The history of the angel Mikael, also known as Michael, can be traced back to ancient Judeo-Christian traditions. In the Bible, Michael is described as an archangel and a protector of the people of Israel. He is often depicted as a warrior figure, leading the forces of good against evil. The name Michael means "Who is like God" and signifies his loyalty and obedience to the divine.

There is only one Lent in the Malankara Orthodox Church in India, which is known as the Great Lent or the 50-day Lent. It begins on Clean Monday and ends on Great and Holy Saturday, just before Easter Sunday.

Saint Anastasia was a Christian martyr who lived in the 4th century. She was executed for her faith during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Over time, her story and devotion grew, and she became venerated as a saint by the early Christian community. The official declaration of her sainthood came through tradition and recognition by the Church.

Yes, Orthodox Christians use the plain cross as a symbol of their faith. The plain cross, also known as the Byzantine cross or the Russian cross, is a simple design without the figure of Jesus Christ on it. It is commonly used in the Orthodox tradition and can be seen on church buildings, icons, and other religious artifacts.

Mass is not typically celebrated in an Orthodox Church. In the Orthodox tradition, the central act of worship is the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is a Eucharistic service that includes hymns, prayers, Scripture readings, and the consecration of bread and wine to become the body and blood of Christ. It is a reverent and mystical experience that is deeply rooted in ancient tradition.

· Kupala Night (feast of St. John the Baptist) (celebrated July 6th in Belarus)

It provided spiritual guidance to the Russian people and it opposed the Atheist government of the Communist regime.

It also continued to provide some limited Church services during the 70 years of Communist persecution, even though most of the Churches had been destroyed by the Communists in Russia.

The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome. What that means is that a member of a local Catholic Church and a member of the Armenian Catholic Church are essentially the same. The Apostle Peter is considered to be the first Pope and founder of Roman Catholicism. Tradition tells us that the Eastern churches were formed by others of Jesus's Apostles after his death and resurrection. It is interesting to note that many of the Eastern churches have been in and out of communion with Rome, and that most if not all of the Eastern churches (19+ from different parts of the world) have counterpart churches with virtually the same traditions which are not in communion with Rome. Roman Catholics can attend Masses and take Communion in Eastern Catholic Churches and vice versa, but the liturgies (order of the Mass) will be very different.

Princess Olga of Kiev was the first Russian leader to convert to Christianity. She was baptized in Constantinople into the Orthodox Church and is considered an equal to the Apostles.

Approximately 19 million people (or 87% of the population) are Orthodox Christians in Romania.

An Orthodox Church is a Church that is not under the authority of the Pope, but, still has Apostolic Succession. Like the Catholic Church, they trace their origins to the very beginnings of Christianity.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation at the Kremlin and the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat. One of the great cathedrals of Moscow was blown up on the order of Joseph Stalin on 5 December 1931.

Parish of the Mother's of God Protection c / Aragó, 181, 08011 Barcelona, Spain AND Paroquia Ortodoxa de San Andrés y San Nicolás Virgen del Socorro, 59, 03001 Alicante, Spain Hipodiácono Nicolás, Telephone: 676 929 455, parroquiaortodoxaalicante@msn.com

The earliest church which formed at Pentecost was the first Orthodox church, this happened soon after Jesus death. For the first almost thousand years there was only the Orthodox church until the Roman church broke away.

The Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople is called the Ecumenical Patriarchate, or is sometimes called the See of St Andrew (because it was founded by St Andrew).

It's just a difference in administration. The beliefs are identical. If a Greek moves to Russia, he worships in a Russian Orthodox church, and vice versa. In the US, there will ultimately be only one administration, an American Orthodox church. At the moment there are several administrations, each under the supervision of the national church of another country. The Greek and the Russian are the largest of those administrations. Orthodox Christians in the US are free to worship at any Orthodox church, regardless of national origin. Those who are from an Orthodox country have so far tended more often to choose a church under the supervision of that country's national church. In addition, there may be some local variations in custom and tradition. For instance, compare the iconography of Russia with Greek icons, and both of those with Coptic. They are all icons, but look a little different based on local tradition. The Faith is one, but the Orthodox Church does not shy from embracing (and transforming) native cultures. Yeah theres realy not much of a difference just the languge,everything is the same icons church equipment and church dates.

In practice all Christian religions to a greater or lesser degree follow Christ in relation to the following: faith and trust in God, prayer and self-denial, observance of the law which is written in Scripture and in the hearts of those who love the truth and offering sacrifice to God (various animal and bird offerings in the Old Testament, the Lamb of God in the New Testament, the sacrifice of the Mass in the Catholic Church, Communion in the Anglican Church).

Both believe in Apostolic Succession.

Both believe in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary & all the Saints.

Pippa and Joelly are too unsure of the answer, we are doing a project for RS in school and would like to know the answer to this as it would help alot. thanks a bunchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :))

They are shall we say about 85% in synch with each other. Russian and Greek Orthodoxy worship the same God, honor the same ( generally) saints, and have an elaborate system of rituals and sacraments- numbering 7 major sacraments. The ORTHO Rites differ in the following. They do not recognize the primacy or supremacy of the Pope, there is loosely more latitude for such things as divorce. There are differences in worship apart from the obvious language angles- for example the (Three times around the Horn) practice (l080 degrees of arc, By the way) which is a Wedding protocol in Russian and Greek Ortho use but has no counterpart in the Roman Catholic church. Statues are not used in Ortho churches but two-dimensional Icons, also spelled Ikons are. Communion is frequently under both kinds- Bread and wine. Finally one major difference is priests or ministers are permitted to be married- (only once) if a minister"s wife dies he cannot remarry) but Bishops are requiired to be celibate and the higher-ups are only selected, so to speak from the (Regular- celibacy-bound clergy). There are different ecceleasiatical ranks such as Metropolitan- a sort of Urban Bishop-like officer. No Stacy, he does not wear a subway-conductor"s flat-top hat! That"s an old joke, lilke those about De Gaulle and the IRT. Kidding aside the two faiths have a lot in common and stately, formal ritual is a mark of the Orthodox faith, no frivolous folk-hymsn unless handled by the choirs.

I am not sure, but I think it was a difference of opinion about the 'infallibility of the Pope'. The Catholic world (Latin Christians) believe that Christ gave to the head of the Christian church , who was Saint Peter, in the very beginning, a special power which would ensure that he never ever taught wrong or evil Christian beliefs. The Greek Orthodox Christians would not agree that this safety power was only meant to be for 1 man (The Pope) However, the Catholic clergy agree that the Greek Orthodox followers are still good teachers and followers of Christianity. They communicate with each other regularly. The biblical explanation of the Pope's authority to never teach false values, is based upon the following words of Christ when he was alive. Christ said: 'I give to you, Peter, the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth, I will bind in heaven' which means that Peter and Christ will always be in agreement about matters of Christian goodness. Obviously he was speaking metaphorically. He did not actually give Peter a great big key . He was simply saying 'Don't be worried that I am not here with you every day, but I will be guiding you in my spiritual Godlike way forever'. So when St Peter died, God,s power was passed on to a new head of Christianity, with God's blessing and authority for ever. Popes are not necessarily perfectly good men themselves BUT they have never taught the Christian followers anything which is evil. They have always taught Christian truth. Sadly, some Popes in days gone by, have been bad men and done bad things. Hence the common phrase. Don't do what I do. Do what I teach. Interesting food for thought eh ?

There have been a few just wars in the past. War can be justified if it is waged in order to defend yourself and your country and faith from invaders. War cannot be justified when it is offensive, instead of defensive. In other words, it is wrong to wage war if no one has attacked you or your country or your faith (eg. imperialist wars cannot be justified).

In a nutshell ,the Greek churches were led from Constantinople,the seat of the newer Eastern Roman Empire and the western chuches from Rome. In time their cultures

diverged more and more in language, ritual and theological nuance. There is a long

wearisome history of various insults and political rivalry,ecclesiatical and not as well

as doctrinal and scriptural dispute.

This has often grieved thinkers on both sides mindful of the shared tradition.

As late as 1439 in Council in Florence the churches reunited only to resplit shorly

afterward.

The state of aggrieved separation persists.

The orthodox countries are: Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, F.Y.R Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Moldova.

- UPDATE -

However there are Orthodox Churches and Orthodox followers in almost every country around the world.