Church of the Resurrection The Church of the Resurrection in the old city of Jerusalem is undoubtedly the most significant shrine of the Christian Faith. This is because under its roof is the original place of Christ’s Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection. The building is an enormous edifice which incorporates many structures. Its interior is made up of chapels, shrines, basements, storerooms, living quarters, staircases, courtyards, balconies and corridors. Every space is covered with a different roof, some with Byzantine and others with Gothic domes. The internal architecture is a representation of the many influences over the centuries and can be [...]

The origins of the Akathist Hymn There are many varied stories as to the origins of the Standing Praises to the Theotokos, or Akathist Hymn, but the sources seem to agree that it began in the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, in 626 AD. The city of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire was unusually free of defence that year. The emperor had taken almost all the soldiers into the East where he was defending the empire from the unceasing attacks by Persian troops. This was a necessary strategic move, but it left Constantinople open to attack – [...]

The Divine Liturgy For us today, the Divine Liturgy is a weekly staple of our Christian lives. We drive to church on a Sunday, walk into a great building with flickering candles and hand-painted icons, gold leaf and carved wood, embroidered vestments, burning incense and chanting filling every corner of the church. In the early Church, attending services was not a weekly event. For the ancient Christians, the Divine Liturgy was seen as such a sacred cornerstone of the Faith that it was held every day. No more than fifty Christians would gather together. They had no churches. Liturgies were [...]