Eastern Orthodoxy

[4] They can also include metropolises, bishoprics, parishes, monasteries, or outlying metochions corresponding to diasporas that can also be located outside the country where the primate resides (e.g., the case of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople whose canonical territory is located partly in northern Greece and the east); sometimes they overlap (the case of Moldova where the jurisdictions of the patriarchs of Bucharest and of Moscow overlap).

[1] Its communities share an understanding, teaching and offices of great similarity, with a strong sense of seeing each other as parts of one Church.

Eastern Orthodoxy holds that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and rejects the Filioque clause ("and the Son") added to the Nicene Creed by the Latin Church, on the grounds that no council was called for the addition.

[7] Eastern Orthodox doctrine regarding the Trinity is summarised in the Greek edition of the Nicene Creed, which notably does not affirm the Filioque.

For example, Their salvation of mankind is an activity engaged in common: "Christ became man by the good will of the Father and by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit.

Eastern Orthodox Christians reject the Augustinian position that the descendants of Adam and Eve are actually guilty of the original sin of their ancestors.

[11] The Eastern Orthodox Church understands the death and resurrection of Jesus to be real historical events, as described in the gospels of the New Testament.

The Eastern Orthodox Christian life is a spiritual pilgrimage in which each person, through the imitation of Christ and hesychasm,[14] cultivates the practice of unceasing prayer.

The church includes the Christian saints from all times, and also judges, prophets and righteous Jews of the first covenant, Adam and Eve, even the angels and heavenly hosts.

Due to her unique place in salvation history according to Eastern Orthodox teaching, Mary is honoured above all other saints in this religion and especially venerated for the great work that God accomplished through her.

According to Eastern Orthodox church teaching and tradition, God himself bears witness to this holiness of saints' relics through the many miracles connected with them that have been reported throughout history since biblical times, often including healing from disease and injury.

Though it may linger for a short period on Earth, it is ultimately escorted either to paradise (Abraham's bosom) or the darkness of Hades, following the Temporary Judgment.

[24][25] The Eastern Orthodox believe that the state of the soul in Hades can be affected by the love and prayers of the righteous up until the Last Judgment.

Of the subgroups significant enough to be named, the "Anagignoskomena" (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα, "things that are read") comprises ten of the Old Testament books rejected in the Protestant canon,[a] but deemed by the Eastern Orthodox worthy to be read in worship services, even though they carry a lesser esteem than the 39 books of the Hebrew canon.

[36][37] Holy tradition does not change in the Eastern Orthodox Church because it encompasses those things that do not change: the nature of the one God in Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the history of God's interactions with his peoples, the Law as given to the Israelites, all Christ's teaching as given to the disciples and Jews and recorded in scripture, including the parables, the prophecies, the miracles, and his own example to humanity in his extreme humility.

The historical development of the Divine Liturgy and other worship services and devotional practices of the church provide a similar example of extension and growth "without change".

Some—the holy scriptures foremost, certain aspects of worship, especially in the Divine Liturgy, the doctrines of the ecumenical councils, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed—possess a verified authority that endures forever, irrevocably.

[35] By tradition, the Eastern Orthodox Church, when faced with issues that are larger than a single bishop can resolve, holds a local council.

[35] As the church increased in size through the centuries, the logistic dynamics of operating such large entities shifted: patriarchs, metropolitans, archimandrites, abbots and abbesses, all rose up to cover certain points of administration.

); Tuesday is dedicated to the prophets and especially the greatest of the prophets, St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord; Wednesday is consecrated to the Cross and recalls Judas' betrayal; Thursday honors the holy apostles and hierarchs, especially St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia; Friday is also consecrated to the Cross and recalls the day of the Crucifixion; Saturday is dedicated to All Saints, especially the Mother of God, and to the memory of all those who have departed this life in the hope of resurrection and eternal life.The main service offered in the Church is the Divine Liturgy.

Northern Slavs, however, have used simpler tonal systems evolved through the sundry local types of Znamenny chant; today Western music, often with four-part harmony, and the "tones" are simply sets of melodies.

[45] The Eastern Orthodox Church places emphasis and awards a high level of prestige to traditions of monasticism and asceticism with roots in Early Christianity in the Near East and Byzantine Anatolia.

The most important centres of Christian Orthodox monasticism are Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) and Mount Athos in Northern Greece.

The evolution of the iconostasis probably owes a great deal to 14th-century Hesychast mysticism and the wood-carving genius of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"[51] The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on New York City's Upper East Side is the largest Eastern Orthodox Christian church in the Western Hemisphere.

[55] Properly, the mystery of baptism is administered by bishops and priests; however, in emergencies any Eastern Orthodox Christian can baptise.

[60] A baptised and chrismated Eastern Orthodox Christian is a full member of the church and may receive the Eucharist regardless of age.

For the Eastern Orthodox, to say that marriage is indissoluble means that it should not be broken, the violation of such a union, perceived as holy, being an offense resulting from either adultery or the prolonged absence of one of the partners.

Significant minorities are present in several European countries, such as: Bosnia and Herzegovina (31%),[79] Latvia (24%), Estonia (24%), Albania (7–10%),[82] Lithuania (4%), Croatia (4%), Slovenia (2%), Germany (2%)[83] and Finland (1.5%).

In the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, Eastern Orthodoxy constitutes the dominant religion in northern Kazakhstan, representing 17.9% of the population of the region,[84] and is also a significant minority in Kyrgyzstan (10%), Turkmenistan (4%), Uzbekistan (3%), Azerbaijan (2%),[79] and Tajikistan (1%).