Month: January 2010

Irvine warns Dabovich about the Episcopal Church

Fr. Sebastian Dabovich was a monumental figure in American Orthodox history. An American-born Serb, he founded numerous parishes -- Serbian and otherwise -- under the auspices of the Russian Mission in America. He is currently being considered by the Serbian Orthodox Church and the OCA for glorification as a saint....

Solving the mystery: the 1921 pan-Orthodox gathering of bishops

Back in July, Fr. Andrew wrote about the above photo, which depicts a gathering of American Orthodox bishops in the early 1920s: Greeks Meletios and Alexander, Russians Platon and Alexander, and Syrian Aftimios. At the time of Fr. Andrew's original post, no one knew exactly when this photo was taken,...

The Erratic Life of Fr. Patrick Mythen

Fr. Patrick Mythen was an Orthodox Christian for just four years, but in that time, he was one of the most powerful priests in the whole Russian Archdiocese. This period -- 1920-1924 -- was one of great tumult and trial for the Russian jurisdiction, as it shifted from an archdiocese...

The First English-Speaking Parish

For a while now, I have been meaning to write about the first all-English Orthodox parish in America, founded in New York City in 1920. Today, I'm going to give a brief introduction to that parish, and the main characters involved. This is hardly the whole story; it really is...

“Oh foolish parent, who hath bewitched you!”

If you are a regular reader of this website, you already know about Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine. Briefly, for those unfamiliar with him: Irvine was a longtime Episcopal priest who was defrocked by his bishop -- unjustly, so he said. St. Tikhon agreed, and, in 1905, Tikhon ordained Irvine to...

Parish Names in American Orthodoxy

Here's a trivia question for you: What is the most common name for an Orthodox parish in the United States? This isn't really an historical question, and it's opening what is not strictly an historical article. But, to answer the question: the most common parish name is "St. Nicholas," followed...

Theophany in American Orthodox history

The latest episode of my American Orthodox History podcast is up over at Ancient Faith Radio. In it, I discuss the feast of Theophany, focusing on several historical celebrations of the feast, including the famous annual celebration at the Greek cathedral in Tarpon Springs, Florida. In the podcast, I read...

The Forgotten Saint of the Forgotten Church on the Forgotten Island

Archimandrite Theoclitos Triantafilides is one of the most remarkable figures in American Orthodox history. An ethnic Greek, he served as tutor to the future Tsar Nicholas II and went on to establish the multiethnic parish of Ss. Constantine and Helen in Galveston, Texas, under the Russian Mission. His story has been mostly untold,...

Blessing the Kansas River, 1910

    For Orthodox Christians on the Old Calendar, today is the feast of Theophany. I'm hoping to air a whole podcast on Theophany very soon, but in the meantime, I thought I'd reprint an article about a Theophany celebration that took place one hundred years ago.  I live in...

Anti-Greek Riots in Omaha

The Greeks first arrived in South Omaha, Nebraska, in 1904, brought in as strikebreakers in the local meat-packing industry. That didn’t exactly endear them to the community, but they settled in, and by 1907, over 2,000 Greeks were reportedly living in the city. It wasn't long before they built a church, dedicated to St....