Former longtime St. Vladimir's Seminary's Old Testament professor, The Very Rev. Paul Schneirla, pastor emeritus at St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Brooklyn, New York, reposed in the Lord on Saturday, September 20, 2014, at age 98.

Father Paul came to St. Vladimir’s as a student in the early 1940s, when the campus was still located in New York City. He was ordained a priest in 1943 and served Antiochian Orthodox parishes in Iron Mountain, MI and Allentown, PA before moving to New York to serve at St. Mary’s in Brooklyn, from 1951 until his retirement in August 2002.

Former St. Vladimir’s Dean and Peter N. Gramowich Professor of Church History, Emeritus, The Very Rev. Dr. John Erickson, remembers him as “urbane, witty, and well-read.”

“Father Paul's familiarity with all aspects of twentieth-century Orthodoxy was legendary,” Fr. John recalled, “but conversations with him were not limited to ecclesiastical matters.They could include anything from the gold fields of Alaska (where he was born) to Pharaonic Egypt.

“Father Paul's pastoral ministry also deserves special mention,” he continued. “It extended beyond the usual church contexts. He seemed to sense when a parishioner or friend was in need of a cheery phone call.”  

Librarian Eleana Silk remembered, “Fr. Paul's favorite phrase, when asked how he was, was always ‘never better, never better.’

“He often came to use the library after he retired from teaching at St. Vladimir’s,” added Ms. Silk. “We were in the old building then, and the light was not very good in the (library) stacks, so he brought his own flashlight!”

As a priest within the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America for 71 years, Fr. Paul served as the first chairman of its Department of Christian Education, as dean of the Atlantic Deanery, and as the first editor of The WORD magazine. A tireless advocate for Orthodox unity in America, Fr. Paul worked under the direction of hierarchs Metropolitan Antony Bashir (+1966) and Metropolitan Philip Saliba (+2014), as the Archdiocese’s Ecumenical Officer.  

A charter member of the Orthodox-Anglican, Orthodox-Roman Catholic, and Orthodox-Polish Catholic ecumenical dialogues, Fr. Paul had been a member of the General Board of the National Council of Churches (NCCC) since the 1940s and was the last surviving member of the original founders of The Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). In 2007 SCOBA, the predecessor to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, recognized Fr. Paul in a December 10 resolution that cited his “lengthy and extraordinary” support for inter-Orthodox development and communication.

As a young man, Fr. Paul had converted to Orthodox Christianity from a Protestant background. Years after his priestly ordination, his interest in the Western Rite was rekindled by a visit to a parish of that Rite within the Romanian Orthodox jurisdiction in Paris, France. Subsequently, he wrote and lectured extensively on the topic and encouraged Metropolitan Antony Bashir to allow its practice and development within suitable congregations. He also served as the Antiochian Archdiocese’s Western Rite Vicar General for many years.

Father Paul was married for 70 years to Khouria Shirley, who reposed in 2012. The couple were parents of three children:  Dorothy Downie Orrill and Peter Christian Schneirla, and the late William Sutfin Schneirla, Jr.

The website of St. Mary’s Church notes that “In keeping with Fr. Paul’s express wishes, his children, Dorothy Orrill and Peter C. Schneirla, have arranged for private services on Wednesday, September 24. Burial will occur at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY, where his beloved wife, Shirley, and their son William are interred. His Grace John, Auxiliary Bishop of Worcester and New England and the Episcopal Overseer of the Western Rite, will preside at his services, along with Fr. Michael Ellias, Fr. Thomas Zain, and Fr. Robert Stephanopoulos.”

Read an interview with Fr. Paul about the Western Rite on the Occidentalis blog.

(Special thanks to SVOTS Librarian/Archivist Matthew Garklavs for the historic photos.)

Alumna Dr. Tamara Grdzelidze was recently appointed as the new Georgian Ambassador to the Vatican. The following report is posted with the permission of the World Council of Churches.

Dr. Tamara Grdzelidze, an Orthodox theologian and former staff member of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has been received as the nation of Georgia's new ambassador to the Holy See, presenting her credentials to Pope Francis at the Vatican this September.

From January 2001 through December 2013, Grdzelidze served in Geneva, Switzerland, as a programme executive for the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, which coordinates dialogue among Christian leaders on matters related to theology, doctrine and the nature of the church.

Among the gifts she presented to Pope Francis was a copy of the book A Cloud of Witnesses: Opportunities for Ecumenical Commemoration, a WCC publication which she co-edited in 2009 with Brother Guido Dotti of the Roman Catholic Church.

Grdzelidze is a graduate of Tbilisi University in Georgia, St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in the United States, and Oxford University in the United Kingdom. She describes her experience of inter-church and inter-cultural dialogue while at the WCC as "a school of international relations" in itself.

Her ambassadorial appointment was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.

Grdzelidze explains, "The main task of the embassy is to represent the state in its fullness, especially regarding Georgia's unique Christian heritage and culture. Georgia's most ambitious task is to become a full member of the European family to which it belongs culturally and in many ways historically."

Fifty years after the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Grdzelidze continues to harbour a belief in "real possibilities for more visible unity among Christians," she says, despite evidence all around that ours has become a "less enthusiastic and hopeful world."

Pondering today's challenges to peace among nations and visible unity within the Christian church, Grdzelidze concludes that "what we know for sure is that the gospel message of Jesus Christ, teaching us to love God and our neighbour, is still with us, and we are to interpret the message to the best of our ability."

St. Vladimir’s Seminary has hired two new faculty members to teach Biblical studies—Dr. George L. Parsenios, Professor of New Testament, and Archpriest Dr. Eugen J. Pentiuc, Professor of Scripture and Semitic Languages. Highly regarded in their fields of study, both are published authors and sought-after lecturers. 

“I am thrilled that Professors Parsenios and Pentiuc have joined our faculty,” said Archpriest Dr. John Behr, Dean of the Seminary.  “They are amongst the most eminent scriptural scholars working today, have published widely in their fields, with the most respected presses, and bring a great amount of talent and passion to the teaching of this fundamental discipline, which will benefit our students greatly."
 
Dr. Parsenios is an associate professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary.  He earned his M.A. (Classics) from Duke University; his M.Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA; and his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University.  His teaching and research explore the interaction of early Christianity with classical literature, as well as the interpretation of the New Testament in the early church.  He is the author of two books and several articles, and regularly teaches courses on the Gospel of John, First Corinthians, and Paul the Pastor.
 
Father Eugen is a tenured Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and holds Ph.D.s from Harvard University and Bucharest University.  He is currently engaged in research on the ways the Eastern Orthodox tradition received and interpreted the Old Testament.  In 2013, he was invited to work at École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem on an international project, "The Bible in Its Traditions,” for which his major contribution was producing a new translation and authoring notes on the Book of Hosea.  He is also one of the editors-in-chief of The Orthodox Study Bible: The Old Testament, published by Thomas Nelson in 2008.  His most recent book, The Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox Tradition, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2014.

• View Dr. Parsenios’s homily on St. Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews on YouTube.
• View Fr. Eugen’s interview on “The Bible in the Orthodox Church: The New Testament” on YouTube.

The 2014 Father John Meyendorff Lecture featured The Rt. Rev. Alexander (Golitzin), alumnus of the Class of 1973. His Beatitude The Most Blessed Tikhon, primate of the OCA, attended the Sunday evening talk, after presiding over the feast day’s Vigil and Divine Liturgy.

“I’m delighted to be here,” Bishop Alexander said in his opening remarks, after St. Vladimir's Dean, The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, introduced him. “The 'other Fr. John' whom we honor tonight, was such a seminal figure for me. I cherish his memory and continue to profit from his works.”

In his presentation, Bishop Alexander described the development of the Orthodox Christian hesychast tradition and highlighted its affinities with Jewish Merkavah Mysticism. The Hebrew word "merkavah” meaning “chariot,” was the name assigned to a type of prayerful meditation practiced by early Jewish mystics as they contemplated the prophet Ezekiel's vision of heavenly beings.

According to His Grace, common threads between the Christian and Jewish meditation practices include: invocation of the Divine name as means of entry into the heavenly realm; emphasis on self denial and purification; and similar temple traditions. These two “concurrent and parallel streams,” said His Grace, might provide a basis for productive inter-faith dialogue.

His Grace had 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 is the translator and editor of On the Mystical Life, a three-volume series published by SVS Press. The lecture will be posted on Ancient Faith Radio's podcast, Voices from St. Vladimir's Seminary, as soon as it is available.

• Join us for Coffee with Sister Vassa!
• October 2, 2014, Thursday evening, 8:15 p.m.
• Metropolitan Philip Auditorium, The John G. Rangos Family Building

Sister Vassa (Larin), ryassofor nun, author of many scholarly articles and a monograph on Byzantine liturgy and theology, popular video podcaster for Ancient Faith Radio and Facebook, and outspoken public intellectual on current issues of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), will be our guest at St. Vladimir's Seminary, where she will hold one of her “Coffee with Sister Vassa” conversations. Sister's talk will focus on the Church calendar, and she will share information about the process of creating her YouTube videos. A time of fellowship and discussion will follow her brief presentation.

Don't miss this opportunity to meet with Sister—"Coffee-with-Sister-Vassa" mugs will be available!

Download a flyer (JPG)

Download a flyer (PDF)

Download "Mind and Spirit Moments," the flyer listing all Fall 2014 SVOTS events 

The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, dean and professor of Patristics of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, journeyed to the Monastero di Bose in the province of Biella, Italy, to participate in the XXII International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality. Billed as scholarly, cultural, and ecclesiastical exchange, this year’s conference focused on the timely topic, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.”

“In my talk ‘Peace among the Churches: Irenaeus of Lyon,’” explains Fr. John, "I returned to the writings of a saint with whom I have become well acquainted since my earliest years of academic life. My paper examined how in Irenaeus we see, for the first time, an explicit and self-conscious exposition of Orthodoxy, yet in a manner open to the polyphony of God's symphony of salvation. Irenaeus brought peace to the conflicts between fledgling Christian communities by urging that differences in practice should rather be seen as evidence of unity in faith."

In addition to participating in a full daily schedule of lectures, panel discussions, and prayer, the St. Vladimir’s dean also spent many valuable hours in discussion with scholarly and ecclesial colleagues from Moscow, Thessaloniki, Kiev, Beirut, Oxford, and the United States. Two hierarchs from the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) also attended: The Most Rev. Melchisedek, archbishop of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, and The Right Rev. Alexander, bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese.

The monastery at Bose is a traditional community founded in the mid-1960's, and is composed of about eighty men and women from all major Christian traditions. The Orthodox Spirituality conferences have been hosted at Bose since the early 1990's, and have featured a variety of themes from missions to Holy Scripture.

• Order Fr. John’s newest SVS Press book, The Cross Stands While the World Turns.

• View the full Conference program

• Read the Conference press release

St. Vladimir’s Seminary Librarian Eleana Silk is delighted with Mr. David Jonas Bardin's recent donation to the Florovsky Library: a late 19th century 16” x 11½” volume, featuring 15 historic photographs of the Holy Land with original captions in English, Russian, and Greek. The cover is bound in olive wood and features a carved image depicting the Aedicule (small shrine or chapel) inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (View Dn. Ryan Tellalian’s photo gallery of the book’s pages and cover.)

“It's one of the most unique donations we’ve ever received because it combines the history of the Holy Land with the hand-colored kerosene lantern slide art technique of the 1800s,” notes Eleana. “David’s mother was presented with this album many years ago. While the original author is unknown, it seems intended for Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, with each picture faced on the opposing page by pressed local wildflowers. Both the highly detailed colorized photos and the pressed flowers are beautifully intact.”

The path to this recent acquisition was unusual as well. The book’s owner David Bardin of Washington D.C., and his wife Livia are good friends and neighbors of Nina Shafran. Nina is the daughter of Archpriest Paul Shafran (SVOTS 1945) and Matushka Mary, who were honored by the seminary in December of 2012 for their 65 years of ministry.  In a lovely gesture, David donated the book in memory of his mother, Ruth, and in honor of Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary.

Nina explains that “when David asked me for ideas about suitable permanent homes for this book, naturally I suggested the SVOTS library.  When Eleana was in Washington D.C., I showed her the photos I had taken of the book, and she was definitely interested, since the library had nothing else like it. It’s quite fascinating to see images depicting the Holy Land as it looked in the latter 1800s–the dirt roads, the garb of the people, their hut-like living quarters.”

Art dealer Jennifer Breger, who specializes in Hebraica and Judaica maps, books, and prints, noted in her appraisal that the book contained “high quality photos” and is a “luxury volume—bigger than most of that period.” Some of the images included are of the Holy Sepulchre, the Jaffa Gate, David’s Tower, Bethany, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jericho, Jordan River, and the Monastery at Mar Saba. (Read about lantern slides at the Library of Congress Website.)

The book will be right at home at the Florovsky Library, where “we have so many unusual and historic pieces that I wouldn’t know where to start to describe them all,” notes Eleana.  She adds, “yet we never forget our ministry focus; we continue to donate our overflow to other institutions like St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, and Holy Trinity and St. Herman Orthodox Seminaries.”

As of 2013, those interested in donating books to St. Vladimir’s Library may purchase a volume through the library’s Amazon Wish List. “Many of the books on that list are ones that have to do with Christian history or exegesis of Scripture—useful resources for our students, faculty, and visiting researchers,” says Eleana.

“We always appreciate donations of books and collections of any size!”

Read about other recent library donations

• Fr. John Leonard collection

• Skvir Family Music Collection

• Liberty Fund grant

For the second year in a row, St. Herman’s Society for Orthodox Ecology —a student-run association of St. Vladimir’s Seminary—ushered in the new church year with events focused upon the relationship between humanity and the rest of God’s creation.

Visiting hierarch His Eminence The Most Rev. Melchisedek, archbishop of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Orthodox Church in America (OCA), blessed a bald cypress tree that was recently planted on the front lawn. 

The tree, which enjoys boggy ground, received not only a sprinkling of holy water by the archbishop, but also a good deal of rainwater from a cloudburst that soaked the ground, causing the undeterred hierarch to have his mantiya lifted above the wet grass during the blessing.

Afterwards, seminarians and guests celebrated the Akathist “Glory to God for All Things” in Three Hierarchs Chapel, with His Eminence presiding.

The gathering then moved to The Metropolitan Philip Auditorium to hear Dr. Elizabeth Theokritoff lecture on: “Cosmic Liturgy and the Problems of Human ‘Priesthood.’” She described how the label “priest”—often used metaphorically to describe humanity’s role in creation—might engender an anthropocentric view that denies the rest of creation participation in the “cosmic liturgy.” Drawing upon the writings of church fathers, especially St. Maximus the Confessor, Dr. Theokritoff presented the entire universe as a worshiping body, with creation’s “laity” complementing humanity’s “priest.” 

• Hear Dr. Theokritoff’s lecture on Ancient Faith Radio.
• View the photo gallery.

"We're fully geared up to reach out to the wider Church this fall, with an array of lectures and events that will serve a broad spectrum of people," said Archpriest Dr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor/CEO of St. Vladimir's. "Our campus will be buzzing with our annual 'Ed Day' homecoming, a heart-warming presentation on Project Mexico by one of our alumni, and fascinating scholarly lectures by two well-known hierarchs.

"But most significantly, we're excited to host a public forum sponsored by Orthodox Christian Laity [OCL] on 'The History and Future of the Assembly of Bishops, and the Proposed Great and Holy Council in 2016,' and we invite fellow Orthodox Christians to join us in what we think will prove to be a lively, invigorating, and thoughtful gathering, on Friday, October 24, 2014 at 7:00 p.m."

Featured speaker for the OCL Open Forum will be Alexei Krindatch, consultant to the
Regional Planning Committee of the Assembly of Bishops. He will give insights into the work of that committee, as it develops a blueprint for a unified Orthodox Church in the USA.

Other notable speakers slated for the forum include His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel and His Grace, Bishop Michael, Orthodox Church in America; both will update participants on the work of the Assembly. Other speakers will be announced.

Anthony Kasmer, a member of the Board of Trustees both at OCL and also at Saint Vladimir's Seminary, who suggested the seminary campus as a venue, also will be present. A public reception will follow the Open Forum, which will be held in The Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of The John G. Rangos Family Building.

The Open Forum is part of the OCL's Annual Meeting, which will also take place on the seminary campus October 23–25. Please check the OCL web site at ocl.org for further details.

Among the other fall 2014 events at Saint Vladimir's Seminary are the following:

Sunday, September 14, 7:00 pm, Father John Meyendorff Memorial Lecture. His Grace, Bishop Alexander [Golitzin] of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese, Orthodox Church in America, will present a public lecture, "Force Your Mind to Descend into the Heart: Some Resemblances between Byzantine Hesychasm and Merkavah Mysticism."

Saturday, October 4, 9:30 am–5:30 pm, Orthodox Education Day 2014, Open House. Divine Liturgy begins the day. "Do Books Still Matter? A Celebration of Orthodox Christian Publications" is the theme this year, and several Orthodox Christian publishers will be on hand with books galore for sale. Archpriest Dr. John Behr will deliver the keynote, "From Scroll to Book to Net: the Web of Knowledge." Enjoy workshops, children's activities, and ethnic food.

Monday, October 27, 6:30 pm, Annual Missions Night, Public Lecture. Find out first hand from Priest Nicholas Andruchow, and his wife, Presbytera Merilyn, heart-warming stories of the families and children they serve at Project Mexico and Saint Innocent Orphanage as they build homes and generate hope in Tijuana, Mexico.

See Upcoming Events at www.svots.edu for more details or to download individual event fliers.

Just prior to the lecture, His Eminence will receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree, bestowed by the seminary's Board of Trustees and faculty. Metropolitan Hilarion is an appointed member of the seminary board and also author of the Orthodox Christianity Series published by SVS Press.

The academic convocation and lecture will be held in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building on the seminary campus, and a public reception will follow. Because of the special convocation and lecture, the seminary's normal Saturday evening liturgical schedule has been changed: Great Vespers will be celebrated at 5 p.m.