Byzantine, Texas

The process of accepting clergy without proper release is happening in both directions. It is almost as if both sides prefer to take clergy without the paperwork.  ( Orthochristian ) - At its session on March 5, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia dealt with the issue of a number of clerics who departed from ROCOR and joined the Slavic Vicariate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America without a canonical release. In particular, the Synod considered the cases of Abbot Tikhon (Gayfudinov), Archpriest Andrei Pastukh, Archpriest Edward Chervinsky, and Protodeacon Vladimir Oliynyk, “who wrought disturbance in the church life of several diocesan parishes.” The Synod reports: Having discussed the resolution and the circumstances of their cases comprehensively, including actions undertaken by all four that have been a cause of temptation for both clergy and flock, to the point of departing beneath the omophorion of a separa...

( Antiochian ) - On Sunday night of Holy Week, we pray the first of three Bridegroom Matins. For Holy Week all of the services are done half a day earlier than normal out of heightened anticipation (for example, on Sunday evening we are praying the service for Monday morning). The main hymn of Bridegroom Matins is a reflection based on Matthew 24:42, "Watch therefore for you know not the hour when the Lord will come," and Matthew 25:6, "At midnight the cry was made, 'behold the Bridegroom comes.'" Behold the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; and blessed is the servant whom He shall find vigilant; and unworthy is he whom he shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul that you not be overcome by sleep, lest you be given up to death and be shut out of the Kingdom. Wherefore, rouse yourself crying out: Holy, Holy, Holy are you our God, through the intercessions of the Theotokos save us! (The ending changes slightly each time.) This hymn, sung th...

 

( UMP ) - These homilies, so full of light, hope, and witness to the Lord Jesus, were proclaimed during the dark times of fierce Soviet persecution in the early 20th century. In the year 1926, during his exile in Diveyevo, St. Seraphim delivered over twenty homilies on the deep grace and life present in the Divine Liturgy. These homilies were recorded in writing by the servant of God, Tatyana Artsybusheva and subsequently preserved for the faithful in samizdat form. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the homilies were formally published for the general edification of the Orthodox faithful. Overflowing with the hope of immortality in the face of passing mortality, these homilies will edify, strengthen, and illumine the reader. Full of love and respect for the living tradition and history of the Divine Liturgy, St. Seraphim instructs and calls his listeners to enter deeper into Christ Jesus, who is the eternal Sun burning deep at the center of the Divine Liturgy and filling it with His ...

O Gentiles, why did you snort in rage? And you, O Scribes and Priests, why did you engage in empty things, saying: “Who is this to whom the children,  waving the palm leaves and branches, cry out in hymns of praise: ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord our Savior.’” God is the Lord, and He appeared to us. O Christians, appoint a feast, and with exultant joy come and let us magnify the Christ, waving our palm-leaves and branches, crying aloud in hymns: “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord our Savior.”

PAIDEIA is holding their second annual conference in May. This time the topic is "Orthodoxy and Culture." It will be held at the Antiochian Village in Pennsylvania and the list of topics and speakers would need a literal kontax to list out all of them.  I encourage everyone to go who has either never been to the village before, never attended a theological conference before, or has interest in any of the myriad topics scheduled. Registration available here . https://www.paideiasociety.org/ Here's a sampling of some of the talks: David Ford, “Some Further Probing of the Mysteries of Male and Female in Marriage and in the Church” Matthew Forrest Long, “The Art of Living: Orthodox Life and Human Well-being” Nate Placencia, “The Philosophy of Race and Orthodox Anthropology” Pdn. Brian Patrick Mitchell, “Gender and Ordination: Male and Female as Archic and Eucharistic Modes of Relation” Jesse Cone, “Against ‘The Self’” Mary Ford, “Conversion and Black Swans: The Role of Cultu...

As the Antiochian Archdiocese rebounds from an international scandal, it should be a point of pride and cause for no little delight to watch the below.  Have you been praying for true monasticism in America? It's coming. Measured in months, look to Memphis for this effort to begin. But, also look to your own children because Met. Saba is clear that families need to support their own going to the monasteries. Have you been praying for growth in the church? Missions are being planted. A sure sign of health is the planting of missions in one register and the continued life of existing parishes in the other.  Have you been praying for more bishops to guide the archdiocese? Keep praying. Met. Saba is clear that the archdiocese needs new bishops, but they need to not be cause for more instability. They need to be trained properly. Further effort will be put into Christian education. This will be my sole point of contention with this video. If you were to make a pie chart about how m...

Metropolitan Elias (Zoghby) was a vocal proponent of the "Orthodox in communion with Rome" idea that many Greek Catholics in America have subscribed to. At the same time I remember speaking to Archbishop Basil (Schott) of the Ruthenian archeparchy who described Greek Catholicism as neither Roman nor Orthodox, but its own "third way." Honestly, there are as many identities of what it means to be Greek Catholic as their are people you'll run into on any given Sunday at one of their parishes. As this article states later: "This option, for us Melkite Greek Catholics, means a reorientation. Even today, we counted ourselves as interlocutors between the Catholic and Orthodox sides and we said of this dialogue that we were the bridge that connects them. But the failure of the initiative in the way that it happened blocked the path and posed questions for us that we should not be afraid to put a finger on now: Does this failure threaten our mission? Do we remain su...

By way of explanation... What is a "Chorbishop"? Historically, a rural bishop that served many of the functions of a bishop without the full authority to do all things a normal bishop might do. It died out in the West and in Orthodoxy, but remains in Oriental Orthodoxy and elsewhere. What is a a "Valiyapally"? A "principal church" - a title given to a main church in a diocese of the Christian denominations Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church.

First, I have to commend the Antiochian archdiocese for the quality of this video production. As I have said before, some jurisdictions do amazing work while others are stuck in the '90s. It cannot be easy to come in after the scandal and the legal battle that followed so these sit-down talks are important. It is interesting to see that deacons are being considered for expansion and an expanded role. As almost no one pays their deacons, will this growth spur a change there?

( Orthodox Times ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew extended in his homily his heartfelt wishes to all the non-Orthodox Christians who celebrated the Holy Easter on Sunday, March 31, after presiding over the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Theodore of the Community of Vlanga. “On this day, the timeless message of the Resurrection resonates more profoundly than ever, as our non-Orthodox Christian brethren and sisters commemorate the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, celebrating Holy Easter. We have already sent our representatives to all the Christian Communities of the confessions here, to extend our heartfelt wishes of the Holy Great Church of Christ and our Patriarchal congratulations. But also from this position we extend a heartfelt greeting of love to all Christians around the world who celebrate Holy Easter today. We beseech the Lord of Glory that the forthcoming Easter celebration next year will not merely be a fortuitous occurrence, but rather the beginning...