Byzantine, Texas

The interesting bit is the visit to St. Tikhon's. Pastoral Conference and Lenten Retreat March 1-3, 2010 · St. John the Baptist Cathedral · Mayfield, PA Sunday, February 28th: 6:00 PM: Check-in at Nichols Village Hotel Monday, March 1: 9:00AM – 10:45AM – Registration and light breakfast in the parish hall 11:00AM – Moleben in St. John’s Cathedral, greeting by His Grace, Bishop George of Mayfield, and Archpriest John Sorochka; opening address of His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion 12:00PM – Lunch 1:15PM – Presentation by Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov: Pastoral Struggles in the 21st Century 2:30PM – “Diocesan Life: A Year in Review - 2009” 4:00PM – Free Time 4:30PM – Presentation by Deacon Andrei Psarev: 50th Anniversary of the Repose of Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) 5:30PM – Dinner 6:45PM – Panihida for diocesan bishops and pastors, Great Compline, evening prayers Tuesday, March 2: 8:45AM – Arrive at St. Tikhon’s Monastery 9:00AM – Greeting of Met. Hilar...

CHICAGO, IL ( OCAMW ) - A new collection of bible studeis titled "The Living Word" is under development for the Diocesan Parish Health and Development Ministry. The collection is edited by Fr John Matusiak and is being piloted at St Joseph Orthodox Church, Wheaton, Illinois. Click here to view more about the collection.

( St. Nersess Seminary ) - His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, leader of the Orthodox Church in America, will deliver a lecture at St. Nersess Seminary on the relations between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The lecture is scheduled for Monday, March 8, 2010 at 7:30PM. His Beatitude will also offer his own thoughts about the role of the Armenian Church in the reconciliation of the two ancient church families. The Metropolitan's talk is part of the Seminary's 2010 Public Lecture Series, entitled The Armenian Church: A Distinctive Christian Voice. The Orthodox Church in America was established in 1794, when a small group of Russian Orthodox missionaries landed on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Today the self-governing church comprises over two million faithful, many of whom have come to the Orthodox faith from other Christian denominations. Metropolitan Jonah was born James Paffhausen in Chicago, Illinois, where he was baptized into the Episcopal Church. H...

( SVOTS ) - St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary cancelled classes today, 2-26-10 for the second time in fifteen years. Approximately 18 inches had fallen by this morning, and snow is forecast to continue through to Saturday evening. Fr John Behr (Dean), seen pacing the campus, was thoroughly enjoying the break. “There’s more rejoicing over one snow day than over weeks of scheduled vacation,” he observed. “It’s a wonderful to have a gratuitous break in the routine – and the campus looks beautiful.” Indeed it does! See the beauty of the campus for yourself in the Seminary Snow Day Pictures .

LVIV ( RISU ) — On the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, February 21, 2010, the faithful of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church organized a religious procession in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. The procession was attended by 80 priests of the Lviv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), 5 centers of the Lviv Stauropegion Brotherhood of St. Andrew the-First-Called-Apostle, Ukrainian Cossacks, and about a thousand faithful led by Archbishop Makarii of Lviv of the UAOC. RISU was told by the deputy head of the Lviv brotherhood, Yurii Fediv, that the event was aimed to revive ancient Eastern traditions and to pray for the health and good of the citizens. “For the first time since 1700, when the Lviv Orthodox Eparchy accepted the union with Rome, the Orthodox community of the city conducted a religious procession with icons, relics of the great martyr and healer Panteleimon, Great Martyr Mercury, St. Anastasia of Constantinople and parts of the Ho...

KYIV ( RISU ) - According to the web site of UOC-MP , Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem Replied to Request of the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), Metropolitan Volodymyr for Bringing the Icon of Theotokos of Bethlehem to Kyiv. RISU's Ukrainian-language web site posted this story on 23 February. The official letter by Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem came to the address of Metropolitan Volodymyr, which goes: "...As a sign of appreciation of the good feelings of your heart towards the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Holy Synod adopted a decision on bringing to Kyiv the holy Icon of Theotokos of Bethlehem that will be accompanied by the rector of the Church of St. Jacob's Well Archimandrite Justine.

( Orthodox Beacon ) - St. Barbara Orthodox Church in Southwest Ft. Worth is pleased to announce its 27th Annual Pysanky (Ukrainian Easter Egg) Festival on March 19 and 20. The event features intricately decorated chicken, goose and ostrich eggs for sale with traditional Ukrainian motifs. Eggs are docorated by members of the Church; skilled craftsmen will be on hand to demonstrate this wonderful and ancient folk art. In addition, other Pysanky supplies, instructional books and related gift items will be available. Hours for the festival: 9 to 6 on Friday, and 9 to 5 on Saturday. Admission is free. The Church is located at 5201 Altamesa, Ft. Worth, 76133. More information may be obtained by contacting the Church at (817) 294-0325 or by visiting the website at: www.saintbarbarafw.org .

SYOSSET, NY ( OCA ) - In response to a growing need for content and materials geared towards young adult and college ministry, the Orthodox Church in America's Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministries has launched a new blog, "Wonder." The blog, accessible at www.ocawonder.com , is also of value to those who minister to this age group. "It is our hope that this project will give our youth a 'good defense' for the tough questions and harsh realities that this world offers," said Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, department chair. "We hope these articles will spur discussion and provide material for those engaged in campus and young adult ministry." Every month, "Wonder" will feature four articles on a specific theme, blending theological and academic articles with practical ideas for ministry. "Suggestions and submissions from readers are always welcome," said Mr. Andrew Boyd, a department member who co-mode...

( mospat.ru ) - On 24 February 2010, the first session of the Inter-Council Presence’ Commission on Theology took place at the Moscow Patriarchate Department for external church relations. Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus and chairman of the Synodal Biblical-Theological Commission chaired the session. The Commission consists of 18 persons, including Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for external church relations, other archpastors of the Russian Orthodox Church, professors and teachers of the theological schools, clergymen and laymen. In his introductory address Metropolitan Philaret spoke about compiling the contemporary Catechism of the Russian Orthodox Church and the efforts undertaken for the development of Biblical science. He informed the members that the presidium of the Inter-Council Presence charged the Commission on Theology to consider the following themes: theological comprehension of t...

( Boing Boing ) - I've been reading the oldest joke book in existence, the Philogelos, a Byzantine book written in about 400 AD. It's full of knee slappers. The book is mostly quips from two guys, Hierocles and Philagrius, about whom little is known. Like network television, Byzantine comedy is mostly based on the fortunes and foibles of a gallery of stock characters: the drunk, the miser, the braggart, the sex-starved woman, as well as a classic type known as the scholastikos, variously translated as "pedant," "absent-minded professor," or "egghead." There's a great video here , in which Brit comedic legend Jim Bowen does ancient Byzantine material in a modern comedy club. (Well, it's not Oswald Patton, but Bowen's stuff is 1600 years old) Examples: Scholasticus meeting a friend exclaims, "Why, I heard you were dead!" The other replies, "Well, I tell you that I'm alive." "Yes," persists Scholas...

H/T: Opuscula Theologica

AOI has a series of video clips up of Metropolitan Jonah's Lenten lecture at St. Tikhon's Seminary this year. The rest of the videos can be found here .

H/T: Scholé

( SNAS ) - His Eminence Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim, Patriarchal Vicar of the Syrian Orthodox Church of the Eastern United States, will speak at the Seminary this Monday, February 22, 2010. His topic will be the place of the Armenian Church within the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Mor Cyril's presentation is part of the Seminary's 2009-2010 Public Lecture Series entitled, The Armenian Church: A Distinctive Christian Voice. Gifted Church Leader Born in Kamishly, Syria, His Eminence was appointed as leader of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the Eastern United States on March 3, 1996. In addition to seminary studies in Lebanon and Syria, the Archbishop has advanced theological degrees from the Coptic Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt and St. Patrick's College in Maynooth, Ireland. During his years as hierarch of the Archdiocese, Mor Cyril has overseen the establishment of of ten new churches. He has also made extraordinary efforts to minister to the youth, meeting with them o...

( RT ) - The trick to making a perfect bell is in the ingredients, such as clay, horse manure and cow hair. However, one has to know the proportions, which bell-makers will not disclose to a stranger at any cost. At more than a thousand degrees centigrade it is hard to imagine how molten metal will transform into an exquisite and world-class instrument. Each has an individual shape, and for each new bell, the whole process starts from scratch. What makes them so special is the voice – unique for each and every bell. “We can influence the main tone, but there are different timbres that make it sound special,” says Nikolay Shuvalov. “I don’t even know what influences this. Perhaps it’s the mood of the molder and the caster that matter. I also noticed that humidity, and even the moon phase affect the sound,” says Nikolay, explaining the nuances of his art. It is that special sound that has made Nikolay Shuvalov's small bell foundry in the Yaroslavl region in Central Russ...

From Again & Again ... When one mentions Orthodox monasteries in Arizona, the Greeks comes to mind. But, for those of you who didn’t know, there is also a Serbian one. St. Paisius Orthodox Monastery is a women’s coenobitic community which follows the traditional rule of monastic life. The monastery was founded in 1993, and is dedicated to St. Paisius Velichkovsky, who dedicated his life to collecting and translating the texts of the Philokalia as a means of preserving the teachings of the Holy Fathers on the hesychastic way of life. The sisterhood is currently comprised of about twenty sisters. The Holy Liturgy is served daily in the monastery, and the daily cycle of services is conducted primarily in English. To support themselves, the sisters publish spiritual texts, make prayer ropes, and offer to over 1000 guests who visit the monastery each year a fully stocked bookstore. They also labor in cultivating the earth and tending the monastery’s flock of purebred milk goats an...

( RENews ) - In general, the purpose of fasting is preparation for an important event that takes place at the end of the fast, and this is true not only of Great Lent, but of the other fasting periods as well. The very cause of the fall of man was an act of disobedient eating. Fasting is voluntary, but it’s expected unless you’re physically unable to. What I hope to achieve is weakening myself physically so that it’s easier for me to remember that I depend for my very existence and for my daily sustenance on my Creator. I want to deemphasize the day-to-day material world and to emphasize spirituality. There’s a strict fast, which means abstain from everything for, obviously, short periods of time, and this applies to the preparation for every Holy Communion. The basic fast is abstain from meat, and meat includes fish with backbone, dairy products, animal byproducts, oil, and wine. It affects my daily life, there’s no question. When you reduce the amount of food you’re eating...

( WCC ) - " With great hope and deep satisfaction" the World Council of Churches (WCC) has welcomed the news that a Council of Christian Church Leaders of Iraq has been established. "In our view, it is a development that augurs as much for the future of the churches in Iraq as it does for Iraq as a nation," the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit wrote in an 18 February congratulatory message to the members of the new body. The council includes all patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and heads of churches in Iraq from the 14 Christian communities registered in Iraq since 1982, belonging to the Catholic, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox as well as Protestant traditions. The aim of the new council, according to its bylaws, is "to unite the opinion, position and decision of the churches in Iraq" on issues related to the churches and the state. The council intends to do so "upholding and strengthening the Christian presence, promoting coopera...

( Ecumenical Patriarchate ) - Our most holy Orthodox Church today commemorates its own feast day, and – from this historical and martyric See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – the Mother Church of Constantinople directs its blessing, love and concern to all of its faithful and dedicated spiritual children throughout the world, inviting them to concelebrate in prayer. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Those who endeavored over the ages to suppress the Church through various visible and invisible persecutions; those who sought to falsify the Church with their heretical teachings; those who wanted to silence the Church, depriving it of its voice and witness; they all proved unsuccessful. The clouds of Martyrs, the tears of the Ascetics, and the prayers of the Saints protect the Church spiritually, while the Comforter and Spirit of Truth leads it to the fullness of truth. With a sense of duty and responsibility, despite its hurdles and problems, as the First-Throne Church of Orthodoxy, t...

... to say how much I love the Olympics. USA's gold medallist Lindsey Vonn poses for photographers in the finish area during the Women's downhill event on February 17, 2010. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

TROUGHWOOD, New York ( Onion Dome ) - St. Vladyka's Press has released a new book, Dumped But Dispassionate: Orthodox Men Recovering From Rejection, a spiritual advice book on how to recover from the loss of being told to take a hike by lovely Orthodox women. The book encourages men to have unwavering faith in God, try to learn from the experience, and resist the urge to shout "IS OUTRAGE! I WANT TO BE ENGAGED!" The book includes dumping diaries, in which men relate how, exactly, their sweeties gave them the boot. Here are some of the things they said: "I'd rather be a virgin martyr than marry you." "You and I together make as much sense as a Lenten cheesecake." "Our relationship has me so depressed I'm inhaling incense." "You said that you share my love of Orthodox music, but all you can sing is ninth tone." "Go to the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth!" "Send me postca...

( SCOBA ) - Now to Him Who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21). February 21, 2010 The Feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy The Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas To all the Clergy and the Laity of the Holy Orthodox Churches in the Americas Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We, the Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas, greet you on the Feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy with words of the Holy Apostle Paul that were selected by the Primates of the worldwide Orthodox Church to close their Message proclaimed on October 12, 2008. Indeed, we glory in our God whose love for us exceeds every thought or imagining that could enter our minds or hearts. As the Apostle Paul says in another place: Eye has not seen...

Some people asked when the January Fr. Joseph Huneycutt lecture would be made available. It is now available for purchase as a CD or DVD here . I would also recommend looking over the other titles (e.g. Archimandrite Zacharias is very popular).

This is the second reposting of a blogger's experience at one of the stops on the Metropolitan Kallistos US Lenten lecture tour . The below is from The Divine Life . Thanks to a reader for sending me a heads up on the post. Last night I attended a talk by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware entitled “An Insider’s View: Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue Today”. Metropolitan Kallistos is a member of the Joint Coordinating Committee for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which is the official committee charged with ecumenical talks between the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches at the highest levels. Kallistos gave a very informative and engaging talk. After reviewing a brief history of the Joint Committee, he then focused on its work over the past few years. He noted that the last official dialogue about reunion – the Council of Florence in the 15th century – spent months discussing the filioque and purgatory, but only 10 days on the role of ...

( STOTS ) - St. Tikhon's Seminary hosted this semester's Orthodox Inter Seminary Movement (OISM) event on the weekend of February 5th and 6th. Students representing St. Vladimir's, Holy Cross, St. Herman's, Jordanville, and Christ the Savior Seminaries were present. Dr. Christopher Veniamin was the main speaker. OISM elections also took place, resulting in the election of a new President.

From Pithless Thoughts : OK. So, one of the issues that modern culinary technology presents us with is "reading labels" for Lent. Back in the day, there were no canned foods, chemically cloned flavors, hermetically sealed wrappers, governmentally required labelling, the FDA, Food Police and trace ingredients that bind, harden, smooth and flavor our food. If you got a fish or a loaf of bread or something made of corn, it pretty much was a fish, bread or made of corn. Technology has made fasting a science and the playground of Phariseeism and obsessive compulsive attention to details. Take my beloved Pop Tarts, f'rinstance. Over FIFTY ingredients in a crust and some jammy stuff between them. Check it out: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), SUGAR , DEXTROSE, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN, PALM, COTTONSEED AND/OR HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL† WITH TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID FOR FRESHNESS),...

Of late I have gotten a lot more readers from bloggers in Europe (primarily Greece). To aid in reading this blog I've added a translation widget to the sidebar to the right. I hope it gets some use, but if it doesn't at least it's not taking up too much blog real estate.

Rod Dreher recently wrote an article entitled ' Pews vs. standing: an Orthodox controversy .' I'm not quite sure I see the point of it. It was hard for him to get used to standing during the liturgy when he converted, but now that he does it he shores up his new position on standing by cutting out a blurb from another article on the topic. If you're Orthodox this is a known entity not really meriting much discussion. I don't see Greek parishes ripping out pews donated by families who remember their great-grandfather paying to have them installed.  He could visit a parish and ask someone about getting them removed, but he had better be fleet of foot enough to outrun some wildly gesticulating yayas. If you're Protestant I could easily see how you could be offended by the tone. The implication is that he is worshipping more completely than they are - he's participating while the Protestant world is unwittingly doing it all wrong. If you're Catholic th...

( Antiochian Archdiocese ) - The editors at Antiochian.org have launched a dedicated section of pages for parishes under the "Parishes" drop down button in the top menu. In addition to the already existing list of parishes, the three new pages feature news from parishes around the U.S. and Canada, resources for building missions and strengthening established parishes, and help for parish web editors. A centerpiece of the new section is a fascinating roundtable discussion between six mission parish priests, who share what they've learned about effective mission building. Has your parish hosted a conference or sponsored an outreach event? Did your community just break ground for a new building? Share it with us! Readers of Antiochian.org are encouraged to submit their parish news and photos for posting, as well as suggested resources, via the editor's box: editor@antiochian.org .

H/T: Tales of the Wild Babushka

LVIV ( RISU ) — “Allegations that the Greek Catholics violently took away Orthodox churches are absolutely untrue. They simply returned them to its owner. And we in letters to the top authorities mention that such assertions we heard, but where is the proof that those are your churches? Please let someone give some notarized and reliable evidence because we do not know of any,” Patriarch Lubomyr, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), reported in an interview to the magazine Glavred. According to the Institute of Church History of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), before the beginning of World War II the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church counted 2,387 parishes with the 3.6 million faithful, including 2,352 eparchial priests, 31 men’s and 121 women’s monasteries, and monastic houses. Under the care of the Church operated a theological academy and three spiritual seminaries where 480 students studied. In addition to the already well known fact that Lviv’s “counc...

From Pithless Thoughts :

Belgrade ( Earth Times ) - The leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) said Saturday that it has stripped controversial Bishop Artemije of authority over the Kosovo eparchy. The SPC Synod appointed a replacement, Atanasije, to provisionally govern the eparchy until the canonic procedure against Artemije is concluded, Bishop Irinej (Bulovic) said after the Synod adjourned. Speaking for the SPC, he told reporters that the Synod concluded Artemije "showed inability to govern and ... was responsible" for shortcomings in fiscal and material accounting in the eparchy. The SPC "will seek criminal responsibility of people from Bishop Artemije's surrounding," he said. The Synod had discussed Artemije after it ordered a commission to review his documents on Wednesday. Artemije's conduct had however been under SPC scrutiny long before, in 2006, when the Synod ordered the first a probe into his running of the Kosovo eparchy, then ordered him to shut down ...

( American Thinker ) - A short fifteen-minute drive outside Kerbala, Iraq, one can witness the frontlines of the clash between East and West, Islamism and progress. There, in the small town of Al-Kifl, lies -- at least at the time of this writing -- the 2,500-year-old Tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel . But for the first time in recorded history, the Tomb is threatened not by the collateral damage of war, nor the ignominies of thieves and bandits, but by a planned, government-authorized, and taxpayer-funded demolition. The Jerusalem Post and various watchdog groups have reported that the Iraqi Cultural and Antiquities Authority are implementing plans to erect a mosque on top of Ezekiel's Tomb. Last month, the process began as the ancient Hebrew inscriptions adorning the inside of the Tomb were defaced, perhaps irrevocably, and covered over by plaster. With the not-so-distant memory of the Taliban's destruction of Buddhist statuary in Afghanistan still in mind, the impending Isla...

From Radiate His Light ... The year 2010 is very special to all of us who are in any way connected to our Maronite Church. His Beatitude Patriarch Nasrallah Peter Cardinal Sfeir has declared 2010 the year of Saint Maron. How are we going to observe the special occasion? The examinations of our roots are both spiritual and cultural. Maron had no idea that almost 2000 years after his death, he is being remembered far from the land of his birth. He was a hermit, who wanted to remain hidden in a life of prayers and meditation. He was a light shining in darkness and we know a light cannot remain hidden. The Church that grew from his followers and his monastery became known throughout the area. He was a priest as well as a hermit. His holiness and miracles attracted many followers. For Saint Maron, everything was connected to God our Father, and God is connected to all things. Maron did not separate the physical and the spiritual world and he used the physical world to deepen his fai...

( Basilica ) - At the beginning of the year 2010, proclaimed by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church as Anniversary Year of the Orthodox Creed and of Romanian Autocephaly, in the context of the 125th anniversary of the moment when the Romanian Orthodox Church became autocephalous and of the 85th anniversary of the elevation to the rank of Patriarchate, the hierarchs of the Holy Synod are reaching out and addressing a Heartfelt appeal to all Romanian Orthodox clerics and faithful abroad, who are, without blessing, in other sister Orthodox Churches or in non-canonical church structures, to restore their direct communion with their Mother Church, under the canonical jurisdiction of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The realization of this desideratum is the fulfillment of the provisions of the Bylaw for the Organization and Functioning of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which mentions that the Romanian Orthodox Church is the Church of the Romanian people and encomp...