Free Republic

AINA) -- The Antiochian Orthodox church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus was a landmark of al-Thawrah (also known as al-Tabqah). It was an impressive, modern structure with a large yard, surrounded by a high wall and well-situated on a main street near the corniche -- a well landscaped area hugging the southern bank of Lake Assad which was popular with locals going on an evening stroll. Its elegant dome, surmounted by a cross, could be seen from all parts of the Third Quarter (also known as Hayy al-Ishtirakiyah), where it was located. Spiritually, this church was under the jurisdiction of...

Moscow, July 1, Interfax – Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplain, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, said Russia is moving towards maximum self-reliance and must become the center of global Christianity. “It is not accidental that many see Russia as a defender of Christian ideals and traditional moral values, as a country that provides a real alternative to the cult of the golden calf and to a suicidal understanding of what freedom is,” Father Vsevolod writes in an article, published in the Rus Derzhavnaya newspaper on Monday. Russia must start feeling it is the center of the Christian...

The two are brutally executed – beheaded with a small combat knife. Echoing previous beheading recorded by insurgents, the head is held up to the cheers of onlookers and then placed on the body. This month has seen an escalation in sectarian atrocities committed by insurgents, who have been publicly armed and supported by America, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other actors. Indeed, the atrocities are coinciding with further arms transfers – with new advanced weaponry witnessed in the hands of militants in the past number of weeks. The most recent beheading recorded on video and uploaded to the internet,...

On the fifth Thursday of Lent in the Orthodox Churches we chant the service of the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete. It is a monumental work of hymnography with more than 250 odes, or verses, to which we also add the lengthy reading of the life of St Mary of Egypt. This makes it probably one of the longest services of Great Lent. If one also a counts the number of prostrations performed after each ode, it becomes also one of the most uncomfortable services for any casual observer. But the length of the service and the physical...

1. Be always with Christ. 2. Pray as you can, not as you want. 3. Have a keepable rule of prayer that you do by discipline. 4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times a day. 5. Have a short prayer that you constantly repeat when your mind is not occupied with other things. 6. Make some prostrations when you pray. 7. Eat good foods in moderation. 8. Keep the Church’s fasting rules. 9. Spend some time in silence every day. 10. Do acts of mercy in secret. 11. Go to liturgical services regularly. 12. Go to confession and communion regularly....

Although their sound used to be heard throughout the Russian countryside, church bells fell silent during the Soviet era. Now the classic ringing is being brought back to life. Church bells have always had a special significance in Russia. Their sounds alerted Russians to important events ranging from festivals to the outbreak of fires. When the Bolsheviks began destroying church bells after the revolutions of 1917, they were not only committing an act of vandalism, but a deed full of gloomy, prophetic importance. Russia lost its voice and hearing for a long time thereafter. During the rise and fall of...

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- In mid-October Egyptian media published news of an altercation between Muslim and Christian students over a classroom seat at a school in Mallawi, Minya province. Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih, writing for AINA -- Assyrian International News Agency -- www.aina.org , says the altercation lead to the murder of a Christian student. AINA says the media portrayed the incident as non-sectarian. However, Copts Without Borders, a Coptic news website, refuted this version and was first to report that the Christian student was murdered because he was wearing a crucifix. "We wanted to believe the official version," said...

The claims of a dedicated member of the Occupy Buffalo movement that he saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are not supported by Army records. Christopher M. Simmance has told several media outlets, including The Buffalo News, that he served as many as three tours of duty in those war zones and that he was severely injured in Afghanistan. Service records obtained from the Army, however, show he was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., for three years and he left the active-duty Army in January 2001 -- before the 9/11 terror attacks. Simmance insists his Army records are incomplete. He...

The valor of America's veterans reminds us why we remain free. My nine hunting companions last weekend in South Texas didn't look particularly special. Ranging from early-30s to mid-40s, they could be mistaken for the young doctor down the street, the general manager of the car dealership, the guy who builds custom motorcycles. But they are extraordinary. Among them, they had a Navy Cross, four Silver Stars, 26 Bronze Stars for valor and four Purple Hearts. These were Navy SEALs with a combined 150 years of service and more than 67 overseas deployments in the war against terror. The men...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl9y3SIPt7o&feature=youtu.be&t=58s This video needs to go viral. It's very tough to watch though.

We ask all who read these words to keep the parish family of St. Andrew, Los Angeles, CA in their prayers during these difficult days. In the early morning hours of 15 August, an intruder broke into the parish Church and desecrated the Holy Altar, Tabernacle, Iconography and the entire altar and sacristy area. The most devastating aspect of this horrendous crime was the scattering of the Reserve Sacrament on the floor among and beneath the various altar crosses, candles and vestments strewn throughout the church. The Holy Altar itself was pulled from its foundation and dragged through the Royal...

“What or who is God? The traveller upon the spiritual Way, the further he advances, becomes increasingly conscious of two contrasting facts—of the otherness and yet the nearness of the Eternal. In the first place, he realizes more and more that God is mystery. God is “the wholly Other”, invisible, inconceivable, radically transcendent, beyond all words, beyond all understanding. “Surely the babe just born”, writes the Roman Catholic George Tyrrell, “knows as much of the world and its ways as the wisest of us can know of the ways of God, whose sway stretches over heaven and earth, time and...

<p>When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they’ve had enough, that they’re ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it’s too late, she’s gone.</p>

CHOUTEAU, Oklahoma -- An Oklahoma woman believes outrage over the Florida murder case almost cost her her life. The 26-year-old says a crazed woman tried to kill her because the woman thought she was Casey Anthony. It happened in Chouteau last Friday night, July 8, 2011, just days after the Casey Anthony verdict. Sammay Blackwell hopes she never hears this again: "You look like Casey Anthony, I'm like 'okay,'" she said. Blackwell doesn't think it's funny after what happened last week. Blackwell works at a convenience store in Chouteau and said Shireen Nalley came in that night around 10 p.m....

From the moment of their birth in Buffalo 92 years ago, twin brothers Julian and Adrian Riester rarely left each other's side. They played together, went to school together, as young men traveled cross-country together -- and, in their 20s, joined the Franciscan order together. And on Wednesday, after 65 years as identical twins wearing the identical brown robes of the Franciscans -- mostly at St. Bonaventure University -- Brother Julian Riester and Brother Adrian Riester died together at St. Anthony Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. Julian died Wednesday morning, followed by Adrian in the evening. Those who knew the...

Marion Hagerman appreciates your concern. It's OK to give up on him, he says. Everyone else has — which might be the only sensible thing to do. Hagerman has been drinking for 39 years. He drinks despite decades of lectures, prayers and punishment. He drinks despite two years of homelessness, six DWI's, six treatments for alcoholism and 13 months in jail. What's ahead for Hagerman? The 54-year-old can see only one thing in his future — more drinking. That's why he feels lucky to live in a hospice for alcoholics — St. Anthony Residence in St. Paul. There, 60 men...

It's a few stories down from top. Daily Kos has since sent the post down the memory hole.

DATELINE; Lausanne, Switzerland; Friday, September 10, 2010: The IOC ruled that American Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn has had to forfeit her Olympic Gold The International Olympic Committee announced today that it has taken back the gold medal previously awarded to American skier Lindsey Vonn and given it to U.S. President Barack Obama (who gladly accepts any award). Olympic officials said Obama deserved the medal more than Vonn because no one has ever gone downhill faster than he has.

A teenager charged with crashing a van into a house, killing a woman gardening, told police she didn't feel so bad after learning the victim's age. According to court documents obtained by CBS Radio's 1010WINS, Kayla Gerdes was quoted in a written statement to police saying: "The thing that made me not feel so bad was she was old," she said. "I mean, 70 years is a long time to live." Then, on a completely separate note, she told police: "I want to see a newspaper or the news to see what I look like." Gerdes is facing vehicular manslaughter...

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release. The correspondence makes it plain that the key...