'Bro' Nathanael's Flamboyant Behavior

[Barbara]

I thought from the minute I saw Bro Nathanael's new location that the very name of his new town is propitious. God willing, he will be ordained some day as a hieromonk. Hopefully, in True Orthodoxy.

Welcome to Idaho, Brother Nathanael !

[Cyprian]

I wish all the best for Brother Nathanael, and don't really keep up with him or his many antics, but truth be told, he is a very disturbed person. He does not need monetary donations; he needs many prayers. Simply because he claims he was pressured into endorsing the homosexual agenda, and did not succumb, does not erase the memory of all his scandalous and offensive actions over the years. Why should Bro. Nathanael be under any pressure at all? Only because he is an attention seeker, that seems to rely on others to support him. Why doesn't he get a job if he is in need of money? Any novice or private layperson quietly living out their lives and not seeking to draw attention to themselves will not be under much pressure to endorse the homosexual agenda. Resisting the homosexual propaganda agenda is the basic duty of all Christians, and not really anything special to be praised.

I am very surprised to see you desiring for him to be made a hieromonk. That is worrying.

[Barbara]

These are good arguments you have advanced, Cyprian.

Here is my thinking : If he were to become prestigious-sounding Fr. Nathanael, he would attain vastly more credibility than currently. I am thinking in terms of before a worldwide audience. Most people know about Fathers as in the priestly office. But a Brother sounds like a Catholic lay-brother : not nearly as respectable.

Now we have much discussed on here the fact that he does not give a stellar impression of Orthodoxy to a general audience. That is to say that someone seeing him performing his dancing number on the street might think Orthodox monastics are a little 'touched'. However, he is not going to go away. So why not try to shape him into the best possible representative ? He will NEVER go study at Jordanville Seminary or obtain a theological degree from anywhere. He is just NOT that type. He is probably easily intelligent enough to go through the classes. But he doesn't like to conform, so Monastery [ assumingly Jordanville since he is officially in Rocor-MP at the moment ] rules would be a stumbling block for Nathanael. You know that expression "one has to work with what one has available" ? Well why not try to turn things around so that he can accomplish much good.

I saw a picture somewhere - must have been at his own site - where he is wearing 2 pectoral crosses. Now that is obviously extremely wrong for a novice like him to do. But at least the crosses looked normal : much tamer than what he used to sport ! Maybe he is toning down the flamboyance and attempting to cooperate with Church procedures, though inching along at a snail's pace.

The point is that probably no one can discipline him to behave like a novice. My feeling is that he needs to be by himself, never a parish priest performing Holy Sacraments. Perhaps a Hierodeacon might be a better possibility than a Hieromonk. You are right, Cyprian, the latter does seem outlandish for a free spirit like him.

[Maria]

Bro. Nathanael is not stable. Look at his antics and the many jurisdictions he has been in.

Can we call him a "Fool for Christ"? Not really. He does not inspire people to repent.

If he were to enter the ranks of the clergy, I fear it would go to his head and he might be even more outrageous.

[Barbara]

Maria,

The objections you have raised are logical. However, I feel ordaining him as a Hierodeacon would have the opposite effect. I think he has already been in the stage of things going to his head and may be more willing to grow beyond that if given a little more responsible position. Probably being able to call himself Fr Nathanael on his website would make him feel he has 'arrived' at last. I am guessing, of course, I have not met him but I have read some of his earlier materials in which he showed his personality more than he does at his current website. I don't think it would do ANY harm.

I think it would enhance his message with which most of the Orthodox world is in basic agreement. At the same time, many of the youth who he always has said are drawn to him might investigate converting to Orthodoxy and becoming clergy. Youth as we all know have no decent models for their lives these days. Seeing a real character like him might make them investigate Orthodoxy. Let's face it, 95 % of the youth in America will not have any meeting with an Orthodox clergyman to learn about the existence of Orthodoxy ! Why ? There are too few clergy and too many indoctinated youth with eyes only for evil pastimes, addicted to video games and emptily copying dreadfully bad movie and music 'stars' - instead of emulating and obeying true Startsi !

Let's say future Fr Nathanael saves even ONE LIFE of a mixed up teenage boy who gains a new dream as his goal : to become an Orthodox monastic because of seeing Fr Nathanael on the street in some city, don't you think it is worth the risk ? I say 'saves the life of' because so many in today's society are so 'depressed' or troubled with an alarming number of cases of suicide. Recently a 74-year old woman in my state drowned herself. The hopelessness and soul despair is not limited to the young and is epidemic in Western nations.

If Nathanael behaves unfittingly, or deteriorates due to narcissism, well, they can always demote him, can't they ?

Before assuming it would be a failure, let's recall the story of how Fr Seraphim [Rose] went to leftist UC Santa Cruz campus and ended up by converting a whole flock of young Christian men who had become Orthodox not long before his arrival. Just the sight of the flowing robes and the beard and all this otherwordly appearance motivated some of the more serious men students to give their lives to join Fr Seraphim's monastery - or become monks in other monasteries and venues. One of these was the future OCA Met, Jonah [paffhausen], another is now Abbot James [Corazza] of the Old Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco.

Whether Fr Seraphim was an ideal role model is another question entirely. But there is no denying that the visual sight of him plus hearing a lecture on Orthodoxy by the co-founder of St Herman Monastery made an indelible impression on -- impressionable young men> not conservative ones either ! Liberal ones. Santa Cruz has always been noted for being wildly liberal in character. What if Fr Seraphim had gone to visit Stanford, for example ? Maybe 100s would have picked up the torch of Orthodoxy with some entering monasticism.

Each one of those then brings in many others. Of course, some drift away, some will go to the World Orthodox jurisdictions. But Brother Nathanael is at present in Rocor-MP, the most conservative of these. So it's not inconceivable that some of the people converted by having seen, heard and / or read him, will find out about True Orthodoxy.

Who knows how much wider in scope the successes could be as a result of the often-traveling Brother Nathanael ? Fr Seraphim [Rose ] went almost nowhere. He hated to travel. To Jordanville once to give talks. Someone offered to pay for him to visit the Orthodox holy sites in the UK, but he turned it down flat.

In contrast, Brother Nathanael is always on the move around the entire country ! He is an attention-seeker. But that is what keeps him energetic and enjoying meeting the public and interacting with youth particularly. His personality is warm and outgoing : the antithesis of the Platina-bound, introspective, aloof Fr Seraphim [Rose].

If one looks at what is to be gained versus what is to be lost [ embarrassment maybe on the part of some that he would be put in the same boat as a true Orthodox deacon which is a valid objection ], the souls of Americans of all ages --- but especially the restless, aimless young men of today --- being awakened to the saving path of Orthodoxy is reason enough to take this risk.

[Barbara]

A recent anecdote suggests that Brother Nathanael may be comporting himself with more dignity.
Someone I know who had had a run-in with him during his days of reporting the ill-conceived Moscow Patriarchate 'union' with Rocor saw him again during his visit to San Francisco.

Prior to the servce for St John Maximovitch's 50th Anniversary celebration by Rocor-Mp, Nathanael was standing at the corner of Geary Blvd. and Presidio Avenue with his cross.
In a spirit of reconciliation for the past unpleasantness he had shown toward her, she approached him as she alighted from the Geary bus.
He had never met her in person so did not have any way to recognize her.
She asked for forgiveness for having put him out [ according to what he had written on his LiveJournal ].

The friend said he handled it very well, asking her name [ which he didn't recognize either as she used her Orthodox baptismal name this time ]. Notably, Nathanael did not look at her directly. Instead he behaved as a novice should. Brother Nathanael cast his eyes down, smiled nicely and said "Of course I forgive you." That was that.

It does sound like he is trying to comport himself in a more seemly way for a monastic or an aspiring monastic. So if this example is at all representative, perhaps Bro. Nathanael is more ready for ordination as hierodeacon than one might assume if only looking at some of his earlier behavior.

[Agios_Irineos]