I have removed this article for the sake of enhnacing my knowledge of Orthodoxy and attempting ot work on my own spiritual life rather than "bashing others". If any offende was taken by this article while it was visible on the internet, you have my sincere appologies.
Sincerely,
Juvenaly
juvenaly,
is this article for the "orthodoxy now" website that you mention is under construction? when you ask "do i make sense here," i would have to say no, you don't. first of all, i doubt that many people "look" at the marian apparitions of the last thousand years, or have much interest in that subject whatsoever. and why advice to "pray" said over and over again can be interpreted as "a sad thing"-i would have no clue.
if this is for that website, and with this website you are hoping to attract people to orthodoxy, my advice is to scrap this article and this topic altogether. are you relatively new to orthodoxy? many who are, in the excitement of finding the truth, feel it their duty to spread that truth, to make it known to those who do not have it. unfortunately, many do so by attacking the various denominations that those who do not have the truth belong to. an example-we had a guy where i used to go to church-some roman catholics who had called and stated an interest in orthodoxy visited for a sunday liturgy. after the liturgy, during coffe hour, this guy, who was a veritable encyclopedia of roman catholic and protestant "deviations" over the centuries, immediately went on the attack, telling these people visiting our parish that they "heretics," and he went on and on explaining all the heretical actions that the roman catholic church was guilty of over the centuries, until these baffled and embarrassed people simply left. -uh- do i have to tell you that they naver came back? see my point? while your article here is perhaps not as drastic or as offensive as the guy in my parish at that time-it is on such an arcane subject, its conclusions are rather indeterminate, and i do not think it would be any sort of asset to your website. any catholic seeing such an article would probably think, "what the heck does that mean," and go elsewhere to look around!
they would also ask, like i did-"why is it sad that we are repeatedly told to pray? what is wrong with these people? they dont think we should pray?"
first impressions of anything-when material viewed by someone negatively attacks something one holds dear, or something one believes in-even marginally-most usually only reinforce that person in that which he holds dear or believes in, and makes him want to defend that which he holds dear and believes in, and even further, possibly makes him want to attack those he feels are attacking him and his beliefs.
it is much much better to present positive impressions of orthodoxy first, at least in a way someone can become interested enough to inquire further. possibly information on the life of saint juvenaly! other saints of america! information about your parish history! basic orthodox beliefs! but, when you start out with "first of all, i want you to know you are wrong...."-it gets you nowhere at all. be positive, brief, to the point-people come to orthodoxy because they see IT as a "good," not becuase they see where they are as a "bad."
on the other hand, if you are attempting to make information about marian apparitions in the roman catholic church available to those who are orthodox-i sincerely doubt that you would have much of an audience for such a subject.
michael woerl
