Jacob's Well - Fall 2003

ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

Fall 2003 "Give me this water, that I may not thirst..." – John 4:15

THREE QUESTIONS

T H R E E

A N S W E R S

THEME

THREE QUESTIONS - THREE ANSWERS

By Fr. John Shimchick When is the best time to do each thing? Who are the most important people to work with? What is the most important thing to do at all times?

When, Who and What - these are the concerns raised by a certain king in Leo Tolstoy’s story, “Three Questions,” and he was willing to offer a great reward to anyone who could provide him the answers. A number of people came forward, but not satisfied with any of their responses he decided to consult a hermit well known for his wisdom. Since the hermit would only receive common folk, the king put on simple clothes, left his bodyguard behind, and entering the woods to the hermit’s cell alone he encountered the hermit and certain events that would forever change him.

You can read the whole story on our website, but for now here’s what he learned from the hermit concerning the questions of when, who, and what: “There is only one time that is important — Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power. The most necessary man is he with whom you are, for no man knows whether he will ever have dealings with any one else: and the most important affair is, to do him good, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life!”

How these questions and answers actually get worked out in life is the theme of our issue. William Southrey discusses the efforts accomplished at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.

Deacon Michael Sochka describes the training he has received from the Red Cross in offering pastoral care during a disaster.

Julia Raboteau explains the ministry of hospitality that takes place at Souls in Motion, a day rehabilitation program that she works at in Harlem. Stephen Keeler presents the life of Chiune Sugihara - Japanese diplomat, Orthodox Christian, and liberator of thousands of Jews in 1940. Robert Pianka of International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) examines these issues in the context of the unique features of Orthodox philanthropy.

One could easily explore this theme in the life and long ministries of Fr. John Nehrebecki and Fr. Paul Shafran whose retirements are presented. We learn more about the activity of some of our Diocesan parishes and hear about the visit of the Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir to Alaska.

Archbishop Peter explores the meaning of the word, “Diaspora.”

Fr. George Gray reviews an important Vatican document which analyzes the “New Age Movement” from a Christian perspective.

We feature an interview with Dean John Erickson of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, who among other things offers suggestions for interaction between our Diocese and the Seminary.

This is our first issue since the summer of 2002 and I apologize to those who have sent older materials that we were unable to include. Limitations in Diocesan funding and some periods of creative inertia prevented us from putting out an issue any sooner. We hope to be on a more regular cycle from now on.

When pressed once on his acknowledgement that none of us is perfect and asked about his own flaws and shortcomings, Fred Rogers, host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” responded in the following way: “I’m trying to be a better appreciator. I’m just convinced that God wants us to find whatever we can that is of value in the person we happen to be with at the moment.”

This issue is dedicated to all who struggle with Tolstoy’s three questions and their answers, to all who likewise desire to be ‘better appreciators,’ finding what we can of value in those whom God has placed in our lives at the present moment. ❖

C O N T E N T S Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13 Special Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-21 Parish News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-31 Good & Faithful Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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THREE QUESTIONS - THREE ANSWERS

ARE WE LIVING IN DIASPORA?

By Archbishop Peter (L’Huillier) Although the term Diaspora is often used in Orthodox ecclesiastical milieus, it is difficult to find an accurate definition of its meaning. The literal translation of that term into English is Dispersion; however, one can find the word Diaspora in dictionaries with three closely related explanations: 1) the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian exile; 2) the Jews thus dispersed; 3) in the time of the Apostles, Jewish Christians who lived outside of Palestine.

(Webster’s Dictionary) In the Old Testament, it firstly refers to the situation of the Israelite people in exile after the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. Later Jews are found everywhere around the Mediterranean Basin and in the Middle East up to Persia. But for all the Jews, the country of Israel was the Promised Land and the temple of Jerusalem was the only legitimate place of sacrifice.

So we can understand the sadness of the Psalmist who proclaims: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth” (Psalm 137:4-6).

For the believers in Christ, the position is different. They remember very especially the prophecy of Jeremiah: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah; not like the covenant which I made with their forefathers . . . But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them and I will write it upon their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people” (31:31-32, 33-34).

This prophecy is obviously mentioned as fulfilled in the New Testament. It is quoted in the epistle to the Hebrews, 8:8-10, and is the theme of that entire letter. One of the most salient characteristics of the New Covenant is its universality based on the command of Christ before His Ascension: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of

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the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Those words of Jesus were something so new that it took some time before their significance was fully understood and implemented. This was essentially, but not exclusively, the work of St. Paul, the Apostle of the Nations. He proclaimed the axiomatic principle of the absence of discrimination in the evangelical spreading: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

In primitive Christianity, there was a strong consciousness of the fact that the Church was the messianic community of the end times and it is noteworthy that St. Peter, in his address to the crowd on the day of Pentecost, affirmed that this event was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32. This expectation of the second coming of Christ is expressed in the last article of our Creed: “I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” As it can be expected, this fundamental tenet of our Faith has been reflected not only in the thought, but also in Christian vocabulary even if, more than often believers ignore, or don’t pay attention to, this reality.

Notwithstanding, the reading of Holy Scriptures and Patristic literature is evidence of this fact. For example, St. Peter addresses his first epistle: “To the exiles of the Diaspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (I Peter 1:1). Later, he calls the believers “aliens and exiles” (ibid 2:11). Such a terminology is common place among Christian writers of the early centuries.

Besides, until now, we frequently use terms which, etymologically, refer to our condition on earth; it is sufficient to mention the word Parish, coming from the Greek verb Paroikein which means to sojourn in a place as a pilgrim.

From what I have just expounded, it is obvious that the contemporary trend to use the term Diaspora to characterize the Orthodox communities established outside territories where the

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Church had been present in Antiquity or during the middle Ages is inaccurate and often tendentious. Surely, the term Diaspora can be correctly used to designate the immigrants of a certain country and they are entitled to keep their language, their customs, and preserve their cultural heritage.

In this area, the local Orthodox community must bring its useful contribution in organizing liturgical services and cultural activities, within the framework of parishes, and the diocese. Insofar as the unity, or the unity on the level of the diocese is respected, it is perfectly acceptable.

This principle was expressed in Antiquity by the people of Rome when the emperor Constantius proposed that the office of bishop was split between two bishops. The Christian people proclaimed: “Only one God, only one Christ, only one bishop.” It is worthy of note that this ecclesiological principle was strictly observed until the second half of the nineteenth century and when it was infringed it was officially condemned as a heresy. It is only in the twenties of the last century, as a consequence of the Bolshevik revolution, that this anti-canonical situation has affected

America and thereafter other parts of the world.

Needless to say, this odd situation raised, and continues to raise, numberless, unsolvable problems of Church order.

It happens that a misconception sometimes exists in some places about the unity of the Church universal: Unity is viewed as necessarily implying jurisdictional subordination. Actually, nothing was more alien to the thought of ancient Christianity. I will give only one example drawn from Church History. It is an account of a persecution which took place in 177 in Gaul. It starts with the address: “The servants of Christ dwelling at Lyons and Vienna in Gaul to those brethren in Asia and Phrygia, having the same faith and hope with us; peace and grace and glory from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is noteworthy that there is no canonical subordination of the Church of Gaul vis-a-vis that of Asia Minor, but there was full communion in faith, love, and sacramental life, and that constitutes the model of unity which must always prevail in the entire Orthodox Church.❖

THE ATLANTIC CITY RESCUE MISSION

By William R. Southrey The agency in which I serve is the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, which is a place that gathers in the community’s lost and lonely homeless people. In The teen group from The Orthodox Church of the terms of Tolstoy’s story, Holy Cross, Medford, NJ, visited the mission this “Three Questions,” in summer, and helped prepare a meal. which a king asks for wisdom in discerning the right time to begin everything, the right people to listen to, and the most important thing to do, the Mission is a wondrous place through which we have the opportunity to learn such profound lessons. Everyday, we serve men, women, and mothers with children who have been broken by the pressures of this world, whether by the transgressions of others, or by choices that they have made themselves. For whatever reason, they have become disenfranchised from society, utterly hopePage 4 less, and in many cases, very near to death.

The right time at the Mission is always now, because the people come through the doors in such a condition that necessitates immediate attention.

They need hope - now. This presents a considerable challenge to busy staff members that are already providing care to hundreds of others in the course of a day. The Mission is unique in that it offers hope, in its purest form, to people who have no hope. The hope exists in the many and vast lessons in life that shape up our inner most parts, our souls, into the proper image - that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Such pure hope is realized through the process of theosis, that innate desire to partake of the divine nature; the desire to know intimately that God became man that man may become god. It is what we offer to those broken souls that end up at the Mission, and it is why we do what we do. We must do it when the opportunity presents itself, which is often; we must recognize that “I” am the right person to offer the hope because I’m with the person now; and I must offer the most important

THREE QUESTIONS - THREE ANSWERS thing, the hope, in order to bring goodness and life immediately to the soul before me that currently has no hope and is facing death.

At the Mission, we’ve many stories that demonstrate Tolstoy’s questions. One in particular happened during this past winter, which was very severe and brought us many more people to care for. A man that came to us with feet so frozen that they were literally dying off of his limbs, put staff members to the test. This man was sent to the Mission from a hospital in another county of New Jersey that gave him some medical attention, but they sent him to us for further care because he was indigent and couldn’t pay his medical bills. The Mission is not a medical facility, so we addressed his needs the best we could.

We discovered right away that the hospital had left the man’s frozen feet attached to his warm body, and they were dying slowly, painfully on him. They blackened and became gangrenous, full of dead tissue, and a pungent odor. This poor man was given to us with no help, no hope, and it seemed at that point, no immediate opportunity to get the help he desperately needed. He was from Poland and did not speak English well, which also presented a language barrier.

As I observed staff members attempting to care for the man, I noticed that they were most concerned at first about the overpowering odor from his dying feet that turned their stomachs and the potential transmission of disease. I understood their concerns, however, a person who needed care and encouragement was attached to the black ugliness.

This is what unfolded: Our man needed help from us “now.” He needed the touch of human hands and the compassion of their hearts. One staff member, although still concerned about his own well being, donned some gloves and began to redress the man’s feet. Quickly he learned that he had to be extremely careful, because the toes were about to snap off and any pressure on the feet caused them to bleed profusely. Soon a transformation took place in both men. They could feel the love that was not just of their own hearts, but also of the very heart of God. I even witnessed glances of appreciation between them. That staff member realized that the immediate time, “the now,” was the most important time to love and

care for an ailing and rejected man with body parts withering and dying before his own eyes.

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The decision to provide help had a ripple effect. A man in a bed nearby suffering in another way with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma, began to assist by cutting bandages and tape to apply to the feet. Just moments earlier he had been complaining about the very presence of our new guest because of the stench. Soon another staff member came over to help, and still another took it upon himself to check in on the man on days off to ensure his proper care.

All of these staff members, to speak to Tolstoy’s second question, became the right people for this man. And the man was the most important person for them at that moment as well. Sure, staff members went on to care for many others throughout the day and into the following days. No doubt they were challenged by others to make their hearts respond in the fondest way, and in the most genuine and loving way to each person, at every moment. It’s a constant opportunity, and if we don’t take time for it we risk completely missing the goodness we might present to another who may be someone to learn from, someone in whom we see ourselves, and someone in whom we can see the image of God. Finally in the third question, Tolstoy presents the purpose, which is to do good for one another.

What drove those Mission staff members to put aside themselves and care for the man that had thrown them back repulsed? It was the desire to fulfill the purpose of doing good to another. They had learned to do what is good in love. They had learned to offer hope in its purest form to another, so they might know intimately that God became man that man may become God, and that our God has done so in goodness and love for us. What might have happened if God waited to receive just one person? It would have crushed our hope.

For more information about the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, call 609-345-5517.

If you would like to make a donation, a check may be made payable to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 5358, Atlantic City, NJ 08404.

Or visit our website at www.acrescuemission.org.

I challenge you to take this to heart and look at the person with you right now. Realize that this is the most important person in your presence right now. Offer him or her some goodness, because now is your right moment to do so! ❖ William Souhrey is a member of St. John Chrysostm Mission, currently meeting in Ventnor, NJ. Email: billsouthrey@acrescuemission.org

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SOULS IN MOTION/CSS A Place of Hospitality

By Julia Raboteau Hospitality is making room for another like Mary’s womb made room for Christ, and we sing in our hymnography that her womb was made “as spacious as the heavens.”

The umbrella for Souls in Motion is CSS, or Community Support System, a day rehabilitation program that has been providing psychiatric services for adults for nearly twenty-five years in Harlem, New York City. CSS is presently housed in a former public high school building called the Oberia Dempsey Center along with many other social services. As a Continuing Day Treatment Program, our doors open early to offer breakfast to our clients and stay open seven days a week also providing lunch, Metrocards, reading and writing classes, recreational activities, counseling and medication. We also offer a limited number of shared living apartments.

Our clinical director, Mr. Willie James Prescott, was there when CSS opened its doors in 1979. A consummate father-type, he runs the program with a healthy balance of compassion and grit and is adored by our 100 clients. His personal tone sets the stage for a dynamic and caring program.

Our business officer, always immersed in the complicated maze of institutional finances, feels free to stop and cook a delicious Guianese meal for the clients. Our clinical coordinator takes a break from writing treatment plans to join us in the exercise circle. Retired staff members return to work part-time. Social work and psychiatric interns come from colleges in New York City. Volunteers offer their time and gifts.

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Souls in Motion is housed in the basement of the Dempsey Center, hidden away in a maze of winding corridors that culminate in large studio space that is often mistaken for a museum. Louise and I began Souls as a haven to promote creativity for our psychiatric clients, but over the years we see that it has been a haven for everyone connected with our community, including ourselves!

Many people measure mental problems with a cultural yardstick. For us, “madness” is fragile, chaotic and frightened energy that is hiding a Big Spirit. For sixteen years we have been able to provide a stable, safe harbor for such a spirit. We believe that we feel better about ourselves if we tap into and reclaim the creative streak that lies at our core. We exist to help facilitate that connection by encouraging expression in the creative arts as well as in the interaction between human beings.

Before I came to Harlem to work, I read a seventeen year study of a mental patient, Sylvia Frumpkin, that first appeared in four installments in The New Yorker by Susan Sheehan called “Is There No Place On Earth For Me?” and was amazed by the random chaos and downward spiral that characterized this woman’s life. Each day Louise and I try to answer this plea with a resounding “Yes!” there is a place, at Souls in Motion!

Our gifts define our respective roles in the studio. Louise is the Mother of the Hearth and cooks two delicious, healthy meals a day, tends to our menagerie of animals, directs the sewing projects and leads us in Qi Gong. I am the Architect of the Space and promote art, take photographs, oversee the Souls Press, and tend the garden. By nature, I am more Martha and Louise more Mary, but over the years we have grown to be some of both.

Although we look quite different physically, it is common for people to confuse us and call us by each other’s names.

In vintage Raboteau style my husband Al wrote this description for our community: “Souls in Motion/CSS, a studio space in Harlem, a place to awaken and nourish the artistic spirit within each of us, a space for painting, for cooking, for writing, for stretching, for sewing, for the fine art of listening, for silence and reflection, a place where each person is welcome, a room of hospitality.” Al is no stranger to our room. He has been teaching a journal-writing seminar called “The Soup Seminar” with the clients for the last eight years.

The actual physical space is enormous and divided by low partitions that allow visibility into all of the parts. Everyone can see and hear each

THREE QUESTIONS - THREE ANSWERS other easily. This arrangement helps to create a mutual respect for the people and the room.

Clients who come regularly to work get their own desk, while others come to enjoy the quiet and the beauty, sleep off the effects of their various medication, interact with our animals or enjoy making something with their hands. We try to offer a balance between privacy and community.

One of the busiest desks in our room belongs to William Turner. From the beginning we were given the gift of Mr. Turner who keeps a spiritual pulse on all things. He is able to transform his personal psychosis into selfless prayer to God. His sleepless nights are often spent listening to news on the radio and praying for victims of earthquakes, floods, starvation, shootings, wars, rapes, global turmoil. His faith in God knows no boundaries. “God is Love” is often on his lips and in his drawings.

He is also a visionary. He dreamt about the collapse of the Berlin Wall the night before it fell, and saw Louise and I in nursing aprons at its edge administering to people while he flew over it in a cape, an image dear to our hearts that we use on our calling cards. It was also prophetic as she and I began an acupuncture program three years after he had this dream.

Fifty feet south of William sits another client, Lorna, mother, cook, poet, peer advocate who wants everyone to experience God’s gift of love and writes poems to steer us in that direction. We published her first book of poetry “Love Always” that is in now in its third edition. Like William, she is filled with gratitude for the gift of life and prays daily at our children’s altar. Many of our clients’ children have been raised in the foster care system.

Lorna prays from a little book that lists their names. She also leads us in intercessional prayer at the Orthodox altar in the small niche off the acupuncture area, a comforting place to be when our wounds overwhelm us.

Two of our favorite prayers come from one of our clients who before she gets out of bed in the morning says “Thank you Lord for another day. A day I never saw before. And thank you for waking me clothed in my right mind and for having all the activity in my limbs,” and then at mealtime continues with “Lord, we thank you for this food. By Thy hands we are softly fed. Give us Lord, our daily bread. Amen. Amen.”

One day, when William was way down in the dumps, Lorna wrote him a poem to cheer him up called “if i bite you” and it goes “if i bite you, i ain’t gonna let nobody see me bite you, i’d love to hug you because you’re for real, you know the deal, i love your laughter, so if you’re gonna bite me, make it snappy” This inspired poem became the title for our first published Souls’ anthology that featured prayers of thankfulness.

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The Tibetan Buddhists believe that mental illness comes from immense unkindness to people when they were children. There can never be enough kindness to make up for the deep afflictions of painful childhoods. For us, at Souls in Motion, hugs are 98% of our job, and almost everyone wants one. Louise and I love the aesthetic beauty in the studio, but we know that the main deal is the hugging. My “off ” days in the community are those when I forget this lesson.

Lorna, skeptical of treatment centers, found us through her close friend James whose enthusiasm for the studio had convinced her to at least visit. He promised her that Souls in Motion/CSS was not like most “programs.” During our first “interview” with her, we all felt like we had known each other for years. In 1999 she wrote these words for her presentation at a conference she and I attended called “Our Time Has Come:” The support I have received has been unbelievable. We, the members, are thankful for all the true love we have received. I have given much thought to this, not only as a human being, but also as a spiritual being. And I believe that Our Almighty Creator has guided me in my also becoming a peer counselor at CSS/Souls in Motion. I have been basically drawn out of the shell that I had been in. With the support I have been able to remain out of the hospital for five years, which is something that earlier on in life seemed to me to be an unbelievable impossibility. I also give credit to my hard work on myself, because in order for my medication to work, I have to work with my inner self as well as my outer self. I would like to see all the clients progress, as they have many talented abilities.

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Lorna has the added support of one of our most endearing volunteers, Libbie, who comes to give her acupuncture once a week. As a graduate of the CSS program, Lorna chose to stay and redefine her role in the program. She apprentices with Louise in the kitchen learning to cook and eat healthy food, develops ideas with me for the greeting card business she hopes to have one day with her younger daughter, and has received peer advocacy training. She finds that her acupuncture treatments are helping to improve both her physical and mental health, a key to realizing future goals.

Compassionate like his friend Lorna, James can pull himself out of his own depression to soothe another person’s suffering. Once he told me that if he hadn’t been eaten alive by mental depression and guilt, he would have become a social worker or a therapist in a school. I told him that he was already one, and that his generosity was indispensable at CSS. Presently, he is at a state hospital and the whole community misses him and prays for him.

His gentle nature was acknowledged by Jack, our resident rabbit, who would make a sudden stop to let James pet him as he hopped around our 8500 square feet that make up his studio habitat.

Over the long span of his life, he has only let a precious few people pet him. With fierce bared teeth and sharp grunts, he set clear guidelines for touching early on. He courts Louise by chewing on her velvet pant legs and used to circle Orville, a former client, during his extensive philosophical pacing.

He has definitely taught me about my rough edges by only recently in his tenth year, now blind with cataracts and survivor of a mini-stroke, allowing me finally to pat his head.

However, it is Ballerina, our white cat with soulful eyes, who is queen of our roost. Scruffy and thin, she was sighted hanging out in the parking lot during the Raboteau wedding reception that was held at Souls in Motion. We adopted her just weeks before she gave birth to five kittens in a box under the computer. After some serious nutritional food from Louise, her sleek body could be seen in the aviary watching our three red slider’s swimming about, darting out playfully at Jack as he hopped by and lying with Fred, our African Leopard tortoise, under his heat lamp.

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Her calm energy is a balm for our room and ideal for those clients who are afraid of cats. She

allows gentle petting, alerts us to visitors entering the room, lies in the middle of our morning Qi Gong circle, kneads sore abdomens during or after a Pilates or acupuncture session, and sleeps muselike in the large basket in the middle of the round table for the writing class.

Besides learning from our animals, we get lessons from each other. One of our most delightful teachers is Ethel whose deep faith in God and immense love of life inspires us when life looks grim. Her buoyancy is a gift for the chronic depression that her husband James wrestles with.

For many years their admirable marriage has been a model for other CSS couples. Against the gray grid that is Harlem, the difficulties of mental illness, and the pain in being separated from her husband, she sits in the green grass flanking the Hudson River to calm herself and lights her candles in prayer at night. Her faith is deep and her spirit intrepid.

Al and I are believers of linking up different communities for the benefit of both of them, each one with its distinctive gifts to offer the other.

Lorna, James and Ethel and a few others have stayed with us in Princeton and visited our church, Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Mission. One of our elder clients spends a week with us during Nativity and Pascha. Two years ago, our choir, priest, and parishioners from Princeton visited Souls in Motion during one of our holiday sales. Many folks from our Orthodox community-at-large have visited us. Distance and busyness are deterrents to implementing this dream but we are always on the lookout for new opportunities.

Over the sixteen years, we have “reinvented” the room many times trying to be sensitive to the needs of the people who are using it. Many have benefited from our stable yet flexible environment.

One year when it looked as if the entire program might close or change for the worst, we realized how fragile our creation really was. A close Orthodox friend consoled me by saying “You know, it will be okay, ‘Souls in Motion’ is a place in the heart.” ❖

THREE QUESTIONS - THREE ANSWERS

A HIDDEN LIFE: A Short Introduction to Chiune Sugihara

Fall 2003

By Stephen Keeler Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg are among the most commonly known people who have been recognized as taking extra-ordinary personal risks to help Jews and others targeted for extermination by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Worker’s Party in Germany, 1933-1945.

Perhaps the least well known is a Japanese diplomat, Chiune Sugihara (d. 1986), who only later in life admitted to his own heroic actions, and was recognized in 1985 by the State of Israel with its highest honor. Even less well known is that Sugihara was a convert to Orthodoxy.

Born on January 1, 1900, Sugihara enrolled in Tokyo’s Waseda University, which to this day is considered to be one of Japan’s top private institutions with a flair for international affairs. He studied English, and then was received into the Foreign Ministry. An accomplished linguist, he was sent in the 1920s to the Japanese language institute in Harbin, the capital of Manchuria, China.

There he learned Russian and converted to Orthodoxy. Such were his skills that he participated in negotiations with Russia for the sale of the Manchurian Railway to Japan.

He rose through the diplomatic ranks with the linguistic and social abilities commensurate with his positions. Multi-lingual, he was sent to Finland in that late 1930s, and with war pending was entrusted to be the one-man consulate for Japan to Lithuania in March, 1939. Six months later, Hitler invaded Poland, and refugees poured into Lithuania headed east. Then in June 1940, the Soviet Union invaded Lithuania as part of its spoils from its non-aggression pact with Germany, signed just before the invasion of Poland.

One month later, July 1940, the Soviet government informed all foreign consulates in Lithuania to leave. Instead of leaving, Sugihara requested and received a 20-day extension, leaving only himself and his Dutch counterpart as the only two consuls in Lithuania.

These two consuls, along with the Soviet attaché, soon found themselves inundated with requests from refugees, mostly Polish Jews, who could emigrate to the Dutch Caribbean. To get there, they had to pass through the Soviet Union and Japan. The Soviet Government insisted that they have a valid transit visa from Japan in order to exit from the Soviet Union.

Sugihara’s request to issue these visas was denied by the Japanese Government three times.

He decided to disobey his superiors, and began on July 29 issuing visas to the crowds outside his consulate.

Night and day he worked, and in the end when he had to leave on September 1, 1940, he threw his visa stamp from his train compartment to the desperate crowd. These “Sugihara Survivors” were upon arrival in Japan interred at Kobe, and then scattered, with many Jews staying under the protection of the Japanese government in Shanghai, China for much of the war.

Sugihara stayed in the Foreign Ministry until 1945, and was then dismissed. Some reports indicate that this was done unceremoniously, other reports claim that he did receive a pension for his services.

He then worked for an export company near Tokyo for much of his remaining life, dying in 1986.

These are the common facts of his life available in English. What remains hidden to this writer to date, and what may be of singular interest to the readers of Jacob’s Well, is why he converted to Orthodoxy, and what impact his faith may have played in his unique role during World War II. At a minimum, it is important to not discount his decision to disobey his superiors. While this may seem not especially noteworthy in a time of great confusion such as war, such an action for most Japanese would be fraught with tremendous trepidation. Japan’s historical, literary or cultural tradition contains very little, if any, sense of the “rugged individualism” found in America. While we are familiar with stories embracing the hero who

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defies all things in order to save the day, Japanese in contrast are more familiar with hearing of sacrifices nobly made for the greater good. Add to these the normal expectations of obedience required within any government ministry, and the magnitude of Sugihara’s defiance cannot be underestimated.

Answers may lie in a formal study of Sugihara’s life, especially his formative ‘20s while stationed in Manchuria and its capital, Harbin. We can only imagine the lost world of Harbin in the 1920s, which has been devastated over the years by Japanese occupation in the ‘30s, World War II and the Chinese Civil War in the ‘40s, and the rampant destruction of Mao and his followers especially during the Cultural Revolution of the ‘60s. This writer recalls Harbin of the 1980s as horribly poor, with architecture and street design a unique mix of Chinese and Russian.

There is also considerable information about Sugihara on the Internet, especially on the website of the Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C. www.ushmm.org/ go to “Site Search”

What can be surmised of the milieu Sugihara encountered in Harbin? What there might have lead him to Orthodoxy? We know that Harbin in the 1920s was filled with White Russian refugees, and became an intellectual and cultural center of the White Russian diaspora. We know too that the Japanese Orthodox Church was at its peak in Japan, before it was decimated by the purges of the government in the 1930s. How these might have influenced Sugihara is unknown, and any insight readers of Jacob’s Well may have are invited to send their thoughts to the editor for further investigation.

While the complete story of Sughihara’s involvement in the Orthodox Church is not clear, it had and, continues to encourage a response in others.

In her autobiography, Visas for Life, Sugihara’s wife Yukiko acknowledges that given he had been bap-

tized as an Orthodox Christian she also agreed to be baptized, taking the Christian name Maria, and they were married in February, 1935 in Tokyo.

An article in the Los Angeles Times (September 21, 2002) entitled, “Greek Orthodox Cathedral Is Reaching Beyond Ethnic Roots,” tells the story of the growing interaction between St. Sophia’s Church and the Latino neighborhood where it is located. The pastor, Fr. John Bakas, affirmed that part of the inspiration for him came in 1995 through an invitation from the mayor of Los Angeles to attend a ceremony honoring Sugihara.

Learning for the first time about his efforts which had saved the lives of thousands of Jews, Fr. Bakas also heard directly from his family that Sugihara’s actions were “propelled by his faith” as a member of the Orthodox Church. “‘Here’s a man who did not take the comfortable road, who reached out beyond himself and did something sacrificial in providing service to others at the expense of himself,’ Fr. John said, tearing up even today as he recounted the story. ‘Sugihara had a tremendous impact on how I perceive my ministry.’”

Suffice it to say that, in his quiet, modest way, Sugihara very much embodied the noble concept of Tolstoy’s prince. He sought neither fame nor fortune, merely saying “I may have to disobey my government, but if I don’t I would be disobeying God.” ❖ Bibliography: Levine, Hillel. In Search of Sugihara. (New York: The Free Press, 1996).

Sugihara, Yukiko. Visas for Life. (San Francisco: EduComm., 1995).

Special thanks to Jurretta Heckschev for her help in researching this article.

ALASKAN CHOIR VISITS OUR DIOCESE St. Vladimir’s Church in Trenton, NJ welcomed the St. Herman’s Seminary Christmas Octet during its tour in December, 2002. The Octet, which featured explanations of Alaskan Orthodox heritage by Fr. Michael Oleksa, sang a variety of Orthodox hymns and carols.

Within our Diocese the Octet also visited Christ the Saviour Parish, Paramus; Annunciation Church, Brick; and SS. Peter and Paul Church, Manville. ❖

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Members of the Octet with St. Vladimir’s pastor Fr. Martin Kraus and guests.

THREE QUESTIONS - THREE ANSWERS

RED CROSS TRAINING ON DELIVERING PASTORAL CARE DURING A DISASTER

Fall 2003

By Deacon Michael Sochka We constantly read and hear in the news media that we live in a “post-9-11 world.” While I have problems with that label, primarily because I see our lives lived in a “post-Resurrection” and “postAscension” world, for many, the events of September 11, 2001 profoundly affected their outlook on life. Post-9-11 or not, St. Paul’s words are certainly true, “the days are evil ...” Ephesians 5:16.

The question or issue for us as Christians is how do we respond to the evil of our times? How do we “make the most of our time?” Of particular interest is how to respond in a pastoral manner to the nameless grief, apprehension, and feelings of helplessness that we have seen and still see around us.

In asking myself these questions I was, like so many, motivated to look for ways to understand the tragedy and help other people through their personal trauma. When I received an invitation from the American Red Cross to attend a conference on the impact of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on faith communities and their leaders I decided it was worth the trip to New York and the day off work.

Some of what I learned from the conference surprised me, while other things seemed very familiar.

One surprising piece of information is that the US Congress designated the American Red Cross as the national provider/organizer of spiritual care in a disaster, directly linking the Red Cross with FEMA and other state and local disaster relief agencies. The fact that spiritual care is a matter for the federal government may or may not surprise you. We owe the government’s keen awareness of the importance of spiritual care during and after a disaster to another of our nation’s tragedy, namely the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.

How spiritual care during a national disaster differs from spiritual care at other times is a matter of scale. As individuals we may lose loved ones to an accident or a home to fire. But when it’s the whole nation the scale is bigger and so is the recovery time. History has to play out; we are faced with our own inability to control our environment.

Recovery is in years, not months, and whole series of events re-open the wounds.

Main Themes of the Training As a whole progression of pastors, rabbis, priests, imams, and psychologists spoke, (obviously from different faith traditions) one thing was made very clear, that we must make ourselves available to help all people, even those outside our faith. We do this primarily by practicing the ministry of personal presence-listening to people and responding to them where they are. Specific techniques include assuring people, especially children, of their own personal safety and security. It is also critical to allow people to vent their feelings, and have those feelings validated. Finally in the “critical” phase of care, it is important to try to predict next steps and prepare the person for taking them. For someone that has been displaced, it may include transportation to a shelter and providing social workers to help him or her with practical matters.

Since the conference was also designed to help spiritual caregivers, a lot of the information dealt with issues of compassion fatigue and burnout.

Some important statistics from Oklahoma City included that 30 percent of the pastors left ministry work in the two or three year period after the bombing of the Federal Building. In part, this is because pastors had trouble reintegrating themselves with their families, friends and communities after being mobilized. Generally, this is because ministers have a rescuer’s mentality and a tendency to devote and exhaust themselves helping others.

There’s also a tendency for ministers to see themselves as immune from stimulus that affects others.

This highlights the need for spiritual care volunteers to receive adequate pre- and post-disaster training so that they can recognize possible effects of post-traumatic stress in themselves and seek appropriate care.

It’s interesting to note that most people prefer to talk to a member of the clergy than to a mental health worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist.

To help clergy and other spiritual caregivers, the Greater New York chapter of the American Red Cross - the first chapter in the country to do so provides certification classes for disaster spiritual

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care. In addition to “Volunteer Orientation” and “Introduction to Disaster Services”, coursework includes “Serving the Diverse Community” and “Disaster Spiritual Care Services.” Completion of the coursework enables clergy to receive a Red Cross badge and to accompany emergency workers in the Greater New York chapter area. An Emergency Services Ride-Along is the final requirement for being put on a regular disaster spiritual care rotation (once a month). While this was my immediate goal in signing up for the Red Cross training, I’ve also leveraged that training into a volunteer position with the International Orthodox Christian Charities, where I am helping to build a national network of Orthodox clergy to respond to disasters anywhere in the United States.

Whether we are building a response network or responding one-on-one to the people in our everyday life, we are, in fact, responding to Christ and to His call to serve and love those around us. For much of my life I think this idea has been a bit of an abstraction. While professing my love for God and for people, it was all too easy for me to feel sympathetic, act superficially and still be focused almost entirely on my own life. For God, love is not an abstraction. We owe our existence to His love and to really respond with God’s love to those around us requires more than feeling sympathetic and acting superficially. It requires us to give ourselves. But of course, what we give to God, we get back as a blessing. ❖

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO DO EACH THING?

By Robert Pianka

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one else. You “speak their language.” And, you are Do each thing when you are challenged and expected to get “your own house in order” before can meet the challenge. Grow stronger by fulfillyou show up in other commuing your obligations. nities. Every community has “The Orthodox still represent less Here’s a perfect examwithin it a “target-population” than 2% of the American populaple. Historically, now is of people in need. In the 1990 tion. Divided into a dozen jurisdicthe time for Orthodox US Census, 5-million people tions, they simply cannot survive Christians in America to claimed ancestry from the growing pressure of the take their engagement Orthodox homelands.

More American ‘melting pot’... No ‘jurisagainst poverty and alienthan 375,000 were living diction’ by itself can meet the ation to a higher level. below the poverty line. A urgent needs of better education, Given the hard work and community that helps its own Orthodox presence on university success of previous generaaccomplishes three things. It campuses, in the public communitions, we now have human deals with its own contribution cations media, in philanthropic and financial resources to to the poverty problem. It work, etc.” multiply our impact. And, builds “access” to the “targetSCOBA, 1965 report, Ad Hoc given the contrast between population” for public authorCommission on Unity our Faith-based motivation ities and charities from outside and our “presence” in philthe community. And, it builds both the “social anthropic work, we need to exceed our philanservice capacity” and the relationships needed to thropic aspirations. reach beyond its boundaries.

Who are the most important people to work with?

Third, as you build your strong collective ability to help, work with those in need in neighborWork with your allies in Faith and work personing communities. For many parishes this means ally with those in need. First, work with your allies in reaching out to non-Orthodox often SpanishFaith. Find strength in the quality of your motivaspeaking communities in the downtown neighbortion. Find strength in pan-Orthodox numbers. hood where you still go to church. For other Second, work with those in need in your own parishes, I recommend looking first to noncommunity. You can help them better than anySCOBA-jurisdiction Orthodox communities.

SPECIAL FEATURE together and do first things first. Build your capacMany arrived recently and their success is being ity, partner with others, and reach out. Do all this delayed by the “language barrier.” And, while our bond might seem exotic, it is fundamental and sufpersonally and during awareness of Christ. ficient to bridge the gap Helping others is far between strangers that thwarts Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in harder than helping yourself. so much charitable intention.

1989, fully one-half of the refugees We take pride in our Those of us who have worked entering the United States came achievements. We don’t in this direction also know from the former USSR & Eastern envy ourselves. A funny that our new neighbors in Europe. Of these 611,738 refugees thing happens, though, Faith have much to offer us as who we were uniquely able to help, when our achievement takes we confront the mainstream 0 were resettled by Orthodox the form of helping another. culture of our adopted counChristian charities.

Our experience of satisfactry. Many parishes, will need tion has to be carefully negoto reach out far to find people tiated with the “transaction” of giving and receivin need. I recommend they reach out through a ing. If we do not create a personal relationship fellow Orthodox parish in less favorable circumbetween the parties to the transaction, the act of stances in a less desirable neighborhood. charity is likely to be stained by arrogance and humiliation. Orthodox Philanthropy, that is What is the most important thing to do at all “Christo-centric charity,” avoids this. In Christ’s times? presence, two persons engaged in an act of charity are “sharing God’s gifts.” ❖ Live your Faith: engage in Orthodox Philanthropy. Recognize your obligations and realize their priority over your other concerns.

Robert Pianka is U.S. Program Director for I.O.C.C. Inventory the resources and skills you have. Work

Fall 2003

REVIEW: Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life - A Christian Reflection on the “New Age”

by Fr. George Gray “A major new Vatican document on the New Age movement has warned that a number of Catholic retreat places, seminaries and religious formation houses are dabbling in New Age spirituality which is incompatible with Christian doctrine.” Thus begins a review from The London Tablet, a Roman Catholic weekly, of Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life - A Christian Reflection on the “New Age”, an 88-page “provisional” report published February 2 this year.

New Age spirituality is not foreign to the Orthodox. From its beginnings, the Church has continually had to deal with gnostic religious traditions. Some Orthodox retreat houses and camp facilities must rent their space to a wide variety of groups both in and outside the Church, simply to keep their doors open. In those situations, they see some of the same “dabbling” described in the Tablet’s review.

Retreat and camp facilities aside, our own faithful - many of whom are inactive cradle Orthodox - have been migrating away from the Faith toward New Age thought and religiosity.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (+1891), founder of the Theosophical Society which is credited with starting the New Age Movement in 1875, is only one of many Orthodox Christians who have left the Church to seek the “mystical path.” The message of this new document should be of interest to Orthodox Christians as well as Roman Catholics.

It attempts to deal with what it calls “the complex phenomenon of ‘New Age’ which is influencing many aspects of contemporary culture” (from the Foreword). The report analyzes the context in which the New Age has arisen, presents general characteristics of the movement, and contrasts it with authentic Christian spirituality. The text concludes with a glossary, a list of key New Age places and a bibliography.

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In presenting the document, Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said, “The New Age phenomenon, along with many other new religious movements, is one of the most urgent challenges for the Christian faith.”

“People feel the Christian religion no longer offers them - or perhaps never gave them - something they really need,” says the report. “The search which often leads people to the New Age is a genuine yearning: for a deeper spirituality, for something which will touch their hearts, and for a way of making sense of a confusing and often alienating world” (1.5). The report warns of the strong appeal of New Age thought and practice, even for Christians: “When the understanding of the content of Christian faith is weak, some mistakenly hold that the Christian religion does not inspire a profound spirituality and so they seek elsewhere” (1.5).

In response to this assertion, the document aims to explain how the New Age movement differs from the Christian faith. Although it cautions its readers about New Age spirituality, it does not offer broad prohibitions. Instead, it seeks to encourage further study and offer means of discernment to those looking for a deeper spirituality.

If such a document were to be written by a commission of Eastern Orthodox Christians, the responses to some of the New Age assertions would be presented very differently. For example, in the Christian East we view the whole cosmos as a theophany; the material realm can be an image of the Creator Who somehow dwells within. This concept of panentheism (not pantheism) encourages us to see that all things are made through the Logos and bear His image. In addition, the sacramentality of matter inherent in the view of St. Maximus the Confessor is very much in opposition to the Western Christian dichotomization between spirit and matter. Nonetheless, despite the specific instances where we and Roman Catholics might evaluate the New Age from different perspectives, the text of Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life can easily apply to all Christians, East and West.

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The term “New Age” originates with the belief in a cosmic turning point long predicted by astrologers: The second millennium, the Age of Pisces (the 2000-year Christian age of the fish icthys) is drawing to a close, moving from one mansion sign of the zodiac to the next. This leads to

the dawning of the third millennium, a new Age of Aquarius (the water bearer).

With this in mind, the Vatican report takes its title from the encounter between the Savior and St. Photini, the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well (John 4). Jesus Christ urges her (and by extension all mankind) to seek after Him: the Way the Truth and the Life. The Lord Jesus - not the zodiac’s water bearer - is the One Who inaugurated the New Aeon of the Kingdom of God and Who bestows Living Water.

The Vatican document states that many of today’s contemporary spiritual and religious practices may be grouped under the topic of “New Age.” Thus, it invites its readers “to take account of the way that New Age religiosity addresses the spiritual hunger of contemporary men and women” (Foreword). Much of what the New Age offers speaks to the yearning of many - “If the Church is not to be accused of being deaf to people’s longings, her members need . . . to root themselves ever more firmly in the fundamentals of their faith, and to understand the often-silent cry in people’s hearts, which leads them elsewhere if they are not satisfied by the Church” (1.5). The document says that there is a call in all of this to draw nearer to the Savior, since He is the authentic way to true joy.

The document contrasts many aspects of New Age spirituality, which it calls “a kind of spiritual narcissism or pseudo-mysticism” (3.2), with Christian “counterparts”: • New Age thought frequently holds that God is an impersonal energy or force, found deep within oneself and also deep within the whole cosmos. Christians, on the other hand, know, experience and love God as a transcendent trinity of Divine Persons. God, Who created the cosmos, “dwells in unapproachable light, [and] wants to communicate His own divine life” to His people so as to enter into relationship with Him: a communion of Love (4).

• New Age thought considers Jesus one teacher - or esoteric initiate or avatar - among many who could be considered to be christs.

Christians know Him as the incarnate God, “the son of Mary and the only Son of God, true man and true God, the full revelation of divine truth, unique Saviour of the world” (4).

THREE QUESTIONS - THREE ANSWERS • New Age teaches that salvation (or enlightenment) is do-it-yourself self-fulfilment, selfrealization, self-redemption. Christians believe that salvation is a free gift from God. It “depends upon our participation in the passion, death and resurrection of Christ and on a direct personal relationship with God rather than on any technique” (4).

• New Age thinkers believe that prayer is a turning within oneself (or else a simple emptying of the mind) which “constitutes an essentially human enterprise on the part of the person who seeks to rise towards divinity by his or her own efforts” (3.4) Christian prayer, on the other hand, together with meditation and contemplation, has a double orientation: it involves introspection, but it is also a means of loving dialogue and mystical union with God. It “leads to an increasingly complete surrender to God’s will, whereby we are invited to a deep, genuine solidarity with our brothers and sisters” (3.4).

Christians acknowledge the reality of sin and its effects (sickness, sorrow, suffering and death).

Each person is called “to share in that suffering through which the redemption was accomplished . . . . that suffering through which all human suffering has been redeemed” (40). In New Age thought all these are minimized as “bad karma,” if not simply dismissed altogether.

The document encourages Christians to investigate the riches of their own tradition. When they do so, they are sometimes surprised at what they find.

Our own Christian mystical tradition shows that searching within provides much more depth and significance than can be found “outside.” There is probably nothing more noteworthy about Eastern Orthodox spirituality than the ancient patristic concept of theosis. Although it is found within the Western Christian mystical tradition, its roots lie in the Christian East. The water of life is offered to us by the very Word Himself in the dynamic interchange: the enfleshment of the Word of God and the en-Wordment of the flesh of humankind.

Quoting from the Preface to Book 4 of St. Irenaeus’ Adversus Haereses, the document states that the Savior, “through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be

even what He is Himself.” Here theosis, the Christian understanding of divinization, comes about not through our own efforts alone, “but with the assistance of God’s grace working in and through us. . . . It unfolds as an introduction into the life of the Trinity, a perfect case of distinction at the heart of unity; it is synergy rather than fusion. . . . It involves being transformed in our soul and in our body by participation in the sacramental life of the Church” (3.5).

Fall 2003

The New Age refrain of “the god within” is a refrain of narcissism. It claims that there is no divine being “out there,” but rather that deep inside, we ourselves are divine. Taken to its logical extreme, then, we become divine - or rather, since we are already divine, we must discover our unlimited, divine potential within as we peel off layer after layer of “inauthentic existence.” The more this divine potential is recognized, the more it is realized and actualized. One unlocks God: salvation by mastering psycho-physical techniques leading to inner healing, enlightenment, salvation.

The document concludes with the suggestion of a number of practical steps. They are as applicable to Roman Catholics as they are to Orthodox Christians. Christian mystical spirituality is both contemplative and apostolic. The two “ways” are inter-dependent. Bearing this in mind, the document offers a challenge.

It points out that the movement’s adherents compare traditional religions to a cathedral and the New Age to a worldwide fair. Taking the image at its face value, it’s now time for Christians to take the cathedral’s message to the people at the fair. In fact, over the past decade many formerly New Age communities, while wandering along their mystical pathway, have come upon the Christian East.

With varying degrees of thoroughness they have shed their Aquarian orientation for the Savior’s gifts of the tree and crown of life, hidden manna, white stone, new name, white garments and synthronos (Apoc. 2-3) within the Orthodox Church.

As an example, see the book entitled: The Odyssey of a New Religion: The Holy Order of MANS from New Age to Orthodoxy by Philip Charles Lucas, associate professor of religious studies at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida (Indiana University Press; (April 1995), ISBN: 0253336120).

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“Christians need not, indeed, must not wait for an invitation to bring the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who are looking for the answers to their questions, for spiritual food that satisfies, for living water” (6.2).

The key is not in emphasizing the inadequacy of other approaches, but instead to revisit the sources of our own faith, to offer “a good sound presentation of the Christian message.” We may need to recover the symbolism and artistic traditions of the Christian culture. In dialogue with people attracted to the new age, Christians must appeal to what touches the emotions and symbolic language.

We must begin with the Scriptures, the report says, but “most of all, coming to meet the Lord Jesus in prayer and in the sacraments, which are precisely the moments when our ordinary life is hallowed, is the surest way of making sense of the whole Christian message” (6.2). ❖ Fr. George Gray is the pastor of St. Nicholas Church, Patlow, Oregon. “Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life” is available on the Jacob’s Well website at: JacWell.org - sidebar “Supplements.” See also the article by Fr. Michael Oleksa, “The Alaskan Orthodox Mission and Cosmic Christianity,” available at the same location.

FIDELITY TO LIVING TRADITION: An Interview with Dean John Erickson

by Fr. John Shimchick Educated at Harvard and Yale, it would be easy to imagine that Professor John Erickson, the new Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, is primarily an intellectual. Yet, while there is certainly an intellectual side to him, those who have known him over the nearly 40 years since his reception into the Orthodox Faith, or others who have just had casual conversations with him, will recognize a man with broad interests and experiences in Orthodox life.

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Well read in many areas, he is personable, a wonderful storyteller, and a remarkably good cook (my wife uses his recipe each year at Easter for ‘cheese pascha’).

Much to his surprise he is perhaps best known to many lay people for his work from the 1970s and 1980s in church music, often done in collaboration with his wife Helen. He has, in fact, been greatly influenced by “the aesthetic aspect of Orthodoxy, of which music is such an important part; the affective aspect of Orthodoxy, the holistic approach to life that one can see and feel in Orthodox worship.” Erickson remarks: “It may be tempting to think that I read my way into Orthodoxy. I would say rather that ‘I sang my way into Orthodoxy.’ Even though I don’t sing very well, it was worship - the Church’s worship - that formed me in Orthodox church life, and it’s cer-

tainly worship that I always turn to when I’m upset, when I’m worried, when I’m otherwise preoccupied. It’s liturgical music that gives me some comfort.”

Raised in northern Minnesota, far from any local Orthodox churches, he was limited to simply reading whatever he could find about the Orthodox Faith.

His first regular contact with Orthodox Christians took place during his college years at Harvard. He had an Orthodox roommate whose father was a priest, as was that of another fellow student, Serge Schmemann.

While in college he began visiting St. Vladimir’s Seminary where he met Frs. Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff, and Professor Serge Verhovskoy (whose daughter Olga was also at Harvard and was, coincidentally, Helen’s roommate). “These people took theology seriously.

They were concerned about ultimate questions.

They were devoted to truth. They also were very much engaged with the real world. They were people with ideas of all sorts. They were at home with books. I got to appreciate much more about Orthodoxy then I had been able to gain by any book knowledge.”

SPECIAL FEATURE The vision of the Seminary faculty also included their concern for the place of Orthodoxy within American life: “What was striking for me was the hope that St. Vladimir’s Seminary offered for Orthodoxy in America, for Christians in America generally. They believed that Orthodoxy had something to say to the world today, something to say to the world I knew. And they presented Orthodoxy as a place where even a plain old American like me could fit in. So, I entered the Orthodox Church in St. Vladimir’s Seminary chapel in 1964, nearly 40 years ago. It seems hard to believe it was that long ago, because I remember it as though it were yesterday.”

His parents, while not familiar with Orthodoxy were nevertheless very supportive.

His father, however, had one concern: “My father’s first question was whether I would have the same patron saint and the same name’s day because this was something we celebrated in our family. I assured him that this was the case, and he was very pleased.”

Erickson has been teaching Canon Law and Church History at the Seminary since 1973, and became Dean in July 2002, following the retirement of Fr. Thomas Hopko. While there have been laymen who have served as dean at other Orthodox seminaries throughout the world, he is the first at St. Vladimir’s. What, given the personalities and strengths of the former deans, does he bring to the position, and how does being a layman shape this role? To such questions Dean Erickson replies rather simply: “At this point, I suppose, the main strength that I bring to this position is that I’ve been associated with the seminary a long time and also with Orthodoxy for long time.” Also, being a convert immediately identifies him with what continues to be a growing reflection of the Seminary community and Orthodoxy in America. “1978 was the last year that a majority of entering students at the Seminary were cradle Orthodox. Our parishes throughout the United States, often across jurisdictional lines, are peopled by converts like me.”

As for being the Dean of the Seminary? “I would say that, being a convert and a layman, I can understand and speak to people who are also converts and laymen. In addition, in the actual operations of the Seminary, in some ways being a person who is not immediately involved as a confessor of students and faculty is also an advantage - not

simply because of the time that might be involved but because it’s possible to avoid some of the conflicts of interest that beset some of my predecessors.

Poor Fr. Meyendorff would complain from time to time about students coming to Confession and then ending by asking if they could have an extension on a paper. I would not want to be in the position of encouraging what would be called a ‘bad’ confession on the part of a student who had cheated in my class, for example.

“At the same time, in my relations especially Orthodox settings, it might be an advantage at some point for me to be a priest. In my early years at St. Vladimir’s there was little need or reason for me to be ordained - I would have been the fifth or sixth priest in the Seminary chapel. I certainly didn’t want to tempt students into thinking that the only way people can serve in the Church is by being ordained. At this point, however, the situation may have changed, and certainly in some circles it would be very useful for the Church and for the Seminary for me to be a priest, to be able to represent that pastoral ministry which is part of the main reason for our existence. Certainly this is not ruled out even now. From time to time I even have dreams of retirement, and one of the most wonderful things being retired might offer would be to become a parish priest. The life of our parishes has always been for me very exciting. One of the great joys of being Dean is that I’ve had many more opportunities to visit parishes in many parts of the country. I hope that this will continue, because this is where the life of our Church in America really is going on and - I hope - going forward.”

Fall 2003

“It may be tempting to think that I read my way into Orthodoxy.

I would say rather that I sang my way into Orthodoxy.”

Dean Erickson, his wife Helen, and others who converted in the 1960s represented a “first generation” of converts to Orthodoxy in America, converts to a Church that was itself starting to become more open in many places - through the use of English, less emphasis on ethnic identify, etc. Can he observe any noticeable differences in the motivations or attitudes of those who convert today?

“Certainly when I became Orthodox, I had no dreams of becoming Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. It never occurred to me as a possibility.

In those days, it would have been very easy for a convert like me to feel like an outsider. I was very thankful that this was not the case - that people encouraged me in various ways. In any case, in those days people entering the Orthodox Church

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Fidelity to Tradition is not simply the repetition of past formulas. It requires that Orthodox theology be able to address new situations, including the situation of Orthodoxy in America.

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did so with the expectation of being transformed by the Church, of orienting their lives to the Church, and not the vice versa. They had no grandiose dreams of transforming the Church.

They had no grandiose dreams of setting Orthodoxy on a new and better path. Today, in many cases, people enter with a lot of ideas of what Orthodoxy is or what Orthodoxy should be. They are much more eager for an opportunity to demonstrate their own ability to transform and reform Orthodoxy.

“Another change, I would say, is that we find a far greater diversity in converts. Throughout the decades people have converted to Orthodoxy because of its claims to present Christian truths in integral form, in their most compelling form. But today converts come from a wider variety of religious - or non-religious - backgrounds than once upon a time, and very often they have less experience of actual church life then even I had back in those days. This means that at the Seminary, just as in church life generally, there is very little that we can take for granted any longer. There’s no longer a shared educational background, there’s no longer a shared experience of church life. New students no longer arrive at the seminary with a common stock of conceptions and misconceptions about Orthodoxy. They arrive with an incredibly wise range of conceptions and misconceptions.

This makes it necessary to spend more time getting to know each person as an individual. This also makes it important to go back to basics. You can easily find people with a fine ability to explain the essence and energies structure in the theology of St. Gregory Palamas but with very little practical experience of church life. All this is relatively new.”

Verhovskoy and Professor Arseniev in many ways was different, though not necessarily opposed. In any case, certainly the Seminary was always much more diverse then people sometimes credit it.

“There were, however, some unifying elements. First of all, there was the conviction that Orthodox theology should be characterized by fidelity to a living Tradition. Fidelity to Tradition is not simply the repetition of past formulas. It requires that Orthodox theology be able to address new situations, including the situation of Orthodoxy in America. In addition, there was an emphasis on the Seminary - and the Church itself - as a community, and above all as a worshipping community. The idea that worship is a collection of rites performed to serve God with no relationship whatsoever with the people present or absent - this was foreign to the Seminary. Emphasis was on the entire community - students, faculty, staff gathered together for worship.

“In terms of pastoral work, the emphasis at St. Vladimir’s again was on fidelity to Tradition, but students were always reminded of how important it is to be able to articulate this Tradition - how important it is to put it into practice - in new situations and new contexts, including our North American context. The professors we all remember best from those days - Fr. Schmemann, Fr. Meyendorff, Professor Verhovskoy, Professor Areseniev and so many others - were Russians. In some cases they spoke with very amusing accents. But their vision was always global. They were not content simply to try to recreate Russia in America, and they weren’t content simply to emphasize one or another old world heritage. Their interest was the continuing relevance of Orthodoxy for our world.”

When theological education is discussed one sometimes hears that there are particular approaches represented by different seminaries. Can it be said that there is a St. Vladimir’s “school” or “approach” to theology, worship, and pastoral work?

You are a specialist in Canon Law and Church History. Are there lessons and mistakes from history that we as Orthodox have not learned, and perhaps risk repeating ourselves?

“The answer has to be ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ Very often St. Vladimir’s Seminary is associated with ‘Eucharistic ecclesiology’ as pioneered by the ‘Paris School’ at St. Sergius. At St. Vladimir’s this was exemplified by people like Fr. Schmemann and Fr. Meyendorff. But anyone familiar with St. Vladimir’s Seminary in their days recognized that there was no one single approach to theology. The approach to theology of people like Professor

“One temptation in the history of Orthodoxy has been to identify this or that system of this world, this or that empire, with the Kingdom of God. And along with this have come the temptation of ethnicism and the tendency to emphasize our particularities. Another temptation common enough today is a relatively recent one - the tendency to dichotomize, the tendency to emphasize how different we are from everyone else, how dif-

SPECIAL FEATURE ferent we are especially from the West. This tendency to dichotomize very often leads to triumphalism - the idea that with us everything is right, with us everything is good, and that with everyone else everything is bad. This triumphalism, on the one hand, is spiritually dangerous. It creates pride where maybe we should have more humility; we should recognize the dark aspects of our own past as well as its glorious moments. This triumphalism also undermines any evangelical message that we have to the world. Very easily and all too often, we create stereotypes of others; we spend our time denouncing ‘straw men.’ This makes our witness to the world much less persuasive than it would be if we were a little more honest about ourselves and more willing to see others as they are rather than as we think they are.”

St. Vladimir’s Seminary is located within several hours driving time of the majority of our diocesan parishes. According to Dean Erickson there are a number of ways that we can mutually encourage each other’s work. One of the most important things that parishes can do “is simply to be open to visits from people from St. Vladimir’s Seminary. This may seem self-evident, but it’s not always so. I have strongly encouraged faculty and staff to be much more open to invitations and to visiting parishes, whether in a formal or an informal way, especially here in our New York/ New Jersey area. And how could the Seminary be of support to our parishes? This is where we would appreciate input from the parishes themselves. I hope that the parishes in our area will suggest what we here at the Seminary can do to help them in ways that are truly meaningful. We don’t want to intrude, we don’t want to impose a program or an agenda. I hope that you will tell us what we can do to be most helpful to you.”

How can this be done? First, Dean Erickson is open to being emailed directly at: jhe@svots.edu.

In addition, the Seminary has, for many years now, been sponsoring lecture series at various sites here in the northeast, and it may be possible to have even more of these. In addition, there are usually quite a large number of priests attached to the Seminary chapel. Sometimes it’s been possible to utilize these clergy when diocesan priests need a replacement for vacation or illness.

Seminary students are also involved in ‘field education.’ It is hoped that there can be continued

placement of students in diocesan parishes, which will allow them opportunities to participate in many aspects of parish ministry. Parishes are encouraged to support the summer internship program of the Orthodox Church in America, whereby seminarians are given the opportunity to spend an entire summer working in a parish, under the supervision of the parish priest and helping the parish priest. This provides a wonderful experience for our seminarians and would make them much more effective pastors in the future.

Parishes here in the New York/ New Jersey area are encouraged to come to events at the seminary.

Many people are familiar, of course, with the annual Education Day, held the first Saturday in October. People may be less familiar with the many events that take place in the new Rangos Building. There is the annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture, which this past year was delivered by Professor Albert Raboteau, an African-American Orthodox professor at Princeton University and member of the diocese.

One can learn about these events by checking the Seminary’s website: www.svots.edu. Finally, there are the resources of St.Vladimir’s Seminary Press and Bookstore (800-204-BOOK).

When I was one of his students, Professor Erickson often suggested books that he hoped we had read or, at least, should read. Besides the Scriptures and the generally required theological literature, what I wonder, would he like his students to be reading today?

“These days, there are more mainstream, mass-market books that touch on Orthodoxy or that raise issues relevant to Orthodoxy in the world today than was the case in the past. One of these is Phillip Jenkins’ The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, a book that came out from Oxford University Press last year. This book, I think, presents in a very convincing way the great growth of Christianity in what was once called the ‘Third World.’ It also demonstrates, in very gloomy ways, the decline of Christianity, especially in Western Europe, but also, very likely, a coming decline of Christianity and Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. It’s important that Orthodox Christians be familiar with what’s going on in our world today. I would hate to say that the best thing we can do is get up in the morning and read the New York Times, but I do think that it is

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I do think that it is more important than ever to be aware of the world in which we live - the world in which are called to witness to our faith - and also to be aware of the many ambiguities of it.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Fall 2003

more important than ever to be aware of the world in which we live - the world in which are called to witness to our faith - and also to be aware of the many ambiguities of it. We have to be aware of its wonderful accomplishments, but we also have to be aware of the shallowness that one finds so often, and of the sense of hopelessness felt so often by young people today - and for that matter by many others. What do we have to say to the world in which we actually live? I would encourage people to read not only great classics now, but also books of current interest.”

Finally, is there one thing that Professor Erickson could identify now that, in his eventual retirement speech, he would like to say was accomplished during his tenure as Dean?

“I would like to be able to say that, in my term as Dean, the Seminary remained true to its most basic principles, true to the vision that has guided the Seminary through so much of its history. I would identify at least three areas here. First of all, I would emphasize the Pan-Orthodox character of the seminary - the concern for Orthodox unity that the Seminary has had through so much of its history. Second, I would emphasize the importance of Tradition - of living Tradition - and therefore the need for critical appropriation of this Tradition on the part of our students. They must be familiar with the Fathers of the Church, with Scripture, with church history, etc., but they also

must be able to relate all this learning to our contemporary situation. Finally, a third area - something that for me and for the Seminary has always been very important - would be an emphasis on the holistic nature of Orthodox theology and Orthodox theological education. Seminary education is not just a matter of accumulating a certain number of credits. It involves formation in virtually every aspect of life, in all of our reactions. For this reason participation in the worship life of the seminary community has been an integral part of seminary education. This is also why community service, expressed in such humble things as work on the breakfast crew, has been an important and continuing part of seminary education. This is why we have always tried to maintain the residential character of the seminary, with single students with us, married students, their families, the faculty and their families, living in close proximity.

“I would hope, at the end of my time as Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, to say that we have remained faithful to this animating vision of the Seminary: faithful to its concern for Orthodox unity, faithful to its concern for appropriation of our Tradition, and faithful to its emphasis on community, all of which have provided the context for theological education.” ❖ [Special thanks to Anastasia Shimchick for help in transcribing this interview.]

HIERARCHS AT ORTHODOX PRAYER SERVICE FOR THE UN COMMUNITY

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Archbishop Peter was among the hierarchs from the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches (SCOOCH) who joined dozens of representatives from the United Nations and hundreds of clergy and faithful at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral on October 6, 2003 for the third annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the UN Community.

SPECIAL FEATURE

ST. HERMAN’S PILGRIMAGE 2003

by The Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir Members The story of the Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir’s trip to Alaska for the St. Herman’s Pilgrimage is a simple one. It’s not about us, but about St. Herman’s legacy to the faithful Orthodox laity and clergy in Alaska and throughout the world. Our small mission was to bring what we had to offer musically to Alaska and its native peoples. We had five opportunities to sing responses at Vigils and Liturgies, and also two concerts in Alaska, but by far the most spiritually uplifting were the Akathist to St. Herman in Kodiak and the Divine Liturgy the next morning served on Spruce Island. Many times we found ourselves overcome with joy during the service, surrounded by the other pilgrims in prayer and hearing the wonderful words offered

by Bishop Nikolai.

At the conclusion of the Spruce Island events, tears were in many eyes as we boarded the small boats for the journey back to Kodiak Island. Sorrow was in our hearts as we saw the last spruce tree disappearing island on the sea’s horizon and we left with a deep, respectful understanding of the enormous task of St. Herman and the monks who brought Orthodoxy to North America as they lived on an island that, even today has no modern conveniences such as electricity, running water and heat.

Our mission as a choir has always been to preserve the musical heritage of the Orthodox Church, specifically in the English language, and to grow spiritually as a group by serving the church wherever we are needed. When we accepted Bishop Nikolai’s gracious invitation to participate in the pilgrimage, he assured us that we would leave forever changed by the experience. This was indeed true. We returned home uplifted and with yet

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another goal. In our own small way we plan to dedicate ourselves to the building up of God’s church in Alaska, the birthplace of North American Orthodoxy and the earthly home of St. Herman.

The hospitality shown to our choir and all the pilgrims was overwhelming, and we are deeply grateful to all who aided us during our stay both in Kodiak and Anchorage. We will treasure the icons of St. Innocent that Bishop Nikolai gave to each

singer, as well as the large painting of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Sitka, which he presented to the Choir. The Alaskan Church is very rich spiritually, but we hope to bring the message to the ‘lower 48’ that much can be done to support it further. Their financial needs are great with regard to maintaining their existing churches and seminary. Even more ambitious is the Alaskan church’s dream of restoring the chapel on Spruce Island and following St. Herman’s wish to establish a monastic community there. Our choir hopes to establish an annual benefit concert and to record a new CD this fall featuring musical selections from our trip; both undertakings will benefit the Diocese of Alaska. Our status as a non-profit organization will allow your support to be tax deductible.

We encourage everyone to experience the pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime. To view pictures from the pilgrimage, you can visit our website www.spiritoforthodoxy.com. ❖

Director Alexei Shipovalnikov, Bishop Kallistos Ware, Bishop Nikholai, Michael Geeza and Carol Wetmore.

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PARISH NEWS

A MISSION MOVES Fall 2003

During this past Great Lent, Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Mission moved from Rocky Hill, New Jersey to a new location in the basement chapel of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Plainsboro. The story of this OCA mission’s journey began about six years ago when three members of St. Peter and St. Paul Orthodox Church in Manville had the idea of starting an Orthodox mission in the Princeton area. After several meetings with Orthodox from neighboring churches and consultation with Fr. Paul Kucynda, Director of Missions for the OCA, established the need for such a mission, Archbishop Peter of the New YorkNew Jersey Archdiocese, gave permission to proceed.

Seeking a place to worship, the organizers of the mission thought of St. James church in Rocky Hill. St. James had been built in 1908 to serve Irish and Italian Catholics who had moved to the area to work in the rock quarry, the Atlantic Terra Cotta factory, and on local farms. In 1993 the congregation, which had outgrown the small church building, moved into a new church dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo and St. James was closed. The pastor and leadership of St. Charles agreed to rent St. James church to the fledgling Orthodox congregation and on Sunday March 7, 1998 they celebrated their first Divine Liturgy.

Five families attended that first service. Five years later attendance at Divine Liturgy had increased to an average of sixty-five to seventy-five people, with more on major feast days like Nativity and Pascha. The congregation experienced steady growth under the leadership of Fr. John Cassar, who commuted 110 miles each way from Long Island for three years to serve the mission, until he and his family relocated two doors from the church two years ago. It became increasingly clear that the size of the congregation would shortly outgrow the space at St. James. Enter St. Joseph.

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St. Joseph’s Seminary located in Plainsboro overlooks the Delaware-Raritan Canal and Lake

Carnegie in neighboring Princeton. Founded by the Vincentian fathers in the 1930s as a minor or preparatory seminary, the faculty of St. Joseph’s educated several generations of high school students as potential candidates for the Roman Catholic priesthood. After the seminary closed, the facility became home to the Vincentian Renewal Center and hosted retreats, ecumenical conferences, and workshops on spiritual growth. The basement chapel had been unused for years. A large barrel vaulted space with side alcove chapels and amazing acoustics, it seemed a very usable space for the growing congregation of Mother of God Mission. The idea of making use of beautiful but unused liturgical space also proved attractive to Fr. Cassar and the mission leadership. And so Mother of God moved. An iconostasis has gone up and icons now fill the alcoves where Vincentian priests said their private masses in the preVatican II era. For the first time, the mission congregation has separate space for coffee hour and meetings. And slow but steady growth continues as the number attending Divine Liturgy averages approximately 85, topping a hundred during Holy Week and Pascha.

The majority of the congregation consists of converts to Orthodoxy with the remainder made up of those born into Orthodox families of Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, and Romanian origins. The community has many children and identifies supporting the sacredness of the family as one of its core missions. The name of the church, Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow, expresses another core value of the community: imitating Christ and His compassionate Mother by helping all those who sorrow due to spiritual, psychological, and physical suffering. Hospitality to those of all races, ethnicities, and nations is also an important value.

(As it turns out, St. Vincent de Paul, the 17th-century French founder of the Vincentians devoted his life to the poor and articulated a very similar mission for his followers.) The community is centered in the worship of God through the services.

PARISH NEWS The Divine Liturgy is held each Sunday at 10am and the service of Vespers on Saturdays at 6pm (7pm from June to September.) Several small group ministries, including Women’s Group, Bible Study, Prayer Group, and Health class seek to deepen the spiritual life of members and visitors.

Church School meets twice a month before Divine Liturgy and a class for toddlers on behavior in church is held 20 minutes before the beginning of each Sunday Liturgy. Recently, a group for mothers of small children has also been formed. The mission also accepts a special responsibility for education and has offered presentations on Orthodoxy to the wider Princeton area community by hosting a series of speakers including Fr. Thomas Hopko, Fr. John Chryssavgis, Jim Forest, Fr. Daniel Byantoro, and Bishop Kallistos Ware.

Visitors are warmly welcomed. For directions and schedules of services, meetings and events see the church website, www.mogoca.org.

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Joy of all who sorrow art thou, And protectress of the oppressed, Feeder of the hungry, Consolation of travelers, Haven for the tempest tossed, Visitation of the sick, Protection and aid of the infirm, Staff of old age, O, all pure Mother of the Most High God, Hasten, we pray, to save thy servants.❖

WITH THESE HANDS

By Fr. John Shimchick “They brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise’” (Matt. 9:1,5) Sitting at the piano for the first time in over three hours, Bruce Springsteen began the third of his four sets of encores with the song, “My City of Ruins.” Originally dedicated to his beloved town of Asbury Park but never recorded, it became synonymous with the events of 9/11. Springsteen opened the commemorative concert, “America: A Tribute to Heroes,” on September 21, 2001 with the song and called it, “a prayer for our fallen brothers and sisters.”

He moves back to center stage during the encore as the song builds and takes on a new intensity. “Now with these hands, with these hands, with these hands, I pray Lord,” he sings and the refrain is picked up by his band and thousands in the stadium. Then while everyone sings the refrain, he adds: I pray for the strength, Lord, I pray for the faith, Lord, We pray for your love, Lord, We pray for the lost, Lord, We pray for this world, Lord, We pray for the strength, Lord We pray for the strength, Lord Come on, Come on, Come on, Rise up.

When Springsteen says, “rise up” - is it directed to a city, to departed souls, to people broken and paralyzed both physically and spiritually?

Perhaps it’s to them all.

The Sunday after his album, “The Rising,” was released during the summer of 2002 the assigned reading was from the Gospel of St. Matthew quoted above. This describes Christ’s encounter with the friends of the paralytic, holding in their hands the one they cared about, and Christ “saw their faith,” forgave the man’s sins, and called him to rise up.

Could we see ourselves as friends not just of a particular man, but as those who bring to Christ their concerns and love for a paralyzed world, maybe even for a paralyzed Church?

Springsteen, raised a Catholic, may not be “practicing” yet seems haunted by the words, images, and experiences he still knows something about. Tom Moon, reviewing his album for the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: “Having spent decades assuring millions that almighty rockand-roll is their deliverance, he’s now beseeching God for the miracle he can almost taste, the faith he’s had trouble finding and the rising up his heart craves.”❖

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PARISH NEWS

UPPER NEW YORK STATE DEANERY Fall 2003

By Fr. Igor Burdikoff Because of the enormous expanse of this deanery, we actively take part in local region activities among all the Orthodox. As in the past, we are still able to gather as deanery, at least once a year on the 5th Thursday of Lent, to celebrate the pre-sanctified liturgy and take part in the sacraments of Penance and Communion. This year we were hosted Fr. James Jadick and his parish of Ss. Peter & Paul, in Herkimer, NY. Fr. James had returned from his extended tour of duty as an Air Force reservist chaplain. From personal reports of Orthodox stationed with him in Texas, his presence was greatly appreciated as our young people were preparing to be assigned to the Middle East.

This deanery assembly was especially helpful because of the numerous changes of clergy assignments that have taken place. Topics of concern such as Deanery-wide initiatives, OCF, FOCA, and local pastoral concerns were discussed.

Likewise, it was recommended that we hold other deanery sessions in our various parishes so that our laity and clergy may become better acquainted.

parishes. We are blessed to have them available when a priest is needed.

We are especially thankful for our retired clergy - Frs. Daniel Pavelchak, Alvian Smirensky, and Kyril Riggs - for their assistance in covering

While news from our region has been limited in the past, we hope that that will change as we bring you up to date. ❖

As mentioned, the expanse of the deanery precludes much cooperative activity. In each of our four regions that generally make up our deanery, the local parishes celebrated lenten mission vespers during the Sundays of Great Lent. This year it was encouraged that funds collected at the missions go to our mission parish in Oneonta, NY. Under the guidance of their pastor, Fr. Tim Holowatch, the parish has begun to thrive and we are committed to support them.

Weather this winter and spring has wreaked havoc with many plans. In the Capital of NY (Albany region), the scheduled Youth Day (when over 100 youngsters gather) needed to be rescheduled due to an ice storm.

This past May, our St.Nicholas Parish in Auburn broke ground on their new hall facility. It has been needed for many years and we look forward to its dedication.

The Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross, Medford, NJ had anticipated that its new church building would be completed and consecrated in October of this year.

Several delays have prevented this from happening on schedule. While the parish hopes to occupy its structure in early 2004, the actual consecration will take place in the Fall, 2004. Construction progress can be viewed on the parish’s website: www.ochc.cc ❖

NEW PASTOR IN BAYONNE, NJ

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Fr. Arkadiusz Mironko has been assigned to serve the parish of SS Peter and Paul, Bayonne, NJ. Father and Matushka Nella are originally from Podlaskie region in Poland, where Fr. Arkadiusz has completed his theological education: four years at Theological Seminary in Warsaw; two years at Higher Theological Seminary in Jableczna at the Monastery of St. Onuphrius (near Chelm); and two years at the Christian Academy of Theology, also in Warsaw. After finishing his education they came to the United States where Father has been a priest for over ten years, serving parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA: in San Francisco, California, and Clifton, New Jersey. Fr. Arkadiusz's father is a priest in Parma, Ohio. Matushka Nella is a graduate of the Christian Academy of Theology and works at Prudential Financial. Their plan is to continue to serve God and His people of the Orthodox Church in America. ❖

PARISH NEWS

HISTORIC CHURCH UNDER RESTORATION As part of its continuing efforts to give the past a future, the Saints Peter and Paul Church announces completion of the first phase of a twopart historic restoration project in downtown Jersey City, N.J.

the Jersey City community. The Orthodox congregation in 1907 purchased the church; it was built as the First Reformed Dutch Church in 1859 on land given in 1830 by the developers, the Jersey Associates.

“In a way, we are what we are today because of the past, “said Father Joseph, the parish rector. “Today, through the resources of the state, we have opportunity to give the past a future. The preservation and restoration of our temple marks the continuation of our spiritual presence in the diocese and historic residences and new development in Jersey City.”

Among the clergy who served the parish were: Archpriest Alexander Hotovitzky (Glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church), Archpriest John Adamiak, Archpriest Emilian Skuby, Archpriest Michael Dziama, Mitred Archpriest John Skvir, and Archpriest Daniel Hubiak.

Lift Off The $1 million dollar restoration began May 2002 with the removal of roofing and cupola material and the first phase was completed in June 2003. The first phase of the restoration included a new copper roof, three cupolas, new gutters, and lightening arrestors. Previous stucco had to be tediously removed with hand tools. One of the workers said, “By the time we are finished, we’re going to have arms like Popeye.” New brownstone colored stucco was also added to the church’s upper portion. The second phase began in May 2003 with the restoration of twenty stained glass windows of the upper portion of the church by Jersey Art Stained Glass Studio of Frenchtown, NJ. This involved leading and altering some of the glass to permit additional light. The second phase is also to include completion of all stucco applications and leading of remaining stained glass windows. The parish is preparing to apply for funding of the second phase of restoration when the Trust opens its next award round in 2004. To date, the New Jersey Historic Trust awarded a matching grant to the church for $268,424. New Jersey’s past acting governor, Donald Difrancesco, signed the legislation, which cleared the way for the award. The Parish Council was especially delighted that very little unanticipated costs were encountered.

The church located in the historic neighborhood of Paulus Hook has enjoyed a long association with

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The New Jersey Historic Trust is the only non-profit historic organization in New Jersey created by state law. It is affiliated with the Department of State. A board of trustees that represents private citizens and state agencies with related purposes governs the Trust. According to the Trust: “New Jersey’s historic sites open a window on the past. The buildings, landscapes, and monuments allow us to envision the aspirations of past generations, sense the rhythm of life from a bygone time and wonder at the workmanship of master artisans.”

The parish is deeply saddened by the loss of the project’s architect Herbert J. Githens, of Montclair, N.J., who died suddenly in August 2003 at the age of 52. The Star Ledger remembered him “as a savior of history” for his expertise in performing numerous exterior restorations of historic buildings. Father Joseph commented, “It was such joy to work with a man of such experience and knowledge tempered with his personal modesty and qualm.” The parish and architectural firm are to discuss future plans.

The parish council consisting of Laura Detke, Matushka Shirley Lickwar, Philip Hawriluk, and Raul Mattei has “diligently overlooked the project with enthusiasm and a great sense of accomplishment. For now the construction sounds are gone, but come spring of 2005 there will be a choir of hammers and chisels tapping our song for the future,” comments Father Joseph. ❖

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WATER FROM THE WELL

AMATEUR ICONOGRAPHY: RESURRECTION Fall 2003

Jesus is back-he’s harvesting the dead.

He’s pulling them up out of the dirt like leeks By the scruff of the neck, by the wispy hair on the head, Like bulbs in darkness sallowly starting to grow From deep down in the earth where the lost things go Keys and locks, small change, old hinges, nails.

(That’s why the living beseech the dead, who know Where missing objects lie.) Jesus has a grip On Adam by the left wrist-he will not slip And Eve, by her right. They’re groggy and don’t understand, They died so long ago. With trembling lip, Adam surveys the crowds of new people. And Eve Looks up the emptiness of her limp left sleeve For the hand that was unforgiven and is no more, Ages since withered to dust, and starts to grieve The sinister loss, recalling the heft in that hand Of the flesh of the fruit, and the lightness at the core.

-A. E. STALLINGS ❖ A. E. Stallings is an American poet who live in Athens. Her first collection of poetry, Archaic Smile (1999), won the Richard Wilbur Award.

This was first published in The Atlantic Monthly, May 2003, pg 101 and is reprinted with her permission.

(From the Church of the Mother of God, Mays Landing, NJ)

THE TIKHVIN MOTHER OF GOD The Tikhvin Mother of God, one of the most renowned icons in Russian Orthodox spirituality, was made available for veneration this Spring at the Annual Pilgrimage held at St. Tikhon’s Monastery. On June 3rd while the icon was at Holy Trinity Church, East Meadow, NY an Akathist service was offered, followed by a special presentation by Dr. Paul Meyendorff on “The Veneration of the Virgin Mary in Orthodox History” In attendance were Archbishop Peter, diocesan clergy, and lay people.

Fr. Alexander Garklavs, pastor of Holy Trinity Church, who serves with his father, Archpriest Sergei, as a guardian of the icon while in the United States, took off the protective and symbolic covering (“riza”) to allow those present to see the icon in its original form. The pictures to the left show the icon with and without the riza.

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Kept in safety here in the United States since World War II, the icon is being prepared to be returned in 2004 to the Tikhvin Monastery in Russia. In order to assist in the restoration of the Tikhvin Monastery, His Beatitude Metropolitan Herman, has blessed the establishment of a special fund that will enable the faithful in North America to contribute to the rebuilding of the Monastery. Contributions could be sent to: Tikhvin Monastery Fund, 369 Green Ave., East Meadow, NJ 11554. Fr. Alexander Garklav, the Fund’s Coordinator, can be reached at: 516-483-3649. ❖

PARISH NEWS

IN MEMORY OF PROTODEACON ALEXANDER KRAFCHAK Protodeacon Alexander Krafchak fell asleep in the Lord on June 24, 2002 at the age of eightyfive. For the Orthodox community in Western New York he was one of the senior clerics, a wellknown and well-respected figure. He was born and lived his entire life within two blocks of SS. Peter and Paul Church in the East Lovejoy neighborhood of Buffalo, New York. For thirty years he served at SS. Peter and Paul Church as deacon.

Protodeacon Alexander was the youngest of five children born to John and Karolina (Geryak) Krafchak, who immigrated to Buffalo from Slovakia. Their life revolved around the Church and they passed on their love for family and for their faith to their children. Protodeacon Alexander was an excellent student at the local school, graduated from Burgard Vocational High School and was employed at the Greater Buffalo Printing Press, where he eventually became a foreman.

The Church was an important part of his life from his youth. He sang in the church choir, participated in Parish Council meetings, various parish affairs and was a member of the local “R” Club chapter. While Fr. John Tkachuk was Rector of SS. Peter and Paul Church, Protodeacon Alexander accepted the call to become a Deacon.

With diligence and humility he studied and prepared himself, and was ordained by Metropolitan Ireney. He would serve his Church and his congregation with fervor, obedience, faithfully and with zeal. He was the source of stability in the parish during the transition of more than a dozen priests.

He also served countless hierarchical services both at his parish and other local Orthodox communities. He loved to serve in the Holy Sanctuary and did so with much reverence, rarely missing a service except when his health failed in his latter years.

During the celebration of SS. Peter and Paul Church’s 90th Anniversary in 1984, he was elevated to the rank of Protodeacon by Metropolitan Theodosius. Proficient in Church Slavonic, he was always willing to welcome and assist Slavic immigrants who formed a sizeable portion of the parish.

In addition to his work at SS. Peter and Paul Church, Protodeacon Alexander was very active in the Council of Orthodox Church on the Niagara

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Frontier and frequently was invited to serve at the many Orthodox Churches in the area.

Protodeacon Alexander was married to his beloved wife and faithful partner Mary (Denis) for sixty years. In addition to his wife, he leaves behind three children, David, Mary Ann and Carolyn. His large extend family was always a close part of his life. During the course of his last years, when he was afflicted with sickness, he always remarked, “I’ll endure what I must.

I am in the hands of the Lord and I am thankful for all that has been given to me.”

A final wish to serve one more time was not granted. But as he lay in state in his beloved church, his funeral was an occasion of an impressive outpouring of love and gratitude. The Dean of the New York State Deanery, Fr. Igor Burdikoff officiated at the Funeral Service and Divine Liturgy. Assisting him were former Rectors Fr. Alexander Garklavs and Wiaczeslaw Krawczuk, guest and local clergy included Fr. George Aswad, Fr. James Doukas, Fr. James Dutko, Fr. Steven Dutko, Fr. John Hutnyan, Fr. Donald Koch, Fr. Herman Schick, Fr. Paul Solberg and Fr. Rastko Trbuhovich.

May God grant to his faithful and worthy servant, the Protodeacon Alexander, abode with the Saints and make his memory to be eternal. ❖

APOLOGIES The following Clergy will be more fully acknowledged in our next issue: Archpriest Nicholas Fedetz, former pastor of SS Peter and Paul Church, Bayonne, NJ has retired; Archpriest Thomas Edwards, pastor of Holy Apostles Church, Saddlebrook, NJ has announced his plans to retire; Archpriest Cyril Stavrevsky, recently departed, was the pastor of St. John the Baptist Church, Rochester, NY.

Page 27

PARISH NEWS

Fall 2003

A NEW BEGINNING FOR ARCHPRIEST JOHN AND MATUSHKA EUGENIA NEHREBECKI

By Michael Vlahos The cooling Autumn Sun had the Orthodox Christian Church of Christ The Saviour shining like a cathedral on Sunday morning October 5, 2003. His Eminence, Archbishop Peter of the New York and New Jersey Diocese celebrated the

Divine Liturgy. Afterwards, the V. Rev. John Nehrebecki, Pastor Emeritus, and his wife, Matushka Eugenia, were honored as they celebrated a new beginning after 51 years of dedicated service to Christ’s Holy Church. Father John remains with the Christ the Saviour Church as Pastor Emeritus. The Very Reverend David Vernak has assumed the responsibilities as Pastor with his wife, Mariam Vernak.

Concelebrating the Divine Liturgy with Archbishop Peter were Protopresbyter Robert S. Kondratick, Chancellor of the OCA; V. Rev. David Vernak, new rector of Christ the Saviour Church; V. Rev. John Nehrebecki, retiring rector of Christ the Saviour Church; V. Rev. Michael Dahulich, Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary; V. Rev. Paul Lazor, Dean of Students at St. Vladimir’s Seminary; Rev. Alexander Atty, of St. Michael Antiochian Church; and Rev. Samuel Kedala, of Holy Trinity Church, Deacons Michael Sochka, Jesse Greendyk and Victor Gorodenchuk. Seminarians Paul Witek, Jason Vansuch, Andrew Romanov, and John Mindala. Following the Divine Liturgy, a banquet was held in honor of the Nehrebecki’s at The Brownstone, Paterson, New Jersey.

Page 28

At the banquet, the Nehrebecki’s were warmly

greeted. Father John was uncharacteristically brief in his opening statement and he quickly turned the program over to Matushka Eugenia. She seemed very humbled when she received a standing ovation from the assembly after her opening remarks. The other speakers were introduced by the Very Reverend David Vernak.

Councilman Leon Brasowski who, on behalf of the Parish, presented the Nehrebecki’s with a ceremonial key to their new house being built on the church property. The toast was offered by Michael Vlachos who spoke about the work that still needs to be done in Christ’s vineyard and that there is no retirement from the Christian life.

Professor David Drillock recalled Fatherís first assignment at Osceola Mills and his many visits to Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. Professor John Erickson, Dean of Students at St. Vladimir’s Seminary acknowledged Father John’s and Matushka Eugenia’s influence on, and dedication to, the Seminary.

Fathers Samuel Kedala (Holy Trinity Church, Wantage), David Garretson (SS Peter and Paul, South River), and Joseph Frawley (West Point, NY) gave anecdotal references as to how Father and Matushka impacted their lives; New Jersey Deanery’s acting Dean Joseph Lickwar (SS Peter and Paul, Jersey City) recalled the Nehrebecki’s service to the Deanery.

The Very Reverend Michael Dahulich, Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary, spoke eloquently of their marriage, quoting from the book of Ecclesiastes (4:9-12, NJB) to describe their personal relationship and their dealings with other people, and their commitment to Christ: “Better two than one alone, since thus their work is really rewarding. If one should fall, the other helps him up; but what of the person with no one to help him up when he falls? Again: if two sleep together they keep warm, but how can anyone keep warm alone? Where one alone would be overcome, two will put up resistance; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

The third cord, of course, being Christ Jesus.

Protopresbyter Rodion Kondratick, Chancellor of

PARISH NEWS the OCA, spoke of the Nehrebecki’s service to the OCA and how much more we can expect from them now that they are released from their responsibility to the parish.

Tatiana Nehrebecki introduced the Family program. Mark Jacobs (Louisville, KY) spoke of courting the last nubile Nehrebecki (Anastasia) and how much Father John and Matushka Eugenia would be welcomed in Louisville and at the Saint Michael Parish (the present Rector, Father Alexander Atty, not withstanding) and then the grandchildren, Anastasia (Vernak) Gorodenchuk, Justin Gramkow, and John Della Pesca, recalled the kindness of both grandparents and the wisdom they had imparted to them.

Archbishop Peter spoke of their service and dedication to Christ and His Holy Church and he recalled that even while living in France he had heard of their work and ministry in the United States. Finally, Dr. Joan Kakascik presented proclamations from the Bergen County Board of Freeholders and the New Jersey State Assembly and Senate for the years of selfless service to the community. The Nehrebecki’s spoke again and thanked everyone for their kindness and graciousness and affectionately dismissed the guests.

Father John and Matushka Eugenia founded Christ the Saviour Church on August 7, 1960. Its 40th Anniversary was celebrated in 2000. In the course of his ministry at Christ The Saviour parish, Father John founded nine Orthodox parishes in New Jersey and the Orthodox Chapel at United States Military Academy, West Point. Churches were established in Wayne, Randolph, Mays Landing, Pearl River (NY), Rahway/Clark, Bricktown, Saddle Brook, Cherry Hill/Medford and Flemington/Lebanon.

The Nehrebecki’s have led their parishioners to a rich and full life in both theological and cultural activities. Prelates from Poland, Russia and Japan have visited with parishioners. Leading theologians from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, NY, and Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, PA, have been regular guests.

For the past 15 years, iconography classes that study the Byzantine/Russian style of icon painting have been held at the church.

Believing that “the hand that gives must meet the hand that receives,” Father John and Matushka Eugenia have engendered continuous programs of

charitable works personally and through The Martha and Mary Altar Society and the parish’s Youth Group. Parishioners have contributed to Paramus and Bergen county projects such as food banks and senior citizen programs.

Fall 2003

Father John also stepped down as Dean of the Orthodox Clergy in New York and New Jersey, a position to which he had been elected and re-elected to for 40 years. He was among the Commission of Bishops from the United States that received the TOMOS, the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America, from Patriarch Pimen of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow in 1970. In 1958, Father John successfully besought the New Jersey State Assembly to recognize the Orthodox as the fourth major faith in New Jersey.

John Nehrebecki graduated from Donora High School in 1946, Saint Tikhon Theological Seminary in 1950, and received a BA degree from Davis and Elkins College (Elkins, West Virginia).

While Father John was Orthodox Chaplain at Columbia University, he received his Master’s Degree in Russian studies from City University of New York. He then completed course work at Saint Vladimir Theological Seminary and in Russian literature and history in the Fordham University doctoral program.

Fr. John and Matushka Eugenia were married on Thursday, May 22, 1952 so that all the priests could attend the Sacrament (about 20 priests sang the responses). Father John was ordained on July 4, 1952 at Saint Mary Church, Lynn, Massachusetts,

by Archbishop Dimitri of New England. Father John’s first parish assignment was at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in Osceola Mills, a little town in central Pennsylvania. From there in 1953, the couple traveled to Garfield, New Jersey (The Three Saints Church) and finally in 1960, they founded Christ The Saviour parish in Paramus, New Jersey.

The Nehrebecki’s have six children: Vladimir of Bayonne, Mariam Vernak of Paramus, Olga Atty of Louisville, KY, Anastasia Jacobs of Louisville, KY, Tatiana Nehrebecki of Fair Lawn and Theodora Gramkow of Fair Lawn. Both Mariam Vernak and Olga Atty are married to priests serving in the Orthodox Church. The Nehrebecki’s are blessed with 19 grandchildren and five greatgrandchildren. ❖ Dr. Joan Kakascik contributed to this article.

Page 29

PARISH NEWS

THE HAND THAT GOD MADE Fall 2003

Craig, farthest right, served at the hierarchical liturgy on September 13, at which Archbishop Peter blessed new iconography at the Church of the Mother of God, Mays Landing, NJ.

By Jacqueline Mullen Niederberger The young couple sat stunned into speechlessness as their ears heard the words the doctor spoke, but did not comprehend what he was saying about their newborn son. Awful silence filled the neat pink and brown colonial kitchen of their first home.

And so Craig traveled to school on a small yellow school bus and triumphantly brought home wonderful colorful pictures with ragged edges, red paper hearts, orange pumpkins and sparkly Christmas trees. Life was good for several years.

Down’s Syndrome? What did those strange words mean? How could this happen to their son?

What could they expect, medically and developmentally through the coming years? On and on went the questions. Most of them, forty years ago, the doctor could not answer, but they were answered in God’s good time. His time table is never our own. We cannot absorb all God has for us in one month, nor one year, but must open our hearts and minds with prayer and leaning on the Everlasting Arms. It is a life long task this growing to know His will.

Other needs cropped up and soon it was time for Craig to live apart from us for awhile. It was a dark period in our life, but God made it good as He comforted wounded hearts, bound up hurts and gave us some extraordinary moments. Did you ever hear a chorus of mentally retarded children, who could hardly speak coherently, sing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah? I did.

There was not a dry eye in the audience that day.

Craig was a sweet pink cheeked boy with beautiful almost translucent white skin. He seldom cried, everything made him smile and coo and everyone loved him. Yes, he was slow at mastering all the basic skills of life, but learn he did. His family persevered along with Craig and clapped their hands with him as each new challenge was met and mastered.

When it was time for school, his mother visited the local principal and engaged her help in establishing the first classroom for mentally challenged youngsters in the community. There was little help available forty years ago. Today the future is bright with help and hope.

There were funny moments too. My sister’s family used to come with us for picnics at Craig’s school. On one occasion, when we unloaded our picnic baskets, out wiggled a black snake. He fled quickly to the screams of the picnickers. Craig’s cousins brought the snake along to show Craig.

That was truly an act of love, but Craig was not impressed.

Today, Craig serves with our Priest during Liturgy. He can hardly wait for Sunday, so he can “give Father a hand” as he phrases it. The hand he gives Father is indeed the hand that God made.

Father Siniari, the Priest who first helped Craig to serve, once commented that as he looked at Craig he knew the Father spoke through Craig and then through that hand that was extended toward him.

How marvelous in God’s eyes are these who are like little children.

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter thereinî (Luke 18:17). ❖

NEW PASTOR IN BRICK, NJ

Page 30

Fr. Gary Joseph Breton has been assigned to serve Annunciation Church, Brick, NJ. He and Matushka Mary (Buletza) have two children, Mary and Alexander. Fr. Gary was ordained on November 30, 1991 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Boston by His Grace, Bishop Job. He was then assigned to Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church in Maynard, Massachusetts where he served until September 31, 2002. ❖

PARISH NEWS

AFTER 55 YEARS: THE RETIREMENT OF FR. PAUL SHAFRAN After serving as a priest in the Orthodox Church in America for 55 years and after serving as pastor of St. Vladimir Orthodox Church in Trenton, NJ for 53 years, Fr. Paul Shafran retired as pastor of his church at the end of July 2002. In order to express their appreciation and gratitude, the parishioners held a special banquet for Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary on Sunday, October 6, 2002, at Daria Hall adjacent to the church. Prior to the banquet, a service of thanksgiving was sung in the church that was filled with worshippers. The celebrants at this service were the Very Rev. Sergei Kuharsky who delivered the homily, the Very Rev. Nicholas Fedetz, a seminary classmate of Fr. Paul, the Very Rev. Thomas Edwards, the Very Rev. Steven Belonick, the Very Rev. Daniel Skvir, the Rev. Fr. Martin Kraus, the newly appointed pastor of St. Vladimir Church, and the Rev. Fr. Deacon Michael Sochka.

At the conclusion of the Molieben Service, the clergy and congregation proceeded to Daria Hall.

The hall was filled to capacity and many more people requested banquet tickets, but tickets were sold out. The table decorations and ambience were elegant. The banquet committee, consisting of a large group of people, received high compliments for the excellent arrangements. Fr. Daniel Skvir acted as master of ceremonies. Eloquent speeches were delivered by Fr. Nicholas Fedetz, Fr. Sergei Kuharsky, Fr. Thomas Edwards, Fr. Steven Belonick, Fr. Martin Kraus and Fr. Deacon Michael Sochka.

During the program representatives of the Women’s Altar Society, the St. Vladimir Men’s

Fall 2003

Society, the Senior R Club, the Church Choir and the Church School came forward and presented Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary with many gifts and kind words of appreciation. The biggest surprise was when Fr. Paul was presented with a large envelope containing a printed certificate informing him that a new 2003 Toyota Camry automobile was awaiting him outside! Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary thanked all the people for their participation, their loyalty and love. Following the closing prayer, parishioners approached Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary and personally thanked them for their years of devoted service and love. During Fr. Paul’s pastorate, the parish grew in number requiring the enlargement of the church in 1952 and 1968. During these years a new altar table, iconostas and other appointments were installed.

Also the entire church was beautified by the renowned icononographer Pimen Sofronov. In 1964, Daria Hall, the education and social building, was constructed adjacent to the church.

Additional land was purchased to enlarge the parish cemetery, and a recreational park was constructed on land donated by a parishioner.

Fr. Paul was designated as Pastor Emeritus by Archbishop Peter. Father Paul and Matushka Mary reside in their own home in Ewing, NJ in the vicinity of the College of New Jersey. ❖

continued from back page

Jabril was trying to grab the wheel that Sunday night when she crossed at high speed into the oncoming lanes. James cowered in the back. He was the only one who made it.

Monday morning everybody played what if James, the Counselors, me, all the kids at the shelter.

The most important time is the only time we have.

There was no answer for the straw hat. Lucinda didn’t say much. Her and the baby walked me to my car. She was very kind to me and thanked me for bringing her stuff. She had a pretty face. It was swollen from crying. I gave her an Icon card of the Theotokos weeping. She asked if we could pray. My hands were free. We made the Cross. How could we fail? It seemed most important above all now. She said, “Jesus, have mercy,” before the wall with Jabril’s name, newly painted, “fam - god and earth.” ❖

Page 31

GOOD & FAITHFUL SERVANT

PIT BULLS, PASCHA, & PRETTY FACES

By Fr. Stephen Siniari Three questions, a short story by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy: “It once occurred to a certain king that if he always knew the right time to begin everything, if he always knew the right people o listen to, and whom to avoid, and above all, if he always knew what was the most important thing to do, he would never fail in anything he might undertake.” Time, people, and above all, task, how could he fail?

The ghetto gets hot with summer anticipation once Easter’s over.

Boys play halfies curb to curb in cobble narrow streets. Jokers lounge on greasy steps beside mustard ugly corner stores and make noises ike a mob atop broken down bleachers. Girls dress tight and stroll by. Guys yelling, “Let me holla’ at chu’” - critique the piercing, parade, and new tattoo. “Let me peek your sneakers.” The girls slow down and laugh.

Rooftops come alive with shoot new weed. Every lot turns currency green. Porches full of pit bulls. Babies wail. Mothers cry out to heir children. Their voices echo in vain down decrepit city blocks.

Diptychs in brick, RIP memorials tag the scattered buildings left standing with spray paint portraits looking grander than life. And names, endless names, with dates too pitiful to even calculate, wasted, beautiful young lives, now nothing more than fading urban graffiti.

Freak eighty-four degrees in April. The screens in every house reverberate with their own special rhythm. Speakers are loud, but they’re cheap. Somebody’s cooking in tin. The smoke is acrid. It vanishes and chokes. Creeps me out, passing the desecrated temple again, dank and dark inside, mildewed piles, strewn crumpled vestments, tabernacles brutalized, doors gaping, iconostasis smashed, Typicons torn to sheds.

Under the rubble two young pilgrims brought me the abandoned Antimension, who could have left them? Inside, a single shaft of sunight pierces the ruptured cupola. Holy Resurrection is still one long week away. I bow my head amid the sadness and strain to hear the Paschal verses “come forth from the tomb like a bridegroom in procession.” Placing them in our parish altar, I keep moving; you can only do what you can do.

My hands are full. My attention’s rapt. A suitcase weighing me down on one side, and trying to find a place to grip an overly awkward car seat overflowing with diapers, straps, and formula, is taking

JACOB’S WELL Diocese of New York/New Jersey 24 Colmar Road Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

up the hand I make the Cross with. And right here, I’d like to make the Cross. My shiny car with the out of state tags is parked on 5th Street, two blocks away. My pockets are full of prescription meds and I’m looking for Lucinda and her baby who got booted from the shelter for holding for Jabril, her baby’s father, who was dealing wet, weedinfused, jet fuel laced, embalming fluid marijuana, him and James, a friend Jabril called “fam.” Family, they call each other - “god and earth,” boys are god, girls are earth.

I spot the address painted on a porch... The one with the lady smoking crack on a sat-out beach chair, the one next door to the pit bull synod.

“You da’ priest?” says a guy with gold teeth on a kitchen chair with an accent from the islands. Ordinarily I avoid inner city personalities in broad straw hats. My eyes are fixed on a barefoot kid trying to hold back a black and white pit straining his leash to get down the steps and introduce himself to me. “Don’t mind the dog,” says the straw hat. “Come up. Why you put out ‘dis baby and her mama?”

The Chapel was dark when I sat with Jabril. Every counselor had come and said he’s out. Don’t you dare let this one back until he’s done his card. Failure to follow case plan for the third time in a row nets a thirty-day card. He’s out for a month. It was Friday in the evening. He had eight days left on his card. I hated being Ombudsman. Gather all the facts, who, what, where, when, how, what if, and why, both sides, and you still just don’t know.

I said, “Let me send you to our place at the Shore. I’ll give you the six bucks.” “I have school on Monday, I can’t go that far.” was his reply. “I graduate in a week.” “Ruben said you could stay at his place. Here’s a fifty dollar grocery gift certificate.” Jabril said no thanks. “There’s plenty other ways if they won’t let me back early.”

When I told him God created him for good, he said he’d get back to that, eventually.

He had some money coming no one knew about. Sunday night he went with James to see a woman in a red Chevrolet about a deal.

Saturday at the end of her shift she lit an eight-day candle and placed it on her suicide note on top of the toilet tank in the ladies room in the plant where she worked with James’ mother.

Continued on page 31

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