Romania Makes St. Andrew's Day a Public Holiday

The Romanian Parliament has designated the new style feast of St. Andrew (30 November) as a public holiday in recognition of the widely held belief that St. Andrew introduced Orthodox Christianity to what is today Romania. More here.

Russian, Romanian Orthodox Hierarchs Celebrate St. Stephen's Day in Budapest

On the new style celebration of the feast of St. Stephen of Hungary and the celebration of the founding of the Hungarian state Archbishop Mark (Golovkov) of Yegorevsk, auxiliary of the Moscow Patriarchate and administrator of the Eparchy of Budapest, and Bishop Siluan of Gyula of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Hungary concelebrated the Divine Liturgy in Budapest's Cathedral of the Dormition, afterwards staying for a celebratory meal with the cathedral's parishioners. During the state celebrations of the holiday later that day the rector of Budapest's Church of St. Sergius, Archpriest John Kadar, was awarded the Knight's Cross by the President of Hungary. More (in Russian) here.

Romania Designates Dormition as a State Holiday

The Romanian government has added the date of new style Dormition, 15 August, as a national holiday in its labor code, which requires employers to either give their employees time off on full holidays or to pay them overtime. More here.

Ethiopian Orthodox Celebrate Emancipation Day in Trinidad

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church of St. Peter in San Fernando, Trinidad, has hosted early celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago's Emancipation Day, organizing a procession in San Fernando with dancing and drumming. Trinidad is home to the Caribbean's oldest Ethiopian Orthodox church, which was established in the 1950s as part of the Addis Abeba Patriarchate's missionary work amongst the island's Rastafarians. More here.

Memorial Day

Christ is risen! Today's commemoration is kept by Orthodox Christians in the United States and informally at that. Although a federal holiday, Memorial Day is very much in keeping with the practice of preserving the memory of the dead and those who have died for their country.

This particular holiday began amongst black Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, to commemorate the US soldiers who died to reintegrate the South into the United States and to bring freedom to the South's slaves. Since its beginnings in the late 1800s Memorial Day has become a holiday celebrating all the soldiers who have died fighting for the United States and in popular practice often supplants All Saints' as a day for visiting loved ones in the cemeteries.

May the memory of our loved ones who have fallen asleep be eternal! God grant them and us His peace, in this life and the next...

Armenia Celebrates the Restoration of Its Independence

Armenia is celebrating Republic Day, this year marking the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian nation's restoration of its independence from the Russian and Ottoman Empires. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the holiday was restored in free Armenia to celebrate its renewed independence from foreign occupation. More here.

Interview on Yuriy Gagarin's Faith

In honor of today's celebration of Yuriy Gagarin and the first manned spaceflight I'd like to bring this interview to your attention. Enjoy!

Palestinians Demand Access to Jerusalem During Holy Week, Pascha

Palestinian Arabs from the West Bank are demanding greater access to Jerusalem during Holy Week and Pascha. This year Israel's Passover holidays fall over part of Holy Week and Pascha and as Israel has enforced a military closing off of the West Bank during the Passover holidays for the past several years the West Bank's Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics will be unable to attend the services in the Holy City if the blockade is not lifted. More here.

Armenian President Greets Assyrians with New Year

Armenian President Serzh Serzh Sargsian has greeted his country's small Assyrian minority with their New Year, which began today. In addition to wishing them the best in the New Year, President Serzh Sargsian also wished that Armenia's Assyrians would see "new success and new achievements...so that the inheritors of the ancient and great Assyrian cultural heritage in Armenia not only preserve it, but also further develop and enrich their native tongue and culture." More here.

Assyrian New Year

Happy New Year! ;-)

Iranian Tourists Flock to Armenia During Nowruz

As Iranians worldwide begin celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, as many as 12,000 Iranians are planning to get away from the dreary pace of life in modern Iran and spend the holiday in nearby Armenia. More here.

Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland

On this Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland, originally a Soviet holiday to commemorate the soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War/World War II, commemorative services and events have taken place throughout the former USSR and at monuments to the Great Patriotic War abroad. More here (for Russia), here (for Ukraine), here (for Belarus), here (for Armenia), and here (for Bulgaria).

"St. Valentine's Day: The Feast of Debauchery"

The Kiev Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has jumped on the bandwagon in Russia and the Ukraine condemning the celebration of St. Valentine's day in any way by Orthodox Christians in the former member republics of the Soviet Union.

The article against the holiday posted on the Kiev Patriarchate's website goes into the history of St. Valentine's day celebrations and its pagan equivalent in detail and uses the pagan holiday as a primary reason for forbidding the observance of St. Valentine's day, something rather ironic given how many pagan customs have been christianized in historic Orthodox Christian countries to combat and supplant pagan practices and festivals. Apparently such things are appropriate when done in the ancient Christian East, but not the ancient Christian West.

The Ukrainian-language article by Stepan Voznyak posted on the Kiev Patriarchate's website, "St. Valentine's Day: The Feast of Debauchery," can be found here.

Russian Orthodox Church Against Valentine's Day

The Russian Orthodox Church has spoken out publicly against the celebration of St. Valentine's Day in Russia, ignoring the Orthodox Christian foundations of the holiday and claiming instead that the holiday leads to immorality and is against the family. This would be news to St. Valentine, the priest who was martyred by the Romans for encouraging Orthodox soldiers in the Roman Army to marry despite the imperial prohibition of this. More here.

2010 Encyclical for American Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving encyclical from Archbishop Demetrios (Trakatellis) of New York can be found here.