†Anastasios Archbishop of Tirana, Durres, and all Albania CHRISTMAS 2021 Peaceful Resilience – We Are Not Alone. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows” (Mt. 1:18) In these festal days various thoughts, messages, and comments about peace, love, joy, and hope are often repeated. However, there is no shortage of those who prefer to dissociate these concepts from their basic core
Thirty years since the beginning of a wonder which no one could imagine The 16th of July marks thirty years since the moment when a very important event, for the resurrection of our Church after the long period of severe atheist persecution, took place. On July 16, 1991, His Beatitude Anastasios arrived in Albania. He was the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is
Successful Performance of “Shen Joan Kukuzeli” Byzantine Choir of Chanters in Nis of Serbia. The Music Edict Festival, which is the 8th International Church Music Festival, was organized in Nis of Serbia from 20th to 23 rd of June 2021. The main goal of this festival is to build bridges of friendship between peoples through culture, music and art. Part of this festival was
Commemoration of the 29th anniversary of the election of Archbishop Anastasios as the head of our Church and the co-celebration of the Divine Liturgy on the feast day of St. John the Forerunner. On June 24, 2021, our Church celebrates the Nativity of St. John the Forerunner, a feast day which consists with the 29th anniversary of the election of His Beatitude Anastasios as
†Anastasios Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and all Albania Easter 2021 Freedom from hatred and its mutations “It is the day of Resurrection Let us shine brightly for the festival … Let us even to those who hate us, forgive everybody for the Resurrection”. (Doxological hymn of the Matins of Pascha) Jubilantly, the luminous feast of Pascha calls us to shine brilliantly from joy, being freed
Heartfelt Congratulations to Archbishop Anastasios on the Feast of St. Anastasios the Persian. On January 22, the church celebrates St. Anastasios the Persian, who dedicated himself to Orthodoxy while living in a foreign country in which he was also martyred. On this day, His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana and all Albania, celebrates also his name day. On January 22, 2021 a Divine Liturgy
Theophany Celebration and the Blessing of Water Services Held in the context of the imposed restrictions due to the pandemic. The feast of Theophany of our Lord is always celebrated with splendor and joy, but this year it was accompanied by the restrictions and rules imposed by the pandemic. Numerous believers, maintaining the social distance and wearing masks, headed to the church to participate in
A Joyous Christmas in spite of the Pandemics In spite of the gloomy atmosphere due to the pandemics, Christmas was celebrated again this year with light and joy and spread a message of hope to all the faithful. The divine liturgy and vigils were celebrated following all the necessary restrictions and social distance which were required due to the pandemics. The faithful kept the masks
The message of the Archbishop of Albania Anastasiou for Christmas 2020. CHRISTMAS 2020 THE DECISIVE PRESENCE “…and… His name shall be called… God with us” (Mat. 1:23). This year we will celebrate Christmas without out-of-home festivities, without large gatherings of families and friends, and even more, without the general participation of the believers in the worship services. Simultaneously, however, these restrictions caused by the
Archbishop of Albania: ‘We have to re-examine humanity’s priorities’ The archbishop of Albania is a special man. I wanted very much to get him to speak after his ordeal with the coronavirus, because I knew his thoughts and words would be anything but trivial. He describes his feelings as he was placed in the “capsule” to be transported from Albania to Athens. He
