Thank you Father ☦️🙏

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I am 15 yo and wanting to learn more about my faith thank you so much for making this video

I'm glad i didn't consult my family on my husband, they would have never allowed me to marry him because he's Orthodox

The final days seem to be here

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Why you call yourself Orthodox while you choose to look like anglican pastor

Times have changed and everyone is forced to date. It is really quite insane how everything today is working against relationships being successful.

Thank you Fr. Michael. I am 22, hoping to move from Seattle to Podgorica at the end of the year, my goal is to find a wife, since I can’t do this by myself. Please pray for me! May God bless you Father, many times over!

Amen Father!

I hope you come back to making videos

Father i am a Roman Catholic in Detroit Archdiocese.... i have incorporated incense into my prayer time and have a home incense censer like yours..... i cannot imagine not at this point! It sanctifies all my prayer corners within my home.... even make a little area outside, in view of the neighbors lol, the curious onlookers... My daughter converted to Eastern Orthodox, and graced me with my first icon! We both are converts from non-denominational...

It was once explained to me that incense is also used in the Orthodox Church to cense not only the icons, but also during the liturgy, the congregation is censered by the priest, in part, because we are icons of God's image.

Excellent video, Father. Point of note, many Anglican priests (third biggest global denomination and largest Protestant communion), and all Anglo-Catholic priests, use incense in their services.

Very good, thanks ✅

Thank you, Father! Glad you didn't edit out the dog

Fr bless, very edifying. The evil one has thousands of years of experience fighting against man, but we can beat him, with God's help, by fighting him hour by hour.

Welcome father

Hey Fr I have noticed some priests where a collar and the modern shirt, Some wear the black cassock, and some wear the long cassock with a white collar. Is this just preference? Or does it represent something else?

Good evening Fr. Michael. Missing you all.

Thank you, Fr, I found this edifying. I hadn't considered how putting infatuation on a pedestal denigrates all other types of love, and it is true that as a single man I have more time to focus on showing brotherly love to people in my parish or community who need it, than a married man would. Each member has a different function, we are not all hands or all feet. Christ knows when or if the right time is for us to find a spouse, and that marriage is to be undertaken by someone who wholeheartedly wants to embrace that struggle with us. That last point seems obvious, but I think infatuation may have clouded my judgement on that fact for the past several months.

Fr bless, thank you for this video. I just saw you for the first time on the Antiochian Men channel, looking forward to listening to your podcast.

Thank you for this edifying video! This explanation helped me greatly, especially comparing it to the Gospel reading of "the sheep and the goats". 🙏💕☦️🕊

So happy to have found your channel, this is so good

Very beautiful. Thank you

By far one of the most helpful discernment videos I have ever seen.

So if we can't find someone to marry we can't be saved...if we get married and the wife turns out to be beyond redemption....you go to hell. Wow. Sorry if that's the Orthodox position than I have no assurance of salvation in the Orthodox Church. At least some other churches don't treat single men THIS harsh. Another reason not to become Orthodox for me or join any Church. Be married before you're accepted. I have experienced this often enough. I go to service every Sunday but I won't join a Church until I'm married. I am done with being treated as second class Christian

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Father Michael, thank you for this thoughtful video. You are the first priest (or really person) to ever make the distinction between dating and marriage - at least on KZbin. As a single Orthodox, I don't know where to go or what to do to meet my partner. Secular dating is rightfully discouraged, and yet, this is how couples form in this era. When you couple this with the low number of Orthodox singles in North America, it creates an endless cycle wherein marriage and family seem hopeless.

Needed this today.

Wow this is very relevant, thank you for sharing this!

fantastic video!

Thank you for adding captions. It’s very beneficial because it’s accessible.

"We take something that the Gospel says, but we wanna make it say what we WANT it to say, on OUR terms to the degree WE want it to say. Sola Scriptura in a nutshell, lol.

Blessed to have you as our new priest in Middletown... your homilies are amazing... looking forward to celebrating Holy Week with you... thank you Fr. Michael

This was very thought provoking! Thank you very much!

The thing about "the Liturgy is not for YOU" is what I think my Protestant parents don't understand. They attended a vespers with me and said that it was "nice" but the music was "boring and needed to be more upbeat and fun". And I try to explain that the Church is not here for our entertainment. But I'm not as eloquent at explaining it as you are Fr Michael, lol.

Fr Michael, I watched this video today with interest, thinking how can a Discernment message touch me, as I had other choices of videos to watch. In many times in my life I have "fallen into" messages that have shined a light on my heart ❤ when I needed it. With your video, I experienced that light again today. Thank you for being the voice that God sent me to hear. Your soothing words and wisdom have encouraged me and are helping shine a light on my path.

Thanks for this. I'm in the process of leaving a Protestant church and seeking an Ortho. I personally couldn't find any way to discern as a Protestant. Each was left to discern the Bible according to bias, background whim. I want to submit to a spiritual teacher but how does one know which spiritual teacher has proper discernment if they all have different doctorine and dogma? And who did that teacher submit to? I felt like I wasn't submitting to Christ, but rather some history intellectual academic interpretation of Scripture.

Insightful! You should start a podcast.

Amen!

Great serm9n Fr. Michael

Very beautiful!

Great explanation...thank you Fr. Michael

It is so good to hear you say Father that you can follow even if you don't understand the language. And thank you so much for sharing about Pauline, that was a beautiful story.

Every since my conversion to Orthodoxy, my Protestant friends always ask why we bother praying to Saints when only God has the power to do anything. I jokingly tell them I better not catch them asking friends or family to pray for them because of the same logic. Though it still kind of weirds me out a little when I hear "Most Holy Theotokos save us". Because I know only God can save us. I assume it just means we want her to intercede on our behalf, which makes more sense. I guess "Most Holy Theotokos please put in a good word with your Son on our behalf" just doesn't roll off the tongue as well when chanting lol.

Thank you Fr. Michael for this meaningful message.

4:15 You missed a good opportunity for a pun lol. I was expecting you to say "has the Christians facing East to pray, not because of the Sun, but because of the Son." XD

Hello, I have studied that the Orthodox’s church liturgy and dependence on icons came at least several centuries after the Apostles. In other words, these traditions - the liturgy and icons came from a group of people about 7 or 8 generations removed from the apostles. Other writers say the liturgy came probably crystalized in 600s or 15 generations after apostles (biblical definition of a generation - 40 years). If you disagree with these statements, would you please point me to books or sources that would show or prove different? Thank you

Great video, Father. Learning the services makes one feel at home anywhere, and connects us with every parishioner in every church. Eager to return to church safely and worship in full communion with our brothers and sisters.