so i think this is gonna be another religious blog entry... so if you dont wanna read it... dont.

ok well first, i just wanna say... i HATE people that put bible quotes or religious things in their profiles or blogs or whatever because it just seems all for show to me. its like they are screamin out "look at me... i'm a christian." and i HATE that. and i'm sure that everyone reading this will probably think the same thing of me. no one knows the real me or what i stand for. no one wants to. everyone only knows what they see on the surface. i think MAYBE the only people that read this and actually see the true meaning will be like... justin, brandy, or megan... MAYBE.

so basically easter is coming up. traditional easter (for all you guys) is the 16th of April. well, mine is the 23rd. lemme explain. i am Greek Orthodox. and for all of you that only use half of your brain... my religion is NOT Greek... nor AM i greek... i am Orthodox. the Greek part is only in the title because thats the nationality that most influences the church community (saying there are a lot of greek people at my church). Orthodoxy is different than all other religions and it is most closely related to Catholosism. Basically, in school they teach you "back in the day there was one chuch and it was the catholic church" and blah blah. yea, well, they're wrong. there was ONE church and the leaders of the church decided to do EVERYTHING by meetin in an Ecumenical Council. these councils determined all processes and procedures fairly. the first council established 5 patriarchates (5 lead places or w/e). they were Rome (founded by St. Peter and St. Paul), Jerusalem (by St. Peter and St. James), Constantinople (by St. Andrew), Antioch (by St. Paul), and Alexandria (by St. Mark). they all had a man in charge (the partiarch) and they vowed to make decisions all as one. well, the Pope who was the patriarch of Rome began to consider himself "first among equals" (more powerful) and a WHOLE bunch of stuff happened so the churches broke apart -- Rome led by the pope vs. the 4 other partriarchates. those 4 others are what forms today's Orthodox Church. ok back to why my easter is different. back in the day, people followed the Roman calendar which was stupid and crazy and wrong because romans just added days whenever they wanted to (for political reasons and what not). Well Caesar got tired of it and had a guy come in and design a formal calendar. it, as expected, got named the Julian Calendar. but the guy who designed it was an IDIOT and was wrong and only made 10 months because he forgot to start with 0 and went straight to 1 (dont feel like explainin it all). basically thats why SEPTember (meanin 7) is the 9th month... OCTOber, NOVember, DECember... get it? k so they made a new calendar.. a RIGHT one called the Gregorian Calendar. the US and most other countries still use the Julian one... but Russia and the Orthodox church use the Gregorian calendar (aka the RIGHT one). check it out... google it... its factual. another point... last year... ya'lls easter was on march 27th. but passover wasnt until april 23rd. now how in the world can u have easter without passover. Christ had the last supper to celebrate PASSOVER. aka he died and rose again AFTER passover. its really COMMON SENSE if u think about it... but i guess we all know the government is STUPID. and PLEASE. if you are NOT orthodox and reading this, dont be offended. its FACTUAL... im not just bein opinionated. look it up... do research... i'm RIGHT. ok that one of the reasons that makes Orthodoxy different than you. (notice i said DIFFERENT... not better or something like that. i'm not tryin to put anyone's religion to shame... i'm just tellin u some facts about mine).

another reason we're different. we, unlike other religions, except catholics, make the sign on the cross. instead of the traditional catholic way, with an open hand to ur head, chest, left shoulder, then right one, our way is a little more symbolic. we start with 3 fingers together, the thumb the pointer one, and the middle finger to represent the father, the son, and the holy spirit and they all come together to represent the equality of the three (which is another difference we will talk about later). the 2 other finger, the ring one and the pinky (which represent the 2 natures of Jesus: man and God) are left down (as if the hand was in a fist) symbolizing the fact that Christ descended to Hell. and we go, head (to say "i love the lord will all my mind..."), chest ("...all my heart...") to RIGHT shoulder and then left ("...and with all my strength.") by the way, we dont actually say those words, its just what it means.

back to what i said about all 3 bein equal: the father, the son, and the holy spirit. other religions believe one to be above the other. the father greater than the son and what not. well we dont. we believe that they are a trinity of equality.

lent. since it IS lent i HAVE to talk about this one. if anything, you guys give up like... candy or sugar or all that crap for lent. well, we dont. the entire orthodox religion gives up meat and dairy. and not just on fridays like catholics. its the whole time. and to be real honest, for once i dont know WHY its MEAT that we give up, but i do know that every single practice in the orthodox church is dated back to the days of the disciples. And for me, if they did it, its a good enough reason for me to do it too. 

speakin of which, we also have apostolic succession. meaning, every single orthodox priest (which by the way have NEVER been convicted of child molestation) can trace his lineage back to the disciples. basically, every priest can look at the bishop who ordained him, to the archbishop who ordained him....... alllllll the way back to the disciples. sooo.... when the holy spirit was givin to the disciples they were to go out and share it and teach His word to everyone. well, when they ordained people, they passed it along. so each orthodox priest is proud to say they have a little bit of holy spirit helping them along the way.

lemme see if i can think of all 7 sacraments we have in the orthodox church. baptism chrismation, holy unction, marriage, communion, confession, and holy orders (meanin ordainin a priest). baptism... self explainatory. oh wait. lemme just say. if this doesnt apply to u dont be offended, but ive been in arguments with plenty of baptists that have said "if your not baptised u go to hell..." even newborn babies that dont make it, or 3 year olds that have devil parents that dont take themn to church. the orthodox church doesnt believe that. we believe that God is a compassionate God. yea, once u reach a certain age and have been EXPOSED to God and CHOSE not to listen, then you will beheld accountable. but not little babies and such. God's not that mean. chrismation... it happens at one of 2 times in ur life. either right after u are baptised... OR if u were baptised in another religion (ONLY if u were baptised in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit since some churches baptise in the name of john the baptist). it basically seals the deal, i guess u could say. chrismation is the completion of baptism. you get annointed with oil and receive the holy spirit. holy unction... this is practiced during holy week (on holy wednesday) BUT can be adminstered at any time of the year (for the sick, dying, etc). holy unction is also where you get annointed with oil. basically, we do this because... as stated in James 5: 12-15... "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer and faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." so basically, i know I'VE committed sins, and if there is a WHOLE church comin together prayer for the forgiveness of everyones sins and for the sick, I want to be there and be a part of it. marriage... self-explainatory. i dont really want to talk about this too much since ive never been to an orthodox wedding (that i can remember). its different than other ones tho, i know that much. it has more substanance or symbolisms. i know you have ALL seen "my big fat greek wedding" and thats an orthodox wedding. communion... ok. our communion is pretty different from all yalls. first, to take communion in the orthodox church, u have to be baptized for chrismated orthodox. like... justin or megan couldnt ever take communion at my church, unless they converted. we take communion every sunday. basically, u have all heard "take, eat, this is my body..." but its not just, we do it because jesus told us to. in John 6:55-56, Christ says "for my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him." so what thats saying is, communion is a union with God. AND another thing about orthodox communion that is different from all other religions, is we believe that its really the body and blood of Christ and not a symbolism. there is a part of our Sunday service (the consecration) where everyone is down on their knees and a prayer askin God to send down the Holy Spirit and change them from wine and bread to the Body and Blood of Christ. i dont know if you're catchin on yet, but EVERY single aspect of the orthodox church is done for a reason. got a question as to why we do something? ask. i'll get u an answer. confession. this is something protestants do NOT understand AT ALL. lemme say this, when i say confession, u all think of catholics hoppin into a dark box with a priest in there. yea... not the same as us. catholics believe SOLELY in confession with a priest and protestants believe SOLELY in confession of your sins in private prayers. well, we're in the middle. if i beat the crap out of my sister (if i had one) that can be a private little confession in my own room with my own prayer. GOING to confession with a priest is for a little bit more serious of sins. once or twice a year (around christmas and easter) you are kinda supposed to go confess them all, but in between is just for the things that weigh heavy on you or might be a little more serious. now still, some of you arent convinced it is necessary to tell other people (the priest) your sins. practicing confession humbles you, and shows that you confess your sins with sorrow and repentance, and then can receive guidance from your priest. notice i said guidance, not penance. catholics have to "say the our father" so many times or w/e the priest tells them to do before their sin is forgiven. we def dont do that. only god can forgive sins. the priest is only there to help out and read some prayers for us and help us. thats it. confession is still straight between YOU and GOD. and the last one... holy orders. thats when you ordain a priest. and as i said before, we have apostolic succession which makes this really special.

i wanna go back to talkin about our easter. its different in SOOO many ways. ok, different date. different lent practices. we actively participate in holy week, which you guys dont. i bet half of you cant even tell me when palm sunday is (yours OR mine). basically holy week starts on palm sunday (the sunday before easter) and if u've EVER read the bible you will know why its called palm sunday. then you have holy monday and tuesday (there are services for those). holy wednesday we have holy unction. holy thursday we have communion (same as the last supper). and friday is actually a BEAUTIFUL service and i would REALLY like AT LEAST ONE person to ask to go with me to it. and when i say beautiful, i dont mean cute and pretty. i dont know if theres one in the morning (cause im always in school) but there is a service at around 3 (the time christ died on good friday) and its a mourning service. its very very very very very very very very very very very emotional and yes, people do actually cry at this service.... me for sure. our services are sooooo symbolic and sooooo meaningful, its not just praise and worship and then preaching. we actually have SERVICES. and they make you think. on our good friday services you REALLY get taken back to the day christ died and you feel like u were there. ok then friday night we have the service for the lamentations. also VERY beautiful (very hard and exausting from a choir chicks perspective). its represents the lamentations (mourning) of Mary after Christ died. and there are like 923p8409238423098423098432094823 lamentations (or quotes/verses) we have to sing. and then (prolly the best part) we have a procession around the outside of the church. yes, the cops come and block off the street and everything. its a big deal. its beautiful also. then saturday. well, let me say. our easter service is saturday night at midnight... EXACTLY when christ resurrected. our service starts at 11 and it basically still kind of a mourning but also an anticipation. and at midnight, all the lights go out. the church is completely dark (representing the tomb). and then... the priest lights one candle. and lights the candles of the alter boys, who then come around and light the people's candles. and then the whole church is lighted only by candles. and the choir (aka me) sings: "come receive the light. the unwaning gift of light. come and glorify christ who did arise from the dead." and then... then... then... the best part (at least for me)... Christos Anesti (greek for Christ is Risen)... also can be found in "my big fat greek wedding" and yes, we do the thing with the red eggs and the "christos anesti"... "alithos anesti" (greek for truly he is risen). its just all really beautiful. i really want someone (who is generally interested) to go with me this year. remember, its the week AFTER your easter so you should be available. but the point is, our easter time is soooo much different than all of yalls. we have 40 days to pray and fast and meditate on whats about to happen (yes, some of u have a VERSION of this but its not the same). then we have holy week where we actually RE-LIVE the events of christs life (aka the passion... yes like the movie). then we have the actual resurrection service with SOOOO much meaning. its soooo diff from all yall because the most important thing to most (and YES i AM steryotyping so i dont mean YOU personally, but generally)... protestants is what easter dress they are wearing. its only ONE DAY of easter. for othodox christians, it is SOO much more. easter is the start of christianity. if christ had not died and rose again, we would all burn in hell bearin the burdon the the Original Sin (adam and eve) and all of our sins.

ANNND our services are soooo much different (as i said earlier). we have the SAME SERVICE every sunday. its called The Divine Liturgy. same thing. every sunday. its old, and not modern, and doesnt appeal to this day and age. our songs arent upbeat and pop-ish. they are byzantine. its the SAME service practiced in the caves back when christianity was bein persecuted. same thing christ would do. as pretty as i think the song "shout to the lord" is... i cant really see christ gettin up on sunday mornin singing it. theres got to be more than just singin some happy little songs and then gettin talked to for an hour or 2. thats what my church is all about. yea, we have a serman where the priest talks about the gospel reading. that changes from week to week. but our service isnt written by our priest. he doesnt decide what happens every sunday. its all tradition. some man on amountatin didnt invent orthodoxy 400 years ago. we go WAYYY back... to christ. nothin has changed. at all. the practices and everything... is all the same. and that makes it truly genuine.

also, i have a book here in front of me... its called "becoming orthodox." its a book about protestants... not just regular people, but preachers and like.. important protestant people.... over 2000 of them... did a HUGE study of orthodoxy, and after all their research, they converted. you can NOT, and yes, i am bein bold by saying this... you can NOT research orthodoxy, and know all the facts, and not believe that it is the TRUE religion. you cant. there is too much there. and i'll just end that there before i make people realllllllly mad.

but now i have to go because megan is coming to scoop me... but i'll be back later to write more stuff about my religion and what-not. i've just been writing this blog for forever now and i figured it's about time to post it. basically the reason im rightin about church and beliefs and practices and stuff is because its lent and idk... i guess church is more on my mind. but anyways, gotta go. byyyye!

ps: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dont be offended by anything in here. i had to say what i had to say because its what i believe and im passionate about it. i am NOT in ANY way condemning ANYONE'S religion or putting mine above yours, i just wanted to give the facts about mine. and yes, pretty much everything i said in there was FACT... backed by my opinion that its true. thats it. k <3 u.