The Feast of Saint John of Damascus Orthodox Educational Initiative 2022

On Saturday, December 4/December 17, His Eminence, Metropolitan Demetrius, celebrated a peaceful Divine Liturgy in the chapel dedicated to Saint John of Damascus in honor of the patron of our Educational Initiative.  This was part of a visit to the Initiative offices and the residence of Fr. John Somers, the Headmaster of the Orthodox Educational Initiative.

During his visit, His Eminence spent time discussing Initiative updates with Fr. John as well as praying for Saint John’s intercessions to guide the students, faculty, and parents of the OEI.   The visit was a wonderful blessing for the Initiative!   

Operating with the blessing of the Eparchial Synod, the Initiative maintains many different offerings for elementary, middle, and high school students as well as adult discussion groups, podcasts, and a YouTube channel that produces Orthodox educational content.  

Please peruse our website https://orthodoxlearninggoc.com for current offerings as well as give us a call at 215-987-2655 or send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  We are always accepting donations for our scholarship fund which allows deserving children who would not otherwise be able to participate in our classes, the ability to attend!

May God bless all the teachers, students, parents, and benefactors of the Orthodox Educational Initiative and may Saint John of Damascus intercede on our behalf!

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Orthodox Awareness

A Brief History

In the early 20th century, the idea of promoting the union of Churches (Orthodox and heterodox) began to gain ground among circles in the Eastern Orthodox Church by establishing a "Communion of Churches" modeled on the League of Nations.

The Patriarchal Encyclical of 1920 foresaw a series of steps toward the “union of the Churches,” of which the first was the change of the calendar for the simultaneous celebration of feast days by all the “Churches.” The content of the encyclical was kept secret from the faithful and only after a few years became known. Read more...

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Ask A Priest

Why do we Call Angels “Saint”?

Q. I noticed that we call the angels Michael and Gabriel "Saint." I thought the title "Saint" was only given to humans who have proven themselves Godly. Do you mind clarifying this for me? Is there a deeper meaning to "Saint" that I am not aware of?

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