Ortho Lounge

[Iakobos]

Does anyone have a good link to a resource that gives the daily Scripture reading according to the Orthodox calendar and also names it according to the Church calendar? I.E. 31st week after Pentecost, and so on. I know I could calculate this myself but looking for a quick reference. Or a well-featured online Church calendar in general.

I found these:

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

www.antiochian.org

Scripture Readings

www.oca.org

But I can't easily correlate them with some of my reference books without knowing the week we're in.

 

[Samseau]

Does anyone have a good link to a resource that gives the daily Scripture reading according to the Orthodox calendar and also names it according to the Church calendar? I.E. 31st week after Pentecost, and so on. I know I could calculate this myself but looking for a quick reference. Or a well-featured online Church calendar in general.

I found these:

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

www.antiochian.org

Scripture Readings

www.oca.org

But I can't easily correlate them with some of my reference books without knowing the week we're in.

I think what you need to do is use that online liturgical guide to go to the specific sunday of that week, and you'll get more info about the entire week:

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

www.antiochian.org

You can see from above Jan 26th was the 15th Sunday of Luke, for example.

 

[budoslavic]

Does anyone have a good link to a resource that gives the daily Scripture reading according to the Orthodox calendar and also names it according to the Church calendar? I.E. 31st week after Pentecost, and so on. I know I could calculate this myself but looking for a quick reference. Or a well-featured online Church calendar in general.

I found these:

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

www.antiochian.org

Scripture Readings

www.oca.org

But I can't easily correlate them with some of my reference books without knowing the week we're in.

Bear in mind it depends on whether if a church follows Gregorian Calendar or Julian Calendar.

Typically, most Orthodox Churches follow the Julian Calendar (aka "Old Calendar"). An example of daily scripture readings under the "Old Calendar" format:

Orthodox Calendar. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, a parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow

As you can see, it follows the Julian Calendar as well as it shows the corresponding dates of the Gregorian Calendar for easy reference.

 

[KulturedKaveman]

Word is that the supposed 2025 Pascha union between Orthodox and Catholics won't be happening at all this year.

Partially because of ill health, but, also, neither side could agree whether to hold the Pascha in Orthodox territory or Catholic territory.

As usual, the "false union 2025" was just more doom mongering from the right inside of the Orthosphere. Doom mongers are almost always wrong.

I’m probably going to get downvoted but I wouldn’t be against it. As long as orthodoxy can keeps its theology. I’d like to see a formal statement of communion saying “this is my body” and Catholics and Orthodox can commune at each others churches. The theology behind the sacrament I’ve come to understand is very similar. Our disputes are on other things.

 

[Lawrence87]

Word is that the supposed 2025 Pascha union between Orthodox and Catholics won't be happening at all this year.

Partially because of Pope Francis' ill health, but, also, neither side could agree whether to hold the Pascha in Orthodox territory or Catholic territory.

As usual, the "false union 2025" was just more doom mongering from the right inside of the Orthosphere. Doom mongers are almost always wrong.

I think it was prudent to keep an eye on things that indicated a move in that direction, but yes people tended to take things are run with them.

Also talking about stuff doesn't do much if anything. We all have intercessory prayers for the whole church in our prayer books, prayers that include all of our hierachs and ask for preservation from attacks and heresy etc. If everyone who complains about ecumenism on X every day were to read those intercessions instead it might have some impact.

Its a slight tangent, but I think Facebook rebranding to Meta makes sense because the internet tends people towards meta behaviour. What I mean is that Facebook is meta-life: people aren't living their lives they are just talking about it. The same applies to a lot of the Orthodox stuff that goes on online, it's meta-Orthodoxy. Its people talking about Orthodoxy without necessarily living it.

Calling a papist a heretic on X is easy and meaningless in equal measure. And I recognise the irony in my complaining about it online, so I am saying it to myself as much as anyone. Talking is easy. Doomsaying is easy

 

[Giordano Bruno]

Word is that the supposed 2025 Pascha union between Orthodox and Catholics won't be happening at all this year.

Partially because of Pope Francis' ill health, but, also, neither side could agree whether to hold the Pascha in Orthodox territory or Catholic territory.

As usual, the "false union 2025" was just more doom mongering from the right inside of the Orthosphere. Doom mongers are almost always wrong.

On that topic, my Russian friend sent me this.

 

[KulturedKaveman]

On that topic, my Russian friend sent me this.
View attachment 18281

This feels very Protestant tbh. I feel like a lot of converts, at least in my country, don’t check in their Anglo Saxon / evangelical baggage at the door. I see them as our western siblings that decided to keep having councils. And those extra councils got them living in an “expanded universe” so to speak. Filioque, Padre Pio, treasury of merits, requiring celibacy vs seeing it as a unique calling, etc. I do like some of the Marian visions. Especially “Russia will reaccept the Church and will be a focal point in the return of the faith.” Living in 2025 be like that. Our Lady of Fatima never specified the Catholic Church. As we watch traditionally Catholic countries like here in the US secularize, Russias going the other way.

 

[Iakobos]

The Roman church is clearly working with NWO/globohomo/Jews and promoting perennialism. I don't see how unification is possible given that circumstance. Of course not all Catholics are in on it and many if not most practice Christianity better than I do, I have no doubt. But their leadership is corrupt, which might not be such an issue if they didn't put such importance on centralized church leadership, i.e. one of the main reasons for the schism.

 

[Giordano Bruno]

Me: Cries in religious confusion.

Jesus:

Mark 10:18​

18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

 

[Unending Powerhouse Match]

Are we supposed to always wear our baptismal crosses even when sleeping? My priest said to always wear it, and I kind of assumed that "always" meant during my sleep too, and perhaps especially during my sleep since my understanding is that you're more vulnerable to demonic influence in your sleep. But then, I always sleep on my side, and when I do, the cross always somehow ends up under my armpit, which feels to me like it's wildly disrespectful to the Holy Cross.

 

[tikkasakko]

Bear in mind it depends on whether if a church follows Gregorian Calendar or Julian Calendar.

Typically, most Orthodox Churches follow the Julian Calendar (aka "Old Calendar"). An example of daily scripture readings under the "Old Calendar" format:

Orthodox Calendar. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, a parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow

As you can see, it follows the Julian Calendar as well as it shows the corresponding dates of the Gregorian Calendar for easy reference.

Yes this. You can download the app as well. Excellent calendar!

 

[Samseau]

ascetic | Etymology of ascetic by etymonline

"practicing rigorous self-denial as a religious exercise," from Latinized form of Greek… See origin and meaning of ascetic.

www.etymonline.com

​

ascetic (adj.)​

1640s, "practicing rigorous self-denial as a religious exercise," from Latinized form of Greek asketikos "rigorously self-disciplined, laborious," from asketēs "monk, hermit," earlier "skilled worker, one who practices an art or trade," especially "athlete, one in training for the arena," from askein "to exercise, train," especially "to train for athletic competition, practice gymnastics, exercise," perhaps originally "to fashion material, embellish or refine material."

The Greek word was applied by the stoics to the controlling of the appetites and passions as the path to virtue and was picked up from them by the early Christians.

----

The above is relevant for Lent and fasting in general... Asceticism's root word is in the same as Athlete. It's a form of training, except fasting is not to train one's body but one's soul. And like training one's body, it's done with routine effort throughout the year with periodic breaks. Just as it's not a big deal if one misses a day of gym, it's not a big deal if one misses a day of fasting (there will be more!). What's important is the effort to train as much as possible as often as possible.

The same way one produces a strong body through athletic practices, one too will produce a strong soul through ascetic practices!

 

[Lawrence87]

ascetic | Etymology of ascetic by etymonline

"practicing rigorous self-denial as a religious exercise," from Latinized form of Greek… See origin and meaning of ascetic.

www.etymonline.com

​

ascetic (adj.)​

1640s, "practicing rigorous self-denial as a religious exercise," from Latinized form of Greek asketikos "rigorously self-disciplined, laborious," from asketēs "monk, hermit," earlier "skilled worker, one who practices an art or trade," especially "athlete, one in training for the arena," from askein "to exercise, train," especially "to train for athletic competition, practice gymnastics, exercise," perhaps originally "to fashion material, embellish or refine material."

The Greek word was applied by the stoics to the controlling of the appetites and passions as the path to virtue and was picked up from them by the early Christians.

----

The above is relevant for Lent and fasting in general... Asceticism's root word is in the same as Athlete. It's a form of training, except fasting is not to train one's body but one's soul. And like training one's body, it's done with routine effort throughout the year with periodic breaks. Just as it's not a big deal if one misses a day of gym, it's not a big deal if one misses a day of fasting (there will be more!). What's important is the effort to train as much as possible as often as possible.

The same way one produces a strong body through athletic practices, one too will produce a strong soul through ascetic practices!

I was describing the purpose of fasting to my (non Orthodox) friend recently, I said that there is a lot to be said for willingly embracing discomfort, because life will throw discomfort at you anyway. If you can become resilient to it through asceticism then you are not just going to be buffered around by the tides of life quite so much. I was, of course, trying to frame it in a way that he would understand it better leaning a bit more heavily on the pragmatism, but I think there is a lot to be said for this.

Through the embrace of discomfort we learn to be content in any situation. I think there is a call for asceticism even in the secular manosphere type circles. People getting into ice baths and all that kind of thing. The thing that the church adds is asceticism as the Body of Christ. Everyone fasts together, rather than some dude waking up at 4am to get in an ice bath to be macho on his own. You are doing it in a mystical fashion as a part of the Church, which gives support, it gives 2000 years of collective wisdom, and it is bolstered by the Mystery of Holy Communion.

 

[SeekingGod]

What are some members thoughts on Father Seraphim Rose and his student Heiromonk Damascene? I am currently reading a book titled, Christ and the Eternal Tao. I am finding conflicting views from Christians on the study and influence of eastern philosophy and religions. It ranges from it being valuable to our salvation to it being a demonic trap.

 

[Iakobos]

What are some members thoughts on Father Seraphim Rose and his student Heiromonk Damascene? I am currently reading a book titled, Christ and the Eternal Tao. I am finding conflicting views from Christians on the study and influence of eastern philosophy and religions. It ranges from it being valuable to our salvation to it being a demonic trap.

Fr. Seraphim Rose is brilliant and more or less venerated as a saint among Orthodox in my area. I have found everything I've read by him to contain keen insight on the modern era as well as devoted obedience to the Church Fathers. Have you read Orthodoxy & the Religion of the Future? If not I'd look into that based on your interests.

The completeness of the truth is only found in Christ and His Church but there is a long-held concept of "spermatikos logos" or "the seed of the truth" being present across humanity, given that the race of men originally were close to God and even countless generations of paganism can't erase the truth entirely. God is evident from creation and his Law is written in our hearts. So that is to say, other traditions *can* contain truth and play a role in pointing the way to Christ although they are not comprehensive or without errors in any case. That's when they're at their best; at their worst they are indeed demonic: yoga, mantra meditation etc, plus Buddhism's focus on emptying oneself can be an all-too-potent coping mechanism for suffering... numbing a person to the need for Christ and even potentially allowing demons in once they are emptied spiritually.

FWIW, I am a former atheist who had a very negative view of Christianity in the past, I self-studied Buddhism and Taoism for quite a while and found a degree of wisdom there, particularly the latter. What's fascinating is that Christ says "I am the Way" and the "Tao" is translated as "way" or "path." I made that connection with the help of the book you are citing, which blew my mind and made me rethink my whole view of Christ. I then went to study Scripture with the same fair-mindedness that I studied the Eastern literature and it was like reading it with eyes open for the first time.

Since becoming Orthodox, the guidance I have received from those my spiritual seniors is that, once you recognize Christ as the truth, it makes little sense to study an imperfect grasping after the truth such as these eastern religions rather than Christian/Orthodox materials. And certainly one should not attempt to bring pagan practices into Orthodox practice. But sympathy for the seed of the truth in non-Christian traditions is a respectful way of building bridges to help others understand Christ, this for example is how the Russian missionaries converted the natives of Alaska.

I do keep a copy of the Tao Te Ching around, many quotes in that book are word-for-word the same as parts of the Gospels which is pretty amazing to me.

 

[SeekingGod]

Fr. Seraphim Rose is brilliant and more or less venerated as a saint among Orthodox in my area. I have found everything I've read by him to contain keen insight on the modern era as well as devoted obedience to the Church Fathers. Have you read Orthodoxy & the Religion of the Future? If not I'd look into that based on your interests.

The completeness of the truth is only found in Christ and His Church but there is a long-held concept of "spermatikos logos" or "the seed of the truth" being present across humanity, given that the race of men originally were close to God and even countless generations of paganism can't erase the truth entirely. God is evident from creation and his Law is written in our hearts. So that is to say, other traditions *can* contain truth and play a role in pointing the way to Christ although they are not comprehensive or without errors in any case. That's when they're at their best; at their worst they are indeed demonic: yoga, mantra meditation etc, plus Buddhism's focus on emptying oneself can be an all-too-potent coping mechanism for suffering... numbing a person to the need for Christ and even potentially allowing demons in once they are emptied spiritually.

FWIW, I am a former atheist who had a very negative view of Christianity in the past, I self-studied Buddhism and Taoism for quite a while and found a degree of wisdom there, particularly the latter. What's fascinating is that Christ says "I am the Way" and the "Tao" is translated as "way" or "path." I made that connection with the help of the book you are citing, which blew my mind and made me rethink my whole view of Christ. I then went to study Scripture with the same fair-mindedness that I studied the Eastern literature and it was like reading it with eyes open for the first time.

Since becoming Orthodox, the guidance I have received from those my spiritual seniors is that, once you recognize Christ as the truth, it makes little sense to study an imperfect grasping after the truth such as these eastern religions rather than Christian/Orthodox materials. And certainly one should not attempt to bring pagan practices into Orthodox practice. But sympathy for the seed of the truth in non-Christian traditions is a respectful way of building bridges to help others understand Christ, this for example is how the Russian missionaries converted the natives of Alaska.

I do keep a copy of the Tao Te Ching around, many quotes in that book are word-for-word the same as parts of the Gospels which is pretty amazing to me.

I also see parallels which is part of the reason I brought up the topic. During my upbringing in RC, I always felt something was missing. RC is very intellectual and rationality based probably stemming from Aquinas, but deep faith, prayer, and connection to God go beyond human reason. I went deep into eastern religions and found quite profound knowledge, mainly in their systematic way of managing emotional states through meditative practices. Something as a society we never learn, and RC never taught me either.

During my formative years I was confused as to why Catholics in my community would put up a front, but then bash each other or go off on tirades outside of church. My family being one clear example. Clearly, their emotions were not under any control, and while we can use the saying the church is a hospital not a law court, when someone is having emotional outbursts or continuing to sin for 20, 30 years, we can conclude that they have not changed or do not want to change. The church had failed them. This is like a drug addict or whore claiming it is a phase and they are sorry yet still snorting, injecting, or continuing to whore. There was no remorse or fear of God that I saw from certain people. To an addict or even a normal person, priests making statements like just keep praying! It’s fine! Do nothing to break the negative patterns.

Then there is the ‘do not judge others, but focus only on your own spiritual journey.’ While I agree with this, it’s a cope because it’s told to you partly for you to turn a blind eye to the continual sin with no improvement from the Catholics around you. In any job, if you are continuing to fail and don’t improve you will be fired. Yet, many Catholics seemed to have lived sinful lives for 20, 30, or more years, and then we are told that’s just who they are. It’s a cruel joke. If the point of the faith is theosis and becoming more Christ-like, but the community is becoming more Satan-like, the methodology is a failure, not pragmatic, or not taught correctly.

So something was missing and I found out later that meditative practices to develop concentration and emotional regulation were a big part of the Christian tradition, but were lost. There was Saint Teresa of Avila, who had her prayer of quiet, which is similar to mindfulness and focusing on the moment to calm the mind and reach the source God. Then there is Saint John of the Cross, a carmelite with his mystic ladder. So these practices had much in common with meditative states and purification of the soul. They taught emotional regulation, and spontaneously made you more pure.

 

[Samseau]

I also see parallels which is part of the reason I brought up the topic. During my upbringing in RC, I always felt something was missing. RC is very intellectual and rationality based probably stemming from Aquinas, but deep faith, prayer, and connection to God go beyond human reason. I went deep into eastern religions and found quite profound knowledge, mainly in their systematic way of managing emotional states through meditative practices. Something as a society we never learn, and RC never taught me either.

During my formative years I was confused as to why Catholics in my community would put up a front, but then bash each other or go off on tirades outside of church. My family being one clear example. Clearly, their emotions were not under any control, and while we can use the saying the church is a hospital not a law court, when someone is having emotional outbursts or continuing to sin for 20, 30 years, we can conclude that they have not changed or do not want to change. The church had failed them. This is like a drug addict or whore claiming it is a phase and they are sorry yet still snorting, injecting, or continuing to whore. There was no remorse or fear of God that I saw from certain people. To an addict or even a normal person, priests making statements like just keep praying! It’s fine! Do nothing to break the negative patterns.

Then there is the ‘do not judge others, but focus only on your own spiritual journey.’ While I agree with this, it’s a cope because it’s told to you partly for you to turn a blind eye to the continual sin with no improvement from the Catholics around you. In any job, if you are continuing to fail and don’t improve you will be fired. Yet, many Catholics seemed to have lived sinful lives for 20, 30, or more years, and then we are told that’s just who they are. It’s a cruel joke. If the point of the faith is theosis and becoming more Christ-like, but the community is becoming more Satan-like, the methodology is a failure, not pragmatic, or not taught correctly.

So something was missing and I found out later that meditative practices to develop concentration and emotional regulation were a big part of the Christian tradition, but were lost. There was Saint Teresa of Avila, who had her prayer of quiet, which is similar to mindfulness and focusing on the moment to calm the mind and reach the source God. Then there is Saint John of the Cross, a carmelite with his mystic ladder. So these practices had much in common with meditative states and purification of the soul. They taught emotional regulation, and spontaneously made you more pure.

Are you Orthodox? You sound Orthodox. Why don't you have a tag? How do you have permissions to post in here without the tag? Great post btw.

 

[SeekingGod]

Are you Orthodox? You sound Orthodox. Why don't you have a tag? How do you have permissions to post in here without the tag? Great post btw.

I am not Orthodox, I am RC. I have visited Orthodox communities and go to Orthodox churches often, but have not been baptized in the Orthodox church. I may pursue catechumenship in the future. I do not know regarding the site structure or posting rules. I posted in this thread because my original question had to do with two Orthodox monks and a book written by one, so this thread seemed most appropriate.

 

[Iakobos]

I also see parallels which is part of the reason I brought up the topic. During my upbringing in RC, I always felt something was missing. RC is very intellectual and rationality based probably stemming from Aquinas, but deep faith, prayer, and connection to God go beyond human reason. I went deep into eastern religions and found quite profound knowledge, mainly in their systematic way of managing emotional states through meditative practices. Something as a society we never learn, and RC never taught me either.

So something was missing and I found out later that meditative practices to develop concentration and emotional regulation were a big part of the Christian tradition, but were lost. There was Saint Teresa of Avila, who had her prayer of quiet, which is similar to mindfulness and focusing on the moment to calm the mind and reach the source God. Then there is Saint John of the Cross, a carmelite with his mystic ladder. So these practices had much in common with meditative states and purification of the soul. They taught emotional regulation, and spontaneously made you more pure.

Orthodoxy preserves this through the tradition of hesychasm & the Philokalia which you may want to look into if you're not familiar. However I've been advised that these types of meditative prayer practices should only be pursued with the blessing and guidance of an Orthodox spiritual elder as there is danger of prelest or delusion when taken on independently (and from our perspective some of the Catholic mystics certainly fall into this category).

I can relate to something being "missing," as a child I spent time in protestant services & Sundays chools but their worldview was flimsily justified even to my child's eyes, and of course as an outsider there are many clear issues with the Roman church. When I read up on history I found it pretty hard to justify the path of the Roman Church up to and after the Schism.

 

[SeekingGod]

Orthodoxy preserves this through the tradition of hesychasm & the Philokalia which you may want to look into if you're not familiar. However I've been advised that these types of meditative prayer practices should only be pursued with the blessing and guidance of an Orthodox spiritual elder as there is danger of prelest or delusion when taken on independently (and from our perspective some of the Catholic mystics certainly fall into this category).

Yes there should be caution. If you read accounts of some Buddhist monks and even Catholic mystics like Saint John of the cross, they mention entering other realms during altered states. These realms can be populated with demons, beasts, and other entities. At best it’s a distraction from salvation and God since people can become addicted to any supposed powers they gain, like telepathy, bilocation, etc. At worst it opens them up to demonic influence and possession.

I can relate to something being "missing," as a child I spent time in protestant services & Sundays schools but their worldview was flimsily justified even to my child's eyes, and of course as an outsider there are many clear issues with the Roman church. When I read up on history I found it pretty hard to justify the path of the Roman Church up to and after the Schism.

Yes, it seems common. Then clergy wonder why most people leave the church.