Tag: primary sources

Today in American Orthodox History: Bjerring’s sermon on unbelief

  On the morning of Sunday, February 9, 1873 -- that is, 137 years ago today -- a crowd assembled in Holy Trinity Russo-Greek Chapel in New York City. The priest, Fr. Nicholas Bjerring, gave an address on "Unbelief and the Indifference in Religion." The whole speech was printed in the...

A Poisoned Chalice? Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine in 1920

As we've discussed previously, in July of 1920, an all-convert, all-English Orthodox parish was founded in New York City. Called the Church of the Transfiguration, the parish was led by the newly-converted Fr. Patrick Mythen. But it was the fulfillment of a long-held dream of the elderly Fr. Ingram Nathaniel...

Source of the Week: the 1877 Holy Synod edict

For months now, I've been posting a new article virtually every weekday. I've got some things coming up in my life that will prevent me from writing quite that often, so in an effort to organize my time a bit more efficiently (and continue to offer new historical information on...

The Mysterious Death of Fr. Paul Kedrolivansky

On today's episode of my American Orthodox History podcast on Ancient Faith Radio, I tell the story of Fr. Paul Kedrolivansky's suspicious death. For the whole story, you'll want to listen to the podcast. There are quite a few characters involved, and I thought it might be helpful to provide...

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...

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...