A Time of Preparation Surprise it is that time of year again! Last Sunday it was Christ the King for Byzantine Catholics, which reminded me that it’s time to start thinking about preparing for Christmas. Preparing to prepare… that’s how prepared we are! Advent vs Nativity Fast In the Byzantine Catholic Church the time preparing …
A Collection of Helpful Responses to the Sex Abuse Scandal in the Church
Overwhelmed by all the Scandal? So the big topic of the day is the sex scandal and cover up in the church. In the past few weeks, there has been a ton of conversation about the abuses and cover-ups by Bishops and Cardinals. Even Pope Francis has been implicated in the web of cover-ups. Many …
Dormition Feast: What to Do with Blessed Flowers and More
The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos While all Marian Feasts are awesome, wonderful, and special, the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos has a special place in my heart. It is my firstborn daughter’s day of birth (Little Fox). Also called the Assumption of Mary, the feast of Dormition falls on the 15th …
Drawn to the East: Why the Byzantine Life is so Beautiful
The Byzantine Life All the cool Catholics are joining the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church. Well, Matt Fradd made the leap. (And my husband! Though his family is already Ukrainian and his spiritual formation was at our local Ukrainian Catholic elementary school). Anyway, at one point or another, you’ve probably heard about someone transferring …
Our Top Christian Board Books for Babies
Christian Board Books for Babies! Our family spends a lot of time at church. We might be there for Divine Liturgy, a moleben, a talk/study, or some other church event. Now that we have a little one, we like to do our best to help her be calm, quiet, and (somewhat) attentive to what is …
The Orthodachs Show – Ep. 2
I’m a fire’n my Chilean bishops Update: Some of the stories I commented on below have developed. Here is the original article from Father De Souza. Here is an update on the Chilean bishops story. Chilean bishops travel to Rome for a private three day synod on the sexual abuse scandals. In this episode BadgerDad …
What Are Our Rites: An Introduction to Byzantine Catholicism
If you’re like me, you probably grew up hearing very little or even nothing about the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church. Maybe you’ve heard something about there being married Catholic priests, or lots of incense at a daily liturgy. Maybe you found my blog because you were looking for more information. Well you’ve come …
7 Things to Love about Roman Catholicism
With the amazing beauty of living a Byzantine life, it is only to easy to dismiss the rich traditions of Roman Catholicism. To be honest, it was harder to make this weeks list, compared to last weeks [7 Things to Love About Byzantine Catholicism]. However, there still are many things that I appreciate about Roman …
7 Things to Love about Byzantine Catholicism
Today I thought I’d do a fun post about things to love about Byzantine Catholicism. When I attended my first Divine Liturgy at a Ukrainian Catholic Church, it was a little stressful. My husband (who I was just dating at the time) expressed a huge interest in having our family be centred in this church, …
9 Ways to be Intentional about Celebrating the Easter Season
Christ is Risen! Easter Sunday (Pascha) is easily one of the biggest celebrations of the year. With time at church, a big family meal, and Easter egg hunts, our children catch on that the Sunday is important. But how to we continue to keep an Easter mind frame for the rest of the season? Celebrate …