St. Vladimir’s Seminary commencement to be held Saturday, May 21

CRESTWOOD, NY [OCA Communications] — Commencement exercises at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary here will take place on Saturday, May 21, 2005.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America and seminary president, will open the day by presiding a 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy, during which Deacon Barnabas Powell, a member of the 2005 graduating class, will be ordained to the Holy Priesthood. Immediately following the Liturgy a luncheon will be held for members of the seminary’s board of trustees.

At 2:30 p.m. a Service of Thanksgiving will be celebrated in the seminary’s Three Hierarchs Chapel, after which commencement exercises will be held in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium. An outdoor reception will conclude the day’s events.

Mr. Constantine Triantifilou, executive director of International Orthodox Christian Charities [IOCC], will deliver the commencement address. Mr. Triantifilou has been with IOCC, North America’s pan-Orthodox humanitarian aid agency, since 1993. He has been a driving force behind the agency’s dynamic growth for 12 years, managing the organization’s relief and development programs from its headquarters in Baltimore, MD, and field offices in eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and the Middle East.