| Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk Makes a Working Visit to Paris Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Photo: mospat.ru On June 30, 2022, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, arrived in Paris, France, on a working visit, reports the website of the DECR. On July 3, 2022, the 3d Sunday after Pentecost, Metropolitan Anthony and Archbishop Nestor of Madrid and Lisbon, acting administrator of the Diocese of Chersonesus, officiated a Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church on Brainly Embankment in Paris. The liturgy was celebrated in Church Slavonic and French with a great gathering of the faithful, the website of the Diocese of Chersonesus reports . After the service, Metropolitan Anthony greeted those present. He thanked Archbishop Nestor for the warm welcome and expressed his gratitude to the clergy and laity of the diocese for the joy of praying together. In his response, Archbishop Nestor congratulated Metropolitan Anthony, who was appointed the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations in June, on the high duty and the special confidence shown by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and wished him God’s help in his work as the chairman of the DECR. The archbishop presented Metropolitan Anthony with an Icon of Sts Sergius and Herman of Valaam. On June 4, 2022, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, at the conclusion of his working trip to France, met with the Apostolic Nuncio to France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore. Photo: mospat.ru On the occasion of the high-ranking guest’s visit to the representation of the Holy See in Paris, a dinner was given, during which the interlocutors, who have maintained good personal relations since Archbishop Migliore’s diplomatic service in Russia, discussed a wide range of issues concerning, among other things, the relationships between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. |
| Archive Пн Meeting takes place between chairman of the DECR and representatives of the Church of India responsible for relations with the Russian Orthodox Church 25 February 2024 year 15:04 On 24th February 2024 in Kottayam in India a meeting was held between the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony and members of the working group for the coordination of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church. Participating in the meeting were: the co-chairman of the working group the metropolitan of New York Zachariah Mar Nicholovos; the metropolitan of the diocese of Great Britain, Europe and Africa Abraham Mar Stephanos and the executive director of the Department for External Church Relations of the Malankara Church Father Ashvin Fernadis. Attending the meeting on behalf of the Moscow Patriarchate were: the secretary of the working group and secretary at the DECR for inter-Christian relations hieromonk Stephan (Igumnov) and the secretary of the chairman of the DECR deacon Nikolai Vasin. The participants of the meeting noted that the working group had made an importance impact on the development of ties between the two churches. It had been set up by the decisions of the holy synods of the two churches (protocol no.137 of the session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of 29th October 2023) after the visit to Russia of the ever-memorable primate of the Malankara Church His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulos II and his meeting with His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill in September of 2019. “Since the setting up of the working group in 2019 a number of projects have come to fruition in the academic, humanitarian, media and cultural spheres, in the sphere of church social ministry, the study of the traditions of Russian monasticism and other areas,” emphasized metropolitan Mar Stephanos. For his part the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony reminded those present of the student exchange programme that had become a traditional element of the bilateral dialogue. The metropolitan mentioned that nuns from the Virgin of Bethlehem Convent in the city of Ernakulam in India had stayed at the Convent of the Presentation of the Virgin in Tolga under the metropolitanate of Yaroslavl, with aim of studying the monastic experience of the Russian Orthodox Church and of applying it further in Indian monastic houses. Also of importance was the participation of the head of the Santula Trust hospital Father Eduard George Puttanila in the fifth international conference on the church’s care of the mentally ill, projecting a contemporary view of religious experience as a norm and as a pathology and defining the limits of cooperation between the church and psychiatry. The conference was held at the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. |
| Как видим, есть основания предполагать, что в Софии к приезду Добрыни уже существовала некая специальная сень для святогробских святынь (а может быть, и архитектурная модель Гроба Господня), следы которой мы видим в южном раскопе. Скорее всего, она была связана с местным почитанием строителей собора. Для этого комплекса главных христианских святынь, так же как и для сакральной аутентичности другой «иконы» Гроба Господня – главного престола храма – и была необходима та «бемберековая лента», которая имела значение реликвии и была как бы мерным символом Живоносного Гроба 1142 – соответственно, именно ее, на наш взгляд, и имел в виду новгородский летописец, упоминая главную царьградскую ре-ликвию Добрыни Ядрейковича. Tatiana Tsarevskaya Novgorod State Museum The Constantinopolitan relics of Anthony of Novgorod The archbishop Anthony’s pilgrimage to Constantinople was resulted with the acquirement of great amount of orthodox relics that affected the religious life of Novgorod and predetermined some of its future realities. Among the relics mentioned by Anthony’s “Kniga Palomnik” there was a robe of S. Theodore Stratelates, relics of S. Blasios of Sebaste and the piece of stone from the shrine of the Head of St. John the Theologian. The Constantinopolitan “gifts” of Anthony most probably included the relics of St. Barbara (the first church built by Anthony in Novgorod soon after his pilgrimage was dedicated to this saint). He also brought the piece of the True Cross: it was inserted into the Anthony’s great altar cross made for St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. We know about this cross from “The Inscriptions of the St. Sophia Cathedral” (17 th –19 th century) and the drawing made by F. G. Solntsev. The most important relic brought by Anthony was the so called “Grob Gospoden” (the Holy Sepulchre) mentioned in Novgorod Chronicles under 1211 in the description of the return of Dobrynia Jadreikovitch (soon the archbishop of Novgorod Anthony) from Constantinople. A Chronicle’s testimony about “Grob Gospoden” was interpreted variously: as a “stone altar-table”, as a “liturgical shroud” (“plashchanitsa”), as a “the measure of the HolyTomb”or “the model of the Holy Tomb”. The reconstruction of the altar of St. Sophia Cathedral (Novgorod) undertaken soon after the return of Anthony from Constantinople as well as the coincidence of the size of his ‘trapeza’ (the upper stone plate of the altar-table) with the measure of the Holy Tomb (175 sm.) allow to reveal a single project. The “measure of the Holy Tomb” mentioned in the “The Inscriptions of St. Sophia Cathedral” looked like a silk band (“bemberekovaia lenta”, from Greek bambakeros, i.e. silk). It was sealed by wax on the edges and put in the brazen reliquary which survived up to our days. This “holy measure”, found in the 19 th century, gives us an supplementary archeological material concerning the Byzantine relics brought by Anthony from Constantinople. |
| The Archbishop requested that his gratitude be conveyed to His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill for his recognition of the autocephalous status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church of the Archdiocese of Ohrid and expressed the hope that in God’s good time he would be able to concelebrate with the Patriarch of Russia. After the service the bishops and clergy venerated the relics in the church of Saint Gabriel of the Holy Mountain and bishop of Velica. Receiving the Russian delegation in the guest hall of the monastery, the metropolitan of Bregalnica Hilarion warmly thanked the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony for visiting the renowned ancient monastery and requested that his deep gratitude be conveyed to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church for his love of Macedonia and for the great deed of recognizing the autocephalous status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church of the Archdiocese of Ohrid. In his reply the chairman of the DECR said that we would forever keep in his heart memories of the monastery and that its remarkable holy objects and wonderful frescoes would forever be linked in his memory of how it was in this monastery that he first had the opportunity to concelebrate with Macedonian bishops at the Divine Liturgy: “We prayed that this day would come, we laboured in as far as we could for this, and we are happy that today we have become participants in this feast of faith.” Metropolitan Anthony thanked metropolitan Hilarion for his love and hospitality and also congratulated him on his fiftieth birthday by presenting him with a gift of an encolpion of the mother of God. Then the guests of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony, were invited to a monastic repast, after which they viewed the sites of the monastery, in particular the memorial museum of Saint Gabriel of Velica, as well as the graves of Russian monks who lived and prayed here in the twentieth century. Lesnovo monastery is located between the cities of Kratovo and Zletovo in the Republic of North Macedonia. According to tradition, the monastery was founded in the eleventh century by the Venerable Gabriel of Lesnovo. The monastery enjoyed the patronage of Dušan the Mighty, King of Serbia and the Greeks, during whose reign in 1342 a stone cathedral church was built in the monastery dedicated to the Archangel Michael and adorned with frescoes that are famous throughout the world. A number of renowned literary monuments were made within the wall of Lesnovo monastery, including the Synaxarium and Menaion of 1342 and the Paraneisotis of 1353. |
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| Archive Пн Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk attends service at the Lesnovo monastery 13 January 2023 year 11:17 On 12th January 2023 the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, who was visiting the Republic of North Macedonia with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, stayed at the Lesnovo monastery. He participated in the Divine Liturgy in the monastery Church of Saint Michael on the feast day of Saint Gabriel of the Holy Mountain and bishop of Velica, who is especially venerated in this monastic house. The liturgy was headed by the Primate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church of the archdiocese of Ohrid His Beatitude the Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia Stefan. Concelebrating with him were: the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony; the metropolitan of Bregalnica Hilarion; advisor to His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia archpriest Nikolai Balashov, who was accompanying the chairman of the DECR on the trip along with deputy chairman of the DECR archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, the dean of the metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia archimandrite Vassian (Zmeyev) and aid to the chairman of the DECR Father Alexander Yershov, clerics of the Rumanian Orthodox Church archpriest Viorel Daniel Pasmangiu, archpriest Ioan Danci and hieromonk Luca (Niculcea), as well as the abbot of the monastery hegumen Damascene (Bogdanovsky). Praying in the church were the Russian ambassador to the Republic of North Macedonia S.A. Bazdnikin, monks and nuns fr om the Rumanian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches, pilgrims and numerous parishioners. In his sermon His Beatitude Archbishop Stefan particularly emphasized the historical significance of concelebration of the Macedonian bishops with the Russian bishops, which happened for the first time in 1962 when in the Ohrid Church of the Most Holy Mother of God there concelebrated the blessedly-reposed Primates His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexis I, His Holiness the Patriarch of Serbia Herman and the Archbishop of Macedonia Dositheos. Archbishop Stefan greeted the arrival of the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony “to a land whence there was sent forth Slavonic literary texts to the land of the Russians more than 1100 years, to the land of churches monasteries and crosses, to the land wh ere more than a hundred years there came in search of refuge fr om the Bolshevik persecution many Russian monks, to the land wh ere there lived the great Russian saint, renowned throughout all of the Orthodox world, John of Shanghai, to a land which, though territorially small, is rich in history, to a land where ecclesiastical autocephaly has only recently been granted for a second time, yet in which the history of the Church goes back to antiquity.” |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk takes part in IOPS Council meeting DECR Communication Service, 22.04.2023. A meeting of the Council of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) took place in Moscow on the 21 st April under the chairmanship of Sergey Stepashin. The meeting was attended, in particular, by: Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vice-Chairman of the IOPS; Anna Gromova, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Elisabethan St. Sergius Educational Society Foundation for the Revival of Traditions of Charity, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Regional Branch of the IOPS; Oleg Shabunevich, the Head of the Moscow Regional Branch of the IOPS; Yuri Smirnov, the Head of the Pilgrimage Office of the Moscow Region of the IOPS. In addition, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the State Hermitage, member of the IOPS Council; Elena Agapova, Deputy Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, Head of the IOPS Public Center for the Protection of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa; Igor Ashourbeyli, Chairman of the IOPS Council in Israel; Natalia Narochnitskaya, Doctor of Historical Science, President of the Historical Perspective Foundation, member of the IOPS Council; Natalia Soboleva, Head of the IOPS Bethlehem branch, member of the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church; and Yuri Gonchar, President of the IOPS Board of Trustees, participated in an online meeting. During the meeting an award ceremony was held for full members of the Society, the IOPS website reports. Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and Deputy Chairman of IOPS, addressed the audience with a welcoming address. The archpastor conveyed greetings and good wishes from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, who is the Chairman of the Committee of Honorary Members of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Metropolitan Anthony underlined that His Holiness Patriarch attaches great importance to the work of the Society in many directions. The hierarch commended the historically constructive and fruitful level of interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church and IOPS. |
| Archive Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk heads liturgy at Moscow representation of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch 26 July 2022 year 18:23 On 26th July 2022, on the feast of the Synaxis of the archangel Gabriel, celebrations took place at the metochion of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch to mark the patronal feast day. The Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Archangel Gabriel was celebrated by the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony and the representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and dean of the metochion the metropolitan of Philippopolis Niphon. Serving with the bishops were the representative of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Great Antioch and All the East archimandrite Philipp (Vasiltsev) and the clergy of the metochion. Protodeacon Vladimir Nazarkin headed the diaconal part of the service. At the conclusion of the Liturgy a prayer service was offered to the archangel Gabriel in the open air in the courtyard of the church. The prayer service was attended by representatives of the diplomatic missions of Mexico, Belgium, USA, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Montenegro, Argentina, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Romania, Luxemburg, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, Tunisia, Columbia, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Iraq, Albania, Palestine, France, Greece and Denmark. Among those present was also the president of the International Foundation for the Spiritual Unity of Nations V.A. Alexeyev. At the conclusion of the prayer service, the metropolitan of Philippopolis Niphon greeted the chairman of the DECR and said: “It is a great joy for me today, Vladyka, to convey to all those present at this celebration the love, blessing, prayers and greetings of our Patriarch, the Most Blessed John, Patriarch of Great Antioch and All the East. I would like to express our gratitude to you for coming with your companions to adorn today’s service and to convey through you our great reverence for His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Primate of the Holy Church of Russia, for his constant archpastoral care and attention towards our representation church. |
| The following day, the Moscow Patriarchate delegation visited the Institute of Coptic Studies, where they negotiated with its director, Dr Iskhak Ibrahim Agban and the faculty. They were also introduced to the area of scientific researches made in the Coptic Churches and the development of church art. In the third negotiation place, the Theological Academy of the Coptic Church, the negotiation point was cooperation between the higher stages of theological education in the two Churches. After that, the delegation visited one of the largest seminaries in Egypt located in the El Muharraq Monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God in the Assiut Province. The guests were welcomed by its abbot, Bishop Bigoul, who remembered his recent visit to Russia in August-September 2021 as leader of a delegation of monks of the Coptic Church. The guests also met with the leaders and students of the seminary located in the monastery and with the monastery brethren. They discussed the similarity of the education systems in the Russian and Coptic Churches and the common monastic heritage based on the tradition of St. Anthony the Great. The delegation visited the main church of the monastery founded on the place where, according to the tradition of the Coptic Church, the Holy Family stayed for over six months during their flight to Egypt. According to the version established in Egypt, it was the place where the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt” (Is. 19:19). The delegation also visited shrines in Cairo including the church of Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus, the cave church at the place where the Holy Family stopped, the church of Great Martyr Barbara, the al-Muharraq (Hanging) church and the Convent of St. Gregory the Victor. The delegation was warmly welcomed in the Monastery of St. Anthony the Great and the Monastery of St. Paul of Thebes, wh ere the guests were given a solemn welcome by the abbot, Bishop Daniel, assistant to the Coptic Patriarch for monasteries and monkhood. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Evangelism CHAD HATFIELD Evangelism in the Eastern Orthodox Christian context is commonly associated with the dominical foundation of the Great Commission as found at the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” ( Mt. 28.19–20 ). It is also generally understood that the context of this command puts the emphasis on the power of God and not the strength of humankind to evangelize. To evangelize is to be an evangelistes, the deliverer of evangelion, or the Good News of salvation. In the synoptic gospels there is also a very close relationship between the verbs evangelizein and kerussein, the gospel term for proclaiming the word, or teaching, of God (kerygma). The post-Pentecost sharing of this Good News, in many languages as Acts records, was the beginning of the fulfillment of the Great Commission. At first the evangelistic efforts of the disciples were centered on the Jews, but in a short period of time Antioch would become a great center for more global Christian evangelism, with the word spreading to gentile communities through the preaching of Peter and Paul. In fact, it was in Antioch where the disciples were first called “Christians” (Acts 11.26). Christian history records the rapid spread of the Christian message in the Roman Empire, despite both persecution and the radical nature of the gospel. The hagiographies of the early saints also give a clear picture of the witness of the many martyrs. Tertullian’s dictum that “the seed of the Church is the blood of the martyrs” is for the Orthodox still a most powerful evangelistic testimony, for the stories and legends associated with a multitude of saints continue to be a voice of witness. The popular Orthodox devotion to saints such as the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, Perpetua and her companions, the archdeacon Lawrence, and many others is woven deep into the fabric of the Orthodox Christian proclamation of the truth of the gospel, and for this reason the best examples of Eastern Orthodox evangelism are found in the lives of saints rather than through para-ecclesiastical organizations or societies. |
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