How Did Byzantine Christianity Change My Life?

Let us begin with a very short introduction to my Catholic life. I was baptized after a few weeks of my birth and I was confirmed a year old as was the local custom in Mexico. I received communion, with permission of the local Bishop, at the age of six. My Catholic faith started as a young boy, not only I always loved to ask questions related to the Church, but also about nature. I wanted to know why objects would move, why the priest used wine and bread for Holy Communion, why Jesus died for us, etc. This brought me to read the Bible from a young age and to explore the world around me. To say curiosity got the best out of me, so throughout my life, I have been the boy that asks a thousand questions, also the one that explores different worlds through books. Not only did I spend weeks reading books about dragons, but in due time I developed a fascination for history, religions and philosophical treatises.

Thus, growing up only meant one thing for me, and that is, that I only began to ask harder questions. Questions that made many people uncomfortable because I began to challenge the status quo. In the exploration of this world, I discovered in due time things beyond the small-bubble Christianity that I knew as a child. But, in the discovery of these new things, I encountered something unexpected, Byzantine Christianity. It was something different, something completely foreign to the Catholicism that I knew. Yet while being foreign, it was extremely beautiful. At first, the view was of admiration towards the aestheticism of the Byzantine churches and cathedrals, within this, an external struggle began. The beauty of the aestheticism began to pull me in other directions. Of course, this was just the beginning. I started to explore the reasons why the Churches were covered with iconography, where iconography began, and why was Byzantine Christianity so different from Western Christianity. You see, growing up, I was not aware that there were non-Catholics in this world, much less I was aware of the diversity of Christianity. The discovery of this beautiful new world led me to something unexpected.

The Prayer Rope and My First Divine Liturgy

The discovery of this "new" form of Christianity led me to something unexpected, the prayer rope. The prayer rope (which is also known as chotki or komboskini) was something that while "foreign" for me felt yet as if it was always there waiting for me to find it. The peace that was brought to my life the first time that I prayed the Jesus prayer was something unexpected. The beauty of such a prayer brought life to me, but it challenged me. The challenge was that this short repetition(s) of the Jesus prayer became my to-go weapon against temptations, but at the same time I felt thirsty, I wanted to know more. Thankfully (or unthankfully), the internet exists, and I came across something unexpected, almost buried from the surface of Western Christianity, the Divine Liturgy. The first Divine Liturgy that I encountered was that of St Basil the Great. Such a beautiful experience it was to be present when I was able to hear the chants of the Orthodox priest in Greek. A language so foreign, yet so close to my heart. At that time while the liturgy was going on and I was praying the Jesus prayer, time stopped, incense filled the beautiful Orthodox church, and one could feel the angels joining mankind in prayer. I was at that moment suspended from reality. I had a glimpse of heaven's gates and I was able to see connect to the lives of the Saints.

Such experience only lead me with one and only one choice, I had to revive my prayer life. Now, for many people, this is not a difficult task. However, I have always been an over-rationalists, so this meant that I needed to begin my theology in prayers, and not with philosophy. The challenge began because I discovered more of the Byzantine-East, the more I loved Christ. Of course, bad habits are hard to change, so without thinking much, I found myself bury deep down in the writings of the Fathers. I was amazed at these men and how their faith remained strong even when they were thrown to the lions, burned alive, and even skinned because they preached Christ. Not only these but also encountered the heresies these men also fought against. They stood against Arians, Nestorians, Gnostics, and many other heretics even at times when the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire embraced the heresies. These men wrote theology that not only surpassed anything modern but that also flew from their love to God. These men were not only theologians, but they were also Super-Heroes.

The discovery of these men guided me through the study of both the Augustinian-Trinatrian school of thought versus that of the Cappadocians. Such was the fire that they planted into my heart that I ended switching out of the major I was studying. For a good portion of my life, I dreamed of building cars, rockets, airplanes... I went to engineering wanting to build a future for myself as well as wanting to discover things beyond the human imagination. Yet, reading these men made me realize one thing, I was not called to the natural sciences of the world. It did not matter how much I loved the theories of dark matter, dark energy... it did not even matter how much I loved to read about quantum physics. All that mattered is that I discovered one thing and one thing alone, Christ was my savior and I was sent to this world not to build rockets, but to pursue holiness.

Then I accidentally discovered the Ukranian Greek Catholic Church

I knew that I loved Byzantine Christianity. From the vespers to the liturgies. From the hours spent reading literature and my visits to different monasteries, I discovered someone. This, someone, was Patriarch Andrey Sheptytsky. Reading about him took me to find out about the suffering of the UGCC under the USSR. I discovered about the ugliness of the Ukranian famines, the suffering that many faithful had to endure in the gulags, and how many young men and women died at the hands of the communist demons because they loved Christ. These stories spoke to me personally, this is because no long ago, my family suffered the same. The Mexican government came, shut down our churches, deported and killed our priests, and it was the people who underground protected and defended the church against not only the Mexican army but also against the help this (the Mexican government) got from the KKK, Great Britain, and the US. The sufferings of the Ukranian people were so different, and yet so alike. Their sufferings spoke to me. I did not heard/read the horrific stories as an outsider because for me the pain they carried was also flowing through my veins. As well, thanks to all of this, I also discovered the life of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, a man who not only suffered under the USSR while he was in the gulag, but that also had to suffer under the Roman Curia while he was in exile in Rome. The Ukranian Greek Catholic Church made me fall in love with her from afar. What is next? I am unsure. There are many obstacles that I must walk ahead. I am not sure how a Mexican-born kid named Sergio will fit in the Ukranian Church. I am someone who loves theology, loves his Lestovka, has more icons that I know where to put them on, but all I hope at the end is to belong to the UGCC and be able to pursue holiness from there. I speak zero Ukranian, and all I can offer is a smile most of the time, but I know that the Lord is good, and He shall provide.