Great Lenten Deanery Services

Parish and Monastery Celebrations of Orthodoxy Sunday

Grace and Peace to you as we approach, together, the wreath of Great and Holy Lent!

Our Holy Orthodox Church celebrates annually on the First Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, the radiant feast of the Restoration of Holy Icons of March 11th, 843under the aegis of Empress Theodora, together with her young son, Emperor Michael III and the aged Ecumenical Patriarch Methodius, known as the Triumph of Orthodoxy, or Orthodox Sunday. All of you, without exception, are to join in local Pan-Orthodox celebrations as a visible manifestation of our unity in Christ. A sterling example was given in 1952 for us to follow by our Holy Bishop Nicholai in Cleveland, Ohio. His famous sermon given on that day continues to resonate within Orthodoxy in America.

Resolutions of the Annual Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America

The clergy and church-school congregation representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America, gathered at the annual Diocesan Assembly hosted by the St. St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Cambridge, Massachusetts on February 10-11, 2017 under the omophorion of their Archpastor His Grace Bishop Irinej, adopted the following resolutions:

1. We greet His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej and all the hierarchs of our Holy Serbian Orthodox Church to which we belong, with prayers that God will continue to grant them the great grace of the Holy Spirit to powerfully proclaim the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, to lead us into doing His holy will in this world, and to guide us all to the safe harbor of God’s heavenly Kingdom.

Archbishop Nicholas (Kasatkin) of Japan

First one must conquer love, and only then spread the word – Archbishop Nicholas (Kasatkin).

The first person to preach the Gospel in Japan was a Spaniard, Francis Xavier, a Catholic monk of the Jesuit order. The first missionary labors of the Catholic monk and his fellow Jesuit strugglers were crowned with success, and many people accepted Christianity, including the Japanese princes Onugo, Arima and Omura (in the year 1582). However, as the Jesuits focused more on the external, ritualistic aspects of the Faith, on violence and threats, and didnt focus on the spirit of love and humility in their apostolic preaching, they were not able to strengthen the Japanese Christians in the Catholic faith, so that many of them, deep down, remained pagans. Unfortunately, the Jesuit missionary movement was accompanied by politics and intrigue, that is, by a clear and ardent desire to make Japan submit to the Vatican. This caused a negative influence in the hearts of the Japanese, and also led to the harsh persecution of those newly-converted men and women, who had sincerely accepted Catholicism, a fact which is witnessed by a Christian historian in Japan:

Modern Slavery - A Joint Declaration

Following up on a conversation between His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury during the patriarch’s visit to Lambeth Palace in November 2015, the Forum on Modern Slavery was held February 6-7 in Constantinople.

According to the site of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the forum brought together distinguished scholars, practitioners and policy makers to discuss the negative phenomenon of modern slavery and the Church’s role in protecting human rights and dignity.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem at re-dedication of church in Acre

Patriarch Theophilos: If Jerusalem is the spiritual capital of the world, then Acre is surely the spiritual gateway to the Holy Land

Your Eminence Archbishop Suheil, Dear Father Hosam, Your Eminences, Your Graces, Reverend Fathers, dear friends, As we gather for this blessed occasion, we recall the words of Saint Paul: “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).