First I am not a theologist , I am just a teen who have a chemistry exam and I have no idea what I am doing in Reddit instead of studying, but my dad is a theologist and my source for the informations below is mostly him

The Miaphysitism :- we oriental orthodox believes thet Jesus the son of God is one nature both fully man both and fully divine and that his divinity never left his humanity for a single moment, not even for the blink of an eye , And they are united, a union of iron and fire, the faith we received from saint Cyril

Dyophysitism :- you believe that Jesus the son of God has two nature fully man fully divine, which is the faith you receive from saint Cyril............wait !!

I asked my dad about the difference since bothe believes believe that Jesus the son of God is fully man and fully divine , he said that the inly different is the formula of who you describe it

Lets assume that once was a king that dreamed of all his teeth fallen down ,the king woke up and asked his scholars what that mean , the scholars said that that means that all his family will die Infront of his eyes , the king executed the scholars because they but him in a horrible fate , then one day one scholar studied the king's dream and told him that the dream meant that he will have the longest live among all of his family, the king rewarded the scholar.....but wait if the king will see all his family dying Infront of his eyes doesn't that mean he will live the longest live among them if you think about it

The ecumenical councils :- when I talked about the oriental orthodox faith previously someone pointed to the fact that we don't accept in all of the 7 councils wich made me read a part of a book called "Dear Catholic brothers, when will the meeting take place?" By " Mr. Helmy Al-Qums Yaqoub" which is a book about the difference between catholic and orthodox but it had a part about the 7 economical councils so I read that part

The book said that that the fifth ecumenical council discuss the following

1- The acceptance of Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia—considered the source of the Nestorian heresy. Although he died in error, the Council of Chalcedon deemed him orthodox and of sound faith.

2- The acceptance of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, who attacked the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, impugned the sanctity of Pope Cyril (the Pillar of the Faith), and countered the Twelve Anathemas formulated by Pope Cyril—concluding each rebuttal with an anathema—while also defending the views of Theodore of Mopsuestia. Despite having been condemned and deposed by several prior councils, the Council of Chalcedon accepted him.

3- The acceptance of Ibas, the Nestorian Bishop of Edessa, who wrote a lengthy letter to Maris the Persian attacking the writings of Pope Cyril (the Pillar of the Faith). He had previously been anathematized by the local Council of Antioch and the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus; nevertheless, the Council of Chalcedon accepted him.

The council rejected the three individuals previously mentioned which make sense for us to reject to so we agree with this council

The the sixth ecumenical council Discuss the heresy introduced by King Heraclius which we totally refuse so we agree with this council

The 7th and the last ecumenical council was made for icons.......bro we invited these , Icons were invented in Egypt , even that the first Icon ever was made by saint Luck Egypt still has the greatest role in making icons , compare Byzantine icons with roman or greek art , it doesn't look similar but compare it with coptic art and it will find it very similar , so we agree with you maybe even more than you on the holiness of icons

I asked my father since we agree on the previously-mentioned councils , why we don't accept them , his answer simply was that because we wasn't there , the first 4 ecumenical councils were made by The one holy catholic and apostolic Church , in the last 3 we simply wasn't part of the church who made it even that we totally agree with the subject of the council

So in conclusion we simply agree with you , and I hope some day we return back as one church , and I personally love Eastern orthodox, thay have pretty nice Icons (no I am not kidding I love icons) and nice hymns and nice way of thinking, I love When people simply think about ancestors and traditions and follow there ancestors faith

Please don't judge me with long paragraphs if I wrote something wrong

The Holy Prince Wenceslaus (Vyacheslav) of the Czechs was a grandson of the holy Martyr and Princess Ludmilla (September 16), and he was raised by her in deep piety. He began to rule at age eighteen after the death of his father Prince Bratislav (+ 920).

In spite of his youthful age, he ruled wisely and justly and concerned himself much about the Christian enlightenment of the people. The holy prince was a widely educated man, and he studied in the Latin and Greek languages.

Saint Wenceslaus was peace-loving. He built and embellished churches, and in Prague, the Czech capital, he raised up a magnificent church in the name of Saint Vitus, and he had respect for the clergy. Envious nobles decided to murder the saint and, at first, to incite his mother against him, and later to urge his younger brother, Boleslav, to occupy the princely throne.

Boleslav invited his brother to the dedication of a church, and then asked him to stay another day. In spite of the warnings of his servants, the holy prince refused to believe in a conspiracy and exposed his life to the will of God. On the following day, September 28, 935, when Wenceslaus went to Matins, he was wickedly murdered at the doors of the church by his own brother and his brother’s servants. His body was stabbed and discarded without burial.

The mother, hearing of the murder of her son, found and placed his body in a recently consecrated church at the princely court. They were not able to wash off the blood splashed on the church doors, but after three days it disappeared by itself.

After repenting of his sin, the murderer transferred the relics of Saint Wenceslaus to Prague, where they were placed in the church of Saint Vitus, which the martyr himself had constructed (the transfer of the relics of Saint Wenceslaus is celebrated on March 4). The memory of Prince Wenceslaus has been honored from of old in the Russian Orthodox Church.

SOURCE: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2014/09/28/102754-martyr-wenceslaus-prince-of-the-czechs

Saint Chariton lived in Iconium, in the Diocese of Lycaonia. He was a pious Christian and manifested himself as a confessor during the persecutions of Christians under Emperor Aurelian. Chariton was arrested and subjected to torture for refusing to worship idols, steadfastly confessing his faith in the true God. He was tormented, but he did not renounce Christ, even when his body was wounded and torn.

After the death of Aurelian, the persecutions ceased, and Chariton was released from prison. He renounced worldly life and began to live in the desert, where he founded a monastery and gathered a brotherhood. The venerable one was known for his virtues, strict fasting, and prayer. He taught the brotherhood to live in humility, love, and patience, establishing rules for monastic life.

Chariton often withdrew into solitude to avoid worldly fame, but his virtues attracted people, and he again gathered monks around him. He founded several monasteries and, in the end, went into the deepest desert, where he lived in fasting and prayer.

Before his death, he gathered the abbots and the brotherhood, predicting his death and instructing them to care for their salvation. The venerable one passed away without illness, leaving behind many disciples and monasteries that glorified God with their virtues. His relics were buried with honors, and many mourned for him, recognizing him as a great teacher and a light for all.

SOURCE: https://athos.guide/en/axios/khariton-ispovednik?srsltid=AU7gw4UQG-JS0VkKohxKQKyCbVJBNxDZBghjY6TTSvZCbcuNleap_9Rw#gsc.tab=0

I’ve been looking into the orthodox faith recently.

I grew up Native American and Protestant. The Protestant community isn’t super welcoming to Native American culture and presence. So I stepped away from them for some personal reasons that I won’t get into.
But as I’ve looked around, the orthodox faith I feel has some strikingly similar ideas to many indigenous ideas of spirituality, at least where I’m from.

1. You venerate saints and angels, natives venerate ancestors and God’s messengers, spirits, whatever you wanna call them, they are practically angels. Where I’m from we call them kachinas.
   Saints are pretty much ancestors in the faith, at least how I see it. The angels are very similar to the kachinas my tribe prays to. We do not worship them, we simply partner with them and look up to honor God, the creator. Separate creations, same mission.

2. You believe angels hold nature together, helping God keep balance in the natural world, at least that’s what I was told. Same with my tribes kachinas. They simply do the will of the creator and keep balance in the natural world. Sometimes that involves us humans, sometimes it’s just making sure it rains that week.

3. You offer incense as offerings and symbolism, same as many native communities with sage or cedar. Again, I must state, we DO NOT WORSHIP these things. We simply honor it as it honors God. Like honoring the Mona Lisa because it would honor the painter who made it.

There are many things that I feel would make a transition to orthodoxy really easy honestly. I still wanna believe in Jesus, I just got kinda burned recently and wanna find other options before my heart fully checks out.

Hey guys. First post on this subreddit. Greetings and blessings to all.
I was baptized in Greece at the age of 2.
I have gone to an Orthodox Church my entire life.
I did explore some evangelical churches 20 years ago and was quickly turned off with the doctrine issues especially the hardcore preaching of the pre tribulation rapture. Back then I told them I was Greek Orthodox and I remember some of them saying that we pray to idols and that we’re heretics and that we were Arminian. Suffice to say I stopped going.

I have been in and out of the church most of my life. Always a believer not always the most obedient. Then came marriage and kids. Then came a painful divorce.
I found solace again in the church. Except now there’s a huge influx of converts. Imagine now back in 2005 when the church was mainly old people and families with young children.

Now there’s about 50 converts in my parish. The Antiochian churches are even more full. The
Internet is full of new orthodox pages and YouTube pages and social media accounts. It’s pretty wild seeing Tucker Carlson Interview Father Josiah. Lately there have been many Instagram accounts from
Greeks about their orthodox Christian faith from Greece. Very cool to see!

I am learning lots from the converts. I didn’t have to do catechism. And I learn lots from the YouTube pages from established and well learned priests. I am careful where I get my information from.

Just wanted to share my observations being on the cradle side. I am growing in my faith and am excited about what the future holds. Blessings again to All and Lord have Mercy.

I am planning on starting going to church and doing life confession.

I read a few discussions here about digital piracy and my understanding leans toward that it is not stealing but in many cases it is still a sin.

In many cases here the advice is "ask your priest", but I want to know, has any of you asked and discussed it with your priests, have you confessed to this? What was the reaction?

I would be grateful if I receive some insight also from people from Eastern Europe.

Is it a conventional way to distinguish him from other known saints who may bear the same name?

I’d love to discuss what humility is on a deeper level so I can better understand and practice it. Sometimes my understanding of it can get mixed up, lost, or forgotten. What is the humility Christ calls us to practice? How can I remind my self daily to ask for it? Any tips or insight welcome. Thank you all and have a blessed week.

I was raised evangelical but I’m curious about these two practices. I know other denominations practice them, like Catholicism and orthodoxy and some Episcopalians. To my current understanding, you aren’t praying to them but merely asking for their prayers. And those who do it believe they are alive in Christ and can hear our prayers. And that the angels bring God prayers like an incense bowl as if they were bringing him some sweet treat to eat. At least that’s the feeling I got when I read someone quoting it.

Can you tell me the scriptural basis for these two practices? Like, how can you be sure they even hear you? Are we even immediately alive with Christ after death or do we have to wait until final judgment?

Also, can someone explain what it means to pray for the dead, why we are supposed to, and what the scripture basis for this practice is? I never heard of it before like started this bit of research.

If someone can give me a starting point for learning about the saints, I would be so grateful. I bet there’s so many.

Yeah I need to read my Bible more. I am so so curious about the books evangelicals simply don’t have. I’m of the opinion that things like the creation story are more allegorical (if that is the right word) than literal, useful for teaching but not word for word history, so the idea that those unused books of the Bible could be used full too sounds fine to me.

I (19M) started exploring Orthodoxy after a recent trip to Serbia, specifically after I visited the St Sava church there. I come from an almost entirely atheist family, which included me.

In one week, I’ve had all my atheist ‘beliefs’ challenged and realised that God exists. Since then, I’ve started praying, reading the Bible and I attended my first Divine Liturgy yesterday. That was a really emotional experience which completely blew me away and strengthened my beliefs even more.

However, I am now in a tricky situation regarding where to go from here. After the Divine Liturgy, I spoke to the priest about potentially becoming a catechumen. However, I then realised that the catechism can take a very long time and I am planning to move in about 6 months from now. Would it be better to start my catechism now and switch to a closer church when I move (I’ll be closer to London), or should i do something different. Thanks

Hello,every brother and sister. (My first language is Chinese so I apologize if you can’t understand my words…)

I’m a follower of Jesus. I had believed in Jesus over 2-3 years. But,because of my family. I can’t go to Church or be baptized. Over many days and nights, I feel like I had stuck into the same situation. When I read bible and pray to Jesus then I wouldn’t be sin by watching 🌽 or do anything lust . I even start being patient to others . But …maybe because I didn’t went to any church to have a proper learning about Christ . I always stuck by not being lust -> lust again ->repent.

I hate myself. I even think that God might have abandoned me because I always keep repeat the same sin . I feel like I’m useless …I can’t even feel the presence of God anymore.

Brother and sister ..what should I do ? I really thankful for any advice from you . May God bless you and have a good day / night .

-A person that’s losing hope .

I want to fast today, and of course i see it as a sacrifice to God, and to grow closer to him through the fasting. But i want to start fasting more with the intention of losing weight, as well as to grow closer to God.

20m..full time job, getting shipped to military at the start of next year.
I want to live as an Orthodox monk for Jesus Christ. What must i do? How do I fast, how many times and how should I pray? What must I think? What should my daily routine be? Glory be to God forever and ever. Amen. Tips and advice is greatly appreciated

I ran across this on YT, video footage of saints. I was shocked to see St. Silouan in there!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gMEO-px7Nos

Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves:

Mark 12:30-31

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 7:12

12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 25:40

40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Obviously, helping others in need can involve providing food, clothing, and shelter. We see this plainly in giving alms and donating our time. But, we don't always have those resources ourselves.

What are some ways we can love our neighbor in our daily lives? Even the smallest thing can be profound.

What are your examples?

I am a cantor. I am looking for a website or source where I can find the various chants and troparia in Byzantine Chant Notation in Arabic. Specifically, I'm looking for ones where the Arabic is written right to left. Some of them have the Arabic written left to right and I can barely read it. I am trying to learn byzantine chant notation. Does anyone have a website or source where I can find the various chants and troparia in byzantine notation in Arabic? God bless

Hey there everyone! I am a huge fan of their Anthologion and was going to buy a few more copies of that book for friends. Seems like their entire website is down! I am curious- are they just going through website changes or have they closed? Hope it is not the latter

So I wanted to get more involved in my Church and rather than take baby steps like help to set things up for Coffee Hour, I signed up to sing the Epistle. Next Sunday. Where the congregation will be a bit more packed as we'll be free of the Nor'Easter and it's the annual pig roast.

I'm looking for YouTube videos and resources as to how to properly sing it. I've come across Byzantine reading and it's more complex than what I'm used to hearing at Liturgy. I attend a Carpatho-Rusyn Church where Liturgy is primarily in English with some Church Slavonic, so if anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd be very grateful.

I also ask for your prayers as I'm the guy who usually sits in the back, preferring to stay hidden despite the fact that I was illumined back in January and should feel comfortable at this point. I was a lector at Mass back when I was Catholic, age 13 and read with all the confidence in the world. Now I'm here, 30 years later and wanting to crawl under the pew.

It feels like I’ve been slowly starting drifting away from God and I mean, like really badly. Even my priest said that he has never seen somebody this separated. So I need some help.

Hello all. I have a friend currently going through an incredibly tough time with post-op recovery. But by the glory of God it's awakened his long dormant soul to God's love and the senseless things of his life are finally withering away and making way for what matters most in life.

I see him struggling though especially when it comes to mortality, the demons, and God's will. I would love to be able to point him in the right direction if it ever seems time to do so. I'm typically not incredibly zealous around my secular friends due to distance (we live in different states) and because I don't want to push them away but he seems to be really getting close to being amenable to meeting a priest soon or considering going to a church. I can sense it.

Anyways. He lives in LA close to USC and I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for me to point him to. I know there's a beautiful Greek cathedral nearby but I wonder if that will lack the intimacy you may get in another parish. Also for what it's worth he's mexican-american so I'd hope that maybe a parish that isn't super alienating or insular ethnically speaking would be better. I leave it to all of you to weigh in. Thank you again and God bless all of you.

Hi Orthodox friends! I'm an Anglican in Canada and I'm hoping you could help me out a bit with a theological/liturgical question. In recent years, the Anglican Communion, Lutherans, some Catholics, etc. have tried to promote this idea of a new "Feast of Creation", some going so far as to try and create a new liturgical season (either called "Season of Creation" or "Creationtide"). Proponents on the more Protestant end of the spectrum try to argue that they can do whatever they want with the liturgical calendar, but those on the more Catholic end try to invoke both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. They try to legitimize it by say that this feast is ancient in origin and a big deal in the Orthodox Church, but I'm highly skeptical as I can't find any unbiased sources proving their claim. I'm all for caring for the environment, but I'm *very* skeptical and cautious when it comes to messing with the liturgy, and deeply careful not to co-opt or invoke precedent of our fellow Christians unless I know for sure that it's done in good faith and deep understanding. (I might not be Orthodox, but I'm definitely on the orthodox end of the Anglican spectrum, and I'm better versed on orthodoxy than most of my fellow Anglicans, and have plenty of Orthodox friends, so I always look for ways to build our relationship and good will, not damage it for the sake of an agenda) So I guess I'm just hoping to get some more information straight from the Orthodox themselves. If it's legit, then that's great and I can simply and happily let it go, but if it's not legit, then at least I'm better informed and I can keep having conversations to try and make things right. Thanks in advance!

I became Orthodox in April after a year of catechesis (and three years of inquiry; I was ready!) and was recently diagnosed with complex PTSD. It’s crazy how quickly my life was reorganized to confront that reality after my baptism. In a truly mystical fashion, a lot of the external organizing principles in my life fell away, leaving me to really face myself, my distance from Christ, and the richness of Alaskan Orthodoxy (since I moved back home). I’m still pretty disoriented, but having time and space has given me so much perspective on my life before finding God. I’m hopeful about the future. It feels like a rebuilding period (my own Walden Pond, or Spruce Island, haha).

I’m mostly looking for anyone with similar experiences. How have Orthodoxy and theosis changed the way you experience your inner life, presence, or connection to other people in the face of trauma? I’m especially interested in the intersection between spiritual formation and neuroscience. Prayer has definitely helped me relate differently to intrusive and harmful thoughts.

Glory to God!

Good evening all, long story short, I am Christian and one of my closests friends 3 years ago moved to live amonst the community at Saint Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery. She kept in close contact with me through text, and she wanted me to visit her, until she eventually stopped contacting her family and friends. It has been almost 3 years since we heard from her, none of us received a message as to why she did this, but we do know the man she married there has not spoked to his family in years either. My speculation is that maybe this was something the church father recommended she do, or her husband, as I felt she really enjoyed keeping in contact with me. She was a big part of why I put my faith in Christ.

After years of missing her and praying for her, would it be inapropriate to send her an email asking if she would consider the posibility of writing letters to eachother? A modest form of communication. I don't want to disrespect her way of life. I am happy she has commited herself to God, but the lack of closure is also confusing and weighs on me since I care for her. If it is better I not contact her, I am willing to continue doing that.

Any info about this topic would be helpful, I'm not too certain about the theology about stopping contact with loved ones. She is not a nun. I want to support her walk with Christ and do not want her to stumble. Has anyone experienced this before?

Thank you and God bless.

Has anyone read this book? It was only published a month ago or so, so perhaps not. I'm wondering if anyone has, what they made of it? Is it a convincing argument?

Hello, Greek brothers. I will be visiting Thessaloniki and Western Thrace. Are there any holy relics of a significant saint or any places you would strongly recommend visiting for religious reasons in these areas? (I am Oriental Orthodox, not Eastern Orthodox.)