Catechetical Homily for Holy and Great Lent 2009.

Prot. No. 94

+ B A R T H O L O M E W

By God's Grace Archbishop of Constantinople,
New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Plenitude of the Church,
Grace and Peace from our Savior Jesus Christ
And Prayers, Blessings and Forgiveness from Us
"Come, all peoples, let us today welcome
The gift of fasting
The period of repentance granted to us by God"
(Monday, First Week of Fasting)
Brethren and beloved children in the Lord,

The fast proposed to us by our Holy Church is not any deprivation, but a charisma. And the repentance to which it calls us is not any punishment, but a divine gift.

Russian physicist is the first to register electrical discharges during the descent of the Holy Fire

Section on "Christianity and science" of the 17th Christmas educational readings carried out on Tuesday in Moscow first voiced the results of scientific experiment held by Russian scientists on Great Sunday 2008 in the Church of Lord's Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The branch head of the Kurchatov atomic energy institute Doctor of Physics and Mathematics Andrey Volkov spoke about his own attempt to measure low-frequency long-wavelength radio signals in Jerusalem church during annual descent of the Holy Fire.

Strasbourgers become acquainted with basics of Orthodoxy

The Moscow Patriarchate Representation at the European Council will conduct cultural events to represent traditions of the Orthodox Church to the western audience. The first of them - seminar on Basics of Orthodoxy - was conducted in the Moscow Patriarchate All Saints Church in Strasbourg. About sixty people attended it, Russian Church representative at the European Council and the church rector Hegumen Filaret (Bulekov) told Interfax-Religion on Friday.

The Presentation of the Lord at Hilandar Monastery

Head of the Russian Church Diocese in Britain warns against atheistic ads on London buses

Head of the Moscow Patriarchate Sourozh Diocese (Great Britain) Bishop Yelisey expressed his concerns with the London "No God" bus campaign. "Atheistic propaganda in London is especially painful for us, members of the Russian Orthodox Church. We have a unique experience of life in atheistic state and we can prove that true atheism is not as joyful as they try to present it," the Bishop told Interfax-Religion.

Second Annual Gala - St. Luke Serbian Orthodox Church of Metropolitan Washington D.C.

St. Luke Serbian Orthodox Church of Metropolitan Washington D.C. is pleased to announce that they will be hosting their Second Annual Gala on February 28, 2009 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. All proceeds raised by this event will support the renovation and expansion of our church.