Feast of Saint Demetrius the Great-Martyr, at the Monastery of Saint John of San Francisco

On Sunday October 26/ November 8, His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrius celebrated the feast of Saint Demetrius the Great-Martyr, at the monastery of Saint John of San Francisco, the Wonderworker.

At the monastery, a special fast is observed, and traditional prefestal hymns of the Saint are chanted, the week preceding the feast. Afterfeast hymns are chanted on the week following.
 
Many faithful traveled many hours to visit the monastery on this occasion. The atmosphere was very festive; the presence of the saint was very tangible.

His Eminence delivered a powerful sermon in honor of Saint Demetrius which can be viewed in the below video. After the Divine Liturgy, the monastery offered hospitality to the many pilgrims who sat for the trapeza meal. Since there were more people than anticipated, some had to wait to eat.

Following the monastic traditions of Mount Athos, after the "Panagia" service in the refectory, the monastics and pilgrims returned to the Church to complete the service with an ancient canon chanted in honor of Saint Demetrius, followed by "many years" to His Eminence who blessed the faithful.

His Eminence spent the rest of the day speaking with the faithful who patiently waited one by one, (or group by group), outside of his reception area.

We wish "Many years" to our beloved archpastor!

View the feast day gallery on Saint John of San Francisco’s Monastery website: https://www.saintjohnsmonastery.org/feast-of-saint-demetrius-the-great-martyr-2020-gallery/

For more videos, visit our Orthodox Tradition website.

Orthodox Awareness

Bartholomew Prays at Iftar

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...

Missions

Saint Matthew the Evangelist, Jonesboro, Arkansas

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...

Youth

2025 Youth Conference

Please join us for the 2025 youth conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! To learn more, visit the conference website.

Ask A Priest

Morning and Evening Prayers

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...