As a guest lecturer to our campus, Dr. Yelena Kolyada gave an absorbing public presentation about "Musical Instruments of the Bible" on October 5th. Using accompanying illustrations of the "harps, strings, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals" mentioned in the Psalms and other biblical books, she described the role these instruments played in the religious, social, public, and private life of ancient Israel. Further, she traced the historic path of musical instruments in worship, from their use in the synagogue to their demise in early Christian churches.

Dr. Kolyada is the author of A Compendium of Musical Instruments and Instrumental Terminology in the Bible (Equinox Publishing, 2009), a reference book that draws on biblical translations and works by rabbinic teachers, church fathers, medieval exegetes, and contemporary scholars. She graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and completed a doctoral thesis at the Vilnius Conservatory in 1987. In the early 1990s she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she gave lectures on early Russian hymnography.

Her public presentation may be found as a podcast in the "Voices from St. Vladimir's" section of Ancient Faith Radio.

Father Ilie Toader, a member of the theological faculty of Buzau, Romania, is writing a doctoral thesis about St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He visited the Seminary during the course of a month, during September and October 2010, to perform his research. Dr. Peter Bouteneff, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at SVOTS, spoke with him about his project, about the Seminary, and about his expectations and findings.

Fr. Ilie, tell us about your project, your doctoral thesis.

In 2007, when I was admitted in the doctoral program at the Bucharest Faculty of Orthodox Theology, I decided, with the consent of my director, Rev. Prof. Dr. Viorel Ioniţă, to write my thesis about the contribution of St. Vladimir's to contemporary Orthodox thought. The provisional title of my thesis is “St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and its contribution to modern Orthodox thinking.” I was able to come and visit here, at the invitation of Fr. John Behr, for the purposes of completing my research, using your library and meeting with your faculty and students.

What provoked your interest in our seminary?

While a student, I was taught—and always imagined—that Dogmatics and Church History were completely distinct subjects. I was therefore very struck when I read Fr. John Meyendorff’s Byzantine Theology, because it is a dense analysis and synthesis that is at the same time dogmatic and historical. Soon after that I discovered Fr. Schmemann’s works. And I realized that both writers belong to a common and enriching tradition. Reading more about them I was able to locate the epicenter of this remarkable tradition at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. Then I also read Fr. Florovsky and others. I saw more and more a common thread, one that had to do with understanding “Tradition.” Florovsky, through the “neo-patristic synthesis,” Schmemann through the revitalizing of the liturgical Tradition, Meyendorff, through his writing about “living” or “dynamic” Tradition. These approaches were each distinct but had a common perspective—this is one of the greatest contributions of St. Vladimir’s.

Does St. Vladimir’s have a particular reputation among your colleagues in Romania? Are there particular supporters and critics?

Myself, I knew that St. Vladimir's is representative of North American Orthodoxy and one of the most prestigious and prolific centers of education and spirituality in contemporary Orthodoxy anywhere.

As for serious critics, in fact I found that it’s more here in America, than elsewhere, that St. Vladimir’s has detractors! In Romania almost no one has this spirit of criticism of this Seminary. Of course, some of the theology faculty in Romania haven’t heard of SVOTS. Among those who have, the ones I spoke with have this idea that SVOTS is very open in its outlook. For some, this quality of “open” is a very positive thing; for others, that same quality is not so positive.

What were your expectations of the life and ethos of the Seminary before you came? And what has your impression been now that you are here?

Before I came I had a “Romanian” image of the Seminary: I imagined it as a large and cold institution, where faculty and students meet together only in the classroom, in the morning, and then everyone leaves the building “lifeless.“ What I found here is both smaller than what I expected, but also much more communal, on the part of both faculty and students. I was also surprised at many of the activities that students do here as part of their training: hospital visitation, prison ministry, et cetera.

I was very surprised to find such a heterogeneous body of students, coming from very different ethnic and religious backgrounds—Indians, Serbians, Albanians, Armenians, Americans, et cetera, and born-Orthodox and converts—and yet proving to be a numerous and friendly family. But the place that had the biggest impression on me, the place which struck me as the heart that gives cohesion and strength to this family most of all, and where I could really feel the living memory and legacy of your predecessors, was the chapel. When I saw you—professors and students—serving together, taking Eucharist together, praying together, I felt myself connected to your past and present, to your Tradition.

Some who come here from Eastern Europe, like yourself, are surprised that in many places in North America, the people receive Holy Communion at nearly every Divine Liturgy, whether or not they have confessed the same day or the day before.

As a student of history, I look back to the writings of the Holy Fathers, like St. Justin Martyr in his first Apology, where the evidence is that everyone communed at every liturgy, and, even more, those who were absent for various reasons had Holy Communion brought to them by the deacons. And I read Fr. Schmemann’s writings on this subject, and agree with this. So I am completely supportive of this practice, and will try to be an ambassador for it in Romania. Yet, while I was here with you, I had to remain faithful to the actual position and practice of my Church.

Are there other things you feel you have learned here, not just about the Seminary?

By coming here, I learned a lot of things, concrete and abstract. The concrete ones will be reflected in my doctoral thesis, so let me tell you more about the others. First of all, this is my first major work in the field of Church History and I realized how difficult is the task of a historian. A “scientific” approach to history can easily obscure the facts. For example, If I go back to Romania and say simply that St. Vladimir’s is a Seminary founded in 1938, with a number of outstanding personalities and with its own Press; or if I reduce Fr. Schmemann only to his life and works—no matter how dense and precise the data of my thesis will be—I will fail to present the real place and contribution of St. Vladimir’s to American and worldwide Orthodoxy. So, the historian’s mission is more creative than simply gathering and collating information.

Do you have any feelings or hopes for Orthodoxy in America, or for the Seminary, that you’d like to share with us?

One thing is that I think that Orthodoxy in the world today needs more communication between the spiritual, educational, and cultural centers of the Orthodox world. Another impression: as I come to know the Seminary and its context better, I understand better the importance of your contribution. You had to struggle here to survive here in America in a way that we, in the more homogenously Orthodox context of Romania, have not. We struggled as well, of course, under communism, but in my opinion we have lost more believers after the Revolution (in 1989), because we lack a clear sense of mission to our own people. We haven’t woken up to this new reality, this missionary imperative. It’s very different here in the U.S., where there are not so many Orthodox Christians.

I hope that you at the Seminary will continue to grow and develop yourselves in the same direction as you have done since 1938, following the goals of your founders: you have students from all over the world; you bring Orthodoxy all over the world through your books, alumni, and professors; you have always represented Orthodoxy in the ecumenical or inter-Orthodox dialogue. I think there are enough reasons for me to hope that in 2038, at your centenary, all of Orthodoxy will be speaking about St. Vladimir’s Pan-Orthodox Theological Seminary!

Read more about Faculty and visiting Faculty activities in the “Faculty Footnotes” section of the Voices page on our Website.

The Dean of St. Vladimir’s has a rather heady job description. According to the Statutes of the school, his duties are to “supervise of all spiritual and academic activities of the Seminary” and to “represent the Seminary before ecclesiastical, educational, and religious agencies.” 

But how does that sizable black and white description translate into flesh and blood action? Moreover, what’s on our Dean’s mind, as well as on his daily planner?

Besides teaching a full course load in patristics, including a summer session, during the past year, SVOTS Dean Archpriest John Behr wrote one major book and published four articles, gave fourteen public presentations, and logged 44,449 in land and air miles. This year, he’s likely to surpass that travel mark, as he traverses the globe lecturing, teaching, presenting retreats, and representing the ethos of St. Vladimir’s in multifold settings.

Among his most important ministries is to cultivate friendships that strengthen the nexus between SVOTS and other Orthodox theological schools throughout world. To that end, in October 2010, Fr. John will be visiting the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade, joining in the celebrations for their (and his) patronal feast of St. John the Theologian. He will speak with both faculty and students; and he will continue the connection that began with the visitations of the Student Choir from School of Theology at the University of Belgrade, with their faculty advisor, Nenad Milosevic, during the past two years on our campus. Fr. John will also be visiting the new Patriarch, His Holiness Irinej, as well as various monasteries throughout the country. He will travel with one of the episcopal members of our Board of Trustees, His Grace The Right Rev. Maxim (Vasiljevic), bishop of the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America (SOC).

“I look forward especially to this visit to Serbia,” said Fr. John, “amid my travel schedule for this semester. Being a ‘face’ for St. Vladimir’s is one of my greatest joys and privileges as Dean, and during this trip, I hope to build deep and lasting ties with their faculty.

“Another privilege as Dean is to share my experiences with our friends and alumni through my monthly reflection in the “On Our Minds” section of our new Website. I invite everyone to ‘travel’ with me—virtually!—and to find out what 'the Dean' is up to, and what I’m thinking about within the ever-changing landscape of world Orthodoxy.”

St. Vladimir’s Seminary  alumnus The V. Rev. Dr. Alexander Atty (’79) will be installed as the seventh dean of our sister school, St. Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, on Saturday, October 30 , 2010. The Installation Service will begin at 11 a.m. at St. Mary Antiochian Church, Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Fr. Alexander had been the rector of St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church, Louisville, KY, a parish in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), since 1980. He was born August 7, 1951 in Johnstown, PA, and holds a B.S. in engineering from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. After earning his M.Div. at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, he went on to study at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, earning his D.Min. in 2008. Ordained a priest on December 9, 1979 at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest in 1988. 

Last year, we were privileged to have Fr. Alexander present our annul public lenten retreat, focused on the theme “Good and Faithful Servants.” His three talks, “The Good and Faithful Pastor,” “The Good and Faithful Parishioner,” and “The Good and Faithful Parish,” are available as part of the  “Voices from St. Vladimir's Seminary” podcast.



Atop our “New Facility” building, gleaming solar panels lie like sleek sunbathers. Soaking up the sun’s rays, they’re storing energy to power two buildings on our seminary campus.

The sparkling panels are being installed this week, September 20–24, and from now on they will provide clean, renewable energy for both our Three Hierarchs Chapel and our New Facility building, which houses classrooms and faculty and staff offices. Through the newly mounted solar grid, the Seminary expects to reduce its energy costs for the two structures by nearly 78%.

“We’ve been pursuing this project since 2007, when we decided to make a concerted effort at St. Vladimir’s Seminary to ‘Go Green’,” said The Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor and CEO. “Renewable energy was a keystone in that plan, since statistics have proven that the largest controllable budget category in a school is typically energy related.

“Our seminary took those statistics to heart. Thus, in November and December 2007, we invested in complete energy audits for nine campus buildings, and in turn received detailed analyses and reports on these structures from the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Each report included ‘Energy Cost Reduction Opportunities,’ which our Board of Trustees reviewed. In the end, we decide to partner with NYSERDA, as a participant in the New York State Solar Electric Incentive Program, to install a solar grid.”

In June 2010, the Seminary received notice that NYSERDA had awarded them a government grant in the amount of $72,556.50 for the solar project, which represents half of the cost of the project. The Seminary is approaching private foundations and individuals to fund the full cost.

NYSERDA is an agency that provides energy audits and analyses to small businesses, churches, schools, and other facilities to help them make informed decisions and implement energy-efficient strategies. The other “partners” in the solar venture at St. Vladimir’s are D.C. Power Systems, a distributor of renewal energy products based in California, which is supplying the structural materials for the project, and Best Energy Power, a local installer.

On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14th, our seminary community richly celebrated sacramental life and theological study. Highlights of the day included two student ordinations and an academic convocation in honor of Professor Christos Yannaras, making the solemn feast full and joyous from beginning to end.

We were particularly blessed by a host of distinguished guests who participated at various points in the daylong celebration, which included His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America; Archpriest Alexander Atty, dean-elect of St. Tikhon’s Seminary; Archpriest Alexander Garklavs, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America; Professors Aristotle Papanikolaou and George Demacopoulos from Fordham University; and Professor George Parsenios from Princeton Theological Seminary.

The extraordinary day also brought together three episcopal members of our Board of Trustees, who concelebrated the morning Divine Liturgy: His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA); His Grace The Right Rev. Maxim, bishop of the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America (SOC); and His Grace The Right Rev. Savas (Zembillas) of Troas, director of the Office of Church and Society at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America (GOA).

During the Divine Liturgy, Dn. Maximus Cabey was ordained to the priesthood, and seminarian John Frazier was ordained to the diaconate. Fr. Maximus and Dn. John, both third-year students at St. Vladimir’s, were ordained by Metropolitan Jonah, and were given a “word” by Bishop Savas at the Liturgy. “Today,” said Bishop Savas, “you have become ‘cross-bearers’ in a special way, but in a way that is meant to be joyful. May God give you the strength, wisdom, and gifts needed to fulfill your priestly ministries."

Bishop Savas also congratulated our Dean, Fr. John Behr, on the ninth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Additionally, Fr. David Mezynski, our Associate Dean for Student Affairs, was awarded the nabedrennik, a priestly vestment in the shape of shield, for his service to the Church, by Metropolitan Jonah.

Punctuating the evening was the academic convocation honoring Dr. Christos Yannaras, professor emeritus of philosophy at the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens and leading Greek Orthodox ethicist. Dr. Yannaras has authored more than fifty books on ethics, theology, and modern religious philosophy, including one by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press entitled The Freedom of Morality.

Following a chapel vespers service and surrounded by faculty in their colorful academic regalia, Fr. John Behr warmly welcomed guests and enthusiastically opened the convocation. “Although we have gathered many times in the chapel over the past few weeks,” he said, “this if the first time that we have gathered together for academic purposes, gathered together to reflect upon what it is that we do as a seminary, a school of theology.”

First, Fr. John presented the “St. Basil Award for Academic Achievement” to this past year’s “Junior” seminarian Jason Ketz and to “Middler” seminarian Michael Soroka. Established in 2003, the St. Basil Award recognizes excellence in theological studies and is given to students who rank first among their classmates in the Master of Divinity program.

Fr. John then proceeded to introduce Professor Yannaras, saying, “From its beginning, seventy-two years ago, St. Vladimir’s Seminary has been committed to standing in the tradition of the great Fathers of the Church, thinking through what they said, to be able to address our own contemporary world. Today, we honor someone who exemplifies all this in an extraordinary manner throughout his long and distinguished scholarly career.”

Dr. John Barnet, associate dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir’s, reiterated Professor Yannaras’s expertise in critical engagement with church tradition and the contemporary world, as he read the citation that officially bestowed the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa upon him.

In his remarks just prior to his address to the audience, titled “The Trinitarian God as the Causal Principle of Existential Freedom,” Professor Yannaras expressed his gratitude to the Seminary. “The theological ‘climate’ that St. Vladimir’s has represented for so many decades,” he noted, “has been for me a real ‘nursery,’ a point of reference, a place that I have always experienced, even from a great distance, as a place I belong to.

“Today,” he continued, “you are bestowing on me a great academic honor. But for about fifty years you have been nourishing me with something of great importance: with criteria of theological orientation. The brief lecture that, as is customary, I shall now deliver, has as its title, ‘The Causal Principle of Freedom.’ I should like it to evoke a sense of the presence of Father John Meyendorff and Father Alexander Schmemann.”

Also participating in the liturgical services and the convocation was the Student Choir from the Theological Faculty at the University of Belgrade, with their faculty advisor, Nenad Milosevic. The choir visited the seminary campus after completing a tour of parishes in the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

St. Vladimir’s welcomes back to our campus alumnus (’06) Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, as he assumes his new position as Director of Alumni and Recruitment. “I am excited to use my experience, both growing up in the Church and also being a student here, to encourage other students in their vocations and service to the Church,” he said. “I want to create a similar excitement in other students to attend our seminary and to re-ignite the relationships of our alumni with their alma mater.

“Especially, I want to see my work, and that of the seminary, as meeting our alumni where they are. In other terms, what can we do from here, in the areas of continuing education and assistance to them? What can we offer?”

PDn. Joseph formerly spent four years as the deacon and secretary to Archbishop Job, bishop of the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), of blessed memory. He also is on the Board of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), a nationwide college campus ministry.

PDn. Joseph will be employed by both SVOTS and the OCA. He will continue with his current positions at the OCA—as Youth and Campus Minister and as the Protodeacon for Metropolitan Jonah—in addition to his new duty of overseeing the departmental ministries of the Church. 

PDn. Joseph’s wife, Nina, and sons, Alexander (5) and Daniel (3), have settled into their new campus apartment, and the SVOTS community is pleased to have them!

View our Alumni Association activities and message from Alumni Board Chairman, Fr. David Barr, and catch up with our Alumni in our Voices section.

The Crestwood Historical Society has invited our seminary Chapel Choir Director, Hierodeacon Philip (Majkrzak), to present a lecture about Orthodox Christian liturgical music on Saturday, September 25th, in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Building on our campus.

HDn. Philip, who says that liturgical music has been "since childhood, one of my greatest joys," is eager to share the beauty of the liturgical services with members of the society and any guests wishing to attend the free and public lecture. Refreshments will be served at 10 a.m.; HDn. Philip will begin his lecture, titled "An Introduction to Orthodox Christian Liturgical Music," at 10:30 a.m.

The society has been a long-time friend of St. Vladimir's, and in 2008 presented St. Vladimir's with its "Exemplified Civil Spirit Award." 

Have you ever wondered about the "harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals" mentioned in the Psalms, and the role instruments played in the religious, social, public, and private life of ancient Israel? Have you ever wondered why the Orthodox Church ceased using musical instruments in its worship? Then please come to a fascinating free and public lecture by Russian music scholar Dr. Yelena Kolyada at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Foundation Building on our campus.

Dr. Kolyada is the author of A Compendium of Musical Instruments and Instrumental Terminology in the Bible (Equinox Publishing, 2009), a reference book based on historical fact, linguistic analysis, and musical study, which draws on biblical translations and works by rabbinic teachers, church fathers, medieval exegetes, and contemporary scholars. The volume not only addresses the origin and role of musical instruments within the Hebrew culture but also traces the development of these instruments in post-biblical times, demonstrating their new symbolic significance in the writings of the church fathers.

Dr. Kolyada graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and completed a doctoral thesis at the Vilnius Conservatory in 1987. In the early 1990s she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she gave lectures on early Russian hymnography. She also made a series of programs on Russian church music for BBC Radio 3 and World Service. She is the author of many articles on early Russian chant and modern Russian church music, on biblical themes in the works of Russian composers, and on the liturgical music cycles of the English composer Sir John Tavener.

This volume published in Russian in 2003 was awarded the laureate diploma as “the event of the year” in the first national competition of Orthodox books in Russia. It was also awarded the prestigious gold medal of the Orthodox St. Makarius Foundation.

We welcome you to our campus for the lecture. Find us on Google maps.

Half-way around the world, in a church in Moscow, the famous Benedictine monk and spiritual writer, Fr. Gabriel Bunge, was welcomed into the Orthodox Christian faith on August 27, 2010. His reception into Orthodoxy holds special significance for our seminary, since Fr. Gabriel has written two exquisite volumes for St. Vladimir's Seminary Press (SVS Press): Dragon's Wine and Angel's Bread and The Rublev Trinity.

Moreover, and coincidently, other highly respected authors of our academic press were present as Fr. Gabriel was received into his newly chosen faith: Metropolitan Hilarion (Alefyev), archbishop of Volokolamsk, who authored Christ the Conqueror of Hell; Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), bishop of Diokleia, who wrote The Orthodox Way and The Inner Kingdom; and Fr. Andrew Louth, Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University, who authored Greek East and Latin West and is the Series Editor for our press's Church in History series.

Father Gabriel was received into the Orthodox Church just prior to the beginning of the All-Night Vigil service for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, according to the Julian Calendar. Metropolitan Hilarion officiated and Metropolitan Kallistos concelebrated at the service. Mingled with the parish congregation was a delegation from "The Friends of Mount Athos Society," who were visiting with the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Congratulating Fr. Gabriel on his entrance into the Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion presented him with an icon of the Mother of God called “Joy of All the Afflicted”—which also is the name of the church in which Fr. Gabriel was received. 

Fr. Gabriel, who lives in Switzerland, has been practicing an eremitical monastic life since 1980. He has been a contributor to numerous spiritual and monastic journals, and his books and articles demonstrate his expert knowledge of the writings of the church fathers.