Orthodox History

The “Bulgarian Question” and the 1872 Council of Constantinople, Part 5

This article is the fifth in a six-part series on the 1872 Council of Constantinople. In this installment, we learn about the aftermath of the Council. The one bishop who refused to sign the Council's decree was the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and when he returned to Jerusalem, he was deposed...

The “Bulgarian Question” and the 1872 Council of Constantinople, Part 4

This article is the fourth in a six-part series on the 1872 Council of Constantinople, and this particular report covers the Council itself. It contains what is, to the best of my knowledge, the only complete English translation of the decree of the Council. From the Methodist Quarterly Review, January...

The “Bulgarian Question” and the 1872 Council of Constantinople, Part 3

In case you haven't been following along, this is Part 3 in a 6-part series of articles we began last week, covering the 1872 Council of Constantinople, which famously condemned "phyletism." All of these articles were published in the Methodist Quarterly Review, within months of the events they discuss. This...

The “Bulgarian Question” and the 1872 Council of Constantinople, Part 2

Yesterday, I ran the first of six articles on the so-called "Bulgarian Question," a controversy that rocked the Orthodox world in the early 1870s and ultimately led to the 1872 Council of Constantinople, which condemned the heresy of "phyletism." Search the Internet -- both Google and the various subscriber-only databases...

The “Bulgarian Question” and the 1872 Council of Constantinople, Part 1

Recently, I had occasion to research the 1872 Council of Constantinople, which somewhat famously condemned "ethno-phyletism." The issue arose because, as I understand it, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church -- which was under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate -- declared itself autocephalous. Anyway, before I began this research, I could...

Fr. Andreades’ 1867 New Orleans homily

Archimandrite Stephen Andreades was the first priest of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in New Orleans. He arrived in late 1867, making him the very first resident Orthodox priest in the contiguous United States. Very little is known about Andreades, and most of what we know comes from a short homily...

Thanksgiving at St. Nicholas Cathedral, 1921

Thanksgiving Day as it is constituted as a civil holiday in the United States (and Canada) is not specifically found on the Orthodox liturgical calendar, but that doesn't mean that Orthodox Christians in North America have ignored it. Here's a notice from the New York Tribune for a Thanksgiving Divine...

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...

Two Greek youths come to America in 1823

Years ago, on an online database, I came across an article titled "The Two Greek Youth" and published in the April 1823 issue of The Guardian, or Youth's Religious Instructor, a short-lived American magazine. According to the article, Protestant missionaries brought these two boys over from Malta to study at...

This week in American Orthodox history (Nov. 5-11)

November 8, 1894: Memorial services for Tsar Alexander III of Russia were held in New York and Washington, DC. The New York memorial was held in Holy Trinity Greek church, because there was no Russian church in the city. In Washington, President Grover Cleveland attended the service, which was led...