Sts Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute
15 Jan 11: Friends of Indonesia – Australia
Friends of Indonesia – Australia
15 Jan 11: Christ the Saviour Church Parish Feast Day, Wellington – photoreport
Parish Feast in Wellington
74 images – view slideshow
15 Jan 11: Saint Nicholas Church Parish Feast Day, Christchurch – photoreport
Parish Feast in Christchurch
13 images – view slideshow
15 Jan 11: Nativity of our Lord – St John the Baptist Skete, Kentlyn
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ was well attended at Sydney’s only ROCOR congregation that worships in English. Just over 70 adults and children filled the old monastery Church of All Saints at Kentlyn to celebrate the Feast, with some travelling from as far as Bowral, in the Southern Highlands, Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains, Penrith in Sydney’s west, inner city St Peters and the Sutherland Shire to the east.
The Liturgy was celebrated by Hieromonk Joachim, superior of St John the Baptist Skete, Kentlyn, who was joined in the altar by visiting priest from the Indonesian Orthodox Church (GOI), Father Dionysios Surya Halim, Protodeacon Christopher Henderson and Protodeacon Constantine Tzortzis. (more…)
15 Jan 11: His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion celebrates the Nativity of our Lord at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Strathfield – photoreport
Nativity of our Lord – All Night Vigil:
6 Jan 11: Nativity Epistle of the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad
Nativity Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion
of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
To the archpastors and brethren, the most honorable fathers, & all the Orthodox children of the Russian Diaspora, beloved in the Lord!
Seeing man perishing, whom He had created
with His own hands, the Creator, bowing
down the heavens, descendeth, and taketh on
the whole of human nature through the pure
Virgin, becoming truly incarnate, in that He
is all-glorious”
(Canon I of Christmas Matins, Ode I,
troparion 2, composed by St. Cosmas of Maiuma)
To the archpastors and brethren, the most honorable fathers,
& all the Orthodox children of the Russian Diaspora,
beloved in the Lord!
With these words of the Nativity Canon, so great in their profundity, we glorify Christ the Savior Who has now been born of the Virgin. Profound and substantial are the divine services in honor of this great feast, the Nativity of Christ. The words of its hymns and prayers are imbued with the glad tidings of the redemption of the human race, of the incomprehensible and glorious event of the divine Incarnation, which is revealed as the Savior’s great loving-kindness toward us sinners!
Christ is now born of the Virgin, so that, having taken upon Himself human nature, He might bring an end to the cruel power of the tormenter of souls, the devil; for only a God Who had become man could deliver us from it. The Master of creation, Whom the angels and the whole world He created obey, lies humbly, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and forgives our offenses, calling us all to a life renewed! (more…)
5 Jan 11: Рождественское послание Первоиерарха Русской Православной Церкви Заграницей
Рождественское послание Высокопреосвященнейшего Илариона,
Митрополита Восточно-Американского и Нью-Йоркского,
Первоиерарха Русской Православной Церкви Заграницей
архипастырям, пастырям, монашествующим и мирянам
«Видя человека погибающим, которого [Он]
создал [Своими] руками, Создатель, преклонив небеса,
сходит и принимает все человеческое существо
от Чистой Девы, воистину воплотившись, ибо [Он] прославлен»
(Канон Рождества на утрене, первый,
творение прп. Космы Маюмского, Песнь 1, тропарь 2)
Возлюбленные о Господе архипастыри, пастыри, монашествующие и миряне, все верные чада Русской Православной Церкви Заграницей!
Этими великими по своей глубине словами Рождественского канона, мы прославляем ныне рожденного от Девы Христа-Спасителя. Глубоко и содержательно богослужение в честь сего великого праздника – Рождества Христова. Слова песнопений и молитв пронизаны вестью об искуплении человеческого рода, о непостижимом и славном событии Боговоплощения, которое явилось великим милосердием Создателя к нам грешным!
Ныне Христос рождается от Девы, чтобы приняв на себя человеческое естество, положить конец лютой власти душемучителя – диавола, ибо только Бог, сделавшись человеком, мог избавить нас от нее! Владыка Твари, Которому повинуются ангелы и весь сотворенный Им мир, лежит со смирением, обвитый пеленами, и прощает наши согрешения, призывая всех нас к обновленной жизни! (more…)