Byzantine, Texas

I repost a lot of the works of Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov. I now happily call your attention to " Fasting for Non-Monastics " as it is a timely article for this journey once again into the Great Fast. This is well worth reading for people who have fasted all their lives, converts, and the simply curious. A curious phenomenon can be observed in the interactions between pastors and their parishioners at the beginning of each major fast of the Church. Pastors attempt to call their parishioners’ pious attention to the spiritual heights of fasting: the fighting against sin, the conquering of passions, the taming of the tongue, the cultivation of virtues. In turn, parishioners pester their pastors with purely dietary questions: when fish is allowed, whether soy milk or soy hotdogs are fasting, whether adding milk to coffee is breaking the fast, or whether there is some dispensation that can be given to the young, the elderly, those who study, those who work, women, men, travelers, th...

The last update I had on this looked hopeless (violence, destruction of monastery property, local government hostile to Christians). I'm delighted to see this situation has turned around. ( Hurriyet Daily News ) - The lands of the historic Mor Gabriel Monastery located in Turkey’s southeastern province of Mardin have been returned to the Syriac community, completing an important step in the slow-running restoration of the group’s property. “The process regarding the 12 parcels of land of 244,000 square meters has been finalized. We are happy to receive back the deed of the land without coming to the European Court of Human Right phase,” said the president of the Mor Gabriel foundation, Kuryakos Ergün. “Mor Gabriel is one of the oldest monasteries that remain still active in our country. This return of the land will contribute a lot to protecting that monastery and enable it to revive its mission freely. It will have good implications for the Syriac community in particular...

( RISU ) - The Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) welcomed the decision of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to start a dialogue with the UOC-KP. In this regard, the Synod of the UOC-KP decided to express its readiness “to on a canonical basis restore the unity and establish a national status for the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.” The UOC-KP created a commission for dialogue with the UOC-MP. The UOC-KP also reaffirmed that every nation has the right to a national church for “an independent church in an independent state is canonically justified and historically inevitable.”

( NC Reporter ) - Fr. Wissam Akiki is the first married man to be ordained a priest for the U.S. Maronite Catholic Church. On Feb. 27, with permission granted by Pope Francis, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the U.S. Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon ordained the married deacon at St. Raymond's Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis. "It is a blessing and an honor to officiate over any ordination, and especially so at this historic ordination of the first married man to enter the priesthood in the United States of America for the Maronite Church," Zaidan said in a statement issued before the ordination. "I join our Holy Father, our Maronite patriarch, my fellow bishops and priests throughout the world in our prayer for priestly vocations," he said. Akiki studied for the priesthood at Holy Spirit University in Lebanon, Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary in Washington and the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. He is married to Manal Kassab and the...

( Holy Etchmiadzin ) - Ordination of Priests on the Feast of St. Vartan the Warrior and His Companions in the Mother See - On February 27, the Armenian Church celebrated the Feast of St. Vartan the Warrior and his 1036 companions in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. During the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, ordination of priests was held in the Mother Cathedral under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. By the hand of the Celebrant His Grace Bishop Mushegh Babayan, Operation Director of the Mother See, 4 deacons from the Gevorkian Theological Seminary and 6 graduates from the Accelerated Priest Course were ordained into the Holy Order of Priesthood.

( Vatican Insider ) - The Metropolitan of Pergamon Ioannis Zizioulas has raised alarm bells about divisions between the Orthodox Churches. Some have reduced Christian unity to an alliance between religious hierarchies formed in order to tackle sexual ethics issues together. The theological dialogue between Catholic and Orthodox Churches which was launched with the aim of achieving full sacramental communion, risks stalling permanently. And one of the main reasons for this would appear to be the divisions that exist between the Orthodox Churches and those influential circles within the Orthodox faith – the Patriarchate of Moscow above all – that are refusing to recognise one universal primate as the leader of the Church, founded on a shared and canonical and ecclesial tradition. The alarm was raised by none other than the Metropolitan of Pergamon, Ioannis Zizioulas, a former member of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, co-President of the International Joint ...

( OCP ) - The Primates, high ranking Metropolitan, Archbishops and other prelates of all Eastern Orthodox Churches will meet in Istanbul on the invitation of His All Holiness Bartholomew the Ecumenical Patriarch. The Meeting will take place from 6th to 9th of March 2014. The hierarchs will have serious discussion on various topics concerning the life and future of Orthodox Churches particularly the Christin communities in Middle East. There will be discussions on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of Orthodoxy as well as several other important topics. The following Eastern Orthodox Churches will be represented in the meeting: the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Alexandria Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Antioch Patriarchate, Jerusalem Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Russian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Patriarchate, Georgian Orthodox Church, Cyprus Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of Greece, Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, A...

A priest holds a cross and shield during clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police in central Kiev, Ukraine, on February 20, 2014. Ukraine's brittle truce shattered on February 20 in fierce clashes between baton-wielding protesters and riot police that claimed dozens of lives just as EU envoys were holding crisis talks with the embattled president. Bodies of anti-government demonstrators lay amid smouldering debris after masked protesters hurling Molotov cocktails and stones forced gun-toting police from Kiev's iconic Independence Square. ( Sergey Gapon/AFP/Getty Images )

As luck would have it, I'll be in the area for these. Hope to see y'all there. ( STOTS ) - Dr. Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon’s Seminary, will give several presentations over the weekend of March 7 - 9 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. These presentations will be based on his recently released book, “ The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation: ‘Theosis' in Scripture and Tradition ". Dr. Veniamin's schedule is as follows: Friday, March 7th 7:00 - 8:00 pm Introductory Talk Where: St Barbara Orthodox Church (OCA) 5201 Altamesa Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76133 Saturday March 8tth (Morning) 9:30 am Divine Liturgy 11:00 am Lunch with informal Discussion on Salvation Where: St. Arsenius Hermitage Saturday March 8th (Evening) 5:00 pm Vigil, followed by Reception and Dr. Veniamin Lecture with Q&A Where: St Seraphim of Sarov Cathedral (OCA) 4208 Wycliffe Avenue Dallas, TX 75219 Sunday March 9th (Morning) Dr. Veniamin to give...

( AFR ) - Over the past three months, Ukrainian protesters have occupied Kyiv’s Independence Square. They’re demanding closer ties to the European Union, changes to the constitution, and an altering of the government’s power structures. There’ve been recent, violent clashes, with hundreds of people killed by government forces and protesters in the past few weeks. Orthodox and Catholic priests have courageously ministered to both protesters and government forces. The protests have been framed by many Western media as a “Russia versus the West or European Union” conflict. To help all of us sort through this volatile crisis, Ancient Faith Radio’s Kevin Allen interviewed His Eminence Metropolitan Antony, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the United States. Transcript available here .

Moscow, February 25 ( Interfax ) - The Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Monday elected the locum tenens of the Kievan Metropolitan See. "Due to the medically certified inability of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine to fulfill his duties as head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, of which members of the Synod became personally convinced when they visited him in hospital, the Synod made a decision to elect the locum tenens of the Kievan Metropolitan See," the press service for the Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church reported. Metropolitan Onufry of Chernovtsy and Bukoviny was elected locum tenens of the Kievan Metropolitan See by secret voting in accordance with the charter of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. "In a phone conversation with Metropolitan Onufry after his election, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia wished him God's help in his service in this difficult time that the people of Ukraine are going through,...

From the blog of a Greek Catholic parish in Dallas, TX, a post about the great unrest caused by Fr. Robert Barron’s very popular Word on Fire organization using the events in Ukraine to decry the married priesthood. ( St. Sophia ) - Ukraine, you might know, is in the middle of a revolution. The people are protesting the government’s tyranny and corruption. The Ukrainian government is responding by torturing and killing the citizens in a scorched earth policy. Numerous images of fearless priests standing between the government soldiers and the citizens, holding nothing but the cross of Christ as they call for peace, have gone viral. These images capture the manly and fatherly call of the shepherd willing to lay down his life for his flock. The majority of the Ukrainian Catholic priests are young and married as they come from a life-filled and fruitful church, built on the blood of the martyrs. Ours is a church that has always had both celibate and married men ordained to the pri...

( OCA-AK ) - Faithful from parishes and villages across Alaska and the dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America began arriving early at the spacious Saint Innocent Cathedral here on the morning of Friday, February 21, 2014 for the celebration of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, during which Bishop-Elect David [Mahaffey] was consecrated to the episcopacy as Bishop of Sitka and Alaska. Over forty priests and deacons joined His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin; His Grace, Bishop Michael; His Grace, Bishop Ireneu; and His Grace, Bishop Irénée in welcoming His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon at the cathedral entrance. Joining them were the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, Archpriest John Jillions and the Chancellor of the Diocese of Alaska, Archpriest Victor Nick. Also present were Bishop-Elect David’s children, their spouses, and his granddaughter. At the outset of the Liturgy, Father Jillions and Archdeacon Kirill Sokolov brought Bishop-Elect David before Metropolita...

( OCA ) - Representing both the Orthodox Church in America and Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY, Prof. Paul Meyendorff participated in extensive discussions in Kyiv, Ukraine February 15-20, 2014 regarding restructuring of theological education in Ukraine in general and the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Seminary and Academy in particular. Prof. Meyendorff is a member of the OCA’s Metropolitan Council, chairs its Ethics Committee, and serves on its Legal Committee. He is a consultant to the OCA’s Department of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations. At Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, he is the Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology and Director of Continuing Education. The meetings were held at the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, where the Academy and Seminary are located. “The working group has been meeting annually since 2010 and last year gained official recognition from many Orthodox Churches, including the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Moscow, Serbia, Roma...

Newly elected officers (from left to right): Ms. Christina Randol - Treasurer (HCHC), Rdr. John Adrian Martin - Vice President (HTS), Sdn. William Bennett - President (CSS), and Ms. Sarah Hunt - Secretary (HCHC) I'm just back from a trip to Jordanville (Holy Trinity Seminary) for the Spring meeting of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM). The keynote speaker was Rev. Kevin Kalish, Ph.D. on “The Language of the King James Bible.” He was followed by a talk given by the multi-talented seminarian Nicholas Kotar (HTS) on the idea expressed by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (quoting Dostoyevsky) that “Beauty will save the world.” After those talks new officers were voted in (pictured above). Having gone to OISMs for a few years now, I can say that each institution has its own peculiarities and surprises. Jordanville, because of the language barrier, remote location, and monastic influence is the most arresting of the seminary experiences for many. That said, the hospitality, beauty ...

( mospat.ru ) - On 20 February 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, met with Metropolitan Mar Gewargis of Baghdad and all Iraq (the Assyrian Church of the East). The meeting took place at the DECR premises. The hierarchs discussed the situation in Iraq after the events occurred in 2003, as well as the situation of Christians in the country and prospects for overcoming the crisis. Among the issues raised at the meeting was the social and political situation in Syria. Metropolitan Hilarion told the guest about the initiatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, aimed at defending Christian minorities in the Middle East. Taking part in the meeting were also Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; Rev. Alexander Vasiutin, a DECR staff member; and Rev. Samano Odisho, rector of the Assyrian Church of St. Mary in Moscow.

From the blog The Morning Offering , a post entitled " Avoiding Clericalism ." Orthodoxy has traditionally avoided clericalism, yet in more recent times this very corruption of priestly service has enter the doors of the Orthodox Church. It has led some clergy to seek out, for personal gain, even the heavy burden of hierarchical service to Christ's Church. Motivated by their desire for princely honor, their sight is clouded so as to endanger not only their own souls, but the souls of the laity who are in need of humble, fatherly, pastoral care, and who will suffer under their "pastoral" guidance. This quest for honor has led many clergy to participate in a culture of abuse, where they even turn on one another in their sad attempt at aligning themselves with "officialdom". The culture of abuse that is encouraged and fomented by refusing to live in adherence to the simplicity and humility of Christ's example, is not much different than that of t...

Pope Tawadros II visiting Saudi ambassador in Cairo, Ahmed Kattan Cairo ( MCN ) - A reliable source has told MCN that Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark's Episcopate, has reached an agreement with the Saudi ambassador in Cairo, Ahmed Kattan, to establish the first church ever built inside Saudi Arabia.

A man who was injured during clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police receives medical treatment inside St. Michael’s Orthodox Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, on 19 February. Ukraine’s political crisis escalated sharply, with more than two dozen people killed and scores injured in violent, often fiery battles between demonstrators and police in Kiev. (photo: CNS /Maks Levin, Reuters)

Occasionally I am emailed with questions about how to pray for non-Orthodox family and friends who have reposed. Below is a good resource for those who want to pray for people who have passed away outside the Faith. ( St. Paisius Monastery ) - One often hears converts to Orthodoxy express their sorrow that there are no Orthodox prayers one may offer on behalf of their beloved relatives who have departed this life outside the Church. Over the past several years a wondrous fervor of veneration for the holy Martyr Varus has blossomed forth, especially in Russia, as a heavenly intercessor for those who died outside the Faith. The memorable Patriarch Alexis II noted: "Chapels are being built in honor of the martyr Varus, and icons are being painted. From his life it follows that he possessed a special desire to pray to God for those who died unbaptized." This new release is tenth in our well-known Akathist Series, printed in an attractive, pocket-sized format, with extr...

( First Things ) - Alasdair MacIntyre once quipped that “facts, like telescopes and wigs for gentlemen, were a seventeenth-century invention.” Something similar can be said about sexual orientation: Heterosexuals, like typewriters and urinals (also, obviously, for gentlemen), were an invention of the 1860s. Contrary to our cultural preconceptions and the lies of what has come to be called “orientation essentialism,” “straight” and “gay” are not ageless absolutes. Sexual orientation is a conceptual scheme with a history, and a dark one at that. It is a history that began far more recently than most people know, and it is one that will likely end much sooner than most people think. Over the course of several centuries, the West had progressively abandoned Christianity’s marital architecture for human sexuality. Then, about one hundred and fifty years ago, it began to replace that longstanding teleological tradition with a brand new creation: the absolutist but absurd taxonomy of sexua...

( Atlas Obscura ) - Standing alone on the small island of Aght'amar in Turkey's Lake Van, the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross is the only remnant of a former ruler's island getaway, but the former religious center is under fire for its conversion to a secular museum. Originally built in the early 900's, the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross was part of a large religious complex that accompanied then king Gagik I Artsruni's home which once sat on the island. The church was built in a blocky architectural style that makes the building seem rather uninteresting from afar, but up close the church is almost completely covered in ornate bas-relief carvings. While there are a number of decorative flourishes, the majority of the carvings actually illustrate stories from the Bible such as David and Goliath. Some scholars have argued that the scenes depict more directly Turkish vignettes but most agree that the influence is mainly Biblical. After King Artsruni...

( Ecumenical Patriarchate ) - “ With expectant joy and an abiding sense of fraternity, we look forward, later this year in the Holy City of Jerusalem, to our commemorative encounter with our beloved brother in Christ, His Holiness Pope Francis. This fiftieth anniversary of the historic meeting between the late Pope Paul VI and our ever-memorable predecessor Patriarch Athenagoras is an exceptional opportunity to deepen the fraternal bonds between Peter and Andrew, for both our Sees owe their foundations to them. For this reason, following in the footsteps of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, we express our desire to further the relations between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches. Two thousand years ago, it was in Jerusalem where the Light dawned from the Tomb. May it be in Jerusalem again where the light of peace, mutual trust, and brotherly love shines brightly, for the sake of our two Churches and the sake of the whole world.”

Apparently a parish can act so poorly that the Ecumenical Patriarch has to get involved. ( Salt Lake Tribune ) - The conflict between the parish council and clergy at the Salt Lake Valley’s two Greek Orthodox churches has reached that faith’s highest authority: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The patriarch, who lives in Turkey, instructed Archbishop Demetrios, who oversees the American Greek church, "to solve the problem immediately," according to a recent article in The National Herald, a weekly Greek-American publication in New York. I can only imagine how fiercely this is going to roll downhill. At issue in the four-year-long battle is the plan to divide the valley’s parish into two, a move that was pushed by the Denver-based Metropolitan Isaiah and two priests — the Rev. Michael Kouremetis at Holladay’s Prophet Elias Church and the Rev. Matthew Gilbert at Salt Lake City’s Holy Trinity — but which the majority of parishioners oppose. In mid-December, the parish co...

I am mentally comparing the spartan accommodations of the Diocese of the South's Archbishop Dmitri of blessed memory and am unable to formulate a reason one might need a house this lavish. I'm not one to demand squalor, but 7,500 square feet complete with a large outdoor pool and an Endless Pool? Many of our Orthodox seminaries are not this large. ( nj.com ) - The 4,500-square-foot home sits on 8.2 wooded acres in the hills of Hunterdon County. With five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a three-car garage and a big outdoor pool, it’s valued at nearly $800,000, records show. But it’s not quite roomy enough for Newark Archbishop John J. Myers. Myers, who has used the Franklin Township house as a weekend residence since the archdiocese purchased it in 2002, is building a three-story, 3,000-square-foot addition in anticipation of his retirement in two years, The Star-Ledger found. He will then move in full-time, a spokesman for the archbishop said. The new wing, now just a ...

( OCA-NYNJ ) - The diocesan Department of College Ministry [ DoCM ] has launched a new and informative website. Father John Diamantis (Chairperson) and webmaster, Levan Kiknadze, encourage the active participation of clergy and faithful to work with them in making the opportunity for Orthodox Christian college students throughout New York and New Jersey to share in fellowship and mutual support a reality. With the fervent support of Bishop Michael, the DoCM is fully committed to growing this vital ministry within the life of the church. Help them “spread the word” by sharing the new website with our college students!

( AFR ) - Sowing Seeds welcomes His Grace Bishop Gregory of Nyssa who provides Episcopal oversight for the Orthodox Christian Fellowship . Bishop Gregory is Primate of the American Carpatho-Russian Diocese of the USA.

A very interesting discussion of the Orthodox practice of blessing weapons is available from the blog OrthoCuban . Having had this discussion before with friends, the division among believers holds strong support for the practice on one side and strong dislike on the other side. No one seems opposed to blessing "spiritual weapons" such as bells, but Kalashnikovs were a different thing for even Kalashnikov himself (see here ). ( OrthoCuban ) - Recently, there was a small discussion on a friend’s Facebook© page concerning Orthodoxy and the blessing of weapons. Below is an ancient service for the blessing of weapons. Above is a photograph of a Russian priest blessing weapons. It should be noted that the Great Book of Needs, published by St. Tikhon seminary in 1999 has no such service within its pages. And, though it says “book,” it is actually a set of four encyclopedia size volumes. Blessing of Swords/Sabers and Soldiers The Bishop or Priest comes out of the Altar to...

( RBTH ) - An Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity located at the Russian Antarctic station Bellingshausen will be sanctified on Friday, the press service for the Research Institute for the Arctic and Antarctic has reported. The church turns 10 on February 14, the press service reported. The polar explorers from the Russian Antarctic expedition suggested the creation of an Orthodox chapel back in the late 1990s. That offer was upheld and an Orthodox church was build at the station. The construction of the church began in fall 2001 in Altai. The main materials used in its construction were cedar and larch, which do not rot. The Research Institute for the Arctic and Antarctic said the disassembled church was taken to Bellingshausen Station in early 2003. The chapel was sanctified in 2004. "Monks from the Holy Trinity Lavra have served there since then. They combine their high spiritual service with work at the Bellingshausen Station, and they do all the work that they have t...

What is a "Thyranoixia?" See here . ( YouTube ) - Thyranoixia of Annunciation Orthodox Church in Pakistan. February 6, 2014. The service was performed by His Eminence Metropolitan Konstantinos of Singapore and South Asia.

I was delighted to read this post from the blog Paradosis entitled " The Liturgy in Africa ." It's an engaging vignette about what it's like to serve as a deacon in a foreign land with its different practices and expectations. Go take a look .

MINNEAPOLIS, MN ( OCA-MW ) — Saint Mary’s Cathedral here is pleased to announce that its publication, An Altar Server’s Guide to the Liturgies, has been reprinted and is again available for purchase. Altar Server Guide reprinted, now available for purchase. The coil bound, 126-page book includes the texts of the Divine Liturgies of Saints John Chrysostom and Basil the Great and the Presanctified Liturgy of Saint Gregory Dialogos. General notes of instruction for serving accompany the complete texts of each liturgy and are presented in the margins in regular type, while notes concerning actions occurring during hierarchical liturgies are presented in bold. The book also features a number of appendices, including morning and evening prayers, prayers for before and after the reception of the Eucharist, the resurrectional Octoechos, prokeimena and scripture readings for the Presanctified Liturgy, and a comprehensive list of liturgical term definitions. The book may be purchased ...

QUITO, Ecuador ( LifeSiteNews.com ) – A priest in Ecuador has shared how he was conceived in rape when his mother was 13, and then later not only forgave his father but heard his confession. “I could be in a trash can, but I was given life,” Father Luis Alfredo Leon Armijos, 41, told ACI Prensa in an interview last year. The priest shared how his mother, Maria Eugenia Armijos, had to work cleaning a house in Loja, Ecuador, to help her parents support her seven siblings. She was only 13 when “the owner of the house, taking advantage of being alone, abused her and left her pregnant.” Maria Eugenia’s family rejected her. “They didn’t want the baby to be born so they hit her in the belly and gave her drinks that would make her abort,” the priest said. The girl decided to run away to the city of Cuenca, where she gave birth to Luis Alfredo, who was born with respiratory problems due to his mother’s young age. After some time, Maria Eugenia made it back to Loja with the baby. “She ...

Do you remember when the extremists were claiming that they were holding the nuns they captured for their own good so that they could be kept safe from all the violence? Not too many bought that. Now I guess it's safe enough for the nuns that they can be used as a bargaining chip to get 500 Muslim militant cohorts out of incarceration. ( Voice of Russia ) - Extremist grouping Jabhat al-Nusra, a branch of Al Qaida operating in Syria and Lebanon which is holding hostage a group of twelve nuns from the Syrian Christian town of Maaloula, demands a release of 500 of its militants in Syria and Lebanon in exchange for the nuns, the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen satellite channel said Monday. It said the extremists had made their demand known by the Syrian businessman George Haswani who acted as a mediator between the Syrian authorities and them. Nuns and postulants from the Eastern Orthodox convent of St Thekla in Maaloula with Abbess Pelagea at the head are staying in Haswani's gu...

This was a surprisingly in-depth and insightful interview. Arch. David has certainly taken the time to learn about the history of the Alaskan Church and its current needs. ( AFR ) - Archimandrite David [Mahaffey] will be consecrated to the episcopacy at Saint Innocent Cathedral in Anchorage on Friday, February 21, 2014. He will fill the vacant Episcopal See of Sitka and Alaska for the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). AFR introduces you to the Bishop-elect and he talks about his vision for the Diocese.

( Assyrian Church News ) - “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” - Matthew 18:20 The Assyrian Church of the East in Lebanon has hosted an ecumenical celebration marking the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The event, on 26 January 2014, was held at St George Cathedral of the Assyrian Church of the East in the Beirut suburb of Sed el-Bouchriyeh. The ecumenical gathering, the largest of its kind ever held in Lebanon, saw representatives of 10 churches come together to celebrate the important event. These churches were: Antiochian Orthodox Church Armenian Orthodox Church Assyrian Church of the East Chaldean Catholic Church Coptic Orthodox Church Maronite Catholic Church Melkite Catholic Church National Evangelical Church of Lebanon Syriac Catholic Church Syrian Orthodox Church Senior prelates and clergy from the noted churches were represented at the event. The ecumenical prayer event commenced with the recitation of the L...

New Martyr Nun Liudmilla Petrova Vladivostok, February 10 ( Interfax ) - The Yuzhno-Sakhaninsk resident who went on a shooting spree in city's Resurrection Cathedral has admitted his guilt. "The detainee has admitted his guilt. He was drunk when he went on that shooting spree," Natalya Makhonina, acting aide to the press officer for the Investigations Committee's Investigations department for the Sakhalin Region, told Interfax on Monday. Makhonina said the suspect has not given any reasons for his actions yet and will undergo a psychiatric evaluation. According to earlier reports, a man went on a shooting spree in the resurrection cathedral, the main cathedral of the Sakhalin Diocese, on Sunday. A nun and a parishioner were killed at the scene and another six people were wounded and hospitalized. A criminal case has been opened based on Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code (murder of two or more people). A psychiatric evaluation has been scheduled f...

( Roads from Emmaus ) - Lists like this are usually so much clickbait, I know, but I thought it was nevertheless worthwhile to compile a list of most of the reasons why I became and/or remain an Orthodox Christian. Some of these things were not really on my radar when I became Orthodox in 1998, but they are part of the reason why I genuinely do love belonging to the Orthodox Church (which is why “and/or Remain” is in the title). The nature of lists like this is such that they can’t constitute apologetics, really, nor is this one (at least) intended to be universally applicable — these are my reasons. They may not be someone else’s. It will also become apparent that my background as an Evangelical prior to becoming Orthodox is a major factor here. So, all that said, here’s the list... Go read them here .

( mospat.ru ) - The enthronement of His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav, the new Primate of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, took place at the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Prešov on February 9, 2014. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Beatitude together with representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches, Archbishop Jáchym of Prague and the Czech Lands, Archbishop Jurai of Michalovce and Košice, and clerics of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Taking part in the celebration with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The delegation was led by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations. Archbishop Feodor of Mukachevo and Uzhgorod, Bishops Filaret of Lvov and Galich, and clerics of the Mukachevo and Uzhgorod diocese attended the celebration as well as clerics from the dioces...

( Mount Thabor ) - The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation brings together some of Dr. Veniamin’s talks and articles, hitherto available in relatively little-known theological journals and periodicals, which pertain to the fundamental question of the purpose of human existence, to Salvation, as understood in the age-old and unbroken tradition of the Orthodox Christian Faith – the faith of the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs and Saints of our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is a scholarly work, which aims to initiate the reader into the fundamental theological presuppositions of Patristic theology. The juxtaposition of works delivered to diverse audiences is deliberate, inasmuch as it is designed to demonstrate that the same principles are applicable to the sermon and theological treatise alike, that in the Orthodox Christian tradition there is no separation between ethics and doctrine, but rather that Christian living and theology are one indivisible reality, b...

( Mail Online ) - A man employed as a private security guard opened fire in a Russian Orthodox cathedral on the island of Sakhalin, killing a nun and a churchgoer and wounding six others. The shooting occurred on Sunday at a time when Russian security forces are on high alert due to safety concerns about possible attacks on the Winter Olympics in Sochi, thousands of miles to the west. Officials said there was no apparent link to the Games. The gunman was detained at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, after the shooting, the federal Investigative Committee said. It added that the suspect had worked as a security guard in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which is some 4,130 miles from Moscow. There was no immediate word on a motive in the attack, which comes just six days after a Moscow teenager killed a teacher and a policeman and held classmates hostage in the first major school shooting in Russia. Most of the wounded in Sunday’s mid-afternoon attack we...