Tag: Christianity

Tbilisi, May 23, 2024

Leaders of the Georgian Dream party. Photo: tabula.ge     

There are several things the U.S. must do if it wants Georgia not to enact the recently passed so-called “foreign agents” law, or the “NGO transparency” law as the ruling Georgian Dream party calls it.

Among its expectations, the party’s Political Council writes that the U.S. must stop using NGOs to foment revolution in Georgia and stop attacking the Orthodox Church, which represents about 85% of the Georgian population.

The Georgian Dream party issued a statement yesterday in response to the “MEGOBARI” (Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Act) bill being prepared by South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, which offers financial perks, a liberalization of the visa regime for Georgian citizens visiting the U.S., and a military support package if Georgia shows “significant and sustained progress towards reinvigorating its democracy,” including scrapping the “foreign agents” law that seeks to provide transparency about foreign powers funding NGOs operating in Georgia.

Conversely, Wilson’s bill calls for sanctions against Georgian politicians if the bill passes into law.

However, American politicians err in “speaking to Georgia in the language of blackmail,” the Georgian Dream statement reads, according to tabula.ge.

According to the statement, the U.S. expects Georgia, in addition to scrapping the aforementioned law, to not pass a law on LGBT propaganda, to “conduct good elections,” and to refrain from negative rhetoric against America.

However, “First of all, it should be noted that both the adoption of the NGO transparency law and the criticism from American officials have their objective reasons,” the Georgian Dream states. “For many years, Georgia has had to live in a so-called polarization regime, where externally funded NGOs play a key role.”

The statement continues:

Moreover, since November 2020, NGOs have tried twice to stage a revolution in Georgia. In addition, our country has been the constant target of attacks from a number of American politicians and officials, from which the Georgian government has had to defend itself with adequate rhetoric…

Unfortunately, a number of American politicians and officials are making mistake after mistake and continue to speak to Georgia in the language of blackmail…

A respectful attitude towards Georgia should be expressed in a completely different way. Under such conditions:

• The US would demonstrate through actions that it is Georgia’s strategic partner, specifically by granting visa liberalization to Georgian citizens and concluding a free trade agreement without any conditions. As the bill reveals, the US could have done this earlier, but it showed indifference to Georgia and the Georgian people;

• The US would invest in the Georgian economy, as it last did in 2009-11 when Saakashvili’s regime was saved from economic collapse;

• The US would ensure a change in NGO behavior, specifically ending their policy of non-recognition of Georgia’s government and putting aside revolutionary plans;

• The use of the EU topic as a constant instrument of blackmail against Georgia would cease, and negotiations with Georgia would open by the end of the year, restoring fairness with respect to Ukraine, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Next, Georgia calls on NGOs to cease attacking the Orthodox Church and supporting religious extremism and various serious sins:

If they do all this, then neither the NGO transparency law will be necessary, nor will we have to respond to unjust statements. However, if NGOs do not abandon attempts to stage a revolution, attack the Orthodox Church, support religious extremism, encourage political intervention under the guise of religion, LGBT propaganda, drug promotion, attempts to undermine state institutions, and create obstacles for economic projects, and if some American politicians and officials continue to attack Georgia, then we will need both the transparency law and to fend off the attacks. Therefore, today, there is no alternative to adopting the NGO transparency law.

Our partners can qualitatively reframe relations in a maximum of one year. If they realize this, relations will improve very quickly, but if they continue to act with the same approach towards Georgia, they will harm both Georgia’s interests and America’s.

As already mentioned, everything is in the hands of our partners, and Georgia, as a small country, cannot unilaterally change anything. Therefore, we must hope that rational thought will prevail in America, benefiting both countries.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference, alongside other Catholic groups, filed suit May 22 against a federal agency for including abortion in regulations implementing a law meant to add workplace protections for pregnant workers.

Final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April, grant workers protections for time off and other job accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions such as miscarriage, stillbirth and lactation — but also for abortion, which was opposed by many of the bill’s supporters, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Chieko Noguchi, USCCB spokeswoman, told OSV News May 23 that the conference “enthusiastically supported passage of this law, because it had nothing to do with abortion.”

The conference, Noguchi said, supported the legislation’s “reasonable accommodations and things like paid time off and modified work schedules.”

“We supported that because we believe it’s important to help protect the well-being of expectant mothers and their preborn children,” she added.

“But the EEOC, which is an unelected federal agency, hijacked the law, which doesn’t mention abortion at all,” she said, adding the EEOC’s regulation is “mandating that employers accommodate employee abortions.”

As such, she said, the regulation would, in effect, force the USCCB to “knowingly support employees as they get abortions, and it forbids us from encouraging them to choose life.”

“It bans us from operating in accordance with church teaching,” Noguchi said. “So that’s why we have filed this lawsuit.”

A spokesperson for the EEOC referred OSV News to the Justice Department for comment. The latter did not immediately respond.

The EEOC regulations govern the implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2022. The law went into effect in June 2023 and prohibits employment practices that discriminate against making reasonable accommodations for qualified employees due to their pregnancy, childbirth “or related medical conditions.” The final regulations for the law were published in April 2024.

Many pro-life activists, including the USCCB, supported the legislation. But the EEOC regulation governing the implementation of that law, issued after it was enacted, contained broad language including abortion among “related medical conditions,” and the potential circumstances for which employers may have to grant workplace accommodations, such as time off for medical appointments or additional rest breaks.

In an April 15 statement about the final regulation, EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said the law “gives pregnant workers clear access to reasonable accommodations that will allow them to keep doing their jobs safely and effectively, free from discrimination and retaliation.”

Becket, a Washington-based religious liberty law firm, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on behalf of the USCCB, as well as The Catholic University of America and the dioceses of Lake Charles and Lafayette in Louisiana.

The complaint, filed in in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, states that “Congress was right and EEOC is wrong.”

“The PWFA is not an abortion accommodation mandate. Rather, it fills a gap in federal employment law by ensuring pregnant women receive workplace accommodations to protect their pregnancies and their preborn children,” it said.

Daniel Blomberg, vice president and senior counsel for Becket, told OSV News that the case is important because the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act itself is a “really good law.”

“It’s about protecting pregnant women and their children in the workplace,” Blomberg said. “The idea is that you want to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy childbirth, and that’s great for a healthy country. That’s why USCCB supported that law. That’s why a lot of folks supported this bipartisan law.”

But the law, he said, “has been hijacked by a partisan EEOC that is trying to use a law about healthy pregnancy to force abortion on employers nationwide, including religious employers, and that’s just not right.”

When asked what EEOC could do to rectify the issue from Becket’s perspective, Blomberg replied, “It’s an easy fix: Do what Congress said.”

“Congress said, ‘We’re here to protect pregnancy and childbirth,’” he said. “So let’s protect pregnancy and childbirth.”

“The core components of this (law) is about protecting moms protecting kids,” Blomberg added. “That’s wonderful. That’s good. We should do that.”

Peter Kilpatrick, Catholic University’s president, said in a May 23 statement regarding the university’s suit against the EEOC that the school has “shown our commitment to supporting the mothers who are a crucial part of our community.” He pointed to Catholic University’s Guadalupe Project, which was created to support expectant mothers on campus, saying, “We will continue this work.”

He added that the EEOC regulation creates the possibility of “substantial liability for employers who express and enforce life-affirming policies and practices in the workplace,” and diminished religious protections.

“The Catholic University of America community remains steadfast in our commitments to upholding the sanctity of life and supporting women and pregnant mothers in the workplace,” Kilpatrick said. “We firmly reject any suggestion of tension between those two core commitments. We can — and we do — support women as they grow their families, and we believe it is possible to do so wholeheartedly while also supporting the dignity of life at all stages. Our mission to cultivate a culture of love, respect, and compassion demands nothing less.”

New Prokopion, Evia, Greece, May 23, 2024

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

This year’s edition of the annual Pilgrimage to St. John the Russian and Confessor, whose relics are on the island of EuboiaThe Holy Confessor John the Russian was born in Little Russia around 1690, and was raised in piety and love for the Church of God. Upon attaining the age of maturity he was called to military service, and he served as a simple soldier in the army of Peter I and took part in the Russo-Turkish War. During the Prutsk Campaign of 1711 he and other soldiers were captured by the Tatars, who handed him over to the commander of the Turkish cavalry.

“>St. John the Russian drew more than 1,500 Orthodox faithful, eager to venerate the beloved saint.

The holy walk, held on Sunday, May 19, marks the 9th annual Pilgrimage organized by the Region of Central Greece with the blessing and support of the Metropolis of Chalkida. This year’s event also marked the 100th anniversary of the arrival of St. John’s reliquary from Cappadocia to Evia, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.

The pilgrimage, more than 11 miles long, winds through a landscaped and marked forest path. Food, drink, and commemorative hats and shirts were distributed along the way.

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

The pilgrimage ended at the Church of St. John the Russian in New Prokopion, where his incorrupt relics are kept.

***

Photo: pravoslavie.ru St. John the Russian was born in Little Russia around 1690, and raised to love God and His Church. He took part in the Russo-Turkish War, and in 1711 he was captured by the Tatars, and handed over to the commander of the Turkish cavalry, who took him home with him to the village of Prokopion.

Although some of those captured were swayed, St. John refused to renounce his Orthodox faith and to become a Muslim, for which he was often subjected to tortures at the hands of his master. St. John bravely resisted, saying, “You cannot turn me from my holy Faith by threats, nor with promises of riches and pleasures. I will obey your orders willingly, if you will leave me free to follow my religion. I would rather surrender my head to you than to change my faith. I was born a Christian, and I shall die a Christian.” St. John’s blessed courage mixed with humility softened his master’s heart, and he no longer attempted to convert the pious Russian.

St. John lived and worked in the stables, rejoicing to have a manger for a bed, as did the Lord Himself in His Nativity. He served his master with perfect obedience, and changed the hearts of those around him with his life full of virtues. At night he would often go to a nearby church to keep vigil.

Towards the end of his earthly life, St. John fell ill, and called for the local priest to bring him the precious Body and Blood of the Lord for him to commune one last time. Fearing to go to house of a Turkish commander, the priest sent the Gifts concealed in an apple. St. John rejoiced to commune of the Lord Jesus Christ, and reposed on May 27, 1730. His master allowed him to have a Christian burial.

Three and a half years later, the same priest received word in a dream that St. John’s relics were incorrupt. His body was soon transferred to the Church of St. George and placed in a special reliquary. The new saint was soon glorified by innumerable miracles, and faithful from all came to venerate his wonderworking relics.

In 1924, with the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, his relics were taken to the island of Evia, and in 1951 were placed in a new church dedicated to him. Thousands flock to his church and relics every year on his feast day. St. John’s help is especially sought by travelers and shippers.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

Panelists at LA’s inaugural Ethical Leadership Lunch praised Catholic education’s role in forming ethical leaders and discussed what “doing the right thing” means in a time when businesses face pressure to take positions on current events. 

Held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels’ conference center, the May 17 event was hosted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and drew more than 500 people, among them local entrepreneurs and executives, ministry leaders, Catholic educators, and high school students. 

Archbishop José H. Gomez and Father Jim Anguiano, vicar general and moderator of the Curia for the archdiocese, began with a prayer and greeting before a video message from event sponsor Farmers & Merchants Bank was shown. 

Later, former CNN anchor Carol Costello moderated a panel with four local Catholic business leaders about what ethical leadership looks like in “a world where unethical behavior is rewarded or ignored for seemingly the greater good.”

“Somebody’s gonna put pressure on you to change your decisions because it’s good business sometimes,” said Costello, a Catholic who teaches journalism at Loyola Marymount University and is married to the university’s president, Timothy Law Snyder. 

The panelists agreed that faith-based values passed on during childhood — especially in the family and at Catholic school — provided the necessary foundation for ethical business leadership.

“Especially today, with so much noise, our Catholic schools are there to reinforce the faith-based growth that happens at home,” said President & CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Maria S. Salinas. “I think we need to embrace that.”

In a nod to the event’s Catholic audience, former LA Dodgers executive Bob Graziano, now vice chairman for J.P. Morgan’s Western Region, said he didn’t think “it’s difficult to be an ethical leader … because it’s part of the DNA of most people in this room to be ethical and to be leaders.”

“You don’t become an ethical leader overnight,” added Graziano later. “You’re inspired by others who are ethical leaders.”

Like Graziano, real estate mogul and former LA mayoral candidate Rick Caruso was quick to dismiss Costello’s concerns about the challenges in today’s society of balancing one’s moral beliefs with running a successful business. 

“I don’t think it’s that hard,” said Caruso. “Good leaders, it’s not hard.”

Costello also asked the panel about the public expectations business leaders face to “take a stand” on current events, especially from younger consumers. 

“I don’t think business leaders, corporate executives should feel the need to take a position on everything that’s going on,” said Caruso. “If you’re running a public company, your duty is to your employees and your shareholders, and you may not want to be issuing an opinion on something. So I think it has to be depending on the facts and the circumstances.”

Salinas recalled weighing how to respond to the George Floyd protests in 2020 during a time of national unrest while waiting for facts to emerge about Floyd’s death. Her organization eventually issued a statement four days after Floyd’s death.

“I felt that that was the right thing to do … knowing that it’s not possible to please everyone,” said Salinas. 

In another question, Costello read the speakers two passages from a 2023 book-length interview with Pope Francis discussing economic justice and asked how they would help the pontiff realize his call for “distributive” production of wealth in a capitalist economy. Philanthropy, the panelists agreed, is a more effective means to spread wealth than what Graziano called “socialistic” government measures such as wealth taxes.

“It’s really about the people who are wealthy using their riches to help others,” said Graziano. 

Panelist Michael J. Casey, chairman of investment firm Whittier Trust Company, added that transmitting the importance of philanthropic giving to younger generations was a necessary component of ethical leadership. 

“Younger people aren’t imbued automatically with a sense of philanthropy — you groom them by saying you can be part of the family’s foundation if you go out and find something that you want to donate your time to,” said Casey. “And they’re not going to donate their time to something they’re not passionate about.”

Graziano also pointed to the successful bid to bring the 2026 World Cup to Los Angeles and other North American cities as an example of the private sector’s ability to create better economic opportunities than the government. 

“It’s all been privately funded by people who want to make our community better, who aren’t standing there saying, ‘Tax me so the government can put on these events,’ ” said Graziano. 

In her response, Salinas said she would tell the pope to “harness the power of the business community.”

“I think there is tremendous power there to solve the type of problems that we’re facing today,” said Salinas. 

Among those also in attendance were LA Auxiliary Bishops Sławomir Szkredka and Matthew Elshoff. Afterward, archdiocesan Chief Development Officer Catherine Fraser announced that while not a traditional fundraising event, the lunch had raised $342,000 to benefit local Catholic schools. 

Organizers announced that next year’s Ethical Leadership Lunch is scheduled for Friday, May 17, 2025. 

    

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

Today [last Sunday], on the second Sunday after Pascha, we commemorate the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women

“>Myrrh-Bearing Women, who, as the Holy Scriptures tell us, dedicated themselves to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. They followed Him, served Him, and served His disciples.

After God created Adam and granted him authority, He From the Side of Adam, from the Side of Christ: the Creation of Eve and the Spiritual LifeThis sixth Bible Study on the book of Genesis covers the creation of Eve on the sixth day of Creation. In it we discuss several relevant topics including the status of Adam and Eve in the Church, the meaning of Eve’s creation from the rib of Adam, experiences of God in Scripture, relationships between parents and children, the makeup of man, the role of desire and pleasure in the spiritual life, and much more.

“>created Eve to be a helper for Adam. Thus, God assigned one service to the man and another service to the woman, so that they would complement each other. The Church followed this order that God determined for His creation. However, in our days, we are witnessing a reversal of this order and a distortion of the system that God set since the beginning of creation.

Today, we see a push for the female priesthood within Church circles, by both clergy and laity. Recently, we heard about the ordination of a deaconess in the Orthodox Church in Zimbabwe, that is under the Patriarchate of Alexandria. This deaconess participates in liturgical service, reads petitions, and administers the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ to the faithful. It should be noted that deaconesses in the early Church were akin to the Myrrh-Bearing Women, and their service was limited to assisting bishops in the Baptism of women and anointing them with holy Chrism, so that the bishop would not touch the woman’s body. At that time, many converts to Christianity were adults. However, as Christianity spread more widely within the empire, the need for this service decreased, as infant Baptism became more common than adult Baptism. At that point, the ordination of deaconesses ceased in the Church.

There is now a promotion of strange practices within the Church that were never part of its history or Tradition. Such ordinations are innovations that amount to heresy. We hear voices demanding equality between men and women, as if the Church has wronged women by assigning them a specific role! We see a reversal of roles, a reversal of service. God, as I said in the beginning, assigned each one their role, but now everyone seeks to take the role of the other. We also see a significant promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism, and the ordination of women by Orthodox clergy and laity.

Bishops and priests are appointed by God as servants of His word and stewards of the Church’s Tradition. Any bishop, priest, or layperson who betrays this trust and distorts the Church’s faith and Holy Tradition is a servant of satan, not Christ. There is no middle ground in Christianity. Christ said, “You are either with Me or with the devil.” Anyone who distorts the faith and Tradition and desecrates the holy Sacraments, as the Orthodox bishop of the American Archdiocese under the Ecumenical Patriarchate did by Abp. Elpidophoros praised for serving “first openly gay baptism”In the midst of the ongoing scandal involving the Archbishop’s plans to consecrate a defrocked former priest as a bishop for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which other hierarchs have characterized as a serious threat to Orthodox unity in America, the GOARCH head has made headlines by baptizing the children of a gay celebrity couple.

“>baptizing children adopted by a same-sex couple, is a servant of satan and a desecrator of the Church’s Mysteries.

This is what is happening in our days, and more is expected to come. We read in the Bible about a time of apostasy. This apostasy is a departure from the true faith in Jesus Christ, the true God, and the promotion of a distorted Christ. Those bishops and priests who promote a distorted Christ are servants of the rulers of this age, servants of a new world order that seeks to change the entire order of creation, and servants of the spirit of the age that wants to modernize the Church, the heavenly Church of Christ, and turn it into a worldly institution no different from other worldly institutions, organizations, and worldly parties.

The Church must remain faithful to all it has received from Christ, just like the Myrrh-Bearing Women who did not deviate from Christ’s obedience and did not innovate, but served the Lord and His Apostles with all their strength. The Apostles of Christ preached and ministered the Sacraments, becoming a foundation for the spread of Christ’s Church.

Each of us must confront this worldly, satanic spirit that seeks to destroy all Church Tradition and the foundations of the faith. Nowadays we are witnessing a dangerous shift away from the faith. Even more dangerous is the silence. Any Orthodox bishop who remains silent about what is happening is complicit in this act. The primary mission of a bishop is to preserve the faith, and if he remains silent, he is, willingly or unwillingly, complicit in this betrayal. Those who are appointed as guardians of the faith become desecrators of the Church’s faith and Mysteries, celebrating everything that contradicts the Holy Tradition of the Church and becoming mercenaries for the spirit of the age.

All those who contribute to this neither know nor live by the Tradition. They want a Church that accepts all the heresies and transformations of this age. Thus, they become children of a satanic spirit and servants of satan, who seeks to weaken the Church of Christ to impose his rule and law in this world.

The Church is strengthened by its faith and by preserving the Holy Tradition. This is how it remains faithful to Christ and how it confronts the rulers of this age. But if it allows heresies to enter and destroy the faith, the gates of hell will overcome it. This is what satan and his agents desire, from bishops, priests, and laity who have succumbed to the spirit of the age.

Do not be influenced by all these things resulting from human logic, which only calls for fake love. True love is in Christ and is the fruit of true faith in Him. Whoever does not believe in Jesus Christ can only love himself. Whoever loves Christ will be faithful to Him and His commandments and to the Church’s Tradition. This is how we love Christ and love one another, submitting our will to the will of Christ, and becoming faithful servants.

On June 1, Archbishop José H. Gomez will ordain 11 new priests for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

In the days leading up to their ordination, we’ll be introducing a new soon-to-be Father. Los Angeles, meet your new priests!

Age: 30

Hometown: Oxnard

Home parish: St. Mary Magdalen Church, Camarillo

Parish assignment: St. Pancratius Church, Lakewood

The youngest of five (with four older sisters) to parents who emigrated from Mexico, Miguel Cabrera grew up in a Mexican culture that is so intertwined with Catholicism that it is often difficult to separate the two.

“It’s something that belonged to my culture, something that belonged to my family, but not something that belonged to me personally,” he said.

This faith was helpful but didn’t really come to the surface until later in life.

His childhood was filled with riding horses at his father’s and uncle’s small ranch and his family’s participation in Aztec-esque dance styles like danza de matachines (“sword dance”).

He went to Catholic school throughout his early life, eventually graduating from Santa Clara High School in Oxnard.

It wasn’t until he started attending college — first Ventura College, then San Diego State — that he actually began confronting the strength of his faith.

“I was faced with the decision of am I going to pursue the faith on my own or am I going to abandon it?” Cabrera said. “Now, a lot of people my age at that time, especially on the college campus, leave the faith while they’re in college. And so I had a choice to make.”

The answer came in the form of a donut.

Cabrera heard that the Newman Center at San Diego State was hosting Mass and offering free donuts afterward.

Although he enjoyed the free breakfast — “it was a really good donut” — Cabrera decided to come back the next weekend. And the next. And again.

“I noticed when I got to the Newman Center that they were people my age, my peers, who were there without their family,” Cabrera said. “There were no parents that dragged them there. It was just them and they were happy to be there. I sensed a joy in them that I’ve always wanted.”

From there, his faith snowballed: He did his confirmation, joined a Bible study, and began attending adoration for the Blessed Sacrament. He learned how to really pray — not just say the words — something that even a lifetime of Catholic school hadn’t given him.

As he neared the end of his college career, with a focus on criminal justice, he decided to take a job with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) ministry group. Thinking he would work there for two years, then return to criminal justice, God had other plans.

One year into his FOCUS work, he started feeling a call to the priesthood. He prayed on it. He went to a discernment retreat. And like many had done before him, he ignored it.

But when he attended the Theology of the Body Congress in Ontario, God questioned why Cabrera hadn’t taken action.

“I remember asking the Lord some follow-up questions myself being like ‘What if I am called to the priesthood, but I’m not happy?’ ” Cabrera said.

“In response, I felt the Lord just say, ‘Do you not trust me? If I am calling you to the priesthood, there’s nothing that will make you happier. And if I’m not calling you to the priesthood, that will be revealed to you while you’re in the seminary.’

“And here I am, seven years later, still in love with Christ and his Church.”

Although there’s a special place in his heart for young-adult ministry, Cabrera has found a love for ministering to the sick, especially those in the hospital.

“There isn’t a lot of relationship-building with patients that you might encounter because they might not be there for that long,” Cabrera said. “But that doesn’t make the encounters any less meaningful. 

“Just seeing the comfort that it brings a family to be visited by someone who’s clergy or just having someone who comes in and cares to pray with them for a bit, reminding them that their spiritual care is important.”

Chișinău, May 23, 2024

Photo: mitropolia.md     

His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir of Chișinău and All Moldova celebrated 50 years of ordained ministry, on the feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

To mark the occasion, the Metropolitan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Nativity of the Lord Metropolitan Cathedral together his three vicar bishops and a number of clerics, reports the Moldovan Church.

His Eminence was ordained to the diaconate on May 22, 1974, in Smolensk.

At the end of the Liturgy, a Te Deum of thanksgiving was served “for all the grace and blessing bestowed upon our Metropolitan in the 50 years since he received the grace of serving at the holy altar, in the rank of deacon.”

Congratulatory messages from the Moldovan Synod and the cathedral clergy were read out following the service.

Watch the Divine Liturgy:

​

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

St. Jane was born in Sancy, France, in 1765. Her family was poor, and her mother died when she was 16 years old, leaving Jane to take over many family responsibilities. When she was 22, Jane joined the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris, and began working among the sick in local hospitals.

During the French Revolution, many religious sisters and priests were killed. Jane was ordered to return home and take up a secular life, but she refused. When she tried to escape the authorities, she was severely beaten.

Jane finally returned to Sancy, where she resumed her work with the sick. She also opened a small school for girls, until she was forced to flee to Switzerland. From there, she went to Germany, and then back to Switzerland to found a school and hospital in 1799. She also founded a congregation, the Institute of the Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul. This community eventually expanded into France and Italy.

St. Jane died 30 years after founding her community, in 1828, of natural causes. Pope Pius XI canonized her in 1934.

    

Christ is Risen!

The present feast, it can be said, unites all peoples around the name of the holy hierarch and wonderworker St. Nicholas

“>Nicholas. Not only Orthodox Christians, but even the unbelieving, even Moslems, and even pagan peoples—of which I have been a witness—honor St. Nicholas and bow down before this holy hierarch of God. And this is why it was especially precious to me to have served the Liturgy today in this very church—something I have wanted to do for a long time—in this holy temple belonging to the Hellenic people, so close to us in spirit.

Why does this saint of God enjoy such respect among all peoples?

Because he embodies an expression of The Life of a Christian is Above All a Manifestation of LoveWe should have such a special way of living that people would see our faith and want to become believers.

“>Christian love. Undoubtedly, other saints have also attained this Christian virtue and became perfect in it, but no one has expressed it so clearly as St. Nicholas. In his Life we can see, he clearly shows, that love is the main law of life. In fact, all his life he burned with fiery love and he expressed it in his actions. Not a single day went by without love. He healed the sick, helped the poor, saved people in storms, saved maidens, interceded for the accused—in a word, we can say that every day of his life was dedicated to love of God and neighbor.

We can say that even the laws of nature submitted to him. He even stopped storms. And what is even more valuable and rare—under the influence of his indirect suggestion, human malice and hatred have been softened.

May the saint’s love be an example to us also! Although we know that the world lies in evil, we often see that evil is conquered by the power of goodness, that the commandment given to people in the Old Testament was violated, and that sin infected all people, nevertheless we see that love often wins, that for the sake of this love, many have refused pleasures, that this love made them go to their deaths, to save their neighbor. Let us also, beloved brothers, be confirmed in Christian love! It is only possible to a person who looks toward the The Lord’s Way of the CrossAnd at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ”My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken Me?” The word ”God” in Aramaic is pronounced ”Eloi” or ”Eli,” as written by the Evangelists. This cry was the expression of the God-man’s deepest sorrow. In order for the sacrifice for salvation to occur, it was necessary that the God-man drink the full cup of human suffering.

“>Lord Jesus Christ, who directs his gaze to Golgotha. He is confirmed in love, because he remembers that Christ the Savior, for the sake of all of us sinners and unworthy ones, spilled His Blood on the Cross. After all, if everyone were to say, “The Divine Sufferer poured out His blood for you, He endured suffering for you,” then they would be like the evangelist John the Theologian whom we celebrated yesterday, and St. Nicholas, whom we celebrate today, in this love.

What hinders us from conquering by love? Our coldness. Who or what prevents us from showing such Christian love, in order to conquer evil? Our imperfection… If we strive for perfection, we will unfailingly attain Christian love. May God’s Holy Hierarch Nicholas, who was filled with Christian love and mercy, help us in this.

Văratec, Neamț County, Romania, May 22, 2024

Photo: basilica.ro     

A fire broke out at the Romanian Orthodox Church’s Văratec Monastery in Neamț County late last month.

The fire seems to have broken out as a result of an electrical short circuit in a sewing machine motor. The flames quickly spread and engulfed two monastic houses where four nuns lived, reports the Basilica News Agency.

Firefighters fought the flames for four hours.

Photo: basilica.ro     

Văratec is the largest convent in Romania, with more than 400 nuns living there. It was founded in 1785 by Schemanun Olimpiada and her confessor Fr. Iosif, under the guidance of St. Paisius Velichkovsky.

The sisterhood is intent on rebuilding the homes and is asking for help from the Orthodox faithful. Anyone interested in helping can do so with the following details:

Account: IBAN RO95RNCB0199005312820001
Bank: BCR – Târgu Neamț
Beneficiary: Văratec Monastery
CUI: 2860575

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!