Archives for March 2009

St. Tikhon: Shine the Light

March 14, 2009 Posted by: John Couretas 2 Comments

Monachos.net, a great resource, has published a new translation by St. Tikhon, Metropolitan of Moscow, delivered in 1907 at the New York cathedral on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Monachos.net describes this as “the saint’s ‘farewell homily’ to his flock, before departing the United States, and contains important reflections on missionary zeal as […]

More plans for Pan-Orthodox Synod

March 13, 2009 Posted by: John Couretas 17 Comments

Asianews has an update on the preparatory meetings for a pan-Orthodox synod, which seems to be gaining momentum. After various mishaps, in 1961 a pan-Orthodox conference was convened in Rhodes, with significant pressure from patriarch Athenagoras, for the purpose of preparing an Orthodox synod. This conference was also followed by numerous obstacles, because as theologian […]

Obama, Stem Cell Research, and Orthodox Christianity

March 12, 2009 Posted by: Fr. John Schroedel 17 Comments

Earlier this week, President Obama issued an Executive Order repealing President Bush’s August 2001 restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. This was no surprise, especially since, as Senator, he voted for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which was vetoed by President Bush. While, the issues surrounding the creation and use of embryonic […]

Mor Gabriel, Halki and Obama

March 8, 2009 Posted by: John Couretas 7 Comments

A very timely story yesterday in the Wall Street Journal by Andrew Higgins about a land dispute between Syriac Orthodox monastery Mor Gabriel and Turkish authorities. Also yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, during a stop in Ankara, announced that President Obama will be visiting Turkey “in a month or so.” She said this […]

A Prayer for Guidance and Peace

March 7, 2009 Posted by: John Couretas 1 Comment

In all humility we pray to You and we entreat You, Who are the source of wisdom, bless and grant perfect health of mind and body to our President and all leaders of our nation. Direct, O Lord, their thoughts to the way of truth, so that they may enact, order and enforce whatsoever things […]