Fellow students honored two senior seminarians this past Sunday with a small reception that recognized their recent great accomplishments. Seniors Logan Johnson and Sarah Johnson (no family relation!), who will graduate this spring with Master of Divinity degrees, have been accepted into highly competitive and prestigious full-time CPE (i.e., Clinical Pastoral Education) programs, starting in August 2012. The programs will prepare them to be certified hospital and institutional chaplains.
"The CPE residency program I am joining is at Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast in Concord, North Carolina—part of the medical system in the Charlotte area," noted Sarah. "It is in a community-oriented hospital that really impressed me as a positive atmosphere in which pastoral care is recognized and respected by the whole staff. This residency will help me prepare for board certification as a chaplain. I am really excited about this opportunity and look forward to starting the program in August."
And Logan, commenting on his upcoming residency at Cleveland Clinic (ranked fourth in the nation by US News and World Report), explained, "The CPE residency at Cleveland Clinic is within the Center for Ethics, Humanities and Spiritual Care, and residents minister to over 1,400 patients, their families, and the hospital staff. Patients come across the world for treatment, and I am excited to be part of a team that cares for such a culturally and religiously diverse population.
At the reception, students congratulated Sarah and Logan, offering a hearty "Axios" and "Axia" in recognition of their hard work, and offering encouragement for their upcoming challenges.
Priest David Mezynski, currently Associate Dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir's, became "Father-Doctor David," when he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Fordham University this past week. Father David defended his thesis titled "The Effects of the Origenist Controversy on the Pastoral Theology of Barsanuphius and John" before a panel of his readers and advisers, which included Archpriest John Behr, dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary, and professors from the Faculty of Theology at Fordham University: his mentor, Dr. George Demacopoulos, and Dr. Michael Peppard,Dr. Maureen A. Tilley, and Dr. Joseph T. Lienhard, SJ.
Encouraging friends, such as Priest Nilus Lerro, the Director of Student Affairs at St. Tikhon's Seminary, as well as several seminarians from St. Vladimir's attended Fr. David's doctoral defense and were on hand to be the first to offer congratulations. From 2004 to 2005 Fr. David served as Assistant to the Dean, and from 2005 to 2009 as Director of Student Affairs, at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, Pennsylvania, before joining the staff at St. Vladimir's.
"I'm still floating six feet off the ground, and all I can think about is that I'm finally done," said Fr. David. "It took me a total of eight years, which seems like a long time, but basically I was working on this part-time while working at St. Tikhon's, and then at St. Vladimir's. I especially want to thank His Grace Michael (former Dean of St. Tikhon's Seminary and now bishop of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey) for encouraging and supporting me as I pursued my doctoral studies, as well as Dr. George Demacopoulos, for his patience and guidance, and Fr. Nilus Lerro, for his never-wavering belief that I would actually finish."
Dean Fr. John Behr noted Fr. David's accomplishment, saying, "It has been a joy to work with "Father-Doctor" David on his dissertation over the last years, and especially to see him shine today as he faced his examiners. He has learnt a lot from working so closely through the letters of Sts. Barsanuphius and John, as I have from him, and I am sure that it will stand him in good stead in his future ministry."
Likewise, Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield offered his congratulations, remarking to Fr. David, "You joined our team with 'part of the deal' being that you complete your doctoral studies. That day has arrived and you honor all of us at SVOTS!"
Five of us from St. Vladimir’s—Dn. Timothy Yates, Monk James Stevens, Seminarian Adam Horstman, Hierodeacon Herman Majkrzak, and myself, Dn. David Wooten—recently traveled to nearby St. Joseph’s Seminary (aka "Dunwoodie"), a Roman Catholic seminary in Yonkers, to take advantage of a post-abortion counseling training seminar. St. Joseph's was hosting "Lumina Ministries," the post-abortion counseling ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and had graciously invited all clergy and seminarians to attend, free of charge, these sessions that sought to help church leaders provide help for all victims of abortion—not only the unborn but also the mother, father, and family of the unborn child.
Theresa Bonapartis, head of Lumina Ministries, delivered the afternoon sessions (seminarians from St. Vladimir’s were unable to attend the morning sessions due to class requirements), in which she detailed the hurt and confusion that the would-be parents or siblings experience in the aftermath of abortion. Accompanying her in her presentations was Fr. Mariusz Koch, CFR, Vicar of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Together, they outlined common emotional responses and spiritual dilemmas that these living victims of abortion often suffer through. Theresa spoke from her own experience as a post-abortive woman, while Fr. Koch provided anecdotes of how these responses usually manifest themselves in confessional or parochial settings.
The sessions were oriented specifically towards training priests, and Theresa spoke of her own soul's healing, effected by a priest who was sensitive to the trauma of abortion: he not only acknowledged her pain over a sin that had damaged her soul but also declared to her that, yes, God is merciful, and that there is no sin that our heavenly Father cannot forgive, no wound He is unwilling to make whole.
We trainees were told over and over that these two attributes of truth and compassion—affirming the sinfulness of abortion, and declaring the mercy and forgiveness of God—were always to be presented together in order to effectively and rightly minister to men and women who are confused and hurt in the wake of their ordeal. The clarity this approach provides serves as a remedy for the lies many women tell themselves and for the lies that family, friends, and even clergymen may tell them. From serial confession (“God couldn’t possibly have forgiven me last time, or ever!”) to presumption and false compassion (“Well, since God forgives and the baby’s in heaven instead of in a hard life on earth, abortion is technically OK.”) and all points in between, these ways of dealing with emotional and spiritual wounds were addressed and diagnosed.
Following Theresa’s and Fr. Koch’s sessions, we listened to a very moving testimony by a woman, Gail, who had had two abortions—one at her parents’ behest when she was in her teens and one as an adult—and her moving story of the emotional turmoil that ensued; her invitation to a retreat at a Roman Catholic monastery by a devoutly Catholic friend and coworker; her subsequent confrontation of her past through the guidance of loving, compassionate lay, clergy, and monastic attendees of the retreat; and her final encounter with Jesus Christ during the night when she confessed her sins and felt for the first time that forgiveness was not only possible, but a reality He was ready to give to her. It was evident that the constant presence of concerned, loving people all along the way was vital to her healing; had the people not been present to provide caring support for her, she would have known neither the severity of her sin, nor the forgiveness of her Savior.
We were very grateful for the opportunity to attend the afternoon half of these sessions, and we hope that this relationship between Catholics and Orthodox will continue to flourish. We also hope that our shared heritage of care for life in and out of the womb would result in our mutual stance being not only “anti-abortion” but also truly “pro-life.”
For, what does it mean to be “pro-life”? Many who style themselves as “pro-life” are all too often simply “anti-abortion,” and often simply lock themselves into concern for the baby’s pre-natal development while neglecting other, post-natal needs. Furthermore, many anti-abortion advocates focus so much on the baby’s survival that they neglect (or worse, condemn!) the “living victims” that are also traumatized by the horrific event. From the despair of young or poor mothers who very often are thrust into a seemingly hopeless situation by a boyfriend or husband who refuses to stay and care for her and the little one growing inside of her, to the anguish of would-be fathers whose partners had aborted their children, to the “survivor’s trauma” of children who were told that their parents had aborted the children who would have been their older siblings—these are also the victims of the reality of abortion.
Read more reflections by our seminarians in the "Seminarians Speak–Voices" section of our Website, here.
Dr. Daniel B. Hinshaw has been appointed Visiting Professor of Palliative Care at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. Dr. Hinshaw is Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, in the Section of General Surgery. He serves as an attending consultant physician on the inpatient palliative care consultation service at the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System and provides outpatient palliative care services at the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center. He completed a fellowship in Palliative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in June 2001, during a sabbatical. His clinical research interests are focused on care at the end of life, spiritual distress in advanced illnesses, and the use of complementary medicine in the relief of pain.
“Our seminary faculty is very impressed by all of Dr. Hinshaw’s work, nationally and internationally,” said seminary Dean, Archpriest John Behr, who made the faculty appointment. “And, we are deeply honored by the fact that he now can represent St. Vladimir’s Seminary in these endeavors.”
Dr. Hinshaw currently is in Brasov, Romania helping with two courses in their Masters in Palliative Care program. He will be in Belgrade from March 4–16, and will meet with Dragan Makojevic, director of Serbian Orthodox Philanthropy and a SVOTS alumnus, who will help Dr. Hinshaw facilitate some meetings to explore possibilities of sharing his work with Serbian Orthodox Christians.
Speaking about his new association with SVOTS, Dr. Hinshaw said, “I am deeply honored by this appointment. It provides a wonderful opportunity to align my clinical, teaching, and scholarly work more closely with the healing mission of the Orthodox Church.
“A major challenge that modern health care poses to patients, especially those with a strong religious faith, is the compartmentalization of different perspectives and skills,” he continued. “This lack of effective interdisciplinary communication among those caring for the sick fragments most efforts at providing holistic care and exacerbates the suffering of those facing serious life-threatening illnesses. This is particularly problematic with regard to the integration of religious faith with the clinical care of the sick.
“The highly secularized nature of Western society has effectively divorced health care from the healing ministry of the Church,” he concluded. “I hope that the appointment to the SVOTS faculty will make it possible to create bridges between the profound Orthodox theological understanding of the human person in illness and health and the practical application of this understanding within pastoral and diaconal ministries of the Church that will transcend the many artificial boundaries created by secularization.”
Dr. Hinshaw and his wife, Dr. Jane (Carnahan) Hinshaw, have committed their lives to studying and offering palliative and hospice care not only in the U.S. but also in Romania, Uganda, and Ethiopia. In October 2011, the Hinshaws were on our seminary campus to present a seminar to our students: "Spiritual Issues in Suffering and Palliative Care." Because of the Hinshaws' medical expertise and the broad interest in their topic, their seminar was offered free to the public, and more than 50 students and guests, mostly neighboring hospital chaplains, attended. The entire seminary community welcomes Dr. Hinshaw back to St. Vladimir’s, in his new capacity. Truly we are blessed by this addition to our faculty.
Touching upon all the spiritual gifts the season of Great Lent offers, our Dean, Archpriest John Behr, delivered four talks to the seminary community, in between the lengthy liturgical services in Three Hierarchs Chapel that mark the first two days of Great Lent. With astute attention to the teachings of Scripture and the Fathers, Fr. John centered his meditations on the necessity of suffering and dying, in order for true life in Christ—life eternal—to emerge.
"The Epistle of Barnabas," said Fr. John, "notes: 'For a human being is earth that suffers,' and he clearly has in mind the malleable clay that God used to form a human being, as in the Book of Genesis. Suffering in this context means being subjected to the action of another...clay being forced into shape by the hands of God. But, it would be a very wooden interpretation to think this was something that happened once 'way back when'...it would be very wooden not to hear in this passage also the sufferings that we constantly undergo in our daily lives, sufferings that work to humanize us now."
Listen to all four of Fr. John Behr's lenten meditations, which will be posted on Ancient Faith Radio throughout the lenten season!
The Annual Meeting of the Orthodox Theological Society (OTSA) will be held on the campus of St. Vladimir's Seminary from September 20–22, 2012. The deadline for submission of papers is Friday, August 31, 2012.
Our Dean, Archpriest John Behr, will be the Florovsky Lecturer for this year, with a presentation entitled “Reading the Fathers Today.” Father John will discuss the meaning of theology and its study within an academic context. The lecture will be held in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building, on Friday, September 21, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. A public reception will follow.
Please check the OTSA Website for further details.
For a number of years now, St. Tikhon's Seminary and St. Vladimir's Seminary have squared off in a display of athletic prowess on the basketball court: the
"STOTS" vs "SVOTS" competition. The roots of our antagonistic rivalry are deep—possibly stemming from the '70s and '80s, from what I hear. At some point the competition had faded away, but since Fr. Chad Hatfield's arrival as the Chancellor of St. Vladimir's, our annual game has been resurrected.
We ("We" meaning SVOTS) lost this year, 66–57, but the score is not totally indicative of our dedication and preparation. At St. Vladimir's Seminary, we do not have a basketball court on campus; in fact, we currently have no physical fitness facilities on campus. We practice wherever we can find a hoop, and now the neighborhood kids of Crestwood know us by name. When it's dark, we head over to the nearby town of Tuckahoe and play under a court with lights. If it's an extremely busy day, in between classes we shoot around on the driveway hoop behind our Dean's house. If it's cold, we bundle up; raining, we don waterproof clothes (or, more likely, cancel practice). Still, at St. Vladimir's, every student leads a diligently busy life, and basketball is seldom the focus of our attention.
Our team is made up of former high school stars, people who were cut from their high school teams, and players who haven't played since seventh-grade junior league. Further, our team includes members from the whole St. Vladimir's community. Elvis Baez, a Bronx native and employee of our bookstore, loves to come out and play. Adam Rivera, the son of our maintenance facility director, takes a break from his high school studies to shoot around with us. Felix Behr, the son of Dean Fr. John Behr, adds his lanky skill and quasi-British humor to our practices. Our team is composed of M.Div. and M.A. students, Indian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox, convert and cradle, west coast and east coast.
Although St. Vladimir's is a community centered around living and studying the Christian life, we do not always have mutually common opportunities to pursue this life. In classes, the work is often individually executed. Because we have Oriental and Eastern Orthodox on campus, we don't all worship in the same chapel. Single students eat together in the refectory and married students usually eat meals with their families. But the annual basketball rivalry with our "Sister Seminary" gives us a common focus, a goal that brings us all together.
Upon reflection, after playing on the team for two years, I also am making more sense of St. Paul's metaphors for the Christian life as athletic struggle: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it” (1 Cor 9:24). Struggling to receive the prize is the yearly goal of our basketball team, a goal which enhances our view of Christian life. And even though we lost this year, we are reminded of the ultimate victory of God: his strength is perfected in defeat. Every loss, every win, and every moment spent training—individually and as a team—is ultimately an icon of our salvation.
From 9–11 February, 2012, an international conference was held at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, France, to honor the 20th anniversary of the passing away of the theologian and church historian Protopresbyter John Meyendorff, who was Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary from 1983 until 1992. The four sessions, with 24 speakers, devoted to the work of one of the most renowned Orthodox Christian theologians of the last century, attracted the attention of nearly one hundred participants.
The conference, titled “The Legacy of Fr. John Meyendorff, Scholar and Churchman (1926–1992),” began with words of welcome by the Rector of the Institute, His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel, and by the Dean, Archpriest Nicholas Cernokrak. His Eminence Kallistos, metropolitan of Diokleia, transmitted a message from the Ecumenical Patriarch, His Holiness Bartholomew. Then Dr. Joost van Rossum, professor of History and Theology of the Byzantine Church at the Institute (and alumnus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary) delivered the keynote lecture, entitled “Fr. John Meyendorff: A Life Dedicated to Scholarship and to the Church.”
Fr. Meyendorff was first of all known for his studies on the Byzantine theologian St. Gregory Palamas (14th century), whose theology can be considered as a true patristic synthesis. For this reason, the initial lectures were dedicated to the notion of “neo-patristic synthesis,” which had been introduced for the first time by Fr. Georges Florovsky, and which had been resumed by Fr. John. The initial lectures included: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, “Father John Meyendorff and ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’ ”; Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos, “John Meyendorff and the Possibilities of a Modern Patristic Exegesis”; Dr. Ivana Noble, “Patristic Synthesis or Non-Synthetic Dialectics? A Critical Evaluation of John Meyendorff’s Contribution.’’
The main theme of the scholarly discussions on Gregory Palamas in the last century had been the relationship between the theology of the hesychast theologian and the system of the “hierarchies” of Dionysius the Areopagite (or the “Pseudo-Dionysius”, the anonymous author of some writings which date from the end of the 5th century). In his Doctoral Dissertation, submitted at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), A Study of Gregory Palamas (Introduction à l’étude de Grégoire Palamas), Fr. Meyendorff—therein following the intuition of Fr. Georges Florovsky—had upheld the thesis that Palamas has applied a “Christological corrective” to the writings of Dionysius on the “Celestial Hierarchy” and the “Ecclesiastical Hierarchy,” the language of which is marked by a Neo-platonic flavor.
Some Orthodox theologians have disputed this interpretation by Frs. Meyendorff and Florovsky, in particular Fr. John Romanides. Some of the speakers in the next set of lectures shared the opinion of Romanides: Fr. Andrew Louth, “Dionysius, Maximus, Palamas—and Meyendorff?”; and Pantelis Kalaitzidis, “John Meyendorff and John Romanides : Two Different Approaches to Palamite Theology.” However, Mr. Goran Sekulovski, lecturer in Patristics at the Institute, in his talk entitled, “Fr. John Meyendorff, Reader of Dionysius the Areopagite,” underlined the importance of Fr. Meyendorff’s study, in which the author points out that Palamas had replaced the mysticism of Dionysius within the context of the mystery of the Incarnation of Christ, which underlies all Christian spirituality and mysticism. For this reason, Mr. Sekulovski argued, there is no doubt that this study of Fr. Meyendorff still remains the basic study on this Byzantine theologian.
Two more lectures were dedicated to the theology of St. Gregory Palamas: Dr. Serge Horuzhy treated the relation between Palamite theology and ancient and modern philosophy (“Energy and Personality in the Theology of John Meyendorff and in Contemporary Philosophy”); and Dr. Stoyan Tanev reflected on the notions of “Sophia” and “Energy” in Byzantine and modern theology (“Divine ‘Sophia’ and ‘Energeia’ in 14th and 20th Century Orthodox Theology”).
The second focus of Fr. Meyendorff’s theological interest was Christology. Mr. Jean-François Colosimo, lecturer in Patrology at the Institute and alumnus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, presented a paper on ‘‘The Paschal Christology of John Meyendorff,’’ in which he pointed out that Fr. John has corrected a certain tendency in Orthodox theology to ignore the factor ‘‘ time’’ in the economy of salvation.
For Fr. Meyendorff, theology was not merely a speculative matter, but linked to the life of the Church in all its aspects. Other presentations dealt with certain subjects that were not the specialty of Fr. Meyendorff’s scholarly work, but in which he nevertheless had taken interest. Dr. André Lossky, professor of Liturgical Theology at the Institute, presented a paper on ‘‘The Feast of the Transfiguration as Witness to the Light,’’ in which he pointed out the theological meaning of the liturgical texts of that feast and their relationship to the theology of Gregory Palamas. Fr. Nicholas Ozolin, professor of Iconology at St. Sergius, explained the link between the theology of the icon and Christology (“Fr. John Meyendorff, Theologian of the Icon”). Two more lectures concerning the icon, presented by two other alumni of St. Vladimir’s, dealt with the Christian image in its cultural context: Fr. Stephan Bigham showed the link between Romanesque and Byzantine art (“Romanesque Art: the Last Western Art of Iconic Character”); and Dr. Alexander Dvorkin spoke about the influence of Western culture on the political and cultural life in Russia in the 16th Century (“Western Influences on Church Life in Muscovy in the First Half of the 16th Century”).
A special session was dedicated to the History of the Church, since Fr. Meyendorff was a renowned expert on the history of Byzantium and the Slavs. Dr. Pavel Pavlov presented a paper on the relationship between Gregory Palamas and the Islamic world (“Palamas’ View on Islam: Byzantine Insights for Contemporary Society”). Dr. Marie-Hélène Congourdeau presented a paper on ‘‘Nicholas Cabasilas and his defense of Gregory Palamas against the ‘trifles’ of Nicephoros Gregoras.’’ Dr. Marie-Hélène Blanchet presented an analysis of the development of the use of the term ‘‘katholikos’’ in Byzantium (‘‘The Different Meanings of the Term ‘katholikos’ in Byzantium at the End of the Middle Ages: a Confessional Controversy”). Finally, Dr. Constantin Vétochnikov presented a paper on “The Patriarchal Missions in the Russian Lands during the 14th and 15th Century.”
Transitioning to the last section of the rich and diverse program, dedicated to the Church in the contemporary world, a young scholar from Yekaterinburg, Mr. Andrey Levitskiy, talked about the activities and publications of Fr. Meyendorff in Russia (“Fr. John Meyendorff’s Publications in Russia: the Story of a ‘Memorial Festschrift’ ”) and the circumstances around the notorious “autodafé”—burning of books of, among others, Fr. Meyendorff and Fr. Alexander Schmemann, which had been organized in Yekaterinburg by Church authorities in 1998.
During the last section, the lectures also touched on the role that Fr. Meyendorff had played in the Ecumenical Movement: Fr. Nicolas Lossky (St. Sergius Institute), ‘‘ Fr. John Meyendorff and the Ecumenical Movement”; Dr. Nicholas Kazarian (St. Sergius Institute), “Fr. Jean Meyendorff and the WCC.” Protopresbyter Boris Bobrinskoy, former Dean of St. Sergius, presented a paper on ‘‘Palamite Pneumatology in the Context of My Contacts with Fr. John Meyendorff,’’ in which he showed that Fr. Meyendorff had detected a possible breakthrough in the dead end, ancient controversy on the Filioque.
The last lectures of the final section and of the conference itself were devoted to the jurisdictional situation of the Orthodox Church, in particular in America. Dr. Michel Stavrou, professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Institute, delivered a presentation on ‘‘The Role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Ecclesiological Vision of Fr, John Meyendorff.’’ The final speaker, Dr. Paul Meyendorff, son of Fr. John Meyendorff, presented a talk on the role of his father in the establishment of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America, which until now has not been officially recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople and other autocephalous Churches: ‘‘Fr. John Meyendorff’s Role in the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America.” Discussion on the paper underlined that, for Fr. Meyendorff, the primacy of a Patriarchate or the autocephaly of a Church were not ends in themselves, and that unity of the Church is of prime importance.
During a Round Table discussion, an interview between Fr. Nicholas Ozolin and Fr. Meyendorff was shown, which had been broadcast on the French television in the eighties. Several participants then shared their memories of Fr. Meyendorff. Dr. Paul Meyendorff remembered the last moments of his father’s life: his last words before dying were ‘‘the Eucharist," and these words revealed that his theology and spiritual life were focused on the Eucharist and on eschatology. “At that moment,’’ Dr. Meyendorff said, “my father was already there, in the Kingdom of God.”
In his concluding remarks, Dr. van Rossum observed that Fr. Meyendorff shared this common eucharistic and eschatological vision with his friend and colleague Fr. Alexander Schmemann, “The roots of this theological vision were given to them by their alma mater, St. Sergius Institute,” Dr. van Rossum concluded.
The official video of the conference, which includes a segment with Dr. Paul Meyendorff, son of Fr. John, may be viewed here.
View a photo gallery of this important conference, including many renowned Orthodox Christian scholars here.
On March 3rd, children in our seminary community will be participating in a "Kid's Lenten Retreat" complete with Divine Liturgy, brunch, and lessons about preparing for Christ's Passion and Resurrection. Second-year Seminarian Ashley Lear, director of the campus Church School Program, explained, “We will be discussing the role of prayer, fasting, and alms giving, as well as the crucial role of repentance in our journey toward the Cross.
“There will be priest available to help prepare the younger children for their first confession as well as teachers who will help the older kids develop a more mature understanding of sin and repentance,” she noted. “I pray that God will bless these children, and all children, with an awareness of our brokenness and dependence on Him for all things.”
The lenten retreat is just one example of the newly adopted format for the Church School Program, designed and begun by Seminarian Lear this year. The program consists of much longer, less frequent learning experiences. Each month, there is a theme, usually related to the liturgical cycle (or season) or the lectionary. The kids spend 3 1/2 hours praying, singing, reading, listening, creating, and eating together.
“It's actually lots of fun,” said Seminarian Lear, “and I've found that these longer sessions allow for a deeper engagement with the material. The themes found in Scripture and our rich liturgical hymnography can be approached from many angles, thus in a way, acknowledging and catering to the many learning styles of our children.”
Seminarian Lear described in particular her design for this year’s upcoming lenten retreat: First, children of all ages (3–14) will meet together for an opening prayer. At that time, they will also learn and review a liturgical hymn—in part, in preparation for the Lazarus Saturday Divine Liturgy, when the church school children typically form a choir in the chapel and sing antiphonally with the adult choir. Next, the students will break off into their separate age group and classrooms. There, they will review scriptural passages related to the theme, and engage in a variety of activities to reinforce the Scriptures. After about an hour, they will come back together for a craft (during the Nativity season, they made ornaments, and for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, they made prayer books). Then, all students will return to their classrooms for follow up lessons, designed to address the application of scriptural themes to their daily lives. Finally, they will come together again for lunch and a closing prayer.
“The kids still come together weekly, for ‘reinforcement’ of scriptural study related to each Sunday’s Gospel reading,” added Seminarian Lear, “and this happens at the much-anticipated ‘Kid’s Café.
“Kid’s Café follows Divine Liturgy, and the children get to ‘interview’ either the presiding priest or a visiting bishop,” she continued. “They, and their guest, enjoy this time immensely.”
Seminarian Ashley Lear, who is in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, was president of the teen SOYO at her home parish, where she also often served as assistant director for choir events. At Ball State University, she studied music education and served as president of the university’s chapter of Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF). She also participated in the PRISM project, a performing arts program for children with special needs. Additionally, she served as a camp counselor at the Antiochian Village for two years. During her first year at SVOTS, she began to assist Danielle Miller with the SVS Children's Choir, and to help fellow seminarian Logan Johnson with Kid's Café on Sundays, while serving as a teacher for Church School on Monday nights.
Parents! Please register you children for the March 3, 2012 lenten retreat by replying to Ashley Lear with their names and ages.
An anonymous benefactor has donated a complete English-language Menaion to the seminary for use in the seminary chapel. Up until this point, the seminary choirs and readers have shared copies of the Menaion from the library with other students who also need the Menaion for various class assignments. The twelve-volume set of variable texts used in the services was published by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline, Massachusetts, and costs around $1,200. The Menaion is a welcome addition to the collection of texts, music, and service books used in our Three Hierarchs' Chapel.
Priest Alexander Rentel, seminary ecclesiarch, points out that this gift serves to further the pan-Orthodox mission of the seminary. "While we've long had our own internal music files that we've worked on and developed over the years," he said, "the Menaion published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery has been prepared especially for Byzantine chant choirs. Our Byzantine Choir will make great use of these volumes."
The St. Vladimir's Seminary Byzantine Choir is made of seminarians, primarily from the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, but includes students from other jurisdictions who are interested in the tradition of Byzantine chant. Typically, the choir sings the responses to the services on a regular basis, alternating with the regular seminary choir. In the past, the Byzantine Choir was overseen by Priest Elias Bitar, longtime and much loved instructor of Byzantine chant, and directed in the chapel by different seminarians. This year it is under the capable oversight of seminarians Ashley Lear and Scott Miller, who do a great job setting the music, rehearsing the music, and directing the choir.
The entire seminary community wishes to thank the benefactor for such a wonderful and generous gift! The seminary also wishes to thank all those seminarians over the years who have led and participated in the Byzantine Choir, including the current members of the choir, for their valued service and pan-Orthodox ministry.
