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Yesterday morning, in the presence of a great many of my brother priests from the Western American Diocese of ROCOR, I was ordained to the priesthood by His Grace Bishop Irenei with His Grace Bishop Theodosiy also serving the liturgy. It was a wonderful day, and perhaps what struck me most was...

My wife, Elizabeth, suddenly developed a really bad fever and chills last night with a terrible pain in her rib. We took her to the ER this morning, and they say she has pneumonia. They are deciding what to do with her, but have put her on strong pain meds and anti nausea drugs. I'm obviously...

I am about to start my last semester of the Pastoral School of the Diocese of Chicago and the Midwest (ROCOR). I am working on my Practicum and my Thesis. With 3 children and work, I have very little spare time for reading that isn't better used for my Thesis. That being said, before graduation...

I don't post here much anymore, but would really appreciate your prayers. I've been having problems with abdominal pains off and on for almost a decade, but it got much worse around Thanksgiving. Long story short, I had my gallbladder removed yesterday and while the procedure went well, I'm...

This morning my priest asked me to do catechesis for someone new at our parish as part of my diaconal duties. So I have a few questions for the people here if anyone is willing to help me out. What things were most helpful in your catechesis? What things made your journey more difficult...

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I believe that in the coming months the Church will be needing more prayers than usual because of a few recent developments. The first is that my wife and I are expecting a baby in March! While this is wonderful news for my wife and I, it comes with a...

A forest fire has forced the evacuation of the Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner in Goldendale, WA. There are about 20 sisters there. I just heard from a friend that apparently the fire has reached the cemetery. My wife has been visiting them for years, and has brought me there a couple...

My wife and I just returned from the emergency room. We were expecting our first child in September, but have had a miscarriage. Our hearts are broken. We weren't far enough along to know whether it was a boy or a girl, but we had nicknamed the baby "Uncle Ben" several weeks ago after reading in...

Hi everybody! I haven't been contributing much lately. I've been busy moving across the country, getting married, settling in, and working hard. One of the things that I have been doing is getting my icon website moved into the 21st century. My sister designed a new site for me, and between my...

Christ is Risen! It's been a while since I've really spent a lot of time here. My life has gotten very busy the last few months. I recently got engaged to a woman that I met through Orthodox Circle. She lives in Boise Idaho, and after considering a number of different factors, I have decided to...

This icon was a commission that I finished recently. It is an icon that represents the Church, with Christ at the rudder of the Church. Most of it was taken from a drawing in the Pedalion (Rudder) which is the book of canon law. The priest who had commissioned it asked for St. Nicodemus of the...

I just heard that a childhood friend of mine died. We used to be altar boys together. He stopped coming to church a while back, but his mom still comes and brings his kids to church with her. His name is Dan, and I'm sure that he and his mom, his wife, his kids, and his sister could all use your...

Please pray for a friend of mine who was sent to the hospital with abdominal pain for testing. I would really appreciate all your prayers, and I'm sure his family would as well. Thanks.

This past weekend, my church, St. Michael's Antiochian Church in Greensburg PA hosted an Outreach event. We had Paul Finley, who is the executive director of Antiochian Village come and talk about icons. The talk, Icons... not Idols, was wonderful. It is a great introduction to why the Orthodox...

So just a bit of background first. Me and my brother and my sisters were all baptized and raised Orthodox. I think in large part because of family problems that had to do with religion, I'm the only one left that regularly attends church anymore, and two of my siblings have forsaken Christianity...

OK so as I mentioned in another thread, I'm making up a brochure for my church to hand out to visitors. I have to get it done today so that I can take it to the printers. We need it done soon because Fr. Peter Gillquist is coming to our parish in a little over 2 weeks time to talk to our...

My best friend called me tonight to ask me to pray for his 3 year old niece who is in the hospital with pneumonia. He was in tears because he's worried about her and doesn't feel like he knows how to pray himself, and worries that God won't hear his prayers. I would appreciate it if all of you...

I got this invitation through LinkedIn earlier today, and was startled by my button choices. It seems there is something nefarious going on here. I have blanked out a bunch of stuff in order to keep some things private. Or I suppose it could just be a case where they should rewrite their...

I just found out that my grandfather passed away this morning. He was 91 years old and had been in hospice care for a while, so it wasn't really surprising news, but he has had many medical issues over the last ten years, and amazingly managed to recover time and again. I guess it was foolish to...

So we're having a short meeting at my church tomorrow to discuss ways of reaching out to the community, and spreading the Gospel. I am planning on going to the meeting, and have some ideas already, but I am curious about what kinds of things the people here think would be helpful. For those of...