I guess, at this point, that I should tell my journey towards the Orthodox Church.
I had been Catholic for most of my life. As most Filipinos are, from the time I was an infant I was Catholic. Most of my elementary and high school was spent in a Catholic school, Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati. There I have learned to love being a Catholic and being a Christian in general. I still thank that school for my formation there; it has instilled in me a love for Liturgy and the fundamentals of the Catholic faith.
This would carry me on in my next step towards being Orthodox--becoming a Catholic apologist. For about 9 years, from 1998 until early 2007, I have been active in online apologetics, participating in message boards and discussions about religion and defending the Catholic Church. As an apologist, of course, one has to invariably read and do research in order to answer questions and objections. It is not easy. I bought books, went to websites, read the Bible, and of course prayed. These things helped me in being an apologist.
As one does research, of course one also gain insights. Some of these insights might be new; others might be an affirmation of what had already been held. As I read and reflected about the early Church--a favorite topic of mine--I discovered something: the claims of the Catholic Church does not seem to coincide with historical facts and data. That disturbed me, as I had firmly believed that the bishop of Rome all along had primacy, and that primacy meant not merely one of honor, but being the actual head of the Church. However, rereading history, that doesn't seem to be the case.
For the first time, I couldn't trust what the Catholic Church had taught. I weighed in the options, and began looking for any other Church that might have a better answer to this. I first looked at the Eastern Catholics, but then decided that they are still Catholics, and there aren't any Eastern Catholic communities in the Philippines anyway (there are those who claim to be so, but even a quick research on these groups will show that they are in no way connected to any Eastern Catholic church nor practice any Eastern Catholic rite nor have any legitimately ordained clergy). Protestantism never had any appeal to me then or now, so that option was out as well. I then looked at the Orthodox Church, and studied what they believed in. The more I did, the more I realized that their view of early Church history jibed with historical data. Now that surprised me, as when I was a Catholic apologist I had often thought that they should be the ones coming to Rome. Now it seems that it's the other way around--that Rome should reconcile herself with Orthodoxy. That amazed me.
I began to look for any Orthodox church near my area, and again surprisingly there was one: Annunciation Orthodox Church, just a 10-minute drive from my place. It seems that the Lord has been directing me towards Orthodoxy, and on the summer of 2005 (a week after Pascha), I attended my first Divine Liturgy. The priest then at Annunciation was Fr. Cleopas. Upon my first entry into the church, I was struck by how simple it is, and at the same time how different it looked from the Catholic churches I've been to. The Liturgy was then ongoing (I later realized I stumbled exactly at the Little Entrance, when the Gospel book was processed from the sanctuary to around the church before going back into the sanctuary by the Royal Doors). I didn't know what to think then--the chanting, the incense, and the whole thing; at that point I wanted to exclaim, as did St. Thomas when he saw our Lord after His Resurrection: "My Lord and my God!" I knew I found the Church of the early Fathers.
I attended for four Sundays, but I was still wasn't ready then to give up my Catholic faith, so I hung back. It would take another two years before I decided to regularly attend Divine Liturgy. Over that time I continued on my prayer, study and reflection about the Orthodox faith. I began crossing myself in the Orthodox way even as a Catholic. At first it felt strange, but gradually I grew accustomed to it, so when I regularly attended Divine Liturgy it felt natural to me.
By then Fr. Nikitas was vicar of Annunciation, with Fr. Panharios assisting him. I started regular attendance on August 2007. At first I merely attended, but then was soon asked to join as a chanter. Later on I was part of the Diakonia, a group of young professionals who volunteered in helping out in the church in some way. We had Sunday catechesis for the kids and adults after Liturgy, as well as discussions well into the afternoon.
I was formally entered into the Orthodox Church on April 19, 2008 by Chrismation. Fr. Panharios chrismated me with my Lawrence (later Deacon Lawrence) as my sponsor. After 8 months from August 2007, I finally became Orthodox. Of course, the journey didn't end there; as often been said, we never cease to be catechumens. I still am learning about the Orthodox Faith. I still continue to grow in the Faith.
On May of 2009, a few of us from Annunciation decided to transfer, though at that time we didn't know where. For 3-4 months our group met together on Sundays and discussed, until around August we discovered that Antioch had arrived here in the Philippines, so we checked it out. After a few meetings as well as writing to His Eminence, Metropolitan Paul, Primate of Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines, we were accepted into Antioch. On September 25, 2009 I was elevated to subdeacon. We then began to have a series of courses about the Divine Liturgy for members and clergy of Antioch, since they were new to Orthodoxy and have not had much experience with it.
On February 9, 2010 I along with Fr. Lawrence and Fr. Dimitri were ordained as deacons, while Fr. John and Fr. Konstantin were earlier (on February 7) ordained as priests together with a new friend of ours, Fr. Andrew. And still, the journey continues on as we live our Orthodox Faith through the Liturgy,
orthopraxis and in our missions.
This has been long, and I hope that in a small way, I have shared something about myself.
