Greek Orthodox leader to visit Bellingham this weekend
13. March 2009 - 8:15A regional leader in the Greek Orthodox Church will make a two-day visit to Bellingham this weekend, to help Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Church celebrate paying off its mortgage. Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, who oversees the western region of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the U.S., will perform vesper service at St. Sophia at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 14. He will also perform the arch hieratical liturgy at 10 a.m. Sunday. A luncheon from 11 a.m. to noon will follow the Sunday service.
Byzantine period church exposed in Moshav Nes-Harim
12. March 2009 - 9:18
A church that dates to the Byzantine period which is paved with breathtakingly beautiful mosaics and a dedicatory inscription was exposed in an archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting near Moshav Nes-Harim, 5 kilometers east of Bet Shemesh (at the site of Horvat A-Diri), in the wake of plans to enlarge the moshav. According to archaeologist Daniel Ein Mor, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The site was surrounded by a small forest of oak trees and is covered with farming terraces that were cultivated by the residents of Nes-Harim. Prior to the excavation we discerned unusually large quantities of pottery sherds from the Byzantine period and thousands of mosaic tesserae that were scattered across the surface level."
Former captain of Ukrainian football team ordained deacon
11. March 2009 - 13:59Former captain of the Chernomorets Odessa football club has become a deacon of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kirlik's career in football finished last summer, when Chernomorets refused to prolong his contract. Before it, Kirlik had played for Metallist, Kremen, Niva and Arsenal clubs.
Patriarch Kirill to visit local Orthodox Churches in accordance with the service list of Primates
11. March 2009 - 15:56Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill plans to pay a fraternal call on local Orthodox Churches in capacity of newly elected Head of the Church in accordance with an age-long tradition. He expressed his wish Tuesday night at the annual reception held by the Greek Embassy on the occasion of Orthodoxy Sunday. Patriarch mentioned that the order of his visits would be identified in accordance with the diptych, the service list containing the names of primates of Orthodox Churches.
Medvedev signs decree on financing of New Jerusalem Monastery renovation
10. March 2009 - 9:40President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday signed a decree on the recreation of the New Jerusalem Monastery. The government was instructed to subsidise the monastery restoration fund from the federal budget starting in 2009.
