Byzantine, Texas

( World Watch Monitor ) - First he was run over by a US tank, then an invading Islamic State militia forced him to abandon his monastery in northern Iraq. Raeed, a monk from Qaraqosh – Iraq’s largest Christian town – had to flee and set up a temporary monastery in a displacement camp in Erbil. But his inspiration to help those less fortunate had been formed earlier, during the Iraq Allied invasion of 2003. In 2001, Raeed had felt spiritually called to become a monk; he joined four others in a small monastery. But his life was soon shaken up. [During the occupation of Iraq by a US-led coalition] Raeed, on his way to Baghdad, was talking with a fellow monk - in a taxi shared with others. Out of nowhere came a crash and the sound of crunching metal. The taxi had collided with a US tank, which had driven over part of the car. The accident killed his friend and left Raeed in a coma. He woke from the coma to realise he was the only survivor from the car. This challenged his faith ...

The document itself is available below as image files and here as a PDF. There are some interesting lines about Roman powers over the Eastern Churches that are worth reading. ( EP ) The fourteenth meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church was held from 16 to 21 September 2016 in Villa Maria, Francavilla al Mare (Chieti). The meeting was generously hosted by His Excellency Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, a member of the Commission, with the support of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. All the Orthodox Churches, with the exception of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, were represented, namely the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Antioch, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Patriarchate of Serbia, the Patriarchate of Romania, the Patriarchate of Georgia, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, the Church of Poland, th...

( Babylon Bee ) - Reading the Bible can be difficult—but with these 10 super helpful tips, you will be on your way to some seriously awesome quiet times. Carefully select the Bible that looks the coolest. No one’s ever gotten anything out of a Bible-reading session poring over a lame hardcover NIV. You should spend hours agonizing over which of your leather-bound ESV or NASB Bibles will look the most scholarly, scoring you points with passersby at the coffee shop or pub. Broadcast your quiet time on every outlet available. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram—heck, even Google+—can be a redeeming force as you take several dozen pictures of your quiet time to let everyone know you’re reading the Bible. A quiet time without a filtered Instagram photo as evidence doesn’t count in God’s book. Pray that God would reveal how awesome you are. As you seek to dig into the Word, cover your reading time with prayer—specifically, prayer that God will show you how special, unique, and incredible you a...

It's scheduled for October 4th to 6th in Detroit and is the seventh such meeting since the Assembly of Bishops came together. Nothing earth shattering because the Assembly of Bishops doesn't do earth shattering. H/T: OCL .

( Catalogue St. Elizabeth ) - The special service at the end of the All-night vigil or the rite of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was established in Jerusalem shortly after the Finding of the Cross. In memory of that event and the restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Lectionary of the 5th century in Armenian language tells about the rite of the Exaltation of the Cross in front of the praying masses. In the Georgian version of the Lectionary of the 5-7th centuries there is a detailed description of this rite. It was held on September 14th (old calendar) and began at the third hour after the sunrise. The priests came into the sacristy, then vested, decorated the Cross (sometimes even three Crosses) and laid it on the altar stone. The rite included three episodes of exaltation (elevation) of the Cross. Each elevation was preceded by the prayers and chants and was accompanied by fifty “Lord, have mercy upon us” prayers. After the third elevati...

H/T: Ad Orientem Patriarch Kirill: "I call upon all our bishops to pay special attention to brothers and sisters who have disabilities. They are members of our Church, and we must do all we can for them so that there is nothing that makes them feel themselves less than full members of the Orthodox Christian community."

VATICAN CITY ( Crux ) - Catholics and Orthodox need to explore ways authority can be understood and exercised so that it is not an obstacle to unity, a group of top-level theologians said. Members of the official Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue Between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church met near Chieti, Italy, Sept. 16-21 and approved a document called “Synodality and Primacy in the First Millennium: Toward a Common Understanding in Service to the Unity of the Church.” “Primacy” refers to the authority of the lead bishop or pope, and “synodality” refers to the authority exercised collegially by the College of Bishops in the West or a synod of bishops in the Eastern churches. While Orthodox patriarchs are recognized spiritual leaders and exercise authority over some areas of church life, they do not have the kind of jurisdiction the pope has over the Catholic Church and especially over its Latin-rite dioceses. Monsignor Andrea Palmieri...

( istocnik.ca ) - September 18, 2016 will go down in history at the beginning of a new chapter in the mission of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Canada. In a packed-to-capacity church of All Serbian Saints in Mississauga, with the prayers of 8 bishops, 20 priests, and 2 protodeacons, His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Irinej, up to that moment the Administrator of the God-preserved Diocese of Canada, enthroned the new Bishop of Canada His Grace Right Reverend Dr. Mitrofan. Hours before the Holy Liturgy commenced believers started to flow in so that at the start of the service the church was filled to capacity. Children in traditional folklore dress preceded all of the priests of the Canadian Diocese, tens of guests from neighbouring Serbian dioceses, as well as representatives of other Orthodox jurisdictions in Canada, as they led the ceremonial procession of hierarchs into the church. His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch celebrate the Divine Liturgy, along with Metropolitan S...

I'm going to do something I never do. If you go to this talk and are the first person to say "Byzantine, Texas sent me," you'll get a $20 gift certificate to Starbucks. If you're in the area, go to this talk!

( Reuters ) - The head of the Roman Catholic Church closed a three-day meeting where about 500 representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and other faiths discussed how their members could better promote peace and reconciliation.

Moscow, September 22 ( Interfax ) - St. George Chapel was consecrated with Patriarch Kirill's blessing at the Khmeimim Syrian airbase where Russian air forces are based, official website of the Russian Orthodox Church reports on Thursday. The chapel has been there a few months at least. They held services as far back as Christmas. The Moscow Patriarchate's delegation has recently visited the group of the Russian troops in Syria. An icon with a particle of St. George relics was transferred to the chapel. Over 500 servicemen prayed at the Divine Liturgy, each of them received a small icon of St. George. Two Divine Liturgies, 18 prayer services and a procession with cross and St. George icon around the airbase were held during the delegation visit to Syria. Eight servicemen were baptized. Five pastoral hours and twelve conversations in groups were carried out, about a thousand servicemen participated in them. There were meetings with the staff of the Black Sea Fleet warship P...

Moscow, September 22, ( Interfax ) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia criticized hegumens and abbesses for seeking luxury and comfort. "I initiated that each father superior and each mother superior has a bishop's staff (a symbol of spiritual power). But I could not even imagine that hegumens and abbesses will turn these staffs in patriarchal ones, will richly decorate them, will put a cross on them. I did not bless such staffs. You should have an ordinary hegumen staff, without decorations, without jewelry trinkets," the patriarch said on Thursday at his meeting with heads of monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. "When you come home, the first thing you should do is to order ordinary staffs similar to the one that was in Holy Metropolitan Peter's hands," he said. According to the primate, fathers superior and mothers superior should think more about ascetic life, not about comfortable conditions. "I do not think that ...

Oh Master, Lord our God, who in ancient times, didst hear the prayer of thy zealous Prophet Elijah, and didst will to hold back the rain for a time: Oh thou Creator and merciful Lord who loves mankind, look down now upon the humble prayers of us, thine unworthy servants, and in the compassion overlook our iniquities, and, as we supplicate thee for thine own love for mankind, grant good weather unto thine inheritance, causing the sun to shine upon us who are requesting and entreating mercy from thee. Make glad the face of the earth for the sake of thy people, and of infants and cattle and all other living things, which do thou satisfy by thy good pleasure, granting them food in due season. Yea, Oh Lord our God, reject not our prayer as if in vain, neither put us to shame for our hope, but spare us according to thy mercies, and visit us with thy compassions, for our days pass in vanity, and our life grows weak with infirmities. Destroy us not, therefore, who have attracted thy wrat...

September 21, 2016 ( mospat.ru ) – The 14 th Plenary Session of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church completed its work in Chieti, Italy. After the necessary amendments and additions, the plenary session approved a common document on Synodality and Primacy during the First Millennium: Towards a Common Understanding in Service to the Unity of the Church. The delegation of the Georgian Church made a statement expressing disagreement with particular paragraphs of the document. This statement was included in the communique adopted by the plenary session and will be present as a footnote in the common document to be published on behalf of the Commission in the nearest future. The meeting considered a topic to be chosen as a follow-up of the dialogue. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church delegation, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations (D...

This is of course not actually happening anywhere... that I know of. ( EOTT ) - Just in time for the start of Fall, local hipster priest Fr. Kale Adams announced this morning that he has consecrated his first batch of Pumpkin Spice Eucharist. Although the seasonal pumpkin flavor of Jesus’ body has been condemned by the Vatican, Fr. Adams has told his parishioners that they’re not sheep, but rather, “free souls that can’t be contained by the man or the Vatican.” “Pumpkin Spice Eucharist allows me to express myself and my love for JC in ways you wouldn’t believe,” Adams told EOTT as he sat down to finish knitting a cover for his iPad. “And listen, to all those establishment bishops in Rome, I was consecrating before it was cool. And that’s why my parishioners dig me and why so many of them have returned to the Church in the first place. You gotta give them what they want. And what they want is Jesus…Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, with a flawless blend of cinnamon, clove, nut...

In August I posted some new regulations to be used in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy for Greek churches in the US (see: " Changes a'coming to Greek parishes in the US "). I received a ton of email on the topic. In fact, I still am. By way of update let me say that it looks like as least three metropolises have stated that these changes are not going to go into immediate effect and that the Greek Holy Eparchial Synod will meet and come out with new standards together which will be released to the parishes. I hope for a robust line of communication between the parish clergy and the hierarchs as there are lots of good things about the proposed standards (both the new Liturgy book and the changes outlined for the laity in that message from the music federation) there is also a lot of clarification and editorial work to be done.

Moscow, September 16 ( Interfax ) - The head of the Roman Catholic Church received a gift from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia - a part of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov in a shrine made in the form of an easter egg. Head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk conveyed the gift on Thursday at the Apostolic Palace, in the Vatican, the DECR communication service reports. Among the focuses of the talk was the tragic situation of the Christian population of the Middle East. Pope Francis and Metropolitan Hilarion pointed to the positive experience of cooperation in giving aid to Christians in the Middle East in pursuance of the decision made at the meeting in Cuba. "The both sides stressed the need for further consolidated actions in the Middle East. The DECR chairman introduced the Pope to the Russian Church’s initiatives for bringing humanitarian aid to suffering people in Syria and thanked the Pontiff for...

Moscow, September 14 ( Interfax ) - Majority of pregnancies in Russia are consciously aborted, head of the movement Women for Life Natalya Moskvitina says. "70% of pregnancies end in abortion. Three quarters of marriages ends in divorce during first four years of life together. Every three seconds a baby is killed in abortion clinics," Moskvitina said during a video bridge Moscow-Kazan on Wednesday. She is a mother of four children and three times doctors persuaded her to make an abortion, saying that her next baby would have certain deviations. "Three times they made a mistake, and three times I tried to prove that even if my baby is a disabled, I want to be the mother for my child," Moskvitina said. According to her, first of all, "abortions are business" and those, who are involved in it, tell people that it is a "principle of freedom." "It is legalized, and every woman faces this terrific choice. No one tells her that life is ...

JASENOVAC, Croatia ( Times of Israel ) — Visiting ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the spiritual head of Orthodox church leaders, on Saturday commemorated the victims of Croatia’s most notorious World War II death camp. Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Constantinople based in Istanbul, in the first visit by the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Church to the country, presided over a mass in the church at Jasenovac and visited the site of the camp known as “Croatia’s Auschwitz.” The camp, whose site is now home to a memorial, was set up in mid-1941 by the pro-Nazi regime and dismantled in 1945. Croatia’s WWII pro-Nazi Ustasha regime persecuted and killed ethnic Serbs, who are mostly Orthodox Christians, Jews, Romas and anti-fascist Croatians. The total number of people killed at Jasenovac, some 60 miles southeast of the capital Zagreb, remains disputed. It varies from tens of thousands to 700,000, according to Serbian figures. Bartholomew, who arrived for a two-d...

( Vatican Radio ) - Catholic and Orthodox theologians are meeting in the Italian town of Chieti for the 14th plenary session of their international dialogue commission. The meeting from September 15th to 22nd brings together two representatives from each of the fourteen Orthodox Churches, alongside 28 Catholic participants, under the shared presidency of Cardinal Kurt Koch from the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and Archbishop Job of Telmessos from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The meeting will focus on discussion of a draft document, drawn up at the previous two sessions, entitled “Towards a common understanding of Synodality and Primacy in service to the Unity of the Church”. Participants will also share moments of prayer together with local Christian communities, including a Mass in the cathedral of San Giustino in Chieti on Saturday and a Divine Liturgy at the shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello on Sunday. To find out more about the meeting, Philippa H...

( Greek Reporter ) - In Joliet the parishioners of All Saints Greek Orthodox Church are celebrating the church’s 100th anniversary. The church offers services in both English and Greek on Sundays and is a gathering place for the third and fourth-generation descendants of its original Greek founders as well as people who have married and converted to Orthodoxy. Maria Maintains, a member of the church and the chairwoman for the anniversary commented to theherald-news.com that the church is a vital part of the Greek Orthodox community as it is “still a place to come together and celebrate.” The church has made a year of celebrations in honoring the 100th year of All Saints from banquets and a Greek-centric version of Mardis Gras celebrations before Lent. A Church Built with Steel Meant for Wrigley Field The building of where the church stands today is not the original structure from 1916 as it was demolished in 1942. In 1943 the cornerstone for the building that still stan...

( AOB ) - October 2, 2016. 2016 College Student Sunday Encyclical: “Come and See.” Beloved Clergy, Godly Monastics, and Blessed Faithful, We greet you with joy as we announce the date for College Student Sunday, benefiting Orthodox Christian Fellowship. To support the incredible efforts of our students, College Student Sunday will be the first Sunday of October, running in conjunction with OCF’s Orthodox Awareness Month. This year, the date falls on OCTOBER 2. Orthodox Christian Fellowship continues to provide students with opportunities to encounter Christ and grow in their Orthodox faith through their growing network of on campus OCF chapters led by talented students, clergy, and lay advisors as well as through programs such as regional retreats, College Conference, Real Break, and the Summer Leadership Institute. OCF continues to make every effort to connect new freshmen to campus chapters and local parishes through the First Forty Days Initiative, which involves extensive ...

VATICAN CITY ( Crux ) - In a change to church law, Latin-rite Catholic deacons may not preside at a wedding when one or both of the new spouses are members of an Eastern Catholic church. The new rule is one of the changes to 11 canons in the Latin-rite Code of Canon law that Pope Francis approved in order to harmonize the laws of the Latin and Eastern Catholic churches on several issues involving the sacraments of baptism and marriage. After more than 15 years of study and worldwide consultation, the conflicting rules were resolved by adopting the Eastern code’s formulations for the Latin church as well, said Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. The bishop spoke to journalists Sept. 15 after the publication of an apostolic letter published “motu proprio” (on his own initiative) in which Pope Francis ordered the changes to the Latin Code of Canon Law, the 1983 text governing the majority of the world’s Catholics. In the Eastern ...

( Missoulian ) - Eastern Orthodox believers are patiently moving forward with plans to build a monastery in Montana. Though the timetable will depend on issues such as funding, members of St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church in Bozeman already have donated land near the base of Montana’s Tobacco Root Mountains especially for the monastery. The property is near Harrison on Harrison Lake, also known as Willow Creek Reservoir. “It’s already in a conservation easement which stipulates that nothing can be built on the land other than an Eastern Orthodox monastery,” said David Hicks, a member of St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church in Bozeman. “The property is a 1,000-acre tract on the north shore of the lake.” West of the Moon David Hicks and his wife, Betsy, gave the parcel from what they called their West of the Moon ranch for the purpose of building St. Peter’s Monastery, as it is called. The “West of the Moon” name of the ranch comes from an old jazz standard “East of the ...

This is sadly part of a very common occurrence in Kosovo. Vandals enter churches, set them on fire, then they urinate and defecate in them. The message is clear. This has been happening ever since the tragic and foolhardy separation of Kosovo from Serbia. ( SOC-Kosovo ) - Unknown persons broke into the uncompleted Serbian Orthodox church of Christ the Savior in Priština downtown today and set it on fire. Priština parish priest Fr. Saša Mitrović found out that vandals had cut a metal bar on the door of the church, broke into the church and set the fire. Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Raška-Prizren Teodosije condemned the incident and said that it is the consequence of unreadiness of the Kosovo authorities and police to provide round o'clock protection of the church of Christ the Savior which had been targeted by vandals many times before. "Setting the Serbian Orthodox Church in Priština downtown on fire today shows that our sites are not adequately protected in Kosovo and...

STANWOOD, WA ( King5 ) They spend their days in solemn worship and quiet contemplation. Their focus is steadfastly on serving their Savior. “The most important thing in the world to us is to lead a quiet life dedicated to prayer,” said Mother Thecla. Recently, however, that focus has been increasingly interrupted with calls from contractors about a problem that’s proving quite costly. “It's definitely disrupted our life quite a bit,” said Mother Thecla. That is an understatement of biblical proportions. After 18 years at the humble home that serves as their Stanwood convent, the sisters of the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord have discovered the place is contaminated with toxic mold. The sisters have gotten sick. Four of them have had to move out. One now sleeps in a camper, another in an outbuilding. The Orthodox Christians eek out an ascetic existence by making and selling beeswax candles. Health problems, however, have forced them to essentially shutter their...

When I was looking for a house with a real estate agent in preparation for moving for seminary, the agent asked if we wanted to take a break and get something to eat as we'd been at it all day. "Where," we asked, "should we go?" To which he responded, "Oh, Eat'n Park is just down the road." He said Eat'n Park and I heard Eton Park. My mind began imagining wait staff in Eton suits or at least a very posh experience. "Are we dressed well enough?" I asked. Confused, he responded that we were fine. Looking back, this was the first of many miscommunications I was in for during my time up North for seminary. ( Pravmir ) - In late August, 11 pupils from the UK’s prestigious boys’ private school Eton College went on a trip to Russia. The teenagers visited Moscow and St. Petersburg, met their Russian peers, and even had a chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov), Hegumen of Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, spo...

My wife has gone in the past and quite enjoyed it. Please consider going no matter what jurisdiction you're in. ( Antiochian.org ) - The 2016 Clergy Wives Weekend will be held at Antiochian Village the weekend of October 21–23. This year's speaker at the pan-Orthodox event will be Catherine Hopko Mandell, daughter of Fr. Tom and Mat. Anne Hopko, and granddaughter of Fr. Alexander and Mat. Juliana Schmemann. She is well qualified to speak from her understanding of life in the clergy family, and will reflect not only on her life as a daughter and granddaughter, but as mother and aunt. Matushka Anne will also discuss issues of raising our children in the Faith. The info and registration form can be downloaded here (PDF). Scholarship funding is available. To make a request for that, or if you have questions, contact Kh. Stefanie Yazge: SYazge@msn.com.

( ROEA ) - The Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America gathered in its 84th Annual Session at Vatra Romaneasca, in Grass Lake, Michigan, passed unanimously the following resolution in its opening session: Whereas, the life of our God-protected Episcopate has recently been attacked by calumny, slander and lies through the use of emails, social media, publications and illegal demonstrations; and Whereas, the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America (ROEA) is a canonical diocese of the Orthodox Church in America, its hierarchs being members of its Holy Synod of Bishops, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States and the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of Canada; The Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America therefore resolves the following: We affirm our allegiance and adherence to the Holy Canons of the Orthodox Church, the Statutes of the Orthodox Church in America and the Constitution and By-Laws of the Romanian Ortho...

Imagine using stacked bricks to make the holy doors.

( ROCOR-Australia ) - "Service book " which published in Shanghai when St. John was there will re-printing soon. Please pray for us. You may contact us, if you want to get this book. Your donation are welcome! Thank you very much! 圣伊望主教在上海期间出版的《事奉经》即将重印。请为我们祈祷。如果您想得到该书，请与我们联系。欢迎捐助。多谢！

Almost inevitably when an ascetic practice of the Church is enjoined to the people, someone will say, "Well, that's for monks. I'm not a monk." More often than not that's not true, but even in those instances where the monastic practice far exceeds what a layperson might be expected to do we shouldn't invalidate even the first step up that ladder. If it's a hundred steps and you know you can only do one there is merit in that one step. I have watched all my children learn to walk and none of them ran to me the day after their first step. And I have seen men learning to walk again after accidents and none of them thought they'd be going hiking tomorrow. So, if it is something you have never done or something that sinfulness has enfeebled you from doing, you will never accomplish even paltry results if you never put forth effort. More importantly, you deprive the Holy Spirit of an opportunity to work within you. ( OCIC ) - Once I was giving a talk a...