Science

Fulfillment of the Creator’s Dispensation

5. December 2020 - 18:59

Commentary on the Troparion of the Feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple

On December 4, the Church commemorates the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple—an event connected with the vow of her parents, Sts. Joachim and Anna. They led their three-year-old daughter Mary to the Jerusalem Temple, where she was led by the High Priest Zacharias into the Holy of Holies and was brought up until the age of twelve. On this Great Feast, we offer our readers a theological-philological commentary on the troparion for the day.    

The peculiarity of this feast is that it is based on the apocrypha—the Protoevangelium of James. This tradition has sufficient authority, since it was used by the holy fathers:

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What did the Previous Metropolitan of Kiev Vladimir Say About the Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church?

3. December 2020 - 22:17

Today, in the Ukrainian media sphere, especially after the introduction of Poroshenko's “tomos” into the religious life of Ukraine, and the promulgation of a new schism by the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, which endangers the unity of not only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but the entire world Orthodoxy, one can hear that the so-called “autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” after the collapse of the USSR, was the longed-for dream of the majority of the country's Orthodox believers, headed by their Primate, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan; reposed 07/05/2014), who allegedly for the twenty-two years of his primateship in Ukraine, advocated for the “complete and final separation” (of the UOC) from the Russian Orthodox Church, and the acquisition of autocephaly for the UOC with the status of a Local Church. But is that really the case? This issue was discussed in the conference hall of Kiev Theological Academy at a round table dedicated to the memory of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir, on the day of his 85th birthday—November 23 of this year.    

Representatives of the older generation of the Kievan clergy, who knew Metropolitan Vladimir when he was the Rector of Moscow's theological schools, as well as hierarchs of the UOC, and representatives of state, cultural and educational organizations, and the Orthodox community were invited to the commemorative event. The words of each participant in the meeting were filled with great love for the reposed hierarch, as they expressed memories of his hierarchical wisdom, simplicity, accessibility, and sympathy for each person, be they a student, peasant or academic, and concerning the theological, literary and poetic heritage of Metropolitan Vladimir.

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We Are All the Church

30. November 2020 - 16:21
We Are All the Church
We Are All the Church
We Are All the Church
We Are All the Church

Remembering Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, Part 2

The Orthodox Church recently bid farewell to the primate of the Local Serbian Church—His Holiness Patriarch Irinej. He was a first hierarch for whom all are equal before the face of the Lord, all are children of God, and all labor for the good of the Church.

Author and translator Svetlana Luganskaya remembers Patriarch Irinej and her communications with him.  

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“To keep the faith and live by it”

30. November 2020 - 11:33
“To keep the faith and live by it”
“To keep the faith and live by it”
“To keep the faith and live by it”
“To keep the faith and live by it”

Remembering Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, Part 1

The Orthodox Church recently bid farewell to the primate of the Local Serbian Church—His Holiness Patriarch Irinej. He was a first hierarch for whom all are equal before the face of the Lord, all are children of God, and all labor for the good of the Church.

Author and translator Svetlana Luganskaya remembers Patriarch Irinej and her communications with him.

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Jubilee Epistle of His Eminence Hilarion Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad

26. November 2020 - 15:56

Your Graces Brother-Archpastors, Honorable Fathers,
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord!

I sincerely greet you with the 725th Anniversary of the appearance of the miraculous Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God of the “Sign,” and with the Centennial of the founding of the Higher Church Administration Abroad, which later was transformed into the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad. We are not marking the events that destroyed all the foundations of Pre-Revolutionary Russia, and which hit extremely hard on our dear Mother – the Local Russian Orthodox Church – having pushed Her, together with the whole country, onto a path of great suffering, repression, martyrdom and confession. Rather, we raise up gratitude to God, Who has preserved us under the shelter of our precious Orthodox Faith, in the traditions of the glorious Russian Church. We bow down before the memory of those ascetics, who have carefully preserved and increased our Russian ecclesiastical inheritance in the Diaspora, who have sustained a spiritual flame in our people scattered across nations, and who have nurtured their flock’s talents in the difficult conditions abroad. Thanks to the grace of God, as expressed in the sacrificial labors of our predecessors, the children of the Russian Orthodox Church, dispersed among various nations, were not dissolved in the foreign masses, like splashes and droplets of water are dissolved in the ocean. Glory to God, they have not disappeared, but rather have preserved Holy Orthodoxy and through it our cultural and historical tradition!

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Foreword to Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović’s book “Chronicles of the Renewed Crucifixion of Kosovo” by James Bissett

12. November 2020 - 10:46

CHRONICLES OF THE RENEWED CRUCIFIXION OF KOSOVOIN MEMORIAM

I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Metropolitan Amfilohije whom I got to know during my visits to Montenegro and later in Belgrade after the bombing. We became friends and he asked me to write the foreword to the English edition of his book "Chronicles of the Renewed Crucifixion of Kosovo". I was honoured to do so because the book was desperately needed to be read, not only by Serbs, but more importantly, by non-Serbs who have been misled by the lies told by the NATO countries about what really took place after the NATO forces entered Kosovo. Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović was an outstanding man, a brilliant scholar, an eminent statesman, a fierce and courageous defender of his country and his Serbian Orthodox faith. As my tribute to this great man I hope that this foreword to his book may give the reader an indication of his devotion to his faith and love of his native land.

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The twentieth century has not been kind to Serbia or to the Serbian people. Wars and suffering have plagued the nation for the best part of the century. Yet it was not until the last decade - the 1990s - that Serbia was caught up in events that were destined to bring the nation to its knees, and threatened to break the proud spirit and heroism of its people. In March 1999, the country was subjected to a massive, 78-day bombing campaign by the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Only Greece, Serbia’s traditional ally, refused to participate in this illegal and outrageous act of aggression by the so-called democratic nations of North America and Western Europe.

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