Diaconal Ordination of Martin Zammit at Our Lady of Damascus, Valletta
On Sunday, December 20th, 2015, the Greek-Catholic parish of Our Lady of Damascus, with praise and thanksgiving to the Almighty God, joyfully witnessed the ordination of sub-deacon Prof. Martin Zammit to the sacred order of deacon. Mons. Dimitrios Salachas, Bishop of Gratianopolis and Apostolic Exarch of the Greek Byzantine Church imposed his hands and invoked the Holy Spirit on the ordinand in the presence of Mons. Paul Cremona, Archbishop Emeritus. The divine liturgy was con-celebrated by Bishop Salachas, Archimandrite George […]
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Fr George about the Orthodox Churches in Malta
Apart from the Greek Catholic community, thousands of Orthodox faithful live in the Maltese islands. The Russian and the Serbian communities are very important numerically, but there are also communities of faithful coming from Bulgarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Egyptian (Coptic), Ethiopic, Eritrean, Syrian, Greek and Albanian backgrounds. If you wish to learn more about the various Orthodox communities in Malta, you can find the information prepared by Archim. George Mifsud on maltadiocese.org
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Fr George about the Icon of Our Lady of Philermos
The Icon of Our Lady of Philermos Archim. George Mifsud writes: “…According to the tradition current in Rhodes, it was a penitent who, before settling in the solitude of Mount Philermos, amid the ruins of an ancient city, some 10 kms from Rhodes, had brought with him from Jerusalem the icon of the Mother of God, attributed to the hand of St. Luke the Evangelist.” This icon was eventually sent to Emperor Paul I of Russia after the fall of […]
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Easter Sunday: The climax of the celebrations of HOLY WEEK 2014
As in previous years, the Greek-Catholic Church of Our Lady of Damascus in Valletta attracted a numerous congregation of faithful who eagerly awaited the joyous announcement declaring: Christ is Risen – Χριστός Ανέστη – Христос воскрес! The divine liturgy started at 8.00 a.m. and finished at 10.30 a.m. During the liturgy, the gospel of St John was read in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Church Slavonic, Maltese, English, Italian, French, Russian, Spanish, German and Arabic. At the end of the liturgy, the […]
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Holy Liturgy of St Basil at the Chapel of St Basil the Great at Mqabba (Malta)
On Thursday, 2nd January, feast of St Basil (Latin calendar), Fr George Mifsud, the Parish Priest of the Greek-Catholic Parish of Our Lady of Damascus (Valletta), has celebrated the Holy Liturgy of St Basil at the saint’s medieval chapel at Mqabba. This chapel was built towards the end of the 15th century and served as Mqabba’s first parish church. The Roman Cathiolic congregation greatly appreciated this liturgical event which came about on the initiative of Rev. George Schembri (Mqabba Parish). […]
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Installation of an Electronic Bell System at Our Lady of Damascus
Recently, the Church of Our Lady of Damascus has witnessed a most welcome improvement – an electronic bell system. This systen greatly enhances the performance of the three bells which have called the faithful to the Church’s functions for the last sixty years. Apart from enabling the conventional manual ringing of the three bells, this electronic system offers a wide variety of pre-recorded melodies which automatically play on particular days of the ecclesiastical calendar. This electonic bell system was installed […]
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Exposition of Holy Relics at “Our Lady of Damascus” – Valletta
With the blessing of His Grace the Most Reverend Mgr. Abram (Garmeliya), Metropolitan of the Western European Diocese of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Georgia, the Holy Relics of several Saints, together with documents testifying their authenticity, have recently been entrusted to the same Western European Diocese of the Patriarchate of Georgia. On the morning of the 23rd November, 2013, on a feast day of the Great Martyr St George, these Holy Relics will be exposed for the veneration of the […]
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The Thyateira Confession (1975): Partaking of the Holy Communion
His Eminence Archbishop Athenagoras Kokkinakis was born on the island of Patmos as Theodore Kokkinakis. He graduated from the Theological School of Halki in 1934. He studied at the General Theological Seminary, Columbia University, and Northwestern University. Theodore was ordained to the priesthood in 1940 and was assigned to the church of St. Andrew in Chicago, later serving also at the church of St. Demetrios in Astoria, New York. He acted as editor of the Orthodox Observer, the archdiocesan magazine. […]
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Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Bishop at Our Lady of Damascus
Bishop Venedykt (Benedict) of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv this morning (Sept. 8 2013) concelebrated holy liturgy with Papas George Mifsud at the Greek-Catholic Church of Our Lady of Damascus. Bishop Venedykt (in the world Valeriy Aleksiychuk) of the Dormition Monastery was appointed auxiliary Bishop of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv on August 3, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI had given his blessing to the election and had bestowed the Bishop the title of Bishop of Germaniciana. Bishop Venedykt […]
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