fast Philokalia Platonic realism Prayer of the Heart Prayer rope Privation Pseudoscience Public holidays in Puerto Rico Roman Missal Sit-in Satire Saint Philip Neri Saint Pope Pius X Ransdell Raphaël Dubois Redwood Saint Thomas Christians Self-esteem Sequoia sempervirens Seven deadly sins Seventy Disciples Sign of the Cross Six Enneads Sloth St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago Stoicism Summa Logicae Syrian Malabar Nasrani Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Talk:Doxa Talk:Jyeshta Talk:War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Template:Mohandas K. Gandhi Thaddaeus The Categories The Five Predicables Theodore the Interpreter Ideal form Thomas Aquinas Tiara Trisagion Tritheism Udipi Udipi cuisine Vaisheshika Virtus (virtue) Walden War Powers Act of 1941 Western Roman Empire William of Auxerre
[edit] New Categories
I also created a category for...
Oratorians
