DOCSLIB.ORG

Essays on True Orthodox Christianity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Essays on True Orthodox Christianity ESSAYS ON TRUE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY Volume 3 (2015) Vladimir Moss © Copyright: Vladimir Moss, 2015. All Rights Reserved. 1 INTRODUCTION 4 1. “LEVIATHAN” AND MODERN RUSSIA 5 2. SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN 8 3. THE TRIUMPH OF PASCHA 12 4. R III P 15 5. PRAYER AND THE WILL OF GOD 24 6. THE PARADOXES OF LITURGICAL LANGUAGE 31 7. THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN RIGHTS 34 1. The Medieval Theory of Natural Law 34 2. From Natural Law to Human Rights 36 3. Human Rights and the French Revolution 38 4. Human Rights in the Twentieth Century 39 5. Human Rights and Cultural Marxism 43 6. An Analysis of the Philosophy 47 Conclusion: The Orthodox Response 54 8. PELAGIANISM AND THE COUNCIL OF LLANDEWI BREFI 56 9. FROM LENIN TO PUTIN: THE CONTINUITY OF SOVIET POWER 59 10. THE ORIGINS OF SEXUAL PERVERSION 70 11. THE MULTIVERSE THEORY 85 12. THE BREAD OF THE EUCHARIST 91 13. BISHOP AUXENTIOS – GTOC’S TROJAN HORSE 99 14. THE CONSTANTINIAN REVOLUTION 102 1. The Triumph of the Cross 103 2. The Hierarchical Principle 107 3. Autocracy and Tyranny 110 4. Empire and Priesthood 117 5. Religious Freedom 126 6. Rome and the Non-Roman World 137 Conclusion 141 15. THE ORIGENISM OF METROPOLITAN KALLISTOS 142 16. ISLAMIC TERRORISM AND WESTERN ECUMENISM 150 17. THE FATHER ALMIGHTY 159 18. A DIALOGUE ON DARWINISM 161 19. ORTHODOXY AND THE THEORY OF THE JUST WAR 170 Introduction 170 Old Testament Morality? 171 The First Five Centuries 172 The Middle Ages 175 The Rise of Nationalism 181 2 The Twentieth Century 184 Conclusion: The True Revanche 185 Appendix: Orthodox Prayer for Protection of Soldiers during War 186 20. 1922: THE ASIA MINOR CATASTROPHE 186 21. THE MILLENIUM 199 22. KING ALFRED THE GREAT, THE ENGLISH DAVID 222 The Roman Consul 222 The Wild Boar 223 The Guerilla King 224 The All-English Kingdom 226 The Lover of Wisdom 228 Alfred the Man 229 Conclusion 231 23. THE CALENDAR QUESTION IN BRITISH HISTORY 232 24. THE LESSONS OF ROCOR’S FALL 237 25. GENETICS, UFOS AND THE BIRTH OF THE ANTICHRIST 247 Introduction 247 1. Man, not demon 248 2. Can demons unite with men? 250 3. Demons, Women and UFOs 255 Conclusion 257 26. CREATION OUT OF NOTHING 259 27. MOSCOW’S HOLY WARS 266 1. Uniates and Schismatics 266 2. Muslims and Terrorists 269 3. Beating the Drums of War 270 28. BRITAIN, EUROPE AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER 272 29. DOES ANCESTRY MATTER? 277 30. THE STATE OF ISRAEL 279 31. THE RISORGIMENTO, VATICAN ONE AND THE FALL OF THE PAPAL STATE 294 32. TWO ABDICATIONS 304 33. THE LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE 307 3 INTRODUCTION This collection of essays is the third in a series, and includes articles I have written on various subjects related to True Orthodoxy in the course of 2015. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us! January 7/20, 2016. Afterfeast of the Holy Theophany. Synaxis of St. John the Baptist. 4 1. “LEVIATHAN” AND MODERN RUSSIA The great power and justification of art is that in the hands of a master it can tell the truth about God and life in a way that penetrates the minds and hearts of unbelievers and semi-believers in a way that even the best sermon often cannot. This is not to say that it can take the place of the sermon; but it can prepare the way for the better reception of the sermon at a later date. In this lies the significance of the recently released Russian film “Leviathan”.1 The title of the film is well-chosen and gives a preliminary indication of its content and meaning. The film, as the director Andrei Zvyagintsev himself has indicated, is a modern parable based on the Book of Job; Leviathan refers to the sea-monster in the 41st chapter of Job – just before Job’s vindication and the resurrection of his fortunes in chapter 42. A passage from this chapter is quoted by a local priest to the unfortunate hero. The leviathan is both the greatest of all sea-monsters and a symbol (as in the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ famous work, Leviathan) of absolutist political power: “Upon the earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over the children of pride…” (Job 41.33-34). It would be easy, therefore, to see in the Leviathan of the film the state power of the present-day Russian Federation in all its absolutist, pitiless might. And this is certainly part of the meaning. But the film is deeper and more complex than that; it is much more than a work of political protest. The film, as Monk Diodor (Larionov) has written in a fine review, is not about the corrupt state, nor about the alcoholics, adulteresses, murderers and phoney priests that use it or are abused by it. It is about God. 2 The opening sequence displays the savage but strangely beautiful setting of the action - a small town on the Murmansk peninsula, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The carcasses of whales and abandoned fishing boats litter the landscape, which is formed by massive granite boulders and the unceasing crash of the waves. It reminds us that this scenery – and God Who created it – was there long before any human leviathans existed, and will continue after the present one has become another corpse. After this peaceful, somber opening, the action is slow to pick up speed, but quickly develops until its tragic climax, when the life of the hero appears to have been completely destroyed. One is reminded of Dostoyevsky’s The Devils, which begins with similar slowness but speeds up until the final catastrophe. The main contest is between the hero and a corrupt mayor who wants to destroy his house in order to redevelop the land. The contest is an 1 The whole film (with English subtitles) can be seen on youtube: http://parkino.net/2014- 09-leviafan.php. 2 Larionov, “O Fil’me ‘Leviafane’, http://www.kiev-orthodox.org/site/faithculture/5602. 5 unequal one, and the hero loses – and not only his house. But who is to blame? The answer is obvious, and yet not obvious. The main villain is undoubtedly the mayor, who represents the corrupt State, Leviathan, most directly (he has a portrait of Putin in his office). And yet when presented with firm evidence of his past evil-doing by the hero’s lawyer, he begins to have twinges of conscience, and goes to consult the local bishop – but without telling him what is really on his mind. The bishop gives sound text-book advice, such as “All authority is from God”, but his words are strangely lifeless and do not help the mayor; we feel that he must know the truth about the mayor, and it becomes clear that he, too, is part of Leviathan. So he, and the Church he represents, is also to blame… Nor is the hero himself blameless. He drinks too much, is uncontrolled in his speech, has not brought up his son well, and has stopped going to church. Like most of the characters in the story, - with the exception of the lawyer, who, as he says, prefers “facts”, - he has some belief in God, but it is not firm, not clear. And ultimately we come to the conclusion that while the hero is a victim of Leviathan, he has also grown up in it and with it and has therefore shared in its original sin. So he, too, is to blame, even if to a lesser degree… However, this is not a tale of crime and punishment. And not simply because those whom we feel are least guilty get punished the most severely, while the most guilty get away with murder while speaking pompously and hypocritically about “truth”. Nor are we given any assurance, as in the Book of Job, that good will triumph over evil and the righteous will receive their reward from God. After all, this is a work of art, not a sermon, and its author is not trying to teach us anything, he is not a theologian. And yet we can learn something from it – something very important. * In trying to express what this “something” is, we should first take note of the unprecedented reaction to the film in Russia. Although it has received huge critical acclaim outside Russia, winning numerous prizes and being nominated for an Oscar (the first such nomination for a Russian film since 1964), the Russian authorities, both political and ecclesiastical, have turned their backs on it, as if the film had betrayed both the nation and the Church. This only goes to show that the film has hit its mark; the truth it portrays so accurately has hurt. While the salt of the official church has so tragically lost its savour, the film has supplied the vinegar necessary to expose the wound. This is encouraging; it shows that the pen (or at any rate, the film-script) is still stronger than the sword in contemporary Russia, and the traditional function of Russian literature since Gogol – to be the moral conscience of the semi-apostate educated classes – has not ceased… But while we might have expected the authorities to have reacted in this way, it is perhaps more surprising that so many ordinary people have reacted with similar disgust. 6 These are the “patriots” who support Putin and the neo-Soviet state, whose politics and aesthetic and moral tastes are evidently closely linked.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Music at Seminary
    sn 0 SPRING 2006 music at seminary Message from the Metropolitan Dearly Beloved in Christ, Every year, Orthodox Christian men and women hear the Lord’s call to study theology at our seminaries. The student of theology must hear and obey the Lord’s words: Whoever would be first among you must be your slave (Matthew 20:27). Faithful service as a choir director, teacher, deacon, priest, or bishop requires emulation of the Lord and study of His Word. The life of the sn Church through history provides many lessons for Christians of the twenty-first century.To faithfully serve Christ today requires that we study the lives of our fathers in the faith, the per- secutions the Church has endured in the name of Christ, and the triumphs of the truth of the Gospel in the face of great resistance. Martin Paluch The Dean of St Vladimir’s Seminary has been guiding our seminarians through the study of the Church’s his- tory as a lay professor for many years. I am grateful to the Lord that I was able to ordain John Erickson to the Holy Diaconate on the feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs, the patrons of the seminary’s chapel, and to the Holy Priesthood on May 7, 2006. Father John is now called to renewed service to God’s people at the Holy Table. Please join me in fervent prayer for Father John in his ministry as a professor, as Dean of St Vladimir’s, and as a servant of the Lord. With love in Christ, +HERMAN Archbishop of Washington and New York Metropolitan of All America and Canada President, Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary 2 • SPRING 2006 sn 0 contents spotlight at the seminary Robert Lisak MESSAGE FROM THE CAMPUS CHRONICLE ON THE COVER METROPOLITAN Seminary activities from April 2005 through February 2006 Students, such as Gregory Ealy and Ksenia Words of congratulations from Danylevich, study theories of chant as well Metropolitan Herman of the OCA to the 8 as practice singing and conducting for dean on the occasion of his ordination DOWN THE ROAD chapel services all in preparation for service Events calendar to the Church.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodox Mission Methods: a Comparative Study
    ORTHODOX MISSION METHODS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY by STEPHEN TROMP WYNN HAYES submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject of MISSIOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA Promoter: Professor W.A. Saayman JUNE 1998 Page 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the University of South Africa, who awarded the Chancellor's Scholarship, which enabled me to travel to Russia, the USA and Kenya to do research. I would also like to thank the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, of St Augustine, Florida, for their financial help in attending the International Orthodox Christian Mission Conference at Holy Cross Seminary, Brookline, MA, in August 1996. To Fr Thomas Hopko, and the staff of St Vladimir's Seminary in New York, for allowing me to stay at the seminary and use the library facilities. The St Tikhon's Institute in Moscow, and its Rector, Fr Vladimir Vorobiev and the staff, for their help with visa applications, and for their patience in giving me information in interviews. To the Danilov Monastery, for their help with accom­ modation while I was in Moscow, and to Fr Anatoly Frolov and all the parishioners of St Tikhon's Church in Klin, for giving me an insight into Orthodox life and mission in a small town parish. To Metropolitan Makarios of Zimbabwe, and the staff and students of the Makarios III Orthodox Seminary at Riruta, Kenya, for their hospitality and their readiness to help me get the information I needed. To the Pokrov Foundation in Bulgaria, for their hospitality and help, and to the Monastery of St John the Forerunner in Karea, Athens, and many others in that city who helped me with my research in Greece.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CHALLENGES and POTENTIAL of ORTHODOX ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE Paraskeve (Eve) Tibbs, Doctoral Student, Fuller Theological Seminary - 2003
    THE CHALLENGES AND POTENTIAL OF ORTHODOX ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE Paraskeve (Eve) Tibbs, Doctoral Student, Fuller Theological Seminary - 2003 1. “Ecumenical Baptism” "Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid because of your Orthodoxy; do not be afraid because of being isolated and always in a small minority. Do not make compromises but do not attack others; do not be either defensive or aggressive; simply be yourself." 1 This could have been the advice given to me by my spiritual father as I began taking Master's level classes at Fuller, an Evangelical Seminary, as one of only two Orthodox students (the other a recent convert,) but it was not. It could have been the advice given me prior to preparing my response paper for the Society for Pentecostal Studies, but it was not. This was the wise counsel given to Bishop Kallistos Ware over thirty years ago by Father Amphilochios of Patmos (who had never himself been in the West) upon the approaching inevitability of Bishop Ware's departure from Orthodox monastic life to begin university teaching at Oxford. As a highly esteemed Orthodox teacher and ecumenist, Bishop Ware has obviously followed this advice. From my own extremely limited experience in theology, the Divine reassurance "Do not afraid!" of the Biblical call narratives is appropriate of the "call" to ecumenical dialogue as well. The late Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann (1921-83) formerly Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary, goes much further than most in calling the ecumenical encounter between Orthodoxy and the West a "failure" which cannot be concealed by the massive presence of Orthodox officials at ecumenical gatherings.
    [Show full text]
  • Whose Tradition?: Adapting Orthodox Christianity in North America By
    Whose Tradition?: Adapting Orthodox Christianity in North America by © Lydia Bringerud A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of Folklore Memorial University of Newfoundland May 2019 St. John’s Newfoundland For my Naşa Karin-Irina Doehl, proud feminist and Orthodox Christian, to whom I owe so much. May her memory be eternal. ii Abstract Focusing on three Orthodox Christian communities – St. Paraskeva and St. Luke in Midwestern US, and St. Nicolas in Atlantic Canada – this thesis examines the complex cultural dynamics surrounding Orthodox Christianity in North America. I explore the ways believers, both the Orthodox-born and new converts, negotiate with an ancient faith in a contemporary society where this faith may appear counter-cultural. Building on Leonard Primiano’s (1995) theory of vernacular religion, I propose the concept of vernacular theology to shed light on these processes. Despite the illusion of theology as the exclusive purview of clergy, laypeople exercise interpretive agency to creatively adapt doctrine to their individual life circumstances. Considering the significant role of Church history in the religious choices and experiences of my consultants, I begin with a historical overview of Orthodox Christianity, from its origins in the Roman Empire to the present day, including its path to North America. The themes of empire, romantic nationalism, anti-Westernism, and Communism that have historically shaped this faith are explored specifically in Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine, the home countries of my Orthodox-born participants. I analyze the Orthodox Church’s response to globalization and how this may affect the future of the Church in North America.
    [Show full text]
  • Koinonic Evangelism: the Community As the Evangelist by Archpriest Eric G
    Koinonic Evangelism: The Community as the Evangelist By Archpriest Eric G. Tosi Secretary of the Orthodox Church in America At the end of the 20th century, the evangelistic task is still regarded by many as a kind of sermon addressed to the world. However, evangelism is better understood and served not by placing the Gospel over against the world, but by seeking ways of relating the Gospel to the existential needs of the world. In Orthodox liturgical practice, in which the Eucharist is central, the world is brought to the Church in the forms of the natural elements, the cultural riches of the local community, or the everyday preoccupations of the faithful. Our liturgical and sacramental tradition clearly indicates that the Church's mission is not literally throwing the Gospel into the face of the world, but rather seeking first to understand what every human being longs for, and then seeing how, through the Word and the Sacrament, the Church can respond to those needs or heal any infirmities. Georges Lemopoulos in "Come, Our Light, and Illumine our Darkness: Reflections of Evangelism from an Orthodox Perspective"1 I will begin this paper with a short personal story on how I became interested in the subject of evangelism. I was completing my third and final year of Seminary and patiently awaiting an assignment. As is sadly typical, the last few months of Seminary were filled with uncertainty. Where would I be assigned? Would it be the correct match? Was I capable of leading a parish? All of these weighed heavily on my family.
    [Show full text]
  • The Theology of Eros
    THE THEOLOGY OF EROS Vladimir Moss © Vladimir Moss, 2014. All Rights Reserved. 1 This book is dedicated to my godson James and his bride Katarina, on the occasion of their wedding in the Orthodox Church. 2 FOREWORD 5 INTRODUCTION 7 The Problem Stated 7 Pagan Philosophies of Love 9 The “Realistic” and “Idealistic” Views of Eros 18 1. EROS IN THE BEGINNING 20 Introduction: The Limitations of our Knowledge 20 Male and Female 22 Dominion through Love 26 The Creation of Eve 38 Neither Male nor Female 44 The Image of God and Sexuality 49 Angelic and Sexual Modes of Procreation 54 Impure Means to a Pure End? 57 Natural and Unnatural Modes of Procreation 63 The Bonds of the Family 69 2. EROS IN THE FALL 73 Marriage in the Fall 73 The Garments of Skin 78 Innocent and Guilty Passion 89 Original Sin 94 Sexual Sin 99 Sexual Shame 102 Sinful Thoughts 105 Fornication and Adultery 107 Contraception and Abortion 112 The Lust of Demons 115 Perversion 120 Homosexuality 123 3. EROS IN CHRIST 132 The Annunciation and the Nativity 132 “Genesis” and “Gennisis” 138 The Marriage at Cana 141 The Wedding of the Lamb 146 The Two Mysteries 151 4. MARRIAGE AND MONASTICISM 160 The Definition of Marriage 160 The Permanence of Marriage 162 Civil and Ecclesiastical Marriage 164 Remarriage and Divorce 174 Mixed Marriages 178 The Purposes of Marriage 183 Marriage and Monasticism 187 Lourié’s Manichaean Thesis 196 Stars differing in glory 204 5. EROS AND HUMAN NATURE 207 The Nature of Eros 207 The “Sublimation” of Eros 210 3 Sublimation and “Falling in Love” 218 Sublimation and Marriage 231 The Resurrection of the Body 235 Eros and Agape 241 The Cult of Romantic Passion 249 Eros: Human and Divine 254 CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY 257 APPENDIX 1: THE MARRIAGE IN CANA OF GALILEE 263 APPENDIX 2: “FLEE FORNICATION” 267 APPENDIX 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Eastern Orthodoxy & Sexual Diversity
    Eastern Orthodoxy & Sexual Diversity Perspectives on Challenges from the Modern West Interim Report of the British Council Bridging Voices Consortium of Exeter University & Fordham University, New York on “Contemporary Eastern Orthodox Identity and the Challenges of Pluralism and Sexual Diversity in a Secular Age” edited by Brandon Gallaher & Gregory Tucker Table of Contents Acknowledgments 5 Executive Summary 7 1 Introduction 11 1.1 Project Goals and Overview 11 1.2 Report Goals 13 1.3 Consortium Profile 14 1.4 Notes on the Chatham House Rule 17 2 Overview: Eastern Orthodoxy & Sexual Diversity 19 2.1 The Eastern Orthodox Church & Other Churches 20 2.2 The (Eastern) Orthodox Church Today 22 2.3 Orthodoxy, History, Theology 25 2.4 The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy: a Sketch 31 2.5 Notes on Historical and Theological Approaches of Eastern Orthodoxy to Sexual Diversity 39 2.6 Eastern Orthodoxy & Modernity 49 2.7 Eastern Orthodoxy & Sexual Diversity Today 51 3 An Eastern Orthodox Theological Vision 61 3.1 A Christocentric & Trinitarian Vision 62 3.2 An Eschatological & Eucharistic Vision 66 3.3 A Traditional Vision 68 4 Ten Perspectives on Eastern Orthodoxy & Sexual Diversity 75 A 75 B 80 C 87 D 93 E 97 F 107 G 110 H 112 J 116 K 119 5 Summary & Commentary 129 5.1 Scripture, Tradition, Hermeneutics 129 5.2 Gender Essentialism & Ontology of Sexuality 130 5.3 Contemporary Science 132 5.4 Models of Ethics 133 6 Conclusions & Future Goals 135 6.1 Preliminary Conclusions: Orthodox Contradictions 135 6.2 Future Goals 135 Bibliographies & Further Reading 137 Appendix A: Pew Data on Orthodox Attitudes towards Contemporary Social Issues 145 Appendix B: Glossary 147 Acknowledgments n first place, we wish to thank the British Council, which I selected our research project for inclusion in the second iteration of its “Bridging Voices” scheme.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report Fiscal Year 2015
    ANNUAL REPORT ST. VLADIMIR’S ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY The SVS Vine | VOLUME 8 JULY 1, 2014 – JUNE 30, 2015 The Inside Story I LovE—I HAVE ALWAYS LovED—BooKS. They were instrumental in my conversion from my ethnic Anglo-Saxon religion to the Orthodox Christian faith, and in my embrace of the teachings of the Church. My extensive reading readied me to sacrifice whatever might be required (pension, parish) to possess what I came to look upon as the “Pearl of Great Price” (MATTHEW 13:46). But I soon came to realize that “book-learning” could not provide me with the “inside story” that I’ve come to experience as a member of the body of Christ. Now, within the body of believers, I’ve become part of a larger story that spans more than two millennia, and I realize that all my reading cannot compare to my present status as a character actively participating within the continuing pages of this astounding history! I can say the same for my initial views of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. As an outsider, I knew (and had read) that the Seminary was the home of great minds As you read the that had formed generations of seminarians to serve in Orthodox churches worldwide. I personal stories had knowledge of the Seminary’s spiritual of our students, life and liturgical rhythm, and of its history and mission. I knew it as the renowned alumni, and Academy that had laid the groundwork for Dean Emeritus Studying Theology TAMARA GRDZELIDZE, ALUMNA 1993 an English-speaking, evangelical-minded Protopresbyter Orthodox Church in the New World.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodox Christianity and Gender
    Orthodox Christianity and Gender The Orthodox Christian tradition has all too often been sidelined in conversations around contemporary religion. Despite being distinct from Protestantism and Ca- tholicism in both theology and practice, it remains an underused setting for aca- demic inquiry into current lived religious practice. This collection, therefore, seeks to redress this imbalance by investigating modern manifestations of Orthodox Christianity through an explicitly gender-sensitive gaze. By addressing attitudes to gender in this context, it fills major gaps in the literature on both religion and gender. Starting with the traditional teachings and discourses around gender in the Orthodox Church, the book moves on to demonstrate the diversity of responses to those narratives that can be found among Orthodox populations in Europe and North America. Using case studies from several countries, with both large and small Orthodox populations, contributors use an interdisciplinary approach to ad- dress how gender and religion interact in contexts such as iconography, conversion, social activism, and ecumenical relations among others. From Greece and Russia to Finland and the USA, this volume sheds new light on the myriad ways in which gender is manifested, performed, and engaged within contemporary Orthodoxy. Furthermore, it also demonstrates that employing the analytical lens of gender enables new insights into Orthodox Christianity as a lived tradition. It will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of both Religious Studies and Gender Studies. Helena Kupari is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Cultures, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland. She has published a monograph entitled Lifelong Religion as Habitus: Religious Practice among Displaced Karelian Ortho- dox Women in Finland (2016) and has contributed chapters and articles on Religious Studies to various publications in the field.
    [Show full text]
  • Quasten Lecture Baptism in Eastern Christian Tradition
    Baptism in Eastern Christian Tradition: Ecclesial Context, Faith Content V. Rev. John H. Erickson It is a joy to be here at The Catholic University of America, academic home of so many friends. From the North American Orthodox - Catholic Theological Consultation these include Fr. Joe Komonchak, Fr. John Galvin, Fr. Sidney Griffith, Msgr. Paul McPartlan, Prof. Robin Darling Young; and (from the Canon Law faculty), Fr. John Faris and Fr. Fred McManus of blessed memory. Friends from other ecumenical venues include Fr. John Ford, Msgr. Kevin Irwin, and Prof. Michael Root, whom I cite several times in my lecture. My sincerest apologies to those whose names I may have forgotten to mention! It is a joy to be here and a great honor to receive this year’s Johannes Quasten Award. I did not know Fr. Quasten, but the volumes of his Patrology have followed me from move to move throughout my adult life. We associate his name with patristics, but also important to him throughout his long career was pastoral liturgy. For example, at the invitation of Pope John XXIII he served on the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Liturgy as it prepared for Vatican II. Another Quasten volume that has followed me through the years is his Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, which was originally written as his doctoral dissertation in Germany. Liturgy, for Fr. Quasten, was what made immediate and powerful the message contained in the ancient Christian texts that he studied. I am thankful that my own introduction to liturgy and ecumenism occurred when it did and as it did, in those exciting years leading up to Vatican II.
    [Show full text]
  • MAY-JUNE TOC FINAL.P65
    2 VOLUME 42 5/6 Official Nos. 464/465 MAR/APR 2006 ORDINATIONS Tikhon and attached to the Diocese of the West/ July 31, LETTEN, The Rev. Nicholas is released from duties ABETTI, Caleb was ordained to the Holy Diaconate 2005. at Holy Apostles Mission, Portland, OR and granted by Bishop Benjamin of Berkeley on behalf of Metropoli- VASSIOUCHKINE, Alexei was ordained to the Holy retirement/ April 23, 2006. tan Herman at Three Hierarchs Chapel, St. Vladimir’s Diaconate by Bishop Seraphim of Ottawa and the LUKASHONOK, The Rev. Alexander, who was Seminary, Crestwood, NY. He is under the omophorion Archdiocese of Canada at Annunciation Cathedral, awaiting assignment, is attached to Holy Trinity Cathe- of Metropolitan Herman/ April 8, 2006. Ottawa, ON, Canada. He is under the omophorion of dral, Chicago, IL/ March 7, 2006. ANTONESCU, Deacon Cosmin Gheorghe was or- Bishop Seraphim and attached to the Archdiocese of [LYSAK], Priestmonk Vladimir is attached to Bishop’s dained to the Holy Priesthood by Archbishop Nathaniel Canada/ November 13, 2005. Chapel of St. Silouan the Athonite, Johnstown, ON, of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate at St. George RECEPTIONS Canada/ April 10, 2006. Cathedral, Southfield, MI. He is under the omophorion [LYSAK], Priestmonk Vladimir is canonically re- MATHEWS, Deacon Justin R. is attached to Three of Archbishop Nathaniel and attached to the Romanian ceived into the ranks of clergy of the Orthodox Church Hierarchs Chapel, St. Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, Episcopate/ December 25, 2005. in America by Metropolitan Herman from the Orthodox NY/ April 9, 2006. [BERGER], Hierodeacon Calinic was ordained to the Church of Finland.
    [Show full text]
  • Fr. Hopko Obit
    Published in Russian in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate – April 2015 Issue Online at http://e-vestnik.ru/obituaries/protopresviter_foma_hopko_8826/ Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, 28 March 1939-18 March 2015. Thomas John Hopko was born in 1939 in Endicott, a small town in upper New York State. His parents, John J. Hopko and Anna Zapotocky, were Carpatho-Russian immigrants who raised the young Thomas and his two sisters in the Church. Thomas Hopko rose out of these humble beginnings to attain high-ranking degrees of education, first at Fordham University (in Russian Studies), then at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. He went on to take a master’s degree at Duquesne University, and finally a doctorate at Fordham. In 1963, the same year as he completed his studies at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, he married Anne Schmemann, daughter of the great churchman Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann. Shortly thereafter he was ordained to the holy priesthood. He was recognized for his service to parishes in the Orthodox Church in America with the ranks of Archpriest in 1970 and Protopresbyter in 1995. Concurrently with his parish ministry he taught at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary from 1968-2002, eventually serving as the seminary’s dean from 1992-2002. His teaching discipline was Dogmatic Theology, which he had studied under Professor Serge Verhovskoy. Fr. Thomas learned much from many great émigré Russian theologians. But his main theological, pastoral, and ecclesiastical influence was undoubtedly Fr. Alexander Schmemann. It was Fr. Schmemann who set Fr. Thomas on fire, inspiring him with zeal for genuine life in the Church, through its teachings and its Liturgy.
    [Show full text]