The Church Father’s High View of Marriage
The Church Fathers’ High View of Marriage Two votes at the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) underscored the Church Fathers’ devotion to marriage. The first vote maintained clerical marriage relationships, (1) the second defended surviving spouses’ remarriage. Though the latter was a clear indication of their esteem for the institution, in that they provided for widows and widowers who yearned for a new mate, it was actually a moderating vote. So high was the Church’s regard for a couple’s original vows that such [Read more...]
Priest To Test World’s First Paradrop Church
Priests with the Russian Airborne Troops will take a crash course next week to operate the world’s only paradrop Orthodox Christian church, the military said. The one-week course for the priests, many of whom are experienced paratroopers with more than 500 jumps, will take place at an airborne troops facility in Ryazan region in central Russia, a Defense Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Orthodox Christianity has many rituals utilizing many religious items, which makes catering to the flock without a church impossible, the [Read more...]
Christians Should Share Their Faith At Christmas
Originally entitled “Atheists and Christmas” by Stephanie Samuel, Christian Post In a newly released Christmas guide, atheists recount stories of traditional Christmas celebrations despite secular leaders’ belief that non-believers should steer clear of the Dec. 25th holiday. The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas features 42 celebrity freethinkers in the United States and Europe who open up and discuss a topic seldom associated to their ilk – celebrating Christmas. The book, a compilation of several essays and short stories, reveals that atheists maintain traditions and [Read more...]
Take the Kids to Church…
Based on new studies conducted by Baylor University, children from more religious families and from families with higher rates of religious attendance are better behaved and more well adjusted at home and at school. Better educated people generally had parents who attended church services twice or more a month. Among people with graduate level educations, two-thirds had mothers who were from frequent church attendees, compared to just under half of people with only a high school education. The difference is just as significant [Read more...]
The Character of Orthodoxy
by George Mantzarides “As the prophets have seen, as the Apostles have taught, as the Church has received, as the teachers have set forth in dogmas, as the world has understood… so we believe, so we speak, so we preach… This is the faith of the Apostles; this is the faith of the Fathers; this is the faith of the Orthodox; this faith has established the world.” The Synodikon of Orthodoxy Orthodoxy is not a particular Christian confession, but has a general and [Read more...]
Orthodox Christianity Growing In the Czech Lands & Slovakia
By Aimilios Polygenis “The number of Orthodox in the Czech Republic is increasing every day,” said the Metropolitan Christopher of the Czech Republic and All Slovakia in an interview. His Beatitude the Metropolitan of Czech spoke of increased faith compared to other denominations in the country, saying that “many people from the former Soviet Union come to live here. Many Czechs come to be baptized Orthodox; the Orthodox Church is a refuge for all.” Moreover, Metropolitan Christopher said that “all Orthodox churches are [Read more...]
Four Contemporary Miracles of the Cross
1. The Cross of a Prosecutor In a termination hearing, one of the last big trials, the Prosecutor Liberis Papandreou told me the following, when he noticed a cross around my neck. He also showed me a cross that he wore around his neck and told me the following: “This cross saved my life. Without this I would have been dead in the Winter of 1943. It was the period when anyone who fell into the hands of the Germans and brought to [Read more...]
Oldest Orthodox Church in North Africa – St. George, Tripoli, 1647 – Ransacked
Orthodox Christian churches are under attack yet again throughout the world. Please do remember our brothers and sisters in Libya, who are in a particularly precarious position currently. The historic church of St. George located in Libya, in Tripoli, dating back to 1647 was ransacked. The church is the oldest Orthodox church in North Africa. The president of the Greek community, Dimitris Anastassiou transferred the news to the Metropolitan of Tripoli Mr. Theophylaktos, who has been in Greece since late June. “I am [Read more...]
The Church and the Cremation Problem
By Archbishop John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco and Western America “. . .and [the spirit] cast him into the fire…” (Mk. 9:22) As pastors we frequently heard and continue to hear the question: “Why does the Church not bless cremation of a departed Christian’s body?” I will try to answer this as briefly as possible. Yes, the Church is against the burning of human bodies because this does not reflect the spirit of faith and the evangelical, biblical understanding of human worthiness. Junk, [Read more...]
On Orthodox Music in America
Adapted from a lecture given at a seminar on Orthodox Church Music. This article appeared in The Burning Bush, a publication of the Holy Dormition Romanian Orthodox Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan in 1994. Preliminary Considerations Anyone who studies Church music, knows that it is a dry matter and that it is not easy to make it understandable. We write this not because it is an interesting subject to speak about, but because it is necessary. We are often questioned by people unfamiliar [Read more...]
