More Orthodox in Manila

“Mary took about a pint of pure nard myrrh, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair” (Gospel on Palm Sunday).
Today the parish of the Iveron icon of the Mother of God in Manila has significantly grown up as 17 new members were converted into Orthodoxy through Chrismation (anointing with the Holy Myrrh) from Roman Catholic faith.

Liturgy on Lazarus Saturday

Liturgy on Lazarus Saturday was celebrated at the parish of St. Isidore of Rostov in Alabel, Sarangani. The service was performed by priests Alexiy Bergado, Roman Buniel and Matthew Sale.

Memorial evening in Theological Academy

On April 2, the memorial evening was held in the assembly hall of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Its theme was spiritual missions in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and African countries. After the opening remarks, the audience watched a video about the life of Orthodox communities on the territory of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia. A report on the current state of the mission in Indonesia was made by students of the preparatory department for foreign students: Sejati Moses, Shakti Gerasim and Simanjuntak Sergiy. In their message, they spoke about the current state of the mission of the Southeastern Exarchate in Indonesia: The preaching of Christianity in Asia is traditionally associated with the name of the Apostle Thomas, one of the closest disciples of the Savior of the World. Today, the clergy of the exarchate, serving in 13 countries and five time zones, are united in 4 dioceses – Singapore, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines-Vietnam. The exarchate employs 75 clerics serving in 79 parishes and spiritually nurturing tens of thousands of parishioners. Most of the communities consist of local residents, Russian compatriots make up about 20%. Striving for the formation of national Orthodoxy, Metropolitan Sergius pays special attention to the training of priests from among the local population, therefore seminarians from South-East Asia study in theological schools in Russia. Special attention was paid to translation activities in Indonesia: students read several passages from the Holy Scriptures in Indonesian. “By reading examples of poems in Tagalog, you can appreciate the beauty of writing and the skill of the authors, regardless of whether you are familiar with Tagalog or not. However, we have a great opportunity to get in touch with the amazing Tagalog poetry in the original,” said the host of the evening, a first–year student of the church-practical department of the magistracy, reader Ivan Ivanov. One of the most striking examples of a poetic text in Tagalog called “The Test of our Life” was read by a student of the preparatory department for foreign students Joasaf Nunez. In the second part of the evening, the main agenda was the topic of the mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in the countries of the African continent. Before the reports, a fragment of an interview with Patriarchal exarch Metropolitan Leonid (Gorbachev) about the current state of missionary service in African countries was shown. “Talking about the mission and the history of African countries is not new for our Theological Academy. In the 60s of the XX century, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad and Novgorod opened the Faculty of African Youth. And from that moment on, students from African countries arrive to study in the Northern Capital,” said the evening’s host, reader Ivan Ivanov.The students’ reports alternated with various musical numbers. It is impossible to talk about the culture of other countries without ever coming into contact with it. In order to include all listeners in the rich culture of Africa, students of the preparatory program for learning the Russian language from the countries of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa performed the song “joy for the world”.

Reference: Lenten Memorial Evenings is an annual educational project of the Department of Church History under the leadership of Candidate of Theology, Associate Professor Dmitry Andreevich Karpuk. These evenings highlight the history of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and the activities of its graduates. SPbDA Press Service

Thursday of the Great Canon

On March 30, the Thursday of the Great Canon (“Standing of St Mary of Egypt”), the service of the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete was celebrated in Tagaytay headed by the Dean of Manila Deanery Hieromonk Alexei, with priests David Grubbs and Augustin Ponferrada co-serving. After the service, the seminar on the liturgical features of Lent and Pentecostal period was held. Archimandrite Philemon and some invited priests of Antiochian Orthodox Church participated online. The seminar was followed by the meeting of the Deanery where actual questions were discussed.

Cooperation with Cossacks

On March 26, a teleconference was held with the participation of Cossacks of the Moscow region and the Philippines. The teleconference was attended by: Ataman of the Cossack city district of the Solnechnogorsk city of the Moscow region Alexander Chizhuen, Chairman of the Board for the Cooperation with the Cossacks at the Department for Interaction with the Armed Forces, Law Enforcement Agencies and the Cossacks of the Sergiev Posad Diocese, Rector of the Pokrovsky Church of Myshetskoye village, confessor of the city Cossack society of Solnechnogorsk, Archpriest Alexander Azarov, Ataman of the Republic of the Philippines Daniel Foronda and the Dean of the Manila District of the Philippine—Vietnamese Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Hieromonk Alexey (Lapshin). The main topics of the meeting were: holding joint cultural events within the framework of the interaction of the Cossacks of the Philippines with the Cossacks of Solnechnogorsk with the participation of the parishes of the Pokrovsky Church in Myshetskoye village and of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Manila. Based on the results of the teleconference, a range of issues has been discussed and steps to solve them have been outlined, as well as plans for cooperation between representatives of the church and the Cossacks of the Moscow region and the Philippines have been drawn up.

Metropolitan Pavel visited the shrines of Galilee

On March 27, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi and a pilgrimage delegation headed by His Eminence to the Holy Land visited the shrines of Galilee. The pilgrims visited Cana of Galilee, dived into the waters of the Jordan (Yardenite), visited the holy springs at the courtyard of St. Mary Magdalene.

Metropolitan Pavel celebrated All-night vigil and Divine Liturgy in Jerusalem

On March 25, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, who leads a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land, headed the All-night Vigil, and on March 26 – the Divine Liturgy in the church of the Martyr Queen Alexandra, located on the territory of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. His Eminence was co-served by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Alexander (Elisov) and the clergy of the mission.

Metropolitan Pavel visited Gornensky Convent

On March 23, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi with a pilgrimage group visited the Gornensky Convent in the Holy Land. In the Convent, Bishop Pavel met with Abbess Ekaterina (Chernysheva) and performed a requiem mass at the grave of the former abbess Abbess Georgia (Shchukina). Abbess Georgiya (Shchukina) – honorary abbess of the Gornensky Convent in Jerusalem – passed away to the Lord on February 6, 2022, at the age of 91, after a long illness.

Metropolitan Pavel visited Samaria

On March 23, 2023, a pilgrimage group led by Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi made a trip to Samaria. The pilgrims visited Shechem (Nablus), the Greek monastery of St. Photinia (Jacob’s Well), the Samaritan Museum, where the Pentateuch of Moses is located, the ruins of Herod’s palace, where St. John the Baptist was executed, as well as the Beheading Church and Mount Garizim.

Metropolitan Pavel visited Gethsemane

On March 22, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi with a delegation of pilgrims to the Holy Land visited the holy places of Gethsemane. The pilgrims visited the monastery of St. Chariton the Confessor (Faran Lavra), visited the Russian Monastery on the Mount of Olives, the Little Galilee, the Chapel of the Ascension of the Lord on the Mount of Olives, beheld the panorama of Jerusalem. In Gethsemane, the delegation headed by Vladyka Pavel visited the Tomb of the Mother of God, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Russian Gethsemane Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene, and the Mountain Monastery.