Byzantine, Texas

H/T: Fr. Joseph Coleman This is what is flying over the US embassy in Cyprus today. Even though the Cypriot Church's Holy Synod has denounced the country's first gay pride day by saying "The Church and science consider homosexuality to be the human being's fall from grace and an illness and not a natural way of life or choice," our country seems to have sided with the activists.

…they integrate a tryzub (тризуб or trident) into the parish murals.

Order one here .

The people and clergy at the first Archdiocesan Conference at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire from 26th to 28th May 2014. The objective of the Conference was to put the finishing touches to the preparation stage for the arrival of our first resident bishop, including a provisional archdiocesan structure to facilitate the very best practice in our ongoing Church life. May God bless!

( HTS ) - Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary's newly-accredited Certificate in Pastoral Studies is a two-year, on-campus program consisting of courses selected from the Bachelor of Theology. The Certificate in Pastoral Studies provides a theological, liturgical, and pastoral foundation for men who have an earnest desire to serve the Church as well as for those who are already serving. The program is 68 credits, and includes surveys of Holy Scripture, Liturgics, Theology, and Church History. Language courses and more specialized theological courses are not included. See the complete list here . All classes will be taught in English. Application requirements and tuition are the same as for the Bachelor of Theology. The program is not yet registered with SEVIS, but an application is underway. An announcement will be posted when approval is given. International students may apply at that time. All classes must be completed on-campus, and a distance study option is not provided. Those w...

Another powerful, professional, and spiritually edifying video from ROCOR-EAD. ( YouTube ) - FOUNTAIN OF IMMORTALITY - A SPIRITUAL MEDITATION FROM THE HOLY FATHERS ON THE DIVINE LITURGY Produced by the Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese in collaboration with St. Tikhon's Orthodox Seminary. Author and Producer: Reader Alexander Koranda Editor: Reader Peter S. Lukianov Narrator: John D. Sutko

Athens ( OCP ) - With the blessings of Pope Tawadros II a high level delegation of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and All Africa made a historic visit to the holy monastic republic of Mount Athos on 25th of May 2014. Archimandrite Ephrem President of the Vatopedi monastery “burning Bush” in northern Greece and Mount Athos received the delegation of the Coptic Orthodox bishops. The Coptic delegation was led by Bishop Anba Paulose of Athens and all Greece and included Bishop Julius of Ancient Egypt, Bishop Anba of the Eastern headquarters, Bishop Makary of South Shubra, and other prelates. Detailed discussions on Coptic Monasticism and Eastern Orthodox monastic traditions took place. Also the current situation of the life of Coptic Christians in Egypt were also discussed. Special greetings to Pope Tawadros was sent by the abbots in Mount Athos. The Delegation also met with Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece who is the primate of the Church of Greece. ...

Terry Mattingly's blog has a recent post entitled " The quest for safe, generic, ‘ceremonial’ prayers " of which an excerpt is available below. This is a pet topic of mine I've posted on a few times (e.g.  here and here ). I would be remiss if I didn't point to my favorite article on the topic by Fr. John Parker in Touchstone called, appropriately, " Benediction Fiction ." As the members of the Town of Greece Board prepared for business, a local Catholic priest rose to offer a short prayer. “Heavenly Father, you guide and govern everything with order and love,” said Father John Forni, of St. John the Evangelist parish. “Look upon this assembly of our town leaders. … May they always act in accordance with your will, and may their decision be for the well being of all. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace. Amen.” Perhaps it was the “Father” God...

Available on Amazon for Kindle from Mount Thabor Publishing here and here . "Do you see this shared celebration and joy of ours, which the Lord bestowed on those who believe in Him with His resurrection and ascension? It sprang from affliction. Do you see this life, or rather, this immortality? It shone upon us through death. Do you see the heavenly height to which Christ ascended when He was taken up, and the sublime glory with which He was glorified according to the flesh? He attained to this by means of humility and dishonour. As the apostle says of Him, "He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:8-11). "If, ...

( Assyrian Church ) - His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV arrived in Moscow, Russia on 26 May 2014. The Catholicos-Patriarch is visiting Russia at the invitation of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Kirill I. The delegation of the Assyrian Church of the East includes H.B. Mar Aprem (Metropolitan of India), H.B. Mar Gewargis Sliwa (Metropolitan of Iraq and Russia), H.G. Mar Iskhaq Yosip (Bishop of Northern Iraq and Russia) and H.G. Mar Awa Royel (Bishop of California). His Holiness was welcomed at the airport by the Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate, the DECR’s secretary for inter-Christian relations and other DECR staff members. After departing from the airport the delegation proceeded to St Mary’s Church of the Assyrian Church of the East in Moscow where His Holiness conducted prayers and met with church faithful. The visit, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of mass migrations of Ass...

Glory to God for All Things has a post well worth reading entitled " Naked And Unashamed ." The deepest and most primitive emotion of the human being is that of shame. It is the feeling that something is wrong with us. This should be distinguished from the feeling that we have done something wrong (that is called guilt). Shame is the feeling that we are something wrong. It is the first emotion ascribed to Adam and Eve as they hide in their shame. Shame makes us want to hide and cover ourselves for it reveals us in a wounded state and intensely vulnerable. It is the deep cry within us that says, “No! Don’t look at me!” It is also one of the major engines that drives the modern world. In a consumerist culture where emotions and passions are the primary tools of motivation, shame has taken a primary position. “I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that!” is the sound of shame translated into fashion sense. The embarrassment that accompanies “last year’s wardrobe” or “outdat...

( pravoslavie.ru ) - Orthodox and Oriental Churches in the Swiss canton of Zürich wish to be recognized within the framework of public law. The intention to regulate official relations was expressed by priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Zürich Fr. Shnork Demirjian, reports Kipa/Apic. Opening of the Union of Orthodox and Oriental Churches is scheduled for September. This is the first step on the way towards national recognition. The solemn opening act will take place at the Greek Orthodox Church of Zürich. According to Priest Shnork Demirjian, there are around 200,000 Orthodox Christians and Christians of ancient Oriental traditions in the canton. There is no precise statistical information at the present time. There is the parish of Resurrection of Christ in Zürich, belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church. It was founded in 1936 by Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky). Since 1945 it has been in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow. The aspiration to be recogni...

( ACN ) - The Orthodox Church in Russia is one of the few institutions trying to help inmates in the country's prison system. ACN has been supporting its work by helping to fund the construction of prison chapels and the provision of religious literature. Father Igor, who is responsible for the prison chaplaincy service in Nizhny Novgorod, has personally baptized almost 400 prisoners since 1998. It all started in a very modest way. "When we began providing our pastoral ministry in the prison, all we had was a tiny room in the laundry area where we could pray. We bought some paint and painted the walls. Later, the prisoners with artistic ability decorated the walls with icons. I heard confessions in an adjacent room.” “Very soon I was able to observe many changes in people's souls. Half a year later, there was a group of them who came, as a matter of course, to morning and evening prayer. And on Sundays, when I came to celebrate the Sacred Liturgy, they had already ...

( RISU ) - The chief foreign spokesman of the Russian Orthodox Church has expressed some misgivings that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople will be meeting Pope Francis during the Pontiff’s visit to the Holy Land. Metropolitan Hilarion said that because Patriarch Bartholomew had not consulted with other Orthodox leaders before scheduling his meeting with the Pope, he would be acting on his own behalf, not as a representative of the world’s Orthodox faithful. Although the Patriarch of Constantinople is traditionally recognized as the “first among equals” in the Orthodox hierarchy, the Russian Orthodox argues that he exercises that primacy only when other Orthodox patriarchs explicitly authorize him to do so. In the absence of such a mandate, Metropolitan Hilarion said, Patriarch Bartholomew will be representing only his own particular church, the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

With the events going on in Jerusalem right now, there are a lot of things being discussed related to ecumenism. The below is a link to the Latin Church's position on the ubiquitous term "Sister Churches." This is the official , Vatican perspective on not only ecumenical efforts in general, but also the relationship between the Vatican See and the Orthodox Church. Written under the oversight of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope emeritus Benedict XVI), Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, this document was approved by Pope John Paul II (June 9, 2000). Highlighted below is an ecclesiological perspective often absent in careless, ecumenical discussions (both East and West), and is a helpful corrective to radical ‘ecumenists’ who would deny the basic foundations of Christianity; that is, that Christ has established one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, and that the gates of Hades will never divide it (Matt. 16:18)... Read the rest on th...

( antiochian.org ) - Our baptism brought us into the Body of Christ, and placed our feet on the path of salvation, which is the Church. But it is up to us to walk the path. We cannot be the Body of Christ together unless each of us is continually seeking the kingdom and an ever-increasing union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The 2013 Orthodox Institute explored the Kingdom in its corporate dimension, the Church. The 2014 event, entitled " Theosis: Your Life with God " will complement the previous event by exploring the personal dimension. Participants will have the opportunity to learn the history and implications of this particularly life-giving Orthodox theology. More importantly, participants will learn from those who have journeyed before us—the saints, and how we can walk the path today. There will be an in-depth courses on the Jesus Prayer, fasting, and on how to nurture children on their spiritual walk. Our two keynote speakers are Fr. Anthony Coniaris,...

Chicago, IL ( OCA-DMW ) — The 20th Annual Symposium sponsored by Orthodox Christian Synergy will be held at Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, 5701 North Redwood Dr., Chicago, on Saturday, October 18, 2014. The featured speaker will be His Grace, Bishop Anthony of the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest. He will speak on “Thy Kingdom Come: Binding the Strong Man and Winning Back the Hearts and Minds of God’s People.” Orthodox Christian Synergy is a pan-Orthodox organization consisting of clergy and lay representatives from Chicago-area parishes who seek to project awareness of Orthodox Christianity to the public at large. Established in 1990, Synergy works together with its parent organization, the Orthodox Christian Clergy Association of Greater Chicago, and with the blessings of the Chicago-area Orthodox Hierarchs. For additional information and/or to register, visit www.chicagosynergy.org .

Christ is Risen! I finally graduated from seminary this week. Thanks to all who prayed for my family and for me during our years away from Texas. It's an odd feeling to not have another paper on the horizon, but I think I'll bask in it for a while - a mental hammock with Shiner in hand that I can't quite countenance extricating myself from.

( Apostolic Pilgrimage ) - When Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew meet in Jerusalem on May 25-26, 2014, they will recall the meeting of their predecessors Pope Paul IV and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the same city in 1964. In the midst of prayer and recollection in the Holy Places, the leaders of the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church will give thanks to God for the dramatic change in the relationship between their churches in the past fifty years. They will recall the prayer of the Lord for this disciples ‘that they all be one' (John 17:21). Within five decades, the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church formally have moved from isolation to engagement, from monologue to dialogue, and from misunderstanding to mutual enrichment. These developments can only have taken place with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and with the commitment of devoted clergy and laity to the process of reconciliation. While the relationship between the churches may ...

( Greek Reporter ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, visited Dachau, a former German-nazi concentration camp, on Monday. During his visit he prayed for the memory of the victims who were killed during the nazi occupation. According to Greek news this visit was symbolic, coinciding with the eve of the upcoming European elections, which are expected to reflect the theories that created Dachau, Auschwitz, Mauthausen and the hundreds of other concentration camps that cost thousands of lives. The Ecumenical Patriarch passed through the gates of Dachau where a chilling inscription reads: “arbeit macht frei” (work makes you free) and wandered around the camp, guided by the museum’s director. The Ecumenical Patriarch is currently on a nine-day trip to Germany, as part of the celebrations for completing fifty years of operation of the Orthodox Cathedral. In Berlin, he was welcomed by the German government and Chancellor Angela Merkel. H...

( GetReligion ) - Try to imagine a story about the state of tense talks between Democrats and Republicans that only offered material drawn from interviews with Republicans, even when talking about the beliefs and aspirations of the Democrats. Try to imagine a report about, oh, talks between liberal Episcopalians and conservative Anglicans that only featured commentary from one side or the other (actually, in some mainline publications that’s pretty easy to imagine). Or how about a pre-Super Bowl story that tried to cover the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams in the big game, but only talked to experts skilled in covering one of the teams or only talked to the coaches on one team. Can you imagine veteran journalists doing that? This brings me to a report by NPR superstar Sylvia Poggioli that ran, online, under this headline: “ The 1,000-Year-Old Schism That Pope Francis Seeks To Heal. ” Hear me now: This is not a fatally flawed news story, although some of the informat...

( emissourian.com ) - Father Moses Berry isn’t afraid to discuss a subject that can make many people uncomfortable — slavery. And he doesn’t just like to talk about it. He brings artifacts — neck irons, balls, chains and other pieces, all handed down from his ancestors who were slaves — that he puts in people’s hands, allowing them to get a very real sense of that history. Father Moses, who is a black pastor of Theotokos “Unexpected Joy” Orthodox Christian Church in Ash Grove, said his purpose isn’t to make white people feel guilty or black people indignant. He does it to bring both sides together. “I want to show how we, as black and white people, have a certain common heritage,” Father Moses said. Whites and blacks worked together to end slavery, he said, mentioning the Underground Railroad as one example. “You hear a lot about Harriet Tubman, but at the same time, those safe houses were all owned by white people,” he said. “Black escapees were harbored by white people who ...

I added the Churching of the child and the Dismissal from the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania below. There are some jurisdictional variances that surprise people when they visit other churches. For example, the placing of the child on the solea after churching is often cause for some befuddlement. ( Stump the Priest ) - Question: What is the reason for the difference in practice of churching boys, who are taken behind the altar, and the churching of girls, who are not? In Baptism, a person is united with Christ and His Church, and becomes a full member of the Church. The Rite of the Churching of an infant who has been baptized is the solemn act of bringing the child into the Church, and offering them to God. Baptisms are now often done inside the Nave of the Church, but historically, baptisms were either done outside (in a flowing river or lake), or in a baptistery that might be separate from the Church altogether, or which is located in the Narthex of the Church. And so, histor...

( Reuters ) - When Pope Francis meets the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians next week, the speeches and symbolism will focus on how these ancient western and eastern wings of Christianity want to come closer together. After almost a millennium apart, however, the key to the elusive unity they seek does not lie in Jerusalem, where the Catholic pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will embrace on May 25. If anywhere, that key lies in Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), by far the largest church in the Orthodox world and increasingly influential at home and abroad, has long been wary of the closer ties Francis and Bartholomew want to work towards. Its opposition has only stiffened in recent months amid the crisis in Ukraine, where the political standoff between Russia and Europe has deepened tensions between the Moscow Patriarchate and three competing churches, one of them linked to the Vatican which Moscow accuses of trying to woo away its worshippe...

OAKLAND ( InsideBayArea ) - Bishops from one of the world's oldest Christian churches gathered in the Oakland hills for a four-day summit last week, hoping to sort out their differences as they shepherd an East African denomination to new lands. The gathering was "to talk about the next generation, the one in the United States, what we have to do for them," said Palo Alto resident Benyam Mulugeta, president of the board of Oakland's Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Mekane Selam Medhane Alem Cathedral. "We don't want to lose the next generation." Exiled Patriarch Abune Merkorios was scheduled to preside over the convening of the Holy Synod, but the elder church leader fell ill shortly before his flight to the Bay Area. Merkorios was dethroned and replaced amid Ethiopia's political turmoil of the 1990s, but he still has a worldwide following of Ethiopian emigrants who consider him the true spiritual leader of an institution that dates back to the ...

While not a fan of MMA, I do want to highlight this laudable act.

( The Atlantic ) - Over the past three days, three months' worth of rain has fallen on the Balkan region, producing the worst floods since rainfall measurements began 120 years ago. The flooding has affected huge parts of Serbia, and more than a quarter of Bosnia's 4 million people: The Bosnian government is warning of "terrifying" destruction comparable to the country's 1992-95 war. At least 40 people have died in the region, and tens of thousands of others have fled their homes, packing into buses, boats, and helicopters - many of them farmers leaving their livestock behind. There's an additional hazard: leftover land mines. Floodwater has disturbed known minefields and damaged some markers that had been placed there to warn people away.

Full remarks from SYMPOSIUM 2014 - Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the Global Family of Orthodox Churches: Past, Present and Future, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, 8 May 2014 are available as YouTube videos here . You can read more about the symposium itself here . Below is an example talk entitled "Defining a Kyivan Orthodoxy: Parish Clergy and Local Religious Practice in Kyiv Diocese in the 19th Century" by Dr. Heather Coleman, University of Toronto.

NEW YORK ( GOARCH ) – On Sunday, May 25, 2014, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis will meet at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to commemorate a meeting in the Holy Land fifty years ago by their revered predecessors, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI. The historic meeting in 1964 marked the beginning of a new era in the relations between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople, and indirectly between Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy as a whole. The significance of that event can only be fully appreciated if placed in the context of a millenium dominated by theological estrangement and mutual mistrust between the two great traditions of the Church. EWTN has confirmed that this Catholic Television Network will broadcast LIVE the Ecumenical Celebration at the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday, May 25, featuring commentaries in English, Spanish, German and French.

Baltimore, MD ( IOCC ) — On the heels of epic floods that left at least 37 dead and thousands homeless in Serbia and Bosnia, a second surge of floodwaters continues to fill an already swollen Sava River and threatens thousands of lives as well as Serbia's biggest power plant. The Nikola Tesla power plant, which provides roughly half of the country's electricity, is in the deadly path of a flood wave created by the heaviest rains to hit the region in 120 years. In Bosnia, evacuees are being placed in temporarily shelters like military barracks, but many more await help in areas that are not accessible yet. From its offices in Bosnia and Serbia, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is responding to the immediate needs of flood survivors in the region. IOCC, in cooperation with Philanthropy, the humanitarian arm of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the Serbian Red Cross, is providing transportation support and quilts for evacuees being transferred to temporary sh...

These dialogues are important - that point is inarguable. What is lacking is a real groundswell of support by either side in the US (and I suspect elsewhere) to make closer relations a reality. I have attended annual ecumenical gatherings for years now and have yet to see the hundreds or thousands one might expect in attendance if there were a real desire for "unity now." It will be interesting to see what the other patriarchs have to say about the upcoming meeting of the Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope of Rome in Jerusalem, but it will also be worth watching what is not said or done in the days following their meeting. Real "progress" will require the support of the other patriarchates or nothing will happen beyond photo-ops. Vatican City, May 19, 2014 ( CNA ) - A member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity affirmed the sentiments of many who believe that Catholic-Orthodox relations have improved in recent years, especially under Pope Francis. ...

( OCA ) - On Tuesday, May 13, 2014, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, accompanied by Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky, met with Karekin II, Supreme Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Issues and challenges of the mission of the Armenian Church and the Orthodox Church in America were discussed in the context of the strong solidarity and friendship of the two churches. Among the important themes of the conversion was the 100th Anniversary in 2015 of the Armenian Genocide and the events commemorating the anniversary in the US and Armenia. Following their meeting with the Catholicos, Metropolitan Tikhon and Father Leonid attended a luncheon in honor of the newly elected Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church. His Holiness, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, who had served as Archbishop in the US for some years and is well known to the Christian leaders in the US. Also attending the lunch were His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Cardi...

( CyprusMail ) - The Christian Orthodox Church is against any form of discrimination and violence but homosexuality was a disease that must undergo medical and spiritual treatment, a senior clergyman said yesterday. Tamasos Bishop Isaias said while the Church accepted everybody, irrespective of their passions, beliefs, and behaviours, and affords them the help they need, it “rejects and condemns sin and that is why when God forgives a sinner, he advises him and tells him to go and sin no more.” In a written statement, Isaias said a Church statement on Thursday aimed at stressing this forgiveness and advice. “It was done with love, concern, and understanding towards all humans,” he said. The statement was released at the request of many believers who asked the Church to take a stand, “feeling provoked due to recent publications and activities of homosexuals which offend morals and erode the principles of the Christian family.” The Church’s positions agree with serious scientif...

CHICAGO, IL ( OCA-DMW ) — The Diaconal Vocations and Lay Catechist Program of the Diocese of the Midwest will be offering several language classes this summer. All are welcome to enroll. Beginning Koine Greek. Either a 12 or 16 week course that will cover the entirety of basic Koine Greek grammar and vocabulary. This course will equip the student to read basic texts in the Greek New Testament, the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament (LXX), as well as liturgical and patristic texts; use standard Greek reference tools; and engage in critical scholarship of the Greek Bible and Early Christian literature. Intermediate Koine Greek. This course will feature a brief review of Greek grammar and proceed with study of advanced syntax, vocabulary, and, most importantly, the reading of selected texts from the New Testament. Exegetical and homiletical topics will also be explored. This is a perfect course for those who have had some Greek in the past and want to sharpen their sk...

( antiochian.org ) - On Tuesday and Wednesday May 13th and 14th, His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan presided over the meetings of the Local Synod and Board of Trustees in Chicago, respectively. In both meetings, the principal issue was the preparation for the Special Convention to be held in Chicago on June 5th. At the end of the deliberations, the Patriarchal Vicar and the Local Synod in agreement with the Board of Trustees announced the list of Eligible Candidates for the office of Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America. They also approved the text of the call, the procedures to be followed prior to the Special Convention and at the same, regarding the eligibility of voting candidates, the process of voting, counting of votes and announcements of results. In these meetings, Metropolitan Silouan gave a thorough reading of the legal, ecclesiastical and pastoral aspects of the issues to be treated in preparation of the Special Convention. At the close of the ...

I'm pondering making the trip over. Some of the talks look to be worth attending. ( OCA ) - Saint Tikhon’s Seminary here will host its annual Continuing Clergy Education Symposium June 17-19, 2014. This is the second year that the school will provide this symposium to enable OCA priests and deacons to fulfill their annual 20 hours of continuing education studies mandated by the Holy Synod of Bishops. The list of speakers and topics to be included in this year’s symposium includes the following... Complete article here .

( novinite.com ) - The official website of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was hacked by the Turkish organization Milli Gucler on Thursday. The home page displays the Turkish flag and the following text: “The official website of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is hit in response to the vandal attack on the Djumaya mosque in Plovdiv. Those are offensive acts against the Turkish-Muslim minority in Bulgaria and an attack on the cultural heritage of the country, because the mosques are part of the cultural heritage of Bulgaria. Whoever organized this barbaric aggression, must now that the Turkish-Muslim minority is not defenceless and there are forces who are watching over it and are ready to defend it. The silence of the Bulgarian Patriarchate must be interpreted as a tacit agreement with the aggression on Muslim religious temples. The punitive actions against the enemies of the Turkish-Muslim minority on part of Milli Gucler (National Forces) are neither first, nor would be the la...

( spc.rs ) - Hierarchs gathered at the Studenica monaster. The rite of Invocation of the Holy Spirit was performed in the church of Sts. Apostles Peter and Paul in Ras near Novi Pazar.

( OCA ) - The Rite of Installation, during which His Grace, Bishop Mark [Maymon] was enthroned as Bishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, was celebrated at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint Stephen Cathedral here Saturday, May 10, 2014. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, presided at the Divine Liturgy. In addition to Bishop Mark, His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Eminence, Archbishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; and His Grace, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey, together with numerous clergy from throughout the diocese and beyond, including Priest Victor Gorodenchuk, Dean of Saint Stephen Cathedral, concelebrated. Among the guests attending the Divine Liturgy were representatives of the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Philadelphia and Scranton. On Friday evening, Great Vespers was celebrated at the cathedral, at which Archbishop Nathaniel delivered the homily. Bishop Mark preached at Saturda...

I really wish stuff like this was established at a pan-Orthodox level. We're duplicating our efforts terribly doing this at the diocesan or jurisdictional level. ( antiochian.org ) - The Orthodox Christian Coalition for Healthy Youth (or OCCHY) is a unique national alliance founded and supported by the Department of Youth and Parish Ministries of the Antiochian Archdiocese , involved in establishing, training and leading substance abuse prevention and intervention coalitions across America. The Healthy Youth initiative, sponsored by OCCHY, offers communities an opportunity to heighten awareness of how to combat substance abuse, prevent bullying, encourage sexual abstinence outside of marriage, and encourage respect for the sanctity of the human body. Recent updates on the Hookah Prevention initiative, the Healthy Youth ministry of Tucson, AZ, and the Cicero/Chicago based group, are available on OCCHY's Website ( here ). OCCHY is developing local community networks to addr...

Numerous services, joy of seeing men graduate from seminary, and a myrrh-streaming icon... I think my family will be driving over. ( STOTS ) - The 72nd Annual Commencement Ceremony for the Graduating Class of 2014 will be held on the grounds of St. Tikhon’s Monastery on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 1:00 PM. The guest speaker for this year’s commencement ceremony will be His Grace Bishop Sava (Urich). More information available here (PDF). An icon of the Theotokos from nearby Taylor, PA, will be present at this year's pilgrimage for veneration. BIOGRAPHY OF HIS GRACE, BISHOP SAVA (URICH) Bishop Sava was born on February 27, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois to 2nd generation Serbian/American parents, Anthony and Dokmana Urich. He was baptized later that year on June 21, 1942, at Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Ill. Bishop Sava began his life as a monastic at the age of 18 when he was tonsured as a Novice in 1958 at St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois....

Read the rest here !

Constantinople ( The Republic ) — Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians, says a meeting with Pope Francis in Jerusalem this month will help move the two churches closer to ending their nearly 1,000-year divide. In an interview with The Associated Press in his Istanbul office, Bartholomew also praised Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for improving rights for Christians but said pointedly, "it is not enough." The meetings between the ecumenical patriarch and the leader of the world's Roman Catholics on May 25-26 will commemorate the historic visit of their predecessors 50 years ago that launched a dialogue aimed at ending the two churches' schism in 1054. "We shall say through our meeting and our prayer that it is the intention of both of us to work further for Christian unity and reconciliation," Bartholomew said, sitting at his desk piled high with papers in his Patriarchate office. Around him, golden icons from...

( antiochian.org ) - His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan writes on May 7: Very Esteemed Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, And Beloved Faithful of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Christ is risen! I would like to inform you that the Holy Synod of Antioch, after convening on April 29th, 2014, decided that the participation of the Antiochian Archdioceses around the world in the Assembly of Bishops be restored to its status prior to the decision taken by the same in its session held in October 2013. After receiving from the Secretariat of our Holy Synod the text of the aforementioned decision, I notified the Chairman of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios, that the participation of this Archdiocese in the Assembly is effective from the moment that our Holy Synod issued its resolution. Therefore, in compliance with the aforementioned decision, all our hierarchs and all Antiochians - ...

Cairo ( Agenzia Fides ) - The Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church Tawadros II sent a letter to Pope Francis, on the occasion of the first anniversary of their meeting at the Vatican, in which among other things invites the Bishop of Rome to find a single date for the Easter celebration in all Christian Churches. As Fides learns, the spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox Church has stated that the Patriarch’s letter addressed to Pope Francis was delivered to the Apostolic Nuncio to the Arab Republic of Egypt, His Exc. Mgr. Paul Gobel, received yesterday, Tuesday, May 6 at the headquarters of the Coptic Patriarchate. The papal representative in turn submitted to Patriarch Tawadros an invitation to send a representative of the Coptic Church to the next Assembly of the Synod of Catholic Bishops, to be held in October and dedicated to the theme of the family . The unification of the dates of the Easter celebration of the Resurrection is a particularly felt urgency in North Africa and...

( zenit.org ) - The supreme patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church will meet Pope Francis on May 8. His Holiness Karekin II, head of the of the Catholicate of Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church, will visit Rome from 7 to 9 May to meet and pray together with the Pope. Pope Francis and Karekin II, elected the 132nd Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians in 1999, will visit the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and various other dicasteries of the Roman Curia. They will visit the tomb of St. Peter and pray before the statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator, which is located on the north courtyard of the Vatican basilica. The Armenian Church consists of two catholicates and two patriarchates, and around six million faithful. Independent from an administrative point of view, the two catholicates of Etchmiadzin and Antelias are in full communion. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople refer to E...