(G) Feast of St Markella (1962)

The Feast Day of St Markella (July 22/August 4) as celebrated at the then Parish of St Markella in 1962. This Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Archimandrite Petros Astyfides, Fr Eleutherios Moschos, Hieromonk Akakios Mouskos, and Deacon Nikodemos Kalantis. Heard reading the Creed of Faith is Gerontissa Siglitiki. This is the earliest known recording of Divine Services celebrated at the Parish (later Cathedral) of St Markella. The parish was established by Arch. Petros in 1954, eight years before this recording was made, and ten years after he escaped persecution in Greece and came to America. Less than four months after this Divine Liturgy was served (Nov29/Dec12) Archimandrite Petros was ordained to the Episcopacy as Bishop of Astoria. He would later be elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Astoria. At the time of this recording Arch. Petros was under the omophorion of Bishop Dositheos of New York, who was a Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Fr. Eleutherios, one of the Chian Six, served the Church of St Spyridon in Detroit for many years, and eventually left America and lived on the Holy Mountain until he reposed on April 21, 2020, aged 97. The Deacon Nikodemos Kalantis is now an Archimandrite serving the Church of St Mark of Ephesus in Montreal. Gerontissa Siglitiki resides at the Cathedral to this day, with her Sisterhood around her there.

We have left the glitches in the recording intact. What is heard is the distortion of the sound at the point when the old Wollensak reel-to-reel recorder is turned off. This was done periodically to save tape. Unlike digital recording magnetic tape reels were very limited in their available recording time.

Orthodox Awareness

Why the True Orthodox Are Truly Orthodox

A Rejoinder to Fr. Basil Gregoriates and an Apology for Breaking Communion with Ecumenist Bishops

In every age the devil tempts the faithful by various means: persecutions, foreign invasions, the lure of worldly seduction. Among his most effective snares are heresy and schism which, by separating Christians from the Church, lead them away from Christ and into spiritual deception and apostasy. Read more...

Missions

Saint John of Kronstadt - Bunnell, Florida

St. John of Kronstadt Orthodox Church began as a mission parish in the year 2000, in a home chapel in Palm Coast, FL – a small town on Florida’s northeast coast located between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. After two years, it became necessary to have services in area community centers, rented for Sundays and other Holy Days. Read more...

Youth

2021 St. Xenia Camp

Greetings St. Xenia Camp family,

As previously announced, through the intercessions of St. Xenia, the prayers of so many of you, and with the blessing of Metropolitan Demetrius, St. Xenia Camp 2021 will return to Forest Acres in Fryeburg, Maine August 15-21! Given the continued impact of COVID-19, camp this year may yet be somewhat different from the past Forest Acres experiences. We are sharing this information ahead of registration so that all families can make an informed decision on whether they feel comfortable sending their camper(s) this year. [Read more...]

 

Ask A Priest

Fasting

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...