Spiritual Father Question

[The_Penitent]

Hey guys,
I have a little dilemma. I’m looking for a spiritual father, and my first choice lives two hours away (this is a problem; we would be limited to telephone and electronic communication). I had originally thought that the problem could be solved by asking my pastor to take the role of confessor. However, it would appear that I am at risk for/have developed scrupulosity. Your thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[waterbender]

hi,

great to see that you take your spiritual growth seriously. Don’t be afraid to find a spiritual father! They want to see us grow in Grace and Faith. Nothing wrong in that, but why the need to travel so far? Your parish priest is refusing to guide you?

If your parish priest directly told you to only attend confession X number of times a month/week/year, then be obedient to him. But there’s plenty of resources available to you from bishops and other Orthodox Fathers to study…

 

[The_Penitent]

My parish priest is not at all refusing to guide me, but for certain reasons I would much rather have the one who lives two hours away. I was just wondering if my potential for scrupulosity would make it impossible to do this since my first choice would not be able to hear my Confession… Although I have heard of Americans with spiritual fathers in Greece.

 

[5Loaves]

S Prazdnikom! Welcome to CAF and the EC section.

Why don’t you discuss this concern with the priest who is at a distance with whom you would seek direction? Let his response guide you.

It’s not unheard of to have a spiritual father via the phone and email.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

And don’t forget that it has always been traditional in the Orthodox East to have a personal spiritual father who could hear our sins so as to give us spiritual advice to overcome them AND a priest to give us absolution if that spiritual father, as was sometimes the case, was not a priest himself.

You could have the best of both worlds.

Alex