Conversion and Chrismation names

[ArmyMatt]

I meant that i am against the blessing of small firearms and military equipment. The people should be blessed, not the guns. I am not advocating any aggressor and everyone should protect themselves of course. The problem is that almost always both sides claim they are waging wars in the name of god and often some nations tend to attack others as a "preemptive strike" which is completely wrong. This why i said that the weapons are not our sword against anti-christian enemy, but Christ is. Once again if someone wants to take your life,faith or freedom you must defend it by any way possible.

I think you can bless a weapon itself if the prayer is that it be only used when needed, that it be used to protect life, etc.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

My rifles were built with the holy touch of Mikhael Kalashnakov! Lol

 

[Orthodoxjay1]

My rifles were built with the holy touch of Mikhael Kalashnakov! Lol

Michael Klasahnakov pray for us! How has it been brother? I been so busy being a altar boy I lost touch with TAW completely.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

And I've been too busy being a reader!

I've been fine, man. Three-week vacation is coming to an end. Back to work tomorrow!

Michael Klasahnakov pray for us! How has it been brother? I been so busy being a altar boy I lost touch with TAW completely.

 

[Orthodoxjay1]

And I've been too busy being a reader!

I've been fine, man. Three-week vacation is coming to an end. Back to work tomorrow!

Yes your a reader, it funny the service for the eve of theophany was something for us, our chanters were down, and out, so I had to fill in, I go straight to reader tone for a lot of it, then Father reminded me not to do that, lol

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

These calendars, I swear. Theophany isn't here for us yet. You're in the Greek Church, right? Man, I wish we were all singing the same tune at the same time!

Reading is more of a science in Orthodoxy than anywhere else. Getting into that apostol and finding the correct readings isn't exactly a no-brainer! Father still schools me from time to time!

Yes your a reader, it funny the service for the eve of theophany was something for us, our chanters were down, and out, so I had to fill in, I go straight to reader tone for a lot of it, then Father reminded me not to do that, lol

 

[~Anastasia~]

I know. Right now I'm wishing there was an Old Calendar parish around. I "feel like" I'm running on that time, actually. I'd be there for the feasts, if there was one close enough! (There's probably a slightly closer parish, but the closest one I know of is about an 11 hour drive with no stops!)

 

[Orthodoxjay1]

These calendars, I swear. Theophany isn't here for us yet. You're in the Greek Church, right? Man, I wish we were all singing the same tune at the same time!

Reading is more of a science in Orthodoxy than anywhere else. Getting into that apostol and finding the correct readings isn't exactly a no-brainer! Father still schools me from time to time!

Yes I am in the Greek Church, don't ever let the Greeks know that Byzantine Greek Chant isn't the best in Orthodoxy, or you prefer Slavonic chanting

Yes it would be preferable if we were all on the same Calendar, visiting other parishes get confusing during fasting lol

 

[Bessie]

I actually agree with you, but neither my first nor middle names are Christian names since such things were not on my parents' minds.

I didn't think there were any saints with my given name (it isn't Bessie), but my priest did a little research and found *two*!! I asked him about it and he said, "Well, it isn't in English, but yes it is a Latin variant of your name." The catch, for me, was that they were both male. He gave me the option of choosing a female saint whose name had a similar meaning to my own, or choosing a male patron. There is nothing that says the sex has to match. I chose the male saint whose feast day is closest to my birthday. I felt pretty strongly that if there were saints with my name it made no sense to pick some other name.

 

[ZaidaBoBaida]

I was told I had to pick a female saint!

 

[All4Christ]

I was told I had to pick a female saint!

Me too

 

[~Anastasia~]

The expectation was that I would have a female Saint. (I didn't choose my name, my godfamily did.)

It seems to be a (small-t) tradition.

But when I looked into it, just for the purposes of studying, I found there have been exceptions when people will sometimes have a Saint of the opposite sex. It's rare though, I'm given to understand?

 

[ArmyMatt]

But when I looked into it, just for the purposes of studying, I found there have been exceptions when people will sometimes have a Saint of the opposite sex. It's rare though, I'm given to understand?

I think so, especially if that saint's name can have a form that is found in the other gender. like my friend Sheena, whose patron is one of the St. Johns. Sheena being the feminine form of Sean (John)

 

[All4Christ]

Generally speaking, my priest encourages using a saint with the same name, but exceptions were made when someone had a great affinity for a different saint, or a saint that was key in their journey to Orthodoxy. That said, that only applied to converts coming into the Church.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

All chanting is beautiful, powerful, and well-pleasing to the Lord for sure, but I'm with you in just sound---Slavic chant kicks butt!

Yes I am in the Greek Church, don't ever let the Greeks know that Byzantine Greek Chant isn't the best in Orthodoxy, or you prefer Slavonic chanting

Yes it would be preferable if we were all on the same Calendar, visiting other parishes get confusing during fasting lol

 

[All4Christ]

All chanting is beautiful, powerful, and well-pleasing to the Lord for sure, but I'm with you in just sound---Slavic chant kicks butt!

I love a beautiful choir, but I have to say, Kievan chant, especially with 2-4 voices, is beautiful!

Stupid autocorrect!! I have to type the words like Kievan about 5 times to get it to stop! Why is Kieran anymore common than Kievan?

 

[~Anastasia~]

I love a beautiful choir, but I have to say, Kievan chant, especially with 2-4 voices, is beautiful!

Stupid autocorrect!! I have to type the words like Kievan about 5 times to get it to stop! Why is Kieran anymore common than Kievan?

I'm going to have to listen to more kinds of chant than I'm currently familiar with. Our main chanter is from Greece, trained there, VERY good, and when he is there, we are hearing it like they do in Greece. I'm very comfortable with that now, but in the beginning I could barely pick out any words sometimes.

And autocorrect - ahhhhh! Someone PLEASE tell my devices that I usually DO mean more and for just AS I TYPED IT and NOT to change them to mire and fir! (LOL, THAT time it changed fir to for! I see, it just assumes I always get it wrong!?!?!) It is forever changing out have and gave, and nearly always makes has into gas. Such sommon words, ugh! And I DO usually mean God, not "a god" as it often changes. I thought these things were supposed to be "smart" ... smart-aleky maybe, lol!

Then again, maybe SIRI is behind it all. She's given me some pretty smart-alecky replies lately too, lol.

 

[Bessie]

I think so, especially if that saint's name can have a form that is found in the other gender. like my friend Sheena, whose patron is one of the St. Johns. Sheena being the feminine form of Sean (John)

You guys made me question the sequence of events that led to my having a male patron and I went digging through old emails. I guess I'm about to reveal my actual first name.... below is the actual email my priest sent on the subject. He presented it as a pretty straightforward choice, I actually didn't know it was controversial until reading replies just now!

"Ok - so there are two Kelsey's - both male. Both martyrs. One is from Egypt, martyred under Diocletian (Comm Jan 8), the other , martyred by Nero in Mediolanus. (comm Oct 14) You can choose one of them - Patron saints do not HAVE to be the same gender as the believer.

Otherwise you could have:
Callisthenia righteous of Thrakes (comm Oct 4)
Callista martyr of Caesare in Cappadocia (comm Feb 6) OR martyr of Nicomedia (comm Sept 1)
Kyra (venerable mother of Syria (comm Oct 28)
and so forth.

If none of these appeal to you, we can discuss tonight."

 

[~Anastasia~]

I think you are fine. It was with your priest's guidance, and what he said bears out what I've seen - patron Saints do not HAVE to be the same sex as the person. It sounds like he wanted to encourage you to keep your name, since it was a Christian one. That is ALSO a tradition. I wouldn't worry about it?

As for me, I've developed special affinities for several other Saints that had nothing to do with my baptismal name. That's pretty common too.

But if I were to EVER be tonsured a nun (about as likely as an ice cube surviving all day on the sidewalk in Phoenix Az in the summer, but the only way I'd ever get "another" name) I know now what I would want it to be. But it's no big deal.

 

[Bessie]

I think you are fine. It was with your priest's guidance, and what he said bears out what I've seen - patron Saints do not HAVE to be the same sex as the person. It sounds like he wanted to encourage you to keep your name, since it was a Christian one. That is ALSO a tradition. I wouldn't worry about it?

As for me, I've developed special affinities for several other Saints that had nothing to do with my baptismal name. That's pretty common too.

But if I were to EVER be tonsured a nun (about as likely as an ice cube surviving all day on the sidewalk in Phoenix Az in the summer, but the only way I'd ever get "another" name) I know now what I would want it to be. But it's no big deal.

I'm not worried, I was just interested after several people chimed in that they were told the opposite!