A homily delivered in the Three Hierarchs Chapel at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary on the Feast of The Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary (Wednesday, October 1, 2014).

When one looks into today’s feast of Pokrov, the Protection of the Holy Theotokos, you can bump into a number of traditions which surround it. Its origins are attributed to a crisis in Constantinople. It might have been a crisis brought on by a siege by the barbarian Avars. Another says it was the Scythians who were besieging the city. Yet another story says it wasn’t a siege at all, but speaks of a horrible plague ravaging the city.

In the midst of the crisis, the faithful Christians assembled to keep vigil at the famous Blachernae church. In attendance were St. Andrew and his discipline Epiphanius. These men were granted a vision of the Holy Virgin, extending her veil over the assembled faithful, her veil of protection. The city was delivered from its crisis, and so we keep this feast in thanksgiving.

As it was over a thousand years ago, Orthodox people are gathered in another church. We are all here, each of us mindful of his or her own personal crises. Looking over the walls of our lives perhaps we see a thousand tiny campfires on the horizon: our fears for the future, laying siege to our hearts. Or maybe they’re our doubts, which will not leave us in peace, their noise constantly drifting over from the other side of the gate. Or perhaps a plague has struck us down with despondency, sapped our energy, and we’re lying sick with gloom.

A feast like today, then, brings us great joy and hope. We celebrate the Theotokos’ protection then but also her continued protection now. She hears our prayers and our sighs. We experience the consolation of God, mediated by her son, and at her intercessions. If we place ourselves in a position of humility, of love, of gentleness, of patience towards each other, then like those gathered in vigil facing their destruction, we place ourselves in a position where we too are able to receive her protection.

For this we can take inspiration from St. Romanos the Melodist, whose feast day is also today, and who joins the Mother of God in the icon of the feast. He stands on the ambo, holding up a scroll, a kontakion. When the attacks come in our lives, his familiar words from his familiar hymn, instinctively spill from our lips: “O Champion Leader, to you I offer thanks of victory, O Theotokos, you have delivered me from terror…” and our fears, doubts, depressions, and trials are brought before God’s mercy for healing and deliverance. Siege and sickness are transformed into another opportunity for the power of God to work in us as we emulate the Holy Virgin’s supreme fidelity to Christ.

We can be confident that no matter what this day brings, good or bad or in-between, we are strengthened by the Spirit of God, and as we leave this chapel and begin to go about our many tasks for today, we can do so with gratitude and thanksgiving that God has not abandoned us in our difficulties but listens to the petitions of his mother on our behalf. Amen.

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The Rev. Kyle Parrott (SVOTS ’13) received his M.Div. from St. Vladimir’s Seminary and is currently completing a Masters of Theology at St. Vladimir’s. Father Kyle spent his early years in the Anglican church before becoming active in several Evangelical churches. His interest in missions led him to participate in short–term outreach in Grenada (in the Caribbean) and in Uruguay. The Parrotts’ daughter Sophia was born in 2011 at the beginning of Fr. Kyle’s studies. Matushka Leanne is a gifted photographer and has chronicled many events for the St. Vladimir’s Website.

Deacon Geevarghese (Bobby) Varghese was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, Saturday, September 14, 2019.  Zachariah Mar Nicholovos, metropolitan of the Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, ordained Fr. Geevarghese at St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Levittown, NY. Several St. Vladimir’s Seminary alumni and current seminarians were also present.

Priest Geevarghese graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) in 2017. He is also a graduate of the liturgical studies program at Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam, Kerala, India.

The newly ordained Fr. Geevarghese works as a chaplain at Brooklyn VA Hospital, under the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System. He is assigned as spiritual advisor for the Missions Board of the Northeast American Diocese’s youth association. He will be assigned soon to his first parish as a priest.

The community of St. Vladimir’s Seminary wishes Fr. Geevarghese and his wife, Zenit Kochamma (“Little Mother”), many years!

The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America has awarded the Gold Cross to St. Vladimir’s Seminary Alumnus and SVS Press Editor Rev. Dr. Benedict Churchill for his many years of faithful service to the Diocese of the South. His Eminence, Archbishop Alexander (Golitzin) of Dallas and the South presented the award to Father Benedict during Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Dormition, August 15, 2019, at Dormition of the Theotokos Orthodox Church in Norfolk, Virginia, where fellow Seminary Alumnus Fr. John Cox (‘11) is pastor.

In addition to serving as editor at SVS Press, Fr. Benedict is priest-in-charge of St. George Mission, Edenton, NC. He received his B.A. from St. John's University in Minnesota in 1969, his Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto in 1975, his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1979, and his M.Div. from St. Vladimir's Seminary in 2010. He held adjunct positions at Fordham University and New York University, and worked for Xerox Corporation from 1983 until he retired in 2006. He was ordained to the diaconate in 2009 and to the priesthood in 2010.

May God grant Priest Benedict many years!

I was the house organist and music coordinator for the [2014 Western Rite Vicariate] Conference. I had the responsibility of organizing and leading the music for all of the services, including providing preludes and postludes. We had the organ works of Bach, Dupre, Vaughn Williams, Charpentier, Purcell, Byrd, and others. The services were sung using the traditional Gregorian modes.

We sat “in choir” and chanted the psalms antiphonally during the Daily Office, and experienced the waves of chant that it produces. This manner of prayer is so calming and centering that I often wish we did something similar in the Byzantine Rite.

We had Lauds, followed by Mass every morning and Vespers in the evening. We alternated the two rites used in the Vicariate: the St. Gregory (Roman Rite) and the St. Tikhon Rite (English Use). So some mornings we had Lauds, others we had Morning Prayer. Some evenings we had Vespers, and others we had Evensong. But all of our days were rooted in the celebration of the Mass. Our first full day was the Feast of the Transfiguration which we celebrated with a Solemn High Mass, with Bishop John Abdalah (SVOTS ’84)  presiding from the throne. The light and wonder of the feast certainly flowed through the entirety of the conference and made our time of fellowship and prayer that much richer. The conference had many wonderful speakers, including our own Fr. Chad Hatfield, who spoke on the ascetical tradition of the Church as a way of evangelism.

I was born and raised in the Antiochian Archdiocese, attending a Byzantine Rite parish. I fell in love with Byzantine Chant at an early age, and with my musical training as an organist I had a deep appreciation for the sacred music of the West. It wasn’t until college that I became acquainted with the Western Rite of our Archdiocese, under the tutelage of The Very. Rev. Edward Hughes (SVOTS ’80), who had been appointed Vicar General of the Western Rite Vicariate, in addition to serving as pastor of my home parish. I had always been interested in the liturgy and liturgical practice, so this was a great opportunity to put together my musical training and my love for the Liturgy.

My appointment as organist and choir director at St. Stephen Orthodox Church in Springfield, MA in 2009 provided another opportunity for study and entering more deeply into the liturgical life of the Western Rite. It was there that I learned to pray in a new way, one that encourages silence not just in one’s private prayers, but in the liturgy itself. It was very difficult at first, but over time I’ve grown to love and treasure the Western Rite. 

Many people are confused as to why a “cradle” like me would be involved with the Western Rite, and I don’t really have an answer as to what drew me to it, but I have seen the Holy Spirit at work in these parishes, and I believe God has restored to the Orthodox Church a rite that is most important to our evangelism. It has been said that the Western Rite forces us to think about what being Orthodox really means, and helps us remember that it is faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of his Church that unite us, not just the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

I can only encourage all Orthodox Christians to “come and see” and experience the Western Rite for themselves. It took me a while to get used to praying in a different way, so I’d encourage more than one visit. It is so different from our Byzantine Rite that it does take time to get used to and to enter into, but it is so very worth the effort.

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In the first week of August, 2014, third-year seminarian Ian Abodeely attended the biennial, pan-Orthodox conference of the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA). The Vicariate oversees parishes and missions within the Archdiocese that worship according to traditional Western Christian liturgical forms. Ian recorded these reflections at the close of the conference.

Alumnus Dn. David McCready was ordained to the Holy Priesthood Sunday, August 11, 2019 in Lafeyette, CO. The ordination took place at St. Columba Orthodox Church, a parish under the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA). Priest David was ordained by the hand His Grace JOHN, Auxiliary of the Diocese of Worcester and New England.

Father David, a native of Belfast, was raised in the Church of Ireland and served as an Anglican priest before coming to St. Vladimir’s Seminary as a student of the Antiochian Archdiocese. He holds a number of degrees, including a Ph.D. from Trinity College in Dublin. He completed a non-degree track at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2019.

Father David is now assigned as pastor of St. Columba Orthodox Church.

The community of St. Vladimir’s Seminary prayerfully wishes the newly ordained Fr. David and his wife, Khouria Andrea, many years!

Deacon Marek with his wife, Allison, and two sons, Elias and Luke

Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF)—the official college ministry for all twelve jurisdictions of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops—has named Rev. Deacon Marek Simon as its executive director. He will begin his tenure on September 16. Deacon Marek will be formally introduced to the dozens of student leaders attending OCF’s Summer Leadership Institute being held August 14-17 at St. Iakovos Retreat Center in Kansasville, WI.

After graduating from St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2001, Dn. Marek has been serving at Antiochian Village Camp since 2002, where he oversees the development and advancement efforts of the camp. He also serves as supervisor of the camp’s staff and manages its team-building ropes course program. During this time, Dn. Marek remained committed to campus ministry, serving as the advisor for OCF’s Student Leadership Board from 2005-2009.

“I first learned about the scope of OCF's work in 2002, and now I am both excited and honored to focus my efforts in hopes of advancing the mission, vision, and goals of OCF,” said Dn. Marek, speaking of his long history and bright future with OCF.

“I am passionate about working with young people as they navigate their journey into adulthood, experience college, explore vocation, and seek to grow in their faith. I look forward to working with the staff of OCF, college students, clergy, lay leaders, and other Orthodox ministries to share the Good News of Christ throughout our college communities,” he added.

Deacon Marek’s hiring is a significant part of the growth and restructuring of the organization currently being conducted by OCF’s Board of Directors.

“On behalf of our dedicated staff and the students we serve, I look forward to working with Dn. Marek as a fellow colleague in realizing the Board’s vision of bringing Christ in His fullness to the college campus,” said Dn. Alexander Cadman, Board Chairman.

Learn more about the ongoing ministry of OCF by visiting their website.

The news is full of stories about impoverished children from Central America making the dangerous trek across Mexico to Texas, Arizona, and California.  Less noteworthy for the media was the journey of nine Orthodox Christians from Texas, California, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, and Ohio to the Children’s Residence or “Hogar”  of San Miguel del Lago in Guatemala in July 2014.  Groups of “missionaries” like ourselves arrive monthly to assist the nuns and staff in caring for Guatemalan children whose parents cannot take care of them.  Yes, we were of some help to the children with the extra attention our group provided, especially through games, arts and crafts, and by taking them swimming and to a few other activities.  We also did yard work and a few other chores, but for me it was primarily a most blessed retreat for several reasons.

First, we displaced ourselves simply by traveling to the Hogar, which is both a home for children and a women’s monastery.  We rose early for prayers and went to bed not long after it was dark each night.  Evening prayers occurred right before dinner in the common dining room.  At the tables designated for visiting missionaries, we ate three times each day the same simple, satisfying food as the nuns, staff, and kids.  We became so used to standing for prayer before and after meals that a few members of our group jumped up quickly when I rose slightly to reach the peanut butter near the end of breakfast one day.  (It was like a scene from a monastic reality show!) In so many ways, we left the busyness and worries of our usual schedules behind—even WiFi was scarce.  In ways small and large, our lives were reoriented for several days around a schedule shaped by the needs of the children and the routines of a monastic community.  In this context, our group bonded quickly with one another as we entered into a different style of life.

Second, we did not really know in advance what we would be doing from one day to the next.  We had a general idea of the schedule, but the particulars of yard work and activities with the kids (ranging from swimming to arts and crafts and spontaneous play sessions) evolved from day to day in light of what pressing needs arose in the community.  As someone normally addicted to a routine, I found it both a challenge and blessing simply to go with the flow.  “The Spirit blows where He wills” and it was good for our group of busy, goal-oriented Americans to accept that we were not in charge of the schedule.  We learned not to measure a day by what we accomplished, but simply to be grateful for the opportunity to pray and be present with children whose stories are so different from our own.  The experience reminded me of caring for own daughters when they were small, for good days then had little to do with achieving pre-established goals.  They had much more to do with simply with being there.

Third, the services reminded us that the language in which we pray is irrelevant.  With only one fluent Spanish speaker on our team, most of us did not follow every prayer word for word.  But that did not hinder our worship, for we all knew the familiar gestures, smells, and patterns of the daily services.  The highest form of prayer is without words anyway.  Since I am certainly not there yet, the simple words of the Jesus Prayer helped to still my wandering mind more than once.  Speaking of language, a bit of practice enabled me to intone a few litanies in apparently understandable Spanish.  The first Sunday I served by myself, but my good friend Fr. Chad Hatfield of St. Vladimir’s Seminary presided at the Divine Liturgy on our second Sunday in Guatemala.  As he said afterwards, “For two gringos serving in Guatemala, we did pretty well.”  As in previous liturgies in Greece, Romania, and Syria, I was reminded of the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit overcame linguistic boundaries.

Fourth, we dressed and worked differently than we usually do at home and not according to our own will.  As visitors to any monastic community know, modesty is the watchword.  And with boys and girls who are expected always to dress modestly, missionaries must set a good example and not become stumbling blocks.  So in warm weather that usually calls for shorts and sandals in the US, we wore long pants and tennis shoes.  With the exception of time spent doing yard work, I wore my cassock and sometimes a clerical hat.  Being hot natured to begin with, I did not mind the cold showers as a way of cooling off. (One day I took three!)  Since I make my living as a professor and do as little yard work as possible at home, it was a change of pace to cut grass on a hill with a non-motorized push mower and to spend a few hours pulling weeds.  But the spiritual benefits of manual labor and of restraining our own desires about summer clothing just a bit for the sake of others were undoubtedly positive dimensions of our experience.  Thank God for circumstances where our own preferences do not always prevail.

Yes, it was a mission trip.  According to the nuns, our group did its job very well.  But as with all things done for the Kingdom, we cannot calculate the results with precision, at least not in this life.  That is up to God, not us.  What we can do is simply to be thankful for a wonderful retreat in a community of children who, despite their poverty and broken family backgrounds, are blessed by the care of holy nuns and staff members in ways that made us all stand back and give thanks.  At the end of the day, they were the missionaries to us. Thank God!

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Posted with permission from our Trustee, Fr. Philip LeMasters, from his blog, Eastern Christian Insights [emphases added]. Fr. Philip led an OCMC Youth Work Team to the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in July, 2014.

Alumnus Deacon Simon Menya (’18) was ordained to the holy priesthood Wednesday, July 31, 2019, by the hand of His Grace, Silverstros Kistu Maximos, bishop of the Ugandan Orthodox Church’s Diocese of Gulu and Eastern Uganda. His Eminence, Metropolitan Innocentios of Rwanda and Burundi also participated in the service.

Following the ordination at St. Lavrentios Orthodox Cathedral in the city of Gulu, the newly-ordained Priest Simon has been assigned to assist at three parishes in Uganda: St. Lavrentios, Archangel Michael, and St. Basil.

Father Simon served as headmaster of Archangel Michael’s Orthodox Secondary School in Lapainate village—the only Orthodox church school in the northern region of Uganda—before enrolling in St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Master of Divinity (D.Min.) program in 2015.  In doing so, he became the first person from the nine churches in Northern Uganda to study abroad.

• RELATED: From Gulu, Uganda to Yonkers, New York: Seminarian Simon Menya's Report
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• RELATED: The St. Cyprian of Carthage Fund for African Seminarians

The community of St. Vladimir’s Seminary prayerfully wishes Fr. Simon and his family many years!

Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Alumnus Very Rev. Andrew Tregubov has been elevated to the dignity of mitered archpriest for his many years of service to the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, archbishop of Washington and metropolitan of All America and Canada, awarded the miter to Fr. Andrew on Sunday, July 29, 2019 during Divine Liturgy at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Claremont, NH, where Fr. Andrew has served as rector for forty years.

“The presentation of the miter is the crowning of your ministry as an Orthodox priest, but it is even more glowing of a tribute in that this is taking place here, in the bosom of the community that you have guided, nurtured, and pastored for your entire priestly ministry,” His Beatitude said to Fr. Andrew upon the awarding of the miter. “When you were handed the pastoral leadership of this community, the future of the parish was uncertain because of difficulties in the past. But your wisdom as a pastor and your insight as a confessor have, with God’s grace, brought this community to its present place of stability.”

Father Andrew’s name was presented for consideration for the right to wear the miter, the highest liturgical award for priests, at the most recent meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops in the spring of this year.

Born in Moscow, Russia in 1951, Fr. Andrew moved to America in 1975 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1979. He graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 1995. He is a well-known iconographer, and was recently the subject of ABC affiliate WMUR-TV’s recent feature story, Creating Iconographic Masterworks: Inside Fr. Andrew Tregubov's passion for Christian Art. His wife, Matushka Galina, is a skilled embroiderer. Some of Father and Matushka’s work can be seen on their website, Tregubov-icons.com.

At the Divine Liturgy Sunday, His Beatitude noted the contributions of both Fr. Andrew and Matushka Galina in the field of sacred arts.

“Together with your wife, Matushka Galina, you have taken the talent that was nurtured in your heart, and brought it to visible fruition. Your work as an iconographer and Matushka’s labors as an embroiderer have had an influence on others and have led many to pursue Christ in holy orders or in the liturgical arts.”

The St. Vladimir’s Seminary community prayerfully wishes Fr. Andrew and Matushka Galina many years!

*Information for this article and photo are courtesy of the Office of the Metropolitan.

I am a relatively new bishop, having served happily as a pastor for 33 years before being elevated to the episcopacy. I still have the honor of glimpsing into the intimate dynamic between people and God, as they approach me with pastoral issues—perhaps even more deeply, in my new role—and I regard this as a blessed benefit of being a “chief pastor.” It is awesome to witness people responding to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Other “perks” in my new ministry are the great respect and attention afforded me, but these are also the most difficult things to get used to! People open doors for me and carry my suitcase, and lead me from place to place. They do it all with such reverence that it is hard to complain, though it makes me feel a little too elevated; admittedly, though, perhaps it is necessary, since I have had nightmares about forgetting where I am supposed to be on any given Sunday!

All this is forgotten, however, when I encounter my flock, the sheep given to me. My first favorite moment with a parish community is when I have the opportunity to ordain a deacon or priest from among them. My second favorite moment occurs when I am recognized as a beloved father, and not just a hierarch. Such a moment happened recently while I was preaching in a parish: a 4-year old escaped his parents’ arms, ran up to me, and slapped me a high five. Now, that, to me, brothers and sisters, was heaven.

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Bishop John is the current Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Worcester and New England, The Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. He is also the editor of WORD Magazine. His Grace was married to Khouriya Joanne (+2008) for 30 years, and has three grown children. 

Watch Bishop John on “The Arabic Hour,” discussing the effects of the current war in Syria on Orthodox Christians.

This profile first appeared in our FY2013 Annual Report, The SVS Vine.