Byzantine, Texas

Met. Christopher of the Czech lands, Met. Jonah or Washington, and Met. Hilarion of New York ( st-catherine.ru ) - On Sunday evening, February 27, 2011, His Beatitude, the Most Blessed CHRISTOPHER, the Primate of the Church of the Czech lands and Slovakia visited Manhattan, New York where he was able to make stops at two of the Orthodox Cathedrals in the city. His Beatitude, Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER first arrived at St Nicholas the Wonderworker Russian Orthodox Cathedral where he was greeted by His Eminence, Archbishop JUSTINIAN of Naro-Fominsk and Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA. Shortly after the entrance of Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER to the parish, His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH of All America and Canada also arrived, by invitation of Archbishop JUSTINIAN and with the blessing of His Holiness, Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia, to participate in the visit of the Primate of the Church of the Czech lands and Slovakia. After a short introductory tou...

( britishorthodox.org ) - In a recent interview conducted by Father Daoud Lamei, His Holiness Pope Shenouda clarified points in the Statement which he issued on behalf of the Holy Synod and commented on aspects of the Egyptian Revolution. What was meant by a civil nation ? A civil nation is defined as a non-religious and non-military nation. You spoke of the valiant Egyptian army ? Praising the army in the statement recalls a long history. While still a university student, I volunteered in the army and graduated from the school of Infantry in 1947. Are you optimistic about the future? I am not tending to talk about optimism but rather about hope in God. We are asked not to lose hope. This is an integral part of our relation to God. Our life, as well as the life of countries, abides not in the hands of people, but in the hands of God. There is no doubt, the authorities want good for the country whether on the internal level (unity, security and prosperity) or on the externa...

( mospat.ru ) - On February 26, 2011, at the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople in the center near Geneva (Chambesy), the meeting of the Inter-commission for the preparation of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church concluded. The Commission discussed the topic of the diptychs of the Orthodox Church, examineed its canonical and ecclesiological aspects, described the current practice of the Orthodox Church in this matter, the present criteria for inclusion in the sacred diptychs Churches and locate the names of the Primates in them, and also noted the need in the future to design unified diptychs of the Orthodox Church. ( mospat.ru ) - On 26 February 2011, the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church completed its work at the Orthodox Centre of the Patriarchate of Constantinople near Geneva. Representatives of the fourteen Autocephalous Orthodox Churches took part in the meeting chaired by Metropolitan John of Perga...

SYOSSET, NY ( OCA ) - From February 22-24, 2011, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America participated in a retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH led the hierarchs in a review of matters affecting the life of the Orthodox Church in America, including the OCA strategic plan, preparations for the upcoming Assembly of Bishops and plans for the 16th All American Council in Seattle. During their retreat, His Beatitude presented a request to the Holy Synod for a time of personal retreat and spiritual renewal. The Holy Synod granted His Beatitude’s request for a period of 60 days and appointed the senior Hierarch, His Eminence, Archbishop NATHANIEL, of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate to assist in the temporary administration of the OCA during His Beatitude’s retreat. As an additional means of assistance to His Beatitude, the Holy Synod relieved him from his responsibilities as Locum Tenens for the dioceses of the South and of the Midwest...

I repost this article from Mystagogy only to note that this is the second time I have seen reports that there is something afoot. Whenever (if ever) anything is officially posted, I'll put it up immediately. Update: OCANews has had its say on the matter (see here ). Update #2: A more official source has told me that there will not be a resignation or leave of absence. I should have something more substantive to post shortly. Update #3: Met. Jonah: winding down his busy schedule over Lent to rest from a very hectic few years of travel. Fr. Alexander Garklavs: resigned. Bp. Melchisadek: interim chancellor. Abp. Nathaniel: assisting in Met. Jonah's duties during lent. According to exclusive information from Romfea.gr (in Greek), a few hours ago the leader of the OCA, Metropolitan Jonah of America, resigned. Furthermore, the same sources indicate that the governance of the throne is taken up by Archbishop Nathaniel of the Romanian Episcopate of the OCA. Lastly, it shou...

( AFR ) - In a very special edition of The Illumined Heart, we have an extensive conversation with His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, Professor Emeritus in Eastern Orthodox Studies at Oxford University, and Bishop of Diokleia. Metropolitan Ka!istos is widely regarded as perhaps the world’s leading theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church today. Kevin Allen's guest host is John Maddex.

( AFR ) - From February 18th through the 19th, St. Michael Orthodox Church in Louisville, Kentucky, hosted the 2011 Climacus Conference of Thoughtful Ascent. This gathering, dedicated to the contemplation of noble ideas, featured lectures on education, literature, philosophy, patristic thought, marriage, and film.

( Orthodoxy Today ) - Christians, orthodox Jews or anyone with traditional views of sex and marriage should be barred from state university counseling programs unless they agree to violate their beliefs. That’s the gist of the amicus brief that the ACLU filed on Feb. 11 in a case in which a Christian student is challenging her dismissal from a graduate counseling program at Eastern Michigan University in 2009. Julea Ward had asked that another student take the case of a homosexual suffering from depression because, being a Christian, she could not affirm the person’s sexual relationships. Miss Ward was dismissed, and filed a lawsuit charging unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, religious discrimination and compelled speech. On July 26, 2010, a U.S. District Court denied her claim, and she appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ACLU’s brief to the appeals court contends that compelling someone to act against her beliefs does not violate her freedoms of religion ...

( AINA ) - For the second time in as many days, Egyptian armed force stormed the 5th century old St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi el-Natroun, 110 kilometers from Cairo. Live ammunition was fired, wounding two monks and six Coptic monastery workers. Several sources confirmed the army's use of RPG ammunition. Four people have been arrested including three monks and a Coptic lawyer who was at the monastery investigating yesterday's army attack. Monk Aksios Ava Bishoy told activist Nader Shoukry of Freecopts the armed forces stormed the main entrance gate to the monastery in the morning using five tanks, armored vehicles and a bulldozer to demolish the fence built by the monastery last month to protect themselves and the monastery from the lawlessness which prevailed in Egypt during the January 25 Uprising. "When we tried to address them, the army fired live bullets, wounding Father Feltaows in the leg and Father Barnabas in the abdomen," said Monk Ava Bishoy. "Six C...

( 30giorni.it ) - First the massacre of Alexandria, with dozens of deaths following the attack on the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Saints, the night of 31 December. Then, the revolt that exploded in the streets of Egypt, the clashes, the dead, the end of Mubarak’s regime and the beginning of a transition to a still uncertain berthing place. For the Christians of Egypt, as for all the other Egyptians, this is truly a time full of questions. A time in which a series of anxieties, trepidations and unarmed hopes interweave. And where the greatest realism coincides with the prayer of thanksgiving and trust in the mercy of God. As Antonios Naguib, the Catholic Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, also testifies in the interview that follows. Beatitude, what happened in Egypt? And how did you live through the latest events? We lived through agonizing days, that the whole world was able to follow in the media. Parties and groups opposed to the regime and the government began to organize enor...

( OL Conference ) - I have finally been able to confirm our plenary speakers and the moderator for Orientale Lumen XV scheduled for June 20-23, 2011 in Washington, DC on the theme of “Rome and the Communion of Churches: Bishop, Patriarchate or Pope?” The plenary speakers will be: Metropolitan Jonah (Orthodox) Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Washington, DC Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Orthodox) Professor Emeritus of Oxford University, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ (Greek Catholic) Professor Emeritus of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, The Vatican Msgr. Michael Magee (Roman Catholic) Chairman and Professor of Systematic Theology, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia, PA Father Ron Roberson, CSP (Roman Catholic) Associate Director for Ecumenical Affairs, USCCB, Washington, DC Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin (Orthodox) Lecturer, University of Vienna, Austria, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia Dr. Adam DeVille (Gr...

I am happily walking around my home today as it is in a state of post-house-blessing cleanliness (see previous house blessing posts here and here ). With the exception of those times when we have the house on the market and need to have it shown, house blessings are cause for top to bottom sorting, sifting, vacuuming, and polishing unequalled the rest of the year. Wanting to share in the euphoria of a clean, blessed home I thought I'd find a photo to post here. Instead of a nice shot of a priest with holy water at the ready and small children milling about I found the below. For those readers (I suspect most of you) who have had their homes blessed I suspect you'll get a kick out of it. Being unable to help myself, I've added my own commentary. ( o5 ) - House blessings are a normal part of the whole process of acquiring a new home. For religious people, a house blessing takes on the form of a religious ritual, while for those who are not religious, it is a secular tradit...

( ROAA ) - The Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchy informs: 
 
 On 16 -17 February 2011, in the Synod Hall of the Patriarchal Residence Hall under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Daniel, was held the first working session of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church of this year. Among the decisions taken were: At the proposal of the Romanian Patriarchate, the Holy Synod has declared the year 2012 as Year Anniversary of Holy Unction and care of the sick; 
 
 It was approved the procedure of the national collection, for furthering the work to build the Cathedral of the People's Salvation, in the parishes and monasteries of the Romanian Patriarchy eparchies;
 I t have been designated hierarchies that will be part of the Preparatory Commission for the establishment of principles, themes and working methodology of the Joint Committee for dialogue between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Romanian Church United with Rome (Greek Catholic), because the positive response...

( mospat.ru ) - Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church will meet from February 22 to 26, 2011, at the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Orthodox Center in Chambesy, Switzerland. The meeting will be attended by representative of 14 autocephalous Orthodox Churches. By the decision of the Russian Orthodox Church Holy Synod, the delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate will be led by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Church Relations and include Archbishop Mark of Berlin-Germany and Great Britain and Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman, as an advisor. The meeting has on its agenda the procedure of granting autocephaly and the topic of diptychs.

( post-gazette.com ) - In a religious culture plagued by in-fighting and schism, Metropolitan Nicholas of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A. has worked to heal rifts between Orthodox and Catholic Christians. On Tuesday, some Byzantine Catholics will join a 5 p.m. celebration of his 75th birthday at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Johnstown. "He has a passion for church unity," said the Rev. John Petro, rector of SS. Cyril & Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary, North Side. "It's not about giving academic lectures on ecumenism, but a living experience of coming together to pray and work on common projects." Metropolitan Nicholas has worked for reconciliation while supporting missionary outreach to a secular world. He is battling cancer and was unable to give an interview but will be at Tuesday's service. He was born in New Jersey, to Eastern Catholic immigrants from Carpathian mountain villages of Europe. Eastern Cathol...

No crazy anti-Catholic bigotry, no intentional distortion of what the app is for, and no polemics for the sake of sensationalism. ( OCN - Just Thinking ) - The Sounding is very pleased and honored that His Grace Bishop Savas of Troas is among our cast of great contributors. Beginning next week, he'll be sharing his many thoughts concerning the collision of popular culture and Orthodox spirituality. But, as a special preview, below is the most recent episode of the OCN podcast "Just Thinking," wherein His Grace discusses the flurry of interest in the new Roman Catholic "Confession" iPhone application.

His Grace Bishop Youssef of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States COLLEYVILLE ( star-telegram.com ) - Pray for Egypt and its future. That was a key message that Bishop Youssef brought to about 100 people at St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church on Monday night: Pray that Egypt and all who live there finally find peace and democracy now that longtime President Hosni Mubarak is gone. "I thank God for this revolution because it ended a regime that was full of corruption," said Youssef, bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. "What happened was not a surprise to many people. I expected a revolution to happen someday. We are thankful and grateful. "How this revolution will develop, how the country will look -- it is unclear how it will develop and unfold. Let's pray for Egypt, for all the world, to have peace, freedom, equality, love." Youssef, who oversees Coptic churches in 11 states, talked about how history...

JOHNSTOWN, PA ( ACROD ) - His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas will be honored by the Clergy and Faithful of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, on his 75th birthday on Tuesday February 22, 2011 at Christ the Saviour Cathedral. The festivities will begin with a 5:00 pm Moleben of Thanksgiving at Christ the Saviour Cathedral, with a celebratory dinner to follow at Christ the Saviour Educational Center. A large number of hierarchs, priests, diocesan faithful and friends of His Eminence are expected to be in attendance. Those who are not able to attend the festivities in Johnstown, are invited to watch the Moleben of Thanksgiving on line. The live broadcast which can be viewed here will begin on Tuesday February 22, 2011 at 4:45 pm (Eastern). Those who wish to extend birthday greetings and best wishes to His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas are invited to do so by emailing metropolitan.nicholas@acrod.org . All greetings will be conveyed to His Eminence and po...

Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick is a well known host of the podcasts Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy and Roads From Emmaus , writes at his roadsfromemmaus.org weblog, is active within the Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas ( SOCHA ), and is a popular lecturer. He has just completed a new book entitled 'Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: Exploring Belief Systems Through the Lens of the Ancient Christian Faith.' Fr. Andrew was kind enough to answer a few questions about his upcoming publication. Your podcast 'Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy' continues to be very popular at Ancient Faith Radio even a year after the final installment in the series. What prompted you to write this book? How does the book differ from the podcast? A few months after the final installment of the podcast, Conciliar Press (which falls under the Conciliar Media umbrella with Ancient Faith Radio) approached me and asked if I would be interested in turning the podcast into a book, based on the atten...

SAINT PETERSBURG ( AFP ) – Hundreds of believers gathered Thursday at an Orthodox fair in the former imperial capital of Saint Petersburg to worship a "miracle-working" icon of Russia's last monarch. Tsar Nicholas II was shot by the Bolsheviks after the 1917 revolution together with his family, and canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000. "I am a Russian and an Orthodox, and for me the martyr saint Nicholas II is the symbol of Russia," 65 year-old Anatoly Kruglov said while standing in a long line to kiss the icon, which was brought to an expo centre south of the city. The icon, which shows Nicholas II in full regal attire, is a replica of one painted in the United States in 1997. It was brought to Russia in 1998, where it was considered miraculous by believers for secreting myrrh. Since coming to Russia, it has been travelling across the country by plane on orders of the former Orthodox patriarch Alexy II. Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra an...

( OCA-NYNJ ) On Sunday, 23 January, Bishop +Michael made his first archpastoral visit to Saint Martin's Chapel at West Point Military Academy. His Grace spoke on the Gospel reading for the day (Luke 18:35-43). He pointed out that as the Savior was traveling along a road, a blind man cried out, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!" His Grace said, "The blind man, unable to see Christ with his physical eyes, was able to discern Him with his spiritual eyes." Addressing himself primarily to the cadets, Bishop +Michael said that they might find themselves in situations where the reality of ugliness, hatred, and even the prospect of death, would confront them. Then they might ask themselves: "Where is the God of beauty, love, and life?" They would not readily see Him with their physical eyes, but they would have to discern Him with their spiritual eyes. He assured them that the Lord will hear them in those times of confusion, and He will be with the...

While driving into work I was listening to Fr. Hopko's prefatory podcasts to his Worship in Spirit and Truth series on the liturgy. He made mention that the Divine Liturgy is a series of processions, the first of which begins with the people coming from their homes to the church. Certainly if we think back to the large processions of Constantinople and at the original placement of the initial prayers of the liturgy we can see that procession as seen through history holds more meaning than many place on it today. Few people consider themselves doing something corporately with their fellow parishioners when they pile into the family car and make the drive up to church. For some this drive is quiet and contemplative, for others music/news radio listening as normal, and for others a stressful struggle with eyes darting to the car's clock to see just how late they're going to be. So what should we be doing as we make our way to church? If it's within your tradition, and...

( Episcopal Assembly ) - New directories have been created for the Assembly of Bishops. In addition to the initial Directories of the Bishops and of the Parishes, three new directories have been added: the Directories of Military Chaplains , of Male Monastic Communities , and of Female Monastic Communities . In addition, the Parish Directory has been updated to now include the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in the U.S.

This is my last ditch effort to get people to come to the Festival of Orthodoxy being held in two locations (Fort Worth and Dallas) this weekend. Take friends, take inquirers, take your neighbors. ( NTOM ) - The 2011 Festival of Orthodoxy conference sponsored by North Texas Orthodox Missions is entitled “From Conception to Dying: Orthodox Christian Views in Today’s World”. It will be held Feb. 18-19 with sessions in both Ft. Worth and Dallas, TX. The featured speakers are: Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green Dr. H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.

H/T: AOI ( WRR ) - February 11, 2011 Highland Park Presbyterian Church welcomes Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, an archbishop and Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, February 10-13. He will preach to the congregation on Sunday, February 13, with a performance of his composition St. Matthew Passion at 5:30 pm. Met. Hilarion's lecture at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, TX ( mospat.ru ) - No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in with the bosom of the Father, has made him known (John.1:18). These words have a truly profound and universal meaning. Indeed no human eyes have ever seen God the Father – the invisible God who has neither a physical body nor material form. But for people to strengthen their faith in God and to know that He not only exists in reality but also hears their prayers and is ready to come to their aid, the Father sent His Only-Begotten Son who became God in...

( Acton Institute ) - I point you to Paul Kengor’s insightful 2008 piece on Ronald Reagan’s 1988 summit to Moscow in Christianity Today   (reposted in part below) because it is directly related to this Thursday’s Acton on Tap . I will spend some time discussing the Moscow Summit and Reagan’s revolutionary comments at Spaso House , Danilov Monastery   (pictured above) , and Moscow State University . Kengor notes: Ronald Reagan clearly had a personal religious motivation at the summit, which he pursued on his own volition, certainly not at the urging of advisers. For Thursday, I also plan to focus heavily on Reagan’s lifelong battle against communism and the 1981 assassination attempt on the president and how they shaped his faith life. Other topics that will be addressed is Reagan’s 1994 letter to the American people announcing his Alzheimer’s affliction and a brief discussion of President Barack Obama and all the news reports comparing him to Reagan. Most of all, we w...

I took the wife to dinner last night and pondered that there are times when I get the urge to write on a topic of immediate importance to me. With this bee in my bonnet I crank up the blog editor and get to writing a few quick sentences only to come upon a pause in my thinking. This pause is usually where I read over what I've produced so far and weigh its worth. The vast majority of times the strong desire to write on some topic proves to have been merely cathartic, but sometimes the topic meets with my requirements (not ad hominem, nothing so novel as to disagree with patristic sources, not so esoteric as to serve to stroke my ego) and I forge ahead. Even then, while waiting for further reflection, some things sit in the unpublished queue until they are covered in a layer of dust and fade into obscurity. While I don't plan to immediately start animating undead posts, I do hope to put in a little more original content. Hopefully, some of the lurkers out there will throw a fe...

New York ( GOARCH ) – On February 14, 2011, St. Nicholas Church and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Manhattan against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as well as other agencies and individuals, in order to foster the rebuilding at Ground Zero of the only house of worship destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Parish and the Archdiocese would have preferred to rebuild the Church without litigation. However, they have been unable to do so since the Port Authority renounced a long-standing agreement with the Church to rebuild at Ground Zero, seized the Church’s land, barred the Church from access to it, and has refused to talk or meet with the Church or the Archdiocese. This legal action has been taken not only as a last resort to restore the property and rebuilding rights of St. Nicholas Church, but also to fulfill the common vision of civil and church authorities that the Church be rebuilt as ...

From the blog Gladsome Light Dialogues a post entitled "Christian love and human eros on Valentine’s Day." Valentine’s Day is a big deal in America and I am not going to try to diminish that. Even though trying to trace back the roots of this tradition is a very convoluted task, at this point in time it really doesn’t matter to any one where it all started; it doesn’t matter if the real St. Valentine existed or not, or if the romancing stories around him are truth or pure fiction, people celebrate it unconditionally. Out of this mess one thing is sure: if you fail to buy chocolate and/or flowers on this day you are toast. At the end of the day we may say, there is really nothing wrong with this; our beloved wives deserve it all. Or should I say our valentines deserve it all? Well, here the things start getting a little dicey. How does one define the term valentine? The dictionary says: a valentine is a person whom one asks to be one’s sweetheart. Well we did not get ...

Moscow, February 14 ( Interfax ) - The Vatican Embassy to Russia hopes that the forthcoming meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Pope Benedict XVI will develop cooperation between the two states. "I cannot say with certainty which topics exactly will be touched upon at the meeting between the Russian president and the pope but I can say that this visit will primarily become a symbol of the beautiful, friendly relationship and cooperation, which is there and is likely to grow," First Secretary at the Embassy of the Holy See to Russia Monsignor Visvaldas Kulbokas told Interfax-Religion on Monday. It was reported that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will be in Italy on a formal visit on February 16-17, following which he will visit Vatican to meet Pope Benedict XVI. This meeting will allow to express, "including on the part of the Holy Father," the shared views of Russia and the Holy See on the protection of life and moral values on the interna...

Pilgrims and Pioneers The Growth of Orthodox Christianity in 20th Century America Friday, September 30 – Saturday, October 1, 2011 Princeton Theological Seminary This symposium will examine some of the people and movements that contributed to the growth of Orthodox Christianity in 20th century America. We will pay special attention to the role of missionaries, immigration and conversion, the emergence of Orthodox theological scholarship in English, and Orthodox engagement in American civic and political life. Interested scholars and members of the Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas (SOCHA) are invited to submit abstracts of papers related to the symposium’s theme(s), which will also be considered for publication in the symposium’s proceedings. Abstracts should be submitted via e-mail to Fr. Oliver Herbel no later than June 1, 2011. All abstracts will be reviewed by a committee comprised of leadership from the symposium’s co-sponsors. The event is co-sponsored b...

( SOC-NASA ) - Chicago, IL - His Holiness the Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch +IRINEJ, Administrator of our God-protected Metropolitanate of Libertyville-Chicago, will be formally welcomed at Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois, with a Service of Doxology on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011, at 7:30PM, as he begins his Patriarchal Visit to the United States. His Holiness will also celebrate the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy at our Cathedral on Sunday, February 27th, 2011, at 9:30 AM, which will be followed by a festive banquet given by our community in honor of the visit of our Patriarch and Spiritual Father. His Holiness Patriarch +IRINEJ is the 45th in line on the Blessed Throne of Serbian Patriarchs, and 54th successor of St. Sava as head of the Holy Serbian Church. On January 22, 2010, he was elected by the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to succeed His Holiness Patriarch +PAVLE of Thri...

( mospat.ru ) - On the morning of February 11 th a meeting of Metropolitan Hilarion and former U.S. President George W. Bush was held. They spoke for over an hour. The two sides exchanged views on a wide range of issues. In particular, the DECR chairman shared his vision for the inter-Christian dialogue, stressing the need to work together representatives of different Christian denominations in the preservation of traditional moral values. To commemorate the meeting the chairman of the DECR gave former President George Bush his book "Orthodox Christianity: The History and Canonical Structure" in English and a commemorative box with an image of the Kremlin.

Children who live in a slum on the bank of Bagmati River in Katmandu searched a garbage dump for salvageable material for recycling Friday. ( Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters ) Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21) "Where did you get your present possessions from? If you say ‘from fate,’ then that makes you an atheist who neither acknowledges your Creator nor gives thanks ...

( CUA ) - Acclaimed theologian and musical composer Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke at Catholic University on the intersection of faith and music on Feb. 9 in Caldwell Auditorium. Full text of talk Photo gallery Video Metropolitan Hilarion is the archbishop of Volokolamsk and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow. A noted theologian, church historian and composer, he has published books on dogmatic theology, patristics and church history as well as numerous compositions for choir and orchestra. He studied violin, piano, and composition at the Moscow Gnessin School and the Moscow State Conservatory. In 1987, after serving in the Soviet military, he entered the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, Lithuania. He earned a master's in theology from the Moscow Theological Academy, and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford in Great Britain. Theotokos Hodegetria presented to CUA Metropolita...

( Latsis Foundation ) - The ‘Museum of Christian Art’ at the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Geneva, was inaugurated on February 3rd 2011, in the presence of His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. In his welcome speech the Metropolitan Bishop of Switzerland His Reverence Ieremias, Director of the Centre, referred to the history of its foundation and the important contribution of the former Bishop of Switzerland His Reverence Damaskinos in its early years of operation. His Reverence Ieremias said that the aim of the Museum was to establish itself as an internationally recognised centre for the presentation of religious and other works of art linked with the traditions and culture of Orthodoxy, complementing the work of the Orthodox Centree.