Dear brother thank you a hundred times for this video and the simple straight forward reading. I too listened to the monk the other day, whom I have heard and admired much. After listening to him talk how praying to our Lord Jesus Christ can be dangerous and even deadly brought me to the brink of despair, flooding me with thoughts of despondency and self harm . If I can’t call on Christ to save me to help me to be with me in all the ups and downs in life and that perchance calling upon him when I read the Psalter or say the Jesus prayer would be dangerous or deadly or I could possibly go insane inflicted such a great wound on my heart. I have been orthodox for 27 years, who else can I call on but our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for putting these reassuring words of a beautiful text on TH-cam for us. May it be blessed.
I love Fr. Seraphim, the way speaks “speaks to me.” I always walk away both comforted and humbled by his videos. He has a special way of speaking about very specific topics without naming them directly. When he was talking about “incorrect prayer” and the demons I immediately thought about the New Apostolic Reformation practice of declaration prayer, demanding or telling God what He’s going to do. It’s becoming very popular among non-denoms and charismatics in the the US and there really does need to be a strong warning against it. I’ve encountered it several times in the wild in Texas.. and I don’t want to judge people but it really seems like the person is possessed, some of them shake bodily with their eyes rolled back while telling God what He’s going to do in their life. It reminds me of the “manifestation” gurus in the New Age movement. It’s really creepy 😬 One of my cousins converted to the Orthodox Church from a NAR church, and she has the wildest stories as to their beliefs and practices. I do want to read this book, i’ve had it on my kindle for quite a while so maybe it’s time I finally sit down with my kitty cat and read it
I thought the same thing when watching his videos. The performative insanity of some prayers by mega-church preachers in the US. And making demands of God Almighty! It's part of the Prosperity Gospel too.
Satan has infiltrated the Churches. It is a sign that the end is truly near. We now stand or fall on our own personal relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God Bless you.
My friend is a nun on the island. I attend church with her beloved mother. I enjoy watching Father Seraphim Aldea’s vlogs and think they can be misunderstood and taken out of context.
If I can also add, Spiritual Counsels of St. Paisios Volume 2 called Spiritual Awakening addresses prayer extensively. That's, in a sense, a Bible for prayer. If an Orthodox person hasn't read it, it's worth the read.
What is it about Orthodoxy & pipes? I got a pipe when I was a catechumen completely incidentally, and come Pascha it turns out nearly all the men over 30 have pipes. Anyway, nice talk. Despondency has been my greatest sin in recent years, I'm finally healing from it.
Pray for me Sir, I've wasted my 20s spent on all manners of evil. Been studying Orthodoxy for a little while now and I want the old me to die and live for Christ. I need to do a lot of work to repair almost 29 years of anger, lust, hatred(murder in my mind), lying, pride and slothfulness. I blamed my actions on a man who horrifically abused me when I was young but I see I became a lot like him. Not much love for others, distrust and angry. I say I didn't become an addict like him but in reality my pride was addicting in thinking God didn't love me like others. I see how foolish I was and still am but I'd rather be a fool for Christ then to live spiritually dead. I love the name of your cat, my fiancé and I have a cat named Midnight aka Little turd because she does the most random things 😅 Subbed and will be watching more reviews so I can do more in depth studying of the saints and living a spiritually pleasing life. Thank you God for steering me to this channel, God bless Sir
Amen Brother! I recently got hold of a pdf of this book and I concur that it's golden (similar to The way of the ascetics and Fr Sysoev's- Law of God) For me this kind of practical, down to earth guidance to becoming a functioning member of the body of Christ is about the most relevant and salvific medicine. Especially for us lost sheep/prodigal recent converts! God bless you mate and thanks for the content! 😎🙏☦️
Thanks for this video, Raphael! I like your selection of readings. You always seem to have good, sound sense. I have been listening to that monk, who is very wise, for several years. I, also, was confused and rather distressed by the (now) two videos on the subject of danger in prayer. Maybe his advice is good for a monk well advanced in prayers, but for most of use simple Orthodox Christians, it sounded like a warning. I actually stopped my prayers in the middle of the night when I wake up and read the Bible instead (seemed safe). I will talk to my priest about the issue. Wish I had not watched those particular videos by that Father now.
In the beginning, it says to imagine that God is standing in front of us, but I thought we weren’t supposed to use imagination in prayer? Does that mean something different or..? (I’m not trying to start anything, I want to follow all the advice I hear and idk how they fit together)
Love your stuff brother, it’s totally your choice. But I feel it would be best to maybe make a video about said book and just take the approach “there have been discussions online amongst fellow Orthodox on the topic of prayer.” At the very least I’d remove the image of the monk from your thumbnail, and trim the “certain monk from a certain island” from the video. As by reading the comments it seems to be inviting a spirit of gossip. No condemnation intended, I just know I’ve done the same if not worse in the past, if not publicly, certainly privately. Thank you for the recommendation, and great reviews.
God does not require the glorification of human beings, He has no ego and is beyond praise and deformation. It’s the lack of knowledge, fear and the vices, that humans feel the need to constantly praise God, this is false humility. Your praise has no bearing on your relationship with Him. He understands the predestined world drama to be accurate. To say God answers your prayers is also false, everything runs according to our karma from previous and current births. The world scriptures have defamed God the most. They have written false things about Him. Devotees and the faithful have been praying to God for over 2500 years and despite of that, take a look at the state of the world today! This only serves to weaken your will-power in order to conquer the vices, which is the root cause of the divide between you and God. He is your loving Father and you are His precious child. You require this much self-resect, awareness and love to sacrifice your weaknesses out of love for Him. God definitely does not decide our fate, we ourselves are responsible for that.
Can you say more of your thoughts on said monk in Scotland just cannot make him out ,religion always do ,do da ,so simple simon said now we have too many chefs or chiefs and all go astray .
That monk made many errors. I won't get into the details. he does however has some decent content time to time. just becareful taking him as your guide. God bless you ☦️
Nothing you’ve said, nor what Metropolitan Gregory wrote, contradicts what the "certain Monk on an island" stated in his video. His message was simply a caution to be mindful when praying, so as not to unintentionally pray to idols. Almost everything he mentioned aligns closely with the teachings of Saint Sophrony of Essex. If you disagree with anything he said, why not specify what it was? I found nothing in his video that goes against the teachings of the Holy Fathers or the Church.
The particular monk on a certain island... I get mixed vibes from him. On the one hand I feel like most of his content is not only good, but great. On the other hand, he sells retreats to his monastery at quite a premium, perhaps this is necessary but rather unheard of. Honestly I'm no one to judge him or you, but I must maintain the watch for myself. So in general I stick with getting advice from saints, the scriptures, and my spiritual father anyway.
Please Brother Raphael how would you respond to the contents of this video dissing, and to my mind, misrepresenting the Old Believers: th-cam.com/video/FLhz7hp4_Xo/w-d-xo.html I am at a loss to figure out why this person feels so strongly and negatively about a whole group of Orthodox believers! If it were not for the prayer rhythms of the Old Orthodox Prayer Book, and, of course, for the grace of God, I don't think I would have persevered on the way to Orthodoxy. Thank you!
Would this monk on a certain island happen to live in the land of lucky charms? I always feel a little depressed after listening to his videos. Kudos to Patches! Many kitty lives!
Dear brother thank you a hundred times for this video and the simple straight forward reading. I too listened to the monk the other day, whom I have heard and admired much. After listening to him talk how praying to our Lord Jesus Christ can be dangerous and even deadly brought me to the brink of despair, flooding me with thoughts of despondency and self harm . If I can’t call on Christ to save me to help me to be with me in all the ups and downs in life and that perchance calling upon him when I read the Psalter or say the Jesus prayer would be dangerous or deadly or I could possibly go insane inflicted such a great wound on my heart. I have been orthodox for 27 years, who else can I call on but our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for putting these reassuring words of a beautiful text on TH-cam for us. May it be blessed.
Appreciate your book reviews
Glory to God! Thank you!
Awesome video, Raphael!! May God continue to bless you and your channel, and may God grant you and Patches many years!!
I love Fr. Seraphim, the way speaks “speaks to me.” I always walk away both comforted and humbled by his videos. He has a special way of speaking about very specific topics without naming them directly. When he was talking about “incorrect prayer” and the demons I immediately thought about the New Apostolic Reformation practice of declaration prayer, demanding or telling God what He’s going to do. It’s becoming very popular among non-denoms and charismatics in the the US and there really does need to be a strong warning against it. I’ve encountered it several times in the wild in Texas.. and I don’t want to judge people but it really seems like the person is possessed, some of them shake bodily with their eyes rolled back while telling God what He’s going to do in their life. It reminds me of the “manifestation” gurus in the New Age movement. It’s really creepy 😬 One of my cousins converted to the Orthodox Church from a NAR church, and she has the wildest stories as to their beliefs and practices.
I do want to read this book, i’ve had it on my kindle for quite a while so maybe it’s time I finally sit down with my kitty cat and read it
I thought the same thing when watching his videos. The performative insanity of some prayers by mega-church preachers in the US. And making demands of God Almighty! It's part of the Prosperity Gospel too.
Satan has infiltrated the Churches. It is a sign that the end is truly near. We now stand or fall on our own personal relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God Bless you.
My friend is a nun on the island. I attend church with her beloved mother. I enjoy watching Father Seraphim Aldea’s vlogs and think they can be misunderstood and taken out of context.
If I can also add, Spiritual Counsels of St. Paisios Volume 2 called Spiritual Awakening addresses prayer extensively. That's, in a sense, a Bible for prayer. If an Orthodox person hasn't read it, it's worth the read.
Please forgive me but that is volume 3 of the Spiritual Counsels of St. Paisios the Athonite 🙏☦️🙏
Nice Peterson pipe! I dig their rusticated pipes.
Thanks! I've got 4 Peterson pipes at the moment...
@@OrthodoxReview Ah! Another Brother of the Briar. I have a few Petersons, but I'm mainly a Savinelli man...especially the Autographs.
@@xnihilo64 The savinelli Roma 673 is one of my favorites
@@OrthodoxReview Yeah Peterson is my favorite at the moment. Vauen pipes pretty sweet too. They make some nice Churchwarden pipes
What is it about Orthodoxy & pipes? I got a pipe when I was a catechumen completely incidentally, and come Pascha it turns out nearly all the men over 30 have pipes.
Anyway, nice talk. Despondency has been my greatest sin in recent years, I'm finally healing from it.
Pray for me Sir, I've wasted my 20s spent on all manners of evil. Been studying Orthodoxy for a little while now and I want the old me to die and live for Christ. I need to do a lot of work to repair almost 29 years of anger, lust, hatred(murder in my mind), lying, pride and slothfulness. I blamed my actions on a man who horrifically abused me when I was young but I see I became a lot like him. Not much love for others, distrust and angry. I say I didn't become an addict like him but in reality my pride was addicting in thinking God didn't love me like others. I see how foolish I was and still am but I'd rather be a fool for Christ then to live spiritually dead.
I love the name of your cat, my fiancé and I have a cat named Midnight aka Little turd because she does the most random things 😅 Subbed and will be watching more reviews so I can do more in depth studying of the saints and living a spiritually pleasing life. Thank you God for steering me to this channel, God bless Sir
I have the book, thanks for the reminder to read it!
Amen Brother! I recently got hold of a pdf of this book and I concur that it's golden (similar to The way of the ascetics and Fr Sysoev's- Law of God)
For me this kind of practical, down to earth guidance to becoming a functioning member of the body of Christ is about the most relevant and salvific medicine. Especially for us lost sheep/prodigal recent converts!
God bless you mate and thanks for the content! 😎🙏☦️
Thanks for this video, Raphael! I like your selection of readings. You always seem to have good, sound sense. I have been listening to that monk, who is very wise, for several years. I, also, was confused and rather distressed by the (now) two videos on the subject of danger in prayer. Maybe his advice is good for a monk well advanced in prayers, but for most of use simple Orthodox Christians, it sounded like a warning. I actually stopped my prayers in the middle of the night when I wake up and read the Bible instead (seemed safe). I will talk to my priest about the issue. Wish I had not watched those particular videos by that Father now.
God bless you.
Totally enjoy your videos. Thank you. This comes from a catechumen waaaaay up in Montana.
The island is in the old country, in case anyone is wondering.
That monk on that island is a good father and knows what he's taking about
Been listening to that monk for years, he is wise. But those two videos confused me. I'm going to run the issue by my priest.
@@zzzaaayyynnn Understandable, I'd refer you to the comment by @BunsBooks of an example of what was meant
Who is the monk on the island?
The island is in the old country, in case anyone is wondering.
Excellent reading. Thank you so much for that!
Based and blessed
In the beginning, it says to imagine that God is standing in front of us, but I thought we weren’t supposed to use imagination in prayer? Does that mean something different or..? (I’m not trying to start anything, I want to follow all the advice I hear and idk how they fit together)
That's a great question. In this instance, "imagine" could be understood as "be aware that", since God is everywhere present.
Love your stuff brother, it’s totally your choice. But I feel it would be best to maybe make a video about said book and just take the approach “there have been discussions online amongst fellow Orthodox on the topic of prayer.”
At the very least I’d remove the image of the monk from your thumbnail, and trim the “certain monk from a certain island” from the video.
As by reading the comments it seems to be inviting a spirit of gossip.
No condemnation intended, I just know I’ve done the same if not worse in the past, if not publicly, certainly privately.
Thank you for the recommendation, and great reviews.
I also smoke a pipe. Very cool too see an orthodox brother with the same interest.
There are tons of us!
@@OrthodoxReview I did not know that!
Pray with perfect humility (...) Done! 😅
😂😂😂
love it! thanks
God does not require the glorification of human beings, He has no ego and is beyond praise and deformation. It’s the lack of knowledge, fear and the vices, that humans feel the need to constantly praise God, this is false humility. Your praise has no bearing on your relationship with Him. He understands the predestined world drama to be accurate. To say God answers your prayers is also false, everything runs according to our karma from previous and current births. The world scriptures have defamed God the most. They have written false things about Him. Devotees and the faithful have been praying to God for over 2500 years and despite of that, take a look at the state of the world today! This only serves to weaken your will-power in order to conquer the vices, which is the root cause of the divide between you and God. He is your loving Father and you are His precious child. You require this much self-resect, awareness and love to sacrifice your weaknesses out of love for Him. God definitely does not decide our fate, we ourselves are responsible for that.
HOW TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE by Gregory POSTNIKOV Hi .. your Link above does not work. Where can this book be ordered besides Amazon ? Thank you
The link should be working. If not, try www.holycross.org/products/how-to-live-a-holy-life
@@OrthodoxReview Thank you ..that works & cheaper than Amazon & Supports Christian Vendor
Can you say more of your thoughts on said monk in Scotland just cannot make him out ,religion always do ,do da ,so simple simon said now we have too many chefs or chiefs and all go astray .
That monk made many errors. I won't get into the details. he does however has some decent content time to time. just becareful taking him as your guide. God bless you ☦️
Who is this ( monk on an island? )
I believe its friar seraphim from the mull monastery channel
Nothing you’ve said, nor what Metropolitan Gregory wrote, contradicts what the "certain Monk on an island" stated in his video. His message was simply a caution to be mindful when praying, so as not to unintentionally pray to idols. Almost everything he mentioned aligns closely with the teachings of Saint Sophrony of Essex. If you disagree with anything he said, why not specify what it was? I found nothing in his video that goes against the teachings of the Holy Fathers or the Church.
“Really”. 😂
The particular monk on a certain island... I get mixed vibes from him. On the one hand I feel like most of his content is not only good, but great. On the other hand, he sells retreats to his monastery at quite a premium, perhaps this is necessary but rather unheard of. Honestly I'm no one to judge him or you, but I must maintain the watch for myself. So in general I stick with getting advice from saints, the scriptures, and my spiritual father anyway.
Please Brother Raphael how would you respond to the contents of this video dissing, and to my mind, misrepresenting the Old Believers: th-cam.com/video/FLhz7hp4_Xo/w-d-xo.html
I am at a loss to figure out why this person feels so strongly and negatively about a whole group of Orthodox believers! If it were not for the prayer rhythms of the Old Orthodox Prayer Book, and, of course, for the grace of God, I don't think I would have persevered on the way to Orthodoxy. Thank you!
I don't even need to watch the video to tell you that anyone that speaks poorly of our cherished Orthodox tradition, that we should pray for them.
Also, that video is from a schismatic group and should be avoided at all costs.
@OrthodoxReview Thank you for the info and the advice, bro!
Would this monk on a certain island happen to live in the land of lucky charms? I always feel a little depressed after listening to his videos. Kudos to Patches! Many kitty lives!
Indeed
Not the land of lucky charms. The land of a very good and very particular type of whisky.
@@yokobono3324 ha ha! Noted!
Mull monastery is in Scotland. I Would reckon most people thinking of the “land of lucky charms,” would he referring to Ireland, but I could be wrong.
@joachimjustinmorgan4851 I thought Mull monastery was located in Ireland. I'm not familiar with that area.
What an awful thing to put Fr Serafim's face like that and then pretend not to call him out in the video. Weak and effeminate behavior.
Maybe yes. But I think there is good for thought in the concepts meant in the video
Fr Seraphim Aldea says some seriously bogus stuff at times. Tread with caution imo
I really didn't think our good island monk would attract so much beef