Hi all,
Just thought I'd best let people know what's been happening and why I haven't been around for a while - just in case anyone was wondering.
Some of you may know, though most probably don't, that shortly before I vanished I had been having some 'difficulties' here and the first thing I...
I received word yesterday that His Holiness Patriarch Teoctist, Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Romania and, hence, my Patriarch died yesterday evening at a hospital in Bucharest where he was undergoing surgery. He was 92 years old.
He was a great man of God and we will sorely miss him...
I've often been asked what would need to happen before Rome and Orthodoxy could be reconciled, what were the stumbling blocks to ending the Schism. I've always struggled to give a decent answer becaues the question of the differences between Rome and Orthodoxy, not to mention all of the unhappy...
I just came across this useful article comparing the traditional view of the doctrine of the descent into Hades (or Harrowing of Hell as it is often called in English) and it is very good, if rather long.
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles7/HilarionSalvation.php
I remembered, on reading...
Finally, the split between the Russian Church under the Patriarch of Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which separated after the Boilshevik revolution has been healed. Here are the BBC's articles on it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6664491.stm...
I have found the following article to be a very good explanation, and one that is far more eloquent than I could produce, of some of the soteriological differences between eastern and western Christian confessions. Many thanks to Comprehend for bringing it to my attention (he deserves frubals...
Just thought I'd share the happy news that I'm an uncle at last. My sister-in-law gave birth to a healthy baby girl last night. It'll probably be a while before we see her as she married a Dane and lives in Denmark, but we should see pictures soon and, of course, we've been talking on the phone...
Here it is. Just so I don't get accused of plagiarism, here's the link to it in its original context:
http://southern-orthodoxy.blogspot.com/2007/01/mitsos-dog.html
Mitsos lived above his restaurant with only his beloved pet dog for company. One day the dog died and Mitsos went to the parish...
Hi all,
Just came across this article and thought some others might be interested. I always knew the junta in Burma was rather xenophobic, but hadn't realised that they were religious bigots too.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/21/wburma21.xml
Violent...
Hi all,
It's been a while since I learnt a new language and I'm seriously considering learning another. I've studied Germanic, Romance and Slav languages in the past, so I'm not really interested in another European one. I've also studied one native American language and one Indian to a degree...
Hi all,
I know that I'm likely the only person here with either knowledge of or interest in this subject, but I simply have to post the great news that communion between Moscow and ROCOR and hence between ROCOR and all the rest of the Church is due to be restored shortly. For us the current...
Hi all,
I know that I'm far from the only person on this site who likes Doctor Who. Did anyone else here see the new spinoff, Torchwood (I'm guessing this is only in the UK currently but I'm sure the rest of you will get a chance to se it soon enough)? If so, what did you think? If not, here's...
All,
Seeing as I'm bored and way too rich in virtual money that I unfortunately can't spend in the shops, I thought I'd see if anyone here can relieve me of some of my wealth. Assuming that this displays correctly, let me know what you think it is and I'll give 10,000 coins to whoever gets it...
Peer pressure has won! You can ask me anything you like, but if I reply with short bursts of Romanian you'll know that you've asked something I'm less than happy to answer.
James
Firstly, I'd like to point out that this is intended to be a debate for all who consider themselves adherents to the Catholic faith and not just RCs. This is in response to Victor's post in the Pinning down the Apostasy thread, where he referred to his understanding of the Ecumenical Councils...
I guess I ought to do one of these also (I'm not generally on at weekends, so this is the first opportunity I've had).
Name - James
Age - 30
Hometown - Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Religion - Orthodox Christianity
Interests - Theology and Church history(as if anyone didn't already know)...
(lifted from the Orthodixie blog)
A senior citizen in Punta Gorda, Florida bought a brand new Mercedes convertible. He took off down the road, flooring it to 90 mph and enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left on his head.
"This is great," he thought as he roared down...
Hi all,
I've put this here because it seemed like the most appropriate place but it doesn't mean I'm trying to discourage non-Orthodox from posting.
Today is Clean Monday, the first day of Orthodox Great Lent. That means that yesterday was Forgiveness Sunday, when we ask forgiveness of all...