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!), [...]
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
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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.)
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 [...]
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 [...]
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!) [...]
October 24, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Christianity, communist countries, Cuba, Eastern Orthodoxy, Fidel Castro, Greek Orthodoxy, Havana, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, orthodoxy, Raul Castro, religion, Russian Orthodoxy
The other day Cuba’s first Russian Orthodox Cathedral was consecrated by a high-level bishop from Russia. It was built in Old Havana largely by the Cuban government itself, beginning in 2004.
Earlier this year the government gave the Greek Orthodox Metropolis covering Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and nearby parts of South America, a large old building [...]
October 12, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Christianity, church patriarchs, Constantinople, Eastern Orthodoxy, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical meetings, Greek Orthodoxy, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church in America, Orthodox diaspora, Orthodox Unity, orthodoxy, religion, Russian Orthodoxy
This weekend 9 Primates and 5 other Bishop-representatives of Orthodoxy’s 14 universally-recognized Autocephalous Churches convened a “synaxis” in Istanbul chaired by the First Among Equals, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople BARTHOLOMEW. Their end-of-summit communique, released just today, is worth reading in its entirety. In particular, Section 13(ii) declares
our desire for the swift healing of every canonical anomaly [...]
October 12, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: orthodoxy, Orthodox Christianity, Russian Orthodoxy, Orthodox mission, Christianity, religion, Eastern Orthodoxy, evangelism, evangelization, Orthodox conversion, missions, China, Ecumenical Patriarchate, Moscow Patriarchate, patriarchate of constantinople, Chinese Orthodoxy, PRC, Hong Kong, Orthodox Churches, Shanghai, Communist China, Mainland China, Patriarchate of Moscow, Christianity in China, Chinese church, Cultural Revolution, religion in China
Just last week, the “fellowship” in Hong Kong associated with Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev, which I believe includes both ex-patriates and Chinese, was formally reactivated as a parish by the Moscow Patriarchal Synod, 36 years after its closure following the repose of its last pastor. Many years to the new parish and its new rector, Fr. [...]
October 8, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Africa, African Orthodoxy, Alaska, aleuts, American Indians, Antiochian Orthodox Church, Christianity, Dagsboro, Delaware, Delmarva, east coast Indians, Eastern Orthodoxy, evangelization, Fenwick Island, Great Commission, incarnational missiology, inculturation, Indian River Hundred, indigenous peoples, Innocent of Alaska, Ioann Veniaminov, Millsboro, mission, missions, Nanticoke Indians, Native Americans, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church in America, Orthodox mission, orthodoxy, powwows, religion, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodoxy, Siberia, Sussex County, Unangan
There’s a new mission (OCA) in Dagsboro, Sussex County, Delaware, originally located in Fenwick Island, DE. Another recent mission (Antiochian) is in nearby Lewes,* Delaware [known somewhat for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry across the mouth of Delaware Bay, a neat boat ride in nice weather, by foot or by motor vehicle].
These drew my attention because my [...]
September 22, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: liturgy, prayer, worship, orthodoxy, Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Russian Orthodoxy, Christianity, religion, salvation, Eastern Orthodoxy, sin, Scripture, Bible, Patristics, doctrine, saints, monasticism, Orthodox liturgy, temptation, Theosis, Divinization, Fathers of the Church, Divine Energies, Divine Energy, Hesychasm, spirituality, glorification, deification, asceticism, Mary, Theotokos, Mother of God, women saints, Blessed Mother, Early Church Fathers, mysticism, ascetic theology, religious controversy, apocryphal gospels, early Christian writings, Temple (Jerusalem), Second Temple, hymns, Immaculate Conception, Mother Mary, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary of Nazareth, mother of Christ, mother of Jesus, religious doubt, religious questioning, Orthodox Tradition, Scripture and Tradition, St Gregory Palamas, Gregory Palamas, Palamism, free will, grace, Uncreated Energy, Uncreated Energies
I know nothing about the recent controversy over this, referenced at the beginning of this article from St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania (anonymous), and was surprised to hear about it. But this article seems to address it well, briefly, and Orthodoxly. It also highlights the misinterpretation or misunderstanding of Patristic writings that is possible unless one [...]
September 18, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Anthony Bloom, Antony Bloom, church services, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, liturgy, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, Russian Orthodoxy, worship
I thought I made up that word, but apparently not! In any case, I mean it literally as “Divine work,” just as Liturgy means “people’s work.” But I just read this from the late Metropolitan ANTHONY (Bloom) of Great Britain:
…in eucharistic terms we are easily led astray by what we see. We see a celebrant [...]
