Debut of Orthodox TV (Greek)

On Tuesday, February 23, 1988 - the Feast of the Martyr Damian of Esphigmenou Monastery - the Orthodox Television Program of the Cathedral of Saint Markella was introduced to the television viewing public of New York City. This is that program. We have recently discovered it in our archives. It has not been seen since that evening many years ago, until now.

Note: Metropolitan Petros introduces the title of the program during his appearance in this debut episode. He had wanted to give the same name to the television program that he had given his radio program: "The Orthodox Church Near You". However, during the editing of the program, that title was not used. Therefore, even though Geronda Petros uses "The Orthodox Church Near You" during his remarks, the program became known by the title "The Orthodox Television Program."


Part I


Part II


Part III

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 Matthew the Evangelist, Jonesboro, Arkansas

Jonesboro is a town located near the Eastern border of Arkansas, with a population of approximately 60,000. From a human standpoint, it’s not the most likely candidate for a traditional Orthodox mission, but for an Orthodox Christian who orders his priorities around Christ and His Church, it makes perfect sense. Read more...

Youth

2026 Youth Conference

Please join us for the 2026 youth conference in Upper Marlboro, MD! To learn more, visit the this page.

Ask A Priest

Fasting

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...