Thirty years ago when I was a young novice at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, I recall being moved while reading an account of the Athonite Elder Callinicus the Hesychast (1853–1930) who went to the austere community of Father Daniel, a community in the Athonite desert always lacking milk, cheese, and eggs. Father Daniel explained to the young…

Bishop Isaiah of Tamassos and Orinis has suggested the government declare May 27 as a public holiday so that people can go to church for belated Easter celebrations. Church services are being held without congregations under decrees to contain the spread of coronavirus but are being broadcast on TV and the radio. The Council of…

The Church today honors the memory of Gregory V, the Holy Martyr and Patriarch of Constantinople. Called to the Patriarchate’s throne for a third time in 1818, Gregory V was taken out of the Patriarchal Cathedral on April 10, which was Holy and Great Easter Sunday, based on the Julian calendar, immediately after celebrating the…

Orthodox Churches are modifying and adapting to the unprecedented cornonavirus pandemic, namely, restrictions on non-essential movement and public assemblies, all ahead of Holy and Great Easter. In Romania, the Holy Flame will be transported by plane and arrive in Bucharest on the evening of April 18, Holy and Great Saturday, whereby it will be distributed…

The Moscow Patriarchate this week reminded that viewing the holy services and the Divine Liturgy from television, or the Internet, is a mere “substitute” for worship — essentially an emergency measure in the face of the ongoing pandemic. The Church added that nothing can replace the personal and intimate presence of the faithful in cathedrals….

The Metropolitan of Limassol, His Eminence Athanasios, continues his outreach to the faithful on a daily basis via a special program on the Metropolis’ radio station – an initiative that aims to offer comfort and encouragement to the Orthodox faithful amid the ongoing trial, and with cathedrals closed on the island republic. The program is…

The annual ceremony of the Holy Washbowl, held outdoors on Easter Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, on the eastern Aegean island of Patmos, will be conducted without the presence of worshipers. The ceremony will be held indoors at the main cathedral of the iconic St. John the Theologian Monastery — following a decision by the monastery’s…

An association representing clerics in Greece, in an letter to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, cites its sorrow over restrictive measures affecting places of worship, particularly ahead of next week’s Holy Easter Week. The association bemoans the fact that cathedrals and chapels in the east Mediterranean country will be closed even for…

New York – On Western Easter, Sunday April 12th, the renowned CBS news program, 60 Minutes, will showcase the rebuilding of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center. The relationship between the Archdiocese and 60 Minutes dates back over a decade, when the late Bob Simon did a…