Category: Orthodoxy in the Americas

American Orthodox Atlas Now Available in Electronic Format

If you've seen the Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches, edited by Alexei Krindatch, you know that it's an indispensable and utterly fascinating wealth of information on Orthodoxy in America, both past and present. I was honored to play a small role in creating the atlas, writing two articles, compiling...

This week in American Orthodox history (April 2-8)

April 3, 1904: On Palm Sunday, Fr. Nicola Yanney was ordained to the priesthood by St. Raphael Hawaweeny. Fr. Nicola was a young widower living in Kearney, Nebraska. His wife had died during childbirth in 1902, just days before  her husband's 29th birthday, leaving behind three other children. In August...

History of the Malankara Church in America

Steven Kurian is a member of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Originally from Tampa, Florida, he holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida, as well as a Master's Degree in Environmental Engineering from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Currently he works as a...

This week in American Orthodox history (March 26-April 1)

March 29, 1859: Fr. Peter Ekaterinovsky (aka Lysakov) was consecrated in Irkutsk, in Siberia, and given the title Bishop of New Archangel (Sitka), Alaska. He was about 38 years old. His predecessor was St. Innocent Veniaminov, who had initially been based in Sitka as diocesan bishop. In 1852, the diocesan...

Who are the clergy around St. Raphael’s casket?

On Tuesday, Aram Sarkisian told the story of a mystery photo featuring an Orthodox priest, whom he eventually identified as the Syrian/Antiochian Fr. Job Salloom of Washington, DC. In the course of his investigation, Aram noticed that the mystery priest bore a striking resemblance to a priest in an earlier...

Discovering Fr. Job Salloom

One of my favorite blogs is the photography blog Shorpy, which specializes in posting glorious, high-resolution photographs largely from the Civil War through World War II, many of which come from the Library of Congress’ online databases of stock photos, government photographs, and newswire shots.  They really do fantastic work,...

This week in American Orthodox history (March 19-25)

March 25, 1886: The future Greek Archbishop and later Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras Spyrou was born. Athenagoras led the Greek Archdiocese from 1930 to 1948, when he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople. He served in that position for nearly a quarter-century, until his death in 1972. March 25, 1891: St. Alexis...

St. Patrick’s Day with Fr. Patrick Mythen

We here at SOCHA would like to wish you and yours, Irish or not, a happy St. Patrick's Day!  And who better to portray those wishes than a figure we have written quite extensively about, Fr. Patrick Mythen.  A proud descendent of the Irish political figure Henry Grattan, Mythen spent a good...

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....