Questions and Suggestions About Orthodox Christian

Source: Russia Beyond

Are you really curious about the Orthodox Christianity? Yeah, that's a great stuff! I merely understand that in fact you are grown up with western-core Christianity which is dominated by Roman Catholic and Protestant. So, the Orthodox seems may be really strange to you - which is another Christianity branch unheard and invisible. That leads to misleading about the Orthodox Christian which isn't from our source.

Overall, Christians are about to follow Jesus Christ. Simply as who we are and what we believe in. Orthodox is a teaching that draws us to follow Him in His direct teachings that were continued by His Apostles in the first century. We want to try as best as possible to take a bunch of questions that we could explain entirely to you. So, let's go!

• Does Orthodox have seven sacraments?

Yes, we have. We are closer to Roman Catholic which recognises the seven sacraments and as well as the seven councils, except the Oriental Orthodox only recognises three councils. 

• Is Orthodox Christianity the same as Roman Catholicism?

Well, sometimes we are and sometimes we aren't, but we believe that we are the universal catholic because we believe we are the church one, holy, apostolic, and catholic. We built in the first century and have direct Apostle's successions. We also pray for saints and Mary or Theotokos in Orthodox. But things that aren't the same as Roman Catholicism, are purgatory, papacy supremacy, and some other doctrines. Therefore, we believe in what the Apostle taught in the early years - that is unchanged something from 2.000 years ago before the Roman Catholic Church split from us in 1054.

• Is okay that Orthodox Christians listen to pastors and Catholic priests?

Yes, we are okay to listen to their sermons/ homilies, but we definitely only listen to our priests because we are Orthodox which is supposed to only listen to our priests. We respect them because we believe that they are well-educated about their theology degree and ministry. We pray for their ministry. 

• Why there are many Orthodox churches, like Serbia, Russia, and Greece, which isn't like Roman Catholicism only has one jurisdiction which is based in Rome? 

We believe in the multi-patriarchies concept which was established by the Apostles in different regions. They founded early Christianity in Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome, which were part of the oldest churches. Still, some local regions were also founded by the Apostles, which were Damascus, Cyprus, Ethiopia, and Armenia. So, we kept the multi-patriarchies after Rome left us because Rome believes the papacy supremacy who is a human being appointed by the cardinals to lead all churches on this earth - against the Orthodox belief that Jesus Christ himself is only a pope on earth. We are now only the four oldest churches that still exist on this earth. That's why we are called Orthodox because we are from the East. We have EP (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) based in Istanbul, Turkey, and MP (Moscow Patriarchate) in Moscow, Russia - which are the Eastern Orthodox. We are still in communion with each other despite being in different jurisdictions, though we need to tell the priest who leads that church.

• Do you still pray about the reunification church?'

Yes, we still pray, but logically, we know that would take a long and Christ's truthiness must be back to Apostle's teachings, which are only true to Orthodox. I don't believe that others would sacrifice as goes back to unite with us. We believe that Jesus is only coming to reunite us again in the future. That, sense of we are Christians, simply we believe in Trinity and Jesus Christ is the Lord, Savior, and Messiah. 

So, we have concluded the five questions that are hopefully helpful to you! If you want to experience your first liturgy, you can go to a nearby Orthodox church. Some suggestions that can be helpful for your first-ever liturgy experience:

1. Come early and sing the psalms with them ahead of the liturgy begins some minutes. 
2. Ask a favour for someone who is willing to assist you. 
3. Read a liturgy book to follow the entire liturgy.
4. You do not need to kiss the icons. 
5. If you are a woman, put on your veil or mantilla to cover up your head, however, you can take off when you don't think it's good for you. Some Orthodox women rarely cover up with their veils.
6. Be polite and honour each other at the church. 
7. Stand up as long as you are still allowed to because this is Kings of Kings - we have to respect Jesus and priests but, you are unnecessarily worried about that, and we have chairs that you can take up to sit down or just sit down on floors. We have 2-3 hours in Divine Liturgy.
8. Be sure that is a church, not a place for tourists. You need to respect Orthodox Christians who want to pray silently and focus on God. 
9. You aren't allowed to take communion, except if you are Orthodox and ready to take communion. 
10. Have "coffee time" with a priest afterward, the priest will be excited to assist you in discussing Orthodox Christianity. Priests usually would stay at the church afterward to greet the Orthodox Christians. 

So, some suggestions that you can field stuff before going to experience your first-ever liturgy at a nearby Orthodox Church. Highly recommended to attend in Russian or Greek Orthodox Church because the true Orthodox is supposed to be the Eastern and still allegiance to the EP and MP. 

God bless you! Axios! ☦☦☦