Free Republic

The Holy Prophet Nahum, whose name means “God consoles,” was from the village of Elkosh (Galilee). He lived during the seventh century B.C. The Prophet Naum prophesies the ruin of the Assyrian city of Nineveh because of its iniquity, the destruction of the Israelite kingdom, and the blasphemy of King Sennacherib against God. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal died in 632 B.C., and over the next two decades, his empire began to crumble. Nineveh fell in 612 B.C. Nahum differs from most of the prophets in as much as he does not issue any call to repentance, nor does he denounce...

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s governing body, the Holy Synod, has formally rejected the Pan-Orthodox Council and its conclusions, it emerged from an announcement in Sofia on November 29. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church declined to attend the council, held in Crete in June, after its call for the Pan-Orthodox Council to be postponed was not heeded. It was among four autocephalous Orthodox churches that refused to attend, along with the Patriarchate of Antioch, the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. The event in Crete was “neither Great, nor Pan, nor Pan-Orthodox,” the Holy Synod said in its November 29...

The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first of the Apostles to follow Christ, and he later brought his own brother, the holy Apostle Peter, to Christ (John 1:35-42). The future apostle was from Bethsaida, and from his youth he turned with all his soul to God. He did not enter into marriage, and he worked with his brother as a fisherman. When the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John began to preach, Saint Andrew became his closest disciple. Saint John the Baptist himself sent to Christ his own two disciples, the future Apostles Andrew and John the Theologian,...

Moscow, November 28, Interfax - Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia says he will always remember Fidel Castro, who was not only a legendary person, but a true friend of the Russian Orthodox Church. "Comandante Fidel was one of the most well-known and prominent state figures of the present time, enjoyed international authority and became a legend when he was alive. He was from the flesh of the Cuban people and focused his force on gaining true independence for his Motherland and giving it a worthy place in the family of nations," the patriarch said in his letter of condolences...

The Holy Martyr Philoumenus suffered for Christ in the year 274, during the persecution against Christians by the emperor Aurelian (270-275). St Philoumenus was a bread merchant in Ancyra. Envious persons reported to the governor Felix that Philoumenus was a Christian, and so he came before a judge. St Philoumenus did not renounce Christ. For this they hammered nails into his hands, feet and head, and they forced him to walk. The holy martyr bravely endured the torments and he died from loss of blood, giving up his soul to God.

Christians returning home to the Syrian town of Al Qaryatayn have said that even though the Islamic State terror group destroyed the monastery of fourth century saint Mar Elian, his relics survived, and will be restored. In Mar Elian, we have always hoped to welcome everyone. Mar Elian was really a sign of hope for the Syrian people," Father Jacques Mourad, a priest who was previously captured by IS, told Catholic News Agency. Everything changed when I was taken hostage. But we can still build something. We must, however, await the end of this war." Mourad said that Mar Elian...

Our Mother the Church, dear reader, has the custom of preparing her children, well in advance of the actual holy day, for extraordinary events which the central axle of both earthly and eternal existence. Beyond a doubt, the feast of Nativity of Christ, the appearance of God in the flesh, belongs to this very category.      The whole history of humankind, which began with the fall of our forefather and mother, Adam and Eve, the continuation of history through their descendants, the history of peoples and kingdoms (especially the history of ancient Israel), all led up to and arrived at...

The Monk Martyr and Confessor Stephen the New was born in 715 at Constantinople into a pious Christian family. His parents, having two daughters, prayed the Lord for a son. The mother of the new-born Stephen took him to the Blachernae church of the Most Holy Theotokos and dedicated him to God. During the reign of the emperor Leo the Isaurian (716-741) there was a persecution against the holy icons and against those venerating them. With the support of the emperor, the adherents of the Iconoclast heresy seized control of the supreme positions of authority in the Empire and in...

The Holy Great Martyr James the Persian (the Sawn-Asunder) was born in the fourth century into a pious Christian family, both wealthy and illustrious. His wife was also a Christian, and the couple raised their children in piety, inspiring in them a love for prayer and the Holy Scriptures. James occupied a high position at the court of the Persian emperor Izdegerd (399-420) and his successor Barakhranes (420-438). But on one of the military campaigns James, seduced by the emperor’s beneficence, was afraid to acknowledge himself a Christian, and so he offered sacrifice to idols with the emperor. Learning of...

TBILISI, Georgia, November 23, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — The Orthodox Patriarch of Georgia hosted a mass baptism last week for 600 children "born again" into Christ at Tbilisi Trinity Cathedral. A video of the Christian initiation — complete with crying babies and parents' faces full of unspeakable joy — has gone viral, with 9.2 million views, 74,000 shares, and 26,500 comments. The mass baptism is the brainchild and work of Patriarch Ilya, one of the most influential leaders in the country and of Georgia's Christians since the 1970s. Facing a post-Soviet abortion rate that was rapidly depleting the population, Ilya started...

Saint Alypius the Stylite was born in the city of Adrianopolis in Paphlagonia. His mother, a Christian, was widowed early, and she sent her son to be educated by Bishop Theodore. She distributed her substance to the poor, then began to live an ascetic life near the church as a deaconess. St Alypius, from his early years, wanted to devote his life to God and yearned for the solitary life, although Bishop Theodore would not give him permission to do so. Once, when St Alypius was accompanying his bishop to Constantinople, the holy Martyr Euphemia (September 16) appeared to him...

“The number of Christian emigrants comprised six million people in the past 100 years,” Suheil Farah, Lebanese university professor and a member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS), was quoted by the IOPS press service as saying. According to his information, the number of Christians on the territory of the Arab world ranges between 12 million and 15 million. Most of them live in Egypt, Sudan and Lebanon (9-12 million). There are 900,000 Christians in Syria, 350,000 in Iraq, between 140,000 and 165,000 in Jordan, 50,000 in Palestine and 120,000 in Israel. “Christians now account for 3.4% of the...

In E.T. v. Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, (ON Super. Ct. Jus., Nov. 23, 2016), an Ontario (Canada) trial court rejected an attempt by the father of two elementary school students to require his children's school to notify him in advance of specific curriculum areas being taught to his children so he could withdraw them from classes, lessons or activities that conflict with his Greek Orthodox religious beliefs.  The father contended that he has an obligation to protect his children from "false teachings," including moral relativism and issues surrounding human sexuality. While the school had a religious accommodation guideline and the parent...

The rules of abstinence prescribed by the Church to follow during the Christmas Fast are similar to those prescribed during the Apostles' Fast. It is clear that during the Fast we must abstain from meat and dairy products. Besides that, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of the Nativity Fast consumption of fish, oil and wine is prohibited. On the other weekdays—Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays—food with vegetable oil is allowed. During the Nativity Fast, it is permitted to eat fish on Saturdays, Sundays and on Great Feast Days—for example on the Presentation of the Mother of God—patron saints’ days, and saint's...

Video of the service in honor of the relics of St. Clement of Ochrid in Bulgaria.

Saints Clement, Bishop of Ochrid, Equal of the Apostles, Naum, Sava, Gorazd and Angelar were Slavs, disciples of Sts Cyril and Methodius (May 11). At first they lived as ascetics in Moravia, where St Gorazd succeded St Methodius as bishop. He was fluent in Slavonic, Greek and Latin. Sts Clement, Naum, Angelar and Sava were priests. The Enlighteners of the Slavs were opposed by German missionaries, who had the support of the Pope and the patronage of the Moravian prince Svyatopolk. The struggle centered around the questions of the need for divine services in Slavonic, the Filioque and Saturday fasting....

“Glory to God for All Things Things” An Akathist of Thanksgiving Priest: Blessed is our God always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Choir: Amen. Priest: Glory to Thee, O God, glory to Thee. O heavenly King, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art in all places, and fillest all things, Treasury of good things, and Giver of life, come, and dwell in us, and cleanse us from every stain; and save our souls, O gracious Lord. People: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us. (THRICE) Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and...

MOSCOW, Russia, November 23, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — The head of the world's largest Orthodox Church says anti-discrimination laws supporting homosexuality and transgenderism are "at odds with the moral nature of human beings." Patriarch Kirill, leader of more than 200 million Russian Orthodox Christians, gave an exclusive interview to Russia Today (RT), the English-language news channel that provides a Russian view on global news. The Christian leader said Western same-sex "marriage" laws and transgender "anti-discrimination" laws are unprecedented and unnatural.   "What’s happening in the Western countries is that, for the first time in human history, legislation is at odds...

The Holy Great Martyr Catherine was the daughter of Constus, the governor of Alexandrian Egypt during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-313). Living in the capital, the center of Hellenistic knowledge, and possessed of a rare beauty and intellect, Catherine received an excellent education, studying the works of the greatest philosophers and teachers of antiquity. Young men from the most worthy families of the empire sought the hand of the beautiful Catherine, but she was not interested in any of them. She told her parents that she would enter into marriage only with someone who surpassed her in nobility,...

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has given Patriarch Kirill of Moscow a relic of St. Francis of Assisi, to mark the Russian Orthodox leader’s 70th birthday. The President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, conveyed the present to Patriarch Kirill at an audience granted him at the Patriarchal residence on Tuesday. A statement from the Moscow Patriarchate on the meeting is below ************************************ On 22 November 2016, at the Patriarchal residence in St Daniel’s Monastery, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,...