Losing Your Faith? Read the Lives of the Saints!

Excerpt from "The Mystery of Christ: An Athonite Catechism (Lesson 18) - Prophecies: The Crucifixion and Death of Christ" by Fr. Peter Heers

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[yeembus]

Many of the people who converted during COVID have started going through what St. Sophrony calls the second stage of the spiritual life; where God’s grace abandons them to some extent so that they may struggle and prove that they desire Christ even without the butterflies of spiritual consolation. Some are leaving Orthodoxy as a result of not being able to handle this and perhaps being too heady with their faith. I am sure all of us have the temptation to fall into rationalism or delusion.

May Christ protect and guide us through all of this! Lord have mercy!

[catherinecarter]

Thank you so much Father Peter.
I felt rock bottom tonight. This video has helped lift me out of despair somewhat.
Glory to God. ☦️

[monastic_life]

The loss of faith is a challenging trial on a person's spiritual journey. It's a stage that must be endured without giving up. With God's grace, it will return if one seeks it with all their heart. I completely agree; we must strive for humility and open our hearts to the testimonies of the saints, who have experienced God's love and can inspire us to restore our faith.

[lennarteitzenhofer]

God bless you.Thank you for this video.

[Cyrus_II]

He said he can't help but see parallels in esoteric tradition.
There is one truth and there are many imitators and perversions of that truth. It is not surprising that many would poorly imitate the truth.
Is it surprising when you find parallels in human cultures that have been completely apart? No, because there is an objective reality to human consciousness and that reality is fully revealed in the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
Others may have seen glimmers or imitated or perverted the truth.

[ImProudtobeCanadian]

I lost my faith years ago. There is too much turmoil in our world. I pray and pray but it seems like nothing is happening. Just endless amount of suffering. If Jesus doesn't come back. We will all die from wars, famine, and the cost of living.

[AlbanianDude]

Q Fr. Peter: I was born Muslim (Albanian) though irreligious. I am inquiring into Orthodoxy. It pulls at my heart. But I don't know if it is the true faith. I once accepted Christ, but I did so in haste and later stopped believing. But the connection is still there. I don't know if I could accept any other faith because Christ's unconditional love appeals to the heart more than any other religion that I know of thus far. But then again, I want to be with the truth and to know that what I accept is the truth. How do I go about discovering the true faith? Is it really experiential or intellectual (studying) or both? I feel like I am at a place right now where I lack the strength to go through an intellectual journey on this matter. But then again, I feel that if I was to accept something solely from experience or the emotion I feel, while the faith will be there... it will be on shaky, unstable grounds like before, with all sorts of doubts eventually leading to apostacy. But I can't ignore my heart either. Would appreciate your insight on my situation Fr. God bless. @The Orthodox Ethos

[Zazizzle]

I had to stop reading the lives of many saints, because it was so depressing, it was hindering growth in my faith.

I’m dealing with a great deal of suffering in my life atm, and it’s been going on for over 4 years. It’s what drove me back to the church. Though, now I’m finding I’m feeling worse, since baptism, because of the demonic attacks. I’ve been trying to combat this through prayer and reading, however the lives of some of these saints and elders have left me feeling horrified. Their stories of suffering and torment, left me feeling disgusted, and in fear that God is putting me through the same torment, as a test. Suffice to say, I stopped reading, and haven’t prayed in 4 days… and now I’m questioning the entire faith, not just orthodoxy, but Christianity as a whole.

I have an impossible time wrapping my head around the notion, that someone who has sex outside of marriage or if a married couple decide to use a condom, they’re committing a mortal sin, same as murder. A married couple using a condom during sex is committing the same level sin as a murder. None of these rules make sense, and seem to be invented by the church fathers, and not Christ, himself. These are obviously just examples, but there’s a lot more.

I also have no plans on following these rules, when I’m married either. No sex on Wed, Fri, Sat evening before communion, after communion, on fast days, etc. this is abuse of power, by the church fathers, to force everyone to live like Monks. It makes no sense, I DO NOT want their life and level of asceticism. I’m just horrified by all of this, just insane.

[Viz-Jaqtaar]

Was Chrismated back in 2020, in a similar boat where I'm wondering now if I ever had faith or if it was just intellectual acceptance of the cosmology. At this point I don't know if humbling myself is the answer, feels like every man is a liar. How can I trust the discernment of people who happily swim in the waters of modernity? Everyone around me is just as enslaved to the spirit of the age as me, just as much a product of it. Feels hopeless, feel like a fraud when I pray.

[OrthodoxEncounters]

Are you planning to respond to Fr. Joseph Suaiden after he responded to your video on why you wont join Old Calendarists? A discussion between you both would be appropriate.

[vasiliossmith]

The lives of saints and the Ecumenical council's you will understand what we learn so far is opposite of the one Holy catholic and Apostolic Church.
Me personally it has helped me to seek and want to return to the one Holy catholic Apostolic Church of the Holy Fathers and the Ecumenical council's decision

[theviking]

If I may offer some advice. When you put a person's question on the screen, such as Felipes, remove the donation amount. We are meant to give in secret, so he may not wish to advertise to the world the amount of his gift, also, when you show the amount someone has donated, especially in the case of Felipe, who donates $50 which is not an insignificant amount. It looks like you only answered his question among the others because of the amount he donated. I have been following Orthodox Ethos for years so I know this is absolutely not the case, but for others that do not, it might give them the wrong impression. I don't mean to negative, but it's food for thought.

[AlexStock]

While I don't associate historical Christianity with the Flavians, I otherwise resonate with this question. I'm curious what you would recommend who has read the entire New Testament in Greek and many "lives of Saints" (I don't know if anyone has read them all). I've had plenty of experiences, but so have my Mormon/LDS neighbors. Why are my experiences better than theirs? I agree that we should arrive at "I don't know", but I haven't found anything to move me from that position; I'm still there.

[chrisanthipsoinou]

What happened to his video, the husband is the head of the household.

[jamesanddeborah]

Great. Actual saints—not those who have not been declared saints by the Church

[Evangreenninja]

Blessings Father, I know that this question is specific to each person, but as a general rule, would you recommend someone to re-read their morning prayer rule in the evening after coming home if they hadn't finished them in the morning?

[midnightmcguire]

“Who’s that”? Really father? You’ve never heard that famous conspiracy?