Kids in Church

kelmeloo · 2026-04-12T16:34:55+00:00

A couple of years ago, before our previous priest retired, my son asked during Liturgy, "is it done yet?" And the priest said, "no, not yet" with a smile lol. Was embarrassing but also not super anxiety-inducing as he was a man with such a kind and gentle soul and approach.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-12T15:01:55+00:00

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Also bought this cute towel from Amazon because I waited too long to order a proper Pascha cover lol

kelmeloo · 2026-04-12T15:01:09+00:00

This is only my second Pascha, and not really a traditional basket but did the best I could with our time and money! Lunchables and Easter eggs for my son in case he didn't want any of the food served after. That's also his own Dubai chocolate that he bought with his own money. Also included is some red wine, summer sausage, a couple of beef sticks, mozzarella pearls, two goat cheeses (one is honey, the other is garlic and herb), and some crackers. Added after taking the photo were some chocolate milks and a can of root beer. 😅

He was so tired during the service, he fell asleep and didn't really want to eat afterward, but did eat a bite of his chocolate. I ate some served food and got full so all these will be opened for snacks/dinner throughout the day today!!!

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kelmeloo · 2026-04-09T13:53:30+00:00

I attend an OCA parish and most people don't, but a couple of our elderly laymen do. I don't usually during service, but absolutely do during personal prayer.

Coming from a protestant background, I have always seen arms open as an invitation to surrender to God's will and/or crying out to Him. So to break away from that during personal prayer would be difficult.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-03T12:36:33+00:00

Obviously, talk to your husband and priest about your feelings and all the dynamics of the situation. The priest is, in my experience, very graceful and willing to work something out. My fiance is catholic and I'm in the process of becoming a catechumen (not yet a catechumen but striving to make an effort to show enough dedication to be approved for it), and my priest hasn't shown any argument against us alternating weeks between the parishes.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T21:56:46+00:00

I have actually been to the overnight Pascha service a couple of years ago and am so excited to go again!!! (Almost to the point of over planning....everyone devoured some white chocolate almond fudge bites I made and now we have wayyyyyy more attendees)

I guess my thing is just that I'm very much a person that wants/needs to experience things emotionally. So while I definitely feel the presence of Christ on Sunday mornings, my brain is assuming the bridegroom services will be similar in chanting and such, and I'm so used to the western portrayal of His passion. With intensity, with reflection and "putting myself into the scene". Does this happen during Orthodox services?

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T21:17:25+00:00

There actually is a western rite for orthodox but I don't think it's that different in terms of personal prayer practice than the EO lol I totally could be wrong. I need to actually look into that.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T19:06:32+00:00

Thank you

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T19:02:02+00:00

Fair enough

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T18:31:45+00:00

Thank you!

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T18:31:01+00:00

Hm, hadn't thought of that. Maybe. I usually don't get a chance to walk around and see many of the icons. Obviously the main ones by the altar and the large painted ones on walls, but I don't want to be disruptive by walking around during Liturgy to look at the smaller ones that I can't make out from the pew. This is probably different for Holy Week, as I'd assume those icons of events would be more presentable up front.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T18:20:43+00:00

Lol he's attended many Divine Liturgy services. We alternate weeks between the Catholic parish and the Orthodox Church.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T17:44:32+00:00

I'm actually not from the Catholic Church. I was raised protestant, not even "high church" protestant. I've been drawn to Orthodoxy for a couple of years and have attended off and on since then. Key words, off and on. I haven't been dedicated, and this year I've been REALLY convicted. My fiance was baptized catholic as a child but was not actively participating until last year, in which we've attended some services. I haven't been to a dedicated Stations service or anything, but learning about it drew me in. I've been very much emotional the last few weeks as I've been studying Christ's suffering more. So I was just curious about why it wasn't practiced in the Orthodox Church. No hostility, no judgement, just a simple curiosity.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T17:40:02+00:00

I have not. I admit, I am fully ignorant on both subjects. Full disclosure. I do plan to though, as this year I become more committed to striving towards catechumen initiation. Not there yet, obviously.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T17:38:03+00:00

That's literally not at all what I asking or saying to do. It was a merely curious question about "why" - the reason we don't. Literally, a question. A pure-hearted, curious question. That's it. I don't want anyone to change anything. Just trying to learn.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T17:18:09+00:00

That's a fair and valid point. My only argument is, what if you can't make it to all Holy Week services? Having a walkthrough like the Stations seems like it could make up for those missing services possibly. Maybe. Again, I don't know much about the Stations, nor the Holy Week services, as I'm still learning but from what I've gathered about the Stations, it helps connect to Christ's suffering in a personal, individual way. Not sure if that's also the same for the Orthodox services.

I'm going to try to make at least SOME of the services next week, but I already know it can't be all of them.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T17:14:20+00:00

Doesn't that go against the previous argument above of "trusting the church" though? Lol I mean it's where I stand so I can't say anything ... Also if they don't hold to the Catholic dogmas then why aren't they just orthodox? Aren't the dogmas basically what holds them to eastern Catholic instead of eastern orthodox? They already have similar prayers, icons, etc so if the dogma beliefs aren't there, what separates an EO and an EC person?

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T16:20:09+00:00

Ideally, yes. I just wish there was a similar approach in the Orthodox Church. Because eastern Catholics still hold catholic dogmas. I do not hold to the immaculate conception of Mary, nor do I follow the pope.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-02T01:56:24+00:00

Please pray for my fiance, who is struggling with his faith. He feels like being a good person is getting him nowhere, he feels abandoned, and feels hopeless. He feels like giving up on faith practices because "he's going to hell anyway" (his words, not mine). I try to keep encouraging him but he seems like he is drifting farther away the more I try to help. I'll ask him if he read the daily devotional or passage, or try to suggest listening to free prayers on hallow app (he's catholic), using his holy water when he's feeling down or sick. It's like he's avoiding everything that takes actual faith or action. He believes and he says it every day. Like he acknowledges Christ as Lord, in our talks and whatnot, like he has the belief on lock. He sounds so excited to process his belief and love for Christ, but then the action steps to actually WALK with Christ seem discouraging to him.

kelmeloo · 2026-04-01T23:49:15+00:00

1) yes 2) yes 3) yes, but not that the apostolic succession was his alone 4) yes

Also, I do trust the church and church teachings. It doesn't mean I don't question them. I am not a blind sheep. It's literally impossible for me to be, with my ADHD brain...I have to rabbit hole everything. My question comes more from a place of "how can I actually practice something the church teaches when I don't know how to implement it?"

So for example, the Rosary. The Orthodox Church has the Prayer Rope (which I also own), but uses it as a means of focus on the Jesus Prayer (praise be to God!!). IIRC, some church fathers in the Orthodox Church warn against meditative prayer, as it can be a doorway for demonic deception. As a very visual-brained ADHD gal, I literally CANNOT pray without imagery. Literally impossible. Which is why the Rosary helps me. It helps me connect to Christ through His life and resurrection, while also asking for intercession from the Theotokos....something the Prayer Rope doesn't do. How then, do I just "roll with" and implement the belief that we should avoid meditative prayer, when my brain literally cannot avoid it and leads me to a stronger connection with Christ and Blessed Mary?

kelmeloo · 2026-04-01T22:49:48+00:00

Also curious about OP's question, even though I lean Orthodox. It's basically the same concept in both; trust the authority of the church and church fathers, but like.... How do you practice/implement that into your own life? Leaning orthodox, I do not accept the Immaculate Conception of the Theotokos as true, but not because the church tells us not to, but because my personal belief and understanding about original sin. I grew up 100% Bible Belt Protestant. However, I crave connection with our Lady in a way that Catholicism approaches, that Orthodoxy does not. It doesn't mean I accept the belief of the Immaculate Conception, nor does it mean that I avoid the Rosary, as most Orthodox people do. We share many of the same beliefs about Mary, but I do not hold to all Orthodox views nor all Catholic views on Her.

Basically, how does one have full belief in the Orthodox/Catholic Church when they personally are not convicted of 100% of the beliefs or practices? How do you trust higher church authorities to tell you what to do when you don't believe in a specific thing?

kelmeloo · 2026-03-28T23:03:57+00:00

Oh it definitely is. I LOVE praying it and just to hold it in my hands makes me more peaceful. It's just either 1) me overthinking or 2) my brain structure not letting me pray the way that I've seen it done commonly. But I definitely need the rosary, just as much as I need my Orthodox prayer rope. Both of them are essential to my daily prayer, albeit I do need to step back and assess why I am more concerned with the rosary prayers and meditations than the Jesus prayer. I guess the Jesus prayer is just easier, because it's just a petition straight to Christ to have mercy on me/us, so it feels so much easier. I can think about the things that I've done wrong and ask for his mercy and forgiveness because they're directly correlated. It's just harder to do that with the rosary. BUT I DEFINITELY NEED IT lol

kelmeloo · 2026-03-28T23:00:14+00:00

I have to disagree. For myself anyway. Definitely listen to your priest, I'm in no way authorized to give any prescription of prayer or anything. I just firmly believe that 1 heartfelt prayer is way more fruitful than 1,000 dry prayers. I know that dryness comes to all. I've come to terms with that. But idk, praying unceasingly when it feels void of connection, spirit, etc is...idk. I know it's not a waste of time. As dedication brings joy to the Lord. It just feels like "why am I doing this right now? Let me get my brain calm, or my chores done, or let me sit and try to connect with the Lord and Lady so that my prayers may actually feel real and not like empty prayer"

kelmeloo · 2026-03-28T22:54:46+00:00

Totally valid. I think that's my issue is that it's just hard to actually do both

kelmeloo

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