August 2009

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Her Majesty prays before a special icon

Submitted by Fr. Geoff Harvey on Mon, 31/08/2009 - 4:40pm

A year ago, His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent expressed a wish to obtain a holy Orthodox icon as a gift for the Queen during his informal visit to the town of Nevjansk in Sverdloskiy Region. The Prince particularly liked one of the most highly cherished icons in Russia, Our Lady’s icon “Tenderness.” St. Seraphim of Sarov, a highly revered 19th-century Russian monk, kept it in his cell and treasured its healing power. He called this the “Tenderness icon,” representing Mary’s feelings of tenderness at the Annunciation, the “Joy of All Joys.”  

Historic Orthodox decision, migrant communities to have their own bishops’ conferences

Submitted by Fr. Geoff Harvey on Mon, 10/08/2009 - 1:11pm

Just discovered this report from http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/ on a recent meeting of Bishops Sabezy (Geneva) on the subject of what is known as the ‘Orthodox Diaspora’ (in Greek, διασπορά – “a scattering [of seeds]“) refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnic identity (Antiochian, Greek, Romanian, Russian, etc.) who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their settled territory, and became residents in areas often far remote from the former.) of which Australia is a part.