The Orthodox Faithful in Hong Kong celebrated the Holy Week and the Glorious Pascha in a solemn way. Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, assisted by Rev.Fr.Emmanuel Lemelson, celebrated the Services of the Holy Week at the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Luke and the Resurrection Service at the Canossian Sister’s Chapel.
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Synaxarion of Holy and Great Thursday
Holy and Great Thursday
Holy Thursday-Comments on the main themes
The Last Supper
Theology and Eucharist
Holy Wednesday Evening: The Holy Mystery of Unction
The Mystery of Holy Unction
The Central Message of Holy and Great Wednesday
Sermon for Holy Wednesday
Synaxarion for Holy and Great Wednesday
By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos
SAINT LAZARUS SATURDAY
On this day, the Saturday before Palm Sunday, we celebrate the Raising of Lazarus, the holy and righteous friend of Christ, who lay for four days in the tomb.
Verses
Thou lamentest, O Jesus: this [...]
According to Saint Anastasios the Sinaite, one of the earliest Fathers of the Church, “Orthodoxy is a true conception about God and creation.” Orthodoxy, i.e. right belief, is the truth itself. According to the confession of Christ Himself (“I am the way, the truth, and the life”), [...]
A new page opened in the history of the Orthodox Church in South Asia. The Enthronement of His Eminence Metropolitan Konstantinos of Singapore and South Asia was held at Chijmes Hall in Singapore on Sunday, February 12th, 2012.
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On Friday evening, January 6th, His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios served the Divine Liturgy with double hymns and readings for the great feasts of Christmas (old Calendar) and Theophany (new Calendar). After the Liturgy he celebrated the Service of the Great blessing of the Waters. On Sunday, January 8, His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios celebrated the [...]
1. Theophany or Epiphany and Christmas. Theophany is one of the great Feasts of the Lord of the ecclesiastical year. It is also called Epiphany and the Day of Lights and is celebrated on the 6th of January. The names of this Feast indicate the understanding of [...]
PREAMBLE: The Month of January is marked by the Great Dominical Feast of Theophany (or Epiphany), which commemorates the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. This provides us with the occasion to consider both the Baptism of our Lord and also our own Baptism. The text published here is from [...]
1. THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY. On the 6th of January Eastern Orthodox and Western Christians celebrated the great Feast of Epiphany (Western) or Theophany (Eastern). This Feast introduced a new period of liturgical celebration, which is still with us – a celebration that goes right back to Christian beginnings and [...]
St. Basil the Great
Celebrated January 1st

Very few of us realize that the beginning of the Church calendar does not start on January 1st. Actually, our Church calendar begins on September 1st. In our daily living, however, with our friends and neighbors [...]
Christmas Holiday Services Schedule
Saint Luke Orthodox Cathedral, Hong Kong
(704 Universal Trade Center, 3 Arbuthnot Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (+852) 25738328)
Note: All the Services will be held at Saint Luke’s Orthodox Cathedral. The Service of the throwing of the Holy [...]
On Monday, November 21, 2011, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Divine Liturgy with members of the Holy and Sacred Synod and other Hierarchs on the occasion of the feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. The service was held at Panagia of Pera in Istanbul, where [...]
The Orthodox Faithful in Hong Kong celebrated the Holy Week and the Glorious Pascha in a solemn way. Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, assisted by Rev.Fr.Emmanuel Lemelson, celebrated the Services of the Holy Week at the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Luke and the Resurrection Service at the Canossian Sister’s Chapel.
[...]
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has appointed Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia to the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for one year. The first attendance was in March. Metropolitan Nektarios is expected to attend the synodical meetings each month, until February 2013 inclusive.
On Sunday, March 18, the Sunday of the Great Lent dedicated to the Holy Cross, Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Luke in Hong Kong. After the Divine Liturgy Metropolitan Nektarios spoke about the meaning of the veneration of the Holy Cross [...]
The Orthodox Community in Manila, Philippines celebrated the Sunday of the Holy Cross at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Paranaque.
The Orthodox Community in Masbate celebrated the Sunday of the Holy Cross at the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos.
On February 18-21 Metropolitan Konstantinos of Singapore and South Asia made his first pastoral visit to the Orthodox Community in Jakarta, Indonesia.
On Sunday, February 19th, Metropolitan Konstantinos presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Orthodox Cathedral of Holy Epiphany in which all the Orthodox priests who serve in Indonesia participated.
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Greece’s National poet Dionysios Solomos (1798–1857) was born on the Greek island of Zakynthos, to an elderly count and his teenaged housekeeper. Solomos was educated in Italy, where he studied law and literature, but on returning to Greece he relearned Greek, and decided to write in demotic, or common modern, [...]
The Orthodox Faithful in Hong Kong celebrated the Holy Week and the Glorious Pascha in a solemn way. Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, assisted by Rev.Fr.Emmanuel Lemelson, celebrated the Services of the Holy Week at the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Luke and the Resurrection Service at the Canossian Sister’s Chapel.
[...]
On Holy Monday, April 9, 2012, following the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, His All-Holiness blessed the beginning of the process of sanctification of the Holy Myron in a special office.
The Ecumenical Patriarch sprinkles holy water on the prepared materials, the utensils to be [...]
On Sunday, April 8, 2012, following the doxology on Palm Sunday, His All-Holiness blessed the Archon Myrepsos (Perfumer) George Savvits who, along with his colleagues, will assist in the preparation of the Holy Myron (Myrrh).
Photos by N.Manginas
It is sometimes very difficult to understand why Turkey refrains from reforms in various fields.
In the past, we used to think that Turkey was lagging behind in reforms because of the attitudes of the Kemalist elites. However, in this Turkey of 2012, where non-Kemalist actors almost completely [...]
Prot. No. 237
BARTHOLOMEW
By the Mercy of God
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Plenitude of the Church
Grace, Peace and Mercy from the Savior Christ, Risen in Glory
He [...]
I would like to thank you for inviting me to speak about the Orthodox Christian theological approach to bioethics at the Fourth Research Symposium of the Hellenic Medical and Dental Society of New England (Boston, MA).
Certainly, it is appreciated by all that there are many different systems of ethics that [...]
February 29, 2012
Associated Press
Frescoes discovered on the walls of an Orthodox Church in Poland have been identified as 15th-century art works, and funds are being raised to restore them.
Art historian Jaroslaw Giemza said Tuesday that recent research on [...]
COUNTING THE DEAD. About 40 persons were killed and 240 reported missing in Iligan City alone after a flashflood hit 11 of its villages at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday following rains spawned by Storm “Sendong”. The military, police, and medical teams have been conducting rescue and retrieval operations since the weekend when [...]
Edwin Mora
October 10, 2011
CNS News
There is not a single, public Christian church left in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. State Department.
This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban regime.
DEVASTATING rains have triggered floods in southern Pakistan, affecting at least 700,000 people and forcing 60,000 from their homes, officials have said.
Villages have been flooded and crops destroyed in Pakistan’s bread basket of Sindh province, one of the worst-hit areas in the unprecedented floods of 2010 that affected 21 million people and caused [...]
Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem washes the feet of his clergymen on Holy Thursday.
Travis Brecher reports (Reuters)
Introduction
On the afternoon or evening of Great and Holy Wednesday, the Sacrament or Mystery of Holy Unction is conducted in Orthodox parishes. The Sacrament of Holy Unction is offered for the healing of soul and body and for forgiveness of sins. At the conclusion [...]
Introduction
Patriarch Bartholomew announced that this year, 2012, the Holy Chrism will once again be consecrated on Holy Thursday in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Holy Chrism is consecrated by the Ecumenical Patriarch for use in holy churches for the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Chrismation. The sacrament of [...]
Father Stanley Harakas talks with Father Chris Metropulos about the origins, history, and meaning of the mystery of Holy Unction. Click here for a direct link to this
“Πάσχα (pascha)” is a polyseme, a word that could refer to more than one thing. It could refer to the Jewish Passover (celebration of the Exodus) or the Christian Easter (celebration of the Resurrection). The context determines the meaning. As used by Jews prior to Christ’s resurrection, [...]
By Father Sergius Halvorsen
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are not “Lenten disciplines” per se. Rather, they are essential to our basic health and wellbeing: they are fundamental to the Christian life. Yes, it is true that during Lent we place a much greater emphasis on prayer, fasting and [...]
We have just entered the period of Great Lent (February 27), and our Church calls us to observe the traditional fast and prayer. Several people will raise again the questions why should we fast, or how much should we fast, etc. The following thoughts provide some answers to the general questions which are [...]
Inga Athanasiadou
March 10, 2012
Greek Reporter
A 5th Century Christian Basilica was discovered at Livanates Beach near Lamia of Greece, after a heavy rainfall had revealed a small part of mosaic floor belonging to the Christian Basilica.
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By Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria
From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Mark
34-37. And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever desireth to follow after [...]
March 16, 2012
University of Cambridge
Extraordinary 7th century discovery on outskirts of Cambridge offers unique insights into the origins of English Christianity.
One of the earliest Anglo-Saxon Christian burial sites in Britain has been discovered in a village outside Cambridge. The grave of a teenage girl from the [...]
An article entitled The Eternal Will was printed in The Christian Activist Volume 11, Fall/Winter 1997. It was a lecture given by Dr. Alexander Kalomiros on evolution vs. creationism and his interpretation of the traditional teachings by the Fathers of the Orthodox Church about Genesis. This is a response to Dr. Kalomiros by [...]
Every Saint loves the Panagia. Sainthood is not understood without this Theotokophilia. It occurs because the Saints, after tasting the Love of God, communing of the Body and Blood of Christ, and experiencing the gifts of the incarnation of Christ, feel the need to give thanks also [...]
The following vision was recorded by Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos, the biographer of Saint Gregory Palamas, and was also later repeated by Hieromonk Athanasios of Paros in his biography of Saint Gregory Palamas.
At the Great Lavra of St. Athanasios on the Holy Mountain there dwelt [...]
By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos
SECOND SUNDAY of LENT
On the same day, the Second Sunday of the Fast, we celebrate the memory of our Father among the Saints, Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica.
Verses
The Fountain of light leadeth unto the unwaning [...]
The Holy Church calls the second Sunday of Great Lent the Sunday of the Light-Creating Fasts. In its Divine services, in line with the destruction of the sinful condition of man, it is descriptively and touchingly represented in the church hymns, which explains the Gospel parable about the Prodigal son, [...]
The Sanctification Ceremony for the Holy Myrrh
The Sanctification Ceremony for the Holy Myrrh at the Ecumenical Patriarchate on Holy Thursday morning.
The Great Vespers and the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. The Sanctification Ceremony for the Holy Myrrh at 2:01:48-2:14:00
