Do Orthodox do this stuff too?

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While in Church last Sunday (see, I don’t intentionally with full knowledge skip mass all the time) I found a little homemade booklet titled “Novena to St. Jude”

It says:

“Must be said 6 times each day for 9 consecutive days, leaving 9 copies in Church each day. Your prayer will be answered on or before the 9th day. Has never been known to fail!”

Then it lists the various prayers.

On the back it says:

“Make 81 copies. Leave 9 copies in Church each consecutive day (9 days) You will receive your intention before the 9 days are over no matter how impossible it may seem.”

ok, 2 questions:
  1. Have any Catholics here done stuff like this before?
  2. Do Orthodox do this?
Thanks,

K
 
This sounds a lot like a chain letter to me. Not anything officially put out by the Church, so the question of Orthodox doing the same thing isn’t really relevent. Weirdness can crop up anywhere.
 
I have seen this or something very like it in the Catholic church here. It is not something the church agrees with ( I’m pretty sure ) but says is just superstition. As for the Orthodox, I don’t know.
 
well i dont know about Orthodox habits or customs… so i will leave that to t he more knowledgeable
but
there are several parts here:
a NOVENA is very old. it is a practice of repeating a prayer or petition… (the most common is some multiple of 9) for a specific request or need.

some specific “novena to saint____” have indeed become tradition. one of the most well known is to say a Rosary daily to Our Lady for ___ days as a request, and then for (smae number) of days in thanksgiving.

i have said Novenas to St Jude, for hopeless cases, or desperate help… to Mary, to St Girard, to St Peregrine… etc

i have noticed that almost al novenas that get “written about” seem to have acquired a “never known to fail” line. shrug… sometimes the answer is no, or not yet. people dont like to think about that.

the Novenas to St Jude almost always include a “publication must be promised” line… partly because almost all of them are mentioning how neglected St Jude was because of teh similarity of his name to Judas…so by way of “making it up to him” those who ask his aid are usually supposed to publicize the Novena.

i have never heard of the 'copy and leave in a church" part… i think someone got that from chain letters.
still it sounds kind of neat, better than a chain letter anyway.

aaaaaaaaaand the cold medicine is kicking in again and i am having typing trouble… so i will go offline now, i hope my post makes sense when i re -read it in the morning.
 
Some people do pray novenas and they can be any prayer to any saint for a period of nine days.

I don’t know enough to comment about the history of novenas, or the signifigance of the nine days, but I do recall reading why it is a sound and old practice of prayer.

If the Orthodox christians not in union with Rome do this or not, is simply a weird question to ask IMHO. They have their own customs that I think many would consider weird.

Why compare unless making a point it is not correct to do or “not Orthodox” which really means, not true teaching, heterodox teaching.

Prayer is a funny thing. I am not sure you will find argument with Orthodox pre or post schism that would take issue to intercessory prayer. You would find, debate on who is considered a saint to hear that prayer petition most likely.

In the end, you are simply ruffling feathers that will go no where since both of the ancient christian churches agree that intercessory prayer is not only allowed, but encouraged.

Some may argue that Orthodox not in union with Rome, have other weird things that some do believe or practice that is also not forced on anyone to believe (just as your example of St Jude) on Toll Houses.

So, to each his own.

No one is any more wacky than the other since they both believe in the same core concepts even if they are still not totally united in all things together, they still both teach the same core concepts from what I can evaluate, in my very brief investigation.
Maybe you can help me understand if there is more to this?
 
Maybe you can help me understand if there is more to this?
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StrawberryJam,

It’s important because if this is not an isolated incident it indicates there is a very real strain in the Catholic Church that permits this sort of unhealthy thinking: do the prayers just perfectly and leave the tracts and you will get the reward. That’s not what walking with God is about, so we cannot settle on “to each his own.”

I’m curious if the Orthodox do this stuff since they claim to have a more pure teaching and worship practice than Catholics.

K
 
Kaste said:
StrawberryJam,

It’s important because if this is not an isolated incident it indicates there is a very real strain in the Catholic Church that permits this sort of unhealthy thinking: do the prayers just perfectly and leave the tracts and you will get the reward. That’s not what walking with God is about, so we cannot settle on “to each his own.”

I’m curious if the Orthodox do this stuff since they claim to have a more pure teaching and worship practice than Catholics.

K
Click to expand...
All it would prove is that some people use prayer practices that some may say look superstitious. How many people even do this? I bet not too many. Nor are they compelled to do it. So, Why be concerned about this?
 
This is an example of an old way to petition the prayers of a saint. It strikes me it is an intimate matter between the petitioner, in this case someone in desperate need, and Saint Jude. In a sense, if a person in need petitions for the intervention of a saint in such a pious and persistent manner, and I don’t mean to sound confrontational, it’s none of your business.
 
Biggie said:
This is an example of an old way to petition the prayers of a saint. It strikes me it is an intimate matter between the petitioner, in this case someone in desperate need, and Saint Jude. In a sense, if a person in need petitions for the intervention of a saint in such a pious and persistent manner, and I don’t mean to sound confrontational, it’s none of your business.
Click to expand...
It’s true it must be a personal devotion. However, when you see ads in the newspaper with prayers for St Jude, you wonder if the person really thinks that intercessory prayer is effacious. Do they think St Jude needs the ad in the paper to know they are being sought for prayers? Or is that a way to encourage others to seek his prayers? I don’t know, and place no judgement on anyone if they do that. It’s certainly up to them and their God.
 
StrawberryJam said:
It’s true it must be a personal devotion. However, when you see ads in the newspaper with prayers for St Jude, you wonder if the person really thinks that intercessory prayer is effacious. Do they think St Jude needs the ad in the paper to know they are being sought for prayers? Or is that a way to encourage others to seek his prayers? I don’t know, and place no judgement on anyone if they do that. It’s certainly up to them and their God.
Click to expand...
I believe the idea is to proselytize and to stake your own personal effort to the request as evidence of sincerity and need. Many such devotions would dictate the posting or distribution of gratitude for prayers answered. I am wondering about the lifetime of prayers of St. Monica for her son’s conversion, in which she supposedly wore out the ear of every intercessor she could find. Perhaps people today do not understand it well because the faith, humility or need is not of the same degree.
 
Blessings to all:
Code: 
I can say with confidence that this is not done in the Orthodox Catholic Church. I am unaware of this happening in the Roman Catholic Church either, but I am less of an expert on Rome I must admit. Should you have anymore questions about Orthodoxy you can feel free to ask.
Yours in Christ
Fr. Steven Johnson
 
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