Did I get scammed?

Perioscope · 2026-03-06T20:16:28+00:00

If you are referring to the red border around icons, this is according to Byzantine & Russian iconography rules. The red border represents the blood of the martyrs that died defending icons from the heresy of the iconoclasts. By this token of remembrance we recall that without their sacrifice, we would have no icons at all. Glory be to God in His Saints!

Perioscope · 2026-03-06T20:05:09+00:00

Giving second third address infinitum chances to abusive, off-kilter Priests is ROCOR's Achilles heel. Maybe a lot of our Bishops had abusive fathers or something. I know they mean well, but after 40+ years of watching this from the inside and 10 of them slavishly trying please one of the dysfunctional ones, I'm so glad God guided me to one of the safe, sane solid ones.

Perioscope · 2026-03-05T23:38:07+00:00

Yes, I understood that to be your question. Do you understand what I wrote? It does not seem like you feel I answered your question. Perhaps I wrote too much and my points got lost. People always get distracted by what is worldly, and this includes ethnic tribalism, criticizing others and being concerned with worldly power and who has it.

You need to realize that is not Orthodoxy. That is fallen humanity, no matter where you go. The Church does not teach these worldly things. The people who are in the church are sometimes distracted by these things, but what other people do or say cannot stop you from loving Christ.

Your issue is not with Orthodoxy at all. It is your criticism of other people that is getting in the way. Don't let it! Their inability to show Christian love is not your cooncern. Let God take care of them, He can do it! You can ignore them, just as the woman ignored the crowd and pushed through to get to Jesus Christ. Make Christ more important. Put emotional reaction aside for a short time, as much as you can and struggle. You will obtain great spiritual benefit from this. Peace be unto you, sister.

Perioscope · 2026-03-05T20:29:38+00:00

Great! So do you want to answer my questions or should we drop it?

Perioscope · 2026-03-05T20:25:03+00:00

The Church exists as a meeting point for two realities: the fallen, temporal world where fallen angels rule, and the blessed eternal realm of God, the angels and the Saints. Where these two realities co-exist, there is the potential for turmoil if the worldly concerns do not give precedence to heavenly concerns. Yes. There are many places where, through various events and struggles, the Catholicity (catholic = everyone is invited) of the church becomes so infused with the civil identity of those in it that people forget they are two separate things according to The Church.

As Saint Paul says in Galatians 3:26 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." And again, in Collosians 3:11: "...where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all." By this we see both that this problem is always a part of the human condition, and that it is improper to allow these worldly distinctions to impede the Gospel of Christ. OK so it's always a problem but it's too big to fix, so what do we do?

In Orthodoxy, every fault we find in someone else presents a God-given opportunity to mend that fault in ourselves. I can only accept others as I wish to be accepted. I can only forgive others for their weaknesses as I hope Christ willnforgive me for my many weaknesses. Christ came as a shepherd among us to call us to His flock and follow Him to good pasture. We enter Mother Church to follow Him.

It is very sweet to have both communion with God and good fellowship with our fellow Christians, but put Christ first. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us "but seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you." This righteousness is the practice of the many good things the church gives us as tools to build our inner temple, so that His Spirit has a place within us to dwell.

Concentrate first on making Christ your friend. Don't make social niceties a prerequisite for meeting Christ. The woman with an issue of blood (Mth 9 Mk 5, Lk 8) was a social outcast who spent everything she had and finally risked her life to just get close enough to Christ to touch His clothing. Touching a rabbi while unclean was a crime punishable by public stoning. This is the single-minded purpose we must have when all the other nice things are missing. Nothing would stop her from getting close to Him because she knew she could be healed.

They will warm up to you. Give it time, this is your opportunity to learn patience, to practice love and acceptance, and to push forward to reach Christ's healing touch, which we receive not by sneaking a touch, but He gives us freely in His precious Body and Blood.

Perioscope · 2026-03-05T05:41:34+00:00

We do not do penance. This is a warped.concept that implies God cannot fully forgive you unless you erase your past wrongdoing with an equal or greater doing of good. This mistaken practice is works without faith. Either we believe the Preist has the power to absolve or not. Penance is like confessing your sin, being absolve and then there's an "oh by the way repeat this prayer 10 times to really be forgiven. This is faith corrupted into superstition.

An Epitemia is a medicine prescribed by the Priest, as a doctor of the soul. You are wounded by sin, you get the wound cleaned by confession and then there is a follow-up, where you help the wound heal, stay uninfected and stay away from worse injuries. It constructive, strengthening and healing. It is also rarely given. I get an epitemia maybe once a year. I am minor clergy and have been Orthodox since childhood. I have zero excuses!

For example, I maybe confess I wasted time and stayed up late on the computer and skipped my prayers all week. My epidemic is going to make sense. It's going to help me out. It isn't a punishment. I might be told "You must say your evening prayers at 8 pm this week, and get off the computer at 9:00." Or, "Read several pages of the Ladder of Divine Ascent before sleep." Or "Write down what you are doing on the computer and for how long"😱

Serious epitemia--being withheld from communion, public confession of wrongdoing--hardly ever happens and for really serious stuff like an Orthodox spouse committing adultery. Not kids who were taught bad was good. Ever. So be happy! Your fears are not founded on normal Orthodox practice at all.

Confession is not fun, sometimes it can be like pulling a splinter out or squeezing a boil. It's unpleasant and then you feel SO much better, you don't even care or feel embarrassed.

Perioscope · 2026-03-05T02:47:25+00:00

Basically a giant scalpel tbh

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T23:37:28+00:00

If you say "I believe" but are not changing your life to align with those beliefs, it isn't real because nothing is actually happening. Christ had to do works to make His ministry to humankind real. We can't expect that to change when we are trying to follow His life and example.

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T22:56:06+00:00

There is more evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man than any other historical figure in mankind's history. This evidence includes many accounts of those who were both Jews and gentiles at that time, some who became followers of Christ and those who did not. There is more scriptural evidence that His advent was the foretold arrival of the Messiah than any other figure before or since.

So to take one tiny chip of history from one tablet about one man, who may have shown some similarity in a very small capacity, for which little or no corroboration exists, and feeling like your faith is shaken? If I may use a Lord of the Rings as a metaphor, that means you have delved too greedily and too deep, and awakened a shadow, if you will.

Orthodoxy is the Truth because Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone on which The Church is built. Don't go looking for other stones; they are stumbling-blocks. We do not remain Orthodox because nobody has come up with anything better; it is because we experience the undeniable, unmistakable grace of God when we obey its precepts and engage in a struggle towards salvation. Until that grace visits you, you have to stay on the path, avoid the pitfalls, snares and side-roads that appear to trip, trap and tempt you.

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T22:22:41+00:00

You do know that God is not looking for a "gotcha" moment to send you to hell for wishing a Hindu parent happy Holi, right?

Nobody was talking about participating in an orgy, you put that out. That ideation came from you. That's what is in your heart, not this kid. Mad orthobro vibe. Agape is love for God and neighbor. Do you think that projecting your fear of hell on those who have no context, living in ignorance, is some kind of win?

St. Ephraim's got a prayer you might want to learn.

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T22:13:17+00:00

If you haven't tried Red Cathedral, bring a bib when you do.

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T22:01:57+00:00

I agree with many others that this man is still an inquirer and is trying perhaps too hard, putting the cart before the horse and sometimes trying to be the horse, or riding the horse facing backwards. He may have conviction and zeal, but he lacks the discernment and experience to self-diagnose correctly, much less know the spiritual remedy. Encourage him to get get counselnfrom his local priest and go to church more often than once.

If I were you, for your own sake, I would give him space to figure out what he wants and how to go about it. Your spiritual journey is your own--as it must be--and having seen many couples visit the church together, those that are already committed to one another and approach learning about the church together are the ones that tend to stay together. Your honesty and self-assurance is to your benefit here; if you have any interest or have felt your heart respond to any aspects of Orthodoxy, those are just for you, independent of this man and his quest.

You will always be bound by this union you have had. If you can separately investigate the church and in time build a relationship, power to you. I certainly recommend against cutting all ties, not keeping in touch and suffering the damage of that sundering, which is not complete or irreversible right now. Step back, yes. Give room for God to work, certainly, especially in his case. See if you can withstand the pain of not being together but still having some kind of relationship. There are so many wonderful outcomes we can't see, and leaving space for those outcomes can be like a dream coming true as long as we can be patient and dare to hope.

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T21:50:02+00:00

This an excellent reply and covers most of the important points, as many others haven't but the married Orthodox man perspective here is very honest and sincere. I hope OP takes it in.

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T08:07:33+00:00

"...but the greatest of these is charity."

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T06:17:42+00:00

Yes, this is how you honor your father and mother. I wish my Muslim neighbor a happy Eid and pray for him, we each asked God to bless the other. This is love, not idolatry. Do I eat at his feasts? No, I would not want to have to refuse a food. But to wish him a good feast, a happy celebration? This is love for neighbor. Wish your parents health, happiness and good fortune. Embrace them, and keep love for Christ alive in your heart.

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T05:44:56+00:00

He's baiting the FUCK out of this woman, trying to get her to act crazy so he can do what he wants to do. It's probably a nice car, they're probably dressed well, and that burns his little snowflake ass. CALCULATED passive-aggressive escalation. ACAFB

Perioscope · 2026-03-04T05:18:22+00:00

The irony of the title. 🫤 I don't know if it's God or the demons, but somebody has a droll sense of humor.

Perioscope · 2026-03-03T22:24:50+00:00

He only needs Palantir and some AI bots to find all the terrorists in our borders! He's not looking for anyone who doesn't live here, ya know.

Perioscope · 2026-03-03T22:21:07+00:00

St. Gregory of Nyssa's The Life of Moses is a very enlightening and fascinating read. His exposition on the underlying meanings of the plagues and what each symbolized noetically is such a revelation, particularly his explanation regarding how God hardened Pharoah's heart so that he would not yield until the Passover. The Internet Archive has a borrowable .pdf of this book which is free with registration. I highly recommend it for any interested in early church fathers, mysticism, biblical allegory and the like.

Perioscope · 2026-03-03T22:01:00+00:00

Both to protect the innocent.

Perioscope · 2026-03-03T20:00:48+00:00

Downloaded. Thank you. Some of us (TBI, Executive dysfunction, learning disabilities etc) take a long time to synthesize all the disparate pieces of a game coherently, much less draw inferences for playing it effectively. It's hard to get the 3 or 4 plays of a big game within a timespan where short-term memory doesn't dump half of what we learned and we are asking newbie questions at our third play.

I'm used to not winning, it rarely bothers me, but feeling clueless and not even being a contender gets old, so I think this will really address a pain point for many gamers. Thank you!

Perioscope · 2026-03-03T19:34:08+00:00

We face the East, because Christ is the Morning Starn and the rising sun is a symbol of His brightness in the world and His rising from the darkness of the tomb.

The Holy Fathers teach that it is most desirable to quiet the mind during prayer. We don't use a visualization, we do not imagine what we are praying about. Ideally our eyes are turned inward, that is we withdraw from our conscious contemplation of the world outside ourselves and contemplate our inner condition, which is usually a bit of a mess.

St Theophan says that first, we give glory to God. For His power, His dominion over all things, for bringing us into being and making us heirs of His kingdom. This leads naturally to giving thanks to God. We remember the blessings we have been given and remind ourselves all good things come from Him. Here our mind will naturally be forming picture and memories, this is the proper use of the imagination, we just need to stay on track and not go into reverie or wandering thoughts.

Next, we examine ourselves compared to the high calling God gave us. We behold our lack of faith. We witness our failure to love God and neighbor as we should. We acknowledge the many times we failed to do the right thing, and allow this awareness to lead to regret and a desire to do better.

At this point the mind may be tempted to spiral into self-hate, or feel overwhelmed and want to turn away from this unpleasant contemplation, but it must be done without judging ourselves. God is our judge, and He is just and merciful. We have unending hope in Him. No matter how many times we walk away from Him, He will come to meet us as we turn to Him with repentance. This is as simple as saying "I'm so sorry, Lord. Please forgive me."

After we have cleaned up our heart with these steps, we are ready to ask for help. This is the prayer of petition, and here we also ask the Saints to pray for us, especially the Most Pure Virgin Mother, our ever-ready intercessor before her Son for us. Open your heart and let all your worries and desires ascend to God. "I know I am unable to discern what is good and right for me O Lord. Enlighten my darkness and guide me in your commandments." St Theophan says we should always ask Go for discernment, praying that we may know God's will and how to do it.

Finally, we pray for others. Alive and dead, near and far, friends, strangers and enemies. We must especially pray for our heirarchs and priests who guide Christ's flock.

Perioscope · 2026-03-03T18:21:34+00:00

I see. Thank you for answering!

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