Regarding habitual sins, I love what St Porphyrios says. Don't fight evil, let evil be. Open the window of your heart and let the light come in, and that will drive out the darkness.
Listening to these kind of videos from orthodox priests/bishops is my absolute favorite thing today. It feels like i'v been robbed of orthodoxy from birth to like 5months ago.
It's ok. God meets us where we are. I was baptized into this Church as an infant yet didn't know anything about it for 35 years. No one taught me. My family didn't raise me in the Church at all. Suddenly, last August, by complete surprise to myself, my wife, and our children, I suddenly felt compelled to enter this church that was around the corner from my house. The intrusive thoughts pressed me into the building after gnawing at me for several weeks. It's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. God is present here. You've been called at precisely the right moment. Do not despair.
@medotaku9360 I can somewhat relate. My father was raised Serbian Orthodox, but he never had me baptized and taught me to be an atheist. Although as an adult I became very interested in philosophy and eventually came to respect Jesus as a moral teacher, I never believed in God and thought Christians were delusional. Then in 2022 I attended a Greek Orthodox funeral. As I wandered around the church studying the icons, I had no idea a fire was being lit in my soul that would propel me into the arms of the local Orthodox church six months later. I am now a full-fledged believer and hope to be received into the Church within a year. Though I have a lot to learn so I am taking it slow. I, too, was completely stunned by this unexpected development. I believe that for reasons known only to Him, the Lord has put out the call and is gathering up all His lost sheep now. I feel very blessed to have that Orthodox ancestry so that I didn't waste a lot of time exploring dead end denominations. It is a birthright that I never imagined I would want to claim, but by the grace of God here I am. God is so good!
As an Evangelical protestant I really appreciate Fr. Truebenbach he has my utmost respect he speaks and answers questions, very honestly and eloquently. And even though there are disagreements. Between Catholics and protestants. he doesn’t think himself better than them or anyone else but follows Christ the best he knows how and teaches others to do the same.
Mountain of Silence really blew my mind. A young Father at a Greek parish gave me a copy and it truly opened up the door to a whole new Christianity I thought died a long time ago. Fr Paul’s critique of it is spot on! Also, Fr Paul did a video with an inquisitive Protestant several years ago which helped introduce me to the faith. Very good video to watch! Now am an Orthodox Christian, recently received this January! Glory to Jesus Christ! ☦️
The videos were done by Matt Whitman on his channel. I, too, watched his series of videos done with Fr. Trubenbach. I was inspired to re-establish my inquiry into Orthodoxy!
I am on a similar journey, I recently reached out to the closest Orthodox Church and am planning to attend next week. I’m curious to see where this journey leads me
In 🇬🇷 Greece we kiss others when we see them. We like hugs too. It's in our culture. Since we are an orthodox Christian nation we find it normal to embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ or any child of God even if it's not orthodox Christian or even Christian. It's a gesture of love for everyone. And as for icons ask your parents don't they have pictures of loved ones? It's the same, you don't worship the wood but the images that are depicted on them . Love from Greece 🇬🇷 and may God Jesus Christ of Nazareth bless you all ❤🎉❤(And we pray to Theotokos the Holy Mother for intersection to her Holy SON. We love our Holy Mother ❤)
Christ Is Risen! Thank u for answering these quetions folowing from Serbia ! I love how in Ortodoxy there is no room for personal interpretation teachings are clear and simple and deep. Glory to God
I'm glad Father touched on original sin. Growing up, my best friend was cradle Eastern Orthodox and the biggest turn off to me was when, in highschool, she told me that the Orthodox don't believe in original sin. She couldn't elaborate beyond that. As a devout Evangelical, I could not wrap my mind around how her faith rejected the first chapters of Genesis. It's so important that the Orthodox understand that it's not original sin that we reject, but how the West has developed her understanding of original sin its implications on humanity and anthropology. 🙏
I say this as a crypto-protestant who has attended various Orthodox churches regularly for decades, and raised my children as true members of the Orthodox Church, people, including some clergy, get entirely to hung up on the holiday thing and I think Father Truebenbach is a voice of moderation on this. I find a lot of people, both secular and not, have an extremely hard time separating secular terms from religious terms and overly focus on labels. You can have two effective different holidays on the same day with the same name. It's also an advantage I find in the ROCOR church in that because of the Julian calendar you can get two Christmases, two Easters, etc. and I've always made it clear to my children "this is secular Easter" for example and this is "religious Easter" and it's not a big deal in the same way children of divorced parents can have two dads and two moms or children raised by homosexuals can have "two moms" or "two dads"; I don't say that as a commentary on homosexuality or step parents but more on the ability of children to have no problem accepting the same term for two different things, they can honor both while understanding they are different. Something a friar said once to me I think people have a hard time internalizing is "Satan has no power over God hence nothing holy can be made unholy". Your children participating in secular Christmas doesn't impinge upon the miracle of Jesus's birth and to assume otherwise is hubris on your part likewise the sin of pride in rejecting secular holidays.
Heads up to readers! If you would like to, try to get the books from orthodox sources if you can - churches, ancient faith publishing, etc. - so your money actually supports something, Wisdom for today is a slow burn to start, HUGE resource, though, with amazing insight. Know the Faith is also amazing, it walks through the faith from a perspective of someone who would have followed the apostles - really great way to approach the complexities. Asking Fr. Paul about books was loaded 😂 he's a huge bibliophile, and I'm so grateful for it. Please come visit an orthodox church near you, it's a huge difference from any other church & it will feel weird at first, but comfortable & if you keep going, it'll feel like home.
I love these responses more than any denomination I’ve seen. They have proper meaning in the things they do and to the things they don’t is through the limitations of man.
Thinking Orthodox is a great book and Becoming Orthodox as well. Ancient Faith Radio’s podcast “Walking an Ancient Path” is awesome for those coming from a Protestant background.
I just came across these videos a week ago and haven't finished watching them all. Great videos so far. Educational and calming to listen to without the loud shouting that some priests seem to do.
It is ALWAYS so spiritually rewarding for me, listening to Fr Truebenbach speak. I am going to purchase several books he recommends for learning more about the Orthodox faith!❤️
I won't lie, as a catechumen prayfully about to be received into the church soon. I think kissing the hand of another man was the last hardest apprehension I had until our priest at our parish said the same. Basically they're hands are the hands that prepare , bless and distribute the Holy Mysteries to us, specifically the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist! Once I learned that I was instantly fine with it
Father bless, I wanted to say thank you for your catechism videos, Father Paul! They were so informative and helped me when I was a catechumen last year. I live 1.5 hours from the nearest Orthodox Church and your videos helped me to better understand the Faith and to make the decision to join the True Church last November. May the Mother of God make your heart exceedingly glad. 🙏🏻☦️
As a Catholic, I really enjoyed his answers for the most part and I think Orthodox and Catholics have way more in common than some may think. His answer on the Catholic view of purgatory, however, is incorrect; purgatory is not a third place but a process that we undergo before entering heaven
Not withstanding purgatory is one of the many Roman Catholic inventions. Jesus on the Cross did not tell the thief on the Cross next yo him you have to go first to purgatory then you will be with me in paradise. Jesus told him from this day on you will be in paradise. The purgatory was invented and put in place in the Roman Catholic church in 1215 AD. Just as with the rest of the Heresies after Rome Left the church that Jesus built in 1054 although the Roman Patriarchate had many problems within the Roman patriarchate. Unfortunately today Roman Catholicism is in a such CAOS 🥲🥲🥲
One thing I really wanted to know is what is the orthodox perspective on demonic contracts? Can you inherit demonic contract or "curses" from generational sins(ex: from parents, grandparents etc)? (I hope this is where I'm supposed to submit a question for future Q&A).
Im not a priest but as a theology major, the answer is no. we are responsible for our sins, not the sins of our ancestors. we might suffer the consequences of their actions tho.
Regarding the book The Mountain of Silence and it's author I will say his beliefs will challenge you. He's a liberal academic with lots of hands on experience with eastern religions and will compare practices at times. It came off to me as "as paths lead to God" and the author even mentions Christians being uncomfortable with such comparisons, which if I'm honest, is true. There is talk of universalism from the author, though he doesn't take a form stance on it, he speaks of human rights as if they are separate from and not given from God which came off to me a dualistic. His views are good to have hands on experience with, because there are lots of people like him and it's good to know their beliefs so you can confront them and understand them. The authors interactions with Father Maximos are often times pastoral and eye opening. There are chapters on how to fight passions; justice; knowledge of God and the various levels of brokenness of man that keep us from knowing God; why monks are needed for the world; the Jesus Prayer. The chapter of prayer and the build up to it is worth the price of admission alone. I love this book as it exposed me to many things I didn't even know I had strong convictions on and challenged me on them - hell being one of them - and it's a book I refer to all the time. The authors viewpoints in comparison to Father Maximos will seem like oil and water trying to mix when the author is comparing in his mind what Maximos is saying to Friedrich Nietzsche but he doesn't want to say anything aloud; it came off to me as the author seeing himself as knowing more but just wants the Athonite slant on it. To be fair the author speaks of this many times and is sincere in his quest of learning, but his thought process at times bugged me. Forgive my judgments! That's why I'm it's good to have interactions with people like him, because if you're like me you'll have a side of you that you didn't know existed and that is ideology which is not Christ centered. This book will humble you, enlighten you, challenge you and shine a mirror on your failings.
legacy icons has the gospels , the apostle , the prophetlogian and the psalter but they are are separated but it’s the EOB the eastern orthodox bible which is the patriarchate translation from the Septugiant and greek NT manuscripts, it’s a beautifully bound bible and has a lot of liturgical readings and calendar in it
Im a Protestant who has been interested in the Orthodox Church for awhile now and continue to lean further and further to becoming Orthodox, but I struggle with the understanding of venerating icons. I’ve seen videos and explanations on why, but it’s just hard for me to understand.
Yea, that was a major snag for me too. the biggest thing is just to get over your fears and DO IT because the experience of (properly) venerating an icon is very different from worshiping God, and that's hard to fully grasp without participating. but as far as intellectual stuff goes, think about it like its a picture of a loved one, because that's what it is. For example, I'm in a long distance relationship right now, and I sometimes kiss a picture of my girlfriend. Am I worshipping the image of my girlfriend? Of course not! Im showing my love to a person I can't be with right now. Same thing if I venerate an icon of my patron saint. I'm just kissing an image and asking him to pray for me. good luck my friend :)
I know this is off topic but I need some prayers for my emotions: I’m not sad or mad yet but my crush just said she likes someone else which was my biggest fear since my first crush. I texted her lovingly saying everything is fine and that I just wanted to confess to her. I do feel a lot of peace for confessing and finally getting it out my chest but it still feels awkward that she doesn’t feel the same way. Even though she’s shown some signs even if she was messing with me, hopefully we both can remain friends. The Lord is with us.
I am a Latin Catholic, and I must say Fr. Paul is a great speaker and must be a really good pastor to his flock. I would have to say that about the Purgatory part, he got that Catholic position wrong. We do not believe in Purgatory as a third place, but rather believe it's a state of purification- to Purge, hence the name "Purgatory".
He literally just said that we do not believe that soul ca ne cleansed in purgatory by flames but by our prayers, he did not say anything of whgat you say.
@@costealucia5357 If you go back to 28:04 he says exactly what I said he got wrong about us... I never said he got the Eastern Orthodox position wrong. the time clip I sent you, he is comparing Catholic vs Orthodox perspective on Purgatory
If you don’t mind me asking where does this state take place because what is the difference between a state of purgatory or a place since either way its an experience of the soul and not a physical “place” or “state”
@@h5gamer798 Of course. We believe that the purification process is within the friendship of God, but not a place like Heaven or Hell. I would doubt that the Orthodox position believes that the Aerial Toll Houses are in there own separate places like Paradise and Hades.
@@the1cardinalin friendship of God do you mean that the purification of purgatory happens during the presence of God? And if so what “state” is the soul in during that purification does the purification take place in hell or is it a different process all together? Also thank you for responding I appreciate it!
A church that supports abi killer and lier! And so divided pro gvt , pro fano,pro….. The church leaders are not doing enough to save their children from wolves
Question on prayer. Do you have to pray prayers that are prewritten by other people? Jesus says to pray like this when it comes to the Lord's prayer. He also warns against being repetitive. I am a reformed Protestant and looking to understand the Orthodox Church better. I will get that book on the Orthodox view of the afterlife. Thank you for answering my questions.
Ask your local orthodox priest about prayer. I will say that Jesus doesn’t warn against repetition in general, but vain repetition. So obviously that implies that not all repetition is bad.
@@triggered8556 good point. I plan on it. I am still gathering my questions. I honestly don't know much about Orthodoxy so I prefer to go with a good list of questions.
@@ChristIsLord247 I think the best way to learn about Orthodoxy is to attend a few Liturgies. When I was new to Orthodoxy I attended a few Divine Liturgy services before I met with the priest and began my catechism. Luckily I had a great priest that helped answer some of my initial issues/questions that came up. What denomination are you coming from, if you don’t mind me asking?
I’m not Orthodox but I would say Biblically that we do both. Like someone else said, Jesus warns against vain repetition because sometimes people think they are heard because of their many words, so don’t do that. 👍I think The Lord’s Prayer is more of a map even though we prayed it every Sunday in the Presbyterian church I went to when I was younger and have prayed it myself in my own home. I think it would be a mistake to limit yourself to prayers written by others. I have situations and so do you, for which there is unlikely to be a pre written prayer. Certainly “Jesus!” Is a prayer in itself! But prayer is supposed to be a conversation. You can send a pre-printed card to your mom for her birthday and the pre-printed message might be right on, or you can get a blank one and write your own message. I think there is Biblical support for both types of prayer so don’t worry! Just pray.🙂
There is a core of the Saints who are in all Typikons, and then there are who are not in all but in several or just in the one he/she ethnically belonged to.
I think the best answer to that question is “mostly yes.” Sometimes a saint will appear on the liturgical calendar of one patriarchate but not another because the veneration for that saint is in its early days. For instance, one Orthodox jurisdiction recently recognized Matushka Olga Michael as a saint. Others have not recognized her yet, but it’s not because they think she wasn’t a saint. It is because their synod of bishops has not gotten together and officially recognized her. In time I fully expect other patriarchates will add her to their calendar. Was that helpful?
@@joshuaduncan235 Really Helpful thanks you, i was really confuse cause there are some Saints like Saint Nicholas II the last Tsar of Russia , i have seen a lot of veneration to him in Russia but i wasn't sure if Greeks, bulgarians and others do also venerate him 🤔
@@gaviriak If a whole Jurisdiction glorifies a Saint then individuals in other Jurisdictions can Venerate them without worry. St. Raphael of Brooklyn, my Patron Saint, isn't officially on most Jurisdiction's Liturgical Calendars, including until Recently the Patriarchate of Antioch, but no one questions his Sanctity.
The view of the Catholic Church of Purgatory is similar of what you described of the state of the soul who started the repentance on earth but not completed it, and it can be completed by the prayers of the Church. The soul isn't purified by the fire of the Hell in the Catholic Church, because no-one can escape Hell, but by the fire of God's love. In a magnificent revelation, Jesus explains that the souls immersed in these flames only suffer for love. They are not unworthy of possessing the Light, but not quite worthy of immediately entering the Kingdom of Light. At the moment they appear before God, these souls are invested with Light. It is a brief anticipated beatitude which assures them of their salvation. It gives them the knowledge of what their eternity will be and full awareness of what they have done to the soul, frustrating it with years of blessed possession of God. Then plunged into the place of purification, they are assailed by the atoning flames. Those who speak of Purgatory speak the truth in this. But they are mistaken in wanting to apply various names to these flames. They are a fire of Love. They purify by igniting the souls with love. They give Love because, when the soul has reached, through them, this love which it had not reached on earth, it is delivered from it and joins Love in Heaven.
in the orthodox view, the fire of hell is the uncreated light of God, as experienced by those who reject God "stand in fear, O soul, as you look upon the deifying Body and Blood, for it is fire, and burns the unworthy"-our pre communion prayers
I was speaking in my message about a revelation and I've quoted an English translation of that passage from an English website. But if you want to read the revelation entirely, here is the French website that gives it entirely, you can use their automatic English translation: If you read the Gospel revelation from tome 1 to 10, plus all other writings containing teachings of Jesus and Holy Spirit about the Bible, you'll understand completely the Gospel and the God's plan for this world and His Church since the beginning, starting with the Immaculate Conception in Proverbs 8:22-35 et till the Pentecost (inside the 10 tomes), the interpretation of Epistle of Paul Apostle to romans made by the Holy Spirit, par of the Revelation by Jesus, the Purgatory and much more. I was baptised in the Orthodox church as baby, but from the Bible I'd understood that the Catholic church is the true God's Church. Still it took me more than 20 years to understand the truth completely and finally become catholic this year. This revelation is very clear, all the churches outside the catholic Church are like the man in the Bible who was doing miracles in the name of Jesus but without following the apostolic group lead directly by Jesus. Jesus said that as long as he wasn't against the apostles, he was with them. So all Christian Churches outside the Catholic one are like that man, they are with Jesus, but not in the full communion with the apostolic Church. I'd understood that from the Bible, but the revelation of Jesus is much clearer. It is not the only confirmation that God's gives us till today about the fact that His true Church is the Catholic one. There are other confirmations too : The Immaculate Conception, which is in the Bible (Proverbs 8:22-35), was revealed as a truth only to the Catholics, revealed by Virgin Mary herself, in several occasions, and then explained in detail by Jesus in this huge revelation given through Maria Valtorta. The Virgin Mary is appearing only to the Catholic Church to deliver her messages, even if the Orthodox Christians are her children too, and she is helping them too. In Medjugorje she is appearing since 1981. Just read the book of one of the visionaries from there, Mirjana "My heart will triumph" and you'll understand that the apparitions are true, and that they have a clear purpose for our world, to turn it back to Jesus. But the most powerful sign for me is the Eucharistic miracle, together with the apparitions of Jesus in flesh and blood during Eucharistic adoration. There are so many testimonies. About the Eucharistic miracles, meaning that the eucharistic bread is bleeding or transforms itself in flesh, happened in the great catholic church before the great schism, but continued to happen only in the Catholic Church. The last one has just happened in India, the region of Kerala, several times in a row, just nowadays. But you can find an exhaustive detailed list about these miracles, a list made by Carlo Acutis, a catholic teenager dead in 2006, who will be soon canonised as saint. And also, Jesus is doing many conversion miracles in all Christian denominations, but only to catholics he is saying, in some of them, that the Catholic Church is his real Church. All of these together, convinced me completely about the truth, so I'm catholic since this year...
27:19 and the third is exactly what Catholics call purgatory, it is state of purification, not the place. I hope to live to see Catholic and Orthodox united visibly as they already are in Spirit. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.
I think the Catholic position has shifted to be closer to the Orthodox position since Vatican II, with medieval Catholics emphasizing the place view, which is in many ways we Orthodox are still reacting to :/ We do still disagree on indulgences tho, as we believe that only prayer is efficacious for the dead. :)
12:22 I've read the diary of Tatiana Romanov, the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, and a Passion-Bearer in the Russian Orthodox church. In it, she mentions that a relative spoke to her of "a lot of interesting things", possibly refering to an incident called the "August Phenomenon". It was reported that in August 1914, the Mother of God appeared to the Life-Guard Cuirassier Regiment and it lasted 30-40 minutes. A special icon called "Mother of God of the August Phenomenon" was even made. But I have not found any information about this. Do you know anything? Thanks in advance if you do!
I am roman catholic, and it seemed to me that the orthodox view about that "third state of purification", at least, reconcilable with the catholic view... The "fires of purgatory" are not the fires of hell, and purgatory itself is not, for us, a place within hell. That fire, so I've been taught, is the suffering of not being (yet) with God. Plus, the prayers of the church also play a role regarding purgatory, just like in the orthodox context of this "third place". Regarding the forgiveness of sins, Catholic Church teaches that, when you sin, there are eternal consequences (of offending God Himself) and temporal consequences (all the consequences of your sin in others lives, situations and history, ultimately). The sacrament of Confession (reconciliation), in the person of Christ (in persona Christi) erases the eternal consequences, and you are forever clean of those. The temporal consequences are ultimately related to the justice of God. You are forgiven, yet, what you have done had effect in history. To exemplify the temporal consequences, consider 2 Samuel, chapter 12. David fell in love with BathSheba, a married woman, and sent his husband to die in the war in order to have her. The Prophet Nathan confronted him, and, as the king David asked for forgiveness, the prophet Nathan said (verses 13 and 14): "The Lord forgave your sin. You will not die. But, because you have sinned, despising the Lord, your son shall die". David had forgiveness, yet he had to pay for the temporal consequences of his sin. I believe this passage ilustrates quite well those concepts. Still, I believe the orthodox view is not deadly apart from ours, and it is reconcilable with ours. By the way, I feel like this is the case regarding basically all the "divergent" points between the Churches. Much, HUGE respect for the Oriental Churches. I really hope and pray for us being together sometime in the future again. God bless you all!
Protestant (I think?) here.. I’m so intrigued with every video I watch from this channel and feel so excited that the Lord revealed Orthodoxy to me, I want to visit a church myself but I’m nervous about getting my hopes up, I think I have an internal fear that I will be let down by priests not being as on point as these selected for the videos. From what I see on this channel, Orthodoxy seems too good to be true as far as aligning with the type of church I’ve been looking for.
I'll be the first to admit that not every Orthodox Church is perfect, and there's an unfortunate amount of churches that are basically just a social club for old greek people. That's not my experience of most churches though. if your closest church is one of those churches, and you're lucky enough to be close enough to multiple churches, give those churches a shot! as for priests, not all of them are theological geniuses, but they do all have to go to seminary, and you're far from the first person to walk in and ask questions. It'll be fine, trust me! I know! it does feel too good to be true! but it is!
Purgatory is where, after death, some shall SUFFER LOSS, and be saved ONLY AS THROUGH FIRE, as we must all strive for that holiness without which no one shall see the Lord, as we shall each be held accountable for every careless word we have uttered and shall each be liable to judgment if angry with others and we shall each be judged as we have judged others and we shall each receive recompense for BOTH the good AND THE BAD we have done in the body! Peace always in Jesus Christ our Great and Kind God and Savior, He whose Flesh is true food and Blood true drink and His Church built on Peter the rock!
Reach out to the priest. In my case, I live 2.5 hours from Fr. Paul's parish, so I sent him an email to see if or when I could visit. That was over a year ago now. Just reach out, one step closer every day at your own pace.
Western view takes a lot from the Augustinian view of inherited guilt, and every man sinned in Adam. Eastern view doesn’t see man as guilty because of Adam, but because of the fall, we have a proclivity to sin. That’s the very basics as I understand it; definitely more nuanced.
@@triggered8556so then is the issue varying interpretations of Romans 5? And I’m assuming that Orthodoxy agrees that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans) and that “there is none good but God” (Jesus). So in that case the difference is not a salvation issue. 👍
I actually like his point. He agrees that using demonic images to normalize and embetter the demons idea but he didnt say if it was used against and to warn that its valid 😜
Virgin Mary herself asked us to pray the Rosary. It isn't about imagination, it is about praying and meditating some precise passages from the Bible concerning mostly Jesus' life some concerning Virgin Mary's life. By praying for graces from God like receiving more faith, humility, love and charity, the spirit of poverty, obedience to God and to His plan for us, repentance from our sins, peace of our soul and of the entire world etc. There are people getting words of knowledge, like in the Bible, but they are quite few compared to all people praying the Rosary, and those receiving those knowledge words, it is not because they were somehow worthy of it, but just because God is helping the Church through them exactly as the Bible says. When Virgin Mary asked to pray the Rosary at Fatima, it was to stop the war, and later, to fight communism. And even nowadays, to bring back peace into the world, by turning all people to Jesus. She is asking the conversion of every soul to Jesus, to follow Jesus more and more, to be heal by Jesus, this is Rosary about. It is very powerful against Satan, not the other way around.
Can you help me with this? I would say I am “full gospel”…labels always cause people to think and assume certain things and I don’t really know what to call myself. I started out my journey at 12 in a Presbyterian church, but have been gradually moving more towards an embracing of New Testament ideas, which honestly seem different in many ways from orthodoxy.., 🤔. Anyway, you say Mary asked us to pray the rosary…I don’t understand that. Obviously it is an extra biblical idea so you can’t show me in the Bible. But can you explain that? It always sounds like there are humans there is Jesus and Mary is somewhere in the middle; not quite one but certainly not the other. And even in the Bible when people tried to give a lot of honor to Mary, Jesus actually corrected them. So, what is this thing about Mary wanting us to pray the Rosary…? Are we obeying Mary???🤷♀️ and anything you can give me from the Bible helps. Some orthodox actually get nasty if a non-orthodox person asks for biblical support-but that’s what we look to as our plumb line, even though we read other things as well. Thanks for reading and doing your best to answer.
@@suzannemartin6817 Well, first of all, there is a misunderstanding between catholic and orthodox Christians regarding Virgin Mary. There were some catholic revelations stating that the conception of Virgin Mary is immaculate, meaning without the original sin. Orthodox Christians are denying this. But a new revelation, pointed that the Immaculate Conception is in fact in the Bible, at Proverbs 8:22-35. Christians assumed that all the Chapter of Proverbs 8 is talking about Jesus (some of them interpreted as the Holy Spirit, but most of Christians are talking about Jesus), while the paragraph from 22 to 35, is talking about a creature, it is what made erroneously the Jehovah's Witnesses to say that Jesus would be a creature, and not the Creator. So, the creation of Virgin Mary is immaculate, without the original sin, we are talking here about her soul, created as the Proverbs 8:22-35 is stated, and put into her body at her conception. I'm telling you this to understand why, when Jesus is saying at the Cross (John 19:26-27): "When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” Jesus is giving to all of us the Virgin Mary as mother, not only to John. John is representing, in this passage, all the Christians after him too (I'll give some other argument later). Since Virgin Mary hasn't the original sin, she wasn't banned from the Paradise as we were, and she is the only creature on earth being able not to make any sin during her earthly life, this is why she is the one crushing the head of the snake, meaning Satan (I'll detail this later), because Satan cannot find in her anything belonging to him (any sin). If Adam and Eve hadn't made any sin, what it would have happened with them after the death of their bodies, is what happened to the Virgin Mary, her body was taken in Paradise together with her soul. We mistakenly believe that, when God says that the salary of the sin is the death, we're talking here about the death of the body. It is in fact the death of the soul. The soul exists for ever, but either in a state of living (like in Paradise) or of death (like in the Hell). With our baptism we are living a resurrection of our soul from the death related to the original sin (born again), and all the other sins if we are baptized at an adult age. But a scar of this original sin still remains in us, this is why our bodies are resurrected only at the final Judgment of Jesus, when the body will finally be united to our souls forever. Virgin Mary is the only exception, she has already had her soul united to her body, and this is exactly why Jesus is giving her as our mother in the Bible. But why is He doing this? Let's look at the Revelation now (Revelation 12:13-17). The woman giving birth to the boy is Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus. We are again, erroneously thinking that it is about the birth of baby Jesus in Bethlehem. It is a painful birth in this chapter, while at Bethlehem it wasn't painful since the Virgin Mary had an Immaculate Conception. What this paragraph of Revelation is saying, is that Virgin Mary is giving birth to Jesus in people's hearts, and this is painful. Virgin Mary suffered a lot to give her Son to us. About this suffering, if you are reading Saint Paul saying: "Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church." (Colossians 1:24) we can understand two things: 1) even if Jesus' accomplishment at the Cross was complete and perfect for our salvation, there is a part left for us of this suffering 2) if Paul suffered so much of this left suffering, how much Virgin Mary suffered, who saw her own Son suffering at the Cross? So, coming back to the Virgin Mary, why praying the Rosary. When we pray the Rosary, we are doing several things: 1) we are meditating some passages of the Bible concerning the life of Jesus and Virgin Mary. Meditating the word of God is always beneficial for us. 2) We are asking Virgin Mary to pray for us, as we are asking a pastor or a priest to pray for us, for example, knowing that the prayers of Virgin Mary are more powerful, her Son is always listening to the prayers of her mother exactly as at the wedding in Cana. Jesus is forever the Son of God the Father, but also the son of Blessed Virgin Mary in his human body. 3) While praying the Rosary, we repeat again and again the angel's salutation to Mary, from the Bible, and this is beneficial too, repeating an angel's words coming directly from the sky is very beneficial for our soul. 4) The mission of Virgin Mary is to bring all people to her Son Jesus. Jesus is our Savior, not Virgin Mary, so we never pray Virgin Mary to do something by her own forces, but exactly as at the wedding of Cana, she is an intercessor. Of course that we can pray Jesus directly too, and I hope that all of us are doing it, but it doesn't mean that we don't ask others to pray for us too, because the Bible also says that: “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19). If we aren't aware that Virgin Mary is alive soul and body, we cannot understand that she can pray with us, and her prayers are more powerful than any other person's prayers, that we are asking to pray together with us, because Virgin Mary is our mother by Jesus' will, and the love of a mother is always greater than any other human love. When a mother is praying for her son/daughter, the prayer is coming from the heart, and this is exactly the ingredient for a prayer to be powerful in front of God: when it is made with all our heart. This is what Virgin Mary is doing for us, she is praying with all her heart for us to her Son Jesus, and since her heart is immaculate, her love is much greater than any other person's love for us, except for God Himself of course. Virgin Mary is in fact the second only after God. Do we need her prayers for us? I believe that yes, since Jesus himself told us to take her as our mother. It means that Virgin Mary is the best to lead us to Jesus. 5) And finally, she is the best protection for us against Satan, because there is a huge fight between Satan and the offsprings of the woman. The Revelation is saying: "Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring-those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus." (Revelation 12:17) Some interpret this woman as being the church, but in fact we cannot say that there is a war between the Dragon against the Church and the rest of its offspring, it doesn't make sense. The woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her offsprings are all the Christians, all of them, even those not knowing it, like Protestant Christians. Even in Genesis 3:15, when God is saying that: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” He is talking again about the Virgin Mary. Her Immaculate soul existed already, God knew in advance that the human being would fall, even if this fall wasn't part of His plan for Adam and Eve. But He knows everything in advance, so He planned the way to heal this world before the original sin, He created the soul of Virgin Mary, the future mother of His Son. According to this translation, the verse is not saying "she will crush your head", but "he will crush your head", but in fact it is talking about the same thing as in Revelation. I'm not strong in ancient languages to explain if it is "he" or "she" in the original text, I'm not even strong in having understood all these just by myself. I've understood everything after reading the recent Jesus's revelation that I was talking about, and it was Jesus explaining everything. It makes sense to me what He explained, in according with the Bible and with what we can see, meaning Virgin Mary 's apparitions and the fruits of Rosary prayers, that are very numerous all over the world...
@@suzannemartin6817 If you understand French, you could follow the Rosary prayers on UA-cam with the NDML (Notre Dame Mère de la Lumière) group of French catholics, either live at 7:30 PM (French time), or in replay. There are many miracles happening for those praying the Rosary together with them, by watching UA-cam, so you can see by yourself, by praying, it would be more relevant than thousands and thousands of speeches and teachings. And you could also take a look on their UA-cam channel "Carrément bien", full of testimonies of people having met Jesus, even in flesh and blood during Eucharist adoration, for example. And even having met the Blessed Virgin Mary: there is, for example, the testimony of an American satanist, who was converted to Jesus by the miraculous Medal of Virgin Mary (of Rue du Bac in Paris) and saw Virgin Mary, and after that, he received the grace to see Jesus in Flesh and Blood many times in a row during the Eucharist transformation of bread and wine during the Catholic Mass...
I have a question by covered up does he mean to go and get the tattoo covered up with another tattoo? Or by wearing long sleeves? Please don’t judge me and think I’m stupid I myself have tattoos and would love to know this answer as well as I’m learning about orthodoxy thank you in advance guys
It sounds like he means get it covered with another tattoo! Generally tattoos aren't a problem as long as they are done in the right spirit and not to draw attention to oneself, destroy ones body, or show problematic images.
@@curtisben79 oh that makes sense you see I have tattoos of Egyptian Gods and have angelic number amonst violent anime characters obviously this was done before learning about Jesus Christ as God and accepting him now that I have I’m been going crazy over what to do with my tattoos I’ve been wanting to get them covered up with other tattoos but I heard getting them is a sin so I’ve tried to hold back
@@Shy-v2p Getting tattoos CAN be a sin, but not necessarily. Lots of people say lots of things are sins but that really comes from an overly legalistic conception of sin. I have a tattoo and I have never been told by my spiritual Father that it was sinful to get it.
@@curtisben79 for me I would love to get them covered up as it’s cheaper than getting them lásered off and because my tattoos do seem offense to God in all honesty I regret getting them done and I wish they could disappear instantly but I know that’s not possible so that’s why I was wondering if I could get them covered up but I don’t want to continue to sin if that makes sense
I thought in the Bible says the 7th day is to rest, so the 7th day is Saturday not only that I do disagree with the Christmas trees and easter bunny etc. and not should not be celebrated and we should be properly celebrating our Christ Lord.
The 7th day in OT, the Sabbath, God's rest, is a prefiguration of God's rest in the tomb on Great & Holy Saturday. God fulfilled Sabbath when he kept it in the flesh and "rested" in the tomb. His resurrection renewed creation and refashioned it, so it's the Lord's day, the day of His resurrection, the Eighth Day, Sunday, that takes precedence for Christians. Remember that we Orthodox never interpret OT separated from Jesus Christ.
Good video, but from a catholic perspective the view of purgatory the Father brings is a bit of a caricature aswell, like when people caricature tollhouses, neither the councils of Florence or Trent mention it being a "third place" or "fire"
So, the Orthodox opinion on original sin is all over the place. We are not a dogmatic Church as the Roman Catholic Church is and thus varying opinions are offered on a number of topics. However, on the subject of original sin and infant baptism, we do have what amounts to the official doctrine of the Orthodox Church. That is contained in the Confession of Patriarch Dositheos of Jerusalem written in 1672. Decree 16 thereof specifically states that baptism is necessary for infants because they are subject to original sin, and if they have not received the remission of this hereditary sin, they cannot without baptism be saved. This Confession was ratified by Constantinople and the other Patriarchates, and, therefore, constiutes the actual teaching of the Church. I’m baffled as to why so many Orthodox priests appear to be unaware of this. Moreover, the Catholic understanding or original sin is not, as popular opinion claims, that of “original guilt.” Their conception of it is so close to ours as to be indistinguishable in any actual sense.
I guess you’d want to read the writings referenced and get a full understand of how that concept was elucidated and see what scripture was being used as supportive evidence.
I’m very much in favor of orthodoxy with in the Christian faith however there is a lot of inconsistency in answers you get from these guys on many different topics.
23:20 interestingly enough, I don't think that God's essence of being a creator is hindered or determined by the fact of "action." Using the chair analogy, a chair is still a chair even when no one sits on it. It's about the ability of the subject, not necessarily actions, that determine its essence. God can still be the creator simply due to the fact of his ability to create. A firefighter is still a firefighter when he is home with his family. However, with God, the fact of his perfect free will is one of the deciding factors of his essence. God was always the creator even before creation existed because he always knew that he would create eventually; and ironically enough, talking about God in a temporal manner is counterproductive, to say the least, but as a human; time is all I know.
I got into a bad accident on my motorcycle. Severe traumatic brain injury. Some of my skull is fake now. Now I think I’m in purgatory because of a few reasons. One being I dreamt of imagined I committed suicide afterwards. Two being I was a drug addict before my crash. So forth. Now I’m scared and confused.
I had a tbi and for quite a while I had these images in my mind if looking down on myself as I laid on the path. I saw people around me and first responders. It was really fermenting me but I did t tell anyone. One Sunday I was at church and a las I knew, but not well, asked if she could pray for me. Since she was known and trusted by the Pastor I said yes. Then she proceeded to pray about that very thing! She told it to stop in the name of Jesus. Idk if she addressed it as a tormenting spirit or not but it NEVER happened again! Praise the LORD! You can be free from that torment! Even if it’s a brain thing. Idk if you are a believer or not. Idk if you have been washed of your sins through repenting and surrendering to His Lordship but if not, call upon His name! Acknowledge your need for forgiveness by repenting, and confess Him as LORD of all and of all of you forever. ❤️
Did you not hear the priest ? He said we believe it in a different way and perspective. Everyone else has a western view on it. So it’s completely different
Orthodox begin with this. Cats have kittens; dogs have puppies; humans have babies. From the time of creation, each "kind" ("species") reproduces its own kind. Humans were created in complete unity with God, the story the Bible tells as Adam and Eve in Paradise. Being in union, their relationship was ever-presently available, and they lived together, in cooperation in everything. When humans disobeyed God, they fell away from this unity and began to go in a different direction from God, a direction of their own making. That different (fallen human) direction is known as sin; in fact, it *defines* what sin is. From that time, the relationship was impaired by sin. If Adam and Eve had had children in Paradise, the children would have had perfect communion with God also - each kind reproduces its kind. Once they left Paradise, their children were also fallen - again, each kind reproduces its own kind. Fallen humanity is a different kind from humanity as created, each with its own nature demarcated by its relationship with God. This is what the Orthodox describe as "ancestral sin". Original sin is an idea formed in Roman Catholicism and adopted into Protestantism. It's more of an ideology than a description of nature. And it generally is used to imply fault, commission of sins or complicity in sinning, of which a person is guilty and deserves punishment for. In addition, its use often includes the idea that that kind of fault is inherited from generation to generation, interpreting "the sins of the father are visited upon the sons" in that way. Orthodox do not accept that interpretation. But we do accept that a fallen nature is passed on from the parents to the children, making them susceptible to temptation and sin in their own right, once they are old enough to make choices that are sinful and for which they might be held responsible. Again, the Roman idea includes the interpretation that infants and small children are capable of making such choices pretty much from birth, and that humans are therefore justified in holding them responsible in whatever fashion they decide. The orthodox view is that God is the only One Who Judges, and that the final judgement is the only place where each person *really* faces their own responsibilities. Before then, we suffer what we experience here on Earth at the hands of others, for a time until we die, and each person then must face his or her own eventual judgement for their choices in these matters. The Orthodox realize that human governance and control over misbehavior is a valid concern and issue, and always has been, but that is viewed as related to the earthly life in particular. Hence, humans who take on a role in governance ought to consider it a weighty burden, for they can become responsible for their involvement in any of Earth's problems, and the consequences of their actions in the face of conundrums, dilemmas, enigmas, and sheer paradoxes. In God's Kingdom, we do not govern; Christ Jesus is King. Thank God that He rules here on Earth also, not as a dictator, but as one who provides our choices in freedom, and grants us grace now while we decide to return to Him, or to go our own way.
Regarding habitual sins, I love what St Porphyrios says. Don't fight evil, let evil be. Open the window of your heart and let the light come in, and that will drive out the darkness.
St. Porphyrios pray for us!
Amen ☦️
VERY HELPFUL video . Thank you❤❤❤
Listening to these kind of videos from orthodox priests/bishops is my absolute favorite thing today.
It feels like i'v been robbed of orthodoxy from birth to like 5months ago.
I totally feel that last part 🥹.
It's ok. God meets us where we are.
I was baptized into this Church as an infant yet didn't know anything about it for 35 years. No one taught me. My family didn't raise me in the Church at all.
Suddenly, last August, by complete surprise to myself, my wife, and our children, I suddenly felt compelled to enter this church that was around the corner from my house.
The intrusive thoughts pressed me into the building after gnawing at me for several weeks.
It's one of the best things that's ever happened to me.
God is present here. You've been called at precisely the right moment. Do not despair.
@medotaku9360 I can somewhat relate. My father was raised Serbian Orthodox, but he never had me baptized and taught me to be an atheist. Although as an adult I became very interested in philosophy and eventually came to respect Jesus as a moral teacher, I never believed in God and thought Christians were delusional.
Then in 2022 I attended a Greek Orthodox funeral. As I wandered around the church studying the icons, I had no idea a fire was being lit in my soul that would propel me into the arms of the local Orthodox church six months later. I am now a full-fledged believer and hope to be received into the Church within a year. Though I have a lot to learn so I am taking it slow.
I, too, was completely stunned by this unexpected development. I believe that for reasons known only to Him, the Lord has put out the call and is gathering up all His lost sheep now. I feel very blessed to have that Orthodox ancestry so that I didn't waste a lot of time exploring dead end denominations. It is a birthright that I never imagined I would want to claim, but by the grace of God here I am. God is so good!
It’s like starving and then suddenly stumbling upon a feast
I FEEL THE SAME THING. But you put it into words perfectly (thre last part)
As an Evangelical protestant I really appreciate Fr. Truebenbach he has my utmost respect he speaks and answers questions, very honestly and eloquently. And even though there are disagreements. Between Catholics and protestants. he doesn’t think himself better than them or anyone else but follows Christ the best he knows how and teaches others to do the same.
"utmost"
Mountain of Silence really blew my mind. A young Father at a Greek parish gave me a copy and it truly opened up the door to a whole new Christianity I thought died a long time ago. Fr Paul’s critique of it is spot on!
Also, Fr Paul did a video with an inquisitive Protestant several years ago which helped introduce me to the faith. Very good video to watch! Now am an Orthodox Christian, recently received this January!
Glory to Jesus Christ! ☦️
The videos were done by Matt Whitman on his channel. I, too, watched his series of videos done with Fr. Trubenbach. I was inspired to re-establish my inquiry into Orthodoxy!
I also just became Orthodox in January!
I just looked at this book, it's exactly what I need. The road from Baptist to Orthodoxy has been exhausting to say the least.
May the Lord bless you on your journey!! ❤
I grew up baptist and we joined the Orthodox Church just before Christmas :)
I am on a similar journey, I recently reached out to the closest Orthodox Church and am planning to attend next week. I’m curious to see where this journey leads me
May the Lord bless you and open your heart ✝️✝️✝️🤲🙏
I’m on the road from Baptist to orthodox as well 😊
In 🇬🇷 Greece we kiss others when we see them. We like hugs too. It's in our culture. Since we are an orthodox Christian nation we find it normal to embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ or any child of God even if it's not orthodox Christian or even Christian. It's a gesture of love for everyone. And as for icons ask your parents don't they have pictures of loved ones? It's the same, you don't worship the wood but the images that are depicted on them . Love from Greece 🇬🇷 and may God Jesus Christ of Nazareth bless you all ❤🎉❤(And we pray to Theotokos the Holy Mother for intersection to her Holy SON. We love our Holy Mother ❤)
Christ Is Risen!
Thank u for answering these quetions folowing from Serbia !
I love how in Ortodoxy there is no room for personal interpretation teachings are clear and simple and deep.
Glory to God
Another phenomenal video from Fr Paul! He's been extremely influential in my Orthodox Coaching/Therapy practice and my own UA-cam channel.
wassup TP :)
Mah d0000d@@yecksd
Thank you for this video. I believe there is wisdom and truth in his words. God bless.
I'm glad Father touched on original sin. Growing up, my best friend was cradle Eastern Orthodox and the biggest turn off to me was when, in highschool, she told me that the Orthodox don't believe in original sin. She couldn't elaborate beyond that. As a devout Evangelical, I could not wrap my mind around how her faith rejected the first chapters of Genesis. It's so important that the Orthodox understand that it's not original sin that we reject, but how the West has developed her understanding of original sin its implications on humanity and anthropology. 🙏
Damn your best friend was an idiot 😅
I say this as a crypto-protestant who has attended various Orthodox churches regularly for decades, and raised my children as true members of the Orthodox Church, people, including some clergy, get entirely to hung up on the holiday thing and I think Father Truebenbach is a voice of moderation on this.
I find a lot of people, both secular and not, have an extremely hard time separating secular terms from religious terms and overly focus on labels. You can have two effective different holidays on the same day with the same name. It's also an advantage I find in the ROCOR church in that because of the Julian calendar you can get two Christmases, two Easters, etc. and I've always made it clear to my children "this is secular Easter" for example and this is "religious Easter" and it's not a big deal in the same way children of divorced parents can have two dads and two moms or children raised by homosexuals can have "two moms" or "two dads"; I don't say that as a commentary on homosexuality or step parents but more on the ability of children to have no problem accepting the same term for two different things, they can honor both while understanding they are different.
Something a friar said once to me I think people have a hard time internalizing is "Satan has no power over God hence nothing holy can be made unholy". Your children participating in secular Christmas doesn't impinge upon the miracle of Jesus's birth and to assume otherwise is hubris on your part likewise the sin of pride in rejecting secular holidays.
"Know the Faith" is excellent my priest pretty much hands out copies to inqurers/catechumen if they would like one.
I am Orthodox
I Love u guys
God bless .❤❤❤❤🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Heads up to readers! If you would like to, try to get the books from orthodox sources if you can - churches, ancient faith publishing, etc. - so your money actually supports something,
Wisdom for today is a slow burn to start, HUGE resource, though, with amazing insight. Know the Faith is also amazing, it walks through the faith from a perspective of someone who would have followed the apostles - really great way to approach the complexities.
Asking Fr. Paul about books was loaded 😂 he's a huge bibliophile, and I'm so grateful for it. Please come visit an orthodox church near you, it's a huge difference from any other church & it will feel weird at first, but comfortable & if you keep going, it'll feel like home.
Probably the best explanation of infant baptism I've ever heard. Thank you Father!
God bless you brother, this was beautiful to watch. I also enjoy the Catholic tradition. From, an Orthodox ❤️
Wow. Never thought of the Moses stories from the baptism perspective. Amazing. Also about the imaginary of the Roserry.
Waoooo. Where have you been all my life. Amazing answers God bless you Father. 🙏
I love these responses more than any denomination I’ve seen. They have proper meaning in the things they do and to the things they don’t is through the limitations of man.
Thinking Orthodox is a great book and Becoming Orthodox as well. Ancient Faith Radio’s podcast “Walking an Ancient Path” is awesome for those coming from a Protestant background.
This was so good. Fr. Paul is a fantastic speaker.
Amazing! Thank you. Fr. Paul answered many of my questions
This video was absolutely phenomenal for someone like me who is near enough clueless about orthodoxy. Thanks so much.
I just came across these videos a week ago and haven't finished watching them all. Great videos so far. Educational and calming to listen to without the loud shouting that some priests seem to do.
As a Protestant I love this video it’s very educational. And I love his final comments on receiving visions. You must stay humble
It is ALWAYS so spiritually rewarding for me, listening to Fr Truebenbach speak. I am going to purchase several books he recommends for learning more about the Orthodox faith!❤️
Please pray for us. My wife Cathy wants nothing to do with Orthodoxy. Thanks to all. 🙏☦️🙏
Kindly thank you for an other great video. Κυριε Ιησου Χριστε ελεησον με τον αμαρτωλο.
Thank you, Paul!! You just answered a question I had been looking for, for a while now!!
Really thoughtful asnwers! Helps a lot!
Love orthodox faith,clean believing in holy trinity! I love my mysterious too whitch are valid thats mean we are the truth!
Orthodox Christianity: Volume One, Get It!! That's a good book!!
Beautiful answers Father Paul. May we have your blessings!
God bless father!
God Bless you
I won't lie, as a catechumen prayfully about to be received into the church soon. I think kissing the hand of another man was the last hardest apprehension I had until our priest at our parish said the same. Basically they're hands are the hands that prepare , bless and distribute the Holy Mysteries to us, specifically the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist! Once I learned that I was instantly fine with it
Thank you so much. Some great answers. He is a very nice and energetic priest this man. Cheers guys
Father bless, I wanted to say thank you for your catechism videos, Father Paul! They were so informative and helped me when I was a catechumen last year. I live 1.5 hours from the nearest Orthodox Church and your videos helped me to better understand the Faith and to make the decision to join the True Church last November. May the Mother of God make your heart exceedingly glad. 🙏🏻☦️
You can come obliquely with Way of the Pilgrim, The Brothers Karamazov and similar literature.
As a Catholic, I really enjoyed his answers for the most part and I think Orthodox and Catholics have way more in common than some may think. His answer on the Catholic view of purgatory, however, is incorrect; purgatory is not a third place but a process that we undergo before entering heaven
Not withstanding purgatory is one of the many Roman Catholic inventions. Jesus on the Cross did not tell the thief on the Cross next yo him you have to go first to purgatory then you will be with me in paradise. Jesus told him from this day on you will be in paradise. The purgatory was invented and put in place in the Roman Catholic church in 1215 AD. Just as with the rest of the Heresies after Rome Left the church that Jesus built in 1054 although the Roman Patriarchate had many problems within the Roman patriarchate. Unfortunately today Roman Catholicism is in a such CAOS 🥲🥲🥲
I like “The Historic Church” by Fr. John Morris
To all who are on my friends list listen to this Priest n what he says
God bless orthodoxy ❤
One thing I really wanted to know is what is the orthodox perspective on demonic contracts? Can you inherit demonic contract or "curses" from generational sins(ex: from parents, grandparents etc)?
(I hope this is where I'm supposed to submit a question for future Q&A).
Im not a priest but as a theology major, the answer is no. we are responsible for our sins, not the sins of our ancestors. we might suffer the consequences of their actions tho.
Interesting video. It would be so helpful to see what was scriptural vs purely traditional.
Regarding the book The Mountain of Silence and it's author I will say his beliefs will challenge you. He's a liberal academic with lots of hands on experience with eastern religions and will compare practices at times. It came off to me as "as paths lead to God" and the author even mentions Christians being uncomfortable with such comparisons, which if I'm honest, is true. There is talk of universalism from the author, though he doesn't take a form stance on it, he speaks of human rights as if they are separate from and not given from God which came off to me a dualistic.
His views are good to have hands on experience with, because there are lots of people like him and it's good to know their beliefs so you can confront them and understand them.
The authors interactions with Father Maximos are often times pastoral and eye opening. There are chapters on how to fight passions; justice; knowledge of God and the various levels of brokenness of man that keep us from knowing God; why monks are needed for the world; the Jesus Prayer.
The chapter of prayer and the build up to it is worth the price of admission alone.
I love this book as it exposed me to many things I didn't even know I had strong convictions on and challenged me on them - hell being one of them - and it's a book I refer to all the time.
The authors viewpoints in comparison to Father Maximos will seem like oil and water trying to mix when the author is comparing in his mind what Maximos is saying to Friedrich Nietzsche but he doesn't want to say anything aloud; it came off to me as the author seeing himself as knowing more but just wants the Athonite slant on it. To be fair the author speaks of this many times and is sincere in his quest of learning, but his thought process at times bugged me. Forgive my judgments! That's why I'm it's good to have interactions with people like him, because if you're like me you'll have a side of you that you didn't know existed and that is ideology which is not Christ centered.
This book will humble you, enlighten you, challenge you and shine a mirror on your failings.
Do you have a video on how to set up a spiritual journal?
can you please write the books mentioned , in the description? That would be helpful. Thank you 🙏❤️
The "rainbow series" by Fr. Thomas Hopko.
He is wise
What is the best orthodox bible to purchase. I really do not like the NKJ that's in some orthodox bibles.
I use an NIV orthodox study Bible. Septuagint Old Testament.
legacy icons has the gospels , the apostle , the prophetlogian and the psalter but they are are separated but it’s the EOB the eastern orthodox bible which is the patriarchate translation from the Septugiant and greek NT manuscripts, it’s a beautifully bound bible and has a lot of liturgical readings and calendar in it
Im a Protestant who has been interested in the Orthodox Church for awhile now and continue to lean further and further to becoming Orthodox, but I struggle with the understanding of venerating icons. I’ve seen videos and explanations on why, but it’s just hard for me to understand.
Yea, that was a major snag for me too. the biggest thing is just to get over your fears and DO IT because the experience of (properly) venerating an icon is very different from worshiping God, and that's hard to fully grasp without participating.
but as far as intellectual stuff goes, think about it like its a picture of a loved one, because that's what it is. For example, I'm in a long distance relationship right now, and I sometimes kiss a picture of my girlfriend. Am I worshipping the image of my girlfriend? Of course not! Im showing my love to a person I can't be with right now. Same thing if I venerate an icon of my patron saint. I'm just kissing an image and asking him to pray for me.
good luck my friend :)
I know this is off topic but I need some prayers for my emotions:
I’m not sad or mad yet but my crush just said she likes someone else which was my biggest fear since my first crush. I texted her lovingly saying everything is fine and that I just wanted to confess to her. I do feel a lot of peace for confessing and finally getting it out my chest but it still feels awkward that she doesn’t feel the same way. Even though she’s shown some signs even if she was messing with me, hopefully we both can remain friends. The Lord is with us.
I prayed for you
May Lord guide you and be always with you 🙏🏻☦️🙏🏻
Don’t worry. Just keep praying
I am a Latin Catholic, and I must say Fr. Paul is a great speaker and must be a really good pastor to his flock. I would have to say that about the Purgatory part, he got that Catholic position wrong. We do not believe in Purgatory as a third place, but rather believe it's a state of purification- to Purge, hence the name "Purgatory".
He literally just said that we do not believe that soul ca ne cleansed in purgatory by flames but by our prayers, he did not say anything of whgat you say.
@@costealucia5357 If you go back to 28:04 he says exactly what I said he got wrong about us... I never said he got the Eastern Orthodox position wrong. the time clip I sent you, he is comparing Catholic vs Orthodox perspective on Purgatory
If you don’t mind me asking where does this state take place because what is the difference between a state of purgatory or a place since either way its an experience of the soul and not a physical “place” or “state”
@@h5gamer798 Of course. We believe that the purification process is within the friendship of God, but not a place like Heaven or Hell. I would doubt that the Orthodox position believes that the Aerial Toll Houses are in there own separate places like Paradise and Hades.
@@the1cardinalin friendship of God do you mean that the purification of purgatory happens during the presence of God? And if so what “state” is the soul in during that purification does the purification take place in hell or is it a different process all together? Also thank you for responding I appreciate it!
Sir, With all do respect u should come to Ethiopian Orthodox Church. GOD Bless 🇪🇹🇺🇸🙏🏿.
A church that supports abi killer and lier! And so divided pro gvt , pro fano,pro….. The church leaders are not doing enough to save their children from wolves
We are eastern Orthodox 😊
God bless Ethiopia! I look forward to the day our schism is mended and we can take communion together!
Question on prayer. Do you have to pray prayers that are prewritten by other people? Jesus says to pray like this when it comes to the Lord's prayer. He also warns against being repetitive. I am a reformed Protestant and looking to understand the Orthodox Church better. I will get that book on the Orthodox view of the afterlife. Thank you for answering my questions.
Ask your local orthodox priest about prayer. I will say that Jesus doesn’t warn against repetition in general, but vain repetition. So obviously that implies that not all repetition is bad.
@@triggered8556 good point. I plan on it. I am still gathering my questions. I honestly don't know much about Orthodoxy so I prefer to go with a good list of questions.
@@ChristIsLord247 I think the best way to learn about Orthodoxy is to attend a few Liturgies. When I was new to Orthodoxy I attended a few Divine Liturgy services before I met with the priest and began my catechism. Luckily I had a great priest that helped answer some of my initial issues/questions that came up.
What denomination are you coming from, if you don’t mind me asking?
I’m not Orthodox but I would say Biblically that we do both. Like someone else said, Jesus warns against vain repetition because sometimes people think they are heard because of their many words, so don’t do that. 👍I think The Lord’s Prayer is more of a map even though we prayed it every Sunday in the Presbyterian church I went to when I was younger and have prayed it myself in my own home. I think it would be a mistake to limit yourself to prayers written by others. I have situations and so do you, for which there is unlikely to be a pre written prayer. Certainly “Jesus!” Is a prayer in itself! But prayer is supposed to be a conversation. You can send a pre-printed card to your mom for her birthday and the pre-printed message might be right on, or you can get a blank one and write your own message. I think there is Biblical support for both types of prayer so don’t worry! Just pray.🙂
Great episode
Can you explain me if all patriarchies share the same Saints or not?
There is a core of the Saints who are in all Typikons, and then there are who are not in all but in several or just in the one he/she ethnically belonged to.
I think the best answer to that question is “mostly yes.” Sometimes a saint will appear on the liturgical calendar of one patriarchate but not another because the veneration for that saint is in its early days. For instance, one Orthodox jurisdiction recently recognized Matushka Olga Michael as a saint. Others have not recognized her yet, but it’s not because they think she wasn’t a saint. It is because their synod of bishops has not gotten together and officially recognized her. In time I fully expect other patriarchates will add her to their calendar. Was that helpful?
@@joshuaduncan235
Really Helpful thanks you, i was really confuse cause there are some Saints like Saint Nicholas II the last Tsar of Russia , i have seen a lot of veneration to him in Russia but i wasn't sure if Greeks, bulgarians and others do also venerate him 🤔
@@gaviriak
If a whole Jurisdiction glorifies a Saint then individuals in other Jurisdictions can Venerate them without worry.
St. Raphael of Brooklyn, my Patron Saint, isn't officially on most Jurisdiction's Liturgical Calendars, including until Recently the Patriarchate of Antioch, but no one questions his Sanctity.
Great list, but I agree that Markidis can mess with people's heads.
Excellent! God bless Fr. Paul
The view of the Catholic Church of Purgatory is similar of what you described of the state of the soul who started the repentance on earth but not completed it, and it can be completed by the prayers of the Church.
The soul isn't purified by the fire of the Hell in the Catholic Church, because no-one can escape Hell, but by the fire of God's love.
In a magnificent revelation, Jesus explains that the souls immersed in these flames only suffer for love. They are not unworthy of possessing the Light, but not quite worthy of immediately entering the Kingdom of Light. At the moment they appear before God, these souls are invested with Light. It is a brief anticipated beatitude which assures them of their salvation. It gives them the knowledge of what their eternity will be and full awareness of what they have done to the soul, frustrating it with years of blessed possession of God. Then plunged into the place of purification, they are assailed by the atoning flames. Those who speak of Purgatory speak the truth in this. But they are mistaken in wanting to apply various names to these flames. They are a fire of Love. They purify by igniting the souls with love. They give Love because, when the soul has reached, through them, this love which it had not reached on earth, it is delivered from it and joins Love in Heaven.
in the orthodox view, the fire of hell is the uncreated light of God, as experienced by those who reject God
"stand in fear, O soul, as you look upon the deifying Body and Blood, for it is fire, and burns the unworthy"-our pre communion prayers
I was quoting Jesus in my last paragraph, in the revelation He gave us. He knows better than us :)
@@adriana76753 what verse exactly? just curious, wanna make sure
I was speaking in my message about a revelation and I've quoted an English translation of that passage from an English website. But if you want to read the revelation entirely, here is the French website that gives it entirely, you can use their automatic English translation:
If you read the Gospel revelation from tome 1 to 10, plus all other writings containing teachings of Jesus and Holy Spirit about the Bible, you'll understand completely the Gospel and the God's plan for this world and His Church since the beginning, starting with the Immaculate Conception in Proverbs 8:22-35 et till the Pentecost (inside the 10 tomes), the interpretation of Epistle of Paul Apostle to romans made by the Holy Spirit, par of the Revelation by Jesus, the Purgatory and much more.
I was baptised in the Orthodox church as baby, but from the Bible I'd understood that the Catholic church is the true God's Church. Still it took me more than 20 years to understand the truth completely and finally become catholic this year.
This revelation is very clear, all the churches outside the catholic Church are like the man in the Bible who was doing miracles in the name of Jesus but without following the apostolic group lead directly by Jesus. Jesus said that as long as he wasn't against the apostles, he was with them. So all Christian Churches outside the Catholic one are like that man, they are with Jesus, but not in the full communion with the apostolic Church. I'd understood that from the Bible, but the revelation of Jesus is much clearer.
It is not the only confirmation that God's gives us till today about the fact that His true Church is the Catholic one. There are other confirmations too :
The Immaculate Conception, which is in the Bible (Proverbs 8:22-35), was revealed as a truth only to the Catholics, revealed by Virgin Mary herself, in several occasions, and then explained in detail by Jesus in this huge revelation given through Maria Valtorta. The Virgin Mary is appearing only to the Catholic Church to deliver her messages, even if the Orthodox Christians are her children too, and she is helping them too. In Medjugorje she is appearing since 1981. Just read the book of one of the visionaries from there, Mirjana "My heart will triumph" and you'll understand that the apparitions are true, and that they have a clear purpose for our world, to turn it back to Jesus.
But the most powerful sign for me is the Eucharistic miracle, together with the apparitions of Jesus in flesh and blood during Eucharistic adoration. There are so many testimonies.
About the Eucharistic miracles, meaning that the eucharistic bread is bleeding or transforms itself in flesh, happened in the great catholic church before the great schism, but continued to happen only in the Catholic Church. The last one has just happened in India, the region of Kerala, several times in a row, just nowadays. But you can find an exhaustive detailed list about these miracles, a list made by Carlo Acutis, a catholic teenager dead in 2006, who will be soon canonised as saint.
And also, Jesus is doing many conversion miracles in all Christian denominations, but only to catholics he is saying, in some of them, that the Catholic Church is his real Church.
All of these together, convinced me completely about the truth, so I'm catholic since this year...
27:19 and the third is exactly what Catholics call purgatory, it is state of purification, not the place. I hope to live to see Catholic and Orthodox united visibly as they already are in Spirit. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.
I think the Catholic position has shifted to be closer to the Orthodox position since Vatican II, with medieval Catholics emphasizing the place view, which is in many ways we Orthodox are still reacting to :/ We do still disagree on indulgences tho, as we believe that only prayer is efficacious for the dead. :)
He is rock again.
12:22 I've read the diary of Tatiana Romanov, the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, and a Passion-Bearer in the Russian Orthodox church. In it, she mentions that a relative spoke to her of "a lot of interesting things", possibly refering to an incident called the "August Phenomenon". It was reported that in August 1914, the Mother of God appeared to the Life-Guard Cuirassier Regiment and it lasted 30-40 minutes. A special icon called "Mother of God of the August Phenomenon" was even made. But I have not found any information about this. Do you know anything? Thanks in advance if you do!
I have a hard time converting because I belive in the primacy of the pope. Can you clear this up for me?
Forgive me, Father, but how could Kallistos Ware's "The Orthodox Church" not be at the top of the list for books for inquirers??
Because it's been surpassed in many ways by the other works he brought up
I am roman catholic, and it seemed to me that the orthodox view about that "third state of purification", at least, reconcilable with the catholic view... The "fires of purgatory" are not the fires of hell, and purgatory itself is not, for us, a place within hell. That fire, so I've been taught, is the suffering of not being (yet) with God. Plus, the prayers of the church also play a role regarding purgatory, just like in the orthodox context of this "third place".
Regarding the forgiveness of sins, Catholic Church teaches that, when you sin, there are eternal consequences (of offending God Himself) and temporal consequences (all the consequences of your sin in others lives, situations and history, ultimately). The sacrament of Confession (reconciliation), in the person of Christ (in persona Christi) erases the eternal consequences, and you are forever clean of those. The temporal consequences are ultimately related to the justice of God. You are forgiven, yet, what you have done had effect in history.
To exemplify the temporal consequences, consider 2 Samuel, chapter 12. David fell in love with BathSheba, a married woman, and sent his husband to die in the war in order to have her. The Prophet Nathan confronted him, and, as the king David asked for forgiveness, the prophet Nathan said (verses 13 and 14): "The Lord forgave your sin. You will not die. But, because you have sinned, despising the Lord, your son shall die".
David had forgiveness, yet he had to pay for the temporal consequences of his sin. I believe this passage ilustrates quite well those concepts. Still, I believe the orthodox view is not deadly apart from ours, and it is reconcilable with ours. By the way, I feel like this is the case regarding basically all the "divergent" points between the Churches.
Much, HUGE respect for the Oriental Churches. I really hope and pray for us being together sometime in the future again. God bless you all!
There are some similarities but it is not the same.
I'm watching this video and my kids say "hey! thats Fr Skittles!"... I have no idea what they mean, but maybe he does. :)
8:18 In India, we touch our elders' feet to show respect. That is not worship.
Protestant (I think?) here.. I’m so intrigued with every video I watch from this channel and feel so excited that the Lord revealed Orthodoxy to me, I want to visit a church myself but I’m nervous about getting my hopes up, I think I have an internal fear that I will be let down by priests not being as on point as these selected for the videos. From what I see on this channel, Orthodoxy seems too good to be true as far as aligning with the type of church I’ve been looking for.
I'll be the first to admit that not every Orthodox Church is perfect, and there's an unfortunate amount of churches that are basically just a social club for old greek people. That's not my experience of most churches though. if your closest church is one of those churches, and you're lucky enough to be close enough to multiple churches, give those churches a shot! as for priests, not all of them are theological geniuses, but they do all have to go to seminary, and you're far from the first person to walk in and ask questions. It'll be fine, trust me!
I know! it does feel too good to be true! but it is!
12:20 marian apparitions
Wow 👍🏻
Purgatory is where, after death, some shall SUFFER LOSS, and be saved ONLY AS THROUGH FIRE, as we must all strive for that holiness without which no one shall see the Lord, as we shall each be held accountable for every careless word we have uttered and shall each be liable to judgment if angry with others and we shall each be judged as we have judged others and we shall each receive recompense for BOTH the good AND THE BAD we have done in the body! Peace always in Jesus Christ our Great and Kind God and Savior, He whose Flesh is true food and Blood true drink and His Church built on Peter the rock!
will you ever have an oriental orthodox priest on here?
How long does someone usually attend a Orthodox church before becoming a catechumen?
That's usually up to the parish priest. If you're inquiring at a local church, ask him and see what he says
Reach out to the priest. In my case, I live 2.5 hours from Fr. Paul's parish, so I sent him an email to see if or when I could visit. That was over a year ago now.
Just reach out, one step closer every day at your own pace.
Obviously it depends on the church, but I was about 6 months
..he takes those who are suffering..
The Orthodox churches near me do not offer daily Divine Liturgy like the Roman Catholic churches do. Is this typical or just the churches in my area?
this is pretty much typical. we tend to be more restrained with when we offer liturgy, though im not quite sure on the reason
So Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise “ I don’t see that he had to wait and have the church pray him in.
because when the thief died, his soul went to hades, which Christ immediately freed, along with all the other righteous dead.
I’m still struggling to grasp the difference between the Orthodox and Western concepts around Original Sin.
Western view takes a lot from the Augustinian view of inherited guilt, and every man sinned in Adam.
Eastern view doesn’t see man as guilty because of Adam, but because of the fall, we have a proclivity to sin.
That’s the very basics as I understand it; definitely more nuanced.
@@triggered8556so then is the issue varying interpretations of Romans 5? And I’m assuming that Orthodoxy agrees that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans) and that “there is none good but God” (Jesus). So in that case the difference is not a salvation issue. 👍
Kissing the hand of the priest always reminded me of the opposite of biting the hand that feeds you.
I love this!
I want JESUS
Call on His name then! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved and then keep going on the journey!
I actually like his point. He agrees that using demonic images to normalize and embetter the demons idea but he didnt say if it was used against and to warn that its valid 😜
How can I submit a question ?
It was on instagram
@@user-gf2wf2sh7k
Thank you,
Virgin Mary herself asked us to pray the Rosary. It isn't about imagination, it is about praying and meditating some precise passages from the Bible concerning mostly Jesus' life some concerning Virgin Mary's life.
By praying for graces from God like receiving more faith, humility, love and charity, the spirit of poverty, obedience to God and to His plan for us, repentance from our sins, peace of our soul and of the entire world etc.
There are people getting words of knowledge, like in the Bible, but they are quite few compared to all people praying the Rosary, and those receiving those knowledge words, it is not because they were somehow worthy of it, but just because God is helping the Church through them exactly as the Bible says.
When Virgin Mary asked to pray the Rosary at Fatima, it was to stop the war, and later, to fight communism. And even nowadays, to bring back peace into the world, by turning all people to Jesus. She is asking the conversion of every soul to Jesus, to follow Jesus more and more, to be heal by Jesus, this is Rosary about. It is very powerful against Satan, not the other way around.
Can you help me with this? I would say I am “full gospel”…labels always cause people to think and assume certain things and I don’t really know what to call myself. I started out my journey at 12 in a Presbyterian church, but have been gradually moving more towards an embracing of New Testament ideas, which honestly seem different in many ways from orthodoxy.., 🤔. Anyway, you say Mary asked us to pray the rosary…I don’t understand that. Obviously it is an extra biblical idea so you can’t show me in the Bible. But can you explain that? It always sounds like there are humans there is Jesus and Mary is somewhere in the middle; not quite one but certainly not the other. And even in the Bible when people tried to give a lot of honor to Mary, Jesus actually corrected them. So, what is this thing about Mary wanting us to pray the Rosary…? Are we obeying Mary???🤷♀️ and anything you can give me from the Bible helps. Some orthodox actually get nasty if a non-orthodox person asks for biblical support-but that’s what we look to as our plumb line, even though we read other things as well. Thanks for reading and doing your best to answer.
@@suzannemartin6817 Well, first of all, there is a misunderstanding between catholic and orthodox Christians regarding Virgin Mary. There were some catholic revelations stating that the conception of Virgin Mary is immaculate, meaning without the original sin. Orthodox Christians are denying this.
But a new revelation, pointed that the Immaculate Conception is in fact in the Bible, at Proverbs 8:22-35. Christians assumed that all the Chapter of Proverbs 8 is talking about Jesus (some of them interpreted as the Holy Spirit, but most of Christians are talking about Jesus), while the paragraph from 22 to 35, is talking about a creature, it is what made erroneously the Jehovah's Witnesses to say that Jesus would be a creature, and not the Creator.
So, the creation of Virgin Mary is immaculate, without the original sin, we are talking here about her soul, created as the Proverbs 8:22-35 is stated, and put into her body at her conception.
I'm telling you this to understand why, when Jesus is saying at the Cross (John 19:26-27):
"When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
Jesus is giving to all of us the Virgin Mary as mother, not only to John. John is representing, in this passage, all the Christians after him too (I'll give some other argument later).
Since Virgin Mary hasn't the original sin, she wasn't banned from the Paradise as we were, and she is the only creature on earth being able not to make any sin during her earthly life, this is why she is the one crushing the head of the snake, meaning Satan (I'll detail this later), because Satan cannot find in her anything belonging to him (any sin).
If Adam and Eve hadn't made any sin, what it would have happened with them after the death of their bodies, is what happened to the Virgin Mary, her body was taken in Paradise together with her soul. We mistakenly believe that, when God says that the salary of the sin is the death, we're talking here about the death of the body. It is in fact the death of the soul. The soul exists for ever, but either in a state of living (like in Paradise) or of death (like in the Hell). With our baptism we are living a resurrection of our soul from the death related to the original sin (born again), and all the other sins if we are baptized at an adult age. But a scar of this original sin still remains in us, this is why our bodies are resurrected only at the final Judgment of Jesus, when the body will finally be united to our souls forever.
Virgin Mary is the only exception, she has already had her soul united to her body, and this is exactly why Jesus is giving her as our mother in the Bible.
But why is He doing this?
Let's look at the Revelation now (Revelation 12:13-17). The woman giving birth to the boy is Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus. We are again, erroneously thinking that it is about the birth of baby Jesus in Bethlehem. It is a painful birth in this chapter, while at Bethlehem it wasn't painful since the Virgin Mary had an Immaculate Conception. What this paragraph of Revelation is saying, is that Virgin Mary is giving birth to Jesus in people's hearts, and this is painful. Virgin Mary suffered a lot to give her Son to us.
About this suffering, if you are reading Saint Paul saying:
"Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church." (Colossians 1:24)
we can understand two things:
1) even if Jesus' accomplishment at the Cross was complete and perfect for our salvation, there is a part left for us of this suffering
2) if Paul suffered so much of this left suffering, how much Virgin Mary suffered, who saw her own Son suffering at the Cross?
So, coming back to the Virgin Mary, why praying the Rosary. When we pray the Rosary, we are doing several things:
1) we are meditating some passages of the Bible concerning the life of Jesus and Virgin Mary. Meditating the word of God is always beneficial for us.
2) We are asking Virgin Mary to pray for us, as we are asking a pastor or a priest to pray for us, for example, knowing that the prayers of Virgin Mary are more powerful, her Son is always listening to the prayers of her mother exactly as at the wedding in Cana. Jesus is forever the Son of God the Father, but also the son of Blessed Virgin Mary in his human body.
3) While praying the Rosary, we repeat again and again the angel's salutation to Mary, from the Bible, and this is beneficial too, repeating an angel's words coming directly from the sky is very beneficial for our soul.
4) The mission of Virgin Mary is to bring all people to her Son Jesus. Jesus is our Savior, not Virgin Mary, so we never pray Virgin Mary to do something by her own forces, but exactly as at the wedding of Cana, she is an intercessor. Of course that we can pray Jesus directly too, and I hope that all of us are doing it, but it doesn't mean that we don't ask others to pray for us too, because the Bible also says that:
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19).
If we aren't aware that Virgin Mary is alive soul and body, we cannot understand that she can pray with us, and her prayers are more powerful than any other person's prayers, that we are asking to pray together with us, because Virgin Mary is our mother by Jesus' will, and the love of a mother is always greater than any other human love. When a mother is praying for her son/daughter, the prayer is coming from the heart, and this is exactly the ingredient for a prayer to be powerful in front of God: when it is made with all our heart. This is what Virgin Mary is doing for us, she is praying with all her heart for us to her Son Jesus, and since her heart is immaculate, her love is much greater than any other person's love for us, except for God Himself of course. Virgin Mary is in fact the second only after God.
Do we need her prayers for us? I believe that yes, since Jesus himself told us to take her as our mother. It means that Virgin Mary is the best to lead us to Jesus.
5) And finally, she is the best protection for us against Satan, because there is a huge fight between Satan and the offsprings of the woman. The Revelation is saying:
"Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring-those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus." (Revelation 12:17)
Some interpret this woman as being the church, but in fact we cannot say that there is a war between the Dragon against the Church and the rest of its offspring, it doesn't make sense. The woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her offsprings are all the Christians, all of them, even those not knowing it, like Protestant Christians.
Even in Genesis 3:15, when God is saying that:
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
He is talking again about the Virgin Mary. Her Immaculate soul existed already, God knew in advance that the human being would fall, even if this fall wasn't part of His plan for Adam and Eve. But He knows everything in advance, so He planned the way to heal this world before the original sin, He created the soul of Virgin Mary, the future mother of His Son.
According to this translation, the verse is not saying "she will crush your head", but "he will crush your head", but in fact it is talking about the same thing as in Revelation. I'm not strong in ancient languages to explain if it is "he" or "she" in the original text, I'm not even strong in having understood all these just by myself. I've understood everything after reading the recent Jesus's revelation that I was talking about, and it was Jesus explaining everything.
It makes sense to me what He explained, in according with the Bible and with what we can see, meaning Virgin Mary 's apparitions and the fruits of Rosary prayers, that are very numerous all over the world...
@@suzannemartin6817 If you understand French, you could follow the Rosary prayers on UA-cam with the NDML (Notre Dame Mère de la Lumière) group of French catholics, either live at 7:30 PM (French time), or in replay. There are many miracles happening for those praying the Rosary together with them, by watching UA-cam, so you can see by yourself, by praying, it would be more relevant than thousands and thousands of speeches and teachings.
And you could also take a look on their UA-cam channel "Carrément bien", full of testimonies of people having met Jesus, even in flesh and blood during Eucharist adoration, for example. And even having met the Blessed Virgin Mary: there is, for example, the testimony of an American satanist, who was converted to Jesus by the miraculous Medal of Virgin Mary (of Rue du Bac in Paris) and saw Virgin Mary, and after that, he received the grace to see Jesus in Flesh and Blood many times in a row during the Eucharist transformation of bread and wine during the Catholic Mass...
When does one become a saint
If he married 😂😂😂
I have a question by covered up does he mean to go and get the tattoo covered up with another tattoo? Or by wearing long sleeves? Please don’t judge me and think I’m stupid I myself have tattoos and would love to know this answer as well as I’m learning about orthodoxy thank you in advance guys
It sounds like he means get it covered with another tattoo! Generally tattoos aren't a problem as long as they are done in the right spirit and not to draw attention to oneself, destroy ones body, or show problematic images.
@@curtisben79 oh that makes sense you see I have tattoos of Egyptian Gods and have angelic number amonst violent anime characters obviously this was done before learning about Jesus Christ as God and accepting him now that I have I’m been going crazy over what to do with my tattoos I’ve been wanting to get them covered up with other tattoos but I heard getting them is a sin so I’ve tried to hold back
@@Shy-v2p Getting tattoos CAN be a sin, but not necessarily. Lots of people say lots of things are sins but that really comes from an overly legalistic conception of sin. I have a tattoo and I have never been told by my spiritual Father that it was sinful to get it.
@@curtisben79 for me I would love to get them covered up as it’s cheaper than getting them lásered off and because my tattoos do seem offense to God in all honesty I regret getting them done and I wish they could disappear instantly but I know that’s not possible so that’s why I was wondering if I could get them covered up but I don’t want to continue to sin if that makes sense
@@Shy-v2p I don't think it's sinful to get displeasing images covered by images that glorify God and His creation!
I thought in the Bible says the 7th day is to rest, so the 7th day is Saturday not only that I do disagree with the Christmas trees and easter bunny etc. and not should not be celebrated and we should be properly celebrating our Christ Lord.
The Christmas Tree is a 100% Christian Tradition.
The Pagans used Oaks not Conifers.
The 7th day in OT, the Sabbath, God's rest, is a prefiguration of God's rest in the tomb on Great & Holy Saturday. God fulfilled Sabbath when he kept it in the flesh and "rested" in the tomb. His resurrection renewed creation and refashioned it, so it's the Lord's day, the day of His resurrection, the Eighth Day, Sunday, that takes precedence for Christians. Remember that we Orthodox never interpret OT separated from Jesus Christ.
@@apmoy70exactly 💯
Are you part of the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarch?
Kissing a priest's hand you don't like- You salute the rank not the man.
I thought the same thing.
Good video, but from a catholic perspective the view of purgatory the Father brings is a bit of a caricature aswell, like when people caricature tollhouses, neither the councils of Florence or Trent mention it being a "third place" or "fire"
I want to know I’m just not sure the answers ring true to me
What makes an image demonic rather than depicting things like skulls or suffering like in much Christian art or ossuaries
So, the Orthodox opinion on original sin is all over the place. We are not a dogmatic Church as the Roman Catholic Church is and thus varying opinions are offered on a number of topics. However, on the subject of original sin and infant baptism, we do have what amounts to the official doctrine of the Orthodox Church. That is contained in the Confession of Patriarch Dositheos of Jerusalem written in 1672. Decree 16 thereof specifically states that baptism is necessary for infants because they are subject to original sin, and if they have not received the remission of this hereditary sin, they cannot without baptism be saved. This Confession was ratified by Constantinople and the other Patriarchates, and, therefore, constiutes the actual teaching of the Church. I’m baffled as to why so many Orthodox priests appear to be unaware of this. Moreover, the Catholic understanding or original sin is not, as popular opinion claims, that of “original guilt.” Their conception of it is so close to ours as to be indistinguishable in any actual sense.
26:55 where in scripture is this idea even supported? As far as the hell as an imprisonment concept.
I guess you’d want to read the writings referenced and get a full understand of how that concept was elucidated and see what scripture was being used as supportive evidence.
I’m very much in favor of orthodoxy with in the Christian faith however there is a lot of inconsistency in answers you get from these guys on many different topics.
23:20 interestingly enough, I don't think that God's essence of being a creator is hindered or determined by the fact of "action." Using the chair analogy, a chair is still a chair even when no one sits on it. It's about the ability of the subject, not necessarily actions, that determine its essence. God can still be the creator simply due to the fact of his ability to create. A firefighter is still a firefighter when he is home with his family. However, with God, the fact of his perfect free will is one of the deciding factors of his essence. God was always the creator even before creation existed because he always knew that he would create eventually; and ironically enough, talking about God in a temporal manner is counterproductive, to say the least, but as a human; time is all I know.
The toll house stuff is enough to keep me away. Some priests say it's heresy. I hope they're right, but many Orthodox hold to it.
What's the toll house stuff?
Does anyone in the Bible intercede for someone else in the Bible?
yep! Abraham intercedes for Lot in Genesis, before destroying Sodom, and Moses pleads God not to be angry with His people in Exodus.
I got into a bad accident on my motorcycle. Severe traumatic brain injury. Some of my skull is fake now. Now I think I’m in purgatory because of a few reasons. One being I dreamt of imagined I committed suicide afterwards. Two being I was a drug addict before my crash. So forth. Now I’m scared and confused.
I had a tbi and for quite a while I had these images in my mind if looking down on myself as I laid on the path. I saw people around me and first responders. It was really fermenting me but I did t tell anyone. One Sunday I was at church and a las I knew, but not well, asked if she could pray for me. Since she was known and trusted by the Pastor I said yes. Then she proceeded to pray about that very thing! She told it to stop in the name of Jesus. Idk if she addressed it as a tormenting spirit or not but it NEVER happened again! Praise the LORD! You can be free from that torment! Even if it’s a brain thing. Idk if you are a believer or not. Idk if you have been washed of your sins through repenting and surrendering to His Lordship but if not, call upon His name! Acknowledge your need for forgiveness by repenting, and confess Him as LORD of all and of all of you forever. ❤️
The Orthodox Church does teach and believe in original sin.
I am an Orthodox but it's only now new to me to know that Greek Orthodox don't believe in the original sin
Not as the Catholics believe, we see it as the ability sin inherited from the fall. This is referred to as “Ancestral Sin.”.
Did you not hear the priest ? He said we believe it in a different way and perspective. Everyone else has a western view on it. So it’s completely different
Father said id precisely as Orthodoxy teaches. Listen as many times as necessary until it sinks in.
Orthodox begin with this. Cats have kittens; dogs have puppies; humans have babies. From the time of creation, each "kind" ("species") reproduces its own kind. Humans were created in complete unity with God, the story the Bible tells as Adam and Eve in Paradise. Being in union, their relationship was ever-presently available, and they lived together, in cooperation in everything. When humans disobeyed God, they fell away from this unity and began to go in a different direction from God, a direction of their own making. That different (fallen human) direction is known as sin; in fact, it *defines* what sin is. From that time, the relationship was impaired by sin. If Adam and Eve had had children in Paradise, the children would have had perfect communion with God also - each kind reproduces its kind. Once they left Paradise, their children were also fallen - again, each kind reproduces its own kind. Fallen humanity is a different kind from humanity as created, each with its own nature demarcated by its relationship with God. This is what the Orthodox describe as "ancestral sin".
Original sin is an idea formed in Roman Catholicism and adopted into Protestantism. It's more of an ideology than a description of nature. And it generally is used to imply fault, commission of sins or complicity in sinning, of which a person is guilty and deserves punishment for. In addition, its use often includes the idea that that kind of fault is inherited from generation to generation, interpreting "the sins of the father are visited upon the sons" in that way. Orthodox do not accept that interpretation. But we do accept that a fallen nature is passed on from the parents to the children, making them susceptible to temptation and sin in their own right, once they are old enough to make choices that are sinful and for which they might be held responsible. Again, the Roman idea includes the interpretation that infants and small children are capable of making such choices pretty much from birth, and that humans are therefore justified in holding them responsible in whatever fashion they decide. The orthodox view is that God is the only One Who Judges, and that the final judgement is the only place where each person *really* faces their own responsibilities. Before then, we suffer what we experience here on Earth at the hands of others, for a time until we die, and each person then must face his or her own eventual judgement for their choices in these matters.
The Orthodox realize that human governance and control over misbehavior is a valid concern and issue, and always has been, but that is viewed as related to the earthly life in particular. Hence, humans who take on a role in governance ought to consider it a weighty burden, for they can become responsible for their involvement in any of Earth's problems, and the consequences of their actions in the face of conundrums, dilemmas, enigmas, and sheer paradoxes.
In God's Kingdom, we do not govern; Christ Jesus is King. Thank God that He rules here on Earth also, not as a dictator, but as one who provides our choices in freedom, and grants us grace now while we decide to return to Him, or to go our own way.
I understood that orthodox don't baptize children. Is it this truth?
No, children are baptized in their infancy