His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, presided at commencement exercises at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY on Saturday, May 21, 2016. Thirteen graduates received Master of Divinity degrees, while twelve students received Master of Arts degrees. An additional four students were awarded Master of Theology degrees.
The day opened with the celebration of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in Three Hierarchs Chapel. Metropolitan Tikhon, who serves as the seminary’s President, concelebrated with His Grace, Bishop Ioan Casian of Vicina, Vicar of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas, who delivered the homily. During the Liturgy, Subdeacon John Mikitish [OCA Diocese of New England] was ordained to the Diaconate, Patrick Pulley [OCA Diocese of the South] was tonsured to the order of Reader and ordained to the Subdiaconate; Andrew Canon [OCA Diocese of the South] was tonsured to the order of Reader, and Seth Earl [OCA Diocese of the South] was ordained to the Subdiaconate. Priest David Rucker, father-in-law of MA graduate Patrick Pulley, was elevated to the dignity of Archpriest.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Tikhon awarded Dr. Paul Meyendorff, who is retiring as The Father Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology, with the Order of Saint Innocent, Silver Class in recognition of his many years of service to the Orthodox Church in America in varied arenas, including External Affairs, consultations, publishing, the Metropolitan Council, and many committees both within and outside the Church on the national and international levels. He likewise was recognized for his many years of service and teaching at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary.
During the afternoon commencement exercises, Metropolitan Tikhon and Bishop Ioan Casian were joined by His Eminence, Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos of the Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church; His Grace, Bishop David of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York and New England; His Eminence, Archbishop Mor Titus Yeldho of the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America; and His Grace, Bishop Matta Alkhoury of Homs, Syria of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Deacon John Mikitish and Priest William Retting [OCA Diocese of the Midwest] were co-Valedictorians while Mark Chenoweth [OCA Diocese of the Midwest] was Salutatorian.
In his commencement address, Dr. Meyendorff reflected on the ministry of the seminary’s past leadership and professors, challenging the graduates to remember that they are human, “foibles and all,” and that in their ministries they should “avoid easy, one-sided answers or solutions [while being] prepared for difficulties and troubles.” Above all, he reminded the graduates to “live your lives with joy, [for] the Gospel we proclaim is the good news to the whole world, to all of creation. Let that joy we experienced just two weeks ago on Pascha night permeate every moment of your life. In every sermon you preach, in every lesson you teach, proclaim that Christ is risen, that death has been defeated. Yes, there will be the Cross, there will be suffering; and you will be called to stand with those who suffer and to suffer yourself. But if you have deep within yourself the firm conviction that the victory has been won – then, and only then, will you be able to transmit that conviction to others. It is not simply a matter of words, but of how you live every moment of your life. It is not something that can be faked. Then, with Saint Paul, you will be able to say, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong” [2 Corinthians 12:10].
In his closing remarks, Metropolitan Tikhon said that “as we make our way to the midpoint of Pentecost, we also find ourselves in the midst of an election year, in the swirl of a global environment that is full of anger and persecution. In this context, I am reminded of these words: ‘Revolutionaries are always in the wrong since, in their juvenile fervor for everything new, in their hopes for a better future and a way of life built on justice, they always base themselves on theories that are abstract, and artificial, making a clean sweep of the living tradition, which is, after all, founded on the experience of centuries…. Conservatives are always wrong, too, despite being rich in life experience, despite being shrewd and prudent, intelligent and skeptical. For, in their desire to preserve ancient institutions that have withstood the test of time, they decry the necessity of renewal, and man’s yearning for a better way of life.’ These are the words of Vladimir Lossky, written on June 16, 1940 as he was fleeing Paris in the face of the German invasion. He wrote them as an Orthodox Christian living in a foreign land, but finding great comfort in the cultural and historical context of his adopted land. So patriotic was he, that he was seeking to enlist in the Resistance, not for political reasons, but out of faithfulness to the universal values of Democracy and Christianity.
“In our own eccleasiastical context,” Metropolitan Tikhon continued, “Lossky’s vision is nicely echoed in these words penned by Archimandrite Vasileios and addressing the upcoming Great and Holy Council: ‘There are those among us who are referred to as progressives, who are eager for dialogue. And those who are regarded as conservatives, who generally reject contact with others. This is where the authenticity of our faith is decided: because we do not preserve the truth by cursing those who are in error, nor do we offer what the human soul is looking for through acts of phony compliments. Here we have need of the true heroes of the faith, who save their souls by losing them for the Lord’s sake…. However much it seems that the superficial ecumenists and the fanatical zealots hold opposing positions, in fact they share the same destitution; they are locked in the same prison. They begin and end with their own opinion. They lack the boldness of faith and the truth of love which liberates man.’
Metropolitan Tikhon concluded by saying, “
May this discerning of God’s will be truly that lofty goal that guides you as you move beyond the seminary into whatever path the Lord and His Church call you and your families. Remember that there is really only one thing to strive for: eternal salvation in the Heavenly Kingdom. And there is only one way to find that salvation, and that is through the aligning of our will with the will of God and by the living of as angelic a life as humanly possible. May the Lord Jesus Christ, His most pure Mother and all the saints be with you as you continue that journey so that you may receive the King of all, Who comes invisibly upborne by the angelic hosts.”
