In the Orthodox Church, the feast day of St Thomas, the faithful disciple of the risen Lord, also known as ‘the Twin’ (Didymus)[1] is celebrated precisely one week after Easter – that is, on the Sunday following Pascha, which is known both as the ‘Sunday of Thomas’ and the ‘After-feast of Pascha’ (Antipascha). Even though popular piety has wrongly attributed …

By Dr Maria C. Khoury, Ed.D. We have just celebrated the Miracle of the Holy Fire in Taybeh in a most magnificent way at the outskirts of our village approximately  5:30 pm local time on this Great and Holy Saturday while waiting all afternoon when this great miracle occurred once again in Jerusalem. “O Joyful Light, of the Holy glory of …

Palestine Chronicle http://www.palestinechronicle.com/archbishop-condemns-israeli-restrictions-on-easter-pilgrims/ On Thursday, Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna condemned Israeli authorities for imposing obstacles on Christians wishing to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to celebrate the upcoming Christian holiday of Easter, saying in a statement, “It’s the right of every Christian to reach the Church of the Holy Sepulchre without facing any obstacles, or impediments. …

By Ghaleb Kandil – 22 APRIL 2014 A week after its liberation from extremist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda, President Bashar al-Assad visited the historic town of Maaloula, where he celebrated Easter with residents, full of joy and sadness because at the destructions provoked by the terrorists. While visiting the city, including the famous monastery of St. Sergius and Bacchus, looted …

By Paul Craig Roberts VOLTAIRE NETWORK | 7 MARCH 2014 According to a report in Kommersant-Ukraine, the finance ministry of Washington’s stooges in Kiev who are pretending to be a government has prepared an economic austerity plan that will cut Ukrainian pensions from $160 to $80 so that Western bankers who lent money to Ukraine can be repaid at the expense of Ukraine’s …

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE: ENCYCLICAL FOR HOLY PASCHA 2014 We continue the work of the Apostles. We preach that death must not have place in our life for it offers no benefit to humanity. Christ is Risen! Come, brethren and children in the Lord, receive the light from the unwaning Light of the Phanar, the Holy Center of the Orthodox, and let us all together …

A recent statement by a member of the government in Priština concerning plans to demolish a Serbian Orthodox church in that town has caused reactions. The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Eparchy of Raška and Prizren called on Tuesday Dardan Gashi’s pronouncement “an open provocation.” The Kosovo Albanian official, in charge of spatial planning, was on Monday quoted as saying by …

A Homily on the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ   By St Justin Popovich Man sentenced God to death; by His Resurrection, He sentenced man to immortality. In return for a beating, He gives an embrace; for abuse, a blessing; for death, immortality. Man never showed so much hate for God as when he crucified Him; and God never …

  A little before midnight on the Blessed Sabbath the Nocturne service is chanted. The celebrant goes to the tomb and removes the winding-sheet. He carries it through the royal doors and places it on the altar table where it remains for forty days until the day of Ascension. At midnight the Paschal procession begins. The people leave the church building singing: …

STYLIANOS By the grace of God Archbishop of Australia To all the Reverend Clergy and devout faithful of our Holy Archdiocese   Brother concelebrants and beloved children of the Church, “Pascha, the sacred feast, today shines forth for us Pascha that has opened the doors of Paradise to us Pascha that sanctifies all faithful”. These three concise verses of the …