St. Irene Chrysovalantou Parish in Rochester Hills (Detroit area), Michigan, celebrated our second parish feast day on 28 July/10 August, 2016.
With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrius, His Grace Christodoulos, Bishop of Theoupolis, a member of our Holy Synod, graciously visited St. Irene in honor of this joyous day of our holy patroness, presiding at Great Vespers and celebrating the Divine Liturgy for the Feast, assisted by Protopresbyter Christos Pittos and our rector, Presbyter Steven Allen. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Grace performed the traditional blessing of apples, which were distributed to the faithful.
Despite our small size and it's being a work day, 42 of the faithful were present for the Divine Liturgy. Fr. Steven, the parish council, and the parish brotherhood wish to thank His Grace Christodoulos for showing archpastoral love in gracing our feast with his apostolic blessing. We also want to express our delight in the visit of Fr. Christos and Presvytera Ekaterina, cherished members of our spiritual family, who came from Chicago to add to the joy of the feast.
We ask the prayers of all the brethren of our Church of the True Orthodox Christians in America, that our young community continue to grow both outwardly and inwardly, remaining steadfast in the pure confession of Faith and nurturing genuine spiritual life for all those who come to us seeking salvation in the Holy Church.
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...
Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary Priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990. Father John served the faithful in Tucson and the surrounding area in his home Chapel until his repose in November of 2000. His wife, Presbytera Valerie, continued to make her home Chapel available for the mission, with clergy from Saint Nectarios Orthodox Church in Seattle and His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Toronto (then of Portland), visiting to provide the Divine Services.
Read more...2025 Youth Conference
Please join us for the 2025 youth conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! To learn more, visit the conference website.
Q. Can you please explain the significance of the forty day memorial service? An Evangelical family asked one of our relatives that question. We said that it’s best to ask a clergy member. Thank you in advance for your response. (We will forward it to them as soon as possible).
-P. & M. G.
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