Recent content by ilyazhito

Congratulations! Godspeed in your relationship with him. I knew that Poles and Ukrainians were different people, but never to the extent that each would be wary of the other. At least its not to the extent of how either of those peoples would look at the Roma.

Interesting. Have you met up with Orthodox men who were not Polish? Quite a few Ukrainians visit Poland every year to work, and most are Orthodox.

Memory Eternal! Christ is Risen, Vladiko!

I agree. If you look at the trolley exercise logically, it is a very contrived dilemma that does not really allow for out of the box solutions like sacrificing oneself, throwing a barrier in front of the tracks, or throwing the trolley into reverse. I could come up with an even more bizarre...

I've read the liturgical directions for different services on reading the gospel, and have noticed that the deacon does it during the Divine Liturgy, but at most other times, including Matins, it is the priest. Is there any liturgical reason for this?

My hope is that having passed through me, enough of the trolley's momentum will be dissipated that it does not harm anyone else. If I were a wizard, I would conjure a barrier so that the trolley hits that, and avoid that problem.

If nothing else works, I would run onto the tracks to stop anyone else dying. Hopefully this situation never comes to pass.

Eastern Orthodox Church as a term came about as a contradistinction to the term Roman Catholic Church, and as an indication of the historical origin of the Orthodox Church from the local churches of the Eastern Roman Empire. The OCA was originally the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in...

I would wager that as it did not initially have a set tone, there was some period of experimentation where different churches and composers had it performed in different tones. Then, in specific churches, a certain practice became standard through common use, and that use became fixed in the...

Interesting. Another Byzantine-Slavic difference in liturgical practice. This bears further investigation.

sticheras on stichovna = aposticha. ROCOR borrows the Greek term here. Antiphonal singing I haven't heard, but they do sing Kathisma 18 in the OCA for the regular Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. It would be interesting to see what the differences are.

That is wrong. Orthodox clergy should seek to minister to any faithful, even those of a different background. The Russian Orthodox Church Diocese of Budapest and Hungary has some Hungarian-language parishes, some combined (Holy Trinity/Holy Dormition Cathedral in Budapest has both clergy who...

The original quote can be attributed to the Lord himself. "Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to do all things, whatsoever I have commanded you". (Matthew 28:19)

I don't think that hecma925 was being totally serious. I agree with you that quite a few Orthodox churches are ethnic clubs, and we need to make a concerted effort to shed that perception. Try to have a balance between English and the old world liturgical language. If there are 2 (or more)...

There aren't that many Orthodox Universities in Western countries. That is because Orthodox Christians are a minority in the West. Thus, Orthodox education in the West will prioritize training Orthodox clergy. The United States is lucky, because they have 7 seminaries and a number of theological...