Source: Eurasianet Georgia has received plaudits for its response to COVID-19. But as the biggest event in the Christian calendar approaches, the nation finds itself torn between church and state, faith and science. Giorgi Lomsadze Georgians are counting down to what may be the most troubled Easter in the 1,700 years since the country adopted Christianity. As cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 continue to climb, churches are preparing for an influx on Easter Sunday, which falls on April 19 in the Eastern Orthodox world this year. Despite a state of emergency that is supposed to keep everyone at home,…
Browsing: Orthodox Church
Source: Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church Bulletin, Kankakee, IN Dear Parishioners of Annunciation Kankakee and Friends Everywhere: Let us be there with Christ, Tonight, Tomorrow, This Week, and Always! This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice in it and be glad! Tonight is the eve of Holy Week for hundreds of millions of Orthodox and other Eastern Christians, and the eve of Easter for even more numerous Western Christians. As ever, all Christians are united in the unity of our essential belief, and the small things that identify us as different, best serve to give us new…
Source: Eastern American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church During this pandemic, as we collectively experience the global outbreak and exponential spread of the coronavirus, the Venerable Nikephoros the Leper appeared to someone in Greece and told him: “Tell the people not to be afraid of the virus. And, in the event that someone gets infected, tell them to pray to me and I will help them.” Rendered at the hands of iconographer, Archimandrite Evsevije (Meandzija), a Serbian post-graduate student at the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens, this new icon for our times, represents the Theotokos and St.…
Source: Public Orthodoxy by Rev. Dr. Nicolas Kazarian In the midst of an unprecedented crisis, it is often hard or even impossible to think about what comes next, after the crisis ends. What will our life after lockdown look like? What will happen to our personal dynamics after social distancing? And what about our spiritual life after not going to Church for what feels like an eternity? All these questions, and many more, are legitimate. Every crisis gives rise to a judgment. In a way, that is the role that crises play in history, sorting out the chaff from the wheat…
Source: MYSTAGOGY On Friday 27 March into Saturday 28 March the monks of Mount Athos, in every monastery, skete and cell, held an all-night vigil against the pandemic of the coronavirus. The vigil was dedicated to the Panagia, who is the protectress of the Holy Mountain, as well as the Holy Hieromartyr Haralambos, who is noted especially for his miracles in vanquishing plagues and epidemics, including an epidemic that once infected the monks of the Holy Mountain and which he was responsible for dispelling. In all the monasteries, during Matins, a special canon to the Holy Trinity for deliverance from…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America NEW YORK – His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew appointed a special commission of theologians to prepare a document on the social teaching of the Orthodox Church, in the spirit of and reflecting upon the relevant decisions of the Holy and Great Council of Crete (June 2016). Commissioned in early 2017, the document assembled input from numerous eparchies of the Ecumenical Patriarchate throughout the world and was submitted to the Holy and Sacred Synod, which, in late 2019, congratulated the commission for its inspiring work and recommended the publication of this text. For the Life of the Word: Toward…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] The Bishops of the Holy Orthodox Church love their flocks and ever strive to lead them to well-watered and rich pastures. They care for them, body and soul. In so doing, they are following their Master Christ who not only “cast out unclean spirits,” but also healed “all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” (Matthew 10:1). In the Gospels, we see that Christ sometimes treated the soul first and the body second; at other times, the body first and the soul second. In the presence of…
Source: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Quarterly The Unity of the Orthodox Church in America Originally published in 1961 in St. Vladimir’s Seminary Quarterly, Volume V, Number 1-2. CLICK HERE to read the article in PDF format. Subscribe to St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly HERE.
Source: Pravmir To counter the threat of divisions, it is necessary to begin a pan-Orthodox discussion of the accumulated problems. The loss of a common understanding of the structure of the Church and the nature of primacy in it are the main causes of the modern crisis in Orthodoxy. This opinion was expressed by His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, at a meeting of primates and delegations of the six Local Orthodox Churches, held in the capital of Jordan, Amman, on February 26, 2020, Patriarchia.ru reports. As His Holiness Kirill noted, today the Orthodox Church faces the threat…
Source: Ancient Faith Ministries – The Morning Offering by Abbot Tryphon When parishes are forced to close, it is not just because the children have moved away, and the old folks have died off. The problem is much greater than this. With increased numbers of immigrants joining parishes, often with the expressed desire to preserve their Russian identity, we can easily fall prey to believing our churches are on solid ground and will thrive into the next generations. In our collective joy at seeing our churches packed for Sunday Liturgies, we forget about previous influxes of immigrants, whose children, upon…
Source: The National Herald To the Editor: The following letter is in response to Mr. Kalmoukos’ February 15 analysis attacking Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem. As a proud Greek-American writer who has written three books and various articles to media outlets on Greece, Cyprus, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate I am truly appalled by the sentiments expressed and the language used. Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, alongside various Bishops, Priests, monastics, and well educated and informed theologians from Greece and Cyprus have criticized Patriarch Bartholomew’s actions in Ukraine because they respect the canon laws, ecclesiology, and conciliar tradition of the Orthodox Church. During the eighth century, Byzantine…