His Grace Bishop Luke of Syracuse, abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery and rector of the seminary in Jordanville, New York, officiated at the installation ceremony and festive divine services, marking his first return to the West Virginia monastery since 2012.
The feast of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, August 10, is considered the founding day of the 18th-century Theotokos Zhitenny Monastery in Ostashkov, and thus was chosen for the day of the first Liturgy in the monastery church in nearly 100 years.
On August 8, the Macedonian Orthodox parish of St. Petka in the Rockdale suburb of Sydney, Australia, celebrated the feast of its patron saint, the Great Martyr Paraskeva of Rome.
The diocese emphasized that from an Orthodox perspective, praying for leaders is “a spiritual duty, not a political act,” citing scriptural calls to pray for those in authority.
While the liberal Church of Sweden (Evangelical Lutheran), the largest religious denomination in the country, has consistently reported falling numbers, the Orthodox Church has been growing for several years now, thanks to immigration but also a noticeable number of conversions.