Jacob's Well - Spring/Summer 2001

ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

Spring/Summer 2001 "Give me this water, that I may not thirst..." – John 4:15

THE ECHOING WORD

Life-Creating

by Fr. John Shimchick Each year the Lenten and Paschal seasons prepare us for a primary, but essential affirmation that echoes within the Scriptures and our liturgical texts throughout the rest of the year: We believe in a God who is "life-creating" or "life-giving."

This was the message of the Paschal Gospel: In Jesus Christ "was life, and the life was the light of men" (Jn 1:4). He came so "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (Jn 3:16). We believe in a "life-creating" Trinity: the Father (Jn 5:21) and the Spirit (Jn 6:63/the Creed) "give life" as well.

Everything that the Trinity does also offers life. So, if we allow ourselves to listen liturgically we will hear the following images echoing back and forth, again and again throughout our services and sacraments: * The life-creating death * The life-creating (or "giving" or "bearing") cross * The life-creating blood * The life-creating mysteries * The life-creating power It is this echoing word, "life-creating," that we seek to explore in this issue. Fr. Michael Plekon examines it from the perspective of the life and ministry of Fr. Lev Gillet, the well-known "Monk of the Eastern Church." Gary Cattell shares from his 19 years of experiences in Christian discussions with college students at Penn State.

Ivan Moody looks at the themes of life and death in the music of several contemporary Orthodox composers. Fr. Thomas George writes on its connection to the Anaphora.

Archbishop Peter reviews an important group of documents entitled: "The Orthodox Church and Society: The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church." Lawrence Tosi, newly appointed Diocesan Treasurer, outlines his plan for a new "Financial Vision." The Minutes and Reports from the 2000 Diocesan Assembly as well as other Diocesan documents are available at: Jacwell.org -- “The Diocese” sidebar button.

Last fall, due to ill health, Fr. Alexander Warnecke retired as Diocesan Chancellor. We reflect on his importance to the life of our Diocese and on his elevation to the rank of Protopresbyter.

Special articles are presented in memory of Fr. George Timko and Kyra Shafran Griffits (daughter of Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary Shafran). There are reviews of several liturgical music workshops.

Activities and special features from several parishes are noted.

Lillian Lane writes of her trip to the Holy Land. Yvette Abdallah offers impressions of a course in Iconography. Fr. Ilya Gotlinsky is introduced as the new pastor of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Church in Binghamton. We continue our movie review section

and conclude with Fr. Stephen Siniari's article, "Everyday Opportunities for Servants to See." Finally, we are happy to announce a new series, "The OCA's Diocesan Family." In each issue we would like to highlight the history and life of a diocese in the OCA, written by representatives of that Diocese. The first installment features The Diocese of Canada.

It is very easy to reflect endlessly on the all too human side of the Church's life. The Scriptures and our worship remind us that God indeed seeks to enter into our whole life. May the presence and work of the “life-creating” Trinity echo within us and in the Church in ways that can transform and heal. ❖

C O N T E N T S Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15 Diocesan News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-19 Parish News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-29 The OCA’s Diocesan Family . . . . . . . . . . . 30-31 Special Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Icons & Iconography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33-34 Movie Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Good & Faithful Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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THE ECHOING WORD

An Orthodox Response to the Problems of Our Time

Spring/Summer 2001

by Archbishop PETER The twentieth century has been marked by scientific developments and huge societal transformations.

During and after the Second Vatican Council, RomanCatholic Authorities have formulated statements on matters which sometimes have been received reluctantly among the people and clergy.

With regard to Protestant Denominations one can, of course, expect a clear and unanimous stand. In agreement with the general trend of Protestantism the accent has often been put on freedom of conscience, at least to some extent. During the major part of the twentieth century the precarious and often tragic conditions of existence in countries traditionally Orthodox did not allow our Church to study social and ethical problems and even less to give directions in such matters. Let us keep in mind that according to the Marxist viewpoint, religion was regarded as a relic of the past.

The fall of communism lifted the constraints and strictures which hampered the life of the Church for a long time (more than seven decades in the case of Russia). In a climate of freedom many topics concerning religious and social issues were able to become matters of discussion. Hence, it is significant that the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate has decided to establish commissions studying subjects considered as especially important and sometimes urgent. Eventually the reports of those commissions were presented to the Sacred Jubilee Bishop’s Council of the Russian Orthodox Church held in Moscow August 13-16, 2000. The fact that final decisions were made after consultation by the episcopate is in accordance with the Tradition of the Church. It is noteworthy that that procedure was previously the object of interesting exchanges of views. Some of the subjects listed in the agenda of the Council had a specific relevance for the Russian Church (for example, the decisions on the canonization of the Neo-martyrs and on the

ecclesiastical situation in Estonia). Needless to say that I do not regard those decisions as necessarily devoid of interest for the other Orthodox Churches. Be that as it may, the decision entitled Basic Principles of the Attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church Toward the Other Christian Confessions is worth reading and thinking about in the whole Orthodox world because it articulates a cautiously balanced stand on a matter which had brought about serious controversies among the Orthodox for a long time. I do not think that the document will close the debate within and without the Russian Church, but it would be useful for Orthodox theologians to read that statement.

The next document is the most elaborated text promulgated by the Council (62 pages). It deals with several contemporary subjects grouped under the title The Orthodox Church in Society: Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Within the framework of my article it is not possible to make an exhaustive analysis of the subjects addressed in this document. I will only mention some points presenting a general interest, more especially those which have not been carefully studied and subsequently settled by the hierarchy of other Orthodox Churches. On those manifold questions the Council offers nuanced responses.

This is the case, for example, with the relations between Church and State. On that issue the resolution takes into account both the data of history and those of contemporary situations in the Russian Federation (for instance, the significance of Orthodox Christianity in the establishment of the Russian nation and the concept of freedom of conscience). The part of the document on Personal, Family and Public Morality is undoubtedly extremely interesting because the Council avoids the reiterations of commonplaces and takes a stand on contemporary problems which are discussed in the whole Christian world, especially in RomanCatholicism. Suffice it to cite marriages between Orthodox and non-baptized persons and the use of contraception. The former are considered as existing, but canonically unlawful. With regard to contraceptive methods, the Council does not cont. on page 15

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THE ECHOING WORD

Financial Vision Spring/Summer 2001

by Lawrence G. Tosi, Esq. Treasurer, Diocese of New York and New Jersey [At the Diocesan Council Meeting on March 23, 2001 Archbishop PETER approved the appointment of Lawrence Tosi as Diocesan Treasurer and Hiermonk Joseph (Hoffman) as Diocesan Secretary, with responsibilities at the direction of the Archbishop for daily operations.]

Diocesan Financial Reports and other documents are available at Jacwell.org ( The Diocese sidebar)

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It has been said that hard times can be either the road to ruin, or the beginning of a road to success.

Being the eternal optimist, I believe the latter.

Whenever a problem occurs, one should take the experience and see how you can use it to improve the long-term picture. I remember sitting at our last Diocesan Assembly during the review of the proposed budget and thinking that there has to be a better way to finance the Diocese. Many church representatives complained about the burden caused by the assessments. These really hit those churches that have an elderly population on a fixed income or who have a small parish. They are not alone. The larger parishes also see the bite on their total income. Every parish has significant budget concerns. The obvious problem was that there was no long term planning done in anticipation of this day. We have allowed our Diocese and parishes to have a “hand-to-mouth” existence. The solution eluded me for a long term.

When Archbishop Peter asked me if I would take on the role of Treasurer, I had to think harder. I must admit that there was a lot of smoke coming out of my ears from my poor brain working overtime and way beyond its capacity.

I have always been a believer in “stewardship” and “first portion giving.” I wasn’t sure if this could be made to work on the Diocesan level. Truthfully, I have seen it work on the parish level, although not perfectly as we still do not have 100% participation and support. I can say with certainty that this model is our future. I have had long discussions with many clergy, fellow Orthodox Christians and my next door neighbor, who is the treasurer for the local Lutheran Church, over funding the churches. My neighbor’s church is also trying to follow a program similar to our “first portion giving” model. Like our church they are not getting total buy-in, but it certainly has caused an increase in giving by many who have taken the time to examine their giving practices. My neighbor agrees with me that once people understand the concept and follow it, they find that more money is available in their personal budget for the

church. If a percentage of your income is placed aside for God’s work before all else, you will find that you have more than enough afterwards to pay your bills and have plenty left over. He agreed with me, that the first step is faith that God will provide for us.

It reminded me of so many stories from Christ’s life on earth. Foremost is the feeding of the five thousand. We all know that story. But like His Disciples, we must be reminded again of God’s ability to care for us. The story to remember is the latter one, where Christ and his Disciples are on a boat again in Mark 8:13-21. The Disciples began to wonder about eating because they had no bread. It was truly amazing how quickly they forgot about the miracle which occurred only days before this incident. After witnessing the miracle of feeding the five thousand, they forgot of God’s bountiful gifts to us.

Here the Disciples, like us, needed to be reminded.

With that in mind, I started to think differently about the financing portion of the Diocese.

I believe that the future model will be the “first portion giving” model. Are we ready for it to be the model for the way parishes fund the Diocese at this time? I do not believe so. However, with that said, we must move in that direction soon. In the long term we will begin a slow transition to a fairer apportionment of costs to the churches based upon their ability to support the Diocese. In the mean time, the approach is to directly appeal to each and every member of the Diocese to look closely at themselves and their giving pattern. I hope that this is done not only in regard to the Diocese but also your parish. In order for us to move forward, we need everyone to accept our vision for the future of the Diocese and the greater work that can be done.

Now that I had the idea of how to seek funds, I had to see what we were going to do with the monies. In the past I never knew what a diocese did besides taking care of the bishop. When I took on this position, I had my eyes opened. I pledged at that time to make sure everyone understood the

THE ECHOING WORD work and needs of the Diocese. We have never been good at getting the information out to the local parishioner. Thus, the first goal was to publish our budget. Every time Jacob’s Well is to be published, I will have our current income and expenses. I hope to expand the report in the future. I also want stories to come into the publication of how the funds are used. Perhaps, if each of you knows where the monies are spent, you will feel a sense of community and see our successes. We must be accountable to you in how we use your money to spread the Word of God. As the money grows, this Diocese can do more than the meager amount of work currently being done because of our limitations. In the mean time, I can only provide a snapshot of where the monies are now used. Please believe me, we definitely can be doing much more if we had the monies. The obvious use is daily operation and care of our Diocesan home, the Chancery located in Bronxville, New York. This serves as the home for Archbishop Peter and the offices for the Diocese. We publish our Diocesan paper which you are currently reading.

Two of our diocesan seminary students receive minimal support from us. We have five mission churches in the Diocese. There is also a widow’s fund.

There are small amounts available for youth and music work within the Diocese. Without a doubt, all of the areas should increase. But in the short run, I recommended to the Diocesan Council that we concentrate on three areas until they become strong.

This is a vision for the future.

I currently sent a letter to each member of the Diocese and asked for support. You will notice in the letter that I marked three categories for giving.

They were missions, maintenance and seminary.

These areas were selected because they are the largest non-operating expenses and can give the greatest short term rewards to the Diocese. There really is only one long term investment that we can make and that is in our youth, but we need to walk before we can run. As this vision developed, I became more excited about the possibilities for the future.

As everyone in our Diocese knows, our population has changed in the thirty years of existence.

There has been a shift from the city areas to the suburbia. Also, we have a new influx of immigrants from Russia and other countries. The good part is we need new churches and actually have five missions. The bad news is that we cannot stabilize the

mission churches because they cannot afford a full time priest. Let us face the facts. We live in a high cost area. We all must recognize that without a full time priest, growth is limited. A weekend priest is not going to fill the need of the parish. Whether you want to believe it, a parish priest’s job is 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Our ability to help the missions is important. Once a mission reaches a certain size, they are eligible for matching funds up to $15,000 a year from the OCA Mission Fund. Thus if the mission parish has enough families and can raise $15,000 a year they can get the same for a three-year period from the OCA. Our goal is to be able to match the OCA monies. With those combined monies, we can have a priest in residence to help the parish grow quickly and strongly.

Spring/Summer 2001

You may have also noticed that we have graying clergy. There is a need for young talented priests and other seminary trained individuals, such as choir directors and youth coordinators, within the Diocese. Frankly, it is a shame that any person who has the academic ability and calling from God should be precluded from attending the seminary because of the costs. Our goal is to establish a fund to assist the seminary student from our diocese. All Diocesan seminary students will receive monies from this fund in the form of an interest free loan. The loan will be forgiven, if upon graduation the student works within the Diocese in an official capacity for at least three years. Thus if a person from the Diocese decides to go to the seminary, he or she will receive money which will not have to be repaid so long as they serve within our Diocese.

As to the maintenance fund, there is so much work that needs to be done on the Chancery. The goal is to establish a fund to perpetually care for our Diocesan home. Beyond that, the fund should be available to assist our parishes on their projects as a short term loan. Often it is hard to raise the monies quickly to complete a project. We all know how difficult it is to get monies for an emergency repair.

Financial institutions are not fond of lending monies to a church. If this fund can be grown, we should be able to provide short six month loans to help the local parishes care for emergency or other projects without the hassle of banks. Thus once the Chancery is repaired, we need to grow a solid fund to help the local parishes.

The current fund drive seeks to begin this vision.

Half of all monies used will be placed into one of the

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THE ECHOING WORD

Spring/Summer 2001

endowment funds. The other half will be used immediately to handle current expenses. We will be seeking trustees from the parishes for each of these funds, to govern the parameters of use of the reserved monies. As you can see, the greater the funds, the more self-sufficient becomes the Diocese. I hope to run the fund drive after every Pascha, so plan ahead. If the funds can generate enough interest to become nearly self-sufficient, we will expand the area to other funds, such as youth work. The long term vision of these funds will have a significant impact on the Diocese.

I finish this with a thought. Like the parable of the three servants left by their master with the various numbers of talents. We, like the servants, must invest our monies wisely to have a profitable return for when the master makes them accountable. Look at your gift to the Diocese as an investment in the future. The more investment we each make into our Diocese, the greater return for the good of all of us. ❖

Father Lev Gillet: The Monk in the City, a Pilgrim in many worlds

By Fr. Michael Plekon “The whole teaching of the Latin Fathers may be found in the East, just as the whole teaching of the Greek Fathers may be found in the West. Rome has given St. Jerome to Palestine. The East has given Cassian to the West and holds in special veneration that Roman of the Romans, Pope Gregory the Great. St. Basil would have acknowledged St. Benedict of Nursia as his brother and heir. St. Macrina would have found her sister in St Scholastica. St. Alexis the ‘man of God,’ ‘the poor man under the stairs,’ has been succeeded by the wandering beggar, St. Benedict Labre.

St. Nicolas would have felt as very near to him the burning charity of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Vincent de Paul. St. Seraphim of Sarov would have seen the desert blooming under Father Charles de Foucauld’s feet, and would have called St. Therese of Lisieux ‘my joy.’[1]” Fr. Lev Gillet - a complicated man, a wandering monk.

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Among the extraordinary people of the Russian emigration was Sister Joanna Reitlinger, the nuniconographer. In the chapel of the now closed St Basil’s House in London, there were two remarkable frescoes by her which brought to life the vision of the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church” alive in holy men and women, despite the centuries of schism and distance. (These and much of the iconography of St Basil’s have been transferred to a

monastery in Wales.) Assembled before the Great Church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople are Anthony the Great and Dorotheos, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, Nicholas, Athanasius and Macrina. On the opposite wall, in front of St. Peter’s in Rome, are gathered Benedict, Genevieve of Paris, Leo the Great, Martin of Tours, Augustine, Monica and Irenaeus of Lyons. [2] The saints in the frescoes as well as those in Fr. Lev’s text above are icons not only of what he taught and wrote but also of who he himself was and the churchly life he tried to live.

In a century in which the divisions of the churches continued to separate people of faith, a century of wars and depressions and rapid social change, there also was the surprise of the ecumenical movement, the sometimes feeble, sometimes defiant urge to recover the original unity of the Church. As with his friends Paul Evdokimov, Fr. Bulgakov and Mother Maria Skobtsova, Fr. Lev became a kind of pilgrim between the churches, truly the citizen and inhabitant of various worlds.

Living in both Western and Eastern monasteries, then among the Russian Emigres and the homeless of Paris and later in London, Beirut and Geneva, the little monk had a large soul, an amazingly expansive and diversified life. His life-long friend and biographer, herself part of the sweep of church history in this century, Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, has captured something of the quixotic character

THE ECHOING WORD and nonconformist life of Fr. Lev. She refers to him as the “monk in the city” and a “pilgrim” in many worlds.

This he most certainly was, a monk both of the Western Church’s Benedictine order and of the Eastern Church, but only for a brief time of his long life actually resident in a monastic community. Fr. Lev had the soul of a pilgrim. He was never tied down for very long to one position or place.

Born on August 6, 1893 in Saint-Marcellin, in Isere, France, he did combat service in World War I, then university studies in philosophy and psychology. He produced the first French translation of Freud’s On the Interpretation of Dreams, underwent psychoanalysis and acquired a life-long sensitivity to the complexity and the suffering of the soul, as Freud called it. After the war he entered the Benedictine Order at Clervaux abbey in Luxembourg. Later he served under one of the leaders of the liturgical renewal movement, Dom Ferdinand Cabrol at Farborough abbey in England.

Chosen for further study, he was sent to San Anselmo in Rome, where he made deep friendships with two monks with whom he would be a cofounder, at least in spirit, of the mixed EasternWestern church monastery of Chevetogne in Belgium.

Later in life, work as priest and scholar would take him across Europe and to the Near East. He would be a member, albeit briefly, of a fledgling monastic community in the Ukraine, also priest in a mission near Nice. After entering the Orthodox Church, he was rector of the first French language Orthodox parish in Paris. He served as chaplain in a number of locations: to Russians and others held in French prisons, at Mother Maria’s hostel, and at St. Basil’s House in London. In between and after, he was an itinerant preacher and retreat master, spiritual father and advisor to bishops, priests, monastics, church youth movements and many individuals. He supported himself at various points in his life, not so much by clerical appointments and stipends but by free-lance, independent writing, editing, translating and research. And if nothing else, he was a go-between, a traveler between numerous “worlds,” that of the past century and the present, that of the Western Christian churches and tradition and that of the East, between clergy and laity, intellectuals and artists and ordinary working people, and, most significantly, between

an apparently secular, even Godless world and the reality of God and the Kingdom, one which he experienced in a most intense, even mystical manner. Several of his most widely read books took the form of dialogues between the soul and the Lord, prayer “out loud.”

Spring/Summer 2001

From his book, In Thy Presence: So then, Lord, it is this? It is truly this? It is only this? This is the whole law and all the prophets? To love with one’s whole heart...To love Him who first loved us, to love everything that He loves, all men, all women, all creatures...Yes, my child, that is it, and that is all.

Everything “else” has value only inasmuch as it is the expression, the carrying out - under so many various forms - of that initial impulse which is my limitless Love....The heart transplants, which in our day have become possible, are a wonderful sign of a spiritual reality. To give one’s heart to another, to accept the heart of another...It is the parable of limitless Love’s triumph... [3] For years, many of Fr. Lev’s writings were published under the pen name of “A Monk of the Eastern Church,” a device first contrived to avoid controversy but later continued because of the anonymity and perhaps also the mystery it afforded. A Westerner always, he nevertheless was surely a priest and “monk of the Eastern Church.” In this he was a precursor, with Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, of many others from the Western churches who would become part of the Eastern Church in the 20th century, to some a curious, even suspect phenomenon. Nevertheless, as Paul Evdokimov and Mother Maria and many of the Russian Emigres came to understand it, the destructive Bolshevik revolution also had a very positive outcome, the return of eastern Orthodox Christians to the West, the opening of contacts of prayer, study and common work between them. Perhaps surprisingly, there appeared pilgrims from The West to the Eastern Church, men and women whose love for the Church would repair and create bridges between the divided churches.

After a long life, just such a pilgrim, Fr. Lev, was buried from the Greek Orthodox cathedral in London by his friend and younger colleague, Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of the Russian Patriarchal diocese of Sourozh. In addition to all

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Spring/Summer 2001

This article was taken from Fr. Plekon’s forthcoming book Living Icons: Persons of Faith in the Eastern Church, University of Notre Dame Press, 2002

the prayers of the Orthodox funeral service, one from the Roman Missal was also read by Metropolitan Anthony. Even in death, Fr. Lev kept trying to live in an undivided Church. He understood himself to be a priest of the Orthodox Church, but this did not prevent him from ministering to Christians all across the spectrum, preaching in Hyde Park as well as Protestant churches in London and elsewhere, giving retreats to Orthodox, Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Protestants as well, in short, serving all of the people of God like his friend Paul Evdokimov, as if there had never been schisms.

Fr. Lev seems to shatter every typology of personality. He was intense and passionate, extremely private and revealing at the same time. He is described as child-like and open, most accessible and yet often difficult, brooding even cranky.

Though his thinking was straightforward, his friendships deep and lasting and his attitude warm and outgoing, he remained an enigma, a mystery, even to those who knew him well and over a lifetime. Yet in this man of apparent contradictions, there was an amazing resolution or transcendence of conflicts that would destroy and divide. Just as Fr Lev was moved and transformed by the spirituality of the Russian Orthodox Church and its clinging to the “kenosis,” the self-emptying of Christ, Bishop Kallistos Ware has described the monk of the Eastern Church as a most “kenotic” personality himself. Bishop Kallistos cites an early letter of Fr. Lev, his vision of his life, one of giving.

The more I examine myself, the more I see that a life devoted to constructing and organizing, a life which produces positive results and which succeeds, is not my voca-

tion, even though, out of obedience, I could work in this direction and even obtain certain results. What attracts me is a vocation of loss—a life which would give itself freely without any apparent positive result, for the result would be known to God alone; in brief, to lose oneself in order to find oneself. [4] Fr Lev's life might be described by many as a loss, with no substantial accomplishments in many of the projects he worked for and more often than not, lack of any ecclesiastical action. Since his death, even the ecumenical vision he had has been lost or rejected in the churches. But it is my conviction that his contributions remain alive, a gift of life to Christians, his life a kind of icon of faithful struggle and love. ❖ Endnotes [1] A Monk of the Eastern Church, Orthodox Spirituality, 2nd. ed., (Crestwood NY: SVSP, 1978 ), x-xi. The biographical material here is indebted to Elisabeth BehrSigel’s masterful and extensive biography, Lev Gillet: “ Un moine de l’Èglise d’ Orient,” (Paris: Cerf, 1993), now in English, Lev Gillet: ‘a monk of the Eastern Church,’ Helen Wright, trans., (Oxford: Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius, 1999.

[2] Reproductions of these are in the Cerf, French language edition of Elisabeth Behr-Sigel’s biography, between 312 and 313.

[3] In Thy Presence, (Crestwood NY: SVSP, 1977), 71-72).

[4] Letter of 9 March 1928, in Contacts, 49, no. 180, 1997, 309. This is one of a series of letters from Fr. Lev to his bishop, Metropolitan Andrei Szeptycky, recently discovered in archives in Lviv and here excerpted and translated by Elisabeth Behr-Sigel. Also see Cyril Korolevsky, Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky, Serge Keleher, ed. and trans., Fairfax VA: Eastern Christian Publications, 1997).

Christ Bestows This New Life Through His Mysteries In the sacred mysteries, then, we depict His burial and proclaim His death. By them we are begotten and formed and wondrously united to the Savior, for they are the means by which, as Paul says, "in him we live, and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

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Baptism confers being and in short, existence according to Christ. It receives us when we are dead and corrupted and first leads us into life. The anointing with chrism perfects him who has received [new] birth by infusing into him the energy that befits such a life. The Holy Eucharist preserves and continues this life and health, since the Bread of life enables us to preserve that which has been acquired and to continue in life. It is therefore by this Bread that we live and by the chrism that we are moved, once we have received being from the baptismal washing. - Nicholas Cabasilas, The Life in Christ (The First Book, #6) ❖

THE ECHOING WORD

Christianity as Life: Proclaiming the Message to College Students

Spring/Summer 2001

By Gary Cattell In speaking to college students over the past 19 years I have seen spiritual life slowly drained out of them as America turns decidedly Deist. I do not know if students can be considered representative of America's spiritual condition, but if so America's light is all but extinguished. I minister at the Pennsylvania State University four to five hours a day five days a week and what most students seem to believe is that God exists but He cannot be known. As a result of this way of thinking one cannot really know what the right religion is and by extension the correct morals. So they are free to believe and do what they want, and God understands because their ignorance is of no fault of their own. This is modern day Deism and it is fast becoming our national religion.

I personally believe this state we find ourselves in is the direct result of Protestant relativism. Once the doctrine of sola scriptura took hold it was not long before anyone with a Bible was deciding for himself the doctrines of Christianity. This gave a relativistic nature to Protestantism so that within certain boundaries one could decide for oneself what to believe. Once free to personally decide what the scriptures meant it was not much of a leap to deciding which parts of the scriptures were really true, and of course from there it was a small step to questioning the truth of Christianity itself. Once this was accomplished and other religious traditions began to be better known in the West the corresponding confusion lead to a collective shrugging of the shoulders and an attitude of "we don't know what is true so believe what you wish." This is very alluring to college students as it is a heady experience to choose your own God and morals. It is at the same time lifeless, in that somewhere in the mind and conscience of the students is the understanding that it is not real. There is no life or intensity in their beliefs because to one degree or another they have made them up.

The other thing that drains the life out of college students is the idea that organized religion is corrupt. If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say, "I believe in God, but I don't like organized religion. It's the woods that are my

church." I'd be a wealthy man. Evangelical and Pentecostal Protestants have played on this idea and assured people that Christianity is a relationship not a religion. In giving the students' rock and roll worship, few doctrines, and little in the way of demands, they have filled their fellowships with enthusiastic, but ultimately shallow converts. Christianity in these churches has become a party and true religion is sacrificed for an emotional experience and a good time. In fact, what is considered "the moving of the Spirit" in these churches and fellowships is usually nothing more than the exciting of emotions through pop music. This relating of the "Spirit" to a state of excitement not only hurts the Christian involved, but also hurts our ability to bring an Evangelical Protestant into Orthodoxy so he can experience the true life of the Spirit which has been in the For 19 years Gary Cattell has engaged Church for 2,000 years. It is diffi- students on the campus of cult to bring evangelicals into the Pennsylvania State University (Penn Church when they believe the State) in moral and spiritual conversavery feelings, of which the church tions. He is a member of Holy Trinity Church, State College, PA. is distrustful, is a sign of the Holy Spirit's presence.

What the Evangelical/Pentecostal Christian does not understand is that the reason he needs to have an emotional experience is because in rejecting communion as the body and blood of Christ he has no concrete way of taking in and experiencing Christ in his worship. Most of these churches at least in practice have separated the spiritual from the material and don't really believe that God works through matter anymore. They would say that maybe God worked through material objects in the Old Testament, but such thinking today smacks of idolatry or superstition. Any experience of God they have now must be solely ethereal which over the years has become associated with how they feel. This is why things like "holy laughter" and other experi-

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ences that are foreign to the Orthodox are big in the Pentecostal movement. It is only through phenomenon such as these that they can believe they are experiencing God. This of course makes our job as Orthodox that much more difficult. We must not only combat the false history and doctrine that is rampant in Protestantism, but also false worship. Our worship culminating in the taking in of Christ at communion is the true life, but before an evangelical will accept this they must see that they have confused the Holy Spirit with emotion. I bring this up from time to time as I minister on campus and recently I had a young college student who took exception and adamantly declared that he was not confusing the two. So I asked him how he knew when the "Spirit" was moving, and he declared in no uncertain terms that he felt it. Pausing for a moment he acknowledged, "Oh, I see what you mean." At our church we recently had a student cease from being a catechumen because she felt the worship wasn't spiritual. It turned out what was spiritual for her was the good feelings she associated with pop music.

One positive way of looking at people who have had spiritual life drained out of them is that they now must be filled. Let us fill them with the true life. It has been said that Orthodoxy (and this is to

our shame) is the best kept secret in America. So for the good of the nation let us do what our Orthodox forefathers did so well, and go out and fill the lives of those around us with right worship and authentic Christianity.

We as Orthodox are truly privileged. We have a way of worship that traces its roots back, not to Elvis as with the Pentecostals, but to Christ and the Apostles. We have the great honor at the height of our worship to take into our body and soul the living Christ. We truly have been given much, and as such, have the great privilege of having much to give. Let us not hide or be embarrassed about what we have. Yes, it is very different from the world and Protestant Christianity, but that is because it is from God and it is life.

When I look into the eyes of college students who have made up their God and morals, I see no life. When I look into the eyes of committed Protestant Christians I see light, but it could be so much brighter. Let us take the life that we have and begin to light the candles of those around us. We have life freely given to us so let us freely give. Let us plumb the depths of what we have been given and become as Christlike as possible so we can give Christ to others. Let us be truly Orthodox because in that we can give light and life to the world. â?–

A Parish’s New Home Members of St. Gregory Palamas Church in Glen Gardner, NJ went through many changes last year. In May of 2000 they purchased an old country Methodist church built in 1839. It turned out to be solid as an Oak Tree and a very good investment for them. Yet it needed to be suited forOrthodox worship before Divine Liturgy could be celebrated.

On June 1, 2000 Fr. Michael Medis and family were assigned to St. Gregory's. These were big changes for a twenty year old mission and newly ordained priest, but these changes have been for the best. St. Gregory's had been a mission church since Fr. Michael, Larry Kloss, Steve Welenteychik, and 1979 worshipping in a rental space in Flemington, Mark Marchuk NJ for many years. In the end everyone came together to make the transitional move.

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The first Divine Liturgy celebrated in their new building was held on September 24, 2000. On this date His Eminence Archbishop Peter granted St. Gregory's the status of "Church." This year the parish also sponsored one of the NJ Deanery Lenten Vespers services. â?–

THE ECHOING WORD

Words of Life

by Fr. Thomas George Words and their meaning are essential to knowledge, understanding, and our path to life. If we lack wisdom it often is due to our misunderstanding of meaning or to the inattentive way we listen to the words we hear. This human weakness was demonstrated on one occasion in our Lord’s ministry. St. John recorded that the apostles and our Lord were discussing the departure of many who had been following Jesus, who left because they found His words hard to accept, even offensive to their ears. Jesus said to the Twelve, “Will you also go away?” St. Peter professed to our Lord, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). The words of Jesus had been misunderstood and instead of bringing life to their hearers, they led to their rejection of God’s message. St. John claims the words used to tell this story about Jesus are able to lead to life, for they were written “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in His Name” (Jn 20:31).

The words used by the Church in prayer also testify to her Lord. The depth of their meaning and their proper reception by our ears are essential to a clear understanding and meaningful participation in Church life. With these goals in mind let us examine some of the words used in the liturgy and the manner in which they are heard and discuss some nuances that may help lead us to eternal life.

Examining the liturgy’s Anaphora prayer, the prayer of thanksgiving and offering which begins with the words “It is meet and right,” we see that it is an address intoned to God the Father by the bishop and the people of God. In other terms it is a duet (for lack of a better word) of the Royal Priesthood in praise and thanksgiving to God. In this duet, the cleric (bishop or priest) and the people each have parts that are intoned aloud, although the prayer itself is singular and is prayed by all together. The Anaphora prayer ends with both the priest and the people intoning the “Amen.” The subject and verbs used in the Anaphora are in the plural, “we” remember, “we” offer, “we” praise. Thus, the whole community offers this thanksgiving to God. This prayer is not merely recited, but chanted or intoned. The unfortunate practice of a silent anaphora with exclamations of the last few words

Spring/Summer 2001

before the change of “singer,” be it priest or people, became common after the 6th century. The exclamations were aloud so the next “singer” would have a cue when to begin his part. This innovation caused much of the duet to be expressed inaudibly, with the people not hearing a large portion of the Anaphora prayer.

In time the people’s perception of one of these exclamations changed. Indeed the text of the prayer itself was actually changed later (13-14th century) to accommodate this new perception. What had been a single sentence, started by the priest and completed by the people, now became two sentences, one for the priest and another for the people. “Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee on behalf of all and for all” was the first. “We hymn Thee, we bless Thee, we thank Thee, O Lord” was the second.

If we examine the original language and grammar of the texts used by the Church before the 13th century we see “Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee,” was originally a clause of a large complex sentence which reads: Remembering this saving commandment, and all those things which have come to pass for us, ... and His second and glorious Coming, offering Thine own of Thine own to Thee, on account of all things and because of all things we hymn Thee, we bless Thee, we thank Thee, O Lord.

The compound verb of this long sentence was not “we offer” but “we hymn Thee, we bless Thee, we thank Thee.” Rephrasing it may help us to understand its intended meaning: As we remember this saving commandment, and all those things which have come to pass for us, ... and His second and glorious Coming, as we offer Thee Thy Gifts from Thy Gifts, we hymn Thee, we bless Thee, we thank Thee, O Lord, on account of all things and because of all things.

This sentence of the offering prayer is shared between the priest and the people. It clearly demonstrates that the thanksgiving (the Eucharist) is an offering made by the priest AND the people: “As WE remember,... as WE offer, ... WE hymn Thee...”

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Restoring the original words of St. John Chrysostom’s anaphora prayer allows us to perceive its true meaning and to forsake the misleading 13th century revision, “Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee on behalf of all and for all.” In English translation it can be understood that we say we are offering this thanksgiving for everyone! We must be careful how we hear these words. We can pray on behalf of someone, but we cannot pray in his place.

How can we offer the worship and gratitude we each owe God for those who reject Him as savior and refuse to acknowledge Him? How can we offer a sacrifice of praise to God for those who ignore or do not believe in Him? We cannot accept Christ and His salvation for those who refuse to receive it. But we can and do “hymn and bless and thank” God on account of all things and because of all things. “On account of (or according to) all things and because of all things” is the literal and basic meaning of the Greek words in this sentence, “kata panta kai dia panta.” These words should not to be tied to the act of offering but to “we hymn Thee, we bless Thee, we thank Thee” as Fr. Ephrem Lash noted at a recent SVS Summer Institute. But what do these words mean? Let’s explore one possibility.

I believe this phrase refers back to events listed at the beginning of the sentence, “Remembering (keeping in mind) ... all those things that have come to pass for us” and to the final event, the “second and glorious Coming.” It refers to everything God has done to save us, and to everything He has promised and will do at the end of this age: our deliverance from the powers of this world, the Judgment, and the complete inauguration of the Kingdom. This sentence “sun”’ by the priest and completed by the people can be translated as: On account of all Thou hast done and for all Thou wilt do we hymn Thee, we bless Thee, and we thank Thee, O Lord.

In any case, the phrase is intended to explain why we hymn, bless, and thank the Lord.

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The following phrase, “And we pray Thee, O our God,” is the beginning of another sentence (the Epiclesis) which asks for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon us and upon the offered Gifts. I must note that “pray” is used here in its archaic English meaning of “to ask earnestly” (p. 2267 of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary). The underlying Greek could be translated as “we beseech Thee” or “we implore Thee.” The meaning is to offer a

petition to someone not just because you want something from him but because you NEED something from him. This sentence is also an example of the duet of the people (who begin it) and the priest (who completes the thought) seen previously when the people say, “It is meet and right,” followed by the priest repeating the words silently in the altar.

Today the latter half of the priest’s next sentence is heard by the people, but if we examine all of it we see it clearly repeats and completes the thought initiated by the people.

Again we offer Thee this reasonable and bloodless worship, and we ask Thee, and pray Thee, and supplicate Thee: Send down Thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these offered Gifts, and make this bread the precious Body of Thy Christ, and that which is this cup, the precious Blood of Thy Christ, making the change by Thy Holy Spirit...

While we have only reviewed the Anaphora of St. John, the Anaphora of St. Basil also demonstrates the same meanings we have presented here. The practice of silent prayer and short audible exclamations in the liturgy has led to unintentional but false perceptions of the words of St. John and St. Basil.

While this practice may have been caused by an increase in the size of the buildings the Church used in worship and the natural limitations of the human voice, there is no necessity in this day of amplifiers and microphones to keep this innovation. These men have given the Church two magnificent expressions of Her faith. It is our responsibility to hear their words correctly and to share their faith with the generations to come. ❖ Fr. Thomas George, now living in the State College, Pennsylvania area, served as a deacon at Holy Resurrection Church, Wayne, New Jersey.

Diocesan Liturgical Music Updates In addition to the workshops reviewed in this issue, Professor David Drillock spoke last fall at Holy Trinity Church, Elmira Heights, NJ. Upcoming workshops: Professor Drillock at Holy Trinity Church, East Meadow, NY September 29, 2001 and, hopefully, again this fall in the Upper New York State area.

THE ECHOING WORD

Reflections on Life and Death in Contemporary Orthodox Music

Spring/Summer 2001

By Ivan Moody “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

(Galatians 2:20) If we are to live as Orthodox artists, it is clear that we must, with St Paul, allow Christ to live in us.

Whatever this may mean in terms of the expression of a particular Orthodox tradition, this central imperative, of allowing Christ’s message to be transmitted through our own art, is something with which we must deal in no uncertain terms.

Whilst in Orthodox iconography there has been some sense of continuity of tradition (interrupted and corrupted though it may have become at certain points), when we come to consider music the matter becomes more complicated. If such may not seem to be the case to the composer who is used to writing and arranging for liturgical use (the Kapellmeister, the psaltis...), when we come to the professional composer, possibly with a burgeoning career, who finds himself confronted with the necessity of using his art as an expression of Orthodox spirituality, then we are dealing with something quite different.

This is precisely what happened in the case of Sir John Tavener, and something similar occurred with the Estonian Arvo Part. With the former, there was an immediate attempt at integration of Orthodox thought into his musical world, and an initial approach to Orthodoxy from the musical aspect (the results of this may be clearly heard in such works as Kyklike Kinesis and the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, both coeval with his conversion) which achieved an increasing refinement over the years. Part, in entirely different circumstances, aimed at a musical expression of ever greater religiosity which bore fruit when he was allowed to leave Estonia, but in the form of settings of Roman Catholic liturgical texts, of which the Passion According to St John is the most famous. Much more recently, Part has felt able to go directly to Orthodox sources, frequently writing music to texts in Church Slavonic. In both cases, preoccupation with Orthodox spirituality has meant a radical change in musical terms, though it is also clear that their work up to this point had already prepared the ground in no uncertain terms.

Absolutely central to this change for both composers has been the way they approach the idea of death. It is obvious that the musical expression of the idea of death will relate, for these composers as for others, very closely to the text being set (or the text used as inspiration, if it is an instrumental work). Thus, Part, in using the established western musical form of the Passion (Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem, 1982), setting the text in Latin and striving for an intentionally impersonal style of declamation (clearly with the sound of Gregorian chant and early polyphony resonating in his memory), halts at the Crucifixion and finishes with a luminous prayer for mercy. Tavener, in tackling the same subject, travels forward directly to the Resurrection (Resurrection, 1988; Fall and Resurrection, 1997), in the spirit of Orthodox hymnology and iconography, even though such a graphic, all-inclusive patchwork is achieved rather at the expense of a unified musical narrative. But the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are possibly the most difficult subjects to deal with in music, as the present author has also found (Passion and Resurrection, 1992) in that they require an attempt to overcome an exclusively personal response to the death of Christ in the interests of understanding and transmitting the cosmic event that is His Resurrection, if we are to be truly able to invite our listeners to “come and receive the light from the Unwaning Light”. The Greek composer Michael Adamis finds another solution, in his astonishing oratorio Tetelestai (“It is finished”, 1987), by jumping with the joy of the Resurrection from the Saviour’s death to choral shouts of “Death, where is thy victory, grave, where is thy sting?”

A noteworthy instance of the way in which an approach to the Orthodox way of death came about through personal tragedy is Tavener’s Eis Thanaton.

This work was written following the death of the composer’s mother in 1985, during which time he came to feel that he would write no more music.

While in Greece, he read Andreas Kalvos’s poem Eis Thanaton and Philip Sherrard’s essay upon it; music subsequently came very quickly and resulted in what Tavener has described as an “icon of sorrow” worked through as “part of a whole divine plan, not

The second part of Mark Bailey’s article, Psalmic Music in Orthodox Liturgy as Foundation, Movement and Ministry,” published in our last issue appears on our website: Jacwell.org Liturgical Music and Worship sidebar.

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of death as an isolated cruel imposition.” Kalvos (1792-1869) exemplifies a split, in Sherrard’s view, which “resulted from an inability to reconcile and integrate the rational and irrational elements of human life on a higher level, on a level of understanding that transcends the purely rational level.”

Eis Thanaton in particular is a key poem because it “issues from the heart of Kalvos; own personal situation, and second, because it reveals a perennial human situation and one which became particularly acute towards the end of the eighteenth century.”

[Sherrard 1978:47] Though Kalvos, meeting the ghost of his dead mother, writes Who is in danger?

Now that I face death with courage I hold The anchor of salvation.

He negates this, in Sherrard’s view (and, indeed in that of Seferis, who compared Kalvos with Hamlet) in the last verse by not seeking to live through his recognition of the world beyond: instead, he “postures, talks of scaling cliffs of virtue or, in another poem, of playing the lyra at the edge of the open tomb.” [Ibid., 48-49] How does Tavener treat this drawing back? The answer is very simple - he ignores it, or, rather, he transmutes it so that the experience described by the poet is indeed life-giving. The figure of the Mother is transformed into the Mother of God and the Church, which one can perfectly reasonably argue is implicit in Kalvos, but here rendered absolutely explicit with the refrains “Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Glory to Thee, O God” and a musical reference to the (Russian) chant for “Christ is risen” at the end of the work. The change in orchestral colour, with the upper strings and harp ascending to the highest registers used during the course of the work, and the static gloom of the trombones, percussion, cellos and double basses changing to a regal (for Tavener, Byzantine) glow.

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Another experience of death, specifically the idea that he himself might be near death, led to the writing of The Last Sleep of the Virgin (1991) for “almost inaudible string quartet and bells.” “I think,” wrote Tavener, “that this inaudibility reflected my curious spiritual and physical state at the time. I was so weak and was on the threshold of life and death.” [Tavener 1999:70] Elsewhere, he has said specifically that it is an eschatological work, a “strange - strange to me - meditation on the Last

Things.” [Tavener 1992] In terms of musical colour it reflects this strangeness in its use of trills, of sudden explosions of chromatically meandering melody and its constant quasi-silence. Tavener enters more specifically into the last things in his “metaphysical pantomime” The Tollhouses (in progress) and its satellite Diodia, for string quartet (1995); this latter he has described as being “liquid metaphysics,” distilled from the former [Tavener 1999:80], which in turn arose from a reading of Fr Seraphim Rose’s controversial book on the subject. The “pantomime” actually portrays symbolically a journey through the tollhouses; in dealing so concretely with life after death it may be considered utterly unique.

It is hard to imagine Arvo Part travelling a similar path. Though he and Tavener are often placed together with the Roman Catholic composer Gorecki and labelled “holy minimalists,” it takes but a short acquaintance to realize that the music of one does not sound like that of the others. They form no school(1). Part’s music has often been characterized by a sonic austerity which is largely foreign to Tavener, as Passio demonstrates very well. There is no hint of the Mediterranean in his work, and the lushness that has become apparent in his more recent, specifically Orthodox writing arises, I would argue, from the composer’s knowledge of the music of the Russian Church. There is no hint at all of the theatrical, as there is with Tavener, though there is certainly monumentality, as Kanon Pokajanen (1997), with a duration of some 84 minutes amply proves. This work is a setting of the Canon of Repentance by St Andrew of Crete, entirely in Church Slavonic. The text takes one tangibly from suffering to salvation, from death to life: Rise, wretched man, to God, and, remembering your sins, fall down before your Creator, weeping and groaning, for He is merciful and will grant you to know His will. [Ode VI] O Mother of God, help me who have strong hope in thee; implore thy Son that he may placeame on His right hand, unworthy as I am, when he sitteth to judge the living and the dead.

Amen.[Ode IX] Part accompanies St Andrew’s spiritual journey with music linked intimately to the text, imbued with the sound of Russian liturgical singing, though not derived from any actual chant. The composer

THE ECHOING WORD writes of the composition of this work: “In this composition, as in many of my vocal works, I tried to use language as a point of departure. I wanted the word to be able to find its own sound, to draw its own melodic line. Somewhat to my surprise, the resulting music is entirely immersed in the particular character of Church Slavonic, a language used exclusively in ecclesiastical texts.” [Part 1998] While the composer’s surprise might in itself be surprising to anyone familiar with his works, there is no doubt that what he says it true. There is nothing here of the impersonality for which he strove in Passio (and which in any case was soon to disappear even in other settings of western liturgical texts such as the Magnificat Antiphons and the Magnificat).

While it is hieratic and solemn, it is also increasingly luminous as it follows the soul’s journey of repentance in St Andrew’s text.

Often death is ritualized, or, more accurately, the artist’s own reaction to death is sublimated into musical ritual; this is true of Adamis’s To Mirologi tis Panagias (1994) Tavener’s Ikon of the Crucifixion (1988) and the present writer’s Lament for Christ (1989), all three of which deal specifically with the image of the Mother of God lamenting at the foot of the Cross. The Adamis achieves this by a hypnotic concentration on certain musical phrases and intervals; the Tavener by his favourite device of the repetition of the musical material in different keys, and my own work by the use of a recurring wordless refrain (and one might add Part’s Stabat Mater as a work on the same theme treating a western liturgical text through the refracting mirror of Orthodox sensibility). In these diverse ways one is able to indicate musically that, though the Theotokos beholds her Son in death, and we in amazement can ask only “O Life, how canst Thou die?,” yet there is the underlying knowledge that Christ, the Giver of Life, will rise again. It is not explicitly stated verbally, but is

given, so to speak, a musical exegesis. In such a way, then, the composer can indeed begin to say, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” ❖

Spring/Summer 2001

References Fisk 1994 Fisk, Josiah: “The New Simplicity: The Music of Gorecki, Tavener and Part.” The Hudson Review 47/1, 1994 Hillier, Paul: Avro Part, Oxford Studies of Composers 1997.

Part 1998 Part, Arvo: Note to the recording of Kanon Pokajanen, ECM 1654/55 457 834-2,1998 Sherrard 1978 Sherrard, Philip: The Wound of Greece: Studies in Neo-Hellenism, London and Athens, 1978 Tavener 1992 Tavener, John: Prefatory note to the score of The Last Sleep of the Virgin, London, 1992 Tavener 1999 Tavener, John: The Music of Silence: A Composer’s Testament, London, 1999 Discography Moody: Passion and Resurrection, Hyperion CDA66999 Part: Kanon Pokajanen, ECM 1654/55 457 834-2 Part: Passio, ECM 1310 837 109-2 Tavener: Eis Thanaton, Theophany, Chandos CHAN 9440 Tavener: The Last Sleep of the Virgin, Virgin 7234 5 45023 2 3 Notes 1. Even in his profoundly negative assessment of the work of Gorecki, Part and Tavener, Josiah Fisk acknowledges that “The three composers have very different individual identities.” [Fisk 1994:403] [Ivan Moody studied composition at London University and privately with Sir John Tavener. His work as a composer is centered on the spirituality of the Orthodox Church. He has composed works for, among others, The Hillard Ensemble and Fretwork. He has written about early and contemporary music in many magazines worldwide and reviews recordings for Gramophone. He lives in Lisbon, Portugal, working as a professional musician and directing the choir at the Church of St. Nektaios and St. Gregory. He can be reached at: ivanmoody@altavista.net.]

cont. from page 3

approve them, but does not condemn them without qualification.

On the basis of preliminary studies, after discussions the Council has provided directions about issues which present a general interest for all the Orthodox and one can hope that the achievement will be a stimulus for other Orthodox Churches to take similar initiatives adapted to their particular life-setting. ❖ Note: An English translation of The Orthodox Church in Society: The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church is available on the webpage of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship: www.incommunion.org/resources/orthodox_church_and_society.aps

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DIOCESAN NEWS

Singing to the Life-Creating Trinity Spring/Summer 2001

By Doreen Bartholomew On February 24, 2001, we were privileged to hear Fr. Sergei Glagolev speak about what it means to sing to the life-creating Trinity. The workshop was held at the parish of Christ the Savior in Paramus, New Jersey, and approximately thirty people attended. Fr John and Matushka Eugenia Nehrebecki had the whole day planned out with their usual efficiency, starting with the kind of breakfast that makes it almost impossible to not overeat.

Copies of Fr. Sergei’s music are freely available at: Jacwell.org (Liturgical Music and Worship sidebar).

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Although we had smaller informal "workshops" going on while we ate, the actual workshop began in earnest directly after breakfast. I must confess that when I first heard the topic I wondered how anyone could make that interesting enough to cover an entire day. Then I thought, well it is Fr. Sergei so I'm sure it will be interesting. I was right.

During the first portion of the workshop, Fr. Sergei spoke about what it means to sing to the lifecreating Trinity and how we often do it without much thought behind it. He started out by demonstrating how God reveals Himself to us and used portions of the Divine Liturgy to illustrate what he meant. He pointed out, "All Orthodox worship is held together by creedal doxologies and doxological creeds." In other words, you can never separate worship from belief or belief from worship, or as Fr. Sergei put it, "What we say in worship is what we believe and what we believe as Orthodox Christians is what we say in worship."

He continued by comparing the first part of the Divine Liturgy, the liturgy of the word, to the second part, the liturgy of the faithful, and showing how they parallel each other. As an example of this he used both the entrances that are made in the service.

In the liturgy of the word we have a little entrance where we enter into God's presence to hear the epistles and the

gospels. In the liturgy of the faithful we make a great entrance and, like the entrance before it, we enter into God's presence so we can receive Him in the Eucharist. Fr. Sergei made a point of saying that these entrances were not symbolic and that, in order to sing with the proper reverence, we needed to realize that we, along with the angels, were truly entering into God's presence.

During the second half of the workshop we did some singing and put into practice what we'd discussed during the first session. Fr. Sergei mentioned that since our singing is addressed to God, it is necessary to sing the music so that it is prayerful and not distracting. Among other things, this means the people in church need to be able to understand what is being sung and one of the ways to achieve this is to learn to sing phrases, not words. He suggested reading the words to the music before even starting to sing them and breaking them into phrases. After that we can try to sing them in the same rhythm as we spoke them. He also pointed out that we need to be able to do with words what the iconographer does with paint. As an example of this he used the Nativity Kontakion. This Kontakion tells exactly what the feast of Christmas is all about and the congregation needs to be able to see that message through our words, as well as through the icon.

In conclusion, during this very productive workshop, Fr. Sergei brought new meaning to some of the music and prayers we hear every week and I doubt any of us will ever be able to attend another Divine Liturgy without thinking about the words and the meaning behind them. â?–

DIOCESAN NEWS

Father Warnecke Retires as Chancellor of our Diocese

Spring/Summer 2001

by Fr. John Shimchick Due to poor health, Father Alexander Warnecke, stepped down from his long-held position as Diocesan Chancellor at the end of 2000.

The occasion of his elevation to Protopresbyter which took place on Sunday October 22, 2000, combined with the 50th anniversary of his priesthood, allow us to consider his unique place in the history of Orthodoxy in America - for there has truly been no one like Father Alexander!

exist. St. Andrew's has been the site where several generations of Orthodox young people have learned about their faith and each other, establishing, in some cases, life-long friendships - many even first meeting their future spouses there.

St. Andrew's has also been the site of clergy gatherings (anticipating the Liturgical Institutes now held at St. Vladimir's Seminary) and of youth retreats and conferences. Saints Cosmas and

The liturgy and banquet held in his honor were attended by His Eminence Archbishop Peter, Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, Protopresbyter Daniel Hubiak, Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko Fathers John J Chupeck, Michael Meerson, Alexander Garklavs, Ilya Gotlinsky, and Protodeacon Michael Speck. Fr. Kondratick also bestowed the Order of Saint Innocent Silver Cross on both Father Alexander and Matushka Pauline Warnecke, on behalf on Metropolitan Theodosius, for their many years of work in and for the Church.

As in all remarkable men, there are many sides to his personality. But what he deserves to be most fondly remembered for has been his profound generosity. Many of us have been touched and effected by this, whether we have known it or not. Fr. Thomas Hopko, in considering Fr. Alexander says, "Our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed that the first commandment is to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength' (Mk 12:30) and it is possible to see how Fr. Alexander sought to do these things. He loved and supported every aspect, every dimension of church life: his mind encouraged the work of education; his heart supported the young and the elderly; his soul loved the liturgy and all of the sacraments and he did everything with all his strength. No one could doubt his whole commitment to the Church."

Damian Home has provided our elderly with a dignified place to spend their last years, in the midst of an Orthodox context.

It is probably fair to say that but for his vision and fortitude places like St. Andrew's Camp and Saints Cosmas and Damian Adult Home would not

For all these acts of generosity, for his love of God and of the Church, we offer our gratitude to Father Alexander. â?–

He has been generous to his local parish, to our Diocese, to the OCA, and to institutions that have benefited the whole Church (like the Orthodox Christian Education Commission - OCEC). But one can speak of his support for generations of specific people - for seminarians, young people, clergy newly-arrived from foreign lands, and for others who were "just there."

Methody Evanoff, speaking at the banquet on behalf of SS Peter and Paul parish, said: "Father Alexander, you welcomed our children into the Faith at Baptism, and you escorted our loved ones from the Church to their eternal rest. Through all this, you have been our faithful priest."

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DIOCESAN NEWS

Choir Workshop - Special Melodies (Podoben) Spring/Summer 2001

by Carol Wetmore Professor Aleksei Shipovalnikov presented, "The Podoben Melodies: Searching for the Deep Roots of Orthodox Liturgical Music" - a workshop about the history and importance of Podoben melodies on December 9, 2000, at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Jersey City, NJ. Prof. Shipovalnikov started his presentation with an overview of definitions and a discussion of the position of Special Melodies (Podobni) in Orthodox music history. Podobni (or prosomoia in Greek) are melodies dating from the late 15th-17th centuries in Russia which enrich the Orthodox music of the Octoechos. Our knowledge of Podoben melodies, like much Russian choral history, is limited by the fact that most church music (except for Znamenniy notation) was transmitted and recorded only through word-of-mouth until the 17th century.

Within the Octoechos are automela (samopodobni), prosomoia (podobni), and idiomela (samoglasny). Automela are melodic, rhythmic, and metric patterns or models. Probably the most familiar automelon is "O House of Ephratha." Prosomoia are applications of those patterns, e.g., to different stichera, in which the melodic, metric, and/or rhythmic pattern is somewhat different from the model, but the original feeling and mood persist. Idiomela are unique melodies specific to particular text, e.g., "Christ is Risen," "With the Saints Give Rest," and "Thy Bridal Chamber," sung during Holy Week. Each tone has its own associated automela, prosomoia, and idiomela. For example, "Christ Is Risen" is a Tone 5 Idiomelon. The three types of structure are arranged in 3 groups: the Stichera group; the Troparia group, containing troparia, kontakia, and sessional hymns; and the Exapostalaria group.

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Podobni contrast with the Obikhod, or plain, melodies, by their richness and variety, carrying with them, as they do, the feeling of the automela from which they are derived. Prof. Shipovalnikov noted in passing that Bachmatev, whose name is associated with the Obikhod, generally did not compose those hymns, but instead arranged and compiled them, adding key signatures, and the like, into a style more compatible with the Western music which was in fashion at the time.

Prof. Shipovalnikov offered a multitude of anecdotal insights into the history of current liturgical practice. For example, he said, "Bulgarian" and "Greek" chant, as labeled in service books, did not necessarily originate in Bulgaria and Greece, but rather are named that way because the singers who introduced the melodies happened to come from those countries. The hymn, "O Gladsome Light" used to be sung in the tone of the Dogmatic, but that practice has ceased. The Matins service used to end with the Gospel reading; the Polyleon was a later addition. The Akathist to the Theotokos is probably close to the original structure of Matins. The Canon of St. Andrew of Crete was originally recited by the priest. It was not sung, since it is a service of repentance and singing was considered a means of glorification via the voice. It has a poetic metric structure with syllables arranged in the pattern.

Prof. Shipovalnikov, the son of an Orthodox priest, is a church musician and composer who holds diplomas from Gnesin State Conservatory and the Moscow Institute of Culture and postgraduate study in Gnesin Academy of Music . Before emigrating to the United States in 1990, he served as Artistic Director and Manager of the Moscow State University Symphony Orchestra and Academic Choir and Music Director at Moscow's church of The Icon of Unexpected Joy. In the United States he has served as Choir Director at Christ the Savior Church in San Francisco and Music Director of Slavyanka Men's Slavic Chorus. He is currently Music Director at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Jersey City and "The Spirit of Orthodoxy" Choir (former New Jersey Deanery Choir).

The hospitality of SS Peter and Paul Church and especially the efforts of Fr. Joseph and Matushka Shirley Lickwar, were greatly appreciated by all. â?–

The Tuning Fork A newsletter for the Orthodox Church Singer Edited by Carol Wetmore and Doreen Bartholomew is available online at: Jacwell.org - Liturgical Music and Worship sidebar button.

DIOCESAN NEWS

Historic Cathedral To Undergo Extensive Restoration One of the most visible symbols of Orthodoxy in the New York metropolitan area is the historic Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, in Brooklyn. A mother church to thousands living throughout the United States, it is in urgent need of extensive restoration.

Consultants have inspected the edifice and have recommended what must be done to prevent further deterioration. The immediate need is to stop the water leakage which is weakening the roof substructures and damaging the icons and wall frescoes. Included in the current restoration stage of the 84-year-old structure is replacement of the copper covering the cupolas and crosses, replacement of the roof and drainage systems, replacement of the twelve windows in the rotunda, and repointing the brickwork. The cost of this phase of the restoration is $1.2 million: a sum of money the present parishioners cannot raise without the assistance and prayers of others.

A fervent appeal is made to all those who have had some association in the past, to help with their time, their resources, and their prayers. Many have

Spring/Summer 2001

lifted voices in song and prayer from within these walls. Many were baptized here or have parents, spouses, or children who were (our records show as many as 100 entries in one day). Many have passed through these doors to exchange vows in matrimony or were present to witness the vows of friends or family. Many have stood in tearful silence as they said their final good-byes to loved ones. The Cathedral has been here for all of us in times of great joy and in times of great sadness. It is filled with countless wonderful memories of those who have gone on before us.

Will you help us to preserve this beautiful House of God, that these memories may live on and that the Cathedral may continue to be a source of inspiration, joy, and consolation for those yet to come?

Please make donations payable to: “Transfiguration Cathedral Preservation Trust Fund”. Donations may be sent to: Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, P. O. Box 395, Brooklyn, NY 11222. ❖

Diocesan Education Department The national church has launched a new and exciting program for obtaining educational materials and programs for all ages via the internet.

The FOCUS Curriculum is in its earliest stages of development and a test program is being released.

Developing and organizing the materials is a major task. The e-mail address for access is http://www.oca.org./focuseducation As newly-appointed Chairperson for the Education Department of the NY/NJ Diocese, I would like YOUR input as to how to best serve the educational needs of our parishes and diocesan family. A few suggestions: a. Regional conferences (perhaps one in each deanery) frequency - once, twice a year b. More localized workshops cluster groups (6-10 parishes, perhaps pan-Orthodox) c. Education Conference as joint venture with Diocesan Assembly

Topics for discussion could include the application of the new FOCUS Curriculum and its further development.

We are also aware that FOCA sponsors teacher workshops periodically in certain areas and we shall be contacting them.

Have your church school staff (and anyone interested in Christian Education) meet to discuss areas of concern, issues you would like addressed, suggestions you might have, etc. etc. We would also like to hear your stories of successful programs/projects!

Please send your comments/suggestions to: Mary Ann Bulko, Chairperson, Ed. Dept.

399 Springbrook Trail Sparta, NJ 07871-1222 e-mail: r2m2@nac.net Let's work and learn together! ❖

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PARISH NEWS

Medford Parish Building a New Church Spring/Summer 2001

After nearly 30 years of anticipation and planning the Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Medford, New Jersey has begun to realize its dream of building a new church. The site development has begun, the former church has been sold, and the community is currently worshipping in the chapel of a local Roman Catholic school until the building is complete.

The parish, established in 1973, was one of the first communities in southern New Jersey to worship exclusively in English. This allowed it to be a home for Orthodox Christians from a variety of backgrounds, some of whom have moved on to other parishes throughout the country. The new structure, designed by Fr. Alexis Vinogradov, will allow more space for worship and greater flexibility in providing educational and social opportunities.

The construction process and the time spent in transition, though frustrating in many ways, has offered many encouraging opportunities. The Roman Catholic parish of St. Mary of the Lakes in Medford has been particularly generous in making the facilities of its school available for worship, educational, and social functions. In addition, the two communities co-sponsored a retreat during Great Lent led by Fr. Michael Plekon and Fr. Edward Siecienski on "What Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians Have in Common." The parish is particularly grateful to the kindness and friendship of St. Mary's pastor, Fr. Joseph Tedesco.

Other Orthodox parishes have been encouraging in their affirmation of prayerful support and financial donations. Those interested in following the construction work are invited to visit the parish's website: www.ochc.cc â?–

Xenia in Baku In this new series you can follow the story of Nicholas, Eugenia (Nia), and their young daughter Xenia, in Baku, Azerbaijan - where Nicholas works as a Safety, Health & Environmental Advisor for ExxonMobil. Because of his job, Nicholas (originally from Christ the Saviour Church in Paramus) and Eugenia (from St. Seraphim's Church in Dallas) have been members of several churches throughout the United States. Most recently they attended the Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Medford, New Jersey.

During the summer of 2000 they moved to Baku and Nicholas has been providing a monthly article for the parish newsletter, sharing their experiences with Azerbaijani culture and the local Orthodox church.

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Holy Week at the Cathedral of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Baku, Axerbaijan.

The series,"Xenia in Baku," can be found at: http://jacwell.org/xenia_in_baku.htm â?–

PARISH NEWS

In Memoriam: Fr. George Timko

by Fr. Alexander Garklavs One of senior priests of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, Fr. George Timko, passed away on November 18, 2000. He was 75 years old.

Fr. George suffered a debilitating aneurysm in the fall of 1999, which forced him to retire as pastor of St. George Church in Buffalo, NY, where he had been almost thirty years. His association with the Diocese included being pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Whitestone, Queens and involvement with the beginning of St. Gregory the Theologian Church in Wappingers Falls, NY. He also served Holy Dormition Church in Marblehead, OH and at St. Mark’s Mission in Monroe, CT. He leaves behind his Matushka Dorothy, five children, many grandchildren and relatives. The funeral took place on November 25 at St. George’s Church. Presiding was Protopresbyter Alexander Warnecke, Dean of the New York State Deanery, who was assisted by several local clergy, guest priests and Fr. Herman Schick, current Pastor of St. George’s Church.

Fr. George was one of the most remarkable of men. He was also an Orthodox pastor without peer. He was a true original, unconventional and a non-conformist. Fr. George did fit into any mold of any variation of what a “typical” Orthodox priest might be. This led many to misunderstand and/or ignore his extraordinary talents. He knew the Church Fathers better than most of us, yet he was clean shaven and shunned traditional monastic garb and prayer beads. He fasted longer and more consistently than any other person I have known, yet you could have a beer with him and discuss politics or science as you would with any average fellow. He prayed and meditated intensely, but he consciously rejected notions of clerical privilege and the ostentatious posture. He was unique but thoroughly

Spring/Summer 2001

Christian in substance and completely Orthodox in essence. He was different, but he was never aloof or superior. He had a certain unpretentious quality that was refreshing. He liked simple things: reading, cooking, walking, working, talking, and he enjoyed people.

Fr. George grew up around hard-working people in the mining region of Western Pennsylvania. He never hid the fact that he began his life as a coal miner, where he learned to respect and appreciate honest manual labor. Throughout his pastoral career he was often engaged in some kind of physical work, particularly enjoying construction projects around the church.

During World War II he served in the United States Navy and saw action in the Pacific.

That experience affected him strongly and led to a deeper faith.

After the war he returned to work in the mines, but also read the Bible in his spare time. The more he read the more he became interested in religion and spirituality. In the early 1950s he went to New York City and enrolled at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. A serious student with a keen intuition, he found just the right mentor in Fr. Georges Florovsky, the Seminary’s Dean. Fr. Florovsky brought together spirituality and intellectual study, and his influence had a profound impact. Fr. George would frequently credit his seminary education as the pivotal experience where he really discovered the Orthodox Church.

Fr. George was, first of all, a Scriptural man.

He loved the Bible, studied it thoroughly and always turned to it. To this normative foundation he brought a phenomenal knowledge and veneration for the Church Fathers. He read and reread the volumes of the spiritual masterpiece called the Philokalia, as well as many other writings. He was

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PARISH NEWS

Spring/Summer 2001

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especially fond of St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Maximus the Confessor, but there were no bounds to his search for spiritual truths. He was devoted to the Fathers whom he regarded as accomplished guides and the best exponents of Orthodox Christianity. Because there are so few living experienced elders in our time, he constantly reminded us that the writings of the Fathers are indispensable in our spiritual formation. Following Fr. Florovsky, Fr. George firmly believed that this rich theological tradition is what made the Orthodox Church distinctive. However, his approach to the Fathers was not deficient of discernment. In a manner similar to St. Theophan the Recluse, whom he highly regarded, Fr. George endeavored to distill the message of the Fathers, into what is meaningful and accessible.

Spirituality also determined his approach to liturgy. On the surface, Fr. George seemed to have a novel approach to the liturgy.

Actually, his liturgical style was inspired and inspiring. For him religious ritual always corresponded with spiritual growth in love and peace. Without personal prayer, Scripture study, meditation, fasting and spiritual effort, liturgical activity is only a distraction without any real benefit, and can even be to our condemnation.

Austere, confident and bold, Fr. George was also friendly, fair and open. He enjoyed discussions of all kind. He would probe, analyze, extemporize and thoroughly captivate his listeners. He was impressive as a retreat leader and at priests’ gatherings. He also appreciated ecumenical dialogue which he saw as a means for sharing truth and deepening his own faith. He participated in interfaith discussions and meetings on a variety of levels where he was a recognized authority on Eastern Christian spiritual life. From these contacts he brought to his ministry an ever-deepening conviction that Orthodox spirituality is the best that religion offers today. In this he differed somewhat with Fr. Alexander Schmemann, with whom he had lively but mutually respectful exchanges. While Fr. Alexander wanted to reinvigorate our culture with the Orthodox vision of the Kingdom of God, Fr. George saw Orthodoxy as having become free of the burdens of social and cultural attachments. In times past these were intrinsic to the Church’s life, but widespread secularism and scientific revolutions have changed that. As a political and cultural force, the Orthodox Church has minimal if any effect in our society. Yet the profound truths of

Orthodox spirituality, which are also the heart of our theological tradition, are fresh, valid and relevant. These truths are the unquestionable means of our salvation: silence and prayer, meditation and insight, self-denial and self-discovery. With zeal and pastoral care, Fr. George enlightened his spiritual flock and colleagues into an appreciation of these values and made us calmer and wiser in the process.

We cherish the memory of his honest sense of Christian freedom, hard earned by years of difficult trials and transitions. A guileless man, he resisted preconceptions and prejudices of all kinds. He would question and challenge things that many of us were afraid or unable to do. He always spoke the truth with conviction. St. Paul’s words could have been his motto: “We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Cor. 13.8). He was not inclined to “party platforms” or “political correctness” in any context, nor would he passively agree with you simply because you considered him a friend. If you were wrong, he would tell you, if you were right he would agree with you no matter who you were. At Diocesan Assemblies, AllAmerican Councils, Deanery meetings, Fr. George would speak up, shake things up, perhaps bruise an ego or two, and do it with fervor, humanity and a sense of humor.

In the course of life, only a few like Fr. George Timko come along. For those who were privileged to know him he was impressive in many ways: A blessed gadfly, a dynamic preacher, a gifted speaker, an insightful observer of life and a courageous witness at ecclesial gatherings. He was also a profound Orthodox thinker, a working class hero and a prophetic voice. His last sermon was about death, which was also going to be the subject of his adult education class. He saw departure from this existence as a joyful entrance into the next one. Death is a continuation of the spiritual journey that we begin now. Through God’s mercy, he is joyfully continuing his journey. But we will miss him.

May God grant to his servant, the Archpriest George, an abode with the saints and make his memory to be eternal. ❖

PARISH NEWS

New Pastor Assigned to Binghamton Church

by Michele Constable

Spring/Summer 2001

The Dormition of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church welcomed Rev. Ilya Gotlinsky as its new pastor just before the beginning of Great Lent. Fr. Ilya was born in Riga, Latvia of Russian parents. He became deeply involved in the Church as a teenager and understood from that time that the Church was where his life would be centered. He has an avid interest in history, particularly church and American history. He enjoys traveling and feels fortunate to have visited a number of places he has read about.

Fr. Ilya is a graduate of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he met his wife, Julia. She is also a graduate of the Academy, having completed their four-year choir director program. After moving to the United States, Fr. Ilya was ordained in New York City by Archbishop Peter on January 4, 1998. He was assigned to SS Peter and Paul Church in Buffalo, NY, where he served for three years before coming to Binghamton.

Fr. Ilya's high level of energy is already well in evidence. He rapidly became acquainted with his parishioners while serving all the Lenten and Paschal services and is looking forward to beginning many activities, especially his first adult education series with us. He is pleased that his parishioners are serious about the work they do in the church. He appreciates the level of communication between himself as priest and his parishioners and feels this relationship, as well as relationships between parishioners, will continue to grow. He feels that the parish has great potential for mission and outreach.

Fr. Steven Belonick (the former pastor who took a position at St. Vladimir's Seminary last July) did a tremendous job in the parish, according to Fr. Ilya. He can see the fruit of Fr. Steven's labors, and has an excellent opportunity to continue working for the well being of the parish.

The parish greeted Fr. Ilya and Matushka Julia with a busy slate of activities, including a "welcome shower" to provide household items to get them started in their new home. Father said he was both humbled and joyful with this warm reception and that it is a pleasure, blessing, and honor to be here. He is looking forward to working with this parish and prays that the Lord will grant us all many blessed years.

This is also the prayer of the parish for our new pastor and his wife. â?–

FOCA Activity On Sunday, November 19th a group of about 125 FOCA members came together to worship and give thanks during a combined St. Andrew and St. Nicholas Vespers Service. This service is sponsored annually by the New Jersey district and was hosted this year by Bayonne, Chapter 97. Fr. Nicholas Fedetz, Fr. George Hasenecz, Fr. John Kassatkin, and Fr. David Garretson were in attendance.

A group of seminarians from St. Vladimir's kindly accepted the invitation to sing at this Vespers service which they did beautifully. Father Garretson of South River, NJ, delivered the homily which focused on raising children in today's fast paced, information age. He highlighted the fact that there are many stresses on the family which the church and our belief in Jesus Christ can help overcome.

This Service provided all who attended prayer, beautiful music, fellowship and hopefully an opportunity to pause and reflect on what is truly important.

A very good thing to do before entering the busy, and often frenetic, holiday season.

Prior to the Vespers Service a Junior Advisor workshop was conducted. Michael Steffaro, the newly elected governor of the New Jersey District, led the discussion and outlined the important role the FOCA can play in offering our young membership a meaningful, safe and family oriented experience. The group began drafting plans for 2001, including events to be held, new methods of communicating and new roles and responsibilities to help ensure success. If the positive events of this day are any indication, it seems we are off to a very good start! â?–

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PARISH NEWS

In Memory: Kyra Shafran Griffits Spring/Summer 2001

Kyra Shafran Griffits, daughter of Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary Shafran, died at home in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania on March 13. She is survived by her husband, David B. Griffits and two daughters, Natalie and Marissa. Professionally she was vice president of finance and accounting and chief financial officer of Oasis Aviation, based in Los Angeles, where she worked for 20 years.

Kyra struggled with cancer for 6 years, being initially diagnosed with it while pregnant with her second child, Marissa. She remained on the prayer list of Orthodox churches throughout the world during her long illness. Her funeral was served at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Catholic Church in Trenton on March 19.

Below is the eulogy preached by Fr. Gregory Safchuk, who had been her pastor while she was attending St. Innocent Church, Tarzana, California.

❇❈ Today I want to talk about Kyra, us, and God. I have known Kyra for a long time. I was her priest and father confessor for about 12 years, yet it is hard for me to think of her alone. She exists in my heart, mind, and memory always in context - in relation with others.

I think of Kyra as daughter, as sister, as wife, as mother, as friend, and as parishioner. And what a parishioner! At the time of her first diagnosis with cancer, she was with child, as well as serving as the president of our parish council and chairing the committee for the upcoming 40th Anniversary. To be sure, in the midst of the church and her family, those "relations,” she is and has been a genuine "person,” unique and precious, with a character, will and personality which of late has been tested by the fire of her illness.

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strength and courage that would be the envy of the greatest warrior, yet with a warm compassionate heart that would not allow her to wallow in self-pity, but would always turn her concern back outward toward others; to her family, her friends, her brothers and sisters in the church who were all so concerned for her well being.

And so we were, and so we are.

That is why we are here today - to pray for her. Kyra brought us together.

I feel that this gathering as well as last night's is almost a mystical meeting of so many who for so long were separated by time and distance but united in common purpose - to pray for Kyra and her family.

It's a bittersweet reunion for many of us.

Bitter because we are sad to be deprived of her physical presence; Sweet because we are together in Christ's name, remembering her out of love, thankful for the end of her suffering and confident in her salvation.

She brought us all together in a place that reminds us of why our grief is temporary and passing. We are here in Church, in our Father's house where but yesterday the cross of Christ was brought out and put before us as a sign of victory, of joy and hope, of Christ's victory of life over death and His love for us, and as a reminder of His resurrection and our own. But I also know that this is an arena as well.

That fire refined her character, tested her faith and will, and revealed her, to all of us, as a remarkable example and inspiration as a human being.

It is a time and a place to "wrestle" with God. Like Israel of old, like Kyra of late. To wrestle with our faith. To ask ourselves - Do we really trust Him after all this? That He knows what is best for us? Can we still have complete confidence and faith in God, even though we didn't get ALL that we asked for in prayer?

She had a sense of humor (which is shared by her husband David) with an awesome inner

I know that I am not the only one in this room that prayed for a miracle, for Kyra to one

PARISH NEWS day become that rare medical anomaly for which the doctors have no explanation. For them to have said to her, "there must be some mistake for none of our tests show any indication of cancer at all any more." For her to live a "normal" happy, healthy life. But that didn't happen. It didn't happen in the narrow confines of our definition of that; so in our grief we are upset and confused, maybe even angry and disappointed with God. But before we rail against Him in our hearts like Israel of old, let's stop and think. God is not the enemy. Did he not give us Kyra in the first place? Did he not unite David and Kyra in a holy marriage? Did he not bless them with Natalie? Did He not hear our prayers six years ago, when Kyra was with child again and diagnosed with breast cancer? When we cried out to him to spare both her and her baby - He did.

We have a living reminder of that...her name is Marissa.

Kyra's name has never left my prayer list since her first diagnosis. During the course of the past six years, ALL of my prayers for her, except that one for a miracle, have been granted. For I prayed for many things. I prayed that she be given COURAGE, that she be STRENGTHENED, that her FAITH would increase, that her LOVE would not grow cold with fear of death, that she be blessed with PATIENCE to endure the trials and tribulations of her illness, and finally, let's remember what we all pray for almost mechanically in the Liturgy: A

Christian ending to our life, painless, blameless and peaceful. A good defense at the dread judgement seat of Christ.

Spring/Summer 2001

I believe that Kyra was blessed with ALL of these things.

The evidence of it is overwhelming. She bore her cross in an exemplary manner as a sister in Christ. Her footsteps were made secure on a solid foundation of faith in God's Holy Church; a foundation laid for her lovingly so long ago by Fr. Paul and Matushka Mary, who taught her "the way", from which she did not depart. A foundation of faith which was built upon in a new household and family with her husband David by her side.

I refuse to speak of Kyra only in a past tense because I KNOW that she is alive in Christ.

Because our God is the God of the living, not of the dead. He is the very source of life and love.

And as we approach the celebration of Pascha, the resurrection of Christ, our sadness indeed will be turned to joy. When we remember that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God, not even death. And THAT love, which is the power of the Cross, will unite each one of us once again in a perfect life that will be free of pain and suffering, evil and death - the life that we were created for in the beginning. In this God, I pray that we will all still place our complete trust, as Kyra did, even when the answer to some of our prayers is “no.”

Amen. ❖

Sunday of Orthodoxy Holy Resurrection Church Wayne, NJ Page 25

PARISH NEWS

Music to Remember Spring/Summer 2001

by Archpriest Thomas Edwards The Fall of 2000 marked the first anniversary of the repose of Bishop Basil Rodzianko of blessed memory. He was beloved by many in our diocese where he had been often invited to preach, pray and lead retreats during the latter years of his life. In addition to a memorial service in Holy Apostles Church, Saddle Brook, NJ a special Concert to Remember Bishop Basil was held in Holy Assumption Church auditorium, Clifton, NJ.

Appearing with the Glen Rock Pops Orchestra are: Leonard Davis, Prima Balalaika soloist, Concert Master, Manny Sosinsky and Conductor, Dennis McPartland.

The concert was the idea of Holy Apostles Subdeacon, Peter Eagler who for more than ten years had worked closely with and assisted Vladyka Basil and his Holy Archangels Broadcasting Center of Washington, D.C. In deciding on the concert, Subdeacon Peter recalled the story that Bishop Basil had told about the day one of his then young sons said: "Father, I've decided what I want to be..."

When the future bishop, then Fr. Vladimir, asked the son, "What?" he was told, "A composer." Fr.

Vladimir reminded his son, "Do you not know that most composers are not acknowledged until fifty years after their death?" Not to be dissuaded the boy replied to his priest father, "And Father, do you not know that many saints are not acknowledged until five hundred years after their death?" The son went on to become a composer and the father, a Bishop of the Orthodox Church in America, a renowned preacher and spiritual guide to many around the world.

Subdeacon Peter arranged for the Glen Rock (NJ) Pops Orchestra to perform an all-Slavic musical program on a Sunday afternoon in October.

Archpriest Dimitri Oselinsky and the faithful of the Clifton parish offered their auditorium and hospitality for the performance. Prima Balalaika soloist, Leonard Davis, was featured as guest performer with the orchestra. Among the balalaika pieces, Leonard Davis performed his signature piece, "Lara's Theme" which he immortalized in the 1965 movie, "Dr Zhivago." In addition to his many years of performance and directorship of the Balalaika and Dombra Society Orchestra, Leonard Davis has been choir director of Holy Apostles Church, Saddle Brook, NJ. for over twenty-five years.

Interspersed throughout the various musical selections of the Glen Rock Pops, under the direction of Conductor Dennis McPartland, Subdeacon Peter Eagler gave a running commentary on the intriguing life of Bishop Basil. Both those who knew this unique man and those who were hearing about him for the first time realized the impact that his life had and continues to have on countless persons around the world. May Vladyka Basil's Memory be eternal and may the example of his life continue to be a source of inspiration to his many spiritual children. ❖

Blowin’ in the Wind

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In 1997 during one of history's most unusual musical encounters, the folk/rock musician Bob Dylan performed his song, "Blowin’ in the Wind," before Pope John Paul II at the World Eucharistic Conference in Bologna. The Pope responded to Dylan, "You say the answer is 'blowing in the wind.'

So it is. But it is not the wind that blows things away. It is the wind that is the breath and life of the Holy Spirit, the voice that calls and says, 'Come!'" ❖

PARISH NEWS

Warming-Up Father Tanase's Children

by Archpriest Thomas Edwards It started with a letter I received from Barbara Nafranowicz of Holy Trinity Parish, Rahway, N.J. Barbara inquired if the ladies in our parish would be interested in working on a project of knitting and crocheting for needy children in a village in Roumania. This was a project that was initiated by Corneliu and Crenguta Chironoga also of Rahway's Holy Trinity who excited Barbara and her Husband, Stefan.

It seems that an Orthodox priest in Roumania, Fr. Nicolae Tanase had distributed some winter

Spring/Summer 2001

to be our parish coordinator with Barbara Nafranowicz and amazing things began to happen.

"Our ladies" and those from other parishes of our NJ Deanery knitted and crocheted like mad. The first shipment was sent to Fr. Nicolae on October 13, 2000. Individuals also made cash donations to cover the shipping costs to get these items from here to Fr. Nicolae.

On October 5, Barbara met with a group from SS. Peter & Paul Church, South River, N.J. who under the enthusiasm of Matushka Shari Garretson began knitting away. Ladies from Holy Trinity, Rahway, Christ the Saviour, Paramus and Holy Apostles, Saddle Brook have been working on the "Warming Up" project.

Barbara does a great job in keeping the knitters informed about the project with her periodic up-dates.

She distributes reports of 1st Row: Barbara Nafranowicz, Coordinator; Fr. Thomas Edwards, Rector; what's been happening Matushka Evelyn Edwards; Helen Marton. since the last up-date. She 2nd Row: Mary Stehnach, Betty Sarakwash, Lorraine Potkul, Marie Pezza, Tania gives details of shipments, Kasura, Marie Eriov, Marge Roman, Sophie Dubowick, and Mary Zizik, Parish photos of many of the hand Coordinator made hats, mittens, scarves, Afghans, etc that have been made and sent over. We clothing to a few children that appeared on his door have received Internet photos of many of Fr. step. Quickly word spread that if a shivering child Nicolae's now "warmed-up" children bedecked in needed some "warming up" they should visit the the very things the Orthodox ladies of New Jersey kindly priest. Before he could do much about it, Fr. have made them. Fr. Nicolae is of course appreciaNicolae was deluged with children in need. Upon tive of the dedicated work that all our parishes have learning about this, the Chironogas and done.

Nafranowiczs took it upon themselves to do whatever they could to help this Roumanian Orthodox In a Christmas card, Fr. Nicolae Tanase wrote priest keep "his" countless children warm. our New Jersey ladies: Barbara began by sending letters and contacting parishes and individuals. The response has not only warmed up Father Nicolae's "children," but the hearts of all who have taken part in this ongoing work of mercy.

In our own parish I was moved by the enthusiasm and dedication with which "our ladies" immediately jumped into this project. I asked Mary Zizik

May the Feast of the Nativity of He Who is above existence enlighten you and give you strength to follow His teaching. We wish you, with all our heart, to celebrate these Holidays with peace and joy... Thank you for all you have sent us - it represents a great help to us and it is a real support for protecting the children who are in need."

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PARISH NEWS

Spring/Summer 2001

Barbara reports that our most recent shipment was received by Er. Nicolae right after Christmas.

When asked about this work of mercy, Barbara Nafranowicz says: "Our aim is to help, even in a small way, Fr. Nicolae's efforts in keeping abandoned and unwanted children in his village safe and in loving homes. We are Orthodox Christians helping Orthodox Christians - extending our hands to their hearts..."

It's the hope of those of us involved in the "Warming-Up" project that this worthy work of mercy be continued. With the approach of Great Lent we would like to continue the work, increase the things we make and send to the children. This is a God given opportunity for us to practice the greatest of the Christian virtues.

On Sunday February 4, 2001, Barbara and Stefan came to the Divine Liturgy and coffee hour at Holy Apostles (after having attended Liturgy in their home parish in Rahway) to bring us up to date on the project. With the closing of Bradlees stores, Barbara was able to get a great deal on children's shoes that allowed her to buy 110 pairs of shoes and sneakers that have already been sent to Fr. Nicolae's children. The Myrrhbearing Women of Holy Apostles made a donation of $100.00 to help with supplies and shipping costs of the ladies most recent undertakings: teddy bears with knitted clothes for the Roumanian children. These bears were an immediate hit and parish members and visitors began to place orders. One man bought one for his sister-in-law who has an already "too large" bear collection according to her husband. A high school choir singer ordered one in her school colors...and on it goes... Where would so much of our parishes' woks of mercy be without our ladies, our "Myrrhbearing Women," "Martha and Mary", "Women's Club" or by whatever name these dedicated individuals call themselves. As a parish priest for thirty-three years

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I continue to be amazed by how much, small numbers of women can do for the Church's caring for those in need If this is a project that you find interesting, Barbara and the other knitters would love to have you join them. There's no meetings to attend, no commitment to a specific number of items, etc; but there is the reward of knowing that you did something to help those unable to help themselves Children. This is a great project for retirees or those with some free time who enjoy working with their hands but more importantly doing something from their heart. You can make these items at home in your free time. For persons with health problems you can work on the project on your "good" or at least better days without feeling guilty about those times when you are not able to get those needles working. We all have days like that.

The knitting project is one you can work on during car trips or passing time waiting to pick up some one, perhaps a child at school or a relative or friend at a medical appointment. So much of our time is taken up waiting for someone else or for something to happen. What a wonderful opportunity to turn this into a time of Christian mercy and prayer. When you think about it, what knitters do is not unlike what prayerful persons do when they say the Jesus Prayer as they finger the knots on their prayer rope (chotki.) As you knit you could use each stitch to join your heart in prayer.. Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me 0 sinner...

For more information about this project, yarm or instructions for the mittens, hats, sweaters, etc., please contact Barbara Nafranowicz at (908) 2322632 or Email: bnafranowicz@home.com.

Give her a call and be a part of this "grass roots" effort of dedicated Orthodox Christians helping Orthodox Christians and make this work of mercy a part of your lenten effort along with, your prayer and fasting â?–

Church school banner from Holy Resurrection Church, Wayne, NJ.

PARISH NEWS

News From West Point On November 18, 2000 the Church of the Transfiguration in Pearl River, NY hosted a one-day retreat for the Orthodox community at West Point Military Academy. Captain and Mrs. Douglas Matty came with their two children, and cadets Josh Khoury and Ron Krepps also attended.

Host pastor Hieromonk Joseph Hoffman spoke on the Incarnation of Christ and its significance in the history of salvation. Fr. Joseph Frawley, Orthodox chaplain at West Point, spoke on the topic of "Putting on Christ." Hieromonk Joseph spoke of the reality of the divine Logos assuming human nature in order to renew it and to offer the possibility of everlasting life in the Kingdom of God. Not only are we to believe in the Incarnation, said Fr. Frawley, but we should also invite Christ to dwell in us so that we can say with St. Paul, "It is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). Just as Christ put on our human nature, we must also put on Christ.

Following the talks, a meal was served and the cadets had the opportunity to meet some of the parishioners. The West Pointers were grateful for the hospitality of Hieromonk Joseph and his parishioners, and for the chance to attend services in a parish setting.

ed as warriors of Christ. We are to "fight the good fight" against the forces of evil, and to struggle for our salvation. These icons also remind us that we are to put on the "armor of light" (Rom. 13:12), the "breastplate of righteousness," the "shield of faith," and the "helmet of salvation," wielding the "sword of the Spirit" to stand against the wiles of the devil and the rulers of darkness (Eph. 6:11-17).

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Perhaps some may wonder how St. Barbara fits in with all these military saints. St. Barbara is considered the patron saint of gunners. In former

Retreat at Pearl River - November 2000 Back Row L-R: Hieromonk Joseph Hoffman, Fr. Joseph Frawley Middle Row L-R: Cadet Josh Khory, Deanna Matty, Capt. Douglas Matty, Mat. Irene Frawley Cadet Ronald Krepps Front Row L-R: Jonathan & Thomas Matty

At West Point, the cadets attend Orthodox services at St. Martin's chapel in the basement of the Protestant Cadet's Chapel. During the past few months St. Martin's Chapel has been taking on a more "military" appearance. Through purchases and donations the following icons of military saints have been acquired and put up around the Chapel: St. George, St. Demetrios, St. Andrew the Commander, St. Eustathios, St. James the Persian, St. Menas, the two Sts. Theodore, St. Phanourios, the Seven Youths of Ephesus, and St. Barbara.

Most of these saints are depicted in military dress, which will be a visible reminder to all who worship here that through Baptism we are all enlist-

times, a cannon was just as likely to blow up in someone's face as it was to fire a true and accurate shot. Therefore, the gunner had a very real chance of losing his life when he fired his gun. At the time of her martyrdom, St. Barbara prayed that God would preserve those who honored her from sudden illness and death. Because sudden death was a distinct possibility for gunners, they adopted her as their heavenly protector.

A list of items needed for St. Martin's Chapel may be found on the Jacob's Well website: Jacwell.org (click "The Diocese" sidebar button).

We entreat God to bless our benefactors, past, and future. â?–

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T H E O C A’ S D I O C E S A N FA M I LY

A History of the Archdiocese of Canada Spring/Summer 2001

The Archdiocese of Canada is a territorial diocese of the Orthodox Church in America. It is the continuation of the Russian Orthodox Mission which began in Alaska in the Russian Empire in 1794, and which began serious missionary work in Canada with newly-arrived immigrants from 1897.

In its earliest days, this mission, like its USA parent, was intended by its mother church to minister to all the Orthodox on the territory, regardless of language or national heritage, in the usual Orthodox manner. That we exist now, in 2001, as one of many overlapping Orthodox dioceses on the same territory is the abnormal result of political turmoil at the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917. Yet it is, in this second century of Orthodox mission in Canada, that we seriously search for ways to recover the natural unity in Christ in the Orthodox Church.

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There were in the earliest days, up to World War I, many amazing developments. A hundred years ago, faithful people immigrated to Canada, and built temples to God’s glory everywhere-often before their own homes-even though it was difficult to find enough priests. The roots of the Orthodox Church in Canada as a whole, and of the Archdiocese of Canada in particular, lie in the missionary service of the Orthodox Church in the Russian Empire. In the 1870s there were already some services Lennoxville, Quebec, at Bishops University. Priests travelled from the USA to care for a community of Syro-Lebanese Christians. It was not, however, until the summer of 1897 that the lasting missionary presence was established with the serving of the Divine Liturgy and other sacraments at Stary Wostok (“Old East”) Alberta, 110 km north-east from Edmonton. There, immigrants from what is now western Ukraine, had been establishing themselves since 1891.

It was Father Dimitri Kamnev who served both at Stary Wostok, and at Rabbit Hills, south-west from Edmonton, at the farms of Theodore Nimirsky and Theodore Fuhr, respectively. This work was taken up again the following year with the blessing of newly-built temples, and the receiving of many converts by Fr. Vladimir Alexandrov.

At the same time, through the labours of Theodore Fuhr in particular, large numbers of Ukrainian Catholics were reconciled to the Orthodox Church.

Indeed, one very moving event was the reconciliation of an Uniate parish with an Orthodox parish at Rabbit Hill, Alberta. Soon after, Father Michael Malyarevsky made the beginnings with immigrants in Winnipeg, rural Manitoba, and what is now Saskatchewan. Father Jacob Korchinsky was the first of many permanent priests, beginning at St Barbara’s in Edmonton. In 1901, Bishop (now Saint) Tikhon consecrated three churches in Alberta. In 1903, Bishop Tikhon visited Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and incorporated, in the person of the Bishop, the Church in the Northwest Territories, now Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1904, Bishop Tikhon extended the foundations with another visit, and consecrated St Barbara’s Church in Edmonton, and Holy Trinity Church in Winnipeg. It was then also, that Bishop (now Saint) Raphael (Hawaweeny) was consecrated Bishop of Brooklyn, and opened the way for permanent care for Syrian/Lebanese parishes in Canada. In 1907, Father Feofan Buketov, with Archbishop Platon, established and incorporated Sts Peter and Paul Church in Montréal, Quebec.

Other parishes were established also, over the years, in many places across the country (although chiefly on the prairies), and many converts were received into Orthodoxy.

In 1914, with the beginning of World War I, many Orthodox were in the Armed Forces of Canada, and were cared for by the first Canadian Orthodox Chaplain, Father John Ovsyanitsky. The first attempt at a seminary was by Father Vladimir Sakovich in Montréal in 1915. By this time also in the west, some schools and monastic communities had been organised. Missionary outreach continued, supported still by the Russian Mission Society.

In 1916, Canada received its own, first, resident bishop, Bishop Alexander, and Christ the Saviour

T H E O C A’ S D I O C E S A N FA M I LY Resurrection Church until his death in 1978. In 1970, the Russian Orthodox Church granted to its daughter mission Church in North America the right of full self-government, and granted the new name: Orthodox Church in America. In the same year St Herman of Alaska was canonised in Alaska.

In 1972, St Herman’s pastoral school was opened in Kodiak, Alaska. In 1977 the fifth All-American Council was convened in Montréal, and Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor) was elected to head the OCA to succeed Metropolitan Iriney.

From this time a series of new missionary communities and a monastic community began to appear in Edmonton, Montréal, Rawdon, Ottawa, Kingston and Vancouver, all under the blessing of Archbishop Sylvester, together with the ordination of several convert clerics.

In 1981, after eighteen years of bearing many burdens both for the Archdiocese and the Central Administration of the OCA’s Holy Synod, Archbishop Sylvester decided to retire.

Metropolitan Theodosius became the administrator of the diocese for nine years, following in the footsteps of both Metropolitans Iriney and Leony before him in this capacity. Missionary ventures continued to appear, and there was a renewal of diocesan life and structure under his wise leadership, which led to the election of a new bishop, Seraphim (Storheim) in 1987 to be Bishop of Edmonton and Auxiliary to the Metropolitan for the Archdiocese. In 1990 he was elected and installed as the Ruling Bishop of the Archdiocese as Bishop of Ottawa and Canada. During the ensuing years there has, by God’s blessing, been a steady growth and redevelopment of the Archdiocese.

There has also been by the same blessing a renewal

of communication and fraternal cooperation with all the other Orthodox in this country.

Spring/Summer 2001

In the course of all these years, because of the separations engendered by the 1917 revolution, there has been a maintenance of Orthodox life in Canada mostly along national/linguistic lines.

Besides the OCA’s Archdiocese of Canada, the overall Orthodox church in Canada includes the Greek Metropolis of Toronto, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Parishes of the Romanian Patriarchate, the parishes of the Romanian and Bulgarian Episcopates of the OCA, and parishes of the Antiochian Archdiocese.

This division of administration and the resulting overlapping jurisdiction of the eight (at present) canonical bishops on the same territory is an abnormality in Orthodox ecclesiology. We progress with God’s help in overcoming these artificial divisions, and the historic visit of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 1998 gave added direction, focus and blessing to our desires and efforts to be visibly one. The Eucharistic concelebration by the canonical bishops then was followed in the year 2000 by five concelebrations of the canonical bishops in five different cities across Canada to God’s glory. The twentieth century was rather difficult for Orthodoxy in Canada, but there are signs of hope for greater stability for us all in the twentyfirst, should we be ready to cooperate with the Lord in a spirit of loving obedience. ❖

St. Herman of Alaska Church, Edmonton, Alberta

Diocesan Hierarch: His Grace, SERAPHIM Bishop of Ottowa and Canada Newsletter: The Canadian Orthodox Messenger Editor: Mother Sophia (Zion) Sophia@recorder.ca Circulation manager: Helene Culhane 377 Kintyre Priv., Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3M6

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SPECIAL FEATURES

An Emotional Journey to the Holy Land Spring/Summer 2001

by Lillian Lane In the early part of October, 2000, fourteen Orthodox Christians and Fr. Basil Summer as our religious guide and friend departed to the Holy Land as part of trip sponsored by the Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards (FOS). I had no idea what I would see and how I was going to feel along the way.

Our first taste of what was to come was at St. Sargius Coptic church in Egypt, where the Holy Family rested on their flight to Egypt and where St.

The Garden of Gethsemane

Mark died and was buried. His remains are in a small chapel were we briefly worshipped. It was our first moving experience.

Deep in the heart of Mount Sinai in the most prohibitive terrain stood the walled Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine. This monastic center has had a continuous life since the 6th century. It has stood for 1400 years since its erection and Mohammed the founder of Islam, Arabian caliphs, Turkish sultans, and Napoleon have all preserved it from pillage or destruction. Behind the monastery is Mount Sinai where God spoke to Moses in the miracle of the Burning Bush. St. Catherine was born to a pagan family, but converted to Christianity and was tortured and executed for her belief. Her body vanished, but monks of the Monastery found it three centuries later. The priest brought her relics for us to venerate as part of a small service. The sweet fragrance of her hand is today a continuous miracle to which I can attest.

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When we crossed the border from Egypt into Israel, the balance of our Journey crisscrossed the area where our Lord lived, prayed, preached, and performed his miracles. It all ended in Jerusalem in the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

I would like to take literary license here and first describe Bethlehem, our Lord’s birthplace. We had difficulty entering because all the roads had been blocked. Our guide, Theo, was determined that we see this important area and arranged that we cross the barricade on foot from our bus and join another bus inside Bethlehem. We all had guts, but it was a successful journey! Inside the Church of the Nativity is a large gold star where Christ was born and a few feet away is the manger. Both areas are beautifully decorated with velvet hangings and many vigil lights, but not resembling how we picture is now at Christmas.

The areas of Samaria, Caeserea, Tiberias, and the Valley of the Wind were meaningful places we travelled through. In Nazareth, we stopped to see Mary’s well and there to Cana and Capernum where 80% of Christ’s miracles occurred. The synagogue near the Sea of Galilee where Christ preached before the priests still stands and they have placed a beautiful mosaic of fish Church of St. Mary Magdalene and bread where Christ fed thousands. The Jordan River where Christ was baptized was disappointing because of its commercialization. However, some people filled bottles to take home. I just waded in and stood in the cool waters.

We passed Mt. Tabor, site of the Transfiguration, on the way to the Church of the Beatitudes where Christ gave his Sermon on the Mount. He came before Caiphus at the church of the Crowing of the Cock. Seventy-eight steps down into the ground is a cistern called the “death cell.”

ICONS & ICONOGRAPHY Christ was supposedly lowered by ropes under his arms into this cell. In the Church of the Paternoster there are row upon row of tiles measuring about 36” x 60” in a beautiful columned walkway of the Lord’s Prayer in over 100 languages. It is a beautiful sight to realize that this prayer has encompassed the world.

Old Jerusalem and all that is there provided beauty and emotional upheaval for me. Just a sort steep walk from our hotel is the delightful Convert of St. Mary Magdalene, cared for by Russian nuns.

The Church of All Nations is a short distance away and it houses the tomb of the Virgin Mary. We moved onward to Mt. Zion and the room of the Last Supper. A place of great emotion for me was the Garden of Gethsemane. The path along which Christ carried the cross was empty; it was quiet and peaceful among the gnarled and huge olive trees.

We ended with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Christ was crucified and laid in a tomb. We all attended the liturgy on Sunday. The service was in Greek and Fr. Basil was invited to cocelebrate. The stone where the cross was placed is in the altar, within a small nearby room. We were allowed to enter, kneel, and pray at this spot.

Emotional and no words can describe the feeling of this place. A short distance is a majestic mosaic of Christ being brought down from the cross with the tomb in front of the mosaic.

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Upon reflection on the trip, with all the unrest in this area, I was never fearful. It was as if God walked with us. I saw all the places that are so meaningful for us Christians, but most of all was the feeling that this is really where it all happened.

An experience of a lifetime. ❖

Iconography

By Yvette Abdallah Have you ever wondered what an icon is, what it means, or how it is made? None of these thoughts had ever crossed my mind until I was invited to attend an actual iconography class.

Attending the class gave me a new insight into the wonders of iconography. It’s not just a form of art, but a spiritual art.

Maybe you have heard icons described as “windows into heaven.”

I never understood what that expression meant before, but that’s just what iconography is.

On my first day of class, I was introduced to my instructors, Mr. Vladislav Andrejev and his son, Nikita. The making of an icon is a long and slow process. The icon which beginners in their program start with is the Archangel Michael.

After an opening prayer, the class began. First I traced the pattern for my icon onto the icon board with a piece of carbon paper and pencil. This might seem a simple thing to do, but it took me quite a while. When I finished tracing, Mr. Vladislav handed me a sharp instrument and explained that I had to etch over all the traced lines. “Oh no!” was all I had time to think.

Etching is much harder than tracing. It requires

much more pressure with the hand. Needless to say, my hand was extremely sore when I was done. The next step is to paint clay on the halo and the sides of the icon. The clay symbolizes the creation of man. In fact, the name Adam means “red/earth.” I finished my day by burnishing the halo with a smooth stone.

Burnishing is like polishing. You rub the stone from the center of the halo to the edge. It makes the clay look very shiny.

The days that followed began as the first, always with prayer. Prayer is an essential part in painting, or rather, writing an icon. Because the icon is in itself a prayer or a story written with pictures, the iconographer always refers to this process as “writing an icon,” never “painting.” The icon tells the story of the saint or the event depicted in the icon. As Mohammed Zibawi wrote in his book The Icon: “The icon is to the deaf, what the word (gospel) is to the blind.” As long as my concentration was fixed on this prayer (the icon) my work was very efficient and time seemed to fly. But as soon as my mind began to wander, time slowed and so did my progress.

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ICONS & ICONOGRAPHY

Spring/Summer 2001

On the second day, I began to gild St. Michael’s halo. The procedure fascinated me. It is accomplished by breathing deeply on a small section of the clay surface of the halo. This also represents the creation of man, when God breathed life into Adam. Then, small strips of gold leaf are applied using a piece of wax paper. You have to hold the gold leaf with wax paper because it will stick to your fingers otherwise. (That’s the tricky part.) The excess leaf is removed with a paintbrush.

This process is repeated until the halo has been covered with two layers of gold. The first coats of colors are next. Every color has a meaning. White is the source of all color, violet represents God the father, dark blue - Jesus Christ, and light blues - the Holy Spirit. Green represents the union between God and man, yellow is for the human spirit, orange is the color of the soul, red is the color of the man/body, and black is the color of sin.

Because God created the world from nothing, nothing synthetic or man made is used in the creation of the icon. Therefore, the colors are made by grinding stones that look quite ordinary, but are actually colored on the inside. The colors are then mixed into an egg yolk solution and diluted with water. The result is a comparatively thin paint. I think it is very much like watercolor, and of course, with my luck, I had never used watercolor. There are seven layers of paint on the icon. The base colors are the first and darkest colors on the icon. In modern art, however, the darkest colors are last. In iconography we start with the dark colors and end with the lighter. This symbolizes the spiritual ascension of man.

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After the base colors I had to paint over the lines that I had previously etched into the board.

There are two different strokes to use when painting the lines. The first begins thick and thins out at the end. And the second begins thin, thickens towards the middle, and thins out again. The highlights are applied next. The highlights are the same color as the base coat but a lighter shade than those used for the base coat. They are used to define and sharpen the shape and dimensions of the subject being portrayed. Most of the highlights start in the corners and the folds of the saint’s robes, places that in modern art would be filled with shadow. This represents the inner divine light present in man.

There are three sets of highlights. The largest amounts of highlights are applied in the first set, and less and less as you progress.

Now we come to the floats. Floats are transparent colors used to soften and blend the highlights and base colors together. There are three sets of floats, but unlike the highlights, the same amount of paint is applied each time. Floats have such a thin consistency, that they are applied by forming small-sized puddles on the board and pushing the paint forward to distribute the paint evenly on the surface of the board. It is important not to spread the float out too thin or use actual strokes with the brush because this can cause the layers underneath to lift, causing smearing. After the third and last float, the only thing left is to redraw, again, the dark lines. This includes the features of the face, robes, and any other object depicted. The finishing touches to the Archangel Michael to paint the following: the thin staff that he is most often portrayed holding; his name painted at the top of the icon; and the lines around the halo. The lines around the halo have a significant meaning to them. There are two lines, the first on the inside is red, and the second on the outside is white. These represent the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end — God. My icon still needs to be varnished, but the paint needs to sit for about one month to let it settle into the board.

In working on my icon, I made many errors.

Because we reflect our own lives in the icon we are writing, the correction of mistakes is allowed only in pretty bad errors. Just as we, being humans, cannot reverse time and change our past, so it is with our icon. It is full of mistakes, the imperfections of our humanity, but through time and diligent perseverance, layer after layer of color, we ascend into the true light of God’s magnificent design, the finished icon.

I owe my wonderful experience to my spiritual father and pastor, Fr. John Shimchick, Ms. Margaret Little, and the rest of the congregation of our parish, the Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross, for sponsoring my education; and to my parents for all of their loving encouragement. Because of their immense support, I now know how special icons really are. They are windows into heaven.

Icons are meant to depict a saint’s physical identity, but especially his/her spiritual identity. Icons are not windows into the past, but into the future, our future. ❖

MOVIE REVIEW

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

By Jack Wheeler In the 1960s and 70s Kung-fu films were popular among American audiences. Those movies were usually dubbed, and often starred Bruce Lee. This film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, captures some of the essence of those films, but it has more to offer. It's set in a fantasy world, resembling Ancient China. Director Ang Lee, 46, who is from Taiwan, always imagined China as a mystical place, and chose to reflect that in this movie. With a complex story line, and strong female characters (both good and evil) Lee leads us on a wondrous journey.

The story is centered on an ancient magical sword that once belonged to the revered master of Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat). The master was killed long ago by an evil woman, Jade Fox, as she was attempting to steal the sword. Eventually Li Mu Bai inherits the sword, but aware of the sword's history decides to entrust it to the care of his old friend Lu Shien (Michelle Yeoh). Lu Shien, an accomplished warrior, also has knowledge of the sword's capacity and so she gives it to Governor Yu for safekeeping. At Governor Yu's estate Lu Shien meets the governor's daughter, who seems to have some kind of a secret. Shortly after the sword is given to the governor a mysterious bandit steals it, and Jade Fox is suspected of the deed.

From there the story takes off.

This film is amazing in its elaborately staged fights and deep characters. The fight scenes are not typical, but more like ballet they're so graceful. The actors literally fly as well as glide over water, slide through trees and run up walls. As the audience views this they will believe that it is not only possible, but also plausible to move so fluidly.

The concept we've seen in practically every story, the battle between good and evil, and the concept of mentor and student is a recurring theme throughout this film. Through the movie Li Mu Bai constantly recalls the lessons his master taught him, but at the same time he vows to kill Jade Fox for killing his mentor instead of forgiving her. The warriors in the story all use self-discipline in an

Spring/Summer 2001

effort to seek perfection. They are taught by their masters to use the power of good to triumph over the forces of evil. Even the governor's young daughter is tempted by evil to become evil herself and flashback scenes reveal the destruction of her innocence.

Love also plays a major role in the film. The characters Li Mu Bai and Lu Shien have long been friends, but in actuality are much more than that.

They respect and honor each other so much they hesitate to thwart cultural traditions that would frown on them revealing their true feelings for each other. Love is a major theme in the film because it exists as a ribbon through all of the characters. Love seems to play a vital role in all of Ang Lee's films.

It's often this underlying theme, a man and a woman, who have known each other for a long time, by the end of the film realizing they have loved each other all along.

The director of the film, Ang Lee, though never directing a film like this before, has said that such a project has always been his long time dream. After reading the novel of the same name he knew he had found his project.

Ang Lee, began in the late 1980s started out doing a trilogy of low-budget Hong Kong films, followed by the Jane Austen adaptation Sense and Sensibility (1995), the indie-drama The Ice Storm (1997) set in 1970s suburbia, and the civil war drama Ride With the Devil (1999).

But neither Victorian England, Suburban Conneticut, nor civil war-era Missouri can compare with the world Ang Lee has created in this extraordinary film. What I liked so much about it was that it wasn't really a defined period, which sets the film in a very mystical world, where warriors, bandits, and people flying and jumping up walls are all everyday occurrences.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is truly a memorable film and a future classic.

Final Verdict: B+. â?–

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GOOD & FAITHFUL SERVANT

Everyday Opportunities For Servants To See

By Fr. Stephen Siniari Glory to the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-Creating, and Undivided Trinity.

I called Father George about the etymology of the term, Life-Creating. He said it had the connotation of creation in a sense similar to the English word poem, (Psalm, I thought). Not something fashioned by a maker, but something called into being ex nihilo... out of nothingness... Presbytera Vula, Father's wife, caught him running out the door, probably to a hospital or a funeral... Few families are so personally steeped in our common existential metamorphosis as the families who serve a parish.

Father Alexander used to say: "Priests and cemeteries; both necessary, both out of life." Who should be so intimately familiar with a funeral as a Priest?

"Thy creative command was my origin and my existence. For it was Thy pleasure out of visible and invisible ingredients to call me into being as a living creature.

Thou hast shaped my body from the earth and Thou hast given me a soul by Thy Divine and quickening Breath..."

"When you consider creation," says Saint Basil, "I advise you to first think of Him who is the first cause of everything that exists: namely, the Father, and then of the Son, who is the Creator, and then the Holy Spirit, the Perfector... And let no one accuse me of saying that there are three unoriginate persons, or that the work of the Son is imperfect. The Originator of all things is One: He creates through the Son and perfects through the Spirit. The Father's work is in no way imperfect, since

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he accomplishes all in all, nor is the Son's work deficient if it is not completed by the Spirit. The Father creates through His will alone and does not need the Son, yet chooses to work through the Son. Likewise the Son works as the Father's likeness and needs no other co-operation, but He chooses to have His work completed through the Spirit."

Some allow their view of life to be vitiated by an "alien and loathsome spirit."

They lose sight of the meaning and value in every form of human being. Ultimately they render their sense of life as curse instead of blessing. Unwittingly they quench their desire to co-operate with God in perfecting Theosis in them through others.

There's a place on the bay where cops and bad guys call a truce for breakfast. The coffee tastes like licorice. They make eggs and grits, hot cakes and scrapple. I met with Pastor David and Bill who runs the Mission.

Pastor David has been to Saint Tikhon's, to Mount Athos, and to Jerusalem in his pilgrimage Churchward.

Life-creating? I asked him-God chooses to work through us? He mentioned God as Life not dependent on any source, but as being Life Himself. He talked about the woman who loves him, whom he loves, how together they were blessed to participate in the creative act of God's love in the birth of their children.

Father Elchaninov: "Man enters deeply into the texture of the world through his family alone... Marriage, flesh-

ly love, is a very great sacrament and mystery. Through it is accomplished the most real and at the same time the most mysterious of all possible forms of human relationship. And qualitatively, marriage enables us to pass beyond all the normal rules of human relationship... God has granted the world to share in His omnipotence: man creates man, a new soul is brought in to being."

Bill listened, then he told us about a lice covered woman, body temperature had dropped to 84 degrees; blood sugar had risen to 600... Lost in the sauce, freezing to death in a doorway on the Boardwalk... mere feet from the gaming halls in America's biggest little city, more pilgrims a year than any shrine. Bill heard about her, sought her out, and found her.

Her recovery is an ongoing miracle.

It took Bill eight long years as pilgrim of the Absolute, to seek out, to find, and to embrace the Orthodox Faith. Along the way he learned to chant the psalms. But long before that he was gifted to see everyday opportunities to be a faithful servant, to see the sanctity, the holiness, and the value of God's life in others, to know the other as an icon of God, and to love them, no matter how badly "bruised by the brands of transgressions."

If you're interested, I suppose there are still everyday opportunities for faithful servants to learn to chant a verse or two in the ongoing, life-creating Psalm of our Creator. â?–

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