The Mandarin Chinese Psalter is now available to all Mandarin speakers online! This original lithographed edition was digitally photographed on November 22, 2011 at the library of Beijing Normal University. Digitization project coordinated by the Orthodox Brotherhood of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul in Hong Kong. The chopmark on the title page is stamped in Chinese: Beiping Furen […]
The Dreams of the Chinese Orthodox Church Bright Future Begin to Come True
On May 12, 2013, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia had a talk with Chinese believers at the Russian Embassy in Beijing. The Primate of the Russian Church had met many of them before when he visited China as chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations. He reminded his […]
Georgian Parliament Considers Abortion Ban After Impassioned Appeal By Orthodox Patriarch
by Thaddeus Baklinski Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has said his government will debate legislation to ban abortion. The announcement follows an appeal by the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church for the procedure to be made illegal in the small country, according to a Radio Free Europe report. In his Easter Sunday address, Patriarch […]
The Icon: A Seven Part Documentary
For my Orthodox spiritual children, my heterodox friends, or non-Christians in general, what do you fill your senses with? News? War? Violence? Fear? Abortion? Porn?
The People’s Pascha
by Fr. Lawrence Farley I am a giant fan of Fr. Lawrence’s writings, and this blog entry is no exception. At the end of October in 1840, the celebrated author Hans Christian Andersen (famous for his fairy tales) left his native Denmark for an extended trip in the east. He wrote about his travels in […]
Passover to Pascha
by William J. Tighe On the Origins of the Primary Feast of the Christian Church, from the man who brought us the stellar article, Calculating Christmas. For all Christians today who observe a “liturgical year,” the high point of that year is the annual commemoration of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection at the end of […]
Pascha: The New Passover
by the V. Rev. Anastasios Gounaris, Dean, Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New York City Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate Pascha — the Resurrection of Jesus Christ — on May 5 as the culmination of a marathon Holy Week that spans eight days and encompasses 18 distinct services. Most Americans know the feast […]
Not So Fast: The Real Divorce Rate Among Christians
Turns out faithful Christians have a much lower instance of divorce, which I’ve said for years. The facts now back me up. Of course, Orthodox Christians, again, escape detection, but I suspect that the figures would be similar based on one’s practices. Note: FactChecker is a monthly series in which Glenn T. Stanton examines claims, […]
Memory Eternal, Archpriest Paul Merculief
Fr. Paul Merculief was laid to rest today. He was not only one of the founders of my alma mater, St. Herman Theological Seminary in Kodiak, AK, he also returned there during my studies to serve as professor and Interim Dean. I’d like to share a little about Fr. Paul, so that you might know […]
How Russians Survived Militant Atheism To Embrace Christ Again
by Walter Rodgers There is a lesson for Americans here. After three generations of merciless persecution by the state, Russia has emerged as the most God-believing nation in Europe. That’s a testament to the devotion of multitudes of babushkas who kept the flames of faith alive in the face of state-sponsored repression. Sometimes really huge […]