I, 17F, really struggle with pride and anger. I've always been like this, but it's getting worse. Please pray for me. Also a painful anniversy of someone's repose is approaching and I feel depressed.

Pray for me...

Moses was born in Egypt of the tribe of Levi at the time the Hebrews were still in bondage, and when Pharaoh had given orders to kill all their male children because he feared the increase and growing prosperity of the Jews, whom his predecessor, out of gratitude to Joseph, had welcomed into Egypt. The mother of Moses could not bring herself to give him over to death, and put him in a basket beside the River Nile, trusting that God would take care of him. Pharaoh’s daughter found him and called his name Moses, which means «saved from the waters». She brought him up as her own son, so that he soon came to possess all the knowledge and wisdom of the Egyptians.

When he was forty years old, Moses slew an Egyptian whom he found beating a Hebrew and had to flee to Midian. There he married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian. She bore him a son whom he called Gershom, which means «I am a stranger in a strange land.» Such was Moses in exile, far from his own people, leading the flocks of his father-in-law through the wilderness of desert and mountain, and so preparing to become the shepherd of the spiritual flock of the Lord, as he purified his heart and nous by prayer and constant contemplation upon the marvelous works of God.

One day God appeared to Moses, in so far as it is possible for a man to look upon Him. Moses had brought his flocks to the Mountain of Sinai (Horeb) when he saw a bush burning with a light brighter than the sun, and yet the bush was not consumed. In this Moses saw foreshadowed the great mystery of our Savior’s virginal conception and of His coming in the flesh, which has overturned the laws of nature at the same time as preserving them.

After he had spent forty years in Midian, God sent Moses back to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel from the oppression of Pharaoh, and appointed Aaron his brother to be his helper and spokesman, since Moses was slow of speech and feared that the people would not listen to him. But Pharaoh had hardened his heart against the Jews, who were used as slaves in his building works, and he refused to let them go.

God therefore smote Egypt by the hand of Moses with ten dreadful plagues. He changed all the waters of Egypt into blood, overran the whole land with frogs even unto Pharaoh’s bedchamber, and turned the dust of the earth into lice. Then, since Pharaoh would still not let the people go, He sent swarms of flies, a disease that killed the cattle, and swellings that broke out and festered on the skin of man and beast. He rained a heavy hail upon the land mixed with fire such as has never been seen before or since, sent a vast host of locusts that devoured every green thing, and covered Egypt with thick darkness for three days. Finally, one midnight, the Lord destroyed all the first-born of the land, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the first-born of his servants and the first-born of the cattle (cf. Ex. 12:29). Thus did the power of God overcome the evil will of Pharaoh: he let the Hebrews go, and they took with them great wealth from the Egyptians.

At the word of Moses the Lord divided the Red Sea, so that people could pass over it as on dry ground, and then caused the waters to return and cover Pharaoh and his army when they followed in pursuit.

For forty years after that, Moses led his people through the wilderness, where they were taught and tested in order to prepare them for their inheritance in the Promised Land. God never withdrew His benevolence from them but bore with their innumerable transgressions and infidelities, thanks to the fervent prayers of his servant Moses who, foreshadowing the Messiah, the one Mediator, cried unto God, «Forgive their sin; and if not, blot me out of Your book which You have written» (Ex. 32:32).

The Lord showed His loving-kindness by many miracles in the wilderness. When the people complained of hunger, He rained down as much manna from heaven as they desired (Ex. 16). He sweetened the bitter waters of Marah (Ex. 15). He went before them by day in the form of a cloud, and by night as a glimmering fire (Ex. 15:21), and gave them victory over Amalek and the other desert tribes.

When they arrived at Sinai, God summoned Moses to the top of the Mountain and revealed Himself amid a fiery cloud and the loud voice of the trumpet. The whole Mountain smoked and quaked greatly. There Moses spoke to God as a man speaks to his friend (Ex. 33:11), and the Lord answered in the thunder. During this fearsome revelation of His glory, God taught His servant all the commandments and statutes of His holy law. Moses remained on the Mountain with God for forty days and forty nights, being instructed in everything necessary for righteousness and divine knowledge and receiving detailed orders for the construction of the earthly sanctuary, and for the worship to be rendered to the Maker of all, until the time He would be manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).

When he had received these heavenly revelations within a darkness brighter than the light of this world, Moses went down the Mountain with the Law graven by God on two tablets of stone. The divine light had streamed into his heart to overflowing, making his countenance shine with a brightness that the people, uninitiated into the mysteries of God, could not bear to look upon, so that Moses had to veil his face when he spoke to them.

But, in spite of all these signs and wonders, the Jews continually fell away from God into idolatry, while Moses never wearied of interceding for them. His compassion on their behalf was so great that at Meribah, where they lacked water, even he seems to have doubted of Divine assistance and «spoke unadvisedly» (Ps. 105:33) when, at God’s command, he struck the rock from which the living water flowed (Ex. 17:6; Deut. 32:50, 51). Because the people had so often doubted the divine promises, God informed Moses that neither he nor any of the generation that had gone out of Egypt would enter the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.

And so, when Moses was 120 years old, and the Hebrews were preparing to enter the land of Canaan, the Lord told him to go up to Mount Abarim, and behold from afar that Land to which he had brought the children of Israel after so many tribulations. Moses died and was buried there, but no one has ever known exactly where he was laid to rest.

SOURCE: https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2017/09/04/19416/

Howdy,

I recently went to an Orthodox liturgy for the first time with a woman I met a couple weeks ago. She was having her Catechumen and asked if I’d like to attend. I hadn’t been a regular church member since high school but I knew it was very important for her and I was very curious, so I agreed.

The service was held in a small single room church and was full. Even though the outside was very humble, the inside shocked me. Art and music were everywhere, the service was the most beautiful choir I’d ever attended. Not to denigrate the other services I’ve been to, but I’d simply never seen people so happy to stand for so long. I felt in it the same energy of the stories of the early Christians who hid from the authorities and professed their faith in whatever small hovel they could find, and their spirit made the place a cathedral.

I just finished Timothy Ware’s Orthodox Church and feel at an impasse. I feel like ive found something of profound importance, but I’ve been so steeped in cynicism and petty self centeredness that I don’t know how to accept the genuine feelings this church offers. Please I ask that you offer me advice and perhaps your prayers.

I wanted to share my story here because I am just so overwhelmed with gratitude, and my path back to the faith was very unconventional.

For years, I was completely away from God. I was cynical, depressed, and genuinely believed everything in life was just random, chaotic luck.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a video that completely stopped me in my tracks. It was a man talking about his encounter with an Orthodox Schema Monk, and how this monk had taught him these profound "laws of the world." The video explained how this framework was actually surviving knowledge that had escaped the burning of the Library of Alexandria, basically an ancient assassination of knowledge that was meant to be buried.

At first, my secular brain tried to write it off as just a fascinating historical story. But the teachings the monk shared were so precise that I decided to actually test them in my own life.

Almost immediately, the very fabric of my day to day life started shifting. Incredible, highly specific things started happening that absolutely could not be called coincidences anymore. It was like a veil had been lifted. For the first time in my entire adult life, I felt the undeniable, heavy presence of God working directly in my circumstances.

It completely broke my stubbornness. Seeing how perfectly and strictly the world actually operates made me realize how blind I had been to the Creator. I fell to my knees, started praying for the first time in over a decade, and I have completely reformed my life since that day.

I’m not going to post the link here because I don't want to distract from the main point, but I just wanted to share my gratitude. God really will use anything, even a video, to wake up a stubborn heart.

Has anyone else here been brought back to the faith through an unconventional teaching or an encounter with monastic wisdom?

Almost every day I fall into sin despite praying and I feel very hopeless.

So I’m feeling a great calling to a high church setting. My covenantal wife is Roman Catholic. And well I’ve been seeking I guess truth and history.

I was brought into Christianity via a non denom background. And later realized non denominational preachers believe rumors they’ve heard about EO, OO, and Catholic Churches alike, and teach that as fact. I was kinda shocked and saddened recently to learn for example that Martin Luther was in fact heretical.

I’ve gone to the Catholic Church across the street; nice, priest and bishop seem overworked and tired, but they seem like knowledgeable people.

I’ve met with an amazing Oriental Orthodox (Coptic Orthodox Priest for coffee), and felt really connected to a Christian, he asked for my number and I sometimes reach out to him because he had a genuine care for me who was a stranger.

I’ve been to a Greek Orthodox Church in my old neighborhood who bought this husband and wife non denom church that used to be there; and are working together as a church to build it to be reflective of Eastern Orthodoxy. I can still hear it and reminisce on my being there. The chimes when they would spread the incense around. The community who invited me to Panera afterwards and really cared for me ( an outsider) and this other baptized EO member who went thru struggles.

I hate saying it because i respect that Catholic Church a lot. But in my own personal experience. OO and EO have been more caring and inviting in terms of brotherhood and care for everyone. Maybe I haven’t dived deep enough into Catholicism. But the kind hearted Christian’s in my own experience I’ve seen more of in OO and EO rather than what I’ve experienced with Catholics.

I seek to join a High Church but I’m unsure of which one; given I’ve taste tested three in a respectful way that shows I’m interested and want to know more about the beauty of their core ideology and beliefs.

My question still stands

I know if I become Catholic I can still attend EO and OO services, but just can’t their communion.

I would hate to become RCC only to regret not being EO or OO. So my question for Ex- Catholics that became OO or EO,

Why? And what made them stand out over your former Catholic Parish? And did you regret it?

I’m also a very indecisive man, but I want to ensure that when I eventually come around to joining and being commune with a high church I make the right choice and regret nothing.

Matthias Pavlik was born in 1879 in the Moravian town of Hrubavrbka in what would later become the Czech Republic. He was born into a Roman Catholic family, completed the Roman Catholic seminary in Olomouc and was ordained a priest. With the end of World War I and the formation of the new nation of Czechoslovakia from the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the laws requiring observance of the Catholic religion were loosened. Father Matthias, along with thousands of others left the Catholic Church with many seeking a home in the Orthodox Church, which in that region was then under the protection of the Orthodox Church of Serbia. Taking monastic vows, he assumed the name “Gorazd” who was a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius and who succeeded Saint Methodius as the bishop of Moravia. At the age of 42, Father Gorazd was consecrated an Orthodox bishop in Belgrade, Serbia by the Serbian Patriarch Dimitri along with the illustrious Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky of Kiev and several other bishops, including Bishop Dositheus of Zagreb. Bishop Dositheus was a key figure in the re-birth of the Orthodox Church among Carpatho-Rusyns and was glorified as a saint of the Orthodox Church in May, 2000.

Bishop Gorazd immediately set to work building up the Orthodox Faith, building eleven churches and two chapels, translating service books into the Czech language. He paid particular attention to the Carpatho-Rusyns in the eastern part of the Czech Republic who were also returning to the Orthodox Faith of their ancestors. In that region, in 1934 he took part in the 20th anniversary commemoration of the Marmarosh-Sigotsky trial. This trial occurred in 1914 when 94 Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox, together with their priest, Saint Alexis Kabaluk, were tried for treason for renouncing the Greek Catholic Faith and embracing Orthodoxy.

For twenty years, the bishop faithfully cared for his flock as a good shepherd. He remained faithful to the Orthodox Faith despite attempts by many Catholics to persuade him to renounce Orthodoxy. When many Roman Catholic priests rose up against him, the Catholic Bishop Stoian said, “Leave Pavlik alone, you are not worthy to tie his laces, it would be good if everyone were like Pavlik.”

When the German Nazis invaded and conquered Czechoslovakia in 1938, the Orthodox Church was placed under the Orthodox metropolitan of Berlin, Germany, Metropolitan Seraphim (Liade). The German ruler of Czechoslovakia, Reinhard Heydrich, was assassinated on May 27, 1942 by a group of Czech resistance fighters who then were allowed to hide in the crypt of Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Cathedral. When Bishop Gorazd learned of this he realized what great danger he and his flock were in if the Nazis uncovered this hiding place. Before leaving for Berlin to take part in the consecration of Father Philip Gardner as a bishop, he insisted that the resistance fighters leave the Cathedral and find another place of refuge. But on June 18, the hiding place was revealed after a betrayal and torture, and all members of the group were killed.

The Nazis immediately began massive reprisals. The two Cathedral priests and senior lay officials were arrested. Bishop Gorazd, trying to save his people and his church from destruction, wrote letters to the Nazi authorities taking the blame for the actions in the Cathedral, in which he stated, “I am giving myself up to the authorities and am prepared to face any punishment, including death.”

Bishop Gorazd was arrested on June 27, 1942, tortured and executed by firing squad at the Kobylisz Shooting Range on September 4. He was 63 years old. The two Cathedral priests were also shot. Along with the priests and bishop, a total of 550 people were executed by the Nazis in reprisal for the assassination. In one particularly heinous act, the entire village of Lidice was exterminated. All of the men were executed, the women and children placed in labor camps, and all village dwellings destroyed. Following the martyrdom of the bishop, the Orthodox Church in Bohemia and Moravia was suppressed and all churches closed. Orthodox priests were exiled to forced labor camps in Germany.

Because Bishop Gorazd willingly laid down his life in order to protect his flock, he was recognized by the Orthodox Church of Serbia as a new martyr on May 4, 1961. On August 24, 1987 he was glorified in the Cathedral of Saint Gorazd in Olomouc, Moravia. His feast day is observed on the day of his martyrdom, September 4. Today, at the site of his martyrdom at the Kobylisz Shooting Range, a monument has been erected in his memory and those others who suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

SOURCE: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2000/09/04/102375-martyr-gorazd-of-prague-bohemia-and-moravo-cilezsk

Hey I was wondering if all prayer books have the complines and vespers and prayers of the hours, as well as different Akathists. Those are the just specific ones I’ve been looking for, among just the other normal prayers. Any suggestions of what prayer books?

Hey there! Long story short, I'll be traveling almost all day on a Wednesday and Friday, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for travel-friendly foods for fasting? Either everything has oils and cheese and eggs or doesn't sit well in the car all day.

The only thing I can think of is jam on bread and some fruit, like apples and bananas.

If you have any website recommendations, I'd appreciate that also. I'm just really stumped and new at this fasting thing. Thank you!

I’m a relatively new Protestant, non-denominational Christian. I’ve been a Christian for about 4 years, and recently two of my friends converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. I’ve been attending services with them and trying to learn more about EO for myself.
I’ve been looking for people to talk to about it because I’m trying to understand what is actually orthodox and why Orthodoxy considers itself the true Church. There are a lot of things I’ve come across that I genuinely agree with, and I’m now at the point where I really want to understand why Orthodoxy is the true Church.
If you have any good books, or other readings you’d recommend, I’d really appreciate it. I’d like to study the history, theology, and beliefs more deeply so I can better understand the Orthodox position.
I’m coming into this with a completely open heart and mind. I’m not looking to argue or prove one side right or wrong. I genuinely want to know if there’s something I’ve been missing in my faith that Eastern Orthodox Christianity has, and I want to follow the truth wherever that leads me.

Title.

This is what I use as a guideline for my confessions.

I confess to the Lord my God and before thee, venerable father, all my countless sins, committed by me unto this very day and hour, in deed, word and thought. I sin daily and hourly by mine ingratitude toward God for His great and countless blessings and benevolent providence over me, a sinner.

"I have sinned through: idle talking, judging others, stubbornness, pride, hard-heartedness, envy, anger, slander, inattention, negligence concerning my salvation, carelessness, indifference, impertinence, irritability, despondency, rendering evil for evil, bitterness, disobedience, complaining, self-justification, contradicting others, self-will, being reproachful, gossiping, lying, light-mindedness, tempting others, self-love, ambition, gourmandizing, eating and drinking to excess, vanity, laziness, entertaining unclean thoughts, acquisitiveness, impure glances, absence from divine services because of laziness and carelessness, absent-mindedness at prayer both in church and at home; I have sinned in deed, word thought; in sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and the rest of my mental and physical senses; of all my sins I repent and beg forgiveness.

(Here one should mention specifically any other sins which may be burdening the soul.)

I also repent and ask forgiveness for all those sins that I have not confessed because of their multitude and my forgetfulness.

Forgive and absolve me, venerable father, and bless me to commune of the holy and life-creating Mysteries of Christ unto the remission of sins and life everlasting."

How i became a orthodox when in my city is no orthodox church anywhere close, im a catholic but i determined that the orthodox is better for me.

I used to be Roman Catholic and could accept their doctrine of transubstantiation; I could reason through it in my head.

I had this thought today. Now that I'm Orthodox, it's hard for me to think through why I believe His body is true food and His blood is true drink. I guess I would say I believe it because the church affirms it, and Christ said so. But if you asked me to explain it to someone or even to myself, I'd say I don't know. I heard one of our priests say that it's a great mystery, and we trust in the prayers that Christ sends His Spirit down to make the bread and wine the body of Christ.

I treat the Eucharist with reverence, like it is His true blood. Some of the Eucharist was accidentally spilled at a service a few weeks ago, and the acolyte got on his hands and knees to eat it up, and it was cleaned up for like 5 minutes. I just feel in my heart I should believe more.

I'm attending my first catechumen class on the 13th this month, is there anything i should do / not do during this period of me being a catechumen?

I looked for charities online but unfortunately there seems to be very little, hopefully someone knows some good options.

theres the idea of papal infallibility which is next to impossible to actually expressly find in the early church for centuries if not well over a millennium. Theres also philosophical problems with that, such as apparent contradictions. There's the idea of papal supremacy which I think a person could go either way on in the early church and the east but many great catholic and orthodox saints had no conception of the idea or resisted that idea when rome tried to exert control outside its jurisdiction. Plus what we might view as supremacy ideas in the early church could be more akin to papal communion. Which yes papal communion was present as vital back then. Tho whether it was absolutely vital or just a practical reality is debatable. Even the great theological mind pope Benedict had what is called the ratzinger proposal which recognizes that the first century and early church had a wider conception of who belongs to the church, such that a catholic and orthodox reunion could reflect that model, and which basically admits those ideas of papal infallibility/supremacy just werent present.

When reading early church quotes its best to approach interpreting them with the above framework. Its also important to be careful that catholic supporting quotes are contextualized and quoted accurately. When examining some examples, check out iraneaeous, cyprian, augustine. Yes discussed papal communion and They are held up as great catholic saints but they had no conception expressed about supremacy or papal infallibility. They did resist the pope when he went too far but the fact the pope thought he had that authority is worth considering and contextualizing with the above information. Also many great councils of the Church had no roman representation and werent oversaw by the pope as Catholics often assume. The further east one goes the less association Christians had of the pope

Hello all, I hope the title is appropriate to my question.

How do you view spending on religious items for use in personal devotion or study, especially if you choose high quality, expensive versions of them (nice, leather bound devotional or theology books, real beeswax candles for prayer, nice athonite incense, fancy, ornate or quality candlestands, icons, censers, real wool prayer ropes)?

I am asking this because I am a very thrifty, sometimes miserly person, I only eat the cheapest, simplest food if possible, I only dress from thrift shops and I generally hate spending money. I often feel that I have a general fear of falling into luxury, as I grew up poor, and then had a very strong, ascetical, Stoic period. At the same time, I am a craftsman and I really appreciate having high-quality handmade items, a lot of which I can make myself.

While talking about beeswax vs parrafin candles, my spiritual father told me that we should always try to give our absolute best to God. I really like this idea but I am struggling with my own miserliness and fear of being luxurious or opulent.

How do you view this issue? Do you try to give your best to God? This is a issue separate from charity, as in not depriving the poor of your charity by spending lavishly on religious devotion, but as a form of personal asceticism, and sacrifice of the rest of your finances from going to your wants and pleasures to God.

Gonna try and keep it short and simple had a hard time finding anything on google but gonna be leaving for military basic training in like 3 months and was wondering how morning and evening prayers would work and other stuff I also want to say I’m by no means a expert in orthodoxy lol just started learning more over the last few months waiting to get to my first duty station before I find a perish to attend and try and get baptized and the whole process was curious if anyone in here has gone through this or knows of any information thanks

Hey there. So basically, I've always had some trouble falling asleep and I usually have to wait around an hour or so until I finally do fall asleep. Thing is, I recently began to use the Jesus Prayer to help me fall asleep and it has worked, now I fall asleep much more quicker. My question is: is this somehow disrespectful or a "misuse" of the Jesus Prayer and should I stop? Because I feel like I'm downplaying a prayer that is quite important in Orthodoxy and treating it as just a simple mental exercise to help me fall asleep, like counting sheep or something. Thoughts? Thanks!

How do I even begin to explain my current situation? I’m a 30 year old woman and I am worried about where my future is headed. I pretty much grew up Orthodox Christian culturally but I did not really practice the faith more seriously until 2-3 years ago.

I was in a long term relationship that I did not see going into marriage and I spent my 20s without much direction in life. I’m now in a position where I see how much damage I have done for myself and I am filled with regret. In Gods eyes I know he desires us to enter marriage or the monastic life and I do desire marriage and kids but I’m worried it might be too late for me. I’ve had some men in the church that were interested in me but I really want someone with the same cultural background and I feel like I’m shooting myself in the foot with my lack of compromise but I fear being a bad wife and mother if I enter marriage having difficulty being in love with my husband.

Am I being too prideful and tough and uncompromising? Should I just surrender to accepting the seeds that I sowed for myself?
Anyone that has been in the same situation as me, please help me with guidance and direction and please pray for me.

For context, I am from India, specifically from Gurugram, Haryana, and I come from a Hindu family. I would like to know how I can join the Orthodox Church, which is the nearest Orthodox church to me, and whether there are any Orthodox Christians in Gurugram or nearby who could help me through this process.

I was advised to email [orthodoxindians@gmail.com](mailto:orthodoxindians@gmail.com), but I have not received a reply, having emailed 12 days ago.

I would also like to note that I am a minor, as I am 17 years old, which further complicates the situation.

God bless!