Byzantine, Texas

( Mayan Orthodoxy ) - Orthodoxy has grown dramatically in Guatemala, and in Cuba the Orthodox Church has experienced a much smaller--but still significant--rebirth. Here Metropolitan Athenagoras baptizes young Cubans into Orthodoxy. Metropolitan Athenagoras is the bishop over Guatemala and all Central America under the Ecumenical Patriarch.

( GOARCH ) - Apr 29, 2014 Prot. No. 86/14 April 28, 2014 To give them glory instead of ashes (Isaiah 61:3) To the Reverend Priests and Deacons the Presidents and Members of the Parishes of the Greek Orthodox Communities Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, Χριστός Ἀνέστη! Christ is Risen! We, the Hierarchs who constitute the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, greet all the Parishes around our great Nation with love and joy, and with significant good news. The Saint Nicholas Church, destroyed in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, is being resurrected at Ground Zero. A long and difficult journey is nearing its remarkable goal, as from the ashes of the destroyed church, a new church structure will soon rise as a manifestation of the glory of God and the victory of the human spirit. The new Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero will be much more than a rebuilt parish. It will be a National Shrine of our Holy...

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New Delhi ( Two Circles ) - The construction of India's first Russian Orthodox Church will soon begin here, a top Russian diplomat said here. "A decision will be taken soon to begin construction of the Russian Orthodox Church within our cultural centre. This was the most convenient way of reaching an understanding with the (local) authorities, because no major decision, apart from architectural, will be required," Sergey Karmalito, senior counsellor at the Russian embassy, told IANS. One of the largest of the Eastern Orthodox congregations, the Russian Orthodox Church had launched a parish here in 2011 but has so far operated out of the Russian embassy premises. "It will be constructed quite soon, and what is required now are the financial inputs for the project from Moscow", Karmalito said. Pointing out that the decision to construct the church within the cultural centre meant that the necessary approvals required were only architectural in nature, for...

NEW YORK ( GOARCH ) – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America officially launched its community blog site giving the faithful an opportunity to read thought-provoking articles on a broad spectrum of issues. With the changing landscape in communications initiated by mobile technology, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is responding to the needs to share the Good News of the Holy Gospel in fresh and creative ways and to provide insights and strategies for the various ministries and programs of the Church. The blog site will make it easier for people not only to learn about the faith but to also engage each other electronically by entering user feedback. There are currently four blogs associated with Archdiocesan departments on this site: Internet Ministries, Religious Education, “The Ladder” (Youth and Young Adult Ministries), and “Faith Matters” (Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations). The site will be expanded in the future to encompass add...

If you've contacted St. Vlad's in the past about this program (as I have) and not gotten much of a response, it looks like they are now on a more firm footing and ready to take applicants. ( SVOTS ) - St. Vladimir's Seminary is now accepting applications from priests, chaplains, and other professionals in ministry who want to earn an accredited Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree, through a new hybrid program that combines online coursework with on-campus intensive training. In the coming months the seminary administration will begin reviewing applications to admit 15 students into the first cohort of the new program, set to commence fall semester 2014. There also will be an on-campus orientation this summer. The Association for Theological School (ATS) approved the hybrid D.Min. program in fall 2012, and more recently, on March 21, 2014, the State of New York's Office of College and University Evaluation also granted its approval. Additionally, The Danilchick Famil...

BEIRUT ( The Daily Star ) - Hard-line Islamist groups active in Syria are holding hundreds of people captive, largely for financial gain or to stoke fear within the Syrian populace. The fate of those captives, who range from religious figures and foreign journalists to local media activists, is largely unknown. However, the unexpected release of two prominent Spanish reporters late last month has fueled hope that the Al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) may be willing to negotiate for high-value hostages, although the fate of Syrian captives is less clear. The Violations and Documentation Center, a Damascus-based group which closely monitors death tolls, detainees and the long-term missing in Syria, says that over 1,000 people are being held by ISIS and the Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. The vast majority of those currently held were kidnapped in the northern governorates of Raqqa, Aleppo and Idlib. A number of non-jihadist r...

This is an important book that has found a new publisher. It used to be priced at a scholastic audience (read: ungodly expensive), but is now just $20. I encourage all interested in the American Orthodox parish system to give it a read. ( Holy Cross Bookstore ) - The American Orthodox Christian presence has been declining in size over the past few decades, even until now. Orthodox parishes are often criticized for being unable to grow spiritually and in numbers. Education, charitable works, outreach to the community, and other signs of vibrant, healthy communities of faith languish, if they exist at all. Meanwhile, fewer and fewer people participate in the liturgical life of the Church, supposedly the cornerstone of Orthodox faith and witness. The cause for these endemic problems is often laid at the door of ethnophyletism, xenophobia, an extremely parochial and self-serving attitude in Orthodox parishes, lack of faith education, and other ills. In this book, Fr. Nicholas trace...

Greek Orthodox priests carry palm branches during the Palm Sunday celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 13, 2014. The ceremony is a landmark in the Christian calendar, marking the triumphant return of Christ to Jerusalem the week before his death, when a cheering crowd greeted him waving palm leaves. ( Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images )

( CNEWA ) - In preparations for Holy Week, Pope Tawadros II on Tuesday 8 April prepares holy chrism for the first time since his ordination in November 2012. The event marks the 38th times the chrism has been made in the Coptic Orthodox Church. To learn more about chrism, and its purposes, and to see more pictures of Tuesday’s liturgy, check out this link .

( antiochian.org ) - The Archdiocese communicated the following details regarding historic May and June meetings to all clergy and parishes on April 8, 2014: The dates and location have been set for a special Archdiocesan Synod Meeting, Board of Trustees meeting and the Special Nominating Convention. The location will be Chicago, Illinois, in order to facilitate air travel from all parts of the Archdiocese. The specific hotel will be announced, and all meetings will take place at that hotel. The new date and location for the Special Board of Trustees and Archdiocesan Synod meetings were motivated by the need to convene the Special Nominating Convention. This makes it necessary to cancel the meetings which were originally scheduled at the Antiochian Village for the weekend of May 29-31. The schedule of meetings is as follows: Tuesday May 13, 2014, 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. – Special meeting of the Archdiocesan Synod. Wednesday May 14, 2014, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Special Board of Tr...

Recently republished is a book on the married priesthood (see below ). After reading this recent article in the National Catholic Register, I though it worth giving a shout out to this important historic and doctrinal work. While some of the prefatory comments have a decidedly particular audience (Rome and Rusyns), the arguments themselves have a universal application. ( NCRegister ) - ST. LOUIS — Surrounded by his wife, daughter and the bishops of his Church, Father Wissam Akiki made history in February as the first married man in 90 years to enter the priesthood for the Maronite Catholic Church in the U.S. But for Catholics of most Eastern-rite Churches in the U.S., including the Maronites, the fact the priest is a married man isn’t that extraordinary: What’s extraordinary is that they have to ask the Vatican for permission to ordain married men in the first place. Eastern Catholic bishops of the Ukrainian, Ruthenian and Melkite traditions have been cautiously ordaining marr...

( HTS ) - The Brightest Luminary of the Russian Land: Seminary Student Conference dedicated to the 700th Anniversary of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary invites paper proposals from students of Orthodox seminaries in North America for a Seminary Student Conference that marks the 700th anniversary of the greatest Russian saints, the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh 1314 - 1392). Students will present their paper at the Conference from October 10-11, 2014.

Who is getting a background check in the OCA now? Almost everyone : "level-one background check would be required of all bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, and readers, as well as lay workers who have more than minimal contact with children. The background checks would be required at least once every three years." Social Security trace / verification County criminal search County civil search Nationwide Federal criminal search Nationwide Federal civil search Sex Offender Registry search I-9 Verification Driver’s history search More information available here .

( OCL ) - Confession for children by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. I was asked to give a certain number of sermons on Confession; because many come to Confession and repeat only things which they have read in manuals of devotion or which other people have told them about. And I would like to start where I start with a child and attract your attention to the fact that our situation is the same. When a child comes to Confession, usually he brings either on paper or by memory a long list, or a short list, of sins. And when he has finished, I always say, ‘Are these things which break your heart? Are these things which you feel are wrong in you? Did you invent for yourself this confession?’ And most of the time the answer is, ‘No, my mother gave me this list because that makes her cross!’ After that I usually have a conversation with the mother. But as far as the child is concerned, it has nothing to do with him, it is not his c...

( livescience ) - Hundreds of years before asbestos became ubiquitous in the construction industry, Byzantine monks used the fibrous material in plaster coatings underlying their wall paintings during the late 1100s, new research shows. Asbestos is a type of natural, rock-forming mineral known for its ability to separate into long, flexible fibers. It has long been thought that asbestos fibers, which are corrosion- and combustion-resistant, were first integrated into such things as plaster, finish coatings and floors after the Industrial Revolution. But while investigating the 12th-century paintings in the Byzantine monastery Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Cyprus, UCLA researchers discovered the magnesium silicate mineral, chrysotile (white asbestos), in the finish coating of the plaster underneath a portion of a wall painting. The chrysotile provided a smooth layer with a mirrorlike surface for the painting... Complete article here .

( CNSNews.com ) – Eyewitnesses have given a harrowing account of the murder in Cairo of a young Coptic Christian woman, hauled out of her car and beaten and stabbed to death by a Muslim mob, apparently targeted because of a cross hanging from her rear-view mirror. The incident occurred in the Cairo suburb of Ain Shams after mosque prayer services on Friday, when police clashed with Muslim Brotherhood supporters angered by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to run for president. An eyewitness appearing on “90 minutes,” a program on the al-Mehwar satellite network, said 25-year-old Mary Sameh George was attacked in her car near a church, where she planned to deliver medicine to an ill and elderly woman. Protestors climbed onto her car, collapsing the roof, then hauled her from the vehicle, beating and mauling her – to the extent, he said, that portions of her scalp were torn off. She was stabbed multiple times, her throat was slit and when she was dead, the mob torched ...

St. Elias has been THE place to look for liturgically proper and genuinely beautiful services. In fact, many Orthodox people link to their photos and videos without knowing that they aren't Orthodox. ( CTV News ) - Charred posts are all that remain of a 20-year-old Toronto-area Ukrainian church after a massive fire gutted the iconic building Saturday morning. Its pastor and spiritual leader, Father Roman Galadza, says parishioners are devastated. "It's like a death in the family," Galadza told CTV News. "I'm still a bit numb. I feel for (the parishioners)." Firefighters were called to St. Elias The Prophet Ukrainian Catholic Church near Heritage Road and Bovaird Drive in Brampton just before 7:00 a.m. on Saturday. The church, which was built completely from wood and was famous for its ornate architecture, was completely engulfed in flames by the time emergency crews arrived. Fueled by strong winds, firefighters say the blaze spread quick...

For some background, see this post . ( Eparchy of Prague ) [machine translation] - Pastoral letter of the Archbishop of Prague and the Czech countries Joachim spiritual and faithful of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands of 3 April 2014 Venerable fathers, brothers and sisters! Let me greet you all in these sacred holy days a forty when, along with Saint Andrew Cretan, author of Great repentant canon, and by the example of St. Mary of Egypt, we delve into the deepest repentance: "We have sinned, lived illegally and unfairly before Thee" (Irmos seventh song). Unfortunately, even in these days when we invited the Church to the inner part - to prayer and repentance, we are forced to also pay the outer and practical things and I want you detailed information about all current serious issues. Today Diocesan Council met Olomouc-Brno eparchy that their resolutions showed obedience and respect the sacred synod and at his request, recommended that the functions of administr...

“If you want to find a Jewish person, go to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas. If you want to find an Orthodox person, go to a Chinese restaurant during Lent.”

( NCR ) - Where does the Russian Orthodox Church stand on the crisis in Ukraine? And why is a Pan-Orthodox Council planned for 2016? To find out answers to these and other questions, the Register interviewed Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow. A noted theologian, Church historian and composer, Metropolitan Hilarion also shared in this April 2 email interview his thoughts on the current status of Catholic-Orthodox relations. How important for the Orthodox Church is the Pan-Orthodox Council planned for 2016? Is it to be seen as something similar to Vatican II in the history of the Catholic Church? The Pan-Orthodox Council is important in that, after the era of ecumenical councils, it will be the first council representing all the Orthodox Churches recognized today. For the last 12 centuries, there were counci...

BYESVILLE, OH ( OCA-DMW ) — The Diocese of the Midwest and The Diocese of Western Pennsylvania will host a Small Parish Forum at Christ the Savior Church here July 10-12, 2014. Titled “Help, Hope, Stability and Identity,” the forum will cater to the numerous “small” parishes in the two dioceses. Workshops and presentations will examine ways to determine realistic goals toward which parishes with memberships of 50 or less souls can work, based on their respective regions’ economics and demographics and their unique talents and strengths. Participants will learn how their parishes can achieve stability, build a positive self-image, and accept their calling to live a life in Christ without necessarily becoming “big.” For parishes prepared and desiring to grow, fresh ideas adapted and relevant to the realities of small churches will prove invaluable. Headed by Joe Kormos, Parish Development Ministry Leader for the Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania, the forum’s planning commit...

( spc.rs ) - His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, officiated the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the chapel of Saint Symeon the Myrrh-Gusher at the Serbian Patriarchate on 3 April 2014.

ISTANBUL ( sedmitza.ru ) [machine translation] - Communique published April 1 Ecumenical Patriarchate on the situation in the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church. Patriarch Bartholomew, originally stood on the side of Simeon locum tenens Metropolitan Brno and Olmutz, and not to recognize the results of the elections, articulates his positions extremely tough: 1. Election after the resignation of Archbishop Christopher new Primate Archbishop Rostislav Czechoslovak Church does not recognize the Ecumenical Patriarchate "in connection with canonical violations during the election." 2. Accordingly, any action of the Czechoslovak Church hierarchy is anti-canonical and not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. 3. Constantinople Orthodox Church "as the Mother Church is ready to take an active part in resolving the problem, calls on both parties to continue negotiations and to avoid any action that may aggravate the current sad situation in the Czechoslovak Church." R...

( USCCB ) - In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published March 5, Pope Francis was asked about the significance of the meeting he was planning to have with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the Holy Land in late May. In his response, the pope said that “Orthodox theology is very rich. And I believe that they have great theologians at this moment. Their vision of the Church and of synodality is marvelous.” What did the pope mean by this? It has long been recognized that the great Eastern and Western traditions of the Church are different, but that at the deepest level they are not contradictory but complementary. In its 1964 Decree on Ecumenism, the Catholic bishops acknowledged at the Second Vatican Council that the traditions of the East offer a different perspective on our faith that should be respected; that the East has its own ecclesiastical laws and customs, its own spiritual, theological and liturgical heritage. They went on to say in paragraph 1...

( Antiochian Village AU ) - Antiochian Village Camp was founded in 1978 in Pennsylvania, USA. Since then, it is one of the premier facilities for Orthodox youth and families. In 2014, the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Australia purchased land to continue the tradition from our brother's & sister's in America, to establishthe Antiochian Village inAustralia. The camp which is to be established in Goulburn, Australia (2 hours South of Sydney) is an ideal setting for outdoor recreation, spiritual growth, and spiritual discovery.

Fotis Varthis has painted some popular sci-fi/fantasy characters iconographically (Link from Zelda, Chewbacca from Star Wars, etc.) in a gallery he calls " The Byzantine Series ." He explains it thus: "Byzantine painting is a language as any kind of art and it doesn't necessarily express a religious statement. For me this concept of illustrating known -fantasy- characters in Byzantine way began as a mistake when I was trying to draw a prophet and the face reminded me of Saruman! Then I thought that it would be fun to try to depict a variety of characters in that way and I will continue this project as long as it goes. Nothing to do with Orthodoxy or any other religion though." Having posted similar convergences of the sacred with the everyday, I can say with some experience that people will pitch a tent in one of three camps. The first encampment will say, "Glory to God! Maybe some people will see these images, get interested in icons, and find the Chu...