Choirs - know your role

Orthodox presence at March for Life continues

(OCA) - Orthodox Christians everywhere — especially those within driving distance of the US capital — are encouraged to bear witness to their faith at the annual March for Life Monday, January 23, 2012.

As in years past, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, will speak at the pre-March program and offer prayers for the victims of abortion at the conclusion of the March. He will also attend the annual Rose Dinner.

Other members of the Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Synod of Bishops also are expected to attend.

Marchers are asked to gather at noon under the “Orthodox Christians for Life” banner on the National Mall, west of Eighth Street near the Smithsonian Castle. After the rally, marchers will procede up Constitution Avenue to the US Supreme Court, where a Memorial will be celebrated for the victims of abortion.

While additional details concerning the the Orthodox Christian witness at the March will be posted as received, general information on the March may be found at the March For Life’s website.

UGCC and UOC-KP - What fruits?

(RISU) - Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are concerned over the statements of Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) that believers of the Kyivan Patriarchate are “the main Orthodox brethren” of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics.

So reported to UNIAN-Religion the head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Ilarion (Alfeiev) of Volokolamsk.

“We cannot remain indifferent to the statements of the new Head of UGCC that the believers of the Kyivan Patriarchate are “the main Orthodox brethren” of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics. The close contacts and even concelebration of Archbishop Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) with representatives of that schismatic structure unrecognized by any Orthodox Church, unfortunately, are an indication of ignoring of the official position of the Moscow Patriarchate and disrespect for the canonical rules of the Orthodox Church,” stressed Metropolitan Ilarion.

“I am deeply convinced that we cannot reach real mutual understanding and reconciliation between our Churches without mutual respect, in particular, in the area of the canonical system,” said Metropolitan Ilarion.

He told the correspondent that the Russian Church receives reports “about acts of proselytism of Greek Catholics among the Orthodox in the territories of the Central and Eastern Ukraine.” “Such phenomena can only strengthen the existing problems in the inter-Church relations while we would like the words about readiness for the dialogue not to conflict with the real actions,” said the metropolitan.

Metropolitan of Volokolamsk said that after the election of Patriarch Sviatoslav, official contacts were actually for the first time established between the Greek Catholics and Orthodox of the Moscow Patriarchate.

“Subsequent statements of Archbishop Sviatoslav about his will to promote settlement of the existing problems between the Moscow Patriarchate and UGCC also inspired us with some optimism,” he said.

Metropolitan Ilarion commented on the recent statement of Patriarch Kirill about the “improvement of the relations between the Orthodox and Greek Catholics in Ukraine.” According to him the patriarch’s words do not mean that all the problems in the relations are already regulated. “The questions of construction of the Orthodox churches in the western Ukraine remain unsettled. Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church express concern about the mission of Greek Catholics in the eastern Ukraine,” said the metropolitan.

Hermitage of the Holy Cross launches photo site

Their photo galleries are a favorite of mine and are often my go-to place for festal photos.

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(Holy Cross Hermitage) - Due to the increased requests for prints of our monastery photos, we have launched a brand new website—Hermitage Photography. Our Hermitage Photography website will make available hundreds of monastery photos in a wide variety of sizes and formats. Click on the “Create a Card” option to design your own personlized greeting and Christmas cards. Find a favorite photo for yourself or for someone you love and purchase high quality prints.

Assembly of Bishops condemns treatment of Abp. Jovan

(AOB) - Upon receiving the information that Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid was arrested on December 12, 2011, while entering the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) from the border with Greece, the Hierarchs of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America reaffirm the position taken by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) in August 2005, and furthermore restate that the persecution and new imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan by FYROM are an outrage, and ask for his immediate release.

This arrest has a history of several years and began when the schismatic church of FYROM started persecuting the canonical Archbishopric of Ochrid, an autonomous part of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

This imprisonment, as did the previous ones, violates religious freedom in a supposedly free state. That a recognized, canonical Orthodox Christian hierarch can be imprisoned once again under false allegations, and while trying to fulfill his religious responsibilities, is simply absurd.

We join again the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in demanding the release of Archbishop Jovan. We ask the government of FYROM to correct this injustice and to free Archbishop Jovan without delay. Furthermore, we call upon our governments to intercede and implement appropriate measures to hasten this process.

Another internecine fight at the Church of the Nativity

(MSNBC) - BETHLEHEM, West Bank — A Christmas cleaning of the Church of the Nativity turned into scuffles on Wednesday between rival Christian clerics zealously guarding denominational turf at the holy site.

Brooms and fists flew inside the church marking the birthplace of Jesus as some 100 priests and monks of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches brawled.

Palestinian police, bending their heads to squeeze through the church's low "door of humility," rushed in with batons flailing to restore order.

"It was a trivial problem that ... occurs every year," said police Lieutenant-Colonel Khaled al-Tamimi. "Everything is all right and things have returned to normal," he said. "No one was arrested because all those involved were men of God."

Administration of the 6th century Bethlehem church, the oldest in the Holy Land, is shared by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics.

Any perceived encroachment of jurisdictional boundaries within the church can set off a row, especially during the annual cleaning for Orthodox Christmas celebrations, which will be held next week.

Abp. Antony of UOC-USA having chest pains

(UOC-USA) - My beloved brethren in our Lord: Greetings in His Holy Name from Znamyanka orphanage in Ukraine!

His Beatitude Metropolitan Constantine and I were just informed that His Eminence Archbishop Antony, the spiritual father of the Eastern Eparchy of our Church and the President of the Consistory of the UOC of the USA has been hospitalized in Somerset, NJ for emergency tests following numerous heart discomfort symptoms. He will remain in the hospital for the next several days until the doctors are able to stabilize him. Please, remember the Archbishop in your prayers.

O Holy Father, Heavenly Physician of our souls and bodies, who sent Your Only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to heal those in illness: visit and heal Your servant and our brother in Christ Archbishop Antony, granting him release from pain and restoration to health and vigor, that he may give thanks unto You and bless Your holy Name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

With prayers,

+Daniel

Abbot Ephraim "captured"

(London Daily News) - The Greek criminal justice system is today in the dock having used extraordinary methods to "capture" Abbot Ephraim the leader of the largest monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, and one of Christian Orthodoxy's leading spiritual figures. The Greek courts have deemed that the monk who was undergoing medical supervision in his residence at the Vatopaidi Monastery, a flight risk, and is now headed towards the notorious Korydallos prison in Athens to be held in custody, ahead of trial in Athens.

Speaking to The London Daily News earlier today one of Abbot Ephraim's entourage confirmed that the length of custody in a Greek jail was unknown, until bail is agreed.

Mr. Yiannis Matzouranis, who appeared for Abbot Ephraim said that ‘the remand into custody decision had no moral or legal base’.

"The custody decision against a clergyman renowned world wide for his charitable work and spiritual mission a few days before Christmas comes to add to the woes which befell the country as a result of the gloomy political and financial conditions. Needless to say no one has so far been accused or found guilty or imprisoned for the country’s degradation".

The Russian Government and the Russian Orthodox Church have made strong protests to the Greek Government:

“Such actions on the part of authorities of a country that is Eastern Orthodox under the provisions of its Constitution can only be regarded as an instance of inadmissible politicization of court investigations,” the Foundation of St Andrew the First said in a special statement.

The Itar Tass news agency in a report said:

"The foundation urged the Greek judiciary to ensure a fair and unbiased investigation of litigations between the state and the monastery. It also called on the Greek nation to remain committed to the spirit and values of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and to stay away from involvement in the politically motivated court cases."

The statement also said the Foundation officials were quite "astonished upon noting the fact that the court passed a decision on taking archimandrite Ephraim to custody soon after his return to Russia where he escorted the Virgin Mary’s girdle."

In Cyprus protests are being organised outside of the Greek Embassy, in London Orthodox Christians are organising petitions to be sent to the Greek High Court.

The London Daily News contact Prince Charles who has been a regular visitor to Vatopaidi his spokesman said we will not "be making comment on this at present".

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Ukrainian Orthodox synod meets while head is ill

(RISU) - A regular session of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) was held on December 23 with the blessing of its head, Metropolitan Volodymyr, reported the website of the UOC-MP.

According to the Statutes of government of the UOC-MP, the session was chaired by a permanent member of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Ahafangel (Sevvin) of Odesa and Izmail, whose term of bishop’s ministry is the longest.

The meeting was attended by Metropolitan Ioannikiy of Luhansk and Alchevsk, Metropolitan Onuphrius of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna, Metropolitan Ilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chornobyl, Metropolitan Lazarus of Simferopol and Crimea, Archbishop Mytrofan of Bila Tserkva and Bohuslav, Archbishop Aleksander of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi and Vyshneve, Archbishop Ambrosii of Chernihiv and Novgorod-Siverskyi, bishop Yelisey of Berdyansk and Prymorsk and bishop Nicodim of Zhytomyr and Novohrad-Volynskyy.

The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church considered issues regarding the activity of the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Eparchy of Kyiv of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for the time of the illness of Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine.

To coordinate the financial and economic activities of the Kyiv Metropolitanate, the Holy Synod of the UOC set up an Auditing Commission, headed by Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chornobyl.

The government of the Eparchy of Kyiv for the period of illness Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine was entrusted to the Commission which includes Archbishop Aleksander, Bishop Seraphim of Yahotyn, Bishop Panteleimon of Vasylkiv. The Commission is accountable to the chairman of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Ahafangel of Odesa and Izmail.

The management of the current issues related to the activities of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary (KTAS) was entrusted to the rector of the KTAS Archbishop Anthonii of Boryspil. The management of current issues related to the life of the Kyiv cave Monastery was commissioned to the deputy abbot, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chornobyl. The abbots and abbesses of the stauropegial monasteries should coordinate all the current issues with the chairman of the Holy Synod of the UOC.

The Holy Synod of the UOC also considered and approved the activity of Synodal departments and institutions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for 2011.

The next meeting of the Holy Synod is scheduled for January 26, 2012.

Christmas celebrations cancelled in Syria

(MSNBC) - A Syrian Greek Orthodox nun prays at the Virgin Mary monastery in Sidnaia, north of Damascus, on Dec. 23. Nine months of unrest in Syria have stripped Christian neighborhoods of any sign of Christmas joy. Syrian Christians have decided to cancel celebrations and only observe Christmas Mass.

Russian Church continues to seek recognition in China

(orthodox.cn) - Hegumen Philaret (Bulekov), Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate held a series of meetings in Beijing with government and religious organizations in China. Father Philaret led a DECR delegation at a round table, "Compatriots and the Russian Orthodox Church: Experience of Cooperation in Asia", held in Beijing on December 10-11, 2011 with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church.

On December 9, 2011 Hegumen Philaret visited the State Administration of Religious Affairs of the People's Republic of China (SARA PRC), where he met with the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Guo Wei. A wide range of issues of cooperation between Russia and China in the religious sphere was discussed, as well as the pastoral care of Orthodox compatriots in China and cooperation on normalizing the situation the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church.

Accompanying Herumen Philaret was DECR staff member, D. I. Petrovsky, a member of the Russian part of the Russo-Chinese group on contacts and cooperation in the sphere of religion; Petrovsky discussed with the Chinese side agenda issues of the working group, particularly, the preparation of the second Russo-Chinese consultations and a regular mechanism of cooperation in the religious sphere, which are scheduled to be held in China in 2012.

The meeting was also attended by A.P. Povalyaev, First Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Beijing; Ms. Xiao Hong, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs of SARA PRC; Mrs. Xu Wenzhen and Mrs. Xue Chunmei, deputy directors of the Second Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs of SARA PRC.

As a remembrance of the meeting, Hegumen Philaret presented Ms. Guo Wei an album published for the 65th anniversary of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations. Then China's State Administration for Religious Affairs gave a dinner in honor of the DECR delegation.

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Moscow reiterates need for unanimity in Great Council

This statement reiterates what Met. Hilarion (head of the Department for External Church Relations) has been saying about the upcoming "Great Council" of the Orthodox Churches. Namely, that decisions at the council and those made in preparation to the council should be valid when acceded to unanimously. It will be interesting to see how the divisive topics besetting the Church today will be dealt with leading up to the council and at the council itself.

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(mospat.ru) - A process of preparation for the Pan-Orthodox Council launched fifty years ago has become brisker, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia noted in his report delivered at the meeting of the Moscow Diocesan Assembly.

All Local Orthodox Churches, which take part in the preparation, have got agreement on the ten topics of the Council out of ten. According to His Holiness, the advance is unthinkable without preliminary agreement that ought to be reached at the Pan-Orthodox pre-Council meetings; the principle of taking decisions unanimously or by consensus is fixed in the rules.

Last February, however, the particulars of one of the outstanding topics were not agreed upon. This is the topic of autocephaly. Representatives of certain Local Churches cast doubt on the expedience of the principle of consensus in the pre-Council process and posed a question of its replacement by the majority principle.

“We are told that the principle of consensus was not always used in the epoch of Ecumenical Councils, – His Holiness continued. – At that time, the imperial power was the instrument of keeping church unity, but there is no such a mechanism at present. The Local Churches live and work in different countries and under specific conditions. If we do not take into account their opinion, it would be difficult to take decisions at the future Council by all, and this may provoke disorders.”

“We have held consultations with other Local Churches, and it transpired that they were equally concerned,” His Holiness said and reminded the audience of the meeting of the Primates and representatives of the seven Local Orthodox Churches that took place at the Moscow Kremlin on 21 November 2011.

“All participants in the meeting spoke up for upholding the principle of consensus both in the pre-Council process and at the Council,” the Primate of the Russian Church underscored.

A journey to the Orthodox Church

A look through the journey from Campus Crusade for Christ to the Evangelical Orthodox Church to the Antiochian Archdiocese.

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(YouTube) - The American youth culture exploded during the 60s and 70s. College campuses were brimming with students eager to explore all that life has to offer. As this new generation formed its identity, some underwent a spiritual awakening.

A close-knit group of Christians, who had found the faith during their college years, followed seven former campus ministers on a journey to discover what they called, the "New Testament Church." Decades later, they never expected where this journey would take them.

Part 1




Part 2




Part 3




Part 4

A very Texas Merry Christmas to you all!

O Christmas Tetrapod! O Christmas Tetrapod!

Doesn't have quite the same ring as "O Christmas Tree" (Ach Tannenbaum), but a cute picture nonetheless.

Armenian, Armenian Catholic hierarchs meet in Burbank, CA

(Armenian WD) - On December 19, 2011, the Primate welcomed Bishop Mikael Mouradian, Eparch of the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of the United States and Canada, to the Western Diocese. The Eparch was accompanied by the Very Rev. Fr. Krikor Chahinian, Pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church and Assistant Pastor the Very Rev. Fr. Armenag Bedrossian. In a friendly atmosphere, the clergy held a discussion about the overall mission of the Church and related issues.

A reception at the Armen Hampar Family Room followed the meeting.

God is with us! S'Nami Boh!

It's time for my annual "God is with us!" Christmas post. It is one of my favorite musical moments of the liturgical year and, after a listen to a few of these selection, I think you'll understand why.

A Christmas event entitled "God is With Us!"

(AFR) - Fr Joseph Huneycutt welcomes you to St Joseph Orthodox Church, Houston, Texas for this Special AFR Christmas presentation: “God is With Us” by the St Romanos Chorale under the direction of Dr William Attra.

The St Romanos Chorale takes its name from the Syrian religious poet and hymnographer of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church, St Romanos, who is considered to be the greatest of the Byzantine melodist-poets. The Chorale is composed of singers from Orthodox Christian churches in the greater Houston area. The music is sung a capella in both Byzantine and Slavonic styles, predominantly in English, but also in Greek, Arabic, and Slavonic. The Chorale has presented beautiful Orthodox Christian music to audiences throughout Texas and neighboring states at venues including major colleges and universities.

The special Christmas performance you are about to hear was recorded on December 10th, 2011, at St Joseph Antiochian Orthodox Church, Houston, Texas.

Prostopinije (Carpatho-Russian plainchaint)

In Greek



Znamenny Chant from Valaam Monastery

Is the monastic life a career?

(thestar.com) - For 14 years, Victoria Ivantchenko lived as a nun at a Greek Orthodox Monastery in Bolton, Ont.

Now she wants to get paid for it.

A secular court must decide whether she, as a nun, was an employee of the monastery or a volunteer servant to God.

Ivantchenko is suing the Sisters of St. Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery — including the Mother Superior — as well as the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto for “wrongful constructive dismissal.”

It’s unclear why Ivantchenko even left the monastery, but in her lawsuit she also alleges slander, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of mental suffering. She is seeking damages and back pay. More information here.

“This is a unique case. It’s been a terrible ordeal for my client and given that she is a nun, the unpleasantness is very difficult for her,” said Ivantchenko’s lawyer, Norman Epstein, who declined to elaborate on his client’s history at the monastery for legal reasons.

The crux of the case stems from the question of whether Ivantchenko can be considered an employee at all.

A motion by the monastery and church to have the case thrown out without a trial was dismissed by Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Lauwers. He said there wasn’t enough evidence on which he could rule, and the issues should be decided at trial. He also added he was “especially troubled by the profound ambiguity” of a January affidavit from the Mother Superior on the nature of the monastery.

Lauwers’ comments point to the difficulty in dealing with religious matters in civil court. Religious organizations vary widely in their practices on whether those serving them are paid as employees.

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Nativity message of Abp. Demetrios of the Greek Archdiocese

The bishop and his vestments

H/T: Orthodox Pathway

I made a pilgrimage to this mission in Mechanicsburg, PA to see the Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Iveron icon when it visited them earlier this year. For those unfamiliar with a bishop's vestments, this is a good introduction.

Bulgarian govt. to probe Church finances

(novinite.com) - The State must probe the Bulgarian Orthodox Church over ways it spent its subsidy in the last 20 years.

The statement was made by the President of the trade union Confederation of Labor "Podkrepa" (Support), Konstantin Trenchev.

He says that an audit has not been conducted in many years despite numerous reports of violations, including alerts to the Prosecutor's Office. According to the syndicates, the clergy does not make social insurance contributions.

Trenchev also insists on exposing the names of priests and bishops who have been collaborators and/or agents of the former Communist State Security, DS.

About BGN 1.5 M from the State budget have been slated each year, in the last five years, for subsidy for the Church, plus another BGN 700 000 for Bulgarian churches abroad. Local municipalities are also allowed to subsidize religious institutions. Meanwhile, a check of the Main Labor Inspectorate has revealed that in the entire Pleven bishopric only one priest has deposited social insurance contribution payments; in the Vratsa bishopric they were 14, in the Veliko Tarnovo one – 22.

The check of the Inspectorate has involved less that 10% of the structures of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church over the interference of Bulgaria's Patriarch Maxim who had ordered a ban on all probes from any State institutions.

The requests of the syndicates for an audit of the Church has been sent in writing to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov. According to union data, the only audit so far had been the one of the Sofia bishopric in 2000, conducted after a notice to the Prosecutor's Office, but no violations have been revealed.

This is going to upset more than a few people

(Rorate Caeli) - November 8 of this year witnessed an extremely rare event: the priestly ordination, in Russia and according to the Byzantine Rite, of a Russian Orthodox convert to Catholicism. On this day, Fr. Deacon Pavel (Paul) Gladkov was ordained by Bishop Milan Šášik of the Carpatho-Rusyn Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo in the Latin-Rite Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk (in Siberia).

More photographs can be found on the website of the Catholic Church in Siberia.

The new priest was born into Russian Orthodoxy in 1982 and became Catholic in 1999. The ceremony itself was according to the Byzantine Rite with some elements of the Latin liturgical tradition (such as the prostration for the Litany of Saints, which has been adopted by some Eastern Catholics for their ordination rites.)

The new priest is now one of about 20 Greek Catholic priests serving the small but growing community of Greek Catholics in Russia, of whom only a minority -- sometimes called "Russian Orthodox United with Rome" -- worship according to the Russian tradition (the majority are from Ukraine and follow the Ukrainian Greek Catholic tradition). He is part of a minority (Russian Greek Catholics) in a minority (Greek Catholics) in a minority (Catholics) in Russia. (The vast majority of Catholics in Russia belong to the Latin Rite.) The Greek Catholic community in Russia is governed by Bishop Joseph Werth S.J. who is also the Latin-Rite Ordinary for the Diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk. (Bishop Werth is biritual and was present in Byzantine vestments at the ordination of Fr. Pavel Gladkov.)

Bless this celestial conveyance...

(MSNBC) - A Russian Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft at the launch pad of the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 20, 2011. The launch of the Soyuz TMA-03M with an international crew aboard including US astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, is scheduled for December 21.

Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, an abbreviated review

Many moons ago I did an interview with Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick about his soon to be published book Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (the interview can be found here). At the time I had been listening to his wildly popular Ancient Faith Radio podcast of the same name and was intrigued to hear that the content of the podcast was going to be used as fodder for a book. Others have reviewed this book since its publishing, but please indulge me as I add my opinion to the discussion.

The book looks at the faiths outside of Orthodoxy (first Christian and then non-Christian) and provides short adumbrations of the history and beliefs of these non-Orthodox groups. In a world where Wikipedia is a smartphone or laptop's keyboard away, one might ask why such a book is necessary. To that premise I answer that it is impossible to describe the beliefs of a religious group without some form of bias. Actually, one can certainly list facts, figures, and other such humdrum data, but what people are often looking for is not to be found there. The inquirer wants to know what this all means through the prism of their beliefs and experiences. Does an Armenian look for the same things a strict Calvinist would? I hardly think so. So, to my thinking, this book is suited to two audiences. 1. Orthodox who are curious about other faiths. 2. People who aren't Orthodox, but want to know what the Orthodox view is on the beliefs of others. Both groups are served well.

This book is not, however, an exhaustive treatment on the heretical, confused, or sometimes silly beliefs of some groups. There are weighty tomes already in circulation on every conceivable group by every conceivable group. On Roman Catholicism alone I can list without the aid of an Internet search 10-20 books ranging from enthusiastically irenic to barely contained loathing. One can even delve into single ideas within Catholicism and read on them for years. If you dare, Romanides' Ancestral Sin comes to mind.

This book is instead an Orthodox eyepiece that can be used to examine Calvinists, the New Age movement, Mormons, etc. at a glance. What is more, this book does not stand alone. If you find yourself desirous of more information on a certain group, in most cases one can simply head over to Ancient Faith Radio and listen to the episode of the podcast that deals with them.

Beyond the uses already described, I also advise making this an addition to parish libraries or as a book priests can lend to inquirers. People visiting an Orthodox church are filled with curiosity and that curiosity leads to many, many questions where statements like "My mother is Jehovah's Witness, she says...," "I was raised Pentecostal and my preacher told me...," etc. abound. This book is a wonderful aid in getting through this initial stage in the "What is Orthodoxy all about?" dialogue along with texts like the popular "12 Things I Wish I'd Known by Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green, the invaluable "Introducing the Orthodox Church" by Fr. Anthony Coniaris, and the Met. Kallisos (Ware) collection.

So get this book for your friend with all those questions. Get this book for your priest so he can have something to hand inquirers. Get this book for your parish library for the benefit of the whole congregation. Get this book to carry around with you for those moments at Starbucks where you wish you had just the right book to answer a question. Get the book for yourself and you'll be glad you did.

Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy is available in all the usual places both in paperback and ebook (Kindle and Nook) formats.

Assembly of Bishops notes addition of new bishops

(AOB) - Five new bishops have recently been consecrated for the Church in North America and have joined the Assembly of Bishops of North and Central America:

Bishop Ignatius was consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on July 10th as an auxiliary bishop for the Antiochian Archdiocese of Mexico;

Bishop John was consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on December 11th as the auxiliary bishop for Worcester and the Diocese of New England of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America;

Bishop Anthony was consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on December 11th as the auxiliary bishop for Toledo and the Diocese of the Midwest of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America;

Bishop Nicholas was consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on December 11th as the auxiliary bishop for Brooklyn and assistant to the Metropolitan of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America;

Bishop Sevastianos was consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on December 17th as the auxiliary bishop of Zela and assistant to the Archbishop for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

In addition, two bishops have been recently elevated:

Bishop Savas was enthroned as the Metropolitan of Pittsburgh of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese on December 8th;

Bishop Joseph of Los Angeles and the West of the Antiochian Archdiocese was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop on December 11th.

Memorial service held on new Ground Zero church location

(YouTube) - His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios visited The New Grounds of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero, and held a Memorial Service and Artocclasia to Celebrate and remember those lost on 9/11 and to bring the message that we will built our church here, after long battle with the Port Authority. English starts about 2 minutes in.

Swahili in St. Petersburg

(Pravoslavie)- December 16 at 14:30 at the second Winter Orthodox exhibition at the Exhibition Center of the North-West of Russia the priest, Philip Gatari from Kenya, will conduct a prayer service in Swahili, which will be the beginning of the program devoted to the Orthodox Church in this East African country.

Father Philip Gatari is priest of the church of St. Anthony in the village Ishamara in the area Nieri in Central Kenya. He is also a director of a rural school, located near the temple. The Nieri area consists of 14 Orthodox priests where nearly every village has its church.

In total, Kenya has hundreds of Orthodox churches. The number of Orthodox believers is close to a million, with almost one thirtieth  of all Kenyans professing Orthodoxy. Experts note that Orthodoxy is the most rapidly growing religion in Kenya, saying that it is the new Christianity in Africa. In the villages mass baptisms are not a rare case - sometimes 50-70 people. In the minds of the Kenyan people Orthodoxy is not, in contrast to other Christian denominations, associated with the colonialists.

Father Philip will talk about how to live a rural parish in the African country, as he served in the temple as a priest after the service communicates with the congregation, the parishioners stand with prepared speeches. Interestingly, observing Orthodox canons, Kenyans praise God in their own way in the church after the service sound drums, with the priest and congregation sing, and dance. The African Orthodox Church has its own characteristics, which take into account the mentality of Kenyans, their traditions and national character.

Causes the greatest respect that Kenyan farmers living in poverty, tend to form, the whole world raise funds to build schools, help talented young people to find the money to go to university.

Guests who came to the meeting, more vividly imagine the life of African Christians will exhibit prepared by the organizers of the substantive.

"Pregnancy test Virgin Mary" damaged (improved?)

(Telegraph) - A scissor-wielding protester has destroyed a controversial billboard of the Virgin Mary, just days after it went up outside a New Zealand church.

Hours after the attack, 100 or so Roman Catholics gathered to pray in the rain in front of the ruined billboard, which had shown Mary gasping in shock as she examined a pregnancy testing kit.

The billboard outside the Anglican church of St Matthew's in the City, in central Auckland, New Zealand, had drawn thousands of angry comments as well as messages of support from around the world.

Arthur Skinner, a member of an organisation calling itself the Catholic Action Group, who described the Renaissance-style picture as "satanic", was photographed attacking it.

"Yes, it is vandalism," Mr Skinner proclaimed proudly outside the church.

"I'm guilty. If they want to arrest me, be my guest.

"If it comes to that, I believe in being persecuted for my faith."

He told the crowd of worshippers: "We are traditional Catholics.

"We don't look for trouble, but watch out if you start this sort of thing."

Mr Skinner said those responsible for the poster, which was created by an advertising agency, would "certainly burn in hell" if they did not repent.

Many of the people who knelt on a wet pavement under umbrellas to pray and say the "Hail Mary" rosary condemned the poster as blasphemous.

The Rev Glynn Cardy, vicar of St Matthew's, who had earlier described the poster as "thought provoking", told reporters: "I'm disappointed that there is not more tolerance of different views. This isn't a different view - certainly not one that is making any sort of dogmatic statement. This is a just attention-seeking behavior (see below for last year's poster). He doesn't have a different view - he has a deplorable marketing strategy.

"They obviously feel strongly about it. Which was your plan in the first place. Avant-garde endeavors that seek to "jump start a discussion" often serve to undermine the faith more than they reinforce it. A St. Lawrence grilled cheese cook off, a St. Sebastian archery contest, a St. Stephen rock skipping competition...

"I'm just disappointed that strength of feeling has led to vandalism." Odd that you can make something horrible and it's protected in your mind because you went to FedEx Office. Bully for them that they found a less expensive method of expression.

He said St Matthew's would "need to think about" whether to replace the poster.

Two years ago a billboard outside the same church depicting Joseph and Mary in bed after sex had to be taken down after it was attacked several times by outraged Christians.

ONE: the inaugural Oriental Orthodox Youth gathering

Fr. Nathan Monk in the news defending the homeless again

For an earlier post on Fr. Nathan Monk see here. His congregation is currently petitioning to be accepted into the Antiochian Church as a Western Rite parish.

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(Pensacola Digest) - So, a priest walks into a city council meeting — stop me if you’ve heard this one — and is nearly hauled away by the police for speaking calmly to his elected officials.

Hilarious, right?

Father Nathan Monk wasn’t laughing at last night’s City Council meeting. During the Boyd Forum, an open comment period named in honor of the late civic activist LeRoy Boyd, Father Monk chided the council members — and Council President Sam Hall in particular — for their actions at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting. At that meeting, several citizens had spoken in opposition to the proposed anti-homeless ordinances, and in doing so made unflattering comparisons to historical figures (one person mentioned Heinrich Himmler’s “Final Solution“) and questioned the Christian charity of any council member who would support the ordinances. Council members DeWeese and Johnson took offense at the accusations, and Hall had asked Police Chief Chip Simmons to remove several speakers he deemed “out of order.”

At last night’s meeting, Monk told the council they had no right to dictate the content of their speech, and suggested that they instead examine any actions by the city that would prompt such comparisons.

“As Americans, we have the right to redress our government without fear of being arrested,” he said. “Whether or not they’re connecting dots from Hitler to George Wallace to Barney … you should be asking, ‘well what are we doing that’s allowing people to connect those dots?’ It was a sick and gross abuse of power.”

Council President Hall interrupted Monk at that point. “Your time is up, sit down,” he said.

“No, I have a minute and 12 seconds left,” Monk said, looking at the timer at the speaker’s lectern.

“I’m ruling you out of order,” Hall said.

When Monk refused to leave, noting that he had not violated any rules of conduct, Hall asked Police Chief Simmons and two other uniformed police officers in attendance to remove him. He refused to budge until his allotted time was up, after which he was escorted from council chambers by the officers.

During the standoff, council members Sherri Myers and John Jerralds stood up and left their seats in protest.

“I am leaving this chamber as you are in violation of the people’s First Amendment right,” Myers said. “I will be outside if you want to want to address your grievances to your government.”

Returning to her seat later in the meeting, she strongly criticized the “chilling effect” such censorship can have on the public right to speech...

Complete article here.

On the cleaning of holy things

From a great blog I stumbled upon named Lessons from a Monastery, a post on cleaning holy objects.

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Here’s a tip I consider to be very important that I picked up from the monastery the first time I cleaned with them.

The sisters use four different cleaning clothes when dusting the various pictures, icons, and objects in their monastery. For all the (for lack of a better word) secular things in the monastery they use a wet wettex to dust and a dry cloth to dry. However, for all the icons, censors, anything like that, a separate wettex is used and another dry cloth as well. The basic principle being, “holy things are for the holy”.

They simply write an “E” (for eikona - icon) on the cloths for holy things so they don’t get them mixed up. I prefer to always use a different colour wettex, pink for holy objects, blue for regular ones. Once the wettex/ cloths for icons, etc. have become too tattered to use the sisters burn theirs (we’ll discuss this in another post). I have just thrown mine out in the past.

(As a funny aside, I always assumed the word wettex started with a “v” because the “w” sound is not natural to Greek-speakers, and so the sisters always said it with a “v” sound. I was looking to buy them at the grocery store once and when I saw how the name was spelled, I laughed out loud. Living in Greece my pronunciation is subject to correction by everyone: taxi drivers, old yiayias, the guy at the kiosk, and even my friend’s toddler – who at the age of three loved correcting my Greek. Needless to say, perhaps I took a little more delight in the mispronounced “w” than a normal person would.)

Hope you enjoy the tip!

Of cherubim and putti

(NLM) - How should we paint cherubim? Painting a spiritual being is always going to be bit problematic. The representations that we see are most commonly based upon those instances in scripture where they have appeared visually. Even then it's not always straight forward. For example, the vision of Ezekiel describes a being that is a compound image of faces, wings, wheels, multiple eyes, fire and chrysolite (whatever that is).

Reading through the biblical passage, its difficult to imagine how everything fits together and if I had been set the task without any tradition to refer to I don't know where I would start. Looking at the various traditional images, artists seem to pick up on particular details and represent those and do not seem to try too hard to create a single picture with everything present. It gives me the impression that perhaps what Ezekiel is describing may not be a steady image, but shimmering changing picture in which different things stand out at different times.

One thing that definitely doesn't come to mind, however, is a podgy baby. Quite how the figures of the Renaissance and the baroque equated these with any descriptions of cherubim from scripture I don't know. Perhaps there is a passage that I am unaware of that leads one in this direction artistically? If so, I am confident that a New Liturgical Movement reader will be able to direct me to the right place.

And then, even if we've established that we can employ this form, we have to be careful to distinguish between putti and cherubs. The source of this style of image is, as with all the art of the High Renaissance and baroque, classical sculpture. Putti are impish, 'little men' that are based on figures such as Eros, non-material beings with mischief in mind. By the baroque era cherubs were represented in exactly the same way. The distinction was simple, if the painting was sacred, then the person was a cherub, if is was secular/classical, then an identical representation would be a putto...

Complete article here.

Met. Hilarion on annual pilgrimage to Mt. Athos

Not particularly newsworthy, but I like the composition of the photo. You can read more about his trip to Mount Athos with others clerics from the Russian Church here.

Consecration of Antiochian bishops in Lebanon

(YouTube) - Consecration of Bishops John, Anthony & Nicholas by His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius and members of the Holy Synod of Antioch at the Holy Dormition Church at the University of Balamand in Lebanon on December 11, 2011.

Remembering Fr. Alexander Schmemann

(STOTS) - The anniversary of his repose is December 13^th. In 1983 the following was broadcast on CBS regarding Fr. Alexander's life and impact on the Orthodox world.

UOC Kiev Patriarchate / UAOC dialogue breaks down

(RISU) - The unification process between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which began last autumn, failed.

According to the Kyivan Patriarchate, the clergymen of the UAOC are to blame for the failure of the dialogue. Representatives of the Kyivan Patriarchate particularly accuse Metropolitans Mefodii and Andrii, who laid down an unacceptable condition, the resignation of Patriarch Filaret. On December 13, in Kyiv, the bishops of the UOC-KP at their synod passed an address stating their position in this regard, reported the website of UOC-KP.

The bishops reminded in the document that the two churches made repeated attempts to unite.

“The first attempt to unite was made in 2000-2001, when Symphoniticon was signed at the residence of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and later agreements were reached at a meeting in Ternopil. However, these agreements did not result in unification as the head of UAOC, Metropolitan Mefodii and some other bishops laid down the condition of resignation of Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv and All Rus for the unification. This condition was also laid down was during the second attempt of dialogue in autumn, 2005,” reads the address.

The bishops of the Kyivan Patriarchate cannot accept these conditions by any means as they view Patriarch Filaret as one with the biggest experience of the bishop’s ministry. In addition, they consider the dismissal of Patriarch Filaret to be “the dream of the Moscow Patriarchate of many years,” which they now try to fulfill “through the mentioned representatives of UAOC.”

The Synod of UOC-KP reminded that many representatives of the higher ranks of clergy of UAOC were once part of the Kyivan Patriarchate but left that church due to conflicts.

“Metropolitan Mefodii in 1995, was the administrator of UOC-KP, Metropolitan Andrii was a permanent member of the Holy Synod in 1992-1995. Most of the present bishops of UAOC are former priests of the Kyivan Patriarchate who left our church for the sake of obtaining the positions of the bishops.”

Met. Jonah concelebrates, ordains in Edmonton, Alberta

(OCA) - His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at Saint Herman of Alaska Sobor here on Sunday, December 11, 2011.

Concelebrating with Metropolitan Jonah were His Grace, Bishop Irenee of Quebec, Administrator of the Archdiocese of Canada; Archimandrite Alexander [Pihach], Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Canada, Dean of Alberta, and Sobor Rector; Archpriest Phillip Eriksson, Rector of the Holy Martyr Peter the Aleut Church, Calgary, AB; Priest Philip Halliwell, a priest of the Canadian Archdiocese studying at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA; Protodeacon Nazari Polataiko, Secretary of the Archdiocese of Canada; and Deacons Daniel Frisen and Matthew Francis.

During the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Jonah ordained Deacon Matthew Francis to the Holy Priesthood, while Bishop Irenee ordained Subdeacon Jesse Isaac to the Holy Deaconate. After the dismissal, Edward and Virginia Byfield and Lillian Trefan were conferred the Award of Saint Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow and Apostle to America. Bishop Irenee thanked those being honored for their life-long example of love for our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and unending support of missionary work for the sake of Christ. Gregory and Lydia Fedor also received an award for the witness of Christian love and service they have consistently shown during their years as founding members of the Sobor.

The celebrations concluded with the members of the parish singing many years to Metropolitan Jonah and Bishop Irenee, to the newly ordained Priest Matthew and Deacon Jesse, and to all Orthodox Christians.

A photo gallery may be viewed here.

The Theotokos and a pregnancy test

Compare...



Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:26-38

Kursk Root icon flown over Auckland, NZ

(Orthodox New Zealand) - The Kursk Root Icon made a special flight over Auckland during its visit to New Zealand

With the blessing of the First Hierarch of ROCOR, Metropolitan Hilarion, the Kursk Icon On Tuesday, December 7, was flown over the city of Auckland. The Holy Icon, accompanied by Archpriest Vladimir Boikov, Dean of New Zealand parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the guardian of the Icon, Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky, was flown over the city with prayer in a small aircraft. The use of the aircraft was graciously offered by Alexander Zapisetsky (who piloted the plane) and Igor Ivanov. Being parishioners of the Church of the Resurrection in Auckland, they are also the directors of the Eagle Flight Training company.

The Holy Icon was in New Zealand from Novemebr 29 until December 7, and was greeted everywhere by the faithful (Russians, Serbs, Greeks, Romanians, Arabs and New Zealanders) with a great measure of reverence and piety. We are preparing an article about those grace-filled days, but for now, we offer some photos taken during the flight.

Photos available here.

Many years to the newly ordained Deacon Joel Wilson!

Axios! Many years to my good friend on his ordination to the diaconate!

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(STOTS) - On Tuesday, December 13th, Joel Wilson was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Grace Bishop Matthias of Chicago and the Midwest.

In addition to his studies Dn. Joel has been an invaluable service to the St. Tikhon's Community. He has worked closely with the seminary administration contributing the design aspects of various publications, assisted with the implementation of the seminaries intra-mail system, as well as the seminary website.

May God bless he and his family as they begin this next phase of their public ministry.

AXIOS!

The 'Orthodox Russia' interactive exhibition

(Vimeo) - Interactive Lab developed, installed, and provided support for all the interactive equipment at the exhibition. This complex project consisted of 5 sub-projects: 1st, a multitouch 3D-globe, showing the Church's eparchies across all the continents; 2nd, an interactive belfry, represented the images and sounds of most significant bells and belfries; 3rd, an interactive kiosk, based on an iPad with an external display, featuring 12Gb of multimedia content on every Church's eparchy; 4th, a virtual 3D library, showcasing books, supported by the Church; 5th, an interactive media-wall, presenting the Church's mass-media.

Hymns for the Feast Day of St. Herman of Alaska

Russian Patriarchal Parishes administrator visits NY parish

On Sunday, December 11, with the blessing of Archbishop Demetrios (Ecumenical Patriarchate in the USA) and at the invitation of Alexander Karlutsosa, Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk visited the Church of the Dormition in Long Island, NY.

An exhibition of icons meant to be touched

(pravmir.com) - An “Exhibition for the Blind” is not the Right Name. This is Rather an Exhibition of Icons for All to Touch and Approach the Sacred.

The exhibition that’s currently in the “House of Icons” (Moscow, Russia) is for all. Regardless of the way they read information – by vision or by touch. The exhibits there may be touched. They SHOULD be touched.

The exhibition’s aim is to familiarize visitors with the world of iconography, from the very beginning, the creation of paint, to the finished icon. This process starts from minerals – malachite, lazurite, hematite – out of which pigments are made.Our visitors can also see mortars, in which iconographers grind paints, brushes that they use, and boards, on which the icons are created. Moreover, represented boards illustrate the process of icon creation: there are boards with linen, boards with priming, and boards with imprints.

“The exhibition also shows materials used in iconography: wood, ceramics, plaster, smalt, and metal,” explained Ekaterina Vasina, Head of PR-department of the House of Icons...

Complete article here.

More on Antiochian Archdiocese episcopal consecrations

(antiochian.org) - On Sunday, December 11, 2011, three new auxiliary bishops were consecrated for the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, Balamand, Lebanon. Their Graces, JOHN, ANTHONY and NICHOLAS were consecrated as bishops of Worcester, Toledo, and Brooklyn and will serve as auxiliaries to His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP.

His Beatitude, IGNATIUS IV, Patriarch of the Great City of God, Antioch, and all the East, presided at the liturgy and was assisted by 12 bishops including several Metropolitans from Lebanon and Syria. His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH represented His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP at the consecrations and was accompanied by more than 60 clergy and laity from throughout the Archdiocese including many archdiocesan board members. The group was organized and led by the Vice-Chairman of the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees, Mr. Fawaz El-Khoury with assistance from Archpriest Thomas Zain. Orthros began at 8:30 and the divine liturgy followed. The monastery church was packed to capacity and the entire service was broadcast live by Noursat Television in Lebanon and throughout the world. Just before the little entrance the three candidates were led before the Patriarch to give their confession of faith, affirming and promising to uphold the teachings of the Holy Orthodox faith and pledging obedience to the Patriarch of Antioch, the Holy Synod and the Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of North America.

Following the chanting of the Phimi, the three candidates were presended by their sponsors for consecration to the holy and sacred episcopacy. Bishops led the three candidates around the altar as the clergy chanted the troparia and the Patriarch invoked the Holy Spirit to descend upon them as the other bishops held the open Gospel book above their heads. After the prayers were complete, the new bishops rose and were vested to the shouting and chanting of AXIOS! MUSTAHIK! WORTHY! many times as they donned their new episcopal vestments. They then took their places around the holy table next to their brother bishops as the liturgy continued. Prior to Holy Communion, while the numerous clergy were communing, the Patriarch addressed the new bishops and, one by one, each responded with dignity and graceful words. They were then presented with their mitres (crowns) and pastoral staffs. At the same time, the Patriarch also made a surprise announcement elevating Bishop JOSEPH to the rank of Archbishop in honor of his many years of service as a bishop both in the archdiocese and in the patriarchate. May God grant him many years! Someone odd to me - an archbishop that is an auxiliary bishop. I understand there's a precedent for it, but it still piques my interest.

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OCA/ROCOR liturgy on the Feast of the Kursk Root Icon

Church of the Nativity gets a Christmas cleaning

Men cleaned the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, Monday. Christians are starting to journey to the holy church ahead of Christmas. (Abed al-Hashlamoun/European Pressphoto Agency)

More coverage of OCA/ROCOR concelebration

The last post used OCA photos for the ROCOR statement. To continue in this vein I'm using ROCOR photos for the OCA statement.

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(OCA) - His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, concelebrated the Divine Liturgy for the first time at the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign, New York, NY, on Saturday, December 10, 2011.

The celebration marked the first time in nearly 70 years that the primates and hierarchs of the OCA and ROCOR have concelebrated. It is noteworthy that the Liturgy was celebrated on the cathedral’s Patronal Feast of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, which was present during the Divine Liturgy.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitans Jonah and Hilarion exchanged warm greetings and spoke of the historic significance and importance of the occasion.

“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to come together, to pray together, to celebrate our brotherly love together as one Church. Truly, there is only one Church,” said Metropolitan Jonah. “God has called us to that love, to that communion with one another. It is my fervent prayer that from now on, we work together and cooperate together in many different projects and support one another in our common task.

“God has seen fit over the past decades that our two Churches have received different ministries, each working in different communities of people, each bearing fruit for the Lord according to His will, and going after the vineyards which He has given to us to cultivate,” Metropolitan Jonah continued. “And now He has brought us together in a new way to constantly share in the same Eucharistic cup, working together in unity to cultivate this vineyard of North America and everywhere else that God calls us to, in preaching the Gospel of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Metropolitan Hilarion presented Metropolitan Jonah with the Order of Kursk-Root Icon, First Class, the highest award given by ROCOR. In turn, Metropolitan Jonah presented the OCA’s highest award, the Order of Saint Innocent, Gold Class, to Metropolitan Hilarion.

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First Joint Liturgy between OCA/ROCOR primates celebrated

ROCOR issued a statement to the faithful on this event and its meaning. Until the OCA site publishes its story on the event, I have interspersed some of their photos of the concelebration.

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(ROCOR) - Since the normalization of ties between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate in 2007, there have been numerous concelebrations between ROCOR and the Orthodox Church in America, including some at the hierarchical level. This year is marked by the first two concelebrations between the First Hierarchs of the Church Abroad and the Orthodox Church in America, and we state the following, in response to questions by the clergy and faithful:

Well attended might be an understatement

The Russian Orthodox diocese in the New World was formed in Alaska, while Alaska was still part of the Russian Empire, in 1795. In the following century, after the United States obtained Alaska from Russia, more and more Russian Orthodox parishes were formed in the continental US, and the seat of the diocese, which eventually was to become a Metropolia, was moved to New York. The seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in 1917 made administration from Russia virtually impossible, and from 1921, with the formation of the Church Abroad administration in Yugoslavia, the American Metropolia was considered part of the ROCOR.

However, relations with the rest of the Church Abroad were complicated by the difference in background of those who had come to the United States before and after the Revolution: the earlier emigres had moved to America seeking a better life and a permanent new home, while those who fled from the communists had a strong attachment to Russia and in most cases, hoped to return one day, when the political situation there would change.

The two primates speaking with Abp. Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA

In 1925, Holy Patriarch Tikhon reposed after years of persecution by the Bolsheviks, and in the same year, the "Living Church" or "Renovationists" led by Alexander Kedrovsky, managed to gain control of St Nicholas Cathedral in New York City, winning a court case against Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky). The court found in favor of Kedrovsky, on the grounds that his group was "under a Holy Synod of Russia," but the Church Abroad was not. The death of Patriarch Tikhon also removed a unifying figure, and these factors and others led to a division between the American Metropolia and the Church Abroad. Despite a period of reconciliation from 1935 to 1946, the Metropolia and Synod separated again, largely over relations with the Church in Russia.

The reconciliation in 2007 between the Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate removed the main point of dissention between the two jurisdictions.

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