Byzantine, Texas

( mospat.ru ) - On 18 September 2017, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, arrived in Istanbul. At the airport, he was met by Mr. Andrey Podelyshev, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Istanbul. In the evening of the same day the DECR chairman met with Mr. Alexei Yershov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Turkey. On September 19, Metropolitan Hilarion visited the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr George in Phanar, he venerated the holy relics of Ss. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, and of the Holy Martyr Euphemia the All-Praised, as well as the other shrines. After that Metropolitan Hilarion met with His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. They were joined in the meetin...

A lull in posting due to travel. Hope to "catch up" soon.

( Russian Manner ) - Church Slavonic is the sacred language that unites a number of Slavic Orthodox peoples, regardless of their ethnic and/or linguistic heritage. It is my hope that these resources will bring those who come into contact with this language to a greater understanding of its beauty. The website is available here .

( RISU ) - On Sunday, September 3, the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC will solemnly begin. These days, the hierarchs of the UGCC from all over the world will come to Ukraine. The main theme of the Synod will be the “Prayer”. The Synod will last for ten days. This was announced by the Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav on August 27 at the end of the Bishops' Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. “The main request we are willing to express at this Synod is the words of the apostles to Jesus Christ: “Lord, Teacher, teach us to pray”" We also seek to ask you and yourself about how we pray, whether we are able to pray, or whether prayer is the breath of our souls? I ask you to pray for this Synod! We need so that the Synod was not a matter of a group of bishops. For it is a universal church event, a great event of the whole Church,” called the head of the church has called on the believers. According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, a...

St. George's Antiochian jumped in immediately. As did St. Joseph's Antiochian. St. Basil's Greek made itself available to first responders. ( Pappas Post ) - St. Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church in Houston made its entire campus and property available to the city of Houston’s first responders from the very beginning of Hurricane Harvey’s devastating blow to region. First responders and emergency crews used the buildings and parking lot as a critical staging ground for rescue operations throughout the surrounding area. Fortunately, the church structure itself was not damaged— and even more fortunately, the entire community, led by their parish priest Fr. Luke Palumbis have come out in full force to volunteer. Numerous St. Basil families were displaced by floods and dozens of others who were safe turned out to help rescue and provide shelter to fellow members of the Greek Orthodox community, as well as to complete strangers in need of shelter. Do...

NEW YORK (GOARCH) – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America announces that information published in a daily Greek-American newspaper stating that His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios Geron of America was asked by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to resign, is false and baseless. His Eminence is returning to the United States from Constantinople to continue to work dynamically and creatively for the edification and progress in Christ of the Holy Church in America, a sacred mission to which he was elected by the most venerable Ecumenical Patriarchate 18 years ago.

( Coptic Solidarity ) - Coptic monasteries and moulids, the celebrations of saints that bring hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and visitors to holy sites across Egypt, are usually overflowing during the summer. But this year, they are almost empty, thanks to the decision made by Egyptian churches to cancel all church trips and conferences. The decision, made following security instructions issued in fear of Copts becoming the targets of even more terrorist attacks, has cast a long shadow on church activities, as well as on the resources of many monasteries and their ability to meet their needs. According to church officials, the decision to cancel most church activities was made after close collaboration between the various churches and the country’s security services. The heads of all three churches—Coptic Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant—all received strict instructions not to launch any activities that require travel, including trips to monasteries or conferences in coastal...