An arson attempt at the historic Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople was thwarted when a man tried to set fire to papers inside the monument that has served as a mosque since 2020.
Founded with the blessing of Emperor Nicholas I, the convent served as a spiritual center for Cossack widows and orphans.
Deacon Sergei Geruk
My first encounter with the Pochaev Lavra took place back in Soviet times. At that time, I was still a young Soviet journalist, far from faith and the Church. It was as though I beheld with my own eyes this very “Holy Russia”: waves of humanity swaying between the blue and sky-blue walls adorned with the solemn faces of saints.
Then, that same night, St. Abraham appeared to her in a dream and drove three black snakes (demons) out of her with his staff. He said: “Maria, you asked me to help. You prayed fervently to me, and see? I helped you. Sin no more!”
Hierarchs of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church concelebrated this weekend.