Bishop from Russia serves in Saint Sava Cathedral

His Grace Bishop Augustin Anisimov of Gorodec and Vetlug served yesterday, on the feast day of Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, among our people known as the Youth's Day, the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy at the side chapel of Saint Sava Cathedral on Vracar. 

Choir of the Kovilj Monastery performs at Carnegie Hall

The choir of the Monastery of Holy Archangels in Kovilj, Diocese of Bachka, Serbia, along with the world-famous “Kronos Quartet”, successfully performed the New York premiere of a piece of the Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov “Beyond Zero: 1914-1918”, dedicated to the centenary of the Great War, at the fulfilled hall of the Carnegie Hall in New York, on Saturday, March 7th 2015.

The next day, on Sunday, March 8th 2015, the choir of the monastery of Holy Archangels in Kovilj was cordially welcomed by the priesthood and pious people at the church of Saint Sava on Manhattan, in New York City. The Kovilj’s chanters sang responses at the Holy Liturgy served by Revd. Djokan Majstorovic, a decade-long New York’s parish priest.

In Memoriam: Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko (1939-2015)

Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY, and noted Orthodox Christian priest, theologian, preacher, and speaker, fell asleep in the Lord on the afternoon of March 18, 2015.

Father Thomas was the beloved husband of Matushka Anne [Schmemann] Hopko. They were married on June 9, 1963. Together, Father Thomas and Anne are the parents of five children, sixteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Thomas John Hopko was born in Endicott, NY, on March 28, 1939, the third child and only son of John J. Hopko and Anna [Zapotocky] Hopko. He was baptized and raised in Saint Mary’s Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church and educated in Endicott public schools, graduating from Union-Endicott High School in 1956.

Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross in Merrillville

Before Thy Cross we bow down in worship, O Master,
and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.

The spiritual echo of the beautiful words of this church hymn to the Honorable Cross and the Holy Resurrection permeated and warmed the souls of the faithful people of God who together with their clergy gathered around their Bishop on the third Sunday of Great Lent. With the blessings of Bishop Longin, the Lenten Vespers was led by the Dean of the Chicago Deanery V. Rev. Nedeljko Lunich. After the service the clergy and faithful people of God, together with their bishop, His Grace Longin, made prostrations before the Honorable Cross of the Lord.

Homily on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

The attitude in the Church of God towards the Lord’s Cross sometimes seems unusual and surprising to the world. And since we are in many ways sensual rather than spiritual, we too sometimes share this perplexity with the world. For example, why has the Cross been treated as a special, incomprehensible, but real living power in the Church’s Tradition for two thousand years already? Even now, during Great Lent, we daily pray the following during the divine services: “O Invincible and incomprehensible and divine power of the precious and life-giving Cross, forsake not us sinners.”

Moreover, the Church boldly asserts such astounding truths as these: “The Cross is the guardian of the whole world; the Cross is the beauty of the Church, the Cross is the might of kings; the Cross is the confirmation of the faithful, the Cross is the glory of angels and the wounding of demons.”

Minister of Defence visits Serbian Patriarch

His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej received Mr. Bratislav Gasic, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, at the Serbian Patriarch on 13 March 2015.