Byzantine, Texas

( ROC ) - The members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church have read the Announcement of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria concerning the establishment of the Exarchate of Africa by the Russian Orthodox Church, published on 12th January 2022. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church deems it necessary to respond to the attempts made in the document to distort the true reasons for the Exarchate’s establishment and the circumstances surrounding it. According to the Announcement, the decision of the Moscow Patriarchate is accounted for by “the fact of the recognition… of the Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” by His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria. This allegation is based on an intentionally false idea, because the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has existed to this day as a part, independent in its governance, of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Church has neither asked for nor received autocephaly. On the contrary, it strongly...

You can follow his new podcast series on his Patreon account here .

From the blog of the author of the book Syria Crucified: Stories of Modern Martyrdom in an Ancient Christian Land , a post entitled " Burial of a New Martyr: 10 Years Ago, First Christian Priest Killed In Syria ." This week marks ten years since the martyrdom of Syrian Priest-Monk Basilios Nassar. His funeral took place on January 26th, 2012. As jihadists advanced on Hama in central Syria, he was shot by a sniper while trying to save another man’s life who had collapsed in the street. In the Orthodox Church, especially in the Russian tradition, some Saints are given the title “passion bearer” as they faced death in an especially heroic and Christ-like manner. A section dedicated to this righteous passion bearer details his harrowing ordeal in the book written by Zachary Wingerd and myself, Syria Crucified: Stories of Modern Martyrdom in an Ancient Christian Land (available direct through the publisher here). In honor of the ten year anniversary of his repose, the below excerp...

It does not mince words.

From the blog Musing of Orthodox thinkers, a post entitled " Parsing the Archbishop’s Words ." Abp. Elpidophoros, the controversial primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, spoke and prayed at the March for Life in D.C. on January 21, 2022. His short comments reiterated the Church’s unequivocal dogma regarding the sacredness of human life. Given the setting, and given the moral Tradition of the Church, he could not have done otherwise. But one sentence from his comments stood out amongst the others. You might call it the proverbial “sniper in the grass”. That is the innocent-sounding statement that appears to support the so-called right of expectant mothers to choose to snuff out the human life growing in their wombs. People today are pretty sensitive to remarks like it. Let’s make an attempt to parse the venerable archbishop’s comments. (You can find them in their entirety under my own here.) “We affirm the gift of sanctity of life – all life, born and unborn.” In the Bibl...

To equip, inspire, and prepare a generation of writers in the timeless art of storytelling. On Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 8 PM Eastern, we are hosting an online Open House to announce St. Basil College of Creative Writing, a subsidiary of St. Athanasius College. At the open house, Dn. Nicholas Kotar will share the vision of the college and be available for Q&A. The college will begin this summer with an in-person writer's retreat in upstate New York and then continue online for nine months. Here are the featured instructors: Paul Kingsnorth Jonathan Pageau Dn. Nicholas Kotar Katherine Bolgar Hyde  Nicole M. Roccas Learn more at: www.stbasilwriting.com

( orthodoxartsfestivaldfw.com ) - Welcome to Sts. Constantine and Helen Orthodox Church, and to our first Festival of Orthodox Christian Arts! The Festival is our way of celebrating the completion of our new Temple. It also seemed an opportunity to invite people throughout DFW - and beyond - to "Come and See" both the new Temple and the flowering of Arts that springs from the Orthodox Christian worldview.  While construction is complete, it will be awhile before the Temple can be officially consecrated. We couldn't wait, however, to celebrate our progress-to-date. Friday - February 18th Keynote Address: The Role of the Arts in Orthodox Theology Dr. Peter Bouteneff, Director, Sacred Arts Institute, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary​ Dr. Bouteneff will describe the role of the arts in the Orthodox Church’s theology and its Liturgy. He will inspire us to rejoice in the arts of our Church and to think about them in new ways.​ St. Kassiani Chorale Conductor Deacon Anthony Stoke...

( orthochristian.com ) - As usual, there was a strong Orthodox presence at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., held on Friday, January 21, this year. The Orthodox presence was led by twelve hierarchs, including His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada and several other hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in America, and hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The day began with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at the OCA’s St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, reports the OCA. The hierarchs and other clergy then joined many other Orthodox Christians, including delegations from St. Tikhon’s Seminary and St. Vladimir’s Seminary, at the rally. While the Orthodox participation in the March for Life has been headed for decades by the OCA, the Orthodox remarks and prayer from the rally stage were offered by Archbishop Elpidopho...

( ROCOR Studies ) - Have you ever wondered why our Church does certain things a certain way? The easiest – if one of the most painful examples – is why ROCOR has a history of not paying clergy… Some others are: Why do we have a Synod? Why do we have diocesan and parish councils? How do bishops, clergy, and laity interact with each other? If you’ve always wondered about ROCOR’s mindset, we can give you a very engaging answer.ROCOR’s own historian Protodeacon Andrei Psarev, founder and director of ROCORstudies.org will join us for a live webinar on Wednesday, January 26th, at 1 p.m. EST. Register HERE . Everything you’ve ever wondered about the history and traditions of ROCOR. And even – what it means for you and our whole Church today and in the future. You can ask questions during the webinar on Zoom. Please, spread the word to all your ROCOR history buffs and/or all those who have questions about WHY ROCOR does certain things a certain way.

Someone, please tell me what this emboldened bit means. I read it as a bodily autonomy argument for murder of the unborn and fail to see any other reason to include such wording. Anyone have another read on it? ( GOARCH ) - His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America Introduction & Prayer March for Life Rally National Mall, Washington, D.C. Friday, January 21, 2022 Dear Sisters and Brothers, Today, we come together in solidarity with our Brother Bishops of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. We affirm the gift and sanctity of life – all life, born and unborn. As Christians we confess that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God.  Every life is worthy of our prayer and our protection, whether in the womb, or in the world. We are all responsible for the well-being of children. We are their “keepers,” and cannot shirk from our accountability for their welfare. At ...

( Church of Alexandria ) - In the name of the Triune God, we gathered in the Great City of Alexandria at the invitation of His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa and with feelings of responsibility towards its flock and its centuries old historical Apostolic journey, the Hierarchs of the legendary and Ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria, following its meeting, examining in multiple and in various ways the canonical parameters of the anti-canonical and anti-ecclesiastical incursion of the Russian Patriarchate to create new "ecclesiastical formations in Africa", announces the following: Already in the past few years, due to the fact of the recognition on behalf of His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, of the Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, we suddenly received the immoral invasion and incursion of the Russian Church by methods of denying the ecclesiastical way and tradition, which all the l...