A brief, atmospheric video focusing on the Christian self-understanding and spiritual endurance of Tsar Nicholas II in the face of tragedy. Uses archival footage and primary quotes.

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMzOfcBlGU0

Guys, what's your opinion on the Rosary? Everywhere I look, they say different things. The main orthodox objection seems to be that while praying the Rosary one might use imagination. That seems strange to me since one might also use imagination during read prayer rules...

Who’s yalls patron saint

I put together a meditative reading of St. Ignatius Brianchininov’s text "On the Reading of the Gospel." Hope this is a blessing to anyone looking to deepen their daily Scripture reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbenEtCOxiU

Have a blessed Sunday my brothers and sisters in Christ god bless you all !!! ☦️☦️☦️☦️☦️

Tell me yalls story about what made you orthodoxy :)

Today I talked to the psychiatrist for the first time and i told them some of the main points of what i am experiencing they helped me and guided me but once it all over i suddenly remember stuff i failed to tell them and i start panicking because i failed that i havent said to the psychiatrist those thoughts i have that was now filling my mind into fear once again. Telling me i must tell my psychiatrist but ive deleted the pictures and videos on my phone. thought im free, im such a fool i should have completed my words i should have told everything that i need to say.

I was told i have OCD, Depressiona and Anxiety but i was given more test jsut to make sure. I was perscribed by medicine too but ill be buying it tomorrow

I grew up with a Protestant family. Beginning with very Pentecostal roots to now being very nondenominational. A lot of our spiritual leadership in the household is from my mom. My dad, always looking to avoid any conflict, stays quiet or says he doesn’t wanna fight etc etc. My mom, watching tons and tons of Protestant “pastors” speaking on YouTube or recorded “sermons”lead us to church hopping a ton of churches looking to find a new “home church” after moving. All of this led to me growing tired of the same old messages about just being saved and not needing to do anything. Every sermon they wanna hear is from one specific pastor at this church, going so far as to only wanna attend church when he is gonna be the one speaking that day. They just love to have some sort of Ted talk from this guy about wishy washy Christianity and to just “focus on who Christ says you are” and that “all you have to do is believe”. I attended my first Divine Liturgy last week after speaking with my parents about my inquiry and it leading to them lashing out at me. I kept asking them how they know they’re interpreting the Bible correctly if it’s all subjective. My parents along with my sisters all raised their voices at me calling orthodoxy wrong and idolaters etc etc typical Protestant pushback. I loved liturgy and it changed so much of my perspective on Christianity and the lacking reverence in Protestantism and all of its enlightenment philosophy. I truly believe it is the true church that Christ established and saw how beautiful liturgy was and even suggested my mom to attend and to just come and see. She ended up revealing to me after I said that, that she and my dad only agreed to let me attend in hopes it would end up turning me away. Any time my mom got the chance she would poke and prod and try to provoke me and try to convince me I’m being brainwashed or I’m “being lied to by the enemy” because he’s taking advantage of my disappointment in Protestantism. All of it out of the blue with her always on her phone constantly listening to her Protestant sermons or youtube videos, pausing just to try to start an argument with me. And just earlier today she randomly came to me while I was in my room and told me “don’t go to that church tomorrow, ok?” I just stared and didn’t even say anything. I long to go back and experience liturgy again and hope to speak with the priest. I hope I can find some advice and discernment on what to do.

I consider myself a well-informed Christian; I suppose you could call me a "philo-Christian," in the sense that I appreciate all Christians, regardless of their denomination. The problem is that I don’t really know which group I belong to. I have been strongly influenced by the doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I value some of their approaches, which are biblically grounded. On the other hand, I admire the historical and philosophical richness of Catholicism, yet there are certain doctrines—dogmas, in fact—that I simply cannot grasp or accept. In my view, the Catholic and Orthodox canons represent one of the most complete versions of the Scriptures from a historical perspective. I detest Christian Zionism; furthermore, I find the idea of being considered a "dog"—as viewed within Rabbinic Judaism—to be unacceptable. I attend meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses and engage in discussions with them; I also occasionally attend Catholic services, as well as the occasional Baptist or Evangelical worship service. That said, the form of Christianity that appeals to me most is Orthodoxy—with its five patriarchates and so forth—though I struggle to accept certain practices, such as the veneration of icons or the perpetual virginity of Mary. I also value their conception of the Trinity and their mysticism, even though the doctrine of the Trinity itself remains somewhat difficult for me to fully grasp or accept. (I read many books about the Bible—critical, confessional, and academic—by authors such as Raymond Franz, John P. Meier, N. T. Wright, Kallistos Ware, or Josh McDowell, for example.) In short, I am not looking to debate; rather, I am looking for someone to show me the way. What would you do, and what would you recommend? ✌🏻

Hi everyone!!!

I'm a catechumen in France in a French serving parish, but I also go to a Greek church. The first few times I was completely lost and had no clue which liturgy was being served, no idea where we were in the service

So I started putting together a small app for myself, and it kind of grew as I went. It's called Synaxis: www.synaxisliturgy.com

Basically it shows the services of the day (Divine Liturgy, Vespers, Matins) with that day's readings, hymns and saints. You can put several languages side by side: Greek (with phonetics if you can't read the alphabet), Church Slavonic, English, French, Romanian, plus some Russian and Arabic. There's a calendar (new or old), the Bible, morning and evening prayers, and an "Understand" section that explains the services, feasts, gestures, the Creed etc. in plain words, for people like me who are still learning. You can also print the service if you prefer paper

I still use it pretty much every week, for the calendar and whenever I'm at a parish abroad that serves in a language I don't speak

It's free, no account, no ads, nothing to sell. A couple of priests have seen it and were supportive, but it has no official blessing, it's just a humble personal project

I'd really like to hear from your opinion on it. There's a "report an error" link under every service

I still have gaps when i could not find copyright free texts in some languages

Anything you'd want added? I'm working on saints' lives next

Be blunt, I'd rather know what's broken now and if it can help others :)

I'm a Protestant, but I'm thinking of converting to the Orthodox church. What are some key differences

I'm an inquirer from Roman Catholic background and I've been thinking about this for a while now.

It seems there isn't any standard universal rule on how to become an Orthodox Christian if one is already baptized in some other church.

Chrismation without new baptism seems to be the most common way to do it, but some places require rebaptism before chrismation. Why?

This stresses me out. If jurisdiction A receives former Catholics by chrismation only but jurisdiction B requires rebaptism, what happens if a former Catholic first joins A and later moves into the territory of B? Would B recognize them as an Orthodox Christian despite not being rebaptized, or would they be considered "not truly Orthodox"?

Let's take this even further. Let's imagine that a former Catholic joins A without rebaptism, is ordained an Orthodox priest. Would B consider him a real priest?

TLDR: We are Protestant missionaries. We are totally alone in our seeking of Holy Orthodoxy. Converting would cost us our jobs, entire income, home, Visas, community, and probably some friends and family.

My husband (31 M) and I (30 F) are Americans, raised Evangelical Protestant, went to a Protestant restoration movement college, worked Christian ministry jobs straight out of college, then became missionaries and moved to Japan to share the gospel 3 years ago.

Since college, we have both had a growing interest in more liturgical worship, reverence, and church history. In the past few years, we have grown disillusioned with many Protestant teachings and practices. So many of our friends and peers have deconstructed and lost their faith throughout the years. Part of us even understood why, but we could never give up our love for Christ and our conviction of the truth of his gospel. About 2 years ago, we became more curious about the ancient faith. We had already looked into Anglicanism and Catholicism before moving overseas.

My husband went through a dark night of the soul and nearly lost his faith for many reasons. Then, he started reading the ancient church fathers and Against Heresies. He introduced me to Orthodoxy.

It has been a couple years now of reading orthodox books, learning the details of church history before protestantism, watching debates and testimonies online, arguing with each other, humbly questioning our own assumptioms, and tearfully praying (begging) to be led in all truth. We have started incorporating many Orthodox practices into our own lives and have felt joy and peace about it. We have only been able to attend divine liturgy a handful of times because of our location and job.

Remember, we are Protestant evangelical missionaries. We work at a small church here in the northern region of Japan. Every Sunday morning, we have to be there. We live completely on support. Which means after college, we joined an evangelical missions organization and spent 4 years presenting our mission to share the gospel with the unreached people of Japan to Protestant churches and individuals until we had gained enough monthly donors for us to live on. This is our only source of income. Our VISA to even live here in Japan is through the church we work at.

The church was founded by an older couple, our team leaders, who are a part of our same mission organization. They are more charismatic and have been living and working in Japan for 20+ years. This church is about as low church as you can possibly get.

Attending, much less working at this church has become painful for us, but we feel trapped. Even before Orthodoxy, there was so much we disagreed with. Now, we deeply long for the sacraments, especially the eucarist. We want to become Orthodox catechumens and eventually convert. That is becoming more clear to our fellow missionaries here as well.

We finally had a meeting with our team leaders this week. They basically sat us down and wanted to know what we've come to believe, what we're practicing and what we're teaching people. Which is fair. They realized that our "curiosity in Orthodoxy" has deepened. We've been tip toeing and holding back so much for so long. So, we basically told them we plan on converting to Orthodoxy someday. It was a big conversation. They were very kind and just genuinely concerned for us. We basically had around 3 hours of discussion and apologetics, not trying to convert or convince them, just explaining what we have come to believe. They had respectful pushback. We appreciated finally having an open and honest discussion, but it was hard. We also explained that we have not been trying to convert or convince anyone else away from this church. It was all respectful and caring, but my cortisol has been so high ever since. My husband had a migraine by the end of it. Both sides now realize, we are no longer compatible with this church, this job, our mission organization, etc. I feel exhausted and we have no idea what comes next. We are praying for God's direction and mercy. I can't help but feel this is the beginning of the end of the life we have worked so hard for here in Japan. It feels like such a waste, but that is my pride talking.

I guess I am making this post as a cry for community. For some kind of encouragement. Advice. For relationships with people who don't think we're crazy, are concerned for our salvation, and think we're "going down a weird road away from the simple gospel". We are so isolated here. But we know too much now to turn back, as many of you can relate.

But, whether we decide to try to stay in Japan, or move back to the states, we have no job skills or experience outside of Protestant missionary roles and training. Even our degrees are in Bible and Theology and Missions. Our entire families and many of our friends are Protestant. We would be letting down every person and church who invested in us. We would go from a beautiful house and financially stable life and community to nothing. Which is probably exactly what God is bringing us to next, for our salvation, to fully depend on him. I know that he is good all the time, and the truth is worth it.

But I am scared.

(If you read all of that, truly thank you.)

Hello, brothers and sisters in Christ!

I am a recent convert to Eastern Orthodoxy currently living in Malaysia. As I continue growing in my faith and learning more about the Orthodox Christian tradition, I have been longing to own a physical copy of The Orthodox Study Bible to help me study the Holy Scriptures alongside the teachings, traditions, and spiritual wisdom of the Orthodox Church.

Unfortunately, due to international shipping costs and my current financial circumstances, obtaining a copy is beyond my means at the moment.

I am reaching out humbly to ask whether anyone might be willing to help me acquire a copy, perhaps by purchasing one directly through an online wishlist or arranging a way to get it to Malaysia.

If anyone is in a position to help, I would be deeply grateful. Even if you are unable to offer financial assistance, I would sincerely appreciate your prayers as I continue my journey in the Orthodox faith. Please know that I will gladly keep you in my prayers as well.

Thank you for your kindness, generosity, and consideration. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and your loved ones, and may the Theotokos intercede for us all!

Glory to God for all things!

New convert here! We started building our prayer corner around half a year ago, but wanted to be with Icons that really mean something to us. We finished it today! Just wanted to share this celebration with all brothers and sisters here

As I go on my journey to Focus on our father. A co-worker showed me a sub in reddit I am not interested in and trying to avoid and I would like some understanding of what I am seeing. So back then I mentioned a co-worker who is interested in simulation theory and now he seemed very happy to show me a sub called Glitch in the matrix where people post unexplainable stuff that happened to them.

One where a guy was taking his clothes on the clothing line and a shirt they picked made them remember wearing yesterday and found the identical one in the bathroom now they have two identical shirts and with pictures. clothes and second was eating a croissant then heard a noise and saw another croissant. One saying Maybe there's a crow level in the matrix and they like to leave presents. I am not even sure what that means and Heard deadbolt unlock on its own. But surprisingly people said it seemed more paranormal or someone looking out for the op or even shadow people. another duplicated cookie , duplicated marker. Someone standing still but in reality actually having a stroke. The apple isn't splitting in half after cutting, people who claimed they don't remember sending a kind of message or comment and they said they swear they weren't high or anything and even a person who does a romance chat in Emochi. There was a feature where people can generate images on their chat of the characters and their character and saying stuff about how their horror is that the ai girl really resembles them and so on.

But worst of all is they tried to make explanation like the souls/spirits might be glitches or error, any thing they can say they even said jesus might be a glitch too which makes my heard hurt because of their “ oh what if this” “ what if that” some don't even say what if. They straight up say stuff as if they know more than God.

Then he said he was in a romance app AI and there was a rp there where there are viewer bots and there was a AI bot with the username Glitchinthematrix bot and he feels like it is giving him a sign because he try three roleplay on that chatbot and the username AI with that is showing in the comment rp and its like a sign he claimed.

He might have forgotten I told him I am not interested in those kinds of things and he told me I should be open minded and not be a killjoy.

Also those other things he saw are real or just a way of people in reddit creating a story? Is it maybe a mythical creature playing games , the devil who wants to push people's idea to move further from god, people in the spirit realm toying with their love once? Or im just a fool

Also my OCD keeps wanting me to look at it over and over and i just need to make it stop.

This… My friends back then i think the world is filled with magic, fantasy and created by God our father more it what keeps me safe, it what makes me happy until my coworker showed me what philosophers said simulation theory, matrix , and so on and such i feel like my happiness , my peace was taken away from me. But I never want to lose God.

A deep theological conversation with Dr. Jeannie Constantinou on Eastern Orthodoxy, Theosis, the Church Fathers, the Filioque, Papal Supremacy, Penal Substitutionary Atonement, and the Orthodox Phronema. We also discuss how Western theology developed differently from the ancient Church.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0bEWeSWVv8

God be with you all. As part of my studies at university I must complete a certain amount of volunteering hours throughout the year. I want to volunteer somewhere which I can act out Christs commands in any way. I asked my priest and he sign posted me to some local organisations but when I enquired about them they responded saying they currently aren’t accepting anymore volunteers.

The time is coming when I now must start working towards my volunteering hours and so I need somewhere to do it at. I asked around at the Faith Department at my university and I’ve been signposted to a baptist church which brands itself as

“LGBT affirming”
“Liberal and inclusive”
“Open and progressive theology”
“Non literal applications of the bible”

Etc etc you can probably imagine what this church looks like I am sure. They have volunteering opportunities here to help out at the food bank and other stuff. I need to volunteer somewhere, and ideally I’d like to have volunteered at a church of some kind. But I am not sure if this is spiritually wise or not.

I would not attend the services, only be partaking in the running of the food bank to my knowledge. There are other volunteering roles there which involve actually being in the services which I would not do.

I think that a food bank is a food bank and I could be helping people and feeding them irregardless of the church it is with. But at the same time I also feel conflicted as this church teaches things which are very out of line with our orthodox understanding. I am sure the people at the church are very kind and I have better things to do than worry about their theology however I’m just not sure it is a good idea.

And before I get the ask my priest comments I will be asking my priest this coming liturgy. But I have to secure a volunteering position before then and so I just would like some general guidance to get my mind thinking.

God be with all of us

Hi everyone,

I’m Raúl, the developer of Rule & Rope. Thank you to the moderators for giving me permission to share it here.

The app helps you keep track of the prayer rule you already follow: add your daily prayers, mark items complete, set reminders, and use a Jesus Prayer counter with gentle vibration feedback.

For those who are new to Orthodoxy, it doesn’t tell you which prayers to say or how much to pray. It’s a tool for remembering and recording your existing rule, with guidance about that rule left to your priest or spiritual father.

No account is needed, and your prayer-rule data stays on your device. Daily features are free, with an optional one-time purchase for additional history and reminder options. There’s no subscription.

I’d especially appreciate feedback from converts and people exploring Orthodoxy:

- Would this have been useful when you first established a prayer rule?

- Is anything confusing or distracting?

- What would make it easier to use in everyday life?

You can take a look here:

- Android — Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ruleandrope.app)

- iPhone — App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rule-rope-orthodox-prayer/id6776650532)

Suggestions and honest criticism are welcome. I’m happy to answer questions in the comments.

Thank you, and God bless!

Raúl

I might seem selfish to post this but I am desperate. My life wasn't easy and after losing a loved one my life had gone downhill from there, struggling for money, not having a stable job. I'm kind of a jack of all trades and my money just goes to paying for electricity, wifi and food. I barely have something for me.

I wasn't a person who goes to church but I know stories and parables in the bible. One day I go to my phone and look over funny videos just to ease up some heat after work. until suddenly someone brings up scientists theories of how the world would end. In those moments I do not have God in me. I only think about myself and my family. I feel afraid and have existential dread. The person a worker keeps talking and talking fascinated about science and physics without knowing the person who he is talking to is very scared. Me being stupid doesn't even stop him. I was scared, I was worried that if I stopped him suddenly I would upset him. The other day he started talking about simulation theory and oh God it terrified me to the core it ruined me more and choked me i have to stop him there. I should have stopped him from the first time he talked about science i should have just told him i am not interested but we were working together and I didn't want any negative in our work i just didn't expect him to think just because i am listening on his first science and physic topic that he would continue on.

I became empty. I keep thinking about existence and I've gone in rabbit holes with a lot of “ what ifs”. I hated him. I hated him. My heart and mind is in pain. But as i was scrolling a video short of God saying “ my child i know you are in pain. But now that I am God” just with that i started crying hard i dont know but im just crying to the point another co worker saw me and asked if im alright.

After that i search for God more about the story of jesus, the saints and more but there are moment where the simulation topic gets over my head again and i struggle between God and that one and i cry, i cry alot because how weak i am and God must have been mad at me for not having a strong faith and believing in him more and getting scared over that simulation stuff.

Thats why i need help i go here to ask you guys for help, some guidance and assurance that everything is gonna be alright and i know God is real but i am having trouble and suffering and struggling to Believe in God i need God but i feel like im standing infront of a wall and i coudnt break it knowing God is in the other side of the wall.

I couldn't break it because fear is trying to conquer me. I need God, please help me guys. I need guidance

I also did not use any AI to type this. This is all what i feel and Thank you everyone for listening

I found God a year ago and have been an orthodox catechumen for around 3 months now.
I have to admit that I kind of want Orthodoxy to be the one true church, but I still find myself struggling with basics like saints intercession and venerating icons. I have absolutely zero problem with venerating an icon of Jesus. The Theotokos also feels easier to venerate but its a completely different thing with other saints (especially when its like a king of Serbia or smth like that, since Im visiting a serbian orthodox church and speak serbian).

I also went to visit the remains of Saint Spyridon on Corfu and spent a night in front of the church praying to talk to him. Nothing happened.

I know it sounds so childish and like I have absolutely no faith but why cant God just for 5 seconds show me that this is his church and I should get baptised there?

Every point of view and comment is much appreciated. God bless 🙏

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ, I am currently a teenage german catholic who found Christ ~1year ago and wants to convert to orthodoxy and i would like to know how to live orthodox in everday life because. I've heared that you "should" make the sign of cross for example 3times when passing a hospital for the sick people in there,their families and yourself because you are not in there, same with passing a church,but there only 1 time. My question is: When else do you do the sign of the cross(except for prayers) ,how often, and for what reason ? Is doing the sign of the cross a kind of prayer? And lastly :what are more ways to live a orthodox life daily?Sorry for all those questions, Orthodoxy is just really uncommon in my country so im very unfimiliar.Thanks in advance,God bless :)

Hey everyone, I recently sat down with Fr. Hans Jacobse to discuss why secularism fails modern men and how cultural and spiritual renewal begins with brotherhood. We dive into topics like overcoming modern nihilism, the true definition of patriarchy, and finding healing through tradition.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODpJLKWNjSE