Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why do you call your priests “Father?” Didn’t Jesus say not to call anyone, “Father,” but God only?

In Matthew 23:9 the Lord says to His disciples: “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” Jesus’ warning must be understood within the context of Jesus’ confrontation at that moment with the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders who used their positions of authority as Rabbis (i.e. teachers) and spiritual fathers to impose strict demands that God did not require, upon the people, but not upon themselves. These religious leaders enjoyed the status of their position and to be publicly hailed as “Rabbi.” Christ labels them as hypocrites and brood of vipers, and later calls them out as having Satan rather than Abraham as their father. The warning is for believers to be careful whom they follow for spiritual guidance. When Jesus was told that His mother and brothers had arrived, He replied: “‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “‘Here are My mother and My brothers! “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”’ (Mark 3:35) A true father or mother should care for the correct spiritual development of his or her child, and the same is true with a spiritual father or spiritual mother in the Church. The Apostle Paul reminded the Church: “..as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” (I Thessalonians 2:11-12) Paul calls the Galatian brethren his little children. (Galatians 4:19) He refers to these leaders in the Church as his sons: Timothy (2 Timothy 1:2), Titus (Titus 1:4), and Onesimus (Philemon 1:10). He further tells the Corinthians: “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 4:14-15) The Apostle James asked: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? (James 2:21) Abraham was a spiritual father since He obeyed God’s will and exhibited great faith. From the earliest of times, the Church has referred to its faithful spiritual leaders, whether they be Old Testament prophets, New Testament apostles, bishops, and presbyters/priests as “Father” or “Father in the Faith,” always recognizing that our primary and ultimate spiritual Father is God Himself.

2. Why do Orthodox Christians cross themselves?

Sadly, modern professing Christians have never heard about the early Church’s spiritual practices handed down from the Apostles and their disciples. Christians from the earliest times have witnessed the blessing, power and protection from marking the Sign of the Cross upon themselves, or upon their loved ones, or their food. God’s strength and protection is made manifest when a believer faithfully crosses himself while calling upon the Holy Name of: “The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit,” especially in times of physical or spiritual danger, a trial, temptation, or to request a blessing when embarking on a journey or difficult task. The Sign of the Cross upon oneself is also made as a reverential gesture and a call for blessing whenever the Holy Name of the Trinity is invoked during prayer or during the Divine Liturgy. When a newly baptized Orthodox Christian receives the seal of the Holy Spirit, the believer is marked on the forehead and other places with the Holy Chrism in the Sign of the Cross. St. Basil the Great (329-379 A.D.) wrote that the Sign of the Cross was a Christian custom that had originated with the Apostles (as oftentimes they confronted dangers and also conveyed blessings). Tertullian (155-220 A.D.) wrote: “In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the Sign of the Cross.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386 A.D.) wrote in Catechetical Lecture 13, Paragraph 36: “Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the sake of the poor; without toil, for the sick; since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of devils: for He triumphed over them in it, having made a show of them openly Colossians 2:15; for when they see the Cross they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, who bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the gift; out for this the rather honor your Benefactor.” Orthodox Christians cross themselves from right to left. Because the Lord separated the sheep from the goats, putting the faithful sheep on His right side, and the goats on the left, the Church always treats the right side as the preferred side. From the writings of St. Athanasius of Alexandria (269-373 A.D.), we see that it was originally done from right to left, in the Nicene Church (It was changed to a left to right motion in the Roman Church sometime during the Middle Ages). We only cross ourselves with our RIGHT hand.

3. Why do I need to go to a priest, or request intercessory prayers from the saints, when the Bible plainly says: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…” (1 Timothy 2:5)?

This question deals with two different aspects: mediation and intercession. It is absolutely true that Christ is the sole Mediator of the New Covenant between The Father and us. Christ died and rose that we may have hope for eternal life through Him. The Apostle Paul is writing his epistle to Timothy, his son in the faith whom he ordained into the ministry, becoming a bishop and Apostle. Despite asserting that Christ is the sole Mediator between God and men, Paul exhorts Timothy in the same chapter “first of all that supplications, prayer, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men…for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior…” (1 Timothy 2:1-3). He’s instructing Timothy to pray for kings and all who are in authority, even though they’re not Christians, so the Church may live in peace. The Apostle John prayed for the well being of the Church brethren (3 John 1:2). The Apostle James instructs the Church that if anyone is sick, he should call for the elder (i.e. presbyter or priest) to anoint him with oil and pray over him (James 5:14), and to pray for one another, as the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (verse 15). The Apostle Paul teaches about the unity that exists in the Church, to the degree that “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). The saints of the Church, beginning with the Most Holy Virgin Mary and Mother of our Lord, represent the righteous ones whose intercessory prayers to our Lord on our behalf avail much. In our weakness, we oftentimes do not know what we should pray for as we ought, so that even the Holy Spirit must intercede on our behalf (Romans 8:26). The passages cited show the importance of going to a priest and also seeking intercessory prayer, neither of which function to mediate the covenant relationship existing between God an man solely through our Savior Jesus Christ.