Dear Baba

Dear Baba; I looked at the calendar and thought the printer had a pink ink problem.  Why is the entire month of June marked as fasting?  Did something change in the church that Apostles Lent is so long?  Will it always be like this from now on?  And while we’re talking, can you explain why we have this fast in the first place? 

Dear Baba - Post Pascha

Dear Baba - Icons

Dear Baba; We’ve had our procession of icons for the Sunday of Orthodoxy and a few weeks before that we had the visit of the Kursk Root wonderworking icon. It was great but now I’m confused and the more I thought about it, the more unsure I was. Why did the priest traveling with the Kursk Root icon say the Mother of God was visiting us rather than saying an icon was? How is an icon miraculous? I tried to explain it to non-Orthodox friends and realized I had no clue what to say.

Dear Baba – Lenten Triodion?

Dear Baba,

The priest announced today that with Pascha so early, the Lenten Triodion would be starting before we knew it. What is the Lenten Triodion other than having something to do with 3? What is it for? And what do I need to do during it?

Dear Baba

Dear Baba;  this is probably one of the least theological questions you’ve ever been asked so I hope you don’t mind.  I keep hearing you say we need to stand still for this or stand still for that.  How do I stand still without my back and legs aching and can you tell me when I should be standing?  Also how do I teach my children to stand still?

Dear Baba

Dear Baba;  Last Sunday there were several of us lighting our candles at the same time and before we could finish,  the deacon started walking around the church with the censer.  We all got snarled up.   No one knew if we should stand still or keep doing what we were doing.  Some people turned towards the censer, others just froze and others kept on moving around the church lighting candles like the censer wasn’t out.  What are we supposed to do when the church is being censed?

Dear Baba,

Help me understand what is happening when we go up to kiss the cross at the end of the liturgy.  Someone is reading prayers but not everyone stays to hear them.  When should I stay and when is it ok to skip the prayers and head into the hall?  Sometimes I see friends I haven’t seen in a while and they aren’t staying for coffee hour so rather than getting shushed in church, we slip out to catch up.

Dear Baba,

We are being encouraged to attend Great Vespers on Saturday evening.  What is vespers and what is the difference between it, a vigil and a vesperal liturgy?  I hear all those terms but don’t know what they mean other than they all seem to take place in the evenings.

Dear Baba,

How do I pray? How do I make time? I have small children who are not inclined to pray with me for very long and yet I desire a deeper prayer life than their activity level seems to allow. So I feel like I’ve dropped off my wish list of stuff I want God to take care of by my icons like a drive thru window at a fast food joint. That is hardly what I think prayer should be but ultimately I’m not sure what it is supposed to be.

Dear Baba,

I’m a catechumen and was wondering what words of wisdom you can give me to guide me through my catechumenate. How will I know when it is time to be Chrismated?

Dear Baba; My kids don’t want to go to Sunday School and with their schedules already so busy, I hate to add another thing to it. Isn’t it a Western concept anyway and not rooted in Orthodoxy? I mean – don’t my kids get what they need by just attending liturgy?

Dear Baba

Dear Baba; Can you please explain all these fasts to me?  I understand Great Lent and to an extent Nativity Lent but am not so certain why we have two more fasts in the summer.  I know what we need to do physically during the fasts but I’m not sure of the spiritual purpose.

Dear Baba

Dear Baba – Can you please give me some guidance on bringing my children to communion?  What advice can you give me when kids pitch a fit at the chalice?  Sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth the hassle to bring them to church and deal with them freaking out at the chalice – they are just little kids and really don’t know the difference anyway.

Dear Baba