Church Vandalized in Bishkek

Apparently crimes against churches are becoming more common as Kyrgyzstan becomes increasingly destabilized. St. Vladimir's Church in the country's capital, Bishkek, was vandalized this past weekend. Other Orthodox churches in the country as well as a cemetery have been vandalized, in most cases in the process of being searched for money and valuables. Interfax's story on the Bishkek robbery can be found here.

St. Demetrius the Great-Martyr

Joyous feast! St. Demetrius is one of the great saints of our church, but one I didn't know much about before moving to southern Michigan and living near a church dedicated to him there. May his blessings and prayers be with that church and with us all! An account of his life can be found here.

Quote of the Day: St. Tekle Haimanot

"Long-suffering, humility, and reverence for God - these three will lead you to eternal life. Envy, presumption, and pride - these three will pull you down to the depths of eternal fire."

Upcoming Meeting of the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia

Please remember in your prayers the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia as its hierarchs, clergy, and lay delegates will be meeting shortly at the seat of their catholicosate in Antelias, Lebanon, to discuss the place and mission of their Local Orthodox Church in the twenty-first century. The Catholicosate's press release on the upcoming meeting can be found here.

St. Tabitha the Widow

Joyous feast! "At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord." (Acts 9:36-42)

Quote of the Day: Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria

"If you happen to fall into temptation, do not let the guilt of sin be an obstacle to prayer. If you cease praying till you repent, you will never repent, for prayer is the door to genuine repentance."

Quote of the Day: Fr. Matthew the Poor

Therefore, the sign at the wedding in Cana of Galilee was the first sign of the glory of their Master and the greatest of all in the lives of the first five disciples, especially that of John!!

How greatly in need were the disciples, and how greatly are we in need of this level of receptivity and keen perception so that we can trace whatever Jesus does in our lives and in our world. Every single day He transforms everything before us and everything in our lives, but what we stand badly in need of is the ear that can hear and the eye that can see!

Not only the burning bush of Moses—but every tree as well is ablaze with divine fire without being burnt. Only those who have their eyes open can see and take off their shoes!!

Every single day our water is transformed into wine which in turn develops into holiness and everlasting life—and only those who abide at close quarters in expectation can see and savor the Lord and rejoice!

On Clergy Attire

Some thoughts from Archbishop Christodoulus of Athens of blessed memory on clergy attire can be found here. Very different from the thoughts of Metropolitan Philip of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. Hopefully the latter's won't be widely enforced as I know a great many Antiochian Orthodox clergy who ignore them in day-to-day life...

Quote of the Day: St. Augustine of Hippo

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others."

Upcoming Commemoration of Metropolitan Philaret of New York

On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the repose of Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York he will be remembered at the festal services for the Archangels by both the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and Bishop Jerome of Manhattan, who will serve at his crypt in the Jordanville Monastery. Metropolitan Philaret is widely venerated as a confessor, both within the Russian Orthodox Church and in other Local Orthodox Churches. His relics were also found to be incorrupt when they were translated to their present resting place in 2008.

The announcement on the upcoming services can be found here.

Quote of the Day: St. Justin the Confessor of Chelije

"The Lives of the Saints are nothing else but the life of the Lord Christ, repeated in every saint to a greater or lesser degree in this or that form. More precisely it is the life of the Lord Christ continued through the saints, the life of the incarnate God the Word, the God-man Jesus Christ who became man. This was so that as man He could give and transmit to us His Divine life, so that as God by His life He could sanctify and make immortal and eternal our human life on earth."

Kazan' Icon of the Mother of God

Joyous feast to everyone celebrating the Kazan' Icon's deliverance of Russia from the Poles! I remember Poland fondly, but I'm still thankful for their route back in the day ;-) (1612?). God knows nothing would be the same if they hadn't been!

A Life of Archbishop Joasaph (Skorodumov) of Edmonton

A good overview of the life of Archbishop Joasaph (Skorodumov) of Edmonton and Buenos Aires of blessed memory, whose repose was recently commemorated by Russian and Canadian Orthodox hierarchs in Montreal, can be found here. May his blessings and prayers be with us all!

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) on a "Great and Holy" Council and Other Issues

In a recent interview on Rhodes Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk expressed the belief that a "great and holy" council would take place within two or three years. He also noted the presence of a large group of Russian Orthodox Christians in Turkey and the need of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to expand its pastoral focus past Turkey's Greek minority to also include Orthodox immigrants from the former USSR. The full interview can be found here.

Orthodox Churches Burned in Karachayevo-Cherkessia

On Monday two Orthodox churches were burned in the Muslim majority republic of Karachayevo-Cherkessia in southern Russia. Russian Transcaucasia has been destabilized for years by the war in Chechnya, but few churches outside Chechnya had been targeted by Islamists until now. Local authorities in Karachayevo-Cherkessia have already committed to rebuilding the churches.

St. Vladimir's Relics Stolen...and Recovered

Apparently the relics of St. Vladimir currently visiting American and Canadian Orthodox communities was recently stolen and then quickly recovered. And thank God too! I had no idea so few of St. Vladimir's relics remained...

Muslim Brotherhood Defends Coptic Orthodox Church

Muslim religious leaders in Egypt have issued statements in support of the Coptic Orthodox Church following threats against the Copts from an Al Qaeda affiliate in US-occupied Iraq. The Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist movement in Egypt, said that it was "stressing to all, and primarily [to] Muslims, that the protection of holy places of all monotheistic religions is the mission of the majority of Muslims," whilst the leader of Egypt's famous al-Azhar University said that the threats undermined Egyptian national unity. The threats were issued after the wives of Coptic Orthodox priests kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam were rescued and returned to their families, with Al Qaeda claiming the rescues were against the women's wills. The full story here.

Graves Vandalized in Turkey

Apparently on 28 October seventy-eight Orthodox Christian graves were vandalized on the island of Imbros. Imbros and its neighboring island, Tenedos, was 99% Orthodox Christian and Greek-speaking. After the islands' inclusion into Turkey at the end of World War I, however, the Turkish government forced and pressured the islands' Greek population into immigrating until only two or three hundred remain today as a minority in their homeland. Among others, the current Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and the recently reposed Archbishop Iakovos of New York were natives of Imbros. More here.

Statue of Abune P'awlos to be Removed

Since the 2005 elections in Ethiopia there has been growing tension within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church between Patriarch Abune P'awlos, who was appointed by the current Ethiopian government when it came to power in the 1990s, and the Holy Synod. On 30 October the Holy Synod, which removed Abune P'awlos' administrative authority within the Church of Ethiopia a while ago, ordered that a statue of the patriarch erected at the new patriarchal church in Addis Abeba (Bole Medhane Alem) be removed. The statue wasn't up when I was last in Addis, but apparently it provoked a great deal of controversy as many felt it inappropriate to put up a statue of a living hierarch of the Church.

New Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

I'm a bit behind the times, but on Monday the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in India enthroned its new first hierarch, Catholicos Basil Mar Thomas Paul I ("Baselios Mar Thoma Poulose I") of the East. The new catholicos leads the larger part of the Orthodox Church in India, which is in schism from its mother the Syriac Orthodox Church (which also maintains a large following in Kerala), but remains on good terms with its sister Oriental Orthodox Churches.

Nineteenth UOCUSA Council

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (UOCUSA), a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, has just finished its nineteenth council ("sobor"). Among other things the assembled hierarchs, clergy, and representatives of the laity heard a report from a hierarch of the schismatic Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) on the state of that jurisdiction in the Ukraine. The UOCUSA was part of the UAOC until the 1990s when it united with the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of America. Its cemetery at St. Andrew's Memorial Church in South Bound Brook, New Jersey, is the burial site of a number of hierarchs of the UAOC, among them Patriarch Mstyslav of Kiev, the former metropolitan of the UOCUSA who moved to the Ukraine after it gained independence to reestablish the UAOC there. In addition to the greetings from the UAOC the council also received the greetings of Patriarch Bartholomew, who was represented by his exarch in North America, Archbishop Demetrius of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

New Christmas Carol

And now I'm going to skip over Thanksgiving entirely and move on to another popular US holiday, Christmas, and post a link about a new carol written by Maia Aprahamian on the basis of one of the Byzantine Rite festal hymns for the eve of the Lord's Nativity.

On Halloween

A great article on Halloween by Fr. Mark Sietsema of Holy Trinity Church in Lansing, Michigan, can be found here. I'd add to what he's written by saying that Halloween as it's observed in North America is a cultural holiday, but is also the eve of All Saints' day for Orthodox Christians following the Roman or Anglican Rite and therefore a holy day in and of itself.

Patriarch Bartholomew in Romania

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople began a visit to Romania this past Tuesday. The Ecumenical Patriarchate's news release on the visit can be found here. I can't help wondering what's under discussion between Patriarch Bartholomew and Patriarch Daniel. Both lead patriarchates that have, especially in recent years, been committed to the continued attachment of ethnic diasporas in the West to the Old World Orthodox Churches. Perhaps an American Orthodox jurisdiction is under discussion? Perhaps we could have our own ethnarch under His All Holiness...

All Saints' Day

I'm fresh back from a weekend pilgrimage to eastern Washington to see my grandmother and to attend the services at Holy Cross Church, where I became a catechumen the summer of 2002. It was a full and tiring weekend, but a good one that, oddly enough given some of the weekend's events, has helped renew my hope for the future.

My weekend aside, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk preached a good sermon on the calling of Orthodox Christians to witness to the Faith through our lives. I thought it especially relevant on this feast of All Saints on to the Roman calendar. His sermon can be found here.