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? In
order to know how we can live as an orthodox person in today's society,
we must understand two important things: |
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Orthodox life
Orthodox Calendar |
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Orthodox Life is based on three important pillars: *
Repentance * Nutrition * Service. |
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Orthodox Calendar consists of: * Orthodox Day, * Orthodox
Week, * Orthodox Month * Orthodox Year. |
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ORTHODOX LIFE |
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? In order to lead an
orthodox life, we need to have repentance, nutrition and service. No one
can consider him/herself orthodox if they do not repent, if they are not
nourished spiritually, and if they do not serve and help others. |
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? Repentance - the meaning of
repentance is to turn away from your sins in order to live a holy life
with the Lord. In our Orthodox Church, repentance is based on four
important things: |
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- I must REGRET committing the sin
- I must INSIST on staying away from sin
- I must BELIEVE in the Blood of our Lord to cleanse me
- I must CONFESS my sins in the presence of a priest |
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? We must confess to the
priest because he is the servant of the sacrament of confession and the
Holy Spirit works through the priest in order to give the Absolution of
sins, and a Solution to our problems. This is orthodox repentance. We
must have a confession father, we must be regular in confession and we
must be obedient to the guidance of our confession father. If we do not
practice these things, then our repentance is not orthodox. |
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? Nutrition
- Confession is good because it helps us on our path to salvation,
but confession alone is not sufficient if we do not nourish ourselves
spiritually. |
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? After
confessing our sins, we must nourish ourselves through prayer, reading
the Bible, receiving Holy Communion, attending youth meetings and church
services, and reading spiritual books. If we do not nourish ourselves in
this way after confession and at all times, we will return to our sin
once again. |
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? Service - The orthodox person must be a caring
person, sharing his/her spiritual gifts with others, and when you are
older, you must all be members of the Servant Preparation class so that
you can be future Sunday School servants in the church.
? We must always serve others because
we are all members in the body of Christ and we all belong to the family
of orthodoxy.
? Some ways in which we can serve is
to encourage others to come to church, clean the church, be deacons if
you are boys, visit the sick and the elderly and the lonely.
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ORTHODOX CALENDAR |
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An orthodox person
must have an orthodox day, an orthodox week, an orthodox month and an
orthodox year.
Some of the things an orthodox person can do daily are: pray, read the
bible, read from the Sinixarium of saints, read the sayings and
Scriptures of the day from the Coptic Calendar, and read from the Agbia.
The word 'Agbia' means hour, and in the Agbia, there are seven
prayers:
? Morning Prayer at 6am, commemorating
the Lord's resurrection;
? 3rd Hour Prayer at 9am,
commemorating the Holy Spirit's descent on the Apostles on the day of
Pentecost.
? 6th Hour Prayer at 12pm, in
remembrance of our Lord's crucifixion;
? 9th Hour Prayer at 3pm, remembering
when our Lord died;
Sunset Prayer at 5pm, in remembrance of our Lord being taken off the
cross;
Prayer Before Sleep (Compline) at 6pm, remembering when our Lord was
laid in the tomb.
Midnight Prayers at 12am.
An orthodox person must pray as much as they can.
? Some of the things an orthodox
person can do weekly are: Attend the Holy Mass and receive the Holy
Communion, and fast every Wednesday and Friday.
? Some of the things an orthodox
person can do monthly are: Confess, remember the commemoration days of
St. Mary on the 21st and 29th day of every month, and the Archangel
Michael on the 12th day of every month.
? Some of the things an Orthodox
person can do yearly are: Take part in the holy fasts of our church -
Advent (Christmas Fast), Jonah's Fast, Lent, the Apostles' Fast
and St. Mary's Fast. We must also rejoice with the church on feast days
- Christmas, Epiphany, Palm Sunday, Easter, Apostles Feast, St. Mary's
Feast, and El Nayrooz.
If we follow the orthodox calendar and live and take part in the events
of the orthodox calendar, then we will live orthodox lives, and will
always abide in the spirit of orthodoxy. |
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