Byzantine, Texas

I'd say the number one question I've been asked over the years is "When will there be Orthodox unity in America?" And my answer is always the same: "If ROCOR and MP and OCA can't be unified, how do you imagine the Antiochians, Greeks, and Russians could achieve unity?" I look forward to reading this paper. ( ROCOR Studies ) - The Relationship of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) and ROCOR from 1950 to the Present According to Documents in the OCA Archives by Alexis Liberovsky, (Archivist, Orthodox Church in America, Director – Office of History & Archives) This paper will provide an overview of the main historical events in the relations of the North American Metropolia, which, after receiving autocephaly in 1970, became the Orthodox Church in America, with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) from 1950 to the present day, mainly on the basis of materials preserved in the Archives of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).  The OCA ...

( OCP ) - Patriarch John X of Antioch has urged unity with the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Primate of the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Church was speaking at the consecration ceremony of the Syriac Orthodox Archbishops in Lebanon (25/6/21). Patriarch said he was hopeful in evading obstacles to achieve unity with the Syriac Church. According to a report published by the official portal of the Syriac Orthodox Church Patriarch John X in his speech stated that “I assure Your Holiness that your celebration is ours. When I heard the Homologia, except for the part about the ecumenical councils, I felt as if I am declaring my faith as a Greek Orthodox.” “Allow me, Your Holiness, to consider with you this day as a decision to relaunch the Joint Committee between our two Churches to continue its serious work and to increase its efforts to remove all remaining obstacles in face of our unity.” Together, we may give common witness for our one Orthodox Faith to our Christian communities but also to the...

( OAJ ) - Although the arts play an inextricable part in the embodiment of Orthodox faith and culture, it is rare, at least in the anglophone world, to find events that draw together artists from a variety of disciplines into a single international event in support of their work. Indeed, the effort and support necessary for the organization and realization of such an endeavor is immense. So we can only be grateful to those who have taking the initiative and given of themselves to collaborate in launching the Orthodox Arts Festival. The fields represented by the festival include Iconography, Fine Arts, Architecture, Photography, Film, Church Music, and Literature. All of the works are based on Orthodox Christian ideas, culture, and values. According to the event’s mission statement: “The Orthodox Arts Festival is an online event devoted to Orthodox Christian Artists that takes place every year. Our goal is straightforward. To provide possibilities for all active Orthodox Artists, as wel...

Will it be Bishop Alexis or Gerasim? Thoughts? ( OCA-AK ) - A Special Assembly of The Diocese of Sitka and Alaska will take place on August 7, 2021 at St. Innocent Cathedral in Anchorage.  Metropolitan TIKHON will preside over the one-day assembly during which the clergy and delegates will nominate a new reigning hierarch for the diocese.  Bp. DANIEL of the Diocese of the West will also be in attendance. The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America will then make the final decision as to who will fill the vacancy.

He was commemorated yesterday (NC) and decided I just had to do a bit of research based on the appellation alone. He is also called Sampson the Hospitable. And his name is also sometimes spelled Samson. ( Abba Moses ) - He is counted as one of the Holy Unmercenary Physicians. "This saint was born of rich and eminent parents in ancient Rome, where he studied all the secular wisdom of that time, devoting himself in particular to the study of medicine. Sampson was a compassionate and liberal physician, and gave the sick medicine for both soul and body, counselling each man to fulfill the requirements of the Christian faith. He moved to Constantinople, where he lived in a tiny house from which he distributed alms, comfort, advice, hope, medicine and all possible aid to those suffering in spirit and in body. The Patriarch heard of Sampson's great virtue and ordained him priest. At that time the Emperor Justinian the Great became ill with what his doctors believed to be an incurable...

 ( Orthochristian ) -  A Talk with Hieromonk Irenei (Pikovsky), a Brother of Sretensky Monastery —What is the view of the Orthodox Church on various systems of fitness regimens such as yoga, or the gymnastics of the Tibetan monks? Isn’t it essentially a temptation? And is it acceptable to practice fortune-telling? —I have never met any document of the Bishop’s Council expressly stating the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church on these issues, but priests in their sermons would likely talk about them in a negative rather than positive light. The matter is that the Eastern practices currently advertised in fitness centers as physical exercise routines originated primarily as spiritual practices. In other words, it is about the meditation first and only later it is a physical regimen, supplementing meditation. It is the same in Orthodox ascetic practice: Our faith and prayers to Christ come first, followed next by the practice of fasting. For us, the practice of fasti...

( Guardian ) - Ten people, including seven senior Greek Orthodox bishops, have been hurt in an acid attack by a priest undergoing a disciplinary hearing in Athens, authorities have alleged. Three of the bishops were still in hospital following the attack late on Wednesday, while two lawyers were also being treated. A police officer at the scene, who arrested the suspect, was also rushed to hospital. Three of the clerics were in serious condition according to the country’s health minister, Vasilis Kakilias, who described the incident as “unprecedented and tragic”. Local media reported that those attacked had suffered burns, mostly on their faces and hands. The bishops were in session to discuss possibly defrocking the priest after he was allegedly discovered to be in possession of 1.8 grams of cocaine – hidden under his cassock “in the area of his genitals” – in June 2018, the Greek daily Ta Nea reported late on Wednesday. Appearing before a public prosecutor in the town of Veroia, he a...

( Pemptousia ) - As we know, the feast of the Ascension seals the first coming of Christ to the world, in the flesh. It thus completes the plan of God’s divine dispensation in the incarnation of his Son and Word as a human being. The nativity, the teaching, the  miracles, the passion, the crucifixion and burial and the resurrection of Christ \re divine occurrences which are related to Christ’s presence in the world. With the Ascension, however, the healing of the human race through all these works and deeds is sealed, but also generalized to the whole of the human race, because the Lord didn’t merely ascend into the heavens in glory but, as we confess in article 6 of the Creed: ‘And he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the father’. In other words, deified human nature is now present at the throne of God, together with the divine. Therefore every being which shares human nature can also be deified by grace and so can be saved. Before the Ascension this was impossib...

 

Lest you say "The EP is going to be the EP," there were representatives (episcopal and otherwise) of other Orthodox jurisdictions in attendance (OCA and others). I'm sure people have a variety of opinions about celebrating a Liturgy in an Episcopal church. Feel free to see their website here if you are curious where this church fits on the ACNA/ECUSA spectrum. And do read the words of Abp. Elpidophoros on ecumenism and of the role/greatness of the Ecumenical Patriarch. It makes very clear his opinions on both topics. ( GOA ) - His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America will preside over the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy honoring Saint Bartholomew at the historic Saint Bartholomew Church in Midtown Manhattan on June 11, 2021.  Bishop Dean Wolfe, Rector of Saint Bartholomew’s Church, joyfully has extended his blessing to His Eminence for this joyous occasion to take place.  St. Bartholomew's Church is a historic Episcopal parish founded in 1835, and located on the ...

My expectation, backed by the experiences of women in the third world (chiefly India), is that there is a danger of a breeding underclass developing. Women of varying ability to make decisions about when and how often their wombs are used for people to order children off the shelf. And of course the dangers of "imperfect" aka "not what I ordered" children left in some bizarre undeclared limbo. It's all very Zardoz. Moscow, June 11 ( Interfax ) - The Russian Orthodox Church has welcomed parliamentarians' initiative to ban foreigners from using the services of surrogate mothers in Russia, calling on the State Duma in its future convocation to support the bill. "Such an initiative, aimed at saving children, cannot help but make us, Orthodox Christians, the entire family community, and citizens of Russia happy. We are sincerely thankful, and we fully support the authors, experts, the people who drafted this bill, all political and public figures who raised ...

 

( OCA ) - The Diocese of the Midwest, the Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania and the Bulgarian Diocese announced today that the Parish Development Forum will be held online Friday July 16. Registration will begin in mid-June. “While many regions are lifting COVID mandates it seems most effective to once again offer the Parish Development Forum as a one day online session,” said Joseph Kormos, Forum co-chairperson and Parish Development Ministry Leader for the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh. The theme of the 2021 Forum will be “Awakening to Opportunity”.  “While ‘getting back to normal’ sounds attractive, we are hopefully not returning to parish life as it used to be but rather building to something better,”  said Archpriest Stephen Frase co-chairperson of the Forum.  Parishioners return as different people to a parish that is different in many ways. Roles, jobs and ministries may have changed. Fears and concerns exist. Yet, we are offered unprecedented opportunities to reach ...

( Patristic Nectar ) - Patristic Nectar Publications is pleased to present our 2021 Conference - The Mother of God in our Lives. We are making this conference available through live online streaming for those who would like to attend remotely. Registration for this event is $40. All registrants will be able to watch the conference live, and in addition they will receive the complete set of conference lectures in their Patristic Nectar account library once they are published. To watch the conference and receive the audios, register below. You can also find the conference schedule and information about our speakers.