Holy Cross Monastery hosts a "Monastic Camp"

What a wonderful idea. I have proposed to numerous priests over the years the idea of a national day of monasticism. Young men and women would spend a weekend in the convents and monasteries of our country to learn about the angelic life and become more open to the possibility of tonsure for themselves. I don't have the clout to make it happen, but I'll keep trying.

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(ROCOR-EAD) - Five boys and three mothers from St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington DC, spent the week of August 20th to 26th at Holy Cross Monastery. Besides attending the daily monastic services, the boys aged 7 to 12 took part in monastery obediences including vegetable gardening, incense making, soap making, and the feeding of the monastery's farm animals. A day was spent hiking in the forests surrounding the monastery. On Wednesday the mothers made an excellent meal using potatoes and tomatoes harvested by the participants. On Wednesday night a campfire was prepared, where the boys were joined by His Grace Bishop George for the roasting of marshmallows over the open flames. Over the course of the week the boys were taught the importance of good order, obedience, teamwork, and the virtues connected with a life in accordance with the commandments of the Gospel of Christ.

Fr. Thomas Hopko to speak on the Church & homosexuality

I spoke to the people organizing this. It will be made into a podcast. I'll post the podcast when it becomes available.

Update: Until the talk is given, Fr. Hopko was interviewed for Come Receive the Light recently. His interview starts about 8 minutes in. I have embedded it below:

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CICERO, IL (OCA-MW) - Orthodox Christian Synergy, the Chicago-area Pan-Orthodox association, will host its 17th annual Symposium at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cicero, IL, on Saturday, October 15, 2011. Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko will address the symposium theme, “Orthodoxy and Homosexuality.”

According to Michele Hagerman, Synergy President and member of the Diocese of the Midwest’s Holy Resurrection Church, Palatine, IL, “the scope of this symposium is a frank presentation about homosexuality as an issue of Orthodox faith and life facing the faithful. The intention is to focus on how Orthodoxy understands the phenomena of homosexuality, how Orthodox Christians with same-sex attractions are to deal with their condition, and how Orthodox Christians, especially clergymen and family members, are to relate to Orthodox Christians and all people who are same-sex attracted, rather than focusing on related cultural, social, or legal issues.”

Father Thomas will offer two presentations: “Theological Vision: Orthodox Christian Faith and Human Sexuality” and “Spiritual Practice: Orthodox Christian Life and Homosexual Attraction and Behavior.”

Among Father Thomas’ books is Christian Faith and Same-Sex Attraction: Eastern Orthodox Reflections, published by Conciliar Press in 2006.

Registration fee, which includes continental breakfast and lunch, is $35.00 for individuals and $50.00 for couples until October 7. High school and college students may register at the reduced rate of $20.00.

To register or to obtain additional information, visit Synergy’s web site here or send an e-mail to Ms. Hagerman at chicagosynergy@gmail.com.

Met. Hilarion on Middle East & the meeting in Constantinople

A quite long interview that gives a relatively complete treatment to what the Russian Church sees as the proper direction for future pan-Orthodox discussions and for the Church's involvement in the plight of Christians in the troubled Middle East.

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Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, made a journey to the Middle East in the end of August. He visited three ancient Local Churches and met with their Primates. Upon returning to Moscow, he spoke about his visit to “Interfax-Religion.”

Q. – You have completed your journey to the Middles East countries and Turkey and visited three Patriarchates. What was the purpose of this trip?

A. – The trip was undertaken with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. His Holiness and the Holy Synod blessed me to visit the heads of the Local Orthodox Churches on a regular basis and to hold consultations on the matters of inter-Orthodox relations and topical problems of the life of the Orthodox Church at present. It was necessary to meet with the Primates of the three ancient Patriarchates – of Constantinople, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

Current political events in the Middle East can seriously complicate the life of Christians in the region. It is not fortuitous that the problems of Christians there have been scrutinized by the heads of the Churches in the Middle East. On August 1, the Primates of the Churches of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Cyprus and a representative of the Patriarchate of Alexandria met in Jordan. On August 23, a similar meeting took place in Cyprus. Another meeting on the Middle East problems will be chaired by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in Istanbul on September 1.

The Russian Orthodox Church has never been indifferent to the problems of our Orthodox brothers in the Middle East and has expressed its concern for the situation of Christians in the Middle East and in other regions of the world in the Statement of the Holy Synod of May 30.

Q. – How did the Primates with whom you met receive this Statement?

A. – I gave the text of the Statement translated into different languages, including the Greek and the Arabic, to the three Primates. They received it with gratitude, and the Patriarch of Antioch said that it would be published in the Orthodox media in Syria and Lebanon.

Q. – What is the attitude to the situation of Christians in the Middle East of the leader of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas with whom you met last Sunday?

A. – As a leader in the region with the predominant Arab population where Muslims and Christians live side by side, Mahmoud Abbas knows these problems very well and hopes that events, like the recent ones in Iraq and Egypt, will not take place in other countries of the region. It is known that the situation of Christians has deteriorated considerably after the regimes in these countries have been overthrown with outside help. For instance, a million and a half Christians lived in Iraq earlier; there are less than a half of them there at present. The life of Christians is under constant threat, and many are forced to leave cities and towns where their fellow believers used to live for many centuries.

Q. – Are more frequent meetings of the Primates linked with current political circumstances in the region? Will they discuss at the forthcoming meeting in Istanbul only regional problems or also general Orthodox problems?

A. – I have put this question to the three Patriarchs. His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew answered that the meeting will be dedicated to the Middle East problems in the first instance. Patriarch Ignatios of Antioch and Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem confirmed these words. Patriarch Theophilos added that as the Primates meet they can discuss any issues of interest.

It is hard to say at present whether the Pan-Orthodox Council will be discussed at their meeting. I believe, however, that questions of an inter-Orthodox nature should be discussed by all Local Orthodox Churches in order to avoid giving an impression that a group of Churches tries to make decisions on behalf of all Local Churches in their absence.

Q. – Did you cover the Pan-Orthodox Council at the meetings with the Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem?

A. Yes. It was important to discuss the possible configuration of the Council, its topics, representation of the Churches, and a method of decision-making. At present, the only method of decision-making in the inter-Orthodox cooperation is consensus. It is on consensus that a possibility of cooperation among the Local Orthodox Churches is based. It is this method that helps resolve emerging issues in the spirit of brotherly love and reach agreement on the matters that raise controversy.

Certain voices have been raised recently for giving up this method and replacing it with decision-making by simple majority. However, this drastic change in the work of inter-Orthodox bodies could entail grave consequences: if even one Church opposes a decision and her opinion is disregarded at voting, this would inevitably cause division in the family of Orthodox Churches. If this division is not overcome at the preparatory stage, it will surface at the Pan-Orthodox Council. Therefore, it is impossible to offer any other method today except consensus.

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Rod Dreher on Abp. Dmitri of blessed memory

Update: This post has upset many people. I apologize for not having made clear that this was less an encomium of Abp. Dmitri as it was a personal reflection on Mr. Dreher's feelings about Catholicism, bishops, and current events. If your were surprised to see things like an idea proffered that Bp. Mark sped Abp. Dmitri's death (among other things), so was I.

Mr. Dreher is prone to hyperbole and festooning his prose with some quite strong opinions. I do recommend reading it, though, as the picture he draws of Abp. Dmitri is quite good. As Fr. Stephen Freeman has said in recent days, it is quite easy to apply the epithet "Equal to the Apostles."

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(Real Clear Religion) - We stood at the parsonage door in the rain, worrying that we were at the wrong place -- could this ramshackle house in Oak Lawn really be where the archbishop lives? -- and that we were underdressed for the dinner to which we had been invited.

We had seen Archbishop Dmitri in his church, St. Seraphim's Orthodox Cathedral, on the Sunday we visited, and found the very sight of him -- tall, gaunt, his long white beard resting against his black cassock -- thoroughly impressive, but thoroughly intimidating.

The man looked like an Old Testament prophet. Julie and I didn't dare turn his invitation down.

We knocked. Someone opened the door. The house was jammed with people, food, and conversation. Everyone was there to celebrate the Orthodox Feast of the Dormition, which Julie and I as Catholics knew as the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Seated there in the middle of the scrum was the austere archbishop, laughing and chattering, the happy genius of his household.

We didn't know it then, but Dmitri's party would change our lives. The old man died last weekend in that same house, surrounded by many of the Orthodox Christians we first met on that rainy August evening.

As it turned out, my wife and I were overdressed. As Catholics, we figured an archbishop would be an exalted personage who carried himself with a sense of inner pomp. By that time, frankly, I had had quite enough of bishops and archbishops.

I was on the ropes spiritually, battered by several years of writing about the sex abuse scandal in my church, and disgusted beyond measure with our hierarchs. They carried themselves with such a pride and entitlement, but when it came to protecting the children of the faithful, they had disgraced themselves. Even though this Dmitri was an Eastern Orthodox archbishop, I can't say I was excited about supping with his kind.

He welcomed us that day with grandfatherly warmth, but in truth, we didn't have the opportunity to talk with him much. As it turned out, we didn't need to speak with Vladyka (a Russian term of affection for bishops) to learn a lot about him - indeed to learn everything essential.

For example, that house. It was a dump. The kitchen roof was leaking. This is how an archbishop lives? Well, yes, it's how this archbishop lived. He cared nothing for comfort. He never forgot that he was a monk first. Vladyka gave his money to his cathedral, to evangelism, to the missions, to the poor.

In the kitchen, a tall Ukrainian and a short Siberian took me aside and told me how much they loved Vladyka. They spoke of his kindness, his holiness, his humility. "You will never find an Orthodox bishop like him in all of Russia!" said the Siberian.

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Ecumenical Patriarchate hosts pan-Orthodox meeting

(patriarchate.org) - At the invitation of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is also presiding over deliberations, the Synaxis of Heads of the Ancient Patriarchates and the Autocephalous Church of Cyprus is convening at the Phanar from September 1-2, 2011. The Synaxis will be personally attended by Their Beatitudes, Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, and Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus, who are arriving today in Istanbul. Patriarch Igantius of Antioch, who ultimately was unable to participate, although he was the first among all invited Patriarchs to accept the invitation to attend the Synaxis, will be represented by His Grace Bishop Isaac of Apameia.

Their Beatitudes the Patriarchs, the Archbishop of Cyprus and his hierarchal entourage, as well as the representative of the Patriarch of Antioch will concelebrate with His All-Holiness and the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne during the Divine Liturgy to be held on Thursday, September 1, 2011, on the occasion of the feast of the Indiction. They will also sign the relevant Act prepared for the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year.

The sessions of the Synaxis will begin on the evening of September 1st at the venerable Patriarchal Church of the Phanar and will focus on the state of the most holy Orthodox Churches in the Middle East at this time, as well as on Orthodox affairs in general, including the matter of the way toward the Holy and Great Synod of the most holy Orthodox Church.

500 Cypriot temples desecrated by Turkey

H/T: OBL News

On the heels of an historic announcement of properties returning to religious minorities by the Turkish government, it is worth remembering the continued persecution and destruction ongoing in Cyprus.

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(tert.am) - Since the occupation of North Cyprus (1974), 500 churches on the territory were desecrated plundered and converted to mosques, according to the OSCE report on the Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law.

The document based on the studies and warnings of historians and Christian clergymen highlights the fact that the Christian Heritage in the Turkish part of Cyprus is on the edge of destruction.

The historical values of Christian culture are also reported to have suffered damage. Some 15,000 icons from those churches were either destroyed or sold almost for next to nothing.

Seventy-seven churches were converted into mosques and some 28 became military hospital, says the report.

Melkites in US get new hierarch

If memory serves, Bp. Nicholas (Samra) was very evangelical and mission-minded - caring less about the ethnic make-up of the diocese than bringing the message of Christ to the world. He was expected to be the next bishop when Met. Cyrille was selected instead. Again, if memory serves the metropolitan had little connection to the United States and limited English. Bp. Nicholas went into retirement shortly thereafter.

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WEST ROXBURY (Boston Pilot) -- A New Jersey native was installed as the first American born eparchial bishop in the United States for the Greek Melkite Catholic Church on Aug. 23.

Bishop Nicholas J. Samra, 67, was installed as the Eparch of Newton during an elaborate service, called an Enthronement Liturgy, at the Melkite Cathedral of the Annunciation in West Roxbury.

The Melkite Church is an Eastern rite of the Catholic Church.

Bishop Samra was first ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Newton in 1989 and went into retirement in 2005, until his appointment as eparch this June.

After an entrance procession that included many bishops, priests, and deacons, Exarch Joseph Haggar read a letter from Pope Benedict XVI, called the Papal Bull of Designation, which declared the appointment of Bishop Samra.

"May the lights and joy of the Holy Spirit and under the protection of the most holy Mother of God, be always with you and with your ecclesial community which is so very dear to us," stated Pope Benedict in his letter.

The previous Eparch of Newton, Metropolitan Archbishop Cyrille Bustros of Beirut and Jbeil, thanked Bishop Samra for his work as a priest and auxiliary bishop. He also thanked the clergy, religious, and laity of the Newton Eparchy and pledged his prayers for them, while asking for their prayers in turn.

Archbishop Bustros then read a letter from Patriarch Gregory III, the head of the Melkite Church who resides in Damascus, Syria.

The patriarch wished Bishop Samra "a successful pastoral ministry founded on strength and faith in the hearts of the believers in your vast country."

"We pray that he will continue to find those we call the hidden Melkites, whom we do not know, so we can serve them the holy mysteries and that they will not feel lost in their Church, but have one Church to belong to," stated Patriarch Gregory.

Following the letter, Bishop Samra approached Archbishop Bustros to receive the shepherd's staff, escorted by various clergy. Prayers were then invoked by a deacon and the choir that the new bishop may be preserved by God for many years.

In the vesting ceremony of the liturgy, Bishop Samra received and blessed seven distinct vestments, a pectoral cross, and medallion called an engolpion. He also blessed his crown--similar to a bishop's miter in the Roman rite -- and his staff.

Following these rituals, the Divine and Holy Liturgy of John Chrysostom began. After a Gospel reading, Bishop Samra addressed the congregation.

He noted that the date was the closing of the eastern feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, marking the death or "falling asleep" of Mary. Bishop Samra called it probably the most important day of commemoration for Mary. In the Roman rite, the Dormition is celebrated as the Assumption, when Mary was taken into heaven.

In his remarks, he repeatedly pointed to Mary as an example for Christians to follow in giving flesh to Jesus. Bishop Samra cited Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist as ways for the faithful to bring Christ to others.

"Not only should we hear it, but we should digest it into our hearts and then when we leave the church, we become the word of God to the community outside," said Bishop Samra.

He noted that when the bread and wine are brought to the altar prior to the consecration, these items also represent the gifts of the people assembled...

Complete article here.

Under intl. pressure, Turkey to return some properties

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's government is returning hundreds of properties confiscated from the country's Christian and Jewish minorities over the past 75 years in a gesture to religious groups who complain of discrimination that is also likely to thwart possible court rulings against the country.

A government decree published Saturday returns assets that once belonged to Greek, Armenian or Jewish trusts and makes provisions for the government to pay compensation for any confiscated property that has since been sold on.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to announce the decision formally later Sunday when he hosts religious leaders and the heads of about 160 minority trusts, at a fast-breaking dinner for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, officials said.

The properties include former hospital, orphanage or school buildings and cemeteries. Their return is a key European Union demand and a series of court cases has also been filed against primarily Muslim Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights. Last year, the court ordered Turkey to return an orphanage to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.

Some properties were seized when they fell into disuse over the years. Others were confiscated after 1974 when Turkey ruled that non-Muslim trusts could not own new property in addition to those that were already registered in their names in 1936. The 1974 decision came around the time of a Turkish invasion of Cyprus that followed a coup attempt by supporters of union with Greece and relations with that country were at an all time low.

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Dormition of the Theotokos at the Optina Monastery

Sacramone Questionnaire for Nontheists

H/T: Cranach

The below was written by Anthony Sacramone on his blog Strange Herring in response to Bill Keller of the New York Times' questionnaire for current presidential candidates. Mr. Sacramone's questions go to the heart of the religious-secular divide.

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1. Do you think that anyone who believes in the supernatural is delusional? If so, do you believe they should be treated medically? Do you believe they should be allowed to adopt children?

2. Do you think anyone who believes in six-day special creation should ipso facto be barred from holding public office?

3. Do you believe the religious beliefs of historical figures should be eradicated when discussing them in schools? For example, that Louis Pasteur was a devout Catholic who prayed the Rosary daily?

4. Do you believe that the religious faith of those responsible for the birth of modern science—Galileo, Copernicus, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Gregor Mendel, George LeMaitre (father of the theory of the big bang), Jesuit priests too numerous to mention, et al.—should be eradicated when discussing them in schools?

5. Do you believe that it should be noted that the rise of modern science occurred in the context of a civilization that was still explicitly Christian when teaching either European history of the history of science?

6. Do you think homeschooling should be illegal, as it is in some European countries?

7. Do you believe vaccines are a factor in the rise of autism cases? Do you believe parents should be allowed to opt out of vaccine programs?

8. Do you believe that climate-change skepticism is the equivalent of Holocaust denialism or racism?

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Memory eternal, Archbishop Dmitri!

Follow-up

The service schedule has been posted here.

Follow-up 2

(AFR) - On Sunday morning, August 28, at 2:00 AM, His Eminence Archbishop Dmitri fell asleep in the Lord at his home in Dallas. John Maddex talks with Fr. Stephen Freeman, Dean of the Appalachian Region of the Diocese of the South about the Archbishop's life as a leader, a visionary, and an evangelist.

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(OCA) - His Eminence, the Most Reverend Dmitri, 87, retired Archbishop of Dallas and the Diocese of the South, fell asleep in the Lord at his home here at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, August 28, 2011.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, and many priests and faithful had kept vigil in Dallas during Archbishop Dmitri’s final days. The Metropolitan was to have traveled to the Czech Republic with a delegation from the Orthodox Church in America, but remained in Dallas to be with the Archbishop.

Funeral services will be celebrated at Dallas’ Saint Seraphim Cathedral—the parish Archbishop Dmitri founded as a mission shortly after his ordination in 1954. Days and times will be posted at oca.org as they are received.

Consecrated to the episcopacy in 1969, Archbishop Dmitri’s ministry spanned 57 remarkable years.

Archbishop Dmitri was born Robert R. Royster into a Baptist family in Teague, TX on November 2, 1923. He often credited his mother with providing him and his sister with a strong, initial faith in Christ. After discovering Orthodox Christianity as teens, he and his sister asked their mother for a blessing to convert, whereupon she asked one basic yet predictive question: “Does the Orthodox Church believe in Christ as Lord and Savior?” As it turned out, a specific emphasis on the person and work of Jesus Christ became the hallmark of the future hierarch’s ministry, profoundly influencing his preaching and writing. The Archbishop would later recall that an Orthodox clergyman and mentor advised him early on in his priesthood to include always the name of Christ in every conversation, to make Him the focus of every sermon.

Having received their desired blessing, and after a period of enquiry and study, he and his sister were received together into Orthodox Christianity at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Dallas, in 1941. It was at that point that the two received the names Dmitri and Dimitra.

Dmitri was drafted into the US Army in 1943, after which he underwent intensive training in Japanese and linguistics in Ann Arbor, MI, and the Military Intelligence Service Language School in Fort Snelling, MN. He later served as a Japanese interpreter at the rank of Second Lieutenant on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur. He was required to undergo the usual training given to all soldiers and was recognized, interestingly enough, as an expert marksman. He was blessed with a strong constitution and good physical abilities; as a teenager, he represented his high school in the state tennis semi-finals. Later, as hierarch, he would comment that good health and physical strength should also be used in service to Christ. Following his own advice, he pushed himself physically, traveling repeatedly by car for years, from one end of his 14-state diocese to the other in the early stages of its inception, visiting parishes and founding missions.

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Romanian Church in trouble over canonical territory again

You might remember that in May the Jerusalem Patriarchate complained about an uncanonical building effort by the Romanian Church in Jericho (see here). It looks like a similar complaint is being lodged by the Ukrainians.

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(RISU) - On 26 August, under the headship of Metropolitan Volodymyr, a regular session of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate was held in the Synodal Hall of the Kyivan Metropolitanate.

The Synod decided to appoint Archimandrite Iona (Cherepanov) the Vicar of the Kyivan Metropolitanate and Bishop of Obukhiv.

The synod heard a report of the Head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Oleksandr of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi and Vyshnevskyi on the situation regarding the consecration on 16 July of the Church of St. Peter and Paul in the village of Kamyshivka of Izmail District of Odesa Region by clergymen of the Romanian Orthodox Church. UOC representatives stressed that the Romanian Patriarchate never approached the hierarchs of the UOC for a permission to consecrate the mentioned Church as one which is located within the canonical territory of UOC. The participants of the synod concluded that such actions contradict the canonical order of the Orthodox Church and are in no way conducive to brotherly relations between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Synod decided to:

Express concern over the activity of the Besarabian Metropolitanate of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Ask Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine on behalf of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to send an appropriate letter to Blessed Patriarch Daniel of Romania.

The Synod also renamed the Supreme Church Council of UOC into the Coordination Council of Heads of Synodal Institutions of the Primate of UOC.

Russian delegation visits Jerusalem

(mospat.ru) - On August 25, 2011, His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, received Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, who came to the Holy Land for a working visit with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Metropolitan Hilarion conveyed to His Beatitude words of greetings and support from the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and thanked him for the attention he gave to pilgrims who come in a great number to the Holy Land from the Moscow Patriarchate.

During their talk which lasted for two hours they discussed in detail a wide range of issues concerning both bilateral relations between the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Moscow and urgent problems of pan-Orthodox significance.

Patriarch Theophilos pointed to the everlasting importance which the service carried out by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem has for Orthodox Christians throughout the world, making a special mentioned of the contribution his Patriarchate makes to the cause of interreligious peace, the development of dialogue between religious leaders and preservation of Christian presence and witness in the Middle East.

In the context of their discussion on the situation of Christians in the Middle East, Metropolitan Hilarion gave His Holiness the text of the Statement of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod on the Growing Manifestations of Christianophibia in the World translated in various languages and emphasized that the Russian Church with great concern followed closely the dangerous development of the political situation in several countries of the Middle East.

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More on UOC-MP UGCC meeting

(UOC-MP) - On August 23, His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine at his residence in the Kyiv Caves Lavra received the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Svyatoslav (Shevchuk), accompanied by the Secretary of the General Synod of the UGCC Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh).

Metropolitan Volodymyr welcomed the new Head of the UGCC on his election to this ministry and expressed hope that the relations between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will be constructive and interconfessional peace and harmony will be preserved.

Bishop Sviatoslav thanked for the greetings and said that Metropolitan Volodymyr is the "spiritual father of the greater part of the Ukrainian people." He also congratulated His Beatitude Volodymyr on the 45th anniversary of episcopal consecration and the title of the "Hero of Ukraine".

During the meeting the sides discussed possible cooperation of both churches in the area of ​​theological education. The sides exchanged views on further development of Ukrainian theology.

The need for reconciliation between the faithful of both Churches was also emphasized. In this regard, it was agreed that in future all the problems of the relations will be resolved in working order.

The conversation took place in the spirit of goodwill and openness. At the meeting the parties exchanged gifts.

On the part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church taking part in the meeting was Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of UOC Archbishop Alexander of Pereyaslav-Khmlnytskyy and Vishneve, chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the UOC archpriest George Kovalenko, DECR secretary Archpriest Nikolai Danylevych, Head of the Protocol service of the Kyiv Metropolis Archpriest Valeriy Kravets and Head of the Office of the Kyiv Metropolis Archimandrite Arkady (Demchenko).

Follow the OCA delegation's trip to Prague

(OCA-DOW) - The first part of the official delegation of the Orthodox Church in America to the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia arrived in Prague this afternoon. Bishop BENJAMIN, Archpriest Eric George Tosi, Secretary of the Orthodox Church in America, and Mr. Barry Migyanko, the Administrative Assistant of the Diocese of the West were greeted by His Eminence Archbishop George (Juraj) of Michalovce and Kosice and three priests.

The Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia (CCLS) was granted autocephaly by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1951 and recognized as autocephalous by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1998. The CCLS has at once an ancient Orthodox heritage and a vibrant modern history. It was to Moravia, now part of the Czech Republic that Ss. Cyril and Methodius came in the 9th century beginning that great labor that would result in the translation of the services of the Orthodox Church into what would become the Church Slavonic language. And it is from this region that many immigrated to the United States, becoming an integral part of our own OCA. In fact, the Diocese of the West boasts a parish of Slovak ranchers in Calhan, Colorado.

His Beatitude Metropolitan JONAH was delayed in arriving due to the declining health of Archbishop DMITRI but is expected to join the rest of the delegation on Saturday to celebrate the Feast of the Dormition (old style) together with the Primate of the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, Metropolitan KRISTOF (Christopher).

Warmly greeted, Bishop BENJAMIN and the rest of the delegation look forward to strengthening the bond of unity between our two Orthodox Churches.

A procession of nuns in Jerusalem

(MSNBC) - Orthodox nuns hold candles and flowers as they take part in a procession to bring the icon of the Virgin Mary to the tomb where it is believed she is buried, through Jerusalem's Old City, Israel, on August 25. Every year before the Feast of the Assumption, the icon is brought from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to the tomb of the Virgin Mary to honor her Assumption.

Hundreds of Muscovite day care centers to teach Orthodoxy

Imagine if we were able to duplicate this effort on even a tiny scale?

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Krasnogorsk, August 25 (Interfax) - Optional classes on elementary Orthodoxy will be introduced in children's day care centers of the Moscow region, the Minister of Education Lidiya Antonova said at a Moscow regional teachers' forum.

"In 2011-2012, we introduce a new course on Orthodox Culture in young children's care system. New resource and reference materials will be released by September 1," Lidiya Antonova said.

The course is now introduced in 430 centers with 27,000 young children enrolled.

The optional course called "Benign World of Orthodox Culture for Young Children" will be introduced in 650 daycare centers of the Moscow region. This course is optional and children will take it only with parents' consent," Andrey Finogenov, head of the regional management department of the Ministry of Education, told Interfax.

Orthodox Jobs website launched with redesign

BOSTON (GOARCH) – The Department of Internet Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and the Office of Vocation & Ministry of Hellenic College are pleased to announce the launch of the redesigned and updated web site www.OrthodoxJobs.com. Developed to serve Christian and service-oriented industries, especially Orthodox agencies, schools, and ministries, the improved site is now enhanced with resume and job search features. All job posting services for employers and job searching services for job seekers are free.

With this major update, employers can create instant online applications and pre-screening questionnaires, manage potential applicants and job posting statistics, and utilize other enhanced tools. Job seekers can post resumes, which are fully searchable by employers, and can be instantly updated online.

A new classifieds feature of the site provides networking capabilities with business to business directory-style advertising of products and services. For just $99 per year, independent contractors to general businesses can advertise their specific products and services on the site. OrthodoxJobs.com provides any business—photographer, iconographer, graphic designer, chanter, etc.—with a searchable and targeted advertising opportunity on a local, regional, and national level.

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Your prayers, please!

The blessing of cassocks.
St. Tikhon's Seminary September 3, 2005

This weekend I will receive the blessing (along with many of my fellow seminarians) to wear the cassock. The following day seminary classes begin and then some few days later my children will begin school.

The prayers of family, friends, and kind readers have guided us safely from the parched lands of Texas to the sylvan highlands we find ourselves in now. I beg your continued prayers as this new phase of our lives begins.

A thank you to my family for their material and spiritual support.

A thank you to the faculty and students of the seminary for their counsel.

A thank you to my children for their willingness to pull up tent stakes and make new friends.

A thank you to my wife for her kind words of encouragement, unflappability in times of difficulty, and unflagging patience.

For You will light my lamp;

     The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by You I can run against a troop,

     By my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is perfect;

     The word of the Lord is proven;

     He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

To round out this post, Archpriest Chad Hatfield's orientation speech at St. Vladimir's given today (H/T: Fr. Dn. David).

Heads of UOC-MP and UGCC meet at Kyiv Cave Monastery

(RISU) - The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), and the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), held an official meeting on August 23, 2011, at the residence of Metropolitan Volodymyr in the Kyiv Cave Monastery, the Information Department of UGCC reported.

Patriarch Sviatoslav greeted Metropolitan Volodymyr on the occasion of his 45th anniversary of ministry as a bishop and the confering of the name of the Hero of Ukraine on him in July 2011. In addition, he thanked the head of the UOC-MP for greeting him on his enthronement and for the presence of a representative of the UOC-MP, Bishop Ilarii, at the enthronement ceremony.

Metropolitan Volodymyr stressed the importance of good relations between the two churches and the development of constructive cooperation for the good of the Ukrainian nation.

The parties discussed issues of practical cooperation between the two denominations of the original Kyiv Church of Volodymyr’s baptism. The issues included, in particular, the area of mass media and education. The parties also stressed on the importance of the church's social ministry in the life of the society.

In conclusion, Patriarch Sviatoslav presented to Metropolitan Volodymyr the first Ukrainian edition of the manuscript Gospel of Anna Yaroslavna of the 11th century. The head of the UOC-MP presented to the guests jubilee panagias and a Ukrainian translation of the Gospel.

Holy Unction service for Abp. Dmitri of Dallas

Photo H/T: Vladimir Grygorenko

(OCA-DOS) - The Mystery of Holy Unction was celebrated for His Eminence, Archbishop Dmitri, on Tuesday, August 23, at 6:30 pm at St Seraphim’s Orthodox Cathedral in Dallas, TX. Archbishop Dmitri was released from Baylor Medical Center on Wednesday evening, August 17.

Two monks tonsured at Monastery of St. Ephrem

I found this to be an interesting photo of two men being tonsured in the Syrian Orthodox Church. The article (in Arabic) is available here.

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Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America HQ vandalized

(OCA) - The administrative building of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America [FOCA] here was burglarized during the third week of August 2011.

According to Dr. John Schultz, national FOCA president, damage was substantial.

The break-in occurred on Saturday, August 20, according to Dr. Schultz. Access was gained through a broken window. Damage was found throughout the building, including the rest rooms, offices, and archives. Liturgical items stored on site were not touched, however.

Dr. Schultz reported that cleanup and restoration has begun.

Founded in 1927 as the Federated Russian Orthodox Clubs, the FOCA has chapters in dozens of parishes across the US.

For more information visit www.orthodoxfellowship.org.

Met. Hilarion visits Constantinople

(mospat.ru) - On August 20, 20011, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, arrived in Istanbul. He was met at the airport by Russian Consul General A. Yerkhov and representatives of the Church of Constantinople.

On the same day, the DECR chairman met with His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

On August 21, Metropolitan Hilarion, after venerating the holy relics of St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom at St. George’s at Fanar, left together with His Holiness Bartholomew to his homeland, the Island of Gökçeada (Imbros).

The welcoming party at the pier included Metropolitan Cyril of Imbros and Tenedos, Metropolitan Chrysostom of Myra, clergy of the Imbros diocese and Orthodox faithful some of whom had come from Greece.

Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Hilarion visited the Cathedral of the Assumption, where they lit candles before an icon of the Mother of God and sang the Assumption troparion in Greek and Church Slavonic.

Metropolitan Hilarion is accompanied on his trip by Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman, and Hierodeacon Ioann (Kopeikin), an assistant to the DECR chairman.

Russian delegation visits Patriarchate of Antioch

(mospat.ru) - On August 20, 2011, His Beatitude Ignatios IV, Patriarch of Great Antioch and All the East, received in audience Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, who came to Syria for a working visit with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

In a warm and cordial talk, which took place at the Patriarchate of Antioch, they discussed the bilateral relations between the two Patriarchates and some topical problems concerning the life of Universal Orthodoxy.

Metropolitan Hilarion pointed to a deep concern of the Russian Orthodox Church for the situation of Christians in some Middle East countries, which tends to deteriorate because of the political instability in the region. He conveyed to Patriarch of Antioch an Arabic version of the statement made by the Russian Orthodox Church Holy Synod on the growing Christianophobia in the world. Patriarch Ignatios thanked the Moscow Patriarchate for its concern for this problem and underscored the importance of Christian solidarity. He also assured the metropolitan that the statement would be distributed to the mass media in Syria and Lebanon.

In conclusion of the talk, which lasted over an hour and a half, Patriarch Ignatios asked Metropolitan Hilarion to convey best wishes to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and expressed hope to meet with him soon.

Participating in the meeting were also Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman, Archimandrite Alexander (Yelisov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow to the Patriarch of Antioch, Hierodeacon Ioann (Kopeikin), assistant to the DECR chairman, and Mr. L. Sevastyanov, executive director of the St. John the Theologian Charity, which had given its support for preparing the trip.

After the meeting, Metropolitan Hilarion and his party visited the Patriarchate of Antioch’s Cathedral of the Assumption, the cathedral of the Melkite Church and the house of St. Ananias where, according to tradition, St. Paul was baptized.

Later that day, DECR chairman left for Istanbul to meet with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

On the St. Herman Pilgrimage

(OCA-DOA) - At the St. Herman Pilgrimage this year we welcomed His Beatitude Metropolitan JONAH, His Grace Bishop BENJAMIN, and His Grace Bishop MAXIM of the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America to Kodiak. Also present were many clergy, monastics, and pilgrims, including some members of the OCMC mission team that ministered in Old Harbor.

Pilgrims venerated the relics of St. Herman and visited Spruce Island, where the Saint ministered to all he met, especially the Native people of Kodiak and Spruce Island, who continue to venerate St. Herman as they always have.

Bp. Maxim, Met. Jonah, and Bp. Benjamin

So many people helped to make this Pilgrimage happen. Among them were the skippers of the boats who transferred people from Kodiak to Spruce Island, the clergy and faithful of Holy Resurrection Cathedral and St. Innocent Academy, "those who serve and those who sing," those who put in extra hours preparing the "new" Cathedral gift shop and serving the Pilgrims as well as those who worked extra hours at Monk’s Rock, providing hospitality and service to all those who attended, the faithful who came from Kodiak and the rest of the Diocese of Alaska, . . . and the people of Kodiak, who opened their arms to make pilgrims feel at home. Finally, a special thanks to the Sisterhoods of Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Kodiak and Nativity of Our Lord Church in Ouzinkie, who provided food and hospitality to our guests. As usual, our brethren of St. Innocent Academy offered openhearted hospitality and joyful singing to the Pilgrimage.

The Pilgrimage culminated with the ordination of Deacon Michael Nicolai to the Holy Priesthood. The presence of several Diocesan clergy and their families helped make this a joyful and memorable event. May God grant the newly ordained Father Michael and his family many years! Axios, axios, axios! Fr. Michael will be entering his fourth and final year of seminary this year and serving on Kodiak until his graduation, then ministering elsewhere in the Diocese of Alaska.

View the photo album on the St. Herman Seminary Website here.

Orthodox pilgrimage to the Holy Hill of Grabarka

(Reuters) - Pilgrims move on their knees at the Holy Hill of Grabarka. Some 15,000 Orthodox Christian pilgrims carried crosses, drank holy water and prayed on Friday at a hill in eastern Poland they believe to be sacred in a colourful celebration of their faith and identity in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country.

Los Angeles church desecrated

Please send all donations to: St. Andrew Parish Support Fund Consistory UOC of USA P. O. Box 495 South Bound Brook, NJ 08880

(UOC-USA) - We ask all who read these words to keep the parish family of St. Andrew, Los Angeles, CA in their prayers during these difficult days. In the early morning hours of 15 August, an intruder broke into the parish Church and desecrated the Holy Altar, Tabernacle, Iconography and the entire altar and sacristy area. The most devastating aspect of this horrendous crime was the scattering of the Reserve Sacrament on the floor among and beneath the various altar crosses, candles and vestments strewn throughout the church. The Holy Altar itself was pulled from its foundation and dragged through the Royal Doors into the nave of the church. It was a senseless act of destruction and obvious anger that left the Church and the neighboring community in much distress.

Father Vasyl Shtelen and members of the parish were able, following the completion of the police investigation and the insurance examination, to gather the scattered religious vessels and items, clean them and bless them through special prayers and sprinkling with Holy Water in time for the celebration of Divine Liturgy on the Great Holy Day of the Transfiguration of our Lord. We pray that Father Vasyl and the members of his flock were able to experience the Glory and presence of our Lord on this Feast, saying, as did the Apostle Peter - “Lord, it is good for us to be here” – in spite of the obvious hurt and sorrow they have experienced.

We assure Father Vasyl and all St. Andrew Parish members of our continued prayers. Insurance coverage will most likely cover most of the expenses to repair or replace many of the damaged vessels, vestments and other items, there will most certainly be additional expenses. Any parishes, organizations or individuals who might care to offer contributions to assist our brothers and sisters will be appreciated more than words can express.

Donations may be sent to the Consistory, which has established a special fund. All contributions will be listed and accompany the funds when they are forwarded to the parish.

We would like to forward the funds at the end of September.

Metropolitans Jonah and Hilarion have new books out

(SVOTS) - St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press (SVS Press) announces the release of two new books, both by episcopal members of our Board of Trustees: His Beatitude The Most Blessed Jonah (Paffhausen), archbishop of Washington and metropolitan of All America and Canada of the Orthodox Church in America; and His Eminence The Most Rev. Hilarion (Alfeyev) archbishop of Volokolamsk and chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Reflections on a Spiritual Journey —a collection of essays and addresses by Metropolitan Jonah— provides a glimpse into His Beatitude’s spiritual formation and thinking. The book, which contains not only a lengthy biography of the author but also a Foreword by The Right Rev. Benjamin, bishop of San Francisco and the West, is divided into two main sections.

Part One, “The Spiritual Life,” contains the author’s reflections on forgiveness and reconciliation; becoming and purifying the true self; the connection between shame and the passions; and human personhood and the value of suffering. Part Two, “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” conveys the author’s vision regarding the identity and mission of the Orthodox Church in America as well as his perspectives on episcopacy, primacy, and the mother churches.

The volume is the first in the press’s new Orthodox Profiles series, which acquaints readers on an intimate level with Orthodox figures who have shaped the direction of the Orthodox Church in areas of mission, ascetical and liturgical theology, scholarly and pastoral endeavors, and various other professional disciplines. Archpriest Chad Hatfield, Chancellor/CEO of the seminary, is the Series Editor.

The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to the Teaching and Spirituality of the Orthodox Church, by Metropolitan Hilarion, was written when His Eminence was a priest, lecturing in dogmatic theology at the Moscow Theological Seminary in 1992. It was published in Russian in 1996, and it was first printed in English by Darton, Longman and Todd, Ltd. in the United Kingdom in 2002. It is, in the words of the author “…neither a systematic exposition of the dogmatic theology of the Orthodox Church, nor a comprehensive analysis of Orthodox spiritual tradition. It is rather a personal commentary by an Orthodox priest on the dogmas of the Orthodox Church as they relate to spiritual life.” A collection of texts, mostly patristic, which illustrate the author’s points, follows each chapter.

Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), bishop of Diokleia, in his Foreword to the work, writes:

"The Mystery of Faith is written in a generous, holistic spirit. For the author there is no separation between theology and spirituality, between dogma and personal experience, between faith and prayer; all of them form together a single, undivided whole. Bishop Hilarion agrees with the saying of the Desert Fathers that the theologian is the one who prays…The great Metropolitan of Moscow in the nineteenth century, St. Philaret, used to say that the Creed belongs only to those who live it. Such is exactly the spirit in which the present work is written."

Both titles may be ordered through St. Vladimir’s Seminary Bookstore, by clicking here.

The Iconostasis: a History

(TLM) - THE LAST DECADES of the disintegrating Byzantine Empire were, culturally and spiritually speaking, far from being its least glorious. Among the great names of that epoch Bishop Symeon of Thessalonika has a place by reason of his liturgical commentaries. Appointed bishop sometime between 1410 and 1420, he died in September 1429, six months before the Turkish army led by Murad II conquered the city. We are concerned here with his mystagogical commentary on the Sacred Temple and particularly with what he had to say about the screen which separated the sanctuary from the nave:

The chancel signifies the distinction between the sensible and the intelligible; it is, as it were, a firm barrier between material and spiritual things. Being in sight of the altar, that is of Christ, its columns are those of the Church itself, signifying those who strengthen us by their witness to Christ. Above the chancel the columns are joined by an unbroken decorated architrave signifying the bond of charity, which is the communion in Christ between earthly saints and heavenly beings. This is why a picture of the Saviour is placed here in the middle of the sacred images. His Mother and the Baptist are on either side of him with angels and archangels, the apostles and the rest of the saints. This signifies Christ in heaven with his saints, Christ as he is with us now and Christ who will come again.

In the West we are accustomed to call this screen which is such a distinctive feature of churches of the Byzantine rite an iconostasis. Bishop Symeon would hardly have understood the word in this sense. Its significance for him can be realized by reading a passage in an imperial Book of Ceremonies composed in the 14th century. According to this the emperor remained in his apartments on 24 December, the Vigil of the Nativity, instead of going out as was his usual custom. Towards the end of the morning an [eikonostasion] was set up there, upon which were displayed icons of the Nativity with one or two others. There followed a ceremony of veneration. An [eikonostasion] was therefore quite literally an icon-stand upon which an icon to be venerated was displayed. We may see the equivalent today in any church of the Byzantine rite...

Complete article here.

Posts on the Transfiguration of our Lord

• Homily on the Transfiguration by St. Gregory Palamas
• The Transfiguration on Tabor: A Vision of a Vision by Bogdan Gabriel Bucur
• The Mount of Transfiguration and the Bridal Chamber of Christ by Fr. Stephen Freeman

Russian priest: Don't abort your children. Give them to me!

(Interfax) - Moscow, August 18, Interfax - Head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for Relations with the Armed Forces Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov promises to help those women who refuse from abortion and chose to give birth to their babies.

"I always give one reason: Why do you need to kill? Give the baby to me, no problem. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't use bad words, and I have two university degrees," Father Dimitry said in A Matter of Principle TV program.

"My parish is one of the largest both in Moscow and globally, and not a single woman among my parishioners is willing to make an abortion. If we manage to stop abortions, we get an immediate growth," he believes.

According to Father Dimitry, he visited a Moscow maternity clinic, and each woman there explained her intention to make an abortion with financial challenges.

"I was telling them we could give our guarantee to meet those challenges. But my own biggest problem was that not a single woman turned for help to me," he said.

St. Thekla Convent hosts 33rd pilgrimage

(AOCANA) - Please join us at the Antiochian Village from September 23-25, 2011 for the Patronal Feast of St. Thekla Convent. This is the 33rd Annual Pilgrimage at the Village and the 3rd since the founding of the monastery.

As Orthodox Christians, our lives are a type of pilgrimage, so why set time aside to attend the St. Thekla Pilgrimage? The key is in "setting aside." We invite you "to set aside all earthly cares" and to join us in refocusing and refreshing ourselves in our Orthodox life. Like St. Thekla, Protomartyr and Equal to the Apostles, together we will pray at the Divine Liturgy and services, obtain guidance and direction from the Gospels for our lives at home, and enjoy fellowship with other pilgrims.

Through the intercession of Saint Thekla, may this Pilgrimage be blessed!

Speakers and Workshops

The speakers for the weekend are His Grace, Bishop Thomas, who is our guest Hierarch and Mother Alexandra, who will offer a talk on prayer.

There will be four workshop sessions offered concurrently:

• Orthodox Family Life
  
  This session will discuss the daily Pilgrimage of Orthodox life in our homes, how faith directs us and how the love of God binds us.
• How do we live faithfully through crisis?
  
  This session will discuss the times in our lives when our plans are interrupted or changed.
• Sacraments: Part II
  
  As requested, Fr. Meletios Zafaran will continue the discussion started last year in Arabic.
• Book Discussion
  
  "Miles to Go: The Second Journal of the Walk Series" by Richard Paul Evans.

The faithful are welcome to join us for any or all of the weekend. Go here for the full schedule, brochure and registration form (for reservation of meals and/or lodging).

Oriental Orthodox college students meet for Marian feast

(SNAS) - Over 75 Coptic and Malankara Indian Orthodox college students from the greater New York/New Jersey area met with participants of the St. Nersess Post High-School Conference on Sunday, August 14 for a day of fellowship, Bible Study and prayer.

What was originally intended to be a late summer outdoor celebration had to be brought inside the intimate Seminary building as record rains poured down upon the metropolitan New York area. No matter. St. Nersess has always provided a warm and welcoming home to children and friends of the Armenian Church.

Fast Friends

The Coptic and Malankara Orthodox youth quickly found common ground with their Armenian colleagues. The Copts are the ancient Christians of Egypt, while the Malankara Orthodox are the children of the Apostle Thomas, who brought the Gospel to the state of Kerala on the southwest coast of India.

The three ancient churches belong to the Oriental Orthodox family, who, along with the Ethiopian and Syrian Orthodox Churches, are in full communion. While fully independent, and heirs to distinct traditions, Christian cultures and history, the Oriental Orthdodox Churches share the same Christian faith and fully recognize the sacraments and ministerial orders of the sister churches.

"This means that a Coptic Orthodox woman is welcome to participate in the Eucharist and other sacraments of the Armenian Church or any of the other Oriental Orthodox Churches as if they were her own," said V. Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan, Dean of the Seminary and Chaplain of the 2011 Post High School Conference during a discussion with the Armenian young people.

United Around the Mother of God

Following some ice-breaker activities, the young people were divided into small groups for a Bible Study on Mary the Mother of God. Sunday was the Feast the Assumption of the Mother of God, one of the major feasts of the Armenian Church. St. Nersess alumnus Deacon Ryan Tellalian prepared the Bible Study, which included discussion of the famous Armenian hymn to the Mother of God, Antaram Dzagheeg (Unfading Flower). Embedded below.

Read more »

Preparing for the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord

My wife, being the mistress of ingenuity, picked me up after Vespers and deposited the family in a local park where we picked fruit for tomorrow's liturgy. Beyond the grapes pictures below, we gathered blackberries, onion seeds, and crab apples. For a little more on the blessing of grapes I direct you to Fr. Milovan's post here.

Many years to Father David!

Many years to the newly ordained Priest David Mastroberte - a gifted musician and iconographer.

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(ACROD) - On Saturday, August 13th, 2011, Deacon David Mastroberte was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Eminence, Archbishop Antony at St. John's Orthodox Church, Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania.

"Divine grace, which always heals the ill, and fills that which is lacking, ordains David, the God-fearing deacon, to the priesthood. Let us pray for Him that the grace of the Holy Spirit may come upon him, and let us say: Lord, have mercy."

One Wood Monastery of Romania

(Atlas Obscura) - The One Wood Monastery seems tiny. It seems absolutely miniature, and fairly unimpressive until you realize it was constructed out of the wood from just one Oak tree.

in the early 16th century, a monk made an interesting discovery inside a hollowed oak while walking in the Romanian countryside. To his amazement, an icon of the Virgin Mary was carved into the interior. The icon spoke to the monk, telling him to raise a church using only the wood from the icon-emblazoned Oak tree.

This legend has obviously stirred controversy and claims of historical inaccuracy. Another version of the story has a shepherd finding the icon and acting accordingly. Even the icon itself has been victim to strict scrutiny as to its age and origin, with some claiming that it was a creation of Constantinople era Christian artists or 4th century Greek craftsman. Others are still more inclined to believe the religious legend of the monk.

Despite the holy origins of the church, it is in fact a recreation of the older building originally constructed. In the 17th century, a fire ravaged the church completely destroying the original Oak building and sparing the icon.

The legend persisted after the fire, and a monastery was built up around the area. Today, 50 nuns have dedicated their lives to the holy site. The icon is now housed in a stone church on the premises and is considered the most valuable of the monastery's collections, which also include other icons and old books.

Martyr brothers Ss. Florus and Laurus of Illyria

The Prologue

"Brothers in both the flesh and the spirit, they were both zealous Christians, and stonemasons by craft. They lived in Illyria. Some pagan prince set them to build a pagan temple.

It happened during the course of their work that a fragment of stone splintered off and flew into the eye of the pagan priest's son, who was watching the building work with curiosity. Seeing his son blinded and bleeding, the priest shouted at Florus and Laurus and tried to thrash them. Then the holy brothers told him that, if he would believe in the God in whom they believed, his son would be restored to health. The priest promised. Florus and Laurus prayed to the one, living Lord with tears and made the sign of the Cross over the child's stricken eye. The child was healed instantly and his eye became whole as it had been before. Then the priest, Merentius, and his son were baptised, and they both very soon suffered for Christ in the flames. But Florus and Laurus, when they had finished the temple, put a Cross on it, called together all the Christians, and consecrated it in the name of the Lord Jesus with an all-night vigil of hymns.

Hearing of this, the governor of Illyria burned many of these Christians by fire and had Florus and Laurus thrown alive into a well, which was then filled with earth. Their relics were later discovered and taken to Constantinople. These two wonderful brothers suffered for Christ, and were glorified by Him, in the second century."

Troparion (Tone 4)

Let us praise as is meet, O you faithful,
The most comely, radiant and divinely wise martyrs:
Most blessed Florus and all venerable Laurus,
Who proclaimed to all the uncreated Trinity.
Suffering unto bloodshed,
They were adorned with brilliant crowns.
Entreat Christ our God to save our souls.

Kontakion (Tone 8)

Today all the world honors in glory the divinely wise Florus and Laurus,
As pious martyrs who suffered for Christ.
Through their prayers may we receive grace and mercy
And be delivered from calamity and temptation,
And from wrath and sorrow on the Day of Judgment.

What To Do About A Bad Priest

From the website Good Guys Wear Black, a selection from St. Theophan the Recluse I've always enjoyed, "What To Do About A Bad Priest." I read this passage about a year ago and am happy to have come across it again. I am reminded of two parishes I am acquainted with that run through priests at alarming rates. One church continued to run off clergy (and not pay them shortly after they got there) so that the bishop refused to send another priest until they saved a year's pay for him and sent it to the chancery. The other parish kicked their priest out right before Pascha. He asked to stay, knowing they'd not get a replacement in time, but they would have none of it and to this day they have very infrequent services and there is no priest in sight.

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Question: “We had a good priest; but he was transferred to another parish. In his place came another, who is a grief to the soul. In his serving the services, he is careless and hurried; when conversations occur, he talks only about trivial things; if he starts to talk about the things of God, then it is all with a kind of limitation and truncation of the strict truth. How is one to escape from such a temptation?”

Answer: You yourselves are at fault. You made poor use of the good priest, and the Lord took him away. Tell me, did you become better from your previous good priest? Here you falter to say, “Yes.” But I from a distance shall say that you did not become better, judging by the fact that you are judging the new priest, not knowing how to control your feelings in relation to him as you should. Indeed, you had a good priest even before this good priest who has now departed from you, and the one before him was good too. You see how many good priests the Lord has sent you; but you all have not become any better for it. And here He has decided: why waste good priests on these people? I’ll send them one not so good. And He did. Seeing this, you should have at once paid attention to yourself, to repent and improve, but you just judge and keep judging over and over again. Improve yourselves, and then the priest will at once be changed. He will think...

Complete article here.

St. Panteleimon's Day celebrated at Holy Cross Monastery

(ROCOR-EAD) - When Holy Cross Monastery was founded and dedicated to the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon was chosen as the monastery’s chief intercessor. Every morning, a moleben is served before the relics and icon of St. Panteleimon, for the healing of the sick and suffering. The monastery has often received help from St. Panteleimon, and zealously honors his memory.

On Monday the 8th and Tuesday the 9th of August, the rector of the monastery, His Grace George, Bishop of Mayfield, led the festive divine services in the monastery’s main church for the feast of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon. His Grace was co-served by clergy from local parishes.

Patriarchal Liturgy, Monastery of Panagia Soumela

ROCOR Synod holds meeting in New York

(ROCOR) - On Tuesday, August 16, 2011, the feast day of St Anthony the Roman, Miracle-worker of Novgorod, a regular session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held. Presiding was His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. Also participating were His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany; His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America; His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada and His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland, Administrator of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America.

Opening the session, the President of the Synod noted that on this day during Divine Liturgy celebrated at St Sergius Church in the Synodal building, special commemorative supplications were made to mark the namesday of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky, +1936) of Kiev and Galicia of blessed memory, the first Primate of the Russian Church Abroad, as well as for his student and tonsure, Archbishop Anthony (Medvedev, +2000) of San Francisco and Western America. The hierarchs then sang “Eternal Memory” for the reposed archpastors.

Metropolitan Hilarion then reported on his forthcoming September trip to the Holy Land. In addition to conducting divine services in the convents of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of the Church Abroad, and visits to Christian holy sites, the Primate’s pilgrimage will include meetings with His All-Holiness Patriarch Theophilos III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and Palestine, as well as clergymen, monastics and visiting pilgrims from the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand.

Hearing the reports of Archbishop Mark and Archbishop Gabriel, as well as a financial report, the members of the Synod of Bishops established working groups together with representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate for various aspects of Church life, including one for the preparation of celebrations of the 5th anniversary of the reestablishment of unity within the Russian Orthodox Church, consisting of the following members: Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany; Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America; His Grace Bishop Theodosius of Seattle; Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff, Protopriest Andrew Phillips and Protopriest Serafim Gan.

Other managerial matters were also discussed as well as intercessions by the hierarchs for awards to clergymen and laypersons.

The next session of the Synod of Bishops will be held on October 11, 2011.

Oriental Orthodox students gather at St. Nersess Seminary

(SNAS) - College students from Oriental Orthodox sister churches in the tri-state area will gather at St. Nersess Seminary on Sunday, August 14 for an afternoon of fellowship and Bible Study. Armenian Churches throughout the world will be celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God on that day, which this year falls during the Seminary's annual Post-High School Conference.

Fr. Daniel Findikyan, Seminary Dean, will preside over the traditional Blessing of the Grapes ceremony.

The Armenian Church is one of the family of ancient, eastern Christian churches known as the Oriental Orthodox. Other Oriental Orthodox include the Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian and Malankara Orthodox. These ancient churches are in full communion with one another, representing five ancient witnesses to the Apostolic Orthodox Christian faith.

The event, which begins at 3:00PM on Sunday, August 14, is free and open to all college-aged students from the various Oriental Orthodox Churches. Armenian college students are especially warmly invited to attend.

"We are excited to invite our Oriental Orthodox friends to be with us at St. Nersess," said Deacon Ryan Tellalian, who is assisting in coordinating the event. "Whenever we meet, we realize how much we have in common as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ and children of ancient Orthodox Churches," he added.