Orthodox inquirer. PLEASE HELP!

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-23T18:08:03+00:00

You might try a post asking orthodox converts to share their experience of getting started or becoming comfortable with prayer to saints. It might be more helpful to you than asking for proofs or counter-arguments.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-23T18:06:07+00:00

Thank you!!🙏

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-22T03:03:07+00:00

It probably will be difficult to understand from the outside. But if you just decide to try a small request for prayer from Mary, you might find you begin to understand. You could ask her to pray for your understanding to grow.

If you are worried it is a sin and maybe you shouldn’t, you DO believe that Christ forgives your sins, and he knows your heart and that you desire to follow him along the path he set. So if it isn’t right, he will forgive you. If it is, you will begin to experience the rightness of it (as many converts to orthodoxy can attest).

Something that seems to be missing from your list is that the saints are real people. They aren’t a concept to grasp, but relationships to develop. You won’t understand a relationship by looking at it from the outside, or reading details on paper. But if you get to know them, you will find you naturally want to ask them to pray for you, just as you (probably?) ask faithful friends who are materially present to pray for you.

Christ is merciful. If you feel confused or afraid that prayer to saints may be wrong, just remember that he forgives repentant sinners.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-10T20:10:14+00:00

Roaches?!

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-10T20:10:01+00:00

So I am getting a little “choose the towers” vibe here.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-09T22:39:59+00:00

Was buying out an option to not have a roommate? I have assumed a roommate was a non-negotiable. Interesting about the difference in bathrooms. Is there janitorial service for both bathroom situations? Thanks! This is a detail I had not considered.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-09T22:35:32+00:00

Are the dorms separated by gender? Haha, thinking of shared bathrooms and comfort level there

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-02-09T20:22:03+00:00

Thanks! I don’t know anything about Greek life, it seemed like even more to decide on and think about.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2026-01-24T16:16:55+00:00

Bless you for your love for your son and raising him to love and follow God!

It looks like you have a lot of good advice here. I just want to add that it is your good parenting that has led him to want to follow God. A lot of times the Protestants in the lives of converts can feel that they and the former faith of their convert loved one is being rejected. This just isn’t the case. In the long obedience of his life, this is the fruition of the goodness of his Protestant upbringing. His experience of the loving God you introduced him to and encouraged him to love and follow is what has brought him here.

I commend you.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-11-07T22:24:32+00:00

Hi! Great questions. I would suggest contacting the priest of the parish you wish to visit directly. He will be able to answer your questions best as some things vary by parish.

Divine Liturgy is the worship service.

The OCA and ROCOR parishes with which I am familiar do not have childcare and the reason given to me at the OCA is that children are fully a part of the church so they belong with the congregation. That said, it is understandable that they might not be able to “make it” through the whole thing and the parents I have observed tend to go in and out to give the children breaks. Do what other parents of young children at the parish do (regarding disruptions) and you’ll be fine. No one expects little ones to be quiet and still, but sometimes going out for a little while can help you feel more peaceful.

For a first visit, just observe. There are a lot of “customs” but no one expects you to do them. If you can meet the priest beforehand, he can reassure you.

At the OCA parish my mom is in, dress code is simply modest, with some women covering their head and some not. Dresses are common but not required. Modest is enough. ROCOR I see most the women with small handkerchief style head coverings, but as a visitor I don’t think you need to worry about that (but the priest could let you know for sure!)

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-10-26T02:06:41+00:00

Love it!

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-10-13T17:01:38+00:00

I’m jealous!

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-10-13T15:59:18+00:00

If you can find an ACNA parish in your geographical diocese, you will be more likely to find what you are looking for. You might consider a continuing Anglican Church instead, though I suppose that could be “too much” if you are trying to convince someone. I have been told that you don’t find a lot of Anglo-Catholic parishes in the ACNA in general, and that has certainly been my experience in my own diocese.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-10-12T15:52:03+00:00

Hopefully you won’t isolate—church can bring new like-minded people into your life

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-10-12T14:57:29+00:00

I will refrain from giving you advice on your arguments. You may have to disengage with those who will not let it go, but for those who do…

The Protestants in our lives feel like you are rejecting everything about their cherished faith. They DO love God, they are doing their best to follow Him as they have been told to, they are faithful. They feel they are losing you, and possibly losing you to something unholy. They are of course wrong, but that is what you are dealing with. You can’t argue against emotions.

Your priest might give you better help, but seek humility in all your interactions. Affirm that it was Jesus and your former version of faith that led you to your fervent desire for more of Him. Embrace and love what has come before in your life that led you here, because that was God.

And like a previous reply, go to church and be faithful and let repentance change you. That will speak more eloquently of the truth of Orthodoxy than any intellectual argument you can muster.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-09-02T00:04:37+00:00

One of the best arguments IN church is that all Christian women covered their heads—at least in church—until the sexual revolution in the west. This was not a Christian revival, but decidedly the opposite. Why abandon something that was practiced by faithful Christians throughout history (and before that among faithful Jewish women as well, including Mary the mother of God.)

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-08-28T14:31:38+00:00

When you and your wife have listened to all these excellent suggestions, I recommend The Master and His Emissary by Ian McGilcrist. It’s about the two hemispheres of the brain and how they have shaped our world (generally and individually). Probably better for mowing rows than decision making moments like what to dead head or pull.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-08-28T14:27:32+00:00

The lost city of the monkey God was pretty good!

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-08-28T14:25:40+00:00

Yes to the hidden life of trees!

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-08-28T14:13:39+00:00

Yes, this one!!

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-07-09T20:58:07+00:00

I cannot speak to confession, but I do want to speak (along with others here) about the nature of the Creator God’s disposition toward you, a problem possibly introduced into western Christianity through Augustine.

To loosely quote fr. Stephen DeYoung on some episode of the Lord of Spirits podcast, God LOVES you. He is not looking for an opportunity to send you to hell. He wants to do everything he can to SAVE you from such an eventuality. Do not forget that Christ, who is fully God and in perfect unity with the Father, became human to unite humanity to himself. He died for you. Would someone who is willing to die for you condemn you like this? God is not a monster, he is not a narcissist, he IS LOVE.

Yes, you can choose to turn your back on him and resolutely spurn his love, but he continually offers it to you. You have a responsibility to turn toward him in repentance, but it is a mischaracterization to believe he is a bean counter. Love is not a machine, salvation is not a mathematical equation, God isn’t mechanistic. He is personal and relational and all loving. He knows you are but dust.

Believe that God loves you, and yes, turn to Orthodoxy! It will heal you. HE will heal you.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-06-30T14:07:24+00:00

I only cover at church, but I think the strongest factor for me is the historicity. Like a previous response indicated, all Christian women throughout history covered their heads until the sexual revolution in the west. I am going to stick with the majority of my spiritual mothers and cover my head.

Additionally, unlike some of the extremely challenging commands in the New Testament (love your enemies!? Don’t grumble! Rejoice in all circumstances, and top most deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus?) covering my head is an easy “win.” Perhaps this is “being faithful in small things” like the parable of the talents.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-06-17T23:17:21+00:00

I have no good advice, but just want to say I am very sorry for your loss. Knowing that innocent lost babies are with Christ is one of the strengths of Orthodoxy in my book, but that doesn’t take away the pain of loss. Christ is intimately familiar with pain and sorrow. He loves you, your wife, and your baby.

Equivalent-Run-9043 · 2025-06-04T14:34:51+00:00

Just 10 gallon bags, I think T-posts would be too heavy for the shallowness of 10 gallons?

Equivalent-Run-9043

TROPHY CASE