User:James

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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.