On the third Sunday of Pascha we congratulate our pious myrrh-bearing women and wish them health!

The Resurrection of Christ is the day of Victory over the most terrible enemies of humanity-death and the devil. The gates of paradise have opened for everyone, and to enter them, you only need to want to be always with Christ. And our joy is that we have such a God Who, having created the universe, washes the feet of fishermen, and He is even ready to die for us, if it is necessary for our salvation!While the Philippines is once again plunged into lockdown due to the pandemic, the situation in Vietnam allows to fully celebrate our main Holiday. Almost a hundred people took part in the procession, and about seventy received communion of the holy Mysteries of Christ. The Easter Service was held in Vung Tau, where the Service was broadcast live to the Orthodox communities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Several people came to the service from Nha Trang, Mui Ne and Ho Chi Minh City. According to tradition, the Gospel of John was read in different languages: Church Slavonic, Vietnamese, Chinese, Greek, French, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, and others.

On Great Thursday evening the divine service of the Great Friday Matins with 12 “Gospels of Passions” was held in the parishes of the diocese in Vietnam and the Philippines.

On April 15, the parish of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vung Tau hosted a meeting of the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Ho Chi Minh City Mr Sadykov with the rector of the parish priest Evgeniy Tsukalo.
Timur Sirozhevich Sadykov just arrived at a new place of work and when visiting Vung Tau offered to get acquainted. The Consul General was accompanied by Consul-Adviser Vadim Valeryevich Basinsky.

Priest Evgeniy spoke about the parishes in Vietnam, about the peculiarities of a parish life.

Today, the Catholic Philippines celebrate Easter. But today, the Jews also celebrate their Easter (the exodus from the Egyptian captivity). The Orthodox Church does not celebrate Easter together with the Jews, since the Resurrection of Christ was after the Jewish Old Testament Passover. In our calendar, today is the middle of Lent, and we remember the Cross of the Lord- “a temptation for the Jews, a madness for the Hellenes” (1 Cor. 1: 23). A temptation, because the crucifixion was an execution for the worst villains but the weapon of death became the weapon of victory over death. Madness, because the Son of God suffered for the people. Suffered for we can be saved and see this His Love for us forever. Love which “never ceases” (1 Cor. 13, 8)