Holy Week begins on Holy Monday, April 22, 2019, and concludes with the celebration of Pascha on April 28, 2019.
For the schedule of daily Holy Week services, visit the Three Hierarchs Chapel Calendar.
St. Vladimir's Seminary offices will be closed on Holy Thursday, April 25; Holy Friday, April 26; and Bright Monday, April 29. Additionally, there will be no evening hours at the library during Holy Week and Bright Week (April 29-May 3).
Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury is the story of a band from Georgia, a band with three members who went on to study at St. Vladimir's Seminary and are now Orthodox priests. On the verge of success in the 1990s, the band suffered a devastating accident—an accident that led Priests Christopher Foley (’06), James Bozeman (’12), and David Lee Bozeman (’12) to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Meet the band members at the theatrical premiere of the documentary in New York City, May 15-19. Director Matt Hinton and members of Luxury will take part in a Q&A session each evening following the screening of Parallel Love.
The screening on Friday, May 17, will feature special guest Seminary Professor Dr. Peter Bouteneff, director of St. Vladimir’s Sacred Arts Initiative.
For tickets and times, visit Roxy Cinema’s website, and view their May calendar.
For the first time, Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s classic For the Life of the World is now available in audio book format.
Saint Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press partnered with Mars Hill Audio to produce the audio book edition. Mars Hill’s Ken Myers is the reader. The new, Classics Series edition of For the Life of the World was used for the recording.
For over half a century For the Life of the World has challenged, illumined, and inspired readers from many backgrounds. For some it is an introduction to the Orthodox Church, while for others it is a call to plunge more deeply into the life of the Kingdom, both manifested and anticipated here and now in the liturgy of the Church. The updated edition of Schmemann’s classic text includes a new foreword by Dr. Edith M. Humphrey, along with new explanatory notes and an index.
The book is also available in paperback and hardcover editions at SVSPress.com.
A documentary set to release later this year will explore God and nature, faith and climate change, and the experience of Orthodox communities around the world.
The Face of God: The Orthodox Church on Climate Change, produced by The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration, and written and directed by Fr. Kaleeg Hainsworth, will be released worldwide September 1, 2019. The documentary will showcase Orthodox clergy—including St. Vladimir’s Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield and Alumnus Fr. Michael Oleksa—scientists, politicians, lay leaders, theologians, and communities around the world in an attempt to gather the witness of the whole Church on a defining issue of our time.
“This is a unique project in modern Orthodox history, and our times need just such a bold venture,” the Fellowship said in its press release announcing the project. “We are making this film with love, prayer, personal sacrifice, and with integrity.”
The group also plans to launch an educational campaign to coincide with the release of the film.
To learn more about the film and support the project, click here.
A clip from The Face of God’s interview with Seminary Alumnus Fr. Michael Oleksa
Giving thanks to God, the trustees, faculty, and students of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) invite the public to the Commencement of the Class of 2019, Saturday, May 18. Ceremonies will begin at 2:00 p.m., with a “Prayer of Thanksgiving” in Three Hierarchs Chapel, followed at 2:30 p.m. by Commencement Exercises in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building.
The commencement speaker this year is Archpriest Alexander Rentel, SEOD, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
About the 2019 Commencement Speaker
The Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Rentel has served for many years as ecclesiarch, assistant professor in canon law and Byzantine studies, and the John and Paraskeva Skvir lecturer in practical theology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.
A faithful priest of the OCA for seventeen years, Fr. Alexander possesses a wealth of experience and knowledge as a professor, liturgist, pastor, and confessor. His expertise in canon law is not only academic, but practical. On many occasions, he has provided canonical guidance and opinions to the Holy Synod on a variety of subjects, and he has been called upon to consult in this area by Orthodox churches around the world. Fr. Alexander is widely known and respected by the many seminarians who have studied under him.
Father Alexander, an alumnus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVOTS), received his B.A. in English from The Ohio State University in 1990. He received his M.Div. from SVOTS in 1995, and finished his doctoral dissertation under the direction of Fr. Robert Taft, SJ, at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome in 2004.
Prior to Fr. Alexander becoming an instructor at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2002, he was a Junior Fellow in Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. in 2000-2001. He was ordained to the priesthood in July 2001. In October 2018, the Holy Synod of Bishops confirmed Fr. Alexander as Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America.
With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of Seminary Alumnus and noted Church musician Walter Shymansky, who fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday, March 31, 2019.
Born on July 29, 1928, the son of Archpriest Walter (later Bishop Peter) and Matushka Emily Shymansky, he enlisted in the United States Air Force after graduating from Olyphant, PA High School in 1946. He served as a control tower operator in the Pacific, primarily in Guam. After his honorable discharge, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Stroudsburg, PA State Teachers College. He also earned a Master’s degree in School Administration and Guidance from Pennsylvania State University. A gifted instructor, he taught biology in New Jersey schools, including a 26-year tenure at Teaneck High School.
He and his beloved wife Mary, who fell asleep in the Lord May 31, 2017, were married in August 1966.
Walter attended Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, where he pursued evening classes in music and conducting, after which he served various parishes in northern New Jersey and southern New York. He also was a member of the Capella Russian Male Chorus for 29 years and served as its conductor for a decade. Upon retirement, he and his wife relocated to Cohoes, NY, where he was asked by local clergy to organize the Saint Andrew’s Brotherhood Choir. In addition to serving Saint Nicholas Church, Cohoes, NY, he also directed the choir at Saint Nicholas Church, Pittsfield, MA and taught at Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, PA. He maintained an extensive repertoire of liturgical music, much of which is available on the Podoben website. In September 2014, he was awarded the Orthodox Church in America’s Order of Saint Romanos.
Walter is survived by his younger brother, Russell; nieces Arlene DeWitt and Donna Moyer; and nephews William and Gary Rusen.
Visitation will begin at Saint Nicholas Church, 67 Saratoga Street, Cohoes, NY at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 5. At 7 p.m., His Eminence, Archbishop Michael will celebrate a Requiem. Funeral services will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 6, followed by interment in Saint Nicholas Cemetery.
May Walter’s memory be eternal!
This article has been adapted from OCA.org
PHOTO: OCA.org
Explore matter, materials, and materiality in Byzantine art and culture; delve into topics including the Eucharist, relics, icons, church decoration, jewelry, and more as you experience Byzantine Materiality, a conference of the Sacred Arts Initiative, May 8 through 11 at St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVOTS).
The conference will continue a conversation that began in 2018, when scholars gathered on SVOTS’ campus to explore the theme of Byzantine materiality. Discussion centered around Byzantine and ancient theories of matter and form; the use and significance of materials such as wood, stone, gold, and glass in ecclesiastical and other contexts; the roles of matter and materials in the Eucharist, icons, relics, and reliquaries; the rite for consecrating a church; sensory experiences of liturgy; and the neuroscience of viewing icons.
Now, the public is invited to take part in the findings. Visit the Byzantine Materiality website to learn more about the conference, speakers, and daily schedule. Click below to register.
Byzantine Materiality has been made possible through the generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation.
Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev’s Orthodox Christianity, Vol. V is now available through St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press, marking the completion of the monumental Orthodox Christianity series.
The five-volume series is a detailed and systematic exposition of the history, canonical structure, doctrine, social and moral teaching, liturgical services, and spiritual life of the Orthodox Church. The purpose of this series is to present Orthodox Christianity as an integrated theological and liturgical system, in which all elements are interconnected.
This fifth and final volume is dedicated to the mysteries (or sacraments) of the Orthodox Church—baptism, chrismation, the Eucharist, confession, ordination, unction, and marriage—in addition to the services of monastic tonsure, Christian burial, the blessing of water, and the consecration of a church building, which were also regarded as mysteries by some of the fathers of the Church. The book also explains the remaining non-sacramental church services or rites that fall outside the daily, weekly, and annual liturgical cycle, such as molebens and akathists, and various blessings for people, objects, and occasions.
The series author, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, is the chairman of the Department of External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. He has authored numerous works on theology and church history, and is an internationally recognized composer of liturgical music. Several of his works are available through SVS Press, including his other landmark series, Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, and Christ the Conqueror of Hell.
On the first two days of Great Lent, the community of St. Vladimir’s Seminary entered into its annual Lenten Retreat.
On Clean Monday and Tuesday, classes were cancelled and students were encouraged to practice silence. The community entered the chapel together several times each day for a fuller cycle of prayers and for a series of talks for meditation.
This year, the meditations were delivered by Mother Miriam, CSM, the Mother Superior of the Anglican Community of St. Mary the Virgin, near Albany, NY. Mother Miriam was the last sister in her community to be trained as a novice by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko (+2015) forty years ago.
Her four talks were centered on the theme “Experiencing the Transfiguration: Glory and Trinitarian Action with Christ.”
“I want to share with you as much of the awe and partial—always partial—understanding that God has granted me, and pray that He will give you that moment on the mountain that will bring profound understanding to your own relationship with God that Jesus had at His Transfiguration,” said Mother Miriam, as she began her first meditation.
Listen to each of Mother Miriam’s four meditations in their entirety below.
With faith in Christ and in the hope of resurrection, we share the news of the repose of our alumnus, Leonard W. Soroka, who fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday, March 10 after a difficult battle with cancer.
Born in 1950, the son of Archpriest Vladimir and Matushka Olga (Konik) Soroka, he graduated from Iona College, New Rochelle, NY and Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Yonkers, NY before embarking on his vocation as a choir director that spanned over 45 years. He served as choir director at Saint John the Baptist Church, Passaic, NJ; Holy Resurrection Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, PA; Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN; and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago, IL. Most recently he served as choir director at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church, West Saint Paul, MN. He also was widely known for editing and publishing several collections of liturgical music, including two volumes featuring festal and Holy Week selections.
He is survived by his son Aaron Soroka, daughter Kyra (Shane) Dunn, and their mother, Kathleen Kirkendall. He is further survived by his sister Donya (Paul) Yewisiak; brothers Michael Soroka and Archpriest Thomas (Matushka Joni) Soroka; and three grandsons, five nieces and two great nephews.
Visitation will begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, at the Kozlak-Radulovich Chapel, 1918 University Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN, where a Parastas will be celebrated at 6 p.m. Visitation will resume at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 14, at Saint George Church, 1250 Oakdale Avenue, West Saint Paul, MN, after which the Funeral Service will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Interment will follow at Saint Mary’s Cathedral Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN.
May Leonard’s memory be eternal!
Sections of this article have been reprinted from OCA.org.
