I felt very betrayed when I found out that Santa Claus wasn't real. I was 9 and my parents still hadn't told me. Other students at school made fun of me until I cried and left the classroom. When I got home later, I confronted my parents and told them to just tell me the truth if he was not real. They seemed uncomfortable and admitted that he was not. I remember wondering when they planned to tell me, if not by 9 years old. I then asked them about the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, etc. My older brother was giggling. It was humiliating, and frankly, I think they expected me to find out and didn't plan to tell me at all, so I felt foolish for not being smart enough to figure it out myself. Obviously I don't hold this grudge against them today, but I will never forget how I felt hot in the face and angry at myself for being so gullible. Childlike innocence is not embarrassing and shouldn't be exploited. I hate the attitude of laughing at kids when they take things very seriously and very much to heart. It may seem 'cute,' but it is genuine and precious, a quality to be protected.
I have a similar story. My parents were split on the santa idea. My mom hated the idea and never wanted to teach us he was real, wanted to teach us about Christ being the center of Christmas and nothing else, etc. My dad is also an Orthodox christian however he was more americanized growing up, and had a strong 'nostalgia' sentimental sense of parenting and wanted to teach it to us so he could enjoy writing us letters in the morning from 'santa', thanking us for the cookies, etc. My mom somehow relented and let him do this but she NEVER played along with it, and yet somehow it was enough for me to be 100% convinced of his existence, and that only my dad believed in it and let us believe, it didn't even phase my belief that my mom was against it openly lol. Ah silly children we were. (Also it's hilarious now I never clued in as we celebrated Christmas on January 7 - I would always ask my parents in total bewilderement and almost frantically, "But will Santa know to come on January 7th when all my friends and cartoons say he's coming on the 25th!?!?" bahahah) I know my dad meant no harm and he interpreted this as a harmless thing to do for us kids and that it was special while we were young, but it really messed with me when I found out finally that he wasn't real! I was so upset!! I was also 8 or 9. I cried and cried, and felt so sad, tricked, and betrayed. Worst part was that it was my mom who had to deal with my meltdown, my dad wasn't home from work yet and she was driving me somewhere, and she just kept saying "I tried to tell you he wasn't real! But you believed your dad and all your friends!" man I was so upset and mad. I'll never forget that feeling of still being a child, full of innocence, and realizing I believed a LIE. I would never do this to my kids now. Too bad my parents were split on the idea and not on the same page. Thankfully my husband agrees with me and my kids do not believe in santa and will not even tho all their friends and many cousins will...that will be difficult to navigate...but I believe fully in this choice.
I know Santa clause has gotten worse and worse. My grandma said when they were growing up they got fruit (oranges) and candy now there are tons of presents from Santa Claus it’s all about the gifts now and Protestants will even cancel church services on Christmas
Protestants? Hahaha, the Greek church in my city has not held Christmas morning service for years because "people have families and need to go around celebrating Christmas morning with present opening and visiting family" LOL! What a betrayal!!
Even when I was just a cultural Christian Christmas was the only time but Easter I’d have any reverence for the things of God and seeing God taken out of Christmas is honestly one of the most heartbreaking things we see today.
Further proving that Christmas has become more and more secular is the fact that the majority of people do not know that the Christmas tree is indeed Christian. There is a belief that they are pagan and derived from “yule”. Lots of people do not know the true origin of the Christmas tree aside from a place to have presents.
Well said Dean. I’ll be doing a video on reclaiming the meaning of the Christmas tree closer to Old Calendar Nativity. It’a connected to an amazing Saint. Stay tuned :)
As I’ve gotten older and joined the church the holidays for me as of right now is very much consumerist based and promotes feelings of transactional behavior . There is no real love for neighbor unless someone gets something back that being a materialistic gift. Thankfully orthodoxy helps me to look pass my want of getting something in return but rather give back not only through helping people through almsgiving but genuinely spend time with others and making them feel joy in the midst of everyday life.
Thank you for this video, Father. I did not know much about St. Nicholas of Myra until today. Congratulations on the arrival of your daughter. Happy (belated) Nativity!
Thanks for this! Saint Nicholas, pray for us. I think it's important to separate his day (December 5th or 15th) from December 25th. Out of respect for Saint Nicholas, he would not want to even be the who is talked about on the commemoration day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am new to your videos, but if you haven't done a video on why we celebrate this on Dec. 25 (Jan 7), I see a lot of misunderstanding on that. People are convinced they know it was September 11 or something and I don't know where they get that. My understanding is we know when Saint John the Baptist was conceived and the Nativity date has nothing to do with the solstice which isn't even on that day. I see a lot of confusion on this.
I can try! That’s certainly going to present a challenge in terms of research. I might do that as a longer talk on the channel. Thank you for the idea! That’s definitely something we should cover at some point.
As a Protestant, I would really be interested in the Orthodox view of that. I hear the term tossed around all the time and I’m really not sure what to think of it or really what it means since some use it in a positive way and some use it pejoratively.
The spirit of Santa is St. Nicholas. Not the commercialization, but the wonder of Christmas. I told my kids, Santa Claus is the spirit of Saint Nicholas….and we focus heavily on the wonder and mysteries of our Christian faith and Christmas. Santa is real….. he’s just not the commercialized guy.
Pure heresy. St Nicholas is St Nicholas. This is the end result of corporate corruption and the spiritual atheism of Protestantism that America was built on.
st nicholas was a saint. he was never married so Catholics should have fighter against the tradition of making him look as he was married. no mrs Santa
Join the Living Orthodox Discord to connect with other Orthodox Christians, inquirers and to engage with me and other clergy.
discord.gg/kgMkU4jdfS
I felt very betrayed when I found out that Santa Claus wasn't real. I was 9 and my parents still hadn't told me. Other students at school made fun of me until I cried and left the classroom. When I got home later, I confronted my parents and told them to just tell me the truth if he was not real. They seemed uncomfortable and admitted that he was not. I remember wondering when they planned to tell me, if not by 9 years old. I then asked them about the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, etc. My older brother was giggling. It was humiliating, and frankly, I think they expected me to find out and didn't plan to tell me at all, so I felt foolish for not being smart enough to figure it out myself. Obviously I don't hold this grudge against them today, but I will never forget how I felt hot in the face and angry at myself for being so gullible. Childlike innocence is not embarrassing and shouldn't be exploited. I hate the attitude of laughing at kids when they take things very seriously and very much to heart. It may seem 'cute,' but it is genuine and precious, a quality to be protected.
I have a similar story. My parents were split on the santa idea. My mom hated the idea and never wanted to teach us he was real, wanted to teach us about Christ being the center of Christmas and nothing else, etc. My dad is also an Orthodox christian however he was more americanized growing up, and had a strong 'nostalgia' sentimental sense of parenting and wanted to teach it to us so he could enjoy writing us letters in the morning from 'santa', thanking us for the cookies, etc. My mom somehow relented and let him do this but she NEVER played along with it, and yet somehow it was enough for me to be 100% convinced of his existence, and that only my dad believed in it and let us believe, it didn't even phase my belief that my mom was against it openly lol. Ah silly children we were. (Also it's hilarious now I never clued in as we celebrated Christmas on January 7 - I would always ask my parents in total bewilderement and almost frantically, "But will Santa know to come on January 7th when all my friends and cartoons say he's coming on the 25th!?!?" bahahah) I know my dad meant no harm and he interpreted this as a harmless thing to do for us kids and that it was special while we were young, but it really messed with me when I found out finally that he wasn't real! I was so upset!! I was also 8 or 9. I cried and cried, and felt so sad, tricked, and betrayed. Worst part was that it was my mom who had to deal with my meltdown, my dad wasn't home from work yet and she was driving me somewhere, and she just kept saying "I tried to tell you he wasn't real! But you believed your dad and all your friends!" man I was so upset and mad. I'll never forget that feeling of still being a child, full of innocence, and realizing I believed a LIE. I would never do this to my kids now. Too bad my parents were split on the idea and not on the same page. Thankfully my husband agrees with me and my kids do not believe in santa and will not even tho all their friends and many cousins will...that will be difficult to navigate...but I believe fully in this choice.
I know Santa clause has gotten worse and worse. My grandma said when they were growing up they got fruit (oranges) and candy now there are tons of presents from Santa Claus it’s all about the gifts now and Protestants will even cancel church services on Christmas
It’s very sad to see how quick the west has been moving further and further away from Christ. Hopefully we can all change that!
Protestants? Hahaha, the Greek church in my city has not held Christmas morning service for years because "people have families and need to go around celebrating Christmas morning with present opening and visiting family" LOL! What a betrayal!!
Even when I was just a cultural Christian Christmas was the only time but Easter I’d have any reverence for the things of God and seeing God taken out of Christmas is honestly one of the most heartbreaking things we see today.
O Holy and Venerable Nicholas of Myra, pray for us sinners!!
Fun fact. I was ordained on the feast day of the transfer of his relics :)
Further proving that Christmas has become more and more secular is the fact that the majority of people do not know that the Christmas tree is indeed Christian. There is a belief that they are pagan and derived from “yule”. Lots of people do not know the true origin of the Christmas tree aside from a place to have presents.
Well said Dean. I’ll be doing a video on reclaiming the meaning of the Christmas tree closer to Old Calendar Nativity. It’a connected to an amazing Saint. Stay tuned :)
@@living_orthodox i definitely will Fr. st. Boniface is a very interesting saint
As I’ve gotten older and joined the church the holidays for me as of right now is very much consumerist based and promotes feelings of transactional behavior . There is no real love for neighbor unless someone gets something back that being a materialistic gift. Thankfully orthodoxy helps me to look pass my want of getting something in return but rather give back not only through helping people through almsgiving but genuinely spend time with others and making them feel joy in the midst of everyday life.
Thank you, Father. This is exactly what was needed!
May you have a blessed Nativity, and a safe arrival of your second child!
I honestly do love your channel.
Thanks for the information. God Bless!
What is the name of the chant used at the beginning of each of your episodes?
Thank you Fr Mikhail for this video. I never knew so much about St. Nicholas until your video.
Thank you for this video, Father. I did not know much about St. Nicholas of Myra until today. Congratulations on the arrival of your daughter. Happy (belated) Nativity!
Thanks for this! Saint Nicholas, pray for us. I think it's important to separate his day (December 5th or 15th) from December 25th. Out of respect for Saint Nicholas, he would not want to even be the who is talked about on the commemoration day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am new to your videos, but if you haven't done a video on why we celebrate this on Dec. 25 (Jan 7), I see a lot of misunderstanding on that. People are convinced they know it was September 11 or something and I don't know where they get that. My understanding is we know when Saint John the Baptist was conceived and the Nativity date has nothing to do with the solstice which isn't even on that day. I see a lot of confusion on this.
Maybe I’ll get that one out for Nativity ;) Thanks for the great feedback! God bless you.
St. Nicholas is certainly praying for us.
Thank you for keeping the real real, and for the glory of God, the Chief Corner stone of Truth. Amen.
Can you make a video about the myth of Judeo-Christian values?
I can try! That’s certainly going to present a challenge in terms of research. I might do that as a longer talk on the channel. Thank you for the idea! That’s definitely something we should cover at some point.
As a Protestant, I would really be interested in the Orthodox view of that. I hear the term tossed around all the time and I’m really not sure what to think of it or really what it means since some use it in a positive way and some use it pejoratively.
Thanks for the video. I wanted to know where we actually get this information on the Saint. Are they witnesses and strictly written down?
can u do a video on spiritual warfare
Absolutely! I am actually am writing out a video on it. If you check out David Erhan’s channel, I did a talk on there about it as well.
Does ho ho ho come from singing hodie cristus natus est?
Not likely. Given the most common language spoken at the time was Greek. It would be more likely ho ho homoousios ;)
The spirit of Santa is St. Nicholas. Not the commercialization, but the wonder of Christmas. I told my kids, Santa Claus is the spirit of Saint Nicholas….and we focus heavily on the wonder and mysteries of our Christian faith and Christmas. Santa is real….. he’s just not the commercialized guy.
Pure heresy. St Nicholas is St Nicholas. This is the end result of corporate corruption and the spiritual atheism of Protestantism that America was built on.
First
st nicholas was a saint. he was never married so Catholics should have fighter against the tradition of making him look as he was married. no mrs Santa
Catholics can’t even fight for their own supposed traditions on marriage.