On Sunday, January 6/19, 2014, the faithful of the Cathedral of St. Markella in Astoria, NY, and St. Isidoros Greek Orthodox Church in Long Island, NY, celebrated the Feast of Theophany, the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, at the Cathedral of St. Markella. Celebrating the Divine Liturgy were His Eminence, Metropolitan Pavlos, and His Grace, Bishop Demetrius of Boston, along with Fr. Theodoros Giannakopoulos, Fr. Nectarios Socrates, Fr. Epiphanios Antoniou, and Fr. Nicholas Seregos from St. Isidoros, as well as Archdeacon Agathangelus and Hierodeacon Theologos from Holy Ascension Monastery in Bearsville, NY.
Following the Divine Liturgy, the Blessing of the Waters was performed at Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, with young men diving into the Hudson River to retrieve the Cross.
Below, please find pictures from the event, as well as a video.
Video: Theophania 2014 at Battery Park - NYC
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...
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Q. There seems to be a lot of variation in how people observe fasting, but my confessor told me to fast from oil on Wednesday and Friday. Oil is a pretty vague category, though, and I was wondering if I could get a more explicit description of what kinds of food and drink are excluded on strict fast days. Read more...