Sooooooo question:

A priest in my diocese, (Fr. Kenneth Ellis) told me that he met a girl I talk to online. So I’m just assuming that it’s from Tumblr.

I’m horrible at knowing where my followers are from, but who was iiiiiiit? I think it’s super cool when I know people in real life that my Tumblr friends know. I have an inkling, but I don’t want to send someone a message and have them be like “Um, no. I live in Michigan.” or something like that hah.

So send me a message and let me know who you are! <3

Orthodox Tag!

Taken from OrthodoxProbs

 

1) How long have you been Orthodox?

2) What “kind” of Orthodox are you? (ex: Greek, Russian, Antiochian, etc)

3) What’s your favorite service?

4) What’s the hardest thing for you about being Orthodox?

5) How big is your parish?

6) What’s your favorite lenten food?

7) Every been to church camp?

8) What in Orthodoxy makes you happiest?

9) Describe the best retreat/church camp/conference you’ve been to

10) If you’re not married, would you marry someone who’s not Orthodox? If you are married, is your spouse Orthodox?

11) Patron Saint?

12) Are you a convert? If so, why did you decide to convert?

13) Where you live, roughly how many people are Orthodox?

14) Are you close to your godparents? 

15) Favorite service in Holy Week?

16) Favorite part of Pascha?

17) Favorite feast day?

18) Best thing about Orthodoxy?

19) What’s a good story that has something to do with church?

  • David: So I'm thinking you're the next to youngest?
  • Me: ...are you messing with me?
  • David: What? No.
  • Me: We had a conversation last night...
  • David: Wait. Are YOU messing with ME?
  • Me: No!
  • David: No way are you... What?
  • Me: You were SO CONFIDENT of which sister I was when talking to me last night.
  • David: Your hair was in a bun last night, and now it's down. I'm so sorry, Rachel.
  • Random Guy: Hey David. This your girlfriend? Wife?
  • David: What is going on?!
  • Me: That's a no.
  • David: Life tip - eventually every time you stand next to and have a conversation with someone of the opposite sex, people will think you're dating.
  • Me: I'm already there.
  • David: Oh, the lives of PKs...

Car Accident on Route 219 in Johnstown

This is the car that my family friend, Fr. Michael Rosco was driving on Friday. He is truly lucky and blessed to be alive after the accident. Reports are saying that he drove down the grassy area to enter Route 219, entered the southbound side, and his car struck another vehicle and then the median. The impact flipped his vehicle and he landed on the northbound side of Route 219.

One of my friends actually drove by the accident on her way home, but had no idea that Fr. Michael was the one driving the car.

He is still in the ICU at the hospital, though he is in stable condition. Surgery was performed this morning to stabilize the vertebrae in his back. In addition to broken vertebrae, he had a punctured lung and a concussion. Since arriving, his wife has not left the hospital.

I greatly appreciate anyone who has been keeping the Rosco family in your thoughts, and would greatly appreciate if you would continue to pray for Fr. Michael’s recovery, as well as for strength for their family.

Thank you all!

prayer request

Anyone out there who can spare some prayers or good vibes or whatever you think is best, I’d appreciate if you could direct them toward Fr. Michael Rosco. He was involved in a serious car accident while leaving Johnstown, PA to return home to NJ.
Please keep his family, Pani Susan and their son Vlad in your thoughts as well.
Thank you all!

Listen, lady…

I know they don’t LOOK all that purple, but these altar linens are PURPLE.

They’re faded because they’re old, but THEY ARE PURPLE.

STOP TELLING ME THEY’RE NOT PURPLE.

I KNOW THESE THINGS.

ALSO, listen to the instructions. We go over this EVERY. HOLY. THURSDAY. The white linens get velcro-ed and then the black linens get pinned on top of them. So that we can just remove the pins during Saturday Matins WITHOUT MOVING THE GLASS.

WHY IS THIS ALWAYS SUCH A PRODUCTION?!?

I JUST WANT TO BASK IN THE GLOW OF THE 12 PASSION GOSPELS, BUT CHURCH LADIES DON’T WANT TO LISTEN.

If need be, my mother, THE PANI will come out and reiterate ALL OF THE THINGS I HAVE JUST SAID TO YOU.

Suggestions wanted!

In relation to my last post, I’m currently seeking suggestions or ideas for books. I own some C.S. Lewis books, but would be interested in reading about the lives of Saints or Iconography or really anything to do with the church.

I’d love it if you’d share your favorite book with me, or just suggest one that you think might be a good read during the Lenten Season.

So do you have a recommendation for a good book dealing with Orthodox Christianity?

And it’s now the second week of Lent…

As an Orthodox Christian, I began the Lenten Fast one week ago, on March 18th. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Easter (or Pascha) falls on May 5th this year.

During Lent, my family always abstains from meat. This is something that I grew up doing, so it’s just a natural process for me now. (Side note: I was a vegetarian for about two years during high school. Even though I haven’t been one for years, I feel like I’m fasting more often than not, so it would probably be pretty easy to slip back into being a vegetarian again. However, I LOVE, a perfectly grilled piece of chicken. Yum.)

Anyway, I try to look at Lent through a few different lenses.

1) Lent is a time to abstain:

I try to use Lent as an opportunity to cut out things that I know I shouldn’t be doing/consuming. Last year for Lent, I gave up soda. By the end of the Lenten fast, I didn’t even crave it anymore. Every once in awhile I’ll have a Dr. Pepper, but besides the Ginger Ale I’ll sip on when I feel nauseous, I really don’t drink soda anymore.

So what am I doing this year? Well, I’m trying to cut out the excessive snacking. I’m a grazer. Most days, lunch is the only solid meal I get. I usually grab something on my way out the door in the morning for work, eat whatever I packed the night before at lunch, and then eat some semblance of dinner. With my internship as an ASM, dinner tends to happen late, and as a result, it’s usually not a full dinner. My problem is that I’ll say, “Well, I didn’t really have dinner” and proceed to snack on everything in the house. And most of the time, I’m not even hungry. So I’m trying to be more mindful of what I eat, and am cutting back on the snacking.

I am also trying to cut back on my gluten intake. This is for a more health-related reason, but I figure that Lent is as good a time as any to start trying to institute these healthy habits.

2) Lent is a time to improve:

During the Lenten season, I feel blessed that I am able to become more introspective. I always try to make sure that I don’t just look at Lent as the time when I’m a vegetarian for a few weeks. And that I don’t drink soda, or eat sweets, or whatever added abstention I have that particular year. I also try to use it as a time to grow and improve myself.

So this year? I’m trying to keep with the theme of taking care of myself and being more health conscious. If you know me or have read my texts posts before (and if you have, bless your heart) you’ll know that I have a decent amount of health problems. I’ve struggled with eating issues for a large portion of my life, but this is something that I’ve become much better at handling as I’ve grown up. However, I was diagnosed with chronic migraine by the time I was 13, have a heart condition known as supraventricular tachycardia, am prone to kidney stones, and have a recurring problem with my left knee and ITB.

I also tend to fall into the unfortunate habit of saying that I’m going to start doing something (bike 3 times a week. stretch everyday. lift weights 2 times a week.) and then don’t follow through. This Lenten season, I’m trying to improve myself by honoring the body that God has given me. I may have medical problems, but if I take better care of myself, the severity of those issues may lessen. God has blessed me with a body that works, a heart that beats, and a brain that is capable of extraordinary things. I want to honor that by being more conscious of what I’m putting into my body and how I’m caring for it.

So I will make the declaration that I’m going to stretch every day. No, I didn’t do this during the first week of Lent, but the great thing about Lent is that you can always add things in as you go along. God knows the intentions of your heart and never needs an explanation.

I also know that I need to exercise in other forms on a regular basis, so this is something else that I hope to do during the Lenten season. I know that I need to make concrete goals when it comes to this, but I don’t think that’s necessarily something I need to divulge at this moment (or in this medium. or that anyone would even be particularly interested in).

Another motivating factor in this is that I’m going to be participating in a Musical Theatre intensive for two weeks this summer. I need to take care of myself in order to be the best that I can at that intensive.

3) Lent is a time for spiritual growth:

I know that this is kind of the most obvious one. I do find, though, that I kind of rest on my laurels when it comes to this, and that’s just not acceptable. I’ve realized that with my internship, it’s going to be impossible for me to attend Wednesday & Friday night services for the next two weeks (And I won’t be able to go to a Friday service until April 26th.) I’m going to be missing my parish’s Lenten Mission, which is the Canon of Repentance.

It’s only one week in, and I’ve found that I severely miss those services. Therefore, I need to do something in their place. I have a collection of C.S. Lewis books that I haven’t read. I want to be able to contemplate my religion and be more confident in it. So I’m going to combine some of my Lenten goals here and try to utilize the wonder of audiobooks. I can listen to a C.S. Lewis book or another book on Orthodoxy or the church while I’m stretching or biking or on the elliptical.

(It’s almost a metaphor for how the mind, body, and soul are connected. I can exercise all of them at once.)

4) Lent is a time for hard work and dedicating yourself to something:

I took piano lessons for about three years when I was in middle school. However, before that point, I was self taught. My oldest sister taught me how to read notes and locate them on the piano, and I just kind of took it from there. I took music theory in high school, and passed my AP Music Theory Exam my senior year. I love music.

Sadly, I kind of fell off the wagon with that. I have a keyboard sitting in my room that I bought. It’s still in the box. I just never had the time to set it up and really put myself to the test.

I should also note that the reason I stopped taking lessons was that I injured my left wrist during a softball game. This injury made it difficult for me to play the piano, and because I was so busy with other things in high school and never fully rehabbed my wrist, I stopped taking lessons. I can still read music, and am decent at sight reading things, but I never fully gave myself a chance at being great at the piano.

So I want to make the effort to do my Hanon exercises. They’re a building block and something that I need to be able to do so that I can start to play more again. Hanon exercises require discipline and I will have to commit myself to running drills each day.

Dedicating myself to this will also create less time for me to waste watching mindless television or doing other things that aren’t fulfilling.

5) Lent is about others:

Once again, this is a kind of biggie.

I know that many other of my lenses were kind of, well, selfish. They were about improving myself and taking care of myself. Me. Me. Me.

Although I do believe that you have to take care of yourself in order to take care of others, I think that there is always something you can be doing for another person. I’m going to dedicate more time to helping people out. I know that I don’t have the time right now to volunteer anywhere or do anything like that, but I will do what I can.

My local Jr. ACRY chapter is going to be making butter lambs to sell in order to raise money for our National Lenten Mission Project. (As a National Organization, they raise money for St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a part of our diocese - even though it’s in Canada.) I also hope to organize something with the members of my local chapter - hopefully both the Jrs. AND the Srs. - to volunteer some time or organize a fundraiser for a local charity. I think it’s important that we give back.

(I should note that I’m the National Sr. ACRY Vice President, which makes me the National Advisor to the Jr. ACRY. I’m also an officer in my local Sr. ACRY, and am our local chapter advisor. I promise there’s a point to this hah)

I do want to make an effort to personally give back though. I want to do some random acts of kindness and try to brighten the days of others. I think that it feeds the human soul to do good works for others.

So, these are my goals. They may seem kind of scattered and all over the place, but in my mind, everything connects. There’s a reason for everything, and I feel like Lent is the time to commit yourself to being a better person, not only for yourself, but for those around you.

I wish you all a blessed Lenten Fast - regardless of whether you’re Western Christian and are currently observing Holy Week, or are Eastern Orthodox and are in the second week of the Great Fast - and hope that you are able to find some way to help yourself feel more connected to the Church and to God during this time.

:)

pedestrian-palamite replied to your post: An Ohio trip and an Orthodoxy variability observation

In my (very limited) experience, the wife of a priest in the OCA is addressed as “Matushka”, like the Russians say. It probably depends a lot on the background of the parish.


Gotcha. I don’t have very much experience with the OCA, so I wasn’t totally sure. I’d guess that, seeing as they came from our diocese, she may have just continued to go by “Pani”. I know two OCA Bishops, but that doesn’t help me in figuring it out haha. She has no problem with me just calling me by her first name (she was one of my older sister’s best friends), so I’ll just continue to do that hahha.

An Ohio trip and an Orthodoxy variability observation

So this Sunday, I attended an OCA church in Ohio because I visited the OSU campus on Saturday. My family friend/as close to being my brother as you can get without actually being my brother or married to one of my sisters (who is a fellow PK… well BK now) is the priest at said OCA church (he left our diocese when his dad was made an OCA Bishop). A friend and I drove out on Friday and stayed with said priest and his family (is she still Pani in the OCA? Do they call them something different? I don’t know. I still have to make a concerted effort to call him “Fr. Matt” instead of just “Matt” all the time, so I certainly just call her by her first name all the time.)

Anyway, during their coffee hour they had REAL cups, so I felt fancy. They were also having a good will offering luncheon for their Scholarship Fund, so they had more than just sweets.

THERE WERE PIROHI.

They were obviously Mrs. T’s, but I was willing to accept it as a sign that this OCA parish is pretty awesome and if I get to go to OSU I’d be happy at said church haha. There are obviously some small differences between the OCA and Carpie liturgy, but there was so much similarity as well. A lot of the choral arrangements were close enough that I was able to follow along. I also didn’t even notice if there were books in the church or not… I was handed a sheet with the Tropar, Kondak, Prokeimenon, and Epistle & Gospel readings printed on it when I walked in. I just followed Jodi up to the front up the church with the kids, so I didn’t even look for books.

I did have a moment during communion though. I was TOTALLY unprepared for the Sub-Deacon holding the cloth to wipe my mouth after I received communion. I also kissed the chalice, which I really never do. I had already made eye contact with Matt… comma Father, and he was holding up the chalice, so I just figured I should go with it.

I do find it kind of funny that, as a religion in America, us Orthodox folk cannot seem to agree on one Communion Prayer. Yes, they all have the same elements to them, and almost all of them start the same way (“I believe O Lord and confess…”) but at some point, there is always some kind of variation. Sometime it’s just that the phrasing is different, sometimes the order of sections are switched around, sometimes whole chunks seem to be missing. For instance, in my tradition, there are two instances in which we make three statements that are each accompanied by either the crossing of oneself, or a touch of a fist to the chest, as if one is beating their breast.

“O Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom

O Master, remember me when you come into your kingdom

O Holy One, remember me when you come into your kingdom”

“O God, be merciful to me a sinner

O God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy upon me

O Lord, forgive me, for my sins are many.”

For me, these are really kind of powerful moments during the communion prayer. I tend to say the prayer with nearly identical inflection as my dad does (which makes sense, as I was raised hearing him say it every Sunday), and his voice always seems to be a bit stronger during these moments. However, these two “passages” (for lack of a better term) were absent from the prayer at the OCA church on Sunday. The first line of one passage was said, so I blessed myself while reciting it and began the next to find that it wasn’t being said. I tried to just continue my prayer in my head, but it was hard to keep track of what was going on.

I’ve been to Liturgies in the Greek tradition as well, and those seem to have a longer prayer than I’m used to. It just seems as if we should have a standardized prayer at this point. Especially when we’re at a point where (hopefully) Pan-Orthodoxy is being encouraged.

None of this took anything away from the Liturgy for me, and I truly enjoy getting to experience the traditions of other cultures. I just find it interesting that sometimes I know exactly what’s going on at one point in a Liturgy and can sing along, but a few moments later, I’m not totally sure where we are (because maybe there’s another Litany that we don’t use in our Liturgy) or am unfamiliar with the hymn.

I was thankful that the choral music used in the OCA church I was at was close enough the choral music we use in our diocese, so I was able to follow along for the most part. There were a few times when I just tried to hum along, and a few smaller differences - maybe a note went down when I’d usually go up - but it’s nice to be able to transplant myself into a church in a different diocese, but still be able to follow along and actively participate in the Liturgy by singing.

Funny enough, during coffee hour, I approached one of the parishioners because she went to the camp of my diocese and was friends with some of my older siblings. It was nice to see her and to hear that she’s hoping to send her own children to the camp she attended and worked at.

Point is, it was a fun weekend catching up with friends and getting to walk around OSU. I just wish their parish wasn’t 9 hours away from my house. It would be so much easier to see them if they were still in our diocese and at a parish in Jersey hahaha.