Last year, our Dean and Chancellor traveled extensively—to local parishes and international colloquia—delivering the Good News of the faith and spreading the news about our seminary, its programs and progress. Archpriest John Behr, dean, logged 44,449 in land and air miles, while foreign and domestic miles traversed by Archpriest Chad Hatfield, chancellor, totaled 59,416.
As Great Lent approached this year, Frs. John and Chad renewed their eagerness to reach out to communities near and far by presenting pre-Lenten retreats, as preludes to several other retreats being offered by St. Vladimir's Seminary faculty during the Great Fast.
In January, Fr. Chad acted as retreat master at a gathering for Alaskan clergy wives in the Village of Napaskiak, hosted by the village priest, Fr. Vasily Fisher. The retreat theme was "Mary, Mysteries, Mission, and Matushki." Fr. Chad, who is the former Dean of St. Herman Seminary in Kodiak, wasted no time in adding to his travelogue by employing local transportation: dogsled.
Closer to home in the Big Apple, Fr. John delivered a retreat at the historic Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection, at the invitation of Fr. Christopher Calin, dean of the cathedral. On the Sunday of the Eve of Great Lent, commemorating the "Casting Out of Adam and Eve from Paradise," Fr. John spoke on the topic "The Lenten Journey to the Cross," with a special emphasis on Melito of Sardis' treatise On Pascha, a second-century work.
