Well said Father! It isn’t enough to stand and mechanically pray. St Ignatius tells us we must be attentive. We must see our needs in the prayers and earnestly entreat God to grant us forgiveness and enlightenment.
I read this very same thing - that it is important when you pray that your full intention and attention is on the prayer before you start - quoted from a homily by St Theophan that was assigned reading for a session on developing inner prayer. Different person on a different continent in a different century but delivers the same message. Glory to God for apostolic succession guarding holy tradition! ☦
I am going to be accepted as a catechumen next sunday! Christ is risen! So thankful i found the church. I pray i never make a mockery of god and assimilate successfully and fully! I do not feel a need for a fast catechism! If it takes more than a year thats fine im not going anywhere!
Very profitable for me and my family. Thank you Father! We are all catechist at the moment. I don't want to fall in any pitfalls. Lord have mercy on me. Also I could listen all day..
Nice this couldn't come at a better time. I've been reading up on orthodoxy. Where i first thought Catholicism is the way I'm starting to learn more and more
Thank God. Let us know how we can help. Good struggles and enlightenment! You may want to check out the Orthodoxy 101 playlists on OE for more introductory live-streams.
I am a catechumen. In past I've approached Orthodoxy twice, and unfortunately returned to Roman Catholicism. Each time the internal, irresistible calling towards Orthodoxy came around the time of Orthodox Great Lent. This year it was in the 2nd week of the Great Lent. I think I got the message, and I I'm going to persevere withGod'sgrace. . Please, say just one prayer for me. ☦️
@joehouston2833...and why exactly would I be interested in catholic apologetics? Been there. Thanks, no more any of this papist' heretical cult for me.
Thank you, Father 🙏🏻I needed to hear all of this today. Sometimes you start your journey and feel stuck at an obstacle and then a little piece of wisdom comes along to put you on the right path again.
Christ is Risen! Fr. Peter, l have been in ROCOR for 21 years, and in all of the Churches l have Communed in, all have taught to fast at the minimum from midnight on before partaking in the Holy Eucharist.
Dear Father Peter: To the typical person from the Heterodox, this is like teaching QED to elementary students-very advanced, and difficult to understand. Our priest, or spiritual father, can tutor us in the development of the spiritual life very slowly, without lots of vain glory and pride. I don’t think I can learn it on my own, only with help from a spiritual father.
Unless you are exceptionally lucky you have no choice but to learn it on your own in the sense of not having a spiritual father. The mass secularization of the free world has made it extremely difficult to find a spiritual father compared to the days when there was a monastery outside every city. However, not having a spiritual father doesn't mean you learn alone. Orthodoxy is about being a part of the body of Christ and you should have a parish community to learn with even if you haven't yet developed a one-on-one relationship with a spiritual father.
Broadness vs Narrowness makes me think of the splinter vs the plank in my neighbor's eye vs mine. My axe is broad and ready to chop my neighbor's splinter but narrow and never splits my plank.
I’d like to know how to convert when a spouse isn’t interested. Looks like there’s resistance and it’s adamant. My part is to pray and grow in my faith, but how do I honor our marriage while having to go to a different church altogether and observe different traditions? We also have young children. Thankfully they are in the Christian faith.
You may have to be patient more than others. You may have to pray much more than others, in their relationship, for the sake of your spouse. You yourself have been allowed this by God for it is for your salvation. You will be enriched and purified through this struggle to be loving, patient, kind, etc. She will need to see your love of Christ grow, your long-suffering multiply, your care for her be more manifest. There may be a secret insecurity, a jealously, an anger lurking within her, a fear that she will lose something -- you, perhaps, or freedom, or even God! - if she allows herself to be open to this and follow her husband. Go deeper in every way you can -- even if it is not the ideal or best catechumenate/period of instruction/purification/initiation. In the ancient church it took 3 years. Take your time -- but do not stop progressing. Do not stop moving forward to Christ in the Mysteries. Just don't push it, but pray for discernment and wait on God.
Fr Heers is right. I left a well known controversial “church” after 40+ years to become an Orthodox Christian. Not easy as my husband of 44 years was not for it to say the least. It hasn’t been easy and I put up with his “snarky” comments but, my life is so much deeper and richer. I simply work hard to show Christ like love for my husband and pray often for his heart to soften and open.
My husband hated my conversion at first. He didn’t even like the sight of me wearing a veil. We had arguments and occasionally still do. The times when I’m quiet are the times he becomes most interested 😂So I just try to be a good example. This year he started coming with me to church! He comes every Sunday now. It can be a slow process, but I stay hopeful ❤
I’ve been to other OCA churches where they take communion every time and don’t need to do fasting and confession beforehand. I asked one of the priests why and he said well, he thinks people refrain from taking communion if the rules are too strict.
The Coptic church isn’t actually orthodox, they were anathematised in the 400s or 300s I don’t exactly remember. The most common Eastern Orthodox church’s would be Greek Russian Antiochian Serbian or an OCA church. Use the website orthodoxyinamerica.org to find a proper Orthodox Church around you
55:25 I recently realized that judas seems to embody the faith of many heterodox people, judas must have done everything the apostles did, because even the apostles couldnt tell on the surface who was the betrayer. It is even more of a highlight of the noose of an individual
I don't want to overstep, I've stayed for the entire service before but I didn't know I shouldn't. At what point in the service should I vacate? Since I'm only an inquirer
Wouldn’t it be a natural role of the Parish priest to be that spiritual Fr? Why/How would you “pick” another? If another, then what to do when that spiritual father gives guidance that may contradict the priest in some way? Who trumps whom? Or am I elevating the role of one these two too much?
It would be practically ideal . It would be a welcomed development for that reason. And yet, we don’t see this imposed or required in the Orthodox Church. The nature of the relationship is that it has to be freely chosen.
It's no use trying to move around and find the right priest, parish, etc, in most cases you'll just wreck your life and end up depressed The real thing is very hard to find nowadays Bigger things are happening behind the scenes and will soon come to light, things are a lot worse than what we currently know right now regarding the total condition of the Church The bible says a time will come when the faithful/saints are given over to the antichrists power, and instructions are given as to how we / they ought to live - it is very similar to the days of the early Church under the pagan imperium, if we emulate the Holy people of those times it makes being in these times much simpler. I wouldn't say easier, but simpler... Nowadays I am more of the inclination of the desert fathers, just give up trying to engage with modern mankind and retreat so you don't lose your soul, be in a position where you can manage your inner war against the passions which often requires us to embrace exile Of course the Church instructs us to have zeal, to speak up when the Faith is in peril, but these are circumstantial rules, we are now in the exceptional days, the late days, which require us to "enter the catacombs" i.e. to avoid the world and go deep into the spiritual heart All this stress about I need the sacraments, I need frequent liturgical activities, all that is dangled over us as bait but in most places we won't be allowed it by the pharisaic clergy, we shall be joined to Christ rather via persecution and martyrdom like the thief on the Cross and early Christians and this is allowed or excepted by God His hand is on the gate of mercy ready to shut it for good and we are among the last to slip through thanks to the endless intercessions of His mother and all the saints From the elementary perspective these claims may sound absurd but nobody sees on the level how bad things have really become at the higher levels in the Church Satan is 99.9999 percent ready right now to release his son upon this world, that is why it has been spiralling down in to unprecedented turmoil in the last 50 odd years and especially the last 5 odd years - again, this is practically unnoticeable for those who are living in a slumber / stupor lacking spiritual sobriety - and yes we can say it has always since the early Church been "really bad" but it's now really really bad
@@normadaly7506 I advise to follow what father said about finding a spiritual father, preparing for a holistic repentance per the commandments, all of that, but sometimes it is just an inescapable dynamic that one cannot find a good spiritual father or even a priest who will do the right thing according to tradition. In particular Australia is super lax and secularised, even much of the Serb and rocor, and their presence is actually super low here compared to say Anglicans, catholics, etc. All over the world this is going on. Not only is that going on, but then there is a direct animosity toward converts who want to do the right thing, I have heard of people being barred from parishes because they stood firm in wanting to be recieved by baptism and not just chrismation-only. Apostasy and ostracization of the traditional folks is nothing new though, in the bolshevik era in Russia it was very very widespread, they even converted some parishes into public toilets and would throw monks and priests off the top of buildings and shoot them and all kinds of horrors like today's times in Ukraine. The whole world will get like that again eventually. Anyway that's my input, some will say just have automatic obedience to whoever, they will answer for any mistakes that occur, but in my opinion that's anti patristic and also spiritually suicidal.
@@honeymilk4160 I suggest to listen to talk 82 and 83 from father kosmas (Orthodox talks, TH-cam channel), and some other talks he has done regarding heresy, blasphemy, etc.
Before I answer that, do you believe there is one holy Catholic apostolic Church? And that it is identifiable, concrete, in time and space just as our Lord walked in this earth?
He’s say we can’t trust ourselves to have full knowledge of God, of Christ directly. We must come to know Him in the gospels and in the experience of the apostles and their successors.
It has been about a year since this live stream, but I think I meant to say there are people who struggle with trusting Christ directly. And so God assists us through and in others, especially those who are most close to him.
Hard to think that, apart from the Orthodox church, if one hears the gospel and repents and lives for Christ that, that person would not be grafted into the True vine.
@OrthodoxEthos is that your position? Perhaps I misunderstood. The Gospel is to repent and believe in Christ. If one genuinely does those things, but never makes it to an "Orthodox" church. Does this mean they don't have the salvation of Jesus Christ? With respect, I enjoy your videos.
@@Chrsi-o5osomeone outside the church could be saved IF God decides it so, and at that point it would be based on their knowledge of the truth. Whether they knew about orthodoxy or not or other things I don’t know, I’m not God of course. But there is no salvation outside the church, but we won’t ever say you are going to hell, I don’t even know if I will or not when I die so I won’t know what happens to you when you die. But from what I’ve heard if you are out the church and die you would probably be judged on your knowledge of the Truth (the Church). A Protestant that fully knows about Orthodoxy would be judged different from a tribesman that never even heard the gospel. I hope this helps you understand (do fact check my statement though, I may be wrong on our position)
It took 20 years to find a spiritual father, then I found a wonderful one, Glory to God!
God's perfect timing 😉
Well said Father! It isn’t enough to stand and mechanically pray. St Ignatius tells us we must be attentive. We must see our needs in the prayers and earnestly entreat God to grant us forgiveness and enlightenment.
I read this very same thing - that it is important when you pray that your full intention and attention is on the prayer before you start - quoted from a homily by St Theophan that was assigned reading for a session on developing inner prayer.
Different person on a different continent in a different century but delivers the same message. Glory to God for apostolic succession guarding holy tradition! ☦
I am going to be accepted as a catechumen next sunday! Christ is risen! So thankful i found the church. I pray i never make a mockery of god and assimilate successfully and fully! I do not feel a need for a fast catechism! If it takes more than a year thats fine im not going anywhere!
Yes
Take it slow
Be baptized
I became a Catechumen on Mother’s Day.
Glory be to God! I became one on Easter.
Father Peter, I just love you so much and am so grateful for you and these videos! Thank you! I am converting and your help is so appreciated. ❤
Congratulations. Me too.
This really made me want to cry. I'm always so hard on myself. To know that this will be a lifelong journey is extremely humbling.
As someone who has been lost and being found, this is very helpful. thank you
This is incredible Father Peter Absolutely edifying. Thank you very much.
Very profitable for me and my family. Thank you Father! We are all catechist at the moment. I don't want to fall in any pitfalls. Lord have mercy on me. Also I could listen all day..
Nice this couldn't come at a better time. I've been reading up on orthodoxy. Where i first thought Catholicism is the way I'm starting to learn more and more
Thank God.
Let us know how we can help.
Good struggles and enlightenment!
You may want to check out the Orthodoxy 101 playlists on OE for more introductory live-streams.
Thank God!!! I'm new too
I am a catechumen. In past I've approached Orthodoxy twice, and unfortunately returned to Roman Catholicism.
Each time the internal, irresistible calling towards Orthodoxy came around the time of Orthodox Great Lent. This year it was in the 2nd week of the Great Lent. I think I got the message, and I I'm going to persevere withGod'sgrace. . Please, say just one prayer for me. ☦️
Trent Horn
Jimmy Akin
@joehouston2833...and why exactly would I be interested in catholic apologetics? Been there. Thanks, no more any of this papist' heretical cult for me.
@@pawelmjw
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@joehouston2833don’t you love believing in the same god as Muslims
Perfect timing! Just got baptised a few weeks ago 😂😂🙏☦️
Thank you, Father 🙏🏻I needed to hear all of this today. Sometimes you start your journey and feel stuck at an obstacle and then a little piece of wisdom comes along to put you on the right path again.
When I talk to others, I am humbled. Most people I talk to came from far worse backgrounds than me, but they are doing better than me.
May the Lord have mercy on me. Theotokos pray for us!
Thank you Father Peter ... I am So Grateful for your work ... This was so helpful for me.
amen!!!
Agreed !
Christ is Risen! Fr. Peter, l have been in ROCOR for 21 years, and in all of the Churches l have Communed in, all have taught to fast at the minimum from midnight on before partaking in the Holy Eucharist.
Yes
Χρισός Ανέστη!!! ❤️☦️🇬🇷
Thanks
We thank you so much for your contribution!
Thank you, Father.
Glory to God ❤
Well spoke, Father!
Thank you so very much Father Heers!! This was extremely valuable to me!
Father, bless!!! Thank you for this wonderful overview!!!
I appreciate this video thank you
Everyone thinks they'll build a rocket-ship to get there when what you actually have to build is a staircase.
Thank you
@@normadaly7506 My pleasure! I had to learn the hard way.
I love this!
Dear Father Peter: To the typical person from the Heterodox, this is like teaching QED to elementary students-very advanced, and difficult to understand. Our priest, or spiritual father, can tutor us in the development of the spiritual life very slowly, without lots of vain glory and pride. I don’t think I can learn it on my own, only with help from a spiritual father.
Unless you are exceptionally lucky you have no choice but to learn it on your own in the sense of not having a spiritual father. The mass secularization of the free world has made it extremely difficult to find a spiritual father compared to the days when there was a monastery outside every city.
However, not having a spiritual father doesn't mean you learn alone. Orthodoxy is about being a part of the body of Christ and you should have a parish community to learn with even if you haven't yet developed a one-on-one relationship with a spiritual father.
Broadness vs Narrowness makes me think of the splinter vs the plank in my neighbor's eye vs mine. My axe is broad and ready to chop my neighbor's splinter but narrow and never splits my plank.
Thank you for everything Father. Would you mind telling me the chant in the beginning?
Makarismi - Vatopedi Monastery: th-cam.com/video/tn90lDhBElw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=5laEkSjrMInms9aH
I’d like to know how to convert when a spouse isn’t interested. Looks like there’s resistance and it’s adamant. My part is to pray and grow in my faith, but how do I honor our marriage while having to go to a different church altogether and observe different traditions? We also have young children. Thankfully they are in the Christian faith.
You may have to be patient more than others.
You may have to pray much more than others, in their relationship, for the sake of your spouse.
You yourself have been allowed this by God for it is for your salvation. You will be enriched and purified through this struggle to be loving, patient, kind, etc.
She will need to see your love of Christ grow, your long-suffering multiply, your care for her be more manifest.
There may be a secret insecurity, a jealously, an anger lurking within her, a fear that she will lose something -- you, perhaps, or freedom, or even God! - if she allows herself to be open to this and follow her husband.
Go deeper in every way you can -- even if it is not the ideal or best catechumenate/period of instruction/purification/initiation.
In the ancient church it took 3 years. Take your time -- but do not stop progressing. Do not stop moving forward to Christ in the Mysteries. Just don't push it, but pray for discernment and wait on God.
Fr Heers is right. I left a well known controversial “church” after 40+ years to become an Orthodox Christian. Not easy as my husband of 44 years was not for it to say the least. It hasn’t been easy and I put up with his “snarky” comments but, my life is so much deeper and richer. I simply work hard to show Christ like love for my husband and pray often for his heart to soften and open.
My husband hated my conversion at first. He didn’t even like the sight of me wearing a veil. We had arguments and occasionally still do. The times when I’m quiet are the times he becomes most interested 😂So I just try to be a good example. This year he started coming with me to church! He comes every Sunday now. It can be a slow process, but I stay hopeful ❤
Yep, when I was a member of a parish in the OCA, it was recommended to only confess 4 times per year.
Sad
I’ve been to other OCA churches where they take communion every time and don’t need to do fasting and confession beforehand. I asked one of the priests why and he said well, he thinks people refrain from taking communion if the rules are too strict.
@@millier.206 Wow...
Did I ear "we cant trust Christ directly" at min @11:30 ?
1:56:00- It's ok.
What book is being referenced around the 37 minute mark? I have been listening, but I am also working and may have missed it. Thanks!
There aren't a lot of church options near me. The closest is Orthodox Coptic, would it be acceptable for me to visit there?
The Coptic church isn’t actually orthodox, they were anathematised in the 400s or 300s I don’t exactly remember. The most common Eastern Orthodox church’s would be Greek Russian Antiochian Serbian or an OCA church. Use the website orthodoxyinamerica.org to find a proper Orthodox Church around you
Can we have a pdf of this? Where can i find it
55:25 I recently realized that judas seems to embody the faith of many heterodox people, judas must have done everything the apostles did, because even the apostles couldnt tell on the surface who was the betrayer. It is even more of a highlight of the noose of an individual
I don't want to overstep, I've stayed for the entire service before but I didn't know I shouldn't. At what point in the service should I vacate? Since I'm only an inquirer
After the Sermon (after the Gospel reading).
Go out for a bit and come back at the end.
It is good to connect with people there.
@@OrthodoxEthos thank you!
Can the spiritual father be of a different jurisdiction?
Yes
@@OrthodoxEthos being ROCOR I cud have Greek OC ? Thank you
Wouldn’t it be a natural role of the Parish priest to be that spiritual Fr? Why/How would you “pick” another? If another, then what to do when that spiritual father gives guidance that may contradict the priest in some way? Who trumps whom? Or am I elevating the role of one these two too much?
It would be practically ideal . It would be a welcomed development for that reason. And yet, we don’t see this imposed or required in the Orthodox Church. The nature of the relationship is that it has to be freely chosen.
It's no use trying to move around and find the right priest, parish, etc, in most cases you'll just wreck your life and end up depressed
The real thing is very hard to find nowadays
Bigger things are happening behind the scenes and will soon come to light, things are a lot worse than what we currently know right now regarding the total condition of the Church
The bible says a time will come when the faithful/saints are given over to the antichrists power, and instructions are given as to how we / they ought to live - it is very similar to the days of the early Church under the pagan imperium, if we emulate the Holy people of those times it makes being in these times much simpler. I wouldn't say easier, but simpler...
Nowadays I am more of the inclination of the desert fathers, just give up trying to engage with modern mankind and retreat so you don't lose your soul, be in a position where you can manage your inner war against the passions which often requires us to embrace exile
Of course the Church instructs us to have zeal, to speak up when the Faith is in peril, but these are circumstantial rules, we are now in the exceptional days, the late days, which require us to "enter the catacombs" i.e. to avoid the world and go deep into the spiritual heart
All this stress about I need the sacraments, I need frequent liturgical activities, all that is dangled over us as bait but in most places we won't be allowed it by the pharisaic clergy, we shall be joined to Christ rather via persecution and martyrdom like the thief on the Cross and early Christians and this is allowed or excepted by God
His hand is on the gate of mercy ready to shut it for good and we are among the last to slip through thanks to the endless intercessions of His mother and all the saints
From the elementary perspective these claims may sound absurd but nobody sees on the level how bad things have really become at the higher levels in the Church
Satan is 99.9999 percent ready right now to release his son upon this world, that is why it has been spiralling down in to unprecedented turmoil in the last 50 odd years and especially the last 5 odd years - again, this is practically unnoticeable for those who are living in a slumber / stupor lacking spiritual sobriety - and yes we can say it has always since the early Church been "really bad" but it's now really really bad
Thank you. I'm new
@@normadaly7506 I advise to follow what father said about finding a spiritual father, preparing for a holistic repentance per the commandments, all of that, but sometimes it is just an inescapable dynamic that one cannot find a good spiritual father or even a priest who will do the right thing according to tradition. In particular Australia is super lax and secularised, even much of the Serb and rocor, and their presence is actually super low here compared to say Anglicans, catholics, etc. All over the world this is going on. Not only is that going on, but then there is a direct animosity toward converts who want to do the right thing, I have heard of people being barred from parishes because they stood firm in wanting to be recieved by baptism and not just chrismation-only. Apostasy and ostracization of the traditional folks is nothing new though, in the bolshevik era in Russia it was very very widespread, they even converted some parishes into public toilets and would throw monks and priests off the top of buildings and shoot them and all kinds of horrors like today's times in Ukraine. The whole world will get like that again eventually. Anyway that's my input, some will say just have automatic obedience to whoever, they will answer for any mistakes that occur, but in my opinion that's anti patristic and also spiritually suicidal.
This is very true. I feel something quite genuine about what you have written. I’m interested what you mean by the state of the church?
@@ICONFESSONEBAPTISMyes, I’m in Australia too. Difficult. Probably time to leave?
@@honeymilk4160 I suggest to listen to talk 82 and 83 from father kosmas (Orthodox talks, TH-cam channel), and some other talks he has done regarding heresy, blasphemy, etc.
So I have to be baptized and/or chrysmated in the Orthodox Chruch to have the Holy Spirit dwell in me?
Before I answer that, do you believe there is one holy Catholic apostolic Church? And that it is identifiable, concrete, in time and space just as our Lord walked in this earth?
“We can’t trust Christ directly”. Is that what I heard?
He’s say we can’t trust ourselves to have full knowledge of God, of Christ directly. We must come to know Him in the gospels and in the experience of the apostles and their successors.
No.
Indeed, trust in CHRIST is the basis FOR EVERYTHING.
It has been about a year since this live stream, but I think I meant to say there are people who struggle with trusting Christ directly. And so God assists us through and in others, especially those who are most close to him.
@@pah9730If we can't trust the Lord, will we be able to trust those closest to Him, Father? How is that possible?
Hard to think that, apart from the Orthodox church, if one hears the gospel and repents and lives for Christ that, that person would not be grafted into the True vine.
How?
@OrthodoxEthos is that your position? Perhaps I misunderstood. The Gospel is to repent and believe in Christ. If one genuinely does those things, but never makes it to an "Orthodox" church. Does this mean they don't have the salvation of Jesus Christ? With respect, I enjoy your videos.
Good question.
@@Chrsi-o5osomeone outside the church could be saved IF God decides it so, and at that point it would be based on their knowledge of the truth. Whether they knew about orthodoxy or not or other things I don’t know, I’m not God of course. But there is no salvation outside the church, but we won’t ever say you are going to hell, I don’t even know if I will or not when I die so I won’t know what happens to you when you die. But from what I’ve heard if you are out the church and die you would probably be judged on your knowledge of the Truth (the Church). A Protestant that fully knows about Orthodoxy would be judged different from a tribesman that never even heard the gospel. I hope this helps you understand (do fact check my statement though, I may be wrong on our position)
Why focus on someone who hasn’t been canonized when there are the writings of so many saints and fathers?
Were we focusing on him or using his insights and teachings -- which reflect the whole wisdom of the Tradition and witness of the Saints?
Why background music must be so much louder than the speech.? It is so annoying.
There is no music in the background on this video.
@@OrthodoxEthos Oh... forgive me... at the beginning and end of the video.
@@johnnyd2383 I enjoy & love the music
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware?
What about him?
maybe orthos don't need a magesterium, but, heck, they cannot even produce their own English translation of the New Testament!
Ever heard of the Orthodox Study Bible?
@@iguessihaveyoutube8911 The NT in the Orthodox Study Bible is the NKJV.