The Rev. Dr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address June 3, 2018. Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and Monastery Almost forty years ago, my seminary class graduated from an Orthodox theological school, many of us in preparation for the Holy Priesthood. With all of the excitement during the graduation ceremonies, I cannot even recall what was said by our main speaker or if we … [Read more...] about Fr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address: Counsels to Seminary Graduates
Spirituality
The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex
Sexual identities, in contrast to sexual practices or passions, are a relatively new concept. Only recently were passions taken to define people, i.e. seen as constituting an identity or essence, such as homosexual or heterosexual—an understanding that even many secular circles now scorn as untenable. It is, then, discouraging to see a highly respected Orthodox hierarch … [Read more...] about The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex
On Suicide
Orthodoxy not uncommonly calls on us to maintain a sort of binocular vision, affirming two seemingly opposing views. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of suicide, where we are asked both to love the perpetrator and refrain from judgment, while at the same time condemning the act as itself profoundly abhorrent. Our therapeutic mindset finds the former easy, and the … [Read more...] about On Suicide
Advice to Future Priests: Be Open to Questions
St. Vladimir’s Seminary Commencement Address Delivered May 19, 2018 By David Bradshaw Your Beatitude, Your Grace, Reverend Fathers, fellow scholars and students of Holy Orthodoxy, graduates, family and friends, It is a great pleasure to be with you on this happy occasion. Like many of you, I had heard of St. Vladimir’s through its publications and graduates … [Read more...] about Advice to Future Priests: Be Open to Questions
An Unpublished Life of Fr. Seraphim Rose, Written By His Godfather
Source: Orthodox Christianity. Reprinted with permission. By Dimitri Andrault de Langeron The story behind this text: My name is Gregory and around the years 2003-2006 I had the honor of spending time with, praying with and listening to the spiritual words of a truly humble man who loved Orthodoxy with all his heart. I speak of Dimitri Langeron, who lives with his wife … [Read more...] about An Unpublished Life of Fr. Seraphim Rose, Written By His Godfather