User:James

My, rather unwieldy, name is James Harry Karl Meyer-Bejdl. I was born in Chatham, England in 1975 into an extremely mixed but predominantly German/Czech family, the family being scattered across Europe from Britain to Slovakia due to the wars and politics of the 20th century.

I am a convert to Orthodoxy having been brought up Lutheran (though I mostly attended Anglican services due to a lack of Lutheran churches in Britain). I first came into contact with the Orthodox Church in Romania whilst working for a charity at the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Bucovina. My investigation of and eventual conversion to Orthodoxy was triggered by the example of a wonderful monk at the monastery of St. John the New of Suceava. I, unfortunately, never got his name but I owe him a great debt.

I eventually married in the 15th century church of Sf. Nicolae in Balinesti, the village near Siret from which my wife comes, but we've now settled down in Britain. When I was Chrismated in the Orthodox Church I took St. James the Persian as my patron, partly because his life inspired me a great deal and partly because he is less commonly venerated than other Sts. James.

I hope I shall be able to contribute articles on the Church of Romania here, and particularly the Romanian saints who are relatively unknown in the west.

Articles

The following are articles which I have either added to OrthodoxWiki or to which I have contributed. I hope to expand the list significantly over time, particularly those articles on Romanian saints, monasteries and churches.

Church of Romania Daniel the Hermit Diocletian Evangelicus of Tomis Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania) Sansala Sava the Goth Stephen the Great Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)