Register now for this four–day program of intense liturgical training to be held from Sunday, June 22–Wednesday, June 25, 2014 on the campus of St. Vladimir's Seminary. Held in conjunction with the Orthodox Church in America's Diaconal Vocations Program (DVP), this workshop is for deacons and lay diaconal candidates and will be supported by celebration of the Divine Liturgy and other services.
Intensive workshops in the Practicum aim to provide participants with the skills needed to serve effectively in the Orthodox Church as an attentive server, deacon, or priest. Attention will be given to the liturgical patterns of movement that inform the entire rite of the Church. Participants will also receive guidance on concelebrations and hierarchical celebrations so that they can effectively prepare for such occasions. In addition to practicums, focused presentations by faculty will augment the deacon's understanding of his place in the liturgical life of the Church and the deacon's broader vocation as a symbol to the faithful of the diakonia of Christ our Lord. Instruction in public speaking and vocal technique will also be offered.
On Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m, celebrated scholar and Eastern Catholic Churchman Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ will be hosted by the 2014 Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy (SOL) during their annual meeting, and will present the keynote address. Father Taft's lecture, titled "Goodbye to All That: Swansong of an Old Academician," will be free and open to the public and will be held in the Seminary's The Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of The John G. Rangos Family Building.
The lecture will review Fr. Taft's life, in liturgy and in academics. Father Taft, who is Professor Emeritus of Byzantine Liturgical History at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, founded SOL in 2005, and is its Honorary President. Dedicated to the scholarly study of Eastern Christian liturgy and related fields, SOL is respectful of all churches and religious traditions and has no confessional affiliation. Members of SOL are university professors and scholars from all around the world (mainly North America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and India).
"Over the past 50 years, Fr. Taft has been the leading scholar of the Eastern liturgical traditions," noted The Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Rentel, assistant professor of Canon Law and Byzantine Studies at St. Vladimir's. "His lecture no doubt will be an incredible opportunity to hear his reflections on his remarkable career."
On Wednesday, June 11, 2014, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Arvo Pärt Project at St. Vladimir's Seminary are collaborating on a panel discussion to be held in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Museum. The talk is the last in a series of events that have featured the Estonian Orthodox Christian composer, Arvo Pärt. Scheduled for 6 p.m., the discussion is part of the Metropolitan Museum's new Conversation Series, "Spark." This event, "Spirit in Sound and Space—A Conversation Inspired by Arvo Pärt," will feature Dr. Robert Zatorre, a neuroscientist with the Montreal Neurological Institute, Architect Steven Holl, and SVOTS Associate Professor of Systematic TheologyDr. Peter Bouteneff. Professor Bouteneff is also a senior project advisor for the Arvo Pärt Project.
A concert devoted to Maestro Pärt's music was presented in New York City at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 31. Traveling from Estonia for these events were the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, with their conductor Tõnu Kaljuste.
The Father Georges Florovsky Library at St. Vladimir's Seminary has a new dedicated Website (library.svots.edu), thanks to the efforts of Librarian/Archivist Matthew Garklavs.
"A dedicated library Website has been on our 'wish list' for many years now, but we never had the available time and talent to accomplish the task. The Seminary is very grateful to Matthew for all his efforts in developing the site," notes longtime Librarian Eleana Silk.
While serving the needs of the students and faculty of the Seminary, the Website will also act as a gateway for the academic community at large. Scholars from around the world have come to use the Library here, because they can find materials not available anywhere else. The new Website affords them more access to these resources and makes it easier to utilize the collection.
One feature Matthew highlights is the student theses page. The Library possesses over 860 student theses on a wide range of theological topics, and it is a fascinating exercise to read through the list to discover the topics which notable bishops and clergy have studied during their years at St. Vladimir's. Three significant archival collections are also newly available: The Father Alexander Schmemann Papers, The Father Georges Florovsky Papers, and the Skvir-Buketoff Music Collection.
More information about acquisitions from former faculty, alumni, clergy, and laypeople. "The current collection development plan is to accept any donated texts within the scope of our collection. Then what we already possess and don't need, we pass on to other Orthodox institutions," explains Matthew Garklavs.
An Interlibrary Loan Form for submitting loan or copy requests—available for current patrons
Finding aids for the first three archival collections
Matthew emphasizes that the Website is still evolving, and he encourages patrons to offer input and suggest academic resources for the digital archive. "Going forward there will be even more to develop," he explains, "such as weekly blog posts about rare books, activities taking place in the library, and announcement of new collections as we bring them online."
"Creating the library Website has been one of the most challenging projects I have undertaken at St. Vladimir's, but making it fully realized has been very rewarding," he explains.
The Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Atty, a distinguished alumnus of the Class of 1979 at St. Vladimir's Seminary, reposed in the Lord early Sunday morning, March 23, 2014. Father Alexander was most recently the Dean and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA, which posted a eulogy on its Website remembering him "as a dedicated churchman, a husband, a father, a friend, and a leader."
"Father Alexander was known for his primary concern of meeting the pastoral needs of his seminarians, above all else," noted The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, chancellor/CEO of St. Vladimir's Seminary. "We were honored to have him present at a retreat here on our campus in 2009, during which he focused on priestly and parish ministry, using the theme, 'Good and Faithful Servant.'"
Father Alexander held a B.S. in engineering from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. After earning his M.Div. at St. Vladimir's Seminary, he was ordained a priest on December 9, 1979, at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY, and was elevated to the rank of archpriest in 1988. He served as the rector of St. Michael Orthodox Church in Louisville, KY for several years, under the Self-Ruled Antiochian Christian Archdiocese of North America. He went on to earn a Doctor of Ministry degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2008, prior to assuming his role at St. Tikhon's Seminary, where he served from 2010 until his retirement due to health issues in 2013.
Memory Eternal! The entire community of faculty, staff and students at St. Vladimir's Theological Orthodox Seminary (SVOTS) mourns the loss of our Board of Trustees Vice President and Vice Chairman, His Eminence The Most Reverend Philip (Saliba), Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The Metropolitan, a member of the class of 1965, reposed in the Lord on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at the age of 82 after a brief illness. Campus clergy immediately scheduled a memorial service for Sayidna Philip in Three Hierarchs Chapel for March 20.
Reflected SVOTS Chancellor/CEO The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, "Sayidna Philip's long episcopacy leaves behind many achievements, but speaking as a convert priest who entered Orthodoxy through the Antiochian Archdiocese, I believe his simple phrase 'welcome home' to converts, is the greatest of his legacies."
St. Vladimir's Dean The Rev. Dr. John Behr remembered the Metropolitan's leadership in Orthodox education. "It is with great sadness that I heard of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip's falling asleep in the Lord. He was an inspirational leader who had a great love for St. Vladimir's Seminary ever since his student days here, and who, besides serving on our Board, inspired us and gave us wise guidance in our recent curriculum reforms. He insisted that all our students were thoroughly prepared in pastoral and practical affairs, as as in academic matters. He was also always very kind and engaging with me personally; I will never forget the warmth with which he spoke of his education in England and the passion for literature and learning generated there."
St. Vladimir's has enjoyed a warm, reciprocal relationship with the Antiochian Archdiocese under Metropolitan Philip's leadership, which began with his consecration to the episcopate in 1966. Currently, six members of the Archdiocese serve on the Seminary's Board of Trustees; 167 Antiochian alumni clergy, and over 300 alumni total, minister throughout the world; fifteen Antiochian seminarians attend St. Vladimir's; and all eight Antiochian bishops in North America either have graduated from St. Vladimir's or have taught and mentored seminarians.
The Metropolitan visited the Seminary's Yonkers campus many times over the course of his tenure as Board Vice President, most recently when in 2008 he delivered one of the keynote addresses at the conference Rome, Constantinople, and Canterbury: Mother Churches?, which was titled "Canon 28 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council." In May 1981, the Board of Trustees awarded him a Doctorate of Divinity honoris causa at Commencement, and in 2002 he returned to St. Vladimir's to dedicate The Metropolitan Philip Auditorium, located on the third floor of the John G. Rangos Family Foundation Building.
"I remember Metropolitan Philip fondly when he served in Cleveland, my home city," said Alex Machaskee, Executive Chair of the Seminary's Board of Trustees. "I have always considered him a friend and a pillar in the Orthodox Christian world. His support of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary has been very much appreciated."
At the beginning of the Lenten season, The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, SVOTS chancellor/CEO and the former dean of SVOTS' sister school St. Herman Theological Seminary, and The Rev. Dn. Evan Freeman (SVOTS '09), Yale University doctoral student in iconography, traveled to Kodiak, Alaska. The two were hosted by The Very Rev. Innocent Dresdow, dean of the Holy Resurrection Cathedral, Orthodox Church in America (OCA) and St. Herman Dean The Very Rev. John Dunlop. Father Chad and Dn. Evan presented lectures on priestly formation and iconography to seminarians, and joined local clergy for several Lenten services.
Thursday, March 6
After flying through the night from Newark to Seattle to Anchorage and finally to Kodiak, we caught the end of Matins in the St. Herman Seminary Chapel. The weather was good, and so Fr. Innocent Dresdow brought us to Spruce Island, the beloved pilgrimage site for St. Herman of Alaska. Despite choppy seas, we made it back to Kodiak in time for the celebration of the Great Canon of St. Andrew. We were also able to venerate the relics of St. Herman in Holy Resurrection Cathedral.
Friday, March 7
In the morning we attended the Presanctified Liturgy, and afterwards Fr. Chad gave a number of SVS Press books to The Right Rev. David, Bishop of Sitka and Alaska (OCA) for the St. Herman Seminary library. In the afternoon, Fr. Chad spoke to the seminarians about priestly formation, encouraging the seminarians to attend to their own spiritual well-being in order to avoid clergy burnout.
Saturday, March 8
In the morning we attended the Divine Liturgy. In the afternoon, I spoke to the seminarians about icons, taking my title from the words of the Kontakion for the Sunday of Orthodoxy: “Salvation in Word and Images.”
Sunday, March 9
On Sunday morning, Fr. Chad preached the homily and we concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Cathedral Dean Fr. Innocent, Seminary Dean Fr. John, and other seminary and local clergy. The liturgy concluded with a procession with icons. In the evening, we began the long journey home to Yonkers, NY.
Two concerts devoted to the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, an Orthodox Christian, will take place in New York City at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall (May 31), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (June 2). The concerts will feature performers closely associated with Mr. Pärt's music. Traveling from Estonia for these events are the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, with their conductor Tõnu Kaljuste.
During this tour the ensembles will perform repertoire specially selected by Mr. Pärt and the seminary to evoke the spirituality of Mr. Pärt's music. The all-Pärt program at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, 57th Street and Seventh Ave., New York, 8 p.m., Saturday, May 31, includes the works Fratres, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, Adam's Lament, Salve Regina, and Te Deum. The Met Museum Presents program features the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir performing Kanon Pokajanen in The Temple of Dendur. This latter performance will be live streamed beginning at 7 p.m., Monday, June 2, by Q2 Music at q2music.org.
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra have been recording Mr. Pärt's music for ECM for more than two decades, and the recent ECM recording Arvo Pärt: Adam's Lament won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. In the same year, the orchestra was awarded the Estonian Music Council Prize. Mr. Kaljuste, who is a long-time associate of Mr. Pärt and noted interpreter of his work, has conducted the choir for twenty years and the orchestra for seven seasons and now works with the ensemble on tours and recordings.
As part of the new SPARK conversation series, Met Museum Presents will also host a lecture titled "Spirit in Sound and Space: A Conversation Inspired by Arvo Pärt," with Robert Zatorre, a neuroscientist at the Montreal Neurological Institute, architect Steven Holl, and Dr. Peter Bouteneff, a musician and professor of theology at St. Vladimir's Seminary, in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium on Wednesday, June 11 at 6 p.m. The conversation, led by Julie Burstein, author and Peabody Award–winning creator of Public Radio's Studio 360, will explore the spiritual content of Mr. Pärt's music as well as how different spaces can impact how his music is perceived.
Pärt, whose work ranges from choral to orchestral to solo instrumental compositions, has for the past three years been the most performed of any living composer. Born in 1935 in Paide, Estonia, Mr. Pärt first began composing using a variety of neo-classical styles as part of the "Soviet Avant-garde" movement. He worked as director and composer in residence for Estonian Radio from 1958–1967, produced nearly 50 film scores, and wrote Estonia's very first 12-tone composition, Nekrolog, in 1960. But in the late 1960s, following the ban of his work Credo by Soviet officials, the search for his own voice drove Mr. Pärt into near-withdrawal for eight years during which he studied Gregorian chant. In this time he created a new compositional principle he called "tintinnabuli" (Latin for "little bells"), a method that keeps sound structure to its bare essentials. It is a musical style that first emerged in 1976, and has defined Mr. Part's music to this day.
The power and purity of Mr. Pärt's music was introduced to the Western world 30 years ago in 1984 when Manfred Eicher launched ECM's New Series with recording Tabula Rasa. ECM has since released more than 40 of Mr. Pärt's compositions on 14 recordings. Between 1989 and 2011 Mr. Pärt was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, most of which were for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. In 1996 he was awarded honorary membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Musical America's Composer of the Year in 2005. Mr. Pärt is also currently a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican. The International Arvo Pärt Centre, built close to Mr. Pärt's hometown, was founded in 2010 and is slated to include a research institute, a publishing house, and an archive of Mr. Pärt's works.
Developed by St. Vladimir's Seminary faculty members Dr. Nicholas Reeves and Dr. Peter Bouteneff, The Arvo Pärt Project was inaugurated in 2011 to explore the spiritual roots of Mr. Pärt's music. Collaborative efforts with Mr. Pärt being explored include these concerts and lectures, planned publications devoted to Mr. Pärt's personal spiritual narrative, and a long-term academic partnership between the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia and St. Vladimir's Seminary.
"Mr. Pärt's music is universally accessible, and revered for its 'spiritual' quality by people of all faiths and of none," said Project co-director Dr. Bouteneff. "But the composer has a particular spiritual home in the Orthodox Christian tradition. As an institution that researches and explicates that tradition, we may be of help in shedding new light on what gives his music its transcendent character."
Tickets to the Saturday, May 31, 8 p.m. performance at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, NYC, may be purchased at http://www.arvopartproject.com. Tickets to the Monday, June 2, 7 p.m. performance at Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art have sold out. Tickets to the Wednesday, June 11, 6 p.m. SPARK discussion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Spirit in Sound and Space: A Conversation Inspired by Arvo Pärt" with Robert Zatorre, Steven Holl, and Peter Bouteneff, are available by calling (212) 570–3949, or online.
"Outside of God, all facts are just interpretations. Without a noetic experience, our culture is the way it is." This observation formed the basis for Dr. Herman Tristram Engelhardt's recent lecture at St. Vladimir's, delivered on 23 February 2014 and sponsored by SVOTS' student-run St. Ambrose Society, the seminary's Pro-Life student interest group.
A professor of philosophy at Rice University and professor emeritus of medicine at Baylor, Dr. Engelhardt is
widely considered the "godfather" of Orthodox bioethics. His lecture, entitled "Preaching the Word of the Lord: Being an Orthodox Christian in a Post-Christian Public Square, or, G.W.F. Hegel, Richard Rorty, and the Politically Reasonable Reconsidered," attempted to trace the causes of the falling away of American culture from Christianity and discussed the implications for Orthodox Christians' public approach to ethical violations such as abortion.
Arguing that the origins of secular culture lie in an Enlightenment attempt to replace the One God with "one reason," Dr.
Engelhardt asserted that the failure of secular culture lies in the fact that "one reason" cannot be achieved outside of One God. "The assumption was that there would be one rationality," he said. When the assumption turned out to be false, the consequence is post-modernity and a reduction of moral and ethical matters to "lifestyle choices."
And what are Orthodox Christians to do? Dr Engelhardt contends that we have recourse only to the Great Commission of our Lord: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations ... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). In order to prompt people to make right moral and ethical choices, we first have to bring them to the Truth by and according to whom such decisions ought to be made. The criterion for morality must be God.
Therefore, according to Dr. Engelhardt, Christians should not be afraid to make their faith public, preaching not just by moral exhortations but especially by living their faith visibly, and by opposing the "secular exorcism of God-oriented language from the public square," even if at the cost of social acceptance. Says Dr. Engelhardt, "It will be very hard for us to remain Orthodox Christians if we are not willing to be very strange people."
The Trustees, Faculty, and Students of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary request the honor of your presence at the Commencement of the Class of 2014 on May 31. A 10:00 Prayer of Supplication in Three Hierarchs Chapel will be followed by Commencement Exercises at 10:30 a.m. in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium, John G. Rangos Family Foundation Building.
Archbishop Job (Getcha), an archimandrite elected to lead The Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe in November of 2013, will be the Commencement speaker. Archbishop Job grew up as a Ukrainian Canadian, and studied Theology at St. Andrew's College, Manitoba. Later, he studied at the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute, Paris, where he was awarded a doctorate, jointly with the Institut Catholique de Paris, in 2003. He has worked as a lecturer and professor of Church History, Liturgy and Canon Law at various academic institutions including St. Sergius, of which he was dean from 2005 to 2007; the Institut Catholique, the University of Fribourg and, since 2009, the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambesy, Switzerland.
In addition, the St. Vladimir's faculty and Board of Trusteeswill award a Doctor of Sacred Music honoris causa to Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. A concert devoted to his music is taking place later in the day, in New York City at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 31.
