On March 15, Saturday of the departed, in Boston (Davao Oriental Province) in the Philippines, Hieromonk John (Gondayao), chairman of the diocesan Department of Religious Education and Catechesis, performed the sacrament of Baptism for six people.
They are members of a local family that has been studying Orthodoxy for several years. The believers have long sought the true Orthodox Church, wanting to join it.
Last year, they turned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Missionaries were sent to Boston to test their knowledge of the faith and the firmness of their desire to convert to the Orthodox Church.
It turned out that the believers had independently studied the basics of Orthodoxy in depth. They subsequently visited Davao several times, including meeting Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, and also underwent the rite of catechism at the missionary center of Blessed Matrona of Moscow.
The new converts have already begun sharing their knowledge of Orthodoxy with their friends and neighbors. Several more families in this city are undergoing catechism.
Today we finally welcome new children of the Church! And tomorrow, on the 2nd Sunday of Great Lent, the day of remembrance of St. Gregory Palamas, Father John will celebrate the Divine Liturgy in Boston.
