On Monday, January 2/15, 2024, Deacon Andrew Wales, of the Parish of Saint Seraphim of Sarov in Richmond, Virginia, was ordained to the Holy Priesthood.
Born in 1988, Fr. Andrew first encountered the Orthodox Church as a teenager. He eventually came to realize that Orthodoxy is the One, True Faith, and that the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians is the canonical Orthodox Church of Greece, with pious faithful and parishes in the United States. Therefore, he resolved to be baptized in this Church, on December 24/January 6, 2008, at the Cathedral of Saint Markella, by His Grace Bishop Christodoulos of Theoupolis, with the assistance of the Reverend Fr. Theodore Giannakopoulos.
He soon met Anna, who would later become his wife; she likewise became Orthodox, and they were married on July 2/15, 2012. They have two children together.
Fr. Andrew and Presbytera Anna relocated to Richmond, Virginia in 2013, in order to attend the parish of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, where the Reverend Fr. Nicodemos Gayle is pastor. Fr. Andrew was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on December 8/21, 2014. His dedicated and attentive service over the years led to the decision to elevate him to the Holy Priesthood.
Fr. Andrew will assist Fr. Nicodemos with his priestly duties, as the parish of Saint Seraphim is growing. We wish Fr. Andrew, Pr. Anna, and their family Many Years. AXIOS! He Is Worthy!
Iftar, refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after sunset.
We report the following unchanged as it was published:
"The leaders of the Armenian, Roman, Jewish and Syrian communities of Turkey sat around the fasting Iftar dinner in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul." Read more...
Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary Priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990. Father John served the faithful in Tucson and the surrounding area in his home Chapel until his repose in November of 2000. His wife, Presbytera Valerie, continued to make her home Chapel available for the mission, with clergy from Saint Nectarios Orthodox Church in Seattle and His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Toronto (then of Portland), visiting to provide the Divine Services.
Read more...2025 Youth Conference
Please join us for the 2025 youth conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! To learn more, visit the conference website.
Q. There seems to be a lot of variation in how people observe fasting, but my confessor told me to fast from oil on Wednesday and Friday. Oil is a pretty vague category, though, and I was wondering if I could get a more explicit description of what kinds of food and drink are excluded on strict fast days. Read more...