Introducing Myself

[Rick of Wessex]

Hello everyone.

My name is Rick and I have recently found "The Ancient Way" forum.

So, let me introduce myself...

I'm 28 years old and an Orthodox convert from Roman Catholic Church since 1997, when I was Confirmated and became part of The Church.

I'm from Brazil, and unfortunately there are very few Orthodox Christians here - about 38.000, most of them "cradle". Antiochian jurisdiction (my jurisdiction) is the largest in the country, but Greek, Ukrainian (under OE Patriarchate) and Polish Orthodox Churches are also represented here. There are also a few ROCOR parishes and even and Old Believers' church.

I decided to join the forum so I can make new friends and share thoughts and ideas.

I guess that´s all for now. Feel free to ask me anything you'd like to know. :)

In XC,
Rick

[Matrona]

Hello Rick! Welcome to Christian Forums and The Ancient Way! :clap: :clap: :clap:

[MariaRegina]

Hello Rick! Welcome to TAW!

Are you Brazilian by birth?

Is the Divine Liturgy done in Portuguese, or a mixture of languages?

I'm a linguist so I enjoy talking about languages. Habla español?

Yours in Christ our God,
Elizabeth

P.S. Here are some blessings for an icon-avatar.

[MariaRegina]

Oh Rick,

Your avatar-icon is so beautiful.

Since it is so tiny, please tell us more about the icon.

[Rick of Wessex]

Hello Rick! Welcome to TAW!

Hello, Chanter. Thanks for the welcome - and the blessings!

Are you Brazilian by birth?

Yes. :D


Is the Divine Liturgy done in Portuguese, or a mixture of languages?

Completely in Portuguese, at least in the Antiochian Church, except for a few hymns and troparia, that are sung in Portuguese and Arabic or Greek.

In every other jurisdiction the Liturgy is bilingual.


I'm a linguist so I enjoy talking about languages.

Me too! I consider myself an amateur linguist (if there is such a thing).

Habla español?

Si, yo hablo un poquito, pero no hablo muy bien. And that's a shame, since Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking country in this continent.

In XC,
Rick

[Suzannah]

Welcome Rick of Wessex to the Ancient Way!!!!
I'm a recent convert...I will baptised/chrismated soon, so I am always happy to make new friends in Orthodoxy! :)

No habla espanol, ...sorry!
Sprechen Sie Deutsche????
:D

[Rick of Wessex]

Oh Rick,

Your avatar-icon is so beautiful.

Since it is so tiny, please tell us more about the icon.

Hi Chanter. Thanks!

That's the icon of my onomastik, Saint Richard of Wessex, an anglo-saxon earl who died in Italy during a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 722 A.D. He was buried in Lucca (Northern Italy) and was the father of three saints: Ss. Walburga (abbess), Willibald (bishop of Eichstätt, Germany) and Winibald (monk).

After his demise, many miracles were reported at his tomb and he was glorified a few years later. His feast day is February 7th.

In XC,
Rick

[Rick of Wessex]

Hello Rick! Welcome to Christian Forums and The Ancient Way! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Thanks, Matrona.

Are you really from Syria? My great-grandfather was born in Damascus. Unfortunately I didn't get to know him, since he passed away when my mother was a little girl.

Rick

[Rick of Wessex]

Welcome Rick of Wessex to the Ancient Way!!!!

Thanks, Suzannah!

I'm a recent convert...I will baptised/chrismated soon, so I am always happy to make new friends in Orthodoxy! :)

That's wonderful! Welcome home! ;)

No habla espanol, ...sorry!
Sprechen Sie Deutsche????
:D

Yo hablo un poquito... but Ich sprachen nicht Deutch. Not at all. ;)

[Orthodox Andrew]

Hey, welcome to the site.:wave:

Eu estou usando um tradutor falar-lhe no português.:P

[Suzannah]

That's wonderful! Welcome home! ;) Thank you!!! I'm coming in at the 11th hour, if you know what I mean! It is an incredible experience....the culmination of a lifetime and I cannot tell you how much this means to me...maybe I don't have to...maybe you already know since you're Orthodox! I am so blessed!!!


Yo hablo un poquito... but Ich sprachen nicht Deutch. Not at all. ;)Well that's allright! You're still in like flint, because we have several languages represented here, but so far, no Spanish or Portugese....we have Sergey (Russian) prodromos (Greek) SuperMickey (Arabic, I think), Epiphany (Dutch) and several others...we will have a real online global community now that you are here!!! :clap:

[MariaRegina]

Dear Rick:

Tengo mi titulo en español, pero si no lo uso, yo lo perdo.

Elizabeth

[MariaRegina]

Dear Andreas,

What languages have you studied?

[prodromos]

Hola amigo. Como estas (I hope that's right. It's been years since I last spoke to a Brazilian friend of mine)

Welcome to Christian Forums and The Ancient Way :wave:

Matrona isn't from Syria, but her church is :). I'm Australian myself but I currently live in Greece so I'm a bit torn between using the Greek or Australian flag. My wifes' great, great, great grandfather lived in Aleppo, Syria for many years after fleeing the Turks on the (Greek) island of Samos. When he returned to Greece he changed his surname to Halepi, after the city.

I look forward to reading your posts :)

John.

[jameseb]

Greetings Rick and welcome. :)

This is actually my first time posting on this board, though I've been on CF for quite some time now. I hope you enjoy your time here and in the fellowship of your brothers and sisters. :)

Eric

[countrymousenc]

Welcome, Rick :wave:

[Momzilla]

Hi Rick! :wave:

[MariaRegina]

Greetings Rick and welcome. :)

This is actually my first time posting on this board, though I've been on CF for quite some time now. I hope you enjoy your time here and in the fellowship of your brothers and sisters. :)

Eric

Hi James!

Please come back regularly -- we're getting more inquiries. If you have any good questions that will challenge our thinking and help us along to theosis, please feel free to start a thead here.

If you feel you need help in any other forums, also please let us know by pm or by posting a note in our Taverna.

If you're feeling brave, please consider posting your conversion story (if you are a convert) or your recommitment to Orthodoxy in our thread on conversion stories. I'm still editing my story which was posted on another thread. I think it's edifying when we talk about our journey to theosis rather than attacking our past memberships along the way to the truth. Most of us are trying to reach that happy balance, but it's difficult as we are sinners in need of God's mercy and the forgiveness of each other.

In Christ,
Elizabeth

P.S. to Rick: I'm sure we'd all enjoy reading your journey to Orthodoxy when and if you have the time -- but it's not mandatory, of course.

[Rick of Wessex]

Hey, welcome to the site.:wave:

Eu estou usando um tradutor falar-lhe no português.:P

Oi, Andreas. Que bacana. Obrigado! :P

(Or,in English: "Hi, Andreas. How nice. Thank you")

In XC,
Rick

[Rick of Wessex]

Thank you!!! I'm coming in at the 11th hour, if you know what I mean! It is an incredible experience....the culmination of a lifetime and I cannot tell you how much this means to me...maybe I don't have to...maybe you already know since you're Orthodox! I am so blessed!!!

Hi, Suzannah. I know exactly how do you feel, because it took me a three-year "pilgrimage" to join the Orthodox Church after I had left the Roman Catholic Church.

And thanks' God I finally reached the Holy Land in the end of my journey, if you know what I mean. :)

So, enjoy every single "mile" of your journey. It may be arduous sometimes, but the rewards are worth it! But I'm sure you already know that. ;)

Yours in XC,
Rick

[Rick of Wessex]

Hi, Elizabeth.

I'm still editing my story which was posted on another thread. I think it's edifying when we talk about our journey to theosis rather than attacking our past memberships along the way to the truth.

I agree with you, because I've seen this happen many times, specially when a Roman Catholic converts to Pentecostalism.

I can't understand this kind of attitude, because I have no "hard feelings" at all regarding the RC Church. On the contrary, they are very dear to me, and I sincerely hope (and pray) that someday they'll reunite with us again.

P.S. to Rick: I'm sure we'd all enjoy reading your journey to Orthodoxy when and if you have the time -- but it's not mandatory, of course.

I'm working on it, Elizabeth. I'll post it soon - at least I hope so! :blush:

Yours in XC,
Rick

[Rick of Wessex]

To everyone here in TAW:

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Yours in XC,
Rick

[Patristic]

Welcome Rick. Hearing the perspective of another convert to Orthodoxy will definitely be interesting.

[Alfred M]

Rick-
I just wanted get in a formal welcome "hello" as well. Glad to have you here. I read a lot but post little. Hearing you speak of your conversion to Orthodoxy reminded me of our (my wife and I) own. Our big family conflict came from my wife's family who have been protestant missionaries in Brazil for over 25 years....I thought they were going to try and lock us in closets to keep us from our conversion!

Welcome my friend,

Alfred, lowliest of sinners

[Eusebios]

Hello and welcome to TAW Rick.:wave:
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.
:bow:

[Orthodox Andrew]

Oi, Andreas. Que bacana. Obrigado! :P

(Or,in English: "Hi, Andreas. How nice. Thank you")

In XC,
Rick
Nenhum problema.;)

[nicodemus]

Rick,

What part of Brazil do you live in? My wife, my dad & I are probably going to Brazil in late April or early May. We're going to be in Rio for about 10-14 days. If that's where you're from, I'd love you to point us towards a church we can go to while down there.

[Rick of Wessex]

Hello, Nicodemus.

My wife, my dad & I are probably going to Brazil in late April or early May. We're going to be in Rio for about 10-14 days.

You are going to love it. April is one of the best months to come to Rio, specially because the city is not full of tourists as in December or February, and the weather is warm and pleasant. Hope you enjoy it! :clap:

If that's where you're from, I'd love you to point us towards a church we can go to while down there.

I don't live in Rio. In fact, my hometown is about 260 miles from Rio. But of course I can provide the churches' addresses to you.

São Nicolau (St. Nicholas', in English) - Antiochian
Av Gomes Freire, 559 - Centro
CEP 20231-011 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
Phone: (55-21) 3852-1738 / 2509-3894.

The Most Holy Theotokos' Cathedral - Polish
Rua Saint Roman 226, Copacabana
CEP 22071-060 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
Phone: (55-21)523-2300 / 521-3658

Santo André (St. Andrew's) - Greek
Rua Darke Matos, 46 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
Phone: (55-21) 590-3735.

These are the ones I know of. Hope this helps.

In XC,
Rick

[nicodemus]

Thanks so much for the info! I'm looking forward to the trip. My parents divorced when I was really young, this'll be the first big trip I've ever taken with my dad and I'm really looking forward to it. My dad has a friend that runs a tourism company for English speaking tourists. I can't wait to go the Maracana! Also, a Liturgy in Portguese sounds really coo.

I forgot to say this in my first post: Welcome!

[Matthias]

Hi Rick! Have a nice day!

[MisterPascal]

Bem-vindo, irmão meu!!! Eu amo o teu país e tenho muitos amigos para lá!!!