Tag: Ingram Nathaniel Irvine

Language in American Orthodoxy, 1916 (reposted from 8/21/09)

To our New Calendar readers: Christ is born! The following article was originally published on August 21, 2009. If you're interested, you might check out the comments to that original posting. We'll be back with brand-new material on Monday, December 28. As you might expect, most American Orthodox parishes in...

Calendar issues in early American Orthodoxy

One of the most obvious practical issues facing early Orthodox Christians in America was the difference between the Church calendar -- the "Julian" calendar -- and the civil ("Gregorian") calendar. In the 19th century, twelve days separated the two calendars; after the turn of the century, the difference was thirteen...

Irvine’s ordination: another Episcopalian perspective

Very soon after his 1905 conversion to Orthodoxy, Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine wrote a letter to his archbishop, St. Tikhon, on "the Anglican Church's claims." It was, for Tikhon, a valuable document: a view of Anglicanism from one of its own, who had himself converted to Orthodoxy. Irvine, who retained...

1905: The busiest year in American Orthodox history

2009 has been an eventful year for American Orthodoxy -- perhaps the most eventful in our history. But it's got competition. The year 1905 may well have been even crazier. Here is a list of the major happenings of 1905, in no particular order: The headquarters of the Russian Mission...

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 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...

“The Archbishop has made a big, bad blunder…”

On November 5, 1905, St. Tikhon ordained Ingram N.W. Irvine an Orthodox priest. It was a courageous action, and I cannot help but think that St. Tikhon's feelings on the matter were bittersweet. He knew -- he must have known -- that he was indeed ushering in a new "epoch in...