Six seminarians submitted essays for the 6th Annual St Matthias Merit Scholarship Contest on Wednesday, November 1, each answering a common essay prompt curated by an anonymous group of donors.

The essay prompt read as follows:

When a forlorn kindergartner arrived home from school, he asked his mother if it was true that he was going to Jupiter to get stupider. His mother answered, 'No;' got him a first-grade book about the solar system; took him to an observatory to see Jupiter and the moon and to a daytime telescope to see Mercury and the sun; and lastly gave him a copy of Psalm 121. 

More than acquiring a passion for learning, what was the better part of this experience for this child? Refer to Matthew 15:13-14 and excerpts of Psalm 121 to answer the question in an essay with a 750-word maximum.

The scholarship panel asked the entrants to bear in mind that the intended audience for these essays is school-age youth as well as the general public; eventually, the panel hopes to share a collection of winning essays as a resource for high school readers.

After carefully evaluating each essay submission, the St Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest panel awarded this year’s first-place prize of $3,300 to seminarian Emil Prisquilas Peter.

According to the panel, Emil’s essay, "Girded by the Sword of Trust," took first place because “Emil put himself in the shoes of the child and wrote in an approachable style for youth and parents. In so doing, Emil understood the mother's perspective; effectively summarized the child's preparation to receive and comprehend Psalm 121; and answered the essay question by elaborating on how the child's improved understanding of God will help him deal with ongoing challenges.”

Read the winning essay

The essay contest panel also expressed their appreciation for the thoughtful, well-written essays of the remaining five applicants, and thanked the Seminary for the great privilege of sponsoring the contest.

Emil Peter offered his sincere thanks to the St Matthias Scholarship Essay Contest sponsors, saying, “I am extremely elated for winning the Scholarship Essay Contest this year. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude towards the donors of this scholarship. I urge them to continue supporting the seminarians through their gracious donations and at the same time continue challenging us with interesting topics for the essays every year.”

Emil Prisquilas Peter is a first-year seminarian in the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program at St Vladimir’s Seminary and is projected to graduate in May 2026. Emil hails from Mumbai, India, and is a member of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. He has a B.E. in Electronics Engineering and an M.S. in Computer Engineering and worked a corporate engineering job for three years before deciding to follow his lifelong calling to ministry. After considering multiple seminaries in several different countries, Emil decided on St Vladimir’s Seminary, in large part due to the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) component of the M.Div. program here, a requirement that is unique to St Vladimir’s Seminary. Emil says, “During my time at St Vladimir’s Seminary, I hope to enhance my knowledge of the Scriptures and also to embark on a spiritual journey that will get me closer to God and to know Him better.”

Congratulations, Emil!

About the St Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest

The St Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest is offered annually, thanks to the generous contributions of a family of anonymous donors. These donors also select the topic of the essay contest each year and develop thorough and thoughtful criteria to determine the winner.

The contest is one of many offerings by the Seminary to help its seminarians graduate tuition debt-free as they go forth to serve the Church. SVOTS also administers need-based tuition grants, need-based scholarships, merit scholarships, continuing education grants, and matching grant opportunities for seminarians. These are made possible thanks to many benefactors who have graciously given funds to St Vladimir’s.

Previous winners: 

• 2018, Sophia Theodoratos: An Amazing Race
• 2019, Andrew Kayaian: “Follow me”: Religious Reality over Facebook Phantasm
• 2020, Alexander Earl: Thou Hast Prepared a Table Before Me ...
• 2021, Theodore Mantzikos: Argus the Watcher
• 2022, Dn Silouan Parchert: God is Greater than Our Hearts

By Emil Prisquilas Peter (M.Div. ’26)

I would imagine that the kindergartner would have experienced bullying here from one or a group of his female classmates, who would have mentioned the phrase “Boys go to Jupiter to get stupider” to indirectly imply that all boys are stupider and less important when compared to girls. Putting myself in the shoes of the child, I would imagine that he is very sad and low in confidence owing to the bullying that he just experienced. He might have come under the apprehension that being a boy, he might be stupid and he is not at par with the girls in the class.

At such a young age, being bullied and, coming to false and incorrect conclusions could be detrimental to a child’s mental growth and confidence. Knowing this fact and, understanding the sensitivity of the matter at hand, his mother sets on a corrective course. First of all, she educates him about the solar system. She wants him to understand the structure of the universe that we are living in and wants him to learn about the different planets in our solar system. Then she makes the lesson more fun by taking him to an observatory to view Jupiter and Moon, followed by a visit to a daytime telescope to view Mercury and Sun, providing him the visual aid to solidify his understanding by making him see by himself what he had learned about. I really liked the mother’s choice of planets here. She chose Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, and Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system. Choosing polar opposite-sized planets clearly would solidify his perception of the solar system.

Later after their small study tour, she gave him a copy of Psalm 121 to read. Psalm 121 is the song of ascents, which reminds us of God’s care for us and to be confident in Him to take care of us. With the Psalms reading, she is strengthening him to deal with the bullying that happened to him today and at the same time preparing him for many more such events that might happen to him in the future. She is urging him to keep trust in God, our Lord, to take care of him in times of trials and tribulations that he might face in his life. God will be with him in times of trouble and will make sure no harm occurs to him. It is the same God who created the solar system that he just learned about and saw, which is just a tiny speck in God’s colossal creation. As mentioned in verse 6, “The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night”, our Creator has put so much care into the order of the universe that the Sun and the Moon that he sees in the sky would bring no harm to him. If He could protect him from these celestial bodies, for sure He would protect him from any evil that could befall him in his life. The life of his mother is a testimony to the fact that “God will protect him”.

So, if we go by the literal sense of the phrase itself, knowing about Jupiter and for instance, one day being able to arrive on Jupiter, doesn’t make him stupider but smarter. Good education along with courageous decisions taken with trust in God would only lead him to enlightenment and success. This doesn’t put him below par with others but above par. He should be paying no heed to what people around him have to say, for in Matthew 15.14 we read “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” So, paying attention to the “blind” would only lead him to fall and fail in his life. He is guided by the “Light of the world”, who has removed his blindness, and he should be led only by His Word. Through this exercise, his mother carefully prepares him to tackle bullying and stereotypes that he would have to face in his life. And she girds him with the very sword that she had used in her life to ward off troubles and trials in her life, which is The Trust in God.

On October 27-28, 2023, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) student Mihailo Vlajkovic (M.A. ‘24) represented the Seminary at a conference hosted by the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. The two-day conference, titled "The Apostolic Ministry": History, Theology, and Ecumenism, offered an exploration of “the ways in which churches claim ‘apostolicity,’ and what this ideal means for broader questions of ecumenism and inter-communion.” Eighteen presenters from the US, Canada, and Kenya joined the conference, representing a range of professions and viewpoints, including “theologians, historians, ordained ministers, canon lawyers, ecclesiologists, ecumenists, and students and seminarians.”

Mihailo learned about this conference last semester when the invitation to participate was received by SVOTS faculty. He decided to apply for a presenter slot as the topic aligned with his research interests and received a formal invitation in mid-summer.

During the conference, Mihailo gave his presentation on the topic “Examining the Council of All Orthodox Bishops in America: A Canonical Precedent or Reflection of Ancient Ecumenical Councils.”

Mihailo summarized his talk in an abstract featured in the conference program:

The Orthodox Church’s canonical tradition acknowledges the crucial role of the Assembly in collectively addressing community challenges. This research assesses how the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America continues the tradition established in the early centuries. It is unique as it brings together local churches operating within the same territory. Notably, some churches function as dioceses of jurisdictions with headquarters outside America. While the dialogue among these churches is rooted in shared faith, it often extends beyond administrative concerns to discussions on establishing Church boundaries. The dialogue between Orthodox jurisdictions is a foundation for fostering a broader understanding and engagement with other Churches.

Mihailo expressed gratitude for “the opportunity to present my work and to answer the questions of the attendees; it is always a good opportunity to hear specific opinions that can encourage further thinking and expand the dialogue.”

In reflecting further on the conference, Mihailo emphasized the range of topics and presenters represented at the event, saying how glad he was to give St Vladimir’s Seminary and Orthodoxy a voice in the discussion. Participating in these types of exchanges reminds Mihailo of why he chose to study theology, he explained, “The common desire for knowledge and service to God and the Church always motivates me to try even harder to contribute my life to the Church.”

In this Faculty Spotlight Interview, we get to know Dr Rossitza Schroeder, Associate Professor of Art History and Assistant Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts at St Vladimir’s Seminary. Dr Schroeder is teaching the third online course offered by St Vladimir’s Online School of Theology, Sacred Artistry: The Living Tradition of Orthodox Church Art, and graciously agreed to share more of her story with us in this interview piece.

Dr Schroeder, please tell us about your family background and early life in the Church. What were some early influences that led you to dedicate your life to studying and teaching Byzantine art history?

I was born and raised in Bulgaria in a working-class family. At the time I was growing up access to the church while not prohibited was not encouraged. We were supposed to be first and foremost followers of the communist party and its ideology. My father had a bible but hid it so as not to be reported to authorities by ‘well-meaning’ visitors. 

My personal relationship with the church began only in my early 20s after the dissolution of the Soviet bloc and while I was pursuing a degree in history at Sofia University. I was baptized primarily because my friends were. While I understood the seriousness of the Faith and the long tradition behind it, I could not sincerely relate to it. I feared it more than I loved it. Twenty years later, when I found myself on a tenure track position in California, I began a different journey in which the Church and its teaching became an inextricable part of my life. I owe this to the former director of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley Archbishop Nikitas Loulias, who generously provided me with the space to be both a church-goer and a Byzantine art historian all at once. I got to sing, read the epistle, and discuss icons with the community in the Institute and in churches all around the Bay Area. 

Dr Schroeder moderates a panel discussion hosted by the Institute of Sacred Arts at St Vladimir’s Seminary

I had encountered Byzantium in all its complexity since I was in middle school. The now-lost empire is closely tied to Bulgarian history for apparent geographical and cultural reasons. In middle and high school we studied it primarily as a negative presence that oppressed, invaded, and stole from us. But, when at university, thanks to my Byzantine history professors Georgi Bakalov and Anetta Ilieva, my understanding of the empire and itsheritage shifted profoundly. My actual intellectual ‘conversion’ happened while reading an article on Byzantine aesthetics. It is here that I first encountered the arguments for icon veneration provided by theologians like John of Damascus and Theodore the Studite. I found the sophistication of their writing not simply convincing but exhilarating. This was why I decided to pursue degrees in Byzantine art history in the United States where I was fortunate to have two exemplary teachers—Annemarie Carr and Henry Maguire. Their excellence and innate humility will always inform my teaching and scholarship. 

How did you come to St Vladimir's Seminary and to the Institute of Sacred Arts?

Academic Dean, Dr Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie contacted me in the Fall of 2019 and offered me to teach a course on Byzantine art. I realized that this was my best chance to be a teacher as well as a practitioner of the Orthodox Faith. At that point, I had already come to the conclusion that a deep understanding of Byzantine art is impossible without a meaningful engagement with the life of the Church. St Vladimir’s is the place where I can do both.

Why is it important to learn about the sacred arts? 

This is a complicated question. Can one imagine an Orthodox church without its distinct iconographic program? Without images of saints and scenes from the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary? I assume the answers to these questions will be in the negative. In light of the realities of our church buildings, it is very important that we know what we are looking at. Given the levels of literacy in our society, it cannot be said anymore that icons are the Bible for the poor and unlettered. What are they then? I believe that they are dialogic systems that allow communication with the holy. Icons are oriented not away from but toward the faithful. Just like texts, they allow identification with sainted exemplars of faithfulness and worship. They do not simply inform but also form the Orthodox Christians.

Dr Schroeder giving an overview of her upcoming online course with St Vladimir’s Online School of Theology, Sacred Artistry: The Living Tradition of Orthodox Church Art

How have you seen students learn and grow through learning about the sacred arts at St Vladimir's Seminary?

I can only hope that the students at St Vladimir’s have grown through the study of icons. I can say for certain that I have. 

What are your hopes for the Institute of Sacred Arts and the future of the M.A. concentration in Sacred Arts at St Vladimir's Seminary?

The Institute of Sacred Arts offers unique opportunities to academics, students, and laypeople to deepen their understanding of and relationship with the arts of the Orthodox Church. The MA degree is grounded in true and, in my opinion, edgy interdisciplinarity. Through course offerings in art history, theology, liturgics, and musicology the students in the program receive a well-rounded, holistic education. What makes the program particularly attractive is the opportunity to experience the effects of icons, music and poetry both in the classroom and in church. Indeed, theory and practice interact or even mix perfectly at St Vladimir’s Seminary.

You will be teaching the next online course offered by St Vladimir's Online School of Theology, Sacred Artistry: The Living Tradition of Orthodox Church Art. Can you give us a glimpse?

The class introduces the audience to the origins and meaning of icons. It bridges the gap between past and present and demonstrates how the art and architecture of 21st-century Orthodox churches have deep roots in Byzantium. It makes an argument for perceiving icons not as mere backdrops for sacred actions but as visual inputs for theologizing and, ultimately, as meaningful conduits to holiness. 

Last weekend, Associate Professor of Patristics, the Very Rev. Dr Bogdan Bucur, traveled to Brookline, MA to give a lecture at the Pappas Patristic Institute. The talk was entitled When the Most Blessed Athanasius was Opposing the Arians: Athanasius' Defense of the Nicene Faith Refracted through an Augustinian Lens (Darkly) and was attended by students and faculty of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium. Fr Bogdan spoke about the anti-subordinationist conception of Old Testament theophanies in St Augustine in relation to the views of St Athanasius the Great.

Article adapted from pappaspatristicinstitute.com.