[Rytwyng]

Almost thou persuadest me to become Orthodox! It sounds like quite a party.

When I was in school (around 9th grade, IIRC), we were given a school assingment to visit a ceremony of a religion other than our own and write a report on it. Since I was studying Russian for my language requirement, it was only natural to visit the Russian Orthodox church in Hollywood. It was an evening service during Orthodox Holy Week, with a candle procession, etc. Most beautiful service I've ever seen. (Didn't some Russian prince decide to convert solely because of the beauty of the ceremony?)

Dad (1/4 Irish), Mom (100% Irish), and myself all got a good chuckle over the fact that the priest of the Russian Orthodox church had an Irish name. I suppose he felt the call of priesthoood but couldn't handle celibacy. ;-)

[Agrarian]

Oh, it most generally *is* a party, with a lot of very serious Christianity underlying it all.

I've known any number of Irish who are now Orthodox. Nothing quite like having a "Father O'Malley" with a long beard, swinging a censer!

One thing I've noticed is that the Irish don't lose any of their story-telling abilities when they become Orthodox...

[The_Reader_David]

Not necessarily: in the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Antiochian) we have Fr. Paul Callahagan (not celibate) and Fr. Daniel Griffith (not Irish, but Welsh, and celibate--my own parish priest).

Celts sometimes reach way back to their roots when trying to follow Christ, and end up Orthodox. (The Irish Russian Orthodox priest could have just changed rites and stayed in communion with Rome if celibacy were the only issue. It was probably something like the filioque, or the fluidity of Latin canon law, or an objection to Barlaamite tendancies in the Latin church that pushed him Eastward.)