| It is even impossible to get close to it; when we begin preaching the true faith, we run into resistance, hatred, a barrier. But the preaching of sickening sweet love does not provoke any resistance; at the worst it provokes indifference. Sectarians walk around and invite the first person they meet to unite with them in the embrace of their sirupy love. Adulterous love—that’s precisely the kind of love the antichrist will bring, seducing and beguiling everyone. We have to understand: Where there is Love, there should be Truth. These are the two wings on which a person ascends to heaven; two essential qualities of God. And there cannot be one quality to the detriment of the other; one cannot diminish the other. They go together: Love and Truth. There must never be Love to the detriment of Truth, nor Truth that is not warmed by Love. Such righteousness unwarmed by Love kills. I will write you an article on this subject of love without righteousness, which is becoming more and more needed even in an Orthodox setting. Anastasia Rakhlina spoke with Bishop Pitirim of Dushanbe and Tadjikistan Translation by OrthoChristian.com 2 октября 2015 г. The thirty-day fast, when it is forbidden to take food or drink from sunrise to sundown. It follows the lunar calendar. “They are an example to our contemporaries, but even more so for me they are a reproach to my careless life: I had access to a treasure, but I took nothing from it and remained impoverished.”—Archimandrite Raphael Karelin, On Ascetics of the Last Times , http://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/80880.htm [Russian]. Head tax on non-Moslem population in Islamic countries—jizia. The Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra is located in the town of Sergiev Posad, about 55 kilometers south of Moscow. In the summer of 2015, there was a protest movement in Moscow’s Torfyanka Park to prevent the construction of an Orthodox church there. Many of the protesters did not live in the neighborhood, and are part of a larger movement to stop the active building of Orthodox churches taking place across Russia currently. The activists complained among other things against regular funerals, beggars, bells, and the inability to sunbathe near a church. Officials of the Russian Orthodox Church have stated that they are open to finding another suitable location in the neighborhood. |
| Српска bepзuja English version Подписаться на рассылку Сретенская духовная семинария Tweet Нравится Primate of Japanese Church celebrates moleben of thanksgiving at new monastery Ajiro, Japan, November 21, 2018 Photo: Facebook Land for the long-awaited Monastery of St. Nicholas of Japan was purchased in Construction begins on Japan’s first Orthodox monastery in honor of St. Nicholas of Japan The holy Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Nicholas of Japan brought the holy Orthodox faith to Japan as a missionary in 1861. Now work on the nation’s first Orthodox monastery to be consecrated in his honor is underway. " > June this year in the south-central city of Ajiro, and on July 3, the brothers of the monastery served the first moleben on the site of the monastery’s future church. Another joyous occasion in the life of the new monastery took place earlier this month, as the primate of the Japanese Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Daniel, visited the monastery and served a moleben of thanksgiving in the church that is quickly taking shape, reports the monastery’s Facebook page . The new church is dedicated to the “It is Truly Meet” Icon of the Mother of God. The monastery also reports that they set up their as-yet unconsecrated altar a few days prior on November 3 . The monastery also received an “It is Truly Meet” Icon for their chapel on October 28 . Met. Daniel was concelebrated by Archimandrite Gerasim (Shevtsov), a monk of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra who was sent in 2005 to help revive monastic life in Japan and now serves as the monastery’s abbot, Fr. Constantine Masuda, the Secretary of the Tokyo Diocese, and Protodeacon Elijah Takei. All the clergy of the Tokyo Diocese also gathered in the church to pray at the service. Following the service, Archim. Gerasim informed the gathered clergy about the long-term plans for building the church, a pilgrims’ guest house, a library, a candle factory, and so on. For his part, Met. Daniel noted the importance of the building plans but also reminded that a monk’s first and most important work is prayer. Therefore, Fr. Gerasim asked His Eminence to provide them with an anitmins so they could begin serving in the monastery chapel. |
| Times toughest for KiM Serbs since 2004 pogrom Belgrade, January 223, 2013 Photo: M. Jelesijevic/Tanjug Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Bishop of Raska-Prizren Teodosije has said that the position of the Serb people in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) has not been this difficult ever since the March 2004 pogrom. “Eight full years have passed since the horrible event, and we still see that part of the Albanian community is ready to commit the most serious crimes, including the barbaric desecration of graves,” Teodosije said. Commenting on the latest spate of violence in which several dozen gravestones were either destroyed or damaged at Orthodox cemeteries in KiM, the Bishop said that “the feelings at seeing images of broken tombs and crosses set on fire are terrible.” “This is the image of Kosovo-Metohija 14 years after the war and a warning to Europe, which this year is celebrating 1,700 years since the Edict of Milan, which granted freedom to Christianity,” he said. Teodosije stressed that “after so many centuries, Europe must not allow crosses to burn and Christian shrines and tombs to be destroyed again.” “These rampages have given pain to the souls of the Serbs " and all Christians who see these images, but they are bringing far greater civilizational and moral shame on the Kosovo Albanians,” said the Bishop of Raska-Prizren. When the bones of the deceased have no peace in this country, many Serbs are wondering, he said, “what kind of future is awaiting them among people who have no qualms about destroying graves.” He pointed out that all the international representatives had condemned the violence, particularly Head of the EU Office in Kosovo Samuel Zbogar. “I can see from the words these people say how appalled they are at seeing the brutal scenes taking place at our cemeteries. KFOR and police increased their presence around our facilities and as far as can be seen, there is a firm stance about the need to prevent further violence against Christians sanctities from happening again,” said Teodosije. According to Teodosije, the SPC priesthood in Kosovo is safe, “even though the two nuns and two old women in the Monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God in Djakovica spent a sleepless night while bullies were letting out piercing screams only thirty meters away, wishing to enforce the decision of their leaders to destroy this sacred place.” During the March 17, 2004 Albanian violence, remembered as the " Crystal Night in Kosovo " , at least eight people of Serb nationality were killed and two went missing. According to currently available data, a total of 4,012 Serbs were expelled from their homes in KiM, six towns and nine villages were ethnically cleansed, while 935 homes and 35 Serbian religious sites, including 18 cultural monuments, were burned down or seriously damaged. Tanjug 23 января 2013 г. ... Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| Archive ROCOR Synod of Bishops holds regular session 19 February 2020 year 11:41 On February 18, 2020, a regular session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia took place under the chairmanship of the ROCOR First Hierarch, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York. Taking part in the meeting were Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany, Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada, Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe, and Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan. Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America was unable to participate due to diocesan matters. The Synod members heard a brief report from Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany on the activities of the ROCOR Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and considered an appeal from the Union of Descendants of the Russians of Gallipoli, seeking special prayers for the White Army soldiers on the centenary of their exodus from Russia. The Synod of Bishops blessed the prayerful commemoration on Saturday, November 21, this year. In view of the need to appoint a new ROCOR’s representative to the Church and Public Council for Commemoration of Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the Synod designated Archpriest Nikolai Artemoff, secretary of the German diocese, as new representative. Having discussed the issues raised in a report of Archpriest Andre Papkov, president of the Synodal Liturgical Music Committee, the Synod decided to rename the school of church singing headed by him into the Metropolitan Laurus Synodal School of Church Singing. Noting the success of the recent conference held at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God in London, England, the Synod blessed the establishment of a special committee under the auspices of the Liturgical Music Committee with the view of coordinating events in Western Europe. The committee will work under the guidance of Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe. Acting on a request from Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America, the Synod of Bishops granted to the St John the Theologian Skete, formerly a metochion of the Holy Cross Monastery in West Virginia, the status of an independent monastery. The Synod of Bishops also deliberated on a number of disciplinary matters within the Church, and considered appeals from the ruling bishops for ecclesiastical awards to their clergymen and laity. The meeting concluded with the singing of “It is Truly Meet,” website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia reports. Patriarchia.ru/ DECR Communication Service Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
| First man suspected of participation in armed bands in Syria appears in Russia Grozny, January 10, 2014 In the Chechen republic the first criminal case has been initiated regarding participation of a Russian citizen in outlawed armed bands on the territory of Syria, reports ITAR-TASS . As was reported by the public prosecutor " s office of the republic, investigators of the Federal Security Service " s administration in Chechnya have filed a suit against a local resident, Shahid Temirbulatov (section 2 of the article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: " Participation in a paramilitary group on the territory of a foreign state, which is not provided for by the legislation of this state, with an aim contradictory to the Russian Federation " s interests " ). " The examination has established that in July 2013, the RF citizen, being on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, entered a paramilitary group, which was not stipulated by the state " s legislation, and has been taking part in warfare against the government armed forces of Syria up to now, with a purpose contradictory to the Russian Federation " s interests, " stated in the public prosecutor " s office. The public prosecutor " s office has recognized this decision as lawful and well-grounded and has taken the control of the course of investigation. " Earlier, the republic " s prosecutor many times noted the need to investigate and search out operations aimed at eliciting incidents of Russian citizens’ participation in the armed conflict against the Syrian government armed forces, " stressed the republic public prosecutor " s office. Meanwhile, according to BaltInfo , reinforcements are being redeployed to Aleppo from Rakka and Deir-Ez-Zur. The objective is " to overwhelm dogs of the Awakening " —rebels fighting against the " Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant " group, which is connected with al Qaeda. The reinforcement columns are headed by Chechen militants, who have a reputation as select sub-units during fierce warfare against the Syrian army. This was reported by Interpolit.ru with reference to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar . The beheaded Franciscan Friar, Fr. Francois Murad, was brutally murdered by militants from the North Caucasus. In the video of the murder on YouTube they can be heard speaking with each other in Russian. Pravoslavie.ru 13 января 2014 г. Смотри также Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| New Book Published: Helping Drug Addicts – the Basics: an Orthodox View Moscow, November 7, 2014 This new book [in Russia] is based on the experience of the Church’s help to drug addicts: there are over 60 active Church rehabilitation centers for drug addicts, dozens of first-referral consulting rooms and other rehabilitation auxiliary structures in Russia, reports the Synodal Department for the Church’s Charity and Social Ministry. The book reflects the Church’s view of drug addiction, and it will also be of interest to secular specialists in the fields of medicine and drug rehabilition. The book has been written by psychologist Roman Prishchenko, who has over many years worked in the sphere of rehabilitating drug addicts in Church and secular organizations. The manual explains what the main difficulties for those who wish to help drug addicts are, and why certain methods used in Church rehabilitation practice have proved to be the most successful ones. According to the author, one of the special features of the book lies in this combination of simple language and the depth of the issues touched on. “We have made an attempt to relate extremely important things in a simple, confidential manner, so that we can dialogue with our reader,” says Roman Prishchenko. The book gives a detailed description of the stages of the Church’s help to those who are on drugs. The preparatory period lasts from one to three months and includes motivational work: a person’s motivations and his or her attitude to further rehabilitation are ascertained. During the main period, which may last from one to one and a half years, the person becomes part of a parish where a clergyman and volunteers help him or her find ways out of drug dependency. The next stage is re-socialization, which lasts from one to three years. After all these stages the individual who has given up drugs is given permanent support to avoid relapsing and returning to addiction. The book can be downloaded from the Synodal Charity Department’s website [in Russian]. According to data from the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia, today 8.5 million Russians take drugs and psychoactive substances (nearly 7% of the population of the Russian Federation). This index is critical as on reaching the point of 6-8%, there are irreversible consequences for a country’s gene pool. Every year around 100,000 people in Russia die from taking drugs. 13 ноября 2014 г. Смотри также Комментарии Kevin Richardson 14 ноября 2014, 20:00 Is this book available in English? Fr. Stephen Lourie 14 ноября 2014, 05:00 Will this be translated into English? Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| priest Dmitry Ermakov (священник Димитрий Ермаков) The inner meaning of Tradition Orthodox history is marked outwardly by a series of sudden breaks: the capture of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem by Arab Muslims; the burning of Kiev by the Mongols; the two sacks of Constantinople; the October Revolution in Russia. Yet these events, while they have transformed the external appearance of the Orthodox world, have never broken the inward continuity of the Orthodox Church. The thing that first strikes a stranger on encountering Orthodoxy is usually its air of antiquity, its apparent changelessness. He finds that the Orthodox still baptize by threefold immersion, as in the primitive Church; they still bring babies and small children to receive Holy Communion; in the Liturgy the deacon still cries out: ‘The doors! The doors!’ – recalling the early days when the church’s entrance was jealously guarded, and none but members of the Christian family could attend the family worship; the Creed is still recited without any additions. These are but a few outward examples of something which pervades every aspect of Orthodox life. When the Orthodox are asked at contemporary inter-Church gatherings to summarize what they see as the distinctive characteristic of their Church 1 , they often point precisely to its changelessness, its determination to remain loyal to the past, its sense of living continuity with the Church of ancient times. At the start of the eighteenth century, the Eastern Patriarchs said exactly the same to the Non-Jurors 2 : “We preserve the Doctrine of the Lord uncorrupted, and firmly adhere to the Faith he delivered to us, and keep it free from blemish and diminution, as a Royal Treasure, and a monument of great price, neither adding any thing, nor taking any thing from it. ” 3 This idea of living continuity is summed up for the Orthodox in the one word Tradition. “We do not change the everlasting boundaries which our fathers have set,” wrote John of Damascus, “but we keep the Tradition, just as we received it. ” 4 |
| Archive Acting administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA meets with Primate of the Orthodox Church in America 26 September 2019 year 13:07 On September 25, 2019, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, acting administrator of the Patriarchate Parishes in America, began his working visit to the United States of America. On the first day of his visit, he called on the administrative center of the Orthodox Church in America in Syossete to meet with His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washingon and Metropolitan of All America and Canada. The hierarchs prayed and partook of the Holy Gifts during the Divine Liturgy at the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh whose memory was celebrated on that day according to the new calendar. After the service, Bishop Mathew warmly greeted His Beatitude Tikhon, the clergy and staff of the administrative center on the occasion of the patronal feast. The archpastor read out messages of greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, on the occasion of the forthcoming name day and presented His Beatitude an icon of the Royal Passion-Bearers and a bouquet of flowers. During a talk, which was held in a warm fraternal atmosphere of mutual understanding, they discussed the cooperation of the two Churches and pressing issues of inter-Orthodox interaction. They also dealt with preparations for the next year commemorative events devoted to the 225th anniversary of the Orthodox mission initiated by Valamo monks in North America and the 50th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church’s granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America. Taking part in the meeting were also Archpriest Alexander Rentel, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, Archdeacon Joseph Matusyak, secretary of the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Rev. Mark Rashkov, Moscow Patriarchate representation in the USA, and Subdeacon Nikolay Trubnikov, personal secretary to Bishop Matthew. DECR Communication Service /Patriarchia.ru Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
| Statement of the communication service of the Department for External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate concerning Syria Moscow, May 28, 2013 For many decades Syria was distinguished by the atmosphere of interfaith peace and agreement. Various communities of Christians, Muslims and Jews lived in good neighborly relations and mutual understanding. With the outbreak of armed resistance in this country the situation of religious minorities has worsened greatly. It is known that many radical extremists from different countries are taking part in acts of terrorism in Syria and they set themselves the task of total cleansing of the Middle East region from non-Muslims. As a result Christians in Syria are faced with persecutions the scale of which is becoming more menacing. According to Metropolitan Isaac of Apamia (The Orthodox Church of Antioch), Syrian Christians see that " after the arrival of militants the unbelievable is happening " : Churches are destroyed, clergymen are kidnapped, Christians are forcibly driven from their homes and killed. In April this year, another Hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Antioch, Bishop Luke of Seidnaya, told the media that 140,000 Christians had been banished from their homes and at the same time Christian churches were systematically destroyed. " They are killing people. A human life is of no value for them, " noted the Hierarch. On April 22, 2013, militants of an extremist organization kidnapped Syrian Christian Hierarchs: Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo (the Patriarchate of Antioch) and Metropolitan Mar Gregory Johanna Ibrahim (the Syriac Church) and their driver, a deacon, was murdered. The Metropolitans are still in captivity. On May 11, 2013, it became known that militants had destroyed the ancient Orthodox Monastery of Holy Prophet Elias in vicinity of the town of Al-Qusayr: they plundered the monastery, took away the church vessels, blew up the bell-tower, and destroyed the chancel and the font. The Russian Orthodox Church definitely condemns any violation and attempts of provoking interfaith strife in Syria. The Patriarchate of Moscow expresses its solidarity with the suffering brothers and sisters—Syrian Christians—and expresses its hope that the international community will devote due attention to such outrageous events. Large-scale and glaring violations of human rights must not be concealed but must be actively resisted. 29 мая 2013 г. ... Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| Archive DECR chairman meets with Executive Director of UN World Food Programme 20 February 2018 year 19:42 On 20 February 2018, at the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, DECR chairman, met with Mr. David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme. Mr. Beasley was accompanied by Mr. Daniel Rugholm, his special advisor; Mr. Christopher Kaye, Director of the UN World Food Programme’s Donor Relations Division; and Mr. Andrey Shirkov of the UN World Food Programme’s Donor Relations Division. Representing the DECR were also Archpriest Sergy Zvonarev, secretary for far aboard countries; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), secretary for inter-Christian relations; Deacon Andrei Titushkin of the Secretariat for Far Abroad Countries; and Mrs. Margarita Nelyubova of the Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations. Taking part in the meeting were also Ms. Marina Velikanova, First Secretary of the Department of International Organizations of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Dmitry Kulikov, Third Secretary of the Department of International Organizations of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The major topic of the meeting was rendering humanitarian aid to the population of the countries with low-income level, suffering from the chronic food shortage. The UN representative told about the activities of the World Food Programme in various parts of the world, as well as about the efforts aimed at raising awareness of the world community about the problems of starving people. Metropolitan Hilarion informed Mr. Beasley about charity projects of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as about the work of the Interreligious Working Group for Humanitarian Aid to the People of Syria of the Commission for International Cooperation of the Presidential Council for Cooperation with Religious Organizations. The participants in the meeting concurred that it was necessary to develop cooperation between religious communities of Russia and the USA in implementing joint humanitarian projects. DECR Communication Service /Patriarchia.ru Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
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