His Grace, Bishop Demetrius of Boston visited the mission of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco in Portland, Maine on its patronal feast day, July 2nd (n.s.). Concelebrating with His Grace were Presbyters Vassily Mihailoff - rector of the mission, John Knox and Andrew Snogren, Hierodeacon Barsanuphius and Deacon Yakov Tseitlin. Fr. George Liadis and Deacon Cyril Mendoza were also visiting.
Several families came up from the Boston area to share in the celebration of the feast. It was the first hierarchical service at the new church site, glory be to God! All traveled afterwards to the Mihailoffs' new home where they had a festive trapeza "under the tent" in the backyard. It was truly a grace-filled day!
In the early 20th century, the idea of promoting the union of Churches (Orthodox and heterodox) began to gain ground among circles in the Eastern Orthodox Church by establishing a "Communion of Churches" modeled on the League of Nations.
The Patriarchal Encyclical of 1920 foresaw a series of steps toward the “union of the Churches,” of which the first was the change of the calendar for the simultaneous celebration of feast days by all the “Churches.” The content of the encyclical was kept secret from the faithful and only after a few years became known. Read more...
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...
2023 Youth Conference
Please join us for the 2023 youth conference in Chicago, IL! To learn more, visit the home page or visit the conference website.
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...