Re: House Blessing Question

[stashko]

First - call or email your priest and tell him you have no idea what to expect and ask him what you need to have ready for him.  If he's no help, call Matushka or a deacon or someone you know from the parish.  

You should have holy water that the priest blessed on Theophany.  This is what he will use to bless your house.  A bowl for it to go in.  And  a list of names of those who live in the house so he can pray for your family by name.  A candle and matches.  That's really all you need for the blessing.  My priest also likes to bless all the beds as well as rooms. (including bathrooms and laundry).  

I usually give my priest about $25-30.  But, it might depend on where you live too.   I would think that if it's a mission parish and the priest has full-time job outside of the church, the parish is probably not able to pay him much. Giving him something with that in mind might help you a bit.    I look at it as a honorarium rather than gratuity.    Ask your priest if he has other houses to go to after yours.  

My priest will take a gift of money but turns it into the parish treasurer for the support of the church, this is not the way I have usually seen it done but he always tells the parish that his salary from the parish is all he expects and that any oter gift is to the Church not him as the pastor. He does not allow charges for sacraments or any other sacramentals.

While your Antiochian church or Greek Orthdox church might pay the priest enough to be able to afford luxury items such as up-sizing a value meal Slavic churches don't pay their priests enough for even this small luxury.  
I know a total convert parish in the south that pays the priest 36k and he has a gaggle of kids.  No one thinks they should give him twenty or thirty bucks if he drives an hour to bless the house.  
They say his total financial needs are covered by the 36k a year and it's on him to pay for gas, etc.. to do his works.

I am not going to tell you how much most Slavic (Serb, Russians [including OCA], Carpatho-russians, Ukrainians) get paid.  But please give the priest some money.  

The Slavs love to count the 'compensation' that is akin to that of Cinderella. When the clock strikes 12 and the priest either has to retire or, God forbid, he dies a young man with children and a widow.....that 'compensation' and a dollar will let you buy an item off of the dollar menu in a state without sales tax. Not to mention that most parishes literally push the widow out into the street in eager anticipation of the 'new' priest.

I never Heard Of A Matushka, Popadija ,Widow of a deceased Priest, Being Pushed Out Ever....
Their was a Russian Widow Popadija ,Matuska ,that Lived At the St.Sava Monastery, till she passed away, and Buried in the Monastery Cemetery.....

[username!]

First - call or email your priest and tell him you have no idea what to expect and ask him what you need to have ready for him.  If he's no help, call Matushka or a deacon or someone you know from the parish.  

You should have holy water that the priest blessed on Theophany.  This is what he will use to bless your house.  A bowl for it to go in.  And  a list of names of those who live in the house so he can pray for your family by name.  A candle and matches.  That's really all you need for the blessing.  My priest also likes to bless all the beds as well as rooms. (including bathrooms and laundry).  

I usually give my priest about $25-30.  But, it might depend on where you live too.   I would think that if it's a mission parish and the priest has full-time job outside of the church, the parish is probably not able to pay him much. Giving him something with that in mind might help you a bit.    I look at it as a honorarium rather than gratuity.    Ask your priest if he has other houses to go to after yours.  

My priest will take a gift of money but turns it into the parish treasurer for the support of the church, this is not the way I have usually seen it done but he always tells the parish that his salary from the parish is all he expects and that any oter gift is to the Church not him as the pastor. He does not allow charges for sacraments or any other sacramentals.

While your Antiochian church or Greek Orthdox church might pay the priest enough to be able to afford luxury items such as up-sizing a value meal Slavic churches don't pay their priests enough for even this small luxury.  
I know a total convert parish in the south that pays the priest 36k and he has a gaggle of kids.  No one thinks they should give him twenty or thirty bucks if he drives an hour to bless the house.  
They say his total financial needs are covered by the 36k a year and it's on him to pay for gas, etc.. to do his works.

I am not going to tell you how much most Slavic (Serb, Russians [including OCA], Carpatho-russians, Ukrainians) get paid.  But please give the priest some money.  

The Slavs love to count the 'compensation' that is akin to that of Cinderella. When the clock strikes 12 and the priest either has to retire or, God forbid, he dies a young man with children and a widow.....that 'compensation' and a dollar will let you buy an item off of the dollar menu in a state without sales tax. Not to mention that most parishes literally push the widow out into the street in eager anticipation of the 'new' priest.

I never Heard Of A Matushka, Popadija ,Widow of a deceased Priest, Being Pushed Out Ever....
Their was a Russian Widow Popadija ,Matuska ,that Lived At the St.Sava Monastery, till she passed away, and Buried in the Monastery Cemetery.....

Boy Stashko you must live in a foreign third dimension.  This does happen. 

[stashko]

First - call or email your priest and tell him you have no idea what to expect and ask him what you need to have ready for him.  If he's no help, call Matushka or a deacon or someone you know from the parish.  

You should have holy water that the priest blessed on Theophany.  This is what he will use to bless your house.  A bowl for it to go in.  And  a list of names of those who live in the house so he can pray for your family by name.  A candle and matches.  That's really all you need for the blessing.  My priest also likes to bless all the beds as well as rooms. (including bathrooms and laundry).  

I usually give my priest about $25-30.  But, it might depend on where you live too.   I would think that if it's a mission parish and the priest has full-time job outside of the church, the parish is probably not able to pay him much. Giving him something with that in mind might help you a bit.    I look at it as a honorarium rather than gratuity.    Ask your priest if he has other houses to go to after yours.  

My priest will take a gift of money but turns it into the parish treasurer for the support of the church, this is not the way I have usually seen it done but he always tells the parish that his salary from the parish is all he expects and that any oter gift is to the Church not him as the pastor. He does not allow charges for sacraments or any other sacramentals.

While your Antiochian church or Greek Orthdox church might pay the priest enough to be able to afford luxury items such as up-sizing a value meal Slavic churches don't pay their priests enough for even this small luxury.  
I know a total convert parish in the south that pays the priest 36k and he has a gaggle of kids.  No one thinks they should give him twenty or thirty bucks if he drives an hour to bless the house.  
They say his total financial needs are covered by the 36k a year and it's on him to pay for gas, etc.. to do his works.

I am not going to tell you how much most Slavic (Serb, Russians [including OCA], Carpatho-russians, Ukrainians) get paid.  But please give the priest some money.  

The Slavs love to count the 'compensation' that is akin to that of Cinderella. When the clock strikes 12 and the priest either has to retire or, God forbid, he dies a young man with children and a widow.....that 'compensation' and a dollar will let you buy an item off of the dollar menu in a state without sales tax. Not to mention that most parishes literally push the widow out into the street in eager anticipation of the 'new' priest.

I never Heard Of A Matushka, Popadija ,Widow of a deceased Priest, Being Pushed Out Ever....
Their was a Russian Widow Popadija ,Matuska ,that Lived At the St.Sava Monastery, till she passed away, and Buried in the Monastery Cemetery.....

Boy Stashko you must live in a foreign third dimension.  This does happen.  

Some Of The Popadijas ,Matushka ,Widows,  Become Nuns ,Never Heard  the Other Though....

[HandmaidenofGod]

While your Antiochian church or Greek Orthdox church might pay the priest enough to be able to afford luxury items such as up-sizing a value meal Slavic churches don't pay their priests enough for even this small luxury. 

[Ukrainian accent] Why should priest want to up size value meal when there is still plenty of cabbage in world? Eez dis not good enuf??!!!

Cabbage and suffering, dis is vat sustains Slavs!

[/Ukrainian accent]

 

[HandmaidenofGod]

Please, all of you out there, keep in mind that the salary structure of Orthodox Clergy in both GOARCH and the Antiochian Archdiocese is considerably more support of a priest and his family than are the minimums established by many of the Churches with Slavic roots, including the OCA, ACROD, UOC and others. Don't judge your pastor or his needs necessarily by what you read here.

The GOA and AOC recognize that man cannot live on bread alone. The Slavs say, "why not?"

[stashko]

While your Antiochian church or Greek Orthdox church might pay the priest enough to be able to afford luxury items such as up-sizing a value meal Slavic churches don't pay their priests enough for even this small luxury. 

[Ukrainian accent] Why should priest want to up size value meal when there is still plenty of cabbage in world? Eez dis not good enuf??!!!

Cabbage and suffering, dis is vat sustains Slavs!

[/Ukrainian accent]

 

Serbs Make The Best Stuffed Cabbage[Punjeni Kupus,  Sarma] Mmmm Good ....

[HandmaidenofGod]

While your Antiochian church or Greek Orthdox church might pay the priest enough to be able to afford luxury items such as up-sizing a value meal Slavic churches don't pay their priests enough for even this small luxury. 

[Ukrainian accent] Why should priest want to up size value meal when there is still plenty of cabbage in world? Eez dis not good enuf??!!!

Cabbage and suffering, dis is vat sustains Slavs!

[/Ukrainian accent]

 

Serbs Make The Best Stuffed Cabbage[Punjeni Kupus,  Sarma] Mmmm Good ....

Ha! You obviously haven't tried mine yet!

[username!]

Who wants to talk about the priest's wife whose husband had a heart attack because the people in the parish stressed him so badly that he fell over and never got back up again?  Then she's stuck in a little apartment that a 21 year old frat brother wouldn't live in and bagging groceries down the street.  The care packages come for a few weeks, then she's on her own. 
Which is why I think it is so important for a priest's wife in the Slav world to be a teacher, a nurse, something that has the benefits.  It's important for the priest to have adequate term life insurance and a burial amount in whole life.  The parish should buy that for him, the term life.  If you haven't met someone who died without  life insurance and had young children you really should it will open up your eyes.
Also I know a few guy's whose wives have good jobs and carry the benefits for the family. 
Of course you don't head into the priesthood (or at least you shouldn't be heading into it) if you expect a yacht but you should be able to see the doctor if you need to, or buy the kids a jacket without having to sacrifice new shoes and just duct tape the ones you have.
Why do you think many of the rural parishes now have celibate priests or monks in residence and at the age close to medicaid?
It's a catch 22, the people aren't there anymore.  No one but the person who hides the treasury records in their stove (yes, I said stove) knows really how much the churches have. 
People forget that priests are people too and you can't leave a man out there hanging with no money to survive.

[HandmaidenofGod]

Who wants to talk about the priest's wife whose husband had a heart attack because the people in the parish stressed him so badly that he fell over and never got back up again?  Then she's stuck in a little apartment that a 21 year old frat brother wouldn't live in and bagging groceries down the street.  The care packages come for a few weeks, then she's on her own. 
Which is why I think it is so important for a priest's wife in the Slav world to be a teacher, a nurse, something that has the benefits.  It's important for the priest to have adequate term life insurance and a burial amount in whole life.  The parish should buy that for him, the term life.  If you haven't met someone who died without  life insurance and had young children you really should it will open up your eyes.
Also I know a few guy's whose wives have good jobs and carry the benefits for the family. 
Of course you don't head into the priesthood (or at least you shouldn't be heading into it) if you expect a yacht but you should be able to see the doctor if you need to, or buy the kids a jacket without having to sacrifice new shoes and just duct tape the ones you have.
Why do you think many of the rural parishes now have celibate priests or monks in residence and at the age close to medicaid?
It's a catch 22, the people aren't there anymore.  No one but the person who hides the treasury records in their stove (yes, I said stove) knows really how much the churches have. 
People forget that priests are people too and you can't leave a man out there hanging with no money to survive.

I know of a priest in Cleveland that is pastor to two parishes, and had to take a 40/hr a week job for the medical benefits, because neither parish wanted to pay to hire him full time.

But don't you worry, he's still expected to visit the sick, those in prisons, and show up at every pierogi dinner!

[Salpy]

From 1 Corinthians 9:

3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 Do we have no right to eat and drink? 5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?

8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.�14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%209&version=NKJV

[podkarpatska]

Who wants to talk about the priest's wife whose husband had a heart attack because the people in the parish stressed him so badly that he fell over and never got back up again?  Then she's stuck in a little apartment that a 21 year old frat brother wouldn't live in and bagging groceries down the street.  The care packages come for a few weeks, then she's on her own.  
Which is why I think it is so important for a priest's wife in the Slav world to be a teacher, a nurse, something that has the benefits.  It's important for the priest to have adequate term life insurance and a burial amount in whole life.  The parish should buy that for him, the term life.  If you haven't met someone who died without  life insurance and had young children you really should it will open up your eyes.
Also I know a few guy's whose wives have good jobs and carry the benefits for the family.  
Of course you don't head into the priesthood (or at least you shouldn't be heading into it) if you expect a yacht but you should be able to see the doctor if you need to, or buy the kids a jacket without having to sacrifice new shoes and just duct tape the ones you have.
Why do you think many of the rural parishes now have celibate priests or monks in residence and at the age close to medicaid?
It's a catch 22, the people aren't there anymore.  No one but the person who hides the treasury records in their stove (yes, I said stove) knows really how much the churches have.  
People forget that priests are people too and you can't leave a man out there hanging with no money to survive.

I know of a priest in Cleveland that is pastor to two parishes, and had to take a 40/hr a week job for the medical benefits, because neither parish wanted to pay to hire him full time.

But don't you worry, he's still expected to visit the sick, those in prisons, and show up at every pierogi dinner!

Then there's the priest, now deceased, who needed surgery, the parish refused to pay the Blue Cross Blue Shield bill as required by diocesan by-laws and the poor man had to suffer the indignity of going on public assistance to secure the surgery. I could go on and on, but for the sake of preserving the dignity of those still living, I will keep my mouth shut.

It is more than ironic that the descendents of those who fought so 'passionately' against priestly celibacy (really nothing more than a disguise for their real agenda - property rights - ) are so notoriously parsimonious when it comes to their pastors and their families. You see it in ACROD, UOC-USA, OCA and a few other places where the connection to the former Greek Catholic past has obtained near 'mythological' status in terms of what really was going on then. Just ask any PK who grow up and stayed a parishioner and had to endure the nonsense at the 'annual meeting' when the pastor's compensation issue came up.

Truth be told, I don't know any married priest in those jurisdictions who is a full time priest who would not trade the rectory, honorariums etc... in for a moment in exchange for compensation at least somewhat similar to that earned by comparably educated men in secular fields such as social work counseling or teaching. At least that way you can provide for your family in the event of unforeseen tragedy.

Stashko is probably right - the Serbs he knows did not fight that fight (they fought plenty of other good ones though!   ) and he may not have been exposed to such behavior in his experience. You can't lump all Slavs together any more than you can lump all Arabs or all Greeks. (Heck, we have two small Greek parishes in our little community that refused to combine because the founding families came from different parts of the Hellenic world. It's not just the Ukrainians, Lemkos and Rusyns who drink from that cup!)

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