Diocesan Stewardship Commission Institutes Weekly Blog

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- [Diocesan Chancery] - The Diocesan Stewardship Commission  has released today, the first of a series of weekly blog entries on Stewardship and the Orthodox Life.  These short articles are provided to assist the parishes and faithful of the Diocese  to increase both a personal and Church-wide understanding  of the principles of Christian Stewardship, and how to integrate them on the personal, parish and Diocesan levels.  By prayerfully reading and considering their content, they will provide an opportunity to gain a  fuller insight into the ways that God’s love and grace operate in our lives.

The blog is prominently featured in the Stewardship Column on the Diocesan Website  Home Page  and also can be accessed directly on the Stewardship Commission Webpage.

2014 National ACRY Convention August 29-September 1, 2014 Crowne Plaza - King of Prussia

The Phoenixville, PA Chapter has been working hard to provide you with a great Convention this year. We hope you will make the trip to The Greater Philadelphia, PA area for a fun and enjoyable weekend! 

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General Information

Below is information on the hotel and meal packages and convention weekend events along with links to all the pertinent forms needed to register. Registration packages will be sent out to each Senior ACRY Chapter. These packages will include forms for both the Senior and Junior Chapters to aid in registering for the Convention.

ALL Convention information - meal reservation forms, ads, patrons/boosters, delegate forms, Valley Forge tour reservations and golf outing forms along with a check made payable to Holy Ghost SR ACRY, should be returned, postmarked no later than August 8, 2014, to:

2014 ACRY Convention
c/o John Bilanin
2491 Jessica Drive
Gilbertsville, PA 19525

Please download the Information Package which includes weekend schedule, driving directions, golf and site seeing tour sign-up forms and other pertinent information.

Registration Details/Information Package  PDF Format

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Hotel Reservations

The host hotel for the weekend will be the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia - King of Prussia, located in King of Prussia, PA.  Room rates are $99 + tax per night. Room reservations must be made no later than August 5, 2014 in order to obtain the convention rate.

An on-line link has been created for our use when booking rooms for the weekend. You may make reservations by using the following link, which will direct you to the hotel’s website where you can make your room reservation:

http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/king-of-prussia/phlvf/hoteldetail

Select the “Have a Group Code?” link and enter our group code – ACR - to obtain the convention rate.

Those who prefer may call the hotel directly at 610-265-7500 and reference American Carpatho Russian Youth (ACRY) to obtain the special convention rate. To allow everyone the opportunity to visit the area, the Crowne Plaza will honor the above room rates for early arrivals on Thursday.

Με λαμπρότητα η εορτή της Οσίας Ειρήνης Χρυσοβαλάντου στο Μοναστήρι της στη Ν.Υόρκη (ΦΩΤΟ)

από την Ιερά Πατριαρχική και Σταυροπηγιακή Μονής Οσίας Ειρήνης Χρυσοβαλάντου

\ Sharing Service

Mέ κάθε λαμπρότητα εορτάσθηκε καί φέτος η πανέσβαστη μνήμη της θαυματουργού και ιαματικής Οσίας Ειρήνης της Χρυσοβαλάντου, με πλήθος προσκυνητών από την Νέα Υόρκη, αλλά και από άλλες αμερικανικές πόλεις, όπως Φιλαδέλφεια, Βαλτιμόρη, Χάρτφορτ, Κλήβελαντ, αλλά καί από το Τορόντο του Καναδά, που ταξίδεψαν στην Αστόρια για το ετήσιο προσκύνημα στήν Χάρη της. 

Οι εορταστικές εκδηλώσεις άρχισαν την Πέμπτη 24 Ιουλίου, με εσπερινό, παράκληση προς την Αγία και την ακολουθία του Αγιασμού, υπό του Πανοσιολογιωτάτου Αρχιμανδρίτου κ. Ιεροθέου, Καθηγουμένου της Ιεράς Πατριαρχικής Μονής. 

Το Σάββατο 26 Ιουλίου το εσπέρας έλαβε χώρα προεόρτιος Μέγας Αρχιερατικός Εσπερινός, χοροστατούντος του Θεοφιλεστάτου Επισκόπου Μελόης κ. Φιλοθέου, εκ προσώπου της Α.Θ. Παναγιότητος του Οικουμενικού Πατριάρχου κ.κ. Βαρθολομαίου, με συμμετοχή πολλών ιερέων από την Νέα Υόρκη, με ευλόγηση των μήλων και αρτοκλασία. Ακολούθησε αγρυπνία, κατά την οποία εψάλη η Ιερά Παράκλησις. 

Την Κυριακή 27 Ιουλίου τελέσθηκε προεορτίως ο Πανηγυρικός Όρθρος και η Θεία Λειτουργία, προεξάρχοντος και πάλιν του Θεοφιλεστάτου Επισκόπου Μελόης κ. Φιλοθέου, ο οποίος ανέγνωσε και το σεπτό Πατριαρχικό μήνυμα, το οποίο επισυνάπτεται. Ο Πανοσιολογιώτατος Καθηγούμενος της Μονής ευχαρίστησε καθηκόντως τον Θεοφιλέστατο, ο οποίος λάμπρυνε με την παρουσία του τον ετήσιο εορτασμό της Πατριαρχικής Μονής, η οποία υπάγεται διοικητικά καί πνευματικά στο Σεπτό Κέντρο της Ορθοδοξίας. Στην Θεία Λειτουργία παρευρέθησαν μεταξύ άλλων, ο Πρόξενος της Ελλάδος στην Νέα Υόρκη κ. Μάνος Κουμπαράκης, ο ομογενής Δημοτικός Σύμβουλος της Πόλεως της Νέας Υόρκης κ. Κώστας Κωνσταντινίδης, ο Πρόεδρος της Ομοσπονδίας Ελληνικών Σωματείων Νέας Υόρκης κ. Πέτρος Γαλάτουλας και ο επιχειρηματίας κ. Ευστάθιος Βαλιώτης.  

Εν συνεχείᾳ, πραγματοποιήθηκε η λιτάνευση του ιερού λειψάνου και της θαυματουργού εικόνας της Οσίας Ειρήνης Χρυσοβαλάντου, στους κεντρικούς δρόμους της Αστόριας, με την συμμετοχή χιλιάδων πιστών, οι οποίοι ακολούθησαν την Λιτανεία και εν συνεχείᾳ περίμεναν στο κέντρο της λεωφόρου που βρίσκεται η Μονή για να περάσει από πάνω τους η θαυματουργός εικόνα, προσευχόμενοι να λάβουν την χάριν και ευλογίαν της ιαματικής αγίας.

Ο εορτασμός συνεχίσθηκε με Πανηγυρικό Εσπερινό μετ’ αρτοκλασίας τό εσπέρας της Κυριακής. Τήν Δευτέρα 28 Ιουλίου, κυριώνυμη ημέρα της μνήμης της Οσίας Ειρήνης του Χρυσοβαλάντου, τελέσθηκε Πανηγυρική Θεία Λειτουργία υπό του Καθηγουμένου, Πανοσιολογιωτάτου Αρχιμανδρίτου κ. Ιεροθέου, με συμμετοχή ιερέων της Μονής και ομόρων Κοινοτήτων της Ι. Αρχιεπισκοπής. Η Πανήγυρις έκλεισε το βράδυ της Δευτέρας με εσπερινό και το καθιερωμένο κτητορικό μνημόσυνο, κατά την Μοναστηριακή τάξη. Ο Καθηγούμενος ευχαρίστησε όλους τους ιερείς, τους πιστούς που τίμησαν με την παρουσία και συμμετοχή τους την πανήγυρη, αλλά και τους εθελοντές της Μονής, που συνέβαλαν στην επιτυχία της εορτής και του φεστιβάλ. 

Με ιδιαίτερη επιτυχία διεξήχθησαν παράλληλα και οι πολιτιστικές εκδηλώσεις, στα πλαίσια του ετήσιου Ελληνικού φεστιβάλ, που περιελάμβαναν μεταξύ ἀλλων, παραδοσιακούς Ελληνικούς χορούς από τον Λαογραφικό Ομιλο Ελλήνων Αμερικής, ακροβατικές  επιδείξεις από τήν σχολή Λουπάκη, έκθεση εκκλησιαστικών ειδών, ζωγραφικής, κλπ.

Φωτογραφικό Υλικό

First Orthodox Church in Pakistan Consecrated

On February 6. 2014 the first consecration of an Orthodox Church occured in Lahore, Pakistan. Fr. John Tanveer is the priest who founded and built the parish.

Attending the Consecration were:

Metr. Konstantinos of Singapore and Fr. Martin Ritzi, Executive Director of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), who secured an anonymous donation that made the land acquisition and building construction possible.

Many Orthodox faithful were in attendance, as well as a number of diplomats from Orthodox countries, and even local Muslim officials.

History of the Orthodox Mission in Pakistan

Fr. John Tanveer

Fr. John Tanveer was born into a Roman Catholic family in Hafizabad, Pakistan in 1952, the third of six children. His zealousness for the faith and thirst for learning led him to enroll in the seminary, and in 1986 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. For the next 10 years Fr. John served the Lahore Diocese with enthusiasm as a priest and instructor at the seminary in Lahore. However, during the course of teaching, studying, praying, and reading, he came to learn about the Orthodox Church. In time he came to believe the Orthodox Church was “the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.”
Unable to gain access to Orthodox materials or books, he began using the internet to learn more about the faith and incorporate its teachings into his lessons and sermons. In 1996 Fr. John finally spoke to his bishop and told him that in his study of the Orthodox Church, he had discovered many differences in the teachings of the two churches. He said, “I must see who these Orthodox are.” His bishop tried unsuccessfully to discourage his interest. Fr. John resigned from his pastoral duties and left the Roman Catholic priesthood. Accepting the dominant cultural pressures to marry and have a family, Fr. John married Presbytera Rosy in 1997. They soon began a family and now have three children—a son and two daughters. As a family they have continued their life-long journey of “becoming Orthodox.”
Upon leaving the Roman Catholic Church in 1996, Fr. John was able to obtain a job at the International Press newspaper in Lahore where he earned a living as a journalist. He was not going to church at the time, but began looking for a true spiritual home by reading and searching about the Orthodox faith. In July 1998 Fr. John submitted a letter to a Greek man he had met in Lahore years before, inquiring about how to become Orthodox. The man forwarded Fr. John’s letter and eventually it ended up in the hands of Metropolitan Nikitas of Hong Kong and South East Asia. In October 1998 Fr. John received a letter from Metropolitan Nikitas inviting him to enter into a dialogue of how to become Orthodox, thus beginning a correspondence between Fr. John and Metropolitan Nikitas. In 2003 His Eminence traveled to Pakistan and the two met in person. In 2005 Metropolitan Nikitas visited Pakistan again and baptized and Chrismated 300 people into the Orthodox faith. Although not yet an Orthodox priest, Fr. John continued his pastoral activities, sharing the faith with others through conferences and seminars.
After being Chrismated in 2005, Fr. John knew he wanted to re-enter the priesthood and so he began preparing for his holy duty. He applied to Holy Cross Seminary in the United States in 2005 and 2006, however neither opportunity materialized as he was declined a visa to the United States both times. With the blessing of the Metropolitan, Fr. John sent away for the materials needed to study and prepare for ordination. Finally, in November 2008, Metropolitan Nektarios ordained Fr. John to the priesthood in Athens, Greece.
Since that time, Fr. John has continued his ministry, slowly developing, by the grace of God, the Orthodox Church in Pakistan. He and Presbytera Rosy joyously and faithfully stay the course that God has laid before them, despite the many challenges and trials of being Orthodox Christians in Pakistan.

Fr. John Inspects New Church Building in Pakistan

 

The walls are rising on the first Orthodox Church building in Pakistan. The Church is built through the support of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC).

The Russian Orthodox Exarchate in Western Europe

After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, many Russian Orthodox faithful and clergy found themselves in exile outside the Soviet Union. A group of Russian Orthodox bishops met in Constantinople in 1920 to form an autonomous church that would reestablish relations with the Moscow Patriarchate as soon as conditions allowed. This provided the nucleus of what would become the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which reconciled with the Moscow Patriarchate only in 2007.

This Synod of bishops, which took a strongly anti-communist political position, was condemned by Patriarch Tikhon, who in 1921 appointed Metropolitan Evlogius as his legitimate representative in Western Europe, based in Paris. In 1927 the Synod suspended Metropolitan Evlogius and broke communion with him. This effectively split the Russian émigré community in Europe between those loyal to the Synod in exile and those loyal to the Patriarchate through Evlogius.

In 1928 Metropolitan Sergius (then patriarchal locum tenens) called on all Russian bishops to refrain from political activity and to recognize the Soviet regime. Evlogius initially accepted this, but in 1930 he took part in an Anglican prayer service in London for persecuted Christians in the Soviet Union. In response, Metropolitan Sergius removed Evlogius from office and appointed another bishop for patriarchal parishes in Western Europe.

Most Russian Orthodox bishops and faithful of this jurisdiction remained loyal to Evlogius, however, and considered Metropolitan Sergius’ call for acceptance of the Soviet regime unacceptable. Evlogius then petitioned the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s assistance, and in 1931 Patriarch Photius II received Evlogius and his followers under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. Since that time the Russian Archdiocese has become a multi-cultural jurisdiction, now composed of about 100 worshiping communities and one monastery served by 66 priests and deacons. Centered in France where it is the largest Orthodox group, the Archdiocese also has communities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Italy and Spain.

Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church have improved since the collapse of the Soviet Union. For the first time since it was received into the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1931, an official delegation from the Archdiocese visited the Moscow Patriarchate in November 1994. This was followed by a historic visit of Archbishop Sergius (died 2003) to the Russian Orthodox Church in May 1995. Relations are now friendly, and in practice the Archdiocese is in full Eucharistic communion with the Moscow Patriarchate.

In June 1999 the Ecumenical Patriarchate granted the Archdiocese the status of Exarchate, a rank it had held between 1931 and 1965. The Archdiocese was henceforth to be governed by its own set of statutes approved by the Patriarchate. In practice, the Archdiocese elects its own Archbishop and auxiliary bishops, who must then be confirmed by Constantinople. The Archbishop is independent of the Patriarchate in administrative and financial matters, but he takes part in the General Assembly of the Bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at two or three year intervals and meets with the Patriarch regularly to keep him informed about the life of the Archdiocese.