Elder Joachim in America

In the 1920s, a young Greek priest named Fr. John Nicolaides served in America -- oddly enough, as a clergyman of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In 1930, he left for Mount Athos, where he became Fr. Joachim, now well-known as Elder Joachim of St. Anne's Skete. He is prominently featured...

In Defense of Fr. Irvine

"Self righteousness. Self assuredness. Emphasising unity of administration. Not understanding the importance of Church music. The Freemason Conspiracy Theory. Aggressiveness....." The other day, I happened upon an online discussion of Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine and his dislike of Isabel Hapgood. One commentator, whom I would credit if I knew his/her...

Irvine’s responds to Hapgood’s “Musical heresy”

Last week, I posted Isabel Hapgood's 1915 article in which she begged Archbishop Evdokim, "Please let us have a splendid choir!" She said, in part, "The Cathedral Choir, propertly constituted large enough, is immensely more important to your Church and Mission in this country than twenty little new parishes." The...

“Please let us have a splendid choir!”

On Wednesday, I posted a collection of quotations from Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine. Among them was this, on the famous translator Isabel Hapgood: "That vixen Miss Hapgood. What a liar -- she has damned the Church for years." Over on our Facebook page, Michael Beck asked the very reasonable question, "What...

The Miracle of Prozimi

A couple weeks ago, I posted a 1927 article about a Greek priest in Connecticut who claimed to have made bread rise without the use of yeast. Instead, he used holy water, and this was apparently done in the context of a church service. I had never heard of such...

The Prophet of American Orthodoxy

Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine, the great convert priest who was ordained by St. Tikhon in 1905, may well be the most quotable figure in American Orthodox history. You can expect lots of Irvine-related material on this website well into the future, but I thought that today, I might offer some...

Robert Josias Morgan visits Russia, 1904

It's been a while since we talked about Robert Josias Morgan, the black Episcopal deacon who became an Orthodox priest in 1907, taking the name "Fr. Raphael." In the past, I've mentioned that, prior to his conversion to Orthodoxy, Morgan visited Russia in 1904. Upon his departure, he wrote a...

Fact-checking the Bulgarian Monk

Continuing on the theme of Rev. A.N. Experidon (aka "the Bulgarian Monk") from yesterday, I thought I would check out some of the claims made by our itinerant friend. In the Atlanta Constitution (April 30, 1876) Fr. Experidon is reported to have met Loring and Colston, two former Confederate soldiers,...

The Bulgarian Monk visits San Jose

In the latest episode of my American Orthodox History podcast,  I talk about Rev. A.N. Experidon, better known as "the Bulgarian Monk." He was, without a doubt, the weirdest man in the history of American Orthodoxy. For the whole story, I'd encourage you to listen to the podcast, but below,...

Fr. Sebastian Dabovich on the Condition of Society, 1899

In 1899, Fr. Sebastian Dabovich published a book of homilies, called Preaching in the Russian Church. One of those sermons, "On the Condition of Society," is especially interesting, because it gives us Dabovich's perspective on life at the turn of the last century. As you can see, despite all that...