Saint Barlaam was an old man, living in Antioch during the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian. When he confessed Christ before the Governor and refused to sacrifice to the idols, he was tortured for days: his flesh was torn by iron claws and he was stretched on the rack. When these conventional tortures failed, the Governor invented a new torment: Barlaam's hand was stretched over an altar to the idols, and a burning coal with incense was put in his palm. The torturers reasoned that when pain forced him to drop the coal, they would be able to say that he had offered sacrifice to the gods. But the holy Barlaam held his hand steady and watched calmly as his hand was burnt up by the coal. At last his hand fell to the ground and the Martyr gave up his soul to God.   In some accounts, St Barlaam survived his torments and reposed in peace. Some have held that he came from Cappadocia rather than Antioch, but this is probably incorrect. Saint John Chrysostom once delivered a homily at St Barlaam's tomb in Antioch on his feast day.

He was a soldier in the Roman army and, according to the venerable Bede, was brought to faith in Christ by a fugitive priest to whom he gave shelter. The saint exchanged clothes with the priest, allowing him to escape and ensuring his own martyrdom. Some writers, including St Bede, place his martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian (286-303).   Saint Alban's tomb was venerated as early as 429 by St Germanus of Auxerre. The town of Verulamium is either his home town or the place of his martyrdom; near it a monastery was founded, around which grew the English town of St Albans.

He was a soldier in the Roman army and, according to the venerable Bede, was brought to faith in Christ by a fugitive priest to whom he gave shelter. The saint exchanged clothes with the priest, allowing him to escape and ensuring his own martyrdom. Some writers, including St Bede, place his martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian (286-303).   Saint Alban's tomb was venerated as early as 429 by St Germanus of Auxerre. The town of Verulamium is either his home town or the place of his martyrdom; near it a monastery was founded, around which grew the English town of St Albans.

Kurt Harris interviews Charles Chusuei about his story of how God brought him into the Orthodox Church, in this new series titled "Stories Toward the Sacred" on the Hearts and Minds podcast.

Now is the time to prepare for a spiritually beneficial Lent that will help us grow in the humility necessary to see ourselves and our neighbors clearly as we reorient our lives toward the great joy of Pascha.

Fr. John discusses the development of Christian hymnography.

Fr. John looks at some of the actual texts of early Christian hymns and the way in which they gave expression to the vision of early Christendom.

What does the Orthodox Church have to say about Charlottesville? In the vocabulary of the day, nothing. In the language of the redemption of mankind: the Good News of Redemption found alone in Jesus Christ, and a life committed to imitation of his Royal way. The greatest mistake any human person can make, in this situation or any other, is to think that human means and ways will solve the tragedies and disasters of the fallen world. The solution must come from outside us, above us. Salvation is not found in killing our neighbor or our enemy. Salvation is found is seeing the Lord Jesus Christ in neighbor and in blessing our enemy, both. So if you wish to be saved, and if you want to make “a positive change in the world,” look neither to the Left, nor to the Right. Look up to Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the World.

The Nativity and Early Life of St. John the Forerunner, by Lily Parascheva Rowe, illustrated by Roland J Ford (St. Stylianos Books, 2012)

Dawn’s Gentle Light, "Early Spring 1911," by Renee Riva (Pink Heart Press, 2017)

Meet Karl, one of the treasures at the Mission. Taken from Walking Humbly: The Holiness of the Poor, by St. John the Compassionate Mission.

We are all called to a personal relationship with the Lord, but first of all, we must recognize that “Jesus Christ is the Lord” – our Lord. To achieve this, we need to have Him cure the blindness of our spiritual eyes, and this calls for an act of loving submission of our wills unto Him.

What is the Kingdom of God and how can we seek it?

Bobby Maddex interviews Angela Doll Carlson, the author of the forthcoming AFP book Nearly Orthodox: On Being a Modern Woman in an Ancient Tradition.

Who should decide what is best for a child, the parents or medical professionals and the state?

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Fr. David Mezynski, Associate Dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, on the book titled Harlots of the Desert by Benedicta Ward.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Dr. Carla Thomas, M.D., Trustee of St. Vladimir's Seminary, on the topic of using music as a healing therapy. Dr. Thomas is a Family Practice physician, Board Member of Orthodox Prison Ministry, member of the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black and parishioner at St. Luke Orthodox Church in Anniston, Alabama (OCA).

Fr. Philip LeMasters reminds us that just as God enables martyrs to remain steadfast and even rejoice in their sufferings, he strengthened those grieving family members in Charleston to respond with grace, peace, and reconciliation that are simply not of this world.

Fr. Alkiviadis Calivas discusses church life in the first century, the celebration of the Lord’s Day, the development of the parish, and church history through the lens of martyrdom and architectural setting.

Bobby Maddex interviews Veronica Hughes, the author of The Pearl of Great Price: The Journey of a New Age Seeker to the Light of Christ and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Bobby Maddex interviews Frederica Mathewes-Green, host of the AFR podcast "Frederica Here and Now," about her book Mary As the Early Christians Knew Her: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts, which was just released in paperback by Paraclete Press.

Bobby Maddex interviews Dr. David C. Ford, Professor of Church History at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and the author of the new St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press book Wisdom for Today from the Early Church.

Angela Doll Carlson is the author of the books Garden in the East and Nearly Orthodox, and the host of the podcast The Wilderness Journal.

Most Christians are not aware that in the latter part of the 16th century, early Lutheran Reformers - close colleagues and followers of Martin Luther - set in motion an eight year contact and correspondence with the (then) Ecumenical Patriarch, Jeremias II of Constantinople. The outcome might have changed the course of Christian history. Kevin Allen speaks with scholar Dr Paraskeve (Eve) Tibbs about this fascinating and largely unknown chapter in post-Reformation history.

The inaugural schedule for TGL, the tech-infused golf competition spearheaded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, has been revealed.

Following Janey Godley on her 2023 tour as she discusses her life in comedy.

Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff and Dragons fans can find all the latest news about Welsh rugby's four professional regions here.

Alliance pays tribute to its "ground-breaking" and "trailblazing" former assembly member, Anna Lo.

Chairman Kelvin Thomas says the project is running to schedule and should finish early next year.

Liverpool have taken early control of the Premier League title race, but Alexis Mac Allister says he didn't think they would be contenders at the start of the season.

The Cathedral is bringing back an ancient tradition not seen in the town for 200 years.

Andrew Carter explores more subterranean features and the abandoned station master's flat

Carlisle United defender Aaron Hayden is convinced the team is on the right track after they ended a seven-game winless streak.

Responsive open learning environments (ROLEs) are the next generation of personal learning environments (PLEs). While PLEs rely on the simple aggregation of existing content and services mainly using Web 2.0 technologies, ROLEs are transforming lifelong learning by introducing a new infrastructure on a global scale while dealing with existing learning management systems, institutions, and technologies. The requirements engineering process in highly populated test-beds is as important as the technology development. In this paper, we will describe first experiences deploying ROLEs at two higher learning institutions in very different cultural settings. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China and at the “Center for Learning and Knowledge Management and Department of Information Management in Mechanical Engineering” (ZLW/IMA) at RWTH Aachen University have exposed ROLEs to theirs students in already established courses. The results demonstrated to readiness of the technology for large-scale trials and the benefits for the students leading to new insights in the design of ROLEs also for more informal learning situations.

L'actualité aidant, une personne sur twitter a exhumé un vieux billet que j'avais écrit en Mai 2011. A l'époque, je parlais du Parti Socialiste... sans fausse modestie, j'avais vu plutôt juste... Aujourd'hui, on peut déjà parler d'un autre "parti" mais...

1. Carlos Alcaraz - Andrey Rublev en direct: ATP Finals - Tennis  Eurosport FR
2. Carlos Alcaraz - Andrey Rublev, ATP Finals, Masters (Turin), Groupe John Newcombe, Mercredi 13 novembre 2024  L'Équipe
3. PRONOS PARIS RMC Le pari sûr d’Eric Salliot du 13 novembre – Tennis - Masters  RMC Sport
4. EN DIRECT - Alcaraz-Rublev : Alcaraz prend le premier set  Le Figaro
5. Pronostic Carlos Alcaraz - Andrey Rublev, ATP Finals  SportyTrader

1. Au procès des assistants parlementaires du FN, les flèches des avocats du Parlement européen  Le Monde
2. Procès du RN : « Un système pour détourner des fonds de l’UE au bénéfice du parti »  Ouest-France
3. "Marine Le Pen seule donneuse d’ordre" : au procès des assistants parlementaires, un "système" en accusation  Marianne
4. Procès des assistants parlementaires du FN: le Parlement européen réclame près de 4 millions d’euros au parti  Le Figaro
5. Marine Le Pen dans le piège de « l’inéligibilité obligatoire »  Le Point

(Belga) Le conseil communal de la Ville de Charleroi a adopté lundi une motion faisant de Charleroi "une ville antifasciste" et consacrant l'existence d'une "coalition antifasciste" composée des partis politiques carolos, des syndicats, d'associations et de membres de la société civile.

Cette "coalition antifasciste" est le fruit de discussions entamées dans un contexte de montée générale des idées d'extrême droite et à la suite des incidents qui sont survenus le 25 janvier 2020 à Charleroi à l'occasion d'une mobilisation d'un front antifasciste contre la tenue dans la métropole d'une réunion d'un nouveau parti d'extrême droite. Ce jour-là, selon les manifestants antifascistes, la police avait fait usage contre eux de sprays, d'autopompes et de coups de matraques même pour les disperser. Ce qui avait provoqué un certain émoi, y compris au sein de la classe politique carolo. La motion donne à la coalition antifasciste quelques objectifs généraux, comme celui "d'empêcher par tous les moyens légaux la diffusion de propos incitant à la haine, au racisme, à l'antisémitisme, au sexisme, à la discrimination relative à l'orientation sexuelle, ouvertement fasciste et xénophobe, sur le territoire de Charleroi" ou celui de relayer l'information "lorsqu'elle concerne un événement susceptible d'inciter à la haine, au racisme, à l'antisémitisme, au sexisme, ouvertement fasciste et xénophobe". (Belga)

C'est la rentrￜe politique. Et qui dit rentrￜe, dit universitￜ d'ￜtￜ. Cette annￜe, la Rￜpublique en marche a vu les choses en grand en organisant ￜ la fois des journￜes...

In order to further improve the public health assurance system and the infectious diseases early warning system to give play to their positive roles and enhance their collaborative capacity, this paper, based on the big and thick data analytics technology, designs a 'rolling-type' data synergy model. This model covers districts and counties, municipalities, provinces, and the country. It forms a data blockchain for the public health assurance system and enables high sharing of data from existing system platforms such as the infectious diseases early warning system, the hospital medical record management system, the public health data management system, and the health big and thick data management system. Additionally, it realises prevention, control and early warning by utilising data mining and synergy technologies, and ideally solves problems of traditional public health assurance system platforms such as excessive pressure on the 'central node', poor data tamper-proofing capacity, low transmission efficiency of big and thick data, bad timeliness of emergency response, and so on. The realisation of this technology can greatly improve the application and analytics of big and thick data and further enhance the public health assurance capacity.