Patriarch Daniel on Sunday offered his reflections on wealth and poverty as means through which we can proceed on the path to salvation. ‘Wealth and poverty are not a purpose in themselves. They are an opportunity for us to draw near or away from God and others.’ “Neither wealth nor poverty can bring us salvation,…
Approximately 1,000 winter clothing items were offered by Metropolitan Ioan of Banat for patients with psychiatric disorders at the Psychiatric and Safety Measures Hospital in Jebel and the Psychiatric Hospital in Gătaia. According to the website of the Metropolis, His Eminence visited the patients last week. On Nov. 13, Metropolitan Ioan also visited the Pentru…
The nuns from Valea Bistriței Monastery are building a house for a needy family with seven children, ages 7 to 15. The monastery announced the project in August, noting that it was undertaken with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Irineu of Alba Iulia. The monastery asked for funds from any who wanted to help,…
Romfilatelia has launched its 2019 Christmas stamp collection which this year features brightly coloured traditional Nativity scenes. The Christmas set includes two denominated stamps indicating 1,70 lei reproducing images from the manuscript ‘Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God’ kept at the Romanian Academy Library. The scenes shown on the stamps are summarized by Romfilatelia…
His Grace Bishop Visarion of Tulcea is calling on the faithful to pray and perform good deeds during the Nativity Fast. In this year’s Nativity Fast message, the Orthodox Bishop of Tulcea invites believers to unite the liturgical life with Christian philanthropy, thus demonstrating to be brothers and sisters in Christ. ‘The Church urges us…
Despite relentless persecution, the Christian community in China is thriving. Totaling around 100 million believers, and with hundreds of thousands being baptized annually, many experts predict that China will become the world’s most Christian nation by 2030. The staggering explosion of faith is, in part, down to the mass printing of Bibles. Indeed, China’s Amity…
On 14 November 2019, His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated a prayer service at the remains of the chapel of St. Bartholomew in the capital of Azerbaijan. Church tradition holds that St. Bartholomew, one of Christ’s twelve apostles, suffered and died for the Saviour here. A Christian church was built on…
His Beatitude Father Rastislav, the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia, celebrates on 18 November 2019 7th episcopal consecration anniversary. Rastislav or Rostislav, also known as St. Rastislav, was the second known ruler of Moravia (846–870). Upon his initiative two brothers, Cyril and Methodius sent by the Byzantine Emperor Michael…
The Nativity Fast is one of four main fast periods throughout the ecclesiastical year. Beginning on November 15 and concluding on December 24, the Nativity Fast gives individuals the opportunity to prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour in the Flesh on December 25. By abstaining from certain food and…
The Consecration of St. Catherine, in the suburb of Zandam, Amsterdam, was celebrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on Tuesday afternoon, November 5, 2019, after attending the Ecological Conference “Amsterdam International Water Week”, Orthodox Times reported. The parish of St. Catherine is a continuation of the historic Amsterdam Orthodox Parish, founded in the 18th century by…
‘It would be wonderful if the dependence on the word of God were at least directly proportional to the addiction to our smartphone,’ wrote Wednesday His Grace Bishop Ignatie of Husi on his Instagram account marking the Bible Day. He stressed that we are in ‘the age of word inflation,’ an inflation which lacks the…
For the sixth year in a row, tens of pilgrims travel across Romania from the northern parts of Maramures and Satu Mare to attend the celebrations of Saint John Chrysostom at the Chapel of the National Cathedral in Bucharest. Children and adults dressed in colourful folk costumes attended the all-night vigil and the Divine Liturgy…
In a message occasioned by the Bible Day observed by the Romanian Orthodox Church on Nov. 13, Metropolitan Andrei of Cluj, Maramureș and Sălaj urged the faithful to read at least a Bible chapter a day for a healthy spirituality. ‘We have at hand prayer, the participation in the Divine Liturgy and at church services,…
During the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Metropolis of Belgium, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the Committee of Representatives of the Orthodox Churches to the European Union (CROCEU) on Monday, November 11, 2019 at the Offices of the Metropolis of Belgium. The meeting was attended by Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Archimandrite Aimilianos…
On 13 November 2019 His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus, celebrates his name day. He was born in Tala village, Paphos. At the age of 10 he lost his father and two years later, after finishing his elementary education, he joined the monastery of Ayios Neophytos in Paphos. He also attended…
‘Saint Nectarios of Aegina, an intercessor to God with an unceasing prayer, was a wise, enlightened hierarch full of humility,’ said His Grace Bishop Ieronim of Sinaia at the patronal feast of Radu Voda Monastery in Bucharest on Saturday. During his homily, the patriarchal auxiliary bishop referred to the virtues of St Nectarios, whose devotion…
During the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition on the history and the heritage of the Armenian Church in Romania held Saturday at the Patriarchal Palace in Bucharest, Patriarch Daniel expressed the appreciation of the Romanian Orthodox Church for the presence and the contribution of Armenians in Romania in various fields of activity including spirituality,…
On 12 November 2019 His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus, celebrates the 12th enthronement anniversary. He was born in Tala village, Paphos. At the age of 10 he lost his father and two years later, after finishing his elementary education, he joined the monastery of Ayios Neophytos in Paphos. He…
The Water Week “Water Week” in Amsterdam was honored by the presence of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on 5 November, 2019, shortly after his arrival in the Netherlands for a pastoral visit in link with the 50th anniversary of the Metropolis of Belgium and the Exarchate of Netherlands and Luxembourg. The “International Water Week” which…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel sent a message to the Symposium organized by the Institute for Political Sciences and International Relations of the Romanian Academy to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Romanian Revolution of 1989 urging the participants not to forget those who suffered under communist regime. The message was read out…