The remarkable spiritual odysseys of SVS seminarians reflect the statement of St. Peter, chief of the apostles, in the Holy Scriptures: "We have left everything to follow you!" (Mark 10.27–29). Their eclectic life experience and varied paths, which have led them to theological study on our campus, continually witness to the Lord’s inscrutable call to service in his vineyard. During the month of March, five of our students were ordained — having submitted to that call, which each one has heard uniquely in his heart.

His Grace Bishop Nikon, assisted by Archdeacon Kirill Sokolov [background], vests newly ordained Fr. John Konkle [right] in the seminary chapel. [Photo credit for all images of Fr. John Konkle’s ordination: Dan Powell © 2009]

FATHER JOHN KONKLE
March 14, 2009

“The Greek word axios has two meanings,” explained The Rt. Rev. Nikon, Bishop of Boston, New England, and the Albanian Archdiocese (OCA), who ordained Fr. John Konkle to the holy priesthood. “It means ‘worthy’ in the sense that the candidate for ordination is worthy of the office, but it also means that the person being ordained is doing a ‘worthy’ thing by accepting to be a minister of the Church.”

Fr. John lives up to both definitions, having served faithfully at St. Jacob of Alaska Mission in Vermont, both as a parishioner and also upon his completion of the OCA Deaconate program and ordination to the deaconate in April 2007.

He is classified as a “special student” at SVS, due to his multifaceted background and stage of life. His main areas of theological interest are in Johannine and ascetic literature — quite a shift for a man who holds a BS in Mathematics from Michigan Tech (‘80). In graduate school, Fr. John obtained an MDiv from the International School of Theology in California (‘85), and a PhD in Philosophy from Princeton University (‘92). From 1991–1998, he was Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College, and a visiting professor there until 2005.

Currently, he oversees a web-based conference management company, which he started, and which continues to be a flexible way to support my family while providing time for church work and seminary studies. Given his capabilities, he fulfills his obligatory student assignment on campus by assisting in the seminary library.

Fr. John was received into the Orthodox Church along with his wife, Anna, and two sons, Jeremiah and Jared, in 1996 by The V. Rev. Andrew Tregubov of Holy Resurrection Church in Claremont, New Hampshire. In 2005 his family went to help with the mission of St. Jacob of Alaska, Northfield Falls, Vermont, then under the pastorate of The V. Rev. Mark Sherman, and now pastored by The Rev. Caleb Abetti.

“I was blessed to have all three of these priests serving at my ordination at the seminary,” said Fr. John. “Also, I am very grateful to have been here for the spring semester to complete my preparation for ordination to the Holy Priesthood. I have greatly benefited from the courses, relationships, and liturgical life here, and am grateful for the flexibility and generosity the seminary community has shown me.”

Matushka Anna has worked for the last twelve years in health care, the first nine as a nursing assistant and the last three as a nurse. During the coming summer, she and Fr. John plan to help out at The Dormition ofthe Mother of God Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan.

Click here to visit a photograph gallery of Fr. John's ordination.

SUB-DEACON ABRAHAM (VIJAY) THOMAS
March 21, 2009

Sub-deacon Abraham Thomas [center: red orarion] serves the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.

Vijay Thomas was working as a design engineer for American Standard and JBB Consulting Engineers in Manhattan when he saw the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center fall on 9/11. He could have been part of the design team to build the new “Freedom Towers” that will rise on the New York skyline and pay homage to those who died in the terrorist attack that day. Instead, he quit his job and decided to enter St. Vladimir’s.

He was ordained as Sub-deacon “Abraham” at St. Mary's Orthodox Church in Staten Island, NY, which is under the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. At his ordination Sub-Dn. Abraham noted that although he had “loved” his job as an engineer, he heeded God’s call to bring “people freedom in Christ” rather than taking the opportunity to build a symbol of national freedom. Especially, he noted, he wants to witness to the youth of his church that “God is faithful.”

Thus the young man who had graduated from Rutgers University with a BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering now serves as a sub-deacon in the Indian (Malankara) Church. (The office of sub-deacon in the Malankara Church is received by the community with the same respect as a deacon, though it is distinct liturgically.)

At his ordination, Sub-Dn. Abraham was surrounded by his personal and parish family. His own father, “Achan” (Priest) T.A. Thomas, is the parish priest at the church where he was ordained, and his mother, Annamma Thomas, and two sisters all minister to the parish.

Currently a 3rd-year seminarian, Sub-Dn. Abraham serves his parish assignment at St. George Church in Port Chester, New York. As well, he is the Regional Secretary (Director) of the Youth Ministry in the Northeast, overseeing activities in 42 parishes. Metropolitan Mathews Mar Barnabas, the bishop who ordained him (assisted by His Grace Zechariah Mar Nicholovos), appointed him to this position.

This May, he will graduate with an MDiv degree; his thesis topic, “The Message of the Prophets: A Comparison of the Qur'an and the Bible,” studies the similar narratives that appear in each book, and analyzes their major differences and similarities. Following graduation, he will go to India, to receive training in liturgics, and to minister to the Malankara churches there.

Click here to visit a photograph gallery of Dn. Abraham's ordination.

FATHER PETER ROBICHAU
March 25, 2009

Dn. Andrew Cuneo [left] and Fr. Peter Robichau [right] flank Metropolitan Jonah after their ordination on the Feast of the Annunciation in the seminary chapel. [Photo credit for all images of Dn. Andrew and Fr. Peter’s ordinations: Kirk Montague © 2009]

“A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus” (I Tim 3:12–13).

These scriptural admonitions apply well to Fr. Peter Robichau, who “served well” as a deacon at Holy Apostles Church, (OCA), West Columbia, South Carolina, under the direction of the rector, The V. Rev. Thomas Moore. In his diaconal ministry, from June 25, 2006 until his enrollment at SVS in the fall of 2007, Fr. Peter served as local charities coordinator—heading up parish involvement in local interfaith outreach endeavors. He further represented Holy Apostles Church to the area's primary non-profit charity, as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to his ordination as a deacon, he had also served as Parish Warden and Church School Coordinator, and had chaired various church committees. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies from Columbia International University in Columbia, SC.

Around the seminary campus, Fr. Peter has been of enormous assistance in the Technology Department, having worked for 12 years in the Information Technology area as a Network Systems Administrator, prior to his arrival at SVS. His fellow married students and their families appreciate his efforts as the Resident Adviser for those living in the Lakeside Married Student Apartments on campus.

Additionally, he currently serves on weekends at Christ the Savior Church, (OCA) in Paramus, New Jersey, with The V. Rev. David Vernak and The V. Rev. John Nehrebecki.  As part of his pastoral training at SVS, he is interning at St. John's Riverside Hospital, Yonkers, New York, under the direction of The Rev. Sarah Fogg, who heads the hospital chaplaincy program.

Fr. Peter and his wife, Christine, have four children. Their two oldest children, Stephan (13) and Nadia (12), were adopted from Ukraine in 2002; now thoroughly Americanized, they watch over their younger siblings, Marina (6) and Isaac (3).

Click here to visit a photograph gallery of Fr. Peter's ordination.

DEACON ANDREW CUNEO
MARCH 25, 2009

Deacon Andrew Cuneo was formerly known around campus as “Dr. Cuneo,” having obtained both a Master's degree and Doctorate in English Literature at Oxford University. He taught in the English Department at Hillsdale College in Michigan for six years prior to coming to the seminary.

Additionally, he holds an undergraduate degree, a BA in English from Stanford University, and his avocation is studying the works of C.S. Lewis. To fulfill his community volunteer assignment, he acts as Director of the Writing Center on campus, where he not only tutors fellow seminarians but also coordinates a team of student peer tutors.

This past February, Metropolitan Jonah, primate of the OCA, presented Dn. Andrew with the St. Basil the Great Award for Academic Achievement, which was established in 2003 by an anonymous benefactor who wished to recognize and encourage students who have excelled in their studies at St. Vladimir’s. The award bears the name of St. Basil the Great, one of the Three Holy Hierarchs for whom the seminary chapel is named. With St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil is lauded as a “harp of the Spirit,” a “trumpet of truth,” a “flowing river of wisdom,” a “teacher of the universe,” a “pillar of the Church.”

Like St. Gregory and St. John (to use words from one of the hymns in honor of the Three Holy Hierarchs), St. Basil “approached the meadows of books like a bee, gathering well the flowers of virtue.” He excelled in the study of philosophy and rhetoric, the two most prized areas of intellectual accomplishment of his day. He demonstrated how such intellectual pursuits help to edify the Church and enlighten the universe. In doing so, St. Basil has given a noble example for all who dedicate themselves to the study of Orthodox theology—and Dn. Andrew well demonstrates this thirst for God’s word and instruction.

As well, Dn. Andrew takes in the nitty-gritty of life by serving as a pastoral intern at St. John's Riverside Hospital, in Yonkers, under the direction of Rev. Dr. Sarah Fogg— “Who,” says Dn. Andrew, “is the supervisor, and is brilliant at what she does.” Moreover, he has a homey side: he came to SVS from a small parish, Holy Ascension, in the Diocese of Midwest and “loves” homemade jam. His wife, Erika, and he have three girls, Lucy, Bridgette, and Emma, who act in the seminary chapel as “Handmaidens”—serving the antidoron after Holy Communion and holding collection baskets at the end of Divine Liturgy.

Click here to visit a photograph gallery of Dn. Andrew's ordination.

DEACON RARES ONOFREI
MARCH 29, 2009

Dn. Rares Onofrei is ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Eminenece Nathaniel, Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate.

Rares Onofrei, who hails from Brasov, Romania, was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Eminence Nathaniel, Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate, at St. Dumitru Romanian Orthodox Church, in New York City. In his native Romania, Dn. Rares attended Holy Trinity Church, in Darste Brasov, under the omophorion of Metropolitan Laurentiu Streza.

Dn. Rares holds a Bachelor of Medicine degree from Shanxi University of TCM in Taiyuan, China, and his major at the university integrated Chinese and Western medicine. During the last two years of his medical training in China, he practiced acupuncture as an intern in the Second Affiliated Hospital of the university. He draws upon his experience currently as a pastoral care intern at John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, under the direction of Rev. Dr. Sarah Fogg. For his campus community assignment, he works on the grounds crew.

Now in his second year at St. Vladimir’s he takes great interest in the life and works of St. Symeon the New Theologian, the twelfth-century poet who embodied the mystical hesychast tradition. Dn. Rares is working toward his MDiv, and he will continue his parish assignment at St. Dumitru, serving as their deacon.

As a person with a striking global background, Dn. Rares expresses gratitude for his continued spiritual path at SVS. “We are grateful to God and his Holy Mother for this gift,” he and his wife, “Diaonita” Dorra, said on his ordination day.

Click here to visit a photograph gallery of Dn. Rares's ordination.