[ditty_news_ticker id="27897"] August, 2015 - Orthodox Christian Laity - Page 3
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Monthly Archives: August, 2015

Source: The Moscow Times Orthodox Church Calls for Alternative Financial System in Russia By Anastasia Bazenkova As the Russian economy reels from low oil prices and Western sanctions, the country is seeing rising interest in unorthodox financial solutions, most recently one pitched by the Orthodox Church. Last week, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry threw its support behind a so-called Orthodox Financial System developed under the aegis of the Moscow Patriarchate and strongly resembling the better known Islamic financial system. “The Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports the creation of the Orthodox Financial System … and is ready to provide its platform for detailed and professional discussion of these questions together with the relevant committees of the chamber,” the chamber’s press service reported last Friday…

Source: Archaeology in Bulgaria BULGARIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS SHOW LEAD CROSS RELIQUARY FOUND IN MEDIEVAL CITY MISSIONIS (KRUM’S FORTRESS) by Ivan Dikov A lead cross, which is also a reliquary, found during the excavations of the Early Byzantine and medieval Bulgarian city of Missionis, also known as Krum’s Fortress, whose ruins are located near today’s northeastern city of Targovishte, has been presented to the public for the first time byBulgarian archaeologists. “This is an absolutely unique item. Personally, I have never seen lead crosses that are also reliquaries. I have seen lead icons which are used as reliquaries but lead crosses – never,”…

Source: Daily Sabah Black Sea monastery set to celebrate Orthodox Divine Liturgy The Orthodox faithful from Turkey and around the world will attend the Divine Liturgy at Sümela, a historic monastery in Trabzon, a province in the Black Sea region, on Aug. 15. The mass will be the sixth religious service held since the restoration of the monastery.The monastery, on UNESCO’s temporary list of World Heritage sites, is expected to host the faithful from Russia, Georgia, Greece and other countries with a large Orthodox Christian population. Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, who presided over last year’s liturgy, is expected…

Source: Order of St. Andrew the Apostle – Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Archon Judge Nicholas Tsoucalas named recipient of Nicholas J. Bouras Award for Extraordinary Archon Stewardship New York, NY – The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle is pleased to announce that Archon Judge Nicholas Tsoucalas, Archon Hartoularios, has been nominated as the recipient of this year’s Nicholas J. Bouras Award for Extraordinary Archon Stewardship. A special tribute dinner dance will be held at the New York Hilton Hotel, Friday evening, Oct. 16, as part of the Order’s annual three-day assembly, Oct. 16-18. Archon George Safiol, Award Committee chairman,…

Source: Orthodox Church in America Beginners’ on-line Choral Conducting Course SYOSSET, NY [OCA]  The Department of Liturgical Music of the Orthodox Church in America will once again offer an on-line course, “Choral Conducting for Beginners,” beginning September 14, 2015. “The class sessions are devoted to demonstrating basic conducting techniques, starting with elementary conducting patterns and concluding with an emphasis on conducting liturgical chant,” said Prof. David Drillock, Department Chair, who will teach the course.  “The course, which will be limited to 12 participants, will consist of 12 sessions over a 13-week period. “The first half of the course will concentrate…

Source: The National Herald Greek-Americans and Miracles over the Decades [On August 2, Newsday featured an article titled “Claims of religious miracles on Long Island and in New York City,” focusing on various accounts of miracles over the decades relayed by residents of Long Island and New York City. Some of those individuals were Greek American; we provide excerpts of those stories here.] NORFOLK RD. MIRACLE “In 1960, Pagora Catsounis was praying before an icon of the Virgin Mary that hung on the wall in her bedroom in Island Park,” Newsday wrote, “when she says she saw a tear emerge…

Source: Christ J. Kamages The Earliest Known Prayer to the Theotokos The earliest known prayer to the Theotokos (Greek, Θεοτόκος, meaning “Bearer of God”) is a prayer found on a fragment of papyrus dating back to approximately AD 250. In 1917, the John Rylands Library [1] in Manchester, England, acquired a large panel of Egyptian papyrus. The prayer is located on the fragment recorded as reference number Greek Papyrus 470. The prayer appears to be from a Coptic Christmas liturgy or vespers written in Koine Greek although the fragment in question may be a private copy of the prayer. The prayer is still…

Source: Kevin Allen From Kevin Allen’s FB Page: I Support an “Autocephalous” American Church I have changed my position and perspective on canonical “administrative unity” for the Orthodox Church in the U.S. (This does not reflect the opinion of AFR or anyone else). The only “unity” model/solution I would support to the non-canonical fragmentation of multiple bishops and “jurisdictions” – acknowledged as a canonical “anomaly” by many (not all) our hierarchs – is an “autocephalous” American Church; represented on its Synod with all the respective bishops that are currently on the Canonical Assembly of Bishops. The US Synod would have…

Source: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary St. Tikhon’s Seminary reopens search for Director of Student Life SOUTH CANAAN, PA [STOTS Communications]  Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary here recently reopened its search for a full-time Director for its Office of Student Life, which directly provides for the overall welfare and practical needs of seminarians in formation, with special attention given to their spiritual life. The Director of Student Life will be responsible for supervising the overall discipline of seminary student body, coordinating with all seminary constituencies in matters related to community events, and serving in counseling, advocacy, and advisory roles to…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity Countdown to the 6th Meeting of the Assembly of Bishops – Chicago Area High School and College Students will meet with Bishops We are called to move beyond what is “mine” and what is “yours” to what is “ours.” From now on, this is how we should conceive and conduct all of our ministries and resources, all of our departments and initiatives. Otherwise, we do not practice what we preach. It is really up to us to accept the challenge or to refuse the call.” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s Video Address at the Dallas Assembly 2014   During…

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Why Vestments? An Introduction to Liturgical Textiles of the Post-Byzantine World by Warren T. Woodfin, Kallinikeion Assistant Professor of Art History, Queens College, City University of New York The exhibition Liturgical Textiles of the Post-Byzantine World, now on view through November 1, 2015, presents a selection of notable liturgical vestments that communicate the continuing prestige of the Orthodox Church and its clergy in the centuries following the fifteenth-century fall of Byzantine Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. From a strictly theological viewpoint, vestments are hardly a necessity for Christian worship. Liturgical scholars are largely in agreement…

Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Fr. Joseph Purpura Reflects on Eventful Summer for the Dept of Youth and Parish Ministries Originally posted in 2013. The Chairman of the Department of Youth and Parish Ministries, V. Rev. Dr. Joseph Purpura has been creating and implementing youth training programs across the United States and Canada since the late 1980’s. He has held numerous appointments over the years and is currently overseeing a number of programs, both established and new. Over the summer he coordinated SOYO Diocesan General Assemblies, elections, the Leadership Conference, Bible Bowl Festival, Oratorical Contest and Special Olympics…