Science

Sunday Octoechos in Chinese language published in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, China Orthodox Press Publishing Company issued the Sunday Octoechos in the Chinese language.

The publication of a major liturgical book was aimed at making liturgical texts available for the Chinese-speaking faithful. It can be used both for public worship and private prayer. The edition includes eight volumes of the Octoechos, 36 pages in each volume, with parallel English and Chinese texts, liturgical commentaries and a short appendix of Chinese vocal chanting.

Professor Dr. Predrag Ristic reposed in the Lord

Renowned Serbian architect and professor at the Academy of the Serbian Orthodox Church for Fine Arts and Conservation Predrag Pedja Ristic died at the age of 89.

Predrag Ristic was born in Belgrade on January 17, 1931. He completed elementary German-Serbian school in 1941, and King Alexander I High School in 1949. He graduated in 1956 from the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade with a grade of 10 with a project of the Cathedral Church and his own theory of acoustics based on the mathematical theory of assemblies. He received his PhD with the highest possible grade from the University of Graz, Austria, in 1980 with the thesis "Reconstructions of the Prehistoric Architecture of Lepenski vir". He passed the state exam in 1979. He was a member of ULUPUDS (Association of Artists of Fine Arts), and a lecturer at numerous academies in Europe. He was professor at the Serbian Orthodox Church's Academy for Fine Arts and Conservation since its inception.

Conference in Stutgart, Germany: Stolen Churches or Bridges to Orthodoxy?

At the Academy of the Diocese of Rotenburg in Stuttgart (Akademie der Diözese Rottenburg Stuttgart), from 19 to 21 July 2019, a conference titled Stolen Churches or Bridges to Orthodoxy?, was organized by the aforementioned Academy and the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Group.

Saint Basil of Ostrog

Basil was born in Popovo Selo in Herzegovina, of simple and devout parents. From his youth he was filled with love for the Church of God, and when he grew up he went to the monastery of the Dormi-tion of the Mother of God at Trebinje, and became a monk. As such, he quickly became known for his serious and rare ascetic life, for he loaded himself with ascetic practices, each harder than the last. He was later chosen and consecrated as Bishop of Zahum and Skenderia, much against his will.

As a bishop, he first lived in the monastery at Tvrdo"s, whence, as a good pastor, he confirmed his flock in the Orthodox faith, keeping it from the cruelty of the Turks and the guile of the Latins. But when he was too pressed-upon by his enemies, and when Tvrdos* was destroyed by the Turks, Basil moved to Ostrog, where he lived in strict asceticism, protecting his flock by his unceasing and loving prayers. He went peacefully to the Lord in the 16th century, leaving his whole and healing body, uncor-rupt and wonderworking, to the present day.

Apostle and Evangelist Mark

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, also known as John Mark (Acts 12:12), was one of the Seventy Apostles, and was also a nephew of Saint Barnabas (June 11). He was born at Jerusalem. The house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane. As Church Tradition relates, on the night that Christ was betrayed he followed after Him, wrapped only in a linen cloth. He was seized by soldiers, and fled away naked, leaving the cloth behind (Mark 14:51-52). After the Ascension of the Lord, the house of his mother Mary became a place where Christians gathered, and a place of lodging for some of the Apostles (Acts 12:12).

Saint Mark was a very close companion of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29) and Barnabas. Saint Mark was at Seleucia with Paul and Barnabas, and from there he set off to the island of Cyprus, and he traversed the whole of it from east to west. In the city of Paphos, Saint Mark witnessed the blinding of the sorcerer Elymas by Saint Paul (Acts 13:6-12).

First Orthodox christian theologian receive a doctorate in Erskine

On May 4, 2019, John G. Panagiotou became the first Orthodox Christian theologian to receive a Doctorate in the 182-year history of Erskine Theological Seminary in South Carolina. Erskine Seminary was founded in 1837 and is rooted in the Reformed tradition. It is one if the oldest divinity schools in the American South. Dr. Panagiotou’s dissertation is titled The Path to Oikonomia with Jesus Christ as Our Lighthouse: A Study in the Theology of Christian Stewardship.