Orthodox Churches

Chinese Orthodox receive state approval to prepare for ministry in Russian seminaries

Orthodox students from the People’s Republic of China can now begin to prepare for their future ministries in China in the theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church. Agreement on the issue came as a result of the sixth session of the Russian-Chinese working group on contacts and cooperation in the religious sphere held in Beijing on Thursday, the Vice Chairman of the Department of External Church Affairs (DECR) of the Russian Orthodox Church Archpriest Nikolai Balashov told RIA-Novosti.

Timetable of Services at the All-holy Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the Holy Week

From 18th March/31st March to 26th March/8th April 2018

(Time in Israel coincides with time in Greece)

Lazarus Saturday

Belarusian Church Discusses Possibility of Canonizing Metropolitan Who Brought Uniates Back to Orthodoxy

The possibility of canonizing Metropolitan Joseph (Semashko) of Vilnius and Lithuania, the initiator of the reunification of Belarusian Uniates with the Orthodox Church, was discussed at a press conference dedicated to the 220th anniversary of his birth and the 150th anniversary of his death on Tuesday. 2018 has been declared the year of Met. Joseph in the Belarusian Exarchate.

The primate of the Belarusian Church His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk stated that if Met. Joseph will be glorified, most likely he will be canonized as a Church-wide saint, rather than locally-venerated. Met. Joseph was a special person, his ministry being associated with many countries, reports the site of the Belarusian Orthodox Church.

A delegation from Russian visits an old monastery under restoration in Syrian Maaloula

A Russian delegation led by State Duma deputy D. Sablin, who is the leader of the Russian Veterans organization ‘Boevoe bratstvo’ (Brothers in Arms), visited the Orthodox Convent of St. Thecla located in the city of Maaloula, Syria. The delegation was accompanied by Hegumen Arseniy (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Antioch.

Lost wonderworking icon of Savior possibly found in Yaroslavl

An icon of Christ the Savior found in the storerooms of the Yaroslavl Art Museum will be sent to the State Research Institute of Restoration for examination. It is possible that it is the wonderworking icon from the Church of Christ the Savior of Sts. Cyril and Athanasius Monastery in Yaroslavl that saved the city from plague in 1612, when Minin and Pozharsky formed a militia in the city, reports regnum.ru.

The head of the Department of Ancient Russian Art of the Yaroslavl Art Museum Viktoria Gorshkova said that the protocol describing the preservation of the wonderworking icon in 1930, taken from the monastery, was found in the archives of the restoration workshops.

Royal Martyrs’ favorite dishes prepared for Ekaterinburg Lenten festival

The IV Annual Lenten Cuisine festival was held on Saturday in the in the Ural Center for Design Development in Ekaterinburg. The event is always well-received by the Ekaterinburg festival, and this year’s event was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Tsar Nicholas II and the theme “Lenten Dishes of the Royal Table,” which included the Royal Martyrs’ favorite dishes, reports the Ekaterinburg Diocese.