| This arbitrary ban seems to be yet another demonstration of the “unofficial” second-class status of Christians in Turkey. As the scholar Robert Spencer puts it: That t he Greek Orthodox need special permission to celebrate divine services in any of their churches in what is now Turkey is a dark reminder of the Islamic oppression of Eastern Christians from the mid-7th Century to today, and for the Greeks, especially from the Muslim conquest of Constantinople in 1453 through the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by the Western Powers during World War I. Today, Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians are a tiny, dwindling minority in Turkey -- around 2,500 people -- and the community routinely faces discrimination. “Christians are certainly seen as second-class citizens,” Walter Flick, a religious expert with the International Society for Human Rights in Germany, told the publication DW. “A real citizen is Muslim, and those who aren " t Muslim are seen as suspicious. Christians aren " t equal. They don " t have full rights.” PJ Media 7 октября 2016 г. Подпишитесь на рассылку Православие.Ru Рассылка выходит два раза в неделю: Смотри также Комментарии ChiRho 10 октября 2016, 16:00 Any Christians left in Turkey should flee expediciously if they have any sense. The Turks are intent on reviving the Ottoman Empire and they will not be any less vicious than before. Clara Haralambis 8 октября 2016, 01:00 Their way to hell is bright, may our God have mercy on their souls! Anthony 7 октября 2016, 20:00 This has been going on ever since turks came to our lands. What is however of massive significance was a speech erdogan gave last week, where he (and later the mayor of Ankara) effectively tore up the Treaty of Lausanne which created the modern day borders between Greece and Turkey, claiming the Greek islands as turkish. Those who have read the prophecies of Ayios Paisios and Geronda Iosif Vatopaidinos know that when the issue of the examilia (six miles) is raised, (the six miles being the six nautical mile radius which is Greek territory around the Greek islands), then you know war is near. Once Greece and Turkey withdraw their embassies, then Turkey will hit some Greek islands, Russia will smash Turkey to pieces, and the third world war will kick off. All these are well documented prophecies that can be read on the internet or seen on youtube. |
| Archive V. R. Legoida: Spiritual brotherhood of the Ukrainian and Russian Churches is the main bond tying the peoples of Russia and Ukraine 19 June 2021 year 13:29 Speaking during the Svetlyi vecher (Bright Evening) program on air of the Radio Vera (Faith), Mr. V. R. Legoida, head of the Synodal Department for the Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media, commented on the prayer vigil that took place at the walls of Ukraine’s Supreme Rada and Presidential Office this week and brought together over 20 thousand believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. “The desire to make the Ukrainian Orthodox Church change its name is an attempt to continue the policy the proxies of which seek to present the Church as an agent of a foreign state, which does not correspond to reality, since the self-determination of the Russian Orthodox Church lies in the absence of linkage with a particular state”, he said. Mr. Legoida also stressed that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and other representatives of the clergy have repeatedly pointed out that the Russian Church is not a Church of the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church enjoys the broadest rights of self-governance and solves all the problems of her internal life independently and its clergy and parishioners are citizens of Ukraine, he added. “The Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s relation with the Russian Church is an exclusively symbolic spiritual and historical unity. I do not understand why anyone should seek to break this relation. Political borders in today’s world is something much more agile. The spiritual brotherhood of the two Churches is the main bond that ties the peoples of Russia and Ukraine”, he continued. According to Mr. Legoida, today it is important to underline and preserve this unity, rather than to continue putting pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the aim to play a certain political game. Responsible politicians cannot ignore so serious a demand of their citizens as those voiced a few days ago during the mass prayer vigil of Orthodox believers at the walls of the Ukrainian Parliament and Presidential Office, Mr. Legoida said in conclusion expressing a hope that Vladimir Zelensky will listen to the opinion of Ukrainians who came out to that rally. Synodal Department for the Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media / DECR Communication Service Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
| The Monastery Zographou on Mount Athos celebrates its patronal feast Mount Athos, May 14, 2013 On May 9, 2013, the Athonite Bulgarian Monastery Zographou celebrated its patronal feast--the commemoration of Holy Great-Martyr George the Victory-Bearer. This year the Spiritual Council of the Zographou Monastery decided to postpone the celebrations from Monday to Thursday of Bright Week, reports the website of the dependency of Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia in Sofia and the communication service of the Department for External Church Relations. On invitation of the Holy Epistasia of Mount Athos and Metropolitan Kirill of Varna and Veliki Preslav, the head of the delegation of Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Archimandrite Philip (Vasiltsev), Rector of the Dependency of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia, the representative of Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia at the Bulgarian Patriarch, and Hieromonk Zotik (Gaevsky), the Dependency " s secretary, took part in the celebrations. The evening before the event the small Vespers was celebrated. Then, following an Athonite tradition, the All-night Vigil Service was celebrated with the Divine Liturgy immediately following. Metropolitan Kirill of Varna and Veliki Preslav celebrated the Liturgy with the Superior of the Zographou Monastery Archimandrite Ambrose, the Rector of the Patriarchal Dependancy in Sofia Archimandrite Philip (Vasiltsev), representatives of Athonite Monasteries, brethren of the Zographou Monastery who are ordained to the priesthood concelebrating. ThePprime Minister of Bulgaria Marin Raikov, The minister of culture Vladimir Penev and the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Kristian Krystev also prayed at the Liturgy. Following an ancient tradition, the prime minister read aloud the Creed at the Liturgy. Several hundreds of pilgrims from Bulgaria, Greece, Russia and other countries took part in the celebration of the patronal feast of the Zographou Monastery. Pravoslavie.ru 14 мая 2013 г. ... Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| The practice that has taken shape in our time that every one who receives communion several times a year fasts for three days before communion fully corresponds to the tradition of the Church. At the same time, the practice when a person who receives communion on a weekly basis or several times a month, while observing lengthy and one-day fasts established by the Typicon, approaches the holy Chalice without any additional fasting or keeping a fast on the day or in the evening before communion, is acceptable as well. This matter has to be resolved with the blessing of the person’s spiritual father. The requirements concerning preparation for holy communion, intended for the laypeople who receive communion frequently, are also applicable for members of the clergy. Bright Week, the week following the feast of Christ’s Pascha, creates a special case regarding the practice of preparation for holy communion. The ancient canonical norm regarding the obligatory participation of all faithful at the Sunday eucharist was in the seventh century expanded to include all of the Divine Liturgies during Bright Week: From the holy day of the Resurrection of Christ our God until the New Sunday, for a whole week, in the holy churches the faithful ought to be free from labour, rejoicing in Christ with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; and celebrating the feast, and applying their minds to the reading of the holy Scriptures, and delighting in the Holy Mysteries; for thus shall we be exalted with Christ and together with him be raised up (canon 66 of the Council in Trullo). It follows from this canon that the laypeople are called to receive communion during the liturgies of Bright Week. Considering that the Typicon does not foresee any fasting during Bright Week and that Bright Week is preceded by seven weeks of struggle in the course of Lent and Holy Week, it ought to be acknowledged that the practice that has been established in many parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church that Christians who observed the Great Fast receive holy communion during Bright Week, while limiting their fasting to abstaining from food after midnight, is fully consistent with the canonical tradition of the Church. Similar practice can be expanded to the period between Nativity and Theophany. Those who prepare for communion during these days should take special care from excessive consumption of food and drink. |
| 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. |
| This is all so alive and understandable to every person, so natural, that honestly I am always a little amazed at the excessive moralization over maslenitsa these days. I am sure that for the majority of Orthodox Christians, the present week, which will include the pre-Lenten services on Wednesday and Friday, friendly social gatherings, forgiveness of offenses, and hospitable feasts, will all manifest that inimitable and joyful feast of a foretaste of, and preparation for Great Lent. Hieromonk Job (Gumerov): This is the final preparatory week before the podvig of Great Lent. Maslenitsa is its folk name. In the service books and calendar, it is called cheese week, because according to the rule, we can eat milk products and fish [but not meat]. Refraining from meat, we begin to purify ourselves bodily, and are gradually penetrated by a bright prescience of the fast. The particularities of the services during cheese week and the history of the Church typicon completely disprove the false opinion that maslenitsa goes back to some pagan traditions. As the Synaxarion (for cheese fare Saturday) says, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610–640), after a six-year, exhausting war with the Persian King Hosroes, made a vow not to eat meat during the last week before Great Lent. He was victorious in the battle. The Church then introduced the pious Emperor " s vow into the typicon. Because it is a preparation, cheese week excludes all excess of food. Its significance is contrary to gluttony and drunkenness. At the threshold of the quiet days of the Great Fast, the soul experiences a joyful uplifment, so that it can fully experience a repentant disposition. Already during cheese week, the wedding sacrament is no longer performed. On Wednesday and Friday Liturgy is not served, but there is no fast [other than from meat] on those days. At the hours, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian is read with bended knee. On Sunday of this week, the Church remembers the casting out of our fore-parents from paradise for their disobedience and lack of restraint. " Let the world weep bitterly with our first ancestors: by sweet food they have fallen with the fallen one " (from the Synaxarion of Cheese-fare Sunday). |
| 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 |
| Other Fasts The Eve of Theophany, the Exaltation of the Cross and the Beheading of John the Baptist are fast days, with wine and oil allowed. Fast-free Periods Complementing the four fasting seasons of the Church are four fast-free weeks: Nativity to Eve of Theophany. Week following the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee. Bright Week — the week after Pascha. Trinity Week — the week after Pentecost, ending with All Saints Sunday. The Marital Fast Married couples are expected to abstain from sexual relations throughout the Church’s four fasting seasons, as well as on the weekly Wednesday and Friday fasts. (This aspect of the fasting rule is probably even more widely ignored, and more difficult for many, than those relating to food. In recognition of this, some sources advocate a more modest, minimal rule: couples should abstain from sexual relations before receiving Holy Communion and throughout Holy Week.) Health Concerns During fasting seasons, avoiding prohibited foods poses no health risk as long as adequate amounts of other foods are taken. Calcium intake and adequate calories may be a concern for growing children and pregnant and nursing mothers. Calcium-fortified orange juice is an easy way to guarantee plentiful calcium intake while avoiding dairy products. Nuts and nut butters are a good source of calories for those who need to maintain weight on a Lenten diet. If you are new to fasting, you may find the onset of hunger pangs distressing. Hunger pangs are not harmful; they are simply part of the fast. The first few days of a long fasting period are often the most difficult. Do not be discouraged by headaches, fatigue, etc. at the beginning of a fasting season — they will disappear or reduce in intensity. If you are troubled by lethargy, try moderate exercise. A short walk can make a surprising difference in your energy. At the Grocery Store. Read the ingredient lists on processed and packaged foods. Butter, milk solids, whey, meat broth and lard are common additives. |
| 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. |
| Tweet Нравится The Bright Resurrection of Christ, Pascha Homilies and Spritual Instruction Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom St. Gregory the Theologian. On Death and Resurrection in Christ Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov). On Pascha We Receive an Invitation to Eternal Life The Great And Holy Feast Of Pascha The Feast of Feasts - Pascha St. Justin Popovic. A Paschal Homily of Blessed Justin of Chelije Rising Victorious Fr. Stephen Freeman. Behind Closed Doors Pascha: the day that the Lord has made (Ps. 118:24) Abba Dorotheos. An explanation of certain expressions of St. Gregory the Theologian which are sung together with the troparia at Holy Pascha V. Rev. Fr. Anastasios Gounaris. Pascha: The New Passover Paschal Homily by Archimandrite John Krestiankin Paschal Epistle of St. John Maximovitch St. John Chrysostom. Saint John Chrysostom on the Truth of the Resurrection Fr. George Calciu. Christ Has Risen within Your Heart! St. Nikolai Velimirovich. About seeking the living among the dead Met Georges Khodr: Pascha Hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov). Paschal Rebirth in Optina Monastery Fr. Lawrence Farley. Pascha: The Blast of a Trumpet Hymnography and Services The Paschal Canon Paschal Hours. Sung during Bright Week The Paschal Service of the Eastern Orthodox Church The Resurrection of Christ. Mosaic from the church of the monastery of St. Luke in Phocis (Hosios Loucas). XI century. History and Culture The Origins of Pascha and Great Week Dachau 1945: The Souls of All Are Aflame Orthodox Christians Celebrate Holy Pascha Vincent Gabriel. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Myths of Mystery Cults Irina Sklyarevskaya. Christos Anesti! Palestinian Christians Find Hope in Easter and Women in Bethlehem Offer their Traditional Easter Cookie (Ma " moul) Recipie Symbolic Lamb: Around the World, Christians Celebrate Easter With This Dish Christopher Tripoulas. Pascha With Papadiamantis: Lessons from a Panegyrist Alexandros Papadiamandis. A Village Easter: Memories of Childhood |
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