New catechumen

[ManM]

The Orthodox Church, by Bishop Kallistos Ware, is the de facto standard for Church introductions as far as I know. It is on the web at:

Part 1: Church History
http://www.synaxis.org/sschool/Orthodox_Church.html

Part 2: Faith and Worship
http://www.synaxis.org/sschool/Orthodox_Church_Worship.html

 

[joyfulthanks]

Romanticism is your nemesis.

Could you please elaborate on this?

Thanks,
GraceMercyPeace

 

[Eusebios]

SCOP, many many years to you friend. As others have said, be especially on your guard now having openly declared war on the enemy. The catechumenate is a blessed and yet hazardous time, particularly as you move closer to your reception into Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
As far as reading goes, rely on your priest more than us, he knows where you are at and what your needs are, and the way he'd like to direct you. That is not to say that there aren't some excellent suggestions above! Thanks especially Suz for the wonderful links to St. Nicolai's material, awesome!!
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

 

[gzt]

You've got to keep your expectations real. A lot of people, especially catechumens, fall prey to some Romanticized vision of Orthodoxy and then are shattered when they realize it's false or, never realizing it's false, labor under unfortunate delusions. There are Orthodox Christians who are murderers. A man can be a monk for 60 years and still have a bad temper. A man can be a priest and still lie. A bishop can be a thief. Don't expect the people at your parish to be perfect or even become your friends, you may just not have much in common with them. There was no golden era of the Church, the Roman Emperor reposed five hundred years ago and the last Tsar isn't doing so hot, either. It's foolishness to try to revive them or pretend they're still around. Never presume yourself, especially when you haven't yet even been received into the Church, to be a defender of the Truth [capitalized], battling against the dark enemies of the Faith, as though you knew all the squishy details and history of the Church, especially not on Internet message boards. Don't spend more time reading people who think they are than you spend reading the Gospels. That's what comes to mind when I say to avoid Romanticism.

But here are two articles that are much better:
http://www.tuirgin.com/orthodoxy/articles/types_of_religious_lives.html
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/brorthoc.htm

The second is more to the point for catechumens and those interested in "becoming and remaining an Orthodox Christian", the second touches on some of the faces of Romanticism that I urge you to avoid and is much better overall.

 

[gzt]

And don't expect great heights or exalted feelings or even tears, and if you do receive the comfort of such things, don't confuse these pleasures with God Himself. Most particularly, don't try to manufacture these feelings if you don't have them and don't despair if you don't.

 

[The Virginian]

There's sither on the Antiochian www.Antiochian.org, the Greek www.goarch.org, or the OCA web site, www.oca.org which have a link to the booklets by the Protesbyter Fr. Thomas Hopko, about basic tenets of the Holy Orthodox faith. In addition to those by Bishop Ware The Orthodox Way, and The Orthodox Church, they are extremely valuable.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So that you may know what the will of God is in everything. And that being rooted and grounded in Christ, you may do all good works which He has prepared for you to walk in. So that through the precious and magnificient promises which He has granted by own mighty power, you, through working out your own salvation, may become a partaker, a sharer in His divine nature. To which, may both you and I -a sinful and unworthy servant- by His grace attain.

 

[Marjorie]

gzt,

Your post on the romanticism of Orthodoxy is so true. I romantacized it when I was an inquirer for a few months, and then I came down to earth. And that's when I started loving it.

In IC XC,
Marjorie