Eastern Orthodoxy

Bulgaria marks on Saturday the 1150th anniversary of its conversion to Christianity and the 1145th anniversary of the establishment of an autocephalous Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also observes on Saturday the feast day of Saint Tsar Boris I the Baptiser, the medieval ruler, who converted Bulgaria to Christianity.

A fire broke out last night, at around 8 pm (local time) in a Greek Orthodox Church in Montreal, leaving the historic temple a charred shell.

"Come and receive Light" - may the words the priest utters on the night of the Lord's Resurrection become an impetus for each and every one of us: by receiving light, let us become light, says Cardinal Lucian, Major Archbishop of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, in his Pastoral letter to the clergy and faithful on the occasion of the Holy Feast of Our Lord's Resurrection.

Tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians packed Jerusalem's ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday for the "Holy Fire" ceremony on the eve of Orthodox Easter. According to believers, the divine fire from heaven miraculously lights candles held by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch each year. The annual rite held there dates back to the 4th century.

Huge crowds gathered at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to witness the miraculous descent of the Holy Fire, which occurs on the day before the Orthodox Easter.

The church is believed to be built on the the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Holy Saturday is the last day of fasting in Greece as the moment of the Resurrection draws near. This day is full of symbolisms:

Fasting

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued assurances on Monday that the Holy Light would travel to Greece this year regardless of a call by a group of local atheists' for the flight not to be paid for by the Greek government. The Greek Union of Atheists protested against the annual air transport costs to bring the flame to Greece in a spirit of pomp and pageantry.

The Atheist Union of Greece have called for the abolition of the transport of the Holy Light from Jerusalem to Athens. The light flown to Greece comes from the Holy Fire that miraculously appears every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Great Sunday. The miracle of the light delights believers and non-believers alike.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew will attend a climate change forum in the Philippines on Feb. 26-27, on the invitation of French President François Hollande. 

Life is short, so is February. A few days shorter than other months, February did not even exist once.