Byzantine, Texas

This is the other half of Fr. George Aquaro's advice on seminary. The first installment has drawn a lot of attention and I expect this one to do the same. Enjoy. Many of the priests who are reading this are probably more experienced in this area than I am. Hopefully, what I am writing will not leave them wondering how I could dare type such drivel. Others may also read this and think back to their seminary days and say, “Yeah, I’ve seen a few of those guys. They didn’t last.” While bishops do the ordaining, and most jurisdictions have some kind of bureaucratic process where someone makes a file and stuffs it with paper, the truth is that the bishops rarely know much about the men they ordain beyond the observations of their parish priests, and, to some extent, their minders in seminary. The parish priest’s recommendation is by the far the most authoritative voice in the process. The parish priest, then, is the real ‘gatekeeper’ to ordination. It is a truly rare occasion...

( GGWB ) - I’ve known a lot of men who have deeply yearned to go to seminary. They can all describe in great detail how they felt ‘called’ to become priests, something they sometimes also refer to as ‘ministry’ or ‘ordination to the Holy Priesthood.’ But as we all know, just because you feel something very deeply, that does not make it right or true. All that a feeling tells you is that you feel something. Never forget that. Most men who think about becoming priests think about the glamorous bits, like serving in front of the Holy Altar or providing wise counsel to those humbled by sin. The more mundane bits, like sitting through endless meetings or being patently ignored by most of the congregation, usually gets swept away with grandiose visions of being the next Elder Paisios or St. John Chrysostom. I’m not going to tell you to go or not to go, but I am going to say that you need to double- and triple-check yourself before you go off to seminary. If you succeed at passing thro...

( Smithsonian ) - Siberian summers do not last long. The snows linger into May, and the cold weather returns again during September, freezing the taiga into a still life awesome in its desolation: endless miles of straggly pine and birch forests scattered with sleeping bears and hungry wolves; steep-sided mountains; white-water rivers that pour in torrents through the valleys; a hundred thousand icy bogs. This forest is the last and greatest of Earth's wildernesses. It stretches from the furthest tip of Russia's arctic regions as far south as Mongolia, and east from the Urals to the Pacific: five million square miles of nothingness, with a population, outside a handful of towns, that amounts to only a few thousand people. When the warm days do arrive, though, the taiga blooms, and for a few short months it can seem almost welcoming. It is then that man can see most clearly into this hidden world—not on land, for the taiga can swallow whole armies of explorers, but from the a...

( mospat.ru ) - On January 25, 2013, a conference on the Old Rite in the Life of the Russian Orthodox Church: Past and Present was held within the 21st International Christmas Readings at the St. Sergius Chamber of the Church Councils Hall in the Church of Christ the Saviour. The conference held already for the eighth time was chaired by Metropolitan George of Nizhniy Novgorod and Arzamas, member of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations’ commission for Old Belief parishes and cooperation with the Old Belief community. Papers were presented on both historical themes including the First All Russia’s Common Faith Congress, new martyrs from the Common Faith community, relations with the state authorities and some today’s aspects of the life of the Old Rite community in the Russian Orthodox Church . The conference was followed up by a round table on urgent problems in the life of Old Rite (Common Faith) parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was held on J...

Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy Apostle Peter, Troparion, Tone 4 Without leaving Rome thou art come to us in the precious chains which thou didst bear, O first-enthroned of the apostles; and, bowing down before them with faith we pray: through thy supplications unto God grant us great mercy! Kontakion, Tone 2, "Seeking the highest" Christ the Rock most splendidly glorifieth the rock of faith, the first-enthroned of His disciples; for He summoneth all to celebrate the wonders of thy precious chains, O Peter, and granteth forgiveness of offenses.

NARODA, Ahmedabad ( Orthodox Herald ) - Pulikkottil Dr Geevarghese Mar Yulios, Metropolitan, Diocese of Ahmedabad, has come out with a four-pronged resolution for Nineveh Fast or the lent of Repentance which is being observed from January 21-23, 2013. Dr Mar Yulios has called upon all faithful members of Ahmedabad Diocese to observe the lent rigorously and attain from God His abundant grace. Nineveh Fast, a preparatory period of fasting and prayer, is observed before the Great Lent and the blessed feast of Resurrection of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, which is the basis of Indian Orthodox faith. The Metropolitan elaborates that “if we compare our modern life with that of the Ninevites we may be eligible for more severe punishments. But as the Ninevites fasted and prayed severely for 40 days and nights and averted God’s anger, we may also transform God’s anger and punishment into mercy and blessings! This year let us observe this lent rigorously and attain from God his a...

( OCA Wonder ) - I grew up in Binghamton, New York, in a parish where the church was the center of my life. I served as an altar boy and went to the Church School, which was huge! We had a teenage Bible Study group; the church had a basketball team (which I was not very good at). I ran the parish library. We had altar boy practice every Saturday – we sang the Liturgy and learned about serving the services – there were as many as 36 altar boys at a time! So, almost every weekend, I was in church for Saturday Liturgy, Vespers, Matins, and Sunday Liturgy… plus holy days, baptisms, weddings, funerals and everything else that came with life in the Church. After high school, I went to college nearby and lived at home. I never had the problem of wondering, “What do I do when I’m on my own?” I worked out my class schedule so I could be at the Liturgy during the week when there was one. Church was the place to be. I loved being in church, and I loved what I was doing in church – especially...

( Vatican Radio ) The ‘delicate historical moment’ that the ancient Chaldean Church of Babylon is experiencing and the need for unity in its leadership were the chief concerns expressed Monday morning as the Patriarchal Synod opened here in Rome. Emer McCarthy reports: Convoked by Pope Benedict XVI, under the Presidency of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, the Synod has the task of electing a new Patriarch, Pater et Caput of the Chaldean Church, to succeed Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly. I'll note where the term "Pater et Caput" (father and head) comes from as it is a distinctive section in the CCEO . From Canon 55: According to the most ancient tradition of the Church, already recognized by the first ecumenical councils, the patriarchal institution has existed in the Church; for this reason a special honor is to be accorded to the patriarchs of the Eastern Churches, each of whom presides over his patriarchal Church as father and ...

( OCA ) - On Sunday, January 27, 2013, His Beatitude, the Most Blessed Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, was enthroned at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC. In attendance at the Enthronement were members of the Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Synod of Bishops and guests representing several Orthodox Churches in North America and abroad. Metropolitan Tikhon was elected OCA Primate at the 17th All-American Council held in Parma, OH on Tuesday, November 13, 2012. Born Marc R. Mollard in Boston, MA on July 15, 1966, Metropolitan Tikhon was the eldest of three children born to Francois and Elizabeth Mollard. After brief periods living in Connecticut, France, and Missouri, he and his family settled in Reading, PA, where he graduated from Wyomissing High School in 1984. In 1988 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, after which he moved to Chicago. In 1989...

( exarchat.eu ) - In the Patriarchal letter dated 16 January 2013, His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew first announced that, by decision of the Holy Synod, the demand for retirement of His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Comana has been accepted. His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France is officially "Locum tenens appointed Patriarchal Exarchate of the Ecumenical Throne Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe", in accordance with the request made ​​in this direction by the Council of the Archdiocese. From now until the election of the new Archbishop should be in liturgical celebrations commemorate the name of His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France as Locum Tenens of the archiepiscopal throne. The Council of the Archdiocese will meet shortly under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Emmanuel to determine the date of the Extraordinary General Assembly to elect a new Archbishop and conditions of appointment of candidates in accordance...

Silver Spring, MD ( UOC-USA ) - His Eminence Metropolitan Antony was enthroned on January 26, 2013, as the fourth Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA during a magnificent and traditional ceremony at St. Andrew the First Called Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Silver Spring, MD. The Enthronement services were attended by more than 500 faithful and about 70 clergymen of the Metropolia and many visitors from across the country from various Orthodox and Catholic jurisdictions. The Enthronement liturgical services began at 6:30 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013 with All-Night Vigil served by Rev. Fr. Anthony Perkins and choir of Holy Archangel Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Woonsocket, RI. With about 200 people in attendance, following a winter storm that brought about 4 inches of snow to Washington, DC Metropolitan area, the hierarchs, clergy and faithful in attendance prayerfully inaugurated the events of Enthronement weekend, preparing themselves and pledging thei...

( The Telegraph ) - Austria’s Turkish community said the model was based on Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul and that the accompanying figures depicted Asians and Orientals as people with “deceitful and criminal personalities.” The Turkish Cultural Community of Austria released a statement calling for Lego to apologise for affronting religious and cultural feelings. The anger was provoked by “Jabba’s Palace”, a model of the home of Jabba the Hutt from Lego’s Star Wars product range based on the blockbusting series of science fiction films. Jabba is the large slug-like creature who holds Han Solo captive in the film Return of the Jedi, and his palace is the setting for several crucial scenes, including using Princess Leia as his slave. Jabba’s domed home and accompanying watchtower bear, according to the statement, an unwanted resemblance to Istanbul’s great Hagia Sophia, and another mosque in Beirut. So pareidolia is cause for forced public apologies now? A snide section of m...

I'm hoping to go with some friends. Please consider making the journey as well. There's nothing like Jordanville. It's like a metochion of the Russian Church... by way of time travel into the 19 th century. ( Facebook ) - Join us for a two-day men's retreat at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY from Sat. April 13th to Sun. April 14th. This weekend, the fourth of Great Lent commemorating St. John of the Ladder, is also significant as April 13th is the anniversary of the repose of Archbishop Averky, the former abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery from 1960-1976, and a giant of Orthodoxy in the 20th century. This retreat, sponsored by the Brotherhood of Sts. John the Theologian and Alexander Nevsky in Albany, NY, aims to bring all generations of men together for a weekend of prayer, learning, labor, and fellowship. A tentative schedule. Friday April 12 Arrival, accommodations at the Jordanville guest house. Saturday April 13 6 AM Divine Liturgy 7:30 ...

More photos and an explanation on the estimable Orthodox Arts Journal .

From the blog On Behalf of All , a post entitled "Using colors according to Tradition." My feelings on this topic are well known and are rather congruous with the below. Iconography is more than art and as such resides properly inside the Church. Thoughts? A student of Orthodox iconographer Susan Cushman writes an icon of St. Nicholas. While it has become more and more commonplace in other Christian traditions to allow ecclesiastical artwork (whether statuary or iconography, or even clerical vestments) to be done by the hands of the non-Christian, this has been largely avoided in the Orthodox tradition. I’m sure that there are a few examples out there to the contrary, but the predominate perspective on this within Orthodoxy is that only those who are within the Church should — and perhaps are even only able to — produce such artwork and craft. Orthodox tradition guides us to reproduce icons ”as they were painted by the ancient and holy iconographers“ (Leonid Ouspens...

The idea that the Copts were going to turn one of their buildings into a church is not a new accusation. Even before the dreaded Arab Spring that catalyzed anti-Christian violence and intimidation in Egypt and across the Middle East the government did not permit the building of new churches (often through delaying tactics). As such, many buildings owned by the church that served other purposes were transitioned to use as a parish to meet the needs of the community. (AINA) - Hundreds of Muslims came out of mosques today with hammers and destroyed a social services building belonging to the Coptic Church while chanting Islamic slogans. Security forces arrived after the building was completely razed.   A common additional note is that the security forces showed up after the event. They are just as likely to show up and do nothing while the destruction is ongoing. The 100 square meters social services building in the village of Fanous, Tamia district in Fayoum province, 130 KM sout...

Moscow, January 25 ( Interfax ) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia has come vigorously against "liberal" anthropocentric philosophies. "The issue is not those pinpricks that theomachists are trying to inflict on the body of the Church through their various actions. The issue is the future of the world," the Patriarch said at the 21st International Christmas Conference in Moscow on Thursday. Mankind would not survive without the moral values "that God put into human nature," he said. Nor would it survive if it goes for the "liberal concept" that each human being is "an alpha and omega, that he is authorized to decide what is good and what is evil, that he can not only decide on his own future but also has the right to exercise any influence he likes on the world surrounding him," the Patriarch said. "What the Church does today with support from its numerous allies - intellectuals, teachers and so on - means acco...

JERUSALEM ( Daily Star ) - Archbishop Nurhan Manougian has been elected the 97th Armenian Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem , one of the five custodians of Christian religious sites in the Holy Land, sources told AFP on Thursday. Manougian, 65, replaces Torkom Manougian, who died aged 93 in October 2012, after falling into a coma following a stroke. The new patriarch will lead the small Armenian Orthodox communities in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, as well as take responsibility for parts of holy sites including the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. He was elected with 17 votes in his favour to 15 votes for Archbishop Aris Shirvanian, who had been serving as interim patriarch, a source in the Armenian community said. Nurhan Manougian was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1948 and ordained in Jerusalem in 1971. His election must be approved by Israel and the Jordanian king. There are an estimated 2,000 Armenians living in Jerusalem today, down from an estimated 1...

EWTN has been showing the March for Life in its entirety for years. You can watch it on TV or stream it from your computer or Internet-enabled device. Due to a death in the family I will be unable to attend, but my fellow seminarians and seminarians from Orthodox institutions all over the East Coast will be in attendance. Please pray for the safe travel of our future clergy and for the clergy and faithful converging on Washington, D.C. to March for Life. ( EWTN ) - Full, on-the-ground coverage of the most important pro-life event of the year: the 2013 March For Life in Washington, D.C. Broadcast: Friday 01/25/2013 09:00AM - 03:00PM.

( AFR ) - On the next "Ancient Faith Today," Chris Ionna Holland and Andrew Gusty discuss their unique perspectives with Kevin Allen on Mormon theology, doctrines, and practices. Listen to a brief preview below and then be sure to tune in to Ancient Faith Talk on January 27th at 8/7c.

I post this not so much as an invitation as most readers are not in the New Jersey area, but to laud the idea. Given the precipitous drop in attendance of older children in our parishes, anything we can do to strengthen the bond of a child with his church should be taken up. That said, if I were in the area I would surely be signing my kids up. ( OCA-NYNJ ) - This workshop, sponsored by the Commission on Liturgical Music [CoLM], is designed to introduce children to basic music reading concepts, as well as teach them simple prayers set to music. No experience is necessary - only a desire to learn more about the services which we attend on a weekly basis. Parents are also encouraged to attend. Lunch will be provided, along with sheet music to bring home and to use in your parish afterwards! All instruction will be in English. It will take place on Saturday, 9 March 2013 at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, Wayne NJ from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Details and registration are available in...

From the blog londinopoulos ... Many films have puzzled everyone with their depiction of exorcisms and demon worship. However, it is interesting to identify what the Church believes. Here the Orthodox point of view will be given, but we first need to identify the source of this issue, i.e. the Devil. The Devil was created by God as an angel, called Eosforos, being the brightest of the angles. However, due to his free will he chose to oppose God’s plans. Hence he and those who followed him became fallen angels, being not evil in nature but by will and action. In the Bible they are referred to by various names, depending on the work they are assigned to, such as: devil, satan, serpent, deceiver, father of lies, tempter, Lucifer, murdered, chief of darkness, dragon, veelzevoul, veliar and eosforos. They wished to be independent from God, therefore a revolution took place among the angels, as expressed in Revelations 12:7-9, “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels ...

His Holiness tweets in both English and Arabic and looks to do so almost daily. His Twitter account can be found here .

( AOB ) - Forty years ago the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a decision, known as Roe v. Wade, granting a “right” for women of the United States to terminate the lives of their children in the womb. This decision has resulted in some 54 million children’s lives ending almost before they began. The Holy Orthodox Christian Faith is unabashedly pro-life. The Lord Jesus Christ was recognized and worshipped in His mother’s womb while yet unborn by the Holy Forerunner who was also still in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:44); St. Basil the Great (4th Century), one of the universal teachers of the faith, dared to call murderers those who terminate the life of the fetus. The Church has consistently held that children developing in the womb should be afforded every protection given to those outside the womb. There is no moral, religious or scientific rationale which can justify making a distinction between the humanity of the newly-conceived and that of the newly-born. Abortio...

Moscow, January 21 ( Interfax ) - More than 82,000 people have taken a dip in icy water in Moscow to celebrate Epiphany, a representative of the city police department told Interfax. "As of 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, 82,167 people had plunged into ice holes in Moscow to mark Epiphany," the source said. In his words, no accidents or incidents have been reported from Epiphany bathing sites.

January 20, 2012 ( mospat.ru ) – His Holiness and Beatitude Iliya II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, was given a solemn welcome at Vnukovo airport in Moscow. On his visit to Moscow, the Primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church is accompanied by Metropolitan Theodore of Akhaltsiht and Tao-Klarjeti, vicar of the Catholicos-Patriarch; Metropolitan Gerasim of Zugdidi and Tsaishi, chairman of the Georgian Church’s foreign department; Metropolitan Dimitry of Batumi and Lazeti, Protopresbyter George Zviadadze, rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy, Archimandrite Chinsharauli, and other church officials. The welcoming party included Metropolitan Krutitsy and Kolomna, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Church Relations; Archbishop Arseny of Istra, Archbishop Mark of Yegorjevsk, head of the Office for Foreign Institutions, Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations, Deac...

To clarify, even with this return of land the seminary remains closed by the government. Appeals from numerous governments have yet to move the Turkish government to allow the seminary to reopen, but political statements in recent years have promised an eventual reopening. To this day the classes, library, and the rest of the seminary are cleaned and ready for students to return. ( Greek Reporter ) - Turkey’s Council of Foundations – part of Turkey’s Directorate General for Foundations (VGM) agreed on Jan. 11 to return 190 hectares, some 470 acres, of forest land to the Greek Orthodox Halki (Heybeliada) Seminary in İstanbul. According to the decision, the land will be given to the seminary’s owner, the Aya Triada Monastery Foundation. This is the biggest property return to a minority group in the history of Turkey, according to Today’s Zaman. Established in 1844 on the island of Heybeliada, Halki Seminary was closed in 1971 under a law that placed religious and military training un...

H/T: St. Elias Blog ( Catholic Register ) - Pope Benedict XVI has raised the church jurisdiction for Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain to the level of an eparchy, or diocese, and named the U.S. bishop who had been its exarch to be the eparchial bishop. The new diocese will be known as the Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, the Vatican announced Jan. 18. Bishop Hlib Lonchyna, 58, a native of Steubenville, Ohio, who had served as apostolic exarch for Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain since 2011 continues, but with a new title, the Vatican said. According to Vatican statistics, there are just over 10,000 Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain, and they are served by 12 diocesan priests. The elevation of the jurisdiction to an eparchy or diocese usually indicates a growth in the stability of a Catholic population and of priests and religious to serve them. In an email response to questions, Bishop Lonchyna said, "An exarchate is a temporary structure and may be ...

( The Atlantic ) - Back on January 6 in our Gregorian calendar Epiphany post we promised to return with Russian Orthodox Epiphany photos. Many Orthodox churches, including those in Russia, Serbia, and the Ukraine, remain on the Julian calendar, thus celebrating Epiphany on January 19. It's hard to beat the January 6 pictures of Nicolas Sarkozy eating a frangipane cake or a porcelain model of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Nevertheless, the Julian calendar celebrations do exactly that, proving once and for all that the Badass Christianity Prize probably belongs in Eastern Europe, despite the strong showing of the Catholic Church with its papal smoke signals. Epiphany celebrations in these lands are characterized in part by a series of traditions that put college "polar bear plunges" to shame. In one, an Orthodox priest hurls a wooden cross into the river. Men dive after it and struggle to retrieve the cross. The one who gets the cross is supposedly blessed with good health...

( OSU ) - The Steven Enich Serbian Orthodox Culture Slide Collection is being hosted by the Ohio State University. The photos can be browsed here . Mr. Steven Enich (04/21/1923 – 10/10/2004) was a prominent Serbian-American lawyer, practicing primarily in Wisconsin. An amateur photographer as well as philanthropist, especially to the Serbian Orthodox cultural heritage, from approximately 1979 to 1994, he was given often unprecedented access to Serbian Orthodox cultural monuments in the former Yugoslavia. In the course of several trips there, he amassed a collection of almost 5,000 slides, the majority of which he took himself. Often, he would share these slides with interested groups, particularly among the Serbian Orthodox communities in the United States. In 2006, his widow, Mrs. Irene Enich (nee Miller), hoping to ensure "continuing access to and the preservation of" this valuable collection, donated the entire collection and related valuable personal notes of Ste...

The Arab Spring has largely been fertilizer for weeds that are slowly choking the life out of Christian communities that predate Islam itself. Please join my unworthy prayers with yours for a peaceful resolution to the violence and intimidation sweeping across Arab lands. Cairo ( AsiaNews ) - The criminal court of Beni Suef (115 km south of Cairo) has sentenced an entire family to prison for converting to Christianity. Nadia Mohamed Ali and her children Mohab, Maged, Sherif, Amira, Amir, and Nancy Ahmed Mohamed abdel-Wahab will spend 15 years in prison. Seven other people involved in the case were sentenced to five years in prison. The case of the family of Nadia Ali Mohamed began in 2004 when, after the conversion, she and her children decided to replace their Muslim names on their identity cards with their Christian names and city of residence change. To do this she was aided by seven Registry office employees e. Born Christian, she had changed her religion to marry her husb...

January 27, 2013 ( OCA ) - To the Hierarchs, Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America Dearly Beloved in the Lord: As we make our way into the civil New Year, we continue to grieve over the tragic loss of the innocent lives at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Those directly affected by this most recent act of violence, as well as those who have suffered through the many other examples of inhuman brutality during the past year, undoubtedly will require a long period during which they can find healing for their broken hearts and answers to their questions concerning the providence of God and the goodness of humanity. Our society is increasingly weary of the sting of death and human sin and wary of the proclamations of hope and life coming from religious circles. Young people, unconvinced by shallow theology and hypocritical sermonizing, are increasingly identifying themselves as unbelievers, atheists, questioners or simply confused. People of all ages are ...

Theophany of our Lord, Troparion, Tone 1 When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan,/ the worship of the Trinity was made manifest;/ for, the voice of the Father bare witness unto Thee,/ calling Thee His beloved Son;/ and the Spirit in the form of a dove/ confirmed the certainty of His word./ O Christ our God, Who hast appeared and enlightened the worlds,// glory be to Thee! Kontakion, Tone 4 Thou hast appeared today to the whole world,/ and Thy light, O Lord, hath been signed upon us/ who hymn Thee with understanding./ Thou hast come, Thou hast appeared,/ the Light unapproachable.

Prochorus was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem (6:5). According to the later tradition he was one of the Seventy Apostles sent out by Jesus in Luke 10 and is celebrated today on the Old Calendar. Tradition calls Prochorus the nephew of Stephen the Protomartyr. St Prochorus accompanied the holy Apostle Peter, who ordained him to be the bishop in the city of Nicomedia. He is also thought to have been a companion of John the Apostle, who consecrated him bishop of Nicomedia in Bithynia. He was wrongly thought to have been the author of the apocryphal Acts of John, which is dated by present scholars to the end of the 2nd century. According to the late tradition he was the bishop of Antioch and ended his life as a martyr in Antioch in the 1st century. In Orthodox iconography he is always depicted as a scribe of John the Evangelist. - From Wikipedia .

Below is from the blog Praying with My Feet on the repose of Fr. Jacob Myers of St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church today. I visited his parish just two years ago for Vespers while attending a conference. If you've ever been to this urban church you know how it is adorned with icons on all the walls from top to bottom. While the service was ongoing and I was examining those icons he came over to me and with a broad smile said, "You know what kathisma means don't you? You can sit down." I did just that and spoke with him about his parish after the service was completed. I was hoping to make a return visit next year. That church does important work in the area and I am saddened by the loss of a faithful shepherd. May his memory be eternal! I am stunned to report that Fr. Jacob Myers of St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox church in Atlanta (OCA) has reposed, about 30 minutes ago during an unction service for him in an ICU there. All I know is that he had a staph...

From the blog Ex occidente ad orientem , his take on the flu and communion. I'll agree that the issue is an important one, but I rarely, if ever, support "reporting" priests to their bishops as he advises at the end. Thoughts? It's flu season and the CDC and the press are already saying that the sheer amount of flu cases this year has reached epidemic proportions. Now, I'm no pathologist nor epidemiologist so I'm willing to listen to their suggestions as to how to reduce my exposure to the flu for the sake of my own health and that of my family. However, one thing I will not do is abstain from the life giving body and blood of our Lord! Now, I don't believe the CDC has actually made any suggestion for Christians communing during the flu season to stay away from receiving the Eucharist, but that's not stopping congregations and even Archdioceses from implementing policies to remove the blood of Christ from the lips of the faithful! First of all,...

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Fond of wooden churches? I certainly am. Take a gander here and browse to your heart's content.

I have been asked with regularity after his retirement (for want of a better term) what Met. Jonah is doing these days. Here is one answer... January 10, 2013 ( YouTube ) - Orthodox Studies with His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) in the library of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John The Baptist in Washington, DC.