Aurelian Iftimiu

Benelux Orthodox Bishops postpone inter-Orthodox concelebration on Sunday of Orthodoxy

During an extraordinary coordination meeting held March 11, the Orthodox Episcopal Assembly of Benelux (CEOB-OBB) announced that the inter-Orthodox concelebration on the Sunday of Orthodoxy will not take place this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.  The hierarchs discussed the difficulties caused by the pandemic in officiating holy services and not allowing believers access to…

Mar 16, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

How to fast from our own selfishness: Bishop Ioan Casian

The Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada explains, at the beginning of Great Lent, how we can drive away personal selfishness through the act of fasting. Bishop Ioan Casian says that the main remedy lies in love for God and other people. “Through the love of God and of the neighbour one fasts of his own…

Mar 16, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: Great Lent is also a quarantine

‘Some of you may wonder why the Church, in the midst of the current pandemic, would add to the already existing health restrictions yet another “quarantine,” namely Great Lent.’ “Indeed, Great Lent is also a quarantine, a period that lasts forty days,” wrote Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his catechetical message at the beginning of Great…

Mar 16, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

We begin the Great Lent with hope and courage: #FearNot

#FearNot is the meditation-exhortation we propose to you for the Lenten season. Why? Because these are the first words that resounded after the Resurrection: the angel said these words to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb, and the Saviour addressed them directly to His disciples. The encouragement Christ gave centuries ago is timelier than ever,…

Mar 15, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Archbishop Irineu at Aiud: The blood of those unjustly imprisoned cries out to us to stop looking for a comfortable life

“The sufferings and the blood of those unjustly imprisoned call upon us, today, to stop looking for a comfortable life and to begin to seek first the Kingdom of God, as Christ urges us. They did this standing steadfast in front of the storm and confessing the truth, like giants of Romanian spirituality, who arouse…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Warsaw Metropolitan at beginning of Lent: Union with Christ through repentance is the path of the modern Orthodox in the fight against evil

“For Orthodox Christians in our complex, difficult times, full of spiritual disappointments, temptations and limitations of all kinds, Lent is of great spiritual importance,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Poland begins his Lenten epistle. Lent is a time for increased prayer and the struggle for purification, which give us renewed strength to struggle with the temptations…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

A church will honour the memory of victims of Pitești Phenomenon: “the most terrible act of barbarism of the contemporary world”

Piteşti Prison of communist Romania was home to unspeakable horrors, where thousands suffered for their faith in Christ and political dissension. Now, the former penal facility is set to become the site of a future Orthodox church in honour of all who suffered there. The foundation stone for the future church was placed and consecrated…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

The Face of God: It is the responsibility of all of us to preserve God’s creation

“The Face of God,” a recently released film, features Orthodox Christian perspectives from North America on climate change. The film presents reflections based on the experience and responses from Orthodox communities on the ecological crisis. Voices of clergy and lay leaders, scientists and theologians, as well as parish communities, focus on ecology, theology, and our…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Bucharest public transport company introduces one-hour ticket

Users of the Bucharest overground public transport can purchase a ticket valid for one hour starting March 8, the City Hall announced. The ticket, which costs RON 1.3, is valid for one hour, regardless of the distance travelled or the number of public transport means used, mayor Nicușor Dan explained. The one-hour ticket can be…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Watch: Trailer for Man of God film on St. Nektarios released (video)

The official trailer for the long-awaited film Man of God, about St. Nektarios of Aegina, was released March 9. Watch the trailer below: Production company Simeon Entertainment describes the film: “Exiled unjustly, convicted without a trial, slandered without cause, yet his love for God and his fellow men conquered all. Man of God depicts the…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel: People will be judged for inhumanity

“People will be judged for inhumanity,” Patriarch Daniel stressed during his homily on the Meatfare Sunday of the Last Judgement. The Patriarch quoted a homily by St. John Chrysostom, where the great hierarch imagines a continuation of the dialogue in the Gospel passage about the Last Judgment: “For I was hungry and you gave me…

Mar 10, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu