Greetings, I'm a former jew. came to U.S.A at young age. Now orthodox christian feels good to be back with the root. I'm the old lost branch. Lord Jesus Christ have mercy a chief sinner among sinners. ☦️
@@Hg-1-13 Who is the true god? Cause for Orthodox Christians it is Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, the three persons of the undivided Trinity.
"More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, without defilement you gave birth to God the Word. True Theotokos we magnify you!" ☦️
few know that this hymn has been chanted by the Archangel Gabriel for the very first time with the addition of the 'Worth it is blessing you the God Bearer, the Ever Blessed and All Pure and Mother of Our God, the More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious incomparably than the Seraphim, she who incorruptibly gave birth to the God Word, the truly God Bearer, we magnify you'' In fornt of her Icon that later took the name ''Aksion Esti'' = ''Worthy it is'', when the monk Gabreil heard the angelic hymn from the ''young unknown monk'' he asked him to write down the addition of the hymn and then the ''young unknown monk'' asked a flat stone and carved the hymn on it with his finger as if it was clay. Then the eyes of Monk Gabriel were opened and he recognized the Archangel. Hyper Holy Bearer of God, shelter, guard, keep your servants. Amen
This has been one of the greatest surprises about becoming Orthodox for me. I had been Baptist and was very blessed as a member of that denomination, but God drew me into Orthodoxy through a series of clear signals. When I finally got up the nerve to speak to the Theotokos outside of a Liturgical setting, I was amazed by the immediate sense of her presence and immediate relief of the anguish I was feeling. I had been experiencing a moment of acute distress and trying to keep functioning. The impression I have of the Theotokos is of compassion, gentleness, and overflowing maternal love. She always points me to Christ. I certainly don’t expect, or receive, a strong sense of her presence or an alleviation of my problems every time I speak to her, but I treasure the moments that I do feel her with me and all her love and help. EDIT: Just a quick edit to add that I have a close direct relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ as well-He’s the most beautiful, powerful Presence in my life by far. I do not go to Mary as a substitute, but as another member of the Body of Christ. I ask other living Christians to pray for people and things I am concerned about, and I also ask our saints who have passed for their prayers.
I was raised Baptist, became Catholic, and I feel the same way about Mary. I had been taught that anything to do with Mary was idolatrous. At one point I asked her for a miraculous sign if she really heard my prayers and cared about me, and she totally gave it. I came to have a strong devotion to her and the Rosary.
@@jennifernorton7476 That is so beautiful, Jennifer! Thank you for sharing your story. I have been thinking about starting a rosary practice, and your comment encourages me!
@@elusivemayfly7534 That would be awesome! I have some Orthodox friends who like to pray the Rosary, and they got theirs with an Orthodox cross from Rugged Rosaries.
Former Methodist. Now a Catholic. Thanks Fr. Truebenbach. I’ve enjoyed your channel and this episode is remarkable. Thank God for our Most Holy Theotokos.
After I started taking my faith seriously, I started looking into this and i came across many protestants bringing the Theotokos down to a mere woman on youtube. I even had trouble praying to her because i feared sinning against God. This matter was weighing on my heart for months but not after this video. Thank You father Paul keep making these awesome videos! Love from Ethiopia.💚💛❤
I'm Orthodox and she was a mere woman but that's what makes her so blessed. She was a poor woman who set her entire life apart for holiness and consecration to God. She was no ordinary woman though, because while she was only human, she remained unblemished from sin by God's grace. She is blessed and we should honor her because our Lord honors her.
@@andys3035isn't that wrong ? She had God inside of her and gave birth to Word and Son of God trough The Holy Spirit after that moment she stoped being a mere woman .
@slavplaysgames when I say mere woman, I mean she was 100% human but not just any human because of her role in our salvation. As Fr. Paul says in this video, she doesn't save us but leads us to the Saviour. And of course she was pure and holy and as we say in our prayers "more honorable than the cherubim, beyond compare, more glorious than the seraphim, without corruption, gave birth to God the Word". That's no ordinary woman.
@LMK-wf6fv the protestants are a heretical movement. gracelsss temple that appears christian but has no roots in the faith. they often seek to argue and shame others to hide their own sins. they are seekers of attention rather than truth. heretics still searching as you can see they repeatedly leave comments.
Thank you, Fr. Paul. I've struggled with how to reconcile my former Protestant view of Mary with my ongoing walk in Orthodoxy. Your words helped open my eyes and heart towards her. Thank you!
Im a protestant who has been exploring orthodoxy. My son and I were JUST talking about the different views on Mary yesterday! Thank you for this timely video! I have not understood the Orthodox view of Mary very well until now! ❤
You must have alot of questions. Find your closest Orthodox parish and ask the priest there. If you want to talk to an Orthodox layman (your day to day sinner), im open to discussions.
You must have alot of questions. Find your closest Orthodox parish and ask the priest there. If you want to talk to an Orthodox layman (your day to day sinner), im open to discussions.
The biggest problem with most protestantes accusation of orthodoxy veneration of Mary comes from their own wrong assumptions and not willing to hear the orthodoxy view. Kudos to you
18:57 Hearing that statement from Elder Ephraim brought tears to my eyes. Truly those prayers melt the heart, and bring us to repentance. Most Holy Theotokos, save us ☦️
@@bentleyepic1731 I'd say first speak to your spiritual father about this, he'd give a better answer that I could. I would answer that Mary, The Theotokos, saves us through her prayers to her son and our God. When we ask her to "save us" we're asking for her prayers on our behalf. Hope that helps. She has certainly helped me.
This is such confirmation for me. The last few days, I have woken up between 2 and 3 o'clock, and I did not get out of bed to pray. However, this morning, for the third or fourth time I woke up at 2:55 am so this time I got out of bed and I made sure I prayed the rosary. I prayed it for 2 hours. And this is the first video that showed up on my UA-cam as I picked up my phone. This is confirmation regarding what I have prayed. ❤
I can't stress enough how efficacious I've come to know the rosary to truly be. So glad for you that you are beginning to see the same. As someone who for so long never really believed in the power of prayer, it shocked me how powerful the rosary truly is. Our Immaculate Mother will never fail to help obtain for you the graces you need if they are ultimately to your benefit. I struggled with sin, especially of the flesh. The effects were so quick and overwhelming it seemed miraculous to me. The graces she obtained turned things I thought I might struggle with always into at worst a bothersome gnat easily brushed away with little bother. I think because she never sinned against God, or measured the personal cost to herself, the slightest sigh from our Immaculate Mother is more pleasing to God than the prayers of all the rest combined. He denies her nothing. Whatever the problem the rosary is the answer.
@@Nola-2000 You pray both during the rosary. But as important if not more so is meditating on the mysteries while doing so. I know it can be difficult, especially at first, but it does get easier over time. Especially if you read the scripture after each decade and focus on some of the lessons. There are plenty of resources online that offer the scripture together with suggestions for meditation. I always had great difficulty with feeling real sorrow or sympathy for Christ during His passion. That is to say I understood it intellectually, but it bothered me that I wasn't actually feeling anything. I thought maybe its because it was so long ago. Perhaps because I had difficulty thinking of Him as a human being and not just an all powerful God. I even thought well maybe its that He chose this for Himself and it isn't my fault He's suffering. It truly bothered me for the longest time. But it was while meditating on the sorrowful mysteries, not right away but in time, that I began to feel true sorrow for what He went through for me, and true regret for how much pain I had caused Him. That He was completely innocent, undeserving of any punishment, and each lash or bead of bloody sweat was my fault. Or that my sins of the flesh, for my pleasure, were lashes on his pure skin for my sake. Or that the mockery of His crown of thorns, who is literally King of the Universe, was taken without complaint or retribution. When my unworthy self, full of pride and ego, always sought to elevate myself and make myself a god etc etc. Honestly those were the first tears of regret I ever shed for my offenses and His suffering.
Thank you so much Father Paul. I’ve come to the Orthodox faith less than two years ago and I came from the Evangelical world. I can honestly say that my heart never rejected The Mother of God even when the false doctrine of Evangelical Christianity was still whispering in my ears because I knew by the Holy Spirit and The Word of God that She was very Special to God. Now in my prayers I tell Jesus that I honor His Mother and ask Her to pray for me everyday. It’s such a terrible sin that the whole Protestant world has rejected The Mother of God.
Roman Catholic here we agree so much and though many other Christians I’ve encountered don’t agree, I am praying for Christian unity so we can be a less hypocritical and more potent witness to Christ’s love and unity. May God bless and keep you and all my Orthodox and Protestant brothers and sisters Amen, Amen. 🙏
I was baptized Orthodox last Sunday, and I have the Theotokos to thank. I converted to Catholicism 3 years ago and had a devotion to the Virgin Mary, but always preferred to call her the Theotokos and would listen to her Akathist hymn often. I found the truth in Catholicism, but slowly the Queen of Heaven lead me to the fullness of the truth in Orthodoxy!
What were you before converting to Catholicism? Did you ever have trouble praying to the saints and Mary, thinking that you should only pray to God? And how or what made you overcome your conscience about praying to Mary and saints? Thank you and God bless.
I grew up up Mormon and at 16 became a hardcore atheist. I had a huge problem paring to anyone but God, Mormons don’t even pray to Jesus! My mind was changed by learning 2 things. 1. In Christ, the dead aren’t truly dead, but sleeping in the body. 2. Prayer isn’t equal to worship. If I ask a friend to pray for me, why wouldn’t I ask my friends in heaven??
@@mpkropf5062 - the Catholic Church has variations. E.g. baptism without full immersion in water changed, sacraments changed, (e.g. wafers used instead of Levain bread) & the list goes on. The Orthodox Church has remained the same for 2,000 years. This is fact, not my personal opinion, nor to be disrespectful. Research it. The Great Schism occurred in 1054 AD. God bless. ✝️
Hello Father, I am an orthodox (soon to be) catechumen from Zimbabwe. Your videos are what led me to Holy orthodoxy and I am so grateful to God for you, and I'd like to thank you for what you do. Please keep up with the very helpful videos! ❤
Thank you so much for this word. I am a new convert from the Church of Christ. I never learned this and have accepted it in my new life but didn’t understand it well. Thank you. This has helped me so much. God bless you always.
Crushing Satan's Head and Adam's Deep Sleep, both by Father Mawdsley (I forget his first name), are really good books if you want to go a little deeper into the prefiguring of Mary and Jesus in the OT. They're not long reads at all, and I found them fascinating. They got me reading the OT again to look for more foreshadowing, lol.
Father, you have been so instrumental in leading me to Holy Orthodoxy, I thank you for all that you do! I hope to be baptized this year after 31 years of an agnostic existence ☦️
This is a great explanation Father🙏🏻✝️ thanks you. Something for the wedding of Cana that I heard from Sam Shamoun and really blow my mind is: not only the Son fulfilled Her request, but considering that the Son is doing the will of the Father and can’t go against it, (the same for the Holy Spirit), the three Persons of the Trinity would have to accept Her request and agree for the Son to perform His first miracle, so the Trinity actually accepts Her request and changes the time for the Som to start His ministry. So Her request wasn’t just granted by the Son but by the Father and the Holy Spirit as well! Only this event by itself shows how much honoured and loved she was/is by the Triune God and how Her intersections can change the course of our lives.
@Fr. Truebenbach. I was born into the greek orthodox faith. I am 61 yrs old and i can say wholeheartedly say that you are doing a phenomenal job. For yrs i would seek answers to questions my own greek priests could not answer. Maybe because of the language barrier, maybe because i could not find a priest i could resonate with. You father have illuminated my mind. Have brought me clarity and have explained my orthodox faith more clearly than anyone else has in the past. It’s not about how many views you get but how many souls you touch with your teachings of our church. Remember even if you bring one soul to Christ you have done a great job. I love this channel and i am actually going through your catechism lessons even though i was catechised in greek, i now understand things much better. May Christ our Lord continue to guide you. GOD BLESS you father Paul. 🙏🇦🇺🇬🇷 PS my mother and i both have had the Theotokos visit us. One visit led my mum to the island of Tinos as she had pledged my sister to the Theotokos and so my sis and mum both went. When i had the visitation she spoke to my mind and said: I WAS SENT TO PROTECT YOU CHILD. Who sent her, Christ did!!! 🙏
Gerondissa Makrina in her book that Fr Recommended. In one of the homilies Gerondissa actually recommends that people pray on their komboskini the Hail Mary prayer. She recommended the Orthodox version of course. “O Theotokos and Virgin Rejoice, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. For thou hast given birth to the saviour of our souls”. She also said that when you are facing temptation it is good to pray it on komboskini. Also at night times when hard to sleep. She also recounted a story where a woman and her son would also whisper it throughout the day and together at night and how much grace that this woman had.
This is very informative. I'm disillusioned LDS, and This is a huge conflict in my mind as I have been looking into Orthodoxy. Thank you for taking the time to explain this.
Thank you Fr. Paul for a lucid and inspiring explanation of Mary's inportance in the history of salvation. As a Catholic, I belive what you are arguing 100%. I hope that we can soon overcome our djfferences and form one body of the church with Christ as our head. God bless you!
Many Protestants have trouble with the Mother of Christ. They unwisely ignore her and often disrespect the Blessed Mother of Jesus. I am a former Protestant. I am now Catholic.
1 Corinthians 10:13 is very helpful in understanding the way in which Mary lived: though born into the consequences of original sin, chose not sin. That passage explains that this is indeed possible, and what is intended for all of us to do and the Theotokos is an important example in this regard. And because of being born into the effects of original sin it does not negate Romans 3:23. She still needed Jesus as her savior and still died as celebrated in the Dormition. As a protestant who is on the path to be a catechumen, I prayed through these matters and this was the scripture that was brought to my remembrance. Also helpful was The Orthodox Veneration of the Theotokos by St. John Maximovich.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I have been reading the orthodox study bible with the notes about this throughout the Old Testament. This is something I never realized about the Theotokos and the ark.
Holy Fr. Paul Truebenbach, your blessing! This is the best video about the Most Holy Theotokos in this very short time. Please keep this Holy work of God you are doing and keep us in your prayers (Theodoros)
Fr. Truebenbach - thank you for inviting me to explore my faith more deeply. I stumbled across your videos by accident, and I can honestly say that my faith has grown immensely over the past few months despite being Catholic. Thank you for speaking on this and God bless you!
Thank you father Paul, this is a great video a treasure that we should share, may through the intercession of the Holy Theotokos to his Son our Lord Jesus Christ help us save our soul.
I was received into the Orthodox Church earlier this summer, glory to God. I intellectually understand the theological, Christological, and historical reasons for the Theotokos’s veneration. I find myself in awe when faced with icons of her; there are so many beautiful icons of the Ever-Virgin Mary. And I do love her very much, but I confess I feel distant and far from her. As someone who came from reformed Protestantism, it was so ingrained in me to feel disgust and revilement towards the Theotokos and anyone honoring her in any way. And while I have confessed and repented of my past views of her and no longer feel or think these things of her, I can’t help but feel distant from her still. It’s like trying to have a relationship with a person you used to dislike and now, in humility, you realize you were wrong about them. How do you move forward from that? How does one repair that relationship? I almost feel ashamed to draw near to her. I would appreciate advice on how to honor her. Or just telling me your personal perspective and journey on honoring Mary. (Please no Catholics telling me to pray the rosary - my priest has advised against it and as my spiritual father he has far more authority over me than anyone else in this comment section, respectfully). I am curious to if any other former Protestant knows what I am talking about and can tell me how you began to repair your relationship with the Ever-Virgin Mary after a lifetime of Protestant Mary-bashing.
I, too, have had these feelings of poisoned thoughts from the pit of hell towards her. Pray the akathist to the holy Theotokos daily 🙏 repent when the thoughts arise. Lord have mercy on us.
Fr. Paul, My first experience in an Orthodox church was LAST NIGHT. (My adult son is moving to Orthodoxy from protestant Christianity.) Everything you said in this video describes my reactions and questions - and fill me with joy, not only what you said, but that I awoke this morning to the God of all Creation responding to me through you. Selah I have one question about the attributes of the saints - I know the scriptures teach about the cloud of witnesses. However, can they process the simultaneous prayers of thousands of believers? I, of course, believe that God the Father can as He is omniscient and omnipresent. I know that when Jesus was asked, teach us to pray, he told us to pray to the Father and I'm not aware of anywhere in scripture where it is taught that believers can or should pray to anyone other than Him. I understand completely what you've said about the historical practices. But as an honest, respectful question, I ask: Can the Theotokos and the saints hear our individual prayers?
I believe they can hear our prayers. I don't believe this requires omniscience as there are not an infinite number of people in the world. There is an infinite difference between God and His creation, including the saints in heaven. That doesn't mean they retain the same kind of existence that we have now. They have been given glorified existence, a share in the life of God. That doesn't mean they are omniscient and that isn't necessary anyway since there aren't infinite prayers to them. They are in eternity and thus are outside of time itself. They are partakers of the divine nature, butt hat doesn't mean they share in the essence of God. Only in His energeia, His life, His energies. If you believe that the devil can tempt people all around the world at any time, why would he be more powerful than the saints in heaven?
@sakamotosan1887 thank you so much for this insight. I appreciate you taking the time and care to respond. What you've said adds peace to my soul and brings clarity.
If we approach the issue from technical perspective, the saints leave this physical reality the very moment of reposing and therefore they are outside of time and space - in a technical sense. This doesn't make them omnipresent or timeless by any means, but it would be logical to assume this could possibly have some impact on the ways how they perceive these things... Fr Josiah Trenham once shared a story of a Celtic monk (I recall it was Celtic monk, but not sure) who was momentarily taken up to Heaven, and the higher he ascended the more he saw: he saw people, even into their hearts, and this globe of ours was appeared like a disc below him. And as said, all Christians are one body in Christ, and the Holy Spirit dwells and lives in us - already in this temporal life, but this connection grows even deeper when we are finally in unity with God without any distortion from passions and demons or worldly things. If the saints can hear and answer our prayers "simultaneously", that's the miracle of God.
I can’t like this enough! I’d give it hundreds of thousands of hearts if I could! Thank you, father. May the Panagia intercede before the merciful Lord for us lowly and sick as we are
Indeed!! The Mother of JesusCHRIST❤ is 100%, very Pure and so very kind to STILL WANT to pray for all sinners to be saved. I understood She likes us to JOIN in Her prayers so that lots more Love and Peace reigns in our sinful minds.
It is with great interest I listened to your teaching. I must say, you offer more clarity than most in Orthodoxy, so kudos to you. To further clarify this issue, Mother Mary is the church, and each of us is a Mary in whom the baby Christ is born whom we have to raise up to adulthood. The arc of the covenant is with us and in each of our spiritual hearts. The temple/tabernacle of God is within us. As is it in Heaven, so too is it on earth . I have no doubt that the Mary of 2000 years ago is with the Lord sitting on his right hand as well, just as the church is also the body of Christ.
Also important to remember that The Apostle Paul himself talks about becoming all things to all men *that he might SAVE some* (1 Cor 9)! Do we accuse Paul of trying to usurp Christ as the Savior? Of course not! We know he means that he was bringing the news of salvation to men. All glory to Christ the Lord. Most Holy Theotokos, save us! ❤
As a new Catholic I am undergoing the 33-day consecration to Mary for the first time. Its been a very challenging and spiritually rewarding experience. I find that praying the rosary has a tremendous affect on my daily life in resisting temptation and sin. I know its the holy mother defending us against Satan. Those attachments no longer have the same power over you. The rosary becomes even more effective when you pray to St. Joseph.
Thank you so much, Fr. Paul, for this follow-up to the “rosary” teaching, vis a vis Orthodox veneration of the Theotokos Mary. Being able to take such an historical and profound topic and explain it to us with such faithful and spiritually rational words and examples is a rare blessing for us.🤗🙏
The timing on this was great for me. I was just researching how the first Western reformers affirmed the title Theotokos and even honored Mary. Many modern protestants trying to separate themselves from the RCs will go as far as to affirm Nestorianism.
I had this exact question, being taught in a Baptist church. Pastor John MacArthur did a whole video on the on how Mary should not be worshipped and how Catholics do that. Orthodox makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve been seeking the truth for a while now ever since getting married with a catholic woman.
18:36. God bless all. 2 prayers that are very simple. Such an easy start if you are struggling with your prayer life which will be a catalyst for your thrist for learning more prayers and building your prayer life
Regarding intercession of Theotokos...In Canah wedding although Christ time was not yet He did obey to the demand of His Mother and changed His plan and did the miracle...suppose now that Christ has condemned you becasue of ur numerous sins and you are for hell but you feverently ask Theotokos whom you love and venerate to intercede for you to her Son and save you...she can make Christ change His plan for you and save u as she did in Canah Wedding...its so simple...if Most Holy Theotokos ask from Her Son just one drop of His precious Blood which He borrowed from her and He is eternally indebted to her for this human flesh He took from Theotokos and He will certainly give this drop to her,she puts this drop on the right part of the scale and this one drop of Christ Blood can compensate the numerous sins of you on the Judgement scale and you will be saved...in fact there is such a story regarding a neglectful monk who nevertheless had great veneration and devotion to Theotokos and she saved him in this way...
We pray for each other here on earth. That is intercession. The saints are alive/with Jesus in heaven, they are not dead. They can pray for us (intercede). This is the communion of saints referred to in the Creed.
For why we ask the intercessions of saints, start by reading Hebrews 11-12:2, which demonstrates the reverence the Apostolic Fathers had for the saints who came before them. Then turn to Revelation 4 and 5, which describes our worship from the perspective of the heavens. Focus, especially, on Rev 5:8 in which the twenty-four elders, who were the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 Apostles, fall down before the Lamb holding bowls of incense "which are the prayers of the saints." This literally describes the saints in glory offering the prayers of the faithful to God. The saints in glory are called priests in Revelation, which means they make intercessions for the faithful. To any who struggle with the idea of asking intercessions from those who have gone before us, look no further than the scriptures we all hold in reverence. May Christ bless us all unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Lifelong Catholic. It brings me sincere joy to learn that reverence for Our Holy Mother is also a part of the Orthodox faith. I have no doubt that a single sigh from Our Immaculate Mother is worth more in obtaining graces from God than the prayers of countless others. Precisely because she was sinless and never counted personal cost in her obedience to Our Lord. For that reason He never refuses her. I've seen this over and over in my life. She will never fail to obtain graces for one who prays the rosary if they are truly to our benefit. If you struggle with sin, pray the rosary. If you wish to grow in faith and your love of Our Lord, pray the rosary. Whatever the problem is, pray the rosary. I feel true pity for any follower of Christ who denies themselves of the efficacious intercession of Our Lady. It's a tragedy that the enemy has convinced so many to denigrate her and deny her aid. Precisely because it is her heel that crushes his head and robs him of so many souls.
I've had quite a few miraculous answers to prayer with the Rosary. Mary has come through for me so many times. I'm sad that I went through my protestant years not knowing her.
@@jennifernorton905 For too many years I never had much faith in prayer, and lacked the willingness to even offer more than short prayer. But I've come to see how powerfully she answers and obtains graces for us. Saying one rosary a day seemed close to impossible for me once. Even the grace to pray more faithfully I obtained from the rosary. Now four or more a day is more common than not. And the graces needed to avoid sin are so powerful and immediate they are nothing short of miraculous to me. Things that used to causse me such difficulty became at worse insignificant and easily brushed off. People really dont comprehend what they are missing out on. She will obtain for you the grace to desire to strive toward saintliness.
Yes. Mother Mary did many miracles when people asked for her help, there's many testimonies about that. These miracles are impossible to deny for those who were witnesses. Those Christians who ignore Mary cannot experience that cause they lack faith in her. They say she's just a random woman who "happened" to give birth to Christ.
Do you pray also to paul or peter? They did also many miracles even raised someone from the dead. There is only one god. To pray to mary (and often people do this in front of an image of her) violates the 1. and 2. commandment
@@shred5528 There's adoration, worshἰp prayer, only to G○d. And there's PETITION prayer, which sometimes we address to Mary or saἰnts. We HONOR saἰnts and ask for their help. They INTERCEDE for us for they're in Heaven and their prayer is more powerful. They're part of the Church and within the church we pray for one another and we ask for intercession as well. No commandments are violated because we do not worshἰp Mary, but VENERATE her. Not cause we consider her a g○ddess, but for she's the Mother of G○d. Therefore "for I am a jealous G○d" doesn't apply, on the contrary, for the reason why we venerate her is BECAUSE of Jesus and her connection with Him. Angel Gabriel also venerates Mary "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the L○rd is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 01-28), so we follow his example.
@@shred5528 YT keeps deleting my comments. There's a difference between adoration or worship prayer and petition prayer. Saints are part of the Church as well, the Triumphant Church which is in Heaven, and within the church we can pray for one another, it's called intercession. We do not worship Mary but honor and venerate her. Just like Angel Gabriel venerates her in Luke 1 28. We follow his example.
Excellent testimony on the Virgin Mary the Theotuckos ’ I’m glad orthodoxy recognize her ‘ I have great faith in our lady ‘ our great intercession to Jesus
U forget that Jesus first obeyed His Mother and changed His plans and did the first miracle although it was not His time...who else could change God's plans except from Theotokos? That's why we Orthodox run to her
Amen farther agree 100% I'm from protestant upbringing and am now in a pentecostal church ⛪️ but I pray the rosary daily and absolutely enjoy doing so thier is no shame whatsoever in doing so I love God with all my heart and I love mother Mary and why shouldn't we she's very precious and special in God's eyes ❤️ didn't he say to the apostle John on the cross behold thy mother that should go for the same to all Christians I'm appalled 😮at some of the vile attitudes coming from other Christian ✝️ groups denominations thanks for been honest and informative on the video 📹 excellent
Whoa, you're (staying) Pentecostal and pray to the Virgin Mary? Do your pastors know this? I'm not sure if they're ok with it. Most Pentecostals aren't.
As a protestant I really want to honor and honestly do affirm Orthodox as the purest of continuity of the church. But with some of the views held on Mary I'm just not there yet. I commented and hope I didn't sound negative. I just struggle to have the same views at this time. But thank you for sharing, this is alot for me to consider. At the very least I do honor Mary and recognize the wonderful blessing she was given and prophecy fulfillment she represents.
Mary is the woman in Revelation 12. It's clear that she is more than an ordinary woman. God created Mary for the purpose of bringing the Messiah into the World. She knew Jesus better than any person on Earth. Mary spent 33 years with Christ. She was His first teacher. Mary prayed for her Son and she prays for us.
@@JoAnnFuir I'm certainly on board with everything you just said. The idea that Mary is the second Ark and even the better Eve (as Jesus is the better Adam) that reverses the curse of death. Maybe its still praying to Mary and the saints that I'm still struggling to understand. It's totally alien to my thinking as someone who prays to God only. Perhaps it was comments also like Jesus "obeys" her that made me uncomfortable, but the way Fr Paul explained makes more sense to me that its about doing what you will for someone you love.
@@Grimaldo354 I am a Catholic and a former Protestant. I ask Mary to pray for me. It's like asking a friend to pray for me. Mary points us to her Son, Jesus. She knows Him better than anyone. But, I do understand how some folks struggle with Mary. They don't understand that honoring her is different than worshipping her. God commands us to honor our Mother and Father. Christ was an obedient Son who honored His Earthly parents. Since Jesus honored Mary, we should too.
@@JoAnnFuir Matthew 12, 46-50 I can understand honoring Mary, but not praying to her. because there is only one God. I see images of Mary in many catholic churches and people pray to her. this violates the 1st and 2nd commandments
@@shred5528 Asking Mary to pray for you is no different than asking a friend to pray for you. I am sure Jesus asked His Mom to pray for Him when He lived on Earth.
I really hope to get a response to this as I'm very seriously inquiring into Orthodoxy and have attended several liturgies at this point. The only hangup I have left for me to convert to Orthodoxy is Mary. I'm fine with showing honor and respect and I'm fine with seeking her intercession. However, these are the things I can't get over: 1. Prostrating before her (Orthodox Prayer Book "Eleventh Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, Morning Prayer") suggests to do so. 2. Having an Unburnt Bush icon where Mary is depicted as the Burning Bush. To me, I can't see how this is not blasphemous. 3. The salvific language ascribed to Mary. For example, the "Midnight Song to the Theotokos." I've read this about a dozen times and the response, "we're asking her intercession to do those things for us," is weak. How is saying, "deliver me from the eternal fire, from the wicked worm, and from hell" asking her intercession? That's simply asking her to save you. 4. If you're venerating an image of Christ and the Theotokos, in the one act of veneration, how does Christ receive the worship and the Theotokos receive only veneration? I mean absolutely no disrespect to any Orthodox Christian in the comments, I truly am struggling with my faith right now and this is the sole hangup why I'm not Orthodox right now.
I'm not the right person to help you, but since you haven't received a response from someone wiser than I, I'll give it a try. First, I'll recommend another video, entitled: The Theotokos with Fr. Thomas Hopko and Mother Mary Magdalene | Orthodoxy Now! Fr Tom of blessed memory helped me begin to understand how we as Christians relate to the Theotokos. May he help you as well. Praying, venerating, and prostrating are not like magical techniques. It is not possible for us to accidentally worship someone other than God, because we know who God is. If I prostrate myself before an icon of the Virgin Mary, it is out of humility and respect. I am aware that she is a creature, and that God alone is uncreated. If I ask her to save me, I trust that she knows how I mean. She knows I don't think she is the Savior. When St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some", St Paul was well aware that Christ is the Savior. St Paul understood himself to be a bondservant of the Lord Jesus, and he referred to himself as the "chief of sinners", yet he also had the boldness to say "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me". If there's any sense in which he could "save" anyone, it was in helping that person receive the salvation of the Lord. So it is with the ministry of the Theotokos. Even if we did try to worship her as an idol, which would be an evil act, there is no way she would accept that from us, just as when Cornelius attempted to worship St Peter in Acts 10. Cornelius was confused, but St Peter was not. The Church teaches us what it means to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. In this, we become less confused. If we are humble enough to receive correction, God is faithful to correct us.
@davidgravy2007 thank you so much for the response! I'll definitely check out the resources, but actually, I am fully convinced of Orthodoxy and have been attending an Antiochian parish for several months now. Just waiting to be formally received as a Catechumen at this point. My priest is fully aware and is helping me through the process. Thanks again for your support and for your comment!
Thank you Father for this great video! The explanation for Mary being the Ark and the evidence for it were really clear! It really is directly related to God's Incarnation and Indwelling in this world which is an important subject of thought for me. As a Protestant, I'd love to share my thoughts on this. I pray that this helps you understand the concerns Protestants have and how to approach them, so that they can be resolved. 16:00 This sentence has led many Protestants to believe that Catholics only pray to Mary because they don't believe that Christ will forgive them when they repent and turn to him, which aligns with their legalistic understanding of purgatory in which they expected literal punishment. (Modern Catholics after Vatican 2 reject their theological history) A Protestant will ask: How can we not be worthy to speak to Christ? Did he not even approach the lepers and prostitutes? This reminds Protestants of doctrines they despise and which they consider a denial of God's mercy. To be honest, I don't really get intercession. Yeah, there's James 5:16, but who says they don't already pray for us or how would the Saints even hear us. I think I will need to read a book. I'm more aware of the sin against the Holy Spirit now and although I myself wasn't confidently accusing, I was speculating. Especially with regards to Marian apparitions which could be seen as evidence for Marian theology. (I thought the only way to resolve this, was to describe them as demonic or false.) But Marian apparitions have always been Catholic in my mind. What is the Eastern Orthodox perspective and experience with Marian apparitions? Thank you Father for this content. I will research and contemplate about it.
Revelation is full of angels interceding for us and how the Saints in heaven knew what was going on on earth. A question Protestants tend to ask is "Well how can they hear us if they're not omnipresent?" Instead of a direct answer, you can respond with a question: "Were Moses and Elijah omnipotent when they appeared on earth with Christ?" It's clear that Christ is the one who works the miracles through his Saints (Acts 19:11-12) because He honors those who honor Him (1 Samuel 2:30). (Take this with a grain of salt)
_"(Modern Catholics after Vatican 2 reject their theological history)"_ Dang, there's a statement and from a Protestant too, no less. I thought only us traditional Catholics, and the Orthodox, knew this. Respect.
Greetings, I'm a former jew. came to U.S.A at young age. Now orthodox christian feels good to be back with the root. I'm the old lost branch. Lord Jesus Christ have mercy a chief sinner among sinners. ☦️
juDAISM IS A RELIGION....BEING A JEW IS ETHNIC. YOU CANNOT BE A FORMER ETHNICITY
You're not the old lost branch, you're the broken fallen branch. We'll still be here when you repent from your idolatry before the true god.
@@Hg-1-13 Who is the true god? Cause for Orthodox Christians it is Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, the three persons of the undivided Trinity.
How could you not be a "jew" anymore?
✝️🙏🏻
"More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, without defilement you gave birth to God the Word. True Theotokos we magnify you!" ☦️
God bless you ☦️
Amen
few know that this hymn has been chanted by the Archangel Gabriel for the very first time with the addition of the 'Worth it is blessing you the God Bearer, the Ever Blessed and All Pure and Mother of Our God, the More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious incomparably than the Seraphim, she who incorruptibly gave birth to the God Word, the truly God Bearer, we magnify you''
In fornt of her Icon that later took the name ''Aksion Esti'' = ''Worthy it is'', when the monk Gabreil heard the angelic hymn from the ''young unknown monk''
he asked him to write down the addition of the hymn and then the ''young unknown monk'' asked a flat stone and carved the hymn on it with his finger as if it was clay. Then the eyes of Monk Gabriel were opened and he recognized the Archangel.
Hyper Holy Bearer of God, shelter, guard, keep your servants.
Amen
Blessings! I’am catholic and love Virgin Mary. I’am 75 years old…and she has always walked beside me; I pray and meditate the rosary daily.
This has been one of the greatest surprises about becoming Orthodox for me. I had been Baptist and was very blessed as a member of that denomination, but God drew me into Orthodoxy through a series of clear signals. When I finally got up the nerve to speak to the Theotokos outside of a Liturgical setting, I was amazed by the immediate sense of her presence and immediate relief of the anguish I was feeling. I had been experiencing a moment of acute distress and trying to keep functioning.
The impression I have of the Theotokos is of compassion, gentleness, and overflowing maternal love. She always points me to Christ. I certainly don’t expect, or receive, a strong sense of her presence or an alleviation of my problems every time I speak to her, but I treasure the moments that I do feel her with me and all her love and help.
EDIT: Just a quick edit to add that I have a close direct relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ as well-He’s the most beautiful, powerful Presence in my life by far. I do not go to Mary as a substitute, but as another member of the Body of Christ. I ask other living Christians to pray for people and things I am concerned about, and I also ask our saints who have passed for their prayers.
I was raised Baptist, became Catholic, and I feel the same way about Mary. I had been taught that anything to do with Mary was idolatrous. At one point I asked her for a miraculous sign if she really heard my prayers and cared about me, and she totally gave it. I came to have a strong devotion to her and the Rosary.
@@jennifernorton7476 That is so beautiful, Jennifer! Thank you for sharing your story. I have been thinking about starting a rosary practice, and your comment encourages me!
@@elusivemayfly7534 That would be awesome! I have some Orthodox friends who like to pray the Rosary, and they got theirs with an Orthodox cross from Rugged Rosaries.
@@jennifernorton905 I love that idea! Thank you so much for sharing it. You have convinced me to give it a go! :-)
Love rugged rosaries. They make the old fashioned world war 1 combat rosaries. I have some! They are so cool!
Former Methodist. Now a Catholic. Thanks Fr. Truebenbach. I’ve enjoyed your channel and this episode is remarkable. Thank God for our Most Holy Theotokos.
Look into Holy orthodoxy and come home ☦️ Brother
@@jonathannunn2266I did and no I am sticking with Catholic Church. maybe less on these talks and more on unity and peace
@@jonathannunn2266 He is home
@@jonathannunn2266Watch vaticancatholic's playlist on orthodoxy
@@jonathannunn2266 watch vatican catholic orthodoxy
After I started taking my faith seriously, I started looking into this and i came across many protestants bringing the Theotokos down to a mere woman on youtube. I even had trouble praying to her because i feared sinning against God. This matter was weighing on my heart for months but not after this video. Thank You father Paul keep making these awesome videos! Love from Ethiopia.💚💛❤
I'm Orthodox and she was a mere woman but that's what makes her so blessed. She was a poor woman who set her entire life apart for holiness and consecration to God. She was no ordinary woman though, because while she was only human, she remained unblemished from sin by God's grace. She is blessed and we should honor her because our Lord honors her.
@@andys3035isn't that wrong ? She had God inside of her and gave birth to Word and Son of God trough The Holy Spirit after that moment she stoped being a mere woman .
@slavplaysgames when I say mere woman, I mean she was 100% human but not just any human because of her role in our salvation. As Fr. Paul says in this video, she doesn't save us but leads us to the Saviour.
And of course she was pure and holy and as we say in our prayers "more honorable than the cherubim, beyond compare, more glorious than the seraphim, without corruption, gave birth to God the Word". That's no ordinary woman.
Alleluia!!! @@slavplaysgames
@LMK-wf6fv the protestants are a heretical movement. gracelsss temple that appears christian but has no roots in the faith. they often seek to argue and shame others to hide their own sins. they are seekers of attention rather than truth. heretics still searching as you can see they repeatedly leave comments.
Catholic catechumen here. This is a beautiful video. Glory to God.
I am a Catholic and I thank God for you. You explained our Lady as I believe also. Thank you God Bless you
There are many ladies but only one Mother of God.
God bless you sir
Thank you, Fr. Paul. I've struggled with how to reconcile my former Protestant view of Mary with my ongoing walk in Orthodoxy. Your words helped open my eyes and heart towards her. Thank you!
Im a protestant who has been exploring orthodoxy. My son and I were JUST talking about the different views on Mary yesterday! Thank you for this timely video! I have not understood the Orthodox view of Mary very well until now! ❤
You must have alot of questions.
Find your closest Orthodox parish and ask the priest there.
If you want to talk to an Orthodox layman (your day to day sinner), im open to discussions.
You must have alot of questions.
Find your closest Orthodox parish and ask the priest there.
If you want to talk to an Orthodox layman (your day to day sinner), im open to discussions.
The biggest problem with most protestantes accusation of orthodoxy veneration of Mary comes from their own wrong assumptions and not willing to hear the orthodoxy view.
Kudos to you
Update?
18:57 Hearing that statement from Elder Ephraim brought tears to my eyes. Truly those prayers melt the heart, and bring us to repentance. Most Holy Theotokos, save us ☦️
im a catechuman and im not trying to be rude; but how does Mary save us?
@@bentleyepic1731 I'd say first speak to your spiritual father about this, he'd give a better answer that I could. I would answer that Mary, The Theotokos, saves us through her prayers to her son and our God. When we ask her to "save us" we're asking for her prayers on our behalf. Hope that helps. She has certainly helped me.
@@bentleyepic1731 He explains that in the video.
This is such confirmation for me. The last few days, I have woken up between 2 and 3 o'clock, and I did not get out of bed to pray. However, this morning, for the third or fourth time I woke up at 2:55 am so this time I got out of bed and I made sure I prayed the rosary. I prayed it for 2 hours. And this is the first video that showed up on my UA-cam as I picked up my phone. This is confirmation regarding what I have prayed. ❤
I can't stress enough how efficacious I've come to know the rosary to truly be. So glad for you that you are beginning to see the same. As someone who for so long never really believed in the power of prayer, it shocked me how powerful the rosary truly is. Our Immaculate Mother will never fail to help obtain for you the graces you need if they are ultimately to your benefit. I struggled with sin, especially of the flesh. The effects were so quick and overwhelming it seemed miraculous to me. The graces she obtained turned things I thought I might struggle with always into at worst a bothersome gnat easily brushed away with little bother.
I think because she never sinned against God, or measured the personal cost to herself, the slightest sigh from our Immaculate Mother is more pleasing to God than the prayers of all the rest combined. He denies her nothing. Whatever the problem the rosary is the answer.
@@arthurgrey8967 It really seems to depend for the person. I got beter release of the sin of the flesh by praying our father than hail mary.
@@Nola-2000 You pray both during the rosary. But as important if not more so is meditating on the mysteries while doing so. I know it can be difficult, especially at first, but it does get easier over time. Especially if you read the scripture after each decade and focus on some of the lessons. There are plenty of resources online that offer the scripture together with suggestions for meditation.
I always had great difficulty with feeling real sorrow or sympathy for Christ during His passion. That is to say I understood it intellectually, but it bothered me that I wasn't actually feeling anything. I thought maybe its because it was so long ago. Perhaps because I had difficulty thinking of Him as a human being and not just an all powerful God. I even thought well maybe its that He chose this for Himself and it isn't my fault He's suffering. It truly bothered me for the longest time.
But it was while meditating on the sorrowful mysteries, not right away but in time, that I began to feel true sorrow for what He went through for me, and true regret for how much pain I had caused Him. That He was completely innocent, undeserving of any punishment, and each lash or bead of bloody sweat was my fault. Or that my sins of the flesh, for my pleasure, were lashes on his pure skin for my sake. Or that the mockery of His crown of thorns, who is literally King of the Universe, was taken without complaint or retribution. When my unworthy self, full of pride and ego, always sought to elevate myself and make myself a god etc etc. Honestly those were the first tears of regret I ever shed for my offenses and His suffering.
Imagination is not beneficial in prayer.
Thank you so much Father Paul. I’ve come to the Orthodox faith less than two years ago and I came from the Evangelical world. I can honestly say that my heart never rejected The Mother of God even when the false doctrine of Evangelical Christianity was still whispering in my ears because I knew by the Holy Spirit and The Word of God that She was very Special to God. Now in my prayers I tell Jesus that I honor His Mother and ask Her to pray for me everyday. It’s such a terrible sin that the whole Protestant world has rejected The Mother of God.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
I pray that all Christians hear this testimony. Thank you for what you said. Holy Virgin Mary pray for us amen 🙏
Roman Catholic here we agree so much and though many other Christians I’ve encountered don’t agree, I am praying for Christian unity so we can be a less hypocritical and more potent witness to Christ’s love and unity. May God bless and keep you and all my Orthodox and Protestant brothers and sisters Amen, Amen. 🙏
I was baptized Orthodox last Sunday, and I have the Theotokos to thank. I converted to Catholicism 3 years ago and had a devotion to the Virgin Mary, but always preferred to call her the Theotokos and would listen to her Akathist hymn often. I found the truth in Catholicism, but slowly the Queen of Heaven lead me to the fullness of the truth in Orthodoxy!
What were you before converting to Catholicism? Did you ever have trouble praying to the saints and Mary, thinking that you should only pray to God? And how or what made you overcome your conscience about praying to Mary and saints? Thank you and God bless.
I grew up up Mormon and at 16 became a hardcore atheist. I had a huge problem paring to anyone but God, Mormons don’t even pray to Jesus! My mind was changed by learning 2 things. 1. In Christ, the dead aren’t truly dead, but sleeping in the body. 2. Prayer isn’t equal to worship. If I ask a friend to pray for me, why wouldn’t I ask my friends in heaven??
Glory to GOD! Welcome home ☦️
✝️🙏🏻
@@mpkropf5062 - the Catholic Church has variations. E.g. baptism without full immersion in water changed, sacraments changed, (e.g. wafers used instead of Levain bread) & the list goes on. The Orthodox Church has remained the same for 2,000 years. This is fact, not my personal opinion, nor to be disrespectful. Research it. The Great Schism occurred in 1054 AD. God bless. ✝️
Hello Father, I am an orthodox (soon to be) catechumen from Zimbabwe. Your videos are what led me to Holy orthodoxy and I am so grateful to God for you, and I'd like to thank you for what you do. Please keep up with the very helpful videos! ❤
An inquirer in our local parish recently told me they were there due to Fr Paul Trubenbach
God is with you. Doxa to Theo. Be persistent in your struggle.
Orthodoxy is as beautiful as it is challenging.
We call Father only God
I believe Father Paul has and will continue to lead many to Orthodoxy because he is the real deal.
@@coricori1781 Apparently, you are very confused about Orthodoxy!😂
Thank you so much for this word. I am a new convert from the Church of Christ. I never learned this and have accepted it in my new life but didn’t understand it well. Thank you. This has helped me so much. God bless you always.
Thank you, Father Paul. This is an incredible revelation. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Glory to God! As a former protestant this new exploration of the Holy Theotokos is beautiful and I’m so grateful for this video. Thank you!
The parallels in old and new testament are WILD. I needed that.
Crushing Satan's Head and Adam's Deep Sleep, both by Father Mawdsley (I forget his first name), are really good books if you want to go a little deeper into the prefiguring of Mary and Jesus in the OT. They're not long reads at all, and I found them fascinating. They got me reading the OT again to look for more foreshadowing, lol.
Father, you have been so instrumental in leading me to Holy Orthodoxy, I thank you for all that you do! I hope to be baptized this year after 31 years of an agnostic existence ☦️
Hello my brother in Christ. Roman Catholic here. You explained why we need to honor our Blessed Mother so beautifully.
This is a great explanation Father🙏🏻✝️ thanks you. Something for the wedding of Cana that I heard from Sam Shamoun and really blow my mind is: not only the Son fulfilled Her request, but considering that the Son is doing the will of the Father and can’t go against it, (the same for the Holy Spirit), the three Persons of the Trinity would have to accept Her request and agree for the Son to perform His first miracle, so the Trinity actually accepts Her request and changes the time for the Som to start His ministry. So Her request wasn’t just granted by the Son but by the Father and the Holy Spirit as well! Only this event by itself shows how much honoured and loved she was/is by the Triune God and how Her intersections can change the course of our lives.
I have learned so much from this channel. It's like a university course and I love it. Thank you!
This is a great word from you, Father. Bless 🙏🏻
Absolutely beautiful Fr, thank you. God bless you.
From a Roman Catholic. 🙏
@Fr. Truebenbach. I was born into the greek orthodox faith. I am 61 yrs old and i can say wholeheartedly say that you are doing a phenomenal job.
For yrs i would seek answers to questions my own greek priests could not answer. Maybe because of the language barrier, maybe because i could not find a priest i could resonate with.
You father have illuminated my mind. Have brought me clarity and have explained my orthodox faith more clearly than anyone else has in the past.
It’s not about how many views you get but how many souls you touch with your teachings of our church.
Remember even if you bring one soul to Christ you have done a great job.
I love this channel and i am actually going through your catechism lessons even though i was catechised in greek, i now understand things much better.
May Christ our Lord continue to guide you. GOD BLESS you father Paul. 🙏🇦🇺🇬🇷 PS my mother and i both have had the Theotokos visit us. One visit led my mum to the island of Tinos as she had pledged my sister to the Theotokos and so my sis and mum both went. When i had the visitation she spoke to my mind and said: I WAS SENT TO PROTECT YOU CHILD.
Who sent her, Christ did!!! 🙏
Gerondissa Makrina in her book that Fr Recommended. In one of the homilies Gerondissa actually recommends that people pray on their komboskini the Hail Mary prayer. She recommended the Orthodox version of course. “O Theotokos and Virgin Rejoice, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. For thou hast given birth to the saviour of our souls”.
She also said that when you are facing temptation it is good to pray it on komboskini. Also at night times when hard to sleep. She also recounted a story where a woman and her son would also whisper it throughout the day and together at night and how much grace that this woman had.
Thank You for your words! 🙏 You have no idea how much your words and your videos are helping me, in many ways!
Father, thank you. Your videos have helped exponentially. This is a video that I have certainly needed. Thank you.
As a Catholic, I love this channel and thanks to Fr. Paul that remind us to love Theotokos.
WOW! So very well said, and resonated deep in my heart. ❤️ This is how I know it is truth. Thank you!
This is very informative. I'm disillusioned LDS, and This is a huge conflict in my mind as I have been looking into Orthodoxy. Thank you for taking the time to explain this.
Thank you Fr. Paul for a lucid and inspiring explanation of Mary's inportance in the history of salvation. As a Catholic, I belive what you are arguing 100%. I hope that we can soon overcome our djfferences and form one body of the church with Christ as our head. God bless you!
Many Protestants have trouble with the Mother of Christ. They unwisely ignore her and often disrespect the Blessed Mother of Jesus. I am a former Protestant. I am now Catholic.
1 Corinthians 10:13 is very helpful in understanding the way in which Mary lived: though born into the consequences of original sin, chose not sin. That passage explains that this is indeed possible, and what is intended for all of us to do and the Theotokos is an important example in this regard. And because of being born into the effects of original sin it does not negate Romans 3:23. She still needed Jesus as her savior and still died as celebrated in the Dormition. As a protestant who is on the path to be a catechumen, I prayed through these matters and this was the scripture that was brought to my remembrance. Also helpful was The Orthodox Veneration of the Theotokos by St. John Maximovich.
*St. John Maximovitch
@@acekoala457 yes great book
Most Holy Theotokos save us all! ☦️
Brother can u explain what u mean by save us?
Jesus is the Savior.
@@OdysseyMMA22 he did explain, in great detail and with examples . Listen to it all?
@@dnzswithwombats he did explain, in great detail and with examples . Listen to it all?
@robertmims6700 Sorry I didn't finish the video, I just saw the comment.
Thank you, and may the triune God bless you
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I have been reading the orthodox study bible with the notes about this throughout the Old Testament. This is something I never realized about the Theotokos and the ark.
Thank you Father, I have learned good things watching your channel. Keep it going! 🙏❣️🙏
Holy Fr. Paul Truebenbach, your blessing!
This is the best video about the Most Holy Theotokos in this very short time. Please keep this Holy work of God you are doing and keep us in your prayers (Theodoros)
Thank you father, that Video is incredibly powerful. The lord bless you and your family and your parish ☦️
Fr. Truebenbach - thank you for inviting me to explore my faith more deeply. I stumbled across your videos by accident, and I can honestly say that my faith has grown immensely over the past few months despite being Catholic. Thank you for speaking on this and God bless you!
Thank you father Paul, this is a great video a treasure that we should share, may through the intercession of the Holy Theotokos to his Son our Lord Jesus Christ help us save our soul.
I was received into the Orthodox Church earlier this summer, glory to God. I intellectually understand the theological, Christological, and historical reasons for the Theotokos’s veneration. I find myself in awe when faced with icons of her; there are so many beautiful icons of the Ever-Virgin Mary. And I do love her very much, but I confess I feel distant and far from her. As someone who came from reformed Protestantism, it was so ingrained in me to feel disgust and revilement towards the Theotokos and anyone honoring her in any way. And while I have confessed and repented of my past views of her and no longer feel or think these things of her, I can’t help but feel distant from her still. It’s like trying to have a relationship with a person you used to dislike and now, in humility, you realize you were wrong about them. How do you move forward from that? How does one repair that relationship? I almost feel ashamed to draw near to her.
I would appreciate advice on how to honor her. Or just telling me your personal perspective and journey on honoring Mary. (Please no Catholics telling me to pray the rosary - my priest has advised against it and as my spiritual father he has far more authority over me than anyone else in this comment section, respectfully). I am curious to if any other former Protestant knows what I am talking about and can tell me how you began to repair your relationship with the Ever-Virgin Mary after a lifetime of Protestant Mary-bashing.
Beg for her pardon.
I, too, have had these feelings of poisoned thoughts from the pit of hell towards her. Pray the akathist to the holy Theotokos daily 🙏 repent when the thoughts arise. Lord have mercy on us.
Thank you father,your blessings🙏☦️
Thank you! I am a former protestant and the Holy Spirit witnesses the truth of your message.
Thank you for this video! As a new convert to orthodoxy the doctrine regarding Mary was so foreign to me, this is a fantastic explanation!
Fr. Paul,
My first experience in an Orthodox church was LAST NIGHT. (My adult son is moving to Orthodoxy from protestant Christianity.) Everything you said in this video describes my reactions and questions - and fill me with joy, not only what you said, but that I awoke this morning to the God of all Creation responding to me through you. Selah
I have one question about the attributes of the saints - I know the scriptures teach about the cloud of witnesses. However, can they process the simultaneous prayers of thousands of believers? I, of course, believe that God the Father can as He is omniscient and omnipresent. I know that when Jesus was asked, teach us to pray, he told us to pray to the Father and I'm not aware of anywhere in scripture where it is taught that believers can or should pray to anyone other than Him. I understand completely what you've said about the historical practices. But as an honest, respectful question, I ask: Can the Theotokos and the saints hear our individual prayers?
I believe they can hear our prayers. I don't believe this requires omniscience as there are not an infinite number of people in the world. There is an infinite difference between God and His creation, including the saints in heaven. That doesn't mean they retain the same kind of existence that we have now. They have been given glorified existence, a share in the life of God. That doesn't mean they are omniscient and that isn't necessary anyway since there aren't infinite prayers to them. They are in eternity and thus are outside of time itself. They are partakers of the divine nature, butt hat doesn't mean they share in the essence of God. Only in His energeia, His life, His energies.
If you believe that the devil can tempt people all around the world at any time, why would he be more powerful than the saints in heaven?
@sakamotosan1887 thank you so much for this insight. I appreciate you taking the time and care to respond. What you've said adds peace to my soul and brings clarity.
If we approach the issue from technical perspective, the saints leave this physical reality the very moment of reposing and therefore they are outside of time and space - in a technical sense. This doesn't make them omnipresent or timeless by any means, but it would be logical to assume this could possibly have some impact on the ways how they perceive these things... Fr Josiah Trenham once shared a story of a Celtic monk (I recall it was Celtic monk, but not sure) who was momentarily taken up to Heaven, and the higher he ascended the more he saw: he saw people, even into their hearts, and this globe of ours was appeared like a disc below him.
And as said, all Christians are one body in Christ, and the Holy Spirit dwells and lives in us - already in this temporal life, but this connection grows even deeper when we are finally in unity with God without any distortion from passions and demons or worldly things. If the saints can hear and answer our prayers "simultaneously", that's the miracle of God.
Our beloved mother ☦️
Greetings Dear father paul, Glory to GOD! I grew up outside america orthodox. It makes me happy to see you. Thank you! ☦️
This is amazing to hear. Well explained ❤ Thanks
Thank you for this video.
I can’t like this enough! I’d give it hundreds of thousands of hearts if I could! Thank you, father. May the Panagia intercede before the merciful Lord for us lowly and sick as we are
Indeed!! The Mother of JesusCHRIST❤ is 100%, very Pure and so very kind to STILL WANT to pray for all sinners to be saved. I understood She likes us to JOIN in Her prayers so that lots more Love and Peace reigns in our sinful minds.
You have sooo much information, books and videos on internet about ☦️ othodox christianity if you know russian language.
Good bless you all 🙏🩵
Thank you Fr. Paul!!!
Father please create more Mary videos I really enjoy them! 😊
Thank you Fr. Paul.
The videos you make are very useful for me in my journey towards Holy Orthodoxy.
Amazing explanation Fr.
It is with great interest I listened to your teaching. I must say, you offer more clarity than most in Orthodoxy, so kudos to you. To further clarify this issue, Mother Mary is the church, and each of us is a Mary in whom the baby Christ is born whom we have to raise up to adulthood. The arc of the covenant is with us and in each of our spiritual hearts. The temple/tabernacle of God is within us. As is it in Heaven, so too is it on earth . I have no doubt that the Mary of 2000 years ago is with the Lord sitting on his right hand as well, just as the church is also the body of Christ.
Also important to remember that The Apostle Paul himself talks about becoming all things to all men *that he might SAVE some* (1 Cor 9)! Do we accuse Paul of trying to usurp Christ as the Savior? Of course not! We know he means that he was bringing the news of salvation to men. All glory to Christ the Lord. Most Holy Theotokos, save us! ❤
As a new Catholic I am undergoing the 33-day consecration to Mary for the first time. Its been a very challenging and spiritually rewarding experience. I find that praying the rosary has a tremendous affect on my daily life in resisting temptation and sin. I know its the holy mother defending us against Satan. Those attachments no longer have the same power over you. The rosary becomes even more effective when you pray to St. Joseph.
Holy God's birth-giver we exalt thee.
John the Baptist jumping before the new Ark and Moses 40 days on the mount in tandem with the transfiguration blew my mind.
Wow. That was awesome. Thank you father.
Father Paul, please continue more videos on the Most Holy Theotokos. it upsets the demons too 😊 O most Holy Theotokos save us! ☦️
Can the Theotokos save you in your religion?
The answer just came in the video. Intercession. Thanks
I am catholic and pray the rosary but i cannot meditate on it
I just repeat the words of the prayer and hope that that will suffice
Glory to God ☦️
Thank you so much, Fr. Paul, for this follow-up to the “rosary” teaching, vis a vis Orthodox veneration of the Theotokos Mary. Being able to take such an historical and profound topic and explain it to us with such faithful and spiritually rational words and examples is a rare blessing for us.🤗🙏
The timing on this was great for me. I was just researching how the first Western reformers affirmed the title Theotokos and even honored Mary. Many modern protestants trying to separate themselves from the RCs will go as far as to affirm Nestorianism.
❤✝ CHRIST IS RISEN ☦❤
❤💪🙏✝ MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS SAINT MARY MOTHER OF GOD PLEASE PRAY FOR US SINNERS ☦🙏⛪️🕊️
I had this exact question, being taught in a Baptist church. Pastor John MacArthur did a whole video on the on how Mary should not be worshipped and how Catholics do that. Orthodox makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve been seeking the truth for a while now ever since getting married with a catholic woman.
I hope you realize, now, that Catholics do NOT worship Mary - we honour her in the same way the Orthodox do. Worship belongs to God alone.
John MacArthur preaches a Christ that is not the Christ that the Apostles Preach.
@@acekoala457 Amen.
Thank you Father !
To say that the Theotokos can hold our Lord inside of her body for nine months and not have a special grace is absurd.
Facts
Truth
@@KatWomanHikes yes absolutely
Amen
Thank you Father Paul for all your videos and all the work you do. Truly, you are my favorite person to watch on youtube.
18:36. God bless all. 2 prayers that are very simple. Such an easy start if you are struggling with your prayer life which will be a catalyst for your thrist for learning more prayers and building your prayer life
Thank you for affirming my lack-of-a-middle-man-between-me-and-Jesus relationship :)
I don't get intercession yet. But you've got me on Mary!
Regarding intercession of Theotokos...In Canah wedding although Christ time was not yet He did obey to the demand of His Mother and changed His plan and did the miracle...suppose now that Christ has condemned you becasue of ur numerous sins and you are for hell but you feverently ask Theotokos whom you love and venerate to intercede for you to her Son and save you...she can make Christ change His plan for you and save u as she did in Canah Wedding...its so simple...if Most Holy Theotokos ask from Her Son just one drop of His precious Blood which He borrowed from her and He is eternally indebted to her for this human flesh He took from Theotokos and He will certainly give this drop to her,she puts this drop on the right part of the scale and this one drop of Christ Blood can compensate the numerous sins of you on the Judgement scale and you will be saved...in fact there is such a story regarding a neglectful monk who nevertheless had great veneration and devotion to Theotokos and she saved him in this way...
We pray for each other here on earth. That is intercession. The saints are alive/with Jesus in heaven, they are not dead. They can pray for us (intercede). This is the communion of saints referred to in the Creed.
Thank-you & God bless you for all your teachings 🙏☦️😇🕯️💟
I heartily enjoy All your videos!!!
Thank-you 🙏
God bless orthodoxy ❤
For why we ask the intercessions of saints, start by reading Hebrews 11-12:2, which demonstrates the reverence the Apostolic Fathers had for the saints who came before them.
Then turn to Revelation 4 and 5, which describes our worship from the perspective of the heavens. Focus, especially, on Rev 5:8 in which the twenty-four elders, who were the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 Apostles, fall down before the Lamb holding bowls of incense "which are the prayers of the saints." This literally describes the saints in glory offering the prayers of the faithful to God. The saints in glory are called priests in Revelation, which means they make intercessions for the faithful.
To any who struggle with the idea of asking intercessions from those who have gone before us, look no further than the scriptures we all hold in reverence.
May Christ bless us all unto the ages of ages.
Amen.
Roman Catholic here: What you said about the Transfiguration and Moses just blew my mind.
Yes, and his points about Mary being the new Eve and the new Ark of the Covenant are Catholic theology too.
@@valwhelan3533 The Queen of Heaven and Earth. She's so awesome
Lifelong Catholic. It brings me sincere joy to learn that reverence for Our Holy Mother is also a part of
the Orthodox faith. I have no doubt that a single sigh from Our Immaculate Mother is worth more in obtaining graces from God than the prayers of countless others. Precisely because she was sinless and never counted personal cost in her obedience to Our Lord. For that reason He never refuses her.
I've seen this over and over in my life. She will never fail to obtain graces for one who prays the rosary if they are truly to our benefit. If you struggle with sin, pray the rosary. If you wish to grow in faith and your love of Our Lord, pray the rosary. Whatever the problem is, pray the rosary. I feel true pity for any follower of Christ who denies themselves of the efficacious intercession of Our Lady.
It's a tragedy that the enemy has convinced so many to denigrate her and deny her aid. Precisely because it is her heel that crushes his head and robs him of so many souls.
I've had quite a few miraculous answers to prayer with the Rosary. Mary has come through for me so many times. I'm sad that I went through my protestant years not knowing her.
@@jennifernorton905 For too many years I never had much faith in prayer, and lacked the willingness to even offer more than short prayer. But I've come to see how powerfully she answers and obtains graces for us. Saying one rosary a day seemed close to impossible for me once. Even the grace to pray more faithfully I obtained from the rosary. Now four or more a day is more common than not. And the graces needed to avoid sin are so powerful and immediate they are nothing short of miraculous to me. Things that used to causse me such difficulty became at worse insignificant and easily brushed off. People really dont comprehend what they are missing out on.
She will obtain for you the grace to desire to strive toward saintliness.
She is not holy. ONLY one who is holy is JESUS.wow. wake up.
Every video so far has been very very beneficial. Thanks
Yes. Mother Mary did many miracles when people asked for her help, there's many testimonies about that. These miracles are impossible to deny for those who were witnesses. Those Christians who ignore Mary cannot experience that cause they lack faith in her. They say she's just a random woman who "happened" to give birth to Christ.
Lies. SHE is not holy. Satan deceives
Do you pray also to paul or peter? They did also many miracles even raised someone from the dead.
There is only one god.
To pray to mary (and often people do this in front of an image of her) violates the 1. and 2. commandment
@@shred5528 There's adoration, worshἰp prayer, only to G○d. And there's PETITION prayer, which sometimes we address to Mary or saἰnts. We HONOR saἰnts and ask for their help. They INTERCEDE for us for they're in Heaven and their prayer is more powerful. They're part of the Church and within the church we pray for one another and we ask for intercession as well. No commandments are violated because we do not worshἰp Mary, but VENERATE her. Not cause we consider her a g○ddess, but for she's the Mother of G○d. Therefore "for I am a jealous G○d" doesn't apply, on the contrary, for the reason why we venerate her is BECAUSE of Jesus and her connection with Him. Angel Gabriel also venerates Mary "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the L○rd is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 01-28), so we follow his example.
@@shred5528 YT keeps deleting my comments. There's a difference between adoration or worship prayer and petition prayer. Saints are part of the Church as well, the Triumphant Church which is in Heaven, and within the church we can pray for one another, it's called intercession. We do not worship Mary but honor and venerate her. Just like Angel Gabriel venerates her in Luke 1 28. We follow his example.
Excellent testimony on the Virgin Mary the Theotuckos ’ I’m glad orthodoxy recognize her ‘ I have great faith in our lady ‘ our great intercession to Jesus
As a Byzantine Catholic I will always honor Our Lady!
Idolatry
@@kats841who did you judge?
@@kats841you tell that to Jesus when you stand before Him! But He will ask you why you did not honor His very own Mother!
Thank you
I honor the Theotokos 💖
Fr. Paul strikes again! 👊🏻☦️🙏🏻
Jn 2:5 Mary then said to the servants, “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do." Father, that's where the Orthodox and Catholics should first do.
U forget that Jesus first obeyed His Mother and changed His plans and did the first miracle although it was not His time...who else could change God's plans except from Theotokos? That's why we Orthodox run to her
@@evans3922 The larger and more important point, and I hope you agree, is to do what He says to do. Mary agrees, you should too.
Beautifully said & articulated! God Bless. ✝️🙏🏻
Amen farther agree 100% I'm from protestant upbringing and am now in a pentecostal church ⛪️ but I pray the rosary daily and absolutely enjoy doing so thier is no shame whatsoever in doing so I love God with all my heart and I love mother Mary and why shouldn't we she's very precious and special in God's eyes ❤️ didn't he say to the apostle John on the cross behold thy mother that should go for the same to all Christians I'm appalled 😮at some of the vile attitudes coming from other Christian ✝️ groups denominations thanks for been honest and informative on the video 📹 excellent
Whoa, you're (staying) Pentecostal and pray to the Virgin Mary? Do your pastors know this? I'm not sure if they're ok with it. Most Pentecostals aren't.
Father Truenbach references Steve Ray on this video. I would check out more of Steve's UA-cam videos to get a further understanding of Mary.
just because she's John's mother now doesn't mean we need to sing her praises. Everyone is special and precious in God's eyes.
@@uncreatedlogosThere are quite a few Protestants who pray the Rosary! Mother Mary has brought many home to the Catholic Church through her!
@@Postenebraslux-n4yShe’s every believers Mother! Protestants just don’t accept her!
Wonderful video Fr Paul, may God bless you and your church!
As a protestant I really want to honor and honestly do affirm Orthodox as the purest of continuity of the church. But with some of the views held on Mary I'm just not there yet. I commented and hope I didn't sound negative. I just struggle to have the same views at this time. But thank you for sharing, this is alot for me to consider. At the very least I do honor Mary and recognize the wonderful blessing she was given and prophecy fulfillment she represents.
Mary is the woman in Revelation 12. It's clear that she is more than an ordinary woman. God created Mary for the purpose of bringing the Messiah into the World. She knew Jesus better than any person on Earth. Mary spent 33 years with Christ. She was His first teacher. Mary prayed for her Son and she prays for us.
@@JoAnnFuir I'm certainly on board with everything you just said. The idea that Mary is the second Ark and even the better Eve (as Jesus is the better Adam) that reverses the curse of death. Maybe its still praying to Mary and the saints that I'm still struggling to understand. It's totally alien to my thinking as someone who prays to God only. Perhaps it was comments also like Jesus "obeys" her that made me uncomfortable, but the way Fr Paul explained makes more sense to me that its about doing what you will for someone you love.
@@Grimaldo354 I am a Catholic and a former Protestant. I ask Mary to pray for me. It's like asking a friend to pray for me. Mary points us to her Son, Jesus. She knows Him better than anyone. But, I do understand how some folks struggle with Mary. They don't understand that honoring her is different than worshipping her. God commands us to honor our Mother and Father. Christ was an obedient Son who honored His Earthly parents. Since Jesus honored Mary, we should too.
@@JoAnnFuir Matthew 12, 46-50
I can understand honoring Mary, but not praying to her. because there is only one God.
I see images of Mary in many catholic churches and people pray to her. this violates the 1st and 2nd commandments
@@shred5528 Asking Mary to pray for you is no different than asking a friend to pray for you. I am sure Jesus asked His Mom to pray for Him when He lived on Earth.
I really hope to get a response to this as I'm very seriously inquiring into Orthodoxy and have attended several liturgies at this point.
The only hangup I have left for me to convert to Orthodoxy is Mary. I'm fine with showing honor and respect and I'm fine with seeking her intercession. However, these are the things I can't get over:
1. Prostrating before her (Orthodox Prayer Book "Eleventh Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, Morning Prayer") suggests to do so.
2. Having an Unburnt Bush icon where Mary is depicted as the Burning Bush. To me, I can't see how this is not blasphemous.
3. The salvific language ascribed to Mary. For example, the "Midnight Song to the Theotokos." I've read this about a dozen times and the response, "we're asking her intercession to do those things for us," is weak. How is saying, "deliver me from the eternal fire, from the wicked worm, and from hell" asking her intercession? That's simply asking her to save you.
4. If you're venerating an image of Christ and the Theotokos, in the one act of veneration, how does Christ receive the worship and the Theotokos receive only veneration?
I mean absolutely no disrespect to any Orthodox Christian in the comments, I truly am struggling with my faith right now and this is the sole hangup why I'm not Orthodox right now.
I'm not the right person to help you, but since you haven't received a response from someone wiser than I, I'll give it a try.
First, I'll recommend another video, entitled: The Theotokos with Fr. Thomas Hopko and Mother Mary Magdalene | Orthodoxy Now!
Fr Tom of blessed memory helped me begin to understand how we as Christians relate to the Theotokos. May he help you as well.
Praying, venerating, and prostrating are not like magical techniques. It is not possible for us to accidentally worship someone other than God, because we know who God is. If I prostrate myself before an icon of the Virgin Mary, it is out of humility and respect. I am aware that she is a creature, and that God alone is uncreated. If I ask her to save me, I trust that she knows how I mean. She knows I don't think she is the Savior. When St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some", St Paul was well aware that Christ is the Savior. St Paul understood himself to be a bondservant of the Lord Jesus, and he referred to himself as the "chief of sinners", yet he also had the boldness to say "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me". If there's any sense in which he could "save" anyone, it was in helping that person receive the salvation of the Lord. So it is with the ministry of the Theotokos. Even if we did try to worship her as an idol, which would be an evil act, there is no way she would accept that from us, just as when Cornelius attempted to worship St Peter in Acts 10. Cornelius was confused, but St Peter was not. The Church teaches us what it means to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. In this, we become less confused. If we are humble enough to receive correction, God is faithful to correct us.
@davidgravy2007 thank you so much for the response! I'll definitely check out the resources, but actually, I am fully convinced of Orthodoxy and have been attending an Antiochian parish for several months now. Just waiting to be formally received as a Catechumen at this point. My priest is fully aware and is helping me through the process. Thanks again for your support and for your comment!
Thank you Father for this great video! The explanation for Mary being the Ark and the evidence for it were really clear! It really is directly related to God's Incarnation and Indwelling in this world which is an important subject of thought for me.
As a Protestant, I'd love to share my thoughts on this. I pray that this helps you understand the concerns Protestants have and how to approach them, so that they can be resolved.
16:00 This sentence has led many Protestants to believe that Catholics only pray to Mary because they don't believe that Christ will forgive them when they repent and turn to him, which aligns with their legalistic understanding of purgatory in which they expected literal punishment. (Modern Catholics after Vatican 2 reject their theological history) A Protestant will ask: How can we not be worthy to speak to Christ? Did he not even approach the lepers and prostitutes?
This reminds Protestants of doctrines they despise and which they consider a denial of God's mercy.
To be honest, I don't really get intercession. Yeah, there's James 5:16, but who says they don't already pray for us or how would the Saints even hear us. I think I will need to read a book.
I'm more aware of the sin against the Holy Spirit now and although I myself wasn't confidently accusing, I was speculating. Especially with regards to Marian apparitions which could be seen as evidence for Marian theology. (I thought the only way to resolve this, was to describe them as demonic or false.) But Marian apparitions have always been Catholic in my mind. What is the Eastern Orthodox perspective and experience with Marian apparitions?
Thank you Father for this content. I will research and contemplate about it.
Did some contemplating already and I'm much closer to accepting the Orthodox teaching on Mary. Thanks!
Revelation is full of angels interceding for us and how the Saints in heaven knew what was going on on earth. A question Protestants tend to ask is "Well how can they hear us if they're not omnipresent?" Instead of a direct answer, you can respond with a question: "Were Moses and Elijah omnipotent when they appeared on earth with Christ?" It's clear that Christ is the one who works the miracles through his Saints (Acts 19:11-12) because He honors those who honor Him (1 Samuel 2:30).
(Take this with a grain of salt)
_"(Modern Catholics after Vatican 2 reject their theological history)"_
Dang, there's a statement and from a Protestant too, no less. I thought only us traditional Catholics, and the Orthodox, knew this. Respect.
Fr. Paul, could you please make available that list of parallels as a PDF to download?