{a poem and prayer in time of COVID-19}

Three days in the tomb, the angels in heaven sing,
and three times around the chapel, You
enable us on Earth to glorify You in purity of heart.

Three—a number we can hold in our minds, that
we can count on our fingers. We can praise the Three
in One, speak the language of Trinity even if we
can’t parse all the grammar, can’t break the sentence
down—we can speak Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Read More

If any be devout and love God, let them enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any be wise servants, let them rejoicing enter into the joy of their Lord. If any have laboured long in fasting, let them now receive their recompense.

If any have wrought from the first hour, let them today receive their just reward.

If any have come at the third hour, let them with thankfulness keep the feast.

If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings, because they shall in nowise be deprived therefor.

If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near, fearing nothing.

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Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

He has set before us the joyous path to follow Him in the resurrection to eternal life when He said: Read More

Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia

Georgians are counting down to what may be the most troubled Easter in the 1,700 years since the country adopted Christianity.

As cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 continue to climb, churches are preparing for an influx on Easter Sunday, which falls on April 19 in the Eastern Orthodox world this year. Despite a state of emergency that is supposed to keep everyone at home, the powerful Georgian Church refuses to cancel services and the government refuses to extend otherwise stringent measures to the Church.

Believers are caught between church and state, faith and science. Read More