Tag: Christianity

Athens, December 11, 2024

Photo: sekpe.org     

The Church of Greece has reported an increase in both charitable giving and the number of people served through its ministries in 2023.

The issue was one of many discussed by the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece at its session on Monday and Tuesday of this week under the presidency of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, reports Romfea.

The Synodal Committee on Social Welfare and Charity summarized the statistics of the Archdiocese of Athens and the many Metropolises of the Church of Greece, reporting that a total of $125,610,116 (119,319,020.66 euros) was spent on various charitable causes in 2023.

Additionally, 8,133,575 pounds of various types of food were donated.

In 2022, the corresponding numbers were $123,897,762 (117,693,581.01 euros) and 5,166,186 pounds of food.

There was a total of 4,360 ecclesiastical charitable structures operating 2023, with 15,377 volunteers. In total, 1,296,512 needy people benefited from the Church’s services, compared to 865,277 beneficiaries in 2022.

The Synod also decided that a collection tray will be passed during the Christmas Divine Liturgy in all churches to support the program assisting Christian families in Thrace who have three or more children.

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It is that time of year — and I do not mean the never-ending sales that will go on until December 31, or the taking over of broadcast, satellite, and cable communications with hours and hours of football. 

The “holidays” are the busiest and most critical time of the year for nonprofits. Whether strictly secular or religious in nature, the end of the calendar year is the life blood of charitable organizations looking to balance their books by the end of the next fiscal year.

There are two main reasons why December is so important. First, even those who have no religious background, or count themselves as “nones,” or lapsed, seem to get into the “spirit” of Christmas, maybe due to the cumulative effect of 478 Hallmark holiday movies played on a continual loop. 

There is another, less than noble reason, that the end of December is important to works of charity: It represents the last few days remaining to make charitable donations deductible for this year’s income tax form.   

My first experience in the “nonprofit” world was not getting hired enough as a freelance television writer. I had to pivot, and found a niche for what skills I have in working in the official nonprofit sector. It has been a blessing in more ways than I can count. It is not always easy, and even though the term “nonprofit” conjures images of selfless heroes working soup kitchens and distributing toys to children, the fact is that the structure of the system resembles for-profit entities in many ways.

Instead of salesmen, we have donor relations people. And like their for-profit counterparts, the donor relations folks have “goals” and marks to hit. Even a nonprofit has plenty of the same economic realities as any Fortune 500 company. There are payrolls to meet — those working in the nonprofit world still have rent to pay, mortgages to service, and children to feed. The utility companies may give a small break to nonprofits, but if the bills are not paid, the water and power stop flowing. When you add building maintenance, food costs for feeding hungry people, insurance, and all the other expenses that go along with a business, it is a marvel any nonprofits manage at all.

So, when the holidays come around, and people are feeling the urge to give, the nonprofit world pounces. That is why you may be getting more envelopes in your mailbox than you expected or even asked for, or getting a phone call or three from a nonprofit you may have contributed to in the past.

My request is that you have patience. As someone who detests getting unsolicited calls from people trying to sell me aluminum siding, solar panels, or a new credit card, I feel your pain. But reserve a little charity for the charity that may be calling. They are selling something too — it may not be goods and or services, but it is services for good.

I have worked in nonprofits that were religious in their genesis and nature, and for one that has discarded it. Some people give because a charity is religious and others will give only if they are sure it is not. A persisting urban legend is that religious charities demand to see baptismal certificates, and will toss out anyone who cannot provide the proper paperwork. But this does not happen. It reminds me of something a nun I know once said. She operates a social service agency in Los Angeles, and she said she doesn’t help people because they are Catholic, she helps them because she is Catholic. 

So whether it is a food or toy drive at your parish, a Catholic Charities campaign, or flyer from any of the numerous organizations in Los Angeles that feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless, remember that the mail you did not ask for, the unsolicited phone call, is (mostly) coming from a good place. 

And if you feel grumpy with all the over-commercialization of Christmas, and the seemingly endless problem of homelessness, keep in mind that if any of us deserved mercy, none of us would need it. 

Florence, Arizona, December 11, 2024

    

December 7 marked the 5th anniversary of the repose of Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona, a great saint of our times.

Geronda Ephraim departed to the Lord at about 10:00 PM on December 7, 2019, at St. Anthony’s Monastery in Florence, Arizona, which he founded and where he spent the last several decades of his life. He is entombed in the St. Menas Chapel.

The beloved Athonite elder began his monastic life as a spiritual child of the great St. Joseph the Hesychast. He later became abbot of Philotheou Monastery and helped to repopulate a number of other Athonite monasteries, in addition to founding nearly two dozen new monasteries in Greece and North America. He had thousands of spiritual children throughout the world.

Abbot Paisios and the brotherhood of St. Anthony’s commemorated their elder on the anniversary of his repose on Saturday, beginning with Midnight Office, Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy beginning at 1:00 AM. The Liturgy was followed by a memorial service in the monastery’s main church and a trisagion at Elder Ephraim’s tomb in the St. Menas Chapel.

The services were led by Bishop Athenagoras of Nazianzos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Several hundred Orthodox faithful came to prayerfully commemorate Elder Ephraim.

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Elder Ephraim in repose     

On the two days before the anniversary, Uncut Mountain Press held a conference in Florence dedicated to, “Torches of Truth: The Kollyvades Fathers and Their Successors,” including St. Joseph the Hesychast and Elder Ephraim.

On St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite and the Kollyvades FathersAgainst the supposedly very knowledgeable western man who lives intensely in his “enlightenment,” his vast storage of knowledge, the Kollyvades came and placed the struggling ascetic man seeking for holiness, and the new martyrs. In this context of sanctification and holiness the Kollyvades Fathers of the Philokalia stood and lived.

“>The Kollyvades Fathers, most notably including Sts. Makarios of Corinth, Nikodemos the Hagiorite, and Athanasios of Paros were a group of Orthodox monks and theologians who emerged in the late 18th century on Mt. Athos. They were part of a spiritual and intellectual movement aimed at revitalizing Orthodox spirituality and practice. They were responsible for the compilation of the Orthodox classic The Philokalia.

Abbot Gregorios presenting at the conference. Photo: Facebook     

The conference featured talks by:

• Abbot Nikodemos (Barousis) of the Holy Monastery of the Panagia Chrysopodoritissa, Chrysopigi (Achaia), Greece on the theology and praxis of Baptism in Dorotheos Voulismas, St. Paisius Velichkovsky, and the Kollyvades Fathers

• Abbot Gregorios (Estephan) of Holy Dormition Orthodox Monastery in Bkeftine, Lebanon on fidelity to the Holy Fathers as the identifying characteristic of an Orthodox Christian

• Archpriest Peter Heers, founder and head of Uncut Mountain Press: on St. Joseph the Hesychast and Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona as modern successors to the Kollyvades Fathers

• Constantine Zalalas, founder of St. Nikodemos Publications on the heart of the Kollyvadic spirit and Its significance today

His Eminence Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus also joined remotely for a lively Q and A session with the approximately 200 participants.

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ROME — To say the Holy See was caught unawares by the sudden implosion of the Assad regime in Syria the weekend of Dec. 7-8 is true, but uninformative — the whole world was surprised, so why should the Vatican be any different?

It’s a development that many in the Vatican, in tandem with Syria’s small but symbolically significant Christian minority, will view with a degree of ambivalence. Assad was a thug, sure, but at least he was our thug, they might say, arguing that he was a firebreak against ISIS and jihadism.

Despite that reaction, Pope Francis and his Vatican team nonetheless may have some surprising leverage to help shape the next act in the Syrian drama.

For the last 20 years, ever since the U.S. invaded Iraq over the objections of St. Pope John Paul II in 2003, the Vatican has feared that a similar scenario could play out in Syria — i.e., that external military intervention might dislodge a dictator but leave chaos in its wake, in which the country’s Christians would be especially hard-hit.

Such concerns were part of the reason why, soon after his election in 2013, Francis joined President Vladimir Putin of Russia in opposing a Western assault on Syria, at a time when President Barack Obama of the U.S. and Prime Minister David Cameron of the U.K. were both considering getting involved after Assad had deployed chemical weapons against his opposition.

The Vatican also has long opposed international sanctions against Assad, arguing that isolating Syria from the international community “benefits no one,” in the words of Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, in 2023.

Now that Assad has fallen, but to a domestic insurrection rather than an external intervention, the Vatican and local Christian leaders seem cautiously optimistic.

Although a major component of the rebel alliance, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement (HTS), has a history of links with both al-Qaeda and ISIS, the pope’s envoy to Damascus, Cardinal Mario Zenari, nevertheless struck reassuring notes in a Dec. 8 interview with Vatican News.

“The rebels met the bishops in Aleppo right away, in the early days, assuring them that they’ll respect the various religious confessions and respect the Christians,” Zenari said. “Let’s hope they keep that promise and move toward reconciliation.”

Bishop Hanna Jallouf, a member of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and the Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo, was similarly sanguine, pointing out that the day Syrians woke up to a new world was also the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

“May the new Syria be reborn under the merciful mantle of Mary,” he said.

At the moment, the consensus among most international observers is that Turkey is the big winner from the regime change in Damascus. (Many also believe Israel has gained, but it’s unlikely to have much leverage with other regional players or the Syrians themselves in terms of what happens next.)

Turkey has significant motives for promoting stability and development in Syria, both to encourage the 3 million Syrian refugees inside Turkey to go home, thereby relieving the burden to provide for them, and also to keep its moral enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), from slicing off part of Syria to create an enclave on Turkey’s border.

As it happens, Francis and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, if not quite best friends, at least share a budding rapport that might position the Vatican to partner with Ankara in terms of helping to chart a post-Assad course for Syria.

Francis obviously takes Turkey seriously. He’s proposed Turkey as a possible mediator for the war in Ukraine, in part because Francis and Erdoğan broadly see eye to eye — both main open lines of communication with Moscow, both are personally on good terms with Putin, and both believe the West doesn’t have entirely clean hands in the situation either.

Francis and Erdoğan also have spoken over the phone often regarding the conflict in Gaza. Erdoğan repeatedly has termed the Israeli offensive a “genocide,” and in a new book devoted to the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year in 2025, Francis called for research to establish whether a “genocide” under international law is indeed underway.

So robust is Francis’ regard for Erdoğan that the Turkish leader even succeeded last August where a broad swath of the pontiff’s own bishops had failed, which was to persuade Francis to wade into the controversy over an apparent parody of the Last Supper at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Scores of Catholic bishops around the world objected immediately, but the Vatican maintained radio silence for a full week until Erdoğan called Francis to say that since even Muslim leaders are speaking out, it’s time for you to join the party.

Given that background, it’s plausible to believe that Francis and Erdoğan will speak about Syria too, among other things affording the pope the chance to raise the fate of the country’s beleaguered Christian minority, which is believed to have plummeted to 300,000 from roughly 1.5 million when the civil war broke out in 2011.

An early objective for an Ankara/Holy See partnership is likely to be persuading the international community to drop sanctions against Syria. Zenari suggested as much in his recent interview, terming the sanctions “a burden that falls especially upon the poor,” and calling on the international community to abolish them.

And should Russia, where Assad has taken refuge, attempt to reassert some of its traditional influence in Syria, Francis can draw upon his entrée with the Russian leader to engage that development too.

It would be impressive to think that Francis has cultivated his ties with figures such as Erdoğan and Putin knowingly, anticipating they would come in handy in just such situations as the Syrian revolution.

But whether it’s cunning, luck, providence, or some combination of the three, Francis has positioned himself to have a seat at the table … and for the head of the world’s smallest state, that’s already no mean feat.

On this day, the commemoration of the Hieromartyr Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov)It is said that the day of Saint Seraphim’s death was foretold to him by Saint John of Kronstadt, iwho said: ”Remember the day of the Three Hierarchs.”

“>Holy New Martyr Seraphim (Chichagov), we publish this translation of his homily on contemporary martyrdom–a subject he knew from his own martyric experience.

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Photo: azbyka.ru Our Lord Jesus Christ said: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven (Mt. 5:11-12).

Some may think that the Lord’s instruction not to fear hatred doesn’t apply to them and wasn’t given for our times and circumstances. We don’t live now, they say, among enemies and persecutors of Christianity as did the first followers of Christ; we live as Christians among Christians. The world, which once hated the Christian race, over the course of time was reborn into the Christian world.

Let us listen, my beloved ones, to the inimitable word on this occasion from the great Holy Hierarch Saint Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of MoscowKnowledge has for its object things visible and comprehensible; faith, things which are invisible, and even incomprehensible. Knowledge is founded on experience, on examination of its object; but faith on belief of testimony to truth. Knowledge belongs properly to the intellect, although it may also act on the heart; faith belongs principally to the heart, although it is imparted through the intellect.

“>Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. Thus, he says, the world has indeed been overcome, though not destroyed; it’s still alive and still hates those who are Christ’s or who try to be so. The world, having been conquered by faith and captured in its obedience, and thus admitted into its domain, imperceptibly brought its own spirit with it and spread it within. Thus, this enemy of Christ and Christianity found itself within the bounds of Christianity itself; and having covered itself with the name of the Christian world, it acts freely and establishes a worldly Christianity for itself. It strives to transform the sons of faith back into sons of the world, to prevent the sons of the world from being reborn into true Christian life; and against those who disobey it, it arms itself with hatred, cunning, scandal, slander, contempt, and every weapon of unrighteousness.

Those who are truly Christ’s and want to understand how the world can hate today can always experience it for themselves. The more perfect and visible they are to the world, the sooner hatred will be aroused. Let them turn to the wise and learned of this age, for example, with the teaching about the wisdom of God, or about the corruption of human nature, or about the inner man, or about the contemplative life, or about the activity of the Holy Spirit—the deeper they expound upon this infinitely deep teaching, the less the learned ones will understand it, and the sooner, due to their confidence in the superiority of their minds, they will despise them as dangerous teachers. Let someone of means dare with complete Christian determination to reject splendor and luxury, amusements and spectacles, distribute his possessions to the poor, and resolve to live exclusively by the Church, and see with what stinging glances people will pursue this outlaw. How many arrows of wit, or more accurately, of acute madness will be showered upon him! There’s no doubt there will be people who will doubt his sanity solely because he dared to think and act in a Christian way, without conforming to the world and its false concepts.

But perhaps the hatred of the world isn’t yet martyrdom? In that case, let’s define what it means to revile someone for faith and fidelity to Christ. It means to revile, mock, and taunt, as they reviled Christ Himself, calling Him a Samaritan and demoniac and as they laughed at Him as He hung upon the Cross for the salvation of men. What does it mean to be outcast for the truth? It means to be deprived of communication with people, to be persecuted and oppressed. By truth we must understand every virtue, and its persecutors are those who are devoted to sin and ungodliness. As the zealots of piety and virtue serve as a rebuke for them, they become intolerant. St. John the Theologian

“>St. John the Apostle writes that every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved, because they’re evil (Jn. 3:20). Is it not martyrdom to be subjected to abuse, ridicule, mockery, to be deprived of communication with people, to experience persecution, oppression, to be deprived of means of living, to be plunged into needs, troubles, and diseases? Is it not a slow death, not tyranny, not torment that determines martyrdom?

The existence of martyrdom can be judged by the fear that some people have of the hatred of the world. They pander to the world out of cowardice and to avoid being subjected to this hatred. People who seem grounded and prudent allow themselves to commit frivolous and worldly acts; those who want to be honest allow themselves to fall into dishonorable deeds. Subordinates, afraid of losing the favor of their superiors, imitate their bad deeds.

To understand why this happens, why martyrdom is contemporary to us, we have to delve into the question of who these tormentors are. Indeed, who can create enmities, discord, turmoil, hatred, and persecution within Christianity itself? He who filled the first centuries with Christian martyrs; he who gave no rest to the pillars of the Orthodox Church, who tormented Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, who exiled St. Athanasius several times, who confined St. John Chrysostom. Who has produced and continues to produce such horrors if not the world, once defeated by our faith? But then again—oh, woe and disgrace to Christianity!—often defeating the faith within us, not due to its weakness, but due to our weakness and cowardice…

All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, says the holy Apostle (2 Tim. 3:12). Consequently, all true Christians will be persecuted until the end of the age; they will suffer from sorrows, woes, temptations, slander, and disasters. We shouldn’t be troubled by such an order of things. For a man who fights evil, says St. John Chrysostom

“>St. John Chrysostom, it’s impossible not to experience sorrows. A wrestler can’t indulge in luxury, a soldier can’t feast during battle. Therefore, let no one engaged in a struggle seek rest or give himself over to pleasures. The present time is a time of struggle, battle, sorrows, and sighs—it’s an arena of spiritual labors. The time for rest will come later, but now is the time for effort and toil. The righteous endure hardships to test them while sinners endure them as punishment for their sins. He who knows the Holy Scriptures as he should isn’t tempted by anything that happens; he bears everything courageously, accepts some things through faith and attributes them to the incomprehensible providence of God, while for other things he sees foundations and finds examples in Scripture.

Enmity, persecution, and martyrdom aren’t anything new, and therefore Christ teaches us to look at them indifferently, without fear or confusion, and tells us: If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you (Jn. 15:18).

Take courage, and let your heart be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord!

Amen.

Icon of the battle between the Novgorodians and the Suzdalians. Fragment   

One of the most ancient iconographic images of the Mother of God, which has received in Rus’ the name, “Novgorod ”Of the Sign” IconAs they were carrying the icon, the enemy loosed upon the procession a cloud of arrows, one of which struck the face of the Theotokos written upon the icon. From her eyes tears began to flow, and her icon turned to face the city. Immediately after the appearance of such a divine sign, the attackers were struck with an inexplicable terror, and began to strike down one another.

“>Of the Sign”, that is, a sign of the Theotokos’s mercy, began to be proliferated in Rus’ during the eleventh to twelfth centuries. Icons of this kind got this name after a miraculous sign that came from one of them in 1170 in Novgorod. At that time, a united force of Russian local princes was advancing on Novgorod, threatening to bring punishment upon the citizens’ heads. Not having the strength of arms to repel the attackers, the Novgorodians sought help from the Most Holy Theotokos, who then manifested her special miraculous intercessions through her miracle-working icon.

Such instances of miraculous help live long in people’s memories. And it must be said that there is a good reason for this. After all, every manifestation of God’s power is worthy of grateful memory. Miracles strengthen people’s faith, and are often an important argument in its favor for those who waver in the truth. However, there is also another side to divine signs and miracles. What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? (Jn. 6:30), as people asked the Lord after eating the bread and fish that He had miraculously multiplied. In reply to such demands the God-Man replied, sighing deeply in spirit, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation (Mk. 8:12).

St. Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of NinevehSaint Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Ninevah, lived during the sixth century. He and his brother entered the monastery of Mar Matthew near Ninevah and received the monastic tonsure.

“>St. Isaac the Syrian discussed this subject paradoxically. “If he who asks the Lord for a sign be heard,” says the saint, “then the evil one will find him to be man who walks before God without reverence, with audacity, and will then thrust him into great calamities.” That is, we are talking here not even about diabolic delusion, but about the danger that even true miracles can cause a person who begged for them long and hard from God! Here is a real danger in spiritual life, contained in the personal freedom that the Creator has bestowed upon His creation and does not limit. As it turns out, we can ask God for things that aren’t good for us and actually get them. And this is only possible only because, without having made sense of our own desires, without having timely tamed our perhaps good but nevertheless untimely strivings, we prefer our own world, contrived, tested, and demanded by us alone, over God’s world. And this is by no means the result of some negligence on the Creator’s part. The Lord talks about this in the parable of the Prodigal Son (cf. Lk. 15:11–32). A loving father gives his son what the latter demands from Him, fully aware of the dangers inheritent an unexperienced child’s independent life. Just the same, he cannot hold him back.

Miracle of the icon of the Mother of God, “Of the Sign”. Battle of the Novgorodians with the Suzdalians. 15th c.     

Man is called in his earthly sojourn to recognize the taste of truth in life, and having experienced it, he will never choose the opposite. Our forefathers once chose that very experiential path of knowing the Truth; they did not believe the Creator’s word. Therefore, it is no surprise that we continue to test the borderline between darkness and light only by getting dangerously close to it, where we can feel that the path we’ve chosen is leading us in the wrong direction. The Lord cannot deprive us of this ontological necessity to test everything by our own experience. But in order to recognize the thin line between what is truly necessary for our life and what is untimely, between a good filial request of the Creator and an audacious demand for freedom and personal space, we must have a special spiritual taste; we must be able to recognize vainglory from a sincere desire to do good. This ability to discern spirits comes with time, after long labors and patience. This is the lot of the chosen. It’s better for us not to try to determine with our own minds the nature of spiritual phenomena through personal experience. There is no sense in trying out what is beyond the borderline of the close and familiar world (material and spiritual); no sense in asking for what would completely change the order and circumstances of our lives. The experience of the saints shows that it is better to thankfully trust God, to accept the circumstances of our lives as more or less conditioned upon the Creator’s good Providence for us. And then He will waste no time in taking away from us whatever is not beneficial to us. If circumstances really press us to turn to God for a miracle, then let this prayer have more contrition over our own infirmities than demands for justice or obligations from the Creator.

Damascus, December 10, 2024

Photo: antiochpatriarchate.org     

The Antiochian Orthodox Church issued a statement yesterday reaffirming its historical and spiritual connection to Syria as a cradle of Divine messages and prophetic heritage, while acknowledging that the country is at a crucial historical crossroads with the overthrow of the Assad government by militant rebels.

The statement emphasizes the need for wisdom and unity during this period, highlighting Syria’s potential for a bright future that honors its identity as a land of civilization.

The Church calls on all Syrians, regardless of their backgrounds, to fulfill their national duty by maintaining unity, protecting property, and working together for the country’s future. The statement concludes with a prayer for peace, linking the current situation to the approaching celebration of Christmas and expressing hope for goodness to prevail throughout Syria.

The full statement reads:

“God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.”

Syria has always been, and continues to be, a country honored by God as the cradle of His divine messages and the land that embraced the footsteps of His messengers and prophets, despite the many historical eras it has endured. Today, it stands at a new crossroads in its history, looking towards a bright future aspired by every Syrian—a future that reflects Syria’s identity as a land of civilization and the cradle of history.

This phase requires wisdom, solidarity, and concerted efforts. Above all, it demands trust in God and reliance on Him, seeking His mercy and the wisdom of His providence to remain steadfast in the love of the homeland and the preservation of its people’s dignity.

Accordingly, as a Church deeply rooted in this great East, we are committed to continuing our journey of serving humanity and promoting peace and harmony among people in a country governed by law and democratic institutions.

In this critical phase, the Church urges all its parishioners and every Syrian citizen, regardless of ethnic, political, or religious affiliation, to fulfill their national duty by striving for unity, protecting public and private property, fostering safety in their surroundings, exercising self-restraint in the face of challenges, and approaching matters with wisdom and foresight. It calls on everyone to extend a hand to those responsible for the care of this beloved country. The Church also appeals to all concerned people to work toward addressing violations and safeguarding the dignity of every citizen, so we may collectively progress toward a brighter tomorrow.

Finally, as we prepare to celebrate the Nativity of Christ born in a Cave, we lift up our prayers to Him, asking for peace to reign in the land of peace, bringing goodness to all the people of this cherished country.

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The suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson hails from a prominent Maryland family whose matriarch was a strong supporter of Jesuit education.

Luigi Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the ambush killing of Thompson, who was gunned down Dec. 4 while walking to a Hilton hotel in New York’s midtown Manhattan neighborhood for his company’s annual investor conference.

The slaying, captured on video camera, sparked a multistate manhunt, with evidence pointing to a methodically planned killing. A customer at the Altoona restaurant alerted staff to Mangione, and the police were called. The suspect was found with false identification and a gun similar to the one believed to have been used in Thompson’s killing.

The New York Times reported police also found a three-page manifesto Mangione had written, in which he appeared to have admitted to the killing while acting alone. The handwritten document references UnitedHealthcare while deploring companies that “continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”

The Times also noted that people who knew Mangione said he had spine issues, and a significant back surgery in 2023 that appears to have been a spinal fusion involving screws and rods.

The 26-year-old Mangione was initially charged in Pennsylvania with providing false identification to police, possession of an unlicensed firearm and forgery.

The family of Mangione — a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania — said in a statement posted on social media Dec. 9 by the suspect’s cousin, Maryland lawmaker Nino Mangione, that they are “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.”

“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione,” said the family, explaining they only know what they have read in news reports.

“We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved,” the family’s statement said. “We are devastated by this news.”

Luigi Mangione’s late grandmother, Mary Mangione, was memorialized by Loyola University Maryland after her March 2023 death, with the university describing her in a tribute as believing “passionately in the value of Catholic Jesuit education.”

In 2010, the late Mangione — who had graduated from Mount St. Agnes College, which later merged with Loyola — had been awarded the school’s presidential medal. She and her husband, Nicholas Mangione, were philanthropists and longtime benefactors of Loyola, helping the school to acquire its permanent exhibition of the St. John’s Bible at Loyola’s Notre Dame Library.

“Mary Mangione believed passionately in the value of Catholic Jesuit education. Over the years, she and her husband have given generously to strengthen the education and experience we offer to our students,” said Loyola president Terrence M. Sawyer in the university’s March 28, 2023, tribute to her. “She will be missed and long remembered for the ways in which she helped ensure that our students would continue to grow in mind, body, and spirit for generations to come.”

Late Dec. 9, New York prosecutors filed murder and other charges against Luigi Mangione. He is expected to be extradited to the state.

Minsk, December 10, 2024

    

On Sunday, December 8, the St. Elisabeth Convent in Minsk festively celebrated its 25th anniversary.

From its humble beginning, the monastery quickly developed into one of the most beautiful and most influential monasteries in modern Belarus.

The Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Reigning Icon of the Mother of God was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Benjamin of Minsk together with four brother bishops from the Belarusian Church, the monastery’s spiritual father Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok and other monastery clergy, and other clerical guests, reports the Belarusian Church.

    

The church was filled with the members of the sisterhood, parishioners, pilgrims, and visiting monastics.

After the Augmented Litany, the Metropolitan offered a prayer for the restoration of peace.

The service was broadcast on the monastery’s YouTube channel:

Following the service, Met. Benjamin offered the monastery an icon of St. Manefa of Gomel, as well as a stole that was used by St. John of Maximovitch to hear children’s confessions at the St. Tikhon of Zadonsk Orphanage in San Francisco. The relic will be placed for veneration in the monastery’s church dedicated to St. John.

    

His Eminence Archbishop Mikhail (Donskov) also spoke, sharing personal memories of St. John, whom he met when he was seven years old.

In connection with the celebration and in recognition of zealous labors for the glory of the Church, the monastery’s spiritual father Archpriest Andrew LemeshonokLemeshonok, Andrew, Archpriest

“>Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok was awarded the Order of St. Cyril of Turov, 1st Class, and Abbess Euphrosyne (Laptik) received the Order of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk. Other clergy members and those serving in various obediences at the monastery also received church awards.

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The history of St. Elisabeth Convent began when the first Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, His Emience Metropolitan Philaret (Vakhromeev), tonsured three sisters as riassaphore nuns and blessed seven sisters for the novitiate.

The monastery site was chosen near a psychiatric hospital so that the sisters could combine social and spiritual ministry, following the example of the Sts. Martha and Mary Convent in Moscow, founded by the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisabeth. Today, the monastery comprises about 120 monastics and over 300 sisters and brothers of mercy. In total, 13 churches have been built in the monastery itself, its dependencies, and the hospitals and residential care facilities under its care.

The monastery provides spiritual care for psychiatric and neurological care facilities for both adults and children. Near Minsk, there are associated men’s and women’s sketes that welcome people with addictions, the homeless, those released from prison, and anyone with nowhere else to go. The monastery has established the Dobrodel social workshop for rehabilitating people with mental disorders.

Additionally, the monastery has created a social rehabilitation center in Minsk that helps people start new lives and find their place: overcome harmful habits, find employment, and learn new professions. The center operates more than 30 Church craft workshops, including: iconography, icon mounting, restoration, gold embroidery, sewing, stone mosaic icons, wall painting and mosaic, ceramics, stained glass, and others.

The monastery’s plans include large-scale construction of an almshouse for housing, rehabilitation, and care of elderly people and individuals with disabilities. The proximity to the monastery will allow residents to regularly participate in Church Sacraments, while enabling the sisters to carry out their ministry of love for God and neighbor.

The monastery also runs an Orthodox kindergarten and general education school, and conducts a summer camp for children and teenagers.

One of the important aspects of the monastery’s activities is organizing exhibitions and festivals in various parts of Belarus and beyond. Traditional events now include the Kladez Orthodox culture festival, the Joy educational festival, the Reading City book festival, the Dobrodel festival of folk craftsmen and applied arts masters, and others.

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Ekaterinburg, December 10, 2024

Photo: ekaterinburg-eparhia.ru     

Thousands of Orthodox Christians gathered in procession in honor of St. Catherine, the patron saint of the Ural capital of Ekaterinburg, on her feast day on Saturday, December 7.

The day began with the Divine Liturgy celebrated by seven hierarchs and a host of clerics at Holy Trinity Cathedral. Before Holy Communion, Hieromonk Prokopy (Rudchenko), secretary of the Academic Council of the Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary, offered a homily about the Great Martyr, saying:

By her life, St. Catherine proved her faith and her loyalty to Christ. Each of us is a Christian, and this means that each of us bears Christ’s name and is His follower. This means that we should accept Sacred Scripture in all things and follow what the Holy Church teaches us. And we can do this, above all, by following the commandments…

For our city, the memory of St. Catherine and for each resident of this city is a special day, because the Great Martyr cares for each of us. Let us not forget her example, let us remember her strong faith, her courage and bravery. Let us pray that all these qualities may be in each of us.

Ten chalices were needed to commune all the faithful who had gathered to celebrate St. Catherine. The service was broadcast live by Soyuz:

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Following the Liturgy, the hierarchs led a citywide procession to the Chapel of St. Catherine, with about 3,500 faithful joining in. A moleben was served at the historic site where the majestic St. Catherine Cathedral stood until it was blown up by the Bolsheviks in 1930, reports the Ekaterinburg Diocese.

Following a long-standing tradition, a copy of the miraculous image of St. Catherine of Alexandria from Mt. Sinai with a particle of her relics was carried in the procession.

Following the moleben, His Eminence Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan addressed those present with an archpastoral message:

We are joyful and happy and grateful to God that we have such a glorious saint at the head of our city—the Great Martyr Catherine, who is for us a great example of faith, piety, faithfulness to God, devotion to God, great wisdom, honesty, decency, diligence, peace, and harmony.

How much we can draw from her: strength, knowledge, and blessings for our earthly life! May God grant that the grace of God through the prayers of Great Martyr Catherine be ever with us, ever enlightening us, strengthening us, delivering us from many troubles and tribulations, difficulties and various illnesses, because we’re all subject to earthly difficulties, but we have protection, we have help from God and from the Great Martyr Catherine.

Photo: ekaterinburg-eparhia.ru     

After the procession, each believer could venerate the Icon of the city’s Heavenly patroness, as well as the reliquary containing the relics of St. Catherine that remains in the St. Catherine Chapel.

Afterward, all participants in the prayer procession were treated to hot tea and refreshments.

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