Suryoyo Return to Celebrate Pascha in SE Turkey

A number of Syriac Orthodox Christians from the Suryoyo Diaspora returned to southeastern Turkey this year to celebrate Pascha in their ancestral homeland. The Paschal celebrations, which were held at St. Gabriel's Monastery in Tur Abdin, were encouraged by the mayor of the nearby city of Mardin. More here.

Malabar Metropolitan Visits Abu Dhabi

Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Theophilos of Malabar of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has visited St. George's Cathedral in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to celebrate the ongoing feast of Pascha with the church. More here.

Patriarchs of Jerusalem Meet After Pascha

Patriarch Theofilos III (Giannopoulos) of Jerusalem and the head of the autonomous Armenian Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Patriarch Torkom II (Manoogian), have met together following the celebration of the Lord's Pascha in the Holy City.

In his address to the Armenian Orthodox delegation Patriarch Theofilos asked God to "renew in us faith, hope, and love, so that our mission here in the Holy Land...may be a beacon of the hope of resurrection." Speaking for the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Archbishop Nourhan (Manougian) expressed the Armenian Orthodox Church's gladness that the previous "unhealthy atmosphere of distrust" in Jerusalem is being replaced by a spirit of collaboration, revealing the Jerusalemite and Armenian Orthodox in the Holy Land as "one Body and one entity."

More on the meeting of the two Patriarchs of Jerusalem and their delegations can be found here and here.

Madeira Celebrates Pascha

The Portuguese island of Madeira has seen its first Pascha, which was observed by the island's newly established Church of St. Spyridon with the blessing of Bishop Nestor (Sirotenko) of Korsun. The Paschal services were celebrated by Fr. Ioan Bordian, a clergymen of the Eparchy of Chisinau of the Moldovan Orthodox Church. More (in Romanian) here.

Day of Rejoicing

Christ is risen! Христос воскресе! Today's feast, commonly known as the Day of Rejoicing or Радоница ("Radonitsa"), was established as a day to commemorate the dead in the hope of their future resurrection and for Orthodox Christians to visit their loved ones in the cemeteries and proclaim to them the good news of the Resurrection of Christ. More on the feast can be found here.

Politics Intrude on Paschal Celebrations in Sofia

The Paschal celebrations in the Bulgarian capital were somewhat marred this year by a disturbance in the patriarchal cathedral. The disturbance was caused by Volen Siderov, the leader of a Bulgarian opposition party, who questioned clergy giving the holy fire to President Georgi S. Parvanov (who as leader of the nation was the first layman to receive the fire) whether they served the 'atheist president' or God. More here.

Armenian Genocide Commemorated in Antelias

Thousands gathered in Antelias, Lebanon, on Pascha to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection and commemorate the one and a half million victims of the Armenian Genocide, of whom many of the members of the Armenian Diaspora in the Levant are descendants. The memorial service for the martyrs was served by Catholicos Aram I (Keshishian) of Cilicia. More here.

Mine Defused in Kosovo Cemetery

A mine planted at a Serbian Orthodox cemetery in Staro Gracko, Kosovo, has been defused by Kosovar police. It is believed the mine was intended to kill Orthodox Christians visiting the cemetery on the upcoming Day of Rejoicing (the Tuesday after St. Thomas' Sunday), on which Orthodox visit cemeteries to leave Paschal eggs on the graves of their loved ones. More here.

Video of the Day: Singing of the Paschal Stichera

An excerpt from the singing of the Paschal stichera from Paschal Matins this past weekend at a church in the Chicago Diocese of the American Orthodox Church (OCA).

Muted Holy Week, Pascha Celebrations in Syria

This year's Holy Week and Paschal commemorations were muted in Syria due to the ongoing political unrest in the country, which opposes the dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad, but also threatens the security of the country's religious minorities, among them large numbers of Antiochian, Armenian, and Syriac Orthodox Christians. Public processions and celebrations were voluntarily canceled by the leaders of the Orthodox Churches in Syria to avoid worsening the unrest. More here.

Constantinople's Bulgarians Celebrate Pascha

Thousands of Constantinople's Bulgarian residents celebrated the Lord's Pascha in the imperial city's Iron Church of St. Stephen. More here.

Georgia Releases Prisoners

The Georgian government is releasing roughly a hundred prisoners, having reviewed their cases and decided in favor of clemency in honor of the Lord's Pascha. More here.

Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide

This year Holy Pascha coincided with the feast day of the one and a half million martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. Consequently on Pascha Catholicos-Patriarch Karekin II (Nersessian) of Echmiadzin visited Yerevan's Genocide Memorial and celebrated a memorial for the Genocide's victims on the afternoon of Pascha. More on both the Paschal celebrations and the memorial can be found here and here.

Holy Pascha

Christ is risen!!! Χριστός ἀνέστη!!! Христос воскресе!!! Al Masih qam!!! Kristo ni muriuku!!!

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! Христос воскресе из мертвых, смертию смерть поправ и сущим во гробех живот даровав!

"By Your word, O Word of God, Lazarus now leaps out of death..."

Joyous feast! St. Lazarus' Saturday has a beautiful significance in and of itself, but its beauty for me comes from its association with baptisms and chrismations :-). It's not always the case, but oftentimes we have too many people being received to baptize and/or chrismate them all on Holy Saturday and consequently many end up being received today.

The feast and its observance at our parish aside, I'm making another pilgrimage back to the Fourth Rome to attend the Holy Week services, visit friends, and celebrate the Lord's Pascha with my church family. I would like to think I'll be too busy praying to post anything here, but it's more likely that I won't be posting anything because I'll be too busy staying up late talking and baking Pascha goodies ;-).

Whatever the reason, I'm taking time off from posting here. I hope and pray it's a peaceful and saving Holy Week for you wherever you may be! "Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord!"

Archbishop Hovnan to Bless Khachkar in Palm Desert, CA

St. Garabed's Church in Palm Desert, California, has announced that the blessing of the new khachkar recently erected outside its main entrance will be celebrated by Archbishop Hovnan (Derderian) of Burbank this Pascha. More here.

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.

Old Cairo's 'Hanging' Church to be Reopened by PM on Pascha

It has been announced that this coming Pascha Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf will attend the reopening of Old Cairo's 'Hanging Church,' which has been undergoing restoration work. The Hanging Church (el-Muallaqa in Arabic) is one of the oldest churches in Cairo, having been built over the fortress walls of the Roman city of Babylon, and also served as the seat of the Coptic Orthodox popes. More here.

NCC Renews Call for Common Date for Pascha

The US National Council of Churches has renewed its call for a common date for the celebration of Pascha by Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and Protestants, floating the idea of either a return to the historic calculation of Pascha (followed by the Orthodox) or a fixed day every year for the feast's celebration (not followed by the Orthodox ;-) ). More here.