With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos, on Sunday, July 14/27, 2008, the newly-formed Mission parish of the Holy Mother of God (Panagia Axion Estin) in Palmyra, Virginia, which is near Charlottesville, held its inaugural liturgy.
Presiding were His Grace Bishop Christodoulos, and serving were Fr Patrick Danielson, who will be assigned to pastor the mission, and Fr Anastasios Hudson of St Mark's Orthodox Mission in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hieromonk Savvas of Holy Ascension Monastery chanted.
After Matins and the Divine Liturgy, His Grace performed the Blessing of Waters (agiasmo) on the spot where the organizers of the mission will construct a free-standing chapel.
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...
Jonesboro is a town located near the Eastern border of Arkansas, with a population of approximately 60,000. From a human standpoint, it’s not the most likely candidate for a traditional Orthodox mission, but for an Orthodox Christian who orders his priorities around Christ and His Church, it makes perfect sense. Read more...
2026 Youth Conference
Please join us for the 2026 youth conference in Upper Marlboro, MD! To learn more, visit the this page.
Q. Are the prayers in the blue prayer book [A Prayerbook for Orthodox Christians by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery —ed.] compulsory for everyone? I mean their morning prayers and the service of Small Compline. My confessor gave me a special rule but wasn’t clear about whether this replaced the book prayers or was in addition to them. Read more...