Tag: ROCOR
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St John Maximovitch on the Purpose of the Russian Diaspora
Last week, the World Russian People’s Council, chaired by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, issued a document called “The Present and Future of the Russian World.” The document contains several problematic ideas. It describes the “Russian World” in this way: “The borders of the Russian world as a spiritual, cultural and civilizational phenomenon are significantly wider…
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Fr Seraphim Rose and “Corrective Baptism”
There is not universal agreement about the manner in which converts are received into the Orthodox Church. In some Orthodox jurisdictions, all converts are received via baptism and chrismation, regardless of whether they were previously baptized in a heterodox tradition. Others receive these types of converts via chrismation only, provided that their heterodox baptism was…
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Conference on St. Tikhon at Jordanville
On October 9-10, Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY is hosting a conference on the life and times of St. Tikhon, the great Russian bishop in America and later Patriarch of Moscow. I’m one of the speakers (on St. Tikhon’s interactions with the other Orthodox ethnic groups in America), but the highlight will surely be…
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Jordanville to host conference on St. Sergius of Radonezh
One of our SOCHA advisory board members is Deacon Andrei Psarev, church history instructor at Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY. He’s asked us to help spread the word about a conference being held at Jordanville on October 10 and 11 to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the birth of St. Sergius of Radonezh. They’re asking…
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Herman, A Wilderness Saint: From Sarov, Russia to Kodiak, Alaska
The following is a book review from our friend and colleague Nicholas Chapman: Herman, A Wilderness Saint: From Sarov, Russia to Kodiak, Alaska is a new book that I think will be of interest to many readers of this web site. It has been translated from Russian and contains material not previously available in English, which…
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Freemasonry in American Orthodox history
Once upon a time, it was the norm for American men to be members of fraternal organizations. These were especially attractive to new immigrants, who wanted to be integrated into American society and make progress in business. And in that earlier era, fraternal membership was the best and quickest way to achieve both goals. They joined the…
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May 1964: A Radical Change in the History of the Russian Church Abroad
The 1964 Council of the Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad (ROCOR) marked a new milestone in its history: on May 27, 1964 Metropolitan Anastasii (Gribanovskii) retired. Bishop Anastasii’s episcopal consecration took place in Moscow in 1906. In 1913 he was appointed to devise rites for the glorification of St. Patriarch Germogen, which was presided…
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Historical Studies of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
One of our advisory board members, Deacon Andrei Psarev of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY, operates the excellent church history website ROCORStudies.org. As the name suggests, the site is devoted to studying the history of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). Recently, we asked Deacon Andrei to provide a summary of the…
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Two Memorials served for Colonel Philip Ludwell III – Tuesday March 14/27
Tuesday, March 14/27, 2012 marked the two hundred and forty fifth anniversary of the repose of Colonel Philip Ludwell III, a native of Williamsburg, Virginia. The metrical books of the Russian Orthodox Church in London, England record that Ludwell died at his home in London at 5p.m. on March 14 O.S., 1767, having previously been…
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This week in American Orthodox history (March 12-18)
This week is a busy one: March 14, 1767: Philip Ludwell III, the first Orthodox convert in American history, died in London. Decades earlier, in 1738, Ludwell had joined the Orthodox Church in London. He was just 22 at the time, and was a rising star in the Virginia aristocracy. Remarkably, the Russian Holy Synod…