Please pray for me

[OuterWater]

I am a mess at the moment, everyone. I feel spiritually homeless and abandoned. My priest has really harmed me emotionally and spiritually. I will not get into specifics here where the whole world can read it, but he said things to me and about me behind my back to my entire parish during his sermon that are not only untrue....but just vindictive and evil. I know priests are people just like the rest of us and people are sinners....but I just can't wrap my mind around my spiritual father acting this way. It's really sundered my faith. I haven't been Orthodox for long, and most of what I have learned about Orthodoxy has come from him....now I feel totally lost. I'm hurting so badly right now. Please pray for me.

 

[Khaleas]

My prayers!!!
((HUGS))

edit. so much for those bugs being fixed.... gotta love that I posted that before the OP did, but I edited it in the future...

 

[jckstraw72]

Lord have mercy!

 

[SaintMarina]

Prayers going up

 

[Nichole]

Prayers for you!

 

[Orthosdoxa]

I'm so sorry. May God have mercy on him, and on you.

If he has acted in a way that is entirely inappropriate, it may be worth a call to the bishop. I don't know enough details to know if that would be right or not, but it's a consideration.

May God use these trials to strengthen your faith and deepen your humility.

 

[Monica child of God 1]

This must be so painful Do you think he would be receptive to discussing the matter with you?

M.

 

[Anhelyna]

Oh dear what a dreadful situation.

Prayers for you just now

Prayers also that things will be sorted out

 

[OuterWater]

This must be so painful Do you think he would be receptive to discussing the matter with you?

M.

I'm afraid it's past that at this point. I've left the parish. I don't want to involve the bishop in this. I just want to move on. Thank you all so much. Your prayers really mean a lot.

 

[Orthosdoxa]

Have you found another parish, or visited any? I hope there is another one near you.

"Bad things" seem to happen during Lent, when we are especially seeking Christ, and the evil one is working overtime to derail us from the goal.

I mention the bishop because if this priest has gone off the deep end, he will hurt others as well. It could end up costing people their souls - it is a very serious and frightening thing, and the call to the bishop would not be for your sake alone. I'm sure you know better if it's worth a call, but just remember if this does not seem like an isolated incident, that the bishop really does need to be involved, even if you just want to move on.

 

[katherine2001]

I am a mess at the moment, everyone. I feel spiritually homeless and abandoned. My priest has really harmed me emotionally and spiritually. I will not get into specifics here where the whole world can read it, but he said things to me and about me behind my back to my entire parish during his sermon that are not only untrue....but just vindictive and evil. I know priests are people just like the rest of us and people are sinners....but I just can't wrap my mind around my spiritual father acting this way. It's really sundered my faith. I haven't been Orthodox for long, and most of what I have learned about Orthodoxy has come from him....now I feel totally lost. I'm hurting so badly right now. Please pray for me.

Did the priest mention you by name? If he didn't, he may not have had you specifically in mind. Maybe a lot of people have talked to him about whatever subject is involved here and he brought it up because of that. There's been many times during my priest's sermons that I could swear that he's talking about me, but I know that he's not. It just shows that many people in the parish must struggle with the same passions that I do! Please, please talk to your priest and get this straightened out.

My prayers are with you, however.

 

[katherine2001]

I'm afraid it's past that at this point. I've left the parish. I don't want to involve the bishop in this. I just want to move on. Thank you all so much. Your prayers really mean a lot.

Are you sure you shouldn't try to talk to him and get this straightened out? If he has offended you, then he needs to know this so that he can ask forgiveness. Instead of having bad feelings, maybe this can be resolved if you talk to him. I think you owe it to both him and yourself.

 

[MariaRegina]

Dear IP,

It is important to contact the Bishop because that priest can contact your new priest if you decide to change parishes.

Let's face it, our world is in a mess today. No matter what church or temple you visit - Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish, you will discover good leaders and bad leaders, wonderful parishioners, and simply awful people.

Yes, I have known a few Orthodox Priests who are not good. One ran off with the Parish Secretary, another one other abused his wife mentally so that she finally divorced him. A third priest did something unmentionable. Then there was the priest who divorced his wife privately and remarried hoping the Bishop would not find out, except that her hair color changed. When the Bishop wondered why he did not recognize her, he asked a few questions, and discovered the deed and promptly defrocked him.

Priests are not perfect. However, if you do not go to the Bishop, then they might continue in their iniquity.

Look into the Serbian Orthodox Church. Many Serbian priests I have met are truly living saints.

My prayers.

 

[OuterWater]

Are you sure you shouldn't try to talk to him and get this straightened out? If he has offended you, then he needs to know this so that he can ask forgiveness. Instead of having bad feelings, maybe this can be resolved if you talk to him. I think you owe it to both him and yourself.

The trouble is that this whole thing is the result of me coming to him, sitting down and having a man-to-man talk, telling him I'm leaving the parish, while taking the high road and thanking him for all of his spiritual guidance and for bringing me into the Orthodox faith. The result was blowing up at me, accusing me of various things of which I am not guilty, and basically telling me not to let the door hit me on the way out...and then ripping me and my girlfriend to pieces at the following liturgy in front of my brothers and sisters in the church. I'm not the first one this has happened to and I won't be the last, but I would also not be the first person to bring this sort of thing to the Bishop's attention, and I saw what happened to the last person after Father found out that he wrote to the bishop about him, and I'm not willing to go through that since nothing is likely to happen anyway.

 

[OuterWater]

The trouble is that this whole thing is the result of me coming to him, sitting down and having a man-to-man talk, telling him I'm leaving the parish, while taking the high road and thanking him for all of his spiritual guidance and for bringing me into the Orthodox faith. The result was blowing up at me, accusing me of various things of which I am not guilty, and basically telling me not to let the door hit me on the way out...and then ripping me and my girlfriend to pieces at the following liturgy in front of my brothers and sisters in the church. I'm not the first one this has happened to and I won't be the last, but I would also not be the first person to bring this sort of thing to the Bishop's attention, and I saw what happened to the last person after Father found out that he wrote to the bishop about him, and I'm not willing to go through that since nothing is likely to happen anyway.

 

[Matrona]

IP, I am so sorry to hear about this, and I will keep you and your girlfriend in my prayers. My PM box is open to you if you need it.

As sorry as I am that this terrible thing was done to you in the middle of Great Lent, next Sunday is the Veneration of the Cross, where we are reminded how to cope with our darkest trials the way Christ did during His Passion: with prayer, and surrender to the will of God. Even our Lord Himself felt as terribly forsaken, lost, and betrayed as you do right now... "For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard."

There is nothing you can do about what the priest has done, but you can help how you react to the situation. If you can pick a time when you are feeling calm, after having prayed about this awful situation, please consider writing a letter to the bishop. Even a priest from another jurisdiction will be able to help you with this.

 

[Philothei]

You are in my prayers. I have no advice, but do find another SF asap...Lord have mercy on you and the priest...

Philothei

 

[hungrytiger]

I'm so sorry.
May the Lord have mercy on you both.

 

[Lukaris]

Lord have mercy.

 

[Chocolatesa]