NEXT LESSON:
The Mystery of Iniquity and the Apostasy
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WHAT PARTICPANTS ARE SAYING ABOUT LESSON 2:
C.T.
Thank you Father. Your first lecture was so insightful and humbling. Thank you so much. . . This is really excellent material and I am grateful that you are addressing these issues. They are generally not being addressed elsewhere and my experience is that if you do ask these questions you get labelled weird or an extremist or legalistic. Thank you for taking our questions and concerns seriously!
P.T.
Your podcast and YouTube videos are providing a light and an inspiration in these dark times. Can't wait for the course.
J. S.
I love all lectures by Fr. Peter!
M. W.
Wonderful
A.
A true pillar of Orthodoxy during these unprecedented times
R. C.
Full of love of Christ! Thanks
P. A.
Much appreciated. I look forward to each session.
K.
Beloved Father, it is nice how you have a formal lesson prepared, followed by such an in depth Q & A. The Q & A is so vital since it represents the plethora of questions among the Orthodox faithful - many of which are necessary to have answered and which you can evidently see are the gray areas in a time where so much ecumenism and mixed ecclessiology have clouded what we know or have hindered knowing in the first place. The lessons followed by the Q & A also offer great spiritual guidance in a time where many of us are thirsting for Patristic spiritual Fathers and true edification. God bless your current endeavor.
T. F.
Thank you Fr Peter! As a two year convert and attending a OCA Mission Parish you are answering so many questions that I'm having during these troubling times!!!
I. B.
I appreciated Father Peter's answer to the question concerning economia in baptism. The Greek Archdiocese in America refused to baptize me, even though I strongly wanted it, having only been tapped with dampened fingers by Lutherans several years earlier. So I gave up and accepted chrismation only. Still I never felt right about it because everything I read in the Holy Fathers said I was missing something essential. Worse yet, I learned that at one time the Orthodox in Greece would not give communion to any Orthodox who had not been immersed. But no priest was willing to correct the situation (yes, I was a pest who kept on asking). Finally after 14 years and 4 churches, I happened to be at a monastery which, hearing about my situation, insisted on correcting it. I was so happy! The abbess said that I was glowing as I came up the third time. (I'm sure she saw that with spiritual eyes, but I remember a feeling of lightness lingering for about a week.) The years since then have blessed me with finding a spiritual father and getting on track with the Orthodox mind and life. To those who have been abused by the innovators' false economia, I say: keep knocking and it shall be opened. Glory to our loving savior Jesus Christ. Glory forever!
W. B.
Very refreshing to hear what the fathers taught and has been kept through tradition for over 2000 years. I mourn and pray for those who suffer from innovation. I’m very glad to be with my small ROCOR mission. A classic quote has new meaning for me: I took the path less traveled and it has made all the difference to me!
H. K.
I love everyone's comments here. I feel like we are a family, thank you Father Peter and brothers and sisters.
K. J.
A balm in painful, raw, and confusing times.
C. Z.
Extremely grateful, Fr. Peter, for this priceless opportunity, and I am learning so much! I also truly appreciated learning about the new Saints of our Church, and realized I have 3 books written by St. Ignatius Brianchavinov: The Field, The Arena, and The Refuge. They were highly recommended by the bookstore at the monastery I go to in Roscoe NY, and I have almost completed the first volume. (I love books, and have acquired many books after converting and just wish I had more time to read them all. I can't pass up a good Orthodox book when I see one, and also sell books at my Church's bookstore.) This course, however, is an interactive way of learning and there's nothing better than something "live" as you feel so much a part of it! Although I go back and watch the videos again, there's a lot to be said about being an active participant while the class is being given. The Q&A's are amazing and I particularly loved the 2nd session's this week, Father, as you answered many of my own burning questions, and again, I am so grateful for your generous gift of your time and thoughtful comprehensive responses! God bless you and thank you for this beautiful ministry!
B. C.
Thank you, Father and fellow OSC seekers. I have benefited from Father Peter's many YT lectures over the past few years, so my expectations for this course were very high. This course continues to far exceed my high expectations. I have been studying on my own for the past two years, and began attending Sunday Liturgy at St I. in E. (CA), but haven't since its (modified) reopening in early summer. I feel blessed and grateful for this growing online community headed by Father Peter.
H. G.
This course is both fitting and right - especially now.
A. T.
Along with the others here, thank you Father for these lectures and Q&A sessions. Very beneficial, especially now.
M.
Thank you father! It is such a great blessing to have you in our spritual life.
S.
Thank you Father for guiding us during these tough times where there is much confusion and division. Please keep us in your 'proskomidi' and in your prayers during the Divine Liturgy so that God may enlighten us to follow and stay on His path which is getting narrower.
M. H
Thank you so much Father, these talks have been a balm on my heart as a mere inquirer in these confusing times.
A. G.
Absolutely enjoyed the course
D.
Thank you so much Father Peter. A very informative and inspiring course. Amazing how the recent saints were spot on when predicting the current state of affairs. Seems like we may be living through the worst of it but I also remember your and their admonitions not to despair and to trust in God because we don't know what He may have in store for us. Being aware of what's going on and understanding it is important, but the main work must be done in our hearts. Our faith is the only thing that will never fail us. God bless you and everybody participating.
K. Y.
Thank you, Father Peter. I found the second lesson spiritually beneficial and enlightening.
C. Γ.
Thank you, Fr. Peter for the very informative outreach! - Γ.
T. R.
Father, this course is an answer to prayer! I can only go to Divine Liturgy at a ROCOR Church on Fridays so am prepping the night before but what a joy today (Sunday when I cannot go) to listen to every beautiful and uplifting word from the Saints and the Tradition and your pastoral suggestions for us all at this very difficult time IN the Church. Every word you are speaking is so in tune with what my Spiritual Father and my catechizing priests who love the Saints and the Fathers and the Patristic Tradition have taught me. I have been STUNNED and saddened to learn how many priests and laity either never were exposed or somehow have been led away from the Orthodox Church. This course is truly spirit-saving for me in our very sad political situation in the US and even more in the sad confusion in our Church. Glory to God! I will catch up with Q & A #2 tomorrow. SUCH A BLESSING!!!
P.S. It is also SO encouraging to see the number of devoted Orthodox who care deeply about our Faith and being on the Royal Path and are seeking the counsel of the Fathers and the Saints. God bless you all!
C. T.
Thank you Fr Peter, I got a lot out of this lesson. I was so glad to hear what you had to say about baptism and ekonomia, I witnessed a baptism by pouring/sprinkling in my church not long after I had begun my catechiss there, and I was greatly troubled by it. I enquired at all of the local churches if any of them did baptism by immersion and they all said no, I was heartbroken to think that I would not be able to be received properly, and certain in my heart that if I could not be properly baptized, I would walk away from Orthodoxy, but an Orthodox aquaintaince knowing how troubled I was by the western style "baptism" spoke with the recently ordained Bishop in our area and he had a discussion with my priest who purchased a large birthing pool & now myself and 4 others will be received by immersion on the 19th of Sept this year! Glory to God! I cannot tell you how happy I am that I will be properly baptized, full immersion three times, I absolutely would have walked away if they had intended to pour or sprinkle me with water.
J.
Thank you Fr. Peter. I listened to your lecture twice, and on the second time completed the question and answer. I encourage all those following this course to be sure and listen until the end. The answers to the final two questions were extremely helpful.
A.
Thank you fr. For all you do for us. 🙏