INTRODUCTION
The Orthodox Church was founded by our
Lord Jesus Christ and is the living manifestation of His presence in the
history of the mankind. The most conspicuous characteristics of Orthodoxy
are its rich liturgical life and its faithfulness to the apostolic tradition.
It is believed by Orthodox Christians that their Church has preserved
the tradition and continuity ofthe ancient Church in its fullness compared
to other Christian denominations which have departed from the common tradition
of the Church of the first 10 centuries. Today Orthodox Church numbers
approximately 300 million Christians who follow the faith and practices
that were defined by the first seven ecumenical councils. The word orthodox
("right belief and right glory") has traditionally been used,
in the Greek-speaking Christian world, to designate communities, or individuals,
who preserved the true faith (as defined by those councils), as opposed
to those who were declared heretical. The official designation of the
church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic
Church" (gr. catholicos = universal).
The
Orthodox Church is a family of "autocephalous" (self governing)
churches, with the Ecumenical (= universal) Patriarch of Constantinople
holding titular or honorary primacy as primus inter pares (the
first among equals). The Orthodox Church is not a centralised organization
headed by a pontiff. The unity of the Church is rather manifested in common
faith and communion in the sacraments and no one but Christ himself is
the real head of the Church. The number of autocephalous churches has
varied in history. Today there are many: the Church of Constantinople
(Istanbul), the Church of Alexandria (Egypt), the Church of Antioch (with
headquarters in Damascus, Syria), and the Churches of Jerusalem, Russia,
Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland,
Albania and America
There are also "autonomous"
churches (retaining a token canonical dependence upon a mother see) in
Czech and Slovak republic, Sinai, Crete, Finland, Japan, China and Ukraine.
In addition there is also a large Orthodox Diaspora scattered all over
the world and administratively divided among various jurisdictions (dependencies
of the above mentioned autocephalous churches). The first nine autocephalous
churches are headed by patriarchs, the others by archbishops or
metropolitans. These titles are strictly honorary as all bishops are completely
equal in the power granted to them by the Holy Spirit.
The order of precedence in which the
autocephalous churches are listed does not reflect their actual influence
or numerical importance. The patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria,
and Antioch, for example, present only shadows of their past glory. Yet
there remains a consensus that Constantinople's primacy of honour, recognized
by the ancient canons because it was the capital of the ancient Byzantine
empire, should remain as a symbol and tool of church unity and cooperation.
Modern pan-Orthodox conferences were thus convoked by the ecumenical patriarch
of Constantinople. Several of the autocephalous churches are de facto
national churches, by far the largest being the Russian Church; however,
it is not the criterion of nationality but rather the territorial principle
that is the norm of organization in the Orthodox Church.
In the wider theological
sense "Orthodoxy is not merely a type of purely earthly organization
which is headed by patriarchs, bishops and priests who hold the ministry
in the Church which officially is called "Orthodox." Orthodoxy
is the mystical "Body of Christ," the Head of which is Christ
Himself (see Eph. 1:22-23 and Col. 1:18, 24 et seq.), and its composition
includes not only priests but all who truly believe in Christ, who have
entered in a lawful way through Holy Baptism into the Church He founded,
those living upon the earth and those who have died in the Faith and in
piety." (read an inspiring sermon "WHAT IS ORTHODOXY?" by Arcbishop Averky of
Jordanville)
The GREAT
SCHISM between the Eastern and theWestern Church (1054) was the
culmination of a gradual process of estrangement between the east and
west that began in the first centuries of the Christian Era and continued
through the Middle Ages. Linguistic and cultural differences, as well
as political events, contributed to the estrangement. From the 4th to
the 11th century, Constantinople, the centre of Eastern Christianity,
was also the capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, while
Rome, after the barbarian invasions, fell under the influence of the Holy
Roman Empire of the West, a political rival. In the West theology remained
under the influence of St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and gradually
lost its immediate contact with the rich theological tradition of the
Christian East. In the same time the Roman See was almost completely overtaken
by Franks. Theological differences could have probably been settled if
there were not two different concepts of church authority. The growth
of Roman primacy, based on the concept of the apostolic origin of the
Church of Rome which claimed not only titular but also jurisdictional
authority above other churches, was incompatible with the traditional
Orthodox ecclesiology. The Eastern Christians considered all churches
as sister churches and understood the primacy of the Roman bishop only as primus inter
pares among his brother bishops. For the East, the highest authority
in settling doctrinal disputes could by no means be the authority of a
single Church or a single bishop but an Ecumenical Council of all sister
churches. In the course of time the Church of Rome adopted various wrong
teachings which were not based in the Tradition and finally proclaimed
the teaching of the Pope's infallibility when teaching ex cathedra.
This widened the gap even more between the Christian East and West. The
protestant communities which split from Rome in the course of centuries
diverged even more from the teaching of the Holy Fathers and the Holy
Ecumenical Councils. Due to these serious dogmatic differences the Orthodox
Church is not in communion with the Roman Catholic and Protestant communities.
More traditional Orthodox theologians do not recognise the ecclesial and
salvific character of these Western churches at all, while the more liberal
ones accept that the Holy Spirit acts to a certain degree within these
communities although they do not possess the fullness of grace and spiritual
gifts like the Orthodox Church. Many serious Orthodox theologians are
of the opinion that between Orthodoxy and heterodox confessions, expecially
in the sphere of spiritual experience, the understanding of God and salvation,
there exists an ontological difference which cannot be simply ascribed
to cultural and intellectual enstrangement of the East and West but is
a direct consequence of a gradual abandonment of the sacred tradition
by heterodox Christians.
At
the time of the Schism of 1054 between Rome and Constantinople, the membership
of the Eastern Orthodox Church was spread throughout the Middle East,
the Balkans, and Russia, with its centre in Constantinople, the capital
of the Byzantine Empire, which was also called New Rome. The vicissitudes
of history have greatly modified the internal structures of the Orthodox
Church, but, even today, the bulk of its members live in the same geographic
areas. Missionary expansion toward Asia and emigration toward the West,
however, have helped to maintain the importance of Orthodoxy worldwide.
Today, the Orthodox Church is present almost everywhere in the world and
is bearing wittness of true, apostolic and patristic tradition to all
peoples.
The Orthodox
Church is well known for its developed MONASTICISM.
The uninterupted monastic tradition of Orthodox Christianity can
be traced from the Egyptian desert monasteries of the 3 and 4th centuries.
Soon monasticism had spread all over the Mediterranean basin and Europe:
in Palestine, Syria, Cappadocia, Gaul, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Slav
countries. Monasticism has always been a beacon of Orthodoxy and has made
and continues to make a strong and lasting impact on Orthodox spirituality.
The Orthodox Church today is a invaluable treasury
of the rich liturgical tradition handed down from the earliest centuries
of Christianity. The sense of the sacred, the beauty and grandeur of the
Orthodox Divine Liturgy make the presence of heaven on earth live and
intensive. Orthodox Church art and music has a very functional role in
the liturgical life and helps even the bodily senses to feel the spiritual
grandeur of the Lord's mysteries. Orthodox icons are not simply beautiful
works of art which have certain aesthetic and didactive functions. They
are primarily the means through which we experience the reality of the
Heavenly Kingdom on earth. The holy icons enshrine the immeasurable depth
of the mystery of Christ's incarnation in defence of which thousands of
martyrs sacrificed their lives.
The
Truth of Orthodoxy, Nicholas Berdyaev
Orthodox
Monasticism
What is importance and meaning of monasticism in the
contemporary Orthodox Christian Church essay and photos

Medieval tomb of a Serb Orthodox Archbishop, Kosovo
Province, 14th century
Orthodox
Church
SOME IMPORTANT
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LINKS
Church
Fathers - Online texts
Full texts in English translation, from the Early
Church and post-Nicene period. The standard online collection of patristic
sources.
Orthodox Christian Information Center
Comprehensive Web Site with numerous
links covering all most important aspects of the Orthodox Church, Spiritual
Life with special accent on preserving the authentic Orthodox faith
and pratctice in the time of apostasy and compromise with the world
POCKET
CHURCH HISTORY, by Fr. Aidan Keller
The
lives of the Saints are the living history of our Church
THE
LIVES OF THE SAINTS - THE PROLOGUE OF OCHRID
The Saints for each day of the year
Lives
of the Saints - Monachos.net
Lives of the Saints - Fr. Nektarios Serfes Page
Orthodox
Research Institute
Information
about Orthodox Churches all over the world, large collection of texts,
homilies written by various Orthodox authors from continents, many links
and other resources

THE
LIBRARY OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN TEXTS
BY BISHOP ALEXANDER MILEANT
Dozens of valuable texts on Orthodox faith and life, Holy Scripture,
Sacraments, texts by Holy Fathers, Lives of Saints, History of the church
etc.
MYRIOBYBLOS
- THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY
OF THE CHURCH OF GREECE
Patristic and theological texts in
Greek and English
HOLY
FATHERS ON SPIRITUAL LIFE (FROM PHILOKALIA)
PART
1 - PART
2 - PART
3
Online
Books by Dr. Alexandros Kalomiros
Against False Union - River of Fire - The Six Dawns etc
Alexandros
Kalomiros is known as one of the most traditional contemporary
Orthodox writers who has expressed the Tradition of the Fathers in the
language of our modern time.
ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN TEXTS FROM ROMANITY.ORG LIBRARY
Writings by John Romanides, Rt.Rev
Jerotheos Vlachos,
George Florovsky, George Metallinos
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Naupaktos is one
of the most important Orthodox
Greek theologians known for his authentic approach to theology as a
therapeutic science
Orthodox
Contemporary Writers
46 Online books on Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Religious
Issues
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
MONASTICISM
St. Pachomius Orthodox Library Global Index
A most extensive collection of spiritual texts
MONACHOS.NET
Orthodoxy through Patristic, monastic and liturgical studies
OKTOICHOS
AND OTHER LITURGIC TEXTS
in English

Orthodox Liturgy - the center of our spiritual life
More
interesting texts and links about Orthodoxy:
ORTHODOXY
An extensive survey by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of America
EASTERN ORTHODOXY
"Christian
History" issue devoted to Orthodox Christianity
ORTHODOX
CATECHISIS
NEWS
FROM THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

Orthodox Monasticism
- The Soul of the Orthodox Church
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WORLD LINKS
ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN RESOURCESTserkovnost
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ANASTASIS.ORG
Great selection of liturgical texts in English
See
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Monasticism
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