Browsing: Orthodox Christian
Source: International Orthodox Christian Charities Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — When record rainfall drenched the Midwest in July and triggered massive flooding of communities across Minnesota and Iowa, teen volunteers from St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis were among the dozen members of an International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) Orthodox Action Team who traveled to the hard-hit Iowa town of Rock Rapids to help an elderly flood survivor clear away waterlogged debris from his home. Orthodox Christian youth across the U.S. also have a history of eagerly volunteering their time and energy to assist IOCC in helping families rebuild and…
Source: Orthodox Christian Network By Fr. John Parker in The Sounding I am an unworthy man, unworthy to be called an Orthodox Christian, not to speak of the priesthood, and I write, admittedly, from the comfort of my Mount Pleasant, SC, home. There is no Mount nearby, but it is, indeed, a pleasant seaside community on the East Coast of the United States. As such, I ask myself: how to deal with ruthless, pitiless, pitiful souls who are so darkened that their life is spent taking the life of others—and worse, thinking that they are doing this at the direction…
Source: Orthodox Christian Network The Moving Icon is hosted by Chris Vlahonasios, media writer and founder of the Orthodox Filmmakers & Artists blog. This series discusses issues relating to media, social trends, the arts, and all aspects of human expression and creativity from an Orthodox perspective. Chris also interviews various Orthodox artists about their work, inspiration, and Faith. The show’s title refers to the fact that we are all living icons of God, in His image and likeness. As images of God, we are capable of creating and appearing in all artistic works, such as film and photography. And have…
Source: The Wall Street Journal Concerts to celebrate the most-performed classical-music composer alive By STUART ISACOFF You may not know the name, but you’ve heard his music. Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s alluring, hypnotic “tintinnabuli” (“bell-like”) style has resonated with listeners world-wide—the database Bachtrack reports that Mr. Pärt is now the most performed living classical composer. The haunting music in the trailer for the film “Gravity”—a perfect complement to the image of astronauts adrift, its piano pattern suggesting a cosmic clock as floating violin tones and spacious pauses convey a sense of human frailty—is his 1978 work, “Spiegel Im Spiegel” (Mirror…
Source: Acton Institute by Andrew P. Morriss by Fr. Michael Butler It is important to clarify the Church’s teaching on asceticism because many voices in the environmental movement encourage a kind of ascetical lifestyle in the name of “ethical consumption.” Orthodox writers on the environment are not immune to the temptation of putting the ascetical tradition of the Church in the service of another agenda. For example, the conclusion of the Inter-Orthodox Conference on Environmental Protection, held in Crete in 1991, states: “Humanity needs a simpler way of life, a renewed asceticism, for the sake of creation.” Many Orthodox writers call on…
Source: Ahram Online Ahmed Ragai Attiya says that the historic UNESCO site in South Sinai poses a threat to Egypt’s national security, after the monks turned it into ‘a place for foreigners’ by Sherry El-Gergawi A retired army general says he has filed a court case pushing for Egypt’s historic Saint Catherine’s Monastery to be demolished and its Greek monks deported on the grounds that they pose a threat to national security. In May 2012, Ahmed Ragai Attiya obtained 71 administrative orders regarding the demolition of the monastery’s multiple churches, monk cells, gardens and other places of interest on the…
Source: Acton Institute GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (January 14, 2014) – Rooted in the Tradition of the Orthodox Church and its teaching on the relationship between God, humanity, and all creation, Fr. Michael Butler and Prof. Andrew Morriss offer a new contribution to Orthodox environmental theology. Creation and the Heart of Man is the first monograph in a new series of Orthodox Christian Social Thought from the Acton Institute. Too often policy recommendations from theologians and Church authorities have taken the form of pontifications, obscuring many important economic and public policy realities. The authors establish a framework for responsible engagement with environmental issues…
Source: ABC News January 5, 2014 (Associated Press – VATICAN CITY) — Pope Francis says his upcoming trip to the Holy Land aims to boost relations with Orthodox Christians. But the three-day visit in May also underscores Francis’ close ties to the Jewish community, his outreach to Muslims and the Vatican’s longstanding call for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The announcement was made Sunday just as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up three days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a new U.S. bid for peace. Francis told thousands gathered in the rain for his…
Source: The Quinnipiac Chronicle by Julia Perkins The university’s new Catholic Chaplain, Father Jordan Lenaghan, is working to support the Eastern Orthodox community at Quinnipiac. As part of this mission, Father Peter Orfanakos, a Greek Orthodox pastor from Orange, Conn., held a Vespers service on Thursday, Nov. 14. A Vespers is a prayer service done in the Eastern Orthodox Church at sunset to honor a different saint each day. Eastern Orthodox students and members of the Catholic Student Association attended the Vespers service. “We just want to help out our fellow brothers and sisters of faith,” said senior Marina Dugan, public…
Source: MYSTAGOGY An interview with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and St. Vlassios by Pavel Chirila, Professor and Doctor at St Irene’s Hospital in Bucharest (Romania). 1. Question: Tell us something about death, something that comes spontaneously to you, something you consider extremely important. Answer: What comes spontaneously to mind is that death is a terrible mystery, as we chant in the Funeral Service, which is a poem by St. John Damascene. This is related to the fact that the soul is violently detached from the harmony of its union with the body. It is also a sad event, because it is related to…