Greek Orthodoxy

It is not based on a snake but on a shepherd's staff, which has that curl on the end to help snag a straying sheep. The clergy regard their congregation as sheep to be herded.

A Greek Orthodox person may attend a wedding 40 days after the death of a parent. Though some do not wish to party, and are mourning, they are allowed to go to weddings and parties.

The upside down cross is the Petrine Cross (The Cross of Saint Peter). The Catholic tradition states that Peter wanted to be crucified upside down because he did not believe that he was worthy of being crucified in the manner that Jesus Christ was crucified. Therefore, an upside down cross is the Cross of Saint Peter.

However, the upside down crucifix (a cross with the body of Jesus Christ on it) has been attached to satanic things. Not sure about history on that one.

Whilst praying together has sometimes happened in the past, receiving Communion together is not permitted. Usually an Orthodox person can only pray in a Catholic church if there is no other Orthodox church within a reasonable distance.

I think it is the tradition of their country.

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The 'wreaths' are called stephana, and they represent crowns, as every bride and groom is a king and queen on their wedding day.

Yes, and also in the Russian. there has been for some years a movement to expand the role of women in Russian Orthodoxy to the Ministerium level- but results are mixed.Paul is popular in the Eastern Churchs, and his ( Silent running) order in his varius epistles is taken seriously.

In the Orthodox Church, this rite is usually called the Divine Liturgy, rather than the Mass. It is the most important sacrament (or mystery) of the Church, celebrated every Sunday and on feast days throughout the year (in some communities, particularly in monasteries, it is celebrated every day, except on the weekdays of Great Lent). The Divine Liturgy, which is always sung throughout, consists of two parts: the Liturgy of the Catechumens, and the Liturgy of the Faithful. The first conists of psalms, hymns, and an Epistle and Gospel reading. The second is focused on the rite of Holy Communion. Orthodox believe, as do Roman Catholics, that the bread and wine offered are changed truly and substantially into Christ's Body and Blood, although the Orthodox have not developed a technical explanation of this along the lines of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. Orthodox also believe that the Eucharist is a sacrifice, albeit an unbloody one; it is the selfsame Sacrifice offered by Christ on the Cross. The Holy Gifts are distributed in both kinds. The faithful receive a portion of the Body of Christ, together with a portion of the Precious Blood, from a spoon.

There are approximately 125 Greek Orthodox churches in Australia, but this does not include the other Orthodox churches, such as the Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Antiochian, Ukrainian Orthodox, etc.

The head of the Orthodox Church is Jesus Christ. The spiritual heads on earth are the four ancient Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem) together with the Autocephalous (self-governing) Churches such as Moscow, Serbia, Romania, Greece, and so on. The Orthodox Church has a collegial system of government, similar to a democratic government. It does not have one world leader like the Pope in Rome. The supreme authority in the Orthodox Church rests with an Ecumenical Council or Synod, with representatives from the Orthodox Churches around the world, similar to a Congress of bishops or Parliament. The Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople is regarded as the 'first patriarch among equals' but he cannot interfere in the jurisdiction of another Patriarchate or Autocephalous Church, without the authority of a world-wide church Council or Synod. The reason for this is to safeguard against any one person taking control of the Church and leading it astray, and also to provide a system of 'checks and balances' in case the spiritual head of one church makes an incorrect theological statement or preaches a heretical belief. In this way, the other spiritual heads from Orthodox Churches (usually Archbishops or Patriarchs) will censure or correct the false beliefs of that individual. That is how the structure of the Orthodox Church has remained intact for over 2,000 years.

St. John of Patmos was a legendary person deemed to have written The Revelation (Apocalypse) after the year 100, in Patmos island. Now you can visit the so-called cave of St. John and a great monastery builded around the year 1000.

Women basically have a similar role to men, except that they cannot become priests or bishops. In many Orthodox churches, women sing in the choir and perform many other important duties, such as raising money for the poor and serving on church committees or councils. In the early Church, women could also become Deaconesses, although this was a non-liturgical and non-priestly role reserved for older women to assist the priest. This practice has largely been discontinued, but there is nothing to stop it from returning. It is up to each bishop to decide. Many women also choose to serve God by becoming nuns. The role of women in the Orthodox Chuch has always been very important and should not be underestimated, but this does not extend to becoming priests. The reason for this is because the Orthodox Church follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Bible and the practices of the Holy Apostles. When Jesus chose people for His Ministry on earth, He called twelve male disciples to go and preach to the whole world. Then they chose another 70 male disciples, and so on for over 2,000 years. This is also in keeping with the Old Testament practice of choosing men to become priests of the Temple and rabbis of synagogues. So from this we conclude that Christ has called certain men (but not all men) to become His Priests. He could have chosen women, such as His own Mother, or Mary Magdalene, but did not. We are in no position to say that Christ was wrong in doing this, because Christ is God, and therefore He is without sin and makes no mistakes. This does not in any way mean that women are inferior to men. On the contrary, women were given the same possibility of salvation as men, for the first time in history by Jesus Christ. Baptism in Christ now enabled both males and females to be equally saved (Galatians 3:27-28). Christ also broke many of the social Jewish customs of that time, for example, by speaking with the Samaritan woman by the well, which was not permitted for any Jew to do. So Christ elevated women to the same status as men, but maintained their different roles in society. In other words, women are seen as equal, but different. In the Orthodox Church, the highest place that any human being has ever reached, was achieved by a woman, not a man. The Virgin Mary was the only human being to be elevated to the second highest position in Heaven! Second only to God Himself. After God, comes the Virgin Mary, and then the highest male,who was John the Baptist, and then the Apostles and others. So the highest position that any male on earth has ever reached was achieved by the Prophet St John the Bapstist, but even he is lower in status and importance than the Virgin Mary. Therefore any male or female can achieve greatness in the Church and become a great saint, but no one else can or ever will be able to reach the heights of the Virgin Mary, a woman, who achieved the highest place of any other human being on earth. Yet, the Virgin Mary did not have to become a priest in order to do this! God has given men and women different roles, and this is something that we humans cannot change. For example, God gave women the possibility of bearing children, which is a great blessing. But God did not give this same blessing to men. Does this mean that God has discrimination against men? Of course not! Men simply have to accept that only women can give birth to children. Both men and women can achieve salvation equally, by believing in God and being baptised (Mark 16:16) and by doing good works (James 2:14). Many men and women have become saints and martyrs in this way, and many more will be saved. Being a priest, or bishop, or monk or nun, still requires correct faith and good works, as it does for lay people. After all, the Virgin Mary was only a lay person, but she remained pure and faithful to God. She was a human being like any other woman on earth, yet she became higher than all other men and women and priests and bishops who have ever lived! So being a priest does not bring anyone salvation. In fact, it comes with a very heavy burden and responsibility: to preach correct doctrine. Just look at the example of the famous priest from Alexandria called Arius, who was declared to be a heretic by the church for preaching false doctrines (Arianism) about Christ. Also, Nestorius, who was Patriarch of Constantinople, was also condemned as a heretic for preaching fasle dogmas (Nestorianism), not to mention the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot, who was one of the original Twelve Apostles. So do not think that being a priest or bishop or a disciple will automatically bring you any special blessing or greater benefit than you have now. Sometimes, it can even cause our downfall.

Christians who Love God in Truth have the

Holy Spirit in their hearts.

With the Holy Spirit comes the gift(s)

The Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian

Church. The teachings are the original teachings

of the Apostles and Holy Fathers.

The Orthodox Christian Church (also referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church or Greek Orthodox Church) claims that it began in the year 33 AD, on the Day of Pentecost. At that time, there was no such thing as a Catholic or Orthodox Church, as everyone was part of the One Church. However, in 1054 AD, the West broke away and formed what is now known as the Roman Catholic Church. Following this, numerous Protestant groups were formed in the West, whereas the East remained united and unchanged, as the one Church that continued from 33 AD to the present day.

Emmet Fox uses the essential teaching of Jesus as the basis of his own metaphysical teaching. He does not teach doctrine, theology or traditions. He tries to distill the universal truths from Christ's teaching, exclusive to any religious beliefs, including Christianity. As he says, Christian did not form a new religion, and in fact challenged religious thinking with it's Focus on Material representations of the spiritual things of God.

In order to be a Orthodox Bishop, you must be celibate.

Because the christian orthodox bliefe that if the infants are dead before they becomes a younger and, if they haven`t a communion too they will not be a part of the righteous. . .

The Orthodox Christian Church is over 2,000 years old, however, the name for this Church in Greece and some other parts of the world started to become known as "Greek Orthodox" from about 1821. The Greek Orthodox are part of the Orthodox Christian Church (sometimes called the Eastern Orthodox Church) which is the same Church that Jesus founded in 33 AD.

they were put in place for monks because mmm i wonder why

well sorry guys i dont know why

ask someone else

The name Adam is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on the Sunday before Christmas, that is, 18 December, which is the Sunday of the progenitors of Jesus Christ.

No, unfortunately they are not one. There are just a few differences that separate them and no one wants to budge on these issues.

Troy Polamalu from the Pittsburgh Steelers is Greek Orthodox :)

The colors used for vestments (and other liturgical cloths) in Orthodox churches are related either to the liturgical season (Lent, Pascha, etc.) or to the feast/saint of the day. While the Typikon only calls for light or dark vestments, multiple colors are generally used as follows:

White: Pascha and the Paschal season in the Greek tradition (in the Slavic traditions, white is used for Paschal Matins, and then they change to red); Nativity of Christ, Theophany (Epiphany), Ascension, Transfiguration. White is also used for feasts for angels and for righteous virgins, and for funerals (except during those during Lent).

Purple: Lent

Red: Feasts of the Cross and for martyrs; in some places used during the Nativity fast

Green: Palm Sunday, Pentecost, Feasts for monastics and fools-for-Christ

Blue: All feasts of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary)

Black: Holy Week, funerals during Lent

Gold: All other times

The main Orthodox jurisdictions in the US are the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Orthodox Church of America (OCA), the Moscow Patriarchate, the Antiochian Patriarchate, the Serbian Patriarchate and the Romanian Patriarchate. All of these jurisdictions are in communion with each other. They are not denominations, but simply "sister churches" of the one Eastern Orthodox Church.