St. Benedict

[Zacharias]

Dominus vobiscum!

Is St. Benedict (the one who wrote the Benedictine Rule) a saint according to the Orthodox Church? :)

[Matrona]

Absolutely, although (like many pre-schism Western saints) there's not much devotion to him except by converts to Orthodoxy in the West.

[InnerPhyre]

Absolutely, although (like many pre-schism Western saints) there's not much devotion to him except by converts to Orthodoxy in the West.

I just got a picture in my head of St. Seraphim and St. Xenia sitting up in heaven praying til their knees hurt as the intercessory prayers pour in while St. Augustine and St. Benedict sit on beach lounges sipping drinks with umbrellas in them :)

[Matrona]

I just got a picture in my head of St. Seraphim and St. Xenia sitting up in heaven praying til their knees hurt as the intercessory prayers pour in while St. Augustine and St. Benedict sit on beach lounges sipping drinks with umbrellas in them :)

:D

Oh, I'm sure those fellas get plenty of requests from the west-side. :)

When I found out who my patron saint is, I thought it was fortuitous that she is relatively obscure, even on the island she came from--that means she has plenty of time to pray for me. ;)

[InnerPhyre]

Me too! Mine is St. Hadelin, a 7th century Benedictine monk. I'd never heard of him before I found out he was my patron, so I figure he has enough time to fit in a few extra prayers for me, and believe me, when the saints pray for me, it takes a loooooong time. I think they usually start with something like this "Merciful God, it's me, St. Hadelin. I know I just asked you four minutes ago to have mercy on Mike down there, but he's an idiot and messed up again...."

[nicodemus]

In my hometown, there are five Orthodox priests, two of them are named Benedict. One at an OCA parish, one at an MP parish.

[Khaleas]

In my hometown, there are five Orthodox priests, two of them are named Benedict. One at an OCA parish, one at an MP parish.

Where about are you? FL right? What MP parish are you talking about, I only know about the one in Tampa... fill me in. My husband's parents are in Tampa and his sister is in Orlando.

[InnerPhyre]

Where about are you? FL right? What MP parish are you talking about, I only know about the one in Tampa... fill me in. My husband's parents are in Tampa and his sister is in Orlando.

Which parish in Tampa? I went to Holy Trinity for a brief time.

[nicodemus]

Where about are you? FL right? What MP parish are you talking about, I only know about the one in Tampa... fill me in. My husband's parents are in Tampa and his sister is in Orlando.
I live in Orlando, but I'm talking about my hometown of Birmingham, AL.

The MP parish is St. Nicholas. It's over 100 years old. Started in the 1800s by Ukranian miners, not it's almost all Americans.

[Khaleas]

Which parish in Tampa? I went to Holy Trinity for a brief time.

St Gregory the Theologian on Hillsborough Ave... It's under Moscow Patriarchate.

http://www.russianchurchusa.org/RUS/index.cfm?P=roc.cfm&B=rocChurch.cfm&chid=45&open=1
(sorry, it's only in Russian for now - but the address is there...) The priest is Father Stephen/Steven. Very nice person according to my priest here in MD. Our flight got so delayed the last time we went down to Tampa that we just could not get out of bed the next morning... but next time we go I'm going to make sure we visit.

[stray bullet]

How did you two go about "finding out" your patron saint?

Curious :)

-- Michael

[Khaleas]

I live in Orlando, but I'm talking about my hometown of Birmingham, AL.

The MP parish is St. Nicholas. It's over 100 years old. Started in the 1800s by Ukranian miners, not it's almost all Americans.

Gotcha! Looks like a very pretty church... Father Benedict has been around for a while too... he must be a very interesting person.
There are so few MP parishes I am pretty sure the priests all know eachother. I think Father said 18 were at the Paschal celebration in NYC Saturday after Pascha.
http://www.russianchurchusa.org/RUS/index.cfm?P=Photos.cfm&mode=1&rowid=1235

Pictures from that celebration... I wish I could have gone. :sigh:

[Khaleas]

How did you two go about "finding out" your patron saint?

Curious :)

-- Michael

I keep saying she picked me... but Blessed Xenia of St Petersburg's story went straight to my heart. I did not have an orthodox name to begin with (Jennie) and although I could have picked my middle name (Helena) I asked my priest if Xenia would be ok. First he tried to change it, but then he read a bit more and agreed with me. Plus geographically she is close to where I'm from originally (Finland)...
The odd thing was that when people at church started calling me Xenia, I immediately listened. And here I had a really hard time with people saying Jennie in English, compared to Swedish pronounciation.
Now I'm even considering adding it as a middle name (I have two right now, so I'd just change one) when I get married and have to change everything anyways.
Each one of us probably has a different story to share... And I really should get off TAW and start studying... it will be a LONG night.

[Kolya]

I don't know if this has happened to any of you. But my wife's patron is St Saraphim of Sarov. He's very busy!;) So It appears he's sent some assistants to her so she can pray to them too.

She considers them her "2nd Patron". One, who speaks to her most often is St Vasilli (Basil) the Blessed - "Fool for Christ". St Anisem (Onesimus from the book of Philemon) has come too. We pray to all of them as we consider tham Family Saints. My Patron is New Holy Martyr Tsar Nicholas II - He's a new Saint so I imagine is not as busy as St Seraphim.:)

XB!

Kolya

[Emmanuel-A]

Dominus vobiscum!

Is St. Benedict (the one who wrote the Benedictine Rule) a saint according to the Orthodox Church? :)

Et cum spiritu tuo !

Of course he is. The rule of Saint Benedict has a good place on my bookshelf, and I advise everyone to read it.

Venite fili, audite me ;timorem Domini docebo vos ! (Incipit prologus, 13)

But like Matrona said, he is quite unknown to eastern europeans orthodox. Most of the orthodox that venerate him are former RC (like me).

Emmanuel

[Khaleas]

I don't know if this has happened to any of you. But my wife's patron is St Saraphim of Sarov. He's very busy!;) So It appears he's sent some assistants to her so she can pray to them too.

She considers them her "2nd Patron". One, who speaks to her most often is St Vasilli (Basil) the Blessed - "Fool for Christ". St Anisem (Onesimus from the book of Philemon) has come too. We pray to all of them as we consider tham Family Saints. My Patron is New Holy Martyr Tsar Nicholas II - He's a new Saint so I imagine is not as busy as St Seraphim.:)

XB!

Kolya

New Saints such as Blessed Xenia of St Petersburg can be really 'busy'. She was very popular long before she became a Saint. I think she is taking extra care of me while I'm still 'fresh'. St Nicholas keeps me very safe in my constant travels and also my dear husband (I gave him a small icon).
I'm still looking for a trip to St Petersburg in August (Father and his family will be there too - talk about tour guide!) and spend some time trying to get even remotely close to her church. Plus I really want to get our wedding icons from Russia... because they are so much cheaper first of all (I want hand painted) and because it would just be special. If not, I'll get them from a monastery in Finland. I can't wait for school to be over so I can start reading some of the books in my huge stack. Grandma just gave me a book in Swedish that was recently published about Internal and external travels through icons. Seems very good... now I just have to keep my hands off of it....

[Zacharias]

Thanks Matrona and Emmanuel-A. :wave:

[Wiffey]

I LOVE San Benito (St. Benedict)!!!


My Aunt sent me his medal and I wear it ALL the time.

[nicodemus]

I don't know if this has happened to any of you. But my wife's patron is St Saraphim of Sarov. He's very busy!;) So It appears he's sent some assistants to her so she can pray to them too.


I consider myself to have all kinds of patron saints. My name saint is the Holy Prophet Joel, then I consider my wife's and son's patrons to be "mine" too (St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. Isaac of Syria). I also consider the saint of the day of my baptism (Prophet Habakkuk), my wedding (St. John the Baptist) and those on my birthday (Sts. Cyril & Methodios) to be patrons as well! I don't know if that is "tradtional," but I feel an affinity for all of them considering their commemoration on important events in my life.

[Kolya]

I consider myself to have all kinds of patron saints. My name saint is the Holy Prophet Joel, then I consider my wife's and son's patrons to be "mine" too (St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. Isaac of Syria). I also consider the saint of the day of my baptism (Prophet Habakkuk), my wedding (St. John the Baptist) and those on my birthday (Sts. Cyril & Methodios) to be patrons as well! I don't know if that is "tradtional," but I feel an affinity for all of them considering their commemoration on important events in my life.

I think this can only be good. The larger one's 'Saintly Family', the better prayer life you have. I also pray to the Saints on our Aniversary, my birthday, and the day my dad went to rest.

Our Saints of Blessed Memory, please pray for us.:prayer:

Kolya