Byzantine, Texas

( Assyrian Post ) - Brothers and Sisters in Christ, peace be upon you all. It is with great honor and joy that we announce the consecration of a new bishop, His Grace Mar Awa, Bishop of California. His Grace Mar Awa was the former Arch-Deacon David Royel. The consecration took place today, Sunday November 30, 2008 at Mar Zaia Church in Modesto, California. This special, emotional and holy event left all who witnessed it and were fortunate to attend speechless. His Grace Mar Awa was born on July 4, 1975 to his parents Koresh and Flourence Royel in Chicago, IL. His Grace is our first bishop ever ordained that was born in the United Stated of America. His parents should take great pride in raising such a wonderful and special son that will serve as our holy father. His Grace Mar Awa was ordained sub-deacon in October 1991 and ordained deacon by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch on January 1992 in Mar Gewargis Cathedral, in Chicago, Illinois. Then he was ordained cor-bishop...

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2008 ( Zenit.org ) - Here is the text of the message Benedict XVI sent to Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I for the feast of St. Andrew, which is today. The message was delivered by a Vatican delegation sent to visit the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople for the occasion. The president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper and Bishop Brian Farrell, respectively, were accompanied by Domincan Father Vladimiro Caroli, of the council, and Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, the apostolic nuncio in Ankara. "Grace to you and peace from God the Father"' (Gal 1: 3) It is with deep joy that I address these words of Saint Paul to Your Holiness, the Holy Synod and all the Orthodox clergy and lay people assembled for the feast of Saint Andrew, the brother of Saint Peter and, like him, a great apostle and martyr for Christ. I am pleased to be represented on This festal occasion by a delegation led by my vener...

( Directions to Orthodoxy ) - The Coptic Pope Shenuda III barred Egyptian Christians from praying in a church building in Cairo Tuesday after sectarian violence broke out this past weekend over the building’s use as a Christian prayer hall. At least eight men were arrested on Sunday night when Muslims clashed with Coptic Christians in the neighborhood of Ein Shams to protest the use of the property for prayer, according to state news agency MENA. Muslims reportedly threw stones and burned two cars during the riot. In response to the clash, Pope Shenuda III ordered Copts to cease praying in the church-owned building that was previously an unused factory. Following the clash, Copts complained about the unfair law that requires them to be granted presidential permission before building a church or expanding an existing church. The authorization is difficult to near impossible to get and many Christians feel the law exists only to oppress the Christian minority community in a country where...

Vatican City, Nov 26, 2008 / 11:33 am ( CNA ) - Pope Benedict and the Roman Catholic faithful were joined in the Paul VI audience hall today by Aram I, Catholicos of Cicilia of the Armenians and a group of Armenian clergy and laity. Before he delivered his general audience address, the Pope thanked Aram I for his efforts to further ecumenical dialogue and prayed for full unity between the two Churches. "This fraternal visit," Pope Benedict said, speaking to the Armenian delegation in English, "is a significant occasion for strengthening the bonds of unity already existing between us, as we journey towards that full communion which is both the goal set before all Christ's followers and a gift to be implored daily from the Lord." The group of about 50 faithful from the Armenian Apostolic Church is visiting Rome until November 27, and today they will visit the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Holy Father invoked "the grace of the Holy Spirit on your pilgrimag...

H/T: American Papist

Kiev, November 26, ( Interfax ) – Bishop Evlogy of Kremenchug and Khorol believes Catholic structures back up the idea of autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. “ Catholic West stands for Ukrainian autocephaly. Please, remember, the very idea of the so-called “Kiev Patriarchate” belonged to Uniates, who understand the union of Churches as their subordination to Rome,” Bishop Evlogy said in his interview to Kremenchug Pravoslavny paper. As was seen when Rome refused to hear the appeal of the Pidhirtsi Fathers case because it was a matter internal to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, or when the UGCC wrote their own catechism, or elect their own bishops, or glorify their saints, or meet in synod without Roman intervention, etc. etc. He sees the “direct interest” of Greek Catholics in autocephalous status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to the Bishop, Uniates “understand that an attempt to introduce autocephaly won’t do any good for Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and more li...

( IOCN ) On 25 th of November 2008, in the framework of his official visit to the Vatican, His Holiness Aram I with his entire entourage of Archbishops and Bishops visited the offices of the Pontifical Council for promoting Christian unity. His Eminence Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of this Council, surrounded by his entire staff, warmly welcomed His Holiness by underlining the importance of ecumenism for the Catholic Church and expressed his joy for the fraternal relations and collaboration between the Vatican and Armenian Orthodox Church-Catholicosate of Cilicia. During the general discussion a special appreciation was extended to His Holiness for his long-standing ecumenical leadership and instrumental role in ensuring the participation of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the official theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. In their turn, bishop Johan Bonny and bishop Nareg Alemezian, the two ecumenical officers partic...

More great pictures here . The initial audience. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I presiding over a special church service especially prepared for this occasion. Exchanging of gifts. His Holiness Aram I lectures at Urbaniana University. Commemoration of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide at St. Bartholomew Church in Rome.

Every few months I come across this poignant video and take a moment to watch it.

Moscow, November 24, ( Interfax ) – Holodomor was a punishment of God for people’s rebellion against God, a permanent member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Synod Metropolitan Onufry of Chernovtsy and Bukovina believes. 2-3 million dead including women and children due to Soviet industrialization and genocide does not Noah's Flood or Sodom and Gomorrah make. “Holodomor was a correction from God, suppression of our pride that rebelled against ourselves, against human existence. There’s a Ukrainian expression, it’s a bit vulgar, katuzi po zasluzi (an executioner gets what he deserves – IF). Thus, we got what we deserved,” Metropolitan Onufry of Chernovtsy and Bukovina has told an Interfax-Religion correspondent on Monday. According to the hierarch, “there are certain forces that use holodomor to divide Russia and Ukraine saying that Russians oppressed Ukrainians.” “While I believe that holodomor killed more people in Russia than in Ukraine,” the Metropolitan said. Metropolitan On...

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( RISU ) - On 18 November 2008, in the town of Well Cottage, New York State ( USA), the fifth All-Abroad Sobor (Council) of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA) opened. Metropolitan Ahafanhel of southern Ukrainian Odesa was on 19 November elected the sixth hierarch of the ROCA by the vast majority of votes. The sobor was attended by 55 persons, including several honorary guests, Greek and Romanian bishops, representatives of the Old Believers, and an observer from the Russian True Orthodox Church. Forty-six delegates had the right to vote. They represented part of the parishes which refused to follow Metropolitan Lavr, who united the ROCA with the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on 17 May 2007. The opposition, which gathered around now Metropolitan Ahafanhel, has retained the old name of the church, ROCA. Hot debates arose about the question of the timeliness of establishing the synod of the ROCA and electing a chief hierarch in the rank of metropolitan.

Back from my long and winding trip through South Texas. A trip to the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham to pick up for a fundraiser, a visit to St. Joseph Orthodox Church (Antiochian) for fellowship and Divine Liturgy at St. John Chrysostom in Houston, a Pilgrimage for Life some 500-600 strong (some 30-40 Byzantines holding icons) in Huntsville, a protopresbyteral gathering of families in New Waverly, and then the long trip home last night.

Heading out this weekend to attend a pro-life pilgrimage (I bought this 24" x 20" icon for the event) and do a short talk on Eastern Christian Formation for a homeschooling group. With these and more familial events planned, this promises to be a busy few days.

( POI ) - The Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians, Aram I, will be visiting Rome and the Vatican from November 23rd to 27th. The "important ecumenical event" was reported today by the Vatican radio station, relaying an official release. Important not only in itself, but also as it is another in what seems to be a rather frequent occurrence of visits to the Vatican by Armenian delegations. On November 24th, reads the release, the Armenian delegation will stop and pray on the grave of John Paul II in Saint Peter's, then it will stop in Largo San Gregorio l'Illuminatore to pay tribute to Saint Gregory the Enlightener , considered the apostle of the apostolic Armenian Church. Then, soon after that, Benedict XVI and the Catholicos will meet in the Apostolic Palace, in a spirit of brotherhood and friendliness, stopping and prayer together at the Chapel of "Redemptoris Mater". Also on November 24th, the Patriarch of the Armenian Church will be received by the...

Apologies in advance for all the acronyms. There is some history in here that would take some explaining largely centered around some sexual abuse described at the victim awareness website here . ( NFTU ) - More high-level talks were reported between the leadership of the HOCNA and GOC under Abp Chrysostomos of Athens on Monday and Tuesday, NFTU has learned. According to our source present at previous discussions, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Attika and Boetia and Bishop Photios of Marathon went to Holy Transfiguration Monastery on Mon and Tue and had meetings with the Met Ephraim, Bp Demetrius, and Met Makarios. Our source says that "there was a cooperative spirit and they agreed to study more in-depth the issues separating us and meet again in a few months." The last such meeting was in August of this year, as linked above. The Synod of Abp Chrysostomos has been very active in inter-church negotiations over the past year, both negotiating heavily with the Synod in Resist...

( SVOTS ) - From January 29–31, 2009, St. Vladimir’s will host a symposium titled “The Past and Future of Liturgical Theology: Celebrating the Anniversary of Father Alexander Schmemann.” The symposium will be structured around the annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture, to be given this year by renowned liturgist The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Robert F. Taft, S.J. All lectures will be free of charge and open to the public. I want to go to this so badly that I can taste it. Now to convince my dearest wife. “I'm very excited about the upcoming Schmemann Lecture and accompanying event,” said The Rev. Dr. Alexander Rentel, Assistant Professor in Canon Law and Byzantine Studies at St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) and organizer of the symposium. “We planned this conference for three main reasons,” said Fr. Alexander. “First, to mark the 25th anniversary of Fr. Alexander Schmemann's death; second, because a lot of interest has been shown recently in Eastern liturgical themes at ...

If you missed the original story, it can be found here . (SOCM) - HIS HOLINESS ARAM I, PATRIARCHS SHENOUDA II AND ZAKKA I CALL FOR A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CHURCHES OF JERUSALEM Meeting in the Coptic Patriarchate of Cairo, His Holiness Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia and His Holiness Patriarch Shenouda III released a joint declaration with regard to the sad incident between Armenians and Greeks in Jerusalem recently. The Spiritual Leader of the Syrian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I expressed his support for the declaration. In their joint declaration the spiritual leaders expressed sadness at the clashes between the two groups. They emphasized the respect for the historic rights of all churches in Jerusalem and the importance for resolving misunderstandings and sensitivities through mutual understand. The declaration also stressed the need to strengthen Christian unity in the Middle East. His Holiness Aram I visited Cairo on a one-day trip to meet with Patr...

11/18/2008 ( The Bulletin ) - In a few short days most Americans will be sitting down to a sumptuous dinner. In most cases that includes turkey, dressing, special potatoes, cranberry sauce and so on. However, there is a minority of Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians whose food these days consists of no meat, no eggs no dairy products. Dining this past Sunday with Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Cyril Bustros at Holy Transfiguration Church in McLean, Va., we enjoyed some salmon on rice with special potatoes, kibbe, with raw fruits and vegetables. On a week day we would only be permitted shellfish. We may have wine on Sundays, but not on non-feast days. This fast is almost identical to what Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians use before Pascha or Easter. The difference is with this fast most of the churches celebrate Christmas on the same day whereas with Pascha, the dates may be as many as six weeks apart as Pascha is calculated differently by most Catholics and by the Orthodox...

Dr. Awesome talks about the manliness of Christmas carols and the requirements for use of the term. Some commentary off-color. Dr Awesome, Christmas is almost here. I was going to ask you what the manliest Christmas carol is, but none of them seem very manly. So instead I'll leave the question open-ended. What is the best Christmas carol? Will Will, Interesting question, and I'm really glad you framed it that way. I'm not sure a carol can be manly, since manly songs feature lines like "I've seen a million faces, and I've ROCKED them all!" and I'm not aware of any carols that are like that. But evalutating the best carol, that's another matter. Of course there will be some measure of subjective taste involved in this, since different people like different things. But I've thought about this, and I truly believe that many of the "carols" that people like are not real carols at all. So I'll tell you what...let me come up with some c...

( TC ) - The United States Army has returned the Pontifical Babel College for Philosophy and Theology in Baghdad to the Chaldean Catholic Church, promising to repair or replace anything damaged while its troops occupied the buildings, Vatican Radio reported. Seminarians, students and staff left the complex in January 2007, temporarily moving to northern Iraq, because students and staff were not safe in the area of Baghdad where the college is situated. Three months later, the US Army occupied the buildings as a combat outpost. The college was occupied first by the 4th Cavalry Squadron of the First Mechanized Infantry Division and then by the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. In a recent report, Vatican Radio quoted the college rector, Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Jacques Ishaq of Baghdad, as saying the Army had now transferred the property back to the Church. "The Americans decided to leave the buildings and have signed an agreement to restore the damaged parts and r...

Story on a largely Iraqi Gnostic sect nearing extinction due to not accepting converts, loss by marriage to outsiders, and violence. BAGHDAD ( Chicago Tribune ) — On the western bank of the Tigris River, some of the last survivors of a dying sect still gather most Sundays, as they have for at least the past 2,000 years, to perform the baptism rituals that are central to their religion. Donning simple white robes that they say are identical to the one God gave to Adam, they immerse themselves in the muddy waters of the Tigris and invoke "the angels of creation" to wash away their sins. They are Mandaeans, the descendants of one of Iraq's oldest religious minorities that they claim predates Islam, Christianity and even perhaps Judaism. And they are on the brink of extinction. On the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, about 30,000 Mandaeans lived in Iraq. In the face of the persecution and threats that followed, that number has dwindled to 3,500 to 5,000, according to the U.S...

An article by Fr. Russell Duker on the Nativity Fast: The oldest Christian feast is the Resurrection of our Lord (Pascha). This Holy Day includes a whole cycle of feasts such as the Ascension and Pentecost. It is the great feast of our redemption and sanctification. Later Holy Days followed slowly until the fourth century. After the Church won official recognition and full freedom of worship and evangelization, our present calendar of festal celebration began to develop. This development was motivated by the Church's desire to honor both the events in the life our our Lord and the memory of the holy martyrs. Eventually the Church established a full year Christian calendar. We are familiar with the preparatory period before the Resurrection. This is the "Great Fast" or the "Holy Forty Days' Fast". The celebration of the birth of our Lord cannot be ascertained before the middle of the fourth century. The Church at Rome was the first to celebrate our ...

Moscow, November 13, ( Interfax ) - The Russian Orthodox Church believes the Constantinople Patriarchate should abandon its ecumenical ambitions and should become more open to brotherly inter-Orthodox dialogue. "When a decision had to be made on the Estonian issue, the Constantinople Patriarchate unilaterally and without any consultations established its own parallel structure there. Brothers do not act like that," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, a deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, said in a television program. The Constantinople Patriarchate set up the so-called "Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church" in Estonia in 1996, which is not recognized in the Orthodox world, Fr. Vsevolod said. "It is utterly wrong to make use of political moments for tearing believers off the body of the Church they belong to," he said. "Therefore, the Russian Church does not act like our brothers from the Constantinople Patriarchate ...

NEW YORK ( GOA ) – The Office of Interfaith Relations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America released a statement in response to a recent headline in the Press which read “The anticipated victory of Obama in the U.S. elections signals the end of Jewish domination. Everything changes in the USA and we hope that it will be more democratic and humane.” The statement reads: “For decades, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has been a leader in inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue. This ministry of the Archdiocese is part of the wider witness of the Ecumenical Patriarchate around the world which works for reconciliation and mutual understanding among all peoples. We are opposed to the language of bigotry, hatred and anti-Semitism in any form by any media. Furthermore, an association of this kind of language with an election in the United States that clearly witnesses to how far prejudice has been abolished is deplorable and rejectable.”

DAMASCUS, Syria ( AP ) - Archeologists have unearthed an 8th-century church believed to be the largest of several discovered at the famous dig in Palmyra, central Syria. A leading antiquities official says the church was discovered recently by a joint Syrian-Polish archeological team. Walid al-Assaad, head of the Palmyra Antiquities and Museums Department, said Thursday that the discovery took place at an excavation site in the ancient town of Palmyra, 245 kilometres northeast of Damascus. The church is the fourth and largest to be discovered in Palmyra - once a regional trade centre and now an archeological treasure trove. Al-Assaad said the church is the biggest of its kind to be found in the area so far - it's base measuring an impressive 50 by 30 metres. The church columns were estimated to be six metres tall, and the height of the wooden ceiling at some 15 metres. A small amphitheatre was found in the church's courtyard where the experts believe some Christian rituals wer...

You will not see me posting much poetry here. I find a lot of poetry posted to be self-indulgent, cloyingly saccharine, and awful. More to the point: no one reads it. Fr. Alexander Garklavs quoted this opening stanza in a recent speech and I think it points to a failing I, and I believe many others, have fallen into in this modern age. The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven, The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit. O perpetual revolution of configured stars, O perpetual recurrence of determined seasons, O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying The endless cycle of idea and action, Endless invention, endless experiment, Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness; Knowledge of speech, but not of silence; Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word. All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance, All our ignorance brings us nearer to death, But nearness to death no nearer to GOD. Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledg...

His speech to the assembly on his vision for the future of the OCA was quite a call to arms for his people. He mentioned things like... Creating Orthodox hospitals and schools Growing the Orthodox Christian Fellowship on college campuses Reaching out to the Episcopalians who are "falling away from Christianity" Housing for senior citizens and aging clergy Inter-Orthodox relations with sister churches in North America and abroad Feed the needy

I'm honestly floored by this decision. In his speech to the council yesterday he made mention of his short time as bishop ("Having only been a bishop, what... something like 10 days... this is all new to me."). If they wanted to signal a change - someone spoken of highly as an abbot and untainted by the scandals of recent years - they sent it loud and clear. PITTSBURGH, PA ( OCA Communications ) - O n Wednesday, November 12, 2008, His Grace, Bishop Jonah of Fort Worth was elected Archbishop of Washington and New York and Metropolitan of All America and Canada at the 15th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah was born James Paffhausen in Chicago, IL, and was baptized into the Episcopal Church. While still a child, his family later settled in La Jolla, CA, near San Diego. He was received into the Orthodox Church in 1978 at Our Lady of Kazan Moscow Patriarchal Church, San Diego, while a student at the University of Californ...