At Last: A Reason to Buy the NYT (But Don't; Just Read it Online)

I now have another problem to take to my confessor: I was nearly tempted to purchase the New York Times this week. Thankfully, the content was available online for free, which relieved me of this disturbing inclination.

Abp. DEMETRIOS of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese wrote an op-ed for the New York Times entitled, "More Than an Easter in Common," in which he expresses the unthinkable: non-Orthodox are also Christians and may even love God. For many on the insane "Orthodox" fringe, this is thought-crime. The Archbishop concludes his essay thus:

Our common celebration of Easter this year raises two hopeful perspectives for us to consider: first, the steps that we are taking toward the reconciliation of the churches; and second, the rediscovery of the holy and the sacred in human life and, ultimately, the discovery of the transcendent. Here are two things worth not only considering, but seriously pursuing.

Naturally, the secular media, being what it is, the NYT credits the article only to "Demetrios." Lovely.

Paschal Greetings!

Here are the Paschal messages of:

ANTIOCHIAN
Met. PHILIP;
Bp. BASIL;
Bp. MARK;
Bp. THOMAS.

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
Pat. ALEXY II;
Met. LAURUS of ROCOR;
Abp. HILARION of Sydney (ROCOR).

CARPATHO-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
Met. NICHOLAS.

GREEK ORTHODOX
Ec. Pat. BARTHOLOMEW I of Constantinople, New Rome;
Abp. DEMETRIOS;
Met. ISAIAH.

OCA
Met. HERMAN;
Abp. NATHANIEL.

ROMANIAN ORTHODOX
Abp. NICOLAE.

SERBIAN ORTHODOX
Pat. PAVLE.

UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX
Permanent Council of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine.

(There is an emphasis upon those who have acknowledged Western Rite parishes under their authority; otherwise, jurisdictions are listed alphabetically. Thus far, I have not found a Paschal message from Met. PAUL [Saliba] of Australia.)

Easter and the Heritage of St. Ronan

Why do we celebrate Easter at the time we do? Thank St. Ronan of Iona. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:

St. Ronan of Iona is explicitly referred to by St. Bede as one of the protagonists of the Roman custom of celebrating Easter as against the Irish tradition, and he had a warm controversy on the subject with his countryman St. Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 660. This controversy was ended at the Synod of Whitby, in 664, when St. Ronan's views were upheld.

The Venerable Bede records that St. Wilfrid asked those at the Synod of Whitby (including Saints Colman and Chad of Lichfield) in 663/4 A.D.:

You certainly sin if, having heard the decree of the apostolic see, and of the universal Church, and that the same is confirmed by Holy Writ, you refuse to follow them; for, though your fathers were holy, do you think that their small number, in a corner of the remotest island, is to be preferred before the universal Church of Christ throughout the world?

Thus did Easter's dating become the heritage of St. Ronan.

FYI

I updated this post on Holy Week, East and West. Thanks for your comments, here or offline.