Alumni and friends of St. Vladimir's Seminary are invited to attend a fellowship dinner at St. Joseph Church, 412 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois on Bright Friday, April 20, 2012 at 7 p.m. The alumni and friends gathering will be the first in a series hosted by the seminary's Alumni Office and Board of Trustees over the next year and a half, to mark the seminary's 75th anniversary, which begns in 2013.
Archpriest Alexander Rentel, assistant professor of Canon Law at St. Vladimir's, will be on hand to share recent news about the seminary and its plans for the future, and to field questions about seminary programs and life. Father Rentel will also lead a retreat for the Chicago area OCFs (Orthodox Christian Fellowships) on the topic, "1 Timothy 4:12" on Saturday, April 21 at noon. The retreat will take place at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 2701 North Sheffield Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, and it is open to all college and graduate students.
Questions and reservation requests may be directed to Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, SVOTS Director of Alumni Relations and Recruitment, at jmatusiak@svots.edu.
Little Compline and the Fourth Stasis of the Salutations of the Theotokos, with renowned chanter Christos Chalkias from Greece, will be served according to the Byzantine liturgical tradition, in Three Hierarchs Chapel at 7 p.m. A reception will follow, with members and friends of The Axion Estin Foundation as the seminary's guests.
I am not what one would call a stereotypical monk. From my days as a novice I have been given “obediences,” that is to say I’ve accepted certain tasks given to me by my spiritual father, that have taken me out of the confines of coenobitic monastic life. On many occasions and for varying stretches of time I have not partaken of a daily cycle of services. Often, I have been the only monastic in whichever community I happen to find myself, and I’ve eaten many meals without the company of another monastic. Reflecting on my past, I for all intents and purposes seem to have been completely outside of the monastic lifestyle.
And yet, I have found myself in these (for a monk) precarious positions because of obedience, and so for this reason I don’t particularly feel as though I have ever left the monastery. I have been granted the gift of accomplishing specific work, with the blessing of my spiritual father, in a manner that I pray is unto my salvation. I have no complaints in this regard; the work that I’ve been given and the circumstances that have resulted have never made me doubt my monastic vocation, but have instead worked to grant me the possibility of surrendering more completely to God, if I only accept the opportunity.
This is not to say, however, that all of my experiences have been particularly easy. No, much like anyone else there have been times when I’ve greatly missed the community life to which I still feel greatly called, and I have desired the friendship of individuals who have undertaken the same struggle. So one can imagine just how thankful I am to find myself in the midst of a community whose daily rhythm is dictated by the divine services, who shares meals together, and who have conscientiously responded in obedience to God’s calling by undertaking a common struggle. For a monastic, seminary life seems to be pretty ideal.
My daily schedule here is similar to that of the monastery, though for obvious reasons with not quite the same nuances. Every morning we assemble for Matins, every evening we assemble for Vespers. Saturdays and Sundays are dedicated to the preparation and celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, and the Divine Liturgy is celebrated according to the festal cycle. During feasts and fasts, the divine services are increased. I have one or two daily jobs for which I am responsible, and just like in the monastery, I know to be on the lookout for the Dean of Students, who always seems to have one or two more tasks that require volunteers. Just like in the monastery too, mistakes are made, someone misses a responsibility, and plans change. And just like in the monastery, the community works together to cover for the mistake, to pick up the responsibility, and to adapt. Life goes on, and the community grows closer together, bearing up one another’s burdens for the sake of Jesus Christ and the gospel message.
Classes and homework seem to take up every other spare moment, but this is joyous work—surely there could be worse things then studying the fathers, the history of the church and its many elements, and scripture. My classmates are studious and respectful, and thankfully it is not difficult to find the quiet that is so conducive to study. (Although finding enough of it may be another matter altogether!) Much like at the monastery, there is always something new and challenging before me. I am continuously encouraged by my studies to evaluate my life and move past the “old Adam,” in hopes of more fully acting in accordance with the will of God. What more could one ask for?
Given the overall theme of this my reflection, one should again not be surprised that I have been granted even more blessings than what I’ve already mentioned. That is, I’ve also been granted a community of monastics here on campus that I can without hesitation call “my brothers.” There are four of us here on campus now, and we interact with the campus in varying capacities, some teaching classes or lecturing and others as students. We grow in our commitment to each other daily, learning from and inspiring each other to seek Christ more completely. In a way I’m thankful that I’ve been allowed to experience monasticism outside of a monastery before coming to St. Vladimir’s, because I’m not sure that I’d appreciate just how rich the small monastic community here on campus is if that weren’t the case. This is not to say, of course, that St. Vladimir’s has a fully functional monastery within its boundaries—that much is simply not true. However, I do feel that it is safe to say that the monastic presence here on campus is quite alive and functioning, providing context and support for the monastics that have been called to St. Vladimir’s in one way or another. It is a very good thing for us to be together.
In summary, St. Vladimir’s has proven to be a true blessing for this monk. Many of the key elements of the coenobitic life are present here on campus: a daily cycle of services, daily obediences, a strong sense of community, and more profitable and spiritual reading than one could possibly absorb in any given period of time. And even amongst the non-monastic students, the there is still a strong mindfulness of obedience to the will of God. Though I’m not currently in a monastery but in a seminary, I have to admit that I feel now, in an even more complete way than before, that I have still never left the monastery.
So, “what,” one might ask, “is seminary life like for a monastic?” I’d have to say that for this monk, seminary life is really quite good.—Monk James
Read more reflections by our students in the "Seminarians Speak—Voices" section of our Website, here.
Fellow students honored two senior seminarians this past Sunday with a small reception that recognized their recent great accomplishments. Seniors Logan Johnson and Sarah Johnson (no family relation!), who will graduate this spring with Master of Divinity degrees, have been accepted into highly competitive and prestigious full-time CPE (i.e., Clinical Pastoral Education) programs, starting in August 2012. The programs will prepare them to be certified hospital and institutional chaplains.
"The CPE residency program I am joining is at Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast in Concord, North Carolina—part of the medical system in the Charlotte area," noted Sarah. "It is in a community-oriented hospital that really impressed me as a positive atmosphere in which pastoral care is recognized and respected by the whole staff. This residency will help me prepare for board certification as a chaplain. I am really excited about this opportunity and look forward to starting the program in August."
And Logan, commenting on his upcoming residency at Cleveland Clinic (ranked fourth in the nation by US News and World Report), explained, "The CPE residency at Cleveland Clinic is within the Center for Ethics, Humanities and Spiritual Care, and residents minister to over 1,400 patients, their families, and the hospital staff. Patients come across the world for treatment, and I am excited to be part of a team that cares for such a culturally and religiously diverse population.
At the reception, students congratulated Sarah and Logan, offering a hearty "Axios" and "Axia" in recognition of their hard work, and offering encouragement for their upcoming challenges.
Priest David Mezynski, currently Associate Dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir's, became "Father-Doctor David," when he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Fordham University this past week. Father David defended his thesis titled "The Effects of the Origenist Controversy on the Pastoral Theology of Barsanuphius and John" before a panel of his readers and advisers, which included Archpriest John Behr, dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary, and professors from the Faculty of Theology at Fordham University: his mentor, Dr. George Demacopoulos, and Dr. Michael Peppard,Dr. Maureen A. Tilley, and Dr. Joseph T. Lienhard, SJ.
Encouraging friends, such as Priest Nilus Lerro, the Director of Student Affairs at St. Tikhon's Seminary, as well as several seminarians from St. Vladimir's attended Fr. David's doctoral defense and were on hand to be the first to offer congratulations. From 2004 to 2005 Fr. David served as Assistant to the Dean, and from 2005 to 2009 as Director of Student Affairs, at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, Pennsylvania, before joining the staff at St. Vladimir's.
"I'm still floating six feet off the ground, and all I can think about is that I'm finally done," said Fr. David. "It took me a total of eight years, which seems like a long time, but basically I was working on this part-time while working at St. Tikhon's, and then at St. Vladimir's. I especially want to thank His Grace Michael (former Dean of St. Tikhon's Seminary and now bishop of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey) for encouraging and supporting me as I pursued my doctoral studies, as well as Dr. George Demacopoulos, for his patience and guidance, and Fr. Nilus Lerro, for his never-wavering belief that I would actually finish."
Dean Fr. John Behr noted Fr. David's accomplishment, saying, "It has been a joy to work with "Father-Doctor" David on his dissertation over the last years, and especially to see him shine today as he faced his examiners. He has learnt a lot from working so closely through the letters of Sts. Barsanuphius and John, as I have from him, and I am sure that it will stand him in good stead in his future ministry."
Likewise, Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield offered his congratulations, remarking to Fr. David, "You joined our team with 'part of the deal' being that you complete your doctoral studies. That day has arrived and you honor all of us at SVOTS!"
Five of us from St. Vladimir’s—Dn. Timothy Yates, Monk James Stevens, Seminarian Adam Horstman, Hierodeacon Herman Majkrzak, and myself, Dn. David Wooten—recently traveled to nearby St. Joseph’s Seminary (aka "Dunwoodie"), a Roman Catholic seminary in Yonkers, to take advantage of a post-abortion counseling training seminar. St. Joseph's was hosting "Lumina Ministries," the post-abortion counseling ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and had graciously invited all clergy and seminarians to attend, free of charge, these sessions that sought to help church leaders provide help for all victims of abortion—not only the unborn but also the mother, father, and family of the unborn child.
Theresa Bonapartis, head of Lumina Ministries, delivered the afternoon sessions (seminarians from St. Vladimir’s were unable to attend the morning sessions due to class requirements), in which she detailed the hurt and confusion that the would-be parents or siblings experience in the aftermath of abortion. Accompanying her in her presentations was Fr. Mariusz Koch, CFR, Vicar of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Together, they outlined common emotional responses and spiritual dilemmas that these living victims of abortion often suffer through. Theresa spoke from her own experience as a post-abortive woman, while Fr. Koch provided anecdotes of how these responses usually manifest themselves in confessional or parochial settings.
The sessions were oriented specifically towards training priests, and Theresa spoke of her own soul's healing, effected by a priest who was sensitive to the trauma of abortion: he not only acknowledged her pain over a sin that had damaged her soul but also declared to her that, yes, God is merciful, and that there is no sin that our heavenly Father cannot forgive, no wound He is unwilling to make whole.
We trainees were told over and over that these two attributes of truth and compassion—affirming the sinfulness of abortion, and declaring the mercy and forgiveness of God—were always to be presented together in order to effectively and rightly minister to men and women who are confused and hurt in the wake of their ordeal. The clarity this approach provides serves as a remedy for the lies many women tell themselves and for the lies that family, friends, and even clergymen may tell them. From serial confession (“God couldn’t possibly have forgiven me last time, or ever!”) to presumption and false compassion (“Well, since God forgives and the baby’s in heaven instead of in a hard life on earth, abortion is technically OK.”) and all points in between, these ways of dealing with emotional and spiritual wounds were addressed and diagnosed.
Following Theresa’s and Fr. Koch’s sessions, we listened to a very moving testimony by a woman, Gail, who had had two abortions—one at her parents’ behest when she was in her teens and one as an adult—and her moving story of the emotional turmoil that ensued; her invitation to a retreat at a Roman Catholic monastery by a devoutly Catholic friend and coworker; her subsequent confrontation of her past through the guidance of loving, compassionate lay, clergy, and monastic attendees of the retreat; and her final encounter with Jesus Christ during the night when she confessed her sins and felt for the first time that forgiveness was not only possible, but a reality He was ready to give to her. It was evident that the constant presence of concerned, loving people all along the way was vital to her healing; had the people not been present to provide caring support for her, she would have known neither the severity of her sin, nor the forgiveness of her Savior.
We were very grateful for the opportunity to attend the afternoon half of these sessions, and we hope that this relationship between Catholics and Orthodox will continue to flourish. We also hope that our shared heritage of care for life in and out of the womb would result in our mutual stance being not only “anti-abortion” but also truly “pro-life.”
For, what does it mean to be “pro-life”? Many who style themselves as “pro-life” are all too often simply “anti-abortion,” and often simply lock themselves into concern for the baby’s pre-natal development while neglecting other, post-natal needs. Furthermore, many anti-abortion advocates focus so much on the baby’s survival that they neglect (or worse, condemn!) the “living victims” that are also traumatized by the horrific event. From the despair of young or poor mothers who very often are thrust into a seemingly hopeless situation by a boyfriend or husband who refuses to stay and care for her and the little one growing inside of her, to the anguish of would-be fathers whose partners had aborted their children, to the “survivor’s trauma” of children who were told that their parents had aborted the children who would have been their older siblings—these are also the victims of the reality of abortion.
Read more reflections by our seminarians in the "Seminarians Speak–Voices" section of our Website, here.
Dr. Daniel B. Hinshaw has been appointed Visiting Professor of Palliative Care at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. Dr. Hinshaw is Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, in the Section of General Surgery. He serves as an attending consultant physician on the inpatient palliative care consultation service at the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System and provides outpatient palliative care services at the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center. He completed a fellowship in Palliative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in June 2001, during a sabbatical. His clinical research interests are focused on care at the end of life, spiritual distress in advanced illnesses, and the use of complementary medicine in the relief of pain.
“Our seminary faculty is very impressed by all of Dr. Hinshaw’s work, nationally and internationally,” said seminary Dean, Archpriest John Behr, who made the faculty appointment. “And, we are deeply honored by the fact that he now can represent St. Vladimir’s Seminary in these endeavors.”
Dr. Hinshaw currently is in Brasov, Romania helping with two courses in their Masters in Palliative Care program. He will be in Belgrade from March 4–16, and will meet with Dragan Makojevic, director of Serbian Orthodox Philanthropy and a SVOTS alumnus, who will help Dr. Hinshaw facilitate some meetings to explore possibilities of sharing his work with Serbian Orthodox Christians.
Speaking about his new association with SVOTS, Dr. Hinshaw said, “I am deeply honored by this appointment. It provides a wonderful opportunity to align my clinical, teaching, and scholarly work more closely with the healing mission of the Orthodox Church.
“A major challenge that modern health care poses to patients, especially those with a strong religious faith, is the compartmentalization of different perspectives and skills,” he continued. “This lack of effective interdisciplinary communication among those caring for the sick fragments most efforts at providing holistic care and exacerbates the suffering of those facing serious life-threatening illnesses. This is particularly problematic with regard to the integration of religious faith with the clinical care of the sick.
“The highly secularized nature of Western society has effectively divorced health care from the healing ministry of the Church,” he concluded. “I hope that the appointment to the SVOTS faculty will make it possible to create bridges between the profound Orthodox theological understanding of the human person in illness and health and the practical application of this understanding within pastoral and diaconal ministries of the Church that will transcend the many artificial boundaries created by secularization.”
Dr. Hinshaw and his wife, Dr. Jane (Carnahan) Hinshaw, have committed their lives to studying and offering palliative and hospice care not only in the U.S. but also in Romania, Uganda, and Ethiopia. In October 2011, the Hinshaws were on our seminary campus to present a seminar to our students: "Spiritual Issues in Suffering and Palliative Care." Because of the Hinshaws' medical expertise and the broad interest in their topic, their seminar was offered free to the public, and more than 50 students and guests, mostly neighboring hospital chaplains, attended. The entire seminary community welcomes Dr. Hinshaw back to St. Vladimir’s, in his new capacity. Truly we are blessed by this addition to our faculty.
Touching upon all the spiritual gifts the season of Great Lent offers, our Dean, Archpriest John Behr, delivered four talks to the seminary community, in between the lengthy liturgical services in Three Hierarchs Chapel that mark the first two days of Great Lent. With astute attention to the teachings of Scripture and the Fathers, Fr. John centered his meditations on the necessity of suffering and dying, in order for true life in Christ—life eternal—to emerge.
"The Epistle of Barnabas," said Fr. John, "notes: 'For a human being is earth that suffers,' and he clearly has in mind the malleable clay that God used to form a human being, as in the Book of Genesis. Suffering in this context means being subjected to the action of another...clay being forced into shape by the hands of God. But, it would be a very wooden interpretation to think this was something that happened once 'way back when'...it would be very wooden not to hear in this passage also the sufferings that we constantly undergo in our daily lives, sufferings that work to humanize us now."
Listen to all four of Fr. John Behr's lenten meditations, which will be posted on Ancient Faith Radio throughout the lenten season!
The Annual Meeting of the Orthodox Theological Society (OTSA) will be held on the campus of St. Vladimir's Seminary from September 20–22, 2012. The deadline for submission of papers is Friday, August 31, 2012.
Our Dean, Archpriest John Behr, will be the Florovsky Lecturer for this year, with a presentation entitled “Reading the Fathers Today.” Father John will discuss the meaning of theology and its study within an academic context. The lecture will be held in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building, on Friday, September 21, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. A public reception will follow.
Please check the OTSA Website for further details.
For a number of years now, St. Tikhon's Seminary and St. Vladimir's Seminary have squared off in a display of athletic prowess on the basketball court: the
"STOTS" vs "SVOTS" competition. The roots of our antagonistic rivalry are deep—possibly stemming from the '70s and '80s, from what I hear. At some point the competition had faded away, but since Fr. Chad Hatfield's arrival as the Chancellor of St. Vladimir's, our annual game has been resurrected.
We ("We" meaning SVOTS) lost this year, 66–57, but the score is not totally indicative of our dedication and preparation. At St. Vladimir's Seminary, we do not have a basketball court on campus; in fact, we currently have no physical fitness facilities on campus. We practice wherever we can find a hoop, and now the neighborhood kids of Crestwood know us by name. When it's dark, we head over to the nearby town of Tuckahoe and play under a court with lights. If it's an extremely busy day, in between classes we shoot around on the driveway hoop behind our Dean's house. If it's cold, we bundle up; raining, we don waterproof clothes (or, more likely, cancel practice). Still, at St. Vladimir's, every student leads a diligently busy life, and basketball is seldom the focus of our attention.
Our team is made up of former high school stars, people who were cut from their high school teams, and players who haven't played since seventh-grade junior league. Further, our team includes members from the whole St. Vladimir's community. Elvis Baez, a Bronx native and employee of our bookstore, loves to come out and play. Adam Rivera, the son of our maintenance facility director, takes a break from his high school studies to shoot around with us. Felix Behr, the son of Dean Fr. John Behr, adds his lanky skill and quasi-British humor to our practices. Our team is composed of M.Div. and M.A. students, Indian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox, convert and cradle, west coast and east coast.
Although St. Vladimir's is a community centered around living and studying the Christian life, we do not always have mutually common opportunities to pursue this life. In classes, the work is often individually executed. Because we have Oriental and Eastern Orthodox on campus, we don't all worship in the same chapel. Single students eat together in the refectory and married students usually eat meals with their families. But the annual basketball rivalry with our "Sister Seminary" gives us a common focus, a goal that brings us all together.
Upon reflection, after playing on the team for two years, I also am making more sense of St. Paul's metaphors for the Christian life as athletic struggle: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it” (1 Cor 9:24). Struggling to receive the prize is the yearly goal of our basketball team, a goal which enhances our view of Christian life. And even though we lost this year, we are reminded of the ultimate victory of God: his strength is perfected in defeat. Every loss, every win, and every moment spent training—individually and as a team—is ultimately an icon of our salvation.
