Chrismated into the church, what to expect now ?

The Resilient

The Resilient

Ostrich
I just got Chismated into the Orthodox Church today, What are my next steps ?

I've been assigned a Godfather by my priest to help guide me along the way, but I want to advance myself in my Orthodoxy and my spiritual development as much as I can.


My Godfather bestowed upon me an icon of Jesus Christ, a prayer book, a prayer rope and an Orthodox Study bible today, and I want to make sure i can glean from both as much as i can.

The priest also gifted me an orthodox cross.

@MichaelWitcoff @Roosh any input is welcome from you guys. @DanielH fill me in on some of ur knowledge as well sir, heck...calling all orthodox brethren to answer :)


Note: I can't really read as i'm a truck driver so if you could suggest some Audio books that i could listen to of the above listed (prayer and orthodox study bible) that'd be much appreciated.​



 
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A

Amwolf

Robin
Woman
Read, read, and continue to read. As a recent convert myself who had guidance from some of the best in Orthodoxy, I suggest that you read the following books (in no particular order): The Life in Christ, The Path to Salvation, Living Tradition, How to Live a Holy Life, Journey to Heaven, On The Prayer of Jesus (this is a difficult book to obtain as it's no longer available, but make certain that you get the 1995 edition), The Sunflower, The Struggle for Virtue, Healing the Soul: Saint Porphyrious of Kafsokalyvia as a Model for Our Lives, and Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future.
 
A

Amwolf

Robin
Woman
The Resilient said:
Audiobooks of those you could find or suggest ?
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You might want to check out Holy Cross Monastery in WV as they have an extensive offering of audio files to download. I know that you can obtain a lot of the older Anglo Saxon Christmas music from their site, and I believe that they have numerous books for sale as downloads. Further, look into Holy Trinity Publications in NY as they also have an extensive selection of offerings. Both of these monasteries are members of ROCOR.
 
The Resilient

The Resilient

Ostrich
Amwolf said:
You might want to check out Holy Cross Monastery in WV as they have an extensive offering of audio files to download. I know that you can obtain a lot of the older Anglo Saxon Christmas music from their site, and I believe that they have numerous books for sale as downloads. Further, look into Holy Trinity Publications in NY as they also have an extensive selection of offerings. Both of these monasteries are members of ROCOR.
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Thank you. I'm a part of the greek orthodox church currently, but potentially plan to transition to the russian soon :), does that matter ?
 
A

Amwolf

Robin
Woman
The Resilient said:
Thank you. I'm a part of the greek orthodox church currently, but potentially plan to transition to the russian soon :), does that matter ?
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You're welcome, and yes, it does matter. We're not in communion with the Greek Orthodox Church as they've become heavily subverted. In October 2019, the ROC unilaterally severed communion with the GOC following the latter's recognition of the Ukrainian autocephaly.
 
OrthoLeaf

OrthoLeaf

Pigeon
Step one should be developing a prayer rule, and sticking to it. Read when you can, but there is also plenty of good source material on the internet. Can you play youtube videos while you drive? There are some excellent lecture series on there that I can link here for you.
 
DanielH

DanielH

Pelican
The Resilient said:
noted
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My Greek priest blessed me to go to Russian churches if the Greek ones wouldn't accept us due to covid. Specifically my wife and I visited Miami and couldn't find any open churches, turned out Miami just banned church so it wasn't a Greek or Russian thing. I could be wrong but iirc the break of communion is only Russians (MP) breaking communion with the EP but the EP hasn't reciprocated. A distinction without a difference.

Anyways God bless you, what a difficult year to have been a catechumen! Get a prayer rule, and stick to it. Memorize the trisagion prayers, that forms a good basis for your prayers, and is something you could easily memorize and say to yourself while driving. The trisagion being the prayers that go:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen
Glory to thee our God, glory to thee.
O, heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth...
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us x3
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen
All Holy Trinity have mercy on us...
Lord have mercy x3
Glory to...
Our Father...
(One trick that helped me memorize the order of the prayers was to turn the first letters of each prayer into an acronym, IGOHGALGO)

Then any personal prayers (one to the Theotokos should be included, such as “It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos ever blessed and all blameless...” and/or even a Hail Mary) and end with “Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us”

This will be an easy prayer rule to memorize and say on the fly throughout the day. Psalm 50/51 is a great one for repentance and should eventually be memorized and Psalm 22/23 when feeling despair. St Tikhons Seminary Choir has quite a few psalms that are great to listen to and that helps a lot with memorization.

Pray for Patriarchs Bartholomew and Kirill, that their differences may be reconciled and that the unity of the Church may be preserved. We need to fight against schism.

As far as audio while driving, I recommend the YouVersion phone bible app. You can download whatever translations you want, and many of them have audio recordings. Two translations with audio in that app that I recommend are the KJV and the DRC1752. I really like the DRC, which is a Catholic translation and has a good narrator. You could listen to a couple chapters and when you get a chance read the footnotes for those chapters in your study bible.

Also I highly recommend the Orthodox Talks youtube channel. It's run by a ROCOR priestmonk, Cosmas, and he has almost a hundred very long form and helpful talks. He addresses many topics others are afraid to address and is very blunt, I love listening to them with my wife as those talks always inspire discussion.

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m.youtube.com

If you're willing to pay a little for some high quality content, patristic nectar publications by Fr Josiah Trenham has some fantastic lecture series. I listened to his catechumen course a year after I was baptized and chrismated and highly recommend it. If you make an account there he also has a free audio synaxarion with the lives of the saints for every day of the year.

I'm not an authority, and listen to your spiritual father first and foremost. If he has a different prayer rule for you, listen to him. They'll know how hard to push you so that you don't stall out and even lose progress. And don't be afraid to ask your Godfather for advice. Think of Orthodox content as good spiritual food for your body, and things like Netflix, excessive social media, blackpills and vulgar music as poison. If you do not poison yourself, remain humble, and love Christ with all your heart, you will be like the seed that was sewn on good ground and yielded many multiples of itself in fruit. Glory to God for your chrismation in these, of all times!
 
Eusebius Erasmus

Eusebius Erasmus

Woodpecker
Many here are saying "Read," and while I agree, reading is neither sufficient nor necessary to grow in the Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy is about experience and struggle, not intellect.

What's more important is that you maintain an active prayer life (including the Divine Liturgy), give alms to the poor, tithe, and fast.

Most importantly, love Christ and His Church.
 
A

Aboulia

Woodpecker
@The Resilient

I just finished "Everywhere Present" by Fr Stephen Freeman and I found it to be quite good. It also comes in audiobook form (as you were looking for). I think it would be a great book to help attain an Orthodox mindset in the modern world. It's so good I'm considering buying multiple copies to hand out to people.

store.ancientfaith.com

Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe

Ancient Faith Store offers an array of quality Orthodox Christian books, icons, jewelry, music, and gifts. Visit our store and discover the richness and beauty of Orthodox Christianity.
store.ancientfaith.com store.ancientfaith.com
 
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OrthoLeaf

OrthoLeaf

Pigeon
The Resilient said:
yeah
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Hey brother, sorry for the late reply as I've been busy in recent weeks. I've spent the little time I've had the last several days compiling a list of the best sources I could think of, which articulate the Orthodox position on a variety of topics. It is my hope that this becomes a sort of well of information for you and others, be they inquirers, catachumens, baptized Orthodox or even Protestants, Catholics and atheists/agnostics. All sources are free and, with the exception of two, are all clergy. This is not an indictment of non clergy sources, as much as it is me trying to remain consistent with my Orthodox worldview, which holds the Church as the pillar and ground of the Truth. (1Tm 3:15). Nor is this meant to be an exhaustive list, there are plenty of other quality sources that I could have placed on here as well, particualiry sources that would deal with the common objections of our Protestant and Catholic brothers, but I chose to go the route of simply sharing the Truth of our worldview over any overt apologetic work. I personally believe that when one comes to truly understand our position, he will have no choice but join the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. God bless and safe driving!

Introductory Playlists/Videos: (Arranged in my personal recommended order, but by no means necessary)

1) Orthodox Christianity 101: Finding the Church that Jesus Built (St. Elijah OKC Youtube channel)
A brief overview of the history of the Church, the formation of Holy Scripture and an introduction to the Orthodox understanding of Sacraments, Salvation and the Orthodox life in the Church. As a catechumen, a lot of this will be review but for any inquirers and protestants definitely start here.

2) Evangelion: Intro to the Orthodox Christian Faith (St. Elijah OKC Youtube channel)
Fr. Dcn Ezra begins his introduction to the mystical element within Holy Orthodoxy. Here one will learn about the Orthodox position on the Church, the Sacraments, Liturgical calendar, the Orthodox Christian life and more, and how all this points us to the true purpose of human life - Theosis. (Deification of man)

3) Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life (Orthodox Wisdom Youtube channel)
The most concise and beautifully articulated explanation on the doctrine of Theosis, written by Fr. George of Mount Athos. A doctrine that has been sadly forgotten in the west but is a central pillar in Holy Orthodoxy.

4) Unseen Warfare (OrthoVox Youtube channel)
Consider this the "Sun Tzu: Art of War" for the Christian battle against our passions, demons and our old self. Listen once, listen often. An indispensable guide to noetic warfare.

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Acquiring the Phronema (Mindset) of the Fathers: (No particular order, but would recommend starting with the 3 works of Seraphim Rose)

1) Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age - Fr Seraphim Rose (Orthodox Reactionary Youtube channel)
An Orthodox look at the current revolutionary ethos of the modern age. Edifying as much as it's terrifying. This work is nothing short of prophetic and is absolutely necessary for understanding the demonic ethos of our day and where it is heading.

2) Orthodox Survival Course - Fr Seraphim Rose (Orthodox Reactionary Youtube channel)
Building on the aforementioned work, Blessed Seraphim Rose now takes a step back and provides us with an Orthodox look at the trajectory of western theological and philosophical thought, beginning with the Great Schism and continuing up to modern times. An Orthodox meta-historical analysis of western civilization.

3) Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future - Fr Seraphim Rose (Orthodox Reactionary Youtube channel)
Completing the trilogy of Blessed Seraphim Rose's work, this work covers a vast array of religious phenomena of contemporary society, from the rise of Hinduism in the west, the New Age religious movements, Charismatics, UFOs, the rise of Jim Jones type death cults and more, Seraphim Rose analyzes these movements from an Orthodox patristic lens and lays out his case for their paving the way of the coming religion of the Anti-Christ. Edifying and prophetic. Necessary for spiritual discernment in the years to come.

4) Orthodox Ethos - Fr Peter Heers (The Orthodox Ethos Youtube channel)
A collection of sermons, lectures and interviews by Fr Heers. A wide array of talks covering the Christian life, ecclesiology, ecumenism and the current Covid psyop, all firmly placed within the patristic tradition.

5) Lectures of Constantine Zalalas (Nicodemos Hagiorite Youtube channel)
One of the two non clergy sources on this list. I actually thought he was a priest, until I just searched his name to make sure. Turns out, he's just a laymen but a spiritual son of holy Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios. I kept him on this list because his wisdom, despite being a laymen, is a testimony to the importance of monasticism and the spiritual guidance it provides for us all.

6) John The Mystagogic Gospel (St. Elijah OKC Youtube channel)
A much more of an advanced course than his previous two, Fr. Dcn. Ezra continues in the ancient tradition of the Church and initiates the newly illumined into the mysteries of Christianity, using the Gospel of John to open our spiritual eyes that we may understand the true Faith. This work can not be understated and played an enormous roll in my own understanding of authentic Christianity. It's long and may take time to "see" what he is saying, but will result in a profound experience when you do.
John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

7) Orthodox Wisdom Youtube Channel
A wonderful channel dedicated to reading the writings of the Church fathers. All of the readings are of the highest quality, but I especially recommend "The Trial and Martyrdom of St. Victoria" as a perfect example of the Orthodox Phronema in action.

8) Orthodox Survival Course - Fr Steven Allen (https://www.spreaker.com/show/fr-steven-allens-show)
Fr Steven Allen is an incredible teacher and this is one of, if not the of the best lecture series I've found online yet. He builds on the work of Blessed Seraphim Rose, but where Fr Seraphim began with the Great Schism, Fr Steven Allen begins with the founding of the NT Church and lays down the ancient mindset of the Church on all things from ecclesiology, art, theology, culture etc.. There's no short synapses that I can provide here that will do Fr Allen's work justice. If there was just one link that you could click on, this would be the one. I also recommend this to Catholics and Protestants, even if it goes against much of what you currently profess, it will certainly give you something to think about.

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Collection of Spiritual Teachers

1) Father Spyridon Youtube Channel
2) PatristicNectarFilms Youtube Channel
3) Trisagion Films Youtube Channel (Note: Particularly recommend the "Saints of the Orthodox Church" playlist)
4) Orthodox Talks Youtube Channel
5) Fr. David Smith Youtube Channel
6) Metropolitan Jonah (Variety of channels, just search his name on youtube.)
7) Fr Seraphim Cordoza (theDoveTV - Note: Protestant channel that has several interviews with Father Seraphim)

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Miscellaneous

Finnish Moose Youtube Channel
The second non clergy source provided. This channel is dedicated mostly to in depth analysis of the books cited by Fr. Seraphim Rose in his Orthodox Survival Course. It also has an excellent series on monarchy, as to be an Orthodox is to be a monarchist. But the reason why I felt it necessary to include this channel is because of the affirmation of Blessed Seraphim Rose's conclusions. You'll learn about the history and mindset of the atheist revolutionaries and their chiliastic/millenarian predecessors. Consider this a sort of background or supportive work to Seraphim Rose's work and a closer look into the revolutionary ethos of our modern times. (Those who still hold to the "Jews run the world" shtick, listen to this channel. History is way more fascinating and complicated than that simplistic view - which I, and the producer of this channel both held at one point.)
 
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