Byzantine, Texas

I posted another work by Mr. Mitsui in April (see here ). Below is his Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

ROME, SEPT. 30, 2010 ( Zenit.org ) - The Kingdom of Jordan is usually considered to be one of the most Christian-friendly countries in the Middle East but, according to a Catholic News Service report this week, even there Chaldean Catholic refugees from Iraq are being treated as second class citizens, forbidden to work. This is just one of a number of concerns that will probably be up for discussion at the synod of bishops for the Middle East, due to take place Oct. 10-24 at the Vatican. Regional Church leaders view the meeting as an important opportunity to call attention to the many problems facing Christians in the region. The synod’s main theme focuses on communion and witness: Participants will grapple with how the Church as a whole can offer an authentic witness in a region where she is often a fragile minority among Muslims and Jews. Closely connected is how all the various rites can strengthen their communion and unity, and so offer that effective witness. “These are the ...

From the blog " Holy Trinity Orthodox Church ," a post that I think speaks beyond politics to general interpersonal dealings in general. I am reminded of 1 John 3:14 - "... He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." "Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that is in him; because evil is but a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish reverie. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement." -- St. John of Kronstadt It is often hard for us to believe that the person who hurts us, opposes us, takes from us in one way or another is still a person in the image of God. Anger and fear blind us--lust blinds us too, but that's a topic for another day. I have been thinking lately of how large a role fear plays in how I think about politics. I am not a very politically minded person, and I know so little about politics that I refuse to argue with anyone abou...

VIENNA, Austria, 09/29/2010 ( Zenit.org ) - Here is a communique released at the conclusion of the 12th plenary session of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which took place Sept. 22-27 in Vienna. * * * The twelfth meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church took place in Vienna, Austria, a city with a long history, a bridge between West and East, with a rich ecumenical life. The meeting, generously and fraternally hosted by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna, from 20-27 September 2010, in the Kardinal König Haus. Twenty three Catholic members were present, a few were unable to attend. 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 Pa...

For more on this effort see posts here and here . ( mospat.ru ) - The Inter-Council Presence’s commission for opposing and overcoming church schisms took place on September 28, 2010, at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Donetsk, Ukraine. It was chaired by His Beatitude Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine. The meeting was attended by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, as vice-chairman of the commission; Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail, Archbishop Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol; Archbishop Mitrofan of Belya Tserkov and Boguslavsk, chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; Bishop Alexander of Pereyaslavl-Khmelnisky; Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman, as secretary of the commission; Archpriest Andrey Novikov, secretary of the Odessa diocesan administration; Archpriest Nikolay Tikhomirov, as representative of Metropolitan Alexander of Riga and All Latvia; Re...

May God return reason to the powerful leaders who today by their decisions are casting shame on their peoples, trampling justice and honesty. And may God grant us loyalty to our Kosovo covenant, our human and national dignity, loyalty to the holy reliquaries of the Archbishops of Peć, the Holy King Stefan of Dečani and the holy Great-martyr Lazarus of Kosovo. Through their prayers, o Lord, strengthen this people in its sense of justice and everything that is good and enlighten all persons and people that they may live in justice, peace and God’s compassion. - Prayer of Metropolitan Amfilohije St. Sava Cathedral, Belgrade February 26, 2008 ( Faithworld ) - Serbian Orthodox Church and political leaders gather on Sunday to enthrone a new patriarch to guide a religion embodying the spirit of Serbia, but the once a generation ceremony will take place on foreign soil in Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but many Serbs still see majority Muslim Kosovo and the ...

永遠の記憶! ( Orthodox Japan ) - October 09, 2010 (Saturday) from 11 (Mon) the 40-year anniversary dates of canonization of St. Nicholas will be held in sub-Osaka and Kyoto.

( Florovsky Society ) - On the Tree of the Cross: The Patristic Doctrine of Atonement to be held Saturday, February 12, 2011 (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Taking our cue from Fr. Georges Florovsky, the eminent 20th century Orthodox theologian who wrote with passion on this topic, we will examine the doctrine of atonement in some of the same authorities upon which Fr. Florovsky relied: the New Testament, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Gregory the Theologian, and others. We will conclude with an analysis of Fr. Florovsky's own writings on atonement, followed by a panel discussion. This symposium is co-sponsored by the Fr. Georges Florovsky Orthodox Christian Theological Society at Princeton University and the School of Christian Vocation and Mission at Princeton Theological Seminary. Speakers and other details available here .

( OCF ) - Regrettably the instances of violence occurring on college campuses have increased in recent years. This trend continued today on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin where a gunman fired multiple shots prior to ending his own life in the Perry-Castaneda Library. Fortunately, no other injuries have been reported. Orthodox Christian Fellowship offers its prayers and support to those affected by this event and has begun taking steps to address the situation. In consultation with OCF first responders, the OCF chaplain, Fr. Vasileios Flegas and members of the University of Texas OCF Chapter will be meeting this evening at Milto’s Restaurant (29th and Guadalupe, Austin) at 6:30pm.

Talked with several seminarians who all said this was a great success. More photos available here . JOHNSTOWN, PA ( ACROD ) – For the first time in several decades, Christ the Saviour Seminary hosted a meeting of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM). From Friday, September 24 until Sunday, September 26, our diocesan seminarians welcomed representatives from the following Orthodox seminaries: Holy Cross Seminary, Brookline, MA Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville, NY St. Sophia's Seminary, South Bound Brook, NJ St. Tikhon's Seminary,South Canaan, PA St. Vladimir's Seminary, Crestwood, NY In all, there were 30 participants in this encounter. The visiting seminarians arrived throughout Friday evening. Late in the evening, the meeting opened—and, for most, a long day of travel ended—with the celebration of a Moleben to the Holy Spirit Before Beginning Any Good Work. On Saturday, Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the seminary chapel, with all representativ...

Tbilisi, September 27 ( Interfax ) - The spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church has sent a letter to Russian Patriarch Kirill expressing concern over a message sent by the Russian Patriarch to the South Ossetian leader. " Reports were circulated claiming that you have sent greetings to the head of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its independence, which caused an extremely negative reaction among our believers and in the whole of the Georgian republic," Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II said in his letter. "This move is regrettable and absolutely not clear, as it signals support for and recognition of the forcibly imposed separatist regime, and of the illegally proclaimed 'independence' on this ancient Georgian land, which the whole world has acknowledged," Ilia II said. "Our people remember your personal support and the support of the Russian Orthodox Church for the recognition...

( mospat.ru ) - T he annual conference organized by the North American Academy of Ecumenists and the Canadian Ecumenical Center took place on September 24-26, 2010, in Montreal, Canada. This year the participants discussed the theme ‘New and Renewed Strategies for the Ecumenical Mission’. The discussion on this theme was planned to coincide with the Centenary of the World Missionary Conference which took place in Edinburg in 1910. The conference was attended by representatives of Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant traditions in the USA and Canada. Hegumen Philip Riabykh, vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, took part in the conference on the invitation of its organizers. He read a paper on the Russian Orthodox Church and Inter-Christian Dialogue and answered questions from participants. While in Montreal, Hegumen Philip was invited to speak on Quebec’s Christian radio ‘Ville Marie’. In an interview with a presenter o...

Again a "robo-translated" article with all the imperfections that implies. Much of what is written in the native tongue of Churches is slowly translated into English or sometimes not at all. So I post this knowing a better translation might arrive (which I will post later) or one might never appear. UPDATE: As promised, here is the official English translation. ( patriarchia.ru ) - As the President of the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate popular idea several media working document of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church does not reflect the position of the Orthodox parties on the issue of primacy of the Roman bishop, and can only be seen as merely auxiliary material for further work . Contrary to the assertions of the press, at the meeting of the Orthodox-Catholic Theological Commission in Vienna, there were no "breakthroughs" made. All the session was devot...

Tabot carried by priest during Timkat (Amharic for "baptism" comparable to Epiphany) ( guardian.co.uk ) - Westminster Abbey has been accused of sacrilege over its refusal to return a "looted" sacred object to the Ethiopian Orthodox church. For an interesting story of an Anglican church that returned a tabot they found in an Edinburgh parish, follow this link. It is also mentioned later in this article. The object is a tabot, a small tablet that symbolises the Ark of the Covenant. Tabots are regarded by 35 million Ethiopian Christians as so sacrosanct that only priests are allowed to look at them. Such is their significance that they must never be displayed or photographed. The abbey has a stone tabot inlaid at the back of an 1870s altar in the Henry VII Lady Chapel, where it is visible to anyone peering around its left side. A British priest, the Rev John McLuckie, is backing calls for its return, not least because it was taken as booty by British troops in ...

NOTE: A longer and illustrated version of the story available here . VIENNA ( Reuters ) - Roman Catholic and Orthodox theologians reported promising progress Friday in talks on overcoming their Great Schism of 1054 and bringing the two largest denominations in Christianity back to full communion. Experts meeting in Vienna this week agreed the two could eventually become "sister churches" that recognize the Roman pope as their titular head but retain many church structures, liturgy and customs that developed over the past millennium. The delegation heads stressed unity was still far off, but their upbeat report reflected growing cooperation between Rome and the Orthodox churches traditionally centered in Russia, Greece, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Metropolitan John of Pergamon "There are no clouds of mistrust between our two churches," Orthodox Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon told a news conference. "If we continue like that, God will fi...

Troparion - Tone 4 Today Alaska rejoices and America celebrates, for the new world has been sanctified by martyrdom. Kodiak echoes with songs of thanksgiving. Iliamna and Kenai observe the festival of faith. The Apostle and martyr Juvenaly is glorified, and Peter the Aleut is exalted by his voluntary sacrifice. In their devotion and love for the Lord they willingly endured persecution and death for the Truth. Now in the Kingdom of Heaven they intercede for our souls! Kontakion - Tone 4 Today Valaam joins Alaska In celebrating this joyous feast, As her spiritual son Juvenaly Embraces the new martyr Peter with love. Together they suffered for the Lord in America And united the old world with the new by their voluntary sacrifice. Now forever they stand before the King of glory and intercede for our souls.

( RISU ) - Representatives of European Churches and non-Church institutions expressed concern over the character and tone of the addresses of the press service of the Odesa Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) and the addresses of Metropolitan Ahafanhel on the activity of Greek Catholics in Odesa and their right to have their own church in the city. This position was expressed by them to representatives of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) at several international scholarly and pastoral conferences. “Experts noticed undiplomatic character of the statements and absurdity of the proofs on which the ban of the activity of UGCC in Odesa is based,” informs the press service of UGCC. In addition, as the Chief Church Counselor of the German Evangelical Church and a member of the Ecumenical Commission on dialogue with Orthodox Churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pastor Michael Gubner noted: “It is natural that it is difficult for us, repr...

( AFR / Pithless Thoughts ) Fr. Meletios Webber, the Abbot of St. John of San Francisco Monastery was in town last weekend and gave a retreat that I recorded. I also got to spend a couple hours with him recording an interview on the "grace of ordination", the role of the priest in parish life and his role as a spiritual father. Some of the questions I ask in the interview: What "lack" is made up by the Holy Spirit in ordination? Does the priesthood make a man clairvoyant and infallible? Is your parish priest your default spiritual father? What if you don't like him? Do you have to take advice given to you in confession if you think its wrong? What about penances? What does it mean if your priest floats 3 feet off the ground? All this and more...

Los Angeles ( DS-WA ) - A remarkable and historic Consecration took place on Friday September 3 and Saturday September 4, 2010. The site was St. Thomas Malankara Orthodox Church at 14121 Coteau Dr., Whittier, CA 90604, and the chief celebrant was His Grace Alexios Mar Eusebius, Metropolitan of South-West American Diocese. Assisting His Grace were Vicar of St. Thomas Malankara Orthodox Church Los Angeles Rev. Fr Yohannan Panicker, Rev. Fr. Slomo George, St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Phoenix; Rev. Fr. Mathai Alakott, San Jose and Rev. Fr. Sabu Thomas, St. Mary’s Jacobite Church, Whittier.

( mospat.ru ) - The 12th Session of the Joint Theological Commission for Dialogue Between the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches began its work on 22 September 2010 in Vienna. The commission is co-chaired by Metropolitan John of Pergamon, Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Archbishop Kurt Koch, president of Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Each Local Orthodox Church is represented by two delegates. Representing the Moscow Patriarchate are Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, DECR chairman, and Prof. Archpriest Valentin Asmus, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Humanitarian University. Archimandrite Kirill Govorun, chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church’s education committee, participates in the meeting as consultant. Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and Metropolitan Michael of Vienna, Patriarchate of Constantinople, welcomed the participants. The first day was mainly devoted to the methods of further work on the theme ‘The Primacy of the Bi...

Troparion - Tone 4 Rejoice, O barren one, who formerly did not bear a child, for you have conceived the Lamp of the Sun, who is to illumine the whole universe darkened by blindness. Rejoice, O Zachariah and cry out with boldness: “The prophet of the Most High desires to be born!”

Photo H/T: El Greca ( mospat.ru ) - On September 21, 2010, a group of leaders of the Bishops’ Assembly of North and Central America was received in audience by His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at his residence at Fanar in Istanbul, Turkey. The delegation included Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America, president of the Bishops’ Assembly; Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, vice-president of the assembly, administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate parishes in the USA ; Bishop Basil of Wichita and Central America, Patriarchate of Antioch, secretary of the assembly; and Archbishop Anthony of Hierapolis, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA, Patriarchate of Constantinople, treasurer of the assembly. They were invited to Fanar by Patriarch Bartholomew who wished to discuss the results of the first plenary meeting of the assembly which took place on May 26-28 in New York and to exchange opinions on the ways of its further work, ...

HARTFORD ( Indian Orthodox Herald ) -  Metropolitan of the Northeast American Diocese Mathews Mar Barnabas and Assistant Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos celebrated Holy Eucharist for the first time in the State of Connecticut to inaugurate an Indian Orthodox Parish, namely the St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church, Hartford, Connecticut. The celebration took place on September 11, 2010 and over 250 people attended the events. Attendees included State of Connecticut Representatives Christopher Coutu and Douglas McCrory, Rev. Eva Steege of the Grace Lutheran Church, along with many other local and regional dignitaries. After the Eucharistic celebration, a moment of silence was held in honor for the victims and for their families of the September 11, 2001 attacks. This was followed by speeches by dignitaries, musical performances and a traditional festive lunch. In addition, Governor Jodi Rell, through Representative Coutu, pronounced September 11, 2010 as St. Thomas Indian ...

( SVOTS ) - Atop our “New Facility” building, gleaming solar panels lie like sleek sunbathers. Soaking up the sun’s rays, they’re storing energy to power two buildings on our seminary campus. The sparkling panels are being installed this wee Our Chancellor, Fr. Chad Hatfield, with the help of local contractor Cory White, shows off a solar panel that will become part of the solar grid on our New Facility building. k, September 20–24, and from now on they will provide clean, renewable energy for both our Three Hierarchs Chapel and our New Facility building, which houses classrooms and faculty and staff offices. Through the newly mounted solar grid, the Seminary expects to reduce its energy costs for the two structures by nearly 78%. “We’ve been pursuing this project since 2007, when we decided to make a concerted effort at St. Vladimir’s Seminary to ‘Go Green’,” said The Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor and CEO. “Renewable energy was a keystone in that plan, since statistics h...

Apologies for wording. It's an automated translation from Italian as the official English version has not yet been posted. ROME, Wednesday, September 22, 2010 ( zenit.org ) - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday called on all the Catholic faithful to pray for the success of the dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, who these days goes into a new and important phase. This week it takes place in Vienna (Austria), the 12th plenary meeting of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church as a whole, a meeting prepared for a long time. "The theme of the current phase of study is the role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the universal Church, with particular reference to the first millennium of Christian history," said the Pope "Obedience to the will of the Lord Jesus, and the consideration of the great challenges that present themselves to Christianity, oblige us to engage seriously in the cause of restorati...

Moscow, September 22 ( Interfax ) - A joint international commission on dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, which began in Vienna on Tuesday, will discuss the Pope's primacy in the first millennium. "This is the most complicated subject in the dialogue between the Orthodox and the Catholics, because the attitude toward the bishop of Rome's ministering is key for the modern Catholic Church," Hegumen Philipp (Ryabykh) representing the Russian Orthodox Church at the session told Interfax. The presumption that the Pope has ecumenical jurisdiction goes against Orthodox ecclesiology, which teaches that, while the Orthodox Church preserves unity of faith and church governance, it still consists of several local churches, Father Philipp said, who is a deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations. The Vienna session continues the discussion that was started in Cyprus in 2009. "A draft document was...

Many years to Fr. Joseph! Just back from his trip doing mission work in Romania he was ordained last weekend. Axios! ( UOC-USA ) - On Friday and Saturday, September 17-18, 2010, upon the request of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Diocese of the USA, His Grace Bishop Daniel traveled to Camp Nazareth in Mercer, PA to ordain Subdeacon Joseph Gingrich to the Holy Deaconate and Priesthood. Following the ordination, the newly-ordained priest Joseph shared with those in attendance his thoughts on the blessed ministry in our Lord’s Holy Vineyard.

The wall that separates [the visible and invisible] worlds in an iconostasis. One might mean by the iconostasis the boards or the bricks or the stones. In actuality, the iconostasis is a boundary between the visible and invisible worlds, and it functions as a boundary by being an obstacle to our seeing the altar, thereby making it accessible to our consciousness by means of its unified row of saints (i.e., by its cloud of witnesses) that surround the altar where God is, the sphere where heavenly glory dwells, thus proclaiming the Mystery. Iconostasis is vision. Iconostasis is manifestation of saints and angels- angelophania - a manifest appearance of heavenly witnesses that includes, first of all, the Mother of God and Christ Himself in the flesh, witnesses who proclaim that which is from the other side of mortal flesh. Iconostasis is the saints themselves . If everyone praying in a temple were wholly spiritualized, if everyone praying were truly to see, then there would be no icono...

( armenianchurchwd.com ) - On Saturday, September 11, 2010, at 2:30 p.m., His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians consecrated the St. Leon Cathedral in Burbank, California.

Most visited the small church for a few minutes and watched the ceremony via giant television screens set up in the gardens outside. (Mustafa Ozer / AFP / Getty Images) Reporting from Akdamar Island, Turkey, and Beirut ( LA Times ) — A Sunday service at a historic church in eastern Turkey underscored both the desire for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians and the hurdles that remain nearly a century after a violent massacre of Armenians. It was the first service held in the 1,100-year-old Armenian Church of the Holy Cross since 1915, when a wave of violence nearly destroyed one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East. Many Armenians in the diaspora and the neighboring republic of Armenia boycotted and denounced Sunday's service on Akdamar Island after Turkish authorities did not allow a cross to be raised on the dome of the church. It was placed on the church grounds instead. Still, hundreds of Armenian pilgrims attended, many coming from the relativ...

( FOX News ) - It’s not every day you see Latin on a placard protesting the Pope. When the anti-papal crowd of several thousand atheists, radical feminists and gay activists gathered in London this weekend, most of the banners were pretty simple: stuff like “Nope to the Pope” and “Papa Don’t Preach.” But later in the afternoon, on the edges of the papal motorcade, and amidst a number of cheering fans of Benedict, there was a poster raised demanding, “DROP THE FILIOQUE.” What? You have to know a little bit of Latin, and a lot of theology and history to get that one. It wasn’t really a poster; it more like Magic Marker theology on a pizza box. And a young man named Toby Guise was happy to explain where, in his opinion, the Catholic Church had gone wrong. “Filioque” means “And the Son,” and refers to a centuries-old debate between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, about whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, as the Orthodox believe, or from the Father and the...

( patriarchia.ru ) - Patriarch Kirill, in front of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the city of Yaroslavl of the Russian Orthodox Church, consecrated the restored bells of the cathedral church.

Komandor Islands, Kamchatka, Russia Nikolskoye Village, September 17, ( Interfax ) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia first time in history of the Russian Orthodox Church visited Komandor Islands, where he consecrated a place for building St. Nicholas Church on Bering Island at the only village existing there and urged Aleutians and other local residents to search for support in faith, care for their health and set up big families. In spite of the cold windy weather, several hundred people, almost the whole population of the island, welcomed the Primate. After the service the choir of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery, that accompanies the Patriarch on his trip to the Far East, on his request, gave a small concert of spiritual and secular music to Komandor residents at the consecrated church building site in the open air. Local residents were touched, they applauded and cried out the words of gratitude. "To live in this place you should be very strong as there are man...

The Death March ( GOARCH ) - ENCYCLICAL OF ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF THE ASIA MINOR HOLOCAUST Sep 16, 2010 Protocol 105/10 September 19, 2010 Commemoration of the Asia Minor Holocaust To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Today, Sunday September 19, has been designated by the Holy Eparchial Synod as a day of commemoration of the Asia Minor Holocaust, a great catastrophe of incalculable proportions which was tragically forced upon the Greek populations of Turkey in the years following the World War I. Over a period of a few years, over one and a half million Greeks, fam...