Hi, yes, I've decided to stick my foot in the water and start a thread. I do believe it is allowed. I would like to have a clear understanding regarding the similarities and differences of the OCA and of the ROCOR. Thanks
true. confessions are basically once a week for rocor.ROCOR uses the Old Calendar and some or all of their services may be in Slavonic. They sometimes have stricter rules about how often one must go to confession in order to approach the chalice for Communion.
ROCOR uses the Old Calendar and some or all of their services may be in Slavonic.
They sometimes have stricter rules about how often one must go to confession in order to approach the chalice for Communion.
there's more...I see, thanks.
The ROCOR and the OCA have a complicated history of cooperation, rivalry, and sometimes outright hostility. These two jurisdictions, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), both have their origins in the Church of Russia (a.k.a. the Moscow Patriarchate or MP), and their histories as clearly distinct and identifiable entities both stem from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in the early 20th century.
In examining this history, other names are used for the pre-1970 OCA, the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in America (its official name) and the Metropolia (its common name). The ROCOR is also referred to as the Karlovtsy Synod (from its seminal formations in Serbia) or simply the Synod, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, or ROCA.
source - ROCOR and OCA - OrthodoxWiki
there's more...
true. we arent allowed to wear pants in rocor. head coverings vary from parish to parish but for sure you cannot recieve communion without a head scarf.
true. we arent allowed to wear pants in rocor. head coverings vary from parish to parish but for sure you cannot recieve communion without a head scarf.
Unfortunately as many OCA parishes are multi-ethnic this could cause a problem. I know a few cradle Orthodox from countries under Turkish/Muslim yoke who would not be comfortable at all covering their hair. They don't have a problem with those of us who do wear scarves, but it could be an issue if it were mandatory.
Here are my highly-opinionated remarks.
Everybody in ROCOR wears a high-back phelonion and nobody will ever EVER do a Byzantine/Greek setting of anything. In the OCA, both of those are negotiable. I think ROCOR wins that battle.
ROCOR and the OCA historically had a lot of canonical problems, having been set adrift by the Russian Church and left to fend for themselves for a few decades.
It wasn't until 1970 and the Tomos of Autocephaly that the OCA was sort of unambiguously back in communion with the rest of world Orthodoxy, but even then not everybody acknowledged the autocephaly (and they still don't!). ROCOR, on the other hand, didn't "come in from the cold" until 2007 with their reunion to Moscow. To this day, they still sort of look askance at some other jurisdictions.
A lot of the OCA parishes came from Carpatho-Russian Catholics who converted, whereas ROCOR was more Russian Russian Russian - this leads to some differences in "style" that persist to this day. My own OCA parish uses a more Russian style, so I can't comment extensively.
Yep.
In OCA the guidelines seem to be either once per month or each major fast (4 times per year). I've heard both from different priests.
Women wear head coverings and skirts in ROCOR. There will probably be a box of scarves at the candle counter and they may even have a few wrap skirts to be borrowed.
Headcoverings are more sporadic in the OCA just from my limited observation. Pants are acceptable for women.
Confession before each communion, but if you're taking communion twice in a week (like during lent or holy week) you don't have to confess again.
I've seen women read the epistle in an OCA church. I have not seen that yet in ROCOR. Maybe it happens.
I think some people in ROCOR are under the impression that people in the OCA don't fast as strictly. Not true in my experience. in my observation the fasting is the same.
I feel like the prayer rule (jordanville prayer book) is more set in ROCOR and more variable in the OCA. My observation is limited of course.
M.
true. we arent allowed to wear pants in rocor. head coverings vary from parish to parish but for sure you cannot recieve communion without a head scarf.
Unfortunately as many OCA parishes are multi-ethnic this could cause a problem. I know a few cradle Orthodox from countries under Turkish/Muslim yoke who would not be comfortable at all covering their hair. They don't have a problem with those of us who do wear scarves, but it could be an issue if it were mandatory.
Our American convert Presyvtera in my Greek church is about the only woman in our church to wear a head covering. And she actually pulls it down off of her hair when receiving communion and then pulls it back up as she's walking away.