Recent St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVOTS) graduate Dimitrios Nikiforos is now Hierodeacon Aetios! Hierodeacon Aetios was tonsured and ordained by the hand of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at St. George’s Cathedral, Istanbul, Turkey on Sunday of Orthodoxy weekend.

His All-Holiness tonsured Hierodeacon Aetios into the monastic life at Vespers on March 16, 2019, and ordained him subdeacon at Orthros the following morning. Hierodeacon Aetios was ordained to the holy diaconate by His-All Holiness during Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, March 17. Seminary Professor and Orthodox Church in America Chancellor Fr. Alexander Rentel flew to Istanbul to attend the tonsuring and ordination.

Trained as an attorney, Hierodeacon Aetios was initially drawn to SVOTS due to its strength in canon law and historical disciplines. He graduated from the Seminary summa cum laude with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree in 2018. He was also selected as the class valedictorian. Hailing from Greece, Hierodeacon called Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY home during his time at St. Vladimir’s.

The community of St. Vladimir’s Seminary wishes the newly ordained Hierodeacon Aetios many years!

Troost Avenue is the symbol of generations of racism and poverty in Kansas City, Missouri. It’s also the street you’ll find a place offering an Orthodox Christian approach to healing: Reconciliation Services, a faith-based nonprofit founded by St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church.

The work of the nonprofit—which is led by executive director Rev. Justin Mathews, an alumnus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary (M.Div., 07)—was recently featured by Duke Divinity’s Faith & Leadership magazine.

“We are intentional about allowing the history of this place to infuse our solutions to the problems that we see,” Mathews told Faith & Leadership. “We can’t heal trauma without acknowledging the source of the trauma.”

Fr. Justin is also one of two priests who serve at St. Mary of Egypt Church, housed in the same building on Troost Avenue as Reconciliation Services and Thelma’s Kitchen, which Fr. Justin described as Kansas City’s first "donate-what-you-can" café. Reconciliation Services’ outreach includes healthy community initiatives, social services, mental health services, and economic community building.

Read Faith & Leadership’s inspiring story about the work of Reconciliation Services here.

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. (I Corinthians 15:12-14)

But now, Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. (I Corinthians 15:20-22)

These words from the Apostle Paul beautifully underscore the centrality of the resurrection in the Orthodox Christian faith. We Orthodox Christians affirm our belief and give personal testimony, like St. Paul, each time we profess our faith with the words of the Nicene Creed. We rejoice on Pascha as we sing: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” We believe firmly that the first-fruits of the Old Testament given in offering to God are a promise of later fruits. (Exodus 23:16) In the same way, the Resurrection of Jesus is a first-fruit offering to God, a promise for all believers that we will be later fruit. (I Corinthians 15:23)

Lazarus Saturday is a unique liturgical affirmation of this centrality. Lazarus Saturday is the only time, outside of Sunday, that we Orthodox celebrate what can be called a resurrectional service. We shout on this day that Christ Jesus has raised Lazarus, confirming “the universal resurrection of mankind,” even before His own passion, death, and resurrection. From the Troparion of the Feast we sing:

Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God!
Like the children with branches of victory, we cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of Death: Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.

The Evil One has given his best shot, but the message is now clear: as Lazarus is called forth from his tomb, the Devil’s best was not good enough to stand against the Love of God. On this day, Hades surely trembles as it anticipates the risen Lord descending into its very depths.

On Lazarus Saturday, the Great Fast has ended and the Great and Holy Week has not yet begun. We are given a brief respite, a time for renewal, before the solemnity and intensity of the holy days ahead and the future joy of hearing “Christ is risen!” It has been said that the Fathers placed this feast at this point in the liturgical calendar because it “… serves as a necessary ‘rest’ and ‘transition’ between the rigors of the Fast and the awesome and saving events of Holy Week. For in truth, yesterday evening’s Vespers not only ended the Holy Forty Days, but also ushered us into a joyous resurrectional prelude that will eventually lead to our Savior’s Passion.”[i]

The feast day has a clear foundation in the life of the Early Church. The Spanish nun Egeria, who kept an extensive diary noting liturgical practices as she traveled in the Levant and Jerusalem between 381–384 AD, records that Lazarus Saturday was a joyful celebration in the life of the Church. It was the last day of instruction for catechumens who were preparing for Christian initiation rites.[ii]

In addition to Lazarus, there are two other occasions in the New Testament where a person is restored to life by the Lord. (Often, the word “resuscitation” is used in commentaries to make the distinction between those who will “die again” and resurrection which ends death, “trampling down death by death.”)St. Mark records the raising of Jarius’ daughter (Mark 5:21-24, 35-43), and in St. Luke’s Gospel we read of the raising of the son of the Widow of Nain. (Luke 7:11-17) In the first of these stories, we see Jesus touch the little girl and we hear Him speak in Aramaic: “Talitha, cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”In the raising of the widow’s son, the boy himself is not touched by Christ; only his coffin is. From the story of Jarius’ daughter to the story of the widow’s son, we see a progression from Jesus physically touching a child to only needing to touch a coffin in order to raise the dead. The calling of Lazarus from his tomb requires no touch at all. The voice of the Lord is sufficient and all of creation hears Him say: “Lazarus, come forth!” and the command: “Loose him, and let him go.” Lazarus comes forth in his shroud, unlike the Lord who leaves the shroud behind, as Lazarus will someday need his burial clothes again.

The concept of resurrection is not limited to the pages of the New Testament. Our Christian belief in the resurrection stems from Judaism itself. For Jews, Hades, a place of shades, is a kind of “holding pen” where contact with the living and God Himself is suspended. (Psalm 6:5) Some Old Testament figures, such as Enoch and Elijah, are simply “taken up” to heaven, avoiding Hades and death altogether. Traditionally, many Christian commentators have interpreted these events from this side of the Resurrection as prophecies of what is to come, looking forward to the general resurrection when as we read in John’s Gospel: “… for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”(John 5:28-29)

Orthodox Christian believers see Hades bound as Christ takes the hand of Adam in the icon of the Anastasis, (“Resurrection”). This powerful, personal encounter with the Resurrected Lord is what gives the Church its firm foundation—a foundation upon which the Canon of New Testament Scripture and the Nicene Creed rests. Indeed, it is this encounter with the raised Person of Christ that fuels the ascetic life lived by each Christian as he or she prepares in this life for eternal life beyond the grave.

We know that the Pharisees and Sadducees differed greatly on the Jewish teaching regarding the resurrection. We read in the Book of Acts the following:

Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be about five thousand.(Acts 4:1-4)

The great preacher, St. John Chrysostom, reflected on this passage:

They were annoyed, not only because the apostles were teaching, but because they declared that not only was Jesus Christ himself risen from the dead but that through him we too rise again… So powerful was his resurrection that he is the cause of resurrection for others as well.[iii]

Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers testify to the importance of resurrection, celebrated on this Feast of St. Lazarus. On Lazarus Saturday, all believers encounter the power of the resurrection as revealed in the Book of Acts. As those who keep this feast today, we rejoice as we hear the voice of Jesus calling forth Lazarus, four days dead! Adults work hard to rationalize the reality of the resurrection. These mental contortions often lead us away from the simple faith that children possess—a faith that Jesus tells us is the model of fruit-bearing discipleship. On Lazarus Saturday, our eyes see the joy of children as they behold the resurrection and rejoice in something they cannot explain in worldly terms, but acknowledge, by faith, to be true.

Many customs have developed through the centuries as this story of these friends of Jesus, Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, has spread from Bethany. Most of these customs involve the participation of children. The procession following the Divine Liturgy on Lazarus Saturday is a foreshadowing of the Paschal procession. In the Middle Eastern tradition, special Lenten candies are made and are tied to a branch. As the children finish the outdoor procession and enter the church by passing under the branch, they pull off these treats and eat them. It has been said that after coming forth from the tomb and during his time as the bishop in Citium in Cypress, St. Lazarus only ate sweet tasting foods as a sign of the joy of having had a foretaste of the sweetness of eternal life in Christ. In this way, the children imitate St. Lazarus and eat sweets in anticipation of the “sweet taste” of eternal life.

In Romania, especially in the Wallachia, young girls will choose a girl from among them (usually the youngest) to be dressed in bridal clothing in anticipation of the wedding feast enjoyed by all believers at the time of the general resurrection. They all then trek through their villages, dancing and singing of St. Lazarus. As with many feasts in Romania, special breads are baked and given to the children and the needy. Flowers are also planted on this day, in preparation for Holy Pascha.

Serbian Orthodox Christians have the Lazarus Saturday custom of what is called “Vrbica,” or “Little Willows.” Children are encouraged to go into the woods to find pussy willows to bring back the church for the procession, as if they are going to meet Christ who is coming to the tomb of Lazarus, while singing the troparion of the feast. Children are also often dressed in their very best clothes, as if it were already Pascha. Bells are brought by the children to church on Lazarus Saturday, making a “holy noise.”

There are many other cultural customs that have evolved in different traditional Orthodox countries as a means for giving our children a preview of Pascha and the joy of the resurrection—the hope of all Christians.

On Palm Sunday, the children of the Hebrews will run to greet the Messiah, spreading branches and palms along the way as He enters Jerusalem on a colt. When we see our children rejoicing and having fun on Lazarus Saturday and on Palm Sunday—perhaps waving palms and shouting “Hosanna!”—remember the words of Jesus to His disciples when they tried to keep the children from coming to Him. He said: “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) We Orthodox baptize our children and do not forbid them to be partakers in the full life of the Church, in obedience to what our Lord teaches us. How many of us have had our hearts melted when seeing the excitement on the faces of our children as they carry candles that they have made on Lazarus Saturday in procession? How many of us have found our own faith renewed as we heard their excited voices telling us of the coming celebration of Holy Pascha? Our children model perfect faith for those of us who have made our faith too complicated to enjoy the simple truth that: CHRIST IS RISEN!

Whatever ethnic background or local custom you observe on Lazarus Saturday, take special note of the children. When you give the children their place and their treats on this day, also hear Jesus when He speaks to us these words which are the key to those of us who seek life in His Kingdom:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” (Matthew 18:1-5)

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Archpriest Chad Hatfield, President of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, also serves as the seminary’s Professor of Missiology, one of the newest fields of study at SVOTS. Father Chad’s ordained ministry spans 35 years, during which he has served as a school chaplain spanning the elementary school to the university. In the past decade, he has held positions of leadership and administration at two of the OCA’s three seminaries. His many years in parish and school settings have provided him with a unique perspective on how to successfully include children in parish life and the importance of imbuing them with a foundational experience of the joy of Christian living. Father Chad and his wife, Matushka Thekla, have two grown sons, Jason and Sean, and three grandchildren.

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[i] Kidd, David and Mother Gabriella (Ursache), Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion (Rives Junction, MI: HDM Press, 1999), 109-110.

[ii] Wilkinson John, Egeria’s Travels (Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, LTD, 1999), 58.

[iii] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament V, Acts, ed. Francis Martin, General Editor, Thomas C. Oden (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 47.

Archpriest John Erickson, professor emeritus of Church History and former dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary (2002-2007), was presented with the prestigious Johannes Quasten Award by The Catholic University of America's School of Theology and Religious Studies. Fr. John was recognized for excellence in scholarship and leadership in Religious Studies.

Following the presentation of the award on January 30, 2019, Fr John offered a lecture entitled:  "Baptism in Eastern Christian Tradition: Ecclesial Context, Faith Content."

Established in 1985 as the only academic award given by The Catholic University of America (CUA)’s School of Theology and Religious Studies, the Quasten Medal is named after the Rev. Johannes Quasten, a professor of religious studies who taught at CUA for more than thirty years until his retirement in 1979. Quasten published more than 100 books and articles and is mostly known for his four-volume “Patrology,” a standard reference in the field of ancient church history and historical theology.

St. Vladimir’s Seminary wishes Fr. John and Matushka Helen Erickson many years!

(A section of this article has been reprinted from The Catholic University of America website)

In the latest edition of Caring for the Human Spirit Magazine, SVOTS Alumna and Board Certified Chaplain Clio Pavlantos writes about her experience as one of the first outpatient chaplains in the long history of New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

Pavlantos’s reflection, “The Role of Self-Care in Establishing the First Outpatient Chaplaincy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,” appears in the Fall/Winter 2018 publication of Caring for the Human Spirit, a magazine dedicated to advancing the integration of spiritual care in health care.

“When I arrived, the outpatient Breast Service had no tradition of chaplaincy. Most of the staff…had never worked beside a chaplain, and many had no idea what chaplains did,” Pavlantos wrote. “I was starting from scratch, facing confusion and outright skepticism from some staff.”

She goes on to relate how her educational presentations and exercises with initially reluctant nurses led to better ministry to the nurses themselves, not just to patients.

“Staff began to see how self-care in turn improves patient care and began to understand that they need to care for themselves as they provide care for patients.”

• Read the full article in Caring for the Human Spirit Magazine (pg. 12)

Clio Pavlantos is currently staff chaplain at the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast and Imaging Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.  She received her M.Div. from St. Vladimir's Seminary in 2012 and holds a chaplain endorsement from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

• Related: Oncology Chaplain Clio Pavlantos speaks with The Wounded Healer (AFR)

As a proud Texan, it is more than a little ironic that my daughter has a New York birth certificate. Having spent all of our married life in Texas, my wife and I would have gladly welcomed our daughter before we moved to New York to attend seminary. However, as God would have it and for reasons unknown to us, we had to wait for this particular blessing until we left home. A friend of mine once remarked that the most important things in life are often those things we have little or no control over. That is a hard lesson to learn especially when what we want seems to be good and selfless. Yet, God wanted us to wait, so wait we did. And now, having moved to New York to attend seminary, we have been blessed with a determined and cheerful daughter.

Having a daughter has prompted some reflection regarding my vocation. “Vocation” is a word often associated with seminary. If I remember correctly, in an admissions essay, I wrote that I wanted to attend seminary to “explore the priestly vocation.” I am not sure if I am any more certain of what that phrase means now than I did when I wrote it! Rather, I chose to attend seminary because I’d already made up my mind that if I was extended the grace of ordination, I would not refuse it.

This is the only way it works. A person chooses to be baptized into Christ without really knowing what that will mean in his life, day to day. We accept the responsibility of following Christ (no easy task!) and believe God will provide the grace to ensure it happens. I had accepted the vocation of “father” when I married my wife. All we needed was God to grace our love and marriage with one of the profound blessings of marital union, that of bringing new life into the world. I had no idea how to be a dad seven years ago when I married my wife, but now that I have a daughter the learning curve has been steep! Slowly, at times painfully, I am becoming conformed to this vocation. By God’s grace, hopefully I’ll have it down by the time my daughter is an adult.

My darling baby girl has taught me the “already-not-yet” nature of following Christ. I am already her father, but at times not yet ready to be her father. I fail miserably and hope she is able to forget at least a portion of my shortcomings. Similarly, by virtue of the grace of my baptism, I am a Christian. Yet, I fail miserably and am not worthy to bear the name that is above all names. I am already, and not yet, a true Christian. In this way, God’s blessings meet us where we are and then propel us forward, to a place closer and more intensely connected with His activity in this world—activities such as raising children to know, love, and depend upon Him.

A priest on campus always calls me “dad.” This is a daily reminder that God not only chooses which blessing to give but the timing of the blessing as well. The moniker “dad” reminds me that God has a plan for me, and He will give me the grace that matches the gift and the challenges that come with it. I accept this vocation and the abiding grace that comes with it even though I am still working out the details. Now, if I could just do something about that birth certificate!

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Joshua Trant is in his second year of the Masters of Divinity program at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. Joshua and his wife, Heather, welcomed their daughter, Tabitha, last August. Being a native Texan, Joshua sometimes wonders how New Yorkers have survived so long without decent BBQ brisket. This reflection first appeared on the website of St. Vladimir’s Seminary.

During the final few months of 2018, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church ordained two priests and three deacons in North America—all graduates of St. Vladimir’s Seminary.

On October 23, Subdeacon Kuriakose (Alex) Abraham (M.Div., ’16) was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by the hand of His Grace Metropolitan Youhanon Mar Dioscorus at St. George Orthodox Church of Parampuzha, Kerala, India. Deacon Kuriakose has been active in youth ministry for the Northeast American Diocese, and was recently appointed as spiritual advisor for the annual Winter Summit conference for Malankara Orthodox college students.

Just a few days later, on October 27, His Grace Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos ordained Subdeacon Thomas (Shawn) Thomas (M.Div., ’16; Th.M. ‘17) to the Holy Diaconate. The ordination took place at Diocesan Metropolitan’s Residence (Aramana), Muttontown, NY. Deacon Thomas has assisted Metropolitan Nicholovos and served as a speaker at different retreats and conferences in both the Northeast American Diocese and the Diocese of South-West America.

On the same weekend in December, the Malankara Church ordained another deacon and two priests: Priests Givargis (Abu) Koshy George (M.Div. ‘08) and George Ninan Manampuram (M.Div., ’17) and Deacon Geevarghese (Bobby) Varghese (M.Div., ’17). Priest George and Deacon Geevarghese were both ordained on December 21, at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church, Kuttemperoor, Mannar, India at the Metropolitan’s residence, respectively. Priest Givargis was ordained at St. George Orthodox Church of Westchester, Port Chester, NY on December 23. Metropolitan Nicholovos (Northeast Diocese) ordained Priest Givargis and Deacon Geevarghese; His Grace Zacharias Mar Aprem, Assistant Metropolitan of the Diocese of South-West America, ordained Priest George. The three newly-ordained have all been active in youth ministry, and they are currently awaiting their parish assignments.

SVOTS wishes the new priests and deacons many years!

Alumnus Priest Chris Moore (M.Div., ’18) has been spending time in South Korea since he graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary, continuing to carry the zeal for evangelism that brought him to SVOTS.

Fr. Chris, Matushka Jen, and their two young sons, Andrew and Gideon, are in the process of finalizing approvals and plans with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) and the Korean Orthodox Church to move to Ulsan, South Korea.

“We will begin with a two-year term in South Korea, and our hope is to serve many terms and live in the country for many years, as the Lord wills,” said Fr. Chris, who is originally from Indianapolis, IN.

• Follow the Moore family’s journey to South Korea on Facebook

He traveled to Korea in September and October in preparation for that ministry. Among other places, he visited St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Seoul, getting acquainted there with serving in the Orthodox Metropolis of Korea. At the cathedral, Fr. Chris began to learn and use some of the litanies and exclamations in the Korean language.

“Many faithful people work at the cathedral throughout the week: translators, administrative assistants, an iconographer, groundskeepers, clergy, etc., and it was really wonderful to get to know this group and to learn from them. I also had the opportunity to have some good conversation with Metropolitan Ambrosios [of Korea] and Fr. Antonios [Lim] about serving in the Metropolis and ministry in our anticipated city of Ulsan.”

Fr. Chris also visited Ulsan on his most recent trip, where he anticipates serving at St. Dionysios Orthodox parish, which lost their priest, Fr. Paul Kwon, to cancer last year and has been without a full-time priest since.

“Many Koreans and Korean families are part of the parish, along with a sizable expat community of Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Romanians, and Copts.  It was clear in my short time at the parish that there is a need for a full-time clergy presence there among Koreans, expats, and seekers.  We want to be ready and available for those who are members of the church, while also being attentive to how Christ is calling both us as missionaries and the parish itself to be his light, his witnesses, and his servants in the city and its surrounding region.”

Fr. Chris and Matushka Jen have been involved in mission work since before they came to SVOTS.  In 2011, they applied to be full-time missionaries with OCMC and moved to Mongolia in October, 2014. Fr. Chris then enrolled at SVOTS in 2015 and moved back to the States to further his preparation to serve as a missionary.

Fr. Chris said his family has been thankful for God’s continued blessings as they transition to ministry abroad after Seminary.

“We value everyone’s regular prayers for our preparation, transition, and efforts, as we've seen even in this past month how God is faithful and truly works through the prayers of his people.”

• Learn how to support Fr. Chris and Matushka Jen’s missionary ministry

I am surely not the only male convert to Orthodoxy who was initially surprised to discover how central the balance of the masculine and the feminine is to our faith and spiritual life. To some that may seem counter-intuitive in a church with a male priesthood with lots of facial hair, while to others it may be self-evident; nonetheless, it is true and important. For example, think of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Joachim and Anna, Zacharias and Elizabeth, or Constantine and Helen. We are always asking the female Theotokos to use her boldness as a mother to intercede for us with her male Son. We sing almost every Sunday about those myrrh-bearing women in matins and regularly chant and/or read about women saints of all kinds. We proclaim that Mary Magdalene was the preacher to the male apostles of the Lord’s resurrection and that she, together with various other women and men, are their equals. Since we are male and female in God’s image, this balance fits nicely with the deepest sensibilities of Orthodox Christianity.

Perhaps the strong women of my own family have helped me embrace enthusiastically the prominent role of women in the Orthodox spiritual life. In my hometown of Beaumont, TX, my three great aunts—whom we called by their nicknames, Hennie, Nig, and Gertie—lived just a few minutes from the house where I grew up. My grandmother had died when I was an infant, and these ladies more than fulfilled that role for my brother and me. One was a widow and two never married, but they lived together for decades and had very full lives. For example, Hennie was the first female school principal in Beaumont, an accomplished and enthusiastic fisherman (or fisherwoman ), and visited Alaska when she was around eighty. When my father first met these ladies in the late 1950’s, he said he had never met a group of such independent women. They were all devout and straight-laced Methodists, which is why my first educational experience was in a Methodist preschool. Since I did graduate work at Duke and now teach at Methodist-related McMurry, it is interesting that my academic experiences began and still continue in Methodist circles.

My mother and her late sister Fay have a lot in common with those great aunts. Both, like Hennie, were teachers, and they showed the same abundance of self-confidence that she had. I remember Fay once mentioning that someone at their Baptist church had asked where she and my mom got that quality. Her response was that it was from their father, who never gave them the impression that they should have been sons instead of daughters, and also instilled in them the belief that they could do whatever they set their minds to. I hope that I have sent the same message to my own girls.

My mother, now a widow and the only surviving member of her family of origin, lives independently in the house built by my great aunts. An active member of the Baptist congregation in which I grew up, she still spends lots of time and energy taking care of friends who suffer more than she does from the infirmities associated with a long life. A few years ago, Mom attended classes on Orthodoxy at St. Michael parish in Beaumont in order to learn more about her youngest son’s faith. Once when I was at St Vladimir’s Seminary in New York, our Bishop Basil was on the phone with another priest at the same meeting. When it was my turn to say hello to him, His Grace began, “The parish council in Beaumont loves your mother!” What a joyful confluence of important people in my life. After she slept unharmed through a burglary in her house a while back, Mom said, “Well, I suppose that God has something left for me to do.” I do not doubt that for a minute.

Given the self-confident women in my upbringing, it is probably not surprising that my wife is a physician, that our oldest daughter had the courage to spend last summer interning at an AIDS foundation in Ghana, and that our youngest had the confidence to go by herself to three summer sessions of “nerd camp,” a residential program for gifted and talented students a few hours away. Growing up Orthodox in Abilene rarely leads to social advantages, and neither does attending nerd camp. The virtuous lives our girls lead in college and high school require courage and self-determination.

Like my mother and aunts, Paige and the girls are not timid shrinking violets by a long shot, and neither were the women saints who had the boldness to go to the tomb of Christ in the wee hours of Sunday morning to anoint His body, and thus put themselves in the place to become the first witnesses of His resurrection. Neither were the countless female martyrs who died after enduring the worst tortures their enemies could produce for refusing to abandon their Lord. Above all, the courage of the Theotokos to say “yes” to the message of the Archangel Gabriel stands as the epitome of humanity’s response to God’s calling, and it was given by a teenage girl.

Perhaps part of why venerating and asking for the prayers of female saints comes so easily to me is that my life has been blessed by so many righteous women who pray for me and for whom I pray, regardless of whether they are now among the living or the departed. They are not canonized by the Church (at least not yet!), but the witness of so many holy women has benefited my own journey in ways beyond words. I could say a lot about my father, priests, bishops, and many other male friends who have also played crucial roles in this regard, but that is for another time. For now, I will return to where I started. The masculine and feminine have legitimate and balanced roles in the spiritual path of Orthodoxy. Since we are created male and female in God’s image, and since the incarnate Son of God has a fully human mother, that really should not be surprising. It is simply part of the good news of our salvation, whether we are male or female.

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Fr. Philip LeMasters is an Eastern Orthodox priest, a dean at McMurry University, a commentator on Ancient Faith Radio, and the author of The Forgotten Faith: Ancient Insights for Contemporary Believers from Eastern Christianity (Cascade Books, 2013), The Goodness of God’s Creation (Regina Orthodox Press, 2008), Toward a Eucharistic Vision of Church, Family, Marriage, and Sex (Light & Life, 2004), three other books on Christian ethics, and many published essays and reviews. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. This blog post originally appeared on the blog Eastern Christian Insights and is republished here with the permission of the author.

SVOTS Alumnus Dn. George Katrib has been ordained to the Holy Priesthood. The ordination took place at St. George Orthodox Christian Church, Houston, TX on Sunday, November 11, 2018. Priest George was ordained by the hand of His Grace BASIL, bishop of Wichita and Mid-America (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church of North America), another SVOTS alumnus (’73).

Fr. George graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree in 2014. Before seminary, he attended Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, IL, which he graduated from with a bachelor’s degree. Fr. George has most recently been serving as youth director at St. George Church in Houston, his home parish, and will now serve as assistant pastor at St. George.

SVOTS wishes Fr. George and his wife, Khouria Miray, many years!