Byzantine, Texas

( UOC ) - On 24 October 2023, a statement concerning ‘the de-legalisation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the part of the state authorities’ was made at the meeting of the Council of Bishops of the Polish Church. The website orthodox.pl informs about it, the Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reports. The hierarchs of the Polish Church stressed in their statement ‘the need for the unity of the Church, which has been violated by the non-canonical church situation in Ukraine’. ‘The Holy Council of Bishops of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church received with great incomprehension the information about the de-legalisation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the part of the state authorities. The Council of Bishops draws special attention to the fact that the Church of Christ has an ontological dimension and is not subject to human legal regulations. It is led by Jesus Christ Himself, our Saviour’, the bishops of the Polish Orthodox Church said in...

( GOA-AU ) - On Saturday, 21 October 2023, the work of the 1st Bioethics Conference of the Ecumenical Patriarchate continued, which began with a short prayer, by the President of the Synodal Committee, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, along with the presence of His Eminence Archbishop Evgenios of Crete, the local Shepherd, His Eminence Metropolitan Prodromos of Rethymno and Avlopotamos, The Grand Preacher Archimandrite Panaretos,  the Honorable Mr. Emmanuel Chnari, Member of Parliament of Rethymnon, the Honourable Archon Exarhos Mr. Stavros Arnaoutakis, Regional Governor of Crete, a multitude of academics, clergy, members of monastic brotherhoods and interested parties from the local community and beyond. During the first session, entitled “Bioethical challenges in the applications of modern medicine” and chaired by the His Eminence Metropolitan Kyrillos of Ierapytni and Sitia, the following speakers presented their addresses: His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaos of Me...

There is a lot of poppycock coming out of American Orthodox "scholarship" on the topic of the sexes. You could join quite a few Zoom conferences populated with the same 20 people decrying the supposed gross inequities in the area of how men and women are treated in the Church. Oddly, the same group speaking about this imbalance also often sees men and women as interchangeable. So, it is with no little delight that I will be attending the below conference. Please do join me both because it will be good and to support scriptural reason. ( SVOTS ) - Join us for the second webinar in The Light of the World Webinar Series. This monthly webinar series will feature speakers from among St Vladimir’s Seminary faculty, alumni, and friends, speaking on a variety of topics while answering a core question: How are we Christians to be the light of the world? Drawing inspiration from feedback received through a recent survey we conducted, these webinars aim to address a diverse range of the...

( AOCANA ) - The Fathers of the Holy Synod of Antioch raise fervent prayers to the King of Peace and Lord of Mercies to wipe away every tear from the eyes of the Palestinian people, and to remove all injustice, oppression, homelessness and displacement. They call on all their children to consecrate next Sunday in all the parishes of the Antiochian See for raising prayers that God may grant justice and peace in the land of peace, and to collect aid donations to relieve this afflicted people. Understanding that the current circumstances require intensification of prayer and cooperation, the Holy Synod decided to restore the severed ecclesiastical relations with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem . The Synod assigned the committee in charge at the Patriarchate to communicate with the brethren from the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and solve the dispute over ecclesiastical jurisdiction of "Qatar," thus preserving the right of eccelsiastical jurisdiction of the Antiochian See. The Synod al...

( AOCANA ) - "Wondrous is God in His saints!" Psalm 67:36 On the first day of its fall session, Oct. 19, the Holy Synod of Antioch canonized two new saints, a father and son, and also added St. Raphael of Brooklyn to its calendar. After years of deliberation and research, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, along with the metropolitans of the Holy Synod, canonized two priests, Fr. Nicholas Khasha and Fr. Habib Khasha, who were martyred for the sake of the Orthodox Faith in 1917 and 1948, respectively. "Our Church of Antioch is this glorious, great Apostolic Church," His Beatitude said a week before today's session. "It is this Church that has been bearing witness and has been martyred at the same time throughout history, from the early days, with all the great fathers and holy ones, the Apostle Peter who founded this church with the Apostle Paul. "This Church did not stop having saints among its people, whether monks or married,...

From the blog Notes on Arab Orthodoxy, a post entitled " Patriarch John X on the History of the Melkite Schism ." If you have no idea what a Melkite is: The Melkite Greek Catholic Church, or Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Its chief pastor is Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus, Syria. Opening Speech of Patriarch John X in the International Scientific Conference entitled: “The Orthodox Church of Antioch from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century: Towards a Proper Understanding of History” Balamand 16/10/2023  On this blessed evening, I am pleased to be among you and to inaugurate with you, from this blessed Hill of Balamand, the International Scientific Conference entitled, "The Orthodox Church of Antioch from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century: Towards a Proper Understanding of History." As...

( OCL ) - On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 11:00 a.m., His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, arrived at the Beirut Archbishopric. His Eminence Elias Audi, the Metropolitan of Beirut and its Dependencies, received him with the priests of the Archdiocese. After the prayer, a closed meeting took place between His Beatitude the Patriarch and His Eminence Metropolitan Elias, followed by lunch. His Beatitude answered journalists’ questions as follows: “I address you, my beloved ones, from this honorable residence in Beirut, as we are on a fraternal visit, as usual, to our dear and beloved brother in the Lord, His Eminence Bishop Elias, the Pastor of this archdiocese guarded by the grace of the Lord. What can one say in these difficult circumstances? Of course, the visit was an occasion and opportunity to overview with His Eminence Elias all that is happening at different levels in the country and the whole region in general. We also tackled on the church level and disc...

( Patriarchate of Jerusalem ) - The Patriarchate of Jerusalem, praying daily for the peace of the whole world is praying fervently especially today 4/17 October 2023 according to the statement of the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem released on October 13th, 2023. The prayer was held today at the Horrendous Golgotha for the cessation of all hostilities in Israel and Gaza and for the prevailing spirit of dialogue and peace and the relief of all those wounded by war and in favour of respecting every human soul as the image of God. 

The blog the Catalogue of Good Deeds has a two-part post entitled " An Introduction to Matins ." Following up on the previous post on matins in the Greek tradition, I thought I'd post from somewhere else as well as the services are similar from tradition to tradition but not at all identical. The Services of Vespers and Matins define the day. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we read: 5And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Genesis 1:5 [LXX]). For this reason, in ancient times the order of services called for Vespers, the first part of the All-night Vigil, to end late in the night; and Matins, the second part, to finish with at dawn. In contemporary practice, Matins (if served apart from Vespers) is usually moved to a later hour in the morning or back to the eve of the feast. The Six Psalms Matins, if served as a part of the All-night Vigil, begins with the reading of the Six Psalms or Hexapsalmia, which consists of Psalms 3, 37, 62, 87, 102, a...

The blog From the Analogion has a great post entitled " A Brief Guide to the Service of the Orthros (Matins) ." It's a service full of terms that are impenetrable to the average reader confounded further by an inconsistent spelling from text to text. Hopefully this helps. One of the most important services of the Greek Orthodox Church is the service of Orthros, or “Matins”.  The Orthros can be chanted every single day, as it is a commemoration to the saint or feast of a particular day or period in the ecclesiastical calendar.  It typically begins early in the morning and immediately precedes the Divine Liturgy, although it can be chanted alone.  But what is so special about the Orthros?  Why is it so important?  What are the hymns that comprise this service?  This brief article will answer those and other questions, and will hopefully allow the reader to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the service of the Orthros. GENERAL INFORMATION Or...

I was teaching a class to catechumens today after Liturgy and, as I am wont to do, I got into an historical analysis of the Liturgy with particular interest in when and why things were added or changed. There are a number of good books on this topic, but no one text really covers it all. That said, it's an enjoyable journey to see how things evolved over time and the reasons behind them. Emperors get their way as you might guess, heresies arise, things get abbreviated, older practices get repurposed, and some things just fade away completely. What makes this an even more dense conversation is that there is no singular liturgy in use in this country. Certainly the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is done everywhere, but every parishioner who attends a Greek parish one weekend and an OCA parish the next weekend can see great variety in practice. My parish has a lot of visitors every weekend and a number of college students. Neither group is shy in asking, "Father, why don't yo...

Friday, October 13, 2023, Fordham University's Orthodox Christian Studies Department presents "Seeking Harmony and Compassion: Pastoral Care and LGBTQ+ Orthodox Faithful." https://t.co/3GluVY1bpc pic.twitter.com/CBf5XrELoq — Orthodox Observer (@OrthoObserver) October 12, 2023 ( Fordham ) - Friday, October 13, 2023  1:30 - 5:30 p.m. Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus McNally Amphitheater (in Gabelli Business School, 140 W 62nd St.) Reception to follow in Platt Court We invite you to a conversation about ministering to LGBTQ+ Christians. The afternoon includes a panel review of the recently-published books Orthodox Tradition and Human Sexuality and Gender Essentialism and Orthodoxy: Beyond Male and Female and a discussion of the opportunities, challenges, and resources for ministry among LGBTQ+ faithful. Orthodox Christian Studies Center Events are free and open to the public. Join Us! Questions? Contact: Orthodox Christian Studies Center orthodoxy@fordha...

( Armenian-EDA ) - Yesterday was a transformative moment in my spiritual journey. As I stood in the heart of Etchmiadzin, surrounded by the prayers and blessings of generations past and present, I was humbled to be ordained as bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The weight of tradition, the urgency of the moment, and the gravity of the responsibilities ahead filled the atmosphere with indescribable energy. The act of ordination is a beautiful paradox—a melding of individual and community, past and future, the temporal and the eternal. At that sacred moment, I felt the hands of the Catholicos of All Armenians laying upon me, physically and spiritually, linking me to the unbroken chain that goes back to the Apostles themselves. In that instant, I realized I was a part of something much greater than myself. Holy Etchmiadzin is more than a physical place: it is a spiritual epicenter that serves as the beating heart of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It symbolizes our historical resili...

( EA ) - On September 14th, Foreign Affairs, the influential magazine of the Council on Foreign Relations, published an article entitled, “Putin’s Useful Priests.” The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America hereby expresses its objection and concern with the inaccurate manner with which Orthodox Christians in the United States are stereotyped by the authors. First, the article contains significant factual errors that are surprising for the renowned Foreign Affairs and disrespectful to a vital Christian community whose roots in America date over three centuries. Orthodox Christians in America – representing a plethora of ethnic and political backgrounds – number well in excess of one million people, vastly different from the misinformed number of 25,000 asserted by the authors. Furthermore, the article’s vituperative and essentializing language can easily incite targeting and violence against America’s Orthodox Christians as a community. The reductionist...

( Vemkar ) - The ceremony for the ordination of a bishop (also known as “consecration”) is one of the more opulent ceremonies of the Armenian Church. It reflects the magnitude of the bishop’s unique ministry in the church. In the Armenian Church the Catholicos presides at all bishops’ ordinations with the participation of at least two additional bishops. The Armenian word for bishop, yebeesgobos, comes directly from the Greek word episkopos, which appears numerous times in the New Testament. The word means “overseer” or “superintendent,” referring to that person appointed to watch over the affairs of the church within a defined geographical jurisdiction or diocese. The prayers of the ordination service frequently refer to the bishop as “chief priest” or “head of the priests” (kahanayabed). Traditionally the ceremony for ordaining a bishop began with an all-night vigil, continuing into the early morning and concluding with the Holy Badarak. In recent times the long service is divided in...

( HCHC ) - Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology is delighted to announce the admission of 93 incoming students, one of the highest entering classes since the School's founding 86 years ago. Hellenic College welcomed an incoming class of 40 students, twice the size of last year's, impressively increasing the total number of undergraduates to 64--almost a 50% increase. We hope for a similar surge next year since we have already received many applications. Similarly, the entering class of Holy Cross has grown by 71% when measured in terms of 53 full-time-equivalent students, leading to a total enrollment of 97--a 22% overall increase compared to last year. The twelve incoming seminarians reflect a positive trend, a 140% increase compared to last year. As a result, HCHC has experienced a remarkable growth this year with 161 students enrolling, which is a 35% increase. President George M. Cantonis attributes this upward trend to our expanded outreach efforts...

( AFR ) - Would you like to see more movies about Orthodox saints? Well, stay tuned! Yelena Popovic, the writer, director, and producer of the movie "Man of God" and her husband, Alexandros Potter sat down with Fr Joseph to talk about the forthcoming "Moses the Black" movie and their new venture, SimeonFaith, which will produce and distribute other Orthodox Christian films. Listen till the end for your role in this apostolic work! A teaser for the forthcoming "Moses the Black" can be found at SimeonFaith.com.

Recently, there was a poll on X/Twitter where the poster asked who was most influential in bringing them to Orthodoxy. It was all YouTube people. It used to be books, then it was blogs, then podcasts, then YouTube content. While it's true that there are trends that push a lot of people into one of these, it's not as if books have become obsolete in evangelism with the advent of Discord channels. We now just have more options. That said, I used to post every day, multiple times a day. Frankly, a lot more "action" was going on in years past. Bishops were a lot more outspoken and said things anyone could read or hear later. They've gotten a lot more savvy about not saying things publicly that will make them the topic of the day. Still, I think books and blogs and podcasts and video content will be here to stay. I'm sad to see Ancient Faith getting out of the market, but you can find where the bloggers hosted are going by looking here . ( AFR ) -   Farewell to Anc...

We have learned through secular experience that the first move is to allow for something but give it a different name, then give it parity, then define it as equally valid or the same thing, then finally make speaking against it illegal. In fact, we don't even need to leave the Catholic Church to see this; just look at the Latin mass.  VATICAN CITY ( CNS ) - The Catholic Church, in pursuit of "pastoral prudence," should discern if there are ways of giving blessings to homosexual persons that do not alter the church's teaching on marriage, Pope Francis said. Writing in response to a "dubia" letter delivered to him by five cardinals seeking clarification on doctrinal questions, the pope addressed issues surrounding the authority of the synod, women's ordination and blessing homosexual unions in a letter made public Oct. 2. Marriage is an "exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to conceiving children," w...