Science

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord Gives Each of Us an Opportunity to Get Near the Kingdom of Heaven Here, On Earth

On October 18, 2020, the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, the feast day of the Synaxis of Moscow Saints, Metropolitan Hilarion, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, officiated a Divine Liturgy at the Church of Joy Of All Who Sorrow Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow, reports the website of the DECR. At the end of the liturgy, the archpastor delivered a sermon:

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

I congratulate all of you, dear fathers, brothers, and sisters, on this Sunday.

The Irish Church in the Eighth Century

As in the previous century, one of the main centers of Christianity and culture in Western Europe in the eighth century was Ireland with its relatively small population, which numbered around 250,000 at most.

Irish monks enjoyed indisputable authority among the people. One of its characteristic examples was the declaration of the “laws of the saints”, which were instituted in monasteries and then adopted by the rulers of the numerous kingdoms Ireland was divided into. The first such law was introduced in 697 by St. Adomnan, Abbot of Iona, and became known as “the Law of Adomnan” (“Cain Adomnain”), or “the Law of the Innocents.” It prohibited the killing of women, clerics and children who did not take part in warfare (that is, noncombatants, to put it in modern terms) and perpetrators were exposed to substantial fines. In 734, “St. Patrick’s Law” was enacted, and in 788 “St. Ciaran’s Law” was proclaimed.

Ecumenical Patriarch’s message for Sept. 1: Respect for the environment is an act of doxology of God’s name

In his message at the beginning of the new church year, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew states that “respect for the environment is an act of doxology of God’s name, while the destruction of creation is an offense against the Creator, entirely irreconcilable with the basic tenets of Christian theology.”

At the initiative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, September 1 was set aside as a day of prayer for the protection of creation.

Four books on the contribution of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the dialogue with Muslims

Four books on the contribution of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the dialogue with Muslims

The Publishing Foundation of the Archdiocese of Belgrade-Karlovci of the Serbian Orthodox Church has published four scientific monographs in English authored by Deacon Dr. Aleksandar Prascevic on the topic of Dialogue between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the Balkans, which represent an exhaustive and comprehensive history of the contribution of patriarchs, bishops, priests and monks of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the dialogue with leaders and representatives of Islamic communities in the period from 1920 to 2009.

Eminent theologian Father Boris Bobrinskoy passed away

One of the most prominent Orthodox theologians in the West, Father Boris Bobrinskoy, passed away yesterday, August 6, 2020.  He was born in Paris on February 25, 1925, to Russian parents who immigrated to France after the 1917 Russian Revolution. He studied in an orthodox environment in Paris, but also in Catholic and Protestant Theological Departments. His theological thought was influenced by Father George Florovsky, Father Nikolay Afanasiev, Father Alexander Smeman, Father Cyprian Kern and Vladimir Losky.

Saint Anna, Mother of the All-holy Theotokos

Today is the commemoration of the falling asleep of St. Anna, but her principal feast is celebrated on September 9, on which date her life is written. Anna was from the tribe of Levi, and was the daughter of Mat- than the priest.

After a long and God-pleasing life, she died in extreme old age.