| Patriarchal Exarch of Southeast Asia Celebrates Divine Services in the Exarchate’s Churches Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru From 22 nd to 27 th April 2019, during the Holy Week, Metropolitan Sergy of Singapore, Patriarchal Exarch of Southeast Asia, celebrated the divine services at the Church of the Holy Dormition in Singapore. On Easter night Metropolitan Sergy celebrated the Midnight Office, led the procession with the cross and officiated at the Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating with the archpastor were Hieromonk Pitirim (Dondenko), secretary of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia; Rev. Yevgeny (Shmelev), cleric of the Dormition Church in Singapore; and Hierodeacon Yuvenaly (Lapshin), cleric of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Ostankino, Moscow. Prior to the communion of worshippers Metropolitan Sergy read out the Paschal Message of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. A festive repast followed the Liturgy. On 2 nd May, Thursday of the Bright Week, commemoration day of Blessed Matrona of Moscow, the Patriarchal Exarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Island of Bali, Indonesia, in concelebration with Hieromonk Pitirim (Dondenko). Rev. Iliya Melnichenko, cleric of St. Sergius Parish in Bali; and Hierodeacon Yuvenaly (Lapshin). The Patriarchal Exarch of Southeast Asia also officiated at the Divine Liturgy in the Church of St. Sergius on the commemoration day of the ‘Life-Giving Spring’ Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, and after the service blessed the water. On 4 th May Metropolitan Sergy celebrated the All-Night Vigil at the Church of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Concelebrating with the Patriarchal Exarch were Hieromonk Pitirm (Dondenko); Hieromonk Ioasaf (Tandibilang), rector of St. Vladimir Church in Jakarta; Rev. Boris Setyawan, rector of the Church of the Holy Apostle Thomas in Jakarta; and Hierodeacon Yuvenaly (Lapshin). Among those praying at the service were clerics of the Indonesia Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. After the All-Night Vigil the archpastor met with the clerics and parishioners. |
| UPDATED: Orthodox call for Bright Monday to become official holiday in Russian Federation Moscow, April 19, 2017 Photo: RIA-Novosti The St. Basil the Great Analytical Center has launched an online petition for Bright Monday, the day after Pascha, to become a federal holiday in the Russian Federation. The center was founded in Moscow in 2016, with a mission “to promote the protection and dissemination of Orthodox Tradition and the traditional Orthodox worldview in the modern world.” “Given the importance of Orthodoxy in the life of Russia and the constructive character of Church-state relations, we propose to introduce an official holiday connected with the main Christian holiday—Pascha. Given the character and timing of the celebration of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, the new holiday should fall on Bright Monday, the first day after Pascha,” the petition reads. The authors of the text note that Bright Monday was a public holiday in the Russian Empire before the revolution, when employers of any level were obliged to give their employees the day off, in accordance with article 198 of the empire’s “Charter on Industrial Labor.” Across the whole of Russia people would take part in mass games and festivities and visit friends and family to sing Paschal songs during the whole of Bright Week. The petition also refers to the ordinance regarding Bright Week found in the canons of the Quinisext Ecumenical Council (Canon 66): The faithful are required to spend the time in a state of leisure without fail in the holy churches from the holy days of resurrected Christ our God to New Sunday in psalms and hymns, and in spiritual songs called odes, while taking cheer in Christ and celebrating, and paying close attention to the reading of the divine Scriptures, and delighting themselves to their heart’s content in the Holy Mysteries. For thus shall we be jointly resurrected and jointly exalted with Christ. Therefore during the days in question let no horse races or other popular spectacle be held at all. |
| Belfries to be erected on Bright week in Moscow on sites of the churches demolished in the 20th century Source: Pravoslavie.ru Natalya Mihailova 14 April 2014 Throughout Bright week, Paschal (Easter) celebrations will take place in Moscow, organized with participation of the city administration. Pedestrian areas, central squares and parks will become the main sites for festivities, reports Patriarchia.ru. The Paschal festival will open on the night before Pascha Sunday. Trade fairs will be held till 3 AM, and films dedicated to Pascha will be shown from large screens. Later throughout the week, master classes in Easter egg painting and baskets weaving will take place, and the products will then be distributed among veterans and poor families as part of charity actions. Small belfries will appear in pedestrian zones, where Muscovites will be taught how to ring the bells. Besides traditional events, this year there will be a special program to perpetuate the memory of the lost shrines. On the sites where churches and monasteries were demolished during the Soviet period, mobile belfries will be installed, with stands nearby displaying information on the churches that disappeared from the maps of Moscow during the 20th century. Seven memorial sites are expected in all. Tweet Donate Share Code for blog Belfries to be erected on Bright week in Moscow on sites of the churches demolished in the 20th century Natalya Mihailova Pedestrian areas, central squares and parks will become the main sites for festivities, reports Patriarchia.ru. The Paschal festival will open on the night before Pascha Sunday. Trade fairs will be held till 3 AM, and films dedicated to Pascha will be shown from large screens. Later ... Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| Radonitsa During Holy Week and Bright Week, the Church focuses all of her attention on celebrating the Paschal mystery -- the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the God-Man Jesus Christ -- so she does not hold memorial services for the dead (aside from remembering them in the proskomide of the Divine Liturgy) from Lazarus Saturday through Thomas Sunday (the second Sunday of Pascha). [Nine days after Pascha, on the Tuesday after Saint Thomas Sunday many Orthodox Christians celebrate “Joy Day,” a Paschal commemoration of the dead] During Holy Week and Bright Week, the Church focuses all of her attention on celebrating the Paschal mystery — the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the God-Man Jesus Christ — so she does not hold memorial services for the dead (aside from remembering them in the proskomide of the Divine Liturgy) from Lazarus Saturday through Thomas Sunday (the second Sunday of Pascha). On Monday of Thomas Week, the Church resumes memorial services for the dead. Among the Orthodox Christians of Belarus, the Czech Lands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine and elsewhere, Tuesday of Thomas Week is observed as “Joy Day” (“Radawnitsa,” “Radonitsa” or “Radunitsa” in the various Slavic languages, names that come from the Slavic word for “joy”). Joy Day is a happy commemoration of the dead, on which we bring the joy of Pascha into the cemeteries to our dead brothers and sisters in Christ. We remember them in the Divine Liturgy and memorial service of the day. We prepare and eat “memorial wheat” (known as “kollyva,” “kolyvo,” “kutya,” “kuts’tsya” or “kut’tya” in various languages) blessed in church to remind us of Christ’s words about death: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24). We visit the graves with the presbyters, who offer supplications for the dead and bless them with holy water. We leave dyed eggs, symbols of the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection, on the graves as a token of love and prayer for the dead |
| On the special dedications of the seven days of the week: when and to whom to pray Natalia Goroshkova , Archimandrite Nazary (Omelyanenko) Archimandrite Nazary (Omelyanenko), teacher in the Kiev theological schools, offers a clear and concise explanation of the Church’s weekly cycle. —Father, enlighten us, please, about the special dedications of the days of the week. —The liturgical life of the Orthodox Church is cyclical, made up of three liturgical cycles: the yearly, weekly, and daily. The yearly contains within itself movable and immovable feasts, repeating themselves year after year; the weekly consists of the seven days of the week which are dedicated to the most important events of the Savior’s earthly life and the most revered saints; the daily cycle is made up of the nine liturgical services which are repeated every day. Thus, each of the seven days of the week has its own dedication in the Orthodox Church. Some of them, such as Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, were especially honored already in the ancient Church, and their meanings have not changed throughout the centuries. Monday is dedicated to the Heavenly Powers , Tuesday to St. John the Forerunner , Wednesday is the day of Judas ’ betrayal of the Savior, and therefore the Cross of Christ is especially honored, Thursday is dedicated to the Holy Apostles and St. Nicholas, Friday is the day of the Savior’s sacrifice on the Cross, and on Saturday we especially honor all the saints, first among them the Theotokos, and we also remember all the departed. Sunday is a little Pascha—the day of the bright Resurrection of Christ, by which eternal life is granted to all mankind. —What does it mean that Monday is dedicated to the angels? —On Monday the Church especially honors the holy angels. This honor is expressed in the prayerful invocation of the Heavenly Bodiless Powers. During the services on Monday are heard prayers in which the faithful ask the help of their guardian angels, and all the other angels, that they might accompany our human lives and help to save the Christian soul. In the Orthodox Church there is a teaching that every Christian has a guardian angel, given to him at the Mystery of Baptism. And all of human life is closely connected with the invisible angelic world. Some pious Christians, increasing their podvigs, count Mondays as a fasting day as well. Such a practice exists in some monasteries. Monastics imitate the angels, dedicating their lives to the service of God and praising His Heavenly glory, and therefore they especially mark the day of commemorating the Heavenly Bodiless Powers. |
| Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk celebrates Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts in Barcelona Source: DECR Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: During each service of Passion Week we hear that which is the most important and essential thing for us. Natalya Mihailova 17 April 2014 On Passion Tuesday, the 15 th of April, 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, who had come to Barcelona the day before with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, celebrated the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the Russian Orthodox church of the Annunciation. He was assisted Hegumen Seraphim (Pavlov), rector of the church, Hieromonk Stephan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations, and the parish clergy. In his sermon after the service, Metropolitan Hilarion spoke in particular about Passion Week as a special period in the life of the Church and in the spiritual life of each of us “because during each service we hear that which is the most important and essential thing for us. We hear the words of the Lord Jesus Christ addressed to each of us, thus becoming witnesses to the last days and hours of His life on earth”. Taking the faithful through the whole history of the Passions of Christ, hour after hour, minute after minute, “Passion week will lead us to the feast of the Radiant Resurrection of Christ and we will carry away from this bright feast the paschal joy and our experience of standing before the Cross of Christ. Let us try to bear it through our further life so that it may be filled with the feeling of standing before Christ Who is not far away but here, next to us, and that the joy of the Resurrection of Christ may always light up our life journey leading us to the Heavenly Kingdom”. Tweet Donate Share Code for blog Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk celebrates Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts in Barcelona Natalya Mihailova Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: During each service of Passion Week we hear that which is the most important and essential thing for us |
| Archive His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with a group of pilgrims from the Roman Catholic Church 3 May 2019 year 20:32 On 3 rd May 2019, Friday of the Bright Week, after the Divine Liturgy His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with a group of pilgrims from the Roman Catholic Church led by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, Vicar General of Rome. The meeting took place in the Patriarchal Chambers of the Lavra of the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius. The group also includes six hierarchs and 75 priests from Italy. Accompanying the pilgrims in Russia is Hieromonk Grigory (Matrusov), a cleric of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill greeted Cardinal Angelo De Donatis and members of the group, saying in particular: “This year the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church celebrate the Radiant Resurrection of Christ one week apart. I highly appreciate that clerics of the city of Rome led by the cardinal, Vicar General of Rome, have arrived in the Lavra of the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius and are visiting the Russian Orthodox Church in this Paschal season. Pascha is the best time to come to Russia and to gain insight into the Russian soul: great many people attend night services, the atmosphere of feast is felt not only in families, but even in the street. And we, of course, rejoice that such revival of religious life has taken place after decades of severe persecutions. “At the same time I would like to express my condolences to you and through you to all the Roman Catholic Church over the dreadful terrorist attacks that had occurred in Sri Lanka at Easter. I immediately sent a message of condolences to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, expressing our prayerful support. It is completely obvious that these terrorist attacks were directed against Christians, against the Roman Catholic Church, and I think that these terrorist attacks are a challenge for the whole Christian family… “The recent years have seen positive dynamics in the development of relationships between our two Churches. I would like to particularly emphasize the importance of the meeting in Havana, when I had an opportunity to meet with His Holiness Pope Francis. We discussed many significant issues, but the main thing was that we could feel that we are two men responsible for enormous Christian communities, for two very large Christian communities. It seems that the understanding of this responsibility predetermined a very important direction in the development of our dialogue. The effects of that meeting were very positive. In 2017 the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were brought to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Such a great spiritual event was made possible thanks to the meeting in Havana. Two and a half million people venerated the relics; people were standing days and nights in long queues, notwithstanding the weather; thousands of our volunteers helped them. |
| The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem Celebrates Orthodox Easter April 16, 2015 From Lazarus Saturday to Bright Monday of the Orthodox Christian Calendar, the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem fully partook in Easter celebrations with the Christian churches and communities of Jerusalem, Bethany, Bethlehem and Beit Jala. As with almost every Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrates Easter on the Julian Calendar, in which Easter (also known as Pascha) and Holy Week falls on separate dates from the Gregorian (Western) Calendar two out of every three years. This year, Easter on the Julian Calendar fell on April 12th, with Lazarus Saturday being on April 4th. In the Orthodox Church, the Holy Fire service is the most significant event of Holy Week in Jerusalem, when the Patriarch of Jerusalem is sealed in the tomb of Christ in the Holy Sepulchre (a structure that is also called the edicule), and emerges only when two bundles of thirty-three candles held in each of his hands have been lit by what Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic and many other Christians hold to be a miraculous occurence. On Lazarus Saturday (April 4th), Mr. Dan Koski, Delegate for Christian Affairs represented the Order at an open-air service on the grounds of the Orthodox Girls School of Bethany, a mission school run by the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission and staffed by nuns part of the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene of Gethsemane. On Holy Saturday (April 11th), His Excellency the Grand Chancellor, Count Philippe Piccapietra, was present in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the invitation of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, while His Grace the Most Reverend Jovan Culibrek, Bishop of Slavonia of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate, spiritual protector of all Orthodox members of the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, was the official delegate of the first reception committee for the service of the Holy Fire for the Serbian Orthodox Church. In Bethlehem district, the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem live-streamed the Holy Fire service to Bethlehem and Beit Jala, where in coordination with the municipality of Bethlehem and the Peace Center in Bethlehem and the Orthodox parish of Beit Jala, large screens were put up in Manger Square in Bethlehem and Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in Beit Jala for the benefit of those from Bethlehem district as well as international pilgrims who were unable to attend the Holy Fire service. |
| Epistle of the Diocesan Conference of the Western European Diocese of ROCOR admin 22 May 2013 May 21, 2013 CHRIST IS RISEN! His Eminence, Archbishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe We, the priests, deacons, subdeacons, readers and parish delegates welcome you on the great Holiday of Holy Pascha. Our regular diocesan conference convened on Bright Week, from May 8-11, 2013, at our house at the Church of Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon in Leysin, Switzerland, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe. Archbishop Michael gave his keynote address on the history of the diocese, providing details on little-known events. The clergymen and lay delegates then reported on their parishes, sharing their troubles and their desires. Many positive developments were noted during the speeches from recent years in the life of our diocese: church attendance has increased; new priests have joined the ranks of the clergy; several parishioners have been ordained to the rank of reader. We wish to greet our communities which could not send a delegate to the conference. Their parish life, nevertheless, did not go unnoticed. It is especially joyous to not the acceptance into our diocese of several communities in Spain. On behalf of the gathered clergymen, we deem in necessary to remind our parishioners that every individual is called upon for salvation, manifested through meeting Christ and constantly labors in following His will, which is impossible without the Church. Addressing young parents, we wish to emphasize that coming to снигсн should not be limited to the Mystery of Baptism, but assumes that children will frequently, if possible weekly, partake of Communion. We call upon our parishioners to play a more active role in the life of their parish: not only by attending services, but helping rectors in organizing parish schools, Bible study and theology discussions, pilgrimages, and other measure which enable the education and unity of parishioners. |
| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with Greece’s Minister of National Defence Source: DECR Natalya Mihailova 16 April 2015 On 15 April 2015, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with Panos Kommenos, Greece’s Minister of National Defence and leader of ‘The Independent Greeks’ political party. They were joined in the meeting, which took place at the Patriarchal and Synodal residence in St. Daniel’s Stavropegic Monastery, by archpriest Nikolai Balashov, vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), and deacon Anatoly Churiakov, a staff member of the DECR secretariat for inter-Orthodox Relations. Welcoming the guest, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill expressed his joy over meeting with him during Bright Week and mentioned his recent meeting with the Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted the importance of the development of relations between Russia and Greece and underscored that these relations were influenced by the belonging of the majority of the population to Orthodoxy. He said: ‘The Orthodox factor plays a special role in the relations between Greece and Russia. Governments, parties and even political regimes in our countries change, but relations between people have always been good because they are maintained on the basis of Orthodoxy.’ Patriarch Kirill said that Panos Kommenos was a founding member of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on matters regarding Hellenism and Orthodoxy and told the guest about the State Duma interfactional deputies group for protection of Christian values. His Holiness also mentioned the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy in which deputies from Greece, Russia and other countries work. His Holiness noted minister Kommenos’ stand on the support (including the material one) of the important educational and social work done by the priests of the Orthodox Church of Greece, especially in rural areas, where the Church serves as a real centre of life in community. |
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