Catholic / Orthodox Fapstronauts

On this Feast of the Immaculate Conception, it is fitting that we pray to the Virgin Mother who is without sin, who resisted all temptation, and who is all holy. We who are afflicted by the grave sins of P, M, and O should beseech Holy Mary to intercede for us and to give us the strength we need to overcome our grievous ways.

We should also pray to Jesus Christ our Lord acknowledging that each of us is a blank sheet of paper. Lord, I ask that you write upon my paper Your Holy Plan for my life. Let my eyes carefully read Your plan; let me thoughtfully comprehend your intentions,; and please Holy Spirit, give me the fortitude and inspiration to carry out this most Holy Plan. I ask this through Christ our Lord, amen!

Peace to all as we celebrate this most Holy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

 

Thanks, Ze'ev!

The Troparion video had a wonderful collection of Nativity icons.

 

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Wishing all who follow the Gregorian calendar a very Merry Christmas!!

 

hello all. I am a teen who was baptized and raised in the Orthodox Church. I love this thread already, because it's now already more motivation for me to stop fapping, because here I'm with not only other Christians, but with Orthodox as well. I'm looking forward to the conversations and discussions about our faith and how to overcome this obstacle
Pray for me, a sinner.

 

Christ is born!!

This one is for the rest of us who follow the Julien calendar! Merry Christmas!!

 

Hello everyone .I am an orthodox christian and for the last 20 years hooked with this awful addiction on porn.One month ago i really understood my problem(which i already knew but wouldnt realy do anything about it).The last session of porn that i saw that day shook me ,my soul ,my consciousness.I just felt that my soul somehow rebelled against what i was doing.Everything in me,what i was taught in my youth about morality and christianity just couldnt take it anymore.
That day in the long drive from work to home i felt the need to pray and literraly to scream my lungs out to christ to save me from this absurdity.That evening started my journey.
I made in december one first attempt that lasted 8 days without p and 28 days without mo.Then i relapsed 4 times in a week.
I have started again since monday and now this day 6.Feeling good till now.
Went to church during christmas but havent had the courage to go to confession till now.
I pray that christ and the holy mother will give us all strength
Sorry for the long post

 

Welcome Calvin. You have already taken a number of really important steps to defeating this satan-inspired sin. The most important step in my opinion is turning to your Faith as a source of strength at this important time. The Lord will enable you to defeat this sickness, and He only requests that you ask for His grace to do so.

Peace, my friend, and wishing you he best!

 

I'm starting again to stop this addiction.

 

Having some strong urges today so am just reaching out for some prayers and support.

"Let us always keep before our eyes the fact that here on earth we are on a battlefield and that in paradise we shall receive the crown of victory;
that this is a testing ground and the prize will be awarded up above;
that we are now in a land of exile while our true homeland is Heaven to which we must continually aspire."

-St Pio of Petrelcina

 

Hey guys, been a while since I posted here. Just need some support right now. Thought I was doing pretty well, managed to get to 66 days, but I just collapsed after that, somehow. Relapsed 3 times this past week, falling deeper and deeper into the hole, and back into my old neural pathways. It's not great, and I'm really pissed about it. I don't think I'm building the right environment around me.. Been slipping on a lot of my other good habits as well, not praying enough, not exercising enough.

Anyway, I'm gonna commit here to praying the Rosary for the next 7 days. That was what helped me immensely to get back on track and kick on into some of my longer streaks in the past. Anyone who wants to join me, feel free. Will post here and in my personal journal everyday as well.

Stay strong, everyone. Me included.

 

I empathize my friend. Some months ago I slipped after an amazing 55 days - and came to regret letting it go. It has also taken me some time to get on track again. What is important, though, is that we learn from our slip ups. Can you identify precisely what led you to consent after all that time? What was the thought process that led up to it? This would be useful to know. Also, realize that the few relapse days between longer streaks are becoming fewer and far between (there are more days of clean living than relapse days now)-- someday, the grace of recovery days will completely swallow up the rest. So, keep on trying my friend, Recovery is in your future, and God is always with you - even on the relapse days. More important than a victory against PMO is holding onto trust and love of God. God can easily forgive our sinfulness, but he cannot make us trust or love him - so that is really the more important, fundamental lesson of humility here, even more important than PMO recovery, as important as that is. God bless!

 

I am in for the 7 day rosary. Mary's intercession is key.

 

A woman at Church told me that she says 3 Hail Mary's every night before bedtime for the virtue of purity. I started to do so.

 

May you all experience a blessed Lenten season with a greater intimacy with Christ Jesus. Godspeed!

 

Hail Mary, full of GRACE,
The Lord is with You!
Blessed are you among women
and Blessed is the Fruit of Your Womb,
Jesus!
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners.
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The immaculate conception, the birth of Mary, to be the pure vessel to hold our Lord Jesus Christ. The paragon of women. As I stated in my personal journal, she was the ultimate in femininity because of her virtue. The father of all lies(aka Lou Cipher), exploits our physical attraction to women and builds our lust. He even convinces us this is "normal". If you have read t"Theology of the Body", St. John Paul II states that the original sin was sexual sin. So if you're struggling, take heart that lust and all the suffering that comes with it has been a problem from the beginning.
I have never considered virtue as being attractive, but our model for the ultimate woman, is the most virtuous. Thinking patterns will change on this journey, I'm guessing.

I am offering up my bondage as my lenten sacrifice. If my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, suffered and died on the cross for me, then I can suffer for him. I have very little prayer life. I am using my PMO suffering to develop one. Every time I feel "on edge" because my brain is crying for the PMO chemicals, I will suffer through it, offer my suffering in prayer. I hope you all have a blessed Lenten season, and I look forward to His resurrection, renewing my faith.

I will also regularly be attending confession. I think the purging of my sin is needed. Anyone else want to share their Lenten journey with me, I would love to hear it. God Bless All!

 

Where does John Paul II in Theology of the Body state that the first original sin was a sexual sin? In Genesis, the original sin was one of disobedience and pride - when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, from which God told them not to eat. That is the Catholic teaching.

 

Thanks

Thanks for the question. Yes, you are correct. Obedience to God's will, but in what sense? I'm going to do much paraphrasing. I suggest you read Theology of the Body or Love and Responsibility. Good News about Sex and Marriage by Christopher West is an excellent source. It's like the cole's notes of Theology of the Body.

Do we determine what is good and evil, or does God? This is the obedience that is taught, and thank you for making me clarify my statement. Adam and Eve, when first together, were naked together. Their nakedness didn't matter as they looked upon each other as God saw them, spiritual creatures of pure love. After taking the "forbidden fruit", they died, as God said they would(spiritually). Once they had eaten the "forbidden fruit" they became aware of each other's nakedness and felt shame. It was the first time they looked at each other with lust. In other words, when he states in "Love and Responsibility" they saw each other as means to an end which was personal sexual gratification, which is the original sin. They never knew prior to satan's lies that the tree of knowledge wasn't good or truthful knowledge, but fear, anxiety, shame, etc.

When I first read this, I was truly moved. It's a hard pill to swallow, but the more I meditated on this, the more it started to make sense. This whole website is devoted to those who want to stop PMOing. Why? I find it interesting how many people post about the shame they feel after PMO(I being among them).

So, in conclusion, yes they disobeyed God(thanks to the lie)and following God's will brings the true spiritual love in our life we all crave, however our lust keeps getting in the way. Our pride is, in my opinion, based in our lust. I would even argue the 4 false gods named by St Thomas Aquinas(wealth, power, pleasure, honour) is driven by our sexual lust. That's only a personal opinion, however.

I appreciate you making me think and hopefully that answer clarifies what I meant to say in my original post.

 

Yes, I agree. JPII isn't saying so much that the original sin was a sexual sin, rather that the original sin (which was not a sexual sin per se, but disobedience and pride) caused man and women shame and disorder and the birth of concupiscence, as the classical theologians taught, wherein are human passions became disordered by sin - such as the seven deadly sins, including lust, shame, and any twisted ideas about sexuality.

There are actually some false teachings (in a minority of Protestant groups) that emphatically teach that the first sin was a sexual sin, one of which is called the Serpent Seed Doctrine - the idea being that the forbidden tree (spine) and the serpent where just manifestations of Satan, and when Eve ate of the fruit, this meant that she actually had sex with Satan (a sexual sin), and in turn Adam had the first homosexual sex act with Satan - thus the first sins were sexual in fact, according to this false doctrine. The theory is carried on that Cain (the spawn of that sin) was the son of the devil, whereas Abel and Seth were natural godly sons of Adam and Eve. The blood lines of Cain and Seth then continue throughout history, and elaborate theologies and biblical interpretations develop further from that supposed first "sexual" sin. The fact that fallen angels have intercourse with human women is also suggested later in Genesis as well - which gave rise to the Giants (Nephilim)- one of the main reason for Noah's flood - to wipe out sin and such evil spawn, etc. Although a false doctrine, it actually is somewhat interesting in its elaborate construction and overall consistency, albeit consistently wrong.

That's all I was getting at, my friend, saying that the first original sin was sexual can be misleading. More accurately, original sin caused some serious consequences pertaining to sex (commonly known as concupiscence in Catholic catechism), as all of us can avow.

Godspeed!

 

In light of the posts discussing how much help Mary offers us in our struggle and suggestions to pray the rosary, i wanted to share a prayer to her that is included in the Canon to our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt published by St Paisius Orthodox Monastery. Praying the Canon has proved very helpful to me, though i admit i too often neglect to do so.

(from Lenten Triodion, published by St Tikhon's Seminary Press)

Prayer to the Theotokos
I am held fast in the mire of sin, and there is no strength or courage in me; the tempest of my trespasses has overwhelmed me.
Look upon me, Virgin, I entreat you, for you have borne the Word Who alone loves mankind. Deliver me from every sin, from all the passions that destroy my soul, and from every ill inflicted by the enemy, that I may sing with joy: Intercede with your Son and God, O Undefiled, that the remission of transgressions may be given to those who in faith take refuge beneath your protection.​

May everyone continue to have a blessed Lenten Season (if you're following new calendar)!

 

I just discovered this thread, and I am overjoyed to see Orthodox and Catholic believers have a fellowship here on this site. God bless you all in your struggles. I found this quote to be really wonderful:

You must never be afraid, if you are troubled by a flood of thoughts, that the enemy is too strong against you, that his attacks are never ending, that the war will last for your lifetime, and that you cannot avoid incessant downfalls of all kinds. Know that our enemies, with all their wiles, are in the hands of our divine Commander, our Lord Jesus Christ, for Whose honour and glory you are waging war. Since He himself leads you into battle, He will certainly not suffer your enemies to use violence against you and overcome you, if you do not yourself cross over to their side with your will. He will Himself fight for you and will deliver your enemies into your hands, when He wills and as He wills, as it is written: 'The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee' (Deut. xxii, 14).

+ From Unseen Warfare, St. Theophan the Recluse and St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain​