Vote for Our Patron

[Philip]

Since we did not finish our poll before The Crash, I'll start a new one. I apologize that I can not remember all of the Saints who were suggested. If you want me to add on, just let me know. To answer some questions that might come up (or came up in the last pole):

Can I change my vote from the first poll? Sure. I'm from Florida, so I am used to irregularities in voters.
Can I vote for more than one Saint? No. The software does not seem to support such actions.
Can non-Orthodox vote? Anyone who shares the Orthodox belief of the Communion of the Saints is welcome to vote.
I'm not sure for whom I should vote. Can you help me? Yes, I will be happy to cast your vote by proxy. Or, you can post any question you might have. One of us will be happy to answer.

Don't forget to post a statement describing for whom and why you voted.

[Reader Nilus]

I voted for St Ignatius of Antioch, being he is the Saint I bring up often when talking with Protestants and Evangelicals.
Jeff the Finn

[Maximus]

All the saints are great, but I voted for St. Mary, the Holy, Blessed, Ever-Virgin Mother of God.

I am doing my part to fulfill the prophecy of Luke 1:48 :

"For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed."

We all owe St. Mary a lot. I spent so much of my life before my conversion ignoring her, I need to make up for lost time!

[MariaRegina]

Dear Philip and all icon posters:

Christ is in our midst!

Where did you get your icon signatures? And how did you do it? I have mozilla, is that a problem. IE is loaded with viruses so my son will not let me use it.

I would love to have an icon of the Theotokos or the Annunciation. Could you help me?

Yours in Christ-God,

Elizabeth

[Philip]

Dear Philip and all icon posters:
Where did you get your icon signatures? And how did you do it? I have mozilla, is that a problem. IE is loaded with viruses so my son will not let me use it.


Mozilla should not be a problem


I would love to have an icon of the Theotokos or the Annunciation. Could you help me?


How about this? Click on it to see it enlarged. If you like it, I'll resize it so you can use it.

[Photini]

Philip, how do you resize something so that it will fit? I have so many great icons and pics saved, i've tried and tried to fiddle with it, but to no avail.

[Philip]

You can use any image-editing software. I use Fireworks. To be used as an avatar, the image must be no larger than 120 x 120 pixels. Feel free to email an image to me. I'll be happy to resize it.

[Gideon4God]

No C. I. Scofield???

[Photini]

Thanks Philip...I figured it out... :cool:

[MariaRegina]

Mozilla should not be a problem



How about this? Click on it to see it enlarged. If you like it, I'll resize it so you can use it.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever!

Thank you Philip. It came alive when I clicked on it. The icon of the Theotokos took up the whole page. Wow! She's beautiful.

What can you do next?

YSIC

Elizabeth

[Philip]

I'll email the image to you with directions on how to make it your avatar.

[CopticOrthodox]

I'm indecisive... how about St. Athanasius & St. Antony's Orthodox discussion?

[Philip]

It is starting to look like there will be no clear favorite. I think the Catholic forum decided on three patrons. We may have to do something similar.

[Maximus]

No C. I. Scofield???

Lol. :D

If we ever have a poll to select "Masters of Confusion" he will be at the top of the list.

[MariaRegina]

I'm indecisive... how about St. Athanasius & St. Antony's Orthodox discussion?

Christ is in our midst!

I agree that Sts. Athanasius and Antony would be the best patrons as the scholarly hierarch St. Athanasius stood up to Pope Liberius of Rome and his Arian friends, while the ascetical monastic St. Antony (Anthony) was renown for his biography of St. Athanasius. The two holy Egyptian saints kind of go together. Today we need their example of courage and perseverance in the face of evil.

YSIC

Elizabeth

[nyj]

I voted for St. Athanasius (I had previously voted for St. Ignatius of Antioch but have since changed my mind).

Yes, the OBOB Forum settled on three Patron Saints (St. Justin Martyr, Michael the Archangel and the Blessed Virgin Mary), perhaps you guys (and gals) could do something similar.

Interestingly enough, it appears that the Patron Saints of both forums will be Saints shared by tradition in both the Catholic and Orthodox members of Christian Forums. :)

[MariaRegina]

Dearest Philip: Christ is in our midst!

My son just changed my avatar (icon) so that I now have The Icon painted by St. Luke: The directress also known as "Odigitria" in Greek.
Do you like it?

It would be wonderful to have The Theotokos, St. Athanasius and St. Anthony as our patrons.

Could we do that?

YSIC

Elizabeth

[Philip]

bump

[MariaRegina]

My Dearest Philip in Christ:

Since there are so few of us on this site, could you perhaps redo the poll and allow for multiple choices. For example:

St. Athanasius, St. Anthony and the Theotokos

Sts. Peter and Paul and St. Ignatius of Antioch

The Holy Apostles and the Theotokos

The Theotokos and All the Saints

Sts. David, Moses and Paul with the Theotokos

Perhaps let other people post their favorites, and then we will have more viable choices.

Personally I think we should really consider St. Paul as he wrote so profusely. He would definitely be a moderator or webmaster if he were alive today! We also forgot Moses and David who contributed a lot to the OT. And how can we forget the Theotokos who met with St. Luke and contributed so much to the Gospel of St. Luke.

Just some thoughts to spur some more dialogue.

YSIC

Elizabeth

[Philip]

Perhaps let other people post their favorites, and then we will have more viable choices.


Before the crash, we had a period of nominations. I think we reached 12 nominees -- more nominees than voters.

I encourage people to post in support of their favorite(s). I would also love for people to suggest more of the Worthy Saints. I learned about several Saints in the process of nomination.

If most agree, we can re-open the poll after people have nominated a small group of Saints.

I would suggest Sts Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria and John of Damascus: Athanasius for his defence of the divinity of Christ and the Incarnation; Cyril for his continuation of Athansius's work and the defence of the Theotokos; and John for defence of our Holy Icons, and thus, the Incarnation.

I love our Blessed Mother and all the Saints. Since I spend much of my time on this board explaining and defending Orthodoxy, I feel it would be appropriate to dedicate the work here to other defenders of the Faith. (Of course, my work does not begin to compare to theirs.) The three I chose have done the most, IMVHO, to defend the Orthodox understanding of the Incarnation. To me, that is the center of our Faith.

[throughhiseyes]

I would like to add Padre Pio to this list. His devotion and love for his Christian brothers and sisters is well documented. His devotion to the cause of Christ is proof of this love. He spoke greatly about charity and love.

[Philip]

Correct me if I am wrong, but Padre Pio was not Orthodox, was he?

[Reader Nilus]

He was a Roman Catholic Capuchin priest.
Jeff the Finn

[MariaRegina]

July 3, 2003

Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Christ is Glorified in His Saints!
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him Forever!

Perhaps we should add another rule in our Orthodox forum to promote charity among us: A MANDATORY CHRISTIAN GREETING, such as:

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY TO HIM FOREVER!

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE IS AND ALWAYS SHALL BE!

CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!

CHRIST IS ASCENDED! FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN!

CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!

Have I missed any? Please post if you know of any more. I'd like to learn them and use them.

We need to address each other with a Christian greeting as did our ancient brothers and sisters in the Lord.

How many times are we reminding ourselves of the Lord? That should be our whole goal -- not argumentation to checkmate everyone else. That temptation comes from pride. If I have been guilty of that, may the Lord forgive. It is so easy to forget the Author of Love and Truth: Christ.

May we ever keep Him on our mind.

Therefore I propose that we imitate Saint Seraphim of Sarov who always greeted Muslim, Jew, Greek, Gentile, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christians with the greeting:

My Joy, Christ is Risen!

Perhaps he should be our patron as he is the embodiment of what every Christian should be. He became a living flame of God. He became the Light of Christ while living on this earth.

Reading his life is awesome.

May Christ be glorified in us!

Your sister in Christ,

Elizabeth

[Maximus]

I have hearty dislike of anything mandatory.

Making a Christian greeting mandatory would kill the spontaneous joy of it (for me, anyway).

I also think making it mandatory would be the same thing as rendering it perfunctory.

Double-plus ungood (IMHO).

[CopticOrthodox]

The greeting Christ is Risen! In truth He is Risen! is liturgical & it's customary to use it at all times during the Holy 50 to remind us of the special time & where our focus should be. The other greetings listed are far less standard, and far less normal to use. Their use or disuse varried greatly from juristiction to juristiction, and in many areas nothing like that is customary outside the Holy 50, so I don't think requiring something like that would make much sense.

[Photini]

Dear in Christ Elizabeth,
I'm not so sure about making it mandatory. But wouldn't it be beautiful if we all addressed each other in such endearing terms? I also recently read the life of St Seraphim of Sarov, and my son also read a shorter kid-appropriate version of his life...and wants to have the name Seraphim when he is baptised next month!
Another saint that showed so much love for all the world was St Silouan. Here's a couple of quotes:

" O all ye peoples of the earth, I fall on my knees before you, beseeching you with tears to come to Christ. I know His love for you. I know, therefore I cry to the whole world. if one does not know a thing, how could one speak of it?"

"I am an old man awaiting death, and I write the truth out of love for the people over whom my soul grieves. If I should help but a single soul to salvation, I will give thanks to God."

I think it is truly beautiful Elizabeth, that you have such zeal and love,that you use these greetings not only at certain times of the year...but at times when they are unexpected, and so very touching. I for one, thank you and humbly beg your prayers.

Your sister in Christ,
Photini

[MariaRegina]

Making a Christian greeting mandatory would kill the spontaneous joy of it (for me, anyway).

I also think making it mandatory would be the same thing as rendering it perfunctory.

Double-plus ungood (IMHO).

My Dearest Joy in Christ, Maximus:

Christ is glorified in His Saints! May He also be glorified in us!

You know just typing that greeting turns my irritation into love.

Seriously, after I type a prayer, I don't have the urge to flame. I'm thinking would Jesus do that? He asks us to love those who inflame us!

You are probably thinking that a prayer would take the fun out of a discussion group? No not really. It just makes them more friendly and look at the intensive exchanges we have had in the treads dealing with the Pope. At one point they were coming non stop.

I guess some people will be bored in heaven with no flaming allowed!
We'll be praising and glorifying the Lord for eternity. Guess we'll have to get use to it right now, since eternity is going to be for a looooong time, forever and ever and ever! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Your sister in Christ,

Elizabeth :rolleyes:

[Maximus]

From chanterhanson: My Dearest Joy in Christ, Maximus:

Christ is glorified in His Saints! May He also be glorified in us!

You know just typing that greeting turns my irritation into love.

Funny you should mention irritation.

Did what I post irritate you?

From chanterhanson: Seriously, after I type a prayer, I don't have the urge to flame. I'm thinking would Jesus do that? He asks us to love those who inflame us!

I am not sure what you mean by "flame."

I disagree with your suggestion that a Christian greeting be made mandatory. I seriously doubt that is "flaming," but if it is, so be it.

I have nothing against Christian greetings. It's the mandatory part to which I object.

From chanterhanson: You are probably thinking that a prayer would take the fun out of a discussion group?

Yeah, that's just what I was thinking! (Excuse the sarcasm.)

How does disagreeing with you on mandatory greetings translate into an aversion to prayer?

From chanterhanson: I guess some people will be bored in heaven with no flaming allowed!
We'll be praising and glorifying the Lord for eternity. Guess we'll have to get use to it right now, since eternity is going to be for a looooong time, forever and ever and ever! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Your sister in Christ,

Elizabeth :rolleyes:

We'll be praising the Lord, all right, but we'll do it because we want to, NOT because someone made it mandatory.

All the mandatory stuff will be going on in hell.

Are you suggesting we get used to that now?

[MariaRegina]

Funny you should mention irritation. ...

I am not sure what you mean by "flame." ...

Yeah, that's just what I was thinking! (Excuse the sarcasm.) ...

All the mandatory stuff will be going on in hell.
Are you suggesting we get used to that now?

My Dearest Joy Maximos:

Christ is glorified in His Saints! May He also be glorified in us!

You know I was just thinking, if the Board did make mandatory salutations necessary within the Orthodox forum, it might be a lot more charitable. But don't worry, it's not going to happen here, because some dude will just cut and paste all the prayerful greetings into a form letter and insert his message without even considering the prayer in the first place, then the greetings will truly be perfunctory, as you put it. So why bother, there is always a way to circumvent a rule. That's life on planet earth.

Now where in my most recent message did I mention the word "mandatory?"

No, you didn't irritate me. Don't take things personally. It was the intensity of some remarks made by previous posters. Some of the other forums here have had very heated debates, that we have been mostly spared.

You weren't being sarcastic in your previous post, but you even admit that you are now. Isn't that kind of inflammatory? I still love you in the Lord, because you're my brother in Christ!

The Catholics have a joke about mandatory praise in hell that will drive the atheists crazy. Guess you've heard that one.

Your sister in Christ,
Elizabeth

[MariaRegina]

Dear Maximos:

Why do the atheists hate mandatory prayers?

Because that's hell to them!

Your sister in Christ,

Elizabeth

[CopticOrthodox]

"some dude will just cut and paste all the prayerful greetings into a form letter and insert his message without even considering the prayer in the first place, then the greetings will truly be perfunctory,"

This was exactly his point, but insead of assuming he had some good reason for what he said, you jumped straight to accusations that he was saying it because he wanted to have fun without God.

Where did you say make it mandentory? You suggested making it a rule.

I realize that you have the best intentions, but the way you word things seems to carry a lot more hostility, and come accross much more confrontationally than you intend.

[MariaRegina]

"some dude will just cut and paste all the prayerful greetings into a form letter and insert his message without even considering the prayer in the first place, then the greetings will truly be perfunctory,"

This was exactly his point, but insead of assuming he had some good reason for what he said, you jumped straight to accusations that he was saying it because he wanted to have fun without God.

Where did you say make it mandentory? You suggested making it a rule.

I realize that you have the best intentions, but the way you word things seems to carry a lot more hostility, and come accross much more confrontationally than you intend.

Dearest Brothers in Christ:

Christ is glorified in His Saints! May He also be glorified in us!

Please understand!

I was not trying to be confrontational.

In my most recent post - I did not use the word mandatory at all. I knew it would not work, that is why I mentioned the "dude."

I was using satire all along - just to make you guys think because we all need to try to be a little more charitable.

I think we really need to rethink our patron saints!

I would like to change my vote to St. Seraphim of Sarov! As his greeting, My Joy, Christ is Risen is an excellent ideal to follow.

Hopefully, we can have multiple patrons! I think we need to have

A CLOUD OF WITNESSES

In other words we don't need just three patrons, we need all the Saints and Angels to help us be charitable.

Lovingly in Christ God

Your Sister in Christ-God,

Please forgive me a sinner!
Elizabeth

[Maximus]

From chanterhanson (post #24): Perhaps we should add another rule in our Orthodox forum to promote charity among us: A MANDATORY CHRISTIAN GREETING, such as:

That's where the word "mandatory" came from.

I don't mean to be confrontational either. I merely said I don't like things that are mandatory, especially when it comes to the Faith.

But I understand that chanter was trying to do good, not bad.

So, let's get back to the actual topic, shall we?

[MariaRegina]

So, let's get back to the actual topic, shall we?

Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Christ is glorified in His Saints! May He also be glorified in us!

Agreed!

So I want to switch my vote to these 4 powerful saints:

SAINT SERAPHIM OF SAROV (love)
SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA (love of the Truth)
SAINT ANTHONY OF THE DESERT (ascetical love)
SAINT MARY OF EGYPT (repentance and hope for sinners)

We should include a lady, don't you think?

Can we have a longer list?

Yours in Christ-God,

Elizabeth

[Reader Nilus]

We agreed to have only common saints of both Oriental and Eastern Orthodox as our Patron.
Jeff the Finn

[MariaRegina]

We agreed to have only common saints of both Oriental and Eastern Orthodox as our Patron.
Jeff the Finn

My dearest joy in Christ:

Christ is glorified in His Saints! May He also be glorified in us!

That's a Paleolitic rule, if you don't mine the saying. Time to break it.

Why can't the Coptics and the Eastern Orthodox recognize each others saints? It's about time some serious reconciliation is done here.

Yours truly in Christ,

Elizabeth

[Reader Nilus]

I for one am very interested in the Oriental Orthodox saints but the sources for information on them are hard to find at least on the Internet and in English. If we are voting and I am not sure what the numbers of Oriental vs Eastern Orthodox Posters are, I would assume that there are more Eastern Orthodox so the chances of an Eastern Orthodox winning a poll is pretty good, that is why we agreed to have the Patron picked from the saints common to both of us.
Jeff the Finn

[Philip]

My dearest joy in Christ:
Why can't the Coptics and the Eastern Orthodox recognize each others saints? It's about time some serious reconciliation is done here.


I agree that there needs to be reconciliation, but we do not have the authority to recognize Saints that the Church has not.

[Philip]

If we are voting and I am not sure what the numbers of Oriental vs Eastern Orthodox Posters are, I would assume that there are more Eastern Orthodox so the chances of an Eastern Orthodox winning a poll is pretty good, that is why we agreed to have the Patron picked from the saints common to both of us.
Jeff the Finn

I think CopticOrthodox is the only regular OO poster.

[MariaRegina]

Dearest Brothers in Christ,

Christ is glorified in His Saints! May He be glorified in us!

Then perhaps we should have ALL SAINTS as our patrons because God knows who the real saints are. And we need all their help we can get!
Agreed? Besides by the time the Churches have real union (not just politically correct union), we all probably will have fallen asleep in Christ.

Come Lord Jesus! And save us!

Yours truly in Christ,

Elizabeth

[Reader Nilus]

There are a great number of Saints that are common to both of us, and I think we should pick our Patron from among them.
Jeff the Finn

[MariaRegina]

There are a great number of Saints that are common to both of us, and I think we should pick our Patron from among them.
Jeff the Finn

Dearest joy in Christ, Jeff:

Christ in glorified in His Saints! May He be glorified in us!

Jeff, we have so many modern saints that won't be included. So I still think we should have a choice, at least a chance, to vote for:

ALL SAINTS

Your sister in Christ

Elizabeth

[Maximus]

If I recall rightly, we set the date for the completion of this poll at July 12th. Well, that date has come and gone.

Is the poll complete, then?

Is St. Athanasius our forum patron?

Oh, noble and wise St. Athanasius, pray for us that we be given the courage to stand for the truth, even as you did. Amen.

[Photini]

Yes, I was wondering when we are gonna wrap this up.

[Maximus]

Oops! My mistake. I see the poll actually closed on July 10th!

Hooray for St. Athanasius!

[Philip]

Is the poll complete, then?

Yes

Is St. Athanasius our forum patron?

Yes

Oh, noble and wise St. Athanasius, pray for us that we be given the courage to stand for the truth, even as you did. Amen.

Amen.

Should we try to pick a forum name now?

[MariaRegina]

Dear Philip:

Dearest Philip,

Christ is in our midst!

Since St. Athanasius is the revered Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, and he played a key role in the first two Ecumenical Councils, why don't we call our forum the St. Athanasius Forum? That way we don't have to vote again. LOL

Besides, it sounds better than EOCO.

Just my 2 cents!

Your sister in Christ,
Elizabeth

[Reader Nilus]

When is St Athanasius going to appear in the name of the forum?
Jeff the Finn

[nyj]

Congratulations on picking your patron saint. St. Athanasius is an excellent choice. :) Of course, one could never go wrong with any of God's chosen as a role model, but St. Athanasius is still a marvelous pick.

[Philip]

When is St Athanasius going to appear in the name of the forum?
Jeff the Finn

I know that we selected St Athanasius as our patron. Did we also decide to name the forum after him? It sounds like a good idea to me.

[MariaRegina]

Dearest Philip:

Re: THE ANCIENT PATH

If we call our site "The Ancient Path" we might draw sincere seekers of the ancient path to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

At least that is what happened to the Four Square Church in San Dimas, California which was recently received into Orthodoxy (in 1996) as St. Peter's Orthodox Church. Father Joseph Corrigan is the pastor.

Just a thought!

Elizabeth

[Maximus]

Dearest Philip:

Re: THE ANCIENT PATH

If we call our site "The Ancient Path" we might draw sincere seekers of the ancient path to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

At least that is what happened to the Four Square Church in San Dimas, California which was recently received into Orthodoxy (in 1996) as St. Peter's Orthodox Church. Father Joseph Corrigan is the pastor.

Just a thought!

Elizabeth

San Dimas?

That church doesn't have deacons named Bill and Ted, does it? :cool:

Be excellent to each other!

[MariaRegina]

My dearest Maximus:

Welcome! I haven't heard from you in a while. Hope your job teaching has been very fruitful. What have you been teaching?

St. Peter Orthodox Church is under the Antiochians. They have a lot of deacons and subdeacons in that church. Unfortunately St. Peter's Church doesn't seem to have a website to verify their names. But I think you are correct.

Lovingly in Christ,
Elizabeth

PS Their choir is the whole congregation. You should hear them sing!

[MariaRegina]

Dearest Maximus:

One of their deacons is a medical doctor.

[Philip]

San Dimas?

That church doesn't have deacons named Bill and Ted, does it? :cool:

Be excellent to each other!

Indeed. :D

[Maximus]

Elizabeth -

I've been teaching 10th-grade English this summer. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

RE: My question about deacons Bill and Ted at St. Peter's in San Dimas. I was making a goofy joke based upon the comedy films Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. In those films, Bill and Ted are a pair of teenaged heavy-metal enthusiasts who are constantly in hot water but are bailed out by a friend from the future (Rufus) who admires them because he knows they are destined for greatness.

San Dimas is the hometown of Bill and Ted. "Be excellent to each other!" is one of the two mottoes they develop. The other is "Party on, dudes!"

Pardon my feeble joke. I thought maybe you had seen one or both of those films.

Evidently Philip has seen them. :cool:

[MariaRegina]

Dearest Maximus

Thanks for explaining the joke. I'm not a movie goer - my priest doesn't recommend movies, but he did recommend Liar, Liar for a lenten movie! LOL

I knew that St. Peter's Church has the habit of renting a bus or carpooling to visit other Orthodox Churches, so I had assumed that they had gone to a convention somewhere and had met you.

They traveled up north to Ben Lomond in Santa Cruz, then to St. Athanasius in Santa Barbara. They have been all over the place.

Their church is also mentioned in the Orthodox Study Bible as their priest, Father Joseph Corrigan wrote an article in that Bible about their conversion story.

Nothing funny happened with your tenth graders? Come on! Kids can say the darndest things!

Yours truly in Christ,
Elizabeth