Comments on: Protestant hymns in Orthodox churches

By: composerval

composerval — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:19:42 +0000

I am new to this site, and was chrismated almost 4 years ago into the Orthodox Church, coming from a Protestant background. Such hymns as were mentioned by name in the article probably shouldn’t have been part of a true worship service in any church, but I think it’s a mistake to dismiss all hymns of the protestant churches. In the light of liturgical hymns, it is easy to separate the chaff from the wheat, so to speak; some hymns are really not worthy of inclusion, but there are quite a few hymns that I remember that are very solid, theologically and Scripturally. I am not the only person I know of who misses some of those hymns.

By: JHunt777

JHunt777 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:59:09 +0000

Fr. Michael’s memory lives on mostly through the liturgical translations published in English by Holy Transfiguration Monastery (HTM) in Boston where Fr. Michael was tonsured Fr. Theodore in monasticism and where he lived out his final years and reposed. Fr. Michael’s liturgical translations were voluminous, but he published very few as he was constantly polishing them. His works were willed to HTM and they continue to express their gratitude to Fr. Michael in translations such as their well-known Psalter, Great Horologion, Pentecostarion, etc. I’m not sure how much Fr. Michael was depended upon for the Menaion that HTM has published, but I would certainly be interested to know, as this was a monumental accomplishment.

By: Fr. Oliver Herbel

Fr. Oliver Herbel — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:41:10 +0000

Glad to see you’ve posted on Fr. Michael Gelsinger. Theologically, from a dogmatic perspective, and even pastoral, he is probably rather forgetful, as most of us Orthodox in America will be, but he is important in the development of music used by the Antiochians. He and his wife, Mary, were also important with regard to educational materials. They both tried hard to get Orthodoxy in America up to the speed of the American context in an appropriate way, despite their other flaws.