www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Weird Dream last night

I had a really strange dream last night (Saturday 5/23). I dreamt that I was going to attend Liturgy at my home church (which I did this morning) and when I got there I sat in the pew with one of my brothers and his granddaughter (which I did this morning!) and everyone was talking rather loudly. The church was packed with people I didn't know and there were very few empty places in the church. I could hear one of my sisters and her husband (who were at Liturgy today, too) but didn't know where they were.

Then the Liturgy started. It was a different priest and there was a new iconostasis. The priest was wearing the proper vestments and had the incense going nicely with several altar boys in his wake. And then it happened. Instead of the plain chant--it turned into an Evangelical service, with a black choir, lots of hand clapping and people shouting "Amen!" and "Halleluia!" as they sang and danced in the aisles! Needless to say, I was stunned. I didn't know what to do. I kept saying "No!" I was talking to my brother and he agreed with me, but I didn't know what to do. I got up to walk out in protest and found myself in a different part of the church and ran across one of my other sisters, who was sitting with a bunch of people she apparently knew. I found out from talking to her that the crowd was a mix of Evangelical Baptists and Roman Catholics. She said the Bishop in Pittsburgh was trying to get people back into the church and was trying this as one approach. The Bishop was even giving special dispensations to the Roman Catholics! We argued a bit about the service, that it wasn't the proper liturgy and so on. But I knew there was no winning so I started to leave the church when I woke up.

Please note, this is a real dream, it actually happened last night and was kind of scary. I was almost afraid to enter the church today. But it was fine, with a great Liturgy. When I told my wife about the dream she asked me what I learned from this dream. My response was simple--I learned that I shouldn't have eaten the last piece of pepperoni pizza last night before going to bed!

Tim

Probably the best advice in order to avoid such dreams in the future.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

LOL!!!

I have to admit to you that one of my children, when they were in their early teens said to me: 'why can't our church be like those fun Black-American gospel churches'?!?

So maybe there is something positive to be said for all our different approaches to worship!!

Alice

P.S. That same child (now an adult) and I were having a discussion last night as we went to the movies to see the new 'Star Trek' movie...somehow the advertisement of 'Angels and Demons' got us talking, and my child said that, after considerable exposure to different denominations/faith traditions, that they have come to appreciate the Orthodox Church because the East doesn't prosletyze too much, we don't scream 'you are going to hell', and that we don't protest too loudly and angrily. Hmmm...interesting, because I have never imposed Orthodoxy as the 'correct faith' or any thing like that... My child is slowly coming to appreciate how a more gentle and less rigid/and/or fear inducing approach is one that is more appealing (atleast for their individual personality). It was a very interesting conversation.

I too had a strange dream. It's been a few days so it's not as fresh in my memory. But I do remember that I had just taken the Eucharist to the hospital (which I do at my parish) and when I got back to the church I wanted Father to wash the pyx out with water. That's all I can remember, as I said it's been a few days. Mine too started out pretty "normal" and then ended strange.

I can just imagine what my dream would have been if we had had pepperoni and sausage pizza that night! Yikes!

Tim

Alice--I agree with you on that gentle approach. I have had some experience with a few RC priests who were into the entire "fire and brimstone" approach and constantly yelled at their parishioners and told them how to dress and what to watch and what movies to go see and basically wound up with a diminishing congregation for his style. Certainly not all RC priests are like this one. Most I have met were the exact opposite. But I guess that approach works with some people. But certainly not me.

Tim

I have been having some very negative dreams lately including ones in which I am filled with the belief that I am damned forever with the most horrible punishments. I actually almost feel the punishments. The dreams have left me terrified at 3 AM. I have had to pray the rosary and scream out to God to save me lest I perish. Several nights ago I began sprinking my bed with Holy Water with a prayer of deliverance. So far, so good. I actually wet my pillow with the Blessed Water so that I can feel the wetness and it calms my spirit. I will continue to sprinkle my bed each night. Maybe this will help someone else someday.
Silouan, old monk

Dear Father Silouan,

Your dreams are surely more scary than Tim's was...(no offense Tim)...Well, you know who it is that is doing this to you. Ofcourse, you are doing the right thing by repelling these dreams with holy sacramentals and prayer.

It is funny how 'you know who' really gets to us in the middle of the night when we seem to be most vulnerable from the dark and quiet of the night. For years and years from the time I was a teen until, thankfully ending, about 10 years ago, I would sometimes get really terrifying and horrible nightmares involving demons. I would wake up and start praying. They were so frightening that I made sure I was never alone, lest I get one...

Now, I sometimes get various strange and wierd physical type ailments which are very frightening and *immediately* alleviated when I put an icon next to my chest, and I then sleep hugging it all night long...

In Christ,
Alice

Alice, when Fr. Deacon Stan was in the hospital with renal failure, and in a coma, a small icon of the Theotokos and Christ was placed on his chest. He didn't respond to anything else about him, talking or anything, but let someone move that icon, or try to take it off of him -like the doctors and nurses would occassionaly try to do - he squirmed. Needless to say, everyone left there, or if it had to be moved, they put it back and he would calm down.

Coincidence, I don't think so! Though he was not with us, he was still there in the Holy Spirit. He knew!

My recent outbreak of OCD was primarly caused by my exposure to one of these "fire and brimestone" type traditional
RC priest. The experience was truly nightmaric for me and I am still having problems after 4 months of not going to his parish.

I too, while being a fan of traditional liturgy and services, am not into the whole hell fire and brimestone deal with preaching. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for priest preaching what the Church teaches, but this guy went overboard in ways unimaginable to most people.

I'm still trying to get over it. I've talked with several other good priest who told me that he was out of bounds with what he preached on but my OCD stil gives me doubts and problems with this sad and unfortunate chapter in my life.

Please pray for my speedy healing.

I too get weird dreams. For example, in my dreams I sometimes hear people being murdered, the police invetigating the crimes, and then the long judical process needed to convict the murderers. It would appear that these dreams occur whenever I fall asleap with the TV on - particularly when the Criminal Investigation Channel (Channel 23 in New York) is left on all night.

I.F.

Alice--no offense taken. I agree that his dream was much worse than mine.

I'm sorry that so many people have such bad dreams. I don't have many. And I am very happy for that!

Tim

As you should be!!! There are alot more frightening things to dream about than a Gospel choir in a Byzantine church!!! LOL!!!

We have a retired priest living in the area who sometimes takes our liturgies; today he concelebrated[1]. Talking after Liturgy, he mentioned his predecessor at one of his military postings. He had a parishioner who spoke approvingly of Billy Graham sermons and asked why they couldn't have those.

The chaplain responded with an hour sermon, and then pointing out that the sermon was *all* such groups do, leaving them without most of the Liturgy or Mass we cherish.

The subject didn't get raised again


[1]I once felt almost guilty, when we had three celebrants on a Saturday liturgy--our pastor, this priest, and a visiting friend of our pastor . . . (Had I and another not gone on Saturday that week, the priests would have outnumbered the servers!