First I ask anyone's forgiveness for the following public intimate disclosure. I do not wish to gain attention or pity or anything like that. I open up to say what this video means to me. I hope that my words find resonance in other's like me who do not wish to speak out. Thank you from the depths of my soul. I don't know if you grasp the importance of this video and these icons for those of us who have suffered. I was such a one. My story mirrors St. Thaney's quite closely, though the baby did not live. My parents (all 4) abandoned me and threw my soul off of a cliff instead of my body. How I wished it were opposite. God came into my life in a miraculous way years before that happened, in the midst of my suffering chronic abuse since preschool age. I later tried to escape the abuse and went to churches for refuge only to be re-abused again and again, until I finally found the Orthodox Church where I have found Life and a true refuge. Even as a believing Christian all of those years of wandering from church to church my life was darkness and hell. I wanted to die every single day most of my life. What did I do? Like you said, I kept going. I don't even know how... well I do know how. Christ and Theotokos literally got me out of bed each day and kept me surviving. I couldn't see them or sense them then though. I can't tell you the amount of times I went to bed VOWING to never get up again, refusing to live. I would wake up and just watch myself get up and go about my day marveling how this was happening. I can say with all honesty that my Orthodox baptism and the Liturgy and life of the Church opened up paradise and healing for me like nothing else ever did. It isn't magic. It is still very very hard work, but post-Orthodoxy I have a very felt sense of being in that vertical bubble and Saints are very very real and close to me. Its like being in the Church has allowed them to push back the darkness and fill me with Life and Light through the Eucharist in an ongoing way, offering a "bubble" of protection and life. I have not been suicidal since the day I walked into an Orthodox Church for the first time. However... again it isn't magic. I had been working in therapy and on my "stuff" for years and had been peeling back the layers of damage my entire adult life from the age of 19, actively trying to heal. It has been my life's work. I was 46 when I came to Orthodoxy. The same drastic difference may not have taken place so quickly if I had found Orthodoxy 15 years earlier. Another reason I so appreciate you making this Saint known to me is that I used to read the lives of the Saints every day. About a year ago I stopped because in every story that I read of "attempted" rape or sexual abuse the victim was saved miraculously (from the rape). I found this very disturbing. What did that say about me and others like me who were not protected by God, who did not have rocks open up and let us escape? What hope was there for ME to not just be saved but to become a Saint? What did it mean for the limits of my spiritual progress that it happened not just once but many times, by many different people, and WITH my cooperation in my paralysis, fear, confusion, and dissociation? This story comforts me and gives me hope like no other Saint's story. Again Thank you.
Dear Merry, I am unfortunately aware of the pain caused by abuse and I am also aware how difficult is the silence surrounding this cross. I try to speak, as best as Christ allows me, in the hope that He will also take these words to the souls who need to hear them. I rarely think of the impact of my words, because I do not record these videos in order to generate a result. I do what I need to do for the Monastery, as a monastic obedience to Christ. If I were to think beyond my obedience, I would struggle with thoughts of fear, thoughts of pride, I would be affected by the horrid comments we receive and so on. As long as I do everything simply because I have to, simply because this is my obedience (I am responsible for the Monastery, I need to feed everyone and pay all our expenses), as long as I focus on my monastic life, I am safe from both fear and pride. BUT, when someone like yourself leaves this sort of comment, my heart rejoices SO much... I pray for you, dear one, I pray you never lose the CERTAINTY that Christ always hears your prayer and He always looks STRAIGHT in your heart. Even as the world killed His Saints, He was there, dwelling in them, One with them. Be blessed, dear one.
Hi Merry, I noticed this censure in the old school of synaxaria (lives of saints). I think they reflect the puritanism of the times they were written. I understand this can be upsetting. I prefer reading modern saints lives, they are more in details
Father, thank you so much for this. I too was horribly sexually abused as a child and then not believed; shunned by my family for a while, and always blaming myself. I wasn't raised in a religious home so I turned to alcohol and drugs but I eventually found my way to God (or, I suppose, I finally answered His call), and His light did in fact shine and I did persevere. And since then, there has been more abuse triggering the original and every time I fall into despair I look for Christ and I entrust myself to him and I can move forward. My faith has saved me so many times, and has allowed me to help others turn to Christ. God has taken my mess and turned it into a ministry. I wish I had the money to purchase those two icons because I would love to look at them every day, but I am going to at least print out pictures of them so I remember the story and stay inspired. Thank you so much for sharing and for your usual passion and grace and love. Even though our entire relationship is through TH-cam I consider you my Spiritual Father and I trust you completely and always look forward eagerly to your next video.
Dear Debbi, I am SO sorry you understand the message of this video, I am SO sorry you have gone through abuse yourself. If you have known the darkness, you have also known the Light or, at least, you have seen sparks of the Light. Keep going forward, dear one - at the end of the line, Christ-Who-Is-Love awaits for those who love Him. I know what you mean about the icons and we are aware not everyone can purchase them - this is why we upload very good quality images of them on our FB Page and on the online store. We want people to be able to at least print them and use them for their own personal prayer. Be blessed, dear one, and keep all of us in your prayer.
May God help us, dear Olivia, as we go through the painful process of turning this 'line' into a real life experience. Everything is in the Gospels, everything has been shown to us by Christ, but the process of making these words our own, the process of experiencing what we once only 'read' - that is the Cross that saves us. Be blessed, dear one.
This is answered prayer for me. At times I am terribly bothered, grief stricken about all the innocents in the past or especially right now who are being abused, terrified and traumatised at the hands of other more powerful humans. I imagine their terror and helplessness and my mind is tormented for them! I pray they be delivered at once and be brought to safety, peace and love. Always my prayer begs “make it stop for them!” This teaching has given me a new perspective. It has lifted my eyes and heart from the dreadful tragedy endured to the divine possibility of God’s Grace transforming the sufferer even despite the trauma they suffer. I can pray now for that bubble of Grace to come to the victims and surround them. I can pray that the trauma becomes not only their entry to salvation and the love of God but also for others around them including the perpetrators. Thank you so much Father Seraphim. This calms my anxious my heart and gives a warm, soft peace. My God I pray the example of this blessed saint for all the traumatised innocents 🙏🏼
I think God may have given you this burden in your heart for the abused I'm glad you have this comfort and encouragement from the video. Do pray for them, though, whenever your heart is burdened. Your prayers and the fact someone cares is so important for all those who suffer.
This commentary is seriously so good, and I am so happy to see a Church that actually affirms and protect victims of abuse. Her abuser was glorified for hundreds of years after his death, but we continue to honor her to this day. Her story inspires me as a victim and gives me so much hope to trust in Christ and that evil such as blaming and shaming victims will go away through His presence!
Dear one, I am happy and sad at the same time reading your comment. I am happy and grateful to Christ that this video has brought you even a drop of hope, but I am sad that you understand the experience, I am sad that you have known abuse. At times, I record certain videos that I hope no one will understand what on earth I am talking about, because that would mean that no one had to go through the experience which I describe. Be blessed, dear one. May we all be blessed.
This is Stephen from Las Vegas. Embracing the cross, obedience to Christ, most of the time I am aware of his path of obedience, and I am scared of it. But instead to embrace his path for me, though it bring me pain, thought it frighten me terribly, is the path of the cross and therefore of life. I have been the abuser, the one who hurts those I love. May God forgive me. Thank you for your prayers Father. I get more distance from my addiction every day by your prayers and those of the saints and the support of my brothers in the church. It’s a miracle of Gods grace. I don’t know why he has mercy on me. I don’t know why he loves me, but I thank him for it. God bless you and watch over you dear father - You and your monastery. I am grateful for these videos.
May Christ hear your prayer, dear Livia. If that were to happen, the world could end, because that would be the fulfilment of the Kingdom. Keep me and the Monastery in your prayers, dear one.
Thank you for this video. God put this at the top of the list on you tube for he knew what was in my heart. As a victim of abuse, it is not something you can ever forget, but by the grace of the holy Trinity and our holy Mother, we make it through. Never give up. Hold on to Christ and our Mother and we will come out the other side. This video I desperately needed today. Though it happened so long ago, the evil one makes the wounds fresh sometimes to bring us back down. God bless you for all your messages. Christ speaks through you. Thank you for helping us to look for Christ in the right places.
Thank you for choosing to confront such a sensitive topic with empathy and compassion. The more of your videos I watch, the more I feel a connection with you and your monastic brethren, despite the distance between us.
May she bless you, dear one. May she intercede and protect you and all those whom you (and all of us) carry in our hearts and prayers. Be blessed, dear one.
Normally I tell my story and explain. But The Lord gave me this video and dear Father Seraphim tells my story. In the deepest darkness, my childhood there was this utter darkness, day and night. And in a miraculous way I believed in Jesus Christ. He was my mother, He was my friend in this utterly darkness. Without Him I would not have survived in a lot of ways. The thing is that the explanations of the Icons touch the deepest pain of my heart, and it was if Father Seraphim the witness was of the molested child and with his help I am encouraged to be there, in the dark place of my heart and soul. Let it be touched and healed by the grace of the love of Christ
It is so helpful to know Saint Thaney exists. Where others have posted their stories here, know that I would have to post an entire book if I were to do the same. Suffice to say, this is the first time I have ever heard these ideas coming from the church; and now everything about my own story makes sense. Btw my story recently gained a joyous conclusion; not that it is ending- it is only just beginning as I now have a life partner, who interestingly is a Lay Brother (Anglican/Franciscan). I am convinced Divine Intervention happened to bring this about.Thank you brother for this wonder-full, ongoing education through your videos.🙏
I was raped....by a girlfriend's dad when I spent the night at her house. I was 15 years old and suffered mentally & emotionally for MANY years. And yah...the cops did nothing but re-traumatize me. They didn't even believe me. I call rape "the gift that keeps on giving". You know how at Christmas time some people, to be annoying, will put a tiny wrapped box present in another box & wrap that bigger box, and then they put that box in another box & it just keeps going until they present a really big wrapped present to somebody? That's rape. Something "opens the box" (triggers it).... then you're a mess, you fall apart, you suffer, you deal with it & it seems like you conquer it. Your attitude shifts to "shwoooo....thank God that's over....I am healed now". Nope. Weeks, months or even years later, the "next box is opened" (something entirely new triggers you). Wash & repeat. You fall apart, suffer, struggle until finally you conquer THAT issue and you say to yourself...."Okay, NOWWW, I'm cured". And this happens over and over and over again....FOR YEEEEEAAAARS. Maybe this is not everybody's experiences, but it was for me. The LAST "box" I got to was from a sermon my pastor gave (I am Orthodox now, but I was Protestant then.....under a VERY loving and kind Pastor...a true shepherd to the best of his sola scriptura abilities, who to this day helped me & who to this day I hold a special place for him in my heart & my prayers). The sermon was on Matthew 6:14-15 14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Funny how the tiniest "box" is the MOST painful box to deal with. In order for God to fogive my sins...I have to forgive HIM??? The man who RAPED ME?!?! Lemme tell ya the Reader's Digest version. Triggered is too cheap a word to describe my self. Absolute MELT DOWN. I met with my Pastor and it was the hardest, mist tear filled, snot bubble filled, ANGRY conversation of "HOW can God expect me to forgive this man?! He's never even apologized to ME! I hate this man. I wish he was dead. The world would be better off without him!". I went home from that conversation, threw up as I had made myself sick with how upset I was and then I had this broken hearted prayer with God, in tears, and i confessed to God "Maybe God, im really upset with You. You created everything. You SAW what this man was going to do to me...why didn't You stop him? Why didn't you help me." and then I fell asleep. From there, a series of miracles happened. To include a woman giving a lecture at a Christian retreat I ended up at. She was constantly getting interrupted in her spirit to the point she had to quit talking, regain composure & start up again. Finally, the 3rd time it happened to her, she stopped and she said "I have to say this or we're never going to get through this lecture....someone in here needs to hear this...." and then she said "a terrible crime was done to you....God DID see everything that was happening to you and it broke His heart....it was not the path He wanted for your life.....He knows your pain and His pain for you is so deep.....He has every tear of yours in a bottle. He loves you. *But He did not stop this because He is not a Dictator. Man has free will*. You are not alone and He has never left you." The whole time she spoke, i KNEW, this was for me. My God IS REAL. And He knew, I NEEDED to hear that. However, even though He may not do this for every victim out there, it is true for every person who knows Him....those words are for you too. By the end of this retreat, i was truly able to forgive a predator who never asked me to forgive him. And now that he's dead, I pray for him in my personal prayers. Which, I dont share that with people because they'd look at me like I have a 3rd eye. But I want this thread to have this testimony....it is ONLY because of Christ & this TRUE Church that He gave us that gives me this genuiness to go SO FAR in forgiveness to the point I'm praying for a dead man whose soul I worry is in hell. Cut to the chase, get to that last box and ask God to help you to forgive your abuser. Believe it or not, Christ not only died for the rape survivor, he died for the rapist too. Lord have Mercy ❤
Thank you father for bringing to light the life of such wonderful and unknown saints! They are an undoubted testimony of our God's overflowing love towards us humans. Praised be our God and may He support you and the monastery of Mull to continue this important work you're conducting.
Rescue - Recovery - Healing requires Responsive Parenting - Thank You Jesus / We Will Remain in Love for You Jesus - ... helping others' needs is knowing what to do ... 'Life'
As always, Fr. Seraphim, you explain things, including this example of abuse, showing the Grace of Jesus Christ and His holy Theotokos replacing the sadness and utter despair with such beauty, love, peace, comfort in (the surrounding bubble of White Light) His Holy Spirit, in this beautifully designed icon of St. Thaney. Thank you for reminding us that Christ is always here for us no matter how difficult things may be and we should always go to Him, for everything , every day, every minute, having Him within us, always guiding us. Glory to God for this blessing upon St. Thaney and her child St. Mungo.
Amen. Thank you Father. The power of God is above all our trials, sufferings and wounds. We put all our trust in His transforming Love. In joyful surrender to +Jesus, Mary and Joseph+ Angèle
You have very much courage being there.i keep You in my prayers.i m sorry for Thaney but also for you.we all suffer.keep doing these videos.they heal all our wounds.it s all we need in this world nowadays!I owe You so much.so help me God one day I will visit.
Thank you, brother fryer and Thanks for staying on line. His words shine through you. Your talk reminds me of a song.. "great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness, morning to morning new mercies I see, all that I needed Your hand has provided great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me" This song reminds me to stay strong and that He will never leave me or forsake me. I used to quote this scripture to my uncle on his death bed. Peace I leave you My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you don't let your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid. He said that scripture gave him peace. On many occassions it has brought me peace too.
Glory to thee oh Lord who can turn the maleficent venom into a blessed Ambroise of deification; Glory to thee oh Lord who can get down the heavens to the bottom of the hell of our lives and embrace our infirmities with thy deepest mercy. St Thaney ,pray the Lord for us sinners to grant us the courage not to give up and most of all a faith like yours in these days of sorrows 🙏🏻. Thank you Father for your endeavours Keep me in your prayers.
May God bless you, dear one. Thank you for your encouragement and for your prayers. We can only find our salvation together, if we all pray for each other, if we all forgive each other, if we all learn to fight (spiritually) and to take up the cross for ourselves, but also for our neighbour. May we all be blessed.
Binecuvântați!Unde putem găsi publicate viețile sfinților despre care povestiți și despre care noi cei din Romania nu știm mai nimic...Oare exista traduse în lb.romana asemenea cărți??As dori f.mult să cunosc viețile sfinților din acea zona..sfinții celți daca nu greșesc.Mare e Dumnezeu în sfinții Săi de pretutindeni!Domnul să vă întărească și lumineze in lucrarea sf.voastre..sa fiți de folos multor suflete...
The only significant difference is their age, dearJeffrey. St Thaney must have been a child, with no knowledge about the physical relations between men and women. The fact that her rapist could convince her that he was a women (that his body was different because he was a grown woman, while St Thaney was still merely a girl) terrifies me. This is the detail that breaks my heart. May we all find forgiveness of our sins through the prayers of these wonderful Saints - St Thaney and St Nona (we have a beautiful icon of St Nona on our website, too). Thank you for your comment, dear one.
Oh so very relieved to hear see read with such relief and hope of forgiveness of myself 🙏💕 No longer to carry sheful thoughts feelings of wretchedness and betrayal by a family who did not have Christ 🙏💓 Praise the Lord I'm free at last!
First I ask anyone's forgiveness for the following public intimate disclosure. I do not wish to gain attention or pity or anything like that. I open up to say what this video means to me. I hope that my words find resonance in other's like me who do not wish to speak out.
Thank you from the depths of my soul. I don't know if you grasp the importance of this video and these icons for those of us who have suffered. I was such a one. My story mirrors St. Thaney's quite closely, though the baby did not live. My parents (all 4) abandoned me and threw my soul off of a cliff instead of my body. How I wished it were opposite.
God came into my life in a miraculous way years before that happened, in the midst of my suffering chronic abuse since preschool age. I later tried to escape the abuse and went to churches for refuge only to be re-abused again and again, until I finally found the Orthodox Church where I have found Life and a true refuge. Even as a believing Christian all of those years of wandering from church to church my life was darkness and hell. I wanted to die every single day most of my life.
What did I do? Like you said, I kept going. I don't even know how... well I do know how. Christ and Theotokos literally got me out of bed each day and kept me surviving. I couldn't see them or sense them then though. I can't tell you the amount of times I went to bed VOWING to never get up again, refusing to live. I would wake up and just watch myself get up and go about my day marveling how this was happening.
I can say with all honesty that my Orthodox baptism and the Liturgy and life of the Church opened up paradise and healing for me like nothing else ever did. It isn't magic. It is still very very hard work, but post-Orthodoxy I have a very felt sense of being in that vertical bubble and Saints are very very real and close to me. Its like being in the Church has allowed them to push back the darkness and fill me with Life and Light through the Eucharist in an ongoing way, offering a "bubble" of protection and life. I have not been suicidal since the day I walked into an Orthodox Church for the first time.
However... again it isn't magic. I had been working in therapy and on my "stuff" for years and had been peeling back the layers of damage my entire adult life from the age of 19, actively trying to heal. It has been my life's work. I was 46 when I came to Orthodoxy. The same drastic difference may not have taken place so quickly if I had found Orthodoxy 15 years earlier.
Another reason I so appreciate you making this Saint known to me is that I used to read the lives of the Saints every day. About a year ago I stopped because in every story that I read of "attempted" rape or sexual abuse the victim was saved miraculously (from the rape). I found this very disturbing. What did that say about me and others like me who were not protected by God, who did not have rocks open up and let us escape? What hope was there for ME to not just be saved but to become a Saint? What did it mean for the limits of my spiritual progress that it happened not just once but many times, by many different people, and WITH my cooperation in my paralysis, fear, confusion, and dissociation?
This story comforts me and gives me hope like no other Saint's story. Again Thank you.
May your sharing open the hearts of those who have not known such abuse, that we might stand with you in Christ.
Dear Merry, I am unfortunately aware of the pain caused by abuse and I am also aware how difficult is the silence surrounding this cross. I try to speak, as best as Christ allows me, in the hope that He will also take these words to the souls who need to hear them. I rarely think of the impact of my words, because I do not record these videos in order to generate a result. I do what I need to do for the Monastery, as a monastic obedience to Christ. If I were to think beyond my obedience, I would struggle with thoughts of fear, thoughts of pride, I would be affected by the horrid comments we receive and so on. As long as I do everything simply because I have to, simply because this is my obedience (I am responsible for the Monastery, I need to feed everyone and pay all our expenses), as long as I focus on my monastic life, I am safe from both fear and pride. BUT, when someone like yourself leaves this sort of comment, my heart rejoices SO much... I pray for you, dear one, I pray you never lose the CERTAINTY that Christ always hears your prayer and He always looks STRAIGHT in your heart. Even as the world killed His Saints, He was there, dwelling in them, One with them. Be blessed, dear one.
Hi Merry, I noticed this censure in the old school of synaxaria (lives of saints). I think they reflect the puritanism of the times they were written. I understand this can be upsetting. I prefer reading modern saints lives, they are more in details
Glory be to God. Great testimony.
Father, thank you so much for this. I too was horribly sexually abused as a child and then not believed; shunned by my family for a while, and always blaming myself. I wasn't raised in a religious home so I turned to alcohol and drugs but I eventually found my way to God (or, I suppose, I finally answered His call), and His light did in fact shine and I did persevere. And since then, there has been more abuse triggering the original and every time I fall into despair I look for Christ and I entrust myself to him and I can move forward. My faith has saved me so many times, and has allowed me to help others turn to Christ. God has taken my mess and turned it into a ministry. I wish I had the money to purchase those two icons because I would love to look at them every day, but I am going to at least print out pictures of them so I remember the story and stay inspired. Thank you so much for sharing and for your usual passion and grace and love. Even though our entire relationship is through TH-cam I consider you my Spiritual Father and I trust you completely and always look forward eagerly to your next video.
Dear Debbi, I am SO sorry you understand the message of this video, I am SO sorry you have gone through abuse yourself. If you have known the darkness, you have also known the Light or, at least, you have seen sparks of the Light. Keep going forward, dear one - at the end of the line, Christ-Who-Is-Love awaits for those who love Him. I know what you mean about the icons and we are aware not everyone can purchase them - this is why we upload very good quality images of them on our FB Page and on the online store. We want people to be able to at least print them and use them for their own personal prayer. Be blessed, dear one, and keep all of us in your prayer.
For when my father and my mother have forsaken me, then the Lord will take me up! Psalm 27:10
May God help us, dear Olivia, as we go through the painful process of turning this 'line' into a real life experience. Everything is in the Gospels, everything has been shown to us by Christ, but the process of making these words our own, the process of experiencing what we once only 'read' - that is the Cross that saves us. Be blessed, dear one.
@@mullmonastery THANK YOU! I will come back to your words when I get shaky. God bless you ♥️
This is answered prayer for me. At times I am terribly bothered, grief stricken about all the innocents in the past or especially right now who are being abused, terrified and traumatised at the hands of other more powerful humans. I imagine their terror and helplessness and my mind is tormented for them! I pray they be delivered at once and be brought to safety, peace and love. Always my prayer begs “make it stop for them!” This teaching has given me a new perspective. It has lifted my eyes and heart from the dreadful tragedy endured to the divine possibility of God’s Grace transforming the sufferer even despite the trauma they suffer. I can pray now for that bubble of Grace to come to the victims and surround them. I can pray that the trauma becomes not only their entry to salvation and the love of God but also for others around them including the perpetrators. Thank you so much Father Seraphim. This calms my anxious my heart and gives a warm, soft peace. My God I pray the example of this blessed saint for all the traumatised innocents 🙏🏼
I think God may have given you this burden in your heart for the abused I'm glad you have this comfort and encouragement from the video. Do pray for them, though, whenever your heart is burdened. Your prayers and the fact someone cares is so important for all those who suffer.
This commentary is seriously so good, and I am so happy to see a Church that actually affirms and protect victims of abuse. Her abuser was glorified for hundreds of years after his death, but we continue to honor her to this day. Her story inspires me as a victim and gives me so much hope to trust in Christ and that evil such as blaming and shaming victims will go away through His presence!
Dear one, I am happy and sad at the same time reading your comment. I am happy and grateful to Christ that this video has brought you even a drop of hope, but I am sad that you understand the experience, I am sad that you have known abuse. At times, I record certain videos that I hope no one will understand what on earth I am talking about, because that would mean that no one had to go through the experience which I describe. Be blessed, dear one. May we all be blessed.
Holy St. Thanes pray to God for us and Our children
Amen
May Christ and His Saint hear your prayer, dear Monica. May she intercede for our children - bodily children and spiritual children.
This is Stephen from Las Vegas. Embracing the cross, obedience to Christ, most of the time I am aware of his path of obedience, and I am scared of it. But instead to embrace his path for me, though it bring me pain, thought it frighten me terribly, is the path of the cross
and therefore of life. I have been the abuser, the one who hurts those I love. May God forgive me. Thank you for your prayers Father. I get more distance from my addiction every day by your prayers and those of the saints and the support of my brothers in the church. It’s a miracle of Gods grace. I don’t know why he has mercy on me. I don’t know why he loves me, but I thank him for it. God bless you and watch over you dear father - You and your monastery. I am grateful for these videos.
with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Thaney let’s all pray for the entire world to reach that state of non judgment and forgiveness 🤍
May Christ hear your prayer, dear Livia. If that were to happen, the world could end, because that would be the fulfilment of the Kingdom. Keep me and the Monastery in your prayers, dear one.
Thank you Father I need it so much. I don't want to loose my hope that Christ can step in and save me. Please pray for me a sinner.
Thank you for this video. God put this at the top of the list on you tube for he knew what was in my heart. As a victim of abuse, it is not something you can ever forget, but by the grace of the holy Trinity and our holy Mother, we make it through. Never give up. Hold on to Christ and our Mother and we will come out the other side. This video I desperately needed today. Though it happened so long ago, the evil one makes the wounds fresh sometimes to bring us back down. God bless you for all your messages. Christ speaks through you. Thank you for helping us to look for Christ in the right places.
Thank you for choosing to confront such a sensitive topic with empathy and compassion. The more of your videos I watch, the more I feel a connection with you and your monastic brethren, despite the distance between us.
Glory to God! O Saint Thaney, pray for us in Jakarta, Indonesia ☦🙏🌷
May she bless you, dear one. May she intercede and protect you and all those whom you (and all of us) carry in our hearts and prayers. Be blessed, dear one.
Normally I tell my story and explain. But The Lord gave me this video and dear Father Seraphim tells my story. In the deepest darkness, my childhood there was this utter darkness, day and night. And in a miraculous way I believed in Jesus Christ. He was my mother, He was my friend in this utterly darkness. Without Him I would not have survived in a lot of ways.
The thing is that the explanations of the Icons touch the deepest pain of my heart, and it was if Father Seraphim the witness was of the molested child and with his help I am encouraged to be there, in the dark place of my heart and soul. Let it be touched and healed by the grace of the love of Christ
It is so helpful to know Saint Thaney exists. Where others have posted their stories here, know that I would have to post an entire book if I were to do the same. Suffice to say, this is the first time I have ever heard these ideas coming from the church; and now everything about my own story makes sense. Btw my story recently gained a joyous conclusion; not that it is ending- it is only just beginning as I now have a life partner, who interestingly is a Lay Brother (Anglican/Franciscan). I am convinced Divine Intervention happened to bring this about.Thank you brother for this wonder-full, ongoing education through your videos.🙏
I was raped....by a girlfriend's dad when I spent the night at her house. I was 15 years old and suffered mentally & emotionally for MANY years. And yah...the cops did nothing but re-traumatize me. They didn't even believe me. I call rape "the gift that keeps on giving". You know how at Christmas time some people, to be annoying, will put a tiny wrapped box present in another box & wrap that bigger box, and then they put that box in another box & it just keeps going until they present a really big wrapped present to somebody? That's rape. Something "opens the box" (triggers it).... then you're a mess, you fall apart, you suffer, you deal with it & it seems like you conquer it. Your attitude shifts to "shwoooo....thank God that's over....I am healed now". Nope. Weeks, months or even years later, the "next box is opened" (something entirely new triggers you). Wash & repeat. You fall apart, suffer, struggle until finally you conquer THAT issue and you say to yourself...."Okay, NOWWW, I'm cured". And this happens over and over and over again....FOR YEEEEEAAAARS.
Maybe this is not everybody's experiences, but it was for me.
The LAST "box" I got to was from a sermon my pastor gave (I am Orthodox now, but I was Protestant then.....under a VERY loving and kind Pastor...a true shepherd to the best of his sola scriptura abilities, who to this day helped me & who to this day I hold a special place for him in my heart & my prayers). The sermon was on Matthew 6:14-15
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Funny how the tiniest "box" is the MOST painful box to deal with. In order for God to fogive my sins...I have to forgive HIM??? The man who RAPED ME?!?!
Lemme tell ya the Reader's Digest version. Triggered is too cheap a word to describe my self. Absolute MELT DOWN. I met with my Pastor and it was the hardest, mist tear filled, snot bubble filled, ANGRY conversation of "HOW can God expect me to forgive this man?! He's never even apologized to ME! I hate this man. I wish he was dead. The world would be better off without him!".
I went home from that conversation, threw up as I had made myself sick with how upset I was and then I had this broken hearted prayer with God, in tears, and i confessed to God "Maybe God, im really upset with You. You created everything. You SAW what this man was going to do to me...why didn't You stop him? Why didn't you help me." and then I fell asleep.
From there, a series of miracles happened. To include a woman giving a lecture at a Christian retreat I ended up at. She was constantly getting interrupted in her spirit to the point she had to quit talking, regain composure & start up again. Finally, the 3rd time it happened to her, she stopped and she said "I have to say this or we're never going to get through this lecture....someone in here needs to hear this...." and then she said "a terrible crime was done to you....God DID see everything that was happening to you and it broke His heart....it was not the path He wanted for your life.....He knows your pain and His pain for you is so deep.....He has every tear of yours in a bottle. He loves you. *But He did not stop this because He is not a Dictator. Man has free will*. You are not alone and He has never left you." The whole time she spoke, i KNEW, this was for me.
My God IS REAL. And He knew, I NEEDED to hear that. However, even though He may not do this for every victim out there, it is true for every person who knows Him....those words are for you too.
By the end of this retreat, i was truly able to forgive a predator who never asked me to forgive him. And now that he's dead, I pray for him in my personal prayers. Which, I dont share that with people because they'd look at me like I have a 3rd eye. But I want this thread to have this testimony....it is ONLY because of Christ & this TRUE Church that He gave us that gives me this genuiness to go SO FAR in forgiveness to the point I'm praying for a dead man whose soul I worry is in hell.
Cut to the chase, get to that last box and ask God to help you to forgive your abuser. Believe it or not, Christ not only died for the rape survivor, he died for the rapist too.
Lord have Mercy ❤
Thank you father for bringing to light the life of such wonderful and unknown saints! They are an undoubted testimony of our God's overflowing love towards us humans. Praised be our God and may He support you and the monastery of Mull to continue this important work you're conducting.
Thank you Father for this beautiful understanding of God's merciful love. Glory to God for his economia.🕊💒💖
Rescue - Recovery - Healing requires Responsive Parenting - Thank You Jesus / We Will Remain in Love for You Jesus - ... helping others' needs is knowing what to do ... 'Life'
As always, Fr. Seraphim, you explain things, including this example of abuse, showing the Grace of Jesus Christ and His holy Theotokos replacing the sadness and utter despair with such beauty, love, peace, comfort in (the surrounding bubble of White Light) His Holy Spirit, in this beautifully designed icon of St. Thaney. Thank you for reminding us that Christ is always here for us no matter how difficult things may be and we should always go to Him, for everything , every day, every minute, having Him within us, always guiding us. Glory to God for this blessing upon St. Thaney and her child St. Mungo.
AMEN!!! May The Holy Mother of God cover you under her arms!!!
Beloved St. Thaney please pray to God for us.
I needed to hear this. Thank you.
Amen. Thank you Father.
The power of God is above all our trials, sufferings and wounds.
We put all our trust in His transforming Love.
In joyful surrender to
+Jesus, Mary and Joseph+
Angèle
You have very much courage being there.i keep You in my prayers.i m sorry for Thaney but also for you.we all suffer.keep doing these videos.they heal all our wounds.it s all we need in this world nowadays!I owe You so much.so help me God one day I will visit.
Thank you, thank you, thank you
Many thanks.
Thank you and may God bless you always
Thank you, brother fryer and Thanks for staying on line. His words shine through you. Your talk reminds me of a song..
"great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness, morning to morning new mercies I see, all that I needed Your hand has provided great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me" This song reminds me to stay strong and that He will never leave me or forsake me. I used to quote this scripture to my uncle on his death bed. Peace I leave you My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you don't let your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid. He said that scripture gave him peace. On many occassions it has brought me peace too.
So much hope in your Words
Thank you very much
Merci
Glory to thee oh Lord who can turn the maleficent venom into a blessed Ambroise of deification;
Glory to thee oh Lord who can get down the heavens to the bottom of the hell of our lives and embrace our infirmities with thy deepest mercy. St Thaney ,pray the Lord for us sinners to grant us the courage not to give up and most of all a faith like yours in these days of sorrows 🙏🏻. Thank you Father for your endeavours
Keep me in your prayers.
May God bless you, dear one. Thank you for your encouragement and for your prayers. We can only find our salvation together, if we all pray for each other, if we all forgive each other, if we all learn to fight (spiritually) and to take up the cross for ourselves, but also for our neighbour. May we all be blessed.
Mull Monastery Father you are in my prayers 🙏🏻
Anastasia 🌹. Very interesting, st Thana pray for us amazing icons. Thank you
Amen
Bless the Lord O my soul
Thank you so very much for sharing this.
Binecuvântați!Unde putem găsi publicate viețile sfinților despre care povestiți și despre care noi cei din Romania nu știm mai nimic...Oare exista traduse în lb.romana asemenea cărți??As dori f.mult să cunosc viețile sfinților din acea zona..sfinții celți daca nu greșesc.Mare e Dumnezeu în sfinții Săi de pretutindeni!Domnul să vă întărească și lumineze in lucrarea sf.voastre..sa fiți de folos multor suflete...
Father is there any book with the saints of Scotland? I am Greek Orthodox and ashamed not to know them
Beutifull Icon
❤
😢😢😢
☦️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🛐
Sounds a little bit like St. Nonna, mother of St David of Wales.
The only significant difference is their age, dearJeffrey. St Thaney must have been a child, with no knowledge about the physical relations between men and women. The fact that her rapist could convince her that he was a women (that his body was different because he was a grown woman, while St Thaney was still merely a girl) terrifies me. This is the detail that breaks my heart. May we all find forgiveness of our sins through the prayers of these wonderful Saints - St Thaney and St Nona (we have a beautiful icon of St Nona on our website, too). Thank you for your comment, dear one.
Anastasia 🌹. Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison. 🙏🕯️🌿🕯️🙏
Oh so very relieved to hear see read with such relief and hope of forgiveness of myself 🙏💕
No longer to carry sheful thoughts feelings of wretchedness and betrayal by a family who did not have Christ 🙏💓
Praise the Lord I'm free at last!
Si eu as dori viata sfintei in lb.romana daca exista,sau in engleza si vom gasi pe cineva sa traduca.
Beloved St. Thaney please pray to God for us.