On September 1st, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine moved to the Revised Julian (“New”) Calendar. Fixed festivals will now align with Gregorian Calendar dates. In a statement, the OCU Synod stated that the Julian (“Old”) Calendar had become associated predominately with the Russian tradition. In addition, they point out that the Julian system has no…
Continue readingThe Star of Bethlehem or the Star of Jacob? A Forgotten Prophecy
by Rev. Dr. Eugen J. Pentiuc This essay was first published on the website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Nearly every year during the Nativity season printed journals and articles posted online flood us with the same resounding question: “What Was the Star of Bethlehem?” Among the four canonical gospels, Matthew is the…
Continue readingChristmas’s Great Conjunction
by John Fotopoulos | български | ქართული | Ελληνικά | Русский | Српски There has been a lot of excitement this December regarding an astronomical phenomenon known as a great conjunction. This great conjunction, also known as a planetary conjunction, is an alignment of Jupiter and Saturn with Earth that is visible in our night sky. A great conjunction of Jupiter…
Continue readingThe Apocalypse, and the Wisdom that Comes from Trauma
by Very Rev. Dr. Isaac Skidmore | български | Ελληνικά | Русский On the strength of anecdotal evidence, I’m convinced people are now especially interested in apocalyptic themes. Social unrest, fires, climate change, a global pandemic—all of these evoke themes found in apocalyptic texts from numerous traditions. Christianity has its own narrative of what will…
Continue readingWas Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the First Person to See the Risen Lord Outside the Empty Tomb?
In Orthodox icons of Jesus’s empty tomb and resurrection, it is common to see Mary the mother of Jesus depicted as one of the myrrhbearing women. A related theme, although perhaps depicted less frequently in icons, is that the Virgin Mary saw the risen Jesus outside the tomb. Indeed, some Orthodox Christians today insist that…
Continue readingThe Orthodox Monk-Archaeologist who Discovered a Crucified Man
by Nicolae Roddy As a follow-up to my recent article “Where are the Orthodox Biblical Archaeologists?” it seems timely to present the fascinating story of the single greatest exception to the rule: Vassilios Tzaferis, the Greek Orthodox monk-turned-archaeologist who discovered the material remains of the only crucified man ever found. Tzaferis was born to a…
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