St John Chrysostom and Fr Alexander Schmemann remembered at St Vladimir’s Seminary

CRESTWOOD, NY [SVS]

St Vladimir’s Seminary celebrated the Feast of the Three Hierarchs, the patronal feast of the seminary chapel, with a Divine Liturgy, a symposium on St John Chrysostom, and the 25th annual Fr Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture on January 30, 2008.

The day began with a hierarchical Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Grace Bishop Basil of Wichita and Mid-America. His Grace, a graduate of St Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS ‘73), was this year’s speaker for the Fr Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture.

Symposium

The afternoon’s symposium on St John Chrysostom wrapped up the yearlong commemoration of the 1600th anniversary of the repose of the Orthodox Saint and one of the Three Hierarchs. The symposium featured three contemporary theologians illuminating his ancient, yet relevant teachings.

Dr Margaret Mitchell addressed St John Chrysostom as homilist. With her own new translation of one of St John’s sermons on 2 Corinthians 4:13, the Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School discussed the structure and content to show how St John communicated his profound and practical message. She particularly highlighted St John’s emphasis on the importance, even necessity, of alms giving. “His teachings almost always communicate an exhortation to care for the poor and needy,” said Dr Mitchell.

The second speaker Igumen Gregory Woolfenden, spoke about St John Chrysostom and liturgy, especially on St John’s liturgical thinking as expressed in his sermons. Fr Gregory is pastor of St Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in New Britain, Connecticutt and serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Liturgical Studies at Yale Institute of Sacred Music/Yale Divinity School. Fr Gregory spoke of a practical aspect of St John’s approach to liturgy when he pointed out that in the Divine Liturgy we pray, “that the Holy Spirit may be upon us and these gifts here offered.” He concluded his talk with, “may we be transformed evermore by what we do in church as well as what we say there.”

The Very Reverend Josiah Trenham, pastor of St Andrew’s Orthodox Church in Riverside, California was the third speaker of the day. He spoke about St John Chrysostom and his teachings on married life. Fr Josiah read excerpts of texts where St John described the ideal Christian married and family life. Fr Josiah also fleshed out St John’s teachings on the differences in mankind’s state before the fall, after the fall, and in the Kingdom of Heaven, and how those differences affect the experience of marriage.

Fr Alexander Schmemann Lecture

That same evening, Bishop Basil delivered the Fr Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture speaking on Fr Schmemann as Teacher and Liturgist, to a capacity crowd in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium. Bishop Basil, focusing on the influence Fr Alexander had on him personally, began his talk by asking the people present to raise their hands if they had never met or even seen Fr Alexander Schmemann. To the surprise of His Grace, as well as several in the audience, more than half raised their hands.

To illustrate the late dean’s pastoral gifts Bishop Basil told the story of his first day at St Vladimir’s Seminary when he first spoke with Fr Alexander. He recalled a bustle of activity in the Main Building (now the Germack Building) as the seminary prepared for the arrival of the relics of the newly canonised St Herman. He saw Fr Alexander running down the hall and then come to a full stop to warmly welcome this new seminarian. His Grace said, “He was truly gifted as a pastor, as a liturgist, and as a theologian.”

A highlight of His Grace’s presentation was the viewing of an episode of the old CBS news program “For Our Times” about Fr Alexander Schmemann entitled “The Spirit of St Vladimir’s.” The video included snippets of him preaching as well as speaking to the camera. There were many liturgical scenes including the blessing of the waters at Theophany and it captured significant moments in the seminary’s history including the consecration of the Three Hierarchs Chapel and Fr Alexander’s funeral.

Second year student Vijay Thomas spoke for many when he said later, “Seeing this video about Fr Alexander makes me proud to be a student at St Vladimir’s Seminary.”

With a catch in his voice Bishop Basil concluded his talk saying “I owe a debt of gratitude to Matushka Juliana and the Schmemann family for sharing Fr Alexander with us. Thank you.”

These talks can be heard on Ancient Faith Radio at the links below and a photograph gallery of the event is available at www.svots.edu.