Volume 55 No. 10 DECEMBER 2011 VOLUME 55 NO. 10 DECEMBER 2011 COVER: ICON OF THE NATIVITY Written by Yuri Sidorenko 3 EDITORIAL by Rt. Rev. John Abdalah 4 FINDING REFRESHMENT AT THE ST. THEKLA PILGRIMAGE by Mother Alexandra 6 SEMINARIAN DINNER AT THE ARCHDIOCESE HEADQUARTERS The Most Reverend 10 THE SYRIAN REGIME Metropolitan PHILIP, D.H.L., D.D. by Dr. Najib E. Saliba Primate The Right Reverend 15 DEAN OF ST. TIKHON’S Bishop ANTOUN ADDRESSES CLERGY RETREAT The Right Reverend Bishop JOSEPH 16 ARABIC CULTURE The Right Reverend by Odeese M. Ghassa-Khalil Bishop BASIL The Right Reverend 18 ARCHDIOCESAN OFFICE Bishop THOMAS The Right Reverend 19 MEMORY ETERNAL: Bishop ALEXANDER FR. JOHN ESTEPHAN The Right Reverend Bishop JOHN 20 TOP 10 REASONS TO GIVE The Right Reverend THE GIFT OF CAMP Bishop ANTHONY The Right Reverend 22 COMMUNITIES IN ACTION Bishop NICHOLAS Founded in Arabic as 32 METROPOLITAN’S SECRETARY RETIRES Al Kalimat in 1905 by Saint Raphael (Hawaweeny) 33 HELLENIC COLLEGE Founded in English as The WORD in 1957 ORATORICAL FESTIVAL by Metropolitan ANTONY (Bashir) 34 Editor in Chief The Rt. Rev. Bishop JOHN, D.Min. Assistant Editor Christopher Humphrey, Ph.D. Editorial Board The Very Rev. Joseph J. Allen, Th.D. Anthony Bashir, Ph.D. Letters to the editor are welcome and should include the author’s full name and The Very Rev. Antony Gabriel, Th.M. parish. Submissions for “Communities in Action” must be approved by the local The Very Rev. Peter Gillquist pastor. Both may be edited for purposes of clarity and space. All submissions, in Ronald Nicola hard copy, on disk or e-mailed, should be double-spaced for editing purposes. Najib E. Saliba, Ph.D. The Very Rev. Paul Schneirla, M.Div. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION: U.S.A. and Canada, $20.00 Design Director Donna Griffin Albert Foreign Countries, $26.00 Member Single Copies, $3.00 The Associated Church Press Conciliar Press The WORD (USPS626-260) is published monthly, except July and August, by the Ecumenical News International Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at 358 Mountain Orthodox Press Service Road, PO Box 5238; periodicals postage paid at Englewood, New Jersey 07631- 5238 and at additional mailing offices. Editorial Office: The WORD Postmaster send address changes to: The WORD, 358 Mountain Road, PO Box 2 Lydia’s Trail 5238, Englewood, NJ 07631-5238 Westborough MA 01581-1841 ISSN 0043-7964 www.antiochian.org. e-mail: [email protected] Canada Post Publications Agreement No. 40691029 Subscription Office: Return Canada address to: 358 Mountain Road AIM, 7289 Torbram Road, Mississauga, ON L4T 1G8, Canada. PO Box 5238 Englewood, NJ 07631-5238 editor’s letter How to Find Christmas Happiness & Joy December is the time when we worry about anxiety and discontentment. Whenever someone Christmas gifts. Everyone seems to agree that is not consistent with his own nature, he or she we overdo this gift-giving stuff. Everyone seems will feel such pain. to agree that it all has become too commercial The solution seems to me to be very clear. and less spiritual. We read so many sermons and Let’s “give in” to our nature, and give ourselves messages on the excesses of the season. What are to God and to each other. Let’s give cheerfully we to do? How would we go about putting Christ and generously to God through His Church, and back into Christmas? How do we make Christ the give to each other our time, caring and gifts. Let “reason for the season”? Or, is this really a prob- us indulge in sharing the love that God has for us lem at all? and we have for each other, and let’s do it abun- This year, I’m for gift-giving. God gave us His dantly. Let’s overcome our fears. If we are short gift: His only begotten Son. The Son gave us His of cash, let’s be creative. If we are short on time, gift of Himself. The Spirit brought us these gifts let’s fast from those activities that steal away our as His own gift for mankind. Why does God give? time and be with each other, instead of our televi- Because He loves us and because it is His nature sions and computers. Let’s live deliberately and to love and to give. If it is His nature to love and joyfully, giving fully and generously. Nothing less to give, and we know that we are created by Him will be from our nature, which in His own image and likeness, then it is our prop- is itself the Christmas gift er nature to love and to give. Christ gives Himself from God. to God the Father and to mankind. We, too, need to give ourselves to God and to each other. To do Fr. John Abdalah otherwise would be to act and live in a way con- trary to our very nature. Such living would cause dissonance and pain. It would cause depression, The Word 3 Finding Refreshment at the St. Thekla Pilgrimage From September 23 to 25, pilgrims traveled to A Saturday afternoon program was offered, Antiochian Village for the St. Thekla Pilgrimage with a choice of an informative tour of the icons and the Patronal Feast of the St. Thekla Mon- in the Saints Peter and Paul Chapel, a hike to the astery, enjoying a weekend of prayer, refresh- monastery building site, or a visit to the Antio- ment, focus and fellowship. Pilgrims trickled in chian Heritage Museum. The Museum’s current exhibit, “Structure in Stone,” is of expeditions in on Friday evening after busy weeks of work and the early 1900s that examined the architecture the demands of daily life, and were offered hos- of Syria dating back to 500 B.C. In the evening, pitality and a time to unwind and transition in we gathered for Great Vespers, dinner and con- prayer at Vespers. Following this, they enjoyed versation, followed by a talk and discussion on fellowship with one another, a movie, and a prayer by Mother Alexandra. The Pilgrimage discussion. Saturday was a full day, beginning closed on Sunday following Orthros, Divine Lit- with Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, followed urgy, the Blessing for Travelers and brunch. by brunch, and then workshops on Orthodox Our guest Hierarch for the Pilgrimage was Family Life, Living Faithfully Through Crisis, the His Grace Bishop Thomas of the Diocese of Sacraments, and a discussion of the book Miles Charleston and the Mid-Atlantic. Sayidna Thom- to Go. After a break, we convened at the Shrine as provided us with practical, spiritual food to of St. Thekla, located at the Village Camp, and strengthen our minds and hearts for encounter- prayed the Supplication to St. Thekla. We were ing the daily demands of this world. He remind- ed us that St. Thekla was always prepared, unlike anointed, too, with the miraculous oil from the the unwise virgins in the Gospel, and to ask our- lampada that burns in the Shrine of St. Thekla in selves if we are prepared to meet Christ, not just Ma’aloula, Syria. when he comes at the end of the world, but in 4 The Word each day of our lives. We were grateful for Sayid- na THOMAS’s presence, providing many faithful the opportunity to meet him and speak with him. In addition, Fr. Anthony Yazge, Director of the Antiochian Village Camp, and many of our clergy from Pennsylvania were also with us until they needed to return to their parishes: Bishop-Elect Fr. John Abdalah, Fr. Donald Shadid, Fr. John Nosal, Fr. Stephen Lourie, Fr. Gregory Long, Fr. Joel Gillam, Fr. Fred Pfeil, Fr. Meletios Zafaran, Fr. James Purdie, and Dn. Michael Ibrahim. We thank them for their time, presence and ministry to us. Thanks are also extended to Paul Finley, Di- rector of the Antiochian Village Conference Cen- ter; Barli Ross, Director of Orthodox Programs; and the entire Village Staff for their hospitality which far exceeds food and lodging. Mother Alexandra Saint Thekla Monastery The Word 5 On October 11, 2011, His Eminence Metro- Seminarian Dinner politan PHILIP hosted the Annual Seminarian Dinner at the Archdiocese Headquarters. In at- at the Archdiocese tendance were all of the Antiochian seminarians and their spouses from St. Tikhon, St. Vladimir, and Holy Cross seminaries. Also in attendance Headquarters were the three Bishops-Elect who are prepar- ing to travel to Lebanon in December for their consecrations. They are Bishop-Elect John (Ab- dalah), Bishop-Elect Anthony (Michaels), and Bishop-Elect Nicholas (Ozone). The evening began with a Vesper service in the Chapel of St. John Chrysostom at the Archdiocese Head- quarters. Following the Vesper service, everyone gathered in the large dining room for the photo group, which was then followed by dinner. Af- ter dinner, His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP addressed the gathered seminarians and their spouses, discussing matters which are important to their future priesthood. He spoke about the importance of practical pastoral theology which touches the lives of people. His Eminence then asked each of the Bishops-Elect to address the students, and to speak of both their pastoral ex- periences as priests, and their expectations for their Episcopal ministry. Finally, we were treated to beautiful chanting by both Fr. Elias Bitar, and seminarian Rassem Al-Massih. 6 The Word 8 The Word The Word 9 The Syrian Regime Struggle for Survival and Implications of Its Fall Since the beginning of February, 2011, a great deal of international attention has been focused on the so- called “Arab Spring,” a term coined by the Western media and applied to the series of uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and then Syria.