Ten of us seminarians departed from St. Vladimir's Seminary after lunch on Friday afternoon to travel to Jordanville, NY for a weekend of fellowship and spiritual nourishment at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, or ROCOR), where we were warmly received by the seminarians, monks, and staff at Holy Trinity. Once every semester the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement, or OISM, sponsors this type of weekend event at an Orthodox seminary. Holy Trinity welcomed students from St. Vladimir's as well as from Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Canaan, PA.
In his opening speech, Rector and Dean of Holy Trinity The Very Rev. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) greeted us students and exhorted us to be faithful to Holy Tradition, thus ensuring its transmission in entirety to generations that will follow. The first talk was given by The Rev. Dr. Kevin Kalish, assistant professor of English at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA, who spoke on "The Language of the King James Bible." Graduating Holy Trinity seminarian Nicholas Kotar also gave a presentation on the subject, "Culture, Creation and Literature: A Christian's most important work?"
In addition to participating in the regular services and meals of the monastery, we seminarians enjoyed several discussion sessions, as well as informal fellowship. What we seminarians always appreciate about OISM gatherings is the sense of shared unity and friendship, though we come from such a mix of cultural backgrounds and small "t" Orthodox traditions. In a highlight of the weekend, Holy Trinity hosts offered us visiting seminarians a tour of the monastery and its church, and we were all moved by the beautiful grounds and the cathedral interior with its magnificent iconography.
