Please be aware that the jurisdictions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate have been advised of the need for us, as the people of God, to act with mercy in alleviating the suffering of so many who have been affected by the recent earthquake and tidal waves in Asia. Please continue to pray for them in your parish.

There is a reason why the Church calls our thoughts to the story of the Wise Men, every year at this season. The story is an icon of the journey we must all make - a journey out of the darkness, through the winter, following a mysterious star to the radiance of the New-Born King.

JOHNSTOWN, PA Newly updated Nativity and Theophany Eve Service Books are now available for sale. Orders are now being accepted by the Diocesan Chancery with advance payment required.

In the last two months, several disastrous hurricanes have ravaged the Florida area and the Gulf coast. Recently, Hurricane Ivan proceeded from the Gulf and badgered the Pittsburgh area with massive flooding. Many thousands of people have been affected by these grievous storms. Some have perished, many more have been injured. Still more have suffered the loss of their homes and livelihood.

By the authority invested in me by the Holy Synod of Constantinople, I solemnly proclaim the opening of the sixty-fifth academic year of Christ the Saviour Seminary. I attend to this event with great devotion, as should we all. The Lord has given this Diocese many gifts, of whose worth it is impossible to measure. But some from these many rise to prominence, even amidst such a rich array. And one such prominent gift is Christ the Saviour Seminary.

PRIEST: Furthermore, we pray to You, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, Whose grace is everywhere within and without all of Creation, Who determined each creature in the counsels of Your Holy Will before time began, Who created all things by the Son in the Holy Spirit, Who made all things exist in each other, holding together in the power of Christ : look down with mercy upon Your handiwork in the world that You love.

On September 1st, we witness another beginning of our Church's year. In the Church of Constantinople, this new year has been observed on September 1st for well over sixteen hundred years. We celebrate this beginning in September, for this month has long been known as a sweet time of harvest, bright days and cool evenings. After the work in the fields is now done, it is time, in September, to begin the work of learning and reflection, and preparation for the years to come.

Our days of feasting and celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ have come to their forty-day closure, when we take leave of the Feast and behold Christ ascended in glory. But ten days later, on the Fiftieth day, the Day of Pentecost, we receive the fullness of the Promise that was sounded on the Eve of the First Day of Eternity.

Let us arise and enter into the Resurrection Joy of our Lord! The Banquet Chamber is prepared! Even as the Lord commanded His Disciples to prepare the Upper Room for His Mystical Supper (St. Mark 14:12-16), so He has commanded us to celebrate this Queen of Feasts with great rejoicing. For He greets each one of us as He greeted the Holy Women coming to His empty- Tomb: "Rejoice!"

Now we arise! Now we commence the season of the Great and Holy Fast, a time of repentance and sanctification, a time of testing and purification. The days and weeks that have come before, the period that the Church calls "Triodion", have prepared us well for our Lenten Pilgrimage. For we have heard what I believe to be the greatest of all the parables of our Lord, the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

MANVILLE, NJ. At 3:00 am (EST) today, the Very Rev. Protopresbyter Andrew Hutnyan, fell-asleep-in-the-Lord after a lengthy illness. Father Andrew, a priest of some 45 years of our Diocese, Pastor Of Holy Ghost Church, Manville, NJ and past Diocesan Supervisor of Church Schools, will lie in state in Holy Ghost Church in Manville, On Wednesday afternoon (Feb 25). Funeral Services will take place on Wed Feb 25 at 7:00 pm and Thursday Feb 26, 2004 at 10:00 am.

Once again, we are compelled to remember, at this time of year, the tragic reality of abortion. It is now 31 years since that infamous day when the Supreme Court executed the legality of expedient infanticide, for that is really what abortion is. But in the minds of most people today, abortion does not appear so ugly. It has been dressed up and masked. It is regarded as a political issue, a litmus test, a mere survey question.