LIGONIER, PA [Antiochian Village] At the invitation of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship, Campus Ministry, His Grace, Bishop Gregory is serving as keynote speaker at the 2013 College Conference East at Antiochian Village in Ligonier, PA, which is in session until December 31, 2013. For the next three days, His Grace will be surrounded by 300 of North America's finest young Orthodox Christians,

I greet you with joy and love in the Name of our Incarnate Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us give thanks to Almighty God, by whose grace we have been given the opportunity to celebrate the Birth of His Son. If we look around, we find hatred, mistrust, suffering, and the absence of peace and love in our neighborhood, city, country, and in fact the whole world. This reality in life makes us cry out for God’s help, assistance, and intervention.

Many centuries ago, the Prophet foresaw and announced with enthusiasm and joy the birth of the child Jesus from the ever-Virgin Mary. Naturally, even then, there was no period of census by Augustus Caesar, no place to stay for the safety of the Holy Virgin who was carrying a child by the Holy Spirit. So the holy Joseph as her betrothed and protector was obliged to lead her to a cave, a manger with animals, in order to give birth to a child. Heaven and earth received them, offering thanks to their Creator:The angels offered the hymn; the heavens a star; the wise men gifts; the shepherds a miracle; the earth a cave; the desert a manger; and we the Mother Virgin.

BROOKLINE, MA -- Christ is born! Glorify Him! The National Office and Student Advisory Board of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship extends its greetings on the upcoming Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord. To spread the joy of the feast, they invite you to watch a short, 4-minute video we made as a fun way to share in the celebration of this joyous upcoming feast! Diocesan faithful and friends are kindly asked to be a light in the lives of our beloved Orthodox College Students

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE -- On December 19, 2013, His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received an honorary doctorate from Istanbul's Bogaziçi University (formerly Robert College) for his extraordinary vision and initiatives for the protection of the natural environment. The award comes on the occasion of Bogaziçi University's 150th anniversary. Not only is this Turkish institution of higher learning the first ever to be ranked (as it has since 2012) among the top 200 universities in the world, but it is the first to bestow such an honor on His All-Holiness, and the first also publicly to acknowledge his status and position as Ecumenical Patriarch, a title which has been used since the 6th century A.D.

JOHNSTOWN,PA [Diocesan Chancery]-- Clergy, parishioners and family of the deceased gathered in St. John's Church in Perth Amboy, NJ on Monday, December 2 for the funeral of Vladimir Rosco, son of Pani Susan Rosco and the late Protopresbyter Michael S. Rosco. The previous evening, a Requiem was sung in the Novak Funeral Home. The deceased had passed away unexpectedly on November 23, six months after the death of his father who died as a result of a fatal car crash.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- At the invitation of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa will attend the Archon Second International Conference on Religious Freedom: "Tearing Down Walls: Achieving Religious Equality in Turkey." It will take place in Berlin, Germany on December 4-5, 2013. This upcoming conference promises to be an extraordinary, historic and watershed event, just as the first Archon International Conference on Religious Freedom was in November 2010 at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- The schedule of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa for December 2013, has been released by the Diocesan Chancery.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- It is proper and just to sing to You, to bless You, to praise You, to thank You, to worship You in every place of Your kingdom, for You are God, ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing yet ever the same, You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You brought us out of non-existence into being and, when we had fallen, You raised us up again, and left nothing undone to lead us to heaven and to bestow upon us Your future kingdom. For all this we give thanks to You and to Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit, for all that we know and do not know

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- With gratitude to Almighty God, the clergy and the faithful of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese extend their heartfelt congratulations and best wishes, today - November 27, 2013, to His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa on the first anniversary of his Consecration and Enthronement as Ruling Diocesan Bishop. The past year has been a joyful year for the clergy and the faithful of the Diocese, as they have come to know their new Hierarch.

JOHNSTOWN, PA - The Diocesan Chancery has been informed that +Vladimir Rosco, the son of Pani Susan and the late Protopresbyter Michael Rosco fell asleep in the Lord on Saturday, November 23, 2013. The viewing will take place on Sunday, December 1, 2013 at Novak Funeral Home 419 Barclay Street, Perth Amboy, NJ 08861 from 2:00 pm -6:00 pm. The Parastas Service will take place at 5:00 pm.

JOHNSTOWN, PA - The Diocesan Chancery offers its sincere condolences on the recent falling asleep in the Lord of +Michael Chalachan, the father of Pani Linda Kadlec. Michael Chalachan, 93, fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday, October 27, 2013 at his home. He was predeceased by his wife, Anna in 2002, his brothers, Peter and Andrew.

BALTIMORE, MD (IOCC) — The struggle to clear roads of debris and restore the lines of communication across the Philippines is slowing relief efforts for survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan. More than 11.8 million people have been affected by the deadly storm that has claimed 4,460 lives so far and left more than 920,000 people with no homes to return to. The need for food and medicine is critical, especially in hardest hit Tacloban city, where fuel is expected to run out in a few days and damage to the local airport's runway is limiting its use to small planes evacuating displaced storm victims. International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is responding with partners on the ground to reach vulnerable families in the country's hardest hit areas

JOHNSTOWN, PA - The Diocesan Chancery has learned today, the mother of Pani Annajane Fencik +Kathryn (Kay) Misichko, has fallen asleep in the Lord. The Funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing is at the Colonial-Wojciechowski Funeral Home, 8025 W Golf Rd Niles, IL 60714 on Friday Nov 15 from 3-8pm. The Panachida Service will be sung at 7 PM. The Funeral Service is on Saturday Nov 16 at 9:30 am at St. Michael's Orthodox Church in Niles, IL.

TORONTO -- [St John the Compassionate Mission] Very Rev. Fr. Roberto Ubertino, the Executive Director of our Diocesan St. John the Compassionate Mission, will be the keynote speaker at The Divine Compassion Conference to be held at Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology from November 14-16.

JOHNSTOWN, PA [Diocesan Chancery]-- Consistent with its mission statement, the Stewardship Commission of the Diocese presented a proposal to the XXII Sobor/Council in Johnstown. The mission statement says: Orthodox Christian Stewardship is a Christ-centered lifestyle, which acknowledges accountability, reverence, and responsibility before God. Orthodox Christian Stewardship is a call to all of the faithful to share willingly and cheerfully the gifts that God has bestowed on them including sharing these gifts for God’s work in His Church.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO [CANADA] -- With the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, Christ The Saviour Orthodox Church of Ottowa, Canada received a special visit from His Eminence, Archbishop Nicolae, Ruling Hierarch of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas on Sunday, November 3, 2013. Archbishop Nicolae presided over a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Archbishop Nicolae brought the parish a gift of icons containing the relics of two saints: St. Leontie of Radauti and St. John the New of Suceava. Both of these saints are from the Bucovina region, the ancestral home of the founders of Christ the Saviour Parish.

Johnstown, PA -- On Wednesday October 30, 2013, The Very Rev Protopresbyter Robert and Pani Kathy Buczak began their service to Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Previously serving as Pastor of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Homestead, PA, Fr. Robert is no stranger to the Cathedral Parish. For many years, Fr. Robert served as Archdeacon to His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- In the presence of His Grace, Bishop Gregory and a large number of Cathedral faithful, family members and friends, the Very Rev. Protopresbyter Frank P. Miloro, celebrated his final Liturgy as Cathedral Dean on Sunday, October 27, 2013. While retiring from active parish ministry, Fr. Miloro, at the request of His Grace, Bishop Gregory will continue to serve the Diocese as Chancellor and Dean of Christ the Saviour Seminary for the foreseeable future.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- [Diocesan Chancery] With the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, the 7:45 am Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Monday October 21, 2013 at Christ the Saviour Cathedral, which will inaugurate the XXII Diocesan Council-Sobor, will be live streamed on the internet. His Grace, Bishop Gregory will be the main celebrant and will be assisted by the members of the Diocesan Consistory. During the Liturgy, Subdeacon William George, a 2013 graduate of Christ the Saviour Seminary, will be ordained to the Holy Diaconate.