From Monachos.net
Please note: This is an archive of old entries from the What's New index for previous years. If you wish to see new additions to the Monachos.net web site, please visit the current What's New page.
For the Year 2004:
Dates provided are: Church Calendar / Civil (New) Calendar. Read more 
on the issue of two calendars.
Friday, 25 December 2004 / 7 January 2005
Added a new document: The Advent of Love - Reflections on the Nativity of Christ, 2004.
Monday, 5 October / 18 October 2004
Added two additional ancient source texts in English as part of our ongoing collaborative project with the PPL:
The Life and Martyrdom of St Pelagia of Caesarea - Acts of the life and martyrdom of Pelagia of Caesarea, with St Paul the Apostle as principle character; perhaps a fragment of a lost Acts of St Paul and St Thecla (see below).
A Hymn of Ephrem the Syrian against Bar-Daisan - A hymnic retort against syncretistic panentheism, lauding the fact that God is 'present everywhere and fills all things', yet is never to be confused with the created order.
Sunday, 4 October / 17 October 2004
As the first instalment of source texts produced in collaboration with The Pachomius Project Library, added a large number of new texts to the Patristic Source Texts area, under the umbrellas of the following categories:
The Ten Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite - Ten epistles of pseudo-Dionysius, on a wide range of topics including the knowledge of God, divine darkness, love and exile. Letters are separately indexed and searchable.
The Acts of the Great-Martyr Thecla - The life of St Thecla, including the account of her martyrdom; full text in English.
The Cain of St Adamnan - Legal text from pre-schism (7th-century) Irish annals, on the Church protecting women and children.
Sunday, 20 September / 3 October 2004
Added 'Instant Search' capability to every document page in the collection.
Friday, 11 September / 24 September 2004
We have completed the upgrade of our discussion community message board system, which has been largely off-line for the past week while this system upgrade was taking place. This is now again fully on-line.
Monday, 24 August / 6 September 2004
Added a new patristic source text: The Epistle to Diognetus (Ad Diognetum). One of the earliest post-biblical Christian documents, the anonymous epistle to Diognetus contains what is among the first descriptions of the Christian community and way of life, as compared to the world and society in which it is situated.
Also added: The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, a first-century AD epistle to the Church at Philippi from the martyr Polycarp (as in the collection of the Apostolic Fathers). Contains descriptions of various ecclesial offices (deacon, presbyter, etc), as well as inculcations to various graces and virtues.
Also added: The Martyrdom of Polycarp, the account of his martyrdom as recorded in the contemporaneous cyclical epistle of the Church in Smyrna. One of the earliest Christian martyrdom accounts, and still one of the most poignant.
Monday, 17 August / 30 August 2004
Added A Hymn on the Dormition of the Mother of God, a new text in the liturgics and prayer area. This hymn celebrates the falling asleep of the Mother of God in verse, building upon the imagery of Psalm 50 ('Have mercy on me, O Lord...'), offered in the reflective and prayerful style.
Added 'Send to a Friend' links to the left-hand menu bar of all document pages (as, for example, on the left-hand side of this page), enabling easy recommendation of Monachos.net content to friends and acquaintances. Simply click the link from any document page on the web site, fill out the sender and recipient details, and a message is sent providing a direct link to the content on Monachos.net.
Thursday, 20 May / 2 June 2004
Began two months of Christological focus on Monachos.net. Attention during this period is drawn to the development of Christological doctrine during the high patristic era of the early Church, primarily through our Christological Controversy Study Area, as well as rotating features in the 'Spotlight' section of the Front Page.
Tuesday, 31 March / 14 April 2004
Bright Tuesday
Updated the Paschal Area with several new resources for this year's celebration of the great Feast - including encyclicals from various hierarchs, troparia, homilies, greetings, etc.
Tuesday, 24 March / 6 April 2004
Great and Holy Tuesday
Updated the Pascha area with a new article: 'Yea, the Time has Come' - Holy Pascha and the Mystery of the Liturgical Present. New for 2004, this text reflects on the mystery of the Resurrection, the fulfiment of all Christian and human hope, as taking place 'now', 'today', in our midst.
Sunday, 15 March / 28 March 2004
Sunday of St Mary of Egypt
Added On Pascha, by Melito of Sardis to the Pascha area for 2004. This text is, however, excellent reading for Passion/Holy Week, as it deals extensively with the Passion of Christ and its meaning in light of the Resurrection.
Saturday, 14 March / 27 March 2004
Added 35 new quotations to the A Word from the Fathers homepage database. The new quotations include texts by Hesychios the Priest, Aphrahat the Persian, Makarios the Great, Symeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas, Thalassios the Libyan, Evagrius of Pontus and others.
Sunday, 26 January / 8 February 2004
Sunday of the Prodigal Son
Updated the Great Lent Area with dozens of new resources for the current Fast. Also added information on this year's Special Lenten Appeal, with its opportunity for charity during this season of almsgiving.
Wednesday, 11 January / 24 January 2004
Added Aphrahat's Demonstration Six and the Liber Graduum: Two models of early Mesopotamian proto-monasticism by Jack Tannous, the newest article in the Monasticism Studies Area and our latest study to deal with Syriac (i.e. near-Eastern) Christianity in its earliest days. This document deals in particular with the proto-monastic groups of the bnay qyama as reported by Aphrahat the Persian, and the 'Upright' or 'Perfect' as recorded by the anonymous author of the Liber graduum, both of which can be seen as precursors to the later Syriac monastic traditions.