3. August 2020 - 9:27
Academician Dimitrije Stefanovic reposed in the Lord in Belgrade On August 1st, 2020.
Dimitrije Stefanović, a musicologist and conductor, long-term expert and connoisseur of Orthodox church music, was born in Pančevo on 25 November 1929. He graduated at the Faculty of Philosophy in Bel- grade (the Department of English and German) in 1955 and at the Music Academy in Belgrade (the Department of History of Music) in 1956. He obtained his B. Litt. and Ph.D. at Oxford University. During postgraduate studies, he worked with famous musicologists-Byzantinists Egon Wellesz, Henry Tillyard and Oliver Strunk. At the Music Faculty of Oxford University, he lectured on Byzantine and old Slavonic music. As a lecturer and participant at numerous international gatherings and congresses, he was a guest at many universities in Europe and America. He gave a large number of lectures on Orthodox and especially Serbian church music, hundreds of popular lectures for different audiences in the country and abroad: at twenty Yugoslav-German choir weeks (1971–1991), nineteen Summer Spiritual Academies in the monastery of Studenica, as well as at many Summer Schools of Church Chant ‘In Memory of Kornelije Stanković’.
2. August 2020 - 14:17
St. Nikolai (Velimirović) is revered as one of the greatest saints of the 20th century. His gift for fiery and inspiring preaching earned him the moniker of “Serbia’s Chrysostom.”
Now, another example of his eloquence has been unearthed, as a manuscript of a previously unknown homily was discovered in Studenica Monastery in Brezova, Serbia, reports the official site of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
31. July 2020 - 10:02
A voice of deep sorrow from the center of the Sinai desert, the Monastery of St. Catherine of the Holy and God-trodden Mountain of Sinai, a voice of brotherly prayer and petition.
31. July 2020 - 9:22
This essay is published here on the occasion of the first prayers following Hagia Sophia’s reversion to a mosque, July 24, 2020.
It was spring 1964—a difficult year for the Orthodox Greek brothers of Constantinople, because of the well-known anti-Greek acts of the Turks, due to Cyprus. I was in the Theological Academy of Chalke (whose operation unfortunately has since been forbidden by the Turks). Great Lent had just started. In the Holy Trinity Monastery of Chalke, cantor Stanitsas chanted with his students: “Open for me the gates of repentance, O Life-Giver.” It was then that I experienced and understood Orthodox Byzantium: with all its grandeur it humbly repents in front of the Living and True God, as simply as washing in the morning or eating our daily bread.
27. July 2020 - 12:38
Recently, I had the blessing to be asked to present informally (and unworthily!) at Fr. Felipe Balingit’s online Saturday morning Catechism class, on Blessed Seraphim Rose’s writings about the Creation in Genesis, based in the Church Fathers. Fr. Felipe’s mission work in the Philippines includes this class, which he conducts usually from Holy Trinity Seminary and Monastery in Jordanville, NY, where he is currently studying and helping to conduct worship services. The class mainly consists of dedicated Filipino Orthodox Christians and catechumens, along with others, in various time zones around the world, and usually lasts for several hours with Fr. Felipe’s teaching and answering of questions. His insights, dedication, and theirs are a great blessing to experience, glory to God!
16. July 2020 - 10:31
Little known reminiscences about St. Gabriel (Urgebadze)
Love for St. Gabriel, the miracles that are worked not only at his holy relics but also before his numerous icons… We wouldn’t be lying if we say that with every passing day this love grows and gains power, like a snowball. The power of prayer and love! It is a miracle, a true miracle that is occurring before our very eyes. Otherwise how could we explain the fact that Elder Gabriel has become a solid uniting link for our Orthodox nations [Georgia and Russia.—Trans.] in this era of division?
We offer our readers a selection of little known reminiscences and testimonies about St. Gabriel, which will help everybody discover the essence of the elder’s podvigs that are pouring out from his love-filled heart.
Elder Gabriel and Otar Nikolaishvili
Otar Nikolaishvili, Elder Gabriel’s spiritual son, recalls:
Obsessed with worldly passions, I was searching for my sweetheart who was hiding at Samtavro Convent. I was so enraged that I was ready to take any rash action or even commit a crime (may God forgive me!). How could I have heeded anybody’s advice?! And it was in that state that I met Fr. Gabriel. He introduced himself as “a sinful monk” who was “hungry, humiliated and abandoned by everybody.” His words were confirmed by his untidy, sloppy appearance. On hearing the reason for my arrival at the convent, he said:
