St. Nicholas movie update and involvement

November 14, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: archbishops, bishops, Buffalo (NY), Christianity, Christmas, church, church history, culture, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern church history, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek Orthodoxy, history, legends, movies, mythos, myths, Nativity, Nicholas of Myra, Orthodox Catholic Church, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox church history, orthodoxy, popular culture, publicity, religion, Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, western New York

…available here!

Online “Introduction to Orthodoxy” class

November 14, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: 101 classes, Bridgeport, Carpatho-Russian Orthodoxy, Christian spirituality, Christianity, church, classes, classes in Christianity, Connecticut, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, eastern religion, Eastern spirituality, Fairfield, fairfield county, introduction to Christianity, introduction to Orthodox Christianity, introduction to Orthodoxy, introductory classes, Milford, Moodle classes, New Haven, Norwalk, online classes, Orange, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox Eastern Church, orthodoxy, Orthodoxy 101, religion, religion classes, spirituality, Stratford, Trumbull, Westport

…begins this Monday, November 16, at 7pm Eastern Time (U.S.), from a Connecticut parish of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (Patriarchate of Constantinople).  It’s free, but Moodle, so you have to sign-up in advance to access it; you also need an email address to confirm your registration.  It’ll webcast live for 7 Monday nights in [...]

What’s a Jurisdiction?

October 27, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: bishops, Christianity, church denominations, church history, church jurisdictions, church patriarchates, church patriarchs, church provinces, churches, denominations, dioceses, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern ecclesiology, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, ecclesiastical provinces, ecclesiology, ecumenical councils, ecumenical synods, eparchies, great and holy council, history of Christianity, holy great council, Holy Spirit, jurisdiction, omophorion, Orthodox bishops, Orthodox Catholic Church, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox dioceses, Orthodox Eastern Church, Orthodox ecclesiology, Orthodox jurisdictions, orthodoxy, patriarchs, religion, theology of church

As commonly used in reference to Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism – broadly considered (I can’t speak about other Churches) — in the Western world, the informal noun jurisdiction seems to indicate a particular ethnic, national, and/or patriarchate’s Church in a given country, region, or continent(s) … considered a part of The One Single Orthodox Church [or "The [...]

What’s a Patriarch, Take Two

July 24, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: archbishops, autocephalous churches, autocephaly, autonomous churches, bishops, bishops' conferences, Catholicism, chief bishops, church dialogue, church history, church organization, church polity, church primates, conference of catholic bishops, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, ecumenical dialogue, ecumenism, episcopacy, episcopate, first among equals, hierarchs, hierarchy, Latin Patriarchs, metropolitan archbishops, metropolitans, national churches, Orthodox bishops, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox church history, Orthodox Church polity, Orthodox Eastern Church, Orthodox patriarchates, Orthodox patriarchs, orthodoxy, papal claims, Patriarch of the West, patriarchal structures, patriarchates, patriarchs, Pentarchy, pope, Pope of the Universal Church, popes, presiding bishops, primacy, primates, primatial sees, protos, provinces, regional church, Roman Catholicism, Rome, titular patriarchs, universal bishop, universal jurisdiction

(Take One is here, where I ran off at the mouth for a while!)
Patriarch is one possible title for the presiding bishop or primate of a region of The Orthodox Church comprising a number of bishoprics, and/or even a number of smaller such regions.  Currently the other two possible titles are Metropolitan or Archbishop, although [...]

Aboriginal Parish in Australia

July 16, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal missions, Aboriginal peoples, Aborigines, Australia, Christianity, church history, County Waterford, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Indigenous Orthodoxy, indigenous peoples, Irish Christianity, Irish Orthodox, Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox missions, orthodoxy, ROCA, ROCOR, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Russian Orthodoxy, St Declan, St John Maximovitch

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) has recently launched an Aboriginal Australian mission in Gunning, New South Wales, near an Aboriginal community north of Canberra, the capital of that Commonwealth.  The parish has been named for one of the Saints who has shined forth here in North America (and around the world, really!), [...]

Lent is Christianity, Concentrated

March 3, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Andrew of Crete, ascesis, asceticism, Christianity, church, church services, compline, daily prayers, deification, Divine Energies, Divinization, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, fasting, glorification, good works, Great Canon, Great Compline, Great Fast, Great Lent, Hours, Lent, Lenten services, liturgical services, liturgies, Liturgy of the Hours, night prayer, night prayers, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, orthodoxy, prayer, prayer services, prayers, religion, salvation, services, Theosis, Uncreated Energies

That’s the upshot of these words of the late Fr. Alexander Schmemann (OCA).  (Link may break after this year; I don’t know if it’s tied to today’s date, as Clean Monday or Pure Monday, the first day of the Great Fast this year, or not.)
An important liturgical and devotional tradition of Byzantine Christianity during the [...]

The most readily recognizably ‘Jewish’ day on the Orthodox Christian calendar

March 2, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek Orthodox, Greek Orthodoxy, Jewish Orthodoxy, Jewish saints, Judaism, King David, King Solomon, non-Christian saints, Old Testament saints, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox Jewish, orthodoxy, pre-Christian saints, religion, Russian Orthodox, Russian Orthodoxy

…may be December 17!

Grace and Works

February 5, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: orthodoxy, Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Russian Orthodoxy, Christianity, religion, Eastern Orthodoxy, sin, Orthodox Church, saints, temptation, Reformation, Protestantism, Fathers of the Church, spirituality, virtue, bishops, Martin Luther, Evangelicalism, Russian Christianity, Russian Orthodox Church, eastern religion, grace, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox bishops, grace alone, works, works righteousness, grace and works, grace vs works, good works, struggle, podvig, Theophan the Recluse, Theophan of Poltava, Doctors of the Church, spiritual fathers, raising children, child raising, Orthodox saints, Orthodox monks, Fundamentalism

Short reflection inspired by St. Theophan the Recluse is here.
(Theophan, sometimes called Theophanes [the original Greek version of his name], was a 19th-century bishop in Russia who retired early from the active episcopate – hence “recluse” – and became an incredible spiritual father and writer!  A real latter-day Father of the Church.  He even wrote [...]

What’s a Locum Tenens?

January 28, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: bishops, Bolshevik Revolution, canon law, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Christianity, church, Church canons, church history, church polity, College of Cardinals, Communism, early Christianity, early church, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern church history, Eastern church polity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Great Patriotic War, history of Christianity, Latin Church, Latin Rite, locum tenens, locum tenentes, martyrdom, martyrs, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox bishops, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox church history, Orthodox Church polity, Orthodox patriarchates, Orthodox patriarchs, orthodoxy, papacy, Patriarch of Moscow, Patriarch of Russia, Patriarchate of Moscow, Pope of Rome, religion, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism, Russian church, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodoxy, Russian patriarchate, sede vacante, Soviet Union, spiritual guidance, spirituality, St. Peter of Krutitsy, St. Tikhon of Moscow, theology, USSR, Vatican, World War 2, World War II, World War Two

It’s being noted in news coverage that Moscow Patriarch-elect KYRILL was “Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne” since shortly after the repose of Patriarch ALEXEI.  This concept is not unknown in Western Christianity … in fact, locum tenens is the traditional Latin-language term whose Greek or Slavonic counterpart I do not know, but seems commonly [...]

What’s a Patriarch?

January 27, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: bishops, Byzantine theology, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Christianity, church councils, church elections, church governance, church jurisdiction, church organization, church patriarchs, church polity, church primates, church unity, collaborative ministry, collegiality, conciliarism, conciliarity, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern patriarchs, eastern religion, Eastern theology, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, episcopacy, episcopal churches, first among equals, Greek Church, Greek Orthodox, greek orthodox church, Greek Orthodoxy, High Church, High Churches, holy tradition, honorary seniority, icons, ikons, Metropolitan Kyrill, miracles, miraculous icons, modern church councils, Moscow Patriarchate, myrrh, myrrh-streaming icons, national churches, Orthodox bishops, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox church councils, Orthodox Church polity, Orthodox Churches, Orthodox theology, Orthodox Tradition, orthodoxy, papacy, papal claims, Patriarch of Alexandria, Patriarch of the West, patriarchal election, patriarchal structures, Patriarchate of Alexandria, Patriarchate of Moscow, Patriarchate of Russia, patriarchs, Petrine ministry, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope of Alexandria, primacy, primates, religion, religious icons, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism, Rome, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodoxy, Russian patriarchate, sobornost, synodal church government, synodality, theology

if you’ll permit me, I’ll start off by saying that an Orthodox Patriarch is not normally a “little Pope” whose word is law among those whose Patriarch he is.

Old Calendar Christmas video

January 19, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: birth of Christ, birth of Jesus, chant, chanting, Christianity, Christmas, church music, Church Slavonic, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Julian Calendar, Nativity, Nativity of Christ, Nativity of Jesus, Nativity of Our Lord, Nativity of the Lord, Old Calendar, Old Church Slavonic, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Christmas, Orthodox Church, orthodoxy, religion, religious music, Russian chant, Russian Christmas, Russian church music, Russian music, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodoxy, Slavonic

On the site of the University of Michigan’s newspaper.  It’s just a few minutes, but includes BEAUTIFUL Russian choral music (in Church Slavonic, I presume), as well as service excerpts, and a few words from a priest about ‘Christmas in January.’  (Crank the volume, because it’s really low on the video.)

Icons of Western Orthodox Saints

December 21, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, icons, icons of saints, medieval saints, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox icons, orthodoxy, religion, religious icons, religious images, saints, Western Orthodox saints, Western Orthodoxy, Western saints

I just learned of the demise last year of the Milan Synod’s St. Hilarion Monastery in Texas, and of their website, odox.net.  This group was not in communion with the Orthodox Church, but the Wayback Machine seems to have stored at least their images of Western Saints icons, which I have always found edifying.

Samoan Orthodox Pittsburgh Steeler

December 21, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: American football, Christianity, converts, converts from Protestantism, converts to Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, football, greek orthodox church, Greek Orthodoxy, midweek liturgy, midweek service, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox converts, Orthodox monasteries, orthodoxy, Pittsburgh Steelers, religion, Samoan Americans, Samoans, sports, Troy Polamalu, weekday liturgy

Strong Safety Troy Polamalu spoke with Yahoo Sports last fall about his faith, Orthodox Christianity, which seems very important to him since converting a few years ago.

New OCA Primate ex-Episcopalian; Serbia Patriarch staying on; new Mexican ruling hierarch

November 14, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: All-American Councils, bishops, chief bishops, Christianity, church, church councils, churches, college converts, converts from Anglicanism, converts from Catholicism, converts from Protestantism, converts from the Anglican Church, converts from the Episcopal Church, converts to Orthodoxy, Dmitri Royster, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, ex-Catholics, ex-Episcopalians, Exarchate of Mexico, hierarchy, independent Catholics, independent Orthodox, JFK assassination, Jose Cortes y Olmos, metropolitan archbishops, Metropolitan Herman Swaiko, Metropolitan Jonah, metropolitans, Mexican Christianity, Mexican National Catholic Church, Mexican Orthodox Christianity, Mexican Orthodoxy, Mexican-Americans, Mexicans, Mexico, modern church councils, North American Orthodoxy, OCA, OCF, Orthodox bishops, Orthodox Christian Fellowship, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Christianity in America, Orthodox Christianity in Mexico, Orthodox Christianity in North America, Orthodox Church, Orthodox church councils, Orthodox Church in America, Orthodox Church in Mexico, Orthodox Church in North America, Orthodox Churches, Orthodox converts, Orthodox mission, orthodoxy, Orthodoxy in America, Orthodoxy in Mexico, Orthodoxy in North America, Patriarchate of Serbia, patriarchs, presiding bishops, primates, religion, Robert Royster, Russian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodoxy, Serbian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodoxy, synods, vagante, Warren Commission

On the 1st of this month Abbot Jonah (Paffhausen) from California was consecrated Titular Bishop of Ft. Worth, Texas, and Auxiliary Bishop in the OCA’s Diocese of Dallas and the South — probably the newest Bishop in the entire Orthodox Church.  Yesterday (Wed.) he was elected Primate of the OCA, quite possibly the first convert [...]

St. Gregory, Illuminator of Armenia

September 30, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Armenian Church, Chalcedonian Christianity, Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Ethiopian Church, miaphysitism, monophysitism, non-chalcedonian christianity, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, orthodoxy, pre-chalcedonian christianity, religion, Syriac Church

For most of my life I have driven past a church dedicated to someone I have recently learned is, by tradition, an ancestor of myself and most of us with Western European ancestry, St. Gregory, a royal Parthian, Orthodox Enlightener of Armenia, the first state in the ancient world to adopt Christianity as its official [...]