Terms of Service

Last updated: October 26, 2026

Welcome to https://trueorthodox.eu. This website is owned and operated by the Sacred Monastery of St. John of the Ladder, located in Boeotia (Viotia), Greece, serving as the Administrative Center of the Diocese of Pallini and Western Europe.

By accessing our website, making a donation, subscribing to content, or purchasing our physical goods and publications, you agree to be bound by the following Terms of Service.

1. General Conditions & Eligibility

By agreeing to these Terms of Service, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state, province, or country of residence. We reserve the right to refuse service, restrict access, or cancel transactions to anyone, for any lawful reason, at any time.

2. Intellectual Property & Proprietary Content

  • Our Proprietary Works & Member Library: All original texts, Patristic translations, theological essays, digital embroidery files, custom liturgical designs, audio/video productions, and all materials available within our member’s library or sold in our store are the exclusive intellectual property of the Sacred Monastery of St. John of the Ladder and the Diocese of Pallini and Western Europe. These works may not be duplicated, sold, redistributed, mirrored behind other paywalls, or exploited for commercial purposes without our prior written authorization.
  • Third-Party & Contributed Media: Certain photographs, historical documents, or media appearing on the public areas of our site have been contributed by third parties, shared with our brotherhood for pastoral reporting, or sourced from public-domain and historical ecclesiastical archives. These materials remain the intellectual property of their respective copyright holders.
  • Copyright Inquiries: If you are a copyright owner and believe any media has been reproduced on public areas of this site without proper attribution or permission, please contact us directly at [email protected] so we can review and promptly adjust or remove the material.

3. Physical Handcrafted Goods, Pricing & Free Shipping

Because our liturgical items (including incense, antimensia, appliques, vestments, and related sacred goods) are handcrafted by our brotherhood and monastic workshops, natural variations in color, cut, fragrance, and finish are to be expected.

  • Free Worldwide Shipping: We provide complimentary standard shipping on all physical goods dispatched from our monastery via registered postal networks or commercial carriers.
  • Pricing: Prices for all physical items and publications are subject to change without notice. We reserve the right at any time to modify or discontinue any product without liability.
  • Pricing Errors: In the event of a typographical or administrative pricing error in our online store, we reserve the right to cancel or refuse any orders placed for the incorrectly priced item, even if confirmed and paid for. In such cases, a full refund for the item will be issued immediately.

4. Donations & Voluntary Offerings

Voluntary financial offerings submitted through our store (such as the Essential Support for the Brotherhood fund) directly sustain the daily living expenses of the brotherhood, the administrative operations of the Diocese, and the maintenance of the Sacred Cathedral of St. Paraskevi.

  • Finality of Offerings: All donations and voluntary offerings are final and strictly non-refundable. Donors are solely responsible for reviewing their selected donation tier carefully prior to confirming payment.

5. Digital Access & User Accounts

If you create an account or subscribe to member-accessible areas of the website, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and password. Account access is personal and non-transferable. You agree to accept full responsibility for all activities that occur under your user account.

6. Digital Library Subscriptions

The Diocesan Library is offered on a twelve-month subscription basis. A subscription grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and view its texts, translations, and audio recordings for private, devotional, and non-commercial use. All proprietary rights remain with the Sacred Monastery of St. John of the Ladder as set forth in Section 2. Subscriptions are commercial contracts for digital access and are not charitable donations under Section 4.

  • Renewal: Subscriptions do not renew automatically. We will never charge your payment method upon expiry. Between fourteen and twenty-one days before the end of your term, we will email you a reminder inviting you to renew manually if you wish. If you choose not to renew, access ends at the close of the twelve-month period.
  • Right of Withdrawal: Access to the library begins immediately upon purchase. By agreeing to these Terms at checkout, you request immediate access and acknowledge that you waive the statutory 14-day right of withdrawal once access is provided. If you change your mind within 14 days and have not yet logged in or used the library, contact [email protected] and we will gladly issue a full refund.
  • Household and Device Limits: Subscriptions are licensed for personal use within a single domestic household at one primary residence. Concurrent access is limited to five active devices. Attempting to log in from a sixth device will block the new login or disconnect the earliest active session. Parishes, monastic communities, schools, and other institutions must contact us for institutional licensing.
  • Conformity: In accordance with EU Directive 2019/770 and Greek Law 4967/2022, we warrant that the digital content will remain in conformity with this contract throughout the subscription period. Access requires a modern web browser, an active internet connection, and standard audio playback for any audio content. We will provide any necessary security or compatibility updates required to keep the service operational.
  • Termination: We may suspend or terminate access immediately, without refund, for material breach of these terms — including unauthorised copying, distribution, or mirroring of library content, automated scraping, credential reselling, or malicious interference with the platform. For minor or curable breaches, we will give written notice and seven days to remedy the breach before access is revoked.

7. Physical Goods: Returns & Right of Withdrawal

A. United States & International Orders Outside the EU (All Sales Final)

  • No Statutory Withdrawal: European Union consumer protection directives and statutory rights of withdrawal do not apply to orders placed from or shipped to destinations outside the European Union.
  • All Sales Final: All orders delivered to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and all other non-EU destinations are strictly final. We do not accept returns, refunds, or exchanges for change of mind, personal preference, or ordering errors.

B. Churches, Parishes, & Institutions Worldwide (B2B Orders – All Sales Final)

  • Institutional Purchases: Purchases made by or on behalf of parishes, churches, monasteries, dioceses, schools, or institutional bodies worldwide are commercial (B2B) transactions. Statutory EU consumer withdrawal rights apply solely to natural persons acting outside their trade or profession.
  • All orders of liturgical supplies, vestments, church appointments, and sanctuary goods placed by or for ecclesiastical bodies are strictly final and non-returnable, except in the case of verified manufacturing defect or transit damage reported upon delivery.

C. European Union Individual Consumers (EU B2C Home Use Only)

Under Directive 2011/83/EU, private natural persons residing within the European Union who purchase standard, off-the-shelf items strictly for personal, domestic home use have the right to withdraw within fourteen (14) days from the day of delivery without giving any reason.

  • Eligible Items: Applies solely to standard, batch-produced items (such as standard packaged incense, or non-custom-sized and non-custom-colored appliques).
  • Return Notice & Procedure: You must notify us in writing at [email protected] within 14 days of delivery. You must ship the items back to the monastic workshops in Greece without undue delay, and no later than fourteen (14) days from your notification.
  • Return Shipping Costs: You are strictly responsible for paying the direct cost of return shipping to Greece. Returned items must be unused, in their original packaging, and in resalable condition.
  • Refund Scope: Upon receipt and inspection of the returned items, we will refund the purchase price of the item via your original payment method.

D. Custom & Made-to-Order Items (All Buyers Worldwide)

Pursuant to Article 16(c) of Directive 2011/83/EU, the right of withdrawal never applies to goods made to consumer specifications or clearly personalized.

  • All sales are strictly final, non-returnable, and non-refundable for custom-tailored vestments, custom antimensia, bespoke liturgical metalwork, or any applique produced with custom-selected colors or custom dimensions, regardless of customer location.

8. Shipping, Customs, Tariff Surcharges & Liturgical Schedule

Physical purchases are dispatched from our monastery in Boeotia, Greece via registered postal networks (such as the Hellenic Post / ELTA) or designated commercial couriers.

  • Carrier Operations: Once a package is handed over to the carrier, delivery transit times and border routing are managed by international postal authorities and destination country postal services.
  • Import Tariff Surcharges (Non-Refundable): Any tariff surcharges or import regulatory fees collected at checkout (including the 15% US tariff fee, or applicable fees for other destination countries requiring upfront import duties) are strictly non-refundable under all circumstances. These funds are disbursed directly to postal networks and customs authorities upon dispatch to clear foreign border entry.
  • Other International Customs, Duties & Taxes: For orders shipped outside the EU where taxes are not assessed at checkout, the recipient remains solely responsible for any local import duties, VAT, clearance charges, or tariffs assessed by destination border authorities.
  • Customs Inspections: We are not liable for transit delays or for packages opened, inspected, sampled, or rearranged by customs officials during border clearance.
  • Monastic Liturgical Calendar: Order preparation and dispatch pause annually during the principal liturgical observances of the brotherhood: the first week of Great Lent (Clean Week), Holy Week, and Bright Week (Pascha Week). Processing resumes promptly following these periods.

9. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms of Service and any transactions concluded through this site shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Greece and the applicable regulations of the European Union.

If you are a consumer residing within the European Union, you additionally enjoy the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I).

10. Changes to Terms of Service

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to update, change, or replace any part of these Terms of Service by posting updates to our website. It is your responsibility to check our website periodically for changes.

11. Contact Information

Questions regarding these Terms of Service should be directed to our operations team at:

[email protected].