Oddbean

I have been occasionally attending services at an Orthodox Church and the amount of talking about Mary they do weirds me out. Like I'm hearing more about Mary than Jesus in prayer time 🤷🏽‍♀️ and often other times bu the Bible doesn't even mention her that much. Sometimes I leave wondering why I went but I guess I'm mostly still curious and trying toake it make sense.

Since you are curious, I highly encourage you to talk to a priest and present any and all questions/objections you have and see what they have to say. I had very similar objections when encountering Orthodoxy after being a Protestant for 20+ years. Ultimately, every single objection I had, there very good answers given. It’s worth noting that you may perceive the services (if that’s what you mean by prayer time?) to invoke the name of Mary more than Jesus. That is simply not true. For example, you can search the text of St. John Chrysostom’s Divine Liturgy (which is the main service every Sunday) for “Son”, “Jesus”, and you will find many more references than “Mary”. In Orthodox services, we also refer to Christ by many names, not just Jesus. For example, every time we say “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages” we are giving glory and worship to Him.

I spoke to the priest last night after Bible study about how I should be thinking about and participating in vigil and what's going on. He stops talking after a while because he doesn't want to overload me, probably a fair call. Got a written copy of those prayers that you could send me? Or a site to direct me to?

This is the Divine Liturgy, which is the primary service on Sunday, and includes many prayers. This does not cover everything you will hear on a Sunday, as typically there is also Matins and specific readings based on which day of the year it is. https://www.goarch.org/-/the-divine-liturgy-of-saint-john-chrysostom