(MDiv / MA / ThM; no classes, all students on campus)

(No classes, all students on campus)

(All students on campus)

(No classes, all students on campus)

(All programs)

(MDiv / MA/ ThM)

During this Year of Schmemann, St. Vladimir’s Seminary also celebrates 100 years since the birth of another giant in the Seminary’s history: Dr. Veselin Kesich (March 12, 1921–June 26, 2012).

Kesich, professor of New Testament at St. Vladimir’s from 1953 until his retirement in 1991, was beloved by generations of St. Vladimir's alumni, not only for his academic expertise but also for the hospitality and love he demonstrated to students, along with his wife, Dr. Lydia (+2006), over the several decades they lived on the seminary campus. Students still fondly recall the annual traditional Serbian “Slava” celebrated in their home, honoring the professor’s family patron saint.

One of those students, Very Rev. Stavrofor Stevan (Stevo) Rocknage (Class of ’88)—now a longtime priest of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in McKeesport, PA—remembers a man whose “heart was so full of love” and who could make a three-hour talk feel like ten minutes!

“The wonderful thing about Professor Kesich, God rest his soul, were his lectures. They were never really lectures—they were like stories and narratives….

“He taught awareness of the New Testament and the intricacies of reading the Scriptures and how to read appropriately—it was phenomenal,” said Fr. Stevo.  “I remember sitting in class thinking to myself, ‘my goodness!’ He made it so enjoyable. You really wanted to go deeper and even more profoundly into Scripture.”