Byzantine, Texas

I have posted RNS stuff sparingly as there's a bent to some of much of their stuff I don't find appealing. In true GetReligion fashion, they "dig deep" into recent events over there. RNS analysis: How America's one religion wire service melted down over a long weekend (Part I) RNS meltdown II: New media reports, new details and Lilly Endowment confirms $4.9 million grant ( GetReligion ) - By now, news of the editorial bloodbath at Religion News Service is into its fourth day. The bare facts: A respected editor was ousted with apparently no warning or announced cause; two more veteran staff members quit within three days, two others had recently been let go and many others are looking to leave. There’s a been a wave of postings on the Religion News Association’s members Facebook page. The topics: a campaign by current and former RNS employees to tell their story and –- in an unrelated matter –- a pending $4 million deal by which RNS material would be distr...

( Orthodox Academy ) - GreatMartyr Euphemia Orthodox Theological Academy is an institution of higher learning under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate for Palestinian/ Jordanian Orthodox Christian Communities in the US. The Academy offers a two-year program of study (offered in English and Arabic) leading to the Diploma of Orthodox Theological Studies (Dipl. O.T.S.), and a one-year program leading to a Certificate in Preaching, and advanced courses for clergy and laity which qualify as Continuing Education Courses, both offered in English. The mission of GreatMartyr Euphemia Orthodox Theological Academy is to serve the Orthodox Church by preparing students for service to the Church. As the only theological academy within the Vicariate, the Seminary welcomes applicants not only from the United States but also from abroad, thereby serving its mission to serve the Church in all corners of the world.

( SVOTS ) - Seminarians from the Patriarchate of Alexandria helped make for a particularly memorable celebration of the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the Venerable Church of Alexandria. On Wednesday, the seminary community observed the Divine Liturgy for the feast according to rubrics and languages commonly used for the Divine Liturgy in Africa. The Liturgy was led by first-year Seminarian Archimandrite Chrysostomos Onyekakeyah from Nigeria and third-year Seminarian Deacon Simon Menya from Uganda; Seminarian Loveday Okafor, also from Nigeria, sang the responses during the Liturgy. All three students belong to the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. During his sermon, Fr. Chrysostomos pointed out that sermons in Nigeria are usually much longer than sermons typically given in Orthodox churches in America. Sermons he delivers back home can be up to an hour in duration, and members of the congregation sing, dance, and clap for thirty minutes or mo...

( UOC-USA ) - Statement of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine To the Venerable Clergy, Clergy, Monastics and Faithful of our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Diaspora: CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! We write to you all having been informed about recent events in Ukraine surrounding the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. If you have not yet heard or read anything about these events, which are filling the social websites and media in and beyond Ukraine, we hereby inform you that the President of Ukraine met in a day-long audience with His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, on Bright Monday – 9 April 2018. The result of this meeting was the beginning of the Patriarchate’s long-awaited consideration of Autocephaly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Upon his return to Ukraine, President Poroshenko immediately began the process of rallying the hierarchs of the Ukr...

( OCA-NYNJ ) - Nothing is more beautiful than the sound of children singing -- at home, at school and at church. We invite parents, church school teachers, clergy, choir directors and others who may be interested in learning about how the child’s singing voice develops from pre-school through the early teens. Songs and age-appropriate activities will be presented that will both inspire children to sing and help to develop their vocal and aural skills. The workshop is on SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2018 at Holy Apostles Church in Saddle Brook NJ. Information and registration (PDF)

( Armenian Church ) - As Armenian Christians across the globe mark this day, April 24, as the “Feast of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide,” the Eastern Diocese offers a prayer of intercession to our multitude of saints who gave their lives for Christ in the opening decades of the 20th century: A Prayer of Intercession Christ our God, you crown your saints with triumph and you do the will of all who fear you, looking after your creatures with love and kindness. Hear us from your heavenly realm by the intercession of the Holy Mother of God and by the prayers of all your saints, especially the Holy Martyrs who gave their lives during the Armenian Genocide for faith and for the homeland, whom we commemorate today. Hear us Lord, and show us your mercy. Forgive, redeem and pardon our sins. Make us worthy thankfully to glorify you with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. Now and always unto the ages of ages. Amen. * * * We encourage you to view a special...

Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...

( Romanian Church ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew cautioned Tuesday the clergy of the Archdiocese of Constantinople that there is a ‘virtual priesthood’ that wants to show off rather than to sacrifice themselves. On Tuesday, April 17, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew convened for the first time the Synaxis (Conference) of priests and deacons in Turkey at the Balukli Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring. Paternal advice for clergy Addressing the participants, the Ecumenical Patriarch pointed to the importance of priestly ministry and offered paternal pieces of advice for a more intense service in today’s world. ‘The priest does not belong to his own self, but to Christ. He owes everything to His grace. He serves Him,’ the Ecumenical Patriarch said recalling the advice and urges received at his personal ordination to the diaconate and priesthood from his spiritual father, Metropolitan Meliton Hatzis. The Patriarch stressed that ‘the priest is spiritually an...

( EP ) - The Holy and Sacred Synod, under the chairmanship of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, concluded its regular session, which took place between Thursday, April 19th, and Friday, April 20th. All the items on the agenda were reviewed and discussed and the appropriate decisions were made. In accordance with the Divine and Sacred Canons, as well as centuries-old ecclesiastical order and Holy Tradition, the Ecumenical Patriarchate concerns itself with the preservation of Pan-Orthodox unity and the care for the Orthodox Churches throughout the world—especially of the Ukrainian Orthodox Nation that has received the salvific Christian faith and holy baptism from Constantinople. Thus, as its true Mother Church, it examined matters pertaining to the ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine, as done in previous synodal sessions, and having received from ecclesiastical and civil authorities—representing millions of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians—a petition that requests the ...

Whippany, NJ ( SCOOCH ) – On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches convened at the Headquarters of the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church in North America for its biannual meeting. Topics discussed by the fathers in attendance included the war in Syria and the suffering of that nation’s people, Oriental Orthodox Cooperation in missionary outreach to the African-American community, and the canonical crisis in the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church. Plans were also made for concelebrations of the Divine Liturgy in various regions of the country as well as youth conferences, book fairs, and other activities. Hierarchs in attendance included the host of the meeting, H.E. Mor Titus Yeldho of the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, SCOOCH President H.E. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian of the Armenian Apostolic Church, H.G. Bishop David of the Coptic Orthodox Church, H.E. Mor Dionysios of the Syriac Orthodox Church, and H.G. Bishop Aphr...

Moscow, April 19 ( Interfax ) - The Russian Orthodox Church believes that the new initiative of the Ukrainian authorities to create an autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine is destined to fail, like the previous attempts. "We are one Church, which was born in the Kiev, Dnieper baptistery, and, of course, the Constantinople Patriarchate or any other Church cannot unilaterally proclaim the autocephaly of this or that Church," Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, told Interfax-Religion on Thursday. "Therefore, we believe that this initiative, despite all current information noise, will have the same fate as the initiatives adopted in the previous years, and we are again reminding that the Ukrainian church problem can only be resolved using canonical methods," he said. According to earlier reports, Ukraine's Verkhovnaya Rada backed Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko's address to Ec...

( Interfax-UA ) - The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople has accepted the appeal from the president of Ukraine to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew asking the patriarch to grant a tomos (an official church document) about the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, a decision was made to start the procedures necessary to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian president's administration reported. "The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has taken to consideration the appeal of the president of Ukraine to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for the provision of a tomos about the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the decision of the Verkhovna Rada to support his appeal, as well as the corresponding appeals of the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox churches, and the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to start the procedures necessary to grant the autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukrain...

( EP ) - On 12 April 2018, at the initiative of the co-presidents of the International Theological Commission for the Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches, Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and Metropolitan Bishoy of Damietta, and in their presence, a working group, consisting of bishops from both families of Churches, met in Antelias (near Beirut, Lebanon). They were hosted by His Holiness Aram, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the evolution of the bilateral theological dialogue and to prepare the next meeting of the joint commission. This bilateral theological dialogue began in 1985 and produced, on the basis of a common understanding of the apostolic faith, a number of convergent documents on Christology. (See first and second agreed statements). The purpose of this meeting was to explore together the possibilities of reactivating this important process in the live...

Apologies for slow posting of late. Holy Week, Bright Week, new baby, and diocesan convocation have put me on my heels. God willing, I'll be back to regular posting shortly. Christ is Risen!

( HTS ) - Dear Alumni, Friends, and Supporters: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us greatly rejoice and be glad therein.” (Psalms 117:24, LXX) On this glorious day, I am delighted to announce that Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, New York, will, by the grace of God the Holy Trinity and the approval of the New York State Board of Regents, begin a new Master of Divinity degree in Fall 2018. On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, the Board’s approval culminated a long, sometimes arduous application process that began in 2015. Although others have also contributed their time and efforts, I wish to thank, in particular, the prime movers of our campaign from the beginning: Archimandrite Luke, our Rector; Priest Ephraim Willmarth, Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions; Dr. Vitaly Permiakov, Assistant Professor of Dogmatic and Liturgical Theology. The Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) is the standard graduate professional degree for clergy in North America. It entails ...

( ROC ) - His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, Melkite Patriarch Joseph Absi, and Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate issued a statement concerning the escalation of the situation in Syria. The Christian leaders call the air strikes, carried out on 14 April 2018 against a number of facilities in the Syrian territory, a brutal assault by the USA, France and the UK on Syria. “This brutal aggression is a clear violation of the international laws and the UN Charter, because it is an unjustified assault on a sovereign country, member of the UN,” the Patriarchs of the Christian Churches in Syria state and add with great sadness that “this assault comes from powerful countries to which Syria did not cause any harm in any way.” “The allegations of the USA and other countries that the Syrian army is using chemical weapons and that Syria is a country that owns and uses this kind of weapon, is a claim that is unjustified and unsupported b...

Kyiv, April 20 ( Interfax ) - Deputy Ukrainian Presidential Chief of Staff has left for Istanbul to deliver a request to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on issuing a tomos (ordinance) to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko said. "Deputy presidential chief of staff Rostislav Pavlenko is currently in Istanbul. I won't waste a single day, we will deliver [the request]," Poroshenko told journalists while on a working trip to Lvov on Friday. Asked how likely it is that a tomos will be issued, Poroshenko said, "Anything can happen, but I am absolutely convinced that everything is God's will."

Kyiv ( RFERL ) - Ukrainian lawmakers have backed President Petro Poroshenko's appeal to the worldwide head of the Orthodox Church to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's independence from Moscow. The vote in the Verkhovna Rada came days after Poroshenko met with the archbishop of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, during a trip to Istanbul. The resolution was supported by 268 lawmakers, more than the minimum 226 votes needed. Poroshenko in a speech to parliament on April 19 called the move an act of "restoring historical justice" and “unity.” "Unity is our main weapon in the fight against the Russian aggressor," Poroshenko said. "This question… is about our finally acquiring independence from Moscow." Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and continues to back separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014. Poroshenko compared ha...

( newgracanica.com ) - We faithful Orthodox Christians in Tennessee are pleased to announce the formation of a New Serbian Orthodox Monastery! It will be called: “Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow” Hieromonk Serafim (Baltic), the Abbot of New Gracanica Monastery, has been hard at work organizing this Monastic Brotherhood with an anonymous donor and volunteer Monastery workers in Tennessee for the last several months. They have come together and chosen a beautiful historic property of 15 acres on a scenic mountain in Monteagle, Tennessee. This beautiful property was once owned by famous American The Highlander Folk School which entertained visits from notables in American history such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. A group of Orthodox Christians from the South are coming together in this beautiful state of Mountains and rollings hills to enthusiastically support this budding Monastic Brotherhood. The first Monk chosen by Bishop Longin to come to Tennesse wil...

Archdiocese when I heard the first rumblings of money troubles on this project as there were a lot of public funds and donations involved. You don't just lose this kind of money and then figure out how to re-fund it later. This story could go on for years. ( NY Post ) - The resurrection of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, destroyed on 9/11, has turned into an $80 million boondoggle — and now the feds want to know where the money went. I called this out as a nightmare for the  The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan is probing the project’s finances and those of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, according to The National Herald, a newspaper covering the Greek community. The state Attorney General’s Office is also investigating, reported the paper, which said as much as $15 million has gone missing from the construction accounts for the half-built church, to be called the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine. The project is funded by tens of mill...

( RISU ) - Toronto is set to become the latest addition to the long list of global cities which host major Holodomor memorials. The construction of the Holodomor Memorial at the Exhibition Place in Toronto’s city core will begin on April 10th or 11th, depending on the weather. Out of five bidders, the Toronto Ukrainian Foundation selected Aldershot Landscape Contractors Limited as the contractor to build the Memorial, the New Path informs. The budget for the whole project is $1.5 million. Of that amount, construction will take $1.2 million and the rest will be spent on the Memorial’s maintenance (in perpetuity, through the Exhibition Place and the City of Toronto), on the unveiling ceremony and on the educational component that will include field trips and other programs to enlighten students and the general public about the Holodomor, a genocidal famine organized by the Stalin’s regime in Ukraine in the 1930-s. According to the chair of the Holodomor Memorial Project – Toronto...

( Hazlitt ) - I don’t remember the eulogy spoken for my father at his funeral. On that day almost six years ago, I sat in my childhood church’s well-worn pews of pale wood unable to comprehend the words offered as both a supposed comfort and a celebration. Although my body ached with loss, it wasn’t the fogginess of grief that created this disconnect for me. I couldn’t grasp a single word because the eulogizer spoke in Russian, a language my father did not speak and a language none of his family, including myself, understood. The man who took this honor of remembrance was the Bishop assigned to our Russian Orthodox parish, and he barely knew my father. I grew up as a PK—priest’s kid, as we say in the Orthodox Christian community, a moniker that often requires our own practiced explanation of this label, as most people associate priesthood with celibacy. In Orthodoxy, though, a man’s calling to the priesthood is expected to be embodied by his wife and children. As a result, the req...

( Stephanos & Alexandria Missionaries to Albania ) - Have you ever wondered how a can priest bring Holy Communion to the sick throughout the year without celebrating Liturgy? Every Holy Thursday, an extra Amnos is consecrated during the Liturgy of St. Basil that is celebrated in the morning. This second Amnos is carefully dried by one of the priests of the parish and placed in an Artoforion which is kept in the Tabernacle. When a parishioner is unable to attend liturgy due to extenuating circumstances, the priest will take a small crumb of the consecrated Amnos, in a special container, together with a small spoon and wine and will travel to the parishioner so that they may receive the Holy Gifts. Here, At Jovan is drying the Amnos that will be kept in the Tabernacle of the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral until next year.

From Fr. John Whiteford's always useful "Stump the Priest" series (available here ), a post entitled Stump the Priest: General Unction and Holy Week . Question: Why do we not do the Unction Service on Holy Wednesday? Answer: The common practice among Greeks, Antiochians, and in some other parishes, of doing General Unction on the evening of Holy Wednesday is not an ancient practice. There is no mention of doing this service on that day in the Typikon, or in the Triodion. The Unction service makes no mention of Holy Week, and so stands completely outside of the liturgical cycle of Holy Week. There is a service that is appointed to be done on Holy Wednesday evening and that is the Matins of Holy Thursday, which is what we do in our parish. This service commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the Mystical Supper, the washing of the feet of the disciples, and the betrayal of Christ by Judas. So this service is not an inconsequential part of Holy Week, but unfo...

The below is a good review of holy unction. I've added a few comments. There will also be a follow-up post on why some Churches do not do this service at all on Holy Wednesday. Good strength to all as we near Pascha! ( GOA-Toronto ) - “Is any among you sick? Let them call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:14-5). These are the words of St. James and he leaves no doubt that the sacrament of Unction is established by God. Historically, it is proven that the sacrament of Unction was celebrated in conjunction with Repentance and Confession. From these words of St. James the purpose of the sacrament is vividly clear. It is bodily healing and forgiveness of sins. And as the priest anoints with Holy Unction, he says that this sacrament is for the “healing of the soul and the bo...

( Melkites ) - For the first time in Canada and after 125 years of Melkite Greek Catholic presence in it, Bishop Ibrahim M. Ibrahim will begin ordaining married men to the priesthood on the upcoming Pentecost Sunday, May 20th, 2018. This announcement was made by bishop Ibrahim on Easter Sunday as he intends to ordain Deacon Fadi Nohra to the priesthood. Pope Francis has approved in 2014 lifting the ban on the ordination of married men to the priesthood in Eastern Catholic Churches outside their traditional territories, including in the United States, Canada and Australia.

( Pemptousia ) - On the days following His entry to Jerusalem, Christ spoke to His disciples in particular about the signs that will precede the Last Day (Matt. 24 and 25); and so this forms the theme of the first part of Holy Week. In Western worship, on the other hand, the ‘last things’ are commemorated mainly during the pre-Christmas season of Advent. The eschatological challenge of the first three days of Holy Week is summed up in the troparion and exapostilarion at Matins ( In modern practice Matins are usually moved forward or ‘anticipated,’ being held on the previous evening) , both of which are repeated three times to a slow and solemn melody. The troparion, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night…,’ is based on the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13); the exapostilarion, ‘I see Thy bridal chamber…,’ on the parable of the man cast out from the feast because he had no wedding garment (Matt. 22:11-13). Here, presented in especially urgent terms, is the ca...

( spc.rs ) - On this day, the Saturday before Palm Sunday, we celebrate the fourth-day raising from the dead of Lazarus, the righteous friend of Christ. Lazarus[1] was a Hebrew, of the sect of the Pharisees and, as far as is known, he was the son of Simon the Pharisee, who dwelt in the village of Bethany. He became a friend of our Lord Jesus Christ when He sojourned on earth for the salvation of our race. For when Christ continually conversed with Simon, entering his house and discoursing on the resurrection from the dead, Lazarus was quite pleased with the genuineness of this teaching, and not only he, but also his two sisters, Martha and Mary. As the time of the Savior's Passion drew near, when it was especially necessary to believe in the Mystery of the Resurrection, Jesus was sojourning on the other side of the Jordan. Here, He raised from the dead the daughter of Jairus and the son of the widow. At this time, His friend, Lazarus, contracted a grievous illness and died....

I've gone to this in the past and really enjoyed myself. Consider going or making it possible for your pastor to go. ( OCA ) - The Fifth Annual Small Parish Forum sponsored this year by the Orthodox Church in America’s Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania, the Diocese of the Midwest and the Bulgarian Diocese will be held at Saint George Cathedral in the Toledo, OH suburb of Rossford July 12-14 2018. As in years past, this year’s Forum will focus on specific situations common to “small” parishes throughout the OCA and other Orthodox jurisdictions. Workshops and presentations will explore ways to assist parishes with memberships of 75 or fewer souls to achieve stability, build a positive self-image, and accept their calling to live a life in Christ without necessarily becoming “big.” “Most Orthodox parishes are small, yet just as a clinic is not a large metropolitan hospital with fewer beds, small churches are not immature, mini-versions of larger parishes,” said Joseph Kormos...