Ambassador of Russia in the Philippines Mr Marat Pavlov and his wife had even four times seen the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem on the eves of the Orthodox Easter
EASTER MESSAGE of METROPOLITAN PAVEL of MANILA and HANOI to the VENERABLE CLERGY and FLOCK of the PHILIPPINE–VIETNAMESE DIOCESE
“Glory to Thee, Christ the Savior, the Source of Life, who gave light to those who are in the darkness of ignorance and enlightened the whole earth with Thy Resurrection.” (Troparion of the Canon to the Myrrh – Bearers on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, ode 9)
Beloved in the Risen Christ, venerable fathers, dear brothers and sisters! Once again, we have been vouchsafed to reach the morning that knows no sunset, the Feast of Feasts and the Celebration of celebrations, the Bright Easter of Christ. Greeting each of you with unspeakable Easter joy, I address to you the words full of rejoicing: CHRIST IS RISEN! The Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt, in his Word for Easter, profoundly proclaims: “Glory to God – Christ has risen from the dead; the Sun of Truth, temporarily extinguished and hidden in the tomb, has shone again and illuminated the whole world with cheerful life-giving rays…” And he continues: “Do you see, brothers and sisters, how all the tribulations, sufferings and death of Christ our Lord ended? By His glorious Resurrection from the dead, by His power over hell and death… and the triumph of truth and Eternal life!” The Savior has risen – and nothing can shake our faith in the goodness of God, hope for salvation, and love for each other. The light of Christ’s Resurrection fills every person’s life with meaning, creates the foundation for every good desire, plan and undertaking.The Lord was pleased to reveal His truth to us. He condescends every time to our infirmities and gives a new testimony of His being, and the reality of His victorious Resurrection. Every Easter we rejoice and rejoice with renewed vigor. No matter how callous and cold our heart may be on the holy days of Great Friday, on the Blessed Saturday, – it experiences a feeling of joy on the holy and radiant Easter night and on all subsequent Easter days, which the Lord gives us in His mercy. This is the main proof for all of us that Christ really rose from the dead, that He really conquered sin and evil, that He really gave us eternal life.Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! Again and again, with great joy, I congratulate you on this holiday – Holy Easter!In festive rejoicing, I prayerfully wish all of you, the beloved flock of the Philippines and Vietnam, the mercy and help of God, success in the work of building parish communities and missionary preaching in the vastness of Southeast Asia, family peace and happiness. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the mercy of the Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary be with you all!Again and again I address to all of you, my dear ones, the hymn of eternal life and joy: Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
BY THE GRACE OF GOD,
PAVEL, METROPOLITAN OF MANILA AND HANOI, Easter of Christ 2022
Great and Holy Friday
Commemoration of the Passions of the Lord
Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem
Palm Sunday on our parishes
Athanasius means immortal
More than a year ago, a young man, Jeffrey Marmol, was dying of an unknown disease in a village in Quezon province. Having no money even for diagnostics, the relatives could only watch him fading away, and mentally they had already said goodbye to him. As a last hope, they took the offer of the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church to baptize him. They baptized Jeffrey and his family right in the ocean. The newly baptized was given the name Athanasius (Immortal in Greek). And he lived up to his name: immediately after his baptism, Athanasius went on the mend and a month later he was able to come to Tagaytay himself to thank the Lord in the temple. Today he is in good health and works to provide for his family.
The first ROC prayer book in the Philippines
The Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia of the Russian Orthodox Church, with the blessing of Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, has published the first prayer book in the Cebuano language.The collection includes morning and evening prayers, the rule for Holy Communion, prayers for every need, the Hours of Holy Easter. This is more than a year’s work of the initiative group of the educational and missionary center of St Matrona of Moscow in Davao City, under the leadership of the Secretary of the Filipino-Vietnamese Diocese, Hieromonk Korniliy (Molev), nun Maria (Buniel) and Elijah Ang Aleria, who edited the final text. Dimitri Cahilig, a student of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, also took part in the work on the translation. The approval of the translation was carried out by diocesan Filipino priests.A prayer book in the Cebuano language will be in demand for local residents, since several hundred Filipinos have converted to Orthodoxy recently, having passed the appropriate catechesis. And the number of such people continues to increase.The prayer book in the Cebuano language was published with the support of the literary foundation “The Road of Life” and personally by D.A.Mizgulin.Cebuano is one of the most widely spoken languages of the Philippines, spoken by about 15.8 million people.
Education finished
The training of newly ordained priests Nikolai Salgado and Ambrose Sumagaysay has been completed. As an exam, first Father Nicholas in the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Makalangot, and then Fr. Ambrose in the Church of St. Helena in Little Baguio successfully celebrated the Divine Liturgy without the help of other priests. After the services, the secretary of the diocese, Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), handed over to the fathers the liturgical utensils for independent service. We wish the fathers God’s help in their efforts to save the Filipinos.
Good News
Today is the Good News (Greek – ευαγγέλιο): “The Son of God becomes the Son of a Virgin”! This is the beginning of our salvation. It is noteworthy that the Annunciation almost always falls during Lent. This should remind us that our salvation is granted for labor and feats.
The parish of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vung Tau (Vietnam).
Standing of Mary of Egypt
On the fifth week of the Lent the service of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is celebrated. This is the longest canon including the reading of the life of St. Mary of Egypt followed by the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, and it can be called the culmination of the Lenten feats. The service is held on Thursday but if the feast of Annunciation occurs on this day, the service of the Great Canon is transferred to Tuesday.
Charity in Laguna
At this difficult time, the work of the Charity and Social Service Department of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese continues, in particular, regular humanitarian aid visits to Laguna Province. We thank the sponsors of the FMI Charitable Foundation, its director, the head of the Department for Charity and Social Ministry of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, Priest David Grubbs, and the rector of the Holy Cross Parish in Siniloan, Archimandrite Philemon (Castro).
