Attack Against the Fathers of Esphigmenou

We received the following email at 8:26am EDT on Monday July 16/29, 2013 from His Grace Bishop Photios, Chief-Secretary of the Holy Synod in Greece.

________________

Τώρα 3 διμοιρίες ΜΑΤ κατευθύνονται στίς Καρυές για να αποβάλουν βιαίως τους Εσφιγμενίτες Πατέρες από το αντιπροσωπείο της Μονής. Παρακαλούμε όπως:

α. Προσευχηθείτε θερμώς γιά την ενίσχυση των Πατέρων και την αποτροπήν των σχεδίων βιαίας απομακρύνσεως

β. Οι δυνάμενοι να στείλουν διαμαρτυρία στο Πρωθυπουργό ζητώντας την παρέμβασή του για την παύση των διωκτικών ενεργειών. Το e-mail του Πρωθυπουργού This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

________________________________

Three riot squads are now directed at Karyes to forcibly expel the fathers of Esphigmenou from the Monastery's representation in Karyes.

a. Please pray fervently for the support of the Fathers of the Monastery and for the thwarting of the plans to forcibly remove them.

b. Those who are able, please send a letter of protest to the Prime Minister of Greece seeking his intervention to stop this persecution. The Prime Minister's e-mail is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Orthodox Awareness

Bartholomew Prays at Iftar

Iftar, refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after sunset.

We report the following unchanged as it was published:

"The leaders of the Armenian, Roman, Jewish and Syrian communities of Turkey sat around the fasting Iftar dinner in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul." Read more...

Missions

Saint John of Kronstadt - Bunnell, Florida

St. John of Kronstadt Orthodox Church began as a mission parish in the year 2000, in a home chapel in Palm Coast, FL – a small town on Florida’s northeast coast located between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. After two years, it became necessary to have services in area community centers, rented for Sundays and other Holy Days. Read more...

Youth

2025 Youth Conference

Please join us for the 2025 youth conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! To learn more, visit the conference website.

Ask A Priest

Morning and Evening Prayers

Q. Are the prayers in the blue prayer book [A Prayerbook for Orthodox Christians by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery —ed.] compulsory for everyone? I mean their morning prayers and the service of Small Compline. My confessor gave me a special rule but wasn’t clear about whether this replaced the book prayers or was in addition to them. Read more...