The DFW Metroplex Metropolitan Committee invites you to

“A TASTE AND TOUR OF IOCC”

Sunday, December 9, 2012 • 6:00pm – 8:00pm

HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
13555 Hillcrest Road • Dallas, TX 75240

See the Flyer for more details.

The Holy Orthodox Faith: Finding True Freedom through Slavery & Total Victory through Surrender

by Archimandrite Demetrios Carellas

3 talk series: Mon, Nov 26 ; Tue, Nov 27; Wed Nov 28 2012

Schedule:

• Vespers at 5:30 PM
• Followed by light fasting food (in consideration of some Orthodox who have begun the Nativity fast)
• Talk at 7:00 – 8:30
• Visiting and more food after the talk.

The talks will be next door to our church in a very nice lecture hall we use. Our hall will be available at all times.

“EVERYTHING IS FREE, but please RSVP”

(so we can know how much food to make)

Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church
708 South Chestnut, McKinney, Texas 75069 Church Phone: 972-529-2754
Priest Seraphim Holland seraphim@orthodox.net Cell: 972 658-5433
http://www.orthodox.net

This Document in word format: http://www.orthodox.net/calendar/archiamandrite-demetrios-carellas-talks-nov-25-26-27-2012.doc

This Document in pdf format: http://www.orthodox.net/calendar/archiamandrite-demetrios-carellas-talks-nov-25-26-27-2012.pdf

NEW YORK – The Governor of the State of New York Andrew Cuomo, announced yesterday at the Archdiocesan Council meeting, that the final agreement on the rebuilding of St. Nicholas was signed the day before, Oct. 18, 2012 and that the Port Authority would begin construction immediately hoping to complete the foundation in a year and then turn the site over to the Church.

Governor Cuomo made the announcement during the joint luncheon of the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the National Philoptochos Board, which had both convened for their first meeting of the 2012-2014 term in the New York Hilton.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America welcomed Governor Cuomo and thanked him for being “instrumental” in the process and for “helping St. Nicholas Church be resurrected.” The Archbishop talked about the transformation of the World Trade Center and said that “when St. Nicholas Church is completed it will be a place of praying, a place of comfort, openness and reconciliation where the relatives of the almost three thousand victims of 9/11 can come and light a candle.” The Archbishop offered to the Governor a symbolic gift, a sterling silver hand-made cross, as “a symbol of sacrifice and love, of loss and gain, of death and resurrection.”

Governor Cuomo accepted the symbolic gift on behalf of all the people of the State of New York and after the announcement praised the perseverance of the Greek Orthodox Church and community and said:

Let me say this on the Church of St. Nicholas though, I applaud you for what you did – the Archbishop has been very kind, (but) I am only doing what I am supposed to be doing. I am doing my job and what I was elected to do. But the fight that you waged for St. Nicholas Church, that went over a decade is remarkable. You faced every obstacle you were told “no”, time after time, after time. You fought the bureaucracy numerous governors, numerous heads of the Port Authority and you wouldn’t take “no” for an answer and you kept coming back and kept coming back… and it is such a beautiful story of the Greek community. Organizing, mobilizing, refusing to give up, refusing to loose. And, what was most beautiful, it wasn’t for you, it wasn’t about a monetary gain, it wasn’t because someone was going to be advanced, it was the fundamental belief of the Greek community, which is about community and faith and philanthropy.

St. Barbara Orthodox Church in Southwest Ft. Worth is pleased to offer this Fall an introductory adult and teen series on prayer. Archbishop Anthony Bloom’s celebrated work, “Beginning to Pray,” will be used as a guide. Copies will be available for purchase, and a reading of the text will be helpful for participants, but not essential.

Bloom, a former WWII Surgeon in the French army, and later an Orthodox hierarch, became known internationally for his talks and writings on prayer and the Christian life. His works concerning Christian prayer transcend denominational lines, approaching the subject from the viewpoint of a person seeking answers to life’s ultimate questions about existence itself, and God’s activity in one’s life, specifically as it relates to prayer and a personal relationship with the Creator.

From the publisher of Beginning to Pray: “The book has established itself as a modern spiritual classic. Hailed both by Catholics and Protestants, it was written by an Orthodox Archbishop for people who had never prayed before and has been read and loved by persons at all levels of spiritual development.”

Over a six week period classes at St. Barbara’s will aim at fostering an understanding of the basic principles of prayer found in “Beginning to Pray,” and as practiced by Christians for 2000 years.

For more information one may call (817) 294-0325. For registration simply call the Church or email us through the Church’s website with your name, contact information, and the number of participants you represent. Refreshments will be offered, however no child care will be available. The Church is located at 5201 Altamesa Boulevard.

Please see the Please see the “Beginning to Pray” flyer.

“Beginning to Pray”

Adult & Teen Series
St. Barbara Orthodox Church + 5201 Altamesa + SW Ft. Worth

Tuesdays @ 7 pm Starts Oct. 9
All Welcome !!
(No Childcare Available)

Registration and Information:
(817) 294-0325 saintbarbarafw.org

The Texas A&M Chapter is hosting the Regional Retreat this October 13 to 15 at Camp Cho-yeh, an hour north of Houston.

To reduce registration costs, they would like to raise $3,000 or more. They are hoping for 60 or so attendees. So $3,000 would reduce registration fees from $110 per person to $60 per person, saving each $50.

Please send donations to Fr. Gregory Gibson at St. Silouan, PO Box 11582, College Station, TX 77842.

OCF.net is a national Orthodox Christian Fellowship organization for college students.

OCF encourages Orthodox activities, experiences, and general awareness. Programs include

• Real Break
• College Student Sunday
• College Conference during Christmas Break

The Texas A&M Chapter hosts meetings with free food (such as at Rudy’s BBQ) for many attendees.

Trabzon (AsiaNews) — There is “no need” to transform the ancient church of Aghia Sophia in Trabzon into a mosque, it is better that it remains a museum open to all religions: Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, expressed with clarity his opposition to the idea supported by the Deputy Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Arinc who would like to turn this monument of Christianity in an exclusive place of worship for Muslims.

The church of Aghia Sofia (Saint Sofia) is a gem of ancient architecture and dates back to the era of the Comnenus Emperors (1204-1461). It testifies to the ancient presence of Christians of Pontus on the Black Sea, wiped out as a result of various genocides and purges first by the Ottomans, then by the neo-Turks.

Yesterday, the Ecumenical Patriarch visited the church and met with the mayor of the city, Genc. In front of reporters, Bartholomew said: “We respect all mosques and all places of worship, but in this case – turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque – I see no need for worship.”

He added. “We are in favor of maintaining the church of Hagia Sophia as a museum. Moreover, as stated by the head of the local [Islamic] community [here] there are already many mosques to meet the needs for worship of the faithful, and they remain largely partially empty. ”

The Patriarch recalled the recent statements by the President of the Muslim community of the place, Zeki Baytar who reacted strongly to the Arinc proposal, even threatening a revolt, and said: “First we must fill the mosques, then, if necessary, transform Saint Sophia into a mosque.”

“If Hagia Sophia in Trabzon is converted into a mosque – continues Bartholomew I – it will be made available only to our Muslim brothers. Conversely, if it remains as a museum, it can offer its services to the entire international community, with sizeable profits for its inhabitants.”

Among the journalists present, many remember the words of the same Bulent Arinc during his visit to the Phanar – the seat of the patriarchate – in January 2011: “As a government we have a duty to meet the needs of these citizens who have a centuries old presence in these lands.”

Therefore, the position of the Ecumenical Patriarch is hardly surprising. What is of wonder however, is the Turkish government policy towards minorities of “one step forward, one step back”, depending on the circumstances and political conjunctures. Precisely for this reason anti-conformist courageous groups voicing anti-conformist sentiments are on the increase in Turkey.

Trabzon, in the far north-east of Turkey, is inhabited by a population of almost 300 thousand inhabitants. Of these few are Christians. On 5 February 2006, Italian priest Andrea Santoro was murdered by a young nationalist Islamic.

Source

According to this non-profit study on faith retention, Greek Orthodox Christians have the highest retention rates of any Christian group. It isn’t clear from this study if ‘Greek Orthodox’ includes all Orthodox jurisdictions or if this is specifically calling out the Greek Orthodox. “Retention” in the survey was posed as a question about whether one is still a member of the faith that they were raised in. For any religion, the percentage of adults who remain affiliated is called the “retention rate.”

Read the full article.

As has been reported here, here and here, Metropolitan Jonah has resigned as Primate of OCA.

A portion of His Beatitude’s letter reads as follows.

“To the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America,

Brothers,

As per your unanimous request, as conveyed to me by Chancellor Fr. John Jillions, I hereby tender my resignation as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and humbly request another Episcopal assignment.

I had come to the realization long ago that that I have neither the personality nor the temperament for the position of Primate, a position I never sought nor desired.” Source

The hierarchs again will meet via conference call on Monday, July 9, after which additional information will be made available.

Fr. Peter E. Gillquist reposed in the Lord on July, 1 2012, the Feast of Cosmas & Damian (N.S.).

Fr. Peter was an archpriest in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and retired chairman of the archdiocese’s department of missions and evangelism. He was chairman of Conciliar Press (Ben Lomond, California), and the author of numerous books, including Love Is Now, The Physical Side of Being Spiritual and Becoming Orthodox. He also served as project director of the Orthodox Study Bible and beginning in 1997 served as the National Chaplain of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Gillquist and his wife, Marilyn (married in 1960), were long-term residents of Santa Barbara, California, but as of June 2009 they resided in Bloomington, Indiana.

The servant of God Fr. Peter E. Gillquist departed this life at 9:20 p.m. surrounded by family. He has finished the race. Memory eternal!

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

Purported skeletal remains of John the Baptist have been dated to the first century A.D. and so could conceivably have belonged to the “forerunner of Christ,” who baptized Jesus, scientists say.

Discovered in 2010 among the ruins of a Bulgarian church, the remains include six human bones: a knucklebone from the right hand, a tooth, part of a cranium, a rib, and an ulna, or forearm bone.

DNA and radiocarbon testing of collagen from the knucklebone show that the remains likely belonged to a Middle Eastern man who lived in the first century A.D., which fits with the story of John the Baptist.

Read the full article