Thank you for your work in making these videos. I'm a grandmother who converted to Roman Catholicism later in life from Evangelical Protestantism. Your videos are so helpful to me. I plan on "attending" your Bible studies. Christ is King.
Thank you so much sona. May you hear the word of life. One of things that helps me strengthen my relationship with God is having gratitude. Being thankful and praising God for the blessings he gave me has been a life changing practice.
Hello Sona! I am Eastern Orthodox Christian ( born in Ukraine, living in the US). The thing that really brought our family faith together and helps us quite a bit as a family is evening prayer and asking forgiveness from each other before bed time . There is nothing more humbling than asking your 11 year old child to forgive you and having your child doing the same .
God bless you! What a beautiful tradition! I would love to implement that into my family evening routine! I will ask my husband if he would consider that:)
I am so honestly grateful for you and your faith-filled videos such as this one. The way you explain the faith and your humble manner draws me to listen more. I was raised Catholic since birth, attended Catholic school through high school yet went through “dry periods” of faith throughout my life. I wish I would have found Orthodoxy sooner, as I have soooo much to repent for and the Orthodox faith is what I’ve been missing in my life 🙏 Thank you 🌹
@@holasona That is a good question! I don't quite remember the moment, but I do know I was searching for "more". Something inside of me said "This can not be it" when I was just attending catholic services. Something didn't sit right with me. I feel in my soul that Orthodoxy is the right path. No one ever spoke of it when I was at school nor at regular services. Like it did not exist! So sad, honestly. It's incredible how the horse-blinders keep a lot from us individually as we grow up and then when we discover reality, or some truths, it's like we just woke up!
You are very right about the value of our attention. And... I would also like to visit Rome someday. Before the war, I traveled a little: I was in the Tverdos monastery in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was in the Ostrog monastery in Montenegro, and I would really like to visit many more interesting holy places, but, as you know, men are not allowed out of Ukraine now. You also said very correctly about honoring the saints. Say: have there been times in your life when you felt the help of a saint or angel? Thank you for a very nice and interesting video and greetings from Ukraine!
Hi Roman! So nice to hear from you! God willing, you will travel a lot more and you will see Rome. I did have special moment when I felt the help of the saints, especially St. Mary, St. John Crysostom, St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. Hripsime and Gayane, St. Nerser Shnorhali and many others.
@@holasona Thanks for the answer! I am very pleased to read your kind words. Unfortunately, on Sunday evening, the Russian army hit a residential building with a ballistic missile. 12 Iranian people died, including two children, more than 80 people were seriously injured, including children. Children have their fingers and limbs torn off. Wounded in intensive care. The Russian army continues to attack civilians in our place, air raids sound every day. But we hold on, because God's truth is on our side.
wow:) when I was a kid I swear its like I knew I had a guardian angel who would deliver my prayers.. I would blow a kiss to the sky and give it off to my angel to deliver. spiritual world is so close to a childs mind
That is so beautiful! It is a wonder how much children know and understand! No one ever taught me to pray or to believe in God when I was little, but I did that nonetheless.
I am learning a great deal from you and reinforcing my Orthodox faith and commitment to our Church. I would like to ask if you could do a video on how to pray for others. I believe it is called intercessory prayer. We often say, I will pray for you to people in distress or challenged by a difficult life event. I have a modest list and not really sure how to do it. I feel very clumsy. Thank you for considering this topic.
1. Repeat the Jesus Prayer throughout the day (0:30) 2. Have a Daily Pocket Prayer Book (2:50) 3. Going to Pilgrimages (5:27) 4. Receiving Holy Community weekly (7:34) 5. Choosing a Patron Saint (9:24) 6. Daily Confessions (11:00) 7. Praying to your Guardian Angel (13:03) 8. Asking God for the little things (14:37) 9. Reading the lives of the Saints (15:46) 10. Participating in Bible Studies (16:40) Bonus: staying connected with the church community (17:37)
Hi! Thank you! I appreciate your notes 🙏I did notice during editing, that I said #4 two times and didn’t say #6, so I had to make peace with it. There are still 10 habits:)
This video is truly life changing. Inspired by your other videos, two things I started doing are, I started saying my morning prayers out of a prayer book and I started taking a sip of Holy water when I wake up. I just have to start to do my nightly prayers. Thank you for all you do. I am a catechumen and although I am learning much about the Faith, your videos are teaching me how to be an Orthodox woman, and I am forever grateful for that.
Thank you Our Dearest for what you have granted. The power of your podcast is full of ray of hope.Orthodox is full of life healing practice you attempted to unleash the widom inside.
God bless you, very insightful tips and great video. one that I would recommend a lot is visiting a monastery or a different church. I have had the privilege to visit 2 monasteries so far and let me tell you it's just so awe-inspiring and just being in contact with monks and nuns and people who dedicate their lives to God just really stirs up your spirit to draw nearer to God.
Thank you for your kind words! God bless you too! Thank you for sharing! It is eye-opening, isn’t it? When we see people who dedicated themselves to the service of God, our hearts becomes so full of hope!
Thank you! I found this video to be helpful and encouraging. I look forward to involving other Christians to keep accountability and to encourage each other in the faith. One habit that helped me is saying the Jesus prayer and other short prayers repeatedly throughout the day. I also found it helpful to read the Holy Bible, spiritual books and learn about the lives of the saints. Another helpful habit is spending time listening to Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox sermons and hymns. Keeping a journal to keep track of my progress and for accountability has helped me too. Finally, even though I have small living space I got a bookshelf to place icons of the saints on and to dedicate that place for God and spending time in prayer.
Thank you for your kind words! And thank you so much for sharing! I also wanted to get to journaling, but I haven’t been able to stick to that. Maybe I’ll try again in 2025.
Nice video. Thank you for sharing. I try to start a day, even before a get out of the bed, with Jesus Prayer and finish the day and fall asleep with the same Prayer. At the moment I'm reading great book by father Sergiy Baranov, Fly high.
Watched your video earlier this morning, i have been so blessed by it! On top of that, now i know the Orthodox Jesus prayer and for that, i thank you! Blessings to you and your family.
Thank you so much. This is so uplifting to hear. ❤ My only wish right now is to be able to recieve the holy communion every sunday but i study, work and am a mother of two aswell so weekends are spent on work but deep down feel so sad Cause i am missing on the holy liturgy and communion. Need to make decisions and think of his rightousness above anything else ❤❤❤. I try to practice most of what you said but needs dedication
Thank you for your encouraging words! I absolutely understand how busy you are! Pray to Jesus, tell him that you want to participate in the Divine Liturgy every Sunday! He will find a way!
Dear Sona, Thank you for this wonderful video. I have visited the Coptic monastery a few times, and it is beautiful. I live in the High Desert, Are you far from the monastery?
Thank you for watching! It is 3 hours away:) that’s why i haven’t visited it yet, but I am already planning that trip for 2025. How was your trip? Did you enjoy it?
Thank you for your question! I can’t find this part online to give you a link. I read it in one the Armenian Church Father’s creations books a few years ago and I remember thinking to myself: “It makes sense!” Catholics seem to also agree to this. Among modern explanations I found this by a Catholic priest Fr. Wright Longenecker: “Which side of Jesus was pierced by the spear of Longinus? The gospels do not say, but the tradition is that it was the right side-and this tradition was probably established upon meditation on Matthew 25:34-the right side being the side of salvation. If this is so, and Dismas was on the right hand side he would have been sprinkled with the blood and water that spurted from Christ’s side. The church has, from the beginning, viewed the blood and water from Christ’s side as being the source and foundation of the two sacraments of baptism and Eucharist. Therefore, since Dismas was sprinkled with the blood of the lamb, (and maybe some touched his lips) we would say he partook (literally) of the blood of Christ. If the water from our Lord’s side also sprinkled on him he received the sacrament of baptism in a way that should satisfy the most literally minded of our Protestant brothers. dwightlongenecker.com/the-salvation-of-st-dismas-the-good-thief/
@@holasona Thanks, Sona, for your thorough answer and the link. I will look at it soon. I have a RC friend and I think that he has mentioned this priest to me.
Thank you for your question! I try to cover at home while praying in front of my icon corner. I keep it right there next to me. I don’t always remember to wear it though:) the veil somehow helps me to concentrate on a prayer.
1414 I have never heard of this aspect and would like to know more. I never thought of it. Are you saying that the devil is, for instance, evil, but on his own he cannot do anything. He needs people to do his evil acts? Or did I misunderstand? I can see it in the sense that someone is greedy because the devil has suggested to him that all his problems could be solved by robbing a bank, but the devil does not rob the bank. He gets the greedy guy to rob the bank. Is this what you mean or is that too simple?
Thank you for your question! Yes, Satan tempts us to do evil but he himself is not capable of “making” evil. But even with tempting us and sending evil thoughts to us, he can do much harm.
@@holasona Thanks, Holasona. You are right. Satan can do much that would separate us from Christ, but thanks be to God, we have Christ and all his saints, especially the Theotokos.
The unification has already happened. The Orthodox Church is in heresy now because of the unification with other religions and other non orthodox teachings and practices.. Anything outside the true Holy and Apostolic Orthodox Church is heretic . I hope that people find and stick to the truth because only the true orthodox faith will lead to salvation. Jesus told us this . I pray God enlightens you to see this. May God be with you 🧡
Thank you for your prayers! Orthodox Christianity, both Eastern and Oriental, has a lot in common with Catholicism. I think our churches should be at least in constant dialog.
Thank you for your work in making these videos. I'm a grandmother who converted to Roman Catholicism later in life from Evangelical Protestantism. Your videos are so helpful to me. I plan on "attending" your Bible studies. Christ is King.
Thank you so much sona. May you hear the word of life. One of things that helps me strengthen my relationship with God is having gratitude. Being thankful and praising God for the blessings he gave me has been a life changing practice.
Thank you for your kind words! And thank you for sharing! Indeed, gratitude is very important! 🙏
እግዚእበሔር ይስጥልን እናመሰግናለን!
Thank you for watching! 🙏
Hello Sona! I am Eastern Orthodox Christian ( born in Ukraine, living in the US). The thing that really brought our family faith together and helps us quite a bit as a family is evening prayer and asking forgiveness from each other before bed time . There is nothing more humbling than asking your 11 year old child to forgive you and having your child doing the same .
God bless you! What a beautiful tradition! I would love to implement that into my family evening routine! I will ask my husband if he would consider that:)
I am an Ethiopian Orthodox. Keep up the good work. Your content is a blessing.
Thank you so much! 🙏
luv from Ethiopia🫶
Thank you for watching! 🙏
I am so honestly grateful for you and your faith-filled videos such as this one. The way you explain the faith and your humble manner draws me to listen more. I was raised Catholic since birth, attended Catholic school through high school yet went through “dry periods” of faith throughout my life. I wish I would have found Orthodoxy sooner, as I have soooo much to repent for and the Orthodox faith is what I’ve been missing in my life 🙏 Thank you 🌹
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words! And thank you for sharing your journey! May I ask, how did you discover Orthodox faith?
@@holasona That is a good question! I don't quite remember the moment, but I do know I was searching for "more". Something inside of me said "This can not be it" when I was just attending catholic services. Something didn't sit right with me. I feel in my soul that Orthodoxy is the right path. No one ever spoke of it when I was at school nor at regular services. Like it did not exist! So sad, honestly. It's incredible how the horse-blinders keep a lot from us individually as we grow up and then when we discover reality, or some truths, it's like we just woke up!
You are very right about the value of our attention.
And... I would also like to visit Rome someday.
Before the war, I traveled a little: I was in the Tverdos monastery in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was in the Ostrog monastery in Montenegro, and I would really like to visit many more interesting holy places, but, as you know, men are not allowed out of Ukraine now.
You also said very correctly about honoring the saints.
Say: have there been times in your life when you felt the help of a saint or angel?
Thank you for a very nice and interesting video and greetings from Ukraine!
Hi Roman! So nice to hear from you! God willing, you will travel a lot more and you will see Rome. I did have special moment when I felt the help of the saints, especially St. Mary, St. John Crysostom, St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. Hripsime and Gayane, St. Nerser Shnorhali and many others.
@@holasona Thanks for the answer!
I am very pleased to read your kind words.
Unfortunately, on Sunday evening, the Russian army hit a residential building with a ballistic missile. 12 Iranian people died, including two children, more than 80 people were seriously injured, including children. Children have their fingers and limbs torn off. Wounded in intensive care.
The Russian army continues to attack civilians in our place, air raids sound every day.
But we hold on, because God's truth is on our side.
wow:) when I was a kid I swear its like I knew I had a guardian angel who would deliver my prayers.. I would blow a kiss to the sky and give it off to my angel to deliver. spiritual world is so close to a childs mind
That is so beautiful! It is a wonder how much children know and understand!
No one ever taught me to pray or to believe in God when I was little, but I did that nonetheless.
@@holasona yes🥺❤
Many thanks dear Sona. I am from Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido church.
Thank you for watching! 🙏
I am learning a great deal from you and reinforcing my Orthodox faith and commitment to our Church. I would like to ask if you could do a video on how to pray for others. I believe it is called intercessory prayer. We often say, I will pray for you to people in distress or challenged by a difficult life event. I have a modest list and not really sure how to do it. I feel very clumsy. Thank you for considering this topic.
Thank you so much for your encouraging words! I will definitely consider that, thank you for your request!
1. Repeat the Jesus Prayer throughout the day (0:30)
2. Have a Daily Pocket Prayer Book (2:50)
3. Going to Pilgrimages (5:27)
4. Receiving Holy Community weekly (7:34)
5. Choosing a Patron Saint (9:24)
6. Daily Confessions (11:00)
7. Praying to your Guardian Angel (13:03)
8. Asking God for the little things (14:37)
9. Reading the lives of the Saints (15:46)
10. Participating in Bible Studies (16:40)
Bonus: staying connected with the church community (17:37)
Hi! Thank you! I appreciate your notes 🙏I did notice during editing, that I said #4 two times and didn’t say #6, so I had to make peace with it. There are still 10 habits:)
@@holasona if it helps, i didn't notice.
This video is truly life changing. Inspired by your other videos, two things I started doing are, I started saying my morning prayers out of a prayer book and I started taking a sip of Holy water when I wake up. I just have to start to do my nightly prayers. Thank you for all you do. I am a catechumen and although I am learning much about the Faith, your videos are teaching me how to be an Orthodox woman, and I am forever grateful for that.
Thank you so much for your kind words! They deeply touched me! God bless you and help you on your journey!
May you hear the word of life, this was a much needed video. thank you so much, May God shower you with His Grace
Thank you for your kind words! May God bless you abundantly!
@@holasona Amen
I agree, you provide so much insight. Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words!
Thank you Our Dearest for what you have granted. The power of your podcast is full of ray of hope.Orthodox is full of life healing practice you attempted to unleash the widom inside.
Thank you so much, dear brother in Christ, for your kind words! God bless you!
Thank you!
Thank you for watching!
Thanks for your inspiring videos.God bless
Thank you for watching! God bless you too!
Thanks Sona
Thank you for watching!
God bless you, very insightful tips and great video. one that I would recommend a lot is visiting a monastery or a different church. I have had the privilege to visit 2 monasteries so far and let me tell you it's just so awe-inspiring and just being in contact with monks and nuns and people who dedicate their lives to God just really stirs up your spirit to draw nearer to God.
Thank you for your kind words! God bless you too!
Thank you for sharing! It is eye-opening, isn’t it? When we see people who dedicated themselves to the service of God, our hearts becomes so full of hope!
Love this from Eritrean orthodox 🩷🙏🏾
Thank you! 🙏
God bless you! I missed this month's Liturgy because I was ill and I'm still a bit sad because of it. Thank you for this video
Thank you so much! God bless you too!
I am familiar with that feeling:) I will pray that you go to the next one!
Thank you! I found this video to be helpful and encouraging. I look forward to involving other Christians to keep accountability and to encourage each other in the faith. One habit that helped me is saying the Jesus prayer and other short prayers repeatedly throughout the day. I also found it helpful to read the Holy Bible, spiritual books and learn about the lives of the saints. Another helpful habit is spending time listening to Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox sermons and hymns. Keeping a journal to keep track of my progress and for accountability has helped me too. Finally, even though I have small living space I got a bookshelf to place icons of the saints on and to dedicate that place for God and spending time in prayer.
Thank you for your kind words! And thank you so much for sharing! I also wanted to get to journaling, but I haven’t been able to stick to that. Maybe I’ll try again in 2025.
Thanks Sona🙏
Thank you for watching! 🙏
Nice video. Thank you for sharing.
I try to start a day, even before a get out of the bed, with Jesus Prayer and finish the day and fall asleep with the same Prayer.
At the moment I'm reading great book by father Sergiy Baranov, Fly high.
Thank you for watching and thank you for sharing! Do you recommend that book?
Yes, deep yet easy to read and understand. My book is in Serbian but it is available in Russian and in English.
@@holasonaHere is a small part from the book, in Russian:
ruclips.net/video/XfKuVRLUM00/видео.htmlsi=XrMTc86gBuOuXWtP
Watched your video earlier this morning, i have been so blessed by it! On top of that, now i know the Orthodox Jesus prayer and for that, i thank you! Blessings to you and your family.
Thank you so much for your kind words! God bless you too!
Thank you so much. This is so uplifting to hear. ❤ My only wish right now is to be able to recieve the holy communion every sunday but i study, work and am a mother of two aswell so weekends are spent on work but deep down feel so sad Cause i am missing on the holy liturgy and communion. Need to make decisions and think of his rightousness above anything else ❤❤❤. I try to practice most of what you said but needs dedication
Thank you for your encouraging words! I absolutely understand how busy you are! Pray to Jesus, tell him that you want to participate in the Divine Liturgy every Sunday! He will find a way!
Thank you for this video!
Thank you for watching! ❤️
Thank you for having Bible studies!
Thank you for participating! 🙏
Hi Sona and thank you for your video. I would like to hear more stories about christian orthodox saints and especially armenian saints. Thank you
Thank you for watching! I will keep that in mind!
I am interested in that Bible study, I am always interested in any orthodox study
Thank you for your interest! I will be conducting one today at 2PM (PST)!
Thank you for these vids! They’ve helped me learn about orthodoxy ❤
Thank you for watching! I am so glad the videos are helpful!
Dear Sona, Thank you for this wonderful video. I have visited the Coptic monastery a few times, and it is beautiful. I live in the High Desert, Are you far from the monastery?
Thank you for watching!
It is 3 hours away:) that’s why i haven’t visited it yet, but I am already planning that trip for 2025.
How was your trip? Did you enjoy it?
💖
Thank you for watching!
sona send us your videos rapidly let God bless you
Thank you! God bless you too! I will do my best:)
❤🙏🏻🙏🏻
❤️🙏
8:11 I have never heard of this story. I do believe you, but I wonder if you have a more exact reference. Thanks.
Thank you for your question! I can’t find this part online to give you a link. I read it in one the Armenian Church Father’s creations books a few years ago and I remember thinking to myself: “It makes sense!” Catholics seem to also agree to this. Among modern explanations I found this by a Catholic priest Fr. Wright Longenecker: “Which side of Jesus was pierced by the spear of Longinus? The gospels do not say, but the tradition is that it was the right side-and this tradition was probably established upon meditation on Matthew 25:34-the right side being the side of salvation. If this is so, and Dismas was on the right hand side he would have been sprinkled with the blood and water that spurted from Christ’s side.
The church has, from the beginning, viewed the blood and water from Christ’s side as being the source and foundation of the two sacraments of baptism and Eucharist. Therefore, since Dismas was sprinkled with the blood of the lamb, (and maybe some touched his lips) we would say he partook (literally) of the blood of Christ. If the water from our Lord’s side also sprinkled on him he received the sacrament of baptism in a way that should satisfy the most literally minded of our Protestant brothers.
dwightlongenecker.com/the-salvation-of-st-dismas-the-good-thief/
@@holasona Thanks, Sona, for your thorough answer and the link. I will look at it soon. I have a RC friend and I think that he has mentioned this priest to me.
I am curious, do you cover with a veil at home in prayer or only in church? Thank you 🙏
Thank you for your question! I try to cover at home while praying in front of my icon corner. I keep it right there next to me. I don’t always remember to wear it though:) the veil somehow helps me to concentrate on a prayer.
@@holasona Thank you for sharing ;-). I too cover when I am praying and reading my bible.
Is the confession you reference under copyright? If so, how might I seek permission to include the English version in a book I'm compiling?
Good question! I don’t know, but I can ask our parish priest.
@holasona Thank you. I love the Armenian gospel, I hope it grows because it answers a lot of dilemmas that the western church neglects.
✝️🩷
🙏
1414 I have never heard of this aspect and would like to know more. I never thought of it. Are you saying that the devil is, for instance, evil, but on his own he cannot do anything. He needs people to do his evil acts? Or did I misunderstand? I can see it in the sense that someone is greedy because the devil has suggested to him that all his problems could be solved by robbing a bank, but the devil does not rob the bank. He gets the greedy guy to rob the bank. Is this what you mean or is that too simple?
Thank you for your question! Yes, Satan tempts us to do evil but he himself is not capable of “making” evil. But even with tempting us and sending evil thoughts to us, he can do much harm.
@@holasona Thanks, Holasona. You are right. Satan can do much that would separate us from Christ, but thanks be to God, we have Christ and all his saints, especially the Theotokos.
I pray that the two lungs of Christianity, Orthodox and Catholic, will again be united.
The unification has already happened. The Orthodox Church is in heresy now because of the unification with other religions and other non orthodox teachings and practices.. Anything outside the true Holy and Apostolic Orthodox Church is heretic . I hope that people find and stick to the truth because only the true orthodox faith will lead to salvation. Jesus told us this . I pray God enlightens you to see this. May God be with you 🧡
Thank you for your prayers! Orthodox Christianity, both Eastern and Oriental, has a lot in common with Catholicism. I think our churches should be at least in constant dialog.
@@holasonaindeed
Thank you Sona.
Thank you for watching!
Thanks Sona!
Thank you for watching!