One of the most famous shrines of Constantinople, the Zoodochos Pege, is located outside the land walls to the west of the city, at the site now known as Balikli. Two versions of a very old tradition provide information on the origins of this ancient shrine.
According to the first, related [...]
The Holy Martyr Christopher lived during the third century and suffered about the year 250, during the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251).
St Christopher was a man of great stature and unusual strength.
He was at first named Reprobus. Seeing the Christians persecuted, he rebuked the tyrants for [...]
We shall try here to point out the main features of the Orthodox icon which is entitled “The Descent into Hell”. The first thing to note is that it is entirely different from the Western-style depiction, which shows Christ emerging triumphantly from the tomb, holding a little flag. The astonished guards have fallen [...]
By Protopresbyter Dr. George D. Dragas
1. The Pentecostal Period. The word, Pentecost means “the fiftieth” and is used to designate the great event of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Epiphoitesis) upon the Apostles and the Church on the 50th day after the Resurrection of Christ, just ten days after [...]
The Resurrection of Christ, the premier event in the mystery of the divine economy, gives us each year the opportunity to delve into this event and little by little to engage the mystery of the Resurrection with our own resurrection. Besides, this is the purpose for the establishment of the annual festive cycle [...]
Patriarchal Encyclical For Holy Pascha 2013
Prot. No. 388
† BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s mercy
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the plenitude of the Church
Grace, peace and mercy from Christ risen in glory
The Despotic Feasts were established by the Church to be celebrated within the year for us to remember the great events that took place with the Incarnation, the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ, but especially, and above all, to experience the mystery of Christ and the mystery of our regeneration. This is [...]
The Gospel Reading (Jn. 1, 44-52)
At that time, Jesus wished to go to Galilee; he found Philip and said to him: “Follow me”. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, from the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him: “We’ve found him about whom Moses wrote in [...]
On this day, palm Sunday, we celebrate the resplendent and glorious feast of the entry of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.
In Your ineffable compassion, O Christ our God, make us victors over the irrational passions, and make worthy to see Your manifest victory over death and [...]
CATECHESIS 72: On the Saving Passion; and Teaching on Humility and Patient Endurance.
by St. Theodore the Studite
Given on the Wednesday of Holy Week.
Brethren and Fathers, the present day is holy and to be venerated, for from this day the Lord begins to take on [...]
The troparion of Kassiani is very much beloved by our Orthodox people. Even people who never go to church come to hear it. This reveals the inspiration under which it was written, the passion of the sinful woman who repented, as well as the history of Kassiani who composed it. More so, in [...]
On Palm Sunday evening we celebrate the first service of the Holy Week: the Service of the Bridegroom.
The Bridegroom of the Church is a humble and suffering Bridegroom.
He is a Bridegroom who loves and sacrifices to the point of death so that His love may be received.
[...]
The raising of Lazarus was an event which could hardly have passed unnoticed. The resurrection of a dead person, four whole days after their death, produced an enormous impression in Jerusalem and the surrounding area and there were many who believed in Jesus and wished to see Him at first hand. As soon [...]
By St. John Climacus of Sinai
- Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a contract with God for a second life. A penitent is a buyer of humility. Repentance is constant distrust of bodily comfort… Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair… Repentance is reconciliation with the [...]
By St. Nicholas Cabasilas 1. If there is ever a time when a man should rejoice, exult, and cry out with gladness, when he should go off and search for what great and brilliant statements he might utter, when he should wish to be vouchsafed sublimity of ideas, beauty of diction, and powerful oratory, I [...]
History of the Orthodox Mission in Pakistan Fr. John Tanveer was born into a Roman Catholic family in Hafizabad, Pakistan in 1952, the third of six children. His zealousness for the faith and thirst for learning led him to enroll in the seminary, and in 1986 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. For the [...]
Pedestrians all over the world are moving faster than a decade ago, according to scientists who have conducted a study into the pace at which people walk.
Psychologists say walking speeds have increased by an average of 10 percent in the past 10 years.
People in the greatest [...]
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, the only Orthodox Church representative at the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, said they hoped that the barriers preventing the unity of the Eastern and Western Churches could be eliminated.
The 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, in which important decisions were made [...]
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has greeted crowds in Rome’s St Peter’s Square after his election as the Catholic Church’s new Pope.
Appearing on a balcony over the square, he asked the faithful to pray for him. Cheers erupted as he gave a blessing.
The first Latin American [...]
US scientists say that 2012 was among the 10 warmest years the world has experienced since 1880.
Nasa researchers said it was the ninth warmest year while experts from another American agency said it was the tenth.
Both teams said that temperatures would have been higher if it [...]
Daily Mail, January 16
by Stephen Doughty and Davis Wilkes
British Airways check-in clerk Nadia Eweida triumphed over the airline yesterday after a six-year battle to wear her cross at work.
Her right to profess her religious belief should have trumped the airline’s powers to mould its [...]
Patriarchal Encyclical For Holy Pascha 2013
Prot. No. 388
† BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s mercy
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the plenitude of the Church
Grace, peace and mercy from Christ risen in glory
† B A R T H O L O M E W
By the Mercy of God Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Plenitude of the Church
Grace and Peace be with you from our Lord [...]
Upon being informed on the way to his native island of Imvros of the imminent retirement of Pope Benedict from the Petrine ministry on the Throne of Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issued a formal declaration and personal statement to the media, responding with sadness to the news. His All-Holiness closely cooperated with Pope [...]
One of the most famous shrines of Constantinople, the Zoodochos Pege, is located outside the land walls to the west of the city, at the site now known as Balikli. Two versions of a very old tradition provide information on the origins of this ancient shrine.
According to the first, related [...]
The Holy Martyr Christopher lived during the third century and suffered about the year 250, during the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251).
St Christopher was a man of great stature and unusual strength.
He was at first named Reprobus. Seeing the Christians persecuted, he rebuked the tyrants for [...]
“The feast day of this great apostle and evangelist is celebrated on September 26. This day (May 8) commemorates the miracle which appeared at his grave. When John was over one hundred years old, he took seven of his disciples, went outside the town of Ephesus and ordered them to dig a grave [...]
We shall try here to point out the main features of the Orthodox icon which is entitled “The Descent into Hell”. The first thing to note is that it is entirely different from the Western-style depiction, which shows Christ emerging triumphantly from the tomb, holding a little flag. The astonished guards have fallen [...]
The Resurrection of Christ, which we festively celebrate after several days of fasting, repentance and prayer, is the central mystery of faith and the life in Christ. Without the Resurrection of Christ we would be under the power of death, sin and the devil and there would be no way out of life. That’s why [...]
The Despotic Feasts were established by the Church to be celebrated within the year for us to remember the great events that took place with the Incarnation, the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ, but especially, and above all, to experience the mystery of Christ and the mystery of our regeneration. This is [...]
At least 32 people have been killed and dozens more injured after three days of heavy rain and storms in Pakistan, officials say.
Most of the deaths were in the north of the country, where roofs caved in and houses collapsed, killing several children.
Six members of one [...]
A forlorn and frightened pygmy elephant calf, reaching out its trunk to touch its dead mother.
That’s the heartbreaking scene local authorities came across recently as they patrolled the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in northeastern Borneo.
The mother was one of 14 elephants, the latest one discovered Thursday, found dead over the past few weeks [...]
Millie Phuah arrived at Singapore’s Bukit Brown cemetery on a humid morning, armed with a rake and gloves to clear fallen branches and decaying leaves from her ancestors’ graves.
“I’ve got my great-grandparents on this side … and my grand-uncle will be on this side,” she said, pointing in opposite directions. [...]
One of the most famous shrines of Constantinople, the Zoodochos Pege, is located outside the land walls to the west of the city, at the site now known as Balikli. Two versions of a very old tradition provide information on the origins of this ancient shrine.
According to the first, related [...]
The Holy Martyr Christopher lived during the third century and suffered about the year 250, during the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251).
St Christopher was a man of great stature and unusual strength.
He was at first named Reprobus. Seeing the Christians persecuted, he rebuked the tyrants for [...]
“The feast day of this great apostle and evangelist is celebrated on September 26. This day (May 8) commemorates the miracle which appeared at his grave. When John was over one hundred years old, he took seven of his disciples, went outside the town of Ephesus and ordered them to dig a grave [...]
We shall try here to point out the main features of the Orthodox icon which is entitled “The Descent into Hell”. The first thing to note is that it is entirely different from the Western-style depiction, which shows Christ emerging triumphantly from the tomb, holding a little flag. The astonished guards have fallen [...]
By Protopresbyter Dr. George D. Dragas
1. The Pentecostal Period. The word, Pentecost means “the fiftieth” and is used to designate the great event of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Epiphoitesis) upon the Apostles and the Church on the 50th day after the Resurrection of Christ, just ten days after [...]
The Resurrection of Christ, which we festively celebrate after several days of fasting, repentance and prayer, is the central mystery of faith and the life in Christ. Without the Resurrection of Christ we would be under the power of death, sin and the devil and there would be no way out of life. That’s why [...]
