Hi. I am Fr. Paul Rivers. I serve as a Chaplain in the US Army. I have been on active duty with the Army since graduating from St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2008. After going through Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina during the summer of 2008, I was assigned to the 5-15th Cavalry Squadron at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Thirty two months later I received orders to the 709th Military Police Battalion in Grafenwoehr, Germany. My family stayed behind in the States and I am set to deploy sometime next year to sunny Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In the meantime I ensure religious support operations for my Battalion and the Brigade by effectively communicating what systems are in place to meet a pluralistic environment’s needs. I also perform my priestly functions for those who are Orthodox or who are Ortho-curious through the leading of the Divine Liturgy, baptisms, hearing confessions, etc.

From a young age I have been concerned with the things of the Spirit. My journey to Orthodoxy was long and sometimes tedious as I wrestled with questions of the faith. I give God the glory for where I am today. His mercy has brought me home. My time as a Chaplain has taught me that people are generally the same no matter their race, creed, or upbringing. People desire respect, dignity, and a safe place to be heard and understood. I strive through the grace of God to bring that to them so that hopefully the light of Christ will shine in their hearts.

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Fr. Paul Rivers (SVOTS ’08) is a US Army Chaplain currently stationed in Germany. He and his wife Kendra have two boys.

This article was originally published September 30, 2011

I have no time to pray. I have two young children, a demanding academic schedule, a wife who has a full time job, an internship, friendships to maintain, dinner to cook, clothes to wash, groceries to get, choir practice, exercise…and today I have to take the car for an oil change. I can say the Lord’s Prayer real quick and I’m always at church Sunday morning, but I just don’t have time to really pray, read Scripture, or be silent in the presence of God.

I often imagine that if I was a monk, then I’d really have time to pray. I wouldn’t have kids running around needing their noses wiped while I’m trying to commune with the Creator of all. I could leave behind the cares of the world, and sit quietly enjoying the divine presence.

But now, in the midst of life, I just don’t have time to pray. Or do I?

On of the earliest experts on the spiritual life, John Cassian, wrote about the zealous monks in Egypt in a book called The Institutes. The life of these monks was one of extreme austerity. They fasted often and slept little. In the night, the monks would come together to pray Psalms and read Scripture. Then each would retire to his own cell to continue his own prayer.

Cassian makes it clear that the monk would work while he prayed. As the monk braided rope or wove baskets he kept his inner meditation. He tried to keep his mind attentive on the heart, rather than daydreaming, worrying, fantasizing, remembering, or giving in to various mental temptations. Continual labor was not a hindrance to “prayer time.” Rather toil was an “anchor” which kept the heart at peace.

This stillness of the heart is the freedom from sin that we all aim for. It is the first step in real communion with Jesus Christ. If Cassian is correct, it is within our reach.

It may be more difficult to maintain inner stillness with all worries of family life or career life. We may benefit from set-apart and scheduled time for prayer and meditation on Scripture. Yet, we may follow the example of the Egyptian monks and work towards inner stillness while we labor.

I do have enough time to pray.

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The son of a Church of the Brethren pastor, Fr. David Chandler Poling (SVOTS ’12) grew up in rural Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Emilita, married in 2000, and moved to New York City in 2002. A few years later they joined the OCA at the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection. They have three children: Elias, Mariam, and John. Fr. David is the acting rector of St. Innocent Mission in Oneonta, New York.

This article was originally published on September 19, 2011.

"The knowledge of the cross is concealed in the suffering of the cross." -St. Isaac the Syrian

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." -St. Paul

We bow down before the cross of our Lord at this joyous feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross because of what Christ accomplished on this wood. The victory has been won. We have been healed from the sinful affliction of the soul. Death has been swallowed up in this victory. What was ultimately killed on the Cross was not so much Christ as it was death itself, for Life could not be killed. Death was the result of the sinful condition: "For the wages of sin is death," St. Paul reminds us. What is so joyous about this feast is that we remember and enter into the salvation that Christ has offered unto us. This is why we have all manner of names for the Cross that we sing at this feast:

Glory of the faithful, confirmation of sufferers, protection of the righteous, salvation of the saints, wounder and driver away of demons, invincible banner of godliness, gate of paradise, strength and protection of the faithful, beauty and might of the Church, invincible weapon of peace, sign of true joy, power of righteous men, majesty of priests, rod of strength, weapon of peace, physician of the sick, resurrection of the dead, hope of Christians, guide of those gone astray, haven of the storm-tossed, victory in warfare, firm foundation of the Earth, life-giving tree, support of the faithful, glory of angels, undefiled wood, marvelous wonder…

As we can see, we focus on many aspects of the Cross during this feast.

One particular dimension of the Cross is that it is the "confirmation of sufferers." We glorify the Cross of our Lord for it is through the suffering of Christ's voluntary passion that our own suffering in this life makes sense. We refer all of our life to God in praise and thanksgiving. This means the good as well as the bad. This is what St. Paul means when he says, "God forbid that I glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14). It is through our own taking up the Cross that we become co-sufferers with Christ.

We say in the hymns, "through the Cross joy has come into all the world." Do we believe this? This is the joy of the Cross. What the evil one means for harm transforms into the very place where death and sin are destroyed. This is why "the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." Then the Cross makes no sense. Why, if God wanted to manifest His power, why would He not deliver Christ from having to endure the scourging and torturous death on the Cross? The power of God was made more manifest through the death of Christ on that Tree of Life - for through it, death has been killed. Mankind has been set free from sin and death. The hymns say, "the passions of the passionless God has destroyed the passions of the condemned," and "today the death that came to mankind through the eating of the tree, is made of no effect through the Cross."

It is through the transformation of suffering that the power of God is made manifest. Then one is totally free from the results of the sickness of sin: "...but for us who are being saved, it (the Cross) is the power of God." This is what St. Isaac means when he says that the "knowledge of the Cross is concealed in the suffering of the Cross." Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad for this life-giving wood of the Cross, upon which Christ was killed for us men and for our salvation in order to be resurrected and bring life to the fallen!

Father Christopher Foley (SVOTS '06) is the rector and founding priest of Holy Cross Orthodox Mission, Greensboro, North Carolina. Established in 2006 from a small group of faithful in the Greensboro area, Holy Cross has grown to serve over 100 faithful of diverse backgrounds. 

This article was originally published on September 13, 2011.

(No classes, all students on campus)

(MDiv / MA / ThM; no classes, all students on campus)

(No classes, all students on campus)

*Registration has ended for this event. 
For questions, please email musicinstitute@svots.edu

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced musician, enhance your craft and immerse yourself in hymns from the Slavic, Byzantine, Coptic, and Georgian chant traditions this June, at the 2021 St. Vladimir’s Seminary Summer Music Institute. The online event, themed “Unity in the Church through Song,” will take place June 2-5, 2021 and will be hosted by the Seminary’s Institute of Sacred Arts (ISA).

Join an incredible lineup of musical instructors including Anthony J. Maglione, Vladimir Morosan, John Michael Boyer, Tynan Davis, and Benedict and Talia Sheehan—to name but a few. Conference participants will also enjoy exclusive presentations by colleagues pioneering in Orthodox sacred music including keynote lectures, panel discussions, and special pop-up presentations. Lectures and panel discussions will also allow time for Q&A.

“Recent times have left many of us wounded by isolation, division, and fear. Now more than ever we need to understand each other and care for each other,” said ISA Director Dr. Peter Bouteneff. “What better way to express that understanding and care than to immerse ourselves in each other’s different traditions of church singing?”

The Summer Music Institute aims to celebrate and explore the diversity of musical cultures in Orthodoxy and improve our technique as choir singers, directors, and composers. The Institute will provide the unique experience of learning hymns from four chant traditions—Slavic, Byzantine, Coptic, and Georgian—first hand. Led by a team of experts and technicians, you will be given the tools to analyze, understand, and faithfully JOIN IN the songs of our brothers and sisters across the world.

“The Summer Music Institute celebrates the unique capability of music to create unity out of diversity—harmony out of cacophony—by using songs, singers, and teachers from outside our respective traditions to help us become better artists in our own crafts,” said Talia Sheehan. Sheehan, a vocalist, music educator, and conductor, is teaming up with the ISA to put on the event with co-organizers Bouteneff and Dr. Harrison Russin, the Seminary’s director of music. 

Experienced participants will enjoy masterclasses with detailed coaching and feedback in their choice of three disciplines from gifted pedagogues. Beginners will also enjoy a series of masterclass presentations designed for those just starting out in church music. Built like a “boot camp” for new choir directors and singers, the program will offer a quick but thorough introduction to all the necessary skills—musical, liturgical, and interpersonal—they need to succeed as a new church musician.

The Summer Music Institute will kick off Wednesday evening, June 2, with a keynote address by Dr. David Drillock, St. Vladimir’s professor of liturgical music, emeritus. 

Click here to learn more, view bios of instructors and keynote speakers, and see the event schedule.