With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of St. Vladimir’s Seminary Trustee Emeritus Mitchell Zunich. Zunich, 93, died on the Feast of Holy Pascha, Sunday, April 19, at his home at St. Mary of the Woods Assisted Living in Avon, OH.

Zunich was born May 10, 1926 in Lorain, OH. He served with the US Army during World War II in the 357th Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division. During his service, he participated in the battles of Rhineland and Central Europe and received the European-African-Middle-Eastern Theater Ribbon with two Bronze Stars, a Good Conduct Medal, a WWII Victory Medal and an Occupation Medal for Germany. His division was awarded the Bronze Star and participated in the liberation of Flossenburg Concentration Camp. Zunich attended the Ohio State University where he earned a bachelor of science in accounting. He founded Mitchell Zunich & Co. Certified Public Accountants, retiring in 2001. He was active in the community, having served as an officer, president, and board member of many organizations including the Lorain Rotary Club, Lorain Salvation Army, Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority, the City Bank Co., Lorain Family YMCA, Clearview School Board, and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. In the 1990s, Mitchell and his wife, Violet, helped establish a scholarship for Serbian Orthodox seminarians at St. Vladimir’s so that no young Serbian Orthodox men would be turned away from becoming priests. Zunich was a member of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Lorain, the Serbian National Federation, the Ohio Society of CPAs, and the AICPA.

"Mitch was honored to be on the Seminary’s Board of Trustees," said fellow St. Vladimir's Trustee Emeritus Brian Gerich. "He served many years as one of the four Serbian trustees along with [Trustee Emeritus] Alex Machaskee, Leon Lysaght, and myself.

"During our 1990’s Capital Campaign, I asked Mitch to join with me in establishing endowments for scholarships for Serbian Orthodox students studying to become priests. He immediately accepted, and he and his beloved wife Violet added to their endowment regularly. Mitch was pleased to know that as students graduated they were debt free as they prepared for a lifetime of serving our Lord."

"I remember Mitch as a quiet, decisive, compassionate gentleman who was a staunch supporter of our Orthodox Christian faith and a great contributor of time, talent, and treasure to St. Vladimir's Seminary," added Alex Machaskee. "He was a founding contributor to Monastery Marcha in Richfield Ohio, a decorated veteran of World War II, and a highly esteemed civic leader."

Mitchell Zunich is survived by his sons, Mitch Zunich of Cleveland and Rob (Eva) Zunich of Avon Lake; grandchildren, Neven, Dane, Rada, and Mila Zunich; and sister, Sophie Tyrin of Chicago. Zunich was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Violet M. Zunich (née Kobac) on Sept 7, 2014; infant son, Nick Zunich, in 1959; parents, Nikola & Stanka Zunich (née Kunic); brothers, Demeter, George, Nick, and Mike Zunich; and sisters, Mildred Stamatis, Dorothy Kovan, Nellie Raynovich, and Mary Zunich.

Due to restrictions on social gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, private family funeral services will be held. Hieromonk Nektarije Tesanovic of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church will preside with burial to follow in Elmwood Cemetery in Lorain. Memorial contributions may be made to St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, 3355 Grove Ave, Lorain, OH, 44055 or St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, 575 Scarsdale Rd, Yonkers, NY, 10707. Arrangements are under the direction of Gluvna-Shimo-Hromada Funeral Chapel, 3224 Broadway Ave, Lorain. Online condolences may be made at www.gluvna.net. 

May the memory of Mitchell Zunich be eternal!

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(The photo and some information in this article have been reprinted from The Morning Journal.)

In recent weeks members of the St. Vladimir's Seminary community traveled to the gravesites of two luminaries in the history of the Seminary and the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)—Frs. Georges Florovsky and John Meyendorff—to pray for the souls of the departed.

On August 11, a group led by Archpriest Alexander Rentel, Dn. Harrison Basil Russin, Dr. Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie, and Zachariah Mandell visited St. Vladimir’s Russian Orthodox Cemetery near Trenton, NJ. While there Fr. Alexander led memorial prayers at the graves of former dean Archpriest Georges (+Aug. 11, 1979) and Matushka Xenia Florovsky (+Nov. 5, 1977), as well as the grave of longtime Seminary trustee Anthony Kasmer (+Oct. 11, 2020). The group also visited nearby Rova Farms Cemetery to pray for departed alumnus Archpriest Daniel Skvir (+March 23, 2025). A couple weeks earlier, in July, members of the Seminary community, led also by Fr. Alexander, conducted a memorial service at the graves of Protopresbyter John (+July 22, 1992) and Mka. Marie (+Nov. 24, 2024) Meyendorff.

“It is our honor to remember these faithful servants of the Church,” said Fr. Alexander. “Each had their unique gifts that they offered to the Seminary and the Orthodox Church.”

The Seminary keeps updated the list of departed hierarchs, leaders, faculty, and alumni along with others whose names have been sent to be remembered at the altar. To submit names of departed loved ones or any other prayer requests to St. Vladimir’s Seminary, you may email chapel@svots.edu at any time.

May the memories of the departed whose names have been entrusted to St. Vladimir’s Seminary, as well as all the faithful departed who have fallen asleep, be eternal!
 

Dr. John Barnet is Associate Professor of New Testament at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, where he teaches courses in New Testament and biblical Greek—but the details of his life almost read like something out of a spy novel. His path to the Seminary took him from Italy to the United States, from the West to the East Coast, from a Navy submarine to the CIA, from St. Vladimir’s Seminary to Duke University, and back again to St. Vladimir’s. It should come as no surprise, then, that someone with his impressive range of experiences and expertise has contributed to the mission of St. Vladimir’s Seminary in numerous ways over the years, both in and outside of the classroom. Yet you wouldn’t know it by his always-joyful, humble demeanor. In fact—as any of his students or seminary colleagues could attest to—he rarely if ever speaks about himself or his life (maybe he is a spy after all…). But mention the Gospel in passing in any setting, and you’re in for a lengthy, impassioned conversation. 

St. Vladimir’s Seminary is once again drawing upon Professor Barnet’s love of the Gospel and his diverse skillset as he takes up his appointment as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The appointment gave us an opportunity to chat with him about his work and his blessed, fruitful history with the Seminary.

Dr. Barnet, you have seen and been a part of so much at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. But I can’t recall ever hearing much about your history with this place. What first brought you here as a seminarian?

Well, there are some classified stories in there, but I guess I’ll have to tell you about it [smiles]. 

I was born of a Roman Catholic father and an Orthodox mother, and they were actually married by Fr. Georges Florovsky! They were married at Holy Virgin Protection Orthodox Cathedral in Manhattan. I grew up with the photos of the wedding and everything, and it wasn't until much later that I recognized the priest in that picture. My father was at West Point, and he was president of the Russian club at the Military Academy. There was absolutely no reason for him to be president of the Russian club, except that when he was in high school he loved reading the Russian novelists and learned the language. Through that club, someone arranged a blind date with this Russian woman, my mother. For my grandfather, who fought in [General Pyotr] Wrangel’s army during the Russian Civil War and had to leave through Constantinople when the White Army was defeated, it couldn’t get any better than his daughter marrying a graduate of West Point, the preeminent Military Academy! When my parents got married, the Orthodox were absolutely delighted, and the Catholics were absolutely delighted, but the Orthodox played hardball and said, “This is great. We would love to have this man married in the Church. But the kids are going to be Orthodox.” My father was stationed in Trieste, Italy, and so right after they got married they went there, and I was born. 

We returned to the States not long after my birth, though. I always say, “I’m Italian. I know pasta,” but then my wife will say, “You only lived there until you were ten days old!” We moved to Monterey, California, where my father was then prepared to be an intelligence officer following the Soviet Union. We moved around a lot, which probably contributed to my being kind of restless about things.

There was a formative time when I was in the third and fourth grade. We were living with my very Roman Catholic grandparents. I think my grandfather managed to cut a deal with God, because my grandmother had been very ill. He said that if she was healed, then he would go to church every day. And she was healed, so every day after that he would go to the daily Mass on the way to work. When I spent my summers there later, when I was in high school, the routine was get up and no breakfast, because we had to go to Mass. But when I was in third and fourth grade, we used to have to come to class and recite prayers that we were memorizing. When I got up and crossed myself, as the Orthodox kid, a nun scolded me for crossing myself incorrectly. I tried a second time, and she said, “No,” again—I hadn’t even gotten to the prayer yet! The third time I crossed myself the “right” way. Of course, I went home and discussed that with my mom. She talked to the rector, and the rector had a conversation with the nun, so it was all good in the end. But I ended up being very involved, knowing the Latin responses at Mass, and learning a lot of stuff. My friends and I started playing pretend Mass before one of the parents found out and shut us down. Then we had to take the operation underground [laughs]. So those years were pretty formative for me.

As you can imagine, with that experience, but also growing up Russian, with Russian as my first language, going to the Orthodox Church but having no idea what was going on, there I was trying to figure things out. There’s a part of me that wishes I had studied philosophy as an undergraduate, but I went on to do economics. I went from college to the Navy for four years as a supply officer on a submarine. I went and got an M.A. in Russian Literature at Michigan, then went to work at CIA. During that time, I met Bishop Basil (Rodzianko), a Serbian bishop who had been imprisoned. He was also doing a ministry into Russia, the Soviet Union at the time. I also got to know some of the monks at New Skete Monastery. This was my moment of meeting with remarkable men. At that point, I decided I was going to leave CIA after four years and just do something else. I wanted immersion in a deeply religious culture. At the last minute, I heard about a presentation from [St. Vladimir’s Seminary alumna and longtime librarian] Eleana Silk, who was from the parish in Washington D.C. where I was at the time. She presented her M.Div. thesis to the parish. I said, “Oh, you were at St. Vladimir’s Seminary? I know Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s For the Life of the World! You mean you can go to seminary and not have to be a priest?” So immediately, my direction shifted. I submitted an application in the middle of summer and came that August, in 1986.

Fr. Paul Tarazi was my teacher in the first class of my first day as a seminarian. I was like, wow, he’s making sense for me. My second semester, Fr. Tom Hopko came back from sabbatical. He asked me how old I was. I said, “thirty-three,” and he said—memorable moment—“The age to be crucified!” 

I didn’t feel particularly called to priestly ministry, but had encouragement to continue my studies from Professor Veselin Kesich, Fr. John Breck, and Fr. Paul Tarazi, in particular. And so I did in Scripture, New Testament, after I graduated from the Seminary in 1989.

What brought you back to the Seminary a few years later?

I had just finished my doctoral exams and I got a call from Fr. Tom, who had by then become the dean. He needed a teaching assistant for the dogmatic sequence. So I became his TA for the dogmatic sequence in the first year, then for a course he did on Russian literature, and I was TA for the pastoral theology sequence. 

Fr. Tom was, of course, a hugely popular speaker and was traveling a lot. What’s the best travel day when you’re giving a retreat on Saturday? It’s Friday. What’s the best departure time? Probably Friday morning, exactly when the PT class I was TA for was scheduled. So, my gosh, I ended up having to prepare the lectures for about half the classes one year!

While I was here, I met my wife, Laura. She was completing her M.A. in liturgical music at the Seminary at the time. She graduated in ’95 and we were married in ’96. She then became the choir director at Holy Resurrection in Wayne, NJ for fifteen years. Our first son was born in 2000, our second in 2002.

After I had finished assisting Fr. Tom and Fr. John Erickson became the dean, I approached Dave Drillock and Ted Bazil and said, “Do you need me to do anything? I used to be a supply officer on a submarine …” The jobs I had after that were varied. They really needed someone to help Glen Mules, an extraordinarily talented guy who was a member of the board at one time, did all the wiring for the campus, website work—my gosh—everything. So some of my work also involved tech. Eventually Fr. John Erickson asked me to be his “special projects guy.”  I later got involved in grant proposals and the 2003 Self-Study [related to ATS accreditation]. When Fr. John Behr became Dean and Fr. Chad Hatfield became Chancellor in 2007, Fr. John asked me to be his associate dean. I was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for ten years.

So now is the second time you’re serving as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs!

Yes, it is really interesting to come back and see some of the things I helped put in place and think, “Who the heck came up with this?”

I look at things now, with the needs of the Seminary having evolved and in different times, and say, “This is complicated.” One of the things I want to do is to try approaching things saying, “Can you keep everything pretty simple?” In the Navy we used to say, “Does it pass the drop test?” If you hold it from here, drop it, and it doesn’t break, it passes the drop test. If it breaks, it’s too complicated. So my approach is, can it be simple? And I’m seeing that already with the way [Dean] Dr. Tudorie has approached things. And that is encouraging.

I had no intention of doing anything other than teach moving forward, but I kept getting called in to do some things here and there over the past year. Because of all the good things I’ve seen Dr. Tudorie do, I said to myself that if he wants me to do something extra I’ll do it.

So we are preparing for the next Self-Study, and are also building a system of conducting ongoing evaluations of the Seminary’s programs. That will allow us to assess the strengths and weaknesses of things like, for example, our parish ministry and clinical pastoral education (CPE) for our seminarians. Those programs in particular are immensely important, because they challenge us to ask whether we actually take seriously our charge to love our neighbor. All our academic programs here should remind us that we serve the other. If you understand this, you’ll certainly get an A on my midterm!

Assembling the right team who can determine what the challenges are and how to address them—knowing that we don’t have unlimited resources—is always a challenge. Here at the Seminary we still bear in mind the image of the babushka who sends in $10 every month to support the school and the seminarians. We are caretakers of that trust. But while we can’t be extravagant, we also want to make sure that when people leave mother, father, brother, sister, career, and bring their family to the Seminary that we are taking care of them. And there is a real renewal happening with the commitment to keep the Seminary here in Yonkers—about investing in the campus and improving how we approach everything for the sake of the families and mission entrusted to us by the Church. So I’m very excited about being able to introduce these improvements, in keeping with our ongoing commitment to the residential model of Seminary formation and education.

There always seems to be so much on your plate—what do you and the family do when you do have downtime?

One of our sons is in grad school, and the other is working in the private sector, specializing in building decarbonization and battery storage. Laura is no longer directing choirs, but she’s teaching, and she has a full load teaching in two music schools. She teaches violin and early childhood music. 

Laura and I recently went to Saratoga Springs, and we knew the places you could go with a dog and so on. Then we went to Manchester, Vermont, which is not far from New Skete Monastery. My sister's up there with her husband, so we spent some time there as well, so that was one of the relaxing things. 

Do you share her love of music?

Yes, I do! In my family growing up everyone did piano. 

Do you still play?

I don’t—I mean, I’ll sit down and play the first part of the Moonlight Sonata. But you know, it’s a percussion instrument. And although beautiful music is clearly made and everything, it's not the violin. The violin is as close as you get to reproducing the human voice. So anyway, yes, I'm in love with my wife and the violin.

One of the things I’ve always appreciated about you is that you are always joyful and excited to talk about your craft and teaching. How do you maintain that joy and passion?

Well, thank you for saying that. I think it has to do with coming to the Seminary at “the age to be crucified,” because I had a question: Why am I an Orthodox Christian? I still remember liturgies at St. Nicholas, the cathedral in Washington, where my younger brother used to lock his knees. And when it's warm and there’s a lot of incense, and you're standing and you lock your knees, the blood doesn’t flow, and I would have to then go sit with him in the car until he recovered. So, I mean, I had no idea what was going on then, you know, but it made an impression on me, and I wanted to understand. And so I came to seminary to understand why I was an Orthodox Christian. I came to understand the answer to that question was the Gospel, and that led to the question “What is the Gospel?” And that main question leads to other questions. For example, this year, I redid the syllabus for the New Testament, the Gospel course. I revisited a quote from Fr. Alexander Schmemann that I've been using before, but I played with it a little bit. He says, the genuine sermon is not about your erudition. It's not about, you know, whatever. It's the Gospel itself. It's the preaching of the Gospel itself. And that's a big deal for me, because I grew up without hearing that. I grew up hearing a paraphrase of what was just read. So I try to get it right, and try to figure out how to also persuade others that it’s important. To have a chance to continue to work on that—man, it doesn’t get any better than that.

The word “piety” is now seldom used outside the Church. What precisely is piety, let alone biblical piety? 

In the new book Biblical Piety and Prayer from St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press, author Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon explores figures from the Old and New Testaments to examine the concepts of piety and prayer from a biblical perspective. He delves deeply into the Scriptures, consulting both the Hebrew and the Septuagint texts, constantly making reference to the readings and interpretations of a wide range of Church Fathers from both East and West.

“Above all, when it comes time for prayer, ‘Pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you,’” Fr. Patrick writes in the book. “Biblical piety begins with the Christian’s conscience under the gaze of his Father who sees. He enters the secrecy of his heart and, closing the door as best he can, begins to pray, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven.’”

“Fr. Reardon effectively applies the Scriptures to our practical, moral, and devotional lives, and he does so with his characteristic erudition (the footnotes alone … constitute a course in biblical and patristic knowledge all by themselves),” writes fellow author Addison Hodges Hart, who reviewed Biblical Piety and Prayer for his blog The Pragmatic Mystic. “Although his knowledge of philosophy is plainly visible (a subject he taught for some years), his primary objective is to provide spiritual guidance.”

Biblical Piety and Prayer is available in paperback (5.5×8.5) and as an eBook at SVSPress.com.

Purchase a Copy

About the Author

The Very Reverend Patrick Henry Reardon is a senior editor at Touchstone magazine, the author of many books—including Romans: An Orthodox Commentary and Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (SVS Press)—and of hundreds of articles and essays, a popular podcaster, and the retired pastor of All Saints Orthodox Church in Chicago.

In his new role as Manager of Operations for St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press, Dr. Daniel Stauffer gets to combine his academic expertise in late Byzantine theology with his aptitude for business. He spent the past eight years at the University of Notre Dame, where he completed a master’s degree, obtained a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies, and conducted postdoctoral research. As a native of Ithaca, NY, he now returns home to New York State with his wife and four children. As we welcome Dr. Stauffer to the Seminary, he tells us about the books that sparked his love of theology, what he hopes to bring to his new role at SVS Press, and how snapping turtles stirred up an exciting day on campus for his kids!

Dr. Daniel, tell us a little about your background and your time at Notre Dame.

I grew up in Ithaca, NY, so just a couple hours away—in the nice part of New York State [laughs]. But I met my wife Deandra at Notre Dame. She’s originally from Texas. At the time we met, she had just finished her master’s in theology and I had just started my master’s degree, also in theology. But I would say that in her heart her true interest is in literature.

Ah, so with a background in theology and literature, she must have been excited when you told her about the possibility of working for SVS Press! How did that possibility come about while you were at Notre Dame?

Yes, she was definitely excited about that!

Well, at Notre Dame I was there for a really long time, studying with, in particular, Protopresbyter Dr. Alexis Torrance, who is an Orthodox theologian on the faculty there. And Fr. Alexis was great. Even though my Ph.D. was in medieval studies, within that I focused almost exclusively on Byzantine theology. My dissertation was on the Christologies of the hesychast controversy, which was really fun. That’s being reviewed for publication now. Hopefully one day it’ll see the light of day [laughs]. So I spent the last eight years studying theology, and then teaching a bit at Notre Dame as well.

Following those studies, I decided that academia was perhaps not the route I wanted to take in my life. It was very fortuitous that Fr. Alexis knew [Seminary Dean] Dr. Tudorie. I guess Dr. Tudorie reached out to Fr. Alexis and said, “We’re looking for someone for the Press. Do you know anyone who would be a good fit?” Then Fr. Alexis passed that along to me. It’s a beautiful thing to get a job that way, that absolutely falls into your lap [laughs]. So that’s how I got this job. My advisor recommended me to Dr. Tudorie. He interviewed me and liked that I have an academic background and eventually offered me the position.

I thought working for SVS Press would be pretty cool. As I said, I didn’t want a life in academia, but I still really enjoyed theology, and this was a way to keep in contact with that in some sense. Also, I would be involved with the business aspects of the Press. Though that’s not something I spent time doing at Notre Dame the past several years, that mode of thought comes very naturally to me. I was, amongst other things, an economics major in my undergraduate studies. So I’m getting back in touch with some different ways of thinking from my past, you might say. I’m enjoying that aspect of working with the Press a lot. There’s a theological dimension, but then there’s this other dimension—the more mathematical, business side—that I think comes naturally to me too. I’d like to think that I offer something a little different that maybe will bear some fruit for the Press in the future.

What sparked your desire to study theology?

The summer after my freshman year of college, for reasons that are unclear to me, I picked up Jaroslav Pelikan’s five-volume series The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. I read all five volumes, and it just opened my mind to a whole world of Christian theology that I’d had very little contact with up to that point. I was raised as a non-denominational Protestant, so I read the Bible and knew it reasonably well. But reading Pelikan opened my eyes to a lot of questions and things I didn’t know existed, and so that’s really what got me into theology. Ever since I read those books, I’ve been very interested in theology, especially in a historical key. The way I approach theology is very historical, as that way comes most naturally to me, although that is certainly not the only way to approach theology, of course.  

Was that experience with Pelikan’s books what led you to the Orthodox Church?

Yeah, I mean it definitely led me, not directly, but it set me on the path, you might say, to becoming Orthodox. It wasn’t immediate. But I was baptized in 2015 at Holy Apostles, which is an OCA parish, in Lansing, NY. So that was my parish in college, because I went to college in my hometown. It’s been very nice that I get to go back there occasionally when I go home to visit my parents and maintain a bit of the relationships with the people I knew at Holy Apostles during those years. Normally, after you graduate college and leave the parish you had gone to, you might never see those people again. One of the great things about being here, at St. Vladimir’s, is that it’s significantly closer to my family.

How has the move to campus been for you and your family?

I think the transition to living at St. Vladimir's has gone pretty well. We really like the apartment we’re in, and the Seminary, the campus, is really lovely. I remember the second or third day, my family was in the apartment. My kids all ran up to the balcony because there were two snapping turtles having a fight in Crestwood Lake! We just watched from our balcony. That was pretty cool, right? Every morning my son is excited to look out from the balcony and listen for different bird calls that he tries to recognize. So it has been a good transition. We’re of course sad to leave our home and our friends in South Bend, IN, but we’ve enjoyed it here.

Do you have any hobbies you enjoy at the moment?

Initially my hobby was theology, and then I turned that into my profession for a long time as a grad student. I mean, at this point, I don't know. I don't have a lot of time for hobbies between the children and the academic work I was doing for a long time. And now, I've been pretty busy with the Press up to this point. Yeah, that's a lame answer. There were hobbies once [laughs].

To learn more about St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press and browse its collection, visit SVSPress.com.

On this Feast of Holy Transfiguration, St. Vladimir’s Seminary remembers the eminent Orthodox Church musician and noted Professor Boris Ledkovsky, on the 50th anniversary of his repose in the Lord (+Aug. 6, 1975).

Boris Ledkovsky was born in 1894 in Agrafenovka, Russia. The son of a priest, Boris began directing a church choir from the age of 14. Ledkovsky founded and directed various choirs in Europe (France and Germany) before arriving in America in 1951 with his wife and children. He joined St. Vladimir's Seminary faculty in 1953 and served as its choir director in the early years, when the Seminary was still located on 121st Street in New York City.

Professor Ledkovsky became one of the most influential Orthodox Church musicians of the twentieth century, playing a key role in changing the style of singing in North American Orthodox churches. In his compositions, Ledkovsky attempted to convey what he so often referred to as “tserkovnost” (i.e., churchly), drawing inspiration from the old Russian chants. He emphasized the importance of the text—and that the music should never predominate over it—and composed music in service of the sacred words sung in liturgical settings. One of his students, David Drillock—who would go on serve for many years himself as the Seminary's Professor of Liturgical Music—recalled, “I became very close to Professor Ledkovsky and can remember so vividly how, when I would excitedly show him some piece of music that I had heard and was asking him why we shouldn’t sing it, he would look at me, shake his head, and simply reply, ‘Ny, David, eto ne tserkovno’ (But, David, this is not churchly).”

Under Ledkovsky's direction, the St. Vladimir's Seminary Male Choir achieved such a high level that the choir gave several public concerts in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1961 the first recording by the Seminary choir was produced. Boris Ledkovsky directed and, for the most part, the selections were settings of chant done by Ledkovsky along with a few of his own compositions. Drillock described the transformation that the work of Ledkovsky and others helped set in motion during those years throughout the Church in North America:

Already as a result of the annual Lenten visits to parishes on the east coast and the annual concerts which we gave in New York City, and especially by the lectures given by Fr. Alexander [Schmemann] throughout the entire country in churches and college campuses, an awareness that liturgical worship and church singing were not only vestiges of an “ancient, colorful rite” but something that was relevant and meaningful to contemporary life was beginning to take hold.

Then, in 1964 a recording of the Divine Liturgy in English with Prof. Ledkovsky directing was made. The choir was recognized, as one reviewer for The New York Times put it, as “almost a professional chorus,” and among church people it was known not only for its “prayerful” renditions of church music but also as the choir most responsible in America for arousing interest in the ancient liturgical chants of the Russian Orthodox Church.

(Although that 1964 album is no longer in publication, the recording has been posted online. Other recorded compositions and arrangements of Ledkovsky's may be downloaded via Musica Russica.)

Toward the end of his life, Professor Ledkovsky’s work at St. Vladimir’s Seminary was limited to one rehearsal a week, though he also continued to compose music for the choir, which Professor Drillock would adapt to English. Ledkovsky was commissioned by the Seminary to write a Vespers, which in turn was adapted for English and published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 1976. Professor Ledkovsky never saw the published work, as he died in 1975 after battling lung cancer.

His beloved wife, Marina Viktorovna Ledkovsky, whom he married in 1943, was a pioneering scholar of Russian women’s studies. She was appointed full professor jointly at Barnard College and Columbia University in 1979 and remained there until her retirement in 1996. She fell asleep in the Lord in 2014. Boris and Marina had four children: Alexander (also a noted church musician), Dimitri, Tatiana, and Michael.

Over the coming academic year, to commemorate 50 years since his falling asleep, the Seminary's liturgical music curriculum and programs, led by The Rev. Dn. Dr. Harrison Russin and Zachariah Mandell, will pay special tribute to Boris Ledkovsky's prolific career and contributions.

May the memory of Professor Boris Ledkovsky be eternal!

More about the work of Ledkovsky, other noted figures, and significant historical events in North American Orthodox liturgical music may be found in Professor Drillock’s “My Life in Church Music.”

CrossRoad Summer Institute hosted one of its summer sessions on the campus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVOTS) this July. Although technically the program’s first official visit to campus in its twenty-year history, it was a homecoming of sorts for CrossRoad.

The Seminary welcomed a group of thirty-two high school juniors and seniors for the intensive ten-day program, held July 5-15. Participants were given a taste of seminary life as they roomed in dormitories, partook in daily prayers at Three Hierarchs Chapel, ate meals at the Seminary refectory, and enjoyed focused classroom sessions with Dr. Peter Bouteneff and Fr. Bogdan Bucur. The group also forayed into Yonkers and New York City. Those trips included several parish visits, including to Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Yonkers and St. Nicholas National Shrine in Lower Manhattan, and tours of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (GOA) headquarters, Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty.

“CrossRoad started through the GOA and was primarily based at Hellenic College Holy Cross for a while, with wonderful support. But now that it’s grown, we want to make sure it’s available to as many people as possible,” said SVOTS Alumna Ana Legaspi (’25), who returned to campus now as CrossRoad's Summer Programs Director. “Having a program like this at St. Vladimir’s Seminary was a great way to show what the Seminary has to offer and to extend the reach of CrossRoad at the same time. It felt like a very natural partnership and came together really smoothly, especially since Seminary faculty have been involved from the beginning.”

CrossRoad’s session on campus was initially brought forward by Seminary Dean Dr. Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie, and was coordinated by Legaspi and senior SVOTS staff member Ted Bazil.

“Members of the Seminary community have been so involved with CrossRoad’s past and present, that the program’s visit felt like welcoming our own back home,” said Dr. Tudorie. “We are thankful for everything CrossRoad does for young Orthodox Christians, and were honored to help facilitate their wonderful work—especially as their emphasis on theological education aligns so closely with our mission.” 

Members of SVOTS faculty have been actively involved in CrossRoad since its inception in 2004, including Fr. Thomas Hopko, Fr. Alexander Rentel, Dr. Albert Rossi, Dr. John Barnet, and Dr. Michael Legaspi, Ana Legaspi’s father. The CrossRoad initiative began with another alumna, Dr. Anne Bezzerides (’00), who started the program and now serves as its Executive Director.

“Dr. Anne has been wanting to bring the program here for decades,” Legaspi added. “I know she was so happy to see that finally come to fruition.”

Other members of the SVOTS family involved with CrossRoad include Alumna Dr. Jennifer Haddad Mosher (’09), who serves as Research & Educational Design Director, and Dimitrios Rentel, CrossRoad’s Telos Center Manager. Rentel is an incoming seminarian and grew up on campus with his father Fr. Alexander, mother, and siblings.

The session at St. Vladimir’s Seminary was CrossRoad’s third of the summer. Two sessions in Boston began the season, and CrossRoad completed its final session of summer 2025 in Southern California.

About the CrossRoad Summer Institute

CrossRoad is a ten-day academic summer institute that prepares high school juniors and seniors to make big life decisions and invites them to connect with the Orthodox Christian theological and spiritual tradition in a deep and meaningful way. CrossRoad offers a space for young people to form authentic and lifelong friendships, ask hard questions, and explore their calling as an Orthodox Christian in the 21st century.

To learn more about the program and how to sign up, visit CrossRoad’s website.

View More Photos of CrossRoad’s New York Summer Session

“My hope and prayer when I joined the Board was that I would be able to make an impact on the success of the Seminary with the experiences I have had in my life,” said Francis (Frank) Barrett. “To be able to play a small part in improving the quality of life for the seminarians, and to be able to do it with physical labor, walking the path of many holy men and women here of the past and present, was incredibly humbling and rewarding.”

Frank Barrett serves as an elected member of St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Board of Trustees. He indeed brings a wealth of experiences to the Board, including thirty-five years of experience as Treasurer and later President and CEO of Boyd Wilson, LLC in Lancaster, PA. He is currently its Chairman of the Board. He has also served on the Parish Council as Treasurer of St. John Chrysostom Antiochian Orthodox Church in York, PA, from 1995 to 2024, helping to grow the parish from a mission to its current average of 220 people in Liturgy on any given Sunday.

He had recently been discussing with his fellow Seminary Board members the importance of investing in and improving the campus for seminarians and their families.

“I thought, ‘I’d better put my money where my mouth is!’”

So this July—with temps in the upper 80s and 90s—Barrett traveled to campus, put on his working boots, and spent several days helping Plant Manager Rafael Rivera install ceiling fans, dehumidifier switches, and making other improvements in seminarian apartments and dormitories. Barrett donated the labor cost and arranged for the fans to be obtained at a lower price.

“I told him I may not let him leave,” joked Rivera.

The new ceiling fans will help better circulate the cooler air in the common living areas in the summer. In the winter, the fans can be switched to alternate rotation in order to push warmer air down and distribute it more evenly. Barrett described the dehumidifier switches as “building savers.”

“The trustees we have are so dedicated to the Seminary and have such generosity—and talent, as you can see,” said senior staff member Ted Bazil. “We are so thankful to Frank for coming down here himself to help get this work done. Rafael works very hard for this place, and I know he appreciated the help immensely.”

“I only had a small part in the excellent work Ted, Rafael, and Yuri [Shcherbakov] have been doing all summer, and just wanted to lend a helping hand. I am happy to help—but we’re not finished with our improvements!” added Barrett.

Donations can be made to the Seminary toward any number of essential needs—from seminarian scholarships to campus improvements. To learn more about ways to give and to make a donation, svots.edu/give.

Top Photo: Trustee Francis (Frank) Barrett and Plant Manager Rafael Rivera

Faculty member and alumna Dr. Sarah Byrne-Martelli has developed a penchant for firsts. In 2019, she became the first woman to graduate from St. Vladimir's Seminary's Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) program in its current format. Now, she has also become the first chaplain to be accepted as a full-time Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 

Dr. Byrne-Martelli began her two-year fellowship in July in the Department of Supportive Oncology at the Institute, located in Boston, MA. She is conducting research on the role of spirituality in medical decision-making, on existential distress, and on the integration of chaplaincy within palliative care teams.

Research Fellowships such as hers are typically reserved for medical doctors and established Ph.D. researchers, but Byrne-Martelli is the first D.Min. to be awarded such an honor by Dana-Farber.

“I’m looking forward to continuing the research I have been conducting in these areas,” said Dr. Byrne-Martelli. “In fact, I began conducting qualitative research while studying at St. Vladimir’s. I enjoy creating bridges between the worlds of medicine and religious practice and belief. 

The way I approach my research is: What keeps me up at night? This Fellowship is an opportunity to study the topics I have wrestled with over twenty-five years of clinical practice. I have worked at three major academic hospitals and three Hospice programs, and I have always been one of very few chaplains within huge medical systems. The availability of professional spiritual care and the integration of chaplaincy into interprofessional teams is highly uneven across the US. Perceptions of chaplaincy vary widely, and sometimes with good reason. So I will explore: What are the barriers that are negatively impacting the provision of spiritual care? How might our faith better help us navigate serious illness? How does religiosity affect the way we make medical decisions? And so forth. I am thankful for the opportunity to explore this new non-clinical role and to bring my experience caring for seriously ill patients into dialogue with my research.”

Dr. Sarah Byrne-Martelli is a board-certified chaplain and bereavement counselor, endorsed by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA). She serves as Board Secretary of the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology, and Religion (OCAMPR). Her book, Memory Eternal: Living with Grief as Orthodox Christians, was published by Ancient Faith Publishing in 2022 and includes an Orthodox Christian bereavement group curriculum. At St. Vladimir’s Seminary, she is Assistant Professor of Spiritual Care for the D.Min. program.

May God grant her many years and bless her ministry!

• RELATED: Living with Grief: Alumna Sarah Byrne-Martelli pens new book 'Memory Eternal'
• WATCH: “Working through Grief During the Holiday Season” Webinar with Dr. Sarah Byrne-Martelli and Dr. Daniel Hinshaw.

Top Photo: Dr. Sarah Byrne-Martelli at the Seminary’s Mid-Year Commencement Exercises, January 30, 2020.

In July, the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) Board of Directors announced the selection of St. Vladimir’s Seminary Alumnus Dr. Nathan Hoppe (’20) as OCMC’s new Executive Director. Dr. Hoppe will succeed Fr. Martin Ritsi and assume the helm in January 2026, following Fr. Martin’s retirement after more than twenty-six years of dedicated service.

“We have been exceedingly blessed to have Fr. Martin chart the course of the organization all these years, and we couldn’t be more confident in Dr. Hoppe’s ability to build on the legacy that Fr. Martin will leave,” stated Board Chair Dr. Gayle Woloschak.

Under Fr. Martin’s leadership, the Mission Center significantly expanded its global missionary presence, strengthened pan-Orthodox collaboration, and played a pivotal role in growing the Orthodox Church—supporting more than 3,000 missionaries and volunteers and distributing millions of dollars in grants around the world.

“It is exciting to see a person who has been raised in the mission field and then dedicated decades of his life to missionary service, now taking on the key leadership role of the Mission Center,” said Fr. Martin. “I look forward to transitioning leadership to Nathan in these months ahead.”

A graduate of Wheaton College (B.A., M.A.), Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (M.T.S.), and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (D.Min.), Dr. Nathan Hoppe is a respected author and international church leader. The Mission Center’s longest-serving missionary, he brings more than twenty-five years of experience to his new role. Working in close collaboration with the late Archbishop Anastasios of Albania and other local hierarchs, Dr. Hoppe has helped establish vibrant Orthodox communities and has led numerous ministries focused on theological education, family and youth development, and parish life.

In Albania, he taught for many years at the Resurrection of Christ Theological Academy (now Logos University College), where he helped shape a generation of church leaders. He also led the Church’s Children’s Office for over twenty-one years, initiated a national summer family camp program, helped develop and lead a university ministry, and oversaw the creation of Sunday School curricula for Orthodox parishes.

Throughout his career, Dr. Hoppe has represented the Orthodox Church of Albania in ecumenical dialogues on five continents and served on multiple international theological commissions with the Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches. With decades of missionary experience and a proven dedication to Orthodox Christian witness, Dr. Hoppe brings the vision, leadership, and global perspective needed to guide the Mission Center into its next chapter.

“I am profoundly honored to be called to this new position of service and look forward to working with Fr. Martin and the Board throughout the transition process and beyond,” said Dr. Hoppe. “I am grateful for the strong foundation the Mission Center has established and am excited to see how God will lead us in the future.”

May God grant Dr. Hoppe many years and bless his ministry with OCMC!

Top Photo: From International Orthodox Theological Association talk, “The Mission-Critical Task of the Church.”

Information for this article courtesy of OCMC.