St. Nicholas movie update and involvement

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

…available here!

Online “Introduction to Orthodoxy” class

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

…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 [...]

“A Black Man’s Discovery of the Ancient Christian Church”

May 14, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: African Orthodox, African saints, African-American Orthodox, African-Americans, American Orthodox, Black Church, Black clergy, Black saints, Christianity, church, clergy, conversion, deacons, Detroit, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, evangelism, evangelization, Michigan, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Orthodox mission, orthodoxy, religion, religious conversion, St. Moses the Black, St. Moses the Ethiopian

…is a talk being given in Detroit by an Orthodox deacon, a convert from Catholicism, Saturday evening.  It’s sponsored by that area’s chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black, and Detroit’s Council of Orthodox Christian Churches.  Details here (link will eventually break).

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

…may be December 17!

Grace and Works

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

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

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.

More on Viking Orthodox in North America

November 29, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Canada, Christianity, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Orthodoxy, explorers, Fr. Andrew Phillips, Greenland, Irish Orthodox, Middle Ages, Norse, North American Orthodoxy, Orthodox Christian, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, religion, Russian Orthodox, Russian Orthodoxy, Scandinavia, Vikings, Vinland, Western Orthodoxy

Last year I found a brief discussion of how it could’ve gone if Norse Orthodox visitors and settlers here from the 10th to 15th centuries, and rumored Irish Orthodox monk-visitors, had evangelized (more?).  A few years ago I saw this somewhat more detailed discussion of the history from Fr. Andrew Phillips of the Russian Orthodox Church [...]

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

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

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 [...]

Praying for Fr. Andrew Greeley

November 13, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: American literature, Andrew Greeley, Blackie Ryan, Catholic priests, Catholicism, Christianity, Christmas, current events, Eastern Europe, Eastern Orthodoxy, Irish American literature, literature, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, prayers, religion, Roman Catholicism, romance, Russia, Russian Orthodoxy, Russians, sociology, sociology of religion, Soviet Union, spiritual reading

The sociologist and novelist, not the boxer … though he’s always been a fighter too!  Over the weekend his coat got caught in a taxi door in the Chicago area and he was dragged a bit, suffering a skull fracture.  (I’m sure he’s wondered since then if coats should be made of such strong stuff!)  [...]