MEDIA ALERT

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS WORLDWIDE TO OBSERVE EASTER APRIL 27

GOOD FRIDAY & RESURRECTION SERVICES TO BE BROADCAST LIVE 

** NEWS    BROADCAST    FEED   AVAILABLE  **
FOR  BROADCAST  NEWS  PACKAGES  OR  LIVE  CUT  IN
Not for rebroadcast or airing in its entirety

New York, NY – PASCHA (Easter) will be celebrated on April 27 this year by over 250 million Orthodox Christians throughout the world. Archbishop Demetrios of America, spiritual leader of over 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians in America, will officiate at the Good Friday Service, April 25, beginning at 8:00 p.m. and Resurrection Service, April 26, beginning at 11:00 p.m. Both Services will be broadcast LIVE on Television and Internet from the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (319 E. 74th St., NYC).

LIVE FEED FOR GOOD FRIDAY AND RESURRECTION SERVICE AVAILABLE TO NEWS ORGANIZATIONS

GOOD FRIDAY EVENING: April 25           
20:00 to 22:00 eastern time
Horizons 2 K15 G-9
11940.500 V
Symbol rate: 6.6665
FEC 7/8

  
RESURRECTION SERVICE: April 26  
*Highlight at 12 midnight -      
11:00 p.m-1:00 a.m. eastern time
23:00 to 01:00
Horizons 2 K15 G-9
11940.500 V
Symbol rate: 6.6665
FEC 7/8

* For additional information or for feed information call Interface Productions truck line 718.757.5352

For background information on the Pascha Easter Service www.goarch.org/en/news/NewsDetail.asp?id=1964

Both services will be LIVE streamed in their entirety on the Cathedral and Archdiocese websites

http://www.thecathedral.goarch.org

http://live.goarch.org

Contact: 
Marissa Costidis    
Cell:  732.522.1637
Email: marissa@goarch.org

PATRIARCHAL PROCLAMATION
ON THE HOLY PASCHA

Protocol Number 477

+ B A R T H O L O M E W

BY THE MERCY OF GOD
ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE - NEW ROME
AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH
GRACE, PEACE AND MERCY
FROM OUR GLORIOUSLY RISEN SAVIOR CHRIST

Dearly beloved Brethren and Children in the Lord,

“Behold, the winter has passed!” (1) “Arisen is the spring” of salvation; “flowers appear across the land, the sound of the turtle-dove is heard, … the vines are in bloom and give forth their fragrance”. (2)  A sacred Pascha -- great and holy -- has arisen; and it warms, lights and makes radiant the world. “Now all things are filled with light, both heaven and earth and the nethermost regions of the earth.” (3)

CHRIST IS RISEN!
    
Our God, Who is beyond all suffering and is Immortal, Who is the comely Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our Firstborn Brother and Dearest Friend -- “He is risen from the dead, having trampled down death by death” -- three days after He cried out from the crest of the Cross: “It is consummated!” (4)  “Hades was embittered when it encountered” Him (5), because Christ destroyed his lordship. As God, He rightly emptied out his chambers of darkness, freely bestowing life on those He found in the tombs. But not only this; to all those who believe in Him from then until the consummation of the age -- indeed to all those who live in Him and hold fast their faith and confession in Him until the end, the Lord grants everlasting life and a sure resurrection. Christ, “Who has girded His loins with righteousness and clothed his sides with truth,” (6) is Risen from the Tomb. “As the One Who loves mankind, He has raised up Adam, the father of us all.” (7)
    
Behold then, dearly beloved brethren and children, the crown of our Great Feast and the atmosphere of springtime; in the midst of its first bloom the Church announces the Good News to the Universe. The heavy winter of death has passed away! The icy tyranny of the devil and his domination have been overcome. The frightful reign of darkness and perdition has been undone. “The Lord is King, He has girded Himself with majesty!” (8)
   
We behold Jesus Who, of His own free will, out of His unconditional love, suffered on the Cross, died and was buried for our sake and for our salvation. We have just now worshipped Him Risen from the dead, and together with the Apostles and the Myrrh-Bearers we have heard from His holy mouth the words: “Peace be unto you!” (9)  and “Rejoice!” (10) -- and our hearts are filled with joy. Indeed, “no one will take our joy from us,” (11) because more than even our own, the personal death of every single human being has been mightily abolished. This is why we, who have crucified the carnal mindset of the old person “together with the passions and lusts,” (12) and “who have died with Christ: this is the reason we believe that we [shall] live with Him.” (13) For as “we have been buried” with Christ “through Baptism,” (14) we have become “planted with Him,” that is, we have become partakers of His Resurrection. (15)
    
St. Gregory the Theologian trumpets this truth with the highest rhetorical skill when he says: “Yesterday I was crucified with You, O Christ; today I abound with glory. Yesterday I died with You; today I am filled with life. Yesterday I was buried with You; today I arise with You.” (16) That which has plagued us from ages past has once and for all been resolved by the Risen Lord. Our agony is over. “Christ is Risen, and life can truly be lived!” (1 For the rest of this News Release, visit the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website

Washington Young Adults Prepare for National Conference – July 10-13, 2008
April 16, 2008

Young adults from the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan area are working diligently to prepare for the 2008 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America National Young Adult Conference, July 10-13, 2008 in Washington DC. This year’s conference will be held in conjunction with the 39th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. “Doers of the Word” will be the theme for the weekend, with Rev. Dn. John Chryssavgis, noted author and theologian, as the featured keynote speaker.