Cloud of Witnesses Radio
Audio drama retellings of the stories of the Christian Saints, Panel Discussions, Cast Commentary, Reaction Videos, Screwtape Returns, and more!
Cloud of Witnesses Radio
Femininity Isn't Weak: Womanhood and The Church | Guests Ben & Ashley Langlois Journey to Orthodoxy
What Does Femininity Look Like in the Orthodox Church?
In a culture that often misunderstands tradition, Orthodox Christianity may seem, at first glance, like a “Christian fraternity” — rigid, exclusive, or overly male-centered. But as Ben and Ashley Langlois (popularly known as Orthodox Luigi and his wife) reveal in this heartfelt conversation, nothing could be further from the truth.
Orthodoxy offers women a deeply rooted spiritual home—one that honors the unique dignity, strength, and calling of femininity in ways that may feel unfamiliar to many raised in Western expressions of Christianity.
For many women, the journey into the Orthodox Church begins with hesitation. Some arrive simply to support a spouse or out of spiritual curiosity, only to find themselves quietly wondering, “What did I just get myself into?” But what often begins in uncertainty becomes a path to profound spiritual fulfillment. In Orthodoxy, they discover a Church that doesn’t conform to modern trends, but instead reaches deep into the soul with its ancient beauty, reverence, and rhythms of grace.
Here, femininity is not erased or sidelined, but transfigured. It finds its voice in sacred service, quiet strength, and spiritual motherhood. Women in the Church lead choirs, bake the communion bread (prosphora), create feasts for the saints, and nurture the life of the parish. Even practices that may seem strange at first—like veiling—take on new meaning. As one convert put it, “We cover what is holy and what is of value.”
This transformation doesn’t happen overnight. To embrace Orthodoxy often means learning to see the world through new eyes—to “think Orthodox.” Dr. Jeannie Constantinou’s book Thinking Orthodox has become a trusted guide for many women making this transition, helping them understand the Orthodox “phronema” (mindset) and begin to live it out.
And this faith isn’t just personal—it’s communal. Orthodox parishes are vibrant with shared life, centered not around programs or performances, but the Eucharist. After services, parishioners gather for meals that often stretch for hours. In those long conversations over food, true Christian fellowship takes root.
Whether you're simply curious about Orthodoxy or wondering how to talk with your spouse about your growing interest in the ancient faith, this conversation between Ben and Ashley will meet you with honesty, encouragement, and hope.
Join us as we explore what it means to be a woman of faith in the Orthodox Church—and how the ancient path still leads us home today. Subscribe now and become part of a community rediscovering the beauty of Christ’s Church in the modern world.
Visit Cloud of Witnesses Radio: https://cloudofwitnessesradio.com/
Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdh
Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses Radio: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnesses
Find Cloud of Witnesses Radio on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.
Please leave a comment with your thoughts!
Similar reaction to myself of oh my gosh, what did I just get myself into? A lot of the women are very, very engaged behind the scenes in the church. There's a place for women in the Orthodox Church. It's not just this big, you know, for lack of a better word, fraternity, christian fraternity, hi thank you for being here.
Speaker 2:Don't forget to click that subscribe button. Please give us a thumbs up if you do enjoy this content and click that bell. You'll get notifications of all of our new content immediately. A lot coming your way, and please prayerfully consider becoming one of our Patreons. You'll get exclusive access to uncut, unedited complete episodes, as well as early access to all of our content. Thank you so much and we hope you enjoy the rest of this video.
Speaker 3:What do you think the you know what is the feminine framework in the Orthodox church? What is it? What is it? Why are women coming to the Orthodox church? Because I think a lot of people think that only men are coming into the Orthodox church, and I disagree with that. I think that there are. I think a lot of. I think we're Like it's a lot of them are coming from Protestant backgrounds, and it's it really. It is a lot of women like you who are faithful Protestants and you know they're. They just want the fullness of the faith. But what do you think it is that? That's women to orthodoxy. And what does femininity look like, you know, in the Orthodox Church?
Speaker 1:I think so. I think some of the cases we've seen, like two different types of cases, a lot of the people speaking at least from our church. There's just been an abundance of people coming to our parish, especially in the past year, like since you and I started joining, but it's been a lot of, you know, like dating couples so the girlfriends kind of tag along or the fiances tag along and they're like I don't really want to be here, but I know that I'm not fully content with you know, Roman Catholicism or Protestantism, so I'll check it out.
Speaker 1:And then they have this similar reaction to myself of oh my gosh, what did I just get myself into? Not fully sold yet, but then easing their way into it and I think for them and I think for a lot of us, um, it's just, it's discontentment it's just knowing that something is, something is off um and if I could, because I've talked to people and they're like, well, how don't, how do they not understand?
Speaker 1:and it's an easy question that even you and I fall into is like how, how do people not get this? Like the history it's there.
Speaker 1:Like this all makes sense, but if it was presented to either of us at any other point in time in our life, I don't think we would have been ready for it, and I think you know those questions I started asking that experience I had at my Baptist church in 2019 kind of teed everything up for that moment when we were ready for it, but I think it's God enlightening, you know, and opening and softening your heart and your mind until you know, kind of gradually, but I think for a lot of them it's discontentment and I think, finally now we're starting to see girls come to the church on their own.
Speaker 1:Women come to the church, you know, and explore that, and I have some friends as well who've been exploring it and I think it's similar. Yeah, I think one thing that they're also looking for is tradition that they're also just not having in Protestantism.
Speaker 1:But, from the femininity perspective. This is a conversation I know has kind of come up a few times within friend groups of ours and one of the things that I think about orthodoxy and the feminine aspect is it's more quiet in the sense you know, like we said, masculinity is all over the internet with you know the Orthodox accounts on Instagram and the videos, so you don't see as much of that and I don't think necessarily that's totally wrong for women to be blasting Orthodoxy on different channels. I think the Instagram accounts for them is great to show and help other women and help people like myself figure out what to cook for dinner that night during the fast, you know, and how to raise children, you know, in a way where it really engages them and what the life of the church at home looks like, and I think that's a feminine aspect in itself. But I think femininity in the Orthodox church is on is more quiet. It's subtle and I think it comes out in the way that we veil. I think it comes out in the way that we the beauty that's within the church A lot of the women are very, very engaged behind the scenes in the church.
Speaker 1:You know. You see the men. A lot of people have problems with like well, why aren't the women's deacons and why aren't they doing this and that? Well, a lot of them are also in the choir and they're the ones who are leading the liturgy from that aspect for the congregation, for us, the whole time. So they're very front and center in the choir. They're very behind the scenes in the kitchens, cooking, feeding all of us, preparing the phosphora bread and the blessed bread and hosting, you know, the teas and all of the feasts and, kind of you know, getting all the activities together for us to participate in.
Speaker 1:So I think it comes out in those skills and those are very feminine skills. It's homemaking, but within the church context, and I think it's beautiful, and I think there's a place for women in the church context and I think it's beautiful and I think there's a place for for women in the Orthodox church. It's not just this big, you know, for lack of a better word fraternity, Christian fraternity.
Speaker 3:Monastery maybe? Yeah, they're not all monks.
Speaker 1:So you know it's not this big boys club. You know there's a lot of women there and I think it comes out also in just the way that they dress. One thing I thought that was beautiful is Father John described veiling, because in a sense the vestments and they veil the Eucharist when they're walking by and we cover what is holy and what is sacred and what is of value.
Speaker 1:I love that so I think that that's something that when you walk in you might not see it, but I think I think you're starting to see it. People are really engaging, like women are engaging with it and in content with you. Know, those beautiful pictures of girls who are veiled in the churches, the beauty of the church arts, yeah, but I think it's more subtle, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, that's really good, baby. One final thing I'd like to talk about is you know, I have a lot of guys that message me and they're trying to get their wives on board. They're sold. They've been reading the history. They're like I'm ready to be Orthodox, don't know what to do with my wife, the, the. Really the book that helped you and kind of sold you on it was um thinking Orthodox by Dr Jeannie Constantino and I I recommend this book for for these guys, for their wives, because you know Dr Uh Constantino is is a woman, um, and so she's approaching it from. You know, a feminine aspect, um and Um, and I remember you reading that book. Uh, you know, really early on in our kind of conversion process, um, it may have even been the tail end of when we were Presbyterian, I can't remember, it was that timeframe.
Speaker 1:I ordered it.
Speaker 3:I don't think I started reading it till we were catechumens, so maybe talk about that book and how it impacted you um and kind of bridging into the you know the Eastern Orthodox way of thinking, the phronoma.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I ordered that book and I think the first few chapters were really like the greatest substance for me and just kind of understanding you know the differences between Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church, protestant Church. She had a lot of like keywords in there, highlighted with their you know descriptors like the noose and the Phronoma, and so I feel like that their you know descriptors like the noose and the front of my and um, so I feel like that those you know probably the first three chapters helped me kind of break things down in a way that I understood it because you could explain things to me all day long. But, um, sometimes it's easy to like read it and reread it, um, so I don't have I don't have much to say about the book, but that I really like the first few chapters. I think it's a good intro, it's an easy read for the um, for those that are inquiring.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I remember specifically it was like very early on talking to father john, I was like I was like this is like this is hard because you know not like aside from the fast, aside from you know the prayers, all of that, it's just learning. I thinking Orthodox. It's learning how to not only reorient and kind of deprogram a little bit the way that we operate in the West, but doing it in a way I've always heard the term, but not of the world but it's like, okay, I'm trying to live like an Eastern Christian in a Western world, you know, or Western, you know, western nation, um, that's dominated by, you know, western faiths like Protestantism.
Speaker 1:So not only trying to go contrary to how the nation operates, I'm also trying to do it, you know. Go, you know, against the grain with how the rest of the churches are doing it. Um, so that the grain with how the rest of the churches are doing it. So that's definitely a struggle, but I feel like, the more that you read the lives of the saints and that was what was really stressed it's like, okay, read this, understand the Orthodox church, understand the history of the church and then go read the lives of the saints. Obviously, read your Bible. Still, like, reading the scriptures is a must for Orthodox Christians and it's, you know, 90% of the liturgy and what we communicate. But it's reading the lives of the saints is how you acquire that mindset. So, especially living in America, it's challenging.
Speaker 3:You know you brought up community, you know, in the Protestant churches and how you know they had good community, but the issue was that that was the. That was the ultimate priority. Yeah, talk about the. You know. Maybe people hear that and they think that like we don't care about community in the Orthodoxy. Maybe you know we found an amazing, you know, parish. You know I'd seen Anthony's an amazing home, a church home, so maybe talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 1:Talk about community and how that's kind of you know, impacted your faith Community, I mean community in the Orthodox church, is not diminished at all. It's. It's incredibly vibrant, incredibly strong, at least at our parish.
Speaker 3:I know my parents parish and there's a language barrier at my parents parish because they go to a russian orthodox church that is 90 95 percent russian, minus my, my parents and my brother's friends it's funny, the the priest will literally like one of the priests, like he'll literally turn to them to start speaking in English, like because they're the only people, yeah, so, and I mean they speak English, but it's, it's it's a little broken.
Speaker 1:So, but even there, I mean, the community is so, it's so vibrant, but it's, I think, it's about priorities. And so in the Orthodox Church, obviously, like you know, the focus of church and the focus of Sunday is about the Eucharist. It's not about community and, you know, catching up on our weeks. It's not a social hour and it's not a therapy session. But I mean, if you come to our parish, you come to any other church you and I have been to so many churches you know across the country in the past couple of years and every single one has a coffee, lunch, agape hour, where people will, just after the service, they'll go and they'll break bread, They'll eat a ton of food that has been prepared by the ladies and by, you know, different teams, different people helping out, and people will stay at church for the next I don't even know five hours.
Speaker 3:Deep in the afternoon. I mean sometimes it should be.
Speaker 1:It's a feast day. It's a day to not do your chores and not do all those tedious things that we have to do as adults, and just to be in community with one another. So, that's still very important, it's just not the main focus.
Speaker 2:To see the rest of this conversation, please go right now over to our patreon search cloud of witnesses. The entire uncut, unedited conversation is there, available for you right now. If you're enjoying this content, please hit that subscribe button. Click that bell. You'll be notified of all the new content we have coming your way. Thank you so much for being here. If this has inspired you in any way, please leave a comment down below. Let us know your thoughts, and we're looking forward to the next one. Bye-bye.