The prayer service, reception and Ecumenism Lecture by Metropolitan Kallistos at The Catholic University of America scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, has been postponed one week until Tuesday, February 16 because of weather conditions in Washington, DC.  The same times — prayer at 4:30, reception at 5:30, lecture at 6:30 — will be followed starting in the Chapel at Caldwell Hall.  Please pass the word to anyone who was planning to attend.

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Timothy Ware) will be visiting the US East Coast for a series of free lectures open to the public during the week of February 9-17, 2010. The schedule is listed below:

• Tuesday, February 9
  “An Insider’s View: Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue Today”
  Caldwell Auditorium, The Catholic University of America
  400 Michigan Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
  4:30 pm – Prayer Service
  5:30 pm – Reception
  6:30 pm – Lecture

• Wednesday, Feb 10
  “Athens and Jerusalem: Hellenic Paideia and the Greek Fathers”
  Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church
  30 Malvern Avenue, Richmond, VA
  6:30 pm – Refreshments
  7:00 pm – Lecture

• Thursday, Feb 11
  “Lent: Our Personal Journey”
  Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church
  3410 Woodburn Road, Annandale, VA
  6:30 pm – Reception
  7:30 pm – Lecture

• Friday, Feb 12
  “Salvation in Christ: the Meaning of the Cross”
  St. Katherine’s Greek Orthodox Church
  3149 Glen Carlyn Road, Falls Church, VA
  6:00 pm – Reception
  7:00 pm – Lecture

• Saturday, Feb 13
  “Our Transfiguration in Christ: The Message of the Philokalia”
  St. Mark’s Orthodox
  7124 River Road, Bethesda, MD
  12:30 pm – Lecture 1
  1:30 pm – Lecture 2
  2:30 pm – Lecture 3
  5:30 pm – Great Vespers

• Sunday, Feb 14
  Divine Liturgy and Homily
  St. Mark’s Orthodox
  7124 River Road, Bethesda, MD
  9:30 am – Divine Liturgy

• Monday, Feb 15
  “Lent: Our Personal Journey”
  St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church
  2200 Church Road, Toms River, NJ
  6:00 pm – Great Compline
  7:30 pm – Refreshments and Lecture

• Wednesday, Feb 17
  “The Trinity: Heart of Our Life”
  St. George’s Greek, 7701 Bradley Blvd, Bethesda, MD
  6:00 pm – Presanctified Liturgy
  7:00 pm – Refreshments
  8:00 pm – Lecture

Call 703-691-8862 for more information. Books and CD/DVD recordings will be available at all the lectures.

OLTV is pleased to announce that the CD and DVD discounts offered for the Christmas season are being extended for a limited time and to all media products.  The following prices will be in effect from the Online Catalog:

• Individual CDs — $8.00 each
• Individual DVDs — $15.00 each
• Six Pack CDs — $30.00 per package
• Six Pack DVDs — $60.00 per package
• Seven & Eight Pack CDs — $40.00 per package
• Seven & Eight Pack DVDs — $80.00 per package
• Ten Pack CDs — $50.00 per package
• Ten Pack DVDs — $100.00 per package

This represents a 25% to 50% discount from normal pricing.  Hurry and get your orders placed to take advantage of these great prices for personal or parish use.

You can view samples and full OLTV programs at:  www.oltv.tv

You can buy CD and DVD copies of OLTV programs at:  www.olconference.com using the Online Catalogue button.

We are pleased to announce our almost final list of plenary speakers for the upcoming Orientale Lumen Conferences this coming June. The theme of two OL conferences planned will be “The Councils of the Church” and the speakers will be:

Orientale Lumen XIV North
Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
June 7-10, 2010

• Archbishop Cyril Vasil’, SJ, Secretary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches in the Vatican, and former rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome
• Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun, Director of Religious Education for the Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate
• Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, Professor Emeritus of Liturgy of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and prolific author and theologian of the Byzantine Liturgy
• Father John Behr, Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY

Orientale Lumen XIV East
Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, Washington, DC
June 21-24, 2010

• Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Washington, DC
• Archbishop Donald Wuerl, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, DC
• Archbishop Cyril Vasil’, SJ, Secretary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches in the Vatican, and former rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome
• Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, Professor Emeritus of Liturgy of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and prolific author and theologian of the Byzantine Liturgy
• Father Thomas FitzGerald, Dean of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, Boston, MA

More speakers will be scheduled and further agenda details will be posted on the conference website under Future Conferences at www.olconference.com. Online registration can also done on the website.

Previous conference photos and quotes can be found there, with streaming video clips from plenaries and liturgies at www.oltv.tv.

I was honored to host Archimandrite Robert Taft and Sister Vassa Larin for a week during the New Year’s holidays for a period of relaxation, touring and video recording.

Our typical day started with private morning prayer – Father Taft rises very early and prays the Daily Office from his Slavonic Chasoslov. I then cooked breakfast for us all about 9 am and Father Taft then recorded a chapter of his book Liturgy: Model of Prayer – Icon of Life for a series of DVDs and CDs for OLTV.

After a relaxing lunch and rest period, Father Taft made a second recording in the afternoon and further conversation continued into the early evening. We then prepared dinner – Father Taft made “pasta carbonara” one evening, and I made a pork stragonoff. Of course, one evening we had “steaks ala Vsevolod”, specially grilled ribeye steaks marinated in soy sauce according to the instructions of Vladyka Vsevolod of blessed memory.

During their visit, we also had Msgr. George Dobe, Father John Zeyack and Seminarian Gregory Lozinskiy. My new staff assistants, Philip Rolfes and Lewis Rabayda, also joined us for many discussions and meals.

Father Taft came to concelebrate with Father John Basarab at my home parish of Epiphany Church in Annandale, VA on the feast of the Circumcision and St. Basil on January 1. On the following Sunday, we attended the baptism of Evgenia Maria Hayes at Holy Transfiguration Melkite Church in Falls Church, VA. Father Taft and Father Joseph Fracavilla are old friends, and Andrew Hayes, father of the newly enlightened, lived at my home during his three years of graduate study at CUA before he married last Christmas.

It was a great visit and always and honor and privilege to host Father Taft and Sister Vassa. Watch this space for more exciting future book and video projects in collaboration with them both!

Eastern Christian Publications is in the final stages of production of a facscimile reprint of the 1646 edition of the Trebnyk of Peter Mohyla, the Book of Sacraments and Blessings.

The Euchologion, called in most Slav languages the Trebnyk, is one of the most important Eastern Orthodox liturgical books. There is no standard edition of this book, which has a great many variations, particularly between the Greek editions and the Slavonic editions. In general, the Slavonic editions have a much richer content. The 1646 edition of Saint Peter (Mohyla) is a watershed in the development of Church-Slavonic editions, relevant to Russian and Ukrainian editions ever since – which is not to say that all these later editions reproduce all or part of the 1646 edition; most of them do not.

Some accusations about the Mohyla Trebnyk that are unfounded include:

1. The innovation of Baptism by infusion (rather than by triple immersion) is not found in this edition of the Trebnyk; to the contrary, Mohyla insists that Baptism must be done by triple immersion. This accusation is completely inaccurate, pure mythology.

2. It is true that the Trebnyk gives the so-called “marriage vows,” unfortunately. But this is not the first edition of the Trebnyk to give such “marriage vows”; I am tempted to suspect that the reason may have been caution to avoid attacks on the validity of marriages solemnized in Poland. It is more difficult to understand why Mohyla omits the partaking of the common cup by the bride and groom.

3. It is true that the Trebnyk gives a “formula of absolution” for use in the administration of the Sacrament of Penance, which incorporates the Latin, indicative “formula of absolution”. I have no idea why Mohyla found it good to do this, but he was not himself responsible for the innovation, which appears in some editions from earlier in the seventeenth century.

4. It is also true that some of the “explanatory” introductions to various services show the influence of Latin theology of the period. However, these materials are not part of the services, nor are they read out to those in attendance.

The Eastern Orthodox liturgical tradition is often accused of neglecting “pastoral” needs. Simply reading the Table of Contents of the 1646 edition of the Trebnyk renders that accusation ludicrous. There are abundant materials for use in visiting and praying for the sick, quite practical admonitions regarding the burial service (including one which forbids drinking alcoholic beverages in connection with a funeral!), sermon materials, orders for the blessing of a new town or village, orders for the blessing of land, the blessing of a new house, and so on, the blessing of an oven, the blessing of a well (and the prayer for finding water), blessings of various foods, blessings for the planting and for the harvest, blessings for travelers, and blessings for those starting school.

There are devotional services for use in time of war, in times of inclement weather, in times of famine, in time of earthquake, during epidemics, and so forth. Some of these services are remarkably timely even today, when we are threatened with another serious epidemic of influenza, and when weather conditions in the south Pacific are giving rise to serious concern and hardship. These materials should be translated, published, and used.

So Eastern Christian Publications seriously hopes that this latest reprint of the 1646 Trebnyk will not only be to the honor of Saint Peter (Mohyla) and a serious scholarly contribution to the Church, but may also be of prayerful use in our present circumstances.

After my private audience with His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, we have finalized the speakers and agenda for the upcoming Orientale Lumen EuroEast III Conference scheduled for July 5-8, 2010 in Constantinople. The conference theme will be “The Councils of the Church” and the plenary speakers will be:

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  • Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, Greek Orthodox theologian and retired Spaulding Lecturer of Eastern Christianity at Oxford University, England
  • Archbishop Cyril Vasil’, SJ, Secretary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches in the Vatican, and former rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome
  • Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, Professor Emeritus of Liturgy of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and prolific author and theologian of the Byzantine Liturgy
  • Archimandrite Job Getcha, Professor of the Catholic Institute of Paris and of the Institute of Orthodox Theology in Chambesy, Switzerland, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
  • Sister Vassa Larin, Professor at the University of Vienna, Austria and nun of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
  • Professor Richard Schneider, specializing in iconology at York University in Toronto and St. Vladimir’s Seminary in New York
  • The moderator will be Bishop John Michael Botean of the Romanian Greek Catholic Eparchy of St. George in Canton, Ohio, USA.

In addition to the conference agenda of plenaries and liturgies, several special events and tours will take place:

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will address the conference at the opening session

The conference will conduct one full day of sessions at the Halki Orthodox Theological Academy off the coast of Istanbul

The conference will participate with His All Holiness in a memorial service at the tomb of Patriarch Athenagoras

A tour of several churches around Constantinople will be conducted at the end of the conference by Professor Schneider with religious and theological explanations of the churches and their architecture

Metropolitan Kallistos will lead a pilgrimage to Ephesus and the island of Patmos to the monastery of Saint John the Evangelist and to the cave where by tradition, Saint John wrote the Book of Revelation

More details and online registration for the conference can be found at www.olconference.com on the Future Conferences page.

The following new books have been released by Eastern Christian Publications and are available on our website in the online catalog page for New Titles: www.ecpubs.com

Introduction to Liturgical Services and their Symbolism in the Eastern Church
By Patriarch Gregorios III (Laham).
A wonderful compilation of catechetical information on Byzantine Eastern liturgical traditions, sacraments, feast day celebrations, religious vessels, vestments, church architecture, iconography, and other topics, written in an informative method to educate and inspire. 204 pages. Price — $20.00.

The Holy Transfiguration: A Symphonic Presentation 
By Fr. Robert Slesinski.
The in-depth educational book reflects on the feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord from a scriptural perspective, comparing the Gospel accounts and writings of Luke, Matthew, Mark, John, Peter and Paul. 120 pages. Price — $15.00.

Liturgical Renewal in the Twentieth Century
By Fr. Vladimir Vukosinovich.
Written by a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, this book is an English translation of the original and covers the history and theological ideas of the Liturgical Movement in the Roman Catholic Church and its mutual relation to the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church. 200+ pages. Price — $20.00.

Continuing our work to produce new and interesting book titles, three new books are in the final stages of production at Eastern Christian Publications. They include:

China: Leaving, Living, and Farewell by Mere Elisabeth.

This is the personal diary over several decades of the life of a Carmelite nun who spent most of her adult life living in China. Originally written in French and entitled “Partir – Go!”, this English translation details the trials and sufferings of monastic communities in spreading the Gospel of Christ to the far reaches of the world.

“The Ratzinger Formula” — A Catalyst for the Unfolding Dialogue Between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches on: “Conciliarity and Primacy” by Richard Mattiussi.

This doctoral thesis, supervised by Archpriest David Petras, SEOD, of SS Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh, covers the contemporary ecumenical landscape and many applications of the “Ratzinger Formula” to both conciliarity and primacy in the ecumenical dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.

God’s Holy Fire: The Theology of Icons by Father Lawrence Cross.

The book covers a wide range of topics related to icons of the Eastern Christian Churches. Chapter titles include:

•  
  • The Old Testament and Early Christianity
  • The Idea of Image in the Patristic Church
  • Early Christian Art: Between Archaeology and Legend
  • Iconoclasm and the 7th Ecumenical Council
  • Theology of the Icon Defenders (Iconophiles)
  • Genesis of the Icon
  • Regional Development of the Icon
  • Writing the Icon
  • Fixed Feasts of the Liturgical Year
  • The Moveable Feasts of the Liturgical Year
  • Function of Icons In The Church
  • Anastasis: Icon, Text and Theological Vision
  • Praying with Icons

These new books are expected to be published in the first quarter of 2010. Watch this space for more details, or check www.ecpubs.com for New Items.

This afternoon, an annual event took place in the large chapel of Mount Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Seminary and University in Emmitsburg, MD. A Byzantine Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Father Lee Gross, Dean of Students and Professor of Liturgy, with concelebrants Father John Basarab, pastor of Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church in Annandale, VA, Father Conan Timoney, pastor of Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Baltimore, MD, Father Leonard Martin, SJ, Administrator of Saint Ann Byzantine Catholic Church in Harrisburg, PA, and Msgr. George Dobes, retired Navy Chaplain and assistant at Epiphany Church in Annandale. A dozen Roman Catholic faculty members also concelebrated. For the first time Bishop William Skurla of the Eparchy of Passaic presided, with Deacons Elmer Pekarik and Gerald McDonnell serving. I served as Lector and chanted the Epistle reading.

Father Lee holds bi-ritual faculties allowing him to serve in both the Latin Rite and the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church, and he schedules this Divine Liturgy on the Feast of Saint Andrew every year. The church was filled with over 150 seminarians, students, faculty and other local faithful. A schola of the seminary choir has learned the Carpathian Chant music in English and leads the singing of the congregation.

This annual special liturgy provides exposure and education to the seminarians in the Byzantine Liturgy and demonstrates the Eastern traditions of the Catholic Church.

Also this year, OLTV recorded the liturgy and after editing the results may appear on our website sometime in the future at www.oltv.tv.