Mary

[rnmomof7]

Not to be contradictory, but the idea behind the Jesus Prayer on the Prayer Rope and the Rosary are 2 different things. The Rosary is a whole series of prayers which are designed to meditate on the Theotokus (Mary) while the idea of praying the Jesus Prayer on the Prayer Rope is to pray the prayer incessantly so as to form a constant prayer of the heart. This is called hesychism. The Prayer Rope is merely there to keep your mind focused on the praying.

Good distinctive . I would be very comfortable with the prayer rope . That is a very eastern tradition, we often see muslims with a rope with knots "praying" . To be focused on Christ is a comfortable thought for me.

I have also stood during the service and observed one member greeting another in a kneeling position touching their forehead to the floor .

I do have a problem accepting that anyone beside Christ was sinless. (Especially Job:>)
It would seem to me that if one was sinless they need no salvation from sin.
The curses are temporal and with us till death.
So we do part here .

Thanks to all that took time to clarify some foggy areas for me .

My time in the Serbian Orthodox church was a blessed time. I love the traditions and the friendliness of the people is to be well noted.
The EO stand as a bridge between the Roman church and the Reformation church , so I am always thrilled to learn a bit . The EO is probably the closest in tradition to the church at the time of the split.

BTW I am also touched by the faith of the young people posting here.

We can agree to disagree on some doctrine , but we can all pray "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

I am going to visit the provided links

Thanks to all

 

[Oblio]

I do have a problem accepting that anyone beside Christ was sinless. (Especially Job:>)
It would seem to me that if one was sinless they need no salvation from sin.
The curses are temporal and with us till death.
So we do part here .

I'm not quite sure that that EO have a dogma of the sinlessness of the Theotokos. Aside: you will notice in my posts elsewhere that I try to post hypothetically

We do not see physical death as a temporal judgment of an individual sin, but rather as a gracious release from the inevitable and endless corruption that we would be doomed to endure in this fallen world. Death results from and is a consequence of our separation from the giver of Life not as a divine punishment meeted out on a personal basis.

Additionally we make a distinction from personally sinning, and having the nature, living separated from God, to sin. So even if one was sinless, one would still have that nature, and still be separated from God. Salvation, of which our Christian life is a journey towards, restores that relationship.

 

[Spence06]

Do any orthodox believe in any of the apparations of Mary such as Fatima or Lourdes?

 

[katherine2001]

Orthodox tend to be very wary of visions or any of that type of thing. If such a thing happens, we are taught to talk to our spiritual father as soon as possible. We are certainly taught not to act on something that we have seen in a vision before talking to him. We are taught that Satan can appear as an angel of light and that not all visions are from God. In fact, there is a good possibility that they may not be from God.