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Intro Thread for Orthodox Catechumens

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Christos_NIKA

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Don't be shy about asking questions or sharing concerns. We're here to help as best we can.

I'll start off this sub-forum with a softball topic, that is commonly referred to by those newly on the path to Orthodoxy. Maybe it will spark some discussion.

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I was made a catechumen two weeks ago today. Ever since it feels like my passions have been running wild. I was not in full control of them before by any means, but it feels so much more intense ever since Father prayed over me. I struggle immensely with same-sex attraction and this last two weeks have been a nightmare, but thank God I didn't actually follow through with it with anyone.

Is this normal? I was hopeful that the prayers would help but it almost feels like it angered something.
 
benjamin said:
I was made a catechumen two weeks ago today. Ever since it feels like my passions have been running wild. I was not in full control of them before by any means, but it feels so much more intense ever since Father prayed over me. I struggle immensely with same-sex attraction and this last two weeks have been a nightmare, but thank God I didn't actually follow through with it with anyone.

Is this normal? I was hopeful that the prayers would help but it almost feels like it angered something.
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The enemy leaves people who are far from Christ alone for the most part, because he already has them. When you start to make an effort to grow closer to Christ you will notice spiritual warfare, and it will vary in intensity over time.

Do not fear, the Lord never will permit something that is beyond your capacity. It can be hard at times but it is the fire that purifies the gold. Do not lose heart, God is with you.
 
I visited a monastery earlier this year for the first time. Another visitor who was staying in the same dorm with me -- he a baptized Orthodox of a few years; me a recent catechumen -- and when we got to chatting, he told me that this catechumenate period would be very difficult and filled with temptations, including second guessing yourself. I really appreciated his -- quite stern -- words of warning and have come to appreciate their truth.

Also this this, during Lent, which was my first Lent as a catechumen, I promised myself to attend more services during that period. The very first morning of the first week of Lent, I attended a matins at our church. A few minutes into the service, I felt serious pain in my gut, and it got to the point where I could no longer stand. I sat for a while and it did not improve, and I eventually had to leave church, in a sweat with my heart pounding.

Anyway, my point is that spiritual, and even physical, attacks will be part of this process.

The demons tempt and trying to wrest even the greatest saints away from glory even up to the very end, as depicted in The Ladder. This reality is even depicted in the Orthodox cross itself.

Keep fighting, keep struggling, say the Jesus Prayer, ask for the intercessions of the Theotokos (I understand she is of particular help to those suffering from lust), focus on your eternal soul and not on transitory satisfaction of desires.

"The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Orthodox interpret that verse to mean we must struggle and fight for entry to God's kingdom.
 

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I inquired for a year, then COVID, then it took about 9 months for my wife and me for baptism on The Theophany.

Id reccomendation the book as a good primer before your first confession.

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Jeremiah Branch said:
"The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Orthodox interpret that verse to mean we must struggle and fight for entry to God's kingdom.
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Indeed. It's not uniform though, by which I mean that varied temptations will come and go with varying intensities over time. In the midst of one temptation it can seem like it will bear down on you for the rest of your life. On a day you do not expect it will subside and you may have a longer period of peace. You will then think you're in a better place and a new passion will assail you, or an old one will revisit you. Such is the spiritual life. The struggles are usually intensified during fasting periods, visits to monasteries, critical moments in life (decisions relating to marriage or monasticism or the choice of a spiritual father), when we try to help others who are weighed down by passions (and therefore take on a share of their burden) etc. I don't have personal experience of being assailed whilst being a catechumen (given I was baptised as a baby) but its absolutely to be expected for those approaching the Church as adults.
 
Unending Powerhouse Match said:
After quite some time as an inquirer, I have finally begun the process of becoming a catechumen. The priest has explained many things to me, but I would also like to ask you guys if there is anything I should know. What is the process like to become a catechumen and then receive chrismation? Any common mistakes I should avoid as a former RoCath?
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It varies a lot. Ultimately it doesn't end at chrismation either. You will continue to learn as you develop in the Orthodox church. Probably you will be introduced to the Orthodox life and given some material to read or classes that will take you through the basics, the things you need to know and be comfortable accepting before being recieved.

One thing that sometimes comes up is Catholic converts desiring to confess in the RC church before their reception into Orthodoxy. The reality of this is, if you are willing to entertain doing so in a serious manner, you aren't ready for Orthodoxy. You should of course watch yourself and make note of things so you can make a full confession of your sins before receiving communion in the Orthodox church, but if you hold to the idea that there is validity in the RC sacraments then you probably aren't ready, although that is not to say there is something wrong if you become tempted by this. Just know it's not an impulse to follow if you are set on being Orthodox.
 
Since becoming a catechuman over a year ago I must say it has been a time of hell, but Im very glad and blessed to be going through this process, I have gone through a lot of suffering, trials and temptations, some of the things I go through and encounter are really unbelievable, like even right now Im facing a possible divorce, loosing our house, my wife not having any sex with me, sometimes not even having enough petrol or money to be able to go to church which is a very starange thing Iv never experienced this, last week I was basically on reserves and just decided to go to church anyway and worry about how I would get home anyway, Im fixing my bicycle so next time I can just ride to church even though its 30km away, it is a tough time but as Im learning this pain and suffering is good for me and is helping me pray from the heart and forces me to take my faith very serious, Im hoping to get baptized this year if my priest says so, iv been doing just about all the fasts etc, everytime I do fasts iv noticed persecutions come my way
 
GoodShepherd said:
Since becoming a catechuman over a year ago I must say it has been a time of hell, but Im very glad and blessed to be going through this process, I have gone through a lot of suffering, trials and temptations, some of the things I go through and encounter are really unbelievable, like even right now Im facing a possible divorce, loosing our house, my wife not having any sex with me, sometimes not even having enough petrol or money to be able to go to church which is a very starange thing Iv never experienced this, last week I was basically on reserves and just decided to go to church anyway and worry about how I would get home anyway, Im fixing my bicycle so next time I can just ride to church even though its 30km away, it is a tough time but as Im learning this pain and suffering is good for me and is helping me pray from the heart and forces me to take my faith very serious, Im hoping to get baptized this year if my priest says so, iv been doing just about all the fasts etc, everytime I do fasts iv noticed persecutions come my way
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Take it in stride brother.

It's always when we are closed to God that The Devil comes knocking.
 
GoodShepherd said:
My priest gave me a book by saint silouan about keeping your mind in hell and dispair not, i think thats been helping haha
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I assume you're referring to St Silouan the Athonite - that book is gold. St Silouan is beautiful example of a saint who was almost completely unknown and hidden from the world in his life time. Praise the Lord for revealing him to us. There was one time around a decade ago that I was undergoing relatively severe temptations. I remember sitting in a Serbian lawyer's office whilst he was speaking about some fairly inconsequential legal matter. I was being assailed by thoughts of despondency and wasn't really listening to anything he had to say. I'd read the book St Silouan the Athonite not long before that and the particular citation that kept returning to my mind was "keep thy mind in Hell and despair not". At that point it did feel like I was experiencing a foretaste of hell and so I struggled to put into practice what I'd read. I had meant attend Vespers that evening but the lawyer kept me longer than I had anticipated. By the time I reached the nearest church the service was already over and there was noone else around. Given I was already there I decided to head over to the church bookshop. As soon as I opened the door there was one new publication that was prominently displayed above the counter and facing the entrance. I recognised the face of St Silouan on the cover. I took a closer look at the title and was greeted by the words "Keep thy mind in Hell and despair not". A Serbian publisher had, unknown to me at the time, decided to put out a Serbian-language book about St Silouan and had chosen that particular citation as the title. The Lord sends us what we need at the appropriate times, ours is to despair not.
 
GoodShepherd said:
Since becoming a catechuman over a year ago I must say it has been a time of hell, but Im very glad and blessed to be going through this process, I have gone through a lot of suffering, trials and temptations, some of the things I go through and encounter are really unbelievable, like even right now Im facing a possible divorce, loosing our house, my wife not having any sex with me, sometimes not even having enough petrol or money to be able to go to church which is a very starange thing Iv never experienced this, last week I was basically on reserves and just decided to go to church anyway and worry about how I would get home anyway, Im fixing my bicycle so next time I can just ride to church even though its 30km away, it is a tough time but as Im learning this pain and suffering is good for me and is helping me pray from the heart and forces me to take my faith very serious, Im hoping to get baptized this year if my priest says so, iv been doing just about all the fasts etc, everytime I do fasts iv noticed persecutions come my way
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About the "delete" above. I was reformulating what I was saying and didn't do it in time.

I relate with your struggles although I'm still more distant than you in my approach to the Orthodox Church. And actually, if I'm honest, I'm still in the mode of fearing what you describe. Are you in the US or Western Europe? I'm in the US and I'm realizing that quite a bit of what we take for granted and basically take comfort in (culture-wise and society-wise) needs to be shed in some way. My wife and I love history and traveling (mostly in western Europe) and fell in love with aspects of the Catholic Church and its deep culture. We nearly became Catholic and it would have been great for us socially as there are so many people in those churches (and we have lots of Catholic friends with big beautiful families, and our extended family is Catholic). But, it's getting easier now to see what is dysfunctional in our culture, and, seeing the root of it. Of course everyone here knows how deep this goes but it's a revelation for those of us in a culture we just assumed was "standard" for everyone. Simply realizing the dysfunction hidden in so much (and so deep into cultural history) of what I enjoy, take comfort in, and aspire to, is painful.
 
Northumber said:
About the "delete" above. I was reformulating what I was saying and didn't do it in time.

I relate with your struggles although I'm still more distant than you in my approach to the Orthodox Church. And actually, if I'm honest, I'm still in the mode of fearing what you describe. Are you in the US or Western Europe? I'm in the US and I'm realizing that quite a bit of what we take for granted and basically take comfort in (culture-wise and society-wise) needs to be shed in some way. My wife and I love history and traveling (mostly in western Europe) and fell in love with aspects of the Catholic Church and its deep culture. We nearly became Catholic and it would have been great for us socially as there are so many people in those churches (and we have lots of Catholic friends with big beautiful families, and our extended family is Catholic). But, it's getting easier now to see what is dysfunctional in our culture, and, seeing the root of it. Of course everyone here knows how deep this goes but it's a revelation for those of us in a culture we just assumed was "standard" for everyone. Simply realizing the dysfunction hidden in so much (and so deep into cultural history) of what I enjoy, take comfort in, and aspire to, is painful.
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Im in South Africa, but just because Im going through this I dont know if everyone goes through this but I know thay you will go through some testing thats for sure, as father Josiah Trenham says that Catechumans go through extreme demonic attack, so about the Roman Catholic thing I dont think its a good idea to join them just because its convenient to you guys and your family, you join a church because of Christ and truth, for example, when I found out about Orthodoxy I realized theres only 1 church and I wasnt part of that church so thats one of the many reasons I converted, look whats happening with the pope for example he just basically blessed same sex couple, a sin, how can you bless sin?
 
OrthoSerb said:
I assume you're referring to St Silouan the Athonite - that book is gold. St Silouan is beautiful example of a saint who was almost completely unknown and hidden from the world in his life time. Praise the Lord for revealing him to us. There was one time around a decade ago that I was undergoing relatively severe temptations. I remember sitting in a Serbian lawyer's office whilst he was speaking about some fairly inconsequential legal matter. I was being assailed by thoughts of despondency and wasn't really listening to anything he had to say. I'd read the book St Silouan the Athonite not long before that and the particular citation that kept returning to my mind was "keep thy mind in Hell and despair not". At that point it did feel like I was experiencing a foretaste of hell and so I struggled to put into practice what I'd read. I had meant attend Vespers that evening but the lawyer kept me longer than I had anticipated. By the time I reached the nearest church the service was already over and there was noone else around. Given I was already there I decided to head over to the church bookshop. As soon as I opened the door there was one new publication that was prominently displayed above the counter and facing the entrance. I recognised the face of St Silouan on the cover. I took a closer look at the title and was greeted by the words "Keep thy mind in Hell and despair not". A Serbian publisher had, unknown to me at the time, decided to put out a Serbian-language book about St Silouan and had chosen that particular citation as the title. The Lord sends us what we need at the appropriate times, ours is to despair not.
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Thats the book, yes Im going through that same thing now it is good advice, it also talks about the humble road we got to take, like going down the same way Christ did and hitting rock bottom, there are so many temptations and comforts around us trying to pull us away, one thing about me personally is when things get bad for me I turn to God and want to go to church more than ever, whats really helped me is also having a prayer corner in my garage thats where I go when things are bad and I have my candles, prayer book, incense and I do my prayers there.
 
Okay, I'm adding St Silouan the Athonite to my list. I've been stunned so far at the wisdom of these recent Saints. They are particularly insightful (and prophetic) at getting directly to the root of what is happening now with wokeism/covidism/modern-christianity/new age/modern-technology/etc.
 
What is the Orthodox view on Lectio Divina? It's slow, contemplative, scriptural reading and prayer common to monastics in the Roman Catholic Church. But I'm seeing now there doesn't seem to be much mention of it within the Orthodox Church. I believe it was St. Benedict who developed it.
 
Northumber said:
What is the Orthodox view on Lectio Divina? It's slow, contemplative, scriptural reading and prayer common to monastics in the Roman Catholic Church. But I'm seeing now there doesn't seem to be much mention of it within the Orthodox Church. I believe it was St. Benedict who developed it.
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Its not something I've heard of, but Saint Benedict is an Orthodox Saint. My suggestion would be to talk to a priest, rather than just going out on your own and doing this. And if you are going to undertake it, with a blessing, do not learn the practise from post schism Roman Catholic sources, because it's liable to have devolved.

Because it is something uncommon in Orthodoxy it might be tempting to put it into YouTube and listen to a bunch of contemporary Roman Catholic people talk about it and how to practise it. But you should not do this because all kinds of nonsense may have become involved in the Roman Catholic practise since Saint Benedict.

Definitely something to ask your priest about though.
 
Lawrence87 said:
Definitely something to ask your priest about though.
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I need to find a priest. I'm currently hesitant with a church that is nearer me (1hr away) because I thought the priest was weak on the covidism question. There is another church (1.5 hrs away) where I know the priest is solid. It's no excuse either way, I realize this.

I'm chuckling a bit because most my questions are answered as: "ask your priest". I actually really appreciate this. Most things I ruminate about are probably meant for the real world. It's actually a good thing, I think, that these types of questions aren't just a matter of looking up some list of bylaws, or studying a deep theology, or researching on the internet. They are real questions for the real world where we meet the real person of Christ.

It's all going to come to this, eventually, I feel. We are going to have to go back to the real world. This is a nice haven for now though. I appreciate your answers.
 
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