Three Hierarchs Chapel,575 Scarsdale Road,10707,Yonkers,US
Holy Week commences on Holy Monday, April 25, 2016, and concludes with the celebration of Pascha on May 1, 2016.
"Behold! The bridegroom comes in the middle of the night and blessed is the servant whom he shall find watching, and unworthy the servant whom he shall find heedless. Take care then, O my soul, and be not weighed down by sleep that you will not be given over unto death and be excluded from the Kingdom. But rise up and call out: 'Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou O God, by the Theotokos have mercy on us!'"
Hdn. Fr. Herman (Majkrzak), Lecturer in Liturgical Music The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor/CEO Our Lady of Kazan Church,2 Willow Shore Avenue,11579,Sea Cliff,NY,US
Hdn. Fr. Herman (Majkrzak), Lecturer in Liturgical Music Fr. Joseph Gall, SVOTS 2015 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church,1304 North St.,01201,Pittsfield,MA,US
An alumnus of the Class of 1973 (M.Div.), Bishop Alexander serves on the Seminary faculty as Sessional Professor of Patristics. His Grace has served in academic settings for several decades. At Oxford University, he studied under His Eminence the Right Reverend Kallistos (Ware), metropolitan of Diokleia, and wrote his dissertation on Dionysius the Areopagite. He also spent a year at the Simonos Petras Monastery on Mt. Athos. In 1989, Bishop Alexander assumed a teaching position with the Theology Department at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, where he supported a dozen Orthodox Christian students in theological doctoral work.
Bishop Alexander will continue to serve as Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese.
St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press (SVS Press) is pleased to announce an updated and expanded edition of The Orthodox Faith series, popularly known as “The Rainbow series” and originally authored by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko in 1971. Father Thomas, who reposed in the Lord one year ago today, March 18, 2015, was Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. The new edition, which is published as a memorial to Father Thomas, was made possible in part through a grant from the Ganister Orthodox Foundation Fund at the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania.
“It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the series ‘The Orthodox Faith,’ ” writes His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon in his Preface to the new edition. “This deceptively labeled ‘elementary handbook’ on the Orthodox Church has been used by thousands, from casual enquirers to catechumens to lifelong church members, as both a catechesis and also as a basic reference tool on Orthodox Christianity.”
Originally consisting of four volumes, Doctrine, Worship, Bible & Church History, and Spirituality, The Orthodox Faith series was written to provide comprehensive information on the Orthodox Christian Church and practical instruction in how to live out the faith. The updated series includes cover redesign, new illustrations by seminary alumnus the Very Reverend Andrew Tregubov (M.Div. ’79), updated and expanded content to the church history volume, and the placement of scriptural content from Volume Three on church history to Volume One on church doctrine, in order to accommodate the expanded historical content.
“The reformatted Volume One now includes Father Thomas’s original content on church doctrine and Scripture, and treats them as a unified body of knowledge,” said Michael Soroka, associate editor at SVS Press. “In the original series, the scriptural content appeared in Volume Three and was combined with content on church history,” he explained. “But, because we significantly expanded our church history content, and because Father Thomas himself always insisted upon the unity of doctrine and Scripture, we reorganized the series in this manner.”
Dr. David C. Ford, professor of Church History at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, authored the new material in Volume Three, now simply titled, Church History. Designing it as an introductory textbook on a high school reading level, suitable for a parish class, he devotes each chapter to one century of church history and thus provides concise, essential bases for understanding the broad contours of Orthodox Christian history.
“Father Thomas was a gifted theologian who had a way with words,” remembers the Very Reverend Dr. John Behr, dean of St. Vladimir’s. “The number of people he inspired and formed, influenced and touched, both as priest and teacher, at St. Vladimir’s and throughout the world, is incalculable. I can think of no greater way to honor his legacy than to share his words with a new generation.”
SVS Press Marketing Director Dn. Gregory Hatrak further remarked, “We are humbled to be part of helping Father Thomas’s words live on; and to reach a wider audience, we’ve made all four volumes available for download in digital format.”
“Additionally, the OCA’s Department of Christian Education has developed material for discussion and reflection on The Orthodox Series, which is accessible on the OCA’s website,” he noted. “These study aids can be used by book clubs, catechesis classes, or individual readers alike, and we hope that the by using the series in this manner, many people and parishes will reignite their Orthodox Christian faith, a hope shared by Father Thomas when he wrote the original series.”
Father Thomas began teaching Doctrine and Pastoral Theology at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 1968, eventually becoming a full Professor of Dogmatic Theology in 1991–1992. He rose to the position of seminary Dean in 1992, a post that he held until his retirement one decade later. Father Thomas was a beloved pastor, preeminent preacher, outstanding teacher, sought after speaker, and prolific writer. The Orthodox Faith was his best-known publication. It may purchased as a complete set for $55.00 or purchased individually. Orders can be placed by contacting the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Bookstore online or by calling 1-800-204-BOOK.
On the Saturday afternoon before the start of Great Lent, the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium was filled to capacity for a book launch hosted by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press (SVS Press). The event celebrated the release of the first title in the groundbreaking "Coptic Studies Series," The Life of Repentance and Purity.
Authored by His Holiness Coptic Pope Shenouda III, the book was first translated from Arabic in 1989 by the Series' Editor, His Grace Bishop Dr. Anba Suriel (Guirgis), SVOTS alumnus and Bishop of the Coptic Diocese of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions, Australia. This new translation by Bishop Suriel includes editions and patristic references, and is the first joint publication between SVS Press and St. Athanasius Press. St. Athanasius is the fledgling publishing house of St. Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological College in Donvale, Australia, where His Grace serves as Dean.
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark; he shepherded the Coptic Orthodox Church for over forty years before reposing in 2012. In the book, His Holiness draws on Scripture, the Church Fathers, his own experience of desert monasticism, and his tenure as the leader of millions of Coptic Christians.
At the launch event, Bishop Suriel, the Very Reverend Dr. John Behr, dean of St. Vladimir’s, and the Very Reverend Athanasius K. Farag of St. Antonious & St. Mina Church in East Rutherford, New Jersey, offered presentations to a full house. With Bishop Suriel on hand to autograph books for guests, The Life of Repentance and Purity sold briskly. "Copies of this book have sold at an unprecedented rate," said Deacon Gregory Hatrak, director of Marketing and Operations for SVS Press and Bookstore, "and we will be going to a second printing by the summer. The demand has reinforced our belief that a great need exists for English Coptic literature.
"God willing, we will soon have a presence for SVS Press in Donvale, Australia on the campus of St. Athanasius, as part of our continuing relationship with the College," continued Dn. Gregory. "They will be our distributor in Australia and New Zealand, widening the circle of influence for SVS Press even further."
"The ties between St. Vladimir's Seminary and St. Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological College are growing ever stronger," noted Fr. John Behr. "Both Bishop Suriel and I, as the Deans of two theological institutions, enjoy a close friendship; we understand the importance of rapprochement between the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox traditions in the 21st century." While on campus, Bishop Suriel also met with His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America, and served as the featured speaker for the campus Lenten retreat held annually during the first two days of Great Lent.
The "Coptic Studies Series" was conceived with a two-fold purpose: to increase the accessibility of the many treasures of Coptic Orthodox Christianity to a wider English-speaking audience; and to cross-pollinate the spiritual minds of Coptic Orthodox Christians and their Eastern Orthodox brethren with the knowledge of a common faith.
