June 5, 2024
Photo: antiochian.org On Monday, June 3, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Diocese of North American announced on its website that the Antiochian Women organization has been contacted by an anonymous donor who pledges a dollar-for-dollar matching donation of up to $150,000 for the 2024 Antiochian Women Project, an endowment fund to support widowed clergy wives. All donations must be received by the treasurer by Friday, July 12.
The current stipend for clergy wives whose husbands have reposed is a maximum of $600 per month, and only after age 65.
Metropolitan Saba of the Antiochian Diocese wrote in his March letter. “As we approach Great Lent, with its many services and other responsibilities for our priests, let us not forget how their wives make this ministry possible: the priest is able to conduct services, to teach us, to hear our confessions, and all the rest because his wife manages so many other family needs; moreover, priests’ wives themselves bless our parishes as gifted choir directors, teachers, organizers, and counselors and in so many other capacities. Let us show gratitude for all these blessings by remembering these women in their retirement—all the more so, since caring for widows has been laid down as a test of true faith. For the scriptures declare this: Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27).”
The project information text can be downloaded here.
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