On Saturday, July 19/August 1, 2015, on the Feast of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Joseph Clatterbuck of the parish of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Glen Allen (Richmond), Virginia, was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Eminence, Metropolitan Demetrius of America. His Eminence concelebrated with Fr. Nicodemos Gayle, the parish rector, Fr. George Psaromatis of St. Nicholas of Myra in Maryland, Archdeacon Agathangelus, and Fr. Dcn. Andrew Wales of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Fr. Christos Patitsas of Sts. Peter and Paul in Pennsylvania was also in attendance.
After the ordination, a festive meal was served.
We wish Fr. Dcn. Joseph, his family, and his parish many years, and exclaim, "AXIOS!" ("He is worthy!").
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...
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...
2025 Youth Conference
Please join us for the 2025 youth conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! To learn more, visit the conference website.
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...