His Beatitude Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje kyr kyr Jovan in the late hours of 16th November 2010 was detained on the border-crossing Kalotina, between Bulgaria and Serbia, upon a warrant of the Interpol bureau of FYROM. He has been determined a 24-hour detention.
Source: Information Service of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric
Byzantine mosaic of St. Euphemia of the 6th century. Porec, Basilica of Euphrasius.
Saint Euphemia is commemorated on September 16, the day on which she was martyred. On this day, however, is commemorated the miracle surrounding her honorable relics, which was manifested at the time of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon. This Council was convened during the reign of Emperor Marcian and the Empress Pulcheria in the year 451 A.D., after the death of Emperor Theodosius the Younger. The reason for summoning this Council was the heresy of Dioscorus, the Patriarch of Alexandria and Eutyches, an Archimandrite from Constantinople, who spread the false teaching that in Christ the Lord there were not two natures, divine and human, but only one, a divine nature. At this Council Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem, played the most prominent roles. Because a conclusion could not be reached through debates and testimonies from either side, Patriarch Anatolius motioned that the Orthodox and the heretics write down their confessions of faith and then place them in the sarcophagus where the relics of St. Euphemia reposed. They all agreed to this. Therefore, the two confessions of faith were written and placed on the bosom of the great female martyr. The sarcophagus was closed, sealed with the emperor’s seal and military guards were appointed. read more… Διαβάστε τη συνέχεια του άρθρου »
Parasceva was born in Rome of Christian parents and from her youth was instructed in the Faith of Christ. With great fervence, St. Parasceva endeavored to fulfill all the commandments of God in her life. Believing strongly and living according to her faith, Parasceva directed others on the path [of salvation] with the help of the True Faith and pious living. When her parents died Parasceva distributed all of her property to the poor and was tonsured a nun. As a nun she preached the Faith of Christ with an even greater zeal, not hiding from anyone, even though at that time the Roman authorities bloodily persecuted the Faith of Christ. Διαβάστε τη συνέχεια του άρθρου »
Saint Mary Magdalene. Drawing by a 5-year-old child.
by St Nicholas Velimirovic
Mary Magdalene was one of the myrrh-bearing women and «equal to the apostles». She was born in the town of Magdala along the shore of Lake Gennesaret and was from the tribe of Issachar. She was tormented by seven evil spirits from which the Lord Jesus freed her and made her whole. She was a faithful follower and servant of the Lord during His earthly life. Mary Magdalene stood beneath the Cross on Golgotha and grieved bitterly and mourned with the All-Holy Birth-giver of God. After the death of the Lord she visited His sepulchre three times. When the Lord resurrected she saw Him on two occasions: once alone and the other time with the other myrrh-bearing women. She traveled to Rome and appeared before Tiberias Caesar and presenting him with a red colored egg, greeted him with the words: «Christ is Risen!» At the same time, she accused Pilate before Caesar for his unjust condemnation of the Lord Jesus. Διαβάστε τη συνέχεια του άρθρου »
Saints Valentina, Pambo and Emilian (July 18).
THE HOLY MARTYR EMILIAN
During the reign of Julian the Apostate, in the Thracian town of Dorostolon, lived a young man, Emilian, a servant of the mayor of the town. When the apostate emperor began to destroy Christianity throughout the realm of the Roman Empire by fire and sword and, when the emperor’s representative came to Dorostolon to kill the Christians, he did not find a single one. Rejoicing at this, he sponsored a great banquet for the citizens of Dorostolon and ordered sacrifices to be offered to the idols and rejoicing ensued throughout the entire town, day and night. That night, St. Emilian entered the pagan temples, markets and the streets of the town and smashed all of the idols with a sledgehammer. Διαβάστε τη συνέχεια του άρθρου »
St Basil before the holy altar, celebrating the Divine Liturgy. Byzantine fresco of the 11th century in the church of St Sophia in Ohrid, in modern-day FYROM.
«For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks [Gr. euchariste’sas], He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me'» (1 Cor. 11:23-25).
With these words – quoting the same words of Christ in Luke 22:19, 20 – St. Paul instructs the Corinthians concerning the Eucharist, the giving of thanks. Some two thousand years after Jesus gave Himself «for the life of the world» (John 6:51), there are in Christendom at least three different interpretations of His words.
How do we view the Eucharist?
For the first thousand years of Christian history, when the Church was visibly one and undivided, the holy gifts of the Body and Blood of Christ were received as just that: His Body and Blood. The Church confessed this was a mystery: The bread is truly His Body, and that which is in the cup is truly His Blood, but one cannot say how they become so. Διαβάστε τη συνέχεια του άρθρου »
Saints Agathopus and Theodoulos
Agathopodus was a deacon and Theodulus was a lector in the church at Thessalonica. Agathopodus was adorned with the greying of age and Theodulus with youthful understanding and chastity. At the time of Diocletian’s pursuit of Christians these two were summoned to court. They responded with rejoicing and holding each other by the hand, they walked along crying out: «We are Christians!» All the advice of the judges that they deny Christ and worship idols, remained in vain. After an extended imprisonment and hunger they were sentenced to death by drowning in the sea. Their hands were bound behind their backs, a heavy stone was hung around their necks and they were led out to be drowned. When they first wanted to toss Agathopodus into the deep, he cried out: «Behold, by this second baptism we are washed of all our sins and in purity do we depart to Christ Jesus.» Shortly afterward, the sea tossed their drowned bodies upon the shore and Christians buried their bodies with honors. St. Theodulus appeared to his acquaintances as a bright angel in glistening attire and ordered them to distribute all of his remaining estate to the poor. These glorious and wonderful soldiers of Christ suffered honorably during the reign of Diocletian and the Thessalonican Prince Faustinus in the year 303 A.D.
2. THE VENERABLE MARK OF TRACHE
He is also called «Mark the Athenian» because Athens was the place of his birth. His parents died after he completed his higher education in Athens. He thought to himself that death, even for himself, was unavoidable and that one should sufficiently prepare beforehand for that honorable departure from this world. Distributing all of his possessions to the poor, he sat on a plank in the sea and with a tenacious faith in God’s help, prayed that God direct him wherever He wills. God, in His Providence, protected him and brought him to Lybia (or Ethiopia) to a mountain called Trache. Mark lived an Διαβάστε τη συνέχεια του άρθρου »
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