Greetings everyone,
I discovered this forum a few months ago and lurked for quite some time before opting to make an account. I am a Catholic convert from Ontario, Canada. Looking forward to rousing dicussion with everyone.
Pax,
Stefano
Welcome to the forum! We have a few great posters here from our fine neighbor to the north: Wisconsin, Michigan, and now Ontario! I am a proud American :canada:
:toth:
Quote from: Stefano on January 02, 2019, 03:43:09 PM
Greetings everyone,
I discovered this forum a few months ago and lurked for quite some time before opting to make an account. I am a Catholic convert from Ontario, Canada. Looking forward to rousing dicussion with everyone.
Pax,
Stefano
Welcome, Stefano! :cheer:
Happy New Year 2019 & Blessings! :pray3:
Thank you all for the warm welcome! I look forward to being part of this community.
Welcome to the forum! :cheeseheadbeer:
Welcome!
I thought I would be a maverick and fill out the questionairre
What brings you to SD?
I have been a traditional Catholic since my conversion, and I discovered this forum through some internet browsing.
Are you a member of other Internet fora? If so, care to mention which one(s)?
Negative.
Why did you choose your username and avatar?
Stefano is my middle name and confirmation name.
What is your state of life - single, married, religious, or still discerning?
Discerning.
Whereabouts do you live "in real life"? (be as specific or as general as you wish!)
East York, Ontario, Canada
Favorite books?
The collected works of Dionysius the Areopagite and Dante's Divine Comedy are up there.
Favorite movies?
2001: A Space Odyessy, Alien and Videodrome
Favorite TV shows?
N/A
Favorite sports/teams
N/A
Have any hobbies?
Cooking, reading and music
Pet peeves:
When the congregation says the server's parts at a low mass
Fun random fact about yourself:
Convert from Atheism at the age of 22 through Neoplatonic philosophy.
Stefano,
we share the same "pet peeve"; although I cannot say that it is my "Pet" peeve, it certainly does provoke me to distraction.
What in Neoplatonic Philosophy converted you?
"Dionysius the Areopagite"
Tell us more about this.
Quote from: Michael Wilson on January 29, 2019, 05:47:35 PM
Stefano,
we share the same "pet peeve"; although I cannot say that it is my "Pet" peeve, it certainly does provoke me to distraction.
What in Neoplatonic Philosophy converted you?
It certainly provokes to distraction, I agree. Knowing that I have not many other choices, I am trying my best to not allow it to break me from the celebration of the Mass. It shall be an ongoing process, of course.
At first I was reading (and struggling) with Plotinus - as anyone who labours to read his clunky works can perhaps attest, and then moved on to Porphory, finally settling with Iambilchus as my "favourite" philosopher. After my interest in the Church came to be, I decided to look into Early Christian Neoplatonists, a subject I previously considered verbotten, as I was especially keen on Porphory's antichristian writings.
Quote from: Maximilian on January 29, 2019, 08:14:45 PM
"Dionysius the Areopagite"
Tell us more about this.
In trying to know more about the faith from a purly philosophical route I tried to find correspondance between revelation and my preexisting love for Neoplatonic Metaphysics. For some reason I could not "uncover" what I was looking for in Origen or Clement of Alexandria, and fell into reading secondary sources, where I came across Dionysius the Areopagite. Still believing that he was, in fact, the converted member of the Athenian council from Acts, I jumped right into him. I saw a converted pagan like him being someone whose authority I would be able to "get".
Reading "The Mystical Theology" was where everything fell into place for me. I could -finally- comprehend revelation and the faith in a way that did not seem natural or forced. Through his references, I actually started to read Sacred Scripture and look into the Dogmas of the Faith, which eventually led me to meeting with a Priest at a local Parish. About a year after starting to meet with said priest, I was in the RCIA program.
I am always trying to re-read his works as a result of this.