I'm Orthodox, ya'll!
It is with great joy that I can say I am officially an Orthodox Christian! I got Chrismated last night along with two of my fellow converts. Chrismation is sort of the Orthodox version of confirmation. They do a short ceremony and we hold candles and read the service and get anointed with holy oil. It was very nice, and I am so happy to be a part of the church that I have grown to truly love after catechism and attending with Aaron for such a long time.
So for those interested in the process of becoming Orthodox, here is the process:
*Attend some services, meet the people, maybe read some books on Orthodoxy
*Convey your interest to the priest at your church, they will meet with you and let you know some basics and what being Orthodox is like, and other theological things
*Attend catechism. Once your priests rounds up some interested parties, you'll meet (ours was weekly for about 3 months) and learn all about the Church and Orthodoxy and what we believe.
*After catechism was done, we were encouraged to get involved - attend bible studies, meet fellow parishioners, join the choir, volunteer in the different ministries they offer.
*Attend church services regularly, for between 6 months to a year
*Get a Sponsor/God parent, pick a patron saint
*Go to confession
*Get Chrismated
Your soul is now saved! ;)
My patron saint I chose is Maria Skobtsova of Paris, for several reasons, some are dumb/silly...
*In Orthodoxy, you celebrate your saint's day, and hers is July 20th. My birthday and Christmas, and future anniversary etc. is all in December/January and I wanted a good reason to celebrate something in the off season
*My middle name is Marie, Maria=Marie, pretty similar
*She lived in Paris, and I totally love French things
*She is a new saint - circa 2004, and I am a new Orthodox Christian
*She seems like she was a really hip lady - she was a poet, into politics and literary circles with intellectuals. She is like my 1920's hero, lol
Ok, now that I am done trying to recruit you all...lol But seriously, if you have any questions or want some suggestions of things to read on the subject, I'd be glad to help (and so would Aaron because he knows a billion times more things about it than me!)
2 comments:
I just recently converted to Catholicism and it seems like you went through a pretty similar process. I had to pick a Saint for myself and everything too. Congratulations!
Thanks, congratulations to you as well :) I converted from Catholocism, but there is a lot of similarity between the two!
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