JOHNSTOWN, PA -- Dear faithful of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA and friends, we offer our prayers and condolences for all those who were injured and lost their lives in the aftermath of yesterday's terrorist attack in Boston. We share with you the following statement issued yesterday by His Eminence, Metropolitan Methodios of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston: Read more...

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- His Grace, Bishop Gregory has issued an appeal to diocesan parishes to assist the National ACRY in submitting nominations for their Annual Church School Teacher of the Year Award. The following is the text of His Grace's communique: During a recent meeting with the officers of the National Senior ACRY, I was pleased to learn that each year the ACRY recognizes an exemplary Church School Teacher Read more...

My beloved Faithful of the Diocese: As we begin the Great Lenten Season, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts so that we may journey through the season and approach Pascha with the proper frame of mind. In the hymn of Cheese Fare Vespers we hear, Let us set out with joy upon the season of the fast preparing ourselves for spiritual combat. Let us purify our souls and cleanse our bodies. As we fast from food let us also fast from every evil, rejoicing in the virtues of the spirit. Let us persevere with love and so be deemed worthy to venerate the passion of Christ our God and with great spiritual gladness to behold His Holy Resurrection. Read more...

Beloved brothers and sisters, children in the Lord, The holy fathers, who arranged everything in an orderly manner, instituted a period of ascetic discipline and spiritual purification for forty days prior to the great feast of the Lord’s resurrection. This ascetic rule assumes the form of a limitation on foods through fasting, but especially an abstinence from evil. The saintly hymnographer characteristically emphasizes that a genuine and favorable form of fasting for God is the estrangement from wrongdoing, control of the tongue, alienation from anger, separation from evil desires, including gossip, deceit and swearing, Read more...

As we celebrated this joyous Feast of the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, I wish to share with you the brillant homily of our Father among the Saints, John Chrysostom. The theology of the Incarnation can be said in no better way by no one. I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the shepherd's song, piping no soft melody, but loudly chanting a heavenly hymn! The angels sing! The archangels blend their voices in harmony! The cherubim resound their joyful praise! Read more...