Antidoron

[Arsenios]

I am glad that things worked out well for you!

[Gregory2]

I sincerely hope that no one was rude to you. How on earth were you supposed to know the "proper" way to do things -- by ESP? If no one explained to you that you shouldn't take the antidoron, then how on earth should you have known?

[sue57]

What happened was: one of the older, Russian women told me I should go up and kiss the cross and get Father's blessing at the end of Divine Liturgy. When I went up, I was handed the antidoron, and I thought (wrongly) that it was ok to take it. When I went up one day, Father asked if i was Orthodox, and of course, I told him no. He told me that I should not take the antidoron (in a nice way.) I was horribly embarassed, being a guest as I am at the church. I wrote to him and explained the misunderstanding, and he wrote me a very nice letter. So, I feel better.
Because Orthodoxy is so participatory, it is hard to just stand in the back and watch, as I am sure all converts know! One doesn't want to do the wrong thing though.
If anyone is interested, my question was regarding Timothy Ware's History of the Orthodox Church. I know that Holy Trinity online has it on its book list, and I told Father I could not understand how any project associated with Jordanville would use Bishop Ware's books. He replied that the first two editions were excellent, but with revisions, they became unacceptable. Mystery solved!
Sorry to repeat all these details, but I felt so sad about the incident, I was kind of afraid to go back to church (I took a friend with me for courage.) Now, since receiving a reply to my letter, I feel fine about going, as I did this morning.