IN THE NEWS: Florida, PA, Michigan; three new publications
Venice, FL: Holy Spirit parish celebrates groundbreaking
Groundbreaking for the expansion of Holy Spirit Church, Venice, FL, was recently celebrated by Archpriest Stephen Lourie, Priest-in-Charge, pictured with [from left] Council President Jeffrey Constant, Building Committee Chair Marie Maruskin, and Tom Rhodus, owner of Rhodus Remodeling and Construction.
At their annual meeting, parishioners voted to expand and remodel the present church building while adding a fellowship hall to facilitate the parish’s goal to grow in faith and love in the Venice area. Funding is being provided not only through the parishioners’ generosity, but also through the Diocese of the South’s Debt Management Program, which helps parishes through its generous loan program.
Father Stephen and the faithful anticipate that they will be able to occupy the expanded facility in early 2015.
McKees Rocks, PA: St. Nicholas parish to celebrate 100th Anniversary
Archpriest Thomas Soroka and the faithful of Saint Nicholas Church, McKees Rocks, PA, will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of their parish during the weekend of October 10-12, 2014. Activities will include worship services, a presentation on the parish’s history and development, social gatherings of parishioners and friends of the parish, and a grand banquet. A commemorative booklet chronicling the parish’s history and life also will be published.
Established in 1914 immigrants from eastern Europe, Saint Nicholas parish today numbers approximately 150 adults and 50 children, with a high percentage of converts to the Orthodox Christian faith.
On Friday, October 10, a Memorial commemorating the founders and former clergy of the parish will be served, after which a presentation highlighting the parish’s early history and founding members, influential personalities and their activities, and important milestones in the life of the parish will be offered. On Saturday, October 11, an evening Service of Thanksgiving will be celebrated, followed by a social gathering at which displays of historical artifacts and photographs may be viewed. The weekend will culminate with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, October 12, at which His Eminence, Archbishop Melchisedek, will preside. New icons recently installed in the church also will be blessed. A centennial grand banquet will be held on Sunday afternoon at the Circuit Center in the Southside.
During Father Thomas’ 14 year pastorate, the parish has experienced revitalization. He succeeded his father—the late Archpriest Vladimir Soroka—who stabilized the parish after it experienced severe decline due to the economic downturn of McKees Rocks’ Bottoms area. “We’re looking forward to celebrating the sacrifices of the past, our gratitude for the recent growth that we’ve experienced, and our hope for continued blessings in the future,” said Father Thomas.
In commenting on the unique life of the parish, John Kowalcheck, Parish Council President, said that “our parish is a special place, made up of people from all walks of life and from many different ethnic and religious backgrounds. We gather together for the common goals of worship, mutual support, and service to the outside community. I’m very thankful that so many of our parishioners work together to support the various projects and needs of the parish.”
The parish also has a growing number of young families and converts to the Orthodox faith. Kristie Mertz, who converted from Protestantism in 2003, is the parish’s librarian and historian, reflect on how her “Orthodox faith grew over time after a decade of searching. Father Thomas and the parishioners helped me to see the beauty and depth of Orthodoxy and lovingly welcomed me into their parish. They are now an extension of my own family.”
For more information or to order banquet tickets, visit the parish’s web site at www.stnicholas-oca.org.
Rives Junction, MI: Pan-Orthodox clergy wives’ retreat October 10-12
The 27th annual Midwest clergy wives’ retreat will be held at the Holy Dormition Monastery, nestled in the beautiful countryside of Rives Junction, MI, October 10-12, 2014.
The pan-Orthodox event is open to all wives of Orthodox Christian priests and deacons. The program will begin on Friday evening, October 10, and includes a two-night stay at the monastery. All meals will be provided. The guest speaker will be Priest John Konkle, who serves the monastic community.
To register and/or to obtain further information, please contact Matushka Janine Frigerio at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 517-554-0105.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press releases new book by Dr. David Ford
Wisdom for Today from the Early Church: A Foundational Study is the title of a new book by Dr. David Ford, Professor of Church History at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA. Published by Saint Tikhon’s Monastery Press, the book offers a fascinating, inspiring, and eye-opening entrance way into the theological and spiritual riches of Christ’s Church during it’s first five centuries and how these insights are highly relevant for our lives as Orthodox Christians today. The author highlights not only how the experience of the early Church inspires us in our personal relationship with our Lord and all His saints, but also how it can equip us for living and proclaiming the historic Faith in the midst of our increasingly anti-Christian society and culture.
The book addresses 10 of the most important themes in the life of the early Church, including “An Orthodox Understanding of the Book of Acts,” “The Apostolic Fathers Teach and Encourage the Faithful,” “The Apologists Explain and Defend the Faith to the Surrounding Society,” “Saint Irenaeus Meets the Challenge of the Gnostics;” and several other related themes.
“This ten-chapter journey is by no means a dry read,” writes His Grace, Bishop Michael. “[Dr. Ford] literally re-lives the moments that he is teaching, with all their drama, joys and sorrows. He makes the pages of Church history come alive in his classroom—and it is no different in this book.
Dr. Ford is also author of Women and Men in the Early Church: The Full Views of Saint John Chrysostom, published by Saint Tikhon’s Seminaery Press. He and his wife, Dr. Mary Ford, have co-authored the widely popular Marriage As a Path to Holiness: Lives of Married Saints. The revised and expanded,20th Anniversary edition of this book was recently published by Saint Tikhon’s Monastery Press.
For further information or to place an order, please contact Innocent Neal at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Holy Trinity Publications releases new translation of Archbishop Averky’s The Struggle For Virtue
On September 1, 2014, Holy Trinity Publications, Jordanville, NY released a new translation of spiritual talks delivered by His Eminence, the late Archbishop Averky of Syracuse and Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY, titled The Struggle for Virtue: Asceticism in a Modern Secular Society.
The book goes straight to the roots of our modern alienation from God and each other, and demonstrates how through the renewal of Gospel love, the conscience is reawakened. We can then begin to experience true freedom, founded on the acquisition of virtue and overcoming of vice. Each chapter is based on a lecture given by Vladyka Averky, which were subsequently translated and serialized in the monastery’s bi-monthly English-language periodical, Orthodox Life, over the course of two years. After careful re-editing, the translations have now been gathered into a single volume.
Archishop Averky (1906-1976) was the fourth Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery. Born in Imperial Russia, he went on to become one of the leading voices and teachers of the Russian Orthodox Church, which he served in both Bulgaria and the USA. While his entire collected works were recently published in Russia as a four-volume set, very little of his prolific legacy has ever been translated and published in the English language. Among the existing translations there is only one full-length book—The Apocalypse in the Teachings of Ancient Christianity [Saint Herman Press: Platina, CA]. The Struggle for Virtue represents the first fruits of Holy Trinity Publications’ commitment to rectify this dearth of Vladyka Averky’s writings in English. Future releases in the English language will include Archbishop Averky’s textbook on the study of liturgics and his commentary on the Four Gospels.
The Struggle for Virtue retails for $16.95 and is available in both print and digital editions. Orders may be placed at http://bookstore.jordanville.org or any good bookstore or on-line retailer. Church bookstores are eligible to receive a trade discount for this and other HTP titles ordered from the publisher. Visit www.holytrinitypublications.com/ordering for more information.
New ISOCM publication explores Orthodox Christian hymnography
In the realm of liturgical music, modernism and the spirituality of the Orthodox Church may seem to be polar opposites, yet a new publication by Priest Ivan Moody—Modernism and Orthodox Spirituality in Contemporary Music—suggests otherwise.
The book—recently published as a joint effort by the International Society for Orthodox Church Music [ISOCM] and the Serbian Science Academy—is available for purchase at http://www.isocm.com/publications/publications/moody_music.html. It explores the worlds of contemporary music and Orthodox Church music, and how these two fields are brought together. Based on Father Ivan’s research, this occurs more often than most would expect.
“As I researched repertoire over the course of many years, it became clear to me that there was a rich treasury of music that brought modernism and spirituality together in all sorts of interesting ways,” said Father Ivan. “Composers from traditionally Orthodox societies such as Greece, Bulgaria, Russian and Serbia have found fruitful artistic meeting points between these two poles, rooting the one and refreshing the other, even in the darkest times of political oppression.”
For Orthodox musicians in countries such as Serbia and Bulgaria, their legacy is extensive, yet almost all of it remains unfamiliar abroad. And while Russia’s contribution is much better known, there is still an enormous amount that remains to be performed, recorded and studied outside Russia.
When reflecting on these realities, Father Moody felt it important to draw attention to the contributions from Orthodox Christianity in western Europe, which is why there are separate chapters on Finland, where Orthodox church music is only just coming to be more widely known, and on the composers Arvo Pärt and John Tavener. “While their music is of course far from unknown, it is remarkable that there has been no significant discussion until now of their work in the context of the conjunction of their spiritual trajectories and their roots in Western contemporary music,” said Father Ivan, who chairs the ISOCM’s Board. “More than anything, the music discussed here is enormously vital and relevant, [and] I hope that the book will encourage people who do not know it to seek it out, and that those who are familiar with at least some of it will take away more knowledge of the various contexts of its creation.
Founded in 2005, the ISOCM seeks to provide an open platform for musicians, musicologists, singers, and composers that encourages dialogue, the exchange of information and ideas, and cooperation. The Society sees the promotion of communication between East and West as one of its priorities. It hosts bi-annual conferences—the next is slated to be held in June 2015—at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu.
For more information or to place an order, please visit www.isocm.com.