Dear Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we celebrate this joyous Feast of the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, I wish to share with you one of my favorite Christmas homilies from the Church Fathers concerning this day. St. John Chrysostom spoke on the Incarnation with these words:

“I behold a new and wondrous mystery!

My ears resound to the shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but loudly chanting a heavenly hymn!

JOHNSTOWN [Christ the Saviour Cathedral] -- The Divine Services of Nativity and Theophany of our Lord at Christ the Saviour Cathedral will be live-streamed on the internet.

The broadcast schedule is as follows:

Nativity Eve: Great Compline - Sat January 6, 2018 - 8:00 pm

Hierarchical Divine Liturgy - Sat January 6, 2018 - 9:00 pm

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- The schedule of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa for December 2017 has been released by the Diocesan Chancery.

On Monday November 27, 2017, our Diocesan Family gathered around our Archpastor, His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa to celebrate his fifth anniversary of Consecration to the Episcopacy.

The day began with a quiet celebration of Divine Liturgy at Christ the Saviour Cathedral where His Grace, assisted by the Cathedral Clergy, Seminarians and other clerics of the Diocese offered prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings of the past five years.

In the evening additional prayers of thanksgiving were offered, followed by a banquet at the Holiday Inn in Johnstown. A beautiful evening of thanksgiving and fellowship was enjoyed by His Grace and scores of Clergy and faithful from the Diocese. Special guests included His Grace's mother Antonia, sister Alexandra and nephew Nathan.

My beloved Faithful Clergy and Laity of our God-Protected Diocese:

It is hard to believe that this month marks the fifth anniversary of my Consecration and Enthronement as your Bishop. During my visits to the parishes you have heard me preaching on the state of affairs, locally and globally. Conflicts, wars and senseless violence continue to inflict pain and suffering and spill blood everywhere. I am deeply saddened that peace continues to elude us. Recent events continue to reveal that demonic forces are fighting us, that evil continues to exist in the world. So many innocent people killed and wounded at a concert in Las Vegas. So many innocent killed and wounded in a small church in Texas. Everyday people are dying needlessly in our towns and cities. For what? Can someone please explain it to me? This lack of peace is the direct result of increased selfishness and hatred throughout the world. Whatever we as inhabitants of this planet are doing it is not working, somehow it is not enough. Obviously we as humans cannot achieve peace on our own. We need the help of someone and that someone is the Lord.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- The schedule of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa for November 2017 has been released by the Diocesan Chancery.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- The schedule of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa for October 2017 has been released by the Diocesan Chancery.

On Saturday, September 16th faithful gathered together at Camp Nazareth with His Grace Bishop Gregory and our Diocesan priests to celebrate the Camp’s 40th Anniversary. It was a beautiful celebration that began with the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy which was followed by a Luncheon, a dance performance by Slavjane Folk Ensemble from Pittsburgh, a speaking program, as well as a picture display and slideshow. Fifteen priests celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with His Grace Bishop Gregory. We had a couple pleasant surprises among the priests who attended, among them Fr. Tom Kadlec who came down from Buffalo/Cheektowaga, NY to join the festivities. Faithful, mostly from Western PA and Eastern Ohio, gathered as well to celebrate and sing the responses led by a trio of cantors who included Reader Samuel Loposky, Subdeacon and Seminarian Nathaniel Choma and Seminarian Vince Dranginis.

JOHNSTOWN, PA [National ACRY] --- With the blessing and enthusiastic support of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, the National Senior ACRY has taken on the coordination of a Diocesan-wide outreach initiative to assist the International Orthodox Christian Charities in responding to the catestrophic devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

In times of natural disaster, the IOCC has boots on the ground distributing Emergency Kits to those who are impacted. These kits help volunteers clean up property and provide basic hygiene supplies that more than likely were washed away in the torrential downpour. Due to the multiple, intense storms that have hit the US during the peak of this hurricane season, IOCC’s supply of Emergency Kits have been depleted.

JOHNSTOWN, PA [Diocesan Chancery] --- In an archpastoral letter issued on September 7, 2017, His Grace Bishop Gregory has called upon the parishes of the Diocese to support the hurricane relief efforts of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). All parishes of the Diocese have been directed to take a special collection for IOCC at their earliest possible opportunity, giving whatever they are able to help those in need.

In addition, His Grace has called upon the faithful of the Diocese to support a special Diocesan outreach project which is being coordinated by the National Sr. ACRY. Parishes are being asked to assemble Emergency Clean-up Kits for IOCC.