My Russian Orthodox dilemma

[Priest Antonios]

сынок,

Welcome to the e-cafe. We will be praying for you and your search.

In Christ,
Dcn Antonios

[сынок]

Welcome to E Cafe сынок!

I think you will find a lot of folks in True Orthodoxy who are anti-Communist. After all, wasn't it the Communists who actively persecuted Orthdoox Christians and brutally executed millions of Orthodox faithful, including bishops, priests, deacons, monastics, faithful, and even the royal family? When we look at the current MP, there are serious questions, among them: Why was a Stalinist calendar published by the MP press?
Look into the ROAC, RTOC, and ROCA.
If you do not already have access to the Intra-TOC Polemics forum, please PM Dr. Jonathan Gress (jgress). There you can read about the different jurisdictions and ask questions about their differences.

Hi Maria and Thank You for all the informative postings you have done! I will look at your recommendations with great interest!

[сынок]

Maria means : RTOC.

I understand where you are coming from, I think. I don't blame you in the slightest for
wanting to find a jurisdiction which reflects your "roots" [for lack of a better word].
That makes complete good sense, in my opinion.

Maybe you didn't notice the commemoration of "Patriarch Kirill" because you had been away
from church for awhile and forgot how that works. First the top hierarch [before always
the First Hierarch of Rocor, now a stranger...], then the Archbishop of the Diocese, then
the Vicar Bishop, if any.

Since you were not there earlier, the sudden glaring introduction of "Patriarch Kirill" into this
usual list would not have caught your attention. I noticed it immediately in late May 2007, because it was grating and awful to hear. Like fingernails on a chalkboard...
As you know, the entire raison d'etre of Rocor was always to oppose the evil Communists and their lackeys in their pseudo-church, the Moscow Patriarchate after 1943. Then to be suddenly squashed under these same characters was rubbed in
every time Patriarch Kirill's name was commemorated.

It's therefore good that you are alive to this terrible problem. Many were not: they went along passively in the
subjugation of the MP's old nemesis. You are to be commended for being awake to
the preposterous nature of that takeover of Rocor by the MP.

You are leaning toward ROAC or the Metropolitan Agafangel jurisdiction which calls itself ROCA ?
Maybe this should be continued in the Intra-TOC Polemic thread before I voice any recommendation --

Welcome here, you sound like the kind of person who would fit right in. We will try to find a home for you,
never fear!

Barbara

Hello Barbara and Thank You for your kind words and support. I left the church and my family at 16 years of age to chase a dream. That dream chase lasted 42 years. I lost my ability to be very fluent in Russian language and most horribly, that dream kept me out of church. It was when mother reposed in the Lord in 2011 when I experienced this 'awakening' to try to recover what I had so recklessly thrown away. When I returned to church (after mother's passing), I returned in ignorance ... not knowing a thing about schisms, Kirill, splits ... nothing. I never did catch that dream ...
I had spoken to a ROCA priest a while ago. He told me that Metropolitan Agafangel was not any longer recognized by ROCA as he did the old politician flip-flop - against MP, with MP - it's pretty amazing. Those type of behaviors are the reason I've narrowed my choices down to ROAC or ROCA.
I will check out your suggestion for the Intra-TOC Polemic thread this weekend. Thanks!

[сынок]

сынок,

Welcome to the e-cafe. We will be praying for you and your search.

In Christ,
Dcn Antonios

Glad to be here!

[сынок]

Greetings!

First things first, I would check out the site trueorthodoxdirectory.us to find the closest church to you. There you'll be able to see the different Russian synods that have a presence in America. And if you click the little church icons next to the synods names you'll be taken to the synod's website. Just a heads up, ROCA-A doesn't update their American website as much as they do their Russian version so I'd recommend going to this website & using Google translate if you don't speak Russian:
http://sinod.ruschurchabroad.org/index.htm

I know Fr. Mark Templet of ROAC sometimes posts here. If memory serves me correct, he's an American convert and he runs the ROAC American website. He was also a guest on one of the NFTU radio shows a year or two ago. His email address is on the ROAC website if you want to get in touch with him. Having heard him on the NFTU show he seems like he'd be very approachable & probably knowledgeable on ROAC since he chose to join that synod.

I don't think there are any ROCA-A clergy on this website but I remember seeing a layperson or two from that synod who posted here.

Also here are a couple of things written by Vladimir Moss that may be of some use to you. I haven't read them myself but I do plan on reading them soon:
The Battle for the Russian Orthodox Church
http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/b ... ook_id=413
A History of the Fall of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, 2000-2007
http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/b ... ook_id=314

My prayers are with you in your search for joining the Church! The only advice I could give is that I would stress being concerned primarily with uniting to Christ through His Church, which doesn't necessarily have to be ROAC or ROCA-A (not that I have anything against either of these two synods as they are both TOC synods). The Church is Catholic & encompasses people of many different nationalities, not just one (I'm not saying you believe that the Church only encompasses one nationality by the way). My own synod is an American synod but it's in communion with a Russian catacomb synod, a Greek synod, & altogether we have parishes around the world. I know other synods have churches throughout the world as well. It's comforting to know that to be in the True Orthodox Church I'm in communion with all the saints of old, including the saints of Russia martyred by the communists, the saints of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc. Even though the Church today has many administrative issues & is being attacked by heresies such as Ecumenism, the Church is still one.

Please pray for me a sinner.
I'll be sure to keep you in my prayers as well.
And welcome to the forum!

So Much reading, so much participation ... I am overwhelmed by all your nice comments and spirit of help! THANK YOU!

[Barbara]

Hi, Sinok [?],

It's a great event when someone like you returns to the Church.
After 42 YEARS at that !

May we ask what dream you were chasing ??
My curiosity is piqued.
Don't be embarrassed if it is material or other. A lot of people try those avenues
and find they don't work when God is calling us.

I wanted to hear about your parents' experience in the DP camps.
Was that in Germany or Austria ? What a tough time.
I know little about that phase of the Russian emigration from the Soviet Union.
What was the sotry of your father ?
Was he one of the hundreds or actually many thousands of Russian prisoners kept in Germany, then released after the war ?

[сынок]

Hi, Sinok [?],

It's a great event when someone like you returns to the Church.
After 42 YEARS at that ! I stopped attending at 16 years of age, left school, left family .. it was the 60's - our world was rapidly changing ...May we ask what dream you were chasing ?? Singing songwriting guitarist in hard rock & roll became my career choice/vocation ... didn't want to do anything else.My curiosity is piqued.
Don't be embarrassed if it is material or other. A lot of people try those avenues I am not embarrassed, it was a wonderful time full of travel with a very hedonistic lifestyle
and find they don't work when God is calling us.

I wanted to hear about your parents' experience in the DP camps. Mother was captured Belarussian when village was destroyed. Put in forced labor camp building walls, barriers and trenches for Nazi defensive positions. She actually received war reparations from Germany for the last 20 years of her life.Was that in Germany or Austria ? What a tough time.
I know little about that phase of the Russian emigration from the Soviet Union.
What was the sotry of your father ? was young tank captain who was given this higher rank because of his education and nothing else. He hated the communists but went to fight because he hated the nazi more. He was wounded and captured in Battle of Kursk. Ended up in same camp as mother. Life was spared because of ability to speak four languages. British freed camp in 1945. Parents were kept in Bremen area as the chaos of what to do with all these 1000's of people took place.Was he one of the hundreds or actually many thousands of Russian prisoners kept in Germany, then released after the war ? Yes ... could not return due to Stalin/Churchill pact to return Russian soldiers to homeland so that they could collect a bullet in the lower back of skull for free.

Sad, isn't it? That the two of them had to escape their British heroes so as not to be sent in the wrong direction ...