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KASSAB FAMILY H I STORY
by
Aelyas Kassab
�PROLOGUE
wr iters of h i storical events or r ecords o f
important persons are not necessarily creat ive wr i t er s .
Many h i stori cal events and many inc idents o f the lives o f
important people though they may b e un i ntere s t i ng mus t b e
recorded , and the good wr iters must u s e the i r bes t
t alents to so portray the ir sub j ect ' s quali f i cat i on that
the reader ' s interest may be reta i ned .
I am not a wr iter , creative or otherwi s e .
I
have undertaken the task of wr i t i ng the h i s tory o f the
Kas sab f amily in general and my branch i n part icula r , at
the request o f s everal members o f i t , s ince I am the
oldest member .
Whether it will be interes t i ng or not ,
they are the j udges .
A . Kassab
2
�The family t ree o f the Kas s abs had its roots in
the long ago . Careful search o f the archives o f the
Patr iarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church i n D amascus
revealed that one Jacob Kassab , who was the seed o f thi s
tree , was born i n that c ity in 1 7 20 .
He w a s educated i n
the schools o f that Church and became a well known
merchant .
He was marr ied and had f our boys ;
f ollowed i n h i s f ather ' s footsteps .
and had three boys .
one , Nami ,
He , too , was marr ied
The oldest , Elyas , was born i n 1 8 1 4 .
Th i s boy had a very interes t i ng career .
When h e was
twelve years o f age , h i s father died and he was sent to
his uncle in Cairo , who was a well known merchant and who
pledged to look a fter h im .
About th is t ime , Mohammed Ali , a n Alba n i a n
s oldier , acceded t o the pashalic o f Egypt , then under the
rule of the ottoman Turks , and under h i s s o n ,
I br a h im
P a sha , part of Arabia and the Sudan were annexed t o
Egypt .
I n 1 8 3 1 I brahim began the conquest o f Syr i a ; h i s
forces routed the Turk i sh Army , and Syr i a w a s ceded t o
I brah im o n the condition of t h e payment o f t r i but e .
These men brought galvanic prosper ity to Egypt ; and i n
the i r d e s i r e t o improve the educati onal status o f the
country , I brahim Pasha dec ided to send young men at
government expense to Europe and elsewhere , t o s tudy and
be tra ined in arts and sc ience and in craf t s and trades
s o that they would return and become the future teachers
3
�and leaders o f the country .
Elya s ,
( son of Nami , grandson o f Jacob ) ,
w i sh ing to go , wrote an applicat ion , and not know i ng what
to do , decided to deliver it in person to I brahim P a sha .
H e sought the palace and awa ited at the door for the
emergence o f that dignitary on his way to the mosque to
attend the Fr iday a fternoon prayer .
He wa s long in
c om i ng and Elyas got very t ired from wa i t ing ; he s at on
the steps and was soon fast asleep , with the applicat ion
i n his hand close to h i s breast .
When the Pasha emerged ,
h e s aw the sleeping lad ; he called t o one o f h i s a ides
and ordered h im to awaken the sleeper and br ing h im over
t o him .
Elyas bowed respect fully and pres ented h im with
the applicat ion .
After look ing it over , the Pash a was
a s to n i shed and s a id ,
" Do you really want to go? "
" I surely do , " the lad repl i ed .
" You shall go , " the Pasha a s sured h im .
Elyas spent s ix years in I t aly study ing arts
a nd s c ience a s well a s the cra ft o f mak ing gla s s .
Return ing to Egypt , he began to teach . After a while , the
pol i t i cal s ituat ion began to change and he gave up
t each i ng and dec ided to travel in Europe and A f r i ca
trad i ng in a var i ety of merchand ise .
of that and resolved to
Dama scu s .
He s oon got t ired
return to his former home in
He embarked on a Turk ish steamer .
On h i s way ,
war was declared between Greece and Turkey , known a s the
4
�War o f I ndependence .
A Greek war ves s el attacked h i s
steame r , k i lled many of the pas sengers and crew , and he
wa s one o f those who were taken pr i s oner .
When the
capt a i n d i scovered that he wa s Greek Orthodox and could
speak many languages , he asked h im to r ema i n w ith the
s h ip as a n interpreter , but he refused .
The Capt a i n gave
h im all h i s belong ings and s et h im free at the port o f
S idon .
There he heard about an English lady ,
from the
party then in power in England , by the name o f Lady
Stanhope , who needed an interpreter to replace the one
she had becaus e he was charged with a cr ime .
her ; she liked h im and h ired h im .
He s ought
After a season , one o f
h i s f r i ends told h im that an envious person f als ely
accused h im of having done someth i ng against the Lady ,
wh i ch a ngered her .
He became worr ied and fled t o
Constant inople , and from there he went to Europe .
He
then returned to Damascus wear ing a wh ite cloak , like an
Egyp t i an colt .
He marr ied the s i ster o f Dr . Jubran
K a s s a b who bore h im a son , Salim .
years old , h i s mother d i ed .
When the boy was f ive
Elyas then marr i ed M i r i am ,
the daughter o f J i bran Abo- Shaar .
F ive boys carne f rom
that union : Abdo , George , John , I skander and M i chael .
Elyas taught I talian to important men in the government
service and other noted men , Chr i s t i ans a s well as
Moslems .
He also taught class ical Arab i c in the s chool
of the Greek Orthodox Church o f Damas cus .
5
He also
�practiced s imple medic ine on the s ide , a th i ng that he
had learned in Egypt .
He died in D ama scus i n 1 8 6 9 , a s a
r e sult of a k i ck o f a horse .
Elya s ' s eldest son , Salim was born i n 1 8 3 9 .
h i s father took care of h i s early education t each i ng h im
bes ides Ara b i c , I talian , English and French .
Later he
stud ied at the Rus s ian school , prepar i ng for the
p r i e sthood .
I n that school , there was a f amous p r i e st ,
Father Joseph Haddad , who wa s an expert of anc i ent Greek
language .
Two doctors , Eli smith and Cornelius Van Dyke ,
o f the American Congregat ional Church were engaged i n the
translat ion of the Holy Scr iptures and they s ought the
a s s i stance of Father Haddad in the r ev i s ion o f the proof
sheets .
Th i s fact caused the priest to study the B ible
and to encourage the students to d i scu s s reli g i ou s top i c s
i n h i s presence .
I n order to do that , he r es orted t o
relig i ous debates and s elected three top i c s :
S alvat ion by f a ith alone
I nterces s i on of Sa ints
Prayer for the Dead .
H e s elected Salim Kassab to take the s ide of the
Protestants and chose another s tudent to d e f end the
p o s i t ion of the Greek Orthodox Church and he gave the
debaters a fortn ight to prepar e .
Salim spent the t ime
d iligently searching the Scr iptures .
He def ended the
f irst propos i t i on and challenged the other two .
6
As a
�r esult o f h i s study he d i s covered that the teach i ng o f
the Church was not i n accord with the S cr ipture s and
there f ore , he could not cont inue in the prepara t i on f or
the Greek priesthood .
On leaving the s chool , he was
e ngaged by two m i s s ionaries , Drs .
Lans ing and Crawf ord ,
who had opened s chools in Dama scus , t o teach them Ara bi c .
Th i s contact w ith the protestant m i s s iona r i e s helped h im
t o r emove any doubts in h i s mind about the r ightn e s s o f
the protestant beli e f s and h e le ft the Greek Church and
j o i ned the miss ionar ie s .
Just be fore the massacre o f 1 8 6 0 , he
accompan i ed Dr . and Mr s . Crawford to Yabrood a s the i r
t eacher in Arab i c ; they had intended to open a s chool f o r
boys .
The Greek church leaders urged the people t o
oppose t h e proj ect and have n o dealings with them
whatsoever .
Even the ir ne ighbors shunned them and would
turn away as they pas sed by . However , there wa s no
r e s ident med ical doctor in the c ity and that gave the
mi$s iona r i es a good opportunity to help the s i ck , to
f reely g i ve medi c ines and vaccinate the babi e s .
Naturally th i s k i ndnes s made them many fr iends among the
non-Chr ist ian section of the populat ion , a fact that
s aved the ir lives when the d i sturbances broke out in
the ir locality .
7
�Removal to B e i rut and F ir st Meet ing w ith Mrs . B owen
Thomps on :
As a consequence of the d i s turbances o f 1 8 6 0 ,
the M i s s i onary S chools in Dama scus d i spersed for a t ime ,
and Dr . Rob inson and Dr . Crawford a sked Salim K a s s a b to
accompany them to Be irut .
One day they showed h im a
letter f rom Mrs . Bowen Thompson ,
an English lady , who
answered the c all to help the homeles s and d e s t i tute
w idows i n Lebanon , and came to B e i rut to help .
She had
a sked for a nat ive a s s i stant to teach her Arab ic and help
her in her work .
Dr . Robinson and Dr . Crawf ord gave a letter of
r ecommendat i on and introduct ion ; and Salim called on Mrs .
Bowen Thompson one day in September 1 8 6 0 .
That day
marked more than a milestone in h i s career ; i t proved to
be an epoch in h i s l i f e .
letter of introduct ion ,
When he called and showed the
it was grac iously rece ived ,
and
h e was taken in at once .
The very f irst th ing he had to do wa s to
t ranslate a very touch ing letter o f sympathy s ent by
s everal widow-ladies in Great Brita in , and addr e s s e d to
the i r s i ster widows in Syr ia and Lebanon .
Hundreds of re fugees came together from all
parts of the country , and a meeting was called to rece ive
the mes s age from the widows in Great Brita i n addr e s s e d to
the w idows in Syr i a and Lebanon .
8
Salim Ka s sa b read the
�mes s age on that memorable occa s i on , and it brought balm
t o the bru ised hearts o f the poor , homeles s w idows and
r e fugees .
A large quant ity o f cloth arr ived for the
poor , and Mr s . Thompson began a sewing clas s .
More than
s eventy women j o ined and wh ile help ing to sew the
clothes , they began to learn how to read and wr i t e and to
hear the message o f the gospels .
Where s adness and g r i e f
had preva iled , peace and serenity began to r e ign among
the older r efugees .
That helped to reli eve the immed iate
need o f the older people .
To care f o r the children , who
could not be le f t at home , was the next problem .
could not j o in the ir mothers in the i r clas s e s .
They
So Mrs .
Thompson provided them with a teacher , who conducted h i s
cla s s e s in tents p itched in the yard .
From g i ving employment to the elders ,
organ i z i ng schools for the children , Mrs . Thompson
organ i z ed v i s itat ions to the slums ,
cottages and crowded
khans herself , ably ass i sted by Salim Kas s ab , carryi ng
clothi ng ,
food and med i c ine to the helples s wretches
l iv ing in them . Many a day he had to s it up , a s she d i d ,
t i ll one in the morn ing ,
the
daily gr i nd .
and r i s e at f ive a . m . to begi n
The ir hearts were in the reli e f work .
Mrs . Thompson had intended to rema i n s ix months
only in Syr i a , but a s the work grew so rap idly , and the
s chool flour i shed ,
she came by degrees to th i nk o f
s ettling in Be irut , and eventually s h e did , plac i ng a
9
�heavy part o f the burden on the shoulders o f S alim
K a s s ab .
Thus started the schools that came t o b e known
as the B r i t i sh syr ian Miss ion Schools in B e i rut , and a
comm ittee wa s formed in England known a s the Br i t i sh
Syr ian M i s s i on .
10
�Arr ival o f Mr . Mentor Mott Accompanied by Mrs . Mott and
M i s s Lloyd (S i sters o f Mrs . Thompson)
About the end of 1 8 6 2 , Mr . and Mrs . Mentor Mott
and M i s s Lloyd came to Beirut and , perceiving the
magn i tude of the work , they became instantly i nterested
and threw themselves wholeheartedly into the work .
Mr Mott , having pr ivate means , bought s ome land
adj o in i ng the I nst itut ion started by Mrs . Thompson and
bu i lt " La Ma i son"
( now the Lycee Franca i s ) wh i ch became
the center of benevolence , hosp itality and Chr i st i an
i nf luence .
The need for teachers being great , Mrs . Mott ,
a s s i sted by Salim Kas sab , took in a f ew g irl boarders
w ith a v i ew to train ing them a s teacher s .
Mrs . Thompson
gave i n-person instruct ion in English , and Salim K a s s a b
i n Arab i c a n d other branches o f learn ing .
Opening o f Branches in "Be irut
As children cont inued to come in great numbers
to the I ns t itute ,
it was found necessary to e s tablish a
s eparate school for the boys , and for many years was the
only Protestant Boys School , where S alim Ka s s a b a s sumed
heavy dut ies as a teacher and as manager of the s chool .
Many o f its pup ils later went to the Syr ian Protestant
College and became masters , doctor s , newspaperme n ,
pharmac i st s , etc .
11
�The S chool for G i rls became too large and the
Engannon I nfant School was opened in the immediate
ne ighborhood with a roll of two hundred includ i ng s ome
poor bli nd boarder s .
I n 1 8 6 3 , a ragged school , called " Olive Branch"
was opened near the sea .
I t wa s soon f illed , and shone
for th irty year s , a solitary light i n the nor thwes t s ide
o f B e i rut .
I n 1 8 6 3 , the Moussa itbeh S chool was opened on
the south s ide of Beirut .
I n 1 8 6 6 , the Ashra f ieh School was opened i n the
ea stern quarter of B e i rut .
I n 1 8 7 2 , E s - Sayf i School was opened i n the
northe a s t s ide of Beirut .
The S chool for the Blind was then opened by Mr .
Matt , wh i ch later became absorbed by the B r i t i sh Syr ian
M i s s ion .
I n the autumn o f 1 8 6 3 ,
i n response t o urgent
appeals from the widows , who , a fter peace wa s r e stored to
the country , had returned to the ir homes i n Ha sbayah ,
praying for open ing of a school , a s chool was opened in
Moukhtara at the spec ial insi stence o f s itt Jumblatt ,
w i f e o f S a id Bey Jumblatt .
s itt Na z eera Jumblatt became
one of the f irst pup ils of this School , and she stood
f ir st in her clas s .
Later she became the f avor ite o f her
grandmother who willed to her all her property .
12
�I n 1 8 6 8 , the School at Zah l eh wa s f ounded ,
later a schoo l was opened in Moa l laka .
13
and
�School in Dama scus
Wh i l e so many schoo l s wer e b e i ng f ounded in
Lebanon , none were opened in Dama scus unt i l 1 8 6 7 .
I n 1 8 6 7 , dur ing a v i s i t to h i s nat ive c ity ,
S a l im Kassab was d i stressed on compar ing how much was
b e i ng done for Lebanon with the tota l neg lect o f
D amas cu s .
So he set about it , and got seve r a l l e a d i ng
Greek Orthodox gent lemen and others from the other
C ommun i t i e s i n Damascus , to s ign a p et i t i on t o Mrs .
Thompson for a G i r l s Schoo l .
The petit ion was s igned and
s e a l ed by forty - f ive lead ing c i t i z ens of the c ity ,
and
S a l im Ka ssab promptly ma i l ed it to Engl and where Mrs .
Thompson had gone for a rest .
The answer was prompt:
" wa i t in Dama s cus , I am coming , " and she d i d come , where
she was enterta ined by the Greek consu l
( whose daughter
was educated in Beirut at the I n s t i tute )
other s ,
and f i fty
includ ing the Greek Orthodox p r i e s t s .
Dr . N a s i f
Meshaka and the Amer ican Consu l , and one o f the most
d i�t i ngui shed Protestants in Damascus l ent h i s
a s s i stance .
So in 1 8 6 8 , S a l im Kassab accompan i ed Mr s .
Thompson to Damascus for the f inal arrangement s .
She
(
rented a suitab l e house near the Greek Church ,
and
start ed the work with s i xty pup i l s .
The work wa s remarkab ly success ful ; and i t was
dec ided to hold a pub l i c examinat ion .
14
The schoo l room
�be i ng sma l l , the British Consu l procured f r om a Mos lem
E f f en c i a f ine mans ion , and invited a numbe r of prom i nent
c i t i z ens , the Va l i and Sar iaskar of the Vi l ayet .
The day was memorable - the crowds i n the
street so immense that f i fty gendarmes had t o marsha l the
avenue to the mans ion .
Every ava i l ab l e p lace was packed
- veranda s , ba l conies and even the ba lustrades on the
hous etop .
Day by day app l icat ions came in , and the school
had to be tran s ferred to the northern part of Damas cu s in
the Chr ist ian Quarter .
The cont inued success l ed to the open i ng o f
another schoo l f o r the Druz e boys i n the Ma idan s outhern end o f Damascu s .
Soon the Schoo l had two
hundred pupi l s .
The work grew rap idly to such propor t i ons that
the Comm ittee in London summoned Sa l im Kas s a b to Engl and
to p lead f or more funds for more spa c i ous accommodat i ons .
He. embarked from Beirut in January 1 8 7 1 ; v i s i ted
Scot land , and spent over s ix months ho ld ing pub l i c and
drawing-room meet ings in var i ou s loca l it i e s , and he
succeeded in ra i s ing three thousand pounds S te r l ing f or
the proj ect .
I n 1 8 7 6 , he wa s aga in summoned to Eng l a nd t o
p l ead t h e cause o f the Brit i sh syr ian M i s s ion gener a l ly .
15
�Schoo l at D e i r E l Kamar
When D e i r el Kamar was rebu i l t , and the peop l e
returned to the i r new homes , many pet i t i oned for a
s choo l .
One was opened to meet the urgent demand s ;
but
no sooner wa s it organ i z ed , and the pup i l s began to
a s s emb l e , than strong opposit ion was aroused and Daud
P a sha , the f irst Muta s s a r i f of Lebanon , ordered i t
c l osed .
An appeal wa s made to the B r i t ish Ambas sador at
Constant inop l e , and another to the Comm ittee i n Eng l and ,
who prompt ly communicated with the M i n i ster o f State .
I t s o happened that Su ltan Abd e l Az i z was i n
London at the t ime , and when din ing o n e eve n i ng w ith the
Lord Mayor of London , h i s Sadr A ' z am rose to respond to a
toast , and s a i d that H i s Maje sty the S ultan wa s grea t l y
i nterested in encourag ing the open ing o f schoo l s , a n d was
g iv ing fu l l l i berty to European M i s s i onar i e s in h i s
dom i n i ons .
Whereupon , Lord Beacons f i e ld , B r i t i sh Pr ime
M i n i ster , stood up and s a id:
" We r ejo ice t o hear of H i s
Majesty ' s good intent ions toward h i s subject s , t o whom we
are bound by h i stor i c and commerc i a l f r i endsh ip:
but we
regret to learn that some of h i s o f f i c i a l s do not c arry
out h i s w i shes , " referr ing to Daud Pasha ' s act ion .
The Grand V i z i er trans l ated thes e words to H i s
Majesty the Su ltan , who was much concerned , and i nqu i red
who the o f f i c i a l was , and wa s told Daud Pasha had c l o sed
the Br i t i sh School at De ir el Kama r .
16
A prom i s e o f
�i nqu iry and reparation was immediate ly g i ven .
As a
r e s u l t D aud Pa sha cal l ed on Mrs . Thompson and S a l im
Kassab at the Schoo l in Be irut .
" What have you done ? " he a sked in Eng l i sh .
" D id you accu s e me to the Su ltan about the Schoo l ? "
Thompson answered:
Mrs .
" I t wa s not I who accused your
Exce l lency , but the B r i t i sh Pr ime M i n i ster , a f te r I had
l a id the matter be fore our committee a s I was o b l igated
to do . " D i scus s i on f o l l owed , and Daud Pasha invited them
t o be h i s guests for a f ew days at B ' tedd i n ,
at the
conc lu s i on o f wh ich v i s i t he promi sed to accompa ny Mrs .
Thompson and S a l im Kassab to Ain Z e j a lta , and that " with
a pub l i c demonstrat ion so that a l l Lebanon m ight b e
impressed . "
And he did , and at Ain Z eja lta a Scho o l was
opened .
17
�The V i s it o f H i s Roya l H ighness The Pr ince o f Wa l e s
(Later K i ng Edward VI I )
I n 1 8 6 2 , H i s Roya l Highnes s v i s i ted B e i rut ,
com i ng f rom Jerusalem over land . He was rece ived at the
Br i t ish Schoo l , where S a l im Kassab conducted h im a round
the p l ace .
As a consequence of h i s v i s it ,
and the deep
i nterest wh ich he took in the we l fare o f the B r i t i sh
Schoo l s ,
Sultan Abde l Az i z granted a F i rman - THE F IRMAN
OF 1 2 8 3 A . H . .
The I mper i a l wr it reached Mrs . Thomps on i n the
summer of 1 8 6 8 , permitt i ng her to open schoo l s i n
d i f f erent parts of syr i a , and ca l l i ng on t h e author i t i e s
n o t o n l y to protect but t o a id the undertak ing .
I n 1 8 6 8 , Mr . Mott and S a l im Kassab opened a
s choo l i n Tyr e .
I n 1 8 7 6 , a schoo l wa s opened in Baa l beck .
Bes ide h i s work with the M i s s ion ,
c e l ebrated scho lar . He spoke Arab i c ,
Turk i sh ,
I ta l ian and Greek .
S a l im was a
Eng l i sh ,
French ,
He trans lated many books
f r om f ore ign languages to Arabic s o that they could be
used in the schoo ls ; he wrote many other s ; he co- authored
the Arab ic-Eng l ish dict ionary w ith Dr . George Hamman .
He
was a great preacher and a much sought -after speake r .
He
was mar r i ed to Fomia Banna from Dama scus and had f our
boys and three g i r l s .
One o f the boys d i ed in i n fancy .
The o ldest Ami n and h i s two brothers graduated f r om the
18
�Amer ican Un ivers ity of Be irut .
Ami n opened a department
store in B e i rut and was j o ined later by h i s two brothers .
Sa l im s erved the Miss ion and h i s country f or
over forty years ,
and one morn ing at the ope n i ng s e s s ion
o f the s choo l , he was of fer ing the morn ing praye r ,
he uttered t h e words ,
and a s
" Lord , Make u s a lways r eady t o meet
Thy Face , " he s lumped and f e l l and h i s s p i r i t entered the
presence of h i s Lord .
noth ing cou ld be done .
Severa l doctors were s ummoned but
Beirut wa s shocked:
h i s funera l
was very impre s s ive for he wa s loved and respected by
Chr i st i ans , Mos l ems and Dru z e s .
Note:
-
B irthdays of S a l im ' s Ch i ldren ;
1 8 7 3 ; S e lma , Oct .
S ept 18 8 2 ; Az i z ,
Deaths:
Amin , Apr i l 2 3 ,
1 8 7 5 ; Shukr i , Jan . 2 8 ,
1 8 8 0 ; Najl a ,
Sept 1 8 8 4 ; Mar i e , Apr i l 18 8 6 .
S a l im , Feb 19 0 7 ; Fom i a , Mar .
Shukr i , Mar 1 9 3 6 .
19
19 2 2 ;
�ABDO KASSAB (1 8 4 5 - 1 9 1 8 )
Abdo , who was the o ldest son o f E lyas ' s second
marr i age ( to M i r i am ) , a l s o ha lf-brother to S a l im ,
and the
f ather of th i s wr i ter , was born in Damas cu s in 1 8 4 5 .
His
e a r ly educat ion wa s i n the school o f the Greek Orthodox
Church to wh i ch the fam i ly be longed .
h e l earned the weaving trade .
Leaving the schoo l ,
When he was f i ft e e n years
o ld a mas s acre of the Chr ist ian popu l at i on took p l ace in
Syr i a and Lebanon .
Thousands of men , women and ch i ldren
were k i l led and the ir homes and property burned .
The
s l aughter was terr ible and the Chr i st ians woul d have been
c omp letely wiped out , had they not been r es cued by a
God- s ent d e l iverer in the person o f Em ir Abde l e l Kader ,
a n Algerian Pr ince who , a fter f ight i ng the French Armi � s ,
was e x i l ed to Damascus where he wa s l iving with h i s
ret inue o f a hundred men .
shout ,
When he heard the Mos l em mob
" Deem , Deem Mohammed , " f o l lowed by ,
butcher them , p lunder , burn ,
" K i l l them ,
leave not one a l ive , " he
orpered his men to rescue the h e l p l e s s Chr i s t i a n s and
take them to his palace .
Hundreds were re scued , h i s
p a l ace was f i l l ed with refugees , Europeans a s we l l a s
nat ive s , and when no more could be accommodated there , he
ordered that the fug i t ives be taken to the great c a st l e ,
1 2 0 0 0 o f a l l ages and sexes , where he protected them and
fed them .
When the mob saw that they were b e i ng
f rustrated from accomp l i shing the ir devi l i sh act ,
20
they
�threatened Abde l e l Kad ir h imse l f .
Hear ing that the mob
was com i ng , he ordered that h i s charger be s a dd l ed whi l e
he put on h i s armor and h e lmet and ordered h i s men t o do
the s ame .
As the mob approached , he drew h i s sword
and
s ingly charged into the ir midst .
" Wretches , " he shouted ,
" i s th i s the
way you honor your Prophet? May h i s cur s e s be
upon you .
Shame on you !
Shame !
Y ou t h i nk you
can do as you p l ease with these Chr i st i an s ?
N o t a Chr ist ian wi l l
brothers .
I g ive up !
They are my
Stand back or I w i l l g ive order to
my men to f i re . "
The crowd d i spersed .
Not a man of that crowd wou l d dare
r a i se h i s arm aga inst that renowned champ ion of I s l am .
A l l honor to that nob le man !
H i s deed o f mercy and
human ity became known throughout the c iv i l i z ed wor ld and
a l l the ru lers of Europe sent h im tokens and letters o f
a cknowl edgement .
The Pres ident of the un ited states s ent
h im
, a beaut i f u l pair of gold-mounted r evo lvers proper ly
inscr i bed a s a present .
Elyas and the members of h i s f ami ly e s c aped the
ma s s a cr e through the kindness of a Mos l em f r iend , who
r i sked the wrath of the mob and brought them t o h i s home
and , when the s ituation qu ieted a l ittle , took them t o
t h e Cast l e wh ich wa s protected by t h e forces o f P r ince
Abd e l -Kad i r .
21
�When order was restored , Abdo went back t o h i s
weaving trade but not for long .
Short ly a fter h i s f ather
d ied , Abdo as sumed the respons i b i l ity of car ing for h i s
f am i ly o f h i s mother and four brothers . F i nding that the
i ncome f rom the j ob o f weaving was not suf f ic i ent t o meet
the needs o f the fam i ly , he dea l t in s i lk f iber and
opened up a grocery shop .
But the resu l t was not much
better than be fore , so he dec ided to make a comp lete
change .
Thi s dec i s ion was no doubt i n f luenced by the
a s soc iat ion o f h i s h a l f -brother S a l im with the B r i t i sh
M i s s i on ,
and the m i s s i on ' s work in char ity and educat i on .
He took a j ob a s a caretaker of the M i s s ion ' s propert i e s
and a purcha ser o f a l l the supp l i es that t h e s choo l s
needed .
He a l s o taught in the schoo l f or the b l i nd ,
wh i ch was newly opened .
The work of the Miss ion i n Dama scus was
d i r e cted by a B r i t i sh lady who came from a we l l-t o-do
f ami ly .
She was very reserved ,
and un l ike the members o f
th� Ame r i can M i s s i on , kept her s e l f a l oof f r om a s s oc i a t ing
w ith the natives .
She opened a scho o l for g i r l s , a
bu i ld i ng cons ist ing o f two separate house s connected by a
corr idor ; one sect ion wa s used for c l a s srooms and the
other for l iv ing quarters for hers e l f and the teachers .
She be l onged to the Church of Eng l and and she changed one
of the rooms to a chap e l where r e l ig ious services were
observed .
22
�There was among the teachers a young woman who
was educated in the M i s s ion scho o l in Ha sbaya .
One " day
Abdo was supervi s ing some repa ir work i n the t eacher s '
He s aw the g i r l and it was l ove at f ir s t
quarters .
s ight ; he wa s sure that it was rec iprocated .
When he
went home that even ing he to ld his mother about her , but
h i s mother told h im that it wa s a pass ing wh im and to
f o rget her .
Abdo saw the g i r l aga in a f ew days later and
he was sure of h i s attract ion to her .
When he t o l d h i s
mother that thi s i s the g i r l that h e wanted t o marry and
no other , h i s mother remonstrated ,
saying
" But my dear son , you know noth ing about the
g i r l or her f am i ly except that they are
Protestants .
You know that our church f r owns
on that re l igion ; cons ider what my brothe r , the
Archb i shop of the diocese of Dama scus w i l l say
when he hears what you are go ing to do .
wi l l hurt h im terr ibly .
It
There are many g i r l s
who w i l l b e g l ad t o marry you .
G ive t h i s
not ion a f ew more weeks of thought .
I w i l l f ind
a jewe l of a g i r l , you ' l l see that what I am
te l l ing you is the w i se th i ng to do to keep
harmony in the fam i ly . "
" Mother , " he s a id ,
" I t i s she and nobody e l s e .
I ' l l rema in s ing l e i f I g ive her up and w i l l
put the blame on you .
23
What ' s th i s idea o f
�Orthodox , Catho l i cs and Protestant s ; they a l l
wor ship the same God .
jewe l of a g ir l ; she ,
No , mothe r ,
she i s a
and nobody e l se . "
When Abdo was convinced that the consent of the
fami ly was not forthcoming , he asked the Chap l in of the
M i s s ion to marry them .
After the
He wa s g l ad t o do s o .
ceremony , Abdo took h i s bride to h i s home and ca l led h i s
mother saying ,
" Here mother ,
I ' ve brought a daughter . "
H i s mother accepted with res ignat ion not be ing a b l e to do
I t took only a few days t o convince h i s
otherw i s e .
mother that her son was r ight with h i s cho i c e and that he
did not do her just ice ; that the near future wou l d prove
it .
Mar ita soon became a beloved and l ov i ng daughter .
I n a few days she entered into the l ife of the fam i l y and
made herself so usefu l that a l l members of the fami ly
were convinced that Abdo had chosen w i s e l y .
tak i ng on the many dut ies of the househo l d ,
B e s ides
she helped
her husband with his work in the M i s s i on v i s i t i ng the
s i�k and help ing the needy .
She was not used to t h i s
strenuous work and with the corning o f a baby , s h e became
i nd i sposed .
The doctor from the M i s s ion suggested a change
from the su ltry heat of Damascus .
The M i s s ion
recommended " B ludan" where the M i s s ion had bought a p iece
of land and bu i lt some houses for the use of the
m i s s iona r i es to es cape the humid heat of Dama scu s .
24
Abdo
�acted on h i s advice .
He went to B ludan and rent ed a
l arge room from N i c o l a Ma s r i wh ich was used a s a s itt ing
as we l l a s a l iv ing r oom .
cooked on the veranda .
There was no k itchen ; they
They did not have to worry about
the weather because it does not r a i n �ur ing the s umme r
s e ason .
I n a f ew days they began to see a change i n
Mar ita ' s hea lth , s o much f o r the better that i t convinced
Abdo that the M i s s ion was r ight .
S o he bought a p ie c e o f
ground adj o in ing the M i s s i on ' s property w ith the hope
that when his f i nance s permitted he wou ld bu i ld a hous e .
They enj oyed a p l easant summer and r eturned home greatly
r e f reshed .
The family was p l easantly surpr i s ed at the
improvement in Mar ita ' s health and was g l ad t o know that
they were p l anning to have a home there .
25
�ABDO KASSAB - AGE 72
�B ludan
B ludan , a v i l lage in the Ant i -Lebanon Mouht a i n s
about th i rty mi l e s from Damascus ,
leve l .
i s 4 5 0 0 feet above s e a
I t i s a v i l lage of about three hundred persons o f
m i xed r e l i g ious b e l i e f s - Mos lems , Catho l ic s ,
orthodox .
and Greek
They l ive harmonious ly with each other . The i r
homes a r e bu i lt o n the s ide of the h i l l s .
The sty l e i s
d i ctated by the weather for i n winter they a r e e nt i r e ly
bur i ed i n snow .
The average home i s a l arge r oom d i vided
i nt o a l iving and a ut i l ity room to store the g r a i n s ,
d r i ed vegetables and fruit , nuts and pre served meat s , a l l
Fortunately for them , they can l ive a
f o r . winter use .
great part o f the year outs ide .
B ludan ' s weather dur ing
the thr e e months of summer i s dry and pract i ca l ly
c l oud l es s ,
and at dawn it i s a joy to see the sun r i s e in
the morn i ng and touch the mountain top then des cend
s l owly downward to bathe the va l ley be l ow .
And i n the
even ing i t i s a breath-taking scene to see the s ame sun
r ecede s l owly
unt i l it disappeared in the sky and watch
a s the stars one by one beg in to take the i r p l ace ,
myr iads o f them .
Because of the c learness o f the
atmosphere they s eem so near danc ing in the sky that the
o n looker f ee l s that he can touch the Great D ipper .
I ndeed , a think ing person cannot help but be f i l led w ith
awe and wonder and he f inds h ims e l f exc l a im ing w i th the
p s a lm i st " The heavens dec lare the g l ory o f God and the
26
�f irmament showeth H i s hand iwork . "
Qu ietnes s then
descends on the sou l s of the wear ied men ,
f o l l owed by
r e fresh i ng s l eep .
The l ot of the Bludanese f armer was very hard
due to B l udan ' s weather .
Dur ing the months o f June ,
July , and August there i s no rain ,
and the farmer h a s to
depend on irr igat ion , but the f ew spr i ngs e i ther d im i n i sh
i n quant i ty or become dry a ltogether .
O ften because o f
t h e drought , he l o s e s the fruit of h i s hard l abor .
There
are two or three sma l l springs above the vi l l age , whose
waters are jo ined and each farmer i s a l lotted his share
accordi ng to the s i z e of the l and that he owns . D i sputes
occur when one takes more than his a l l otted share , but on
the who l e they managed to get a l ong .
Thi s l ack o f water supp ly necess itated hard
work to be ab l e to r a i s e wheat and corn and barley .
At
harvest t ime they f o l lowed the same methods o f reap ing
the crops a s was used by the ir fore fathers ages ago : they
carr i ed the crops to the thresh ing_f loor and spread them
in c ir c l e s .
A heavy board about s even by f ive ,
r e i nf orced on the unders ide with a s e r i e s o f f l i nt stones
s e t in the wood , wa s h itched to a pair of oxen ; a per son
s it s on the board and dr ive s round and round over the
spread sta lks unt i l the gra in is separated from the
chaf f .
Then wa it ing for a f avorab l e bree z e , he w innows
the ma s s and the cha f f is b l own as ide from the g r a i n .
27
�T h i s in turn i s gathered and washed , d r i ed and stored for
the f ami ly ' s use .
The cha f f i s a l so stored for the
a n ima l s ' f ood dur ing the winter season .
f am i ly ,
Usua l ly each
i n the spr ing , buys a young sheep and f attens it ,
o ftent imes forced feeding unt i l it gets s o f a t that i t
can h a r d l y move .
Then , a t the end o f summer ,
it is
k i l led and cooked with its r ich fat and preserved i n
conta iners for the use o f the f am i l y dur ing w inter .
They a l so sun-dry vegetab les , nuts and fru i t s ; r a i s i n s
and honey sUbst itute for sugar .
Not having any pub l i c
ut i l it i e s , they are forced to me lt the snow that
somet imes bur i e s the v i l l age into water for themse lves
and the ir catt l e .
They use wood and dry catt l e dung for
h e a t i ng and , when ava i lable , kerosene for l ight ing .
Many
houses have l ooms ; the women spun the wool into yarn and
wove it into c l oth wh ich in turn was s ewn i nto garment s .
The ir s was a pr imit ive l i f e ; very f ew could read or
wr i t e .
A sheik , appointed by the government sett l ed a l l
s imp l e d i spute s .
They had no schoo l s unt i l the M i s s ion opened an
e l ementary schoo l ; education wa s unknown .
They spent
the i r t ime , when they were not needed i n the farm or
f i e ld , d i scu s s ing and tak ing care o f things that were
vital for the i r surviva l .
They were good people ; they shared the i r j oys
and the i r sorrows and when a f am i ly had a d i f f icult j ob
28
�t o be done , they were ready to help .
Though they
d i ffered in the i r re l ig ious be l i efs , b e i ng h a l f of them
Mos l ems and the other half Greek Orthodox or Catho l i c or
The
Chr i st i ans , they seemed to l ive in comp l ete harmony .
Mos l ems had a sma l l mosque and the Chr i st ians two sma l l
churches .
The i r common meet ing p l ace was a sma l l p i ec e
of l and in t h e center o f the v i l l age where t h e r e was a
spr i ng of water from wh ich the commun i ty drew i t d r i nk ing
water .
I n the spr ing of the fo l lowing year , my father
rented the s ame rooms , Mother ' s brother who was an
exce l l ent bu i lder arrived from Zahleh , and they bu i lt the
hou s e wh ich wa s of two stor i e s , each with three r ooms
w ith a l ong veranda , from s ide to s ide .
The hous e
occup ied a sma l l part of the land l eaving a good s i z e
p i ece of ground for a garden .
I t wa s fortunate that a
sma l l brook meandered through the property mak i ng i t
p o s s ible t o have a garden o f vegetab l e s , o r f l owers .
wa s at once p l a nted .
It
A large copper cau ldron was p laced
in the garden and it was a lways fi l l ed with water from
the brook for the use of the fami ly ' s washing and
bath i ng .
Water for dr inking had to be brought from the
ain .
Wh i l e the house was be ing bu i lt in 188 3 , the
third boy of the fam i ly but the s ixth ch i ld , f i r s t s aw
the l ight of day and took the first breath of the coo l
29
�pure a i r o f B ludan wh ich gave me l i f e and made me a l over
of that spot even to thi s day .
The f am i ly was st i ll
My mother ' s mi lk wa s
l iving in the r ented rooms.
i n su f f ic i ent and I began to lose we ight .
A wet nurs e wa s
f ound f or me and very soon I began t o gain we i ght .
Soon a fter , the house wa s r eady for occupancy
and the fami ly moved in .
My f ather was so p l ea s ed that
he bought several p ieces of land , some deve l oped and some
not , and he h ired a caretaker to take charge of both
property and hous e .
That was very important for the
house needed someone to shove l the snow f rom the roof and
f r om the veranda .
My father was to supp ly the nece s sary
t oo l s and seed and the caretaker to share ha l f the
r e s u lt .
For two years , thi s worked we l l then one day ,
I braheem , the caretaker had a mul e and he was tak i ng him
t o gra z e in one o f the f ie lds .
l ik e smoking .
On the way I br aheem f e l t
He t i ed the reins o f the mu l e t o h i s a rm
a n� began to ro l l a c igarette .
As i t happened , they were
p a s s ing a lane w ith heavy bushes on both s ides .
Suddenly
s ometh i ng rushed by wh ich so fr ightened the a n ima l that
he darted and began to g a l l op .
I braheem wa s thrown to
the ground and the mu le dragged his v i c t im on the rough
terr a i n for quite a d i stance .
Fortunate ly , I braheem wa s
not s e r i ou s ly injured , but enough to stop work ing for a
t ime .
My father h i red another caretaker but he was not
30
�r\
s a t i s factory , and another with the s ame r e s u l t .
After
two years o f d i sappo intment s , he rea l i z ed that to make a
succes s o f the undertak ing he would have i t g ive i t h i s
personal attent i on .
Th i s wa s not p o s s i bl e .
First of
a l l , h e cou ld not give up h i s work a t the M i s s ion ,
and
aga i n , he was not a farmer ; so it was wi ser for h im to
s e l l the property and get rid o f the worry .
And he d i d .
When the fami ly heard the news , they objected
strenuou s ly ; they cou ld not be l i eve that he wou ld s e l l
the house without t a lk i ng i t out with them .
But f ather
t r i ed to convince them that it wa s a l l for the best and
they wi l l st i l l be able to go to B ludan as they had done
previous ly .
That winter was very s evere and f ather kept
remind i ng them that he was not worr ied about who wa s
g o i ng to shove l the snow from the roof of the hous e .
That f o l lowing Spr ing , a tragedy struck our
f am i ly .
My o lder brother Two feek was f e l led w ith scar let
f ever ; he gave it to me and to Najeeb .
we�e conf ined each to a room .
med i c a l sk i l l d i d not save him .
The three o f us
Twof eek had i t very bad ;
He was my f ather ' s
f avor ite chi ld ; and f ather wou ld not be reconc i l ed .
fami ly spent the hot'summer in the c ity .
The
Father rea l i z ed
that he had made a mi stake in s e l l ing the house and he
to ld the f am i ly that he wou ld bu i l d them another hous e .
True to h i s word , he bought a p i ece o f ground adjo i ni ng
the other s ide o f the Miss ions ' s property and t o l d mother
31
�to get r eady . Th i s t ime , he deeded it i n mother ' s name .
Mother did not hes itate ,
for a s soon a s the
weather permitted , she and her brother went to B ludan and
began w ith the bu i lding .
The lot was a l it t l e f arther
f rom the v i l l age , adjo ining John Ph i l l ip ' s hous e .
It had
no brook and there fore was not suitable for a garden ,
but
it was h igh ground with no obstruct ion f rom any s ide .
It
w a s a two story house with sta irway o n the out s ide .
There were three rooms on the f irst f l oor , the roof o f
these made up the f l oor of the veranda and jo i ned the
The roof o f
wa l l o f the three rooms of the second s tory .
those rooms was supported by f ive stone columns , wh i ch
made up f ive archways in the front and one on each s ide .
I t wa s a beaut i fu l hous e .
The unus ed port ion o f the l and
was c leared of rocks and terraced so that i t was pos s ib l e
t o have a garden .
I n the f o l lowing years twins were born and were
named Braheem and Kah l i l .
Mother l iked the name
( chosen
f r�m the B ib l e , the Old Testament , where i t says in the
Arabic Vers ion ,
Kha l i l o f God . ) "
" And Abraham was the fr iend of God ,
( the
Kha l i l was about a year old when he
contracted a s evere case of scarlet f ever .
The house was
quarant i ned with the other chi ldren in it , and
consequent ly the four boys got the d i s ease as we l l .
Only
the doctor from the Miss ion was a l l owed to enter the
house to render help to our str icken fami ly .
32
But with
�a l l h i s help Kha l i l , the fri end of God , the beaut i fu l
baby , returned t o h i s Maker . The recovery o f the other
'
f our ch i ldren tempered the loss of the boy .
Short ly
a fterward , the last ch i ld of the fam i ly , a g i r l named
Wadad was born .
Mother worked very hard in des igning and
bu i ld ing the house . She loved B ludan .
s imp le peop le
She l oved i t s
and they loved h e r and brought h e r a l l
the i r troub les and she pati ent ly l i stened t o them and
coun s e l ed them .
I t was very fortunate for us that my f ather was
a s s o c i ated with the B r i t i sh M i s s ion ,
for the M i s s ion had
e s t ab l i shed good e l ementary as we l l a s k indergarten
s choo l s for boys and g i r l s .
So natura l ly Abdo ' s ch i ldren
wou ld go there for the ir education a s soon as they
reached schoo l age .
Though the scho o l s wer e estab l i shed
by the M i s s i ons , the teachers were nat ives ; they taught
the three Rs as we l l as the sc iences in Arab i c .
The
s tudy of the B ib l e a s we l l as the Eng l i sh language wa s
o b l igatory .
They taught what was needed for entrance to
c o l lege .
My brother Wadea became very f r i end l y dur ing
the year w ith h i s Eng l i sh teacher who was go i ng to
America and who promi sed h im that if he , too , wanted to
go to Amer ica , he wou ld help h im .
So when he f in i shed
that year , he told my father that he would l ike to go to
33
�Ame r i ca .
My f ather strenuous ly obj ected and i t took the
urgent p l eading of my mother to get father ' s consent ( see
Wadea ' s memo irs ) . Wadea l e ft for Amer ica .
I was s ix years o ld when my brother l e f t for
Ame r i c a and I was sent to the M i s s ion s choo l for boys' .
We started with the pr imary a s we l l a s the s econdary
r eaders wh ich contained stor ies from the B ib l e and as the
course advanced ,
severa l pas sages were requ i red t o be
c omm itted to memory .
Arabic grammar , h i story and
geography were later added and mathema t i c s was e spec i a l ly
stres sed .
Eng l ish , with an I r ish brogue , was the
spec i a lty of one of the miss i onar ies ; French and Turk i sh
I
were e l ect ive and were taught outs ide schoo l hour s .
was not a br i l l i ant student , j ust l ike the average boys .
I think that the fear of pun i shment f rom father he lped me
make the grade .
Meanwh i l e ,
d i f f iculties .
in Amer ica , Wadea wa s having h i s
T imes were bad , jobs were scarce and he
had no previou s preparat ion for any k ind o f work .
His
f r i end t o whom he had wr itten from Dama scus was then
l iving i n Chattanooga , Tennessee , and Wadea ,
a fter
landing i n New York , went d irect ly to that c ity where the
only j ob ava i lable was in a stee l f oundry .
Th i s type of
work was very hard on one who had not had any exper i ence
with phys ical work , but he could not be a chooser .
He
took the job hop ing that someth ing better wou l d turn up .
34
�Un f ortunat e ly , t imes did not improve .
The ear ly years o f
1 8 9 0 were years o f depres s i on , and he not o n l y d i d hot
f ind better k ind of work , but even h i s foundry c l osed and
he was f orced to return to New York where he had s ome
Syr ian f r i ends .
H i s l etters back home were cheerfu l ,
f u l l o f admirat i on for the country and its peop l e , but
m i xed w ith fee l i ng of d i s appo i ntment that he cou l d not
s end a port ion of his earning home to h e lp f ather w ith
the expenses o f a large fami ly .
I n New York , a merchant in the l ine o f l inens
and embro ider i e s , whom he had known in Dama scu s , gave h im
on cons i gnment a satch e l fu l l o f goods and t o l d h im to go
and try h i s fortune .
f ather ' s advice .
He immed i ately wrote home a s k i ng
My f ather had made i t a sacred r u l e to
w r i t e to him each week and he numbered the l etters s o
that Wadea wou ld know i f any were l o s t in trans i t .
Wade a
d id the s ame and kept the family i n formed o f a l l h i s
movements .
ad�ice ,
Father ' s letters were f u l l o f devot i on and
" Remember , Son , don ' t do anythi ng that d i sgraces
yourse l f or your fami ly .
We are praying God t o s ave you
f r om a l l the temptations in the land of your s ojourn . "
Mother ' s l etter were a l s o fu l l of trust that her son
wou l d a lways g ive heed to what she had t r i ed to inst i l l
i nto h im:
the love of truth , honesty , and the f a ith i n
God .
Wadea l e ft New York with h i s s atche l and
35
�t rave led south ,
stopping f irst at Princeton and
Ph i lade lph ia w ith very l ittle succe s s .
Rea l i z i ng that
th i s type of work is better adapted to the suburbs than
to large c it i es , he cont inued south and stopped i n
Chester , Pennsy lvan ia .
He went to the post o f f ice to
wr ite a card to s end home , and wh i le he was stand i ng at
the desk writ ing it , a middle-aged lady stopped at the
same desk to address a letter .
I t happened that a l l the
pens were out of order and see ing her d i l emma he
ventured ,
" Excuse me ,
I see that you only want to addr e s s
a l etter , may I o f f er you my pen? "
The l ady w a s greatly
surp r i s ed as she looked over at his card and f ound that
i t was not wr itten in Eng l ish , and she s a id as she
accepted the pen ,
" Thank you very much , and by the way
wha t k ind of a l anguage is th i s that you are wr i t i ng ? "
He rep l i ed that it was Arab i c .
" Oh , that i s the language
of the Arabian Nights , " she s a id .
" Y es , " he rep l ied .
"And i s that where you came from? "
" Ye s , " he s a id .
" And what are you doing here ? " she a sked .
Though he was not interested in thi s
conver sation h e thought that i t might produce a s a l e ; s o
he gave her a br ief resume of h i s movements . Then she
s a id ,
" How interesting , young man ; my f ather and s i ster
l ive not far from here , " and g iving h im her name and
address she cont inued ,
" When you get through wr it ing ,
36
�stop to see us , we might be interested . " He thanked her
and s a id that he wou ld stop in the ear ly a fternoon .
The
f a ther ( Mr . o ' Ne i l l ) and the two women inqu ired a bout the
country and its peop l e and a fterward bought s ome l i nens
and sent h im to some of the ir f r iends who l ikew i s e d i d
the s ame .
When Wadea returned to thank h i s new f r i ends
for the i r he lp , the father s a id ,
" Whenever you are i n the
ne ighborhood be sure to stop to see us . "
Wadea went as far south a s Wash ington ,
at B a l t imore and many towns in-between .
stopp i ng
He f ound that
the expenses of trave l and hote l s was more than the
p ro f it from the goods s o ld .
So he dec ided t o return to
New York and look for someth ing better .
On h i s way , he
stopped to ca l l on h i s new fr iends i n Che ster .
One o f
the s i sters s aw d i sappo intment o n h i s f ace and s a i d ,
" You
s eem to be a nice inte l l igent young man , why are you
wast i ng your t ime with th i s k i nd o f work? "
" I can ' t f ind anyth ing better , " he r ep l ied .
"Why don ' t you study some profe s s ion? "
" I t i s a strange coinc idence , " he rep l i ed .
"I
j us t rece ived a l etter from my father suggest i ng that I
s tudy dent i stry , because we have no graduate dent i st s in
D amas cu s ; but I have no means and I don ' t know how to go
a bout i t . "
" Come on , " she sa id ,
" I ' l l take you to my
dent i s t and he w i l l gu ide you and g ive you a l l the
37
�necess ary information . "
Fo l lowing words with act ion ,
she took h im· to
s e e her dent i st , Dr . S . B l a i r Luckie , who encouraged h im ,
gave h im a l l the inf ormation and prom i sed to be h i s
He a l s o gave him a l etter o f introduction to
p r eceptor .
the dean o f the Phi lade lphi a Dent a l C o l l ege .
The
f o l l ow i ng day Wadea went to Phi lade lph i a , had an
i nterv i ew with the Dean , and wa s accepted a s a student .
Through the e f f orts o f the O ' Ne i l l s , a loan o f money was
arranged from a f r i end of the ir s , an Eng l i s h l ady .
happy and grateful man returned to New York ,
The
s ett led h i s
account with h i s merchant f r iend and d i d some odd j ob s
unt i l the approach of the schoo l term .
He returned t o
Che ster and h i s fr iends adv i s ed h i m to rent a room i n
P h i lade lph ia near the col lege , whi ch he did .
Wadea kept h i s fam i ly informed o f a l l what had
taken p lace and corre spondence kept up between the
K a s s abs in Damascus.·and the O ' Ne i l l s i n Che s te r .
My
. -mo.t her- , recogn i z ing the great servic·e and a f f ec t i on that
the O ' Ne i l l s bestowed on her son , sent them a warm
i nv i ta t i on to v i s it the fam i ly .
They accepted the
i nv i ta t i on and promi sed to do so a fter Wadea ' s
graduat ion .
I n the meant ime , two traged ies took p l ace ,
f i rst Sam O ' Ne i l l , the fathe r , took s i ck .
He was quite
o ld and Wadea nur sed him for weeks but he d i d not r ecover
and actua l ly d i ed in Wadea ' s arms . The other tragedy was
38
�my mother ' s death .
She was only forty - two ; but e i ther
due to hard work or to g iving b irth t o too many children ,
she d i d not survive a ga l l bl adder attack .
S o now the
fami ly had a terr i f i c b l ow ; Mother ' s death l e f t the
f am i ly w ith a prob l em that was d i f f i c u l t t o s o lve F a reedeh , Asma , Ade l e , Ae lyas , Naj eeb ,
and the baby Wadad , e l even months o l d .
deso late .
S amee , Braheem ,
Father was
But mother had rai s ed her daughters we l l ,
for
Fareedeh at once as sumed the re spons i b i l ity o f a mother
and we carried on .
She was w i se and s t r i ct ; she had
f a ther ' s back ing , and we obeyed her .
Father was heart
broken , and though urged , he would not r emarry .
The
o ldest s i ster took charge , became the mother of the
househo ld .
She wrote to the O ' Ne i l l s and asked them to
break the news to Wadea .
I n the ir l etter o f sympathy ,
they suggested that the ir promi sed v i s i t be cance l ed ; but
f ather as we l l as my s i ster wrote and begged them to
c orne .
A f ew weeks a fter Wadea ' g graduat�on ,
arr ived in Dama scus .
th� three
The lad ies enj oyed the l i f e in the
or i enta l c ity , espec i a l ly the o ld h i st or i c a l s ights :
Street ca l l ed Stra ight , the p l ace where st . Paul was
converted ; the wa l l from wh ich he escaped , the Great
Mos que and the ba z aars .
They then toured Jeru s a l em ,
Bethl ehem , Jordan and the other sacred p l aces .
Wadea brought them to B ludan .
39
Then
For three weeks , they
the
�raved over the p l ace .
They loved the s imp l e l i f e o f the
v i l l agers wh i ch reminded them of the l i f e of the peop l e
o f the B ib l e . They got t o know each member o f the f am i ly
and i t was then that they to ld my f ather and me that i f
ever I wanted t o corne to the united states , there was a
horne for me .
I wa s thirteen years o ld when my brother
graduated and r eturned horne with the O ' Ne i l l s .
do i ng f a i r ly we l l in schoo l ,
I was
I had two years more to go .
The s ituation in the country was unsett l ed ; the Mo s l ems
were wary .
Syr ia wa s then under Turk ish ru l e .
were a Mos l em nat ion .
The Turks
They had no l ove for the
Chr i st ians , and they were undu ly upset because of the
presence of the fore ign nati ona l s and the i r apparent
s upport to the Chr ist ian community .
And to make th i ngs
wor s e , the Greek Government attempted to s e i z e Crete , an
i s l and be long ing to Turkey .
War f o l l owed .
Thi s made the
Mos l ems more demonstrat ive aga inst the Chr i s t ians .
Ru�ors reached the c ity that the Greek forces had
d e feated the Turks .
Father and I wer e in the bus iness
s e ct i on , which was predominant ly Mos l em ; the news spread
qu i ck ly .
Al l the merchants began to c l ose the ir shop s ;
the Mos l ems gathered in the streets and were extreme ly
ag itated ; some shouted that they wou l d revenge .
Father
and I hurr ied home and locked and bar r i caded the door .
Father having gone through the Mas s acre
40
o f 18 6 0 f eared
�The f am i ly sat together , soon shout i ng i n the
the wor st .
street f i l led the a i r ; this cont inued through the night
with no one going to s l eep .
I n the morning c r i e r s went
through the streets shout ing that the rumor s were f a l s e
a n d that the Chr i st ians had nothing to fear .
I t was an
exper i ence not to be forgotten ; for though the danger had
p a s sed for the moment , the Chr i st ians f eared that the
troub l e with the Mos lems could start at the s l i ghte s t
p rovoca t i on .
About th is t ime , the M i s s i on f e l t that a schoo l
f or Mos lem g i r l s should be opened in the Mos l em quarters
of the c ity .
A l arge house suitable for a schoo l a s we l l
a s for l iving quarters for the teachers was rented .
Fema l e teachers were s e l ected with great care .
wa s app o i nted a s principa l .
My s i ster
Unfortunately , there wer e no
f ac i l it i e s for cook ing and the fam i l ies o f the teacher ,
twice a week , prov ided the teachers with the ir mea l s .
I
wa s a s s igned th i s duty and I a lways dreaded the trip to
the s choo l for I was insu lted by boys p lay ing in the
streets w ith the shout of " Here comes the Chr i st i an p ig , "
or " What ' s your cross made of , " and on seve r a l occa s i ons
s tone s were hur l ed at me . I a lways w i shed for the t ime to
come when I wou ld leave th i s c ity for a freer country .
I had no troub le in schoo l and on graduat ion I
rece ived my cert i f icate and a l etter from the p r i nc ipa l ,
Abdo Kahee l , addres sed to my father , wh ich s a i d that I
41
�d i d very we l l in schoo l , that I had an " exce l l ent " in
mathema t i c s and was ready to go to a scho o l o f h i gher
l e a r n i ng .
D ad . "
I handed the se to my father and s a i d " Here ,
Dad read the l etter and s a id ,
" I am very p l ea s ed . "
Then he handed them back to me and s a id ,
" Now what do you
want to do? " I s a id that I didn ' t know . Then he s a i d ,
" You have two courses from wh ich to dec ide : one to be
apprent i ced to some craft here in the c i ty ; the other i s
t o g o t o Amer ica ,
c o l l ege . "
for I cannot a f f ord t o send you to
I rep l i ed ,
" Dad ,
I have a l ready dec ided ,
I
You know , Dad , the l ad i e s
wou l d l ike to go to America .
who came here with my brother t o l d m e that i f I ever
l iked to come to Amer ica , they have a home for me . "
Then
h e s a i d , " That ' s very good , your brother has written me
that when you f in i sh schoo l here , he wants you to go to
Ame r i c a .
Get ready then , though i t wi l l be very hard for
me to part with you . "
The next f ew days were very busy gett i ng me
r e?dy to make the tr ip�
As it happened Unc l e George was
r eturn ing to Be irut from a fam i ly v i s it and it wa s
dec ided I woul d accompany him ,
mak ing the trip .
saving my father from
When the day arrived for me to leave
home , my f ather took me to the sma l l room wh i ch wa s to
the l e f t of the court and we went in and he shut the
door .
" You know , Ae lyas , " he s a id ,
42
" I t i s go ing to be
�very hard for me to let you go ,
been of great help to me .
you .
f o r you have
I am g o i ng to m i s s
You are going to be very f a r away f r om
I want you to a lways
me , but not from God .
remember your her itage .
I want you to be
honest , truthfu l , f a ithfu l , dependable and
industr ious . Now I want you to prom i s e me that
you wi l l not smoke , dr ink , or keep bad
company . "
" Father ,
I wi l l do my very be st . "
He then kne lt and asked me to do the s ame and he prayed
f e rvent ly ending with ,
God . "
" I ' l l leave you to the mercy of
When he f in i shed ,
the tears in h i s eyes .
I looked up to h i s face and s aw
I never forgot that face and it
br i ng s tears to my eyes when I th ink o f i t .
We l e ft on June 9 ,
by t r a i n .
18 9 9 ,
Bes ide my satche l ,
for B e i rut trave l ing
I had to carry a b lanket ,
a p i l l ow and two tins , one ha l f ga l lon each f i l l ed w ith
ap� icot preserve as a present to my brothe r . Cous in
Ameen , who was a merchant in Be irut was to make a l l the
arrangements for my trip .
After spend i ng a week or s o at
Unc l e ' s hous e , Ameen and I went to Thomas Cook and S ons
t o buy the t i cket to New York . The agent in charge was a
f r i end o f Ameen and he s a id that I d i d not have to pay a
f u l l fare , that I wa s sma l l enough to be c l a s s i f i ed f or
one-ha l f .
The f u l l fare was f i fteen pounds ster l i ng
43
�wh i ch my f ather had given me .
So I p a i d s even and
one -ha l f and kept the others with my l it t l e change .
I
was trave l ing steerage to Marse i l les , thence by t r a i n to
B o l ogne , France , and then third c l a s s to New York .
t i cket was for transportation only ,
My
j ust for a p l ace on
deck .
I t was summer and there was no need for a state
room .
A l s o it d i d not provide mea l s from B e irut t o
Marse i l le s .
My Aunt packed a large ba sket for me .
It
was fu l l o f sandwiches and fruits o f a l l k i nd s and she
s a id that if she f i l l ed it more it wou ld spoi l .
Wh i le we were wa i t ing to embark a group o f
three young men came with the i r luggage ready t o s a i l .
They introduced themse lves to Ameen and me ; two f r om
Lebanon and the third from Damascus .
The Dama s cene
turned out to be from a we l l known f ami ly to Ameen .
They
were going to New York and had the s ame k i nd of t icket a s
I had .
After chatting for several minute s , Ameen a sked
them to . take me , wh ich they promised to do . M inut e s
l a� er , the steamer shr ieked -its horn _ for the p a s sengers
t o get aboard .
We were the last to board ,
for the
s a i lors had to c l ose the doors to the hold wh i ch was to
be our rest ing p l ace .
I
boarded the steamer " Portuga l "
o f the Mes s ager i e Mar i t ime and l e ft B e i rut for my f uture
home .
For a wh i l e we stood by the ra i l ing s i l ent ly
watch ing the ship l eave the land , uttering not a word but
wonder ing whether we wou ld tread that s o i l aga i n .
44
�We were awakened f rom that trance by the purser
ask i ng for our t i ckets .
me ,
When I handed him mine , h e ' a sked
" How old are yoU? "
" F i f teen , " I sa id .
lI y ou can ' t trave l on ha l f fare , " he s a i d .
He then l e ft me and co l l ected the t i ckets o f the other
p a s s engers .
Very soon a fter , he returned and demanded
the other seven and one-ha l f pounds .
I s a i d that I am
te l l i ng him the truth ; that was a l l the agent a sked me to
pay .
He s a id that he wa s sorry and wou ld have to put me
o f f at the next stop of the ship at Ha i fa .
that he was r ight and I paid h im forthwith .
l e f t me ,
I rea l i z ed
After he
I stood for a moment mot ion l e s s , no doubt a
p icture of despa i r , wonder ing how I could get to New York
with hardly any money .
and s a i d ,
Suddenly a man stood bes ide me
"Are you Aelyas Kas sab? "
I said ,
" Yes , how d i d you know? "
He rep l ied that he wa s t a l k i ng to my cou s i n
whom he knew very we l l . H e s a id that h i s name w a s Fuad
S a l l oum , that his brother was the m i n i ster o f the Church
in Damascus to wh ich our fam i l y be longed ; that though he
wa s not from Dama scus he knew of the f am i ly ; that Ameen
had a sked him to look a fter me .
I told him my s tory and
he a s sured me that he had p l enty of money and that it was
at my d i sposa l .
f r iends .
From that moment we became very good
He wa s going to San Franc i sco on bus in e s s and
45
�h e i ntroduced me to h i s group .
We got a l ong very we l l .
For a l ittle wh i l e the steamer f o l l owed the
shore l ine and we watched the scenery , then i t veered
The
away and we began to look about our surround i ngs .
c lo sed doors of the hold were our staterooms for the tr ip
and we p l aced our luggage there .
As the even i ng
approached , we opened our baskets and had our supper and
as the l ights d immed we rol led our s e lves in our b l anket s .
The steamer was very steady , we were soon a s l eep .
Very
e a r ly in the morning we were awakened by the s a i l or s who
t o l d us that they have to open the ho ld because we were
approaching Ha i f a and they have to unl oad some
merchand i s e .
I n mov ing my luggage ,
I d i scovered that
dur ing the night someone had gotten away w ith my basket
of prov i s i ons , which
meant that I wou l d be without
provi s i ons un l e s s I supp l ied mys e l f at Ha i fa .
I
comp l a ined to the Purser who a s sured me that i t mus t be
one of the passengers and that they wer e not respons i b l e .
Th�t taught me a l e s son to be more - carefu l .
I n Ha i fa we
r ep l e n i shed our needs and in the even ing we r esumed our
j ourney toward Marse i l les , pass ing through the stra i t s o f
Mes s ina ; I can never forget the s ight o f Mt . Vesuvius
w i th the smoke be lch i ng from its cone .
Further on the weather changed , a bad s torm hit
u s and it was dangerous for us to rema in on deck .
The
o f f icers were afraid that we might be inj ured or swept
46
�i nt o the sea ,
ship .
so we had to go down into the hold o f the
I t was a bad exper ience ,
for there were an ima l s
After the second day ,
there and the stench was terr ib l e .
the sun shone brightly and we were g l ad to get on deck
aga in .
We arr ived in Mars e i l les wi thout any further
troub l e .
We were met by the agent of the company who
s o ld us the t i cket Marse i l l e s -New York .
He hust l ed u s
through customs and immigration without d i f f i cu l ty and
took u s to a s econd c l a s s hot e l where we were to stay
t i l l the next morn ing , then by tra i n to Par i s for a f ew
hour s , then to Bologne and the White star L i ne steamer
for New Y ork .
The passage wa s long and t i r ing and f u l l
o f expectat ion o f putting our feet o n the s o i l o f the
l and of the free .
However we were a l it t l e worr i ed ,
becaus e wh i le in Par i s we had heard that many imm igrants
were b e i ng returned because of eye troub l e or l ack of
funds .
We had to take our chance .
As we approached New
Y o�k the morning was most beaut i f u l .
As we entered the
harbor we were ama z ed at the t a l l bu i ld ings but we were
l ook i ng for something greater and when we saw her bathed
in sun l ight with the torch in her hand up l i fted
' heavenward our tears were not spared .
The steamer
cont inued to E l l i s I s land where the immigrants
d i s embarked .
Wh i le we wa ited for the examina t i on by the
I mmigration and customs o f f i c ia l s ,
47
I a sked my f r i end
�S a l l oum to loan me f ive pounds wh ich he g l ad l y d i d .
I
gave him my address in Chester and he gave me h i s in
Ca l i fornia .
The Custom and Immigra t i on examinati ons were
both sat i s factory and we were led in groups to d i f f e rent
parts of the bui ld ing and were separated f rom each other .
Our l e ader with an o f f icer ' s cap and i n s ign i a on h i s l e ft
a rm a sked me my name and dest inat ion and he led me t o a
s e a t i n a large room and said ,
" Your train doesn ' t l eave
unt i l nine o ' c l ock . Don ' t leave th i s p l ace unt i l I come
back .
Do you understand? "
I s a id that I under stood , but
my brother wou ld be wa it ing for me on the dock . When he
understood my story , he said it was too late now and that
it was better for him to put me on a train f o r Chester .
Aga i n he s a id ,
" Don ' t leave unt i l I come . "
I t began to get dark and I began to get hungry .
On the other s ide of the stat ion , wh ich wa s a l arge room ,
I s aw a fruit stand and I wa lked there to get someth ing
t o eat .
The owner , recogn i z ing that I was a n a l ien l ike
hi�s e l f ,
soon got my f u l l hi story and a s he began to put
the s e l ected fru it in the bag .
He suggested that s ince
Che ster is a day away that I had better supp ly mys e l f ,
wh ich I d i d ,
and not only for one day .
seat I gorged myse l f with the fruit ,
Return ing to my
At a quarter to
n ine , the o f f icer came ; he lped me with my l uggage and as
I boarded the train I heard h im te l l the conductor that I
was a stranger and to be sure to put me o f f at Chester .
48
�I was put in a seat near the exit door o f the car .
After
the train pul l ed out of the stat ion , the conductor c ame
c o l l ec t i ng t ickets .
He punched the t i cket and KEPT I T .
I d i d not say anyth ing and be ing exhausted and with the
ro l l ing o f the train ,
I f e l l dead a s l eep .
At twe lve
o ' c lock sharp , the whee l s ground to a stop . The tra i nman
shook me to wake me up ; but I wou ldn ' t move .
I s a id I
was go i ng to Chester and that Chester was a day o f f .
Conductor came and when he heard what I was say ing ,
The
said ,
" Come on , young f e l low , I can ' t hold th i s t r a i n any
l onger . "
He caught me by the c o l lar o f my coat and
k i cked me down the steps with the trainman f o l l ow i ng w ith
the luggage . with a loud voice ,
I cr ied ,
" G ive me my
t i cket ! "
As the train pu l l ed o f f , the stat i o n master
came out to c lose the stat i on for the n ight .
He saw me
stand i ng and had heard me shout out . He s a i d to me ,
" What ' s the matter ?
Where do you want to go? "
I rep l ied
th�t I wanted to go to Che ster , PA . , and he got my
t i cket .
He s a id .
" Th i s i s Chester . "
See ing me
i ncredu lous , he took me around the stat ion and showed me
the s ign on the wa l l .
Now he s a id ,
Where do you want to go? "
" Th i s i s Chester .
I told him that I was
expect ing my brother to meet me and the rest of the
story .
He a sked me my brother ' s name and where he l ived .
I t o l d h im .
He looked at my luggage and he s a id ,
49
"We
�c an ' t go there tonight , you better stay with me ton i ght
and we ' l l see in the morning what we can do . "
to the t i cket o f f ice .
So we went
He spread a mattr e s s on a l arge
tab l e for hims e l f and I stretched on the f l oor .
I was
phy s i ca l ly and menta l ly exhausted and soon fast a s l eep .
I n the n ight nature cal l ed ,
so a s I was look ing f o r the
door to go outs ide , he awoke and led me out s ide to the
r e s t room .
We hardly went back to s leep aga i n when h e
a l arm went o f f f o r t h e f ive o ' c l ock tra in ; t h e o f f i c e
mus t b e open .
When he opened the door , he saw a
huckster ' s wagon , he cal led to the dr iver to stop , and he
t o l d him to " Take th i s stranger to O ' Ne i l l ' s at 18 0 0
Prov idence Avenue .
He has a brother l iving there . "
The
huckster s a id " I know them , " and with that he put my
l uggage on the wagon and I sat bes ide h im .
We d i dn ' t get
a warm we l come when hear ing the doorbe l l wa s rung ; M i s s
L i z z ie opened the second f loor window and shouted ,
" What
are you r inging the be l l for . so early in the morn i ng ? "
My. brother who was l iving on the third f l oor on hearIng '
the n o i s e , opened h i s window and when I saw h im ,
shouted " Wadea " and ran to
door .
I
meet h im as he opened the
What a meet ing !
I t was the last s aturday o f July ,
18 9 9 , that
marks the arr iva l at the horne of my f r iends , the
O ' Ne i l l s .
I thought that I wa s in a dream .
I cou l d
hardly be l i eve that I had at l a s t reached t h e Prom i sed
50
�Land .
My brother woke me up by saying ,
o f f , " and turning to me he cont inued ,
" I have a day
" F ir s t of a l l �
we ' l l g ive you a bath for you certa i n ly need i t ; then
we ' l l have a cup of c o f f e e ; then we ' l l go and have a h a i r
c u t for y o u need that too , and then some c lean c l othes
and then we ' l l l eave you to rest for a wh i le . "
I n Chester , Saturday was a g a l a n ight .
A l l the
stores were open . The O ' Ne i l l s had a mi l l i nery store on
Edgmont Avenue ,
in the bus iness sect i on o f Chester .
Usua l ly very l itt l e bus ine s s wa s done ; most ly w i ndow
shopp ing or v i s i t ing fr iends .
As it happened , two
f r i ends dropped in for a soc i a l v i s i t , and of cour s e ,
was introduced .
One of the lad ies wa s a teacher ,
I
and
when I began to t a lk , she smi l ed becaus e o f my I r i sh
brogue ( what l ittle I spoke I had learned f rom the I r i sh
M i s s iona r i es in Dama scus ) .
My brother asked her where I
shou l d app ly for information about my schoo l ing .
She
o f fered to take me to the super intendent ' s o f f ic e t o see
wher e I wou ld f it . . True to her prom i s e , she took me .
The super intendent tried to talk to me ,
answer inte l l igently .
but I cou l d not
I rea l ly did not under stand h im .
He gave me the ninth grade books and said ,
" Look them
over and come back later , and I wi l l see wher e you f it
in . "
For the f irst three weeks ,
mys e l f to do anyth ing .
I cou l d not br ing
My brother was in h i s o f f ice , the
51
�O ' Ne i l l s were in the ir store ,
supposedly to study .
and I was l e ft a l one
I was home s ick ; I yearned f or "
B ludan and the free l i f e .
I wou ld open the books ,
l o ok
at the pages but my mind wou ld f ly back to what I wou ld
have been do ing in the mountains .
Then one day , my
brother saw me a s leep over the books and he s a i d ,
" Now
the honeymoon is over , when you are t i red from s tudy i ng ,
I want you to make your s e l f use ful around the hou s e ,
in
the o f f ice and the garden ; remember you came here t o make
s ometh ing of yourse l f . "
That was very good f o r me ; i t
kept m e busy and took my thoughts away from home .
My
brother and the ladies were very good to me and t r i ed to
he lp me in every way pos s ib l e .
My brother taught me some
of the mecha n i c s of l aboratory work ,
such a s sett ing
teeth and po l i sh i ng p l ates .
At the end of August ,
and ,
sad to say ,
I took an exam i nat ion
I f a i l ed in every subj ect not because I
d i d not know the answers to the que s t i ons but because I
d i d not understand the questions .
said ,
The superintendent
" I ' m sorry that I can ' t put you in the n inth grade ;
you wi l l have to go to the e ighth grade . "
f i fteen year o ld boy in the grammar grade .
humi l iated .
Imag i n e a
I was
But th i s turned to be a b l e s s ing in
d i sgu i s e ; becaus e due to the k i ndne s s of three t eachers
who spent a great deal o f t ime correct ing my Eng l i sh and
exp l a ining to me the rud iments of grammar , they kept me
52
�hours a fter schoo l reading a l oud and correct i ng my
pronunc i a t i on .
I made so much progre s s that by the end
of the s choo l year , I asked the Super i ntendent to loan me
the books of the n i nth grade so that I cou ld study them
dur ing the vacation and take an exam inat ion in the f a l l .
P erhaps I cou ld skip the ninth grade . He did , and I was
succes s fu l .
I did the same thing at the end of the
second year ; borrowed the books for the e l eventh grade
and in the f a l l I sk ipped the e l eventh and was adm itted
t o the twe l fth grade .
A ca l l from my father was s o
urgent to earn some money t o help my brother s that I
dec ided not to f in i sh the twe l fth grade but to try t o
t a k e t h e examinat ion for entrance to t h e denta l
department of the Un iver s ity of Pennsylvania .
matr i cu l ated in October ,
I
1 9 0 1 for a f ive year course
wh i ch led to both degrees o f dent i stry and med ic ine .
It
was f ortunate that I d i d becaus e in 1 9 0 2 the dent a l
course a l one was increased t o four years .
The . s cho o l fee
o f one hundred and f i fty do l lars was paid by my brother ,
f or wh i ch I c l eaned h i s o f f ice every day and d i d h i s
l a boratory work .
Dr . K irk ,
When I s igned the reg i ster , the dean ,
shook my hand and s a id ,
you to the f am i l y of our schoo l . "
' Dr . Kas sab , I we l come
I f e lt so proud .
I did not f ind the pract ica l part o f the cours e
d i f f icult thanks to the fact that for two y e a r s I had
been he lp ing my brother in the l aboratory ; but not
53
�previous ly having had any chemi stry ,
that cour se ,
I wou ld have f a i l ed
I am sure , had a good f r i end not coached me .
I wa s s o exhausted that my good fr i end , Dr . Preston ,
recommended that for the present , I not cont i nue w ith the
med ica l cours e .
I f e l t that he wa s r ight , that I should
d e l ay f o r a year .
After graduation in June 1 9 0 4 and
p a s s ing the state Board examinat ion ,
my shingle next to my brother ' s .
I was g lad t o hang
My o f f ice was a
s creened part of h i s laboratory with crude furn i sh ings
and only the neces sary instruments for a beg i nne r .
Fortunat e ly ,
I could borrow what I needed f rom my
brothe r .
with the many l etters o f congratu l a t i on f r om my
f ather and s i sters for having attai ned the degree o f
Doctor o f Denta l Surgery , came letters t o Wadea s ay ing
that i t was t ime for h im to return home and br ing the
O ' Ne i l l s with h im ; that he was ready for mar r i age ; that
Aelyas can take care of his o f f ice wh i l e he was away ;
that there was a wonderful g i r l teach ing in the M i s s i on
s choo l who they want h im to meet ; that unc l e S a l im knew
her f r om the t ime she was a l ittle g i r l ,
and that she was
a wonderful catch .
My s i ster ' s l etters to the O ' Ne i l l s wer e very
i n s i stent that they shou ld accept the invitat ion and come
w ith Wadea , and renew the f r i endship .
The l etters were
s o warm that Mary O ' Ne i l l dec ided to accompany Wadea and
54
�they l e ft f or Damascus .
I took charge of the o f f ice wh ich was l ocated
at 8 0 2 Edgmont Avenue , a two room space divided i nto two
parts ; one for operat ing and recept ion and one for
l aboratory .
I n due t ime , we rece ived the che e r f u l news f r om
Dama scus that the f o lks were enj oying the ir v i s it ; that
Wadea had met the young lady , Sara Ha j j ar ; that she was
the dream g i r l of h i s l i fe .
They had spent t ime i n
B ludan enj oy ing the beauty of nature ; but more enj oy i ng
e ach other and they f e lt sure that i t was the Supreme
Power that brought them together and they dec i ded to make
it f o r l i f e .
28 ,
1905 .
They were marr ied at Souk - e l -Gharb ,
S ept
After the wedd ing , the coup l e spent the i r
honeymoon tour ing Lebanon wh i l e Mary O ' Ne i l l trave l l ed to
Engl and to v i s it with some f r iends ; later j o in ing the
mar r i ed coup l e on the ir way home .
The good event made Wadea and me r ea l i z e that a
chpnge must be made ; Wadea could not rema i n l iv i ng at the
O ' Ne i l l s and I could not rema in occupying h i s o f f ice .
The s o l ut i on :
the bu i ld ing next door , 8 0 4 -8 0 6 Edgmont
Avenue , was for s a l e .
Wade a bought it and changed the
f ront o f the bu i lding into two o f f ices , each with an
operat i ng room , a recept ion room for both and a
l a boratory .
These were on the second f l oor .
Wadea
occup ied the rest of the bu i ld ing except the f ir s t f l oor
55
�wh i ch was rented for bus i nes s .
Now we were organ i z ed :
Wadea renewing h i s relationship with h i s p a t i ents ,
!
w ith
bu i ld ing a pract ice , the O ' Ne i l l s with s e l l i ng the i r
bus ine s s , and Sara with tak ing care o f the house and
prepar ing for the coming of her f irst baby .
Hardly had we got set when we had to go New
York to meet Braheem . Father wrote that the lad wa s not
do i ng we l l at school and he thought that the change w i l l
he lp h im ; a f ew months l ater , Naj eeb f o l l owed ; h e had
tr i ed a year at the American Un ivers ity o f Be i rut and wa s
not sat i s f i ed .
So he dec ided to try Ame r i c a .
He took a
bus iness course o f one year in the high schoo l i n Che ster
and then went on to New York .
He worked for a l it t l e
wh i l e with George Kas sab ( no re lation )
in the embro idery
bus ine s s ; he l iked the manu f actur i ng end better ,
went to Made ira and then to F l orence ,
Italy ,
so h e
and
estab l i shed a center for mak ing embro ider i e s and l a c e s .
Later on he estab l i shed the f i rm " Ka s sab Bros " and took
with h im h i s brother Braheem and h i s nephew Far i d Haddad .
He d i d very we l l ; however , Wor ld War I I k i l led the
embro idery bus iness . He then went to Egypt to see i f he
could do anything there .
He met and mar r i ed Leoni Trak ,
a d i stant re lat ive o f the Kassabs and had two ch i ldren , a
boy named Albert and a g ir l , Lorra ine , who d i ed i n her
teens .
Naj eeb took s i ck in B e i rut with c irrhos i s o f the
l iver and the doctors in Be irut adv i s ed him to come to
56
�Ame r i c a for treatment wh ich he did .
The d i s e a s e was we l l
advanced , neverthe l e s s a n operat ion was per f ormed f r om
wh i ch he apparent ly recovered .
He returned to B e i rut ,
but a f ew months l ater , the d i sease r eturned and he d i ed
in the 1 9 5 0 ' s .
Braheem ' s arr iva l worr ied us for h e had not
f in i shed h i s prel iminary education at the M i s s ion s chool
and he was not anxious to cont inue i t here .
Unw i l l i ng l y
h e went to schoo l at our ins i stence , but at t h e e n d o f
t h e schoo l year h e did not p a s s the course a n d h a d t o
repeat it .
H a l fway through the year ,
the p r i n c i p a l o f
the schoo l not i f i ed u s that the lad was not do ing we l l
and that he better f ind work to do .
B raheem wanted to hear .
That was j us t what
He started to work i n Chester in
a wood sawing factory , but he did not l ike that j ob ,
wa s too d i rty .
it
He went to New York and worked with
N a j e eb in the embro idery trade .
After a short per iod of
t ime , they l earned that Funcha l , Made ira , was the home
wh�re laces and embro idery were made ,
so Braheem went to
Funcha l and started in bus ine s s , manu f actur ing and
sh ipp ing to Naj eeb in New York .
He did very we l l .
Dur ing Wor ld War I I , the i s land lacked e l ectr i c ity ,
so
Braheem began t o make candles and supp l i ed the i s land .
He l oved Funcha l and made it h i s home .
He mar r i ed late
in h i s l i f e C l ara , a Portuguese gi r l , and had two boys ,
Alexander and Edward .
He died from cancer in 1 9 8 2 .
57
His
�w i f e , C l ara , d i ed from a heart attack wh i l e on a v i s it to
the U . S . A .
He had
sami came to America a fter Naj eeb .
f in i shed his prel iminary education i n the M i s s ion
Schoo l s , he d i d not want to go to the Co l l ege i n B e i rut ,
and father dec ided that America was the best p l ace for
h im .
We persuaded h im to go to schoo l here ,
month ' s t r i a l , he dec ided to go to work .
t o be emp l oyed .
but a fter a
He d i d not want
He wanted to be h i s own bos s .
He took a
j ob rep a i r ing t ires and when we saw that he made a
success at it we he lped him open a shop in our bu i ld i ng .
For a wh i le he d i d very we l l .
Then t ires began to
improve so much that it was not pay ing ,
a nother l ine of work .
exper i ence in bus iness .
so he changed to
He went to New York to get s ome
We had in our o f f ice a young
l a dy f r om Med i a , Matt i e C l evenger , work ing for us as an
a s s i s tant with whom Sami was fr iendly .
f r om New York the two were married .
When he c ame back
I t was a per f ect
match and they took over s i ster Ade l e ' s bus iness i n our
bu i ld i ng , 8 0 6 Edgmont Avenue ,
that interested ladies .
bus ine s s to Med i a .
for the s a l e of art i c l e s
They eventu a l ly moved the
They made a good l iving and were a
very happy coup l e but not for long .
Sami became s i ck
with cancer ; he wa s operated on but without succes s .
Now that a br i e f account o f the l ives o f my
brothers has been noted , we ' l l go back to the year 1 9 0 9 .
58
�Ma i l f r om home was .very d i stress ing ; f ather began wr i t i ng
how lonely he wa s ; that he m i s s ed the boys ; that he gave
up h i s j ob with the Miss ion , and that he d i d not f e e l
we l l , and that h e wanted t o s e e me .
He kept wr i t i ng that
he cou l d not see any reason why I d i dn ' t go back home ,
get mar r i ed and open an o f f ice in Dama scus where I am
My answers were not
needed and be c lose to him .
s a t i s factory .
So h i s wr iting style changed ,
about his phy s i ca l cond i t ion :
now mostly
that he had been examined
by two doctors ; that he had ga l l stones wh i ch mus t be
r emoved by surgery ; that he wa s sure that he wou l d not
surv ive ,
and that he wanted to see me before he d i ed .
So
I dec ided to go home for three months .
I
packed my persona l belong i ngs and my denta l
i nstruments hop ing to be ab l e to do some work f o r my
f o lks and left late in September on the North German
L l oyd s teamer " Be r l i n " for Nap les ,
connect ion there on the steamer ,
I t a ly , and made
" Pr i n z He inr i ch , " for
A lexandr i a , Egypt , hop ing to make connect ion there on the
Khed i ve Lines for Beirut . But though the steamer was
r eady ,
I cou ld not get aboard because they told me that
a l l the staterooms were occup i ed .
When I protested
say ing that my ticket ca l led for a stateroom on the ship ,
they s a i d that the only th ing they had wa s a p l ace in a
two bed room with another pas senger .
I accepted and no
s ooner that I embarked that the steamer l e f t and the be l l
59
�rang for lunch .
I left my luggage i n the room and went
After lunch , the pas senger s went up t o the
for lunch .
Wh i l e wa i t ing , a man c ame up
promenade deck for coffee .
carrying a sma l l tray on wh ich was a c o f f ee pot and a few
sma l l cups .
He was dressed in or ient a l garb .
He went
d i r ect ly to a gent lemen s itting on a cha ir watch i ng the
crowd and of f ered him a cup .
I nstead o f tak ing i t , the
gent l emen brought the carr i er directly to me and s a i d ,
" You are the gent l emen who wa s a s s igned to my room ,
I
w i l l not take the coffee un l e s s you share i t w ith me . "
S o I took the cup saying ,
" I am honored , S i r , thank you . "
Dur ing that afternoon and the f o l l ow i ng day other f avors
such a s or ienta l sweets or fru its were served by h i s men ,
but a lways o f f ered to me f i rst .
The evening o f the last
n i ght on board , we were stand ing on the ra i l i ng watch ing
the Lebanese shore , and he a sked me about the po l it i c a l
s itua t i on in Be irut .
I told h im that I had been away
f r om the country for several years , and he changed the
sub j ect . About ten o ' c lock ,
that on the morrow ,
I begged to be excused saying
I was go ing to meet my f o lks who were
com i ng to meet me and I had better retire .
could not s l eep .
I n my room ,
Long a fter midnight , the l ight was
turned on and a s he came in he s a id ,
" I am sorry that I awakened you . "
" That ' s a l l r ight , " I s a id .
" I ' m not a s l eep
for the excitement i s too much for me . "
60
I
�" I am very nervous for the morrow ; I am Abido ,
the out l aw from B e i rut , " he s a id .
" I have been
exi led from Be irut with the threat that shou ld
I r eturn , I wou ld be t aken stra ight to j a i l .
But they can ' t do that to Abido .
Don ' t you see
my henchmen? They are a l l armed and we have a
group coming out o f B e i rut to meet u s w i th
boats .
We have a rope f a stened at the stern o f
the ship and be fore the ship reaches t h e port
of Be irut , they w i l l come out to meet u s and we
wi l l go down on the rope to the boat s . Woe be
to h im who tr ies to stop us . "
H e unbuttoned h i s coat and there shined two revo lvers at
the h i lt . Need l e s s to say , there was no further s leep for
e ither o f us nor further comment .
We j us t r e c l i ned on
our beds t o awa it the break o f day .
I must have do z ed ,
f o r the deep b l owing o f the horn o f the s h ip brought me
to l i f e .
I rushed up to deck j ust i n t ime to see the
bo.a t s coming out with men and women com ing to the ship to
we lcome and rece ive the passengers a s the ship cou ld not
approach the shore .
with
Among the boats ,
I recogn i z ed one
my f ather , s i ster , cous in Shukr i , and a he lper who
was to take care of my luggage through customs .
After a
b r i e f per iod Shukri and I went to the stateroom t o get my
l uggage but there was no s ign o f any luggage ther e .
We
rushed up to the purser and told him our story and the
61
�f irst thi ng he asked wa s ,
" D id you have your room
l ocked? " The answer was no , and he s a id ,
r e spons i bl e . "
He cont inued ,
" We are not
" Hurry and look f or them in
the customs , you might catch the thi eves . " We hur r i ed but
were stopped by an o f f icer and told to go to the p a s sport
o f f ice for ident i f icat ion .
When we told him o f our l o s s
a n d begged for permiss ion t o g o and search , he permitted
us to go .
But i t wa s a l l in va i n .
My cou s i n asked i f I
had a companion and I told h im the s tory of Ab ido .
s a id ,
He
" Ab ido wa s pardoned by the sultan a f ew days ago ,
i t wa s i n the newspaper . "
Ab i do ' s house .
We took a cab and went to
We found the house was fu l l with
we l l -w i shers .
When Ab ido saw me , he rushed to grasp my
hand and s a id ,
" I didn ' t di e l "
c ongratulatory words ,
After a few
I asked a bout my luggage of wh i ch ,
o f cours e , he had no knowledge ,
and ca l l ing one o f the
men who were with us , we l earned that a l l the luggage
that was in the cabin wa s brought s a f e ly horne , wh i ch o f
course inc luded mine .
We thanked them for the i r troub l e
and for saving us from hav ing to go through customs .
Natur a l ly I didn ' t go back to check my pas sport .
Whe n an
o f f icer from the Immigration carne to the Kassab Brother ' s
store to check on the incoming stranger he was told that
h e wa s a relat ive of the fami ly and that he wi l l only be
here for a short v i s i t .
I was so worr i ed about my f ather and h i s t a lk
62
�about an opera t i on that the very next day I took h im to
h i s doctor who , a fter a thorough examinat ion , a s sured me
that my f ather had a case of ga l l stones wh ich cou ld be
taken care of with med ication and that no operat i o n was
neces sary .
My f ather was not sat i s f ied becaus e he s a id
that h i s doctor in Damascus had s a id that h i s p a i n i n h i s
back wou l d not b e cured without a n operat ion .
sat i s fy myse l f ,
S o to
I took h im to that c ity . Dr . McK inon , who
was the M i s s ion ' s doctor and a o ld f r iend of my f ather ,
t o l d me ,
" Your father wi l l not be s at i s f i ed unt i l he gets
a n operat i on . He i s in good shape .
s ometh ing t o do .
What he needs i s
My advice to you i s to get h im
s ometh ing to occupy h i s t ime . "
I t was good advice ,
f or
my f ather had begun to comp l a i n short ly after he had
g iven up his work the M i s s ion .
Ad j o ining our garden in f ront of the house in
B ludan , there was a v ineyard ( karm ) wh ich I thought would
be a very important add i t io'n to our property .
My f ather
thought it wou l d be wonderful but it was too expens ive .
I a sked ,
" How much do you think it i s worth? "
s a i d that the owner wanted one hundred pounds .
My f ather
I said ,
" Don ' t you th ink that wou ld be better than an operat i on? "
I can st i l l see the smi l e on my f ather ' s f ace when I
said ,
" You go over to B ludan tomorrow and buy i t . "
The
karm wa s bought and deeded in my name .
The next prob l em wa s where to spend the w i nter .
63
�B ludan was out o f the question for i t was too c o l d , and
D ama scus p o l i t i ca l ly was not s a f e .
B e i rut wa s the p l ace .
We dec ided that
We rented an apartment wh i ch was
supposed to be furni shed , but it had only b a s i c furn i ture
and we were obl iged to bring from B l udan our bare
neces s i t i e s .
t ime .
Though we were crowded , we had a very good
I apprec i ated every minute that I spent w ith my
f a ther .
I had l eft home as an immature boy and returned
a mature man and I could talk to h im a s an equa l .
I knew
f r om the nearly s ix hundred l etters that he had written
to us in America that my father was o f an unusua l
character - honest , truthfu l ,
was generous yet thr i fty .
l oving and unse l f i sh .
I cou ld now under stand why the
B ludanese loved him and wou ld swear by Abu Wadea .
was working ' on h i s teeth ,
When I
and would hurt h im a l it t l e , he
wou ld l ook up to me and say ,
r evenge ? "
He
" Ar e you tak ing your
I wou ld rep ly , ' " O f cours e .
How e l s e could I
have kept order? "
The t ime for my departure approached ,
a l l owed myse l f three months .
I had
I had a wonde r f u l vacat ion ,
and my mind was at ease about my father .
Now back to my
o b l igat i ons .
B idding my s i ster Fareedeh goodbye she s a i d ,
"I
have been th ink i ng that s i nce you have never been to
P a l est ine , and s ince you are s o interested in Sunday
s choo l work , I th ink that it wou ld be good for you to go
64
�I s a id ,
and see i t . "
" That ' s a very good s ugge s t i on ,
I
sha l l do i t . "
The s teamer ' s f irst stop was Ha i f a .
I got o f f
and surpr i sed my unc l e I skander , stayed w ith h im f o r the
r e s t of the day and the f o l l owing day took the t r a i n to
Jerusa l em , a three hour drive .
I entered the coach and
got the best seat next to a window ,
for we were g o i ng
through B ib l e c ountry and I wanted to study the s c enery .
I had w ith me the maps that I had bought i n Ha i f a .
S oon
the coach began to be f i l led with p a s s enger s and
present ly a man with f l owing robes and a green turban ( a
s ign that he had made the hadj to Mecca )
me and greeted me with " A l s a a l am Alykum . "
t ickets were c o l l ected ,
survey them .
sat down next to
After the
I took out the maps and began to
My seat mate l ooked over and s a i d ,
you are a tour i st .
speak good Arabic . "
" I s ee ,
I thought you wer e an Arab s ince you
I rep l i ed that I was Arab , that I
had not seen th i s part o f the c ountry before , and that I
was g o i ng to v i s i t Jerusa l em .
you f r om? "
Then he asked ,
" Where are
I r ep l i ed that I was f rom Dama s cu s but that I
had gone to Ame r i ca .
" Oh , " he s a id ,
" I am f r om D amascu s
a n d mak i ng a bus iness trip to Jerus a lem . "
The
conversat ion qu i eted for a l ittle wh i l e so I turned to my
maps .
But not for long .
s a id .
" I s i t a s wonderful as they say? "
" T e l l me about Ame r i c a , " he
He kept ask ing
one quest ion a fter another and I rea l i z ed that i t wa s no
65
�u s e , the part o f the country that was o f interest to me
had passed by , so I fo lded the maps .
f o r a minute .
a sked h im ,
said ,
We wer e now s i lent
I thought that I had o f f ended h im .
So I
" Now t e l l me something about your s e l f . "
He
" I am a Mu l l ah and I be long to the great mosque of
D amascu s ; I have made my visit to the Holy Mecca and I
dec ided to pay my respects to our Holy Shr ine i n
Jeru s a l em . "
" We l l , " I s a id ,
" We a r e then o n the s ame
m i s s i on . "
It was gett ing towards noon and he took out o f
h i s pocket a sma l l package saying ,
" I am hungry . "
I
could see that i t had a loaf o f bread , chees e , and
o l ives , and saying ,
" B i sm E l ah Alrahaman Alraheem , " he
p a s sed the package to me .
s ay ing ,
I thanked h im ,
" You must break bread with me . "
sma l l p i ece and he s a id ,
but he ins i sted
So I took a
" Now we are brothers . "
I n a few
m inut e s a fter that we approached the stat ion , and as he
descended the steps of the car , he turned to me and s a id ,
" M.' a e l S a lameh . "
After s ecur ing my lodg ing and with map i n hand ,
I toured the important p l aces of Jeru s a l em and
environment and I took the l etter of introduct ion that my
unc l e had wr itten .
I gave it to h i s f r iend and he was
very p l ea s ed to do someth ing for unc le .
He showed me the
Mosque of Omar and the el Aks a and exp l a i ned t o me the i r
h i stories and the stages o f rebu i lding .
66
He then took me
�downstairs and showed me the Chamber o f Prayer .
v i s it was very instruct ive .
The
There was one p l ace l e f t on
my map and I dec ided to v i s i t Bethl ehem .
I h ired a
donkey even though the d i stance was not very far .
There
were many tour i s t s f rom my hot e l who were go i ng by bus .
The owne r of the donkey pra i sed the anima l t o be very
good and everyth ing was a l l r ight when I started .
But
when I d i smounted , he started to retreat towards home and
i n t ime I caught h i s br id l e .
No matter how hard I
pu l led , he had the better o f me ,
so I l et h im go and I
cont i nued wa lking towards Bethlehem .
How impress ive i s
the exterior o f the Church o f the Nativ ity ; and how deep
a n impress ion is left on your memory when you l ook at the
grotto where the Baby Savior was born .
There were others
b e s ide me at that sacred spot but no one had power to say
a word .
On the way ,
returned .
The owner reached to pay me back ,
d i d that to you too? "
it . "
I stopped to s e e i f the a n ima l had
I said ,
" Keep it ,
say i ng ,
"He
it was worth
I wa lked s lowly back to the c ity med itat ing on j us t
what h a d happened .
I saw a crowd mov ing s l owly ,
for
every l ittle wh i l e they wou ld get on the ir knee s and
chant someth ing that I could not understand .
They were
Rus s ian p i lgr ims recit ing the stations of the cross .
f o l l owed s l owly to the Church o f the Holy Sepu lche r .
I
I
had been there the day before but what I had gone through
67
�today put me in an ent i r e ly d i f f er ent sp ir i t .
I t has been s a id and j us t ly that there are many
more things yet to be d i scovered in Pa l e s t i ne than what
a lr eady has been uncovered , and that a person cou l d spend
h i s who l e l i f e i n the ir pur suit but without succe s s .
I
wa s g l ad that I took my s i ster ' s advice and c ame over .
I
s aw in a f ew days so many thing s that took me back
thousands of years in h i story .
For now ,
I j ust wanted
to expe r ience the same f e e l ing that one on my fr i ends had
as he stood on Mount O l ives and ga z ed at the expanse o f
Jerus a l em before h im , with the sun bathing t h e go lden
cup o l a o f the temp l e and re f l ect ing its rays w ith an
imprint which one can never f orget .
have t h a t exper i ence today _
I hoped that I wou ld
O f cour s e ,
the tour i s t and
the p i lgrim are shown many p l aces and told many stor i e s
wh i ch c o u l d n o t p o s s i b l y be genu ine or true , wh i l e others
are probably genu ine .
True , too , mountains a nd h i l l s of
themse lves cannot change , bu i ld ings and other s i tes
cr.e ated by the hands o f man do change . Mount Z ion or Mt .
Mor i a do not change , but the bu i ld ings constructed on
them do change .
David .
One p l ace that i s genu ine i s the Tomb of
Today there i s a mosque on the s ite .
Not only i s
Dav id bur i ed there but a l s o h i s son S o l omon and others o f
t h e good anc ient kings o f I srae l .
Th i s mosque i s near
the C loenacu lum , the upper room where the Lord had h i s
l a s t supper with h i s d i sc ip l e s .
68
There was a mosque bu i lt
�over the tomb with a wide door and a passage t o another
court l ead ing to the mosque . I s aw the door opened and
the passage lead ing to the s econd door .
Just a s I moved
to enter the mosque I was rough ly stopped by two a rmed
men who c a l l ed me " the cursed p ig . "
I am sure that I
wou ld have been s everely beaten or ser iou s ly i n j ured had
not a man with f l owing robes and a turban i nterfered .
ca l l ed to them to stop and to me " I cht i fee . "
He
Though my
knee s began to shake , I managed to d i s appear .
I t was the
h a j j i who wa s my seat mate on the tra i n from Ha i f a to
I wanted to wa it to thank h im , but I was
Jerus a l em .
shaken with fear and thought that it wou ld be wiser to
comp ly with his order to disappear .
I managed to f i nd
the narrow wind i ng street to reach my l odg i ng s .
I
must have l ooked fr ightened ,
at the desk o f the lodg ing house sa id ,
f o r the c l erk
" You ' re sure ly
l ucky because they could have been very rough w ith you .
There are only two persons who are not mos l ems who have
s een i n s ide the mosque .
One is the Prince o f Wa l e s ,
and
the other Ka i s er Wi lhe lm of Germany by a spec i a l order
from the Sultan .
But s ince you didn ' t go i n you are in
no danger . "
Just before sunset ,
I ventured out t o get a
l a st look at Jerus a l em from the top o f Mt . O l ives .
Though the v i ew wa s magn i f icent with the rays o f the sun
b l a z i ng on the cupola of the temple ,
69
I did not get the
�f e e l i ng that my f r i end had previou s l y descr ibed .
Howeve r ,
the words of the Lord came to mind and I f e l t
mys e l f say ing ,
" Oh , Jerusa l em , Jerusalem .
Thou that k i l l e st
the prophets and stone st them wh ich are sent t o thee ;
How often wou ld I have gathered thy chi ldren together
even as a hen gathers her chickens under her w ings , and
ye wou ld not .
Behold , your house i s left unto you
d e s o late . "
I t was the t ime to be back to my work ,
took the tra in back to Ha i f a .
so I
The f o l l ow i ng day I l e f t
by steamer f o r Al exandr ia , then Genoa , Par i s ,
c r o s s ed the
E ng l i sh Channe l to London , Southampton , New York and
horne .
The fo lks were happy to we lcome me ,
espec i a l ly
Wadea , because he was anx ious to get r i d o f my p a t i ents .
I d i d not waste any t ime , becaus e the s ervice that my
pat i ents had rece ived from Wadea wa s j ust enough t o t ide
them over unt i l I returned .
I was g l ad to get t o work
f or I had a good restfu l vacat ion .
At that t ime my s i ster Ade l e f in i shed her
tra in ing a s a nurse and carne over expect ing to f ind work ;
but she cou ld not because her diploma was not r ecogn i z ed
i n th i s country ,
To be e l ig ib l e wou ld requ ire a year ' s
s tudy here in Amer ica .
Ade l e d i d not want to do that
becau s e her hea lth wa s not good enough ,
so rather than
s e e ing her idle , we suggested open ing a sma l l store and
70
�start i ng in bus iness .
She was del i ghted .
We rented a
sma l l shop oppos ite the Young Women ' s Chr i st i an
A s s o c i a t i on and stocked it with art i c l e s that were o f
i nterest to women .
Naj eeb he lped her by s end i ng a fu l l
Ade l e wa s very
l in e o f embro ider ies from New York .
She cou ld kn i t and embro ider and
c l ever w ith her hands .
she taught many of her customers .
She d i d quite we l l .
Not long a fter Ade l e l e ft home , my f ather ' s
letters began to show s igns of lone l iness , yet he stopped
a s k ing the boys and me espec i a l ly to come f o r a v i s i t .
I t turned out that dur ing the short war ,
I ta ly-Turkey , he
was v i s ited by an agent from the gove rnment demand i ng why
Ae lyas and N a j eeb Kassab did not re spond when they were
c a l led t o serve in the army .
My f ather rep l i ed that the
boys had l ong ago gone to America and proba b l y d i dn ' t
The agent s a i d that he had
know a nyth ing about it .
better arrange to pay for a sUbst itute or e l s e the boys
wou l d be cons idered AWOL .
Father ' s l etter showed that he
was greatly d i sturbed . I wrote h im not to worry , that we
were now both Amer icans and that it wou ld take more than
the Turks to get us .
I
added that s i nce he was a l one
there was no reason why he wouldn ' t come to pay u s a
v i s it , that he wou ld see not only u s ,
but h i s
grandch i ldren and th i s great country . T o prove our
s i ncer ity that a l l expenses were guaranteed , Wadea and I
enc l o s ed the pr ice o f a t icket .
71
To our great surpr i s e he
�wrote that he wou ld come a fter he attended to some
important th ing s .
We cont inued ins i st ing week a fter week
that we were wa i t ing to hear the news that he had set the
date and when no f avorable answer came ,
say ing ,
" Dad ,
I wrote h im
I never knew you to go back on your word . "
H e rep l i ed that he wou l d f i n i sh h i s work i n ten days and
that he wou ld go to Beirut and buy h i s t i cket and be on
h i s way .
Th i s cheered us a l l . Unfortunately ,
soon
therea fter , we had a l etter f rom cou s i n Ameen say ing that
he took f ather to buy the t i cket from Thomas Cook and
Sons whos e o f f ice wa s on the shore s ide fac ing the sea .
I t was a very stormy day and the waves were h igh ,
str iking the stony wa l l .
When my f ather s aw that he
changed his mind , and noth ing could change it .
Father
was terr i f ied of the water from a bad expe r i ence he had
a s a chi ld .
H i s unc l e N i ck who l ived in D j oun i eh , took
f ather out to teach him how to swim .
Somehow f ather
s l i pped f rom his care and nearly drowned and ever s ince
h e. dreaded the s ight of the sea .
Ameen s a id ,
not use , arguments were to no ava i l . "
his r e fusa l to go .
" There was
He wa s adamant in
My f ather wrote begg ing us to excuse
h im , that it was beyond his contro l . He p l eaded with me
to come say ing that it had been a long t ime s i nce I had
had a vacation and that l i fe wa s too short and that he
wanted to see me before he d i ed , etc .
Wadea a l s o
e ncouraged me and promi sed t o take care of my pract ice
72
�and to l ook a fter M i s s Mary , who had had a stroke .
I
dec ided to make the trip .
I l e ft New York by steamer f o r London where I
spent about a week see ing the s ights .
There were two
t h i ngs that I wa s anx ious to see : the Rosetta stone , and
the anc i ent manuscr ipts in the London Museum .
I a lso
wanted to pay my respects t o the memory o f Char l e s
D i ckens i n Westminster Abbey .
I had a very p l easant
v i s it . w ith Mr . B . W . Mat z who wa s then the secretary of
the D i ckens F e l lowship .
He o f f ered to show me the s ites
and s ights immorta l i z ed by D i ckens .
I did not accept
say ing that I wou ld impos e on h i s t ime and I thanked him
j us t the s ame .
He corresponded with M i s s Mary a lmost
every week .
Par i s was then next on the s chedu l e .
the Channe l without gett ing s i ck .
I crossed
I had a great surp r i s e
when I went t o v i s i t our dear fr iend George Mossaw i r ,
whose brother marr ied my cous in S e lma .
He told me that I
had j ust m i s sed my brother Naj eeb who was on h i s way to
F l orence ,
Italy .
He a l s o told me that Unc l e I skander
with Cous in Az i z were a l s o in Par i s on the ir way to
Constant inop l e and Be irut , and that my s i ster with her
husband were spend ing the ir honeymoon i n Par i s in an
apartment near the Arc de Triomph .
Az i z and I v i s ited
with my s i ster and her husband for a short wh i l e , then
got l odg ings nearby .
Unc le and cou s i n were spend ing j ust
73
�two days in Par i s and were then l eaving for
Constant inop l e via the or ient Expre s s .
My t icket to
B e i rut was via the Med i terranean , and at my unc l e ' s
ins i stence , I canceled my t i cket and j o ined them on the
train .
He even paid the d i f f erence in the fare .
We l e ft Par i s in the morning for Vienna ,
stopped only to change engines , then on to B e lgrade
cros s ing the Alps through the S imp lon Tunne l .
As we
moved from one country to another , we showed our
pas sports .
The train had only one s l eeping berth
unoccup i ed and we a l lotted it to Unc l e I skander .
Az i z
and I passed the t ime e i ther in our seats or walk ing i n
t h e corr idor .
When we reached the Austr ian border , the
conductor accompanied by an Austrian pol iceman checked
our pas sports .
Just bef ore go ing to s l eep Unc l e I skander
r ea l i z ing that at each border he was go ing to be awakened
for th i s f orma l ity , showed the conductor where he p l aced
the p a ssport and begged him not to wake h im .
Everyth i ng
went we l l unt i l we reached the Turk i sh border .
Unc l e ' s surpr i s e , there wa s no passport .
s a id ,
To
The o f f icer
" I am sorry , Mi ster , we ' l l have to deta in you . "
Unc l e charged the conductor with tak i ng it .
s a id to Unc l e ,
f o l l owed .
" Come with me . "
The o f f icer
He l ed the way and we a l l
Unc l e didn ' t te l l us that one of h i s customers
w ith whom he wa s do ing bus iness wa s coming to meet him .
74
�When he m i ssed h im at the gate o f the stat ion , he began
to ask and look for h im .
He surmised that i t might be
pas sport troub l e . As he entered the o f f ice , he shouted ,
" What are you do ing here ? " " Someone stole my p a s sport , "
r ep l ied my unc le , and turn ing to the conductor , h e
cont inued ,
" You s aw it an hour ago . "
turned t o the conductor and s a id ,
my fr i end l ike that .
Unc l e ' s f r i end
" I t is a shame to treat
You must produce the pas sport th i s
a fternoon or e l se I ' l l hold you accountab l e .
S ir . "
Come on ,
They never bothered looking at our pas sports .
Th i s was good for me ,
for I entered the country
un i de nt i f ied .
We stayed in I stanbu l long enough for Unc l e to
f in i sh his bus iness wh i l e Az i z and I exp l ored the
beaut i f u l c ity and then we boarded the steamer Portuga l ,
the s ame steamer that f i fteen years before took me on my
l ap o f the j ourney to Amer ica .
Greek i s l ands of the Aegean Sea .
c la s s ,
We s a i l ed through the
We were trave l ing f irst
so I took Unc le and Az i z and showed them how I
trav e l ed on th i s steamer " on deck " and I wanted t o show
them how they put us in the ho ld o f the ship ,
but a s we
went down the steps Unc l e cou ld not stand the stench and
came back up .
We had a very warm we lcome i n Be i rut , mo st
members o f the f am i ly came out in boats to greet us .
pas sport prob l em caused troub le aga in .
that I must not show mine ,
The
Every one dec ided
in fact my father took it away
75
�from me .
Our d i stant relat ive by marr i age N i c o l a
Mos s aw i r s a id ,
" Leave it t o me ,
then gave m e h i s t i cket ,
I c a n hand l e i t . "
"Admi t one , " and s a i d ,
He
" That
w i l l take care o f you , and I ' l l manage to get out . "
then told Ameen to look a fter our luggage .
He
Fortuna t e l y
everyth ing worked out a l l r i ght .
The next f ew days , we had the prob l em o f where
t o spend the summer .
I t was the midd l e o f July 1 9 1 4 and
the wor ld wa s a s t i r with the news of war .
I ndeed we had
seen s igns of i t a s we trave led here from P ar i s ,
for at
every stat i on we saw sold iers on and around the stat ion
i n group s , earnestly talk ing with worr i ed faces
apparent ly d i scuss ing the threat of war .
Ameen who had
an entree to the Eng l ish papers reported that the t a l k
about w a r was preva lent everywhere .
H i s op i n i on was that
we shou l d rent a place in Lebanon c l ose to B e i rut where
i n case o f troub l e we wou ld be safe .
I n case o f war ,
B e i rut was not s a f e because in 1 8 6 1 the Great P ower s
f orced the Turks t o free Lebanon , but the agreement
exc luded B e i rut .
We rented a large house in Bhamdoun in
the Lebanon Mountains large enough to accommodate our
f am i l y wh ich inc luded s i ster Asma and her two ch i ldren ,
Ameen and f am i l y with Shukr i , Az i z and Mar i e .
spar s e ly furn ished but f a ir ly comfortable .
I t was
That wa s a
good arrangement for Ameen and h i s brothers were a b l e to
go down to the ir work in the morning and return for
76
�s upper and a cool night ' s s l eep .
We had hoped t o spend a
beaut i fu l vacat i on together , but a l a s our hopes were
shattered by the dark c louds of war .
August f irst ,
On Sunday n ight
I was awakened at midnight by cous i n Ameen
who had arrived f rom Be irut with the awful news that war
was dec lared and that a l l exits from B e i rut were b l ocked
by the a rmy .
Ha l f awake , I j umped f rom my bed and s a i d ,
" I must l e ave at once . "
He s a id ,
" Wake up , Ae lyas ,
and talk rat i o na l ly .
Y ou
can ' t go down to Be i rut for you wi l l be caught
at once .
I j ust arrived f r om the c ity and the
pol ice are a lready at the border s .
Now give me
a l l the checks , dra fts on Thoma s Cook and S ons .
I am go ing back now so that I w i l l be at Cook ' s
o f f ice where they wi l l cash them for me .
It is
better t o be on the s a fe s ide . "
He took them and went down and cashed them .
And what a w i s e thought that wa s for the banks c l osed
that day and hard cash was unava i lab l e .
How the f am i ly
wou ld have suffered that summer had Ameen not ca shed the
checks !
When the news spread , everybody who could get
out of Be irut was on the way to Lebanon and the roads
were c l ogged with vehicles and with pede s t r i ans carry ing
t h e i r be long ings .
where to go .
They squatted on the road not knowing
They j ust wanted to be away from under
77
�But soon it was announced that the
Turk i sh ru le .
government had abrogated the Cap itu lat ion wh i ch had made
Lebanon free and that now Lebanon was under Turk i sh ru l e .
I t was a l s o announced that a l l men o f m i l i tary age shoul d
regi ster in the army and those who p r e f e r n o t to s e rve in
the army wou ld be excused. by pay ing for a sUbst itute .
For a wh i le nobody paid any attent i on to these orders
be l ieving that Lebanon wa s a free state and that the
Tur k i sh author ities wou ld not dare put the i r f oot on
Lebanon ' s so i l .
But they soon saw the Turki sh po l ice
a round and they began to f l ee to the mounta ins .
My
cous ins , because of the i r bus ine s s in Be irut , p a i d the
f e e and they were ab l e to go through the cordon of p o l i c e
w i thout any d i f f iculty .
When the government found that very f ew obeyed
the ca l l for regi strat ion ,
searching the houses .
it started a program o f
When the searchers wou ld show up
a nywhere , watchers wou ld sound the a larm and thos e who
were e l i g i b l e wou ld disappear .
Naj eeb and I twi c e l e f t
o u r beds at n ight and sought re fuge in a house that had
j us t been searched .
Thus went our summer ; had it not been f o r the
war we wou ld have had a very de l ightful vacat i on ; now the
worry was how to get out . Everybody wa s g i v ing advice ,
for examp l e , work on a boat that s a i l s between D j oun i eh
and Cypress .
About the f irst o f October Ameen c ame up
78
�f rom B e i rut and s a id ,
steamer ,
" I have good news for you .
Sphinx , o f the Message r i Mar it ime ,
and is l eaving in two days for Franc e .
The
is i n B e i rut
I t i s go i ng t o
stop at D j oun ieh and maybe you c a n board her there . "
So
N a j eeb and I went to D j oun i eh with brother - in - l aw S a l eem
Haddad and wa ited .
Sure enough the Sph inx came a l ong
f o l lowed by a Turk ish gunboat and both anchored .
There
were many peop l e bes ides us wa i t ing t o board her , but
b e f or e any one could reach the ship a sma l l tug boat with
a po l i ceman and two gendarmes came a shore and announced
that no one who didn ' t have a Lebane s e pas sport wou l d be
a l l owed to board the ship .
they got on .
Few peop l e wer e lucky and
After loading the cargo , the ship l i f ted
anchor and s a i led .
How disappo inted we were ! Ameen was
p lann ing a trip for us to Cyprus whe n he heard that the
Sph inx wa s mak i ng a trip to D j oun i eh aga i n t o p ick up a
cargo the same a s before .
Th i s t ime S a leem Haddad , who
used to l ive in D j oun ieh and who worked there as the
sup e r i ntendent of a mi l l mak ing f l our , knew the boatman
qu ite we l l and thought that he might be a b l e to get u s
on .
We were at D j ouni eh on the appo i nted day and the
s ame scene happened as before .
Sa l eem went up to the
boatman he knew from before and s a i d to him ,
are my peop l e .
p a s sport .
" Look , these
They are Amer icans and have an Amer i can
They a l so had an exit v i s a to l eave Lebanon . "
Tak i ng an Eng l i sh sovere ign from h i s pocket he cont i nued ,
79
�" I ' l l g ive th i s to you i f you can get them on that s h ip . "
The boatman ' s eyes got big when he saw the gold c o i n and
he s a id ,
" Do they have a Lebanese pas sport?
You know
that no one can board the ship without it . "
r ep l i ed ,
" I f they had Lebanese pas sport s ,
o f fer you th i s c o in . "
r ight ,
I ' l l go .
us he s a i d ,
I wou ldn ' t
Hassan the boatman rep l i ed ,
"All
I have noth ing to lose , " and turn ing to
" Leave it a l l to me .
you understand?
S a l e em
Don ' t say a word , do
G ive me your passports . "
w ith
trep idat i on , we went a l ong and when we reached the boat
Has san shouted ,
" Good morn ing . " There were no answer .
Then Hassan s a i d in a qu i et moderated vo ice ,
A l ikom , " to wh ich he go the usua l rep ly ,
"Al S a laam
" Wa A l i kom Al
S a laam . " Hassan got c l oser and then handed over the
p a s sports and s a id ,
" Ya Seed i , the s e two young men are
Amer icans and here are the ir pas sports . " The o f f icer
r ep l i e d ,
" None but Lebanese can leave . "
" I thought that they cou ld go .
Hassan answered ,
They even showed me the ir
e x.it permit . " " They don ' t know what they are talk ing
about , " s a id the o f f icer .
" Li sten to me , " begged Ha ssan ,
" For God ' s sake and our Holy Prophet , they a s sured me
that they were r ight and they showed me the exit permit .
Just l ook at it p lea se .
Wa l l ah i ,
I haven ' t made a Bara
for so long and my chi ldren cry every day that I go home
w ithout a loaf of bread . "
Th i s wa s s a id wi th such a
broken down vo ice that the o f f i cer took one f rom me and
80
�a s he opened i t , h i s back wa s to the sun and a s the sun
h it the sheet ,
I cou ld see that the s e a l was on top o f
the page wh ich indicated that the o f f icer d i d not know
a ny European language and h i s attempt at read i ng was only
a sham .
But he started asking me ,
" Who are you , what ' s
your name , where are you from , where are you g o i ng , " to
wh i ch I made no answer .
He opened my brother ' s p a s sport
and a sked the s ame quest ions with the s ame result .
Meanwh i l e Hassan was talk ing very rap idly ,
ch i ldren have not eaten .
" For days my
May God s end us some money .
Our prophet b l e s sed thos e that fed the hungry ; b l e s s ed
and promi sed them long l i fe , " and as he saw the o f f icer
f o ld Na j eeb ' s passport said ,
Rash i d .
" My name i s Hassan abo
Ask for me , everybody knows me . "
w i th that the
o f f icer pointed us towards the ship .
None o f the three of us s a i d a word unt i l we
were far away from the boat , then my brother a sked ,
d i d you do it? "
it.
" How
Hassan s a id that the last sentence d id
I s a id noth ing unt i l I he ld the ra i l i ng and put my
f oot on the step of the ship for I knew then that I was
on a French ship and Unc le Sam was back ing me up .
N a j eeb ,
I told
" There is a book cal l ed P i lgr im ' s Progr e s s ,
ma in character i s a man cal led Chr i st i an .
its
He was
trave l ing on the road of l i fe with a big bund l e o f h i s
m i sdeed o n h i s back , and o n h i s way , h e saw the face o f
Chr i s t and as h e looked a t it that heavy bund l e f e l l o f f
81
�Now I am l ike him .
h i s back .
That big bund l e o f worry
has f a l len o f f our backs , may i t never return . "
Up on deck , we found a f ew pass enger s who had
gotten on ear l ier in the morning and they congratu l ated
u s when they heard our story . When the ship f in i shed
load ing its cargo ,
it returned to B e i rut and ear l y i n the
a f t ernoon the passengers from B e irut began to embark .
We
kept watch ing to see i f someone perchance m ight have our
l uggage ,
for our brother - i n - l aw Sa leem had agreed that a s
soon a s he s a w us go ing to the ship , he wou ld return to
B e i rut with our luggage and g ive it in trust for s omeone
t o g ive it to u s .
As it turned out , my aunt a nd her
daughter who had spent the summer in Lebanon and who were
now returning to cairo g l adly accepted the j ob .
A l l the
conversat i on among the passengers was about the upheava l
i n Lebanon and the good fortune of thos e who were a b l e to
l eave .
We arr iVed in Alexandr ia in good t ime and we
t o.ok the train to cairo .
Aunt i e ins i sted that we go home
and stay with her , that she had a spare room ,
wou l d accept no refusa l .
and she
Our prob l em now wa s how t o
reach London where there wa s a committee for stranded
Ame r icans .
The banks in Ca iro were c losed and Aunt i e
hardly had enough cash t o take care o f her d i r e needs .
Then I r emembered that f ive years ear l i er , the bank o f
C a i ro c l osed its doors and a student who w a s study i ng
82
�dent istry at the Univer s i ty of Pennsy lvan i a was u na b l e to
pay the t u i t i on for the second s eme ster o f the year a nd
wou ld not have been able to cont inue h i s cour s e had not
the Dean of the scho o l told him ,
" There is a countryman
of your s prac t i c ing in Chester .
Go s e e h im , he m i ght be
a b l e to help you . "
He carne and I he lped h im .
h i s o f f i c e in Cairo and went to see h im .
s tory and he s a id ,
" My dear Kas sab ,
your k indness to me .
I l ocated
I told him my
I ' l l never f orget
You know that the banks are c l o sed
and I don ' t have loose cash , but I ' l l not s e e you
stranded .
Come w ith me . "
we entered a store .
owner ,
We wa lked a short d i s tance and
After introduc ing me , he s a i d to the
" G i ve me a pound ( Egypt i an ) . "
" Ar e you cra z y? "
My fri end s a id ,
have t ime to argue .
I am serious ,
H i s f r i end rep l i ed ,
" Come on now ,
I don ' t
I am in a hurry . "
He
got h i s pound . He tried the same on another store w ith
the s ame resul t .
A l l that a fternoon , he went from p l ace
t o p lace , begg ing from some .
Fina l ly he r a i sed the
required amount o f f i fteen pounds .
He wanted to take me
around the c ity but I re fused saying that t ime was very
short and that I wanted to go and t e l l my brother who wa s
i nqui r ing about steamer ' s schedu l e s .
I prom i s ed that I
wou l d send h im the money as soon a s I reached Ches ter ,
and I inv ited h im to v i s i t me in America .
Naj eeb found out that the f irst ship reach ing
London wa s the Wh ite star L iner Pers i a wh i ch was
83
�s chedu led to depart in two on three days depending on
when i t arr ived f rom Austra l i a , and that if we wanted to
t rave l on her we wou ld need c l earance from the B r i t i sh
Embassy .
The author ities there were very g l ad to s e e us .
They kept asking us in deta i l about the s ituat ion i n
B e i rut .
We told them a l l that we knew . Having rece ived
our c l earance and a permit to leave Cairo , we went by
t r a i n to Port S a id and wa ited .
The Per s i a wa s a l it t l e
late because s h e had to change h e r cours e s evera l t imes
i n order to escape from the German r a ider " Emden . "
Because she was late , she did not tarry l ong .
I t was
crowded but we got on and need l e s s to say we were very
anx i ou s when the Persia cont inued to change her course
through the Med i terranean .
we r eached G ibra ltar .
However , out m inds e a s ed when
The weather was bad enough t o make
us s ea s i ck when we s a i l ed through the Bay of B i s cay .
When we reached the Eng l i sh Channe l , our m inds wer e eased
when we saw two minesweepers gu iding us through the mine
f i€ lds . Ha l fway through the channel we cou l d s e e f l a shes
of l ight .
The Germans were then bombarding Antwerp .
We
docked without any d i f f icu lty and wa lked stra i ght to the
Y . M . C . A . of wh i ch I wa s a member .
free f oot of space .
f a r and near .
There was hard l y a
It was crowded w ith s o ld i er s f r om
After a thorough search I located the
s ecretary and begged for accommoda t i ons showing h im my
i nternat i ona l Y membership .
He s a id ,
84
" Doctor , you can
�s e e f o r yourse l f . "
When he saw our d i s appo intment and
how weary we were , he s a id ,
" You come with me , " and
tak i ng me by the hand wa lked j ust a l it t l e f r om the Y and
knocked at a door .
door , he s a id ,
When a middle aged l ady opened the
" I want you to g i ve t h i s man and h i s
brother she lter f or the night .
f r om abroad . "
She s a id ,
They have j us t l anded
" I am p leased to . "
and I had a wonderful night ' s s l eep .
Both N a j eeb
I n the morning I
a sked her i f we cou ld stay unt i l we f ound p a s s age abroad .
She s a id a s long as you care to .
I thanked her and was
re l ieved when she said that she did not want t o be p a i d
unt i l we were ready to l eave .
I had very l it t l e money ,
j us t one pound and two sh i l l ings .
We had break f a s t at
one of the cha in restaurants , two s o f t bo i l ed egg s and a
cup o f tea for n ine pence each . Our next prob l em was
get t i ng cash f or we cou ld do nothing w ithout i t . S o we
s ought the help of the committee f or the a id of stranded
Ame r icans .
Hearing my story , the c lerk handed me two
l arge sheets to f i l l out .
I s a id ,
" Why do I have to do
a l l th i s and put you to a great dea l of troub l e whe n I
have money in the bank but you won ' t l e t me get hold o f
it?
I don ' t want you t o loan m e anyth ing .
do is to cable for it . "
regu l a t i ons . "
I rep l i ed ,
He s a id ,
A l l I want to
" That ' s against the
" We l l then ,
if you think that I
am a spy I ' l l g i ve you the name of my bank and let the
comm i ttee cable for me at my r i sk and expense . " He s a i d
85
�that he would go and ask .
I gave him my name and that o f
t h e bank with t h e requested amount o f f i fty pound s .
went t o ask and r eturned with a hope f u l reply ,
'
He
" Come
tomorrow and we ' l l l et you know . " On the morrow there was
no news but the day a fter he s a i d ,
is the money . "
What a r e l i e f !
" You are lucky , here
We went stra i ght away to
Thoma s Cook ' s o f f ice and found that the only ship o f
Ame r ican regi stry was the st . Paul wh i ch was t o s a i l
three days hence .
We booked pas sage . I t was a one c l a s s
s h i p and be ing o f Amer ican regi stry w a s s a f e f rom the
German ra iders .
That done we got accommodat i ons i n the
Strand P a lace Hote l , then on to the Y where we thanked
the s ecretary , then we paid our hostes s .
Next was a
f irst c l a s s restaurant f or a good mea l .
Our trip on the st . Paul was without a ny
i nc ident , neverthe l e s s we were very happy to s e e the
Statue of L iberty in New York and the we lcome at the
dock .
N a j eeb rema ined in the c i ty and prom i s ed to f o l low
a s. s oon a s he took care of some important bus ine s s .
Back home to Chester , to a loving and w a i t ing
pract i c e , and to a country fearful of gett ing embr o i l ed
i n the great war .
Pres ident W i l son was do ing h i s best to
keep u s out of i t even though the German submar ines were
p l ay i ng havoc with our sh ipp ing .
But when the l iner
Lus itan i a wa s torpedoed with heavy loss of human l i f e ,
W i l son ca l l ed the German ambas sador �nd gave h im the
86
�d i sm i s s a l order ,
and we were in the war .
I was beyond
the dra f t age but my f r i end Dr . Lucki e and a f ew others
vo lunteered with me to look a fter the drafted men ' s teeth
and g ive them the needed service .
After the war we
rece ived the thanks of the President and Congre s s for our
services .
Short ly a fter the war two th i ng s o f importance
happened to our fami ly .
Sara ( Wadea ' s w i f e )
left for
B e i rut to pay a v i s i t to her f ami ly , a n d M i s s Mary
s u f f ered a heavy stroke wh ich para l y z ed her l e ft s ide .
We had a hard t ime managing her because she was very
heavy .
I n a few days her speech returned to norma l , but
she was par a l y z ed on the left s ide f rom her shou lder
down .
I was l iv i ng with them then at 8 0 2 Edgmont Avenue ,
whi le our o f f ices were at 8 0 6 Edgmont Avenue , and i t was
d i f f icu lt for me to leave my o f f ice when I wa s needed for
he lp .
As I recorded previous ly , Wadea ' s bu i ld ing ,
bes ides our o f f ices , �ad three l arge and thre e sma l l
apartments .
One of the l arge ones was d irect ly across
the ha l l from my o f f ice , so we moved and occup i ed i t .
Years be f ore , when Miss Mary wa s in London ,
she had
v i s ited the f am i ly of Char les Dickens and was introduced
t o h i s son who wa s then the pres ident of the D i ckens
F e l lowship .
On her arr iva l back home she organ i z ed a
branch o f th i s society wh ich was the f irst branch o f the
She had a genu ine i nterest
F e l lowship in North Amer ica .
87
�i n th i s F e l l owship , she kept a l l the records and m inute s
o f t h e meet ings .
Even with her para lys i s ,
of a l l contacts with London .
she took care
Fortunate ly she cou l d u s e
her r ight hand s o she could h e l p her se l f , but tak i ng care
of her in bed was very hard on her s i ster so we got h e lp .
Y e a r s be fore the s i sters adopted a young g i r l , Joseph ine ,
who had no relat ives and who in t ime was marr ied to a
baker , James Sweeny .
w i th u s .
She volunteered to come and stay
I t was very fortunate for u s because a short
wh i le later E l i z abeth caught a cold .
Wh i l e her doctor
was treat ing her , he went away on a f i sh i ng tr ip w i thout
t e l l i ng us whom to ca l l in case of emergency nor d i d he
ask someone to look a fter his pat i ents wh i le he was away .
When we were able to get a subst itute , the cold had
deve l oped i nto a case of pneumon i a f r om wh i ch E l i z a beth
d i d not survive .
S ince she had been both the hous ekeeper
' and the cook , our prob lem doubl ed .
S o we asked Josephine
" t o br i ng her husband and l ive with u s .
They agr e ed and
they stayed with us unt i l Mary d i ed .
One morning a s I was operating my secretary
said ,
" There i s a gent l eman to see you . "
the wa it ing room to see .
YMCA in Chester .
s a id ,
He sa-id ,
I went out to
He was the secretary o f the
" I s George any r e l at i on? "
" Yes , he i s my unc l e , why do you a sk? "
I
He s a i d ,
"I
don ' t know the gent l eman , but I rece ived th i s l etter from
h i m wh i ch conta ins not very good news .
88
I am very sorry
�t o t e l l you that your f ather , your s i ster ' s husband
S a l eem and h i s daughter Wadad pas sed away dur ing the war ,
and he thought that th i s was the best way to break the
news to you . "
I thanked him for h i s words o f sympathy
and I told him that I fu l ly appreciated how d i f f icult i t
w a s for him to d e l iver th i s mes sage .
D i scus s ing th i s with the rest of the fami ly , we
a l l r ecogn i z ed how d i f f icult it must have been for my
s i ster to bear a l l the sUf fer ing dur i ng the war trying to
get the nece s s it i e s of l i f e even though we were send i ng
her a s t ipend each month .
We did not know whether or not
she wa s even rece iving the money !
I n f act , a s we l e arned
a fterwards , she was receiving deva lued Turk i sh money .
A l l o f u s agreed that somethi ng must be done , that i f she
were w i l l ing to come here with her f am i ly , that one of us
wou l d a s s ume the respons ibi l ity o f go i ng and br i nging her
over .
Th i s cou ld not be done unt i l peace was dec l ared
and trave l ing permitted .
On November the s eventh the
r eports c ircul ated that the arm i s t i ce wa s s igned and I
be l ieve that no one , yes , no one , could adequately
descr i be the j oyful excitement that took p l ace . Every
man , woman , and chi ld l e ft what they had been do ing a nd
took to the streets wh ich were crowded with veh i cu lar
tra f f ic o f every description creep ing between a ma s s o f
humanity .
r ing i ng ,
The no ise , oh , the noise , church be l l s
f actory wh i stles shr i eking , nearly everybody
89
�with a t i n pan and a s t i ck trying to outdo the other in
mak i ng a greater volume o f sound . Add a l l th i s to the
shout i ng of the mu lti tude and you may have a f a i nt idea
of the j oyful exp los ion emanat ing from the breasts of the
mu l t i tude at the ending of the war .
After a f ew hours of th i s ,
i t suddenly ended a s
i t began when i t w a s announced that t h e news was
prematur e .
But not for long .
On the e l eventh the
armi st i ce wa s con f i rmed , the ce lebration renewed but on a
sma l l er s c a l e .
And what a re l ie f !
At the peace tab l e Turkey was d i smembe red , her
provinces in A s i a , Syr ia , and Lebanon were a l l otted to
F rance under a twenty year mandate , wh i le P a l e s t i ne and
Trans j ordan were l ikew i s e a l lotted to Eng land a l so under
a twenty year mandate .
That left Constant inop l e in
Europe a s a cap ita l with a sma l l state .
B e i rut wrote ,
My f ami ly in
" You never need to fear the Turks anymore .
We want you to come over for we need you . "
There was the
p r.o b l em of my s i ster and her fami ly , and the house i n
B ludan .
After f ather ' s death , i t was l e ft without a ny
one to take care of it , and th i eves ransacked it and
carr i ed o f f a l l unfastened things .
d i s cu s s ions ,
After long
it was dec ided that I shou ld go and try to
s ett l e things .
I t was not unt i l September 1 9 2 0 that
through the e f fort o f Dr . E . C . Kirk o f the Univers i ty of
Pennsy lvan ia , who had some good contacts in Washington ,
90
�that I rece ived a pas sport and a v i s a .
bad t ime for me to leave my practice ,
Though i t was a
I neverthe l e s s ,
dec ided to make a qu ick trip .
I arrived in Be irut around S eptember 2 0 , we had
a j oyful but sad meet ing , and I soon l earned the deta i l s
o f my father ' s and ni ece ' s deaths .
I t was dur ing the
i n f luenz a ep i demic , the fam i ly was in B ludan where there
wa s no med ica l h e lp of any kind , and the war wa s near i ng
the end .
The Br i t i sh had routed the Turks f r om Syr i a and
P a l es t i ne and they were advanc ing towards Damas cu s .
My
n i ece had a cold wh ich turned out to be an attack o f the
f lu .
My father had heard that Genera l Al l e nby was
p a s s ing ahead of his troops through Z ebdan i , about f ive
m i l es and drop of twenty f ive hundred feet be l ow B ludan .
Not havi ng any veh icular transportat ion , he wa lked .
The
day was hot and hum id and when he returned he was
c omp l ete ly exhausted . He went to see the s i ck g i r l and
when he saw her cond i t i on , he went to his r o�m and
s tr etched out on his bed .
A short wh i l e later Asma went
to h i s room to ask h im to come and he lp with her
daughter , but she could not wake him .
Asma r ea l i z ed that
s ometh ing was wrong and she went to the v i l l age t o summon
help but none would come , for they were a f r a i d o f
catching the f lu .
An o ld man from Damascus who was
summer i ng in B ludan came to her rescue , but no one could
do anyth i ng . The girl d i ed in the night , and my f ather
91
�the next morning .
The bur i a l was a problem ,
was no funeral director nor any caskets .
f o r there
Father had s ome
p l anks in the house wh ich were used to make two caskets
and s ome men f rom the v i l lage dug a grave i n the garden
and bur ied them there .
My s i ster never got over that
shock .
The next th ing we d i scussed was what wou l d be
the best thing for my s i ster and her ch i ldren .
O f course
we conc luded that f in ish ing the ir education i n Ame r i ca
was best ,
and that we shou ld go as soon as pos s ib l e and
not wa ste any precious t ime .
About B l udan we agreed that
I shou l d go to see what cond i t i on it was i n , app o i nt a
caretaker ,
and have h im report to my s i ster Fareedeh .
I
went t o B ludan and f ound the house to be i n poor shape .
The windows and doors were broken , and th i eves had
unsucc e s s fu l ly attempted to burn i t .
I had the p lace
c l eaned and put in shape .
We dec ided to rema in in Be i rut because we could
nO.t spend the t ime in B ludan .
The weather was turn i ng
c o l d s o I spent the t ime between the three s i ster ' s
househo lds .
Natural ly the conversat i on turned to my
getting marr i ed .
s o hard to p lease?
They wanted to know why I d i dn ' t , was I
Weren ' t there any e l ig i b l e g i r l s ?
My
answer was e i ther that I was too busy w ith f am i l y a f f a i rs
o r that I hadn ' t found the right one .
Now they i n s i sted
that I not delay any longer and that I must not r eturn to
92
�Ame r ica s ing l e .
They made a l i st o f many o f the i r
f r iend ' s g i r l s a n d whenever we met at d inner or s oc i a l
gather i ng s the conver sat ion was ,
" Th i s one i s not pretty .
Th i s one i s too t a l l or too short .
Th i s one h a s a
b eaut i fu l vo ice and s ings in the cho ir .
c o l l ege graduate and so on . "
That one i s a
One night Kha l e e l Khoury
with h i s w i f e and two daughters came over to v i s i t the
fami ly and we brought out some p ictures that we had taken
on a t r i p the week be for e .
The gir l s j o i ned in the
conversat i on and were quite free in the ir d i s cu s s ion .
It
wa s a very p leasant evening and when they l e f t , Ameen
s a id ,
" What ' s the matter with one of the s e g ir l s ? " I s a i d
t h a t there was noth ing wrong with them , the prob l em wa s
me . Maryanna s a id ,
them .
" There i s a great dea l the matter with
One i s going to be married soon and the other i s
s ought a f ter b y a wea l thy merchant f r om South Ame r i ca ,
a nyhow she i s supposedly engaged to her cou s i n . "
said ,
Ameen
" I ' l l f ind out tomorrow , Kha l e e l is my t a i l o r , and
i s. on the s e s s ion of the church . "
mus t be very interested .
a j oke ,
'!Ameen , you
I have been tak i ng a l l t a lk a s
I have a lot to look a fter .
l ook a f t er now .
I s a id ,
I have the f am i ly to
Forget it . " Ameen rep l i ed ,
never let you go back s ingle .
" I ndeed I ' l l
That ' s f ina l . "
I t was gett ing c l ose to- the hol idays and I was
anx ious to get home , but s i ster Asma and her f ami ly were
not ready .
I t wa s d i f f icult for them to c l o s e the house
93
�and d i spose of the many things that were not go i ng w ith
her .
I kept begg ing them to make haste . Meanwh i l e I
began to th ink o f the prob lem o f transportat ion .
We were
now f ive and to trave l f irst c la s s wou ld be very
expens ive , so I dec ided to go s econd c l as s to Mar se i l l e s ,
s econd c lass to Le Havre , and thence f irst c l a s s to New
York .
I did not have the neces sary cash s o I cab l ed my
bank in Chester to send me more money .
But another
d i f f i cu lty arose at the trave l agency ; name l y that s ince
Asma ' s ma id was i l l iterate , cou ld not even wr ite her name
in any language , they could not guarantee that she wou ld
b e adm itted to the Un ited states ,
r e turn fee for her return .
that I had to post a
When my s i ster heard that
there was a chance of not having her ma id , Le i l a ,
adm itted , she changed her mind about go ing .
We let the
matter rest f or the t ime be ing .
Chr istmas was upon us .
church .
I t centered around the
s i ster Fareedeh was the hos t e s s in the cho i r ,
Sal eh Nucho was the organist and cho irmaster , and the
cho i r sang spe c i a l mus ic for the Chr i s tmas service and
for a cantata .
The cho ir had s evera l rehears a l s and o f
course s i ster Fareedeh took m e a long .
I got to know the
member s very we l l , and I a lways had a wonder f u l t ime .
Th i s s ame crowd wa s having a Watch N ight service for the
new year to wh ich I was spec ia l ly i nv ited .
I t was he ld
in a home of one of the members and the Khoury g i r l s were
94
�there .
By spe c i a l request at 1 1 : 5 5 I was a sked to say a
f ew words b idding the o ld year good-bye and to we l c ome
the beginning of the new year .
I mus t have done pretty
we l l for I heard about it later on .
When it was t ime to
l e ave the group dec ided that if the morrow was c l ear and
warm , they wou ld take a long h ike in the country .
The
group was carefree , and as soon as they were i n the
country , s ang and carr i ed on .
and j o i ned in the fun .
I ta lked with every one
Pass ing a r a i l road track , one o f
t h e g i r l s cha l lenged me t o s e e who cou l d w a l k f arther o n
the tracks .
s a id ,
She f a i led .
Then one o f the Khoury g i r l s
" Let m e try , " and she won .
" No wonder , she is a good dancer . "
the v i ctor ious girl asked me ,
The def eated g i r l s a id ,
Later on the way horne
" I hear that you are a very
c l ever dent i s t , what makes gums bleed? "
I r ep l i ed
because the teeth are not c lean , I then a sked ,
your gums b l eed? "
c le an i ng them . "
c leaning .
She s a id ,
I said ,
" Y e s , and I am a l l the t ime
" I don ' t mean that k ind o f
The teeth can have a depo s it on them that you
cannot c l ean with a brush , and if it s tays on ,
d e stroy your teeth .
She s a id ,
thank f u l . "
" Why , do
i t wi l l
Do you want me to look at them? "
" I f it is not too much troub l e , I ' l l be very
I s a id , " We l l , tomorrow I ' l l be at my
cous in ' s o f f ice at Bab Edr i s e ,
i f you can come around
n i ne thirty I ' l l be g l ad to see you . "
She c ame and I
f ound a perf ect set of teeth with no s igns o f decay but
95
�w ith p l enty o f tartar .
I SLOWLY sca l ed and po l i shed them
and I mus t say that I was sorry when the j ob was
f in i shed .
She warmly thanked me and l e ft .
I was very
much impre ssed with her and I had a fee l i ng towards her
that I had never had for any g i r l be f or e .
That even i ng I
t o l d my exper i ence o f the day and Ameen s a id ,
B a e t ik , d i dn ' t you grab her? "
" Yu r i b
Then he s a id that h e
ta lked to h e r f ather who s a i d that t h e e l der daughter was
engaged and soon to be married but the younger one was
f r ee .
The f ather a l so s a id that the g i r l wa s f ond o f
her f irst cou s i n who was qu ite s i ck with tubercu l o s i s and
that she went to see h im and read to h im f requent ly .
He
a l s o s a id that the a man from South America asked him for
her hand and his reply was that it wa s up to the g i r l and
that the g i r l had turned the o f fer down .
rested there .
B e i rut .
The matter
But it did not rest with the peop l e o f Ra s
The rumor wa s that the gir l had g iven up on her
cous in and was go ing to marry the r ich Ame r i can .
g ir l ,
Poor
for two weeks she wou ld not go out o f the house .
I n the meant ime my Unc l e I skander had brought a car over
f r om Amer ica ( a Chand ler ) and Raj a Ra i s had come f rom
Ha i f a to B e i rut to c l ear it from customs and dr i ve it to
Ha i fa .
When he tr i ed to drive i t in B e i rut , not hav ing
dr iven a car be fore , he decided to h i re a chauf f eur
i nstead and he invited me to go a long say ing ,
good company and you w i l l visit your unc l e . "
96
" We ' l l be
So I
�agreed .
The chauffeur s a id that the d i stance to B e i rut
wa s a bout n inety m i l e s and because the car was new , h e
wou ld n o t dr ive it f aster than th irty m i l e s per hour .
So
we started and everyth ing all r ight unt i l we r eached the
outs k i rt s of S idon .
The car started mak ing a n o i s e ,
and
the chauf f eur examined it but s a id that he could not f ind
anyt h i ng wrong , but that he suspected that a spr ing wa s
broken .
He crept into S idon and fortunately there was a
garage c l ose by .
Thorough examinat ion showed that irideed
the car had a broken spr ing , but the make o f car had
never be f or e been seen in S idon , so the cha u f f eur s a i d
that he must r eturn t o B e i rut t o get a rep l acement spr ing
i f perchance he could f ind one .
.. {\
that n i ght .
We stayed in the inn
O f cours e there were no beds i n the i nn but
we d i d not mind .
We stayed up l i stening to the r a i n .
The cha u f f eur succeeded in f i nding a part and he r eturned
with the post .
I t took them unt i l sunset to f ix the car
but the dr iver wou ld not take the r i sk to cont inue to
H a,i f a ,
lest we have more troub l e , so we had to stay t i l l
the f o l l owing morn ing . The go ing was a l l r ight t i l l we
r eached Makourah where the road we were f o l l owing a l ong
the coast suddenly shifted landward and after about a
m i l e i t became soft from the ra in o f the previ ous n ight .
As we were wonder ing whether to cont inue or turn back , we
f e l t ours e lves go deeper .
A l l e f f orts to move u s ,
even
w ith us go ing into the mud and pushi ng , proved u s e l es s .
97
�We dec ided that one of us wou ld go back to S idon f o r
Just be fore the chauf feur started , a bedou i n came
he lp .
by ,
l e ad i ng h i s came l to Ha i f a .
f o r he lp .
agreed ,
We stopped h im and a sked
He s a id that i t wou ld cost u s a gu i ne a .
We
so he t i ed a heavy rope to the bumper and t o l d
t h e chau f f eur to get in the c a r and at a g iven s igna l for
h im to start the car .
At that instant a sudden no i s e so
f r i ghtened the came l that he gave one leap so quick that
you cou l d not see anyth ing except the rope .
The bedou in
w ith a curse started chas ing a fter h im and we never saw
h i s shadow from our tear - f i l led eyes .
We sat there
wa i t ing and presently the ma i l truck with three f i ne
d r iven horses came along and the dr i ver stopped .
s a id ,
He
" I don ' t have t o a sk , " and unh i tched h i s horses and
in a b r i e f moment had set us free .
He a s sured u s that we
wou ldn ' t have any further troub l e , that the indentat i on
i n the road was due to a l itt l e brook that c r o s s ed by .
We o f f ered him gratu ity but he refu s ed say i ng ,
s a.l ameh . "
"M' a el
The road turned towards the coast aga i n and
a bout a m i le from Ha i f a it turned towards the l and again .
The chauf f eur took the turn say i ng that th i s was a short
cut and wou ld save us t ime .
We soon reached a stream and
d i d not want to go through but the cha u f f eur s a i d ,
i t i s only inches deep .
t imes . "
with that ,
" Oh ,
I have gone through i t many
from a good d i stance away , he put on
f u l l speed ahead and ha l fway into the stream the water
98
�c ame over the hood and found us s itt i ng in the stream
w i th water comi ng from the sea for i t was f u l l t ide .
We
gave h im a look and each one gathered or rather grabbed
h i s luggage and got into the water to swim t o the beach .
Raj a rushed to the br idge and sent word to h i s f ather to
hurry a l ong w i th men and horses to pu l l us out .
In a
short t ime there were horses and men pu l l ing the car out .
They took the car to c lean and dry and we wa lked t o the
house to bathe and change c l othe s .
I v i s ited with my unc l e for two days and went
with h im to h i s off ice and it was there that I heard and
s aw a great deal o f the I srae l i -Arab conf l ict .
The
unrest was brewing about the inf lux o f Jews , the buy ing
of the l and and the underse l l ing of Jews o f n e a r l y
everyth ing to undercut the non-Jew i sh s t o r e s and p u t the
owners out o f bus ines s .
Unc l e , now having a new car , had s ome bus in e s s
i n N a z areth and wanted m e to g o a l ong , but I wanted t o
r eturn to Be i rut to see what had gone on .
But Unc l e
i n s i sted and I s a id i f it w a s o n l y f o r a d a y or two , I / l l
go .
N a z areth was not very far from B e i rut .
We l e f t the
next morn ing a fter breakfast and by ten o l c l ock Unc l e had
transacted h i s bus iness and we were moving t oward the
market p lace .
The car attracted onl ookers and who d i d I
s e e amongst the crowd but Soumaya .
my eye s .
99
I could hardly be l i eve
�" M i s s Khoury , what are you do ing
here ? "
" P le a s e don ' t ca l l me Miss Khoury , ca l l me
Soumaya . "
" Soumaya it sha l l be , "
I s a id .
" I am v i s it ing my s i ster , she i s look i ng over
the p lace where she is go i ng to l ive ,
she i s
going t o be marr ied in Apr i l . "
" Corne on , " I s a id ,
" I want you to meet my
I took her and introduced her to our
unc l e . "
" How long are you stay ing here , " I
group .
asked .
" Just a few days t i l l my s i ster gets her work
done .
Her intended has a pharmacy not far from
here .
I think that you must know him .
He i s
the cho irmaster and organ i st o f our church .
H i s name i s Sa leh Nucho .
How long are you
stay ing? "
" I carne with my unc l e from H a i f a , " I s a i d .
"
He comes here very frequent l y on bus ine s s .
Th i s morn ing , I had noth ing to do s o I thought
I ' d accompany h im for the r ide and I was lucky
to f ind you here .
D id you run away from the
gos s ip ? "
" I sn ' t it dreadful , " she rep l ied .
" Don ' t take it too serious l y , " I s a id .
" Oh , " she s a id ,
" You don ' t know the peop l e o f
100
�Ras Be irut .
I hope that you don ' t m i nd i t .
Just to change the subj ect , how l ong are y ou
stay ing? "
" I was p l ann ing to go back w i th my unc l e but i f
you ' d l ike m e t o stay I ' l l b e glad to stay
unt i l tomorrow , " I answered .
" Come l et us go see S a l eh , " she s a i d .
Sa l eh asked me i f I had ever been in N a z areth
b e f ore .
When I s a id that th i s was my f irst v i s it , h e
s a id to Soumaya ,
" Take the gent l eman t o the t o p o f the
h i l l and show h im the view from there . " On the way she
spoke a great deal about her s e l f and about how they a l l
s u f f ered dur ing the war but the fam i l y managed t o keep
her and her s i sters and brother in the Ame r i can and
Prus s ian schoo l s .
She was now teach i ng priva t e l y the
ch i ldren o f a mus l im fam i ly French and danc ing .
She kept
ask i ng a bout me and why I never marr ied , and espe c i a l ly
don ' t want to .
I s a id that I did not have the t ime ,
th,at f am i ly a f fa irs and prob lems inter f ered , and that the
r ight g i r l hadn ' t come a long .
be l i eve that .
h e r e now . "
" We l l , " I s a id ,
She s a i d that she cou ldn ' t
"Maybe the r i ght g i r l i s
W e reached the top o f the h i l l , t h e scene was
beaut i fu l , but who was looking at the scene at that t ime l
The next day I left for Be irut , stopp ing at
Ha i fa to see Unc le who only a sked ,
" I s a l l we l l , " to
wh ich I shook my head and he i n s i sted that I must qu i ckly
101
�r eturn .
I n B e irut , the word went out that both
p r i nc ipa l s o f the Kassab and Khoury fam i l ie s were out o f
A l s o , the
t h e c ity and the gos s ip was hotter than ever .
money had arr ived from Chester , my s i ster was reconc i l ed
t o the chance that Le i la may not be admitted ,
s o there
w a s no reas on for further delay . On the way t o the o f f ice
i n the morn ing , Ameen said ,
"I know how I can k i l l that
gos s ip and frustrate its originator s . "
He rep l i ed ,
" By gett ing marr i ed ,
I a sked ,
of cours e .
o f m e I can ' t s e e what ' s hold ing you back .
I s a id ,
never f ind a better girl . "
" How? "
For the l i f e
You w i l l
" I am sure that you
are r ight . "
As we approached the Kassab department store we
s aw a man carry ing a l arge f i sh wh ich he had j us t caught
and had f or s a l e . Ameen ca l l ed h im and s a i d ,
" I f you w i l l
c l ean t h i s f i sh and wrap it neat ly f or a g i ft ,
it from you .
my store . "
You must be qu ick though ,
The man was off .
I ' l l buy
and br i ng i t to
Ameen turned t o me and
s a.i d ,
" Now you hurry to the Ha i f a bus and take the
f i sh with you as a g i f t to Soumaya and don ' t
come back s ing l e !
What more can I do for you?
I thought that you Amer icans were made of f ire
not i ce , as the man comes w i th the f i sh you go
and don ' t argue .
For God ' s sake , prove that
you are a man of action . "
102
�After that t i rade , I could not do �nything but
go s e e Soumaya .
Ha i f a .
I thought o f h i s words a l l the way t o
Unc l e poured more o i l on the f ire by hand i ng me
the keys to the car and say ing ,
" Good luck .
t o s e e you back empty handed . "
In N a z areth ,
f am i ly in the k itchen c leaning f i sh ,
I don ' t want
I f ound the
for they had been to
Lake T iber ias the day before , and S a l eh , a good f i sherman
had caught some o f the famous var iety that they c a l l
" Far ideh . "
When they saw what I had i n the package they
cou l d hard ly be l i eve it .
I s a id that I wanted to s how
that I cou ld catch f i sh , too .
S a leh s a id ,
enough food for the rest of the week .
"We have
We are g o i ng t o
h a v e f i sh f o r breakfast , d inner , and supper .
i t f r i ed , baked , gr i l led ,
of it .
We ' l l have
in s a l ads , and we ' l l make k ibbe
Just why did you do that Ae lya s ? "
I s a id that I
hoped that the young ladies l iked f i sh , to whi ch S oumaya
s a i d that she j ust loved f i sh , that her father was a
f i s herman too , and that she he lped him eating but not
c l.eaning them . For two days we had a lot o f fun w i th the
f ish .
After l unch that a fternoon we drove out t o s e e
T iber i a s , the l ake that I ta lked about so much in my
Sunday school c lass .
I yearned to take a bath in i t , but
that was out of the quest ion .
I j ust took o f f my shoes
and stock ings and rol led up my trousers to the knees and
when the rest o f the group saw that , they f o l l owed suit .
We bathed in lake T iber ia s ! When we returned horne I s a id
103
�t o S oumaya ,
" Let ' s leave the lovers a l one and let tis
e n j oy that scene aga in from the top o f the h i l l . " They
a l l approved , a good idea .
Alone with Soumaya I s a id ,
" I wanted to take th i s opportun ity to te l l you
what ' s on my mind . I am sure by th i s t ime you
know how I fee l .
I am thirty s ix years o l d , I
am a dent i st , I have never l ooked upon a g i r l
with idea of marr iage , though I had h a d many
opportunities . I am not r ich , though everybody
here says that I am .
I have a very good
pract ice but I have a good many
respons ibi l it ies , you see some o f them here .
But in Chester , I have a respons i b i l i ty t o a
s i ck o ld woman . "
I cont inued by te l l ing her about our r e l at ions
with the O ' Ne i l l fami ly .
I told her a bout a l l that she
should know about our l i fe in Chester a nd then I s a i d ,
" I s there anyth ing e ls e that I can t e l l . ·you? "
She l ooked
a t. me w i th her beaut iful eyes but s a id noth i ng .
I wa ited
a f ew s econds , then I s a id ,
" I understand .
I t i s not f a i r to expect an
answer now , you have not known me l ong .
Think
it over carefu l ly and when I s e e you aga i n ,
hope that you w i l l have a smi l e for me .
I
Come ,
let ' s go back , I must return to Ha i f a tonight
and tomorrow to Be irut . "
104
�-----"-- - ���
BROTHER AND S ISTER
AELYAS AND ADELE
KHOURY S ISTERS
NAJIA AND SOUMAYA
�In B e i rut , they were
so soon .
surpr i sed t o s e me back
I gave them a good report o f my t r ip and s a id
that I was sure that it wou ld have been cons ummat ed had
it not been f or the s ituat ion here .
Meanwh i l e , we
r e c e ived word that a big storm was rag i ng at sea and we
dec ided to wa i t t i l l it blew over .
We got our t i ckets
f rom B e irut , to Alexandr i a , to Marse i l les , t o Par i s , to
Havre , and then to New York .
But Ameen s a i d ,
" Do you mean you wi l l go w i thout getting
marr ied?
How do you know that the girl w i l l
wa i t for you?
foo l i sh .
I think that you are very
stay , take my adv i ce .
care about this storm?
storm ,
What do you
I f you get marr ied , the
in a few days w i l l be forgotten . "
" I was not thinking about mys e l f ,
I was
think i ng about the f e e l ings o f the g i r l and her
fami ly , " I s a id .
" We l l then , make no f inal dec i s i ori unt i l you
know how she feels . "
Two days l ater , Ameen told me that he was t a lk i ng to the
g i r l ' s father who told him that the g i r l was back horne
and that she was very unhappy about my dec i s ion to l e ave .
I s a id ,
r e p l i ed ,
" D id you ask h im how she fee l s about it? "
He
" She sa id that those peop l e had better f ind
s ometh i ng more important for them to do .
She wou ld t e l l
Ae lyas her s e l f when she wou ld see him next . "
105
�When I met her , she was a l l smi l es and s a i d ,
" Knowing how anxious you were to l eave for
Amer ica , I regretted that I d idn ' t make mys e l f
c lear about the gossip that i s going on .
I f it
hurts you persona l ly or a n y o f t h e K a s s a b
fami ly , of course l et ' s part a s f r i ends .
But ,
i f you think that -it hurts me or my f am i l y ,
then they can drink the s ea . "
with that she . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And w i th that ,
I sett led the matter by say ing ,
ready for the day as soon as possib l e .
" Let ' s
Asma and her
f am i ly are ready . "
" Ameen , " I s a id when I saw him ,
" I want one
more f avor from you . I want your help i n the s e l ec t i on of
the r ing .
" Come on , " he sa id ,
b e l i eve my ears .
" You are j ok ing , I cannot
There i s a re lative i n the f am i l y who
i s a j ewe ler , he ' l l help us . "
We sought h im , he s e l ected
the d i amond wh ich he set in a p l at i num r ing .
Then we
s topped to see Kha l e e l and a sked h im if he wou ld g ive us
t h i s b le s s i ng to whi ch he rep l i ed that he wou l d not only
g ive u s his b l e s s ing but that he wou ld be very proud to
ca l l me his son .
Soumaya loved her r ing and we p l anned
to have the wedd ing in two weeks .
Two days later , on Sunday we l earned that my
cou s i n Farid who had been s i ck had had a r e l ap s e .
Ameen took me a s ide and s a id ,
106
So
" I want to t e l l you that
�T
should anyth i ng happen to Farid , accord ing t o our
customs , your wedd ing wou ld have to be postponed for at
l e a st a month .
f e e l i ng s . "
You wouldn ' t want t o hurt your fami ly ' s
I s a id ,
" O f cour se not . "
Ameen cont i nued ,
" My advice to you i s to get marr ied at once . "
I s a id
that I was wi l l i ng , but how about S oumaya? I a sked her
and she s a id that i f I was ready , so was she .
Ameen and
I then took a cab and went to the Amer ican Consu l a t e to
see about a pas sport for Soumaya .
We l earned that i f the
Consul o f f i c iated , the Consulate wou l d recogn i z e the
marr i age and g ive us a pas sport immed iately .
However , we
a l s o l earned that s ince the consul was away , they wou ld
a l s o recogn i z e the s ignature o f Dr .
marr i age cert i f icate .
? i f i t were on the
Dr . ? s a id that he wou l d be g lad
t o o f f i c i ate and wou ld be with u s at Ameen ' s hou s e at 8
p . m.
We hurr i ed back to the house to get ready and at
e i ght o ' c l ock on May 1 5 ,
19 2 1 ,
in the presence of both
f am i l i e s and a few guests gathered i n Ameen ' s l iv ing
r o.om , the knot wa s t i ed in a s imp l e Protestant service .
The marr iage cert i f icate was s igned by the m i n i ster and
w i tnessed by some of the company .
We then had
r e freshments and loads of congratu l a t i ons .
S oon the
company l e ft and we found our s e lves a l one , Ae lyas and
S oumaya , husband and w i f e .
Unbe l ievab l e !
no t ime for rej o i cing , we had a lot t o do .
But there was
P i ctures for
the pas sport had to be ready ; and a s we had made no
107
�prov i s i o n on where to spend the night , Soumaya went home
for a much needed s l eep and I stretched out on a couch
too exc i ted t o s l eep reviewing the events of the past
twenty hours and planning for the immediate future .
I n the morning Soumaya and I met the Consu l who
congratul ated and wi shed us j oy and happ ine s s and i s sued
us the pas sport .
Soumaya then returned home and I went
t o the Burj and reserved a car to take us the f o l lowing
morn i ng to H a i f a .
Then I went to the o f f i ce o f the
Mes s ag e r i e Mar i t ime and bought six t i ckets on the Sph inx
wh i ch was s a i l ing the fol lowing week from Be irut t o
Mar s e i l le stopp i ng a t Alexandr ia .
The p lan was that
s i ster Asma w ith her ch i ldren and Le i la wou ld l eave on
the Sph i nx and that Soumaya and I wou ld go to Ha i f a and
spend a f ew days at Mt . Carme l and N a z a reth and return to
Ha i f a where we wou ld trave l by tra in to Alexandr i a and
j o i n them on the Sphinx .
We had no troub l e l eaving
B e i rut except the sad feel ing of leaving the · f ami l y a fter
g i.v i ng them so much trouble .
When we assured them that
we wou l d be back soon , they f e l t reconc i led .
spoke to each other .
Soumaya was weep ing and kept i t up
unt i l we were outs ide Be irut ' s bounda r i es .
s a id ,
We hardly
Then S oumaya
" I am not cry ing a ltogether for sadne s s , but for my
good luck at being with you . "
I said ,
" I t i s rea l ly wonderful that now we c l a im each
other when a few weeks ago we did not even know
108
�each other .
I think that i t was God ' s goodness
to me that in all the years in Amer ica ,
many g i r l s both in my pract ice ,
I met
in my c la s s in
the Sunday schoo l , and var ious societ i e s ,
I
never looked on a g i r l with the idea o f
marr i age .
Yet , here on the f irst n ight when I
was showing you the p i cture s , someth ing kept
you in my mind .
I t was so sudden , but
wonderful , and I hard ly even knew you .
I feel
that I got m y reward f o r mak ing the trip , and
much more .
I am now in a dream and I don ' t
want to wake up . "
The chauff eur was an exce l l ent dr iver , he knew
the way and he covered the ninety m i l e s in three hour s .
My unc l e rej o i ced when he saw u s and when he l earned of
our p lans , he immed iately reserved us a room at Mr .
Carme l and put h i s car at our d i spos a l .
We were very sad
t o f ind my aunt quite s ick , but my unc l e s a i d ,
" I don ' t want you to go to the house now
because I know that you are t ired .
Take my car
and go to your hote l , for they are expect ing
you .
us .
road ,
When you are rested you can come to see
You won ' t have any troubl e f ind ing the
it is stra ight up the mountain and the
hot e l is r ight there .
Congratu lations ! "
109
I l ove your w i f e .
�I d id a s I was told and we f ound the
arrangement exce l lent .
· We spent thre e
never-to-be - forgotten days , I forgot a l l t h e troub l e s and
a nx i e t i e s
of the past few weeks and I restocked the
e nergy that I knew I wou ld need for the rema i nder o f the
j ourney t o the U . S . A .
On our last day , I s a i d to S oumaya ,
and surpr i s e Naj la and Sa leh in Na z areth . "
" Let ' s go
We parked our
car and wa lked up toward the pharmacy a nd there was S a leh
try ing to open the door .
He looked at u s with
unbe l i eving eyes and s a id , " When d i d you get here?
have j ust left to go to Be irut . "
You
I said ,
"We are going , but not to B e i rut . Come S a l eh
and k i s s the bride . "
" What , " he s a id , " I don ' t b e l i eve i t . "
" Don ' t open the p lace , " I s a i d .
" Let ' s go see
Naj l a . "
Naj l a couldn ' t be l ieve it e i ther .
through a fu l l exp lanat ion and - S a Teh s a i d ,
sur e ly do act fast ! "
We had to go
" You Amer i cans
Then the conversat ion turned to h i s
d e s i r e t o l eave Naz areth and g o t o the State s .
no chance for improvement here .
l i f e is very hard .
" There i s
The town i s dead and
I don ' t mind work ing hard , but one
l ikes to see some results . "
We d i scu s s ed the s i tuat i on
pro and con and we conc luded that they wou l d s tudy the
prob l em and wr ite me .
I p l edged to do my very best to
110
�" You have a home in Amer ica , shou l d you
h e l p them .
dec ide t o come , " I said .
After a very p l ea sant v i s it and a s ad f arewe l l ,
we drove back t o H a i f a .
A l exandr i a .
And the next day we departed to
The Sphinx had j ust arr ived that morn i ng .
We boarded her and found Ameen , Asma , and Asma ' s f am i ly
wa i t ing f or u s .
After a few hour s , Ameen l e f t u s a s h i s
s h i p w a s s a i l ing for Italy .
The Sph i nx was very crowded
and the accommodat ions poor but we arrived at Mar s e i l l e s
w ithout any troub le . W e d i d not tarry , w e took c a b s t o
the r a i lroad stat ion and l e f t l a t e that even i ng for
P ar i s , arr iving early the next morning .
We were s o
t ired , exhausted , and dirty from the smoke o f the tra i n
that when w e a sked for accommodations at a f irst c l a s s
hote l , they c l a imed that they were fu l l .
s ec ond .
S o at the
We were accepted at the th i rd try .
When I was
regi ster i ng I exp l a i ned to the c lerk that we had j ust
c�me by tra in from Marse i l l es and that I wanted a good
s upp ly o f hot water for wh ich I was w i l l i ng t o pay .
" Ou i , ou i Mons i eur , j e comprend . "
I told the folks t o
wash and put o n their best dresses which w e a l l d i d , and
I am sure that the help was aston i shed to s e e the change .
Early the next morn ing , they woke up anxious to
see the s ight s o f Par i s and I s a id ,
" Pa r i s has many
wonderful s ight s , some we can see by go ing w ith tour s ,
s ome by bus ,
but a good many of them we mus t go by f oot .
111
�Now I propose that the f irst thing that we do i s to hunt
a for a good shoe store and provide ours e lves w i th good
w a l k ing shoes , " an idea to wh ich a l l subscr i bed but it
I had a lready a sked at the
was e a s ier said than done .
desk in the hote l for such a store .
i n , they could not be f itted .
stores w i th the same result .
But when they went
I took them to other
F i na l ly around noon , they
thought that they made a good choice .
But I doubted it
and I think that they made the cho ice out o f shame a s i t
turned out later .
So we conf ined our s ight s e e i ng and
they j ust got a fa int idea o f Par i s .
We left that beaut i fu l city for Havre and the
U. S . A.
Our cross ing the At lant ic was unusua l ly good .
We
were trave l ing f irst c l ass and the accommodat i ons were
good a lthough the steamer was sma l l in compar i son to the
b i g l iners .
a day or two .
harbor .
S oumaya was not seas ick , but s i ster was for
We were on deck when we entered N ew Y ork
The fam i ly was ama z ed at the s ights , the ta l l
bu.i l d ing and they were solemn when I exp l a ined to them
what the Statue of L iberty meant not only to Ame r i cans
but a l so to the who le wor ld .
our Water loo .
Soon we l anded and faced
The fam i ly and I presented our pas sports
and we were admitted w ithout any troub l e , but when Le i l a
handed hers with the word " I LLITERATE " on it , the
examiner asked her name wh ich she s a id wa s Le i la , then he
gave her a penc i l and sa i l ,
"wr ite it down , " and o f
112
�course she couldn ' t .
He then gave her a paper and s a id ,
" Read t h i s , " and of cours e she cou ldn ' t .
Then he ca l l ed
me and s a id ,
" Th i s woman cannot be admitted .
D idn ' t they
te l l you that ? "
" Ye s , they did but somet imes they make
except ions , " I s a id .
" I am sorry , I cannot make any except ions ,
p lease step a s i de . "
" What must I do now , " I a sked .
" She must be returned un l e s s you s ign a notice
that she w i l l appear before the imm igrat ion
court and have her case heard . "
H e gave me a forma l not ice that s a i d she was to be
deta i ned unt i l her case was heard .
When Asma heard th i s
she began t o cry and s a y that s h e shou ld have never come .
I s a id ,
" Let us go home and talk the matter dver and
dec ide what to do . After talk ing with Le i l a we a s sured
her that she would be a l l r ight and that I wou ld see her
soon .
Then a guard took charge of her and we left f or
the r a i l road stat ion .
meet our train .
I t e l ephoned home and told them to
I had expected a warm wel come and s o i t
w a s but i t was tempered with sadne s s , f o r Asma could
t h i nk o f noth ing but Le i l a and how she wa s far ing .
m i nd was a l s o on what to do .
I d i d my best to show pr ide
and happ iness in introducing my bride .
113
My
I must say that
�she was wonderful and spoke with each one a s though they
were o l d f r iends .
I was very worr ied that i f s omet h i ng
should happen to Lei la , I wou ld hear about i t a l l my
l ife .
I rea l ly be l i eved Asma when she s a id that she
wou ld go back .
I had a close f r i end in Ph i l ad e lph i a who
I thought cou ld help me .
and he s a i d ,
So in the morni ng I ca l l e d h im
" Sure , come on . "
I went to Ph i l ade lph i a to
see h im and told h im o f our troub l e .
He took me t o s e e
another mutua l f r i end who had an o f f ice in t h e s ame
bui ld ing and s a i d ,
is in troub l e .
" Barney , here is our f r i end Ae lyas who
You must help h im ,
Barney S amu e l s was the
I know that you c an . "
head o f the Republ ican party in
Ph i l ade lph i a and the mayor of Ph i l adelph i a .
Pat i ent ly
hear i ng my story , he ca l l ed his secretary and s a i d ,
" Get
me the Department of Labor in Wash ington and t e l l h i s
s ecretary that Barney wants t o talk t o h im . "
I n a f ew
m inute s , the secretary was on the phone .
" J im , " said Barney ,
and so am I .
" I know that you are busy
I have a dear f r i end here that
has some troubl e with New York Immigra t i on .
They are deta in ing a member o f h i s fami l y and
threatening to deport her .
I am send i ng h im to
you and I want you to do what you can do for
h im .
When can you see h im? "
" I ' l l see h im tomorrow afternoon at two o ' c l ock
here in my o f f ice in the Department .
1 14
Just g ive
�h im your card . "
)
I went home w ith a word o f cheer but not f or I O g ,
for
Miss Mary who had had s everal strokes wh i l e I w s away ,
and who had been unconsc ious for two days , was gett i ng
weaker .
I f e l t that there wou ld have to be a change in
our hou s ing arrangements , but I decided to l eave that
unt i l we found out what would be Asma ' s dec i s i on shou ld
Le i l a b e refused admittance .
The f o l lowing day , I took the tra i n to
Washington and at two o ' c l ock I wa s at the Secretary ' s
o f f ice and found the gent l eman wait ing for me .
He
rece ived me grac iously and asked me how l ong I had known
Mr . S amue l s .
" Long enough to ca l l h im Barney , " I s a i d .
" We l l , that ' s qu ite a wh i l e .
Now te l l me your
story . "
I to ld h im the story in deta i l and when I was through he
said ,
" Now t e l l me somethi ng about the woman hers e l f .
How i s it that you didn ' t teach her to read or
wr i te ? "
"My s i ster Asma p icked her from a hosp ita l and
she t r i ed her best to send her to s choo l , but
it was a l l in va in ,
" We l l ,
" I exp l a ined .
I don ' t know what we can do .
very str ict . "
115
The l aw i s
�" We l l , " I said ,
" I t i s too bad that the l aw
cannot bend a l itt l e and s e e the huma n i ta r i an
s ide o f a case .
Here th i s woman w i l l h ave to
go back to the ghetto and I am a fr a i d that she
wou ld not last long . "
" I s she Jewish , " he asked .
" Ye s , " I answered .
" We l l , that ' s d i f f erent .
I think that she may
be admitted on the p l ea that she s eeks
pol it ical asy lum .
I sha l l recommend that and
you w i l l hear from us .
Remember me to Barney . "
I thanked h im and told h im that he earned the ever l a st ing
gra t i tude o f my s i ster and her fami l y .
I a l so s a i d that
I wou l d d e l iver h i s best wishes to Barney .
" G ive me your
t e l ephone number and I ' l l get in touch w i th you
d irectly , " he s a id .
The fam i ly re j o i ced to hear the
news , but not for long , for three days later , Barney
c a l led to t e l l me that Le i l a wa s deported be f ore her case
was heard .
Our worry returned for we cou l d not conce ive
how she cou ld make it .
Our pat i ence was rewarded one day
when we heard that she had arr ived in Be i rut s a f e l y and
that she wou ld soon be on her way back .
was back .
I n due t ime , she
She cou ld not t e l l us any deta i l s of her
t r i p s . She did what the o f f i c i a l s told her and had no
troub l e whatsoever .
The honeymoon was over .
116
I t was t ime to
�cons ider our s ituat ion . As a newly
married man , due to
c i rcumstances over wh ich I had no contro l ,
I rea l i z ed
The bu i ld ing next to our
that I had neg l ected my br ide .
o f f ice had an o l d house whi ch we f ixed up for my s i ster
and her fami ly .
We intended to move her into our
bu i ld i ng a s soon as we could get one o f the apartments
free .
As I stated before ,
abroad w ith the O ' Ne i l l s .
f ac t now ,
I l ived there before I went
M i s s Mary was very s i ck ,
in
in a coma and w e had J o and J im a s
housekeepers . I t wasn ' t a cheer ful p lace f o r a stranger ,
s o i n our bui ld ing there was a sma l l apartment who s e
l e a s e w a s about t o exp ire .
I went to the renter and I
s a id that our fam i ly had increa s ed and that I wanted h im
t o move .
I
s a id that I wou ld pay h im one hundred do l l ar s
i f he moved be fore h i s l e a s e exp ired .
He moved and
S oumaya and I were a lone for the f irst t ime and we were
s o happy .
Poor th ing , she never thought that she wou ld
g o through so many prob lems .
One thing that I can s ay i s
that never d i d I hear a word o f comp l a int .
She a lways
s a id that it w i l l be a l l r ight and don ' t worry .
worr i e s do come .
But
Miss Mary went to g l ory a fter s i x years
o f s i ckne s s due to a stroke .
She was a wonderful person ,
a true mother to me and my brother .
and was a great reader .
works of Charles Dickens .
She had a good mind
She knew thorough ly a l l the
She organ i z ed the f irst branch
of the D i ckens Fel lowship in the un ited states and was
117
�i t s s ecretary unt i l she was incapac itated .
r e l i g i ous Catho l i c .
The d i scus s ion before she was s ick
was e ither about the church or D i ckens .
no chance w i th her , but on r e l igion ,
by saying ,
She w a s a
On D i ckens I had
she wou l d a lways end
" That God promised to be with h i s church , " and
that wou l d end the d i scus s ion .
And be f ore g o i ng t o bed
she a lways s a i d ,
I am a lways pray i ng for
" We l l , my boy ,
you to see the l ight . "
Now that Le i l a was back and s i ster Asma was
s ett l ed in the house next door with her two ch i ldren
attending Chester High Schoo l , Commerc i a l Department of
Commerce , and we were n i cely housed i n the l arge
apartment at 8 0 2 Edgmont Avenue , two important th i ng s
happened . First and f oremost , my dear S oumaya was w i th
ch i ld .
The other was a l etter from S a l eh say i ng that
a ft er a thorough d i scu s s i on with Naj l a and other s , they
c ame to the conc lus ion that h i s stay i ng in N a z areth was a
waste o f t ime , that the bus ine s s was gett i ng wors e da i ly
i nstead o f better .
He a l so asked my op in ion concerning
h i s coming to Amer ica .
I rep l i ed that I was not i n a
p o s i t ion to adv i s e , that i f h i s intent ion in coming was
to practice his profes s ion , accord ing to Pennsylvania
l aw , he would have to go to scho o l here and take a
refre sher cours e in a recogn i z ed Amer ican c o l l ege before
he wou ld be granted a l i cense to pract i ce .
S oumaya a nd I
wou l d help them a l l that we could and they could stay
1 18
�with u s unt i l they got on the ir feet ,
mus t be the irs .
but the dec i s ion
Correspondence went back and f orth
between us for s everal weeks ,
and f i na l ly they came .
S a l eh gave up the idea o f f o l l owing h i s pro f e s s i o n and
s tarted to look f or work . He got a j ob at Sne l l enberg ' s
department store in Phi l adelph i a , but a f ter a f ew weeks
t r i a l dec ided that th i s k ind o f work was not f or h im .
We had some f r i e nds who owned a sma l l mi l l that made
stock ings and the m i l l wa s idle because the manager had
qu i t .
They wanted to s e l l it because they d i dn ' t have
the t ime to look after i t , so my brother and I dec ided to
buy it and let S a leh run it .
S a leh went f or s evera l days
t o the f actory and stud ied how the machines operated . He
was succes s fu l in mak ing very good stocking s ,
good f or the trade .
in f act too
But they were too expens ive , they
cou l d not compete with the cheaper k ind and the quant ity
produced was too sma l l to make a prof i t .
m i l l and took a loss .
We s o l d the
Then S a leh ' s very c lo s e f r i end , a
c la s smate , David Z agha , come to Phi l adelph i a dur i ng the
S e squ i centenn i a l Expos it ion w ith goods that attracted
v i s itors to the f a ir such as or i enta l rugs , bras sware ,
etc .
He needed someone to help h im ,
r i ght person .
the fair .
so S a leh was the
He stayed with David t i l l the c l o s i ng o f
David was encouraged to ope n a store i n
Ph i l ade lph i a and h e put Sa leh in charge .
After a s e a s on
S a l eh bought the bus ine s s from him and made a great
119
�success of it .
He later moved the bus in e s s t o s outh 2 0th
street .
The Khoury fo lks in Be irut wrote u s and a sked
i f we cou ld f ind someth ing to do for Moun ira and the
a nswer was we don ' t know t i l l she come s .
stayed w i th us for a wh i l e ,
She came and
she tried to work for me but
she did not l ike thi s country and f e l t very l one ly for
her f r i ends in Be irut .
Kareemeh and Fouad came .
She returned t o B e i rut .
Then
Fouad worked f or a wh i l e w i th
S a l eh and then he tried New York c ity but f ina l ly l anded
a good j ob in Washington with the government .
Our l i fe went on an even kee l unt i l October
2 6th when Soumaya presented us with a cho ice baby boy ,
Wadea .
H i s coming comp l eted our mar r i ed l i f e and made u s
d o u b l y happy .
Soumaya came home from the hosp ita l w i th a
nurs e , Mar ian Spencer .
I was very g l ad to forgo the
f ir s t p lace in the attent ion of Soumaya , on the other
hand ,
I added my own ef forts to see ing that the proper
rule s and regu l at ions were observed .
When Wadea reached the age o f two and one ha l f ,
we fu l f i l l ed the promise that we had made to the Khourys
in B e i rut by send ing Soumaya and Wadea to spend a f ew
months w i th them .
w i th the baby ,
I was to meet them l ater . Soumaya ,
left in Apr i l 1 9 2 5 , s a i l ing on a
Med iterranean tour skirt ing many of the ports of North
Africa to Beirut without chang ing the s teamer and was
120
�I j o i ned them leaving
w e l c omed by the folks in Be irut .
by steamer in May of the same year .
Just be fore I left Chester ,
I contacted Mr .
Peter N o l an , a f ine bu i lder and persuaded h im t o bu i ld me
a hous e .
We had a drawing of a type o f hou s e that we
wanted , w ith the ki nd of stone , the number o f rooms , and
the k i nd o f roo f , etc .
I s a i led on the f ir s t o f May
before the foundation was dug .
in the bu i lder .
sad
I had s o much conf idence
When I reached Be irut ,
I l earned that
news that Marr iana , Soumaya ' s mother , was i l l w i th a
m a l i gnant diseas e .
The house in B ludan was vacant and we
dec ided to occupy it for the summer .
I t wou ld have been
a grand vacat ion were it not for our l oved one ' s i l lness .
B e f ore we went to Bludan , our baby ,
month s o l d , was not we l l .
i n f e cted tons i l .
two and one h a l f
He was suf f er ing from a badl y
A s it happened , t h e surg ica l c l i n i c i n
t h e Univers ity ' s hosp ita l w a s c l osed , a n d o u r doctor , who
was to do the operat ion
suggested that rather than wa i t
for t h e hosp ita l to open , that w e have the operat ion
perf ormed in his c l i nic in S idon .
I had s o much
conf i dence in h i s ab i l ity that we agreed .
drove to S idon and had it done .
Right away we
We spent that n i ght in
the doctor ' s home and we were back i n Be irut the next
day .
From that day on , Wadea began to improve .
At the end of September , there was a steamer
g o i ng d i rect to New York from Be irut .
12 1
We took a tour on
�I t s topped s evera l t imes on its way t o d i s charge
it .
p a s s engers and loads of merchand i s e .
I t was a l ove ly
We arr ived in Providence at the end o f S eptember .
tour .
We took the even ing tra in to Chester and arr ived around
m i d n ight .
The f o lks were at the Che s ter stat i o n t o meet
us and as they drove toward horne brother Wade a s a i d ,
moon is fu l l ,
" The
let us show the fo lks the ir new horne . "
So
they stopped and I could hard ly be l i eve my eyes when I
s aw i t .
in ,
I t l ooked so beaut iful that Soumaya wanted to go
but she had to wait unt i l the morn ing .
I t was a very
p le a s ant surpr i s e for both of us when we went through the
ha l l i nt o the l ight rooms downsta irs and up sta irs .
We
were s o surpr i s ed that I ca l l ed the bui lder and a sked h im
t o meet me at the bank with h i s bi l l , wh ich he d i d .
s a id ,
He
" Here are the actual b i l l s that I have spent for
mater i a l and labor .
very s at i s f ied . "
Add to them ten percent and I ' l l be
He was and I was more than sat i s f i ed
and I p a i d h im with thanks .
We l ived i n that hou s e with
comfort from 1 9 2 5 to 1 9 6 9 when we moved to Wa l l ingf ord .
When one raises a fam i ly w i th ch i ldren , one
mus t expect s ome surpr i se s and some shocks .
Work ing in
a n o f f i c e on Edgmont Avenue , I was hurriedly ca l led out .
My son Wadea was cross ing the street on h i s way to take
h i s mus ic les son when he was run over by a l ight car and
had h i s l eg broken be low the knee .
The dr iver carr ied
h im home and gave h i s mother a very bad shock .
122
The only
�way that I could qu iet her was by a s sur ing her that I was
g l a d that it wa sn ' t one of h i s front teeth .
She wou l d
n o t be l i eve that unt i l I sa id that in s i x or s even weeks
h i s leg wou ld be a s good a s ever .
I f he had a broken
front tooth , he wou ld have troub le w ith it the rest o f
h i s l i f e , and I was r ight .
Edd i e gave us two shocks :
one by f a l l ing from h i s h igh cha ir and crack i ng the bone
under the l e ft eye wh ich hea led without leav i ng any s car ,
and the other by f a l l ing from our cherry tree and
break i ng h i s arm .
For a wh i le ,
our l i fe went on
Our chi ldren gave us no troub l e i n the cour se
norma l ly .
o f the i r educat i on .
They a l l went through the grades in
a sat i s f actory manner .
The great worry came with the approach o f Wor ld
War I I .
Wadea was of m i l itary age for the s ervice and he
r e g i stered .
accepted .
He app l ied for the Air Force , but wa s not
He e nded up a s a paratrooper .
No one can
apprec iate a parent ' s anxi ety when they g ive up the i r
chi ldren for nat iona l service .
They put up a n app earance
of nat i onal pride that they too have ch i ldren who are
s e rv i ng the ir country but inwardly , they curs e a l l those
who caused or had anything to do with br ing ing about the
conf l i ct .
Hus bands usua l ly put on a courageous face to
ease o f the worry of the ir wives , and the w ive s usua l ly
take on knitt ing or some unusua l exerc i s e to h ide the
f ir e of anxi ety wh ich burns within the ir breast .
123
We were
�no except i on .
Of course with the pass ing o f t ime ,
coup led w ith the good news from Wadea that he was
enj oy i ng the tra in ing with his budd i e s , gave u s a l it t l e
comfort , but not f o r long .
Th i s t ime , they were g iven a
fur l ough before they were s ent abroad .
Even though we
knew that th i s was coming , we reso lved to show no worry
or concern but to make the v i s i t a s p l easant a s p o s s i b l e .
There was no use to say that we succeeded , I can only say
that we tr ied .
Wade a he lped for he showed no concern .
From that t ime on , the most prec i ou s th i ng that
we rece ived was ma i l that wou ld g ive us the j oyous news
that he was a l l r ight .
One even ing we rece ived two
l etters from the Ph i l ipp ine s .
The f irst began s ometh ing
l ik e th i s ,
" I am wr iting from the hosp ita l .
you rece ived my last letter .
I hope that
I cou ldn ' t t e l l
you in deta i l then about our acc ident , s o I ' l l
t e l l you now .
For some reason the a irp lane
fe l l , was wrecked , sever a l budd i e s were k i l l ed .
I got by with an inj ured back , was put i n this
hosp ita l , but I am now up and around .
soon b e di scharged .
I will
That i s the truth , don ' t
worry . "
We then opened the other letter , the one in wh ich he
wasn ' t a b l e to descr ibe the accident .
Had h i s second
l etter been d e l ayed , or lost , it wou ld have g iven us a
124
�m i s erab l e and anxi ous t ime .
Our son Edd i e , be ing three years younger , d i d
not have to enter the service t i l l t h e last y e a r o f the
war .
He was a s s i gned to the Merchant Mar ines and s erved
between th i s country and South Amer ica . How thank f u l to
God that he spared them both for u s .
But our j oy was tempered w i th sadnes s because
our l oved An i s Khoury ( Soumaya ' s broth e r ) d i d not come
back .
A l l dur ing the war we had the hope that we wou ld
hear from h im , but it was not to be .
An i s had come from
B e i rut where he had stud i ed dent i stry at the Univers ity
of Be irut .
He came to th i s country and started t o
pract ice i n New York .
He thought that it wou ld be h i s
advantage t o s erve i n the armed force s . -
H e was accepted
and a s s igned to the med ical s ervice . We were never sure
what happened then .
We were told that he and four other
o f f icers were sent overseas on a secret m i s s ion and the i r
p l ane was never heard from aga in .
For weeks they
s earched the seas , pass ing ships , and a l l i s l ands c l o s e
t o where they thought they went down , but w ithout ava i l .
After a period , they not i f ied u s that they must j udge h im
a s " Lost at S ea . "
125
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wadea and Aelyas Kassab Memoirs
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Portraits
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Wadea Kassab was born in Damascus in 1872 to an Orthodox family connected to British and American Protestant missionaries. Wadea immigrated from Syria to the United States in 1889, moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a former teacher of his had settled. He first worked in a stove factory and later became a molder in a factory making brake shoes for the railroad. After leaving the factory, he spent several years working on a farm, peddling fancy goods, and doing other miscellaneous jobs. During this time, he built relationships with Americans, including the O’Neill family of Chester, Pennsylvania. Wadea graduated from dental school in Philadelphia in 1895 and practiced dentistry in Chester. He began taking care of the O'Neills, who had financed and encouraged his dental career.</p>
<p>Aelyas (Elias) Kassab, Wadea’s younger brother, was born in Bloudan, Syria in 1883. Aelyas followed Wadea to the United States in 1899. After completing high school in Chester, PA, he also attended dental school and practiced dentistry at Wadea’s office. </p>
<p>Both brothers married women in Syria and brought them to the United States. In 1905, Wadea married Sara Hajjar, who had been educated at an English boarding school and was teaching at a mission school for Jewish children in Damascus prior to her marriage. In 1921, Aelyas married Soumaya Khoury of Beirut, Lebanon. The Kassab brothers both raised their families in Chester. Aelyas continued the brothers' dental practice while Wadea attempted a career in real estate; when this failed, Wadea rejoined the dental practice. Wadea died in February 1972, and Aelyas in October 1987. The brothers are both buried in Pennsylvania.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p>This collection contains a photograph of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab and two typed manuscripts: “Memoirs” by Wadea Kassab and "Kassab Family History” by Aelyas Kassab. The manuscripts offer insight into the social fabric and workplace challenges faced by early immigrants.</p>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aelyas Kassab
Wadea Kassab
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Family of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1954-1958
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Khayrallah Center staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Linda Jacobs and Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 November.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KC 0035
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kc0035_003
Title
A name given to the resource
Kassab Family History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Description
An account of the resource
This manuscript by Aelyas Kassab is a history of the Kassab family and a biography of Aelyas's own life. It begins with Aelyas's grandfather Elyas Kassab, born in 1814, and traces the family through the 19th century
particular attention is paid to the life and career of his uncle, Salim Kassab. After this family history, Aelyas gives an autobiographical account of his own life, from his childhood in Syria to his 1899 immigration to the United States to join his elder brother Wadea, finish his education, and join his brother's dental practice in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aelyas Kassab
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
The family of Aelyas Kassab
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
circa 1958
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
1950s
Biographies
Genealogy
Immigration
Medical
Pennsylvania
World War I
World War II
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/04b588c368647735b1849e81ee3d6126.pdf
adc23b52d6f22205887750182efcee88
PDF Text
Text
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Heritage and Learning·)
The Word. ISSN 0043-7964
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��The Word
JANUARY, 1977
1977
Antiothian
HolyYtar
�The Word
Volume 21
January, 1977
J\11tinr4imt ®rt~ooox @qristian J\rrqmoc£5£
Number 1
OF NORTH
358
ENGLEWOOD,
201
In This Issue
Maximos Aghiorgoussis
1977
ANTIOCHIAN HOLY YEAR
Cover
1977 has been declared by Metropolitan PHILIP as "Antiochian Holy Year" in
our Archdiocese. The official seal is an icon print of the founders of the Church of
Antioch, Sts. Peter and Paul, and a verse from the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter
11, Verse 26: "The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."
1
Archpastoral
Proclamation
3
Why We Do Not Have Women
5
Bishop Raphael
12
Pilgrimage
To Russia-Part
Priests
II
Pastoral Letter of 1912
"As Valid Today as Then"
15
Parishes
Of The Archdiocese
St. Michael Church of Van Nuys, California is featured.
16
James C. Meena
18
Archdiocesan
Lifestyles
Office
X
Homily on abortion.
19
Daily Devotions
Scripture readings compiled by Father Murphy.
20
SOYO Digest
News and views of our youth movement.
22
AOCWNA
23
Communities
27
In Action
07631
• 871-135!5
1977
Honoring
His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV
ARCHPASTORAL
PROCLAMATION
We greet you in the Name of our Redeeming Christ wishing you and your children
peace, health and prosperity in the New Year.
At the Fall Meeting of the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees, held in Montreal, Canada,
November 1, 1975, it was unanimously resolved to extend an invitation to our Father-inChrist, His Beatitude, ELIAS IV, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East to visit our Archdiocese in the year, 1977. The invitation was cordially extended and graciously accepted.
His Beatitude will arrive in New York in May and will preside over the SOYO Parish Life
Conferences in Montreal, Canada; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Boston, Massachusetts;
Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Seven Springs, Pennsylvania and over the Archdiocese Convention in Washington, D .C.
Our generation is very fortunate that for the first time in the history of Christianity, the
Patriarch of Antioch will bless us and this continent by his presence. Patriarch ELIAS
represents two thousand years of spirituality. We will see in him the faith of Peter, the zeal of
Paul, the sacrificial spirit of Ignatius, the eloquence of John Chrysostom and the brilliance
of John of Damascus.
In honor, therefore, of this most historic visit, we do hereby officially proclaim 1977
"Antiochian Holy Year." We ask our beloved clergy and laity to reflect with gratitude on our
glorious past and to emphasize in their sermons, discussions and seminars the significance of
Antiochian history and spirituality. Time is a precious gift from God, thus, lest the word
"Holy Year" remains an empty slogan, we ask you, beloved children, to sanctify the days and
months of this year by your words and deeds.
In appreciation of His Beatitude's visit, we have appealed to you to help us raise a half
million dollars in order to establish in this country "The Patriarch ELIAS IV Foundation,"
for the benefit of the Balamand Theological Academy which is the only school of theology
left in the entire Middle East. Because of economic and security reasons, this reknown
school has been closed for the past two years. Your generous contribution will make it
possible for this institution to resume its spiritual mission to all the ancient patriarchates of
the Middle East.
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation, we pray that the Antiochian Holy Year
will be a source of joy and spiritual renewal to all of us.
Paternally yours in Christ,
Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Garden Grove, California; Vicksburg, Mississippi;
Louisville, Kentucky; Johnstown, Pa.; and Bridgeport, Conn. are featured this
month.
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
The Orthodox World
Issued at our Headquarters
this first day of January, 1977.
Commentaries of the Religious News Service.
ROAD
NEW JERSEY
Beloved Faithful of our Archdiocese:
An answer to the Episcopalians and others who question Apostolic Tradition.
George S. Corey
AMERICA
MOUNTAIN
January, 1977
Page 1
�WHY WE DO NOT HAVE
WOMEN PRIESTS
Feastof the Month
Tht HolyThtophanyof OurLordand God
andSaviourJesusChrist(January<,)
This feast is one of the greatest of the Christian Year,
and is in a class with Easter and Christmas. In some parts
of the world it is kept with greater solemnity than
Christmas itself. In English we are accustomed. to
hearing this Feast called "The Epiphany," a word which
means "manifestation." On this day the Orthodox
Church celebrates the remembrance of the Baptism of
Christ in the River Jordan at the hands of St. John the
Baptist. Because of the importance of the Feast, the day
before is kept as a vigil, with a strict fast.
.
It is customary to hold the Service of the Blessmg of
the Waters on this day. In ancient times, there were two
blessings: one of the water intended for the baptism of
those who were about to be received into the Church,
and the other a solemn outdoor blessing of the rivers,
lakes, and other bodies of water. This latter blessing was
an imitation of the custom of the Christians of Jerusalem
who went to the Jordan to celebrate the festival, and in
memory of the consecration of the waters of the Jordan
at the time Christ was baptized therein. There is an old
tradition that upon the eve of the Epiphany and
throughout the days closely following all the waters of
the earth are especially sacred, because of their part in
the baptism of the Lord.
Present practice in this country is to bless the waters
at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. Among the
prayers said are some of those used in the administration
of the Sacrament of Baptism. The Priest prays that God
will grant sanctification, blessings, purification, and
THE
maximos aghiorgoussis
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
~
'
~~~4~
bodily health to those who partake of the water or are
anointed or sprinkled therewith. After the Service he
sprinkles all present, and those who wish take some of
the water home with them.
In the days following the Epiphany, the Priest goes
about blessing the homes of the faithful and praying for
their spiritual and material welfare throughout th~ year
to come. It is the business of the Church to sanctify the
lives of its faithful, to make them holy, and to insure their
salvation by every means at her command.
The Very Rev. Stephen Upson
WORD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMAT, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
Editorial Board:
Archimandrite Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen Upson, James C. Meena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gerasimos Murphy, James ~en~
Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John Dalack, William Essey, Raymond George, Ronald Nicola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the Antiochi
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
Technical Staff:
George Nassor, Beatrice Davis, Eve Meyer
Publications Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
ISSN 0043-7964
The recent decision of the Episcopal Church in
the United States to ordain women to the priesthood
has appalled all Christians of various traditions who,
on the one hand, are sincerely interested in the
preservation of the revealed truth and, on the other
hand, in the restoration of the unity among the
disciples of Christ. The Episcopal Church in the
United States can no longer be considered as a
community of "Catholic" tradition. With the above
decision, the Episcopal Church proved itself to be as
liberal as all those liberal Protestant communities,
which do not have the traditional priesthood with
apostolic succession, and which thus feel free to
appoint women as ministers. As an Eastern Orthodox,
I cannot but condemn this uncharitable act perpetrated not only against people who do not accept
this decision within the Anglican communion, but
also against the Churches of apostolic tradition, and
especially the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Those who voted for the ordination of women in
the Episcopal Church in the United States may
believe that "now the whole Church has come into the
20th century!" Actually, it seems to me that it is not
the whole church, but only one of the communities
which calls itself a Christian Church and which has
followed other such communities in betraying the
Gospel and the great apostolic tradition of the
Church. This has been done in order to accommodate the world - in this case the so-called
women's liberation movement.
The Symbolic Correspondence: Christ and Priest
As far as the Orthodox are concerned, both the
teachings of the Holy Scripture and the great
apostolic tradition of the Church exclude the ordination of women to the Christian priesthood. As pointed
out by both Orthodox and Roman Catholic theologians, it is the common understanding of both the
THE WORD, published monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at Pittsburgh, Per
Father Maximos, Systematic Theology professor at Holy Cross Greek
sylvania, Business office, 377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213; Publication office, 3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Enter
Orthodox School of Theology, reflects for our readers upon the imas second class matter and postage paid at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.
portant implications of the Episcopal Church's recent decision, as
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $8.00 a year in the United States and Canada, $10.00 a year in foreign countries.
Orthodoxy sees it.
ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: THE WORD, 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
January, 1977
1
The Wo
Page 2
Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches that "the
priest represents Christ directly and not because he
represents the faith of the Church. Thus, the candidates for the priesthood will have to be male to
preserve the symbolic correspondence bct;veen the
minister and Christ; for this and for other theological
reasons, ordination of women to the priesthood seems
entirely excluded in the Orthodox Church" (Maximos
Aghiorgoussis - Edward J. Kilmartin, "OrthodoxCatholic Dialogue", in The Journal of Ecumenical
Studies, 1976).
An Orthodox View of Women Priests
To support this view, I would like to share with the
reader a statement representing the Orthodox view
on the ordination of women, presented to the Orthodox-Catholic
consultation
fast January.
The
statement reads:
"In some Wes tern circles the question of the ordination of women is of particular relevance. Nontheological reasons are given by them as the only·
reasons against the ordination of women. This means
for them that the question is open, and that it is ultimately possible for women to be ordained if the
sociological reasons against their ordination cease to
exist. In my estimation, from an Eastern Orthodox
point of view it is completely the opposite. The only
reasons against the ordination of women are theological."
The Fatherly Role
"For the Eastern Orthodox, it is imperative to
preserve the symbolic correspondence
between
Christ as a male and the ordained priest. For this
reason, only certain male persons are called to
represent Christ in the capacity of ordained priests.
From a theological point of view, the fatherly role of a
priest in the Church reflects the Father's role in the
All-Holy Trinity. This cannot be interchanged with
the motherly role of a female person in the Christian
family and comm unity. The latter role has its prototype in the Holy Spirit, the source of love and of
Page 3
�harmony in the life of the Church, and is embodied in
the All-Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.
The Theotokos
"Both male and female roles in the Church are
very important, yet not interchangeable. One female
person is closer to God than any other human being:
the All-Holy Virgin Mary. A female person - not a
male - gave birth to God according to the flesh. On
the other hand, Christ's coming on this earth as a male
is not a mere accident. It has its symbolic significance,
which cannot be neglected throughout our Christian
tradition, both in the East and the West until our own
days.
Non-Theological Reasons
"It is only recently that in some theological circles
in the West non theological reasons have prevailed
against solid traditional theology, doctrine, and
practice. As far as the Orthodox are concerned, one
cannot but deplore this kind of development in the
West. It is true that women in the secular world, and
perhaps in some ecclesiastical circles as well, have
been victimized by male suppression. But the correct
way of combatting anti-feminism is not by destroying
the proper charismas of woman by making her interchangeable with man. It is also true that female
persons have the same rights as male persons. It is
specifically so in Christianity, where on the basis of
Christian baptism 'in Christ there is no male and
female' (Gal. 3:28), but only one communion of
persons equal among themselves in personal dignity.
Yet, even in Christianity not everything is interchangeable between male and female persons, as
between any persons. Each of these persons has
personal, unrepeated, incommunicable charismas,
given to this person by the Holy Spirit of God to the
benefit of the Christian community. Malehood and
femalehood are part of these personal charismas.
They are part of these 'varying charismas' (I Cor. 12:431) given to the Christian community by the Holy
Spirit of God, so that peace and harmony reigns
within this comm unity.
The Iconic Representation of Christ
"Even from a sociological point of view, male and
female persons can, and at times should share in each
other's functions. But they cannot interchange their
roles. In a family, the father can function as the
mother, and the mother can function as the father if
there is a need for this. But one cannot be the oth;r:
one cannot play the role of another. So it is with the
Christian community. Male and female persons can
share in the priestly function of Christ; moreover,
they s~ould do so, on the basis of their baptism. They
share m the one common Christian nature and its
common energies, among which is that of 'mediation
for the world,' a priestly function. Yet there is a
special gift given by the Holy Spirit of God to only a
Page 4
few chosen persons. It is the gift of iconic representation of Christ, the Groom of the Bride - not the
Bride of the Bride - and also of iconic representation
of God the Father, the gift of the ordained priesthood.
This gift is given to only a few male persons, for these
persons alone have been chosen by God to play the
role of 'another Christ,' the Spouse of the Church, and
the role of the Father in the Christian community.
"As far as the Orthodox are concerned, the ordination of women to the Holy Priesthood is untenable since it would disregard the symbolic and iconic
value of male priesthood, both as representing
Christ's malehood and the fatherly role of the Father
in the Trinity by allowing female persons to interchange with male persons a role which cannot be
interchanged
(Maximos
Aghiorgoussis,
"The
Ordained Priesthood:
Historical Interpretation,
Theological Dimensions, and Contemporary Issues
From an Orthodox Point of View," unpublished pa per
presented to the Orthodox-Catholic Consultation in
the United States in its session in January 23-24, 1976,
in Garrison, New York.)
The Great Tradition and New Divisions
I am confident that the above statement reflects
the doctrine of the apostolic tradition and Church. I
have no doubts that it also reflects the feelings of all
those Christians who are attached to this tradition,
and who are not willing to accept any other Gospel
but that given to them by this great Tradition of the
Holy Spirit. I am also confident that this great Tradition of the Holy Spirit will prove false such 'prophecies' as that according to which the uncharitable decision of ordaining women to the priesthood in the
Episcopal Church in the United States will "enrich the
ministry, work and life of the diocese beyond
measure," and also that 'prophecy' according to
which the Episcopal Church through its decision has
found the opportunity "to provide a model, especially
for our sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic
Church" (Ben Kaufman, "Episcopal Church Ok's
Priesthood for Women," in The Boston Globe, 210.79
(Sept. 17, 1976), pp. 1 and 8.)
On the contrary, it seems that the prophecy of all
those conscientious and concerned Christians both
from the Episcopal Church in the United States and
from all other Christian Churches and communities
will be proven true; according to this prophecy, the
decision to ordain women to the priesthood in the
Episcopal Church will only create more division and
more schism within this same communion, along with
scandal and grievance for all those Christians who are
genuinely concerned about what happens with their
Christian brothers and their communities. As far as
the Orthodox are concerned, their "dialogue of the
deaf" with the Episcopal communion in the United
States does not seem to be promising any longer;
moreover, it has been totally jeopardized.
The Word
His ~oliness Pimen.' Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, memben of the Holy Synod and guests at the Trinity~ergms ~onastery m Zagorsk, USSR, October, 1976. Metropolitan Philip is seated at the right. Our delegation
1sat top nght center.
PILGRIMAGE
TORUSSIA-Part
II
by fr. george s. corey
(continued from last issue)
Sunday, October 3, 1976
After the Holy Liturgy at the St. Nicholas
Cathedral of Leningrad, we were invited to have
lunch with Bishop Cyril, Rector of the Leningrad
Seminary. We departed from the Cathedral to the
outside courtyard amidst the ringing of the church
bells. The bishops moved on ahead of us to their car
and left for the residence of Bishop Cyril. I handed Fr.
J~hn_Namie my camera bag so that I would be able to
distribute to the faithful the religious items I brought
from my parish in Pittsburgh (crosses, medals and
January, 1977
icon prints). Believe me when I tell you, I have never
had such an experience! I was immediately
surrounded by hundreds of pious souls who were
shouting in Russian, "please, a cross as a blessing".
What we in the West take for granted, these deeply
spiritual persons crave as a blessing. As I handed the
gifts to each, the crowds pushed and shoved just to get
a small plastic cross. Young and old alike moved me
from one side of the courtyard to the other in just
seconds. My feet were not touching the ground. I
tried in vain to place my back against the church
Page 5
�and abuses of religion". When the management saw
us enter (as clergymen), they were delighted to give us
a personally guided tour by a party member who gave
us the full party line. She did her best to tell us how
Communism could save us from all these evils of religion. We we~e told that that part of the museum
which dealt with Orthodoxy, Protestantism and other
world religions, was closed for "refurbishing and
updating" and that only the Roman Catholic section
was now open. It was a welcome relief to know that
"our" section would take a year and a half to complete. They must be having trouble getting enough
material to expose. We were taken through aisles and
aisles of "evils of the Roman Catholic hierarchy" upon
the faithful. Each section carried a message from
some "good Communist" about how Communism
could save you from all this nonsense. Since religion is
"the opium of the people" for Communists, what
better way to "expose" religion than to do it in one of
Orthodoxy's finest and at one time most sacred
temples of worship. We wondered how many people
who were exposed to this negative presentation of
religion were possibly led positively to religion. Fr.
John Namie expressed it for all of us as we thanked
our guide and departed: "May this same God Whom
you condemn, save you".
building or just to get to the cars carrying our delegation. The people kept coming and as long as the
gifts lasted, there was no let-up. People fell and others
fell over them. Several times I felt my knees giving
way. Fr. Antoun Khouri called for help, but again to
no avail. Six Russian policemen stood at a distance
watching and waiting. Fr. John said my face became
pale with fright. I was deeply moved and emotionally
overcome by the experience. As the box emptied, I
was afraid my pectoral cross and even my jibbie
would be next. Rather the men and women began to
kiss my hands and robe, repeating over and over
again, "spahsseebah" (thank you). When I finally got
to the car, I was numb by the experience and couldn't
hear one word of Fr. Antoun's scolding. I was thankful that Metropolitan PHILIP and Bishop Cyril had
not witnessed the incident since they left seconds
before in another car. I was able to finally pacify Fr.
Antoun, Fr. John and our interpreter. After all, how
did I know I had been breaking the law? But I can
truthfully say, I would do it again anytime! It was
beautiful!
We arrived (finally) at the famous Academy and
Seminary of Leningrad which is the home of some 250
theological students preparing for the Holy Priesthood, professorship in theology or both. There we
met several members of the faculty, exchanged gifts
and settled down to a delicious luncheon hosted by
Bishop Cyril. We found His Grace to be extremely
intelligent, deeply spiritual and beautifully sensitive
to the needs of his flock. We thank God that our
Church in Russia has at its helm such persons as
Bishop Cyril of Viborg.
We soon returned to the hotel for a short rest
before our evening schedule began. Our host and
guide, Father Jacob, informed. us that we would be
guests at the Leningrad opera. Scheduled for the
evening was Verdi's "La Traviata". It was beautifully
sung in Russian to a crowd of 2000 lovers of the
performing arts. How ironic it was that we were
hearing this Western opera in Leningrad-the
old St.
The Metropolitan with our interpreter, Natasha.
Page 6
Interior of one of the churches.
Petersburg, which was founded by Peter I and completely westernized according to European standards.
Even the iconography in the Orthodox Churches of
Leningrad were influenced by this westernization
started by Peter I, Tsar of Russia in the eighteenth
century. At any rate, another glorious day had ended.
Monday, October 4, 1976
On Monday, we were taken on a guided tour of
some of Leningrad's finest museums: the Russian
Museum of Art where there is an excellent collection
of icons by great Russian Masters; the St. Isaac Dal·
matian Cathedral, site of the most beautiful marble
columns in Russia; Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress and its
Cathedral, the personal chapel of the Royal Family
and the site of the burial place of Tsar Peter I and
other notables; and finally the Cathedral of our Lady
of Kazan, which has been converted into a museum of
atheistic propaganda. Our hearts were extremely
heavy at this last stop, for here, in what was once the
Cathedral that bore the famous and miraculous Icon
of our Lady of Kazan, was now the instrument by
which the Communist Government attempted to
expose to their people, especially the young, "the evils
The Word
Actually what we saw there came as no surprise
to us or to any student of history!
On Monday evening our hosts took us to the
Nevsky Palace of Culture where we were entertained
by the Kabardinka Dancing Ensemble from the Caucasian Region of the Soviet Union. Never have we
witnessed such precision dancing and ornate
costumes. It was indeed a heart-warming experience,
since much of their culture is similar to that found in
the Middle East.
Tuesday, October 5, 1976
We began our day by visiting The Hermitage,
formerly the Winter Palace of Peter the Great,
which ranks with the very finest of the world's art
museums. It is the largest and most splendid in the
The Holy Gifts are prepared. Notice the large cutting of the
Lamb for many communicants.
January, 1977
The faithful in line for the Eucharist.
Soviet Union and contains more than two and a half
million works of art, representing different ages,
countries and people. In the two hundred years since
its foundation, The Hermitage has been transformed
from a palace art collection, accessible only to a
narrow circle of the nobility, into a truly national
museum, whose treasures bring beauty to millions of
people who visit it. The Hermitage presently contains
such rare collections as Byzantine iconography and
the paintings and sculpture of Leonardo da Vinci,
Raphael, El Greco, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Goya,
Rubenx, Renoir, Tetsu, Gainsborough, Rastrelli,
Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse and others.
After several hours at this museum, our delegation
was taken to the famous St. Vladimir Church of
Leningrad which now houses the miraculous Icon of
our Lady of Kazan. There we prayed as pilgrims and
offered special prayers for our Archdiocese and
faithful in North America. How simple yet impressive were these experiences, not only here but in
several of the "small" churches we visited.
While Metropolitan PHILIP, Fr. Antoun and Fr.
Macarios planned our visit with the Patriarch later in
the week, Fr. John and I were driven with our interpreter to the outskirts of the city to visit the Church of
St. Seraphim of Sarov and to pray there over his relics.
We were graciously met by the parish priest, Archpriest Vladimir Piotek, who took us on a tour of the
cemetery church. In addition to the Icon of St. Seraphim, there were exceptionally good icons of the
Blessed Mother in this church. Gifts were exchanged
and icons presented by us to those in attendance.
We then proceeded to another village church, St.
Vladimir of Lisy Nos. There Vespers were in progress
with a woman's choir leading the congregation in
singing the beautiful hymns. Fr. John Namie preached
the evening sermon, reminding the faithful of our
oneness in the Faith in spite of the distance that
separates us. He elaborated on the steadfastness of
the early saints of Russia and how important it is that
Page 7
�worshippers on the occasion of this special feast day
in the life of the Russian Church.
and Novgorod. This gigantic cathedral has~ c~pacity
of 10,000 worshippers, and, we were told, ts filled to
capacity at every Sunday and feast day service. Of
special importance here ~sthe St. :-Alexande_rNevs~y
Lavra, a special shrine which contams the_rehcs of this
prince-saint, along with many other samts of H~ly
Russia. There we prayed and venerated the holy rehcs
as lasting memorials to the holy figures who had_fallen
asleep in the Lord. It too was an awesome experience!
From the cathedral, we proceeded to the famous
Piskariovskoye Memorial Cemetery, burial place of
the 650,000 victims of the Nazi siege of Leningrad
beginning in 1941 and lasting through 1942. We were
amazed to learn that the youth of the city had taken it
upon themselves to care for and decorate these burial
grounds. The entire acreage was kept in order by
volunteers, offering their services in memory of their
loved ones. Fresh flowers were placed daily on the
tombs of the unknown citizens and Soviet armies
fallen in defense of their city. It is a common sight to
see newlvweds come to the cemetery and burning
flame to pray or stand in silence in memory of their
grandparents or relatives buried there.
we imitate them no matter what our lot in life. On
behalf of Metropolitan PHILIP, we presented icon
prints of our Lady of Sitka, Alaska to all the faithful.
Again another day ended with many blessings to us.
We departed from the church while the faithful sang
"Many Years" to their new friends from America.
Newlyweds visit the cemetery in Leningrad.
Thursday, October 7, 1976
We were guests for breakfast of His Grace, Bishop
Cyril and His Grace, Bishop Meliton, Vicar Bishop of
Tikhvin. There we expressed our deepest gratitude to
our Leningrad hosts and then departed by plane for
Moscow.
Wednesday, October 6, 1976
This was to be our last full day in Leningrad. We
chose, therefore, to start the day by revisiting the
Leningrad Academy and Seminary. We were taken
on a grand tour which included a visit to the Seminary
Library where 250,000 volumes of theological books
are kept. There also can be found the first Bible ever
printed in Russian. The beautiful Chapel of the
Theological School, which was founded in 1809, was
also included on our tour. Then we were given the
honor of meeting the entire faculty. We exchanged
thoughts about the importance of theological education for our clergy and educators and possibly an
exchange of students between their seminary and
ours in America. It was an enriching experience for all
ofus.
Page 8
We bid farewell to our interpreter Natasha who
never left us during the entire tour. Her duties now
called for her to escort Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller, wife
of the Vice President of the United States, and
members of her family, to visit various Orthodox
churches and monasteries in the Moscow area.
Natasha will long be remembered by us as a true
friend and one who shared with us the great treasures
and faith of the Russian people and nation. She took
her leave after receiving the blessing of Metropolitan
PHILIP.
Metropolitan PHILIP led the delegation in the
Trisagion Prayers for the 650,000 and then placed
fresh flowers at the foot of the gigantic statue which
represented "Mother Russia" handing the wreath of
victory to the fallen victims. Soon after our prayers
were offered, a contingency of the Canadian Navy,
visiting Leningrad for the first time in history,
presented military salutes and taps. We left with
heavy hearts for our Russian brethren of all creeds,
who suffered great losses at the hands of the Nazis.
Statue of Mother Russia at Leningrad Cemetery.
We then drove to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, seat
of His Eminence, Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad
Before we departed this cathedral, considered one
of the most beautiful in all Moscow, we venerated the
tomb and relics of St. Alexis of Moscow, a famous
Metropolitan of the fourteenth century.
Metropolitan
650,000.
Philip places flowers in memory
of the
Upon our arrival to the city of seven and a half
million, we were taken to our residence for the next
few days left in Russia, the Hotel Ukrania. After
getting settled and resting for a short time, our delegation departed for the Epiphany Cathedral for the
All Night Vigil on the eve of the Feast of St. Sergius.
Accompanying us and con-celebrating the Vigil with
Metropolitan PHILIP was His Grace, Bishop Ireney,
newly appointed Vicar of the Moscow Patriarchate in
C_anada. Participating in the service with the t~o
hierarchs were ten priests, the Archdeacon and six
sub-deacons. Numerous
nuns could be found
throughout the cathedral, caring for the priests' v~stments, lighting candles, keeping order, etc. Durmg
t~e service, Metropolitan PHILIP anoi~ted the clergy
WIth Holy Oil, and the clergy in turn anointed the 3000
January, 1977
The Word
We were then called to the suite of Metropolitan
PHILIP, where our good friend, Father Macarios
Tayyar, presented each of us with a souvenir of our
visit to Russia, and we in turn, presented him with gifts
from America. How fortunate the Church of Antioch
is in having Fr. Macarios represent them in the
Patriarchate of Moscow. He is fully knowledgeable
on the state of affairs there and in the Middle East,
an asset for a person in his position. We hope and
pray that our newly found friends and old
acquaintances will visit us in North America, so that
we can demonstrate to them the spiritual life of
Orthodoxy in the New World.
Friday, October 8, 1976
We arose early (6:30A.M.)in order to travel to the
Trinity-Sergius Monastery in Zagorsk to celebrate the
Holy Liturgy with His Holiness, Patriarch Pimen on
the Feast of St. Sergius. This was the first day that we
encountered heavy rain and dense fog. In spite of the
Metropolitan Philip preaches in the presence of Bishops
Job and Ireney.
Page 9
�Metropolitan Philip speaks at private luncheon •
gloomy weather, we were anxiously awaiting this
experience which proved to be the highlight of our
pilgrimage. After a two hour drive from Moscow, we
arrived at Zagorsk and the famous Monastery there
which has been in existence since 1380. The bells in
the Great Belfry, constructed from 1740 to 1769,
began to ring out over the land, calling the faithful to
begin their prayers. In spite of the horrible weather, a
working and school day and the distance people had
to travel, it is estimated that there were twenty five to
thirty thousand in attendance for this particular
celebration.
We were immediately escorted to one of the main
buildings to vest for the procession that would bring
the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia into the
Trinity Cathedral for the three hour liturgy. Metropolitan PHILIP was given the unique privilege of
serving at the immediate right side of the Patriarch,
in spite of the fact there were a dozen other Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops concelebrating
(another dozen praying nearby). Eight priests served,
including Fathers Antoun and John (I was the photographer and recorder of events), and four deacons.
Twenty-six sub deacons and seminarians ministered
to the needs of the hierarchs. The choir of clergy and
laity was absolutely magnificent, surpassing some of
the best I've heard in Europe and North America.
Many delegations were present for this service,
among them the Catholicos - Patriarch of the
Syrian Orthodox Church of India (Malarbar), a
Roman Catholic bishop from Spain and a group of
American students from McCormick Theological
Seminary in Chicago.
After that glorious liturgy, a procession of
hierarchs, clergy and laity, moved from the cathedral
to the outside courtyard where a special service was
chanted in memory of St. Sergius of Radonezh,
founder of this monastic community, a major political
leader from among the clergy, very active in deterring
Page 10
. and then toasts the Patriarch.
the Tartar - Mongolian onslaught. The flower•
decorated Icon of St. Sergius had been placed in the
courtyard for the service. The twenty five to thirty
thousand faithful sang the troparion of the saint while
the bells from the Great Belfry rang out over the land
that since the 1917 Revolution has tried in vain to
suppress the religious convictions of its citizens.
Soon after the service, we were taken to have
lunch with the Patriarch, hierarchs and special guests.
Metropolitan PIDLIP spoke, expressing our thank·
fulness to His Holiness and the Russian Church for
their invitation and kindnesses extended to us. In the
presence of the Soviet Minister of Church Affairs
(representing the Soviet government), Metropolitan
PHILIP reminded the Patriarch and guests, of the
great witness the Russian people have made over the
centuries toward their Orthodox Christian Faith, their
sufferings and persecutions and their steadfastness to
truth and justice. In his remarks, the Soviet deputy
made no apology for the stance the State has taken
over religion and religious expressions in the Soviet
Union. It was again noticeable to us that there existed
a real tension between Church and State and that the
Church in Russia must "step lightly" just to exist, else
another great persecution, as in the time of Stalin1
might ensue.
After lunch, we were received in private audience
by His Holiness and members of the Holy Synod. The
Patriarch welcomed us as his guests and gave us his
blessing. Gifts were exchanged, as is the custom, and
we took our departure. A grand tour of the monastery
buildings, chapels and museums was next on our
itinerary. As we walked from place to place, the faith·
ful, standing in the rain, stopped the Metropolitan to
receive his blessing. ·Many tears were shed as we wit·
nessed the deeply pious devotions of the faithful. We
left Zagorsk with a renewed commitment to faith. We
had seen devotion elsewhere, in America and other
parts of the world, but never like this. We learned a
great deal about faith in Holy Russia.
The Word
Saturday, October 9, 1976
Bishop Job, former Patriarchal Vicar for Canada
and Bishop Ireney, newly appointed Patriarchal
Vicar for Canada, remained with us for the duration
of our visit in Russia. On Saturday morning, we toured
the Kremlin in Moscow, visiting the beautiful
churches within the Kremlin walls. How soft were the
frescoes there, "as soft as the tears of the Russian
people", commented Metropolitan PHILIP. Even
though these churches were now museums, in silence
we offered our prayers there. The tombs of many of
the royal family of Russia can be found in these
churches, as well as that of Boris Gudinov and St.
Germanos of Moscow. How unfortunate that the
Trisagion Service can no longer be conducted by the
Church hierarchy over these tombs. An empty silence
prevails within these churches, except for an occasional tear shed by a believer.
At a special farewell luncheon, hosted by the
Department of External Affairs of the Patriarchate, at
which time three Russian hierarchs and eight priests
came to bid us adieu, Metropolitan PHILIP prayed
that the great bells of the Kremlin churches would
one day ring again throughout the land, calling the
faithful to worship (these bells have not rung since the
Revolution of 1917). He encouraged his counterparts
to continue their witnessing to the person of Jesus
Christ "Who frees us from every political and social
system". His Eminence reminded us all that because
of this visit, a new relationship now exists between
Orthodox Christians of the Antiochian Church in
North America and the great Russian Church. We
thanked God for His many blessings upon us.
On Saturday evening, we celebrated the All Night
Vigil at the Antiochian Church of the Archangel.
Gabriel in Moscow whose dean is Archimandrite
Macarios Tayyar. Assisting His Eminence in the
Vespers-Matins were Bishop Job and Bishop Ireney,
six priests and two deacons. This parish belongs to the
Patriarchate of Antioch and its administrator is the
Gifts are exchanged with Patriarch Pimen.
January, 1977
Part of the crowd at the Monastery.
liaison between Moscow and Antioch. Other illustrious figures who served in this position in past years
were Raphael Hawaweeny (first bishop of our Church
in North America), Alexander Tahan (the late
Patriarch of Antioch) and Abdel Karim and Basilios
Samaha (present Metropolitans in the Church of
Antioch).
Metropolitan PHILIP hosted the dinner at the
residence of Father Macarios, in gratitude to our two
hierarchs who represented the Department
of
External Affiars of the Patriarchate. It was a typical
Russian meal, but with one exception- "tabooley"!
Sunday, October 1O,1976
As we arose to prepare for our departure from this
great land which produced many great saints, martyrs, confessors and ascetics, we could look from our
windows and see the skylines of Moscow with its
many churches and golden cupolas, a constant
reminder to us and to the Russian people that "there is
no history of the Russian Nation without the Holy
Orthodox Faith", as Metropolitan PHILIP stated so
eloquently to our hosts on several occasions.
Snow flurries began to fall as church bells tolled
their message of faith and love to the believers, calling
them to worship. Metropolitan PHILIP, Father
Antoun and Father John departed for New York via
Ireland. I took another flight to London where I met
my Khoureyee for a ten day vacation in London and
Paris, a vacation given to us by our lovely parishioners
at our Church of St. George in Pittsburgh. Soon we
would be home - America, our great America. The
events of this historic pilgrimage would become to us
a blessed memory. We had much to tell our people
about Church and State in the Soviet Union. We had
made new friends whose names and faces would be
added to our daily prayers. We arrived safely,
thanking the Lord Jesus for keeping us in His
abundant Grace and protection. May His Name be
blessed forevermore.
Amen.
Page 11
�"AsUalidTodagAsThtn• • •''
PASTORAL LETTER
In view of the recent pronouncements of the Anglican
(Episcopal) Church concerning ordination of women
to the priesthood, we present this Pastor~/ Letter of
Bishop Raphael, wn'tten in 1912, as valid today as
then . ..
To My Beloved Clergy and Laity of the Sy,:ian GreekOrthodox Catholic Church in North AmerzcaGreetings in Christ Jesus, Our Incarnate Lord and
God.
My Beloved Brethren:.
.
Two years ago, while I was a Vice-President and
member of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox
Churches Union, being moved with compassion for
my children in the Holy Orthodox faith "once and for
all delivered to the Saints" (St. Jude ver. 3) scattered
throughout the whole of North America and d~priv~d
of the ministration of the Church; and especially m
places far removed from Orthodox centres; and beii:ig
equally moved with a feeling that the Protestant Episcopalian (Anglican) Church possessed. largely the
Orthodox faith, as many of the promment clergy
professed the same to me before I studied deeply their
doctrinal authorities and their liturgy - the "Book of
Common Prayer" - I wrote a letter as the Bishop and
Head of the Syrian Catholic Mission in North
America, giving a permission, in which I said that in
extreme cases, where no Orthodox priest could be
called upon at short notice, the ministrations of the
Protestant Episcopalian (Anglican) clergy might be
kindly asked. However, I was most explicit in defining
when and how the ministrations should be accepted,
and also what exceptions should be made. In writing
that letter I hoped, on the one hand, to help my people
spiritually, and, on the other hand, to open the way
toward bringing the Anglicans into the communion of
the Holy Orthodox faith.
On hearing and in reading that my letter, perhaps
unintentionally, was misconstrued by some of the
Episcopalian (Anglican) Clergy, I wrote a second
letter in which I pointed out that my instructions and
exceptions had been either overlooked or ignored by
many, to wit:(a) They informed the Orthodox people that I
recognized
the
Anglican
Communion
(Protestant Episcopal Church) as being united
with the Holy Orthodox Church and their
ministry, that is holy orders, as valid.
(b) The Episcopal (Anglican) Clergy offered
their ministrations even when my Orthodox
Page 12
clergy were residing in the same towns and
parishes, as pastors.
And,
(c) Protestant Episcopalian clergy said that
there was no need of the Orthodox people
seeking the ministration~ of their own O:thodox priests, for thetr (the Anglican)
ministrations were all that were necessary.
I therefore felt bound by all the circumstances to
mak~ a thorou~h study of the Anglican Church's faith
and orders as well as of her discipline and ritual. After
serious consideration I realized that it was my honest
duty as a member of the College of Bishops of the
Hol; Orthodox Greek Apostolic C~urch, an~ Head of
the Syrian Mission in North Amenca, to r~sig~ from
the vice-presidency of and membership ~n the
Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches ~ mon_.At
the same time, I set forth, in my letter of resignation,
my reason for so doing.
I am convinced that the doctrinal teaching and
practices as well as the discipline of the whole
Anglican Church are inacceptable to the Holy O:thodox Church. I make this apology for the Anghcans
whom as Christian gentlemen I greatly revere, that
the loose teachings of a great many of the prominent
Anglican theologians are so hazy in their ~efinitio~ ~f
truths, and so inclined toward pet heresies that it is
hard to tell what they believe. The Anglican Church
as a whole has not spoken authoritatively on her
doctrine. Her Catholic-minded members can cull out
her doctrines from many views, but so nebulistic is her
pathway in the doctrinal world that those who would
extend a hand of both Christian and ecclesiastical
fellowship dare not, without distrust, grasp the hand
of her theologians, for while many are orthodox on
some points they are quite heterodox on others. I
speak, of course, from the Holy Orthodox Eastern
Catholic point of view. The Holy Orthodox Church
has never perceptibly changed from Apostolic times,
and, therefore, no one can go astray in finding out
what she teaches. Like her Lord and Master, though
at times surrounded with human malaria -which He
in mercy pardons - she is "the same yesterday, and
today, and forever" (Hebrews 8-8), the mother and
safe deposit of "the truth as it is in Jesus" (Eph. IV. 21.)
The Orthodox Church differs absolutely with the
Anglican Communion in reference to the number of
Sacraments and in reference to the doctrinal explanation of the same. The Anglicans say in their
Catechism concerning the Sacraments that there are
"two only as generally necessary to salvation, that is to
say, baptism and the Supper of the Lord." I am well
aware that, in her two books of homilies (which are
The Word
not of a binding authority for the books were only
prepared in the reign of Edward VI and Queen
Elizabeth for priests who were not permitted to
preach their own sermons in England during times
both politically and ecclesiastically perilous), she says
that there are "five others commonly called
Sacraments" (see homily in each book on the
Sacraments), but long since she has repudiated in
different portions of her Comm union this very
teaching and absolutely disavows such definitions in
her "Articles on Religion" which are bound up in her
Book of Common Prayer or Liturgy as one of her
authorities.
The Orthodox Church has ever taught that there
are seven Sacraments. She may have called them
another name, yet in her definition of a Sacrament she
plainly points out the fact that each of the seven has
an outward and visible sign and an inward and spiritual grace, and that they are of gospel and apostolic
origin.
Again, the Orthodox Church has certain ceremonies and practices associated and necessary in the
administration of the Sacraments which neither time
nor circumstances must set aside where Churches are
organized. Yet the Anglicans entirely neglect these,
though they once taught and practiced the same in
more catholic days.
In the case of the administration of holy Baptism it
is the absolute rule of the Orthodox Church that the
candidate must be three times immersed (once in the
name of each person of the Blessed Trinity).
Immersion is not permissory in the Anglican
Communion, and pouring or sprinkling is the general
custom. The Anglicans do not use holy oil in the
administration, etc., and even in doctrinal teaching in
reference to this Sacrament they differ.
As to the doctrine concerning the Holy Communion the Anglican Communion has no settled
view. The Orthodox Church teaches the doctrine of
transubstantiation without going into any scientific or
Roman Catholic explanation. The technical word
which she uses for the sublime act of the priest by
Christ's authority to consecrate is "Transmuting"
(Liturgy of St. Chrysostom). She, as I have said, offers
no explanation, but she believes and confesses that
Christ, the Son of the Living God Who came into the
world to save sinners, is of a truth in His "all-pure
Body" and "precious Blood" (Liturgy of St.
Chrysostom) objectively present, and to be wo~shipped in that Sacrament as He was on earth and is
now in risen and glorified majesty in heaven; and that
"the precious and holy and life-giving Body and _Blood
of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Chnst are
imparted" (to each soul that comes to that Blessed
Sacrament) "Unto the remission of sins, and unto
everlasting life" (Liturgy of St. Chrysostom).
Confirmation or the laying on of hands, which the
Orthodox Church calls a Sacrament- "Chrismation"
- in the Anglican Church is merely the laying on of
January, 1977
hands of the Bishop accompanied by a set form of
prayers, without the use of Holy Chrism, which latter
has come down from Apostolic days as necessary.
Holy Matrimony is only regarded by the Anglican
Communion as a sacred rite which, even if performed
by a Justice of the Peace, is regarded as sufficient in
the sight of God and man.
Penance is not practiced excepting rarely in the
Anglican Comm union, and confession before the
reception of Holy Communion is not compulsory. She
has altogether set aside the Sacrament of Holy
Unction, that is anointing the sick as commanded by
St. James in his General Epistle (James V. 14). To her
priesthood she does not teach the true doctrine of the
grace of Holy Orders. Indeed she has two forms of
words for ordination, namely, one which gives the
power of absolution to the priest, and the alternative
form without the words of Our Lord, "whose sins ye
remit," etc. (St. John XX. 23). Thus she leaves every
Bishop to choose intention or non -intention in the act
of ordination as to the power and grace of her
priesthood (Ordination of Priests, Book of Common
Prayers.)
But besides all of this, the Anglican Communion
ignores the Orthodox Church's dogmas and
teachings, such as the invocation of saints, prayers for
the dead, special honour to the Blessed Virgin Mary
the Mother of God, and reverence for sacred relics,
holy pictures and ikons. She says of such teaching that
it is "a foul thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon
no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the
word of God" (Article of Religion, XXII).
There is a striking variance between her wording
of the Nicene Symbol and that of the Holy Orthodox
Church; but sadder still, it contains the heresy of the
"filioque."
I do not deem it necessary to mention all the
striking differences between the Holy Orthodox
Church and the Anglican Communion in reference to
the authority of holy tradition, the number of General
Councils, etc. Sufficient has already been said and
pointed out to show that the Anglican Com?1union
differs but little from all other Protestant bodies, and
therefore that there cannot be any intercommunion
until she ~eturns to the ancient holy Orthodox Faith
and practices, and rejects Protestant ommissions and
commissions.
Therefore, as the official head of the Syrian Holy
Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church in North
America and as one who must "give an account"
(Hebrews 13-17) before the judgment throne of the
"Shepherd and Bishop of Souls" (1 Peter II 25) that I
have fed the "flock of God" (1 Peter V 2), as I have
been commissioned by the Holy Orthodox Church,
and inasmuch
as the Anglican Communion
(Protestant Episcopal Church in the Unit~d States)
does not differ in things vital to the well bemg of the
Holy Orthodox Church from some of the most e:r~nt
Protestant sects; I direct all Orthodox people residmg
Page 13
�in any community not to seek to to accept the
ministrations of the Sacraments and rites from any
clergy excepting those of the Holy Orthodox Catholic
and Apostolic Church, for the Apostolic Canons
command that the Orthodox should not commune in
ecclesiastical matters with those who are not of "the
same household of the Faith" (Galatians VI, 10) to
wit: "Any Bishop, or presbyter or deacon who will
pray with heretics let him be anathematized; and if he
allows them as clergymen to perform any service let
him be deposed." (Apostolic Canon 45). "Any bishop,
or presbyter who accepts baptism or the Holy
Sacrifice from heretics, we order such to be deposed,
for 'what concord hath Christ with Belia!, or what part
hath he that believe th with an infidel?" (Aposolic
Canon 46).
As to members of the Holy Orthodox Church
living in districts beyond the reach of Orthodox
Catholic clergy I direct that the ancient custom of our
Holy Church be observed, namely, in cases of extreme necessity, that is, danger of death, children may
be baptized by some pious Orthodox layman, or even
by the parent of the child, (by immersion) three times
in the names of the (persons of the) Blessed Trinity,
and in case of death such baptism is valid: - but if the
child should live it must be brought to an Orthodox
priest for the Sacrament of Chrismation.
In the case of the death of an Orthodox person
where no priest of the Holy Orthodox Church can be
had, a pious layman may read over the corpse, for the
comfort of the relatives and the instruction of the
persons present, Psalm 90, "Whoso dwelleth under
the defence of the Most High," and Psalm 118,
"Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way and
walk in the law," etc., and add thereto the Trisagion
("Holy God, Holy Mighty," etc.) and all that
followeth. But be it noted that as soon as possible the
relative must notify some Orthodox bishop or priest
and request him to say the Liturgy and Requiem for
the repose of the soul of the departed in his Cathedral
or parish Church.
As to Holy Matrimony, if there be any parties
united in wedlock outside the pale of the Holy
Orthodox Church because of the remoteness of
Orthodox centres from their home, I direct that as
soon as possible they either invite an Orthodox priest
or go to where he resides and receive from his hands
the holy Sacrament of Matrimony; otherwise they
will be considered excommunicated
until they
submit unto the Orthodox Church's rule.
I further direct that Orthodox Christians should
not make it a practice to attend the services of other
religious bodies, so that there be no confusion as to
the teaching or doctrines. Instead, I order that the
head of each household, or a member, may read the
special prayers which can be found in the hours in the
Holy Orthodox Service Book, and such other devotional books as have been set forth by the authority of
the Holy Orthodox Church.
Commending our clergy and laity unto the safekeeping of Jesus Christ, and praying that the Holy
Spirit may keep us all in the truth and extend the
Borders of the Holy Orthodox Faith I remain,
Your affectionate Servant in Christ,
RAPHAEL,
Bishop of Brooklyn, Head of the
Syrian Greek Orthodox Catholic
Mission in North America
READ
THE
WORD
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Parishes of the Archdiocese
ST. MICHAEL ORTHODOX CHURCH
VAN NUYS, CALIFORNIA
The history of St. Michael Church began in October of
1968. A group of people living in the San Fernando Valley
began organizing plans for a mission parish. Because of the
size of metropolitan Los Angeles, it was felt that this
suburban area would be better served by a readily accessible church. This led us to the concept of a community
centered parish and ultimately to the feeling of an extended
family.
January 12, 1969 was the date set for the first Liturgy. It
would be held in rented facilities at our local Y .M.C.A. In
the time period from October to January, many things had
to be accomplished. Volunteers were organized to contact
families and gain their support and pledges to the new
mission. Those who wished to sing their praises to God
joined the choir; those who wished to teach the word of
God chose to become part of the Sunday School staff.
Arrangements were made for a part-time priest, Fr. John
Reinhold, and with the ground work laid, His Eminence,
Metropolitan Philip, gave us his blessing. These and many
more details were accomplished through the efforts of the
organizing committee along with the valuable assistance
and advice of Fr. Paul Romley, Dean of St. Nicholas
Cathedral, Fr. Gabriel Ashie, pastor of St. Luke's Church of
Garden Grove, who aided in establishing missions and
churches in the Archdiocese, and Fr. James Meena, then
Director of Sacred Music and Religious Education of the
Archdiocese. During this planning period, a Methodist
Church in the heart of the Valley was vacated and offered
for sale. It was as though God was guiding the destiny of St.
Michael Parish. Since the number of families pledging
support to the new charch had grown rapidly, it was felt
that we could afford the luxury of entering into the purchase of our own building. "With God, all things are
possible." With this phrase ringing in our ears, sixty families
forged ahead, and on January 12, 1969, with Fr. Paul
Romley officiating at the service, the first Divine Liturgy
was celebrated in our church.
The original property that was purchased consisted of
an "A" frame church building that would accommodate
250 persons, and a two story classroom building.
Downstairs we had a hall and a fully equipped kitchen.
The upstairs consisted of offices and classrooms for approximately 200 children. St. Michael Orthodox Church
grew from a mission to a church in a comparatively short
time. Soon after the first liturgy, a parish council was
elected and a constitution and by-laws were formulated.
The first officers were chairman, Dr. Edward Deeb; vicechairman, Mr. Louis Aboud; treasurer, Mr. Jacob
Thomas; secretary, Mrs. Adele Adams and two trustees at
large, Mr. Philip Nassief and Mr. Richard Bastron.
Completing the council were Mrs. Carrie Skaff, Mr. Don
Meena, Mr. Fred Sabbagh, Mr. Jack Malouf and Mr. Al
Homsy.
St. Michael's success can in no small measure be attributed to the wealth of talented and dedicated
parishioners and lay leaders. During the seven years that
followed, much growth was experienced. Property adjacent to the church was procured for future expansion.
The parish hall and kitchen were expanded and modernized. A choir loft was added to the church, and the church
was air-conditioned. All of this was made possible due to
very successful fund-raising activities and many generous
contributions of our parishioners and the many friends of
St. Michael throughout the larger Los Angeles community.
No story concerning St. Michael would be complete
without
touching
upon the many hard working
organizations. The Ladies Guild currently under the
leadership of Mrs. Toni Fayard is responsible for major
fund-raising events. These include two bake sales a year,
Easter and Thanksgiving; Mahrajans, Luaus, Art Auctions
and luncheons. Many affairs lend themselves to the
Southern California atmosphere, and are always an
elaborate production. They include a full show with exciting entertainment,
dancing and a lavish spread of
delicacies befitting the theme. Our guest always leave
awaiting news of the next affair.
The parish council, with its officers headed by Mr. Carl
Andrews, has provided capable leadership guiding the
church expansion and financial welfare. They are
(continued
on page 17)
DON'T BE BLIND IN THE FAITH
Send this form to
THE WORD, 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, N.J. 07631
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Page 14
The Word
January, 1977
Fr. John and Mrs. Reinhold
Page 15
�Metropolitan Philip
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, New Jersey07631
ARCHDIOCESAN
OFFICE
CLERGY TRANSFERRED:
COUREY, Rev. Michael from the assistant pastorate at St.
George in Cleveland, Ohio, to the pastorate at St. Mary in
Berkley, MI.
CHURCH DEDICATED:
St. George in Niagara Falls, NY on November 14 by
Metropolitan PHILIP.
ANTONIAN MEDAL PRESENTED:
To Edward Kassab of St. George in Detroit, Ml. (silver)
NEW PUBLICATIONS:
"The Balamand Theological Academy" (brochure) by the
Dept. of Press and Public Relations
"Patriarch Elias IV: A Biography" (brochure) by the Dept.
of Press and Public Relations
The Harvest of Antioch a selection of Lives of the Saints of
Antioch, by the Dept. of Christian Education. $1.50
Contemporary Reading and Library Guide for the
Orthodox Parish by the Dept. of Christian Education.
$2.50
your Eminence:
Please allow us to take a small amount of your time to
tell you how much we have enjoyed the past week with the
visits of Mr. Bill Essey and Dr. John Boojamra at our parish.
Both of these young men have talents, of which we can all
be proud as representatives
of the Archdiocese. your
Eminence is certainly to be complimented on your
selection of these men to work with the youth and
education of the Archdiocese.
NEW PUBLICATION
Each of these gentlemen are exceptionally versed in
Mr. Raymond George, Director of the Department of their fields and their formal speeches and informal talks
Sacred Music, announces the publication of the second with all of us at St. Michael's Parish will help us through the
volume of the "Byzantine Project". Sunday Matin Service many months and years to come. Dr. John Boojamra's and
(Orthros) is a chanter's manual which contains the com- Mr. Bill Essey's visits at St. Michael's Parish will be long
plete English text from the Oktoechos and is written in remembered and cherished. Thank you for allowing them
Western notation. Like the first volume in this "Byzantine to come.
Project", Saturday Great Vespers published in 1974
Sunday Matin Service is the work of Professor Basil Kazan,
Sincerely,
the noted Byzantine musicologist and chanter. Kazan hai
Demitri and Lynda George
successfully achieved to melodize all the hymns and write
Beaumont, Texas
them in music as close to the original Greek metre ai
possible. The Vesper and new Orthros volumes are
available from the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese - 358 Mountain Road - Englewood, NJ 07631
($10.00 each). Additional volumes in this "Byzantine
Project" will include the Festal Menaion, Triodion ano NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES TO TAKE
Pentecostarion.
ACTION ON MIDDLE EAST ISSUES
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ORDERS TWO DELA YEO
STUDIES TO BE IMPLEMENTED
Following a plea by Frank Maria, Chairman of the Dept.
of Near Eastern and Refugee Affairs for the Antiochian
Archdiocese of North America and a member of the
Governing Board of the National Council of Churches,
permanent end to the fighting and a return to political
N.C.C.'s Executive Committee voted to request that work
processes within a unified Le ban on.
finally begin on two studies which had been approved two
The theme
of your national
convention,
and three years ago. The first was a study of the violations
"Freedom to Believe" is most appropriate during
of human rights and international law by Israel within Israel
America's bicentennial year. Religious freedom has
and in the occupied territories, and the second was a study
always been one of the hallmarks of the American
of the detrimental
influence
of the unresolved
way of life, a fact which has contributed to the rich
Arab/ Israel conflict on church and society in the U.S.A.
diversity that is this nation's greatest strength. We
The Executive Committee assigned the study of
must continue
to encourage
and protect
inviolations of human rights in the Middle East to the Middle
dividuality.
East Committee, Division of Overseas Ministries; the topic
The wealth we have of culture, ethnic, religious
was enlarged to include besides Israel and the Israeli ocand racial traditions are valuable counterbalances to
cupied Arab territories, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon
the overpowering sameness and subordination of
which border on Israel. The study of the detrimental effects
totalitarian societies.
on domestic relations in the U.S. of the unresolved
It is for this reason that your ethnic pride and the
Arab/ Israel conflict had already been assigned to the
fine family life, which is the hallmark of the Arabic
Division of Church and Society by the Governing Board's
speaking peoples everywhere, will be a part of your
Unit Committee on Church and Society, so the Executive
continuous dynamic contribution to the fabric of
Committee simply asked that DCS get going on this study.
American life.
In his remarks to the Executive Committee which met
I commend your dedication to church, nation and
~n connection with the Governing Board's fall conference
10 New York City recently,
family and as you begin your deliberations, I wish you
Frank Maria told of his
all a meaningful, productive and inspiring 31st
meetings with Arab Christian and Moslem leaders during
Annual Convention.
his recent visit to Jordan the West Bank and Israel and
th~ir repeated question, ,:How can Christian America do
this to us?". "They look to us in NCC to act on issues of
Gerald Ford
brotherhood, truth, justice and peace. If their human rights
President of the United States
have been and are being violated, we Christians in America
should speak out against this wrong."
1
PRESIDENT
FORD'S
MESSAGE
TO METROPOLITAN
PHILIP:
Your Eminence, Metropolitan Philip: Mrs. Ford
and I salute you on the occasion of your 10th anniversary as head of the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America.
We remember very well your recent visit to the
White House. The plea that you made as the chairman of the Standing Conference of American Middle
Eastern Christian and Moslem leaders, on behalf of
the suffering people of Lebanon, made a profound
and lasting impression on all of us who are concerned
for a durable and just peace in Lebanon and the entire
Middle East.
As you know through our recent communications
with you, I have approved the transmittal to Congress
of the Lebanon relief act which authorized 20 million
dollars and the issuance of housing guarantees to
provide relief and rehabilitation assistance to the
Lebanese people.
This is only a small measure of the profound
concern and sympathy which I have for the Lebanese
people, whose past has given us such a fine example
of religious and cultural diversity and tolerance
within a single nation. We are keenly aware of your
special interest and are doing everything possible to
bring together all the parties involved in this recent
tragic chapter in Lebanon's history. We seek a
Page 16
The Wor, January, 1977
Parishes of the Archdiocese
St. Michael Orthodox Church
(continued from page 15)
responsible for the maintenance of the church and the
surrounding properties. This is no easy task, but the spirit of
fellowship always prevails as they spend many extra hours
during the week keeping the grounds of the church and
buildings clean and beautiful.
Our Sunday School Superintendent, Mr. Don Meena,
has a challenging task. He, of course, is in charge of overseeing the spiritual education of our youngsters. The school
encompasses children, ranging in age, from nursery to their
teens. He is aided by a very dedicated teaching staff
composed of young college students and experienced
parishioners who give so unselfishly of their precious time
preparing lessons. We have been delighted in that the
children have placed both in regional and national creative
writing and arts contests of the Archdiocese.
St. Michael is indeed fortunate to have its choir, under
the direction of Mr. Wladimir Worotko. He is young in
years, but rich in talent and experience. He, aside from
directing, has had the opportunity to sing with the Pan
Orthodox Choir, .the Orthodox Choir of Southern
California as well as the Roger Wagner Chorale.
St. Michael looks to youth to continue the progress of
its future. This SOYO group is kept busy under the watchful eye of their President, Mr. Steve Tobey. During these
past years, they have sponsored The Western Region
Family Conference, Turkey Raffles (at Thanksgiving),
luncheons and has held several retreats a year. As if this
wasn't enough, this energetic group conceived the idea of
holding a "Slave Sale". Members are auctioned to the
highest bidder and spend the day doing things for their
"masters of the day". All monies are given to the church
general fund.
These untiring young people are guided by their
sponsors Mr. Carl Andrews and Mr. Richard Bastron.
Many people praise our Ladies Society for all their fundraising efforts; however, these young people are extremely
dedicated to their church and to Orthodoxy. They are ever
present to lend their hands, to bring and take, serve and
clean up and with their bubbling personalities, keeping all
of us on our toes. How wonderful to be young bursting
with all that energy. God bless them.
We at St. Michael count our blessing ... and they are
many. But far above it all is the spiritual guidance provided
by our beloved Fr. John Reinhold. He and his charming
Khoureyee Leonida are not strangers to us. They have been
part of our community for 25 years. Fr. John had served as
an assistant pastor at St. Nicholas Cathedral before coming
to St. Michael. Since coming to our parish, he has provided
love and spiritual growth that have been a true inspiration
to each and everyone of us ... in essence all the qualities
needed to emulate the true Christian's life on earth. We are
young as a parish, and have not had the opportunity to
reach back into a. rich past as have so many of our sister
parishes in our Archdiocese. We are fortunate to be a-fforded the opportunity to be pioneers in establishing and
furthering the cause of Orthodoxy on the West Coast. We
have had many frustrations, but we have had many glorious
moments. As we gaze at the faces of our children, we know
that all these sacrifices will be rewarded.
Page 17
�DAILY DEVOTIONS
LIFESTYLES X
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
homily by father james c. meena
SOCIETY-CLASSLESS AND GODLESS???
Delivered at a Pro-Life Rally on the Anniversary
the Supreme Court Decision on Abortion
Let us recount some thoughts which, throughout
history, have torn at the unity of human thinking:
1. Is God?
2. If God is, then who and what is He?
3. Does God really care about His creation?
4. Has God intervened in History?
5. How many Angels can dance on the point of a
needle?
6. Was Jesus born of a Virgin? Did She remain evervirgin?
7. Was Jesus human or divine in nature and in will?
1
8. Can saints pray for us?
9. Is there a purgatory?
10. What about indulgences?
11. Is the Pope the Vicar of Christ?
12. Are we saved by grace, by works or faith?
Of course, the list is infinitely longer than this, but time
and interest forbid laboring the matter further.
The point of emphasis now is that we have a new
controversy, a moral issue which is being removed from the
theological arena and which, if we are to believe the advocates of "abortion on demand," should not even be
considered in a moral context.
The new controversy is the question of "ensoulment."
When does a human conception become a "human life?"
When does a fetus take on a soul?
The arguments range through the nation and the world.
Much sound and fury is heard throughout the land. The
advocates of liberal abortion insist that they can define
when "human" life begins and when that conception falls
under the direct jurisdiction of the fetus bearer.
Those of us who consider ourselves fully under the
conviction of God, whether Christian, Jew, Moslem or any
other, are convinced that we have no jurisdiction over that
which has been conceived except, perhaps in extreme cases
where choices are limited to one evil over another.
Those of us who believe in the sanctity of life, who are
being branded, cynically, as conservative "Pro-Lifers,"
shall never be convinced by those who trespass into areas
in which they have no real expertise; judges, people of
medicine, unwilling mothers, and even those who call
themselves believing people but who betray all the injuncPage 18
an attempt to encourage our faithful
to study Holy Scripture through
daily liturgical readings-
of
tions and statutes of scriptures in their liberal bent, that
anything else obtains.
God creates life. God alone has jurisdiction over life
and any time man intervenes to take a life, no matter the
cause, he transgresses against God Who shows us how to
support each other in living but not how to encourage each
other to die!
How far removed is abortion from euthanasia, the
elimination of the terminally ill and hopelessly deformed?
How far is euthanasia from "geracide," the elimination
of the aged who have outlived their usefulness?
How far removed are these from infanticide, the
"selective" elimination of the "problems" before the)
become problems?
For 200 years we have been trying to establish anc
maintain, in so far as possible, a "classless" society h
America. We struggle to overcome our historic failures sc
that that dream may become a reality ... a society when
every person is truly equal.
I propose to you that liberal abortion as it is now bein.
practiced in this nation is the first giant step toward ru
elitist society in which certain elements will eventuall)
usurp sufficient power to determine who shall live and whc
shall die.
In our struggle to have a society without classes, we
have clung to the concept of separation of Church am
State. It is basically a good concept, in my opinion, not
withstanding its many problems. But does that mean i
separation of the State from Godliness? A separation fron
any concept of morality which has historic consistency anc
efficacy?
I believe that we who are under the panoply of divine
guidance, wh_o believe that God really cares about us anc
our world, must be adamant in our posture regardin!
abortion. If we consider the intervention of our nation ir
the life-style of other nations immoral where human lifet'
concerned, and if we consider the withholding of essentia
aid which might save the lives of a starving people immoral
then how can we possibly consider the quasi-legal inter
vention by individuals in the natural process of birth moral'.
WE CANNOT! WE DARE NOT! WE MUST NOT! Wf
Wll.,LNOT!
WEEKOFJANUARY9
II
I...J ~r
'
lWI
ml
11:-d
:1
t
..-....
WEEK OF JANUARY 23
Sun. - Col. 3:4-11
Luke 17:12-19
Mon. -James 2:14-26
Mark 10:46-52
Mon. -Heb. 13: 17-21
Luke 6: 17-23
Tue. -James 2: 1-13
Mark 10:23-32
Tue. -James 3: 1-10
Mark 11: 11-23
Wed. -James 1:1-18
Mark 10:11-16
Wed.-James3:11-4:6
Mark 11:23-26
Thu. -James 4:7-5:9
Mark 11:27-33
Thu.-James4:7-17,
Mark 11:27-33
Fri.-Heb.10:32-36
Luke 12:32-40
Fri.-IPet.1:1-2,
Mark 12: 1-12
Sat. - Col. 1:3-6
Luke 16:10-15
Sat. -I Thess 5: 14-23
Luke 17:3-10
5:1-9
10-12;2:6-10
WEEK OF JANUARY 30
Sun.-ITim.4:9-15
Luke 19:1-10
Sun.-IITim.
3:10-15
Luke 18:10-14
Mon. -I Pet 2:21-3:9
Mark 12:13-17
Mon. -II Pet. 1:20; 2:9
Mark 13:9-13
Tues. - I Pet. 3: 10-22
Mark 12: 18-27
Tue. -II Pet. 2:9-22
Mark 13: 14-23
Wed. - I Pet. 4:1-11
Mark 12: 18-27
Wed. -Heb. 7:7-17 Meet. of Christ
Luke 2:22-40
Thu.-IPet.
4:12-5:5
Mark 12:38-44
Thu.-IJohn
1:8-2:6
Mark 13:31-14:2
Fri. - II Pet. 1 : 1-10
Mark 13:1-8
Fri.-II Tim. 3: 1-9
Luke 20:45-21 :4
Sat. -II Tim. 2:11-19
Luke 18:2-8
January, 1977
The Wore
•
WEEKOFJANUARY16
Sun.-Eph.
4:7-13
Math. 4: 12-17
Page 19
�North American Council
Be not opposed to His Church
As "event".
SOYO
Digtst
News and Views ...
To my beloved members of SOYO:
Love and blessings to all of you.
The most significant event of our ecclesiastical life this
year is the historic visit to North America of His Beatitude,
our Father, ELIAS N, Patriarch of Antioch and All the
East. In the traditional ecclesiastical language of the
Orthodox Church, our Patriarch is referred to as "The Saint
of Antioch", and "The Angel of Antioch," It is most appropriate therefore to proclaim 1977, the year of his visit,
"Holy Year."
The Patriarch of Antioch, third in rank in the Orthodox
world, symbolizes the history of twenty centuries of
Antiochian experience and theology. He represents those
Holy Apostles and Fathers like Peter and Paul, John
Chrysostom, John of Damascus, Ephriem the Syrian and
many other Holy Fathers and Patriarchs who, guided by the
Holy Spirit, gave us that great Antiochian inheritance.
Antioch in the course of the years, through its famous
"school of theology" and its renowned theologians, played
a tremendous role in the formation of our Orthodox
theology. The entire Orthodox world, in its theological and
traditional richness, is indebted to the Great Throne of
Antioch, to which we proudly belong. Our Archdiocese is
part of this Throne. Our Archdiocese through the
leadership of Metropolitan PHILIP has become the
gravitational center of this Throne. Consequently, SOYO,
in its great achievements, is considered the most active
youth movement in the Throne of Antioch.
Being aware of your tremendous role in the service of his
Throne, His Beatitude will be extremely delighted to bless
you as he presides over our Regional Conferences, as well
as the Archdiocese Convention. He will witness the great
progress of our Archdiocese, the real renaissance in all
aspects of spiritual and administrative life. He will be
surprised to see the youth so aware of our Orthodox Faith
and Tradition, so dedicated and committed to God and
Orthodoxy on this continent
where Church life is
challenged by this secularized and technological era.
This spiritual awakening, this real dedication to God and
His Church, in such a materialistic and complicated
society, is an indication of your attempts to climb the
ladder of perfection and to reach the possible level of
sanctity. His Beatitude will see in the life of our faithful the
real reflection of the holiness which he represents. He will
see the Orthodox Faith and Tradition
of Antioch
manifested in you, and the Holy Year of his visitation will
be a great link in the chain of your holy Orthodox life.
With continued prayers for your well-being, we remain
With love in Christ,
ELIA
Bishop of Salamia
SOYO'S CHALLENGE
.. Awareness and Commitment"
In the darkness of the night
Don't tell me that you suffer
or wail
or weep
For the injustices and afflictions
Of man
In this world
His poverty
hunger and thirst
For the Eucharist of Life
Because "Unto you a Saviour is born"
To pierce the darkness
With the morn.
Arise, go forth and spread the Light
Don't tell me that you care
or "feel"
or "think"
Page 20
by Janice Nicola
Los Angeles, Cal.
That war is opposition.
To that Prince of Peace
That the Church
Is irrelevant
Because as "institution" the Church is obscure
From the grievances of society
Man must endure.
Ah, my child, with wings take flight!
Don't tell me that the Church is stagnant
Show me, prove to me, demonstrate by your actions
That Man is not!
Then I will know
That when I see Man
I am seeing Christ manifest
In the world
Because I'm sure what it was Christ meant
Was that His Church as "institution"
The Word
Precious Orthodox youth, no longer forlorn
Show me what is right
That we are One
Family of God
That we, the Church
Pledge to embody Christ
In ourselves and actively bring Him
Into the World
by our example
by our lives.
That this awareness
May transform itself
Into Commitment.
SOYO! Religiously Adorn!
Show me Christ with all thy might
JESUS LIVED WITH THE PEOPLE
AND BLESSED THEM
In myself
retreats, campus conferences,
church school, missionary work
In humanity
praying for the desolate, clothing the naked,
feeding the hungry
In society
speaking out. active moral concern in a
nation's policies
Show me the
Good tidings of great joy
Which have so newly
Been proclaimed in our parishes.
Let us pray that the SOYO platform will become Life
itself
Because to "fight the good fight"
Means to see Christ, the bright and morning star
Through the darkness
Of the night.
WE SHARE IN GOD'S LIFE
THROUGH THE
HOLY SACRAMENTS
By Vikki Audi
Jesus lived with the people and blessed them. He
performed so many miracles that it would be impossible to
remember them all. The Gospel, according to Saint John
21 :25, the last one to be written, ends in these words, "But
there are also many other things which Jesus did, were
every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world
itself could not contain the books that would be written."
We also read in the Gospel, according to Saint Mark
6:5,6, that when Jesus came to preach in the part of the
country where He had grown up, He was met with disbelief:
"He could do no mighty work there except that He lay His
hands upon a few sick people and healed them and He
marveled because of their disbelief." There were some
miracles Jesus wouldn't perform. They were for the evil
ones. He wouldn't turn stones into bread or do any kind of
miracles as a kind of magic trick to prove His capability of
miracles.
Jesus Christ taught not with words alone, but by deeds,
meaning to bring back joyful and happy lives, like He intended them to be. He made the sick well, the blind to see
and the paralyzed walk. This work was very important to
Him and that showed He was sent by God and was, and still
is, the Son of God. When Jesus did these deeds, He felt
happy because He could save peoples lives and He continued to bless them.
The Gospel story was not just a record of what happened a long time ago, but has very much to do with the life
we live today. Were you ever in any kind of danger that you
really feared? Jesus showed us that courage has much to do
with our faith. There was a story of Peter walking on the
waves of the sea and becoming frightened and beginning to
sink. If our Faith and trust in God and Jesus are strong, we
can face any danger.
By David Joseph
We do everything in our Orthodox Church, according
to the Seven Holy Sacraments. A Sacrament is a special
service of the Church, by which we are blessed and receive
a special gift from God. There are two parts to a Sacrament,
the part you can see and the part you cannot see. The part
you can see is the Holy Service in Church. The part you
cannot see is the Holy Spirit within us. Only the Bishops and
the Priests can perform these Holy Services.
The Seven Holy Sacraments are:
BAPTISM: as a baby, you are Baptized by being placed
into Holy Water to cleanse away the bad spirit and become
a member of God's Church.
CHRISMA TION: This is done immediately after Baptism.
Here you are anointed with Holy Chrism and you receive
the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
COMMUNION: Jesus started this at the Last Supper,
where He told His disciples the wine is His Blood and the
bread is His Body. He gave His Blood and Body for us.
PENANCE: The sacrament of Penance is where we realize
and are sorry for our sins, confess them to God, are
forgiven by God and we promise to live a new life in Jesus
Christ.
MARRIAGE: This is when two people, a man and a
woman, love each other and are joined together by a Priest
in Church, never to be parted.
PRIESTHOOD: The Clergy are ordained by Apostolic
succession, the laying on of hands, traced back to Jesus'
Apostles.
HOLY UNCTION: This is a service of anointing the sick
with Holy Oil.
Our Church lives and grows through the Seven
Sacraments. The Sacraments are our life in the Church.
VIKKI AUDI is a 6th grader at St. Mary's Church in Johnstown, Pa. She
won first place in the Creative Writing Contest.
DAVID JOSEPH is a 5th grader at St. Mary '.sChurch in Johnstown, Pa. He
won first place in the Creative Writing Contest.
January, 1977
Page 21
�Communities In Action
l\ntinc~ian ®rt~nhnx or~ristian 31lllnmen
nf N nrt~ l\mtrica
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America:
Greetings and best wishes to all our members for the
New Year! January is the time for looking ahead with new
resolve for a more successful, a more dedicated and a more
fruitful year.
Once again Elsie Kaleel, President of the AOCWNA
Board, and all her officers call upon regional officers and
the faithful women of our parishes to commit themselves to
a successful charity drive in 1977 for the Balamand
Seminary. Our individual projects, raising the committed
$25,000 by all our local chapters will be most important.
These projects can be held at any time during the year.
We as an organization must not only be united in our
charity drives but in our worship also. On March 20, 1977,
we are asking all the faithful women to partake corporately
in the Body and Blood of our Lord, praying collectively for
success and guidance from our heavenly Father in all we
do.
Since March has been designated as AOCWNA month,
women should read the epistle, hold and attend retreats for
their members, hold their charity drive functions and just
continue to be a very important part of their local parishes.
Please remember t.hat:
1. Your local chapter dues were due January 1, 1977.
2. Your regional dues are due no later than February 1,
1977.
3. Your project funds are due no later than May 1,
1977.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND
These dates are important so that all reports can be
prepared for the 1977 Conferences and the Archdiocese
Convention in Washington, D.C. with His Beatitude in
attendance.
All regions are reminded to please keep the North
American Officers and Standing Committee Chairmen
informed of their activities and that copies of all reports
and functions be sent to the corresponding secretary for the
Archives. The Standing Committee Officers are:
Projects: Mrs. Ethel George-6522
Tanglewood Lane,
Seven Hills, Ohio 44131.
Membership: Ms. Eleanor Howard - 3807 Virginia
Ave., Southeast, Charleston, W.Va. 25311.
Cultural: Mrs. Elsie Mansour - 5325 13th St., South·
west Apt. 1A, Canton, Ohio 44710.
Humanitarian: Mrs. Gwena Haddad - 4215 Venable
Ave., Southeast, Charleston, W.Va. 25304.
Finance: Mrs. Adele Abraham 150 Park Hills
Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506.
Archives: Mrs. Laurece Kaleel3816 Fairway Drive,
Canfield, Ohio 44406.
The Executive Officers of the AOCWNA ask for
continued cooperation and prayers by all Regions so that
our "Antiochian Holy Year" will long be remembered asa
successful, unified effort.
Your Sister in Christ,
RuthMeena
Public Relations AOCWNA
CONTEMPORARY READING AND LIBRARY GUIDE
FOR THE ORTHODOX PARISH
The Department of Christian Education now has
available a Contemporary Reading and Library Guide for
the Orthodox Parish. In response to numerous requests
from across the country the Department has compiled a
detailed
annotated
bibliography to contemporary
literature in the English language related both directly and
indirectly to the Orthodox Church and its faith. Although
the Guide is designed for use by individuals interested in
learning more about the Orthodox faith, it is also
presented as a guide for parents and teachers interested in
questions related to children, how they learn, and how
they grow and develop. The Guide is aimed at the
broadest possible parochial audience.
The Department has expanded on the original objective of offering a reading list and presents an introductory guide to the establishment of a parish reading
and reference library. For the convenience of both individual readers and those wishing to establish a library,
the Guide is divided up into some twenty different
Page 22
categories including the following: The Orthodox Church,
Church
History,
Patristics,
Theology,
Philosophy,
Spirituality, Liturgical Theology, Ecumenics, Bible and
Bible Aids, New Testament, Old Testament, Pastoral
Theology, Church Art and Architecture, Music, Religious
Education, Youth Ministry, Periodicals, and Audio·
Visuals.
No parish or Orthodox Christian can afford to be
without this convenient and detailed guide to con·
temporary reading material available in the English
language. The Guide may be ordered from the Depart·
ment of Christian Education @ $2.50 per copy. (Please
add 7 % to order for postage and handling.)
Address Orders to:
Department of Christian Education
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, New Jersey 07631
The Word
During the weekend of September 10, 11, and 12, 1976,
St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church of Pawtucket,
Rhode Island celebrated the "Festival of the Nativity of
Saint Mary." The weekend of spiritual and social events
was made especially memorable by the presence of His
Eminence, Metropolitan Philip.
On Friday evening the celebration began with a Vesper
Service conducted by the Rt. Rev. Athanasius Saliba,
pastor of St. Mary's and the Rt. Rev. Antoun Khouri. The
parishioners of St. Mary's were proud to welcome The
Most Rev. Louis Gelineau, Bishop of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, the Very Rev.
Charles Fletcher, Dean of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode
Island, the Hon. Dennis Lynch, Mayor of Pawtucket, and
various other local dignitaries as observers. Following the
Vespers, a reception was held in the church hall where
members of the reception committee served coffee and
Arabic pastry. On behalf of the parishioners of St. Mary's,
Fr. Saliba presented His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip
with a pendant to mark the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his consecration as Archbishop.
Saturday, September 11, was a busy day for everyone.
At 11:00 a.m., Metropolitan Philip and Fr. Saliba held a
press conference attended by reporters from the local
newspapers. The main topic of discussion was the current
situation in the Middle East.
Following the press conference, Teen SOYO hosted
Metropolitan Philip at a luncheon in the church hall, which
was decorated in a festive manner. At that time, the teens
presented Saidna Philip with a gift of their own to commemorate his anniversary. After lunch, a question and
answer session was held, with questions that ranged from
theological matters, such as life after death, to t~e issu~ ?f
the woman's role in today's Church. Metropohtan Phihp
answered the questions of the young people graciou_slyand
informatively and everyone present seemed to enJoy the
session.
The social highlight of the weekend was the ~inn~r
dance, held Saturday evening at the Chateau de Ville m
Warwick, Rhode Island. This affair was also attended by
local dignitaries and clergy. A delicious meal, good music
and the friendship of the many parishioners and friends
combined to make the evening a thoroughly enjoyable one.
On Sunday morning Metropolitan Philip celebrated the
Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, assisted by Fr. Saliba and Fr.
Khouri. The choir also participated in the service, and the
members were praised by His Eminence for their devotion.
Saidna's sermon, in which he preached about the role of
women in the history of our Church, and their role today,
reflected the theme of the weekend, which was a celebration of the birth of our Beloved Theotokos. Following
t~e sermon Metropolitan Philip awarded four par~shion~rs
with meritorious certificates in recognition of their service
to St. Mary's parish. Those who were so honored are: John
Gorab, Sophie Laffey, George Ma took, and Mary J • Sa~ra.
The activities of the weekend came to a close with a
January, 1977
Metropolitan Philip and Bishop Louis Geleneau
Providence, RI.
of
Hafli on Sunday afternoon, at which the featured entertainer was the vocalist Hanaan. Once again we were both
pleased and honored to welcome local clergymen and officials, the most notable of whom was the Governor of
Rhode Island, the Honorable Philip Noel. The Hafli was a
social success and everyone was sad to see it end, especially
since it brought with it the end of the excitement and activity of the entire weekend.
One particularly noteworthy aspect of the weekend was
the amount of news coverage we received. Portions of
Friday evening's Vesper Service were telecast on a local
television station later that night, and newspaper reporters
and photographers were present at every event which took
place during the three-day affair. The parishioners of St.
Mary's Church were indeed proud to receive such recognition by the local news media.
The planning for the Festival of the Nativity of St. Mary
had begun more than one year ago, and nearly every
parishioner was involved in some way with the arrangements. It would be impossible to publicly acknowledge
every committee person. However, those parishioners who
comprised the executive committee certainl~ deserve t_obe
commended for their efforts. The executive committee
included:
Ronald
Gauthier,
Chairman;
Rt. Rev.
Athanasius Saliba, Honorary Chairman; Dr. Joseph Samra,
Marlene Samra, Sophie Laffey; John Gorab; William A.
Catelli, Jr.; Elaine Gauthier; Matilda Josephs; George
Kilsey; Patricia Kilsey; Nicholas Hanna; John Bargoot;
Anne Siemon; and Virginia Trahan. We thank them and
praise them for their excellent work.
Joanne Josephs
Photographs by: William Fortier
Page 23
�ST. LUKE'S CHURCH
GARDEN GROVE, CALIF.
Two Ordinations were held at St. Luke's Orthodox
Church, during the recent visit of His Grace, Bishop Elia. A
convert to Orthodoxy, the Rev. John Powell was ordained
to the Holy Diaconate and to the Priesthood at impressive
services held at our church. During that same time, Robert
Hardie of our parish, also a convert to Orthodoxy, was
blessed as Subdeacon Stephen.
Father Powell came to us from Seattle, Washington,
where he has returned to establish a Wes tern Rite
Orthodox Parish. The new parish will be dedicated to Saint
Michael. Father Powell is a convert from the Episcopal
church which he served as a clergyman for many years. A
delegation from the Seattle area accompanied him to St.
Luke's.
Subdeacon Hardie, is advisor to the SOYO Groups at
St. Luke's, and his wife, Doris, is Secretary of our parish
office. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council, and
plans to study for the Holy Priesthood at St. Vladimir's
Seminary next year. They reside in Tustin, and have two
children. Subdeacon Stephen attends the Late Vocational
Orthodox Institute in Los Angeles.
On this same occasion, a member of the Archdiocese
Board of Trustees, Dr. George A. Dibs, of our parish, was
awarded the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese Certificate
of Meritorious
Service, conferred
upon him by
Metropolitan Philip, and presented by Bishop Elia. George
has long been a faithful member of this Pan-Orthodox
parish, almost from it's beginning, and has served the
comm unity in many capacities. Along with being Assistant
Superintendent of the schools of the Walnut School
District, he has served on three different occasions as
Chairman of the Parish Council. He, together with Father
Gabriel,
began the successful Orthodox
Christian
Stewardship Program at St. Luke's, which was beneficial in
the building programs of the parish. He also served as
Superintendent of the Church School.
Our St. Luke's Parish also recently honored our Pastor,
Dr. George Dibs
the V. Rev. Gabriel M. Ashie, for his Ten Years at St
Luke's, with a Banquet. The event featured messages fro~
varied individuals in Orthodoxy who have known and
served with Fr. Ashie in his eighteen years as a Priest. Re
and his wife, Helen, were given a complete Two-Week trip
to Hawaii. The trip will feature side visits from the
mainland to the various Islands, and was given by all of the
parishioners of St. Luke's for this worthy Priest.
We are all grateful to now have the Rt. Rev. John p
Matthiesen, formerly of Wichita, Kansas, who has bee~
assigned by Metropolitan Philip to serve as Associate
Pastor of St. Luke's. He will assist Fr. Gabriel with pastoral
visits, the Church School and Youth Groups, and in other
capacities in our rapidly growing Pan-Orthodox parish. In
the future he will assist with a mission to be established
from within the parish in the Southern portion of Orange
County. Fr. Matthiesen has served the Antiochian Archdiocese for thirty years, and was ordained by Metropolitan
Antony Bashir, of blessed memory, in 1946. We know that
all of our parish, including the one-third who are converts
to the Faith will enjoy the efforts of this dedicated
Archimandrite.
ST. MICHAELCHURCH
LOUISVILLE,KENTUCKY
It was an evening of sorrow and happiness. On Wed
nesday evening, August 11, Saint Michael of Louisville bid
farewell to Reverend Father Antony M. Beauchamp and
his f~mily. Father Antony is being transferred to Saint
George's in Lowell, Mass. and has faithfully served Saint
Michael and its people for five wonderful and prosperom
years.
Mr. Eli Simon, Jr., Council Chairman, was master ol
ceremonies as we "launched" them to their new parish.
Also honored at the farewell banquet was his wonderful
wife Patti, their two sons, Michael and Chris, and hi!
mother, Mrs. Mary Beauchamp. Father Gregory Weinbact
of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption anc
Father Stephen Burke of Saint Barnabus Roman Catholic
Church were at the table of honor. Commonwealtl
Attorney Dave Armstrong presented Father Antony a
plaque proclaiming him the first and only honorary
chaplain to the Commonwealth Attorney's Office. Mr.
George Salem, Jr. made Father Antony an Honorable
Kentucky Colonel serving as our southern hospitality
representative to the New England area. The Parish
Council presented a beautif~l, engraved four hundred day
anniversary clock to the family.
With God's blessing many wonderful projects were
accomplished during Father Antony's stay in Louisville.
The new church of Saint Michael of Louisville opened its
doors on October 8, 1972 with Metropolitan Philip as our
most honored guest at this joyous celebration. The thirtieth
annual Antiochian
Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese
Convention was hosted in Louisville, Ky. by Saint Michael.
Under Father Antony's direction a scholarship fund was
established for deserving students of the church. On his last
Sunday Father Antony announced contributions were over
four thousand dollars. Father Antony and his wonderful
family will be missed by all of us. May God grant them
many years and much happiness.
Bruce Thomas
ST. MARY CHURCH
JOHNSTOWN,PA.
The Rt. Rev. Alexander Curry, Pastor Emeritus of St.
Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Johnstown, Penna.
was honored at a banquet on Sunday, September 26. The
testimonial was held at St. Andrews Church Hall, Benscreek.
Fr. Curry had been pastor of the local church for 10
years before his retirement. His father, the late Very Rev.
Michael Curry, exarch priest had founded St. Mary's and
served as its first pastor.
His Grace, Bishop Elia was the main speaker at the
banquet as a representative of Metropolitan Philip, Pri-
Fr. Beauchamp's family is reassigned.
Archlmandrite Curry retires
Page 24
The Word
January, 1977
Ordination of Fr. Paul Tarazi to Diaconate.
mate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America.
We at St. Mary's and all of Fr. Curry's friends from the
churches in the Western Pennsylvania Deanery were
saddened because of Fr. Curry's illness prior to the
banquet. Fr. George M. Corry of St. Michael's Church in
Greensburg, Penna. represented Fr. Alex at the banquet
and spoke in his behalf. Remarks were made by the Very
Rev. George S. Corey of Pittsburgh, who spoke on behalf of
the Western Pa. Deanery. Fr. Curry served as Dean of the
Deanery for several years. Mitchell Azar, President of St.
Mary's Church Council gave welcoming remarks. George
Dayoob was the toastmaster.
Fr. Curry was born in Johnstown. He was ordained into
the priesthood in 1952 and served as pastor of St. Elias
Church in New Castle for 14 years before returning here.
He also did mission work in Butler, Pa. and Youngstown,
Ohio.
Fr. Curry was elevated to the rank of archpriest in 1962.
During a pastoral visit to Johnstown in October, 1971
Metropolitan
Philip elevated him to the rank of
Archimandrite, since Fr. Curry's wife had since died.
Bishop Elia took part in several events during his weekend visit. He attended a luncheon with Teenage SOYO
(Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations) and celebrated
Vespers at St. Mary's, assisted by Fr. Joseph Shahda, newly
appointed pastor of St. Mary's.
After the services a dinner was held at Sunnehanna
Country Club for the bishop, church council and members
of the committee arranging the testimonial banquet.
During the Hierarchical Liturgy on Sunday morning
Bishop Elia ordained Nadim Tarasi of Lebanon as a subDeacon and also ordained him into the Holy Diaconate. He
took the name of "Paul."
After Liturgy Fr. Deacon Paul was honored at a breakfast and was presented with an Icon of the Blessed Virgin
on behalf of St. Mary's.
Page 25
�ORTHODOX CLERGY
The
Orthodox World
ASSOCIATION OF
GREATER BRIDGEPORT
In a revitalization effort, the Orthodox Clergy
Association of Greater Bridgeport recently conducted an
election of officers for the first time in many years. The
officers elected are: Rev. Father Constantine Eliades,
Pastor of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, as
President; Rt. Rev. Mitred Archpriest Basil M. Butchko,
Pastor of the Protection of St. Mary's Ukrainian Orthodox
Church, as Secretary; and the Rev. Father Richard Sc~tt,
Pastor of the St. John the Baptist Carpatho-Russian
Canonical Orthodox Church, Stratford, as Treasurer.
The Orthodox
Clergy Association
of Greater
Bridgeport is conducting Vesper Services,. Seminars and
Lectures in the fall of this year. So far, Services have been
held at St. George Albanian Orthodox Church,, speake~ ':as
Fr. James Gleason; Protection of St. Marys Ukraiman
Orthodox Church, speaker was Rev. Fr. Constantine
Eliades; St. Nicholas' Antiochian Orthodox Church,
speaker was Fr. Joel McEachen; Saint John the Baptist
Carpatho-Russian Canonical Orthodox Church, speaker
was Fr. Daniel Montgomery; Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox
Church, speaker was Fr. Stephen Feica; Saint John the
Baptist Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church, Mill Hill Ave.,
speaker was Fr. Richard Scott. Topics discusse_d were:
Doctrine & Faith; Bible & History; Worship; and
Th~nksgiving.
The Antiochian Orthodox Parish and its Pastor-Priest,
the Very Rev. Archpriest John Chromiak, have been very
active in this series of Services and Seminars, and also were
very active in the Holy Lenten Series that we had this past
spring before Pascha (Easter).
Rt. Rev. Mitred Archpriest Basil M. Butchko, Secretary
Children of Vicksburg present gift to the Metropolitan.
left to right, Angela Wright, Albert Habeeb, George
Habeeb, Andrew Olin, Sammy Habeeb
ST. GEORGE CHURCH
VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI
In August of this year St. George _Orthodox Churc~ o
Vicksburg, Mississippi, conducted its annual Vacattor
Bible School. Members of the Teen SOYO acted a
teachers. The theme for this year was "Walking in the
Footsteps of Christ." To dramatize the theme each chi!t
participated in the making and cutting of foot-shapet
cookies which were baked and served as refreshments eac,
day.
Original drawings were made by the childr~n and Teer
SOYO members using fabric crayons. These pictures wen
then transferred to fabric squares by using a hot iron; tht
squares were then assembled and quilted b! ladies_ ~f th
church. This quilt was sent to Metropohtan
Ph1hp tr
commemorate
his tenth
anniversary
year.
Thi
"togetherness" generated by this project has carried ove.
into almost every phase of church life at St. George.
Mary Jo Wrigh
THE HARVEST OF ANTIOCH:
A SELECTION OF SAINTS OF THE CHURCH OF ANTIOCH
The Harvest of Antioch has been prepared by the
Department of Christian Education in commemoration of
the Holy Year 1977 proclaimed by His Eminence
Metropolitan Philip Saliba. The book of approximately
forty pages is a two fold compilation. The Harvest begins
with an alphabetical listing of approximately 200 saints of
the Church of Antioch dating from the time of the New
Testament. The second list presents the same saints
chronologically according to their feast day within the
calendar year. In this listing each of the names is accompanied by a brief biographical sketch compiled by Mr.
Bill Essey of the Archdiocesan Youth Department. These
brief biographical
sketches are suitable for daily
devotions, commemoration, or meditation.
The purpose of the publication of The Harvest of
Antioch is to highlight the spiritual contribution made to
BULGARIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
RESUMES MOUNT ATHOS TIES
SOFIA - Contact has been resumed between the
Orthodox Church of Bulgaria and Zographou,
the
Bulgarian enclave in the Mount Athos monastery complex
in Greece.
Bulgarian radio reported here that Pa~riarch Mak~im,
head of the Bulgarian Church, said this was possible
because of improved relations between the Greek and
Bulgarian governments. The patriarch also spoke of better
relationships between his Church and the (Orthodox)
Church of Greece.
The radio reported the patriarch s~id the Bulgari~n
Church "has a solid institutional position m our democratic
state."
the Universal Church by the Church of Antioch and the
numerous leaders and devoted Christians whom sht
nurtured. It is by tracing our spiritual heritage that we car
more fully come to understand our role as Orthod~l
Christians in North America in the twentieth century. Thi
is a valuable booklet for every Orthodox family to haveir
its possession and to make use of daily. The Harvest o,
Antioch may be ordered from the Department 0
Christian Education @ $1.50 per copy. (Please add 7%tc
order for postage and handling.)
Address Orders to:
Department of Christian Education
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, New Jersey 07631
Page 26
The Wort
COURTESY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS Boston
Massachusetts, 02155.
The Nativity, John Singleton Copley, 1776- Oil on canvas.
ORTHODOX
PARTICIPATE
IN CHRISTMAS
STAMP ISSUE
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts was
the scene of a special ceremony marking the first-day of
issue for the 1976 Bi-Centennial Christmas Stamp.
Deputy Postmaster General William F. Bolgero!ficially
issued the two stamps on October 27th. One stamp 1sbased
on the 200 year old religious painting of the Madonna &
Child "Nativity" by Boston-born artist John Singleton
Copl~y; and the other, on the 1855 Nat~aniel ..cu:rier
lithograph of an ice-skating scene entitled
Wmter
Pastime".
Rev. Fr. Gerasimos Murphy, Pastor, St. John of
Damascus Church, Boston participated in the ceremony
representing our Archdiocese.
2 CHAPELS GUTTED BY FIRE;
PRICELESS ART IS LOST
ATHENS - Two chapels containing priceless frescoes
and icons were gutted by a fire in the 1,000-year-old Greek
Orthodox monastery of Meghistis Lavras (Great Lavra) on
Mount Athos on the Chalcidice peninsula on northeastern
Greece.
.
f the
The monastery, the oldest of 20 monastenes O
.
Order of St. Basil of the Orthodox Eastern Church, is
located on the slope of the 6,667-foot Ayion Oros (Holy
Mountain).
January, 1977
GREEK ORTHODOX SEMINARY
TO OPEN IN KENYA IN 1977
NAIROBI, Kenya - Archbishop Makarios, President
of Cyprus, and head of the autocephalous Orthodox
Church of Cyprus, announced here that a Greek Orthodox
seminary he helped to found in Kenya will open in January
1977 with 25 students.
The archbishop, in Nairobi after attending the
nonaligned nations' summit meeting in Sri Lanka (Ceylon),
has flown to Athens for talks with Greek government
officials.
BIBLICAL SCHOLAR DISCOUNTS CLAIMS
STATE OF ISRAEL FULFILLS PROPHECY
SYDNEY - A Roman Catholic biblical scholar, who
has spent the last nine years teaching in Jerusalem, said
here the belief held by many Christians that the state of
Israel fulfills a biblical prophecy has "absolutely no
credibility" among serious scholars.
Father Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, O.P., professor of
New Testament and inter-Testamental Literature at the
Ecole Biblique, said the government of Israel naturally
welcomed the propagation of the "fulfillment" th~o1?'
among Christians because it supported the nation s
legitimacy.
.
.
,
He stressed that he was not argumg agamst Israel s
legitimacy, but merely stating that the prophetic argument
is unsound.
.
Father Murphy-O'Connor
also critized claims on
biblical grounds that the end of the world is 1!-ea~.~e said
"signs and portents" quoted by supporters or this view including such events as wars and civil disturbance - have
been present for hundreds of years.
•
Page 27
�PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA ABOLISHES
THE NORTH AMERICAN EXARCHATE
NEW YORK - Eastern Orthodox Pope and Patriarch
Nicholas VI of Alexandria (Egypt) and All Africa has
abolished the North American exarchate he revived in
1974.
In one Eastern Orthodox usage, an exarch is a
patriarchal representative
who oversees parish~s and
clergy dispersed in an area separate fro1:1 the, mai1;1~oncentration of Christians under a patnarch s spmtual
jurisdiction. The major focus of Alexandrian jurisdiction
is Africa.
Last Fall the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North
and South 'America protested that the Alexandrian
exarchate constituted an infringement of its jurisdiction.
Archbishop Iakovos, head of the archdiocese, is ~lso
Exarch for the Wes tern Hemisphere of the Ecumemcal
Patriarch, "first among equals" in Eastern Orthodoxy.
NCC RULES AMENDED TO PUBLICIZE
MINORITY VIEWS ON RESOLUTIONS
NEW YORK - The National Council of Churches has
amended its rules to allow for the filing of minority views
about NCC study or position papers, and to require that
such dissent be publicized along with the majority position.
The amendments allow "an individual or group participating in a program unit of the Council which develops a
study or position paper" to file a minority report or summary to be included with the majority document.
The changes also require that "appropriate reference to
any minority report, dissent or protest" be made in NCC
press releases about a study or position paper.
Father Nicon D. Patrinacos, ecumenical officer of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America
and a member of the seven-person committee which
revised the standing rules, hailed the change because, as a
result, "the Orthodox voice will be heard by all and will
remain on record for the future."
He said his request for the changes came because in
"many important situations in which the Orthodox cannot
in good conscience vote with the majority, their dissenting
opinion is drowned by the majority without a chance to be
known even to our own people. As a result, many
misunderstandings have plagued us in our relations with
our own congregations who in many instances accuse us of
blindly following radical positions."
BELIEVER IN SOVIET MENTAL HOSPITAL
APPEALS TO MOSCOW PATRIARCH FOR HELP
KESTON, England -A Russian Orthodox believer in a
Moscow mental institution since mid-July, has appealed to
Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and all Russia for help.
The Centre for the Study of Religion and Communism
here reports the letter by Alexander Argentov, 25, "matterof-factly setting out the circumstances of his detention":
". . . As the doctors openly told me, the sole reason for
my detention was my faith in God and my membership of
the Orthodox Church. I am healthy and I sleep well, but
here they persistently give me sleeping pills; I am a
balanced, placid person by nature, but here I was forced to
take a psychotropic (mind-inf! uencing) drug - aminazin allegedly to calm me down, with the threat that if I did not
take it I would be subjected to forcible treatment by injections.
Page 28
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIESTS GET WARNING
AGAINST POLITICAL ECONOMIC INVOLVEMENT
KUESNACHT, Switzerland - A set of strictures
arning Russian Orthodox priests not to "mix in political,
w cial or economic questions," issued by Metropolitan
~~raphim of Krutizy and Koloma, has been received here.
Faith in the Second World, an agency which specializes
• documentation on matters involving Churches in the
roviet Union, received a translated text of the orders that
was smuggled out of the country.
According to the agency, Metropolitan Seraphim, who
is administrator of the Moscow diocese, read the orders to
the heads of the diocese's regional districts. Each one had
reportedly been summoned individually to hear the orders,
and they were not permitted to see the document.
One of the "father provosts" managed to obtain a
transcript, however. Faith in the Second World reported
that every priest in each region was forced to sign the
document, thus committing himself to absolute obedience.
The document forbids priests to preach in other
parishes than their o~n without the express ~ermission of
Metropolitan Seraphim. It also forbids pnests to hold
religious services in private homes, and warns them not to
"mix in political, social, or economic questions, or even in
the financial affairs of their own parish."
Metropolitan Seraphim told the "father provosts" that it
had come to his attention that "the rite of anointing was•
administered not only to the sick but also the aged, a
practice which was illegal both by Church and state law."
He ordered that "all such gross violations of civil and
Church laws by clergymen must be reported to the
Metropolitan by the father provosts." Penalties for
AN ORTHODOX CUSTOM
A young man kisses the cross he retrieved from the waten violating the orders could reportedly extend as far as
of Tarpon Springs, ~'◄'la., during the traditional Greek removal from the priesthood.
Orthodox ceremony commemorating the Baptism ol
Christ. Customs such as this have resulted in OrthodoxJ RUSSIAN ORTHODOX LEADER URGES COUNCIL
ACTION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN USSR
being viewed as 44mainly a kind of exotic religion .....
SYOSSET, N.Y. (RNS) - A Russian Orthodox arsomething alien, foreign in the deepest sense of the word"
chbishop
says the long "silence" of the World Council of
by many Americans. RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE
Churches about the problems faced by Soviet Christians
has been undesirable, and that "an active interest of the
WCC for religious freedom in Russia will be of great help to
the Russian Orthodox Church."
"I am kept with seriously ill people, who are tied to their
Archbishop Basil Krivocheine of Brussels was inbeds because of their violent behavior. I have to listen to terviewed by The Orthodox Church, monthly publication
their wild howling, and these surroundings, and also the of the Orhtodox Church in America (OCA), which has its
effect of the medicines, are oppressing me.
headquarters here.
"The attitude of the doctors has an even more op·
The archbishop is under the jurisdiction of the Moscow
pressive effect on me. Completely ignorant of everythin~ Patriarchate. He visited the United States for a month this
concerning religion, they insistently try to convince me that Fall.
my religious feelings are a mental illness. The doctors assert
Asked if the WCC were right "in taking up the issue of
that our Christian religion forbids believers to defend their religious freedom in Russia and in other Communist
homeland, that the progress of aviation and space travel countries," the archbishop said, "I would suggest that you
testified to the fact that there is no God, that priests of· rather ask me if the WCC itself was right in observing
ficiate only for the sake of money, and that young believer! silence for so many years on the question of religious
are basically pathological idiots."
freedom, or the rather obvious absence of much freedom in
Mr. Argentov describes his parents as "militant Russia and other countries in the East of Europe. My
atheists," but they have reportedly tried unsuccessfully to answer would be certainly a negative one."
have him released from Moscow Psychiatric Hospital No,
"And even now," he continued, "the interest of the
14.
WCC for this religious freedom in Russia remains very
The center reports a group of believers has signed two ~imited and hesitating. Still I hope that it will be increasing
appeals for Mr. Argentov's release. When he was sum· m the future, especially if it is continuously encouraged by
moned to the military commission of the Moscow district those who know the real religious situation in Russia and
where he lives, he did not know he would be subject to can provide the WCC with frank and exact information
psychiatric examination.
coming from both official and unofficial sources."
The Word
January, 1977
Asked about charges that the Russian Church's
hierarchy is guilty of "passivity and even of complicity with
the authorities in their anti-religious activities," Archbishop Basil said he "would not be astonished if behind all
this slanderous campaign" against the hierarchy "stood the
KGB itself." (The KGB is the Soviet secret police.)
The archbishop said efforts to divide the bishops from
the people are attempts to "destroy this union of love"
which helps preserve the Church. Thus, he said, "we must
be very careful and not easily accept accusations against
the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate in general."
The Orthodox leader said he is "convinced that the
episcopate ... in its overwhelming majority performs its
pastoral work conscientiously and tries by all means in its
possession to defend the Church and the people of God
against their enemies. Unfortunately these possibilities are
very limited."
Saying he does "not. .. agree with every action or
statement of theological or political character made in the
name of the Moscow Patriarchate," Archbishop Basil said
he has a right "as an archbishop of the Russian Orthodox
Church" to express his dissenting views "and the Moscow
Patriarchate never used any pressure to prevent me from
acting in such a manner."
When the Patriarchate criticized exiled Russian author
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the archbishop defended him. He
has also supported protest letters by clergy and lay people
in the Soviet Union who complained about religious
conditions there.
The archbishop is 76. He was a monk on Mount Athos
from 1925 to 1947.
r
rt,
•
-A
In Bethlehem on the day before Christmas, a procession of
clergymen slowly makes its way into Manger Square after a
10 mile walk from Jerusalem. More than 20,000 tourists
visited the tiny city to witness this traditional ceremony.
Page 29
�HAPPY
ANNIVER
TOTHE
WORD
FOUNDERS
BISHOP
RAPHAEL
With this issue of THE WORD, we celebrate the anniversary of the official publication of our Antiochian
Archdiocese in North America. It was founded as AL
KALIMAT in January, 1905, by the first hierarch of our
Church, the late Bishop RAPHAEL Hawaweeny and reestablished as THE WORD in January, 1957, by His
Eminence, Metropolitan ANTONY of thrice blessed
memory. THE WORD has been printed without interruption for the past twenty years and has become an
important voice for Orthodoxy in the new world. The
Primate of our Archdiocese, Metropolitan PHILIP, has
insisted on excellence in content and style in order to
properly propagate our Holy Faith. All editors since its
inception have tried to be faithful to that ideal.
Let us hear the voices of the founders of our publication
to determine their intent:
. . . "The first issue of our Archdiocesan magazine was
published in Arabic on January 1st, 1905, by the first Bishop
of our Church in North America, our illustrious
predecessor
of happy memory,
Bishop
Raphael
Hawaweeny. We can find no better words with which to
begin publication of our new series than those with which
Bishop Raphael launched his periodical fifty-two years ago:
... "We have called our magazine AL KALIMAT - THE
WORD -in the first place that we may receive the blessing
and guidance of the eternal Word of God, our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who, though He was God indeed, did not seek
divine rights, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men, and humbling
Himself, became obedient to death, even death on the
Cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed
upon Him the name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth
and under the earth. (Phil. 2:6-10). Secondly we have
chosen the name because it is connected with a most important part of our episcopal duties: 'to preach the WORD,
and be diligent in season and out of season, to convince,
METROPOLIT
ANTO
rebuke, and exhort, and be unfailing in patience and
teaching. For the time is coming when people will no1
endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will
acquire for themselves teachers to suit their own likings,
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wande1
into myths.'" (2 Tim. 4:1-5)
... "Our people are scattered all over North America, ana
our responsibilities to those who live far a way are as sacred
as they are to those who live near at hand. Thus we are
publishing this magazine to carry our message to ow
children everywhere. It will reach them every month
bringing to them the teachings of their Church, newsofou
activites, and necessary directions. THE WORD will bt
published every month, except July and August. It will bt
devoted to our Church, and Archdiocese. Each mont,
there will be two feature articles dealing with the doctrint
and history of our Church, with prominent personalitie .
who have contn"buted to our heritage, and with ow
customs and Liturgy. There will be departments for thf
official acts of the Archdiocese, records, edicts, and ap
pointments, for religious education, and the news of our
parishes and the Orthodox world."
(Metropolitan Antony
We can be faithful to the above, only if we are able tr
reach out to more of our communicants. We have ha,
national campaigns to increase subscriptions to THE
WORD but the local parishes are not cooperating fully
Seventy-five per cent of all families in each and every parisl
of the Archdiocese should be subscribing. The Pastors an,
Parish Councils of these parishes are not helping tr
propagate our Faith by placing THE WORD in every home
We congratulate Beaumont, Texas, Bridgeville, Pa.
Cleveland, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pa., whose Parist
Councils' subscribe for over 75 per cent of the parish (eacD
parish has its own system for distribution and collection)
We would hope that in the years to come, THE WORD wi~
be in every home in our Archdiocese. Subscribe today!
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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kalemat_19770101_21_1
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 01
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 21, Issue 1 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated January 1977.
Date
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1977 Jan
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
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English
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Text
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Text/pdf
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/04b976d55454194d8017e0a53a50fba2.pdf
720f7b794aaf87a05cda5cfd33a6eab6
PDF Text
Text
�The Word
Volume 20
December, 1976
Suffering Churches ...
Number 10
COVER
In This Issue
.
His Holiness, Pimen, Patriarch of Moscow and all Ru~sia blesses the
congregation participating in the liturgy on the f~ast of ~~- ~e~gms at the TrinitySergius Monastery in Zagorsk, USSR. Metropohtan Phthp ts m the background.
1
EDITORIAL
George S. Corey
3
PILGRIMAGE TO RUSSIA-PART
Thomas Hopko
9
AMERICA: BABYLON AND JERUSALEM
11
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND
THE ORTHODOX PARISH
Gene Attal
I
Metropolitan Philip leads a delegation to visit the Church and land that produced
many great saints.
Another Bicentennial article on the spiritual dimensions of our life style.
A practical guideline for our parishes.
James Kenna
12
ARCHDIOCESAN OFFICE
14
WHO ARE "THE OTHERS"?
A study in Comparative Religion: Roman Catholicism and the Eastern Rites.
James C. Meena
15
AOCWNA
16
DEPARTMENT OF SACRED MUSIC
17
18
DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
DIALOGUE ...
19
LIFESTYLES X
20
Questions to Father Buben.
When do you celebrate Christmas?
SOYO DIGEST
News and Views of our Youth Movement.
22
COMMUNITIES IN ACTION
T~s mont? we ~ear from Canton, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Tuscon
Arizona; Sioux City, Iowa; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; and the Ohio Deanery.
26
REVIEW
27
DAILY DEVOTIONS
28
THE PEOPLE SPEAK
From September_ 29 to O~tober 10 of this year, Metropolitan
of pr,ests from our Archdiocese travelled
to parts of Russia on a good-will tour as guests of the Patriarchate
of Moscow. The feature article of this month's issue of THE WORD
begins a day by day account of that pilgrimage.
It was truly an
inspiration, praying in the great cathedrals of Moscow, Leningrad
and Zagorsk as well as some village churches around Moscow.
We saw and experienced
much, to say the least!
PHILIPand a delegation
On my return, many people asked me about the condition of
our Church there, and as I had time to reflect, this was my
conclusion. The Church in Russia is indeed suffering. There is no
religious freedom nor is there political freedom. The government
(which is atheistic)
controls and owns everything,
including the
churches. There are definite restrictions placed on all believers;
Orthodox, Romans, Baptists, Jews and Mos/ems. Clergy are permitted to minister
to the faithful within the four walls of the
church building, but no other place-not
in the homes, hospitals or
anywhere in public. Bibles and religious books, icons, crosses, etc.,
are not sold in local stores. No one religious group is restricted
any more than the others. All. believers are indeed suffering I
When any religious
group asks for more than the government
allows ( such as bible study in the homes, immigration
to another
country, etc.), the persecution
begins anew and the government
clamps down hard on its citizens. Consequently
the churches,
synagogues and mosques are filled, even beyond capacity. There
was no All Night Vigil that we attended where there were less
than one thousand participating.
liturgies
attracted
three thousand faithful.
On the feast of St. Sergius in Zagorsk, as many as
twenty to twenty-five
thousand stood in the cold and ~ain for_ th_e
service. The faithful are deeply pious and the Church ,n Russia is
very much alive. The hierarchy
do indeed cooperate with the
State, but this is done in order to keep the churches open and the
liturgies celebrated.
The Church in Russia is suffering, but from
without-from
a hostile, atheistic government.
Compare that to our Church in the West, whether it be in
Europe, Canada or the United States a~d o_ur observati'?ns are that
we too have a suffering Church! We live ,n a free soc,e~y, ~here
separation
of Church and State are part of our God-g1ver1 freedoms. The State cannot interfere in the affairs of the Church here.
And yet we too have a suffering Church! We are suffering fr_om
within. And that suffering
takes the form of apathy,. secu/ar,_sm
and materialism.
We lack that spirituality
that we saw ,n th_e fa,t~ful of Russia. What we take for granted in the West, the fa,thful ,n
Russia hold as most sacred. A small plastic cross or medal meant
so much to them. Coming to church for liturgy was a t:e_mendous
blessing to them. Standing for hours at an All Night V,g,/ broug~t
them much happiness. Listening to as many as three sermons in
each service brought tears to their eyes.
..I
C
a=
0
tQ
II.I
�We complain because the liturgy goes. over the hour or be.
cause the priest preaches longer than_ five mmutes.
We aircondition our churches and put soft cus_h1ons ~n our.Pews so the
people will be comfortable wh7tn they s1_t~~d wat:h
the service.
Many of our faithful are busy downstairs
prepa_rmg goodies for
the coffee hour after church, and they have _n'! time for services.
Some of our parish leaders don't know what it is to partake of the
Sacraments, especially the Eucha~ist. We ha_ve so many distractions and events that vie for our time, especially on Sundays and
holy days. God help the church if that city has a winni~g football
or baseball team. It is usually the Church that comes ,n second.
You see, we too are suffering, but from within.
Pilgrimage
to Russia
PartI
by fr. george s. corey
Therefore we need to be praying much more fervently for the
Church in Russia and the Church in the West. We are both suffering Churches!
George S. Corey
Co-Editor
Several months ago Metropolitan
PHILIP
received an invitation from the Department of
External Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow to
make a goodwill tour of Russia, to visit and pray at
the holy churches and shrines within that Patriarchate which has come to be known as "Third Rome".
His Eminence accepted their invitation and set the
dates for his pilgrimage. The following is a day by
day account of that historic visit:
Wednesday, September 29, 1976
THEWOHD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Metropolitan
PHILIP
called
the official
delegation and the office staff to the Chapel of St.
John Chrysostom in the Archdiocese headquarters to
offer prayers on the occasion of their departure to
Russia.
On hand at the airport to wish the delegation well
were His Grace, Bishop Elia; Archimandrite
Gregory Abboud of St. Nicholas Antiochian
Cathedral of Brooklyn; Archpriest Arkady Tyshchuk, representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and
All Russia in New York; Fr. John Kassatkin of St.
Nicholas Russian Cathedral of New York; Mr.
Theodore Mackoul, trustee of the Archdiocese, and
Mrs. Mackoul; Miss Kathy Meyer and Mr. William
Essey of the Archdiocesan staff.
Thursday, September 30, 1976
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMA T, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Haw a weeny
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
Editorial Board:
Archimandrite Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen Upson, James C. Meena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gerasimos Murphy, James Ken~a;
Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John Dalack, William Essey, RaymonJ George, Ronald Nicola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the Antiochtan
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
Technical Staff:
George Nassor, Beatrice Davis, Eve Meyer
Publications Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
ISSN 0043-7964
THE WORD, published monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at Pittsburgh, Penn·
sylvania, Business office, 377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213; Publication office, 3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Entered
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SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $8.00 a year in the United States and Canada, $10.00 a year in foreign countries.
ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: THE WORD, 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
The official delegation at the in itation of Hi
Holiness, Patriarch Pimen, were Metropolitan
PHILIP,
Archimandrite
Antoun
Khouri
of
Englewood, Archimandrite John Namie of Hou ton,
and Archpriest George S. Corey of Pittsburgh.
Departure was from Kennedy Airport in ew York
for Moscow, via London, on Aeroflot, Soviet
Airlines.
In the Department of External Affairs Fr. Antoun, Bishop Chrysostom, Metropolitan Philip, Fr.
Makarios Tayyar, Fr. Jacob Ilyich.
December 1976
We arrived at the Sheremetyevo Airport in
Moscow very tired after a long twelve hour flight.
Because we were an official delegation, we were able
to get through customs without any 1:13ajor~ncidents
and were officially met by the followmg: His Grace,
Bishop Chrysosto1n, Vice-Chairman of External
Affairs of the Palriarchate of Moscow and the
Bishop of Kursk and Belog~rod_; Archi_mandrite
Makarios Tayyar, representative m Russia of the
Patriarchate of Antioch and lifetime friend of
Metropolitan PHILIP; Archpriest Jacob Ilyich,
Deputy and representative
of the. Moscow
Patriarchate in the Antiochian Church; Miss atasha
Gorin a, our official interpreter.
During an interesting motorcade to the Hotel
Rousha (Russia) in downtown Moscow, ':'e were
given a brief history of "Holy Russia" b~ His Grae~,
Bishop Chrysostom, a yo~ng and dynamic prelate m
his early forties. Also durmg the motorcade we were
Page 3
�able to get our very first impressions of this historic
city. We all sensed that we had a most interesting
twelve days ahead of us. We settled down in our
hotel rooms that overlooked a large square that
contained six magnificently decorated Orthodox
churches that had been converted into museums or
storehouses by the Communist government.
At 6:30 p.m. we were taken to dinner in the hotel
restaurant by Archpriest Jacob and our official
interpreter Natasha. They did everything to make us
feel comfortable on our first day - even placing a
small American flag at the head of our table.
Obviously we were most conspicuous, being both
Americans as well as clergymen wearing black suits,
white collars and pectoral crosses. We were the topic
of conversation in the restaurant that evening! Our
meal that evening and throughout the visit was
typically Russian: Mineral water, apple-flavored
water, red and white wine, vodka, cognac, caviar,
black bread, smoked fish, fresh vegetables, fish soup,
meat and potatoes, ice cream, hot tea and occasionally expresso coffee.
(The ice cream was the best we have ever eaten and
is a favorite dessert of the Russian people).
Metropolitan PHILIP and Father Antoun retired
to their rooms for a quiet evening with their friend
and classmate, Father Makarios. Father John and I
took a walk through Red Square which was only a
few blocks from our hotel. We saw part of the exterior of the Kremlin, Lenin's Tomb, St. Basil's
Cathedral and Gum's, the largest department store in
the world. While on Red Square where automobiles
are never allowed, we and all the citizens on the
Square were literally brought to a halt by the sound
of police whistles while an official limousine was
being driven through the main entrance of the
Kremlin. We wanted to think that it was either
Leonid Brezhnev or Alexei Kosygin but we dared not
chu~ches used as museums were re pected b
tourists as places of worship and people ere
praying in front of icons to be found there. On Id
woman in a babushka, employed by the tate a a
guardian in one of the church-museum , approach d
one of our delegation and in Russian chided him f r
wearing his hat while touring the mu eum chur h.
The rebuke was well noted! Metropolitan PHILIP
was overcome by the experience and in tear pra ed
for the people of Russia who were denied man
religious freedoms that we in North America and
the West take for granted.
Holy Transfiguration Cathedral In Leningrad for All Night
Vigil.
ask. As we walked toward Gum's, Father John and I
observed how immaculate the streets and sidewalks
were, how simple and yet practical everything
around us seemed to be and how safe it was to walk
the streets late at night. We even saw women
sweeping and washing the streets and sidewalks of
Moscow close to the midnight hour. How different
this is from our conditions in the United States.
After a brief walk through Gum's department
store, observing Ivan Ivanovich in his familiar
surroundings, we walked back to our hotel, passing
once again the beautifully
decorated,
closed
Orthodox churches along the way. As we passed, we
walked in silence for our hearts were heavy, knowing
that these consecrated temples of worship had been
desecrated by unbelievers and converted into public
houses of some sort.
The reaction of the people toward us at the end
of our first day was mixed. Some looked at us with
curiosity, others smiled, some were downright
unfriendly. After all we represented two major
threats: the Church and the West! What else could
we expect so soon on our trip? We went to our individual rooms for a much needed rest after a full
day, thanking God that we had this opportunity to
set foot on this historic land.
Friday, October 1, 1976
Favorite Icons found In the churches of Russia.
Page 4
I awoke at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't sleep. Maybe it
was the excitement of the trip or maybe just the time
change. At any rate, I sat down and wrote our experiences thus far. Also there were letters and
postcards to send home (all of these letters and
postcards were sent airmail but didn't arrive in the
States until three to four weeks later). I tried to
The Word
Metropolitan Phlllp and Bishop Cyrll, rector of the
Leningrad Seminary.
remember our schedule for that day. Father Jacob
had told us that we would be attending a reception
with Metropolitan
Juvenaly at the Patriarchal
Department of External Affairs, a tour of some
churches, an evening at the opera and a midnight
train to Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
At 10:00 a.m. we arrived at the Department of
External Affairs and were sadly disappointed that we
were unable to see Metropolitan Juvenaly who was
ill. In his name, Bishop Chrysostom once again
welcomed us and gave us our itinerary for the next
ten days. We were to spend our time in Moscow,
Leningrad and Zagorsk. Kiev and Odessa were part
of our itinerary, but were later omitted sin~e it would
have been too strenuous on Metropolitan PHILIP.
Gifts were exchanged between the two hierarchs,
before our departure from the department. Two
automobiles were placed at our disposal for the
entire visit in Russia. Father Jacob remained with us
throughout the pilgrimage and our interpreter was
there on official occasions and tours.
We then proceeded to visit several of the
churches in Moscow, those in full use as temples of
worship and those converted by the government into
museums. It must be noted however, that even those
After lunch we had some free time to hop and
observe the lifestyle of the seven and one half million
citizens of Moscow. We found them to be typical f
urban Americans - often aloof, slightly eriou and
dutifully bent on accomplishing their daily chore
and employment. The average Russian citizen
do not smile until Friday e ening when
they seem to come to life in an air of relaxation, expressed by a spirit of festivities, dancing, eating and drinking. Russians from the many
National Republics joined together in the fe tive spirit that prevailed throughout the weekend.
For the believers, their smiles turned into tears on
Sunday morning during the Holy Liturgy. We witnessed thousands crying during each liturgy we
attended, and yet each sermon we heard by a
Russian priest or bishop was on the eternal hope and
promise of the Resurrection. Reading in between the
lines of each sermon, the message always was "do
not give up hope."
The Metropolitan In private audience with Patriarch
Pimen.
Page 5
December 1976
�Sunday, October 3, 1976
In the evening we were guests of the Patriarchate
at a concert in the Kremlin (Hall of Congresses
where the Communist Party meets every four years).
In a special tribute called ·"A Salme to Music",. we
heard the secular music of Tchaikovsky, Bortmansky, Rimsky-Korsikof and others sung by membe~s
of the Soviet Opera and dancers of the B?lsho1.
Without a doubt it was one of the finest evenmgs of
the trip. We were surprised to see ~any young
people at this concert which attracted six thousand
people in the spacious and beautifullf decorated
Hall which is one of Moscow's newest bmlt.
We awoke on Sunday to find the most beautiful
day of the pilgrimage, whereas the weather had b n
previously cold and damp, Sunday wa most plea ant
and as it turned out, a glorious Lord's Day.
At midnight we boarded our train to Leningra?.
The overnight trip reminded all of us of the scemc
train ride in "Dr. Zhivago". This writer arose at dawn
to observe the countryside and the villages along the
way and the people doing their early morning
chores. It was a sight to behold - men, women ~nd
children - many of them dressed in peasant outfits,
looking as if they had just stepped out of the period
of Czarist Russia.
The Holy Doors of a chapel in Zagonk.
Saturday, October 2, 1976
We arrived in Leningrad at 8:30 a.m. and were
met, amidst loud military music, by His Grace,
Bishop Cyril, Rector of the Holy Trinity Ac~demy
and Seminary of Leningrad and Bishop of Viborg,
and his official delegation of clergy and laity. His
Grace, who speaks English well, is the youngest
bishop within the Patriarchate.
We were taken to the Hotel Europeyskaya
(Europe) in downtown Leningrad, where we were
given the most beautiful and quaint rooms during
our entire visit. At breakfast, His Grace gave us the
itinerary of our Leningrad stay. During the afternoon
Father John and I toured the business district of
Leningrad. There we had the opportunity to discuss
Commemorations are made in the preparation of the holy
Gifts.
Page 6
The Metropolitan blesses with the trikiri and dildri. Notice
the enormous iconostasis.
with several Russian citizens life in the Soviet Union
as compared to life in the United States. We had
coffee with several Leningraders that afternoon and
found many of them to be believers.
At 6:00 our delegation was taken to the Holy
Transfiguration Cathedral, whose pastor is Father
Jacob, our official guide. There, Metropolitan
PHILIP and Bishop Cyril presided at the All Night
Vigil. This was one of the most stirring moments in
our visit. Two thousand faithful stood for almost
three hours while the prayers and the hymns of the
Church were chanted in Slavonic, Arabic and
English. During the service we watched as women
shed tears at the' words of Metropolitan PHILIP who
spoke on the oneness of our faith and witness, "in
spite of the oceans that separate us, in spite of our
languages and cultures, and in spite of our different
political systems". At the conclusion of Metropolitan
PHILIP's
sermon
the
congregation
shouted
"spahsseeba vas Ghospodi" (may God save you). The
two hierarchs were assisted by fifteen priests, six
The Word
deacons, and four sub deacons. Fathers Antoun and
John were granted the privilege of wearing the mitre
during the services and I was allowed to wear the
purple kamalavkee, granted to archpriests. Since this
is a Russian tradition and not an Antiochian one, we
all found this to be "different", to say the least. And
remembering the choir - well, what does one say? It
met every expectation. I was personally surprised to
see young as well as old in the choir that was directed
by an elderly professor who sang in that same choir
during the glorious days of Czar Nicholas. No~ was
the congregation without the young and middle
aged, although the vast majority we~e.older w~men.
During every other verse of the V1gtl, they signed
themselves with the Cross. Approximately six times
during the service, they joined the choir in singing
the hymns by memory. How ~ouching it was, to u~,
more like a dream than reality. We couldn t wait
until Sunday's hierarchical liturgy. The remainder of
the evening was spent at the hotel in preparation for
that Holy Liturgy.
We arrived at St. Nicholas Cathedral of
Leningrad at 9:55 a.m., amidst the ringing of the
church's seventeen bells. The Dean of the Cathedral
and sub deacons met us at the main le el of the
Cathedral and escorted His Eminence and our
delegation to the upper church for the Hierarchical
Liturgy, sung by the magnificent Cathedral Choir. A
we passed the lower level church we could ee and
hear the liturgy already in progress there and the
approximately one thousand faithful, participating.
As we entered the upper church we were met b Hi
Grace, Bishop Cyril, twelve priests, six deacons and
six sub deacons. The three thousand people in at-
Following the Ru.ssfancustom, our two Archlmandrltes
wear a crown.
tendance moved to open a passage that we might
enter. The Mantia (episcopal cape) was placed ~n
His Eminence in the vestibule and we entere? m
procession to the nave ?f the church for the ~a1ron
and vesting prayers while the Cathedral Chmr s~ng
some of the most beautiful hymns of the Russian
Church. The Archdeacon was meticulou~ and moved
about with much precision as Metropohtan PHI~IP
walked from icon to icon, praying and rev~rencmg
each. Shortly after the vesting of the two hierarchs,
the Holy Liturgy began.
The faithful gathered at the Antiochian Church of the
Archangel Gabriel in Moscow.
What seemed only an hour liturgy, turned out to
be three hours long. We knew we may never ha e
such an experience again, so we filmed and taped as
much as possible. Fathers Antoun and !ohn ser ed
with the other clergy at the Altar, whtle I mo ed
about recording on film and tape what I had already
recorded in my memory.
Page 7
December 1976
�casion of the Leave-taking of the Feast of th
Exaltation of. the _H~ly Cros~ (accor?ing to the 01~
Calendar which is m use m Russia). The enti
congregation knelt as the clergy, choir and lai~e
chanted, "Before Thy Cross, we bow down i~
worship O Lord, and Thy Holy Resurrection, w
glorify". This hymn has now taken on a new an~
deeper meaning for members of our delegation.
The Monastery CathedralIn Zagorsk has room for 10,000
worshippers.
The liturgy was served in Slavonic, Arabic and
English, and the choir and deacons never missed one
cue nor left out one iota! The service flowed
magnificently to its glorious conclusion, recalling in
my mind the words of the emissaries of Prince
Vladimir in describing the Orthodox liturgy to him,
"we thought we had entered Heaven itself". We
knew now that the words of Metropolitan PHILIP a
few days earlier could never have been truer: "It is
the liturgy that has kept the Church of Russia alive in
spite of her sufferings and restrictions. So long as She
is able to celebrate the liturgy, the Church in Russia
will never die."
After the service we proceeded to the lower level
church to venerate the miraculous Icon of St.
Nicholas the Wonderworker,
patron
of the
Cathedral. While there. we wit_nessed priests baptizing some twenty-five
chtldren
( of young
parents) and we were told that later in the day
another twenty-five would be baptized. My immediate reaction was the sign of the cross and I
uttered in Russian to our interpreter "Slava Isusu
Christu" (Glory be to Jesus Christ).
(continued in next issue)
During his sermon, Metropolitan
PHILIP
thanked the Russian Church for the following:.
A. Establishing Orthodoxy in North America
through the efforts of missionaries in Alaska.
B. Giving us our first Orthodox saint in the New
World - St. Herman of Alaska.
C. Caring for the needs of the Antiochian faithful in
North America in the early 1900's through the
Syrian Mission of the Russian Archdiocese and
the efforts of the late Bishop Raphael
Hawaweeny.
D. The far-sightedness of the Russian Patriarch and
the Holy Synod in granting autocephaly to the
Russian Metropolia in North America and our
desire that it be recognized by the other
Orthodox Patriarchates in the world as the
beginning of Orthodox administrative unity in
North America.
Page 8
BABYLONAND JERUSALEM
by thomas hopko
When reflecting on the state of the nation during
this bieentennial year, the following story comes to
mind. Several years ago •a learned monk from
Europe visited the United States. He was a cultured
man, rooted in the Tradition of the Church, knowing
theology, familiar with modern thought, well-read in
the classics of literature and philosophy, being
himself soberly spiritual in the simple way that only a
person can be who comes to maturity in Christ
through his own personal spiritual and intellectual
experience. This man visited our country, travelling
from coast to coast. He listened and watched in the
urban centers, the provincial towns, the middleAmerican suburbs, the plains and the mountains;
observing with the "single eye" of one not easily
impressed, yet not prejudicially leaping to facile and
superficial conclusions. When it was time for him to
return to his homeland, he was asked by an
American friend: "And what do think, Father, of our
United States of America?" Immediately the priest
devoid of an "upper story", as wholly lacking an
opening to the world of the Spirit.
"It is Babylon," the priest said, and then h
continued, this time with a very definite expre ion
of hope and delight in his eyes and his voice: "And it
is also Jerusalem."
This answer of the priest startled his friend who e
immediate reaction was that the monk was copping
out of the question, or else was lapsing into one of
those pseudo-profound paradoxes which one expects
from the superficial, but which are always terribly
disappointing when coming from someone who is
respected as being a "real person." "What do you
mean?" came the reply. "How is it that America is at
the same time both Babylon and Jerusalem? Isn't
that a contradiction?"
"What I mean to say is something very simple"
a society which might be characterizedto use an expression found in a novel of
Alexander Solzhenitsyn - as completely devoid of an "upper story," as wholly lacking
an opening to the world of the Spirit.
answered, without scorn or sarcasm of any kind, but
in a simple statement of fact: ''It is Babylon," he said,
"Your America is Babylon."
We all know that Babylon is the biblical symbol
for a society which is wholly carnal; a society whose
being is exhausted in the satisfaction of the flesh by
every possible means; a society '":hich migh~ be
characterized - to use an expression found m a
novel of Alexander Solzhenitsyn - as completely
To this and to His Eminence's other inspiring
words the entire congregation (along with us)
shouted, "spahsseeba vas Ghospodi".
After the inspiring liturgy, in which hundreds
partook from one of the three chalices offered
Bishop Cyril led us in procession and prayers to th~
Ambon where a short service was given on the oc-
AMERICA:
The central icon behind the Altar In each church Is the
Resunectlon - the hope of all Orthodox Christians.
The Word
Father Thomas Hopko is pastor of St. Gregory~s
Orthodox Church of Wappingers Falls, N. Y. a~d. ',s
professor of Pastoral Education at St. Vlad1m1rs
Orthodox Seminary.
the priest-monk replied. "It seems to me that ne er
in human history have so many people, indeed the
great majority of people in a given society had such
opportunities
and freedom to indulge their
carnal senses and appetites as in America today.
And how many do! It is certainly the way
of life for many Americans to live for the
acquisition of physical pleasure and comfort. It
seems to be almost the 'American religion' if we
take 'religion' to mean what people really love and
live by and adore and work for. And look at the
'official religibns.' Even they seem to ha e a
strangely Babylonian aspect._What people app~~r to
be seeking in the churches ts some sort of spmtual
pleasure. They want to have 'peace' and 'comfort' of
spirit; they want to be 'turned on' and to be 'sucDecenrber 1976- Page 9
�cessful' and 'fulfilled'. Even 'official religion' in the
USA looks like a thoroughly hedonistic enterprise
based on the pleasure-principle, with the preachers
providing the keys to happiness and prosperity in this
world, while the name of God is being invoked and
Jesus is proclaimed as the Lord to be praised!
The Orthodox!
"And look at the Orthodox, with their gilded
temples, padded pews, carpeted corridors and wellstocked and supplied social halls . . . with the
worship services carefully calculated by the clock to
be minimally demanding, since, of course, 'this is not
the old country', as I have been repeatedly reminded
in my travels throughout the land.
"And the preaching in the churches. It is
strangely demanding in terms of the support of the
today. He said that the gospel has not yet been
preached to the great masses of Russian people. B
this he meant to say that the great majority of mey
and women in the old c??nt~ies we~e Christian b;
custom, by cultural condttlomng, by mheritance b
belonging to a Christian society imposed on the~ by
their national leaders. Now ~hi~ is not bad, for it i~
certainly better . to b~ _Chnstla~
custom and
tradition and social trammg than 1t 1s to be heathen
or 'communist.' B~t still t~~ point is that the inne;
freedom of conscious spmtual self-determination
and development in graci~us cooperation with the
Spirit of God was never available to the vast majority
of people, at least not to the extent that it is available
to the people of America today. In other words
never have so many been so enabled with such
abundant possibilities and resources to do good and
?Y
This is why I see America as also Jerusalem. There is a freedom to be holy here for
more people than anywhere else, in past and present. It all depends what one wills
and desires.
local parish community and in the retention of the
religious exercises of the people by means of attendance and financial support, but almost totally
lacking in any ascetic requirements and purely
spiritual demands. The sermons in the churches
mostly cater to popular customs and sociallyacceptable proprieties, while inviting the people to a
kind of 'escape' from real life into the comfortable
and familiar world of the cultural past, even the past
of one's cozy childhood in the good old days of the
neighborhood, ethnic parish . . . a style of life which
in fact hardly exists anymore in mobile, suburbanized America."
THE FREEDOMTO BE JERUSALEM!
At this point the friend of the priest interrupted
and said, "All right, I see y<;mrpoint. But what about
Jerusalem? There hardly seems to be any place for
the 'heavenly city' in the picture that you are
painting of the American spirit."
"I would put it this way," the monk responded,
"the same opportunities and freedoms which allow
for a Babylonian existence for the great masses of
the people in America also make it possible for life in
this land to be the life of the Kingdom of God, if
people would only see it and love it and choose to
live by it. When we look backward in history we see
that the great masses of people in any country never
rea~ly had the chance for a free and profound expenence and knowledge of the Christian faith. This
was always reserved for the few. What Professor
F~dotov is said to have ~itten about Russia is apphcable to every past society, and to most societies
Page 10
to grow up in God as right now in the United States.
The least person in America today, it seems to me,
has spiritual opportunities which previously only a
small minority of people enjoyed. Education is freelv
available. There are masses of books. There ar~
limitless sources of spiritual materials There are
abundant sources of material goods which can be
used for good, for the poor, for the propagation of
the gospel, for the building of the 'city of God' within
the conditions of this fallen world. And most important of all, there is freedom; not only external
political freedom, but inner spiritual freedom,
freedom from the burdens of the past, freedom for
actions and decisions about what one wishes to be
and what one wishes to do. This is why I see America
as also Jerusalem. There is a freedom to be holy here
for more people than anywhere else, in past and
present. It all depends what one wills and desires. It
all depends on how one responds to the fundamental
choice which God offered to Moses long ago:
PUBLIC RELATIONS
AND
THE ORTHODOXPARISH
by gene a tta I
To many people, the term "Public Relations" is
synonymous with "publicity." While publicizing
events and activities is an important aspect of public
relations, the entire P.R SPECTRUM INVOLVES
MUCH, MUCH MORE.
Looking at public relations in a larger sense and
how it app_lie~ in Jhe parish setting, you can get a
whole new ms1ght mto how to present your parish to
the community more successfully.
A simple way to defin~ public relations in this
broader sense is "how you communicate."
It is, of course, how you tell your story to the
people in your city through the news media. It is how
well_you inform your own parishioners about upcommg events and activities. But it is also how well
you communicate your image to:
(1) Visitors who come to your church;
(2) People who attend public functions your
parish sponsors;
(3) Those people in the community-at-large who
may only walk by or drive by your church building
on their way to work or as they're driving home in
the evening.
What experience do these people have when they
come in contact with your parish? What kind of
image are you projecting to them? What messages
are you communicating?
One of the best ways to determine how to project
a positive image is by "putting yourself in their
shoes."
I call heaven and earth to witness against you
this day, that I have set before you life and
death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life,
that you and your children may live, loving the
Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving
to him ... (Deuteronomy 30: 19)
THE VISITOR TO THE CHURCH
Imagine you're a non-orthodox person who
decides to attend Liturgy in your parish. You might
even try literally walking the steps a visitor takes into
your church. The trick is to pinpoint the things
The sharpness of this fundamental choice is clearer
and more acute nowhere on earth than in America
today. It can be the curse and death of Babylon. Or
the bl~ssing and life of Jerusalem. God grant that in
Amenca today the people will resolve to "choose
life."
Gene Attal is Public Relations Chairman of the Southwest
Region of SO YO. He is a member of St. Elias Church in
Austin, Texas, and is Manager of Public Relations at
Seton Medical Center in Austin. He holds journalism
degrees from the University of Texas and Columbia
University.
The Word
December 1976
which are confusing or even unattractive to that
visitor.
Here are some areas to consider.
THE EXTERIOROF YOUR CHURCH
Is your church's lawn trim and clean? Is the
shrubbery well-clipped? Do you have an attracti e
easy-to-read sign listing accurate service times and
the phone numbers of the church and the Pastor? At
night is your building well-lighted? Are the painted
portions of your building in good order--or are they
peeling? Does the exterior of your structure communicate a sense of pride and love?
WALKING INSIDEYOUR CHURCH
Is the entrance to your church attractive? Or is
it cluttered with posters and stacks of old bulletins?
Simplicity is usually the best rule to follow in this
area. Do you have a tract rack that is well-stocked
with Orthodox publications? Most of all, is the
narthex and the rest of your edifice clean-immaculately clean? Does the interior of your church
building communicate a sense of pride and love?
PEOPLETO PEOPLE
How well do your parishioners communicate
with the visitor once he or she is inside your doors? Is
someone designated to greet "new faces"? Are your
ushers well-trained? Is a feeling or warmth and
welcome transmitted? Is a service book offered? Is
an explanation of the Liturgy available? Have you
prepared literature on your parish for families
desiring further information on how to get involved?
Is an attempt made to get visitors' names and their
addresses for your parish mailing list? Do your
people immediately communicate a sense a pride
andlove?
AFTERTHE LITURGY
Does your pastor welcome visitors through an
announcement from the pulpit? Do you have a
welcome committee designated to seek out and
(continued on page 13)
Page 11
�Archdiocese
Architectural Commission
ARCHDIOCESAN
OFFICE
ORDAINED:
T ARAZI, Paul N. to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop ELIA
at St. Mary in Johnstown, PA, September 26, 1976; to the
Holy Priesthood by Bishop ELIA at St. Nicholas Cathedral
in Brooklyn, NY, October 3.
TRANSFERRED:
BITAR, Rev. Athanasios from the pastorate at St. George,
Danbury, Connecticut, to the assistant pastorate at St.
George, Detroit, MI.
SAKKAB, Rev. Hanna from the assistant pastorate at St.
George, Detroit, MI, to the pastorate at St. Elias,
Syracuse, NY.
ASSIGNED:
TARAZI, Rev. Paul N. to the pastorate at St. George,
Danbury, Connecticut.
ELEVATED:
EMMERT, Rev. Athanasios, pastor of St. George, Oak
Park, Illinois, to the rank of Archimandrite.
ANTONIAN MEDAL PRESENTED:
To Albert Joseph of St. George, Oak Park, Illinois. (silver)
To Frank Kafoure of St. George, Indianapolis, Indiana.
(silver)
DECEASED:
Antoun Mudarri, Honorary Archdiocesan Trustee, on
Friday, September 17. Burial on Tuesday, September 21
from St. John of Damascus, Boston, MA.
NEW PUBLICATIONS:
The Sunday Matins in the Eight Tones, Phase II of the
"Byzantine Project" of the Department of Sacred Music.
$10.00.
The Icon Book for children and adults, published by the
Department of Christian Education. $3.00.
SEMINARIANS:
The following students
academic year.
are registered
for the 1976-77
St. Vladimir's Seminary:
ABDALAH, John - St. George in Boston, MA
ATTY, David- St. George in Allentown, PA
BLANKENSTEIN, Deacon Paul- St. George in Houston
TX
DEL VITTO, Jason -St. Michael in Greensburg, PA
DAHDAL, Suheil - foreign student
EL-HAYEK, Deacon Hans - foreign student
GEHA, Gary - St. George in Detroit, MI
KOBBS, Nicholas- St. Thomas in Sioux City, IA
GANIM, Gary- St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY
NASR, Elias- St. Nicholas in Beckley, WV
PERPURA, Joseph- St. George in Norwood, MA
YATSKO, BernardSt. Michael in Louisville, KY
Holy Cross Theological School:
KHOURI, Rev. Dimitri-St.
George in Boston, MA
ROMLEY, George - St. Nicholas in San Francisco
ZBEEB, Deacon Andrew - St. George in Boston, MA
Christ the Saviour Seminary:
SHARDA, Rev. Joseph-St.
Mary in Johnstown, PA
by Louis J. Courey
. We have a tenden_cy as time goes by to forget those
things that are not of mterest when we hear or read of it.
That bas been the case with the Architectural Commission
judging from t~e ?1any questions received lately.
The Co1!1m1ss10nhas been active now for over six years
and has assisted many parishes. In that time many changes
have taken place in local parishes: there are new Council
members, new parish members, and in many cases new
priests have been assigned. Therefore, many are unaware
of the commissions purpose.
Primarily, the Commission is available to all parishes
to assist in all aspects of planning and design of various
building programs as herein outlined.
Programming consists of determining how many
rooms, what size and uses, budgeting, how much can you
really afford, and what will it cost.
Planning, where we build, when, on the present site or
a new site, what size should the property be, what will it
cost.
How do you go about setting up a Building Committee
and what is its exact function? How do you set up a
building fund campaign?
It is impossible to outline in this report all of this information, as parish situations differ. Most of this information can be determined by the Architect, in a single
meeting with your parish council and building committee,
and after completion of the Data form available thru this
commission.
THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE
Any Parish contemplating new construction or a major
addition shall submit Construction Documents to the
Archdiocese Architectural Commission for approval.
Construction Documents shall include:
A-Preliminary Drawings, consisting of floor plans and
building elevations. (rendering if available)
B-Plot Plan, showing location of proposed building,
parking and other buildings or obstructions on the site.
C-Outline specifications giving a general indication of
materials to be used, and description of structural and
mechanical systems.
D-Proposed building costs estimate and method of
financing. (Indicate the number of active families and
present operating budget.)
PUBLIC RELATIONS
(continued from page 11,
invite visitors to come back soon? Do ou pon or a
coffee hour after Liturgy? Is there a follo -up
program to contact visitors later in the week? Does
the visitor have that sense of pride and love communicated to him or her from the time of arrival at
your church until the time of departure?
LOST AND FOUND
A related communication que tion i how
l?cate your parish in the first place. Thi i particularly true for Orthodox familie
ho mo e to
your town, or who are temporarily in our area
through the Armed Forces, college tudie , bu in
trips or vacations. It is also a question to con ider f r
non-Orthodox who are interested in our Faith.
Here are some simple, but sometime o erlook d
media to use to communicate your exi tence in the
community:
(1) The telephone directory (white and yellow
pages);
(2) Hotel lobby Church Directory Boards;
(3) Church pages in the local newspaper often
these listings are free);
(4) Contact with chaplain offices at college and
armed forces installations;
(5) Contact with chaplains at local hospitals;
(6) Membership in local Conference of Churche
Communication is an essential element in toda '
Western Society. The tools of the trade are available
and waiting to be utilized-most
at only limited
expense to your parish. When these ba ics are
mastered, you can branch out with more flamboyant
efforts-exhibits,
concerts, publications . . . and
much more. One thing is certain-the
benefits of
good communication are limitless!
... A good reference book to obtain which covers these
and other public relations areas is Promotion and
Publicity for Churches by W. David Crockett. This
inexpensive booklet is available from the MorehouseBarlow Co., Inc., 14 East 41st Street, New York, NY
10017.
Give The Word For Christmas
D $8.00for UnitedStates& Canada□ Three Years-$21.00
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□ Three Years-$27.00
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□ Renewal
Name_________________________
Address----------------=----City________________
S.tate
_____
Gin SUBSCRIPTIONS
Archdiocesan Trustee Albert Joseph of Chicago receives
Antonlan Medal (silver) from the Metropolitan.
Page 12
_
Zip_
Fr, Athanaslos Emmert of Chicago ls elevated to the
rank of Archlmandrlte.
The Word
December 1976
Page 13
�WHO ARE "THE OTHERS"?
l\ntincQian ®rtQnhnx<!rQristian
llnmen
of NnrtQ America
A Study in Comparative Religion
by james henna
Ronian Catholicism and The Eastern Rites
A very small number of Roman Catholics-compared
with the millions of Latin Rite Catholics-are generally
divided into the Oriental and Slavic Rites. As a group,
they are known as Byzantine Rite Catholics or Uniates.
Rome finds them presently very important to show the
world that she is not totally Western in either rite or
customs. These groups maintain their own languages,
liturgical rites (services) and canons which are i_na~cord
with their union with the Papacy. Because of thetr Middle
Eastern origin, we are most familiar with the Maronites,
Melchites, Copts, Chaldeans and Armenians. We refer !o
these bodies only in respect to their numbers who are m
union with Rome and not (with the exception of the
Maronites) those who have the same identifying title,
though are Orthodox in faith and practice.
These groups come from a very sad chapter in the
history of Roman Catholicism after the separation from
Eastern Orthodoxy at the Great Schism in 1054 A.O. The
earliest group to emerge, historically, were the Maronites
in East Syria (now Lebanon). They are the spiritual
descendants of John Maron (Maroon), a heretical
Patriarch of Antioch in the 8th Century. They rejected
their heresy in the 12th Century and were led into "Unia"
with the Papacy in 1182 A.O., by Aymeric, the Latin
Patriarch of Antioch. (This has nothing to do with our
ancient Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.)
In 1724, a group of dissidents in Syria and Egypt were
also joined to the Papacy in a "Unia". They were called
Melchites. This term had an honorable history. In the 5th
Century it was applied to all of the Orthodox faithful who
rejected heresy. It is an unfortunate usage and un... Fr. James Kenna is pastor of St. Philip's Church in Ft. I.Auderdale,
Rorida.
doubtedly has been misunderstood by many uneducated
Orthodox faithful in the Middle East since that time.
Recently there has been much said within this community
about its' Orthodox origins and how they should be united
with Orthodoxy again. May the Holy Spirit prevail!
In 1198, a group of Armenian Apostolic Christians
accepted the "Unia". This, however, did not become
permanent until the 18th Century. After the benign
neglect of four centuries, the Papacy began reaching into
Orthodox lands again. The Chaldean Nestorians of Persia
and Iraq accepted the "U nia". They were followed in the
18th Century by some of the Syrian J acobites and the
Copts of Egypt.
In the 19th Century the Ethiopean
Copts produced the Abbysinian Coptic Catholics, and the
Malankarese Catholics in India in the 20th Century accepted the "U nia" too.
There are also Byzantine Rite Catholics among the
Slavs: Ruthenians (who are primarily Lithuanians, Poles,
and former residents of the Austro-Hungarian Empire),
Hungarians, Serbs, Carpathians, Romanians, Greeks (a
very small isolated group), Bulgarians, and a separate rite
of Halo-Albanians who have always been Papal Catholics
with an indigenous rite.
After arrival in this country, many of the Uniates
became very unhappy with their Papal Unia. They sought
the old faith of Orthodoxy. By God's Grace, first the
Carpatho-Russian diocese returned to Orthodoxy, then the
Ukranians, and some of the Romanians. Individual priests,
hierarchs and laity have also returned to embrace the faith
of their forefathers. The continuing existence of the
Eastern and Byzantine Rite Catholics, in addition to
theological and practical differences, remain as a stumbling block in an open road to Orthodox-Roman Catholic
dialogue.
WOMEN OF AOCWNA:
At our AOCWNA meetings held in San Francisco in
July, 1976 at our Archdiocese Convention, it was
unanimously agreed upon by all six regions represented
that our charity drive for 1976-77 will be the Balamand
Seminary.
Metropolitan Philip attended our meetings and explained in detail the needs of the Seminary. Due to the
collapse of the Lebanese economy and the unending war,
it is now closed and without our help, its doors may never
open! It is the only remaining Orthodox Seminary in the
Middle East! The need is there!
Ladies, let us unite and answer the call of our beloved
Metropolitan Philip for this fund. It will be called "the
Patriarch Elias IV Foundation" in honor of His Beatitude
and his coming visit this spring to our Archdiocese. The
Fund will be kept here in this Archdiocese and all the
interest derived from it will be used for the Balamand
Seminary. The more we raise, the more the Seminary will
realize in interest! Our organization's goal this year is
$25,000; with all your help, it will be realized.
Encourage all your members not only to be active for
their local churches but to also extend their ministry to
others who at the present time are unable to help
themselves, namely, the Balamand Seminary.
Your regional and national officers are willing to help
you attain your goal. The North American Executive
Committee is:
Elsie Kaleel - President (Youngstown, Ohio)
Ethel George - 1st Vice President (Cleveland, Ohio)
Gwena Haddad2nd Vice President (Charleston, W.
Va.)
Frieda Lewis Recording Secretary (Detroit,
Michigan)
Corresponding
Secretary
Laurice
Kaleel,
(Youngstown, Ohio)
Treasurer
Adele Abraham (Grand Rapids,
M~~m)
.
Public Relations - Ruth Meena (Cleveland, Oh10)
Spiritual Advisor - V. Rev. Fr. John Badeen (Detroit,
Michigan)
.
.
We pray jointly that the good Lord will extend ~1s
hand upon all our works so that we may be successful m
our Christian Leadership in our awareness and commitment to Him and His Church, to our sense of
Fellowship with you our beloved sisters in Christ, in our
expression of love and service t~ our be~oved
Metropolitan Philip, and above all else, m our charitable
deeds.
"We do realize that women have a definite ministry in
the life of the Church!" (Metropolitan Philip)
God bless you all!
Elsie Kaleel, Pres.
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bn·11g
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel (which
means - God with us)".
Matt. 1:23.
Greetings and best wishes for a most joyous and Holy
Feast Day of the Nativity of our Lord from your orth
American Officers to all the Ladies of our Archdioce e
and their families.
We are now in Advent in which the Church remind u
to prepare ourselves to receive the Christ Child. Let u et
aside some of the frustrations of festive preparations and
do as the Church advises. Let us, through gatherings with
friends and relatives, take the time to experience the true
meaning of the Holy Season. How much more meaningful
the holiday is when we prepare ourselves for the coming
of Christ by attending church, by fasting and prayer, and
by reading the Scriptures - especially the chapters from
Matthew and Luke. How much more satisfying to all
Christians to celebrate in such a manner. How wonderful
this would be if we, the women, would only give this a
serious thought, and then - do something about it! For it
is the women who nurture the home with love, faith and
understanding. His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, also
reminds us to "focus our attention first and foremost on
the source of love and goodness - our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ."
" ..... for to you is born this day in the city of David, a
Sa vi our, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11.
MAY YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON AND THE COMI G
YEAR BE FILLED WITH HEALTH, HAPPINESS,
PEACE AND GOODWILL! AND MAY THE
MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF CHRIST EVER BE A
INSPIRATION TO ALL!
Elsie Kaleel, President
A.O.C.W .. A.
Ruth Meena, Public Relations
A meeting of the Holy Synod under the late Maxlmos IV, Patriarch of the Melchltes.
Page 14
Christmas
Messag
Page 15
The Word
December 1976
�Department of ChristianEducation
DEPARTMENT
OFSACRED
MUSIC
REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES FOR CHOIRS
To be a qualified, learned Choir Master the task of
running relevant and expedient rehearsals is a matter of
profession. The music teacher of an area high school or
college choir who also directs the Church choir will find
that this is relatively useless to him/ her, for he/ she has
his/ her own style of running rehearsals, and is aware of
the steps to be taken to achieve musical excellence.
Therefore, this is directed to the beginning choir director
who one day finds himself/ herself a singer in the Choir,
and the next day its Director.
Your first concern as a new director is the scheduling
of rehearsals. A close examination of the finest choral
groups in the country, whether church oriented or
professional, will tell you that rehearsals are not a luxury,
but a necessity which any choral group desiring to improve itself must have. Meet with your choir members and
decide the day and time of rehearsals, and specify that
time as your weekly rehearsal time. Rehearsals must be
meaningful to your singers, and should never become a
drudgery. Rehearsals become superfluous to a singer
when he / she is not challenged, and feels that missing a
week or two will not matter.
The endurance time for a rehearsal should depend on
the music which is being prepared. A troparion for a
particular feast day should not need two hours of
rehearsal; if it does then you are either over-rehearsing it,
or your method of teaching is faulty and should be selfanalyzed. Never rehearse only one piece of music at a
rehearsal. Keep rehearsal music varied with the thought of
holding interest and maintaining the challenge. Always
ha~e 20 / 20 foresight and hindsight; know where you are
gomg and where you have been with a piece of music.
Before any rehearsal can be started your rehearsal
room should be equipped with the proper tools.
1. When available, use straight backed chairs instead
of folding chairs. The extra expense of these chairs is well
worth it, for a singer will find it awfully difficult to slouch
while sitting and singing in a straight backed chair while
folding chairs are designed, theoretically at lea~t for
k~ure.
'
2. You should have an adjustable music stand; not a
lectern. These can be purchased from any music store for
approximately $15.00 to $20.00
3. Your music should be ready for distribution at the
beginning of the rehearsal.
4. .Have an adequate number of pencils ready, so that
y~mr ~mge.rs can. mark their music according to your
directions 1mmed1ately, and not waste valuable rehearsal
time searching for a pencil.
5. ~l!hough the. use of a keyboard instrument
be as mm1mal as possible, one should be in the rehearsal
room. If this is only possible by rehearsing in the choir
loft. then by all means do so.
WHAT CAN PARENTS DO?
Always have enough music to go around. Two sing
can easily share music, while three or four on one cop e~s
difficult and will only detract from your rehearsal. 99 ~ ts
cen! of the music ~ou will use as an Orthodox churi~
choir can be obtamed from the organization whi h
published it. It is suggested that whenever possible yoc
. music
• rat h ~r t h an photocopying ur
choir. yurc h ase its
it.
Copynght laws are frequently v10lated by choir director .
and it. should be pointe~ out that.a co.mposer or arrang:;
of a piece of music receives very httle m royalties from hi
published music, and each illegitimate copy that is mad;
can cut into his pocket. It would, therefore, seem highly
unethical to reproduce
music callously. However
reproducing music to save time would not be unethical if
that mu~ic was ~estroy~d when actual published copies
are received. Ethics are important to a professional· and it
is assumed that all choir directors of the Orthodox Church
strive for professional results,
The key to well run, expedient rehearsals is
preparedness on the part of the director. So often a
director will walk into a rehearsal with no idea of what
music is to be covered, let alone the musical goals and the
steps toward achieving those goals.
1. Select music to be performed well in advance;
always giving yourself time to look for alternative settings.
2. Acquaint yourself with the text of the piece to be
learned. The more you know about the elements which
inspired the composition of a piece of music the better
prepared you will be to teach it. When using Orthodox
Church music which has been published commercially, a
comparison between the text appearing in the music and
that of the Orthodox Prayer Book could be vital to the
authenticity and usability of that composition.
For example: The "Ave Maria" from the Vesper Service
set by S. Rachmaninoff, published by J.Fischer & Bros.,
wa~ translated and edited by Canon Winfred Douglas.
Bemg a.n advocate of Russian Orthodox music, Douglas'
translations and adaptations are fairly accurate. However,
a close look and comparison between the commercial text
an_dthat ~et out by the Orthodox Prayer Book reveals that
th~s text 1s not suitable for use in an actual Vesper Service.
Shght changes in the text should be made to render it
usuable;, such as the phrase "Hail O Virgin Mother bearer
of God should be changed to "Hail O Virgin Mother,
Theoto~os" thereby making this piece that much more
appropriate for the Vesper Service.
3. Study the individual parts as well as the piece as a
~ho_le. In that our Orthodox tradition stresses a capella
smgmg during the services it is recommended that it be
utilized as much as possible while learning music. The
(continued on page 17)
Page 16
The Word
by donna bobin
That parents are entrusted with the religious education
of their children is made clear in the Bible. For instance,
in the Old Testament, parents are given the following
instructions: "And these words, which I command thee
this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them
diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine houses, and when thou walkest by the way,
and when thou liest down and when thou risest up."
Deuteronomy 6:6-7. These verses from the Bible not only
assign the responsibility for the religious education of
children to their parents but also teach parents how to
educate their children. What is to be taught comes from
God, bu_tthe words must first find a place in the hearts of
the parents. To teach, parents must first know and believe.
And they must surround their lives and the lives .of their
children with the words of God until they become part of
their everyday lives; for parents, we are told, should talk
about these words sitting in their houses and walking by
the way, when they lie down and when they rise up.
Notice that parents are told to teach diligently as they
sit in their houses. That seems to be the place where
modern religious education falters. Parents today often
think that the place for religious education is In the church
school, not In the home. Religion, many think, is too
complicated for parents to teach; it is best left to someone
trained in religious education. But the truth of the matter
is that no matter how skilled the church school teacher,
children need religious education in the home to reaHy
show any signs of religious development.
Four Facton For Effectiveness
One study of religious development in children, for
example, evaluated four factors for their effectiveness in
educating children. The factors were: (1) church-school
attendance, (2) church-school teachers' adaptation of
lesson material to the life situation of students, (3)
reinforcement of church school lessons by parents in the
home, and (4) parents' adaptation of lesson material to the
life situation of children.
The results of the study shows there was no observable
religious growth in children with high percentages of
church-school attendance but low percentages in the
other three factors. There was ordinary growth in children
with high church-school attendance and high instances of
home reinforcement of lessons by parents. The highest
level of growth was observed in children with high per-
centages in church-school attendance, home reinforce~ent of lessons, and adaptation of the le on
matenal to the life situation of children by parents.
Religious _education in the home isn't ju t an extra; it
means the difference between no growth and ordinary
growth and between ordinary growth and high le els of
religious development.
What can parents do? They can commit them el e to
taking an active part in the religious education of their
children. They can commit themselves to taking an acti e
part in their own religious development so they can teach
their children. They (Parents!) can start their home
religious educadon program off simply-by placing icon
In each room In their homes, by saying grace before meals
by attending Church services regularly and pardcipating
regularly In the sacramental life of the Church. Parents
can visit with their childrens' church-school teachers and
ask how they can reinforce lessons at home. The can
keep feasts and fasts. They can focus their attention on
each church-school lesson for one week and try to find
ways of making ideas from the lessons live in their
lives-whether the lesson is on sharing or forgiveness or
loyalty to God. And most of all, parents can love-love
God, love each other, love their children, love their neighbors-and show by their actions that they are, indeed,
Christians.
Department of Sacred Music
(continued from page 16)
better you know the individual parts the better you will be
able to teach them without a keyboard.
4. Re-acquaint yourself with your music as often as
you can. Relearning a piece which you have been performing for months, or even years, yourself may yield new
insight into its performance (20 / 20 hindsight).
The final and most important key to successful
rehearsals is professionalism. A professional cares about
his/ her work and is concerned about the success of each
and every rehearsal as well as the overall health and
welfare of his/ her choir. A degree in music will not
produce professionalism· nor will twenty years of music
experience. Profes~ionalism is not taught, but comes from
a desire for perfection which in turn comes from
professionalism; the two go hand in hand.
-James E. Meena 11
Donna Bobin of Blessed Memory was a leading Contrjbutor_ of (!rthodox Christian Education. A member of St. Georges Antioch,an
Orthodox Church, of Pittsburgh, Donna tragically died in an automobile
accident during Holy Week, 1976. This article shows her keen awareness
of the true Orthodox educational challenge in America.
December 1976 - Page 17
�DIALOGUE
LIFESTYLES X
• • •
questions to father buben
homily by father james c. meena
QUESTION: '1 am the third wife of my beloved husband.
I am concerned about the afterlzfe. How may I be sure
he does not leave me for one of his other wives for all
eternity?"
ANSWER: The Bible tells us that our Lord was tempted
with a question similar to yours. A sardonic question
was put to Christ by a group of Sadducees who did ~ot
believe in the resurrection of the body. The case mvolved a woman who had had seven husbands. The
question: 'Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife
shall she be of the seven, for they all had her?'
And Jesus answered:
' ...
in the resurrection they neither marry nor are
given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven . ...
(Matthew 22, 30).
QUESTION: "In the 'lzfe of the world to come,' will we
know ourselves as we were upon earth? Will we
recognize others as we knew them on earth? Do those
in heaven know what those on earth are doing?
ANSWER: Not only will we recognize others in heaven,
and know ourselves and remember our time on earth,
but every conscious intellectual and spiritual faculty
will be heightened to a fuller capacity, which we could
never attain before:
''For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face
to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even
as I am known."
(I Corinthians 13, 12).
We will not be sleeping or dreaming on the other side
of death. We will understand things and remember
things as never before. We will be able to love others
and think about things not for just an hour, not for just
a day - but always. Time will not exist. We can plan a
picnic or a lecture or a speech or teach for years and
take a century in willing or doing something. A kiss
could last for a year. A song could be sung as long as
we desire singing, and everyone would always be in
harmony. Nothing would be boring.
In the parable about Lazarus and the rich-man, we
learn that both men remember their earthly life, and
that they have a conscious life in the afterworld
without any break or interruption.
Jesus speaks to the thief on the Cross . . .
"And he (one of the thieves who was being crucified)
said unto Jesus, ''Lord, remember when when thou
comest into thy Kingdom."
"And Jesus said unto him, 'Verily, I say unto thee,
today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:4243).
Christ's words would have no meaning, if they did not
mean that He and the thief would meet in Paradise on
that same day, and remember their suffering on
crosses. They would recognize each other. From this
we draw a conclusion that those in heaven do
remember their earthly lives and recognize those
whom they knew on earth.
Recognizing each other implies a body. We will have a
Page 18
spiritual body and the same appearance as we had on
earth, except that there will be no_deformity. Everyone
will be as handsome or as beautiful as they imagined
they were on earth. No imperfections will exist. Even
amputated limbs will be restored, etc.
The Bible says ... "There is a natural body, and there
is a spiritual body." (1 Corinthians 15:44). Also, "It (the
body) is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory:
it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power" . . .
(I Corinthians 15:42-44).
Our spiritual bodies will transcend time and space and
other types of barriers:
"On the evening of that first day - the first day of the
week - though the disciples had gathered within
closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus entered and
stood among them saying, 'Peace be with you!'
"So saying He showed them His hands and His side;
and when the disciples saw the Lord, they rejoiced
. . . (John 20:19-20).
There were many reappearances of Our Lord: "After
that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at
once; of whom the greater part remain unto this
present, but some are fallen asleep ... (1 Corinthians
15:5-6).
QUESTION: "The Episcopalians will now ordain women
priests. This is the wave of the future and ideas like
yours are a thing of the past. Why don't you use
common sense? It's time women had their place in the
sun. How could you try stopping us in this day and age?
ERA
ANSWER: First of all it seems to me that some ladies who
push the ERA have no sense of humor. Some, not all,
take their movement too seriously, and I'd hate to see
them gain control of the freedom we enjoy to tease
one another . . . in a friendly fashion.
If the Episcopalians ordain women, they'll split
themselves completely from any further dialogue of
unity with us Orthodox. It seems to me, that Episcopal
women have gained control of convention delegate
votes. This could never happen with us. I don't think
our women would transgress the traditions of their
forefathers. We love our women and wish to spare
them the cross and burden of the priesthood. It takes a
man to carry the awesome burden and emotions of the
sacred office of priest.
Orthodox women are not only equal to the men, they
are placed on a high pedestal by us and loved and
admired and adored. No problem exists when women
are equal but separate from men in understanding
certain duties and obligations which come naturally
from creative differences. The problem comes when
some women try to be like men.
WRITE your questions to: V. REV. MICHAEL
BUBEN, 103 Pleasant Street, METHUEN, MA.
01844.
The Word
"MERRY CHRISTMAS-LATER NOT SOONER"
When I was a Iittle boy, as with all children, I used to
anticipate the coming of Christmas weeks in advance. I'd
get excited and start thinking about the good food that
was going to be shared and the gifts that would be forthcoming, decorating the Christmas tree, putting lights in
the window, presents under the tree, waiting for Santa. I
used to wonder for weeks what I was going to get for
Christmas and I would go scrounging around the house in
all of the cupboards and the closets looking for anything
; that looked like a Christmas _present and surreptitiously I
would find these gifts and I would play with the toys that
had been purchased explicitly for gift-giving at Christmas
time. Then when Christmas day actually came and the
gifts were given to me and I had to open them, I had to
pretend to be so excited and surprised because I didn't
want anybody to know that I had been celebrating
Christmas before Christmas came.
Now that was a practice of a child and our society is
very much like that child, even though our society does
not recognize, to a great extend, the religious significance,
the spiritual value of this Holy Season. It has gotten into
the habit of celebrating a secular Christmas by anticipation. The commercial segment of our society begins
readying itself to this holiday, even before Thanksgiving is
over. I am still stunned to see Christmas decorations in the
middle of the streets and in store fronts and everyplace
where we can look so early in the year. The signs of the
secular Christmas. parties at school, office parties, club
parties have become a natural thing for our society in
anticipation of Christmas. I have tried to evaluate this and
I wondered whether it's because people really are so filled
with the joy of the season that they just can't wait to
celebrate, or that this Holy Feast has no real meaning for
them at all and that they will take advantage of any excuse
to escape the hum-drum routine of their daily way of
living.
I'm afraid that based on an evaluation of many years, I
must come to the conclusion that the latter is true. The
reason that I make these comments to you is that we have
become infected by the maladies of society. We of the
Church also celebrate Christmas by anticipation. We
celebrate the coming of our Lord before Ht has come.
When we should be fasting, we are feasting, and when we
should be feasting, we are so overstuffed from our anticipatory celebrations that we fast involuntarily. Isn't _that
ironic? Many of us have taken for ourselves the societal
custom of inviting friends and family to our homes to feast
on the Eve of the Nativity of Christ, when we should be
fasting and preparing ourselves spiritually for the
December 1976
Liturgical Celebration of the Birth of our Lord. when we
should be meditating and contemplating our lives o that
we can present them at the altar with the newborn Christ
and partake of the Chalice which He has gi en to u in
order that we might be born again with Him. Manv of u
have neglectfully lapsed into the traps which oci;t ha
laid for us. Christmas becomes a social time of the year to
be celebrated from late November until December 25th
and then to be forgotten about immediately and as quickly
as possible. How many of us have said, "I'm so glad it'
over" when it really has only begun.
Once one of our brothers in Christ picked up the
telephone when I called his home, and said "Happy . ~ ew
Year", and I said, "No, Merry Christmas", becau e
Christmas is not ended. It is the· sacred tradiuon of the
Church that the Nativity of Christ be obsen,ed as a festal
time until we celebrate His Theophany, His Baptism on
the sixth of January. You've all heard the carol. 'The
Twelve Days of Christmas". Well the Twelve Da s of
Christmas are a Spimual and Liturgical realit~' to the
practicing Orthodox Christian. Of course we don't worry
about gold rings, and partridges and pear trees but
everyday of the Twelve Days of Christmas is a celebration
of something concerning the Birth of Christ. The day after
Christmas is the celebration of the Feast of the Theotoko .
We honor Mary, who was the temple through which Chnst
was born into the world. And the following days we
commemorate such personages as David the ancestor of
Christ, and Joseph His step-father, and events such as
Christ's Circumcision.
We remember 40,000 faithful Christians who died for
the faith and the 14,000 infants who were slain at the
command of Herod because he didn't want this Christ
Child to grow into manhood. Everyday for the Twel e
Days of Christmas until we celebrate the Baptism of our
Lord, is a Celebration of the Nativity of Christ, therefore,
it is a contradiction of terms for us, like that little child
that I described at the onset of this sermon, to look for the
toys and the pleasures of Christmas in anticipation of the
Birth of Christ. For us, as Christians, those six weeks
before the actual day of the Nativity, is supposed to be a
period of introspection, of self-study, of meditation, so
that we might transcend ourselv~s. Talk abou~ _tra~scendental meditation, Christians have been pract1cmg 1t
for hundreds of years. It is not a time for us to participate in secular celebration. Th~ true Orthodox
Christian will refuse to celebrate Christmas before the
(continued on page 21)
Page 19
�North American Council
EASTERN REGION SOVO
SOYO
Digest
News and Views ...
NACTeen SOYO offlcen with Metropolitan Phlllp: Vice
president Cyndi Day, Secretary Carol Laham, President
Tommy Hier, Treasurer Gregory Dalack.
6
.iSOYO Parish Life Conferences-Who
Why do we have Parish Life Conferences? Is it a time
to get away from home? Or, is it for a good time? Or, is it a
time for personal recognition? Or, is it a time for.business?
Or, is it a time to plan for tomorrow? Or, is it a time to
renew friendships? Or, is it a time for a spiritual uplifting
and rejuvenation in seeking total involvement with Christ?
Well, it should be clear that all aspects apply in varying
degrees. But, the mixture of these ingredients which
comprise the finished product known as a Parish Life
Conference should be examined and possibly the em phasis on each portion re-evaluated. The basic recipe calls
Said They're Effective for Christ?"
for a main base of spiritual awareness of and commitment
to Christ through personal involvement. The secondary
ingredients are then added to properly highlight the
product. Because of human ireperfections when interpreting the written word, the intent is not always
fulfilled. Could it be that in efforts to spice up the Parish
Life Conference, that the real flavor has been altered?
Gary G. Younes
President
NACSOYO
uwE WORSHIP
GOD IN CHURCH"
by Robert Nader, Jr.
We worship God in church by taking part in the third
Sacrament, Holy Eucharist or Holy Communion. Jesus
Christ ·broke bread and offered wine to His disciples at the
Last Supper. We re-live this by taking part of the body of
Jesus (bread) and blood of Jesus (wine) in our Holy
Communion. By asking God to forgive us for our wrong
doings, we must ask forgiveness which is the fourth
Sacrament, Penance or Confession. Through confession,
our heart becomes pure and our sins are forgiven. We
prepare for confession and communion by fasting, by
saying many prayers and doing good deeds.
We must pray for the needs of the church by loving
one another and attending church every Sunday. We can
thank God for everything He has given us by coming to
visit His house, which is the church. By having more
prayer and religion in the world, there will be less crime
and hatred among the people. This is the reason why it is
so very important for us to worship God in church.
Jim Meena of Cleveland .receives Archdiocese
Meritorious A ward for his efforts In the field of sacred
music In the Midwest Region of SOYO, and In the
Cleveland parish.
Page 20-
ROBERT NADER, JR. is in the 3rd grade at St. George
Church in Detroit, Michigan. He won first place in the
Midwest Region Creative Writing Contest.
The Word
uThe Bible Lives in the Church"
by Craig Abraham
The Bible is God for it is the word of God. God
teaches us about Himself through the Bible, but He shows
us His love, His goodness, wisdom and power everyday.
The Bible begins with a beautiful story of the beginning of the world. God gives and shows us love and beauty
through the story of the creation. He created the heaven,
earth, and all things. We see His love by looking at the
blue sky, the flowers, the trees, or a baby. We learn about
our Maker tliat He is powerful and wise.
The story of how God created the world tells of God's
reasons. He created man in His own image and likeness to
take care of the good and happy world. God gave man
laws to follow and through Moses he gave us the Ten
Commandments.
God shows us His love through His only Son Jesus
Christ, by letting Him die on the cross for our sins. But
before Jesus died he said, "I'll rise again in three days."
Through the resurrection, God shows and gives us life
eternal and an everlasting life to those who believe.
As an altar boy serving God, I am reminded of God's
love by every act the Priest performs. When I carry the
candle, I know it is the light of the Spirit of God which fills
the church with happiness. I know by reading the Bible
that for as long as we have faith, we will never live in
darkness, for He is the light of the world.
The Bible teaches me all these things and more about
God. Because of God's greatness I want my day to be
God's day, for I walk in God's path. Without Him there is
no life.
CRAIG ABRAHAM is in the 4th grade at St. George
Church in Wichita, Kansas. He won first place in the
Southwest Region Creative Writing Contest.
The Eastern Region of SOYO' Regional onfer nee
was hosted by St. George of Philadelphia, during th
four_t~ of July weekend. This tiny parish of about 0
f:1m1heslabored diligently to provide an excellent famil
life_ con~erence, and we again congratulate them. Our
registrati~n _of 760 was approximately 30 percent belo
last years figure; we attribute that decrea e to the bad
publicity eminating from officials of th Cit of
Ph~ladelph~a. Pe_ople _were just fearful of coming to
P~iladelphia dunng this weekend, and e pecially in thi
Bicentennial Year.
The workshops were generally well-recei ed, but
attendance was a bit disappointing. In the Oratorical
~ont~st, we had six participants in the junior di i ion and
f~v~ i~ th~ senio~ d~vision. We had se en team partlcipatmg m the Jumor division and fi e in the enior
division of the Catechism Bowl. The Choir Fe ti al wa
one of the best yet with area choirs combining for both
liturgical and secular singing; it was entertainment at it
best.
Eastern Region SOYO celebrated its 25th Birthday at a
party on Friday evening; several chapters honored their
most active members. On "Philadelphia Night" we were
entertained by various e_thnicdancing and singing group .
The famous and colorful Mummers were a special treat.
The family "Enliven to Christ" Sessions on Saturday
were again a resounding success with good participation.
Fortunately, these sessions have become a permanent and
important feature of our Regional Conference.
LIFESTYLES X
(continued from page 19)
Lord has been born, and will insist that the Twelve Days of
Christmas be the time when he celebrates. Every day
should be a Christmas Party from the 25th of December
till the 5th of January. Every day is an excuse for feasting
and rejoicing because Christ ls Born and we are called
upon to Glorlly Him.
It is for this reason that we, as your spiritual Fathers,
have asked all of the or_ganizations of our churches to
celebrate the Birth of the Lord after Christmas and not
during the Christmas Fast. It's not because we're such
disciplinarians, it's just that we like to put things in their
proper order. We will continue calling upon each of you
to prepare yourselves for the Coming of our Lord by
imposing upon yourselves the proper spiritual disciplines
of prayer, repentence, and fasting. We will continue to
urge you to stand up like adult men and women in the eres
of God to sing His praises in the midst of the congregation
as those who are worthy of His blessings and of the love
which He showers upon us. Let us not be victimized by the
pleasures and temptations of the societr which has ~een
condemned by the words of Christ as bemg the domam of
the prince of this world, who is the prince of _Darkness.Let
us, rather, as citizens of His Kingdom man~est the glory
and the beauty of righteousness and piety that are
exemplified in His Birth, in His Mi~stry, in His Tea,7hings,
and in His Example. Then we can bid each other a Merry
Christmas".
December 1976- Page 21
�Communities In Action
HOLY CROSS CHURCH
CANTON, OHIO
The Celebration of the Elevation of ihe Life-Giving
Cross, the name day of our parish, Holy Cross Church of
Canton, Ohio, is an annual feast of celebration and
spiritual contemplation.
This year we were blessed by the archpastoral visit of
His Eminence, the Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip
and several visiting clergymen. On Saturday, September 4, 1976, the events began with the arrival of His
Eminence to the Canton-Akron airport where he was
greeted by clergy, church council members and
representatives of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees.
Following His Eminence's arrival, our Church Council
Members and their lovely wives hosted a dinner at the
Sheraton Inn in honor of His Eminence, visiting clergy
and dignitaries. Great Vesper Service was held at 7 :30
P.M., presided by His Eminence and assisted by visiting
clergy of our Archdiocese and local Orthodox Clergymen.
A combined choir consisting of members from both Holy
Cross and St. George Churches of Canton sang the
responses during the service. Following the Great Vesper
Service, a Vesper Tea Hour and discussion was held in the
church hall in honor of His Eminence, hosted by our
gracious Ladies' Society.
Sunday, September 5, 1976, the Hierarchical Divine
Liturgy was the highlight of the weekend's events,
presided by His Eminence and the following clergymen:
Right Reverend Ellis Khouri, Protosyngelos; Right
Reverend Antoun Khouri; Rt. Reverend Gabriel Samne·
V. Rev. James C. Meena; Reverend Joseph Shaheen of
Montreal, Ca?ada; Reverend Louis Mahshie; host pastor
Revere~d Nicodeme Joseph. The traditional great
Procession of the Holy Cross decorated with flowers took
place. Responses were- sung by the combined choirs of
our Antiochian parishes of Canton. The services were
concluded when His Eminence delivered one of the most
inspiring sermons in which he explained the meaning of
the Cross to the Christian believers, the unity of the
Antiochian people in this sphere, and he challenged the
Antiochian people of Canton to heed and take the unity as
an ex~mple t~ their own lives. "It is imperative to
recognize that m Canton we have two communities but
one church and we expect our priests to fully cooperate in
all church aspects of life."
The festivities of the weekend ended with a grand
banquet and hafli in honor of His Eminence and was
at~ende~ by over t~o hundred people. During the banquet
His Emmence received a key to the City of Canton and a
certificate of Acclaimation. from the Mayor of Canton,
The Honorable Stanley Crnich. Guest speakers included
Right Reverend Ellis Khouri, Very Reverend James
Meena, and Mr. Rudy George, representing the Arch·
diocese Board of Trustees.
Page 22
J?uring the banquet our
parish honored the most
devout Servant of God M
Masid Shaheen, Sr., (wh:
has served his church for
over ?O years) with the
Archdiocese Certificate of
~eritorious
A ward, along
with
an Icon bestowed
upon him by His Eminence
Masfd Shaheen
Me~ropolitan
Philip. Hi~
Eminence
stated, "Our
Orthodox Church has been blessed with dedicated people
such as Masid and his faithful family . . . what greater
love for a person to give than to offer his own son and
Fa~her J os~ph_ Shaheen i~ a clear i~dication of the good
frmt of this fme and faithful family . . . He is indeed
worthy." A local recognition award was also presented to
Mrs. Rachel Blair for her services to her church
especially to our church school, by Father Nicodem~
along with a Holy Bible. A hafli featuring Amer Khadaj
and Ensemble ended the weekend's festivities.
e wou~d like to acknowle?ge and thank the following
chairmen tor the weekends
celebration
and their
respective committees:
Mr. Mike Khoury, General
Chairman; Mrs. Richard Kelly, Vesper Tea Chairman;
Mrs. Rudy Kager, Banquet; Mr. John Betros, Master of
Ceremonies; Mr. Mike Caley and Mr. Jim Kannam, hafli;
and Mr. Frederick Shaheen, program book.
The weekend's celebration shall remain as a great
inspiration printed in the hearts and minds of our faithful
people. May the glory of our Heavenly Father fulfill our
inspiration of Unity and Oneness in Christ.
Father Nicodeme Joseph
yv
ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
Can it be? Twenty five years ago on January 28, 1951 a
few of the young women met at the home of Fr. Ellis
Khouri telling him of their desire to organize a Guild that
would help the Sunday School and the Church. Mrs. Mary
Henry was elected President; Mrs. Marie Assaley, VicePresident; Mrs. Dorothy Salhaney, Secretary and Mrs.
Adele Abraham, Treasurer. On September 19, 1976, the
St. Nicholas Guild celebrated their 25th Anniversary at a
lovely dinner with the parishioners of the church. Charter
members seated at the table with Fr. George Alberts were
Mrs. A. Abraham, Mrs. Georgette Abraham, Mrs.
Dolores Bander, Mrs. Minerva Bashara, Mrs. M.Henry,
M~s. Rose Nicola, Mrs. Hazel Salhaney, and Mrs.
Elizabeth Sarafis. Absent charter members were Mrs.
Assaley, Mrs. Bea Hiemstra, Mrs. Louise Khouri, Mrs. D.
Salhaney, and Mrs. Helen Wawee and Miss Margaret
Khouri now deceased.
'
The Word
Fr. George Alberts and Nicholas Salhaney presenting a
toast and plaque to the St. Nicholas Guild members, Julie
Ayoub, Dolores Bander and Mary Henry.
Mrs. Dolores Bander served as Toastmistress and took
everyone present down "Memory Lane" to reminisce
about the glorious years of the Guild's past to present
accomplishments. The years of diligent effort and hard
work for the Sunday School and the Church are exemplified in the beautiful stained glass windows that adorn the
church that are truly a labor of love. Past Presidents of the
Guild are Mrs. Henry, 1951; Mrs. Bander, 1952; Mrs.
Hiemstra, 1953 and 1963; Mrs. D. Salhaney, 1954-1964;
Mrs. Louise Khouri,1955; Mrs. A.Abraham, 1956-1972-73;
Mrs. Bernice Azkoul, 1957; Mrs. Josephine Wawee
(deceased) 1958-59; Mrs. Virginia Bander, 1960 and
1969; Mrs. Mary Ann Yared, 1961-65-66; Mrs. Margaret
Salhaney, 1962; Mrs. Nora Corey, 1967-68; Mrs. Eleanor
Heibel, 1970; Mrs. Nicola, 1971; Mrs. Bashara, 1974-75;
and Mrs. Julie Ayoub in this Bicentennial year.
Mrs. Ayoub presented a gift to the past presidents
present:Mrs. Yared, Mrs. Heibel, Mrs. Salhaney and Mrs.
Corey. Charter members present were each given an icon
of the Blessed Theotokos. A tribute was _given for the
memory of Mrs. Saleme Ayoub, Ms. Margaret Khouri,
Mrs. Mary Safi, Mrs. Julia Sickrey, and Mrs. Josephine
W a wee all faithful members that are now deceased.
Mrs. Bander also remembered the dear ladies that
always give a helping hand in all the "Food Projects" of
the Guild. Mrs. Mary Maloley is the oldest member of the
St. Nicholas Parish; also Mrs. Mary David, Mrs. Minnie
Bendekgey, Mrs. Minnie Mallick, Mrs. Sadie Samra, Mrs.
Marie Azkoul, Ms. Ramsey Salhaney, Khouria John
Mickel, Mrs. Zahia Abraham, and Mrs. Seebie Gantos.
Our other Ex-Officio member and Sunday School
Superintendent R. George Mickel gives a helping hand
with beautiful decorations for all the "special" occasions.
Nicholas Salhaney, chairman of the Parish Council,
presented Mrs. Ayoub with a beautiful plaque commemorating the years of service the Guild has given to the
Church. Mary Henry, as the first and Julie Ayoub as the
present presidents cut a beautiful cake as everyone sang
the Anniversary song.
Mrs. Elizabeth Hanna, Mrs. Marcella David, Mrs.
Virginia Salhaney, Mrs. Jean Laramy, Mrs. Irene Mi~kel,
Mrs. Barbara Thomas and Mrs. Jeanette Jazzar were given
December 1976
a well deserved round of applause for the beautiful luncheon they had prepared for us.
Fr. Geor_ge Al?.erts happily reminded all tho pre ent
that he was Just a two year old kid" wheu the t. ichola
Guild was organized. He also prai ed the ladie for th
great help they have given to the Church ch ol.
beautiful wire was read from Rt. Re . Fr. Ellis Khouri wh
was unable to be present.
The parish of t. ichola
was sad~ened ?Y th~ sudden pa sing awa of our g d
brother m Chnst Mitchell Salhaney (49), a lifelong and
devoted member.
. Mitchell _wasserving on our present Pari h Council, a
fa_1thfulch01r member and a past pre ident of the t.
Nicholas Club. SOYO will always be a reminder of itchell, for he designed the emblem of our Midwe t
Orthodox Youth_ movement which was later adopted b
N~C fo~ all regions of SOYO was a la ting tribute of
Mitchell s talents. He shall be missed. Our condolence to
all members of his family.
The Parish Council and all members of the t. ichola
Parish are busy preparing for a dinner open to the publi .
Mitchell Salhaney was chairman of the event o good
members of the Parish Council and Mrs. James alhaney
and Mrs. Abe. Abraham are carrying on. We wish them
tremendous success.
Helen J. Malo la
ST. PHILIP'S PARISH
FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA.
St. Philip's Parish has added another dimension to it
staff in the person of Subdeacon Damian Criscella. He and
his wife, Julie, and their three young sons have moved to
Ft. Lauderdale from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He will
assist Father James Kenna at the altar and in all function
of the parish.
Schooled
in St. Francis Seminary, Lowell,
Massachusetts, Damian converted to Orthodoxy in 1974.
He was ordained a Subdeacon in Orlando, Florida by
Archbishop Michael Shaheen. He had served there under
Father John Hamatie.
In a local half-hour program on NBC-TV, "Horizons of
Faith", Father James Kenna expounded on the history and
dogma of the Eastern Orthodox Church, displaying
various artifacts used in the Church. He was assisted by
Subdeacon Damian; Mrs. Jean Arcos and Elaine Azar
appeared as interrogators.
Father James has instituted a very fine practice at St.
Philip's. The preparation of the antidoron for the altar
rotates among parish families each Sunday. On respecti e
Sundays, these family members are remembered in
prayers; they also host the coffee hour.
.
The entire congregation witnessed the renewmg of
vows by Mary and George Ajay on their sixtieth wedding
anniversary, as they were blessed with the crowns. As the
elders of this parish, they are extremely dedicated and
generous and much loved by all. God grant them many
years.
Leaders of the various organizations elected for the
ensuing year are: George N. Azar, Council Chairman;
Anne Thomas, Ladies President; Sam McLoota, Sr.
SOYO President; Gabhan Kenna, Jr. SOYO President.
Elaine L. Azar
Page 23
�ST. THOMAS ORTHODOX CHURCH
SIOUX CITY, IOWA
The weekend of September 4, 5, and 6, 1976 not only
marked the 60th anniversary of St. Thomas Orthodox
Church in Sioux City, Iowa, but also the dedication of the
new church addition, and a "homecoming", or reunion, of
former members of St. Thomas.
The Divine Liturgy Sunday morning was celebrated by
Very Rev. Nicholas Kobbs, priest at St. Thomas, assisted
by Rev. Jehad Michael of Omaha, Nebraska; Rev. Essa
Kanavati of St. Paul, Minnesota; Rev. Thomas Skaff of
Houston, Texas ( a native Sioux Cityan); Rev. Dean
Martin of the Greek Orthodox Church in Sioux City, and
Sub-Deacon Mark David of Omaha, Nebraska (also a
native Sioux Cityan).
The festivities began Saturday with registration and a
hafli in the evening with Lebanese entertainment from
Cleveland, Ohio. All festivities were held at the Hilton
Hotel.
The dedication service of the new addition followed
the Divine Liturgy Sunday morning, with the parishioners
touring the addition, and then enjoying a breakfast served
by the Ladies Society of the church.
The guest speaker at the Sunday evening banquet was
Raymond E. Weiss, Chaplain of Northwestern College in
Orange City, Iowa. He and his family served for a number
of years in the Middle East, and both he and his wife
served on the staff of Beirut College for Women for 2½
years before going to Bahrain for 6 ½ years. Before
returning to the United States, and Orange City, they
adopted a Lebanese boy, who is now 7 years of age. Mrs.
Lester Ellis, who had served as Sunday School teacher and
superintendent for 46 years, but now retired, was mistress
of ceremonies for the banquet. Congratulations were also
extended to Father Kobbs, when it was learned he was
observing the 35th anniversary of his ordination as a
priest.
"This week end you have met those who represent the
past, the present, and the future. Those who were th
founders worked together with faith. The past is no longe:
before us, but we can turn bac~ the pages of time and
review with pride the acco~phshment~
of our church
during the past 60 years. A firm foundation has been laid
for those of the present and they will, I know, make it
more firm and solid for the future generations of our
church, until they, too, become the generation of the
past."
Mrs. Lester Ellis
HOLY RESURRECTION
CHURCH
IN TUSCON, ARIZONA
Ohio Deanery Teachers Encounter
Where, in the Bible, it says "All things are possible
with God," it certainly is true. This very small parish of
only 35 families in Tuscon. Arizona held a "Halfli; to raise
much needed funds for the Church. Response from the
local Syrian and Lebanese people was gratifying, to the
tune of a minimum of $4,199.33 net profit at this writing
and still money coming in.
Spearheading this successful event was the delightful,
gracious lady of Tuscon by the name of Mrs. Al Thomas
(Louise we call her).
The affair was held at the Hilton Inn on October 2nd
of this year.
'
Louise chose as her theme "The Cultures of the Middle
East".
She was assisted by two chairpersons
and approximately ten church women who prepared all of the
delicacies of Arabic origin, such as Kibbee, Grape leaves,
Hommis, Arabic Bread, Pastries, etc. Much of the hand
work and supplies were donated by the wonderful women
of the church.
Mrs. Thomas and her committee budgeted for 400
people to attend, and so they did, for an advanced sell-out
crowd.
Among the speakers at the banquet were Rev. Constantine Nasr of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Dean of the Iowa
Deanery of the Archdiocese, bringing greetings from His
Eminence Metropolitan Philip.
They published a program book and raffled an oriental
rug and a television set.
The Grand Ball and hafli followed the banquet, and
the festivities concluded with a brunch Monday at the
Hilton Hotel.
The public relations was handled extremely well,
drawing many Arabic students from the University of
Arizona.
The three remaining charter members of the church,
John David, George Ellis, and Mike Gebran were honored
at the banquet. Mr. David has chanted the Matin service
~or all ?O~ears of the church's history, and at the age of 88,
1scontmumg at the chanter's lectern.
The first annual "Hafli" netted the Church
$1500.00 last year, and with that in mind
decided to upgrade the "Hafli" to include
Music, in conjunction with the famous Hanna
and Steve Stepanian, on the violin.
Co-chairmen of the event were Abe Skaff, chairman of
the P~rish Council, and. Tom Bashara with the following
com_mittee: Mr~. Genevieve Johnson, Ferris Corey, John
David, Toy David, Dean Lockwood, Ronald Carlson, Miss
Sophie Skaff, Gerald Stevens, Mrs. Barbara Lammers
Mrs. Ayette Kivlighn, and Bill Harling.
'
The featured vocalist was none other than the great Mrs.
Leah Farah, who, after major surgery only one week prior
to the affair, performed magnificently.
This type of success in a small parish of 35 families,
~roves one thing "All things are possible with God", if we
smcerely . exert
the effort.
Congratulations
Holy
Resurrection of Tuscon and your wonderful Priest Father
Andrew Kish and parishioners.
George Ghiz
We would like to conclude this article with the closing
words of the mistress of ceremonies at the banquet:
Page 24
a profit of
the ladies
American
Brothers,
The Word
OHIO DEANERY
The Ohio Deanary started its activities for this year
with a Sunday School Teachers Encounter held in
Cleveland, Ohio on September 11th, 1976. Five churches
were represented.
Over twenty-five Sunday School
Teachers were in attendance. The Encounter began with a
Thanksgiving prayer service. Fr. Gabriel Barrow
presented the first paper, "Sunday School Burial and
Resurrection". He explained the importance of religious
education and the concept of Sunday School in America.
He said, "The Sunday School we know of in America is far
from the tradition of the Orthodox Church. In the early
history of Christianity, the Church as well as the homes
were involved in the religious education of the.ir children.
But under the influence of the pluralistic society, the
Protesta~t methods of Sunday School were, and still are,
followed • Thus Sunday School is definitely needed In the
C?rth?d~x idea, i_tmust start at HOME. Our Church.is very
~chm its teachmg, thus we need to "bury the Protestant
idea of our Sunday Schools and to resurrect it with the
Orthodox teachings."
Aft_erFr. Barrow's presentation, discussion took place
regar~mg t?e ways and m~~ns of the change. Following
the discuss10n all the participants were invited to a luncheon prepared by the Sunday School staff of St. George
of Cleveland.
Fr. Nicodeme !oseph, pastor of the Holy Cross Church
of Canton, Oh10, led the second session
' elf
Motivation". He ident~ie~ self-motivation as "a pr~cess of
self. awareness, exammation and commitment. It is self
desrre for change of values, image and purpose in life". He
stated that as a Sunday School Teacher, one must li e
what he teaches. Thus the "self knowledge" is very important even though it is difficult. As teachers we must
motivate ourselves to be "Christ-like", have Him as our
example and try to be like Him. To do that one must be
very objective in examining himself in relation to Christ.
Fr. James Meena, the Dean, and pastor of St. George
of Cleveland Ohio, led the third discussion, "Student
Motivation". At the conclusion of this session, a tour
throughout St. George Church and the educational
building took place, followed by Great Vespers.
As a first Encounter done on the Deanery level; we felt
that it was very successful. The teachers as well as the
clergy saw in that Encounter a way for motivation and we
were asked to have more encounters of that kind in the
future. Plans are being made for a future family retreat for
our faithful.
Father John Elias
14 CHURCHES PLANNING TO SEND DELEGATES
TO GREAT SYNOD OF EASTERN ORTHODOXY
By Religious News Service
CHAMBESY, Switzerland Delegates from 14
Eastern Orthodox Churches have assembled at the
Orthodox Center here for a 10-day pre-synodal (planning)
conference
for the first Great Synod of Eastern
Orthodoxy since the eighth century.
At a press briefing in advance of the conference (Nov.
21-30), Metropolitan Meliton, dean of the Holy Synod of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate, host of the conference, said
the meeting would discuss "concrete questions concerning
the whole Orthodox Church," and not political issues.
The planning conference is part of the procedure
necessary to fix date, place, and agenda for the Great
Synod. Likely topics for the Synod agenda are the date of
Easter,
marriage
rules for priests, fasting rules,
ecumenical
and intra-Orthodox
relationships,
the
situation of Orthodoxy where it is a Christian minority,
and procedures for granting autocephaly (self-governing
status) to Orthodox bodies.
In explaining the absence of political discussions at the
conference, Metropolitan Meliton said each Orthodox
Church is "faithful to its country, to its laws, and works for
the well being of its people."
He noted also that the conference would not discuss
the formulation of Orthodox doctrine or dogma.
December 1g76
The Orthodox prelate doubted that the question of
abortion would be raised since a "problem concerning the
unique personality of man cannot be the subject of a rule.
We leave it to each individual to resolve this problem in
confession with his spiritual father, because one can never
know the whole biological context, personal circumstances, etc."
The position of women in the Orthodox Church would
not be considered either. "For the Orthodox Churches
there is no problem about the participation of lay people
in the Church. The people have always participated in all
aspects of the life of the Church . . . including our sisters,
our mothers, our wives. They too participate in the life of
the Church."
On admitting women to the priesthood, the
metropolitan's reply came fast and sharp: "No participation in the priesthood. Mission.aries, yes, the same as
their participation in good works."
.
The Patriarchates and Churches of Constantmople
(Istanbul), Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, _Moscow,
Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia (a repubhc of t~e
Soviet Union), Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Czechoslovakia,
and Finland were scheduled to send delegations to the
conference.
Page 25
�re
view
The Mankato Symposium on Religion In the USSR (A
Symposium held at Mankato University, Minnesota),
Chilliwack, British Columbia: Synaxis Press, 1975. (St.
Nectarios Press, P. 0. Box 396, Medinfl.. Washington
98039) Pp. ii + 55. Paper.
Who speaks for the persecuted millio~s of t~e Russia_n
Orthodox Christian Church of the Sovtet Umon? It 1s
indeed ironic and sad that a West that rises up in anger
against mistreatment of a minority of Jews in Russia raises
not a whisper about the plight of the majority of Orthodox
Christians behind the Iron Curtain who have suffered
barbaric persecution at the hands of those who~e ultim~te
goal is the destruction of the Church m all its
manifestations-a
goal that has been mercilessly pursued
since the Communist Revolution. From 50,000 churches
that were functioning in 1950 in Russia it is now estimated
that only 6,000 are functioning today; from 192 mi~ion
Orthodox Christians (Russians, Ukrainians, Byeloruss1ans,
Georgians, Moldavians, etc), only 70 million still maintain
a relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church today.
No religious schools are permitted to function, the
atheistic government controls the education of clergy and
officially owns the buildings in which religious ritual takes
place. It is the governmental authorities who issue permission for religious services of all kinds to be performed
(or, as is more likely, deny permission for such services
and regularly authorize the destruction of church
buildings for secular purposes). In a Communist state all
property, including Church property, belongs to the State,
though local or central state authorities may by special
decrees give over such properties for religious use to
authorized persons. The Soviet Constitution of 1936, still
in force, declares that there is "Freedom of activity for
religious cults and freedom of anti-religious propaganda."
The big difference is, of course, that anti-religious
propaganda is backed up by all the forces at the command
of the Soviet government and the Communist Party,
whereas the Church is prohibited from any effort whatsoever to propagate the Christian faith under threat of the
most dire consequences. In effect, the Church in Russia
continues to be under active persecution and only its
spiritual strength and the faith of its believers have
allowed it to survive, with virtually no encouragement
whatever from the "free West," certainly no official help
from those who wield the real power in the West.
The Mankato Symposium on Religion In the USSR
tries to arouse the conscience of North Americans to a
real problem of massive repression and religious persecution in the Soviet Union. The original symposium at
Mankato State University has been repeated at other
American and Canadian universities and was "designed to
Page 26
DAILYDEVOTIONS
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
an attempt to encourage our faithful to study
Holy Scripture through daily liturgical readingspresent information on the conditions of religion in the
U.S.S.R. from Orthodox
Christian
sources, and
augmented by sociological and geo-political information"
(p. i). Rightly, it is argued that "Too often in the past,
various talks and lectures have been given on this subject
by representatives of minority religious groups in the
USSR, exclusive of material from the Orthodox Church,
and many of these talks have been emotional representations made by people who have no roots in Russia"
(Ibid.). Orthodox Christianity still represents close to 85
per cent of the believing Russian population and it
deserves to be honestly and fairly represented. Aimed
particularly at the universities, this symposiatic collection
is intended to fill a felt need. The collection contains five
papers and two appendices (on~ is an _interesting
enumeration of Orthodox Churches m Eparch1al Centers
in the U.S.S.R.; the other a select bibliography). The fiv~
articles give a general overview of the Russian Christian
situation in the Soviet Union but do not exhaust the
situation. Dr. Branco Colakovic, Professor of Geography
at Mankato State University, provides a fascinating survey
of "Ethnic and Religious Groups in the Soviet Union" (112), while Dr. James Goff, Professor of Geography at
Mankato State University, revealingly discusses "Soviet
and Communist Methods of Controlling the People" (1317). Dr. W assilij Alexeev, Professor of Slavic Studies at
the University of Minnesota, offers a compelling study of
"Soviet Religious Law and the Persecution of Religion"
(18-26) and Valentin Scheglovski, Church youth educator
of the Russian Orthodox Church in Minneapolis writes
forcefully of "The Underground Church in the Soviet
Union" (28-38). Father Lev Puhalo, Director of Sts. Kyril
and Methody Orthodox Christian Educational Society of
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, concludes the
series optimistically with "Religious Phenomena in Russia
Today: An Orthodox Understanding" (39-45).
Though simply produced in inexpensive format, The
Mankato Symposium on Religion In the USSR is a serious
attempt to break the barrier of ignorance that exists in
North America about the status of Orthodox Christianity
in the Soviet Union today and to arouse the conscience of
the West to a thoroughly reprehensible situation that
continues even in a period of so-called detente. It is hoped
that this will be only the beginning in a series of well
thought out discussions of a chilling issue of vital concern
to civilized peoples everywhere, for repressive societies
can only exist as long as free societies are willing to look
the other way and ignore the inhumanity of their fellow
man to man.
Week of December S
Sun. -Eph. 6:10-17
Luke 13:10-17
Mon. - Heb. 13:17-21
Luke 6: 17-23
Tue. -Heb. 4:1-13
Luke 21:12-19
Wed.-Heb.
5:11-6:8
Luke 21:5-7, 10-11,20-24
Thu. - Conception of St. Anne
Gal. 4:22-27
Luke 8: 16-21
Fri.- Heh. 7:18-25
Luke 21 :37-22:8
Sat. - Eph. 2:11-13
Luke 13:18-29
Week-of December·-19-
Sun. - Heb. 11:9-10, 17-23,
32-40
Math.1:1-25
Mon. - Heb. 11: 17-23, 2731
Mark 9:42-10: 1
Tue. Heb. 12:25-26;
13:22-25
Mark 10:2-12
Wed. -James 1:1-18
Mark 10: 11-16
Thu. -James 1:19-27
Mark 10:17-27
Fri. -Heb.1:1-12
Luke 2:1-20
Sat. NATIVITY OF
CHRIST
Gal. 4:4-7
Math 2:1-12
John E. Rexine
Colgate University
The Word
December 1976
Week of December 12
Sun. - Col. 3:4-11
Luke 14:16-24
Mon. -Heb.
:7-13
Mark 8:11-21
Tue. - Heb. 9: -10, 1 -22
Mark 8:22-26
Wed. - t. Kleu theri u
Thu. - Heb. 10:35-11:7
Mark 9:10-16
Fri.-Heb.11:8,
11-1
Mark 9:23-41
Sat. - Eph. 5:1-8
Luke 2: 1-20
WEEK OF DECEMBER26
Sun. -Heb. 2:11-18 Syn. Theotokos
Math. 2: 13-23
Mon. - Ac. 6:8-15; 7:1-5, 17-60 Ap-M.
Stephan
Mt. 21:33-42
Tue. - James 3: 1-10
Mark 11: 11-23
Wed. -James 3:11-4:6
Mark 11:23-26
Thus. -James 4:7-5:9
Mark 11:27-33
Fri. - I Pet 1:1-2, 10-12:2:6-10
Mark 12:1-12
Sat. - St. Basil the Great
The Circumcision
Co. 2:8-12
Luke 2:20-21, 40-end
WEEK OF JANUARY 2
Sun. -II Tim. 4:5-8
Mark 1:1-8
Mon. - Heb. 11:17-23,27-31
Mark 9:42-10: 1
Tue. - Heb. 12:25-26; 13:22-25
Mark 10:2-12
Wed. - I Cor. 9:19-27 (Fast Day)
Luke 3:1-18
Thu. -Tit. 2:11-14; 3:4-7 (Holy Theophany)
Math. 3: 13-17
Fri. - Acts 19: 1-8 John 1:29-34
Sat. - Eph. 6: 10-17
Ma th. 4: 1-11
Page 27
�The People Speak
The Word
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, NJ. 07631
Dear Sirs:
We wish to inform you that during the course of the
1976 camping season at the Ionian Village, we had 5
participants that are members of the Antiochian Orthodox
parishes and another 7 or 8 children who are members at a
Greek Orthodox parish, whose mother or father are of
Syrian background. We were indeed very pleased to have
them with us, as part of our Holy Orthodox faith and the
exposure we attempt to give all the participants of our
programs here in Greece.
In past seasons, we have had 3 or 4 participants from
Antiochian parishes, but the number grew this year. This
is apparently due to your publicity in the Word in the early
spring concerning the various camping programs sponsored by the various Orthodox jurisdictions. We thank
you for including us in your listing and we hope you will
carry our summer closing News Release which is enclosed.
Note that Miss Ionian Village of Travel Camp No. 2 is
Maria Karram, whose heritage is both Syrian and Greek.
We thank you for your attention to this matter, and we
thank you once again for your past coverage of our
mission here for the cultural and religious growth of our
Orthodox Young people.
In His Service,
Andrew George,
Ionian Village
Assistant Director
Dear Sir:
Allow me to introduce myself and thank and compliment you on your most informative and delightful
articles in the September Word about the Russy-Antachy
era of our North American Church.
I am Bishop Emmanuel Abohatab's orphaned niece whom he brought up - and I lived with him until his
untimely death in 1933. I need not tell you of the trials and
tribulations that Bishops Hawaweeny, Aftimios, Bishara
and the early clergy went through with the politics that
took place.
. For years I have been asking that something should be
written about the early church. I myself have written
seve_ral article~ calling them re~ollections and giving them
to different pri~sts who have said that they are writing the
e~rly Churc~ histo_ry. Mf latest documented writing was
given to a priest this April, a copy of which I can send you
at a later date.
After Metropolitan Bashir became bishop I gave him
many of Uncle's documents one of which consisted of the
release of the Church from under Russian jurisdiction to
the Antiochian jurisdiction that he was instrumental in
getting while on his deathbed.
Page 28
• • •
I always say that if one does not have roots in the past
he has no present and no future.
Sincerely
Georgette Abohatab
Dear Rev. Father:
It was with great interest that I read the September
issue of "The Word", particularly the timely essay on the
tacky (with all due respect) article "The Antacky-Russy
Dilemma". This nearly half-century· old divisive issue of
Russian, vs. Antiochian jurisdiction ultimately rent the
canonically-established
Russian Brooklyn diocese into
three factions: The Russian faction headed by Bishop
Hawaweeny, who was succeeded by Bishop Ofiesh, and
the Antiochian factions led by Bishop Germanos and
Bishop AbuAssaly, respectively.
.
'
I am confident you will agree that the subject deserves
to be treated with utmost candor and disclosure of the
irrefutable facts of the matter, especially since the diocese
is now peacefully united under the Antiochian Patriarchal
jurisdiction, unchallenged and unthreatened.
Because of the superficiality of the context of the
above-mentioned essay, which is painfully fraught with
inaccuracies and erroneous premises, I am led to believe
that the writer either (1) is not properly conversant with
the actual facts surrounding the issue, of (2) that a
deliberate distortion and misrepresentation was made of
the facts. Substitution of historically
documented,
unimpeachable facts misinforms the reader and badly
misleads. Surely such is not the intent of "The Word"?
As you know, the Orthodox Church canons clearly}
and specifically defines canonical jurisdiction as indisputably belonging to that branch of the Church which
first evangelized and established a mission therein.
Accordingly, the Russian Patriarchal Church exercised
unquestioned authority over all Orthodox faithful, of
whatever ethnic group in North America, many years.
The canons further state that visiting clergy from
anywhere, must secure the prior permission of said
canonical authority. In accordance therewith, prior to the
Russian revolution, Bishop Germanos Shehadi asked and
received the joint permission of the Russian Patriarch and
Bishop Raphael for a limited visit to America for the
alleged purpose of raising funds to found an agricultural
school in his home diocese.
Bishop Raphael's hospitality to Bishop Germanos was
rewarded by the latter's sowing of seeds of dissention in
every parish he visited, by appealing to feelings of national
patriotism, church canons notwithstanding. The interparochial and diocesan schism and litigations which
ensued were a major factor in precipitating the mortal
illness of Bishop Raphael.
During the lapse of 2 & 1 / 4 years between Bishop
Raphael's death and the consecration of his canonically
elected and consecrated successor, Bishop Aftimios,
The Word
Bishop Germanos further entrenched himself with his
subverted followers.
Bishop Germa~os, continuing his incendiary activities,
chose to utterly disregard his Patriarch's belated orders
recalling him to ?is native diocese. Extending his stay, he
wrought more mischief by splitting the Antiochian faction
he had engendered, of which a sizable segment shifted
their loyalty to the Patriarch's more recent envoy, Bishop
G. Messara. Now there were three warring factions in the
Syrian Orthodox fold in America, which compounded the
sorely trying difficulties of Bishop Aftimios - creating the
"te~rific odds" mention~d in ~he above-mentioned essay,
which confronted the mdomitable successor to Bishop
Raphael.
The glibly glossed over, glaringly inadequate account
of ~ftimios' unique ~ervices during his life of outstanding
achievements
despite the extraordinary
trials and
tribulations he nobly endured is a discredit to "The Word"
and a disservice to its better-deserving readers, which it is
hoped you will justly rectify.
Sincerely yours,
Mariam Ofiesh (Mrs.)
Mrs. Aftimios Ofiesh
... The Editors invite Mrs. Ofiesh to share whatever
documents she might have of that period of our history
with the readers of The Word. The author of the article,
William Essey, would be the first to welcome such
documentation.
Dear Sirs:
I have been disturbed for quite a while concerning
false advertisitng. The Pittsburgh-based Uniat (Byzantinerite Catholic Church) has been misleading the public into
believing they are the true heirs of the title "Byzantine
Church" and "Byzantine culture" including the arts, architecture, music etc. A recent advertisement in the
Byzantine Catholic World ran for tee-shirts announcing "I
am proud to be Byzantine".
Any educated person knows that the Eastern Orthodox Church was the Byzantine Church and that the
culture lies in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Greeks
do not hep the situation by using the word "Hellenic;;
frequently such as Hellenic College or Hellenic cultural
centers. Any educated person knows the Hellenic culture
of Greece was non-Christian while the Byzantine period
was Orthodox Christian. Why do they permit a word to be
used falsely when they should claim it. Even the Melkites
use the word Byzantine. And yet recent articles in the
newspaper, Byzantine Catholic World depict the Orthodox Church as evil and equated with Communisim.
Rome may be their foster parents, but how can they deny
their true parents, the Orthodox Church and at the same
time lay false claim to one of the Great Ages of Mankind,
Byzantium?
I wish someone could correct in a diplomatic fashion
perhaps this trite error.
And even more so, I am upset that many Orthodox
members are believing the error and equate the word
Byzantine with Uniat and therefore, anything Byzantine is
wrong and bad instead of realizing the greatness that is
theirs.
Name withheld upon request
Editor's Note:
· ·•The budget in the November 1976 issue of H
WORD was not printed correctly. The following then is
the corrected one.
ANTIOCHIAN
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
of North America
PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDING JANUARY 31
1978
'
I. Budgeted Expenditures
A. Theological Education
(1) Seminarians -Tuition, Room Board & Allowance SJ0,000.00
(2) St. Vladimir's Seminary - Annual Grant
10,000.00
(3) Balamand Theological Academy - Annual Grant
10,000.00
Total Theological Education
S50,000.00
B. Other Contributions
(1) Clergy Insurance & Retirement Fund
25,000.00
(2) Charities and Other Assistance for the Patriarchate 10,000.00
(3) Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops Pan
3,000.00
Orthodox Comm.
(4) NACSOYO
3,000.00
5,000.00
(5) Other Charities
$46,000.00
Total Other Contributions
C. Archdiocese Departments & Standings Committees
20,000.00
( 1) Department of Youth Activities
,000.00
(2) Department of Christian Education
6,000.00
(3) Department of Sacred Music
(4) Department of Missionary Activities and Parish
Dev,,.lopment
4,000.00
(5) Department of Information and Press Relations
4,000.00
(6) Department of Orthodox Books and Publications
25,000.00
(7) Department of the WORD
1 ,000.00
(8) Department of Credentials and Convention Planning 1,000.00
(9) Department of Continuing Pastoral Education &
4,000.00
Spiritual Vocations
1,000.00
(10) Other Departments and Standing Committees
$91,000.00
Total Departments and StandJngCommittees
60,000.00
D. Maintenance of Archdiocese Headquarters
24,000.00
E. Metropolitan's Allowance and Office
15,000.00
F. Archbishop Michael's Allowance
G. Archdiocese Headquarters, Toledo,
12,000.00
Ohio-Maintenance & Operation
H. Estimated cost of Patriarch Elias IV and his entourage 50,000.00
5,000.00
I. Miscellaneous & Contingencies
S353,000.00
Total Budgeted Expenditures
II. Budgeted Sources of receipts
Sl4 ,000.00
1. Parish Assessments
30,000.00
2. Contributions from individuals
15,000.00
3. Archdiocese Convention
50,000.00
4. Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
25,000.00
5. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of A
15,000.00
6. SOYO Parish Life Conferences
10,000.00
7. Archdiocese Seminarian Fund (Orthodox Sunday)
10,000.00
8. St. Vladimir's Seminary Fund (October Month)
9. Patriarchate Fund (Palm Sunday & Other Contribution ) 10,000.00
15,000.00
10. Subscriptions to the WORD
25,000.00
11. Orthodox Christian Books and Publications
5,000.00
12. Miscellaneous Receipts
$358,000.00
Total
25,000.00
Less A.O.C.W.N.A. - For Patriarch Elias IV Foundation
333,000.00
Total Budgeted Sources of Receipts
(S20,000.00)
Budgeted Deficit
Footnote: (H) Travel, etc. from Patriarchate to .S.A. and Canada and
return to the Patriarchate.
Page 29
December 1976
�Antiochian Orthodox Christian W Olilen
of North America
~ Serving
Christ
Through
Our
Archdiocese
LADIES, LET US ..........
ALLY
IN THE NAME OF . .........
ORTHODOXY
FOR PROJECTS OF .......
CHRISTIAN CHARITY
AS EXAMPLES OF TRUE . . WOMANHOOD
That
we■ay reap
■any .....NoTEwoRTHv
andChrist
pleasing
AcH1EvEMENTs
,,
RESPONSIBILITIES
RELIGIOUS ... CULTURAL. .. HUMANITARIAN. .. FINANCIAL
PROJECT
1976-1977
BALAMAND
SEMINARY
FOUNDATION
GOALS
100% MEMBERSHIP
AWARENESS & COMMITMENT
SUCCESSFUL FUND RAISING
��BX738.A5
W67 v.20 pt. l c.2
The Word. ISSN 0043- 7964
�The Word. 1sSN 004'3-7964
BX7'38,ASW67 v.20 pt.l c.2
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
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Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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kalemat_19761201_20_10
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 10
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
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Volume 20, Issue 10 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated December 1976.
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1976 Dec
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
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English
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Text
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/5122793d6a0cf73b4754d3d6c750abc1.pdf
5666576dcad86a862aab62cf805c2bd8
PDF Text
Text
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MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
1976 ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION IN SAN FRANCISCO
'
�The Word
Volume 20
Number 9
November, 1976
l
\
I
THIRTY-FIRSTANNUALCONVENTIO
OF THE
ANTIOCHIANORTHODOXOIRISTIANAROIDIOCESE
OF NORTHAMERICA
METROPOLITAN PHILIP'S MESSAGE
TO THE
THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL ARCHDIOCESAN CONVENTION
Cover
In This Issue
•
h s, c 1e rgy and trustees at the Archdiocesan
H 1erarc
1
Metropolitan
Philip's
6
Minutes
8
Department
37
Daily Devotions
Convention in San Francisco.
Message
of the General
Assembly
Reports
PHOTOS BY MARK ELIAS OF MIAMI
''For a thousand years in thy sight are but as
yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night."
(Psalm 90:4)
Your Eminence, Archbishop
Michael, Your Grace,
Bishop Elia, Reverend Clergy, and Esteemed Members of
the Board of Trustees of the Archdiocese, Delegates and
Faithful of our Archdiocese:
These words from Psalm ninety, verse four, come to
my mind as we immerse in the memories of a decade
passed. It seems like ye_sterday when ~he P_an-Ameri_can
Jet landed in San Francisco, after a thirty-six hour fhght
around the world. I still vividly remember the joy and
curiosity which I read on your faces, as you welcomed me
back from a triumphant, yet difficult and emotional trip to
theMiddle East.
THE WORD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMA T, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
Editorial Board:
K
Archimandrite Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen Upson, James C. Meena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gerasimos Murphy, James. e;~a;
Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John Dalack, William Essey, Raymond George, Ronald Nicola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the Anuoc ,an
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
Technical Staff:
George Nassor, Beatrice Davis, Eve Meyer
Publications Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
ISSN 0043-7964
THE WORD, published monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at Pittsburg~ ~en:~
sylvania, Business office, 377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213; Publication office, 3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 152lJ. 0 er
as second class matter and postage paid at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $8.00 a year in the United States and Canada. $10.00 a year in foreign countries.
ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: THE WORD, 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
The1976Convention pays special tribute to Metropolitan
PHILIP
on the 10th Anniversary of his consecration as the
Primateof our Archdiocese.
November,1976
On August 14, 1966, before the Holy Synod of Antioch
and the Church, I made the following confession of faith:
"In this my confession of the Holy Faith, I
promise to observe the canons of the Holy Apo tie ,
and the Seven Ecumenical Councils and of the piou
Provincial Councils, the traditions of the Church
and the decrees, orders and regulations of the Holy
Fathers. And all things whatsoever they ha e accepted, I also accept; and whatsoever things they
have rejected, those will I also reject. I promise also
to preserve the peace of the Church, and firmly to
hold and zealously to teach the people entrusted to
me. And I promise to rule the flock committed unto
me, in fear of God and in devoutness of life . . . I
promise to visit and watch over the flock now
confided to me, after the manner of the Apostles,
whether they remain true to the faith, and in the
exercise of good works, more especially the priests."
As far as I know, with the help of the Grace Divine, I
have lived up to my promise. I made this solemn pledge
during a turbulent time in the history of the Patriarchate
of Antioch and this Archdiocese. When I promised God
and His people to preserve the peace of the Church, I had
first and foremost in my mind the division among our
Antiochian people in North America. As you we~ know,
after the death of Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny m 1915,
our people became divided b~tween "Russi_and Antaki."
In 1936, with the consecration of Archbishop Antony
and Archbishop Samuel, the division continued, b~t _n_ow
between Toledo and New York. This unfortunate div1S1on
lasted for sixty years from 1915 to 1975. It created much
misunderstanding among our people. Bro~hers were _not
talking to brothers; cousins were 1;1ottalk_mg to cousms;
relatives were not talking to relatives; friends were not
talking to friends; priests were not talking to priests and
even bishops were not talking to bishops. W~en I came to
America in 1956, invited by the late Archbishop Sam~el
David, it was difficult for me to understa?d t~e absur~1ty
of this situation. Our people are so nch m ~e~utiful
traditions and deeply rooted in a great culture ~et 1t is er:1
difficult to unite them in one heart and o~e mmd. W_hat1s
going on in Lebanon today is a living witness to this sad
reality.
.
· d
When my Episcopate began m 1966, I was deter~.me
more than ever to "preserve the peace of the Church, and
Page 1
�unite our people in a strong Antiochian Archdiocese of
North America. In Ephesians, St. Paul said:
. . . "I there/ ore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to
lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have
been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with
patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to
maintain the unity of the spin't in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one spirit, just as you were
called to the one hope that belongs to your call, One
Lord, one Father, one Baptism, one God and f!'athe~
of us all, who is above all and through all and mall.
(Eph. 4:1-6)
Three years ago in June, I was presiding over a SOYO
Parish Life Conference in Toledo, Ohio. Sunday, after the
Divine Liturgy, a few priests came to my suite to say
"good-bye." I asked one of them to call Archbishop
Michael and ask him when he could receive me at his
home. The priest looked at me as if I were crazy and said:
"do you really mean it?" I said: "absolutely, I do." The
priest called and the appointment was immediately set.
Archbishop Michael graciously received us in his home
and I found him very receptive to the idea of unity and as
eager for it as I was. We decided to begin a serious
dialogue which lasted for two years and resulted in the
agreement which we signed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
June 24, 1975, and subsequently accepted by our people
convened in Lake George and Louisville, Kentucky, and
finally ratified by the Holy Synod of Antioch on August
19, 1975.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I believe that this unity is the greatest event which has
taken place in the life of the Antiochian Patriarchate and
perhaps in the life of Orthodoxy in the hemisphere. And I
want to make it clear that, without the cooperation and
courage of His Eminence, Archbishop Michael, this unity
would never have been possible. Just think for a moment
how much time, money and effort was expended in this
direction throughout the years but to no avail. This unity,
my friends, is indeed a gift from God. "For every good and
perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from Thee,
the Father of Lights." Let us not lose sight, however, from
the fact that our Antiochian unity is not an end by itself.
Let us not forget that Orthodoxy on this continent is
administratively divided by ethnic barriers. Such division
is nothing but a judgment to all of us. Let us pray that our
Antiochian unity will inspire other Orthodox ethnic
jurisdictions to emulate our example and unite among
themselves as a first step toward total Orthodox unity.
Orthodox unity, to us Antiochians, is not mere rhetoric.
We know exactly, what we are doing, and where we are
going. When other Orthodox groups on this continent
were w_allowingin their_ethnic co~oons, we were teaching,
prea~hmg, and translatmg books mto English, establishing
Enghsh Church Schools and organizing English choirs.
The unity of six million Orthodox in this hemisphere
remains one of our ultimate goals and we shall never rest
until this goal is achieved.
SOYO PARISH LIFE CONFERENCES
W ~ have had another good year in the history of this
Archdiocese. I_had ~he pleasure of presiding over four of
our ~OYO Pansh Life Conferences; Archbishop Michael
presided over two of them. Although our programs for
such conferences are not yet perfect, nevertheless, we
Page 2
. the name of the Antiochian Women to one of our
•
• the field of Pastoral
. sts to furt h er h'is e d ucatlon
m
pne
f h'
.
Theology. Some o
is _money wi_llalso be used to publish
"Pastoral
Letter
which
our priests have been receiving
the
f C
. .
m the Department o
ontmumg Pastoral Education
fro
V
.
W
.
d Spiritual
ocatlons.
e are delighted that the first
ancipient of t h e A ntloc
• hi an W omen 's Scholarship is the
;everend Father Constantine Masood, pastor of St.
GeorgeParish, Spring Valley, Illinois.
I would li~e !o take this opportunity to express my very
deep appreciatl~:m and gratitude to President Pauline
Maloof, her officers, S~amseh Dalack, Nellie Mackoul,
ElaineKarram, Helen Rihbany and the late Jackie Sp.aker,
for a job very well done. I also would like to thank all
regional officers and s:piritual advisors for their sincere
efforts in behalf of this movement. I predict that the
Antiochian Women in the near future will become the
strongest organization in our Archdiocese.
in
!
Entertainer and humanitarian Danny Thomas is awarded
the Antonian medal and certificate.
have made tremendous improvement in the fields of
Christian Education, Sacred Music, Clergy Seminars
Family Enlivening Sessions, Parish Councils, Women'~
Meetings,
Choir Festivals,
Catechism
Bowls and
Oratorical Presentations. Again, I call on our clergy and
laity to help us make these regional encounters truly
family conferences. We are a family oriented church·
thus, if there is no sincere cooperation between the famil;
and the church, both of them will eventually disintegrate.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gary
Younes, President of NAC, Bill Essey, our Youth
Director, and all NAC and Regional SOYO Officers and
spiritual advisors for their continued dedication to the
goals of this great SOYO movement.
THE ANTIOCHIAN
WOMEN
Although this movement is still in its formative years,
in such a short time, it has already left an impact on the
life of this Archdiocese. I have noticed last year and this
year that the best attended meetings at our regional
conferences were the Women's Meetings. Their devotion,
dedication and efforts in behalf of their organization are
an inspiration to all of us. As you well know, their national
project last year and this year has been "Continuing
Pastoral Education," a field which is almost neglected by
our seminaries. The purpose of Pastoral Education is to
enlighten our priests on how to deal with serious problems
which the Church is facing now. Problems such as death
and the dying, family disorders, youth problems and many
others. Unfortunately, scholastic theology does not deal
with these problems. We are living in a sick and constantly
changing society. The problems which the Church faced
in 325 A.D. are quite different from the problems which
we are facing in the last half of the Twentieth Century.
Through this program of Continuing Pastoral Education,
we are encouraging our priests to take a new look at these
problems which are affecting our parishes, like everybody
else, because we are no longer an ethnic island.
Last year the Antiochian Women raised Ten Thousau<l
Dollars. This money was properly invested by our ab~e
Treasurer, Mr. Theodore Mackoul. The interest from th!s
investment will continue to provide an annual scholarship
The Word
THE STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
One of the most important departments which we have
established is the Department of Stewardship under the
veryable leadership of Ernest Saykaly. The main purpose
of this department is to help you put your house in order
onthe local level. I do not know how many times you have
asked me: "What should we do with people who are not
activeand do not support the Church?" We have provideci
the answer to this agonizing question through our
Stewardship Program.
All we ask from you, especially our Parish Councils, is
to participate in our regional conferences and see for
yourself how much we have to offer in this field. If you
implement properly this program in your parish, it will
solve ninety-nine per cent of your spiritual and financial
problems.
I would like to caution you, however, that the primary
purpose of this program is not to increase your income
instantly; it is rather to bring people "to the love of God
the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit." Bring
people to church first and money will come. Our Lord
said: "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and
allthings shall be yours as well." (Matt. 6:33)
I would like to express my appreciation to Ernest
Saykaly,and all those individuals who have contributed to
thesuccess of this program.
Partof the convention crowd that came to hear Danny
Thomas.
THE ORDER OF ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
In St. Mark, our Lord said:
"You know that those who are supposed to rule over
the G_entiles lord it over them, and their great men
exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so
among you; but whoever would be great among ou
must be your servant, and whoever would be first
among you must be slave for all." (Mark 10:42-44)
. Under the leadership of Albert Jo eph and hi ommittee, an excellent brochure entitled 'A
all T
Greatness Through Service," wa printed and hortl thi
brochure will reach every family within the Ar hdi e e.
It ~escribes through simple words figure and fine art th
vanous departments of the Archdioce e and dem n trat
clearly what we have and what we lack. If ou read thi
brochure, you will find that some of our department ha
no budgets at all and whatever budgeted for oth
departments is far from being adequate· thu we cann
serve you properly without the necessary fund .
The purpose of this Order, therefore, i not to reat a
super organization which will "exerci e authorit and lord
it over you," but rather to serve you. It i a 'call to
greatness" through service. Only through er ice ca
greatness be attained and there is no other way. If ou are
among those who ask: "What is the Archdioce e and what
does it do?" You will find part of the answer in thi
brochure. It is time that we stop and plunge into the depth
of our being, asking ourselves: "Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing?" (Matt. 6:25)
Without your commitment to Christ, we cannot
provide for your spiritual needs. We invite you to become
members of this Order and help us create a greater
spiritual renaissance in this Archdiocese for the ake of
your children, grandchildren and future Orthodox
generations. Albert Joseph has printed this brochure at hi
own expense. I want to express to him, on your behalf, my
deepest gratitude.
THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
It is obvious that without theological education,
Orthodoxy will have no future. We have tried hard in the
past ten years to increase the number of theological
students and support our theological schools. I am pleased
to tell you that during the past year, we enrolled eighteen
students of theology at different seminaries, however, the
majority of them study at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Fi e of
our seminarians, this year, were ordained prie ts and
assigned to parishes.
As you well know through your continued support and
generosity, our seminarians receive from the Archdi~ce e
full scholarships plus pocket money on a monthly bas1 . In
addition, our seminarians are assigned to help in the
spiritual programs of our New York- ew Jer ey area
parishes, where they also ~eceive some financi~l assista~ce
and experience in a practical way the complexity of pan h
life.
Four months ago, the Very Reverend Alexander chmemann, Dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary appealed to u
for financial help in their proposed building program. We
were delighted to learn that more and more young men
and women have been accepting the challenge of the
gospel, hence the need for more space at ~he eminary.
Instead of burdening you with another dn e I brought
this matter to the attention of the Archdiocese Trustee at
Page3
November, 1976
�Department of Credentials and Convention Planning.
our Annual Spring Meeting. I am delighted to report to
you that the Trustees voted unanimously to grant St.
Vladimir's Seminary Fifty Thousand Dollars from
Metropolitan Antony Bashir's Memorial Fund. On July 15,
during a luncheon at the Archdiocese Headquarters, I,
Mr. Monsour Laham and Mr. Theodore Mackoul
presented Dean Schmemann and members of the faculty
two checks in your name: Fifty Thousand Dollars for the
Building Fund and Ten Thousand Dollars which is our
annual gift to St. Vladimir's Seminary - a total of Sixty
Thousand Dollars.
THE CIVIL WAR IN LEBANON
The war in Lebanon is now in its sixteenth month. We
are very much concerned with this tragedy because many
of us have families and relatives there. Moreover, whether
we are from Arab descent or not, our spiritual roots lie
deeply in that beautiful soil which has been stained by the
blood of innocent men, women and children. Words are
inadequate to describe to you the depth of this tragedy.
You ask about friends and relatives in Lebanon and these
are some of the answers which you receive:
This one was killed by a rocket while at home.
This one was killed by a sniper's bullet while going to buy
bread for his children.
That family was burned to death by fire, etc.
On July 12, I received the following telegram:
"Drastic development in Koura district, North
Lebanon, left a great number dead and wounded.
Physical damage is huge. Mass enforced immigration to Tripoli is taking place and over 35,000
displaced persons are now in Tripoli. We need your
immediate help. Wire any amount of money in the
name of Archbishop Kurban, care of Banque
Francaise, Tn'poli, via Homs, Syria, c / o French
American Banking Corporation, 120 Broadway, New
York, New York. Signed - Archbishop llyas
Kurban"
Last October I was instrumental in forming the
Standing Conference of Middle-Eastern Christian and
Moslem Religious Leaders. We met at our headquarters in
New Jersey and issued an appeal in the name of all Arabic
speaking people in North America to the people of
Lebanon urging them in the name of the spiritual values
which they represent to stop this blood bath at once and
solve their problem through negotiation rather than
confrontation. Our appeal went unheeded. Subsequently,
Page 4
we appealed again an_d again to both sides to stop this
madness, but to no avatl.
On April 15th, we visited the President of the Un·t
• to use h'1s goo d o ff'ices to bring 1thi
ed
States and urged him
war to an end. The President had already dispatched D s
•
h
. . H'
ean
Brown to Lebanon to me d iate t e cns1s. 1s efforts w
'd
d
•
ere
for naught. The P r~s1 ent seeme. genumely concerned
with Lebanon and its reconstruction, but unfortunate!
.
Y,
the war persists.
Who is to blam~ for this tragedy?_ There is no simple
answer to this question, however, I beheve that the leader
of the Lebanese right and the leaders of the Lebanese lef~
are to be blamed. I believe that the Palestinians are also to
be blamed for instead of dedicating all their efforts and
energy to liberate their land, they are dying in Lebanon for
nothing. But above all, I believe that the Arab countries
who have demonstrated their complete impotence vis-avis this tragedy are to be blamed. It is time that the Arabs
should stop blaming others for their tragedies and liberate
themselves from their childish bickering and stupid
contradictions.
You have already heard the heart-breaking telegram of
Archbishop Kurban. We have initiated a drive to help the
victims of this war. Many of you have not responded. The
need for help is beyond measure and we are still waiting to
hear from you.
1977 THE ANTIOCHIAN
HOLY YEAR
Shortly after his enthronement, our Father-in-Christ,
His Beatitude ELIAS, IV, Patriarch of Antioch and all the
East, expressed his desire to visit his spiritual children in
North America. I kindly asked His Beatitude to postpone
his visit until the reunification of our people. As soon as
the Holy Synod of Antioch ratified our agreement last
August 19, 1975, I extended a tentative invitation to His
Beatitude to visit us in 1977. Last November, at the Fall
Meeting of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees held in
Montreal, Canada, the visit of the Patriarch was
thoroughly discussed and the Board voted unanimously on
the following:
(a) To extend an official invitation to His Beatitude to
visit North America in 1977. The invitation was extended and accepted by the Patriarch.
(b) To proclaim 1977 as the Antiochian Holy Year in
North America.
(c) To establish, in appreciation of the Patriarch's visit,a
half million dollar foundation
for the Balamand
Theological Academy.
(d) To invest this money in North America and forward
the interest from this investment to His Beatitude for
the Balamand Academy.
Some of you might ask: "Why the Foundation?" The
answer is simple and clear. The Balamand Academy is the
only Orthodox Theological school left in the entire Middle
East. The Patriarchates of Constantinople, Jerusalem and
Alexandria have no theological schools. Thus, without the
Balamand Seminary, Orthodoxy will have no future
whatsoever in the Middle East.
I am sure you remember that one year before h~s
death, Metropolitan
Antony promised to build thts
academy. He passed away in February 1966. On AuguSt
15, 1966, one day after my consecration, we broke ground
for the Academy because our Board of Trustees was
determined to build this greatly needed institution. In the
The Word
fallof t 971, I an~~ deleg_ation from the Archdiocese were
d lighted to participate m the solomn dedication of this
ew and beautiful academy.
ne
Unfortunately, because of security reasons and the
complete collapse of the Lebanese economy, this school
has been closed for the current academic year. we want
to make sur~ that as soon. as peace again reigns in
Lebanon, this academy . wtll re~pen. Without your
financial help, t~e reope~mg of this school will be just
impossible. Patriarchs, B~sho~s and hundreds of priests,
some of them are servmg m this Archdiocese, have
tudied at the old Balamand Seminary. The Balamand
~cademy is a beacon of light in a world of darkness and an
anchor of hope in a sea of despair.
How are we going to raise this money for the foundation? Each parish within the Archdiocese will be asked
to raise a definite sum of money according to its size and
you have from_ Se~tember until the end of April, 1977, to
raisethis contnbut10n.
In 0rder to help you publicize the visit of the Patriarch
and the need for the foundation, our Public Relations
Department is preparing three brochures: one on the life
of Patriarch Elias and his achievements; one on the
Balamand Academy and the purpose of the foundation;
and one on the tremendous theological contribution of
Antioch to the history of Christianity.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is the first time in our history that we are going to
welcome our Patriarch to this continent. Patriarch Elias,
IV, is the successor to Saints Peter, Paul and Ignatius of
Antioch. He represents two thousand years of spirituality
and a multitude of saints, martyrs, confessors and ascetics
who"were made perfect in faith."
His Beatitude will arrive in North America next May
and will preside over the regional SOYO Parish Life
Conferences in Montreal,
Canada; Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma; Boston, Mass; Detroit, Michigan; Los
Angeles, California; Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, and the
National Convention in Washington, D.C. This is once in a
lifetime that we invite our Father-in-Christ to this
hemisphere; thus, I want every man, woman and child in
thisArchdiocese to meet him and receive his blessings.
Beloved in Christ,
Ten years have swiftly gone like a flickering of a wing
or atwinkling of an eye, yet in such a short span of time,
you have done almost the impossible. You have reorganized the Archdiocese. You have built the Balamand
Theological Academy. You have established a foundation
to help needy Palestinian students. You have established
the Clergy Insurance Plan. You have founded new
parishes and missions. You have increased the number of
our theological students. You have purchased and
renovated the new Archdiocese headquarters. You have
helped the victims of the October War in Syria. You have
continued to improve and publish Christian ~ducation
and Sacred Music materials. You have published new
liturgical books for the Vesperal Divine Liturgy• You have
amended the Archdiocesan Constitution to add more
talent to your Board of Trustees. You have app_roved a
Model Constitution for our Parishes. You have witnessed
the birth of Teen SOYO, the rebirth of Senior SOYO and
the organization of the Antiochian Women of North
America. You have built many new churches and cultural
centers. You have continued to fight in behalf of the
oppressed in the Middle East and e erywhere. ou have
supported seminarians in this country and abroad. You
have focu~ed your attention on the problem of Chri tian
stewardship. Y ~u have supported Project Lo ing Car
You have esta?l~shed the Order of t. Igna iu of Antio h.
~ ou have participated to a great extent in the acramental
hfe of the church and you have reunited the Antiochian
p~opl~ after sixty years of division. These are some of the
high-hghts of the past ten years. After all this truggle,
have we made any spiritual progress? Only God kno .
How can you ~easure the depth of the human pirit?
I wo~ld hk_e to ~ake this opportunity to thank m
broth~rs-m-Chns~, His Eminence, Archbishop Michael,
and His Grace, Bishop Elia, for their tremendou help; the
esteemed members of the Board of Trustees for their
contin~ed ~~ral and financial support, our belo ed clerg
for their spmtual leadership, our senior and teen O 0
and the Antiochian Women for their dedication· all the
chairmen of our departments and commissions for their
untiring e!forts and all those thousands of unsung heroes
who contmue to support our spiritual and humanitarian
goals on both the local and national levels.
Last, but not least, I want to thank my staff, the Right
Reverend Antoun Khouri, Miss Kathy Meyer and Bill
Essey for their loyalty, understanding and dedication to
this Archdiocese.
In the past ten years we have reached many goals,
however, we will never reach our final goal, "until we all
attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4: 13)
Twenty-five years ago, writing about life, I said:
"Everytime we climb a summit, we discover more summits
to be climbed." Nikos Kazantzakis put it this way, "There
is no summit, there is only height. There is no rest." The
Church teaches us that man is always becoming. Our
vision of the future, therefore, is to continue struggling
and to continue climbing.
In conclusion, I would like to leave you with these
words from St. Paul to the Philippians:
1
. . . ''Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is
honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is
any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things. What you have learned and
received and heard and seen in me, do: and the God
of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:8-9)
Department of Finances.
Page 5
November, 1976
�THURSDAY,JULY 29TH, 1976
1. METROPOLITAN PHILIP opened the General Assembly at
11 a.m. with the singing of the Troparion of Pentecost and
prayers for the people of the Archdiocese.
2 FATHER ANTONY GABRIEL welcomed the newly int~grated parishes of Toledo. THERE IS 96.88% OF THE
ARCHDIOCESE PRESENTAND IT IS DECLAREDTHAT THEREIS
A QUORUM TO OFFICIALLY OPEN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
He made the report of the Credentials Committee
CHAIRMAN:
V. Rev. Antony Gabriel
MEMBERS PRESENT: Rev. Antony Beauchamp
Rev. Paul Doyle
Rt. Rev. Antoun Khouri
Alan Abraham
George David
Robert Laham, Sr.
Dr. Alan Ma took
Adeeb Saad
Anthony Thomas
First of all we welcome at this National conclave, the
parishes th;t are newly integrated within the one united
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North
America. At the opening session of the 31st Annual
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocesan Convention
of North America, we report the following in summary
form:
At the present time we have 97.71 per cent of the Archdiocese present and it is declared that there is a quorum to
officially open the General Assembly.
The committee convened Tuesday & Wednesday, July 27
& 28 all day. The following information has been compiled
from questionnaires received as of Wednesday evening,
July 28, 1976.
From a total of 102 Parishes and Missions, 70 returned
"The Parish Annual Report and Authorization
for
Delegates" questionnaires; an additional 25 were submitted during this Conference and 7 were not completed.
Far too many parishes submitted their assessment check
during this convention. Few Trustees or members of the
Archdiocese organizations have returned their Delegate
forms.
.
A total of 30,851 communicants were reported in the
compilation. The Archdiocese Assessment has been
received from 30,482 communicants, which is 98.9 per
cent of the total communicants representing 306 votes.
According to the census taken both by the Financial
Department of Middle Eastern Affairs.
Page 6
Committee and _our Commib·ttee, fthere has. been an increase of 2,982 ~n the_ n~m er o _commumc~nts in the
Archdiocese. With thi_s increase m . round figures, the
increase in the revenue is 14,910 resulting from 32 parish
increasing their assessment and 11 decreasing th ~s
l
.
eir
assessment. The_ tota assessment received to date ac- 1
cording to our figures are S152,410 from a total possible f
8154,255.
1·
There has been an increase of 2,982
communicants since
.
the 1975 Archdiocese C onvent10n, or a 10.8 per cent
increase in the assessments.
Monetary obligations
have been received from 88
parishes. 8 missions* and 7 parishes are still unpaid.
From a total of 115 clergy in the Archdiocese, 107 are
present at the time of this report, either in person or by
proxy.
I
1
CREDENTIALS
Proxies received from:
2 Pan"shes
21 Clergy
23 Total Proxies
Together from a total of 309 "possible" qualified parish
votes, the breakdown is as follows for the Archdiocese
and its organizations.
VOTES:
St. Elias - Austin, Texas
St. Elias - Syracuse, New York
St. George - Albany, New York
St. John - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
St. Mary - Berkley, Michigan
St. MaryKearney, Nebraska
PARISHES & MISSIONS NOT VOTING BECAUSE
THEY CLAIM LESS THAN 50 COMMUNICANTS
ACCORDING TO OUR RECORDS:*
Annunciation Orthodox Mission-W.
Hempstead, N.Y.
Chapel of Archangel GabrielSo. Glen Falls, N.Y.
St. AthanasiosMiddletown, New York
St. Elias- La Crosse, Wisconsin
St. Ellien - Brownsville, Pennsylvania
St. George - Utica, New York
St. George - San Diego, California
St. George - Springfield, Illinois
St. Luke's PrioryStanton, New Jersey
St. Mary - Iron Mountain, Michigan
St. Mary - Livonia, Michigan
St. Michael - Monessen, Pennsylvania
St. Simon- Ironwood, Michigan
*note: The Pastors of the above parishes/ missions do
receive ballots to exercise their right to vote.
Moved by FATHER JOSEPH ALLEN and seconded
306Pan·sh
6AOCWNA
12 SOYO Regions
39 Archdiocese Board
107Clergy
470 Total votes
by FATHER JOSEPH SHARDA the report was accepted.
3. METROPOLITAN PHILIP appointed the following
of the General Assembly and they were seated:
This represents 96.9%of the "possible" votes according
to the census of 482 inclusive votes.
An increase of 40 or 9.04% possible voting delegates
has been noted from 1975 compilations.
The records that are now on file in the Archdiocese
headquarters in the New Credentials Handbook indicate
a constant and steady growth in the "real" membership of
the Archdiocese. Even though we have had several in·
creases in the assessments, our parishes have shown
mature fiscal responsibility by responding to the Needs of
the Archdiocese - and no parish has "mass funerals" t_o
justify paying less to the Archdiocese. All that :"ea~k1s
for the parishes to respond, more promptly to their ~ad.
The merger of the two Archdioceses, the chang~ m ~he
SOYO Regional votes and the addition of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women of North America has altered
considerably the report from 1975,
For your general information, from the 17 parish~~and
missions of the former Toledo Archdiocese, the add1t10nal
amount of communicants is 2,272, reflecting 24 vote~ and
$11,240 in Archdiocese revenue. This includes 14 pans~es
that paid their assessment and submitted their Credentials
Report, and 3 who have not yet responded accor d'mg to
our tabulation.
PARISHES & MISSIONS NOT SEATED BECAUSE
THEY HA VE NOT SUBMITTED THEIR CREDE~
TIALS
AND / OR
PAID
THEIR
PARIS
ASSESSMENTS ARE:
* Missions are exempt from the normal assessment program
of the Archdiocese.
The Word
Officers
a. Vice Chairman, Mr. Monsour Laham
b. Chancellor, Mr. John Khouri
Chancellor, Mr. George Elias, Jr.
c. Sergeant-at-Arms, Mr. Rudy George, Cleveland, Ohio
Sergeant-at-Arms, Mr. Sarni Khouri, Wichita, Kansas
Sergeant-at-Arms, Mr. Ralph Abercia, Houston, Texas
d. Secretary, V. Rev. Fr. Paul Schneirla
Secretary, Dr. John Dalack
METROPOLITAN
PHILIP introduced the Archdiocesan Trustees seated on the dais. Father Antoun
Khouri, Frank Haddad, Earl Abraham, Dr. Anthony
Bashir, Rose Merhige, Pauline Maloof, Richard 0. Joseph,
Jerry Farah, Robert Andrews, George Koury, Dr.
Norman Bsharah, Philip Haddad, Archimandrite Gregory
Abboud, Gary Younes, Dr. George Dibs, Carl Shaheen,
Charles Dowd, Honorable William Farha, Honorable
Moussa Souaid, Ernest Saykaly, George Elias, John
Khouri, Theodore Mackoul, Monsour Laham, Archbishop Michael,
(applause)
Bishop Elia, Anthony
Thomas, Father Ellis Khouri, Father Paul Schneirla, Dr.
John Dalack, Edward Kassab, Albert Joseph, Kenneth
Ellis, Ralph Abercia, Robert Laham, Abe Abraham,
and George Karram. (Antoun Mudarri, Albert Maykel
and John Ameer were unable to attend due to ill health).
Dama cu - June 9. 19
"To our Brother-in-Chn t. The
• Rev ren
PHILIP, Metropolita
of the Anti
nh d .
Christian Archdiocese of orth Ameri a·
We fraternall embrace you in the L rd and pr y f r
your continued good health, be e hin the !mi htv t
guide your steps along the path f p ace. grantin -y u
strength to fulfill your re pon ibilitv a a heph rd
Christ's Flock. We pra that He ro"ay u tam y u a
Guiding Light to tho e '\! h wander in the darkne
)
moral deca , hastening a if to a renden u with death
and destruction. This hope tern from th depth
ur
being and is transformed mto the written w rd bv th
power of love, bringing the hop ab \e all h pe •
embodying the whole meaning of human bemgs.
This word expresses the en e f th genuin
munion which exists among us ha\ing been
together by the Word of Truth in the Bo m of
d. Thi
hope has been fulfilled in you a i evident when n
surveys your past ten years of ser ice to the Antio hian
Archdiocese of orth America a it Metrop litan. The
years have made your heart a fountain of bl d ~; th
which the eyes and hearts of man have been ma
radiantly pure. The separated flock ha become united
and rallys around your person, forming a living h mn f
creative and innovative unity in the Vine ard of the L rd.
Because of this unity your General Convention bring u
especial joy for we know that your intention are dire ted
toward the good, as souls which dream upon the bank f
the Great River, playing upon their lyres a hymn of acred
Unity.
It pleases us greatly to have had you as our voice, the
voice of Antioch, for the past ten years in the Archdioce e
of North America, to convey our blessings, prayer and
best wishes. We are all the more pleased in light of the
Antiochian unity which has been achieved under our
leadership. We firmly believe that this unity will be th
cause of an enthusiastic endeavor for spiritualit , goodness and beauty. We assure you that this voice of Antioch
has remained warm and pure despite the ravage of tim
and its passage through the maze of the sea of darkne .
This voice has made its journey through history upon the
silver boat of magical enchantment, as rose petal in the
wind have touched the spirit and imagination, bringing to
all its brilliantly pure light.
From the See of Antioch, your Mother Church, we fl '
4. On the motion of FATHER NICHOLAS SAIKLEY seconded
by MRS. SHAMSEH DALACK, St. Mary's, Brooklyn, the
Minutes of the Thirtieth Annual General Assembly, as
presented and circulated
in "The Word" magazine for
November 1975, were unanimously approved.
5. BISHOP ELIA read the pastoral message of His Beatit_u~e
Patriarch Elias in Arabic, ARCHBISHOP MICHAEL read it in
English, as follows:
Department of Youth (NAC SOYO)
Page 7
November, 1976
�to you upon the wings of our love in order that w~ may
share in your spiritual joy, refreshing ourselves m the
common cup of unity which grants to those who partake,
purity of heart, serenity of soul and continuity in that
sacred comm union, leading to a new Life in Christ.
In closing we reiterate our prayers and love for Y?u,
asking the Almighty to sustain you in that constructive
and life-giving love which is able to restore fallen
humanity to its primordial innocence. May the grace of
our God be with us and among us.
Your Brother in Christ,
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
SI ELIAS. IV
6. The
representative
of Archbishop
Joseph
Taweel
Archimandrite
MAXIMOS SHALHOUB was welcomed
and
seated on the dais.
7. MR. WILLIAM ESSEY, Interim Chairman,
presented
the
report
of the
Department
of Information
and
Press
Relations:
The work of this important Department was once again processed
through the Archdiocesan Headquarters in Englewood. We trust that we
have efficiently accomplished our goal of disseminating pertinent information to the faithful of our own and our sister Orthodox jurisdictions
as well as to the general public. Media employed this past year were the
national and international press, radio and television.
Since our last report the Department has been involved in several
exceptional projects. Having released a report on our 30th General
Convention we turned our attention to reporting the reunification of our
Antiochian faithful in North America. Outstanding cooperation in
presenting this news to the public was received from the religious as well
as general media.
In October our Department covered the historic formation of the
"Standing Conference of American Middle Eastern Christian and
Moslem Leaders." Since that time we have continued to release the
Conference's official statements, solicit public support for these
statements, and covered the session with President Gerald Ford at the
White House.
A telegram sent by His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP to President
Hafez Al-Assad on March 25 (cf. "The Word", May 1976, p. 17) had a
great impact in the Middle East. It received broad coverage in the press,
radio and television.
Our Department also assisted in publicizing the film "KUNEITRA:
The Death of a City" and the new publications of the Archdiocesan
Departments and Commissions. We also prepare a monthly article which
appears in each issue of "The Word" entitled "Archdiocesan Office"
which reports official communiques, ordinations, transfers, elevations,
etc.
In addition to these new and extraordinary tasks we have also posted
thousands of archpastoral communications. Two new press biographies
were also prepared on Metropolitan PHILIP and Archbishop MICHAEL
a~ well as ha_vi?g new p~ess photos produced. Extensive volumes dealing
with our official Archdiocesan position on Middle Eastern affairs were
prepared and distributed to leaders in the Arab world.
We would be remiss if we failed to commend the local P.R. Directors
in our parishes that have organized hundreds of formal press conferences
for our Hierarchs. Their cooperation has continued to be outstanding.
We believe that our Department has completed another successful
year although we continue to be without the resources of a full-time
professional Director. With the scheduled visit of His Beatitude
Patriarch ELIAS IV we anticipate an even busier year ahead. We ask fo;
the assistance of all in this monumental endeavor.
On the motion of MR. SAAD SHAHEEN, El Paso, seconded by
RICHARD MESALAM, Indianapolis, the Report was unanimously
accepted. Also present for examination was a volume of clippings and
newspapers from both here and abroad prepared by Kathy Meyer and
describing the activities of Metropolitan PHILIP during the past year.
8. JOHN BOOJAMRA, Director, presented
Department
of Christian Education.
the Report of the
This is the sixth annual report which I am delivering as director of the
Department
of Christian Education to the Archdiocese General
Page8
Incoming and outgoing officers of the Antiochia
Orthodox Christian Women of North America.
n
Assembly. Since I assumed this position, I have worked with two Ion .
range goals to guide my work. These goals can be briefly stated as (1) thg
coordination of all Christian education activities within our Archdioces:
- among the various parishes and between the parishes and the central
office and (2) the coordination of all Christian education activities
within our Archdiocese with those of the larger Orthodox community in
North America and specifically with those of the Orthodox Christian
Education Commission (OCEC). In addition to coordinating activities
the Department has during t~e past six !e~rs a~sumed the responsibilit;
for the development, production, and distribution of material which are
supplementary to those of the OCEC's curriculum.
Ai I reported last year, the work of the Department has continued to
snowball and a good deal of my time as director is spent in simply
keeping the daily office routine going. In general my time is divided
among the following areas workshop development, materials
development and printing, the DCE Newsletter and writing articles, the
Orthodox Christian Education Commission, mailing and publicity, office
work and reading.
During the past six years the Department has accomplished things far
out of proportion to its part-time nature. This fact has little to do with me
and a lot to do with the kinds of people with whom I have been fortunate
enough to work. The Department was particularly stricken by the recent
tragic death of Ms. Donna Bobin, my close friend and co-worker. The
Department will miss her and the high quality which characterized
everything she did. I will continue to try to expand the base of the
Department's operations by inviting more creative people to share in the
work. As I said last year, this will necessarily cost money and we must be
prepared to spend it to get the job done.
In order to increase the Department's coverage and enhance com·
munication with the parishes and SOYO, I have placed a great deal of
importance on publicity and mailing. Due to the recent increases in
number of parishes, clergy, and church schools, the Department mailing
list has jumped to some 350 separate addresses. During this past year
approximately 4000 separate pieces of mail were posted.
One of the most constant features of the Department has been the
NEWSLETTER which has appeared for the past six years as a quarterly
in eight pages. One thousand copies of the NEWSLETTER are mailed
out every other month during the school year. In addition to the
NEWSLETTER, the Department has regular features appearing in The
Word and I have had several education articles appear in the. newspapers
The Orthodox Observer and The Orthodox Church.
TEACHERTRAINING
-As I stated in last year's report, one of my prime objectives for this
school year w~s th~ de~elopme~t of new teacher training programs and
workshops. This obJective, I ?eheve, was fulfilled with the holding of the
f )lowing workshops and semmars:
0
Vicksburg, Miss., St. George Orthodox Church
October 24
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., St. Mary Orthodox Church
February 7
Brooklyn, N.Y ., Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox
October 14
Staten Island, N .Y ., Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox
May 19
Paterson, N.Y., N.Y.-N.J. Deanery
April 10
Phoenix, Ariz., Western Region SOYO
May 28
Wichita, Kan., Southwest Region SOYO
June 13
Toronto, Ont., Can-Am Region SOYO
June 19
Worcester, Mass., New England Region SOYO
June 26
San Francisco, Calif., Archdiocese Convention
July 28
In addition to these formal workshops, I participated with Father Joe
Allen and Mr. Esse~ in a special series of Advent teaching sermons at St.
Antony's in Berg~nheld on the theme of Incarnation and History.
The sponsormg of workshops and seminars will become a more
significant part of the ?~partment's work as the OCEC has completely
dropped its teacher trammg program. The Department will introduce its
1976-77series of workshop topics to the parishes in September with a
special mailing o! a w?rkshop prop~sal. I ~ill, however, encourage our
parishes to or~amze, e1the~ ~lone or_m co~Junction with other Orthodox
parishes, semmars and traimng sessions without the direct participation
of the director.
OCEC
-The Archdiocese, through the Department of Christian Education,
plays an active role in the working of the Orthodox Christian Education
Commission; in fact, the role it plays is far out of proportion to the size of
our Archdiocese. Metropolitan PHILIP continues to act as president of
the Commission and Bill Essey and I have recently been appointed by the
Trustees to head UPBEAT and the newly formed Curriculum Department, respectively. Unhappily, with the death of Ms. Bobin, the
Department has had to drop the publication of the OCEC News Service
which it has produced as a service to the Commission. The OCEC is
doing much of our Christian education work for us and has a broad
publications program scheduled for the up-coming year. This year the
Commission has published such innovative materials as an open
classroom guide, a new church history program, and a series of concept
cards for use with different age groups.
THESOURCEBOOK
- During the past year, the Department published an excellent guide
to youth work, the SOURCEBOOK for Youth Work. The book was coauthored by Father John Matusiak and Ms. Bo bin and appeared early in
1976after much publicity. The book is designed to be a complete guide
to organizing and revitalizing youth groups in the parish, high school,
and college. The SOURCEBOOK is available from the Department of
Christian Education@ $5.00.
YOUTH STUDY PROJECT
- As a follow-up to the SOURCEBOOK and to help meet the need
for materials for use with upper grades in the church school, the
Department is currently producing a series of study articles. This project
will draw on already existing articles in journals such as The Word,
Upbeat, and Concern. Approximately twenty five articles have been
selected, each of which articles will be reproduced about twelve times
and perforated for easy removal, distribution, and study. Each of the
articles will be accompanied by a series of study questions. This project
willbe completed sometime in the fall, 1976, and will be followed shortly
by a similar workbook for adults.
:~gun on_a audio ca ette pr gram for tea her train in._. The pr ram
ill conSist of twelve recorded le ture on topi
dealin "ith the
content of the curriculum a well a edu ational te hnique . a1.:hof the
rec~~d_ed lectures will be accompanied b a "Or b o · photo , and
activities to enhance the teaching experience.
planned, the pa
ged
pro~~am should sell for approximately S40. and "ill be a permanent
addition to the parish librar .
PARISH LIBRARYPROJECT
-. As a result of numerous reque t for a readin Ii t of rthod
m_at~nals, the D~partment is composing a pan h ltbrary uide. he uide
will mclude a fairly complete bibliograph of literature on the rth do
Church, child rearing, and education. In add1t1 n. a el ct number of
these books will be recommended for actual tn lu ion in a pari h library
for permanent use by teachers, parent . and general pari hioner .
AUDIO-VISUALS COMMITTEE
- As many of you may already know, our Audio- 1 uab ommi11ee,
headed by Father Joseph Allen, has already produ ed the two film trip
program Rebirth: The Journey of Great Lent. The
ommiHee L
currently producing a follow-up program entitled lnhia1lon:
1ud" of
Orthodox Baptism. The program should be available for dt. tnbu~ton
sometime during the coming school year.
I hope that the above outline has given you some idea of the nature
and extent of the work carried on by the Department of hri tian
Education. In addition to completing the project outlined abo,e. 11 will
be the objective of the Department during the coming ear to·
1. further develop teacher training work hop a a mean of
preparing our church school teacher to betler ene the hurch and the
children;
2. to continue to attempt the development of a qualit pre h ol
parents program for home education;
3. to advance adult education by developing a regular adult
education feature for The Word magazine;
4. to establish a pool of talented and trained educator to a ist the
director in the development of teacher training program and
educational materials.
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATIONS
It has become a traditional feature of my reports to the As embl to
offer several recommendations for consideration. The interesting feature
of these recommendations is that they largely represent area o, er which
I have no immediate control. I recommend
1. that the Archdiocese establish and fund a regular cholar hip fund
to underwrite graduate level study in a combined program of theological
and pedagogical content leading to the degree of Master of Art . In
addition, I recommend that this scholarship be open to both Orth dox
men and women of our Archdiocese interested in erving the Church in
the area of Christian education;
2. that, in all cases, the regional Catechism Bowls at the pari h life
conferences use study and resource material recommended b the
Department of Christian Education so as to avoid error and confu ion ;
3. that the SOYO regional planning committees allow at the ,ery
least a three hour time slot for the teachers' meeting at pari h life
conferences;
4. that each parish and/ or each church school conduct an annual
subscription program to encourage the reading of each of the three
Orthodox youth publications - Young Life, Upbeat, and Concern.
5. that all regional SOYO religious education chairpeople be in-
THEICON BOOK
SOYO
-Certainly
one of the most fruitful areas of cooperation for the
Department within the Archdiocese has been my work with SOYO_and
more especially the access which the family life conferences have given
me to teachers throughout the country. In addition, Bill Essey, the newly
appointed youth, director, and I have experienced an excellent perso~al
and working relationship. The Department
of Christian Educatwn
continues to provide topics for the oratorical presentation and the
creative arts and writing projects. I have not been able, with the e~ception ,of the Mid-West Region, to yet develop a working relationship
with the regional SOYO religious chairpeople.
This past year the
Department has completely turned over the annual college students
survey which it had previously conducted for SOYO.
The Word
- The Icon Book which was announced last year will soon be
available from the Department. The book is a serious effort to present
the most frequently seen icons in the church in the best iconographic
style for study and coloring. The book contains some twenty-five icons
accompanied by a descriptive text and will be a valuable addition to any
study of the saints, the feasts of the church, or the Divine Liturgy.
PROGRAMMED TEACHER TRAINING
- At last year's General Assembly I announced my intention to work
on the development of a 16 mm teacher training program which could be
loaned out to parishes for group or individual use. Since that time I have
had to modify my intent in keeping with available talent. Work has
November, 1976
General Assembly in session.
Page 9
�responsibility for education from the Department and assign that
• r~spons1_
'bl _e_
Work
to the pastors_. If :he pasto~ ts
we_d on 't nee~ the department
Adult education 1s a practical 1mposs1b1hty tn my pansh, and I've t . •
• some o f t h e b'1ggest names tn
• Orthodox the rted
everything includmg
•
• Mr. Farraho1ogy
and religious education.
I want expert h e lp, t'f we h ave 1t.
'
•
f
h
C
says
some adults cant make the sign o t . e ross properly, people are agmg
h mg many people will get to he
unless the Department
does
somet
.
.
aven'
without knowmg how to make the sign of the Cross. I need somethin
this coming September, DR. BOOJAMRA, not by September but by g
June. ROBERT ANDREWS as~ed about a parish library. MUN~~~
FARRAH, Danbury. We recogmzed need, but only part time personnel
available. We need a larger sta~f for. all age groups. DR. JOHN
BOOJAMRA. Good point, If the hbrary tncludes a book store you see
how much larger the budget is. FATHER ~O!fN HAMATIE the Church
in Atlanta has a coffee hour and has Chnstian Education for adults at
that time. It is very successful. METROPO~ITAN
PHILIP. Let the
minutes reflect profound thanks to John BooJamra for a job very well
done.
9. FATHER GABRIEL BARROW, chairman,
presented
Report of the Department of Liturgics and Translations.
The Metropolitan presides at the General Assembly.
structed to both maintain regular communication with the Archdiocese
Department of Christian Education and submit an annual report on their
work and their regional church schools to the director of the Department.
CONCLUSIONS
The Department of Christian Education has many weaknesses, but its
effectiveness, as I said in the opening paragraphs, is happily beyond what
could be expected of part-time operation.
The Department, indeed each and every church school, can accomplish nothing of any lasting significance without the active involvement of parents in the educational process. It is both unfair and
deceptive to place the God-given responsibility for educating our
children on the teachers in the parishes. Given the best possible circumstances or materials and facilities, they cannot do the job of nurturing and shaping young Christian lives. This duty belongs of necessity
to the parents. The parents must be actively involved in the educational
process on a level deeper than bake sales, Christmas parties, and picnics.
Our parishes must place greater emphasis on adult and family education.
In addition to strengthening family life, the Department would like to
invite the participation of any member of our Archdiocese, with talent,
interest, and love, to share in the work of developing the resources and
materials necessary to the establishment of viable Christian education
programs in our parishes. As Metropolitan PHILIP has repeatedly stated
to the teachers of the various SOYO regions, the money is in fact
available, what we need now is the willing talent to transform these
financial resources into programs for our families and children.
Moved by MRS. ETHEL GEORGE, Cleveland, seconded by
WALTER SAIK.LEY, Beaumont, Texas, the Report was unanimously
received.
Dr. Boojamra noted a change in the report: William Essey has
resigned as editor of Upbeat because of his work in the Archdiocese
office.
FATHER MEENA. How can a recommendation be put on the
agenda? Perhaps in New Business? Regarding the regional Catechism
bowls; I would like to have them mandated by this Convention. Father
Meena continued, we should go on record that Dr. Boojamra is commended for excellent work and progress in his Department. (Applause)
William Farrah asked, Can you tell us how we go about educating adults
and families? John Boojamra - We dealt with the problem of motivation
in the workshop yesterday, the burden will fall on the parish priest.
FATHER PAUL SCHNEIRLA. With due consideration for the continuing excellent work of Dr. Boojamra, with whom I have close
relations, he is a former parishioner and a former superintendent of my
Church School, as a parish priest I strongly resist any attempt to shift
Page 10
the
Greetings to you in the Name of Our Lord God and Savior, Jesus
Christ!
My report to this Assembly this year is one of progress and accomplishment for our Archdiocesan
Department
of Liturgics and
Translations. Yet, even more importantly, it is also one of a continued
program to make available to the Clergy and Faithful of the Holy
Orthodox Churches in America liturgical service books, that they, as
extensions of the High Priesthood of Christ and as Members of the Royal
Priesthood, as Heads and Members of the Body of Christ, can follow and
through which they might be brought closer to the beautiful liturgical
experience and encounter with Our Lord, Jesus Christ. This liturgical
experience and encounter can only come from a full participation in the
liturgical life of the Holy Orthodox Church. Never-the-less, these
liturgical services, without sacrificing one iota of the meaning, beauty,
fullness, richness, accuracy, and spirituality of the Orthodox Liturgical
Life, must also reflect our life style and social patterns of our American
life, heritage, culture, and environment. We must not, here in America,
make our Churches Orthodox monastic liturgical communities, with long
daily services that seem almost eternally endless. For those who wish this
blessed type of strict, rigid, liturgical expression, we strongly encourage
them to seriously consider the great and holy calling of Orthodox
Monasticism. Yet, on the other hand, we must also not make our
Orthodox Churches, here in America, congregational liturgical centers
that function for only and exactly one hour, for only and exactly one day
a week. We must also prevent our American Orthodox Churches from
becoming simply "Sacrament Centers", which would make them similar
to the ingenious 20th Century American unique concept of the shopping
center. For in 20th Century America, if you want a pair of shoes, a dress,
a shirt, a suit, a can of paint, etc., you simply have to jump in the car and
go to your neighborhood shopping center and through our modern
American conveniences, not only can you find what you are looking for,
but moreover, you find yourself in the dilemma of deciding what color,
what size, which brand, and how much to buy or charge. Unfortunately,
many of our Orthodox Churches in America have become "Sacrament
Centers" - places where our "Holy Orthodox Faithful" can simply jump
into the car, drive to the Church, and receive the Holy Sacraments of
Holy Baptism, Holy Chrismation, Holy Penance, Holy Eucharist, Holy
Matrimony, and Holy Unction. Many times this is the "only" reason that
they do come to the Church, and then it is only sometimes simply once a
year. Moreover, many times they receive these Holy Sacraments ~ith
little or no proper preparation and almost always ignorant of the tm·
portance and eternal meaning for their soul of that Holy Sacrament of
which they are receiving. Our Churches have not become, as they should
become, centers of liturgical learning and places of mystical liturgical
experiences. They have not become "liturgical schools" teaching and
allowing the Faithful the possibility of liturgically learning abo_u~the
Sacraments of the Church and hopefully to have a liturgically spmtual,
as well as physical, encounter with Our Lord, the Holy Theotokos, all the
Saints, the Feast Days of our Church, and the whole storehouse of
theology that is expressed in our liturgical services. Honestly, have we,
Clergy and Faithful, encouraged and participated
in making our
Churches to become these great and holy centers of salvation, where 10st
souls, whether they be Baptized Orthodox, other Christians, or even un·
baptized souls, might come and learn about and possibly experience !hat
encounter with Christ and His Church that will "transfigure" them mto
one of the "living saints" and fully a member of "the Church of Christ"? It
is with this goal in mind, and to this purpose, the hope of making our
J\lllerican Orthodox Chur~h to become Great and Holy Liturgically
. 'tual Centers of Salvation, that your Department of Liturgics and
Sptrl
•
translations
has, an d h ope f u 11y' WI'll contmue
to direct its efforts.
This year, for the first time, in the entire history of the Eastern
Orthodox Church: Our Archdiocese,
through the Department of
Liturgics, has pubhshed, each under separate cover, the ten volume set
of THE EVENIN_G DIVIN~ LITURGY for t~e Great Feasts, as required
to be celebrated m our panshes by Metropohtan PHILIP's Archpastoral
Edict. The ten volu_me set ~f THE EVENING DIVINE LITURGY includes the full evenmg serv1~es for the Great Feasts of: The Nativity of
the Theotokos, Th~ f!levatwn. of th~ Cross, The Presentation of the
Theotokos, The Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, The Presentation of Christ,
The Annunciation of the Theotokos, The Ascension of Our Lord, The
Transfiguration of Our Lord, and The Dormition of the Theotokos. Each
lume is complete for each Feast, even to the point of including a brief
~~scription of why we ce!ebrate that particular Feast and also any additional prayers and services, such_ as t~e Blessing of the First Fruits
(Grapes) at the ~east of the Transftguratton, and the Great Blessing of
the Waters at Eptpha~y. The books are easy_to follow for clergy, choirs,
chanters, and the Faithful and are now available from the Publications
Department of our Archdiocese for Sl0.00 for the complete ten volume
et or $1.00 per book. We hope that all of the clergy of our Archdiocese
be obedient to Metropolitan PHILIP's edict, and also to take advantage of the many hours of work that went into the preparation of
these service books, so that the Evening Liturgies would be easy to serve
and easy to follow, so that all of our local Parish communities, together,
as a family, might share in the joy of the Liturgical Great Feast Days of
our Holy Orthodox Church.
:ui
The Clergy of our Archdiocese received, at this 31st Archdiocese
Convention, a new publication of the Department of Liturgics. This new
publication is a Service Book, mainly for our Clergy, to be used at our
regional and national conferences. The service boo_k contains_the order
of services and how they are to be served when a Hterarch (s) ts present,
but not celebrating the service, himself. It is also written with the
assumption that more than one Priest will be serving, and possibly even a
Deacon. This service book was prepared in the hope that all of the
liturgical services of our conventions will flow smoothly, properly, and
according to our Holy Orthodox Tradition. We pray that the Reverend
Fathers will study and use these new service books to the glorification of
God and that these new service books will become the accepted order of
and provide guidance for the daily Liturgical Life of our regional and
national conferences.
Our departmental committee of the Translation of the Typikon is still
hard at work and its chairman promises that we will have the finished
manuscript of the translation submitted to the Department of Liturgics
for continued work and study before the 1977 Archdiocese Convention
in Washington, D.C. This complete full English translation of the
Typikon of the Orthodox Church, will also be a first in the history of the
Eastern Orthodox Church.
The Department of Liturgics also expects to have completed, al:'proved, published, and available for purchase, before the end of this
year, a 1977 Annual Liturgical Calendar and Year Book of ou_r Arc~diocese. This book will have a space for Clergy or layman to write thetr
busy daily schedules, as well as it showing the Saint (s) o~ the D~y, and
Epistle and Gospel Readings of the Day. The Year Book will also mclude
a complete directory of the Hierarchy, Administrators, Trustees,
Departmental Chairmen, a well a a full li tin of the Churche and
Clergy of our Archdiocese. The ear Boo will a
ontain man informative and interesting fact about our Ho! Orthodo
hur h. You
will be informed about the a ailability of the 19 Church alendar nd
Y ~ar Book in the ver near future and we hope that all of the Cler y and
laity of. the Archdiocese will upport this badl_ ne ded pr j t b'i
purchasmg one of the year book .
The Department of Liturgic has rece1\ed and i curr ntly revie" in
and studying many manuscript and er,ice b o
ubmii"ted by ou
Reverend Clergy for publication. We will onlln ue to wor
n th
man~sc~ipts and service books to prepare tho e appr \Cd, f r
publtcatton as soon as possible. Again, I mu t plead with our Reverend
Father~ not to publish any service book locall in their pan he without
the pnor knowledge of this Department, which will eek the prope
approval of the Metropolitan. Man of our pne t are publi hing eni e
books that are either duplications of book alread in exi t nee from
another source, and thus would be a needle effort and dupli aci n ot
work on the part of the local pastor, or either, the erv1ce boo
ould fi11
~ void t_hatexists in the publication of Orthodox Lnurgical en i e B
tn Enghsh and, therefore, should be considered for nauonal publicari n
by our Archdiocese making 1t available to all of our Ameri an Orthodo
Faithful, still giving full credit to the priest s) who compil d the ori inal
service book. With the cooperation of our Re erend Father , we might
all share with each other in the effort and goals of all of u , and that is
trying to achieve, in the area of Liturgical Text in the English language
service books that are accurate, properly appro ed, ea y to follow, and
readily available.
Some of the immediate future goals of the Department of Liturgics of
this Archdiocese are: the publication of the full and complete Hol
Week Services in English, from the Bridegroom Service of Palm unday
evening through and including the Agape Vesper of Holy Ea ter
Sunday. We are also studying the Second Phase of the publication of the
Evening Divine Liturgy Service Books. This Second Phase would con i t
of the complete texts of the Evening Divine Liturgy, each under separate
cover, for the celebration of such Major Feasts Days as that of: t.
Demetrius; of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and All the
Bodiless Hosts; St. Nicholas; St. Herman of Alaska; The Three
Hierarchs: St. Basil, the Great, St. Gregory, the Theologian, and St. John
Chrysostom; St. George; Sts. Constantine and Helena; Sts. Peter and
Paul; The Holy Prophet Elias; and the Feast of the Beheading of St. John
the Baptist. The Department of Liturgics is also studying the preparation
of the texts of the full services for the Nativity of Our Lord, the Ho!
Resurrection, Holy Pentecost, and Palm Sunday; the Great Compline
(for week days of Great Lent); The Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified
Gifts; and The Akathist Hymn, as it is to be sung on the final and Fifth
Friday of Great Lent; and the Funeral Service of New or Bright Week.
Your Department of Liturgics contains a large membership of man
of the dedicated and highly educated clergy of this Archdiocese. If we
have made any progress, if we have made any contributions to our Holy
Orthodox Church in America, it has only been by the Grace of Almight
God, with the continued support and blessings of our Father-in-Christ,
Metropolitan PHILIP, with the long hours and hard work of the clergy
and dedicated laymen of this department of our Archdiocese and abo e
all, by your continued prayers and support. Please reme~ber me, ~y
Department, and our seemingly endless work ahead of us, m your daily
prayers. Moved by FATHER ELLIS KHOURI an~ seconded by A THO NY THOMAS, Louisville. The report was unantmously accepted.
FATHER MARK PEMBERTON, Father Abramtsov's Uttle
Euchologion is out of print; we need it reprinted. FATHER BARROW
replied that Father Karim is doing the same sort of work. FATHER
JAMES MEENA. In support of the evening Liturgy, we never have more
than six at week day liturgies, now we have as high a ninety at f~a. ts.
GEORGE DIBS. I attended the meeting and ~earn_edthe Com~1ss1on
meets all year long. Why is there no common hturg~cal ~omm1~1on for
all Orthodox? METROPOLITAN PHILIP. The evenmg Liturgy IS pure!
an Antiochian effort. We began this practice. The Greek
~re
celebrating something like this, but I have never s~en bo~ks or_ 1?structions. We do hope other Orthodox jurisdictions wt~ do thlS ~n? JOtn
in translations. The Standing Conference has a_Comm1ttee ~ut It 1s no,t
active. I hope it can become active. We are gomg ~o work if they don t
work. JAMES MEENA. Is there to be a Gospel lecttonary? Can you tell
us the procedure by which it was submitted to the de_part~ent and ~pproved? FATHER BARROW, Epistle and Gospel le~ttonanes are bemg
d by Father Elias Karim who has been work mg on the R V. A
prepare
end any books in we will study, revise and submit them to
soon as yous
,
.
Metropolitan PHILIP. METROPOLITA
P_HILIP. Let the mmute
reflect profound thanks to Father Barrow for his work.
The Archdiocese Trustees hear a report.
The Word
November, 1976
Page 11
�10. FATHER PAUL SCHNEIRLA presented the Report of the
Deportment of Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Faith Affairs.
The principal achievement of our Archdiocese since the last General
Convention in the field of Inter-Christian relations was the long-hopedfor reunion with Toledo. Credit for that goes in full to Metropolitan
Philip and Metropolitan Michael.
The work of this Department can be briefly outlined.
Inter-Orthodox
The Standing Conference
The Standing Conference has met once in plenary session since our
last Convention and much work has been done in the several Commissions and privately among the hierarchs. The Standing Conference
holds great potential yet to be exploited. It is the only realistic bridge to a
united Orthodoxy in America. Except for the young of most jurisdictions, who may be said to be on the road to mild cynicism in this regard,
there has been very little serious concern shown for unity in the past
decade. The reasons are multiple and cannot be outlined here; it should
not be simply assumed that they are all derived from human "sin." Some
of them are sound and others, if not excellent, are intrinsic to the nature
of contemporary American Orthodoxy.
I nter-Fo i th
Our membership in the National Council of Churches continues. The
Chairman and Dr. Frank Maria attended the Atlanta meeting of the
National Council Governing Board, underwritten by the budget of the
Archdiocese. A full report was submitted to Metropolitan Philip. At the
Spring meeting of the Archdiocese Trustees the question of continuing
membership was raised and some concerns noted - after a presentation
by the Chairman continuing membership was unanimously supported.
An example of the nature of one of our concerns with National
Council of Churches membership is related to a call for a national
prayer-observance for the Jews in Syria. As a member of a three-faith
(Roman Catholic-Jewish-NCC as "Protestant") Committee Claire Randall
as General Secretary of the NCC called upon the member denominations
to join in a three-faith prayer weekend for the allegedly persecuted Jews
of Syria.
Metropolitan Philip, who was on a pastoral tour of the western
United States at the time, asked me to protest directly to Ms. Randall. In
a telephone conversation she said that she had relied on the pan confessional acceptance of the proposal, the integrity and prudence of
the sponsor, Rabbi Henry Siegman, Executive Vice-President of the
Synagogue of America, and the "non-political" nature of the project. She
volunteered that it would have been normal to consult with the NCC
member bodies having close ties with Syria.
At Ms. Randall's suggestion I wrote to Rabbi Siegman asking for
evidence of the charge on which the call to prayer was based. I received
copies of translations of one Danish and one Italian press report several
years old of rather ambiguous witness. Subsequent inquiries to the Syrian
government elicited a film on the Syrian Jewish community, commentec:l
on by an American Jesuit living in Syria, which indicated what one would
expect. This film was shown to Ms. Randall and other officers of NCC.
Aside from the merit of the charges, and the potential value of such a
t~i-.f~ith pray_er day for Zionist propaganda, which are not the respon s~b1hty of this department, the event raises more basic questions. The
first, and we have frequently alluded to this, is the inclusion of
Orthodoxy in a national Catholic-Jewish-Protestant Committee under the
auspices of the protestant partner. Either the chairman of SCOBA
should be a?ded _t?the Committee or Orthodoxy should be plainly and
frequently 1dentif1ed as a non-participant. Secondly, for the chief
sp~k_esman (person?) of the NCC to exercise, and evidently quite
leg~twatel~ by NCC rules_, th~ right to commit the membership to a
sen_o_uspoli~y sta_nce, and m this case one of obvious value to a foreign
poht1cal entity, wtthout prior consultation with the heads of communions
put~ ?rthodoxy in the position of endorsing a blank check on an
~nlw1ted account. Finally, the seemingly iagenuous decision of the
liberal estab~shment, i? whi~h pro-Zionism is an unreflecting reflex, the
NCC,_a_nenvironment_•~ which Orth~doxy could exist faithfully only by
exerc1smg constant vigilance and criticism. We have not shown that
competence to the present.
All of this, I submit, points to a continuing need to reach a common
Orthodox position in the NCC.
Inter-Faith
Preliminary Note
~y definit~on Inter-faith activities exclude original directions by
s~ctlons or un_its of a ''.faith," i.e., a confessional body. Thus, our Archd1oces_e, by virtue of its character as an administrative division of the
Orthodox Church, can only reflect the witness of the whole ch
are not qualified to relate to heterodox bodies in a way different ?ch; We
ecumenical Orthodox consensus. In the sphere of inter-faith ro_m_t_he
•
·11b e ma d e rn
• cooperation and hactiv1ties
therefore our contri 'b ution
WI
with the remainder of the Church.
armony
In actual practice this means that we act through the ap
.
organs of the Patriarchate of Antioch, the Ecumenical Commp_ropnate
.
.
.
1ss1onof
the Standrng Conference, and ties already established with th W
Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches u S A orld
present time we are involved on all of these fronts.
• • • t the
f W ~ are in receipt of your letter dated June 2 !, I 6, once min
mancial su_p~ort to the World Council of Churche . our le11er arri, ed
at a moSt difficult time of our history a an Archdioce e and mem er of
th e_World Co_uncil. I am ure that you are aware of the 1ra i e, en1
which are takmg place in Lebanon. Hundred of thou and of ,i
need ~ur help and_yours. At present, we are campaignin throu h
Archdiocese to raise fund in order to alleviate the uffering of
t~e L~banese people. Therefore, we are unable, thi year, 10 ma
fmancial contribution to the World Council of ehurche .
In the future, however, we will definite!. con ider this reque t.
. We ask for your prayers and especiall for peace m Lebanon."
Smcerely yours in Christ,
1
World Inter-Faith Relations
The World Church is in theological dialogue with Roman Cath r
Old Catholics, Anglicans and some other protestants. The only p ?ics,
• our Arc hd'10cese 1s
• now d'1rect 1y mvo
• l ved rn
• these enterp Oint
which
• at
.
with the Anglican dialogue.
rises 1s
Initiated by the Rhodes Conference, the consultations with h
Anglicans have been carried on with Orthodox personnel exclu • t
from Europe. American Orthodox theologians of all jurisdictionss~e Y
op~nly criti~ised _this policy as s~ort s~gh~ed in the extreme, since;~:
maJor area m which the two bodies exist m substantial numbers in
society is North America. In the Orthodox homelands Anglicans one
found as tourists or small colonies of foreign workers. There is are
0
significant social or intellectual contact and the average Ortho/
theologian is restricted to the literature, some of it obsolete and all O
•
It
con f usmg
ap~r t from acquam• t ance wi'th t h e nc• h variety of Anglican
thought and life.
In an effort to _set a precedent for a more reasonable balance on the
Orthodo~ team this Depart~ent began several years ago to provide for
~he app?mtment_ of the Cha1r~an, ge~erally re_cognized as knowledgable
m Anghca~ affairs. The Patriarchates enthusiasm did not appear to be
overwhelmrng and the process took the Metropolitan two years to
achieve. The Chairman was appointed by His Beatitude Patriarch Elias
during Metropolitan Philip's last visit to the Holy Synod.
By an unfortunate coincidence the first Conference following the
appointment, and the last one of this series, was set for July 26-August 10
a~d is n~w in progress. Me!ropolitan Philip refused his blessing to th~
Directors absence from this General Convention to attend the Conference (it is being held at the Zagaorsk monastery near Moscow) and so
the struggle for American representation
ended in something of a
dubious victory. It can be claimed that the precedent was set and so
other churches in the homelands may adopt a similarly rational policy in
the future. (It is hoped that the Director will be able to go to Moscow for
the remainder of the Conference.)
+ lf~r:dy
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdioce e
of North America.
MP:km
cc: V. Rev. Paul Schneirla
t
t
The World Council of Churches
The WCC still faces resistance from Conservative Christians and
others and has certainly lost much of its prestige. The 1975 Assembly in
JimKarkenny gives TEEN SOYO report.
Nairobi has been well covered by some of the American Orthodox
delegates, notably Father Thomas Hopko.
A major breakthrough at Nairobi was the hesitant and tentative, but
nonetheless real, raising of the question of religious and other freedoms
in the Marxist bloc. The long placid silence in the face of continuing
religious oppresion in the Moscow-orbit colonies and Russia combined
with support of revolutionary movements in western colonial territories
had exhausted the creditability of the WCC with all by the self-interested.
Two Orthodox bodies in the USA hold individual memberships, i.e.
apart from the participation of "Mother churches." The OCA is one and
our Archdiocese is the other; the remaining jurisdictions in America are
included through parent bodies abroad. Our membership dates from
1954when the late Patriarch Alexander, acting in harmony with the then
outspoken anti-WCC position of the Moscow Patriarchate, refusing to
join, Metropolitan Antony joined for this Archdiocese. He considered
his action a witness against "Communist" influence in the Church and,
characteristically indicated that membership was his contribution and no
other should be expected.
When the Moscow line changed the Patriarchate of Antioch entered
the WCC and has received generous grants, notably funds for erecting
the lower school at Balamand.
The WCC has no record of any contributions from the Patriarchate
but has persistently requested support from our Archdiocese. Just this
spring Metropolitan Philip accepted the proposal of this Department
that some budget be alloted to the WCC and $200 is the initial pledge.
While much of the policy and focus of the WCC cannot commend itself
to Orthodox in the democratic bloc, its record of marshalling assistance
in deprived areas is deserving of support. Nor can the potentiality of the
WCC as a stimulant, catalyst and forum for Christian reunion be
discounted just yet.
Ecumenical Commission
The Ecumenical Commission of the Standing Conference sponsors
on-going theological dialogues with Romas Catholics and Episcopalians
and our Archdiocese is represented on both Orthodox teams by the
Director and on the Anglican dialogue by Dr. Robert Haddad of Smith
College as well.
At the conclusion of his report FATHER SCHNEIRLA read a letter
from Metropolitan Philip which made his report on the World Council of
Churches inaccurate. He then read a Religious News Service release for
July 22, 1976 which should be of great interest to the Convention. They
follow.
NAC SOYO report is given by President Gary Younes.
Page 12
The Word
July 21, 1976
The Reverend Charles H. Long, Jr.
Executive Secretary
World Council of Churches
475Riverside Drive, Room 439
NewYork, New York 10027
"Dear Reverend Long:
.
Grace and peace to you in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ.
November, 1976
RELIGIOUS EWS SERVICE
FOREIGN SERVICE
THUR DA y
L 22, I 97
WORLD COUNCIL ALLOCATES $20,000
•
FOR INDONESIA, LEBANON RELIEF
"GENEY A -:- The Commission on Inter.Church Aid of the Refugee
and World Service of the World Council of Churche ha allocated
$20,000 for relief work in Indonesia and Lebanon.
The second grant of $10,000 went to Antiochian Orthodox Archbishop Ilyas Kurban of Tripoli to assist the 35,000 person di placed in
Tripoli by the continuing Lebanese civil war.
Goal of a Lebanon aid appeal has been raised by the wee from
$135,000 to $500,000.
Tripoli relief aid has gone to both Muslims and Chri tian in need, the
archbishop told WCC officials. He sailed to Cyprus recently on a cargo
boat to report on the Tripoli situation to the Emergency Relief Office of
the Middle East Council of Churches."
Moved by MARGARET HOWEL, Grand Rapids and seconded by
LUCILLE BARKET, Oklahoma City the Report was unanimously accepted. At the request of ALBERT JOSEPH, Chicago, the last line of the
first paragraph was extended by adding the phrase, "and Metropolitan
Michael."
At the request of FATHER SCHNEIRLA Father Emmert spoke of
his very hospitable reception at the Melkite Conference in the U.S.A.
11. ARCHIMANDRITE MAXIMOS SCHALHOUB, the official
representative of Melkite Archbishop Joseph Taweel, greeted the Convention. (Standing ovation)
12. LOUIS J. COUREY, Chairman, presented the Report of
the Architectural Commission.
The Architectural Commission is now in its 6th year of existence and
we have given assistance in one way or another to 17 Parishes, many
went on to build new edifices.
In these present days of ever increasing inflation, energy limitation .
building material shortages, etc., it has become necessary to use every
source of knowledge and information available when planning and
building, to keep abreast of all innovative ideas and to take advantage of
cost cutting procedures - not only during construction, but al o for the
daily maintenance once the building is completed and occupied.
It has been truly surprising to learn how many of our Parish leader
are unaware that the design and construction of a church and its related
structures is a high refined specialty requiring a special sensitivity that
only a skilled specialist can properly execute. Being a registered
Architect and a "friend" of someone in the Parish does not qualify him in
this specialty.
.
. .
This Commission was born to assist in the early plannmg of a bu1ldmg
program and to avoid pitfalls of the inexperienced per on. Som~ of the
structures that have been built in recent years fall short of tht Com·
mission's expectations, most of which were not submitted for approval.
Hopefully, the future response ~11 im~rove.
. .
Parishes that have not received pnor Comm1ss1on approval arid have
recently been completed or are under construction include:
Page 13
�St. George Church - Paterson, New Jersey
.
St. Michael Church - Greensburg, Pennsylvama
St. Lukes Church-Anaheim, California
St. Marks Church - Youngstown, Ohio
St. George Church - Boston, Massachusetts
St. George Church, Philadelphia, and Chu_rc_h of the Holy
Resurrection, Tucson, have recently purchased existmg churches; we
wish them success.
. .
Parishes that are in the planning stages for new church butldmgs are:
St. Elias Church - Toledo, Ohio
St. George Church - Norwood, Massachusetts
St. Elijah Church - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Incidentally, I have been engaged by these parishes to plan and
design their churches.
.
.
.
This Commission in past years has requested ~formatt~n to mclude in the Resource Manual a compilation of supphes, funuture and
artifacts. We also requested histories and photos of the churches of our
Archdiocese. Your response has been poor. To tho~e w~o. ha~e
responded, we thank you. Later this year, we will agam sohcit this
information; hopefully your response will be more favorable.
Moved by FATHER NICHOLAS SAIK.LEY and seconded by JOHN
DIBS, Beaumont, Tex. the report was accepted unanimously.
13. FATHER JOHN BADEEN presented the Report of Clergy
Insurance and Retirement Committee.
During the 30th Annual Convention_in Louisville, Ky., the ~ommittee
reported on the series of meetings held with the representatives of ~ur
carrier, the Minister's Life and Casualty Union. Our contract with
Minister's Life had been up for renewal since September 1974, and we
had not been able to arrive at an acceptable agreement until July of 1975.
In the interim we continued to pay premiums based on our 1974 contract, with the agreement that we would reimburse the Company t_he
back amount due them when an agreement was arrived at. Our excessive
Claims Losses was our biggest problem. They totaled almost $11,000.
over the premiums paid to the Company for the previous year, and over
$12,000. over the premiums paid for the first six months of the new year.
The final results of these meetings was an increase in our net cost to the
parish and the insured clergyman with a family of $14.00 per month and
an increase for celibate clergymen of $5.00 per month. This increase, by
agreement, was retroactive to February 1, 1976; so that, from September
to February we were covered under the old rate. Following the Convention the parishes were notified of this new agreement and they were
asked to reimburse the Archdiocese Clergy Insurance Fund with the
additional costs from April to that date. The fund absorbed the additional cost from February to April.
On September 17, 1975, the annual renewal date, we received a letter
Life stating:
"We had hoped that
fro m Mr • Earl Hubbard of Ministers'
.
.
. . . the premium adjustment which was put mto ~Hect on September
1
1975, would stem the tide. It has not done so. Claims have continued t~
escalate and irrespective of _our day to day expenses, creation of
reserves, and payment of premmm taxes, we are currently paying out on
a dollar basis six to seven h un?red dollars monthly on the average more
than we are collecting. To ~ut it another wa~, for every dollar that we are
collecting in medical premmms, we are paying out about $1.18 in claim .
cash dollars, not reserves. We again find it necessary to make a ne~
adjustment at this time." Under the new rate the pre~ium for the
medical benefits under the pla~ woulddcost ~s S 102.46 for insured clergy
and dependents per month. This '"'.ou1. _not me 1ude the premiums stillto
be paid for Life Insurance and Disability payments. The premium c t
for a celibate clergyman for medical benefits alone would have be:s
$40.68 per month plus the cost for life insuran_ce and disability. We wer:
finally notified that this rate would be effective on November 1, 1975_
Obviously, we could not meet this cost. We attempted to negotiate with
them to bring the cost to a more satisfactory level, to no avail.
We were forced:
1) To seek another carrier.
2) To make adjustments in our plan that would correct the excessive
claim losses with which we have been plagued from the beginning,
and still provide the necessary adequate coverage.
we contacted a dozen different insurance companies and designed
about as many plans. In every case the carriers were either not interested
in our plans, or the plan they would accept was inadequate. Finally, with
the assistance of Mr. Ted Maloof, of the Gabriel ~aloof and Company, a
satisfactory plan was worked out that the Prudential Insurance Company
of America, agreed to underwrite at a cost that we felt was reasonable
and that we could afford. With the consent of His Eminence
Metropolitan PHILIP we signed a contract with the Prudential on
October 28th, which then went into effect on November 1, 1975, three
days under the wire. All Clergy and Parishes were subsequently notified
of the changes in the plan, the new premium, and the new carrier.
The provisions and the benefits are as follows:
$10,000 Life Insurance provision to age 65 with A.D.&D. at Age 65
the full amount is reduced to $2,000.00.
The Health Care Program is in two parts:
Part I: Provides:
$50.00 per day up to 70 days
Hospital Room and Board
In full up to $1,000.00
Misc. Hospital Expenses
$1,000.00 per Schedule
Surgical Expenses
$100.00
X-Rays and Laboratory
$10.00 per day
Doctor Calls in Hospital
Supplemental Accident Exp. $300.00
(In or Out of Hospital)
Maternity Expenses Benefits:
Normal Delivery
$300.00
Miscarriage
$150.00
Cesarean Section
$600.00
Part II of the Health care package provides:
Following the incurrment of $100.00 of out of pocket expenses, 80
per cent of the excess amount not paid under part one, or not covered
unde~ part one (with exception of maternity benefit) is paid by a Major
medical plan until a total of $2,000.00 of charges have been incurred,
then 100 per cent of all charges will be paid with no limit. Now this
$100.00 deductible will apply for in or out of hospital expenses for each
covered person, or $200.00 per family per year. There is a ceiling of
$20,000.00 for expenses resulting from mental disorders.
Disa-bility Income provisions remain unchanged and are carried by
Ministers' Life and Casualty Union. The contributions for married clergy
and parish per month for the total package is $65.00. The contributions
for the celibate clergy and parish remains at $46.00. Our over~all e~perience under the new plan has been excellent. During the fmt_six
months of the program there was confusion and some misunderstandmg.
These have been pretty well ironed out.
A plus feature in the Prudential program which helps our problem,
even more than the adjustment we made in the basic plan, is the fact that
our claims loss ratio will no longer be computed on the basis of our own
group claims experience alone, but will be merged into the overall group
experience of Prudential. During the year ending June 30, 1976, the two
companies paid out a total of $47,600.00 in medical claims. The largeSt
portion of these claims was paid by the Ministers' Life and Casualty
Union.
RETIREMENT
A OCWN A President Pauline Malouf presents Charity
Drive contribution to the Metropolitan.
Page 14
,
ru
The Archdiocese currently pays an amount equal to 40 % of our tot
insurance costs, up to $25,000.00. We try to apply as much of this sum to
The Word
_ Clergy Retirement Fund as we can. We once again are most pleased
our
•
wth f
•
. h the encouragmg gro
o our rettrement fund. We refer you to
wit 20 and 21 of the annual Financial Report of the Antiochian
• •
A re hd'iocese F"isca l Year ending January 31 1976
Pagesd ox Chnsttan
OrthO
.
•
,
•
Wewould especially hke to thank the Treasurer of our Archdiocese, Mr.
Theodore R. Mackoul, for the hard work he puts in on our investment
ortfolio.
.
P During the past ~e~r we have contmued to make studies and review
Retirement Provis10ns. We have checked the Retirement Program of
ohurGreek Archdiocese,
the Carpatho-Russian Archdiocese
the
te
.
•
Methodist Clerg~ R~tuement Fu~d, an~ ot~ers, and we have instituted
uidelines that will flt our own umque sttuatton. These guidelines will be
g ·1edto all clergy covered under the Fund.
rnat
d
.
We have complete
an actuana 1 study of our Retirement Program.
This was reported on at the last Archdiocesan Board Meeting with the
ommendation that the Retirement Age be reduced from age 70 to age
~~c and the Retirement _Pro:isions in~rease from $100.00 per month to
S!S0.00per month. :his will b~ reviewed as an. on-goi~g matter, and
hopefully upward adjustments _wtllbe made from time to time depending
onthe funds growth and actuanal changes.
In closing, I want to thank Rt. Rev. Antoun Khoury for his time and
effortsin behalf of th~ Clergy Insura?ce Committee, Miss Kathy Meyers
for handling the routme day to day msurance problems and, of course,
His Eminence for his keen interest in clergy welfare and his active
participation and counsel in the Insurance Committee work.
Moved by REV. ZACHARIA NASR, Beckley, West Virginia,
seconded by FATHER ANTHONY SABBAGH of St. Mary's, Wichita.
ABRAHAM CURY, Yonkers, N.Y. How about insurance on Church
buildings?JOHN KHOURI - my advice is, don't get involved right now.
FATHER BADEEN. We have 3 or 4 companies that are interested. We
sent out a questionnaire to parishes. We are working on this. Only 27
parishes sent replies, if you are interested reply to our questionnaire, we
hope to be able to move into this field to the benefit of all concerned.
RECESS FOR LUNCH 1:30-2:30p.m.
14. FATHER GABRIEL ASHIE presented the Report of the
Department of Missionary
Activities
and Future Parish
Development.
"You shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, in all
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."
(Acts 1:8)
In this Bicentenniel year of the United States of America, our
thoughts are filled with the reasons that each of us hold as to the
greatness of this land and of the spirit of those who sacrificed t? insu~e
its growth and prosperity. In no less measure are we ever remmded m
the Church of the Spirit of true sacrifice that must possess our ~ttent~on
to the work of founding new mission parishes in all parts of this nation
and Canada. We witness to our Lord by always taking to heart the grand
commission ... "to go unto all nations."
For nearly ten years this Department of Missions and Future Pa~sh
Development has, when called upon, sought to serv~ ne~ly-formn~g
communities within our Archdiocese. The three mam aims of this
Department of Missions remain the same, as at the time of its inception:
I) Determine the location, through our Metropolitan and clergy, of new
mission parishes in this Archdiocese.
2) Offer the means of support and encouragement to have them
established.
3) Encourage by all means possible - the education of the members of
this Archdiocese as to the great need for new parishes!
During the past nine years of this department, always encouraged and
inspired by Metropolitan Philip, many new missions have b~en fo~nded
- and the greater part have gone on to become self-suppor:tmg pansh:s.
Somehave had slow growth, others have had a "plateau" exist_ence, ~hile
others just strive to exist. Too often patience is not a practiced vrrtue,
and local conditions
both economic and otherwise - prevent a
"mission" from growi~g as the faithful few would enjoy. Always before
us is the example of our Lord who chose "twelve", who changed th e
empire and took the redeeming message of Christ to every comer of th e
globe.
• past year we assisted
.
• •
although limitations
This
a num b er o f missions,
.
_
of distance make it difficult to give aid other than by wntten com
munication together with sources of assistance to these new a nd
struggling communities.
.
One of our "missions" this past year, "graduated" t?full pansh s~atus,
that of St. Philip's of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, proclaimed so by Bishop
November, 1976
Fonner editor of THE WORD, Fr. Paul Schnelrla
receives a souvenir from the Archdiocese.
Elia during his visit to that community. In this same categor i that of t.
George of Jacksonville, Florida, which is prospering. Indeed, our
greatest "potential" appears to be many new mission center in the tale
of Florida, and especially the fast-growing orthern parts of that tale.
The active So. Eastern deanery is encouraging missions of t. ichola .
of St. Petersburg; St. John the Baptist, of Sanford; St. Jude, of Daytona
Beach; and St. Ignatius of Antioch, of Tampa. The Macon-Raton area of
Florida is also receiving some attention as a potential mission area.
The Central States Deanery is looking into the Knoxville, Tenn. area
as a possible new Orthodox mission area, and what more commendable
"project" for any Deanery than a founding of a mission. In We t
Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y., the Annunciation Orthodox Mission
meets in this suburban community. On the opposite end of the nited
States mission activity in the coming year will be realized in potential
areas within Northern and Southern California.
This Department consistently makes enquiries of all clergy and
trustees as to their knowledge of areas where a "nucleus" of Orthodox
faithful might be encouraged to begin a mission. And again, we appealed
to every parish and priest for a list of unused liturgical appointments and
church furnishings which might be used in new missions. It is our hope to
have an inventory of items that a struggling mission might enjoy.
We would be remiss if we did not note that this Department in
cooperation with our Western Rite department must be prepared for any
existing "community" or individuals which as a group might embrace
Orthodoxy from present non-Orthodox areas.
.
.
Only the continued interest of mission-minded ~lergy and laity will
encourage new mission work in the years ahead. This Dep~~ment r_nu~.
soon be headed by a travelling celibate clergyman who 1_nthe field
gives of himself to this worthy aspect of o~ ~rthod_ox expenen~e. W_hat
greater gift in love can be given by any e~istmg pansh than to giv, b1rt?,
to a new mission in a nearby area. Expenence has proven that a lo~al
mission will draw the nearby faithful to worship, with manifold ble mg
to all who sacrifice and endure!
Vitally, we of this Archdiocese need to b~ ~etter infor~ed and, ye
to capture the "spirit" of the Grand Comm1ss1on_of Chnst, ':ho_ commanded us, ''To go to all nations". The greatest g~ft of our faith m our
Lord, and yes ... in our nation, would be_to dedicate ourselve to the
founding of many new missions as we begm the next _h~ndred ye~~s of
this country. Too many of us are indifferent to the mt tonary spmt_ of
the Church, and overly-occupy ourselv~s ~th "o~r'_' c?mmumt •
becoming parochial in nature, rather that thmkmg and livmg m term _of
the Church . . . the "ecclesia" . . . the people of God concerned W1th
others!
Once before I noted, that while being introduced at a SO:? conference, your chairman was introduced as "Chairman of t_heMis~i_onary
Archdiocese." This in all truth is the title ~four Me~ropohtan Philip and
is the finest and most rewarding of all tt~les.
his tenth year a _our
our Lord continue to bless htm with health, that he might
pre la t e may
.
•
t ,
lead for many years a mission minded Archdiocese • . • m a 11re pee
And, that we might say in the spirit of Isaiah, the prophet:
7
!n
Page 15
�"Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and
commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call nations that you know not, and nations
that knew you not shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God ... for He has glorified you."
Moved by MICHAEL KALY, Holy Cross, Canton, Ohio, and
seconded by JANICE JACOBS, Iron Mountain, Michigan, the report was
accepted. FATHER ABBOUD When any mission needs an item St.
Nicholas' Cathedral will provide. Metropolitan Philip is considering very
seriously a full-time traveling missionary priest as soon as we find the
right individuals. Money is not a big problem, we can always raise money
from our generous people for a good cause.
15. FATHER JOSEPH ALLEN presented the Report of the
Commission of Continuing Pastoral Education and Spiritual
Vocations.
Continuing
Pastoral Education (CPE) Workshops
Louisville, 1975, saw the completion of our third annual Archdiocese
pastoral workshop with the theme: Pastoral Healing: Ourselves and
Others. On Monday evening we met with clergy and wives to jointly
explore the various problems of the pastoral vocation. Problems of
loneliness, continual moves, family identity, discontent, etc., were
covered in a discussion format.
On Tuesday, from Liturgy to Vespers the priests spend this entire
time together, away from the remainder of the conference. At those
sessions we delved into the problem of HEALING. The morning session
focused on healing of SELF (Depression, self-image, etc.) and was chaired
by Dr. John Dalack. The sesond session dealt with healing of OTHERS,
(repentance, guilt, counseling, etc.) and was chaired by Rev. James
Kenna.
THIS YEAR: San Francisco 1976
At the time of this report, we will have completed the fourth Archdiocese Conference Workshop. The theme this year is PASTORAL
SENSITIVITY TO THE DYING. The morning session will have two
distinct sections: 1.) Theory and Theories presented by V. Rev. James
Meena which will be a presentation of the various "stage" theories, e.g.
Kubler-Ross's Five Stage Theory, and 2.) Pastoral Sensitivity, presented
by myself, which focuses upon our action as pastors in light of the
various theories. The afternoon session, following lunch which will have
been brought in to the clergy, will revolve around the sensitive st
• an mcura
•
bl e d"isease. presented on film
ory of
young boy afflicted with
.. a
entitled: "You See, I've Had a Life." Both the morning and aft 'It is
sessions will be followed by in-depth discussion groups.
ernoon
~HE WORD is also the official ,oice of our r hdi ce e nd
~uc '. must speak on its behalf and reflect the w rk of the
hdi e e
lts hterarchs depa t
t
•
ma
.
' .. r_~e~ s, c 1ergy and laity. In our con ept of th'
gtI~zme,such official material can and mu t be pre emed in an tt rac ve and readable ma
E 1 • •
. .
oner. cc e 1ast1cal edict and ann uncemenr
mean nothing tf the faithful do not read them!
Finally and pe h
·
. .
d
,
r aps most importantly, wnhm our philo~ ph,· of this
e~ ~avor, ~e f~el that THE WORD mu. t keep before i1 ihe~ p i 1
mission which, mdeed, is its ow11:to carry lhe \ ORD OF GOD
h
world THE WORD • f
to t e
•
is,_a ter all, an organ of 1he B dy of hri t in
general_, an~ our Archdiocese in particular. All ocher oncern would
~ean httle tf we neglect this fundamental fact that we re procl iming
ose ~ruths abo~t the Holy Orthodox Chri tian Faith. Tho e truth . in
turn,(fmd roots 10 the Easter Go pel: "In the beginning wa the \\'ord
: • • hand ) th at was the true light, which lighteth e, ery man that ometh
mto t e world ... " (John 1: 1 and 9).
W But th e att~mpts at fulfilling this task fail unle the faithful help u
CLERGY-LAITYDIALOGUE
This year, after a request from the conference floor in Louisvill
will present a clergy-laity dialogue. This will have been presented we
0
Monday Evening and will revolve around the Priest's view of hi·e
•
•
• a greater awareness
mse1
f
and a layman 's vi~w
o f t h e P nest,
t h us a 11owmg
of
the Priestly Vocat10n.
°
SPIRITUALVOCATIONS
The slide and tape presentation which attempts to inform and ins .
•
• th oo d , h ~s b. een sh ?wn tn
• ma1:1ypan~hes
•
pire
candidat~s
to t h e P nes
this past
year. This aspect of our Commiss10n, which works m con Junction with
Youth Director Willian_i Essey, needs the help of every parish and priest.
This show is always available.
Expanding our sco~e of spiritual vocati_ons to include every Orthodox
Christian (since by virtue of our Baptism we all have a Christia
"vocation"), Three Family Enlivening Sessions will have been presente~
at various Parish Life Conferences; Mid-West, New England and Eastern
Regions. The Family Enlivening Sessions are TOTAL FAMILY EXPERIENCES which range from th~ young children through the teens
and into the adult years. The focus is upon the Orthodox family and lifestyle in which we all are called ("vocation") to be continuously enlivened
to Christ! Since we are working at various age levels, it requires a "team"
of persons working together. We thank all those who have been members of our enlivening team!
. fe cannot do It alone. And perhaps the be t way to begin that help i to
10 orm you of the following facts:
•
Somedelegates speak . . .
educational and vital experiences for our priests, (and this extends even
outside our own Archdiocese) their efforts will truly be rewarded.
-to various memb~rs of this commission for their help and advice.
-to clergy and laity who have worked with me in increasing our
possibilities.
-to Metropolitan Philip, for his continued understanding of our
pastoral challenge in America.
We ask your prayers in this endeavor.
Moved by FATHER BASIL SADAKA and seconded by MRS.
PAULINE MALOOF, Bergenfield, New Jersey. The report was
unanimously accepted.
FATHER JAMES MEENA. We ought to take this opportunity in
meeting with the head of this department at our workshops and to thank
him for enriching our ministry and adding dimensions to our priestly life.
METROPOLITAN PHILIP. The minutes should reflect the comments of
Father Meena.
PASTORALLETTER
This qu;itterly letter, which focuses upon the pastoral life of the
priesthood, has had, surprisingly, over-whelming responses from clergy
and laity, both within and without our Archdiocese. It is being sent to the
various Orthodox Seminaries in this country and is used in connection
with classes in Pastoral Theology. The LETTER is also used, not only on
an individual basis, but in Orthodox Clergy Groups and deaneries
throughout the country in an effort to focus and discuss the pastoral
challenge. I would like to thank those of our Archdiocese who have
given me encouragement, feedback and opinions this past year. I must
also thank those in the Greek Archdiocese and the Orthodox Church in
America for their encouraging response. Obviously there is a vital need
for this kind of dimension in our vocation.
16. METROPOLITAN
PHILIP welcomes
a distinguished
member of the Trustees, Mike Dannous, former Mayor of
Toledo, Ohio. Also welcomed Zach Howard, former pres. of
Trustees of Toledo. Mr. Howard serves on Dept. of
Stewardship,
a humble and kind man worthy of our
Christian respect.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Other activities which this commission coordinated (and as presented
in toto in the last Pastoral Letter) are summarized as follows:
April 8: The coordinator attended and responded to a presentation at
St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary. The presentation, given by Father
Charles Brandt (accepted into the Orthodox Church on Great Saturday)
dealt with "The Problem of Psychotherapy in Pastoral Care."
April 29: The coordinator accepted the chairmanship, as part of the
Chaplaincy Committee of Englewood (N .J .) Hospital, of The Doctor·
Clergy Conference, which presents three conferences a year for doctors
and pastors.
May 5: The coordinator presented a paper, "The Orthodox Priestly
Consciousness in the 70's and 80's," at a conference of Bishops and
Priests of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese at the Holy Cross Greek
Orthodox School of Theology.
June 7-9: The coordinator functions at the request of Bishop
Theodosius, with Father Alexander Leon (Dean), in preparing a two-day
Pastoral Workshop for priests in the Pittsburgh-Eastern
Ohio area
(OCA). Title: "The Priestly Identity: The Problem and Challenge."
June 23: Functioned as coordinator, at the request of Father James
Meena, of a Pastoral Workshop for priests in the Antiochian Arch·
diocese in the Mid-West. Held in Cleveland, the title is "Pastoral Care in
Relation to St. Ephraim the Syrian's Prayer."
FIRSTSCHOLARSHIPPRESENTED
Our first graduate scholarship was granted this year to Rev. Con·
sta?tine Masood who is engaged in graduate work in Pastoral Co~nsehng. His Thesis is entitled: Spiritual Life of the Family and deals with
various problems and considerations of the contemporary family.
Fr. John Namie bids for the 1978 Convention in Houston
Texas ..... and wins!
'
Page 16
SPECIAL THANKS
-to the National Ladies Organization of this Archdiocese (AOW~A)
for their encouragement and financial support. If we continue to provide
The Word
17. VERY REV. GEORGES. COREY and REV. JOSEPH ALLEN
presented the report of the Department of the WORD.
J
j
I
,
YourEminences, Your Grace, delegates and friends:
Since we have become the new editors of THE WORD last February,
we have tried to make the magazine a dynamic and innovative one. In
order for any journal to be a dynamic source, it is necessary that it speak
what we want it to speak. This means that we as editors must go out to
persons and writers, requesting what we wish them to write for the
magazine. We will not haphazardly place into the magazine any articles
that come our way, nor will we print dated material, e.g., an event which
has happened nine months ago in one of our parishes. The crucial difference between a dynamic and passive magazine is that a passive
m~gazine, unlike our present attempts, does not specifically say what the
editors want it to say and that any material will easily be used.
In this same sense of making THE WORD dynamic and innovative,
we also felt that the layout and style were important. All material has to
be scrutinized: subtitles added, quotes isolated, language adjusted,
s_paceconsidered, print varied and in general it must at first glance look
hke a magazine that one would be anxious to open. The most difficult
task. is keeping the magazine to within the twenty-eight (28) pages
reqmred.
A dynamic magazine must get to its readers in the first two weeks of
the n_ionth (and preferably in the first week!). This means that we are
working some six weeks in advance, e.g., this being the end of July the
September issue is already at the printers. There is something special in
recei~ing a magazine at the proper time. Of course, we need everyone's
help 10 accomplishing this phase of our work.
November, 1976
1. Th~ faithful and Department Chairmen are encouraged 10 write
articles f~r THE WORD, of interest to reader of all ag group nd
levels of hfe. However, the editors have the right to refuse to print a
well as to edit all articles.
2. Articles su~mitted m~st be typed, double-spaced and igned by the
author. Articles ~elatmg to parish activitie mu t be endor ed b th~
pastor of that pansh.
3. Photos are encouraged; however they must be clear, black and white
glossy photos.
4. We h~ve already requested each Pastor and Parish Council to app int
~ parish reporter and subscription manager. Two articles of pecial
importance per year from each parish of the Archdiocese 1 ufficient: Sub~criptions on the parish level are badly needed. Poster
are be10g pnnted as well as subscription forms and these Wlllbe ent
to the parishes this Fall.
5. Su?scriptions to THE WORD in February 1976 (when we became
editors) were 2900. As of July 1, 1976, subscriptions have increa ed to
3200. This is far below what subscriptions should be in an Archdioce~e of our size and importance to the life of Orthodoxy in
Amenca. We are sorry to report that there are Parish Council
chairpersons, Archdiocese Board of Trustees members, influential
and dedicated laymen in our parishes who do not subscribe to THE
WORD. We regret to announce that our Canadian subscriptions
amount to just a little over one hundred names.
6. Because of the soaring costs of printing, we are compelled to increase
the subscription rates of THE WORD, beginning in January J977.
This is the first increase since 1905 (in Arabic) and 1957 (in English).
Subscription rates in 1977 will be as follows: $8.00 per year (ten
issues) for U.S.A. and Canada. $10.00 per year (ten issues) for foreign
countries. If those in the U.S.A. and Canada subscribe for a three
year period, a $3.00 discount will be given. ($21.00 for a three year
period).
7. There are three parishes of the Archdiocese that subscribe for threefourths of their parish: Pittsburgh, Pa., Bridgeville, Pa., Cleveland,
Ohio. A special rate of $7.00 per subscription will be given to them
and to any parish that subscribes and pays for three-fourths of their
congregation (families). This is the ideal situation and will somehow
guarantee a future for THE WORD in our Archdiocese. We should
have between 7,000 and 10,000 subscriptions to this publication. Thar
is our goal!
8. This Convention in San Francisco will be your last opportunity to
subscribe to THE WORD at the old rate of $5.00. On your delegates
tables, SOYO has provided subscription envelopes which you may
use today - and please include your remittance! Copies of the June
issue can also be found there and we commend it to your good
reading and constructive criticism.
9. As part of this report to our beloved hierarchs, the Board of Trustees
and the delegates assembled here, we recommend the following:
(a) The editorship of THE WORD should be a full time position if we are
to realize our goals of good public relations and education.
(b) Part time secretarial help is needed to expedite matters for the
printer and to take care of subscriptions, billings, etc.
(c) A good public relations job is needed if we are to get the magazine in
the home of every Orthodox family in our Archdiocese. This takes
proper financing. Our budget is presently $15,000.00 - far below
what is needed ($50,000) to make our magazine one of the finest
Orthodox periodicals in the world.
10. The Editorial and Publication Office has been moved from Berwick,
Pa., and Brooklyn, New York to Pittsburgh, Pa., where one of the two
Page 17
�Father Joseph Allen, ~~airman of. the DeJ?artment of Continuing
Pastoral Education and Spmtual Vocation, has mformed us of the Work
accomplished to date:
Three National Pastoral Workshops
t. Atlanta, 1973- Pastoral Syndromes
2. Montreal, 1974 - Authority and Dedication
3. Louisville, 1975 - Healing of Self and Others
or listen intently . . .
editors can oversee the printing. The work of the magazine has been
evenly divided between the two editors wh_oc_onsu!ton all phases of
the magazine before each printing. Penodic tnps a_re _made to
Englewood or Pittsburgh for consultation~. !he n~w Editonal Board
and Technical Staff has proven invaluable 10 its assistance.. .
.
May we take this opportunity to thank Metropolitan ~hihp for ~is
confidence and trust in us in this holy endeavor. The Archdiocese Office
Staff has been of tremendous help to us. The Editorial Board has met and
made some important contributions that will soon be implemented. We
thank the parish reporters, subscription managers an~ all those who have
and will soon contribute articles to THE WORD. F10ally we thank the
former editor, Father Paul Schneirla, for his guidance and direction "to
two guys trying to make good". Remember it took two of us to replace
one of him!
FATHER PAUL SCHNEIRLA moved that the Report be accepted
with a vote of approbation for the fine work done by the two new editors
and seconded by FATHER ANTONY BEAUCHAMP the report was
unanimously accepted.
WALTER SEKAL Y, delegate Beaumont, Texas announced his
parish pays for 100% of subscriptions for the families of parish.
METRO POLIT AN PHILIP presented a bound copy of THE WORD
for 1975 to Father Paul Schneirla.
18. MRS. PAULINE MALOOF, National President, presented
the Report of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of
North America.
At the Thirtieth Annual Convention held in Louisville on July 23,
1975 our By-Laws were adopted after being submitted by Father John
Badeen. A resolution was also submitted to amend the name of the
Executive Board from National Board to North American Board in order
to more properly identify the Canadian, as well as American,
representation in our organization.
Our major charitable goal this past year has again been Continuing
Pastoral Education and Spiritual Vocation under the capable supervision
of Shamseh Dalack. Our Treasurer, Nellie Mackoul has collected the
total sum of $17,765.19, which was received as follows:
Can-Am Region
$ 685.00
Eastern Region
$7,300.00
Mid-West Region
$2,575.00
New England Region
$2,285.30
South West Region
$ 785.37
Western Region
$1,134.52
I would like to personally thank two very dedicated members of our
Archdiocese for their most generous contributions this past year;
namely, Claire Ajamy of Detroit who donated $1,000.00 and George
Karram of Hawthorne, New Jersey for his donation of $2,000.00. May
God continue to bless these individuals and grant them many years in
good health.
Page 18
Produced a slide presentation w~ch can be u~ed for acquainting and
inspiring candidates to semmary education
and the spiritual
vocations.
Produced and operated at three family life conferences, Family
Enlivening Ses_sions which .~r~ ~eared to~ard laymen ..at_the~e conferences. This is part of the spmt~al vocatlo~ program smce lt deals
with Orthodox Christian Lifestyle 10 the vocation of each lay person.
Published four quarterly pastoral letters whic~ can_ be read ~dividually
or used by Deaneries or other groups of pnests 10 explormg Pastoral
Care.
.
..
F ther Joseph has also reported that the first recipient of the scholarship
g;anted by CPE wa~ F~ther Constantine Masood of St. George's Church
of Spring Valley, Illinois.
.
Our membership now cons_ists of 70 local chaJ?ters, . representing
pproximately a 68% participation by the total panshes 10 our Arch~iocese. We must increase our membership to !00%and I again appeal io
our Beloved Clergy for their help. You must impress on the women of
our Parish the need for their full active participation through their
~egions. It is only with full unity, cooperation and love that we can
achieve total and complete involvement. We are ~11working towards a
common goal for the betterment of Orthodoxy 10 North America. I
respectfully direct your attention_ to the ~~tte~ dated January 28, 1976in
which His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip 10structed the Clergy and
Parish Councils to cooperate in every way with AOCWNA and to not
interfere in any way with our national fund-raisin~ dri~es.
This year, Elaine Karram and I attended Pansh Life Conferences for
Can-Am Region in Toronto, Ontario; Mid-West Region in Cleveland,
Ohio; New England Region in Sturbridge, Massachuse_tts; and Eastern
Region in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1:hes_e meetmgs. were . very
productive and both Elaine and I were qmte rmpressed with their accomplishments.
We were blessed last year by the further unification of Orthodoxy
when the Toledo Parishes joined our Archdiocese, and I would like to
personally welcome and invite their L~dies Or_ganizations to becom~ part
of AOCWNA by joining their respective Regions. We are all workmg as
one to enhance the role of women in Orthodoxy and their participation
would indeed be welcome.
At this time I would like to personally and sincerely thank my
Officers and Committee Chairmen for their help and devotion. Indeed,
how does one even begin to say "thank you" to the Officers of this
organization and to all those ladies through this Archdiocese who met
the calling so enthusiastically? Such "thank you" is certainly in order,
and yet, one must say more than "thank you", because we have only
begun to "take up the Cross". I would like to extend my love and
gratitude to:
Shamseh Dalack - Vice President
Nellie Mackoul
- Treasurer
Elaine Karram
- Secretary
Helen Rihbany
- Public Relations
Shaseh Dalack
- Project Committee
Gladys Laham
- Cultural Committee
Elaine Saliba
- Humanitarian Committee
Helen Sahadi
- Membership Committee
Pearl Nahass
- Religious Committee
Nellie Mackoul
- Finance Committee
Sally Rihbany
- Surveys
st d as one of his greatest deeds. We cannot let this creation be a
an
temporary
one; we mu~t c on f~nue t ~ "lay up treasur~s ' ' for the Kingdom
f Heaven toward which His Emmence has contmuously turned his
\ rts. I am most grateful to him for his love, guidance and inspiration
: ;ing my term in office. My grateful thanks are also extended to Father
Jichael Simon and. Father John Badeen for their help and understanding._ My special thanks to Kathy Meyer for her ever cheerful
help and assistance.
.
I have been deeply honor~d to serve as the first President of our
nderful AOCWNA and wish my successor a most fruitful and
:~aningful term. I stand ready at all times to assist her in any way I can.
And so, as I conclude my second year as President of the Antiochian
Women, it is both with a sense of ending and a sense of beginning. It is an
ding in which I say, truly, thank you to all who helped; it is a beginning
~ which I can only remind all of us to continue to take up our Cross.
There is no other way to follow the command which St. Paul wrote to the
Thessolonians; "so then, brethren, let us stand firm and hold to the
traditions which you were_taught b~ us ... " (II~hess. 2:~5) .
In addition, I would hke to briefly summanze the highlights of our
Third Annual AOCWN A Meeting which took place yesterday.
All six Regions were fully represented at our workshop, and our
"Lunch with the Archbishop" was most gratifying with 160 women in
attendance.
Our Charity Project for the year 1977 will be "The Balamand
Theological Academy", and our goal will be $25,000 with all of your
help. Please support your Women's Societies in this endeavor.
Our future looks very bright. Our new slate of officers from the MidWest Region was well received and we are proud at this time to present
them to you. Our new President and her Executive Board will have our
backing and guidance. May I present the new officers of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women of North America:
President
1st Vice President
2nd Vice President
Treasurer
Rec. Secretary
Public Relations
Corresp. Secy.
The Word
Elsie Kaleel, Youngstown, Ohio
Ethel George, Cleveland, Ohio
Gwenna Haddad, Charleston, W. VA.
Adele Abraham, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Frieda Lewis, Detroit, Mich.
Ruth Meena, Cleveland, Ohio
Laurice Kaleel, Youngstown, Ohio
We now "pass on the torch" to these dedi~ated w~men _who h~ve
accepted this challenge, and we pray that Gods Blessmgs will be with
them always.
MRS. PAULINE MALOOF presents Metropolitan Philip with a
check for $18,000 as the annual gift of AOCWNA. METROPOLITAN
PHILIP presents to Pauline Maloof thanks to all the ~omen of the Archdiocese. Metropolitan Philip will give a S_ch~larship t~ one or m~re
clergy. He presents a Certificate ~f Mentonous Service to Pauline
Maloof. (Standing ovation by entire assembly) Moved by SALLY
RIHBANY, Boston, Mass., and seconded by SHAMSEH ~ALACK, St.
Mary's, Brooklyn. Vice-President of AOCWNA to tell Paulme how much
we all owe her for all the work done. FATHER ANTONY
BEAUCHAMP wants to Third the motion so men will be represented for
all work women do in all parishes!
Without the love and dedication of these women we could not have
accomplished our tasks.
I would also like to express special thanks to my Regional Presidents
for their excellent cooperation and effort:
Grace Aswad
- Can -Am Region
Evelyn Koury
- Eastern Region
Julia Kafoure
- Mid-West Region
Nora Matook
- New England Region
Evelyn Farha
- South West Region
Mary Dibs
- Western Region
•
Also, how does one say "thank you" to Metropolitan
P hT
i ~p?• His
.
guiding hand during these past few years has led us to new height;.~
Orthodoxy, and in patricular, has directed the creation of o~r ir:t
National Ladies Organization. Certainly, of all that he has done, this mu
-
or do needlepoint.
19. MR. ALBERT JOSEPH, Choirman presented the Report of
the Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.
The Order has prepared an explanatory booklet; 40,000 printed v.ill
be distributed to all the Archdiocese. The Oraer of t. I natiu of
Antioch is now in being. The first meeting of thi Order will be in tituted
and blessed at the Divine Liturgy this unda . Decoration v.;u be
conf_erred by the Patriarch next year. On unday new member v.;11be
admitted and must have 3 qualities, ( 1) good tanding a
hri tian
(2) desire to be of assistance (3) ability to do that on a continuin ba is in
a financial way. Annually a gift of $500 or $1,000; the cau e mentioned
so far need money. Missionary work, vi it of Patriarch Elia , or a large
amount to the clergy retirement fund. We can take care of that. e have
25 members so far. We want about 250 by year end. e will organize
not on parish levels but on SOYO regions.
Moved by JAMES KARKE
Y, President of AC Teen OYO and
seconded by RICHARD 0. JOSEPH, Toledo, Ohio, the Report wa
accepted.
RALPH ABERCIA wants Al Joseph to emphasize the e b ok are to
be delivered into the hands of able people in each pari h. They hould
get into the hands of potential members. We hope the lay leader of the
parishes will distribute them. METROPOLITA PHILIP. I want you to
know that this brochure is the first time we have done this ort of thing in
a professional way. It is very simple and effective. It cost Al Jo eph a
minimum of $10,000 for printing. That's the spirit we have on thi Board.
TED MACKOUL would like to note in addition Al paid the publi her to
the value of $27,000. He has also volunteered to pay $9,000 or SI0,000 in
addition toward the costs of the Order.
20. METROPOLITAN PHILIP announced that Frank Maria
cannot be here. He has asked Dr. Najib Saliba to report on
the Department of Near East and Arab Refugee Affairs.
All year long the tragic civil war in Lebanon hung like a pall o er the
Middle East and as its intensity increased the world continued to be
shocked by the fratricide and destruction of a beautiful country.
Terrible no matter when such a tragedy occurs, it came at a time when
the world and the United States especially were being more receptive to
the Palestine problem and to the justice of the Arab case. uch
diplomacy saw victory in the adaption by the
General
Assembly of the controversial "Zionism is a form of racialism" resolution
and in the inclusion (as the result of a Syrian diplomatic initiative) of the
Palestine Liberation Organization in the deliberations of the
Security
Council. Following the Sinai agreement the Ford Administratio~ w~s
refusing to give in to Israeli and Zionist pressur~s for extra eco_no~,1caid
and there were other signs that American policy was becommg more
evenhanded" such as the president's appointment of Governor William
Scranton to succeed pro-Zionist Patrick Moynihan as U.S. Ambassad_or
to the United Nations. (Governor Scranton's first speech at the Secui:ity
Council was a condemnation of Israel's violations in the occupied
territories as impediments to peace.) More and more America~ leaders
were re-assessing their former pro-Israel attitudes and were callin_gfor a
recognition of the Palestine problem as the root cause of the conf!1ct and
for a negotiating role for the P.L.O. Even Senator Jacob JaV1ts who
visited the Middle East along with a group of senators led_by Sen~tor
James Abourizk became more sympathetic to the Arab desire fo_ra Just
peace. Isra el,s "image" had been tarnished by the results
· ofoelections
· ·on
the West Bank which saw pro-Palestinian Liberation
rganizatton
leaders successful and later was even more damaged by ~he Revolt~
against the Israeli occupation ~nd th_eexposure by the media of Israel!
violence against civilians includmg children.
. .
Pressures were definitely mounting on Isr~el from even wtthm_Isr_ael
as well as without for negotiations toward a fma! peace. Th_econtmumg
and intensifying civil war in Lebanon followtng the failure of one
• after another has served to take the pressure off Israel and has
cease fire
.
1· t . d th
been used in Zionist propaganda to justify Israe 1I po icy ow ar
e
Palestinians and the Arab/ Israeli c?nflict. Conversely, the Arab
"Image" the Palestinian cause, the umty of the Arab world, and the
a use of justice and peace have been hurt by the Lebanese _tragedy. . .
c Lebanon's confessional system gave a religious _dimens1~n.to the c1v!l
war and the press has wrongly portrayed the c?nfhct as religious, th~t is
• •
Chnstian
vs. Mos 1em. However ' the conflict has been essentially
I d
political, economic and social, ~omplicated by external pressures re ate
to the unresolved Arab/ Israeli controversy.
.
.
.
As
A erican Christian organization, the Anttochian Archd1oce e,
t ar°w:Cse parishioners are of Lebanese heritage to whom the
~o:an~se conflict has been a personal and family tragedy, has sought to
Page 19
November, 1976
�provide leadership within the Arab American community, within the
American Christian community, and with reference to the American
government to provide influence for termination of hostilities, a
peaceful resolution of the conflict, and for humanitarian and economic
aid.
The deep concern of this Archdiocese over the tragic situation in
Lebanon expressed in many ways during the year continues, and our
constantly repeated prayers are for an end to the bloodletting and
destruction and that somehow out of the tragedy will rise a stronger and
more united Lebanon which will continue to be a land of religious and
political freedom.
Report of Dept. of Near East - 1976
As has been my practice as Chairman of the Department on Near
East since its creation by His Eminence in 1968, I have sought communications opportunities within the Archdiocese and with His
Eminence particularly. Reports of my activities, including recommendations, have been sent to Metropolitan Philip on a regular basis.
These comprehensive and detailed reports have covered, among other
activities, the triennium meeting of the Governing board of the National
Council of Churches in New York City on October 10-12, 1975; NCC's
Governing Board meeting in Atlanta, Georgia in Feb.-Mar. 1976;
meetings of NCC's Middle East Committee; and efforts toward the
objective of "Save Lebanon". Also, during the year I have had the
privilege of conferring twice with His Eminence, at the Archdiocesan
headquarters in Englewood on January 13, 1976 and at the SheratonLincoln in Worcester, Mass. on May 6, 1976.
I. 1975 Resolutions Make lnternatipnal Impact
The four resolutions on the Near East which were recommended by
the Dept. of Near East and adopted either unanimously or overwhelmingly by the General Assembly at our convention in Louisville last
year were submitted to the President, the Secretary of State, the Senate
and House Foreign Affairs Committees, to other key governmental
leaders, and to the media. A feature article on these four resolutions
("U.S. Reassessment of its Mid-East Policy", "Violations against
Lebanon by Israel", "International Women's Year and the Palestine
Woman", and "A Tribute, to U.S. Senator Charles Percy - 'A Profile of
Courage and Integrity"') appeared in the influential Washington, D.C.
Star-News along with photographs of President Ford and Senator Charles
Percy under the headlines "Antiochians Laud Ford, Percy - Pass 4
Mideast Resolutions". In this conspicuous article William Willoughly,
Religious News Editor, also told of the good news of "2 Churches
Uniting" which took place at the Louisville convention.
As usual the Antiochian resolutions attracted favorable comment in
the Middle East and have been the inspiration or basis for similar
statements by other American organizations.
II. The National Council of Churches
Your chairman continued to attend meetings of the Governing Board
of NCC (October, 1975 - New York City and Feb.-Mar., 1976 Atlanta, _Georgia) an~ meetings of the Middle East Working Group of
NCC. With the election of new officers for the triennium beginning
October 1975, His Eminence became Third Vice President of NCC a
recognition, in part, of the Antiochian role in NCC.
'
The October meeting of the Governing Board saw the election of
new of!icers who fortunately have good informational background on
the Middle East. Dr. William Thompson, Stated Clerk of the
Presbyte~an Ch~rch, ~ t?e n~w president of NCC. At this same meeting
we submitted a hst of distmgmshed Palestinian and other Arab Christians
to the Nominating Committee for consideration for service on the
Governing Board; we helped effect an opportunity for Mr. Gabriel
Habeeb of the Middle East Council of Churches, Beirut, Lebanon to
address t?e Gover~ing Board; and we were able to help bring about a
constructive resolut10n on the tragic situation in Lebanon.
At the_Feb,-~~r. me~ting in Atlanta Rev. Fuad Abu-Akel, Palestinian
Presbyte~an mmister . m charge of Youth Programs for the First
Presb~~rian Church m Atlanta and on my list of recommended
Palestima~ and other Arab _Christians, was nominated and accepted for
membership on the ~ove~mng Board. Dr. Victor Nassar, Palestinian and
a member cf the Antiochian Church in Atlanta, volunteered and served
fo_rone_ day as a prox~ on our delegation. Fr. Paul Scneirla represented
His E~mence at ~eetmgs of the heads of communions and at Executive
Committee meetmgs. Sponsored by the Middle East Committ
M
G a b ne
• l H a b ~ed o_f t h ~ M'ddl
ee,
r.
i e E ast Council of Churches gave a breakfast
talk· on the situation m Lebanon. A resolution in strong support of the
Page 20
United Nations (which was under increasing attack for its adoptio
f
· po 1·itica
• l z·10msm
. wit• h racism
•
n the
resolution equatmg
by American z·
.
and uninformed others) was adopted overwhelmingly. A pr ioniSls
·
· • • • t h e U m"te d Na t·10ns for i't s anti-• z·ionist res oposect
resolution
cnucizmg
01 .
was defeated in the Reference Committee.
Utlon
°
Report of the Dept. of Near East - 1976
Duri~g my week indAtlanta. t~ed~as madAe ~vail~ble to meet and
speak with leaders an groups, me u mg our ntlochian parish and .
. .
•
•
SOYO organization,
to tape a h a lf h our ra d'10 mterview
for Su dIts
programming, and to appear on the widely heard Ring Radio talk sh n ay
The Middle East Working Group of NCC has co-ordinated reli~~-0
Lebanon with the Middle East Council of Churches, has co-spans ~
visitations to the Middle East by religious leaders including one madore
of Jewish and Christian women which had positive results, has condu et~
a ~iddle East A~areness ,Pro~ram, vi~wed the film by Tito Ho:a:d
which I made available on Synan Jews and took exception to the f
that it was not consulted by General Secretary Claire Randall before ~t
letter to the heads of communions went out suggesting participation· e
prayer day for Syria's Jews which it would have disapproved; approm:
projects toward better Christian-Moslem relations, etc. We remin~\
fello_wmembers of MEWG th~t the ~nt_iochian Archdiocese had expe;ts
and mterested persons among its parishioners who would welcome be·
consulted or participating in programs relating to their backgrounds. mg
Ill. On Behalf of Lebanon
Upon invi~ation ?~His Eminence a historic meeting of Middle
Eastern-American spmtual leaders took place at the Antiochian Archdiocese in Englewood, New Jersey on October 14th, 1975, an emergency
conference to discu~~ t~e L~.banes~ crisis toward "stopping the bleeding
wounds of Lebanon . 1 he Standmg Conference of American Middle
Ea~tern Christ~an and Moslem l_eaders" ~as fori_ned with the following
officers: Chairman, Metropolitan
Phihp; Vice Chairman, Imam
Mohamad Jawad Chirri; Secretary General, Bishop Francis Zayek of the
Maronite Church; and Treasurer, Archbishop Joseph Taweel of the
Melkite Church. A meeting with President Ford was to be requested. A
unanimously endorsed statement, "An Appeal to the Lebanese People"
was issued.
On Thursday, April 15, 1976 the Executive Board of this standing
conference met with President Ford to discuss the crisis in Lebanon and
to appeal to the President to use his good office to bring peace to
Lebanon. "Throughout the conversation it was made evident that the
current Lebanese crisis must be viewed within the context of the
unresolved issues that have plagued the Middle East since 1947 and that
it is in the best interest of the United States that there be a just and
durable peace in that troubled part of the world". President Ford stated
that "the Middle East is one of the most potentially explosive spots in the
world today" and he repeatedly underscored
his concern for the
preservation of the territorial integrity of Lebanon.
Following the meeting with the President, a letter of thanks combined with an appeal for the President to use his good offices to mediate
on behalf of Archbishop Cappucci (to save his lfe because of his hunger
strike and his treatment in Israeli jail) signed by the spiritual leaders who
met with President Ford, was sent to the President.
The position of the Archdiocese and its Dept. of Near East on the
tragedy of Lebanon has been non-partisan, with deep concern for all the
Lebanese people and for the independence, unity, and integrity of a
soverign Lebanon and against any partition of Lebanon. We have
repeatedly called for the ending of hostilities and the re-establishment of
p~ace based on the principles of democracy and brotherhood. We have
vigorously sought to maintain Arab American unity on the issue of
Lebanon ~nd have urgently appealed to the American government and
t~e American people for humanitarian aid to the people of Lebanon. We
view the sorrowful situation within Lebanon as related in large part to
the failure of the U.S. Government, especially since 1973, to help bring
about a speedy, just and comprehensive
solution to the chronic
Arab I Israeli conflict based upon United National Resolutions.
Few Americans including Arab Americans understood the complex
Le?~nese situation and the press' simplistic coverage of the civil war as a
religious feud made for misinformation rather than information. We
have tried to meet this challenge in lectures, letters to the editor, official
statem_ents of organizations (National Council of Churches, Antiochian
Archd10cese, National Association of Arab Americans, etc.) radio and tv
programs, discussions with opinion moulders,
etc. We strongly
~ecommend Dr. Najib Saliba's article on Lebanon which was published
m The Word and the pamphlet "The Conflict in Lebanon" by the Middle
East Council of Churches.
The Word
The divisive. Lebanese
crisis
• of the
y
. continues to threate n th e umty
Arab community.
our chairman has been among th
h
,..
f A bA
.
.
.. .
ose w o have
mencan identification
.
.
' unity and m·vo 1vement as
Worked. long or ra
being m th~ _best mterests_ of t~e Umted States, the Middle East and
A.nerican citizens
heritage. Unity is needed i'f we are to h elp
,..,..
. of Arabic
.
ebanon.
As
His
Emmence
brought
together Arab Ameri·c an spmtua
•• 1
.
L
leaders, I have met regularly ~th lay leaders, especially with Dr. Elias
Saadi who heads UJ?
the Maromte lay organization in the United States
and oth~r Maromte leaders •. ~hese meetings have improved understandmg, helped correct mismformation, and improved relations.
our consensus as lay lea~ers has been to do all we can to help stop the
killing, preserve the umty of Lebanon, effect humanitarian
'd
d
.
h
h bT
•
ai ' an
contribute to _t ere a i itatl~n of Le~anon; and we realized that the best
way to d_othis was by ensuring a umted Lebanese and Arab American
community approach to the emergency.
In the _New Englan~ area your chairman for several years now has
been ser':'mg as co-ord1_nator ~f ~eriodic meetings of Arab American
organi~ations, representmg Christian _and Islamic religious backgrounds.
Early m the year I arranged a meetmg of representatives of the Arab
American community in Massachusetts with Senator Edward Kennedy
who is Chairman of t~e Senate Committee on Refugees and Escapees.
The purpose was to discuss developments in Lebanon and to urge his
leadership on behalf of humanitarian aid to the people of Lebanon and
on behalf of the immigration status of Lebanese nationals. Senator
Kennedy along with our own Senator James Abourezk has been most
helpful in effecting emergency aid to Lebanon and in effecting immigration easement for Lebanese nationals. Senator Kennedy has
designated me as his liaison with the Arab American community and I
have continued to work with his office on humanitarian aid and immigration matters.
Generally speaking the attitude of the U.S. Government with
reference to aid and immigration has been helpful. Lebanese nationals
whose visas have expired have been allowed to extend their stays in the
U.S. and delay their return. Preference visas in certain categories have
been made available for immigration to the U.S. and legislation is underway to liberalize immigration to the U.S. for those who wish to leave
or who have to leave Lebanon. The NAAA office in Washington has
been assisting Lebanese nationals in visa and immigration problems.
Because of my activity for many years in the Syrian/ Lebanese
American community during which to the extent of my ability I have
freely aided people with immigration and employment problems, it was
only natural that during this crisis I should get many appeals for help.
In the latter part of 1975 and early 1976 I worked on the implementation of the idea of a Mediation and Conciliation Team of
distinguished Lebanese Americans, representative of each confessional
group, to offer their services to the opposing groups in Lebanon in the
interest of a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The idea did not get very
far.
IV. The Issue of Syria's Jews
Alerted by a letter to His Eminence from the General Secretary of
the National Council of Churches informing the heads of communions of
the decision to co-operate with the Synagogue Council of America by
asking the denominations within NCC to join the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops and the Synagogue Council in designating Sunday,
March 14, as a day of prayer for Syrian Jews; the Archdiocese through its
Archbishop, the chairman of the Dept. of Interreligious Affairs, Fr. Paul
Schneirla, and the chairman of the Dept. of Near East officially
protested this unwise action to NCC and to NCCB. Copies of your
chairman's letters to Mr. William Thompson, President of NCC, and to
Bishop James Rausch, General Secretary of the National Catholic
Conference dated February 20, 1976, were widely circulated and
meetings were held with other religious leaders in and outside of the
Arab American community. Because the leadership of the National
Catholic Conference had decided to actually set aside March 14th a
prayer day for Syria's Jews, the protests which were international
(Middle Eastern Catholic leaders) zeroed in on NCCB. Later when Mike
Wallace of the national news program "60 Minutes" again reported that
there was no discrimination against Jews in Syria. His first program was
met with controversy and disbelief by the Zionist community which put
pressure on Mike Wallace, himself a Jew and a courageous reporter,
~hich he resisted but did agree to make another trip to Syria fo~ an~th~r
Investigation. His second report was even stronger and more firm m its
denial of Zionist charges.
At a luncheon meeting at the Archdiocese headquarters for the
officers of the National Council of Churches His Eminence showed the
film on "Syria's Jews" to further better understanding by NCC leaders.
Neither NCC nor NCCB would have gone along with the request from
Thursday evening's program in honor of Metropolitan
PHILIP.
the Synagog~e Council, had the top officials of these organization
consulted their own experts or denominations who have full information
on the Middle East. Unfortunately the mantle of these two influential
and respected organizations was given to "untruth". The extent and
quali~y.of the protest, ~o':ever, we feel sure will prevent in the future any
repetition of the Christian Church being taken in by Zionist public
relations ploys.
V. The National Association of Arab Americans
Antiochian leadership continues to play a prominent role in the
growth and effectiveness of NAAA. Its two professional staff membel"l>
this last year Tom Ruffin, Executive Director, and Helen Hage, Public
Relations Director, are Orthodox and as is Minor George of Cleveland,
newly elected president. Many Orthodox serve as members of the Board
of Directors, including Fr. James Meena and Fr. John Badeen. I have
served as a member of the Executive Committee from NAAA's inception
and this last year was Chairman of the Resolutions and Planning
Committees. I have attended all meetings of the Executive Committee
and of the Board of Directors, the Mid-Year Conference in Pittsburgh
and the annual convention in Cleveland.
Resolutions adopted unanimously by the Convention in Cleveland
included "Reaffirmation of a previous statement on Lebanon", "BiCentennial Resolution", "Violations of Human Rights by Israel"; "Stop
the Plunder of American Resources", "In Support of Mexico's
Courageous Stand on Zionism", "Stop Zionist Pressure Against
American Enterprise" which were drafted by your chairman.
Fr. James Meena was Program Chairman of the highly successful
Cleveland Convention. One of the seminars which was well received and
attracted press attention was on the topic, "Stake of the American
Christians in the Arab/ Israeli conflict." I had the privilege of
moderating that seminar and presented a paper on "Middle East Issues
of Concern to American Christians". Fr. Bryan Hehir, Associate
Secretary for International Justice and Peace, U.S. Catholic Bishops, and
Mr. Richard Butler, Director of the Middle East Working Group of the
National Council of ChGrches, represented the viewpoint of the Catholic
and Protestant establishment. Rev. John Sutton, Executive Director of
Americans for Middle East Understanding, and Fr. Joseph Ryan of St.
Joseph's Jesuit University in Beirut, also participated in the panel. There
was much participation in the question and answer period.
VI. Internal Communications
This important function has been referred to already. In addition to
what has been already described, while attending the Pittsburgh conference of NAAA, I addressed the parish of St. George's in Bridgeville
following the Sunday service and while visiting relatives in Indianapolis,
I addressed the parish there and also spoke to a meeting of mid-west
SOYO.
VII. Communications with the public
This has involved lectures before various groups and churches,
releases to the press such as the one calling upon the American press to
Page 21
November, 1976
�••
Office and they
. . have advised me that the hearings were very positive
and the officials have pledged to do something to alleviate this
problem. A word of encouragement from you should be sent to
Senators Kennedy and Abourezk as well as telegrams to the President
and Secretary of State.
VI.Consular Sectio~ i~ Beirut
It has been very ?ifflcult. t~. apply for visas at the embassy in Beirut
because of the maccessibihty of the embassy. We have been informed
by the ~epartment of S~ate th~t the Consular Section will be moved
from Beirut a1:'d they will advise us where the records will be sent.
This will al!eviate the problem of gaining access to records and applying f~r visas. .
.
.
.
Additional mfo~at10n wt~ be dissemmated by our office after we have
the opportumty of pulling together all the information as a result of
the many activities and hearings. All hearings thus far have concluded
on a pessimistic note for reaching a peaceful solution in Lebanon.
However, I would ~sk t?at w_eall pray a special petition for the peace
we all seek, keepmg m mmd that "what's impossible for man is
possible with God".
cover fully the debate of the Palestine question by the United Nations
Security Council in January of this year, letters to the editor, !etters_to
government officials and other leaders; conferences and interviews with
church, government, and media leaders; and participation in radio and
television programs.
Following the adoption by the UN of the resolution on Zionism, we
debated a Zionist spokesman on WJAR-T.V. in Providence, Rhode
Island and we were able to produce a half hour t.v. p~ogram fo~,t_heCB~
affiliate in Boston on "Religious Perspective on the Middle East m April
of this year.
Moved by JERRY FARRAH, Flint and seconded by HELEN
RIHBANY, St. George, the report was accepted.
MR. THOMAS RUFFIN is introduced to speak on NAAA. Tony
Thomas speaks on pro bl ems of those who are American Citizens. No
choice but to vote Republican this fall. METROPOLITAN PHILIP
wants the members of NAAA Board to make sure Tom Ruffin continues
on the Board for many years because he is a credit to the office and is
doing an excellent job.
Your Eminence, Metropolitan Philip, Archbishop Michael, Bishop
Elia, Brothers and Sisters:
Today I am going to limit my remarks to the situation in Lebanon and
the activity of the National Association of Arab Americans in response
to the situation.
During the past several months, our office has been deluged with
calls on the tragic situation in Lebanon and most especially the plight of
relatives and friends in Lebanon and the concern for their safety. We
have also had Lebanese citizens who have left Lebanon and are now
stranded in various places such as Athens, Cyprus, Rome, etc. Needless
to say, the situation has been one of the most frustrating that we have
had to deal with simply because the U.S. has not developed any national
policy in this matter and the Lebanese government does not wish its
citizens to leave Lebanon. Also, we at N.A.A.A. do not wish to encourage people to leave Lebanon as it would simply be a disaster toward
the hopes of the rebuilding of Lebanon.
However, several things have been accomplished and we would like
to report them to you.
I. Lebanese Nationals in the U.S.
We have held several meetings with the Department of State and the
Department of Immigration and Naturalization concerning Lebanese
who are in this country and whose visas have expired or are about to
expire. The immigration authorities have consented to and have
issued a directive to all their offices to look with favor and grant
"EXTENDED VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE" to anyone applying for
an extension of their visa. It is important for anyone making application to use the term "EXTENDED VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE."
II. Lebanese Students
The Department of Immigration has also issued a directive to their
offices to permit Lebanese students to work beyond the 20 hours
normally allowed a foreign student.
III. Subject of Immigration
Under the existing immigration law, there are several ways to apply
for immigrant visas. These are listed under the existing preference
categories and they are as follows:
Visas for persons wishing to reside indefinitely in the United States are
divided into two general classes: those not subject to numerical
limitations,
and those charged
against annual numerical
limitations.
A. IMMIGRANTS NOT SUBJECT TO NUMERICAL LIMITA TIONS
1. Immediate Relatives of United States Citizens:
The spouse and children of a United States citizen and the parents of a
citizen over the age of twenty-one.
2.. Special Immigrants:
a. Persons previously admitted into the United States as immigrants and
returning to resume residence in the United States after a temporary residence abroad.
b. Persons who lost United States citizenship through marriage or
through service in the armed forces of certain foreign countries
during World War II.
c. Persons who, for at least two years just prior to application for a visa,
have been ministers of a religious denomination, who s·eek to
enter the United States for the purpose of continuing in that
vocation and whose services are needed by a religious
denomination having a bona fide organization in the United
States, and their spouses and children.
d. Certain employees and former employees of the United States
Page 22
21. FATHER GEORGE RADOS,
Report of Project Loving Care.
President Gerald Ford sends a filmed message.
Government and their spouses and children.
B.. IMMIGRANTS SUBJECT TO NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS
1. Persons born in independent countries of the Western Hemisphere
(Canada, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean
Area) are subject to an overall annual limitation of 120,000.
2. Persons born in all other areas (i.e., countries in the Eastern
Hemisphere, and dependent areas thereof) are subject to an annual
limitation of 170,000 with a limitation of not more than 20,000 visa
numbers available for natives of any single foreign state, and
classified as either preference or nonpreference
applicants as
follows:
a. First Preference - unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
b. Second Preference - spouses and unmarried sons and daughters of
aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence (green card
holder)
c. Third Preference - members of the professions or persons of exceptional ability in the sciences and arts
d. Fourth Preference - married sons and daughters of United States
citizens
e. Fifth Preference - brothers and sisters of Unked States citizens
f. Sixth Preference - skilled and unskilled workers in short supply
g. Seventh Preference - refugees: this preference is administered solely
by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
h. Nonpreference- other Immigrants including parents of resident aliens
The spouse or child of any preference immigrant described above may, if
not otherwise entitled to a preference status in his own right, be
granted the same status as the spouse or parent he is accompanying or following to join.
NOTE: All details on these categories can be obtained from your local
Immigration office.
IV. Hearings on the Middle East
During the past several months, the Senate has been holding hearings on
the Middle East under the chairmanship
of Senator George
McGovern and his Subcommittee on Near East Affairs. Many persons were called to testify and the situation was analyzed in depth by
the Committee. One of the positive aspects to come out of the
hearings was the change in attitude on the part of several senators
who heretofore have not spoken out objectively on the Middle East.
Some of these senators are McGovern, Percy, Stevenson, Haskell and
Kennedy. At this time, permit me to say a word about Senator James
Abourezk. It has been his devotion and dedication that have brought
about this positive approach of many members of Congress. We owe
Senator Jim all the support we can give him. As Arab Americans, we
should be proud of his accomplishments.
V. Hearings on Lebanon Today, July 29
Hearings are being held by the Senate Subcommittee on Refugees under
the chairmanship of Senator Edward Kennedy. At these hearings,
officials of the State Department and the Immigration Department
will be asked to testify regarding the plight of Lebanese who have left
Lebanon and are now stranded. I have just received a report from our
The Word
Director,
presented
the
Project Loving Care offers this Archdiocese an opportunity to infiltrate the grass roots of human suffering. It affords us a chance to move
out of our parochial limits in order to touch the lives of little children and
in so doing maintain our contact with the virtue of innocence. The
childrens participation in human existence gives them the license to
drink from the ocean of life. By that same license they also deserve to fill
their cups from our little stream. Although our stream may be small in
comparison to others, it is gradually moving beyond its banks and is
slowly creeping onto those deserts of indifference and intolerance. We
roust continue to move as a Church in all areas of charity. We can be
roost thankful that our beloved Metropolitan Archbishop as well as all
the Trustees of this Archdiocese, the churches, the priests, the
organizations, and the faithful are responding beautifully to this area of
concern.
Project Loving Care is only one of many charitable acts of our
Church of America, and it is to this subject that I wish to address myself
to in this report.
I am happy to report that Project Loving Care is on the verge of
becoming a foundation. A proposal for funds has been written and is
presently being submitted to various organizations. Although I am not
entirely free to state names and facts at this time, I can state that
prospects for a grant of $750,000 to $1,000,000 is very likely. Once invested, the mterest from such a grant will guarantee solvency to the
Project and will be the first step towards a greater potential in the arena
of human dignity versus human degradation.
Presently our 448 sponsors are supporting 552 Project children living
in occupied Palestine. Unfortunately, the situation in Lebanon has
hindered our growth for obvious reasons. My greatest concern at this
time, however, is not growth but maintenance. For this reason we felt it
necessary to begin drawing on our reserve fund for those children who
unfortunately have not had any support from their sponsors for one
reason or another.
During the past year, we sent $47,187 to our children. Since my
assuming of the Directorship of the Project we have sent approximately
$125,000to our office in Jerusalem for the children.
I have initiated a letter campaign to recruit sponsors. The first letters
were sent to our Archdiocese Trustees and I have not as yet heard from
all of them. Our letter campaign will continue throughout the coming
yearand many of you will be hearing from us soon.
The American Arab Association (AMARA) of Boston is in the
process of organizing a benefit concert in the New England region for
?elp in supporting our reserve fund. According to my sources the benefit
1sto be held in the Fall of this year.
We wish to gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the following
donations which were given towards our administrative expenses:
Frank Kafoure,Indianapolis, In . . .
•$ 300.00
Archdiocese Headquarters. . . . . .
. .. 1000.00
NAC
............
200.00
New E~~i~~d ·R~~i-~~
200.00
Triad Foundation, Washington, D.C.
.1000.00
Sale of Orthodox License Plates
.............
• • • • • · 30.50
Credit on Canadian Money Exchange .
• • •3.60
Fines - Fall Meeting, Indianapolis, In . . .........
• • · · · · · · · · · 8.00
Sale of Candles - Parish Life Conf., Cleveland .........
• • · · · · •76.60
$2818.70
~fs'oy'o.
::....
...
Reserve Fund:
~- Albert Joseph, Chicago, Ill
Midwest Region of Teen So 0
Mr. Edward Kassab, Detroit, Mich
Mr. Theodore Mackoul, Hillsdale, .J.
Mr. Alfred Sununu, Farmington, Mich
Mr. Frank Haddad, Montreal, Canada
Anonymous ........
.
St. George Church, Charleston, W. Va
Dr. Isaac Mitre, Terre Haute In
Wednesday Welfare Assoc. ~f Houston, Texa • Mr. & Mrs. _FrankSlupesky, Indianapolis, In ...
Arab Ame~1can Assoc. of Louisville, Ky
J. W. Gaddis Memorial by Crispen
Mr. & Mrs. Mike Bsharah, Detroit, Mich
Mr. & Mrs. Wajih asser, Louisville, Ky ........
.
Henry G. Adamany, Parma, Ohio
BJ. Ward, San Francisco, Ca .. .
Mr. & Mrs. John Mellis .........
.
Arab American Assoc. of Cincinnati Ohio . . . . . . . . .
Basil Calfas, Brookline, Mass ...... '
Miss Linda Thomas, Norwood, Mass . . . . .
. .........
.
Wagih Bayouk, St. Laurent, Canada ................
.
Interest accrued for one year . . . . . . . . .........
.
5.00
5.00
33.57
S4 14. 2
We have also sent $2310.00 from the reserve fund as aid to ome of
the many children who have not been sponsored.
Orthodox School of Bethany:
Dr. Isaac Mitre
S 175.00
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Tomey, Canton, Ohio
100.00
Reserve Fund
25.00
S 300.00
To all the above we extend our gratitude for their genero ity and
help.
Since my report to the convention last year, we have sought and
gained endorsement of our Project from the following organizations:
The Islamic Center
Washington, D.C.
Melkite Apostolic Exarchate in the U.S.
West Newton, Mass.
Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the
United States and Canada
Hackensack, N .J.
Arab-American Medical Association
Sherman Oaks, California
American Friends of the Middle East, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
Council of American Arabic Organizations of
Southern California
Glendale, California
Association of Arab-American University Graduates, Inc.
Detroit, Mich.
National Association of Arab-Americans
Washington, D.C.
Triad Group of Companies
Washington, D.C.
U.S. Omen
Northern California
We would like at this time to recommend to our Metropolitan and to
the Board of Trustees that some thought be given to the creation of a
new department within the Archdiocese that ~ould be r~spon ib~e _for
handling all the charitable work of the Archdiocese. This comm1Ss1on
could serve as an umbrella under which not only Project Loving Care
could function but any charitable work whether it be for disaster victim ,
refugees, or even for the rewarding of schol~r~hips. T~i~ commission
could be known as Antiochian Orthodox Christian Chant1es and could
be effective in coordinating our charitable endeavors as well as seeking
funds for their support.
.
It would not be proper in closing this report without expressmg my
deepest gratitude to Mrs. Mary Lou Saikley, Financial Coord.; Mrs.
Page 23
November, 1976
�Susan Hester, Applications Coord.; and my eldest son George _Michael,
Corresponding Coord. for their untold hours of volunteer a_id ~o the
Project. Each one is most invaluable for the proper functioning of
Project Loving Care. I pray that all our work meets with your approval.
Moved by JERRY FARRAH, Flint, and seconded by ABE
ABRAHAM, Grand Rapids, the report was unanimously accepted.
FATHER JAMES MEENA Asks permission to go back to the
previous speaker. Perhaps Tom would be no longer working _asSec~etary
of NAAA as Director. As a founding charter member he fmds this unfortunate, the result of politics and manipulation on the part of that
society. They have successfully procured his resignation and accepted as
of August 1. Tom will continue there until October for tr~nsition. T?m
has shown administrative ability dedication etc. and is not bemg
removed for that reason. He has enhanced the organization he hasn't in
any way taken away from it. The Convention should make known to the
Trustees of NAAA that we don't want to support any underhanded
practice. FATHER JOHN BADEEN. I am a member of the ·Board of
N AAA and we have sent telegrams and want to support Father James. If
the resignation goes through I will no longer support NAAA.
METROPOLITAN PHILIP asks that Father Badeen and Father Meena
draft a supporting statement and submit it to him.
22. RAYMOND J. GEORGE, Presented
Department of Sacred Music.
the Report of the
Following is a report of the achievements of the Sacred Music
Department for the year 1975-76. Also a report on the objectives of the
Sacred Music Department for the year of 1976-77:
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Completed the "Choir Director's Guide" and distributed same (2 copies
to each church), courtesy of the Department of Sacred Music and
your Archdiocese.
Completed the second part of the Byzantine project, namely the
"Matins" in eight tones. This publication consists of 239 pages and is
now ready for distribution, they can be purchased throu h
Archdiocese at a cost of $10.00 per copy.
g Your
We have begun work on ~pe~ial mu~ic to fill existing voids in the Litur
more on this in the obJectlve section.
gy,
Some progress has been made in trying to have all regions send h .
respective Choir Chairman to the Archdiocese Conference St eir
have already voted to subsidize their Choir Chairman and othe. home
•
•
I t wou Id ma k e t h e 1·me of communirs ave
it under consideration.
.
. .
h' b
cation
much more efficient when t is ecomes an annual meeting bet
•
all the regional Choir• Ch airmen
an d t h e D epartment of Sacred Mween
.
Reproduced 240 copies of the Father Meena Standard Liturgy.
Usie.
Attended Southwest Conference in an official capacity and had a
successful workshop.
moSt
Attended the Midwest Conference in an unofficial capacity.
Worked with the new Choir of St. Mary's of Livonia, Michigan. Pro
was made and I think they are on the right track.
gress
To make available all the special m~sic needed t~ complete each Sunday
and Feast day Liturgy. These voids ~re many m the areas of Entrance
Hymns, Theotokos Hymns, Konomkon Hymns and Antiphons. We
will make a special effort to get most of these voids taken care of
during this coming year.
We are planning to devise methods for implementing the music of the
Byzantine Project, namely "Great Vespers" and "Matins". We now
have the music which will be useless until we start putting it into
practice.We will attempt to do this thru cassette tapes, workshops and
any other means available to get our young soloists interested.
To alert all regions to go all out in preparing next year's Choir Festivals.
During this Historical Visit of our Patriarch we will want to offer the
best we have.
To be sure that all regions will have voted to send Choir Representation
to every Archdiocese Conference beginning with 1977.
To reproduce 250 more copies of the Father Meena Standard Liturgy.
To be sure that the permanent calendar (Section 2) of the Choir
Directors Guide is completed and sent out by October 1976.
Moved by FATHER JAMES MEENA and seconded by FATHER
OLAF SCOTT, Charleston, the report was accepted.
Adds a sample of new music in tapes, by Phil Halway Chanter in
Detroit. The copies will be ready September 1st and available at the
Archdiocese office.
Moved by George Elias, seconded
unanimously adopted the message reads:
Page 24
St. George; Houston, Texas
S!· George Cathedral, Coral Gable , Florida
D Smee
rt the hArchdiocese Conference in Loui , 11le,Ken1u k•, I -,:, thi
_epa ment as met in Englewood, ew Jer ev during the pnn Arch·
diocese Board Meeting prior to the Conference~
. Our entire Depart13:1en_tcommends the Pastor and pari h of 1.
Nicholas Chu~ch for this fme planning and exe u1ion of thi , our JI
Annual Archdiocese Convention.
Fi~ally, we are all cognizant of the imponan e of the 32nd nnu
~chdiocese
Convention with our belO\ ed Patriarch.
lia I in our
midst; therefore, this Department will endeavor to keep a watchful t!\e
on the progress o_four host parish, St. George of Wash1n ton, D... ·to
ensure the Archdiocese a successful conclu ion 10 the Antio hian Hoh
Year 1977, and the visit of His Beautitude.
•
Special Note • Following this Convention we are going 10 print a
revised form of Convention Manual.
Moved by BENNY HU SI, Oklahoma City, econded by FATH R
JOSEPH ALLEN. The report was accepted.
OBJECTIVES:
23. GEORGE ELIAS, Miami, Florida Motion: On Thomas
Ruffin the hearing on Refugees to end today. After consulting with Tom he is submitting out of turn a Resolution to
Sen. Edward Kennedy Senate Subcommittee
on Refugees,
conducted today on Lebanon. We stress the necessity of
positive steps to be taken to alleviate
the suffering of
refugees.
Archbishop MICHAEL speaks of the reunification of the
Antiochian faithful in North America.
on July l5, 1976 to prepare the report tha1 is being di tributt"d f r \_·our
study.
fro!~ds for th e l 978 Archdiocese Com ention were read and a t!ptt!d
by Father
26. ERNEST SAYKAL Y, Chairman, presented the report of
Department of Stewardship.
"Serve one another with whatever gifts have been given to you as
good Stewards of the magnificent varied grace of God." 1 Peter
4:10
''Philip,my friend, my dear friend" . . .
FRIDAY, JULY 30TH, 1976 10:30 A.M.
ThePentecost Troparion is sung by the Assembly.
24. METROPOLITAN PHILIP introduced
omitted.
Trustees yesterday
John Badeen and
25. FATHER ANTONY
Planning Report.
Senator Edward Kennedy
Subcommittee on Refugees
United States Senate
Washington, D.C.
"The Antiochian Christian Archdiocese of North America in con·
vention duly assembled in San Francisco has been informed of the
hearings of the Subcommittee on Refugees being conducted today on
Lebanon.
Our 500 delegates in attendance representing the entire members~ip
of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North Amenca
wish to impress upon you the need for positive steps to be taken to
alleviate the suffering of displaced Lebanese. We ask you to impress
upon your colleagues as well as the Department
of State and
Immigration authorities the urgent need for this action."
We must act now.
Metropolitan Philip Saliba
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdioc~se
of North America
GABRIEL presented
the Convention
Reports and Reception of Convention Bids
Father Antony Gabriel, Chairman
Fr. George Rados
Maha Shakhashiri
AlanMatook
E.A. Faour
Anthony J. Thomas
Fr. John N amie
Ralph Abercia
Fr. Paul Nemr
Fr. Zackaria Nasr
Robert Jabbour
George J. David
George Elias Esq.
Fr. Paul Doyle
Robert Laham
Adeeb Saad
The Washington Archdiocese Convention Report was presented and
accepted by the committee. The chairman of this department hel? an
extensive meeting with the Washington convention planning committee
(The General Assembly is recessed at 5 p.m.)
The Word
The Department of Stewardship has been in existence for a period of
one year. It began by attempting to evaluate its possible "raison d'etre".
This evaluation showed immeasurable prospects and possibilitie . Much
thought and a great deal of consideration was given to thee tablishment
of its priorities.
Our first priority was to begin a study of other religiou
denominations and their Stewardship programs. In addition, it wa
necessary to survey the Parishes throughout the Archdiocese in an effort
to determine their prior needs. Hence, a detailed, comprehensi,e
questionnaire was prepared and mailed to all of our Parishes reque ting
their co-operation and to help us determine the programs that would be t
serve them and their needs. Although the response was not overwhelming, it can be considered reasonable. The only real problem that
arose were the suspicions concerning the questionnaire. The main
purpose of this questionnaire was to set up an initial file to determine the
overall progress of the individual Parishes and the effect the Steward hip
program will have if it is used. In reality, we need facts to determine
where we are, and where we are going. If we are to develop meaningful
and effective programs, we must know what the real problems are and
not just the superficial ones.
During the 30th Annual Convention held in Louisville, Kentucky la t
year, the General Assembly approved the Structure, in addition to the
Aims, Purpose and Goals of this Department. These objectives are a
platform upon which we hope to build a working outreach of Christian
Stewardship, reaching every man, woman and child within our Archdiocese. This is a layman to layman project. To reflect the cripture ...
"But you are a chosen race, a royal Priesthood, a dedicated nation and a
people claimed by God for His own, to proclaim the triumph of Him who
has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9
Our second priority was to appoint two individuals within each of the
six Regions, to act as Regional Co-ordinators for the Departm~nt. The
were charged with the responsibility of obtaining repre entauves from
the individual Parishes within their Region, who in turn will organize the
local Stewardship Program. This is to effect an organization that reache
from the Department to the Region, to the local Parish, and finally and
most essentially, to the people.
In May of this year, the Department _developed ~ eminar ~n
Stewardship which was presented to the Regional Co-ordmator who tn
turn, conducted the same Seminar at the Parish Council i:neetings at the
six Regional Parish Life Conferences. Due to the lack of ume, the result
of these seminars have not as yet been received. However, when the
results have been evaluated, the Department will prepare a pro~ram for
next year's Conferences. The main topic will be "The elecuo~ _and
Training of the Local Parish Stewards." ext Year, becaus~ of the v1 ll of
the Patriarch, we expect a large number of people to be tn attendance.
Therefore, we should have meaningful and useful Seminar ..
During the coming year, the Department will evaluate 1t first year
Page 25
November, 1976
�and continue to refine the Definitions, Aims and Purposes. In addition, it
will evaluate the administrative systems of all the Parishes and create a
standard and uniform procedure for preparing budgets and financial
statements. It is our considered opinion that to be well done, _our
programs must be thought out clearly and carefully before introduction.
This is far too important a project to disrupt with haste. V:e seek t~e
assistance and co-operation of every Parish Priest and. Pansh_ Counc~.
Their aid in selecting the proper personnel and supportrng the1: work is
in valuable. This Department will endeavor to keep itself receptive to all
ideas, suggestions and constructive criticism directed. to us. Communication and the flow of information is absolutely essential!
We wish to thank His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip, for his enthusiastic support of this Department, the Regional Co-ordin~tors who
have given a great lift to this project through their enthu~iasm, an_d
especially to the local Stewardship Representatives who will see this
program through.
DEPARTMENT OF STEWARDSHIP
CHAIRMAN:
Mr. Ernest Saykaly
MEMBERS OF ST ANDING COMMITTEE PRESENT:
Father Joseph Shaheen
Mrs. Rose Merhige
Mr. Frank Haddad
Mr. George Karram
Mr. George Koury
Mr. Abe Abraham
Mr. Edward Kasseb
Dr. Sam Kouri
Mr. Ralph Abercia
Mr. Charles Dowd
Dr. George Dibs
The meeting of the Department of Stewardship was called to order at
11:00 A.M., Wednesday, July 28, 1976, by Chairman, Ernest Saykaly.
The opening prayer was delivered by Fr. Joseph Shaheen. In addition to
the 12 members of the Standing Committee, there were 33 delegates
present.
The report of the Chairman of the Department was read as submitted.
REPORTS OF THE REGIONAL CO-ORDINATORS
Reports were given by each of the Regional Co-ordinators. These
reports were basically the results of the Stewardship Seminars conducted
at the Regional Parish Life Conferences. In essence, the reports were
very similar. The Seminars were very well attended, and where there
were parishes absent, the Co-ordinators were urged by the Chairman to
personally contact the priests of the said parishes.
Questions arising from the text were also similar throughout the
Regions. The definition of Stewardship had to be elaborated upon by the
Co-ordinators with regard to total commitment of people to their church.
It was generally agreed that financial conversations should be left out of
the original contacts and introduced at a later time, for if you can reach
into a man's heart first, he will then reach into his pocket of his own
accord.
One Region suggested that the youth be called upon to serve as
Stewards. Questions arose as to the duties of the Parish Councils conflicting of overlapping those of the Stewardship Committee. However,
the general consensus of opinion was that there is much enthusiasm and
excitement being generated by this new Department and its Chairman,
but that much work lies ahead.
DISCUSSION ON REPORTS
Chairman Ernest Saykaly, in commenting on the Reports, stated that
in the text of the Seminar it clearly stated that no age limits were included and that we definitely want to encourage people of all age groups
to participate. Financial matters were also discussed very briefly in the
text with the recommendation that any parishes needing help in financial
matters should contact the Department so that personal attention can be
given to that particular parish. With reference to the Parish Council vs.
the Stewardship Committee - the Organigram, as it appears in the text
of the Seminar, clearly defines the organizational structure of the Church
and that the Stewardship Committee does not replace the Parish
Council, but is merely an arm of the Parish Council.
The Chairman requested that all Regional Co-ordinators make sure
Page 26
that the Questionnaires submitted to them be properly completed anct
returned to the Department.
.
In the discussion that followed, ~hese pomts were noted:
..
l. All parishes within the Regton should be personally VISited by the
Regional Co-ordinators.
2 . The central task of the Committee is to make sure ?f the understanding of the people as to_the need for th~ Stewardship Program
in order to spiritually bind parishes. On~e panshes are committed to
the Stewardship Program ou: p~ople will not be run down with the
planning and executing of activities.
3 . One member of the Parish Council may be selected to oversee the
Stewardship Program, but in order to actively involve more people
the stewards should be selected from within the parish.
'
4 _ The quality of people selecte.d to serve as Stewardship Chairpersons
and stewards is of the utmost importance.
The meeting was recessed at 12:45 P.M. for lunch and was reconvened at 2:00 p .M. Mr. Ernest Sayka!y the~ read the proposed program
for 1977 which consisted of the followmg pomts:
1. The prime objective will be for each Regional Coordinator to submit
the names and addresses of at least one person from each parish to
serve as chairperson for the Stewardship Committee. These must be
submitted before November 1, 1976 so that a directory of these names
and addresses can be produced by December 1, 1976. This will serve
as a complete directory for the Department of Stewardship.
2. The second objective for year two is "A Training Program for
Stewards" to be used at the local level. It must be a program that can
be transmitted by the Regional Co-ordinators to the local Committee
Chairpersons and by them to their local Stewards. We have considered the possibility of acquiring professional help, however, the
cost is prohibitive so we are seeking to find someone within our Archdiocese who has had experience in the personnel training or
management consulting fields.
Each of the members of the Committee are being asked to prepare a
program of Stewardship training, using the guidelines submitted, and
send it to the Department before November 1, 1976. The programs
will be reviewed and one program or a combination of many
programs will be selected and produced. The Department will then
ask that the Regional Co-ordinators or an individual from each
Region to attend the SOYO Mid-Winter Meetings. At that time the
program will be properly presented to them for their use at the
Department's Stewardship Seminars at the six Regional Parish Life
Conferences.
3. As soon as the names of the local Stewardship Committee chairpersons have been received the Department is proposing a newsletter
that will be an effort to create a sense of belonging and maintain open
lines of communication.
This proposal for the coming year was unanimously accepted by the
members present after a motion was made by Father Antony
Beauchamp and seconded by Mr. Gabe Saliba.
.
Mr. Saykaly asked that all Regional Co-ordinators break down their
regions geographically if they are too large and to submit names of
qualified personnel to head these sub-regions. This will enable all
parishes to have personal contact with their Regional Co-ordinators. The
Chairman then reminded all Co-ordinators to check their lists of parishes
who have not responded to the original Questionnaire and see that this is
taken care of immediately.
.
The entire body of delegates commended Mr. Saykaly and his
Committee for a superb job. The reports that he has delivered h~ve.been
inspirational and all those present and involved are enthusiastically
looking forward to the days that lay ahead.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:20 P.M. with a prayer led by the
Very Rev. Fr. Michael Husson.
Moved by FATHER PAUL SCHNEIRLA and seconded by ANTHONY ABRAHAM, Johnstown, Pa.
METROPOLITAN PHILIP asks that the Minutes of the General
Assembly reflect the profound thanks of the Archdiocese to Ernest
Saykaly for his extraordinary and admirable work in this Department.
27. MONSOUR LAHAM
Department of Finance.
presented
the
report
of
be E. Abraham, Secretary, St. George, Vicksburg, Miss.
A . . G Haddad, St. George, Charleston, W.Va
Ph11ip •
S J h
fD
•
J seph Shagoury, t. o no
amascus, Boston, Mass.
0
. Farah St. Michael, Beaumont, Texas
11
Et0 e e Kar~kos, St. Elias, Atlanta, Ga.
Georg
.
hn p. Simon, St. George, Clev~land, _Ohio
Jo ge Ghiz, St. George, Phoenix, Arizona
Geor Kassab, St. G eorge, D etr01t,
• M"ichigan
.
Edward
h !es Siemon, St. Mary, Pawtucket, R.I.
~u:Michael, St. George, Vicksburg, Miss.
Madelin Farah, St. George, Portland, Oregon
~-0 ssa Souaid, St. George, Montreal, Canada
F ~onstantine Masood, St. George, Spring Valley, Ill
~;aham Kuri, Virgin Mary, Yonkers, N.Y.
1
NormanBsharah, St. George, _Ch~rleston, W.Va.
WilliamFarha, St. Geo~ge, Wichita, Kansas
Rt.Rev. Antoun Khoun, Personal Secretary to the Archbishop
Fl yd Ellis, St. George, Charleston, W.Va.
El~asHabeeb, St. Nicholas, San Francisco, Calif.
The annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ended January 31,
1g76was circulated to t~e Committee_ for the~r review a?d consideration.
This report also contamed a special section covenng the financial
highlightsand progress for the ten. year p~~od under the Primacy of His
Eminence, our beloved Metropolitan Philip. A thorough discussion of
thefinancial report was held.
The Committee thanked Mr. Monsour Laham and Theodore
Mackoul, especially Theodore Mackoul, for their untiring efforts in
compilingthis comprehensive and thorough report.
It was then moved by Philip Haddad, duly seconded by John Simon to
acceptthe annual financial report for the year ended January 31, 1976.
This motion was passed unanimously.
The Finance Committee was honored by the presence of His
Eminence, Metropolitan
Philip and His Grace, Bishop Elia. His
Eminence, Metropolitan Philip gave the Committee a most informative
report on the dire needs of the people of Lebanon, especially the
Orthodox Christians. He stated that they should send it through the
Archdiocese.
The proposed budget for the fiscal year ending January 31, 1978,
attached to this report, was circulated to the Finance Committee for
theirevolution and consideration.
Both Mr. Laham and Mr. Mackoul emphasized that this proposed
budgetwas the first budget prepared for the one Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America, and therefore, reflects the
anticipatedincrease in receipts and expenditures.
After a discussion of every budgeted expenditure and receipt
reflected therein, it was then moved by Philip Haddad and co-seconded
by Dr. Madelin Farah and George Karakas to accept the proposed
budgetfor the fiscal year ending January 31, 1978 as presented.
This motion passed unanimously.
the
The Finance Committee of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Arch·
diocese of North America, was opened at 10:45 A.M. by the Chairman,
Monsour Laham, with everyone present reciting the Lord's Prayer.
Members present were:
Monsour Laham, Chairman of Dept. of Finance
Theodore R. Mackoul, Treasurer of the Archdiocese
The Word
New Business:
an Mr. George Ghiz presen_ted to the Finance Comrr.ittee, a et of form
cod pro~edu:es, t? be studied by the office of tre Depan. f Finan e,
ncernmg financial reporting and accounung on the Parish Je,,;el.The e
forms w.ere ~repared by an internationally prominent enified Publi
acco~ntl~g firm. Mr. Ghiz was thanked b rhe Commmee f r thi
contribution.
. The Ch~irman thanked the members attending the Finance Com•
mitte~ s~sSion for the~ consideration, under landing and "aluable
c?ntnbution made, which serves the financial interest of the Ar hdiocese.
There being no other business to con ider, it wa mo,ed b Gear e
Karakas and duly seconded by Ibrahim Kuri to adjourn.
The meeting ended with a prayer at 2:05 P.M.
Respectfull ubmitted,
Abe E. Abraham, ecretary
Vick burg, Mis .
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
of North America
PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDING JANUARY 31
1978
I. Budgeted Expenditures
A. Theological Education
(1) Seminarians -Tuition, Room Board & Allowances SJ0,000.00
(2) St. Vladimir's Seminary-Annual Grant
10,000.00
(3) Balamand Theological Academy - Annual Grant
10,000.00
Total Theological Educadon
$50,000.00
B. Other Contributions
(1) Clergy Insurance & Retirement Fund
25,000.00
(2) Charities and Other Assistance for the Patriarchate 10,000.00
(3) Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops & Pan
Orthodox Comm.
3,000.00
(4) NACSOYO
3,000.00
(5) Other Charities
5,000.00
Total Other Contributions
$46,000.00
C. Archdiocese Departments & Standings Committees
(1) Department of Youth Activities
20,000.00
(2) Department of Christian Education
8,000.00
(3) Department of Sacred Music
6,000.00
(4) Department of Missionary Activities and Parish
Development
4.000.00
4,000.00
(5) Department of Information and Press Relations
25,000.00
(6) Department of Orthodox Books and Publications
18,000.00
(7) Department of the WORD
(8) Department of Credentials and Convention Planning 1,000.00
(9) Department of Continuing Pastoral Education &
4,000.00
Spiritual Vocations
1,000.00
(10) Other Departments and Standing Committees
891,000.00
Total Departments and Standing Committees
60,000.00
D. Maintenance of Archdiocese Headquarters
24,000.00
E. Metropolitan's Allowance and Office
15,000.00
F. Archbishop Michael's Allowance
G. Archdiocese Headquarters, Toledo,
Ohio-Maintenance & Operation
12,000.00
H. Estimated cost of Patriarch Elias IV and bis entourage 50,000.00
I. Miscellaneous & Contingencies
5,000.00
Total Budgeted Expenditures
$353,000.00
II. Budgeted Sources of receipts
$148,000.00
1. Parish Assessments
30,000.00
2. Contributions from individuals
15,000.00
3. Archdiocese Convention
15,000.00
4. Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
50,000.00
5. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of A
25,000.00
6. SOYO Parish Life Conferences
15,000.00
7. Archdiocese Seminarian Fund (Orthodox Sunday)
10,000.00
8. St. Vladimir's Seminary Fund (October Month).
.
10,000.00
9. Patriarchate Fund (Palm Sunday & Other Contributions)
10,000.00
15,000.00
10. Subscriptions to the WORD
. .
11. Orthodox Christian Books and Publications
15,000.00
12. Miscellaneous Receipts
5,000.00
$358,000.00
Total
.
·
25 000 00
Less A.O.C.W.N.A. - For Patriarch Ehas IV Foundation
,
•
Total Budgeted Sources of Receipts
Budgeted Deficit
'
•
Footnote: (H) Travel, etc. from Patriarchate to U.S.A. and Canada and
return to the Patriarchate.
;i~•:·~
Host pastor,
testimonial.
November, 1976
Fr.
Gregory
Ofiesh presides at the
Page 27
�Norman Marney of Los Angeles presents a musical
selection for the occasion.
Moved by FATHER ANTONY BEAUCHAMP, seconded by JOHN
SEMAN, Cleveland, Ohio, the report was accepted for filing.
Theodore Mackoul reported on the 1976 Financial Report. He is
impressed
by 1) Ten years of progress under the Primacy of
Metropolitan
Philip, 2) Carefully prepared clergy insurance and
retirement fund.
Monsour Laham presented the Proposed Budget for January 31,
1978. It has been reviewed with His Eminence in Englewood, in San
Francisco with Trustees, with Financial Committee meeting at this
Convention and is now discussed with this General Meeting. Any
Questions? Moved by JOHN SIMON, Cleveland, seconded by FATHER
BEAUCHAMP the General Assembly moved to accept the Report and
adopt the Budget.
FATHER MICHAEL KEISER - Are we budgeting a deficit for the
year ahead? Are we planning to somehow get the money?
METROPOLITAN PHILIP The Lord provides. FATHER KEISER
Thank you for reminding me.
METROPOLITAN PHILIP Let the minutes reflect profound thanks
to Monsour Laham and Theodore Mackoul and all who contributed to
work of the department.
28. NAC SOYO Father George Corey presented the Report
of the Spiritual Advisor.
NACSOYO
Spiritual Advisor's Report
San Francisco, July 1976
YOUR EMINENCE, YOUR GRACE, DELEGATES AND FRIENDS:
We have been given the opportunity once again, by the Grace of
God, to gather together as the Lord's Family at the Annual Convention
and as the North American Council of SOYO, to examine all phases of
our youth ministries and to see where we have succeeded and where we
have failed during the past year. Many opportunities have been given us,
especially with the engagement of a full time Youth Director in the
person of Bill Essey and the tremendous strides he has made on our
behalf. Also we are thrilled beyond measure, since the unity of our
Antiochian faithful in North America is a fait accompli, that there exist
another eighteen (18) parishes to join the ranks of a growing and
prosperous youth movement within our Archdiocese. We have much to
learn from each other., the result of which will benefit Orthodox
Christianity as a whole a~d our own spiritual maturity as well. May our
Lord continue to bless all our activities done in His Name.
My work as NAC Spiritual Advisor has been lessened slightly this past
year with the full time Youth Director taking charge of many duties I had
Page 28
. herited or assumed a few years ago. And this is the way it should b
m urse I am still required to be consulted by the President and ye. Of
co
.
db
h
.
outh
Director before any proJe~ts a~e aNpAprCove
d Y t em or this body. After all
I represent the Metropohtan m . an must answer to him on their
behalf. I am happy to say there is an excellent working relationshi
among all of us, so that I can report to you that all goes well in th:i
department.
. ..
.
My other SO YO-related activities during the past year included:
1) collaborating with Raymo~d G~orge ..and ~he ?epartment of Sacred
Music on a manual for choirs entitled Choir Director's Guide".
2) collaborating with Emily Day and the Sunday Bulletin committee on
the 1976 bulletin covers and messages.
3) visiting with Metropolita~ Philip and Ar_chbishop Michael, a few
parishes within the Archdiocese a~d speakmg to the youth groups or
individuals of those parishes or regions.
4) collaborating with my co-editor of THE WORD, Father Joseph AU
and Peter Abdelmaseh, editor of the SOYO Digest for informati:n
articles for THE WORD from SOYO personalities, regions an~
chapters.
5) periodic meetings with Bill Essey and phone calls with President Gar
Younes and Project coordinators on SOYO related matters.
y
6) representing NAC at meetings of CEOYLA, dealing with the Festival
of Orthodoxy to be held in Pittsburgh, Labor Day weekend in 1977.In
fact, I am in charge of setting up the entire Vesper Service at the
Civic Arena and the rec~pti?n that will pr~cede it for the visiting
hierarchs and youth orgamzat10n representatives.
7) retreat master or discussion leader at SOYO and inter-Orthodox
programs.
You can see that my schedule on behalf of NAC and SOYO is indeed
a busy one and I find myself lately just trying to maintain my sanity.
Presently I am attempting to compile a spiritual advisors' manual for
NAC. I will also revise the liturgical variations section of the "Choir
Director's Guide" so that it can be used yearly. This I will do in
collaboration with the Department of Liturgics.
I have one criticism to make and that is directed to all departments of
the Archdiocese. Recently DCE printed an excellent booklet called
"Source Book for Youth Work", edited by Father John Matusiak, a
priest of the OCA and the late Miss Donna Bobin. I want to compliment
DCE for a much-needed piece of work. However I would like to
recommend that all departments
of the Archdiocese somehow
collaborate with NAC whenever it involves youth ministries. We did this
so well with the Department of Pastoral Education and Spiritual
Vocations and the film-strip cassette on priestly vocations. After all,
youth work often falls within the area of concern of more than one
department of our Archdiocese, and it looks better and feels better when
we can collaborate. This is constructive criticism which I hope we can
implement in all departments.
I want to again thank our beloved hierarchs and trustees for their
encouragement and direction this year, to Gary Younes for his administrative abilities, to Bill Essey for his creative and innovative
programs and to all members of NAC whose path has crossed mine. We
are still "walking with God". Let's do it better each year.
Moved by Emile Farhood, Houston, Texas, seconded by Catherine
Terry, New Kensington, the report was accepted.
B) Gary Younes, President,
President's Report.
Billfor the diligency and dedication he has shown during his first year on
thejob.
•
In addition t? placmg greater importance on youth programs, we
have focused this past_ year on the coordinati_on between the Archdiocese, NAC and Regional SOYO. SOYO officers and project coordinators have exerted every effort to keep the regions and local parishes
informed of SOYO progra~s, although too often the response from the
localparishes was_mer~ly silence. It appears we have some difficulty in
answering our mail. This problem however, is not unique to SOYO; it is
quite prevalent t~roughout many ~f the A~chdiocese departments. We
havebeen operatmg too long on a smgle pomt of contact within the local
arishes, and SOYO recommends that the Parish Priest and Parish
~ouncil work toge~her to see~ out interested, qualified individuals within
theparish to orgamze, coordmate, and generally oversee, various aspects
of not only SOYO p~ogr_ams, but tha~ of_t?e choir, ladies society and
church school orgamzations. These mdividuals should be given the
responsibility of, a~d held ac~ountable for, answering correspondence
eceived from various Archdiocese departments. We feel this would
:nhance participation and communication within our Orthodox community.
In the fall, the SOYO Parish Profile Survey Form was distributed to
ail parishes in the Archdiocese, the purpose of which was threefold: (1)
to acquaint the Regional ~residents and their executive boards with the
composition of and potenti~l for youth membership both now and in the
future; (2) to make available to new leadership in each region
background information which helps in the transition period from one
year to the next;_ and (3). to compile data_ an_d sort out similarities or
groupings of pans~es ':hich allows_ f_or ta~orm~ of. various programs,
such as membership drives, to specific parish situations. A synopsis of
the survey is enclosed as part of this report. We are hopeful that this
information will be utilized toward a continued growth and improvement
in the Youth Movement. Let me at this time extend my appreciation to
thosewho responded.
As a further emphasis on coordination, NAC has requested that each
region send their sacred music and christian education coordinators to
this and ensuing Archdiocese
Conventions to participate in their
respective departmental meetings. It is hoped that participation this
week has highlighted the need for regional workshops throughout the
year rather than just during the annual regional conferences. In addition,
the regional SOYO delegates have attended various other Archdiocese
departmental meetings to become familiar with and make contributions
to those programs not within SOY O's sponsorship.
For the past two years SOYO has sponsored the "Food for Hungry
People" campaign. It has grown to such a degree that to accomplish our
purpose we require a permanent committee within NAC and the SOYO
regions. Consequently, next year's campaign will be given the attention
this humanitarian program deserves. We solicit the support of each
familywithin your parish to this very worthy cause.
SOYO conferences this year varied as to their success and effectiveness. For several years we have adhered to the family-oriented
parish life concept; yet we have realized but a fraction of our full
potential. The programs presented at the conferences were offered to
helpstrengthen this concept, the essence of our Orthodox faith. We must
of NAC SOYO presented the
Since the Louisville Convention, a great deal of time and energy has
been expended by many individuals in the Youth Movement to further
the goals of SOYO and make it more relevant and meaningful in the
greater Orthodox community. One individual in particular has contributed far beyond our expectations, Mr. William Essey, The Archdiocesan Youth Director, who has helped to coordinate and impro~e
ongoing SOYO programs and who has been extremely instrumental rn
bringing new dimensions to SOYO. Bill initiated the monthly newsletter,
"Looking Ahead," as a means of apprising SOYO of what is happening
and what we might propose for the future. This newsletter is used
primarily as a guideline for our membership in mapping out _future
programs and activities in relation to our goals. He has also contribute~
extensively to the SUNDAY BULLETIN and "Food for Hungry People
programs. Additionally, he has throughout the year lent his invaluable
assistance by maintaining a continuous dialogue not only with NAC ~ut
with Regional SOYO officers as well. On behalf of SOYO and the entire
Archdiocese, may I express our thanks to Metropolitan PHILIP a?d the
Archdiocesan Board of Trustees for having the foresight to recogmze th_e
need for a Youth Director and placing such a competent person in th1s
most responsible position. I, personally, would like to say thank you to
The Word
WilliamBaroody, Jr., Special Assistant to the President of
the U.S., guest speaker at the banquet, shares a pleasant
momentwith Bishop ELIA.
November, 1976
recognize
that it is not e noug h JU
• t 10 a11end l11urgy
.
.
and , e per or the
1 events of the da b t th
socia
. .m,ohement
'
h
• u at I h ere mu I be total• f?.mtlr
th
~u~~~~~on~~ e conference to achie,e complete piri1uai and per nal
~ith the :isit of HI BEATITUDE, Patriarch, ·LIA I , the f nhcom1ng year is a most important one in the life of our Archdioce e, nd
th e SOYO co_nferences will play a ignificant pan in bring10
Orthodox family together to be with HI B A TIT D . And a
conference theme states "Blessed Is He Who Come In The ame
The. LORD
. ," 1e t us a11come Ill• HIS AME and panicipate a one family.
Bemg with one another can make this Antiochian Holy
ear a
memorable one for all Orthodox in orth America.
Let me take this_ opportunity to thank Metropolitan PHILIP, the
Board of Trustees, Bill Essey and the Archdioce e taff, ery Re, erend
George S. Corey, the NAC officers and coordinator , and all tho e who
ha:e worked so diligently in the youth movement, for their upp n,
gmdance and encouragement during this pa t ear. There is n thin that
we cannot accomplish, and we should all refrain from a ing "I an't"
and say "WE CAN."
Your Emine_nce, on behalf of SOYO, once again congratulation on
your 10th Anmversary as Metropolitan of thie Archdioce e, and we
pledge our full cooperation in making your 11th an e en better one.
MAY GOD GRANT YOU MANY, MA Y YEARS.
SYNOPSIS SOYO PARISHPROFILESURVEY
I. GENERAL COMMENTS
The survey was designed over a broad base to allow the greate t
flexibility for response. I am both disappointed and pleased with the
response. More than 75 per cent of the parishes responded (a 100 per
cent response was the goal). However, I am thankful to those who did
participate. There was some disappointment that more time was not
spent responding to questions 8 and 26. These two questions concerned
the success/ improvement of SO YO-its programs and goals.
II. HIGHLIGHTS OF SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES
A. The membership potential is available but the resource untapped
B. Participation in SOYO Programs (Creative Art and Writing,
Oratorical and Catechism Bowl) is sorely lacking
C. Evaluation of Programs and Parish Priest participation is GOOD
D Many SOYO Chapters become inactive during the summer
E. Should be more SOYO Chapters considering the membership
potential
F. Only 19% of the Choirs participate at the SOYO Conferences
G There is better participation by Teenagers in Teen SOYO than adults
inSOYO.
H. Most Teen Chapters have Lay Advisors and find them very helpful
III. LISTING OF MAJOR PARISH ACTIVITIES BY SOYO
Coffee Hours - Church Clean-up - Guest Speakers in Church
Retreats - Arabic Food Festival - Communion Breakfasts
SOYO membership parties - Food For Hungry - Sermonettes
Project Loving Care -Adult Religious Education - Christmas Caroling
Church School Teachers -Church Candle Decorating
IV. LISTING OF MAJOR COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES BY SOYO
Visit Old Age Home - Visit an Orphanage - Baskets to needy
Salvation Army Xmas Party - March of Dimes, Red Cross, M.
Sweater Drive for Children - Donate Blood, Walk-a-thon - Art
Festival.
V. LISTING OF MAJOR SOCIAL ACTIVITIES BY SOYO
Dinner Dance - All Sports - Bazaar - Hay Ride - Picnics
Beach trips - Intra Orthodox Church Dance - Halloween Party
New Years Eve Party -Intra Orthodox Swim Party -Car Washes
Christmas Party for Sunday School - Hobo Party - Skating Party
Hawaiian Sweepstakes - "500" Race Hafli-Valentine Dance
Square Dance - Cotillon Dance - Basketball ~eagu~ - Ba~e ~ales
Las Vegas Night - Fireside Chats - Scholarship Hafli - Ski tnps
Teen Variety Show - Progressive Dinners
VI. REASONS FOR SUCCESS /HOW
TO IMPROVE SOYO Question 8
A. Add social flair to business meetings
.
.
B. Keep group controllable in size so everyone has an_1d_ent1ty
c. Meetings held at a convenient time and place. This 1s adapted to the
group
.
.
D. There is a need for responsible advisor
.
.
E. More emphasis is needed on sustain~d membe~sh1p dnves
F. Bring in Speakers on various pertment topics relevant in today's
society
G. Set a goal and work toward that end
Page 29
�H. Be conscious of the fact that strong leadership is the key to the
success of any organization
.
I. SOYO is a parish effort and must be emphasized that way to the pansh
VII. SURVEY PARTICIPANT COMMENTS ON SOYO - Question 26
A. More Religious emphasis is needed
.
B. Parent involvement and strong sdvisors are required for an effective
SOYO
C. More emphasis is needed on the totality of the Orthodox Christian No more Sunday Christians
D. General program to encourage membership is required
E. Age limit might be necessary in the larger parishes
F. Expression for a retreat house for Orthodox
G. A goal or program should be chosen each year for SOYO to pursue
H. Don't become stereotyped
I. Too much emphasis is placed on SOYO
J. Try to get the parish to accept "Awareness and Commitment"
K. The SOYO Parish Life Conferences have done a lot to advance the
youth movement in the Archdiocese
L. Need for more Intra-Orthodox participation
M. SOYO could branch out to organize more programs for the parish
N. What is SOYO?
0. Hard work by interer;ted individuals goes a long way to starting and
maintaining SOYO at all levels in the Archdiocese
VIII. CONCLUDING STATEMENT
Formal recommendations will be presented after the analysis of the
information is completed by NAC SOYO, the Youth Director, and other
Spiritual and Lay leaders in the Archdiocese. In conclusion, all the
statistics in the world will not improve SOYO and the Archdiocese, only
people will. We need individuals dedicated to UNITY, LOVE,
HONESTY, and DEVOTION through AWARENESS and COMMITMENT. I want to thank all who contributed to this survey.
OUTLINE OF NAC SOYO GENERAL ASSEMBLY
A. ADOPTED A UNIFORM SCHEDULE FOR. THE 1977 SOYO
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCES - minimum of overlapping of
events, time for relaxation, time for meals, and time to participate
together as a family.
The 1976 registration total is 3,554 and a check in the amount of $10,662 is being forwarded to the Archdiocese.
B. SUNDAY BULLETIN PROGRAM - The artwork for the 1977
bulletins is complete and can be found on your tables. Most articles
have been received. We hope that if you do not now subscribe that
you will do so. At present only 50 per cent of the parishes subscribe.
We also have a problem with this program. It has come to NA C's
attention that some parishes that do subscribe are taking the bulletins
and having them reproduced. We hope that this practice will cease
and that you will no longer deprive NAC of this much needed
revenue.
C. SOYO BROCHURE- We will be printing and distributing a SOYO
Brochure which will illustrate the SOYO programs. This should be
available by the late fall.
D. NAC SOYO COMMITTEES 1. Humanitarian Committees
a. FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE Coordinator
b. St. Jude Hospital-ALSAC
Coordinator
2. Catechism Bowl Coordinator
E. SOYO EMBLEM, NAME, ETC. - Any time the SOYO Emblem
or Name is being used on an article or item to be placed on sale,
whether it be at a local, regional or national level, it must be submitted
to NAC SOYO for approval.
F. .I want to thank Al Joseph for his Financial assistance. He has given
NAC SOYO $2,000 per year as gift to carry on the programs of
SOYO. The gift we received last year will be used for the 1977
CEOYLA Festival of Orthodoxy SOYO workshop to be held in
Pittsburgh over the 1977 labor day weekend. In addition some of the
fund will be used to assist some of the SOYO Regions experiencing
financial difficulties.
G ..1976-1977 NAC Officers
President -Mr. Gary Younes Eastern Region
Vice Pres. - Mr. John Roman Western Region
Secretary - Miss Susan Shatilla CAN/ AM Region
Treasurer - Mr. Michael Evans Southwest Region
Moved by Abe Abraham, Vicksburg and seconded by Mary Anne
Khoury, Garden Grove the report was accepted. Mr. Younes presented
a check for $5,962.22 to Metropolitan Philip for the Food for Hungry
program.
Page 30
C} JAMES KARKENNY, President
presented
the report of
NAC TEEN SOYO.
REPORT OF NAC TEEN SOYO
1975-1976
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the
believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in
purity."
I Timothy 4:12
Today, more than ever before, the youth have been called forth b
God to take on great responsibility. Young people have been give y
great challenge by God's ~~r? and great r~~ponsibility to His Wor/I:
the youth lies wells of abi?ties and q~ahtles. _God commands us to
perfect and use our potential to benefit mankmd and especially th
church. The youth of this archdiocese are able to use these resources i:
the Teen SOYO movement.
This past year was a most successful and encouraging one in the life
of NAC Teen SOYO. For ma~y ~ears NAC Teen SOYO faced the
problems of a lack of communication ~nd a lack of organization and
formalization. Two years ago, a past president, and current Lay Advisor
Donna Yazge, led NAC Teen SOYO through a stage of rebirth. Sine~
then NAC Teen SOYO has functioned more as one united organization
rather than the six independent regional components it comprises.
Two very important building blocks were introduced to our
movement last year. It was but one year ago that we were gifted with the
talents of Bill Es~ey, the har~-w~rking Youth ~ire~tor. ~e has diligently
closed all gaps m communication and organization with his frequent
contact with all levels of SOYO; national, regional, and local. His
monthly publication entitled "Looking Ahead" has interjected new and
exciting suggestions to Teen SOYO's activities, most helpful in the area
of spiritual involvement. The second significant development was the
formal meeting of all six regional presidents and two advisors at the NAC
Mid-Winter Meeting held in Miami, Florida, in February. For the first
time in three years NAC Teen SOYO held an official meeting coinciding
with that of NAC Senior SOYO. It proved to be a necessity in effectively
and efficiently conducting the business of our movement which ordinarily was attended to in the one annual meeting. In order to insure the
future attendence of all regional presidents, a fund was begun last year in
Louisville to aid regions whose own funds could not cover their
The Sunday Hierarchical Liturgy is the climax of our
Conventions.
The Word
resident's travel expenses. This annual meeting is felt vital in romisin
p
g
It was decide~ m Lomsvill~ last year that in order to raise the mone
ur Theological Education Fund through whi"ch w
y
.
,
. '
.
e sponsor a
for O .
·nanan
at
St.
Vladimar
s
Theological
Seminary
we
would
h
rnl
se
.
,
pure ase
T-shirts which bore the SOYO emblem (rather than a camel!). We enthusiastically ordered 2000 such shirts which are being sold for four
dollars ($4.00). each. Due !o some communication problems with the
president of Mid-West Region Teen_ SOYO the distribution of the shirts
wasdelayed. As of July _1,each reg10n received their allotment and by
owthe local chapters, with your support, completed this drive w h
~aisedat least $~,000.00 for this worthy fund. The future of Orth:d~:;
liesin the educat~on and competance of our future priests. Without these
talented and dedicated clergy~en t~ere cannot and will not be a Church.
Please give us your support m_this project and let's have 2000 of us
roamingthe streets of San Francisco with SOYO T'Shirts! !
At our meeting this week, changes are to be made to up-date the
constitution of NAC Teen SOYO which was found in the archives and
still headed "Prop~sed Consti!uti?n," to be voted upon in Miami,
Florida (1969). Regional conshtut10ns have been revised in Eastern
Region and drawn up in Can-Am Region this year. Each region is now
functioning under a workable constitution.
A constantyroblem
for_N~C Teen SOYO has been its budget, which
lacks substantial and continuing sources of income. The present dues
requirement of $25.00 per active chapter is already a burden on the
regions. W_e ha-~e ~is~ussed t~is with Saiydna and He has graciously
agreedto aid us m fmdmg new income. In Miami, we agreed to reinstate
an old project, "National Tag Day" which will tentatively be held on the
third Sunday of October, Youth Month. We must thank Senior SOYO
for having come to our aid in providing a loan of $2900.00 so that we
could pay the bill for the t-shirts. They have always been there when we
needed them.
Finally, some old projects were continued and some new ones undertaken. Two years ago we undertook a project of promoting The Word
Magazine throughout the Archdiocese so that each family had a subscription. This project was called "Spread The Word." During the first
yearwe sold a small but substantial number of subscriptions but this year
we were less successful. We recommended that each local chapter
work i!} conjunction with their parish priest and parish council to
encourage every family in this Archdiocese to purchase their own
subscription to this magnificent publication. Join us in helping to
"SPREAD THE WORD." A move was taken for NAC Teen SOYO to
actively promote Primary SOYO through the regions. This had been
undertaken by the Western Region last year and most of their SOYO
chapters now have Primary SOYO. We hope by next year the nine to
twelveyear olds can be brought into the youth movement of our Archdiocese.
Once again our Spiritual Involvement Committee has published a
revised booklet to be distributed this week to all the regions of Teen
SOYO.It includes a description of Spiritual Involvement, its necessity,
and ways to become more spiritually involved. Teen SOYO and every
other organization must realize that anyone can hold bake sales, haflies,
and dinners, but the essence of our focus must continue to be spiritual
officers.
An attempt to report all of our goals and accomplishments of one
year in a few pages cannot be justified nor do justice. But one fact
remainsevident. We continue to grow both spiritually and morally which
in today's complex and so troubled society requires strength, strength
whichmust come from love and dedication or in the words of the SOYO
emblem; LOVE,
HONESTY,
UNITY,
DEVOTION,
through
AWARENESS and COMMITMENT. At the close of another year, we
wouldlike to thank our Spiritual Advisor, Rev. Father George Corry and
ourLay Advisor, Donna Yazge for their guidance and assistance. I would
alsolike to thank the officers and members of Teen and Senior SOYO
a~dall of you who have given us continued support and encouragemen~.
~mally,a special thanks to His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP for Hts
mspiration, love, and trust. We too join in his excitement in anticipation
of the visit of His Holiness, Patriarch Elias, and promising another great
yearin 1976-1977.
As my term as President of NAC Teen SOYO approaches its conclusion, I am thankful for having had the opportunity to serve._ It has
been a rewarding and enriching experience for me. May I share wnh you
the words of Robert Frost:
"~he woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and
mile~to go before I sleep - miles to go before I sleep."
Thank you and may God Bless You Always.
Moved by Father Antoun Khoury and seconded by Father Paul Eiler,
LasVegas. The report was accepted. Mr. Karkenny presents a check to
Metropolitan Philip for $2500.
~ brighter fut~re fo_rTeen_ S?YO.
November, 1976
The Bishops partake of the Holy Eucharist.
The new NAC TEEN officers are President Thomas Hier.
Washington, D.C.: Vice President, Cyndi Day, Wichita, Kan a :
Treasurer, Gregory Dalack, St. Mary's, Brooklyn; ecretar , arol
Laham, Boston, St. George's.
D) William
Department
Essey, Director,
of Youth Affairs.
presented
the report
of the
REPORTTO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
San Francisco, California
1976
In my first report to the NAC General Assembly in LouisvilJe, I
presented a listing of sixteen (16) areas which were ugge ted by
Regional and Local SOYO people to receive specific concern. Within
the last year our Department has initiated work in ten (10) of the e areas.
Although the work has been far from comprehensive or exhaustive, we
have at least made a beginning:
1. SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL AWARENESS SESSIO S
Distribution of the film "KUNEITRA: The Death of a City;"
visitations to several local parishes to meet with their local youth
groups.
2. SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL COMMITMENT PROJECTS
Suggestions listed in our monthly memo "LOOKI G AHEAD:"
participation
in Eastern Orthodox Catechetical Conference,
Orthodox Christian Education Commission meetings, College
Student Retreat, Teen Retreat, Advent Teaching Series, Adult
Lecture Series, Midwest SOYO Basketball Tournament; promotion
of NAC SOY O's Lenten Project "FOOD FOR HU GRY PEOPLE."
3. YOUTH LEADERSHIP
As a member of the Syndesmos orth American Coordinating
Committee, our Department helped in the planning of a Consultation
of Orthodox Youth Leaders; presently planning a workshop to be
held at the 1977 CEOYLA Festival; attended a week-long Institute for
Orthodox Youth Leaders.
4. RESOURCES FOR COMMUNICATION
The main thrust of the Department's efforts this past year has been in
the area of communications between the Archdiocese,
AC SOYO,
and Regional SOYO; a monthly memo was prepared and ent to
Regional officers for local distribution; numerous letters and announcements were posted on a daily basis; effort wa expended to
assure that the 1977 NAC SOYO SUNDAY BULLET!
would be
both attractive and informative.
S. COMPILING A LISTING OF ORTHODOX SUMMER CAMPI G
PROGRAMS
A listing of some fifty (50) Orthodox Summer Camps throughout the
Page 31
�U.S. and Canada was assembled and an invitation to all of our young
people was issued.
6. CAMPUS MINISTRY
In cooperation
with the Orthodox Campus Commis~ion t~e
Department sent out questionnaires to all parishes regardmg their
local involvement in Campus Ministry or their desired involvement.
Responses were received from 40 communities with many priests and
lay people volunteering to become active in Campus Ministr~; the
Department worked with the NAC Campus Liaison in procunng a
record number of responses to the annual College Student survey.
Responses were received from over 50 per cent of our parishes.
7. INTER-ORTHODOX COOPERATIVE PROJECTS
The Department has been represented at meetings of both national
and international Orthodox Youth Leaders.
8. SPIRITUALRETREATMANUAL
Since the publication of the Sourcebook for Youth Work by the
Department
of Christian Education, this area has been made
available to all SOYO chapters.
9. YOUTH/ FAMILY STUDY PROGRAMS
In October letters of inquiry were sent to church groups which
sponsor such programs. Unfortunately no responses have been
received to date.
10. PARTICIPATION
IN SPIRITUAL VOCATIONS PROGRAMMING
In September
the slide and tape cassette presentation "THE
PRIESTHOOD: A Joy of the Soul" was completed and notices were
sent to all parishes advising them of its availability. We have also
maintained communications with prospective seminary students.
1976 REG ION AL SO YO PARISH LIFE CONFERENCES
Following the recommendation of the NAC General Assembly in
Louisville, I commissioned Mr. Douglas McLuckie to design and execute
a standard logo. The logo was reproduced and sent to all Regions, where
it received broad usage. I attended five of the six Conferences. A few
were disappointing in their lack of family participation.
SOYOANDOYA
Immediately following the decision of the Holy Synod our Department worked in cooperation wtih NAC to achieve a smooth integration
of all chapters into a united Archdiocesan youth movement.
1977 REG ION AL SO YO PARISH LIFE CONFERENCES
The Department has begun working with NAC officials to assist in the
planning of these monumental and historic Conferences. A standard
logo, theme and title have been prepared and have received the approval
of His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP. A uniform schedule has been
drawn up (also with His Eminence's approval) and will be implemented in all Regions. Since 1977 has been proclaimed "ANTIOCHIAN HOLY YEAR" our Department
will work in close
Cooperation with NAC officials to instigate a real "spiritual r enewal"
throughout the Archdiocese. The eyes of Orthodox America il
•
•
focused on our Archdiocese
t h.is commg
year, and we in th w I be
movement intend to lead the way in giving an eye-full. We ue Youth
•
d
• h orgamzatlons
• •
N OT to limit rgeBour
O
Pastors, parish councils, •an• pans
Year activities to the ra1smg o f f un d s. E very pans• h calendar sh ur oly
.
.
OU1db
filled with liturgical services, retreats, study groups, etc. As pr . e
·11
.b. .
ev1ous1y
stated, our youth movement WI accept respons1 ihty for initiati
. •
"bl 1 1
•h
ng .such
.
Programs, but 1t 1s up to. our respons1 e oca pans leaders to ass1St
in
the serious implementation.
_
This report is but a very brief resume of our activities from th
• h b
.h
e past
and for the future. Our goa 1s may b e h 1g , ut wit the Grace of God
the continued support of the faithful of our Archdiocese they wilt~d
achieved.
e
My most sincere love, admiration and appreciation must be exte d
to His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, His Eminence, Archbi\ ed
MICHAEL His Grace, Bishop ELIA, Archpriest George s cs op
•
• orey
Father George M. Corry, Gary Younes, James Karkenny, Donna y
'
•
l
ff"
d
•
d
•
and to all NAC and R eg1ona o 1cers, a visors an proJect coordinatazge
And a very special note of thanks to the dedicated people on the 10
°r\
level ... priests, advisors, officers and members. Each has made~:
first year as Director of the Departmex_it of ~ outh Affairs most rewarding. The time and energy I expended m therr behalf can in no way b
compared to the abundance of inspiration I received from them .e
return. I ask for your continued prayers and support.
m
NAC & TEEN SOYO moved to accept.
Mr. Essey, adds - The theme of my visiting seems to be "famil
involvement," but this is more !han a theme; it is the real famil;
relationship throughout the Archdiocese. He draws parallel with Church
as Mother, Metropolitan Philip as Father, Al Joseph as "Godfather," and
invites all to join this family. (Standing ovation)
FATHER DANIEL GRIFFITH representative
of Archdiocese to
Campus Committee of SCOBA. In the past two years commissions goals
were unrealistic, drastically changed, recommends that $2,000 given to
Campus Committee in past years be turned to our Campus program.
Metropolitan Philip will take the suggestion into consideration.
James Karkenny, thanked Bill and Metropolitan Philip for realizing the
need for a full time youth director.
29. The Message of METROPOLITAN PHILIP to the thirtyfirst General Assembly was then presented. It is presented
at the beginning of these minutes.
30. The telegram to Metropolitan
Philip from James Carter,
former Governor of Georgia, is read to the Assembly.
Page 32
by FATHER ANTONY
BEAUCHAMP and
32. Moved
seconded by FATHER JAMES MEENA the following
resolution was passed by acclamation.
Pursuant toAres?l uti~nSsub~itted to the Archdiocesan office prior to
April 1, 1976 , rtlc 1e , ect10n 1, of the Archdiocesan Constitution
whichreads as follows:
'
The name of this r_eligious corporation shall be "Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of New York and All North America."
shallbe amended to read as follows:
The name of this ~eligious corporation shall be "Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America."
Such amendment shall be effective forthwith upon adoption.
33. Moved by FATHER PAUL MOSES, Seconded by RICHARD
0. JOSEPH, Toledo, the following resolution was pac;sed by
acclamation.
"The Arc~diocese Board_ ?f Tru~tees s~all consist of the Metropolitan
Archbishop, the Auxiliary Bishop, 1f any, the Vicar General, the
Protosyngelos, the Executive Secretary, Chancellor or Chancellors
the Financial Advisor-Comptroller,
the President of the North
American Council of SOYO, the President of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, and thirty (30) additional members to be selected as follows: Nine members shall be
appointed by the Metropolitan Archbishop: Three (3) members shall
be appointed for a term of one (1) year; three (3) members shall be
appointed for a term of two (2) years; and three (3) members shall be
appointed for a term of three (3) years. The remaining twenty-one
(21) members of this Board shall be elected by the general convention: seven (7) members for a term of one (1) year; seven (7)
members for a term of two (2) years; and seven (7) members for a
term of three (3) years. Upon the expiration of the appointed or
elected terms as set forth hereinabove, such board members thereafter shall be appointed or elected for full terms of three (3) years.
Such amendment shall be effective forthwith upon adoption.
Recess for lunch at 1:30 p.m. Session resumes at 2:30 p.m.
Metropolitan Philip opened the session by thanking Robert Andrews
for the gift of fruit made available at the clergy breakfasts and offered to
the delegates at the General Assembly. He also commended the spirit of
Robert Bittar, Consul of Lebanon for the State of Oregon who is an
Orthodox Christian and a devoted representative of Lebanon.
Installation of the new officers of the Board of
Trustees.
31_ Moved by FATHE~ JAMES MEENA, seconded by FATHER
GEORGESHALHOUB, 1t was u_nanimously moved to suspend
the rules so that any resolutions might be passed by voice
vote.
PMS Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, DLR
Hilton Hotel and Towers 333 Of Arrel St.
San Francisco CA 94102
"To the most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba:
I regret that pressing briefing meetings prevent my joining you for
your general assembly.
I share many beliefs with the members of the Orthodox Church, and!
greatly admire your accomplishments in unifying religious groups in our
country. I especially commend his Eminence for the role you have
played in Ecumenical unification as vice chairman of the National
Council of Churches.
I look forward to the opportunities to discuss our common ideals ~nd
goals, and I wish the participants of the general assembly a product~ve
and enjoyable meeting and every happiness and success in the coming
year"
Jimmy Carter
The Word
34. The following
record.
message was received and placed on the
"Your kind Eminence we of the American Ramallah Federation rise
to the occasion of your 10th anniversary celebration as Metropolitan of
the Orthodox Archdiocese of North America. Also it was unanimously
resolved at our annual Ramallah Federation convention this past July
that we of the Ramallah communities nationwide are in a united and
grateful support of your fine work and dedication to the welfare of the
Palestinian refugees and the Arab cause. May you be blessed with
continuing good health and prosperity for many years to come in your
service and dedication."
EASAG HANNAM
President American Ramallah Federation
11323Farley
Redford MI 48239
35. JOHN G. KHOURI, Chancellor, presented the report of
the Department of Legal Affairs and Resolutions
The Department of Legal Affairs and Resolutions Committee met in
severalsessions commencing July 28, 1976 at 10:30 A.M.
Mr. John G. Khouri, Chairman, presided over the meeting.
Members of the Department present at one or all of the sessions
were:
JOHN G. KHOURI, Chancellor, Miami, Florida
ALBERT W. THOMAS, St. Nicholas Cathedral, Los Angeles, CA.
ANTHONY M. ABRAHAM, St. Mary's Church, Johnstown, PA.
November, 1976
the Antiochian Women .
GEORGE ELIAS, JR., Chancellor, Coral Gables, Florida.
ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Trustee, St. ichola Cathedral L
Angeles, CA.
•
VERY REV. FR. JOHN BADEEN, Detroit, Michigan.
RONALD NICOLA, Trustee, San Francisco Calif
Certain resolutions to be presented were ~onsid~red by the department and held to be proper for submission to the General Assembl for
its consideration, and presented herewith:
RESOLUTION No. 1, RE: ARAB REFUGEEAFFAIRS -
LEBANON
Submitted by the Standing Committee on Arab Refugee Affairs.
WHEREAS,
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of orth America
stands up strongly for truth and justice; and
WHEREAS,
Thousands of innocent Lebanese have been killed, maimed, or made
homeless as a result of the civil war; and
WHEREAS,
Foreign intervention in Lebanon has aggravated the Lebane e civil
war and threatens the unity of Lebanon;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,
That the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of orth
America in its 31st Convention goes on record in support of the
preservation of the unity, independence, and sovereignty of Lebanon
and calls for cessation of all kinds of aggressive foreign intervention
to enable the Lebanese people to resolve their conflict by negotiation
and without foreign interference.
Moved by NAJEEB SALIBA, Worcester and seconded by MICHAEL
ABADEELY, Worcester and passed by a majority.
RESOLUTION No. 2, RE:THE PALESTINIANS
Submitted by the Standing Committee on Arab Refugee Affairs.
WHEREAS,
The unresolved Palestinian question continues to be a ource of
instability -The Middle East; and
WHEREAS,
Stateless Palestinian refugees are one dimension of the Lebanese Ci"il
War; and
WHEREAS,
The West Bank riots have manifested, beyond doubt. the
dissatisfaction of the Palestinians with Israeli occupation; and
WHEREAS,
The right of the Palestinians to self determination has won o"erwhelming international support:
BE IT RESOLVED,
That the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of orth
America:
1. Reaffirms its past resolutions on Palestinians rights;
2. Calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the
Page 33
�and the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch.
WHEREAS,
..
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women ~f North America has
instilled among its me~b~~s, and the comm~mty at_large, a sense of
fellowship, a more sigmhcant understandmg
of its heritage anct
traditions; and
WHEREAS,
.
The Balamand Theological Academy m Lebanon assures the c
tinued development of spiritual leadership in the Church of Antio~~:
and
'
WHEREAS,
.
The Academy, built by our Arch?iocese through_ the efforts of the
late Metropolitan Antony Bashir, makes p~ssible the study of
Theology by the students, where they receive an emphasis on
Antiochian spirituality and history; and
WHEREAS,
Continued funding of the Academy by our Archdiocese enables us to
play a fundamental role in preserving the heritage of Antiochian
spirituality; and
WHEREAS,
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America deeply
regrets the fact that the Balamand T~eo_logical Academy has been
forced to close because of the tragic stnfe in Lebanon; and
WHEREAS,
West Bank and Gaza as a fulfillment of the right of the Palestinians
to a State of their own;
J. Calls upon the United Nations, the United States and Canada to
support the fulfillment of the above objective.
Moved by NAJEEB SALIBA, Worcester and seconded by FATHER
ANTHANASIOS EMMERT and passed by acclamation.
RESOLUTION No. 3, RE: AID TO LEBANON
Submitted by the Standing Committee on Arab Refugee Affairs
WHEREAS,
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
is dedicated to helping the war victims in the Lebanese Civil War
regardless of religious or party affiliation; and
WHEREAS,
This is difficult to accomplish under the present condition of strife
and turmoil; and
WHEREAS,
The American University of Beirut (AUB) has been rendering
medical aid to all those in need of it regardless of religious or party
affiliation; and
WHEREAS,
There is now, and has been for some time, an extreme shortage of
medical supplies and drugs causing much needless suffering and
despair to those in need of medical aid and care;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:
That the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North
America and His Eminence Metropolitan Philip allocate a minimum
of 25 per cent of the funds collected and to be collected by the Archdiocese for aid to Lebanon to purchase drugs and medical supplies
and send the same to the AUB Hospital and St. George Orthodox
Hospital in Beirut in order to enable them to continue their excellent
work of supplying medical care to the sick, disabled and war victims
of the Lebanese Civil War.
Moved by Dr. JAMES AJALAT, Los Angeles and seconded by
KATHERINE NAJJAR, Detroit, defeated.
The Antiochian Orthodox Women of North America does fully
endorse the continuing commitment of our Archdiocese to the
Balamand Theological Academy;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED,
That the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America
does hereby support and agrees to shoulder its responsibility to the
present special need to reopen the Balamand Academy to further
nurture its growth;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
That the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America,
for the year 1977, selects as its project commitment the Balamand
Theological Academy to reflect our deep concern and love for the
"last stronghold of Orthodoxy in the Middle East" and the future of
our Orthodox Church in North America.
Moved by MRS. GEORGE KARAM, Paterson, seconded by
FATHER PAUL MOSES, passed by acclamation.
RESOLUTION No. 5, RE: BICENTENNIAL
Submitted by V. Rev. Gregory
mittee.
Ofiesh and the Resolutions Com-
WHEREAS,
The Founding Fathers of our great nation were essentially religiously
motivated individuals who cherished the freedom to worship; and
WHEREAS,
It has become our moral responsibility as Orthodox
reflect our Orthodoxy as the Conscience of God; ;and
WHEREAS,
Our continuing role in this Bicentennial Year as Orthodox Christians
is to manifest our Freedom by Christian Actions; and
WHEREAS,
We, the Antiochian Orthodox Christians, whose fore bearers migrated
from the Holy Land to enjoy the Blessings of this Nation under God,
express our heartfelt thanks to Almighty God;
BE IT RESOLVED THEREFORE,
That this 31st Annual Meeting of the Antiochian Orthodox_C~ristian
Church, duly assembled in Convention, express its appreciation for
the rights and privileges enjoyed in this great Country by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in the form of a telegram
addressed to the President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford.
Passed by acclamation.
Page 34
RESOLUTION No. 6, RE: REUNIFICATION
Submitted by the Resolutions Co'llmittee
WHEREAS,
d
We at this 31st Annual Convention are enjoying the presence anh
participation of our beloved leaders Metropolitan Philip and Arc •
bishop Michael and our brethren from all North America,
BE IT RESOLVED THAT,
.
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North Ament~~
in convention duly assembled, proclaims by Acclamation, its hear: e
thanks and appreciation for the great efforts made by Metropobtan
Philip, Archbishop Michael, the Clergy and the Laity, who con·
The Word
36. A telegram from Senator James Abourezk was read to
the General Assembly.
RESOLUTION No. 7, RE: METROPOLITAN PHILIP'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY
Submitted by Ronald Nicola and the Resolutions Committee
WHEREAS,_
..
Metropohtan_ Phihp h_as co~pleted a decade of spiritual leadership as
Primate of this Archdiocese m North America; and
WHEREAS,
Under the guidance of Metropolitan Philip this Archdiocese has
witnessed an outstanding Decade of Challenge, Courage, Progress
and Growth; and
WHEREAS,
During the past ten years the great progress of this North America
Archdiocese has not been without great cost to the health of our
beloved Metropolitan Philip;
BEIT THEREFORE RESOLVED,
That this North American Archdiocesan Convention duly assembled
at San Francisco, express our heartfelt thanks to God for the inspired
leadership over the past decade and beseech Almighty God to bless
and grant our beloved Metropolitan Philip with many more years of
good health to continue his inspired leadership as Shepherd of his
flock.
Passed by acclamation.
37. DR. GEORGE MALOUF presented a progress report
from the Washington parish on the 1977 General Convention.
A REPORTON
THE 32ND ANNUAL CONVENTION
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESEOF
NORTH AMERICA
WASHINGTON, D.C.
JULY 25-31, 1977
HOST PARISH AND PASTOR
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church
4335 -16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20011
Tel.: 202-723-5335
Pastor: V. Rev. George Rados
RESOLUTIONNo. 8, RE: APPRECIATION OF HOST PARISH
Submitted by the Resolutions Committee
WHEREAS,
The Parish of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in San Francisco,
California, has graciously hosted this 31st Annual Archdiocesan
Convention; and
WHEREAS,
The Pastor, The Very Rev. Gregory Ofiesh, the Convention CoChairmen, Alfred Nicholas, James Baba, and Ron Nicola, the Parish
Council and its Chairman, Albert Malouf, the various Committees
and members of the Parish of St. Nicholas have not spared any effort
to assure the success of this Convention during America's Bicentennial, and to provide the utmost comfort and enjoyment of the
delegates and guests;
BEIT THEREFORE RESOLVED,
That this 31st Annual Convention extends to them its heartfelt thanks
and appreciation for an outstanding Convention.
Passed by acclamation.
This resolution is presented on behalf of the clergy and their wives by
the Very Rev. Frs. George R. George and Antony Gabriel.
Christians to
RESOLUTION No. 4, RI:: BALAMAND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Submitted by the Anitochian Orthodox Christian Women of North
America.
WHEREAS,
The Antiochian Orthodox Women of North America, an officially
sanctioned organization of this Archdiocese, has developed among its
members a spirit of Christian leadership through awareness and
commitment as taught in the Holy Orthodox faith and witness; and
WHEREAS,
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America has
created among its individual members a genuine expression of love
and service through works of charity toward their fellow man; and
ributed to the reunification which has resulted in the creation of one
~ntiochian Orthodox Family.
RESOLUTION.RE: ST. NICHOLAS ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN
FRANCISCO LADIES SOCIETY CLERGY-WIVES BREAKFAST
COMMITTEE.
WHEREAS,
We the clergy and their wives of the A.O.C.A. of N. America look
forward with anticipation to these annual conferences; and
WHEREAS,
They offer to us the opportunity of renewing old friendships and
making new acquaintences; and
WHEREAS,
.
A highlight of these annual assemblies hosted by our local Ladies
Societies are these post-Divine Liturgy breakfasts.
NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,
.
That the clergy and their wives of this Archdiocese, go on record m
this 31st Annual Convention in thanks to the pastor Very Rev. Fr.
Gregory Ofiesh and the hard-working Ladies of this parish who have
not spared any effort to assure us of their hospitality, love a nd
friendship.
FURTHER,
.
.
.
We the clergy and their wives of this great Archd10cese _m speci_al
gratitude to their generous hospitality, cheerfulness and ki?dness m
serving us every morning during this outstanding Convention, offe~
you on behalf of all of us, this small token of our deepeS t ap
preciation.
Thank you and God Bless you all.
Passed by acclamation.
CONVENTION '77 GENERAL CHAIRMA
Mr. Nicholas Hamaty
1007 Loxford Terrace
Silver Spring, Maryland 20901
Tel.: 301-593-3655
We extend to you a hearty WELCOME to Washington, D.C. in 1977.
Washington, D.C. needs no introduction. It is our Capital, the heartbeat
of the Nation and of the world, ushering itself in fresh attire into its third
century. It is furthermore, most befitting that the Washington, D.C.
Parish, on behalf of the Archdiocese, be privileged to host an Archdiocesan Convention on the occasion of the first visit of His Beatitude
Patriarch ELIAS IV to the United States. The presence of our Patriarch
in America is a blessing to the whole Nation. In this context, we in the
host Parish, will endeavor - because of this unique visit - to make of
the Convention a natural vehicle for introducing the City to His
Beatitude, the Apostle from Antioch and a standard bearer of world
Orthodoxy.
Your host Convention Committee has already begun its work to
assure you a memorable Convention. As you know, 1963 was the year we
were last honored as hosts of an Archdiocesan Convention, and we are
looking forward to planning a very successful one again - of cour e,
with every one of you attending.
The headquarters we have selected is the beautifully re-decorated
Sheraton Park Hotel. It is located in a prestigious area central to
reaching the many attractions of the City. It is minutes away from thr_ee
airports, gourmet restaurants, shops, and such landmarks as t~e White
House, Capitol Hill, the Kennedy Center for ~he P~rformm~ ~rts,
Embassies, the National Monuments, the Sm1thsoman Insutuuon,
museums, and the National Zoological Gardens. Re~ember, a~I of the
Bicentennial specials will still be there for you to enJOY, only WlthO T
the overwhelming crowds.
Reservations should be made directly to the Hotel. Delegates from
Washington, D.C. here in attendance have the reservation cards for you.
The Sheraton Park Hotel
2660 Woodley Road, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
S26
Rates: Single
••••••••••••• ••••
Twin/ Double .... •
·········
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • S32
S36
Triple
· · · · · · · · · ••• ••• ••• • •• • • ••• •• ••
S40
Quadruple
· · · · · · · · · · · • ••• ••• •• •• • •• ••• •• ••
OPE
Suites (available
· · · · · · •••• • •• •••
S4
Additional person I room · · · · · · · · ·
••••••••••••••••
Children under 18 years of age and
FREE
sharing room with parents ...
Page 35
November, 1976
�We have reserved 1,100 rooms at the Sheraton Park and we encourage you to make your reservations early. In case of a need for additional rooms, the Shoreham Hotel - across the street from the
Sheraton Park - with a 1,200-room capacity will accomodate the
overflow at comparable rates. The Hotel has its own parking garage, an
outdoor swimming pool, and a banquet hall facility holding 3,500 persons. We hope to be able to negotiate for a low-cost par~ing as w~ll as for
extending the coffee shop service for post evening funct10n snackmg.
Our plans for activities during the days include:
-Daily worship services
-Organizational
business meetings
-Seminars,
workshops, contests, and special events
-Sightseeing
tours
-Fashion show
Our plans for activities during the evenings may include:
-Hospitality
Night
.
-Official Reception in Honor of His Beatitude with Federal, State, City,
and Foreign dignitaries as well as representatives of other Orthodox
Churches and heads of other Christian and religious organizations
-Clergy / Board of Trustees Dinner
-Hafli / An event at the National Gallery of Arts or Kennedy Center
-Boat
Ride on the Potomac River passing historic Mt. Vernon, the
estate of George Washington
-Pool Side Happening
-Spectacular
Show
-GrandHafli
-Grand Banquet with His Beatitude as the Main Speaker
-Grand Ball
Youth programs for the Teens will take place parallel to_the oth_er
activities of the Convention. Our Teens are hard at work planning special
events tailored to the likings of our youth. Our Committee will be in
constant contact with the National Convention Planning Committee and
with Metropolitan PHILIP to properly coordinate the plans for this
historic event. We assure you that we will keep the cost of events as low
as possible.
GEORGE KARAKOS
RUDY GEORGE
DR. GEORGE MALOUF
DR. SAM KOURI
RON NICOLA
(Father Paul Doyle)
(Father James Meena)
(George Karam, Paterson)
(Mike Kaly, Canton)
(Gary Younes, Washington)
DAILYDEVOTIONS
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
Moved by JERE JACOBS GREEN'. Iro_n Mountain, and seconded b
FATHER MICHAEL SIMON the nommatlons were closed.
y
As a result of the voting the following seven members were elected to
the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees for three year terms.
an attempt to encourage our faithful to study
Holy Scripture through daily liturgical readings-
MONSOUR LAHAM
ROBERT ANDREWS
RUDY GEORGE
RON NICOLA
PHILIP HADDAD
CHARLES DOWD
DR. GEORGE MALOUF
The week of Oct. 31
Sun. - Eph. 2: 14 to end.
Lk. 16: 19 to end.
Mon. - Phil. 4:10-23
Lk. 7:36-50
Tues. - Col. 1:1-2, 7-11
Lk. 8:1-3
Wed. - Col. 1: 18-23
Lk. 8:22-25
Thurs. - Col. 1:24-29
Lk.9:7-11
Fri. - Col. 2:1-7
Lk. 9:12-18
Sat. - II Cor. 3:12-18
Lk. 6:1-10
41. On the motion of Shamseh Dalack, St. Mary's, Brooklyn
seconded by George Elias, Jr. the General Assembly adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
P.W.S. Schneirla
Executive Secretar;
}.fl
Approved: METRO POLIT AN PHILIP
~.
~
/l!I
The week of Nov. 7
Sun. - Eph. 4: 1-7
Lk. 8:41 to end.
Mon. -Heb. 2:2-10
Lk. 10:16-21
Tues. - Col. 2:20-3:3
Lk. 9:23-27
Wed. - Col. 3: 17-4:1
Lk. 9:44-50
Thurs. - Col. 4:2-9
Lk. 9: 49-56
Fri. - Col. 4: 10-18
Lk. 10:1-15
Sat. - Heb. 7:26-8:2
Jn. 10:9-16
We invite you to participate in the 1977 Convention, which promises
to be The Convention of Conventions. On the occasion of His Beatitude's
visit, the Convention theme has been chosen to be: "BLESSED IS HE
WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD."
The week of Nov. 14
38. Following the bids for the 1978 General Convention
from Houston, presented by FATHER JOHN NAMIE and
RALPH ABERCIA, and from Miami, presented by GEORGE
ELIAS, Miami withdrew in favor of Houston.
39. In memory of Nazira and Abe Jacobs, St. Mary's of Iron
Mountain was donated $1000 to the Balamand Seminary
Fund.
40. METROPOLITAN PHILIP appointed the following three
trustees, ARCHIMANDRITE ANTOLIN KHOURI, MRS. ROSE
MERHIGE and RICHARD 0. JOSEPH, and reappointed the
following Archdiocesan officers. The RT. REV. ELLISKHOURI,
Protosynkellos;
The RT. REV. GREGORY ABBOUD, Vicar
General;
the VERY REV. PAUL SCHNEIRLA, Executive
Secretary; JOHN KHOURI and GEORGE ELIAS, JR., Chancellors; THEODORE MACKOUL, Financial Adviser. FATHER
ANTHONY GABRIEL announced that the terms of the
following trustees have expired, and opened the floor for
nomination
of candidates.
Monsour
Laham, Rudolph
George, Philip Haddad, George Malouf, Robert Andrews,
Charles Dowd and Ron Nicola. The following
were
nominated.
(The names in parentheses
indicate the
nominators.)
MONSOUR LAHAM
CHARLES DOWD
PHILIP HADDAD
ROBERT ANDREWS
ADEEBSAAD
Page 36
Sun.-Eph.
5:8-19
Lk. 10:25-37
Wed. - I Thess. 2:1-8
Lk. 11:9-13
Mon. - I Thess. 1: 1-5
Lk. 10:22-24
(Beginning of
Nativity Fast)
Thurs. - I Thess. 2:9-14
Lk. 11: 14-23
Tues. - I Thess. 1:6-10
Lk. 11: 1-10
Sat. - II Cor. 8: 1-5
Lk. 8: 16-21
The week of Nov. 21
Sun. -Heb. 9:1-7
Lk. 12: 16-21
(Presentation of our Lady)
Mon. - I Thess. 2:20-3:8
Lk. 11 :29-33
Tues. - I Thess. 3:9-13
Lk. 11:34-41
Wed. -I Thess. 4:1-12
Lk. 11 :42-46
Thurs. - I Thess. 5: 1-8
Lk. 11:47-12: 1
Fri. - I Thess. 5:9-13, 24-28
Lk. 12:2-12
Sat.-IICor.11:1-6
Lk. 9:1-6
(Father George R. George)
(Father Paul Moses)
(Father George Corey)
(Father Paul Romley)
(Isabel Black, Los Angeles)
The Word
Fri. - I Thess. 2: 14-19
Lk. 11:23-26
The week of Nov. 28
Sun. -Colo. 3:12-16
Lk. 18: 18-27
Mon. - II Thess. 1: 1-10
Lk. 12:13-15, 22-31
Tues. - II Thess. 1:10-2:2
Lk. 12:42-48
Wed. - II Thess. 2:1-12
Lk. 12:48-59
Thurs._ II Thess. 2: 13-3:5
Lk. 13: 1-9
Fri. - II Thess. 3:6-18
Lk. 13:31-35
Sat. - Gal. 1:3-10
~. 9:37-43
'IJH&:1
•·
r_
D'~. ..
~-===.I~"
.
-
Page 3
November, 1976
�C.
E.
O.V.
L.A.
11
FESTIVAL
OF
ORTHODOXV
FESTIVAL OF ORTHODOXY
September 3, 1977
Pittsbur1h,
Pa.
ov
3 1 '1977
SEPTEMBER
CIVIC
ARENA
PITTSBURGH
1 PA.
further
information:
Dr. Stephen
Sivu I ich
465 College
Station
Easton,
PA
18042
11
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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kalemat_19761101_20_9
Title
A name given to the resource
The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 09
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 20, Issue 9 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated November 1976.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1976 Nov
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Coverage
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/aacc5cd6e29910309e0eef0cb1991b4a.pdf
d5dffe9afc873e31f62a03238b654551
PDF Text
Text
�OURARCHDIOCESE
CONFERENCEAND EVE!
Cover
In This Issue
October has been declared Youth Month by Metropolitan PHILIP_ and youth
Month means SOYO, the official youth movement of our_ Archdiocese. The
pictures on our cover, taken by one of our you_th, Mark Ehas of Miami, show
SOYO in action at the Convention in Sa? Francisco. Young p~ople have always
played an important role in our ~rchdtocese and they contmue to be an in- '
spiration to all our clergy and laity.
Metropolitan
PHILIP
Bishop ELIA
3
Editorial
5
Blessed Is The Nation Whose God Is The Lord
7
Summary of the 31st Annual Convention
San Francisco
8
Philip My Friend, My Dear Friend
in
Personal reflections given in a tribute during the Archdiocese Convention.
Gary Baines
9
Quo V adis, America?
13
James C. Meena
16
Reflections
After all, brothers, look at what those women have had to start
with! By almost any standard, Eve, the First Lady of the Universe,
got things off to a rotten start for her sister-to-be. To begin with, she
wasn't her own woman, but was fashioned from one of Adam's
"ribs." This happened while the poor man was asleep. Furthermore,
Eve wasn't brought forth for her own sake, but as a companion to
spare Adam his loneliness.
No sooner was Eve installed in the
Garden, than she got herself and Adam evicted from Paradise by
letting, of all things, a snalce, talk her into cov,eting, in pride, a
forbidden and knowledgeable
fruit I
For this bit of precocious action, she was consigned to a
lifetime of wifely subservience and painful childbirth, while Adam
wasset for a lifetime of back-breaking labor.
This story obviously
has had many interpretations
and our
Orthodox Church has, time and again, looked past the mere surface
meaning of the story to the depthful truth of Its message.
A faithful layman gives his views on the future of our great democracy.
Gregory Ofiesh and
Ronald Nicola
Our next issue of THE WORD is dedicated to the procedures of
ur Archdiocese Conference in San Francisco. However, this editor's
~houghts a~out one asp~ct of that confe:ence cannot wait until
then, since ,t would lose its contemporaneity.
I mean the important
role of women of which any by-stander had to be aware.
On A Theme
The pastor and a member of the host parish of the 1976 Convention summarize
our collective efforts in San Francisco.
Lifestyles X
Given these theological
facts, however, how often we have
looked to that story and arrived at an image of woman with phrases
such as these: Woman as weak, Woman as seducer, Woman as
liability, Woman as wifely subordinate, Woman as, if you please,
"non-person I "
A special message to our youth.
17
Archdiocesan
19
SOYO Digest
Be that as it may, all we saw at our Archdiocese ~onferenc_e
this year (indeed, it seems throughout the entire Archdiocese I J is
the tremendous,
intelligent,
and contributory
role wo~en ~re
coming to play. Women in our Church may never be priests ( '!r
sound reasons which can be found elsewhere}, but can we h_ope:m
light of the role that they have played at our own Ant,_och,a_n
Conference, that the larger Orthodox world will come to realize th is
samefact?
Office
News and views of our youth movement.
21
Communities In Action
Bridgeport, Conn., and Bergenfield, New Jersey, share with us their activities.
23
After
its not
so strange
Theotokos changed all that I
Daily Devotions
in our Orthodox
C
a::
0
1Q
Ill
Church; th e
Joseph Allen,
Co-Editor.
Scripture readings compiled by Father Gerasimos Murphy.
24
all,
..I
The Orthodox World
Commentaries of the Religious News Service.
Page2
The Word
Page3
October,1976
�Feastof tht Month
Hil.ess.ehJs WittNattnn
3lllf
Itnst"nh 11sW4t11.lnrh
ThtHolyFathers
of tht StutnthCouncil
H
The Church celebrates this feast on the Sunday
between the eleven!h and the ~eventeenth of October.
This famous Council was held m the year 787 A.D. in
Nicaea, in the time of the Empress Irene and her son
Constantine. Some three hundred and seventy-five
Bishops were present from various parts of the Christian
world. They came together to settle the question concerning the use of Ikons, or likenesses, of the Lord, His
As the United States of America embarks on its
Mother, and the Saints. This question had troubled the
third
century of proclaiming Liberty and Justice to,
Church for about sixty years; some people claimed that
and
for
all mankind, I would like to share a few brief
ignorant Christians were worshipping images, in defiance
'
thoughts
with you before we conclude this Conof the Commandment of God, and therefore felt that
ventionand disperse to our communities throughout
Ikons should be done away with. Those who were in favor
North America.
of the use of Ikons replied that the others wanted to
change the traditional Christian Faith.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter eight, verse
At the seventh session of the Council, on October 13,a
seven, we read:
definition of faith was read which said in effect: "We
decide that the holy Ikons . . . ought to be exposed to
"For the Lord your God is bringing you· into a
view . . . since the oftener Jesus Christ, His blessed
good
land, a land of brooks, of water, of fountains
Mother and the Saints are seen in the likenesses, the more
andsprings, flowing valleys and hills, a land of wheat
will me~ be led to think of the originals, and to lovethem.
andbarley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
Honor ought to be paid ikons, but not the worship which
a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you
belongs to God alone; honor so paid to the likenessis
directed to the original which it represents. Such is the
willeat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack
doctrine of the holy fathers and the tradition of the
nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of
Church."
whosehills, you can dig copper. And you shall eat
The Very Rev. Stephen Upson
andbe full, and you shall bless the Lord, your God,
for the good land He has given you."
Jsalm 33:12
by metropolitan philip
On November 19, 1620 after a perilous journey,
duringwhich the Mayflower encountered a number
ofdangerous storms, the pilgrims woke to the shout
of"Land." One of them, William Button, died during
the journey and was buried at sea. Another, John
Howland, was carried overboard by a wave, but was
rescued; and Steven and Elizabeth Hopkins became
parents of a son, named "Oceanus" for his birth
place. Thus, led by the star of freedom, about one
hundred pilgrims dropped anchor off Provincetown,
Massachusetts.
THE WORD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMA T, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
E~~~&~:
K
Archimandrite Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen Upson, James C. Meena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gerasimos Murphy, James. e;?a;
Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John Dalack, William Essey, Raymond George, Ronald Nicola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the Antioc ,an
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
Technical Staff:
George Nassor, Beatrice Davis, Eve Meyer
Publications Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
ISSN 0043-7964
THE WORD, published monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at Pittsburg~ ~e=~
sylvania, Business office, 377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213; Publication office, 3400 DawsJ\i Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 152lJ. n e
.as second class matter and postage paid at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $8.00 a year in the United States and Canada, $10.00 a year in foreign countries.
ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: THE WORD, 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
Page4
The Word
It was this love of freedom which motivated the
early pioneers to take such risks and suffer hard' ships.They did not want riches or fame; it was their
ambitiononly to build themselves homes, to educate
their children in the traditions of the motherland,
and to worship God as their conscience dictated.
Theydecided that in all the world America was the
oneplace which offered them these opportunities. It
I
MetropolitanPhilip delivered this speech d~ring t~e
banquetof the Archdiocese Convention this year m
SanFrancisco.
October,1976
is evident, therefore, that the first era of our early
history was marked by fierce struggle for mere
existence.
The second and most brilliant era of national life
was marked by a tremendous struggle for freedom
and independence. The search for liberty-religious,
civil or personal, brought thousands of early settlers
to these shores and peopled the young America with
a race of men to whom liberty was more precious
than life. We are very indebted to these courageous
individuals who were ready at any moment to
sacrifice their lives so that the future American
generations may enjoy freedom, justice, prosperity
and human dignity. If we examine carefully the
Declaration of Independence, we find that the
authors of this declaration had a strong faith in God
who created all men equal with unalienable rights to
live freely, happily and to worship God according to
the dictates of their consciences. Thus, from the very
beginning of our national life, there was a strong
emphasis on the right of the individual. Such emphasis is deeply rooted in our religious heritage. In
the Book of Psalms, we read the following:
"What is man that thou art mindful of him, and
the son of man that thou dost care for him? Yet thou
hast made him little less than the angels, and dost
crown him with glory and honor. Thou hast given
him dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou
hast put all things under his feet." 8:4-6.
Based on this divine revelation, the right of the
individual to seek freedom, justice and equality,
regardless of creed, race or color is very sa~red. We
must thank Almighty God that we Am~rtc~ns are
enjoying a great measure of freedom, Justice and
equality. Because of our human weakness, however,
we have a tendency to use our freedom to the
detriment of others. My freedom ends wher~ your
freedom begins. Freedom must not become a hcense
to deprive others of their God-given rights. Freedom
does not give us the right to suppress others and
monopolize the wealth of t~e wor~d a_tthe exl?ense ~f
the poor. If there is a starvmg chil~ m Am~nca, th~
means that all Americans are starvmg. And if there 1s
PageS
�a starving child in this world, this means that the
entire world is starving. St. Paul said: "Who is weak,
and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not
indignant?" II Corinthians 11:29. Man has nev~r
been an island unto himself. The shores of his
concern have expanded from his neighborhood to
his nation and from his nation to his world. Free
men have' always known the necessity for responsibility. This responsibility should weigh heavy upon
the hearts of all free men. Dostoevsky realized this
when he wrote:
"I tell you man has no more agonizing anxiety
than to find someone to whom he can hand over the
gift of freedom with which the unhappy creature is
born."
Freedom without responsibility is chaos. Only
responsible freedom is a divine gift which we must
preserve and cherish, and responsibly pass on to the
next generation.
In October, 1973, Alexander Solzenitsyn wrote:
"The most important part of our freedom, inner
freedom, is always subject to our will. If we
surrender it to corruption, we do not deserve to be
called human."
During the past two hundred years, we have made
the greatest contributions to mankind in the fields of
science, technology, medicine, economics and social
concerns; and we Orthodox can be justly proud of
our important role in these developments. We must
be cautious, however, lest we become arrogant and
self-sufficient. Arrogance and self-sufficiency bear
the seeds of our own destruction as individuals and
ultimately as a nation. Many nations and empires
have risen, flourished and collapsed because of
arrogance and moral decadence. Edward Gibbon in
his famous work,''The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire," cited five reasons why the great Roman
Empire withered and died. Here are the factors he
cited:
ago about the collapse of the Roman Empire? L t
•
•
• e us
pray that our Great R ep~ bl tc will never have the
same fate. As we plunge mto a new century let
resolve that the greatness of America lies within us
• h.m t h e m
• d tvt
•• d ua 1. Am erica canYou
and me; wit
grow taller and stronger than the individual ~t
makes America. Walt . Whi~an,
the poet 0~
America, summed up this reahty as follows:
"It is not the earth, it is not America, who i
··I1s wh o am gre~ t , or t o b e great-it • is yousso
great; 1t
u
there or anyone. It ts to walk rapidly throu
civilizations, governments, theories, through poeJ
pageants, shows, to form great individuals."
s,
THIRTY-FIRST ANNUALCONVENTION
OF THE
ANTIOCHIANORTHODOXCHRISTIAN
h
ARCHDIOCESEOF NORTH AMERICA
Let us affirm our dee~ faith_ in ~od, the Lord of
History who controls with Hts mighty hand th
SITE:
destiny of nations and empires. Without Gode
TheHilton Hotel - San Francisco, California
everything which we have built throughout the year'
will be consumed by fire and turn into dust an~ '
ashes. Let us never forget God's words in
DATES:
Deuteronomy:
July25 - August 1, 1976
"You shall remember the Lord Your God, for it is
He who gives you power to get wealth; that He may
confirm His covenant which He swore to your
fathers, as at this day. And if you forget the Lord
your God and go after other gods and serve them
and worship them, I solemnly warn you this day that
you will surely perish." 8:18-20.
Pastoral Education and Spiritual vocations, "The
WORD Magazine," Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Women of North America (AOCWNA), ear East
a1:1dArab Refugee Affairs, "Project Loving Care,"
Fmance, Sacred Music, Christian Education
Convention Planning, Legal Affairs and Resolutions'
Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations, (SOYO
and Teen SOYO) and Inter-Orthodox Youth
Relations, Stewardship, and the Order of Saint
Ignatius of Antioch
HOSTPARISH:
SaintNicholas Orthodox Church
SanFrancisco, California
HOSTPASTOR:
VeryReverend Archpriest
the Address of Metropolitan PHILIP, in which he:
Gregory Ofiesh
filERARCHSIN ATTENDANCE:
HisEminence, Metropolitan PHILIP
HisEminence, Archbishop MICHAEL
HisGrace, Bishop ELIA
CLERGYIN ATTENDANCE:
100
REGISTRANTS:
4,000
1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity
of the home-the very basis of human society.
ATTENDED:
2. Higher and higher taxes; the spending of
public money for free bread and circuses for the
populace.
dailyVesper Service and Divine Liturgy
3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports and other
entertainment becoming every year more and more
exciting, more brutal and more immoral.
4. The building of great armaments when the
real enemy was within ... the decay of individual
responsibility.
10thepiscopal anniversary of Metropolitan PHILIP
5. The decline of religion-faith fading into mere
form; losing touch with life, losing power to guide
the people.
CELEBRATED:
the reunification of the Antiochian Orthodox
the 200th anniversary
dependence
00
the
American
In-
HEARD:
~eportsfrom the Departments of Information and
/~ss Relations, Liturgics, Inter-Orthodox and InterI aith Relations, Architectural Commission, Clergy
nsurance, Missionary
Activities,
Continuing
Ca1:1we read in At_nerica, today, some of these signs
which Edward Gibbon painted hundreds of years
Page6
of
The Word
October,1976
1. reviewed Antiochian history in North America
from 1915 and the reunification in 1975
2. praised the Archdiocesan Youth Movement for
continuing their service to the Church
3. commended the AOCWNA on completing their
second year of outstanding achievement
4. outlined the important goals of the Stewardship
Department
5. announced the induction of the first members of
the Archdiocesan Order of Saint Ignatius of
Antioch
6. announced two gifts presented to Saint Vladimir's
Seminary in the name of the Archdiocese;
$50,000.00 toward the new building program and
$10,000.00 in general contribution
7. reviewed the civil stife in Lebanon and renewed
his appeal for contributions to the emergency aid
fund
8. proclaimed 1977 "Antiochian Holy Year" in
honor of the confirmed visit of HIS Beatitude
ELIAS IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
9. announced plans to establish the "Patriarch
ELIAS IV Foundation" in the amount of one half
million dollars to provide a guaranteed annual
income for the Balamand Orthodox Theological
Academy of Saint John of Damascus
10. announced the establishment of the Standing
Conference
of American
Middle Eastern
Christian and Moslem Leaders and the results of
the Conference's meeting with President Gerald
R. Ford at the White House
(continued on Page 27)
Page 7
�Thoughts:
PhilipMy Friend,My Dear Friend Bicentennial
Personal reflections by His Grace, Bishop Elia
In the life of every individual, there are .som_e
events which are engraved in his heart ~nd m his
mind One of the most important, meanmgful, enjoyable, and memorable events of my ~ife is that of
Saidna Philip's election and consecration.
I was the Secretary of the Holy Synod, and I
recorded the decision of his election b~ my o_wn
hand and I witnessed all the details of his ele~tion
and consecration. I have never seen the Patnarch
and the Members of the Holy Synod as happy as they
were at that time.
The Patriarch at that time said, "Despite the fact
that the Holy Synod was inactive for four years, ~ue
to the crisis of the Throne of Antioch, by electmg
Father Philip Saliba to North America, we _made up
the difference and all of our sins are forgiven. We
gave to North America the right person, the most
qualified and dynamic clergyma~."
.
At that time, you celebrated his consecrati~m f~r
the first time here in San Francisco, and now m this
beautiful city, you are celebrating his Tenth ~niversary. It is a great pleasure for me to share with
you this happy occasion.
This means that the Holy Spirit, ten years ago,
made him Metropolitan of this Archdiocese.
The Theological Meaning of Consecration
Theologically speaking, the Holy Spirit acts in
those who open their hearts and respond to Him. His
family background nurtured him and prepared him
for this response. His Diaconate, Priesthood, and
Episcopate are the result of this response. He was
and still is in a continuous cooperation and synergy
with the Holy Spirit, Who chose him for His Church.
His great achievements in this Archdiocese and
outside, are the result of this cooperation and
synergy. This is my firm belief and this is the understanding of our Church.
His Tenth Anniversary coincides with the
Bicentennial of this country, an appropriate coincidence of freedom's declaration. The freedom
which he calls for is the inner freedom, the
redeeming freedom of Christ, Who said, "You shall
know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free."
If we are not free from within, our freedom from
without is slavery.
A True Friend
In addition to being my Brother-in-Christ, Saidna
Philip is my friend. Our friendship is one of the main
reasons that I have remained in this Archdiocese.
It is easy to have acquaintances, but it is very
difficult to make friends. Plato said, "When you have
Page 8
a true friend, i~ means that_ your life has value and
meaning." Aristotle consid~rs the true friend
"Another I, Second Self, A smgle s~ul dwelling in
two bodies." St. Jo~ C~ysosto~, defines friendship
as "The unity of umty with God. These definitions
of friendship emphasize the need for a oneness and
harmony in faith, character,
principles, understanding, and perspectives between two persons
in order that there may be a friendship. On this basis
Saidna Philip and I are friends.
'
As Brother Clergy, and friends, we have been
toiling for the benefit of the Church.
Some people are dominated by their office
others dominate it. Saidna Philip is one of the latter'.
Some people live on the margin of history, others
live in the heart of history and shape it. Saidna Philip
is making history.
QUO VADIS,AMERICA?
by gary baines, d.d.s.
The following artic_le was inspi~ed by p~rsonal
eriences in the fzelds of publzc speaking, the
expressionsof my patients from all walks of life, the
;:fuus of volunteer work in public schools and
churchschool, and ten years as a scoutmaster. It
reflects a genuine and deep concern for the path our
country now seems to have chosen in a gradual but
definite departure from the basic principles upon
which our nation was founded.
During our nation's
200th birthday we would
be wise to pause collectively and individually to
ponder
this
simple
statement:
QUO
VADIS,
AMERICA,
which means "Where
goest thou, America". It
doesn't take a student of
American history to point out the fact that our
nation has somewhat drifted from its founding
principles as laid down in t~e Declaratio~ of In dependence and our Cons!itutton. Nor ~oes it take a
theologian or a sociologist to recognize that our
basic moral values and ethical standards have
become more difficult to define, as they are increasingly subjected to the corrosive effects of
"relativism" and a "no holds barred" philosophy•
ignore these circumstances entirely, feeling that the
ability of the captain, the crew, and the overall
seaworthiness of our ship, the USS AMERICA, is
more than enough to meet the onslaught before usbut is it?
His Ten Years: Unity and Orthodoxy
We have been speaking of Saidna Philip's
achievements during his past ten years as
Metropolitan of North America. He built new
Churches and created new Departments, and reorganized the entire administrati?n
of this Archdiocese and many, many other thmgs. And lately,
he achieved the greatest event in the history of the
Archdiocese: the reunion of the An tiochian faithful.
All these things are true and good in the reality of
this world but the Church needs something else,
'
.
more important. The Church as the Body of ~~1st
unites the two realities, the Human and The D1vme;
the historical Terrestial One and the Grace of the
Holy Spirit; the Reality of God and the Reality of
this World. For this reason, to me, his single and
most important achievement is the process by which
he brought God and Orthodoxy to all facets of life in
this Archdiocese, the process of injecting every AREWE MERE PASSENGERS?
move and activity in this Archdiocese with the serum
Somwhere along the way in our outcry for
of Orthodox Doctrines and Tradition.
liberationfrom the established standards of common
Presently the ecclessiastical life in this Ar- decencyand the establishment of the "new moralit(
chdiocese is progressing along the True <?rthodox oftoday, we find ourselves merely passengers a~rift
path. Now we see and feel Orthodoxy m every on a ship lost at sea with a storm approachm~.
program and activity. Orthodoxy, through the course However, the lights of our homeland are still
of the years, had accumulated some influenc~s fr?m somewhatvisible and beckon us back to safe port,
the non-Orthodox background. This has and is being whilethere is yet still time. This is easier said tha~
changed!
.
d
donefor many reasons, but the most importa~t it
Since my arrival I witnessed and expene~ce
seems,is that not enough on board hav~ eith~r
these influences in the Life of our Church. Said~a sensedthe storm's approach or have reahzed its
Philip is re.ally Orthodoxizing these outsi~e tn·
awesomeintensity. Then there are those who would
fluences, in other words he is rebuilding this ~~,-chdiocese on a very firm Orthodox Foundation. T is
. 1s
. a pract1c1ng
. . dentist
. an d fiai·th'Gary Barne
is, in my opinion, His greatest achievement, an
,u / Orthodox Christian
. d' of
rro
• •
•
• •
• truly appreciate .
nt, exas. This introspective wntmg is
achievement by which all of us are honored!
.1.
The Word
Ot ober, 1Y75
Are our government leaders today truly able or
do they possess the courage to provide the quality of
leadership required to steer our America through the
many storms before us? Do we, as passengers, really
care one way or the other, so long as we are able ~o
"do our own thing" without apparent regard for_its
effect on the overall character of both our nation
and the government? Do we not all equally share a
common duty and responsibility as passe_ngersto the
destiny of this proud and proven ship that has
successfully weathered so many storms in the p~st?
Therefore can we expect more than we are willing
to give to 'preserve its structural security and moral
integrity? Without these qualities ~e are .~o match
for the challenge ahead and will qmckly dismtegrate
into a mutinous mob, as the skies blacken around us.
WHAT CAN WE ADD?
Our forefathers gave us a nation bought by
sacrt'f'ice an d pa1'd for in blood-a land of the free,
but also a home of the brave. And wha~ have we
added to this priceless gift to preserve it. for our
children? Other than our vast technologi~al a~d
scientific achievements, to what can we pomt with
ride that will reflect either an improvement, ~r at
st a statis quo ante, in the character of our nation?
us then proudly review and list only s~me of the
more glaring contributions we are leavm~ to succeeding generations of Americans, companng them
with those of our forefathers.
f
i:t
Page9
�We were given a nation conceived in personal
sacrifice, bravery, and courage, with a love of
freedom that met all challenges, no matter what the
costs. We are passing on a nation that has learned to
apologize for its greatness and compassion to its
neighbors, as they tear at the hand that befriends
them in the nngrateful agony of their jealousy and
hatred. We were given a nation sustained by
countless, hard fought, victories against overwhelming odds by a people of high moral and
spiritual standards, whose bravery, hope and trust
was established on a deep belief in and a love for
God Almighty. We are passing on a nation that has
learned to hang its head in shame and even beg for
our own prisoners of war, after retreating from thirdrate countries, because we no longer realize that
when freedom is threatened anywhere, it is
threatened everywhere. Also, there are those of us
who would say that these were "unpopular", "immoral", and "illegal" wars, and that America should
no longer honor its commitments abroad as the only
hope on the horizon for liberty and freedom in the
world. Even a modest study of American history will
reveal that our own Revolutionary War was not so
very "popular", nor can any war ever be defined as
"moral"; but once our government commits an
American to battle against aggression, it should be to
win, if possible, or at least in a winning effort.
Anything less, tears the heart from the will of both
our armed forces and our citizenry. Today, we ask
our young men to fight, and maybe to die, but not to
win, while we welcome back to our shores deserters,
draft dodgers, and those who would burn and even
wear our American Flag on the seat of their pants.
How long can we remain a "land of the free" and not
be a "home of the brave"?
GOD IN AMERICA
We are passing on a country whose Supreme
Court in great intellectual exercise has all but
banned the very mention of God in our homes and
schools, lest we offend an extremely small, but very
vocal s~gment of ~ur soci~t_y. Yet, our founding
fathers m the genume hum1hty of their search for
truth recogni~d from the beginning that life, liberty,
and the pursmt of happiness, were gifts from God
and mentioned this in our Declaration of In:
dependence along with many other references to a
Divine Being. The history of this nation is replete
with recognition of the presence, the need for, and
deJ:>e?dence on an All-Powerful and Merciful God.
This 1~the ce"!ent that binds the soul to the body of
Amenca, and 1sthe very foundation upon which Her
greatness and destiny depends. Shall we then idly
allow the soul to be torn from Her body by the railing
of a Go~le~s. minority with the support of the
su~rem~ Jud1c1al.branch of our government? Yet,
while this same high court claims the Divine wisdom
to tell us how, when, and where, to worship our God,
Page 10
it cannot even define pornography-a
term
meaning of which any grade school child is ' t?e
familiar with and can simply define or explainq~e
ask ourselves how can this be.
• e
esources that w~re once believed to be limitless.
~he "no deposit, no retur~" and disposable
philosophyof ou~ econo~y, while ostensibly making
life010 re convemen t, ha_sm fact hastened the rape of
r environment, robbmg us of the time-honored
0
~alities of thrift, cleanliness, tolerance, and con~ deration for each other. The secondary infection of
Sl
•
thissyndrome 1s
more gree d f or t h'1ngs we might be
betteroff without, and a slothfulness in our outdoor
mannersthat has created a staggering blight of litter
across the once be~utif~l face of our country.
Corrective °:1easures _m this regard, although valiant
andsincere m many mstances, may be too little, too
late.
We were given a
nation of close family
ties, high moral principles, a basic respect for
the law, and a wholesome concept of both
individual and family
entertainment. What we
,
are passing on in this regard can correctly be
characterized
as
a
masterpiece
of total
destruction
in many
respects. Our families
_
are shattered by soaring divorce rates, the rejecti~n
of parental roles and marriage itself, the total lack of
personal sacrifice, and disobedient children, who in
their cry for liberation have forged the chains of
their own enslavement; and who in many instances
have become the hapless victims of an ever increasing, illegal drug and alcohol problem in our already
crime-ridden society today.
Our government now deems it necessary to deal
withand actually rescue from destruction the agriculturalsystem of a country whose ideologies from
their very inception have the expressed purpose of
worlddomination of the minds of mankind, and the
eradication of freedom, democracy, and the belief in
God,from the face of the earth. Thereby, we totally
surrender the only real and effective weapon in our
arsenal that could be used somewhat to stem impulsesof aggression in this ravenous beast, atheistic
communism.
At this point with the initial squalls of the storm
nowbeing felt, might it not be prudent to question
the ability of the captain and crew of our ship, or
shallwe continue in the assurance and delusion that
all is well, as was with the Titanic?
MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
In the areas of moral principles, respect for the
law, and entertainment habits, our nation seems to
have chosen a path of which the ultimate end could
serve to educate Sodom and Gomorrah. The preoccupation and glorification of crime and violence
by our self-seeking entertainment
industries has
fallen on the fertile minds of too many of our aimless
and unguided young Americans. The manifestations
of this are reflected by a soaring crime rate across
the land that has far outstripped both the ability and
accomodations of our court-weakened law enforcement agencies. Under the guise of "freedom of
expression" the arts, theatre, and drama have
become an effectual avenue for perversion and
degradation to the already troubled and disillusioned
minds of our young. Television alone has nearly
reaped a whirlwind with its permissive attitudes
t~w~d virtually every form of perversion, formcatton, and violence.
We were given a nation blessed by God with
unmatched grandeur, beauty and splendor, abundantly endowed with every natural resource and
variety of climate that allows us not only to feed our
own citizens, but also the hungry and starving of ?ur
less fortunate neighbors in the world community.
But much like spoiled, over-indulged, greedy, and
~ngrateful children with no conception of eith~r.the
mherent value of our possessions or the sacrifices
they reflect, we have all but depleted many of our
The Word
SCHOOLS
Our nation was given a school system by our
forefathers, although rudimentary in scope, that was
founded, based, and revolved about the ideal of
cooperative dedication of the faculties, boards of
education, and state agencies, to the ultimate goal of
a quality education with citizenship training their
children. There was a harmony in the moral values
taught in the churches, homes, and schools in an
atmosphere of mutual respect, trust and love. We
might ask ourselves if this is no longer needed in
America today.
1
We have a system now where the teachers are
afraid of the principals, the principals are afraid of
the superintendents, the superintendents are afraid
of the state and federal agencies, and the parentsthe parents are afraid of their children, and the
_childrenare not afraid of anyone. Many of the
textbooks our schools are required to use today have
become a forum for special interest groups to spre:id
new and untested philosophies that in many I?stances challenge time honored standards taught m
our homes and churches-thereby,
creating open
antagonism and distrust between home church and
scho_ol. Have we allowed ourselves to be o
mamp~lated and demeaned by the pontiffs of our
educational syst ems, who are paid by our tax dollars
that we are no longer able or even care to counte;
th~se current trends in education that would u e the
mmds of our young as test tubes and pro ing
grounds?
WHO IS IN HONOREDPOSITIONS?
Did our_founding fathers ever imagine that under
the p~otecbon of freedom of expression, justice, and
~quahty under the law, we would now be allowing
mtellectual incompetents, sexual perverts, and
~rofessed enemies of our country the inalienable
nght to hold the honored position of teachers and
professors in our schools and universities? For it is a
p~oven fac~ t~at one teaches what one is, either by
direct adm1ss10nor by subtle innuendoes. With all
t~e problems our school systems are now facing as a
dtrect result of our own lethargy, the rapid assault of
special interest groups, and the proponents of
permissiveness, can we in all honesty expect more
than the decadent conditions that now prevailconditions that today are requiring the establishment
of campus security guards, barbed wire fences,
classes on venereal disease, control and prevention,
classes on sex education and drug abuse. Is this not a
shameful failure and an admission of abject defeat of
our society to the negative forces in our land?
There is more study,
time invested, funding,
research,
and field
testing, that goes into the
development of almost
any mechanical device
to be used by our
materialistic society than
is spent, it seems, in
research on the new
educational
programs
being introduced and
field tested on the minds
of our children today. Have we all become blinded
by the tinsel of our modem lifestyles and our refusal
to become involved, that we fail to see the direction
our educational materials and school systems have
taken, no matter how subtle or insidious the approach? When will we awaken to the fact that our
children are the only hope for the tomorrow of our
country-when there is no tomorrow!
SUPREME COURT
What has happened in America in slightly over a
quarter of a century can justly be called the ultimate
Page 11
October, 1976
�abscenity on our national honor and a desecration
on the memory of America's triumph for humanity in
Nuremberg. Because on January 22, 1973, the United
States Supreme Court once again displayed questionable judgement by defining human life in the
legalization of abortion on demand. Implicit in the
power to define life, is the power to destroy life, a
fact to which not many Americans have given much
thought. But the destructive and corrosive -ramifications of this decision on "what remains" of our
national moral fibre are awesome and pervades
every segment of our society and its institutions. In
its determination to show "understanding" and
"compassion" for the social convenience of one
segment of society, the Supreme Court thereby
indirectly condemned to death another class of our
society in its most helpless and innocent form, as
determined arbitrarily by age alone. One may very
well wonder where the next "arbitrary" line will be
drawn, as like a moth to the flame we are irresistibly,
but surely, being drawn into a moral vacuum from
which an echoing cry may one day again be heard
across America-"My God, my God, how could it
have come to be?"
For once we have lost the capacity to feel compassion or a sense of good moral values, once we
have lost the protection of a national conscience and
have yielded to our baser desires; in short, once we
have lost our obedience to the value system of being
a "nation under God", then all things are possible in
our land. Substantiation of this fact is already
rampant across America today and will increase with
unbridled momentum until "We the People" have
had enough, and are willing to act in this direction.
This, then, is the challenge and supreme test of our
will to survive the storm that now surrounds us.
Long Island, said, "The fate of unborn millions w·
1
now depend, under God, on the courage and ll
duct of this army. We have, therefore, to resol con.
• " Th"is b rave message was time
ve to
conquer or to die.
then and now_echos once more across Ameri !Y
the life and death struggle for our national idec~.in
Do we, however, still poss~ss the courage to up~~id
and defend what we know m our hearts to be right .
a chaotic system that no longer holds anythin ' ~n
• Neverthelg in
reverence, sacre d , or vi·t a It o posterity.
· is
· th e unspo k en prayer an d th e mnermost
•
it
Iongiess'
of both our children and .of generations
yet
unborn
ngs
.
that we en d ure an d prevai 1-preservmg for them th
blessings of ,,"freedom's Holy Light" and a nati'on
e
d
"under G o .
we fail in this commitment t
posterity and to our national purpose, the profoun~
tragedy of it all is that our once proud and might
ship, under the constant born bardment of such y
•devastating and relentless storm, will disintegrat:
and go down with all hands, the captain, the crew
and the passengers to the dishonor of us all. We will
have all shared in the agony and realization that by
our own inaction, silence, broadmindedness, preoccupation, and permission, all was lost.
AND
COOPERATION
OF
George Washington, the first captain of the USS
America, addressing his troops before the battle of
Page 12
Tht 31stArchdioctst
Convention,
SanFrancisco,
Ca.
by very reverend father gregory ofiesh
If, however,
At a time that demands total commitment and
cooperation of all hands for the battle now being
fought, shall we continue to allow a handful of selfseeking, jaded, and suicidal mutineers to have free
run over our destiny, as they jettison valuable cargo,
openly sabotage our ship, and create bitter
dissension within our ranks? Surely, there must be
some on board who have looked over the side onto
the broken and decaying ruins of earlier vessels of
mighty civilizations that foolishly ignored these same
warnings-to their ultimate destruction.
Shall we totally forget the supreme sacrifices of
all the brave and gallant Americans, who in earlier
and more perilous times manned this same ship with
courage, valor, and conviction? But to be reminded
of this fact, one need only to gaze upon the "sea" of
~emorials throughout this great land. Can we do less
m our own struggle? We might choose to forget, but
t?e cries coming from these and many more grave·
sites of brave Americans all over the world will not
allow us the impunity of a clear conscience in our
folly and suicidal flirtation with destruction.
COMMITMENT
AMERICANS
Rtfltdionson a Thtmt:frttdomyO Btlitue
FOR IF WE DO NOT REMEMBER THE PAST,
WE CANNOT THEN EFFECTIVELY PREPARE
TO DAY FOR WHAT IS BOUND TO TRANSPIRE
TOMORROW.
QUO V ADIS, AMERICA?
ouov.ADIS?
The Word
and ronald nicola
1
In the enchanting city of San Francisco, His
Eminence, Metropolitan
Philip, His Eminence,
Archbishop Michael, and His Grace, Bishop Elia,
witnessed the coming together of the Clergy and
Laity of the An tiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese from throughout the United States and
Canada.The week of July 26 through August 1, was
toprove memorable and historic in the annals of our
Archdiocese. For many reasons, the participants in
thisConvention traveled West. No matter what their
cause for attending, soon all were captivated by a
senseof magnetism for the Archdiocese; a feeling
that has been building steadily during the past few
yearsand was heightened by the fact that this year
we gathered as a unified body dedicated to
strengthening ourselves in order to further Orthodoxy.
General
Assembly
Participants
The theme, "Freedom To Believe," was selected,
ont_heone hand, to commemorate three significant
anmversaries; The United States' Bicentennial, San
Francisco's 200th Birthday, and our beloved
Metropolitan Philip's tenth year as Primate of our
~chdiocese. In addition, this theme provided us
with the opportunity to examine the concept of
freedom, as it relates to the creative response in
man. Man's creativity is a critical aspect of
Chrisianity, yet one that is subject to abuse and
misdirection; hence, the need to study the nature of
freedom and the responsibilities it presents.
Early In The Week
Never before had an
approaching convention
created so much excitement
and
anticipation. This feeling
and spirit manifested
itself in a substantial
number
of
early
registrations and pre-sale Met. Philip and Danny
of activity books. The Thomas on Monday Night.
result of these months of preparation by conventioneers and by the host parish of St. Nicholas
was an opening ·evening not only memorable for a
large first day attendance, but also for its theme of
immigrant contribution which our ancestors have
made in North America. To manifest this spirit,
Metropolitan Philip presented entertainment legend
and dear friend of our Archdiocese, Danny Thomas,
with the Antonian Gold Medallion, in recognition of
his living witness to the "nation of nations" image
which has made the United States a great and unique
country, and for his untiring efforts to build and
maintain the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in
Memphis, Tennessee. The spirit of the evening so
touched our special guest that at one point he was
almost moved to tears. Danny then proceeded, in his
unique and classic style, to relate to us the
frustration of an immigrant to a new land and the
manner in which such people, from whom we are all
descendant, created a land where "freedom to
believe" is a reality. To culminate this "opening
Page 13
October,1976
�night," the people of St. Nicholas treated their gu~sts
to a sumptuous hospitality evening of food and wme,
"to make glad the hearts of man." Indeed the goal of
this first day had been to welcome all who had
traveled from near and far into our home, the
beautiful "City by the Bay."
I
Monday evening M.C. Nick Nlchola Sr., and combined
Archdiocese Choir performing Bicentennial songs.
Business of the Convention
Tuesday morning marked the beginning of the
Convention's real business. The morning of July 27th
began with a celebration of the Divine Liturgy which
set the tone and mood for the rest of the week.
Throughout the subsequent days, morning and
evening worshippers were captivated and challenged
by the words of our Clergy who expounded on and
developed the Convention's theme with profound
intellectual and theological insights. Never once
during the week did Metropolitan Philip wonder
where his people were during Liturgy and Vespers.
Large attendance at these focal points of all convention affairs was another indication of this renewal
of spirit which is gripping our Archdiocese more and
more each year. The spirituality of our daily services
was further enhanced by the voices of approximately
75 choir members from throughout the Archdiocese,
who were directed by the able Chairman of Sacred
Music, Ray George.
The daftime hours of Monday through Friday saw
the meetmgs and workshops of our Clergy, Arch-·
diocese Board of Trustees,
and Archdioc
Departments. This is the behind the scenes work t~s~
is not only the backbone, but the lifeblood of th~
Archdiocese. The w?r.k of th~ dedicated Orthodo~
Christians who participated m these sessions wa
revealed during Thursday and Friday's Genera~
Assembly sessions. Again, a large number of people
were ever-present at General Assembly, and they
were inspired by the accomplishments of our various
departments and el~ctrified by Metropolitan Philip's
annual message. This charge to the Convention has
continued to be a conference highlight over the
years; just one more manifestation of the spirit and
vitality alive within the Antiochian faithful of North
America.
Evening socials were a mixture of styles and types
of entertainment designed to be diverse enough to
please all participants. The traditional Arabic music
was supplemented by singers honoring America's
Bicentennial, bands playing the popular tunes of our
youth culture, and melodies conducive to fine
ballroom dancing.
With the usual formalities,
happiness, excitement, sadness, and even frustration, the Convention was drawing to a close. Orations were heard
by our young people, whose voices rose as if from
mountain. tops, giving us an added inspiration to
work for our goals and destiny.
And finally . . . . . a grand ending
Met. Phlllp being presented with a set of Vestments during
Thursday Evening Tribute.
A Special Tribute to a Special Man
Archdiocese
Page 14
Trustees
at General Assembly.
loveand respect for their brother Philip. Our Clergy
_Archdiocese Trustees,
Antiochian
Wome~
(AOCWNA), and
SOYO
paid
tribute
to
Metr~politan P~ilip with wor?s. of love, songs of
affection, and gifts of appreciation. Nostalgia and
reflection were added to the. evening by Dr. Najib
Saliba, who, as Metropohtan
Philip's brother
represente~ th~ Saliba family. J:li~ words brought
tears to Saidna s. eres, and an original painting was
presented; re!11imscent of the childhood environment which the tw'? brothers shared years
earlier. Drama and surprise were captured by a
personal message f~r Metropolitan Philip from the
President of the Umted States, Gerald R. Ford. This
filmof President Ford's greetings was appreciated by
all of us, and indicated
the respect which
Metropolitan Philip commands on the national and
international scenes. A multi-media presentation
climaxed the evening and summarized these past ten
years of diverse, historic, and significant accomplishm_e1:1t,
spea:headed by Metropolitan Philip.
After receivmg a gift on behalf of the entire Convention, His Eminence rose to the podium. His
words were highlighted by the letters of <;hildren,
whose purity of heart and directness of expression
are dear to Saidna Philip. We laughed and cried and
rejoiced during this evening in which we all joined in
paying tribute and saying thank you to this leader
whose guidance we pray will be with us for many
decades to come.
The Convention paused on Thursday evening to
pay special tribute to Metropolitan Philip on the
occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of his Consecration. It was in San Francisco that this shepherd
first met his flock, and where he was first embraced as
our father and leader. We were humbled at the opportunity to say "thank you" to this servant who had
guided us through a "Decade of Challenge and
Courage:' and was now prepared to walk with us into a
future of bright promise. Archbishop Michael and
Bishop Elia shared warm and personal thoughts of
The Word
Saturday's
Banquet
and Sunday's Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
were fitting conclusions
to
this
week
of
fellowship
and love.
William Baroody, Jr.,
Special
Advisor
to
President
Ford, was
Met. Philip
addresses
guest speaker at the
General Assembly
Banquet and his message
to us was well received. He spoke of the need for a
renewed sense of morality in our 20th Century world.
The f~mily unit, a topic dear to the hearts of th_is
Archdiocese, was also important to the themes m
October, 1976
Mr• Baro_ody's speech. Combined with his word
~et~opohtan Philip delivered a moving addre s
inspired by the Bicentennial, and together they
presented t_othe a~dience the ground rules nece sary
fo~preser~ng the freedom to believe," which we all
enJoy. (This message is also found in this issue of
THE WORD).
A movi~g liturgical celebration was witnessed by
a congregation o! well over 1500 on Sunday morning,
August 1. Our Hierarchs gave us their blessing as we
prepared to depart for our homes and the choir of
150 voices lifted our hearts as we thanked God for a
week of fulfillment and rededication.
Mixed e~otions and pleasant thoughts filled the
hearts and mmds of us San Franciscans as our friends
prepared to leave. The months of preparation were
rewarded handsomely by the sincere and warm
expressions of thanks we received from our
departing guests. Additionally, all participants in this
31st Convention should take pride in the fact that the
San Francisco Hilton Hotel Staff and Management
were complimentary and high in their praise of how
our people conducted themselves. And finally, this
"spirit of San Francisco" was illustrated by the
employees of one of the 24 hour coffee shops near
the Hilton. A week or so after the Convention a
group of us visited this restaurant, and were told' of
how our people and these employees had developed
genuinely warm relationships, and some even left
with tears in their eyes. Indeed, some of the true
nature of Christian love was left in the hearts of these
restaurant workers; more people touched by the
"spirit of San Francisco."
In the final anaylsis, it
is probably a misnomer
to refer to a "spirit of San
Francisco."
Certainly
this is a city that can
evoke special feelings
and emotions, but it is
clear that what makes
our conferences truly Thurs. Eve. Honoring Met.
special is the cause Phlllp
which brings us together. The cause of Orthodoxy,
the traditions of our Archdiocese, the special events
we commemorated this year, all of these factors
combined to fill our memories with not so much the
"spirit of San Francisco," but an ongoing and
emerging "spirit of Orthodoxy." As long as we
continue to work together, among ourseives and
with Metropolitan Philip, we can expect all of our
subsequent conventions to reflect the same feelings
and memories that we experienced this past summer
in the "City By The Bay."
Page JS
�LI FESTVLES X
ARCHDIOCESAN
OFFICE
homily by father james c. meena
United States Senate
August 25, 1976
TODAY IS MINE - TOMORROW IS YOURS
"Be firm in your faith, don't get involved in foolish
contentions about the law". Don't get involved in foolish
arguments, because there is a great deal more depth to
your faith than you are even aware of. (I Timothy 1:3-7)
In the process of becoming mature, a process that we
hope goes on for the rest of our lives, we develop concepts
that we test throughout our lifetime. As a teenager I had
the idea that our people were a bunch of stupid immigrants. I resented being called a foreigner and would
have as little as possible to do with my heritage. The
Church, was a social center where I could come and meet
my friends, a point of departure from which my friends
and I could go to a movie or bowling or roller skating or
do the things that young people enjoy. As a spiritual entity
the Church had no meaning for me at all. We did not have
the resources that we have at our disposal today.
My generation went through a war and the adults and
young girls held the Church together while the young men
were off fighting. But when we came back the young
people agreed, "This is our Church, and we've got to do
something about it". Out of that determination SOYO was
born and became the volunteer agency through which all
of the efforts of the young people of this Archdiocese
were coordinated. Sunday Schools became better year by
year and it became possible for us to organize choirs, to
gather music and to have the inspiring services that we
have today. These things happened because my
generation decided that we needed the Church and that
the Church needed us. We would not abandon Her.
There was nothing magical about all this. I suspect that
the Holy Spirit was working in us just as He is working in
you. We did what we could to make the Church
organizationally better than it was. Our parents were
concerned with survival. Our generation was concerned
with improvement. Your generation must now be concerned with re-establishing and renewing that which is
Orthodox.
The challenge of your generation is to make the
Church better than it is today; to make the Sunday
Schools more effective; to broaden the choir's selection of
Liturgical Music; to inspire the adults and to bring in the
young people. It won't be long before you are the old
timers in the Church.
Just yesterday I was sitting wearing the vestment of an
Acolyte. Just yesterday I was singing in the choir. Just
yesterday I was a member of the teen class. Just yesterday
I considered it a great privilege when the "old men" of the
parish would let me help them count the offerings. That
was Just yesterday! And tomorrow it shall be you who will
Page 16
be thinking about what you were, JUST YESTERDAY.
When you are going to assess what is happening in the
Church, don't comp~re our programs with those who have
had institutionalized programs for generations, who have
had an opportunity to learn by trial and error for two
hundred years, and who have budgets for their youth
programs alone which outshine some of our total parish
budgets. Don't make those comparisons because they are
unfair.
Our problem has been that we were content with little
things, with small Sunday Schools, with untrained
teachers, with small untrained choirs, with miniscule
budgets, and that's why I think that God has not given us
more. We didn't reach for more! We didn't strive to go
beyond what we were and are today.
Reach for the sky! Even if you fall short you might
come up with a star or two in your hands. If you refuse to
be limited by earthbound things, if you refuse to be
satisfied with things the way they are, if you get involved,
you the young men and women of God, if you're going to
really care about what is happening in the Church today,
then when you become the "old timers" in your Church
with the responsibility to take care of the Family of God,
you are going to be fulfilled and happy with yourselves.
Don't wait!
Start to commit yourselves from now. Start to get in
the habit of knowing that God never says "impossible" to
those who believe. Never! If you believe that you can
reach for the heavens, God will help you. If you really
believe that you can reach your limits, then God will make
you taller than you are, not physically but spiritually. You
can stand as tall as you want to be. You can stretch as far
as you want to. You can accomplish all the things that you
wish to accomplish for the glory of God.
Children of God simply hang In there even when things
look bad. Even when they look desperate they hang tough
because they know that God is on their side. "Who can be
opposed to me if God is for me?" (Romans 8:31) "what·
soever you shall ask in my name, it shall be granted unto
you! (St. John 14: 13) "All things are possible to them that
believe." (St. Mark 9:23)
Be affirmative! Say, "Yes God, I am your servant."
Then go about with living your life as if you meant it. Your
life is precious to God. You are His Children. He is our
Father.
.- Youth of the Church, yesterday belonged t_o my
parents! Today is mine! Tomorrow is yours! What will you
make of it?
The Word
Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America
358Mountain Road
Englewood, New Jersey 07631
DearArchbishop Saliba:
Many thanks for your cable communicating to me the
resolution adopted by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America concerning the tragedy in
Lebanon.
I fully share your deep concern, and I shall continue to
do all I can in the Senate to help bring peace and relief to
the beleaguered
Lebanese
people. Hopefully, the
Congress will soon act upon legislation which I have introduced to provide at least $20 million in relief and
rehabilitation funds for Lebanon, enabling our country to
more fully respond to the massive humanitarian needs
created by the year-long civil war.
Again, many thanks for your cable, and I look forward
to staying in touch with the Archdiocese on developments
in Lebanon. With all best wishes,
Sincerely,
Edward M. Kennedy
HisEminence Metropolitan Philip Saliba
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
358Mountain Road
Englewood, New Jersey 07631
YourEsteemed Eminence:
Greetings in The Name of The Lord Our God.
I sincerely hope that you have returned to New Jersey,
well, safe and healthy. Phoenix would have been an excellent stopoff for you to rest and relax after the pressure
you were under during the most wonderful convention in
the history of Orthodoxy.
I feel the strong urge to let you know that myself,
Martha, and the children returned home, completely
f~lfilledwith the joy of being in your presence and we are
stillelectrified with the love you displayed and penetrated,
I'msure, every living soul at the convention.
I am so very proud of the progress I observed under
yourleadership and the dedicated men that surround you.
I am in complete sympathy with your impatient desire
to move rapidly and to accomplish the goals you envision
and I am sure that the Archdiocese Team will far surpass
the goals you have currently established, however
~?wing you, when the established goals are reached your
vision will create further goals, which will be accomplished also. In my business we use the phrase to the
October,1976
execut~v~s, "Results • No Excuses", and it work or el e. I
fe_elthis is your inward desire. Your goals will be rea hed
~t~ your _leadership, your Board and of cour e with th
D1vme Gmdance of God.
"All things are possible with God".
I h~reby d~dicate myself to aid and a i t you and the
Archd_1?~ese m any manner you feel I ha e the
capab1ht1es.
Excuse the bragging, but I have an unlimited broad
scope
of business, . ma~keting,
merchandi ing,
management and God-given mnovative ideas to a i t in
any manner.
I envision capturing and bringing to our churches and
Archdiocese a multitude of new members lost soul
border line members, etc.
'
'
I beg of you to allow me to participate in any of the
areas you feel I may be qualified, as at this time, I will
suffer the sincere inner anguish unless I am part of your
dream and work for the Glory of God. Working for
Church, The Archdiocese and God is extremely important
to me for whatever years I have left remaining on Earth.
I have a great feeling of gratitude for all of the wonderful things He has given me in my life and now I must
repay in full, the indebtedness I owe.
I will be forever grateful for being selected to "The
Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch" Team and rest
assured, I will do my part, all that I am able in God's
Work.
"Martha", the children and myself pray for your good
health every day. We need you!
May I hear from you. God Bless You.
Your Obedient Servant,
Youn In Christ,
George Ghiz
P.S. Enclosed please find checks to the following Archdiocese Divisional Departments:
1. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
2. Saint Ignatius of Antioch
3. Project Loving Care
4. Saint Vladimir Seminary
5. Word Magazine
ARCHDIOCESE OFFICE
August 1-31, 1976
TRANSFERS AND ASSIGNMENTS:
MATTHIESEN, Rt. Rev. John from the assistant
pastorate at St. George in Wichita, KA to the assistant
pastorate at St. Luke in Garden Grove, CA
SHAHEEN, V. Rev. George from the pastorate at St. Elias
in Syracuse, NY to the pastorate at St. Michael in
Louisville, KY
Page 17
�Metropolitan Philip presents two checks to Father
Alexander Schmemann for St. Vladimir's Seminary from
our Archdiocese: $50,000 for the Building Fund and
$10 000 for the General Fund. On hand for the presentati~n are Theodore Mackoul, Archdiocesan Controller;
Zoran Milkovich,
Theological
Foundation;
His
Eminence; Monsour Laham, Archdiocesan Vice
Chairman; Fr. Schmemann; Fr. Daniel Hubiak, Chancellor of the O.C.A.; Bishop Elia; Fr. Cyril Stavrevsky,
Dean of Students; Fr. Antoun Khouri, the Metropolitan's
personal secretary.
ORTHODOX WORK IN ECUMENISM
SAN FRANCISCO An endorsement of Eastern
Orthodox participation in ecumenical activities came
from Metropolitan Philip Saliba during the 31st annual
General Convention of the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America.
Speaking of his denomination's membership in the
National and World Councils of Churches, the leader of
the 130,000-member archdiocese said, "I believe that we
can have a strong witness, although we don't have a
common faith yet. We must work together to help the
poor, to help the oppressed - to do Christ's work in this
world."
The convention report of the archdiocese's Department of Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Faith Relations endorses continued NCC participation, notwithstanding "the
overwhelming influence of the liberal establishment, in
which pro-Zionism is an unreflecting reflex."
Father Paul Schneirla, executive secretary of the archdiocese and author of the report, relates an experience
with the "national prayer-observance for the Jews in
Syria" as "an example of the nature of one of our concerns" about NCC membership.
He says that NCC General Secretary Claire Randall is
often assumed to speak for all non-Roman Catholic
Christianity in the United States, such as when she urged,
along with a Roman Catholic and a Jewish leader, NCC
member denominations to join the prayer weekend for
Syrian Jews reportedly persecuted.
"Aside from the merit of the charges," Father
Schneirla writes in his report, "and the potential value of
such a tri-faith prayer day for Zionist propaganda ... the
event raises more basic questions. The first. . . is the
inclusion of Orthodoxy in a national Catholic-JewishProtestant
Committee under the auspices of the
Protestant partner."
He also says th.~t _statemen!s by the general secretary
on such matters without pnor consultation with the
heads ?f comm unions puts Orthodoxy in the position of
endorsmg a blank check on an unlimited account."
Page 18
The report suggests "a continuing need to re h
•• m
• t h e NCC", to prevent
ac ha
common Orthodox position
six Easte~n O~thodox members from bei~g lu_mpedin !h:
public mmd with the other 24 NCC denominations.
In comments about the multiplicity of sepa
•
•
N ort h A merica, Fath
rate
Orthodox juns. d"ict10ns
m
Schneirla says there has "been very little serious cone er
• m
• t h e pas t d eca d_e," b ut t h at some of ern
shown for umty
th
reasons are "sound and others, if not excellent are . e
'
Intrinsic to ,, the nature
of contemporary
Ametican
Orthodoxy.
During a press conference discussion of educati
Metropolitan Philip called for more funds and chan;~
priorities.
"We can l~nd people 0 n the. moo~ and send Vikingto
Mars," he said, but we re still usmg old methods to
educate our children. We bore them to death. Education
should be a living process and we must utilize the
technological means we have to improve the quality of our
educational programs."
North American
SOYO
Digest
News and Views
TEEN SOYO'S SEMINARIAN
1
CHRISTIAN
GROUP
SUPPORTS
SEPARATE PALESTINIAN NATION
SAN FRANCISCO
(RNS) "An independent
Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza as a
fulfillment of the right of the Palestinians to a state of their
own" was endorsed by the convention of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese meeting here.
The delegates also supported "preservation of the
unity, independence and sovereignty of Lebanon" and a
"cessation of all kinds of aggressive foreign intervention to
enable the Lebanese people to resolve their conflict by
negotiation and without interference."
In his address to the main Arab Eastern Orthodox
jurisdiction in North America, Metropolitan Philip
Saliba said "above all. . . the Arab countries who have
demonstrated their complete impotence vis-a-vis this
tragedy (in Lebanon) are to be blamed. It is time that the
Arabs should stop blaming others for their tragedies and
liberate themselves from their childish bickering and
stupid contradictions."
Metropolitan Philip said the Palestinians "are also to be
blamed, for instead of dedicating all their efforts and
energy to liberate their land, they are dying in Lebanon for
nothing."
The Antiochian leader called the 1975 reunion-after
60 years of separation - of the two North American
Antiochian jurisdictions "the greatest event which has
taken place in the life of the Antiochian Patriarchate and
perhaps in the life of Orthodoxy in the hemisphere."
He said the Antiochian example should "inspire other
Orthodox ethnic jurisdictions
to . . . unite among
themselves as a first step toward total Orthodox unity." He
called the current administrative divisions "nothing but a
judgment to all of us."
A convention report from the archdiocese department
1
of liturgics and translations lamented that "ma1&:
of our
Orthodox churches in America have become 'sacrament
centers' - places where our 'Holy Orthodox Faithful' ~an
simply jump into the car drive to the church, and receive
the holy sacraments . . ' . Many times this is the 'only'
reason that they do come to the church, and then it is only
sometimes simply once a year . . . Our churches have ~o~
become, as they should become, centers of liturgica
learning and places of mystical liturgical experiences."
The Word
Council
for the past several years NAC
1:een SOYO has worked to provide an annual scholarship for
Theological Education. For the
last two academic years NAC
Teen SOYO has provided a full
scholarship to Nicholas Kobbs, a
student
at Saint Vladimir's
Orthodox Theological Seminary
SeminarianGary Geha who is presently in his senior
year. At the NAC Teen SOYO
General Assembly in San Francisco, His Eminence
Metropolitan PIIlLIP introduced the Teens to "their"
seminarian for 1976-77. His name is Gary Geha who is
now in his junior year at Saint Vladimir's.
Gary George Geha is the son of Henry J. and Lois
Geha of Farmington, Michigan, and is a life-long communicant at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church in
Detroit. From his early childhood Gary has expressed a
desire to serve Christ's Church through the Holy
Priesthood. During his school years in Michigan he was
very active in his parish, school and community. He
served as president of his Student Council & vicepresident of the Latin Club. In 1975 he was graduated
from Wayne State University with a B.A. in History. He
was also very active in the Muscular Dystrophy
Association, American Cancer Society, ALSAC, and
worked at the Blind Bowling Tournaments.
As a communicant at St. George Church in Detroit,
Gary served as an Altar Boy and Reader. He graduated
from the Church School and went on to become an instructor. Gary also was active in the Choir, Adult Study
Group, Bookstore and Educational Society, and Senior
SOYO which he served one term as president.
1
NAC Teen SOYO is proud to take part in providing for
the future of Orthodoxy by providing Gary with a full
scholarship. The adults of our Archdiocese can rest
il_SS~!ed
that our young people are taking their responsibilityas future leaders of the Church very seriously. On
~e third Sunday of October, "Youth Month," the Teens
wtllbe soliciting your support in an Archdiocesan "Teen
Tag Day." Their programs and projects are not only
worthwhile, but absolutely necessary. Support Teen
SOYO!
October,1976
...
WE LIVE IN GOD'S WORLD
an essay by Laurin Haddad
We learn about God in Sunday School. We learn about
the gifts He gave us too. God gave us food and God gave
us mothers and fathers to learn from. God gave us trees
and stars ~nd the moo~ and the sun. God gave us a tongue
to t~ste with and eat with and ears to hear with. God gave
us fmgers to touch with and feel with and eyes to see with
and a nose to smell with and sneeze with.
God gave us angels to take care of us and tell us not to
steal. God gave us rules to listen to and don't be naughty
so we will be good. God gave us Mary and Jesus to love.
When we say something bad we say God forgive us and He
does and we are good again.
God keeps us alive. He makes us in our mother's body.
God is going to give me a new baby sister or brother pretty
soon now. God gave us heaven. Heaven is where God
lives. We can go up and live in heaven too, if we are nice
people.
uWE RETURN TO GOD'S LOVE
BY DOING GOOD WORKS."
an essay by Ann Marie Corey
There are many good works we do to return God's
love. We listen to our parents and help them around the
house. We help our little brothers and sisters, too.
We visit people at an old folks home. We talk and read
stories to them, and let them know we care about them.
If we know someone who is sick, or in the hospital, we
go to see them. We also pray for them to get well. We can
share what we have with other people. One way would be
by giving money to send to our Sunday school's adopted
child.
We should care for lost animals. My family found a
little black dog. It was raining. We brought the dog home
with us. We looked for the owner but couldn't find out
who it was; so we fed the dog and kept him.
We can bring our friends to church with us, so they can
learn about God.
These are only a few of the ways to return God's love.
There are so many ways we can not write about all of
them.
LAURIN HADDAD is in the 1st grade at St. George Church School in
Utica, New York. She won first place in the NAC Creative Writing
Contest.
Ann Marie Corey is in the 2nd grade at St. Elias Church in Toledo, Ohio.
She won first place in the NAC Creative Writing Contest.
Page 19
�To my beloved spiritual children of SOYO:
"Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the L ord •f"
(Matthew 21 :9)
With this scriptural greeting the hierarchs, cle~gy and
faithful of our Archdiocese will welcome to our midst our
Father-in-Christ His Beatitude ELIAS IV, Patriarch of
Antioch and
the East. His Beatitude will arrive in
North America next May and will preside over the SOYO
Regional
Parish
Life Conferences
in Bost~n,
Massachusetts·
Montreal
Quebec; Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma; D~troit, Michi~an; Los Angeles, Cal~fornia;
Seven Springs, Pennsylvania; and the Archdiocesan
Convention in Washington, D.C.
All
To mark this once in a lifetime occasion, we have
proclaimed "Antiochian Holy Year" in our North
American Archdiocese. We have but a few short months
to prepare our welcome for the Successor to the Throne
of the Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul. We look to our
young people and our adults to immediately begin Holy
Year activities in the local parishes.
This year affords each of us an opportunity to
inaugurate a spiritual renewal among our scattered
communities. We Antiochian Orthodox are the blessed
inheritors of those who first bore the name of "Christian."
Our spiritual ancestry covers the full expanse of Christian
history. From our naissance, recorded in the Book of
Acts, until this very day the Gospel of Truth has sustained
our people and has led countless generations to the
St. Michael of Beaumont
Alive and active describes St.
Michael parish of
Beaumont.
All
who attended the
Southwest
SOYO
Parish
Life Conference
in Wichita came
home with fresh
insight,
enthusiasm and a
renewed
spirit.
Walter M. Sekaly - president SouthOur own Walwest Region, Fr. Joseph Olas, Carolyn
ter M. Sekaly
Sekaly - vice-pres. Antlochlan Wowas
elected
men's Organizations.
president of the
Southwest Region, and his wife, Carolyn, will serve as
vice-president of the Antiochian Women's Organization.
St. Michael is truly blessed to have this couple who are so
spiritually alive and such an asset to our parish ~ife.
Our youth particularly enjoyed the creative writing
and arts contest and brought pride to our paris~ by winPage 20
eternal Kingdom of God. For twenty centuries the L'
Christ has brilliantly shone upon the Church of Ant·Ight
• t s, th e "F n~nds
•
loch
and has reveale~ a my?a• d o_f Sam
of Goct,"
we praise God s lovmg kmdn~ss for providing us With
such intercessors
as Ignatms
of Antioch, John
Chrysostom, John of Damascus, Barbara, and Ephrem the
Syrian.
Of
The time will shor~ly be upon us. whe!1_the successor of
the Holy Apostles will come to his spmtual children .
North America to witness the harvest planted by ou~
immigrant forefathers less than a century ago. The winds
of time have scattered the s_eedsof the Church of Antioch
to every corner of our contment. The seeds were lovingly
tended and cultivate~ by your grandparents and parents.
The time of harvest ts now at hand and we look to our
youth to willingly become the reapers.
With prayers that this Holy Year will draw you ever
closer to the Lifegiving Trinity, we remain with paternal
affection
Your Intercessor in Christ,
Communities In Action
St. Nicholas Church,
Bridgeport, Conn.
The Alpha-Omega Award was presented recently to
Robert G. Wonneberger by Very R~v. John Chromiak, at
St Nicholas Orthodox Church of Bndgeport, Connecticut
1' the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. Robert had
:ulfilledthe requirements for achieving the Alpha-Omega
Awardaccording to the Eastern Orthodox Christian Faith.
He is the son of Robert G. W onneberger and Julia
(Macol) Wonneberger
of Stratford, Conn., active
membersof St. Nicholas Church.
Robert is affiliated with Explorer Post 77, sponsored
by the Stratford Police Department. His entire troop was
present at the Divine Liturgy and witnessed the presentation of the Alpha-Omega Award. Robert is also a
member of the Teenage SOYO of St. Nicholas Church.
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America
ning 14 places in both divisions. Pat Khoury and David
Debes were selected to receive the Chapter Service Award for senior and Teen SOYO respectively.
On Sunday, July 18, our
priest, Fr. Joseph Olas, presented to Dr. Gary Baine, a
beautiful plaque, in appreciation for his outstanding
job as chairman of our bicentennial program. As a result of Gary's love and dedication for his church and
Beaumont winners of
country, our community witcreative art and writing
nessed one of the most in- present at Southwest
spiring Independence
Day
SOYO Parish Lile Con•
celebrations presented by St.
ference-Wichita
Fr,
Michael's parish. All who Joseph Olas.
participated were richly blessed.
Our "Mid-East Heritage Cookbook" is selling like hot
kibbeh. The ladies and friends of St. Michael have com·
piled Syrian, Lebanese, Greek, Russian and Ukranian
recipes into a unique book that has been selling most_successfully. We are happy to be sharing our cultural heritage
with our community.
Robert T. Wonneberger with his parents Mr. & Mrs.
RobertG. Wonneberger, and Father John Chromiak of St.
NicholasOrthodox Church of Bridgeport, Conn.
St. Anthony, Bergenfield, N .J.
Creative Activities In the Church School
by Tessie Black and Sandra Eliopoulos
Teaching Sunday School can be a most enjoyable as
well as educational experience for both teacher and
children when creative activities are used as a means to
instillsomething of our Orthodox Christian Faith and way
of life into our youth.
The Department of Christian Education of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese conducted a
Teaching Seminar on April 10, 1976 at St. George's Orthodox Church in Little Falls New Jersey. All Church
School teachers, superintend~nts and clergr were invited
to attend and participate in this training session con~ucted
bythe Director of the Department, Dr. John L. Boo3amra.
The theme of this seminar was Creative Teaching
Activities: Audio- Visual Expression and Communication.
Dr.Boojamra's very competent assistant was Mrs. Fra?ces
DeBellis of St. Anthony's Orthodox Church, Bergenfield,
New Jersey.
EXPRESSIONAND COMMUNICATIO
. This seminar began with a perfect example of audiovisual expression and communication; the following
sermon, originally given during October's Youth Month,
by Cary Colman with visual slides by James Black, aged
12, both of St. Anthony's Orthodox Church. Mr .DeBelli
began:
''I'm going to start off today's sermon with a tory I put
together using the Peanuts characters. It might ound like
a children's story but, certainly, it's being directed to the
adults as well."
Then she proceeded with the following story:
One day Snoopy was
taking a walk in the garden.
'<M,
He must not have been
I ,1....~
/
paying attention to where
he was going because soon
he bumped into a thorny
rose bush. Just as he was
)
about to say something , • (,,
nasty about the thorns, he
happened to look up and •
there . . . was a butterfly
~
---dancing with the big red
-v
rosebuds. He just stood for
awhile and stared at the
butterfly. Soon he forgot about the thorns and he started
to dance too. The butterfly left the roses and together,
Snoopy and the butterfly started to dance their way down
the street. The neighborhood birds saw what they were
doing and they accompanied them with their song.
Dancing and singing
down the road, they came
upon Charlie Brown and
Linus doing nothing in
particular. When the boys
saw them, they just stared
and scratched their heads a
few times and before they
knew it, they were dancing
along with the others too!
There they were: the birds.
the butterfly,
Snoop ,
Linus and Charlie Brown all
11
,
'
together
singing
and
dancing their toes off. They all went down the ~oad a little
further until they came to where Sally, Patti and Lucy
were playing hopscotch.
It was Lucy's
turn and she was
concentrating
on getting the
stone in the
right spot. Sally
and
Patti
noticed
the
others dancing
Page 21
October, 1976
�right
away
and watched
and
stared
and
before long they too were dancing away. But, th e~e. ·t •
• •
was Lucy, intent on wmnm~,
no t pa yi'ng any attention
HERo
st
the others, shutting everythmg out but HER one,
fl
box and HER game. This didn't worry the others un i
Luc~, totally frustrated, yelled: "I'm tryinjp~ ,~0~~;:~~::~
Stop this noise! STOP BEING TOO HA
•
i
words all the kids stopped cold, made faces at her and
turned to go home, grumbling all the way.
Now, mind you, I said all
the kids went home. The
birds and the butterfly went
on singing and dancing
down the road, waiting for
someone else to notice.
Happiness, love, joy . . .
and hate are all contagious.
If we can spread God's
'
word of love just as the
'\ ...
butterfly spread joy, we can
probably get rid of a lot of
the hate in this world.
If we can help remind
each other of the happiness God has to offer, perhaps we
can rid ourselves of the Lucy in all of us.
WHY CREATIVE ACTIVITIES?
After this appropriate beginning we began to discuss
the best possible ways for childr~n to get the most ?ut of
their lessons. Dr. Boojamra pomted out that children
retain approximately SOper cent of what they do but only
1O per cent of what they read so therefore the us~ of
creative activities would be the better method of teachmg.
The successful use of creative activities, in our lessons,
is the responsibility of both students and teacher. It offers
the students an opportunity to talk more, do more, learn
more about one another's feelings, be more interested in
each other, and most of all respect each other. It also
allows.us to react positively to a child's work and gives him
the option to draw, write or participate in other creative
activities in order to learn a particular lesson. Creative
activities are also a means of discipline; when a child is
kept busy with projects there is no discipline problem.
SOME IMPORTANT NOTES
The following "Introductory Notes on Creative Activities
In The Church School" were supplied to us by Dr.
Boojamra and I feel they will be most helpful to you.
1. The use of creative activities (learning activities) in
the classroom is based on sound theological and
educational principles. The aim of both these is the
involvement of the entire student - mind, body, senses in the learning process. Children learn what they do.
2. All activities in the lesson must represent an integral
part of the development of that lesson. They should not
be something extra, busy work, or time-fillers. These
activities must be planned right into the teaching
process.
3. One of the goals of effective Christian education is the
sharing of responsibility for the success or failure of the
Page 22
teaching process. The teacher must make it clear to the
students that they are exrected to take part in th
lesson both in terms of talkmg and bodily involvem e
. .
. . .
ent,
Maximize student ta lk an d activity, mimmtze teach
. .
er
talk and activity.
4 _ By making use . of the shtudenths' own abilities to
manipulate matenals and s ape t oughts the teach
affirms the value of the students as teaching resourct
Teachers must not teach to themselves.
s.
5. By actively sharing in the ~e~elopment of a lesson, the
children develop a stake m its success or failure as a
learning session. This sense of involvement is
necessary. This"stake" in the lesson helps them to
make the material being taught their own.
6. In planning lessons the teacher must ask the basic
question: "What do I want the students to DO during
this time period."
7. Types of learning. act!vities
.
a. activities whi~h give mformation to the students and
assist them in forming concepts.
I. films, filmstrips, slides (such as those dealing with
the holy land to accompany Bible lessons).
II. maps, charts, time lines, family trees, lists.
III. audio activities for teaching music, liturgical
services, etc. good for reviewing discussions, debates, etc.
b. activities which get information out of students and
enable them to organize their thoughts and ideas.
I. creative writing
II. open ended stories
III. flat pictures - all media
IV. dramatization - acting, puppets, socio drama
V. development of audio-visuals by the students
themselves (as during the afternoon workshop session).
8. be sure to allow as many options for creative expression as possible. Every student regardless of ability
should have the possibility for experiencing success.
9. Creative activities can be cheap. Do not rely on expensive commercially produced materials.
.
10. Practice all activities at home before you try them m
the classroom; the more experienced you are the more
confident you will be in using these in the classroom.
WE NEED NOT BE EXPERTS!
Following a delicious lunch served by the ~adies of St.
George's we spent the rest of the afternoon bemg students.
Under the direction of Fran DeBellis we learned how to
work with audio-visual expression and communication.
Mrs. DeBellis showed us slides, filmstrips and trans·
parencies made by church school students and then gave
us the opportunity to experiment in making _these ?ur·
selves. Much to our surprise, we realized with a _httle
guidance, it was very simple and that with a few me~pensive materials we could involve an entire class m
preparing an interesting presentation.
"I
For many of us teachers who frequently use the t~rm.
can't even draw a straight line" and feel we are lackmgm
creativity, this seminar was indeed rewarding. We realiz:d
that with the excellent material available to us such as t e
two Creative Activities Manuals and seminars such a~
these we too CAN be creative and thus make chuch schooh
a more exciting and rewarding experience for bot
teacher and pupil.
t
Both Dr. Boojamra and Mrs. DeBelhs• d'd
i an ou·
.
standing job and all of us who attended left this seminar
eagerly looking forward to the next one.
The Word
DAILYDEVOTIONS
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
an attempt to encourage our faithful
to study Holy Scripture through
daily liturgical readings-
The week of Oct. 3
The week of Oct. 10
Sun. - II Cor. 9:6-11
Lk. 6:31-36
Sun. -II Cor.11:31-12:9
Lk. 7:11-16
Mon. - Eph. 1:22-2:3
Mk. 10:46-52
Tues. - Eph. 2: 19-3:7
Mk. 11: 11-23
Mon. - Eph. 4:25-32
Lk. 3: 19-22
Tues. - Eph. 5:20-26
Lk. 3:23-4: 1
Wed. - Eph. 5:25-33
Lk. 4:1-15
Wed. - Eph. 3:8-21
Mk. 11:23-26
Thurs. - Eph. 4:14-19
Mk. 11:27-33
Fri. - Eph. 4: 17-25
Mk. 12:1-12
Sat. - I Cor. 14:20-25
Mt. 25:1-13
The week of Oct. 24
Sun.-Eph. 2:4-10
Lk. 8:27-39
Mon. - Phil. 2:12-16
Lk. 6:24-30
Tues. - II Tim. 2: 1-10
Jn.15:17-16:2
Wed. - Phil. 2:24-30
Lk. 6:46-7:1
Thurs. - Phil. 3: 1-8
Lk. 7:17-30
Fri. - Phil. 3: 8-19
Lk. 7:31-35
Sat. - II Cor. 1:8-11
Lk. 5:27-32
October,1976
fifl
.
~
The week of Oct. 31
Sun. -Eph. 2:14 to end.
Lk. 16: 19 to end.
Mon. - Phil. 4:10-23
Lk. 7:36-50
Tues. - Col. 1:1-2, 7-11
Lk. 8:1-3
Wed. -Col. 1:18-23
Lk. 8:22-25
Thurs. - Col. 1:24-29
Lk. 9:7-11
Fri. - Col. 2: 1-7
Lk. 9:12-18
Sat. - II Cor. 3:12-18
Lk. 6:1-10
Thurs. - Eph. 5:33-6:9
Lk. 4:16-22
Fri. - Eph. 6:18-24
Lk. 4:22-30
Sat. - I Cor. 15:39-45
Lk. 4:31-36
The week of Oct. 17
Sun. -Titus 3:8 to end
Lk. 8:5-15
Mon. - Phil. 1:1-7
Lk. 4:37-44
Tues. - Phil. 1:8-14
Lk. 5:12-16
Wed. - Phil. 1:12-20
Lk. 5:33-39
Thurs. - Phil. 1:20-27
Lk. 6:12-19
Fri. - Phil. 1:27-2:4
Lk. 6:17-23
Sat. - I Cor. 15:58-16:3
Lk. 5:17-26
The week of Nov. 7
Sun. -Eph. 4:1-7
Lk. 8:41 to end
Mon. -Heb. 2:2-10
Lk. 10:16-21
Tues. - Col. 2:20-3:3
Lk. 9:23-27
Wed. -Col. 3:17-4:1
Lk. 9:44-50
Thurs. - Col. 4:2-9
Lk. 9:49-56
Fri. - Col. 4:10-18
Lk. 10:1-15
Sat. - Heb. 7:26-8:2
Jn. 10:9-16
Page 23
�The
Orthodox World
and priests .can_ pres~de at the .Eucharist and that t
"pastoral office is reahzed most directly in this celeb f he
of faith."
ra ton
They also affirmed that "ordination in apo t 1.
.
.
. I I
s O IC
success10n is an essentla e ement of the sacram t 1
•
f
h
Ch
·h
"
en a
rea 1ity o t e
urc . . .
The study document on the pastoral office w
released, along with another paper on God's action in t:s
world, by the U.S. Catholic bishops' Committee foe
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs here and by th;
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of North and South
America, New York.
The Greek Orthodox-Catholic consultation has been
meeting since 1965 to examine a wide spectrum of
theological questions. Archbishop Iakovos, primate of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of North and South
America, and ~ardinal William Baum of Washington,
D.C., are co-chairmen of the conversations.
Father Peter Sheehan, associate secretary of the
Catholic bishops' secretariat, said "these study documents
are a significant step forward in the search for ecumenical
unity between the Church of the East and the Church of
the West as they were undivided before the Great
Schism."
DR. THOMAS C. LELON
FIRST LAY PRESIDENT
BROOKLINE, MASS.
GREEK ORTHODOX SEMINARY
Dr. Thomas C. Lelon, 39, has been named the first lay
president of Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek
Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Mass.
Currently dean of graduate programs of Babson College,
Wellesl~y, Mass.,. Dr. Lelon succeeds Bishop Iakovos of
Apame1a, who will devote himself to pastoral duties as
head of the New England and Detroit districts of the
Gree~ Orthodo~ . ~chdiocese
of North and South
Amenca. A spec1ahst m the study of higher education Dr
Lelon is to evaluate the current college and theoio •
school pro~ra?1 and recommend a five-year master pt!!
for the mstltutlon.
WASIDNGTON, D.C.
EASTERN ORTHODOX-CATHOLIC DIALOGUE
STRESSES CLERGY'S ROLE IN EUCHARIST
Partic_ipants in ~he U.S. Orthodox-Roman Catholic
consultation agreed ma study document that only bishops
Page24
He noted that the documents will be presented for
study by the clergy and laity of both Churches.
Catholicand ?rthodox !heologians, but in differing ways."
It said Cathohc t~eologians. have not reached a consensus
but"some Cahth~hc_theolog~ans shar~ the position of those
Orthodox t eo o~ians w o reaffirm the traditional
ctice of excl udmg women from the pastoral office and
pra
.
h
.
.
.
base this .on t e n~ces~ity of the icomc (pictorial)
resentation of Christ m the person of bishops and
reP
,,
presbyters.
On the question of non-clerical occupations for the
ordained, both Ca!~olic and Gre_ek Orthodox theologians
"see a long tr~ditlon of ~rdam~d persons exercising
certain occupations compatible with the pastoral office
whichare also seen to serve the sanctification of society."
Besides Archbishop Iakovos, the Orthodox members
of the consultations ~re Father Maximos Aghiorgoussis,
professor of syste~atlc theology, Holy Cross School of
Theology, Brookline, Mass., a Greek Orthodox institution; Father Nicon Patrinacos, director, interchurch
relations and social concerns, Greek archdiocese; Father
Robert Stephanopolous, SS Constantine and Helen Greek
OrthodoxCathedral, Cleveland.
Also, Father Paul Schneirla, executive secretary,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North
America; Dr. George Be bis, professor of patristics, Holy
Cross (Greek archdiocese); John Erickson, instructor,
canonlaw, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary,
Crestwood, N.Y. (Orthodox Church in America); Father
Demetrios Constantelos, professor of Byzantine history,
Stockton State College, N.J. (Greek Archdiocese); Father
Nomikos Vaporis, associate professor, church history,
HolyCross (Greek Archdiocese).
Also, Father Michael Koblosh, instructor, St. Tikhon's
Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, Pa.
(0CA); Father Elias Kozar, Carpatho-Russian Orthodox
Greek Catholic Church, Yonkers, N.Y .; Father Dimitry
Grigorieff, professor of Slavic studies at Georgetown
University (OCA); Dr. Lewis Patsavos, associate
professor, canon law, Holy Cross (Greek Archdiocese);
and Father Theodore Stylianopoulos, associate professor,
NewTestament, Holy Cross (Greek Archdiocese).
Among the elements of common understanding
contained in the pastoral document was a statement that
"in the rites of ordination of bishop and presbyter (priest)
a commission is bestowed by the Holy Spirit to build up
the Church (Eph. 4:12) on the cornerstone of Christ and
the foundation of the Apostles (Eph. 2:20)."
The Word
In addition, Mr. Beckwith speaks of the "time of cri is
for the Anglican Communion" with regard to doctrine.
"So long as the Anglican Churches continue to embark
all the time on new adventures in doctrinal levity, the
Orthodox Churches will inevitably continue to hesitate
about the desirability of closer relations with Anglicans."
Mr. Beckwi~~ cites as "doctrinal levity" a possible
September decision by the U.S. Episcopal Church to
authorize the ordination of female priests, and a recent
report of the Church of England doctrine commission
whose conclusion, he says, means that "provided the
Church does not actually discard the creeds, individual
church members must be free to deny every article of
them."
With regard to the eucharistic presence of Christ, Mr.
Beckwith says that "because of the controversy over
Roman Catholic transubstantiation, Anglicans have
traditionally been rather shy of the expression 'the bread
and wine become the body and blood' of Christ," phrasing
included in an AOJDD subcommission report.
"It may be that the sense in which the Orthodox would
use this sort of language would not be very different from
traditional Anglican teaching," he writes, "but I think that
it is important for Anglicans to make clear the sort of
interpretation of the language on which they could accept
it, so that there can be no misunderstanding or suspicion
of insincerity."
Mr. Beckwith says the Anglican view is that "apart
from reception, the consecrated elements become Christ's
body and blood symbolically and virtually only, and ...
as such they should be treated with respect but not
worshipped."
It also declared that while bishop and priest "share the
one ministry of Christ, the bishop exercises authoritative
leadership over the whole community" and the priest
"shares in the pastoral office under the bishop."
Both traditions agreed in the document that those
ordained "cannot be reordained" and that bishops and
priests are "distinct but not separated from the community
m th~ exercise of office." Also, the traditions agreed, ~he
ordau~e_d_ are "not dependent
solely on subjectt:e ,
capabilities for the exercise of service since the special
bestowal of the Spirit comes with ordination."
In discussing recent trends and disputes withi? the
Churches, the document said "the traditional exclusionof
women from ordination to the pastoral office affects both
teams, the R~v. Roger Beckwith, warden of Latimer
House here, hsted four doctrinal areas 'on which our
whole..enterprise might be shipwrecked'"
- ..The manne~ of Christ's presence in the euchari t."
H - T~~ nec~ssity of the epiclesis (the in ocation of the
oly S?mt durmg the prayer of thanksgiving during the
euchanst),"
-"The veneration of icons."
-"The abolition of the Filioque" (the affirmation that
the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as the
Father. The phrase "and the Son"-"filioque in Latin"-i
gener_allyused by Western but not by Eastern Chri tians in
the Nicene Creed).
OXFORD, ENGLAND
ANGLICAN FEARS 'GREAT DANGERS' LOOM
AHEAD IN DIALOGUE WITH THE ORTHODOX
OXFORD, Eng. (RNS)-A
Church of Engla~d
member of the international Anglican-Orthodox Jomt
Doctrinal Discussions (AOJDD) has expressed fears that
"greatdangers threaten our dialogue."
In a letter circulated in advance of the AOJDD
meeting in Zagorsk, USSR, to members of the dialogue
As for the epiclesis, Mr. Beckwith notes that it is "not
... expressed in the liturgy of the Church of England,"
and questions the suggestion that it is "an element
essential to the eucharist whether it is explicitly expressed or not."
Mr. Beckwith calls for a more detailed discussion of
why Anglicans do not believe that the veneration of icons
should be required of all Christians than a AOJDD subcommission report contains. One reason, he says, is "the
use of three-dimensional images in the West, the
veneration of which has been widely felt to be a temptation to idolatry."
Speaking of the "filioque," Mr. Beck~th sa~s t_hat
removing it might undermine a defense agamst anarusm
(the teaching that Jesus is not God).
Page25
October,1976
�"If Anglicans were willing to remove the filioque from
the creed," he asks, "would Orthodox for their part be
willing to make a statement recognizing that the double
procession of the Spirit, as Augustine expounded it, was
not heretical, and that Anglicans must be fr~e to embody
his understanding of the doctrine in their other form ularies?"
Both Eastern and Western Christians agree that the
"filioque" was never formally added to the creed by
decision of an ecumenical council, even though the creed
with the "filioque" has become the traditional Western
form.
LONDON, ENGLAND
ORTHODOX AGAIN WARN ANGLICANS
AGAINST THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN
Eastern Orthodox theologians have reiterated warnings that the ordination of women priests by Anglicans
would create serious problems in Anglican-Orthodox
relations.
A resolution released after eight days of discussions
near Moscow between representatives of 11 Orthodox and
seven Anglican Churches on the Commission for Joint
Doctrinal Discussions said:
"Orthodox members of the commission wish to state
the if Anglican Churches proceed to the ordination of
women to the priesthood and episcopate, this will create
very serious obstacles to development of our relations in
the future. Although Anglican members are divided
among themselves on the theological principal involved,
they recognize the strength of the Orthodox convictions
on this matter and undertake to make this known to their
Churches."
The Eastern Orthodox warning came on the heels of
the release of a letter from Pope Paul VI to Archbishop
Donald Coggan of Canterbury warning that "a new course
taken by the Anglican Communion in admitting women to
the ordained priesthood cannot fail to introduce ... an
element of grave difficulty" into Anglican-Roman
Catholic relations.
West at least in part as another testimony to the ct· ..
'
• not accepted by most Ew~y
of Jesus.
The phrase 1s
••
astern
Christians as a leg1t1mate
a dd·t·
1 ion.
The Anglican filioque statement "was w
0 h d
••
b
armly
welcomed by . rt o_ ox ,,as tphos1t1Cvhe
asis for further
constructive d1scuss1ons,
e
urch of Engl
and
statement sat.d •
(continued from pg. 7)
pASSED:
i,
"Conversations, however, also made it clear that the
are still many differences to be reconciled and ma~e
divergent points of view to be overcome before furthe'
substantial progress can be made," it added.
r
greetings to the Convention
and a congratulatory
message to Metropolitan
PHILIP in the form of a
movie from President Gerald R. Ford
The next full commission meeting is set for 1979,with
subcommissions to prepare reports in advance on the
ministry, the one church and the many churches, and
saints and icons.
greetings to the Convention
and a congratulatory
message to Metropolitan
PHILIP from James Earl
Carter, Democratic candidate for the Presidency
Co-chairmen of the commission are Church of England
Bishop Robert Runcie of St. Albans and Eastern Orthodox
Archbishop Athenagoras of Thyateira and Great Britain.
Because of the latter's illness, his duties were assumedby
Archbishop Stylianos of Australia.
WELCOMED:
Rt. Rev. Archimandrite
The discussions are an outgrowth of a 1966 meeting
between former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael
Ramsey and the late Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras.
The first full commission meeting took place in 1973
and discussed unity and intercommunion, com•
prehensiveness and the mission of the Church, the ThirtyNine Articles (an Anglican doctrinal statement), the work
of the Holy Spirit, the filioque clause, and the redemptive
work of Christ.
Maxim
Shalhoub,
representing His Excellency,
Archbishop
Joseph
Tawil,Apostolic Exarch for the Melkite Catholics in
the United States
Mr. William J. Baroody,
Jr. - Assistant
President of the United States of America
to the
Mr.Danny Thomas, entertainer and founder of Saint
JudeChildrens Research Hospital
PRESENTATIONSMADE:
In recognition of his selfless efforts in behalf of the
Saint Jude Children's Research
Hospital, Danny
Thomas was presented the Antonian Gold Medal by
Metropolitan PHILIP. This is the highest service
award of the Archdiocese
Rt. Rev.
Archimandrite
Antoun
Khouri
was
presented a jewelled pectoral cross by Metropolitan
PHILIP in recognition of his dedication and service
to the Archdiocese and to His Eminence
Mrs. Pauline Maloof, immediate Past President of
the AOCWNA, and Miss Kathy Meyer, secretary of
the Archdiocese Headquarters,
were presented the
Archdiocese's "Certificate of Meritorious Service"
by Metropolitan PHILIP
The talks considered the church as eucharistic
community, inspiration and revelation of the Bible, and
the authority of church councils.
The Church of England statement said the Anglicans
agreed during the talks that the "filioque" clause of the
Nicene Creed (which affirms that the Holy Spirit proceeds
"from the Son" as well as the Father) "whatever the merits
or demerits of its doctrinal content, has no place" in the
creed.
ANNOUNCED:
theme for the 1977 An tiochian Holy Year "Blessed
ishewhocomesin
the Name of the Lord"
l977conference sites: Boston, Massachusetts, L?s
Angeles, California,
Montreal,
Quebec, Detroit,
Michigan, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma,
Seven
Springs, Pennsylvania
The clause was added to the creed without the
decision of an ecumenical council by Christians in the
TheWord
October,1976
1977 convention
site: Washington
1978 convention
site: Houston, Texas
D.C.
RESOLVEDTO:
a record budget of $353,000.00
As for inspiratio? and revelation in the Bible, "both
RECEIVED:
Orthodox and Anghcans agreed that the understandi
eetings and blessin~s from His Beatitude ELIAS
which they had achieved offers to our Churches a sol~dg
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
"h
l
basis for closer rapproc h ement, t e statement said.
A statement here by the Church of England following
the return of its representatives to the Orthodox talks saici
the second full session of the commission "achieved
agreement, but over a limited area. In some subjects this
agreement goes little further than agreement on formula
or word because we have not yet had the opportunity of
discussing these subjects thoroughly enough. In other
subjects we have achieved deeper and firmer agreement."
Page26
Thirty-first Annual Convention
proc~ai~ by acclamation heartfelt thank and appreciation
for the great
efforts
made
b
Metropolitan PHILIP, Archbishop MICHAEL, th
Clergy and the Laity, who contributed to the reunification of the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in orth
America.
go on record in support of the preservation of the
unity, independence, and sovereignty of Lebanon
:eaffi1:11 past resolutions on Palestinians rights,
mcludmg a call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the West Bank and
Gaza; call upon the United Nations, the
nited
States, and Canada to support the fulfillment of this
objective
express appreciation,
on the occasion of the
American Bicentennial, for the rights and privileges
enjoyed in the United States by the Antiochian
Orthodox Church and faithful
express heartfelt thanks to God, on the occasion of
the 10th episcopal anniversary of Metropolitan
PHILIP, for the inspired leadership over the past
decade, and beseech Almighty God to bless and
grant Metropolitan PHILIP many more years of
good health to continue as Shepherd of this Flock
RECOGNIZED:
AOCWNA's selection as its project commitment for
1977 the Balamand Theological Academy as a
reflection of its deep concern and love for the "last
stronghold of Orthodoxy in the Middle East" and the
future of our Orthodox Church in North America.
The 1976 Convention theme, "FREEDOM TO
B~LIEVE," was developed in the sermons which
were presented each morning and eve~ing .. ~he
thousands of faithful who attended the daily D1vme
Liturgy and Vesper Service and _received th_e
Eucharist testified to the spiritual renaissance that is
occuring in the Archdioces~. The_ ~lima~ of the
Convention was the Hierarchical Divme Liturgy on
Sunday, August 1, which was concelebra~ed by t~e
three hierarchs and the clergy. The combmed choir
of several hundred voices offered the responses
under the direction of Mr. Raymond George,
Director of the Department of Sacred Music. At the
conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence,
Metropolitan PHILIP inducted ~irty-four lay men
and women into the new Archdiocesan Order of
Saint Ignatius of Antioch.
Page 27
�~
2:
.
Don't Miss A SingleIssueof
THE"NEW" WORD
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The Word
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
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kalemat_19761001_20_8
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 08
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 20, Issue 8 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated October 1976.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1976 Oct
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Subject
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Format
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Text/pdf
Coverage
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/b3122c470bec95c88be9ad88a0c51f43.pdf
72b4743690d8bcd5214d41b5cff469b7
PDF Text
Text
The Word
SEPTEMBER, 1976
H1'1orin iGaµtismuou w.erehurt.ehwitq Eim, in illapti.smal.so uou
were mis.eh to life witq Eim tqrougq gour fait4 in tqe actiuepower of ~oh
wqo mis.eh Jlim from tqe h.eah."
illolo1rnian.s
2 :9-15
0
1Saµtismis not tqe wasqing
"No one can enter tqe
awau of bohilu pollution, but
iKinghomof <&ohwitqout
tqe aµµral mahe to <&ohbu a
being born from Bater
gooh cnnsdrncr."
anh ~pirit. ''
11Jdrr 3:21
3Joqn3:5
�The Word
September, 1976
Volume 20
Our cover this month reflects the message of the editorial "September •
beginning", for indeed baptism for the Orthodox Christian is the beginning ;~ ~
leads to the Kingdom which He promised to those who are re born with "wata
and the spirit." This collage was prepared for THE WORD by the High Schoe~
0
class of St. Nicholas Church in San Francisco. We are indebted to June Dudu
Elaine Naify, Louise Habeeb and Ron Nicola.
m,
3
Editorial
5
Ordination and Vocation
September means back to school. It also means "peace and
quiet" for Mom and "less running"
for Dad. It means Choir
rehearsals, Church School classes, Ladies society and SOYO
meetings and the business of the Church gets back to normal. The
Sunday lit~~gy is moved to its regular time and the special feast
days ( Nat,v,ty of the Theotokos and Exaltation of the Life-Giving
Cross) are celebrated
with pomp and ceremony. The Church is
constantly reminding
us, preparing us and even nourishing us for
the Kingdom, not of this world, but that which is to come to those
who believe.
The priesthood as a way of life.
William Essey
7
Lest We Forget ...
The "Antacky-Russy" Dilemma.
10
Profiles of Courage . . .
Presenting The Rev. Mother Alexandra.
11
To those of us who gathered and deliberated at the SOYO
Parish Life Conferences and the historic Convention in San Francisco,we will hopefully be able to bring a great deal of wisdom and
insight into our parish programs for the coming year. In the Church
we have the possibility to learn from each other and to apply what
we have learned to church life. Thus we keep our ministry constantly fresh and creative.
Parishes of the Archdiocese
Featuring St. George on the Niagara Frontier.
James Kenna
13
Who are "The Others"?
A
James C. Meena
14
18
study in comparative religion: The Latins.
Department of Christian Education
Lifestyles X
'
"Friendship" in its several applications.
19
AOCWNA
Fund-raising projects are suggested for our women's organizations.
Ellis Khouri
20
22
Archdiocesan
Office
"Ver~ly,_Beloved of the Angels"
A poetic tnbute to Metropolitan Philip.
23
Daily Devotions
Scripture readings compiled by Fr. Gerasimos Murphy.
24
Communities
'
In Action
A report fr~m our parishes in New Castle, Pa.; Bridgeville, Pa.; Akron, Ohio;
Canton, Ohio; and Tucson, Arizona.
27
• •
September first is the beginning of the ecclesiastical year f
Orthodox Christians. After a long, hot summer, family gathering~:
vacations, conferences
and conventions, trying to entertain our
children, and all that summer implies ..... we all try to "put it
together" and most of us return to the routine of Ille and llvlngl
Cover
In This Issue
Paul Moses
September is a beginning.
Number 7
This coming year will indeed be an exciting one/ It has been
proclaimed by our hierarchs as "Antiochian Holy Year", with the
highlight being the visitation of our venerable Patriarch Elias IV.
Therefore we must put forth our very best efforts in order to derive
spiritual satisfaction from this awesome experience. His Beatitude
will come to us as a loving father. Hence, we must reach out to him
with open, loving arms and embrace his person which represents
almost two thousand years of Orthodox spirituality. He brings us
the blessings of the Mother Church of Antioch, "where the disciples
of Christ were first called Christians". Let us use this opportunity
t_ostrengthen our local parishes. A "Holy Year" comes once in a
l,fetimel Let it be the beginning of a spiritual renaissance among
our faithful. Our total effort, beginning with September, should be
directed toward a dynamic, spiritual experience and preparation
for that all important event.
George S. Corey
Associate Editor
..J
<(
a:
0
IC
w
SOYO Digest
News and Views of our youth movement.
29
The Orthodox
World
Commentaries of the Religious News Service.
Page 2
The Word
September,1976
Page3
�feast of the Month
TheElevation
of the Pretious
and
Life-giving
Cross(September
14)
The Gospel of the day is St. John 19:6-35, the st
. .
d . .
d
.
ory of
the Crucifixion, an 1t ts rea to remmd the people that
Christ suffered death upon .the Cross for the salvati·on of
all mankind, and that by hts death he conquered D
.
e~h
and tnumphed over all the world.
Archpriest Stephen Upson
This feast is celebrated as one of the most important in
the Church Year because it commemorates two events of
great significance. After St. Helena had found at
Jerusalem the cross upon which Christ was crucified,. she
built a church on Mount Calvary to hold the precious
relic. The Christians held the Holy Cross in such regard
that they soon began to celebrate this Feast in honor of
the finding of the Cross.
In the year 614 the Persians invaded the Empire and
took Jerusalem, and sent the case containing the Cross
back to their country. For fifteen years the Greek emperor Heraclius waged war against the Persians, and
finally in 629 defeated them, forced them to make peace,
and to restore the Holy Cross to him. It is said that the
case containing the sacred relics was returned to him with
the seals still unbroken. The Relics were replaced in the
Church with great rejoicing, and to the original Feast in
honor of the finding of the Cross was added another, in
honor of its safe return to Jerusalem.
A special feature of the Church Services on this day is
the procession in which the Cross is borne aloft on a tray
of flowers and placed in the midst of the Church; the
Priest then elevates it to the four corners of the compass,
blessing thrice with it as he does so, and praying that God
will protect and preserve the President and the Civil
Authorities of our Country and the Armed Forces, and
guard and guide the Hierarchs and clergy of the Church,
and protect and preserve all His faithful people from every
enemy.
ORDINATION
ANDVOCATIO
by paul moses
A vocation is a calling; and the vocation of Holy
Priesthood is a call from God. Something deep,
insidetells one that ~e must follow !fim. The voice
from within leaves him no alternative.
THE WORD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Founded ii_iArabi_cas AL KALIMA T, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded tn English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
.
.
Editorial Board:
Archimandnte
·
Dr J h B • Antoun Khouri;
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omen o o
enca, AC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
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Page 4
The Word
1;t•.
"Ye have not chosen
me," Jesus said, "But I
have chosen you, and
ordained you, that ye
should go and bring forth
fruit. The Comforter
even the Spirit of Truth
will abide with you forever. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, that whatso~-""""'-'~-------'
ever ye shall ask the
Father in my name, He will give it you." Jesus
chooses us, and we take on the greatest responsibilitythat a person will ever have ... the care of
souls.
The great theologian John Chrysostom, in his
treatiseon the Priesthood, said, "If we cannot inherit
the Kingdom of heaven unless we eat and drink of
theflesh and blood of Christ in the eucharistic feast,
andif this is possible only through the blessed hands
of the Priest, . . . then how shall we be saved and
earnour heavenly reward without these holy persons
. . . I mean the Priests?
HistoricalRoots
When the day of Pentecost was fully come, the
disciples were all in one place with one accord.
word o! God might be carried from generation to
ge_ne_ration.They recognized the direction and the
m1ss1onof the Holy Church: (that is) to increase the
word of God! They knew that if the Church was to
grow and remain strong, it must have good and faithful persons willing to dedicate themselves and all
their lives unto Christ our God.
And so the Book of Acts, Chapter VI, records the
twelve called the multitude unto them and said to
them, "Brethren, look ye among you seven men of
honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom,
whom we may appoint." And the multitude chose
seven whom they set before the Apostles: and when
they had prayed, they laid their hands upon them,
and the word of God increased.
The Role of the Laity in Ordinadon
THE MULTITUDE CHOSE! We today also have
a choice whether a person shall be ordained;
because at the ordination we sing out, "Axios",
"Worthy", "Mus-ta-hik"; By our cries of "Axios", we
are giving approval as members of the faithful,
saying, "Yes, we agree that this person be ordained
to serve God, the Church, and us. We will accept his
prayers and his blessings. We will accept his
ministry. We will call him "Father".
The laying-on-of-hands is that mystery in which
there is a calling upon the Holy Spirit from those
empowered to give it, to those who are chosen to
receive it. It is a transferance which has been handed
down for two thousand years in an unbroken chain
of descendency, from Christ mmself, to us.
By our cries of "Axios", we are giving approval as members of the faithful, saying,
"Yes,we agree that this person be ordained to serve God, the Church, and us.
Suddenly. . . there came a sound from heaven as of
a rushing, mighty wind, and filled the house where
theywere! ... and they were filled with the Holy
Spirit.
The disciples understood then: that the Church
of Christ was given into their keeping, so that the
Arch
• Paul Moses is the pastor of the Cathedral of St. George in•
~ Priest
?rceSter, Mass., and will soon celebrate his 25th year in the Holy
Priesthood.
September,1976
"Come, follow me!", Christ said to His disciples.
This is what He says to His Priests. "Come, follow
me!" Every Priest is called by Jesus. And when it
comes, the Holy Fathers of the Church, today as in
ages gone by, take an ordinary man, call upon the
Holy Spirit, and grant unto him the mystery of Holy
Orders. They pray: "Lord, fill with the gift of the
Holy Spirit this man whom it hath pleased Thee to
advance to the degree of Priest: that he may be
worthy to stand in innocency before Thine Altar.
PageS
�A Personal Response
We say that the Holy Priesthood is
a calling. If you hear the call .• : ho~
will it sound? I cannot say how 1t will
sound to you. I only know how _it
sounded to me. It did not come m
words that one can hear with the ears;
but rather in words that one can feel
with the heart. I know that I trembled
with fear, for I was sinful and un- worthy. I was afraid, afraid that my
friends would laugh me to scorn. I
was full of apprehension about my
family. I was stunned by the call! How
could I ever be a Priest?
But the Holy Spirit rushes in like a mighty wind.
He not only transforms one from ordinary man to
born with knowledge of Christ and His great glory
Someone must consecrate, ~less, baptize, and feed
the lambs. And so ...
he ts chosen.
Jesus, in his words to Simon Peter,
indicated that His Church will live
forever. "Whom say ye that I am?",
He asked. And Peter answered,
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God!" Jesus said, "blessed art
thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my Church; and the gates of HELL shall
not prevail against it."
I ask: "What is this Church of Christ?" Is it stone
and mortar? No! It is people! The people who follow
Lest
We Forget
A series of articles on personalities of the past h
have profoundly influenced Orthodoxy in Ame:ca~
THE "ANTACKY-RUSSY" DILEMMA
Prior to the death of Bishop RAPHAEL
(Hawaweeny)in 1915, there arrived in the United
States His Eminence, Metropolitan GERMANOS
(Shehadi)from the See of Zahle in the Patriarchate
It did not come in words that one can hear with the ears; but rather m words that
of Antioch.
Born in the Mazraa
one can feel with the heart.
section of Beirut in 1870,
GERMANOS
entered
Him! The Church will live forever! And in every age
Priest, but also changes those who witness this
the
Seminary
of the
on
earth,
His
Church
must
be
fed
and
nurtured.
transformation. No one ever scoffs, and no one ever
Archdiocese
of
Beirut
at
Places
must
be
provided
...
places
wherein
we
may
•
laughs to scorn, for the Holy Spirit is working His
the
age
of
eight.
come
to
worship
Him,
to
receive
of
the
seven
wonders!
Following his ordination
mysteries, His life-giving Sacraments. Some of us, as
From the moment of the laying-on-of-hands,
to the Priesthood, he was
the laity of the Church, shall provide for these
every person seems to look upon you differently.
sent to Brazil in 1895
places. Others of us bow our necks and receive the
The layman they knew just a moment before is
where he acted as a
yoke of the ministry, feeding His flocks and tending
GONE!! In their minds and in their hearts, the
travelling
m1ss10nary,
to their needs.
people feel and see a new person, a Priest, newly
organizing
under his
wing numerous
comJesus said, "blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed
m unities of Arab Orit unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
BishopRaphael Hawaweeny thodox immigrants. It is
recorded that he celebrated mass baptisms for
And if it be the will of God, you may be chosen to
dedicated, newly revered, sprinkled with hyssop and
hundreds of adults and children who had never
cleansed, washed, and whiter than snow (cf. psalm
receive the grace of the Holy Priesthood. I pray that
received the Sacrament.
50)
God will open the hearts of many of our young men,
In 1900 he returned to Syria where he was elected
And from that day of ordination, that glorious
inspiring them to put on the mantle of grace, to stand
Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Zahle. GERday in his life, he is helped from every side by every
in innocency before His holy Altar, and to increase
MANOS'golden voice and fiery faith brought people
member of the faithful for the rest of his life in the
the word of God.
to the churches in droves. A few fortunate families
ministry.
possess a set of recordings of Metropolitan GERFor the past 24 years of my life I have thanked
MANOSchanting the hymns of the Church. An old
G<;>d
with every breath for my ordination to the Holy
story relates that the Director of New York's
Pnesthood. I thank God for being granted the honor
Metropolitan Opera was so impressed when he
of serving Him. I thank God for the beautiful people
attended a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy celebrated by
I have met, and served, and learned to love.
GERMANOS that he offered the position of "first
There is nothing more wonderful, no career more
baritone" to the Metropolitan.
beautiful, no vocation more rewarding. Nothing can
In 1913 GERMANOS arrived in the United
com pare to the complete satisfaction found in the
Stateson a fund-raising mission. A large number of
Holy Priesthood.
persons, originally from the Archdiocese of Zahle,
had moved to the New World and GERMANOS
The Priest.... . Girded With Strength
came to solicit funds from them to establish an
And, if sometimes the Priest feels unworthy to
' agricultural school in Zahle. He did not come as an
hold the blessed Sacraments in his hands, he knows
official representative of the Antiochian Patriarthat someone must gird himself with strength
chatebut simply representing the interests of his own
(throu~h.the grace of God). Someone must bring the
Archdiocese.
good ttdmgs ! He knows that our children are not
/lll
Page 6
The Word
•• •
September,1976
Metropolitan
Germanos Shehadl
With the death of
Bishop RAPHAEL in
1915 a number
of
communities within the
Syro-Arabian Mission of
the Russian
Church
wished to unite them selves
with
the
Patriarchate of Antioch
under the leadership of
GERMANOS. To avoid
this disunity among the Arab-American community
and preserve canonical order in the New World, His
Beatitude, Patriarch GREGORY IV (Haddad)
recalled GERMANOS to the Middle East. With the
beginning of World War I GERMANOS was unable
to return to Syria and he continued to unofficially
serve the needs of the communities throughout
North America, travelling throughout the United
States and Canada organizing parishes and consecrating churches. In 1916 GERMANOS and the
parishes backing him established the Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Church in North America.
Thus began the controversy between the "Russy"
(those favoring remaining under Russian jurisdiction) and the "Antacky" (those favoring the
jurisdiction of Antioch under GERMANOS). The
controversy was worsened by the fact that since the
death of RAPHAEL no Bishop had been consecrated for the Syro-Arabian Mission.
The "R ussy / An tacky" controversy affected
every Arab Orthodox community in the_N~w VJ
orld.
An "Antiochian
Orthodox Comm1ss10n was
established to organize the "An tacky" party.
From the death of RAPHAEL in 1915 until 1917
the administration of the Syro-Arabian Mission (the
"Russy") was left to Archdeacon Emmanuel
Abouhatab, who had come to the United States from
Damascus in 1908 to serve under Bishop RAPHAEL.
In May of 1917 Archimandrite Aftimios Ofiesh was
elected to replace RAPHAEL as Bishop of the
Mission.
Page 7
�AFTIMIOS
(Abdullah before
ordination)
Ofiesh was born
in MohidadhatBikfaya, Lebanon
on October 22,
1880. He was one
of eight children
born to Father
Gabriel
and
Khouriyeh Buddra Ofiesh. Having completed his
theological
education at the
Seminary of the
Archdiocese
of
Beirut,
he
received
the
Archbishop Afdmios Ofiesh
monastic tonsure
and was ordained to the Diaconate in 1898. In 1902
he was ordained to the Priesthood and later
emigrated to the United States where he served
parishes under the jurisdiction of RAPHAEL. In
1915 he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite.
Following the Bolshevik revolution of October
25, 1917 the Russian Church, and thus its SyroArabian Mission in North America, found itself in a
crucial situation, both administratively and financially. Material assistance for the Church in North
America was cut-off and reaction to the revolution
led to the establishment of rebellious factions, both
in the Church in Russia and in North America. One
such group in the U.S. called the "Progressive Party"
met on October 31, 1917 in New York City to call for
radical and uncanonical reforms within the Church.
These Bolshevik tendancies within the American
Church led to much confusion.
The revolution and its resultant effects only
tended
to intensify
the
already
heated
"Russy I Antacky" controversy. The "Antacky"
party won many more supporters when the "Russy"
were threatened with internal disintegration. Thus
when Archimandrite Aftimios was elected to head
the Syro-Arabian Mission many communities
refused to accept him. It must be understood that
r~j~ction of ~::>fieshwas not based on personal
dislikes but simply reflected rejection of Russian
dominance.
When news of Aftimios' election was released the
"An ti<?chian . Orthodox Commission" began a
campaign to dissuade Archbishop EVDOKIM head
of the Russian Church in North America ' from
consecrating a Bishop for the Arabs. Although wires
were sent from some fifty "Antacky" communities
'
Page 8
Archbishop EVDOKIM proceeded with the
secration of AFTIMIOS on May 13, 1917.
con.
With the consecration of A~TIMIOS the battle
lines were drawn. RAPHAEL s Cathedral of S
Nicholas in Brooklyn was occupied by Bish t.
AFTIMIOS as head of the Mission ("Russ
Metropolitan
GERMANOS
and his follo: •
established the parish of St. Mary in Brooklyn ef~
1917. to serve as the Cathedra_l of the Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Church m North Ameri
ca
("Antacky ") .
~f
Although Bishop AFTIMIOS faced terrific odd
he won the support of the "Russy" party and faith~
fully carried out his charge and shepherded those
parishes which remained in the Syro-Arabian
Mission. In 1923 AFTIMIOS claimed the allegience
of thirty parishes and missions and GERMANOS
claimed eighteen. It must be noted, however, that
the vast majority of these forty-eight parishes were
still disturbed by internal dissension between
minority "Russy" or "Antacky" parties. For his
outstanding work AFTIMIOS was elevated to the
rank of Archbishop by Metropolitan PLATON of the
Russian Church in 1923.
Because of the continuing rift among the Arab
comm unities
in North
America
Patriarch
GREGORY IV (Haddad) of Antioch delegated
Metropolitan GERASIMOS (Messara) as an "official
observer" and to report the situation to the Antiochian Holy Synod. GERASIMOS arrived in New
York in August of 1922 accompanied by
Archdeacon Antony Bashir. In 1923 Bashir was
ordained to the Priesthood and elevated to the rank
of Archimandrite.
As events in Russia worsened the Russian
Orthodox Diocese in America called a convention in
1924 in the city of Detroit. It was at this convention
that the American Diocese declared its independence from the Church of Russia. With this
development both Arab parties, the "Russy" and the
"An tacky", were under questionable canonical
jurisdiction . . . the "R ussy" broke canonical ties
with their Mother Church in Russia and the "Antacky" were under the jurisdiction of GERMAN0S
whose authority in America had been disavowed by
the Patriarch of Antioch.
. risdiction for the Arab Orthodox in North
~erica, he did _no! s~c~eed in uniting the comrounities into one. Jur1sd1ctton .as was hoped. Instead ,
the Arab-~mer1can commumty was now split into
three factions: the followers of GERMANOS, the
followersof AFTIMIOS, and a small group backing
VICTOR.
On
February
2,
t927 Metropolitan PLAT0N (head of
the independent Russian
Metropolia in
America) proclaimed Archbishop AFTIMIOS head of
an autocephalous American
Orthodox
Catholic
Church.
As
Bishop Emmanuel Abouhatab
primateof this Church AFTIMIOS was given charge
over all Orthodox born in America. AFTIMIOS
againplaced in a delicate situation, set about to ful:
fillthe responsibilities which had been delegated to
him. He founded an excellent, but short-lived,
Englishlanguage periodical "The Orthodox Catholic
Review"which was published in seven issues from
Januarythrough August of 1927. On September 11 of
that year Archimandrite Emmanuel Abouhatab was
consecrated as Bishop of Montreal for the
autocephalous American Church, and in 1928 Archimandrite Sofronios Bishara was consecrated as
Bishop of Los Angeles.
The autocephalous American
Orthodox Church
under
Archbishop
AFTIM IO S
and
Bishops
EMTo rectify this unfortunate situation Patriarch
MANUEL and
GREGORY
IV
appointed
Metropolitan
S0FRONIOS
ZACHARIAS as the official Patriarchal Legate to
met with little
North America, and charged him with restoring
success
and
canonical order to the Arab communities. On
eventually MetSeptember 11, 1924 ZACHARIAS and Archbishop
ropolitan PLAPANTELEIMON of the Jerusalem Patriarchate,
T0N, who had
consecrated Archimandrite Victor Abo-Assaley as ' established the
the Archbishop of the Antiochian
Orthodox
~hurch, mysterArchdiocese of North America. Although VIC~0R
i~usly withdrew
represented
the only canonically
recognized
his support. In
The Word
September,1976
Bishop Sofronlos Blshara
193? AFTIMIOS convened representatives of his
pans~es and presented a formal Constitution for the
American Church. The Constitution called for the
Church t? remain autocephalous despite the refusal
of canomcal Orthodox jurisdictions to recognize it.
He also proposed that the hierarchs of the American
Church should be permitted to marry. Because of
these and other radical reforms, reminiscent of the
troubles caused by the "Progressive Party" in 1917,
AFTIMIOS lost the support of many of his parishes.
Sin~e Metropolitan
PLATON no longer
recogmzed AFfIMIOS' American Church he
recalled Bishop EMMANUEL from Montre;l to
Brooklyn to head the Syro-Arabian Diocese. AFT~I_OS continued to act independent of any
cnttc1sm from Church authorities and on April 19
19~3 he. followed through with his plan to marry.
With his marriage the few parishes that had
remained loyal to him deposed him and he retired to
a life of seclusion in Pennsylvania. He remained in
this situation until his death in 1966.
In 1933 Metropolitan
GERMANOS was again
recalled to the Middle East. He returned to Beirut in
November of that
year and remained
there until his death
on April 7, 1934.
The canonical Antioch i an
Arcnbishop in North
Archbishop Victor Abo-Assaley America, VICTOR,
died shortly thereafter on April 19, 1934.
SOFRONIOS, who had remained de facto independent since the demise of the autocephalous
American Church in 1933, died in 1934. With the
controversial parties out of the picture, all having
died within a few months of each other in 1934,
ALEXANDER III, Patriarch of Antioch, appointed
Metropolitan THEODOSIOS (Abourjaily) of Tyre as
his legate to North America for the purpose of
nominating and electing a hierarch for the Arab
communities in North America. Thus in 1935 there
existed the possibility of uniting all Arab Orthodox
communities under one canonical jurisdiction for
the first time since the death of RAPHAEL in 1915.
William Essey
Page9
�PROFILES
OF COURAGE. •
parishes of the Archdiocese
•
MOTHERALEXANDRA-MONASTERY
OF THETRANSFIGURATION
A sen·es of articles on personalities today who are
profoundly influencing Orthodoxy in America.
The Reverend Mother Alexandra is the founder and
first Abbess of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration (in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania), a part of the
Orthodox Church in America under canonical obedience
to Archbishop Valerian Trifa of Michigan and Detroit.
Mother Alexandra entered the monastic way late in
life. Born in 1909 and christened Ileana, she was the
youngest daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of
Romania. She lived through the harrowing events of
World War I, a perceptive child who fully comprehended
the suffering which surrounded her, and early learned to
follow her mother in works of charity. Later she took a
vigorous part in post-war rebuilding activities and found
her place as a leader of youth movements and modem
social organizations.
She married the Archduke Anton of Austria and went
to live in Sonnberg, Austria there giving birth to six
children, the last two born during World War Il. In March
of 1944, no longer able to tolerate Nazi oppression in
Austria, she_ret~ned to Romania with her children. She
built a hospital m memory of her mother, Queen Marie
and devoted herself to the service of the war-wounded ct'
.
H
an
the surr~un di ng pop_u1atlon.
ere she witnessed the
Commumst takeover m August, 1944, and in 1948 w'th
her nephew, King Michael and his family, was for~ed\
leave-broken-hearted
D.P.'s leaving a broken-hearte~
country.
The sad life of the exiles led Mother Alexandra and h
family first to Switzerland, then to Argentina a:~
ultimately to the United States. Their needs were ~et b
the sale of jewelry and by Mother Alexandra's extensiv!
lecture tours. When all the children were either married
or sufficiently employed, Mother Alexandra was able t
fulfill her great desire to devote her life entirely to Go~
and she became a nun, entering her novitiate in 1961 at
the Monastery of the Veil in Bussy-en-Othe, France. In
1967 she was solemnly professed and sent on her mission
to the United States to found an all English-speaking
monastery open to women of all ethnic descents.
We salute Mother Alexandra for her pioneering efforts
in the field of Orthodox Monasticism in America. May her
mission prove fruitful for Holy Orthodoxy.
ST. GEORGE ORTHODOX CHURCH
NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
The congregation of the St. George Orthodox Church
ofNiagara Falls will be observing a triple celebration this
year, 1976 - the completion of their new Neo-Byzantine
Architectural Church, the Nation's Bicentennial and their
Church'sFiftieth Anniversary. It was fifty years ago that
the first St. George Church was consecrated by Archbishop Aftimios Ofiesh, October 17, 1926.
Looking back into the Church's history books, the date
October12,1921 stands out as the birthday of our parish of
St. George: It was t~e date of the first formal meeting
calledto discuss the idea of a church. The meeting was
held in the home of Edward A. Mokhiber and twelve
trusteeswere elected under the direction of Rev. Joesph
Eliahof Wilk~s-Barre, Pennsylvania. !hese men were Ray
Bishara,President; Edward A. Mokhiber, Vice-President;
Ameen Slaiman, Treasurer; Farris Fadel, Secretary;
David S. Bishara, William A. Mokaiber, George Fadel,
SalimKinan, Sob Haick, Ray Aswad, Simon Mokhiber
and Michael S. Bishara.
'
The first church services were held in private homes
and later in the Silberberg's Hall and the Epiphany
Episcopal Church Hall. Because the parish was too small
to justify a permanent priest the first few years, services
were conducted by visiting Orthodox priests.
Permanence Is Established
A most significant date was December 4, 1922, when a
check for $100 was given as the first payment for the
present site on the comer of South Avenue and 13th
Street. Within three years of the church's establishment a
building fund drive was held raising approximately $2,000.
Construction of a $40,000 church hall, and parish house as
one structure began in March 1926 and was completed
and consecrated on October 17 of that year. The church is
a very lovely structure with a height of a two-story
building. The walls are of a solid brick construction with
stained glass windows, crystal chandeliers, oak pews and
many other appropriate furnishings.
Through the years, parishioners have dedicated to the
glory of God, Ikons, paintings, altar accoutrements and
other furnishings for our church, which made it a place of
beauty.
The first permanent priest of the parish was Rev.
•George Mitchell (also known as Rev. George Hessney)
THE MONASTIC WAY OF LIFE
Some words from MOTHER ALEXANDRA, of the
Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, on the
Monastic Way:
A monastery is a center of prayer-and
prayer is
something the world has always stood in need of, never
more so than today. The monk or nun prays for
everyone-the religious is a specialist in prayer, just as a
soldier is a specialist in war.
The woman of the world often looks upon the woman
of the cloister with misgiving, as though she were a living
reproach to worldliness. This is just what the monastic is
not. Aiming at selflessness and strongly conscious of her
own human frailty, she does not set herself up as a judge
but rather seeks to be a sister in the real sense of the word,
ever ready to hear and understand her neighbor's joys and
sorrows, her advice free of personal desire and unburd~ned by prejudice. Serving the One Lord alone,
refusmg to compromise with sin, she is utterly depen·
dable.
MOTHER ALEXANDRA
Page 10
The monastery gate is open wide to all, ready with
comfort and sustenance, both spiritual and physical, for
anyone who may knock, saint or sinner. The monastic sees
in every person the image of Him Who said: "Inasmuch as
ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
y_ehave done it unto me." (Matt: XXV:40) The monastic is
simply a perso!1 who has laid all aside, completely and for
good, to follow Christ wherever He may lead.
TheWord
New Building for St. George Antlochfan Orthodox Church, Town of Lewiston, New York
September, 1976
Page 11
�continuous growt~ of the par~s~ membersh!~ from the
original congregation of 15 famihes to 65 famihes and 260
baptized members.
In March 1964, a two-family ~ome next to the church
was purchased and converted mto a ten-room Church
School to accomodate the 120 students.
August 1961, in Syracuse, New York, Richard Aswad
a life-time member of the St. George Parish of Niagar'
Falls, was ordained a Deacon and given the name Deacoa
George. He assisted Fr. Salhany and his principal dutie~
were the Church School, Choir, and youth programs.
The uold" St. George Church
who served faithfully for five years laying the foundation
for the future growth of the parish.
Succeeding him at the pastorate, was Rev. Michael
Gelsinger, who came from Buffalo, New York and served
with the church until 1944. It was under his leadership that
the English language services were instituted and the
parish of Niagara Falls was always referred to by the late
Metropolitan Antony Bashir, as the first church in
America to chant the Orthodox Services in English. The
Choir and Church School were organized under his
capable direction, assisted by his wife Mary and his son,
Fr. John Gelsinger. Fr. Michael's talents enabled him to
translate the words and music from Greek, Slavonic and
Arabic into English. He was the author of many Orthodox
publications. His book, "Orthodox Hymns in English" is
used by many choirs today and often is referred to as the
"Blue Book". Our parish, as well as the archdiocese, owes
so much to Fr. Gelsinger who is now retired and living in
Buffalo, New York.
Rev. Anthony Gruber Woolf served our parish from
1944 to 1948. Under his leadership, English continued to
be used and expanded to all the church services. The
church mortgage was burned on June 2, 1946. We quote
from the principal speaker of the event, the late
Metropolitan Antony: "Today marks the burning of the
last Syrian Orthodox mortgage in the United States. Ten
years ago we were faced with a dilemma, whether to bring
the church to the young people or to continue in the old
ways. I made my decision. Our Church, in our jurisdiction,
has been brought to the young people. Our liturgy is in
English. The Orthodox prayer book has been translated
and put into English. We are happy that St. George's
Church is for all Orthodox people, but we must not stop
here. Today the mortgage has been paid, but we must
now and always pay the mortgage on our hearts. We
must have the faith of our Mother Church, the Church of
Antioch."
Rev. Gabriel Salhany came to the parish in 1948.
During his ministry in Niagara Falls, we witnessed the
Page 12
Fr. Gabriel Salhany
suffered a stroke during
the Lenten Fast of 1965
and was confined to the
hospital.
Very Rev.
Stephen
Upson
of
Batavia,
New York,
served Holy Week and
Easter Services. While
Father Stephen served Fat her and Khoureye Aswad
our parish on a temporary basis, Metropolitan Antony and
the parish of St .. George_ approached Deacon George
Aswad to be ordamed a priest and to serve as an assistant
to Fr. Salhany, who was not physically capable of serving
full time. May 23, 1965, Fr. Deacon George Aswad was
ordained in Syracuse, New York by Metropolitan Antony
Bashir. In 1969, Fr. Gabriel Salhany retired to Grand
Rapids, Michigan; and on June 4, 1975, he passed away.
May his memory be eternal.
A New Stage of Growth
The parish continued to grow under the guidance of
Father George until today there are close to 100 families
of various ethnic backgrounds fulfilling the prophecy of
the late Metropolitan Antony, that our parish would be
truly a Pan-Orthodox Church, conducting all the church
services in English, open to all of the Orthodox faithful in
the area.
From the very beginning, the women of our parish
have played a great role in the history of our church, not
only spiritually, but have been very active in our church
programs. Some ten years ago, women became board
members for the first time in our parish.
To meet the needs of the growing parish, a 24-acre site
on Saunders Settlement Road, Town of Lewiston was
purchased in March 1970 for $30,000 cash. As this site was
more centrally located in the area served by the church, it
would allow for more family-type activities in a park-like
setting away from the congestion and noise of the city.
A survey of the needs of the parish was conducted by
Louis J. Courey, Architectural Commission and recommendations were made.
In deciding on a style of architecture, our local architect, Kenneth Lofstrand decided against the route _of
the A-frame or dove-winged architecture. Along with
Father George and the building committee, it was felt that
we should return to our original church image • an oc·
tagon-shaped church would be formed through the use of
eight wood laminated beams forming a dome which will
be covered from the elements on the outside but exposed
to the congregation in the interior; sixteen windows at the
base of the dome would provide shafts of light in the
(continued on page 26)
The Word
WHO ARE "THEOTHERS"?
A Study in Comparative Religion
by james kenna
This series origi~ate~ from the inquiries of the faithful
at St. Philip:s parish m Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The
followingarticles are condens~d from the presentations
ade in response to questions about the various
:nominations that our faithf~l c~me. in contact with in
the New World. Hopefully, this will widen our sensitivity
to the teachings and practices of other faiths and beliefs.
Often, Orthodox C~stians are criticized for not being
open to an und~rstanding of the religious consciousness of
others. In learmng of "the others," we may be better able
to know ourselves.
Roman Catholicism-The Latins
1
The Early Christian Church was one in both the East
andWest, as it was founded by Jesus Christ. Originating in
the Holy Land, with the Jerusalem Church as focal point,
thefaithful carried the Gospel to other great cities ir.~-hat
was then, the expansive Greco-Roman Empire. Strong
centers emerged at Antioch and Alexandria and later,
Rome.After the reign of St. Constantine, the Equal of the
Apostles, the Church was able to emerge from persecutionswhich, though sporadic and of varying intensity,
hadseverely contained it. With this emergence, came also
the elevation of Byzantium, renamed Constantinople, to
the capitol of the Empire, replacing Rome. Naturally the
Church was integrally woven into the fabric of the new
capitol; so much so that the 4th Ecumenical Council of
Chalcedon in 451 A.D. raised Constantinople to the
dignityof New Rome. All during this period and later, tiny
seeds of dissension were sown.
Culture as much as politics, historically, can be seen as
theultimate divisor. The East was oriental, contemplative,
and Greek in culture and language. The West was active,
practical minded and multi-lingual, but controlled by
Roman law and discipline. Where the four Eastern
Patriarchates tended to balance each other, the power
of the Latin Patriarch was singular and extended over the
wholeof Western Christendom. In the early centuries of
the Church as it enunciated the Christian Faith, all of the
seven Ecumenical Councils were held in the East and
called and chaired by Eastern Emperors or clergymen.
The early centuries produced controversies regarding
Christian customs and teachings. The earliest was the
question of the circumcision of all male converts who
werenot previously Jews. This was settled in favor of the
Gentileconverts by the first council of the Church held in
Jerusalemand presided over by its Bishop, St. James. Very
early, the dating of Pascha (Easter) was observed differently in both East and West. This was resolved by the
first Ecumenical Council at Nicea in 325 A.D. and was
~ullyaccepted in both East and West until after the schism
in the 11th century.
From the Third Century on, the great Christological
controversies regarding the nature of Christ in His
relationship to the Person of the Father and the Holy
Spiritdeveloped. These were all resolved by the first six of
the seven Ecumenical Councils. During this period, that
Whichwas and is the Holy Catholic Apostolic and Orth0dox Faith was enunciated and carried throughout the
knownworld. However a little known local council in
Sp~inin the Fifth Century approved a novel doctrine
Which,in later times, would become the hinge-point upon
which the Great Schism ruptured the Eastern and
W_estern Christians-which cleavage has continued until
this present day. The doctrine accepted was that of the
double Procession of the Holy Spirit from both the Father
and the Son. This teaching was at first rejected by several
successive Popes, but finally became dogma in the West
and was a unilateral insertion in the Creed, which had
stood unchanged (and still does in the East) since it was
published by the Councils of Nicea and Constantinople in
the Fourth Century.
During the Ninth Century in the time of St. Photios at
Constantinople, the smouldering tension between the
differing East and West openly broke apart for a period.
St. Photios issued an encyclical condemning the Pope
Nicholas I, in which he cited five errors being accepted
and even promoted throughout the Western Patriarchate.
These were the permission of foods prepared from dairy
products in the first week of the Great Lent, fasting on the
Sabbath (Saturday), forced clergy celibacy (not marrying)
contrary to the Holy Scripture, the reservation to bishops
only of the Holy Chrismation, and the filioque clause (and
the Son) in the Creed. This schism was healed, but finally
the permanent break came in 1054 A.D. when legates of
Pope Leo IX excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularios. Added to the castigations
of St. Photios were the rejection of the Eastern hierarchs
on faithful of Rome's cessation of using whole leavened
bread in the Divine Liturgy; and, the constant expansion
of the claims of Papal jurisdiction and supremacy, which
were unknown in the early Church and repeatedly
rejected by the Eastern Churches. The result was the
Great Schism of East and West. Several other teachings
unacceptable to the Orthodox Churches have been
decreed by the Roman Catholics since. Purgatory, no
invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Liturgy,
communion in one kind (bread only), the Immaculate
Conception (which means the Theoto~os ~a~ _born p~re
from sin as was Christ) and Papal mfalhbihty (which
means no Pope can be wrong on matters of Faith and
morals), and the mis-emphasis in the o~fice of t_he
Sacrament of the Prayer Oil. As the succeeding centuries
have shown Western Christianity has given birth to
Protestantis~ Anglicanism, and a host of other partially
Christian antl other sects, almost unrecognizable as
Christian. Thus Orthodoxy and the Latin Catholics remain
separated, although in the past two decades some a~tempts to achieve a rapport have been made, and b~ Go~ s
Grace, these two long separated sisters may be one m faith
and practice again.
Page 13
September,1976
�1 ·tudinous. But so far as what the child can unt d restricting our considerations to just that, the
derSa:~1 religion teacher knows that children can learn
pre•s~persons who are important in their lives. These
aboUl can be introduced as plainly lovable, as agents of
P~pe s and punts'h ments, or as mo die s.
reward
Departmentof ChristianEducation
II1Utt
TEACHING AFFECTIONAL TRUTHS
a study of the psychological development of children
and their readiness for religion
richard coder and jo masanz
The protagonists
and antagonists of religious
education, of whatever sort, are often insisting that steak
serves as suitable fare no matter what the age. Whatever
may be true about what ought and ought not be taught,
and whether it comes from the child's experience or "from
above," is, as Pottebaum stated in his article ("Reasons for
Restraint"), not of concern here. What is of concern is
that from the point of view of cognitive readiness, the
heartier meat may be suitable, psychologically speaking,
neither for the one nor the fifty-one-year-old.
The old scholastics often mouthed a bromide we
mustn't lose sight of nil recipitur, nisi in modo recipiendi
recipitur. The cognitive psychologists, from Piaget
through James McVee Hunt, and Bransford and Franks,
are reminding us of the same thing: A child can deal only
with that material which the structures he has formed can
handle. On the other side, structures, like muscles, fall
into bad form when not in use, and cease after a while to
be functional.
The two or two-and-a-half-year-old could rest for a
while if he would like. The main teething is done, he's
walking, toilet trained, communicating somehow, and can
move his body into all kinds of places to search, discover,
and play. By now he is forming a representational system
all his own. He knows what he means to say and what he is
saying about reality when he makes his strange kaping-ka
noises and points his fingers and stiffens his body.
A PRE-SCHOOLER'S THINKING
But since it is fun to explore, or learn (until the adult's
reward system spoils it) the child doesn't want to rest now.
At two-and-a-half or so he's sure that other people are not
him. He has begun to decentralize his thinking. He no
longer considers reality a part of him or for him. Now
other people begin to fulfill various roles in his life. He
becomes daddy's big (unfortunately!) boy or grandma's
baby. By three, certainly, the family can lead him to an
affectional tie towards his uncle in the Peace Corps, or big
sister away at school. Whereas at two the child is engaging
in parallel play in the nursery school, at three he begins to
join in with the play of others, and the other child
becomes somewhat important to him. By four, partic~lar
children, as individuals, become fairly important to him.
the pre-school
religion teacher knows that children can learn about persons who
are important in their lives.
So what does all this have to do with religion and the
one-year-old? Frankly, it is better to leave the child alone
for his first couple years. He has got enough to do to get
his sensori-motor apparatus in control and functioning.
He's trying to find out what is him and what isn't him,
whether the blanket is part of his hand or part of his bed.
And he's hurrying to try to control his eliminative functions and to get his feet under him and walk with them,
and discovering the feel of his body. All that is a
demanding job, leaving little time for any intellectual
functioning as the adult would see it.
Page 14
The pre-school religion teacher should also be constantly aware that even the five-year-old, ordinarily,
cannot put one piece of information with another. He
receives information and perceives reality in still frames.
e doesn't coordinate or draw inferences. Contradictory
i~eas don't. disturb him. It makes perfectly good sense to
~m that his brother ought not hit him, and at the same
time he ought to be allowed to hit his brother. He can look
at his plate with food left on it and still be sure he has
f~n~hed his supper-even
though he agrees having
fimshed supper means eating all the food on one's plate.
!f
WHEN TO TEACH WHAT
No one tries to feed the one-year-old a steak. At least
not medium-rare from the broiler. But often enough, it
turns out, the fifty-one-year-old eats pablum of some sort
for his ulcerated stomach.
So we see~ the child can use shared symbols to mean
whatever he is able to conceptualize.
He has also put away his own representational syst~m ~nd
has begun to use the symbolic system for commumcatton
shared by other children with the adult world. He _can
order things now-all the big blocks in one pile, the httle
ones in another, or the round and the square ones, or the
green and the yellow ones. And of course he can
memorize names to things and generally get a kick out of
it.
What does this mean for the religion teacher facing
"
pre-schoolers?
The aspects he ought to cons1'd er are
TheWord
Although this is not our area of competence, perhaps it
Id be helpful to spell out our opinion here. God as a
wouon or quasi-father, or Jesus as a brother are within the
pers
•
Im 'of conceptua 1·izmg
t h at c h'ld
i ren can engage in.
rea
•
f
h
• is
·
Theirmam structure or an di'mg sue h conceptua 1·izmg
ffectional, however; that is, the quasi-father is kind or
~ean (not both), gives good things or punishes (not both
until at least four or beyond). Jesus can be someone the
We present this by way of caution. The five-year-old
doesn't draw the "obvious" lesson from a story. He
concentrates on the concrete pictures of the story and,
lea~ing on his own representational system, will draw
What we are saying is that the teacher obviously ought not present God or Jesus as
an agent of rewards and punishments.
childmight want to act like, which means nothing so far as
the moral conduct or the behavior of the child, but only
has meaning for the aff ectional tie of the child-how the
child comes to feel about This Jesus. Or Jesus can be
someone who is simply lovable for what he is, like Uncle
Bobin the Peace Corps. To repeat, the child doesn't know
anything about, say, grandpa in that other city who has
neverbeen able to come and visit, but the two-and-a-half
to four-year-old can feel something toward him. Such
holds true for how the child's mental structures handle
God and Jesus.
What we are saying is that the teacher obviously ought
a conclusion. Jesus changed the water into wine because
he didn't like the water they had there. Or Jesus said the
first will be the last and the last first because there are too
many people at the table.
MORE THAN EXPLAINING
The point is all the explaining in the world will do no
good. The child can no more be forced beyond his level
than he can be forced to pass a football fifty yards. And
insistence could in fact be harmful to him.
The teacher, then, must stick to still-frame information
and not insist that the child learn lessons from putting bits
But children grasp and internalize that kind of thinkin~ best when they go to a S~nior Citizen's Home and decorate a Christmas tree and smg for them, or bake cookies
together and take them to prisoners, or make gifts of Easter symbols to their parents.
not present God or Jesus as an agent of rewards and
punishments. Two variables that the teacher ought to
consider are: ( 1) the conceptualization and (2) the affectional relation the family of each individual child has
concerning, for example, Jesus. It could be stressful for a
child of seven to discover he had positive feelings for a
Jesushis family in fact didn't care about or didn:t bel~eve
wastoo important after first communion or confirmation.
The other fact the pre-school religion teacher knows
forsure is that the child-certainly
the four-year-old-can
o~der and classify and name, and can symbolize partly
Withthe adult system, partly with his own. The fou~7ear;,
old can come to understand that a red light means stop
and a green one means "go," or that a flag somehow
means something about the land he lives in. And so, a
crosscan come to mean that Jesus cares for us, and a clo th
spreadon a table with candles and cup can come to mean
something is about to happen.
September,1976
of information together-unless
the child can perceptually perceive the outcome of joining the two bits of
information.
The bright five-plus or six or seven-year-old ~egins to
thaw out these rigid thought structures. He can mix yellow
and blue paint and see it turn green. From this he comes to
know that mixing other paints will "cause" other colors.
He can begin to combine information to come up with
new information. Still, he stays very close to perceptual
information; if he can perform an experiment, he can
grasp the concept almost certainly. Stori~s about co~cem
for others for their own sake and how this makes children
feel good about the~selves a_re~ne. But children grasp
and internalize that kmd of thinkmg best when they go to
a Senior Citizen's Home and decorate a Christmas tree
and sing for them, or bake cookies together and take the~
to prisoners, or make gifts of Easter symbols to their
parents.
Page 15
�JESUS AS A REAL PERSON
By age six or seven the child has come to know that
people and places he has never seen are real and important. An aunt who is a nurse may be helping others in
Vietnam, a president has an effect on Daddy's job and the
family's trip to the mountains in the summer. And so the
conceptualization of God as real and personal becomes
possible. Jesus can become a real person. He can become
a powerful person who comes to us in the sign of bread
and wine. Combining real plus powerful as bits of information can lead to the information that he can be here
for us in a special way.
It might be well to state that this six to seven-year-old
period can be mildly stressful for the child. Contradictions
in his past thinking become clear now. New realizations
literally throw him off balance for a time. It is well for him
to know that younger children understand things in a
different way. The average child makes this transition
smoothly enough. But a lot of the emotionality of the child
of this age results directly from his forming this new
structure for exploring and assimilating reality. For him to
know that Jesus, who lives now, lived a long time ago and
died is quite a piece of information to handle. Without
the proper kind of family atmosphere, he can't handle it.
From roughly ages seven to twelve the child develops
the same structure for exploring his universe. It changes
noticeably with age and ability, but qualitatively this
structure remains more or less the same. That is, the child
has now developed a schema, as Piaget describes it, or an
schema. But whereas the child of the former sub-sta .
. d
.
.
ge is
bound to slow m uct10n, to seemg maybe one or t
possibilities inferred from the f_acts before him, the ch;~
of the latter sub-stage reaches mduced conclusions m
quickly and easily and will see more possibilities.
ore
The child of this later •sub-stage
can understand that
.
Jesus changed t h e water mto wme to show he was th
Messiah because the Messiah _would bring plenty of th:
things people wanted. The bright twelve-year-old m· h
even understand that the lack of wine said somet~~ t
about the failure of God's people to please him. But lll~
dinarily the child of this stage is still reality-bound tied~r
that which is in front of him, and only reluctantly 'depart
from what-is to imagine what-might-be.
s
We c~uld go on with_many examples here. The careful
reader wtll have recogmzed, however, that this later substage is the level at which most adults, in fact, operat
The ordinary conceptualizing of the average adult is the.
ordinary conceptualizing of the ten, eleven and twelve~
year·o!d. I~ is tru_e tha~ Piaget and the researchers
followtng him ~escribe a_~gher level of functioning called
formal operations. But it ts also true that Piaget doubts
that many individuals ever reach or operate out of that
stage. And the subsequent research provides evidence for
his doubt.
twelve to sixteen-year-olds do reach. Given the optimal
family and circumstances, the child can reach that stage,
transiting from the concrete to the formal. In fact, most of
us are frozen in concrete operations for the rest of our
lives. The pablum of the child is more suitable fare for the
adult than the steak he thinks he ought to have.
The seven, eight or nine-year-old can put much more
information together now. He can see that the child of
Bethlehem and the man saying it is good to be poor and
the man on the cross are all the same Jesus. Pieces of his
life begin to fo~ a meaningful whole. He knows money to
buy needed thmgs comes from his father, and so he can
come to know God the Father as a creator and provider.
But _he can understand only those truths that are tied to
reahty. He can understand that the Baptist came before
Jesus, and his job was to get people ready for Jesus. But he
understands much better that John looked like a hippie
and that some people didn't like him. The child of thj~
stage (?r sub-stage) has to see the truth in concrete events
for he 1sbound to the reality before him.
'
. Careful consideration of the cognitive level of the child
wtll be one great help to the religious educator. But
cognitive development is only one aspect of the child's
growth that is important here. Other questions which
present themselves find answers only in considering the
moral and affectional development of the child, and his
motivational system as well. For knowing what the child
can learn does not, by itself, determine what the child
ought to learn. The religious educator ought to know
where the child is in his moral and affectional develop·
ment as well.
Page 16
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events, for he is
internal system of operations that he can employ to
examine and interpret and explore his universe. He can
now grasp what is real, out there, much the same as the
adult. At age seven, for example, he is able to know that a
one-quart container will hold a quart of milk. At eleven or
twelve, he uses the same schema of operating to know that
the container will not be large enough if the milk freezes.
The child of ten, eleven, or twelve employs the same
PUBLICATIONSDEPARTMENT
It is not our place here to describe the operations of
the adolescent. But we feel a caution is needed. In
describing the formal operational stage, Piaget presents a
level the child could reach, not a level which in fact most
The child of this state (or sub-stage) has to see the truth m concrete
bound to the reality before him.
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CODE
Church School Curriculum
GRADE THREE
3P
3T
A28
A2
AFC
We Worship God in Church (student)
Teacher's Guide for 3P
Forty Saints Coloring Book (student)
Forty Saints Coloring Book (teacher)
Divine Liturgy Flip-Chart (teacher)
PRICE
TOTAL
COST
QUAN.
Office
Use
The Bible Lives in the Church (student)
Teacher's Guide for 4P
Biblical and Liturgical Charts (teacher)
The Orthodox Christian Year (student)
Finding Your Way Through the Bible (student)
CC1
CC2
SB
Our Life in the Church (student)
Teacher's Guide for SP
Divine Liturgy Flip-Chart
HC
AV
AV1
AV2
2.65
3.15
.35
.50
1.50
-
-
-
-
-
2.65
4.40
5.00
God With Us (student)
Teacher's Guide for 6P
Biblical and Liturgical Charts-(teacher)
The Young Church (student)
Teacher's Guide for 7P
Faithful Witnesses: Acts of the Martyrs (student)
Acts Map and Chart
5
6
3.25
3.15
.35
7
8
9
10
11
12
3.15
3.15
1.50
2.00
Heroes for Truth (student)
Teacher's Guide for 8P and 9P
New Frontiers (student)
Teacher's Guide for 8P and 9P
1.75
1.85
Fire Upon the Earth (student)
Teacher's Guide for 10P
1.75
1.85
Faith and Science (student)
Teacher's Guide for 11 P
24
25
Orthodox Catechism
The Orthodox Christian Year
17
18
19
20
2.75
2.75
GRADE ELEVEN
11P
11T
10.00
5.00
3.00
15.00
1.70
1.70
-
3.00
10.00
8.00
10.00
.75
.25
.50
.50
BOOKS
21
22
23
23A
14
15
16
GRADE TEN
10P
10T
The Service Book of the Archdiocese
Book of Divine Prayers and Services
Father Serafim Nassar, 1156 pages
Service Book of the Orthodox Church,
Isabel F. Hapgood, 656 pages
The Evening Divine Liturgy, 10 volumes
Pocket Prayer Book (paper-new
edition)
The Typica, Father Paul Schneiria (paper)
Service of the Holy Unction (paper)
Akathist Hymn and Compline (paper)
Saturday Great Vespers, 8 tones
(Byzantine Melodies by B. Kazan)
Orthodox Hymns in English, Father M. Geisinger
Three Divine Liturgies, Michael Hilko
Hymns of Praise: Troparia and Kontakia,
Fr. James Meena
Tschaikovsky's Divine Liturgy in English
Resurrection Service, by Ray George
Great Friday Service, by Ray George
The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysotom,
Arranged by Father G. Abboud
Vespers, Arranged by Father G. Abboud
Holy Matrimony, Arranged by Father G. Abboud
Standard Divine Liturgy, by Father J. Meena
Sunday Matins, 8 tones, Byz. Melodies, B. Kazan
13
GRADE NINE
9P
8-9T
BOOKS
Arabic Prayer Book
Arabic Evkhologion
Arabic Evkhologion
Altar Gospel
MUSIC
GRADE EIGHT
8P
8-9T
4.50
4.50
5.00
2.00
25.00
3.50
3.50
PRAYER ·BOOKS
GRADE SEVEN
7P
7T
7PS
7PT
QUAN.
-
GRADE SIX
6P
6T
TA4
Large
Large
Small
Arabic
PRICE
MATERIALS
Creative Activities 1
Creative Activities 2
Sou rcebook for youth work
Holy Cross Society Adult Study Manual
Filmstrip - Rebirth: Journey of Great Lent
Colorform - Coming to Worship
Colorform - A Visit to the Sanctuary
ARABIC
1
2
3
4
-
GRADE FIVE
SP
ST
AFC
Church School Curriculum
SUPPLEMENTARY
$2.75
3.15
.50
.50
5.00
GRADE FOUR
4P
4T
TA4
A22
4PS
coDE
10.00
1.50
1.50
1.00
2.00
2.00
1.50
1.00
1.00
1.00
2.00
10.00
.
GRADE TWELVE
12P
12T
Time for Decision (student)
Teacher's Guide for 12P
INSTRUCTION
$2.10
3.15
-
-
• Sub-total
$
I
I
-
-
BOOKS
.50
.50
Sub-total $
TOTAL
COST
Office
Use
�CATALOGUE
CODE
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
Other Items
PRICE
Orthodox Church History
Twenty Parables
Beginner's Lesson Book
Primary Lesson Book
Junior Lesson Book
Intermediate Lesson Book
ABC Lesson Book (teachers)
ABC Coloring Book - Beginners (student)
ABC Coloring Book - Primary (student)
$0.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
Q.UAN.
TOTAL
COST
Office
Use
-
-
GENERAL BOOKS
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Orthodox
Education
Day
October
2, 1976
Studies in the Greek Church, 340 pages, cloth
The Papacy, A. F. Guettee, 380 pages, cloth
The Orthodox Companion, Father Abramstov
The Date of Easter, Father G. Abboud
Duties of Church Members
The Priest's Guide
Altar Server's Guide
Metropolitan Antony's Jubilee
3.50
3.00
2.00
.25
.25
.50
.50
2.00
-
-
-
MAGAZINE
The Word (in U.S.A. and Canada)
The Word (Abroad)
8.00
10.00
MISCELLANEOUS
Joy of the Soul, Met. Philip Saliba (record)
Journey of Great Lent (filmstrip)
5.00
25.00
His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP
celebrating the Divine Liturgy at the
Filth Annual Orthodox Education Day.
His Grace, Bishop Ella visits the booth
featuring foods of the Middle East.
More than 2,000 Orthodox faithful •are expected to
gather on the campus of St. Vladimir's Orthodox
Theological Seminary on Saturday, October, 2, 1976 for
the Seventh Annual Orthodox Education Day sponsored
by t~e St. Vladimir's Theological Foundation. This day is
cons1~eredone of pilgrimage to St. Vladimir's Seminary.
It beg1nsat 9:30 a.m. with the Procession of Hierarchs and
Cle_rgy,
~nd the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, responses to
whichwill be sung by the St. Vladimir's Seminary Choir.
Inthe afternoon two concerts will be held featuring mixed
and male choirs, and folk dance groups and ensembles.
Throughout the day those in attendance will have the
opportunity to learn more about the Orthodox faith and
the ~~sion of theological education. Special Bicentennial
exhibits are being prepared as a witness of the history of
Orthodoxy in America. A film and slide program will
~port on the events that took place at the Summer of '76
rthodox Youth Rally. In addition to the displays of many
0 rthodox organizations, St. Vladimir's Bookstore will
:ake available in several locations a wide variety of
i°ks, records, and religious articles featuring its newlyre eased series of icons of the major feasts days and saints.
One of the most popular attractions of the day is the booth
which features foods from the Middle East. A wide variety
of these foods and entrees and pastries from many
national cuisine are available throughout the afternoon
and evening. The day will conclude with Great Vespers.
Sub-total $
TOTAL ORDER
SEND ORDER TO:
Sub-total, page 1
$
Sub-total, page 2
$
NAME _________________
Sub-total, page 3
$
CHURCH _______________
Sub-total, page 4
$
ADDRESS _______________
7% Postage
$
TOTAL AMOUNT
$
* Items 28-34 conflict with the established curriculum
_
_
_
ZIP ___
used in o
h
ur c urch schools and should not be ordered for such use.
_
September,1976
In commemoration of this Bicentennial year, a special
souvenir book will be prepared for Education Day.
Parishes of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese are encouraged to represent themselves in this
historical book. A $100 contribution - the parish or its
organizations can include in this full-page a photograph
and three paragraphs of text on their history. This is a
special feature of this year's book. In addition to this
special parish full page, one can also contribute toward a
golden page -$100; a regular full page- $75; a half page
- $50; or a quarter page - $30. Individuals are also
encouraged to participate as the Day's patrons - $10, or
boosters - $5. Contributions or requests for information
can be sent to St. Vladimir's Seminary, 575 Scarsdale
Road, Crestwood, New York 10707. Entries for the
souvenir book should be made by September 20th.
Page 17
�p.ntiorfJian®rtfJnhnxQ!lJrintian
Bnmtn
af NortlJ Am.erira
LIFESTVLES X
homily by father james c. meena
PROJECT GOALS
FRIENDSHIP
What is a true friend? Can the value of a friend be
measured? Can friendship be adequately described in any
way?
• d ·
Each of us has a concept of what a true fnen is,
depending on that which we wish_ to get out of our
relationship with other people. With ~ome of us _the
standards, the requirements for friendship are very high.
For others the use of the term "friend" is expressed loosely
and the standards for personal friendship are based on
possible gain, potential profit or benefit . . . the "what's in
it for me" syndrome.
Friendship, however, is not something to be exploited.
True friendship, as it is defined in Scripture, is always an
outgoing thing. It's not unlike a marriage. It's a giving
thing, a constant willingness on the part of each ~erson to
look out for the welfare of the other. This apphes, to a
certain extent, to every intra-personal relationship.
Certainly it applies to friends. True friendship then is
measured by the degree to which we are willing to give
and not the extent to which we expect to receive.
Solomon says, "A friend loveth at all times". (Prov.
17:17) At all times. In good times and in bad. When ~
friend compliments our personality or when that friend's
personality temporarily clashes with ours, if there is a
relationship of love, a willingness to give more than we
expect or desire to receive, then "a friend loveth at all
times". If our friends make us unhappy at any given
moment we don't forsake them. We forgive them. We
work out problems with them. We are open with them and
expect them to be open with us.
A friend doesn't flatter dishonestly. A friend doesn't
give unmerited compliments when indeed admonitions
are called for. On the other hand, a friend gives credit
where credit is due. A friend is supportive when his friend
is in need of support, giving courage, emboldening,
strengthening, consoling him when he is sad and rejoicing
with him when he is happy.
Again Solomon teaches, "It is better to receive the
open rebuke, than love that is hidden". (Proverbs 27:5) It
is better for a friend, out of love, to rebuke us openly than
to hide that love knowing that we have committed or are
about to commit a grave wrong, because then that
friendship would be marginal, at best.
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of
an enemy are profuse." (Proverbs 27:6) Better that a
friend should injure us with his love than that an enemy
should cover us with his kisses.
Friendship . . . the greatest, most epitomized
relationship between people that requires nothing of the
oth~r but remaii:is willing to give all ... loyalty, integrity,
service. In Arabic we have many words for friend. We call
Page 18
a friend "Sadeeq" if he is someone of whom we are very
fond, someone to whom we are committed. We also call a
friend who is just a sort of companion, "Rafeeq", someone
who "accompanies us along the way". But I think the most
profound word for friend in the language of our fathers is
the probable misuse and yet proper application of the
word "Sahib", because that word also means "proprietor",
"the owner of". We apply the term used for proprietorship to "friend" to indicate that in friendship we are so
committed to each other that we figuratively "own" one
another . . . that there is nothing that we can give that is
too great for a true friend and nothing that a true friend
cannot expect of us.
Friendship is unselfish, totally and completely, as
described by Jesus when He says, "Greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
(St. John 15:13) Not only was Jesus speaking of Himself
and what He was about to do for us in His sacrifice upon
the Cross, but He gave us a commandment of love that
requires that we should be willing to do everything, even
to the extent of giving up our life, for our friends. If this is
true then how much more important is it for us to live our
life for our friends, to be filled not with that kind of love
that requires something in return, but with outgoing love
that is given without anything expected in return, that we
literally live our life for our friends?
Friendship is receptive. Jesus made a very deep
statement to His disciples on the eve of His surrendering
to the Cross. He said, "You are my friends". But He laida
condition upon them. "You are my friends, if you do the
things which I have commanded you". (St. John 15:14)
How could Jesus dare to make such an apparently con·
tradictory statement? "You are my friends, If you do the
things I commanded you". He didn't say, "if you do the
things I want you to do",, "If you do the things that ple~se
me", but "the things I commanded you". The things which
He commanded them was absolute: perfect love and
obedience to God the Father.
Therefore, if we consider again the word "Sahib".in its
proper context, that in giving ourselves in friendship we
actually hand over the title of our lives to our friends, that
we virtually "own" one another, then our friends. can
expect of us that we always do for them that which i~nght,
that which is godly, that which is in keeping with the
commandments of The Father.
Friendship is open and sharing. "No longer do I call
you my servants", said Jesus, "for the servant do~s not
know what the master does but I have called you fnends,
for all things that I have h~ard from my Father, I have
(continued on page 30)
Each year t~e An~iochian ?rth'?dox ~~stian Women of
North Amenca will be umted m a Jomt effort to raise
funds for a designate_d charity. The end result will be
material, in that we raise money to be used to benefit this
chosen charity, but this will be only one facet of our
project. Hopefully, the unification of the women and
Parishes of our Archdiocese will be another significant
outcome. In an effort to raise funds, many things happen.
Welearn cooperation, the sharing of skills and ideas, and
the knowledge that no one can work alone.
Methods to raise the needed funds are decided by the
members of each Society, whatever makes each group
comfortable. In all cases of fund raising, it is an excellent
ideato involve our non-Orthodo,c: community so that they
mayhelp us, while we in tum become involved members
of our local communities.
1. Luncheons and Dinners
One that stands out as "delightful" was from St. Mary's
Society in Atlanta, Georgia: A St. Patrick's Day
Dinner, cooked the "Orthodox Way."
2. Card Party and Dessert
The Ladies of St. Mary's, Brooklyn, New York involved
the non-Orthodox community in securing prizes and in
selling them tickets. The results were two-fold: $1,000
was raised, and the community was impressed with the
loving activity of the Church and its Ladies.
3. Bake Sales
St.Anthony's of Bergenfield, New Jersey baked their own
ethnic sweets and breads. They also involved their nonOrthodox community by selling their goods at a large
MY CHURCH
It_iscomposed of people like me. We make_it wha_tit is. It
wtllbe friendly-if I am. Its pews will be filled-if I help
fill them. It will do a great work-if I work. It will ma~e
ge~erous gifts to many causes-if I am generous .. It ~ill
br~ngother people into its worship and fellowship-if I
bnng them. It will be a church of loyalty and love, of
fearlessness and faith, and a church with a noble spirit-if
I, who make it what it is am filled with these. Therefore,
wi!hthe help of God, I shall dedicate myself to the task of
beingall the things I want my church to be.
shopping mall. They raised $900 and won 2nd Prize for
their booth. Another recognition of our ladies in their
local community.
4. House Tours
If your area has homes that would interest the public
because of their decor or history, tours could be
arranged at a fixed price with a tea at the last home.
5. Dinner - Theatre
This could be held in your Church Hall if the group is a
local amateur group, with a dinner preceding the show.
6. Flea Markets and/ or Bazaars
7. International Luncheon
Each lady in your group cooks her specialty with a specific
international flavor. This type of luncheon attracts
many people from within and outside your Parish.
8. Art Shows
9. Fashion Shows
There are many more ways to raise funds that each group
can think of. The most important thing to remember in
our endeavors is the love and fellowship which will result
through our work. Love and fellowship are the strength of
our Church, and our AOCWNA Chapter, and they in tum
will be felt by the community in which we live.
"No one knows what he can do till he tries," from the
moral sayings of Publilus Syrus, the 1st Century B.C. This
thought is still relevant in today's world.
Shamseh Dalack,
Chairman - Projects Committee
and President of Eastern Region
AvailablefromYourArchdiocese
BackandAdditional
Copiesof
THE WORD
$1.00 Each-IncludeRemittance
Order from
Antiochian
Archdiocese
358 MountainRoad
Englewood,
NewJersey07631
-·~~~~~><QM.~~q-,
The Word
September,1976
Page 19
�THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
ARCHDIOCESAN
OFFICE
Antiochian Orthodox Reaffirm Membership
By Religious News Service
Trustees of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America have voted strongly to
reaffirm the desirability of continuing the Church's
membership in the National and World Councils of
Churches.
During a recent meeting, some trustees raised
questions about continuing the relationship because of the
National Council's actions on issues such as abortion and
the unionization of California farmworkers.
(In February 1974, the governing board passed a
resolution supporting Cesar Chavez and his United
Farmworkers union. In February 1973, the board, after
strong Orthodox objections, accepted a document on
abortion as a study paper instead of a policy statement.
(The paper says abortion is never desirable but is often
necessary. It says that "sincere and dedicated Christians
come to diverse conclusions" about abortion, but all can
In Church Councils
agree that it is "imperativ~ to_end the ~eed for abortion.")
Supporters of contmumg
Antiochian
Orthod
membership noted that they do not agree with all N;~
statements, policies, and actions.
In other action, the trustees heard reports on a
planned U.S. visit in the late spring of 1977 by Eastern
Orthodox Patriarch Elias IV of Antioch and all the East
and a new denominational department being created t~
assist parishes with stewardship programs.
The board voted $50,000 for a fund drive by St.
Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood
N.Y., which will erect a new building.
'
The trustees' meeting was the first to include
representatives of the former Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Toledo and Dependencies in North America
since its merger with the Antiochian Orthodox Christi~
Archdiocese of New York and All North America last
summer.
Visitor From The Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Our Archdiocese was
blessed recently with a visit
by Archbishop
Simon
Gharfeh, from the Diocese
of Jarash in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. His
Eminence was here mainly
to visit his nephew, the
Very Rev. Zacharia Nasr of
Beckley, West Virginia and
other
relatives
in the
United States. He officiated
at the wedding of Father
Nasr's daughter, Elaine, to
the newly ordained priest,
Father Joseph Antepas,
pastor
of St. George
Church in Bridgeville, Pa. Archbishop Simon Gharfeh
The Archbishop's religious career began at the age of
10, when he entered the Patriarchal Seminary in
Jerusalem. He received his degree in 1926 and served as an
Arabic translater for the Greek-dominated Patriarchate
until 1937. He was ordained a priest in the holiest of all
shrines, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition
teaches the Body of Christ was buried and resurrected.
In 1945, Father Simon was appointed supervisor of all
Page 20
Orthodox churches and shrines in the town of Lidda, the
site of the tomb of St. George, the Great-Martyr. Shortly
thereafter, he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite
because of his many accomplishments on behalf of the
Church.
In 1953, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate elected
him to the sacred office of bishop and assigned him as
Patriarchal Vicar of Acre. At the same time, he was
named head of the Ecclesiastical Court for his diocese.
In 1960, the Holy Synod named him Archbishop of
Jarash, the position he presently holds. He is the only Arab
bishop within the Patriarchate of Jerusalem today. The
Church of Jerusalem is administered by Greek Christians,
whereas, the faithful are Arab Christians. Obviously this
presents some problems within the Patriarchate. Hence,
Archbishop Simon's importance to the faithful of the Holy
Land.
May 27, 1976
your Eminence:
.
1 thought you would hke to know that the President
h approved the transmittal to Congress of the Lebanon
R:ief Act which wo_uld authorize 20 million dollars and
the issuance of housmg guarantees to provide relief and
rehabilitation assistance to the Lebanese people.
There have been numerous expressions of concern and
desire to assist Lebanon by Congress, by individual
members and by the American public. The Agency for
International Development has already extended some
relief aid, inc_ludi~g ~oth ?1edical s?pplies through the
American Umversity m Beirut and fmancial support for
the activities of the International Committee of the Red
Crossin Lebanon, approximating one million dollars total.
However,President Ford believes that the time has now
come when substantial additional funds are required
urgentlyif the Un~ted_States is to carry out adequately its
traditional humamtarian role. In part, the funds would be
May 1-July
ORDAINED:
ANTYPAS, Deacon Joseph to the Holy Priesthood by
Metropolitan PHILIP, June 27, 1976, at St. George in
Cleveland, Ohio
DAVID, Deacon Samuel to the Holy Priesthood by
Metropolitan PHILIP, May 16, 1976, at St. Elias in
New Castle, PA
DIB,Issa to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop ELIA, July 25,
1976, for Saint Nicholas in San Francisco, CA
SHARDA, Deacon Joseph to the Holy Priesthood by
Metropolitan PHILIP, July 4, 1976, at St. George in
Upper Darby, PA
SIMMONS, Richard to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop
ELIA, July 11, 1976, for Annunciation Mission in West
Hempstead, L.I., NY
TRANSFERS& ASSIGNMENTS:
ANTYPAS,Rev. Joseph to the pastorate at St. George in
Bridgeville, PA
BEAUCHAMP, Rev. Antony from the pastorate at St.
Michael in Louisville, KY to the pastorate at St.
George in Lowell, MA
DAVID, Rev. Samuel to the pastorate at St. George in
Terre Haute, IN
FRASER,Rev. Stephen from the pastorate at St. John of
Damascus in Boston, MA to the pastorate at St.
While in the United States, His Eminence attended the
Michael in Louisville KY
Midwest SOYO Conference, visited several parishes,
GABRIEL, V. Rev. Antony from the pastorate at St.
officiated at sacramental services, concelebrated with
George in Washington, DC to the pastorate at St.
Metropolitan Philip, Archbishop Iakovos of the Greek
George in Montreal, Quebec
Archdiocese and Bishop Elia, and made archpastoral cal~s
on several clergymen and laity originally from hts • HANNA,Rev. Emile from the pastorate at St. George in
Montreal, Quebec to the pastorate at St. Elijah in
Patriarchate. He returned to his diocese at the end of July,
Ottawa, Ontario
leaving the Archdiocese of North America with the
KEISER,
Rev. Michael to the pastorate at St. Anthony in
blessings of. the Holy Land.
Tulsa, OK
osc
The Word
September,1976
used to respo nd to the UN Secretary General's worldwide
appeal f~r 50 mi·11·
ion dollars, as well as to support the
International
Red cross an d ot h er pubhc. and private
.
. . .
ms~ituttons providing urgent relief and rehabilitation
assistance.
We are also hopeful that this proposed assistance will
help to restore confidence in Lebanon's future and encourage other interested governments to follow our
ex~ple. The proposal is thus fully in keeping with
President Ford's political efforts to help restore security
and political stability to Lebanon.
Sincerely,
)7~,2~
William J. Baroody, Jr.
Assistant to the President
The_M~st Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba
Anhoch1an Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
31, 1976
MURPHY, Rev. Gerasimos to the pastorate at St. John of
Damascus in Boston, MA
PEMBERTON, Rt. Rev. Mark to the pastorate at St. Elias
in Austin, TX
RADOS, V. Rev. George from the pastorate at St. George
in Terre Haute, IN to the pastorate at St. George in
Washington, DC
SAKKAB,Rev. Hanna from the pastorate at St. George in
Charleston, WV to the assistant pastorate at St.
George in Detroit, MI; will also minister to the faithful
at St. Mary in Berkley, MI
SCOTT, Rev. Olof to the pastorate at St. George in
Charleston, WV
SHARDA, Rev. Joseph to the pastorate at St. Mary in
Johnstown, PA
RETIRED:
CURRY, Rt. Rev. Alexander from the pastorate at St.
Mary in Johnstown, PA
KAZAKA, Rt. Rev. George from the pastorate at St.
Elijah in Ottawa, Ontario
ON SABHATICAL:
SCOLLARD, Rev. John from the pastorate at St. George
in Lowell, MA
DECEASED:
CANYON, Rev. Nicholas, pastor of St. Mary in Berkley,
MI on June 19, 1976
SHAHEEN, Nicholas H., former Archdiocesan Trustee,
on June 24, 1976 in Canton, Ohio.
RELEASED FROM ARCHDIOCESE:
KIRILLOFF, Rev. Michael from the pastorate
George in Bridgeville, PA
at St.
Page 21
�DAILYDEVOTIONS
"Verily' Beloved of the Angels"
by rt. rev. ellis khouri
compiled by Jr. gerasimos murphy
~~~
Dedicated H~~bly
:~::;!~~~n
To~the
His Eminence Phil_ip_Sal
A hdiocese of North America
Antiochian Orthodox Chr~stian yr~f his Consecration
at the Tenth Anmversar
Behold a Pious Messenger! His path
is the Milky Way!
I beheld him incarnated from the
darkness of night winged with th e
stars, a halo of the gle~
of
Paradise crowns his head, his eyes
sparkle with glittering light.
His forehead touched heav~n _and
dawn beamed, pouring punty mto
his soul.
Sunshine warmed his heart and filled
his mouth with light and guidance.
I beheld him aim with joy to
space, thrusting ?ver moving
clouds with wandenng eyes, over
shaky hearts.
Fearful flocks gather under his
shadow with comfort they go to
sleep o~ a meadow of happine_ss
and hope. Vicious wolves fear it,
for his spirit has commanded t~e
light of space to light and guard it.
Who is he, who crowns beating
hearts? Fragrant breeze kisses his
feet, roses dance upon the touch
of his garments, the fragrance of
his dreams is stronger than that of
lavender and more delightful than
the tremblings of prophecy in the
hearts of the wise.
From his soul gush sweet springs of
faith, the divine fragrance of
God's spirit fills his heart with
radiance and glory.
He donned the black habit to serve
the truth, and light dawned from
him at high noon. His spirit appeared whiter than the summer
clouds and purer than the dreams
of infants in the cradles of spirits.
His lips swell with kissing the
sacred altar, and the aroma of
musk flows forward and perfumes
the whole holy structure. He rubs
the holy stone with his shining
forehead and the angels lift the
bottom of his vestments.
Page 22
This is he whose spirit bathed in
• •
Its fragrance emenated
re 1igion.
dr
and filled the space to
op
plasma of comfort and sympathy
upon the hearts of the s~ddened,
the miserable and the displaced.
This is he who the angels carry th~
blossoms of his spirit to pre~ent it
a gift from the mortal children
~~ earth to the immortal children
of heaven.
His history is a page in the book of
virtue, whiter than the snows of
Sunnin and sweeter than _the
water that drips from the sprmgs
of its rocks, streams sing of the
purity of his spirit, lilies speak t_o
the sun of his good deeds. Hts
character is a rare necklace on the
neck of time. He guided the
gardens of goodness and its buds
blossomed.
He sowed the seeds of charity and it
grew into plants of scented
ambergris. He took the tr~e
religion as a path for his
aspiration. On it he built nests of
the hearts of humans, to warm
with the heat of his faith.
And should it be shaken by evil
spirits, he is ever ready to crush
the work of Satan. Verily, beloved
of the angels, you have walked the
path of the true religion. Virtues
lighted your steps and goodness
shaded your way onward with the
blessings of God, for His holy
grace fills the great ocean of your
soul.
Pageants of the faithful bathe
themselves in the holy waters of
its shores and enlighten their souls
with the brilliance and warmth of
its sun rays.
The one weight you have been given
brought back many more weights.
It filled the eyes of ages and
became the mouthpiece of the
epoch.
an attempt to encourage our faithful to study
Holy Scripture through daily liturgical readings-
This sick man whom you cured of his
pains by the sweetness of your
words comes to you now, full of
health, joy and gratitude.
This widow whom you filled her
vessels with the oil of charity
comes to you now with roses and
flowers to spread at your feet.
Those inflicted, those displaced of
the children of Syria, Jordan,
Lebanon and Palestine, they carry
to you scented
waters and
frankincense
in honor, respect
and gratefulness for your untiring
labors for their comfort.
May you spread your wings over the
west and pour upon it of this
shining spiritual light that enfolds
you.
Pluck from its materialistic soil every
dead seed, protect your children
from its Baals and Idols, defend
your vast diocese from the evilsof
its Satans.
Ten years pass on the crowning of
your head and the staffing of your
hand,
and you became the
shepherd of the flocks of the
diocese. In it you became the
important master with the eyes of
the spiritual world upon you.
On
Sayyidna
to the Silver, Golden and
Diamond Jubilees while you are
the obeyed and the beloved Lord
Master.
May He that elected you and
powered you to lead His faithful,
Bless you.
Axios - Mustahiq - Wor thy
AMEN
ORIGINAL
Arabic.
Khouri-Translated
Tobia
by- Er. ..Ellis
R
by: Ra]l •
The Word
The week of Sept. 1
The week of Sept. S
Wed. - I Tim. 2:1-6 (Beginning of
Lk. 4:16-22
Church Year)
Thurs. - II Cor. 7:1-10
Mk. 1:29-35
Fri. - II Cor. 7:10-16
Mk. 2:18-22
Sat. - I Cor. 1:26-29
Mt. 20:29-34
Sun. - I Cor. 15:1-11
Mt. 19:16-26
Mon. - II Cor. 8:7-15
Mk. 3:6-12
Tues. - II Cor. 8:16-9:5
Mk. 3:13-19
Wed. - Phil. 2: 5-11 (Nativity of the
Lk. 10:38-42; 11:27-28 Theotokos)
Thurs. - II Cor. 10:7-18
Mk. 3:28-35
Fri. - II Cor. 11:5-21
Mk. 4:1-9
Sat. - I Cor. 2:6-9
Mt. 22: 15-22
The week of Sept. 12
The week of Sept. 19
Sun. - Gal. 2:16-20
Mk. 8:34-9:1
Mon. - Gal. 2:11-16
Mk. 5:24-34
Tues. - Gal. 2:21-3:7
Mk. 6:1-7
Wed. - Gal. 3:15-22
Mk. 6:7-13
Thurs. - Gal. 3:23-4:5
Mk. 6:30-45
Fri. - Gal. 4:8-21
Mk. 6:45-53
Sat. - I Cor. 4:17-5:5
Mt. 24:1-13
Sun. - Gal. 6:11-18
Jn. 3:13-17
Mon. - II Cor. 12:10-19
Mk. 4:10-23
Tues. -I Cor. 1: 18-24
(Exaltation of the Holy Cross)
Jn. 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30-35
Wed. - II Cor. 13:3-13
Mk. 4:35-41
Thurs. - Gal. 1:1-10, 20;2:5
Mk. 5:1-20
Fri. - Gal. 2:6-10
Mk. 5:22-24, 35, 6: 1
Sat. - I Cor. 1:26-29
Jn. 8:21-30
The week of Sept. 26
Sun. - II Cor. 6:1-10
Lk. 5: 1-11
Mon. - Gal. 4:28-5: 10
Mk. 6:54-7:8
Tues. - Gal. 5:11-21
Mk. 7:5-16
Wed. - Gal. 6:2-10
Mk. 7:14-24
Thurs. - Eph. 1: 1-9
Mk. 7:24-30
Fri. - Heb. 9:1-7
Protection of the
Theotokos
Lk. 10:38-42; 11:27-28
Sat. - I Cor. 10:23-28
Mt. 24:34-44
September,1976
The week of Oct. 3
Sun. - II Cor. 9:6-11
Lk. 6:31-36
Mon. - Eph. 1:22-2:3
Mk. 10:46-52
Tues. - Eph. 2:19-3:7
Mk. 11:11-23
}.fl
~
Wed. - Eph. 3:8-21
Mk. 11:23-26
Thurs. - Eph. 4:14-19
Mk. 11:27-33
Fri. Mk.
Sat. _
Mt.
Eph. 4:17-25
12:1-12
I Cor. 14:20-25
25:1-13
The week of Oct. 10
Sun. - II Cor. 11:31-12:9
Lk. 7:11-16
Mon. - Eph. 4:25-32
Lk. 3:19-22
Tues. - Eph. 5:20-26
Lk. 3:23-4: 1
Wed. - Eph. 5: 25-33
Lk. 4:1-15
Thurs. - Eph. 5:33-6:9
Lk. 4:16-22
Fri. - Eph. 6: 18-24
Lk. 4:22-30
Sat. - I Cor. 15:39-45
Lk. 4:31-36
Page 23
�Funeral services were held o? June 26 _at St. George
Orthodox Church of Canton, with Archbishop Michael
residing, assisted by Rev. Theodore E. Ziton, pastor of
~t George; Very Rev. George Shaheen, pastor of St. Elias
in.Syracuse and Very Rev •. Antho!ly Sa~ey of Boston.
F Uowing the solemn service, Hts Emmence paid a
i°wing tribute to the deceased, eulogizing in sad and
fe~ful tones, the grand qualities that endeared N.H.
Shaheen to so many. The Ar~hbishop, who is a nephew,
ssed how honesty, devotion and generosity made it
stre
.
.
f
possible for a _yohun~tmbm~grant rdom the Old World to
reach great hetg ts m usme~s a~ society. His greatest
accomplishment was a school m his hometown of Katena,
Syria which ~e and a_ few others est~blished and supported.For this the Syrian Arab Republic awarded him its
highest medal of honor.
Communities In Action
Holy Ressurection
Tucson, Arizona
On June 6, 1976 the parish of Holy Ressurection in
Tucson Arizona honored two of its founding members,
Mr. and Mrs. Jos~ph Toney with certificates of Meritorius
Service. The Certificates were presented to Mr. and Mrs.
Toney by His Eminence, Archbishop Michael Shaheen at
the Parish's Annual Name Day Dinner. The dinner was
attended by approximately one hundred parishioner~ and
friends. Honored guests were His Eminence, Archbishop
Michael, Rev. Fr. Elias Ziton, Rev. Fr. Anthony
Moschonos of the Greek Archdiocese, and Fr. Dragolub
Krapsevich. Host Pastor is Rev. Fr. Andrew Kish. Many
members of the Toney family and their friends traveled
great distances in honor of this occasion. Among those
attending were Mrs. Betty Ross of Manchester, New
York; Mrs. Mary Povero of Summerville, South Carolina;
Mrs. Amelia Shelton, Mrs. Marion Holovics, and Mrs.
Robin Tonaus, all of Tonawanda, New York; and Mrs.
Jean Boulden and Mrs. Colette Wilkens, both of Palmdale,
California.
Mr. Joseph Toney was born in Tartous, Syria and
emigrated to the United States at the age of 11. He settled
in New York State, where he met Eva Soloman, who was a
resident of Canandaigua, New York. They were married
June 26, 1920 in Manchester, New York. Their lives
together have been characterized by their love and
devotion to the Church and to their fellow man. Mr.
Toney served on the Parish Council of St. Michael's
Cliurch in Geneva, New York for six years. Mrs. Eva
Toney served actively in the Ladies'. organization of St.
Michael's and also helped to raise their large family. In
adaition to their nine children, Mr. and Mrs. Toney
opened their home to three other children whose families
were unabie to care for them. The youngest of these three
children weighed only 1-1/ 2 pounds at the age of three
months. All three children were raised in the Toney home
as members of their family.
In 1959 Mr. and Mrs. Toney moved West to Tucson,
Arizona, where they continued to demonstrate their deep
beliefs in the Faith. They played ,a decisive role in the
establishment of the Mission Church of the Holy
Resurrection:Mr. Toney has served on the Parish Council
for three years and·continues to serve actively in the life of
the Parish. Mrs. Toney bakes Holy Bread for the Parish
every Sunday and Mr. Toney serves as an usher and
greeter.
This devoted couple has proved to be an invaluable
asset to the community in which they live and to the
Church to which they belong. Their Christian acts of love
a~~ compassion witness to the depth of their faith. They
~s1_t and. care for many handicapped and elderly in~1v1du~lsm th~ Tucson area on a daily basis and they have
fmanctally asststed many foreign students in their studies
Page 24
various other leaders and priests eulogized the
deceased and expressed the deep sorrow his passing has
caused.A grand tribute was paid by the poet Dr. Solomon
David in the Arabic press and by the distinguished
community leader of Akron, Kareem Salem.
After burial, the meal of mercy was offered by the
brothers-in-law, Shafeek Shaheen of Canton and Toufeek
Shaheen of Hollywood, Florida.
Survivors are his wife Julia; two boys, Nicholas Jr. and
Nasser; two daughters, Nadia and Noor; also three
daughters from his first marriage to the late Julia David,
Adele, Joan and Margaret; also two sisters, Zekia and
Sophie.
Eva & Joseph Toney
at the local community college and at the University of
Arizona.
Mr. and Mrs. Toney have played an important role in
the fostering and development of the Parish of Holy
Resurrection. It is the hope and prayer of the parishioners
of Holy Resurrection that they may continue to lead
exemplary lives for us in the life of the Church. It is with
pride that we call them "our own".
JohnRoman
St. George, Canton, Ohio
The entire Canton comqmnity
mourned the great loss of Nicholas
H. Shaheen, who died on June 24th
at the age of 75. He came to
America in 1911 and established a
successful business known as the
House of Quality of \Oriental Rugs.
He was highly respected and widely
knpwn for his great interest in
upholding the unique heritage of his
people in this land. His support of
the Church earned him the highest
honors from the Patriarchate
of
Antioch and of All the East.
Nicholas H. Shaheen
St. George Church of Canton named him as a lifetime
trustee in appreciation of his loyalty and generosity. He .
served on both the local and national Boards of the
Church and Archdiocese, and was a close friend of
bishops,
priests
and distinguished
busin_ess~en
everywhere. He was a member of numerous orgamzauons.
The Word
St. George of Akron, Ohio
On Sunday, June 13, St. George Orthodox Church of
Akron, Ohio held a recognition brunch in honor of its
Church School classes. After a light meal prepared and
servedby the Teen SOYO, Fr. John Elias and Mrs. Helen
Gisewhite, superintendent, introduced the Sunday School
staf_fand presented awards for perfect and for faithful
attendance. Twelve children had perfect attendance and
were awarded beautiful religious gifts. This year's average
attendance was thirty-eight children.
Special a wards were also given by Fr. Elias to the top
fiveparticipants in the Art Contest sponsored by the NAC.
Fr. Elias also recognized the Captain of the Altar Boys,
John Jacob, for his service in the Altar.
A special presentation to the Church was made by the
Third and Fourth grade classes taught by Mrs. Gernard
Drayer. They presented an Icon to Fr. Elias. Saving
money to purchase this Icon had been their year-long
project.
Fr. Elias concluded by presenting the Sunday School
teacherswith gifts of appreciation from the Church. These
h~d-working staff members for the year 1975-76 are: Mrs.
Fntz Gisewhite, Superintendent. Mrs. Wade Haddad,
Mrs. Edward Elias, Mrs. Ted Mallo, Miss Kim Hanna,
M~s.Gemard Drayer, Mrs. John Goson, Khourie Nawall
Ehas, Mr. Leo Jacob, Mr. Wad Haddad and Mrs. Dan
Cleaver.
Mrs. Ted Halkovich
September,1976
St. George Church,
Bridgeville, Pa.
Our newly ordained and beloved
Father Samuel David, was one of
ten children born to Joseph and
He!en D~vid. He spent his youth in
Brtdgev11le, Pennsylvania
and
graduated from Bridgeville High
School in 1945. Given an Athletic
Scholarship, he graduated from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1950.
He played basketball
and
baseball at the University of Pittsburgh and signed a pro-baseball
contract with the St. Louis Browns,
w~o sent him to play in Appleton,
Wisconsin.
Fr. Samuel David
Drafted into the U.S. Army, he served until 1952. In
1953, he signed with the Baltimore Orioles minor league.
In October, 1955, Samuel went to Syria, Lebanon,
Jordan and Iraq under the auspices of the State Department to teach basketball on a goodwill tour. Both Samuel
and his lovely wife Janet went on another tour of Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt in 1959-1960.
He received his Master's Degree from the University of
Pittsburgh in 1968. In 1971, he was ordained sub-deacon in
Bridgeville, Penna. by His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip
Saliba. At a SOYO Conference in Allentown, Penna., he
was ordained a Deacon. During this time he both assisted
and served in churches in Pittsburgh, Altoona, Brownsville, Bridgeville, New Kensington and New Castle. He
graduated from the two-year Late Vocations Program of
the OCA, Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and West Virginia in
1975. He also attended the School of Theology at
Duquesne University.
On May 16, 1976 at St. Elias Church, New Castle,
packed with bus loads of his relatives and friends from
Bridgeville, he was ordained a Priest with His Eminence
officiating, assisted by Fr. Antoun Khouri, Fr. George
Brunish, Fr. Michael Kirilloff, Fr. Alexander Zahand anct
Fr. Gabriel Samne.
On June 20, a banquet was held in his honor at
Valleybrook Country Club by the parishioners of St.
George's Church in Bridgeville. Each organization in the
Church was proud to present a gift to our new Priest and
dear friend. Speakers included Rt. Rev. Archimandrite
Paul Saliba, Dean of the Westem Pa. Deanery; Rev. Fr.
Michael Kirilloff, St. George Church, Bridgeville; and Mr.
Harry Buzzatto, Principal, Chartiers Valley High School,
where Fr. David taught in the Science Department.
Fr. Samuel David has been married to the former Janet
Deep, since 1955. They have three children; Sammy 15
years; Daria, 13 years; and Joey, 12.
This fall, having resigned his job as Chemistry teacher
and Science Co-ordinator at Chartiers Valley High School,
he will be Pastor of St. George's Church in Terre Haute,
Indiana.
To the newly ordained Priest, Father Samuel David
and his family, all of those who know him say "AXIOS,
AXIOS, AXIOS!"
Page 25
�St. Elias Orthodox Omrch, New Castle, Pa.
North American Council
SOYO
Digest
News and Views ...
ORTHODOX YOUTH
office from Garrison to Yonkers, New York. The new
address is Centuck Box 297, Yonkers, NY 10710. Tel. 914LEADERS MEET
423_1688_
St. Herman's Church School
St. Herman's Church School Faculty
The weekend of May 16, 1976, Metropolitan PHILIP
made an Archpastoral visitation to St. Elias ~arish, Ne~
Castle, Pa. His Eminence was accompamed by his
Secretary, the Rt. Rev. Antoun Khouri.
Friday evening the 14th, Metropolitan PHILIP met
with the Parish Council and their spouses at the new
Rectory for a coffee hour.
St. Herman's Pan-Orthodox Church School held a
breakfast in honor of Metropolitan PHILIP Saturday
morning the 15th. His Eminence spoke to the children and
faculty and distributed the Certificates of Promotion.
The Theotokos Society hosted a luncheon meeting for
the Orthodox Priests
of Lawrence County and the
Shenango Valley with Metropolitan PHILIP Saturday
noon.
That evening the Metropolitan held a dinner meeting
with the Parish Council at the Holiday Inn. Following the
service of Great Vespers all the parishioners had the
opportunity to meet with His Eminence during an informal coffee hour.
Sunday morning at the beginning of the Hierarchical
Liturgy Metropolitan PHILIP blessed two young men of
the parish, Christopher A. Davis and John M. Davis, as
sub-deacons. Both are teachers in the New Castle Public
School System.
During the Divine Liturgy Metropolitan PHILIP ordained Deacon Samuel David to the Holy Priesthood.
Father Samuel is from St. George Church of Bridgeville,
Pa. He has been assigned to serve the community of Terre
Haute, Indiana.
The final events of the weekend were a social hour and
banquet at the Holiday Inn.
The St. Elias parishioners are able to look back on the
weekend as not only socially successful but, more importantly as every Archpastoral visit should be, spiritually
stimulating.
KayDumot
The COUNCIL OF EASTERN ORTHODOX YOUTH
LEADERS OF THE AMERICAS (C.E.O.Y.L.A.) held its
45thMeeting in Parma, Ohio. The local chapter of the
American Romanian Orthodox Youth (A.R.O.Y.) served
as host for the weekend meeting.
Special attention
was given to the planned
C.E.O.Y.L.A. FESTIVAL OF ORTHODOXY, September
3, 1977,LABOR DAY WEEKEND, PITTSBURGH, PA.
Theeight member groups, national church organizations,
will hold their individual national conventions at that
time, culminating in a combined religious service in
Pittsburgh's CIVIC ARENA. The leading Hierarchs from
each jurisdiction are expected to participate in this
manifestation of the faithful of the Eastern Orthodox
Church. The individual conventions will be located in
variousPittsburgh hotels: Chatham Center Motor Hotel,
William Penn Hotel and Pittsburgh Hilton Hotel.
C.E.O.Y.L.A. OFFICERS ELECTED
C.E.O.Y.L.A. was founded in an effort to convene
leaders from the various Orthodox jurisdictions to consider mutual interests and problems. The Council accepted its eighth member organization in 1974, and
currently is comprised of the following organizations:
American Carpatho-Russian Youth (A.C.R.Y.)
American Romanian Orthodox Youth (A.R.O.Y.)
Eastern Orthodox Youth Association (E.O. Y .A.)
Federated Russian Orthodox Clubs (F.R.O.C.)
Greek Orthodox Youth of America (G.O.Y.A.)
Serbian Singing Federation (S.S.F.)
Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations (S.O.Y.O.)
Ukrainian Orthodox League of the U.S.A. (U.O.L.)
Parishes of the Archdiocese
(continued from page 12)
center of the church; a hall would be built next to the
church joined by a central vestibule entrance.
And Now .....
The plans were drawn up and presented to the parish.
On March 13, 1975, over 90 per cent of the parish voted to
proceed with the project.
Ground breaking and the blessing of the land was held
on September 7, 1975. Serving with Father George was
Very Rev. Stephen Upson. Representing the Archdiocese
Board of Trustees was Ernest Saykaly, Chairman of the
Department of Stewardship.
Three of the orignial trustees elected in 1921 took part
in the ceremonies - Ray Aswad, Farris Fadel and Edward
A. Mokhiber. The fourth living original trustee, William
A. Mokhiber, could not be with us because of poor health.
Page 26
The 9,400 sq. ft. structure is expected to cost about
$300,000 when fully completed. The consecration of the
new church by our Metropolitan Philip will be on
November 14, 1976, which is exactly fifty years from th:
consecration of the first church on South Avenue and 13t
Street.
Our late Metropolitan Antony Bashir referred to our
church in May 1959, in a blessing with these words, "Bies:
you the little flock". This little flock of St. George 0
Niagara Falls has gone a long way, thanks to all who ~a~~
contributed to our growth. We look to the support O
the Archdiocese to bring this chapter of our history :~;
successful completion, and to begin writing the next 1m
• m
• Weste
years of Orthodoxy on the Niagara Frontier
New York Stat~.
TheWord
Officers elected for 1976-77 include:
CHAIRMAN, Dr. Stephen Sivulich (U.O.L.), Easton, Pa.
VICE-CHAIRMAN
Michael
Kafoure (S.O.Y.O.),
Indianapolis, Ind.
'
TREASURER, Michael Herzak (F.R.O.C.), Parma, Ohio.
SECRETARY, Mrs. Vida Palermo (S.S.F.), Steelton, PA.
•
CAMPUS COMMISSION:
HOME AT LAST?
The Orthodox
Campus Commission,
Concern
~aga_zine and the Syndesmos North Am~rican Coo~dtnahng Committee announce the relocation of their
September,1976
Plans for the coming 1976-77 school year include (a)
further development and extension of the growing network of on-campus Orthodox Christian Fellowships
("OCFs"), (b) the systematization of a North American
campus/ communication
network,
and (c) implementation of a series of "Student Ministry Workshops"
which are geared for parishes and lay organizations.
During the past three years, the Campus Commission
has been plagued by difficulties in securing normal office
facilities. Although its activities have been severely hurt
by a series of relocations, the new facilities promise a
much greater degree of stability. While plans for a 1976
summer conference had to be cancelled in the wake of
two office relocations during the Fall and Winter of 197576, plans are already underway for another conference to
be held in the Pittsburgh area in conjunction with the
coming "CEOYLA Festival '77."
Another example of increasing success is the latest
series of local and regional strategy sessions held in
several parts of the country. A new OCF "cluster" pattern
is emerging which involves an active OCF at some major
campus, with ties to other nearby campuses. This pattern
is reinforced through improving communications among
area OCFs to facilitate regional events such as retreats.
Although understanding and support for the Campus
Commission's activities has been steadily increasing, the
process is a slow one. "It's a protracted struggle," com.;.
ments the Commission's Executive Secretary, Peter
Mikuliak. "More and more people, both individuals and
organizations, are taking an active_ interest ~ c~~pus
work. Under-funding and under-staffmg makes 1t d1ff1cult
to respond adequately, but we do our best. Our main task
is to keep the faith."
Persons interested in the presence of the Orthodox
Church on college and university campuses - students
and faculty, clergy and laity- are urged to write to the
Orthodox Campus Commission for information and
suggestions.
CONCERN GROWS
Amid increasing praise for its growing relevance to the
world of the North American college students, CONCERN
MAGAZINE reports that its subscription l~vel continues
to rise. "We are highly gratified by the new mterest m~ny
parishes are taking in their college youth," says Editor
Denise Melligon. "We are especially thankful for such
Page 27
�groups as the Ladies Philoptochos Society of the Annunciation
Greek Orthodox Church on W?b~rn,
Massachusetts, who recently purchased gift subscr1pt10ns
for 45 of its parish's students."
.
Subscription orders ($4 / yr.) as we~l a_s articles,
poetry, artwork and photo-essays for pubhcatlon sho~~
be sent to CONCERN, Centuck Box 297, Yonkers,
10710.
CYPRUS: A NEW, PROVISIONAL
ADDRESS FOR SVNDESMOS
Because of the current civil war in Lebanon, S:N·
DESMOS headquarters have bee? ~oved from Beirut~
Until further notice, all commumcatlons should -~e ~d
dressed to: SYNDESMOS, P.O. Box 4047, Nicosia,
Cyprus.
LATIN AMERICAN
PROJECT
In an effort to reestablish contact and collaboration
with Orthodox communities and youth groups in Centr~
and South America, SYNDESMOS is sponsoring a "L~tm
American Project" whose first phase is set for completion
during the summer of 1976.
.
This phase involves the visitation by a Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking representative of SYNJ?ESMOS_to
several centers of Orthodoxy throughout Latin America.
On-site surveys will be made of local needs in the areas of
leadership training, educational material, publicati?ns,
communications and pastoral / theological education.
Local Orthodox youth leaders will assist the gathering and
interpretation of data as well as the de_velopment ~d
coordination of plans for action. A combmed report will
then be prepared in time for an Executive Committee
meeting in Europe set for September, to consider further
steps.
.
It is hoped that one immediate result of the survey wdl
be a vastly improved communication network, not only
between Latin America and the rest of the world, but
especially among the Latin American Orthodox comm unities themselves.
Gabriel Habib, General Secretary of SYNDESMOS,
has asked the Executive Secretary of the Orthodox
Campus Commission, Peter Mikuliak, to implement the
first phase of the Project. Persons wishing to obtain a copy
of the final report should write directly to SYNDESMOS,
North American Coordinating Committee, Centuck Box
297, Yonkers, NY 10710.
ROMANIA: CONSULTATION
ON ORTHODOX EDUCATION
"Tradition and Renewal in Orthodox Education," a
consultation jointly organized by SYNDESMOS, the
Curriculum Committee of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and by the Program Unit Education of the World
Council of Churches, will be held September 6-10, 1976.
The consultation is hosted by the Romanian Patriarchate,
and will take place at the Monastery of Neamt, the
Diocese of Moldavia and Suceava, about 400 kms north of
Bucharest.
The participants including about a dozen
representatives from North America - will hear four
major presentations
by Orthodox theologians and
Page 28
cators: (1) The Possibility of Renewal in the Orthod
e du
. . A
h
ox
Church; (2) The E~c~aristic. pproac to Renewal and
Renewal of Eucharistic Practices for Human Formation•
(3 ) Humanity in a Cr~ated World;. ~d (4) Christi~
Education in a Changm_g w_
orld. Btbhcal studies Will
emphasize patristic and historical approaches centering a
multi-dimensional format of anthropology, ecclesiolog
and the Eucharistic vision of life. The program includ/
both worship services and wo~k groups, an~ _willaim a:
producing a document relatmg_ the Tradition of the
Church to contemporary educational needs.
Further information
is available
from Kriton
Chryssocohoides, SYNDESMOS, 36 Ippocratous Street,
Athens 144, Greece.
The
Orthodox World
BICENTENNIAL FEATURETTE
Father John Veniaminoff,
a Russian Orthodox
rgyman,
was
known
as
the
"Apostle
to Alaska" for the
1
:~ssionary work he did there in the first half of the 19th
Century.
.
. .
.
He began servmg as a m1ss10nary priest to the Aleuts in
t824.During his service, he prepared an alphabet and an
Aleut grammar, translated _a catechism, some church
services,and parts of the Bible.
In 1840, Father John became Bishop Innocent. He
builta cathedral in Sitka which is still a landmark there.
After his service in America, the bishop became
Metropolitan of Moscow.
GREECE:
CONSULTATION ON ORTHODOX
THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
A SYNDESMOS-sponsored meeting of students and
faculty from Orthodox schools throughout the world is
being scheduled for winter, 197_677, to be held at the
Pendelli Inter-Orthodox Center m Athens, Greece. The
topic of the proposed consultation is "Development and
Renewal of Orthodox Theological Education."
Schools and seminaries are being requested to send up
to three representatives - one faculty and two students who would pursue three aims:
a. The exchange of ideas and experiences between
students and faculty from different schools on Orthodox
Church renewal and on the challenges of the ecumenical
movement and the modem secular world to Orthodox
theological education;
b. The exploration of ways of developing theological
training in countries or regions where theological schools
do not exist (Asia, Africa and Latin America); and
c. To start discussions on possible coordination
between the schools or the student bodies of postgraduate studies, regarding
research,
scholarship
programs, publications, and other exchanges on student
and faculty levels.
.
In North America, the "Orthodox Inter-Semmary
Movement" (OISM) has been asked to coordinate the
selection of representatives to the consultation, which
might involve a joint delegation. Other schools whose
financial priorities might exclude their direct par·
ticipation, but who have a unique contribution to make !o
the deliberations (such as St. Herman's Pastoral Scho?l m
Kodiak, Alaska) are being asked to prepare written
statements.
1
BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA
SERBIAN ORTHODOX PRIBST
IS JAILED IN YUGOSLAVIA
A Serbian Orthodox priest and two other men were
givenstiff prison terms upon conviction of planning to
overthrow the state and social system of Yugoslavia,
according to the Belgrade newspaper Politika.
The government-controlled daily said that the Rev.
Marko Srbic, 26, was sentenced to nine years; Bolgoljub
Vidovic,53, a brick plant manager, to 15 years, and Laza
Arezina, 30, a barber, to seven years.
A district court in Belgrade ruled that the three
defendants were guilty of "hostile activities" against the
state while they traveled abroad.
CLEVELAND, OHIO
RECOGNITION OF
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
HELD VITAL TO MID-EAST PEACE
Metropolitan Philip Saliba of the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America said here that
Palestinian refugees must be recognized before peace can
come to the Middle East.
He suggested that the U.S. should acknowledge the
presence of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
NORTH AMERICA:
and called on Israel to give up land it occupies on the
WestBank and in the Golan Heights to make a home for
CONSULTATION FOR
Palestinian refugees.
ORTHODOX YOUTH LEADERS
Metropolitan Philip, here to attend an Orthodox
familylife conference asserted that Jews and Arabs can
A special gathering to examine selected aspects 0
livepeacefully in the' Middle East.
Orthodox youth leadership in North America, pr?po~e
by the SYNDESMOS "North American Coordinating
The Orthodox leader placed primary blame for the
current military and political unrest in Lebanon on the
Committee" (SNACC), and originally scheduled for t:~
~alestinian refugee problem. The primate, who was born
Summer or Fall of 1976, has been postponed. Seve d
Orthodox youth groups and organizations have express: • In Lebanon visited his homeland last August.
tho d
. While th~ Lebanese struggle has religious implications,
differing assumptions regarding both goals and i_ne
It is largely an economic and political problem,
and more time will be needed to assess suggestions an
alternatives.
Metropolitan Philip told reporters.
J
TheWord
September,1976
~e said the international struggle between commumsm and the western democracies, and the Sinai
peace agreement between Israel and Egypt which ignored
other Arab states, are contributing to the Lebanese
conflict.
Metropolitan Philip said that the U.S. cannot continue
to ignore the existence of the PLO. Asked if this meant the
U.S. should sacrifice Israel to achieve peace, the primate
said, "No, Israel is there to stay."
He said that in return for Israel giving territory to the
Palestinians, the Arab nations should guarantee Israel's
right to exist. The Metropolitan stressed that Israel and
the Palestinians must recognize each other.
NEW YORK, N.Y. GREEK ORTHODOX
CATHEDRAL BLESSED
AFTER RENOVATION
The newly renovated int~rior of the primary cathedral
of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South
America was sanctified on the Sunday of Pentecost (June
13 in the Eastern Orthodox calendar).
The divine liturgy, attended by representatives of
several other Orthodox bodies, was celebrated in Greek,
English, Romanian, Arabic and Slavonic.
It culminated a sanctification service which included a
washing and annointing of the altar analogous to the
Orthodox sacraments of Christian initiation (baptism with
water and chrismation with holy oil).
Relics of saints were sealed in the altar, and the walls,
corners, icons and other parts of the building were annointed.
The renovation, begun in April 1972, cost about
$500 000. Installed are new marble columns and pillars,__,a
bron~e and marble icon screen, glass partitions in the
narthex, a new throne and pulpit for the bishop, and a
marble platform with the ancient double-headed eagl~ of
Byzantium and the coat of arms of the Ecumemcal
Patriarchate of Constantinople, of which the Greek
archdiocese is a part.
Also parts of the renovation, a new elec~rical system,
new carpeting and a new sound ~ystem ~~re mstalled. The
church and auditorium were air-conditioned.
Several new mosaic icons were installed, as well as
enormous mosaic inscriptions of the Ten Commandments
and the Nicene Creed.
.
Besides Archbishop Iakovos, head of the archdiocese,
Archbishop Victorin, who leads _the Roma~ian O~thodox
Missionary Archdiocese in Amenca; Archbishop S_rmon,a
member of the Holy Synod of the Jeru~ale~ Patnachate,
and Bishop Elia, representing the Anti?chian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North Amenca, were_ ~~ng
those co-celebrating the divine liturgy and sanctification
services.
Page 29
�ATHENS,GREECE
FOR MEN ONLY STILL RULES ON
GREECE'S MOUNT ATHOS
Women and female animals still can't go to Mount
Athos. The Greek parliament has rejected legislation
which called for "equality of men and women in Mount
Athos, in accordance with the constitution."
Mount Athos is a 900-year-old self-governing group of
Eastern Orthodox monasteries. The Greek government
urged rejection of the bill on grounds it would violate
agreements between Greece and Mount Athos.
"It will not kill them (women) if they are not allowed to
go to Mount Athos. After all, we are not allowed into
women's saunas and beauty parlors," said one deputy
opposed to the measure.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
PREPARATORY CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER
TO CONSIDER PAN-ORTHODOX COUNCIL
The long talked of Pan-Orthodox Council seems one
step closer with the announcement that the "first
preparatory conference" for such an Eastern Orthodox .
gathering probably will be held in October at the
Ecumenical Patriarchate's Orthodox Center near here.
Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon, who headed a
Patriarchal delegation which visited 13 autocephalous and
autonomous Orthodox Churches, reported that all wished
such a Council to take place as soon as possible.
According to the announcement, the preparatory
conference must reach unanimous agreement on agenda
and procedural details in advance of the council itself.
Metropolitan Meliton said Orthodox leaders he conferred with would like a one-session council which would
avoid lengthy theological and theoretical discussions
concentrating on "a limited number of issues that are vital
to the life of the Church and of concern to Orthodox
clergy and laity alike."
One subject proposed for such a council is a decision
on a fixed Sunday in April for celebration of Easter by
both Eastern and Western Christians.
The Council could also help arrive at a common
Orthodox position on Christian unity and reunion.
During April and May, the delegation headed by
Metropolitan Meliton, dean of the Holy Synod of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, visited the patriarchates and
Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow,
Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Greece,
Poland, Czechoslovakia and Finland.
Also in the delegation were Metropolitan Damaskinos
of Tranoupolis, director of the Orthodox Center and
Father George Tsetsis, a World Council of Chdrches
expert in Orthodox affairs.
BROOKLINE, MASS.
HUMAN SEXUALITY FROM EASTERN
ORTHODOX VIEWPOINT IS DISCUSSED
BY THEOLOGIANS
"Heteros~xual monogamous marriage" and "consecrate~ celib_ate virginity" are "the only two forms of
human lif~ which are not sinful in their very structure" the
new president of the Orthodox Theological Society said
here.
Father Thomas Hopko, a pastor in Wappingers Falls
N. Y :• and teacher at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theologicai
Semmary, Crestwood, NY., spoke about human
Page 30
sexuality from an Orthodox theological viewpoint
.
at the
society's annua 1 meetmg.
Father Hopko defined "heterosexual mono
•
• 1ove o f one man agamous
marriage as "t h e umon
m
.
. .
nd one
woman m every way spmtual, physical
.
. an d re 1igious
• •
, social
economic,
- f orever, wh.ich in this
will include for a time bodily sexual intercourworld
• m
• Iove. "
se an
element of t h e tot al umon
He called "consecrated
celibate virginity"
th
"dedication of one's life in total service to God and oth e
outside the community of marriage, which in this ers
.
wor1d
excludes al1 b o dil y sexu al mtercourse of any kind,,
"The Church of Christ," Father Hopko said "know·
.
.
'
s no
other forms of human hfe which are adequate to th
fullness of life of the kingdom of God."
e
Father Philotheos F~os, a ~onk and. psychologist who
teaches at the Brookline semmary, said in a paper
human sexuality from the point of view of an Ortho/n
theologian and clinician that "talking about pre-marital ox
extra-marital sex is itself an indication of a legalistic vieor
of human sexuality" which "introduces a view of hum~
sexuality based on external formalities."
"We should instead talk about godly or ungodly sexual
expressions," Father Faros said.
With regard to homosexuality,
Father Faros
distinguished between a "constitutional reality" which "is
not a matter of choice or change" and "behavior" which
"should be dealt with as any other sexual expression, on
the basis of its genuineness, maturity, godliness and
according to the developmental stages of the individual."
Also speaking during the two-day meeting, Dean
Alexander Schmemann of the Crestwood seminary saidhe
did not envision Orthodox acceptance of ordained
females, but he said lay men and lay women should be in a
position of equality in the church, with reference to lay
liturgical participation.
~.~ YOU
ft•W~UBSCR
1
•
••
••
""•,M~
('.radkof Rdigi,·:.tisUhmy
Don'tMissA SingleIssueof THE"NEW"WORD
Have You Read:
FebruaryMarch-
AprilMay-
June-
LIFESTYLES X
"A Man to Match the Mountains"
"lifestyles X"
"Lebanon: An Orthodox Christian Response"
"Dialogue ... "
"Orthodoxy and Contemporary Iconoclasm"
"Communities In Action"
"Eastern Orthodoxy In A Western Ethos"
"Profiles In Courage ... "
"The First Ten Years"
"SOYO Digest"
PARISH CHAIRPERSON
(continued from page 18)
made known to you." (St. John 15:15) Jesus did not
conceal anything from his friends. All things that were
given to Him by His Father, He gave to them: every
commandment, every example of love, of sacrifice, of
mercy, of compassion and of hope. He didn't withhold
anything. And so it is with friendship. And this is how the
~ord, "Sahib", "proprietor", "owner;;, becomes catapulted
mto the highest expression of friendship in the languageof
our fore-fathers. "Sahib". Our dear friend.
In the Church, Christian friendship begins. It is here
that we ought to be learning and expressing and practicing
the true values of friendship. It is here that we ought to be
expressing that unselfish, open, receptive, sharing kind of
love for one another because it is here that we have
learned and continue' to learn about perfect friendship,
t~e frie~dship of common ownership in cm:ist, t~e
fri~nds~p of common giving in Christ ... that fnenclship
w~i~h is so great that it requires of us that we wouldbe
wilhng to lay down our life for each other. Having cometo
realize this, we can then take the fellowship of His Church,
that ~ommuning.friendship, into the world and give new
meanmg, true meaning to the word, "Friend".
TheWord
;.:.;.s:-J
OLDE
_ PHHADF.LPHiA•
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September,1976
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Soaring costs demand an increase in
subscription
rates in 1977, the FIRST
since the magazine was first printed in
Arabic (Al Kalimat)
in 1905 and in
English (The Word) in 1957.
FUTURE FEATURES:
"Ordination and Vocation"
"The Antacky-Russy
Dilemma"
"Who Are the Others?"
"Childrens' letters to God"
"Reflections of A Priest's Wife"
"Getting the laity Involved"
Help meet the goal of "putting
THE
WORD, the official publication
of the
Antiochian
Orthodox
Christian
Archdiocese, in the home of every Orthodox
Christian family in the Archdiocese:'
A
gift subscription to friends, a local college, library or other institution vvould
be one way of spreading THE WORD of
Orthodoxy.
THE WORD is published
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�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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kalemat_19760901_20_7
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 07
Alternative Title
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 20, Issue 7 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated September 1976.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1976 Sep
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Subject
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
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English
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Text
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/631e577295228ffe9b272ae43edf5014.pdf
a03af3c3cecfc5d6d48e1de92dcea9ba
PDF Text
Text
�The Word
Volume 20
Number 6
June is more than a month for weddings! It is a month which
offers to us a possibility
to get on the "inside" of human nature, to
concentrate a bit upon certain realities with which we live.
Cover
.
Ph·i·
•
In August of this year, His. Eminence, Metropo 1Itan
11p,. will celebrate his
tenth anniversary as the chief shepher? of our. ~oly Arch?tocese. Our cover
reflects his role as the "episcopos" - pr~est, adm~mstrato~, f:~end and father. We
dedicate this issue of THE WORD to Satdna, askmg for him many years".
Of course, any time and any month offers that same possibility.
However, June is a special time because of two happenings;
kneeling ( at Pentecost)
and Fathers Day. They happen a week
apart ( June 13 and 20) and this fact serves as a reminder to us about
one particular
reality.
3
Editorial
5
A New Era: A Flame Rekindled
So why are we so concerned about this coincidence? "Look, son,
how indestructible
I am!" "Look son, be just like ME, walk the same
path (like John Wayne!), and you can even be better!" "Look son, its
a dog-eat-dog world out there, and you have got to be a 'tough-guy'
in this society!" Such a philosophy pervades our culture quickly; only
old women and children need the Liturgy!
In This Issue
The Editors
June,1976
fathers And All That!!
The first ten years
Philotheos Faros
11
Bicentennial
15
Profiles
Thoughts:
Eastern Orthodoxy in a W estem Ethos, Part II
Of course, we have used the word "son" instead of "daughter"
because a father is much more self-reflective
in the face of "son";
femininity is a whole other bag!
in Courage ...
Presenting His Grace, Bishop Elia Saliba
16
Parishes of the Archdiocese
But regardless of son or daughter, which actually should make
no difference,
our point is to demonstrate
exactly what it is that
fathers pro/ect to our world.
St. George of Indianapolis is featured during their fiftieth anniversary
James C. Meena
19
Lifestyles
X
The subject of women priests dominates theological discussions of "others".
What does the Orthodox Church say?
Elizabeth Majdell
21
Woman's Liberation For Orthodox?
Can an Orthodox woman be a "woman's libber?" Here is one woman's opinion
Robert Vagias
23
The Spirit of Truth
Why cannot "fathers" hug and weep, jump for joy and bury their
heads in tears? Why not? How unjust that we project something less
- a wooden, strong "macho" imageonto those who look to us for
the truth about life. Perhaps we are too interested in being either, a
"buddy" or a competitor,
rather than a "father!" Perhaps our society
hos done a real job on us and upon our feelings about our
masculinity, teaching us to be other than we naturally feel w~ ought
to be. We must ask: what kind of truth is it that we are mdeed
pro;ecting?
Some thoughts on Pentecost by a young layman
24
SOYO Digest
News and views of our youth movement
28
Archdiocesan
31
34
Department of Christian Education
AOCWNA
Office
But there is another image of "Fatherhood."
As we look to that
image, we discover, just as every Orthodox Priest. must di~cove_r,
quite a different sense of it all. That image is one which certamly d,d
not hesitate to demonstrate
great love. He wept and ?~ed, and yet,
never appeared "weak". His humility was a royal humility. He knew
exactly who and what he was to do; His inner strength allowed one
such image!
Humanitarian goals and works of charity are suggested for women's
organizations.
35
Dialogue ...
Questions posed to Fr. Michael Buben
37
Communities
In Action
This month we hear from Monessen, Pa.; Houston, Texas; Greensburg, Pa.'.
Beaumont, Texas; Los Angeles, Calif.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Detroit, Michtg~-
44
The Orthodox World
Commentaries of the Religious News Service
47
Page 2
San Francisco
One always wonders: why cannot fathers be human also? And
why cannot he see the injustice, the down-right cynicism, when he
fails to project that humanity?
What can we hope that others will
learn from that "super-man"
image, except guilt and anxiety when
they cannot live up to that "anyone-can-be-president"
expectation?
Invites You!
<(
a:
0
1C
w
And He knelt! Fathers must kneell Not only must he, i.~.
father, kneel as a physical act; he must kneel because of what ,t
means! It means that we also are human. It means that we too stand
before God that we cannot do it all by ourselves, that those who
look to us ~s a source of strength, must know ultimately
that the
June, 1976
The Word
..J
Page 3
�knee of even one such as me, must bend before the "name of Jesus
Christ," as St. Paul said it.
Pentecost comes. Pentecost forever comes. That !s true because
the abiding of the Holy Spirit is forever. Remembenng
t~at every
knee of the heart should bend as we call upon the Holy Spirit, Which
Father promised would be sent to us, let each of us fathers
~~~;ect that kneeling image. That is honest, healthy, and strong!
A New Era:
A Flame Rekindled
We dedicate this June issue to Metropolitan
PHILIP as 0
remembrance of his tenth anniversary.
That fact only serves to
remind us of this truth, for he blesses us in fat~erhoo_d, and yet, he
too must kneel before the One from whom
all thmgs are from
above, and cometh down from thee, the Father of lights."
The First Ten Years
As we hear the Priest at Pentecost: "affain '!nd again with the
bending of the knee, let us pray to the Lord, let ,t be a reminder of
these images of fatherhood: our own fatherhood,
and the
fatherhood of our own shephard, Kyrios Kyr, PHIL.IP. IS POLA!
by fathers joseph j. alien and george s. corey
Above them both is the Fatherhood of the Uncreated Father!
Joseph J. Allen
Associate Editor
"In accordance with the ritual of our Holy and
Apostolic C~urch, ~e ord~ined our spirit~al son, Rt. Rev.
Archimandnte Phthp Sahba, as Archbishop and consecrated him as the canonical Metropolitan Archbishop of
New York and All North America, preserved by God in
accordance with the canons of the Church and the Divine
Laws."
With these words from the canonical Praxis of the
Antiochian Patriarchate, given in August, 1966, a new era
wasinitiated in the Orthodox Church of America at large
and in particular for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese.
But new eras are begun and flames rekindled not in
themselves: they begin with the emergence of new men
into an existing milieu. The milieu was the Orthodox Faith
in North America and the man was Philip Saliba. Orthodoxy was ready and the man was prepared.
THE WORD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Born in June, 1931, at Abou-Mizan, Lebanon, Philip
Saliba entered the Patriarchal Theological Seminary at
Balamand near Tripoli at the age of 14. He subsequently
attended the Orthodox secondary school in Homs, Syria,
and received the Baccalaureate from Asiyah Orthodox
College in Damascus. The real broadening of his
preparation, however, began in 1953, when he accepte_d a
scholarship to study in England at Kelham Theological
School and the University of London.
r,
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMAT, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
TO AMERICA
Editorial Board:
Archimandrite Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen Upson, James C. Meena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gerasimos Murphy, James ~en~a;
Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John Dalack, William Essey, Raymond George, Ronald Ni·;ola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the AnUochtan
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
Publications Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania J 5213
ISSN 0043-7964
THE ~ORD_, publis~ed monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at Pittsburgh, Pe;;~
sylvanta, Business office, 377 McKee ~lace, P.O. Box 7_135,Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213; Publication office, 3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213· Ente
as second class matter and postage paid at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.
.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $5.00 a year in the United States and possessions; $6.50 a year in Canada, South America and all other foreign countries.
ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: THE WORD, 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
Page 4
First appearance as Archbishop.
The Word
,
\
Father Phillp ~ompletes the Confession of Faith and
prepares for his consecration as bishop.
June, 1976
After spending three years in England, his desire for
higher education carried him to the United States in 1956,
where he attended the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
Theological School in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1959,
he graduated with a B.A. from Wayne ~tate University _in
Detroit, Michigan, and in 1965 received the M. Div.
degree from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological
Seminary in Crestwood, New York.
Philip Saliba was ordained to the diaconate in 194_9and
was assigned to serve as secre~ary to the Patnarc?,
Alexander III. In 1952 he was appomted teacher of Arabic
Page 5
�Metropolitan Ilyas Kurban of Tripoli, elevated F
Philip to the rank of Archimandrite.
He was ather
1
Metropolitan of New York and All North America \ectect
Holy Synod of Antioch on August 5, 1966, and on Ay the
14, was consecrated to the episcopate by the late Pat ?gust
Theodosius VI at St. Elias Monastery, Dhour Shouienarch
immediately assumed the administration
of ther, d
0
tiochian Archdiocese in North America.
•
1°
J
It all began when Patriarch Theodoslos VI bestowed the
Crown, the Archepiscopal Mitre on the head of
Metropolitan Philip just ten years ago.
Language and Literature and Student Advisor at the
Balamand Theological School. On March 1, 1959, he was
ordained to the sacred priesthood
by the late
Metropolitan Antony Bashir and was appointed pastor of
St. George parish in Cleveland, Ohio. While in Cleveland,
he displayed qualities of leadership in his efforts to
complete the erection of a beautiful religious, educational
and cultural center for the parish. He served in many civic
and religious posts, among them the Mayor's Civic
Committee of Cleveland, the Television and Radio
Committee of the Cleveland Area Church Federation and
the Cleveland Eastern Orthodox Welfare Council.
Although
the entire
list of Metropolit
,
achievements cannot be placed here, we can give a ans
• • ms1g
• • h t from t h'1s bne• f resume of the manmore
appreciative
h
began the "new era." What about the fruits of this w 0
era? Shall we begin _with the Metropolitan as ~:.
ministrator? The followmg departments were created
0
reorganized by him in order to facilitate improved fu ~
tionings of the Archdiocese:
nc
Department of Missionary Activities
Department of Information and Press Relations
Department of Continuing Orthodox Pastoral Educatio
and Spiritual Vocations
n
h official name of the Church in North America, "the
T et·ochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese", reflected
;\Ill
••
1 d .
.
more realistically our spmtua an historical heritage.
Thi was a daring step that may have marked the
b :nning of the fall of nationalism within the Orthodox
p:fth in Nor~h ~erica,
for short~y thereafter, several
Orthodox junsd1ct1ons followed smt.
In addition to a new constitution for the Archdiocese,
His Eminence approved a model constitution for all
arishes of the Archdiocese, a necessary step in order to
P
sure proper canonical discipline and order. For too long
tn
our parishes operate d. 11_1
t h.etr own ways, often very unorthodox. Another d~rmg step was needed to ease the
tensions that often existed between the clergy and laity
because of outdated articles of incorporation. This was a
move in the right direction.
In the financial area, His Eminence has used the
advice and talents of dedicated persons in the Arc
chdiocese to develop a sound and practical budget. It can
be observed in the new financial system, constructed by
the Financial Committee, that the Archdiocese has greatly
improved its investments.
SOYO, both Senior and Teen, have been the recipients
of the Metropolitan's utmost attention. It was at his instigation that the regional and national leadership of
SOYO met at an annual Midwinter meeting to formulate
their plans for the year and to develop creative and innovative programs for the youth of the Archdiocese.
"Awareness" and "Commitment" became an important
part of SOYO's platform, and this eventually led to the
expansion of SOYO's annual conventions to include all
the faithful of the Archdiocese on a regional basis. Thus
in March 1966, the General Convention of the Antiochian Archdiocese, by an overwhelming majority
nominated Philip Saliba to succeed the late Metropolitan
Antony of thrice-blessed memory. In July of the same year
at the SOYO Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, the
Patriarchal Vicar for the vacant See of New York,
1
At the Archbishopric of Beirut during an Important press
conference.
the SOYO Parish Life Conference, as it is now known,
uses the talents of all members of the parish and family to
do God's bidding in the Church and World. New programs
came into being on national, regional and local levels.
Charity? Teenagers? Relevancy? Enlivening to Christ?
Was this Orthodoxy? Was this not what all other faiths
had, but not Orthodoxy? His Eminence saw to it that his
spiritual children would enjoy the fruits of the labors of
this Archdiocese by appointing a full time Youth Director
to oversee SOYO's programs.
With the President of Lebanon, His Excellency Charles
Helou, 1968.
Department
Department
Department
Department
Department
Department
Department
Department
Department
Relations
Department
Wit~ the distinguished memben of the Holy Synod of the
Patr1archate of Antioch. Seated left to right·
Metropolitans Epiphanios of Akkar, Ignatios of Maha &.
Elia of Beirut. Standing left to right: Metropolitans
Spiridon of Zable, Basillos of Hauran Paul of Tyre and
Sidon, Elia of Mt. Lebanon, Dyas of Tripoli Meletios of
Arge?tina, Philip of North America, Ignatio~ of Lattakia,
lgnatms of Brazn, Michael of Toledo & Bishop Elia
secretary of the Synod, 1968.
'
Within
emphasized
for survival.
also created
of Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Faith Relations
of Sacred Music
of THE WORD Magazine
of Christian Education
of Finance
of Credentials and Convention Planning
of Liturgics
of Stewardship
of SOYO and Inter-Orthodox
Youth
of Legal Affairs and Resolutions
these departments,
the Metropolitan has
centralization which is so necessary in this age
In addition to the above, the following were
to assist in the work of the Archdiocese:
Clergy Insurance Commission
Standing Committee on Arab Refugee Affairs
The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
DARING STEPS
It was at the historic Miami Convention in 1969 that an
updated constitution for the Archdiocese was adopted.
Page 6
Two views of the buUdlng In Beirut purchased by our Archdiocese, whose Income will be used t~ educate
Arab refugee chndren from Palestine. This will enable a steady annual Income to be used for this noble
and worthy cause. The children will be educated In Beirut In any technical field of study so as to be of
some assistance to their countries when they return to their homes and famDies.
The Word
June, 1976
Page 7
�~his organization offers the platform for the discussion of
issues such as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, world
hunger, poverty and other social issues. What is the
O~thodox position? Truth and justice require an articulate
v01ce.
President Ge~al~ Ford wa.s htt at the White House to
discuss Amenca s stance m e anon and other rel t
subjects. On behalf of our faithful and in our name aHe_d
•
•
H ead of State s' is
Eminence outlmed
to t h e A mencan
important realities about the Middle East quest~me
Shortly thereafter, President Ford announced a ion.
policy of his administration in the conflict that ~~
destroying Le ban on.
Various Mother Churches abroad have not left the
deeds _of ~his man and this Archdiocese go unnoticed.
Eccles1asttcal awards have been presented which include
the Order of the Bush Unburned from the Church of
Mount Sinai, the Order of the Cross of Lebanon from the
Metropolitan See of Mount Lebanon and the Order of St.
Mark from the Patriarchate of Alexandria.
Because of his important contribution on Middl
Eastern affairs, the numer~us ~rticles and 1!1-onographsh:
has writte~ and the ~uma~1tanan and charitable works of
this Archd10cese, Hts Emmence has been decorated with
the Commander's Badge of the Lebanese Order of th
Cedars and the First Class of the Order of Civil Merit ~
the Syrian Arab. Republic, the highest awards present:d
by those countries.
With Pope Paul, discussing Ecumenical relations.
Knowing full well as a parish priest in Cleveland that
women play an important part in the affairs of the Church,
His Eminence blessed a national organization for the
ministry of women to the Church. Thus the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women of North America came into
being and after only two years, these energetic ladies have
demonstrated their abilities of organization, cooperation
and charity.
On June 24, 1975, Metropolitan Philip and Archbishop
Michael Shaheen of the Archdiocese of Toledo, Ohio,
effected a union of the two North American Antiochian
Archdioceses. This union was canonically ratified by the
Holy Synod of Antioch on August 19, of the same year.
The official Praxis, issued by His Beatitude, Patriarch
Elias IV, named Metropolitan Philip as Primate and Archbishop Michael as Auxiliary of the one Archdiocese of
North America. Indeed, a most daring step for the welfare
of the Antiochian faithful in this land as well as for Orthodoxy in North America.
MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
Metropolitan Philip has maintained a constant interest
in Middle Eastern affairs. As a student at Wayne State
University, he was president of the Arab Student
Federation and in Cleveland was a member of the
Committee on American Policy in the Near East.
Following the Israeli-Arab conflict in 1967, he visited
President Lyndon Johnson, former President Dwight
Eisenhower, Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI on
behalf of a just and durable peace in the Middle East. In
1968, he established a $100,000.00 Endowment Fund in
Beirut,. Lebanon, to provide financial grants for the
education of Arab refugees in the fields of science
medicine, economics and technology.
'
In 1975, His Eminence was elected chairman of the
Standing Conference
of American-Middle
Eastern
Christian and Moslem Leaders. Their first task was to
conv~ce. their counterparts abroad to bring an end to the
c~n~1ct m Lebanon that had already taken 20,000 lives
withi? a year of destruction and suffering. In April, 1976, a
meetmg of the members of the Standing Conference with
June, 1976
By far, one of the most profound undertakings of the
Archdiocese on behalf of Arab refugees living in occupied
Palestine, was the adoption and management of "Project
Loving Care." The basic purpose of this non-sectarian
program is to provide funds for food, clothing, shelter and
education for the growing number of needy and
threatened Palestinian children and thus help diminish the
danger of creating more refugees. This philanthropic
endeavor received the blessings and support of the
Metropolitan and hundreds of faithful within and outside
the Archdiocese. Another daring step indeed!
INTER-ORTHODOX ENDEAVORS
To aid Orthodoxy in other lands, Metropolitan Philip
has earmarked funds collected by individuals and
organizations within the Archdiocese for these special
purposes. We have supported the Patriarchate of Antioch
extensively in its many administrative and charitable
programs. Various diocese within the Patriarchate have
been the recipients of funds collected by the North
American Church. To fulfill a pledge made by the late
Metropolitan Antony, Balamand Seminary was rebuilt by
our Archdiocese and continues to receive monies for their
operational budget. It is the only Theological Seminary
left in the entire Middle East and the only hope for the
future of Orthodoxy in a troubled part of the world.
Our Archdiocese printed the Euchologion (services of
AND NOW?
With President Johnson, discussing World Events.
the Church) in Spanish for the Diocese of Mexico and has
aided quite extensively the Diocese of Australia with
funds, service books and educational materials in the
English language. Neither have missions in other parts of
the world been forgotten.
Since his election as Metropolitan of this Archdiocese,
His Eminence has served as Vice Chairman of the
Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in
the Americas (SCOBA). There he has repeatedly pressed
for Orthodox unity and cooperation on all fronts, even
calling for a Pan Orthodox Synod to discuss the "unique"
problems of Orthodoxy in North America, especially the
multitude of national jurisdictions on this continent, an
uncanonical situation, unknown to the original Orthodox
Faith.
SCOBA has attempted to solve some of its problems of
national, administrative division through various commissions. Metropolitan Philip chairs one of the most
important, the Orthodox Christian Education Commission. This body produces a Church School curriculum
and appropriate text books for all dioceses in North
America and the English-speaking world. Recently these
publications were translated into Arabic for countries
throughout the Middle East. The OCEC is looked to as the
hope for a significant and meaningful educational
program for American Orthodoxy and is, therefore, one of
the most important commissions of SCOBA.
In addition to being a trustee of St. Vladimir's
Seminary which has graduated a larger percentage of our
Archdiocesan clergy, His Eminence has asked other
Orthodox seminaries in North America to open their
doors of learning to our clergy and students, thus
developing an excellent
relationship
with other
jurisdictions. This step alone has done much to cement
the love and harmony necessary for a united Church in
North America. October
has been designated as
"Seminarian Month" throughout the Archdiocese and
scholarships are available to those men among us who
chose to follow our Lord through the Holy Priesthood.
With General Eisenhower, discussing solutions to the
Arab-Israeli conflict.
Page8
And now, Orthodoxy in North America ... We have
looked at the record for the past ten years. We have
watched the preparation and education of the man. We
have seen the reorganization of the Archdiocese into a
witnessing and serving body. We have been eye-witnesses
to some of the daring steps and have already enjoyed the
fruits of his labor. But there is one additional phase-one
which seems the most difficult and yet the most important! Can Orthodoxy in North America be administratively one as She is already one in Faith? His
. Last year, Metropolitan Philip was elected to serve as
third vice president of the National Council of Churches of
Christ in the U.S.A. It is here, more than elsewhere, that
the Orthodox presence must be felt. In American circles,
June,1976
From right to left - Mr. William Baroody, Jr., Special
Assistant to the President; President Gerald R. Ford;
General Brent Scowcroft, Chief of Staff; Archbishop
Joseph Tawil ; Imam Muhammad Abdul Rauf; Imam
Mohamad Jawad Chirri; Metropolitan PHILIP; Bishop
Francis M. Zayek; V. Rev. Anthony Gabriel.
Eminence has repeatedly called for a solution to this
problem which requires wisdom, diplomacy, obedience to
God's Will and spiritual courage.
The world is watching! Orthodox Americans and
Canadians are anxiously awaiting! Will the next ten years
be the beginning of real action? From whence comes the
wisdom? From whence comes the diplomacy? From
whence comes the spiritual courage? From whence
comes the obedience to God's Will? In such exciting yet
critical times for Orthodoxy in North America,
Metropolitan Philip will indeed play a historic and critical
role.
AXIOS, AXIOS, AXIOS
Page 9
�0 ,o-
BicentennialThoughts:
Lo..-o
Eastern Orthodoxy in a Western Ethos
Ftastof tht Month
Part 11:Orthodox TruthfulnessIn Death and Morality
by philotheos faros
TheAstension
Of OurLord(June3)
Ascension Thursday falls on the fortieth day after
Easter. After His Resurrection, the Lord appeared many
times to several of His followers, preaching to them, and
teaching them concerning Himself: Each of the eleven
Gospel selections read o"!1successiv~ Sunday Mornings
during the Orthodox Service of Mormng _Prayer has as its
subject one of the appearances of the Risen Lord to His
Disciples. After forty days had pa~sed, _Christ took leave of
His followers in the manner descnbed m the Apostle (Acts
1:1-12) and Gospel (Luke 24:36-53) appointed to be read
on the Feast of the Ascension. Then He returned to His
Father, leaving His Disciples and Apostles to await the
coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Fr. Stephen Upson
,_____ __......
...
~
A BICENTENNIAL
SALUTETO OUR PIONEERS
From distant and turbulent lands they came,
To these shores with a language not the same,
The struggles, toil and fatigue they bore,
Cannot be measured but only underscored.
Their true God was the Holy God above,
Material things, these, they did not love,
Their chief concern was raising a family,
In a land, where they could live happily.
Thru ridicule and shame, they toiled on,
Built our cities and tracks to ride upon,
Lacked real education and experience too,
They raised their families on meager stew.
Their wealth was the children they raised,
Lifted their hearts to the God they praised,
Loved their children and taught them too,
A partnership unequaled-, for years so few.
They gave heartily, an honest day's worth,
Not begrudgingly, but with genuine mirth,
Their word was good and better than gold,
For they stemmed, from a pure Godly mold.
Yes, to the brave PIONEERS of yesteryear,
OUR SALUTE, that you gave the golden share,
And we thank our God for giving us to you,
From whom we learned of humbleness anew.
Prosperity to depression, they did stick,
With any job and for what they could get,
Handouts refused and welfare was shunned,
Unlike this generation, which is moribund.
Page 10
Woodrow A. Hasbany
El Paso, Tex.
The Word
I have already mentioned in last month's issue what
Western culture has done with the sad feelings. The
efined Westerner does not mourn the dead. When he
~osesa beloved person he tries to suppress his sadness and
maintain his composure. To be composed when you
experience a loss is an impressive sign of refinement for
the Western man. During the funerals of the two Kennedys, the broadcaster repeated with pride, "Mrs. Kennedy is maintaining her composure," and, by doing so, he
was reinforcing to millions of Americans the strong
inhibiting effect of Anglosaxon culture of any expression
of sad feelings on the occasion of a loss. When I heard the
expression of his profound admiration for Mrs. Kennedy's
composure, I was appalled. I could not think of anything
more uncivilized and more inhuman than a wife who is
cold as a piece of stone in front of her husband's dead
body after so many years of intimacy.
What impresses me as extremely civilized is Antigone's
tender concern for the burial of her brother's body in
Euripides' tragedy and her touching, deeply affectionate,
profoundly human mourning for him. Even Electra's
lamentation for her slaughtered
father, although
somewhat excessive, is much more noble and royal than
the stony, rigid expression of Anglosaxon refinement.
I was similarly impressed by my grandmother's noble
manner of mourning. She was only a simple peasant who
gave birth to thirteen children, of whom only eight grew
up. The seven were boys and the eighth was my mother.
My grandmother was so proud of her sons who were
extremely handsome, dynamic, and bright, fun-makers;
she was overcome by profound sorrow when four of them
died in four years by a sudden death. My grandmother
mourned her sons for the rest of her life, and there was a
distinct dignity and a unique human quality in her
mourning. When somebody died in the neighborhood, she
would take care of the body as a devotion for her
deceased sons, and after she finished taking care of the
body, she would sit and wail softly, singing beautiful dirges
in a broken voice, sending touching messages to her sons.
I have not witnessed many incidents that have impressed
me so much as humane, noble, and beautiful as the
manner of mourning of that peasant woman with the
• · · Father Philotheos Faros is professor of pastoral
t~eology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary. !his
bicentennial article, presented in two parts, was written
exclusively for THE WORD. Part I appeared in the last
issue (May, 1976).
June, 1976
carved, real, unpainted face with the black kerchief
covering her long gray hair.
The picture of an eighty-year-old high class lady with a
false face which has undergone a dozen plastic surgeries
and is covered with half a pound of paint, having a
cocktail party attitude at her son's funeral, compared with
that of my mourning grandmother does not just look
barbaric, but absolutely repulsive and decadent.
The Healing of Grief
You may find it difficult to believe, but this base
response to the mystery of death is the result of a distorted
Christian theology. It all started with the pietistic
assumption that Christians were not supposed to be sad
for losing somebody close to them because they believe in
the immortality; for some reason, Protestantism came to
the conclusion that the one excludes the other. I briefly
mentioned earlier that many more demons come back
with that demon of anger whose repression enforces a
distorted Christian morality. The repression of the grief
for a loss of a beloved person, enforced by the same
distorted Christian morality, results in a situation that it is
just as disastrous as that of the repressed anger. Contemporary psychology tells us that "grief is like a time
bomb; it is set to go off when detonated ... It can explode with as much fury as any stored-up energy . . . like
other emotions denied outlet, it can go off in the most
devastating fashion."2 Erich Lindemann, in a memorable
study of grief reactions, says that the ina~equate ~xpression or the postponement of the_ ~xpression o~ ~~ief
may result in the following abnormahttes: ( 1) acqmsit10n
of symptoms belonging to the last ill~~ss of the de~eased;
(2) a group of psychosomatic condit10ns, predommantly
ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma; (3)
furious hostility against specific persons, such as doctors;
(4) behavior resembling schizophrenia; (5) activities
detrimental to the person's social and economic existence;
(6) lasting loss of patter~s of s?cial int~racti?n; (7). a
straight agitated depresston with tension, msomma,
feelings of worthlessness, bitter self-accusation,
and
obvious need for punishment.3
All this suffering goes on because of an absolutely
2c. Charles Bachmann, "Ministering to the Grief Sufferer," Successful
Pastoral Counseling (Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1964), p.
59.
3 Erich Lindemann, "Symptomatology and Management of Acute
Grief," Pastoral Psychology XIV (September, 1963), p. 14.
Page 11
�inaccurate assumption and misinterpretation. Why does
the hope of the resurrection have to inhibit the expression
of the sorrow for the separation? Did the foreknowledge
of Lazarus' resurrection prevent Christ from weeping for
the death of his friend? Did the Ephesians not believe in
the resurrection because when they said goodbye to Paul,
they "wept and embraced him and kissed him, sorrowing
most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they
should see his face no more?" (Acts 20,37-8) Was it not
when death comes all these things vanish utterly." If
will remember the saying of the prophet "I am earth awe
ashes" and look into the graves and behold the bones 1~~
bare, we wi~ wond~r "who is the ki1:1gand who is ~e
soldier ' who 1s the nch man
. and who ts the needy •" How
did it all happen? How did man, who was created aft
God's image and likeness and was .set in Paradise
to re·1gn
er
.
over His creatures, come to t h ts predicament? It II
started when man, beguiled by the malice of the dev~I
l,
Orthodoxy, by its right interpretation
of Christianity in this issue, resulted in the
development of a culture which encourages hope for the resurrection
without discouraging the expression of grief for the separation.
the same with the devout men of Jerusalem who "buried
Stephen, and made a great lamentation over him?" (Acts
8,2)
Orthodoxy, by its right interpretation of Christianity in
this issue, resulted in the development of a culture which
encourages
hope for the ressurection
without
discouraging the expression of grief for the separation.
The Orthodox Funeral
The Orthodox funeral, which embarrasses even many
Orthodox clergymen who have not been liberated from
the complex of inferiority for their Eastern extraction, is a
perfect manifestation of the soundness of the Orthodox
position on the issue of death and grief.
The Orthodox funeral has four main objectives: to
help people utilize the opportunity of death in order to
develop a better understanding of and perspective on life;
to deal with people's feelings about death; to point out
that death for the Christian is not the same as it is for
others who have no hope; and to acknowledge and encourage the expression of the sad feelings that the
separation from a beloved person causes.
The Western world, in its eagerness to suppress the
grief which death causes, has tried to disguise it. It made
tasted of the food and became a transgressor of God'
commandments. Now he weeps and wails when h s
ponders upon death, and beholds his beauty, fashione~
after the image of God, lying in the tomb disfigured
dishonored, bereft of form. Orthodoxy does not want t~
cover up that degradation of humanness. Why? Because
she wants to make us aware of the mystery of death that
befalls us all and make us ask, "Why have we been given
over unto corruption, and why have we been wedded unto
death"; why all this suffering, all this pain? When the time
comes for the soul to be parted from the body, it endures
an ordeal. "How many then are its tears; and there is none
to show compassion! It turns its eyes to the angels; all
unavailing its prayers. It stretches out its hands to men·
and finds none to help." Orthodoxy makes a special effort
to bring to the attention of the faithful the unplesantness
of the ordeal of death. Why? Because by "meditating on
the brevity of our life" and the reality of death, we will
realize the real value of our soul and our need for God's
mercy.
We read in the history of the desert fathers that when
the Archbishop Theophilus was dying he said, "Blessed
are you, abbot Arsenius, who had ever this hour before
your eyes." 4 By having this hour before his eyes, Arsenius
Death ha~ lost its dignity. It has lost the opportunity to be of service to life. A unique
opportumty for growth has become a repellent and hideous farce.
life a mask to cover with it the face of death. As a result,
the situation with the funeral business in the United States
is, at the very least, gross. Death has lost its dignity. It has
lost the opportunity to be of service to life. A unique
opportunity for growth has become a repellent and
hideous farce.
Contemplation of death has, through the centuries,
been a profound source of inspiration to mankind and has
led millions of human beings to a more humane and more
meaningful Ii!~·The O1:hodox funeral continues this lofty
cultural tradition and 1t leads, in a uniquely noble and
powe~ul ma~ner, to a deeper insight in the purpose and
meamng of hfe. It ~eminds _us that there is no earthly
sweetness that remams unmixed with grief. All earthly
things are but "shadows most feeble, but most deluding
dre,~ms," one m_oment "and Death shall supplant them
all. Gold an~ sdver, the multitude of servants, and the
ea_rthlypomp 1sall dust, all ashes, all shadows. "All mortal
thmgs which do not exist after death are vanity. Riches do
not endure neither does glory accompany on the way: for
Page 12
was able to have a clear view of what is really important
and what is not, and to put his trust in Christ rather than in
the things of this world; the moment we do that, death
loses his power; from being a defeat, death becomes a
victory, because the Lord's death destroyed death, and it
became the cause of immortality.
The Orthodox funeral after having utilized death as an
opportunity for an insight and growth, introduces the
hope of resurrection and gives a far-reaching perspective
and dimension to human life and asks the Orthodox
mourner "not to grieve as others do who have no hope" (I
Thess. 4, 13-18). It does not ask them not to grieve at all,
but does ask them not to grieve as those who have no
hope.
Orthodox Morality: Unity of Body and Soul
Another basic Christian belief which has been very
4 Helen Waddell, The Desert Fathers (The University of Michigan
Press, Ann Arbor Paperbacks, 1960), p. 67.
The Word
nsistently and very subtly undermined by w estem
co
• a way t h at h as deeply penetrated the
Christianity' m
Western culture and has become an everyday experience,
. the belief in the unity of the human existence. In other
:ords, the belief that the human body is not the prison of
the soul, as Plato would put it, but it is an integral part of
the human existenc~ .. Paul does talk about the flesh as
being against the spmt, but the term "flesh" refers to an
attitude and not to t?.e human body: For instance, he
writes to the Romans those who are m the flesh cannot
please God. B~t _you are not in the fles_h, you are in the
Spirit, if the Spmt of God really dwells m you." (Romans
8, 8-9)
J have already mentioned that there are sporadic
examples among the ascetics that betray contempt for the
morality. But, in ~d~ition to that, Western Christianity
dev~l~ped the defimte notion that the main thrust of
Christian morality is on human sexuality and that all other
human transgressions are of secondary importance.
The truth ~f the_ matter is that in the Gospels Christ appears. deahng with sexual transgressions on only three
occasio~s, and on those occasions He demonstrates an
unquestionable leniency, though when He deals with
othe_r human transgressions, to which we do not seem to
ascnbe. much significance, like self-centeredness, He is
very stnct and very severe. Christ tells the adulteress, who
should be stoned according to the law of Moses, "Neither
do I condemi:i you; go and do not sin again." (John 8, 11)
Fo~ the prostitute who anointed his feet he said, "her sins,
which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much" (Luke
The Ort~odox funeral after having utilized death as an opportunity for an insight and
g~owth~ mtroduces th~ hope of resurrection and gives a far-reaching perspective and
dimension to human hfe and asks the Orthodox mourner "not to grieve as others do
who have no hope"
human body, but the overall underlying existential notion
of the East is not dualistic in any sense. Orthodoxy, for
example, does not venerate just the saint's personality, but
his body as well, which is something that Protestant
Christianity considers vulgar superstition. Venerating the
human spirit is acceptable and civilized, but venerating
the human body is vulgar. Roman Catholicism has conveyed very subtly the same message. Only the fact that
marriage is a process of reproduction makes it tolerable,
but it is in essence contemptible and incompatible with·
the holiness of the priesthood. I have mentioned before
that Augustine seems to imply that the regeneratedthrough-baptism person is not supposed to have sexual
thoughts. Sexuality is a part of the unregenerated human
being; it is the result of the fall. It seems that the notion
that the original sin was a sexual sin is by now a universal
notion after all those centuries of consistent undermining
of the human body and, more specifically, the human
sexuality. But the original sin is not a sexual sin; it is the
sin of the rejection of God's grace by man. I believe that
the Church's understanding of human sexuality can be
improved with the guidance of the Holy Spirit who dwells
in the Church, which is an imperfect Church and which is
being led to perfection by the Holy Spirit. But the imperfection of Eastern Christianity's understanding of
human sexuality has not much in common with the
disastrous notions about it that are known as Puritanism
and Victorianism. The ascetics seem to concur with Paul
that an asexual state of being is higher than a sexual one,
but they never implied either that Christian morality is
basically a morality of sexual conduct or that an individual
whosesexual conduct is imperfect cannot be a Christian.*
At this point, we need to remember that what I have
already said is a basic difference between Eastern and
Western morality. The former is a dynamic morality, a
morality of the human personality, not a morality of the
human behavior. The latter is a static and legalistic
*The history of the ascetics not only makes clear that
people who have committed sexual transgressions can be
Christians but also shows that they can even be miracle
workers.
June, 1976
7, 47). He was very warm with the Samaritan who was
living in sin; He asked water from her and He revealed to
her some of the loftiness of His doctrines (John 4, 1-42).
He kept telling the chief priests and the elders, whose
sexual conduct was supposedly unblemished, "Truly, I say
to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the
Kingdom of God before you" (Matthew 21, 31). In the
parable of the prodigal son, the older son says to his
father, "Lo, these many years I have served you, and I
never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a
kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when
this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with
harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf" (Luke 15, 29-31).
Morality: Legalistic and Intentional
It is true that Christ also said, "You have heard that it
was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'. But I say to you
that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already
committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5, 278). This He said in an effort to make the distinction between a legalistic morality, which is merely interested in
human behavior, and the morality He was introducing,
which is a morality of intentions. In the statement about
adultery He is not dealing with sexuality as such, but He is
using it as an example to show what His understanding of
morality was. In that same instance, he uses other
examples. For example: "You have heard that it was said
to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills
shall be liable to Judgement'. But I say to you whoever
insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and
whoever says 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell fire"
(Matthew 5, 21-22). It may be interesting that in the first
example, which refers to sexuality, He does not threaten
with a punishment although He says that whoever says to
his brother "you fool" will be liable to the hell fire. By
pointing out the real essence of Christian morality, Christ
has two objectives. First, to lead man to the same sense of
despair that the disciples had concerning man's ability to
save himseU with his own efforts when they said "Who
then can be saved" (Matthew 19, 25), and as a consequence, to ask and receive the grace of God who makes
possible what is absolutely impossible for man. Second,
Page 13
�He humbles man and prevents him from judging his fellow
man on the basis of his accomplishments in o~der to
protect him from the misery of alienation and lonehness to
which judging leads. It is also true that Paul seems to be
more concerned about inappropriate sexual _con~uct,. but
first, Paul is reacting to a specific and alarming s1tua~10n;
second, he is severe not only with sexual transg~ess~ons,
but with many others as well. Writing to the Co~nthians,
for instance, he says, "neither the immoral, nor tdolators,
nor adulterers nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor robbers
will inherit the Kingdom of God" (I Corinth. 4, 9-~0).
According to this account, I think it is very diffi~ult to fmd
people who will not be excluded from the Kmgdom of
God.
.
·h
Though Christ faces sexual transgr_ess10ns wit
meekness, He exhibits tremendous seventy for oth~r
human failings of which we do not seem t~ make a big
deal. For instance, in the parable of the nch ma~ a~d
Lazarus, the rich man is presented by Christ as bemg m
such an awful torment after his death that he says to
Abraham "send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in
water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this
flame" (Luke 16, 24). Why was the rich man punis~ed s_o
severely? He was a decent man, he was honest m his
business he was faithful to his wife, he did not steal,
neither did he kill anybody. What was his great crime?
Lazarus wanted the crumbs which fell from his table, and
he let him have them. St. John Chrysostom says that we
have no reason to assume that if Lazarus had asked
something more he wouldn't have given it to him. What
then did he do that was so bad? He was just self-centered;
he did not bother to get into other people's skin. The rich
man is a very good description of the average decent
American citizen. For the man who did not use his talents
in the parable of the talents, Christ described a similarly
form. It is the decision of the ego to give up altogether th
effort to conform to an overstrict, tantalizing supere e
• person soug h t to have
go,
Rollo May says:_ "Th. e v·1ct ortan
love without falhng mto sex; the modern person seeks t
have sex without f~ling int? love." 5 In both cases, there i~
the same underlymg duahsm, the ~am~ ~eparation between the sublime part of man that ts his mtellect or h'
.
h .
lS
personality, and the vulg~r par~ o f h tm, t at ts his body. In
spite of his overt sexual hberahsm the contemporary ma
has a contempt for his sexuality_, an? he does not expect i~
to be anything other than prom1scmty. Because of his real
inner contempt for it most of the time, he is absolutely
unable to talk about his sexual anxieties and failures; as a
result he cannot get any direction that would help his
growth in that so significant area of his life. This reality
has affected so deeply the Orthodox in this country that
those of them who go to confession (and I suspect that
most do not go because of this) very seldom discuss their
sexual difficulties. For the same reason, priests do not feel
comfortable in exploring that very important area of their
experience, conveying s?indirec~ly b~t very powerfully an
inhibiting message. Without dtrection and help, man
cannot deal responsibly with his sexuality.
Conclusion: An Orthodoxy that Penetrates
I think, from what I have said so far, that it becomes
clear that the confessional religion, or in other words, the
religion we verbalize, is not of any value unless it has an
existential, far-reaching dimension. Unless it penetrates
the everyday life, it is very easy to confess verbally one
religion and to experience another without being aware of
this. The problem may be that the American Orthodox is
only confessionally Orthodox and that he is existentially
Protestant. I believe that this may be so with all religions
in the United States; they all are confessional religiop.s and
Unless it penetrates the everyday life, it is very easy to confess verbally one religion
and to experience another without being aware of this.
severe punishment. "Cast the worthless servant into the
outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their
teeth" (Matthew 25, 30). In the parable of the unmerciful
servant who refused to forgive his fellow servant for his
small debt, though his master forgave him a much greater
debt, the master delivers him in anger to the jailers "till he
should pay all his debt" (Matthew 18, 32-33). Finally,
Christ, in His description of the last judgment, says to
those who did not show any love and concern to their
fellow man, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry
and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me
no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,
naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and
you did not visit me" (Matthew 25, 41-43).
After all this, I think it becomes very clear that
Puritanism and Victorianism are without question tragic
distortions of Christian morality which only produce
hypocrites, and the hypocrites were the only sinners that
Christ condemned, though he did condemn many sins.
The Puritanic and Victorian view of human sexuality
has caused immeasurable damage to innumerable human
beings, and harmful effects will continue for centuries.
The sexual licentiousness of our times is only a reaction to
Victorianism and in essence it is a Victorianism in reverse
Page 14
that existentially all Americans are more or less
Protestant. Consequently I do not think that Orthodoxy
has been really tried in this country.
American Orthodox who say that Orthodoxy in the
Western world has to be Westernized, in essence say that
existential
Orthodoxy
should be de-Orthodoxized.
Conforming to the prevailing W estem culture for the
Orthodox is conforming to applied Protestantism. The
Christian does not have to leave the world, but he cannot
afford to conform to the world. The motto "when you are
in Rome do as the Romans do," applied in religious life,
makes good clowns, but not committed Christians. In
Nero's Rome, the Romans sacrificed to the idols, but the
Christians of that time would rather be devoured by wild
beasts than conform to the practice of idolatry. The ear!y
Christians did not leave their heathen world, but they did
not conform to it either-they transformed it in spite of ~ts
overwhelming size. Christ, praying for His disciples, said,
"I do not pray that thou should take them out of the world,
but that thou should keep them from the evil one. They
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John
17, 15-16).
5 Rollo May, Love and Will (Toronto, George J. McLeod Limited,
1969) p. 46.
The Word
PROFILES
IN COURAGE•
• •
HIS GRACE,BISHOPELIASALIBA
A series of article~ on personali~ies tod~y who are
profoundly influencing Orthodoxy m America.
Bishop Elia was born on February 15, 1924, in Kfarsaroun near Amioun, Al Koura, in the northern part of
what is now Lebanon. At the age of fourteen, he entered
the Balamand Seminary, the same school of theology
which graduated many of the patriarchs, bishops, clergy
and lay theologians in the Middle East and throughout the
Patriarchate. After spending five years at Balamand, he
moved to Damascus, Syria, where he was ordained a
deacon in 1941, finished his secondary study and obtained
his baccalaureate degree. In 1949, he graduated from the
LawSchool of the University of Damascus, whereupon, he
was ordained a priest. After only eight months, he was
elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
has performed on our behalf and for his friend,
Metropolitan Philip. He has become a great asset to our
Archdiocese, loved by all. We ask God's blessings on His
Grace, continued good health and many years, and a long
and fulfilling "visitation" in our Archdiocese.
Elia Saliba was appointed by the late Patriarch
Alexander III to serve in the highest Ecclesiastical Court
of Appeals of the Patriarchate because of his profound
knowledge of Church and State laws. At the same time, he
taught Arabic and Mathematics in various schools in
Damascus. In 1952, he enrolled at the Theological
Academy of Khalky, Turkey, and remained there until his
graduation in 1956. Upon his return to Damascus, he was
appointed principal of all Orthodox Schools in the entire
city. During this time, he served the Patriarchate in
various capacities and proved himself worhty of the great
honors given to him in the coming years.
In 1966, His Grace was elected to be the Tituiar Bishop
of Salamia and the Vicar-General of the Patriarchate of
Antioch. When the late Patriarch Theodosius became ill,
Bishop Elia administered very efficiently all the affairs of
the Antiochian Patriarchate. His fluent knowledge of
Arabic, French, and Greek were assets in the administration of the Patriarchate, as well as his experience
as judge of the Ecclesiastical Courts, principal of the
schools of Damascus, diplomat, theologian and spiritual
father to the clergy and laity of Damascus.
On Holy Wednesday, April 8, 1972, His Grace arrived
in the United States to assist Metropolitan Philip with his
many archpastoral duties throughout North America.
Since his arrival, Bishop Elia has learned English fluently,
the "American" life style, and has become an excellent
representative for our Archdiocese in ecumenical and
inter-Orthodox activities. Throughout his pastoral travels
he has won the hearts of young and old alike and has ~he
deepest respect of all the faithful of North Amenca.
Although still a "guest" in this Archdiocese (His Grace
w~s never "elected" a bishop for the American C?urch),
Bishop Elia is to be commended for the many servtces he
June,1976
BISHOP ELIA
Page 15
�PARISHES
OFTHEARCHDIOCESE
St George Orthodox Church,Indianapolis,Indiana
How fitting that as our great nation celebrates its 200th
Anniversary in 1976, St. George Orthodox Church of
Indianapolis celebrates its 50th Anniversary. For more
than a quarter of the life of the United States of America,
the Syrian-Lebanese community of Indianapolis has
played a vital role in the community, the nation, and in the
propagation of the Holy Orthodox Faith.
This had its beginning around the turn of the century
when Syrians started migrating to Indianapolis from their
native land. Having no church of their own, they accepted
invitations to use other churches until they could build a
church of their own.
Services were sometimes held in the home of an
Orthodox Syrian whenever a Missionary Orthodox priest
came to town.
Later a Syrian-American Social Club was established
in Indianapolis and in 1919 they purchased a building on
North Davidson Street. This served as a social center for
the Syrian community and when the Missionary priest
came to town, the Orthodox faithful would attend services
held in the clubroom.
The Reverend Antonius Bohlim from Michigan City,
Indiana, was one of the first to visit Indianapolis on a
regular basis.
While the orthodox faithful were grateful for these
occasional visits by a priest, they knew that some day they
must build a church and establish a permanent parish in
the comm unity.
On February 8, 1925, a newly organized Knights of St.
George filed Articles of Association with the Secretary of
State of Indiana. The main purpose of the new group was
to build a Syrian Orthodox church to serve the Indianapolis community.
On January 6, 1926, the young energetic Archimandrite Antony Bashir met with the Knights of St.
George and in that same year, the St. George Orthodox
Church was erected and consecrated at 2745 North
Sherman Drive. For many years this small brick edifice
served the newly established parish's spiritual needs. The
parishioners still felt a need for a social hall to serve their
needs.
It was obvious that a church could not exist long
without the loving and working hands of the ladies of the
Page 16
parish. So it was that on March 20, 1932, the newly
organized St. George Ladies Aid Society elected its first
officers. From its inception, the Ladies Aid has played a
prominent role in the life of the parish, contributing
thousands of hours of hard labor, self-sacrifice, and
financial assistance anywhere they were needed.
After many years of planning and saving during the
lean depression years, on ground adjacent to the church
the parish embarked on building a social hall. Several
church members and the parish priest, Reverend John
Corey, actually had taken shovel, saw, and hammer in
hand to help in the building of the Knights of St. George
Hall.
The new social hall gave rise to the formation of yet
another organization, a young peoples club appropriately
named the St. George Progressives. This organization has
since 1934 been the dynamic force in the social as well as
spiritual activities of the church.
The Progressives were instrumental in sponsoring
many new and exciting fund raising events and spiritually
oriented projects to benefit the Church. They originated
the idea of a Syrian Smorgasbord which has become an
annual event involving the entire parish.
In addition to regular social events and dances
sponsored by the St. George Progressives, their basketball
teams competed in community leagues, and scheduled
games with other parish basketabll teams in Terre Haute,
Indiana; Toledo, Ohio; and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
It is no surprise that when the call went out for you~g
peoples clubs in the Midwest to meet in Detroit,
Michigan, the St. George Progressives were eager to
participate. Their large delegation met at the International Institute in Detroit on April 13, 1947 to help
name and organize the Syrian Orthodox Youth
Organization. As a charter member, the St. George
Progressives went on to contribute greatly to the SOYO
movement. In the fall of 1947, the newly organized_gr~up
met in Indianapolis to complete a draft of the Constitution
and By-Lays of SOYO and to set the time and date of .the
first annual convention to be held in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, that following year.
The Progressives have hosted successful SOYO
conventions in 1949, 1955, 1961, and 1972. At each
The Word
vention many new "firsts" were established, the most
con
• t h e 1aunc h'mg o f a Teen SOYO.
. ortant bemg
unpFivemembers of the Indianapolis Chapter have served
Presidents of SOYO and many, many others have
asrved on every SOYO committee and in every executive
s~fice.Two members of the parish have served as Editors
~f the SOYO Digest when the Editorial Office was moved
from Toledo.
The St. George Choir participated in the Choir
Concerts and on several occasions has won awards atteSt ing to their fine performances.
After World War II came a reorganization of the
administration of the Church. A new Constitution and set
of By-Laws were adopted. A Board of Trustees was
elected as a representative administraive body of the
parish.
Once again a building fund was set up because a
definite need for future expansion was foreseen. In 1949
the parish purchased a home on Princeton Place to serve
as the Parish Rectory.
In August of 1951 the Indianapolis parish hosted the
Archdiocese Convention. At this convention a young man
was ordained into the priesthood and was assigned to the
Indianapolis Church. Today he serves the Archdiocese as
Archbishop Michael Shaheen.
In 1956 the Board of Trustees found a 21 acre tract of
ground centrally located in the city and decided this
would be the site for a new church. Again the St. George
Progressives came to the aid of the parish and gave the
Board $50,000.00 to make a cash purchase of these
grounds. On the grounds stood a lovely two story home
which was to serve as the new Parish Rectory, a grove of
trees for picnic grounds, a creek in the woods, and ample
fields for a Little League Baseball diamond.
In 1961 construction of a new church and social hall
wasstarted. The edifice was completed the following year
and on September 23, 1962, Metropolitan Antony Bashir
officiated at the Dedication Ceremony, Consecration
Services, and Pontifical Divine Liturgy. The parish was
indeed proud of its accomplishments at this point.
But immediately they went to work to pay off a
mortgage they had assumed to build the new church on
September 18, 1966, in conjunction with the 40th Anniversary celebration, they burned the mortgage. This was
accomplished in less than four years.
The church is constructed
of brick and Indiana
limestone with huge laminated beams supporting a
planked ceiling and roof. A large metal and stained glass
Interior View of the church.
June, 1976
dome crowns the church and this is topped with a lighted
cross.
Four large gothic limestone arches form the north and
south_~alls o~ the church. These arches frame huge floor
to ~eihng stamed glass windows that depict the life of
Chnst and honors major saints of our Church.
The design of the Iconostasis follows the lines of the
win_dowar~hes. The Icons were painted by Ralph Craig of
Indianapohs who designed and painted the stained glass
panels throughout the church.
The large vestibule connects the office, library and
large social hall. Small flexible rooms flank the hall to
serve as Sunday School rooms and a completely equipped
kitchen is capable of serving several hundred people at
Annual Smorgasbord Dinners.
Although the Indianapolis parish is numerically small,
it is proud of its church, organizations, and their accomplishments. Its steady growth and development are
the result of a high spirited and dedicated membership
and the leadership of clergy who have served well over the
years. The following have served the Indianapolis parish:
Rev. John Corey
Rev. Victor George
Rev. Nasib Wahby
Rev. Nicholas Vansuch
Rev. Gabriel Salhaney
Rev. Basil Karpelina
Rev. Basilous Sedawii
Rev. Michael Shaheen
Rev. John Dacy
Rev. Joseph Shaheen
Rev. Louis Secabe
Rev. Theodore Ziton
Rev. Anthony Sakey
Rev. Joseph Rahal
The St. George Church is a member of the Eastern
Orthodox Church Council of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Church Council. The parish priest contributes
to these and other community projects.
The parish looks forward to the challenge of the next
fifty years of progress of St. George Orthodox Church of
lndianapo lis.
The Rev. Joseph Rahal as spiritual leader of the parish
is guiding the 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee
and the entire parish in the many special events planned
this year.
During 1976 every organization within the parish is
sponsoring an event in celebration of our 50th year. Then
on September 24, 25, 26, 1976, the entire parish is inviting
friends from everywhere to a Golden Jubilee. His
Eminence, Metropolitan Philip Saliba and His Eminence,
Archbishop Michael Shaheen will head the list of the
many dignitaries to attend this weekend celebration.
St. George Orthodox Church of Indianapolis proudly
salutes the nation's Bicentennial in 1976!
View of the South Wall.
Page 17
�LIFESTYLES X
homily by archpriest james c. meena
CAN-AM
SOYO
TORONTO,
JUNE 17-20, 19..,76
IC-
There is a great new cry in our society today, primarily
s a result of activities in the Protestant Episcopal Church
aegarding the ordination of women to the Priesthood. I
~ave seen some evidence of this concept spilling over into
the feminist segments of Orthodox congregations to an
extend that justifies my professing the Church's teaching
in this regard.
Extremist advocates of the Women's Lib. Movement
feel that it is necessary for women, in order to achieve
complete freedom, to penetrate every area of society
which can be or has ever been construed as being completely masculine. They go to some ridiculous extremes
thereby detracting from some very important issues.
........
XC
I wish to make the point here that I am not a "sexist
pig." I believe that wo~en should have e~sentially the
same rights as men. I beheve that Jesus Chnst our Lord,
gave women those rights, just as He gave men certain
rights and responsibilities as well. But, there are many
things with which women have been endowed that men do
not have, the most notable of which is the bearing of
children. This indicates to me that there are essential
differences between the genders.
In regard to the priesthood,
the concept of
"priestesses" is not a new idea. A brief study of the history
of religion will show that many of the pagan religions had
female priesthoods. The practice of a female priesthood
23rd Annual Parish Life Conference, June 17-20, 1976 at
the Royal York Hotel, Toronto in the shadow of the world's
tallest free-standing structure, the CN Tower.
When Abraham was called to become the father of
nations, he was visited by Melchizedek who was not a
Hebrew but who blessed him in God's name. He was a
great "priest of God most High" and the king of Salem.
(Genesis 14:17-24) So great a high priest was he, and so
endowed by God with spirituality, with piety and with
reverence that Abraham was inspired to pay tribute to
Melchizedek although Abraham was not a part of his sect.
In the time of Melchizedek priestesses abounded
throughout the lands and among the peoples. Had God
desired a female priesthood among His chosen people He
could have indicated it by this visitation.
Had God, in this new Christian era, wanted a female
priesthood, He surely would have indicated it. When Jesus
called the Twelve He called fishermen. Even though He
was exposed to the most perfect human being ever to walk
the face of the earth, His own mother, He did not call her
to be His Apostle.
Mary, Theotokos, whom the Church proclaims as "The
Mother of God," "Queen of the Angels," "First in line of
the intercessors," was not chosen by Jesus to be a
priestess. Mary Magdalene, the greatest of all penitents,
WHEN?
WHERE?
August 9-13, 1976
THEME:
"Founding Fathers"
CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN:
V. Rev. Father Basil Kalekas
1183 River Valley
Flint, Michigan 48504
The Word
was evident in Egyptian, Greek and Roman society.
Vestal Virgins and Priestesses abounded when God first
manifested Himself to His chosen nation.
23rd Annual
Eastern Orthodox
Catechetical Conference
Featuring for the first time the Combined Choirs singing
the PONTIFICAL DIVINE LITURGY in the Traditional
Byzantine Settings.
Page 18
"PRIESTESSES?"
June, 1976
Colombiere College
Clarkston, Michigan
PUBLICITYCHAIRMEN:
Mrs. Michael Vovos
8409 Wainstead Drive
Parma, Ohio 44129
Miss Peggy Feduniszyn
2883 West 12th Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
Page 19
�was not chosen nor were Mary and Martha, the sisters of
Lazarus, whom Jesus loved so dearly, called to be
Apostles, Elders and Priests.
When the Apostles were expanding the Church and
they found that their chores were getting just a little bit
too heavy, they said to the people of the Church: "Choose
from among yourselves seven men full of faith, of good
repute, full of the spirit, and of wisdom." (Acts, 6:3) Not
seven women. Not six men and one woman. Seven Men!
Had God wanted women in the priesthood surely,
amongst those pious women in that early congregation
there were many who were worthy to be selected to join
the Apostolic ranks. Why was not one of these chosen to
replace Judas Iscariot as the Twelfth Apostle? Had God
wanted it so-so it would have been!
But let's just say, that the Jewish Apostles were so
filled with masculine prejudice that they were incapable
of conceiving of a woman as elder, priest of the Church.
What about those who carried the Word of God to the
Gentiles, where the practice of female priesthood
abounded. Why didn't St. Paul, St. Barnabas, St. Mark or
even St. Peter himself, who traveled to Rome, select from
among these reverent, pious women who became
Christians, and ordain them to Christian priesthood since
they were
priesthood?
already
accustomed
to a pagan
f
emale
"There are a variety of services of working, but it • h
.
.
h
11 .
ts t e
same God "':'fhom~ptresft hemsa· _mfeveryone. To each is
given a mam estahon o t e ptrtt or the common
"Wisdom,
Knowledge,
Faith, Healing,
Mirag~od,
Prophecy, the ability to distinguish between sp~ ~s,
.
•
vartous
tongues, an d t h e a b·1·
1 tty to mterpret
tongue trtts
,, (i
Cor. 12:4-11) St. Paul, does not distinguish betweens.
.
.
ma1e
a~d fema 1e. Th ese gifts ~r~ given m accordance with the
wisdom of the Holy Spmt to all <;>fus in part for the
common good of all. The Holy Priesthood is not Ii t d
among these gifts because the Priesthood is a gift of\:
Holy Spirit set apart for a special function.
e
Here are all these ministries in which we share a d
which we are called upon to manifest throughout t~
world. If that is not enough for those sexists in reverse whe
insist that a masculine priesthood is discriminatory an~
chauvinistic, and if the movement should grow to the
point where it becomes an overwhelming heresy, then I
fear that the Orthodox Church will be an isolated island
surrounded by a sea of blasphemous actions which defy
the Scriptures and Theology and all the Holy Doctrines
that have been handed down to us. Perhaps She already is!
It depends entirely on what each individual
considers liberation to be for herself:
woman
1. Whether she wants liberation in every aspect of the
word-an avid member of a Liberation Group, fighting
for equality in general
OR
2. Whether she agrees on some points but still wishes man
to be 'the head of the house'
OR
3. Whether she disagrees with liberation altogether and
what her own involvement can be in making the
changes she wants in her own life, all revolve on one
deciding factor - CHILDREN
I don't expect this equality will ever be seen right
throughout a company with an equal number of men to
women at all departmental levels, and certainly not at
Management level.
Family Enlivening Sessions
Why?? Certainly not because an intelligent woman applying herself isn't as capable, but because the percentage
of women in business truly interested and willing to start
at the bottom and give the long hours and years required
in learning her particular business are rare; in other
General
Assemblies
Meritorious
Award
Luncheon
Workshops
Grand Ball
Teen
Activities
company. And inevitably, in any of the personnel disputes
t~at _I _re~ember regarding promotions, wage scales,
d1scnm~nahon, holiday time, etc. etc., the loudest
complamts and protests were from this group.
To re~~h the top in any field you not only need the
capab1hty but you have to love your job, have it in your
blood, and be almost totally involved in it. And this applies to both males and fem ales.
I d_on_'t
believ~ in the marches on offices and government
bmldmgs wavmg placards, or the basic fact that women
are fe~in~ne be_ almost denounced to have equal opportumty m busmess with men.
It can be achieved far less dramatically with honest desire
and hard work.
Just the fact_that the female candidate is wearing make-up
and a dress ts hardly a black mark against her chances in
getting the promotion!
However, if that same female candidate is a mother
particularly of young children, she very possibly and most
probably will score enough black marks to put her right
out of the running!
Women as Mothers
For those with young children, working for whatever
reason, liberation in aspiring to the top levels of business
cannot be expected. She cannot have the clear mind free
of family pressure to succeed.
Women who have gone back to work after their children
are well on the road to maturity, have more chance to do
well in business.
!oreach
the top in any field you not only need the capability but you have to love your
Job, have it in your blood, and be almost totally involved in it. And this applies to both
males ande females.
words, those who are dedicating their lives to a career are
actually very few.
Havi_ngworked for ten years in the Retail Business,
startmg from the bottom as a filing clerk and climbing to
t~e Junior Executive position of Buyer-in-Charge, I
Wl!nessed a surprising number of women - without
c_htldren- literally putting in time from nine to five with
httle or no interest in their jobs or their future with the
Divine Liturgy
Sheraton S!urbridge Inn, Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Host: Knights of St. George Orthodox Cathedral
Worcester, Massachusetts
Elizabeth Majdell is a member of the St. Nicholas Church
of Montreal.
Page 20
• •
by elizabeth majdell
The Career Problem
For those without, women's liberation, fighting for equal
salary and opportunity for advancement is already being
felt and progress in this direction is being made in many
firms.
June 24 to 27, 1976
Hierarchical
One Woman's Opinion.
Women are therefore broken down into two groups those with children and those without.
38th Annual
New England Region SOYO
Parish Life Conference
Hafli
Women's Liberation for Orthodox?
The Word
lune, 1976
For a woman to achieve in having the best of two worlds is
very rare. Regardless of the amount of help the young
mother gets from her husband, family, nursery schools or
baby-sitters, the child's intuition is to make his demands of
the mother's time - both mentally and physically.
The qualifications of being a good mother in ra1smg
children go far beyond being a good cook and an immaculate housekeeper.
Contrary to some opinion, it is just as nerve-racking, timeconsuming and perhaps even •ore difficult than it was
when our gN11dmothers were raising their large families
Page 21
�without the modern conveniences.
- the education required today for a child to succeed in
the world is so much more extensive
- life outside the home is exposed to him through
television at an almost infant age
.
- even his competitive spirit is fired up through orgamzed
sport by the time he starts school.
Because he is expected to cope with all this so ~oung, !he
parents have to be available to support the child behi_nd
the scenes - at the PT A, be at the games, help orgam_ze
the camping trips of the Guides and Scouts, and be mvolved wherever else the child's interests lie.
And Fathers Too!
Granted a lot of this is also the father's responsibility; it is
just as important to the child by ~he time. he ~each~~ ~his
age that his father show as much mterest m his activities.
But can the father take equal responsibility when the same
demanding qualifications for women are required of him
to succeed in his business?
We read of the odd success story of true equality in
sharing all the responsibility in a happy marriage. Yo~ will
note the parties concerned are almost always profession.al
people, particularly professors, who have _the power to
name their teaching hours and a lot of their preparatory
work can be done at home.
For a woman to occasionally want to be liberated from the
often exasperating responsibilities her motherhood imposes at a time when so many other doors have been
opened to women and when business today demands so
much more of her husband's time and particularly his
patience is understandable. For a woman to want to be
freed of being solely active in the household chores is even
more understandable.
Are Housewives Prisoners?
But to ever see w~at is commonly re~erred to as the
housewife - truly liberated from the maJor responsibilit
she holds to her marriage, and to her children, particulai
while they are young, is improbable if not even impossiblye.
Because:
Firstly _ in my opinion there is no such thing as a 50-SO
male/ female relationship with children. In almost all
the successful marriages, I'v~ witne~sed, the woman is
willing to give as much as is reqmred to satisfy the
needs of her husband and children.
This attitude does not mean she need be a slave to a male
chauvinist but this attitude does tie up enough of her
time to reduce her chances of being as successful at
something else
Secondly- I don't believe, generally speaking, a mother
is ever honestly satisfied with the job someone else
does in raising her child. The ideals, morals, and hopes
she wishes for her child cannot be transferred to the
child by anyone but the mother. No one has the love
for the child she does.
By all this I don't mean a mother should be a prisoner in
her home, never having a baby-sitter, never expecting her
husband to give her an hour off by taking the children out
of her hair- or not having other interests.
But with these responsibilities
conquer the business world.
THE
WORD
DON'T BE BLIND IN THE FAITH
Send this form to
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by robert vagias
I would like to start by relating a story, one of the most
•mpressive I can remember. It happened in 1969, at the
~imeof the Apollo moon orbitings. One of the astronauts,
eeing the earth from afar-so
much so that the earth
:esembled a floating coin-commented,
"We saw the
earth the size of a quarter; and we realized then that there
is only one earth. We are all brothers."
Those courageous men took a deeper look into the
reality of our world. But that deeper look came by way of
standing back-standing
afar off-for it was only that way
that they were able to perceive the truth and grasp the
reality of our world.
During the Pentecostal season we should take a deeper
look into the church as a family. There are many elements
family, but it also begins to label people like products.
Stereotypes begin to form based on existing and
exaggerated idiosyncrasies, and these stereotypes are
difficult to dissolve.
The second extreme, just as harmful, denies all differences among people, regardless of race, creed or
nationality. The result of such a belief is the direct opposite of the one mentioned before. Belief in absolute
equality strips away man's sacred individuality and leaves
no room for his ethnic traditions.
Is there a midway between the two extremes? I feel
there is, and that I've found in my parish church. With the
same ideals that led to the founding of this nation exactly
200 years ago, our parish church was founded. Believing
God's love knows no discrimination, and nobody is so entirely evil that he is beyond the
grasp of His redemptive love.
that can help us take such a look. If you will-if you canstep back and give yourselves over to my endeavor; you
will see what has come to me as precisely a deeper look.
Our first step is to discuss what best constitutes a family.
Stating it very simply, all men belong to the family of
God in that all men are children of God. God's love knows
no discrimination, and nobody is so entirely evil that he is
beyond the grasp of His redemptive love. It is this clear
and succinct fact that binds mankind together and upon
which its salvation is heavily dependent.
TWO EXTREMES
Unfortunately, man does not always retain this
philosophy in his relationship to his fellow man. Owing to
racial, religious, and ethnic differences, man has set up
and give a gift subscription
to a friend or relative!
Name
Some Thoughts on Pentecost by a Layman
she can't expect to also
Women dedicated to a career have to carefully analyze
what they want in life before contemplating marriage and
motherhood. Whatever her decision it cannot be considered wrong if it's right for her. She is the one who has to
be happy in what she's doing.
HEAD
The Spirit of Truth:
State __
Zip
that all men are created equal in the eyes of God, while
never denying one's right to be different, people of Greek,
Middle-Eastern and Slavonic backgrounds founded a
church which thrives on diversity. Our parishioners have
learned to work not in spite of each other's differences,
not because of each other's differences, but with each
other's differences. Our church is truly a family parish in
every sense.
THE LITURGY AS A FOCAL POINT
If you were to view and experience our liturgy, you
would be able to feel our strong family bond. Soon we will
celebrate Holy Pentecost and kneel together, as a family,
for the first time since Holy Week; and our priest will
open the service with "O Heavenly King-the Comforter
The second extreme, just as harmful, denies all differences among people, regardless of
race, creed or nationality.
two extremes in attitude and perspective, both of which
willprove to be hindrances to the establishment of healthful and family-like relationships among people and
parishes.
The first attitude is an attitude of polarization. Each
man shall seek his own kind. Black is black, white is white,
and ne'er the twain shall meet. This attitude is vividly
harmful because, not only does it seek to tear apart God's
Robert is a sophomore at Mulenberg College in Allentown, Penna.
and Spirit of Truth who are in ~11places an? fillest all
things." This is precisely what bmds our pansh; all Orthodox Christians and the Christian world together,-the
Spirit of Truth, the common faith in t~e Lord and God,
Jesus Christ. It is this faith as preserved m Orthodoxy that
makes my church a family of God.
.
Perhaps it can all be best summed up m the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who said:
He who hears you, hears me. And he who rejects you,
rejects me.
.
.
And he who rejects me, reJects Him who sent me.
Page 23
Page 22
June, 1976
The Word
�North American
Council .......,...
SOYO
Dtst
NAC
SOY
IDWINTER
MEETIN
MIAMI
9
8
A Report
inpictun
hotosby Mark Elias of Miami)
1. President Gary Younes conducts mee therapeuticprogram called "needlepoint."
2. Their Eminences listen attentively to reporu
4.Fr. "Kojak" Khouri seems· to have the
3. Delegates read reports of each SOl situationwell in hand.
Region.
15.Teen SOYO leaders make plans for the
4. Youth Director Bill Essey stresses a po, comingyear.
S. Metropolitan
Philip explains visit of 16.Alter two long days of deliberations, It's
Patriarch.
timeto relax.
6. Delegates hear committee reports.
' , TheDivine Liturgy is an important part of
7. Spiritual Advisor Fr. George S. Coreyspea the Midwinter Meeting.
of NAC programs.
18."Letus lay aside all earthly care, that we
8. Delegates comment on SOYO projects, mayreceive the King of all ..•.• "
9. Archbishop Michael summarizes actlvldes19."Grantunto me the Precious Blood of our
SOYO
LordJesus Chrht."
10. A quiet time to gather thoughts.
~."Thepriest of God partakes of our Lord and
11. Past President Alan Abraham casts a VOi SaviorJesus Christ."
12. Delegates caucus on an Important Issue.
ll."Withfear of God and faith and love, draw
13. Fr. James Meena proposes a n yenear."
14
21
�Midwest SOYO Conference '76
by EMILIE EASA
. You stand very tall with your dream
at the top of the mountain
And nothing is impossible
for you to do.
The view from the top of the mountain
is bright and exciting and new
With wonderful dreams that are
waiting just for you . . ."
Above are words from the Bicentennial Musical
Narrative "Tall Tom Jefferson", which is being presented
by the Cleveland Choir at the annual SOYO Parish Life
Conference, starting Wednesday, June 23 thru Sunday,
June 27.
" ... bright ... exciting ... and new"
. . . these three words are only a slight insight of what's in
store for all who plan to participate in this Bicentennial
Conference of '76.
"Tall Tom" creates a special atmosphere, which blends
the past and present both on and off the stage. Although
the musical looks back into our country's history, some of
the words from the songs and narratives, such as "nothing
is impossible for you to do", illustrate the goals which have
been set and achieved throughout the history of SOYO goals such as the scholarship funds, widening the scope of
our secular music, expanding the teachings in our Church
Schools, supporting needy children overseas, most
recently, completion of a chapel within the Archdiocese
headquarters dedicated to the Teen SOYO, and most of
all, nearly 30 years of constantly winding our way up-ward.
SOYO has brought the youth of our church together in a
common bond working hand in hand, old and young for
the purpose of propagating our religion and our heritage
in America. And through all of our combined efforts, we
~an single out these words" ... wonderful dreams waiting
Just for you ... "; a wonderful, future for SOYO is still
ahead.
"Tall Tom Jefferson", is only one of the treats aw ..
. 1d
b
a1ttng
everyone. The cast me u es oth members of th S
George Choir of Cleveland, and younger members ~ ht.
Church School. The entire production is unde~ the
direction of James C. Meena, Choir Director and w·u
1 the
featured at the Choir Festival on Friday.
e
For over a year now the Conference Committee h
been working untiringly "getting it together" - a calendas
of events which includes workshops, lectures b ar
.
.
•
' uzz
sessions,
a vanety
of con t es t s, semmars,
arrang·
meeting rooms
IDdg
. for 1uncheons, dinners and the adult an
teen assem bl 1es.
This year's Committee has made several innovati
on the lighter side, introducing some new and spe~i~
events, such as "Priestly Squares" (a take off 0:
Hollywood Squares and features as contestants membe
of the clergy), "The Bishop and Teens Get Together" w~
be a Teen Picnic, "A Teen Rock Dance", "A Baseball
Tournament", "Fashion Luncheon for both Men and
Women" and a "SPECIAL SURPRISE EVENT"!!!
During the Teen Retreat hosted by our Archdiocesan
Department of Youth Affairs, March 19-21 in Garrison
New York, the sisters of the Saint lakovos Convent invited
the r~t.re~tants to visit with them. We were excited about
the visit smce for many of us it was the first time we would
see Orthodox nuns, let alone visit a convent.
We were greeted by the superior Mother Theda and
two members of the small community. They patiently
answered our questions, informing us that they have
communal prayer seven times a day in addition to their
Debbi~ Tsoukar~s, 14 years old, is a member of St. Anthony s Church m Bergenfield, New Jersey and its Youth
Group.
Page 26
/PIRIT
OF76
LEST WE FORGET!?!? "It's Bicentennial Time"111
Soooo - you might see a Betsy Ross or a Paul Reve;~
parading around in the Holiday Inn Lobby.
And culminating the entire five days, will be the
Saturday Night "Bicentennial Ball" featuring the "Parade
of Presidents and their First Ladies". Stepping out of the
pages of history to greet everyone on thi3 occasion will be
the Father of our Country, George and Mrs. Washington
Thomas Jefferson and his wife Mrs. Jefferson, Mr. an<l
Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Mrs. Grant
(WE ARE TOLD THAT SHE IS CHAIRMAN OF THE
BALL), and President and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, plus
many other founding fathers and their ladies.
Headquarters for SOYO Conference '76 is the
Holiday Inn Lakeside
11llLakeside Ave. (comer of Lakeside and 12th Street)
Cleveland, Ohio, 44114
(216) 241-5100
A Visit To An Orthodox Convent
By Debbie Tsoukarfs
CelebrateThe SOYO
private prayers; they even rise at 3:00 A.M. for a service.
Mother Theda was most lovable and explained that the
community was keeping a very strict fast to prepare them·
selves physically and spiritually for Pascha. She told us
that in order to become an Orthodox monastic (monk or
nun) a person must renouhce all earthly contacts and
pleasures for the love of God alone. This is not because
they do not love God's world and entire creation, but
because they DO love it and want to pray for it con·
tinually.
After the discussion we individually received the
blessing from Mother Theda. As we left the convent we
realized what a great service our monks and nuns do for
us. It is comforting to know that regardless of what we
may be doing . . . working, playing, even sleeping • • •
someone is praying for us and asking God to bless us and
save us.
25TH ANNIVERSARYEASTERNREGIONSOYO
200TH ANNIVERSARYOF THE
UNITEDSTATESOF AMERICA
HOLIDAY INN, CITY LINE
& MONUMENTRD., PHILA.
JUnE30 • JULY
5
1976
STRINGBANDS
MEETINGS
PASTORIALCONSULTATION
LIBERTY BELL
EXCITEMENT
DINNER
PHILADELPHIASOFTPRETZELS
BICENTENNIALACTIVITIES
PHILADELPHIANIGHT
RELIGION
HAFLI
CHOIRFESTIVAL
ORATORIALCONTEST
WORKSHOPS
MUMMERS
CATECHISMBOWL
EDUCATION
SURPRISES
Reservation
forms are availableat localchapters. Imperative- make reservationsas early as possible.
The Word
June, 1976
Page 27
�An Appeal To Congress
ARCHDIOCESAN
OFFICE
Archpastoral
To all Reverend
Clergy, Archdiocesan
Trustees,
Department Chairmen, Parish Councils and Faithful of
our Archdiocese:
Greetings in the Name of our Risen Lord.
We would like to direct your attention to the following
matters.
1. The Thirty-first Annual Convention of our Archdiocese will be held at the Hilton Hotel, San Francisco,
California, from July 26, through August 1, 1976. The host
pastor is the Very Reverend Father Gregory Ofiesh. Your
co-chairmen are Mr. James F. Baba and Mr. Alfred
Nicholas. Although there are individuals serving on
various departments, you are required to send delegates
from your parish and Parish Council to attend the
departmental meetings and vote on your behalf at the
General Assembly.
2. In the near future, you will be receiving a form from
the Department of Credentials and Convention Planning.
Read this form carefully, complete accordingly and
submit the names of your delegates to the Chairman of the
Credentials Department in care of the Archdiocese
Headquarters no later than June 15, 1976.
3. The Reverend Clergy must be in San Francisco,
Monday noon, July 26, 1976. The Archdiocesan Trustees
must be in San Francisco, Monday evening, July 26, 1976.
The Chairmen and members of the various departments
must be in San Francisco, Tuesday evening, July 27, 1976.
The works of the departments will begin Wednesday, at
10:00 AM July 28, 1976. All faithful of our Archdiocese
young and old, are invited to participate in the depart~
mental work. We need the talent and advice of everyone.
4. The Archdiocesan Constitution authorizes each
parish to select one delegate for each one hundred ( 100)
persons in the parish. Each parish must exercise its full
rights by sending its full complement of delegates. Your
report to the Credentials Chairman must indicate the
names of your authorized delegates and which departments they wish to serve.
5. The Archdiocese assessment is S5.00 per baptized
Orthodox pers<?n. We urge_ you to abide strictly and
~ones~ly by . thi~ law and unmediately to fulfill your
fmancial obligations to the Archdiocese in order to be
able to vote and exercise your full rights in the General
Ass_embly. As soon as you read this directive, mail your
parish assessment for 1976 directly to the Archdiocese
Directive
Office, 358 Mountain
07631.
Road,
Englewood,
New Jersey
'
6. Your parish must also fulfill its financial obligations
to our three annual drives.
(a) St. Vladimir's October Month
(b) Archdiocesan
Seminarians
(Sunday
thodoxy)
(c) Patriarchal Tray (Palm Sunday)
of Or-
7. It is the sacred duty of the clergy and parish
councils to attend the convention. It is also the sacred
duty of every parish council to pay the expenses of the
priest to the convention. If you are unable to attend
because of extreme difficulties, please mail your written
proxy to have someone represent you. In case you have
not answered the mail which you have received from the
Convention City, we urge you to give this matter your
prompt attention.
8. St. Nicholas Church of San Francisco has always
supported your Souvenir Books. Mr. Victor Zachariah is
the Chairman of this book and he is working diligently to
publish an excellent souvenir book for our Archdiocese.
We, therefore, urge you to send immediately a generous
ad to the Souvenir Book no later than June 15, 1976. Mail
your ad to: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, 5200 Diamond
Heights Boulevard, San Francisco, California 94131.
9. The theme of our convention this year is "Freedom
To Believe." All sermons will center around this theme
and the meaning of this Bicentennial year to all of us.
Bring your entire family with you and let us enjoy a
beautiful week of worship, work and true Christian
fellowship.
Looking forward to seeing you in San Francisco, with your
children, we remain
Yours in Christ,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America.
Page 28
The Word
As religious leaders who care deeply about this nation,
ll upon the Congress of the United States to pass
we ca
I •
b
without delay a re_so utl~m, ~?w ~fore both .~he House
the Senate, which affirms the nght to food as a basic
andment of U.S. po 1·icy an d action.
•
1
e e We believe that every man, woman and child on earth
adequate diet. This right is
has the right to• a nutritionally
• f undamental and
t ours to give or ta k e away. I t 1s
~orives from the right to life itself. The Declaration of
~dependence ide_ntifies the right to life as an unalienable
human right commg from God who has created all persons equal. Without the food to sustain life, that right is
made meaningless.
The resolution before Congress does not commit our
nation to massive food handouts. Rather it recognizes the
responsibility we have, in cooperation with other nations,
of enabling hungry people to produce more food and to
work their way out of hunger. Such efforts require some
commitment of our resources, to be sure. But the costs are
far cheaper than war, and much less than the cost of
continued human misery.
Until recently hunger was unavoidable for much of the
human family. That is no longer the case. We have the
means to overcome hunger, and therefore hunger is no
longer acceptable.
Substantial gains against hunger will not be quick or
easy _or cheap. _But they are not beyond reach. They will
req~ire e~ceptional efforts on the part of rich and poor
nations ahke. And they will exact some sacrifice from all
of us. The alternative, however, is a broken world that we
do not want our children to inherit.
Within a few months the Right-to-Food resolution has
won extraordinary support within the churches and
syna~ogues of the nation. This support is deep and
growmg. Our people have expressed this in tens of
thousands of letters to Capitol Hill. We now invite
Congress to respond.
Passage of this resolution could indicate a turning
point for the nation, and perhaps for the world. In the
words of our colleague, Fredrik A. Schiotz, former
president of The American Lutheran Church, "it might
very well be recognized by future historians as a landmark
in American history, the one single act that could cast a
glow of new light over the bicentennial year and on into
the future."
Favorable action on House Concurrent Resolution 393
and Senate Concurrent Resolution 66 would be a worthy
way for the nation to mark its bicentennial. Such a
commitment could once again enable us as a people to
assume a role of distinguished leadership in the world.
--Signed
by Metropolitan PHILIP and 28 other clergy
and hierarchs.
APRIL 1-30, 1976
ORDAINED:
John Powell to the Holy Diaconate and Priesthood by
Bishop ELIA for the pastorate at Saint Michael in Seattle,
WA
Deacon Michael Keiser to the Holy Priesthood by
Metropolitan PHILIP for the assistant pastorate at Saint
Anthony in Bergenfield, NJ while completing studies at
Saint Vladimir's Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY
George Shishim to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop ELIA
for Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Los Angeles, CA
DECEASED:
Miss Donna Bobin, member of the Archdiocesan
Department of Christian Education, on April 19 in Pittsburgh, PA at the age of 36.
Dr. Shakir Dyas, former member of the Archdiocese
Board of Trustees, on April 26 in Pittsburgh, PA.
PRESENTATION:
Following the Service of the Lamentations on Great
Friday, April 23, at the Church of Saint Mary in Brooklyn,
Metropolitan PHILIP presented a copy of the newlypublished Arabic translation of the Book of Canons to
Mrs. Gladys Senior and Mr. Albert Absie, niece and
nephew of the translator, the late Archimandrite Hanania
Kassab. The book was published in Beirut by the Orthodox Youth Movement of the Antiochian Patriarchate
with funds provided by Archimandrite Hanania. Th~s
work makes available for the first time in the Arabic
language the complete dogmatic and canonical decisions
of the Ecumenical and Local Councils of the Orthodox
Church. Archimandrite Hanania, a celebrated scholar and
theologian, was born in Damascus in 1889 and served o~r
North American Archdiocese from 1925 until his death m
1971.(Cf "The Word", Vol. 15, No. 5 pp 5-9)
June, 1976
UNDER CANONICAL SUSPENSION:
Deacon Alexander (John) Deutsch of Coplay, Pa.
APPOINTMENTS
The following mem hers of the Archdiocese were appointed by the Metropolitan to serve on the Archdiocesan
Board of Trustees:
Dr. Norman Bsharah of Charleston, W. Va.
Mr. Michael Damas of Toledo, Ohio
Mr. Kenneth Ellis of Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mr. Philip Haddad of Charleston, W. Va.
Mr. Richard 0. Joseph of Toledo, Ohio
Mr. Carl Shaheen of Canton, Ohio
Archdiocese
Departments
And Commissions
Department of Missionary Activities
Chairman, V. Rev. Fr. Gabriel Ashie, Anaheim,
California
Department of Information and Press Relations
Acting Chairman, Mr. William Essey, Englewood, New
Jersey
Department of Continuing Orthodox Pastoral Education
and Spiritual Vocations
Chairman, Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen, Bergenfield, New
Jersey
Clergy Insurance Commission
Chairman, V. Rev. Fr. John Badeen, Detroit, Michigan
Department of Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Faith Relations
Chairman, V. Rev. Paul Schneirla, Brooklyn, New
York
Page 29
�Department of Sacred Music
Chairman. Mr. Raymond George, Detroit, Michigan
Department of The WORD Magazine
V. Rev. George S. Corey, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen, Bergenfield, New Jersey
Department of Christian Education
Chairman, Dr. John Boojamra, Brooklyn, New York
Department of Finance
Chairman,
Mr.
Monsour
Laham,
Boston,
Massachusetts
Department of Credentials and Convention Planning
Chairman, V. Rev. Antony Gabriel, Chicago, Illinois
Department of Liturgics
Chairman, Rev. Fr. Gabriel Barrow, Toledo, Ohio
Standing Committee on Arab Refugee Affairs
Chairman, Dr. Frank Maria, Warner, New Hampshire
Department of Stewardship
Chairman, Mr. Ernest Saykaly, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America
President, Mrs. Pauline Maloof, Tenafly, New Jersey
The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
Chairman, Mr. Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
Department of SOYO and Inter-Orthodox Youth
Relations
Chairman and Spiritual Advisor, V. Rev. George S.
Corey, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Youth Director, Mr. William Essey, Englewood, New
Jersey
President, NAC, Mr. Gary Younes, Bethesda,
Maryland
President, NAC Teen SOYO, Mr. Jim Karkenny,
Brooklyn, New York
Department of Legal Affairs and Resolutions
Chairman, Mr. John Khouri, Miami, Florida
Contributions
Received for Fiscal Year Ended January 31, 1976
Archdiocesan Trustees to General Fund
Rudy George, Cleveland, Ohio
Albert Majdell & Sons, Montreal
Dr. John Dalack, Staten Island, New York
$1,000.00
1,000.00
450.00
Mrs. Rose Merhige, Miami, Florida
1 OOo
In Memoriam - Sabah Bashir (Dr. Anthony Ba~hir).OO
. M" h.
S00oo
Edward Kassab, D etro~t, . 1c 1gan
1,ooo·
Anthony Thomas, Lomsville, Kentucky
1 oOO.O()
Robert Andrews (Sam Andrews Sons) Los Angeles 'c .OQ
' a.
4,000.00
Anonymous
500.0()
Ron Nicola, Oakland, California
300.0()
J. J. Farah, Flint, Michigan
soo.oo
Ernest Saykaly, Montreal
3,000.00
Robert Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
1,000.00
Ralph Abercia, Houston, Texas
225.00
Monsour Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
1,000.00
Antoun Mudarri, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1,000.00
Charles Dowd, Worcester, Massachusetts
1,000.00
Metropolitan PHILIP
1,000.00
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
3,000.00
Frank Haddad, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1,000.00
Earl Abraham, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1,000.00
Individual Contributions to General Fund
E.S.P. Farah, Beaumont, Texas
350.00
George Karakas, Atlanta, Georgia
200.00
Mrs. Viola Ayers, Decatur, Georgia
100.00
Rev. George Morelli, Brooklyn, New York
25.00
In Memoriam, Dorothy West
200.00
Tom Beter, New Kensington, Pennsylvania
500.00
Elizabeth Boosadha, Worcester, Mass.
20.00
Kaleel Bros., Youngstown, Ohio
500.00
Edmund Saleeby, Brooklyn, New York
100.00
Dr. Samuel Cross, Kittanning, Pa.
100.00
Frank Kafoure, Indianapolis, Indiana
500.00
Mrs. Rose Zrake, Brooklyn, New York
10.00
Paul Khoury, LaSalle, Illinois
100.00
In Memoriam, Habib Haddad & Albert Deraney
100.00
Arthur Mabbet, Bel Air, Maryland
15.00
Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
$1,000.00
John Sajem, Atlanta, Georgia
1,000.00
Bitar Bros., Portland, Oregon
1,000.00
Mr. & Mrs. George Abodeely, Worcester
500.00
John Ameer, Brooklyn, New York
1,000.00
Edward Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
1,000.00
Ernest Assaly, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
1,000.00
Anonymous Priest
A drews Foundation, Detroit
s:mAndrews Sons, ~os A~geles, California
D Samuel Cross, K1ttannmg, Pennsylvania
/· 0est Saykaly, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
/ bert Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
t.tonsour Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
AlbertJoseph, Chicago, Illinois
Archdiocesan Seminarian Fund
Dr Samuel Cross, Kittanning, Pa.
Ru.dyGeorge, Cleveland, Ohio
In Memoriam, Lottie James
Ernest Younes, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
In Memoriam, Sabah Bashir
Anonymous, Priest
Edward Faysal, West Palm Beach
J.J. Shahda, Reading, Pennsylvania
St. Vladimir's Seminary
St.Elias, Toledo, Ohio
Rev.Paul Doyle, Atlanta, Georgia
E.S.P. Farah, Beaumont, Texas
WilliamRouady, Springfield, Virginia
Raymond Keiser, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Juanita Dowd, Worcester, Massachusetts
Dr. L. Tarsinos, Spring Valley, Illinois
Miscellaneous
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
Dr. Joseph Touma, Huntington, W. Va.
St.George, Paterson, PT A
WORD Magazine
Rudy George, Cleveland, Ohio
225.00
100.00
50.00
100.00
100.00
50.00
100.00
$1,000.00
$2,000.00
200.00
300.00
$100.00
Summer '76 Teachers Seminars
THE DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION OF THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE WILL CONDUCT A SERIESOF SUMMER TEACHER TRAINING CONFERENCES AND SEMI ARS IN
CONJUNCTION WITH THE ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION AND THE VARIOUS SOYO PARISH LIFE CO FERENCES.
ALL CHURCH SCHOOL TEACHERS' PARENTS' AND CLERGY ARE INVITED TO ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE I
THESE TRAINING SESSIONS.
THE TOPICS TO BE DEALT WITH WILL VARY FROM MEETING TO MEETING BUT WILL DEAL IN SEVERAL
CASES WITH CURRICULUM' CLASSROOM OBSERVATION' AND EFFECTIVEQUESTIONING TECHNIQUES.
FIVE OF THE WORKSHOPS WILL Bi CONDUCTED BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT, DR. JOH
BOOJAMRA, AND TWO WILL BE CONDUCTED BY A MEMBER OF THE DEPARTMENT.
DATE
LOCATION
listen to
WESTERN REGION, PHOENIX
SOUTHWEST REGION, WICHITA
CANAM REGION, TORONTO
NEW ENGLAND, WORCESTER
MIDWEST REGION, CLEVELAND
EASTERN REGION, PHILA.
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION,
ORTHODOXY NOW
an exposition of the ethos
of the Orthodox Christian Church
Page 30
100.00
100.00
365.00
1,000.00
10.00
450.00
100.00
50.00
REduth
Edwards, Oakville, Ontario
50.00
ward Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
100.00
George Abodeely, Worcester, Massachusetts
100.00
Mr. & Mrs. Abe Abraham, Grand Rapids, Michigan 25.00
Charles Ghiz, Boston, Massachusetts
25.00
Rose Merhige, Miami, Florida
50.00
D~. Anthony Bashir, Boston, Massachusetts
25.00
Michael Abodeely, Worcester, Massachusetts
25.00
John Lutfy, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
25.00
Robert Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
25.00
Adam Mosier, Waterloo, New York
25.00
John Wawee, Grand Rapids, Michigan
25.00
Missionary Fund
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
$1,000.00
Anonymous, Priest
450.00
D.L. Cribbs, Butler, Pennsylvania
100.00
Anonymous
200.00
1,000.00
Monsour Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
ARAB Refugee Fund
Anonymous, Priest
$100.00
St. Mary's Church, Omaha
50.00
47.00
St. Ellien Church, Brownsville
20.00
Dr. & Mrs. Najib Saliba
12.00
Kathi, Debbi & Johnnie Yacio, Omaha
25.00
Rev. Ignatius Preston, Springfield, Ill.
Project Loving Care
$1,000.00
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
190.00
John Ameer, Brooklyn, New York
100.00
Frank Haddad, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
100.00
Anonymous
100.00
St. George, Charleston, West Virginia
Department of Christian Education
While Visiting
Western Pennsylvania
Every Sunday, 8:08 A.M., Radio Station
WWSW, 970 on your dial, Pittsburgh, Pa.
1,500.00
1,000.00
600.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
THE VERY REV. GEORGES.
COREY
L
Moderator
The Word
FRIDAY, MAY 28,
SATURDAY, JUNE 12,
SATURDAY, JUNE 19,
SATURDAY, JUNE 26,
SATURDAY, JUNE 26,
SATURDAY, JULY 3,
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25,
FOR FURTHER IN FORMATION CONTACT:
THE DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCAITON
358MOUNTAINROAD
ENGLEWOOD,
NEW JERSEY 07631
L.
TIME
10:30 A.M.
10:30 A.M.
10:30 A.M.
10:30 A.M.
OPEN
OPEN
ALL DAY
J
~<.b->~~.,.O,>f.b>f.b>f.b..q...q...q.,cq,.._q-,~~~
June, 1976
Page 31
�DONNA ROBIN
Department of Christian Education
A Personal Remembrance
RECRUITING CHURCH-SCHOOL TEACHERS
Recruiting volunteer church-school teachers is a
problem that many priests and/ or church-school superintendents face each year. Although the problem seems to
be getting new teachers, part of the problem is also
keeping the teachers that have already been recruited. If
there is no turnover, no dropouts among the existing
teaching staff, usually there is no need to recruit new
teachers. So the problem is really a two-fold one - not
only recruiting new teachers but keeping the ones you
already have.
Dealing with the problems of recruiting and keeping
teachers takes some evaluating of both the recruiting
techniques used and the parish church-school program
itself. Many times the techniques and the program may
have some aspects that contribute to the problem rather
than to the solution. For example, when some people
being recruited to teach protest that they don't know
enough to teach, they are often told: "Don't worry. You'll
learn as you go along." Before using this technique,
recruiters need to ask themselves in what ways the churchschool program is constructed to help teachers learn as
they go along. If learnintg as they go along simply means
that teachers can read their manuals and teachers' guides
and learn enough to get through each lesson, perhaps the
program can be expanded to include a little more help a qualified person to be in charge and to whom teachers
can turn with specific problems, monthly teacher-training
meetings, funds for teachers to attend teacher-training
conferences outside the parish or for inter-parish workshops, a good resource library where teachers can find
answers to their questions and books for self-study. These
support systems can help raise the quality of religious
education while giving recruiters specific points for selling
teaching to those who protest they don't know enough to
teach. If these support systems operate, they also tend to
cut down on turnover by decreasing the teachers' feelings
of being alone with no one to turn to for help and
guidance.
_Rec~~iters ~lso tend to recruit people to teach by
saym~, Teachmg wo?-'t take much of your time." But
teach~ng does t~ke tlm~, and fostering the idea that
teachmg shouldn t take time only undermines the church
school program. It also leads to teacher frustration when
teachers discov_erthat teaching takes more time than they
w~re led to b_elieve,and frustration can lead to dropouts.
It 1s much fairer to the teacher and to the church-school
program to give prospective teachers an honest and accu~ate description of the job and the time it takes to teach.
This_can be done by borrowing an idea from business _
the Job desc~ption. A job description for church-school
teac~~rs can mc_lu_d_e_a
general _description of the job, the
specific respons1b1ht1es, the abilities needed, any training
Miss B?bin was a member of the Dept. of Christian
Educall_on of the Archdiocese and director of Christian
Educatwn at St. George Church in Pittsburgh, Pa.
necessary and how it can be secured, the person to wh
the teacher is responsible, the term of service, and ~:
time requirements of the job. Writing a job descripf 10e
helps the parish church-school program because ~
requires those involved to think about the expectati It
held for teachers. It helps recruiting because the recru~ns
can give prospective teachers a realistic picture of chur :~
school teaching. In preparing the job descripti~
however, those involved should be thorough. p n,
example, specific responsibilities might include not on~r
teac?ing a week~y clas~ but als<?plannin~ the lesson, a{.
tending teachers ~eetmgs, takmg part m the liturgical
and sacramental hfe of _the Church, etc. Time requirements would, then, be tied to these responsibilities for
example, one hour teaching weekly, 2 hours weekly 'preparing lessons, 1-½ hours weekly attending Liturgy 3
hours monthly attending teachers' meeting, etc.
'
If prospective teachers keep saying "no" to the
recruiter, the recruiter often resorts to saying, "But
nobody else wants to teach; Somebody has to do it." Now
this well may appeal to someone's sense of obligation and
the recruiter just might make the person feel guilty
enough to accept. But the first part of the statement isn't a
very good advertisement for church-school teaching, and
the second part isn't exactly an enthusiastic vote of confidence in the person being recruited. Recruiters need to be
a little more positive than that. It may be that nobody
wants to teach, but that's not the prospective teacher's
problem - that's the recruiter's problem. Sometimes
recruiters are so aware of what teachers have to give time, effort, study- that they don't focus enough on what
they can get from teaching. Any teacher will tell you that
you learn a lot when you teach - about the Orthodox
Faith, about people. You also become more involved in
the church community because you get a new group of
students each year to share with and because somehow
the kids you teach become "your" kids because you have
shared. And teaching can be fun; it's not all drudgery.
There are times when there are closeness, sharing, joy and learning. But most important, teaching is more than a
task; it's a ministry to which people are called. And this
call is to follow in the steps of Christ and teach the faith
that leads to salvation.
Teaching is not an easy job always. It takes commitment; it takes time; it takes an openness to learning and
expe!imentation.
We can't fool people about these
reqmrements. But the parish can clarify its hopes and
exp~ctations, and ask teachers to share them. The parish
can provide help so teachers can meet these expectations.
The recruiter's dream may be to find 20 extraordinarily
~ualified church-school teachers in the parish standing in
hne to teach, but the reality is that we must find the few
committed people whom we can teach and shape and help
rea~~. their J?Otential - if we give them the necessary
fac1hties, traming and moral support.
the late Donna Dobin
... Donna Bo bin died on Holy Monday, April 19, 1976, as a result of a tra
.
Pittsburgh. We dedicate this eulogy to her blessed memory.
gic auto accident in her home city of
Everyone w~o knew Donna, knew that she was a person who had a lot to offer.
~he had ma_n~gifts of herself to offer. Nobody will ever think of Donna and NOT
ave an opimo~. She was like that. She evoked opinion. That's good. It is good
balelcausewe are m constant need of reminders, of priorities, of what the Church is
about. Donna was, herself, a reminder.
Donna re~i~de~ us that we must continually search out new ways to carry
Orthodox Christtamty to our society. She reminded us that we have to WORK i e
to st udy, _read, talk, investigate, create. She worked ceaselessly - almost too m~c-hi
She remmded us _that Orthodoxy was Orthodoxy, that although her heart was
undo~btedly Slavic, she worked in an Antiochian Church as Church School
Super~ntendent. It was there that she attempted to worship and create new
matenals. We cannot forget easily one such person.
N?r d~d she limit her ministry of the Church to the Antiochians. She served at
_one time m the Ort~od~x Christian Education Commission (OCEC) office in New
York ~nd she w~s responsible for the reorgamzation of that body. Donna also wrote manuals of religious
educat10n for children and co-authored a source book for youth work. She organized and lectured at teachers
workshops, youth conferences, retreats and seminars. Donna authored "The Orthodox Teacher" for church
school teache~s and "'!he Orthodox Fam_ily"for clergy in the Western Pennsylvania area. She was serving as a
founder and vice president of the Counctl of Orthodox Churches of Greater Pittsburgh. Much of her time was
the Church's time. There was work to be done and Donna was there to do it. Her name will be listed with the
other "greats" of Orthodoxy in America and will shine like the stars of heaven.
We can only pray that death, the "last enemy" as St. Paul knew it, brought a type of release to Donna. She
needed, always, a way of release - mostly from herself and her interior struggle. On Easter, a few days after
that tragic death happened, we recalled St. John Chrysostom's famous Easter Homily, taken from St. Paul: "O
Death, where is thy sting?" That "last enemy" took Donna, but Christ attacked death, and "crushed the head of
the serpent", removed the "sting" from its stupidity. Like all of us, Donna had THAT hope!
For those that loved her, argued with her, disagreed with her, walked away from her, wanted to talk to her,
or whatever, her death serves not only as a reminder about the reality of Easter. More than that, it reminds us
of our own need to struggle for the sake of the Church, to ourselves, create and question what we are about,
and why we are doing what we are doing. Donna did that while she was alive - even to the point of discomfort
to some of us. But that is good! Can we hope that her memory will continue to remind us? Can we hope for
that? What a testament it would be to her struggling Orthodox heart and mind!
MEMORY ETERNAL!
Fathers Joseph Allen & George S. Corey
HELP WANTED!!!
We need your talent and experience!
. .
.
.
.
The Department of Christian Education of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese 1s lookm~ for
people who love God, love children, and love to write or make films. We need people of talent and expenence
as much as we need people of good-will.
.
..
.
.
. .
We are looking for people with professional experience in edu_c~tion, wntmg, and _filmmakmg to assist m the
development and production of materials for Orthodox famihes, ?re-schoo~ children, and Church School
teachers. The Department is seeking to expa~d _its base o_foperation both m geo~raphy and personnel to
produce the materials we need for effective Chrtsttan education for both _adults_an~ childre~.
.
If you have the necessary experience and talent and would be interested m gettmg mvolved m this type ?f ~ork,
please contact Dr. John L. Boojamra, 1478 East 48 Stre~t, Brookl~, New York 1~234. any com~umcation_s,
please include a sample of your work or a list of professional credits and the area m which you are mterested m
working.
!n
Page 32
The Word
June, 1976
Page 33
�AntiocQian®rtQnhnxQtijri.stian31llf
nmcn
of NnrtltAm.eri.ca HUMANITARIAN GOALS
DIALOGUE • • •
Let your fight so shine before men that they may see your
good work and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.
Matthew 5: 16
questions to father buben
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America have established a handbook to help its members p
humanitarian_ go~ls an_dto c_reateam_ongits _members a sincere expression of lov~ through works of _charity. Th~s expre~:~~~
of love takes its form m various services which our members may offer to those m need. We have listed areas 1n which 0
. may be served .
ur
support, at·ctand charity
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
I John 3:18
I Local:
A.
Church Roles
1.
Participating in women's organizations, Church School ~nd Choir.
2.
Assisting in the spiritual and material welfare of our Pansh.
B.
Human Conditions
1.
Care of the sick
a.) Creating a cheerful environment for the sick in hospitals and at home by visiting, sending cards and
flowers.
2.
Care of the aged
a.) Planning Senior Citizens activities ... i.e., afteroon socials, holiday parties, theatre, concerts, day
trips, etc.
b.) Transportation to and from Church.
c.) Remembering the needs of shut-ins especially around holidays.
d.) Always bear in mind that Senior Citizens can be productive human beings whose wisdom and experience can prove invaluable.
3.
Care of the orphaned.
a.) Supporting Project Loving Care.
b.) Supporting ?rphana&es by sending food, clothing and toys. Also providing, when possible, entertainment or hohday parties.
C.
Educational Programs
1.
Religious and Cultural
a.) Offering to its !Ilembers a chance to become aware of our Orthodox Faith and our cultural heritage
through the gmdes as set forth by our Religious Education and Cultural Manuals.
2.
The Roles of Women in a Modern Society
a.) To seek and broaden woman's understanding of herself in American Society.
b.) To help ~omen be_comeaware of the opportunities towards self-fulfillment by using local Parish and
_commun~tyt~lent m the form of lectures, discussion groups, etc.
D. Comm umty Orgamzattons
1.
Volunteer Work
a.) Becomi~g involved in some local volunteer organizations such as:
1. Umted Fund Programs ... i.e., Red Cross, YWCA, etc.
2. Art ~useums, Women's Clubs, School Groups, etc.
b.) V?l~nteerm &,_asa Church Group, is ~mportant in that it will bring the opportunity to acquaint people
wit Cohur
re 1tgwn and culture, and wtll also aid in the introduction of new ideas and methods in our
own urch groups.
II National:
Actively supporting AOCWNA National and Regional Programs.
1.
Religious Education
2.
Cultural
3.
Humanitarian
4.
Projects
B. Charity Drive
1.
SupI?orting the annual Charity drive.
C.
Emergencies
1.
Supplying ~elief_tosister Parishes in case of natural disa t
a.) Fmanc1al Relief
s er.
b.) Medical Relief
c.) Clothing and Food
III International:
A. Aid
1.
Offering financial and material aid to or h
.
P anages, hospitals, homes for the aged, seminaries and convents.
A.
Page 34
Elaine Saliba,
Chairman-Humanitarian
Committee
The Word
QUESTION:'1s it known who divided the Books of the
Bible into Chapters and who numbered the verses?
How many Books are in the Orthodox Old Testament,
and in what category does each book belong. As a
Bible student I have been unable to find the exact
number of books the Orthodox list ..... I know that the
Greeks dz/fer somewhat from the Russian usage, but
no one seems to know where or why? Could you help
me out?
-Non-Orthodox
Bible Student
ANSWER:The Books of the Bible, according to earliest
evidence, were first divided into chapters in the year
1263 A.D. by a Roman Cardinal named Hugo. The
numbered verses first appeared in the year 1450 A.D.
through the efforts of a Jewish Rabbi called Nathan.
However, as the Bible began to be used extensively in
worship services, many men went through the efforts
of listing particular passages for particular services.
The amazing part of all these efforts is that generally
all translators seemed to agree in their numbering of
chapters and verses.
Confusion arises in numbering the Books of the Old
Testament because of several reasons. The Russian
usage differs somewhat from the Greek. The Russians
always list the apocryphal books with the Canonical.
The books of the twelve minor prophets are listed as
ONEBook. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Athanasius the
Great, and St. John of Damascus considered twentytwo books (22) as Canonical BUT always added the
Apocryphal. It's because of the Apocryphal Books that
confusion may arise. Here is the Orthodox listing. To
limit the number to twenty-two would be Protestant
and completely un-Orthodox.
THE OLD TESTAMENT
GENESIS
EXODUS
LEVITICUS
NUMBERS
DEUTERONOMY
I MACCABEES
II MACCABEES
III MACCABEES
I ESDRAS
II ESDRAS
JOSHUA
JUDGES
RUTH
I SAMUEL
II SAMUEL
I KINGS
II KINGS
June,1976
I CHRONICLES
II CHRONICLES
EZRA
NEHEMIAH
ESTHER
JUDITH
JOB
PSALMS
PROVERBS
ECCLESIASTES
SONG OF SOLOMON
ECCLESIASTICUS
WISDOM OR SOLOMON
TOBIT
EPISTLE OF JEREMIAH
BARUCH
ISAIAH
JEREMIAH
LAMENTATIONS
EZEKIEL
DANIEL
HOSEA
JOEL
AMOS
OBADIAH
JONAH
MICAH
NAHUM
HABAKKUK
ZEPHANIAH
HAGGAI
ZECHARIAH
MALACHI
QUESTION: '1n the Orthodox Church cremation is not
allowed, nor is it allowed to donate one's body to
science. Our beliefs are two thousand years old.
I would hereby take exception to these Canons in
our Church. There are people who take into consideration the exceptionally high costs of burial and
realize, realistically, that, the survivors can better use
the cost of such. These people express their desire that
upon death they be cremated.
In other instances some feel that science can learn
much for the future of mankind in donating their body.
Why then are we who share these same views on
these two desires, to be denied Funeral and Memorial
Services?
I believe, in view of these modern times when they
say there is a shortage of cemeteries, (in which case in
the future all bodies will be cremated: a theory which is
also open for debate.) Shouldn't there be changes
made in the Orthodox Church?
In the Orthodox Faith it is said the Funeral and
Memon'al Services are only to be given to a totally
complete body. In view of this, would it not also be
correctly stated that services cannot be giver,, to people
who are amputees or have had internal organs
removed surgically?
I also believe if the issue was brought out for
discussion, that many people who desire cremation or
to have their body donated to science (and are not
aware they will be denied services) will express their
desires.
The cause for my concern at this time is that I have
made arrangements for my body to be given to science
upon my death. Also the recent demise of my brother
whose desire to be cremated and the expense thus
saved would help to sustain his widow and 11 year old
child. His wishes were carried out but in doing so, lost
his rights to the services.
-Julia Thomas
ANSWER: Cremation grates against the very essence of
the Judeo-Christian religion. Most ancient civilized
nations who had religious beliefs buried their dead
with reverence and worship. The remains of bodies
buried thousands of years before Christ are continually
found. Cremation was always the exception to the rule
Page 35
�in times of plague or on battlefields. The Egyptians
embalmed their dead in preparation for the afterlife.
Christians are buried in imitation of Christ our
Saviour. As Christ was in the grave bodily, so our
hopes are also to lie in the grave with the expectation
of rising as did Christ in a glorified and perfect body.
Cremation in essence destroys the contemplation of
the most important element of our faith.
Our consoling words and songs for the burial
service lose much in the absence of a body. There is no
service for cremation. No priest has the authority to
compose or hold any kind of service unknown to the
entire Orthodox world.
Cremation offends Christian instincts. We are
taught to regard death as "a sleep," or "a falling
asleep." We are taught that the body returns to earth
from which it was taken. The body is like a seed, which
is cast into the ground, to germinate and spring-up in
due season. "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in
incorruption." (1 Cor. 15,43).
Anti-Christian societies began to bring forth
cremation as a means of bodily disposal. They seldom
received support from the faithful. Usually these
societies were composed of atheists, agnostics and
those who felt that by this method belief in the immortality of the soul would disappear. With it would
also dissappear the beliefs in the resurrection of the
body and a "life in the world to come." Throughout
history and especially in France leaders of cremation
societies were often proven to be people of little or no
faith who in joyous but dissipated living hated to be
reminded of death. These people attempted to destroy
cemeteries and monuments of every sort. The entire
purpose of these leaders was ANTI-Christian.
Cremation or any irreverence for the dead has always
been condemned by the Orthodox as well as Roman
and other traditional Christians.
The Jews always buried their dead in a simple
manner. The Bible tells us much about the burial of
kings and prophets and beggars, "where kings and
beggars are the same." The greatest evil to befall any
Jew was to be left unburied as a chastisement for
transgression (Deut. 28,26). The only time the Jews
were allowed to burn bodies was during a period of
pestilence (Amos 6,10).
The Blessed Augustine denounced cremation in
no uncertain terms as horrible and barbaric. It was
always felt to be a detestable and pagan custom
common only to uncivilized tribes. On the other hand
the intenti_onof the cremation-minded never prevailed.
I? exceptio~al cases, such as accidental burning in
fires or lose m floods or at sea or being eaten by lions
or by sharks etc., we learn from the Church God can
effect reintegration of the body, even after it has been
dissolved into gaseous elements or whatnot.
Nowhere in Scripture or Tradition is cremation
condoned. If the apostles, saints and Church Fathers
app~oved only of Christ-imitating burial, who among
us smners has the right to innovate cremation for
some and not others, except in abnormal situations.
,The gr~at anxiety today (among others) is that
we re runnmg out of space and the world will soon
become o_vercrowded. And yet we hear of rumors of
wars, fammes, earthquakes, pestilence and other si
of the Second Coming. We are admonished tog~:
Page 36
mindful of this day NOT tomorrow's day. Let then
Orthodox take up the stampede to cremation .1 ~nlack faith in a God who cares even for the ~ : . ey
sparrow. If this alone should happen, think of ~ hng
space which will suddenly become available a the
Every BODY destined for heaven will. ·
.
rise t
judgement ma perfect state. Those who lost a r b 0
an eye or were deaf or had their kidneys remov~~ ?r
have everything restored to a glorified perfecti Will
you wish to donate your body to science talk tn.
hlf
O
bishop of your parish jurisdiction. If you
tke
.
ma e
arrangements f or proper b una 1 after science h
studied your body, this might be a possibility. I'm . as
guessing however, and really don't know, BUT Bi h]USt
• 1d . .
s ops
h • f
have
•h
. more aut onty or vita ec1s10ns than do paris
priests.
Years after a body is. buried it can be exhumed b d
ma~y t_hings can b ~ d1scovered. Was the body the
habitation of a Samt? Was the body poisoned
murdered by foul means. Cremation annihilates th~:
forever.
Perhaps the use of e~pensive caskets and concrete
boxes have gone too far 111added expense, and delayi
like a seed, corrupting the body to earthly element~:
NO funeral should cost more than a family can afford
without going into debt. But don't you see in life's
economics the same things would happen to costs of
cremation if they became popular. In England and
France every burial is done by the government and
paid by it.
Orthodox Christians must adhere to Canons, rules
and regulations in their entirety. We cannot discard
the ones we don't approve of. Your subject matter is
most valid and I'm sure it will be discussed more often
in coming years, but let us not jump off the canonical
laws made for our protection, direction and salvation.
Send letters to: V. Rev. Michael Buben
103 Pleasant St.
Methuen, MA 01844
Our Bodies Are Holy Temples
By Margaret Hanna
In these days when men and women are using powers such as
ESP, clairvoyance and precognition and the taking of drugs,
drin_kingalcohol and numerous other evil practices, we need to be
rem~ded of the words of our Creator. Any of the above·
mentioned are an abomination to God. In the hands of evil men
and women, all of our lives would be in danger and our minds and
bodies can be easily destroyed:
We have all been created in God's image and thus we should
re~ard _our own bodies as holy temples. If we think and put good
th?Igs_mto_ourbodies, only good shall appear. If we think and put
eVIlthmgs mto our bodies, only evil can come to the surface.
As Christians, we should abhor all that is evil and love that which
is good. In this sense, we, as Christians, are ready to live with our
Blessed Saviour in His New Kingdom which is to come.
Kindly read:
Deuteronomy
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Romans 13: 9
18: 9-12
6: 19 & 20
6: 16
& 21
The Word
Communities
St. Michael
Monessen,
Parish
Pennsylvania
The week-end of March 14, 1976, was a memorable
ne for the parishioners
of St. Michael Church of
~onessen, PA. Metropolitan
PHILIP was invited to
Pittsburgh for the ann_u~l Sunda~ of Orthodoxy Vespers at
the beautiful Holy Tnmty Serbian Orthodox Church, and
while in the district, His Eminence chose to visit our
parishand also the parish of St. Ellien in Brownsville, Pa.
We were all very happy to meet Rt. Rev. Archimandrite
Antoun Khouri, Metropolitan
PHILIP's personal
secretary, and to have Youth Director, Bill Essey, a son of
our parish, at home with us that week-end.
Saturday evening the Tenth Anniversary celebration in
honor of His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, began with
a Vesper service at St. Ellien. Before Vespers, His
Eminence and Father Antoun Khouri visited the Rev.
Father Alexander Zahand, pastor at St. Ellien, who was
recuperating from a recent illness. The following members
of the W estem Pennsylvania Deanery participated in the
service; Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Paul Saliba, Dean, St.
George, New Kensington; Very Rev. George Corey, St.
George, Pittsburgh; Rev. Michael Kirilloff, St. George,
Bridgeville; Rev. James Deep, St. Anthony, Butler; Rev.
George Corry, St. Michael, Greensburg; Rev. George
Brunish, St. Elias, New Castle; Rev. Basil Lascelles, St.
George, Altoona; Deacon Joseph Shahda, Johnstown;
Deacon Samuel David, Bridgeville; and our own Rev.
Father Anis Elias, St. Michael, Monessen.
The choirs of St. Michael and St. Ellien were combinedunder their directors, Mrs. Sandy Anderson and Mr.
George Essey, to sing the responses. Their voices blended
beautifully and added so much to the joy of the evening.
Followingthe service a Lenten banquet was catered at the
St. Ellien Hall to a capacity crowd.
Sunday morning Metropolitan PHILIP was the chief
celebrant at a most moving Hierarchical Divine Liturgy.
His Eminence was assisted by Fathers Antoun Khouri,
Paul Saliba, and Anis Elias. John Dzurinko, a senior at
Mo~essen High School, read the Epistle. Altar boys were
Kevm Huffman, New Eagle; Kevin Tony, Bentleyville;
and Michael Whaley, Monongahela. Mr. Mike Namie,
Donora, was the chanter.
Through the laying-on-of-hands at the conclusion of
the Great Doxology, John Zimomra was blessed as a Subdeacon. This was a first for many members of our parish
and we will think of this young man often in our prayers.
Sub-deacon John is married, the father of one child, and is
fromth~ parish of St. Mark in Youngstown, Ohio.
Agam the combined choirs sang the responses and
oncemore His Eminence praised them and also remarked
how pleased he was that our two churches were able to
work so well together to celebrate his tenth anniversary,
and the hopes he has that we will continue to accomplish
many things together.
June, 1976
In Action
HIERARCHICAL LITURGY IN MONESSEN
Following the Divine Liturgy, the Ladies Club of St.
Michael had prepared a buffet of Syrian Lenten dishes.
Mrs. Mike Piscitelli of Monongahela is our club president.
After the luncheon, the parishioners had the opportunity
to talk personally with Metropolitan PHILIP and Archimandrite Antoun Khouri.
We will all remember this moving and meaningful
week-end that was filled with deep and genuine emotions.
We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to help our
Metropolitan celebrate his tenth anniversary.
-MRS. BILL ESSEY, SR.
St. George Church
Houston, Texas
In a somewhat rare and awe-inspiring ceremony,
several hundred parishioners of St. George Orthodox
Church of Houston, Texas, and their guests saw Father
John Namie elevated to Archimandrite on Sunday, March
28, 1976, during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy.
His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip Saliba presided at
the Divine Services and was assisted by the following
clergy: Rev. Father Anise Elias of Monessen, Pa.; Rt. Rev.
Mark Pemberton of Houston, Texas; Very Rev. Paul
Nemr of Wichita, Kansas; Very Rev. James Rottle of
Austin, Texas; Rev. Father Joseph Olas of Beaumont,
Texas; Rev. Deacon John Reed of Beaumont, Texas; and
Rev. Deacon Peter Danilchick of Houston, Texas. During
this Divine Liturgy a parishioner of St. George, Robert
Blankenstein, was ordained to the Diaconate and given
the name of Paul. Deacon Paul will enter St. Vladimir's
Seminary this fall for theological training.
Archimandrite John Namie is also Dean of the TexasPage 37
�to unite themselves." Then he· pointed out the na
Blankenstein and Pemberton. "Only in the Ant_mehs.
of
• d t h ese names. We are ind IOcd 1an
Archdiocese can we fm
melting pot," His Eminence said.
ee the
Metropolitan Philip, in giving testimony to p h
John, said, "He left everything to become a foo;t f~r
Christ's sake. He could have become a succ fr
businessman, but he gave it all up for Christ's sake." ess ul
Father John, in responding to all the word
•
• h t, sat"d, "In order for
s of
testimony given
to h"1m th a t mg
leader to be successful, he must have people to lead· ha
must have people who obey and trust him. How much' e
you
have come to trust me, o b ey me, take my advice
depends on your willingness to follow the message • •d
good news that I hav~ tried_t~ commu~icate to you, t~:t
is, the Message of Chrtst. Thts 1s your mght, not mine a d
I thank you for your willingness to follow."
' n
-Anna Rose Faour
St. Michael Church
Beaumont, Texas
Elevation of Fr. John Namie to Archimandrite.
Mississippi Deanery and Spiritual Advisor of the Southwest Region of SOYO. He was ordained into the
Priesthood on February 19, 1967. Since then he has had
only one parish besides Houston; St. George Orthodox
Church in Altoona, Pa.
On Sunday evening, March 28, Archimandrite John
was honored by his parishioners, fellow clergymen, family,
and his friends. It is at an occasion such as this that friends
come forth to speak what is in their hearts. Many words of
love have been spoken about Father John during the time
he has been in Houston. And, yes, even before that by his
parishioners in Altoona. Many more such expressions
were made at the banquet.
Two of the highlights of this evening were the chanting
by the aunt of Father John, Mrs. Dolores David of Pittsburgh, Pa., who enraptured every one with her beautiful
sin?~ng. T~e message of His Eminence, Metropolitan
Philip was mdeed the inspiration of the entire weekend
activities.
When His E~inence stood before his people, one
~ould feel love radiate all around. He didn't have to speak;
1t ~as enough to ha:e him stand before us. Yet, every one
wa1ted eagerly for his words of wisdom. He had refused an
invitation to the White House to keep his promise to be in
Housto,n on March 28, for Father John's elevation. He
couldn t have expressed his love for us more. "It is a great
plea~ure to be back with you in Texas. We are thousands
of mile~ apart and yet we are one when we partake of the
Eucharist. We become one in Christ and we express this
oneness through the Eucharistic meal," he said.
He went on to tell about the unity of our Archdiocese
and the_agr~eme~t _between New York and Toledo. "We
hope thIS umty will mspire the Orthodox on this continent
On July 3rd and 4th of this year, St. Michael Orthodox
Christian Church of Beaumont, Texas, and its Boy Scout
Troop "Lucky" 213 are hosting a Bicentennial Celebration
of a very meaningful nature. Although our congregation
numbers only 110 families and the scout troop has but
twenty-four members, it was decided to do something that
would reflect the true depth of our feelings of love and
patriotism for our country in this event. Therefore, we
have spared nothing in our arsenal of faith, love, enthusiasm, and finances to make this occasion one in which
every citizen in our community could participate, identify
with, and be proud of.
The format will be a vigil. Our Theme is "The Nation
of Nations, Under God - We the People" and will honor
our nation under God, all thirty-eight presidents, and
every branch of our Armed Forces. The program of events
is planned to be as follows: The vigil will last thirty-eight
hours, beginning at 7:00 A.M. on Saturday, July 3rd and
continuing until 9:00 P.M. Sunday, July 4th. A flag raising
ceremony will officially begin the vigil with the stationing
of the first honorguard of scouts to be changed on an
hourly basis. Authentic replicas of each of the historical
flags of our nation will be proudly displayed. The Texas
Flag to be used is the one that was carried by a member of
Gen. John W. O'Daniel's staff of The Third Infantry
Division, and was flown over Heidleberg, Germany,
during the occasion when thirty-two men of that command,
including
Audie
Murphy,
received the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
Each hour a president of the United States from
George Washington to Gerald Ford will be recognized
and honored by our Church, the scouts, and public by the
firing of a cannon, an honorguard salute and the reading
of a brief biographical sketch. As the final hour of the vigil
will be honoring President Ford he has been respectfully
invited to attend. Throughout ~he evening and nig?t _of
Saturday, July 3rd, scenes of historical and patriotic m·
terest will be shown on a large screen, accompanied by
app~opriate background music, for public viewing and
edification.
Page 38
The Word
However, the highlight of the celebration comes at
.00A.M. on Sunday m?~ning, J~ly 4~h, with a formal flag
7•.. g ceremony. Participants m this ceremony will inraisin
a contingent from every branch of the armed forces
l de
CU
•
ayor of Beaumont, city,
county, and state officials '
t he M
• •
f h"
,
h Bicentennial Comm1ss10n o t 1s area, the Chief of the
~l:bama and Coushatta Indian tribes, a band from Lamar
University, and hopefully our ~ongressman, senator, and
resident. Each of our g1:1estswdl be asked to give a brief
~ddressduring the openmg ceremony after the raising of
the flag.
On or about 7 :00 A.M. as the band plays our
ational anthem, a wing of Air Force jets is scheduled to
~y over in ~n air salute, ~hile the colors ~re be~ng raised.
Our city Liberty Bel~ ~di then start a five mmute continuousringing to be Jomed by every church in Beaumont
that has a bell tower. This we feel will further add to the
meaningof the occasion. A Goodyear blimp is scheduled
as well as displays of military equipment and the landing
of a Coast Guard rescue helicopter. The congregation of
our church will be dressed in either early American or
ethnic attire as per the theme of the occasion, and will
serverefreshments to the public as they attend the vigil.
Saidrefreshments will include several large sheet cakes
decorated as the historical flags of our country and a large
Birthday cake in honor of our country.
Games of a wide variety will be hosted by members of
the congregation and scouts for all who care to participate, but especially for the children.
The celebration will be concluded by a formal flag
loweringceremony on Sunday, July 4th, at 9:00 P.M.
On April 3, 4, and 5th St. Michael Church was blessed
with the presence of Metropolitan Philip and newly
elevated Archimandrite Fr. John Namie of Houston,
Texas.The visit was opened with an inspirational Vesperal
Serviceand followed by an open house held in the Parish
Rectory of Fr. Joseph Olas with parish council members
and representatives of the various church organizations
Uncle "T"Taufec Baine received Icon from Metropolitan.
attending. After the Sunday Liturgy Metropolitan Philip
talked with the teens of the church and the visit was
concluded with a Sunday night banquet. The highlight of
the banquet was when Taufec "Uncle T" Baine was
presented an icon with the inscription "Well done good
and faithful servant . . . I will praise the Lord with my
whole heart in the assembly of the upright, and in the
congregation. (Ps. 111:1) Presented to Uncle "T" Taufec
Baine, from: St. Michael Orthodox Christian Church
SOYO April, 1976."
-Carolyn Sekaly
SWEETHEARTBALL
St. Nicholas Cathedral
Los Angeles, California
The Twenty-Seventh Annual SWEETHEART BALL
was held Saturday, February 28, 1976 in the Beverly
HiltonHotel in Beverly Hills, California, sponsored by the
Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral of Los Angeles.
Twenty young women made their debut in formal
court bows on the arm of their father. Wearing traditional
white ball gowns with specially designed gold heart
pendant necklaces, the young ladies were presented
through an elegant garden gateway of red and white hearts
and fresh carnations and roses.
In the receiving line were Mrs. LaBabe Corey, Ball and
Debutante Chairman and Miss Isabel Elac, Ladies Society
President. Mr. Willi~ Jabour was Master of Ceremonies.
The Debutantes, their parents and escorts were: Miss
Cynthia Louise Attyah, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Attyah,
John Hanna; Miss Theresa Ann Awad, Mr. and Mrs.
Jos~ph Awad, Mr. Alan Namey; Miss Karen Kalmoune
Bahan, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Balian, Mr. Douglas
June,1976
Sweetheart Ball
Milan; Miss Jo Ji Ann Barris, Mr. and Mrs. George Barris,
Mr. Victor Gantous; Miss Connie Lynn Fadoul, Mr. and
Mrs. George G. Fadoul, Mr. Tommy Baba; Miss Doris
Ann Fahmie, Mr. and Mrs. Leo Fahmie, Mr. Mike Hanna.
Miss Dina Diane Gantous, Mr. and Mrs. James
Gantous, Mr. Dan Moropoulos; Miss Rosemarie Haddad,
Mr. and Mrs. William Haddad, Mr. Nelson Marney; Miss
Sandy Elaine Khoury, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Khoury, Mr.
Chance Michael Betor; Miss Kelly Ann Nassif, Mr. and
Page 39
�Mrs. Joseph Nassif, Mr. Jean Paul Menard; Miss ~ich~e
Victoria Nassif, Mr. and Mrs. George A. ~assif,
Frederick Doumani; Miss Diana Jean Rafeedie, Mr. a
Mrs George Rafeedie, Mr. Gene Sawaya.
Miss Jenine Marie Saba, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd G. Saba,
Mr. Jim Beebe, Jr.; Miss Anne Marie Said~, Mr. and Mrs.
Gilbert H. Saidy, Mr. Perry T. Baltzer; Mis~ Dawn M~ry
Sarquiz, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Sarqmz, Mr. Rick
Rafeedie; Miss Lynn Marie Stepanian, Mr. and ~rs. Steve
s. Stepanian, Mr. Frank Kouri; Miss Teresa Jamne Tabah'.
Mr. and Mrs. Theodore S. Tabah, Mr. Steven Beyrooty,
Miss Christina Marie Tanous, Mr. and Mrs •. Georg~ J.
T anous, Mr . Ne1·1 Shehad·' Miss Kathleen Abee Waian,
d M.
Mr. and Mrs. Nassar S. Waian, Mr. Roger Awad; an
iss
Gina Ann Zayed, Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Zayed, Mr. Joe
Kouri.
Six hundred and fifty were in attendance fr?m Los
Angeles and neighboring communities. Music was
:d
ST. GEORGE CHURCH,
IOWA DEANERY
provided by Larry Larson and his Orchestra. Mr. Nik
Maloof was vocalist for the evening. Mrs. Theodoc
Nicholas wrote the lyrics to the Debutante's "thank-yi:
song".
Pre-Debut events included a tea held at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Amean Haddad, "Round the Clock" Fashion
Show presented by Mrs_. Joseph Armelli, MotherDaughter Mini Tea organized by Mrs. LaBabe Core
Misses Isabel Elac, and Georgette Nader were responsibi'
for the "Get Acquainted Pot Luck Dinner," Our Lady 0~
Mt. Lebanon Ladies Society ~eld a Sunday Brunch, and
the Father-Daughter Communion Brunch was planned by
Mrs. Edward Awad and Mrs. Ronald Beyrooty.
The evening was full of excitement, charm and beauty.
As Miss Elac said in her message, "May the experience
and memories of all the functions related to the Ball prove
to be a solid step on the Debutante's ladder to happiness."
-Mrs. George Nicola
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
nesota; Rev. John Khoury, St. Paul, Minnesota; Rev.
Michael Jehad, Omaha, Nebraska; Rev. Elias Sukrieh,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Rev. Constantine Nasr, Dean,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A Vesper Service was celebrated and
a reception followed.
The Sunday of Orthodoxy was also hosted by St.
George, with guest clergy participating: V. Rev. Michael
Karloutsos, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Rev. Gregory Champion,
guest speaker, Mason City, Iowa; Rev. George Phillippas,
Waterloo, Iowa; Rev. Elias Sukrieh, Cedar Rapids, and Fr.
Constantine. The Sunday School children took part in the
Procession, carrying their own icons that they had
decoupaged as a lenten project.
Through the efforts of Fr. Constantine and the Orthodox Clergy of Iowa, a Divine Liturgy was celebrated
for the first time at the University Chapel, University of
Iowa in Iowa City, with an attendance of approximately 80
people: students, teachers, and their families.
-Sharon Nasr
. 964 and graduated from Pennsylvania State University
~n\ 966 with a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering.
tn F the next three years, he was employed by General
or
• p
L
•c Knolls Atomic
ower
aboratory, as an
Electn ,
( • •
.
.
.
tions engineer trammg engmeenng officers) and
0
P~ratd men for nuclear powered submarines. The next
en11She
e spent as a nuc Iear engmeer,
•
h e Ipmg
• m
• the design
yearh Seabrook Nuclear Power Station for the Public
of t e
h.
. e Co of New Ramps rre;
Serv1c •
The next five years, 1970-1975, Father Olof spent with
W tinghouse Electric Corporation,
Water Reactors
.e~1·on Monroeville, Pa.; the first three years as a
.
. h N
D1v1s ,
• ct engineer / proJect manager m t e orth Anna
~oJfear Power Station and the next two as the regional
ulc manager ' South Central Zone, WRD Marketing
g~
.
. ·sion. As can be seen, Father Olof was rapidly adD1v1
•
I f.1eId .
cing in his profess10na
vanDuring this period, 1970-1975, Father Olof attended St.
M·chael's
Orthodox Church, Greensburg, Pa. and was
1
nverted to the Holy Faith by the then parish priest, the
~~-Rev.John Matthiesen w~~ also became his Godfather.
Heserved as a fai!hful and d1hgent memb~r and worker of
the Parish Council, Sunday School Supermtendent, Adult
School teacher, S.O.Y.O., as chairman of the Finance
Committee during the crucial time of building our new
church, and he and his lovely wife, Eva, were members of
the church choir. He also was active in organizing the
Greater Pittsburgh Council of Orthodox Churches in 1973.
He was made a sub-deacon in 1974 at the Eastern
RegionS.O.Y.O. Family Conference, and was ordained a
deacon at the Archdiocese Convention in Louisville,
Kentucky in 1975. He graduated from the two year Late
Vocations Program of the OCA, Archdiocese of Pittsburghand West Virginia in 1975. He left Westinghouse to
becomea student at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological
Seminary, Crestwood, N.Y. in September, 1975.
A Pragerfor ThreeGenerations
St. Michael Church
Greensburg,
ICONS FOR PROCESSION IN
CEDAR RAPIDS
Recently, St. George Church of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
witnessed a busy schedule of events. Visitations by Dr.
Hatem Hussani and Dr. Fawzie Turki were cordially
received at Cornell College, Coe College, and by the
American Arab Communities of Cedar Rapids. Both
delivered presentations and entertained discussion on the
Palestinian Question.
On March 2 and 3, St. George hosted the first meetings
of the Iowa Deanery, with the member clergy of the
Deanery present; V. Rev. Essa Kanavati, St. Paul. MinPage 40
Father Olof Scott
~uch _soul searching, meditation, and prayer had to
go mto his and Eva's decision to abandon a succe sful
~areer for the service of Our Lord. Truly, they ha e
hstened to the Lord's saying: "Whosoe er will come after
me, .~ethim deny himself and take up his Cross, and follow
Me. How many of us at this pinnacle of life could make
the decision to deny ourselves and dedicate our li es to
Christ?
His Grace, Bishop Elia Saliba and Father Olof and his
family arrived in Greensburg on Friday, March 26 in time
for the Vesper Service and a Lenten Dinner. Saturday,
following Divine Liturgy in the morning and Evening
Vespers, a dinner honoring His Grace, Bishop Elia, and
Father Olof and his family was held in Jeannette by the
Parish Council and was open to all parishioners.
Sunday - Day of the Holy Sacrament, the Ordination
of Fr. Deacon Olof H. Scott, Jr. into the Holy Priesthood
was accomplished by the laying-on-of-the-hands of His
Grace, Bishop Elia. Participating in the service were our
parish priest, Rev. Fr. George M. Corry, Deacon Joseph
Shahda, and Sub-Deacon Larry Daniels. Also in attendance for this moving service were Father Olof's wife,
Eva, his two children, (three year old Lisa and ten month
old Christopher) his proud mother, sister, brother and
sister-in-law. The choir, under the direction of Miss Helen
Spanovich, sang the responses.
Following the ordination, a banquet honoring Father
Olof was held in the parish hall, with Parish Council
Chairman George S. Koury serving as master of
ceremonies. An officer of each organization spoke in the
program.
To Father Olof and his family, we say congratulations.
Our best wishes, love and prayers will be with you always.
To the newly ordained Father Olof, we of St. Michael's say
"AXIOS! AXIOS! AXIOS!"
-Ruth A. Solomon
Pa.
March 28, 1976 - a day
that will be remembered
with fond memories as a
first: the first ordination
into the priesthood by one
of our own parishioners
and the first ordination of a
priest in our new church.
Our newly ordained and
beloved Father Olof ~·
Scott, Jr. was born 10
Philadelphia, Pa. in 1942
•
spent his youth in Haddon
Heights, N.J. and gradua~ed
from Haddon Heights ~igh
School in 1960. He received
his B .A. from Franklin a~d
Marshall College in physics
The Word
0 God of Life, in whom our human generations are
bound together, may thy blessing fall on those who are
marchingwith the green years upon their heads. May they
not be lacking in wise counselors and good friends; but
may they not lose the fine pleasure of doing things for
themselves.May they never throw away the hero from the
soul.And if the world with its lures and perils seem to be a
nettle,may they grasp it firmly and keep hearts unstung by
cynicismor despair. "Let the youths and maidens praise
thee."
May thy blessing fall on those who are in the midst of
the years, with much of mortal life behind them but much
stillin front. If they have ceased to look forward as eagerly
asonce they did, may they have broader vision. If they can
no longer mount up with wings as eagles, may they have
the greater power to run and not be weary. May the
strange mixture of life's experience not confound for long
the courage of their hopes; and may their loves and
lune,1976
devotions not become dusty and dull with their travel on
the road. "Let men and women in the midway years praise
thee."
And be with those who are near the last bend of the hill
we all are climbing, and to whose eyes a wide land of
memory, with sunshine and with shadow, is ou!-spread. If
they can no longer be quick to make new fnends, m~y
they keep the old friendly heart. If the pace of theu
thoughts is now slow, may they be glad to see the you!1g
feet leaping ahead. And may the sense of wonder go with
them sweet and strong, to the end of the way. "Let the old
men and women praise thee."
And, bound together in this troubled, striving, glor!ous
continuity of life, may we be helpers of one another s Joys
and bearers of one another's burdens. AMEN.
1
1
John Khouri
Archdiocese Chancellor
Page 41
�St. George Omrch, Detroit, Michigan
The activities of the St. George Church of D~~roit
began with the fall lecture series on the theme The
Church". Guest lecturers were Rev. Fr. Gabriel Barro~,
Pastor, St. Elias Orthodox Church, Toledo, . (?,hio,
speaking on "The Church as the Extension of ~hnst , V. Rev. Demetrious Kavadas, Pastor, Assumption G;~eek
Orthodox Church, Detroit, Mich., who spoke on The
Church and the World",- V. Rev. Basil Kalekas, Pasto_r,
St. George Orthodox Church, Flint, Mich., whose topic
was "The Church and the Laity", V. Rev. Andrew
Woronovich Pastor, Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox
Church, Det~oit, Mich., who spoke on "The Church and
the Hierarchy", Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Monios, lconographe~,
Fltnt, Mich., who lectured on "The Church ~nd It_s
Theology as Expressed in the Arts"; and to b~mg ~his
interesting series to a close, there was a panel disc_ussion
with an open forum with Fr. John Badeen actmg as
moderator. Many members of our sister . Ortho~ox
parishes are always in attendance at these mterestmg
lectures.
On Sunday, November 23, it was with much pleasure
that the St. George Parish welcomed His Grace, Bishop
Elia who celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. That
evening, His Grace was guest of honor at the Annual Fall
Dinner Dance held at the beautiful Hillcrest Country
Club. The food was superb and the music provided by
Woody Herman and his band was excellent and entertaining. Our thanks and congratulations to George and
Dorothy Darany and their committee for giving us such a
beautiful evening.
We were very pleased to welcome into our midst Rev.
Fr. Hanna Sakkab and his wonderful family. Father John
came to us from Beirut, Lebanon. His stay in Detroit was
very short (he is now serving the parish in Charleston,
West Virginia), but nonetheless, he and his family endeared themselves to each and every member of the
parish. We miss them all, but we wish them well.
On December 14, Teen SOYO held their annual
Christmas auction. First, the Teens and sponsors served a
delicious Arabic dinner - then beautiful hand-made
items were auctioned off by that veteran auctioneer, Mr.
George Farris. Many parishioners did a good deal of their
Christmas cheer that only the young are capable of doing
to shut-ins in homes and hospitals.
On December 20, the Senior SOYO distributed
Christmas baskets to those less fortunate individuals. All
of these young people have made a start of enriching their
lives by giving of themselves.
In January, the Church School program and staff were
reorganized. Mrs. Sally Mackool was appointed Administrative Superintendent and Mr. and Mrs. Riad Farrah
were chosen as Curriculum Superintendents. The teen
classes are divided into two parts - the 9th and 10th
grades are together and the 11th and 12th grades are
together. A new approach is being tried out at the teen
classes. "Students are given a problem in situational ethics
with variances and thought-provoking ethical questions
pertaining to t~e pro_blem. The classes are conducted in a
general discussion with a panel of four adult moderators"
This method should prove interesting and informativ •
Our thanks and best wishes to ~r. Raymond Mourad,
outgoing Church School Supenntendent, who did a fine
job and was always there when needed.
t{~
New advisors have also been appointed for Teen
SOYO -Mr. and Mrs. Riad Farah, Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Koory, Mr. Joseph Baraket and Miss Nabela Kakish. We
wish them well for the coming year. Our thanks to Miss
Vivian Gabriel who served capably as teen advisor for a
number of years. A truly dedicated person.
The St. George Parish is very proud of it's three
Seminarians who are now attending St. Vladimir's
Seminary in preparation for the priesthood. They are
Gary Geha, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Geha; Steven
Gabriel, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Gabriel; John Eby
who commuted to St. George from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
May God bestow His blessings upon these young men who
answered His call.
February 22, the Fellowship Club held the Third
Annual Millionaires Party at the St. Nicholas Social Hall.
"Millions of dollars" exchanged hands (ours just faded
away) amid much laughter and excitement. Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Darany and their excellent committee are to be
commended for a successful affair.
The Senior SOYO Awards Banquet and Hafli was held
March 6 at the Thomas Manor. Gregory Sophiea was the
recipient of the Richard McCall Memorial Award. Greg
was voted this award by members of Jr. and Sr. SOYO for
outstanding and unselfish devotion to the Church - a
very worthy award to a very worthy person.
We looked forward to the annual "Good Ole Summertime" Luncheon and Fashion Show held at the Hillcrest
Country Club, Thursday, May 20. The theme this year was
'It's Berry Pick'n Time in the Strawberry Patch", and the
Ladies of St. George under the very capable leadership of
Mrs. Dolores Bsharah and Mrs. Betty Sophiea worked
diligently to assure everyone attending a fabulous time.
re view
CONCOMITANT SOLDIER, Woman and War, by
Sonya Jason, Gemini Pre~s,. 370 pp., $3.00
Many books, both fiction and non-fiction, have
described the _effect of_ war on the people involved.
However, the first American novel to focus on the plight
of the women on "the home front" is this well-written
paperback by an Ort_hod~x woman _author, who lived
much of what she writes m Concomitant Soldier.
Sonya Jason, who is active at St. Innocent Orthodox
Church, Tarzana, Calif., where she was a member of the
ParishCouncil, left high school at age 16 in Pennsylvania
to work in a World War II defense plant. One of her three
brothers, Nick, was killed in action. She has dedicated this
book to him.
In recent years, war touched her life again when one
son,John, was called to serve in Viet Nam, while her son,
Gary, was active in the anti-war protests at U.C.L.A. Her
article on this, "My Two Sons" appeared in the Christian
Heraldand was widely reprinted around the world.
With this background, Ms. Jason has written a story
that women of all generations will understand and appreciate and one that men will gain something from
reading. There is plenty of nostalgia, reported in vivid
detail,for those who lived through the years of World War
II, Korea and Viet Nam.
"For millions of single American women, the
nationwide shortages during World War II of hosiery,
meat, and gasoline were almost secondary to the shortage
of marriageable men," notes author Jason, "Most had
been drafted."
The story in Concomitant Soldier is told through the
Christian Family Life
Father John Badeen again outlined a Lenten Lecture
Series entitled "The Orthodox Christian and-"
Materialism and Stewardship presented March 11 by
Rev. Basil Kalekas.
Ethics and Morals Pamukov.
Sacramental Life -
March 25, by V. Rev. Panayat
April 1, by Rev. Gabriel Barrow.
The Nation - April 18, by Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Monios.
• h V•
And the General Wrap-up Panel - April• 15 wit
Rev. John Badeen as moderator.
May we at St. George wish all our friends throughout
the Archdiocese a Most Glorious and Blessed EaSter.
AL MASEEH KHAM! HAKAAN KHAM!
Ilhamie Hackem
By Margaret Hanna
In these days when divorce has become so prevalent, it is extremely important that the marriage be held together. It is the
children who suffer the most in cases of divorce. Every effort
shouldhe made to insure that the family bonds he held together.
Thiscan only be done with the help of God.
W~~nwe bless ourselves, we always say, "Father, Son, and Holy
Spll'lt: the Trinity one in Essence and undivided." So should our
f~ily life he as this holy blessing. A family or house that is
dividedwill soon fall if God is not at the head.
Place God first in your family life and everything else shall be
added unto it. The love and good will towards one another will
penneate the home, and your marriage will stand forever in the
eyesof God.
For additional reading:
St. Mark 3:25
St Matthew 6: 33
June,1976
Page 42
The Word
experiences of Lia Raven, a young woman still in her
teens,. as Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor. She grow
up qmckly as. she finds the war directly affecting e ery
aspect of her hfe as do the later actions in Korea and Viet
Nam.
While Lia carries much of the story, it is the character
of her mother that comes across more strongly in many
respects and will certainly be very familiar to Orthodox
readers as the strong immigrant woman who is the backbone of ethnic families in America.
The book is frank in some places, but generally
presents everything in its proper context as opposed to
many current books which seem to dwell on sex at expense of a story line. A good deal of historical material on
the background of the wars is included which strengthens
the sense of realism throughout.
Perhaps the only shortcoming one could note is a
tendency, especially in later chapters, for the characters
to overmoralize on the effects of the war past the point of
getting the idea to the reader.
Author Jason's book may be considered by some as a
"Women's Lib" story, but in reality it is the story of men
and women caught in a seemingly never-ending chain of
events over which they have little if any control. It is
worth several evenings of reading.
-C. T. Argue
(NOTE: The book is available from John Berko, 3185
Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City, N.J. 07306 or direct from the
author at 21165 Escondido St., Woodland Hills, Calif.
91364)
Streams
of Living Water
By Margaret Hanna
The streams of living water that pour forth from the heart enable
us to see God's purpose for us in His new Kingdom which is to
come. These waters are for the healing of our souls, mind and
body. Not only do they heal hut they also teach us to live the
righteous life in Jesus Christ, our Blessed Saviour. Without these
living waters, our own lives would he just as dry as the desert.
We must allow these living streams of water to come into our lives
to quench our thirst for the true knowledge of what our Creator
wants for us in life.
Once these living streams of water begin to pour from the heart,
they become a daily part of your life, benefiting you and others in
so many ways.
Study the word of God found in John 4: 10-15
John, 7: 37 & 38
Revelation 22: 1 & 17
Page 43
�The
Orthodox World
SYOSSET, N.Y.
ORTHODOX BISHOPS CITE TEMPTATIONS
THAT FACE SPIRITUAL LIFE TODAY
The bishops of the Orthodox Church in America have
issued an encyclical letter warning against fo~r "t~mp.~
tations" concerning spiritual life: "external ntuahsm,
"religious indifferentism," "false ecumenism," and "false
spiritualities."
. .
,,
"Especially powerful among Chnst1ans ~o~ay, saf the
bishops "is the temptation to a fundamentahst_1~ emot10nal
type of Christian piety which equates deep ~pmtual f~rv'?r
and commitment with the practice of certam enthusiastic
devotional expressions and experiences.
"While there can be little doubt," they add, "about the
sincerity of the majority of those who practice and preach
this type of Christian piety, especially withil! the so-call~d
charismatic and neo-pentecostal movements, we must still
warn of the dangers inherent in this type of spirituality, as
did the apostles in the early Church."
The bishops mention "the fervor and excitement of the
manifestation of Christ's Spirit to those newly-converted
to the Faith (which) led to an immature and childish attitude on the part of some which caused no little disturbance and division in the Christian community" in its first
years.
"The spiritual gifts of preaching and teaching,
prophecying and healing, praying in tongues and expelling
demons which are true gifts of God can be misused and
abused," the bishops warn. "As gifts of God they are not
ends in themselves. They must be properly used for
spiritual growth and maturity to the fullness of the
measure of the stature of Christ," they add.
"Let us not be the victims of the lust for spiritual
pleasures," the bishops counsel. "Let us not be what our
fathers in the faith have labelled 'spiritual hedonists .. .'
Let us not give our approval to any forms of Christian
piety and devotion, however, enthusiastic and fervent, and
accompanied by whatever signs and wonders, that will
take us away from the narrow path of Christ in the sane
and sober denial of ourselves in the bearing of our crosses
in all humility and meekness.''
The Orthodox Church in America bishops express
"our fervent desire that all our brothers and sisters who
have come to know the grace of God within the various
spiritual movements of our time will cultivate and deepen
their spiritual power and wisdom within the life of the
Church, putting away childish things and growing up to
the fullness of Christ in the Spirit."
The bishops say "the temptation of external ritualism"
is among those "to which many of our members have
yielded.''.
They affirm that "all of the rituals of the Church ...
are truly from God . . . not merely the result of the
creativity or imagination of men . . . not formed by
Page 44
decree or initiated by committee" but "organically formed
by the ~~tion of divine grace working through God's holy
people.
Nonetheless, they urge a distinction between "what
. . . edifies the life of the Church and what is practiced
and preserved just because it was once the expression of
believers ... but which no longer serves to open our lives
to the understanding and grace of the kingdom of God."
The statement also laments that "we Orthodox . . . are
so lacking in proper practice of those sacramental
treasures which we possess.'' It urges that marriages,
funerals, baptisms and chrismations (sacramental seatings
of baptism), and services of annointing for healing "be
taken out of the dark corners of our private devotions and
social celebrations and be placed in the center of our
corporate spiritual lives.''
It urges "regular and frequent" and "deformalized and
revitalized" individual and communal confession and
"normal and regular" reception of the Eucharist during
divine liturgies.
The bishops warn against a view that holds that all
forms of religion are essentially equal. "We must never
allow ourselves to reduce the true faith of Christ to our
peculiar customs and traditions, while we ourselves in our
daily lives follow the dictates of society and the norms of
our neighbors."
They urge continued ecumenical contact even as they
warn against "a wrong understanding
of ecumenical
activity" which "requires us to deny that the fullness of
grace and truth abides in the Orthodox Church; to confess
that the Orthodox Faith is partial, incomplete and not
without errors; to admit that Christ Himself is but one of
the many spiritual teachers in human history, whose wayis
not unique, whose truth is not perfect, whose grace is not
full and whose life is not eternal and divine.
"This understanding
of what it means to be
ecumenically minded," the bishops say, "which is strongly
reinforced by the way of life sanctioned and propagated
within American society, is especially treacherous
because it appeals to our desire as Christians to be humble
and not judge others" and "to our desire to be respectful
of everyone and open to all that is just and good in man's
life.
"We must be fully aware, however," they continue,
"that to be respectful, humble and loving in our thoughts
and actions, confessing our own sins and those of the
members of the Orthodox Church, does not allow us to
deny the Orthodox Faith . . .''
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R
OUSTED RUSSIAN PRIEST
GIVEN NEW PARISH
.
A Russian Orthodox priest removed from a parish_m
December for preaching se~ons
critical of the Soviet
The Word
.,, nm'"·e'
nt • 'has been'
·. ·re-·assigiied 'io a, new 'pari;h •
0 ver
g Father Dmitri _Dudko told f ~reign jou~nalists here that
. hurch supenor, Metropolitan Seraf1m of Krutitsky
htS C
•
d h"
d Koloma, had appomte
1m pastor of the parish of
~revnevo, a village, about 20 miles from Moscow.
On Dec. 21, 1975, Father Dudko was discharged from
the Church of Nikita the Martyr in the ':illage of
Kabanovo Orekhov?-Zuyevsko,
some 50 mtles from
Moscow,becau~e -13:1 the words ~f _Metropolitan Serafim
_ "he systemattc~lly 13:1cludedpohttcal matter of an antiocial character m. his sermons and talks, containing
s• sed criticism agamst our government.''
bta
•
" severa 1 warnmgs,
•
The priest was a 1so given
which he
d'd
not
heed,"
said
Metropolitan
Serafim.
1
Father Dudko, 55, who spent eight years in labor
camps during_ th_e Stalin regime, wa~ assigned to the
Kabanovo pansh m September 1974. Pnor to that time, he
wasparish priest of the Church of St. Nicholas in Moscow,
where his sermons on such forbidden topics as Soviet
labor camps and state interference in religious affairs
drew large congregations.
Father Dudko also held a series of Saturday-night
question-and-answer sessions at the Church in which he
reportedly criticized both th~ Soviet government and the
Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy.
Accused of using his Moscow pulpit for "nonreligious"purposes, he was transferred to the rural Church
of Nikita the Martyr.
NEW WINDSOR, MD.
METROPOLITAN
NIKODIM DESCRIBES
DISARMAMENT AS SOVIET POLICY
Metropolitan Nikodim, president of the Christian
Peace Conference (CPC) and one of six presidents of the
WorldCouncil of Churches, says that "disarmament is the
policy of the Soviet state."
The Russian Orthodox churchman was interviewed by
Weldon Wallace of the Baltimore Sun while here for a
meeting of the CPC working committee.
He declared that "the establishment of peace on earth
is the policy of the Soviet state because my country and
mypeople have suffered a lot in wartime. Their sufferings
are greater in comparison with those of other nations."
One of the topics discussed at the meeting here was
ways in which Churches can promote disarmament.
Metropolitan Nikodim said the Churches "should use
every means at their disposal to promote a new epoch in
the world that would be without armaments.''
At the same time, he noted, it was up to "the
responsible people in the state to take the concrete steps
leading toward disarmament."
Asked about Soviet arms sales to Arab countries, the
prelate said, "I cannot speak as a specialist in this
question. I cannot say to what countries my country is
sellingarms, but I know only one principle that is guided
by our country. Arms are sold only to those who struggle
for their independence and for their freedom."
With regard to the Soviet role in Angola, Metropolitan
Nikodim said he did not think his country had intervened
in the civil war there. But, he added that if it does sell arms
there, "this did not start when civil war broke out. The
Soviet Union helped the Angolan people to struggle for
their independence and liberty before the war started.''
_Commenting on the situation of churches in the Sovi~t
Dmon, the Russian Orthodox leader said there ts
June,1976
"complete religious freedom" in his country. He reported
~hat th~re are 17 active Russian Orthodox congregations
m Lenmgrad, and that there are 75 active Christian
congregations in_both Leningrad and Novgorod.
Fundamentalist preacher Carl McIntire and about 200
of h~s followers staged a protest outside the Brethren
Service Ce~ter here while the CPC meeting was in session.
D:. ~cl~trre has frequently charged that Metropolitan
N1kod1mts _anagent of the KGB (Soviet secret police).
~sked m what capacity he was speaking here, the
Russian Orthodox leader said he came not as a
representative of his government, but "as a man who is a
Christian and at the same time a citizen of my country."
SYOSSET, N.Y.
ENCYCLICAL ON MARRIAGE AFFIRMS
TRADITIONAL ORTHODOX TEACHING
The Orthodox Church in America has issued an encyclical on marriage reaffirming traditional Orthodox
teaching.
The OCA Holy Synod (of diocesan bishops) said the
"increasingly secularized world . . . misunderstanding
freedom and proclaiming the progress of a humanity
supposedly too mature, sophisticated and scientific to
follow Christ's Gospel" makes the marriage statement
"imperative.''
The statement calls "fleshly relations . . . separated
from spiritual ones ... depraved; they must be woven
into the pure and total love between a man and a woman
united in marriage."
The encyclical says that married love, "sanctified by
God" contains "a power that transforms both those who
love and those who are loved" so that "all the difficulties
and defects in family life can be overcome."
The "procreation of good, fair and holy children" is
identified as "the greatest miracle of this divinely sanctified love of marriage."
The OCA statement emphasizes that "the perfect
marriage can only be one, single and unique," that "even
death cannot break the bond of a perfect love.''
Second or third marriages "even for widows or
widowers," are not advocated; "rather, they are tolerated
as a condescension to human frailty and weakness.''
The encyclical calls the headship of the husband in
marriage "a service of love and sacrifice." The wife is
called "the helpmate of her husband, his beloved companion for life, his source of joy and well-being ... It is
she who gives content to the life of her husband ... and
family.
The encyclical describes marriage, over all, as "an icon
of the Trinitarian life of God Himself.''
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R.
EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS
CELEBRATE EASTER SUNDAY
Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Soviet Union, and
around the world, celebrated Easter Sunday on April 25.
The Orthodox date for Holy Week is based on a
fourth-century decree of the Council of Nicaea, which
stipulated that Easter must be observed on the Sun~ay
following the vernal equinox, but always after the Jewish
Passover.
The Russian Orthodox Church celebrated
the
resurrection of Jesus Christ with a special fervor at its
spiritual center, the Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery at
Page 45
�Zagorak, about 40 miles from Moscow.
,
Thousands of believers crowded into the monastery s
four churches for services that began before midnight and
lasted most of the night.
Similarly, throughout Greece, Greek Orthodox faithful jammed churches to participate in the Easter litur~y,
beginning shortly before midnight. On Sunday mommg
Greek President Constantine Tsatsos visited a number of
military camps and distributed the traditional colored
Easter eggs.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Benedictos of Jerusalem
led a four-hour Easter liturgy that began shortly before
midnight in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditional
site of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
In Sofia, Bulgaria, Patriarch Maxime of the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church presided over Easter liturgy in the
cathedral.
WASHINGTON D.C.
ORTHODOX WINDOW DEDICATED
The Orthodox
window,
one of six transept clerestory
windows depicting the major
streams
into
which
Christendom
has
been
historically
divided,
was
dedicated in the Washington
E-iscopal Cathedral on March
20. The south rose window
foretells a future Church
Triumphant, with hope of a
united Christendom. In the
~~?II
Orthodox
window
the
Byzantine
heritage
is
~-+4PII
recognized.
Three major
figures dominate the lancets:
The Virgin Mary, Christ in
Majesty, and St. John the
IH~~~l,f-t-..,..--:!."'la..l~..._,.
Baptist. The predellas across
the lower portion of the
lancets portray five great
patron saints of the early
Churl"', !. !0 r.: Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Demetrius,
Gregory of Nazianzus, and Athanasius. Topping either
side lancet is a typical onion dome symbolic of Orthodox
structures. A symbol of the Holy Spirit hovers above the
Majestus, with cherubim and seraphim filling the lancet
openings. The inscriptions in the bottom border read, I. to
r.: To The Glory Of God; Athenagoras I 1886-1972; and
Ecumenical Patriarch. Fabricated in the Derix Studios of
Rottweil, Germany, under the supervision of Professor
Birkle, the window was given by a friend of both the
Patriarch and the Cathedral, who prefers to remain
anonymous. The glass was designed by the artist Albert
Birkle of Salzburg, Austria. (Photo Credit: Mort Broffman).
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R.
RUSSIAN PATRIARCH STRESSES
PEACE IN EASTER MESSAGE
In an Easter message to Russian Orthodox faithful at
home and abroad, Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All
Russia made an appeal for "A world without arms" and
' • ut discrimination of any kind."
he message, which is to be read at all Russian OrPage 46
thodox Easter services (April 25) said in part:
"It is the duty of all Christians to defend peace W .
• e Will
continue to work f?r peac~, ~ work that unites us in the
services of man with Chnstlans of other Churche .
s, 1n
order to contn .b u~e t~ th ~ ~rea_t·ion o f ~ world without
arms, without racial d1scnmmatlon, or discriminatio
.h
.
n of
any kind, so that everyone wit out exception may be able
to help promote truly fraternal cooperation in all areas f
0
l1.f e. "
BOSTON, MASS.
T.V. PROGRAM GIVES CHRISTIAN
VIEWPOINT ON MIDDLE EAST
A half hour Sunday television program on April 4thbroadcast twice over WNAC-T.V. Boston's regional CBS
station - ent~tled "Religio~s Pe~spective on the Middle
East" has received much affirmative response in the New
England area.
Produced by Frank Maria, Chairman of the Dept. of
Near Eastern Affairs for the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America and a member of the
Governing Board of the National <:ouncil of Churches, the
program featured Dr. John Cum°!mgs ~f Tu!ts University,
Fr. Joseph Ryan of St. Josephs Umversity in Beirut
Lebanon, and Dr. Maria in a discussion of th;
humanitarian
and moral issues involved in the
Arab / Israel conflict.
The positions of the Vatican, the World Council of
Churches, the National Council of Churches in the U.S.A.
and the U.S. Catholic Conference
were explained,
pointing out that they all called for a recognition of the
rights and grievances of the Palestinian Christian and
Moslem people and that the Palestine question was the
heart of the conflict in the Middle East.
The participants urged the implementation of a "more
evenhanded" policy toward all the peoples of the area by
the United States, the affirmation of self determination
and justice for the Palestinians, and the carrying out of
United Nations Resolutions in order to effect a just and
lasting peace in the area.
The panel agreed that political Zionism as practiced
by Israel has been a form of discrimination against nonJews and disagreed with the press' description of the
Lebanese Civil War as a Christian - Moslem religious
controversy. True enough the Lebanese conflict had
religious dimensions but essentially it was a political,
social and economic struggle aggravated by outside
pressures
due to the
unresolved
Middle East
(Arab/ Israeli) conflict. Here was an example of how
injustice, allowed to continue for years, has contributed to
a tragic civil war in a neighboring country.
The fact that the Middle East could be the tinder box
for World War III with its horrible prospect of nuclear
holocaust was cited as the most compelling reason for
American Christian understanding of the situation in the
Middle East and for urging U.S. initiatives toward an early
resolution of the Arab/ Israel controversy. It was noted
that Israel has atomic weapons as revealed by the CJ.A.
recently and that the world's two nuclear giants (U.S. and
the Soviet Union) confront each other in the Middle East.
All religious groups (Jews, Christians and Moslems)
should inform themselves about the Middle East crisis and
can help, by applying the ethics of Judaism, Christianity or
Islam to the controversy, bring about a critically needed
peace in the Holy Land.
The Word
31st Annual<trnnuentinn
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
July 26 - August l, 1976
~t. Nic4nlas®rt4nhnx<tr4urc4
5200 DIAMOND HEIGHTS BLVD
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. 94131 •
PH: (415) 648-5200
San
Francisco
Invites
YO
The 31st Annual Archdiocese Convention is more than a
travelogue of San Francisco and gala evenings. Many
daytime activities focus on the heart of the Orthodox
Churchin America. Each day will begin with a complete
liturgy and end with vespers. Special workshops are
planneddaily. Monday and Tuesday, the program for the
clergyis on "Death and Dying" - How to counsel the
dyingand how to approach the parishioner facing terminal illness. Wednesday special programs for the laity
and the clergy are on a variety of important topics including abortion, euthanasia, death, meditation, family
life, war and peace in the Middle East, and the needs of
the young people. There will also be special seminars for
businessmen, lawyers, and doctors. Thursday and Friday
the General Assembly sessions will attend to the spiritual
and temporal business of the Archdiocese. On the
spiritual side, discussions will cover missionary activities,
pastoral education, sacred music, stewardship, the Order
of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Christian education and
liturgies. On the more temporal side, topics will include
information and press relations, the clergy insurance
commission, inter-orthodox and inter-faith relations, The
Word Magazine, finance, credentials and convention
planning, Arab refugee affairs, Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Women, SOYO and Teen SOYO. On Saturday
the program will climax with the N.A.C. Oratorical
Contest. This year's topic is "Orthodox Responsibility in
Building a Nation of Justice and Righteousness ... "
You are welcome to meet in San Francisco to LEARN
more about your Orthodox Church, to SHARE in the
seminars, to RELAX and ENJOY our city and parish and
the exciting evening activities, and most important, to
CELEBRATE the Tenth Anniversary of our beloved
Metropolitan Philip.
YOUTH
ACTIVITIES
The 1976 Archdiocese Convention in San Francisco
willhave something for everybody.
.. The Youth Activities Committee has been working
dihgently to plan exciting and entertaining activities for
t~e younger set. Day activities for the poolside party, a
trip to Sausalito, a bay cruise and a trip to well known
Golden Gate Park for a picnic.
you buy the "early bird" special before June 1st, the Teen
Book will run you $20.00. The book includes all teen
activities plus two adult functions: "The Arabic Skit" and
"Metropolitan Philip-Tenth Anniversary."
A Teen Room with a juke box, will be available all day
and evening the entire week. Workshops, Senior SOYO
and Teen SOYO meetings and an Oratorical Contest will
round off an action filled week.
Evening events are being specially planned to meet the
;eeds of a generation that can "boogie" night after night.
f hese spectaculars include five dances. A different band
e~ch night, playing various types of music: rock, soul,
ra?ic, mellow, etc ....
will hopefully satisfy everyone's
musical taste.
Again, we cordially invite all of you to come to the
"City by the Bay." Don't miss out! There is no better way
to spend a vacation than to spend it with friends and
relatives. Hope to see you at this "get-together" during our
country's jubulious Bicentennial.
What will all this cost? The day activities will run you
~ok
more than $3.00 per event. The evening events will be
a en care of in a Teen Book, which will cost $25.00. If
Youth Activities Chairman,
Michael E. Habeeb
t
June,1976
Page 47
�To Celebrate The
Tenth Anniversary Of
Our Beloved
Metropolitan Philip,
Primate Of North America
St. Nicholas Parish
Presents
Two Elegant Evenings:
Thursday Evening, July 29th
World Dignitaries and The Archdiocese Honor Metropolitan
Philip in an Evening Reviewing A Decade of Progress in
which The Holy Spirit Enlightened Saidna To Dream and
Fulfill An Impossible Dream: "A Decade of Unprecedented
Progres in the History of the Orthodox Church in North
America."
Saturday Evening, July 31st
The GRAND BANQUET and The GRAND BALL will present
DANNY THOMAS, loved throughout the world as a Beautiful
Christian, Humanitarian, and a Great Entertainer.
The 31st Annual Archdiocese Convention
Hosted By
St. Nicholas Church
San Francisco,California
July 26 - August 1, 1976
Page 4
The Word
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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kalemat_19760601_20_6
Title
A name given to the resource
The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 06
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 20, Issue 6 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated June 1976.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1976 Jun
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Coverage
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/cbd5687aec8f7eea3d429021c2ecd68b.pdf
7abd6b7d61aed01ba814fd2704a7d04f
PDF Text
Text
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�The Word
Cover
In This Issue
God Bless America .
Number 5
May, 1976
Volume 20
Religious News
Service Photos
Olde Philadelphia is a symbol of the freedom that we enjoy in America today
for there stands Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell ~nd the beginnings of ou;
great democracy. It is no won?e: the_n that o~r American forefather_s turned to
Scripture to seek out God's Wdl 1n this land. Lib~rty ha~ been proclaimed to the
inhabitants of these united states. The psalmist remmds them and now us:
"Blessed is the Nation Whose God is the Lord".
~~
\
Philotheos Faros
"Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to
1
f
,,
,_ breathe 1 ree .....
·l
3
Editorial
5
A Visit to The White House
6
Bicentennial
Thoughts:
Eastern Orthodoxy in a Western Ethos, Part I.
Joseph Allen
10
Marriage as Unity and Education
Two ideas presented by Fr. Allen summarize the Orthodox
Matrimony.
William Essey
12
teaching on Holy
Lest We Forget ....
The Antiochian Church in America is established with the missionary zeal of
Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny.
15
Profiles
in Courage ....
Presenting His Eminence, Archbishop Michael Shaheen_.
James C. Meena
16
Lifestyles
X
With the beginning of the Paschal Season, many young minds tum to marriage,
as does Fr. James in this_ excellent presentation.
17
Archdiocesan
Of £ice
18
Archdiocesan
Convention
20
Communities
in Action
• •
With this issue of THE WORD, we wish to inaugurate throughout
this Archdiocese the Bicentennial anniversary of America's independence. We as~ our Canadian a_ndfor~ig~ readers to ;oin us in
this ;oyous celebration, for freedom 1s Gods gift to all mankind. We
pray that our brethren in other areas of the world will one day en;oy
this gift as well.
A vast ma;ority of the faithful of our Church in America are
American born. We are a product of Orthodox spirituality and
Yankee ingenuity. We are proud to be citizens of this blessed land,
in spite of her human frailties, corruption in high places and
spiritual sicknesses. Our democracy has lasted for two hundred
years precisely because she is a government "of the people, by the
people and for the people". Even the Church has survived in the
world for almost two thousand years because Christ touched the
lives of each of us individually.
We are proud of our heritage, our
ethnic cultures, our Mother Churches abroad. But we are equally
proud of the great accomplishments
of our Church in America for
such a short period of time. We truly wish to maintain the deep
spirituality we have inherited from our Mother Churches but our
Churchin America must take on the blessed character of this land,
its customs and traditions, provided of course, these do not conflict
with the sacred teachings of Christ and His Church. Our young
people are asking that our Church in America becomes, as the
popular song goes, "as American as Chevy, hot dogs and apple pie".
We wouldn't go that for ( it almost sounds blasphemous) but we
would agree that there is a real parallel between the growth of our
Nation and the development
of Orthodoxy in the Western
Hemisphere. As American citizens and Orthodox Christians, we
shall more and more contribute to the uniqueness of this Nation and
our democratic form of government. Already our people have made
their mark upon the pages of American history.
..J
<(
-[C
0
1-C
w
Thus as we celebrate our two hundreth year, let us kneel in
prayer to thank our Lord God for His abundant blessings, as we
sing: "O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance", as well
as, "God bless America
land that I love, stand beside her, and
guide her, through the ni~ht with the Light from above . .... "
News
Activities in Canton, Ohio; Geneva, New York; and Los Angeles, California are
discussed in this issue.
22
George S. Corey
Associate Editor
SOYO Digest
News and views of our youth movement.
26
The Orthodox World
Commentaries by the Religious News Service.
Page2
The Word
May,1976
Page3
�EXCLUSIVE• • •
Sr. CoNSTANTi
Ne:
A VISIT TO THE WHITE HOUSE
feast of the Month
Thursday, April 15, 1976 President Gerald R. Ford
O~ the White House with the Executive Board of the
met~Conference
of American-Middle
Eastern
1
S a~
and Moslem Leaders to discuss the current crisis
~hrf : non. Members of the Executive Board in attn de ~e were Metropolitan
Philip of the Antiochian
tenha~ox
Christian Archdiocese of North America, ArchO
~rth Joseph Tawil of the Melkite Catholic Exarchate,
bts
• C at h o 1·ic n·10cese,
• hop Francis Zayek oft h e M aromte
Btsd1°Pam Mohamad Jawad Chirri and Imam Muhammad
anm
• m
• t h e U'd
bd I-Rauf of the Islamic• commumty
mte
A tu President Ford was accompanied by the Chief of
~t\;\}eneral Brent Scowcroft and Mr. William Baroody,
Jta Special Assistant to the President. The meeting had
:-, requested by Metropolitan Philip, Chairman of the
eendingConference, to appeal to the President in behalf
Stan
.
ebanese Americans
to "use h.is goo d o ffice to brmg
0f L
,,
peace to Lebanon.
t!
Sts.Constantine
andHelena(May21)
In the year 313 A.D. the Roman Emperor Constantine granted official tolerance and recognition to
the Christian religion, and put an end to the persecutions which had hitherto troubled the faithful. In a
few years he transferred th~ capital of h~s Empire to
Constantinople, the old city of Byzantmm on the
Bosphorus, which he re-founded and re-named after
himself.
He was greatly interested in the affairs of the
Church and his mother Helena became a devout
Christian. In her eightieth year she made a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem and was instrumental in finding the Cross
upon which Jesus had been crucified. She built a great
Church on Mt. Calvary in honor of the relic, pieces of
which she sent back to Constantinople.
The benefactions of Constantine and Helena helped
Christianity to become the dominant religion of the
Roman Empire, and the Orthodox Church regarded
them with especial reverence for the important part
they played in her history. St. Helena died in 328 A.D.
and St. Constantine in 337.
-Fr.
After welcoming the religious leaders, the President
ffered his personal assessment of the year long civil war
fnLebanon, and remarked of his concern for the suffering
nowbeing endured by the Leban~s.e people. He noted that
official figures place total fatalities at over 25,000. He
acknowledged the complexity of the situation, but stated
forthright that "our government is doing everything
possibleto bring about a settlement." He remarked that L.
DeanBrown, "a seasoned diplomat", was in direct c~nta:t
withhim on a daily basis and that Mr. Brown was domg his
utmostto bring about a settlement. The President assured
the religious leaders that he is interested in the reconstruction of Lebanon and that certain humanitarian
assistance is being requested of Congress. He also noted
that visas are being expeditiously handled for those
desiring to leave Lebanon during the civil ~ar. Visibly
moved during his opening remarks, President Ford
proceeded to request that the religious leaders ?~fer
suggestionsthat may assist him in his process of decis10n
making.
r
Stephen Upson
(
THE WORD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
Toe Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
Toe Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMA T, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate-Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
Editorial Board:
K
Archimandnte
Stephen Upson, James C. Meena, John Estephan, Michael
h'an
• Antoun Khoun;• Archpnests
•
•
Bu b en; P nests
•
G eras1mos
•
M urp hy , James . enna;
Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John Dalack, William Essey, Raymond George, Ronald Nicola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the Antioc 1
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
Publications Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
ISSN 0043-7964
~e;:~
THE WORD, published monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at PittsburghE
sylvania, Business office, 377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213; Publication office, 3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213· n e
as second class matter and postage paid at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.
.
.
tries.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $5.00 a year in the United States and possessions; $6.50 a year in Canada, South America and all other foreign coun
ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: THE WORD. 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
Page4
The Word
Speaking in behalf of the Standi~g Confer~n~e which
represents over two million American Chri~tians and
Moslems, Metropolitan Philip stated that Presid~nt Ford
is held in "highest regard by our people" for his moral
integrityand honesty, adding that they "stood ready to _do
everything possible to assist the President t<;>ac~~mphsh
histasks." The Metropolitan continued, saymg, I~ is no
mere coincidence that we meet to discuss the suffenngs of
the Lebanese people while Wes tern Christendom commemorates the Passion of Christ." He pointed out that the
fallacy of the Lebanese civil war being a religious war
shouldbe dispelled by the fact that Christian and Moslem
leaders have joined forces to seek a common peace.
"Christians Moslems and Jews co-existed in peace for
centuries i~ the Middle East." He further noted that "not
allChristians are rightests nor are all Moslems leftis~s." !fe
appealed to President Ford to use the influence of his high
office to "stop the bloodshed in Lebanon, preserve the
independence of that country, and assist in its spee~y
reconstruction." Metropolitan
Philip concluded ~~s
preliminary remarks with his expression of hope that a
May,1975
new Lebanon may be born out of the ashes of the present
tragedy."
President Ford replied that the United States has
always had special concern for the people of Lebanon and
noted that Lebanon has always maintained friendly
political and economical relations with this country. He
insisted that the United States stood ready to preserve the
sovereignty of Lebanon.
Metropolitan Philip stated that the agreement reached
in February by the warring factions had established a first
step toward reconciliation and the cessation of bloodshed.
He further asserted that the limited Syrian presence in
Lebanon was designed to protect both Christians and
Moslems and to bring about a speedy resolution to the
civil war. He also expressed concern for the resultant
refugees of this latest conflict in the Middle East.
In response, Mr. Ford stated that Lebanon was "top
priority matter" on his daily agenda, and that he receives
reports on the situation "the first thing every morning." He
mentioned that he is in frequent communication with both
the Syrian and Israeli governments regarding the
situation. He insisted that a political, rather than a
military, solution to the civil war is the only viable opt~on.
He assured the religious leaders that he spends "more time
on this problem than on many pressing domestic issues."
The other members of the Executive Board expressed
their personal appraisal of the Lebanese crisis, relating it
to other pressing problems in the entire Middle East.
Imam Chirri emphatically stated that "th~r~ will nev_er b.e
peace in the Middle East until the Palestiruan question is
resolved." He also reminded President Ford of the strong
stand taken by President Eisenhower during the Suez
invasion of 1956. Bishop Zayek urged President Ford to
find a solution to "the thorny Palestinian problem" and in
this way alleviate one source of tension in the Lebanese
situation. Archbishop Tawil and Imam Abdul-Rauf
stressed the urgency of an immediate peace in Lebanon
and a solution to the Palestinian question. Throughout the
conversation it was brought to the attention of the
President that the current Lebanese crisis must be viewed
within the context of the unresolved issues that _have
plagued the Middle East since 1947.. It was made evident
that it is in the best interest of the Umted States that there
be a just and durable peace in that troubled area of the
world.
As the meeting continued it was remarked by the
religious leaders that President For? is _ext~emely well
informed of the complexity of the _situation m Leb~?on
and the entire Middle East. The Presid_ent stated t~at, the
Middle East is one of the most potentially explosive spo~s
in the world today." He repeatedly. un~er~core~ his
concern for the preservation of the territorial mtegrity of
Lebanon.
At the close of the meeting President ~ord exp~e~sed
his gratitude for the opportunity t~ meet with the r~hgious
leaders and stated that ~e. considered the meeting e~tremely helpful. The· religious leaders expressed t~eir
atitude for the invitation and hoped that t~e meetmg
!ay in some way help bring peace to Lebanon m the near
future.
PageS
�BicentennialThoughts:
Eastern Orthodoxy in a Western Ethos
Part I: Culture, Celebration and Expression
by philotheos
It is difficult to figure out how the prevailing as-
sumption developed that Western cultural tradition is
more refined and civilized than is the Eastern.
Nevertheless, whatever the origin of this assumption
might have been, it seems that this has been taken
for granted for a long time. In this part of the world
this is especially true, and people of both Eastern
and Western cultural backgrounds seem to accept
this assumption without question. As a result, the
Westerners have developed a certain air of superiority and have at times demanded that those of an
Eastern cultural background renounce their cultural
tradition and conform to their prevailing superior
Western cultural practices. When in the beginning of
this century, and to some extent even now, the
Anglo-Saxon city clerk told the intimidated immigrant that his name would not be Basil or Constantin
but William or Charles, he did not have the slightest
doubt that he was a missionary who was civilizing the
barbarians. On the other hand, the immigrant
Easterner often felt overwhelmingly embarrassed for
his barbarian background and he was very eager to
Anglo-Saxonize himself. He would change his name
from Papadopoulos to Papson, forget his mother
tongue, speak to his children in broken English, and,
finally, he would also change his religion, and
become Episcopalian, because Episcopalianism was
the religion of the high class.
Even if he did not change his religion, he would
try very hard to Protestantize Orthodoxy so that it
was less barbaric. The use of incense was limited, as
was lighting candles, kissing icons, or doing prostrations. All these were the uncouth practices of an old
grandmother; these were dismissed with disgust by
father and mother.
In everyday life many reformations were also
very quickly introduced. Those reformations had
mainly to do with the ways of expressing anger, sadFather Philotheos Faros is professor of pastoral
t~eology ~t Ho/;: Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary. This
bicentennza/ article, presented in two parts, was written
exclusively for THE WORD. Part II will follow in our next
issue.
Page 6
faros
ness, happiness, and despair, as well as the role and
value of the human body.
Expression of anger, which was so direct with
Easterners, was strongly discouraged. Screaming or
yelling, a very common and healthy way for Easterners to express anger, was characterized as cannibalism, and composure and calmness became the
definite indication of refinement.
The expression of joy was also limited to controlled smiles and celebrations, and feasting was so
much devitalized that it became difficult to know the
difference between a wake and a wedding reception.
At this point I would like to mention how this
mentality influenced Orthodox worship in the West,
since Orthodox worship is celebrating and feasting
more than anything else. The spontaneity of the
faithful was suppressed and Orthodox worship
deteriorated to an orderly bore.
The expression of grief was reduced to an ugly
farce. Many non-reformed Orthodox who visited
their grieving Anglo-Saxon friends found themselves
in the predicament of being consoled by the bereaved themselves who would try to control their
visiting friends' sobbing by repeating in disgust, "Do
not cry my dear, everything is fine."
I do not think there are many things more
pathetic and more barbaric than the mother who
stands dressed in a flowery dress with a glamorous
hairdo and makeup next to the casket of a young son
or daughter who has died a tragic death and asks
with a smile of every newcomer, "Doesn't he look
beautiful?", and the visitor replies with the same
smile, "He definitely does; they have done a beautiful job," to which the grieving mother responds very
politely, "Oh, thank you very much."
Another strong element of Western culture is a
definite dualism. For example, there is a strong
contempt for the human body which is not expressed
in the crudely open ways that some of the ascetics
express it, but in a very subtle, undetectable w~y
which penetrates everyday living. Most common.is
the strong distaste for any bodily gestures or facial
expressions, as well as touching, which implies that
the body exists only for sexual promiscuity.
The Word
I
!
I
(
Many ze~lo1;1s?rth~dox, especially converts, are
ercome with md1gnatton when Orthodoxy is mixed
ovwith cultural or, as they call it in order to make it
upund more Sovmts
•• t·1c, et hrue
• traditions. These
soople are obviously still unable to get rid of their
rirroer error, which is proba~ly the wo:s.t of Western
heresies,nam~ly, t~e separatton_of rel~~on from life
nd its reduction either to a stenle rehg1ous intellec:ualismor to some kind of quaint and exotic mysticisro.In reality, unl~ss r~ligion_becomes a style of life
that is a culture which ts contmually experienced in
everyday life without any impressive pronouncementsand fanfare, it is only a gimmick, a game, or a
"trip."
To help in understanding this point, I would like
to bring to your attention that the Anglo-Saxon culturalcharacteristics I tried so hard to ridicule have a
theological origin. They were inspired by Puritanism
and pietism, those ugly monsters which were begotten out of wedlock from the triangle of Christianity, Romanism and European barbarism.
Spirituality:Static or Becoming
I do not know if I can fully explain how these disastrous distortions of Christian morality developed,
but it seems that Western Christianity very early
developed the belief that people either are
Christians,which means they meet certain standards,
or they are not. Wes tern Christian spirituality and
morality is static in that sense. The procedure of
becoming a member of the body of Christ is similar
to the procedure of becoming a member of a club.
s!atement because he already had the notion that·
smce he was a Christian, he was not supposed to
have any s:x~al. thoughts. The understanding of
E_astern Ch~stta~t ty at the same time was entirely
different. Htstoncally, outstanding Christians with a
great ~eputation for wisdom, perfection, and holiness_,like St. Anthony, do not have any difficulty
talkmg about their sexual thoughts and temptations,
e~en to a very old age. The desert fathers, those
gta~ts. of Christian spirituality, report their sexual
a~x~ettes and transgressions with an amazing simphc1ty and openness. I would like to mention only
one of those beautiful stories that convey so well the
desert fathers' definite conviction that a Christian is
constantly in the process of becoming, and conse9ue n t1~what makes somebody a Christian is that he
~s movmg, t~at is, he is growing spiritually, and not
J~st that he ts meeting any standards at any specific
time.
"A brot~er was goaded by lust, and rising at night
he made hts way to an old man, and told him his
thoughts, and the old man comforted him. And
revived by that comforting he returned to his cell.
And again the spirit of lust tempted him, and again
~e went to the old man. And this happened many
times. But the old man did not discountenance him
but spoke to him to his profit, saying, "Yield not t~
the devil, nor relax thy mind: but rather as often as
the devil troubles thee, come to me, and he shall go
buffeted away. For nothing so dispirits the demon of
lust as when his assaults are revealed. And nothing so
A Christian is constantly in the process of becoming, and consequently what makes
somebody a Christian is that he is moving, that is, he is growing spiritually, and not
just that he is meeting any standards at any specific time.
That is, to become a member of a certain club you
have to meet certain requirements. Actually in the
Orthodox Church in America the procedure of
becoming a member of the Church is not similar to
that of becoming a member of a club but identical.
It is not probably an accident that the passage of
the 5th chapter of St. Matthew is translated in
English as: "You must be perfect." However, in
Greek, the verb is in the future tense of indicative
moodand it is a promise which implies very clearly
that that perfection will be granted through grace in
thef~ture, though in English it is in present tense and
the imperative mood which implies that man is
expected to reach perfection by himself immediately.
~s I said, I cannot trace out the origin of this
?0hon; I only know that Augustine was already
1
~troducing it when if I am not mistaken, he said in
his confessions that after his baptism he had no
sexual thoughts. I hate to question Augustine's
honesty, but it is absolutely impossible for me to
accept his statement. I suspect that he made that
May,1976
heartens him as when his imaginations are kept
secret." So the brother came to him eleven times,
confessing his imaginings. And thereafter he said to
the old man, "Show love to me, my father, and give
me some word." The old man said, "Believe me, my
son, if God permitted the thoughts with which my
own mind is stung to be transferred to thee, thou
wouldst dash thyself headlong." And by the old man
saying this, his great humbleness did quiet the
goading of lust in the brother."1
I said before that what makes somebody a
Christian is the fact that he is moving, and growing;
he is not stagnant, nor has he reached a certain level
of perfection as a final point. In Christianity every
single person's standards are to some extent different
from anybody else's. The expectation for the person
who is on the first step of the ladder of perfection is
to move to the second; the expectation for the
person who is on the tenth step is to move to the
1Helen Waddell, The Desert Fathers (The University
of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor Paperbacks, 1960), p. 77.
Page 7
�eleventh; therefore, when the latter individual is not
moving towards the eleventh step, he can be condemned, while the first one can be saved, although
he is eight steps lower than the latt~r. The parable of
the Pharisee and the tax collector is a good example
of that. The Pharisee is a decent man. He is not a
thief not an adulterer; he is a temple-goer and an
arde~t temple supporter. But he is satisfied with h!s
accomplishments, and he believes that there is
nothing else he has to do; and, as a result, he had
become stagnant. On the other ha~d, ~he ta~ collector lives an ugly life, but he reahzes it; he ~s not
satisfied with it and he is resolved to move. It is the
latter, not the' former, who went up to his ~o~e
justified, said Christ. The whole Eastern Christian
crease the number of Christia~s by decreasing the
moral standards. Our age has witnessed much of thi'
•
d
s
tactic. It started with Protestantism an developed to
a spectacular firecracker in Roman Catholicism
which responded with an overflow of permissiveness
to the recent overwhelming exodus and indifference
of its followers. I wonder which of the two tactics has
been more destructive. The first created false people
who spent their energy not to grow but to hide! The
second took the excitement out of life. All the average American expects from himself is not to steal
and not to kill, and when he accomplishes that, he
sits back doing nothing and ends up vegetating and
being bored to death. There is not any far-reaching
perspective in his life, therefore he develops an
b the finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my
h~use from which I came.' A~d when he comes, he
findsit empty! swe:pt, and put m order_. !hen he goes
and brings with him seven other spmts more evil
than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the
last state of that man becomes worse than the first."
(Matthew 12, 43-49)
infantile self-concern, which leads either to depression or to breakdown. When he cannot have instant
gratification of his great oral needs, the world falls
apart. He would never have a chance to get depressed due to sexual frustration, if he had the farreaching direction in his life that a certain ascetic
had, who every time he ate food, cried because he
was nurturing his corruptible body when his incorruptible soul was starving.
That static notion of Christian morality and
spirituality penetrated the life of the Western
Christian and became a life style, which they live
without being aware of it. Since the Western notion
of Christian morality was the meeting of certain
standards, a Christian was not supposed to have any
negative feelings like anger and hatred. That notion
The Image of Christ
. I~ is_amazing how Western Christianity distorted,
m this i~ue, the scriptural image of Christ and presented him as condemning human aggression and as
Orthodox Christianity
has not accepted the "appear to be" pattern and, although it
encourage~ the st ru~gle for pe~fect10n, condemns perfectionism which is intolerance
of hum_an •~perfectmn
and which, in the language of the ascetics, is an indication of
demomc pnde.
Very early, Western Christians realized that they would never make it if the only way
they could be Christians would be to meet all the standards; therefore they concentrated their efforts on trying to appear to be the way they were supposed to be.
tradition has developed on the basis of this stand.
Western Christianity seems to have missed this
entirely, and it got really caught up in its inflexible
and impersonal generalizations. It developed the
either/ or Christian morality which presented very
serious problems right away, and these show up very
clearly in our times. The Christian West tried to cope
with the consequences of its either/ or generalized
and standardized morality by developing two highly
destructive patterns: 1) the ''appear to be" pattern
and 2) the "lowering of standards" pattern.
Two Destructive Patterns in The West
The first, in essence, just removes the focus from
trying to be a Christian to trying to appear to be a
Christian. Very early, Western Christians realized
that they would never make it if the only way they
could be Christians would be to meet all the stand-
human i~per~ection and which, in the language of
the ascetics, is an indication of demonic pride.
(
The unclean spirit that comes out of the
Easterner with uncouth screaming and yelling, and
which is repressed by the refined Wes tern er, comes
backbringing with him seven spirits more evil than
himself like all kinds of neuross, schizophrenia, depression, religious fanaticism, and many others;
undoubtedly, the state of the psychotic refined
Westerner is far worse than the state of the uncouth
and crude, screaming
and yelling Easterner.
Repressed anger has been the cause of many disastersin human history. Many wars, revolutions, and
massacres have been the disastrous outburst of repressed anger, and likewise many destructive effects
of religious fanaticism like the Inquisition and the
dreadful murders of the Calvinistic communities in
the Middle Ages. Also, many dictators or stern and
punitive religious leaders are moved by a repository
of repressed anger which usually refers more appropriately to parental figures and which has been repressed by religious and cultural inhibitions. This is
how religion becomes life, and it is lived by these
people without awareness. This is how Western
Christianity has influenced Western culture and this
a sickening, soft, and effeminate man with rosy
cheeks and blond wavy hair. It is deplorable that so
many Orthodox are offended by the strong, powerful, dynamic, scriptural Christ of the Byzantine art
although they are infatuated by this nauseating
Wes tern Christ. It is amazing how Wes tern
Christianity managed to visualize the fiery eyes of
Christ which "looked around" at the Pharisees "with
anger," (Mark 3,5) as sweetish and wishywashy, how
it resolved to present as soft and effeminate, the
powerful Christ who made "a whip of cords" and
drove with it all the merchants "out of the temple"
with their sheep and oxen, and "poured out the coins
of the money changers and overturned their tables."
(John 2, 13-16) It is amazing how Western Christianity managed to describe as quiet and soft-spoken
him who uttered the dreadful "woes" and called the
Scribes and Pharisees "hypocrites," "blind fools,"
"blind guides," "white-washed tombs," "serpents"
and "brood of vipers" (Matthew 23) and told his
tempting disciples "Be gone Satan." (Matthew 16, 23)
It is inconceivable how Christ disintegrated to a
eunuch prince of peace although he stated very
r
if the only way you can be a Christian is to meet all the standards, we can increase
the number of Christians by decreasing the moral standards.
ards; therefore they concentrated their efforts on
trying to appear to be the way they were supposed to
be. A good name for that tactic is hypocrisy, and it is
familiar to all legalistic and rigid moralities. Phariseeism was exactly that, and Puritanism and pietism
excelled in this - far beyond Phariseeism. Southern
Baptist piety is an excellent contemporary example
of this tactic.
The other pattern has been the lowering of the
standards. That is, if the only way you can be a
Christian is to meet all the standards, we can inPage8
was incorporated in the culture and eventually the
expression of anger became a sign of barbarism.
Refined people were not supposed to express or feel
any anger. As a result of this notion, anger was sup·
pressed, and it was transformed to all kinds of bad
symptoms. Repressed anger is a basic part of all
mental disturbances. The suppressed anger becomes
devious and comes out well camouflaged and ~ver·
destructive. This is exactly what Christ describes,
saying, "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a
man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest,
The Word
It is amazing how Western Christianity managed to visualize the fiery eyes of Christ,
which "looked around" at the Pharisees "with anger," (Mark 3,5) as sweetish and
wishy-washy, how it resolved to present as soft and effeminate, the powerful Christ
who made a "whip of cords" and drove with it all the merchants "out of the temple."
is how a distorted Christianity has caused immeasurable harm and innumerable deplorable cases of
mental disturbance with which modern psychiatry is
struggling. The therapeutic process for a schizophrenic in essence is a process of Easternization of
the Western man; it is a process of re-orthodoxizing
~heWestern Christian, because Orthodox Christianity has not accepted the "appear to be" pattern and,
although it encourages the struggle for perfection,
condemns perfectionism which is intolerance of
May, 1976
emphatically, "Do not think that I have come to
bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring
peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man
against his father, and daughter against her mother,
and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and
man's foes will be those of his own household,"
(Matthew 10, 34-36) Christ did promise peace but not
a hypocritical external peace but a real inner peace.
He said, "My peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you." (John 14,27)
Page 9
�If all this languag~ of ess~n tial a?d non-essential
ds complicated, 1t truly ts not, if we remember
soutnhusbandand wife, in the face of all the shallow
thad on-essentta
• l JU
• d gmen t s m
• th'ts life, are fa1thful
•
• an t:ose essential aspects: What does life mean?
:hat is its real value? What did Christ live and
teach?
Marriage
as Unity
andEdutation
ffo111e
by joseph alien
An important quote in the Orthodox Matrimonial
Service captures the aspects of unity and education
in only a few words:
Unite them in one mind and one
flesh, and grant unto them fair
children for education in thy
faith and fear.
Listening carefully to that quote, one will see two
distinct ideas. The first idea has to do with the union
of husband and wife: "Unite them in one mind and
one flesh." The second idea has to do with children
and education: "Grant unto them fair children for
education in thy faith and fear."
These two ideas, however, are put together in
one sentence for no small reason. They belong together in concept and in spirit. The scope of these
words can never be realized in such an article as this;
the implications of this quote are tremendous.
But what I can do is to take only a small part of
their meaning and relate that small part.
To begin with, these two ideas belong to each
other because, what we have to teach to children, is
what we are to each other. Thus the Church rightly
joins these two concepts which, if one is not attentive to these words, he may miss precisely why the
Church has joined these concepts, one to another.
It is where these two concepts cross and interact,
i.e. where unity of mind and flesh, and education of
you-how-to-do-it," but some open-ended thoughts
which this quote provokes in my own mind.
Birth and Essentials
We begin with birth itself. We give birth to children from the limited substances of our own bodies
and we wonder whether we have accomplished any:
thing significant in life. A husband and wife are
united in one mind and flesh and remain faithful to
each other throughout years of joy and anger, tension and harmony, brilliant days and bitter nights.
They may be disheartened in their love for many
reasons; union of mind and flesh is truly tested and
tried in this life.
We all know that we easily forget the "essentials"
within this command of "unity" in the face of all the
nonessential aspects: a promotion may not come
through, a better home may not be possible, a son or
daughter may fail to gain entrance to the best possible college. Sometimes these realities are wrongly
made essential, are made the measure of a man's
success as a husband and the woman's adequacy as a (
wife.
We know, however, that we are not disembodied
spirits. We have concerns and responsibilities in this
world. Our unity of mind and flesh is thus tested and
influenced by values of our society, which sets standards of excellence and achievement. Each man seeks
values by which he may measure his own worth.
However, after seeing this reality that our own
culture, like every culture, has devised certain cri-
We give birth to children from the limited substance of our own bodies, and we
wonder whether we have accomplished anything significant in life.
the children cross, which is the "small part" to which
I hope to turn our attention. Not a didactic "telling-
Father Joseph Allen is pastor of St. Anthony's in
Bergenfield, N.J., Associate Editor of THE WORD and
chairman of the Continuing Pastoral Education Commission.
Page JO
teria for success, another truth enters. That truth is
this: that there is no criterion, particularly for the ,
Christian, except love for life which is ultimately
essential. We have been taught, in fact, that there is a
demonic influence in our world which reverses
"essential" and "non-essential" elements. Adam
forgot the essential and began to love the non·
essential; we do the same.
The Word
In these essential truths, and out of that flesh and
. d unity - which is itself, an essential of life, we
rnin
•
. our
ate a home. T h e two d'1stmct
concepts m
ereote cross precise
• ly h ere: m
• th e 1•d ea of "h ome. "
qu Now I do not mean "home" to be a place - four
alls and a roof. More than a place, it is an attitude.
; is an attitude based on the essential criteria of this
in another way, a way which is likewise essential and
proceeds from that flesh and mind unity. We must
teach them, if you will excuse my language, what the
poet k?ows. It is the poet who sees the mystery of life
and tries to establish ties with the essentials of life.
His way is the way of devotion. It is such devotion
which is our way of singing a song another can hear
and of _hearing the song another sings. He knows, as
our children must know, that the meaning of life depends not on what one possesses or manipulates, but
on what one sees in his possession.
Jesus' heart was a poetic heart when he touched
the essentials in life: the blind and the lepers; the
children and the dead; John, the faithful; Judas, the
traitor. He let life touch Him! Mary of Magdaia,
Home is something which happens to a person. It is where a person comes to feel a
sense of his own personal worth and integrity. Where there is no "home" in this sense,
there is only aloneness, and the most terrifying of fears is precisely loneliness.
life.Home is something which happens to a person.
It is where a person comes to feel a sense of his own
personal worth and integrity. Where there is no
"home"in this sense, there is only aloneness, and the
most terrifying of fears is precisely loneliness. It
meansthat one has become a stranger, that he feels
unsettled, never at rest, never "at home" both with
others and himself. Someone truly loves us when he
bringsus home, when he makes us comfortable with
ourselves,when he takes from us the strangeness
that we feel at being who we, ourselves, are. The
father, seeing the essential, accepts the prodigal son
to such a home. We are loved when we are accepted,
when we are no longer frightened - even with
ourselves.
Thomas, the doubter, the soldier with the spear. He
saw life rather than things, mystery rather than possession, something to serve rather than something to
own. To teach a child to be such a poet, is to say that
one sees rightly with the heart, and the human heart
seeks to die for that which it loves. Such is the unity
of mind and flesh, and such is the essential lesson
which is forthcoming to our children.
What, then, proceeds from that unity which is
essential? - the attitude of "home" and the heart of
the poet. These are truly essential to become
Christian.
With these two concepts in mind, we shall
become Christian, then, on that day when sunshine
means more than acquisition; on that day when the
Original sin split man's heart m two, divided man against himself, tore his serenity
from himself and God.
The creation of such a home is essential. Original
sin split man's heart in two, divided man against
himself,tore his serenity from himself and God. He
is dissatisfied with himself, cannot tell essential from
non-essential. He went into history without such a
home,but always longing for a home where he could
be "at one" with himself again. What is "essen~ial"
for our children is no less than what Jesus promised
us: such a home when we shall be called by name,
whenwe shall ru~h from our prodigal ways and sense
the strength of a father's arms around us. This is
whatI mean by home and this is essential.
The Mystery of Life '
But in this kind of home we have to educate them
May,1976
children of the world excite us at least as much as its
rulers; on that day when we use our hearts to
measure the worth of a human being, then we
become Christian.
We shall become Christian on that day when we
are joyful because so many people are in love rather
than affluent - when we learn to make music and
poetry, love and peace, when we ~ake oursel~es as
human as Jesus Himself was. It ts all essential to
home and poetry.
In the end we shall become Christian on that
morning when' we laugh and sing for the right reasons and when we weep not because we have lost
something but because we were given so much.
Page 11
�Lest We Forget • • •
,
A sen·es of articles on personalities of the past who
have profoundly influenced Orthodoxy in America.
RAPHAEL
Bishop of Brooklyn
THE MORNING OF SATURDAY, MARCH 12,
1904, brought an air of great joy and excitement to
the scattered communities of Orthodox faithful
throughout North America. But nowhere was the
excitement so evident as in the Arab Orthodox community in Brooklyn, New York, because their pastor,
Archimandrite Raphael Hawaweeny, was to be
consecrated a Bishop that morning during Divine
Liturgy.
Raphael Hawaweeny was born to pious Orthodox
parents on November 8, 1860 in Damascus, Syria. At
that time Syria and the rest of the Holy Land was
under the domination of the Ottoman Empire. It was
not easy to be an Orthodox Christian in those days.
The Turkish government had strict regulations
governing the conduct of Christians and often closed
its eyes to the discrimination against and massacring
of the Christian population. The Balamand
Seminary, the only school for the training of clergy
in the Patriarchate of Antioch, had been closed in
1840, so when Raphael expressed his desire to study
for the Priesthood he was sent to the Ecumenical
Patriarchate's Theological University on the island
of Halki, about 30 miles from Constantinople.
After completing studies at the University,
Deacon Raphael applied and was accepted for
graduate work at the Kiev Theological Academy. In
1894 Deacon Raphael accepted a professorship at
the ~azan Theological Academy, where he taught
Arabic Language and Literature. During this era the
Holy Synod of Russia had taken responsibility for the
protection and education of the Orthodox Christians
throughout the Holy Land (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan). Not only did they refurbish the
churches with new icons, vestments and bells but
they established parochial schools where Orth~dox
children could get a good education. The students of
Deacon Raphael would become members of the
Imperial Palestine Society which brought these
blessings to the Holy Land.
Invitation To America
Because of religious persecution and economic
instability in their homeland, many Arab Orthodox
Page 12
migrated to the New World in search of freedom
Because of their limited finances and littl•
knowledge of their new country, the majority 0~
these new immigrants remained in New York City
after passing through the im_migration offices on Ellis
Island. In 1895 they orgamzed themselves into the
Orthodox Benevolent Society to care for their
common needs. One of their most prestigious and
learned members, Dr. Ibrahim Arbeely, was chosen
to be their president. Dr. Arbeely had heard of a
young Syrian Deacon in Russia who was interested in
missionary work. In keeping with the goals of the
Orthodox Benevolent Society, to provide for the
spiritual, educational, cultural and economic needs
of the new Arab immigrants, Dr. Arbeely wrote to
Deacon Raphael asking him to come to America to
serve his fellow-countrymen.
Travelling to St. Petersburg, Deacon Raphael
met with Bishop NICHOLAS and asked for his
blessing to accept the challenging opportunity in
America. Bishop NICHOLAS responded, favorably
to the request and ordained Deacon Raphael to the
Priesthood and elevated him to the rank of Archimandrite. To accompany Father Raphael on his mission, the Holy Synod appointed two other young
Arabs who were studying in Russia ... Constantine
Abou-Adal and John Shamie (both would be or- ~
dained to the Priesthood in later years).
Upon his arrival in New York in 1896 Father
Raphael was appointed by the presiding Bishop to
head the "Syro-Arabian Mission in North America,"
which at that time numbered approximately 20,000
souls. He was assigned to serve as pastor to the com·
munity in New York City where he quickly set about
to organize a parish with permanent facilities.
Together with Constantine Abou-Adal, his young
chanter, Father Raphael set up a chapel at 77
Washington Street. He furnished the entire chapel
without asking for funds from his flock. He even
refused to accept the small salary which the com·
munity had been able to off er. In no way did he wish
to burden his struggling congregation.
Missionary Travels
As news began to reach him of other small com·
munities of Arab Orthodox widely scattered across
the United States and Canada he set out on his mis·
sionary journeys ... often tr~velling by horse a~d
buggy. He baptized, married and blessed graves tn
cities and villages throughout the continent. T~e
most important part of his pastoral visits was hts
The Word
bration of the Divine Liturgy where the faithful
ce1e once again able to receive the Eucharist.
were
These services were, for the most part, celeted in the crowded living rooms of the faithful.
;~ n word reached a community that a "Khouri"
wasecoming, the preparations immediately began.
Th re were people to contact and huge amounts of
edto prepare for those who would be coming from
f00
•
at distances f or t h e specia• l occasion.
When
r;her Raphael finally arrived the_ enthusiasm w_as
erwhelming. He was greeted as if he were Christ
~~mself.After escorting him to the place where the
Liturgywas to be celebrated, the people set about
lightingcandles and incense, and lining up with men
on the left and women on the right. The children of
course were placed in the front where the watchful
eyesof the parents would be able to spot each yawn
or turn of the head. Such "unchurchly" actions by
the children would be quickly acknowledged by a
knuckle on the head from the closest "aunt" or
"uncle." With the first "Amen" it was evident to
Father Raphael that he had made the right decision
in coming to America. The cross-armed men of the
congregation would almost shake the house apart
with their chanting ... each trying to out-do the
other with volume and knowledge of the hymns.
Followingthe Liturgy Father Raphael would preach
long,fiery sermons to the spiritually hungry people.
The "best" part of the sermon was when he would
promise the congregation that help was coming ...
that they would have a church and a priest of their
own. These were bold words for one, sole priest to
make. But with unshakeable faith in God, Father
Raphael continued to preach this good news. His
words inspired hope and courage in others, as
witnessed by the parish comm uni ties and churches
which were organized. In 1898 he translated and
published the Great Evchologion into Arabic for use
in these new parishes.
By 1901 news of this young, dynamic Archimandrite reached the Holy Synod of Antioch. In
December of that year Father Raphael was elected
to be Bishop of Zahle in Syria. He was twice invited
to return to Syria for episcopal consecration but
each time he refused, saying that his labors in
America were still unfinished.
In 1902 the New York parish was secure enough
to purchase a church building in Brooklyn for
$12,000.The church, placed under the patronage of
St. Nicholas of Myra, was located at 301-303 Pacific
Street. Following renovation for use by the Orthodox, the church was consecrated
by Bishop
TIKHON on October 27, 1902. Saint Nicholas,
although now located at a different location in
Brooklyn, is still considered the "mother church" of
the Arab Orthodox on this continent, and is the first
Cathedral of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America.
May, 1976
Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
1860-1915
Elected Bishop
Bishop TIKHON, the head of the Russian Church
in North America which had jurisdiction over the
Syro-Arabian Mission, was so impressed by F~ther
Raphael's qualities of spiritual and educational
leadership, that he sought permission fro~ the Holr
Synod of Russia to have the youn~ Sy_nan ~rchimandrite consecrated to serve as his vtcar-bishop.
The Synod gave its blessing and on Friday, March 11,
1904 Bishop TIKHON and Bishop INNOCENT of
Alaska elected Archimandrite Raphael Hawaweeny
as Bishop of Brooklyn.
The following day, March 12, the Saint Nicholas
Church on Pacific Street was filled early in the
morning by the faithful who had come to see their
"Aboona Raphael" consecrated a Bishop during the
Divine Liturgy. Many Greeks, Russians, and Orthodox of other nationalities also crowded the church to
Page 13
�witness the first consecration of an Orthodox Bishop
in the New World. The chanting of "Holy God" was
done with an added touch of gusto, as excitement
over the consecration, which was to follow the
hymn, was reaching a climax. With Bishops
TIKHON and INNOCENT waiting in the Holy Doors
of the iconostas, Father Raphael was led into the
sanctuary where he knelt before the Altar Table.
The Bishops placed their hands upon his head as
they offered the prayers of consecration. Following
the prayers Hawaweeny rose to be vested as a Bishop
to the resounding shouts of "Axios, Mustahik, He is
worthy" from the clergy and laity. At the conclusion
of the Liturgy Bishop TIKHON presented the
pastoral staff to the new Bishop RAPHAEL with
words that likened him to the good shepherd in
Ezekiel: "As a shepherd I will rescue my flock from
all places where they have been scattered ... I will
seek the lost and bring back those who have
strayed."
Founded The Word
In the eleven years of his episcopacy Bishop
RAPHAEL continued his missionary work among
the Orthodox in North America, Arab and non-Arab
alike. On January 1, 1905 he published the first issue
of Al Kalimat (the present Word Magazine) for the
education of his people. He sought the assistance of
Father Ingram N.W. Irvine, a convert to Orthodoxy,
in providing articles in the English language for the
young people and converts numbered among h'
flock. In late 1912 he sent his famous "Past is
Letter" to his clergy and people forbidding the:\al
accept ~he ministratio~s. of EpiscoJ?alian clergy, wh~
at that time were dece1vmg
.
. people mto believing that
Orthodoxy and A ng 11camsm were synonymous.*
On February
27, 1915, Bishop RAPHAEL
Hawaweeny departed this life and was buried 1•
Brooklyn's Mount Olivet Cemetery, where a sm ~
shrine now marks his grave. With the death oft;.
brillia_nt and dedicated leade_r and with_ the confusio:
resultmg from the Bolshevik revolution in Russi
the unity of Orthodoxy in the New World w:'
ruptured. Even the small Arab Mission was split int s
opposing factions ... "Russy," those who favore~
Russian jurisdiction;
and "Antaky,"
those who
favored Antiochian jurisdiction. In later years other
divisions and opposing loyalties would arise. It was
not until sixty years after the death of Bishop
RAPHAEL, in June of 1975, that the Arab Orthodox congregations in North America were to enjoy
the blessing of unity once again.
- William Essey
* Editors' Note:
This letter will be published in a future issue of THE
WORD.
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Page 14
The Word
Orthodoxyand Contemporary
Iconoclasm
by metropolitan philip
EditorsNote
This Sunday of Orthodoxy message in the last issue of
THE
WORD was printed incorrectly - one page was
issing. We apologize to His Eminence for this misun;e,standing and reprint his message In full in this issue.
Every year, on the first Sunday of the Great Lent, the
Churchcelebrates her triumph over the iconoclastic heresy.
Somechurch historians believe that this heresy was deeply
rootedin political and social reasons, however, I believe that
thereligious reason was the most predominant. Emperors
LeoIII and Constantine V, waged a savage war against the
icons,a war which resulted in much suffering, destruction
andbloodshed.The Church was accused by the iconoclasts
ofworshippingidols. This accusation was not theologically
substantiated,and if it was, we do not have enough literature
leftto support the iconoclastic claim. It was inevitable that
the war against images would lead to a tremendous
Christologicalcontroversy. The iconoclasts stated that ''the
'fonnof the Servant' assumed by Christ was no longer in the
realmof realities. He undoubtedly assumed it, but in order
to transform it into a divine reality ; it is important,
therefore,that the Christians, if they desire to anticipate the
glorythat is His, and to which they also aspire, should
contemplateGod in the purity of their hearts and not in
artificialimages of an historical past that is now over.' ' The
iconoclastsfurther stated that material images are barriers
whichhinder the soul from returning to the immaterial
prototype.
The Church of the Eighth Century was indeed fortunate
tohavebrilliant, valiant and articulate people like St. John of
Damascus,Theodore the Studite, Patriarch Germanus and
Patriarch Nicephorus who courageously defended her
positionvis-a-vis iconoclasm. Even before the iconoclastic
decrees, Patriarch Germanus of Constantinople emphaticallystated that it is possible to make an image of Christ
becauseHe "deigned to become man." According to St.
John'sgospel,' 'the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
usandwe beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
ofthe Father, full of grace and truth.' ' (John 1 : 14.) Thus,
sinceChrist became man and was seen, heard and touched
by people, the Christian iconographer can represent His
human character because He became like one of us by
assuming our total human nature except sin. The
representation, however, of Christ's divine and incomprehensiblenature is beyond the realm of iconography
andart. St. John of Damascus profoundly stated this reality
as follows: "If we made an image of the invisible God, we
Wouldcertainly be in error, but we do nothing of the sort;
for we are not in error if we make the image of the Incarnate
God, who appeared on earth in the flesh, and who in His
ineffablegoodness lived with human beings and assumed the
nature, the thickness, the shape and the color of the flesh."
When we venerate the icon of Christ, we do not venerate
wood and color, but the Creator of the universe who became
matter for our salvation. We owe a great measure of
gratitude to the Church of the iconoclastic era for defending
the Orthodox Faith, thus preserving for us these beautiful
icons which adorn our churches and continue to instill in us
a deep sense of the Holy. When we worship in the Orthodox
Church and look at the holy icons, we feel that the Church of
the Old Testament, the Church of the New Testament and
the Church throughout history is praying with us and interceding for us. A Church without icons is a church
without windows to heaven.
Despite the doctrinal victory which the Church scored
against the iconoclastic heresy of the Eighth Century,
iconoclasm continued to challenge the Church relentlessly
through many socio-economic, philosophical and political
ideologies.Such ideologicalchallenges were no longer aimed
at church icons but rather at man, the real and living icon of
God. From the beginning, according to the Book of Genesis,
' 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God
�r by removing medical life supporting systems.''
occu
• ht to termmate
•
111e
·.s: except the
No one has th e rig
Giver of Life. "The L~rd giv~s and the ~ord takes."
Moreover, through man s creative energy, ~1feis ~ con. ous discovery. In other words, what was impossible to
unudical science m
• t h e past, 1s
• poss1'bl e to day. Open heart
:;gery, for e~ample, ~as not possible twenty-five years ago.
Now it is a daily pra~tt~e and I _would venture to say that in
the past ten yea~s ~illions of hves were saved through this
operation. My hfe 1s one of them.
tween Church and the World" said: "It is impossible£
man to settle in. the world complet~ly without Go~r
Although proud of its successes and attamments, thew •
.. 1
or1d
sees every day more c1ear 1y t he provis1ona and insuffici
•
'li
•
0
th
f
h
•
nature of its civ1 zatton. n e verge o avmg its f ent
. h"
nundations shaken to t he core, 1t t rrsts as never before for th
true light.'' Unfortunately only a few prophets such e
Barabanov and Solzhenitsyn understand the tragedy of rnas
• 1·
•
W e read in th
an
under both capita
ism an d commurusm.
Psalms that God made man ' 'a little lower than the ang ~
and has crowned him with glory and honor.'' (Psalm 8: ;)
yet our economic systems, philosophical concepts and
modern technologies have dehumanized man and reducd
him to an object of psychological and natural categories. e
The Church today is beset by all kinds of contemporar
iconoclasm. I would like to mention just a few of them:
y
created He him; male and female created He them.''
(Genesis 1: 27). Both the Old and the New Testaments
reveal to us that man is God's most precious creation. God
made him a steward over the natural world. He gave him
'' dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the
air, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'' (Genesis
1 : 26). Surely the Incarnation has a cosmic dimension but
the primary purpose of God's marvelous and decisive intervention in human history was to embrace man and restore
to him that divine sonship and that divine image which was
distorted by sin. ''When the fullness of the time was come,
God sent forth His son, made of a woman, made under the
ABORTION
In January, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United
States legalized abortion. I believe that such a decision wasa
tremendous blow to our Christian ethics and morals andhas
caused the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent
unborn children who have the right to live. Dr. R. A. Gallop
wrote: ' 'Once you permit the killing of the unborn child
there will be no stopping. There will be no age limit. You ar;
setting off a chain reaction that will eventually make you the
victim. Your children will kill you because you permitted the '
killing of their brothers and sisters. Your children will kill
you because they will not want to support you in your old
age. Your children will kill you for your homes and estates.If
a doctor will take money for killing the innocent child in the
womb, he will kill you with a needle when paid by your
children. This is the terrible nightmare you are creatingfor
the future.''
EUTHANASIA (Mercy Killing)
I am not surprised at all by the heated debate whichis
going on in this country concerning the legalization of
euthanasia. The legalization of abortion will necessarily lead
to the legalization of "mercy killing"; for what is the
difference between terminating an unwanted life in the
womb and an unwanted life in the hospital? Both casesare
l
I
1
The European Renaissance inaugurated a new era of iconoclastic heresies suchas
godless humanism, godless marxism and godless nationalism.
law; to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4-6).
The European Renaissance inaugurated a new era of
iconoclastic heresies such as godless humanism, godless
marxism and godless nationalism. These idealogies,
under the influence of power politics in both capitalist and
communist countries, tried to enslave man, reduce him to a
mere tool of production and make him self-sufficient by
divorcing him from God and consequently from a total
Christian view of himself and history. ·The Russian author
Evgeny Barabanov in a recent essay entitled "Schism Be~
indicative of our lack of reverence for human life. Russell
Chandler, Religious Editor of the Los Angeles Times, in
an article entitled '' The Option of Death: Who May
Choose?'' wrote: ''The sophisticated and thorny e~ical
problems of abortions, euthanasia, genetic engineenng_,
organ transplantation and test tube babies were remote - tf
not unreal - to most clergymen let alone the average
person. According to experts in the field, the numb~rof
persons advocating an individual's right to terminate hisor
her own life is growing. Others, although not going that far,
feel comfortable about passive euthanasia, allowing death to
fiscal year ending next June raises political and moral issues
that neither the administration nor the congress can
ignore.''
There is a new theological trend which is sweeping the
Christian world today called ''Theology of Liberation.'' We
have been asked to define our Orthodox position vis-a-vis
Can the Church remain passive and silent
in a world of hunger, racism, totalitarian-
HOMOSEXUALITY
When a society loses its moral fiber, it falls prey to
ism, economic exploitation and social
•mmorality and all kinds of perversion. Homosexuality
injustice?
:oday is openly and widely publicized in the news media;
consequently, homosexuals have their clubs, organizations,
and even churches. Homosexuality has invaded institutions
this theology. Can the Church remain passive and silent
such as our armed forces and even some Christian
in a world of hunger, racism, totalitarianism, economic
denominations. The Old and New Testaments, canon law
exploitation and social injustice? And if not, can the
and Holy Tradition all condemn homosexuality as being
Church advocate armed resistance and encourage social
abnormaland inconsistent with both God's law and natural
revolutions as ways and means to liberate oppressed nations?
We
need answers to this and other new iconoclasms. We also
law.
Homosexuals say that normality varies from person to
have to speak in a prophetic way against other trends which
person. In short, they say, "what is normal is what I decide
are destroying God's image in man such as sex and violence
is normal." We cannot but reject this kind of reasoning
on television and movie screens, pornography, the disinbecauseas Orthodox Christians, we live before God and in
tegration of the family, the spread of nuclear power, and
the Church, and it is from such sources that we derive the
corruption in our government, especially during this
standardsby which we measure morality. If man is to decide
election year. Each and every one of our candidates for the
forhimself what is moral and what is immoral, he becomes
highest office in the land is sacrificing his human dignity and
his own god. Such a relativistic attitude will result in man's
moral principles in order to win votes.
uprootedness and disconnectedness from God. The purpose
It is a beautiful thing that this year, our Sunday of Orof Christian ethics is to lead man not to the self-adjustment
theories of relativism but to self transcendence and Transfiguration.
WORLD HUNGER
The most serious problem which our world is facing
todayis no longer a nuclear confrontation. It is rather mass
starvation. An American agronomist warned recently that
''unless mankind is wise enough and compassionate
enough to design a better food security system we may be
seeingthe beginning of the end of our civilization.''
According to the latest United Nations statistics, world
population is increasing at the rate of ninety-five million
peoplea year. Five hundred million people in Asia, Africa
and Latin America are threatened with starvation. In
certain provinces of northern India, famished Indians have
stripped the trees of all edible leaves, and newspapers carry
nightmarish reports of entire families who have committed
suicide to end the agony of slow death by starvation. We
Americans comprise six per cent (6%) of the world's
population yet we consume between thirty-five to forty per
cent (35-40%) of the earth's goods. How long can America
surviveas a little, wealthy island in an ocean of poverty? The
money which we give in foreign aid is too insignificant in
comparisonwith the billions of dollars which we derive from
exparting destructive weapons and other commodities to
poor nations. An editorial published in the New York
Times February 24, 1976, stated ''the shameful expa~s~on
of American arms sales abroad from less than one billion
dollarsin 1970 to an estimated twelve billion dollars in the
�thodoxy celebration, coincides with the Bicentennial of our
nation. What can Orthodoxy offer America for her birthday?
We have much to offer to America. We can offer America
two thousand years of spirituality in a language which
America understands.
Instead of Transcendental
Meditation and Hare Krishna, we can offer America
Hesychasm,l. St. Simeon the new Theologian, St. Joh_n
Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great. We have been on this
continent for more than a century selfishly enjoying our
ethnic traditions and talking to America in languages which
America does not understand. No wonder then, that despite
the depth of our spirituality which this pragmatic culture
badly needs, we have not been able to leave any spiritual
impact on the life of this nation. Our presence in the media,
for example, is so insignificant that it does not extend beyond
a statement on the Middle East or a statement on why
women cannot attend the All-American Sobor or a plunge
into some river to retrieve a cross. Who is to blame for this
apathy and lack of leadership? All of us, clergy, laity
and above all, the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops
in America did not do much in the past sixteen years
to enhance Orthodox unity in this hemisphere. It is another
coincidence that we are gathered here on the eve of the
Sixteenth Anniversary of the Standing Conference. The
memorandum which the late Metropolitan Antony Bashir of
the Antiochian Archdiocese sent to the American hierarchs
inviting them to a meeting at the Greek Archdiocese, March
15, 1960, included among many items the following:
''Standardized Liturgical Texts.'' As of this date we still do
not have one common translation even for our Creed or
Lord's Prayer. Forgive me if I indulge in self-criticism. We
Orthodox have a tendency, especially on the Sunday of
Orthodoxy, to glorify the past and feel proud of ourselves.
There is no doubt that the Church of the Ecumenical
Councilswas glorious and courageous because she responded
to the challenges of her time. Have we responded to the
challengesof our time? As individual jurisdictions, I believe
that we have succeeded in building new churches, in
educating young priests and in organizing choirs and church
hunger? Where is our common .response
h. to contempora
.
ry
iconoclasm? Afte~ ~ur ce1ebration t 1s _evening, we will
return to our ethnic islands and I wonder 1fwe will see each
other before next Sunday of Orthodoxy.
Beloved in Christ,
we must make a firm decision that we are here i
America to stay. I say this because some of us, clergy an~
laity, at least psyc~ologic~lly, are ~till in t?e ?l~ Country.
Orthodoxy on this continent will remam msignificant
and ineffective as long as we continue to live in our
ethnic ghettos. Consequently, if we do not express our
inner unity in concrete, external action, we will continue
this insignificant presence for many years to come. The most
important question which we must. ask ourselves honestly
and earnestly is: How can we achieve Orthodox unity in
America? There is no simple answer to this question. We
will be very naive to think that Orthodox unity can be
achieved through an edict from some Patriarch in some Old
Country, or through a directive from the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in America. I believe, however
that despite the complexity of our problem we can tak~
certain steps which will ultimately lead to that blessed day:
First, each ethnic jurisdiction must unite and put its own
house in order. How can Arabs unite with Serbs if Arabs
cannot unite with each other? "The Arabs agree to
disagree.'' This is a famous saying among the Antiochians;
yet despite sixty years of division and misunderstanding, last
year, Archbishop Michael of Toledo and I met in this city
(Pittsburgh) and laid a firm foundation for a united Antiochian Archdiocese in North America. If we Antiochians
can unite, there is no reason why Russians, Serbians,
Romanians, Albanians, Ukrainians, etc. cannot unite.
Thus, on this Sunday of Orthodoxy I challenge you, fellow
Orthocbx, to put your houses in order as a first step toward
Orthodox unity.
The second and most effective step toward Orthodox
unity is inner-Orthodox cooperation on a grass roots level.I
wish that in every city in America we could have an Orthodox Clergy Association like yours of Greater Pittsburgh.
The greatest gift !hat ~e can offe_r America on her Bicentennial is a strong resolve
that Orthodox umty will be a reahty before this century fades away and sinks in the
ocean of eternity.
schools; but collectively, we have done absolutely nothing.
Where is our common witness in the National Council of
Churches? Where is our influence on our national and local
politics? Where is our common position vis-a-vis abortion
euthanasia, homosexuality, social injustice and world
1. (Gr. Hesychia, stillness) A mystic movement that
flourished in the Monastery of Mt. Athos in the 14th
century. ~e hesychasts believed that all perfection lay in
c~ntem~lat1on; they also held that there is a divine light
h1d~en m the soul, the same as that which encircled the
Saviour on Mt. Tabor and capable of being communicated.
Your hierarchs cannot impose unity on you if you are not
ready for it on the local level. Moreover, I honestly feel that
you on the local level are more responsive to the question of
Orthodox unity than your hierarchs who are over-burdened
by administrative and jurisdictional work.
Beloved in Christ,
The greatest gift we can offer America on her
Bicentennial is a strong resolve that Orthodox unity
will be a reality before this century fades away and
sinks in the ocean of eternity.
Twentieth century
iconoclasm is more dangerous, more subtle and more
challenging than that of the Eighth Century. The only way
we can respond effectively to this challenge is through
Orthodox unity.
PROFILES
IN COURAGE• •
•
HIS EMINENCE,ARCHBISHOPMICHAELSHAHEEN
A series of articles on personalities today who are
profoundly influencing Orthodoxy in America.
Archbishop MICHAEL was born April 27, 1924, in
Canton,Ohio, the eldest of four children of the late Father
George H. Shaheen and Mary Corey Shaheen.
We salute his profound wisdom and courage in taking
the necessary steps to bring an end to the divisions which
have plagued our Holy Church for so many years. Axios
Axios, Axios!
'
He received his early education in Canton, Ohio, and
whenhis family moved to Syria in 1935, he enrolled in the
Orthodox schools of the Antiochian Patriarchate in
Katana and in Damascus. He subsequently attended the
NationalCollege of Chouifat, Lebanon, and the American
University of Beirut. Returning to the United States in
1946he undertook studies at Kent State University, where
he was instrumental in establishing the Eastern Orthodox
Youth Fellowship.
Michael Shaheen was ordained to the diaconate in
1951.On August 19th of that year he was ordained to the
sacred priesthood by Metropolitan ANTONY Bashir and
Metropolitan SAMUEL David and was appointed pastor
of St. George parish in Indianapolis. He has subsequently
pastoredthe parish of St. George in Canton and the parish
of St. George in Montreal, Quebec. In 1954 he was
elevated to the rank of Archimandrite in Damascus by
Patriarch ALEXANDER III. He was elected Bishop of
Toledo by the Holy Synod of Antioch and was consecrated to the episcopate by Patriarch THEODOSIOS VI
on February 11, 1962 in Damascus.
On June 24, 1975 Metropolitan PHILIP Saliba of the
Archdiocese of New Yark, and Archbishop MICHAEL
effected a union of the two North American Antiochian
Archdioceses. This union was canonically ratified by the
Holy Synod of Antioch on August 19, 1975. The official
Praxis. issued by His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV,
named Metropolitan PHILIP as Primate of the one Archdiocese of North America, and Archbishop MICHAEL
as the Auxiliary.
~oth as a pastor and as Archbishop, His Eminence has
contmued his involvement in civic and humanitarian
affairs. He has been decorated by the Syrian Arab
R_epublicfor such humanitarian efforts. In recognition for
hiss~rvice in behalf of orphanages within the Antiochian
Patriarchate, Archbishop MICHAEL was inducted into
the Order of Mount Sinai.
W1?le pastor of St. George in Montreal, Quebec,
Archbishop MICHAEL published the Divine Liturgy in
French and Arabic parallel text. He has since published
the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in English.
May,1976
ARCHBISHOPMICHAEL
Page 15
�LI FESTVLES X
"MARRIAGE''
homily by archpriest james c. meena
From time to time it is necessary for us to dis~uss
topical matters such as marriage as ca1;1-didly~s posstbl_e
from a Christian perspective, especially m a society that is
assaulting marriage more openly than we have ever known
or experienced in the past.
.
The detractors from the Christian norms of ~ar_riage
claim that marriage is a social imposition, that it is no
longer relevant, that it is not necessary for a man and a
woman to be "legally" committed t~ each other for ~he
rest of their lives, that it is quite alnght for them to hve
together without any committment whatsoev~r. We of the
Church consider this to be a most detnmental and
spiritually degenerating outlook.
. .
.
Scripture is filled with injunction after mJu_nctio_n
against this kind of attitude and states that. ~arna~~ is
consecrated by God. I know of no mon?t~etsti~ re_hgton
that does not exalt marriage as being a divmely instituted
relationship. If mankind in its weakn~s~ corrupts that
relationship or makes it less than what it is meant to be,
that is not the fault of God or His Church. It is our f~ult
because we enter into marriage without understanding
fully what we ought and can do to make this relationship a
happy, meaningful and successful one.
.
Many young people are "turned off" by the idea of
marriage. One hears all sorts of exc_usesf~om the~. ~ome,
in their late twenties or early thirties, thmk that it is too
early for them to get married. They are reluctant to enter
into a responsible relationship.
Consider the alternatives: The Lord says, through St.
Paul that unmarried Christians have three alternatives;
eith~r to live a totally celibate life, dedicating their
chastity and virtue to God as Paul did, to be married or,
and here he emphasizes the last alternative when he says:
"It is better to marry than to burn." (I Cor. 7:9) The
alternatives to a consecrated marital relationship then is
one of two things, either to live in chastity or, failing that,
to risk damnation.
Christians must evaluate with great care these modish
ideas about marriage being outdated and not relevant.
God states that a man must be committed to one woman,
a woman committed to one man in a lifetime relationship
for specific purposes. (See Chpt. 1 & 2-Genesis) Some
Theologians will tell you that the purpose is to raise
children to the glory of God. Others will teach that fulfillment in spiritual and physical relationships is paramount.
While these things are true, it is most important, in my
perspective, that a Christ-centered relationship, based on
mutual faith in God that revolves around an active life in
Christ Jesus is actually a living Image, a microcosm of that
Divine Family which God has revealed as being His
creation intent.
God created man and woman and out of them issued
children. Then consider that God is alluded to as Father,
Page 16
ARUHDIOUESAN
OFFIUE
His Church as Mother and the members ~f_that marriage
between God and His earthl~ bod~, as sptrttual children.
0 r human family is a mirror-image of that Divine
c:eation. The human father is the image of God in his
family. The mother is the iID:age of the_ C~urch_ in her
family. The children are the image of d1sciplesh1p, that
loyalty of love and devotion that we are called upon to
render to God.
We learn of God's love as it is reflected by loving
parents. We learn to love God as we respond to the unselfish way our parents love us. So the whole purpose of
marriage is to manifest the _Willof God,_ the compa~sion of
God the loving dispensation of God m our relationship
with one another: husband to wife, wife to husband,
parents to children, children to parents.
I get a little choked up when I hear ~ome young men
referring sarcastically to decent, God lovmg, well behaved
and well bred young women as being "the marrying kind."
All Christians should be the marrying kind or they should
choose to be totally celibate. We have the freedom to
choose. But when we choose the ungodly choice we are in
danger of hell fire.
The Church has never condoned the idea that there is
any difference in the sexual freedom of men and women,
the idea that men have the right to "sow their wild oats"
before they are married but women have not. No one has
that right! Scriptural teachings call upon all of us to pre·
serve ourselves intact, in chastity, in perfect holiness for
the person to whom we are going to commit ourselves.
And if we succumb, we fall from God.
If we parents, through our permissiveness, wink our
eyes at our young men because we feel that it's natu_ralfor
men but sinful for women, and we let them go their own
way without admonishing them to virtue, to chastity and
to integrity, then we fail in our responsibility as parents to
be the mirror-image of God's love to our children.
.
No one has the right to give his or her body away ~nor
to marriage! No one has the right to enter into marriage
with the idea that somehow or other if it doesn't work one
can always cop out and get a divorce, because that's a
betrayal of God's dispensation and God's will. As a ma~
who has been a counselor for 25 years, I state unhest·
tatively that there is no marriage in the world that cannot
succeed if both husband and wife are willing to work at
making that marriage happy and successful. It requires on
the part of each a willingness to give unselfishly, t~ alwa~;
consider the welfare of the other person, the happmess d
• t .an
the other person always putting your spouse f1rs
'
'd
foremost in your thoughtfulness
and const eration
.•
Historically, God has desired His creation to be happy tn
perfection, and the requirement of His creation has always
been to bring praise and glory to God.
1
March 5, 1976
.
Archbishop Joseph Bernardme
29 E. 8th_Stre~t
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
We are shocked and dismayed to learn that the United
St tes Conference of Catholic Bishops, under the
d :eption of political Zionism, has enjoined all of their
f \hful to pray for the Syrian Jews on Sunday, March 14.
:e know from first han? experience tha! Syrian Je~s live
free people in the Syrian Arab Repubhc. Where is your
asncern and prayer for Archbishop Hilarion Cappucci
c~d the hundreds of Christian and Moslem Palestinians
1;legally imprisoned in Israel? Where is your concern and
rayer for the hundreds of thousands of Christians and
ioslems dispersed from the Golan Heights and Southern
Lebanon by the Israeli aggressors? Where is your concern
and prayer for the millions of Palestinians, Syrians,
Lebanese and Jordanians, both Christian and Moslem,
who make their homes in refugee camps? Your action is
goingto embarrass your brother Christians in the Middle
East and hurt them. Prayer is a mighty force. Pray for
those who are in need. We appeal to you to reconsider
your position for the sake of the truth and Christianity in
the Middle East.
Metropolitan PHILIP
. .
.
Primate Antiochian Orthodox Chnstian Archdiocese
of North America and Chairman of the Standing Conference of American-Middle
Eastern Christian and
Moslem Leaders.
ARCHDIOCESAN OFFICE March 1-31, 1976
ORDAINED:
Deacon Olof Scott to the Holy Priesthood by Bishop
ELIA; he is a senior student at St. Vladimir's
Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY.
Paul Blankenstein to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan
PHILIP for St. George in Houston, TX.
ELEVATED:
Rev.John Namie, pastor of St. George in Houston, TX to
Archimandrite.
DEPOSED FROM THE PRIESTHOOD:
John Shalhoub, former pastor of St. George in South
Glens Falls, NY; returned to the rank of a layman.
(Continued on Page 25)
The Word
May,1976
March 25, 1976
TELEGRAM
President Hafez Al Assad
Presidential Palace
Damascus, Syria
Our hearts continue to bleed with the suffering people
of Lebanon. You are the only leader, Mr. President, who
can bring lasting peace and unity to the Lebanese people.
On behalf of hundreds of thousands of Arab Orthodox in
the United States and Canada, we urge you to intensify
your good efforts to prevent any division of Lebanon and
to put an end, once and for all, to all this senseless
bloodshed.
Metropolitan Philip Saliba
Your Eminence:
I am deeply sharing the joy of the good news that the
church leaders, the clergy and faithful of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Church in America, "are now united
in one, undivided Archdiocese" in America.
This unity reached is more than anyone may have
expected particularly after so many years of separation.
You may realize what joyful feelings I share personally
hoping that your example of unity will be followed by the
other separated Orthodox Dioceses in America, including
our own, by reaching the saving unity in our Lord Jesus
Christ in His church which is expected to be "one" and
undivided in glorifying God, in leading the faithful on the
way of brotherly love on earth and for the eternal
salvation in heaven.
With my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes,
I am cordially yours in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Archbishop Victorin
Romanian Orthodox Missionary Archdiocese
OTHER:
Rev. John Townsend, who had been on loan from the
Orthodox Church in America, returned to the
jurisdiction of the OCA.
APPOINTMENTS:
William Farha of St. George in Wichita, KA, to an
honorary position on the Archdiocesan Board of
Trustees.
Antoun Mudarri of St. John of Damascu~ in Boston, MA,
to an honorary position on the Archdiocesan Board of
Trustees.
DECEASED:
John Damous, member of the former Toledo Archdiocesan Board of Trustees, in Charleston, WV.
Page 17
�YOU ASKED FOR IT!
WE PROMISED IT!
YOU'VE GOT IT! I
St. Nicholas Church of San Francisco, the h?s~ parish
for the 31st Annual Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese Convention, invites all members of the Archdiocese to attend the 1976 Convention. ~he_members of
St. Nicholas are well known for their hosp1tahty, an? they
welcome everyone to San Francisco fo: ~hat promises to
be the greatest Convention ever. In addtti~n to the re_gular
Archdiocese business meetings, Convention comm~ttees
are busy planning an outstanding sch~d~~e of educational,
recreational, social, and spiritual act1vtt1es for everyone.
The Convention week is from July 26 through August
1. It will be filled with a myriad of interestin~ and varied
events but not a fixed program. Everyone will have the
opportunity to select those activities that appeal to him or
her and to arrange them to suit his or her convenience.
Many people have alread! planne? extended vacations by
arriving a few days earher, staymg a few days longer,
taking trips to Disneyl~1_1dor o_th~~ nearby places, or
adding a week in Ha wan to their 1tmerary.
Daytime activities include tours of famous points of
t in the Bay Area: Sausalito and its quaint shops,
inte~es Gate Park, Chinatown, Fishermen's Wharf,
Go~ednIii Square, and many more. The business sessions
Gh1rae
•
• •
.
. ude meetings of various comm1ss1ons, committees,
incl de artments o~ the Arch~oces~
and a General
audemJy. In addit10n, somethmg different has been
Assed· seminars conducted by members of our parish for
add • lawyers, businessmen, and a program on color
doctors,
• • •
. ation. Among t h ose partic1patmg
w1·11 b e two
dm
coor
El'
H
. t physicians Dr.
tas
anna, renowned heart
mmen
'
e
n· Dr. Emil Tanagho, head of the Department of
surgleoy,at the University of California Medical Center,
Uroog
.
an Francisco; Mr. Edward Mossawir of Wells Fargo
S k· Mr. Ramzi Asfour of Bache Halsey Stuart; and Mrs.
Ban ,
d'
'la Tamin, color coor mator.
Shei
'
•
• commence wit
•h
The Convention s evenmg
a ffairs
M day night's "Hospitality
Night", a champagne
on tion Tuesday and Wednesday nights will feature
recep
•
• to San F ranc1sco
• 's b est
ial entertainment
plus d ancmg
•spehcstras. The evening will include Hanaan, renowned
ore e s of Arabic Music.
. Thurs d ay mg
• h,ts program ts
•
songstres
.
. ated to the Tenth Anmversary of our beloved
dedic
•
F n'd a! mg
• ht presents t he
Metropolitan Philip Sahba.
incomparable Hanaan in concert with her ensemble, Mr.
Shawky Dughman and Eugene Slyman and Fred Hassen.
The week's events climax with Saturday night's Grand
Banquet and Ball.
Mini Haflis, featuring music and comedy, Dubkee
Contests, and other special programs and dances will
complete days filled with seminars, workshops, and exciting tours of San Francisco. The highlight of the youth
activities will be the NAC Oratorical Contest for teen
contestants competing from all six SOYO regions. There
will be babysitting service available for the very young.
We at St. Nicholas look forward to seeing you to
reaquaint old friends and to make many new ones. Our
monthly Convention '76 Bulletins distributed through your
church and future articles in THE WORD will keep you
informed of our program and feature profiles on entertainers and events. Please read about our "Early Bird"
Activity Book offer. Also don't forget to make your hotel
reservation and to accept our invitation to be a sponsor in
the Convention Sponsorship Book, which will be the first
Official Parish Directory of the Archdiocese.
See you in San Francisco . . .
-Al Nicholas and Jim Baba
Convention Co-Chairmen
Annual Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Evening Events and Highlights
presented by St. Nicholas Church
Convention
ADULT EVENING EVENTS TO BE AS FOLLOWS:
*
*
*
*
*
*
$50.00plus $3.00 Registration
(
31st Annualornnucntinn
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
July 26 - August 1, 1976
~t.
Nicftnlas®rtftnbnxCtrfturcft
5200 DIAMOND HEIGHTS BLVD.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. 94131
PH: (415} 648-5200
Page 18
The Word
MONDAY EVE - July 26 - Hospitality Night
Champagne and the works!
TUESDAY EVE - July 27 - Bicentennial Extravaganza
-To be followed with HANAAN IN CONCERT ...
WEDNESDAY EVE - July 28 - "Oohs and Ahs" of San
Francisco: A GALA FESTIVAL with San Francisco's
Finest Twelve-piece STAGE AND DANCE Orchestra!
THURSDAY EVE - July 29 - THIS IS YOUR LIFE,
Metropolitan Philip . . . to be followed with HANAAN in
concert.
· 1
FRIDA y EVE - July 30 - Arabic Concert and Class1ca
Review.
SATURDA y EVE - July 31 - Elegant Dinner and
Dancing.
if you Register Now
~~EARLYBIRD" SPECIAL
The Convention Committee has just announced a
special offer for those who register and purchase the
Activity Book covering all adult evening social events,
beforeJune l~t. If purchased separately, the individual
admission price for all evening spectacular shows and
eventsincluding the Dinner Dance would total $85.00 per
person. The regular Activity Book price is $58.00. The
"EarlyBird" special Activity Book price is reduced to _only
$50.00.(The $3.00 registration fee is additio~al in either
case.) This amounts to a substantial reduction from an
already reasonable price. Because of the overwhelmin_g
attendance and response expected, we are making this
"Early Bird" special available to encourage_ early
registrations that will assist in planning. But notice the
$50.00"Early Bird" special must be purchased before June
1st.
May,1976
*
TEEN-EVENING ACTIVITY BOOK, which includes
additional events of special interest to TEENS, a~ well as
many of the activities listed above (but not the Fnday and
Saturday night adult events), has a~ "E~RL Y BIRD"
Special of $20.00 (plus the $3.00 registration).
PLEASE LIST NAME, ADDRESS and ADULT or TEEN
BOOK for EACH book you order. Includ_e payment.
"EARL y BIRD" deadline: June 1, 1976! Registration fee
will be paid upon arrival at which time your PAID BOOK
will be issued. All checks payable to:
ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH,
5200 Diamond Heights Blvd.
SAN FRAN CISCO, CA. 94131.
Page 19
�. ht.oners and friends in the church hall. Everyone was
•
•
d
P.aris
d with mixed fee 1mgs, Joy an tears. Honored guests
1
ftle His Grace Bishop Elia, Very Reverend James
~ere
a, Rt • Reverend
Philip Koufas, and other dignitaries •
1neen
.
Th sentimentahty and the atmosphere of that moment
. e always be in the hearts of those who witnessed the
wt11
•
•
timonial express10n
o f t h e various
church
tesanizations, especially when our church school students
;;~sented their gift of appreciation and gratitude.
Communities In Action
Los Angeles Area Clergy and Faithful
in Traditional
Pan-Orthodox
Mark Sunday
of Orthodoxy
Rites at St. Sophia Cathedral
In addition to Frs. Venetos and Massouras
.
participating were the Very Rev. Frs. Dimitri' J.nes~s
dean, Holy Vi~gi~ Mar~ R_ussian (OCA) Cathedrai:sr~~
Angeles; Vladimir Mrvichm, dean, St. Steven s b'
Cathedral, Alhambra; Gabriel Ashie, St. Luke C~u;an
(Antiochian), Garden Grove; and Rev. Frs. R h ch
Grabowski, Holy Trinity Romanian Church, Los A ic rd
Thadde~ Wojcik, ~t. Innocent ~O._C.A.) Churc:g;:::
zana; Nicholas Boldireff, Holy Virgm Mary Cath dr
Nicholas Liberis, St. Anthony Greek Church Pas ed a;1
•
a ena·
FBredhFoDtion,.StD.Katherine Greek Church, Redond~
eac ; enms
orko, St. He~man Mission (O.C.A.)
Oxnard; Peter Salmas, St. Nicholas Greek Ch h'
Northridge; Vasilie Vidacovi~h, St. Seraphim (0.~~1.)
Church, Long Beach; Constantme Hatzidakis St Pro h
• G
• •
P et
El ias
reek Church, San Bernardino: Vladimir Mihail ff
St. Kliment Bulgarian. Church, Los Angeles; Pe~e;
Lambert and Gregory Hill, both of St. Sophia Cathedr l·
and Naoum Nitsiotis, retired.
a'
George Massouh is the son of the late Rev. Spiridon
Massouh,the founder of the Antiochian Orthodox Church
ofCanton, Ohio. He was bo~ in H?ms, S_yria,and came to
America as a young man wtth his family.
t
Scene during the Great Vespen of the Sunday of Orthodoxy In St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Los
Angeles with Bishop Gregory of the Serbian Church
presiding. (Photo by C.T. Argue)
Clergy and laymen from throughout the greater Los
Angeles area gathered in St. Sophia Greek Orthodox
Cathedral here in the evening of the first Sunday of the
Great Lent (March 14) to celebrate the traditional Great
Vespers of the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
His Gr~ce, the Rt. Rev. Gregory, Bishop of the
Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church with
headquarters in Alhambra presided over the service which
was sponsored by the Southern California Council of
Orthodox Clergy. He was assisted by 18 priests from the
area.
Preaching the sermon was the Very Rev. Fr. George
Venetos, dean of St. Sophia Cathedral.
~ combined choir, with members from various
p~ish_es, sang the responses and hymns under the
d1!e~t10nof Alex Ruggieri, English Choir Director at Holy
V1rgm Mary Russi~n Orthodox Cathedral, Los Angeles.
Dr. Frank Desby, Director of Music at St. Sophia, assisted.
The R_ev.Fr. George Massouras, pastor of the St. John
the _Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim and
pres1?e~t of t~e Clergy Council, announced that the
evenmg s offenng would be for the benefit of
earthquake victims in Central America.
recent
A hig~ight of the service was the reading by the t.
congr~gation of the decision of the 7th Ecumenical ;n ~:
by which .the ve~eration of the Holy Icons was restor: to
Church life. This reading came at the c
.
1
.
one 1usion of a
so emn procession by the clergy, each carrying an Icon.
Page 20
The Cathedral Philoptohos Ladies Society served light
refreshments following the service for a Fellowship Hour
in the Community Center.
C.T. Argue
Holy Cross Church -
Canton, Ohio
''But grow in spiritual strength and become better (
acquainted with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him
be all glory and splendid honor, both now and forever." (II
Peter 3:18)
Recently, the parish of
Holy Cross of Canton, Ohio
had the pleasure and the
priviledge of honoring Mr.
George Massouh, a faithful
and most devout servant of
God, with a certificate of
meritorious
achievement.
It was awarded him from
His
Emin·ence,
Metropolitan Philip, who
pronounced his firm belief
"He is worthy." The
presentation was made by
His Grace, Bishop Elia at
the banquet which was held
during the annual Church's
name day celebration, the
Holy Cross Exhaltation.
The Grand Banquet was
attended by more than 200
The Word
1
The few years which he spent in Syria are only a
memoryof the great Cathedral, the Bishops, the Priests,
and the Chantors by whom he was so inspired. The
development and the early life of George was built on a
firm foundation of Christian faith, ethics, and character.
Asa young American the life of George echoed with the
philosophyof the Prophet Gibran Khalil Gibran - "And I
believethat the blessed Jesus of Nazareth touched your
lips when you spoke and guided your hand when you
wrote;and I shall uphold all that you have said and all that
you have written."
George has given 50 years of his life to work and to
serveGod's Church as a Chantor, Trustee, and servant to
all the faithful. His sincerity, love, and action were the
perfect example to all of his acquaintances.
In response to the testimonies of our church
organizationsand friends, George firmly gave the glory to
God- who works through the humble and the meek. He
toldof a most touching story, with which he confirmed his
faithand dedicated his life forever to serve the Savior, the
Redeemer of Mankind.
We, the Holy Cross parishioners and pastor, are ever
thankfulto our Chantor and most devout faithful George
Massouh for his inspiration, the love, the kindness, and
the spirit he has shared with us. George is married to the
former Victoria Joseph of Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
They are the parents of three children.
"He is worthy."
Rev. Fr. Nicodeme Joseph
St. Michael
Church
-
Geneva, N. Y.
St. Michael's Orthodox Church of Geneva, New York
ushered in the Great Lenten season by hosting the
Can~dian-American Region Parish Life conference in
conJunction with a retreat March 12 and 13. Representatives of the Canadian-American
Region member
churches met Friday evening, March 12, for a conference
P:eparatory to the Annual Can-Am Region SOYO Parish
Life Convention to be held June 17-20 at St. George's
May,1976
~rth?dox Church in Toronto, Canada. Can-Am president,
a~m ~ ounes of Toronto, presided ov·er the meeting
which mcluded memb~rs from Toronto, Ottawa, and
~~ntreal, ~anada ... m addition to the New York State
cities of Niagara Falls, Utica, Syracuse and Geneva .
The Rev. Gabriel White, pastor of St. Michael's, acted
as Retreat Master for the retreat which commenced on
Saturday, March 13, at 9:00 a.m. and continued until 8:00
p.m •.~un~h and dinner were prepared and served to those
P~ticipatmg, under the auspices of St. Mary's Society
with Khoureye Gabriel White and Mrs. Clyde Jones in
charge.
Spiritu~l pres~ntations at the retreat were given under
th~ following topics: "Christ's Priesthood", "Christ's High
Pnestly Sacrifice", "The Priesthood of Believers" and
"The Events of Holy Week."
Other spiritual messages were delivered by The Rev.
Geo~ge Aswad, pastor of St. George's Orthodox Church
of Niagara Fall, N.Y., and The Rev. George Shaheen
pastor of St. Elias Church of Syracuse, New York:
In ad?ition to these deeply inspiring offerings, the
retreat mcluded periods of quiet meditation and
d~votio~al reading, and those attending received spiritual
stimulation from the Typica Service, Morning Litany,
Prayers of the Sixth Hour, and Choral Readings.
The Geneva Chapter Senior SOYO marked its 30th
year in March 1976. The group has been active in many
projects since its inception, and continues to sponsor such
charities as "Project Loving Care", and money-raising
events including a summer fair and the Sunday Coffee
Hour.
St. Mary's Society accomplishments include the annual Christmas Bazaar, Syrian Food Sales, "Project
Loving Care", donations to the AOCWNA's Continuing
Pastoral Education Fund and to the church treasury
annually for general upkeep of the church proper, participation in civic affairs including the operation of a
Syrian bread and pastry booth at the local hospital's
benefit Country Fair.
Teen SOYO advisors, Rosemary Wallace and Diane
Joseph, aptly lead the group through many fund-raising
activities, and they are, at present, conducting the sale of
His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip's awesome recording,
"The Joy of the Soul".
The Chancel Guild, directed by Father White and
Joseph Hessney, is primarily instrumental in the preservation and beautification of the appointments of the Altar
and church. Its main project is an annual Sultan's Dinner,
which is one of the greatest fund-raising events of the
church.
St. Michael's is proud of the love and close-knit
devotion displayed by all organizations of the church.
Presidents and directors of these groups are: Parish
COUNCIL, John Jabara; ST. MARY'S SOCIETY, Mary
Malark; SENIOR SOYO, Joseph A. George; TEEN
SOYO, Selma White; ALTAR BOYS, Thomas C.
ABraham; CHOIR AND ORGANIST, Jewel Hara; and
SUNDAY SCHOOL SUPT., Louise Hessney.
Catherine Salem Beers
Page 21
�located on the gr~unds of the Academy). Mother Thecla,
hegumena (supenor) of the small community, met with
our_young p~ople and patiently answered their many and
vaned. questions. That evening following the Office of
Comphne all retreatants made their confession and quietly
prepared for the next day's Liturgy.
North American Council
SOYO
Digest
News and Views
■
■
The Sun?ay Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Father
Antoun, assisted by Deacons Olof and Michael in the
Chapel of St. Basil the Great. We were joined i~ prayer
that morning by the sisters of the Convent and the
students and staff of the Academy. The responses were
sung by the_St. Basil Children's Choir. Our group received
the Eucharist and following the veneration of the Cross
the post-Communion Prayers were offered by all.
■
As We Graduate
By Grace Makarl
Right now, those of us who are seniors, have important
decisions to make about college and about what we want
the future to bring. We experience feelings _of.fea~ of. wh_at
the future hides, and doubt of what our m1ss10nm hfe ts.
Each one of us has his destiny. We are destined by God
to help humanity in our own way. We do not have to be
presidents or astronauts or great inventors. We merely
need to do our work well, with love to mankind.
Now I ask myself. What will I do in the future? In what
way will I help humanity? Where am I going?
We have all heard the stories of great men and women
in history who have experienced sudden conversions.
Examples are mentioned in the Bible such as Saul. Almost
all the saints, after hearing such "voices," received a fresh
insight into the meaning of Christianity. We have heard of
people being "called" by God, then immediately setting
out on their missions and struggling to reach fruition in the
name of God.
I know not where His islands lift,
Their fronded palms in air.
I only know I can not drift,
Beyond His love and care.
PaulNahassof St. George In Little Falls, N.J. reading the
NinthHour.
A Way of Communication
It is this assurance, this incontrovertible faith in God
- knowing that He is always with us and that we can
never escape from His presence - it is this assurance
which enables us to bring God to our hearts. When this
enlightenment, this communication with God occurs, we
must reach up to Him and receive Him with open hearts.
First, we must listen with open ears. We listen by
realizing that God speaks to us all through intuition,
meditation, prayer and the word of the Gospel. Our
Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us the elements of prayer,
contemplation and meditation. We must listen, realizing
that we need God in our hearts or we are nothing. An
astronaut, when walking in space, needs a cord to provide
oxygen and to attach him to his spaceship or else he will
It is this assurance, this incontrovertible
faith in God- knowing that He is always
with us and that we can never escape from His presence- it is this assurance which
enables us to bring God to our hearts.
Even today, people speak of being called by God. This
form of intuition plays a very significant role, especially in
the field of science and discovery. Yet, it is not just
famous people in ancient history to which God communicates. It is not just scientists or discoverers or clergy. It is
not just those with psychic powers. God speaks to every
one of us.
As one great poet put it:
I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise.
'
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.
'
Grace Makari is a junior at Harvard and lives in
Demarest, N.J. This article was written to those soon to
leave for college.
Page 22
be lost eternally in space. Thus, we need our attachment
to God or else we will be lost forever.
Secondly, we must not only listen but respond. We
answer through our actions and doings. We respond by
emanating Christian love. Thus we must charter our lives.
The future is up to every one of us. It comes not years
frq_mnow, but tomorrow ... this week ... this month. We
must be alert. God will light our path and guide us in the
right direction so long as we respond to His guidance
through prayer, worship and good deeds. We must follow
our path, and although it may be a dark and lonely road,
so was the road of the saints and the prophets. This is our
road and we must adhere to it with faith, love, hope and
courage. We must remember, though we walk the solitai:Y
highway, we are not alone. One is never alone. There is
always God. God will guide us. God will protect us. G?d
will help us reach our aim. We merely need faith and W1th
God's help, we can reach the highest star.
The Word
from The Dept. of Youth Affairs:
On the second weekend of Great Lent the Archdiocesan Department of Youth Affairs sponsored a
Teen Retreat, "GREAT LENT: Preparation for New
Life."The event, which began on the evening of Friday March19 and concluded in the early afternoon of Sunday
- March 21, was held at the newly established "Patriarch
AthenagorasSpiritual Center" on the campus of St. Basil's
Academy in Garrison, New York.
Twenty-five young people, aged 13 through 18, were in
attendance from the parishes of St. Anthony in
Bergenfieldand St. George in Little Falls, N.J. The Rt.
Rev. Archimandrite Antoun Khouri from the ArchdiocesanHeadquarters in Englewood was the Chaplain
andfather Confessor for the Retreat. Speakers and group
leaderswere Father Deacon Olof Scott, Father Deacon
Michael Keiser, Demetra Karousatos (all three are
studentsat St. Vladimir's Seminary, and Youth Director
BillEssey.
After brunch and wrap-up session our young people
"invaded" the 300 acres for the last time, playing ball and
socializing with the students of the Academy. The joy that
our teens experienced was surpassed only by that of the
students (most of whom are orphaned or come from
broken homes). Little nine year old Helena summed up
everyone's feelings when she said, "Maybe your parents
will get lost on the way to pick you up, then you can stay
here forever!"
Fortunately ... or unfortunately ... no parents did
get lost and the cars finally began to arrive to carry us
home to family and school. We now realize that we have
truly made a preparation for Pascha . . . we felt loved by
God and radiated love for Him; we felt loved by our
brothers and sisters in Christ and radiated love for them.
We will be going back to the Spiritual Center, the
Academy and the Convent . . . we hope you can be with
us too!
The Academy of St. Basil, the Patriarch Athenagoras
Spin"tual Center, and the St. Iakovos Convent are facilities
of the Greek Archdiocese and are administered by His
Grace, Bishop Phi/otheos of Me/oa.
In the Chapel of St. BasU the Great.
The serenity and natural beauty of the setting (the
Centeris located on 300 acres in the Bear Mountain area
ofUpstate Now York along the Hudson River) enhanced
the"quietimes" which were scheduled, and facilitated true
communionwith God. Meals were taken in silence while
~electionsfrom the Holy Psalter were read. Also included
1D the schedule was a full cycle of liturgical services
(Vespers, Hours, Compline, etc.). Following the brief
presentations of topics (Prayer, Fasting and Confession)
~m~l.discussion groups met in the open air to allow for
individualexpression by the teens.
On Saturday afternoon during an infrequent "freetime"
manyof the retreatants accepted an invitation to visit with
the sisters of the St. Iakovos Orthodox Convent (also
May,1976
Page 23
�MOST
MOST
REVEREND
METROPOLITAN
ARCHBISHOP
2656
PHILIP
PEMBERTON
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JERSEY
07631
B71•135S
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
Psalm 33:12
To the Beloved Clergy, SOYO Members and Faithful
of our Archdiocese:
So often in our highly sophisticated North American
culture, we tend to view national and personal prosperity,
technology and the sciences as prerequisites for a great
and blessed nation. However, in the above verse from the
Holy Psalter of David, written some thirty centuries ago,
we discover the only prerequisite for true blessedness - a
nation's recognition of God as its only Lord and Master.
As Christians, as Christ-centered individuals, we are
responsible for conforming our will and our national will
to that of the Divine thus leading our nation along the path
of righteousness and truth. For the past two centuries the
people of the United States have struggled along this
difficult and lonely path, sometime departing from it but
for the most part earnestly seeking to follow God's will in
all things. We, who celebrate the bicentennial are called
upon to set the future course of our nation. God grant that
we may continue to worship Him as our only Lord, thus
being worthy of his abundant blessings.
We take great pleasure in announcing to you the forthcoming visit of His Beatitude, Elias IV, Patriarch of
Antioch and All the East during the summer of 1977.It
will be a great moment in the history of our Church and
continent when the 165th successor to the Throne of
Saints Peter and Paul comes to pray with us and to visit
with us. We trust that every man, woman and child, from '
the youngest to the oldest, will come out to greet His
Beatitude at the 1977 SOYO Parish Life Conference and
National Convention and to receive his Apostolic
Blessing.
Because of the leadership of our SOYO movement the
Regional Conferences have expanded. bringing about
much advancement in all Parochial and Archdiocesan
concerns. We pray that the All-Holy Spirit will direct all
your deliberations during your present Conference so that
your deeds may be to the greater honor and glory of the
lifegiving Trinity. With paternal blessing, we remain
Yours in Christ,
pART I
. . .
h • h Id
Each parttcipatmg c otr s ou present two selections
ting to our religious services or selections that could
re1a sed for dismissa
•
•
1 or o ff er t ory music.
• T his
• could be
be u
d
.
ic from our approve repertmre, music from any of
rnussister Orthodox Churches, music adapted to English
~r:m the original language or published Orthodox music.
In every case th~re should be the underlying idea of
resenting somethmg that could be used by all choirs at
~ome later date, or that could be approved by our Arhdiocese to be added to our present approved repertoire.
c Each choir should be allotted ten minutes for the
individual performance; this includes getting on and off
stage.
.
The second portion of Part I should be the combined
choirs singing music selected by the regional choir
chairman.This portion should last fifteen minutes and the
combined choirs should sing at least three selections.
PART II
This part should be devoted to secular singing by the
participating choirs. Anyone who does not participate in
the religious portion of the festival should not be permitted to sing in the secular portion. The basic premise
beingthat in all cases, Part I is the most important to our
choirs and the second part is more an incentive to take
part in the religious segment of the festival. The time
allotted here should not exceed the time given for the
religious segment, which is ten minutes.
The regional choir chairman may see fit to adapt a
theme for the secular portion to hold some kind of theme
or continuity; this should be left to the regional choir
chairman.
-James E. Meena II
Midwest Choir Coordinator
New England Conference
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America.
"Fai_nily.Enlivening Session." Workshop speakers for the
session mclude:
Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen, Pastor of St. Anthony's Orthodox
Church, Bergenfield, N.J. Co-Editor of The Word.
Rev. Fr. James Kenna, Pastor of St. Philip's Church, Fort
L~uderdale, Fla. Psycho-Therapist and Social Services
Director for Unicare, Inc., State of Florida.
Dr. John Boojamra, Director of Christian Education
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.
'
Rev. Fr. Michael Abraham, Pastor, Chapel of the Archangel Gabriel, Glens Falls, New York.
Dr. John D·alack, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psyc~ology, St. Johns University; member of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees.
Dr. Anthony Bashir, Doctor of Speech Therapy,
Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; member
of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees.
These sessions are for all age groups - from the teens to
the elderly. Each workshop leader is trained to handle dis~uss~ons and questions pertaining to family life, its function m the Church and its relation to Christ. It promises to
be an exciting experience for everybody.
The social events include a reception on Thursday
evening, Hafli with Fred Elias Ensemble on Friday
evening, and a Dance on Saturday. The teen schedule
includes a Teen Beach Party and Hafli on Thursday
evening, Luncheon with the Archbishop,
Family
Enlivening Session (Rap Time) on Friday and "Almost
Anything Goes" and a "Disco" on Saturday. Sunday the
Hierarchical Divine Liturgy which will be celebrated by
Archbishop Michael Shaheen will be followed by the
Awards Luncheon.
The weekend promises to be a memorable one. We
look forward to your participation in Conference '76. We
welcome you to join us!
'76 News
BY
Elaine Saliba, Publicity Chairman
LIFESTYLES X - MARRIAGE
(Continued from Page 16)
The Choirs' Relationship To SOVO And The Archdiocese
The Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations
(SOYO) is a service/ social arm of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America. This organization
is similar to the Greek Orthodox Youth of America
(GOYO) and the Federated Russian Orthodox Clubs
(FROC); and is divided into six regions; Eastern, New
England, Can-Am, Midwest, Southwest, and Western·
some of these are divided into various districts.
'
This organization sustains a choir committee for each
reg~o!1.Ev~ry lo~al choir director, upon assuming that
positl~n, automattc~lly becomes a member of the regional
comm1tte~; the regional committee is in turn a branch of
the Ar_chd1oceseSacred Music Department. Each regional
committee has a choir chairman, whose responsibilities
Page 24
include correspondence with the local choirs, thereby
acting as mediator between the local choirs and the
Sacred Music Department, as well as coordinating the
regional choir festival, which takes place at each regional
conference.
The following is a recommended format for each
regional choir festival, as set up by Mr. Raymond Goerge,
the current Director of the Sacred Music Department.
The festival should be divided into two segments, the
primary segment being devoted to our religious music and
the second segment to secular music for diversion for our
choirs and as a special added entertainment event for all
those attending our conferences.
The Word
The 38th Annual Parish Life Conference of the New
England Region of S.O.Y.O. will be held at the SheratonSturbridge, Sturbridge, Massachusetts the weekend of
June 24-27, 1976. The Knights of St. George, St. George
Orthodox Cathedral, Worcester, Massachusetts will be
hosts.
The area of Sturbridge, Massachusetts is well known
throughout the United States. It contains a historical
reservoir of the growth of our nation. Sturbridge Village is
an educational experience for the entire family. It is here
t~at the early life of the New England sett-ler is depicted in
village form from farming to manufacturing. There are
numerous museums for the curious and fabulous restaur~~ts_forthe gourmet. This is a most appropriate place to
visit tn the Bicentennial Year of 1976.
-"\longwith the unique locale of our conference we are
of~ennga varied program of activities for our guests. The
dally Vespers, workshops and meetings will be held as
usual. This year our weeken.d will be highlighted by the
May,1976
I thank God that I have had a good and happy
relationship with my wife. But that relationship did not
come about by accident. My wife is a believer and I am
also. Because of our active faith, I can testify to you in her
behalf and in mine that over the past 30 years our love has
grown stronger and more mature from year to year. This is
what comes of a good Christian marriage where two
people manifest their love in their actions everyday.
Then young people may grow up to say, "That's good!
That looks so good I want to try it. If my parents have
enjoyed marriage so much and if my parents have made
marriage such a good thing to the glory of God, then man,
that's for me.'!
Consider why my generation was much more willing to
get married than are our children. Is it because we saw in
our parents the joy our children do not see in us? Think
about it!
Page 25
�The
Orthodox World
NEW ALPHA-OMEGA PROGRAM
The revised Alpha-Omega program has completed its
first year of use. It is the religious award for Scouts, Explorers, Girl Scouts, and Campfire Girls of the East~rn
Orthodox Faith, and it is sponsored by the Scoutmg
Commission of the Standing Conference of Orthodox
Bishops. During 1975, the award was presented to 16 Girl
Scouts and 55 Boy Scouts or Explorers, according to Fr.
Joel McEachen, Director of Scouting A wards for the
Commission. While many of these recipients worked
under the old requirements, six hundred copies of the new
service book were mailed on request to Scout Councils,
leaders, and youth members of our churches.
Any member of the above mentioned Scouting groups
may begin work on the program under the direction of his
or her priest, but to receive the award, one must be at least
thirteen years old or have completed seventh grade, and
have at least one year's experience in the Scouting group.
Religious award programs will be emphasized in this
bicentennial year by the Scouting organizations. To
receive the Alpha-Omega service book, send 75 cents to:
Orthodox Scouting Commission
1345 Fairfield Woods Road
Fairfield, Connecticut 06430
Florina, Greece
Church of Greece Metropolitan Augustinos of Florina
has forbidden priests in his diocese to drive cars, lest they
_be involved in an accident which kills someone.
Historic cannons, not generally so interpreted by the
Eastern Orthodox, prohibit priests who have been involved in the death of another person from celebrating the
divine liturgy.
In 1972, the metropolitan added mixed swimming by
men and women to a list of "vile and corrupt" practices to
be avoided by the faithful.
Over the years, the metropolitan has attacked motion
pictures, modern dance, long hair on men, and slacks on
women.
Athens, Greece
The case of 11 bishops of the (Orthodox) Church of
Gr~ece d~throned following the overthrow of the military
regime will be taken to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in
Istanbul for a decision.
The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece voted
unanimously to send the case to Eastern Orthodoxy's
highest spiritual authority.
The 11 bishops were removed on charges that their
selection by the former primate of the Church of Greece
Archbishop Ieronymos, was illegal.
'
The archbishop was closely allied with the former
military regime. He has since been replaced by Archbishop Seraphim.
11, who do not recognize the Holy Synod's
decision to dethrone them, are: Metropolitans Elias of
!~e
Page 26
Volos, Apostolos of Zante, Constantinos of Thessaliotis
Leonidas of Thessal?nki, Th~ol~gos ?f Larissa, Pavlos of
Paramythia, Seraphim of Tnkkis, Nicodemus of Attica
Constantinos
of Didomotychon,
Constantios
of
Alexandrupolis, and Hariton of Kilkis.
Ever since the bishops w~re dethroned in 1974, many
compromises and plans to brmg harmony to the hierarchy
have been advanced, but none has proved acceptable.
Springfield, Mo
The Russian ?rthodox _Ch~rch _and the "officially
recognized" Baptist orgamzat10n m the USSR are
reportedly planning a new printin~ of the Russian Bibleto
commemorate
the 100th anmversary
of the first
publication in that language.
A 100,000-copy edition will be printed in the USSRon
the state press in a joint project of the Russian Orthodox
Church and the All-Union Council of Evangelical
Christians-Baptists (AUCECB).
Plans for the printing were announced here by a
delegation of registered Baptists during a visit with officials at the Assemblies
of God International
Headquarters.
They said the Bible was translated in Russian in 1870,
and the first printing came in 1876. They expressed appreciation to the Assemblies of God for a $2,000 gift to the
AUCECB for enlarging the church's printing ministry.
It was noted that the AUCECB officially received a
shipment recently of 3,000 German language Bibles from
the United Bible Societies. The Bibles will be used by
Mennonites and German-speaking Baptists. A European
official of the United Bible Societies became the first
Bible society representative ever formally received by
Soviet authorities.
Syosset, N.Y.
Groups of Western Christians who wish to become
parishes of the Orthodox Church in America may con·
tinue Western daily offices (non-eucharistic services), but
they must adopt Eastern Orthodox sacramental forms.
These are among the guidelines for transfer into the
OCA issued by the denomination's Holy Synod.
~
OCA officials said the guidelines were prompted by
inquiries, especially from Episcopal priests and parishes
about the possibility of transfer if the Episcopal General
Convention approves the ordination of women to the
priesthood in September.
Father Leonid Kishkovsky, assistant to the OCA
chancellor, said the OCA does not expect a great m~ny
to transfer, nor is it encouraging them. He said the guide·
lines were issued so potential transferees can know clearly
what would be involved.
Father Kishkovsky said the Orthodox forms for the
sacraments are required for the sake of unity in the OCA
and because the Western forms state or imply certain non·
Orthodox theological suppositions. He added that in the
TheWord
nf1kely event a sizable group of W estem parishes wanted
u ter the OCA together, the OCA position might be
to en
different.
.
Father Kishk_ovsky said .~rthodox practice regarding
h daily offices is not as umfted as sacramental practice,
t e
estem addition would not be harmful in that
so aect He also said those Western forms do not imply
resp •
objectionable theology.
. . . .
Another U.S. Orthodox Jur1sd1ct1on, the Antiochian
thodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, has a
0
r 11 number of Western rite parishes which are
sm~orized to celebrate the Eucharist by using a slightly
:odified English version of the pre-Vatican II Roman
Catholic Mass.
Father Paul Schneirla, executive secretary of the
Antiochian archdiocese, said the "liturgical imperialism"
ofthe OCA decision shows a "lack of vision" which tries to
"make converts two-fold more children by Byzantium
than themselves."
With the exception of the permission for the use of
Western forms for non-eucharistic worship, the guidelines
for the most part are similar to those which operated for
anyone wishing to become Orthodox, Father Kishkovsky
said.
Part of an Orthodox confession of faith, he said, is an
affirmation of the authority of seven (no more or less)
ecumenical councils, a rejection of the "branch theory" of
the Church, belief in seven sacraments, and prayer to the
saints.
New Orthodox also receive the sacrament of
chrismation, which some see as a sacramental sealing of
baptism (which is how many Episcopalians regard confirmation), but which is also understood as a sacramental
sign of reception into Orthodoxy.
w
DOMESTIC SERVICE
Father Kishkovsky said the Orthodox calendar of saints
might be modified for the erstwhile Western Christians,
though W estem saints since the Great Schism of 1054
whichformally separated W estem and Eastern Christians
could not be included.
On the question of priestly ordination, the document
presents a variety of Orthodox statements about the
validity of Anglican ordinations, but concludes it is
"unlikely" that an Orthodox consensus will accept their
validity at any time soon.
This position, say the guidelines, is "without prejudice"
to the conviction that some Episcopal priests and lay
people may have that a particular Episcopal priest already
has been validly ordained.
The OCA Synod also:
- Created a "missionary district of the South" for
existing and potential OCA parishes in the southern
United States. It may eventually become a diocese.
- Approved statements on marriage and Christian
spirituality.
. Voting members of the Synod are the 10 OCA
diocesan bishops, including one from Canada and another
from Alaska.
London, England
The leader of British Eastern Orthodox under the
jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has criticized
a recent statement on "Christian Believing" issued by the
Church of England's doctrine commission.
May,1976
Archbishop Athenagoras of Thyateira said he is
"puzzled by this report" because of its "disturbing ambivalence, limitations, and serious omissions."
In a letter published in the Orthodox Herald and
reported by the Church Times, an independent Anglican
weekly, the archbishop suggested that the report by the
18-member Anglican commission has led to confusion and
disappointment, not enlightenment.
Archbishop
Athenagoras,
co-chairman
of the
Anglican-Orthodox theological dialogue team here,
described himself as "an ardent advocate of . . . eventual
unity" of the two Churches.
Accompanying the common report of the Anglican
doctrine commission are eight individual essays. The
report suggested that many past ideas about the substance
of
Christian
belief
are
"mistaken."
The Scriptures, the report said, "even across
astonishingly wide gulfs of time and culture, succeed in
speaking to the minds and hearts of a great variety of
people," though, it added, some New Testament writers
"denounced error with a violence of language that verged
at times on the frenzied or the obscene."
The Anglican report suggest that the Christian c eeds
be "exposed to the acids of skepticism."
"Traditional orthodoxy becomes wooden unless it is
constantly questioned," it added. "It is all too easy to
construe creeds as qualifying tests to be signed on the
dotted line as a condition of entry into the Church."
In the same Church Times report, Anglican Bishop
John Habgood criticized press reports about the
statement.
"The mass media feed on oversimplification," he said.
He praised commission members for refusing to "bow
to the popular demand for unambiguous and infallible
guidance" and for showing "a rare subtlety and balance in
tackling some of the deepest differences which divide
theologians."
Valley Forge, Pa.
SOLZHENITSYN, ARTIST AND A NUN
WIN FREEDOMS FOUNDATION AW ARDS
-A
Russian Orthodox award-winning author, an
American Indian artist, and a Catholic nun were among
top award winners at the Freedoms Foundation of Valley
Forge's Bicentennial year presentations.
The American Friendship Medal was awarded to·
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel laureate who was
exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974 because of his
outspoken attacks upon the Communist regime. He was
cited as "fearless proponent of liberty for all people" who
has "dramatically warned the citizens of all democracies
of the insidious evils of totalitarianism."
Randy Steffin of Dublin, Texas, an artist and
philanthropist of American Indian ancestry, received the
American Examplar A ward for his attempts "to inculcate
in the public mind a sense of civic pride and appreciation
of national heritage."
An American Patriots Medal A ward was presented to
Sister Mary Virginia Geiger of Baltimore, Md., who
initiated the "Conversation With the Humanist" lecture
series at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. The
citation said her program "inspired animated conversational seminars concerning human dignity, the
philosophy of the Declaration of Independence and the
role of government in personal freedoms."
Page 27
�THE ORTHODOX MONASTERY
IC
XC
NI
KA
OF THE TRANSFIGURATION
P.O. Box 184x
Ellwood City, Pa. 16117
Thi Monastery is an all English-speaking, inter-ethnic comm unity
for Orthodox women who desire to embrace the monastic way of life.
The monastery is under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church of
America, and their Bishop is His Eminence, Archbishop Valerian.
Coming from the inspiration of its founder and first Abbess, Mother
Alexandra, and with God's guidance and Grace, the monastery was
founded in 1967, the Chapel was consecrated on September 28, 1968,
and at the following Christmastide the community - which at that time
c n i ted of Mother Alexandra and one novice, now a professed nun,
Mother Domnica - was able to take up residence in the new building.
Located at Ellwood City, approximately one hour's drive northwest of
Pittsburgh, the facility consists of a large, redwood "A-frame" building
hou ing the Chapel, Cloister, and guest wing, plus two additional guest
house .
The general growth and development of the monastery has been in
the organizing and conducting of retreats, both group and individual
retreatant being housed in the guest facilities. Here refuge is provided
r all who are in need of occasional rest "away from the world," for
roups eeking the benefits of meditation and spiritual refreshment, and
for anyone to whose special needs the community can minister. Of
particular benefit, urely, are the frequent retreats conducted for young
people of the many Orthodox congregations in Western Pennsylvania.
The work at the Monastery has been, and is, a hard, uphill job, but
a very atisfactory one, which Mother Alexandra hopes may pay her
debt to this country's hospitality and work towards the spiritual good of
many people. The daily schedule revolves around the services, which
are read in the Chapel beginning with Matins and concluding with
Vespers. There are also general domestic duties and gardening, all
attended to by the Sisters themselves. All work is done in a true spirit of
contemplation and prayer - each effort is offered to the greater glory
of God in return for the blessings which He continues to bestow upon
their community. Orthodox women are invited to "leave the world" and
join the monastic life of contemplation and service to the Hold Church.
Page 28
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 05
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
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الكلمة
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Volume 20, Issue 5 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated May 1976.
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1976 May
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
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English
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/9c38b08b88f9ba6176f6d6aeebb8324d.pdf
8b054c5ece6fda61be9cb5d0cb1c3c6a
PDF Text
Text
�The Word
Number 4
April, 1976
Volume 20
Cover
In This Issue
fugitive To Orthodoxy
Photos
by Timothy
Ferguson
Metropolit.an PHILIP was the chief celebrant at th~ an_nual Sunday of Orthodox
Vespers at the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox ~hurch m ~ittsburgh,. Pa. Assisting hi~
were His Grace, Bishop Sava of t_he Serbi_an Archdioces_e, His ~race,_ Bishop
Theoda;ius of the Orthodox Church m America and approximately fifty priests and
deacons of Western Pennsylvania. Responses were sung by the Holy Trinity Serbian and )
St. George Antiochian Choirs of Pittsburgh an? the St. M~chael_Antiochian Choirof
Greensburg. A ma;t import.ant message was delivered by His Eminence and is included
in this issue of THE WORD.
Metropolitan
Philip
3
Editorial
5
Orthodoxy
and Contemporary
Iconoclasm
The Metropolit.an outlines some basic contemporary problems for Orthodoxy in
America in this Sunday of Orthodoxy message delivered in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Ellis Khouri
Gabriel Barrow
9
10
What is the Word?
Great and Holy Passion Week
The chairman of the Department of Liturgics of our Archdiocese comments on these
inspiring services and their meaning to us.
Pearl Nahass
12
Religious
Goals of AOCWNA
The National Boord makes recommendations to local chapters on improving their
religious programs.
Alberta
W. Blue
13
Department
of Christian Education
Case History: A Dialogue Between Youth and Parents.
James C. Meena
14
Lifestyles
X
Once we know of God's and our own existence, then we must underst.and our
relationship to Him. Father James t.akesus through the next step.
15
Archdiocesan
Office
February 1-29, 1976
George Morelli
16
Pastoral Considerations
on Current Problems
"Sex, Natural Law and Orthodoxy".
17
Dialogue
Questions posed to Fr. Michael Buben.
19
Communities
in Action
What's happening in Charleston, W.Va., Ft. Lauderdale Florida San Francisco, Calif.,
and Montreal, Quebec.
'
'
23
SOYO Digest
News and views of our youth movement.
25
Page 2
It is a traditional
story. But, certainly, a good one to point to
another important
aspect of our lives as Orthodox
Christians _
particularly as we move toward Easter.
. ... The truth is that there are "powers" to be defied which are
more sublime, and therefore
more dangerous,
than those mentioned above. In such cases, the powers to be defied are not those
of a storm of. nature, but those that we learn to live with, little by
little. These ,nc/ude the great abuses of government
deception,
militarism, inaccountable
corporations,
pollution
of the land, etc.
We say, "this is the way of the world," and we find ways of adjusting
to that established way! The abnormal becomes the normal, in spite
of the fact that recent reports have it that 75 per cent of America's
restaurants are unsanitary,
that canned goods are loaded with
rodent hairs and insect wings, that 50 per cent of our drinking water
has only hours before been discharged from the municipal sewer!
. ... The point in mentioning
all this is to demonstrate
the ease with
which one can adjust to great and small adversities each little cavein happens in small doses so that a minor surrender seems to be of
no consequence. These seem to be distant abstractions about which
one can do so little. We surely hope that somewhere,
sometime,
such aberrations
are corrected.
.... But such a condition,
however, is not irrelevant
to either the
personal life of each Orthodox Christian, or to the Orthodox Faith in
America.
. ... In the first place, in the personal realm, each of us must turn to
avoiding the holes in our OWN heads. Most of us have not only
become passive bystanders to large deteriorations,
but we are also
inert about the many deteriorations
in our personal lives - the one
place where one is not supposed to be trapped in powerlessness.
Thus the large deteriorations
become our very own; marriage is
only a "contract"
to be broken at any time, abortion is reduced to
merely a woman's choice, man can be "fulfilled"
without God, that
is, is SELF-sufficient ( the true theme of secularism!).
Being enslaved
to the recent word and whim, we have, in a sense, become "dead" to
free choice. We merely follow the leader of a fallen world. Vi(,hat
Bernados wrote in Tradition of freedom has become true:
the
horrors we have seen ..... are not signs that rebels, insubordinate
~nstable men, are increasing,
but rather that there is a constant
increase in the number of obedient, docile men.
..J
<(
a:
0
1-C
w
• · A grim picture indeed! But what stands out most graphically in
this scene is the one who refuses to adjust for the sake of a greater
The Orthodox World
Comment.aries by the Religious News Service.
.... We all love s!ories. We particularly
love stories in which men
and women survive the great odds against which nature throws
them. We have all ~eard these stories; the theme seldom varies.
For example, there is the one about the traveler who is lost in the
mountain blizza~d a~d ~ealizes his chances for living are slim.
Rallying his survival instincts,
he refuses to ad/ust to these impossible conditions,
and somehow
lives for days without
food.
Human beings truly have refused to adjust to those most brutal
experiences which attempt to stamp out one's very life.
The Word
Page 3
�calling. Orthodox people for centuries
have heard that_ gr~ater
calling. It is true that a leader there must be. The question ,_sespecially for the Orthodox - who will be the }eader?
If '~ ~~
Christ and the Church, (St. Paul even calls himself
slave of Chnst )
one must then refuse to ad;ust to those ways which lead him to such
slavery. The message of Great Lent is full of such reminders!
Orthodoxy and Contemporary
Iconoclasm
For the Christian,
the response is quite simple:
one must
choose Christ - and often that can only be done as a dissenter.
Orthodoxy teaches us that we cannot be "dead" followers
of the
most recent fads and laws of this life. Instead, we must choose
freely the way of eternal life. It was at Easter, which we are_ ab?ut
to celebrate, when Christ refused the absolute law of this Ide,
which is, of course, death. His Resurrection was an absolute, bodily
one. But the meaning of that refusal to be dead, but rather to live,
can easily be the prototype for our own refusal before these conditions.
by metropolitan philip
It is indeed a lonely vocation for each Christian. However, in the
choice of things, if one must be a fugitive from all this, one must
then be a fugitive to Orthodoxy!
With such thoughts in the foreground,
we ask our readers to
particularly take up our feature article in this issue of the WORD. In
that article, one will note that the true message of Metropolitan
PHILIP is one which speaks of Orthodoxy
as the source of life
toward which, indeed, we must be fugitives!
Joseph Allen
THE WORD
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen Auxiliarv
published monthly except July and August by ~he
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Founded i~ Arabi_cas AL KALIMAT, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded m Enghsh as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
.
.
Editorial Board:
Arch1mandnte Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen U so J
cM
·
•
•
Dr John Boojamra Dr John Dalack Wilr
E
R p n, arnes • eena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gerasimos Murphy, James Kenna,
Or~hodox Christian' W~rnen of North' Ame~~:a, ~slt
Nicola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the Antiochian
si~~o::do;;;:\~~ni~d
Publications Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
THE WORD, published monthly except July and August b the A • h'
· ·
·
sylvania, Business office, 377 McKee Place, P.O. Box
• Pit
ntloc ian O~th od~x ~hnstia_n Archdiocese of North America at Pittsburgh, Pen~d
7135
15213
as second class matter and postage paid at the Po t Off'
' p·tsbburgh,Pa.
, Pubhcatlon office, 3400 Dawson Street Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213.Enter
.
s_ ice at ltts urgh, Pa. 15219.
'
SUBSCRIPTION RA TES: $5.00 a year in the Umted States and
• . 6 50
·
•
ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: THE WORD
M
~ssessionS, $ • a year in Canada, South America and all other foreign countnes.
, 358 ountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
Page 4
The Word
Every year, on the first Sunday of the Great Lent, the
Churchcelebrates h~r tri~ph over th~ iconoclastic heresy.
Somechurch historians ~eheve that this heresy wa_sdeeply
ted in political and social reasons, however, I believe that
roo
h
d •
the religious reason was t e most pre ommant. Emperors
LeoIII and Constantine V, ~aged a savage _war against the
icons,a war which resulted m much suffering, destruction
andbloodshed. The Church was accused by the iconoclasts
ofworshipping idols. This accusation was not theologically
substantiated,and if it was, we do not have enough literature
leftto support the iconoclastic claim. It was inevitable that
the war against images would lead to a tremendous
Christologicalcontroversy. The iconoclasts stated that "the
'formof the Servant' assumed by Christ was no longer in the
realmof realities. He undoubtedly assumed it, but in order
to transform it into a divine reality; it is important,
therefore,that the Christians, if they desire to anticipate the
glorythat is His, and to which they also aspire, should
contemplateGod in the purity of their hearts and not in
artificialimages of an historical past that is now over.'' The
iconoclastsfurther stated that material images are barriers
which hinder the soul from returning to the immaterial
prototype.
The Church of the Eighth Century was indeed fortunate
tohavebrilliant, valiant and articulate people like St. John of
Damascus,Theodore the Studite, Patriarch German us and
Patriarch Nicephorus who courageously defended her
position vis-a-vis iconoclasm. Even before the iconoclastic
decrees, Patriarch Germanus of Constantinople emphaticallystated that it is possible to make an image of Christ
becauseHe "deigned to become man." According to St.
John's gospel, ''the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
usandwe beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
ofthe Father, full of grace and truth.'' (John 1: 14.) Thus,
sinceChrist became man and was seen, heard and touched
by people, the Christian iconographer can represent His
human character because He became like one of us by
assuming our total human nature except sin. The
representation, however, of Christ's divine and incomprehensiblenature is beyond the realm of iconography
andart. St. John of Damascus profoundly stated this reality
as follows: "If we made an image of the invisible God, we
wouldcertainly be in error, but we do nothing of the sort;
forwe are not in error if we make the image of the Incarnate
~d, who appeared on earth in the flesh, and who in His
meffablegoodness lived with human beings and assumed the
nature, the thickness, the shape and the color of the flesh."
When we venerate the icon of Christ, we do not venerate
wood and color, but the Creator of the universe who became
matter for our salvation. We owe a great measure of
gratitude to the Church of the iconoclastic era for defending
the Orthodox Faith, thus preserving for us these beautiful
icons which adorn our churches and continue to instill in us
a deep sense of the Holy. When we worship in the Orthodox
Church and look at the holy icons, we feel that the Church of
the Old Testament, the Church of the New Testament and
the Church throughout history is praying with us and interceding for us. A Church without icons is a church
without windows to heaven.
Despite the doctrinal victory which the Church scored
against the iconoclastic heresy of the Eighth Century,
iconoclasm continued to challenge the Church relentlessly
through many socio-economic, philosophical and political
ideologies. Such ideological challenges were no longer aimed
at church icons but rather at man, the real and living icon of
PageS
�God. From the beginning, according to the Book of Genesis,
God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created He him; male and female created He them.''
(Genesis 1: 27). Both the Old and the New Testaments
reveal to us that man is God's most precious creation. God
made him a steward over the natural world. He gave him
'dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the
air and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
cre,eping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'' (Genesis
1: 26). Surely the Incarnation has a cosmic dimension but
the primary purpose of God's marvelous and decisive intervention in human history was to embrace man and restore
Christian view of himself and history. The Russian auth
• 1ed '' Schism B
or,_
E geny Barabanov in a recent essay ent1t
t;een Church and the World" said: "It is impossible/
man to settle in the world complet~ly without Go~
Although proud of its successes and ~t~amments ~ the world
sees every day more clearly the prov1s1onal an~ insufficient
nature of its civilization. On the verge of having its foundations shaken to the core, it thirsts as never before for the
true light.'' Unfortunately only a few prophets such as
Barabanov and Solzhenitsyn understand the tragedy of ma
.
W
n
under both capitalism and communism.
e read in the
Psalms that God made man ' 'a little lower than the angeh •
and has crowned him with glory ~nd ho~or.'' (Psalm 8: 5).
yet our economic systems, ph1losoph1cal concepts and
modern technologies have dehumanized man and reduced 1
him to an object of psychological and natural categories.
The Church today is beset by all kinds of contemporary
iconoclasm. I would like to mention just a few of them:
'
ABORTION
In January, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United
States legalized abortion. I believe that such a decision wasa
tremendous blow to our Christian ethics and morals and has
caused the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent
unborn children who have the right to live. Dr. R. A. Gallop
wrote: ' 'Once you permit the killing of the unborn child,
there will be no stopping. There will be no age limit. You are
setting off a chain reaction that will eventually make you the
victim. Your children will kill you because you permitted the
killing of their brothers and sisters. Your children will kill
you because they will not want to support you in your old
age. Your children will kill you for your homes and estates.If
a doctor will take money for killing the innocent child in the
womb, he will kill you with a needle when paid by your
children. This is the terrible nightmare you are creating for
the future.''
EUTHANASIA (Mercy Killing)
I am not surprised at all by the heated debate which is
going on in this country concerning the legalization of
euthanasia. The legalization of abortion will necessarily lead
to the legalization of ' 'mercy killing' ' ; for what is the
difference between terminating an unwanted life in the
The European Renaissance inaugurated a new era of iconoclastic heresies such as
godless humanism, godless marxism and godless nationalism.
to him that divine sonship and that divine image which was
distorted by sin. ''When the fullness of the time was come,
God sent forth His son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4-6).
The European Renaissance inaugurated a new era of
iconoclastic heresies such as godless humanism, godless
marxism and godless nationalism. These idealogies,
under the influence of power politics in both capitalist and
communist countries, tried to enslave man, reduce him to a
mere tool of production and make him self-sufficient by
divorcing him from God and consequently from a total
Page 6
womb and an unwanted life in the hospital? Both cases are
indicative of our lack of reverence for human life. Russell
Chandler, Religious Editor of the Los Angeles Times, in
an article entitled '' The Option of Death: Who May
Choose?" wrote: "The sophisticated and thorny ethical
problems of abortions, euthanasia, genetic engineering_,
organ transplantation and test tube babies were remote - if 1
not unreal - to most clergymen, let alone the average
person. According to experts in the field, the number of
persons advocating an individual's right to terminate his or
her own life is growing. Others, although not going that far'
feel comfortable about passive euthanasia, allowing death to
The Word
b removing medical life supporting systems.''
occ~o ~ne has the right to ~erminate life except the
.
of Life. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes."
Giver r through man ' s creative
• energy, 1·f
. a con1 e 1s
]Vloreove'
d
h
.
.
.
discovery. In other wor s, w at was 1mposs1bleto
tt11UOUS
•
•
·b1
d
O
h
medicalscience m the past, 1s p~bss1 e to aYf: pen eart
for example, was not poss1 1e twenty- 1ve years ago.
surgery'
• an d I wou ld venture to say t h at m
•
·tis
a daily practice
1
Now t ten years millions of lives were saved through this
the pat~onMy life is one of them.
opera1 •
HOMOSEXUALITY.
.
.
When a society loses its moral fiber, it falls prey to
. orality and all kinds of perversion. Homosexuality
10101
d y is openly and widely publicized in the news media;
to asequently, homosexua 1s h ave t h eir
• cu1 b s, organizations,
• •
co~even churches. Homosexuality has invaded institutions
::ch as our armed forces and even some Christian
d ominations. The Old and New Testaments, canon law
endHoly Tradition all condemn homosexuality as being
::normal and inconsistent with both God's law and natural
law.
Homosexuals say that normality varies from person to
erson. In short, they say, "what is normal is what I decide
s normal.'' We cannot but reject this kind of reasoning
becauseas Orthodox Christians, we live before God and in
the Church, and it is from such sources that we derive the
standardsby which we measure morality. If man is to decide
forhimself what is moral and what is immoral, he becomes
hisown god. Such a relativistic attitude will result in man's
uprootednessand disconnectedness from God. The. purpose
ofChristian ethics is to lead man not to the self-adJustment
theories of relativism but to self transcendence and Transfiguration.
WORLD HUNGER
The most serious problem which our world is facing
todayis no longer a nuclear confrontation. It is rather mass
starvation. An American agronomist warned recently that
"unless mankind is wise enough and compassionate
enough to design a better food security system we may be
seeingthe beginning of the end of our civilization.''
According to the latest United Nations statistics, world
population is increasing at the rate of ninety-five million
peoplea year. Five hundred million people in Asia, Africa
and Latin America are threatened with starvation. In
certainprovinces of northern India, famished Indians have
strippedthe trees of all edible leaves, and newspapers carry
nightmarish reports of entire families who have committed
suicideto end the agony of slow death by starvation. W,e
Americans comprise six per cent (6%) of the world s
populationyet we consume between thirty-five to forty per
cent(35-40%) of the earth's goods. How long can America
surviveas a little, wealthy island in an ocean of poverty? T~e
money which we give in foreign aid is too insigni~icant m
comparisonwith the billions of dollars which we denve from
exporting destructive weapons and other commodities to
poor nations. An editorial published in the New York
Times February 24, 1976, stated ''the shameful expa~s~on
of American arms sales abroad from less than one billion
dollarsin 1970 to an estimated twelve billion dollars in the
f
April, 1976
fiscal year ending next June raises political and moral issues
that neither the administration nor the congress can
ignore.''
Can the Church remain passive and silent
in a world of hunger, racism, totalitarianism, economic exploitation and social
injustice?
There is a new theological trend which is sweeping the
Christian world today called ''Theology of Liberation.'' We
have been asked to define our Orthodox position vis-a-vis
this theology. Can the Church remain passive and silent
in a world of hunger, racism, totalitarianism, economic
exploitation and social injustice? And if not, can the
Church advocate armed resistance and encourage social
revolutions as ways and means to liberate oppressed nations?
We need answers to this and other new iconoclasms. We also
have to speak in a prophetic way against other trends which
are destroying God's image in man such as sex and violence
on television and movie screens, pornography, the disintegration of the family, the spread of nuclear power, and
corruption in our government, especially during this
election year. Each and every one of our candidates for the
highest office in the land is sacrificing his human dignity and
Page 7
�hunger? Where is our common response to contempora
.
h'
.
ry
iconoclasm? After our celebration t 1s _evening, we Will
return to our ethnic islands and I wonder 1fwe will see each
other before next Sunday of Orthodoxy.
Beloved in Christ,
We must make a firm decision that we are here in J
America to stay. I say this because ~01:1eof us, clergy and
laity, at least psychologic~lly, are ~till m t~e ?l~ Country.
Orthodoxy on this contment will remam insignificant
and ineffective as long as we continue to live in our
ethnic ghettos. Consequently, if we do not express our
inner unity in concrete, external action, we will continue '
this insignificant presence for many years to come. The most
important question which we must. ask ourselves honestly
and earnestly is: How can we achieve Orthodox unity in
America? There is no simple answer to this question .•We
will be very naive to think that Orthodox unity can be
achieved through an edict from some Patriarch in some Old
Country, or through a directive from the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in America. I believe, however
that despite the complexity of our problem we can tak~
certain steps which will ultimately lead to that blessed day:
First, each ethnic jurisdiction must unite and put its own
house in order. How can Arabs unite with Serbs if Arabs
cannot unite with each other? "The Arabs agree to
disagree." This is a famous saying among the Antiochians;
yet despite sixty years of division and misunderstanding, last
year, Archbishop Michael of Toledo and I met in this city
(Pittsburgh) and laid a firm foundation for a united Antiochian Archdiocese in North America. If we Antiochians
can unite, there is no reason why Russians, Serbians,
Romanians, Albanians, Ukrainians, etc. cannot unite.
Thus, on this Sunday of Orthodoxy I challenge you, fellow
Orthocbx, to put your houses in order as a first step toward
Orthodox unity.
The second and most effective step toward Orthodox
unity is inner-Orthodox cooperation on a grass roots level.I J
wish that in every city in America we could have an Orthodox Clergy Association like yours of Greater Pittsburgh.
Your hierarchs cannot impose unity on you if you are not
ready for it on the local level. Moreover, I honestly feel that
1
moral principles in order to win votes. All of us, clergy, laity
and above all the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops
in America did not do much in the past sixteen years
to enhance Orthodox unity in this hemisphere. It is another
coincidence that we are gathered here on the eve of the
Sixteenth Anniversary of the Standing Conference. The
memorandum whichJhe late Metropolitan Antony Bashir of
the Antiochian Archdiocese sent to the American hierarchs
inviting them to a meeting at the Greek Archdiocese, March
15 1960, included among many items the following:
''Standardized Liturgical Texts.'' As of this date we still do
not have one common translation even for our Creed or
Lord's Prayer. Forgive me if I indulge in self-criticism. We
Orthodox have a tendency, especially on the Sunday of
WhatIs The Word?
rt. rev. ellis khouri, dean of the clergy
Every publication has a title or name to distinguish it
other publications. The Word is like all other
from
. t h'1s respect b ecause 1t
• h as a name to
blications m
~~1 tinguish it from other publications. In addition there is
~ething special about this magazine which not only
~~stinguishesit ~rom other publications b_ut enables it to
become distinctive. It r_eflects and emphasizes the thought
in this Biblical quotation:
.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
withGod, and the Word was God." (John 1-1)
The Word magazine as the official voice of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North
America has become a living spark of the eternal, everpresent source of energy and undiminished Light. It has
become the sacred image of the Primate of the Archdiocese, Metropolitan Philip, our hierarchs, the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees, Clergy and Laity. It enters
our homes as a pleasant monthly messenger laden with
spiritual, theological, social articles and parish news. It
bringsforth good tidings about the life, accomplishments
and growth of the Archdiocese. It has become a vast stage
upon which writings, discussions and the true life of the
parishes are well displayed.
Since its conception in 1905, The Word has entered
the homes of the faithful and has become a treasury of
knowledge, a dispenser of wisdom and a source of
trustworthy news and information. Today it is regarded
highly as a respected and well read publication in the
Orthodox communities internationally.
The Word has undergone many changes since its first
appearance in 1905 (in Arabic). Its founder was the first
Syrian Orthodox Hierarch in America, of thrice-blessed
memory, Raphael Hawaweeny. The Word (Al-Kalimat)
has changed through the years from the days of Raphael
Hawaweeny, Aftimious Ofiesh, Emmanuel Abou-Hattab,
Victor Abou-Assaly, Antony Bashir, and now our most
beloved hierarchs.
During these years of change and progress The Word
has maintained its destiny and its mission. It has reached
out into the homes of our people but still possesses a great
potential for distribution. Our true dream is to see that
The Word is placed on every table in every Antiochian
Orthodox Christian home. Our great challenge for the
future is to double subscriptions. Our great challenge for
the immediate is to increase the meager subscription
price of five dollars to a more realistic rate.
Our sincerest thanks go to the scholarly gentleman of
the cloth, the Very Rev. Paul W. Schneirla who edited and
managed The Word for several years with patience, skill
and unselfishness. To the newly appointed and articulate
two co-editors, Fathers George S. Corey, Pittsburgh, and
Joseph Allen, Bergenfield, we say, "Welcome to the
challenge and to our homes."
READ
THE
WORD
and give a gift subscription
to a friend or relative!
The greatest gift that we can offer America on her Bicentennial is a strong resolve
that Orthodox unity will be a reality before this century fades away and sinks in the
ocean of eternity.
Orthodoxy, to glorify the past and feel proud of ourselves.
There is no doubt that the Church of the Ecumenical
Councils was glorious and courageous because she responded
to the challenges of her time. Have we responded to the
challenges of our time? As individual jurisdictions, I believe
that we have succeeded in building new churches, in
educating young priests and in organizing choirs and church
chools; but collectively, we have done absolutely nothing.
Where is our common witness in the National Council of
Churches? Where is our influence on our national and local
politics? Where is our common position vis-a-vis abortion,
euthanasia, homosexuality, social injustice and world
PaReR
you on the local level are more responsive to the question of
Orthodox unity than your hierarchs who are over-burdened
by administrative and jurisdictional work.
Beloved in Christ,
The greatest gift we can offer America on her
Bicentennial is a strong resolve that Orthodox unity
will be a reality before this century fades away and
sinks in the ocean of eternity.
Twentieth century
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Page 9
April, 1976
�GreatandHolyPassion
Wtth
1
by rev. gabriel barrow
Throughout the year and especially during Holy
Pa ion Week, we, as good Orthodox Christians, must
r -e aluate and fulfill our duties and responsibilities
to ourselves and to our Church. With the joyous
celebration of Our Lord's Entry into Jerusalem (Palm
Sunday) completed, the Church embarks upon the
journey that will commemorate that week in history
that placed mankind above time. With the beginning of
the celebration of Holy Week, the Church begins the
beginning of the end - that commemoration of the
Passion of Our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
that obtained for mankind the gift of salvation and the
right to share with Christ in His Father's Heavenly
Kingdom. Although the one week of Our Lord's
Passion occured historically in time, the Church, in her
deep solemnity of commemorating Christ's suffering
and death, also has an air of full joy, for the Church can
never lose sight of the fact that Christ's sufferings and
death lead to His Resurrection and to the beginning of
our new life and entry into the New Aeon that He
proclaimed.
In anticipation of these mankind-saving events, the
Church disregards all concept of time (For in Christ, we
are above time) and it celebrates Matins in the evening
and Vespers in the morning. This reversal of the
services shows the faithful that this week is something
memorates Christ's suffering, that overcame evil; His
death, that overcame sin; His descent into Hades, that
overcame death; and His Resurrection, that restored us
to Life in the pre-fallen state. Through the power of
Jesus Christ, we have the possibility to overcome
suffering and death, in as much as we have faith in His
Saving Passion and His Saving Resurrection.
OUR PERSONAL EFFORTS
It is most i!llportant that we live very holy lives,
especially during Holy Passion Week, for we are called
to Be Holy as your Father is Holy. It is important that
necessary that he should undergo a preparation and
this consists, in the language of the Apostle Paul, in an
examination of himself. That is, we must examine what
has been our conduct, what care we have taken of 0
soul, and how we have fulfilled the duties which ;r
promised at the time of our Baptism into the Churche
We must not take Holy Communion haphazardly O •
.
' r
simply on impulse when t h e Priest says: With the fear
of God, and with faith and love, draw near. It must be
taken only after a good preparation. Fasting alone is
not enough. We must increase our prayers, and above
all, examine ourselves and be at a clear conscience
between ourselves and God. If we find that we have
greatly trespassed God's commandments,
we must be
sincerely sorry, declare ourselves worthy of Divine
wrath, and make our compunction evident by a confession to the Priest.
Yet, the greatest stress must be placed on an unconditional examination of one's self. For when these
unprepared people dare to come forward and partake of
Holy Communion, by thus communing
they draw
upon themselves greater wrath and condemnation, as
despisers of the Holiness of the Lord. For he that eateth
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself,
not descerning the Lord's body. (I Cor. 11:29)
Therefore, we must understand that we are all sinners.
CONFESSION
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us. (I John 1:8) The Orthodox
Church provides for forgiveness of our sins through the
Sacrament of Confession. Confession is a Sacrament, in
which the sins committed by believers are forgiven by
God through the Priest, when the believers sincerely
confess them, and firmly believe in the merits of
Christ and His Holy Teachings. True repentance is
comprised of five steps: First, the Confession of one's
own sins. Secondly, that the sinner should accuse
... we must examine what has been our conduct, what care we have taken of our
soul.
during Holy Week we all fast very strictly, that we
attend all Church services, and also that we all partake
worthil~ of the Body and Blood of Our Lord and God
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that b~ead, and drink of that cup. (I Cor. 11 :28) That
one might partake of Holy Communion worthily, it is
Page 10
himself before God. Thirdly, that he should think of
G?d's mercy, who rejects not the repenting sinner, but
wishes that he should return and live. Fourthly, to
believe unhesitatingly that Jesus Christ Our Savior,
died for us, and by His death brought th~ grace of H_is
Heavenly Father on all them that hope and believe in
Him. Fifthly, to make a sure resolution of correcting
The Word
1
himself and changing his life. These five signs of a true
onfession should be made before a Priest for two
c ons: first, that the person confessing might receive
reas
. .
l
.d
d
of the Priest sp~ntua gu~ ance an admonition as to
manner of his conversion. Secondly, that the Priest
t he
h
.
might pronounce on ~ e pen~tent sinner, in the Name
f Christ, the absolution of sms, and assure him, from
~he Gospel, of his obtaining Divine mercy, and the
hope of salvation.
TO BE WORTHY
Having prepared ourselves through a true and
sincere confession, we can truly be worthy to partake of
the Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. The Holy Eucharist, established by Our Lord at
the Last Supper, is a Sacrament in which the believer
receives, under the form of bread, the Body itself of
Christ, and under the form of wine, the Blood itself of
Christ, to the remission of sins, and to eternal life. This
sacrament of the Orthodox Church has been commanded and instituted
by Christ, Himself. Our
Savior's object
in ordaining
this
Sacrament
was, according
to
the
Evangelists
and
the Apostle Paul,
that
we should
remember
incessantly, during this performance of the Divine
Liturgy, all His benefits and love shown to us, and how
He delivered us, and obtained for us, by His death, the
grace of God and eternal happiness. This do ye, as often
asye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye
eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's
death till He come. From this remembrance,
accompanied by pure faith, spring up all the salutary
advantages, such as the remission of sins, and the right
of inheriting eternal life. For whoever receives Christ,
he at the same time receives with Him the whole
source of grace. Therefore,
as good Orthodox
Christians, we should frequently partake worthily of
the Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord and God and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Especially during this Great and
Holy Passion Week, and should examine ourselves and
repent of our sins so that we can truly receive Our
Risen Lord into our hearts and bodies. For Christ
Himself teaches us: Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood,
you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up
at the Last Day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As
the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father:
so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is
that bread which came down from Heaven: not as your
/at~ers did eat manna and are dead,· he that eateth of
.this bread shall live forever. (John 6:53-58)
SERVICE MAY BE LONGER, BUT ...
It is during the Liturgical Services of Holy Week
that_all these mankind-saving
events performed by
Christ are stressed so fully and so deeply. Certainly the
Church Services of Holy Week are many and long. But
never let us forget, that Christ, unlike our simple
restlessness ~nd w:eakness during these long services,
suffered durmg His whole life in the flesh even unto
death, aft~r his .THREE HOURS of long ~nd painful
agony nailed in the flesh upon the Cross itself.
Therefore, Great and Holy Passion Week should be
ke~t with a strict fast and a full liturgical cycle. To the
Faithful, who have diligently and faithfully kept the 40
Days of Fasting, these last few days of Holy Week are
but a welcomed climax to their pilgrimage. But for the
lax_and la!y members of the Church, this last week of
strict fasti~g and long services is nothing but an agony
and suffermg to them. But in Her Wisdom and concern
for his soul, the Church cannot surrender to this lax
and _Ia~y member of the Church by easing the
restrictions of the Fast or by shortening or cutting the
long Holy Week Services. For, if for no other reason
but for the concern of his soul the Church should
rather increase the restrictions on this lax and lazy
member of the Church, especially durin_g the week of
the Great and Holy Passion of Our Lord. For Christ did
not obtain Resurrection without first experiencing
agony, suffering, and even death. If this is true for
Christ, who was without sin, then how can we sinners
expect anything less? How can we save our souls unless
we also suffer for Christ's sake? For If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24) The Church is
not asking you to be physically nailed to a wooden cross
as was demanded of Jesus Christ. Instead, it only asks
you to remember and to participate in His Holy Passion
and Resurrection by being good and faithful Orthodox
Christians. Just as Christ did not rise from the dead
without the agony and suffering of the· Cross, we
cannot, therefore, obtain salvation and truly experience and participate in His Resurrection without
also first experiencing agony and suffering for Christ in
this life. Only then will we be assured of a place with
Christ in His Father's Heavenly Kingdom. Without the
suffering of the Cross, and the agony of the Grave,
there can be no Glorious Resurrection.
NO SELF-CHEATING!
There can be no true Feast without first preparing
for it by a true Fast! Therefore, let us not cheat ourselves of fully experiencing the Holy and Glorious
Feast of Easter, by not attending Holy Week Services
and by not observing a strict and solemn week of
fasting. If we faithfully attend all of the Holy Week
Services and if we obediently observe the Fast of the
Holy Passion of Our Lord, then when we come to that
long awaited moment, when the Priest exclaims:
CHRIST IS RISEN! Your heart, your mind, your
soul, and your body, will truly not be able to hold back
the joyous and triumphant reply and your total being
will faithfully and truly proclaim: INDEED, HE IS
RISEN!.
FatherGabriel Barrow is pastor of St. Elias Church in Toledo, Ohio and Chairman of the Department of Liturgics of our
Archdiocese.
April, 1976
Page 11
�AntiocQian@rtQohox©QristianBorn.en
nf NnrtQAm.eri.ca REL1G1ous GOALS
Department of ChristianEducation
"Let us draw near with Faith and Love ..•
Aim and Goal: To spiritually strengthen the Orthodox home and family.
I. B striving for the continued spiritual growth and education of our Orthodox women.
2. B developing the woman's role as an effective family and spiritual leader.
3. B encouraging women to unite their families to the Body of Christ.
Implementation: Most readily developed on a local level; at regular intervals; through the following examples:
1. Di cussion groups at regular meetings.
a.) Moderator from within organization
1. Rotate Moderator.
b.) Spec(fic topics to be evaluated:
1. Bible Passage (what does it mean?)
2. Life of a Saint (what does it mean?)
3. Prayer study session (what does it mean?)
4. Dress code in our Churches (what does it mean?)
5. Church etiquette (what does it mean?)
c.) Set time limit
1. 20 minutes from regular meeting for discussion.
d.) Allow free expression as not to hinder discussion.
e.) Use Church Library for reference when necessary.
f.) Request aid from Parish Priest.
2. Discussions may be opened during informal gatherings.
a.) Coffee at one's home.
1. Impromptu invitation.
2. Moderator may choose this plan as an alternative or continuation.
b.) While working together on favorite project.
3. Lectures-mowe re
formal atmosphere prevails here with invited guests ' but question and answer periods ar e aIways
1come.
a.) Orthodox Clergy
1. Submit specific topic_sto le~turer that are of current interest to your Parish.
a.) Y ~uth _and their. special problems relating to the Church today.
b.) Liturgical practices as they exist today.
2.) Lay professionals in relevant fields.
a.) Mother-Daughter films, booklets, etc. are available.
b.) Father-Son films, etc.
c.) Counseling services on family, marriage and children.
4. Retreats-may be_~l~nned on ANY scale that is accommodating to ANY group with ANY family or business
responsibility.
a.) Retreat Master
1. ~arish Priest with qualified lay assistant to carry on in event of emergency.
b.) Location
1. Id~ally, to be_away from routine atmosphere.
2. If ideal location impractical, Church Hall for example would suffice
c.) Theme
'
'
•
1. makeup.
May be chosen in consultation with Retreat Master from suggestions and considerations of group
d.) Duration-may be adjusted to meet group limitations.
1. Weekend Retreat is ideal
2. One full day.
•
3. Four hours Saturd&y morning or four hours Sat d
•
e.) Attendance-may vary depending ~n theme.
ur ay night, or four hours Sunday afternoon, etc.
1. May be coeducational.
2. Husband and wife.
. 3_.All male or all female.
5. Family Ltfe Evaluation:
a.) Example setting:
1. Our Christian attitude must be maint • d b
2. Our behaviour on a one-to-one basis ame eyond ~unday morning.
3. Our moral standard must be the sammust be as Christ would have us behave.
4. Our Church etiquette must be m . t ~ asdwe demand of others.
5• Our d at·1y l'fi
I
am ame
t e-sty e must truly be Christ-ce~tered.
••• that we may be partakers of Life Eternal!"
Page 12
Pearl Nahass,
Chairman-Religious
Committee
The Word
Case History:
A Dialogue Between Youth and Parents
albert:aw. blue
Jean, a fifteen year old, wails the common teen
complaint,"You never listen." Charlie's mother frets, "He
just doesn't tell us anything!"
A news item reads, "One-third
of American marriages
end in divorce. Experts consider maturity and communications keys to a good family life."
Communication is the greatest
press in relating to their children.
problem parents ex-
How to establish good communications within a family
and how to maintain these, particularly during the tempestuous teen years, has been the subject for numerous
books, articles and adult
conversations.
Various
techniques are suggested to parents with the implication
that parents have the greater responsibility in this area.
Young people do share the concern. Within our parish,
one group recently assumed full responsibility of
providinga unique opportunity for adult-youth discussion.
The results seem worth sharing with you.
The discussion was arranged entirely by the high
schoolstudents, who submitted topics to the panel of five
teenagers and five parish adults. The moderator was a
high school senior. Adults invited to serve on the panel
were all parents, although none were parents of the teen
panelists. This was intentional on the part of the youth
setting up the panel. As one girl said, "We all know what
our own parents think of things. We want to hear what
other adults have to say." The audience did include the
parents and children of the panelists, however, and each
topic stimulated response throughout the hall, as well as
from_the panel. Here are some of the highlights of the
evemng's discussion.
Bill (the moderattor): How much 'chaperoning'
do teens
need at a party? Should parents always be around, in the
ho~se?~n the room? What do other parents expect when
their child goes to someone else's house?
Joe: I think my parents do okay on this. They're always
around and want to meet everyone, but I really think it's
?ecause they like to know my friends. I don't think they're
Just checking up on us.
Mary: But what about parents being right there, in the
s:imeroom, for the whole party? It makes some of us feel
hke they don't trust us at all.
Mr. D.: I do think I have to be at home when the kids have
company, but I don't consider it untrusting of me. After
all' 1•f there was an accident I'd need to help, and legally I
April, 1976
a~ !esponsible for people in my home. I'm not really
rummg anyone's fun, I don't think.
Mrs: H.: Well, maybe I am. And if so, then that's part of
my ~ob as a p~rent. Because I am going to be around
~nytlme my children entertain, and if they don't want me
10 the. same ,room, then
obviously they are doing
somethmg th_eyr_easham~d of. Some things that happen at
teenage parties Just aren t going to happen in my home.
Tim: Like what?
Mrs. H.: Well ...
you know. (This prompted some
laughter from the audience, and one audible comment
"Cop-out.")
'
Mrs. W.: Well, maybe I'm being naive, but I see no reason
to keep that close an eye on my children's company. Why,
I quit making special trips into the room to check up on
them and their friends when they were five years old. If I
started that routine again now, we'd all know that I really
didn't trust them. But I do.
Bill: What about smoking and drinking? How do you feel
about this for teenagers? I won't ask how you feel about
adult smoking. (This last comment was in reference to the
fact that three of the parent panelists were currently
smoking.)
Mrs. S.: Well, I've told my kids for years, "I know you're
going to try these things. So when you really want to,
please come to me and do your experimenting at home."
They know I mean this, and I think it's better than having
them try things in a sneaky way.
Tim: But do you really think they're going to just come in
one day and ask you for a beer? My folks may guess I've
done some drinking, and I maybe figure they know, but
we're all more comfortable as long as none of us is sure.
Mr. D.: I don't think any of my boys have ever gotten
high; at least, I hope not, But I know I'm not ready to have
them regularly sitting around the house drinking my
booze. And they had better be darn sure that they never
get picked up in town loaded.
Mary: Will, I for one don't plan to start smoking. And I
really wish my parents would stop. From what I read,
there's more proof of the harm that cigarettes do to
people's health than what marijuana does. And look how
most adults feel about that!
(Continued
on Page 18)
Page 13
�LIFESTVLESX
homil
ARUHDIOUESAN
OFFIUE
by archpriest james c. meena
"TAKE THE NEXT STEP''
Ha ing made the First Premise that GOD IS, it
becomes necessary for us to go on from there. "The f~ol
says in his heart, there is no God." (Psalm 14:1). The .wise
acknowledge that GOD IS and then the next step 1s to
understand our relationship to Him.
When God manifested His wishes to a select group of
people, the Hebrews, He knew that it was ne~essary to
e tablish a law by which they could govern their socie.ty.
Before He could give them a social law He ~ad to est~bhsh
His Divine relationship with them. As an mtroductlon to
the Commandments with which we are so familiar He
aid: "I am the Lord thy God who brought you out of the
house of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." (Exodus
20:2). For the Hebrew people that should have been
enough. And for faithful Jews of today, that. is enough.
They recall this statement throughout the hohest days of
their ecclesiastical year.
For Christians this statement establishes the understanding that the God of Israel is our God as well. He is
One and the same God and we are inheritors of the same
commandments, of the same covenants, of the same
relationships that existed between that first chosen people
and God. Although that first chosen people lost the grace
that had been given them because of their covenantbreaking, sins, corruption and alienation from God, the
commandments and the grace that He intended for those
who would be obedient to Him have not disappeared but
have continued in the logical fulfillment that is the Church
of Jesus Christ.
neighbors because that was the easy w~y, .that was the way
of self-gratification, the way of perm1ss1veness.
Does that sound like something you heard recently?
We don't have pagan-gods anymore. Nonetheless, we
worship the gods of the people around us, the gods of
materialism and secularism and parochialism and transcendentalism and spiritism and satanism. We have a
fascination with witchcraft and with conversing with the
dead, with astrology and with ESP, with the "exotic"
religions of the East and, one way or another, we manage
to worship the gods of the people around us rather than
the True God, "Who brought us out of the house of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery and bondage."
Despite the fact that man sins time and time again, this
God, Who insists that He must be first in our life, loves us
so much "that He gave His only Begotten Son that the
world through Him might be saved." The fulfillment of all
that which had transpired in the early days of the
development of the chosen nation was completed when
God manifested Himself as a man, taking on humanity
without divesting Himself of His Divine Nature. He took
on all the pain, all the suffering, all the feelings and
temptations of man, paid the ultimate price in the sacrifice
on the Cross and sealed that sacrifice
with His
Resurrection, in order that we might know how much He
loves us.
Beloved Clergy and Faithful of the Archdiocese:
Grace and peace to you from .our Lord Jesus Christ.
With the Great Lent approaching, we are once again
ing you to place the "Alms Box" at the entrance of
ask r church where every pans• h'10ner, t h e young and the
y~: may deposit their offerings to feed the world's hungry.
~ ~ds collected by means of the "Alms Box" will be
e:rmarked for NAC SOYO's project "Food for Hungry
People", which last year was able, through your
enerosity, to provide well-balanced meals for children
g
•
from
impoverished
fam1·1·
1es.
The following passage from the Life of Saint Basil the
Great is offered for your consideration and meditation:
When St. Basil was Bishop of Caesarea a drought
swept through the region and brought about a serious
famine. The peasants scrabbled among the burnt blades of
wheat, groaning and weeping. St. Basil was disturbed by
the more fortunate faithful of his flock who had stores of
food. He preached, "Hunger is the most pitiable of all ills,
the worst of miseries, the most fearful of deaths. What
kind of punishment, do you think, is deserved by a person
who passes the hungry without giving them aid?"
Although the physical famine had reached terrifying
Page 14
Then is it any wonder that, after the First Premise of
Christian
Archdiocese
Deceased:
Khouriyeh W asella Farkouh, widow of the late Arch priest
Farid Farkouh, in Brooklyn, NY
Khouriyeh Victoria Hamati, widow of the late Archpriest
Elia Hamati, in Toledo, Ohio on February 13, 1976
Helen Majdell, wife of Archdiocesan Trustee Albert
Majdell, in Montreal, Quebec on Febr~ary 19, 1976
Albert Majdell, Archdiocesan Trustee, m Montreal,
Quebec on February 23, 1976
the acknowledgement
. . . God is . . . the first Com·
mandment is "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,"
and that there can be nothing that takes priority in our life
over our loyality to God or our discipleship to Him and to
our love for Him?
"Do not follow other gods-the gods of other people
around you for Yahweh your God is a jealous God."
(Deut. 6:14)
"Take heed," says the Lord, "lest you forget the Lord
your God, by not keeping His Commandments."
(Deut.
8: 11)
"Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your might. And these
words which I command you this day shall be upon your
he~rt; and you shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down,
and when you rise up." (Deut. 6:4-7)
The Word
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
An tiochian Orthodox
of North America
FEBRUARY 1-29, 1976
Received into the Archdiocese:
Rev. Theodore Koufos from the Orthodox Church in
America, assigned to the pastorate at St. George in
Toronto, Ontario
God will not tolerate a dualism of loyalty. We are either God's children, His family, His
creatures, His obedient servants, or the servants of something else.
"I am the Lord thy God," and the first Commandment
is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." When
Orthodox Christians baptize, the first physical act that
takes place is when the Priest breathes upon the recepient
the breath of life, lays his hand upon his head and claims
him for God. God will not tolerate a dualism of loyalty.
We are either God's children, His family, His creatures,
His obedient servants, or the servants of something else.
God insists that we can put nothing before Him.
In ancient times the people of God fell into condemnation and broke the covenants that were established
between them and God most especially when they fell into
the worship of idols, building statues, burning incense and
bowing down before them. Imitating the paganism of the
surrounding countries was a popular apostasy. The chosen
people of God never really seemed to have had the
strength to stand on their own two feet for long and say,
"There is but one God, and Him shall we follow." They
had this tendency to follow after the pagan ways of their
proportions St. Basil saw a worse kind of famine among
those who refused to share their food with the less fortunate. He wrote, "Most terrible among us is the famine of
love."
We are certain that such a "famine of love" does not
exist among the people of our Archdiocese. We trust that
~very parish and mission will respond to this appeal made
m behalf of those who hunger, and that our people will
once again be mindful of the poor by making financial
contri_butions and by remembering them in their prayers.
With prayers that Christ, Who became poor for our
sake, will bless you with spiritual nourishment in return
for your physical fasting and charitable works, we remain
Your Intercessor in Christ.
Degree A warded:
.
Dr. John L. Boojamra, Director of the Archd10cesan
Department of Christian Education, received. his ~h.
D. in Byzantine History from Fordham Umvers1ty,
Bronx, NY
New Publications:
Sourcebook for Youth Work published by the Department of Christian Education
.
Service Books of the Evening Divine Liturgy p~bhshed by
the Department of Liturgics and Translations
"Lifeline" (brochure) published by the Departm~~t of
Continuing
Pastoral
Education
and Spiritual
Vocations.
April, 1976
Page 15
�Pastoral Considerations on
Current Problems
DIALOGUE • • •
questions to father buben
Sex, Natural Law and Orthodoxy
by fr. george morelli
Problem: While on Christmas vacation from college, my
daughter told me that one of her professors said that
sex outside marriage was not against the "natural law."
In fact, there was no "natural law" - but "anything
goes." I have tried to bring up my children to be good
Orthodox Christians. What am I to do?
Solution: By all means continue to proclaim the Gospel
teachings, but be sure not to base your moral system on
some so-called "natural law." You see, your daughter's
college professor is correct. Extra-marital sex is not
against the natural law. In science, when we speak of
natural we mean what is in nature. In nature, many
types of behaviors exist. There are many varieties that
we see in our own culture and even more varieties that
we can see in cross cultural comparisons. Sociological
and anthropological studies lead the way here. Thus
monogamy, polygamy, war, murder, chastity, and
homosexuality, etc., are all equally lawful in nature
because they all exist. For example, we may observe
that in a certain culture, homosexual behavior occurs
and thereby deviates from what the average individual
does. But that neither makes it unnatural nor immoral. The fact that it exists means it is natural, as
natural as a sunrise or an earthquake, a flower or a
flood.
Unfortunately, the recent Roman Catholic Vatican
pronouncement on sex may confuse the issue especially
for Orthodox Christians. In part, the declaration
states: "In the depths of his conscience, man detects a
law which he does not impose on himself but which
holds him to obedience ... all evolution of morals
and every type of life must be kept within the limits
imposed by the immutable principal based on every
person's constitutive elements and essential relations."
In the course of history whenever the Roman Church
(or any other Church) has based its faith, dogma or
morals on science, she has been terribly embarrassed.
Copernicus, a 16th century churchman and scientist
was considered a heretic for stating the sun was th~
center of the universe, instead of the earth as the
theologians taught. This earth-centered universe fit
well w,ith the ~heolog~cal view of man as the greatest
of God s material creations, who thereby must reside at
the center or focal point of the universe. Galli!
t oo~ _ran mto
•
d'ff'
eo
i icu l ty defending the Copernican
position. But, as we know, the earth is not the center
of the_univ~rse, and whether it is or not has nothing to
do with faith or morality.
Page 16
Science has spoken! All varieties of sexual behavior are
natural. But this has nothing to do with faith or
morality.
Well, for you as a parent or for a counselor or pastor
there would be two important issues left. One would
be concern for the societies norm, such as extra marital
sexual behavior and homosexuality,
may seriously
endanger the happiness and societal adjustment of the
individual. They even may be a sign of emotional
disturbance
so that referral
to a compotent
psychotherapist would be called for.
Most important however, is the second issue. It is
really not an issue at all because it is at the apex of our
lives - this is our Orthodox Faith. We do not obey a
proscription, sexual or otherwise, because it adheres to
some so-called "pseudo" natural law. We obey according to the measure of our faith. The measure of
our faith will be based on the depth of heart and sincerity of our prayer. It would be well to keep in mind
what our holy fathers have taught us - obedience
leads to faith and prayer, and in turn, faith and prayer
lead to obedience. Being excellent psychologists, the
fathers tell us that the main pitfalls to prayer and
obedience to God's will are forgetfulness, ignorance
and laziness. Possibly we could sum up these three
categories into two: knowledge and perseverence (or
persistence). Real knowledge
of the Christian
spiritual-moral life can only come from the light of
faith in accordance with the Gospels and the guidance
of the Church.
Persistence in seeking the will of God
and obedience to His commandments
also comes
through faith. Obedience itself makes for even greater
love, faith and obedience.
So you see, your daughter may be getting a very
valuable college education, if she at least learns that
the Orthodox Christian life, , sexual or otherwise,
cannot be proved by the "natural law." You as her
parent along with her pastor, and the entire Church,
can add to her knowledge by teaching and witnessing
the message of the Gospels, the commandments, the
beatitudes, what Our Lord called the "narrow path"
leading to our sharing of the Light of God. It is by faith
that we will become as "little children"· that we will
find the Kingdom of God.
'
This kingdom, as the evangelists tell us, is found in our
hearts. I might add that it is not found in a science
textbook, except that through the light of faith "the
heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
proclaims His handiwork."
The Word
QUESTION: The~e has been a great deal of confusion and
misunderstanding about the 19 75 Paschal (Easter) date
in the Orthodox Church. It is not often that the
Eastern and Western Easter dates are as far apart as
they were that year. (Roman Catholics and Protestants
celebrated Easter on March 30 that year. Eastern
Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter on May 4). Why
the confusion?
ANSWER: We Orthodox Christians wait for the Jewish
Passover to be observed. We follow the Jewish
Calendar in use at the time of our Saviour and not the
revised Jewish Calendar.
According to the calculations of the Orthodox Jewish
Calendar (the calendar in use at the time of the
Crucifixion) Passover that year should have been April
30. The following Sunday, May 4 on the civil calendar,
was therefore our Easter date.
In the warmth of all nature springing to life with
blooming flowers, green grass and green leaves, the
refrain of "Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!" shall
be heard throughout the land from millions of faithful
Orthodox Christians.
The rules for determining
the date for Orthodox
Easter were set for all time by the First Ecumenical
Council of Nicaea in the year 325 A.D. The Jewish
Passover comes at full moon and may fall on any day of
the week. The Council decreed that Easter should
always fall on the Sunday after the full moon of
Passover, which was also the first full moon of the
vernal equinox.
For the Orthodox Christians, Easter must forever be
separated from and come after the Passover because
Christ Himself celebrated the Passover at the Last
Supper before His betrayal.
The Orthodox Church continues to follow the Julian
Calendar of which the Gregorian Calendar is a
revision.
The Gregorian revision was made because the Old
Julian, valuing the year at exactly 365 and ¼ days is
longer than the solar year. By the 16th century an
error of ten days had accumulated. The Old Julian
a~c~~ts as a leap year every year which has a number
d1v1S1bleby 4; the Gregorian revision, by requiring
that century years shall not be accepted as leap years
unless their numbers are divisible by 400, brought its
average year within about 24 seconds of the length of
the solar year.
In 1923, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople instituted a revised New Julian Calendar.
This New Julian Calendar, by a further revision in the
April, 1976
leap year system, brought its average year within three
seconds of the true length of the solar year. It is
therefore superior to the Gregorian.
Since the ~ew Juli~ is not yet in general use among
Orthodox, its practical effect for those who follow it is
to bring the dates of immovable feasts like Christmas
into correspondence with the Gregorian
dates.
Howev~r, the date of Easter and its dependencies (like
Ascens10n and Pentecost) must still be calculated
according to the Old Julian, because Orthodox
nity
requires that all Orthodox everywhere celebrate Easter
on the same date.
QUESTION: "J have just finished reading a book entitled
'The Story of Theresa Neumann," a Bavarian peasant
women who had borne the wounds of Christ for thirtyfive years, and is classed as a stigmatist ..... She was of
the Roman Faith and I was wondering and interested
to know if our Orthodox Faith has ever proclaimed
such a stigmatist? I love The Word magazine and enjoy
reading it very much.
-Minnie Deacon, Bridgeville, PA.
ANSWER: St. Athanasius said that "God became man that
man might become god-like." The final goal of
everyone should be to become godlike. This many
desert fathers and ascetics of the East attained to. We
have a Saint who sat on a thirty foot high column for
decades and our history is filled with deeds of people
which lead to or fall short of theosis, i.e. the attempt to
attain deification or divinization. Our Faith believes
that salvation
and redemption
means
man's
deification.
Many people were allowed to be imitators of Christ
because of their holy lives. There have been reported
cases of stigmatists among the Orthodox. It is
traditional to remember St. Macarius of Egypt of
whom it is said that an angel took the measure of his
chest and then crucified him to the earth.
Stigmatism, visions, appearences of the Theotokos,
relics, miracles etc. etc. It's good to have people read
about these holy things in our day and age. Don't
forget that the Roman Church shared with us a
thousand years of history, when such phenomena first
began to have their impact on those of good faith and
deeds.
QUESTION: "Is the following, part of the Epistles which
are read in the Liturgy, adhered to, as St. Paul charges
Page 17
�b the Lord, that this Epistle be read unto all the holy
brethren - I Thessolonians 5-27.
1 don't recall ever having heard it read in church. In
light of the social drinking pro~lem that_ is preval_ent,
it would seem that it should be rncluded rn the Epistle
readings as Paul charged.
-Mrs. Mary Akel, Canton, Ohio
A SWER: You're right! In our day the word drink alone
generally means alcoholic beverage. We are ~dmonished against its evil and clergy sh?uld sermomze
against it more often. Both ~pistle~ to the
Thessalonians should be used as basic outlines for all
the evil things that mankind is prone to.
If you look at the Typicon, the daily cycle of services
will show you, indeed, that the entire Epistle. (one &
two) to the Thessalonians is included. Durmg the
months of September and October, Thessalonians_ is
divided into certain daily chapters and verses, whi~h
conclude with the entire reading of what you have m
mind. Unfortunately, few parishes hold daily services.
Only monasteries, convents, seminari~s and perhaps
one or two parishes, adhere to the entire cycle of the
yearly calendar. However, these ·readings can be read
at home.
A little wine makes the heart rejoice. A little win .
good for the stomach. Too much wine, however s/ ~s
wind through the brain. Orthodoxy has nev;r
s
bidden the use of alcoholic beverages. The Ch or.
.
constantly admomshes
us h owever, t h at too muchUrch
f
anything is dangerous to our physical and spiritu~I
well-being.
fi
to women prie t
Q UESTION: "My question pertains
.
l
s s.
You answered the question severa times. This Was
years ago. Your answers were always unbelievab/
chauvinistic, and I suppose some thought th y
humorous. You felt women might change the stylee;
vestments or worst yet cause men to tell tall-tales in
the confessional.
With the events of women's liberation during the past
several years, and the fact that even Roman Catholics
are deliberating the subject, do you concede at least a
slight possibility that we will eventually become
eligible for Holy Orders? Remember,
many of us
liberated women will be reading your answer.
-Ms.
Anon
ANSWER: NEVER!
SEND QUESTIONS TO: The V. Rev. Michael Buben,
103 Pleasant St., Methuen, Mass. 01844
Copyright© 1971, St. Mary's College Press, Winona, Minnesota, 55987.
A Dialogue: Continued
Bill: That's one of our next questions for the parents. Just
what do you think about kids trying marijuana?
Mrs. H.: My children know better. It's illegal and
dangerous. They know I'd beat any kid who brought drugs
into our house.
Joe: But what about all the drugs parents use? Sure,
they're legal and all that, . . . or just cigarettes . . . aren't
all of these just different crutches parents use, like some
kids use marijuana?
Mary: How about it, Mrs. S.? Are you going to say tne
same thing to your kids about marijuana as you do about
smoking and liquor, "Come, try it at home?"
Mrs. S.: I think there are some differences. Certainly I'd
have to consider our drug laws . . .
Tim: Remember, in our state we can't legally smoke till
we're eighteen or drink till we're 21 ...
Mrs. S: I guess I never thought about it that way but
marijuana? I just don't know.
'
Mrs. W.: As one adult who has no intentions of experimenting with any drugs, (and by the way, Joe, I don't
take tranquilizers either,) I feel our drug laws are way out
of reason regarding marijuana and should be changed. On
the other hand, I do believe in some of the 'old Church'
principles I learned as a child: that our bodies are gifts
from God to be well-used by us for good things, and I
consider filling them with any drugs to be against this
guideline. So I don't take tranquilizers, and I'll strongly
urge my kids to stay away from all drugs.
Communities In Action
St. George's Parish
Charleston, W. Va.
The weekend of the 28th of November was truly a
htful one for the St. George Parish of Charleston,
~:~ Virginia. Metropolitan Philp and Archbishop
M' hael were the honored guests of the Parish and par. i_cated in a most beautiful Divine Liturgy together.
t1c1p
.
Needless to say, the superb St. George Ch01r of
Charleston was on hand to off_er it's brilliant r~per!oire to
h Ip make it a resplendent hturgy. The Choir director,
DeavidJohnson, with the organist, Connie Chouieri, and
themembers of the Choir were more than rewarded when
Metropolitan Philip acknowledged the Choir from the
pulpit.
..
.
Metropolitan Phihp, accompamed
by Fr. Antoun
Khouri and Fr. George Corey of Pittsburgh, Pa .. arrived at
the Charleston Airport on Friday evening. Fr. George
Mitchell, former priest of the Charleston Parish, and
Michel Husson, president of the P~rish Coun~il headed
the delegation of members greetmg the Bishop and
Clergy.
Immediately after arriving, the Parish Council entertained with a dinner at the Heart-of-Town Motel. On
Saturday, St. George youth, OYA, held a luncheon at the
Daniel Boone Hotel in honor of the Bishops and visiting
Clergy.Miss Donna Bsharah, sponsor of the OYA, spoke
and Miss Elizabeth Haddad, vice president and organizer
with Miss Bsharah of the luncheon, opened the meeting
for discussion. It was a most enlightening afternoon as
subjects such as "What place will Charleston OYA have in
the newly formed Antiochian
Archdiocese
of North
America." The 65 OYA members were more than impressed with the Metropolitan's
responses. Mr. Richard
Damous is president of Charleston OYA. Mr. Alan Risden
is another sponsor.
Saturday evening, Dr. and Mrs. Norman Bsharah and
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Haddad co-hosted an elegant Buffet
r
Dinner at the Bsharah home in Fort Hill. All the members
of the Parish Council, their wives and other friends attended this lavish celebration.
Later in the evening, the Hierarchs and Clergy were
guests of the Phoenician Club at a Hafli that took place in
the Activities Building of the Church. Following the
Sunday morning Liturgy, the St. George Ladies Guild,
hosted an informal coffee, whereby the Parishioners were
able to meet Metropolitan Philip personally and to renew
friendships with Archbishop Michael. Another luncheon
was held after Church for the Clergy and members of the
Council. Sunday evening the Bishops were honored guests
of Mr. and Mrs. Philip G. Michael, for a lovely and
delicious dinner.
All in all it was a most delightful weekend.
Metropolitan Philip had expressed a desire that there be
no banquets or large celebrations, so the parishioners
abided by his wishes. The people of Charleston, are anticipating the return of Metropolitan Philip and Clergy for
their annual Labor Day weekend festivities, and can
possibly show them what makes the Charlestonians
"unique".
-Gwena Haddad
St. Philip's Parish
Ft. Lauderdale Florida
At a recent visit, Bishop Elia brought greetings from
Metropolitan Philip and a change of status from "St.
Philip's Mission" to "St. Philip's Parish."
This news was conveyed to all who attended a banquet
in honor of Bishop Elia in the Church hall. Among the
honored guests were Very Rev. Michael Husson, of St.
George's Cathedral, Coral Gables and Rev. Nicholas
Neyman, of St. Mary's Church, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Khouriyas Alice Dalack, Lorraine Husson, Malvey
Neyman and Anna Kenna graced the head table.
The panel also discussed several other areas of concern
with equally varied responses. Keeping parents informed
of plans and meeting home deadlines seemed more ac·
ceptable to the youth than most parents would believe.
One young man stated, "We've got to hassle it a little.
Otherwise, parents would never realize we really are
growing up." On no topic were all the parents or all the
youth of one viewpoint. No consensus was developed; no
pat resolutions accepted. But throughout
the parish,
during the following weeks, many families discussed
amo?g themselves some of the insights they gained fro~
hearmg people outside their families discuss some of their
own concerns. And several echoed the comment of a
sixteen year old girl at the end of the evening, "Taking
turns talking is fine, but wasn't it nice that everyone took
turns listening?"
EDITORS NOTE: We strongly recommend this type of encounter in all our parishes, especially during Lent.
Page 18
The Word
:r, Antoun Khouri, Fr. George Mitchell, Metropolitan
. HILIP, Fr. George S. Corey, Fr. Alexander Vukovich
10 Charleston.
April, 1976
Bishop Elia offering Kurban at end of Liturgy at St.
Philip's Parish with Father Kenna assisting .
Page 19
�the opportunity to speak on their particular relation h"
. k
s lp
with Saidna. But please, do not b e m1sta en. The even·
will be much more t~an a series of _"testi~onial" speech:~
These participants hste~ above wtll be m~egrated into a
one hour and fiftee_n mmut~ progr~m w~ich _P~omisesto
be entertaining and mformatlve,. while mamta1mng a leve
1
of dignity befitting the occasion.
we know that all members of our Archdiocese feel
though they belong to one unified family, and therefo:s
you will want to not only attend this year's_ Convention i:
San Francisco, but also be a ~art of _t~is very special
evening in which we honor Saidna Phihp. It will, God
willing, be an evenin? that will insp~re one and all to
continue the work which we are now m, and to aspire to
fulfill, as Saidna always says, "Our impossible dream."
-Ron Nicola
Bishop Elia Fr. Michael Husson,, Fr. James Kenna and
Khouriya L~rraine Husson at Banquet honoring Bishop.
Father Husson, who is Dean of the South Florid~ ar_ea,
pledged to assist the new Parish and to unify the d1stnct.
Sam McLoota emceed the affair with much warmth_ and
his wife Ernestine directed the Choir in several select10ns.
At the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, a capacity crowd
worshipped as Bishop Elia and ..father J~mes ~.enna
erved the Liturgy. Afterwards, a Happy Birthday was
sung to the Bishop as he visited with parish~oners ove_r
coffee. An informative meeting with the Pansh Counctl
concluded his visit.
Ernie and Jean Arcos were gracious hosts to Bishop
Elia.at the Holiday Inn, of which Ernie is Manager.
As a Mission, St. Philip's welcomed a host of visitors
and residents. As a Parish, this hospitable community
hopes all in Broward County will support its many activities.
-Elaine L. Azar
St. Nicholas Church,
San Francisco, California
On Thursday evening, July 29, 1976, Convention
participants will have an opportunity to join together in
celebration of our beloved Metropolitan Philip's tenth
anniversary as primate of the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America. This decade has
passed with great swiftness, but not without great accomplishment. San Francisco was Saidna Philip's first stop
back from his consecration in 1966, and those of you who
attended that convention will remember the deep and
genuine emotions which flowed when he arrived in the
Golden State. We hope to generate those same feelings at
this year's convention; only they will be ten times
magnified.
All convention participants will no doubt want to
extend their congratulations to Saidna during the week,
but on Thursday night at 9:00 P.M., we will all join
together as a collective congregation in thanksgiving for
Saidna's wise and steady leadership.
The evening will be organized around the concept of
participation, with each segment of the Archdiocese
having a role to play in the evening's program. The Clergy,
Archdiocese Board of Trustees, AOCWNA, SOYO, and
of course representatives of Saidna's family will all have
Page 20
St. Nicholas Church,
Montreal, Quebec
IBA assisted by the Right Reverend Antoun Khouri,
SALR ' Fr. Emile Hanna and the Rev. Fr. Joseph
theh e;: Msgr. Georges Coriaty, of St. Saviour Eastern
Sha el~ Church was in attendance. The church of St
C tho ic
'
.
•
~ hO1 s was filled beyond capacity. Mem hers of the
Nie ase Diplomatic Corps, Trustees of the Antiochian
Lebaneox Christian
.
.
Arc hd'10cese, representatives
of local
Od
h
Ort • ati·ons busmess
•
•
d re 1atlves
•
associates,
an
and
organtz
,
.
.
. d were in attendance as a shocked commumty paid
fnen s
.
"b t to one of its most respected
members.
tn tu epolitan PHILIP characterized
Albert Majdell as:
Me ro
• 'f'1ed gent 1emen h e h ad ever
"... one of the most digm
me~~bert Majdell was the founder and Chairman of the
B rd of Majdell Manufacturing Company, Limited. He
oa honoured with the Antonian Silver Medal of the
was
• • A re hd'10cese for services
•
A tiochian Orth6dox Ch nstian
n dered to the Archdiocese. At the Annual Archdiocese
~:nvention in 1975, after he had tendered his resignation
to the Archdiocese Board, due to ill health, he was made a
life-time honourary member of the Archdiocese Board.
Albert had also received the Certificate of Meritorious
Service from the late Metropolitan Antony Bashir in 1960.
Albert was the second recipient of the Louis Wener
Award established by the Children's Apparel Manufacturing Association in recognition of carrying on the
tradition of service to the general community. He was a
Governor and Past President of the Children's Apparel
Manufacturing Association, a Life Governor of the
Lebanese-Syrian Canadian Association, the founding
president of the Lebanese Canadian Society, Chairman of
the Advisory Council of the Syrian Antiochian Churches
of Montreal, Director of the Ct!dars Home for Elderly
People, Past President of the Parish Council of St.
Nicholas Church and Past President of the Parish Council
of St. Nicholas Church and Past President of the St.
Nicholas Men's Club - in which he was the highest
ranking fund raiser.
"Blessed is the way in which thou sh,~lt walk today: For
a place of rest is prepared for thee . . •
On Thursday, February 19, 1976, after a six-month
Excerpts From Metropolitan Philip's Eulogy Of Albert Majdell
illness, Helen Thomas Majdell, the wife of Albert J.
Majdell, passed away. Helen, a most vibrant and enWhen the Lord, in His comAnd who shall stand in His holy place? he was a man of dignity combined with
thusiastic woman was active in all phases of life within the
He who has clean hands and a pure honesty, humility and compassion.
~~s~ion,relieved Helen from the pain
Montreal Community. She had served as President of the
heart,
I believe in two kinds of immortality
1 and sorrow of this world, we said a
St. Nicholas Ladies Auxiliary, Chariman of many projects
Who does not lift up his soul to what is - immortality in society and imfervent prayer for the repose of her
and was a devoted member of the Ladies Aid Society, a
mortality with God beyond the grave.
false
soul and we also implored
the
local organization which aids people of the community
Albert achieved both immortalities
And does not swear deceitfully."
Almighty God to give strength to her
who are in financial need.
because of his devotion to people and
family, especially
to her ailing
These words perfectly illustrate Albert
Many friends and relatives mourned the loss of this
faith in God. Some of us, when we
husband, Albert, so that they may
Majdell's life, a man of clean hands
friendly and personable woman. The expressions of
become
successful in business, forget
accept her passing away with complete
and a pure heart.
sympathy given to Albert and family were overwhelming.
the
less
fortunate
people in this world.
submission to the Divine Will. But
St. Nicholas Church was filled to capacity for the Funeral
I believe that if my life and your life,.is Albert
neve,r forgot
the needy
little did we know that four days after
Service on Saturday, February 21, 1976. In eulogizing Mrs.
not a sermon or an eulogy by itself, no wherever he was. He has done many
Helen's death, Albert would join her
MajdeU, F-ather Joseph, Shaheen said: "Helen is an
one has the right to eulogize us and all good things, some of which we know
beyond the thin veils of this existence
example of someone who has taken the gift of life and
eulogies
are to no avail. Albert's life and some of which we shall never
in God's Holy Mansions. I believe that
used it to its fullest - not just for her own sake but to the
was an eloquent eulogy to this gen- know.
the power of love which united them
benefit and joy of all with whom she came in contact."
tleman of distinguished character. His "If every man were such as you and
in life likewise united them in death.
As the family returned to their homes after the ser·
life's record speaks for itself.
every life a life like yours,
In Psalm 24, we read:
vkes, attention was then turned to Albert Majdell, who
the earth would be God's paradise."
'Who will ascend the hill of the Lord?
. . . As a member of the Board of
himself had long been under doctor's care. (This was the
Trustees of the Antiochian Orthodox
reason that Mr. Majdell resigned as an active member of
Christian
Archdiocese
of North
the Archdiocese Board of Trustees during the Spring
1
America, he served most faithfully and
Meeting of 1975.) Even though efforts were made to have
most diligently and by so doing, he
Albert relax, he felt he had to attend to all the many phone
earned the respect of his colleagues on
calls and messages received from throughout the Ar·
the Board of Trustees and of all the
chdiocese.
Antiochian faithful throughout North
On Sunday evening, he was taken to the hospital in an
America.
attempt to stop a nose-bleed and upon his return home, he
In 1971 I had the pleasure of traveling
became progressively more uncomfortable. A doctor ~as
with him to Lebanon
for the
called to his bedside and after examination, he im·
dedication
of
the
Balamand
mediately had him rushed back to the hospital. On
Theological Academy. While there w_e
Monday, February, 23, 1976, at approximately 2:00_A.~-,
met the President of Lebanon, His
Albert J. Majdell joined his beloved wife Helen. Hts g~ief
Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV and the
over the loss of his wife and his own illness overcame him.
hierarchs of the Church. All were
1
Albert, always known for being a precise and organized
impressed
by Albert'.s h~m~n qualities
man, lived long enough to see that everything possible was
and
in
particular,
his d1gmty.
done for a fitting remembrance to his wife, Helen.
Throughout
my
life
I have met man:
The Funeral Service for Albert Majdell took place
dignified
people,
however,
~ ~~n t
s
exactly one week after the death of his wife on Thur di',
remember meeting a more d1gmf1ed
Feburary 26, 1976. The Service was presided over by I~
Helen Majdell
individual than Albert Majdell. Yes,
Albert Majdell
Eminence, The Most Reverend Metropolitan PHIL
The Word
April, 1976
�th American
pJor
Climb Halfway To The Stars • • ·
Council
SOYO
Digest
News and Views ...
A Note To Choir Directors -
San Francisco,Here We Come
• • •
The 31stAnnual ArchdioceseConvention
SAN FRANCISCO
hosted by St. NicholasOrthodox Church
July26 - August1, 1976
Page 22
The Word
Organization In The Choir Loft
very important
A we11 organized choir loft plays a 1·
.
1
t in serving a good Liturgy. If you e tmmate a 1 the
using loose-leaf books that contain the approved music
from the yellow and blue book which is reassembled.
pr gs that tend to distract the choir members from
t_
100%. I am
stnming they will improve their performance
g that
' most of you are con f ronted wit• h d"1stract10ns
•
of
e
sure kind or other. Here are a few recommen d at10ns
·
t h at
:ght cut down some of the confusion we find in the choir
loft.
LIBRARIAN:
A choir librarian is another idea to stop confusion in
the choir loft. This person should be extra reliable and
should always be acquainted with the changes that take
place on different Sundays and Holy Days and see that the
music for that day is available beforehand and after you
are finished with it see that it is returned to the proper
place in the file cabinet.
OFFERTORY:
.
One of the primary items and certamly one of the m~st
distracting is the collecting of the offertory from the cho1r.
It has been the custom in many of our churches to make
this collection at the same time as the offertory from the
congregation, and actually _you sh~:mld be si~ging ~t this
pointin the Liturgy. There 1s nothmg more d1stractmg ~r
moreunnecessary than taking the offertory from the cholf
whilethey should be singing. I recommend that you place
·a collection ·tray at the entran-ce of your choir loft and
instruct all your members to place their offering in it as
they enter the loft.
ATTENTIVENESS:
Choir members should be reminded frequently that
you must have their undivided attention at all times. I
have noted that very often choir members feel that they
are responsible to take church attendance and to note
exactly how everyone is dressed that enters the church.
While conducting you will notice by their eyes shifting
from one side of the church to the other just how the
attendance is progressing. Make it a point t~ let th~m
know just how nonprofessional this looks, besides bemg
disturbing to you while you are trying to concentrate on
the Liturgy.
HYMNAL:
The most important factor under organization in the
choir loft is the manner in which your music is handled. A
well organized Liturgical Service must begin with a well
organized hymnal. This has been a weak point with many
of our choirs for a long time. We hope that by this time all
?urgroups are working out of a loose-leaf hy~nal. There
Isnothing that causes more confusion than havmg a group
of singers changing from one hymnal to another ~nd at the
same time turning many pages. This sort of !hm_g has to
cease. A recommendation for loose-leaf pubhcat10ns was
accepted by the Archdiocese and all future approv~d
music will be published in this form. Most of our chotrs
have worked out a system of some kind where they are
April, 1976
VESTMENTS
Uniform robing certainly helps a choir look and feel
organized. There is nothing that looks worse or is more
distracting than a choir member who is robed and wearing
an outside hat. The face of uniformity in robing cannot be
over-emphasized.
In -:.elosm-gthis article; let- me· state that you should
review your own situation periodically and try to eliminate
any condition that might be distracting to you or your
choir. Every choir has some problems that are local and
apply to their group alone; it is up to you as choir direct~r
to appoint someone in your group to see tha~ your c~o1r
loft is organized, and is being operated with as httle
confusion as possible. The only results you can possibly
have from a well organized choir loft is an improved
Liturgy.
-Raymond
George
Sacred Music Department
The Knights of Saint George
Orthodox Cathedral
Announce ...
the 38th Annual New England Region of
SOYO Parish Life Conference
will be held at the Sturbridge Resort
Center in Sturbridge, Massachusetts,
on the weekend of June 24 through 27, 1976
VERY REV. FATHER PAUL W. MOSES
Host Pastor
Page 23
�JERUSALEM
TODAY-a
point
ofview
Western Region
S . Geor e Orthodox Church, Phoenix, Arizona is pleased to invite you to attend the 1~76 Western
Regio~1;tOYO ~arish Life Conference to_be held from May 27 through 30, 1976, at Del Webbs Mountain
by fr. george s. corey
Shadows Resort Hotel in Sfcottsdal~,L~~i;~~IS THE NATION WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD, ties in nicely
The theme for our con erence,
. h
h Id b
t t
·
.
. ' B" t
• I lebration Even more importantly, this t eme s ou
e a cons an remmder
with our nations teen enma ce . . . • . . .
II · I _ to serve God first.
to each of us of our primary responsib1hty- md1vidually and co ective Y
.
.
·
f
M
t
1·t
Phi·1
·p
we
are
making
every
effort
to
present
a
conference
that
will
be
1
Under the d irect10n o
e ropo 1 an
,
.
•
d
s irituall enriching, instructive, and provide for Christia~ fel~owshtp ~nd entertam~ent
geare to teens and
a~ults aliie. Interesting workshops for all areas of church hfe will be available - Chou, Church School, SOYO.
and Ladies and Mens' Guilds.
•,
11
• a b eau t"ful
and its also an exce .ent .spot for a
1 and 1·deal setting for our conference
.
M ountam· Sha d ows ts
vacation for the entire family. On the premises you'll find tenms co~rts, a golf course_ an_d swimmmg pools.
• t so f 1•n terest only a short drive away - the City of Scottsdale
itsblovely· shops and
Th ere are numerous pom
· · with
I
western atmosphere, the ruggedly western town of Rawhide, riding stables, a m umc1pa zoo, otamcal gardens
and public golf courses -to name just a few.
.
Please pray with us for a successful conference. See you m May.1
SUMMER CAMPS
ORTHODOX SUMMER CAMPS throughout North
America have opened their doors to the young people of
our Antiochian Archdiocese for the summer of 1976.
Below is a listing of "contact people" from whom specific
information regarding the camps can be obtained.
CALIFORNIA
IOWA
Archpriest Paul Romley
2300 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90057
Archpriest Gregory Ofiesh
5200 Diamond Heights Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94131
Cathedral of St. Sophia
1324 South Normandie Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90006
Father Michael Makredes
2219 North Orchard
Fresno, CA 93703
Father T.P. Theophilos
245 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Father Michael Karloutsos
501 "A" Avenue, NE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Father Thomas Paris
4700 Lincoln Ave
Oakland, CA 94602
Mr. James Zubulake
3450 Irving Avenue, S.
Minneapolis, MINN 55408
DELAWARE
NEW YORK
MASSACHUSETTS
Father Andrew Demotses
5-11 Paleologos Street
Peabody, MA 01960
MICHIGAN
Father John Toconita
2522 Grey Tower Road
Jackson, MI 49201
Mr. Demetrios Bakalis
17400 Second Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48203
MINNESOTA
Father Stamatios Ganiaris
808 North Broom Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19806
Father John Maheras
Mary Crest Road
West Nyack, NY 10994
FLORIDA
Father Homer Goumenis
2500 Clairmont Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
Miss Katia Toman
575 Scarsdale Road
Crestwood, NY 10707
Mr. Gus W. Nicholas
140 Main Street
East Setauket, L.I., NY 11733
Academy of St. Basil
Garrison, NY 10524
ILLINOIS
OHIO
Father John Artemas
102 North Broadway
Joliet, ILL 60435
Mrs. Neda Sekulich
1130 Villaview Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44119
Father John Liadis
3600 76th Street, North
St. Petersburg, FL 33710
GEORGIA
Page 24
Father George Bartz
129 South Union Street
Akron, Ohio 44304
Father Jerry Tasikas
500 Belmonte Park, N.
Dayton, Ohio 45405
TEXAS
Father Peter Bithos
4005 Swiss Avenue•
Dallas, TX 75204
WASHINGTON
Father Homer Demopoulos
2100 Boyer Avenue, E.
Seattle, WA 98102
i
WISCONSIN
Father Evagoras Constantinides
8000 Madison Street
Merrillville, WIS 53225
Father Evangelos Kasemeotis
9400 West Congress, P.O.B. 8222
Milwaukee, WIS 53225
CANADA
Father John Koulouras
222 Burbank Drive
Willowdale, Ontario
Rt. Rev. Martinian Ivanovici
421 Victoria Avenue
Regina, Saskatchewan
ARCHDIOCESE
Mr. William Essey
Youth Director
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
The Word
"Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the Name of
the Lord, the King of Is~ae!~ T:_ese words of praise and
adoration, spoken by t e 1 a 1ta~ts of Jerusalem and
Palestine almost 2000 years ago, still echo today in Orh dox Churches throughout the world, as we usher in
t ~ther Great and Holy Week in which we relive the
anffering,passion and death of our Lord and Master Jesus
~hrist,Who died so that we may l~ve. This season we carry
in procession the palm branches m much the same way as
the Jews of old, as they greeted and Man Whom they
considered to be "the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee"
(Matt. 21: 11). On this holy and brilliant feast of the entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem, we Christians begin the
journey, the pilgrimage that leads us through what one
Orthodoxtheologian calls "the bright sadness". For we see
not too far away our destination. It is the joy of the
Pascha, the celebration of Easter, the entrance into the
glory of the Kingdom of G<:>d. Becau~e ~f this Week,
Christhas transformed death itself, makmg 1t a passage, a
passover,a pascha into the eternal Kingdom. That is why
wecan say as followers of Christ: "Christ is risen and life
reigneth! Christ is risen and not one dead remains in the
grave!" (Matins of Easter). This is our faith! This we
believe and confess to be the truth!
And yet in all this celebration, this good news, this
promiseof salvation of greater things to come, man is still
perplexedfrom all sides. Down through the centuries man
has somehow managed by the Grace 'of God to survive
famine, earthquakes, plagues, disease, pollution, floods,
physicaland mental illnesses and all else that nature and
Heaven itself has forced upon us to bear as our crosses in
life.
But one thing we have not as yet learned to tolerate
andfully accept as our lot in life is man's injustice to man.
We who have been made in the image and likeness of
God cannot bear to see other human beings tormented,
exiled, displaced, uprooted, made slaves by and for their
ownkind. Throughout history we have lived with this sin
that can never be forgiven. Julius Caesar, Napolean,
Hitler, Stalin, and scores of others led tribes and nations
and civilizations through years of anguish, persecution
and death - all because of their personal dreams of
wealth, glory and a purer society. Surely they must be
rotting in the depths of Hell! Christ came in order to make
usfree. Christ came to give us life abundantly. Christ came
to loose the bonds of men. No man can control my spirit,
myb~dy, by soul as long as I am one with Christ! This is
HISd1vme promise.
What then of the new anti-Christ that is called
"political Zionism?" What then of that philosophy which
has officially taught since the late 1800's that Palestine
must become a homeland for world Jewry at the expense
of the inhabitants of that land? What then of the Christians
and Moslems who have lived there, side by side with Jews
for centuries? What then of the Christian and Moslem
shrines and holy places that are being presently
desecrated by a people who insist on an exclusive Jewish
April,1976
right to Palestine? What then of a nation who has
rep~atedly ~gnored every resolution made by the United
Nat10ns agamst her - the same organization that created
her and gave her life? What then of the thousands that
were driven from their homes because they were not of
the same faith and philosophy - these same thousands
have now multiplied to at least two million refugees? What
then of those who by the grace of God and world opinion
were able to stay in Palestine but have been reduced in
their own country to second-class citizens? What then of a
frustrated and tormented people who had to resort to
terrorism and guerrilla warfare to awaken the conscience
of man, especially Western man, to the greatest of all sins:
man's injustice to man!!! What has become of that divine
promise from the lips of that prophet of Nazareth of
Galilee? What has happened to freedom, to justice, to
truth? Why are we so concerned with joy, celebration and
entrance into life when all we see in the land of the Prince
of Peace is expulsion, desecration, suffering and death?
This is Jerusalem today!
On this feast of our Lord's entrance into Jerusalem we
hear once again His words as recorded in the Gospel of
Matthew (23:37-39): "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, murderess
of prophets and stoner of those who were sent to you!
How often have I yearned to gather your children, as a
mother bird gathers her young under her wings, but you
refused me. Recall the saying, you will find your temple
deserted. I tell you, you will not see me from this time on
until you declare, Blessed is He who comes in the name of
the Lord!" And then, coming within sight of the city of
Jerusalem, Jesus wept over it and said: "If only you had
known the path to peace this day, but you have completely lost it from view", (Luke 19:42).
Jesus, today as then, is weeping over Jerusalem! We
have placed our trust in men and their weapons and their
dreams of glory. All of these will fade away and we will all
die - some never to be reborn to live in eternity. Only
God and His Glorious Kingdom will survive all our
nonsense. Therefore we must awaken and face some
truths. For the sake of human dignity, we suggest the
following:
1) The present State of Israel is here to stay and no threats
of driving it into the sea will destroy its existence,
especially with the backing of a world power like the
United States. Also the arms race must cease in that
area of the world.
2) The present State of Israel must be called to repentance
and allow the Palestinian Christians and Moslems to
return to their homes as equal citizens to Jews or be
compensated for lands lost forever. There can be no
peace without justice!
3) Christian and Moslem shrines and holy places must no
longer be desecrated by atheistic Zionists. Christian
and Moslem missionaries must be allowed to fully
witness to their faith without interference from Israeli
authorities.
(Continued
on Page 27)
Page 25
�The
Orthodox World
New York, N.Y.
WOMEN'S ORDINATION ISSUE DIVIDES
EASTERN ORTHODOX AND EPISCOPALIANS
NEW YORK (RNS) - The U.S. Episcopal-Eastern
Orthodox consultation has failed to reach agreement on
the question of ordaining women to _the.priesthood.
,,
In a joint "statement on the ordmat10n of women
released after a recent meeting of the 16-member conultation. the Orthodox warn that "if the Anglican
communion takes the decisive action of admitting women
to the priesthood and the episcopate the issue wil~involve
not only a point of church discipline, but the basis of the
Christian faith."
The result, say the Orthodox, will be a "decisively
negative effect on the issue of the recognition of Anglican
Orders and on the future of Anglican-Orthodox dialogue
in general and will call for a major reassessment of the
quality and goals of dialogue between the two bodies."
The Episcopal dialogue participants say they "share
with the Orthodox the belief that there can be no question
of the inferiority of women in the eyes of God" but that a
"problem arises in the question as to whether withholding
from women the sacrament of ordination to the
priesthood and episcopate violates the common status of
all Christians as imparted in Holy Baptism.
"The Orthodox clearly say no to this question and
some Anglicans agree with them ... Others see a contradiction," they note.
The Orthodox say the discussions
with the
Episcopalians on women's ordination "disclosed basic
differences between Orthodox and Anglicans in the
understanding of Scripture and Tradition and their
significance for the Church."
The Episcopalians reaffirm "both a duty and a desire
to express ... unity with the Orthodox Church" and their
concern for "maintaining the historic relationships between our two churches."
They suggest that the question of women's ordination
requires "a willingness to be led· into a new perception of
the truth and fidelity to the basic tradition of the faith."
They speak of the "difficult and delicate process" of
"balancing continuity of tradition with explication of
tradition."
The Orthodox section of the statement summarizes the
reasons the Orthodox oppose the ordination of women.
The Episcopal section takes no position on such ~rdinations.
The ~piscopal General Convention in September is to
vote on the subject. It has already approved the ordination
of female deacons, also unacceptable to the Orthodox.
In October, the consultation will discuss intercommunion.
Page 26
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ETHIOPIAN MILITARY RULERS OUST
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH PATRIARCH
-His Holiness Abuna Theophilos, Patriarch of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church, has been removed from
office by Ethiopia's military rulers.
The government-controlled
Addis Ababa Radio announced that the 65-year-old patriarch had been deposed
because of alleged "cr~m~s" against _the Ethiopian people,
including misappropnatlon
of rehef funds and illegal
accumulation of millions of dollars.
The announcement of his removal came as a surprise
to observers here.
The venerable Ethiopian Orthodox Church has long
been the religious institution of Ethiopia's rulers and a
large percentage of her people, and a dominant factor in
Ethiopian life and culture.
About half of the country's
estimated
(1975)
population of nearly 28 million are, at least nominally,
members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The Socialist military government's
announcement,
which did not appear to be an attack on the Church as a
whole, made no mention
of Abuna
Theophilos' ,
whereabouts.
The broadcast,
in Amharic,
the official and
predominant language, said the deposed prelate had been
appointed Patriarch by the late Emperor Haile Selassie
and not elected by the clergy of the Church, and had spent
his entire time in office "oppressing and not helping" the
people.
'According to an official Ethiopian Orthodox Church
account of Abuna Theophilos, he was "elected" Patriarch
on April 7, 1971, and enthroned on May 10 of that year in
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa.
(The account said that at the time of his "election by
the Holy Synod and confirmation
by Emperor Haile
Selassie," he was Acting Patriarch, having served as
deputy to the late Patriarch Abuna Bassilios, who died in
October 1970.)
Abuna Theophilos is well-known in the international
ecumenical movement. He represented his Church at the
First Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCe)
in Amsterdam, in 1948, and has attended successive wee
Assemblies, in addition to having served on the wce's
Central Committee.
He has twice been chosen as one of three presidents of 1
the All-Africa Conference of Churches.
He is also a scholar. His translation of the Ethiopian
Divine Liturgy from Geez, the ancient ecclesiastical
language, into Amharic was considered a major scholarly
accomplishment.
In 1973, Abuna Theophilos - the first reigning
The Word
. rch of the state Church of Ethiopia to visit the
p~na
. d
WesternHemisphere - re~eive t_heP~x Christi Award of
St. John's (Roman Catholic) Umversity at Collegeville,
I
Minn.
h B
d ..
The citation from t e ene ictme-operated institution
welcomed the Patri arch a~ "our bhrother monk" and hailed
h' "years of notab 1e service to t e world of religion and
s~~olarship,to the people of Ethiopia and all the Christian
Churches."
The prelate was also commended for "modernizing the
ligious education of his people and clergy, for increasing
~\ involvement in the work of his Church, and for
f~stering nationwide
social programs
through
the
Ethiopian Orthodox ~hurc_h Development Commission."
Addis Ababa Radio said that the deposed Patriarch
wouldbe replaced by a priest, identified as "Abuna Onis,"
from the northern province of Tigre.
Before the change of government in Ethiopia, the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church had a privileged position
that included ownership of vast tracts of rural and urban
land. Rent from the property was a major source of
Church income.
A sweeping decree of March 4, 1975, issued by the
Socialistmilitary government, nationalized all rural lands.
Among epithets used in the government broadcast to
describe Abuna Theophilos
were "deceiver,"
"taxevader," and "nepotist."
The radio said he hoarded grain during the 1974
famine in Ethiopia and amassed millions in 20 private
bank accounts.
PATRIARCH ELIAS OF ANTIOCH
CONFERS WITH GREEK PRIMATE
ATHENS (RNS) - Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Elias
IV of Antioch and all the East has made an official visit to
Archbishop Seraphim, head of the ( Orthodox) Church of
Greece.
He was welcomed by Greek Church and state officials,
and was to receive an honorary doctorate in theology
from the University of Thessaloniki.
The Hague
DUTCH DELEGATES TO wee ASSEMBL y
PLEDGE AID TO USSR CHRISTIANS
-The 14 Dutch delegates to the Fifth Assembly of the
World Council of Churches have responded to an appeal
to the WCC from two Soviet Christians on behalf of
persecuted believers in the USSR.
The letter, sent to Lev Regelson and Father Gleb
Yakunin, said the delegates are "committing ourselves to
you" and "to the leaders of your churches with whom we
are bound with bands of respect and Christian love."
The delegates request "your help and your prayers"
and that the two members of the Russian Orthodox
Church "keep us informed and teach us the ways in which
we can help.
"We do so in the Name of Christ Himself in whose own
vicarious suffering on the cross there is no ambiguity."
One of the signers, Dr. A.H. van den Heuvel, is former
communications director for the WCC. He is now
secretary general of the Netherlands Reformed Church.
The delegates - from the Netherlands Reformed
Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, the
Old Catholic Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
April, 1976
the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Mennonite Society,
and ~he Remonstrant Brotherhood - write of their "hope
th~t. m the careful and guarded wording of this letter our
spmt of Christian love reaches you."
The _letter ?otes the reluctance of WCC delegates from
the Soviet Umon and Eastern Europe to single out their
areas for wee concern:
. _"They were afraid that too much emphasis on individual hum_a~ rights would create an impression of
overall oppos1tlon to the adventure of building a socialist
state. This made them reluctant.
. "Some of them were willing to bear their cross in
s~l~nce so as not to obstruct their acceptance as full
citizens of the country where God called them to witness "
the letter continued.
•
The letter says that while the assembly was "more than
willing to listen very carefully to these arguments and
respect them ... we are not willing ... to be muted in
our great concern for what happened in your land."
The letter notes that "it is not easy for people outside a
~ountry_ to take new initiatives which may make the
1mpress10n of pendantry and superiority."
It suggests, however, that with Russian Christians
increasingly asking other Christians
for help and
protection and the Soviet signing of the 1975 Helsinki
Accord, which includes certain human-rights guarantees,
"the situation has changed."
"It was within this new situation that your letter admirably expressed the need for the ecumenical movement
to take a second look at its own involvement in the
struggle for human rights," the delegates write.
JERUSALEM
TODAYa point
ofview
(Continued
from Page 25)
4) Terrorism, guerrilla warfare and raids into foreign lands
must cease in order to allow fruitful negotiations. But
these negotiations can only be carried on between the
government of Israet-·and the displaced Palestinians as
represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization.
5) Occupied territory must be returned by Israel to her
Arab neighbors with no threats of expansion now or in
the future.
Furthermore,
Israel
must cease
redevelopment in occupied territories.
6) If necessary, Jerusalem must be internationalized to
protect the rights of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
It is no secret that Israel has already begun the
building of atomic weapons. One of these days a madman
will push a button and the entire globe will be moved to
total annihilation.
Who will speak today if we Christians say nothing?
Who will witness today if we Christians do not act? Who
will pray today if we Christians do not ask for Divine
intervention in the affairs of man? "There is no greater
love than this: to lay down one's life for one's brethren"
(John 15: 13). If we as Christians, concerned Christians, do
not weep over Jerusalem today as Christ did almost 2000
years ago and if we do not focus our attention on the
problems and tragedies in Palestine, then my beloved,
soon there will be no more Jerusalem.
Page 27
�Situated in Johnstown, Pa., Christ the Saviour Seminary has been educating priests for t
Orthodox Church for almost four decades. Established through the foresight and courage of Metr
politan Ore tes of the Carpatho-Russian Diocese, the Seminary has continued its fine reputati
for pa toral and theological excellence under the guidance of Bishop John R. Martin, D.D.
The Seminary offers a six year program of theological and academic studies leading to gradu .
tion with the Bachelor of Theology degree. The Seminary curriculum and discipline is designed to
enhance the intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical development of future priests in the
flock of Christ's people.
Sixteen students are currently enrolled in the 1975-76 academic program. In addition to men
from the Carpatho-Russian Diocese, two seminarians from the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate,
well as Fr. George Corry of Greensburg and Fr. Deacon Joseph Shahda of the Antiochian Archdiocese are matriculating at the Seminary. Course work in this segment includes offerings i
Dogmatic Theology, Ethics, Moral Theology, Child and Adolescent Psychology, History of the
Councils, Liturgical Theory and Theology, Scriptures of the Old Testament, languages and rt
lated areas.
Inquiries regarding Christ the Saviour Seminary may be addressed to the Rector:
Fr. Tames S. Dutko
Christ the Saviour Seminary
225 Chandler Avenue
Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15906
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
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Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
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1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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kalemat_19760401_20_4
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 04
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 20, Issue 4 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated April 1976.
Date
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1976 Apr
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Subject
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
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English
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Text
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/d0e34950ff21db7265c172f3b0e7bf39.pdf
7baf82551dbc97743bbe8d34060ff015
PDF Text
Text
fhe Word
Jtfarch, 1976
D"kemiraculous !Jeon o/ <9urLady of 8itka ~ 8t. micliael~ Cathedral, 8itka, Xlaska
�The Word
Cover
In This Issue
ajib Saliba
Number 3
March, 1976
Volume 20
The Unity We Cherish
Of all the icons preserved at St. Michael Cathedral in Sitka, Alaska, the oldest
one and the most venerated and precious is an icon of the Mother of God and
Christ Child, the one known lovingly in Alaska and throughout America as the
"Sitka Madonna." Many faithful consider this icon to be miraculous. It has been
attributed to the famous Russian painter, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (17571825 ), who executed many religious paintings for churches in Old Russia.
Anyone looking at the icon cannot help but be impressed by it. The most
beautiful face of the Theotokos with the Divine Child in her arms is so delicately
and artistically done that the more one looks at it, the more difficult it is to tear
one's gaze away. Especially impressive are the eyes of Our Lady; peaceful, kind,
understanding of our fallen nature, sorrowful. Indeed, this icon is a pearl of
ecclesiastical art that cannot fail to touch the believer. The hymn sung before
this icon reflects her mission: "Defend us in all afflictions, necessities and
tribulations; that we may cry to thee - Hail! Thou zealous defender of the
Orthodox faithful in America."
3
Editorial
5
Lebanon:
An Orthodox
Christian Response
Out of all the material which has been circulated, mostly politically oriented,
the editors feel that Dr. Saliba has touched some vital Orthodox Christian
concerns regarding the Lebanese crises.
Boris Geeza
10
We Are One ...
Or Are We?
Sermon given on the Sunday of Orthodoxy last year in Los Angeles, California.
James C. Meena
12
Lifestyles
X
This month Fr. James explores the Divine Reality of God's existence.
13
Archdiocesan
Office
January 1 through 31, 1976
16
Dialogue
Questions posed to Fr. Michael Buben.
18
Communities
In Action
Be~genfield, N.J., Houston, Texas, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Tororito Ontario tell us of their activities.
'
22
SOYO Digest
event in the life of Orthod
. A
.
Probably the • hgreatest
f h f
oxy ,n
mertca
·ng 1975 was t e merger o t e ormer New York and Toi d . . d·
. h•
•
h t
.
h
e o 1urts ,cduri f the Ant,oc
,an p a t narc
a e, mto t e Antiochian Orth d
Ch . .
fionso
h A
.
Th
. I
o ox
rtst,an
·ocese
of
Nort
menca.
e
art,c
es
of
agreement
were
•
d b
Archdl
h
M
1·
s1gne
your
belovedhierarc s,
etropo ,tan PHILIP and Archbishop MICHAEL, in Pittsb rgh Pa., on June 24, 1975, endorsed by the two Boards of Trustees d •
t:e m~nth of July, ratified at the annual conventions in Louisville, Kent~~,~
ndLake George, New York, and blessed by the Patriarch and Holy Sy d f
~ntiochon August 19,_ 1975. :his historic event brought to an end the nt~ag~c
divisionof o~r Church ,n Am_enca, not after forty years as some have suggested
butrather sixty years -.- smce the death of Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny of
thrice-blessedm:mory ,n ~ 91 ~ and t~e subsequent chaos in America resulting
fromthe Bolshevik revolution
,n Russia which caused the complete breakdown
of Orthodox administrative
unity in this land.
Thetime was ripe and our hierarchs took advantage of the situation. Their
wisdom,humility and administrative
abilities led us to another glorious chapter
for Orthodoxy in America.
Others in the post mode attempts to unite our
peoplebut were una~le to do so. The Holy Synod of Antioch could never meet
thechallenge, ch?os,ng rather to perpetually compromise and thus aggravate
theproblem. Antioch seems so far removed from their Church in America, not
onlygeographically but in their basic concerns for our welfare. We would hope
that the Patriarchate
of Antioch
could somehow redeem itself and face
challengessquarely here and abroad, in spite of the many problems of the
Churchand State in the Middle East. Metropolitan
PHILIP said it for all of us:
"thisunity that we cherish is a gift of the Holy Spirit and we accept it with deep
humility and love".
TheAntiochian Orthodox Christion Archdiocese of North America is now a
fadf It presents us with two additional challenges. The first is directed to all of
uson the parish level, that of implementation.
The wounds of the post sixty
yearshave been devastating.
But love conquers oil other human emotions. If
ourunity is a gift of the Holy Spirit as we believe it to be, how then con we not
acceptit and implement it wherever possible. St. Poul reminds us: "I beseech
youto live as is worthy of the rank to which you ore called. With all humility
andgentleness and with patience, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring
topreserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" ..... (Eph. 4: 1-3). This is
the first challenge.
The second is directed to our sister Orthodox churches in North America,
divided also into splinter groups within the some ethnic family. If the Arobics~eakingOrthodox can unite ( unity for Arabs is almost a lost art}, so con our
s,ste~Orthodox ;urisdictions.
The fragmentation
of Orthodoxy in the Western
Hemisphereis a ;udgment upon us and con only further alienate and scandalize
our faithful and others who choose to embrace the Faith "once and for all,
de~iveredto the saints" ( Jude 3 ). Our task in the next decode is to heal and
uniteand to set our houses in order. It will be incumbent upon us in the years to
cometo seek out that administrative
unity for Orthodoxy in America that
~ventual/y evolves as the Church spiritually matures in a given locale. Moy we
ive to see that glorious day.
George S. Corey
News and views of our youth movement.
26
Pu1-:1•2
The Orthodox
World
Commentaries by the Religious News Service.
The Word
March,1976
..J
<(
-[[
0
1C
w
�L,banon:
AnOrthodox
Christian
Respon
AntiocQian@rtQohoxQtQri.sttan
3llllomen
of NortQAmerica
Nnrt4 Am.eriranilnarh
With continuing pastoral education
the priests will apply the latest
developed methods and procedures
for dealing with troubled, emotional
youth, and unmotivated, depressed
elders.
It is greatly anticipated and hoped
that our ladies, throughout the Archdiocese, again this year, will make
our fund-raising project a greater
I
success than last year.
March is designated "WOMENS
MONTH"
throughout
the Archdiocese. Please give our women
your support, in the many projects
they will be promoting.
"And though I have the gift of
prophecy,
and understand
all
I
mysteries, and all knowledge; and
though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing."
1976 CHARITY DRIVE
CO TI UING PASTORAL
ED CA TIO A D SPIRITUAL
VOCATION"
Najib Saliba
ticle analyzing the possibility of revolution
Inan
ar
S I .
b non Michael W. u e1man comes to the
in Le a
.
Annual Meeting of the
•ng concluston:
Orthodox Christian
:iollowt
weeping revolution is not yet possible,
If a• sus action and m
• d.tvt·d ua I an d group v10
• 1ence
n f
rth America Held in
10
L ui ille, Kentucky on July 23, 1975,
rebe11
d
"
1
d should be expecte .
••
the repre ntati es of the six regions
canan
h
b
h
..
. is precisely what
as
een
appemng m
v t d unanimously to adopt as our
ThIS
•
M any ques 1·tons h ave
L b non since last Spnng.
harit Project for 1976 "Continuing
e a raised about the nature and causes of this
Pa t ral Education and Spiritual
been
• a re 1·1g1ous
•
cation".
• lence. Some call 1t
war: ot h ers bl ame
VlO
h
With great pride, President Pauline
f eignintervention; yet ot ers put t h e respons1·b·1·
1 tty
Maloof, in Louisville, Kentucky,
fttly
on
the
Palestinians.
In
what
follows
therefore,
pre ented Metropolitan Philip, a President Pauline Malouf presents
addespitethe complexity of the problem, I shall try
heck for 10,000, on behalf of the AOCWNA gift to Metropolitan Philip.
::
shedsome light on the causes of the violence and
eff rt of the Ladies' Societies of the
•
possible
ways to reme d y 1t.
duties.
Archdioce e.
At the outset let me state that despite the asserThe priest of the parish is indeed the
The need for continuing pastoral
tionsof Chaim Herzog, Israel's Ambassador to the
education and spiritual vocations is head and lifeline in the Orthodox
extremely timely. Pastoral continued Church. His large church family has
UnitedNations, and contrary to what the American
education al training and skill people with individual problems
newsmedia and the "Save Lebanon" group want us
de elopment, in the area of crisis caused by complex natures. He must
I CORINTHIANS13 tobelieve,the conflict in Le ban on is not a religious
intervention and human problem always be able, prepared, and ready to Helen E. Rihbany
olution, will greatly enhance ef- cope with the diverse problems of his North American Public Relations one.Although some isolated incidents of this nature
mighthave occurred, the Moslem versus Christian
fecti eness in all aspects of pastoral parishioners.
Officer
explanationis vastly inaccurate for the following
reasons:In the first place, the Phalangist Party and
theNational Liberal Party, the two largely Maronite
, partiesinvolved in the fighting do not represent all
theMaronites, let alone all the Christian population
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
of Lebanon. On the non-Maronite
side the AnARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
tiochian
Orthodox
Christians
as
well
as
the Melkite
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Shaheen, Auxiliary
Christiansare hardly involved in the conflict. Last
published monthly except July and August by the
August,the Antiochian Orthodox Patriarch, Elias
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
IV,stronglydenounced the violence in Lebanon and
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMAT, January 1905, by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
calledfor sweeping economic and political reforms.2
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
The Patriarch blamed Lebanese
politicians for
Associate Editors:
havingbrought the country near destruction for the
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
sakeof realizing selfish political interests. In contrast
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
withsome Christian extremists who consider themEditorial Board:
selvesmore Lebanese than others, the Patriarch
Archimandrite Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen Upson, James C. Meena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gerasimos Murphy, James Keena;
stronglydeclared that Lebanon belongs equally to all
Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John Dalack, William Essey, Raymond George, Ronald Nicola, Kathy Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO.
theLebanese, Moslems no less than Christians, and
urge~
the abolition of religious qualification in
Publications Office:
pubhc
office.
On the Maronite side, Raymond Edde,
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
fead?f the largely Maronite National Bloc Party and
THE WORD, published monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at Pittsburgh, Penn·
.onghme national figure in the politics of Lebanon,
ylvania, Bu iness office, 377 McKee ~lace, P.O. Box 7_135,Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213; Publication office, 3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Entered
a econd cl.ass matter and postage paid at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.
~.atodds with the Phalangist Party and the National
S BSCRIPTIO RATES: S5.00 a year in the United States and pos~essions; $6.50 a year in Canada, South America and all other foreign countries.
iberals of former President Camille Chamoun,
ADDRE
ALL SUBSCRIPTIO S TO: THE WORD. 358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
currently Interior Minister. Because of his dif.
THE.WORD
Page4
The Word
March,
1976
f~rences with the Maronite extremists he has been
mcknamed "Mohammad" Edde as an epithet.
WHO IS THE LEBANESE LEFT?
The second reason why the conflict is not a
religious one lies in the nature of the Lebanese "left"
whom the Phalangists and the National Liberals are
fighting. The so-called Lebanese "left" is a
conglomeration of several parties and groups at
various levels of secularism. Included in it are the
two factions of the Ba'th Party, the Communist
Party, and the Progressive Socialist Party, all loyal to
completely secular ideologies. Furthermore, the
Ba'th and the Communist parties include influential
Christian members in their top leadership. In brief,
whatever may have brought the components of the
Lebanese "left" together, it is not religion. A final
point on the alleged religious nature of the conflict is
the fact that Christians in predominantly Moslem
areas are not being attacked and vice versa. In view
of these facts then, the religious explanation of the
violence in Lebanon is totally inadequate.
THE CONFESSIONAL SYSTEM
If the religious warfare theory does not explain
Lebanon's violence, where then do we seek the
answers? The roots of Lebanon's problems lie mainly
in that country's Confessional political system and in
its political-economic conditions. Any other explanation merely misses the point. Confessionalism
was not born with Lebanon's independence in 1943
but goes back to the second half of the nineteenth
century. Following the 1860 civil war in Syria, Mount
Lebanon was granted autonomy under a Christian
governor appointed by the Ottoman Government
and approved by the European powers. Assisting ~he
Governor was a council of 12 delegates representmg
the population of Mount Lebanon: seven Christians
and five Moslems. Autonomous Mount Lebanon had
a clear Christian majority and survived until the First
World War. It paved the way for the rise of modem
day Lebanon and set precedents for its government.
When France became the mandatory power in Syria
following the First World War, it created the state of
Greater Le ban on by annexing to the fon~er Mount
Lebanon the predominantly Moslem regions of the
Biqa', Tripoli, Beirut and southern Lebanon. Thus
Page5
�h closed public ottice to qualified perstating that the government should ~ork to eliminate
~isaff ection between government and people. Ever
dces,It /s ntributed to the rise of a highly corrupt
the sectarian system. 6 The Maromtes on the other
~;ce
1968_Israel has committed more than 6200 acts
50onela~ co9You can hardly expedite any business
hand regard the National Pact asI a "revealed word"
·1
ervice.
•
h
b
"b
•
t~fgresswn.
These include nearly 4000 aerial and
civls
nt departments wit out n ery or inside
subject to no human tampen?g.
arfi
ery
bombardments
of population centers and
jogovernill~ain beneficiaries of this system have
re
ugee
camps
and
m
th
..
.
If the National Pact was mtended to serve a
•
L
ore an 350 mihtary
mcursions
help.Th~aronites followed by the Sunnis. Having
purpose initially, it _has cle~r.ly out-lived its
~nto
ebanes_e_
territory.12
Israel
has
constructed
beent~~ to political a':areness, the Shi'a Moslems.
usefulness. In fact its abolition,
or drastic
o~ds and mih tary observation posts on Lebanese
emerg b bly a majority but vastly underrepresenmodification, has long become a national necessity.
sod. Lebanon's loss in lives and property have been
oow.
prou:lic office, have de~,~nded t~eir share of
The current violence in Lebanon stems in no small
great:_more than 660 deaths, over 1000 wounded and
10
ted
P mental pie. The Shi is constitute most of
181 kidnapped. More than 2000 heads of livestock
degree from this out-dated but still observed
overn
.
g
th
e
nots"
in
Lebanon
and
are
a
maJor
source
agreement. If the Christians of Lebanon slightly outhave been killed and 2000 houses destroyed. Only
the."havetability to the system.
numbered the Moslems in 1932 they no longer do so.
last
January, Kafr Shuba, a village of 7000 people
ofins
Although Lebanon has had n~ c_ensus since 1932,
was levelled by air strikes. The total number of
OTHER INEQUALITIES
unofficial estimates put the Christians no more than
southern Lebanese, mostly Shi'a, who have fled
40 per cent of the population. Yet, the Christians,
Clearlythen, the glaring inequa,lities _of Lebanon's
southern Lebanon exceeds 50,000. Many of them
particularly the Maronites, retain political and
• n politics are the country s maJor source of
ha~e added to the already existing slums around
Beirut.
economic power within their hands. For example,
s~cltanae
Social scientists who have studied Lebanon
vio
• o f t h e N ational
•
the presidency, the army high command, and the
. denc
th •have called for t h e a b o 1·it10n
What measures has the Lebanese government
in
ep
•
h.
majority of the officer corps have been a Christian
It has frozen the country wit m a certam·
taken to protect its population against Israeli att
Pac· promoted monopo l y o f power, h'md ere?
monopoly. The Constitution calls for equality in
formula,
tacks? Virtually none. Seldom has the army inpublic office. The National Pact has perpetuated
·al integration and retarded progress. Yet until
tervened.
The government argues that the army is
soct
f .
h
.
inequality. Although
the Moslems
have the
th recent outbreak o vio 1ence t ere was no mtoo weak to intervene. But the fact is that successive
premiership and the speakership there is no balance
di~ationthat the National Pact would be modified,
Lebanese governments have done virtually nothing
between the powers of president and premier. The
letalone abolished.
to strengthen the army for fear of becoming involved
President, having inherited the powers for the
Anothercause of violence in Lebanon lies in deep
in the Arab-Israeli conflict or for fear of increasing
former French High Commissioner, may propose
regionaldifferences. Successive Lebanese regimes
the number of Moslems in the army. The Phalangist
legislation, summon Parliament to a special session ' haveacted as if the Moslem dominated areas of the
leader Pierre Gumayyel argues that Lebanon's
as well as dissolve it before the end of its four-year
Biqa',southern and northern Lebanon do not acstrength lies in its weakness! However, a few years
term. He appoints and dismisses ministries and has
tuallybelong to the country. A study of Lebanon's
ago the government reluctantly decided to buy a few
the right to negotiate and ratify treaties. In view of
economicand social conditions (IRFED)lO conanti-aircraft rockets from France. Part of the money
these extensive powers, the premiership is vastly
ductedin the early 1960's classified these regions as
was paid but no rockets were delivered. A subovershadowed and is regarded by many as a rubber
leastdeveloped or non-developed in contrast with
sequent investigation revealed that much of the
stamp. Furthermore,
some former Lebanese
Christiandominated Mount Lebanon. In southern
money was embezzled by commissioners and ofPresidents, including the present one, tried to rule
Lebanon,for example, 40 per cent of the children
ficers, including the Commander-in-Chief.
through weak premiers, unrepresentative
of the
Moslem community.7 Moreover, on several ocBut if the army has largely been inactive against Israeli attacks, it has been
casions, the army High Command simply refused to
carry out the orders of the premier.8 In view of these
usedinternally ...
facts, the Moslems, out-powered and under-repreas an
sented in government and public office, have
between
the
ages
of
six
and
ten
do
not
attend
school
instrument
of
suppression
not
only
against
frequently called for a new census and a fair
incomparisonwith four per cent in Mount Lebanon.
Palestinians but Lebanese as well. When the people
distribution of power, but to no avail. Whenever the
THE NATIONAL PACT: HOW LONG?
of Sidon demonstrated early this year protesting a
Health,
sanitary
facilities
and
other
services
are
also
issue of a new census comes up, the Maronites insist
The ational Pact was devised as an answer to
fishing
concession to a large company the arm~ was
far
from
being
adequate.
Economically,
the
above
on including the Lebanese emigrants. Here the
Lebanon's main problem: fragwentation. A country,
ordered into action and a former deputy was killed.
mentionedareas are also deprived. Three per cent of
census stops! Many Moslems, not including the
hardly 4,000 square miles in area and a population of Palestinians, have been living in Lebanon for years
This incident, followed by rightist demonstrations in
southern Lebanon's 640 000 acres of land are
about three million, has more than fifteen religious
support of the army, brought the message home_ to
cultivated.Only a fraction' is irrigated. According to
but Lebanese citizenship has been withheld from
ect and no less than nineteen political parties.
embittered southern Lebanese refugees and leftists
them for fear of upsetting the "population balance".
IRF~~.half the population of Lebanon may be
that the army was not meant for external security but
class1f1ed
as "destitute" or "poor", i.e. below the
to maintain political and economic privilege at
annualincome of LL 2500.11 In contrast, 18 per cent
ofthe population make over LL 5000 annually. Of
home.
The Nati~nal :ract assured all a measure of security and successfully ushered
th_ese
onlyfour per cent make over LL 15000. Thus a
the country mto mdependence. But was this formula meant to last indefinitely?
10
THE PALESTINIANS IN LEBANON: AN
~ ?rity controls the wealth of the country. Poverty
1
EXAGGERATION '
~ Widespreadand the doubling of the cost of living
To
what
extent
are the Palestini_ans_responsible for
Slllce1973 has aggravated the situation.
ince the ational Pact is not a written document one
Although the National Pact reserves high offices in
Lebanese
violence?
Lebanese nghhsts blame !he
cannot tate precisely the intention of its authors.
government to certain sects, its use has been ex·
Palestinians
for
all
Lebanon's
misfortunes. I thmk
THE
EFFECT
OF
THE
GENERAL
MIDDLE
The Mo lem , however, claim that it was a temporary
tended from the highest to the lowest office, with
this
is
an
exaggeration.
However,
the presence of
agreement and in oke a ministerial statement by no
EASTERN WAR
religious affiliation taking priority over merit. This
over 300,000 Palestinians in ~ebanon, sohme_ot
f wfhothm
other than Riad al-Sulh one of its founding fathers,
Repeated Israeli attacks on southern and other
has affected recruitment and promotion in all ser·
live
in
camps
and
areas
outside
the
aut
on
y
o
e
l'u~,· f>
partsof Lebanon have been a major source of
ar a ff rm r M unt Lebanon was doubled and
hri tian maj rit large! diluted.4 Furthermore,
n w
1 m p pulation as not consulted on th_e
m r r and re en ted being separated from their
f 11 w
1 m br ther in ria.Their objections not
\\; th tandin , Fran e proceeded to set up a separate
admini trati n in the new state, and declared the
m d rn L ban e Republic which was given a
n tituti n in 1 2 . The Maronite population
lar l
upp rted the e measures and the other
hri tian graduall followed suit.
.
Th Fr n h rule in Lebanon lasted until 1945 and
alt gether a happy one even to. _the
. In the Mandate Period three pohttcal
m vem nt
r tallized in Lebanon. One, largely
M lem, embraced Arab Nationalism and called for
full unit
ith yria. The second included Lebanese
nati nal and called for full Lebanese sovereignty
and independence from France. The third, largely
Maronite, feared Moslem domination and called for
c n tinued French rule and protection. When France
granted Lebanon independence in 1943 an oral
mpromi e, a sort of Maronite-Sunni condominum
kn n a the ational Pact, was worked out by Riad
al- ulh and Bishara al-Khuri, heads of the first two
political mo ements respectively. Accordingly, the
Mo lems renounced union with Syria, and the:
Maronites renounced
French protection
and
recognized Lebanon's "Arab face". Both agreed that
Lebanon would be completely independent and
o ereign, would not conspire against the Arab
tates but would cooperate with them to the greatest
po sible extent. Government offices were to be
distributed equitably among the religious sects and
parliamentary seats shared in the ratio of six
Christians to five Moslems based on the 1932
population census. Thus the president of the republic
and the commander-in chief of the army came to be
Maronite Christians, the premier a Sunni Moslem
and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies a Shi'i
Mo lem, etc.
I
•
The Word
March,
1976
P111!c7
�states. This. is ?penly . e~tertained
by
Mosletll.
nd
other
rtghtwmg
Chnsttan
extremists
n t made thing any easier for the
•
pha1ang1stsably means a return to t h e f ormer idea
of,
\ rnm nt. M reover e er ince King Hussein's
andpresulllb
anon. Advocates of this solution long for
arm ru h d th guerrillas and expelled them from
,A' nt Le a
"
•
I h
"
inhou
establishment o~ a . na tttonlikaI ome fo~ ~he
J rdan. th Pale tinian in Lebanon ha e been on
t e. .
This solut10n ts no
e y to matenahze
th ir uard 1 t Lebanon attempts the
same.
5t1an:tis supported
Chrt
by
only
a
minority of the
R peat d I raeli attacks on refugee camps and
because
opulation.
Almost
all
Moslem~,
as well as
la h \Vith the Lebanese army in May of 1973
Leban~se
P
of
the
Christians
including
Maronites,
f ll \Vin an I raeli raid into the heart of Beirut
a sectionartition. Having completed
its summer
during whi h three Palestinian leaders died, led the
opP?se
ihe
Antiochian
Orthodox
Holy
Synod
issued
Pal tinian t arm themselves heavily to prevent a
sesSlOn,
ent
last
August
rejecting
partition
and
the
r p titi n f Black eptember. However, their ?est
st
a
a~etll
of
a
Christian
entity.13
What
will
such
a
pr te ti n ha been the support they have received
fr m th L bane e Moslems in general, particularly
~reatto~
Lebanon" state do with its non-Christian
th
hi ·a and the left. The Palestinian presence in
'M0~\on? Will the Arab states tolerate a Christian
0 0
L ban n and repeated Israeli attacks on southern
fZtonlS
P ~ t" state in their
midst? Certainly not. Syria
. .
•
•
\illage aggra ated social tension and hastened the
threatened m1htary mterventton
to prevent
p liticizati n of the Shi'a population. The instinct of
hasftionand Saudi Arabia has also warned against
urvival dro e the Palestinians, the Shi'a and the
pa[iEv;n France, the traditional protector of the
L bane e left into an alliance against the Lebanese
~ onites has expressed its support through its
arm and the rightists. The heavy loss of life
•
a_rssaryMaurice Couve de Murville, for the
THE UNITED ST A TES
f ll wing an attack on a Palestinian bus by armed
emtereig~ty
and territorial integrity of a united
What has been the attitude of the United States to
Phalangists last April set the cycle of violence in
sov
5
• 11y, a "M <mnt L e b anon " state
Lebanon.1Economtca
the crisis in Lebanon? Although the State Departm tion. Al though it began as a Phalangist-Paleswouldnot be viable. In case of an Arab boycott
ment has stated that the United States is giving
tinian affair, it has been "Lebanonized" with the
MountLebanon would starve. E en now, should the
"absolutely no consideration"
for military inPale tinians mostly uninvolved and sometimes
Arab states decide to send the thousands of
tervention in Lebanon, it has not ruled out other
playing the role of a peacemaker. Would violence
Lebanese,including Maronites,
back home the
have broken out had there been no Palestinians? I types of intervention. It is hard to believe that the
economy
of
Lebanon
would
be
greatly
jeopardized.
U.S. is strictly neutral, given its record of inbelieve so, but probably not as soon. The Christian
At
a
time
when
the
two
Vietnams
move
towards
minority could not have hoped to keep the lid on tervention in Chile, Cuba, Africa, Iraq, Cyprus and
merger,
some
Lebanese
separatists
talk
of
partition.
Greece. There is no doubt that U.S. interests lie with
indefinitely.
The second alternative solution is the complete
the Phalangists. Like Israel, the U.S. supports the
abolition
of the National Pact and the creation of a
strengthening
of
the
Lebanese
right
and
the
supAND FOREIGN INTERVENTION
fully
secular
state, one man - one ote. This would
What role has foreign intervention played in pression of the Palestinians. This would keep
certainly
be
the ideal solution. H wever, it is not
Lebanon
out
of
the
Arab-Israeli
conflict
and
would
Lebanon's violence? Although the cause of violence
likely
to
happen
now. It is too drastic a change that
assure
Israel
a
quiet
front
with
Lebanon.
Henry
i mainly internal, once it started, foreign inthe
Christian
population
and probably
some
Kissinger's
step-by-step
solution
would
also
benefit
ter ention aggravated the situation. But the problem
Moslems
would
oppose.
by
reinstating
King
Hussein
as
the
spokesman
of
the
with foreign intervention is that it is difficult to
Thethird alternative which will most likely take
pro e. We have to wait for about fifty years until Palestinians. To what extent has the U.S. supported
placeis a modification of the present formula to
tate papers are declassified to know what really the Phalangists in the current crisis is difficult to
allowfor more Moslem representation
and a more
happened. Despite this fact, and based on published
know. There have been reports of arms deliveries to
equaldistribution of power. This will almost cerreport ... we can assume that foreign intervention
them but this is hard to ascertain.
tainlyinclude a reconsideration of the powers of the
presidency,a fifty-fifty representation in Parliament,
andthe admission of more Moslems into the army
We can assume that foreign intervention mostly m the form of arms and
~fficer
Corps. This is a pill the Maronite Christians
money, has taken place involving states far and near.
f~nd
~ard to swallow but the only alternative is more
fightmg
with little chance to win. I think Couve de
Murvillehas already told them to be flexible and
mo tly in the form of arms and money, has taken
SOLUTIONS
compromise. The announcement
of projected
place involving states far and near. However, three
If these have been causes of conflict what are
refo~msand adjustments to the system by the
tate are likely to intervene more effectively than
some likely solutions? Clearly the current fighting
Presidentand the Premier over radio and television
thers: yria, Israel and the United States. Syria, for
has unsettled the old National Pact formula. A return
example, is interested in maintaining stability in
mus~be seen in this light.16 One more word of
to the old order with Christian predominance cannot
Lebanon and may intervene militarily should
caution:any modification of the present formula
be re-~stablished short of physical foreign in·
Pale tinian existence be at stake. The Syrian Foreign
terventlon and the suppression of the Moslems and
Mini ter ha flown three times to Lebanon to help
the P~lestini~ns. This is not likely to happen without
re ol e the conflict. Israel, on the other hand, has
a maJ?r regional and possibly extra-regional con·
Dr S l'b
•
I
ital intere ts in the aggravation of the Lebanese
fla~rat10n. There are, in my opinion, three alter· j 0 ·h a a delzvered this message to a group of
cr:hodox at St. George Antiochian
Orthodox
cri e pr iding the Christian rightists gain the upper
natives to the current fighting: the first alternative is
a
edral,
Worcester,
Massachusetts,
December
10,
hand.
thing would be more pleasing to Israel than
the partitioning of Lebanon into Christian and
the liquidation of the Palestinian mo~ement in
Lebanon, something it has ~een after smce 1970.
Failing this, Israel woul~ hke to see ~ebanese
fighting Palestinian and vice versa, for th~s would
distract the Palestinians away from the Jewish state.
There have been abundant reports of Israeli meddling in the Lebanese crisis, of assassination squads
after Palestinian leaders in Beirut, of arms shipments
to the Phalangists, and of attempts by Chaim Herzog
at the United Nations to shift the center of attention
away from Zionism and the plight of the Palestinians
to what he called the "mortal peril" befalling the
entire Christian community of Lebanon. Israel has a
vested interest in the destruction of the present
Lebanese entity and the setting up of religious states
in its place. This would legitimize Israel's existence
as a Jewish state and undermine the Palestinian
objective of establishing a secular democratic state
in Palestine.
The Word
March,
1976
must allow for futu
f
..
simply th
_repeace ul mod1f1cations and not
he emon e creatto~ of an~the: Maronite-Sunni
g . y. The ultimate obJecttve must be th
creation of a f 11
e
violence 1· l'k lu y secular state, otherwise future
s 1 e Y to occur.
1
W • Suleunan,
•
"Cnsis
• • and Revolution in Lebanon" Middle
E st Michael
J
a
ournal (MEJ), 26:1 (pp. 11-24), p. 21.
'
2
Thie Patriarch's speech was carried by many papers. See for
examp e, al-Anwar, August 16, 1975.
'
Nic~~mai Sd~alibi, 1:"e Modern History of Lebanon, (Weidenfeld and
. n, n mpression, London, 1966), p. 110. See also Michael W
~uleimyank,
Pol1tical Parties in Lebanon, (Cornell University Press Ithaca·
ew or , 1967), pp. 12-13.
'
'
4
Tareq Y. Ismael, Governments and Politics of the Contemporary
Middle East, (The Dorsey Press, Homewood, 1970),p. 232.
5
. Don Peretz, The Middle East Today, (2nd ed., Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, New York, 1971), p. 330. See also Ismael, pp. 232-33.
6Michael C. Hudson, The Precarious Republic, (Random House,
New York, 1968), p. 44.
:For example, Pr~s~dent Sh~moun appointed Sarni al-Sulh as premier
dunng the 1958 cnsis; President Sulayman Faranjiyyeh appointed
Taqiyy al-Din al-Sulh and Rashid al-Sulh.
Bin April of 1973 General Iskandar Ghanim disobyed the premier's
orders on the occasion of an Israeli raid into the heart of Beirut. Most
recently, the Commander-in-Chief disobeyed Premier Karami's orders to
stop the unloading of an arms' shipment in the Port of Juniyeh destined
for the Phalangist party. See New York Times (NYT), Sept. 11 and Nov.
10, 1975; see also the Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 11, 1975.
9Leonard Binder (editor), Politics in Lebanon, (John Wiley, New
York, 1966), p. 177. See also Peretz, p. 330.
10JRFED, or French Institut International et de Formation en vue de
Development, was conducted in 1960-61 and has been widely quoted.
llHudson, p. 65.
12Tabitha Petran, "The Trials of South Lebanon," in Middle East
International, No. 51 (Sept. 1975, pp. 11-13), p. 11.
13at-Nahar, August 24, 1975.
14N.Y.T., Nov. 17 and 29, 1915
15N.Y.T., Dec. 1, 1975.
16N.Y.T., Nov. 30, 1975.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barakat, Halim, "Social and Political Integration in Lebanon: A Case of
Social Mosaic," in Middle East Journal (MEJ) 27:3, pp. 301-18.
Binder, Leonard (Ed.), Politics in Lebanon,John Wiley, 1966.
Hudson, Michael C., The Precarious Republic, Random House, New
York, 1968.
Ismael, Tareq, Governments and Politics of the Contemporary Middle
East, The Dorsey Press, Homewood, 1970.
Peretz Don, The Middle East Today, 2nd ed., Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, New York 1971.
Petran, Tabitha, "The Trials of South Lebanon," Middle East International No. 51 (Spring 1975) pp. 11-13.
Salibi, Kamal, S., The Modem IDstory of Lebanon, Weidenfeld and
Nicolson, 2nd Impression, London, 1966.
Suleiman, Michael W., Political Parties in Lebanon, Cornell University
Press Ithaca, New York, 1967.
'
, "Crises and Revolution in Lebanon," MEJ, 26:1.
1972, pp. 11-24.
1975. The editors feel that it is a solid Orthod?x
viewpoint regarding a crises with which the entire
world is concerned.
�Orthodox people in our
1 sely as any
everything! Would't it be
•dascot the
•
unite
unity w hihc we sh ow b y sue h services
next year to gather togeth wor°der~ul, ~o~ exa_mple,
ati~nBu does not fulfill completely the unity that
11
on the Sunday of O th d er or t e Divine Liturgy
asthiso~;'strive to seek, that which is fully meant
commune from the s: o oxy _where all of us could
weshoU Lord says: "THAT WE MAY BE ONE!"
canonical unit .
me chahce because we have a
Y m our all embracing Faith!
whenour
.
.
.
.
one in faith, m doctrme, m teachmg Problems Would be Solved
Weare not united organically nor canonically. I
butwearea priest for almost 27 years. I remember
th SoLmuc~ ~ffort is expended in doing the work of
have_
b;:nday of Orthodoxy as a priest in Weirton,
~ ord in separated, individual ways· we could
111Y
firs here we gathered as we have gathered at
umte our. education
t our m1ss10nary
• . '
.
al effors,
efforts
W:VA.vt~ce.Many Orthodox priests of various
our
ad~imstrative
efforts.
Across
this
great
land
if
this
ser
•
•
d
•
•
. Iities and J uns ict10ns were present,
we umted
canoni·ca IIY an d adm1mstrattvly
· •
.
' to
.
nat1°
~a t'ng our unity in faith, doctrine, teaching.
• •
. Iy and
evangehze and expand our missionary efforts the
Proc1aim
mething was Iost; a d mimstratlve
Orthodox Church could develop parishes in ~very
But ~oallywe were not one, and I could not see
la~g~ area; one bishop in one area or city; one
canonic
.
h
2
whynot! And I still d? not se~ hw y not, . 7 years
misswnary ~und for the economical and educational
later!
After six years m a pansF, 1 went mto the
We
love
the
pomp
and
ceremony
of
the
service
Year after year, on the first Sunday of Great
sup~o~t of firebrands of priests to bring the sword of
chaplaincyof the US Armed
orces. I felt my
Lent ur Orthodox Churches throughout America the icons, the vestments in various hues and colors'
Chn~t s teachings and the crown of His salvation to
• •
to
serve
all
Orthodox
people
regardless of
00
the
incense,
the
candles,
as
well
as
the
variou~
gather together our parishioners and congregate at
1
~ultitudes who are looking for a stable faith, a
miss
• • I d on ' t l'k
or ethmc• ongm.
i e a gh etto
ne of our large parish churches or cathedrals for the national groups and diverse languages, all in order to . jurisdiction
viable ~nd a true worship, for the truth in its fulness.
situation
in which I serve only a egmented part of
celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy Service in SHOW, perhaps ourselves MORE than anyone else
Educational efforts can be localized and broadened
Orthodoxy.
I felt I wanted to er e God and the
commemoration of the 7th Ecumenical Council that AT LEAST EXTERNALLY we are One.
'
and emphasized with a united effort and conviction.
Church
with a capital "C" and do, and pray God to
A struggli~g parish could be helped financially by a
continue
to do so in the future. Howe er, I would
But there is an ambiguity in my own mind because I feel that Our Lord and
larger parish, because all are God's people, in One
feel
a
great
comfort and greater unity of purpose if canonically unified Church.
Sa ior Jesus Christ, whom we worship and declare to be that salvation, wants
myOrthodox bishop were of any race or color or
more from me and from you - from US - than just a display of externalisms;
ethnicbackground as long a he was validly conSo, I throw out these thoughts to you, my dear
He wants more from us than just an affirmation, a declaration and a pronouncesecratedin the Apostolic S ucce ion of the Holy
brothers and sisters in Christ. I present them to you,
ment of what we believe.
Orthodox
Church hierarchy, and a long as he was
because all great efforts come through the conunitedin a Holy Synod of Orthodox Bishops of the
viction of persons just like you and me. Surely, there
which allowed the use of icons in our churches.
He wants us to act upon our beliefs. He wants a
One,Holy, Catholic and Apo tolic Church in
are many problems involved, but they get no bigger
America.
This is certainly po ible, and I cannot see
unity
of
purpose,
and
an
action
of
love;
He
wants
when they are faced; let's face them - the liturgical
We are at such an auspicious liturgical occasion
fulfillment of his purpose to evangelize and
whyit cannot be so.
this year. We have gathered to declare our unity in
problems, the educational problems, the parish
revolutionize
the
mind,
the
heart,
the
soul
of
man
in
faith and our oneness as Orthodox Christians,
GAMES
WE PLAY
all of the ways of his life, so that man can be truly a
because al though the Sunday of Orthodoxy
servant of the Most High, and to have dominion over
originally was related to the significance and the
We Orthodox p opl play too many games with our origins. We are too proud
all that He has created. We are to transform all that
honor of the usage of icons as a means and help to
exists into God's paradise; this requires a personal
worship it now has the deeper meaning of a
ofour separation ra h r than humble in our unity.
effort, as well as a collective effort.
reconstruction, rededication, and resanctification of
our elves to that true faith of Orthodoxy once
delivered to the Saints.
Weforget our destiny is in G d here in this land,
building problems, the missionary efforts, the
SHORTCOMINGS
and
we stay separated canonically when in fact, I
canonical problems, the administrative problems
As I ponder the significance of the celebration, I
trulybelieve, all want to really be united. And this
feel a deep ambiguity - a dividedness - and I feel
... But let us make an effort to do this in unity - in
Frankly and generally speaking, I can't see this
that I must challenge the congregation to whom I am
doesnot mean UNIFORMITY
but UNITY of the
the Church as One, not separated into small, inhappening as often as I would like to see amongst
speaking. What I want to say needs to be said, yet I
CHURCH
because it is the true faith universal alldependent, linguistic, ethnic groups. When our
our O~thodox Christians. Frankly, I see a great deal
do not want to, or desire to, or intend to harm or
embracing
and catholic in its traditi~n and faith individual
hierarchs see that we do what we say, and
?f action, but little meaning; externalism, without
the Orthodox Church in its fulne s. This doesn't
hurt, but out of love for God, my Church, and you,
mean
what
we do, they will give their blessings and
i~ner c~mviction; words, few deeds; lip service and
want to be as constructive and positive as I can.
mean
giving
up
a
thing;
it
means
acquiring
unite
us
all.
httle smcerity; good intentions, and no follow
urely, w~ ~mphasize the Triumph of Orthodoxy
through; a lot of smoke, but not enough fire!
?ecause this ts the day to do it; this is the first Sunday
"We Are One • • •
Or Are We?''
Sermon Delivered by
Very Rev. Boris T. Geeza, Commander USN
m Lent. We ALWAYS do this the First Sunday in
Great Lent do we not? It's traditional it's expected
IT' NICE, and we want and feel we' NEED to pat
our el es on the back, to say how wonderful is our
Faith, WHICH IT CERTAINLY IS, and how
wonderful we Orth~dox Christians are for being
cho en, or for choosmg, this magnificent doctrine
practice and belief.
'
Of course, I may be over critical; there may be
many reasons for this. But we can make all kinds of
excuses for ourselves and place so many barriers in
our ways that _wefail to accomplish any real purpose
be~ause we fall to venture on that conviction of faith 1
which ~e possess and which we gather to declare ,
and affirm at this very service.
Fatber Geeza was Dean of the Eastern
Orthodox
Military Chaplains, and a former Commander in th e USN·
In this area, our Orthodox peoples are perhaps
The Word
Page 11
�LIFESTYLES X
homily
by archpriest
james c. meena
ARCHDIOCESAN
OFFICE
"GOD IS''
everend Clergy, M~mber
of the Parish Councils,
Tothe~bful of our Archd10ce e:
andFait. and peace to you in the
Greetings
imperati
to me that we, as Christians,
under tand a ba ic fact. Though Christ gave us an
\ erriding
mmandment of lo e for God and for our
n ighb r \\ hi h eem to ob iate the necessity to adhere
t th
mmandment a they are outlined in the books of
du and Deuteronomy, we need to understand that by
ur ve nature a human beings and by reason of our
pr p n it f r inning and uccumbing to temptations, it is
oft n n e ar for u to have detailed rules by which our
life an be governed.
ot every person can follow the
l ftie t f the
mmandments, the love of God and man,
with ut under tanding some of the components that are
required in making up and fulfilling those Commandments
f l ve.
C mmandment i not merely a law. It is a clarifi ation of the relationship between man and God and
bet\\een man and man. Above all, the Commandments
help u to understand how we are to relate to God and to
our neighbors. There is, however, a First Premise. That
Fir t Premi e is the belief that God IS.
When we speak The Creed, our Confession of Faith,
the first two words of that credal statement, "I believe",
are the beginning of all the Commandments, of all the
Laws. of all the Canons, of all the Sacred Traditions of the
Church and upon these two words all these things hang.
The First Premise is to believe.
Season.
f Uowing are the revi ed " tatutes Governing
The_~.and the newly defined geographic constitution
Deanen;sneries of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
ofth~ ::e of North America, as well a a listing of the
ArchocdFathers who have been appointed Deans.
Reveren
y are expected to full y cooperate wit• h your Dean
andt~\trictly abide by the revi ed Statutes by fully
"And by this Name shall I be invoked for all generations to
come." The First Premise. "I AM!". God is! (Exodus 3:1315).
"I am the Light of the world," said Jesus. (John, 8:12
9:5) "I am the bread of life," (John, 6:48) ''I am not of thi's
world," (John, 8:23) "I am the gate of the sheep-fold."
(John, 10:7) "I am the good shepherd." (John, 10: 14) "I am
the Resurrection and the life." (John, 11:25) "I tell you
most solemnly that before Abraham ever was I AM!"
(John, 8:58). These words of Jesus all come out of the First
Premise that GOD IS! They say, "I AM WHO I AM!", I do
not need to prove Myself to you beyond that which I have
already revealed. I do not need to justify My existence for
I require faith of you. If I were to justify My existence you
would not need to ever again utter those words, "I
BELIEVE!" The First Premise that GOD IS is the
beginning of all that which develops thereafter and
whether we develop rationally or irrationally depends
upon the confidence we have in the God Who confesses
His Own Existence. "The fool says in his heart, there is no
God." (Psalm 14:1, 53:1)
If we believe what the scriptures teach us about Him. St.
Paul says: "All scripture is inspired by God and can be
profitably used for teaching, for refuting errors, for
guiding peoples' lives, and teaching them to be holy. That
is how a man who is dedicated to God becomes fully
STATUTESGOVERNING DEANERIES
Revised
November 17, 1975
I) The Archdio~ese shall be di id d_ into geographic
Deaneries
as defmed by the Metropolitan.
2)Themembership of the Deanery shall consist of all
priestsand deacons under the c_anonical )urisdicti?n. of
thisArchdiocese, currently er mg a pan h or m1ss1on
project
within the geographic b undarie of the Deanery.
Allretiredpriests and deacon under the canonical jurisdiction
of this Archdiocese re iding ,. ithin the geographic
boundaries
of the Deanery. hall be invited to participate
inallmeetings and activ1
f the Deanery.
3)Thetitle of "Dean•· all be
nferred upon a priest by
theMetropolitan. In ace rdance with the ancient name
forDeans,"Visitor," the.:Dean' re p n ibilitie hall be as
follows:
Without a secure and sure belief in the existence of God nothing else 1s possible
in the way of religious understanding
or the comprehension of the meanings or intentions of the
Commandments that were given to us by Moses· and
crystallized by Christ.
"All things are possible to him who believes." (Mark
9:23) The Fi_r~tPremise is GOD IS. He could say nothing
more magmf1cent or profound about Himself than "I
AM". He required of those to whom Moses carried the
f!!e.. age the First Premise, to believe. "This is what you
equipped and ready for any good work." (II Timothy 3:1617)
I Believe! Jesus said, "All things are possible to him
who believes." (St. Mark 9:23) The ability to believe in
God is an act of will which grows out of a certain degree of
reason, but an act of will nonetheless.
But more than this it is an act of love and trust invested in
all those who, throughout history, have testified to the
The ability to believe in God is an act of will which grows out of a certain degree
of rea on, but an act of will nonetheless.
must say to the son of Israel:" said God. "I AM has sent
me to you. Tell them that I AM the God of Abraham and
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. This is My Name
~or all tim~ and thus I am_to be re_membered throughout
all generation . The requirement 1s faith that He exists.
f>t,,:,•/2
realit~ of God_, who ?~ve borne the message of God to
mankmd and fmally, 1t ts the ultimate act of love and trust
in G?d Himself. The God Who Is! The God Who says
nothmg greater or more profound of Himself than: "I AM
WHO I AM!"
The Word
pirit of this Holy
'
a)He shall visit the pari he and mis ions within the
Deaneryat least twice each ear;
b)He shall oversee the activitie and behaviour of the
clergywithin his Deaner ;
c)Heshallmake known and explain to the clergy within
theDeanery the decree
f the Metropolitan;
d)Incasesof necessity, he hall gi e fraternal in truction
and direction to the clerg
f the Deanery, after
consultation with the Prat
nkello
and with the
expressapproval of the Metr~p litan;
e)He shall show solicitude f r the ati faction of the
spiritualneeds of the Faithful in a parish without a
pastor,or when a pastor i incapacitated;
f) He_
s_hallcare for the spiritual need of the Faithful
restdtng~n_areas of the Deanery where no possibilities
foror m1ss1onexists, and hall explore the possibilities
forestablishing such parishes or missions, working in
closecoopera t ion
•
•
ct·
wit• h the chairman
of the Archg)~ocesanDepartment of Missionary Activities;
e_s_h_all
make full reports to the Metropolitan of his
;chvittes and the state of the parishes within the
. eanery at least twice annually. In cases of especial
1
h)mportanc
He h e or urgency, he hall report immediately;
fulfl~all_en~ourage parishes within the Deanery to
1 th 1
e r fmancial obligations to the Archdiocese.
4)In case O f
s
parochial
March,
1976
dissension
within the Deanery
par~~pating in any and all Deanery functions
It? pCate~nalprayers and best wishes I r~main
Y ours m hnst,
'
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North
America
which involves the pastor and the Faithful, the Dean shall
endeavour to settle the dispute, at both their invitations
and/ or by appointment by the Metropolitan.
5) Dissatis!action with decisions of parochial meetings
may be vmced to the Dean within thirty days from the
d~te. of the ~eeting. The Dean shall consider this appeal
w1thm a penod of not longer than thirty days. If no
solution is then reached, the matter shall be submitted to
the attention of the Metropolitan by the Dean.
6) The Dean may be delegated by the Metropolitan to
introduce a new pastor into a parish within the Deanery
and to preside at the function hosted to welcome the new
pastor. In cases of testimonials for a priest leaving a
pastorate, the Dean may be delegated by the Metropolitan
to preside.
7) When visiting the parishes, the Dean shall see that
everything is in good order in the church edifice: that it
contains all things necessary for Divine Worship, that the
Altar Table and Sanctuary are clean, that vestments are
not old and torn, that the Antimins is in good condition
and signed by the current Metropolitan, that the Reserved
Sacrament is kept as prescribed. If the Dean finds fault
with these things he is to give brotherly admonition to the
pastor.
8) The Dean is duty-bound to see to it that all clergy abide
by the Canons of the Ecumenical and Local Councils of
the Church, the Archdiocesan Priest's Guide, and all other
rules of the Archdiocese. In cases of violation, the Dean
shall report them to the Protosynkellos and Metropolitan
without delay.
9) The Dean shall look to the spiritual and moral life of
the clergy within the Deanery, appointing a Father
Confessor for the Deanery, arranging Retreats for the
Deanery clergy (such Retreats must be held at least
once each year), and arranging for the clergy to concelebrate and communicate together during the major
fasting seasons of the Church.
.
10) The membership of the Deanery shall meet at least six
times annually. A Deanery which • covers a large
geographic area shall meet at least twice annually.
11) Concerns of the Deanery shall be:
a) Conformity to authorized rubrics in the celebration
of Divine Services and Sacraments;
.
b) Stimulation of the spiritual life of the Faithful by
Pa/.!<'13
�arranging Retreats, study groups, lecture series,
"Mi i n espers" during the fasting seasons, etc;
) rranging of seminars and works.hops. aimed .at
impr ving Christian Education and Liturgic~l Music,
w rking in close cooperation with the chairman of
the e Regional and Archdiocesan Departments;.
.
d) Di u ion of topics of pastoral concern, workmg m
lo e cooperation with the chairmen of the Archdiocesan
Departments:
e) n ouraging spiritual vocations, working i~ close
peration with the chairman of the Archd10cesan
Department.
f)
timulation of advanced theological studies among
the lergy by means of the assignment, preparation and
pre entation of theses;
g) A oiding conflicting dates for parochial activities by
e tabli hing a Deanery calendar of events;
h) ncouraging inter-parochial participation in these
i) Encouraging the work of Sr. SOYO, Teen SOYo
and the AOCWNA in all parishes, ~r enc~uraging th~
establishment of such movements m parishes where
none exist;
j) Encouraging active pa~ticip~tion by ~he clergy,
parish organizations and Faithful ~n the Regional Parish
Life Conferences and the Archd10cesan Conventions·
k) Promoting inter-Orthodox coop~ration ?~ all levels;
I) Making inter-Faith contacts, stnctly ~bidmg by the
"Ecumenical Guidelines" of the Archdiocese;
m) Witnessing to the Orthodox Faith in all areas of
concern, especially through the media.
12) The Deanery shall have a Secretary who shall take
official Minutes and transmit a copy of same to the
Metropolitan.
13) The Deanery shall have a Treasurer who shall handle
the Deanery monies.
14) All decisions and actions of the Deanery shall be
subject to confirmation by the Metropolitan.
MIDWEST REGION (5 Deaneries)
Michigan Deanery
v.Rev. John Estephan, Dean
St. George - Detroit
St. Mary - Berkl:y
St. Mary - Livoma
St. George - Flint
St. Nicholas - Grand Rapids
St. George - Grand Rapids
Ohio Deanery
V. Rev. James Meena, Dean
St. George - Toledo
St. Elias - Toledo
St. George - Cleveland
St. George - Akron
St. George - Canton
Holy Cross - Can ton
St. Mark - Youngstown
West Virginia Deanery
Rev. Hanna Sakkab, Dean
RT. REV. ELLIS KHOURI,
NEW ENGLAND REGION (1 Deanery)
New England Deanery
Rt. Rev. Athanasius Saliba, Dean
St. George - Boston
St. John of Damascus - Boston
St. Mary - Cambridge
St. George - Lawrence
St. George - Lowell
St. George - Norwood
St. George - Worcester
St. Mary - Pawtucket
CAN-AM REGION (3 Deaneries}
Canadian Deanery
Rev. Joseph Shaheen, Dean
St. George - Montreal
St. Nicholas - Montreal
St. Elijah - Ottawa
Upstate New York Deanery
Rev. Daniel Griffith, Dean
St. George - Albany
St. George - S. Glens Falls
Archangel Gabriel - S. Glens Falls
St. Athanasios - Middletown
Western New York Deanery
V. Rev. George Shaheen, Dean
St. George - Toronto
St. Michael - Geneva
St. George - Niagara Falls
St. Elias - Syracuse
St. George - Utica
St. George - Myers
EASTERN REGION (5 Deaneries)
Southern Florida Deanery
V. Rev. Michael Husson, Dean
St. George - Coral Gables
Page/4
PROTOSYNKELLOS
(DEAN OF THE CLERGY)
St. George - Charleston
St. Nicholas - Beckley
Holy Spirit - Huntington
St. Philip - Ft. Lauderdale
St. Mary - West Palm Beach
Iowa Deanery
Rev. Constantine Nasr, Dean
St. Mary - St. Paul
St. George - St. Paul
St. Thomas - Sioux City
St. Elias - La Crosse
St. George - Kearney
St. Mary - Omaha
St Mary - Iron Mountain
St. Simon - Ironwood
St. George - Cedar Rapids
St. John - Cedar Rapids
Southeast Deanery
V. Rev. John Hamatie, Dean
St. George - Jacksonville
St. George - Altamonte Springs
St. Elias - Atlanta
Campus Mission - Decatur
Western Pennsylvania Deanery
Rt. Rev. Paul Saliba, Dean
St. George - Pittsburgh
St. George - Bridgeville
St. Ellien - Brownsville
St. Anthony - Butler·
St. Michael - Greensburg
St. M_ary- Johnstown
St. Michael - Monessen
St. Elias - New Castle
St. George - New Kensington
St. George - Altoona
Central States Deanery
Rev. A thanasius Emmert, Dean
St. George - Chicago
St. George - Springfield
St. George - Spring Valley
St. George - Indianapolis
St. George - Terre Haute
St. Michael - Louisville
St.George- Michigan City
Eastern Pennsylvania Deanery
V. Rev. Antony Gabriel, Dean
St. George - Washington
St. George - Upper Darby
St. George - Allentown
St. Mary - Wilkes-Barre
SOUTHWEST REGION (2 Deaneries)
Texas-Mississippi Deanery
Rev. John Namie, Dean
St. George - Houston
St. Michael - Beaumont
St. George - El Paso
St. Elias - Austin
St. George - Vicksburg
Metropolitan New York Deanery
V. Rev. Michael Simon, Dean
St. Nicholas - Brooklyn
St. Mary - Brooklyn
St. Nicholas - Bridgeport
St. George - Danbury
St. Anthony - Bergenfield
St. George - Paterson
St. Anne - Mount Holly
Virgin Mary - Yonkers
Annunciation - West Hempstead
St. John Chrysostom - Englewood
Kansas-Oklahoma Deanery
V. Rev. Paul Nemr, Dean
St Elijah - Oklahoma City
St. George - Wichita
The Word
March, 1976
St. Mary - Wichita
St. Anthony - Tulsa
WESTERN REGION (3 Deaneries)
Northern California Deanery
V. Rev. Gregory 0/iesh, Dean
St. Nicholas - San Francisco
Redeemer - Los Altos
St. George - Portland
Southern California Deanery
V. Rev. Paul Romley, Dean
St. Nicholas - Los Angeles
St. Luke - Garden Grove
St. Michael - Van Nuys
St. George - San Diego
St. Michael - Las Vegas
Arizona Deanery
Rev. Elias Ziton, Dean
St. George - Phoenix
Holy Resurrection - Tucson
Clergy Transfers
& Sabbaticals
January 1 through 31, 1976
Rev. Stephen Graham from the pastorate at St. Elias in
Austin TX for sabbatical leave
Rev. Gerasimos Murphy from the pastorate at St. George
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for doctoral studies
Rev. George Mitchell from the pastorate at St. George in
Charleston, WV to the pastorate at St. George in El
Paso, TX
Rev. Hanna Sakkab from the assistant pastorate at St.
George in Detroit, MI temporarily assigned to the
pastorate at St. George in Charleston, WV
Rev. David Milkie to the pastorate at St. George in South
Glens Falls, NY
Ordinations
Michael Keiser
PHILIP for
completing
Seminary in
to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan
St. Anthony in Bergenfield, NJ while
studies at St. Vladimir's Theological
Crestwood, NY
Alexander Doetsch to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop ELIA
for St. George in Detroit, MI
Laicized By His Own Actions
John Essa former pastor at St George in El Paso, TX
Under Canonical
Suspension
Rev. John Shalhoub former pastor at St. George in South
Glens Falls, NY
Pa~«· 15
�DIALOGUE•
_ANSWER:
NO Memorial Services for the Dead should be
held during Great ~easts such as Eas~er or Christmas
d several other times when the entire congregation
~:comes involved_ with all its departed members ...
Also: during the first week of Great Lent (until Friday
evening), during Passion Week ~d
the week
following Easter. If a 40th Day memorial comes during
such times it should be postponed until St. Thomas
Sunday-week. Generally, of course, Great Lent IS a
time for Memorial Services.
• •
questions to father buben
QUESTION: Do souls exist and wait for a body to take on
human form or does anyone know exactly when a soul
is created by God? - ].A. C.
ANSWER: God's creative power is involved and exercised
in the gener\tion of each individual wh~ has ever or
will ever be born. The individual soul is created by
God at the moment of conception. The Fifth
Ecumenical Council condemned the heretical theory of
the pre-existence of souls in heaven waiting to be born
on earth.
QUESTION: "A priest is about to give Holy Communion
to a very sick person. If that person should suddenly
sink into a coma, cannot open his mouth or dies, what
is to be done with the Holy Gifts? How should those
people who are allergic to wine partake of Communion? - A.M.
ANSWER: The Holy Gifts already prepared by the priest
should be consumed by him during his next Divine
Liturgy or if an Orthodox child is present, he should be
given the Holy Communion ... In order not to give
those who are allergic to wine an excuse for refraining
from Holy Communion (in medically proven cases) the
Reserved Gifts should be used. A little water should be
added to the spoon. The allergic one may partake
during the Liturgy if the priest would first soak a
larger than usual particle of Body into the Blood and
then add water to it on the spoon. Since the wine
species is now the Blood of Christ, I do not think any
allergy would result. Communion gives LIFE, not
allergies. Personally, I've never come across or heard of
such a situation in all my priesthood.
QUESTION: "How many Ecumenical Patriarchs of
Constantinople have their been up to the present? Salem Erban
ANSWER: There have been 269 Patriarchs since the Saint
Apostle Andrew.
QUESTION: Ever since Watergate, the question uppermost in my mind has been the wicked of this world.
The wicked seem to be prospering all around us Rarely
do they give of their time, talent and treasure to the
Church, yet the wicked continue to prosper. Does God
really care? - C.C. Haddad
ANSWER: It is a fact that prosperity is not always the lot
of the wicked, and misery that of the good. Many,
many good people enjoy health, wealth, social and
political position; while many wicked people suffer
poverty, sickness, disgrace, imprisonment, etc.
Page/6
If in many instances the wicked prosper and the good
suffer, it only proves the existen~e o! an after-life, in
which our loving and just God will right t~e seeming
inequalities of this world. (read the very first Psalm).
This life is a time of trial to prove one's worthiness for
eternal happiness. When the good suffer, they do so as
part of the punishment of sin (original, their own and
others) and as a good opportunity for merit. When the
wicked prosper, then they are receiving their reward
now and are losing eternal happiness in heaven. To
the wicked rich, Our Blessed Lord said, "Woe to you
rich! - for you are now having your comfort." (Lk.
6:24). St. Paul reckons rightly consoling the suffering
good, "that the suffering of the present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory to come" (Rom.
8:18).
God really cares for all souls. There especially is great
rejoicing in heaven for the one wicked soul which finds
its way to repentance before the end of this life, then
for the good who were always "at home." For the
wicked who repent were lost but have been found.
QUESTION: My buddy told me that the bishops always
carry a big staff because in the old country the Turks
would come into church and disrupt services. The
bishops used the staffs to keep the peace. Do you think
he was joking or is this true?-]. Majdaleney
ANSWER: First of all a bishop is not to get angry, let
alone hit someone over the head. However, there
might have been some incident inadvertantly which
became legend. Canon Law forbids violence for every
clergymen. Chaplains never even carry a gun at the
front lines. All clergy are forbidden to use their fists or
physical force under heavy penalties.
The Zhezill (Crozier) or Pastoral Staff is used by all
bishops from the time of Moses who used a staff to
separate the sea, to draw water and so forth ... It is a
token that they are Shepherds of Jesus' flock and
should care for that flock as a father cares for his
children. For this reason the crosier is also called
paterissa from the Greek word pater - "father."
The episcopal crozier has a double crook on top and
above that - a cross. The crook is usually made like
serpents' heads at both ends, in memory of the
Saviour's words: "Be wise as serpents." As a serpent is
~enovated yearly, casting off its old slough and forcing
its way through thorny plants, so the bishop, while
guiding his flock, must follow himself and lead others
along the path of enlightenment
and renovation,
despite sorrow and suffering.
QUESTION: "Is there any reason why Memorial Servi.ces
as we know them should be postponed?
The Word
QUESTION: "A lady donated an ikon to our parish when
she married thirty years ago. _R~cently, she claimed the
icon, took it home and hung it in her bedroom. Is there
a canon which covers such situations? - Parish
Council Member
ANSWER:Anyone who gives something to God through
the Church or has something consecrated to the
Church and later takes it back for personal use is
committing a grievous sin comparative to the sacrilege
of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:5-10). They consecrated some land to God and sold it for that purpose.
They gave the Apostles only a portion of the money
they.received in selling the land and pocketed the rest.
They both suffered the extreme punishment of death
for this sin.
It sets the example for all of us. That which has been
set aside for God and His Church should never be
converted back to personal gain or use. This is robbing
God. In the particular situation of your parish
however, ~l mi~igating or extenuating circumstances
should be ~nvestt~ated to find out how or why anyone
w~ul~ claim an icon after thirty years. Was there a
?mldmg program with new items being bought and
m~talled. Was the Parish Council consulted together
wit~ the pastor?Was the ikon to be replaced or burned
?r given to some other parish? Do not be hasty with
Judgement in this situation.
QUESTION: "If angels have names like Michael and
Gabriel, why are they always drawn on ikons like
women, dainty looking and even with short dresses" C.G.
ANSWER: Angels are bodiless spirits and are depicted in
human fot·m only to convey a sense of understanding
to us. They are neither male nor female. They do not
procreate and they are constant and eternal in number.
Daintiness and long hair usually portray a sense of
beauty and youth. Strong legs and wings signify speed
in moving from one place to another. Unlike us they
are not in the dimension of TIME. They are always
young, and beautiful and good; unlike humans who
change with time and grow old and grey and faded.
On the other hand, the evil angels or demons are
depicted with what to our senses instill ugliness, such
as horns, receding hair, etc. Even their wings are black
or broken.
Questions should be sent to: The V. Rev. Michael Buben, 103 Pleasant St., Methuen, Mass. 01844
1976 SOVO Parish Life Conferences
For the Clergy, Parish Councils, Ladies Societies,
Church School Teachers, Choirs, Sr. SOYO, Teen
SOYO, All Parishioners.
May 27-30
Western Region
Host: St. George of Phoenix, AZ
June 11-14
Southwest Region
Host: St. George of Wichita, KA
June 17-20
Canadian-American Region
Host: St. George of Toronto, Ontario
June 24-27
Midwest Region
Host: St. George of Cleveland, Ohio
June 24-27
New England Region
Host: St. George of Worcester, MA
June 30-July 5
Eastern Region
Host: St. George of Upper Darby, PA
March, 1976
IC
Page 17
�homes to bless. Though St. Philip's is located in Ft.
101
L uderdale, members come from far-reaching coma i·ti·es·i e., Pompano Beach, Margate, Coral Springs
mun
' •
. T
.
'
Plantation, Lauderhill,.
amarac, Cooper City, Melrose
Hallandale.
Miramar,
Pembroke
Pines , and
Park ,
Holiywood.
Communities In Action
when we know where we are, what we are, and why we
are, we can take meaningful steps towards Jesus Christ.
Next we considered the "Gift of Internal Life". There
are many abilities within us that are restricted due to
anxieties, fears and the lack of _willingness to love.
Negative actions by us, most often without our awareness
as to why we behave as we do, leave us less than whole. By
acquiring the Christian attributes of love, acceptance
forgiveness, sympathy and sacrifice, we can becom;
better than we think we are and grow towards God.
Pastor and parishioners on retreat
St. Anthony's of Bergenfield,
N.J.
Once again under the loving guidance of Father Joseph
Allen, 16 adults of St. Anthony's participated in the
second adult retreat at the Carmelite retreat house in
Mahwah, N.J.
This year the theme of our retreat was "The Gift of
Life." Most of those present had attended last year's
retreat. As a result they were not apprehensive about the
unknown but instead looked forward to the experience
with great expectations. We were not disappointed. Once
again we had the rare opportunity to isolate ourselves
from our daily routine, to retreat into "the desert of the
mind", to look inward to see where we are and where we
are going.
In the early phase Father Joseph challenged us with an
unusual assignment, to think about our total self, to
examine our personality, our values and to identify what
we valued the most in our life. To aid our perception of
our gifts and values, we read a moving story which made
us a ware of how our pride often prevents us from being
honest about ourselves. It showed us very clearly that
Continuing our inward look we studied the 51st Psalm
and reviewed the "Gift of Success Out of Failure". With
understanding and acceptance by ourselves of our
failures, we can learn from them. We must avoid
becoming bound up too much with our feelings of failure
and instead humble ourselves like children in the face of
God, offering up our doubts and surrender to God. With
faith in God we can see that failure is a temporary thing
that we can grow out of.
On the next leg of our controlled journey of looking
inward we turned our attention to the thought of the "Gift
of Other". By accepting ourselves as we are, we can offer
our true self and bring to life the uniqueness in another
person. Acceptance and love are powerful healers of our
troubled minds and lives. With these thoughts we arrived
at the final destination of the retreat the ultimate "Gift of
Other", Jesus Christ and the Eucharist. By looking inward
we can grow closer to God. Then "with the fear of God
and Faith and Love" we can accept His gift and accept
Christ into our life with faith and trust. In return we can
offer our life to Him.
In a short time we had taken a long trip looking in·
ward, moving upward, closer to God a moving,
meaningful trip indeed.
The Parish Council held a dinner February 4 after
Vesper Li~urgy, enabling the parish to welcome and meet
Bishop Eba.
Fr. Kenna has instituted a ritual at St. Philip's which
involves all mem?ers. The a~titheron is prepared and
donated by a different family each Sunday, taking
members alphabetically. Using this system, a coffee hour
is also held at the end of each Liturgy. This participation
has resulted in a m~~h closer-knit parish and an opportunity ~o me~t visitors. The personal warmth and
spiritual stimulation have attracted many new members.
Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Carmack and family donated a
newset of vestments for Fr. Kenna and Altar Cloths which
were all made by their daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Samia
donated handbooks of the Divine Liturgy for use by
worshippers in participating in the Liturgy.
Constant activity by all organizations makes St. Philip's
the hub of the comm unity. The choir recently participated
in an Inter-Faith Day of Prayer in Hollywood, singing
hymns from the Liturgy which Fr. James explained. Sr.
SOYO holds rap sessions rotating
homes. These
enlightening meetings are very popular.
Many hours of preparing Syrian culinary delights for
Haflisand Bazaars have helped the Ladies' Treasury grow.
Eva Kasouf donated a beautiful hand knit afghan, of
muliple color and design for the health of her daughter.
The Men's Club held a picnic in T. Y. Park, Hollywood
on a Sunday preceded by a Divine Liturgy outdoors. The
natural beauty of the surroundings enhanced the prayers
and made for an inspirational and stimulating day.
All Florida vacationers are assured of a memorable
experience with a visit to St. Philip's Mission in Ft.
Lauderdale.
John Litsios
-ELAINE
Houston,
Florida
St. Philip's Mission was honored to have Rev. Joseph
L. Rya!1 speak o~ the Arab-Israeli Controversy. He is a
recogmzed authority on Palestinian affairs and has lived in
th~ Middle East for 27 years. A native of Boston, the Jesuit
Pn~st has taught at Harvard and at St. Joseph's University,
Be1r~t, Lebanon. Dr. Ryan confirmed the growing con·
c~rn m the 1!.S. for recognition of the Palestinian people's
phght. He cited, among other things, the renewal of the
~ea_ce_-keeping force in the Golan Heights, as an op·
ttm1shc measure in assisting the PLO.
Praising the Lord in song.
lu~ch, an alms box for hungry people, caring for two
children through Project Loving Care, a Mother's Day
Coffee, _taking the Altar boys for a day at Astroworld,
sponsormg the Easter Egg hunt and the Christmas
pageant. S.O.Y.O. is also responsible for providing the
weekly N.A.C. bulletins every Sunday. Recently, S.O.Y .0.
has established a lending library in the Church. The only
money-making project that S.O.Y.O. undertook this past
year was participation in the Sharpstown Festival which
netted $200.00.
Mary Katherine Abercia reported on the duties and
activities of Junior S.O.Y.O. They gave $180.00 to Project
Loving Care and will help sponsor a seminarian for the
coming year. Members helped with a humanitarian
project at Market Square in downtown Houston and are
ready to help any time they are needed.
Kathleen Blankenstein, Church School superintendent, reported that there is an enrollment of 83
students. Plans are underway for an Open House for
parents. New Plans for the Sunday School include a
method for handling absentees. Parents of absentee
students will receive a letter giving the lesson that was
missed. Mrs. Blankenstein said there are eight teachers,
two substitutes, and seven other volunteers on the Church
School staff.
Beatrice Arwady, president of the Altar Society,
explained that their prime duties were to take care of the
needs of the Sanctuary and robes for the Altar boys.
St. George Church,
St. Philip's Mission
Ft. Lauderdale,
AZAR
Fr. John Namie installs officers
During the Epiphany Season, Fr. James Kenna, Pastor
of St. Philip's Mission, was pleased to announce he had
The Word
Texas
Newly elected officers of the various organizations and
the Parish Council received the oath of office and were
installed at St. George Church of Houston recently by
Father John Namie. The installation ceremony followed
Vespers and a barbecue dinner which was catered by Mr.
and Mrs. Fred Dagger of Austin, Texas.
Presidents of the organizations gave a resume of the
past year's activities and proposed plans for the coming
year.
f' Dr. Bill Attra, serving as master of ceremonies, called
l~t f?r the report from S.O.Y.O. President Rosalie
ercia. S.O.Y .0. calendar has included a spaghetti
March, 1976
St. George Choir, Houston, Texas
Page 19
�ni earned this year were $1436.00 raised at a hafli,
5 C).00 fr m coffee and doughnuts provided by Mrs.
dele McCarble, $670.00 from bread donated by Mrs.
Libbie bercia, and $50.00 from pastries made by Mrs.
Pauline Habeeb. Mrs. Arwady reported that the Altar
ociety presented $6000.00 to the Parish ~ouncil _from
money earned the last two years from vanous projects.
Dr. Attra, who is the Choir Director and immediate
pa t pre ident of the Parish Council, gave bri~f reports for
b th organizations. Among the acc?mphshments
of
oun il during the past year were repatrs on t~e roof of
the hurch Hall, painting of the hall and p~vmg of the
parking area. Most significant was the adoption of a new
Pari h
on titution which was approved by the
Metropolitan.
Ha ing erved on the Council for the past 15 years, Dr.
Attra thanked everyone for those beautiful years, and
pledged to help the incoming president Mike Kaleel.
In his closing remarks, Father John reminded the new
officer that the parish is depending on them as examples
of Orthodox Christians and it is their responsibility to take
up a role of leadership and fulfill their duties so they can
be instruments of God.
The choir then sang the Lord's Prayer, after which the
oath of office was given to the new officers.
The Closing activity of the evening was the presentation of a film called "This Is Jordan."
-Anna
Rose Faour
St. George Church,
Toronto
Organist, was augmented with s_ome voices f!om outside
the community and Weldon Kilburn, who 1s known in
music circles throughout the wo!ld as a~ a_ccomplishect
musician, teacher and accompamst, ~as _mv1ted as guest
Conductor for the performance. Sol01sts mcluded Joanna
Lindstrom, Soprano; Josephine Abraham, Contralto; Ken
Baldwin, Tenor; and, Robin Carlson, . Bass Baritone.
Andrew Teodosiu, Violinist from the Choir, accompaniect
along with the organ during the program and was
featured in the Overture and Pastoral Symphony. The
program included such choruses as: "And the Glory of
the Lord", "O thou that tellest good tiding to Zion", "For
unto us a Child is born", and "Glory to God in the
highest". Soloists presented all of the recitatives and arias
from Part I of the score.
A standing ovation from the capacity audience
followed the final HALLELUJAH chorus.
It was the Choir's second annual concert of the
MESSIAH and they expect it will become a tradition at
Saint George's each year.
The Choir, under Robert Abraham's direction is
planning to perform Parts II AND III of the MESSIAH
and selections from Mendelsson's ELIJAH at a spring
concert in the Church. They are presently preparing for a
March telecast of the Diving Liturgy coast to coast in
Canada over CBC Television.
Dr. Frederick Karam of Ottawa, Ontario, has com•
posed and arranged all of the Liturgical Byzantine music
sung by the Choir at Divine Services and the Choir is rated
among the best in Byzantine Chant in Canada.
Their activities are supported
by financial con·
tributions from Choir Patrons at the Church and outside
the community.
The Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church Choir
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, presented an evening
concert of selections from Handel's MESSIAH in the
church on Sunday, December 14, 1975.
The Choir, under Robert Abraham, Choirmaster and
A Pictorial Reviewof Our Unity
The Cross
By Margaret Hanna
The Cross of our Blessed Saviour represents the suffering and
dying which we must all go through in life. His suffering on the
Cross represents all of our trials and tribulations in our lives. His
dying for us is a symbol of a great love, which no man on this
Earth could ever come close to or ever hope to come close to. This
dying was not in vain, but it was a pure and holy sacrifice in order
for us to obtain the salvation of our souls. His rising from the dead
- the Resurrection, the celebration of Easter, represents our life,
for when it has ended, it will also be resurrected upon the Second
Coming of our Most Glorious, Blessed, and Beloved Saviour,
Jesus Christ.
IC
The letters NI KA imprinted on the Holy
XC
Bread and then broken and formed into the cross by the priest
signifies in Greek JESUS CHRIST CONQUERS.
We should revere and adore His Cross at all times. This is our
hope for a new and glorious life with our most Beloved Saviour,
Jesus.
Saint George Orthodox Church of Toronto, Canada, in
concert.
Page20
For your edification, read:
St. Matthew 20: 19
St. Matthew 27 ( entire chapter)
St. Matthew 28 ( entire chapter)
The Word
Pictures Right to Left: Concelebrated Liturgy in
Cleveland. (2) Our Beloved Hierarchs. (3)
Hierarchs and Trustees meet in Louisville. (4)
Breaking Bread in Charleston. (5) Delegation
welcomes Archbishop Michael to Louisville
Convention. (6) Hierarchical Liturgy in Louisville.
March, 1976
Page 21
�North American Council
SOYO
Digest
News and Views • • •
Message To Members Of
Teen SOYO from
METROPOLITAN PHILIP
"From my youth up many passions war
me. But
. against
,,,
do Thou help me and save me, 0 my Savmr.
These words taken from the hymnography of the
Matins ervice of our Orthodox Church reve~l some
important insights into Christian life. Altho~gh this hymn
was composed centuries ago it speaks of a timeless Truth
which is applicable to our contemporary scene and to
today's young people.
Throughout the Gospel, and even more explicitly in
the Epistles of Saint Paul, we are called to be perfec~, to
be saints. However, God knows that countless temptations
arise throughout our lives, and especially during our
youth. to misdirect us from the "narrow path." Such
temptations, or passions, are not merely "there"_, but in the
words of the hymnographer actually war agamst us.
Evil is not a passive option to good, but an active and
dynamic force "out to get you" by any means! Once this
fact is realized a person has already won half the battle.
But. you may ask, HOW can we be perfect as commanded
by Christ? For He didn't say to TRY to be perfect, but to
BE perfect. The answer can be found in the second phrase
of the above verse ... "our help is in the Name of the
Lord", to quote the Psalmist. Christ is our general, our
army, our ammunition. No matter what evil attacks are
thrown against us, He is able to save us and lead us to
share in His perfection.
Such a battle rages within each one of us every day of
our earthly lives, from our youth up. As young Christians
you have the advantage of fighting off evil habits before
time and complacency allow them to take root. The early
years of one's life are most difficult . . . trying to please
parents and peers, and more importantly trying to please
oneself. All of our efforts to "please" must, however, be
measured against what pleases God. Is what I am doing
going to work for my salvation? This is a question that we
must ask ourselves.
Although the "narrow path" is difficult to travel, it is
not impossible. Christ has sent us strength and comfort in
the Holy Spirit, Who is able to help us and save us. Just
Page22
open your heart and invite Him to fight alongside you. He
is waiting for you to respond to His offer of salvation.
With paternal love and prayers,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North
America
A Message from Gary Younes,
NAC SOYO President
During the Bicentennial in the United States various
events and programs depicting the two h~ndred year
development of this nation will serve as a remmder of our
strong foundation and deep heritage. It will recaptur~ the
tradition of the human spirit that has been the dommate
force in the development of this nation. This spirit has
been somewhat lacking in recent years. For, today's
society, with the numerous technological advances and
rapid increases in affluence, has drained much of that
spirit. Over the past twenty years there h~ve be~n abrupt
changes in our lifestyle. It has become mcreasmgly dif·
ficult to appreciate the strife and hardwork that was the
key ingredient in the foundation of this nation.
With this relatively easy lifestyle, there are many more
leisure hours. Not knowing how to cope with this leisure
time we have become bored. In an effort to overcome this
boredom we run from one activity to another. Our society
is thus a very impatient one. Students, politicians,
businessmen, etc. are clamouring to change this, that, and
everything. Although we should examine what has gone
before and try to improve upon it, this should not be done
in such a haphazard manner. Too often today we make
changes only to have to make more changes because n~t
enough thought went into the original change. In todays
society we are pouring concrete for a new floor in our
building of life before the foundation below is able' to
support us.
What one took decades to change now is liter~lly
transformed overnight. This rapid pace of life is confusi~g
to young and old alike - about themselves, their family
relationship and their role in society. This confusion _has
led to the trembling of the ground around our foundati_on.
The word tradition which once meant stability and· a firm
foundation of principles now connotes stagnation and
The Word
b0 rness in many quarters of society. The Bicenstub. 1 however, can serve as the impetus to refocus our
tennia '
thinking.
I
. ct· ·ct 1
to grow, there
For a nation, a peop• e ord an m ivi ua
. .
f
be
an
understanding
an
an
appreciation
o what has
t
muS before. During the early growth of the United States
come rwhelming majority of the population possessed the
an ove spirit which founded this nation on July 4th, 1776.
human
.
more recently wit• h t h e conveniences
o f todays'
But• ty that extra drive
• w h.ic h was c h aracteristlc
. . of the
socie·s ' lacking. Too o ften potentla• I goa 1s or m
. d.ividua
.
1
Past i
1·
d
b
h
·
·
ex ectations are not rea ize
ecause t e competitive
p
is
gone.
We
must
recapture
that extra edge that tells
edge try again and agam
• i·f we are unsuccess fu I m
· our
t
m o
d
.
initial endeavor. In or er to grow as a nation, we must
row as individuals.
g But where can we turn to in our fast pace society to
help us understand and appreciate what has gone before?
What is available today that we can relate to and gather
t ength from, yet still offers a firm foundation and a
:t;ong tradition? In what ~an we become invol~ed in to
ekindle this flame of achievement? We know it all too
:ell but, often take oh so lightly. It is the belief in our
Orthodox Faith. Our Faith has a tradition which has
endured for many centuries. Yet Our Faith with all its
tradition is in its youthful stage in America. At a relatively
early stage at this point, the Orthodox Church in America
needs many more pioneers - pioneers such as those men
and women that built the United States during its first two
hundred years. There is an opportunity for hardwork and
personal dedication.
Our _Archdi?cese requires contributions from many people m a variety of areas. Become
aware of and committed to the principles of LOVE,
HONESTY, UNITY AND DEVOTION to GOD, to your
family and to yourself. Give yourself the chance to understand and appreciate the traditions we have, and
become a part of formulating what will be our future. Live
your Faith on a daily basis and the benefit is yours forever.
Campus Ministry
"The ills of our contemporary secularized society have
invaded the ivy-covered walls of practically every college
and university throughout North America. Within the
walls, the lethargy, the competitiveness,
the moral
decadence, the symptoms of loneliness and indifference,
and the fear and anxiety of the tomorrow are rampant.
The Church is in exile, and spiritual apathy is a common
phenomenum."
Such is the vital need for the existance of Campus
Ministry. The fundamental reason for executing the goals
of the ministry, is to keep the line of communication open
between our youth and the Church, but most importantly
that we keep the umbilical cord binding them tied. An
individuals most important, impressive and challenging
years of his life are during his college years. And unfortunately, the consequences of these years may be that the
individual tends to lose contact with the Church and his
spiritual life in general. Therefore, we, the Church, must
be there extending our hands and guiding him through the
rugged path of life. Therefore, the only means by which
we may achieve this is to keep the individual in constant
touch with his Church.
The time has come for the Orthodox Church in
America to bear the torch in the fight against the ills
March,1976
which beset our campuses. We are in need for missionary
efforts on the part of all of Orthodoxy's faithful to take the
Word and the Sacraments to our colleges and universities.
to work for application of Orthodoxy to every aspect of
the academic life. The Christian on campus must be fed
the Word and Sacraments so that he himself can be
transformed into a sacrament through whom Christ can
reconcile and restore the college to its proper place of
leadership both in the life of the Church and in the life of
society.
Time and time again 1 hear the words "the youth are
the future leaders of the Church." If we are to keep our
youth within the Church, we must reach out and fulfill
their spiritual needs. Campus Ministry can and will fulfill
some of these needs.
-Deborah Brown
Orthodox Campus Commission
Considers Status of Relationship With
World Student Christian Federation
The North American Regional Committee of the
World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) met in
Strangewood, Ontario, November 21-23. Participants
included representatives
from Orthodox,
Catholic
Anglican and Protestant student groups as well as from
several ecumenical, task-oriented organizations.
The WSCF, organized in 1895, is a federation of
national student Christian movements from more than 90
countries throughout the world. Membership includes
both students and non-students, with activities ranging
from scriptural meditation to direct political action. Its
current sphere of concentration is development of the
theme of "liberation." The WSCF North American
Regional Committee reflects both theoretical
and
practical concerns through its involvement in various
Afro-American, energy and women's projects.
Representing the Orthodox Campus Commission,
Peter Mikuliak indicated that there were many facets of
the WSCF's activities to which Orthodox Christian
students might relate creatively and positively. He pointed
out, however, several objections to current trends within
the WSCF, including: (a) objection to the dominant use of
secular rhetoric and terminology which is not Christcentered; (b) criticism of the lack of concern to maintain a
pluralistic political base among its membership; and (c)
strong opposition to the political activities of som~ WSCF
members which appear to condone the use of v10lence.
Other participants expressed general sympathy for
Orthodox sensitivity in these matters, and indicated a
desire to explore ways in which Orthodox witness might
play a more vital role. They also noted. that_ ~ositive and
constructive participation by Orthodox m cntlcal matters
of social and political concern - such as world hunger
and political oppression - woul~ be welcomed.
.
In anticipation 9f the commg WSCF Executive
Committee meeting in Montreal the Campus Commission
would like to offer an Orthodox Christian response to the
WSCF discussion paper entitled, "Christian Witness in the
Struggle for Liberation." Students and ~rofessors interested in contributing their thoughts to this task should
immediately contact the Orthodox Campus Commission,
Garrison, New York 10524.
Page 23
�PROJECT
MUST PLAN
NOW!
CAR
MEMO
***********************************
*******
GUEST
ROOMRESERVATION
REQUEST
Name ...........................................
.
Address..........................................
.
City ................................
State . . . . . . ..
A.M.
Hour .....
P.M.
A.M.
Hour .....
P.M.
Arrival Date ...........................
DepartureDate .........................
I am arriving at the hotel by car.
yes
CHECK
OUTTIME-2PM
--SINGLES $29
--DOUBLES $34
--TWINS
$34
$39
$106
--1-BEDROOM SUITE(PARLOR
2lxl4)
--1-BEDROOM CORNER
SUITE
(PARLOR
2lxl4) $106
--DELUXE
Affiliated
Branches
Project Ryaiat
c Io Dr. Reja-e Busailah
1030 So. Buckeye
Kokomo, Indiana 46901
AMARA (American Arab Association)
c I o Miss Judith Howard
200 Nichols Street
Norwood, Mass. 02062
North American Council SOYO
Coordinators
c Io Leila & Muna Salloom
58 Langbourne Place
Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3BlA9
no
CHECK
INTIME-2 PM
--TRIPLES
Project Loving ~:1re ~s_a p~ogram ~esigned h? render some financ~a! aid to needy and war
victimizedArab _fam1ltes!1ving 1n occupied Palest10e. Because of the v1c1ssitudes of war and its
inherent horror 1n the Middle East for over a quarter of a century, a generation of Palestinian
children who have known only s~rife and ~ardship ~as been cre~ted.
After the 1967 war, Dr. ReJa-e Busailah, a native of Palestme, and his wife founded Project
LovingCare to p~ovide assistance to families th_at~ave been ~irect victims of this war. Later they
wereaided in their effort by a ~um_ber o~ orga_n1zat1ons:especially AMARA (The American Arab
Association of Boston) ~h1ch 1s stl_llactively involved 10 the_program. The basic purpose of this
non-sectarian program 1s to provide funds for food, clothing, shelter, and education for the
growingnumber of need¥ l;lDdthreatened Palestinian children and thus help diminish the danger
of creating more Palestm1an refugees.
Toe Project is administered by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North
America. Its headquarters are in Terre Haute, Indiana. In Jerusalem, Palestine a department of
the Red Crescent Society is in charge of seeking out and recommending stricken or needy
families,while our main role here is to recruit sponsors for them.
Since its founding, the Project has gradually gained impetus throughout North America and
is presently handling hundreds of sponsorships. These sponsorships are solicited from individuals
or organizations who contribute $15.00 a month to each individual child. In tum, each sponsor
receives the name, biography and photograph of "his" child and is encouraged to promote a
personalinvolvement through correspondence with the child or the child's family.
All specified contributions, letters, etc. reach their destination In toto. and are personally
deliveredto each child by case workers of the Red Crescent Society of Jerusalem. At the time of
deliverya responsible individual within the family of each sponsored child signs a receipt, and a
personalnote written by the child, or case worker, is sent to the child's sponsor.
The administrative costs of the Project are assumed by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America. Project sponserships and endorsements are provided by various
organizations, religious and otherwise, throughout the United States and Canada.
This philanthropic endeavor is a unique effort on the part of humanitarians to alleviate the
needs of many of the world's suffering children. It is the only program of its kind whose aim is to
render aid to individual Arab children living in occupied Palestine. We trust you agree with the
objectives of Project Loving Care, and that you will be kind enough to lend it your attention, your
active support, and most important . . . your tax-deductible dollars.
$141
LUXURY
SUITES
Administered by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America.
LOVING
}
(
(
We would like to remit our $15 per month:
( ) Monthly
( ) Quarterly
( ) Annually
) We enclose herewith our first paymen! $
. .
) We cannot sponsor a child but would like to help by contributing
$
-,
(ALL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE)
2 CHILDREN
PERROOMFREE
WITHPARENTS
Name------------------------------MAIL YOUR COMPLETED
Address------------------------------
REGISTRATION FORM TO
City'_______________
It. Nir~olas ®rt~ollox Q!llurr4
5200
DIAMOND
SAN FRANCISCO,
PUJ.ft'24
HEIGHTS
CALIFORNIA
BLVD.
94131
The Word
State__________
.Zip
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:
PROJECT LOVING CARE-P.0.
BOX 2328-TERRE HAUTE, IN. 47802
"The best way to thank God for His Blessings is to
share them with those in need I"
----------------------------------
CARE
P,1~1-~
�h other hand, Father James Meena, pastor of St.
On t 1ntiochian Orthodox Church, and Melkite ArchiGeorg~t Ignatius Ghattas, B.S., pastor of St. Elias
rnau<lr~
e say the struggle is between richer (generally
Ch~rc_' ) and poorer (generally Moslem) Lebanese.
ChrtSUan Meena called the fighting "tragic, fruitless and
Father ry " He said its
• cause is
• "t h e ma
• b·1·
i ity o f 1eaders
unnecessa •
.
.
1
h .
• s political and sectarian groups to reso ve t eir
of variou
.
f h
1 "
problems in the best mterests o ht e peop e.
.
The Orthodox pastor added t at a struggle for social
. . is occurring because the Lebanese power strucJust1cedominated by Maronites, refuses equality to all
ture,
citizens.
·
L b
Th0 ugh Palestinian
refugees
m
e anon have
ated the country's troubles, Father Meena said,
aggrav
• h e f"igh tmg.
·
h
re not the major contn ·b utory f actor mt
t eyc,'1the other hand, Chor bishop Feghali sees the
. ht.ng as an effort by Syria, influenced by Communist, to
fig
• • re fugees at Le b anons' ex-.
solvemproblems of Palestlman
The
Orthodox World
Capemaum, Palestine
SOME BELIEVE RUINS
CONTAIN THE HOME OF PETER
-Franciscan archeologists here have uncovered what
some believe to be the ruins of a house used by St. Peter
on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
.
A report by the Israel Ministry of Tou_nsm says t_he
archeologists digging at the site of a rumed Byzantme
church, have exposed 11 construction levels._At the lowest
levels the group found fish hook~ a!1dother signs of a poor
fisherman's household in Jesus time.
.
At the different levels of the excavation, the ~rcheologists have found more than 130 Greek, fat_m,
Aramaic and Estrangelo (an old form of the ynac
alphabet) inscriptions. The nam~ of Jesus appears several
times that of Peter at least twice.
The first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, records Jesus
healing Peter's mother-in-law at Peter's house.
Ft. Wayne, Ind.
CHARISMA TIC MOVEMENT NOTED
IN THE CHURCH OF GREECE
-A leader of the charismatic movement in American
Orthodoxy reports that the Church of Greece has had a
charismatic movement since World War II.
Father Eusebius Stephanou's comments, made after_a
month's visit to Greece, are reported in the Hellen~c
Chronicle. According to its report, Father S!ephanou ~aid
the Church of Greece is "spiritually impoverished and ma
state of desperation."
Father Stephanou is founder and editor of The Logos,
an Orthodox charismatic bimonthly. He reported that a
Greek charismatic movement founded by Stylianos
Giannetakis, a native of Cre.te, has chapters in major
Gre-ek cities.
A former sub-dean of Hellenic College in Brookline
Mass., Father Stephanou is a priest of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America.
New York, N.Y.
GREEK ARCHDIOCESE, HELLENIC CONGRESS
PLAN ~BENEFITS'TO AID CYPRUS CHILDREN
-A six-week series of benefit performances for Greek
refugee children of Cyprus is being sponsored by the
United Hellenic American Congress, in cooperation with
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South
America.
At the benefits, The Sousta Folk Dancers of Cyprus ( 15
dancers and six musicians) perform traditional Cypriote
dances. A film "A Boy Named Panayiotis," is also shown.
The film documentary tells the story of an 11-year-old
Greek Cypriote's search for his parents following the
Turkish invasion of the island in July 1974.
Archdiocesan fund raising efforts have yielded $1.3
Page 26
million for the refugees. In additio~, since February 1975,
1,700 refugee children have receiv~d $20 a month in
financial assistance through an archdiocesan foster parent
program.
. p· b
h D
Benefit programs are sche~uled m itts urg , etroit,
Merrilville (Ind.), Chicago, Milwaukee, Rock Island \Ill.),
Salt Lake City, Portland (Ore.), Seattle, San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Phoenix, Montreal,
Denver, Dallas,
H uston
Norfolk,
Tampa-Clearwater,
Miami,
W~shingt~n (D.C.), New York City, Baltimore, Philadel•
phia, and Boston.
Athens, Greece
ORTHODOX OPPOSE DIPLOMA TIC RELATIONS
BETWEEN GREECE AND THE VATICAN
-Possible diplomatic relations between Greece and
v atican City were opposed by leaders of the (Orthodox)
Church of Greece in meetings with Greek government
officials.
In conversations held last fall, Pope Paul and Greek
Prime Minister Constantine
Karamanlis
took what
some officials called the first steps toward establishing
diplomatic relations.
The Orthodox delegation, led by its primate, Ar·
chbishop Seraphim of Athens, said no agreement should
be signed with the Vatican becaus~ the Chur~h. of Greece
has suffered from Roman Cathohc proselytizmg of Or·
thodox, and for national and historic reasons.
Most of the 45 000 Roman Catholics in Greece follow
the Western (Lati~) rite, but 3,000 of them have worship
forms similar to the Orthodox, as part of the Byzantine
Rite.
Last Summer Archbishop Seraphim said the ap·
pointment of the new apostolic exarch for the Byzantines
caused "profound grief and great pain."
..
Other participants in the meeting with Greek officials
were Metropolitans
Pandeleimon
of Corinth ~nd
Stephanos of Triphylia and Archimandrite
Ambros1os
Lenis, secretary of the Holy Synod.
Cleveland, Ohio
CHRISTIAN LEADERS DIFFER ON
CAUSES OF LEBANON'S TURMOIL
•
0f
-Local
leaders of the three biggest groupings
Lebanese Christians- Eastern Orthodox and two Eastern
forms of Roman Catholicism, Maronite and Melkite differ about what is causing the current turmoil in the lao<l
of their ancestors.
All, however, are united in their concern that ways be
found to bring peace to "our beautiful Lebanon."
Maronite Chorbishop Joseph Feghali, pastor of St.
Maron Church, sees the fighting as a religious war ~et·
ween Christians and Moslems, stirred up by Commum sts.
The Word
pense.
. h p
. .
h
"
The Maronite prelate said t e a 1estmians ave put
the knife int he back_ of the Lebanes_e.'_'
.
.
The Chorbishop said Lebanese Chnstlans, m particular
th dominant Maronites, are wealthier because they
w~rked harder. He suggested that the oil-rich Moslem
es could give more aid to their poor co-religionists.
stat
.
. Gh
Agreeing with Father Meena, Archimandnte
attas
stressed that the Lebanese strife is not a Christian-Moslem
1
~hl.
.
'
The Melkite pastor blamed the Umted States and
Soviet Union's pursuits of their national interests in the
area for some of Lebanon's difficulties.
Christians make up about half of the population of
Lebanon. Of every 100 Christians, 55 to 60 are Maronites,
15to 20 Eastern Orthodox, 10 to 12 Melkites. Most of the
remainder follow the Armenian (Oriental Orthodox) form
of Christianity.
New York, N.Y.
ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS SEES
POPE'S GESTURE AS HA CHALLENGE"
December 19, 1975 - Commenting on the recent
unexpected gesture by Pope Paul VI in kissing the foot of
Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon,
the personal
emissary of Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I of Constantinople, Archbishop Iakovos, the Patriarch's Exarch
in the Western Hemisphere and spiritual leader of Greek
Orthodox in the Americas, said:
"The Pope's unprecedented gesture should not only be
seen as a 'Saint's action' or symbolic of his 'humility' (as
Metropolitan Meliton has remarked), but as a step forward, for I don't see how else he could ever justify his
prostration.
• "I consider it an official challenge address to all
Christians, who in their search for unity, should bow out of
the trenches confessional and otherwise, and declare as
openly as th~y could their obedience to the Lord, Who is
inviting us to restore the unity and oneness of His Church.
"The period of 'ecumenical romanticism' as well as
that of 'informal discussions' have come to an end. A
'dialogue' with a specific aim: the reconciliation of _the
Church, which was first proposed by the late Ecumemcal
Patriarch Athenagoras I, MUST be initiated at once.
"The Eastern Orthodox Churches have already created
a Pan-Orthodox Commission as Metropolitan Meliton
March, 1976
officially announced in the Sistine Chapel of the Va ti can.
"It remains now for other Christians to reciprocate.
The world, as was evidenced in Nairobi, a few days ago,
can no longer wait.
"Social justice, equality of the sexes, peace, - these
are empty words unless they are nurtured by the spirit of
committed religious leaders.
" 'Dialogues' of the type cited in Church bulletins and
church press have served their 'educational purposes'.
Now it is time for a dialogue in depth and in the spirit of
humility so impressively manifested by Pope Paul.
"The Feast of the Nativity and the beginning of the
New Year imposes upon all true believers, the need for
revision and correction of traditional positions, if we are
sincerely committed to God and His people whom we
claim we serve."
Philadelphia, Pa.
ECUMENICAL PROGRAM PLANNED
FOR EUCHARISTIC CONG RESS
-As part of the observance of the Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity (Jan. 18-25), the officials of the 41st International Eucharistic Congress have launched a nationwide
ecumenical program on the Eucharist and invited nonCatholics to take part in the Congress itself in August.
"The Week of Prayer ... , observed for more than 50
years, provides a major moment prior to Congress week
(Aug. 1-8) for all Christians to join in ecumenical prayers
and discussions on the theme of the Eucharist," said
Father Charles V. Devlin, who heads a committee handling non-Catholic participation in the Congress.
Father Devlin noted that 1976 Congress will be the
third straight congress in which other Christians will
participate. The other two occasions were in 1968
(Bogota) and 1973 (Melbourne) and were prompted by the
spirit of Vatican II, he said.
The priest said the Congress' ecumenical program
encourages three forms of dialogue: bilateral visitation by
laity and clergy to neighboring churches to dev_el?P
awareness of each other's living liturgy; days of Jomt
spiritual and theological reflection for bishops, clergy and
laity: and joint ecumenical services devoted to the theme
of the Eucharist.
The ecumenical committee of the Congress, chaired
by Archbishop William W. Baum of Washington, D.C.,
and Graymoor Franciscan Friars of the Atonem~nt,
Garrison, N.Y., have issued an "Ecumenical Study Gmde
on the Eucharist." It presents 12 points of agreement and
systematically compares 32 points of doctrine among eight
major traditions.
Among the top non-Catholic offici~ls of . ~he
ecumenical committee are: Bishop John Alhn, presidmg
Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.; Archbishop
Iakovos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and
South America, and Dr. Robert J. Marshall, president of
the Lutheran Church in America. The committee includes
45 representatives o~ different C_hristian traditions.
Father Devlin said that as with other phases of the
Spiritual Renewal and Preparation Program of the
Congress the laity an? clergy . a~~ encouraged to participate in these spiritual activities before and after
Congress week.
. .
"The Eucharist, however we celebrate it, i~ ~ real
commitment to one another and to the shared m1ss10n of
the Church in the world.'' he stated.
Page27
�Availablefrom
YourArchdiocese
Order from:
Departmentof Publications
Antiochian
Archdiocese
358 MountainRoad
Englewood,
N.J. 07631
Make ChecksPayableto "Antiochian OrthodoxChristianArchdiocese"
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ByzantineProiect
ServiceBooks
of the
Evening
DivineLiturgy
10 individual
volumes:
Nativity of the Theotokos-September
8
Elevation of the Cross-September
14
Presentation of the Theotokos-November
Nativity of Christ-December
25
The Epiphany-January
6
Presentation of Christ-February
2
The Annunciation-March
25
The Ascension-40th
day after Pascha
Transfiguration
of Christ-August
6
Dormition of the Theotokos-August
15
21
Containthe COMPLETE
text for each evening Divine
Liturgy
For the Clergy, Reader, Choir and Congregation
One set (ten volumes) ...........................
Individual volume...............................
$10.00
$ l .00
The Department of Sacred Music of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
announcesthe completion of the first phase of its
"Byzantine Proiect" with the publication of the
Vesper Service.
Complete music, using the traditional Byzantine
melodies transcribed into Western notation, with
English text of the Resurrection Oktoechos was
prepared by the noted Byzantine chanter Basil
Kazan in cooperation with Raymond George, the
director of the Department of SacredMusic.
The complete Vespers set contains eight (8) sep-•
arate, color-coded volumes for handy use by the
chanter, choir or congregation. They ore now
available at a cost of $10.00 per set.
The "ByzantineProiect" is on enormous and much
needed undertaking which will provide Byzantine
music in the English language to insure the continuation of this precious Christion heritage and the
art of chanting. Phase two of this project, the Service of Matins (Orthros) in the eight tones, is in
the final stages of production and will be· available
in Summer 1976. Future plans call for the publication of volumesfor the Great Feasts, Holy Week, etc.
A 12" LONG-PLAYING RECORD
THE JOY OF THE SOUL
Favorite Selections of Byzantine
Hymns and Gospels
Sung in Arabic
by
His Eminence, The Most Reverend Metropolitan
PHILIP
Primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America
... Contents ...
SIDE ONE·
SIDE TWO:
1. Christmas
Heirmos
1
"Christ is born: Glorify Him!"
2. OlristmasApolytikion
"Thy Nativity, 0 Christ"
3. Epiphany
Troparion
"By thy Baptism, 0 Christ"
4. Wedding
Troparion
"O Isaiah, dancethy joy"
S. Lenten1'11eotokion
"In Thee rejoiceth"
6. AkatflistosHymn
"The Angel was amazed"
7. Akl'Jthistos
Hymn
Truly, I thy City"
8. Funeralldiomelon,
Tone8
"I ·,eep and I wail"
FuneralGospel:St. John
"The Lord said to the Jews"
2. baposteilarion,Tone3, Bridgegroom
Service,HolyWeek
"Thy BridalchamberI behold"
3. FifteenthAntiphon,Tone6, Holy
Thursday
Evening
"Today He is suspendedon a tree"
4. GreatFridaylamentationsVerses:
Epitaphios
1'11renos
S. TheHolyGospelfor the Resurrection
Service
6. Resurrection
Stichera
•
Proceeds from the sale of this record will be
applied to the Archdiocesan Missionary Fund
Page2
Price $5.00
ThePriesthood:
A Joyof the Soul
By _the gra~e of God and under the leadership of inspired and
dedicated h1erarchs and pastors, the history of our Antiochian
Archdiocese reveals tremendous strides in parish organization and
growth, both spiritual and numerical. Appreciating this fact and
acknowledging the additional needs and pressures that are arising
today a~d _will continue to multiply in the future, the Department
~f C?ntmu!ng Pastoral education and Spiritual Vocations, in con1unct1onwith NAC SOYO,has initiated a serious program to encourage and cultivate spiritual vocations among the faithful of
our Archdiocese.
•
The first phase of this program was the production of a color
slide presentation entitled "THE PRIESTHOOD:A Joy of the
Soult whi~h is no~ available _for viewingin your parish community. Usmg a variety of sub1ects and themes the slide show,
which is acco!'1p_anied
_by narration on tape cassette, attempts to
reveal_so~e insights mto the pastoral vocation. The text of the
narration 1s based on classical statements on the Priesthood
includ_ing:pastoral references from Holy Scripture, The Priesthood
by Samt John ~h~ysostom,The Diary of a RussianPriest by Father
Alexander Elchmmoff, The OrthodoxPastor by Archbishop John
(S~ahovskoy),and many others.
T~1spresentation, which is intended to be followed by discussion,
will be sent to you for viewing in your community upon simple
request addresse~to your Archdiocesan headquarters. There is no
fe~: _After y_ouview the presentation we would appreciate your
cn_t1_c1sm
of 1t: and any suggestions you may have to encourage
spiritual vocations.
"THE PRIESTHOOD:
A Joy of the Soul"
total showing time: 20 minutes
type of projector needed: slide
type of tape player needed: cassette
The Word
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
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Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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kalemat_19760301_20_3
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 20, Issue 03
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 20, Issue 3 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated March 1976.
Date
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1976 Mar
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Subject
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
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English
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Text
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Text/pdf
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/24bd68d791b678f5995b15732b0fe8f4.pdf
a5181148487e174400788ab5eac28153
PDF Text
Text
The Wor
February
1976
�The Word
February, 1976
Volume 20
Number 2
..J
IN THIS ISSUE
Cover
<(
F b
1976 marks the tenth anniversary of the falling asleep in the Lord of one of the
e rudary, • spi"ri"tualleaders in the Orthodox Christian world, our beloved and greatlymost ynam1c
.
.
H"
lif'
lamented father, Metropolitan Antony Bashir' of thrice_-b!essed ~emor_y._ IS rro IC ';RY of
his undivided mterest m the
lI'f e, h"is conscientious concern for the unity of all Christians,
.
h
• ••
f h
h
11
rthodox
Church
his
deep
involvement
with
t
e
act1v1t1eso t e yout - a
the
O
f
welf are o
'
A • h'
Ch
h • N h
these characteristics of this eminent Archpastor of the nt1oc 1an
urc m
ort
America will forever inspire us to greater accomplishments for our Church. He was truly a
magnificent apostle for Orthodoxy in this W estem Hemisphere. We beseech our Lord
eternal rest for the repose of his blessed soul.
3
Our New Editors , Joseph Allen and George S. Corey
a new romance I
Editorial
A new romance.
Gabriel Ashie
5
A Man to Match the Mountains
A faithful son traces the unique contribution of the late Metropolitan Antony to Orthodoxy
in general and the Antiochian Archdiocese in particular.
Metropolitan Antony
7
The Bishops Meet
The late hierarch, in this article, shows the tremendous foresight for which he became
known, as he looks at Orthodoxy in America. This writing appeared in the May, 1960 issue
of The Word.
James C. Meena
10
Lifestyles
"X"
This dynamic priest begins a series of homilies by posing that eternal question of one's
existence.
J. S. Shadid
11
Parishes of the Archdiocese
A brief history of the St. Elijah Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
15
Archdiocesan
Office
January l, 1975 through January 1, 1976.
16
Dialogue
Questions posed to Fr. Michael Buben.
17
Communities
in Action
This month our parishes in Greensburg, Pa., Louisville, Ky. and Cleveland Ohio share
with us their activities.
'
21
SOYO DIGEST
News and views of our youth movement.
26
Page 2
The Orthodox
World
Commentaries by the Religious
News Service.
To create something new is, at once, exciting and difficult! The WORD is not "new," but as
the editors we want to give it a new life and face. Yes, it is indeed exciting. Yes, it is indeed difficult. But it will be. We are sure. We hope all our readers will enjoy our new approach and
style.
Becoming the editors of the "new" WORD in February, 1976, has an irony about it. The first
ironical aspect is that it comes on the date of the Tenth Anniversary
of Metropolitan
Antony
Bashir's departing of this life. Like our hopes for this magazine, His Eminence was one who was
open to the "new", which, in every age, the Church responsibility
must use in answering the
ever-changing "new" challenges. It is not that the Church should follow all the most recent trends and "fads." It is, rather, that the "newness" given to the Church by Christ Himself, and which
lives in Church through the operation of the Holy Spirit ("Behold,
I make all things new" Rev.
21 :5) must be continually
reborn in every age. Being rooted in Christ and Orthodoxy, we need
not fear the "new" as we apply those ancient traditions and truths in new forms! Metropolitan
Antony knew that and lived that! Thus, he saw on the horizon, the need for the "new"
language (English), in the "new" land, and lived toward a "new" Orthodoxy for America. For
this, every Orthodox Christian must truly sing, "memory eternal!"
The second ironical aspect about this "new" WORD, is that it comes not because the "old"
WORD was deficient. Indeed, we are indebted to those editors who before us, the last being
Father Paul Schneirla, worked so diligently to produce this magazine. The new life and face of
this WORD comes, rather, because of those efforts, and in a sense, to carry those efforts forward with the help of God.
We realize our responsibility;
this magazine is, after all, an official Archdiocese magazine.
But this does not mean that it cannot also be, at times, an "open," informal, and readable
magazine. We ask all our readers to help us, to pray for us, and, if we sound naive in our enthusiasm, to excuse us!
.
We ask you, particularly,
to note in this issue, the article about Metropolitan
Antony, and
tn turn, the article
by him; we believe that this new editorship is fortunate in beginning with
these articles.
As we begin this new "romance," then, one in which we hope to carry the ministry of the
~hurch to those who will read The WORD, our prayer is that found in St. Paul's words:
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature . .. "(I Cor. 5: 17).
We are, Indeed, gratified
by this appointment
to this editorship
by our beloved
leader and Spiritual
Father, Metropolitan
PHIi.iP; his confidence and encouragement
are a blessing!
Joseph Allen
George S. Corey
The Word February,1976
-[C
0
1-C
w
Page3
�AManto Matchtht Mountain
INAPPRECIATION
by father gabriel ashie
by Metropolitan Philip
It is often said, "If you want a job well done, ask a busy man." Four years ago when the Ven
Reverend Stephen Upson, burdened by many personal and family responsibilities, asked to be relieve~
of his duty as Editor of the WORD Magazine, I urged the Very Reverend Paul Schneirla to assume thh
responsibility knowing well how busy Father Paul was. Besides being the pastor of St. Mary's Parish ol
Brooklyn, New York, which is one of our large parishes, Father Paul is a teacher at St. Vladimir\
Seminary, Chairman of the Archdiocesan Inter-Orthodox and lnter-F aith Department, an actiw
member of many inter-faith theological commissions, and has been General Secretary of SCOBA fot
many years. When I asked him to be Editor of the WORD, he accepted the responsibility with mud
obedience to his bishop. He gave his time and energy freely to this Archdiocese and served the WORL
well despite his time limitation.
A history of the Old Church in the New World
can never be complete without remembrance of
the late, Metropolitan Antony Bashir, of thriceblessed memory, for thirty years spiritual leader
of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
At his passing on February 15, 1966, Metropolitan Antony was in his thirtieth year as leader
of this Archdiocese, and in his fiftieth year in the
service of God.
Although there are a myriad of words and
statements that can be accorded him, the present
Metropolitan Philip, summarizes the thinking
and memory of all :
No eulogy, no speech and no lecture is sufOn behalf of the Archdiocese and all readers of the WORD, I would like to thank Father Paul ant
ficient to describe the greatness of this Prince
his Khouryia, Shirley, for her patience and understanding. I do hope, however, that from time to time
of the Church. When in the future, historians
Father Paul will contribute his talent to the WORD so that our subscribers may continue to be enriche
will write the history of Orthodoxy in
by his wisdom and scholarship. Without dedicated people like Father Paul, who are always willingt,
America, the name of Metropolitan Antony
accept a challenge and serve this Archdiocese faithfully, we will be unable to realize our spiritual ani
will shine like the stars of heaven.
humanitarian goals.
Metropolitan Antony was born on March 15
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
18?8, in Do~a, Lebanon, the son of Joseph and
Zama Bashir, and was raised in that mountain
~ountry, in an Orthodox family long entrenched
m the Fa~th. His religious life began early: he was
enrolle~ m _the Balamand Theological Seminary
near Tnpoh, and ordained a Deacon on April 16,
1916. He extended his studies further at the
American University of Beirut and the School of
Law in Baabda.
Metropolitan PHILIP has declared Sunday, February 15,
1976 as METROPOLITAN
ANTONY
BASHIR
MEMORIAL SUNDAY throughout the Archdiocese to
comme~orate the tent~ anniversary of the passing to 'the
etern~l life of ourlateh1erarch and chief shepherd in North
Amenca. All clergy are reminded to conduct the Trisagion
Prayers of Mer~y following the Divine Liturgy on that
Sunday. May his memory be eternal!
Page 1-
U _Whe_n
the founding President of the American
mvers1ty of Beirut surveyed the completed
rmpus of his school, he stated, "Let men come
rom the mountains - to this mountain of
learning." Such a man as Deacon Antony came
and·
• grew in stature and deed, both in the
Id m time
0
world and in the new, becoming "a man to
:tc~ the ~ountains."
By 1920, he had disf ~u~hed himself as secretary to the Archbishop
0
.
eirut, as a teacher at the American U niversity, and as an author in many literary journals.
Febrln l 922, the Priest Antony came to the
uary, 1976
A portrait
of Met.AntonyBashir
"S~ he fed them according to the integrity of his heart. and
gui ed them by the skillfulness of his hands."
'
-Psalm 78:72
United States as a special representative of the
Patriarch of Antioch and a year later, he was elevated to Archimandrite. He was twenty-five years
old when he beg?n to travel extensively throughout ~ ort~ America. He wrote in English as well
as ~•s native Arabic, and was proficient in translatmg many outstanding works from English to
Arabic, including those of the revered Kahlil
Gibran.
In February of 1936, a year after the passing
of the beloved Archbishop Victor Abou Assaley
t~e Holy Synod of Antioch named him Arch:
bishop of the North American Antiochian
Church. On April 19, 1936, in the presence of
thousands, he was elevated with the laying on of
hands by the late Metropolitan Theodosius Oater
Patriarch) at ~t. Nicholas ~.athedral in Brooklyn,
New York. His task of umtmg parishes scattered
thro~ghout the United States, Canada and
~~x1co was not easy, but he demonstrated what
d1hgence, hard work and enthusiasm could produce. The Archdiocese grew, as many new
churches and community centers were built
throug? _his enc~uragement, blessing and advice.
In add1t1on to this, he personally published many
Orthodox books, church school materials texts of
worship and prayer books for the furthering of
the Faith.
. ~e continued his brilliance in writing and
ed1tmg, and brou~ht back to life the periodical,
THE WORD, which became an instant media of
unity among the faithful. He travelled thousands
o~ mile~ by car and train. He loved to fly, even in
d1sturbmg weather, and would quip, "TWA
really means travel with the angels." He encouraged higher theological •education through
Holy Cross and St. Vladimir Seminaries and
desired his seminarians train at these accomplished and growing schools of Orthodox
theology.
Metropolian Antony had vision. He knew that
if the Archdiocese should grow in this new land,
then true to Orthodox tradition~ the vernacular
Pages
�hould be employed whenever possible. 9uoting
the epi tie to the Romans, he would say: If God
i for u who can be against us?'' and then delved
into that which was before him, be it a project of
monumental implication, an encouragement to a
prie t in some parish, or the funding of_ some
worth endeavour. He did it all, and in his own
manner did it brilliantly!
He was never pleased with the duplicity of
Orthodox influence in North America, and encouraged the formulation of the Orthodox
Federation in 1942, which was to be the antecedent of the Standing Conference of Orthodox
Bi hop formed in 1960. He served repeatedly as
its Vice President and dreamed of the day when
there would be administrative Orthodox unity as
there is theological unity amongst all Orthodox.
He was truly a pioneer of the Orthodox Church of
and abroad.
Metropolitan Antony was a brilliant writer
editor, philosopher, widely acclaimed ?rator, and
inspiring fund raiser for the many proJects of the
Church.
He was all this and more; he donated a
quarter of a million dollars to insure the rebuild.
ing of the Balamand Seminary in Lebanon. But
in truth, his legacy is much m.Jre, for he was the
right man, at the right hour, and in the right
place, as God would will it. He will live on
eternally for those who were graced to be with
him, to work with him, and to receive his blessings.
Metropolitan Philip expressed the feelings of ,
the clergy and laity of this Archdiocese when he
said: "What Metropolitan Antony accomplished
He will ever he remembered as a chief architect
of Orthodoxy
in America
a dynamic and resourceful leader, and above all, a spiritual father.
He was
one who loved and prayed for unity amongst all Christians and a believer in
One Orthodox Church of America,he was American in outlook and Orthodox
in conviction, hut never abandoned his cultural heritage.
America and his name will never be forgotten
from any annal of history dealing with Orthodoxy
in the new world.
SOYO was for him a constant joy and a guarantee of tomorrow, in the emerging new leaderhip of American born young people. Church
school teachers, choir members, leaders in all
aspects of church life, and even his young priests,
were the fruits of this labor. And he rejoiced in
them always aware of their needs and life style.
in his fifty years, cannot be achieved in two hun·
dred years. He was not a picture on the wall; he
was very much alive and will continue to live in
the memory of the Church forever."
He was a man to match the mountains.
Father Ashie is pastor of St. Luke's
Garden Grove, California.
Church in
Death came unexpectedly on February 15
1966, in Boston. As thousands came to pa;
homage and to pray at St. Nicholas Cathedral in
Brooklyn, he lay in state on the spot where he
took hi vows of consecration thirty years before.
Hi work has not been lost nor forgotten for
that which he envisioned, planned and prep~red
ha ~een passed on to his spiritual son, whom h;
rdamed to the priesthood on March 1 1959.
Metropolitan Philip is continuing the good works
w_hichMetropolitan Antony began and has made
h1 own mark on the destiny of Orthodoxy here
Page 6
Metropolitan Antony with his friend Patriarch Athenagoras,
The Word
The Bishops Meet
by METROPOLITAN
ANTONY
BASHIR
( t 1966)
It has been a principal concern of my ministry as head of the
Antiochian Archdiocese that the Orthodox Church in America,
divided administratively into many national jurisdictions, be
f rmed into one body. Before the Russian Revolution of 1917
t~ere was only one Orthodox Church in the United States, but
with the breakdown of the Russian Church the smaller national
groupsdeveloped independent organizations confined to their own
racial communities and we still live with the unfortunate results.
It is, of course, necessary that our national communities be
administered by those who understand their languages and
particular customs, as long as we are faced with an immigrant
membership. With a second and third generation, inevitably less
attached to their national heritage, the special problems of each
racialcommunity fall into the background and the time is ripe for
the appearance of one Orthodox Church in America.
The Federation was born in the dark days of World War II.
The Sele~tive Service Act had been passed to provide soldiers for
our gro~mg army, .a.nd as in our American tradition it provided
exe~ption from military service for clergymen of all faiths, includmg the lay brothers of the Roman Catholic religious orders
who are not, strictly speaking, clergymen at all. Service Draft
Boards hesitated to grant exemption to our clergy because they
alleged that the Orthodox Church had no corporate existence.
When this state of affairs became known to the hierarchs, action
was taken at once.
A series of meetings was held at the Greek Archdiocese and a
Federation was formed, not only with the intention of providing
exemption for our clergy, but also with the idea of setting up an
instrument for cooperation in all common concerns and problems.
The present Oecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, then head of the
It should ne~er be supP_osed that the united church will come as the result of artificial
pressures from without. It wzll develop only as the result of a gradual evolution.
The languages will disappear very unevenly - some national
jurisdictions are providing impressive budgets to maintain their
minority languages, while others are indifferent, and still others
refuse to involve the church in a language problem and are
promoting the use of English in the church. Old national
patriotismsdie hard also, and some of these are roadblocks on the
path to complete unity.
It is tolerated because it developed in a time of international
crisisand must be regularized without violence to good order.
Therefore unity, which our law demands, in the sense of one
American Church with territorial or geographical dioceses, as
opposed to national jurisdictions, will arise when national differences disappear, and the churches see the need to work
together.
It must not be supposed that our present state is entirely bad.
1:hereis real value in leaving the care of national parishes to a
h1Sh~pwho understands their psychology and manner of life.
Untilvery recently, and even now in many communities, it would
havebeen impossible to provide adequate oversight apart from an
a~m~is~ation of the same national character as the parish. It is
stiII_
difficult for a priest from one national background to serve a
pansh of another non-related national group. Then, too, the
governing hierarchs have been in constant communication and
when challenged by threats from without have acted in unison.
Greek Archdiocese of North and South America, myself and
Metropolitan Benjamin of the Patriarchal Russian Church, who is
now in Russia, were the principal hierarchs involved. Much of the
preliminary work was done by the Archpriest Michael G.H.
Gelsinger, then pastor of our Syrian parish in Niagara Falls, N.Y.,
and Mr. George E. Phillies, an active layman of the Greek Archdiocese. It was decided to begin on a sound canonical basis by
including as first members only those bishops who were in
communion with one of the ancient Patriarchates, and then
providing for the later incorporation of hierarchs who lacked such
ties.
The Greek, Syrian, Patriarchal Russian, Romanian and
Serbian jurisdictions were the only ones in full communion with
the ancient patriarchates and they became the first members of
the Federation. The Ukrainian diocese of Bishop Bohdan and the
Carpatho-Russian diocese of Bishop Orestes became members as
parts of the Greek Archdiocese.
On March 15th of this year the chief hierarchs of the American
Orthodox Church met at the invitation of His Eminence Archbishoplakovos of the Greek Archdiocese to discuss the possible
nee~ for greater cooperation between the jurisdictions in the
0 mted States.
The selection of an appropriate name for the Federation was
not easy, but it was determined to include Greek, for our rite,
Orthodox for our faith, Catholic for the one Church of Christ
which Orthodoxy is, and add "Primary Jurisdictions." An act of
incorporation of comprehensive character was drawn up and
presented to the N.Y. State Legislature in Albany. When the
proposed act was presented to the representatives of other
religious bodies for comment, the Roman hierarchy objected
strenuously to the use of the word Catholic, since the Uniates used
the title "Greek Catholic." This opposition was overcome and the
bill was passed. At the signing by Gov. Dewey, I went with the
other hierarchs to Albany and we held a service in the State house,
the responses being sung by the student body of the Greek
Theological Seminary.
. .~~is _meeting was not the first attempt to bring the American
JllrI Ictions closer together and in fact the first item on the
agel~daof the meeting was a consideration of the reactivation of an
ear
•
Th e F ederation
•
p. Ier un Ion,
of Orthodox Gree k C at h o1·IC
nmary Jurisdictions.
February,1976
Several jurisdictions which lacked contact with the ancient
Patriarchates were not included in the Federation at first,
although provision was made for adding additional dioceses
approved by the hierarchs who were already members. Among
those excluded was the Russian Metropolia
headed by
Page 7
�tan
h philu (Pa hko ky). This.group repr~sen~e~
·1, f th Ru ian pari he in the Umted States, . ut a
t~ the mother church during the troubl~s fo~owi;gwt!~
d
er re tored the broken ues. ace
ni'ia;, th
an jurisdiction introduced its own Act of
ti n in
, York tate legislature.
ora
remained chairman
of the
he nited tales to become Patriarch of
I
ded him and a number of meetings were
on truggled with internal problems due
n following the war, interest waned and the
m ina ti e.
budget.
2 The Orthodox Catholic Committee on Scouting: ..
•.
'ttee could be strengthened by the addition of
Th 1s comm1
•
1 d
• from the J·urisdictions not now mvo ve , and by
represen tat ives
the provision of a budget.
3 The Committee on College Work:
This necessary work should be taken boverhfr?m. :::~ ~ ational
Council of Churches and supported y t e Jun 1ctions.
4 . The American
Relations:
Orthodox
Committee
on
Oecumenical
. l . .fi t. j r the existence of the national jurisdictions.
Th re L. of ~ourse._no_ca_no_nzca
1ustz ca wnr: bisho s to overlap, and they know nothing
0
Th anon forbid the 1urzsdzctwns of two ~r ';
• the 1;-;nitedStates is an absolute violation
0 (. parate national churches, so our organzza wn m
anonical structure of the Orthodox Church.
0 / the
mb r 1959, during the vacancy of the Greek Aran e, a meeting wa held to discuss commo_n ~roblems
to whi h n t only the old Federation members ':ere mv1ted, but
man O th r a Well• These included Metropolitan Leonty, }"the
Ru ian ucce or of Metropolitan Theophilus, and Metropo 1tan
Ana ta , the head of a Russian jurisdiction whic~ representrmigr bi hop who are with neither the Moscow Patriarchate _nor
the ind pendent American Church headed_ by Metropoh~n
Le nt . ince the formation of the Federatlon the Ro~aman
hur h in merica had developed a schism as a result of w?1ch the
majorit of the parishe followed a bishop no lon~er m _co?1muni n with the Patriarch behind the Iron Curtam. This mdep ndent bi hop was also present at the meeting of Dec~mber,
1959. ommon problems were discussed and plans laid for
an th r me ting.
B fore the plans could mature, the vacant see of the Greek
wa filled by the election of Archbishop lakovos, and
one of the fir tacts was the planning of the meeting of March 15th
of thi year ( 1960). I immediately circulated a mem~randu~
am ng the bi hop for consideration at the proposed meetmg. It 1s
important enough to be quoted in full here:
Ar hdioce
MEMORANDUM
To: The prelates invited to the inner-jurisdictional meeting of
the American hierarchy at the Greek Archdiocese on March 15th,
1960.
From: Metropolitan Antony Bashir.
o that all of those who take part in the proposed meeting may
b prepared to contribute as fruitfully as possible, it is important
that m attention be given to the common problems which will
b the b iou and inevitable agenda of the assembly. It is
de 'rabl that all of the hierarchs attending submit a list of those
ubje which eem mo t urgent to them, and it is with this object
that thi outline is offered. It is hoped that the other hierarchs will
irculat imilar memoranda.
Th
following list is divided into two sections:
a) Matter in which the initiative has already been taken, and
which th hierarch hould upport, and b) other areas of common
one m in which coordinated effort is needed.
a)
1. The Orthodox Christian Education Committee:
Th g d work of thi body is well known to all American
Orthodox a i it potential importance to our future. The
hi rarch hould trengthen the committee with advice, additional working members, moral support and an adequate
Page 8
All 0 f th 'urisdictions represented in the World Council of '
• d"
t of ~h'1s
Churches,e Jexcept the Greeks, have m
_ICated s1;1ppor_
body. It is desirable because of the special American situation.
A VigUance Committee
of Orthodox lawyers and
1I._l t s to keep the hierarchs informed of legislation of
legisa toor
r importance to the Church, and to render aid in event
interes
of need.
• hops met as planned. The Patriarchal Russian diocese
The b. is "sdiction of Metropo Iitan Anastassy were mv1ted,
• .
hut
and the JU~ representatives. Those who did participate were the
didnot;\diocese
in the person of Archbishop Iakovos, and
G_reek Bchdan and Orestes of the Ukrainian and CarpathobISh~ps.;isdictions under Constantinople. A second Ukrainian
R_u~ianJ lso under the Oecumenical Patriarch, was represented
dioct'i.:ishop Palladios. Bishop Mark Lipa of the minority
by r_c J•urisdiction under Constantinople also took part, as did
Albaman
f h B I •
• "sd' •
B" h
Metropolitan Andre~ o d" t e
u ~a~n
Jar;. 1ct1~n, 1s;:
Dionisijiof the Serbia~ 1ocesehan f hetr?pdo 1tand eonty, . hb'18h0 p Ireney and Bishop 1o n o t e m epen ent Russian
cM
etropoli"a, and Bishop Andrei
. Moldovanu of the Patriarchal
·an J·urisdiction. The h1erarchs were guests of the Greek
Romam
•
• were
Arhdiocesefor the day- 1ong session,
an d 1unc h . Secretanes
F ~her Paul Schneirla of our Syrian Archdiocese, Father John
Jeyendorff of the Russian jurisdiction an~ Mr. Arthur Dore,
publicrelations officer of the Greek Archdiocese.
The deliberations
were devoted
to the questions
of the
Federati~n, interjurisdictional misunderstandings, the status uf
several bishops who were not invited and the areas in which the
bishops mig~t pr~fitably cooperate. I~ was decided to replace the
0
1?Federation with a new standing Committee of the Orthodox
Hierarchs of America. In order to outline a structure for this
proposed body, and to present full and accurate information of
the status of the bishops who were not invited with a view to
including them in the future, if they were willing,' a Committee of
Theologians was appointed. The suggestion and nominees was
made by Archbishop Iakovos and unanimously approved by all of
the hierarchs. The appointees were Father Constantine Kazanas
of the Greek Archdiocese, Archpriest Alexander Schmemann of
the Russian Archdiocese, Archimandrite Finnilian Ocokoljich of
the Serbian Diocese, and Father Schneirla of our Syrian Archdiocese. These men will draft the necessary reports and
proposals and present them at a second meeting of the hierarchs to
he held on the Tuesday after Pentecost June 7th, at the Greek
Archdiocesan headquarters in New York.
The spirit of the meeting was one of complete Christian love
and hope for the future of the Church in America. We have
inherited many difficulties from the past, and some of these will
stand in our way as we go forward, but I am confident that the day
of complete union, for which I have long worked and prayed, is
closer than ever before. May God grant it!
5. CEOYLA should be integrated into the interjurisdictional
planning and work of the hierarchs.
bl
6. The Formation of a Provisional American Orthodox
Synod:
Our failure to form one united jurisdiction in America is a
constant reproach as well as an absolute violation of the sacred
canons, and must be corrected. This can best be done by
forming an American Synod composed of the chief hierarchs of
each national jurisdiction who shall retain their present
autonomy in internal matters, but act together in common
issues, and plan for corporate union at the earliest opportunity.
The present meeting should issue a formal declaration of the
intention, and should communicate with the American State
Department renouncing all un-American nationalisms, in word
and deed, and with the heads of the respective autocephalos
churches, requesting their prayers for the speedy ac•
com plishment of this end.
I have never lost the ideal of a United Orthodox Church in America and I have preached it
at every opportunity, especially to interjurisdictional and youth groups. Nor, have I neglected
to keep it in the thinking of my brother bishops.
7. Regularizing the Status of Uncanonical Hierarchs:
The hierarchs should pledge themselves to study and solve t~e
ambiguous status of those bishops who do not stand ID
canonical relationship with the ancient Patriarchates.
8. Chaplaincies:
The chaplaincies in the Armed Forces, Federal and State
Institutions, and other places should he provided with an Inte~·
Jurisdictional Committee to provide for all their needs a?~•
.m
consultation with the bishops, set standards for their act1V1lles
as Orthodox Priests working in close contact with heterodox
ministers and laity.
9. A committee of theologians and administrators should be
formed to study the requirements of the American Church in
clerical training and to set basic standards for pre-ordination
training.
•
10. Standardized Liturgi.cal Texts:
One or more very full committees of theologians, liturgiolists
and philologists should be appointed to provide standard
English translations of the liturgical texts. The committee
should be set up at once, provided with a schedule ~n.d
suggested procedures, and required to report back on specific
dates.
The Word
• with Orthodox Bishops of Amenca
• to PIan the reorganization of the Orthodox Bishops Federation.
Meetmg
February,1976
Page 9
�parishes of the Archdiocese
LIFESTYLES X
ST. ELIJAH CHURCH
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
Homily by Fr. James C. Meena
Th m t profound and probably the most controversial words
in an language are, in my opinion, "I AM". There are few languag • I know of who e verb structure is not cen~re~ around that
tat ment of xi tence. The greatest utterance issmng from the
m uth of G di "I AM". The first words of the Ten Commandments are "I M".
Th' i the mo t important statement that God made of H~lf. It i al the primary statement we must make of ourselves if
we are t find purpo e and meaning for our lives.
Mo
a ked God "who shall I say sent me?", when the Lord
ord red him to Egypt\o demand the freedom of His people. God's
thund ring reply wa , "I AM". (Exodus 3: 14). Jesus, when challenged b the Jew regarding His lineage and descent from
braham an wered without pause, "Before Abraham was, I
AM". ( t. John 8:58).
Identity crises originate with one's inability
Chri tians, we have a heritage.
Our identity is Christ. He is our yesterday,
example and inspiration of our lifestyle.
Whether we were born into a Christian family or converted,
that heritage is there for us to identify with. We have a history.
ur pre ent is shaped by the examples of Christ Who is the center
of our existence. Our future is assured by His promise to all those
who remain steadfast to the end. We have no crisis of identity
because we know . . . we just know even though we cannot
alway explain to everyone's satisfaction ... that we come from a
God-in pired past, we live in a Christ-centered present and we are
proce ing toward the promise of eternal union with God.
But until we develop a keen Christian consciousness, an
awarene of our relationship with God in Christ, a sensitivity to
and appreciation of the potential impact of our ministry upon
other through and as the Church, we cannot fully know our
identity. It is this mature Christian consciousness that compells us
to believe in the existence of God, the divine origin of His commandments, the efficacy of His examples, the logical order of His
rev lation .
This Chri tian consciousness is not achieved by accident, howe er. It require nurture through the disciplines prescribed by the
Church of Christ; prayer, fasting, acts of mercy, corporate and
private worship, repentance, faithful reception of the precious and
life-gi ing My teries of our Lord and pious adherance to the
teaching of our avior as expressed by His Church.
It become reasonable then to say "I AM", for the statement
re ound with imple reason.
We know who we are more and more as we come to undertand who Chri t i . We accept ourselves even more firmly 88 we
come to accept Christ more, for then we learn that He accepts us
as we are and helps us to become better than we are.
If you could be anything or anybody in the world what would
ou ch~~.e? t. Pa~'s ~swe~ to t~at question was simple
enough, I am the chief smner . (I Tim. 1: 15) This venerable
apo tie isn't concerned with being something else. He ecknowledge what he i ... "I AM A I
ER".
Pae 10
Here is where we must begin. We must acknowledge what we
are before we can come to know, truly, what we are to become.
Just 88 St. Paul became greater than he acknowledged himself to
be 80 also can we become more than we are. But not before we
acknowledge and accept ourselves _honest~y and without
recrimination or justifying, can we submit our smful selves to the
Lord Who is our transforming force.
The Fathers of the Church made this their first criterion, to
acknowledge and accept our sinful state and to move on from
there. Having acknowledged our sinfulness, having recognized
and understood that we have reached the nadir of our spirituality,
we can look forward to rising from one plateau to the next by His
grace, finally reaching the apex of spiritual development.
If I could be anything or anyone that I chose to he, I would
choose to be me ... That's all . . . Just me! A better me, to be
to relate to a past, a present
or a future.
our today and our tomorrow.
As
He is the
sure. A holier me! A more loving, compassionate and merciful me.
A me more aware! A me more concerned. But me nonetheless, for
even God in His infinite and eternal wisdom could say nothing
more profound of Himself than, "I AM".
Father Meena is pastor of St. George Church
Cleveland. Ohio.
The Role of The Christian
m
Wife
By Margaret Hanna
Our life as a Christian wife really isn't as complicated as many
believe it to be. Under God's plan, if you carefully think about it,
He has given woman a great honor and that honor is a loving place
along side her husband.
The day that you take your marriage vows, where are you standing? In front of your husband-never.
Behind him-absolutely
not. You are right at his side as God intended for you to be. You
are placed at his side because the two of you are there to share in
whatever happens in your new life together. How can anything be
shared if you are in front of him or behind him? It is impossible.
Each partner gives strength to the other in bringing them through
any trials or tribulations that come up in a marriage. Whenever a
blessing is bestowed upon them by our Heavenly Father, together
the husband and wife share in the joy that completes the picture
God had originally intended for us. Acknowledge your place along
side of your husband and thank God everyday for having been
placed there.
1 Peter 3: 7
The Word
by J.S. (Jabour)
At the beginning of the 20th Century, in 1900, the first three
Orthodoxfamilies who settled in the area of Oklahoma City were
RasheedJabara, Meihle Jabara, and Shaheen Dieghsh (Saied),
11fromJudaidet, Marjayoun, Lebanon. Shortly after, others fol~owed
and the Orthodox community began to grow little by little.
By 1920, the number of Orthodox families that had settled in
OklahomaCity was about thirty.
Prior to 1920, several traveling Orthodox priests including
FatherBasil Kherbaweh would visit the city periodically for Sundayservicesat different homes, but due to the growth of the community,the possibility of having a permanent priest in Oklahoma
Citywas the main topic of discussion.
After World War I, in 1918, a meeting was held by the congregationat the home of Diab Eddie to discuss the possibility of
establishinga permament Orthodox parish in this area. As the
resultof that meeting, a petition was drawn and signed by the
people,with the approval of Bishop Aftemios Ofiesh, Bishop of
Brooklyn,N .Y. at that time, to he sent to His Beatitude, Patriarch
GregoryHaddad of Antioch, asking him to grant them permission
tosendfor Reverend Father Shukrallah Shadid of Judaidet, Marjayoun,Lebanon, to become the permanent priest in Oklahoma
City.
The request was granted and Father Shadid arrived in OklahomaCity on October 5, 1920. He began celebrating the Divine
Liturgyat his home at 1118 N. W. 2nd Street in Oklahoma City
andcontinued conducting services there until 19 31. Due to the increaseof the parishioners in the area, the parish of St. Elijah
Churchdecided to purchase an existing church building. Early in
1931,after looking for some time, they chose a building located at
1920N.W. 30th Street in Oklahoma City. It was a frame structure,about 30 x 40 feet, costing $2,000.00, payable on an installmentplan. The entire note was paid in full on June 10, 1934.
SinceSt. George (Greek) Orthodox Church was already establishedin Oklahoma City, the parish voted to name their Church
"St.Elijah." The church building was remodeled to comply with
theOrthodoxtradition and was dedicated on the Feast of the Elevationof the Cross on September 14, 19 31.
The original Board of Trustees elected by the parish included
~-D.Eddie, F. H. Barkett, Aziz Farha, N. J. Shadid (who was
Le~rordained a priest for St. George at Judaidet,
anon), Sam Kouri, and Saleema Adwon.
Marjayoun,
th On April 2, 1933, Father Shukrallah Shadid was elevated to
He rank of Economos by His Eminence Bishop Emanuel Abo-
atab.
n In November, 1935, a miraculous event occured, resulting in
&eMpaperheadlines. Three nearby neighbors of the church, Mr.
the A. s..Bell and Mrs. G. W. Croskery (living next door. to
F,b
family) were awakened by the tolling of a bell commg
e ruary,1976
~:u
Shadid
from the direction of the church. The church, however, had no
bell. These two families, not members of the parish, were so disturbed that they called Father Shadid to ask him to please not ring
any more bells at night. Two articles appeared in the Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, written by Eugene Dodson, a reporter,
describing this event in detail. These articles, one on November
21, 1935, and one on January 12, 1936, were as follows:
NOVEMBER 21, 1935
OUTSIDERS MAY BE SKEPTICAL,
BUT SOME
MEMBERS OF ST. ELIJAH'S ORTHODOX CHURCH
BELIEVE THEY HAVE RECEIVED A MYSTERIOUS
MESSAGE FROM THEIR PATRON SAINT.
It came in the tolling of bells at the church. And what made
the ghostly phenomenon authentic to the devout members
was the indisputable fact that there are no bells at the
church.
On two separate nights, last Friday and Sunday, the sound
of ringing bells was heard from the church, which has no
steeple and no bell according to the neighbors who are not
members of the church. The church is located at 1920 N.
W. 30th Street.
Details began unfolding Wednesday when H. S. Shadid,
1928 N. W. 27th Street, received a telephone call from A. S.
Bell who lives at 1914 N. W. 30th Street,next door to the
church.
"He asked me if we could stop ringing the bells in the
church after midnight," said Shadid, a son of Very Reverend S. J. Shadid, priest of St. Elijah's Church. "He said
the ringing of the bell kept him and his wife awake and that
it was getting annoying."
"I was surprised. I told him that we did not have a bell in
the church. We never have had a bell and only my Father
and I have church keys. Surely neither of us would go to the
church to ring a bell after midnight."
Mrs. Bell Wednesday said that she and her husband were in
bed last Friday night after midnight when Bell heard the
tolling of a bell.
"It sounded like it was coming from the church and we were
surprised at anyone ringing a bell in the church after midnight," she declared. "It kept up for 30 or 40 minutes."
"Again Sunday night at about the same time, we heard the
bell ring, and it kept up for quite a while. It was bothering
us and I was frightened a little."
"In the morning my husband called Mr. Shadid and asked
him if it would be possible to discontinue ringing the bells at
night."
Page 11
�w r hocked when Mr.
b ll in th church."
ha did said there were no
hadid later took Bell through the church. They found all
wind " locked, nothing misplaced, and no bells anywhere.
Further proof of the mysterious tollings were offered by
Mr . ro ker , who li e at 1912 . W. 30th Street.
"I heard the fir t ound of the bell about 10 p.m. Sunday,"
h de lared. "Later I heard them after midnight. They
am at int rval and I thought it was something in the
hur h."
r. and Mr . Bell and Mrs. Croskery said they had not
h ard the bell ince unday night and had never suspected a
me age from t. Elijah.
Imm diately after taking Bell through the church on the
in pection tour, hadid excitedly talked with other _member of the congregation. All interviewed interpreted it as a
dire t order from the saint of the church.
"We bought the church five years ago," Shadid related.
"We talked then of building a steeple and buying a bell.
Howe er, nothing was done about it."
"But now we believe that Elijah wants us to build the
teeple and put in the bell, and that he sent his message by
tolling of the bell and by having Mr. Bell bring the message
to u ."
"Elijah worked many miracles as you will see by reading I
King , Chapter 17, on through II Kings. It is nothing else
but a modern miracle.
Monday night a few of the members donated to the bell and
teeple fund and we have $32.00."
hadid estimated the new steeple and bell - the answer to
t. Elijah - would cost about $300 or $400.
"We are going to build it," he said. "We have received the
command."
January 12, 1936: DEVOUT HEED CALL OF EERIE
IGHT K ELL
t. Elijah's command is being fulfilled:
Hi devout followers have heeded his word and the symphony of hammers and saws is ringing out at St. Elijah's
Orthodox Church, 1920 . W. 30th Street.
It wa on the night of
ovember 15 that Mr. A. S. Bell,
1914 . W. 30th Street, heard mysterious tollings of a bell
coming from the church. They were a bit surprised and
omewhat annoyed at being disturbed late at night by
ringing bells.
Then again, the night of November 17, they heard the eerie
knell.
That time it kept the baby from going to sleep. On the same
night their neighbor, Mrs. B. W. Croskery, 1912 N. W.
3 th Leet, also heard the bells.
The next day Bell called H. S. Shadid, 1928 N. W. 27th
treet, on of Reverend Shukrallah Shadid, pastor of the
church, and in isted that the bell ringing would have to be
topped.
With great a tonishment, hadid heard the complaints,
then h told Bell that there were no bells in the church. In
fa t, he e orted Bell through the church on an inspection
tour but no bell could be found.
/>age /2
Excitedly,
athering
~roskerys
would be
Shadid told of the strange phenomenon at a
of members of the church. The Bells and
went about their business, h?ping the bell ringing
halted, especially late at mght.
But the ringing of the bells where there were no bells meant
only one thing to the devout members of the church - it
was a message from their patron saint te-lling them to get a
bell and put it in a steeple on the church. They agreed that
the church must have a bell.
Immediately a campaign to raise funds was started and
small contributions began rolling in. Friday, the fund was
swelled to approximately $500.00. Not just from church
members here in Oklahoma City, but contributions came
also from New York, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Canada, and
from several churches of the denomination throughout the
state.
The bell is a magnificent silver in color, with a giant
clapper, and looking capable of ringing a clear toll of St.
Elijah in the skies.
Workmen have the steeple half completed and are keeping
right at it. In another week, St. Elijah can rest assured that
his devout followers have done their duty, for then the bell
will be in the steeple.
"We are very happy about it," said Shadid. "We had been
intending to get a bell for five years, but hadn't got around
to it until we got the command." Special dedication services
will be held within the next two weeks.
Hereafter, when neighbors hear a bell tolling in St. Elijah
Church, they will know it is the real stuff, metal against
metal.
Because of the bell incident, the parish had become very
concerned about their church and were ready to fulfill the call.
Immediately a fund was raised, a bell purchased and placed in a
steeple on the roof of the church on 30th Street. Father Shadid
continued to faithfully serve the parish of Oklahoma City until his
death on April 4, 1938.
Reverend Father George Massad was appointed by
Metropolitan Antony Bashir of North America to succeed Father
Shadid as the priest of St. Elijah Church early in 193 7. He had
been ordained in St. George Church, Wichita, Kansas, on Nov·
ember 8, 1936, by His Eminence, Theodosius Abourjaly, Bishop
of Marjayoun, Lebanon (visiting the United States and who later
became Patriarch of Antioch), assisted by Father Seraphim
Nassar of Springfield, Illinois.
Father Massad conducted services in two languages, English•
and Arabic, until 194 7. The members of the church were corn·
posed mainly of the older Arabic-speaking generation although
their children spoke English also. In order to increase the
membership and for the benefit of the younger generation, a group
of enthusiastic young people headed by J. S. (Jabour) Shadid
became interested in organizing a Church Choir. After a short
time of practicing, the new Choir participated in the Divine•
Liturgy with responses sung entirely in English. After this first
service, the congregation became so inspired that they raised $400
within an hour with which to purchase robes for the Choir
members.
After the end of World War II, the parish continued to grow,
especially with the men who had been in the Service returning to
their homes and families. Because of this sudden growth of the
parish, the building on N. W. 30th Street became too small. The
members therefore thought of building a larger structure. To
study this possibility and to raise funds for this purpose, a coJJI·
mittee consisting of five of the parish leaders was chosen: B. D,
Eddie, F. H. Barkett, H. S. Shadid, Zeak Naifeh, and Fred
The Word
This committee became the first Building Committee.
Monsour,
to raise money and to encourage more people to take
der
In. orthe
church program, t h e B u ild.mg C ommittee traveled
part in
to town, city to city, within three different states
• m1ss1on
• • was most successful'
frorn.htown Texas and K ansas. Th eir
Oklatia~oal was accomplished. The Building Committee had
and t Jirenough funds to build a large, well-equipped church
sec;~? with a recreation hall. The prize silver-colored bell was
bu
om the old building and installed on the roof of the new
move er The debt of $115,000 was paid in full upon completion
structur
• N. W. 17th S treet an d p ennsy lvama• was purchased •
h se on
A ou as a Parish House by the Eddie Family, in memory of the
for
:, an d d onat10ns
•
lateuse
KamilEddie. Ot h er numerous guts
were given
by members of the church.
:f
Thefirst Divine Liturgy in the new building was celebrated on
E ter Sunday in the spring of 1949. The dedication of the new
:~ch by Their Eminences Metropolitan Antony Bashir and
~chbishop Samuel David was held ?n the Sunday of the Feast of
th Cross,September 14, 1949. This was the same date the first
ch~ch had been dedicated eighteen years before.
Several auxilliary organizations were begun: the Sunday
School,SOYO (Syrian Orthodox Youth Organization), Junior
Guild; and the Ladies' Aid Society was continued from the
originalchurch. The Board of Trustee , originally composed of
sevenmembers, was increased to twelve in 1952.
Father George Massad served the t. Elijah Parish from 1937
to hisretirement in 1954. He wa ucceeded by Reverend Father
MichaelWelborn. During the next five year , the Choir, under the
directionof Eddie J abara and Mickey Wehba, became famous for
winningthe Choir contests in the outhwe tern SOYO Region
competitionsfor four succe sive time and was, upon the fourth
victory,permitted to retain the coveted trophy permanently. The
SundaySchool, SOYO and other organizations were also functioningmost succe sfully. After five year of service, Father
MichaelWelborn was tran £erred to the parish of St. Michael
OrthodoxChurch in Beaumont, Texa . Father George Massad
wasrecalled and after two month of rvice a parish priest, he
waselevatedto Exarch during the t. Elijah Anniversary Banquet
by Metropolitan Antony Ba hir.
In 1960, Reverend Father Gregory Ofiesh, newly ordained
fromPennsylvania, was a signed to t. Elijah's to be their priest.
Duringhis tenure, another pari h hou e was purchased on 17th
Street.The Pledge Envelope y tern was inaugurated and is still
in use. After serving the Oklahoma City Parish for almost five
years,Father Gregory was transferred to St. Nicholas Orthodox
Churchin San Francisco, California, in 1964.
At the same time, Father Elia G. Karim, who had served the
parishof St. Nicholas in San Francisco, California, for twelve
yea~s~?d who was known there for the many successful programs
he_m1tiated, was appointed by Metropolitan Bashir to be the
pnestof St. Elijah Orthodox Church. Father Karim was elevated
to therank of Archpriest by His Eminence in Oklahoma City on
December6, 1954.
SinceFather Karim's arrival a great many accomplishments
havetaken place.
St Elijah Church has been placed before the public via
newspaperarticles, radio, television, and through many public
appearances.
F More than 400 Icon exhibits and lectures have been given by
Aftber Karim to outside organizations within the Oklahoma area.
f so, the property around the church has been purchased for
E~~?-1'e
expansion. Now, with the exception of only four houses, St.
i )Jab owns the entire block. Many of the necessary religious
~ttbms
Such as the Chalice Set, processional lanterns, crosses, fans,
e ruary, 1976
;:::r
cens~_s, and icons have been donated to enhance the beauty of the
Pro~~ss has continued in all aspects of the church life,
f
f ~provision of the infant's nursery to the active participamn .0 t e members of the Parish Council. The Adult Liturgical
~ho": has won several trophys. The new All-girls Concert Choir
as ?i~en ~m~erous concerts in addition to their continued active
parti.cipation m the Divine Services. The Church Chanters have
c~ntmued to ~erve steadfastly, following the traditions set forth by
t ree most faithful ones of the early Oklahoma City parish: H. S.
(Hafeeth) Shadid, L. S. (Lamy) Shadid, S. E. (Said) Samara. All
have recently passed on to their reward.
B_eginningin the early part of 1965, many serious debates and
meet~ngs were held regarding possible improvement and expansion of the facilities. Some members were in favor of a clean
swee~, new location and new buildings, others felt we should
remam at 16th and Pennsylvania and build the much needed
a_dditions.The tabulations from four valid parish meetings over a
six-year period indicated the voice of the people (by better than
2 I 3 majority) favored expansion of the present location.
A program of doing the building and reconstruction in four
stages has been adopted by the parish members. Phase one 1 the
building of an Educational and Social Center is now under construction and should be completed soon. In addition to the central
fellowship hall which will be large enough to accommodate 450
people being served banquet style, there will be fourteen classrooms, kitchen facilities, offices, and reception rooms.
Phase two will see the construction of a covered walkway between the new Educational and Social Center and the church
'building, enclosing a beautifully landscaped promenade. Phase
three will be the enlargement of the church building to allow the
seating of an additional 150 people. Phase four will be the
removal of all the other buildings now on church property to make
room for additional parking area. All of this for the greater glory
of God and Holy Orthodoxy.
The Tree of Life
By Margaret Hanna
This will be an analogy of our life with our Blessed Saviour, Jesus.
The tree of life has its beginnings with the root of Jesse, from
which was born our Blessed Saviour, Jesus. His life was given in
order that we might be saved from sin and have life forever.
Isaiah 11: 1
The roots of a tree, as you know, go deep into the earth and there
they receive nourishment from God which enables the tree to bear
branches - from the branches, leaves begin to sprout, quickly
followed by the blossoms and then the fruit.
Our Beloved Saviour, Jesus is the root which is also His Church.
The branches are His Apostles with their writings from the Holy
Scriptures. The leaves and blossems are His faithful followers and
the fruit is the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must continually use this
nourishment that comes from the main part of the tree, else we
shall all die.
For your edification, read:
Proverbs 3: 18, Proverbs
Revelation 22: 2 & 14
Romans 11: 16
Galatians 5: 22 & 23
John 4:36
Psalm 132: 11
Philippians 1: 11
11: 30
Pal{e 13
�Archdiocesan
MetropolitanHosts Seminarians
Office
Jan nary 1, 1975 through January 1, 1976
ClergyTransfers
& Sabbaticals
Theodor Micka from Church of the Redeemer in Los
RtAl.
Rev. CA for advanced studies at Holy Cross Theological
tos,
S hoolin Brookline, MA
c J hn Ocana from assistant pastorate at St. Nicholas in
Re;~ ;rancisco, CA to the pastorate at Holy Redeemer in Los
A pictorial review of the Seminarian Dinner hosted by
Metropolitan Philip.
Recently 18 young men were hosted at a dinner gathering at the
Archdiocesan Headquarters by His Eminence, Metropolitan
Philip. This has come to be an annual event that the seminarians
anticipate with great joy.
After greeting His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip, and His
Grace, Bishop Elia, and receiving their blessing, a Vesper service
was celebrated in the Chapel of St. John Chrysostom. The seminarians from St. Vladimir's Seminary in New York and Holy
Cross Theological School in Brookline, Mass., chanted the hymns
and sang the responses. After the service, all partook of a most
enjoyable meal.
Later in the evening an informative and inspiring discussion on
the priesthood was led by Father Joseph Allen of Bergenfield,
New Jersey. Metropolitan Philip, Bishop Elia, Father Antoun
Khouri, and Father George S. Corey of Pittsburgh, shared their
pastoral experiences with the seminarians. The students -then
responded with comments and questions. It was an exciting
evening, filled with the brotherly love and the Christian together•
ness that will hopefully continue in the years to come.
The seminarians thank His Eminence for his constant concern
for their welfare.
-Seminarian George Romley
"When Things Were Different"
The following EDITORIAL NOTES are by Archpriest
Michael G.H. Gelsinger and are taken from "The Orthodox
American", March 1942. Things were, indeed, different in those
days, and we can certainly rejoice in the great strides that have
been taken in Theological training since that time. We believe this
hort note will be interesting to our readers.
How hall we keep up the supply of priests? Priests become
di abled, they grow old, and they die. Where are we to find
ucce sor ?
The an wer to this question is, that the parishes themselves
mu t awake to the need for priests. No parish deserves to have a
prie t to erve it unless it is willing to supply another priest from
Our task is not to persuade men to become priests, but rather
to make sure that every man will earnestly examine himself and
decide whether or not he is drawn to the work.
The first thing to do is to encourage every Orthodox boy who
does well in school to go to college. In college he should obtain
thoroughltraininginGreek and Latin, in addition to whatever other
studies he may take in preparation for one of the learned
professions. Then after taking his degree, if he decides for the
Priesthood, he can be trained for it under the guidance of the
Bishop. Of if his decision is reached early enough, some of the
training needed to fit him for the Priesthood can be acquired
during his undergraduate years. And professional training for
Teaching, Medicine, Law, Architecture, or Engineering will add
Our ta k i . not _to persuade men to become priests, but rather to make sure that every man will
arne ti examme himself and decide whether or not he is drawn to the work.
th rank of its own young men. And parishes ought to be held in
h nor according to the number of young men each supplies to the
Pri thood.
Yet no young man ought to be pledged to the Priesthood. The
ne d for prie ts mu the brought frequently to the attention of our
ung men and they hould be pressed insistently to consider the
Prie thood a a life work, hut every man who is ordained must be
c rtain in hi own heart that he is called by God to give his life to
th
hurch, and even at the last moment he should withdraw if
rtaint fail him.
Page 11-
to his usefulness as a priest.
. This is a practical program for supplying the Church with the
priests we.need so badly. It can succeed if, in every parish, every
hoy who 1s at all likely to enter the Priesthood can have all the
fina~c.ial ?elp need~d to enable him to secure a college education,
Famihes m good circumstances must provide the money needed
by boys whose families are less fortunate. If we make this program
succe_edwe shall have priests who could support themselves while
workmg as missionaries in areas where our people are too few in
numbers to support a priest.
The Word
CA Alberts from t h e assistant
•
RAltos,
G orge
pastorate at St. N.1ch olas
~;th:dral in Los Angeles, CA to the pastorate at Saint Nicholas
in Grand Rapids, MI
R Louis Mahshie from the pastorate at St. George in
eWashington,DC for sabbatical leave
V Rev. Antony Gabriel from the pastorate at St. George in Oak
'Park ILL to the pastorate at St. George in Washington, DC
R v J~hnTownsend from the pastorate at St. Elias in Atlanta,
to the Orthodox Cam pus Mission in Decatur, GA
Rev.Paul Doyle to the pastorate at St. Elias in Atlanta, GA
Rev. Athanasios Emmert from the pastorate at. St. Mary in
Cambridge, MA to the pastorate at St. George m Oak Park,
Received
into the Archdiocese
Rev. _John Sakkab from the Archdiocese of Beirut, temporarily
assigned to the assistant pastorate at St. George in Detroit, MI
Released
from the Archdiocese
Rev. Andrew Lindsay former pastor at St. Nicholas in Grand
Rapids, MI
Rev. Vitaly Bahanovich former assistant pastor at St. George in
Detroit, MI
Rev. Francis Forbes former pastor at Church of the Redeemer in
Antioch, TENN
Rev. John Espisito former pastor at Holy Wisdom in Mount
Vernon, NY
GA
New Mission Parish
ILL
New Churches Consecrated
Rev.David Buss from the pastorate at St. George in Portland,
OR to the pastorate at St. Mary in Cambridge, MA for advancedstudies at Holy Cross Theological School in Brookline,
MA
Rev. Stephen Graham from the pa torate at St. Michael in
BeaumontTX to the pastorate at t. Elias in Austin, TX
Rev.Oleg Olas to the pastorate at t. Michael in Beaumont, TX
Rev.Anthony Scott to the pa torate at t. George in Portland,
OR
Clergy Retired
V.Rev. James Hottle from the pa torate at St. Elias in Austin,
TX
Clergy Deceased
V.Rev.Gabriel Salhany in Grand Rapids, Ml. on June 3, 1975
Ordinations
DeaconMichael Courey to the Holy Priesthood for the assistant
pastorate at St. George in Cleveland, Ohio
Dem~triKhoury to the Holy Diaconate and Priesthood for the
assi~tantpastorate at St. George in Boston, MA while completmgstudies at Holy Cross Theological School in Brookline,
MA
Joi~ Reed to the Holy Diaconate for St. Michael in Beaumont,
JosephS~ahda to the Holy Diaconate for St. Mary in Johnstow?,
PJA
while completing studies at Christ the Saviour Seminary m
ohnstown, p A
OlafScott to the Holy Diaconate for St. George in Paterson, NJ
hil_e completing studies at St. Vladimir's Theological
Eli:mm~y in CrestwC?Qd,NY
~ Bitar to the Holy Diaconate and Priesthood for the
~fstant pastorate at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Los Angeles,
5
February,1976
of the Archdiocese
Orthodox Mission of the Annunciation in West Hempstead, L.I.,
NY under the direction of Rev. Richard Tinker.
St. George in Little Falls, NJ (formerly in Paterson, NJ); V. Rev.
Michael Simon, Pastor
St Michael in Greensburg, PA; Rev. George M. Corry, Pastor
Clergy Elevations
Rev. Paul Nemr, pastor of St. George in Wichita, KA to Archpriest
Rev. Basil Kalekas, pastor of St. George in Flint, MI to Archpriest
Rev. Michael Buben, pastor of St. George in Lawrence, MA to
Archpriest
Recipient
of the Antonian Medal
(Silver Medal) Falls, NJ
Mr. Geor~e Karram of St. George in Little
Clergy Census
Active:
1 Protosynkellos
10 Archimandrites
1 Economos
29 Archpriests
72 Priests
10 Deacons
On Leave:
1 Archimandrite
1 Archpriest
5 Priests
Community
Parishes 93
Retired:
1 Archimandrite
4 Archpriests
1 Priest
Other: •
1 Archimandrite
1 Archpriest
6 priests
Census
Missions 11
Theological Students
1975-76 Academic Year
18 students at 4 Theological Seminaries
Page 15
�DIALOGUE •
Communities In Action
• •
St. Michael of Gr ensburg
ppINESS- that is what pre ailed during our Dedication
HAh
questions to father buben
Que tion: "Be ide the apocryphal books that are generally
named. were there many other such books written during the
ew Te lament era?" - teacher
Question: "I've noticed that generally on Orthodox lkons, the
haloes usually come round to shoulder level, while Western
haloes seem to begin and round out about ear-level ..... ls there
any signifiance to this? - Jihad Hajjar
An wer: J .A. Porfireff lists the following in his Apocryphal
Bibliograph : l) the First Gospel of James 2) Thomas Gospel 3)
o pel of the Birth of Mary 4) History of Joseph the Carpenter 5)
Arabi Go pel of the Childhood 6) Gospel of Nicodimus 7) The
pi tie of Pontiu Pilate 8) The Accusation of The Saviour 9)
Go pel for Egyptian 10) The Eternal Gospel 11) Gospel of
p le 12) Go pel of the Twelve Apostles 13) Barnabas Gospel
14) Barthalomew Gospel 15) Vasilida Gospel 16) Korinpha
Go pel l "") Go pel Evione 18) Gospel of Eve 19) Gospel to
Hebrew 20 I Go pel of James the Elder; and 23 others.
Answer: You are very observant. There have been many schools
and periods of iconography. I do not know why the difference in
haloes except that at one time, the West attempted to eliminate
Eastern· icons altogether. Be happy in our day that the opposite is ,
now true. As the West learns the reasons and ways of drawing
Orthodox icons, they are now in love with them and using them
without adding to or subtracting from Orthodox formula.
Please sent questions & comments to:
The V. Rev. Michael Buben
103 Pleasant Street
Methuen, Ma. 01844
Que tion: "Billy Graham in his bestseller, Angels, God's Secret
Agents (Doubleday). writes that the only Archangel, beside
the f alien Lucifer, is Michael. It seems to me, that several
prayer point to Archangels in the plural. What do you think?
- M. Haykal
An wer: nfortunately Billy Graham limits his sources. Both
Roman Catholic and Orthodox interpretations of Scripture and
Tradition point out that at least three Archangels are known by
name. They are Michael, Who is Like God; Gabriel, the Strength
f God; and Raphael, the Medicine of God.
Countle volumes about angels have been written by the Holy
Father and Doctors of the Church. If Billy Graham had search d with an extra added effort, he might have come forth with a
book of much more substance apart from his King James version
f the Bible. However, I think his book is excellent for our day,
b cau of the wide publicity it will receive on a most important
but neglected piritual matter.
There are nine orders of angels; but the chief messengers are
call_edarchangel . The word angel refers to their office, not to
th ir own nature. These spirits of heaven are always spirits, but
are called angel when they were sent on specific duties. "Who
make Hi pirits angels (Psalm ciii, 4).
For the mo t important duty of hailing Mary and instructing
her, non but an Archangel was sent: the Archangel Gabriel. The
~ almi t ang of him: "Lift up ye gates O ye princes, and be ye
lifted up,
eternal gates; and the King of Glory shall enter in
... 23, -8.
The Archangel Raphael, the Medicine of God, e.g. annointed
the e e of Tobia and wiped away the darkness of his blindness
(Toh .. 11, 15 ). Only an archangel could have been sent for this
mo t important ta k.
Each of the nine orders of angels have a particular office. Even
in th Bible alone they are listed in the plural: Angels Archangel , irtue Power , Principalities, Dominations Thr~nes
herubim and eraphim.
'
'
Pa e 16
our long awaited dream of having a new house of
Weekw en
.
h' was realized.
worsipd October 5, 1975 initiated the big week with church
Sun day,lectures to acquamt
• peop le of ot h er fa1t
• h s wtt• h our
tours:~ ilding and some facets of Orthodoxy. Invitations were
churc :Orty-nine local churche and ynagogues inviting the
sentto abbis and congregation to the tours and lectures. Our
r
'
Pastors,
'd tpriest Father George Corry, pre ented the lectures on the
resi
en
'
• h u h er too k th e guests on a
H I I ons and Orthodoxy a fter w h 1c
0
y fcthenew church complex. The Ladie Guild served refreshtouro
. h
• l h II
mentsas the finale msdt e oc1a a b. k'
Monday and Tue ay we pent a mg, cooking, cleaning,
decorating,and enjoying our new quarters.
Wednesdayand Thursday pro d t be extremely busy, long,
d fruitfuldays for our La die Guild. It wa a two day dedication
;:r featuring a luncheon, a bak . al , a whit . I_pha~t sale, a
ersonalhandicraft booth, and a Jewelr and rehg1ous item sale.
burladies are to be commended for the excellent work and
cooperationinvolved in the long two da project.
The Parish Council, their p u . and our prie t Father
Georgehad an enjoyable and rela in dinn r on Friday at THE
INN AMERICA with our d Ii htful gu
, Hi Eminence,
MetropolitanPhilip, Father Ant un Kh uri, Father George R.
Georgeand his wife Ad le, f B t n, Ma ., Father John
Matthiesenof Wichita, Kan a , Fath r J hn Chromiak and his
w_ife Jea~ of Bridgeport, Conn., Mr. Michel Kafoure of lndiana~olis, Ind.,_ and Miss Priscilla Dehan of Boston, Mass. We
all enJoyed the mformal atmosphere that prevailed.
Dr. and Mrs. Ledware Anton were co-chairmen of the dinner
nd the Teenage SOYO luncheon which followed on Saturday.
ur_ teenagers were so honored to have luncheon with His
Emmence -and they are not telling what they discussed.
~aturday evening we all attended Vesper services with His
Emme~ce, Metropolitan Philip, Fathers Antoun Khouri, John
C~rom1ak,_ ~ohn Matthiesen, George S. Corey of Pittsburgh,
Michael Kmlloff of Bridgeville, George R. George, Alex Curry of
Johnstown, Paul Saliba of New Kensington, Deacon Olof Scott of
Yonkers, N.Y., Deacon Joseph Shahda of Johnstown and the
host priest, Father George were in attendance. Both De~con Olof
and Deacon Joseph are former members of this parish.
The sermon was delivered by our former priest, Rt. Rev. John
Matthiesen and it was well received and meaningful. After
Vespers, the clergy and parishioners proceeded to the social hall
where a delicious luncheon and a social hour was enjoyed by all.
The co-chairmen for this luncheon were Mrs. Evelyn Koury and
Mrs. Helen Joseph.
Sunday - October 12, 1975 - Dedication Day dawned
beautifully. Truly, we felt "This Is The Day Created By The Lord
Our God". From our Sunday School children to our chartered
elders you could see and feel the joy and pride in everyone. To
witness the dedication of a new church is a memorable occasion,
for there is much that occurs only during that special once-in-a-
0
The Word
official publication of
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate
published monthly except July and August by the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Founded in Arabic as AL KALIMAT, January 1905,
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as THE WORD, January 1957,
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Associate Editors:
The Very Rev. George S. Corey
The Rev. Fr. Joseph Allen
Editorial Board :
Archimandrite Antoun Khouri; Archpriests Stephen Upson,
J_amesC. Meena, John Estephan, Michael Buben; Priests Gera·
s1mos Mm:i>~Y, James Kenna; Dr. John Boojamra, Dr. John
Dalack, Wilham Essey, Raymond George, Ronald Nicola, Kathy
Meyer and the Public Relations officers of the NAC Antiochian
Women, Senior SOYO and Teen SOYO.
~
In!
Editorial Office:
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
,~ J
,v,
-~\
J/!,~sew3RD, published monthly except July and August, by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Arch·
0
Pittsbur h p ~ ~~-ri~-at _P,1tsburgh, Pennsylvania. Business office, 377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135.
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The Word
~
February,1976
Page 17
�lif tun , rvi
f
r h building. Thankfully, our prieSt had
taught and prepar
for thi
rvice, and therefore _we und
•
fall that to k place in our overflo~ng new
h
thodox tradition dictates that JUSt as a
b
the Faith fore er, o i a consecrated church
d
Hi Eminence delivered an inspiring sermon
a
pride in the fa t that a mall parish could ace
~ of Wa hington, D.C. rendered the ComThe choir wa under the direction of Mrs.
~ •
·ou day. Following liturgy, the choir
d
the ocial hall.
Banquet, held at the picturesque Lak~view
attend d. Gue ts included the aforementioned
,. i e · al o Archdiocese Board of Trustees
bert Laham and Dr. John Dalack and their
The \ le ming peech wa given by George S. Koury who is
pr ident f the church Parish Council and also a member of the
Ar hdio e Board of Tru tee . erving as toastmaster was John
R. Man our. with Mr . Dolore Albert serving as the capable
chairman f th banquet.
n in piring reading wa given by Ladies Guild President
E elvn R. Kour after which the ladies of the Guild went thru the
ro ~ Ii hting andle at each table. A standing ovation followed
in honor and tribute to tho e hardworking and dedicated women
who in reality are the pillars of the church.
unique twenty year history of the church from its' humble
and mall beginning to the present was given by Dr. Alex
unko i h with the church choir rendering appropriate selections
in the ba kground under the able direction of Miss Helen
~pano ich.
mmemorating our nation's bicentennial, the floral and table
de oration were carried out in the red, white, and blue theme.
Father John Chromiak, who served this parish the longest,
poke on behaU of hunself and all our former priests.
Gifts. which were but a small token of our love, appreciation,
and e teem. were presented to our priest, Father George Corry.
ot enough can be written about what this dedicated priest has
done toward the building of our new church.
Two Archdiocese Meritorious Awards were presented by His
Eminence; the first posthumously, to Zack Halaut, with his
\\idow. Alberta, graciously accepting this honored award on
behalf of herself and family. Zack was our first board president
and worked diligently to get us started. He is sadly missed. The
cond de erving recipient was our present president, George S.
K ury. He. like Father George, must know of every brick, nail
and tinie t detail in our church building, for they were conientiou ly on the building site daily. Our church was and is
certainly ble ed in having these men.
The main addre was delivered by His Eminence and was
enthusia tically received by all those in attendance. His Eminence
truly delivered a stirring message on Orthodox parish life, the aims
of the Archdioce e, and touched all of us when he closed with the
reading of the moving poem, "The Little Church Around The
Comer", written by our late parishioner, Mrs. Selma George.
Icon , prepared by two parishioners, Ronald Joseph and
Harold Craig, were pre ented to His Eminence as a remembrance
of thi hi Lorie occa ion for Greensburg.
Entertainment for the Hafli was provided by Eugene Slyman,
Fr d Ha an, and David Farrah with James Albert and Henry
Jo ph rving a co-chairmen.
Fa th r George M. Corry served as honorary chairman and
Pr ident George . Koury and Mrs. Delores L. Albert served as
c chairm n of Dedication Week. It was a week that we of St.
Michael' will alway remember with love, faith, and gratitude to
God, Hi Eminence, Father George, the clergy, our parishioners,
and all ur w nderful gue ts; we will continually pray that God's
bl
will alway hine on our new St. Michael's and its'
d
p ople.
-Mrs. Ruth A. Solomon
Pae 18
St. Michael of Louisville
St. George of Oeveland
It was with great honor and thanksgivin~ t~at the parishioners
and friends of St. Michael Church ~f Lomsv1lle commemorated
their patron saint during the St. M1ch~el Fe~st Day weekend.
After hosting the Archdiocese Convent1~n. ~his summer, which
proved to be historic, in as much as ~h~ d1v1s1onbeh;een the two
archdioceses was erased, we of Lomsvdle, felt the first Patron's
Saint commemoration since the great reunion would be in.
complete without the presence of Metropolitan Philip and Ar.
chbishop Michael. Thus, on the invitation of Metro~olitan Philip,
both he and Archbishop Michael started the glorious weekend
with the traditional Kiss of Peace on Friday, November 7, 1975,
1
d
November 23, 1975, the t. George Church of
On Sun abhio celebrated
its ~~th
Anniversary
and
CJevelan?•. Banquet with the over-ndmg theme, put forth in
Thanksgiv~gthe Very Reverend Jame C. Meena - "One God,
thisphrase f,
OneDioceseJ• es of course was referring to the Unity Vesper
Father am
After dinner at the Holiday Inn, the Pastor and Parish Council
met with the hierarchs with constructive views presented for the
future of St. Michael. On Saturday night the Grand Hafli opened
the social activities. All in attendance enjoyed the mezza prepared
by the faithful ladies. On Sunday the most beautiful Hierarchical
Divine Liturgy was concelebrated by Metropolitan Philip and
Archbishop Michael. This concelebration marked a first in the
Hierarchs meet with Louisville Pastor and Parish Council,
history of the Antiochian Orthodox Church of North America.
Assisting were Rt. Rev. Antoun Khouri, Metropolitan Philip's
secretary; Rev. Gregory Wingenbach, pastor of the Assumption
Greek Orthodox Church; and our own Rev. Antony M.
Beauchamp. The Grand Banquet was prepared by the Ladies of
St. Michael and served by the Parish Council members. At this
time both Metropolitan Philip and Archbishop Michael were
presented with a professional drawing of St. Michael Church.
Father Antony, our pastor, called upon Mr. Lee Farah, Chairman
of the Council, and Mr. Anthony Thomas, member of the Ar·
chdiocese Board of Trustees to make the presentations.
The addresses by all speakers were thoroughly enjoyed, for
each speaker projected the theme on the merger and the
satisfaction either side had in giving and taking in attaining this
long desired and needed unselfish goal-we
TWO are ONE.
Metropolitan Philip also stressed the dire need of all the poor
in Lebanon and the drive to channel all proceeds through the
Archdiocese.
Then, the highlight of the weekend - The Auction of the
Roses. This year, as in the past, proved the love and unity of the
parishioners of St. Michael. The donations 1 both individual and
orga~izational, exceeded $117,000. May God bless and give
contmued strength and health to this small but mighty parish.
On completion of the Hafli, this most dynamic and historic
weekend closed with gratitude for many blessings.
The Word
Archbishop Michael Preaching
in Cleveland.
Liturgywhich took place on the eve of Thursday, November 20,
atSt.George Church, celebrating the long awaited merger of the
twoAntiochian jurisdictions in orth America.
_BothTheir Eminences Metropolitan Philip and Archbishop
Mic~aelofficiated at the Liturgy. Also participating were approXImately
twenty visiting priests.
The Thanksgiving Banquet actually culminated a long weekendof ~espers, Liturgies, meetings and festivities which not only
sawumty celebrations but also witnessed the following:
a) The announcement of the creation of several Deaneries
t
hmughoutNorth America, by Metropolitan Philip appointing
Father James to head the Ohio Deanery. This Deanery serves the
sevenchurches throughout the state of Ohio.
b) Sunday morning the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy including
h e evation
tel
• to the Priesthood
'
of Father Michael Kareem Courey.
c) Two prominent events planned especially for the week-end,
tre, !he Gala Hafli Saturd;y evening, in the Mid-East tradition,
eat~nng Arabic foods singing dancing and Arabic En~rtam_ment.Plus, on Sunday
'
'
evening prior to the Banquet, 8
;~eption was held in honor of the newly ordained prie st , Fr.
ichaelKareem Courey.
-Emilie Easa
February,1976
Father Michael Kareem Courey
On November
23, 1975
Father Michael K. Courey wa~
elevated to a very special kind of
life, walking in the footsteps of
those who for almost two thousand
years, have been ordained to this
special life of humility, devotion
and love.
Those who know Fr. Michael
will tell you that compassion and
kindness have been his way of life
- long before his ordination as a
Deacon on September 27, 1970,
at St. Elijah Church in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma. For the past 5
years, his Sundays have been
spent in serving as Deacon of St.
George Church of Cleveland. He served for four years as Advisor
and Trainer with the "Narcotic Education Institute Inc.", a
national organization based in Cleveland. The Cleveland office
was responsible for the training of enforcement and counseling
officials for a national program. Thus he was nick-named "Slum
Priest", while a movie by the same title may easily have been
based upon his experiences, since his work took him into the slums
of Cleveland where he sought out the alcoholics, the addicts and
the helpless of the deprived areas and worked to help rehabilitate
them and bring them out of the depths of their own private hell.
Now as a newly elevated priest, he will have the title of
"Worker-supply Priest". In this capacity he will remain as a part
time staff member of St. George Church and he will be on call to
Orthodox Churches in Ohio, who may need an emergency or
replacement priest, at the direction of Metropolitan Philip Saliba
or his Pastor, Father James Meena.
Fr. Michael comes from a family of men whose mission on
earth seems to have been to preach the Gospel. As a matter-of-fact
the name "Courey" means "Priest" in Arabic, and denotes that
the family name was originally derived from the fact, that at one
time the head of the family clan was "the Priest". His cousin,
Archbishop Alexis Abdul-Kareem, is the Metropolitan of Homs,
Syria. His nephew is the Very Reverend Elias G. Karim of
Oklahoma City, who was also his sponsor in the elevation
ceremonies. And his oldest sister, the widow of a priest, was
married to a cousin.
Father Michael was born in Cleveland on March 4, 1924 to
Kareem Nassif Courey and Lucia Bedoway, who emigrated to the
United States in 1913 from Beirut, Lebanon. He was the youngest
of eleven children. Besides Fr. Michael, Kareem and Lucia
Courey are survived by five other children: Khouri~a Edna
Karim (who was married to the late Fr. George Karim), Mrs.
Gazale Courey, Gabriel Courey, Naissel Courey, and Mrs. Robert
(Mary) Cheese.
-Emilie Easa
The Right To Life
By Margaret Hanna
.
. .
The right to life is 8 God-given gift. No man can take hfe or give 1t
except God.
.
.
Th human life is as precious as the arr we breathe and the water
we ~rink. Not only are these lives an investment in our future but
the happiness they create in the lives_ofme~ and wo~en who have
ed with children of their own 1ssomethmg to behold.
not b een bless
h
1·t if
b •
God had carefully worked out a plan for uman 1 e, we ut Ju.st
ask for His help and guidance. His answers, you can be sure, will
benefit all of mankind.
Genesis 2: 27
Exodus 20: 13
Hebrews 9: 27
Page 19
�American Council
North
SOYO
Digest
Message Delivered by
Father James C. Meena
News and Views ...
at the Cleveland Unity Dinner
Ladies and Gentlemen: I would like to propose a t~ast, at this time. I_toast th_e_Unity of the ~ntiohian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese and to our Hierarchs Metropolitan Phihp and Archbishop
Michael: May God grant them many years.
At the conference of the annual Archdiocese convention of what wa_sforme_r!y known as the New
y ork Archdiocese, at the meeting of the clergy, His Eminence Metropolitan Phihp announced th_athe
and Archbishop Michael Shaheen and the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees had agreed on the U ~ity of
the Archdiocese. I was so overwhelmed and overjoyed by that announcement, that I stood UJ? m my
unusually emotional fashion and I made the statemen_t that I was so happy ~hat I wanted to drmk and
dance and I invited everybody to Cleveland for a U mty party, once the U mty had been blessed by the
Holy Synod of Antioch. When we received word that that blessing had come, we had to keep our
promi e, so I went to the bank to borrow s?me monef so I coul~ h~~t the party, and they told m~ my
credit was no good. So I turned to my Pansh Council, and I said, I am m trouble, I have to give a
party." The folks on the Parish Council agreed that they would like to have this party, and so here we
are and I want to welcome you also.
I am not going to allow myself to get emotional tonight, but I know that those of you who are
members of my generation or who may be older than I am and who have grown up with the problem of
the fragmentation of our Church in North America, must be feeling the same joy that I feel at this time.
On behalf of all the members of my generation, priests and laymen alike, but most especially on behalf of
ur children and of their children who are not yet born, I extend my thanks to our Hierarchs,
Metropolitan Philip and Archbishop Michael for listening to the call of the Holy Spirit and healing the
wound of the Church.
In 1937, the first Archdiocesean Conference was held here in Cleveland. That was a historical day.
Tonight ov. 20, the Eve of the Presentation of Our Lady, in the year 1975, another historical day has.
b en e tablished, not only in the life of the Parish of Cleveland, but in the life of the Antiochian Or·
th dox of orth America and hopefully a landmark of Unity for the Orthodox Church throughout this
Contin nt. If my father and his generation were here they would applaud these two noble clergymen and
th ir la -leaders and their priests who have made this possible. So in behalf of that generation of priests
and la -people, your fathers and mothers and mine who are with us, I also extend my thanks and theirs.
w let bury the past. The past is dead. The present is ours. The future belongs to our children,
1.t make that future a noble one, and let us continue from this time on to be the example, the shining
hght f O~th doxy _aswe have been in the pas~, so may it always be in the years to come. May God bless
P htan Ph1hp. May God bless Archbishop Michael. May God bless all the priests of this One
nti hian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese and all her people.
Pag 20
The Word
The Academy of Saint Basil functions primarily as a
residential school for children from Greek-American families. In
addition to hosting the Campus Commission and Concern
magazine, St. Basil's also contains the newly-established Convent
of Saint Iakovos, together with the recently remodeled "Patriarch
Athenagoras Spiritual Center" with retreat facilities for 45 people.
All future correspondence should be addressed to
Orthodox Campus Commission
Garrison, New York 10524
ORTHODOXCAMPUS
NETWORKEXPANDING
The "first round" of assignments and confirmations of Orthodox priests to specific campus chaplaincies throughout North
America is now completed. The announcement, made by the
Campus Commission of the Standing Conference of Canonical
Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), covers over 120
priests on more than 160 college and university cam puses across
the United States and Canada.
An important, new trend in Orthodox campus ministry is the
emergence of "team chaplaincies:" in several instances, Orthodox
priests of particular localities are coordinating their efforts among
several area campuses. In addition to improving both the quality
and extent of campus ministry, such collaboration stands as a
practical witness to the unity of the Faith among Orthodox
Christians of different ethnic and "jurisdictional" backgrounds.
The "second round" of appointments already begun includes
not only some additional priests but also a significant number of
lay-people. Direct involvement of lay~eop!e ~ Orthod_ox cam pus
ministry is another new trend whose im phcat10n. and im porta~ce
is only beginning to be understood and appreci.ated. Those interested in such involvement are encouraged to write the Orthodox
Campus Commission, Garrison, New York 10524.
SYNDESMOSFORMS
NORTH AMERICAN
COORDINATINGCOMMITTEE
NEW HOME FOR
T
CAMPUS COMMISSION
~e Orthodox Campus Commission happily announces the
~ta~li.shment
of its new office, located at the Academy of Saint
aS1lin Garrison, New York.
the~e 0 !fer, made by His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos during
e~tmg of SCOBA recently, will clear up much of the
frUStration
• ff.iciency
.
• · ,s
.
and me
which has plagued the comm1Ss10n
operation
8d
•
973 h
C
unng the past two years. Since the Fall of 1
,t e
• • h ad been forced to conduct its
· b usmess
•
f rom
rampusComm1Ssion
u°'lr scattered areas in Manhattan:
a parish storeroom on the
st Side; an apartment close to Central Park; a spare
ppker.
We
desinthG
k
. b
b
Col . e ree Archdiocese; and a Post Office ox near Y
llmbia University.
February,
1976
. SYNDESMOS - the world fellowship of Orthodox youth
organizations based in Beirut, Lebanon - held a Consultation ~or
its North American membership recentl}' at the Academy of Saint
Basil in Garrison, New York.
Participants heard a report by General Secretary Gabriel
Habib, explaining SYNDESMO~' r~cent "per~od _of s~gnati.on"
the result of a series of ecclesiastical complications m various
;:rts of the world, combined with the fragmentati_on of former
itments to international Orthodox collaboration.
comm
•
In discussing the existential rea 1·.
ities of Or t hod ox yout h m
N rth America, the participants decided to form an ad hoc
"~orth
American Coordinating Committee"
to promote
•
shi'ps
and
coooeration
among
SYND
ESMOS
membert
re Ia 10n
•
• th err
• exc h ang es
• North America
wh'li e f aci·1·itatmg
movemen ts i0
'
w·
h
d
and organizations in other parts of the world.
it an a Page 21
�The Committee's first tasks are (1) an exploration of th
possibilities for an inte~-Orthodox witness to the bi~entennia~
celebrations in the Umted States, and (2) the design of an
existentially-oriented "Consultation for Orthodox Youth Leaders''
to be held in early summer, 1976.
mini trative center at the academy of Saint Basil, the Committee
will eek clo e collaboration on all matters of common concern
with the Council of Eastern Orthodox Youth Leaders in America
( EOYL ).
Participants at the Consultation included:
Gabriel Habib, General Secretary, SYNDESMOS - Beirut
Kathy Huenemann, SYNDESMOS volunteer. staff - Beirut
Dr. Pavlos Kymissis, SYNDESMOS Executive Committee __
Greece
Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky, SYNDESMOS Executive Committee __
USA
Steve Alexander, Holy Cross School of Theology
Steve Rousos, St. Tikhon 's Theological Seminary
Mirko Dobriovich, St. Tikhon 's Theological Seminary
Michael Johnson, St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary
Constance Tarasar, Orthodox Christian Education Commission
Peter Mikuliak, Orthodox Campus Commission
Maha Shakhashiri, Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations
(SOYO)
Fr. Constantine Sitaras, Campus Dept., Greek Ar-chdiocese
Andrew George, Youth Dept., Greek Archdiocese
William Essey, Youth Dept., Antiochian Archdiocese
Denise Melligon, Editor, Concern
Demetra Karousatos, volunteer staff, Concern
Representatives were not in attendance from:
Council of Eastern Orthodox Youth Leaders of America
(CEOYLA)
Greek Orthodox Youth of America (GOYA)
Federated Russian Orthodox Clubs (FROC)
·ect Loving Care
proJ
Grad~ 8-9, Heroes for Truth, New Frontiers "Great men in the
history of the Church."
e war of 1967, an organization called Project
Afterthe Jun formed by Dr. Reja-e Busailah in order to assist
• Carefwasncial aid to nee d y an d war victimize
• • . d Ar ab
Loving
andren~e~ ~a Palestine. The outcome of the numerous wars in
famili~s
hvmi mt has resulted in a multitude of homeless Arab
theMiddt asver the most victimized of these refugees have
refugees,h;~:en ~f Palestine. It was because of their suffering
beenth_ec ~ t Project Loving Care was organized, since these
andstrife thaO live in Occupied Palestine (Israel) receive no
'Jdrenw ·otemational assistance.
•
ch1.
1or t
nauona
. h West are able to care for these children in a small
We.fin
t edollars a month supports one child for food, clothing
• t h e name, h'1story an d a
waY•Ft teen Each sponsor wt·11receive
1
andshetehr.
f
'his/
her'
child,
and
will
be able to correspond with
O
Photograp
h'ld All contributions are tax d e d ucll'bl e.
thec 1 •
support of individuals
h• reason , we are soliciting the
.
S
f
.
Fortts
tales or sponsorship
l'eties in Canada and the Umted
/ or soc
and
•
•
•
h
O
•
d
T
•
ofan Arab refugee child hving m t e ccup1e
err1tory of
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the
ul of the earth. For to be idle is to become a stranger unto
the seasons, and step out of life's procession that marches in
maje ty and proud submission toward the infinite.
Kahlil Gibran
Patti H ar t ha been considered "armed and dangerous."
M' Moon, another LA revolutionary, was described as being a
"t pi al high hool tudent" just a few years ago.
hat· happening? How have people changed? How does a
p r on dragg d out of her hou e kicking and screaming become an
ally of h r abductor ?
Brainwa hing? o doubt, yet is that all there is to it? In any
ca , why wa it o effective?
. ou
huned c
it i. ge
of u t
give al
and if
onP.to
bigger
.
u.
l'Hl{P
•
hat there lie within each of us, however deeply
gged by opulence, the conviction that life as
mpty and meaningless. And that within all
or omething or someone to which one can
thing to bow before. Something to live for
r. omething that would excite one cause
gain t convention, and custom. Som~ cause
promotion , bigger than SELF!
ommitment! That i what man look for, and as fearful as it
a ri ky a. it i , it i infinite! better than the wandering
22
How?
REGULATION:
Participation is open to any Church School Student within the
Archdiocese. All first place winners in each category are submitted
to the North American Council of SOYO (NAC) for national
ju~ging bf July 15. (On a regional level one of the first place
wmners will be selected as a Grand Prize Winner)
CATEGORY I
CATEGORY II
CATEGORY III
CATEGORY IV
CATEGORYV
Grades 1, 2, 3
Grades 4, 5
Grades 6, 7
Grades 8, 9
Grades 10, 11, 12
-
First Prize; Second
- FirstPrize; Second
- First Prize; Second
- First Prize; Second
- First Prize; Second
Prize
Prize
Prize
Prize
Prize
Palestine.
JUDGES:
Allthat is required of each pro p ctive sponsor, is to send
his/her full name and address to:
For National and Regional the judges will consist of 2 Orthodox priests outside our Archdiocese and one professional in the
field of education.
ProjectLoving Care
P.O.Box 2328
TerreHaute,
Indiana
47802
MEDIA AND PRESENTATION:
U.S.A.
TheNational Director of thi Proj ct, Very Reverend Father
George
M. Rados, will then con tact th pon ors and send the
necessary
applications to fill out.
COMMITMENT
Grade 10-12, Christianity makes us a different people -
Pleasehelp this humanitarian
cau
b
Mi Muna Salloum
Mi8 Leila Salloum
AC Coordinators
aimlessness, the loose-ended, bet-covering, which modern man
goes through to avoid.
All participants are invited to submit as many drawings as
they desire to their Church School superintendents. Crayon, pen
and ink, water colors, pastels, oils or other media may be used and
any material such as paper, wood, cardboard or canvas no larger
than 18 x 24 and no smaller than 8½ x 11 and no wider than 2
inches. Glass may not be used as a material to work due to
shipping problems.
All winning entries must be mounted on solid backing with a 2
inch border around the entry to insure stiffness and easy handling.
All art entrees will be on display at Regional Conferences and / or
Archdiocese Convention.
TOPICS:
In the desperate search for purpose many, to be sure, turn to
foolish, even destructive aims. Dreams take on the configurations
of nightmares. But who after all is to be pitied? The one who
commits his life to a foolish end or the one who is committed to
nothing, for whom nothing stands above him, calling and
demanding loyalty.
It is part of the tragedy of the Christian Church that a Gospel
which calls men to ultimate purpose and meaning, which
is prophetic, some have even said revolutionary, should so often
become weak, limp and anemic. Vision and Hope and Dreaming
ought not to be the province of secularist, political revolutionary
or economic visionary alone; no, far more ought they to be the
domain of the Christian. The Christian mission is to bring to the
world the true witness and renewal of Christ's love.
In a world where the pain and anguish of life are so evident,
where the hurts are real and the wounds of society open and
festering, the challenge comes - not to be puzzled over the
curious commitment of a young girl who risked everything to some
far-out revolutionary group of sick and criminal persons, but to
ask "What is our commitment?" What are we willing to risk all
for? What vision are we offering our generation? The issue is not
that a few choose loyalty to a bizarre cause but that so many
avoid the question of commitment entirely. '
- Janice M. Nicola
The Word
S0YOCreative Arts Contest 1976
DEADLINES: Regional April 1, 1976
NationalJune 1, 1976
TOPICS:
Grade1, We Live in God'
beautiful world."
World:
All entrees must be of a religious nature and in accordance
with the Orthodox Doctrine. The topics assigned to each grade
must be adhered to. Judging will he on originality of concept,
craftrnanship and imagination. The topics are chosen by John
Boojamra, Director of the Department of Christian Education.
(These rules are subject to final approval of the N AC SOYO
Executive Board)
"God gives us gifts in a
Grade
_2,Discovering God's Way : ''We return to God's love by
domggood works."
SOVO Creative Writing Contest 1976
Grade3, We Worship God in Church:
of the world."
DEADLINES: Regional National - June 1, 1976
"We pray for the needs
Grade4, The Bible Lives in the Church:
Himselfin the Bible."
"God teaches us about
May 1, 1976
"We share in God's life
TOPICS:
Grade 1, We Live in God's World: "God gives us gifts in a
beautiful world."
Grade6, God With Us: "Jesus lived with the people and blessed
them."
Grade 2' Discovering God's Way : ''We return to God's love by
doing good works."
Grade7' Th e Young Church:
message into the world."
February,
19 76
Grade 3, We Worship God in Church: "We pray for the needs
of the world."
Page 23
Grade5, Our Life in the Church:
through the Holy Sacraments."
"The
Church
carries G Od' s
�rade 4, The Bihl Li
in the Church: "God teaches us about
Him.elf in the Bible."
rad - . Our Lif in the Church:
thr ugh the Holy acraments."
rade 6, God With
them."
"We share in God's life
racle 8-9. Heroe for Truth, New Frontiers "Great men in the
hi t r • f the Church."
hri tianity makes us a different people -
How?
ll entrie mu t contain at least 50 words and no more than
300 w rd .
l.
2. Entrie mu t be typewritten on 8½" x 11" paper, double
paced and ubmitted in triplicate. You may submit an original
plu two carbon copie , all of which must be clean and clear for
u by the judge .
3. Each typewritten entry must show ONLY and ALL of the
following:
al Age
bl Church chool Grade
cl ational and Regional Identification Information
4. Each typewritten entry must be accompanied by the Standard
Identification Form Completed with the name, address,
church. etc.
- All entrie hould be submitted by members of the Church
chool of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
orth America. Contestants must write on the topics assigned
to the Church chool grade.
6. Regional winners are selected on a first, second and third place
ba i (3 place for 12 age groups). Only first place winners are
ubmitted to AC ( 12 first place winners, one from each age
group I.
- Regional winners should be announced at the Regional
Conferences; AC winners, at the Archdiocese Convention. It
will be the obligation of each Regional Chairman to notify the
winner following the formal announcement at the Archdiocese
Convention.
8. Prize will be awarded to the first, second, and third place
winner in each age group, and will be selected by the N AC
Chairman with approval of the National Director of Religious
Education.
9. Guideline for judging:
I. Pre ntation of thought A. riginality
B. ubject Adherance
II.
CONTEST
by Louise Habeeb,
National Chairman
: "Je u lived with the people and blessed
rad ,, Th Young Church: "The Church carries God's
me ag int the world."
Grade I -12.
NAC ORATORIAL
(worth 50 per cent)
t l - (worth 25 per cent)
A. Creativity
B. Introduction - trength of
. Conclu ion - trength of
III. Mechanic - (worth 25 per cent)
A. Grammar
B. Continuity of thought
"And even as each one of you stands alone in God's
k now 1edg e , 80 must each one of you be alone
h,, in his knowledge of
God and in his understanding of the eart .
-Kahlil Gibran
It is now time for the teens of our Archdiocese to prepare
themselves for the 1976 Oratorical Contest. This is a unique
opportunity for the youth of our parishes.to express themsel~es on '
a topic pertaining to their Orthodox bel!efs. The contest _WIilbe
held on the local, regional and Archdiocese levels durmg the
spring and summer of '76. The topic for this year's contest is:
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it
labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the
watchman watches in vain - Orthodox responsibility in
building a nation of justice and righteousness. (Psalm
127: 1)
Anyone from ages 13-18 may participate in this truly fulfilling
experience. The senior group consists of teens from the age of 16,
18 and the junior group consists of teens from ages 13-15.
The winner from each of the six regions will compete in the
National Oratorical Presentations which is sponsored by the
North American Council of SOYO. The honored 1st place winner
will receive a $300.00 scholarship from His Eminence
Metropolitan Philip Saliba.
For more information about the Oratorical Contest contact
your regional coordinators listed below.
CAN/ AM REGION - Linda Tweel
EASTERN REGION - Mrs. Ann Fortrakis
MIDWEST REG ION - Kim Hanna
NEW ENGLAND REGION - John P. Abdalah
SOUTHWEST REGION - Pamela Samara
WESTERN REGION - Louise Habeeb
I'm sure they will be glad to help in anyway they can.
The climax of the Oratorical Presentations will be held at the
Archdiocese Convention in beautiful San Francisco in July 1976.
The Oratorical Contest is only one of the many programs
sponsored by NAC, where there is a chance for teens to express
how they feel about subjects such as their responsibilities as
Orthodox Christians. There is so much preparation, research, and
writing that goes into each of these programs. It also takes time,
intelligence and determination, not to mention faith and courage.
This shows the openmindedness of our youth and how they are
growing in the Orthodox Christian faith and learning to contend
with our very confused society.
Communication is such an important part of our society and is
stressed so much nowadays. We are so fortunate to have Orthodox
'teens highlight our SOYO Conferences and the Archdiocese
Convention, with their words of wisdom.
re •
view
lo • two reviews have been prepared by Father
Thefo~lr~! of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Grand Rapids,
Ge,or~e ~he Department of Christian Education welcomes
Michigan.
'butions on the part of the laity and clergy of our Arsuchcontn
b .
.
f
.
.
8 nd encourages them to u mzt reviews o various
chdwcese
d e uccess 1I u l use of wzt· h mt
• he
.
•
lmaterials
they
have
ma
audw-visua
parish for the church school teachers, teenagers, or adults.
Please keep the needs of the Department and other parishes in
mind as you prepare and carry through with the use of supplementary materials, especially films and filmstrips.
"Conspiracy of Silenc ," 16 mm, color, Concordia
PublishingHouse (St. Loui ' Mi ouri)
Thereare many of us, young and old alike, who have not ~et
while
to grips with the idea of d ath. omebbfall apart
come
• th e1r
• at, aaing
an insurance policy. 0th r ar
tu om m
dlSCU""
f
. . h l
titudetowards death saying that the do not ear 1t m t e east.
Stillothershave closed their mind , heart , and mouths on the
subject.
"The Incredible ... Helpful . .. Hopeful ... Growing
... Changing . .. Sunday School Film," 16mm, color, David
C. Cook (New York, New York)
Did you ever ask yourself "How did the idea of Sunday School
start anyway? Our parents and grandparents never had it. Where
did it start? Not in the Orthodox Church, I bet!"
Anew film is hert which make it p ibl to deal with these
feelings.Significantly enou ht it i entitled "Con piracy of
Silence."
The story deal with a d ing man who meets a "wall" of
silencewith his famih and friend who hav built that wall, and
withthosewho are trying to help th dying man tear it down.
Thismovie touches on man
ondary ubjects, each of which
couldprovide the ha is of a di cu ion in itself: The relation
betweenthe doctor and the patient, priest or minister and his
parishmembers and ministry t th ick and dying, people turning
offto each other in situation that ar difficult, and many other
topics.Each character in th film portray
his role strictly
adhering
to what has become a cept d tandard of behavior. The
stagesthat a dying person goe through are told subtly yet clearly
ina sadyet at times humorou dialogue between two dying men.
I would recommend this film for teenage groups, adult
discu~iongroups, retreats, work hop , in conjunction with a
pre~entation
on the Orthodox concept of death or anytime the
topicof death is to be discu ed. It i an excellent film also for a
clergy
council or deanery meetin a it relate to the relationship
ofthepriest to a dying parishioner and hi family.
This 16mm color film is available for a rental fee of only $12
fromConcordia Publishing House. It can be ordered from the
following
address :
Concordia Publishing House
Audiovisual Media
3558 South Jefferson A venue
St. Louis, Missouri 63118
It's time we listen to what the youth have to say. As you know,
they are your tomorrow.
Judg for ational and Regional:
2 Orthodo
prie ts outside our Archdiocese and one
profe ional in the field of education (preferably in English).
Pae 24
The Word
February,1976
John L. Boojamra
Well, now there is a short film to answer these questions and a
great many more. It's called "Th~ Incredible ... Helpful_ .. ,:
Hopeful ... Growing ... Changmg .... Su?day ~choo! F_1lm.
It runs for a colorful thirty minutes of history, mterv1ews, ms1ghts,
comedy and questioning all of which will help any church gr?up
become aware of their own Sunday School. Just a few questions
posed by the film are: " Is Sunday Sch ool re levant to d ay "? . "D
. o
we still need it?" "Do the techniques and methods we are usmg
really work?" "Who are we missing?" "Do the students in our
Sunday Schools know that we care"?
This film serves as a basis for an in depth discussion of the
Sunday School on the local paris~ level. ~he movie i~ divided into
segments, each of which deals with a series of questions centered
around one main theme. the projector can be stopped after each
section and those present may discuss these questions as they
rt in to their own situation. I have found that although the
pe a
. h
. . th
questions often seemed to be very basic, t e presentation m e
film sheds new light on them. The film is particularly useful. at
teachers' retreats or workshops. It canals? be shown to the parish
88 a whole or to various groups of the pansh to make them aware
of the problems of the Church school.
This 16mm film was produced by the Da~id C .. Cook
• Co a name most of us have been acquamted with for
P u bli sh mg
.,
p bl' h. H
l0 time. It is available from most Augsburg u 1s mg ouses
; 0 r :~ental fee of $27.50. It really is incredible, helpful, hopeful,
growing and changing.
A burg Publishing Houses in the United States are:
3;J: Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 9005 7
4265 Fifth St., Minneapolis, Minn. 55415
57 East Main St., Colombus, Ohio 43215
124 South Twenty-Fourth St., Omaha, Neb. 68102
201 East Fifth St., Austin, Texas 78701
2001 Third Ave., Seattle, Wash. 98121
Reviewed by Fr. George Alberts.
Page 25
�Lice with 9,000 inhabitants.
It and a number of
•nages were totally destroyed.
oundmgVI
•
surr l't n Meliton of the Ecumemcal Patriarchate of
1
Meu·o~oale vice-chairman of the World Council of Churches'
tantm
'
•
• • d t h ea ff ected region. He
eons
. 0 Pd Central
Committee
, V1s1te
Execuuve
~stanbul after spending ever al days in the area and
ret~ed to the Prime Minister and the Governor of Diyarbakir.
havlllg
met
wwnof.
The
Orthodox World
ORTHODOX CENTER ENLARGES
DEDICATES NEW QUARTERS
'
. d in Armenia
Etc;~;OX
CONSULTATION
~;EPARES
FOR NAIROBI
Brookline, Ma .
BRO ZE TAT E OF
ATHE AGORA I U EILED
• O\. mber 2 wa de ignated "Patriarch
Athenagoras Day"
through ut the Greek Archdiocese. To commemorate the day a
bronze tatue of the late Ecumenical Patriarch was unveiled in
.p ial eremonie at Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek
Orthodox chool of Theology in Brookline.
di tingui hed culptor, icholas Icaris, was commissioned to
er at the bronze tatue which is almost eight feet high with a
cir umf er n e of about ixty-five inches. It will be placed on a
lope on the cam pu of Hellenic College and Holy Cross School of
'Theo! gy ne tied among towering trees near the foot of the Holy
ro byzantine- tyled chapel.
ew York,
.Y.
THOMP O NOMINATED
PRE IDE T OF NCC
William Phelps Thompson, Stated Clerk of the United
Pre byterian Church in the U.S.A., has been nominated to serve
a the next Pre ident of the ational Council of Churches.
M . Dorothy Height of the United Methodist Church, Bishop
Herbert Bell haw of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
and the Mo t Reverend Metropolitan Philip Saliba of the Anti chian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of New York and all
rth America were nominated as the first, second and third vicepre ident , re pectively.
Mr. Thomp on, a lawyer, deacon and ruling elder in his church
ha been it lated Clerk (chief executive officer) since 1966. H~
ha a long and distinguished ecumenical career as a member of the
World Council of Churches' Central Committee (since 1968), a
m~mber of the ational Council of Churches' Governing Board
( mce 1966 ), a member of the executive committee of the Conultation on Church Union, and as president of the World Alliance
of Reformed Churches (since 1970).
Mr. _Tho~pson "".as graduated from McPherson College and
the m er 1ty of Chicago Law School. He began his law career in
Wichita, Kan a , during the l 940's, and during his military
r_ ice wa an A i tant Prosecutor at the International Military
Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo, in 1946. He holds five
h norar degree .
~
w York, .Y.
ORTHODOX BISHOPS MEET
IJ l'\iE YORK
Th landing Co~ference of Orthodox Bishops in the Americas
. BA), held their Fall meeting at the Greek Orthodox Archd1oc~ headquarters ~ . ew York City with its Chairman,
Archb1 hop Iakovo , pres1dmg.
At the conclu ion of the meeting, Archbishop Iakovos announced th~t the following decisions were taken:
l.
pec1al
r •
d meeting will be held to which all Orthod ox B"1sh ops
mte
tat~ an~ Canada will be invited to attend. The
purpo
of the
d
l meetmg will be to discuss some of their· d"ff
1 erences,
an to e pore way to re olve them. This meeting will in l d
Page 26
cu e
members and non-members of SCOBA.
2. A special meeting on Religious Education will be called to
discuss the consolidation of all materials so that one basic religious
education packet may be utilized by all Orthodox jurisdictions.
3. A special meeting on theological education will be held to
evaluate the present system of training candidates for the Or.
thodox priesthood, to examine the present theological education
programs offered at five Orthodox Seminaries in the U.S. and
Canada, and to consider the possi:Oility of establishing a Pan
Orthodox School of Theology.
4. Plans for a Pan Orthodox celebration to mark the Bicentennial will be undertaken which will include an Archieratical
worship service in which all Orthodox Bishops will be invited to
participate.
A proposal will be submitted to CEOYLA, the Council of
Eastern Orthodox Youth Leaders in the Americas, strongly
recommending them to hold their Ethnic Orthodox Youth Festival
in 1976, rather than 1977, in observance of the Bicentennial.
5. Plans to hold joint Orthodox youth conferences annually
rather than have individual conferences as is presently the case.
6. Orthodox camps will be opened to youth of all Orthodox
jurisdictional groups. In the area of ecumenical relations it was
decided that a united Orthodox representation will hereafter be
undertaken in participating in the activities of the National
Council of Churches; in the relationships with the Roman
Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran Churches; and with all other
church-related agencies and organizations.
ff Holiness Vasken I, Supreme Catholicos of all the Ar~s hosted the Orthodox consultation on "Confessing Christ
8
menI~~heLiturgical Life of the Church Today." More than 40
thro
~pants from nearly all the Ea tern and Oriental Orthodox
partJCI
• t h"1 f.rrst mternat1ona
•
•
1 ecumenical
Ch hs participate d m
~~gto take place in the So iet Republic of Armenia.
m;ehis speech of welcome, the piritual head of the Apostolic
Ort:odox
Chur~h ~f. Armenia e_xpr: ed the hope that the event
would
makea significant contnbut1on to the theme of the Fifth
Assembly
of the WCC.
Drawing
attention to the fact that th Church during its 2000yearexistencehas undergone man chang
and ha been able to
copewithits problems, Patriarch Va kn c ncluded: "We can
therefore
face up to the chang
in toda • world with optimism
andconfidence
and present the G p l me ag in uch a way that
itsprofoundsignificance for c nt mp rary life is evident".
Inthecourseof their work at th Patriarchal headquarters, the
church
officialsand Orthodox th l gian , plu repre entatives of
othercommunions, analyzed th part pla d b worship and
liturgyin communicating th
lib ratin
m age of the
Resurrection
to people today.
TheApostolicOrthodox Chur h f Arm nia ha 4.5 million
members
in Armenia and f ur th r
uth rn republics, plus
about
twomillion member livin in ur p , Africa, orth and
South
America.
Hiram,Ohio
ORTHODOX
YOUTH LEADER
Kodiak, Alaska
NEW FACULTY AT ST. HERMAN'S
MEET
Dr. John Breck, his wife Lynn and their two children Paul and
Michael, recently arrived in Kodiak where Dr. Bre~k has ac·
cepted an appointment as professor of New Testament and
patristics at St. Herman's Pastoral School and where Mrs. Breck,
a re~stered nurse, will assist in the School's pastoral counseling
~urr1culum. The Brecks come to Kodiak from France, where they
lived for several years and where Dr. Breck was associated with
St. Serg~us Orthodox Theological Academy in Paris, following the
completion of academic work at the University of Heidelberg in
Germany.
Ja_net Maximo££, instructor in music at St. Herman's, comes to
Kodiak from Youngstown, Ohio. Besides her work at the Pastoral
School, Miss Maximo££ will direct the choir at the Holy
R~surre?tion ~u~sian Orthodo~ Church, and will begin training.a
chil~ren s chm~ m the fall. Miss Maximo££ holds her degree ID
Mus1e_Educa~1on from Youngstown State University, hopes to
spark mterest m developing a community choir in Kodiak.
OrthodoxChristian youth l ad r from throughout North
America
gathered at the rural h m f t. John' Brotherhood in
Hiram,
Ohioto discuss practical wa t promote increased panOrthodox
encounters on local and r i nal lev ls.
Re~res~ntinga wide variet of thnic and 'jurisdictional"
orgamzat10ns,
participants offered and di u d viable programs
thatw~uldencourage pan-Orthodo
c operation.
Le
Echomgthe call of the Council f Ea tern Orthodox Youth
d adersof America (CEOYLA) participants
trongly urged the
evelopment
of local and regional Pan-Orthodox Youth Councils
to
promote
commun1cat1on
• • an d creative
• cooperation
• between local
Orth
in't' 0 x groups. Any local organization might assume the
~:odbvefor this, working whenever po sible with local panox clergy councils.
~benewdirectors of St. John' Brotherhood Home - Ron and
El1zaeth Ge
• h to welcome other Orthodox groups of
all th .
ssner - w1s
e meand "jurisdictional" background to use the facilities for
retr
eats• PIcmcs,
• • etc. Contact them at: 5962 Allyn Road, Hiram,
Ohio
44234, 216 / 27 4-2052.
Geneva, Switzerland
CHURCHES LAUNCH APPEAL FOR
TURKISH EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
G.
°?
pfson, New York
DE~~~CDHATHENAGORAS YEAR
. A_$100,000 emergency appeal for aid to Turkish earthquake
VIctuns has been issued by the Commission on Inter-Church Aid,
Refugee and World Service (CICARWS). The funds will be used
to sup~ly pre-fabricated housing for the stricken area in Eastern
t1at?ha to meet a major need in the coming winter. Epicenter of
t e Violent earthquake in the afternoon of September 6 was the
The Word
r
made possible by a $100 000 •f
Cleveland, Ohio, a memb
thfroAm~- George Chimples of
D .
er O t e rchd1ocesan Council
. urmg the luncheon which f ll
d
. .
•
Miss Hellas Repantis th
o o~e .the dedication ceremonies,
introduced Miss R ' .e new prmc1pal of the Academy' was
•
epantis was herself
d
f S
•,
Academy Teacher T . . S h
a gra uate o t. Basil s
rammg c ool.
AT ST. BASIL'S
Theyear 1975
Year"at S B . ~as been declared "Patriarch Athenagoras
building t. . asil s Academy. Early in September the main
renovated
!::vtu~ly used by the college girls and recently
Patriarch
Ath edicated by Archbishop lakovos to the memory of
Februar enagoras. The renovation of the main building was
Y, 19 76
E
• I Press Service reports that almost a thousand
peopl:u~~1c~.
tended'
c u ~g ~ number of prominent church officials atE
c~rem_;m~smaugurating the new headquarters of the 'new
cumemca 1 . atnarch at Chambesy. High Point of the day was
the conse?ratlon of the new church at the Orthodox Center b
~~tropohtan Chrysostom of Austria. He dedicated it to St. Paui,
t e apoSde who turned towards the West".
~odern in style but reminiscent of the fulness of Eastern
;rchitecture, the church will henceforth serve as the parish church
or the Gree~ Orthodox community in Geneva. Services for
French-speakmg Orthodox will be held in the crypt.
In addit~on t? the church the building includes conference
rooms, t"".ohbranes, a refectory that can serve as an assembly hall
plus 20 srngle rooms and a few apartments. Enlargement of the
?ld. <?rthodox Center was made possible by gifts from various
md1v1duals and churches, including the Protestant Church of
German_y (EKD), the Roman Catholic bishops of West Germany
and Switzerland and the Archbishop of Cologne.
Dr. Lukas Vischer, representing the World Council of
Churches, emphasized the relationship of tasks undertaken by the
WCC and the Orthodox Center. "In the years to come we hope to
render you some neighborly services", he said. Without the
contribution of the Orthodox Church in the ecumenical movement
an essential element would be lacking in the efforts towards
visible Christian unity, said Dr. Vischer. In addition he expressed
hope th~at aft~r the WCC's Fifth Assembly the center could be a
':Valuable instrument" for continuing and deepening attempts to
lmk the Orthodox very closely to ecumenical research.
Founded in 1966 by the late Ecumenical Patriarch
Athenagoras and the Holy Synod of Constantinople, the Orthodox
Center of Chambesy, directed by Metropolitan Damaskinos of
Tranapoulis, has become known as a place of dialogue between
the various Orthodox churches, as well as a worship center for two
Greek Orthodox parishes. With the new buildings it hopes to
initiate some courses of advanced study, thus becoming a
"theological nursery"· with an ecumenical perspective training
teams from all the Orthodox churches to lead inter-Orthodox and
inter-confessional dialogues. Meanwhile it houses the organizing
secretary for the Pan-Orthodox Council.
SUPREME COURT TO
HEAR SERBIAN CASE
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a writ of certioreri
requested by supporters of the Patriarchial Church in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia and will review lower court decisions in the case which
has been in the courts for the past eleven years. The Justices of the
U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments reviewing an Illinois
Supreme Court decision which set aside the removal of Bishop
Dionisije as bishop of the Serbian Church's American-Canadian
Diocese.
The Illinois Court held that Bishop Dionisije's defrocking and
removal was procedurally defective but the Mother Church has
claimed that the Illinois decision was an infringement upon
religious freedom guaranteed by the first amendment.
Attorneys believe the high court review will result in far
ranging judicial statements pertaining to procedural due process
and to church-state relationships concerning the holding of
property by churches.
Page 27
�RETUR REQUESTED
POSTMASTER- If addresse has removed or
THE ORD Is undeliverable for any reason,
please return this issue with form 3579.
Return Postage Guaranteed
THE WORD
358 ountaIn Road, Englewood,
.J. 07631
St. Vladimir's Orthodox
Theological Seminary
Most of you are familiar with the work of St. Vladimir's Seminary, its mission, goal and direction.
For the past 38 years, St.
Vladimir's has been training priests, educators, choir directors, and
active laymen and women to labor in Christ's vineyard, not only in
this country, but in virtually all parts of the world.
We are proud of the special closeness between St. Vladimir's
Seminary and the Antiochian
Orthodox
Christian
Archdiocese.
Having already trained countless priests, as well as two hierarchs for
the Archdiocese, St. Vladimir's has truly witnessed her growth and
accomplishments.
We presently have twelve students and several
faculty members representing the Archdiocese.
Our mission, our goal, needs more support now than ever before. Educational costs have risen, the number of students needing
financial aid has increased, and the day-to-day operating expenses
have almost doubled in the past few years. You can help insure our
continued growth, and that of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese, by giving St. Vladimir's Seminary your full support,
both financial, and spiritual. The past has been a witness to your
faithful support. You have given your prayers, contributed
financially, and sent worthy young men. But more are needed! Young men
-take up the Cross-and follow Christ into the Holy Priesthood.
The Word
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kalemat_19760201_20_2
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1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
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The Word
DECEMBER, 1977
�THE WORD
The Most Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP. Primate
The Most Reverend
Archbishop Michael, Auxiliary
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kallmat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
THE WORD
''LETTING IT ALL HANG OUT"
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
VOLUME 21 DECEMBER,
1977 NUMBER 10
IN THIS ISSUE
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S. Corey
Archpriest Joseph J. Allen
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
Subscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, NJ. 07631
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
U.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 10.00
SINGLE COPIES, 1.00
THE WORD, published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America at Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania, Business office,
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135.
Pittsburgh. Pa. 15213. Entered as
second class matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh. Pa.
15219.
3
Editorial
5
Personal Reminiscences of a Priest
by Rt. Rev. Ellis.Khouri
9
Which Community?
by Freda Upson
AND THE CHURCH
The "it" obviously
refers to one's insights, resentments
emotions, angers, anguishes, judgments, tempers, etc., etc. I hav~
heard and read more and more of it, and as an Orthodox Christion
"Letting it all hang out" is getting to sound like a sick "dogma"•/ hav~
decided that it should notl
'
Of course, the "social marketplace"
from which come such
concepts ( unfor~unately,
too often over-shadowing
the Church/ J
seems to have displaced certain traditional and respectable modes
of conduct. In t_his case it is one's sense of dignified privacy/ /
remember readmg that Edmund Burke once said, "It hos been the
misfortune ( not the glory) of this age, that everything is to be
discussed." He's right I
To me it sounds like the most blatant form of egocentrism.
Why
should it all hang out? What makes us think that our resentments,
angers, judgments, etc., the "it", the "home movies of our soul," are
to our public viewers? It re_ally ought not to be hung
out uninvited in the public marketplace. Such narcissism!
11
The School of Antioch
by Fr. Joseph L. W. Angwin
so irresistible
13
Liturgy and Life
by V. Rev. Elias G. Karim
15
Archdiocesan Office
16
Dialogue . . .
by V. Rev. Michael Buben
Don't misunderstand.
I am not referring to the "old fashion,"
respectful, courteous, discreet, tactful conversation ( of which I agree
that there is not enough - probably because of T.V.) in which we
communicate and share. Nor am I implying that there is never a time
when we must disclose our deepest self ( think of the Psalms!). That's
why we have Father Confessors. Even when we were to make "public
confession" as in the Scripture, it was within the trusting framework
of the Church as the Body of Christ, and not really to the "crowd."
17
AOCWNA
18
Communities in Action
21
SOYODigest
26
Review
28
The Orthodox World
32
Dally Devotions
by Fr. Gerasimos Murphy
COVER
What I am referring to, then, are those times and persons who
make of "it" the raw sewage of their unfeeling, "tell-it-like-it-is",
"who-cares-if-he-or-she-gets-hurt,"
unrefined emotion; when this
happens, our inward content is discharged, not simply to express
our "true feelings,"
but to use another as a dumping grounds regardless of what it does to him or her. After all, I and my feelings
are all that count I
What is even more offensive to this editor is when "it" is printed,
packaged and televised to the unsuspecting consumer - usually as
entertainment
or as the thing to be. This is the worst kind of contamination in the public marketplace. The paradox is that_in an age
when environmental
and material ecology seems to be so important
("put your dirty Kleenex in the litter basket") we ore not so c~ncerned about the foul language, the ill humor, an~ all the re~t, which
constitutes a contamination
of the spiritual variety. Don t forget,
that's part of the environment also I
..I
C
D::
0
1-Q
LIi
So, please tell "it" to God, you~ Father ~onfessor, your ~p~useISSN 0043-7964
This Nativity print is a gift of Albert Strietmann to the Mr. and Mrs. Ross
W. Sloniker Collection of Twentieth Century Biblical and Religious Prints.
Photo received from the Religious News Service.
or as the old Black spiritual says, go tell it on the mountam - but
for heaven's sake, don't let it all hang out I
h All
Josep
en
Co-Editor
December 1977
Page 3
�Message For The Feast Of The Nativity 1977
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
OF A PRIEST
"Come, ye nations that have put on Christ, let us behol? a ~on~er that overtak_eth all mi~ds with a~tonishment;
and as we kneel down in true worship, let us give praise i~ faith; for _the Maiden, havmg conceived, cometh
today to Bethlehem to give birth to the Lord." (From the Office of the Sixth Hour)
Beloved Clergy and Faithful in Jesus Christ:
As we gather today with family and friends, we join with hundreds of millions of Chri st ians throughout the world in
celebration of this Feast of Divine Love. For it was for Love's sake that the c?smos was cre~ted by_th e Word, and it is for
Love's sake that this same divine and eternal Word becomes Man, that He might redeem His creatmn and restore Man to
the image of God.
What shall we, the beneficiaries of this Love, offer in return? Truly, the only fitting gift is the gift of our own love. A
love which knows no limitation, which sets no conditions, which makes no deman~s. A~ the eternal Son of God emptied
Himself in order to become the Son of Man, so must we empty ourselves of all thmgs m order to become sons of God.
This, and nothing less, should be our response.
During this Mission Year we will have need of such selfless devotion in order to _spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
For the Christ of the poor and needy is born so that we might become brothers and sisters of the poor and needy. The Vanquisher of death and sin is born so that we might preach eternal life and call the ~orld to repe~tance. We pray that we may
all open ourselves to this Gift of Love in order to become worthy ambassadors of it to all creation.
With prayers that our Incarnate Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ ~ill shower you and yours with His richest mercy
and blessings on this Feast and throughout the coming New Year, we remam.
Yours in the Incarnate Word,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America
Orthodox Church In America Elects Bishop Theodosius As Metropolitan
By Religious News Service
MONTREAL, Que. -Bishop Theodosius of Pittsburgh
and West Virginia, 44, has been chosen Metropolitan of the
Orthodox Church in America at its convention here.
He is the youngest Metropolitan in the history of
American
Orthodoxy,
and
succeeds
85-year-old
Metropolitan Ireney.
The new Metropolitan, who also is the first native-born
American to attain that position, was named by the
Church's 12 bishops despite the fact he did not win the
election by clergy and lay delegates.
He failed to obtain a two-thirds majority on the first
ballot, and came in 169 votes behind Bishop Dmitri of
Hartford on the second. But the bishops, who were not
bound by the election results, chose Bishop Theodosius as
the new Metropolitan. No reason was given.
A native of Canonsburg, Pa., the new Metropolitan is a
graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, St.
Vladimir's Seminary, and the Ecumenical Institute at
Bossey, Switzerland.
He was pastor of a church in Madison, Ill., from 1962 to
1966, during which time he also served as assistant chaplain
at Fort Leonard Wood.
He became Bishop of Alaska in 1967, and served there
until being transferred to the Pittsburgh and West Virginia
diocese in 1972. In 1970, he represented the OCA at the
service in Moscow during which it was given full independence from the Patriarchate of Moscow, and at the
funeral of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei of Moscow
that year.
Page 4
by rt. rev. elf is khouri
INTRODUCTION
American
Church
History
records
that
Antiochian
Orthodoxy
appeared at the end of
the nineteenth century
and. was under the protection of the Russian
Church until after the
disastrous Bolshevik revolution. This political
event,
together
with
other factors saw the
emergence of national
Churches
under
the
Omophor of the Mother
Churches in the old
countries.
Various personalities
entered the stage in the early drama of the historical
development of the original Syrian An tiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of New York and All North
America. Some were good men providing the faithful with leadership during a critical period in the
lives of the new immigrants to the shores of North
America; some characters came to fish in troubled
waters. God alone who is the final judge, ultimately
separates the gold from the straw.
We would be remiss in our sacred duty to history
if we did not mention the brilliant Shepherd Bishop
Raphael Hawaweeny who came to America in 1896
and until his death in 1915, led his flock during
uncertain times and laid the foundation of Antiochian Orthodoxy in the new world. (Serving under
his direction were Constantine Abou-Adal and John
Shamie - later ordained priests - and Archdeacon
Emmanuel Abou-Hatab,
who later became the
Bishop of Montreal and Archimandrite Aftimios
Ofiesh, who later was elected to succeed Bishop
Raphael.) Time does not permit us to paint a
complete verbal picture of the events between 1915
and 1935 - but this was a period of great promise
and confusion because of the immense political,
nationalistic and religious movements.
The Rt. Rev. Ellis Khouri is the Protosynge/os of the
Archdiocese and was recently honored in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, for his many years of service and devotion to
Orthodoxy. May God grant him many years!
The Word
December 1977
How~;ver, a few comment are ne e arv: Ther
was the Antaky Russ " controver ; th -ill-f r d
Autocephalous
American
Orrhodo
ath Ii
Church, etc., etc.; Archbi hop GERM
O
Shehadi came from Zahle to colle t fund f r a
school in his Diocese and later became the I ad r f
the "~ntaky" faction until his recall to th
iddle
East m 1933; Bishop Sophronios Bishara and Bi h p
E~manuel. ~bou-~atab under the leadership f
Bishop Aftimios Ofiesh were partner in the ut cephal?us
C~urch until Metropolitan
Platon
myste:iously withdrew his support and either d ath
o: retlr~ment saw their rapid disappearance from the
picture m the ensuing years.
During this period in 1922, Patriarch GREGORY
IV (Haddad) of Antioch, dispatched Metropolitan
GERASIMOS who was accompanied b Archdeacon Antony Bashir to study the situation in orth
America. Again, in 1924, Patriarch GREGORY I
sent Metropolitan ZACHARIAS to North America
to restore canonical order after the Russian Dioce e
in America declared its independence from the
Church in Russia. Archimandrite Victor Abo-As al
was consecrated as the Archbishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese in North America in
1924 and he alone was the canonically recognized
leader of the Arab Orthodox on this continent, until
his. death in 1934. History records him as the first
Antiochian Archbishop of the Church in orth
America.
I arrived in Grand Rapids in November 1920 after
an uprising in Lebanon. Being a son of a priestly
family, it was only natural that I became in ol ed in
the community. In addition to knowing personally
the clergy and lay leaders of this early period, I am
fully aware of the three men most responsible for the
divisions that lasted 60 years - costing the people
much misery and thousands of dollars for lawyers
and court costs, etc. These men were GERMA OS
of Zable; GERASIMOS of Beirut, and ZACHARIA
of Houran. May God have mercy on their souls!
METROPOLITAN ANTONY'SERA
It was against this background that saw the emergence of the Archimandrite Antony Bashir to
national prominence. With the death of Archbishop
Victor Abo-Assaly and the departure from the scene
of all other parties, there existed the possibility of
uniting all the factions in North America. Therefore
Page:
�in 1935 Patriarch ALEXANDROS III dispatched
Metropolitan Theodosius of Tyre and Sid?n to the
United States as Patriarchal Legate to direct and
prepare for an election of a successor to the beloved
Archbishop Victor. He issued the call for the
nomination of three candidates throughout th~
Archdiocese. The three nominees were the Arch1mandrites
Antony Bashir, Samuel David and
Agabious Gholam.
The great majority went to the already pop?lar
Archimandrite Antony Bashir. His gifts as an articulate Arabic and English scholar, orator, author an_d
able translator were widely acknowledged. This
overwhelming nomination was confirmed by the
Holy Synod on February 5, 1936 and on April _19,
1936 he was consecrated Archbishop of the Synan
An tiochian Orthodox Archdiocese by the Patriarchal Legate, Metropolitan Theodosius and Bishop
Vitally of the Russian Orthodox Church at St.
Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn.
At the same time Archimandrite Samuel David
was also consecrated ~s the Bishop of Toledo, Ohio.
Soon after his consecration, Archbishop ANTONY traveled the length and breadth of the UI?-i~ed
States and Canada. During these Archpastoral vts1tations, he checked the status, strength and willingness
of the Churches to move with his new vital program.
The youth of the Archdiocese were deeply disappointed by the decades of divisi~ns a?~ controversy,
but they saw in this new dynamic spmtual leader, a
messenger of hope and unity. This was due in large
part to his unique personality and his ability to speak
their language. He understood their hearts. He began
to mend the rift with some measure of success, but
the process was slow because of the new conflicts
among the people of North America.
In mid-1942, while in Detroit, Michigan, he called
me saying he wanted to see me. The purpose of his
call was to ordain me a priest. After spending two
days with him in Detroit, he was able to convince me
to accept his challenge. The problems of our yo~th
and their need for spiritual leadership was the maJor
factor in my yielding to his persuasion. Indeed, he
was the master of masters in the art of persuasion besides, I was called to be the Ninth Priest in succession from my immediate family; how could I
refuse?
On October 17, 1943, in the midst of the second
World War, I was ordained Pastor for St. Nicholas
Parish of Grand Rapids, Michigan which is the one
and only parish that I served until 1969. During the
Miami Archdiocese
Convention, Saidna Philip
relieved me from local parish duties to become his
Special Representative in the Archdiocese.
The youth were our primary concern. Therefore,
the use of English in our services became a must.
Although we encountered opposition from the
senior members of the Churches, who accused the
Metropolitan of "Protestantizing" the Church, we
Page 6
proceeded ahead with our program. The Divine Services were translated, Sunday School materials and
music books for choirs began to surface and had a
tremendous impact on the youth.
At that time, many of our young men were
already in the service of our Armed Forces. All of
them were baptized in blood on the battlefields of
Europe and Africa. There arose the need for a small
prayer book to be sent to them. THE PRAYER
BOOK
FOR
EASTERN
ORTHODOX
CHRISTIANS was compiled by one of ~ur priests,
Fr. Peter Billard and translated by Fr. Michael Gelsinger, Ph.D., Buffalo, New York. A copy of this
book was sent to every Orthodox soldier overseas.
In 1937 Archbishop Antony was the first Orthodox Archbishop to open the United States Senate
with a prayer (happily enough, on Thursday, Saidna,
Patriarch ELIAS opened the Senate with prayers).
Archbishop Antony became the first Orthodox
Hierarch to join the "National Council of Churches"
in the United States.
Known for his charm, Metropolitan Antony
developed a warm f~ie~dshiJ? wit_h P:~sident Roo~evelt. Upon making his ftrst historic v1s1tto the White
House, President Roosevelt remarked, saying, "I
notice that your title covers New York and All North
America. Your territory is bigger than mine." Archbishop Antony shot back, "Not only that, but I serve
far more terms ... if you need a job after leaving
the White House, I'll be happy to ordain you as one
of my priests."
In 1945, when the terrible War ended, our boys
who escaped this holocaust needed a vehicle to
organize a haven and a special meeting place for
them. Those who returned were immersed with the
absolute belief that only God and the constant
prayers of their people and churches back. h~me
caused their return, while hundreds gave thetr hves
for their country.
With this in mind, Metropolitan Antony, in 1938
established the New England Federation of Syrian
Orthodox Clubs, patterned after the Russian Orthodox Federated Clubs in America. The history of
SOYO has been written elsewhere, so I won't dwell
on these details - but SOYO reached the entire
Archdiocese and to this day is one of our leading
movements. In 1947, at the first Midwest Convention
in Grand Rapids, Metropolitan Antony el~vated
yours truly to Archimandrite, and spiritual advtsor to
SOYO.
A MOMENT OF DISTRESS
During
the
Archdiocesan
Convention
in
Houston, Texas, 1960, and during the G~neral
Assembly Meeting, the Metropolitan was stricken
with an attack that forced him to be confined in bed
from Tuesday through Saturday. Many doctors were
summoned to the exhausted Metropolitan. But
Sunday morning, there he was, presiding_ over _the
Holy Divine Liturgy. In a move quick as hghtenmg,
The Word
he instructed Fr. Philip Saliba, then of St. George,
Cleveland and Fr. Ilyas Kurban, then Pastor of St.
George, Boston to summon me to him, for I was too
exhausted to serve. All of a sudden, there was the
strength of two healthy_young priests upon my weak
neck. I was led to the giant Metropolitan like a little
Iamb before the slaughter. With their heavy weight
on my shoulders, I was down on my knees before
Metropolitan Antony, and he graciously elevated me
to Protosyngelos - as if I didn't have enough trouble
without this new grave responsibility!
SAD ARCHBISHOP IN ASBURY PARK
The situation between New York and Toledo
worsened in the early '60s. The move in the Holy
Synod then was to divide the Archdiocese officially.
On Thursday, during the 1962 Convention, we the
clergy decided to demonstrate against the rumors,
and pledge our loyalty and solidarity to the Metropolitan. Over 65 Clergy, the Archdiocesan Board of
Trustees and guests arose in one body and marched
to the dais. In my capacity as the Protosyngelos I led
the moving demonstration. By the time we stood
before him - he was absolutely in tears. I said to
him on behalf of the clergy, the Board of Trustees
and the Archdiocese the following:
Your Eminence:
At this most serious turn in the life of the
An tiochian Church, and from the depth of
history and this Church that was born in blood
passions, and was baptized with blood ~nd nurtured with tears, we the clergy of this Archdiocese look up to you our Master with our eyes
- pledging to you our loya~ty and fait~ulne_ss,
promising the Lord to contmue marchmg with
you under your banner, str~ggling alone ~ith
you to save Orthodoxy from its present predicament.
If this testimony does need sacrifices, the_n,
"there is no greater love hath man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends"
(John 15: 13), and if life is a sta~d of_h~nor and
you have many immortal stan~s m this ft~ld, our
Covenant then is truth and Just commitment,
then, we stand with you in one column, tha~ history might record for the coming generations,
that the truth is mightier than falsehood, and
that a tiny spark of light could shatter the
darkness of the blackest nights.
On forward O beloved of hearts, and may the
Gates of Hell be shattered on the rock of the
everlasting foundation of Orthodoxy. • •
This lively demonstration was followed br a strongly
worded cablegram to His Beatitude, Patnarch Theodosius IV.
December 1977
DEATH OF THE METROPOLITA
On the e e of Februar 1 19 at L ah
Memorial Clinic in Boston Ma achu tt th
i
heart of Metropolitan Anton topped, and with it
stopped the eventurning wheel of the Ar hdi
A cablegram was sent to Patriarch Th od iu
I,
announcing the passing of our belo ed Metr p litan,
and requesting that he immediate!
nd u a hi
official legate our most dear friend Metr p lit n
Ilyas Kurban, Archbishop of Tripoli Leban n. Hi
Beatitude at once honored our wi h and di pat h d
Metropolitan Kurban, who at hi arri al t k
complete charge of the affairs of the wido ed r hdiocese.
The body was flown to ew York and laid-instate at St. Nicholas Cathedral until the final maj ti
funeral liturgy was offered.
Since I was in charge, in this hour of orro ,
many Fathers of the Archdiocese approached me to
request that they deliver the eulogy, e en man
Metropolitans, Archbishops, Bishops, Clergy officials and laity from all walks of life. I became the
most unpopular priest in the eyes of the e good
brethren who had no rapport with the sleeping giant.
One young cleric was chosen to deliver the eulogy on
behalf of the clergy of the Archdiocese and thi
eloquent young cleric was our Brother-In-Christ Fr.
Philip Saliba of St. George, Cleveland. Fr. Philip
touched in his most moving eulogy - in both Engli h
and Arabic poetry, not only the thousands that filled
the Cathedral to overflowing capacity, but I am sure
that he tenderly touched the noble soul of his master
and friend, the Metropolitan. Thus ended one of the
most illustrious periods in the history of An tiochian
Orthodoxy.
BRINGINGMETROPOLITANANTONY
UP-TO-DATE
Everyone knows of my close relationship with the
late Archbishop. We were in constant touch. The
week before he passed into eternity we spoke at
length on the phone and since, there has been the
silence these past eleven years.
.
The other night I had a dream the Metropoht~n
came back and he asked "What's new Father Eilts?
What has happened to the Archdiocese since I left?"
Almost in a state of shock I quickly responded:
"Saidna, Metropolitan Ilyas Kurban issued an ~mm~diate call for a General Archdiocesan Meetmg i~
New York and requested all celibate clergy to subm~t
in writing their credentials according to the Constitutions of both the Patriarchate and the Archdiocese."
. .
.
"What happened then?", he asked m his typical
manner.
"
.
"Well," I quickly responded, the meeti3:1gwas
held on March 16, 1966 at the Sheraton_Hotel t~ New
y ork and according to the democratic practice of
Page 7
�our Church, your student, Fr. Philip received the
largest majority - in fact - 257 out of 395 votes."
He seemed pleased, and then inquired: "How did
the Holy Synod react to the news?"
I mused for a minute and then said, "In all
honesty, they acted as they have in the past - by not
acting. Metropolitan Ilyas and your friend Monsour
Laham cabled the Patriarch the results of the election and the names of Fr. Philip, Bishop Hazim and
Fr. Gregory Abboud were submitted in the order of
preference. For five months we heard nothing."
"Nothing?" he asked. "Nothing." "For God's sake
... " He fell silent.
I quickly retorted, "But we acted and on July 8,
1966, I was appointed to head the delegation of your
young clergymen to go to Damascus and meet with
the Patriarch and members of the Holy Synod. We
were empowered to discuss our American situation
and urge the speedy selection of a worthy successor.
Metropolitan Antony seemed to sigh knowingly
and queried me as to the results.
"Remember 1959?" I asked. "When you were
instrumental in exposing an unfriendly plot during
the Patriarchal election at that time? Well, we were
faced with a similar situation in the summer of 1966.
Many conflicting forces were ardently at work which
threatened the future of the Archdiocese. However,
after 21 frustrating days, we finally succeeded in the
purpose of our mission. But time ran out on our
tickets and we were robbed of the opportunity of
being present for the election."
"What do you mean?" He seemed puzzled.
"We had to return to America the day of the
election and it seemed that you were somehow
involved because our plane made an unscheduled
stop in Boston, the place where you left us - and it
was there that we learned that Fr. Philip Saliba of
Cleveland, Ohio was now Archbishop-Elect of New
York and All North America.
His eyes twinkled, a tear fell and then he smiled
broadly.
I continued. "A funny thing happened to Saidna
- on his way back from his consecration to San
Francisco, to preside over his first Archdiocese
Convention and Hierarchical Liturgy in North
America. We seemed to have lost our new Archbishop! For several days we anxiously awaited his
arrival with his delegation. There was concern on
both sides of the ocean. When word reached us that
he would soon be in our midst a large delegation
rushed to the airport to greet him. It was like Palm
Sunday! I rushed to call Patriarch Theodosius telling
him all was well. His answer was 'Al Hemdolillah' I've been praying since your first call."
He then shot back - "What did Philip do?"
I replied, "The people were a little apprehensive
wondering how could this young Archbishop of 35
conduct himself and the Convention since this was
all so new to him? But it took one session and just
watching him preside at the Liturgy to know that
Page 8
from the first moment that he took complete char
of guiding this great ship you left all was well!"
ge
Wondering out loud, he asked what happened to
some of the programs he started.
I lost no time in telling him that he would b
indeed proud of the_ acc_omplish-':Ile?ts of the youn;
prelate who lost no time m estabhshmg his prioritie
organizing new programs, expanding the existins,
ones, visiting all the Churches and opening up a ne!
era of progress within the North American Archdiocese.
"Would you believe that there are over 20
departments and commissions staffed by scores of
young dynamic clergy and laymen? A youth director
and a Christian Education director have been hired.
At the headquarters there are several secretaries and
a complete household staff."
"My goodness," he almost gasped, "is 239-8Sth
St., Brooklyn, big enough for this operation?"
"Not
really.
The
Archdiocese
is now
headquartered
in Englewood, New Jersey in the
majestic setting with room for everything including a
Chapel donated by the teenagers of the Archdiocese."
"For God's sake, who is paying for all of this?" he
inquired with his typical concern over financial
matters.
Shaking my head slightly, I smiled and
responded, :'Saidna, the people are gtvmg in unprecedented
amounts. Among the two newest
Departments are Stewardship and The Order of St.
Ignatius of Antioch. Don't worry, your trust funds
are in good order - Metropolitan Philip has been a
wise steward, and there are more Churches, priests,
missions than ever before! And even more books to
sell!"
He turned his attention to another matter and
asked about the Old Country.
I sadly told him that the past ten years have seen
a series of wars and conflicts throughout the Middle
East.
But he would be so proud to learn that Metropolitan Philip has never forgotten the land of his
birth and has nobly raised, donated and distributed
literally hundreds of thousands of dollars that our
faithful generously gave in order to help the suffering
victims of these tragic events.
Also, Metropolitan Philip is today one of the
leading Christian Arab Leaders in the world fighting
for truth and justice for all peoples regardless of religion or race.
"I am happy to report to you that Saidna Philip
has met and been honored by leaders from all over
the world in his honorable pursuit of peace.
I think he has even traveled more than anyone
else to the Middle East to help his people, his
country and his Church."
Suddenly, a thought struck him - he quickly
/Continued on Page 251
The Word
WHICH COMMUNITY?
An original short story written by Freda Upson for THE WORD
about living the Christian life in contemporary society.
Jane looked about her with satisfaction. The new
house was just what she had dreamed about all these years
when she and George had struggled, pinched, and saved
to improve their own lives and those of their two children.
She was proud of the achievement, but perhaps most of all
she was proud to think that now she could live in a "nice"
neighborhood, send the children to a "good" school, and
make friends among those whom she had always looked
up to with a touch of envy. The doorbell chimed - what a
beautiful sound! - and Jane went to the brand-new door
and opened it.
"Hello?" The young woman who stood there was about
Jane's age - thirty-ish or so - with blonde hair that was
the product of art rather than nature and a figure that put
considerable strain on her polyester pants. "I'm Elsie
Smith, your next-door neighbor. I'd like to welcome you
to our Stratford Avenu,~ Neighborhood Society and, of
course, get to know you.
"How nice!" exclaimed Jane happily. "I'm Jane
Maloof. Do come in and have a cup of coffee. I was
hoping I'd get to meet my neighbors soon. You mean you
have a society of neighbors?"
"Sure thing. We have picnic suppers and meetings
about things we want to change, and of course there are
other things going on in the community. There's always a
big bazaar in the fall - really tremendous!"
"It sounds like fun," said Jane ushering the way to the
kitchen where there was a nice little nook with a table
overlooking the yard (their very own yard!) "Do sit down
while I plug in the coffee."
.
.
.
Elsie looked over her new neighbor with a penetratmg
eye. "I've a feeling you'll be a good worker," she
remarked. "You look efficient. Maybe you'd like to help
with the bazaar."
"Of course. I'd love to. I've never done anything really
big, - just church bazaars and things like that."
"I know," said Elsie, sweeping aside church baza~rs
with a gesture of disdain. "As a matte~ of fact, we re
looking for someone to be a sort of coordmator; someone
to keep tabs on all the committee chairme~, - that sort of
thing. I think you'd be good at that, especially when I see
how fast you've gotten your house org~nized so soon_after
moving." She looked around the neat kitch~~ appr~vm_gly.
Jane felt a warm glow in response to f:lsie s admiration.
It was pleasant to be welcomed so quickly and wholeheartedly to the new neighborhood.
"Are those your children?" asked Elsie looking out of
the window.
"Yes," said Jane following her gaze. "Mike is seven and
Freda is the wife of Fr. Stephen Upson, former_ editor _of
the WORD and has agreed to write some creative stones
about problems of the Christian life.
December 1977
Mary is five. George's m ther li" with u t
11
her Imme. George is my hu band," he added.
"Your mother-in-law li e with
u?" A n t lm t
like horror crept into Elsie' oice.
"She's a dear," said Jane. " he help d u
ith the
house and she's wonderful to ha e ar und. Th hildr n
love her and she helps with the cooking."
"Cooking? I don't cook much m elf. Ha\en't tim .
and there are so many frozen thing n w that th r • n
need to bother."
"We spend quite a lot of time co king," aid Jan
trying to suppress a vague feeling of unea ine ab ut
Elsie. "You see, our grandparents came fr m Leban n
and we have a cooking tradition that we like t keep up."
"Oh." Elsie waved the subject aside. "Anywa y u'll
want to get out of the kitchen once in a while."
"Of course," said Jane, thinking how lovely the new
kitchen was, and how much she was going to enjo being
there, especially when she could look out of the wind w
on green grass and trees instead of brick and blacktop.
GETTING CAUGHT UP-AND
IRRITABLE!
As the days went by, Jane found herself seeing m re
and more of Elsie. Elsie's days were full of meetings and
activities. She made it a point to invite Jane to go with her.
At first Jane welcomed the opportunity to meet new
friends, to become part of the neighborhood. Her former
friends and relatives all lived some distance away. Then
she began to find it a struggle to be home on time for
meals. She found herself more and more often calling up
Imme and asking her to look after the children un_til_she
could get home. Of course it was all part of that difficult
feat known as "getting acquainted."
When at home, she had to spend a lot of time on the
telephone rounding up people to serve on committees.
Elsie assured her that this was the way everybody would
get to know her. She did not ~:op to wonder who "e erybody" was. Instear she FF~lt
1ft"llablewhen George was late
coming home 01 ule ch:laren wanted her to help make a
playhouse out of cardboard boxes.
"Why don't you ride your bicycles?" she snapped.
"Don't bother ri.e when I'm busy."
It seemed to her that George was becoming silent and
moody, and that looks passed between him and his mot~er
that excluded her. Elsie insisted that no woma_ncould h e
peaceably in the same house with her moth:r·m-law. ~hy
was Jane putting up with it? Yet when Jane m desperation
tested that she had so little time to care for her house
~~~ her children, Elsie would reply, "Well, your motherin-law is there. It's something for her to do. She probably
doesn't mind."
. .
Jane's activity increased, day ~y day, un_ttlfmally he
was offered the most important Job of bemg the coorPage 9
�dinator of the entire community bazaar! And of course the
committee promised her: "There will be lots of people
glad to help."
Jane threw herself into the job with all the energy she
had. She found, however, that the willing help she had
been promised was slow to appear. In desperation she
enlisted George's help. There was no one else to construct
the booths. George was good about it, and she had to
admit to herself that if he hadn't helped, she didn't know
what she could have done.
The Crisis Comes!
Shortly afterwards the blow fell. Imme announc~d that
she was leaving to go back to the city and stay with her
sister.
"But why? Why right now when I need you?" asked
Jane, stunned by the prospect of having to cope with the
children. the meals. and her new responsibilities all at
once. "Please don't go now. Wait at least until ... "
"Until what?" asked George. "Until you have time to
pay attention to your family?" There was a tone of anger
and bitterness in his voice which she had never heard
there be fore.
Imme shook her head. ''I'm lonesome out here. I want
to be near the family. I want to be able to get to church."
So that was it! She was being criticized for not going all
that long distance in to church on Sundays when it was the
only day she could get some rest and get up a little later.
She was on the point of retorting but it seemed useless, or
was she just a little bit ashamed?
George got up and went out into the garage. Imme
picked up her suitcase which had been sitting in the front
hall. The children clamored to go along, and in a few
moments Jane found herself sitting at the empty dinner
table too stupefied with grief to move. She tried to pull
herself together, remembering that she had a meeting to
attend, but all she could think of were Imme's parting
words. She hadn't said "Glod bless you;" she had said
"God help you." What could it mean except disapproval?
The sick feeling inside Jane gave way to anger. Imme was
narrow-minded and old-fashioned. She obviously didn't
believe that women had a right to their own lives. She
thought that Jane should stay home all day and look after
the children. Well, that wasn't the American way, as Elsie
had so often told her. Every woman had a right to be what
she wanted to be.
When George returned with the children, Jane was
ready for him, - ready to unleash all the pent-up fury that
had been boiling within her all evening, even while she
attended the meeting. But George, too, was suffering from
his own internal pressures.
"What in heaven's name has gotten into you?" he
roared. "You wanted to live out here in a swell house in a
fancy suburb, and for what? So you could run around with
Elsie every day and be on committees and feel important
and never have to be home at all? What good does this
place do you? You're never in it! You don't care about me
or the children or anything except Elsie and her affairs.
I'm sorry we ever moved into this house!"
The Solution: A Self-Discovery
On the next morning when Jane entered the kitchen,
George was already gone. The children were listening to
the morning cartoons on the TV. She poured herself some
of the coffee which George had left in the pot. She tried to
Page 10
pull herself together to face the final preparations for th
bazaar. How could she live through this day? Never ha~
she felt so weary, so drain~d of life and hope. She stared
out into the back yard which had once seemed so beaut'ful; she looked about the kitchen which had once hel~
such lovely promises. Why did they look so different now?
What could she do to get rid of that leaden feeling in th~
pit of her stomach?
The telephone rang. Should she answer it? It was
probably Elsie. She didn't want to talk to Elsie, but what
else was there to do? She picked up the receiver. It was
Libby, the church secretary, - something about church
dues. Jane was hardly listening. She knew nothing about it
but something prompted her to ask wpether Fr. Elias wa~
there. Yes, he was in his office. Libby switched her on.
''Father, I need to see you. I must talk to you. It's
terribly important. Can I come right now? I mean - it will
take time to get there, and I'll have to bring the children
An hour later Jane was sitting in Fr. Elias's office
pouring out her tale of woe. Once in a while he asked a
question to clarify a point, but otherwise he listened
patiently and - Jane was sure of it - sympathetically. It
must be that he could see her side of it and not just
George's.
"What was your reason for giving so much of yourself
to these new neighbors?" he asked her when she had come
to the end of her story.
"Giving so much of myself?" she repeated.
"Yes. I've known you and George a long time, and
until lately you've devoted yourselves to your families and
the church community. For some reason you've suddenly
transferred all this love and energy to work for people you
never saw before. Why?"
Jane thought about it. "I don't know," she said slowly.
"I think it's because I wanted other people - besides my
family and friends - to recognize me."
"You wanted their approval so that they could think
better of yourself? Or did you think you were helping
people who needed it?"
Jane realized that he was asking her whether her
motives were selfish or - "I think I wanted to help the
community."
"What community?" Fr. Elias paused, and when Jane
didn't answer, he continued, "You see, Jane, a community
in the true sense isn't just an area of geography. It's a
group of people who think and act according to the same
ideas. That's why our church community is a true com·
munity. Of course we differ in many small ways, but we
recognize the same pattern of life, and most important of
all the authority of God. This is expressed in the long
tradition of which the church is the guardian. The com·
munity you've moved into isn't that kind of community at
all. It's just a group of people who can afford the same
kind of houses."
"Is it wrong to want a nice house and work to earn it?"
Jane bridled a little at his words.
"Not at all. It depends on how you feel about it. As
long as it represented a sacrifice which each of you made
for the other, it symbolized something good. Remember,
our Christian faith is one of self-restraint and personal
sacrifice. We fulfill ourselves by denying ourselves. This is
the only way individual families and church families can
(Continued on Page 17)
The Word
HolyYear Sermons
THE
SCHOOL
OFANTIOCH
by father joseph l. w. angwin
NOWHERE does the Light of Orthodoxy - pure TRUTH
_ shine more brilliantly than in the works of that
illustrious succession of teachers and theologians we call
THE SCHOOL OF ANTIOCH - not a school in the
formal sense, but what we may call a 'school of thought'.
It is unnecessary for me to dwell on the background
story of the School. In reality, it is the story of the
Patriarchate itself, so ably described in Archdiocesan
publications, works in our parish libraries, and in the
instructions of our pastors and teachers. Nonetheless, it is
imperative to keep in mind this background when talking
about the School and the theology of Antioch.
Permit me to mention briefly four great theologians
who had formative effects on Antiochian teaching, each in
his own way and age, but who (collectively) illustrated so
well the common characteristics
of that unique Antiochian contribution to Orthodoxy.
l
ST. IGNATIUS, the glorious martyr,
reminded the Orthodox Faithful of his
day of the indispensable place of the
Bishop in the structure of the Church.
Successor of the Apostles, transmitter
of the Ministry and defender of the
Faith, chief shepherd and pastor, servant of servants. "Where the Bishop is,
THERE is the Church," he taught.
How well he knew! He sat at the feet
of the Holy Apostles Saints Peter and
Paul, and he beheld the efforts of St.
Barnabas when that worthy leader still
labored in Antioch. His ecclesiology
was learned firsthand, at the Source.
But his teachings on the nature and
structure of the Church, its life and order, were more than reliable testimony
to Orthodox belief in Apostolic Succession, the Eucharist, and other essential doctrines. They were practical
guides for the survival of the Body of
Christ in its hours of trial during the
persecutions. Only the ecclesiological
Church he described could withstand
the forces of evil and enjoy the Christgiven guarantee to Antioch's founde~,
that the gates of hell would not prevail
against her.
At this joyous time, when His Beatitude wal~s amon~st
us, the teachings of St. Ignatius on the Churchs ecclesiology are so clear and profound that it woul~ be presumptuous of me to do more than refer to the obvious.
Father Joseph L. W. Angwin is Pastor of the Orthodox
Church of the Incarnation in Detroit, Michigan, a former
Anglican parish.
December 1977
A century later ST. THEOPHIL S,
building on the foundation of the
Ignatian Apostolic deposit of Faith.
zealously protected
the Faithful
against heresy. (Eusebius praised him!)
Scripture was his weapon. He was one
of the earliest commentators on the
Gospels, if not the first. He is also believed to have been the earliest Christian historian of the Church of the Old
Testament, founder of the science of
Biblical Chronology.
But he was far more; his range of interest was immense. He was an apologist for the Faith, contending with pagans and heretics on the subjects of
God, creation, man, sin, redemption.
For him, however, it was not a matter
of speculative accommodation for antagonists but the presentation of the
clear Truth of Christ. With St. Paul he
could say, "The world by wisdom
knew not God."
As a commentator notes, "He was of
Antioch; and was content to be,
simply and altogether, nothing but a
Christian ... ", defender and expounder of the Faith in that community where they were first called Christians.
Towering high in an age of giants was
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. a product
of the Antiochian tradition who li,ed
two centuries
after Theophilu ,
finishing his labors in Constantinople.
But, as we never tire of reminding our
brethren, he began them in Antioch!
Like Theophilus, he refused the
slippery path of speculative theology
and clung to the True Faith. He too
found a weapon in the practical use of
Scripture, avoiding allegory and s~bol. His eloquent sermons were, m
fact commentaries on Scripture ethi~ally and morally elevating, but direct and clear practical applications of
Holy Writ to Christian living ..
In his teachings, the Eucharist was
the center of Christian life. Indeed, it
WAS Christian life, vivified and deified by the very true Body ~d Bloo_d
of Christ. No greater memonal to his
eucharistic theology exists th an th e
sublime liturgy which bears his name.
Page 11
�And what WAS the clear and consistent teaching of
Antioch in the age of Chrysostom and his ~uccessors? It was the Faith affirmed by the Ecumemcal
Councils. It centered in Christ, always the Target of
heretics . . . One Person in two natures, G~d a~d
Perfect Man, completely and inseparably umted m
One Divine Person . . . two Wills. (We need only
read the Second Confession of Faith.)
And did Antioch have its heretics? Yes, but the
School of Antioch disclaimed them. Nestorius for
example was ejected, and Antioch ~roudly proclaimed the Blessed Mother as the glorious Theotokos.
ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS in the
eighth century was the fourth and _lase
figure I would call to your attention.
He was the inheritor of all that Antioch, and indeed all Orthodoxy, had
preserved, developed, and transmitted
through the ages of persecution and
dispute. He had a passionate regard
for the cumulative TRADITION of
Orthodoxy. He was the compiler and
organizer and summarizer of Orthodox Truth, the founder of Systematic
Theology.
The ecclesiology of Ignatius, the
Biblical apologetics of Theophilus,
and the (Biblical) pastoral theology of
Chrysostom were landmark contributions to his final synthesis, but many
other lesser known but nonetheless
valuable contributors from the Antiochian School were his benefactors.
In his monumental work we find the
completion and fulfillment of Antioch's contribution to Orthodoxy, a
contribution which it is no exaggeration to say was instrumental in shaping
the Christian Faith in the form we
know today.
Ignatius, Theophilus, Chrysostom, John of Damascus and so many more! What characteristics did they share
which marked out the Antiochian School as chief contributor to the Faith? (1) A reverence FOR, and faith IN,
Divine Truth as the necessary foundation for Orthodox
belief. (2) A relevant and practical approach to theology,
based upon historical and concrete exposition of Scripture
and understanding of Christ, free from symbolical and
allegorical wanderings into the quagmire of heresy. (3)
And finally, a perceptive sense of balance and proportion
resulting from ~n emphasis on the True Faith enshrined
in the inheritance of Tradition.
Needless to add, a deep Antiochian spirituality
developed as a result of this bedrock foundation in the
Faith.
A confused and embittered world, ideologically unanchored, wearied and sickened by 'isms' of man's invention, yearns for TRUTHthe pure Truth of Orthodoxy.
But, as the Holy Apostle St. Paul says, " . . . how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and
how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall
they preach, except they be sent?" And, in praise of
Page 12
[]TURGY AND llFE
vocations to the Ministry, he adds, "As it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of !h~m that preach t_he gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good thmgs." (Rorn.
10.14f.)
Orthodox Christian
May the vision of our Patriarch, and the labors of ou
Metropolitan, be fulfill_ed by re-kindling· the flame 0~
Truth with many vocations at Balama~d. ~nd may the
Light of Orthodoxy - pure Truth - hkewtse shine brilliantly from US, the Antioch of the New World, as we
labor to proclaim the inheritance of Truth given us and all
the Orthodox Faithful by the School of Antioch.
MEMORIALSERVICES
by archpriesteliasg. karim
The visit of Death to every human being is inevitable.
It is a fact of life which everyone born of this earth must
face. Nonetheless, one of the most difficult tasks in life is
to put to rest a departed loved one. From time immemorial and especially since the dawn of civilization and
Christianity, funeral rituals and memorial services have
been held in honor of the departed. Within the framework
of the Holy Orthodox Christian Faith, memorial rites have
descented from Apostolic times and are inspired with
prayers for the departed, and at the same time, with a
desire to console the bereaved.
\
.. 13LES5Eb is llE Tl1AT COMES iN Tl1E NAME OF TllE LOH.ti••
~
.tr.,•',f.;!~
0.:}';
~4""
I
I
(
\
New England Region SOYO proudly presents the only
recording with His Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV.
Recorded live at the 39th NER SOYO Conference June
19, 1977, this record features excerpts from the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy as well as a special musical tribute to
His Beatitude. Order this lasting souvenir today.
-------------------------NAME _________________
_
ADDRESS _______________
_
CITY I STATE I ZIP ___________
_
Please send me __ copy(ies) of the Recording "Blessed is
he that comes in the name of the Lord" at $6.00 per copy.
Postage and handling $1.00 per copy.
TOTAL ENCLOSED __
_
Kindly mail checks or money orders to: NER SO.YO
RECORD CI O David Franciosi, 5 Alandale Parkway,
Norwood, Mass. 02062
The Word
REMEMBRANCE of
OUR BELOVED DEPARTED in CHRIST
The Holy Orthodox Christian Church cares for Her
believers in death. She prays for them and offers up the
Bloodless Sacrifice of the Divine Liturgy in their behalf on
the Third, the Ninth, and the Fortieth Day after their
decease. Sometimes upon request, prayers are offered
every day for the first forty days, as well as at the end of
the Third, Sixth, and Ninth month after death, and every
year thereafter, on the anniversary of their death which is
called the "Day of Remembrance,"
or, the "Day of
Commemoration."
These Memorial Services, ("Salat-Ar-Rahmeh"
"Trisagion" - "Panakhida" etc.) or "Prayers of Mercy" as
they are commonly called, are offered with a purpose. (cf.
Romans 14:8; Ephesians 6:18; 1st Timothy 2:1; St. James
5:16; 1st John 5:16). They are prayers of mercy and love
for the departed, and are expressions of the brotherly love
and unity which exists between the living and the departed
in Christ aimed to influence the Father of All to show
mercy u~on the departed so that they may be per~itt~~ to
feel and to gaze, according to the measure of t~etr abthty,
upon the Beatific Vision of God, and, on the fmal Day of
Judgment, to be counted with the Saints.
WHYPRAYFORTHEDEAD
As Orthodox Christians, our watchword is unity in
Christ the Lord of Life! "For whether we live, we live unto
the L~rd; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.
Therefore, whether we live, or whether we die, we a~e the
Lord's!" (Romans 14:8) . .. and, all are living unto Htm!
The Holy Scriptures do not restrict the time or place,
but directly remind us of our Christian duty to pray f_orour
brethren whether they are with us or are absent; tf they
are living or have departed this life. We are to "pray for
one another" (St. James 5:16) and "for all men" (1st
Timothy 2:11; Ephesians 6:18-19).
When we pray for our brethren in the flesh, we pray
The Very Rev. Father Elias G. Karim is Pastor of ~he
St. Elifah Antiochian Orthodox Church in Oklahoma Czty,
Oklahoma.
December 1977
for their souls ... which are eternal; in lik
pray for our brethren in spirit (th e ut
because their souls are the same.
Furthermore, we are commanded t pra
brethren whose sins are not unto death,
the ma
receive life. (cf. 1st John 5:16). We don t pra f r lh
dead, that is, for the totally lost (St. Matth i :22), f r
those who die unrepentant or who peak again t th H 1
Spirit, their sin is unforgivable and is unto death (cf. t.
Matthew 12:32). The Church does, howe er, pra f rand
is able to secure eternal salvation for those Chri tian
ho
have repented of their sins before falling a leep in th
Lord, because Christ did promise that what e er e hall
ask the Father in His Name, that will he d ! (St. John
14:13).
THIRD-DAY MEMORIAL SERVICES
On the third day, we pray that Christ our G
rose from the dead on the third day after His death n th
Cross, and Who revealed Himself to His Holy Disciple for
the first time on the third day after His Crucifixion and
Burial, may resurrect our departed brother (sister) int
that New Life of blessedness which is with Hirn. Thi
Third-Day Memorial Service also signifies and remind us
that we, as well as the departed, were from the beginning
created by God in the trinity ... body, spirit, and eternal
soul .
NINTH-DAY MEMORIAL SERVICES
On the ninth day, we pray the Lord our God will
number the departed among the Nine Orders or Ranks of
Angels and Saints. Our prayers on the Ninth day indicate
that our earthly life is temporal and ephemeral; that the
body, that is the earthly remains, has returned to the
elements of the earth from which it was taken, and that
the soul which is not material or of earthly substance, but
is imm~rtal, may be counted among the nine classes ?f
Angels and Saints. In addition, these prayers are offered m
remembrance of the Second Appearance of Christ to His
Holy Disciples eight days after His Resurrection, which
was the ninth day.
FORTY-DAY MEMORIAL SERVICES
On the fortietli day after the falling asleep of our lo ed
ones, we beseec'fi the Lord Jesus Chris~, Who endure.d
temptation from the Devil on the fortieth day of Hts
fasting, to intercede and help the departed to stand up to
the ordeal of God•s Judgment, and that He, Who appeared
to His Holy Disciples for the last time before fl:e Ascen_ded
to Heaven on the fortieth day after Hts ?lonous
Resurrection from the dead, will receive the precious soul
of the departed into His heavenly a_bo~e.
. . .
The Forty-Day Memorial Service 1s also an 1:11d1cat10~
that the "new body" of the departed shall be umted to his
Page 13
�(her) soul in a most glorious manner on the Day of
Resurrection, and that the glorified body and soul shall
then ascend into the heavens, as did our Blessed Lord, and
shall be caught up into the air and clouds to meet the
Great Judge. (cf. 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17).
LOOK to CHRIST
Knowing and realizing that Christ our God_ is the
Resurrection
and the Life, the bereaved family an_d
relatives look to Christ with more fervor throughout this
"forty-day" period for the much desired assurance, added
blessings of strength, patience, courage, and c?~fort, and
not as a time of "rebellion" against God, by givmg up all
worldly pleasures, and by focusing their attention and
thoughts on Christ the Lord, through fervent pray~r and
active participation in the life of the Church, m the
receiving of Holy Communion,
and through more
frequent attendance at all the Divine Services of the
Church.
NO MOURNING PERIOD
In the Old Testament, memorial services denoted that
the prescribed period of mourning was concluded and t~e
time members of the family were "released" from their
bereavement.
(cf. Genesis 50:3, 10; Numbers 20:29;
Deuteronony
34:8). However, according to the New
Testament, which transcends and supersedes the old,
there is no such mourning period, there is no fear of death
and of dying, because through Christ Resurrected, there is
no death! Weeping and mourning (as those who ha~e no
hope), for a specific length of time has been abolished
once and for all through Christ Jesus!
We are admonished to "sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope!" (1st Thessalonians 4:13). For
through Christ our Lord, "God has wiped away all the
tears from our eyes; there is no more death; neither
sickness, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain: for all the
former things (regarding the morbidness of death) are
passed away!" (Revelations 21 :4).
ANNUAL and OTHER SERVICES
The meaning of the three prayer services offered on
the third, ninth, and fortieth days is also expressed
through our remembrances of the beloved departed on
the third, sixth, and ninth month during the first year.
By devoting to prayer the anniversary of a brother's
(sister's) demise, we affirm the Orthodox Christian belief
that the day of a believer's death is not the date of his
"annihilation," but rather of his (her) birth into Life
Everlasting.
GENERAL MEMORIALS
In addition to and apart from the usual private and
personal commemorations of our beloved dead which are
offered at the request of relatives and friends, there are
certain other days set aside by the Church for the
remembrance and commemoration of all the departed
brethren in general.
Special remembrances are made for the repose of the
souls of all the faithful of true worship who have died in
the Faith from time immemorial. Most especially, these
prayers are offered for those who have died without the
prescribed Memorial Prayer Services, such as those who
died at sea, in the mountains and wilderness, or because of
poverty, or because the death occurred in some remote
area, still unknown men, but known only to God.
The Church Services for these days are called
Page 14
"Universal Requiems," and the days themselves are called
"All Souls" or "Ancestral" days. Such days a~e primarily:
the Saturday before Cheese Fare Week, which is called
Meat Fare Saturday; the Saturdays of the Second, Third
and Fourth weeks of the Great Lenten Fast; the Saturda;
before the Feast of Pentecost; the Saturday before the
Memorial of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica (October
26th); the Tuesday (in some tra_ditions, the Monday) of
The New or Bright Week (that is t~e week immediately
following the Great
and Glorious
Feast of the
Resurrection of Christ; and the day of the Decollation of
St. John the Baptist (August 29th).
SERVICES POSTPONED
Memorial Services are on occasion postponed, even if
it be the service for the third, ninth, or fortieth day, if that
particular day falls on a da_te or at a tim~ in which such
memorial prayers are forbidden. Memorial Prayer Services are strictly forbidden from Christmas to the Feast of
the Epiphany (December 25th through January 6th); the
first week of the Great Lenten Fast; Palm Sunday and
Holy Passion Week; Holy Easter Sunday and Bright Week
(with the exception of Bright Tuesday), and all other
Great Feasts of the Church.
FUNERALS at EASTER
It should also be noted that when a true believer in
Christ is called by God at Holy Easter, that is from Holy
Easter Sunday to St. Thomas Sunday, very little of the
customary funeral prayers are said over the dead because
of the majesty and honor of the joyful and Glorious Feast
of the Resurrection, especially because Holy Easter is not
a time of lamentation, but a time of joy and gladness.
Furthermore, because all those who fall asleep in the Lord
in the hope of resurrection and of Eternal Life, and have
been taken to God through Christ's Resurrection from the
sorrowful things of this world to that New Life of joy and
of bliss, and are looked upon as being especially blessed.
the Holy Church proclaims the hymns of the Resurrection
over these beloved dead.
MEMORIAL WHEAT
As a token of the immortality of the souls of the
departed, we offer for all commemorative services, a tray
of specially prepared boiled wheat. This Memorial Wheat
(Ni-Ya-Ha, Ko-Li-Va) is a mixture of whole kernel wheat,
decorated with an assortment of sweeteners such as sugar
(or honey), nuts, raisins, herbs, and spices, which is
brought to the Church to be blessed and prayed over with
the special "Prayers of Mercy" for our beloved dead.
The grain of wheat symbolizes the resurrection of the
body of the departed, while the sugars and spices typify
the sweet, blissful life in the Everlasting Kingdom of
Heaven. Just as wheat is buried in the ground and dies in
order to spring forth into a new life with a new body to
bring forth fruit, more abundantly than before, so the
bodies of the dead must be buried in the ground and
allowed to decay in order that they may live again. (cf. St.
John 12:24; 1st Corinthians
15:36-38). Therefore,
Memorial Services without the specially prepared boiled
wheat are expressionless and are practically devoid of
meaning.
Those who partake of this edible memorial wheat
following the prayer service, acknowledge and confirm
their faith and belief in the resurrection, and ask God's
Mercy upon the soul(s) of the departed.
The Word
ARUHDIOUESAN
OFFIUE
To the Reverend Clergy, Esteemed Members of the
Archdiocesan
Board of Trustees, Archdiocesan
Organizations, Parish Councils, and the Beloved
Faithful:
May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord
give you grace, mercy, and peace.
All of us have observed the distress of some
western Christians in recent years, following the
desertion of ancient traditions in many areas.
Numbers of western faithful have been moved to
look to our Orthodox Church as a treasury and
guardian of the ancient, unaltered Faith. Persons
who have left their Christian homes, or have none,
and who adhere to the teaching of the Orthodox
Church are to be welcomed hospitably.
Our Archdiocese is the only one in America that
preserves
and nurtures
the ancient Western
Orthodox forms of worship. In our Missionary year,
this is especially important to us.
The reception,
training and acceptance
of
Christians who wish to make use of our western form
of service is a specialized ministry.
We direct all of our clergy and faithful, when
approached by persons who express a desire to use a
western form of worship, to communicate immediately and directly with Father Paul Schneirla,
8005 Ridge Blvd., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11209. He will
respond at once with literature and a personal
contact.
Father Paul, an acknowledged specialist in the
Western Rite, has been active in this program for
twenty years and should be referred to as soon as
any approach is made. We should not attempt
solutions on a local level so that we may utilize all of
our potential.
.
May Almighty God, who plants the s~ed of faith
in the hearts of men, bless you all to the mcrease of
grace and love.
Yours in His Service,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America
Church Consecrated:
Saint George in Upper Darby, PA, where the pa t r i
Reverend Father Antony Ba soline
Ordination:
SPYROU, Constantine to the Holy Diaconate n
tember 25 at St. George Church in pper Darb PA
p-
Leave of Absence:
GEORGE, Archpriest George R. from the pa t rate at t.
George in West Roxbury, MA
Assignments:
VAN ALSTINE, Reverend Father Barnaba from the
pastorate at St. George in Michigan City, I , to the
pastorate at St. Elias in La Crosse, WI
ZBEEB, Reverend Father Andrew to the interim
pastorate at St. George in West Roxbury, MA
ELEVATIONS:
WHITE, Priest Gabriel to the rank of Archprie t on
October 16 at Saint Michael Church in Geneva, Y
SHAHEEN, Priest Joseph to the rank of Archprie t on
October 30 at Saint Nicholas Church in Montreal, PQ
APPOINTMENTS:
KHOURI, Archimandrite Antoun, pastor of Saint George
in Allentown, PA, as Dean of the Eastern Pennsyl ania
Deanery
NASSAR, K weilin, of Saint George in Pittsburgh, PA as
Director of the Department of Information and Media
Relations
DIBS, Dr. George, of Saint Luke in Garden Gro e CA as
Co-Chairman of the Department of Stewardship
NICOLA, Ronald, of Saint Nicholas in San Francisco CA
as Co-Chairman of the Department of Stewardship
ORDINATION:
JAMES Andrew to the Holy Diaconate on October 23 at
Saint G~orge in Akron, OH. Assigned to serve the mis ion
of the Holy Cross in Athens, OH.
NEW MISSION:
(Midwest Region: Ohio Deanery)
Orthodox Mission of the Holy Cross
c I o Deacon Andrew James
32 Franklin A venue
Athens, OH 45701
(Continued on Page 20)
Page 15
December 1977
�DIALOGUE
Antind1ian ®rtl7nhnxQtQristianIf omen
of Nnrt4 America
• • •
questions to fat her buben
Christmas Message
Dear Father Michael:
I read with interest your article in the June issue of The
Word in which you tackled the complicated question of
the perpetual virginity of the Theotokos and the so-called
"brothers of the Lord." Your approach to the proble~,
that it must be understood in the light of Orthodox Tradition, is absolutely sound. You were also correct in
pointing out that "Clopas and not Joseph was the father of
James and his brothers."
However, there were two apostles named James: the
son of Zebedee and the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3, Mat. 10,
Acts 1). Therefore Zebedee cannot be the same person as
Alphaeus. Alphaeus is, however, the same as Clopas. Both
names are translations of the Aramaic Halpai. Mary "the
wife of Clopas" (John 19) is obviously the same as Mary
"the mother of James" (Luke 24), Mary "the mother of
James the Younger and Joseph" (Mark 15) and the same
Mary "the mother of James and Joseph" in Matthew (27).
As you pointed out, this Mary, often called "the other
Mary," was one of the Lord's most devoted disciples and
the mother of James the Younger and Joseph, and the wife
of Clopas.
This brings us to another puzzle. Three of the
evangelists list the women at the cross. According to St.
John (chap. 19), they were:
1. His Mother
2. His Mother's sister
3. Mary, the wife of Clopas
4. Mary of Magdaia.
Who was "his mother's sister?" Mark 15 omits the
Virgin Mary, but lists:
2. Salome
3. Mary, the mother of James the Younger and Joseph
4. Mary of Magdaia
Mathew 27 lists the women as:
2. The mother of the sons of Zebedee
3. Mary the mother of James and Joseph
4. Mary of Magdaia
Putting these together we can identify the Virgin
Mary's sister as Salome, wife of Zebedee and mother of
James and John. This would mean that these two beloved
disciples, who accompanied the Lord everywhere and
along with Peter formed the inner circle (and whose
mother thought that they should sit with the Lord in His
glory, one at the right hand and the other at His left), were
His first-cousins by blood. No wonder their mother
thought that they should have special privileges!
The identity of the other "brothers of the Lord" is not
so clear. The "brothers" (which, of course, could mean
kinsmen of any kind) are named by Matthew and Mark as
James and Joseph and Simon and Jude. (Mark reverses the
order of the last two.) Now it is curious that three of these
Page 16
names, also listed together, appear among the Twelve
Apostles. They are James son of Alphaeus, Simon called
the Zealot, and Judas "of James" (son? brother? Unfortunately, the key word is missing). St. Jude in his epistle
identifies himself as "servant of Jesus Christ and brother of
James" (Jude 1).
Most Catholic and Protestant commentators, while
agreeing that James the first bishop of Jerusalem and
James the Younger were the same person, still attempt to
distinguish between him and the apostle by the same
name. Their argument is a negative one: the Scriptures
state that the Lord's relatives didn't believe in Him and
therefore, they reason, this James and Jude could not have
been the apostles of the same name. But is this argument
really conclusive? To speak of my brothers and friends
does not necessarily mean that my brothers are not my
friends. Perhaps some of the Lord's relatives did not
believe in Him. But if James the elder and John, the sons
of Zebedee and Salome, were among His most trusted
disciples, it is obvious that some of His relatives did follow
Him even if others did not. Perhaps the other James with
his brothers Simon, Joseph, and Jude, are singled out precisely because they were exceptions. It certainly cannot
be overlooked that the two sets of names, those of the
"brothers" (which add the same Joseph) and those of three
of the disciples are identical. Coincidence?
Our Church celebrates two feastdays, one for James,
son of Alphaeus and one for James, the bishop of Jerusalem. This is because St. Gregory of Nyssa and St.
Epiphanius made the distinction. (Church tradition also
distinguishes between Silas and Silvanus, although obviously they were the same person). But many Eastern
fathers have identified them as the same person. Melkite
Archbishop Joseph Raya writes: "According to several
Fathers of the Oriental Church and to the common belief
of the Latin Church, James, the brother of the Lord was
the son of Clopas (sometimes called Alphaeus), a brother
of St. Joseph. His mother was Mary, a first cousin(?) of the
Virgin. Because of this relationship, James was called
from very ancient times the "brother of the Lord," which
is an Oriental expression applying also to first cousin~.
James was also the blood brother of Simon and Jude. He 1s
called James the Lesser to distinguish him from James, the
son of Zebedee and brother of John the Evangelist. He
was the first Bishop of Jerusalem and the author of the
First Universal Epistle addressed to the Israelites of the
Diaspora. St. Jerome attests that he was martyred under
Emperor Nero in the year 62. He is in fact the same person
as James, son of Alphaeus, whose feast is celebrated on
(Continued on Page 31)
The Word
The most exciting and memorable year in our
Antiochian History, here in North America, has just
passed - and we are on our way to a NEW BEGINNING!
For many of us, it shall never be a forgotten year; and we
pray, our Chief Shepherd, His Beatitude, ELIAS IV, will
always enjoy good health for many years to come, so that
he may return to us again. Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord!
A NEW BEGINNING! Once again, we will hear the
beautiful prayers, hymns, and kontakions which lead us to
the Nativity of Christ!
A NEW BEGINNING! We will proclaim the "good
news" of the birth of our Lord and Saviour - EMMANUEL!
Our Church teaches us that the Prophecy of Isaiah
(9:6-7), was fulfilled when our Blessed Virgin, Mary, the
Mother of God, gave birth to our Lord, Jesus Christ, the
Saviour of the World. (Luke 1: 31-33). Because of His love,
God became Man - to save Man. Twelve Apostles were
selected by Christ to be taught the human laws of right and
wrong - and of love and faith - thus setting up the
beginning of the "Christian Faith". By these teachings, the
Apostles were told to go out in!o the world, t~ s~read the
words of our Christ - thus settmg up the begmmng of the
"Christian Church".
Our Orthodox Church is obligated to teach and spread
these words (through liturgies, sermons, christian
education, missions, etc.), and to give salvation through
the Mysteries (Sacraments) of the Faith. IT IS THERE
FOR ALL - TO HEAR - TO LEARN - TO BELIEVE!!
The theme for the year, 1978, is "Go e and tea h th
Gospel". Our 1978 AOCWNA Charit Proje t i armarked for MISSIONS, as voted upon at the Annual
Meeting in Washington, D.C. Therefor , w
)m n
must diligently work to support thi Proje t and rea h th
goal to which we have committed oursel e .
Let us all join together in one strong, unified force and make it another successful year! Without
ur
complete support, we will not be able to achie e thi g al.
We pray as we strive to do this, that the newborn
babe never allows us to forget the real meaning f
Christmas! We wish all of you and your loved one . a
most joyous Feast Day and may the coming year be filled
with peace, health, and above all, LOVE, for each and
everyone!
The Kontakion for the Feast of the ativity chanted o
very beautifully in all of our churches tells the story ery
meaningfully:
"Today the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth in
an ineffable manner to the Word before all ages.
Rejoice, therefore, 0 Universe, when thou hearest,
and glonfy with the angels and shepherds, Him who
shall appear by His own will as a new babe, being
God before the ages"
CHRIST IS BORN!!
GLORIFY HIM!!
Your Sisters-in-Christ,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women
of North America
Elsie Kaleel, President, and the
Executive Board
WHICH COMMUNITY?
(Continued from Page 9)
stay together. As soon as we get lost in our versonal ambitions we draw apart and split up. Isn't that really what
' been telling me about yourself and your f amt·1Y?"
you've
·
"I think I've been mad at George because in~ide _meI
knew I was pulling away from him. I wonder if he 11sttll be
mad at me."
.
.
"Not if you tell him how you really feel. Not tf he fmds
_youat home making the kibbe."
December 1977
And so it was. George's nostrils to!d him, as ~oon as he
entered the house, that things were gomg to be diff~rent:
"I've come home to stay," said Jane, welcommg h_u~
with a big hug, "and from now on, whatever we do its
going to be all of us together. Fr. Elias says h_ecan use us.
He says he's missed us. All the people have missed us. Isn t
that great?"
,, .
"
I
"Of course they've missed us, said Georg~ ? but
thought it was too far to go. Is~'t t_hatwhat you said.
"It isn't as far as I thought, said Jane.
Page 17
�ersonally
initiated
and
donated
a m
"f"
. ,,
h S
agm 1cent
"Jconostas1s. bto t e t. George
Orthodox
Ch
·
.
urc h m
Detroit. Th 1s enevo 1ent gift was in· commemorat·
f
"Dab
10n o
her belove d parents,
oud and Nazira AJ.amy" and h
•
"A
A"
er
belove?, sisters
sma
Jamy Bunai and Linda M.
AjamY •
. . .
.
.Her magnan1m_1ty 1s he~ mission in life and is given with
complete anonJm1ty. Sh~ ts a ~egular donor to our lady of
"Seid-Ya-Nyaa conv~nt m Syria and has underwritten the
cost of cen~ral heatmg for the . orphanage. Sharing her
ever-expanding quest for those m "need" - her anonymous contributions to the Patriarchal Orphanages of "St.
Gregory's and St. Pantalemon" have blessed and enriched
their lives.
P
Communities In Action
St. George Church
As the new Orthodox Church year began, St. George
Orthodox Church of Orlando completed its purchase of
the historic building that it has been occupying for the last
fourteen months. The Church building was originally built
for the First Church of Christ Scientist of Orlando,
Florida over fifty years ago. The Christian Scientist
Church sold the building to a group of lawyers in January
of 1976, who in turn leased the building to the St. George
Orthodox
Church congregation.
After a year of
negotiations, the congregation was able to purchase the
building as their permanent Church home this past
September first.
The new St. George Orthodox Church home is
designated as a State of Florida Historical Landmark. It
has been proposed for inclusion on the National Register
of Historical Landmarks in the United States. The building
is a Byzantine Neo-classical Basilica Building. The front
facade of the Church incorporates six massive columns
with a Greek style arch atop them. The building is
crowned with a large dome with an Orthodox Cross soon
to be atop it reaching towards heaven. The Church has acapacity of nine hundred people. The inside of the Church
is a magnificent sight for any Orthodox. The Icons on the
carved Iconostasis are 2 1/2' x 5' and consist of Our Lord,
Our Lady Theotokos, St. George, St. John the Baptist, Sts.
Archangel Michael and Gabriel, St. Nicholas and St. John
Chrysostom. The Holy Altar and Prothesis table are both
in the ancient style of Orthodox Altars consisting of a
stone top resting on Corinthian columns. The Ambon in
front of the lconostasis is quite large and is covered with
red carpeting as is the rest of the Church. As you enter the
Nave of the Church you are greeted by three Icon stands
in the middle of the Nave; this is a large open area for
those who wish to stand during the services.
Much work is planned for the building, including new
Byzantine style stained glass windows. The people of
Orlando have worked long and hard with their Priest, V.
St. George Church The Michigan Federation of American-Syrian-Lebanese Clubs held their
38th annual convention in
Flint, Michigan recently at
the St. George Orthodox
Church's Community Hall,
:ind was hosted by "The Ladies Cedar Club of Flint".
The "Charitable Service
Award" was presented to
"Miss Claire H. Ajamy", a
member
of St. George
Orthodox Church in Detroit - a recognition that has been
sought less and who deserves it more for her innumerable
contributions to humanity.
She was born in Damascus, Syria and came to Detroit
P.age18
Orlando, Florida
St. Nicholas Church
Beckley, W. Va.
Rev. Fr. John E. Hamatie, to get, with Almighty God's
Blessings, where they are today. However, all realize that
this is not the end of a dream, but rather the beginning of a
new reality. In testimony of their appreciation to Our Lord
for His giving them this building and for all the bountiful
blessings that He has showered upon this congregation St. George's on September 25th held a thanksgiving Great
Vespers service in the Church, which was open to the
public. Many civic and religious leaders of the local
community were in attendance. Truly, as Fr. Hamatie put
it, St. George Orthodox Church of Orlando is the 'Church
that Faith built.' For it has only been sincere faith in
Christ's Love for us that has sustained us through the dark
night of these many years of struggle, and it will only be
that faith in Him that will enable us to do the work that He
has set before us here in Central Florida.
Detroit, Michigan
in 1913 for a visit, but fate intervened in 1913 with the
outbreak of World War I, preventing the family's return to
their beloved homeland.
Surmounting all obstacles, including a language barrier,
she met the challenge with unequalled ability and became
the first Syrian woman to hold a position at the First
National Bank of Detroit - a real milestone at that time.
Her incredible performance characterized her ability to
assume a more important role, as the only female auditor
in the Federal Reserve Bank.
Ultimately, her experience in negotiating with people
proficiently, was recognized, and beginning as a neophyte,
she became a field agent for the Internal Revenue Service,
serving with unquestioned integrity, sincerity and de·
pe~dability, a position she held for 25 years - until her
retirement.
With due reverence to the "Glory of God" - she
The Word
Mrs. Sammy A. (Mary Elizabeth) Bassett has been
honored by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese for meritorious service to her local church.
A certificate was presented to her on behalf of
Metropolitan PHILIP, primate of the diocese by the Very
Rev. Zacharia Nasr, pastor of St. Nicholas Orthodox
Church.
Mrs. Bassett has served as a teacher and superintendent of the church school for 12 years, 'is a member of
the Ladies Auxiliary and the church choir.
"Mrs. Bassett is a lady who has worked diligently for
her church and church school. It seemed to me, with her
faith from her early years until this present time, it is most
fitting that we say congratulations or "axios.'' "Axios" is a
Greek work meaning "worthy," Fr. Nasr said. "Her
dedication and devotion is reflected in action," he added.
Following the presentation of the special certificate in
the church, Mrs. Bassett was honored in the church hall
with a party, sponsored by the parish council, and was
presented a silver candelabrum.
Mrs. Bassett and her husband, Sammy, have two
daughters, Lila, a sophomore at Fairmont State College,
and Sarah, a junior at Woodrow Wilson High School, who
plays the organ at St. Nicholas.
Mrs. Bassett is employed by the Kiddie and ~unior
Shop in Beckley. Born in Beckley, Mrs. Bassett ts the
daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Sam Rahall.
-Mary Kesbawy
She has made sizable contributi n t rh '
Pa~toral Education Fund" for prie t . thr u
chian Orthodox Christian Women f
rth
. ~er avalanche of generou contributi
s~mtl~gly to help remed . in man in tan
Situa_ttons. Utilizing Christian principl
s~e is the embodiment of feminine mer
hcence to those in need.
. M_iss Thelma _M. Shain, lieutenant g
M1ch1gan Federation of American- yrian-L ban
presented Miss Ajamy with "The Charitabl
Award" on behalf of the organizati n.
St. George Cathedral
Worcester, Mass.
Not even the oppressive heat could mar the
Neither could the delayed schedule. The pe pl
f
Worcester had prepared for this day for m nth , and
would not allow anything to detract from it. Hi Beatitud ,
Patriarch Elias IV, was to honor the people f W r e ter,
and the parish of St. George Cathedral, by making a
pastoral visit on his own name day, July 20.
The day's events began at the Sheraton-Lincoln Inn
where His Beatitude, Metropolitan Philip, and their entire
party of distinguished clergy were greeted by member f
the St. George Cathedral Parish Council and member f
the Patriarchal Visitation Committee. It was a marvelou
opportunity to see and meet His Beatitude, especiall f r
those who had not previously had the pleasure.
Vespers were scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral,
but were a trifle late in beginning because of ome
problems in the timing of news and television media. The
Committee was very fortunate in finding such outstanding
cooperation and help among many in the communit ,
both Orthodox and non-Orthodox, wanting to make thi a
memorable and historic occasion. As His Beatitude officiated at the evening services, he was flanked by Hi
Eminence, Metropolitan Philip and His Eminence,
Metropolitan Ilyas. While dozens of clergy from many
faiths attended the service, participants included Rt. Re .
Athanasius E. Saliba, Dean of the New England Clergy;
Very Rev. Paul W. Moses, Pastor of St. George Cathedral;
and the Revs. Antony Beauchamp and Gerasim ~
Murphy. Seated before the Iconostasis were Most Re .
Bernard J. Flanagan, Bi§.hop of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Worcester and Chor- Bishop Joseph Saidi f
Worcester.
Nearly 700 persons were soon beginning to gather in
the Cathedral Au<ti-toriumfollowing Vespers. They w~re
eager to meet in the spirit already displayed by the commg
together of so many brothers and sisters, many member
of St. George, many not. The sumptuous meal the
conviviality, the love, were symbols that evening. And
these symbols were beautifully expressed by se eral who
spoke on this awesome event. Walter E. Haddad ser ed a
Master of Ceremonies. He and Samuel G. Abdelmaseh
General
Chairman of the Visitation Committee
welcomed His Beatitude to the City of Worcester and to
the Cathedral of St. George. Their words were true exPage IS
December 1977
�pressions of what was felt that evening. So too were those
of Bishops Flanagan and Saidi and others. A special note
was felt when the Mayor of Worcester
read a
proclamation
acted on by the City Council which
designated that day as "Patriarch Elias Day" in Worcester.
That, along with his kind words and a key to the City, were
signs of their sincerity in marking His Beatitude's visit. A
warm and touching note was felt when the lovely Miss
Mary Ann Mahassel presented His Beatitude with a
beautiful bouquet of red roses.
In taking the podium to thank the people of Worcester
and to bestow on them his blessing, His Beatitude spoke
on the need for world peace and the further need to foster
and nurture that peace especially in the Middle East. He
spoke on his own desires and hopes for an appreciation of
the suffering and plight and unrest being endured by so
many in that part of the world and our ever-present
obligation to seek ou~ ways to _free th~m from it. Lastly he
described the Churchs efforts m workmg as an instrument
to that peace.
In looking back on that day, one will forever think of
the awe and the genuineness of it all. We will look back in
humility at the honor bestowed on the people of St
George marked by this occasion. But while looking back·
we too will hopefully look at the future in reference to th~
word of His Beatitude that evening. For in speaking of the
Church as an instrument of the peace he so desperately
wishes for the world, he speaks of us. This message will
remain as vivid to us as all the events which characterized
that day as the pinnacle in the history of our parish.
-Edward
G. George
ARCHDIOCESAN
OFFICE
(Continued from Page 15)
PATRIARCH GIVEN ROYAL WELCOME
Patriarch Elias IV, Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch,
who arrived in Damascus, Syria, on August 8th, after a
brief stop-over in Geneva, was given a royal welcome by
civil and religious
authorities.
Accompanied
by
Metropolitan Kurban and Archbishop Michael, Patriarch
Elias had just returned from visiting the North American
Archdiocese under his jurisdiction.
In Geneva, the Patriarchal party was received by
Metropolitan Damaskinos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Metropolitan
Ignatios
Hazeem,
who was
~epresenting the See of Antioch at consultation meetings
m Geneva, and the Ambassador of Syria. After a brief
rest, a luncheon was held at the Ecumenical Center at
Chamesy in honor of the Antiochian Patriarch.
A traffic jam was created at the Damascus International Airport as hundreds crowded the spacious, new
facilities to welcome and greet their beloved religious
leader, Patriarch Elias, who has been titled as "Patriarch
of the Arabs."
Leading the crowd were most of the hierarchs from
both Syria and Lebanon, plus government officials and
leading notables of Damascus, the oldest city in the world.
Following a brief interview with newsmen and T.V.
cameramen, what seemed like an endless caravan of cars
started towards the Patriarchate, which is located in the
old ~ection of the city. Upon arrival the bells of St. Mary's
Patri~rchal. Cathedr~l rang joyously as the crowds kept
swelhng with multitudes of people. Patriarch Elias
assisted by a host of bishops and clergymen, conducted
"Thanksgiving Services" and then proceeded to the Grand
Salon to meet and greet his flock.
The news media in both Syria and Lebanon gave frontpage coverage on the Patriarch's return from the New
World, a~~ his impressio~s and views during the three
month visit. Two leadmg weekly-journals
featured
Patriarch Elias on their covers in color publishing
det~iled interviews and remarks that co;ered many
subjects and areas.
Page 20
Assayad, largest weekly magazine in the Middle East
quoted Patriarch Elias telling President Carter: "Lov~
Israel but also love the Arabs." AI-Diar, a Pan-Arab
Weekly, quoted in bold letters: "GOD DID NOT
PROMISE ISRAEL TO THE JEWS," also, quoting what
President Carter told Patriarch Elias: "I APPRECIATE
THE ARABS BECAUSE I FOUND THEM TO LOVE
GOD."
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX SEE
FORMS THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
By Religious News Service
DETROIT - The Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America has formed an Orthodox
Theological Institute. To open next February, the institute
will train clergy of other denominations who wish to enter
the archdiocese but are unable to leave current pastoral
assignments.
Institute offices are located here at Incarnation parish,
a former Episcopal congregation which joined the archdiocese early this year as part of its small Western Rite.
Primary focus of the institute is prospective Western Rite
clergy.
Parishes in the archdiocese's Western Rite use worship
forms, in English, similar to those used by Roman
Catholics before the reforms of the Second Vatican
Council.
The institute, which will not grant degrees, projects a
year of :•orientation in Orthodox theology and practice" in
dogma~ic theology, Scripture, church history, Christian
education, pastoral theology, and liturgy. Those who
cannot be in residence for the full year are to be instructed
through tutorials
and required
book reports and
examinations, with a period of required residence for
practical liturgics.
The V. Rev. Paul Schneirla administrator of the arch?io~ese's w_
estern Rite Vicaria;e, is general director of the
mstitute. Director of studies is the V. Rev. Stephen Upson.
North American
Council
SOYO
Digest
News and Views ...
NAC SOYO PROJECT
The North American Council of the Society of Orthodox Youth Organizatio~s (NAC SOYO) has adopted the
St. Jude ~esearch Hospital cause as its community charitable project.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital located in
Memphis, Tennessee, was started by Danny Thomas and
has become the largest childhood cancer Research Center
in the world. The hospital opened its doors in 1962.
The hospital, realizing that there was going to have to
be a source for operating funds if it was to remain open,
looked to an already existing charitable organization
called ALSAC which agreed to adopt the new hospital as
its charity. ALSAC has two legal meanings: Aiding Leukemia Stricken
American
Children and American
Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities.
NAC SOYO has adopted the St. Jude Research Hospital cause in an effort to expand SOYO's activity to
charitable community involvement.
We hope that all SOYO chapters (Teen and Senior)
will aid us in making people aware of what can and is
being done to help children of the world, stricken with
catastrophic diseases (acute lymphocytic leukemia, Hodgkins disease, solid tumor, and other childhood cancers.)
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital exists to relieve
the suffering of children through research, education, and
service. Science, scholarship and expertise in the art of
medicine are here to serve all children, regardless of race,
nat_ionali~y, religion or econ mi
tatu .
l.
Jud
Chil~ren s Research Hospital i intere ted in v rv hild
and is ready to utilize all science and meth d r q ~ir d t
serve them.
St. Jude Children's Research Ho pital i n n- tarian,
inte~racial, and _c?mpletely free of charge to pati .r t
admitted by phys1c1anreferral, and if their d1 ea e i und r
study. Wh~n needed, _the institution will e\en provide
transportation and lodgmg for parent and child.
St. Jude's is fulfilling the promise and dream of it
fou~der, Danny Thomas, in making a signifi ant contribution t_oalleviating childhood diseases. O O hope to
make his dream our dream. Dreams can and will me
true with the guidance of God, and with a little extra eff rt
on our part to use His guidance. With your help thi an
be a umted effort of all people to make a contribution to
the children.
Please help us help these children with your donation
to St. Jude's Hospital.
For additional information on how you a an mdividual
can help, please contact your local ALSAC Chapter. If
your city does not have a chapter, contact your regional
SOYO President, or write directly to Esther imbol. AC
Coordinator for St. Jude's Children's Research H pital,
R.R. 23, Box 231, Terre Haute, Ind. 47802.
-Ether
imb l
We Pray For The Needs Of The World
When we worship God in Church, we are praying for
the needs of the world by saying the Lord's prayer, the
Creed, the Great Ektenia, by making the Sign of the Cross,
by obeying the Ten Commandments and by following the
laws of the Beatitudes.
During the Great Ektenia, we pray for all the things
that we need for a good life. We are also praying for the
family of God and for good things for the whole world.
When we say the Creed in Church, we are saying our
pledge to God and are confessing our faith in Him.
Jesus taught us nine ways or Beatitudes which would
help us to live with God. Some of the Beatitudes teach us
CLIFF FARHA is in the 3rd GRADE at the St. George
Church School in Wichita, Kansas. He won first place in
the NAC Creative Writing Contest.
to pray for the poor in spirit, to bless the meek, and to
bless those who hunger and thirst for righteousnes . Al ,
Jesus' new laws teach us to bless the peacemaker for the
work for peace in the world. These laws show u how
people should live together. We are praying for the need
of the world, therefore, by obeying the Beatitude .
We pray for ev.eryone during the Divine Liturgy which
is our most important service to God. We pray for the
whole world, for leaders of our country, for everyone in
God's Church such as bishops, priests, and deacon , and
good food to eat. We remember everyone and e erything
in our prayers - especially the saints, Mary and Je u .
In conclusion, therefore when we talk or pray to G d
in Church during the Divine Liturgy, we are praying for
the needs of everyone and everything.
Page 21
The Word
December 1977
�CAN-AM
REGION SOYO
On Wednesday afternoon, the 25th of May, at approximately 2: 15 P .M. in the VIP Lounge of Montreal International Airport, a historical event took place. A hush
filled the room, the atmosphere was one filled with electricity, wonder and expectancy. Without realization, _a11
gravitated simultaneously in the same direction. With
lumps in throat and tears in eyes, after a year of hard :vork
and preparation, the long awaited moment had arrived.
There before our very eyes, within our very midst stood HIS BEATITUDE ELIAS, - the most reverend and
most holy Father, Patriarch of Antioch, the Great ~ity of
God, of Syria, Lebanon, Arabia, Cilicia, Mesopotamia and
All the East; Father of Fathers, Shepherd of Shepherds,
Master of Masters, and Thirteenth of the Holy Apostles,
our Father and Chief Shepherd: may God grant him Many
Years.
Under the very capable and untiring dedicated leadership of our Host Parish priests, Fr. Antony Gabriel and Fr.
Joseph Shaheen, the Host Co-Chairmen, Mr. Frank
Haddad and Mr. Ernest Saykaly and the Honorary
Chairman, Mr. Moussa Souaid - thus began the Annual
Parish Life Conference of the Can-Am Region of SOYO.
His Beatitude was formally introduced to all present, a
brief interview by the Montreal Star ensued and a short
tense moment for our Guest of Honour, as he in turn,
replied in his new language - "English." On completion
of the interview, he turned to Saidna Philip and in an
almost
childlike
simplicity,
asked
the
question
"ENGLEESEE MUSBUTA?" This of course completely
broke the tension in the room, resulting in rounds of
applause and laughter and immediately winning the hearts
of all present.
A motorcade escorted His Beatitude and the Hierarchical party, first to St. George Orthodox Church for the
blessing of the church and parishioners and then likewise,
to St. Nicholas Church. The motorcade then visited City
Hall where His Beatitude was greeted and welcomed by
the Mayor of the City, received the key to the city and
then continued to the Hotel Bonaventure, location of the
Parish Life Conference.
God Teaches Us About
Himself In The Bible
Many years ago Jesus took people on hills and
mountains and preached the Holy Word of God.
Today we have the Word of God in the Bible. The
Bible contains the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John, the Epistles or Letters, the Psalms, the Acts of
the Apostles and the Book of Revelatiqns.
Through the Gospels we learn about Jesus' birth, His
life, His many good works and miracles, His sufferings and
death and His resurrection.
The priest takes the place of the Apostles. He is our
teacher and spiritual advisor. God teaches us through him.
In our teachings through the Bible we know that we
will someday receive our reward in God's Heavenly
Kingdom.
STEPHEN ROMANOWICZ
is in the 4th GRADE at St.
George Church School in Altoona, Pa. He won first place
in the NAC Creative Writing Contest.
Page 22
In the ensuing days, the usual conference activities
took place, with His Beatitude. serving_ all Matin anct
Vesper services, visiting all meet111gs while they were in
process, was guest of honour at the Saturday Evening
Banquet and also the Sunday Award~ Luncheon.
His Beatitude was most deeply impressed and moved
by the youth of our region and their_ participation in the
Creative-Writing/ Arts and Catechism Bowl competitions. But his greatest impression was of the children who
competed in the Oratorical Contest. To h~ar such youth,
speak so well on a subject of theolog~ entltled _"Saintsof
the Church" - to be so well versed 111the subJect, their
knowledge well above th~ir level ?f y~ars and education
_ his astonishment and JOY at this discovery cannot be
described in mere words. Sufficient to say, that upon his
return all of Lebanon and Syria will hear about the
"BOYS AND GIRLS" of the SOYO Regions who spoke so
beautifully and so knowledgeably.
Saturday night, His Beatitude addressed us formally,
choosing to speak of Lebanon, ~ subje~t close_ to the
1
hearts of all. His address was dei1vered
111Arabic, with
simultaneous translation by Saidna Philip. The complete
silence and rapt attention was broken only by the sudden
bursts of applause and a final standing ovation. To those
of use who could not understand the original Arabic
address, we were moved to tears by the excellent trans·
lation afforded us by Saidna Philip. To those who understood the Arabic, there was a general proclamation, that it
was the most beautiful speech they had ever heard, very
poetic, and that the English langua~e just could n?t allow
for translation in-depth of certa111 parts of this most
beautiful speech.
The Hierarchical Divine Liturgy took place at 9:30
Sunday Morning in the hotel, with almost 2000 people in
attendance and a choir of almost 150 persons singing.
People began arriving as early as 8:00 A.M. - ushers
were on hand to ensure proper seating accommodations
for all. The ballroom-turned-cathedral
was filled to
capacity, standing room included.
CBC was on hand to film the entire Divine Liturgy and
Pentecost service which followed. This Liturgy was shown
on television in color, the following Sunday, thus allowing
everyone a second opportunity of viewing the Liturgy.
The Liturgy was followed by the A wards Luncheon,
which was the social highlight of the weekend. Almost
1000 persons were in attendance and once again His
Beatitude addressed the people, this time in a combination of English and Arabic, and also presented the awards
to the winners of all contests and competitions.
Perhaps as this was the culmination of the conference,
and the sadness of the moment was upon us, the realization that a moment of history was coming to an end - the
room was filled with emotion.
His Beatitude is a very impulsive, spontaneous, exciting and loveable speaker. He did not make""~
SPEECH", but rather just spoke to the people as Hts
Family in North America" and with his emotions,
changing from English to Arabic and back to English
again without pause. With him, he carried the crowd fr~m
laughter, to applause, to tears and back to laughter agam.
There followed again a standing ovation, filled not only
with applause, but with love.
He then gave the Benediction, officially closing the
conference and began to depart in the Hierarchical
Procession.
The Word
Without thought of action, the crowds gravitated
wwards the aisle, in an effort to just get a closer glimpse of
this man, perhaps kiss his hand, just to see this man, our
Patriarch, a little closer, to be able to retain a photograph
in our memory always, of this little man who came to visit
us because he loved us, who prayed for us, blessed us and
won the love of every single person.
This man - our Patriarch Elias the IV, whose memory
will live in our hearts forever.
-Carol Maker
MIDWEST REGION SOYO
Esther Simbol, member of t. Geor e
Church in Terre Haute, Indiana, wa pre
Midwest Societ
of Onhod x
uth
·'Protosyngelo Elli Khouri erit v. ard" at the
SOYO Conference in Detroit, Michigan.
do
th
NEW SCOUTING
PROGRAM
AVAILABLE
The Orthodox Scouting Commission announces the
availability of the CHI-RHO program for Cub Scouts, Girl
Scout Juniors, and Adventure Group Campfire Girls who
are nine or ten years of age. The program is family and
church oriented. The candidate obtains the "CHI-RHO
Program Service ~ook" a~d meets with his or her ~arents
and the parish priest to discuss how to proceed with the
program requirements. Th~ Enrollment Certificate at the
beginning of the booklet 1s c~~pleted, and, unde~ the
words "We will work together, are places for the signatures of the applicant, parents or guardians, and the parish
priest.
The program is divided into four parts; many answers
can be drawn or written in the service book, but a separate
note book is recommended. Group discussions are included with the parents and the priest. At the end of each
part is a "Progress Block" to be filled in upon completion
of each part. When all "Progress Blocks" are completed,
the final "Completion Block" is filled in and sent to t~e
Commission office with the fee of four dollars to obtam
the emblem.
The emblem itself is a cast silver bar with the words
CHI-RHO in raised letters, separated by the Greek letter
chi superimposed upon the letter.rho. These letters are the
first two in the name CHRIST m Greek, and have lon_g
been a symbol for the name of Christ._ Susp~nded from this
bar is the equal armed Greek Cross 111white enamel, surmounted by the Orthodox cross in red. Both t~e _em?lem
and the religious content of the program are distmcuvely
Orthodox Christian.
The program was prepared by Fr. Joel McEach~n,
Director of Scouting Awards for the Orthodox Scoutmg
Commission. The Commission is an integral part_ of the
Standing Conference
of Orthodox_ Bishop~ m the
Americas. Fr. Alexander Karloutsos is Executive Secretary of the Commission.
.
Prior to its printing, the program was reviewed and
tested by members of the Greater Bridgepor~ (Conn.)
Orthodox Clergy Association. Fr. Eugene Tarns of Sts.
Peter and Paul Church, Manville, NJ., and Dr. John_B?o•
.
• h'ian Orthodox Christian
Jamra
Director
of t h e A nuoc
.
.
'
.
Educauon Department, were mos t generous wtth their
help.
· B k"
Copies of the "Alpha-Omega Program_ ServBicek"oo
and the new "CHI-RHO Program Service . oo
are
available by sending 75 cents for each co~y _desired to:
Orthodox Scouting Commission
1345 Fairfield Woods Road
Fairfield, Conn. 06430
December 1977
Esther is the first person to receive the award.
presented to her by His Beatitude, Patriarch Elia I . ~i
Beatitude commended Esther on her work for the Midwest Region of SOYO and announced the award will be an
annual one.
Named after Rt. Rev. Ellis Khouri, the first piritual
Advisor of Midwest SOYO, the award was given for the
outstanding leadership performed on the Local, Mi?we t
and National Level of SOYO. Midwest SOYO con 1st of
12 states and 32 chapters.
Locally, Esther is a member of the St. George Parish
Council, Superintendent of the Church School and a
teacher a member of the Society of St. George, and the
St. Ge;rge Ladies Society. Esther re~ently ~esigned her
position as the local Teen SOYO advisor which she held
for the past nine years.
On the Midwest level, she was Vice President of Midwest SOYO for the past two years and prior to that was
secretary, Christian Education Director,_ and Chairperson
for Project Loving Care, a program designed to help the
Palestine refugees in the Middle East.
She is in chr.rge of the Food for Hungry People and is
the Awards Chairperson for this year. She has held several
committee positions on the ~id~est
Level. Esther
lished the first SOYO Guidehne Manual to he!p
b
t
es a
. d ·
d
officers and committees with their unes an was m
charge of 30 comlll,ittees this year.
Nationally, sh~ was chairperson for _Project Loving
Care and this coming year she is Coordmator for Saint
Jude's Hospital.
Esther is employed as a secretary to the Sr. Vice President of Terre Haute First ational Bank ~ortg_age_ Loan
De artment and attends Indiana State . mverslty m_her
s !e time. She is also takin~ clas~es with the Amencan
I~stitute of Banking. She resides with her parents, Mr.
Mrs. Mike Simbol, R.R. 23 Box 231, Terre Haute, Ind.
Page 23
�SOUTHWEST
REGION TEEN SOYO
It gives me great honor to report to the sister Orthodox
Churches of America, of the historical event when His
Beatitude Elias IV, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East,
visited the Southwest Region.
Wise, intelligent, enlightening, interesting, entertaining, Godly, heavenly and humble; when any of these
words were mentioned during the convention, they were
immediately applied to our Patriarch. One could see
knowledge in his face. I, for one, was certain that he had
to be the son of a Saint, if not a Saint, himself. He was the
closest thing to God, I have ever seen.
Young and old were all amazed. When they were
asked what they thought, they all said almost the same
thing, "He reminds me of Jesus."
Led by the Very Rev. Elias Karim and Co-Chairmen
Ray Colhmia and Benny Homsey, our conference got off
to a great start. These three men worked diligently for a
year, aided with their wives by their sides through the
entire convention. Fr. Karim went so far as to build a
portable Altar which was used at the Hotel and can be
used in our Church Hall anytime needed. The Icons on the
Iconostasis were hand-painted by Fr. Karim's youngest
son, Gregory. Fr. Karim and Gregory spent many hours
burning the midnight oil for the Altar to be ready for us.
All at the convention were amazed by its beauty. Because
of the efforts of these three men, and by the Grace of
God, our conference was a great success.
As the Patriarch's reception began, Wednesday night,
there was all kinds of excitement that filled the room. All
were excited to see their families from other parts of the
region. The Catechism Bowl teams were excited and
ready, but most of all, people were excited about the fact
they were going to meet, "This Man." As he entered the
room and set foot on the red carpet, there was an awe that
filled the room. As he walked down the aisle his long black
robe flowed with the wind. As he approached his chair, he
turned, blessed the crowd, and sat down. At this time he
was very appropriately introduced by Convention CoChairman, Mr. Benny Homsey. Then as a line was formed,
the Patriarch blessed all those that wished to be blessed
which was everyone.
'
He spoke to the Parish Councils, the Ladies organizations, Senior and Teen SOYO. Each time he spoke we
saw the depth of his wisdom and the humbleness of our
beloved Patriarch. The first time he spoke to us as a whole
was at the Saturday Morning Awards Banquet. One could
tell by his accent, that he had not gone to college to
become an English Professor, but he was a very eloquent
speaker in the English language, making motions with his
hands to explain everything. Each person felt very close
and very much a part of him. By his presence, the
Orthodox Faith became more knowledgeable to us.
The Grand Banquet was held in the Imperial Ballroom
of the Skirvin Hotel. As each person's name was announced to be seated at the head table, he or she walked
down the long red carpet to his seat. When there were
only two names left to be announced, Mr. Dale Wehb? Jr.,
asked the people to stand. He then read the name Metropolitan Philip. The crowd roared with applause! As they
calmed down, he then announced His Beatitude, Elias IV.
One would have thought the lions had just been let out of
their cages. The people cheered for five minutes. The
evening consisted of the Oath of Office for the newly
Page 24
elected officers, enlightening speeches, and a blessing b
our Patriarch. One of the highlights of the evening wa y
dedication given to His Beatitude and our Metropolitan~ a
Saundra Shadid,_ singing,_ "Th: Impossible Dream." Th!
evening ended with a cho1r festival.
Sund~y morning c_ame sooner than most people
thought 1t would. The time had flown. The Imperial Ballroom was set up for the Divine Liturgy. The room wa
filled with all who attended the conference. The Patriarc~
entered the room, preceded by the Clergy. The Divin
Liturgy made all the preparations worth it. I felt like th:
first Christians must have felt. I had the faith of a new born
child as the first C~ristians h_ad almost 2000 years ago.
Two thousand years 1s a long time. No other institution on
the face of the earth ever lasted that long. But just "to last"
is not as important as "to grow." The Orthodox Church
human-divine marvel that She is, grows, renews herself
and weathers every storm, ever beginning again to heal
the wounds in man's spirit and body, century after century. With this the Conference was ended with a final
blessing from Metropolitan Philip.
Tears were in the eyes of all as Our Patriarch left our
city. He blessed us for the last time and got into his
limousine which took him to the airport. The air was sad
but full of love and faith.
"Blessed was He who came in the name of the Lord."
-Harvey Homsey
EASTERN REGION SOYO
Eastern Region was proud to hold their annual Parish
Life Conference, July 6-10, in the beautiful mountain
resort of Seven Springs, Pa., in honor of the historical visit
of His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV.
The conference began with a welcome reception with
entertainment provided by Eugene Slyman, Fred Hassan
and David Farra. As usual, there was no time at all wasted
in getting the conference underway and to renew old
acquaintances.
Thursday was devoted to General Assemblies for
Senior SOYO and Teen SOYO as well as AOCWNA. We
were all blessed with His Beatitude attending briefly each
of the general assemblies and addressing us. The_ love,
warmth and holiness within him, radiated to all that sur·
rounded him. One of his strongest messages was the
establishment of missions. And in accordance with this
wish, Eastern Region SOYO, as well as Teen SOYO and
AOCWNA, pledged their full support for the adoption of
"Missions" as the national project for the upcoming year.
One higltlight of the week, was the Foundation
Reception and Banquet which was supported well by our
laity. This evening gave all who attended a chance to per·
sonally meet His Beatitude and share some lighter
moments with him. For those who attended, it was an
evening to remember.
As is true in all regions, a very rewarding part of the
conference, is hearing and seeing our young people speak
out and tell us what they know of our Church, and often
enough give us words of wisdom. Such was the case for
our Catechism Bowl and Oratorical Contest. Even though
all who entered were winners, certain teams came out on
top. Our junior division Catechism Bowl winners were
The Word
from St. George, Little Falls ' NJ• • The seni·or d'ins10n
•winners were from Wilkes-Barre ' Pa • The O ratoncal
•
contest was well represented from throughout th
•
· ·
d' · ·
•
e region
The Junior insion winner was Dawn Chedw· k f
•
.
d
C
Th
.
ic
Bn geport,
t.
e winner of the seni·or di·\ision
.• • ' rom
was
Gregory Dalack, St. Mary's Brooklyn , •y • Gr egory a1so
went on ·to represent
· w • Eastern Region at the A re hd'iocese
Convention in ashington, D.C.
B_eautiful m_usic was the ord~r of business for Friday
evening as ~e listened to t~e various choirs from throughout the region. The combined choir, under the tale t d
•
· Lynch, performed three selecne
direction
o f M rs. Ch.nstme
tions.
A speci_al treat of the evening, however, was a Teen
SOYO. choi~. The_teens performed several patriotic songs
in conJun~uon wtth a shde presentation. Ken Yazge, ER
Teen President, George Moore, ER Teen Vice President
and Gregory Dalack, NAC Teen Treasurer, read from
parts of the Constitution, Gettysburg Address and Bill of
Rights. To highlight this, His Beatitude was presented with
an American Flag which had been flown over the United
States Capitol building in his honor. This evening, I am
sure. was a most memorable one for all fortunate enough
to attend.
Several workshops were held Saturday for all areas in
the Chu~ch: Sacre~ Music, Church School, Ladies Society
and Pansh Council. But one cannot forget our Family
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
OF A PRIEST
tConcinuedfrom
Page 81
changed the subject
and asked about Orthodox
Unity.
Stroking
my chin, I couldn't help but being
enthusiastic
to tell him that now peace and unity
reigned in North America. 1975, I told him, was a
decisive year for us.
"Why?" "Because during this year, after a long
struggle,
Metropolitan
Philip
and Archbishop
Michael concluded
an agreement that was unanimously blessed and ratified by the Patriarch and
Holy Synod of Antioch that effected the merger
between the two Archdioceses.
So after many years
of differences,
peace and unity now prevails, thus
paving the way for other steps to be taken among the
Orthodox in North America. Metropolitan
Philip
was named
Primate
and Archbishop
Michael
Auxiliary with his residence in Toledo. By the way,
he has a new home too."
His delight was evident when his eyes began to
water. He quickly wiped them and requested
a
report about the Balamand Seminary saying, "You
know how I felt about this school of my youth?"
He looked almost in disbelief when I told him
that it was built and now his friend Patriarch ELIAS
IV was visiting North America and a SS00,000
Foundation was being established in honor of this
visit to ensure the future of this great academy.
December 19'77
Enlivening es ion. Cnder the
Jos~ph . Allen. Th.D.. Ea tern Re 1 n h Id i
Enhvem_ng e ion. ·nr rtuna eh. du t) la .
lim
our .se 10n. wa ul hon. Howe\ •er II ·l \ • ttende le •
feeh_ngenlightened and piritually uphf ed W in
Region. have found thi t be th m t r w rdin p r
our Pansh conference .
As well as being ble ed with Hi Bealllud • pr n
we were also honored with the pre en e of n t r J me
Abourez~ at our Grand Banquet. en tor
b ur
spoke bne'.ly to tho g thered. Ho\J.e\ er. the m · ir
dress was given by Hi Beatitude.
. It goes without aying that Di\ine Litur v w
daily as well as e per and \J. a \ erv weti t nd
H?wever_, the crowning gl r • f the entire "-ee · w th
Hierarchical Divine Liturg whi h wa
I br t d \.
clergy throughout the region a well a Hi Be tit ud •
Metropolitan PHI~I_P_.Me~rop litan IL
. r hbi h ~
MICHAEL, and nsmng bishop from the Gre ter Pttt .
burgh area.
This was an end to a most enj able and u
week. But most of all. it was a piritual. enli\emn \J.ee .
The presence o_fHis Beatitude ga\ e all a p1ritu I upli t
and we ~hank_him_f?r allowing us t be a part of him and
for sharmg his spmtual wisdom with u . GOD GR ·T
HIM MA Y YEARS~
-Deb rah Brown
Of course, I had to fill him in on the death of
Patriarch
Theodosius
and election of the new
Patriarch who was the new occupant of the Throne
of Sts. Peter and Paul.
He had trouble at first comprehending all that
has happened. He said, "Isn't there anything that is
still the same?"
I replied, "Saidna, since you left us a lot ha happened. For example, during an emotional e ening in
which we honored the tenth anniversary of Metropolitan Philip's ascendency - a gift of S65,000 wa
presented to him and he quickly said, 'I could not
sleep one night with this money in my pocket and
there are starving children in Lebanon ... ' and he
turned the money over to Ted Mackoul, Controller
of the Archdiocese to help the needy in the Middle
East. President
Ford even sent him a filmed
congratulatory message. (I had to explain who Ford
was then).
He stood straight and tall as ever, there was a
glow in his eyes, in fact, his whole appearance was
transparent and he began to leave, but he hesitated a
moment, then turned and said, "what about the
future?"
Turning slightly philosophical I replied:
"We are all wiser now, more aware of our potentials, and of our limitations. After 75 years of growth
we are growing up. The Patriarchate,
the entire
Archdiocese has new hope and new promise for the
future. You see, we're beginning to love and trust
each other again."
Metropolitan Antony liked that.
Page 2~
�re
view
Secrets and The Meaning of Gifts by Robert B. Wilhelm
Neither life nor education is marked in its progress by
a yardstick. The child may be measured against the markings on the kitchen wall to see how much he has grown
since his last birthday, but the pencil markings on that wall
are no signs of the growth of his mind, his heart, his
imagination. If life - and education - could be measured
so mechanically, then they would be reduced to tedious
tasks. Life would become only the sum of accumulated
experience
and stored knowledge. Children would
become storehouses or computer memory-banks. And
education would become a frantic race to build temples of
knowledge.
Instead, life and education are fluid. A child will probe
in one direction and then his fancy will suddenly turn in
another direction. He will passionately devote himself to
one exciting adventure for days or weeks or even months
(neglecting all else to the chagrin of his parents or
teachers) until he has satisfied his thirst and can move on.
And, most importantly, the child matures according to a
rhythm which is his alone, and which cannot be measured
by any yardstick. That is, he will follow the thythm of
exploration-and-return, the law of expiration and inspiration, as easily as he breathes out and breathes in moment
after moment. There is a time for everything: growth and
rest, activity and passivity, giving and receiving, and most importantly for the child - a time for becoming an
individual and a time for becoming a person. The child
discovers his individuality when he breathes in, taking in
the world around himself and realizing that he is separate
from it. He becomes a person when he breathes out,
sharing his individuality creatively with others.
Dr. Paul Tournier, in two short and poetic books
Secrets (John Knox, $2.00) and The Meaning of Gifts
(John Knox, $2.00) makes a number of important observations that can assist the religious educator in his task of
permitting the child (or adolescent) to become an individual and inviting him to become a person. The permission is granted by allowing the child to keep and share
secrets; the invitation is made by extending and accepting
gifts. The child, the Swiss psychiatrist notes, cannot
become an individual - someone distinct from those
around him - unless he is permitted to have and keep
~ecre~s. A_?d, pare~ts who de~y this right (by saying or
implymg good children don t keep secrets from their
parents") prevent their offspring from developing their
own sense of identity, their own sense of uniqueness. In a
later stage of growth the child senses the need to share
Copyright 1970, St. Mary's College Press, Winona, Minnesota, 55987.
Page 26
secrets. This is the significance ~f _the close friendships of
adolescents. It is no longer suff~cien~ to be autonomous:
The child must share s~me of his umqu~ness (his secret)
with another. If the child, then, ~ust first establish his
individuality before he can enter mto a community as a
person, can premature demands for "openness" (by wen.
meaning Christian educators) be a denial of the rhythm of
growth in the child?
Gifts also play an important part in the growth of the
child, for the rhythm of keeping s~cret~ and telling secrets
is matched by the rhythm of sharmg gifts and hoping for
gifts. For gifts that we both give and receive, Tournier
writes, always point to other gifts for which we dare not
hope! Gifts always point beyond themselves, he continues
and then betray a desire to give (or receive) not only th~
gift but the giver himself! Giving gifts is like sharing
secrets, for both are attempts to share one's self; both are
attempts of individuals to become persons.
Before speaking directly about the place of secrets and
gifts in religious education, it is necessary to understand
the importance of the parent in permitting the child to
have secrets and in granting him gifts. Concerning secrets
Tournier writes: "But what an upheaval when the child
perceives that he knows something that certainly no one
but he knows, not even his father, nor his mother!
Therefore they don't know everything. The child experiences a quite new feeling of power, for he has an
awareness of possessing something in his own right, his
very own." The parent, therefore, who does not permit the
child to have his own secrets, his own personal world, is
guilty of playing god. For in the discovery of his own
secret the child discovers that mother and father are not
gods. (And now the question is: Can we tell children that
God knows their most inward thoughts? Does God permit
them to become individuals, or is he just an all-knowing
nosey parent? Does he grant freedom, or doesn't he?)
Gifts, in contrast, are always expected from parentsand here a paradoxical thing happens. Though parents are
no longer gods (since they no longer know all things in the
eyes of the child), they are still Magical Beings who know
the deepest desires in their children's hearts. And as
children grow, the magical quality of their parents (and,
later, other special persons) persists, for even adults
expect their loved ones to divine their own deepest
desires! Gifts are certainly not limited to childhood.
Indeed, is not the desire to give and receive gifts a sign of
the fully mature person? For when we wish for a gift, are
we not telling a secret to the prospective gift-giver though in the wordless language of hope? And when we
dare to present another with a gift, are we not saying that
his or her secret has been revealed to us through the language of unspoken desire and love?
One of the child's secrets is his relationship with God,
and it is a secret precisely because it is his personal encounter with the Lord. He discovers the presence of God
in his life, a presence which transcends knowledge about
God (learned from adults) or behavior "pleasing" to God
(enforced by adults). In short, the living God makes himself known to the child - vaguely perhaps by adult standards, but in a genuine personal manner. There is, therefore, an unseen line that parents, teachers, and even other
children cannot cross, unless they are invited or unless
they also share the secret. C.S. Lewis, speaking as an adult
to children, warns them to guard their secret (and their
uniqueness before God): "And don't talk too much about
The Word
1
it, even among y~urselves,- And don't mention it to anyone
else unless you fmd they ve had adventures of the same
sort themselves. _What's that? How will you know? Oh,
you'll kno~ all right. Odd things they say - even their
looks_- will let the secret ~u_t" (from The Chronicles of
Narnw). The task of the rel~giou~ educator is to respect
this world and to encourage its existence. Like C.S. Lewis
the catechist must encourage children to hide their secret~
(until that special time when it can be revealed) and to
explore the secret world known only to themselves. And
if Tournier is correct, the catechist must also have a secre~
world between God and himself, or else the children will
know that he doesn't have any secret to share with them.
And, if the catechist does share (perhaps without
words!) his secret with his children, then he will also know
what gifts to share with them. He will give them the gifts
that their hearts desire, not the ones he thinks they ought
to possess. Of course it is difficult, for catechists as well as
parents, to believe that children, deep down, sense what is
best for themselves. (And, in ignoring the child's desire,
religious educators sometimes refuse to permit the Spirit
to choose the gift, imposing their own gift instead!) Even
more unfortunate, as Paul Tournier notes, is the attempt
Carnegie Samuel Calian, Today's Pastor in Tomorrow's
World. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1977. Pp. xii+
153. Hardcover. $6.95.
Carnegie Samuel Calian is a Presbyterian minister, a
professor at the Theological Seminary of the University of
Dubuque in Iowa, a productive author and scholar, and
currently J. Omar Good Visiting Distinguished Professor
at Juniata CoUege in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He is also
knowledgeable about the Eastern Orthodox and Roman
Catholic traditions
and active in the Ecumenical
Movement but more than anything else perhaps, Dr.
Calian is experienced
in and concerned about the
preparation of clergy for a world that is increasingly more
and more complex and less and less Christian. Professor
Calian indicates immediately that "This book is addressed
to laity, clergy, and seminarians in our common quest to
study and perhaps redirect our leadership to more effectively bring about our Christian mission in the future"
(p. xi) and offers us an admirably compact digest of the
kinds of problems and issues confronting the pastors ?f
today and the ways in which they must confront them m
order to be effective servants of God tomorrow. Today's
Pastor in Tomorrow's World is written in such a
pedagogically flexible way that it can be used in a course
for seminarians, as a guide for experienced pastors or as
source of information and guidance for interested lay
persons. Individual chapters can be used separately for
discussion groups to center on key proble~ns !or_ the
church and Christians of all persuasions can fmd insights
and analyses that pertain to them in the contemporary
world.
The cataloguing of information and proble~s is a
technique used by Dr. Calian to redu':e subjects to
manageable proportions. For example, he fm_dstha~ there
are eight different kinds of ministers, each with th_eir own
virtues and appeal but with varying effectiveness,
depending upon the communities' response and needs: (1)
the servant-shepherd,
(2) the politician-prophet, (3) the
December 1977
by adults to dominate children thr u h lh
C_hristian educat r mu t realiz thal in lh
gift we ask the recipient t a c pt b lh lh
and the gift of our wn el e .
With children no secret i t
mall l b
less than the greatest care: A e r ti a
r
is too small or too inexpen ive if it ha b n r
im~gin~tion: The religious educator should k p both
pomts tn mtnd: First, even the most simpl and hildlik
secref ca~ be the point wh re God touch
th hild Jor
the f1rst tlme; and, second, each grjt can b 1f it i tndy
des1re1, a for~taste of the one unspok n Gift that a h oj
us des1res dunng our entire lives. When hildr n
h n
gifts or share secrets they cea e to b mere individu I nd
enter into a community of per n . Th litur i l
catechetical assemblies are occa ion when hildr n nd
adults as well!) are permitted to explore th ir inn rm t
relationship with the Lord and invited t har th t r l tionship with one another. For, in liturg and at h i ,
the Secret of God's Love is re ealed a a Gift, nd
fondest hopes are granted to u . Thi i what th
cw
delightful books, Secrets and The Meaning of Gifts, ar
about!
preacher-teacher, (4) the e angelist-chari mati , 5) th
builder-promoter,
(6) the manager-enabler, (7 the
liturgist-celebrant, and (8) specialized minister, uch a the
hospital chaplain and marriage counselor. Each i
described, discussed, and evaluated. Calian him lf
believes that the specialist will be the pastor of the future
but that all need to be theologians (or "gra -r t
theologians") who not only verbalize the faith but li've it
out, who can translate the intimidating language f
theology into modern idiom as well as integrate the experiences and events of life into a meaningful framew rk
under God. Dr. Calian's emphasis is to "shift from a paper
theology to a practicing theology" when "the laity trul
see themselves as the people (laos) of God" (p. 80). Calian
stresses the notion of the laity as co-pastors and the need
for theological education for a qualified laity.
In discussing such contemporary problems as faith l
among seminarians, women and the ministry, the fa mil ,
the role and future of the pastor's wife, professional ethi
and specialization, market needs, individual aspirati n
and ambitions, and other topics of primary concern, Dr.
Calian argues that the churches can be more selecti e in
the quality of candidates for the ministry of the future;
that seminary education should be extended to four ear ;
that practicing pastors should return for a year or m_o~e f
additional theological education and a Doctor of M~m t~
degree; that the churches must carefully determine m
which areas they need specialized personnel; and that a
tent-making ministry not be overlooked for tho e wh can
embrace it.
.
In absolutely unmistakable language Re erend Cahan
insists that "If the office of the pastor i to make a
significant contribution to our culture, the model f_the
pastor as grass-roots theologian needs to be_empha 1zed
before the laity" (p. 119) because human~md ea~?e
endlessly for the source of happiness. In t_h1.search T~e
model of pastor-theologian seeks to ehmmate the m(Continued on Page 31)
Page_
�The
Orthodox
ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS: CHURCHES MUST
EXPLAIN 'FALSEHOOD OF ATHEISM'
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Archbishop Iakovos, primate
of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South
America, declared in an interview here that the world's
Churches "have not felt sensitive enough or prepared
enough to confront atheism."
On his first visit to Vancouver, to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of its Hellenic community, the primate urged
Protestants, Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians to
engage in a joint venture "in explaining the falsehood of
atheism."
He warned that "the teachings of atheism are now
taking root in our own society. The United States, which
proclaims to be a non-materialistic society, is practicing
materialism in an inner contradiction of its own belief."
While urging a joint venture among the Churches to
fight atheism, Archbishop Iakovos had some critical
comments about the progress of the ecumenical movement.
"Ecumenicity cannot be bought at any cost," he said.
"Deep principles are at stake, and the issue of women in
the priesthood is still unresolved, even by the Anglicans."
Arch bishop Iakovos said he agreed with Russian
Orthodox Patriarch Pimen, who told Anglican Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury recently that unity
between Anglicans and Orthodox is unattainable
at
present.
"The problem in all three major branches of the
Christian Church is the liberalizing of doctrines and
mores," the primate asserted. "If it continues, it will
destroy the credibility of Christianity in the eyes of the
world."
Expressing alarm at what he considers the crisis of the
family, Archbishop Iakovos cited such developments as
"skyrocketing divorce, children leaving parents before
they have even left high school, and the liberal concept of
marriage - that is, people living together in sin without
marriage vows."
While acknowledging that the crisi~ is worldwide, the
Greek Orthodox leader said he felt it is also "peculiar to
the U.S., because the strength of America is rooted in the
family."
~ea!firming the traditional Orthodox positions on
ordmatlon
of homosexuals and women, Archbishop
Iakovos said, "Homosexuality has no place among our
clergy, and women have the traditional and Biblical role
of motherhood, not priesthood."
GREEK CHURCH HITS TURKEY'S BAN
ON VISAS FOR THE PATRIARCHATE
ATHENS - The official newspaper of the Church of
• dge 28
World
Greece said here that passports have been refused to
several Metropolitans of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by
the Turkish government.
It accused the Turkish government of holding the
hierarchs as "hostages as long as the tension of relations
between Greece and Turkey continues."
The most recent incident, the newspaper said, was the
denial of a visa to Metropolitan Maximos of Stavrupolis
dean of the Theological School of Halki, site of the Ortho:
dox patriarchate, to attend his mother's funeral in Athens.
A patriarchal committee has been formed to travel to
Ankara to plead for settlement of the issue, the newspaper
said. If the committee efforts fail, it said, Greek Orthodox
leaders here will take the issue to the international
community, charging human rights violations by the
Turks.
Turkish authorities have also denied, for the third
time, a visa to Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon. He has
long been considered by Orthodox observers to be a
possible candidate, one day, for the post of Ecumenical
Patriarch. Turkey's government enjoys veto power over
such elections.
Three other metropolitans are reported to have had
their travel restricted by the government - Kyrillos of
Chaldea, patriarchal vicar of the community in Bey Oglu,
Istanbul; Bartholemy of Philadelphia,
director of the
private office of the Ecumenical Patriarch, and Ioakim of
Melitinis, chief chancellor of the patriarchate.
AMERICAN-ARAB RELIGIOUS LEADERS MEET
TO ISSUE STATEMENT TO CARTER
. ~ashington,
D.C. - In a significant meeting, the
rehgious leaders of the American-Arab community in the
metropolitan
Washington,
D.C. area assembled on
Wednesday to announce
their vigorous support of
Pr_esident Carter's human rights program, centering on
this country's recent joint declaration with Russia concerning objectives for a full Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
The leaders issued a statement to President Carter, of
which the full text follows:
"We, the religious leaders of the American-Arab
community in the metropolitan Washington, D.C.
area, would like to commend you on your interest in
human rights throughout the world culminating in
the recent joint declaration this country has made
with Russia concerning concrete proposals for peace
in the Middle East.
"Unfortunately, the long and turbulent history of the
~rah-Israeli
conflict has been highlighted
by
distrust, misunderstanding, hatred, human suffering
and war - with neither party taking the initiative to
solve the problem.
The Word
"The qut~stion of why can't Semitic brothers live
together m ~armony and tranquility has been asked
_ and remamed unanswered - by two generations
of concerned people from all over the world.
"Like ma~y, we feel an important aspect of the
overal_l ~iddle E_ast settle~ent is the solving of the
Palestmian qu~st10n. Ce~t~mly the time is long past
due to recogmze the legitimate human rights of th
Palestinian people.
e
"The solution, we know is not an easy one. Yet a
positive step in the right direction has been taken
and you have our full support and prayers in you;
supreme effort toward joining the hands of the
disputing parties in a clasp of brotherhood and good
faith.
"In closing, we ask God to bless you and your endeavors,, on behalf of human rights both here and
abroad.
Those signing the statement were V. Rev. George M.
Rados, Pastor, St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church;
Rev. Joseph Francav~lla, Pastor, Holy Transfiguration
Melkite Greek Cathohc Church; Dr. Muhammad AbdulRauf, of the Islamic Center; Esper Ajaj, Pastor, Arabic
Baptist Church; Rev. Hector Doueihi, Pastor, Our Lady of
Lebanon Maronite Church; and Aida F. Habib, member,
St. Mark Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church.
ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN RHODE ISLAND
JOIN FOR REPRESENTATION IN COUNCIL
PROVIDENCE,
R.I. - Churches connected with
three Orthodox denominations have agreed to join in a
single unit for representation
in the Rhode Island State
Council of Churches.
The parishes will retain their original identity for all
other purposes, but will be united for ecumenical activity
on a statewide level.
According to the Rhode Island Council, many councils
of churches have accepted Orthodox churches in their
membership, but no other state council has admitted them
in the fashion being done in Rhode Island.
Parishes of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North
and South America, the Orthodox Church in America,
and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
North America, have organized a Council of Orthodox
Churches to represent them in the state council of
churches.
Father Athanasius
Saliba, pastor of St. Mary's
Antiochian Orthodox Church in Pawtucket and chairman
of the Orthodox council, said, "We felt the necessity of
joining because the Council of Churches is a significant
voice of the Christian churches in this state. We are a part
of the Christian community, and our people are a part of
this state. We decided to join the family of churches which
we believe is our family under the fatherhood of the Lord
Jesus Christ."
Father Stephen Kyriacou, pastor of the Church of the
Annunciation (Greek Orthodox) in Cranston, commented, "The early, undivided church was united fully in
matters of faith. To what degree we can work together to
achieve that reunion, guided by the Holy Spirit, is my own
expectation of Orthodox membership in the Rhode Island
State Council of Churches. God is leading us in our times;
we ought to make ourselves open to that."
Other churches included in the Council of Orthodox
Churches, besides Father Saliba's and Father Kyriacou's,
December 1977
are the Dormition Orthodox
hu
(Orthodox Church in America , Chur
N
. ewport (Greek Orthodox) A umpt
m Pawtucket, and St. John the
Woonsocket (Orthodox Church in Am
Other bodies belonging to the
Council of Churches are American
Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Con
Church of Christ, the Episcopal Dio
the New England Synod of the
A~erica, the Southern ew Engl
Umted Methodist Church, and the
of the United Presbyterian Church.
•
Colonel Bennett presenting First Oak Leaf Cluster of
Meritorious Service Medal to Chaplain, Colonel Michael
Margitich, Eastern Orthodox Chaplain.
United States Air Force Chaplain, Colonel, Michael
Margitich was recently presented the First Oak Leaf
Cluster of Meritorious Service Medal for out tanding
and distinguished performance as Wing Chaplain 15 Air
Base Wing, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, from
August 1974 to 1 August 1977. The presentation of the
award to Fr. Margitich was made by Colonel Donald W.
Bennett, Wing Commander of the 60 Air Base Wing,
Travis Air Force Base.
During his tour of duty in Hawaii, Chaplain Margitich
conducted an active and comprehensive religiou
program for Air Force, Army and Navy Orth~dox p_ersonnel and their dependents. As part of his vaned
missionary activities, he also made periodic pastoral i it
to Okinawa, Philippines, Korea and Taiwan celebrating
religious services, conducting sacraments and minis~ering
to the spiritual needs of Orthodox communicant
stationed in these areas.
Prior to his departure from Hickam Air Force B~ e
Fr. Margitich received the Joint S_erv~ceComme~dati n
Medal for his pastoral and humamtanan ~ole dunng the
Indochina Refugee Relief Program of Apnl _thru . eptember 1975. He initiated many civic action projects m o_r~er
to improve the plight of the Vietnam refugees tran itlng
Hickam Air Force Base.
.
.
Fr. Margitich has been assigned by the ~hief of Air
Force Chaplains to be the Installation Chaplain of ~ne ~f
the largest military airlift wings in the world. ~ra i Air
e located between San Francisco and
F orce Bas ,
· f d •
Sacramento, is the main port of embarkat10n or e tmation in the Pacific.
Page 29
�CATHOLICS AND ORTHODOX CONSIDER
STATEMENT ON CONCILIAR THEOLOGY
WASHINGTON, D.C. A common statement
dealing with the proposed agenda for the projected Great
Synod of Eastern Orthodoxy and the t~eology of
ecumenical councils in general is expected this fall from
the U.S. Eastern Orthodox-Roman Catholic theological
consultation.
Holding their 12th meeting since 1965, at a Roman
Catholic retreat center here, theologians representing the
Standing Conference of Canonical C?rth?dox Bis~ops and
the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, discussed
the ingredients of the projected statement a~ well as the
theology of marriage and an essay on the history of the
U.S. consultation.
An information officer at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America said the statement,
based on the discussion and the presentations, would be
circulated among consultation participants for their
approval before being released.
.
Previous consultation statements have dealt with the
eucharist (1969), mixed marriages (1970), the church
(1974), respect for life (1974), the pastoral office (1976),
and the theological principle of "economy," especially
common among Orthodox (1976).
.
The sessions, which included a _Roman Catholic
vespers service at the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception,
were chaired by Archbishop
Iakovos,
primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, ~nd Cardinal William Baum, leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
Among the topics of a projected January meeting of
the consultation will be the significance of the lifting of
the mutual excommunications
of 1054 by Eastern
Orthodox and Roman Catholic leaders. The anathamas
were lifted by Pope Paul VI and the late Ecumenical
Patriarch Athenagoras I in December 1965.
ECUMENICAL NATURE OF ORTHODOX WITNESS
THEME OF STATEMENT BY 35 THEOLOGIANS
V ALAMO, Finland A statement
on "The
Ecumenical Nature of Orthodox Witness" was issued by
35 theologians at a consultation held here under the
sponsorship of the Orthodox Task Force of the World
Council of Churches (WCC). It was the first meeting the
WCC has ever sponsored in Finland. •
The consultation focused on the concept of "liturgy
after the liturgy," which was described as engagement in
the world along the lines of several WCC programs which
emerged from the 1975 Assembly in Nairobi.
According to the theological statement, the Eucharist
for Orthodoxy is not "just a sacrament," but "the great
mystery of our participation in the life of the Holy
Trinity," by which the Church "sanctifies and transforms
the world."
With regard to the confessional element of Orthodoxy,
the statement said that "the Orthodox Church possesses its
own confessions of faith in the forms of creeds and the
decisions of the ancient councils, especially the
ecumenical councils. This makes it appear as a confessional body or family and it is often treated as such by
the non-Orthodox."
However, the document continued, "such an understanding of Orthodoxy, sometimes encouraged by the
Orthodox themselves, would contradict the fundamental
Page 30
character of its ecclesiology. The Orthodox, if they ar
faithful to their ecclesiology, will have to deny the ident~
fication of the Church wit~ a I.'~rticul~r confession. A
Church which is ultimately identified by its confessions is
a confessional body but not the Church."
Commenting on the Orthodox refu_sal to engage in
intercommunion with non-Orthodox bodies, the statement
said this is not through a spir~t of superiority but through
the conviction that Commumon should be an expression
of the unity of the Church.
The document emphasized that this unity "which we
seek in the Ecumenical Movement cannot be a product of
theological agreements,
such as signing a common
confession, but should be an understanding
of tht
existential significance of the community of the Church,
particularly of her visible str~ctu~e which provides man
with the possibility of entermg mto a new and saving
relationship with God and the world."
ORTHODOX YOUTH MEET IN CYPRUS
Nicosia, Cyprus - An international
consultation of
Orthodox youth and students, organized under the
auspices of the World Student Christian Federation
(WSCF) and hosted by the Orthodox Church in Cyprus,
was held here September 22-28, 1977.
Major goal of the consultation was to formulate some
specific and practical ways in which the Orthodox constituency of the WSCF can participate more fully in the
life of the WSCF and articulate more clearly the Orthodox
perspective and thinking on issues confronting the WSCF.
Towards this end a program of lectures and work
groups was planned by a preparatory
committee consisting
of representatives
of Orthodox
students
movements, Orthodox churches and members of the
WSCF staff. Themes of the lectures included: "Orthodoxy
and the Bible", with lectures by Prof. Fr. Vladimir Sorokin
of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Prof. Savas
Agourides of the Athens University Theological Faculty;
"Orthodoxy and Patristics," with lectures by Prof. Fr.
George Bebaui of the Cairo Coptic Orthodox Theological
Seminary and Prof. Fr. Augustin Nikitin of the Leningrad
Theological Academy; "Orthodoxy and Mission", with
lectures by Metropolitan
George Khodr of Mount
Lebanon and Prof. Fr. Dimitriu Staniloae of the Bucharest
Theological Institute: "Orthodoxy and Social Responsibility", with a presentation on the Orthodox church in
Cyprus by Dr. Andreas Tillyrides and Dr. Benedictus
Englesakis, and presentations by participants on their own
situations.
Included on the program were introductions to the
Ecumenical Movement by Peter Moss. Youth coordinator
of the World Council of Churches; To the Middle East
Council of Churches, by Ryad Jarjaour, member of the
staff; to Syndesmos, the World Fellowship of Orthodox
Youth organizations, by James Couchell of the USA,
President, and Aleksi Harkonen of Finland, general
secretary; and to the WSCF, by Rev. Dr. Emidio Campi,
general secretary.
•
On Sunday, September 26, the participants travelled to
the gravesite of Archbishop Makarios, the late leader of
the Orthodox church in Cyprus and the Cypriote nation. A
brief memorial service was celebrated at the site and a
wreath placed on the grave. Later in the week a Com·
munique was received from Archbishop Chrysostomos of
Paphos, the locum tenens of the church in Cyprus. At the
clusion of the consultation, the participants passed a
co;olution thanking the host church and expressing
relidarity with the church and people of Cyprus in their
so uggle for umty
• an d.m d epen d ence.
str Participants
.
• t h e consu ·1tatlon
• were f rom Orthodox
m
churches in Cyprus, Greece, Leb_an?n, Syria, ~ordan,
Romania, the USSR, the USA, Ethiopia, Egypt, Fmland,
France, the city of Nazareth and the West Bank. Fraternal
d legates represented the World Council of Churches, the
~iddle East Council of Churches and Syndesmos.
The consultation concluded with a recommendation to
the WSCF expressing the need for the continuation in
arious forms of the work begun here. Concrete proposals
:ere made to this effect.
RUSSIAN PATRIARCH GREETS
CANTERBURY IN MOSCOW
MOSCOW - Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury, spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican
Communion, arrived here Sept. 22 from London for a 10-
DIALOGUE
• • •
(Continued from Page 16)
the 9th of this same month (October)." (Byzantine Daily
Worship, pg. 487-488)
About 25 years ago, Father Lev Gillet, the "monk of
the Eastern Church," wrote an interesting article in
Sobornost in which he expounded the above theory that
James the brother of the Lord is also James the Apostle.
He speculates further that his fa~her Halpai (Clopas) was
the same as Heli listed by Luke m the geneology of Jesus
as the father of Joseph. Could this be the "brother" Joseph,
who is mentioned along with James, Simon, and Jude as a
son of Clopas and Mary? Since St. Joseph the husband of
the Virgin died before the Lord re.ached . adulthood,
perhaps He was raised in the house of His r_elatlves.,:eople
might have thought that this Joseph was Hts !athe~ as was
supposed" (Luke 3:23). The genealogy given m Luke
would then be that of Clopas-Halpai-Heli, which would
explain why it differs from that given by Matthew.
Matthew emphatically states that the father of Joseph, the
husband of Mary was Jacob, not Heli, and the whole
genealogy differs, as you know.
.
I find these speculations provocative but hard to
prove.
b t the
Finally, permit me to make a comment a ou .
Apocrypha in English. About ten year~ ~go, the Revised
Standard Version published an edition called ~he
Common Bible 1 common supposedly to Cathohcs,
Protestants, and Orthodox. It contains th ~ Apocryph~,
and was approved by the Ecumenical Patr~archate. It is
much used in the Orthodox Church in America. However,
.
.
on the latest,
tell rmeh
semmanans
who are genera 11
Y up
N
E
th
without exc~ption that they now prefer
e ew b nf i~h
Bible with Apocrypha. It was reco~m.e~ded ~~~~edit fs a
students and professors at St. Vladimir s, an
.. . d
beautiful 3·ob. The King James version was long cnthicize
" d the Douay as so
by our scholars as "too Prote st an t , an
• d ·t f
many faults that even the Catholics have aban_don~ i or
their New American Bible. Many of the semmanans use
The Word
December 1977
day visit at the in itation of th Ru ian nh d
Armenian Churches.
Accompanied b Bi hop Rob
co-chairman of the Anglican-Orth
he was met at the airport b
Russian Orthodox Church and
government's Council for Religiou
Archbishop Coggan and Pa tri
warm em brace of greeting.
In a brief talk at the airport,
•
he had come to the So iet nion
the Church of England to the Orth
r
"Relations between our two C
for many years," he said, "and ha
understanding and depth."
The Anglican leader said he al
something" of the Soviet Baptist and
during his stay.
Archbishop Coggan was scheduled t
Armenia for a three-day visit with Cath
Supreme Patriarch of All Armenian .
and
the Jerusalem Bible for study purposes, but n t f r liturgical readings.
I very much enjoy your column in The Word. Keep up
the good work for Orthodoxy!
Yours, faithfully in Je u Chri l
Father Daniel Montg mer
Bridgeport, Connecticut
re,.
1v1ew
(Continued from Page 27)
creasing polarization of the body of Christ into term f
laicism and clericalism" because "the onen~ss of th~ ~ d
of Christ ... has been for too long functionally d1\,~.ded
into a church of the laity and a church of the clerg
P·
126) but more than this, "The pastor, wh_eth~r a a
surrogate of God or as a servant of God, _is hr _t and
foremost God's witness to the transcende~t dimen_ion f
reality" and as such "The residen~ theologian funct~on a
. trument of the Spirit to remmd the church of its pa t
an ms
G d" (
12 ) An unand its future destiny under . o
.p.
•
'
derstanding of theological roots is crucial to ~he c~urch
identity. The pastor for Professo~ Calm? i the
professional theologian of the commumty ~nd _ital: ~-th~
communit in its search for identity, which._ mt e ma
analysis, i:ust be placed in a Christian theol?g1c~l contex~.
Though there are observations and claim ~n Toda! h
or in Tomorrow's World that are not consi~t~nt it
Past
bl t the Orthodox Christian trad1t1on, Dr.
or accepta e O
•
d • htl rganized
C r has given us a crisply written an tig y o
'
a~a:ndium of the problems and ~ssues that face toda
co p
le that they Wlll have to er e t da
clergy and the pHeopthey do that will have an impact n
and tomorrow.
ow
the life of the Church of today and of tomor;~:~ E. Rexine
Colgate
ni er it
Page
I
�DAILYDEVOTIONS
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
an attempt to encourage our faithful
to study Holy Scripture through
daily liturgical readings-
Week of Dec. 18:
Week of Dec. 11:
Sun.: Col.3:4-11
Luke 14:16-24
Mon.: St. Spyridon-Wonder Worker
Eph. 5:8-19
John 10:9-16
Tue.: Heb. 9:8-10, 15-23
Mark 8:30-34
Wed.: Heb. 10:1-18
Mark 8:30-34
Thu.: St. Eleutherius
1 Tim. 6: 11-19
Mark 2:23-28; 3: 1-5
Fri.: Heb.11:8, 11:16
Mark 9:33-41
Sat.: Eph. 5: 1-8
Luke 14:1-11
Heb. 11 :9-10, 17-23, 32-40
Matt. 1: 1-25
Mon.: Heb. 11:17-23, 27-31
Mark 9:42-10:1
Tue.: Heb. 12:25-26, 13:22-25
Mark 10:2-12
Wed.: James 1:1-18
Mark 10:11-16
Thu.: James 1: 19-27
Mark 10: 17-27
Fri.:
James 2:1-13
Mark 10:23-32
Sat.:
Heb.1:1-12
Luke 2:1-20
Week of Dec. 25: (Nativity of Christ)
Week of Jan. 1, 1978:
Week of Jan. 8:
Sun.: Gal. 4:4-7
Matt. 2:1-12
Mon.: Heb. 2:11-18
Matt. 2: 13-23
Tue.: Acts. 6:8-15; 7:1-5, 17-60
Mt. 21 :33-42
Wed.: James 3: 11-4:6
Mark 11:23-26
Thu.: James 4:7-5:9
Mark 11:27-33
Fri.: 1 Pet. 1:1-2, 10-12; 2:6-10
Mark 12:1-12
Sat.: 1 Thess. 5:14-23
Luke 17:3-10
Col. 2:8-12
Luke 2:20-21, 40-52
Mon.: 1 Tim. 5: 1-10
Luke 17:20-25
Tue.: 1 Tim. 5: 11-21
Luke 17:26-37
Wed.: 1 Tim. 5:22-6: 11
Luke 18:15-17, 26-30
Thu.: 1 Cor. 9:19-27
Luke 3:1-18
Fri.:
Tit. 2: 11-14; 3:4-7
Matt. 3: 13-17
Sat.: Acts 19:1-8
John 1:29-34
t
Sun.:
Sun.:
Sun.:
Eph. 4:7-13
Matt. 4:12-17
Mon.: 2 Tim. 2:20-26
Luke 19:37-44
Tue.: 2 Tim. 3: 16-4:4
Luke 19:45-48
Wed.: 2 Tim. 4:9-22
Luke 20:1-8
Thu.: Titus 1:5-2: 1
Luke 20:9-18
Fri.: Titus 1: 15-2: 10
Luke 20: 19-26
Sat.: Heb. 7:26-8:2
John 10:9-16
�BX738.A5 W67 v.21 pt.l c.2
Till' Word. lS N 00-13- 7%-t
�BX738.ASW67 v.21 pt.\ c.2
\\Ill
I1\\111111111\\111\\11
\Ill\\\I
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kalemat_19771201_21_10
Title
A name given to the resource
The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 10
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 21, Issue 10 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated December 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 Dec
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
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English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Coverage
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/ef8fef25fddcc8e9a5dd081e9d92c927.pdf
84ec7cd00e2ced48f2951b5abd4ec7cc
PDF Text
Text
MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
1977 ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
�THE
WORD
The Most Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The Most Reverend
Archbishop Michael, Auxiliary
THE WORD
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
VOLUME
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kallmat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE THIRTY-SECONDANNUALCONVENTION
OF THE
ANTIOCHIANORTHODOX CHRISTIANARCHDIOCESE
OF ALL NORTH AMERICA
21
NOVEMBER,
1977
NUMBER 9
IN THIS ISSUE
3 Metropolitan
METROPOLITAN PHILIP'S MESSAGE
TO THE
THIRTY-SECOND ANNUAL ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION
Philip's Message
7 Minutes of the General Assembly
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S. Corey
Archpriest Joseph J. Allen
9 Department
Your Beatitude,
Your Eminences,
Your Grace,
bdoved Clergy, Esteemed Members of the Board of
~ustees of the Archdiocese,
Delegates, Ladies and
:entlemen.
Reports
40 SOYO'S Contact Committee
It seems like yesterday when we met in San Francisco,
Jlifornia, to celebrate the Bicentennial of this great
na·ion, the Tenth Anniversary of a new era in the life of
,is Archdiocese, and the much cherished unity of our
ntiochian family in North America. The most welcome
presence, this year, of our Father-in-Christ, Patriarch
ELIASIV, has added to this convention a new dimension
,. d a tremendous significance which we have never
•xperienced since the foundation of this Archdiocese.
Thus, Your Beatitude, we greet you today with these
words from our Matin Service: "Rejoice with gladness,
O Chief Shepherd, as thou beholdest thy children's
childrenround about thy table offering branches of good
deeds."
42 Orthodox World
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
44 Daily Devotions
Subscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
U.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 10.00
SINGLE COPIES, 1.00
THE WORD, published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office,
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135,
Pittsburgh,
Pa. 15213. Entered as
second class matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa.
15219.
ISSN 0043-7964
HE CAME!
David Corey of Phtsburgh presents Patriarch ELIAS with a bouquet of
roses to welcome him to the Eastern Region SOYO Conference.
CONVENTION
PHOTOS
Ladiesand Gentlemen:
It has been customary that I report at these assemblies
on the state of the Archdiocese since the last convention.
Undoubtedly, the highlight of this Antiochian Holy Year
is the historic visit of our Father-in-Christ, Patriarch
ELIAS IV, to this North American continent. Before I
elaborate on his visit, I would like to report to you about
certainsignificent events which have marked the life of
ourArchdiocese during the past year.
by Mark Elias of Miami
COVER
OUR TRIP TO RUSSIA
His Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV with the Hierarchs
Clergy and Trustees at the Archdiocese Convention
in Washington, D.C.
'
Invited by the Moscow Patriarchate last September,
\976,I and a group of our clergy flew from New York City
0 Moscow. The details of this trip were magnificently
reported to you by the Very Reverend Father George S.
Corey in the WORD Magazine. The cordiality and
hospitality of the Moscow Patriarchate was indeed outstanding from the moment of our arrival to the moment of
our departure. My visit to Russia was one of the most
ovember,1977
significant experiences of my entire life. You may hear
stories or read books about the Church in Russia, but
unless you go there and experience for yourself the
spiritual depth of the Russian people, your knowledge of
the Russian spirituality remains purely academic. Despite
the limited freedom which the Church enjoys under an
atheistic government, it is not unusual in Russia to
celebrate vespers and divine liturgies with five, ten or
twenty-five thousand faithful. The Russians have no pews
in their churches, yet they stand and pray with eyes fixed
on heaven pouring out their hearts with soft tears before
the Almighty God. Whil~ in Russia, we visited some of the
most beautiful churches in the world in Moscow,
Leningrad and Zagorsk. Every icon in Ru~ia is a window
to heaven and every church in Russia is a little piece of
heaven. If you look at Moscow or Leningrad from the air,
you see nothing but church cupolas piercing the sky. At
every turn of the road there is a church; a constant
reminder that Christ, and not Marx, is the Lord of history.
It is one of the contradictions of life that the most spiritual
Page 3
�the Standing Conference were joined by the lead r
cultural, social and political bodies in an extraordin
session
and unanimously
endorsed
the foll win
statement:
HE SAW!
His Beatitude had the opportunity
America in the many cities he visited.
to witness Orthodoxy
in North
people on earth have to live under the most Godless and
materialistic system.
I told my hosts, almost on every occasion, that Russian
history without the Church is meaningless, and that the
land which gave the world spiritual and intellectual giants
such as Seraphim of Sorov, Nil of Sorsk, Tolstoy,
Dostoevesky,
Tschaikovsky,
Rachmaninoff,
Nicolas
Berdyaev, George Florovsky and Aleksandr Solzhe~itsyn
will never be crucified forever. Beyond calvary there is the
empty tomb. On this hope the Russian people live and
wait for the heavy stone to be rolled away from the door of
the sepulchre.
,,
. ..
In a new book entitled, "Our Hope, by Father Dmitru
Dudko, a contemporary Russian priest, Father Dudko was
asked: "Where do people believe better, in Russia or the
West?" Father Dmitrii answered: "Everyone wants people
to believe better where he, himself, lives. I am Russian and
I would like to think the best of Russia. I know there are
more believers in the West, but remembering Christ's
words about the 'little flock' upon which He leans, I would
say that if you want to believe in Russia, you have got to
stand there next to Christ as He is nailed to the cross. In
Russia, today, that is the only way you ca1!" belie~e.
Therefore, I thinlc that people believe better m Russia,
just like the first Christian martyrs."
Before we flew back to America, I told my hosts at the
farewell dinner the following: "I hope that when I retu~n
to Russia the bells of the Kremlin will be ringing agam
and the Name of God will be praised in all the churc~es
which were forced to close; otherwise, the soft tears which
we saw in the eyes of the Russian peopl_e ';ill become
mighty rivers which will sweep away all mdifference to
God in your beautiful land." (APPLAUSE)
HEADQUARTERS
ACTIVITIES
If I told you that we have had_ a very busy _year, it
would be an understatement.
Despit_e our total mvolvement in planning the visit of His Beatitude and the ~vents
of the Antiochian Holy Year, we have devoted time to
certain issues which are of concern to all of us.
On March
14, 1977, your Archdioces~
host~d a
meeting for the Standing Conference of Amencan Middle
Eastern Christian and Moslem Leaders. The members of
Page 4
"1. We call for unity among all per on
organizations of Arabic speaking background in 1~
United States.
2. We are for the unity and independen
Lebanon. Our position is non-partisan, with
concern for all the people of Lebanon, and f
continued independence,
unity and integrit of
sovereign Lebanon. We support the efforts of th
new President, Elias Sarkis, as he work to brin
complete peace to Lebanon. (APPLAUSE)
3. We call upon the United States Government to
take a prominent role in the humanitarian and
reconstruction aid for Lebanon. A fully restored and
independent Lebanon is in the interest of the nit d
States, the Middle East and all the world.
4. We _applaud President Carter's moral stand n
human rights, and we look forward to his applicati n
of that moral creed to all the peoples of the Middl
East - Jews, Christians and Moslems. (APPLA
5. Recognizing that the root cause of the conflict in
the Middle East has been the injustice done to the
Palestinian Christian and Moslem people and that
the Palestinian people as primary parties to the
conflict should participate in any peace negotiation
in fulfillment to their right to self-determination, we
call upon our government to support all effort
toward that desired end." (APPLAUSE)
This statement
was adopted by the Orthodox, the
Melkites, the Maronites, the Muslims, the Druse, the
Palestinians, the Armenians, the Syriacs, the National
Association of Arab Americans, the American Lehane e
League, the American Ramallah Federation and the
World Lebanese Cultural Union. Senator James Abourez~
was kind enough to attend this meeting. The significance
of this conference lies in the fact that for the first time the
leadership of our people, regardless of religiou~ and
political affiliations, have met and agreed on someth~ng. It
was not easy to bring all these people together but 1fyou
have the will, nothing is impossible. I do hope, however
that our people in Lebanon will e~ulate our good e~ample
and start talking to each other m order to rebuild and
bring lasting peace to their beautiful country. (APPLAUSE)
SCOBA AND THE OCEC
On March 24, 1977, our Archdiocese hosted another
meeting for the members of SCOBA a~d the Or~hodo
Christian Education Commission. The h1erarchs hste~ed
to reports from the Chairman of OCEC, the Executive
Secretary the Executive Manager, the Chairman of the
Curriculu~ Department who happened to be ~r.
Boojamra and the Editor of UPBEAT Ma~azme.
chairmen of all Orthodox Christian Educat10n Depar~
ments of various jurisdictions were prese~t and e~cha_ng~
many useful ideas. The signific_ance of t~1s meeting he~~:
the fact that this was the first meeting be_tween en
hierarchs and OCEC since I became Metropolitan ele
, ntioch and the Executive Committee of the ational
.' un ii of Churches. Many religious and ci ic leader
. }uding Arab Ambassadors, have visited our headin rters to discuss with us world situations especially the
u blem of the Middle East.
pr\ have mentioned these facts to you to realize that our
r hdiocese has been a catalyst in bringing people
ether and very often to play the role of peace maker.
l l Paul said: "Let us then pursue what makes for peace
n.df r mutual upbuilding." (Rom. 14: 19)
NEW CHURCH BUILDINGS
AND NEW MISSIONS
By the grace _of God and our missionary zeal, your
rchdiocese continues to grow. In the past eleven years,
·e ha e established eleven new parishes. I am pleased to
--eportto you that we have officially sanctioned three new
i ions - one in Hempstead, New York; one in Win1
or, Ontario; and one in New Orleans, Louisiana. The
ormer Episcopalian Parish of the Incarnation in Detroit,
fichigan, has joined the Archdiocese and I was delighted
. chrismate some of its parishioners
on Mon1ay evening,
0
1ay2,1977.
On the Sunday of Orthodoxy I proposed the establishment of an Orthodox Radio and Television Foundation so
•hat the Orthodox message may be heard in the media
!early and effectively throughout this land. Such a
oundation requires great sums of money. I pray that with
, e cooperation of the various Orthodox jurisdictions, this
dreamwill become a reality. (APPLAUSE)
puring the past year I consecrated three new churches:St. George of Niagara Falls, New York; St. Mark's of
Youngstown, Ohio; and St. Mary's of Livonia, Michigan.
These new church buildings were built by small flocks,
each one consisting of less than a hundred families. Our
mallflocks who are flourishing spiritually and financially
put to shame some of our large parishes who can hardly
meet their financial obligations. (APPLAUSE) Our Lord
aid: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good
pleasureto give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32
AN HISTORIC VISIT
The highlight of the Antiochian Holy Year is the visit
ofour Father-in-Christ, His Beatitude, ELIAS IV, Patriarch
of Antioch and all the East. For the first time in history, an
Antiochian Patriarch sets foot on this North American
soil. We have been dreaming of this apostolic visit for
manyyears. However, it could never have been possible
beforethe reunification of the Antiochian family in North
America.We thank God, your Beatitude, that after sixty
years of division and misunderstanding,
our people are
reunited and there is no power on earth which will divide
us again (STANDING OVATION) because our unity is
sealedin Christ. We also thank God that this reunification
happened during the reign of our Holy Father, Patriarch
ELIASIV.
For the past two years the theme of our gatherings and
conventions has been, "Blessed is he that cometh in the
na_meof the Lord." Before the arrival of His Beatitude,
this theme was somehow an abstraction but now, "He that
~omethin the name of the Lord," is here. He is real. We
ave seen him, kissed his hand, embraced him and
touchedhim. Although we have always been united with
J~t:
years ago.
.
b
ur Arch.
0th er important meetings were hosted Y yo
diocese such as the Committee of the Order of St. Ignattu
The Wore
·ovember,1977
HE CONQUERED OUR HEARTS!
One of the thousands who expressed their love for the Patriarch.
him in the same chalice and in the same bread, his
presence among us makes our unity with him very real,
despite the oceans and mountains which separate us .
Surely, love transends all barriers. Patriarch ELIAS IV
represents two thousand years of spirituality. He comes to
us as the successor of Saints Peter and Paul, St. Ignatius of
Antioch, St. John Chrysostom, St. John of Damascus and a
"cloud of witnesses" of martyrs and ascetics. I have read
lately that after the famous TV series, "Roots," many
Americans have been trying to rediscover their ancestral
and cultural origins. In our case, we do not have to try
hard. Our spiritual roots are deeply planted in Bethlehem,
Nazareth, Galilee, Jerusalem, Beirut, Damascus and
Antioch. (APPLAUSE)
Patriarch ELIAS IV represents all this glory, yet he
represents much suffering. History has not been very kind
to us. From Ignatius to ELIAS IV, the history of Antioch
has been written in blood. Antioch knows very well the
meaning of martyrdom, persecution, oppression, controversy and even heresy. Strange is the Antiochian mind!
Many times while trying to focus on the transcendent
God, it went beyond its limits and fell into heresy. Yes,
we have suffered much throughout history from so-called
Christians and non-Christians alike and what happened
last July, 1976, to the Archdiocese of our brother,
Metropolitan
IL YAS, of Tripoli, Lebanon, testifies
beyond doubt to this said reality.
Your Beatitude and beloved father, when you accepted our invitation to visit this North American continent, we rejoiced and decided to initiate a project in
order to express to you our thanks and gratitude. Sixteen
years ago while returning from a frustrating trip to the
Holy Synod of Antioch, the late Metropolitan Antony said
to me, "The only way to create a spiritual renaissance in
the Patriarchate of Antioch is to build a theological Academy, for the entire Middle East." I could not agree with
him more because the Patriarchates
of Jerusalem,
Alexandria and even Constantinople
all are without
theological
academies.
Unfortunately,
Metropolitan
Antony died in February, 1966, before the realization of
his dream. This Archdiocese, with its Board of Trustees
and all its faithful, was determined to accomplish this task
without any hesitation or delay. We expended the money,
we broke ground for the new school in August, 1966, and
in 1971, Patriarch ELIAS IV dedicated this beautiful
Page 5
�academy which will always stand as an expression of our
love for our Mother Church. (APPLAUSE)
As you well know, due to the Civil War in Lebanon,
and because of security reasons and the total collapse of
the Lebanese economy, this school has been closed for the
past two years. I know beyond doubt that the most
precious institution to the heart of Patriarch Elias is the
Balamand Academy. On many occasions, His Beatitude
emphatically
told me that without
the Balamand
Academy, Orthodoxy in the Middle East will have no
future.
Your Beatitude,
Being fully cognizant of the importance of theological
education and knowing how much hope you have invested
in the Balamand Academy, and realizing that without an
annual fixed income, this school cannot survive, we have
tried our best to help you keep this school open. Ladies
and Gentlemen, I joyfully announce to you the establishment of the "Patriarch ELIAS IV Foundation for the
Balamand Academy," in the amount of a half million
dollars. You did it! We have reached our goal. You did
not disappoint me. You never did. I pray that under the
leadership of Patriarch Elias and with the full cooperation
of the members of the Holy Synod of Antioch, this school
will open soon and will never be closed again. Your
Beatitude, we have just one humble request. Please make
the Balamand Academy truly an Antiochian school which
will answer our particular
needs and reflect our
Antiochian history and spirituality.
Beloved Father-in-Christ,
For the past two and one half months your presence
has transfigured this Archdiocese from "glory to glory".
You have traveled to Canada and throughout the United
States and presided over our meetings and conventions.
fhousands of our people have had the opportunity to kiss
your hand and receive your blessings, an experience
which they will never forget. You have made a tremendous impression on the Orthodox hierarchs of this land. I
am sure that your Beatitude agrees that Orthodoxy in the
new world has a vigor, a vitality and a dynamism which is
missing in the Old World. Individually the various
Orthodox jurisdictions in this country have done well for
themselves. But unfortunately, collectively, we have not
done much to spread the Orthodox message in this hemisphere. According to unofficial statistics, we have 1:>etween eight and ten million Orthodox in North America,
yet we have not made any serious impact on the spirit
a~~ _moral life of. t~i~ natio~ ?e~a~se of our eth~~1
divmon. The multiphcity of Jurisdictions in ne gi,
terr~tory,_ fundame~tally contradicts the canonical and,e~
clesiological teachmgs of our Church. Orthodox in ·
. .
d
.
ll
essence transcen d set h mcism an nationalism. Thu if .
don't destroy these ethnic barriers and feel at home~1
America, we will remain, in the eyes of our fell :
Americans, some kind of an oriental cult or a museum r\\
ancient relics. We have a tremendous opportunit tr
preach Orthodoxy in this land. America is thirsty for ou
spirituality and theological stability, but how can Americ:
understand us if we continue talking to her in languag
which she does not understand. I am not against ethni
cultures at all. I believe that we can achieve Orthodox
unity despite our cultural diversity.
Last November we heard that a Great Orthodox ynod
is in the making and one of the topics which will b
discussed is the Orthodox diaspora. The last Ecumenicai
Council took place in 787. Thank God, that after 11
years, a Great Synod will convene to hopefully respond to
the many spiritual and moral challenges of our time.
resent. I will be remiss if I don't thank His Eminence,
hbishop Michael fo: his cooperation, His Grace,
hop Elia; the Archd10cesan Trustees; Deans ?f the
D aneries, the clergy, the Order of St. Ignatrns of
\ioch, the Antiochian Women, Senior SOYO, Teen
iyo, the Chairme~ of our d~partments and commissions
d all faithful of this Archd10cese for their support and
n peration. We owe a deep sense of gratitude to those
dividuals who have sponsored the "Foundation Dinners"
}°r the benefit of the Balamand Academy. Without ~heir
nerosity our goal would never have been realized.
e PPLAUSE) I would also like to thank those individuals
who have attended our "Foundation Dinners" and all
hose good people who have contributed even one penny
1
this most worthy project. I would also like to thank my
0
~,erworked staff, the Rt. Rev. Antoun Khouri, Miss
Your Beatitude,
Regarding the disapora, your people in North Ameri a
have always championed the cause of Orthodox unity and
we shall not in any way abandon this struggle. In one of
your past epistles to our people, you said: "As
Antiochians,
our hope for Orthodox unity in North
America is that it be realized with the blessings of the
Mother Churches which have branches on the North
American continent. A unity achieved in this fashion will
be solid, strong and productive. This is our conviction and
we shall continue to work for its actualization , .. we
sho~ld never forget that Antioch must play a great role in
peace, love and good will."
This is a great statement, your Beatitude, This is our
conviction, too. Now we must work together to translate
our convictions into realities. We agree with you wholeheartedly that Antioch must play a great role in world
Orthodoxy especially in the forthcoming "Great Synod."
Among all the Orthodox Patriarchates
in the world,
Antioch is the only patriarchate which can act freely,
positively and effectively. We Antiochians have never
fixed our eyes on any particular piece of land nor have we
ever become slaves to any particular culture. We always
believed "in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church," a
catholicity which transcends all frontiers and all cultures.
Orthodoxy in the diaspora and otherwise has long been
victimized by an historical tension between Moscow and
Constantinople. It is time, your Beatit~de, to put_an end to
this Cold War. It is time, your Beatitude, to nse abo~e
historical considerations which no longer exist either m
Moscow or Constantinople.
Only a strong Antioch can
play this positive role. The Patriarch of Antioch ca_nnotbe
stronger than the people of Antioch; therefore, this Ar~hdiocese which loves you and respects you puts all_its
potentialities
in your h~nds as _you struggle to bnng
Orthodox
u'nity to this contmen t and Orthodox
cooperation through the world.
l} His Beatitude, PATRIARCH ELIAS IV opened the General
Assembly at 10: 15 A.M. with prayer and the singing of the
Pentecost Troparion.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
.
.
t
This year will go down m history as the m?
memorable year in the life of this ~rchdiocese:
the busy time which we spent preparmg for the vlSlt O h
Beatitude our Archdiocese has continued to work 0 hrt e
realization ' of the eternal principles an d"di ea 1s wh~ ~
!)et:t
!
One of the hundreds of reporters sent to Interview His Beatitude.
Page 6
The Word
r;;
Bi
Kathy Meyer and Bill E e for their l alty patience and
under tanding. La t but not lea t, I would like to thank
our able Treasurer, Mr. Theodore Mackoul, for freel and
cheerfully contributing hi time for the financial wellbeing
of this Archdiocese.
Your Beatitude,
Your isit to this Archdiocese will linger in our
memories for many, many years to come. Rest a ured
that wherever you go, our thoughts and love will constantly surround you and our fer ent prayer shall always
be: "Among the first be mindful O Lord, of our Father,
Patriarch Elias, whom do thou grant unto thy holy churche
in peace, safety, honor, health and length of days and
rightly dividing the ~ord of thy truth."
(STA DI G OVATIO )
THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1977
2} FATHER ANTONY GABRIEL presented the minutes of the
most recent meeting
of the Credentials
and Convention
Planning Committee and declared a quorum present.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Rev.Antony Beauchamp
Rev.Paul Doyle
Rev.Joseph Rahal
Rt.Rev. John Namie
Ralph Abercia
Alan Abraham
Joseph Abraham
George David
Michael Kafoure
George S. Koury
Robert Laham, Sr.
Dr. Alan E. Ma took
Ron Nicola
Elaine Saliba
Anthony Thomas, Sr.
Firstly, we extend a warm welcome at this National
conclave to our Father-in-God, His Beatitude, Patriarch
ELIAS IV and His Eminence, Metropolitan IL Y AS. At
the opening of the 32nd Annual Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese Convention of North America, we
report the following information received as of Wednesdayevening, July 27, 1977:
A. We have 92.6 per cent of the Archdiocese present
and it is declared that there is a quorum to officially
open the General Assembly. The committee convened
Tuesday and Wednesday, July 26 and 27, 1977, all day. •
B. Out of a total of 106 Parishes and Missions, 92
returned
"The
Parish
Annual
Report
and
Authorization for Delegates" Questionnaire, and / or
their assessment. Another 14 were submitted during
this Conference. 19 Parishes/ Missions did not submit
credentials at all.
-We remind you that far too many parishes submitted
their assessment checks during this convention. Very
few trustees or members of Archdiocese organizations
returned their Delegate forms prior to this Conference.
C. A total of 30,982 communicants were reported in
the compilation. The Archdiocese Assessment has
been received from 30,952 reported communicants, a
99.8 per cent of the total communicants,
which
represents 318 votes.
~ovember, 1977
-There
has been an increase of 131 communicants
since the 1976 Archdiocese Convention, according to
the census taken by the Credentials Committee.
D. The increase in revenue in round figures is 8655.00
resulting from 26 parishes that increased their
assessment
and
19 parishes
decreased their
assessment. However, His Eminence ruled that no
decrease in the amount of communicants submitted
would be accepted without validation. The 1976
Census would stand as recorded and no parish would
be seated with a decrease in their census. Therefore,
every church that has not submitted the difference
during this Convention will be accordingly assessed by
the Archdiocesan
office. The total assessment
received to date according to our figures are: $144,090
from a total possible $154,910. Due is Sl0,820 for
parishes on the installment plan.
E. Monetary obligations have been received from 92
parishes and 2 missions. 14 missions and 1 parish are
still unpaid. Missions are not required to submit any
assessment until they reach full Parish Status.
F. From a total of 132 clergy in the Archdiocese, 98
are present at the time of this report, either in person
or by proxy, and 34 are absent.
G. Proxies received from:
_lJ_Parishes / Clergy
_n_TOT AL PROXIES
H. Together from a total of 512 "Possible" qualified
votes, the breakdown is as follows for the Archdiocese
and its organizations:
VOTES:
318. Parishes/ Missions
-6-AOCWNA
12 SOYO Regions (Senior and Teen)
44 Archdiocese Board of Trustees
132 Clergy (Active and Inactive)
512 TOTAL VOTES
471 PRESENT VOTES
-This represents 92.6 per cent of the "Possible" votes
according to the Census of the 512 inclusive votes.
-An increase of 42 or 8.2 per cent possible voting
delegates has been noted from the 1976 compilations.
Page 7
�I. The records that we formulate and are now on file
in
the
Archdiocese
Headquarters
in
THE
CREDENTIALS HANDBOOK indicate that a new
study must be done regarding
the Archdiocese
Assessment. For your information, we discovered a
discrepancy of some 683 in reported communicants.
-The
Credentials Committee has been mandated by
the Metropolitan
and requested by the Archdiocese
Finance Committee to do a new indepth study of the
census of the Archdiocese
which will accurately
reflect the real numbers of the Archdiocese membership. You will be hearing from us in the very near
future. All we ask is for the Pastors and Parish
Councils to respond to our request. The report that we
shall ask from you will not be tied to any financial
consideration
regarding
your
Archdiocese
Assessment.
PARISHES AND MISSIONS NOT SEATED BECAUSE
THEY HA VE NOT SUBMITTED THEIR CREDENTIALS
AND/ OR
PAID
THEIR
PARISH
ASSESSMENTS ARE:
St. Michael Orthodox Church,
Monessen, Pennsylvania
PARISHES AND MISSIONS NOT SEATED BECAUSE
THEY CLAIM LESS THAN 50 COMMUNICANTS
ACCORDING TO OUR RECORDS ARE:*
St. George, San Diego, Calif.
St. Nicholas, St. Petersburg, Fla.
St. Ignatius, Tampa, Fla.
St. John, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
St. George, Springfield, Ill.
St. Mary, Berkley, Michigan
St. Mary, Iron Mountain, Michigan
St. Simon, Ironwood, Michigan
St. George, Michigan City, Michigan
St. George, Kearney, Nebraska
Annunciation, W. Hempsted, New York
St. George, Myers, New York
submitted
Page 8
3) METROPOLITAN PHILIP declared the Thirty-Second General
Assembly
officially
opened, and appointed
the following
Convention Officers:
MR. MONSOUR LAHAM, Vice-Chairman
MR. JOHN KHOURI, Chancellor
MR. GEORGE ELIAS, JR., Chancellor
MR. CARL SHAHEEN, Sergeant-at-Arms
MR. RICHARD BOSADA, Sergeant-at-Arms
VERY REV. PAUL SCHNEIRLA, Secretary
DR. JOHN DALACK, Secretary
5) METRO POLIT AN PHILIP, saying that we who are accustomed
to a message read from the Patriarch across the sea are this
year privileged to hear his voice as he addresses us in person.
Following
a prolonged
standing
ovation, His
Beatitude, PATRIARCH ELIAS IV read the following
message:
their
Moved by FATHER PAUL NEMR, seconded by FR~NK
KFOURE,
Indianapolis,
the report
was received
unanimously.
* NOTE: The pastors of the above parishes/missions
receive ballots to exercise their right to vote.
In conclusion, METROPOLITAN
PHILIP remo ed
the prefix "Lay" from the title of the Vice-Chairman of th
Archdiocese Board as a step toward reducing the unorthodox dichotomy between clergy and laity.
4) On the motion of FATHER GABRIEL BARROW, seconded by
FATHER ANTONY BEAUCHAMP, The Minutes of the Thirty-first
Annual
General
Assembly
were accepted as printed and
circulated in THE WORD magazine for November, 1976.
We welcome for the first time the following new
missions:
FLORIDA:
St. Jude, Daytona Beach
St. John, Sanford
LOUISIANA:
St. Basil, New Orleans
MICHIGAN:
Church of the Incarnation, Detroit
WASHING TON:
St. Michael, Seattle
Parishes/ Missions
that
have
assessments for the first time are:
St. Philip, Fort Lauderdale,.~lorida
St. Basil, New Orleans, Loms1ana
Speaking on the Report, METROPOLITA
PHILIP
reminded all Parish Councils that the assessment syste
0
the Archdiocese is not based on the number of a~·1
members in a parish but rather upon the numbe ' r
baptised Orthodox souls resident in the parish bounda;ieo
The system has been accepted and passed by the Gene j
Assemblies of the Archdiocese many times. The ou~~west Region and the Board of Trustees adopted a forwardlooking missionary program to attract non-Orthodo 1
Orthodoxy and make the Church known in our land~
therefore, we cannot suppose that some parishes ar;
reporting the loss of two to three hundred souls a year.
should reflect on these circumstances.
do
In the past, my messages to you have been w~~ten. In
them, I have told you that my heart and my sp~1t were
present with you, and this is true because I beheve t~at
man's spirit transcends geography. Today, I am truly with
you to deliver the message myself, but I feel that I ha_ve
always been with you. I am most happy to be he~e wit.h
you and to observe exactly what goes on m this
Antiochian Archdiocese which has been preserved by
God. Love in the Church transcends the love_of pare_n.ts,
and I love my brother in Christ, Metropohtan Phihp,
through Christ.
.
The love of our Lord Jesus Christ is a love _that.is
obvious, and it supercedes all life. Life in Our _Lord!5 a .l~e
of sacrifice and when this sacrifice is the basis of hfe, it is
the greatest thing on earth. Jesu_sdid not co~e to ~e~t~
the world and its systems. Love 1s the new thi~g whic
d
brought to this world. It is this very love which chanr.
1
the world and nothing else can change the world. t ~
with this l~ve that I stand here in your midst today to g~e\
Metropolitan Philip who is a mem~er of the Holy Syno o
Antioch. Greeting him is like greetl~g myself. . d. the
you know of the difficulties which ha~e extSt ~ m le
past. yet, God, in HIS wisdom, has provided HI peop
The Word
. h the strength to "straighten all that is crooked and
t in this life." Under the leadership of Metropolitan
en
.
d
Ph·lip with the cooperation an support of Archbishop
,,/ hael, t~is ~rchdiocese
has re-discovered and retablished its umty.
e During my travels, I have greeted the faithful in all the
ions of North America. I have greeted SOYO, the
regtiochian Orthodox
Christian Women of North
;erica,
the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Parish
Councils and the clergy, and when I first arrived, I met
•th the Board of Trustees of the Archdiocese. What has
~
pressed me first and foremost in my travels is the faith
1
your little_ children. Chil_dren art: t~e ?lossoms of your
f ith in this hfe. I also admire the d1sc1plme and structure
~ your organizations and your handling of financial
matters. But most important of all, I have been impressed
with your spirit. It is the spirit of Old Antioch and the
Church of Antioch, and I bring to you the love of this
ancient church.
I will take back with me to Antioch and the Holy
ynod and to all the Orthodox and non-Orthodox of the
East, the story of what your struggle and ypur tears and
your pain have achieved on this Continent. Without you in
this Archdiocese, the history of Antioch could not be
1\-rritten.Your unity in this land is your greatest asset. In
·he past, I have written that Antioch must live. Now that I
have visited and lived among you, I know that Antioch is
alive, and I am confident that Antioch will continue to live
and flourish because the spirit of Antioch is in you. It
stretches over your Archdiocese on wings of love and
peace.
I greet this peace and love, and I thank you for your
hospitality. Thanks to all: to my beloved brother in Christ
Metropolitan Philip, to SOYO, to the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women of North America, to the
Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch, to the Board of Trustees,
and to all the faithful of this Archdiocese. You have
overwhelmed me with your love and with your sacrifice on
behalf of the Balamand Theological Academy; it is a
sacrifice of love. I hope that your sacrifice will never be in
vain, and I am confident that your sacrificial gift of love
1
or the Balamand Academy will bring forth new flowers
for Antioch. Antioch will continue to play a vital role in
the world, and this Archdiocese will continue to play a
major role in Antioch. You have given us something no
one can thank you for. You have built the Balamand you gave us the stones in the past. Now you give us the
spirit. Your Archdiocese will be first in the Patriarchate,
and you are the first Archdiocese to accomplish such a
great achievement. I will return carrying your love, and I
willpray every morning and every evening for our Lord to
lengthen your days, to preserve your children, and to fill
yourhearts always with the spirit of love and unity, under
the leadership of Metropolitan Philip, blessed by God,
whohas dedicated himself to God and HIS Church.
11
"'
7
At the conclusion of the address, the
Assemblystood and sang the "Many Years."
General
METROPOLITAN PHILIP introduced the members
of the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees and those on the
dais to the General Assembly, as follows: Dr. George
Malouf,Washington, Assistant Treasurer, Moussa Souaid,
Montreal, George Elias, Jr., Chancellor, Miami, John
~houri, Chancellor, Miami, Theodore Mackoul, Hillsdale,
reasurer and Controller,
Monsour Laham, Viceovember,1977
His Beatitude confers with His Excellency, Ambassador Najatl Kabbanl
of Lebanon, Dean of the Arab Diplomatic Corps.
Chairman, Albert Joseph, Order of St. Ignatius, Rt. Rev.
Gregory Abboud, Vicar General, Dr. John Dalack,
Secretary, Board of Trustees, Very Rev. Paul Schneirla,
Secretary of the Archdiocese, Rt. Rev. Ellis Khouri,
Protosyngelos, Bishop Elia Saliba, Archbishop Michael
Shaheen, Metropolitan Ilyas Kurban of Tripoli, Richard
0. Joseph, Toledo, Robert Andrews, Los Angeles,
Anthony Thomas, Louisville, Philip Haddad, Charleston,
Rt. Rev. Antoun Khoury, Secretary to Metropolitan
Philip, Charles Dowd, Worcester, Anthony Bashir, Boston,
Dr. Norman Bsharah, Charleston, Dr. Sarni Kouri,
Wichita, Rev. Father Philip Khairallah, representing
Melkite Bishop Joseph Tawil, Elsie Kaleel, Youngstown,
George Karram, Little Falls, Edward Kassab, Detroit,
Rose Merhige, Miami, Jerry Farah, Flint, Frank Haddad,
Montreal, Gary Younes, Washington, Abe Abraham,
Grand Rapids, William Farha, Wichita, Ralph Abercia,
Dr. George Dibs, Garden Grove, George Koury,
Greensburg,
Ronald Nicola, San Francisco, Robert
Laham,
Boston
and
Carl
Shaheen,
Canton.
METROPOLITAN PHILIP announced that the following
Trustees
were unavoidably absent: Rudy George,
Cleveland, Ernest Abraham, Toronto, John Ameer,
Brooklyn, Michael Damas, Toledo, Kenneth Ellis, Grand
Rapids, and Ernest Saykaly.
6) METROPOLITAN PHILIP called for the reports of the
Departments,
Commissions and Committees
of the Archdiocese:
a) WILLIAM ESSEY, Acting Chairman, presented the
Report of the Department of Information and Press
Relations.
As anticipated, this past year has been extremely busy
for this Department. Our work commenced immediately
upon returning from the 31st Archdiocesan
General
Assembly. Pre-publicity regarding the arrival of His
Beatitude in North America was very successful, and the
Department
thanks all those on the local, regional,
national, international and Archdiocesan levels who help
in the monumental undertaking. We hope that we have
adequately fulfilled the awesome responsibility delegated
to us.
Page 9
�HIGHLIGHTS
OF DEPARTMENTAL
WORK:
researched, authored, edited, published, and distributed
three
Holy Year brochures
. . . "The Balamand
Academy," "Biography of His Beatitude ELIAS IV," and
"A History of the Patriarchate of Antioch." (The third
brochure was researched and authored by Dr. John L.
Boojamra.); Printed and distributed official press photos
of His Beatitude; posted press packets to Conference
cities; distributed
numerous
press releases on the
Patriarchal visit to 13 Orthodox publications, 11 Arabic
newspapers, 4 American religious presses, and 8 national
and international press agencies (including AP and UPI}
our
Department
also covered
the meetings
of
SCAMECML and SCOBA / OCEC hosted at our Archdiocesan Headquarters;
submitted monthly news articles
to "The WORD" for publication under the title "Archdiocesan Office"; coordinated press, radio and television
coverage of His Beatitude's visits; prepared new "Priest's
Guide."
These are but a very few of the many and varied activities in which the Department was involved this past
year. Special thanks must be offered to His Grace Bishop
ELIA who was the Arabic language correspondent,
Fathers Antoun Khouri and Paul Schneirla, Dr. John
Dalack, Mr. George Khoury, Miss Kathy Meyer, and our
Archdiocesan seminarians who helped so very much.
There was much that the Department failed to achieve
this year, but each and every member tried his best. The
time may be here when a professional person in the field
of journalism and public relations is needed to head this
Department. The Archdiocese can survive without this
person, but to grow and mature this is a necessity.
Moved by FATHER ELIAS KARIM, second~d by DR.
JOSEPH TOUMA, Huntington, the report was received.
7) FATHER GABRIEL BARROW, Chairman,
of the Department
of Liturgics:
presented
the report
This report today marks the fourth time that I have been permitted to
address this honored General Assembly as the Chairman of our Archdiocese Department of Liturgics and Translations. And as I have, every
year for the past four years, again I am very happy to announce to you
that your Department of Liturgics is not asleep, but is indeed very hard at
work. Your Department of Liturgics is, membership-wise, one of the
'"
,·:
'""'>c;:,-
~
His Eminence, Metropolitan PIDLIP presents Ambassador Kabbanl of
Lebanon with the Antlochlan Holy Year Commemorative Medal.
larger departments in our_ '?1"chdiocese. In. service to the Church and
10
you, we are constantly stnvmg to make available to the Clergy a d
Faithful of the Holy Orthodox Churches in America liturgicaln to ~he
.
sen 1ce
b oo k s t h at are easy to follow and through which
we all might b b
closer to the beautiful liturgical experience and encounter withe roLught
. Th" "l"
. •
.
our ord
Jesus Ch nst.
is iturgical experience and encounter with Christ" 1h •
talk about, can only come from a full participation In and not just . at 1
from attendance at, the liturgical services of the Holy Orthodox Cshtmpl~
•
• 1y passive
• 1y sit
• an d observe our Faith. In T urch
W e can not Just
simp
h .•
• •
0 rt h o d ox Ch nstlans,
• •
" then we must active!rut , 1f
we are " practlcmg
• •
• a 11 aspects o f Ch urc h L"f
ticipate
m
i e, and more important! y parnd
especially, in the full liturgical cycle of services in our Holy Churc/ a
The task of publishing service books is not as easy a task as one · h
. d .
.
m1g t
suppose. F or t h ere are many vane 1iturgical services in the Liturgical
: ea_r of the ?rthodox Church, and each and every one of these service
is different, m one degree_ o~ another, from any of the other service
Therefore, the task of pubhshmg accurate and easy to follow tran~at"
of Orthodox Liturgical services, that have enough directions andton.
planations contained in them so that the services flow smoothly and ;x
~omp_Ietely u~derst~od, is no~ _a~ easy and simple task. For th/:
hturgical ~ervices, without sacnfici~g- any_of the deep meaning, beauty
fullness, richness, accuracy, and spmtuahty of the Orthodox Liturgical
Life, must also reflect the life style and social patterns of our America
life, heritage, culture, and environment.
n
It is the goal and hope of this Department that our American
Orth<:>doxChurches will cont~nue ~o gr?w to bec~me centers of liturgical
learnmg and places of mystical hturgical experiences. It is our dream
that our Orthodox Churches in America will become "liturgical schools"
teaching and allowing the Faithful the full possibility of liturgicati,
learning about the Holy Sacraments of the Church and hopefully to
experience a liturgically spiritual, as well as a physical, encounter with
Our Lord, the Holy Theotokos, all of the Saints, the Feast Days of our
Church, and the whole and unending fountain of theology and
spirituality that is expressed in our liturgical services. The Orthodox
Church in America must become great and holy centers of salvation
where lost souls might come and learn about and possibly experience
that encounter with Christ and His Church that will "transfigure" them
into one of the "living saints" and to develop them into a true and full
member of "the Body of Christ."
During the Regional SOYO Parish Life Conferences this year, the
Clergy of our Archdiocese received a new publication of the Department
of Liturgics, The Conference Service Book. This new publication is a
Service Book to be used at our regional and national conferences. It
contains the rubrics and order of the services and how they are to be
celebrated when a Hierarch, or many Hierarchs, are present, but not
celebrating the services themselves, as is the case at the daily services of
our regional and national conferences. The Service Book was written
with the assumption that more than one priest will be serving and
provides for the parts of the services to be done by a Deacon, if one is
serving. This Service Book is unique, a definitive work in this area and II
appears for the first time in the history of this Archdiocese. It was
prepared in the hopes that all of the liturgical services of our conferences
and conventions will flow smoothly, properly, and according to our Holy
Antiochian Orthodox Tradition. This Service Book has officially been
approved by Metropolitan PHILIP and is now the only accepted order
for the daily Liturgical Services at our regional and national conferences
and it is, therefore, to be followed very strictly by our reverend clergy.
We pray that the Reverend Fathers will study and use th~s new S~~vice
Book to the glorification of Almighty God. With some mmor rev1S1ons,
we hope to publish, in the very near future, The Conference Service
Book for use by the Faithful, as well as the Clergy, at our conferences
and conventions.
The Department of Liturgics' Committee on the Translation of The
Typlkon into the English Language is hard at work. We are very pleased
to announce that as of this Convention, 75 per cent of The Typlkon has
been translated into English. The Typlkon is the liturgical service book
that gives the prescribed order and rules for the celebration of all of the
Divine Services throughout the Orthodox Liturgical Year. We have ~ent
the translated portion of The Typlkon to a committee who is_resp?~Sible
for checking the translation against the Greek and Arabic or~gmals.
Thus, with the proof-reading having begun, the remaining portions of
The Typlkon will be translated this year. Finally, this long needed and
long awaited dream, the translation of The Typlkon of the Orthodox
Church, into the English Language, will, in the very near future, become
an actual reality.
.
.
·11be
One of the next major projects of the Department of Liturgics W1
the publication of the Holy Week Services, as celebrate? in the ~as~;~
Orthodox Church. This volume will be complete and will co~tam a alo
the Holy Week Services in English, from the Bridegroom Service 0f ~ ~
0
Sunday Evening, through and including the Agape Vespers O
The Word
Page 10
E er Sunday Afternoon. This is a major project and we hope that most
f 1~e work will be completed by the 1978 Archdiocese Convention in
H0 uston, Texas.
ome of the immediate future projects of the Department of
Lt1urgicsof t?i~ Arc_hdiocese a~e: a new Divine L~turgy Service Book, a
If archal Divme Liturgy Service Book, The Lexicon - the publishing
:C~t of the Daily Epistle and Gospel Readings, The Wedding Service
~ comme_ntary, The Baptism Service with commentary,
and The
1111
funeral Service.
.
.
If your Dep~rt~ent of Liturgics has made any progress, if we have
de any contributions to our Holy Orthodox Church in America, then
F.~a only been ~y the Grace of Al~ightY_ God, with the continued total
upport and blessmgs of our Father·m·Chnst, Metropolitan PHILIP, with
h long hours and hard work of all of the clergy and dedicated laymen of
:h~ Department of our Archdiocese, and above all, by your continued
rayers and support.
.
.
p In closing, may I take this opportumty, on behalf of the Department
f Liturgics, to sincerely welcome to our midst our Father and Chief\epherd, His Beatitude, Patriar~h EL~AS IV. The Department of
Liturgics wish~s to_deep!y thank His Beatitude, for he is truly a "Living
Icon" of the Liturgic~l Life of o~r Ho_IyOr_thodox C~urch. B_yhis blessed
re ence, we have witnessed a liturgical first here m America. Antioch
~an be proud, as we_ are proud _o! this h~ly man. Having personally
witnessed his celebrat10n of our Divme Services, I can truthfully say that
His Beatitude has indeed been granted a great gift from Almighty God.
For His Beatitude has the ability, during the Divine Services, to uplift
and transform himself and, through him, all of the Faithful present, into
that spiritual state, "laying aside all earthly cares," that is mandatory, if
one is to obtain and receive the fullness of the Divine Liturgy. Anyone, in
:his great land, that has not attended and participated in one of the
Hierarchal Divine Liturgies, presided over by His Beatitude, has lost a
great opportunity and blessed gift. Indeed, we are all looking forward to
:his Sunday's Divine Liturgy, which will, without a doubt, be the climax
of this entire Antiochian Holy Year of 1977. We sincerely pray that once
again,in the very near future, that His Beatitude will once again visit his
'lock here in America. We will live in great anticipation for that day and
moment when from the depths of our hearts, our minds, and our souls,
that we can once again cry out:
"His Beatitude ELIAS, the most reverend and most holy Father,
Patriarch of Antioch, the Great City of God, of Syria, Lebanon, Arabia,
Cilicia, Mesopotamia, the Americas, and Thirteenth of the Holy
Apostles, our Father and Chief Shepherd: May God Grant Him Many
Years!"
The meeting was called to order at 11: 10 a.m. by the Chairman of the
Department, Rev. F~ther Gabriel Barrow who led us in prayer.
The minutes of the Departmental
meeting from San Francisco,
California, 1976, were read and approved. A correction, Fr. John Elias'
namewas left out.
Fr. Gabriel Barrow asked for corrections of the Convention Book
and that they be submitted to him in writing. Fr. Gabriel Barrow then
mentioned those areas he had received corrections on, from some
priests. He also mentioned when corrections are sent out, to make sure
youindicate them in the book as soon as you get them.
Very Rev. Fr. James Meena complimented Fr. Gabriel's work.
However, in the book when it says, "Let us pray to the Lord," we do
somethingelse and not pray to the Lord.
Very Rev. Fr. James Meena brought up the question of the Mystical
prayers being read aloud so that the people could hear. However, it
shouldbe the choice of the priest if he wants to read them out loud.
Fr. Gabriel commented on Fr. Meena's feeling, agreeing with the fact
that we are matured, and that the faithful should be participants.
Fr. Joseph Antypas commented on Note 11 of the Convention Book
about the senior priest giving the blessing since he presided over the
assembly.Fr. Gabriel agreed with it from a theological perspective, but
in fact it would cause confusion for the clergy and our people.
Very Rev. Fr. Paul Nemr's report was given on the Typikon Service,
and that he had gathered 144 pages of information with the possibility of
another 144 pages. He will submit a copy and Fr. Gregory Samaan will
proofread it.
Fr. Gabriel Barrow asked that the Typikon Service be a complete
translation in English. Very Rev. Fr. Elias Karim commented while
~esearching with Fr. Paul, the Typikon information, he found many
inconsistencies and a great deal of repetition.
. At this point His Beatitude Patriarch Elias IV came into the room
wit~ His Eminence Metropolitan Philip and the other hierarchs. His
Eminence introduced His Beatitude to the work of the department, and
lls ~edicated Chairman, Fr. Gabriel Barrow, with emphasis on his
contmued dedication and work. His Beatitude spoke about the imovember, 1977
His Excellence, Ambassador Sabah Kabbanf of the Syrian Arab
Republic greets His Beatitude and His Eminence.
portance of the priest knowing what to do liturgically. He blessed us and
left.
Very Rev. James Meena commented that we should coordinate the
Typikon service with the Department of Sacred Music. Fr. Gabriel
Barrow commented that he will work with Ray George, Chairman of the
Department of Sacred Music, and Fr. Gregory Samaan.
V~ry ~ev. Fr. Zacharia Nasr would like to publish the Daily Scriptual
Readmg m memory of his father. Fr. Gabriel will check this with His
Eminence.
Rev. Fr. Gabriel commented that it was time for us to publish a
Divine Liturgy Book for priests to be used on Sundays of conventions
and when His Eminence visits the parishes.
Very Rev. Fr. James Meena made a large print missle with rubies to
be on the altar.
Fr. Gabriel Barrow reviewed a request from His Eminence to publish
a holy week service book. Very Rev. Fr. Paul Moses has done work in
this area.
Very Rev. Fr. John Khoury was asked to compile a Great Lent with
movable parts; Fr. Gabriel will work with him. Also Fr. John has finished
the work on the Great Compline as well as the first four akathist hymns,
and Very Rev. Fr. James Meena has done the fifth.
Rev. Fr. Gabriel Barrow asked Very Rev. Fr. James Meena to work
with Ray George of the Department of Sacred Music for music of Holy
Week. Fr. Gabriel Barrow also authorized Fr. Meena to perfect the
presanctified service.
Very Rev. Fr. Karim showed copies of his Lesson on the Gospels with
two size prints, one 24 type and the other 16 type, for use at major feasts
and holy days. He is using the revised standard version Bible. He has not
compiled all his work as yet, but will have it soon.
Very Rev. Fr. Karim has also compiled 180 prayers for a book of
prayers to be used by priests to carry with them. He has submitted a copy
of his prayers. The deadline of completion will be Easter of 1978. He also
passed out copies of the prayer book for silver and gold anniversaries,
Orthodox Christian Me01orial Services, the Orthodox Christian Baptismal Service, as well as the nine Commandments of the Church.
The year book project that was to be the project for Fr. Karim was
given to Fr. Michael Courey because of Fr. Karim's other work.
Very Rev. Fr. James Meena commented on the use of the Greek
words like Theotokos, etc., and if we could find a more common translation like the use of the Birthgiver of God, etc. Father Gabriel Barrow
will speak to His Eminence.
Fr. Gabriel Barrow mentioned that he will ask several priests to write
different articles for THE WORD magazine to keep the people appraised
of theological material.
Rev. Fr. Gabriel spoke about the Wedding Service book and how
rich it was. He sent a copy to His Eminence for his approval.
Rev. Fr. Joseph Rahal was not present to present his paper. His
responsibility was turned over to Fr. Nicodeme Joseph at which time he
will present his studies on the needed services from the Little
Evchologion.
Very Rev. Fr. John Khoury has completed his work on the Great
Compline, and is ready for His Eminence's approval and publication.
Page 11
�the ~ev. Fr. Gregor~ ~amaan s?oke !o His Eminence about services of
east of t~e Nativity and HIS Emmence said we do not need to add
anymore services. Very Rev. Fr. James Meena stated he saw no reason
w~y there cannot be a blend of his getting involved in the Divine Liturgy
with !he prayers offered by the faithful and the priest together. Rev. Fr.
Gabriel Barrow has requested Fr. James Meena merge these together.
Fr. Philip Ko~fos was not present. His brother, Rev. Fr. Ted Koufos
spo_ke about makmg Icons of the Saints of Antioch, taking one month at
a tl~e ~nd p~t them into different sets of Icons. For example, all
Antlochian Samts for September, October, November, etc. Fr. Ted will
do a study and present his findings at the Houston convention.
Fr._ Gabrie_l Barr<?w will compile the Service Books of Blessing of
W eddmg Anmversaries. The Litiya and the Artoclasia Service books for
great holy days is completed. Very Rev. Fr. James Meena suggested we
restore the Saturday vespers and then the Litiya Artoclasia.
Rev· Fr• Antony
hook.
Bassoline is still working on the Orthros
Service
Very Rev_. Fr. Zacharia Nasr has submitted parts of his report of the
~uneral Service and is still working on other parts which will include in
Its c~mpletion Trisagion prayers, the Funeral Service, Psalm 50 and the
Blessmg of ~he Grave. Very Rev. Fr. John Khoury has compiled the
Funeral service book for New and Bright Week. It is a special one.
Very Rev. Fr. James Meena has commented that our fathers went
throug~ great changes to keep the holy traditions; it should be our task
to contmue to add so as to make it easier for the new younger priests.
Rev. Fr. G~briel Barrow has requested as Head of the Department
encourage havmg vespers in parishes.
to
T?e_re was a letter sent from Southwest Region asking questions
pertaimng to funeral absolution. Fr. Nicodeme Joseph and Fr. Gabriel
Barrow will do a study and answer the questions.
Rev. Fr. James Meena introduced Rev. Fr. Philip A. Khairallah and
Rev. Fr. Joseph Francavilla, both Melkite priests. Fr. Philip spoke for the
hope of the union of two churches and that he would like to work with us
in this Liturgical department. Rev. Fr. Gabriel Barrow commented as
Head of this Department he has made the Fathers honorary members
and that all information will be sent to them. Very Rev. Fr. James Meena
moved that we request from His Eminence permission to work with Frs.
Philip and Joseph and their Bishop in liturgical tasks with all hierarchial
approval of publications. This was seconded by Rev. Fr. Nicodeme
Joseph.
Very Rev. Fr. John Khoury has submitted a manuscript
Orthodox Vesper Services.
Rt. Rev. Fr. Athanasious
Consecration of a church.
Emmert
on Sunday of
has a copy of the Service of
No new business.
Closed at 2:30 p.m. with the troparian of St. Pantelamon
we celebrate today.
Present at this meeting were the following:
His Beatitude Patriarch Elias IV
His Eminence Metropolitan Philip
His Eminence Archbishop Michael
His Eminence Ilyas Kurban
His Grace Bishop Elia
Rev. Fr. Gabriel Barrow, Chairman
Rev. Fr. James W. Bertolini, Secretary
Very Rev. John Khoury
Rev. Paul Blankenstein
Very Rev. Nifon Abraham
Rev. Michael Courey
Rev. Ted Koufos
Rev. Hanna Sakkab
Very Rev. Paul W. Moses
Very Rev. Paul J. Eyler
Rev. Demetri Khoury
Rev. Joseph Antypas
Rev. John Elias
V. Rev. Elias G. Karim
Rev. George H. Shalhoub
V. Rev. Paul Nemr
Rev. Joseph Franca villa
Rev. Gregory Samaan
V. Rev. Zacharia Nasr
V. Rev. James C. Meena
Rev. Nicodeme Joseph
Page 12
whose feast
Rev. James B. Bertolini
Rev. Anthony Scott
Rev. George F. Shaheen
Eoin Kenna
V. Rev. Nicholas Saikley
V. Rev. Nicholas Habib
V. Rev. Michael G. Simon
Rev. Philip Khairallah
John Abdalah
Bill Essey
Elias G. Laham
Respectfully submitted
Rev. Fr. James W. Bertolini
Moved by FATHER JAMES MEENA, seconded
HADDAD, Charleston, the reports were received.
by PHILIP
8) FATHER PAUL SCHNEIRLA, Chairman
presented th
'
e report
o f t h e D epartment
of Inter-Orthodox
and lnter-F
Relations.
alth
The meeting of the Department of Inter-Orthodox and Int er-Fa1th
•
was ca 11e d to order by the Very Rev. Paul Schneirla at 11·00
Members present were:
• a.m.
Fr. Paul Schneirla, Chairman
Fr. Joseph Angwin
Fr. John Goolsby
Fr. Paul Tarazi
Fr. John Ocana
Fr. Gabriel White
Fr. Z. Nasr
Fr. Paul Powell
Mrs. Jim Kohlmia
D.C. Snipes
Ralph Herr
David Schughart
Mrs. Shirley Schneirla
Howard Black
John Abdallah
Suheil Dahdal
Fr. Nicholas Saikley
e e, for forty years anot~er pattern of American Orthodox unity
Ji h Albanian, Carpatho-Russian and Ukrainian dioceses attached to 1·t
" 11 large, well-or~amze
• d a? d _nc
• h that Orthodox unity without it, and'
0
hoUt being dommated by 1~,1s utterly out of the question.
1111
In the last year the St_andmg Conferen~e resumed its full activity. In
ddition to regular meetm?s for co<?perat1on and the consideration of
rnmon problems, sp:cta~ mee~mgs were devoted to Christian
£ducation and the Semi?anes while a third is planned to consider
adening the membership.
broOn Orthodoxy Sunday, Metropolitan Philip, in a sermon at the Greek
Cathedral in New Y or~, propose? that the Standing Conference become
ynod for a truly u~ited American Orthodo~y with th~ blessing of the
\iother Churches. This proposal, the on!~ logical and viable possibility,
. roundly condemned by Greek national sources, defensive over
~reek survival, w~ile the offi~ial publication of the OCA, editorialized
hat the OCA remamed the un_ique hope of the future!
1
This vision of the Standmg Conference is the only pattern that
recognizes the realities whil~ all~wing ethnic sensitivity and hierarchical
loyaltiesto atrophy as orgamc umty evolves.
The Ordination of Women
The Episcopal decision to ordain women was taken after formal
consultation with several other bodies, including the Orthodox Church.
Our Church, unanimously and around the world, deplored the plan and
the act. Many Episcop~lian~, how_many only time will tell, have left or
are leaving that body m disappomtment. Some have become Roman
Catholicsor Old Catholics and some Orthodox.
While many organized groups have joined other communions, the
only entire parish to ente~ t~e Orthodox Church to date is Incarnation,
Detroit, whose pastor, parishioners and full plant was received last spring
nto this Archdiocese. The transfer took place with the full consent of
the Episcopal Diocese involved and with no bitterness or recriminations.
We are in consultation with similar groups, a process that may take
vears, and have the advantage of our Western Rite, authorized by the
late Patriarch Alexander III, of thrice-blessed memory, to preserve the
Orthodox heritage of the West. (Three substantial buildings and four
congregations in our Archdiocese are the results of this missionary effort
_ all genuine missions, not centers for diaspora as missions in American
Orthodoxy usually are.)
Ecumenical Dialogues
The American Church is now in dialogue with Roman Catholics,
Anglicansand Baptists and the Director is a member of all three teams.
At a recently initiated dialogue with Black Churchmen the Director
presented the Orthodox paper. The Anglican dialogue suspended followingthe decision to ordain women but will begin in the coming winter.
A concise explanation of the Antiochian Archdiocese and its role in
the N .C.C. and W .C.C. was given. A discussion was then held on a
question by Fr. Paul Tarazi concerning a 1972 dialogue between the
Greeks and the Jews. This was published this year.
We were then honored by a visit from His Beatitude and his official
entourage. His Beatitude gave us a very enlightening and encouraging
speech concerning our Commission and its importance in the life of
America and the Church in general.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:35 p.m.
In addition to the routine events in the ecumenical field the past year
has seen the emergence of two more than usually important situations:
the revival of the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops and the
decision of the Episcopal Church to ordain priestesses. (Actually the
word used by the Protestants themselves for women ministers is "priest,"
since the vocabulary of some branches of the Women's Liberation
Movement is persuaded that difference - inequality).
The Standing Conference
Following the 1970 Moscow declaration of the autocephaly of the
former Russian Metropolia, the Standing Conference reflected some
tensions between the member bodies. (See earlier Annual Reports of this
Department.)
To recapitulate:
the Ecumenical Patriarchate claims
primary jurisdiction in America in virtue of the 28 Canon of Chalcedon
(451 AD), while the Moscow Patriarchate claims it in virtue of prior
settlement on the continent.
The practical realities of the situation are more influential, however,
and will certainly condition the eventual solution. Emerging from fifty
years of dubious canonicity, generally ignored in Christian charity by the
other American Churches, the Russian Metropolia, now designated the
Orthodox Church in America, was offered a unique opportunity to
contribute to the unification process. Until now its stance has been that
unity consists in joining it, the latest autocephalous
Chu·rch. Its
autocephaly is not yet formally recognized by more than three other
churches but on an unofficial level there is full cooperation.
The canonical claim of Constantinople aside, the Greek Arch·
The Word
The Director is also a member of the International OrthodoxAnglican Theological Dialogue but has never been able to attend
because of the coincidence of its meetings with those of this General
Convention. The Anglicans are courteously scheduling their meeting
nextyear at a different time for that reason.
The National Council of Churches
The Archdiocese has been represented at all meetings of the General
Boardof the NCC and a member of sectional or divisional meetings. Our
delegatesto the General Board are:
Very Reverend James C. Meena
6473Gale Drive
Seven Hills, Ohio 44131
Very Reverend Paul Romley
2015 N. Serrano Avenue
Los Angeles, Cal. 90027
Frank Maria
P.O. Box 46
Warner, N.H. 03278
Metropolitan Philip Saliba
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
Very Reverend Paul Schneirla
Gary Younis
7605 Newmarket Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20034
Judy Yacio
11312Arbor Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68144
Metropolitan Philip is a Vice President.
E Thro~gh the efforts of the Right Reverend Nikon Patranakis,
cu~emcal Officer of the Greek Archdiocese, for the first time the NCC
pro~des for the recording in the minutes of minority votes, a decision of
~ons_ider~ble
significance for Orthodox who frequently find themselves
10
minoritypositions in the otherwise Protestant Council.
In March,, Rabbi Mark Tannenbaum in a public release accused
ovember, 1977
etropolitan Philip and Dr. aria of being paid propagandi I in the
CC of "Arab government ." Thi Department i in communicat:on with
the _Orthodox member bodie of the CC and will pre ent a re olution
calling for an apolog to the next meeting of the General Board.
. The ab_ove i ~ _bare outline of the work of our Department, which
included m addition con ultation with an O A comminee on a
reas~nable Christian reaction to per on leaving the Anglican comm umon, several publication , and innumerable meeting with other
ecumenical officer .
Moved b
FATHER PA L EYLER, seconded b
JA E
COLIMAH, Wichita, the report wa received.
9) LOUIS COUREY, Chairman,
Archltectual Commission:
presented
the
report
of the
On Wednesday, July 27, the Architectural Commi ion held it annual workshop. Representatives from 7 parishes were pre ent.
The purpose of the Commission was di cussed and its charge of the
General Assembly outlined, i.e.,
"Th~t . each parish contemplating new construction mu t send
prehm~n~ry sketches of the plans, elevation, site and budget. to this
Commission for approval before proceeding with final drawings."
It was pointed out that the Commission's intent is not to interfere but
to assure that the plan_ningof the church is liturgically correct and the
hall_ and sc?ool are m proportion with their congregation, and to
avoid plannu~g errors. Too often the architect doing the planning is
not totally mformed nor has the knowledge of our faith and
fellowship habits.
Housing for the elderly was discussed in depth. This is outlined
elsewhere in this report.
Reviewed also was the progress of the Commission's "Resource
Ma~~al". ~e are well along in the development, but are in need of
additional ~nput _from our parishes. We ask that each delegate here
return to his pansh and put together for us a list of manufacturers or
dealers where they have purchased church and school furnitures
sanctuary artifacts - such as the processional cross and fans'
chalice;s, etc., so we may have a complete list of all available sources. '
Also suggested was the possibility of having some of the manufacturers noted in our resource manual exhibiting their products at a
future convention.
The highlight of the workshop was the display of the plans of the
proposed new church school and hall for St. George - Washington.
Ea_ch pers~n present participated in the evaluation of the plans and
v01ced their comments - often all at the same time. The review
proved valuable to the local parish as the comments reflected the
experiences and desires of a fine cross section of the Archdiocese of
men who have previously completed buildings, plus those anticipating future construction. I would recommend this type of
review for future planners.
Recommendations were made that this Commission undertake the
development of a 'Preventive Maintenance Manual' to be used by our
parishes. It would outline the schedule of maintenance needed for
the various heating, cooling and ventilating equipment in your
building. This would be a great help as each year or so a different
person is in charge of maintenance, and not always is he fully aware
of the scope of this responsibility. This will be considered as a future
project.
The workshop was concluded at 4:45 p.m.
The economic slow down in new construction the past few years has
shown little sign of improvement. This is somewhat reflected in the few
inquiries this Commission has received this past year.
Other than the activity reported last year, only two new parish
inquiries have been received - Omaha and Tulsa. It is apparent that the
building and economic inflation has been a deterrent for new construction in our Archdiocese.
The various barometers and other information used in the building
industry to determine construction costs continue to rise at a rate of
approximately .9 per month -or 10 per cent per year.
The most common question asked is, How much does it cost to build?
This, of course, is a very difficult question to answer because of the many
variables involved. But, to give you an idea, multiply the building area by
the assumed cost per square feet. Using labor and material cost of the
Eastern States, these assumed figures can be used today and are ever
changing. It should be adjusted for your area.
Example:
For a Church in the Byzantine style. with dome and arched ceiling,
Page 13
�10) FATHER JOHN BADEEN, Chairman, presented the re
port o
the Committee on Clergy Insurance and Retirement.
During the 31st Annual Convention of our Archdiocese held· 10S
Francisco, California, we announced that we had changed ou'r I
..
· m
· t h e ear 1y part of 1976 , as well as the reasons for the chansuran
C arner
• e ff ec t , an d. a summar~ o f t h e b ene f.its under the new
nge,co
lhc
ra t es th en m
..
tract. These _were unammously affirmed at our clergy meeting held
that Convent10n.
I
<?n December 1_,1976, t_h~Prudential_ Insurance Company of Amenc
our msurance earner, notified us that it was necessary to increa
h'
cost of our Group Medical-Hospital Coverage by 40 per cen:e ~\e
~eviewed_ ou~ _records, and after meeting with the Agent, we found lh
mcrease Justified.
The records showed that in the first ten months of that
Prudential incurred $68,803.00 in claims on our Group. The geyearl,
.
.
d b p
.
nera
group c 1aim a_verage msure
y rudential, at that time, would ha,c
placed our claims properly at a total of $35,197.00. This meant that
Group ~]aims were running almost double t~eir national average. At
same time, the total amount that we paid to Prudential Insuranc
Company _was $42,104.00. When administrative costs are taken int:
consideration, the Company actually lost on our Group in the first ten
months over $29,000.00.
It was necessary to bring this matter of claims to a head. Either our
premiums have to be in line with our general claims average or else the
claims would have to be drastically reduced by some 50 per cent. We are
fast running out of companies to negotiate with.
In our study of the records, we found that the overwhelming majorit\
of claims were for family group coverage. We felt that we could n~
penalize our celebate clergy by charging them still additional premiums.
The decision was made to put the burden where it belonged. The
premium for the married clergy was increased to meet this additional 4,
per cent increase with the blessings of His Eminence, Metropolitan
PHILIP.
The new rate which has been in effect since December 1, 1976, for
the entire insurance package, which includes long term disability
coverage at the rate of $400. per month, hospital-medical coverage, and
retirement provisions and life insurance of $10,000. with AD & D, is a
follows:
Married Clergy with a family dependent plan
$100.00 per month
Celibate Clergy
$46.00 per month
The Archdiocese has continued to contribute $25,000.00 annually to
the Clergy Insurance and Retirement Fund.
In reviewing the claims that have been made since December 1, 1976
we find that 43 insureds or their dependents filed 134 claims. Of that
number, 17 claims are pending; payments which have been made totaled
$16,625.32. We have currently 81 priests insured, of which 53 have famil}
dependent coverage. Based on these figures, I am happy to say that our
claim picture has more or less stabilized and we are more in line with the
national average. We hope that this picture continues to be as rosey h
the coming months. If i! does, perhaps our problem will be solved.
~t
The Antiochian Holy Year Commemorative
Ambassador Kabbani.
Medal is presented to
the cost per sq. ft. - $60 to $75.00.
For a Hall building, including kitchen, ample storage, lobby, toilet,
etc., the cost per sq. ft. - $35 to $45.00.
And, for a School wing, including comparable offices, the cost per sq.
ft. - $30 to $35.00.
These costs do not include site improvements as each site must be
evaluated on its own merit. Design and interior finishes would greatly
affect the total costs.
Hopefully these figures will give those parishes contemplating
construction
some guidelines. I caution you to remain flexible in
budgeting your project. Be able to adjust your concept as the project is
transformed
from early design to completed construction
drawings,
always keeping yourself aware of that monster - inflation.
Adequate housing for the elderly is getting more acute each year. It is
a proven fact that humans are living longer lives, thus the ranks of !he
elderly is getting larger. In the 1970 census, 21 per cent of the population
is 55 years of age and older. A great portion of this group is in need of
housing. Consider those that are living with relatives and feel they are an
imposition; those that are living in inadequate housing because of limited
income; those that are in need of better living conditions, but are too
proud to ask; those that are alone.
We also seem to have overlooked the fact that although during these
days of high inflation most incomes have increased to some degree, b~t
not for those on fixed incomes; making ends meet for these persons is
impossible. Let's consider what can be done for them, especially in
housing which is an effective area of assistance and a major expense.
In recent years, numerous requests have been received by me as to
the availability of government housing programs for the elderly.
Unfortunately, we have had over four years of restricted feder~l funding
caused by former President Nixon's building moratorium (which many
critics believe was the instrumental cause of the recent recession.)
During the turmoil of high unemployment and inflation these past
years, we have been so busy with our own problems that w_e have
overlooked a problem that has existed for many years -:- housmg ~ur
elderly. Inflation in the building industry has bee_n sta~germg to t_heyomt
that it is almost impossible to build elderly housmg with rents withm the
reach of the elderly without federal assistance. It is available with rent
subsidies.
We strongly recommend that if there is an active desire by your
church council NOW is the time to get involved.
Review your requirements. Organize a special committee to assemble
the necessary data. The property is the key, i.e., church owned property
adjacent to the church, a vacant site, or a new ~ite. Determine ho~ many
units would serve your needs. Perhaps you wish to use the hall m conjunction with the housing units, and who will I?an~ge the_ facility, etc.
This can be accomplished with a church orgamzatlon actmg as~ nonprofit sponsor, recognizing its interest_ in furnishing adequate housmg for
the aged, thus, becoming the non-profit sponsor.
.
Our elderly have been very patient and undemandmg of us • • •
NOW the challenge is given to you.
M~ved by FATHER NICHOLAS S~IKLEY and seconded by ROSE
MERHIGE, Miami, the report was received.
Page 14
"e now appear to be "Mission minded" in truth and in fact.
Mi sion does belong to the very nature of the Church, and the Creed
. If call the Church "apostolic". This has always implied not only a
ii e tinuity in the apostolic faith, but also the duty to propagate the
tian truth for the salvation of all men.
r~he strength of our Orthodox Church in America and Canada i
dent as all of our local parishes began as "missions." The seed
ted by the sacrifice of those from many Motherlands have resulted in
P/ngrowth of Orthodoxy in the new World. But ... there are many
1
~d ready to be harvested if we but show concern, faith and love.
{le
uch a spirit has come out of the Southwest Region of our Archd e e and through SOYO, gifted leaders have challenged us to the
10
odden "fields" of their area, and throughout
orth America. With
~~t;dom to use ~ng_lish for all_services and the ability to encourag_e :•~~no hodox" life w1thm our panshes . . . old and new . . . our poss1b1hues
rtbring together the "lost" Orthodox, the unchurched is limitless. A
1
~ go" is being prepared for SOYO Parish Life Conferences for next year
ho will identify our theme. "Go ... Preach the Gospel."
1 I
a The outhwest SOYO, beginning early this year, began laying plans
f r a full time missionary Priest for their region. Their concern also, was
~ucation for all on this vital aspect of our Faith, and I believe they have
:ccomplished both goals. I had the ~rivil~ge. of leading a So. ~est
Deanery Clergy retreat May 9-13, m Wichita, Kansas, on, The
\ii sionary Dimension of the Faith." It was well received with active
articipation by almost every clergyman of the So. West, and plans were
polidified and God encouraged enthusiasm implanted so that the recent
o. West SOYO Parish Life Conference voted that Two Thousand
dollars each year be given from most parishes for a missionary Priest.
And,a program began to be an inspiration to us all!
How pleasing for us to know that the first Antiochian Mission for the
·ate of Louisiana has been founded in the city of New Orleans, and led
,y Fr. Michael Welborn and dedicated to St. Basil.
Other parts of our Archdiocese have been active also. It is good to
hear that strong possibilities are seen for the new Mission in Cincinnati,
Ohio, which has had the encouragement of our Central States Deanery,
c':
e;•
RETIREMENT
We once again are most pleased with the encouraging growt~ of our
Retirement Fund. We refer you to pages 29 and 30 of the Archdiocesan
Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year ending January 31, 1977. ~e
Fund reflects growth of over $31,000.00 for the past year: a~d an mvestment yield of 9.58 per cent, which represents a fantastic figure for
the times. In closing I want to express sincere thanks to our Arc?·
diocesan Treasurer, Mr. Theodore Mackoul, for the hard work he puts 1_0
our Archdiocese Portfolio and to the Archdiocese Trustees for thetr
concern, assistance and support; to Rt. Rev. Antoun Khouri and Ms.
Kathy Meyer, for the time and effort they have spent on behalf of the
Clergy Insurance Committee and Insurance program; a~d, of_c?urse, laSt
but not least, His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP for his untmng efforts
and his wise counsel and active participation in the work of the
Insurance Committee.
Moved by FATHER THEODORE ZITON, sec~nded_ by _FA_TH~R
ALEXANDER VUKOVICH was received, after a discusston mdicatmg
that the retirement allotment for priests is $150 per month, and that four
priests are receiving it.
11) FATHER GABRIEL ASHIE, Chairman presented the report
the Department
of Missionary
Activities
and futur
12) RAY GEORGE, Chairman, presented
Department of Sacred Music.
the
report
of the
Following is a report of the achievements of the 1976-77 Church Year
and the objectives for the 1977-78 Church Year submitted to the 1977
Conference by the Department of Sacred Music.
0
:
Parish Development:
• • t d to
"GO . . . PREACH THE GOSPEL". These words are anttcipa e
be the theme for our SOYO Parish Life Conferences for 197B,as le_dby
• an d mspire
• • d b Y o ur Metropo 11tan,
our concerned youth and other laity,
The Word
al o. with vi itation through the efforts of Father Jo eph Rahal of
Indianapolis.
e are pra_ ing that a mi ion group could begin for
Knonille, Tennes ee, where a with man communitie . a lack of a
place of Orthodox worship i mo t evident.
The tate of Florida hold man possibilities for growth on a Pan·
Orthodox ba is, where aga10. a with man areas. Orthodox Christian of
multi-national background could ha e opponunit
to worship together
in the Faith once delivered to the aint . We are hopeful of ha, ing with
us at thi Convention repre entatives from two potential missions from
that of t. ichola Mis ion of t. Petersburg. Florida. and that of t.
Ignatius of Antioch M1ss1on in Tampa. Florida. ew growth in this tate
compell us to be cognizant of the needs of many Orthodox people
moving to these area .
It has been a long while since we ha e had a new parish in Canada,
and it is hoped that the Mission within Windsor. Ontario, will be ble ed
with pari h status a the de elop and grow. They ha\e had the encouragement of Father John Badeen. of Detroit. They will be known as
St. Ignatius of Antioch Mission.
Indeed, it is the enthusiasm of many of our clergy, who can reach out
beyond the parish confines, and give assistance and love to those of
neighboring communities where missions can emerge and grow. We are
uplifted by the concern of many of our laity who have experienced a
need to promulgate this movement. Our youth are showing us the "way".
Mission is not only "preaching", not only talking about God. or
promoting "our thing". Mission is not a Christian commercial. It is a
witness and an act of love. It implies love for those to whom it i directed,
and love means self-giving, not simply giving something.
All of us have a stake in our mission program. The success of our
SOYO inspired mission-themed program for the year to come will
depend on the interest and concern of every part of the Archdiocese. We
need the AOCWNA, the Parish Council representatives, and all allied
parish groups to give their support. Can we compare the joy and true
accomplishment to be experienced when we can assist in the "founding"
of a new parish? With what can it be compared in the Church life?
Since 1967, this Department has functioned, assisting whenever it was
possible emerging missions. Vast distances have not helped our efforts,
but in the spirit of those who came to this new World, in the spirit of
Metropolitan Antony, of blessed memory, who lived the life of mission
. . . and given over to our Metropolitan Philip who always gives first
interest to this aspect of the Faith ... for we are reminded always, "Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations ... " Mt. 28: 19.
May we beseech the blessings of His Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV,
in our midst, to bless our humble efforts and by his spirit inspire us to the
unity of the Faith in that same spirit possessed by Sts. Peter & Paul of
Antioch, who gave and were given ... that they might truly put forth
the essence of "mission" to those who would be followers of Christ Jesus.
Moved by FATHER JOHN HAMATIE, seconded by FATHER
JAMES KENNA, the report was received following discussion. FATHER
MARK PEMBERTON reported that the Southwest Region did not
decide to assess the individual parishes any particular amount and,
although the fund-raising program has not started some $6,000 has
already been pledged. The proposal did not come from the clergy but
from the laity of the Region. FATHER ANTONY BEA UCHA MP asked if
the mission in Knoxville was still active? The Central States Deanery is
sponsoring missions in Cincinnati, Ohio, Knoxville, Tennessee, and
Bloomington, Indiana. FATHER JAMES MEENA proposed a new
policy by which no parish or mission may solicit funds in the Archdiocese
without
the
endorsement
of
Metropolitan
Philip.
METROPOLITAN PHILIP agreed to institute the policy. FATHER
GABRIEL BARROW pledged that St. Elias, Toledo, would provide the
iconostasis for the New Orleans mission.
~etropolitan PHILIP congratulates the winner of the NAC Oratorical
ontest, WOilamJabour of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
November, 1977
ACHIEVEMENTS:
-Completed
and distributed part two of the "Choir Director's Guide" for
the 1976-77 Church Year. Received approval to produce and distribute
part two of the Guide on a regular annual basis. The accuracy of the
materials used in this guide are the responsibility of Father George
Corey of Pittsburgh, Pa.
-Reproduced
250 copies of the Father James Meena's Standard Liturgy.
-Began work on a format for one of our workshops which will be titled
"Approved Material Workshop." This program will outline and
Page 15
�demonstrate the use of all approved Archdiocese materials pertaining
to and effecting the work of the Choirs. This program will include the
use of printed material as well as the music and should be a big help to
every Choir Director.
-Some work has been done on the much needed special music to fill the
voids in the Feast Day Vesperal Liturgies. It has been difficult to
make these things available before completing the project. It is the hope
of the Department to produce this material to be compatable to
the Evening Liturgies as published by Father Barrow of Toledo.
-I attended the Can-Am Regional Conference this year in order to hear
a Liturgy prepared by Dr. Karam, Choir Director of the Ottawa Choir.
While there I am very happy to report I found a great deal of progress
in this Region. I also had an opportunity to visit with Dr. Karam and
discuss the possibility of making some of his music available thru t~e
Archdiocese to all our Choirs. Dr. Karam has a great deal of material
and we hope that we will be able to make use of it. Dr. Karam said he
would try to attend this Conference in Washington at which time we
will further discuss his music. Dr. Karam has devoted some 25 years
serving his parish and writing music, we hope that this project will
materialize.
-I served as Choir Director for the Midwest Region this year on a
temporary basis because of some unforeseen circumstances. We were
able to put together a program and had some fairly favorable results
insofar as the Vesper Services and Liturgies were concerned, we also
had a successful Festival.
OBJECTIVES:
-To produce and distribute part two of the Choir Director's Guide for
the 1977-78 Church Year before the end of September 1977.
-To continue to prepare a plan to implement the use of the Byzanti~e
Projects namely the Vesper Services in the 8 tones and the Matin
Services in the 8 tones.
-To produce a Liturgy in the minor key as prepared by Dr. Karam of
Ottawa.
-To assemble and publish all the needed material it takes to ~ing t_he
Vesperal Liturgies as to conform to the printed Vesperal Liturgies
issued by the Archdiocese as prepared by Father Barrow.
.
-To locate and publish additional arrangements of the maJor hymns
used in the Divine Liturgy such as the Trisagion, Cherubim, Anaphora,
Kononikon, Theotokion, and the Antiphons.
-To try once again to produce cassettes demonstr;:iting the Byzantine
music as written by Mr. Basil Kazan.
Moved by FATHER GEORGE CORRY,
JOHN NAMIE, the report was received.
secondea
by FATHER
13) FATHERS GEORGE COREY and JOSEPH ALLEN, editors,
presented the report on The Word Magazine:
THE WORD magazine is the official publication of our Arch~ioce_se.
As such, we have tried to project the proper image of !he Antt<:>chtan
Church in the New World: that is, sound in theology, mformat1ve on
Archdiocesan programs, Pan-Orthodox in nature an~ miss~o_n-minded.
Our Archdiocese has always pioneered a progressive spirit for our
Orthodox Church and we continue to be a guiding light to other
jurisdictions. Thus THE WORD reflects the Archdiocese an~ especially
the leadership of our Primate. As editors, we pledge to c~ntlnue as ~est
we can this important dimension of our ministry. T~e written w~rd ~s a
mighty weapon to propagate Hol~ F~ith._Our Archdiocesan pubhcat1on
deserves our utmost support and dtstributlon.
Please be advised of the following:
1) 4000 copies of THE WORD were prin_ted each ~~nth for 1976-77.
There were approximately
3800 paid subscnp_ttons, _10~ co~plimentary and 100 filed at the Archdiocesan Office. Thts figure ts
1000 more than two years ago.
.
.
.
2) There are three parishes which subscribe for their entire pansh
membership: Beaumont, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. We encourage
more parishes to do the same.
.
.
3) Several SOYO chapters subscribe for loca_l _colleg~ hbranes and/ or
non-Orthodox churches in their commumt1es. It is the best way to
propagate the Faith.
4) NAC SOYO and some parishes send THE WORD to college students
whose names and addresses have been submitted to the Y o~th
Director of the Archdiocese. Thus they keep close contact with
students away from home.
.
5) Paid subscriptions to THE WORD for the past fiscal year amounted
to $21,867.00. Expenses for the same year came to $20,730.9~. We are
operating in the black but yo~ must_remember that t~e editors and
editorial staff render their services without co~pensatt~:m. Yo~ must
also remember that the large amount of momes received this past
Page 16
fiscal year were due, not only to an in_creased number of su•
scriptions, but also the fact that subscribers were given an
portunity to subscribe for a three-year period at a discounted rate O •
•
h ave generous 1y contributed fro
ar
a large number of subscribers
$25.00 to $1,000 for THE WORD!
MR . KALEEL pre ented
etropolitan Philip with a heck. for
S25,000 rai ed for the Department of ontinuing Pa toral ducauon.
ince no prie t applied for a cholar hip. one ha been awarded to
Emily Direck to tud Chri tian ducation at t. ladimir'
erninar •.
We think THE WORD is so good that it should be in the home
every family in this Archdiocese. Teen SOYO has sponsored
program during the past two years called "Spread the Word." Ith,.not been that successful, although we truly appreciate their effort
They tried while others did not!
15) DR. FRANK MARIA, Chairman, presented the report of the
Standing Committee
on Near East and Arab Refugee
Affairs.
We believe THE WORD should be sent to every family in the Arc~
diocese as a gift for their support of their parish and Archdiocese.~
envelope can be placed in each issue to allo~ our people the opportunity to donate to THE WORD. We believe our people v.ilt
respond positively. They have before - they will again. If there is a
deficit each year, one of the Archdiocesan organizations such a
SOYO, AOCWNA, or the Order of St. Ignatius can make up the
difference. If this plan is eventually implemented, we believe the
subscription to non-Archdiocesan
families should be increased to
$10.00 per year. We hope these suggestions will be considered by our
Hierarchs and Board of Trustees.
Thank you for your support, cooperation and trust. If you would like
to subscribe for yourself, a friend or an institution, please fill in the
enclosed form and with payment, give it to either one of us this week.
Moved by VICTOR HOW ARD and seconded
NASSAR, St. George, Toledo, the report was received.
by RICHARD
14) ELSIE KALEEL, President, presented the report of the
Antlochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America,
The HISTORIC YEAR, our 1977 ANTIOCHIAN HOLY YEAR- is
slowly drawing to a close. We, of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Women, wish to express, for the Records, our wholehearted thanks and
feelings of humility, to our beloved Patriarch _ELIAS IV, wh~ is not only
a name and figurehead to us anymore here m North America, but has
truly become a most beloved Spiritual Father to us in this Secular
World. To Your Beatitude, the Women were most proud and happy, and
above all, spiritually inspired, by your h_umility, your lov~, ble~si~gs_a~d
prayers, and your beautiful personahty! May G<;>d,tn ~ts ~nflnne
Wisdom, guide you safely home in health, and keepmg you tn Hts care
send you back to us again soon.
We are most proud to be able to present to His Eminence,
Metropolitan
PHILIP, all the HIERARCHS, and ~o this esteemed
Assembly, the following highlights of our 1977 acco~phshments.
.
1. The adoption of a Unified Prayer beautifully written by our Khoune
Joseph Allen.
2. Instructional Retreat Manuals, written by Rev. Fr. John Badeen, our
North American Spiritual and Legal Advisor, and distributed to all
Regional Presidents.
3. Introduced a new Crest, suggested and planned by Fr. Ba~ee~, and
drawn up by Rt. Rev. Philip Koufos, for our Wo~en's Organtzatton.
4. Distributed the Revised Constitution to all Reg10ns, and By-Laws, to
all who requested them.
. ,,
5. Recommended
that the "Succession and Rotatton
of. North
American Executive Officers be done alphabetically, and which was
approved by His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP.
6. Membership Cards were printed for all members of AOCW~A:
7. Distributed at this 32nd Annual Conference, distinctive sattn ribbons,
showing they are Members of AOCWNA; and which are to be used at
all AOCWNA functions.
d e
The above highlights are but a small part of the work that was on
by the North American Executive Board.
d
I would be remiss, indeed, if I did not personally thank them, an
introduce them to you:
1st Vice President
2nd Vice President
Treasurer
Public Relations
Corresponding and Recording Secretary
AC President, Gary Younes, chairs the SOYO meetings as Secretary
usanShatilla prepares the minutes.
Ethel George
Gwena Haddad
Adele Abraham
Ruth Meena
Laurece Kaleel (Pro-Tern)
and all the Executive Standing Committee Chairmen.
•
•
d e to you our
Also, with love and appreciation, I'd hke to m~ro uc
Cha 'iers,
Regional Presidents who, with their Officers, Committees, a nd
P
made our goal a reality!
The Word
Can-Am
Eastern
Mid-West
New England
Southwest
Western
Mabel Mofarege e Silva
Shamseh Dalack
Jean Sam
Lillian Khouri
Esther Samara
Marilyn Habeeb
GOD GRANT THEM ALL, MANY, MANY YEARS!
The North American Women have worked most diligently and
honorably, to meet the $25,000 co~~itment,
that was ~laced upon their
h lders during this year. Followmg ts the result of their hard work, and
:h~uresultis due also, to the increased Membership in AOCWNA - for
whichwe are most grateful.
REGION
CAN-AM
EASTERN
MID-WEST
NEW ENGLAND
SOUTHWEST
WESTERN
Sub-total
Special Donations
Kaleel Bros.
Youngstown, Ohio
John Wawee
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Jack Wawee
Los Angeles, Calif.
Grand total
PROJECTS
$ 4,200.00
5,023.00
5,490.64
2,300.00
3,543.00
1,484.70
$22,458.32
1,000.00
200.00
200.00
$23,858.32
We were most grateful to receive these special contributi~ns _for our
Project, and we extend to them our very special thanks for their kmd and
thoughtfulgenerosity. God bless them.
.
At this time, I am most proud to be able to be the Representative ~f
our Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women, and to present to Hts
Eminence,Metropolitan PHILIP, our check for $25,000. I do this, with
gratefulthanks to our Lord, who gave us the health and strengt~, t~e
loyalcooperation of our AOCWNA Women, but most of all our Faith m
the"HolyOrthodox Church."
It is written - in the General Epistle of James (2:26)
"For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead, also.
THANK YOU.
Respectfully submitted,
Elsie Kaleel, President
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women
of North America
Moved by MRS. JOHN DALACK, St. Mary's, Brooklyn, seconded by
PAULINEMALOUF, Bergenfield, the report was accepted.
• ovember, 1977
Antiochian Hol Year and the hi toric , i it of Hi Beatitude Elias I
to
orth America, climaxed by presiding at thi convention in
Washington, D.C. adds ignificance to the report of thi department for
the year 1976-77. From it inception in 196 , we ha e been concerned
about the impro ement of understanding and relations between the Arab
East and the United tates and Canada, e pecially the relation between
Eastern Christian and Western Chri tian and the relation between
Christianity and Islam. The presence of His Beatitude Elia IV, Patriarch
of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and all the East, who re ide
in Damascus, Syria, and is counted as the 164th succes or to the Apostle
Peter and Paul, founders of the See, is dramatic e idence of the hi toric
and vital relationship of Christianity with the Middle East, the land of the
Prince of Peace.
Americans need to be reminded that there are over ten million
Christians in the Middle East and over 700 million Moslem and 900
million Christians in the world, with Islam being a major religious force
in the developing nations of Asia and Africa. Patriarch Elias IV, a world
Christian leader head of a progressive Christian Church with historic
roots to the time of Christ whose members both in the East and the West
have been since 1967 involved in the issues of peace and justice in the
Holy Land, has been a foremost worker in ecumenical activities,
especially the relations between Christianity and Islam.
Relevant response by the American Christian community to the
humanitarian and moral issues in the Middle East controversy and the
improvement of relations between Christians, Moslems and Jews have
been objectives of the Dept. of Near East from its beginning in 1968. As
this Archdiocese in North America has sought to fulfill its obligation as
an American Christian Church with roots in the Middle East to witness
with regard to the Middle East and to be a bridgebuilder of understanding, brotherhood and goodwill between East and West, we trust
that we have followed the example set for us by Patriarch Elias IV.
1976-1977 has been a momentous news year with regard to the
Middle East thanks to the intervention of Syria as the chief peacekeeping
force, Lebanon is now relatively free of hostilities and the rehabilitation
and reconstruction are beginning. Also Lebanon's sovereignity has been
unimpaired. Our prayer is that it will be a more democrati~ an_d_more
economically-equal Lebanon that will emerge from the tragic c1v1lwar
that did such horrendous damage to a beautiful country.
The election of Jimmy Carter as President of the United States, first
perceived to be a blow to hopes for a more evenhanded policy by the
U.S. has turned out thus far as a major step toward the goal ?f
evenhandedness. President Carter has already indicated that he will
support the implementation of UN Resolutions and that _he is for ,a
Palestinian "homeland" or "entity"; the Middle East, he considers, U.S. s
priority world problem and his administ,ra~,ion,!s int~~t on re-opening the
Geneva peace talks in the fall. Carters No dects~o_n on the CBl}-72
concussion bomb sale to Israel was an example of pohttcal courage smce
President Ford in the campaign election had promised the delivery of
this lethal weapon, worse than napalm, to Israel in an obvious a~te~pt to
court Zionist support. As a 'born again' Christian and as _welcoming •~put
from Christian Church organizations such as the National Counc1~ of
Churches (and with his Ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, a Umted
Church of Christ minister and a former National Council of <;:~u_rches'
Official) President Carter can be expected to show sens1ttv~ty to
Christians and Moslems as well as Jews in the Middle East and m the
United States. Our prayer is that God gives him the political courage to
withstand the tremendous pressures of the pro Israel Zi<;>nistlobby:
The election victory of the Likud extremist party tn _Israel _w_1ththe
appointment of former "terrorist" Menachem Begin as Pnme ~mister of
Israel dampered hopes for negotiations for a just and lastmg peace,
especially with Begin declaring the West Bank and Gaza as non·
negotiable and calling for the "libera~ion" <;>fthese lands as _Judea ~nd
Samaria, part of Biblical Israel. The Ltkud victory was a reaction ag~mst
domestic scandals and corruption in Israel under the Labor part~ regime,
but it cast an international gloom. Since then as a result of pnv_ate and
public conversations with the Carter Administration and posst~ly the
advice of more moderate Israelis, Begin has begun to change his tune
and talks of all things being negotiable and of his willingness for an
October Geneva Conference.
Page 17
�A_n affirmative aspect of the Likud victory in the recent Israeli
elections has been the exposure of the extremist Zionist viewpoint and
!he_ fact that Is:a~l was created by violence and "terror" against the
mdigenous Christian and Moslem population of Palestine and has
cohtinu~d to expand by violence against the Christian and Moslem
populations of Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. Public Focus on
Menachem Begin and his reputation as the "Butcher of Deir Yasin"
makes it less possible for Israel to play the role of "innocent" and to
refuse to negotiate with the PLO on the basis that it has used "terrorist"
tactics.
Those of us who have for a long time accepted the challenge of
"publishing the truth" about the Middle East conflict in a country
overwhelmingly
exposed
to Israeli
propaganda
and anti-Arab
misrepresentation
and defamation know that the most poorly reported
news story in the history of American journalism has been the IsraeliArab conflict. But events have a way of catching up with untruth as
witness the publicity about the Likud party and its "terrorist" leader
Begin. Also encouraging was the London Sunday Times of June 19, 1977,
four and a half page exposure of Israeli torture of Arab prisoners. This
special feature, the result of a five month investigation by the Times
highly respected
INSIGHT Team, which unfortunately
was only
adequately
reported on by one U.S. newspaper, the Boston Globe,
reveals to the world the facts that have been known to responsible international
organizations
such as the United Nations and the International Red Cross. As American Christians learn more of Israel's
"terrorist" history and of its use of torture and its violations of the human
rights of Christians and Moslems, surely they will call upon their
government to insist that Israel which depends almost totally on the U.S.
for financial and military aid stops its violations and affirms human rights
and international law.
In March 1977 for 38 chilling hours a small band of Hanafi Moslems
held 132 hostages in three Yv'ashington buildings (Bnai Brith office
building, the Islamic Center, and the District Building) and what could
have been a major tragedy ended peacefully with the surrender of leader
Khalis and his followers, thanks largely to the successful mediation of 3
Islamic Ambassadors from Egypt, Iran and Pakistan with Khalis.
Secretary Vance said later "To these three ambassadors - humanitarians and diplomats in the highest sense - we offer the gratitude of the
U.S." The world saw Moslem diplomats negotiating for the lives of 132
American citizens, most of whom were Jews, and the entire incident
indicated the need for Americans to know more about Islam.
My brief remarks at a luncheon meeting of the Arab Ambassadors in
Washing ton, D .C. on January 12, 1977, were on the subject of Christian
Islamic relations. "Your biggest asset in the Middle East when it comes
to improving relations with the United States whose citizens are ~o~tly
of the Christian faith are your fellow countrymen
of Christian
background. The way Christians as a minority are treated in the Arab
countries will have much impact on Christian America. Also, the Arab
Christian Churches in the United States are a bridge of understanding
and goodwill for you in Christian America." During_ my April visit t_o
Syria in meetings with political leaders I stressed the importance of His
Beatitude's coming historic visit to North America as an 'ambassador'
from Syria and the Arab East. Our prayer is that the Antiochian Holy
Year will usher in a new era of brotherhood and goodwill between the
United States and Canada and the Arab World and that this relationship
will contribute significantly to a just and peaceful world.
JI.
As a representative of the ational Association of Arab A
attended the international conference on Zionism as a form ofmRenan _I
T ripo
• r~• L.b
•
aci m
1 ya. F ol lowmg
the conference I visited Egypt, Jordan
occupied West Bank and Israel. Since this trip took place from Jul~·
1976_to ~ugust 24, 1:76, I was _unable to attend last year's annual ·c.._
ventlon m San Francisco, but did submit a written report and D
Saliba .was kind enough to handle the duties of Chairman of the r.
a
tand1n
C omm1ttee on Near East and Arab Refugee Affairs for me dun
h
31s t a~nua I conven f 1011.ff 1s co-operation
• an d Jeadership are inngerI e
1
appreciated.
Again, as a member of a delegation from the AAA, I visited h
~iddle East durin~ a two week period in the lat~er part of April 19 , 1/
time to the countries of Iraq, Lebanon and Syna. Both trips served 10 .
affirm the facts of the Arab/ Israeli conflict as we have been pre eni(
it to the American public since 1950 and it rekindled my conV1ctionthn
American Christians and especially Arab American Christian had at
priority duty to respond to the humanitarian, moral and piritu 1
challenges· that developments in that area posed for them as Chri tian
and as citizens of the United States and Canada.
Some observations are: Arab governments sincerely want peace n
order to funnel their resources on the development of their countne .
the economies of many Arab nations such as Jordan, Libya, Iraq, nd
Syria are booming and inflation is evident in the Arab World; Libya and
Iraq - portrayed by the press as "extremists" - are doing a good job of
planning and development which already has enhanced the lives of their
people; the Jews in Syria and the Kurds in Iraq are treated like other
citizens; the movie, "Mohammed, Messenger of God" which v.-a
previewed in Libya is a good exposition of the beginnings of Islam and 1
recommended for those who wish to understand the Islamic ~orld
Christian-Moslem relations are much better than the press report , e\e
in Lebanon; the devastation in Lebanon is horrendous but the people arc
already beginning to rebuild a new Lebanon; the Palestinian movew nt
is still strong and united and the PLO is the preferred representative of
the Arabs in Israel and the occupied territories; and Israeli violation of
human rights of Christians and Moslems, including the torture of Arab
prisoners, have gone on and are still going on and Israeli violation
international law such as the bulldozing of Arab villages and homes an
the building of Jewish settlements and buildings in the occupied land
have gone on and are still going on.
Christians in the old city of Jerusalem and in the West Bank asked
"How can Christian America do this to us?" In Kunetra, Syria, Mr
Wahad Nassif, an Arab Presbyterian Christian who has refused to lea\
the bulldozed devastated city of Kunetra which was destroyed house b~
house by the Israelis the day before they were supposed to give it up
part of the interim Sinai Agreement, wrote Dr. William Thomp 01
President of the National Council of Churches at my suggestion, pointing
out that American Christians have "taken interest in human right II
over the world except our part of the world" and asking that "yo
Christian kindliness turn toward us."
Again and again during my visits in the Midd_l~ ~ast when~\ r
criticism of Christian America's seeming lack of sens1t1v1tyto the phgh
of Christians and Moslems in the Middle East came up - and that wa
frequently - while admitting the formidable pressures of the Zioni t
lobby upon our Churches and our government, I always e~plained th_atif
American Christians really knew what has been happenmg, Am~ncan
policy would change. When I told them of the Antiochian Ar~hdioce c
involvement since 1968 in "publishing the truth" about the Middle Ea 1
and of affirmative statements by the National Counc~ of _Ch~rc~e and
the U.S. Catholic Conference, they expressed surprise, ind1catmg the
need for better communications by us as an Archdiocese.
Although we met with key officials in each country, the highlig?t was
a two hour conference with President Assad of_ Syria_ ~uring whic~
welcomed and answered all questions. In Syria I visited th e Se d
ff B •t de an 10
Antioch twice to pay my respectful compliments to is eau u
f f
express my sympathy on the death of Lady Superior M~r~am M~lonua
~
the Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Saidnaya. I also v~SitedSaid u: e
the birthplace of my parents, and Maloula where Aramaic, the Jang g
of Jesus, is still spoken.
. .
• J d a d in the
We 1
As depressing as my visits to refugee camps m or an n_
.
f
. .
B
' Town in Jericho or
Bank were I was encouraged by my visits to oys
f h
orphan P;lestinian
youngsters and to the homes of a few ?t nta~
• t L ing Care human• a
Palestinian children, sponsore d b Y P ro1ec
ov .
'
d 19 9
programs with which I have been involved smce 1960 a: the e
respectively. It was exhilerating to see at first hand the go_odt a_t. n
.
d
r that. American
c1t1ze
charitable projects were_ domg _an_ to rea ize
d children tr
including many Antiochian Christians, were helping nee Y
the Holy Land.
The ord
attended both meetings of CC's Governing Board ( ew York City,
ber 7-10, 1976 and Cincinnati, Ohio, May 4-7, 1977) and all meetings
f the iddle East Committee held at the Interchurch Centre in ew
, t. Cit . We continued to make progress with respect to rele ant
) r on e by CC to the issues of human rights, justice and peace in the
r~i~dle East, but the_ progress has _been gradual due t? the high con,er
of the Israeli/ Arab conflict and a bureaucratic reluctance to
lf
onize the Zionist community (NCC was accused of "pronounced
nta-I rael prejudice
• " an d " a Iac k o f mora I Iea d ers h.1p" b y t h e An u-•
;::amation League of B'na~ Brith in an eight pag_e publicity release_ of
F bruar 18, 1977; and dunng the October meetmg of the Governing
Beard a band of Zionist youth abetted by a few members of the Jewish
fen e League took over the meeting by a "sit-in" in protest of the
0
rn:mbership of Bishop Trifa on the Go~erning ~oard, Romani~n
h dox Archbishop, whom they charged with a Nazi past as a youth m
0/~ania.
A week later the same group staged a "sit-in" at NCC
headquarters in Ne~.)'."ork.)
. .
.
Despite its sens1t1v1tyto the Z1omst commumty, NCC would respond
Jowly if I had the help of a full Antiochian delegation at NCC
1
~ , erning Board meetings and if a few of our able and talented clerical
~ Jay leaders accepted the challenge of service on the various NCC
:mmittees such as Middle ~ast, Human Rights, Intern~tional Affairs,
Chri tian Education, etc. As 1t stands now, for all practical purposes I
ontinue to be the only Antiochian delegate at NCC meetings. If a
budget were set up for other delegates and people were contacted in
ume to make proper arrange1!1ents, we could h~ve a full delegation_ at
each Governing Board meeting, a representative at each Executive
Committee meeting, and a member of each committee.
The following are indicative of the progress this year: The Executive
Committee on Oct. 7th, 1976 ordered that a study of Human Rights in the
'11ddle East get underway and referred this to the Middle East Committee (we have been urging action on violations of human rights by
I rael since Sept. 1971). The Executive Committee also ordered the
Division of Church and Society to begin the long delayed study of the
detrimental effects of unresolved Middle East conflict on church and
ociety in the United States. NCC's new policy statement on The United
atfons was amended in its draft form and its final form to include the
ountry of Israel as a nation whose human rights practices should be
investigated. A Resolution on Human Rights was adopted by the
Governing Board on May 6th, 1977 calling on President Carter to "apply
the same test of human rights equally to all countries of the world" and
for the "rescinding of aid to any country which violates human rights".
The Friendship Press which publishes materials for Church study
programs has taken as the theme for 1979-80 the topic of Christian
Responsibility in the Middle East. In the Christian Education session at
the Cincinnati meeting, we urged that NCC members become acquainted
with the various religious cultures in the NCC and recommended that the
Antiochian Orthodox Church would be a good one to start with. The
\1iddle East Committee continues its program of dialogue with Moslems
and I have continued to call for the creation of a Christian-Moslem office
within NCC bureaucracy. NCC and its Middle East Committee hosted a
delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches and has received
Pope Shinouda of the Egyptian Coptic Church during his recent visit to
the U.S. NCC continues to help fund the newly organized Middle East
Council of Churches and funds raised for aid to Lebanon have been sent
to the Middle East Council of Churches. Gabriel Habeeb of the Church
of Antioch was recently elected the new Executive Director of MECC.
Bishop Joseph Bernardin, president of the U.S. Catholic Bishops'
Conference, who hosted the NCC delegates one evening in Cincinnati,
accepted my recommendation made in a question and answer period
with the Bishop that a desirable step toward ecumenical unity in this
country would be joined USCB and NCC, co-operation on issues on
which we both agree (and as an example of agreement, I noted the
similarity of NCC's statement on the Middle East, of October, 1973 and
the USCB statement of November 1973). Presenting our concerns to our
government together, I also pointed out, would have greater impact.
Because of its leadership in the American Christian community on
the controversial issue of the Israeli/ Arab conflict, the Antiochian
Archdiocese has been the subject of emotional and false charges from
the Zionist lobby in the U.S. In March of this year Rabbi Marc Tannebaum, national interreligious
director for the American Jewish
~ommittee, charged in a memorandum and reported by the press that
the presence of Arab churchmen on NCC's General Board - as typified
by Arab propagandists, Archbishop Philip Saliba and Dr. Frank Maria,
both of whom represent the Syrian Orthodox Church and are known to
be subsidized by Arab governments to carry out anti-Israel and pro-Arab
propaganda within the entire NCC institutional system - simply means
there is built into the NCC a constant anti-Jewish lobby". In my reply,
!~
Mrs. Elsie Kaleel, President of the North American Board of AOCWNA
addresses the women of the Archdiocese.
Page 18
he atlonal Council of Churches
I. Two Visits to the Middle East
1
°
ovember, 1977
excerpt of which were published by Religious ews Service, I exposed
the "totally fal e" charges and labels and explained the commitment. of
our Church: "has always been committed to ecumenical activity with
Christian , Jews and Moslems on the fundamental thesis that we are all
children of God. We do, however, distinguish between Judaism and
political Zionism and between Jews and the political State of Israel. yve
are for better understanding and appreciative of Judaism and for improved relations with Jews, but we reserve the right to be critical of the
aggressive and oppressive policies of the State of Israel against Christians
and Moslems and the right to take issue with the excesses of political
Zionism whether practiced by Jews or Christians. In criticising the
violations by Israel of human rights of Christians and Moslems we are
reflecting Judeo-Christian ethics and we are reminding our country the U.S. - of its moral obligation to take issue with all countries who
violate human rights". I also noted that "if two members of a Board of
271 people constitute a lobby of any sort within the NCC, that surely is a
superlative compliment.
Having first requested Rabbi Tannenbaum to document clearly and
accurately his charges made against me and Archbishop Saliba, Dr.
Claire Randall, General Secretary of NCC, asked me to document very
clearly a statement made in my reply "the National Council of Churches
is still more responsive to the pro-Israel Zionist lobby in the U.S. than to
the plight of Christians and Moslems in the Middle East". This I was
happy to do, in fact I welcomed the opportunity to indicate clearly some
of the factors that supported fully my assessment. On May 27, 1977 I
submitted to Dr. Randall a four page memorandum which concluded
partly as follows: "Please understand that NCC has done better than
other large ecumenical Christian organizations in the U.S. and that NCC
today is more responsive than it was when I first became a member of the
Governing Board in 1970. But certainly not as responsive as it would be if
not for the extra-sensitivity to the pro-Israel Zionist lobby. My prayer is
that under the Thompson Randall Administration the restrictive influence of this lobby will be fully loosened and NCC will then be free to
respond as an American Christian organization with high commitment
and noble goals would normally ... It is because I believe in NCC and
the wonderful people who make it up that I do what I can to help us meet
this tremendous challenge of NCC". Incidentally, as of yet Rabbi Tannenbaum has not submitted this documentation.
III. The National Association of Arab Americans
NAAA ended a year of progress under the leadership of President
Minor George and Executive Director Michael Saba, both members of
the Antiochian Archdiocese. I completed a year as a Vice President and
five years as a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of
Directors, but have chosen to limit my voluntary activity on NAAA for
next year to service on the Board of Directors. The new officers include
Joseph Baroody (Melkite), President; Raff Ellis, Executive Vice
President (Maronite); Sandy Simon, Vice President (Orthodox); Joanne
McKenna, Vice President (Maronite); Sandra Sabbagh, Secretary,
(Orthodox); and Jawad George, Treasurer, (Maronite). The Board of
Directors has many Orthodox members.
I attended all three Board meetings, the annual convention in May of
this year in Washington, D.C. and all but one of the many Executive
Committee meetings, and on each trip to Washington volunteered a
day's work in the office. I also completed another year as Chairman of
the Resolutions Committee. Resolutions adopted by the NAAA Board at
its meeting in Houston, Texas, on January 22, 1977: "Congratulations and
Best Wishes to President Carter". "Human Rights, Justice, Morality and
Law - Key to Middle East Peace"; and "CBU-72 - The Horrendous
Anti Personnel Offensive Weapon." Resolutions adopted by the May
Convention include: a restatement of "Human Rights, Morality, Justice
and Law- Key to Middle East Peace;" "No Sales to the Middle East and
Certainly No Preferential Arms Policy for Israel"; "Justice for a
Courageous
Israeli Citizen Felicia Langer";
"Call for U.S.
Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction
in Lebanon"; and "A Call for
Volunteers to the Aid of Lebanon."
Some of NAAA's special activities this last year have included:
Conference for 150 American Businessmen on the Arab Boycott;
Resolution and other actions against the CBU-72 Bomb; Another annual
Political Symposium; The. Arab-American
Business Tour involving
visiting Saudi Arabian offrcials. The Dixon-Nader 'dirty Arab' Affair (a
Defamation activity); and a Court Case against Marriott Corp. for
discrimination against Arabs in Employment (settled out of court) and
conference at the White House, State Dept. and with Congressmen.
With the resignation of Michael Saba, NAAA will be seeking a new
Executive Director and with new officers, the challenge will be to
progress further. NAAA has developed credibility as a political voice of
the Arab American community and its Washington-based activities are
critical to input into government of the Arab American viewpoint.
Pa~e 19
�Fortunately, NAAA is well based financially, but what it needs is more
~embers throughout the country and more volunteer activity on the part
0
th ese members to become more effective as a political lobby which
e~~resses the concerns of Arab Americans as involved American
citizens.
IV. The CBU-72 Concussion Bomb
The refusal of President Jimmy Carter to sell this horrible anti~er~onnel weapo_n to Israel_ was a victory for the forces of humanity and
Ju st ~ce. As I pomted out m the resolution "CBU-72 The Horrendous
Anti-Perso~nel
Offensive Weapon" adopted on January 22nd, by the
Boa rd of Directors of NAAA and communicated to President Carter and
to other key offic~als "This anti-personnel weapon, worse than napalm
and a weapon w~1ch runs counter to the accepted conduct of war, has
such horrendo_us i?1pact on human beings - men, women and children
- ~s t~ quest10n Its use by any nation, and certainly not by a civilized
~a~10n •. O~r own Senator James Abourezk initiated informational activity withm the Congress on the bomb and NAAA alerted other
organizations to its dangers. Thanks to our work with the Churches, we
were able to solicit affirmative responses from the Arab Christian
Ch~rches, the NCC and the U.S. Catholic Conference. For example, Dr.
Claire Randall, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches
sent telegrams to President Carter, Secretary of State Vance, and
Secret~ry of De_fense Brown protesting the proposed sale (which was a
campa~gn pr?mise of President Ford). When representatives of NAAA
met with Midge Castanza, Special Assistant to President Carter, the
prot~sts ~ro~ these ~~ny organizations were cited as helpful to the
Presidents
fmal declSlon. (Although it could be coincidence
but
parishioners might re-read the Carter "No" decision on the bomb i~ light
of the wording and arguement in the resolution sent to the President on
January 22nd.)
V. Two State Department Conferences
On October 19, 1977 along with representatives of other Christian
Churches in the U.S., I attended a full day's conference at the Dept. of
State in Washington
on various aspects of Middle East policy
(Arab/ Israeli conflict, Palestine Problem and the PLO, Arms Sales,
Energy, the civil war in Lebanon, etc.). The Assistant Secretary of State
for the Near East and other experts in specific aspects gave background
information and invited questions and comments. The Church leaders
were unanimous in urging that the rights of and justice for the
Palestinians should be a plank of American policy in the Middle East and
we were in practical unanimous agreement on recommending that the
U.S. recognize the PLO, that action be taken with regard to Israel's
violations of human rights and that our government initiate vigorous and
creative steps toward a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. We got
the clear impression that the Dept. of State wants to move creatively and
soundly in the Middle East with a pro-American, evenhanded policy
(would like, for example, to recognize the PLO and call for a role for the
Palestinians in coming peace negotiations), but is impeded by domestic
political pressures and an uninformed and misinformed American
public. The challenge for all Christian Churches in the U.S. is to "publish
the truth".
A two day conference
for the leaders on Non-Governmental
Agencies on Foreign Policy was held at the Dept. of State on May 17 and
18, 1977. Every type of organization was represented; church, business,
labor, charitable, social service, civil, political, educational, ethnic (the
Jewish-Zionist groups were well represented), etc.) I have two objectives
in attending these conferences: (1) dialogue with State Dept. officials to
let them know that there are American organizations committed to a
pro-American, evenhanded policy in the Middle East and (2) to ask the
questions and make the comments that help to inform the public opinion
moulders in attendance of the facts of the Middle East controversy. For
examples: (1) Following Assistant Secretary Joseph D. Duffey's talk on
"New Directions for Educational and Cultural Programs" in which he
stressed that fundamental to foreign policy "countries should perceive
each other as they are actually", I ventured the observation that the
Arabs have a high regard for the American people, but not for their
governmental
policy toward the Middle East (they perceive us to be
people of goodwill), but that unfortunately for our foreign policy "we do
not perceive the Arabs for the wonderful people they are, and had we a
true perception of the Arabs, we would be far less one-sided in the actual
implementation
of our foreign policy." (2) Following Undersecretary
Christopher's address to the delegates at the conclusion of the two day
conference, I made an assessment to which the Undersecretary agreed:
"All the issues discussed and explained to us during these two days such
as hunger, meeting the needs of the Third World, our energy and petrochemical needs, an improved economy for the world, jobs for the
Page 20
American people, security of the U.S. quality 0 f 1·f
1 e preve •
,
'
nuc lear ~olocaust, avoidance of war, progress for equaiit
. n_tton
human nghts and respect for international law etc
ldy, Justice and
'
.,
wou
be
ma .
en h ance d and advanced, if a just and lasting peace • ff
tena11~
·
is e ected 1•
M 1.ddl e E ast. And if
President Carter succeeds in a 1 •
n th
•
h
h
·
PP
Ying
the
te t of
H uman R 1g ts tot e Middle East, there is reason to b r
achieve a just peace in the Middle East".
e ieve that we "ill
ventions and our local meetings and other program activity should
feature Cultural Education about our background and heritage.
IX. Protest Against Massachusetts' Governor Dukalds' Proclamation of
March as Jerusalem Month.
VI. On Behalf of Lebanon
We continue to give much time to the problem of L b
. ·
.
e anon c
tm
mng our non -partisan and for all the people of L b
• on
.
.
e anon appro b
h e Ipmg
raise funds through church and government
ac ,
·1·
.
.
sources
for
rer f
an d re h a b 1 1tat10n, helping Lebanese nationals in the Us
•
. ie
•
•
•
• • with visa d
1mm1grat1on problems, and working with all segments f h
an
.
.
.
.
o t e Arab
A mencan
commumty to prevent dis-umty and to promot
.d
.
and unity on the question of Lebanon.
e un erstand1n
As Chairman of the Co-ordinating Committee of Ar b A
.
• •
·
a
men ca
orgamzat10ns m the New .England area. (Orthodox
Melk"tI e, Maromte
. n
.
,
P rotestant, R oman C athohc and Islamic) I mitiated a public
ferenc
'
con
on L e. b anon wit.h Senator
Edward Kennedy to thank him d unng
· his
• re
.
e Iect10n campaign m Massachusetts for what he had alread d
•
•
•
.
Y
one
on
b e h aIf o f h umamtanan aid from the U.S. Government to L b
e
anon
and
for wh at he had done toward the easing of visa and •
·
.
1mm1grat1on
• ·
f
L
.
restnct10ns
or
ebanese nat10nals.
Also ' to urge hi·s continued
·
.
.
.
Ieadersh1p toward the massive aid that Lebanon will requ·
f .
·1· .
ire or ns
re h a b 1 itatlon and. recons!ruction.
Senator Kennedy, incidentally has
worked co-<?peratively with our own Senator James Abourezk
emergency aid to Lebanon.
on
On Friday, October 29, 1977, leaders from the Arab Ame·
•
d A
·
.. .
ncan,
A rmeman
an
ssynan commumties In the Massachusetts and
England areas, representing all religious backgrounds attended 1::
confe~ence held at Our La?y of the Cedars of Lebanon Hall. The Senator
explamed some of the thmgs he has done and pledged to continue 1
work_ for aid to Lebanon. Incidentally, Senator Kennedy receive~
practically the total support of the Massachusetts Arab Americ
community in his re-election campaign.
an
VII. Historic
Problems
Arab American
Unity on the Crucial Middle East
The Arab/ Israeli conflict has ironically been a force for Arab
American unity. Only a unified community on the critical issues can
have positive impact on government and other influential organizations
In our activity in the Dept. of Near East for the Archdiocese, we have
had a co-ordinating and unity impact on the Arab American community
Partly to meet the devisiveness of the Lebanese civil war, Archbishop
Saliba has organized the Conference of Middle Eastern Religious
Leaders and this group of prelates has met on three separate occasions to
take affirmative action on Lebanon.
Following recommendations
made by myself and Dr. Elias Saad1,
President of the new American Lebanese League, Metropolitan Philip
expanded this Conference to include lay leaders, and on March 14, 197"
at the headquarters of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America an extraordinary session of the Standing Conference
of the American Middle Eastern Christian and Moslem Leaders met un·
der the chairmanship of Archbishop Saliba. This involved prelates and
lay leaders of all religious groups (Orthodox, Melkite, Maronite, Coptic,
Chaldean, Assyrian, Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Islamic and
Druze) and representatives of such civic organizations as the National
Association of Arab Americans, American Lebanese League, World
Lebanese Cultural Union, American Ramallah Federation and the
National Association of Maronite Laymen. I attended as the lay delegate
from the Antiochian Archdiocese
and was given the challenging
assignment of drafting a statement for group approval. The statement
was approved unanimously and marks the historic unity of the leadership
of the Arab American community on the issues of Lebanon, Palestine,
human rights and peace in the Middle East.
The statement appears in THE WORD, page 15, April, 1977 edition.
Every parishioner and every Arab American should be aware of its
contents.
VIII. Indiana Council of Churches Conference on Peace in the Middle
East
In our "Statement on the Near East Crisis to Amer=can Christians"
adopted unanimously by the 25th Annual Convention in Chicago, we
said "that the Arab / Israeli conflict should be the concern of every
tian
responsible citizen and particularly of the Christian and t~e. C_hriS
Church" and that "the Christian Churches, seeking reconci11auon and
The Word
1etropolitan PHILIP presides at the General Assembly of the Archdiocese.
·ustice rather than division and injustice, should foster a deeper un~erstanding of the Palestine question by promoting the fair and full
presentation of all aspects of the question and the frank discussion of
chem." Our parishes have been urged to initiate such discussions among
their people and with other churches and community groups, and I have
continually recommended to fellow members of the NCC Governing
Board, especially heads of state and local council of churches, such open
discussions.
Partly in response to my suggestion and to the urgings of George
Halaby and Fred Musleh, lay leaders in the Antiochian Church in
Indianapolis; Dr. Grover Hartman, General Secretary of the Indiana
Council of Churches and an active member of NCC's Governing Board,
and a committee representing Christian and Jewish groups planned and
held a three day conference on "Peace in the Middle East" at Creek State
Park in Spencer, Indiana, March 27-29. Forty educators and religious
leaders (Jews, Christians and Moslems) attended and participated in the
frank discussions. During the conference the non-Israeli position was
well explained by Dr. Elaine Hagopian (St. Mary's Antiochian Church in
Cambridge, Mass.) and the Zionist position was presented by Dr.
Michael Curtis of Rutgers University. Involved in the three day panels
and discussions were George Halaby; Prof. Raije Busallah, the blind
Palestinian educator who originated Project "Loving Care" and sold me
on adopting it in 1969 as part of our Dept. of Near East activity; Jawdat
Halla!, a young Melkite attorney; and myself. The Conference did come
to a few important agreements and the participants did get good exposure to the concerned and informed Christian viewpoint. This conference program has since then been followed up in several local
communities in Indiana.
We realize that other parishes have contributed speakers and participants to similar meetings and conferences and that in many cases the
local pastor or lay leader may have initiated these conferences as we feel
is in keeping with the commitment of this Church and wish we had the
information to report on all of these important local meetings, but the
Indiana conference was and still is significant in its continuing activity.
Also, it gives us the chance to again urge local pastors and lay leaders to
Initiateand to promote open discussions of the justice and peace in the
Holy Land as Christian witness and as patriotic service to the United
States.
The Syrian Dinner held yearly by the parishioners of St. George's in
Indianapolis where the Antiochian Church is host to over 2000 guests
from the Greater Indianapolis community (during the Council of
Churches Conferences we urged the participants to take advantage of
this superlative opportunity to meet their Orthodox Arabic neighbors
and to enjoy Arabic hospitality and food specialities by attending the
coming Syrian Dinner in early April) is an outstanding example of
cultural education. We are happy to note the interest in cultural
edu_c~tion on the part of our youth today. Arab cultural institutes,
e~•?Its and other events that interpret the rich Arabic heritage are
gaimng in popularity. One cannot visit the Middle East without appreciating the quality and quantity of Arab contributions to civilization.
O~r parishioners need to know and appreciate their Antiochian and
Middle Eastern heritage (dating back to the beginning of man) and
Americans need to know and appreciate the Arabic cultural heritage if
we are to work together for a better world. Toward this end, our conovember, 1977
Arab American Christian and Moslem organizations and other
concerned and informed groups and individuals in Massachusetts joined
together in an Ad Hoc Committee for Human Rights in Jerusalem to
protest the proclamation (written we were told by the Israeli Consulate
in Boston) by the Governor declaring March as Jerusalem month and
citing Jerusalem falsely as the capital of Israel. Also, the protest
criticized the political propaganda and fund raising for Israel that were
scheduled to take place. Organizations that came together included the
Co-Ordinating Committee of Religious and Civic Organizations, the
Committee of Palestinians in New England, the Arab American
University
Graduates
of New England, the American
Arabic
Associations of Boston, Lowell and Lawrence, Mass. Religious and lay
leaders of Christian, Moslem and even Jewish background picketed
outside Faneuil Hall in Boston when the alleged cultural celebration was
"kicked off" and a week later held another picket line with appropriate
signs and releases. Both demonstrations were well covered by radio and
T.V. and letters to the editor and columns appeared in the press on both
sides. The concluding demonstration against the misuse of the Governor's office by the Israeli Consulate to illegally promote Israeli political
and financial objectives was on April 3rd, with a parade through the
streets of Boston in observance of Arab Land Day. I was involved in
planning, solicitation of participation and in public relations activities.
X. Communications
Internally within the Archdiocese, I continue to make periodic and
complete reports to His Eminence Metropolitan Saliba and to confer
with him when his schedule permits. I have recommended to His
Eminence that my reports to him be published in THE WORD in the
interest of clerical and lay information. I have practically given up
sending releases to THE WORD which, regardless of editors, publishes
little of the Dept.'s activities, even when national Religious News Service does.
I have been concerned for some time that clerical and lay leaders are
not adequately informed about many of the matters alluded to, in this
annual report. Believing as I do in communications and democratic
participation,
I would welcome communications
with the Parish
Councils, all pastors, and all lay leaders and parishioners. Whenever I am
in a given area, I do try to address the local parish as I did in Houston,
Texas, St. George's Church on Sunday, January 23, 1977 or the Parish
Councils, as I did in Lake Worth, Florida, (St. George's) on the evening
of January 27, 1977. I believe that every parishioner should know what is
being done and said in the name of his Church and should be given
opportunity for dialogue and "input.''
Communications
externally are carried out in several ways:
correspondence with church, media, government and other leaders,
letters-to-the-Editor, such as the one to TIME Magazine (July 7, 1977)
asking TIME to call attention to America's responsibility for applying
the test of Human Rights to client state Israel and the letter to the editors
of the Boston Globe commenting on their courageous publication of
excerpts from the London Times expose of Israeli torture of Arab
prisoners; radio and T.V. appearances and lectures to church and other
groups. Incidentally, during my visit to Syria, I was extensively interviewed on radio and T.V. and quoted in press releases and it all came
at an auspicious time, just before His Beatitude was to leave Damascus
for the U.S.
In the interest of "evenhanded" reporting of the Middle East controversy, we have communicated with radio and T.V. executives as well
as with news executives and reporters. With respect to studio and T.V.,
the "fairness doctrine" regulated by the Federal Communications
Commission makes it possible to seek legal recourse if the station or
network is not responsive. This year we have been pursuing both Metro
Media of Los Angeles, California, which distributes and produces the
Merv Griffen Show with respect to anti-Arab bias and programming of
Israeli propaganda, and the Public Broadcasting System for three im balanced documentaries on the Middle East.
The Merv Griffen Show programs of the week of January 24-28, 1977
(as seen in Boston on WNAC-TV - CBS outlet) were actually taped in
Israel and were virtually Israeli propaganda; also Merv Griffen has had
many guests who have evidenced anti-Arab bias, even on occasion
venturing into Defamation; and he himself has evidenced anti-Arab bias.
My first letter of complaint to Metro Media Producers was on February
9, 1977, and my second letter (this time to John W. Kluge, President)
went out on June 14. WNAC-TV has also written Metro Media, but we
have yet to get a response. We may have to pursue a legal complaint with
Page 21
�resolution of the Arab'/ Israeli conflict it is especiall Im
public discussion of the issue be encoura~ed.
y
portant tb11
The Middle East Affairs Council 4005 47th s
'
treet
\\
W as bin gton, D.C., 20016 has published In pamphlet f
• ·
Abourezk's address on "Democracy and Dissent" 1
onn Senator
. .
a ong with se
re Iate d press items. This 1s must reading for conce
d A
. verat
. h.
rne
menc
pans 10ners are urged not only to read, but circulate it amon
an
your community.
g Ieader 1
XI. CONCLUSION
Archdiocesan
vention.
Trustee Albert Joseph of Chicago addresses the con-
the FCC to get implementation of the "fairness doctrine."
A series of telephone calls, a letter (and even a personal visit while in
Washington to PBS headquarters to confer with Associate General
Counsel, Barry Chase) to Karen Johnson, Co-ordinator for Information
Services, Boston's WGBH-TV, December
18, 1976 protested the
documentary
on "Terror", featuring the Palestinians, because of its
biased and subjective commentary. Later on PBS' broadcast "Jerusalem
- A Special Report" (viewed twice in Boston on June 18th and June
19th) which was more balanced, and broadcast on June 21st and June
25th the completely one-sided, pro-Israeli James Michiner program
(alleged documentary) on "Israel, A Search for Faith." It was essentially
a Zionist view of the Middle East, and could well have been produced by
Isreal's propaganda services. In a lengthy telephone call to Ms. Annette
Gilliam, Public Affairs Monitor, for PBS in Washington, and in a follow
up letter to her of July 1, 1977, I have complained about all three
documentaries
and requested PBS programming to fairly present the
other side and to correct "the non-facts posing as facts." I am optimistic
about PBS response to our complaints. I quote two paragraphs from the
second page of my letter to Ms. Gilliam: "Anyone who knows the Middle
East knows that the most poorly reported news story in the history of
American journalism has been the Israeli/ Arab conflict. We have not
been told the non-Israeli side and that Includes the viewpoint of what is
best for the United States as well as the viewpoints of the Palestinians
and the other Arab Christian and Moslem people."
Overwhelmingly what we get from the press and radio is the Zionist·
Israeli position. Yet this controversy has already affected the United
States and each citizen adversely (energy and petro chemical crisis,
economic impact, etc.). "At stake for all Americans in the Middle East
conflict are our economic welfare, security, quality of life, peace and our
survival in a nuclear age. This as President Carter has indicated is our
priority world problem and he seems determined to press for a longneeded peace in that area. The President will need an Informed
American public to bolster his efforts toward a just and lasting peace in
the Middle East."
The way in which the Arab/ Israeli conflict has been presented to
the American
people was discussed eloquently by Senator James
Abourezk before the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner of the Democratic
Party in Denver, Colorado on March 26th, 1977. The Zionists' attempt to
prevent his appearance backfired and an overflow crowd heard instead
of a regular address, a magnificent call for patriotic concern about the
stifling of dissent on an issue vital to all Americans. "The American
people should consider carefully that any time dissent is stifled, or
suppressed on any issue, domestic or international, we all lose. (The
Antiochian General Assembly has spoken out forcefully on this issue in
three historic resolutions; Freedom of the Press and the Arab/ Israeli
Conflict, Pittsburgh 1968 and Miami 1969, and 'The People's Right To
Know' Applies to the Middle East, Boston 1971. In fact, the Boston
Convention Resolution followed soon after the controversial publication
of the Pentagon Papers). As someone who has been involved in the
difficult challenge of taking issue with our government's "Israel, right or
wrong" policy for 30 years, I have been painfully aware of how honorable
dissent is stifled on this crucial issue, but the climate is changing. "At a
time when the United States is seeking to play a constructive role in the
Page 22
A_sthis report is being written during an unusual heat-wave tha
1
heavily taxed our energy resources, the "super hawk a d
~
. B .
.
. .
n terron t
M enac h Im
eg1n, pr1me m1mster of Israel is meetinD with p •
9
resident
Carter on M 1.ddl e Eastern Peace and this crucial meeting
•
.
•
d. l f
. .
ts occunn
1mme iate y a ter the Z1omst community in the U.S. united
bl'
1
•
d
h'
"
l
,,
pu
tc
y
tn
suppor t o f Beg10 an
1s peace p an and soon after 53 Jewi h I d
met for 1 hour and 20 minutes with President Carter. Preside st Seda er
• a te 1~vise
• d Interview
•
•
n ofa ABC
at of
E gypt 1n
on July 19 with Peter Jennings
rem10ds Amencans that the Arabs are truly ready for peace t d
•
•
• l (
o ay and
t h at t h e time Is crucia ma;: be the last chance for the parties to b
gotte~ t~get~er), and everyt~mg depends on U.S. leadership. Expose of
Israeh v10lat1ons of human nghts and international Jaw have co
·
•
M. •
B · ,
me Ju 1
b ~ f ?re P nme
mister
egm s announced intention to request 2 1 12
bilhon more dollars from the U.S. taxpayers for Israel.
There is so much at stake for the United States, the Middle East and
the world that our prayer is that President Carter meets the ter 'f
challenge, withstands the Zionist pressures and courageously presser~ tc
human rights, justice and peace in the Middle East.
s or
_Also, we trust that _the pre_se_nce of His Beatitude Elias IV in the
Umte? States and _his yres1dmg at this historic convention in
Wash10gton, D.C. with its tremendous
attendance of Antiochia
Christians wil~ _serve to remind ~u~ go:ernment of the significan~
presence of m1lhons of Eastern Chnst1ans In the Middle East and in the
United States and that these Christians, as they should, are concerned
about equality and justice for all peoples - Jews, Christians and
Moslems. Finally we trust that this Archdiocese's commitment to
"Christian witness" on ~he issues in the Middle ~fast and on their impact
on our country the Umted States and on mankmd, and the activities of
the Dept. of Near Eastern Affairs have helped to bring about an
American
Christian community
that will support "evenhanded"
initiatives for a desperately-needed
just and enduring peace in the
Middle East.
P.S. Since last year's November issue of THE WORD by error
omitted the last page of my written report to the San Francisco Con·
vention, I am including that page as an addendum to this year's report
The topics treated: Bi-Centennial Celebration; The Vital Parish Effort;
and Metropolitan Philip and the Near East Challenge have pertinence to
today just as much as last July, and for the benefit of history should be
recorded.
IV. Bl-Centennial Participation
The ethnic and immigrant character of our American plurialistic
society has been highlighted during the current Bi-Centennial. Alongwith
' others in the Arab American community, Antiochian parishes have been
participating in programs related to their rich religious and cultural
heritage.
The Bi-Centennial represents both an opportunity for us to celebrate
as citizens proud to be Americans and also to explain the wonderful
heritage - religious and cultural - that immigrants to the United States
from the Near East brought with them as their input into this great
nation.
1
X. The Vital Parish Effort
This report by its limitations has dealt, as usual, largely with the work
at the Archdiocesan level. The test of the effectiveness of any depart·
ment must include whether its objectives are being accomplished on the
parish and local level.
Throughout the country there are pastors and lay leaders whose
commitment to witness as Christians and as patriotic American citizens
on the issues of the Middle East crisis deserves the applause and ap·
preciation of all people to whom America's best interests, brotherhood
justice and peace are important.
The fact that Antiochian clerical and lay leaders, more than ~)
other religious organization in the United States and Canada, are 10•
valved within their communities in activities related to the Near East and
that this large number of dedicated people has been growing significantly
each year is the best thing in this report.
The Word
, J. Metropolitan Philip and the Near East Challenge
This convention in ~an Francisco celebrates a ~ecade o_fprog~ess of
he Antiochia~ . ~c~~1ocese
under the leadership of His Emmence
hbishop Phi 11p a 1 a.
.Arl-f1s Eminence had not even been in his new responsibility a year
the June 1967 war in the Middle East with Israel's surprise attack
-...h~"stEgypt took place. The Arabs in the 6 Day War lost the Sinai, the
agat~ Bank of Jordan, and the Golan Heights of Syria, suffered
\ e endous casualties, and hundreds of thousands of Egyptians,
irelrntt'nians, Jordanians and Syrians were displaced. Few voices were
Pa. esd in the U ..S an d C ana d a agamst
•
I srae l' s aggression.
•
R elations
.
rat e een the Arab world and the American governments were at a low.
~~iwAmerican Christian Churches outside of Arab refugee relief efforts
e still hesitant to speak out against Israel or our governments' prowere
• ma d e statements f avonng
. Israel.
el policy or worse stI·11on occasion
1
T~are was much misinformation, lack of information, and deliberate
. e epresentation in the press. The Arab Christian Churches in the
rn:i:ed States an? Canada were not involved in the Near East con
roversy nor in rehef efforts for the refugees.
1
When I met with His Eminence in Brooklyn to urge his leadership
among the Middle E~s~ern Church~s i~ North America and within the
1 rger American Chnst1an commumty In the latter part of 1967, I was
:nvinced that he and his Archdiocese were uniquely qualified, as
~rnerican Christians who trace their history and heritage to the Middle
East, to bear witness as informe~ citiz~ns on the trut~ of the Middle E_ast
ituation. Since 1968 when His Em10ence estabhshed the Standmg
Committee on Near Eastern and Arab Refugee Affairs this Archdiocese
has been involved and has influenced other Arab Christian churches to
become involved, has solicited the support of all Orthodox and Middle
Eastern Churches, has worked within the National Council of Churches
and with the U.S. Catholic Bishops with reference to a more relevant
response by American Christians to the humanitarian and moral issues in
the Middle East situation. Also, this Archdiocese has worked to help
effect a "more evenhanded" policy by our government toward the
peoples and count~i~s of th~ Middle East, a policy reflecting America's
democratic and rehg1ous hentage.
During the last ten years under Archbishop Saliba this Archdiocese
has been involved in a crusade to help set America free from the
restrictive influences which would prevent its normal response as a
freedom-loving, spiritually motivated country to the humanitarian and
moral issues of the Middle East controversy. Issues of brotherhood,
truth, human rights, justice, freedom, peace and survival of man in a
nuclear age are surely proper concerns for an American Christian
Church at anytime and surely at this Bi-Centennial which happily co-'
mcides with the celebration of Archbishop Philip's first decade as prelate
of this Archdiocese.
Moved by FATHER
CONSTANTINE
NASR, seconded
by
ABRAHAM KARCERE, St. George, Cedar Rapids. The report was
received. FRANK MARIA urged those in attendance to call the White
House and their congressman and protest the illegal settlements on the
West Bank. FATHER ANTONY BEAUCHAMP suggested there is a
problem in educating our fellow Orthodox, a prominent Greek prelate
appeared with B'nai Brith in New England. FRANK MARIA replied that
all attempts to get positive action from the Standing Conference had
been in vain. METROPOLITAN PHILIP suspended the rules so that
four resolutions could be presented at once since they were addressed to
urgent situations requiring immediate attention.
with over 700 million adherents, has been misunderstoJd
and
misrepresented in the Christian West for centuries.
WHEREAS a better understanding among the three monotheistic
religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism is essential rn the maiutenance of world peace, including the resolution of the explosive
Middle East conflict.
WHEREAS a dialogue between Western Christianity and Judaism has
already been established.
BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that this American Christian Archdiocese
which has had a long history of affirmative dialogue with Islam and
has been endeavoring to serve since 1967 as a bridge-builder of
understanding between West and East, recommend to all other
Christian communions in the United States and Canada their
establishment of informational programs about Islam and the Muslim
people and their initiation of mutually beneficial Christian-Muslim
dialogue.
WHEREAS the Israeli government has declared legalized, on July 26,
1977, three additional Zionist-Israeli settlements on occupied Arab
lands in violation of International Law.
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese 32nd Annual Convention meeting in Washington, D.C.,
condemns this and all other previous illegal establishment of set·
tlements by Israel on Arab lands as a serious obstacle to peace in the
Middle East AND WE CALL UPON the government of the United
States to persuade the State of Israel to abolish these settlements and
any further illegal encroachment upon Arab territories.
WHEREAS President Carter has set the goal of a critically needed just
peace in the Middle East as a priority for his administration;
WHEREAS this Archdiocese, made up of American citizens who trace
our Church's roots to the Middle East, have been in a position to
know both sides of the Arab/ Israeli conflict, and have bee·n painfully aware that the Israeli point of view is overwhelmingly presented
in the media in the U.S. and Canada and the Arab side is rarely
presented and often misrepresented.
In fact, the most poorly
reported news story in the history of American journalism has been
the Arab / Israeli conflict.
WHEREAS our Department of State has declared that essential to the
success of our foreign policy is "our ability to perceive other nations
as they actually are", and whereas our perception of the Arabs has
been blurred and warped by myths, non facts, misrepresentation and
defamation.
BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America meeting in its 32nd Annual Convention in Washington D.C. call upon the media in the U.S. and
Canada to stop being a part of an insideous campaign to defame or
misrepresent the Arabs and to "publish the truth" about the
Arab/ Israeli conflict.
WHEREAS the U.S.A. has been founded on the principles of
democracy, Judea-Christian morality and human dignity; and
WHEREAS the U.S.A. has just entered its third century of liberty,
pluralism and "justice for all"; and
WHEREAS President Jimmy Carter has taken a strong stand in support
of human rights against the tyranny and oppression of the state; and
WHEREAS the State of Israel stands condemned by the U .N. and other
Resolution No. 1
Moved by FRANK MARIA, seconded by FATHER PAUL SALIBA
and passed unanimously.
Resolution No. 2
Moved by FRANK MARIA, seconded by FATHER ANTONY
BEAUCHAMP and passed unanimously following discussion in which
FATHER MARK PEMBERTON and DR. NAJIB SALIBA moved to
amend the Resolution by prefixing "Zionist" to the word "Israeli."
Resolution No. 3
Moved by FRANK MARIA, seconded by DR. NAJIB SALIBA and
passed unanimously.
Resolution No. 4
Moved by FRANK MARIA, seconded by FATHER ATHANASIOS
SALIBAand passed unanimously.
WHEREAS the presence of His Beatitude Elias IV, Patriarch of the
Orthodox Christian Church of Antioch and all the East, among us in
~his 32nd annual convention in Washington, D.C. dramatically
illustrates the importance of b11ilding bridges of understanding
bet~een East and West, and is the finest proof of Christian-Muslim
amity and co-operation in the Middle East.
WHEREAS the Islamic religion, the second largest religion in the world,
ovember, 1977
Delegates Father James Meena of Oeveland and Archdiocesan Trustee
Theodore Mackoul caucus during the General Assembly break.
Page 23
�international organizations for its flagrant and repeated violations of
the elemental human rights of the Palestinian Christian and Muslim
people.
BE IT THEREFORE
RESOLVED that the Antiochian
Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America, meeting in its 32nd Annual
Convention in Washington, D.C., call upon President Carter and
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to:
1) Use their influence with the State of Israel to assure that state's
adherence to U .N. resolutions and its respect for the human rights of
the Palestinian Christian and Muslim people; and
2) Enforce United States declared policy that economic and military aid
not be given to any nation which violates human rights.
FATHER JAMES MEENA expressed his regret that there was no
resolution on Lebanon. JOHN KHOURI noted that the four resolutions
were adopted to meet a press deadline and that a resolution on Lebanon
1.:ould be presented later.
Rudy George-Cleveland,
Ohio
Through the Archdiocese
George Ghiz - Phoenix, Ariz.
Ed Kassab - Detroit, Mich.
Monsour Laham
Albert Joseph ($40.00 for children)
John Ameer ($60.00 for child)
Southwest Region SOYO
Steven S. Sarafian - Crestwood, N.Y.
Mrs. Mike RomeyCanton, Ohio
Clergy Association - New Kensington, Pa.
Badi A. Batshon - New Kensington, Pa.
Dr. Issa Shamonki - Pacific Palisades, Ga.
Anonymous
Mrs. Linda Zakaili - St. Laurent, Que.
Interest Accrued for 1 year
250. I
200.(X)
soo.oo
460.oo
200.00
so.oo
so.oo
119.00
10.00
15.00
120.00
50.00
~
TOTAL
16) FATHER GEORGE RADOS, Director
Prolect Loving Care.
presented
the report of
Project Loving Care offers the Archdiocese an opportunity to infiltrate the grass roots of human suffering. The Project was designed to
render some financial aid to needy and war victimized families living in
occupied Palestine. The basic purpose of the program is to provide funds
for food, clothing, shelter, and education.
Unfortunately,
the situation in the Middle East has hindered our
growth. The number of children in need continues to rise in far greater
proportion than we are able to find sponsors.
During the past year we have sent $56,732.00 to our children - a
grand total of $306,732.00 since the Program was founded in 1967. We
have sponsored 34 additional children this year. Our total number should
be 586, but many individuals and organizations are in arrears in their
contributions. Again1-it became necessary for us to draw on our Reserve
Fund.
Project Loving Care is now incorporated. We feel this will be very
beneficial for reasons of legal bequests, wills, and gifts.
Dr. Busailah will be visiting our Project Workers in Jerusalem in early
August. Some changes in procedure and suggestions from the Jerusalem
office will be discussed.
We wish to gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the following
donations this past year.
Reserve Fund
Dr. Isaac Mitre -Terre
Haute, Ind.
Midwest Region SOYO
$
75.00
500.00
Youth Director William Essey speaks to the delel!ates about SOYO
programs.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Lou Saikley
Financial Coordinator for Very Rev. G.M. Rados
of Finance was postponed.
18) FATHER JOSEPH ALLEN, Chairman, presented the report of
the Department
of Continuing Pastoral Education and
Splrltual Vocations:
Continuing Pastoral Education Workshops
Last year in San Francisco we completed our fourth Archdiocese
Conference Workshop. The theme was Pastoral Sensitivity to the Dying,
and was held on Tuesday of the Conference.
At a meeting comprised of priests selected by Metropolitan Philip, it
was decided that the Archdiocese Conference was not a good time for
such workshops since there was entirely too much activity. Various
options were offered:
1. BI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE: If it comes to the possibility of having
the Archdiocese Conference every other year, the Clergy could meet
on the opposite years for strictly work.
2. SEP ARA TE PASTORAL TIME: This would mean meeting
separately and apart from the present Archdiocese Conference.
(Some suggested that this might be difficult since it would require
attending yet another meeting place beside the Archdiocese Con·
ference, Parish Life Conference, Deaneries, etc.)
3. REGIONAL CONFERENCES: This was the most possible and
feasible concept, based on the "Cleveland experiment" in 1976. All
clergy and deaneries in the region would gather on Monday at the
place of the Parish Life Conference and would spend Tuesday and
Wednesday together. This would be advantageous since they would
merely remain there for the Conferences which begin Wednesday
Evening; another special trip would be avoided.
THIS YEAR, 1976-1977
The Regional Pastoral Workshops were introduced this year (cf. ~o.
3 concept above) normally, such workshops will replace the work which
was attempted at the last four Conferences. This means that Monday
evening and Tuesday at the Archdiocese Conference can be used for
priests to get together in "fellowship" (since many do not see each o_ther
from one year to the next) and for any meetings with the Metropohtan.
Perhaps Tuesday could be a time for the Hours, meditation and more
prayerful efforts, not on the line of a dynamic workshop, however •.
At the invitation of the various regions and Deans, the coor~ma!or
attended and led both Pastoral Workshops and/ or Family Enhvenmg
Sessions in four (4) of the six (6) regions.
1. In the Southwest Region: Pastoral Workshop No. 1, on "Pastor_alC~re
and the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian," and Family Enhvenmg
No. 1 on "Adult Growth and Families Enlivened to Christ."
2. In the New England Region: Family Enlivening Session No. 2 on "The
Orthodox Self in Relation."
3. In the Mid-West Region: Pastoral Workshop No. 2 on "l'astoral Care
and the Faces of God."
4. In the Eastern Region: Pastoral Workshop No. on "Pastoral Care
The Word
Page 24
In general, my time as director is divided among the following areas
- workshops for teachers, materials development and printing, the DCE
Newsletter, writing articles, the Orthodox Christian Education Commission, mailings and publicity, office work and reading in the field of
education.
$ 3,944.09
Moved by ESTHER CYMBAL, seconded by FATHER ELIAS
SABA, the report was received. MRS. ELAINE SALIBA, Worce t
asked about the possibility of adopting orphans from Lebanon. FAT~;~
RAD?S replied_ that there have been requests from all over North
America and whtle the prospects are not too bright, the Project leadershi
is negotiating with Metropolitan Ilyas Kurban.
p
17) The report of the Department
to accomplish a great deal; in fact, it has accomplished things far out of
proportion to its size. This conclusion highlights two fundamental
realities: first, what the department has accomplished serves primarily to
highlight what yet remains to be done; and, second, what the department
has accomplished reflects not the talent of the director but the nature of
the people he has been able to involve in the work of the department.
During the past year a special effort was made to attract new people,
with necessary talents, into the service of Christian education. It is only
by expanding the personnel basis of the department that we will be able
to meet the needs of our parishes and church schools during the up·
coming school years. Involving more people, however, necessarily involves the spending of more money; there is simply no other way and
Christian education on the Archdiocesan level will continue to cost more
money if we are to provide the services and materials needed through the
Archdiocese.
200.0()
AC Teen SOYO President, Tommy Hier presents His Beatitude with a
letter from Teen SOYO to Orthodox teens in the Middle East.
and the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian" and Family Enlivening
Session No. 3 on "Changing Christian Behavior and Family
Relations."
PASTORALLETTER
This quarterly focuses upon particular problems of the life of the
priest in Am~~ica. It is being .~~ed by ind~viduals, ~eaneries and
seminaries as food for thought,
1.e. the basts for talkmg about the
pastoral task in the Body of Christ (rather than merely about the "power
struggle"and politics of the parish, especially between clergy and laity).
Some of the areas covered this year in the LETTER were: Ministry
and Mission, Death and Dying, Homiletics and Preaching, Grief and
Grieving, Building Spiritual Maturation, Competence in the Priesthood
and Building a Support System.
I would like to thank all those who have responded with encouragement for this publication; it is a time consuming task.
SCHOLARSHIP:A scholarship application form was sent out to every
priest who received the Pastoral Letter. At the time of this printing np
final decision has been made with regard to the recipient.
SPECIAL THANKS: To Deans and SOYO Regions for inviting the
commission, to Antiochian Women for their support, to members of
the commission and to Metropolitan Philip for his continued support.
Moved by FATHER MARK PEMBERTON, seconded by FATHER
A THONY SCOTT, the report was received. METROPOLITAN
PHILIPnoted that in the coming academic year, three members of the
Archdiocese would serve as visiting faculty at Orthodox seminaries:
Father Joseph Allen, visiting professor of Pastoral Theology at
Brookline, Father PaulTarazi, Visiting Lecturer in Old Testament at St.
Vladimir's, and Dr. John Boojamra, Visiting Lecturer in Church History
at St. Vladimir's. This demonstrates the Archdiocese is contributing not
onlymoney but human talents.
19) DR. JOHN BOOJAMRA, Chairman, presented the report of
of Christian Education:
the Department
This is the seventh annual report I am delivering as director of the
Devartment of Christian Education to the Archdiocese
General
Assembly. It has been my goal during the past seven years to seek to
coordinate all Christian education activities within our Archdiocese and
allChristian education activities between our Archdiocese and the larger
Orthodox community in North America, and especially the Orthodox
Christian Education Commission. In pursuing this two-fold goal of
coordination, I have tried constantly during the past years to open up
and maintain channels of communication between our central office and
our growing number of parishes. This has not been an easy task given
wh~t_appears to be a certain congregationalism among our parishes. In
addition to coordinating activities among our parishes and bringing
together people and materials, I have seen it as my job to develop
supplementary church school materials and to maintain, as much as time
permits,a regular teacher training program.
As I said last year, our department has managed during the past year~
November,1977
Perhaps the most consistent feature of the department's work has
been the DCB Newsletter. The Newsletter is published quarterly in eight
pages and is mailed out to every church school director, parish priest,
board of trustees member, and members of other Orthodox jurisdictions.
The Newsletter is designed to keep teachers and parish clergy informed
of the work of the Department of Christian Education and provide them
with practical teaching aids and advice. Unfortunately, many teachers
around the country are not receiving their copies from the parish office
and I would like to urge all parish clergy to pass on the bulk-mailed
Newsletter to their teachers when they arrive. It is of note here that our
department is one of the two diocesan offices among the Orthodox
which publishes any sort of Christian education periodical. The primary
function of the Newsletter is communication and one thousand copies
are mailed out four times per year. In addition to the Newsletter, the
department makes regular publicity and information mailings during the
year and maintains a regular Christian education feature in The Word.
In keeping with the departmental goal of opening channels of
communication, the director has maintained a regular teacher training
program for the parishes in our Archdiocese. Poorly trained and
prepared teachers is perhaps the weakest aspect of our volunteer church
schools. But, at the same time that teacher preparation is our weakest
area, it is the most difficult need to meet precisely because of the size of
our Archdiocese in geographical extent and the time involved in
planning and executing a one day program at a parish. During the past
school year the director has conducted workshops and seminars in the
following locations: Beaumont, Texas; Frackville, Pennsylvania; New
Kensington, Pennsylvania; Ottawa, Ontario; Indianapolis, Indiana;
Worcester,
Massachusetts;
Montreal,
Quebec;
Oklahoma
City,
Oklahoma;
Los Angeles, California; Brooklyn, New York; and
Washington, D.C. Again, it is of note here that our department is the
only diocesan department of Christian education which conducts regular
teacher training workshops.
With the firm conviction that teacher training is the single most
important need in our church school programs, the department at the
beginning of each school year mails out a workshop proposal program to
every parish priest and church school director encouraging them to
sponsor their own seminars and offering the help of the director to either
conduct the actual workshop or to assist in organizing one for a parish or
a group of parishes. Although conducting workshops is the most enjoyable aspect of my job, it is also the most time consuming. Any parish
wishing to have a workshop is asked to contact the director at least two
months in advance. Unfortunately, I cannot accept all the invitations
which I receive due to my regular teaching responsibilities.
In keeping with my recommendation to last year's General Assembly,
submitted a proposal for• the establishment of a regular Christian
education scholarship to His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip. The
proposal as submitted was accepted and monies will be made available
for one scholarship per year for study at St. Vladimir's Seminary. The
scholarship will be open to either men or women who are interested in
preparing themselves to serve the churches as professional educators,
handling such areas as church schools, adult education, pre-school
parents programs, ·pre-baptismal education, etc. There is a problem
however in such a program; the Archdiocese has taken a progressive
step in recognizing a need and providing the funds to meet the need. It is
up to the parishes to provide employment opportunities for such
professionally trained people. The department conducted a survey in the
fall to determine where such employment opportunities
might be
Page 25
�available. Out_ of th_e f?rty responses to the one hundred surveys mailed
out,_ t~ree pansh~s tn~tcated that they would be interested in a full-time
Chnsttan education director. Being realistic, however, we shall have to
encourage e~ployment_opportunities
among several parishes, Orthodox
clergy co~nc1ls, deaneries, or SOYO regions. The first recipient of this
scholarsh1~ for the schoo~ year 1977-1978 is Miss Emelie Dierking of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Special thanks are in order to Father Joseph Allen
whose_ Department
of Continuing Pastoral Education and Spiritual
Vocations has made some of the scholarship money available.
.
in 10 g
-
ved by FATHER ANTONY BEAUCH~MP, seconded by DR.
Wichita, the report was received. METRO POLIT AN
ked that the Minutes record his profound thanks to the ArchpHILI • a lergy for the splendid work done in Christian education. He
e a~ ~ the Christian education program will reach the adults. The
b ,pe . \ a are perfect and the Archdiocese is demonstrating serious
rcatenal oncern for educating the children. He asked that the Minutes
P ioran c I his profound thanks to Dr. John Boojamra for his competent
• Ed ucat1on.
•
al re ec·entious work for the Department o f Cbr'1st1an
_r.dcon c1
\1o KOURI.
A~1 p
Programmed Teacher:
To_ facilit~te the training ~f our ~hurch school teachers, the department ts well mto the production of a programmed teacher training kit
on cassettes. We already have twelve taped lectures recorded and edited
and are in the process of preparing a comprehensive workbook to accompany_ the use of the twelve tapes. The program is centered on the
prese1:1tatton of six lectures dealing with the content of our curriculum
and six lectures dealing with teaching techniques. The entire package
should be completed and ready for sale to parishes sometime early in
1978.
The Orthodox Christian Education Commission:
As I mentioned earlier, much of my time as director is occupied with
the OCEC. It has been the policy of this department to treat the Commission as the educational arm of the Orthodox Churches in North
America. With the exception of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese,
which has pursued an independent curriculum policy, the Commission
serves all Orthodox faithful. The material produced by the OCEC
continues to be, in my opinion, the best available Orthodox educational
material from the point of view of internal coherence, sound faith, and
sound educational philosophy.
Our commitment IO the Commission is considerable. Metropolitan
Philip continues to be the president of the Commission and I have just
completed my first year as chairman of the newly formed curriculum
department. For the first time in the history of the OCEC, Metropolitan
Philip invited the members of the Commission's Executive Board and the
hierarch's of the St~ding Conference of Bishops to a meeting to discuss
the needs of the Commission and the needs of the various jurisdictions
which it is supposed to be serving. The Commission has many outstanding credits to its account in faithfully serving the needs of the
Orthodox Churches of North America. The curriculum produced by the
Commission is mandated for use in the parishes of the Antiochian
Orthodox Archdiocese.
SOYO:
SOYO continues to be one of the most fruitful areas of cooperation
for the Department of Christian Education within the Archdiocese. The
nature of the new parish life format of the SOYO conferences has
provided the occasion for the department to reach many of our church
school teachers. Unfortunately, the planners of the conferences are hard
pressed to schedule everything into the time available and the church
school meetings are usually limited to two hours. The cooperation that
has been established between SOYO and the department is due largely
to the Youth Director of the Archdiocese, Mr. Bill Essey, with whom I
have enjoyed working during the past two years. Bill and I will explore
other areas of cooperation during the school year by co-sponsoring a two
day youth leadership training seminar for the clergy and youth leaders of
the Archdiocese. The meeting will be announced during the fall. I look
forward to future cooperation with SOYO and participating in all six of
the parish life conferences next year.
Current Projects:
During the past year, I am happy to report, the department managed
to publish three excellent items as supplements to our curriculum - The
Icon Book, the Contemporary Reading and Library Guide for the
Orthodox Parish, and the Harvest of Antioch (a guide to the great saints
of the Church of Antioch). The first two of these items have been extremely well received by the entire Orthodox community in North
America; the third item is of more limited interest to our own Antiochian
parishes and proved to be very useful to those students preparing for the
Oratorical Presentation on the topic of "Great Saints of the Church of
Antioch and Their Message for Today." All of these are available from
the Archdiocese Bookstore.
In addition to these completed projects, the department is currently
working on the following items:
Youth Study Text: As a follow-up to the Sourcebook for Youth
Work, which the department published two years ago, a youth study
package is currently in preparation. The package will consist of some
twenty or thirty articles drawn from Orthodox periodicals such as The
Word, Upbeat, Concern, etc. The articles will be divided into different
subject areas and will be edited down to two pages maximum. Each of
Page 26 •
ive them the tools and the confidence to handle the job.
2) URGES all combatants, be they Lebanese or Palestinian, to lay
down their arms and to lift them up again only in the legitimate defense
of the national integrity of Lebanon and the Lebanese people and urges
the Arab governments and all political parties in Lebanon to re-activate
and adhere to the Cairo Agreement of 1969, and,
3) URGES the U.S. and Canadian governments to relax their immigration laws and open their arms in the name of humanity to those
refugees from the strife-torn land of Lebanon who are now living in the
U.S. and Canada and in other countries and who are seeking entry &
refuge into one or the"other of these two great nations.
The General Assembly Recessed at 4:30 p.m. and reconvened
a.m. on
) FATHER ANTONY
GABRIEL, Chairman,
presented
20
t of the Department of Convention Plannlng:
repor
HERE'S THE REAL THING!
Fathers Anthony Scott of Wichita, Kansas, Joseph Allen of Bergenfield,
New Jersey, and Antony Gabriel of Montreal, Quebec, take 8 brea
during the General Assembly.
the articles will_be. pri~ted twelve to fifteen times and perforated for ea ,
removal and d1stnbut10n to the members of the youth or adult tu:·
group. To make the package more usable, it will be accompanied b
detailed study guide, outlining how to use the articles.
..
The Advent Book: The department is currently compiling a book of
Advent stories and activities for use by church school and families
Unlike Great Lent, the Christmas Lent has very few special service and
activities which set it apart from the rest of the year. The departmem
hopes to have available before next Christmas the Advent Book s ~a
parents will have an opportunity to take their children through th•
Christmas fast period in a meaningful way.
Church School Planning Book: Teachers need a guide to planning
their year's and their Sunday's lessons and activities. The Planning guide
will provide each teacher with a calendar, roster form for students, and a
planning guide for each Sunday of the church school year.
Audio-Visuals Committee: As most of you are already aware. our
Audio-Visuals Committee, headed by Father Joseph Allen, has produced
the two filmstrip program Rebirth: The Journey of Great Lent. The
Committee is concurrently completing its second program.
I hope that the foregoing will give you some idea of the work of the
Department of Christian Education and encourage you to take ad
vantage of the services provided by the Archdiocese for your parishes.
During the up-coming school year it will be my objective to:
1. further develop the teacher training program by reaching out t
more parishes and expanding the topics available;
2. to seek to develop an educational program for the parents of pre·
school children;
3. to seek to initiate a regular adult education feature in The Word
magazine;
4. to encourage subscription programs in parishes for Upbeat and
Young Life;
5. to work more closely with the Creative Arts and Writing com·
mittees of SOYO and the SOYO Catechism Bowl so that they might
more closely conform to the goals of our church school program.
Conclusions:
The department has accomplished a great deal and a great deal ~ct
remains to be done. As I have said for the past three years, the maior
responsibility for the success or failure of any education pr~gram
necessarily falls on the local parish. The best materials, presented ~nthe
most professional manner is absolutely worthless without the backmg of
a strong and committed parish and family community_. _The church
school will be no more effective than the parish is sound spmtually.
Finally we must forget about education between the ages of six and
sixteen as ~he only or even the best means of "making" Christians. The
life of faith must grow at every age and our parishes must now turn the•~
attention and resources towards instituting regular adult and. famtl_
education programs. The job of introducing children to a life of faith and
trust in Jesus Christ belongs properly not to the church school or even
the parish; it belongs to the family and it is time for parents to e~k to
fulfill their responsibilities as Christian parents and time for the pansh t 1
The
or
the
CONVENTION PLANNING 1976-1977
Reports and Reception of Convention Bids
Th'1 past year, the Washington Archdiocesan Convention reports
esented and accepted by this Committee. The Chairman of this
ere pr
•
•
• h h W h'
C
•
0epar tme nt held an extensive meetmg wit t e as mgton onvention
.
•
g
Committee
on
July
15,
1976,
to
prepare
for
the
Nat10nal
Planntn
.
.
Conference and later appon:ited Mr. Robert Laha~, Sr., as a special
liai on to oversee the developi1:1gplans by our_host pansh.
.
Incidentally, since the Lomsville Convention, we have developed this
procedure.
.
.
.
.
· ce the Archdiocese Conference 10 San Francisco 10 1976, this
10
•
b
•
h
•
tment met in Washington, D.C. 10 Novem er to receive t e1r
0
ep::ss report and to table the final report from St. Nicholas Church of
rog Francisco prior to its submission to the Archdiocese Board of
/n tees· and, in Englewood, New Jersey, during the Spring Archdiocese
a:~rd or' Trustees meeting to receive the_final report of our host city and
the progress report from our 1978 Host City, Houston, Texas.
BIDS
On June 1, 1977, we received a formal bid from St. George Cathedral,
Coral Gables, Florida, for the 1979 Archdiocesan Convention, July 22-29,
1979.
During this Conference, our Department received and approved the
progress report from our 1978 Host Parish, St. George, Houston, Texas.
Under New Business, a resolution will be submitted for your conideration at next year's Archdiocesan Convention by this Department.
We anticipate updating the Convention Planning Manual.
Our entire Department commends the Pastor and Parish of St.
George Church, Washington, D.C., for this fine planning and execution
of this, our 32nd Annual Archdiocesan Convention.
Finally, we were all cognizant of the importance of the 32nd Annual
Archdiocesan Convention with our beloved Patriarch ELIAS IV in our
midst; therefore, this Department endeavors to keep a watchful eye on
he progress of our Host Parish, St. George of Washington, D.C., to
ensure the Archdiocese a successful conclusion to the Antiochian Holy
Year 1977, and the visit of His Beatitude.
at 11
FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1977
22) RONALD NICOLA, Acting Chairman of the Departrhen.t of
Stewardship
read the report of the absent chairman, Ernest
Saykaly:
"BUT YOU ARE A CHOSEN RACE, A ROY AL PRIESTHOOD, A
DEDICATED NATION AND A PEOPLE CLAIMED BY GOD FOR
HIS OWN, TO PROCLAIM THE TRIUMPH OF HIM WHO HAS
CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS
LIGHT." 1 PETER 2:9
The Department of Stewardship is presently entering into its third
year of operation since its inception during the Spring of 1975. We have
just experienced a very encouraging period during which we have
achieved marked progress toward our ultimate goals.
One of our primary objectives has been to create a vehicle through
which the ideals of Stewardship can be projected, and this can be accomplished with the assistance of dedicated individuals who are part of
the Stewardship "team." We have succeeded in subdividing each of the
six Regions into Districts and in appointing the required Co-Ordinators
for these Districts. In addition, several Parishes have submitted the
names of their local Stewardship Representatives who will work in
collaboration with their District Co-Ordinators. Many Parishes have not
as yet complied with our request for representatives, however, we are
hopeful that this project can be completed in the near future in order
that we may compile a Directory indicating the names of all persons
involved with the Stewardship Program. This will enable us to maintain
open lines of communication throughout the Archdiocese.
The following persons were appointed by the Primate, Metropolitan
Philip, to serve as District Co-Ordinators for the various Regions indicated below and will attend to the Parishes within their specific
District.
REGION
NEW ENGLAND
DISTRICT
ONE DISTRICT
CO-ORDINATORS
MESSRS. CHARLES DOWD
RICHARD ROBBAT
PARISHES
Moved by DR. NORMAN BSHARAH, Charleston, seconded
LAURICEKALEEL, Youngstown, the report was received.
by
Boston, Mass. - St. George
Boston, Mass. - St. John
21) Moved by FATHER JAMES MEENA, seconded by FATHER
the following
resolution was passed
following a comment by DR. GEORGE A. DIBS, Garden Grove,
that annual emotional outbursts about political matters with
which the Church has nothing to do are out of place.
ANTONY BEAUCHAMP,
WHEREAS there are those who strive to perpetuate the status quo of
the government and people of Lebanon and devote themselves to
hampering any and all attempts at progress toward unity and;
WHEREAS there are those who perpetuate the tragedy of Lebanon
by continuing to do battle in the southern regions thereof with outbreaks
of violence even in the north between various political factions and;
WHEREAS the tragedy of Lebanon has produced tens of thousands
of refugees who for legitimate reasons are unable to return to their
homesand to their lands.
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Antiochian Orthodox
Archdiocese of North America convening in Washington, D.C.:
1) DEPLORES the actions of those who hinder and retard the
movement of the government and of the people of Lebanon toward a
peaceful settlement of their problems and the rights of self determination
whether they be in Lebanon or outside of it.
ovember, 1977
Delegates do indeed tire easly from the long sessions of the General
Assembly.
Page 27
�REGION
EASTERN
DISTRICT
EASTERN
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. GEORGE KARRA 1
REGIO
o THWEST
PARISHES
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Middletown, N.Y.
Yonkers, N.Y.
West Harn pstead, N. Y.
Mount Holly, N.J.
Little Falls, N.J.
Be_rgenfield, N.J.
Bndgeport, Conn.
Danbury, Conn.
Washington, D.C.
Upper Darby, Pa.
Allentown, Pa.
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
PARISHES
Cambridge, Mass.
Lawrence, Mass.
Lowell, Mass.
Norwood, Mass.
Worcester, Mass.
Pawtucket, R.I.
REGION
CAN-AM
DISTRICT
EASTERN
Houston, Texas
Beaumont, Texas
Austin, Texas
Vicksburg, Miss.
REGION
ouTHWEST
DISTRICT
EASTERN
CO-ORDINATOR
MR,GORDONSALHANY
REGION
CAN-AM
- St. George
- St. Nicholas
- St. Elijah
- St. George
- St. George
-Archangel
Gabriel
DISTRICT
WESTERN
REGION
REGION
EASTERN
- St.
- St.
- St.
- St.
- St.
George
George
Michael
George
Elias
DISTRICT
SOUTHERN
REGION
MIDWEST
CO-ORDINATOR
MRS. ROSE MERHIGE
REGION
EASTERN
-
DISTRICT
WESTERN
St.
St.
St.
St.
St.
St.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
St. Paul, Minnesota
Lacrosse, Wisconsin
Kearney, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Ironwood, Michigan
Iron Mountain, Mich.
St. Paul, Minnesota
George
Philip's
Mary's
George
George
Elias
CO-ORDINATOR
DR. GEORGE DIBS
Los Angeles, Cal. -St.
Garden Grove, Cal.-St.
Van Nuys, Cal.
-St.
San Diego, Cal.
-St.
Las Vegas, Nevada -St.
REGION
WESTERN
DISTRICT
EASTERN
Nicholas
Luke
Michael
George
Michael
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. RAYMOND MOMARY
El Paso, Texas
Phoenix, Arizona
Tuscon; Arizona
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. EUGENE RADDY
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St. George
Pittsburgh, Pa.
-St. George
Bridgeville, Pa.
- St. Ellien
Brownsville, Pa.
- St. Anthony's
Butler, Pa.
- St. Michael
Greensburg, Pa.
-St. Mary's
Johnstown, Pa.
- St. Michael
Monessen, Pa.
- St. Elias
New Castle, Pa.
New Kensington, Pa. -St. George
-St. George
Altoona, Pa.
REGION
MIDWEST
-St. George
-St. George
:.....HolyResurrection
George
John's
Thomas
Mary's
Elias
Mary's
Mary's
Simon
Mary's
George
PARISHES
Chicago, Ill.
Springfield, Ill.
Spring Valley, Ill.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Terre Haute, Ind.
Michigan City, Ind.
Louisville, Ky.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
Respectfully submitted,
DEPARTMENT OF STEW ARDS HIP
Ernest Saykaly
Chairman
1) Ernie's Absence
2) Written Report
CO-ORDINATOR
MRS. ALICE CARTER
DISTRICT
CENTRAL
We are delighted to have the above individuals working with u in our
effort to con e the true meaning of Chri tian tewardship to all the
faithful within the Archdioce e. The Pari hes hich the ha e been
a signed are all within close proximit to one another, enabling them to
make the required visitation
hen nece ary without extensive travel on
their part.
We anticipate the co-operation of all Parish Prie t and Parish
Councils in selecting qualified representati es for their Pari he and in
lending their utmost support to the e individuals in their que t to reach
out to the faithful.
If we are to achie e success, constant communication i ab olutely
essential in our endeavors to establi h a solid foundation for thi
Department. Eventually, we hope to send out a new Jetter with the
purpose of moti ating people through direct contact and educating them
in the general achievements and plans of the Department of tewardship.
Again this year, a Stewardship eminar wa developed for pre entation at the six Regional Parish Life Conferences which have just
recently come to a successful conclusion. The topic of this year's
Seminar was "The Selection and Training of Stewards" - A Commitment to the Future. It is still too early to report on the outcome of
these Seminars as the Reaction Sheets have not as yet been submitted for
review. However, general comments seem to indicate that there was
great enthusiasm among the individuals attending the meetings which
took place, leading us to believe that our project has been well received.
The path ahead is a long and difficult one, but we are optimistic of a
bright future. Patience is indeed the most important virtue required in
establishing a Stewardship Program. Another significant requisite is total
commitment of a lasting nature which the Steward must project to the
faithful whom he visits. Once we have succeeded in involving the
Parishioners as interested spectators, we can then proceed to encourage
them to become participating members of our "team". If the Department's Programs are followed, it will undoubtedly result in the
achievement of the following objectives:
1) Improvement in the quality of our faithfulness
2) Demonstration of our belief in Christ
3) Attainment of greater spirituality
4) A fuller understanding of the faith
5) A greater willingness to respond to the needs of the Church
This, in essence, is what Christian Stewardship is all about, and with
God's help, we shall achieve ultimate success.
In closing, we wish to take this opportunity to thank Metropolitan
Philip for his enthusiastic support of the Department and its "raison
d'etre". In addition, we are grateful to the District Co-Ordinators for
their devotion in giving of their time and efforts to our project and we
welcome the local Parish Stewardship Representatives who will eventually see this Program through.
PARISHES
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. GEORGE KOURY
PARISHES
Page 28
DISTRICT
SOUTHERN
PARISHES
PARISHES
Coral Gables, Fla.
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
West Palm Beach, Fla.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Atlanta, Georgia
DISTRICT
NORTHWEST
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. RON NICOLA
PARISHES
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. ZACK HOWARD
Detroit, Mich.
-St. George
Berkley, Mich.
-St. Mary's
Livonia, Mich.
-St. Mary's
Flint, Mich.
-St. George
Grand Rapids, Mich. -St. George
Grand Rapids, Mich. -St. Nicholas
Toledo, Ohio
·-St. George
Toledo, Ohio
-St. Elias
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. ERNEST YOUNES
George
Mary's
Elijah
Antony's
San Francisco, Cal. -St. Nicholas
Los Altos, Cal.
-Church of the Redeemer
Portland, Oregon -St. George
PARISHES
PARISHES
Toronto, Ont.
Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Geneva, N.Y.
Utica, N.Y.
Syracuse, N.Y.
DISTRICT
NORTHEAST
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
PARISHES
-St. George
-St. George
-St. George
-Holy Cross
-St. Mark
-St. George
-Holy Spirit
-St. Nicholas
WESTERN
REGION
MIDWEST
CO-ORDINATOR
DR. SAM KOURI
DISTRICT
NORTHERN
REGION
WESTERN
PARISHES
Montreal, Que.
Montreal, Que.
Ottawa, Ont.
Albany, N.Y.
Glens Falls, N.Y.
S. Glens Falls, N.Y.
George
Michael
Elias
George
DISTRICT
NORTHERN
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. RUDY GEORGE
Cleveland, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Canton, Ohio
Canton, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Charleston, W. Virginia
Huntington, W. Virginia
Beckley, W. Virginia
-St.
-St.
-St.
-St.
PARISHES
PARISHES
- St. Mary's
- St. George
- St. George
- St. George
- St. George
-St. Mary's
CO-ORDINATOR
MR. RALPH ABERCIA
PARISHES
- St. Mary's
- St. Nicholas
- St. Athanasios
-Virgin
Mary
- Annunciation
- St. Anne's
- St. George
- St. Anthony
- St. Nicholas
- St. George
- St. George
- St. George
- St. George
- St. Mary.'s
His Beatitude takes time out to catch up on world affairs.
REGION
MIDWEST
DISTRICT
SOUTHERN
George
George
George
George
George
George
Michael
Officers of the North American Board of the Antlochian Orthodox
ChristianWomen of North America receive their oath of office.
The Word
November, 1977
A. Page 5 - Stewardship as a Concept
B. Thrust of the Report
1. Structure - Missions
2. Training
3) Minutes of Department Meeting
The Stewardship Department
held an extraordinary
meeting
yesterday. As many as thirty priests and lay people attended the session,
which ran, without a break, from 11:00 to 3:30. The spirited and intense
discussions which took place are an indication that the time is ripe for a
comprehensive Stewardship Program. This department was charged by
those in attendance to continue its work so that this type of program can
be developed.
Reports were heard from the Six Regional SOYO Parish Life Conferences concerning the Stewardship workshops held this summer. By
and large, the same spirit which we experienced yesterday was reflected
in these six reports.
Discussions on the :nature of Stewardship, and the future course of
this department dominated the rest of our meeting. As a result,
yesterday's session ended with these recommendations for the corning
year:
1) That a review of department work to date be conducted for the
purpose of revision and reevaluation.
2) That at next year's round of SOYO / Parish Life Conferences and
Archdiocese Convention, in-depth and uninterrupted workshops be
conducted by qualified personnel to train upward of 150 stewards.
Page 29
�concrete steps that we can take to prepare the road to unity
d
hasten the day for its arrival. I quote, "While the Patriarchs and b~nh 1
•
. .
are trymg
to reso l ve t h e d ogmatlc• an d a dm1mstrative
problem IS Oph
priests, deacons, nuns, monks and all laymen and laywomen ons,bt e
sides should sponsor social, educational and spiritual programs togethoth
In order for the unity to be a lasting one, it must be based on a ~r
foundation of understanding, respect and love, not only betweens~hd
patriarchs and the bishops, but also between the clergy and the lait e
••
·
t h e pans• h 1eve 1. W e must rep 1ace competltlon
with
cooperatiYon
suspicion with trust and indifference with compassion."
on
"This can be accomplished with hardship or great sacrifice, especi
where two or more Melkite and Orthodox parishes are located wit/ 11
}
short ~i~tance. ~a_c~ of our I?arishes ha~ a program of social, educatio:a~
and spmtual act1v1t1es. The fust step which we must take is to ask the tw
0
parishes, one Orthodox and one Melkite to combine the two progra
into one; especially those activities which are designed for the enjoym;
and edification of the parishioners, such as bowling teams, suppe;t
retreats, bible study groups, lecture series, etc."
"The average Orthodox and the average Melkite do not know ho"'
close the churches are. They do not know the reasons of separation no
do they realize the importance of the unity between the two Churches:
can work towards this goal now, keeping in mind that we must grow into
unity with a spirit of tolerance, fellowship and friendship."
w:
. followed by the officers and spiritual advisor of the Order of St.
Ignatius of Antioch: Albert Joseph, George Ghiz, Charles Dowd, George
Darany and Father Antony Gabriel.
3) That meetings
to begin training stewards be held in conjunction
with SOYO and AOCWNA delegate meetings to lay the groundwork for
the more elaborate workshops at our summer conferences.
Our Department of Stewardship Meeting concluded with an expression of thanks to Mr. Ernest Saykaly and Father Joseph Shaheen for
their continuing efforts to bring our Stewardship campaign to its present
threshold. The Stewardship Program at St. Nicholas, Montreal, has been
a model for much of the material produced to date, and many are eager
to learn more about their plan and those of other parishes which have
successful Stewardship Programs.
We were encouraged by yesterday's discussions and strengthened by
the comments of Patriarch Elias and Metropolitan Philip, who attended
our meeting, and offered their wisdom and support. There is a crying
need for the services this Department can provide, and with God's help,
this will be the year when the people's cries will be answered.
Moved by FATHER JOSEPH SHAHEEN,
KOURY, Irwin, the report was received.
seconded
by GEORGE
At this point, FATHER PHILIP KHAIRALLAH, M.D., Cleveland,
Ohio, delegate of Bishop Joseph Tawil of the Melkite Exarchate of the
United States, spoke:
Your Beatitude Patriarch Elias, Your Eminences, reverend fathers,
members of the board of trustees of the Archdiocese, and friends. I bring
you greetings from Archbishop Joseph Tawil on the occasion of your
convention. Due to his trip to the Near East next week, he was unable to
be with you during the whole convention, but he has accepted the
gracious invitation of Metropolitan Philip and will be her~ tomorrow.
.
About a month ago, I was privileged to attend a meetmg between Hts
Beatitude Patriarch Elias and His Eminence Archbishop Joseph at the
Melkite chancery in Newton, Mass. His Beatitude was accompanied by
Metropolitan Philip, Metropolitan Ilyas and some of the Orthodox c_lergy
in the New England area. After breaking bread together, Archbishop
Joseph in welcoming His Beatitude stated, and I quote: "Behold ~our
children of the one See of Antioch who have come together to convmce
you of the deep yearning of our hearts for unity, with the ardent desire of
healing old wounds so that the two parts may be reuni~ed, having all !he
faithful under one pastoral See." "Also, we are one smgle commumty,
temporarily
administered
by two organizations."
"The Church of
Antioch is one with one hierarchy temporarily rent apart by human
weakness and sin." Finally, "Your work in the field of unity and the work
of Patriarch Maximos are well known to all of us, as well as the work of
both of our Synods."
Our separation was not sudden, but was the end result of a long
process of gradual drifting apart. T~us, i_f we a~cept the s~ntiments
expressed by Archbishop Joseph, un1ty will reqmre preparation, both
spiritual and psychological. Otherwise, it will fail.
A week after this historic meeting, the Melkites held their convention
in Lawrence, Mass. Archimandrite Athanasius Saliba who represented
Metropolitan Philip continued on the theme of unity, and outlined some
Page 30
I would like to report that Archbishop Joseph has fully agreed to do
everything he can to make this come to fruition.
I would like to add another level to the dialogue at a diocesan level.
Metropolitan Philip and Archbishop Joseph both of whom have started a
committee to work toward unity, should set up a joint panel of priests to
start looking into further ways of collaboration. I can think of numerous
efforts that can be started.
a) Preparation of the faithful to recognize and regret our separation
and to convince them that what ties us together is greater than what
separates us. This should be in the forefront of any effort towards unity.
b) A joint liturgical and music commission. In order to eliminate
waMeful duplication in effort, I was privileged to meet with your
department of liturgics yesterday, and initial steps have been set up to
start working together. Let us start in offering one common prayer to
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
c) Joint Christian education, which probably will cover 99 per cent of
our common faith. As a matter of fact, about half of our churches use the
OCEC Christian education material, and the others use a series published
by the Slavic Byzantine Catholics, that you probably would have no
trouble using. Why can't we have an exchange of Sunday Schoo
teachers, and even joint high school and adult education programs.
d) A joint Near East and Arab refugee committee. After all they are
our brothers also.
e) A joint Church architectural commission.
f) A joint clergy retirement and clergy insurance commission.
My brothers in Christ, in a world that is rapidly becoming secularized,
in which the faith of our fathers is being abandoned in favor of a specious
religiosity, it behooves us to end this painful division of our churches, so
that together we can rediscover our common spiritual roots. If we
combined
our efforts, we could proclaim Christianity, Eastern
Christianity, to all corners of our country, thus keeping our people
together, alive in the glorious traditions of the Eastern Church and the
Church of Antioch, of St. John Chrysostom and St. John of Damascus.
I want to thank you for the wonderful hospitality you have extended
me. We are committed on the path to unity, but we cannot do it alone.
With the help of the Holy Spirit and your help, we can look forward to
the day, in the near future, when we can share the common cup.
23) ALBERT JOSEPH, Chairman, presented
Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch:
the report of the
I After two years of committee and board deliberation, Order Ok'd by
Convention in Louisville, 1975.
II Rd Purpose of Order
III One year ago, 34 members (SF) Today 90 members 1 / 3 at $1000.
Can-Am.
New England
Mid-West
Southwest
Temporary Organization
Albert Joseph National Chairman
Ernie Saykaly
Frank Haddad
Bob Laham
Abe Abraham
Phil Haddad
Ralph Abercia
The Word
The annual financial report of the Archdiocese for the Fiscal Year
ended January 31, 1977, was presented to the Finance Committee by the
Chairman for review, acceptance and adoption. The Financial Report
was received and discussed and a full clarification was given by the
Chairman and the Treasurer to each question that was asked. After a
broad discussion of the pertinent items in the report, it was then moved
by Joe Abraham to accept the Annual Financial Report. This was duly
seconded by Emile Farah and was passed unanimously.
Then the Finance Committee commended the Chairman and the
Treasurer for preparing this comprehensive and informative report. It
was noted that the report had been mailed to every Priest and parish
council and members of the Finance Committee in the Archdiocese for
their review prior to the opening of the Con ention.
MasterOf Ceremonies George Elias of Miami, Florida, officially opens
the Grand Banquet.
West
Eastern
George Ghiz
Robert Andrews
George Karam
rvMarch,
1977, met at Archdiocese Headquarters.
1) 25 per cent income each year - earmarked unused
25 per cent for targets of opportunity
SOper cent long-term reserve
Also recommend to meeting Sat.
$15,000 for missionary work.
$10,000-$15,000 for Seminary, Archbishop Philip and all priests.
$2,000 Project Loving Care
$20,000-$25,000 to improve The Word Magazine
1) Hire Secretary / Circulation Manager
2) Perhaps sample issue to every family one year.
First real meeting, Saturday, 2:45 P.M., Senate Room - Bring
Guests.
Elect officers and boards
Appoint Committees.
All members to be decorated by Patriarch at the Divine Liturgy on
Sunday.
One goal to further the Sacred mission of this Archdiocese by
concentrating business and professional
experience,
and serious
amounts of money on an annual basis against the problems and opportunities facing us.
24) MONSOUR LAHAM presented
The Finance Committee was profoundly honored by the visitation of
His Beatitude
Elias IV, accompanied
by Metropolitan
Philip,
Metropolitan Kurban, Archbishop Michael, Bishop Elia, Protosyngalos
Ellis Khouri and Archimandrite Antoun Khouri. His Beatitude gave the
Committee a most inspiring message emphasizing that money was not
the enemy of the Church, that a cheerful giver is really blessed, using
the words of the scriptures, that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
His Beatitude commended our Metropolitan Philip and Mr. Laham and
Mr. Mackoul and the Board of Trustees for their untiring works and
efforts in spreading the Orthodox Faith and the many charities that the
Archdiocese has accomplished under the leadership of our most beloved
Metropolitan Philip.
George Ghiz presented to the Finance Committee a voluminous Five
Year Master Plan for the growth of the Archdiocese and the Parishes.
There are many sections and articles dealing with specific plans and
procedures with detailed instructions contained therein. This Five Year
Master Plan had been previously presented to Metropolitan Philip by
Mr. Ghiz for His Eminence's study and consideration.
There being no other business to discuss, the Chairman concluded
the meeting by thanking the members of the Committee for their time
and efforts in making this a most constructive session.
ABEE. ABRAHAM, Secretary
Vicksburg, Mississippi
the report of the Depart-
ment of Finance:
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Finance Committee was opened by the Chairman Monsour Laham, with
George Karakos leading the Committee with the Lord's Prayer.
Members present were:
City
Church
Monsour H. Laham, Chairman St. George
Boston, Mass.
Theodore R. Mackoul,
Treasurer and Controller
St. Anthony
Bergenfield, N.J.
AbeE. Abraham, Secretary
St. George
Vicksburg, Miss.
George Karakos
St. Elias
Atlanta, Ga.
CarlShaheen
St. George
Canton, Ohio
Anthony F. Khal
St. George
Iowa City, Iowa
JimCohlmia
St. George
Wichita, Kansas
LeeA. Farah
St. Michael
Louisville, Ky.
SabaN. Debbas
St. Nicholas
Los Angeles, Calif.
JosephN. Abraham
St. Michael
Geneva, New York
JosephShagoury
St. John of Damascus Boston, Mass.
AlexG. Akoury
St. Nicholas
Los Angeles, Calif.
EmileFarah
St. Michael
Beaumont, Texas
Ed Malouf
St. Nicholas
Los Angeles, Calif.
PhilipA. Haddad
St. George
Charleston, W.Va.
Yacob H. Shaer
St. George
Philadelphia, Pa.
George Haddad
St. George
Cleveland, Ohio
NickNassar
St. George
Toledo, Ohio
George Ghiz
St. George
Phoenix, Arizona
JudgeAlbert Maykel
St. George
Worcester, Mass.
ovember, 1977
The proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year ending January 31, 1979,
was then circulated to the members of the Finance Committee for their
review and acceptance. Appended hereto. After a thorough discussion
of each budgeted item, Lee Farah moved to accept the proposed Budget.
This motion was duly seconded by George Karakos and was passed
unanimously.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF ARAB AMERICANS.
Due to expansion and restructuring of the
organization, key administrative positions are
open at NAAA.
Background in Office Management, Association Management
and Fund Raising is
desirable.
Send resume to:
The Search Committee
National Association of Arab Americans
1825 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 211
Washington, D.C. 20009
Page 31
�ANTIOCHIAN
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
of North America
PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDING JANUARY 31
1979
'
I. BUDGETED EXPENDITURES
A. Theological Education
(1) Seminarians -Tuition,
Room, Board &
Allowances
$ 35,000.00
(2) Theological Seminaries -Annual
Grants
10,000.00
(3) Balamand Theological Academy-Annual
Operating Grant
10,000.00 *
Total Theological Education
.- 55,000.00
B. Other Contributions
( 1) Clergy Insurance & Retirement Reserve Fund
25,000.00
(2) Charities & Other Assistance for the Patriarchate
10,000.00
(3) Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops &
Pan Orthodox Comm.
3,000.00
(4) NAC Senior and Teen SOYO
3,000.00
(5) Other Charities
5,000.00
Total Other Contributions
$ 46,000.00
C. Archdiocese Departments & Standing Committees
(1) Youth Affairs
20,000.00
(2) Christian Education
9,000.00
(3) Sacred Music
6,000.00
(4) Missionary Activities & Parish Development
18,000.00
(5) Information, Press and Public Relations
8,000.00
(6) Orthodox Christian Books & Publications
25,000.00
(7) THE WORD
23,000.00
(8) Credentials & Convention Planning
1,000.00
(9) Continuing Pastoral Education & Spiritual Vocations 4,000.00
(10) Other Departments & Standing Committees
1,000.00
Total Departments & Stand. Comm.
$115,000.00
D. Maintenance and Operation of Archdiocese
Headquarters
68,000.00
E. Metropolitan 's Allowance and Office
24,000.00
F. Archbishop Michael's Allowance & Toledo Hdqtrs.
Maint. & Op.
27,000.00
G. Special Projects - Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
50,000.00
H. Miscellaneous & Contingencies
5,000.00
Total Budgeted Expenditures
$390,000.00*
II. BUDGETED SOURCES OF RECEIPTS
1. Parish Assessments
2. Contributions from Individuals
3. Archdiocese Convention
4. Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
5. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of N .A.
6. SOYO Parish Life Conferences
7. Archdiocese Seminarian Fund (Orthodoxy Sunday)
8. Theological Seminaries Fund (October Month)
9. Patriarchate Fund (Palm Sunday & Other
Contributions)
10. Subscriptions to THE WORD
11. Orthodox Christian Books and Publications
12. Miscellaneous Receipts
Total Budgeted Sources of Receipts
III. Excess of Budgeted Expenditures
Receipts (Deficit)
$153,000.00
35,000.00
15,000.00
50,000.00
25,000.00
12,000.00
10,000.00
10,000.00
10,000.00
20,000.00
35,000.00
5!000.00
$380,000.00*
Over Budgeted
($
10,000.00)
* Do not include $40,000 of anticipated income and expenditures for
the Balamand Theological Academy operations from the Patriarch Elias
IV Foundation.
Moved by ANTHONY THOMAS, Louisville, seconded
SALEM, the report was received.
by RALPH
In response to a request from FATHER JAMES MEENA, for a fuller
report of the total assets of the Archdiocese, METROPOLITAN PHILIP
said that as Primate, he would establish such a policy when individual
and parish giving stood at ten percent. Additional publication at this time
would serve no useful end. Many departments of the Archdiocese are
still without full-time directors and budgets simply because the parish
assessments are inadequate for such programs. He concluded by asking
that the Minutes reflect his profound thanks to Monsour Laham and
Theodore Mackoul.
Page 32
chapters were very strong and the regions and NAC were weak. The
reverse is true now, in my opinion, and this is where we must put our
efforts during the next few years. I hope our Pastors and Parish
Councils will give this their utmost attention.
In conclusion, let me thank Metropolitan PHILIP for his trust and
onfidence and the ?fficers of SOY? for their cooperation and service. I
have asked to be re_lieved of my d~ttes as NAC Spiritual Adviso·r so that I
rnaYdevot_e_more time to ~y pansh and to THE WORD. It has been a
unique pnvilege to s~rve tn SOYO all these 15 years. It is always
refreshing to work with the youth of our Archdiocese. They are a
ble sing to us.
Moved by FRANK KFOURE, seconded by DR. ALLAN MATOUK
LittleFalls, the report was received.
'
METROPOLITAN PHILIP commended Father Corey, noting that
ibe Archdiocese is very tha~kful f~r his work of the past four years,
e pecially the rapport estabhshed wtth other Orthodox youth societies.
He then appoin~ed FATHER JOHN NAMIE to succeed Father George
a Spiritual Advisor.
Host Pastor, Archprfest George M. Rados, makes the openfn
and welcomes the Convention to Washington, D.C.
g remarks
25a) FATHER GEORGE S. COREY, NAC Spiritual
presented
Advisor
b) GARY YOUNES, President
of NACSOYO:
NAC SOYO presented
the Report
BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD
his report:
It gives me a great deal of pleasure to report to you once agai
N~~ Spiritual Advisor, this being my fourth annual report, on~::
s~mtual welfare of the North American Council of SOYO, our Archd10cesa~ Y o_uth Movement. I can honestly say that, thanks be to God,
SOYO ts doing well under the leadership of our hierarchs, our present
officers ~nd advisors in Senior and Teen SOYO and our very capable
You th Director. We have come a long way since we reorganized ourselves some ten years ago. Great strides have been taken to strengthen
the North American Council and the six regions of SOYO. We have
implemented the Youth in Action programs throughout the Archdiocese
and we have matured spiritually, administratively and collectively so that
I can safely say that SOYO is one of the leading youth organizations not
only in North America but throughout the world. This is true because of
the selfless dedication of many laity and clergy within our ranks. Without
that kind of grass-roots cooperation and implementation of SOYO's
programs, we would not be able to advance as we have done nor would
we be able to minister to our young people as effectively as we have
done. And let me remind you that we are operating on a very bare,
minimal budget. We are talking about a few thousand dollars - not
hundreds of thousands, as in some Orthodox jurisdictions, or in Roman
Catholic and Protestant churches. By faith and commitment, we are
moving mountains. That's what our youth movement is all about!
There are areas however that we need to explore in order to enrich our
organization and_ to bring our young people to a deeper sense of
spirituality:
1) We need more retreats on a parish, district or regional level. Retreats
help us to discover God, ourselves and each other more intimately.
Retreats allow us the opportunity to "lay aside all earthly care, that
we may receive the King of all."
2) We need to be doing more missionary work for the Church. It isn't
necessary to go to Africa or the Amazon - there are hundreds of
thousands of Americans and Canadians who need to be lifted out of
the abyss in which they now find themselves. What about the
thousands of cult-minded sons and daughters on this continent, who
have forsaken Jesus Christ for a "Guru", or the "social gospel", or
"mammon" in whatever form. Orthodoxy can and must speak to
them as it speaks to us. Members of SOYO must find the ways and
means to spend months of each year to help bring people back to
Christ and His Church.
3) And finally we need to strengthen our parish chapters of SOYO.
There exists in too many of our parishes either indifference to SOYO
or open hostility to our young people. Is this the way parents and
children should behave toward each other? God forbid! Harmony
within the Christian community is an important part of the contents
of St. Paul's Epistles. Maybe we are not reading Scripture enough to
understand the Will of God in our lives and our relationships. Let us
therefore try our very best to strengthen our local chapters and make
them as strong as the regions and NAC. There was a time when the
The Word
This has been the message of the Antiochian Holy Year as we have
prepared for the visit of His Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV. During his
,isit, His Beatitude has given us his blessing, and has enriched and
enlivened us to the spirit and love of Jesus Christ. SOYO is honored to
have ~rovided the Orth~dox . Faithful of the Archdiocese the opportuntty, through the Pansh Life Conferences to meet and receive the
blessingsof His Beatitude.
An integral part of the Antiochian Holy Year activities has been the
fundraising project for the Balamand Academy Foundation. SOYO
members have worked in their parishes and for other Archdiocese
Organizations throughout this Antiochian Holy Year to raise funds in
support of this project. SOYO as a body, however, has chosen to make a
financial contribution in a different manner. In 1977, SOYO will forego
receiving any revenues from the Parish Life Conferences and, in addition, will help finance the regional SOYO programs next year from the
treasury of NAC SOYO and we are proud to announce that our contribution to the Balamand Academy Foundation will exceed $40,000.
Your Beatitude, we trust, the efforts of the Orthodox Youth of this
Archdiocese will be of sustaining benefit to the Balamand Academy.
Throughout this past year the members of SOYO have become more
mindful of the necessity for spiritual rejuvenation. We, as a movement,
are refocusing the spotlight once again on the teachings and life of Jesus
Christ and are attempting to put into proper perspective, the emphasis
nowplaced on the various programs we sponsor. SOYO will continue in
this direction and concentrate on the, mission of our Church - that is, to
expose as many people as possible to the Orthodox Faith and to the
lessonsof our Lord.
An furthe~ explanat!on detailing OYO' endeavor chi pa t ear, I
feel would _be ma?propnate. What hould be reiterated, h we,er. is che
message Hts Beatitude ha been re eating to u . The me age i imple
yet profound - LOVE. LO E of JE
CHRI T. LO E of H R H:
LOVE of FAMILY. LOY of O E ELF. Hi mere pre ence exude chi
LOVE. Your Beatitude, the outh of the Archdi ce e ha, e re ei, ed
your LOVE in far greater abundance than we ill ever be able to recurn
to you. We wish you and Metropolitan II a a safe journey home, and
we want you to know that you will alway be in our pra er . MA y GOD
GRA T YOU MA Y MA Y YEARS.
As I conclude my tenure as the AC President, word cannot expre
ad_e~uately what this honor ha meant to me. There is n greacer
pnvilege_ one ca_n ha ~ than to have ser ed in thi capacit . The
~ello-:vship and fnendsh1p I have acquired throughout my travel ha,e
imprmted not only a lasting but pricele s memory in my heart. I only
hope that I have contributed in some small mea ure to the advancement
of the youth movement in the Archdioce e.
May I ex~ress_my most s~cere and heartfelt thank to Metropolitan
PHILIP for his guidance, patience, understanding and confidence; t the
Ver~ Reveren~ Ar~~priest George Corey, the AC SOYO piritual
~d~isor, _for ~1s sptntual leadership and his support through several
diffic~lt si~uations;_ to :William Essey, the Archdioce e Youth Director,
for his daily contnbut1on ~f guiding and helping u to trengthen the
yout? movement; to my officers John Roman, Michael Evan and u an
Shat1ll_a for their support and. dedicated efforts; to the AC Project
Co~rdmators fo_r.t_h~1renthusiasm and dedication in fulfilling their
:var~o_usres~ons1biht1es; and to the Regional Officers, delegate and
md1v1duals 1n the local parishes without whom there would be no A
SOYO. May God bless you and keep you always.
SOME DISJOINTED BUT RELEVANT THOUGHTS ...
1. SPIRITUALITY - Greater attention is needed in the area of
spiritual rejuvenation. The deaneries and spiritual advisors should be
more active in this area and the parishes more receptive to their
ideas.
2. PART!CIPATION - All Church Schools should participate in the
Arc~d10cese Programs sponsored under the auspices of SOYO.
Havmg a SOYO Chapter is not a prerequisite for participation. This
point must be made loud and clear.
3. CO~LEGE ~ONTACT - The parish must cooperate in submitting
the mformatlon on all college students and those individuals in the
military regardless of whether or not they are living at home. It is
essential that these individuals receive the material prepared for
them.
4. NEWSLETTER Every region should print and distribute a
newsletter (preferably quarterly). Distribute it to all your parishioners
not just SOYO members.
5. CHARITABLE PROJECTS - There must be more emphasis on our
Charitable projects both within the Church and the community.
6. LOCAL SOYO - SOYO on the local level should establish a goal
yearly and achieve its aim. Most SOYO Chapters do not have any
positive direction. They are more or less drifting.
7. MAIL - So many people complain that they do not receive mail
when it comes to the parish. Stop moaning about it and try to find a
solution. Perhaps you need to make a mailbox for each organization
in your parish. The problem won't get solved by only talking about it.
Moved by FATHER ANTOUN KHOURI, seconded by JOHN
ROMAN,
Tucson,
the report was received
by acclamation.
METROPOLITAN PHILIP, noting that for the past six years the Archdiocesan youth movement has been blessed by very sincere and
dedi_cated leaders to whom the Archdiocese owes a very deep sense of
gratitude presented a Certificate of Meritorious Service to Gary Younes.
(ST ANDING OVATION)
c) THOMA:, C. HIER, President
of NAC Teen SOYO presented
the report of that body:
"O God, from my youth thou hast taught me, and I shall proclaim thy
wonderous deeds."
-Psalms 71: 17
.....
~etropolltan PHILIP and Melldte Archbishop Joseph Tawil enjoying
the Grand Banquet.
t e festivities of
ovember, 1977
The NAC Teen SOYO Movement this year was really just that - a
movement - a movement forward, an expansion of ideas, thoughts and
projects. But at the same time we were moving forward, we took a few
steps backward to examine ourselves, to see where we had been and
where we were heading. We discovered many things about ourselves this
year.
There are many areas in which we have made great strides. For
example, we undertook two successful fund-raising projects. One, the
Page 33
�Theolo_gical Educat~on _Fund, is our continuing project to sponsor the
education of a sem~anan at St. Vladmir's Orthodox Seminary. It has
been our plea~ure this y_ear to sponsor Seminarian Gary Geha. Through
suc~essful regional pro1ects and a continuation of our NAC Tee-Shirt
Pro~ect, we surpassed our goal_ of $2500.00. Our other fund-raising
proJect, Teen Tag Day, was designed as a publicity campaign to make
more people aware of NAC Teen SOYO. Through this project we raised
over $1600.00.
We also achieved many "firsts" this year. At our Midwinter Conference, we formally adopted an NAC Constitution for the first time
ever. We have also drawn up guidelines which our new committees and
officers will use when taking over in each new administration. Most
impo~antly, through the great success of our fund-raising projects and
donat10ns from various individuals, we have achieved financial stability.
At our meeting on Wednesday, we adopted a newly-formulated budget
for the 1977-78 year which should guarantee our continued financial
stability.
One of the many reasons for our success this year was that we were
able to have almost full representation at our much-needed Midwinter
Meeting in Englewood, New Jersey, thanks to a donation made by Archdiocese Trustee, Mr. Albert Joseph. Because we now can meet twice
yearly instead of our previous one meeting at the annual convention, we
can better check the progress of projects such as Primary SOYO and
"Spread the WORD". Our Primary SOYO Program, which allows
Orthodox youth, ages ten to twelve, to become involved in SOYO, has
done quite well in many regions and will be continued as a project next
year. As for our "Spread the WORD" campaign, our job will not be done
until every Orthodox family in North America subscribes to the WORD
magazine.
In looking back, we noticed one shortcoming in Teen SOYO. While
we have always kept in mind our goals of LOVE, HONESTY, UNITY,
DEVOTION, AWARENESS, and COMMITMENT, we sometimes seem
to forget the one thing on which our whole movement is based - our
spirituality. Too often in the past, we have concet,\trated our efforts on
raising money for various projects. While this is good, of course, it
should not be our primary emphasis. Now that we are financially stable,
thank God, we are able to turn to more spiritually-oriented programs in
the future. We have developed a program for next year which should
start us well on our way. The program is a study of various aspects of our
faith, such as our history, culture, and doctrine. Each region will take
part in this program, researching various topics and writing them up in
workshop form. When finished, we will have a comprehensive Spiritual
Involvement Manual on all aspects of our religion, which all of our
chapters will use to aid them in learning more about the Orthodox faith.
This program is merely the beginning of what one might call our spiritual
"rebirth". In the coming years, we hope to take on many projects which
will help us in our search for our Christian faith. We welcome all to join
in this rebirth with us. We need your wisdom and willingness to get involved if we are to succeed in our efforts to become true Christians.
The future of the Teen SOYO Movement looks promising. We
realize where we have been and are carefully planning our future. On
behalf of NAC Teen SOYO, I would like to thank Metropolitan PHILIP
for his love and never-ending support of the teens. I would like to extend
a personal thank-you to my wonderful advisors, Fr. George Corry
(Greensburg)
and Miss Donna Yazge, our Youth Director, Mr. Bill
Essey, my Executive Board: Vice-Presjdent Cyndi Day, Treasurer Greg
Dalack, and Secretary Carol Laham, and all the fantastic regional
presidents and committee chairmen. They have all made my job pure
joy. Thank you.
cester, MA; Can-Am SOYO General Assembly in Montreal PQ·
west SOYO General Assembly in Oklahoma City OK· N'
'SouthSOYO G~neral A~sembly in Boston, MA; Mid;est
~:gland
Assembly m Detroit, MI; Western Region SOYO General A
neral
L os A nge Ies, CA ; E astern Region
• SOYO GeneralAssembl
ssembly. Ill
•
in Ch
PA; taught at Orthodox Christian Institute in Little Falls, N.~.
ampion,
so{;
SPECIAL PROJECTS: Coordination of the six R • l
Parish Life Confe~ences; publi_cation of."Conference Upd;;t~:m!~,YO
Conference Charrmen; pubhcation of "Looking Ahe d" f
for
•
I an d Ar c hd.10cesan SOYO use; worked with NAC aSOYOors local·
reg1ona
nd
Bulletins Coordinator for 1977 and 1978 publications·
/
ay
$2,000.00 allqcated to NAC SOYO for Campus Minist' co(or tnated
b . .
f
"
ry sent free
~~ s~;ptidons ..Rord LThe WORD:: to college students); prepared and
1stn ute
e
etter Days memo to local SOYO h
distributed the film "Kuneitra: The Death of a City" to N
cEaplters;
.
.
ew ng and
Sout h west an d Can-Am Regions for local viewing; publicized Br d •
• • " ; assisted
•
ea for
th e W_orId 's "A c t ~ f Th
. an k sg1vmg
NAC Teen SOYO
in
prepanng for const1tut10nal amendments; posted messages f
.
d
·
ram
the
M etropo IItan an
~1s~op ELIA an? myself to Regional SOYO
newsle~ters _for publicat10n: worked with the Department of Christian
Educat10n In the preparation of the book The Harvest of A tJ0 h·
worked with the . Department
of Christian
Education in the prep: ra t~
. .
.
ton'
o f a set o f teac h mg tra1mng ~apes (did tape on working with adolescents
and young adults); m~t with Inte~-Orthodox Youth Commission to
formulate common pro1ects and action; met with Syndesmos Preside t
Albert Laham, to discuss upcoming World General Assembly.
n'
. GEN~RAL COMMENTS_: SOYO and Teen SOYO has remained
qmte act~ve ~m the ~ocal, regional and Archdiocesan levels, sponsoring
or coordmatmg vaned programs: Campus Ministry, Parish Life Con·
feren~es, Food for Hungry People, St. Jude's Childrens Research
Hospital, Sunday Bulletins, Creative Writing, Creative Arts, Oratorical
Presentations,
Catechism Bowls, Theological Education, CEOYLA
Syndesmos, Sacred Music, Family Enlivening, Christian Education'
Primary SOYO, Bible Studies, Adult Study Groups, Retreats, Liturgicai
involvement, etc.
All of these programs are well and good, however they are for
nothing unless Christ remains as the drawing force of the movement.
SOYO must remain a vibrant Christian Movement! Although our
humanitarian efforts are commendable, they are simply not enough to
qualify us as;a Christian Movement. Christ did not come simply to make
us "good and moral" people. Goodness and morality are attainable by all
persons ...
Christians, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, even agnostics and
atheists. What then do we in SOYO have to offer that is unique to our
Movement? The answer, the only answer, is that we can offer Christ and
His timeless message of Love and Everlasting Life.
Common "business sense" tells us that to be most successful we must
capitalize upon the product which is unique to us ... something that no
one else can offer. Apply'ing this to our Church, the one "product" that
we have is Jesus Christ and His Gospel. A recent Gallup poll, taken
among young people, reveals that if we use this "product" we will have
surprising success! The survey reveals that young adults are remarkably
religious in terms "of belief, pro-church in certain respects, and willingto
work for the Church if called upon, hungry for the mystical and tran·
scendant, and holding attitudes which could be considered to be in some
degree consistent
with Judaeo-Christian
ideals." The following
In concluding his Report, he presented Patriarch Elias with a letter of
greeting to the youth in the Middle East.
JOHN KHOURI moved adoption by acclamation.METROPOLITAN
PHILIP wished the officers another successful year and reappoints Father
George Corry and Donna Yazge.
d) WILLIAM ESSEY, Youth Director,
Department
of Youth Affairs:
presented
the rPoort of the
VISITATIONS: Christian Education and Youth Work Conference in
Shillington, PA; Youth Month Sermon in Little Falls, NJ; Southwest
SOYO Fall Meeting in Dallas, Tx; Christian Education and Youth Work
Conference in Beaumont, Tx; Eastern SOYO Fall Meeting in Little Falls,
NJ; Can-Am SOYO Fall Meeting in Niagara Falls, NY; NAC Midwinter
Meeting in Englewood, NJ; Adult Retreat in Philadelphia, PA; Midwest
Spring Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI; Full week of Youth Work sessions
in New England Region; New England SOYO Spring Meeting in WorPage 34
-baracteristics s~emed t? be promin~nt among young Americans:
A strong desire t~ !t:e a g~)O-dl~e and an awareness of the need to
spiritually; sens1t1v1ty to InJUStlce and concern over trends toward
_rowrality in society; eagerness for change and innovation; interest in a
~rnof service. Perhaps no other finding from the survey so forcefully
\e ~ates this as those which show nearly 1 / 3 of respondents saying
il: would like to go into some kind of social work as their life's career.
ih ~o again quote the survey, "Clearly, the whole area of faith-in-action
e which needs a great deal of further exploration." Notice that the
. ~~g people are interested in faith-in-action . .. not just good moralistic
~o. n but an action which springs from a personal faith in and total
acoo '
C . .
G
mitment to the hnstian
ospel. How do our SOYO chapters
ornsure up agamst
• t h.1s nee d o f to d ay 's young people? Usually SOYO is
me: as employing 2 basic functions in our parishes: 1) social, 2) finaneel Sometimes we make time for a third function ... humanitarian
eta .
.
.
·olvement. These functions are, of course, important not only to
U1"ochial life but to our personal spiritual life and maturity as well.
~rwever, it doesn't take a commited Christian to put on a successful
h;fli, nor to raise thousands of dollars for charitable purposes. For too
any years our SOYO has followed the honorable but lacking path of
~artha. The time is ripe for SOYO to now set out upon the way of Mary
by choosing the "better part." We must allow manifold opportunities
within our parishes for personal and communal growth in the Body of
Christ. Get involved in the liturgical cycle of the Church, cultivate
discussions on the Gospel and Fathers, sponsor retreats and study groups
on a more serious level, and above all intensify partici~ation in the
Eucharist. Work for quality and not quantity!
Now, I would like to address myself to the Parish Councils and other
,dult members of our parishes. We adults love to say that "The youth are
the future of the Church." I now challenge us to stand behind this much
used saying. Again, common business sense tells us not to drain our
future resources today, but instead to spend money on and care for
investments. We apply this sense in our homes and businesses, now it is
time to start applying it in our parishes. How many parishes spend more
money on candles and incense (which literally go up in smoke) than on
youthministry? Instead of budgeting funds for youth ministry, the young
people are often expected to contribute toward the parish's operating
expenses. We don't even treat our children like this in our homes! Why
should we do this in church? Of course you may say that spending money
on candles will bring in an immediate profit. Spending money on your
young people must be seen as an investment that in the long run will
bringin results.
Adults, let's look at our non-Orthodox neighbors. They have hundreds, if not thousands, of young people in their church schools and
youth groups which meet once a week. Why? Because they treat their
young people as the "future of the Church." They build gyms and
classrooms which the young people are allowed to use. (Our young
people may get to use the gym if it is not rented, or if they don't use too
much electricity or heat, etc.) They take them camping and sponsor field
trips for them and cover expenses to Church conferences. I realize that
wemay not have their numbers or resources, but I do know that we can
do somethingfor our young people.
Social activities and fund raising programs are fine and necessary for
our young people, but their usefulness as a drawing force and binding
element will not last long. Soon they will learn that they can join other
organizations which fulfill these projects in a much more efficient way
than SOYO or Teen SOYO. We must be sure that the real drawing force
and binding element in our SOYO and Teen SOYO Movements is Jesus
Christ ... something that doesn't become old or out of style! If we draw
our young people to Church using any other means than Christ . . . the
true focal point and reason . . . then we are deceiving them as well as
ourselves.
SOYO is, by definition, committed to this precept. If you don't agree
withthis, then you don't understand SOYO at all. It is now time for all of
us,teens, young adults, and adults, to redefine our purposes and goals on
the local, regional and Archdiocesan levels. Let Christ into SOYO, not
onlyas a name but as a real Person of Love and Salvation. Remember the
Galluppoll:
"The results of this study suggest that churches might have surprising
successin trying to reach young people."
Moved by NAC SOYO, seconded by NAC Teen SOYO, the report
was received. GEORGE FADEL on behalf of NAC SOYO spoke in
appreciation of William Essey, expressing the respect and love of all
SOYOand wishing him divine strength in the years ahead.
U.S. Senator James Abourezk of South Dakota records the Patriarch's
visit to the U.S. Senate in the Congressional Record.
The Word
At this point, METROPOLITAN
the General Assembly.
ovember, 1977
PHILIP presented his Message to
THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE CONFERENCE!
The Patriarchal Liturgy on Sunday as Metropolitan ILYAS of Tripoli,
Lebanon and Deacon Elias Mitchell of Grand Rapids assist His
Beatitude.
26) GEORGE ELIAS, JR., presented
the Report of the
Department
of Legal Affairs and Re1olutlon1 and read a
message to the Convention from Senator Robert C. Byrd.
Primate Metropolitan Philip
32nd Annual Convention of the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America
Dear Primate Philip:
I wish to extend my congratulations and best wishes to the Annual
Convention of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North
America, and to warmly welcome His Beatitude Elias IV, Patriarch of
Antioch and all the East, to the United States. I am sure that the
presence of His Beatitude Elias IV brings joy to the heart of every
member and participant in your Convention.
Sincerely yours,
Robert C. Byrd
U. S. Senator
JOHN KHOURI then introduced the minutes of the last meeting of
the Legal Affairs Department with the resolutions that follow:
DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS AND RESOLUTIONS
July 27, 1977
AAl
Washington, D.C.
Members present at this meeting were:
-John G. Khouri, Chancellor, Miami, Florida (Cathedral of St. George)
-George
Elias, Jr., Chancellor, Miami, Florida (Cathedral of St.
George)
-Anthony M. Abraham, Secretary, Johnstown, Pennsylvania (St. Mary)
-Yagob H. Shaer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (St. George)
-Alex Akoury, Los Angeles, caµfornia (St. Nicholas)
-Robert J. Maloof, Little Falls, New Jersey (St. George)
-George D. Shamiss, Bridgep~rt, Connecticut
-John Betar, Bridgeport, Connecticut
-Fr. John Badeen, Detroit, Michigan
-Fr. David Milkie, South Glens Falls, New York
-Joe N. Abraham, Geneva, New York (St. Michael)
-Robin Nicholas, Los Angeles, California (St. Nicholas)
Respectfully submitted,
Anthony M. Abraham
Secretary
Page 35
�AA RESOLUTION NO. 1
WHEREAS:
The year 1977 has been proclaimed by Metropolitan
PHILIP as the Antiochian Holy Year; and
WHEREAS: This declaration has been inspired by the acceptance of an
invitation by this Archdiocese of His Beatitude Patriarch ELIAS IV
to visit this Archdiocese; and
WHEREAS: Our Father of Fathers has by his unique personality,
scholarliness, charisma, and his advocacy of complete truth created
an everlasting and indestructible spiritual impact upon this Archdiocese; and
WHEREAS: The infusion of his paternal love by his presence has instilled in us a great love for our Mother Church; and
WHEREAS: Our sadness over his departure will be better expressed by:
"He came; He saw; He loved - We saw; We were blessed; We
loved;"
BE IT RESOLVED: That this Convention by acclamation shout: "GOD
GRANT THEE MANY YEARS."
BB RESOLUTION NO. 2
WHEREAS:
In response to a special invitation of our Primate,
Metropolitan Philip, His Beatitude and our Chief Shepard, Patriarch
ELIAS IV has blessed us with a special visit; and
WHEREAS: He has chosen, to our great joy, to be accompanied by a
former priest of this Archdiocese, of whom we are justly proud, and
who by the grace of God has been elevated to the rank of Archbishop
of Tripoli and El-Koura, Lebanon, Metropolitan ILY AS Kurban; and
WHEREAS: Metropolitan IL YAS has journeyed extensively throughout
our Archdiocese and participated in the Regional SOYO Parish Life
Conferences as well as this 32d Annual Archdiocese Convention, and
has added to the great blessing we have experienced and received in
this Antiochian Holy Year of 1977;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That this Convention extend to
Metropolitan IL Y AS a special expression of its love and gratitude by
assuring him of our continuing prayers that God will grant him many
years.
RESOLUTION NO. 3
WHEREAS: The devastating disaster in the manner of a most tragic
flood during July 1977 has stricken the community of Johnstown,
Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS: The community of Johnstown, Pennsylva11ia is one of a
concentrate of many Orthodox faithful, including the Antiochian
Parish of St. Mary's; and
WHEREAS: It has been the history of this Archdiocese to help in any
way possible when relief is needed especially within our own
Orthodox community; and
WHEREAS: Relief is needed with the utmost urgency for parishioners of
St. Mary's in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, who have lost homes,
property, and businesses;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED: That the Archdiocese establish a
Relief Fund for the benefit of the parishioners of St. Mary's of
Johnstown who have suffered the disastrous loss of home and
property, and that His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, request that
each of the parishes and/ or organizations of the Archdiocese
conduct fund-raising drives for the funding of same.
CC
at 9 years of age, a faithful, dedicated and devout Altar B
Church School student of the Cathedral of St. George ~ and
Florida; and,
'
am1
WHEREAS, following his demise, many contributions were made t
th
Cathedral of St. George specifically for the purpose of establish? e
Scholarship Trust in memory of Christopher; and,
•nga
WHEREAS, the CHRIST.OPHER ELIAS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
TRUST was created, approved and adopted by the Boa d
Directors of the Cathedral of St. George, on January 4, 1971· an~ of
WHEREAS, said Scholarship Trust has heretofore been administered b
the Trustees thereof who have made annual scholarship award y
various deserving members of the Cathedral of St. George; and, s to
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Cathedral of St. Geor e
desire that the CHRISTOPHER ELIAS MEMORIAL SCHoLk.
SHIP TRUST be transferred over to and administered under th
auspices of the ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIA AR~
CHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA: and,
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Cathedral of St. George have
also transferred
over to the ANTIOCHIAN
ORTHODOX
CHRIST_IAN ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA the trust
funds with the request that at least one deserving and qualified
member of the Cathedral of St. George receive an annual scholarship
award,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the CHRISTOPHER
ELIAS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP TRUST, as provided in the
instrument attached hereto and made part hereof, be and the same is
hereby approved and adopted, and METROPOLITAN PHILIP
PRIMA TE, and the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, of said Arch'.
diocese, are hereby authorized and directed to execute on behalf of
the Board of Trustees, the said CHRISTOPHER ELIAS MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP TRUST, as set forth in the instrument attached
hereto and made part hereof.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Treasurer of the Archdiocese
upon execution
of the CHRISTOPHER
ELIAS MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP TRUST, be and he is hereby directed to disburse
such sums to such award recipients at such time as the Trustees of
said scholarship trust shall determine, pursuant to the terms and
provisions of said Scholarship Trust.
DD RESOLUTION NO. 4
WHEREAS: The Parish of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Church of Washington, D.C. has graciously hosted the 32d Annual
Archdiocesan Convention; and
WHEREAS: The Pastor, the Very Reverend George M. Rados, the
Convention Chairman, Nicholas Hamaty, the Parish Council and its
Chairman, John Abraham, the various committees and members of
the Parish of St. George have not spared any effort to assure the
success of this Convention during the Antiochian Holy Year of 1977,
and to provide for the utmost enjoyment of the delegates and guests;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED: That this 32d Annual Convention
extend to them its heartfelt thanks and appreciation for an outstanding Conventi9n.
EE
RESOLUTION TO CREATE THE
CHRISTOPHER ELIAS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
TRUST OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
WHEREAS, the late George Christopher Elias, III, fondly remembered
as "Christopher", was until his untimely demise on January 18, 1970,
Page 36
Patriarch ELIAS commemorates the faithful of the Archdiocese • • •
The Word
CHRISTOPHER ELIAS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP TRUST
OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
TRUST AGREEMENT made this 26 day of July, 1977, between the
TJOCHIAN ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF
ORTH AMERICA, hereinafter referred to as the ARCHDIOCESE,
and DOCTOR ANTHONY BASHIR, DOCTOR JOHN DALACK,
oocTOR GEORGE DIBS, GEORGE ELIAS, JR., ESQ., ALBERT
JOSEPH, RONALD NICOLA and DOCTOR NAJEEB SALIBA,
hereinafter referred to as the TRUSTEES.
NAME
The name of the Trust shall be the CHRISTOPHER ELIAS
MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP TRUST of the ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA.
THETRUSTEES
There shall be seven Trustees who shall be selected by the Board of
Trustees of the ARCHDIOCESE.
TRUST PROPERTY
The property of the Trust shall consist of the contributions which
have been received to the date of this Instrument, contributions received
after the date of this Instrument specifically for such trust purposes and
such other properties which represent the investments made by the
Trustees from time to time hereinafter termed the Trust Property, in
Trust for the purpose, and on the conditions hereinafter stated.
DISPOSITIVE PROVISIONS
The Trustees shall hold, manage, invest and reinvest the Trust
Property, and shall collect and receive the income thereof, and after
deducting all necessary expenses incident to the administration of the
Trust,shall dispose of the principal and income of the Trust as follows:
(a) The Trustees shall pay or accumulate as in their sole discretion
they shall determine, a part thereof, or all of the income, and/ or
principalof the Trust from time to time in the form of scholarship awards
to a member or members of the ARCHDIOCESE. Such payments shall
be made when the Trustees receive evidence satisfactory to the Trustees
that a potential recipient of an award has enrolled and commenced
attendance at a college or university.
(b) Whenever the Trustees, in their sole discretion, shall make
scholarship awards to qualified members of the ARCHDIOCESE, at
least one such award shall simultaneously be made to a qualifying
memberof the Cathedral of St. George, Miami, Florida.
(c) The Trustees may or may not apply the "needs test" in arriving at
theirdecision with reference to the granting of an award or awards.
TRUSTEES POWERS
In the administration of the Trust, the Trustees shall have the
followingpowers, all of which shall be exercised in a fiduciary capacity:
(a) To hold and continue to hold as an investment the property
received hereunder so long as they deem proper, and to invest and
reinvestin any se~urities or property deemed by them to be for the best
interest of the Trust, without being limited to trust or chancery investments provided by law, and without any responsibility for any
depreciation or loss by or on account of such investments.
(b) To vote upon all securities belonging to the Trust, and to become
a party to any stockholders' agreements deemed advisable by them in
connectionwith such securities.
(c) To consent to the reorganization,
consolidation, merger,
liquidation, readjustment
of or other change in any corporation,
company,or association, or to the sale or lease of the property thereof,
anyof the securities or other property which may at the time be held by
themhereunder, and to do any act or exercise any power with reference
thereto that may be legally exercised by any persons owning similar
property in their own right, including the exercise of conversion, subscriptionpurchase or other options, the deposit, surrender, or exchange
of securities, the entrance into voting trusts, and the making of
a~reements or subscriptions which they may deem necessary or advisablein connection therewith, all without applying to any court for
permissionso to do, and to hold and redeem or sell or otherwise dispose
ofany securities or other property which they may so acquire.
. ~d) To incur and pay the ordinary and necessary expenses of admimstration, including (but not by way of limitation) reasonable attorneys'fees, accountants' fees, investment counsel fees, and the like.
(e) To act hereunder through an agent or attorney-in-fact, by and
under the power of attorney duly executed by the Trustees, in carrying
outany of the powers and duties herein authorized.
ovember, 1977
. . . and blesses all those present.
(f) To determine the manner in which the expense incidental to or in
connection with the administration of the Trust shall be apportioned as
between principal and income.
(g) To determine the allocation of receipts between principal and
income, provided that such allocation or apportionment is consistent
with the general principals of the law of trusts.
(h) The powers herein granted to the Trustees may be exercised in
whole or in part, from time to time, and shall be deemed to be supplementary to and not exclusive of the general powers of Trustees
pursuant to law, and shall include all powers necessary to carry the same
into effect.
TRUSTEES' AUTHORITY AND TfilRD P ARTIBS
No person purchasing, renting, or leasing any of the property of the
Trust or in any manner dealing with the Trust or with the Trustees, shall
be required to inquire into the authority of the Trustees to enter into any
transaction, or to account for the application of any monies paid to the
Trustees on any account.
ACCOUNTING BY TRUSTEES
The Trustees may render an accounting at any time to the Board of
Directors of the Church, and such accounting shall be binding and
conclusive except where the conduct of the trustees is judicially
determined to be fraudulent.
COMPENSATION OF TRUSTEES
The Trustees shall not receive any compensation for their services.
SUCCESSOR TRUSTEES
If any of the Trustees named herein shall die, resign, become incapacitated, or refuse to act as Trustee herein, the other Trustees named
herein shall appoint a Successor Trustee or Trustees, with the written
approval of the Board of Trustees of the ARCHDIOCESE, provided,
however, that if such approval is not received within thirty days of said
appointment, it shall be presumed that the Board of Trustees has given
its approval. Any successor Trustee shall have all the duties and powers
that are assumed and conferred in this agreement upon the Trustees. The
appointment of a successor Trustee shall be made by an Instrument in
writing signed by the Trustees and delivered to the Board of Trustees of
the ARCHDIOCESE.
Page 37
�Resolution Number 5 offered by the Resolutions
offered by FATHER ANTONY GABRIEL.
Com ·
mittee ~as
RESOLUTION NO. 5- CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
Re~olved that Section 1, Article V of the Archdiocese Constit .
which reads as follows:
Uhon
"Section 1. The General Convention shall be held annually ·th·
1
last twelve days in July at a location set by the General Co WI .n the
·t
l
f
t
•
d"
nvent1ona,
i s annua mee mg wo year~ prece mg such determination. In h
event of an emergency or circumstances which in the disc r I e
the Metropolitan Archbishop and the Board of Trustees - retifionof
1us Ythe
•
·
postponement, or a c h ange m the time, place or bidding for f
•
convention,
sue h postponement and/ or change in the time aI uture
bid therefore shall be valid."
' P ace or
Be amended to read as follows:
"Section I.A.The General Convention shall be held bi-annually • h
the ~ast tw~lve. days i!1 July at a l<;>cationset by the Genera~o~~
vention at its imi_nediately precedi!1g ~eeting. In the event of an
emergency or circumstances
which m the discretion
f h
I
Metropolitan Archbishop and the Board of Trustees 1·ustify thoe e
.
h
.
POS(·
poneme~t, or a c h ange m t e time, place or bidding for a future
convention, such postponement and/ or change in the time plac
bid therefore shall be valid.
'
e or
B.An Archdiocesan Clergy Conference shall be held bi-annu 11
within the last twelve days in July at a location to be determined\Y
the Metropolitan Archbishop. Such bi-annual Clergy Confere y
shall_ be _held du~ing those interim years in which the General
v~ntlon lS not bemg ~eld. In the event of an emergency or unforeseen
circumstances, ~h_etrme and I or pla_ce of such Conference may be
changed or modified by the Metropolitan Archbishop.
This amendment shall be effective commencing in 1980, during
which the first bi-annual convention shall be held, with the first
Clergy Conference to be held in 1981.
Following prolonged discussion, largely opposed to the resolution
Father Antony Gabriel withdrew it for further study and presentation a;
a later time, noting that the General Conventions have become so large
that few parishes are willing, or able, to sponsor them and that the S0Y0
Regional Parish Life Conferences, also growing rapidly, have absorbed
some of the functions of the General Conventions.
c~:~
"The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God the Father and
the Communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."
TRUSTEES' DECISIONS AND ACTS
All decisions of the Trustees shall be made by a majority vote of all
Trustees. Such voting may be in person or in writing signed by the
Trustee.
The Trustees, consistent with the provisions of this Trust and the
resolution creating same, shall establish rules and guidelines for the
purposes of administering this Trust and the scholarships awards granted
hereunder.
REVOCATION AND TERMINATION
This trust shall be irrevocable except under the following circumstances: in the event that the ARCHDIOCESE shall cease to exist,
this Trust shall terminate, and the property thereof shall be transferred
to such other religious and/ or educational organization as shall qualify
under the provisions of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code
(or any successor sections thereof) as the Trustees shall determine;
provided, however, that the said transferee organization shall maintain
the assets of this Trust as a fund to be titled CHRISTOPHER ELIAS
MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP TRUST, which shall be maintained and
administered for the same purposes for which this Trust was created.
IN WITNESS
WHEREOF
the ARCHDIOCESE
through its
PRIMATE and SECRET ARY of the Board of Trustees, and the
Trustees, have executed this agreement.
Primate, ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
Secretary of the Board of Trustees
Dr. Anthony Bashir
Dr. John Dalack
Dr. George Dibs
George Elias, Jr.
Albert Joseph
Ronald Nicola
Dr. Najeeb Saliba
AA 1 - Passed
AA -Passed
BB -Passed
CC -Passed
DD -Passed
EE -Passed
Page 38
by acclamation
by acclamation
by acclamation
by acclamation
by acclamation
by acclamation
27) FATHER ANTONY GABRIEL presided
over the
sideration of bids for forthcoming General Conventions.
con-
a) FATHER JOHN N AMIE and RALPH ABER CIA made a progress
report on the Thirty-third Annual General Convention to be held in
Houston.
b) FATHER MICHAEL HUSSON presented a bid for the Thirty·
fourth Annual General Convention for St. George's of Miami. It was
accepted by acclamation. It will be held at the Hollywood Diplomat.
28) METROPOLITAN
the year 1978:
PHILIP announced
his appointments
The Patriarchal Liturgy comes to a close with the final blessing; (left to right) Newly ordained Deacon Nicholas Dahdal; Fr. George M. Rados; Fr.
Gregory Abboud; Fr. Olof Scott; Metropolitan Dyas; Fr. Athanulus Emmert; Bishop EU.; PATRIARCH ELIAS; Metropolftan PHILIP; Fr. John
Namle; Fr. Athanaslus Saliba; Archbishop Michael; Deacon Elias Mitchell; Fr. Ellis Khouri; Fr. AntoUD Khouri. This memorable Liturgy took place fn
the hotel chapel arranged by the Washington parish, designed and executed by Mr. Yeorgos Lampathakls, Art Director of the Educadonal Films and
Television Division of the Nadonal Geographic Society.
for
As officers of the Archdiocese:
THE RT. REVEREND ELLIS KHOURI, Protosynkellos
THE RT. REVEREND GREGORY ABBOUD, Vicar General
THE VERY REVEREND PAUL SCHNEIRLA, Executive Secretary
JOHN KHOURI, Chancellor
GEORGE ELIAS, JR., Chancellor
THEODORE MACKOUL, Treasurer and Comptroller
As appointed Archdiocesan Trustees:
ALBERT JOSEPH, Chicago
EDWARD KASSAB, Detroit
NORMAN BSHARAH, Charleston
METRO POLIT AN PHILIP announced that one of his oldest aod
dearest friends, a former parishioner, a man who had accompan~ed_hi~
to Lebanon for his consecration, Rudy George, Cleveland, had mst5te
upon resigning despite repeated requests to remain. He asked that ~e
Minutes record his deepest gratitude for the prolonged and outstaod!DJ
services rendered to the Archdiocese by Rudy George of Clevelan '
Ohio.
· te~
To complete the remainder of Rudy George's term, he appom
GEORGE GHIZ of Phoenix.
The Word
29) FATHER ANTONY GABRIEL, presiding over the election of
Trustees announced that the terms of the following trustees
have expired:
JOHNDALACK
FRANK HADDAD
GEORGE KARRAM
JERRY FARAH
ROBERT LAHAM
ERNEST SA YKAL Y
CARL SHAHEEN
The following names were placed in nomination
parenthesis being those of the nominators):
ERNEST SA YKAL Y
RICHARD BOSADA
CARL SHAHEEN
ROBERT LAHAM
JOHNDALACK
JERRY FARAH
FRANK HADDAD
GEORGE KARRAM
DR. JOSEPH TOUMA
DR. JOSEPH SAYEGH
GEORGE KARAKOS
ovember, 1977
(the names in
(Father Joseph Shaheen)
(George Mahshie)
(Father Theodore Ziton)
(Father George R. George)
(Father Paul Schneirla)
DECLINED NOMINATION
(John Khouri)
(Dr. George Malouf)
(Father (Alexander Vukovich)
(Father Gregory Samaan)
(Father Paul Doyle)
LAURICE KALEEL
MONNIE FARAH
GEORGE DARANY
GEORGE ANSARA
GARY YOUNES
(Father Michael Courey)
(Father Paul Tarazi)
(Father John Badeen)
(George Elias, Jr.)
DECLINED NOMINATION
On the motion of JUDGE ALBERT MAYKEL, seconded by
FATHER MICHAEL BUBEN, nominations were closed.
The following were elected to the Board of Trustees of the Archdiocese:
JOHNDALACK
ERNEST SAYKAL Y
CARL SHAHEEN
FRANK HADDAD
ROBERT LAHAM
GEORGE KARRAM
RICHARD BOSADA
30) On the motion of EDWARD ZRAICK, St. Mary's, Brooklyn,
seconded by GLADYS LAHAM, St. George, Boston, the meeting
was adjourned at 5: 15 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
(Very Reverend) P.W.S. Schneirla
Page 39
�CONTACT
WHAT HAS CONTACT DONE?
As a working committee of SOYO, with the help of our
parish Priests, we've collected the names and addresses of
Orthodox Youth away from home (either at college or
engaged ~n othe~ pursuits). We've prepared packets of
reliable, mterestmg Orthodox materials for them, and
ha e sent these packets to them at their "homes away
from home." At different times, we've sent them subscriptions to Concern and The Word, the latter having
been sponsored by NAC.
HOW SUCCESSFUL HAS CONT ACT BEEN?
·--------1
~-----i■
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
Volunteer to be the CONTACT person or persons in your
region who would be willing to be a liaison between the
Contact Committee for your parish and the students
and / or priests to be approached.
Youth were contacted last year. We even
heard from some of them. Their responses were most
welcomed and appreciated:
If you do volunteer to help, the North American Contact
Committee will be in constant touch with you with
suggestions and programs to follow. You will NOT be
working alone.
From Athens, Greece:
Please fill out the accompanying application, if interested,
and send it to:
soo+Orthodox
NORJHDAKOTA
Orthodox Youth away from home with Orthodox parishe
near them. We hope to then alert the parishes and
organize a program whereby the parishes can CO TACT
the students and in ite them to participate in their Church
life.
SOUTH DAKOTA
A young medical student wrote:
"I lent the material you sent me (The Orthodox Church by
Timothy Ware) to my roommate and his non-Greek
fiancee. It was perfect
in acquainting
her with
Orthodoxy."
North American Contact Committee
An tiochian Archdiocese
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.,J. 07631
APPLICATION
From N.Y.C.:
r--------------------------NAME _______________
_
Home Address _______________
_
CHURCH ______________
_
A graduating male college student wrote:
"I received your packet of materials, and am glad to know
that someone out there is thinking of me. I've moved from
the address you had, and I have not received The Word. I
would appreciate getting it. Whatever you can do would
be a help."
*
Church Address _______________
states and provinces where missions could be started
_
From Washington, Penna.:
A female college student wrote:
NEEDS YOU!
WHAT IS CONTACT?
It's a committee of Orthodox Christians,
SOYO, interested- in keeping Orthodoxy
Orthodox Youth away from home.
a division oi
alive among
Can-Am Region
Eastern Region
Midwest Region
New England Region
Southwest Region
Western Region
"I received the books and poster that you sent today.
Thanks so much. My roommate, who is Catholic, would
like to know if she can obtain a copy of the poster from
you. If possible, please send it to me, and I'll see that she
getsit."
Bill Fadel
Stella Vagias, Fran De Bellis
Teen SOYO-Didi Vagias
Clarke David
Mary Winstanley
Mike Solomon
Kristy Maloof
Page 40
These and many others were gratifying to read.
WHATIS PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE?
WHO IS CONTACT?
At the committee level, in the framework
the following people:
This student sent SOYO a monetary donation "for all the
workthat you are doing."
of SOYO, it's
At large, it's anyone who succeeds in spreading the Word
of Orthodoxy to someone else, in any way.
The Word
Withpacket mailing and subscriptions to The Word in the
works, we hope to make a beginning stab at matching
November,1977
I would be interested in being a contact liaison between Orthodox Youth and Parishes for youth who are
away from home.
In the meantime, we'll be graphing and plotting to
reach our ultimate goal - the matching of Orthodox
Youth away from home, with Orthodox parishes in their
college areas or in areas where Orthodox Youth are
otherwise involved.
If you know of an Orthodox Youth who is away from
home, give the information to your parish Priest and
suggest that his or her name be placed on the list of those
to be contacted.
We'll be in CONTACT with you!
North American Contact Committee,
Stella Vagias and Fran DeBellis
Page 41
�The
Orthodox
Societr in America (OTSA) has appointed a five-person
committee to make recommendations
to the U.S.
Orthodox hierarchs.
The theme of the society's annual meeting at St.
Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary here was
"sin," with papers and responses on the "biblical doctrine
of sin," "sin in Orthodox dogmatics," the "penitential
discipline in canon law," and "sin, confession and pastoral
care."
According to reports from the gathering, it was
generally agreed by those attending that the root of
contemporary Orthodox problems in this area is an ab~en~~ of a sense of sin - no acknowledgement of guilt by
md1v1duals or communities.
OTSA officers were re-elected for another one-year
term. They are the Rev. Thomas Hopko, on the faculty of
St. Vladimir's and pastor of St. Gregory the Theologian
church, Wappinger's Falls, N.Y., president; the Rev.
George Papademetriou, the pastor of SS Constantine and
Helen church, Annapolis, Md., vice-president; James
Couchell, English editor of the Orthodox Observer
newspaper, secretary; and Thomas Fitzgerald, a faculty
member of Hellenic College, Brookline, Mass., treasurer.
The society also voted to hold its Third International
Theological Conference during the first week of September 1978 at Hellenic College. The annual meeting will
be held at that time.
World
ALBANIAN CHURCH AND CIVIC OFFICIALS
GREET ANTIOCHIAN PATRIARCH
BOSTON His Beatitude, Elias IV, Orthodox
Patriarch of Antioch and spiritual leader of two million
Orthodox Christians of Arabic origins was greeted at
Boston City Hall on the Churchman's historic visit to the
city on June 15, 1977. Representing
the Albanian
Orthodox Archdiocese in America at the reception held
by Mayor White in City Hall were the Very Rev. Arthur E.
Liolin, Chancellor; Rev. Deacon John Terrell and Mrs.
Peter Metro, an Arabic-American parishioner of Saint
George Cathedral.
Fr. Liolin greeted the Patriarch in behalf of His Grace,
Bishop DMITRI and the Albanian Community. The
Albanian Orthodox delegation presented the hierarch
with a leather bound history of the Albanian Orthodox
Church and a biography of Archbishop Theofan S. Noli
and a container with rare incense from the Church of
Albania, asking the Patriarch's prayers for the Albanian
people.
GREEK ORTHODOX CHALLENGED
IN MESSAGE OF PRIMATE
NEW YORK - The primate of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America says the faithful
"have aged too much. Our faith and our thinking betray all
the signs, the mustiness and fading of things grown stale."
Archbishop Iakovos' reflections are included in his
annual message marking the beginning of the Eastern
Orthodox ecclesiastical year, Sept. 1.
"In an age that proclaims fundamental change, that
rejects and abolishes institutions and moral values that
have proven hypocritical and dishonest, we persist in this
same way of life that is self-contradictory, inconsistent and
irrelevant," he writes. "And if anything does change, it is
limited to appearances, to rhetorical forms or pompous
but vacuous pronouncements."
"The observance of Labor Day will, as usual, be
stained with the blood of hundreds of traffic victims," he
continues. "We will mark the beginning of the school year
with a half-hearted
blessing and our customary indifference. Sunday schools will open, as usual late, and
parish programs will focus mainly on how to improve their
finances."
"Real changes, radical rethinking,
more spiritual
concerns, more Christian orientations, efforts to frame the
Page 42
RELIGIOUS
NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
HOLY SEPULCHRE SHRINE RESTORED
JERUSALEM - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
has been restored to its former splendor thanks to costly
and arduous alteration efforts by Roman Catholic,
Orthodox and Armenian church organizations, who have
special and mutually exclusive rights inside the church
under a century old agreement.
Photograph shows a priest praying at the replica of the
tomb of Christ, holiest shrine in Christendom.
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
lives of our faithful along more charismatic lines - all
these will remain on paper, or in the realm of unfulfilled
wishes." Archbishop
Iakovos says "we will go on
discussing the same topics, outdoing each other in citing
the causes of evil; in our usual glib fashion we will either
condemn or justify the stand of our nation, our church,
our educators, our youth, our society, on such issues as
civil and human rights, equality of the sexes, the
ecumenical movement, the ordination of women, foreign
policy, the domestic economy, changing morality, the new
wave of political and moral license and so on - and all
without any reference to personal conscience, any effort
at critical, objective examination of self."
The Greek Orthodox leader called the beginning of a
new ecclesiastical year "the opportune moment . . . for
an examination of our past, for a fresh and more Christian
assessment of our present condition and our future."
He urged members of the archdiocese to make a
"solemn ecclesiastical act of commitment, drawn up in the
heart and signed in conscience" so that the new year °:ight
be "enriched with a fresh spirit, ennobled by new actions,
acceptable to God."
(Western Christians count the beginning of the church
year from the first Sunday of Advent.)
The Word
SOVIET CHRISTIANS CALL ON POPE
TO SPEAK FOR USSR BELIEVERS
MOSCOW - Soviet Christian dissidents told Western
reporters here that they had sent an appeal to Pope Paul
to speak out on behalf of religious believers in the USSR.
A spokesman for the Christian Committee for the
Defense of Religion in the USSR said the group had
charged Soviet authorities with "systematically" stifling
Christianity, adding that Christian believers were under a
threat of "unprecedented" coercion against their faith.
The spokesman said the appeal expressed to the Pope
the committee's hope that "we will hear the authoritative
voice of the Catholic Church (speaking out) in defense of
usChristians."
Among the signers of the appeal was Father Gleb
Yakunin, a Russian Orthodox priest and a leading
religiouscritic of Kremlin policies.
PENITENTIAL DISCIPLINE SET
FOR STUDY BY ORTHODOX
CRESTWOOD, N.Y. - With a general consensus that
Eastern Orthodox penitential discipline needs "creative
• • • change and renewal," the Orthodox Theological
November,1977
GREEK ORTHODOXSOUTHERN BAPTIST DIALOGUE
GARRISON, N.Y. - Dr. Nikon D. Patrinacos, second
from left, ecumenical officer for the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America, discusses a
point during the Greek Orthodox-Southern Baptist
dialogue held at the Orthodox Academy of St. Basil in
Garrison, N. Y.
Also participating in the meeting were, from left, C.
Brownlow Hastings, assistant director of the Department
of Interfaith Witness, of the Southern Baptist Home
Mission Board, the Very Rev. Maximos Aghorgoussis,
professor of systematic theology at Holy Cross Seminary
in Brookline, Mass., and the Rev. Jack Altman, pastor of
First Baptist Church of Dundalk, Baltimore.
RELIGIOUSNEWS SERVICEPHOTO
Page 43
�DAILY DEVOTIONS
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
an attempt to encourage our faithful
to study Holy Scripture through
daily liturgical readings-
Week of Nov. 13:
Week of Nov. 6:
Eph. 2:14-22
Luke 8:41-56
Mon.: 2 Thes. 1:10
Luke 12:13-15,22-31
Tue.: The Archangels
Heb. 2:2-10
Luke 10:16-21
Wed.: 2 Thess. 2:1-12
Luke 12:48-59
Thu.: 2 Thess. 2: 13-3:5
Luke 13:1-9
2 Thess. 2:6-18
Fri.:
Luke 13:31-35
Gal. 1:3-10
Sat.:
Luke 9:37-43
Eph. 4:1-6
Luke 14:12-15
Mon.: 1 Tim. 1:1-7
Luke 14:12-15
Tue.: 1 Tim. 1:8-14
Luke 14:25-35
Wed.: St. Matthew-Apostle
1 Tim. 1:15-20
Matt. 9:9-13
Thu.: 1 Tim. 3:1-13
Luke 16:1-9
Fri.:
1 Tim. 4:4-8,16
Luke 16:15-18; 17:1-4
Sat.: Gal. 3:8-12
Luke 9:57-62
Week of Nov. 27:
Week of Dec. 4:
Sun.:
lq
I
[Iii
j
t~
t
~
Week of Nov. 20
Sun.:
Eph. 5:9-19
Luke 12: 16-21
Mon.: Heb. 9:1-7
Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28
Tue.: 1 Tim. 5:11-21
Luke 17:26-37
Wed.: 1 Tim. 5:22, 6:11
Luke 18:15-17,26-30
Thu.: Gal. 3:23-end, 4:1-5
Mark 5:24-34
Fri.: 2Tim.1:1-2,8-18
Luke 19:12-28
Sat.: Gal. 5:22, 6:2
Luke 10: 19-21
Sun.:
Col. 3:12-16
Luke 18: 18-27
Mon.: 2 Tim. 2:20-26
Luke 19:45-48
Tues.: 2 Tim. 3:16-4:4
Luke 19:45-48
Wed.: 1 Cor. 4:9-16
John 1:35-51
Thu.: Titus 1:5-2: 1
Luke 20:9-18
Fri.:
Titus 1: 15-2: 10
Luke 20: 19-26
Sat.:
Eph. 1: 16-23
Luke 12:32-40
Sun.:
Sun.:
Eph. 6:10-17
Luke 13:10-17
Mon.: Heb. 3:5-11,17-19
Luke 20:27-44
Tue.: Heb. 13: 17-21
Luke 6: 17-23
Wed.: Heb. 5:11-6:8
Luke 21:5-7·, 10-11, 20-24
Thu.: Heb. 7:1-6
Luke 21 :28-33
Fri.:
Conception of St. Anne
Gal. 4:22-27
Luke 8: 16-21
Sat.: Eph. 2:11-13
Luke 13: 18-29
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
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Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
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1905-2013
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Arabic
English
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NS 0021
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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kalemat_19771101_21_9
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 09
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 21, Issue 9 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated November 1977.
Date
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1977 Nov
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
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English
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Text
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
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https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/5866c178dbc1b0bc8ff96112edef21e0.pdf
6706cf5fd94b3c93334f8429408ea1d9
PDF Text
Text
fhe Word
croBER,
1911
~~~<~i
.:,,-.:_~~.•-··.
~~J'~~~;W
�THE WORD
The Most Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The Most Reverend
Archbishop Michael, Auxiliary
THE WORD
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
VOLUME 21
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kallmat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Co-Editors:
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
Subscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N .J. 07631
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
U.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 10.00
SINGLE COPIES, 1.00
ISSN 0043-7964
NUMBER 8
IN THIS ISSUE
3
Editorial
5
The Unity We Seek
by Bishop Theodosius
8
Scouting's Finest Hour
by Fr. Charles Sarelis
Archpriest George S. Corey
Arch priest Joseph J. Allen
THE WORD, published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office,
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135.
Pittsburgh,
Pa. 15213. Entered as
second cla~ matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa.
15219.
OCTOBER, 1977
11
Selection of a Metropolitan
by Tom Dorris (RNS)
12
Archdiocesan Office
14
Department of Christian Education
15
Dialogue ...
Questions to Fr. Michael Buben
16
LHestyles X
Homily by Fr. James C. Meena
17
Dally Devotions
18
Department of Sacred Music
19
AOCWNA
21
SOYO Digest
26
Review
27
Communities In Action
COVER
CEOYLA's Festival of Orthodoxy was held in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Se~tember 3,
1977 at the Civic Arena. Approximately 5000 participated in t_hisdemon·
stration of our unity in Faith. The top photo is the CEOYLA Ch?rr und er:~~
direction of Father Igor Soroka. The middle photo shows the hierarch~ H
participated including our own Metropolitan PHILIP. The lowe~ photo ~s ts
Grace, Bish~p Theodosius, Senior Hierarch of Pittsburgh and chief cele rant.
All CEOYLA photos are by Mark Hryshchyshyn of Bethel Park, Pa.
CHOOSING LAY LEADERS
Very soon throughout
our Archdiocese
our parishes will be
-hoosing laymen and laywomen to serve on our Parish Councils.
..hroughout the history of the Church, the laity have been chosen to
rve God and His Church in various capacities. The prophets of the
~d Testament were called as God's messengers to His people.
David was chosen to be king in spite of his sinfulness. John the
Baptist delivered the message of repentance and this cost him his
fe. The Apostles' task was to establish and administrate
the
Churchon earth. Deacons were chosen to serve tables and minister
0 the needs of widows and orphans. Deaconesses were chosen to
each and prepare catechumens
(learners)
for their baptisms.
~oughout history it has been countless laity as well as clergy, who
h.,ve saved the Church from heresy, schism and sometimes an;h;/ation in a given area.
And so it is in the 20th century North American Church. After
/most 2000 years we are still, by the grace of God, choosing and
ecting individuals from among the people to do the work of God
on the Parish level. It is not an easy task, because it is a holy and
awesome task. Some people rebel against the thought of it. Others
becomediscouraged because they don't fully understand the nature
of the Church, and judge the Faith on worldly terms. Others seek it
outin order to perpetuate their own personalities.
The members of the Parish Council should be chosen by the
Congregation because of their loyalty to Christ and the Church, and
eir express desire to serve. It requires sacrifice, love, faith and
submission to the will of God. The Pastor and Members of the Parish
Councilare servants of the people - not their masters.
The members should be ready at all times to defend their
beliefs -even
if it means disagreeing with the Pastor. The Pastor is
not Infallible; he too makes mistakes. Nor does the Pastor want a
rubber stamp" Parish Council, but at all times, the Church wants
decisions that are Christian-oriented,
especially in the business of
heparish.
As the Church, we insist that candidates for the Parish Council,
as well as all other church organizations,
must be sacramentally
united to the Church; that they have received the Holy Sacraments,
especially the Holy Eucharist, during the year from their parish; that
their financial obligations have been met according to their means;
ohnd
that they be examples of good Christian behavior to the rest of
t e Community. If they are going to speak for Christ and His Church,
th
en they must be Christ-like I Their attendance at church services
Chdparish functions must be near perfect. This Is the least the
urch must expect from them. Finally they must be willing to work
1
thoselywith each other and the Pastor for the general well being of
e Orthodox Church and parish which they serve. Within the next
..I
t--
Q
Ill
tober,1977
Page3
�month or two all the parishes of the Archdiocese will be I
.
.
e ectin
new mem b ers on d new o f f,cers. Accordmg to the Model
9
stltutlon for Parishes, as adopted by our Archdiocese Con Con.
General Assembly, candidates for the Parish Council mu:r;/io
fulfilled
the canonical requirements
of the Faith and must have
indicated a willingness to serve if elected.
ave
They shall be elected by secret ballot, either through the
ofter the annual general meeting of the voting membership o~h,I
parish, or at the annual general meeting, or at such other tirn e
may be designated
by the Parish Council. In addition to th as
elected, the Superintendent
of the Church School, a representa:se
of the Choir, and the Presidents of parish organizations
or th'":
designated
representatives
shall be ex-officio voting members e,~
the Parish Councils. This arrangement
allows for a united voice;
the parish level.
n
It is encumbent that all faithful members of the parish in good
standing, both socromentally
and financially,
turn out on Election
Doy to choose worthy parishioners
to serve on the Parish Council
Let us not make this a popularity contest, but rather a commitment
of trust and sacred Christian responsibility.
It is not only your righ·
to do so, but your privilege as well.
George S. Corey,
Co-Editor
His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS poses with the ~~Khoureeyet" (Clergy wives) at the Archdiocesan
Washington, D.C.
Page4
1977 CEOYLA FESTIVAL
THE UNITY WE SEEK
Bishop Theodosius
Today as we gath~r here by the call of the Holy
irit at this 2nd Festival of Orthodoxy, we must try
t p rediscover, in love and gratitude, our past, our
our common treasure, our common path
r ots,
bich will reveal the way to the future. We must ask
rselves: "Is our Orthodox Faith, which we claim to
b~ true and universal, to remain a ceremonial and
marginalaccident in the fabric of America, or is it an
e sential event which is _happening not only IN
mericabut also TO America?
Orthodoxy was planted in America 18 years after
merica's Independence. Yet many act as if the
Churchhere had no past, no common destiny forged
generations of faithful who by their sacrifices and
umblecommitment have preserved the faith for us.
The Orthodox Faith came here first as a mission.
Long before successive waves of immigration
brought to these shores sons and daughters of vir. ally every Orthodox nation, the Orthodox Faith
wasplanted here by the basic imperative implied in
• e Faith itself: the burning desire to bring the
Gospel to those who sat in darkness and in the
shadowof death, thirsting for the Living Water.
True, it was a Russian mission sent to a Russian
territory,but then, is it not even more significant that
the aim of that mission was not to make Alaskans
into Russians, but to convert them to the Orthodox
Faith.What is important is that the mission's spirit
and motivation were those of Christian mission
everywhere:preaching, teaching, baptizing; the total
identificationof the Church with the people and with
theirreal needs, spiritual and material. Not only did
Orthodoxyremain in Alaska at the time it was sold to
the United States, but the Alaskan mission became
thesource of American Orthodoxy.
There has been scattered immigration of
Orthodoxto the New World during this period and
they worshipped in parishes organized on a multinationalbasis under the canonical protection of the
local bishop. The great bulk oi Orthodox faithful
arrivedin America in the waves of immigration that
floodedthe New World at the tum of the century
~d _followingWorld War I. During this time, the
missionwas growing and developing as the local
Church. By local Church, I mean more than a
permanent ecclesiastical unit and administrative
.truc~ure: but a Church with her own unique
identity. For if the Orthodox Church is one and
indivisible: in faith, in tradition, in hierarchical
order, in sacramental communion - this unity does
not exclude diversity, but to the contrary, implies a
diversity among people in the way which each of
them manifests in the same divine gift. The one and
same Orthodoxy fulfilled itself in different ways and
manifestations in Africa, Syria, Greece, Russia,
.Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, the Ukraine, Japan and
China.
To deny the possibility
of such
manifestations, in the past, present, or future, is to
deny that the Church never grows old but always
renews herself through the life-giving Spirit.
From the very beginning, when the Holy Cross
was planted on these shores, Orthodoxy became a
living encounter of virtually all Orthodox traditions,
of all treasures accumulated throughout the centuries. As the land of immigrants, America is the
unique place where the heritage of some can become
the heritage of all, where a living synthesis is the very
form of life. Here we have a tension between two
tendencies: one, towards an acute 'ethnicism', the
self defense of each immigrant group against the loss
His Grace, Theodosius is the Bishop of Pittsburgh and West Virginia of the Orthodox Church in Amen·ca. This
sermon was delivered at the 2nd CEOYLA Festival on September 3, 1977.
The Wo d
1
-.tober,1977
Page 5
�of ROOTS and IDENTITY - and, second, towards
OPENNESS, the desire to transcend the 'ghetto
mentality' by discovering the universality of the
values preserved by these traditions. It is obvious
that Orthodox here could not escape this tension.
But the significant fact of its history is that the local
Church, established here about two hundred years
ago, was meant from the very beginning to resolve
that tension; not to be the extension of a 'national' or
'ethnic' Orthodox identity, but the fulfillment of
Orthodoxy as a common 'IDENTITY' of all people.
Today, when one hears endless debates about the
future Orthodox unification in America as a remote
and not too realistic ideal, one is amazed by the
conscious or unconscious denial of a simple fact:
that this unity did exist and was a reality; that this
unity was broken and then replaced by the principle
of 'jurisdictional
multiplicity', which denies and
transgresses every norm of Orthodox Tradition.
For this reason, we should always remember that
not only the IDEAL but also the very REALITY of
one Orthodox Church in America - is an integral
part of our heritage. A Church which truly unites in
herself all the treasures of Orthodoxy, presenting
them as one treasure to the New World. A Church
·Pittsburgh's Civic Arena.
whose proper vocation is to transcend and heal the
sad fragmentations
and isolationisms in which _we
have lived these past many years. A Church which
preaches the unchanging Gospel of Christ to all
mankind and is missionary minded.
When one reads the report presented in 1906 by
His Eminence, the Most Reverend TIK.HON, ~rchbishop of the Aleutian Islands and North Ameri~a, a
report
dealing
with the future o~ ~~encan
Orthodoxy one realized the depth of his vts10n and
one hears the prophecy that should guide us in our
efforts. In part he wrote:
Page6
SOYO's representatives: (left to right) Gary Younes Fr.
John Namie, Michel Kafoure, Metropolitan PHILIP, John
Roman, Fr. George M. Corry, Deacon Hans El Hayek
and William Essey.
"In North America, a whole Exarchate can easil
be established,
uniting all Orthodox nationa1
Churches, which would have their own bishops
under one Exarch, the Archbishop. The fact is tha
this see is composed not only of different nationalities, but also of different Orthodox Churches,
which, though one in faith with each other, have
their own peculiarities in the canonical order, the
office ritual and parish life ... Also, we must keep
in view that, compared to the old country, life in
America has its peculiarities, with which the local
church is obliged to take notice of, and that consequently it ought to be allowed to be more
autonomous (possibly autocephalous) than other
Metropolitan districts in Russia."
It is important to note that not only Russian
bishops were concerned
with the future o
Orthodoxy
in America.
His Holiness, the
Ecumenical Patriarch MELETIOS IV, after two
visits to America foresaw the future of Orthodoxy
when he spoke at his enthronement in Con·
stantinople in 1922: "I saw with my own eyes, the
biggest and the most ~umerous part of the <?rtho~ox
in diaspora and I understood the measure m ~hich
the name of Orthodoxy would be exalted . . • if_the
two million Orthodox Christians were ?rg~mzed
there into one united ecclesiastical organtzatton as
an American Orthodox Church."
His Eminence of blessed memory, Metropoli~an
Antony of the Antiochian Archdiocese, an actl ~
leader in trying to re-unite the Orthodox, stated.
"While we must still minister to many who remem~er
• is
• ou r po11c
the way and customs of another lan d , it
to make our Church in the United States an
American Church. We have no desire to perpetuate
anything but the Gospel of Christ."
The Word
.Archimandrite Jerom~,
the Royal Greek
h plain and later Archbishop of Athens, said in
a . "The unity of all Orthodox Christians in
~ica would very much contribute to the spread
f~he Orthodox Church in America and would help
restige, and thus it will better attract the Orthod pyouth. Its present influence on the public life in
b country is negligible, if not non-existant ...
k\~eryeffort sh~uld be ~ade to unify the Orthodox
hurch in America ..•
The danger of nationalization in the Church is
ot only in its dividing character, but also that it
n places little by little the Spirit of Christianity by
rational traditions, interests and passions. The
~hurch is often led by the nation, where in the eyes
f God, the Church should lead the nation. If the
Orthodox would make the same effort to spread
Orthodox Christianity, our Church would have many
onverts and its general spiritual and theological
influencewould be considerably increased.
The unity of the Orthodox Church is not
necessary for the purpose of Americanization, but
for the benefit of spreading the unchanging Gospel
0 Christ and our faithfulness to Orthodoxy. We must
evaluate our priorities and put them into proper
rder. We live in a difficult and painful era. Many
people are searching for Truth, for God, running
fter false prophets. We of the Orthodox Church
mustreflect upon our place in American society and
our mission as Orthodox Christians to bring all
• ankind to the eternal and changeless Christ.
We must be concerned for the propagation of the
Orthodox Faith among the unchurched. Christ our
Saviour said that men lighting a lamp do not put it
under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all
·n the house. The Light of Orthodoxy also is not lit
for a small circle of people. The Orthodox Faith is
Celebrants and people pray together at Great Vesper
rvlce.
Qiober, 1977
Hierarchs at CEOYLA Luncheon: (left to right) Bishop
Herman (FROC), Bishop Simeon (EOYA), Bishop
Theodosius (FROC), Archbishop Valerian (AROY),
Metropolitan Mstyslav (UOL), Metropolitan Philip
(SOYO), Bishop Firmllian (SSF), Bishop John (ACRY),
and Bishop Constandne (UOL). Absent from picture:
Metropolitan Ireney (FROC) and Bishop John (GOYA).
catholic and universal; it remembers the commandment of Christ: "Go into all the world and preach the
Gospel to the whole creation. Make disciples of all
nations." (Mk. 16:15 and Mt. 29:19). This duty lies
not only on the clergy and missionaries, but also on
lay people, for the Church of Christ, in the wise
comparison of St. Paul, is a body, and in the life of
the body every member takes a part.
We have a common faith, but not a common
vision; a common life, yet not a common dream; a
unity of communion, but not one of commitment.
Until we find that common vision and commitment,
we shall remain helpless in gathering in those who
are in a spiritual wilderness; rootless, alone and
confused, searching for God. We are called to rededicate ourselves to the service of God and our
fellow man in the place where God has put us,
striving to be faithful to our divine calling. We will
have to answer before God for the great gift of
Orthodoxy which He has given to our care. The
burden of proof is upon us, as Orthodox Christians,
to show forth in deeds what we proclaim in our
words.
For each of us the propagation of the Faith must
be the main task in which each member must take an
active part - some by personal missionary effort,
some by monetary support and service, and some by
prayer to the Lord, that He might 'establish and
increase His Church' and that He might 'teach the
word of Truth' to those who do not know Christ, that
He would reveal "to them the Gospel of righteousness and unite them to His Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church."
Page 7
�Scouting's
FinestHour
National
Jamboree
1977
by fr. charles sareli
Moraine State Park, with its rolling, open and
wooded 16,000 acres, near Butler, Pa., was the site
of the Ninth National Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of
America. On a reclaimed parcel of land, one hour's
drive north of Pittsburgh, not too long ago only an
abandoned strip-mine, but now a truly scenic recreation park, approximately 28,000 young men and
leaders gathered together from August 3rd to 9th for
fellowship and leadership training.
The theme of the Jamboree, "Forward Together
- Scouting I USA", served to underline the purpose
of the Jamboree - that of learning new scouting
skills which could be passed along to other young
men throughout the fifty states and 60,000 scout
troops back home. Equally important was the
rekindling of the scouting spirit in the scouts and
leaders
through
inspirational
ceremonies
and
gatherings, forums and religious services.
Orthodoxy and Scouting / USA have a longstanding relationship of close cooperation. From its
inception, the B.S.A. has always placed strong
emphasis on the moral, ethical and spiritual aspects
of life. As a result, Scouting I USA emphasizes
through the Scout Oath and Law that every scout
and adult leader must practice good citizenship and
profess a belief in God. Recognizing this fundamental tenet of the religious element within the
Standing behind the altar table are (L.R.) Rev. Joseph
Wargo, St. Andrew OCA Church, Lyndora, Pa.; Rev.
Charles P. Sarells, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church,
Pittsburgh, Pa., Jamboree Chaplain General for Orthodox
Scouts; and Vladimir "Chick" Swyden, Worcester, Mass.
haplaln Generals of the 1977 National Boy Scout
J mboree, Moraine State Park, Butler, Pa.
randing: (L. to R.) Mr. Don Flanders, Membership Relationships Comm., Scouting/ U.S.A.; Rev. Bob Conrad,
Lutheran Church; Dr. John Bevan, Mormon; Rev. Charles
p, arelis, Greek Orthodox; Mr. Charles Alaman, Islam;
Rev. Bob Taylor, Saints; Mr. Gene Sternberg, Chaplain
ervices Director.
Kneeling: Rev. LeRoy Ketllnger, Church Commission,
tr. G. Edward Garnhart, Christian Science; Rev. Harold
da, Buddhist; Rabbi Gilbert Kollln, Jewish; Richard
LaRocque, Catholic; Mr. Joseph Kessler, B.S.A.
Participating In the Sacrament of Holy Communion. See
in the photo are Fr. Charles P. Sarells, assisted by Fr.
Joseph Wargo. Scouts: Robert Falk, Pittsburgh, Pa.; John
Boardman, Huntsville, Alabama; David Chem, Little
Falls, New York; and Nicholas Madlas, Weirton, W. Va.
In the background, waiting his opportunity to approach
the chalice Is Scouter Vladimir Swyden of Worcester
Mass.
scouting program, the Standing Conference of
Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America endorsed
Scouting as a basic tool by which the Orthodox
churches in America could reach out to their youth
in a meaningful and challenging manner. Orthodox
prelates have, over the years, reiterated and reaffirmed their endorsement of scouting.
It has been my pleasure over the years to ser~eas
the Chaplain General for Orthodox Scouts at various
national and international
jamborees. The 1~77
National Jamboree offered me one more opporturuty
to serve. Along with representatives of the Roman
Catholic Protestant, Islamic, Jewish, Mormon, Bud·
dhist a~d Christian Scientist communities, Orthodoxy' took her place and had the opportunity to
make her presence known.
f
Since scouting is a program with which too ew
Orthodox are familiar, and local or Orthodox
• st 0 ne to
churches espouse as a fundamental steppmg
• Pitts·
Fr. Charles Sare/is is pastor of Holy Cross Church mh
dox
O
burgh, Pa. and Jamboree Chaplain General for rt 0
Scouts.
The ord
Page8
1 productive
youth ministry on the parish level,
approximately fifty scouts of varied ethnic backgrounds at the Jamboree were Orthodox. It should
be noted that these young men were from the north• t region of our country as a rule - from Pennlvania to the New England States. Along with an
additional twenty scouters and other adult volunteers on the site, we anticipated a very good attendance at the Sunday morning celebration of the
DivineLiturgy.
His Eminence, Archbishop Iakovos, Chairman of
S.C.0.B.A., designated his Auxiliary Bishop John,
the Titular Bishop of Thermon, from Denver,
Colorado, as the celebrant at the Jamboree. The
clergy of the Sixth District of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese donated liturgy booklets for the scouts,
whilethe Orthodox Clergy J!ellowship of Pittsburgh
donated icons. These were to be used during the service and then retained by each scout as a remembrance of this special event.
did not subside was prepared. On Friday morning, I
received an emergency telephone message to
contact my office in Pittsburgh. It was then that I
was informed that, due to the sudden death of His
Beatitude, Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus, His
Grace, Bishop John would not be able to attend the
Jamboree.
By prior arrangement, Father Joseph Wargo, of
St. Andrew O.C.A. Church in Lyndora, Pa., along
with a group of his parishioners, attended the services on Sunday morning. Father Wargo brought
with him many of the liturgical articles needed for
the service, and his parishioners, together with a
number of scouts, formed a choir to chant the
responses of the Liturgy.
It must be noted that the weather Sunday
morning was so bad that services in many of the
camps were cancelled. Word of the cancellations
spread quickly about the camps, so that many
leaders told our boys not to go to church services.
Despite the torrents of rain, many boys did come
and, as a result, along with the non-Orthodox observers, a substantial congregation was formed.
It was most gratifying, as I intoned "Blessed is the
kingdom ... " to see the sun break through the
clouds and warm us all with its rays. The service was
most beautiful and inspiring, thanks to Fr. Wargo's
cooperation and the participation of a few members
of his church choir. A number of scouts received
Holy Communion. Chaplain aides, who helped with
the service, were Robert Falk, of Pittsburgh, and
Peter Sarelis, of McMurray, Pa., who also photographed the services for his hometown newspaper.
As the Jamboree moved along, the weather went
from bad to worse, until there was more water and
mudeverywhere than anyone knew what to do with.
Manyreligious services during the week were either
cancelled or postponed for better weather. The rains
reminded me of the XIII World Jamboree at the foot
of Mt. Fuji in Japan, when a typhoon deluged the
Jamboree and forced the general evacuation of all
couts.
~verything was in readiness for Sunday morning's
ervices. A contingency plan, in the event the rains
Presentation of Alpha-Omega Scout Award to Albert and
Michael Hayeck of Worcester, by Fr. Paul Moses as
Scoutmaster Vladimir "Chick"Swydan looks on.
October, 1977
Page 9
�OrthodoxChurch In America Vote Set
Selection of a Metropolitan May
Indicate Future Course of Church
by Tom Dorris
Religious News Service Staff Writer
.
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BOY SCOUT RELIGIOUS AW ARDS
1
NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. - All major churches in the U.S. have programs to recognize Cub Scouts, Scouts and
Explorers who demonstrate faith, observe their creeds or principles and give service. The emblems for this
recognition are shown above. The Orthodox Award (Alpha-Omega) is located at the top, far left corner.
In most cases, a youth member may start work toward a religious emblem as soon as he joins a unit. However,
some religious groups require that he achieve a certain rank or progress award, or have been in the unit for a
minimum period, before he can receive the emblem. (Religious News Service Photo)
Scouter Vladimir "Chick" Swyden - active
participant at the 1977 Ninth National Jamboree of
the Boy Scouts of America.
After thirty-five years in scouting, Vladimir
Swyden, known to all of us as "Chick," is still going
strong and giving his services not only to his local
scout council in Worcester, Mass., but also to his
parish's scouting program and the National Orthodox Scouting Committee, in addition to being
Sacristan of his parish, St. George Antiochian
Cathedral of Worcester.
Thirty-five years in the service of youth is a long
time for some, but for a person like Chick, who
delights in helping young men along their way to
mature, responsible adulthood through scouting,
there is never time enough for everything.
According to "Chick", more than 700 boys have
been members of Troop 72. Today, as adults, they
are in many varied fields of endeavor: a district court
judge, a prominent eye surgeon, a bio-medical
engineer in heart problems, many teachers, etc.
We wish "Chick" Swyden many years so that in
good health he may continue to serve our Orthodox
young people, our Holy Church and God. AXIOS.
.
II
·i ,.] '
From L.R.: Albert Hayeck, Senior Patrol Leader of Troor
72; Richard Rlzkalla, of Troop 87; Archbishop Mlchae~
Metropolitan Philip; George Hayeck of Troop 7_2;a;
Vladimir "Chick" Swydan, Scoutmaster of Troop 72 of t.
George Orthodox Cathedral, Worcester.
The Word
Page 10
EW YORK - When the Fifth All-American
Councilof the Orthodox Church in America meets in
\1ontreal in October, its first major order of business
willbe to choose a successor to the ailing 84-year-old
\ifetropolitan Ireney.
• That choice should provide some clues to the
extent and pace at which the OCA will continue to
move away from its association with Old World
·thnicity.It may also have some impact on the quest
for jurisdictional unity among North American
astern Orthodox.
Despite its name, the OCA is predominantly
Russian in background, though it does include
!;roups of Romanian, Albanian, and Bulgarian
parishes,as well as a notable Alaskan membership of
ndiansand Eskimos.
Though English is used for worship in more and
moreOCA parishes, and though the OCA fosters the
formation of interethnic parishes, the predominant
0CA ethos remains Russian. Indeed, until granted its
autocephaly (self-governing status) by the Russian
Orthodox Church in 1970, the OCA was called the
Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of
America.
OCA statutes say it is desirable that OCA bishops
be fluent in English (which Metropolitan Ireney,
chosen in 1965, is not). His age, degree of "Russianness,"and whether or not the new metropolitan
was born into Orthodoxy or came from another
Christiantradition will be clues to the future of OCA.
In theory, the new Orthodox Church in America
leader could be an otherwise qualified member of
another jurisdiction. Metropolitan Philip (Saliba),
head of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdioceseof North America is one such possibility and
receivesan occasional mention.
The jurisdictional question is a reminder that
againdespite its name, the OCA is not the only or the
largestOrthodox Church in America.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and
Sout~America, headed by Archbishop Iakovos, is
considerably larger in membership. Many non~rthodox tend to think U.S. Orthodoxy and Archbishop Iakovos' jurisdiction are virtually synonymous.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, based in
October,1977
c
Constantinople (Istanbul). As such, decisions about
its life and work are finally subject to approval or
disapproval in Constantinople - as happened
recently when the Ecumenical Patriarchate delayed
indefinitely a proposed archdiocesan reorganization.
The OCA's autocephaly has not been formally
acknowledged by the archdiocese or the patriarchate. Procedures for granting autocephaly and the
whole question of the situation of Eastern Orthodox
in the "diaspora" (such as the Western Hemisphere
where Orthodoxy is not traditionally a dominant
form of Christianity), remain unsettled. They are not
unrelated to traditional ecclesiastical rivalries
between Constantinople and Moscow, with the
various other autocephalous and autonomous
churches more or less in the orbit of one or the
other.
The sensitivity of the diaspora question is
suggested by the indefinite delay of a consultation of
Orthodox theologians on the subject which was to
have been held in early June at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, an OCA school in
Crestwood, N. Y.
The meeting was to have been another in a series
of inter-Orthodox theological gatherings under the
auspices of the World Council of Churches, but it
was postponed after the Ecumenical Patriarchate
objected that the subject is an internal one and to be
discussed at the projected Great Synod of Eastern
Orthodoxy some time in the next few years.
A report on the postponement in the OCA newspaper, Orthodox Church, says "informed sources"
think the patriarchate's position is "an expression of
lingering fear that a free debate on the diaspora
would lead to questioning the Patriarch's direct
control over the Greek communities of Western
Europe and, particularly, America
The
systematically negative attitude towards free debate
and discussion on the issue . . . is indeed a poor
omen for the forthcoming Council and for any kind
of leadership of Constantinople in the resolution of
pending problems in Orthodoxy."
In the same issue, the editor, the Rev. John
Meyendorff, also a professor at St. Vladimir's, attacks the "blind phyletism" of Greek and GreekAmerican newspapers which object to proposals for
a common agreement
on an autocephalous
American Orthodox body as an effort to "de-hellenize" the Greeks.
(Continued on Page 18)
Page 11
�EA TERN ORTHODOX MILITARY CHAPLAINS
ARUHDIOUESAN
OFFIUE
ASSIGNMENT
KHOURI, Rt. Rev. Antoun to the pastorate at St. George
Church in Allentown, PA
THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS for 1977-78 academic year
At Holy Cross Theological School In Brookline, MA:
O'CALLAGHAN, Francis (St. Nicholas in San Francisco,
CA)
ROMLEY, George (St. Nicholas in San Francisco, CA)
WEBSTER, Alexander (St. Mary in Cambridge, MA)
At Saint Vladimir's Theological Seminary In Crestwood,
NY:
ABDALAH, John (St. George in West Roxbury, MA)
ATTY, David (St. George in Allentown, PA)
DAHDAL, Father Nicholas (Palestine)
DELVITTO, Jason (St. Michael in Greensburg, PA)
DIERKING, Emilie (St. George in Cedar Rapids, IA)
EVANS, Michael (St. George in Wichita, KS)
GANIM, Gareth (St. Nicholas in Brooklyn, NY)
GEHA, Gary (St. George in Detroit, MI)
GEORGE, Matthew (St. George in West Roxbury, MA)
HARDIE, Robert (St. Luke in Garden Grove, CA)
HUGHES, Edward (St. Mary in Wilkes-Barre, PA)
NASR, Elias (St. Nicholas in Beckley, WV)
PURPURA, Deacon Joseph (St. George in Norwood, MA)
SHALHOUB, Elia (Lebanon)
Beloved Pastors and Faithful of our Archdiocese:
Grace
Christ.
and peace to you from Our Lord Jesus
It has become customary that during the month
of October a special collection be made in our
parishes to support the work of our Orthodox
Theological Seminaries in North America. Once
again, we extend an invitation to each of you to
make a generous contribution for the support of
these institutions. With each passing year, the need
for quality theological education becomes more
urgent for our Church. The demands that our society
places upon today's Priest make it imperative that he
be well grounded in the theology and practices of
Orthodoxy.
For many years your Archdiocese has supported
an enlightened policy of encouragement and financial aid to theological students, many of whom could
Archpriest Nicholas T. Kiryluk
Chaplain, Colonel, USAF
Dean of Orthodox Military Chaplains
W ASHIELEWSKI, Terrance (St. George in Albany, NY)
DEANS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE
Protosyngelos (Dean of the Clergy)-Archimandrite Ell'
~~ri
I
New England Deanery-Archimandrite Athanasius Salib
Canadian Deanery-Priest Joseph Shaheen
a
Upstate New York Deanery-Priest Daniel Griffith
Western New York Deanery-Priest George Aswad
Southern Florida Deanery-Archpriest Michael Husson
Southeast Deanery-Archpriest John Hamatie
Western
Pennsylvania
Deanery-Archimandrite
Paul
Saliba
Eastern Pennsylvania Deanery-Archpriest George Rados
Metropolitan
New York Deanery-Economos Michael
Simon
Michigan Deanery-Archpriest John Estephan
Ohio Deanery-Archpriest James Meena
West Virginia Deanery-Priest Olof Scott
Iowa Deanery-Priest Constantine Nasr
Central
States
Deanery-Archimandrite
Athanasios
Emmert
Texas Mississippi Deanery-Archimandrite John Namie
Kansas Oklahoma Deanery-Archpriest Elias Karim
Northern California Deanery-Archpriest Gregory Ofiesh
Southern California Deanery-Archpriest Paul Romley
Arizona Deanery-Priest Elias Ziton
not have otherwise received this education. You
clearly demonstrated your commitment to Christ
and your vision for the future this past year by
establishing the Foundation for the Balamand
Academy which keeps the flame of Orthodoxy
burning in the Middle East. Now, beloved in Christ,
we are called upon to exhibit this same commitment
and vision for the future of Orthodoxy in North
America. We in this Archdiocese have been blessed
by the work and ministry of the graduates of our
North American seminaries. We now call upon you
to share in their sacred mission of preparing laborers
for Christ's Vineyard by being generous in your
prayers and financial contributions. Please channel
your contributions through your local parish.
Asking God's blessings upon you, we remain
Yours in His Service,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
The Word
Page 12
JTED STATES AIR FORCE
Chaplain,Colonel, Nicholas T. Kiryluk
I 100ABW I HC
BollingAFB, DC 203~2
..
Chaplain,Colonel, Michael Marg1t1ch
b()ABGI HC
Tra is AFB, CA 94535
Chaplain,Captain, H. Gregory Dudash
33 OABGIHC
Keesler, MISS 39534
Chaplain,Captain, Gregory H. Pelesh
400ABG/HC
PO, New York 09130
Chaplain,Lt. Col, William B. Stroyen
LacklandMilitary Training Center/ HC
LacklandAFB, TX 78236
·~JTED STATES NA VY
LTJGDennis Dorko, CHC, USNR
Administrative Command
avalTraining Center
Great Lakes, IL 60088
CAPTMichael Frimenko, CHC, USN
DivisionChaplain
2dMarine Division
CampLejeune, NC 28542
LCDRPeter C. Haskell, CHC, USNR
avalChaplains School
NETC- Building 117
ewport, RI 02840
CAPTGeorge I. Paulson, CHC USN
avalAir Station
orfolk, VA 23511
LTPaul Pyrch, CHC, USNR
MarineCorps Recruit Depot, Box 476
ParrisIsland, SC 29905
LCDRRobert M. Radasky, CHC, USNR
(Postgraduate Year)
Universityof California
LTMichael Simerick, CHC, USNR
Chaplains'Office
CampPendleton, CA
UNITEDSTATES ARMY
Chaplain(Captain) Theodore Boback, Jr.
Chaplains'Office
RetrainingBrigade, 1st Division
FortRiley, Kansas 66442
Chaplain(Captain) Nicholas J. Craciun
Hq,.XVIII ABN Corps ARTY
Officeof the Chaplain
FortBragg, NC 28307
Chaplain(Captain) Nicholas Czaruk
Hq,2nd Battalion 60th ADA
APO,New York 09012
October,1977
His Beatitude meeting with Kurt Waldheim, Secretary
General of the United Nations.
Chaplain (Captain) Y aroslav Hamperzonian
Chaplain's Office
Ft Hood, TX 76544
Chaplain (Captain) Elias Krenitsky
87th Maintenance BN
•
APO, New York 09047
Chaplain (Lt Col) Milan Murja
USMCA, Box 526
APO, New York 09457
Chaplain (Captain) Theodore Orzolek
Chaplain's Office
Fort Knox, Kentucky 40121
Chaplain (Major) Constantinos Rogakas
US Army Chaplain Center and School
Ft. Wadsworth, Staten Island, NY 10305
Chaplain (Captain) Peter Telencio
Chaplain's Office
101st Airborne Division
Fort Campbell, Kentucky 42223
AIR FORCE RESERVE CHAPLAINS
Chaplain, Lt Col, Daniel Ressetar, USAFR
5501 Locust Lane
Harrisburg, PA 17107
Chaplain, Captain, Andrew Harrison, USAFR
937 E. Belleview Ave.
Littleton, CO 80121
NA VY RESERVE CHAPLAINS
Chaplain (LCDR) John Sochka
1095 Carll Straight Path
Dix Hills, New York 11746
RETIRED CHAPLAINS *
Chaplain (LCDR) Alvian Smirensky, USNR
Chaplain (LCDR) Alexander Seniavsky, USN
Chaplain (CDR) Boris Geeza, USN
* An officially retired chaplain must have a minimum of
20 years of service.
Page 13
�Department of Christian Education
Getting
Parents
DIALOGUE
Involved
dr. john boojamra
·CHRIST
T&~CHING
:-
One of the main complaints from both parish
clergy and church school
teachers is the almost total
lack
of parental
involvement and the feeling
that the work of the church
school is not supported by
the parents at home. Part of
the problem
is parent
apathy, but part of the
problem is also the failure
of the parish to try to
actually
involve
the
parents, or let them know
how important they are, or
introduce them to the work
of the sunday school. In
most cases the family is
simply ignored.
The first thing to do is to
let the parents know they
are important and that they
can be helpful. There are
several possible techniques
for introducing the parents to the work of the church
school and inviting their participation not only in the
home and in getting the kids to the class on time, but in
the actual process of the church school program. The
following will outline an approach based on getting some
information to the parents to enable them to fulfill their
roles as Christian Parents more effectively. One of the
most creative and effective ways to motivate people is to
convince them that you want to help them to do their jobs.
Largely, the parents I have met are in fact saying to us that
they need us, the parish priest and the teacher, to tell them
that they are capable of contributing to the conscious
religious growth of their children. The first step in the
process is to let them know what you are trying to do with
their children in the church school.
The church school might try a rather common practice
of a family communion breakfast. Instead, however, of
having it for the entire church school at one time, have it
only for one or two grades at the most at one time. Hold
these weekly at the beginning of the church school year
and run them consecutively for as many weeks as
necessary until you have covered the entire church
school. In order to avoid wasting time, do not allow any of
the participating parents to do the cooking or cleaning up.
Make the breakfast simple (cold cereal, milk, coffee,
cake, and juice) so as to cut down on the work. You might
by-pass this completely by having the meal o~dered and
brought in from a caterer. After the breakfast 1s over, the
parents are asked to introduce themselves and to make
one or two statements about what types of things the·
families enjoy doing together. If you organize this by 0~;
or two grades at the most and seat the parents and
children by grades this will flow smoothly.
After these brief statements and comments by the
parents and the children, the class teacher, the church
school director, or the parish priest should introduce the
parents to the type of work being done in the particular
class, the activities used, the content of the curriculum
being covered, the types of things the parents might do at
home to encourage these ideas being taught. You should
also have something printed up for distribution with the
outline of what you want to get across at the breakfast.
You might also have samples of the materials being used
and copies of YOUNG LIFE magazines for distribution
(limited back issues and subscription forms are available
for free distribution
from the Orthodox Christian
Education Commission, Box 174, Centuck Station,
Yonkers, New York 10710).
In addition to the comments to be made, it would be a
good idea to offer parents the opportunity to become
directly involved in the session by having them fill out two
forms "Parents Resource
Sheet" and "Getting
Acquainted with your Child" (samples of which can be
obtained from the Archdiocese
Dept. of Christian
Education). By doing this you are telling the parents that
you would like them to be involved in those special class
or church school projects for which the teachers do not
have the necessary expertise. From these forms you can
then establish a parent talent .file; you can then call on
these people when you have need of them.
For the upper grades you might invite a youth
counselor and encourage the parents and the teens to talk
about themselves and their feelings towards one another
and the Church. Pass out samples of UPBEAT Magazine
and subscription forms from the same OCEC source.
If the breakfast idea does not suit your situation or is
too limited, you might try an early evening coffee and
cake meeting for each group separately following the
outline used above, but without the presence of the
children. This might provide for a freer discussion of ideas
and common problems among the parents. You might also
invite a child specialist or psychologist to present the
parents with a general picture of where the children are at,
in terms of emotional and learning development and how
these general characteristics might be used to ~ore fully
integrate the child into the life of the Church m a more
meaningful way. Since this is a more formal approach :he
person leading the group must be well-preped to outhne
both the spiritual needs of the child at a particular age ?f
the class and the content of the materials being used ~n
that class. Both sessions involve work, but the results will
be well worth it in terms of the heightened awareness ?f
the parents of what the church school is trying to do and 10
terms of what you have given them as tools to be more
effective Christian parents.
The Word
Page 14
• • •
questions to father buben
The following questions were asked by Robert
Andrews of L<;>~Angeles. They were answered by
Metropolitan Ph1hp •
a) ls the Ort~odox Yout? '!1ovement in Syria and
Lebanonstill alzve and functlomng?
b) ls there a chance in the near future that our Patriarchate of Antioch will give her "blessings" for the
autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America, or are
theobjections valid for all time?
c) Are there any publications of the Patriarchate that are
.vailablein English?
A SWERS:
a) The Orthodox Youth Movement in Lebanon and
yriais still very much alive. As a matter of fact, members
of this movement were very much active in helping needy,
distressedand destitute families during the two-year civil
warin Lebanon. Before the war the youth movement was
extremely active preaching the Word of God in many
Orthodox cities and towns and printing Orthodox
ChristianEducation materials to be distributed to various
parishes.I know that the youth movement in Lebanon and
Syriahas already given the Church nuns, priests and a few
bishops.
b) The whole question of Autocephaly and how to
grant it will be discussed in the future Orthodox Great
Synod.According to "The Orthodox Church" published
by the Orthodox Church in America, the Pre-Synodical
Committeewhich met in Geneva in November to prepare
an agenda for the Great Synod approved ten points. One
of them is: "The situation of Orthodox diaspora (believers
livingin areas not traditionally Orthodox) as a result of
different waves of migration from East Europe, Russia,
Greece and the Middle East, Eastern Orthodox in the
WesternHemisphere, Western Europe and Australia exist
in many geographically overlapping, largely ethnic
jurisdictions, a situation considered canonically and
theologically indefensible as a lasting arrangement." The
?reat Synod will also discuss procedures for granting
mdependence to Orthodox Churches. Antioch was
representedon the Pre-Synodical Committee which met in
Geneva and will definitely take part in the future
OrthodoxGreat Synod. It is still to be seen what kind of
attitude Antioch will take vis-a-vis an autocephalous
OrthodoxChurch in North America.
~) There are no publications of the Patriarchate of
Antioch which are available in English, except our
publicationTHE WORD.
QUESTION:"What position do the Orthodox hold about
the Shroud of Turin?
ANSWER:After reading countless books on the subject,
and after reading an article in the Jordanville Monastery
October,1977
publication "Orthodox Life," I had taken an affirmative
stand about the Shroud. I mentioned briefly in one issue
of Dialogue, that it may have been one of our original
Plachanitza's believed stolen from Constantinople.
Lo and behold, I received the following most detailed
letter on the subject from a good friend, Fr. Lev Podalio of
the Sts. Kyrll & Methody Orthodox Christian Educational
Society, Box 404, Chilliwack, B.C., Canada.
We are very pleased and grateful for Fr. Lev's letter.
We share it here with our readers . . .
.. . About the Turin Shroud. When we look at it - i.e.,
the photo of it, we can see that it looks like many of our
Epitaphions, but we notice at once that it in no-way
corresponds with either the Scriptural description of the
Winding Strips or with period burial practices. According
to St. John the Evangelist and Theologian (who was there
and saw) Christ was not encased in a linen envelope or
sack, as the Turin Shroud indicates, but was wrapped in a
winding sheet (or wrapping strips), and His face was not
covered by these, but by a separate cloth, as was
traditional. This is clearly witnessed to in the ikons of the
burial (see, for example the famous "cosmic grief" ikon,
16th century Novgorod school. Compare the ikons of the
raising of Lazarus).
The fact is that the so-called Epitaphion or
Plaschanitza is an ikon of the anointing of the Body, the
wrapping stone where the Body was laid out, washed,
anointed, mourned or lamented over, and then wrapped in
linen or cloth strips. It is not at all a winding sheet or
shroud. This is why it is carried out for the Lamentations.
What is more telling is history and Sacred Tradition. In
the Holy Church, Sacred Tradition is a firm bulwark
against the "traditions of men." Nowhere in this Tradition,
nor indeed in the ordinary history of the Church, is there
so much as a hint of reference to the existence or presence
of the winding sheet (or a shroud) of Our Saviour. No such
hint exists in the Traditions of any of the local churches.
Apologists for the Turin Shroud claim that it was a
much-venerated relic in the East, that it was kept in
Vlakernal (with the sash or zone, of the Theotokos) and
that Crusaders carried it back to the West with the other
holy things they stole from Constantinople.
But there is not even a possibility for this, for such a
relic would have been a most beloved treasure of the
Church. Yet in the list of relics which the Holy Church
made and presented to Rome asking for their return, no
shroud is even mentioned. And though there are
numerous hymns, an akathist and a Canon for the AllHonorable Cross, and four Feastdays commemorating it,
and though the sash of the Theotokos is greatly honored
(Continued on Page 20)
Page 15
�DAILY DEVOTIONS
LIFESTYLES X
compiled by fr. gerasimo
murph
homily by father james c. meena
n attempt to encourage our faithful
to study Holy Scripture through
LITURGY OF LIFE
An article in the July 28, 1976, issue of the Christian
Science Monitor was entitled, "Membership of Churches
is Changing." The essence of the article is that there has
been a general decline in membership in those Churches
that have adopted ultra-liberal attitudes than in the more
conservative or fundamentalist
Churches where the
enrollment has increased significantly. Some of the
denominations which have grown in the past few years are
mentioned. It is notable that among them there is not a
single "ethnic" Church. Such _polls as these seldom take
into consideration Churches such as ours where the concept of fa~ily is central to the life of the Church and the
community. They give a great deal of credit to those
"fundamentalist" churches which they c~ll "conservative"
because they have what the Monitor calls "an aggressive
evangelism and youth and missionary program."
There is no question in my mind that some fundamentalists have attained a level of spiritual commitment
which is to be admired. In many of the households of
fundamentalist Christians I have found a family discipline
of prayer, piety and devotion that cannot be denied.
The Commandments of the Church instruct Orthodox
Christians to pray daily, to attend the Divine Liturgy faithfully, especially on the Lord's Day and to receive the
Eucharist frequently because as our concept of the Family
of God is unique in the Christian world, the Liturgy calls
us and mystically binds us together in the transforming
Eucharistic offering of the bloodless sacrifice, so we might
take that Liturgical message of transformation into the
world. On the other hand, in those churches where there
is no Liturgical worship, there has evolved a substitute a liturgy of the family - where family members are called
together in common prayer at every meal or at least at the
major meal of the day, where they spend a certain amount
of time each day in devotional reading of Scripture and in
a common growth together in an understanding of the
Word of God. This is what impresses us when we meet
such people. Every day they celebrate a "Liturgy of Life."
We must not think that this "difference" is natural. The
Orthodox Divine Liturgy of the whole Family of God is
intended to be the consumation of that daily "Liturgy of
daily liturgical readings-
Life" ea~h <:>fus is supposed to practice in our individual
and famt!Y h_fe-style. We are_taught to spend time in praye,
and med1tat10n, m the offermg up of our own sinful nature
to God each day. We are commanded to spend time each
day_with our childre~ and with our loved ones reading the
Scriptures and offermg up prayers of thanksgiving and
glory to God.
I am really very much struck by the way history allows
things to evolve in the lives of men. Compare the Orthodox Church, which contends that She has the fullness of
faith, (and She has), but whose people express piety only
in the calling together of the Family of God - but some·
how have lost that concept of the "Liturgy of Life" as a
daily practice in the household, with those "fundamentalist", "reformed" churches who have no Liturgy of
the wholeness of the Family of God but have developed a
liturgy of the individual family. There is a mystery here
that needs to be fathomed by someone much wiser than I.
Beloved, if devotion starts with the individual human
family then the prayers of the Family of God are com·
plete, for the Family of God is a calling together of all the
faithful and of all faithful families. Each stands as surety
for their children, that they will be raised as devout
members of the Family of God. If you are not fulfilling
that covenant made at the baptism of your children then
you are defaulting in your promises to God. These
promises are kept not merely by coming to Church on
occasion or even every Sunday but by making every daya
celebration of the "Liturgy of Life," by carrying the con·
cept of piety and sanctity which we come to understand at
the Divine Liturgy into everything that we do from
moment to moment, day to day.
We need to appreciate the importance of restorati?n
and renewal of those concepts which are eternal in the life
of the Church and which never change, even though,
through the accidents of history, we may have forgotten
about them.
"Work for the Lord with untiring efforts and with great
earnestness of spirit. Don't give up when you are tempted.
Don't give up in the face of trial and tribulations but keep
on praying." (Romans 12:6-14).
The Word
Page 16
WEEK OF OCTOBER 9
Sun.:
Ill
}.fl
'~}\\~\\~
~
llll
WEEK OF OCTOBER 23
Sun.:
Gal. 6:11-18
Luke 16: 19-31
Mon.: 1 Thess. 1: 1-5
Luke 10:22-24
Tue.: 1 Thess. 1:6-10
Luke 11:1-10
Wed.: 1 Thess. 2:9-14
Luke 11:14-23
Thu.: 1 Thess. 2:9-14
Luke 11:14-23
Fri.:
1 Thess. 2: 14-19
Luke 11 :23-26
Sat.: 2 Cor. 8: 1-5
Luke 8:16-21
October, 1977
Gal. 1: 11-19
Luke 7:11-16
Mon.: Philip 4: 10-23
Luke 7 :36-50
Tue.: Col. 1: 1-2: 7-11
Luke 8:1-3
Wed.: Col. 1: 18-23
Luke 8:22-25
Thu.: Col. 1:24-29
Luke 9:7-11
Fri.:
Col. 2: 1-7
Luke 9:12-18
Sat.: 2Cor. 3:12-18
Luke 6:1-10
WEEK OF OCTOBER 16
Sun.:
Gal. 2: 16-20
Luke 8:5-15
Col. 2:13-20
Luke 9: 18-22
Col. 2:20-3:3
Luke 9:23-27
Col. 3: 17-4:1
Luke 9:44-50
II Tim. 1:2-8
Luke 7: 17-30
Col. 4: 10-18
Luke 10:1-15
2 Cor. 5: 1-10
Luke 7:2-10
Mon.:
Tue.:
Wed.:
Thu.:
Fri.:
Sat.:
WEEK OF OCTOBER 30
Sun.:
Eph. 2:4-10
Luke 8:26-39
Mon.: 1 Thess. 2:20-3:8
Luke 11:29-33
Tue.: 1 Thess. 3:9-13
Luke 11:34-41
Wed.: 1 Thess. 4:1-12
Luke 11:42-46
Thu.: 1 Thess. 5:1-8
Luke 11:47-12:1
Fri.:
1 Thess. 5:9-13, 24-28
Luke 12:2-12
Sat.: 2Cor.11:1-6
Luke 9:1-6
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Page 17
�DEPARTMENT
OF SACRED
MUSIC
MUSICAL REFLECTION~PATRIARCHAL
director
Singers who are aware of their mission and fulfill it
thru personal commitment ... these are the people who
make the religious life of our Conferences a true emotional spiritual experience, voices from all the cities within
a SOYO Region, and in the case of the Archdiocese Conference, voices from all over the United States and
Canada serving God's Church with such dedication and
zeal contribute so much to the religious life of our conferences.
REGIONAL LEVEL
There have been glowing reports from all the regions
in regards to the Choir Festivals and the Liturgical Services during this Patriarchal Year. I managed to attend the
Can-Am and the Midwest regions and have heard tapes
from several other regions and the work has been outstanding. All regions reported at least 100 voices in their
combined efforts and some had as many as 150 voices.
This is tremendous and we congratulate all the people in
the regions who were responsible for this success.
Aside from the Liturgical and Festival singing, the
Choirs provided a great deal of entertainment
in the
secular area. Some of the regions were treated to a full
night's entertainment
arranged and provided for by the
Choirs. The Patriarch was very impressed by the singing of
our choirs and soloists and needless to· say anyone con-
Selection of a Metropolitan May
Indicate Future Course of Church
(Continued from Page 11)
("Phyletism" was condemned by the Council of
Constantinople
of 1872 as "formation of special
national churches, each accepting all the members
of its particular nation, excluding all aliens and
governed exclusively by pastors of its own nation.")
Father Meyendorff says the campaign shows "the
real predicament under which the leaders of the
Greek Church in this country are exercising their
ministry. If they were to move in the direction of
Orthodox unity, they would have to overcome a
rather frightening journalistic and political demagoguery by people who consider the Orthodox
Church as nothing more than an ethnic club,
designed to serve the interests of nationa~ism, and, ~n
America, the dependence of the various ethmc
churches
upon
ecclesiastico-political
centers
abroad."
He concludes that the OCA's "progress in the
past years shows that the heresy of phyletism. is
bound to rescind and that all those who really desire
Orthodox unity - without losing anything which is
Page 18
Antiocllian ®rtilohox QlilrintianDom.en
of Nortq 1\merica
YEAR 1977
of sacred music-raymond
j. geor
nected with the music .program in any
way should be ,er•
.
.
prou d o f t h e accomp 11shments. Bemg Director of
• 1t
• ma d e me very proud to have so many ofacr
M us1c,
our
f e 11ow pans• h"10ners say how proud they are of their choir
and the way they performed.
ARCHDIOCESE LEVEL
My sincerest thanks to all the people who particip
• t h e Ch mr• wor k at t h e Archdiocese
•
ate
m
Conference
singers who were attending the Conference in. ot~n
capacities such as Delegates, Permanent Chairm r
Members of the Archdiocese Board, Clergy and othen
took_ the time to sing ~th ~he Choir at the 6 Ves;;r
Services as well as the 6 L1turg1es that were a major part of
the Conference. We never had less than 50 voices at an
one service, including the Vesper Service on Monda
evening, one day prior to the official opening of the Co~ference. We had over 150 voices for the Hierarchi I
Liturgy who sang with the desire to make this a mo t
historic Liturgy concluding the visit of our Patriarch to th
North American Continent. After 7 days of meeting
Church Services and socializing, worn out as we were it
seems as though strength came from somewhere to allo.,
us to sing a most satisfying .and memorable Sunda •
Liturgy. Thanks to all the participants ... a job truly well
done.
precious and positive in their ethnic traditions - will
join us in our common Orthodox witness to the
world of today."
The continuing multiplicity of mostly ethnic U..
Orthodox jurisdictions suggests that the OCA
appeal to "join us" has not yet engendered great
enthusiasm, particularly by those who think the
denomination should not have opted for autocephal
without common agreement (which agreement
others think would be much longer in coming
without the pressure of the OCA "fait accompli").
Despite the Romanian, Albanian, and Bulgarian
dioceses in the OCA, there continue to be non-OCA
jurisdictions of those groups. The Romanian a_nd
Bulgarian jurisdictions are tied to their respect1 e
0 Id World patriarchates.
.
.
The recent reception of some Bulganan pans_hes
by the OCA reportedly brought indirect compla~nts
from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The ~oss1bl_e
OCA reception of one or more Greek parishes is
another potential occasion of friction.
.
On the other hand the head of the Romaman
patriarchal jurisdiction' in the United States visited
OCA headquarters
late this Winter. The a_r~hbishop's "formal approach ... was seen as a positi e
and helpful step toward fuller unity of the Orthodox
in America," the OCA newspaper said.
The
or
AN APPEAL
TO WOMEN
The AOCWNA is now a vital force of Christian Feminine Leadership in our beloved Archdiocese.
Philip's desire to unite the women into a cohesive force in works of love and charity is a reality.
Metropolitan
Our first work of charity, the Continuing Pastoral Education Fund is now in excess of $20,000 with two recipients.
Our Balamand Seminary Drive goal of $25,000 was realized and a check was presented to Metropolitan Philip at our
rchdiocese Conference in Washington, D.C. God bless our ladies and their dedication!
Our new 1977-78 Charity Project was unanimously selected by our North American Board this July in Washington. It
i MISSIONS - the provision of financial aid to support mission churches within our Archdiocese! As in the past,
the Archdiocese must continue to provide help, when needed, for new parishes to survive or augment the salary of
the Pastor, as well as supplying them with Liturgical and educational materials without charge. Our new missions
are:
St. Basil-New Orleans, La.-exists
Cincinnati, Ohio-potential
Knoxville, Tennessee-potential
Tampa, Florida-potential
St. Petersburg, Florida-potential
St. Ignatius-Windsor, Ontario-exists
You can help make potential missions a reality! Our AOCWNA can truly help sppead our Orthodoxy and make
others aware of it through funding this vital department! The more funds we raise, the more help can be given to our
struggling missions! Let us women continue to be the yeast of all good works for our faith, for our parishes and for
our Archdiocese!
Your regional and North American Executive Board Officers are ready to help you in anyway possible. If you are not
already involved in your local women's organization, join now and become a part of this dynamic organization!
Together we can realize Christian Leadership; Love and Fellowship and Charitable Deeds. May God bless your
efforts, your dedication, your faith and your charity.
Your Sister in Christ,
RuthMeena
Public Relations
Woman's
"One giant step for womankind" was described as the
progress gained in the last ten years by International
Woman's Year in Washington, D. C. In the past ten years
women have been enabled to assume many status-raising
chores. At the University of Yale, a woman was given the
econd highest rank, that of Provost. In government, a
woman was named last year to assume head of the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Opportunities were expanded for training women in many
newcareers.
According to the Miami Herald, "the role of women in
religionbecame an issue for public discussion and also for
intense self-examination."
The Women's Liberation
movement affected many women's lives. The Orthodox
woman is no exception. Her activities are highlighted in
manyphases of the Church.
0 tober, 1977
Role
Though she cannot be ordained into the Priesthood,
she may now study Christian Education at St. Vladimir's
Seminary. She is now represented on the governing Board
of Trustees of the Archdiocese. She serves on the Council
of her own church. She is encouraged to express herself in
oratorical contests sponsored by the Archdiocese. She has
united with her sisters in forming the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women's Organization
of North
America. Created in 1974 at the Annual Archdiocesan
Convention in Montreal, one of its goals encourages
woman to be heard in her own community, spreading
fellowship, seeking more significant understanding of her
faith.
Basically, the true Church woman cannot change. The
Theotokos - supreme womanhood - is represented on
Page 19
�the Icon~stasis as being on the right hand of our Lord
~:us ~hnst. The ~rthodox woman is the right hand of her
w:rc
• Her love is far-reaching, her devotion constant.
f ~; she serves the many personalities in her own
ami Y, sh: can extend herself to love and understand the
1arger familyof humanity.
. ~an,_ or the father figure, has long been associated
with JUstlc~, discipline, order; but the maternal image woman - is synonymous with mercy, compassion, love.
Bu! for the devotion of its women, our parishes would
not exist_. Many wome~ ~ave contributed to the equity we
~ow_ en~oy by _raismg funds, teaching youngsters,
smgmg m the Choir, giving unstintingly of their time.
Though each of our women cares and strives to serve in
her own way, occasionally differences occur. Sometimes,
our ~omen lose sight of the reason for all their activitys~rvice to ?od and the growth of our parishes. At such
times, special praise goes to those women who have the
sensitivity and awareness to perform in the face of
hostility and defeating upsets. This takes courage. Truly
blessed are those who listen with a sympathetic ear and
promote peace when it is hostile. This takes love.
The
ancient
Greek oracles counselled all individuals to
"recognize
their own possibilities, enlightening
new
aspects of themselves and their interpersonal relationships." We must constantly look inward to improve
DIALOGUE
• • •
(Continued from Page 15)
with feasts and hymns and monasteries and churches are
named for it, nowhere is there a single hymn, poem, canon
or even a word honoring any shroud. Nothing has ever
been named for it, and it is unknown in the entire history
of the Church, and left unmentioned in the entire body of
Church writings so far as I know even in the
Apocryphal
writings. This, of course, is a series of
omissions which would be patently impossible if the thing
did exist or ever had.
Perhaps the Crusaders managed to carry away a worn
out Epitaphion done in vegetable or herbal dyes (as they
often were in early times) and faded after much use (now
more faded with age).
Moreover,
we consider the scientific speculations
concerning
the shroud
to be blasphemous.
The
"vaporgraph" explanation is especially so, since it would
indicate that the Body of Our Dear Saviour had experienced
decay. To us, such speculations appear as
desperate attempts by ~on-believers to ~ras~ at a faith
with which they do not wish to part, but which, m fact they
do not have. The shroud and the debates which surround
it are just expressions of the scholastic rationalism which
became a substitute for faith in so much of the West.
Please don't be offended in us. We are not condemning, criticizing or judging. Your own sincerity and
Pa2e 20
ours~lves, develop our creativity, so that we
preciate and understand the best traits in oth
ma ap.
ers.
I believe that all women possess this all
f
1
I
-encompa 1
orce - ove. ts power is tremendous. An ld C . r
proverb equates love with righteousness and Io
hin
,
quote:
"If there is righteousness
in the heart , th ere1s
. b eaut•·
.
1
th e c h aracte~. If there is
beauty in the character th
be harmony m the home. If there is harmony in' th er: ~,II
there will be order in the nation. When th
. e om
.
h
.
ere is order I
th e nation,
t ere will be peace in the world."
:
North American Council
OYODigest
News and Views ...
Peace starts with one individual. Five bas 1•
f
h f
.
c ru 1es ar
;\. ?rt
ocr us ~n The Word by the Chairman of th
e ig10us
ommittee of our Archdiocese w
.
organization.
omen
1. Our Christian attitude must be maintained b
Sunday morning.
e n
~- Our behaviour on a one to one basis must b
Christ would have us behave.
a
3. Our moral standard must be the same as we dema d
of others.
n
4. Our Church etiquette must be maintained.
5. Our daily life-style must truly be Christ-centered.
Elaine L. Aza
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
concern for the faithful is so evident from what you ha\"e
written in THE WORD that no one could ever doubt it.
Incidently, we gave you a complimentary sucscription
to our journals (Sts. Kyril & Methody) Herald (month!,
and Synaxis: Theology in the Twentieth Century (yearl ).
So when they come, you'll know why.
By the way, Lossky & Ouspensky in their book Th
Meaning of Icons discuss briefly the portrayal of GodThe-Father, on p. 207. We hope to translate the Stogla.
into English soon, and also find the references in The
Great Council of Moscow of a century later. By way of
interest, it seems that some Russians in early times, seeing
Christ portrayed as an Old Man in ikons of the Ancient of
Days, thought that this was God -The-Father bearing a
"family resemblance" to Christ. This may explain wh
most Russian portrayals of the Father are clearly, chronographically, the Ancient of Days.
.
Please pray for us, and forgive us for everything.
Please do not be off ended by us . . .
COMMENT: As they say Fr. Lev - Nechevo . .. Man
Years to you . . . We appreciate material like yours and
welcome them to the pages of DIALOGUE from you and
others who are helping the cause of our common
Orthodox Faith. Thank you most sincerely. . •
ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, ADVISE, HELP???
Send your letter write now to:
VERY REV. MICHAEL BUBEN
103 PLEASANT STREET
METHUEN, MA. 01844
Toe
ord
YOUTH
.0
MONTH
ur beloved spiritual children of SOYO and Teen
0 0:
..~ e have seen the True Light! We have received the
HeavenlySpirit! We have found the True Faith!"
These words, taken from the familiar post-Communion
vmn of our Liturgy, aptly describe our feelings as we
.. .ect upon the recent visit of Our Father in Christ,
Patriarch ELIAS IV. No longer does the mention of his
me during our prayers merely conjure up an image of a
di tant man in a distant place, but beautiful memories of a
ving individual who opened his heart to us and who in
urn has found a place in ours. We thank you for helping
Holy Year an outstanding sue0 make this Antiochian
, and trust that it will continue to be an inspiration to
ou for the confirmation of your Faith for many, many
·earsto come.
Last year our logo bore the images of Saints Peter and
Paul the Apostles, the founders and patrons of our
Patriarchate. Since both of these Saints are also
remembered as outstanding missionaries and evangelizers,
t is fitting that in this coming year SOYO has adopted
n: sion work and evangelization as its main project. This
year's theme of "GO PREACH THE GOSPEL" is the
iogicalcontinuation of our work this past year. During the
ummer of 1977 we were reminded of our ancient
Christianheritage. We had the opportunity to be blessed
by our Patriarch who is the living link in a chain which
findsits root directly in the Apostles and Our Lord Jesus
Christ.Having realized this great gift with which we have
beenblessed, it is apropos that we commit ourselves to the
preading of this same Good News of Jesus Christ, .in the
ame spirit and with the same dedication that it was
broughtto our ancestors by Saints Peter and Paul.
The mission work of Saints Peter and Paul, which must
beour own work, consisted of three aspects:
1) Self-Evangellzatlon: Before the Apostles dared to
preach the Good News to others, they made the
Gospel alive and meaningful to themselves through
prayer, fasting and tasting of the Kingdom. Can we
do less? How can we hope to attract the unchurched
Orthodox and our non-Orthodox neighbors to the
Church unless we ourselves are commited to her
Truths? Our first step in mission work this coming
year must, therefore, be to commit ourselves to an
tober, 1977
MESSAGE
active prayer life, regular participation in the
Eucharist and all liturgical services, studying the
Faith individually at home and in Study Groups in
our parishes.
2) Parish Revitalization: Reading through the Acts
of the Apostles and the Epistles, we cannot help but
notice that the Apostles spared no effort to keep
established Christian communities vibrant. They did
not merely go from place to place founding communities and then abandon them to their own
means. They returned to visit them many times.
When these visits were impossible, the Apostles
wrote letters (the Epistles) to them, exhorting them
to remain true to the Gospel of Christ. This must be
our second step also. After we have commited
ourselves through self-evangelization, we have an
obligation to revitalize our home parishes to the
Good News. How many friends and relatives do we
have who were baptized into Orthodoxy, but
somehow fell away from active parish life? In this
second step, we must seek out these lost sheep and
return them to the fold. Remember the parable of
the Good Shepherd. He was not satisfied with having
the ninety-nine in His possession, but went out to
find the one who had strayed. Only when the entire
fold was in His possession was His joy complete.
3) New Community Development:
Having
enlightened ourselves and our existing parishes, the
third phase of mission work is to spread the Good
News to the unchurched of our nation (estimated to
be over 40 per cent of the population). We should
seek out those numerous areas where no Orthodox
witness exists in the form of a parish. Finding a
nucleus of unchurched Orthodox in these areas
might be a beginning, but it in no way can limit our
responsibility to preach to people from all ethnic
and racial backgrounds. Statistics tell us that the
field is ready for harvesting, and the Gospel compels
us to become laborers in this field.
As you can see, the 1978 SOYO theme of "GO PREACH
THE GOSPEL" has many facets ... enough so that every
SOYO chapter and every parish can be involved in this
exciting dimension of the Faith. SOYO is not the only
movement within our Archdiocese to adopt mission work
as a main theme for this year. You have been joined by the
AOCWNA, the Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, and
Page 21
�the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees. The theme for the
1978 General Convention of the Archdiocese which will
convene in Houston, is "GO YE THEREF,ORE AND
TEACH ALL NATIONS." The success that we achieved
by working together as one family for one common
purpose this past year, should inspire us to succeed
together again in 1978.
With prayers that Christ the Good Shepherd may
empower you to bring glory to His Name, we remain
Yours in His Service,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America
OCTOBER
IS YOUTH MONTH
Since its inception in the post World War II era,
SOYO has developed by stages within the life of our
Archdiocese.
From its early goals of sponsoring
church school programs and choirs, SOYO expanded its programs and formulated a platform of
Awareness and Commitment. Today, as an outgrowth of the Awareness and Commitment platform,
SOYO is again redirecting its efforts. Inspired by a
grass roots movement within the Southwest Region,
NAC SOYO has adopted a new program of Missions
for the Archdiocese. This new endeavor represents a
challenge to each of our members, for if this
program is to succeed, a commitment on the part of
each individual is required. As a member of a former
mission parish, I have found that the greatest threat
to the members of that fledgling parish is uncertainty. After the initial enthusiasm of the mission
church members wanes, financial instability, petty
differences, and tremendous sacrifice all seem to
plague the mission from time to time. It will be the
task of SOYO to be committed to the parish not only
in its initial foundation, but to provide support as the
mission-parish grows. Therefore, the development of
the Missions Program will represent the full embodiment of the goals of the Awareness and Commitment platform, because the ministering of the
needs of a parish will require religious discipline,
humanitarian compassion, and social dedication.
Gibran once wrote that "This strange generation
exists between sleeping and waking. It holds in its
hands the soil of the past and the seeds of the
future." Each of our regions is equipped with a wide
range of talent and a strong organizational structure.
All of our chapters have at their disposal the
resources of NAC SOYO, and the will of their
members. Our Parish Life Conferences will be dedicated to the theme of "Go and Preach the Gospel."
It is my hope that, beginning in this Youth Month,
we may utilize the tools that we have garnered in the
past, to plant the seeds of our future churches.
John Roman
President
NAC Senior SOYO
Page 22
Chambesy, Switzerland - Dr. Emldlo Campi (right),
general secretary of the World Student Chrlsdan
Federation, joins James Couchell of the U.S.A., newly
elected president of Syndesmos, and Fr. Leonid
Klshkovsky, also an American delegate, In discussion
during a break at the Ninth General Assembly of Syndesmos.
SYNDESMOS
Orthodoxtheological schools and seminaries participated
. h assembly. Also present were representatives of two
int e
ociate members an d numerous guests and observers
the movements, churches and related ecumenical
tr rnnizations. Countnes
• represented by those in attend:!~e included Lebanon, Greece, Finland, France, the
U... R., the U.S.~., Jordan, Keny_a, Syria, England,
Rornania,Yugoslavia, Poland, Bulgana, Czechoslovakia,
witzerland and the city of Nazareth.
The general theme of the assembly was "Thy Kingdom
C rne." This was developed i~ f<:~r major a~dresses: Elias
Jones,a graduate of St. Vladimir s Theological School in
Crestwood,NY, an~ doctoral student at the University of
Geneva, made the mtroductory presentation; Dr. Lewis
Patsavos,professor ~f Canon Law at Holy Cross School of
Theologyin Brookline, ~A, spoke on "Prayer and Life";
Unity of the Eucharistic Community" was the topic
developedby Met_rorolita~ Ignatios_Hazim, who heads the
Dioceseof Latakia m Syna; and Bishop Anastasios Yannoulatos, general director of the Apostolic Diakonia of
the Church of Greece, and a professor at the University of
Athens,spoke on "Confessing Christ Today."
After hearing regional reports on the activities of its
. embers, the assembly participants met in smaller commissionsto discuss and formulate the guidelines for the
.ork of Syndesmos over the next three years in the areas
0 : Religious Education, Witness, Unity and Ecumenical
Relations.
In establishing priorities
for programming,
the
followingwas decided:
: To promote increased relations among the members of
Syndesmos and more frequent opportunities for the
manifestation of the existing eucharistic unity of the
Orthodoxchurches worldwide;
2. To encourage local and regional follow-up to the
Syndesmos sponsored international
consultations on
Theological Education and on Religious Education, as
wellas to plan further international consultations in these
fields;
3. To increase all means of communication with and
betweenmembers;
4. To encourage and assist in the development of
Orthodoxyouth organizations in countries where they do
NINTH ASSEMBLY
ELECTS AMERICAN
PRESIDENT
Chambesy, Switzerland - James Couchell of the United
States was unanimously elected to head Syndesmos for the
next three years. He is the first American elected to the
presidency since the founding of Syndesmos at an
assembly in France in 1953. Syndesmos, the Wo~ld
Fellowship of Orthodox Youth Organizations, held its
Ninth General Assembly here at the Orthodox Center of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate, July 19-25.
Elected Syndesmos general secretary, the chief ad·
ministrative position, was Aleksi Harkonen of Finland.
Serving as vice presidents are: Fr. Augustin Nikitin the
U.S.S.R.; Nicolaos Liamis of Greece; and Michel
Sollogoub of France.
A total of 66 official delegates from 13 member •youthf
movements and member student governing bo d1es 0
o!
The Word
not exist at P.resent, and to assist in the renewal of groups
no longer active;
5. _To convene an International Orthodox Consultation on
Witness and Service prior to the next assembly;
6. To follow-up initiatives already taken to establish a
greater Syndesmos presence in Latin America and Africa.
The final stage of the assembly dealt with the practical
~atters of organization, finance, publications and elections. A?mitted to full membership at the Assembly were:
the Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations (SOY O ),
the youth movement of the Antiochian Archdiocese of
No~th ~merica; and the Student government of the
Umversity of Athens Theological School. New Associate
members are the Fraternity of Orthodox in Western
Eur?p_e (a r~gional group based in France), and the
Christian Socialist Youth of Greece.
The new Syndesmos president is the English Editor of
the "Orthodox Observer," the biweekly newspaper of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas. With a
circulation of 100,000 the "Orthodox Observer" is today
the largest circulating Orthodox religious publication in
the world. Born in South Carolina, and a graduate of Holy
Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline,
MA, he served previously as executive secretary of the
Orthodox Campus Commission of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas
and as editor of "Concern," a magazine for Orthodo~
Christian college students. He is currently secretary of the
Orthodox Theological S9ciety in America, and a member
of the National Council of Churches Governing Board.
The officers plus eight members-at-large compose the
Executive Committee, which meets yearly to oversee the
work ~f the general secretary and further the implementation of the assembly mandates. Immediately
following the close of the Ninth Assembly, the new Executive Committee met and formulated plans to begin immediate implementation of a number of proposals.
United States observers and participants in the
a~sembly included: Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky, Nicholas
Pissare, Constance Tarasar, Elias Jones, Gary Younes,
Maha Shakhashiri, Dr. Lewis Patsavos, Dr. Milos Ivanis,
Fr. Frank Estocin and Dr. Bruce Rigdon.
God Gives Us Gifts
We Return To God's Love
In A Beautiful World
By Doing Good Works
W~ should be very thankful for the many gifts that
G?dgives to us. I think that one of the most important
thmgsthat God gave us is our senses. We can see beautiful
thingslike the big blue ocean and pretty trees. We can
s~ell ~ic~ things like flowers. We can hear things like
~irdssmgmg and prayers in Church. We can taste things
fe yu~my foods and we can feel things like soft animals.
he thm_gthat is the most important is being able to love
peoplehke our parents and friends and especially God.
~ne war to show God that we appreciate His gifts is to
t ankHim for these wonderful things in our prayers.
I am only nine years old. Doing good works for the
love of God, that are really important would be pretty
hard for someone my age to do. Some of the good works I
think are important are: working with the mentally
retarded, the blind, crippled people, people in nursing
homes, alcoholics, drug addicts, and people who are
needy.
I am too young to do these things now, but some of the
things that I can do to help my parents, relatives, teachers,
and friends are important to them.
I help my mother clean the family room and I empty
nd Dabai is a first grader at St. Nicholas Church in
RSolaF
an
•
.
,nth ~ncisco, C~hf- (Western Region). He wonfirstplace
e AC Creative Writing Contest.
Robert Hafiz is a 2nd grader at St. George Church in W.
St. Paul, MS. (Midwest Region). He won first place in the
NA C Creative Writing Contest.
October,1977
Page 23
�waste baskets and I set the table for dinner. This makes
life easier for my mother. My dad has had back surgery so
in the winter I do all the shoveling and in the summer I
help my sister do the yard work so my dad does not have
to do any lifting or bending.
I help my grandma and aunts take care of all my little
cousins. I also run up and down the steps for them on
errands. When I am with my grandpa and uncles I help
them pull out all the weeds and do chores for them in their
yards.
I have a friend from school who was injured in a
terrible automobile accident and broke his back and one
of his legs. I took him for walks and went to his house and
played games with him.
I have had a perfect attendance for three years in
Sunday School and serve God as an altar boy, when it is
my turn. I feel that these small things I do to help others
will help to prepare me for more important ways to serve
God as I get older.
NAC WINNERS
CREATIVE WRITING 1977
GRADE 1 We Live in God's World
1st Place: ROLAND DABAI - St. Nicholas, San Francisco, CA Western
2nd Place: KATHY GEORGE - St. Mary's, Johnstown,
PA Eastern
3rd Place: STACEY GEORGE - St. George, Niagara
Falls, NY Ca';i Am
GRADE 2 Discovering God's Way
1st Place: ROBERT HAFIZ - St. George, W. St. Paul,
MN Midwest
2nd Place: LAURIE GEORGE - St. George, Niagara
Falls, NY Can Am
3rd Place: MARIAN ELIOPOULOS - St. Anthony's,
Bergenfield, NJ Eastern
GRADE 3 We Worship God in Church
1st Place: CLIFF FARHA - St. George, Wichita, KS
Southwest
2nd Place: FARES TARAGI-Church
of the Redeemer,
Los Altos, CA West em
3rd Place: MELISSA BOBURKA St. George,
Bridgeville, PA Eastern
GRADE 4 The Bible Lives in the Church
1st Place: STEPHEN ROMANOWICZ - St. George,
Altoona, PA Eastern
2nd Place: BASSAN MAHSHI - St. Nicholas, San
Francisco, CA West em
3rd Place: PAULA KHOURI - St. John of Damascus,
West Roxbury, MA New England
GRADE 5 Our Life in the Church
1st Place: NANCY REZCALLAH - St. Elias, Toledo, OH
Midwest
2nd Place: AL FARHA-St.
George, Wichita, KS Southwest
3rd Place: PAMELA SATIR-St.
George, Norwood, MA
New England
GRADE 6 God With Us
1st Place: MICHAEL NAHASS - St. George, Little Falls,
NJ Eastern
2nd Place: GEORGE
HABIB JR. St. George,
Vicksburg, MS Southwest
3rd Place: RICKY JOSEPH - St. Elias, Toledo O
Midwest
H
GRADE 7 The Young Church
1st Place: JEFF HADDAD - St. Elijah, Oklahoma Ci
OK Southwest
t}
2nd Place: CHARLES WILFONG St. Mar
Youngstown, OH Midwest
k
3rd Place: LINDA HALLAL- St. George, Norwood
New England
' A
GRADE 8 Heroes for Truth- New Frontiers
1st Place: DIANE NASSAR - St. George, Toronto
Ontario, Canada Can Am
'
2nd Place: JANETTE DAVID - St. George Ced
Rapids, IA Midwest
'
ar
3rd Place: LISA MACOLSt. Nicholas, Bridgeport, CT
Eastern
GRADE 9 Heroes for Truth-New
Frontiers
1st Place: JOHN DIBS - St. Lukes, Garden Grove, CA
Western
2nd Place: SOPHIA MAFRIGE - St. George, Houston
TX Southwest
3rd Place: FELICE BARDWELL St. George
Charleston, WV Midwest
'
GRADE 10 Christianity makes us a different people_
How?
1st Place: MARLENE YAREDSt. Nicholas, Montreal
Quebec, Canada Can Am
2nd Place: KAREN DROUBIESt. George, W. St. Paul
MN Midwest
3rd Place: VALER! ZIADY - St. George, Lawrence,
MAN ew England
GRADE 11 Christianity makes us a different people How?
1st Place: REGINA ASHIE - St. Lukes, Garden Grove,
CA Western
2nd Place: WILLIAM JABOUR-St.
George, Vicksburg,
MS Southwest
3rd Place: KATHY SHAHEEN-St.
George, Canton OH
Midwest
GRADE 12 Christianity makes us a different people How?
1st Place: ANITA JOSEPH - St. Elias, Toledo, OH
Midwest
2nd Place: TONY HADDAD - St. Elijah, Oklahoma
City, OK Southwest
3rd Place: ANDREA BEZREH - St. John of Damascus,
Boston, MA New England
GRADE 9 Heroes for Truth- New Frontiers
1st Place: JOHN MEYER - St. Anthony's, Bergenfield,
NJ Eastern
2nd Place: MATTHEW DA VIS - St. Lukes, Garden
Grove, CA W estem
3rd Place: ALAN SHANBOUR - St. George, Wichita,
KS, Southwest
GRADE 10 Christianity makes us a different people How?
1st Place: MELINDA ABERCIA - St. George, Houston,
TX Southwest
2nd Place: MICHAEL YOUNG St. George,
Charleston, WV Midwest
3rd Place: HOLLY HALLAL-St.
Mary's, Pawtucket, RI
New England
GRADE 11 Christianity makes us a different people How?
1st Place: GREGORY THOMAS
St. George,
Vicksburg, MS Southwest
2nd Place: CHRISTINA TASSOS
St. George,
Charleston, WV Midwest
3rd Place: NORMAN JOSEPH - St. Mary's, Johnstown,
PA Eastern
GRADE 12 Christianity makes us a different people How?
1st Place: ROSEMARY SABA- St. George, Lowell, MA
New England
2nd Place: MARY WOODRIDGE St. George,
Charleston, WV Midwest
3rd Place: DAVID ABRAHAM - St. George, Vicksburg,
MS Southwest
For we being many are one bread,
and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
I Corinthians 10: 17
Many
years
ago, a seed was
planted and it grew into an organization of the youth of our Archdiocese
called Teen SOYO. The many members throughout
North America
are
working together to achieve six omnipresent goals of LOVE, HONESTY,
UNITY
and
DEVOTION
through
AWARENESS and COMMITMENT. Our
ROOTS are firmly
planted
in our
Archdiocese
and the Mother Church
of Antioch. From these roots, spring
the TRUNK of our family tree--the
North
American
Council
of Teen
SOYO. BRANCHING off from NAC
are the six regions.
Out of these
branches, grow the LOCAL CHAPTERS in the parish.
Through your support the fruits of
our labors can be realized.
CREATIVE ARTS 1977
GRADE 1 We Live in God's World
1st Place: DEANNA HOGAN - St. George, Norwood,
MAN ew England
2nd Place: GEORGE MURR - St. George, Houston, TX
Southwest
3rd Place: MICHAEL JACOB - St. George, Pittsburgh,
PA Eastern
GRADE 2 Discovering God's Way
1st Place: TIMOTHY HEINEMEYER - St. Lukes,
Garden Grove, CA Western
2nd Place: LAURIE GEORGE - St. George, Niagara
Falls, NY Can Am
3rd Place: NICOLE KHOURY - St. Elias, Atlanta, GA
Eastern
GRADE 3 We Worship God in Church
1st Place: ROSE GEORGE - St. Michaels, Beaumont,
TX Southwest
The Word
Page 24
d Place: TODD MOKHIBER - St. George, Niagara
_n Falls, NY Can Am
.
rd Place: KEVIN BERZINA-St.
George, Phoemx, AZ
Western
RADE4 The Bible Lives in the Church
. Place: MARGARET LUDWIG - St. George, El Paso,
1
• TX Southwest
.
, d Place: LANA ASWAD St. George, Niagara Falls,
0
- yCanAm
rd Place: MICHAEL HEINEMEYER - St. Lukes,
Garden Grove, CAW estern
GRADE5 Our Life in the Church
t Place: GEO~GE SHAHEEN - St. George, Norwood,
1
MA New England
nd Place: KRIS HEINEMEYER - St. Lukes, Garden
- Grove, CA W estem
rd Place: STEPHEN KOURY - St. Michaels, Greensburg, p A Eastern
GRADE6 God With Us
It Place: SONIA SUWEIDAN - St. Nicholas, Brooklyn,
y Eastern
nd
St. Michaels,
2 Place: DAROLD GOODWIN Beaumont, TX Southwest
~dPlace: MAUREEN FATHER - St. George, Albany,
YCanAm
•
GRADE7 The Young Church
1stPlace: PAULA SHANBOUR - St. George, Wichita,
KS Southwest
2ndPlace: JEAN KEAMY - St. George, Lawrence, MA
NewEngland
3rd Place: VICKI AUDI - St. Marys, Johnstown, PA
Eastern
GRADE8 Heroes for Truth- New Frontiers
1stPlace: LISA ROMAN - St. Anthony's, Bergenfield,
NJEastern
NAC Teen SOYO Public Relations Committee
(Eastern Region)
October,1977
Page 25
�re
view
"Exetastes," Contemporary Issues: Orthodox Christian
Perspectives. New York: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
Press, 1976. Pp. 104. $4.00 softbound (plus 40 cents
postage and handling). $6.95 hardbound (plus 40 cents
postage and handling).
"Exetastes" or "Examiner" is the pseudonym of the
anonymous writer of the column of the same name in the
biweekly newspaper of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of North and South America, The Orthodox Observer.
"Exetastes" has appeared in that publication since its
assumption of newspaper format in 1971 and, like the
newspaper itself, attempts "to speak directly to the faithful
of the church, the men, women, youth and children who
make up the body of the Church, and not primarily to
bishops, priests, and theologians of the Church."
It has been the editors' intention that "Exetastes" deal
with the controversial issues of the day from an Orthodox
Christian perspective -doctrinal,
ethical, and spiritualto the degree that that is possible, though there have been
and no doubt will be issues on which the Church has yet to
take a position.
The editors of The Orthodox Observer have chosen
thirty-seven articles for republication in this handy book
because of their continuing usefulness to members of the
Orthodox Church as parishioners, families, and citizens.
One article not previously published was included to
cover a topic not previously discussed.
The reader can easily read the whole book through at
one sitting or can select topics for quick reading that are
of immediate interest. After a Preface by the Editors of
The Orthodox Observer and a brief Introduction, the
specific articles fall under one of the following four
general categories: Faith Issues, Church Life Issues, Sex
and Family Issues, and Social Issues with seven, ten,
seven, and thirteen articles respectively devoted to each
category. All kinds of "popular" topics are discussed,
ranging from abortion and astrology to exorcism, divorce,
and women. There is hardly a topic that the reader will not
have thought about nor on which a view will not have
been expressed in the public media that does not get
touched upon here. In the Epilogue the author makes it
clear that "Rather than a final answer, Exetastes, in many
cases, merely introduces the subject to treatment from an
Orthodox Christian point of view" (p. 104).
Contemporary Issues is a convenient compendium of
thoughts on some of the crucial religious, ethical, and
social problems of our times and will serve as a challenge
to individuals, study groups, and classes of all age groups,
sexes and backgrounds to study, ponder, and. discu~~ for
the direction of their own lives and those of their families.
Professor John E. Rexine, Ph.D.
Colgate University
Page26
Thomas Hopko, The Spirit of God, Morehouse-B
Co. Inc., Wilton, Conn., 1976, pp. 126.
ar10
In six chapters and a short introduction
Fath
.
.
'
er
Thomas H op k o, an mterestmg young Orthodox the .
1
gian, attempts to discuss clearly and with much lucid~t~
one of the_de~pest th~ological issm~s. The Spirit of
packed with mformat10n and provides us with full kno\\ledge and profound understanding of God's Holy Spirit
it is expressed by the great fathers of the Church ~ ~
preserved in the great tradition of the Eastern Orthod~x
Church.
From the very b~ginning, !he author claims that the
purpose of the book 1s not to give us a speculative system
or abstract argument about God's Holy Spirit, but rather
to set the reader's mind "on the things of the Spirit," so
that the book could be no more than a witness to and
awareness of the Spirit of God, given to those who have
claimed his divine inspiration in Christ and the life of the
Catholic Church (Introduction, VI).
Father Hopko says that God's Holy Spirit is neither an
impersonal energy of God, nor some sort of "power" of
goodness or "power of life." Nor is the Holy Spirit of God
a vague, illusive, abstract power or force. Rather, the Hoh
Spirit is a personal Spirit of the Father (p. 3), by whos~
power God creates, and by whose power Christ "trample
down death by death" (p.3). The Holy Spirit, then, shares
the identical divine being and life with the Father and the
Son, and is the seal of the divine image and likeness in
man.
The Holy Spirit works in the Church, as her highest
authority. The Holy Spirit lives in the Church, since
nothing in the Church can be done without Him. The
Church, therefore, becomes nothing other than life lived
in communion with God through Christ by the grace and
power of the Spirit of God (Chapter 3, p. 19).
With the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church,
man experiences the Church not as a mere human institution (p. 26), nor as an organization of men exercising
power and authority. More than anything else, the Holy
Spirit makes the Church a living organism, (p. 27) a sacra·
mental structure, and a mystical life which is the expression of the Holy Spirit in the life of humanity.
In answer to the question: "What is the relationship
between the human nature and divine grace?", Father
Hopko maintains that there is no existential opp~s~tion
between man's spirit and God's. Without the Spmt of
God, writes Father Hopko, man is not genuinely huma~.
Man's nature is made for communion with God, to grow m
God's perfection, so that man becomes aware of ~is own
sins and conscious of his divine and everlasting destmy. To
be "full of grace", therefore, is not to be "pos~~ssed" by
God, blindly directed and passively moved by d1vme force
(p. 70).
. .
Having achieved his liberation from captivity to _dust,
man achieves his freedom of true and genuine humamty as
well. This essential insight is given to man in Christ and the
Church (p. 69).
. .
The Spirit of God is an important book. It msp~es
respect and admiration. This is due to its cohere~cy,_ rich·
ness, and integrity. The importance of this book hes m the
fact that Father Hopko tries to give us answers to some
questions which might peculiarly suit the need of our day.
Fr. Joseph Antypas
Bridgeville, Pa.
Communities In Action
Esper Medical Center-Erie,
ao:i;
The Word
Th weekend of February 26, 1977, was a memorable
f0 e Mrs. Fedwa Esper of Swissvale, Pennsylvania, and
ne ~ire family. The occasion was the dedication and
her ~n of the recently completed Esper Medical Center
• T he opemng
• o f t h"ts u 1tra mo d ern
. Penmg
E • Pennsylvama.
n d'ne,1facility was a dream come true to son, D r. R ona ld
me icawho had for years envisioned a medical complex of
E per, n This major accomplishment was realized only
tJs own• aggressive and concerte d dr"1ve m
• wh"1ch f amt·1y
after a rs fully part1c1pate
• •
d to convert an e 1a b ora t e arc h"1be
mem
• rea 1·1ty. Thi s umque
•
.
al design into sohd
an d b eaut1"fu 1
• k"m d m
• P enn,,ectur
d' al Center is among t h e f"1rst o f its
:v1e lC
f prov1"d"
. 1
ia
to
operate
on
the
concept
o
mg
c 1·1mca
yIvan
h
.
1
.
.
11
·u·es for a complete p ys1ca exammat1on as we as
facil1
.
b .
· r surgery on an out-patient as1s.
mmo
• E sper famt·1y wit
•h
On February 26, 1977, the entire
closefriends attended a special dedication service in the
fedicalCenter. The V ~ry Rev. Fr. George S. Corey of ~he
St. George parish of. Pittsburgh ~erformed the beautiful
d impressive service. Followmg the ceremony, Fr.
~eorge, who was tremendously impress_ed and openly
leased with the center, noted that erect10n of the complexwas a notable accomplishment, primarily because it
~rovidesextensively for allevi~ting human suffering and
healingthe human b_ody. Knowing _Dr. R~n a~ he does, Fr.
Georgeattributed his success to his fa1:°~lyhf~ an~ backgroundwhich was the source ~or prov1dmg h11:°with the
mspiration to pursue such high and noble ideals and
convertthem into reality. He congratulated Dr. Ron and
the entire Esper family on the magnificent achievement
and remarked that this center is another of only a few
medical centers in the United States to be owned and
directed by Orthodox parishioners. Fr. George blessed
eachand every room in the facility and presented Dr. Ron
witha carved wooden Orthodox cross. Dr. Ron had the
October,1977
Pennsylvania
cross installed on the main wall of the reception room
above a plaque which dedicated the Center in the name of
his parents. The plaque reads as follows:
"This Medical Center is dedicated in the name of my
parents, Jacob and Fedw~ Esper, whose faith in God, love
of life and devotion to family, inspired me to erect this
medical center to serve mankind."
(Signed) Ron
An open house was held at the Center on the day
following the dedication, February 27, 1977. It was attended by the majority of members of the Erie medical
profession as well as local and state officials, civic dignitaries and news and television personalities.
The Medical Center, which is located on West Ridge
Road in Erie, has every modern convenience as well as the
very latest in sophisticated medical equipment and instrumentation available in the profession today. This includes
a pulmonary machine, a blood analyzer, cardiac
evaluator, which are all computerized, in addition to many
other pieces of highly specialized equipment used for
diagnostic examinations. The complex has su_rgical facilities, recovery rooms, fully equipped chemistry laboratory
and x-ray room as well as facilities for therapeutic treatments. It has twenty examination rooms and eleven
separate offices. An important emphasis at the Medical
Center is in the area of preventive medicine.
The Esper Medical Center's patriarch is Dr. Ronald
Esper, who came to Erie from Pittsburgh in 1961, after
graduation from Kirksville College of Osteopathy in
Missouri. He interned here and fulfilled tls surgical residency before entering private practice. He has since also
specialized in Urology. Ron and his lovely wife Kathleen
have three children, Jeffrey, Stephanie and Eric.
The unique thing about this Medical Center is that Dr.
Ron will be joined by seven of his nephews. Practicing
with him now (see photo) are Dr. John Bettor, Dr. James
Esper, and Dr. Roger Esper, Jr. John is the son of Ron's
Page 27
�sister Bessie and her husband John Bettor of Fairview,
near Erie. He is a Kirksville graduate and interned at
Doctors Osteopathic Hospital and is now a family practioner. James is the son of another of Ron's sisters, Emily,
and her husband Fred Esper, who live in Pittsburgh. James
took his surgical residency at Normandy Hospital in St.
Louis after graduating from Kirksville. Roger, Jr. is the
son of Ron's brother Roger, Sr., and his wife Henrietta of
Erie. Roger, Jr. is a graduate of Des Moines Osteopathic
College in Iowa and interned at Doctors Osteopathic
Hospital in Erie before commencing as a family practioner.
Fred and Emily's other son, Gary, graduated from
Kirksville and entered his internship in Doctors Hospital
on July 1, 1977. He plans to specialize in Gastroenterology.
Bill is also a graduate from Kirksville and entered his
internship in Doctors Hospital on July 1, 1977. He plans to
specialize in Cardiology. He is the son of Ron's first cousin
Abraham Esper and his wife Elizabeth of Pittsburgh.
St. John's Dedicates
Ron's brother Roger and his wife have two other
in the profession. Robert is a graduate of Philadel ~n
College of Osteopathy and entered his intemshig 1~
Doctor's Hospital on July 1, 1977. Alan is in his sec a
year at Philadelphia.
on
Ron's parents and family have been life long reside
of Swissvale, Pennsylvania, belonging to the St. Geo~te
Orthod?x Church of ~ittsburgh. Ron's father, Jacob
Esper, is deceased but his mother, Fedwa, was in Erie f
the dedication and open house ceremonies. She was aor
• h er son fulfill a dream
n
extremely happy woman seemg
after years of study and hard work. Other members of
R~m's family incl~de Jose~h, an ~ttorney in Pittsburgh
Richard, a chemical engmeer with the Westinghou e
Atomic Power Lab~rat?ry in. Pittsburgh; George, an
educator in the Miami, Florida school system; and
Marguerite, Joe's secretary.
Congratulations and much happiness to Mrs. Fedwa
Esper and the entire Esper family and success in their ne~
Medical Center.
New Athletic Center In Honor Of Alex Spanos
WHITE WATER, Calif. - St. John's School for Boys,
one of three such facilities operated under the auspices of
the Greek Orthodox Church in California, reached an
important milestone recently (Friday, May 6) with the
dedication of its new gymnasium and classroom building.
Named the "Alex G. Spanos Athletic Center" in honor
of the Stockton businessman and philanthropist who was
the major force in raising funds for its construction, the
new 11,300 square foot building will provide a muchneeded addition to the school's physical plant. St. John's is
located in a former motel in a small desert comm unity
near Palm Springs, serving as a residential treatment
facility for teenage boys with a variety of behaviorial,
emotional and social problems.
Over 225 students, staff members, friends, benefactors
and others associated with the school attended the
ceremonies and luncheon held in the new gymnasium
complex. Following the brief formal program, the guests
who came from all over the state were escorted on tours of
the school by the students.
Spanos and his wife Faye were present as a plaque was
unveiled which will be mounted in the entranceway of the
gym. The plaque notes that Spanos' "ge?erosity and
compassion for the students of St. Jo~n ~ will stand as a
tribute to his memory and whose Christian benevolence
will remain in the hearts of these young people forever."
The Spanos' have assisted the School in various way~,
but mainly by organizing and sponsoring two large benefit
dinners in San Francisco featuring top stars such as Bob
Hope, Bill Cosby, and Telly Savalas.
.
. .
The Rev. Fr. Leon A. Pachis, executive administrator
of the three facilities for youth, told the dedication
audience that he had thought in the early years of St.
John's, which opened in 1969, about the need for a
gymnasium. But at times, just meeting the day-to-day
operating budget was a problem.
.
"I knew that God will send us somebody to build a gym
when He is ready," Fr. Pachis noted, "and that somebody
tu;ned out to be Alex Spanos."
Echoing these sentiments was the Rev. Fr. Fred G.
Potion, pastor of St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in
Redondo Beach, and president of the Board of Directors
of the school and its allied institutions.
Recalling the greeting card company slogan, "When
you care enough to give the very best," Fr. Potion
declared the Spanos' had fulfilled this in the new building.
The Very Rev. Fr. Gabriel M. Ashie, pastor of St.
Luke's Orthodox Church (Antiochian) of Garden Grove
and Secretary of the Board of Directors, conducted the
Service of Blessing and sprinkled the interior with Holy
1
Page 28
Other clergy and Orthodox laymen present joined
\'ater.
•
A nesti.,, an d t h e h ymn o fbl essmg.
.
. . ing the "Christos
:. rg his remarks, Spanos called the event a "red-letter
...°·n
1 the history of St. John', and thanked all those who
dai d make the construction possible.
he 1:dministrator Fr. Pachis also paid special tribute to
t aff led by school director Harry Rocklin, a former
the
'
• o ff'icer.
. Angeles
County pro b atlon
- "Buildings are made of concrete and programs are
but it takes certain special kinds of
tten on paper, 'Id'
\\Tl
le to make bm mgs an d programs come a 1·
ive, " Fr.
..,e p
• • t h e st a ff .
p his stated m· praismg
acPaul Christopulos of Piedmont served as master of
monies. Honored guests at the head table included
~remembers of the Board of Directors, in addition to Frs.
~ et'on and Ashie, Fr. T.P. Theophilos of San Francisco,
Fo ~homas J. Paris of Oakland, Fr. John G. Berris of San
J \ Fr. John Tahny of Palm Springs, Fr. Constantine
: p~isof Sacramento, and Fr. Theodore P. Philips of San
D~ego;the contractor J_ames G. Hagelis, president of
Alpha-Omega Construct10n Co. of Pasadena; the architect, Frank Tracadas of San Bernardino; Fr. Peter
Participants In dedication ceremonies of the new Alex G.
Spanos Athletic Center at St. John's School for Boys in
White Water, CalH. Included (left to right): the Rev.
A Pachls executive administrator of the several you
fa~illtles ~der the auspices of the Greek OrthodoJ
Church In CalUomla; Mn. Faye Spanos; Alex G. Span:
benefactor of the school; Very Rev. Fr. Gabriel M. tfa
pastor of St. Luke's Orthodox Church (Andoc n
Garden Grove and a member of the Board of Dfrecton
for the school; and Harry Rocklin, school director. Ar l
(Photo by C.T. gue
Le';:
j
The Word
Lambert who o ersaw the construction project; Harry
Rocklin, Fr. Pachis, and Mr. and Mrs. Spanos.
St. John's was the second non-sectarian home for boys
to be opened under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese in California. Fr. Pachis, while pastor of the
St. Prophet Elias parish in San Bernardino worked with
other clergy to found the first home, Guadalupe in
Yucaipa, in 1966. He soon left parish work to devote full
time to the boys homes, founding St. John's in 1969 and
Trinity School, a coed facility in Ukiah in Northern
California in 1971.
There are also six half-way or "group" homes which
provide a transition for the young people from the three
main facilities back to life in society.
At St. John's, 66 boys from 12 to 16 years of age attend
regular classes and participate in a variety of activities, all
designed to contribute to reshaping of their lives. They are
referred here through the courts and probation departments.
The new gym and classrooms will allow all programs to
be conducted on the campus.
Clifford T. Argue
St. Michael Church-Beaumont,
Texas
The theme of our Vacation Bible School at St.
lichael's this summer was "People of God". We studied
about God's people in the Old Testament. We spent the
firsttwo days learning about the Israelite people living in
Egypt and how they were made to be slaves to the
Egyptian Pharaoh. When the Pharaoh realized that the
1. raelite people were becoming
a large race, he ordered
that all the Israelite baby boys be killed. Moses was born
11 this time. His mother hid him well during this time, but
whenhe was three months old she could no longer hide
him. So she made a basket of reeds and pitch and put
Mosesin the tall grass by the Nile River for the Pharaoh's
daughterto find. The Pharaoh's daughter took Moses and
rearedhim under her protection. To remember this story,
allthe children wove their own baskets out of wicker.
On the second day we continued our study of Moses.
Welearned how God called Moses to come back to Egypt
and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the
promised land. Moses had a difficult time getting the
Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. God performed many
miraclesto convince the Pharaoh to listen to Moses. The
finalmiracle that convinced the Pharaoh was when the
~ngel of the Lord passed over the city and killed every
firstborn son whose home did not have lamb's blood on
thedoor. The children remembered this event because we
recognizethe Jewish Passover every year before we have
ourEaster. When Moses led the children of Israel into the
desert, God gave His people ten laws to follow. We
studiedthe Ten Commandments and learned how to apply
them to our lives today. To remember this story we
decoupaged little wooden books with the Ten Commandments glued on them.
The next two days we learned about Joshua and that
whenMoses died Joshua took over the leadership of the
Israelites and led them into Canaan which was the
promised land. The principal city of Canaan was Jericho.
The Israelites knew if they could capture Jericho the
promised land would be theirs. God told Joshua to have
the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant and to have the
Oi;,,tober,
1977
Page 29
�people march behind them around the city. They marched
around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day
they marched around the city and when Joshua gave the
command everyone shouted and the walls came tumbling
down. Everyone in the city was killed except Rahab and
her family, who had hidden the Israelite scouts. To
remember this story we got our dads to build the city of
Jericho. The children painted a bake shop with Syrian
bread and kibbie and a new and used camel shop.
Our Vacation Bible School is a fun and exciting time
for our children at St. Michael's. Our children enjoy doing
projects as a group or, as we like to call ourselves, a
family. This year we are going to try to carry over the
excitement of Bible School into our Church School
program this fall. We are going to try to accomplish thi b
meeti_ng every ~ther Saturday afternoon instead of Sunda}
mornmgs. In this way we can all wear our Saint Micha l'.
T-shirts, which we had specially made, and not woe
about getting dirty. We feel that by meeting in the rj_
ternoon we shall have more time to involve the child.re ~1
more church activities. We shall all bring a sack lunch~ ~
after lesson time and play time we'll eat our supp:r
together before we prepare to meet our parents for espe
services. At Saint Michael's we feel that Church School/
not just for children, but for families as a whole. Wear
going to try this new schedule this fall and hope we sha~
have the support of everyone in our parish.
•
Lynda George
St. George Church-El
St. George Orthodox Church of El Paso, Texas is very
proud of their basketball team. Playing under the name of
St. George Spartans, the team had a victorious season
winning the Church League City Championship for 1977
with the undefeated record of 12 wins and no losses.
Paso, Texas
Teen SOYO of St. George's has been very acti e
spiritually and socially for the first 6 months of 1977.
They sponsored an Italian Dinner after Sunday Ser
vices, donating the proceeds to the Building Fund. Two
dances were held, a Disco Dance, and a Victory Dance 1•
honor of the basketball team. Both were a huge success.
They've had regular monthly religious programs and
group discussions, under the able guidance of our Priest
Father George Mitchell, and sponsors of the group, Mr.
and Mrs. Bob Amin, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Aziz, Mr. and Mrs
Bob Gillette, and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Haddad.
Altar boys are drawn from the Teen SOYO members,
who also help with the reading of the Epistle during the
Divine Liturgy.
St. George Church-Canton,
Pictured, Back Row, Left to Right:
James Shaheen, Manager
Saad Shaheen, Coach
Chuckie Haddad
Dale Nasser
Chris Malooly
Jeff Crawford
Don Malooly
Russell Robinson, Coach
Joe Haddad, Coach
Second Row, Left to Right:
Eddie Mowad
Mark Daw
Boody Malloly
Chris Mowad
Danny Nass er
Front Row, Left to Right:
Steve Lown
Marino Garbis
Greg Daw, Manager
Phil Stathos (Not Pictured)
Page 30
"It's a Brand New World" Ideally Suited for Weekly Venture
By SHERRY WOODS
Miami News TV I Radio Editor
There's nothing much new about television repeating a
how, but it is unusual for the encore p_erformance to be
heduled barely a month after the original airing.
The show in question is an NBC Special Treat, "It's a
Brand New World," an animated hour telling two Bible
tories, about Noah and Samson. Among the writers and
composers on the show was Al Elias, whose family lives in
Miami.Executive producer is yet another Elias, a cousin.
Considering the rapidity of the special's progress
through network bureaucracy and its apparent climb to
favor, it almost seems as though the show had some
heavenlyintervention of its own.
"It's a Brand New World" aired first on March 8, as
one of the monthly NBC Special Treats for kids. Almost
mmediately the network picked the show up for a repeat.
"And they're looking for two half-hours in primeume," a jubilant Elias reported in New York the other
day."We're working toward a series."
The special's format is ideally suited for a weekly
...enture.
The initial hour was already divided into two half-hour
parts, with the first dealing with the story of Noah, his
family and the building of the ark.
The second half-hour traces the tale of Samson, the
Lord's demand that he never touch wine or cut his hair
and his ultimate war against the Philistines.
Heavily laced with music, composed by Elias, "It's a
Brand New World" is built around four would-be angels,
who are struggling through Bible classes in an attempt to
get into heaven. They are only slightly intimidated by the
omnipotence of their classroom teacher, who calls forth
lightning and thunder to capture their wandering attention.
In subsequent episodes any Bible story could turn up
in the lessons, making the series an ideal resource for
Sunday school teachers. Although the approach is
lighthearted, there is an emphasis on conveying the
material accurately.
If television has become the primary storyteller for our
children, then "It's a Brand New World" does as well as
anything on the air in seeing to it that they learn what
previous generations heard from their parents or read in
picture-filled Bible story books.
In the long run, rounding up the kids at noon on a
Saturday to watch the special may prove much more
difficult than maintaining their attention once they're
tuned in. Still, it's certainly more than worth the effort .
Fourwould-be angels watch Noah's Ark afloat In the rain
in 'I '
ts a Brand New World', a light-hearted animated
lllusfcaltelling the blbllcal stories of Noah and Samson.
Noah takes a walk on his ark
Editor'sNote:
.
\.1 Al Elias of New York 1s a member of this Archdi~~ese.We congratulate his creativity.
Ohio
Dr. G.S. Shaheen was the
recipient of the Award for
Outstanding Team Physician. The presentation was
made at the Annual Hall of
Fame Banquet at the Four
Winds
Restaurant
on
August 4, 1977, at which
Ohio
State
University
Football
Coach, Woody
Hayes,
was the
main
speaker.
The
Award
was 1
presented by the Ohio State Medical Asso~iation ~ ~on·
junction with the Ohio High School A_th!et1c_Assoc1at1?n
The plaque reads, "for his long and d1stmgmshe~ serVIce
to Ohio's scholastic athletes as he served unselfishly as a
Team Physician." It was signed by presidents of both the
Ohio State Medical Association and the Ohio High School
Athletic Association.
Dr. Shaheen, the son of Salem and Mary Shahe~o
founders of the St. George Church of Canton, has a b
served as President of the Parish Council of the church•
Besides his private medical practice, he has been t e
Coroner of Stark County for the past fifteen years.
The Word
October,1977
Page 31
�~-NAG TeenSOYO
TagDay
__
Throughout
the month of October
parishes will be distributing
the teens in your local
these tags. Your contributions
will help support the many charities and programs of NAC
Teen SOYO. We thank you for your support.
NAC Teen SOYO Public Relations Committee (Eastern Region)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
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Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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kalemat_19771001_21_8
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 08
Alternative Title
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Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 21, Issue 8 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated October 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 Oct
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Format
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Text/pdf
Coverage
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/57fd0cf70fd16d5555f4316a5bddbdde.pdf
b9b9d70532fce1098a72b70f3fee22e9
PDF Text
Text
The Word
SEPTEMBER, 1977
Ltt MyPrayerSt Stt ForthStfort Thtt AsIntenseAnd
Tht LiftingUpOfMyHandsAsTht EutningSatrifitt ••.
Psalm141(140)
�THE
WORD
The Most Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The Most Reverend
Archbishop Michael, Auxiliary
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kalimat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
THE WORD
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
VOLUME 21
SEPTEMBER,
1977
THE SLEAZY SEVENTIES!
NUMBER,..
IN THIS ISSUE
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S. Corey
Arch priest Joseph J. Allen
-
--
3
Editorial
5
The Patriarch Speaks .....
7
An Interview With His Beatitude
11
Campaign Against Pornography Widens
a RNS article
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
19 Lifestyles X
by James C. Meena
20
Subscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
Communities in Action
26 Daily Devotions
by Gerasimos Murphy
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
U.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 10.00
SINGLE COPIES, 1.00
27
The People Speak
29
The Orthodox World
by Religious News Service
COVER
ISSN 0043-7964
This issue of The WORD is obviously devoted to the historic
. •t of Patriarch Elias IV to America during the Antiochian Holy
t~r. So why the editorial on pornography?
e It may seem that crossing this "holy" year with one such
concern is, to sar, the f~ast, stretchi~g a ~oint. But it is a ,:'holy" y~ar,
ncerned with holy endeavors, ,n a holy Church. Holy things
c~e for the holy/" Because this is true, we must face up to what is
aof so holy - indeed, what is UN-HOLYin our environment. One
7nds it difficult to elucidate a more UN-holy issue in our cont~mporary world than all the "Porno" material which is making the
seventies, the sleazy-seventies.
We fool only ourselves by speaking
of holiness while denying the need to challenge the smut - the unholyI
No need to elaborate upon it all; mature persons in sexual
relations with minors and even children; sex and murder on film;
homosexual rape in prison; girl scouts, selling cookies door to door,
invited in only to find cameras ready to film their rape, etc., etc.,
etc. The rage wells up in one who is offended and insulted by such
an abuse of human life.
Every responsible Church, social and civic institution knows and
1s concerned with
this issue. Emerging out of the back alleys and
surging into suburban shopping centers, pornography
has spread
like a plague of rodents. The President's Commission on Obscenity
and Pornography has reported that from sixty to seventy million
dollars are spent per year in the sexploitation
films; seventy to
ninety million dollars are realized from porno magazines and
books; 70-85 per cent of adolescents and adults are exposed.
Many hail this movement as the long-awaited
relaxation
of
antiquated standards. Others, like D.H. Lawrence know better:
"Pornography attemP,ts to do dirt on sex ..... It is an insult to a vital
human relationship. '
The Church is not naive as some think. She has always known
of the tendency of man's "lower nature," as St. Paul expressed it.
What can we think and understand except that a perverted erotica
lowers man and distorts the physical act by taking away the need
for a truly personal and "whole" relationship with another human
being. When we read the Epistle at the Sacrament of Matrimony we
hear, "..... that they may be one flesh ... .. " and that implies that
lovemaking needs sentiment, ideal and empathy. Such qualities tell
us that we do wrong when we treat another human being as a mere
object, in an impersonal act.
Sociologist Ernest van den Haag adds to this: "By inviting us to
reduce others to sources of sensation, pornography
invites us to
destroy the psychological bonds that bind society."
. The protagonists
of porno like to use the First Amendment
wh,ch guarantees freedom of speech and press. Recently Shirley
MocLaine took this position by stating, "As a citizen I resent being
told what I can and cannot see, read and enjoy;" censorship
..I
11
13 Archdiocesan Office
THE WORD, published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office,
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135,
Pittsburgh,
Pa. 15213. Entered as
second clas.s matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa.
15219.
p0RNOGRAPHY:
When one thinks of the trials and tribulations of the news photographer, on~ im~eta~~~
conjures visions of the riots, fires, accide~ts and general n:i,ayhei:n.the cameraman is ca e u
to sort out and capture instantly for postenty and the mommg edit10n. h . h 11 es too and as
.
But the mundane, run-of-the-mill, peaceful assign~ents pr~sent t ei_rc a eng 'ct n~ e,enl,
evidence we offer Globe photographer Ulrike Welsch s dramatic recordmg of a mun a
the visit to Boston of a bishop.
.
.
h d f the Antioch1an
His Beatitude Patriarch Elias IV of Antioch and All The Ea st , . ea O thodox Youlh
Orthodox Church visited Boston in June for a conference of the Socie~ of. O ~ rica bul a
Organizations, an important event in the lives of his 200,000 church mem ers 10 me
'
routine assignment for the news photographer·
.
hen and where the
Not routine photographically, however, because of constramts ~n how,/'·
rite is another
bishop could be photographed. On the street he's fair game; performmg a re igwus
matter.
. a service
• a t th e Sheraton Boston ho1el
Welsch got her dramatic phot? of the prelate _durmg
chapel in poor light through a curtam and unobt~usiv~ly.
h
during the service to gel
Protocol prevents the photographer fr~m Jumpmg about t e a 1tar
ot behind the altar
the best angle. Likewise, flash eqmpl?ent i~ also taboo. R~le_g~t~~a:ii~
was provided b) a
Welsch got a picture through a hole m a wmd-blown curtam, i u
. . of the curtain.
single spotlight overhead, partially diffused_ by the ragged edge of
opent~y
film (TriX) 1600
"Because of the poor light conditions m front of the altar, I a to ra e 35
camera "held
ASA and develop in Diafin~," Welsch_ said. She used a 28mm lens on her
mm
very close" to be as unobtrusive as possible:
.
11 . th d rk Some routine!
A routine assignment but an unusual picture shot virtua Y m e a •
t1
a::
1-Cl
Ill
cptember 1977
Page3
�threatens their constitutional rights. That logic offends
the porno itself, because it neglects just what that 0~ rn~ch0
~EANS and IMPL.IES. They strain the low, and lose the spi~7 m_e
like the Pharisees, only this time, on the other side. Rerne'
/u
the spirit of the amendment,
we hove lows against lib~ ~r,
advertising, perjury, cigarette TV advertising, etc. Thesee ~reals
tended to interpret that amendment in its true spirit.
' •
No sort of civil liberty is on absolute right. The limits res·d
the moral order itself. Liberty carried to the point of immoral 1·' e 1
• f or f rom w h at t h e writers
.
. . hod in mind. icens
1s
o f t h e Constitution
The other argument is that pornography is serious literot
and art. That argument merely shows the level of the propon u~.
sense of literature and art I
en s
This editor is sickened by both the entire pornographic see
and the flimsy arguments used to defend such mis-use.
n
Movies and books - don't go and don't buy. The sickness is u .
holy, and during this A~tiochion Holy Year, we ore reminded, "Hot
things ore for the Holy.
Y
Joseph J. Allen,
Co-Editor
b
Feastsof tht Month
SEPTEMBER
8
TH£NATIUITYOFOURMOSTHOLYLADY
TH£ THEOTOKOS
·ELEV:lTION
OfTtlECRQSS·
THE PATRIARCHSPEAKS• •
ars past, my annual messages to you were, of
In 1·te conveyed to you in writing. In them I told
e
YI was present with
• you m
• h eart an d spin
• 't .
utah t
.•
. · true because M,an s spirtt
transcen d s
hi
lS
• h
to
hie bounds. Today, I am •truly wit• you
rap
•
. . rny message personally. This occas10n b rmgs
eh-.,er
rnuch joy as I behold the wor k.mgs of t h'is G o d • er ed Archdiocese.
hristian Love transcends our love for parents. _It
. with this Christian Love that I lO'~'e~y Brother m
hri t Metropolitan PHI~IP. _Ch~ist is t_hat_Love
. his obvious, supercedmg life itself. Life m Our
h1
• i~
• to h ave a
L' dis sacrificial. The greatest bl essmg
1fr based on sacrifice. Jesus did not come m order to
~ troy the world and i~s God-_established syst~ms.
ve is the new dimenston whic_h He br~ught mto
·hi world. It is this v~ry Love which tra~sfigu_res th_e
rld. Nothing else is able to accomphsh this. It is
~1 th this Love that I stand today in your midst and
r et Metropolitan PHILIP, an honored member of
he Antiochian Holy Synod. Greeting him is like
reetingan essential part of my own being.
we are all well aware of the difficulties and turmoils which have affected our people in the past.
et, Almighty God, in His Wisdom, h~s provided ~is
peoplewith the strength to make straight that which
crooked. Under the capable leadership of Metropolitan PHILIP, and with the full cooperation and
SEPTEMBER
14
£L£UATION
OFTH£CROSS
ember 1977
Page 4
•
brotherly support of Archbishop MICHAEL, this
North American Archdiocese has rediscovered and
reestablished its holy unity.
During my travels throughout your Archdiocese,
I have greeted and been greeted by the faithful
throughout the six Regions of North America. I have
had the opportunity to meet with SOYO, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America
(AOCWNA), the Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch,
Parish Councils, and the Beloved Clergy. Shortly
after my arrival from Damascus I met with the Archdiocese Board of Trustees. What has impressed me
first and foremost in all of my travels is the sincere
faith of your little children. These children are the
earthly blossoms of your faith. I also admire the
discipline and well-defined structure of your organizations and your wise handling of financial affairs.
But above all else, I have been impressed with your
spirit. It is the spirit of the See of Antioch, and I
bring to you the love of your Ancient Mother
Church.
Many have asked me what impressions I will take
back to Antioch. I will take back with me and
convey to the members of the Holy Synod and to
your Orthodox brothers and sisters, yes, even to the
non-Orthodox of the Middle East, the story of your
struggles and your painful tears experienced in this
great New World. For without knowledge of these,
your accomplishments cannot be fully appreciated.
Page 5
�xclusivefor THE WORD
AN INTERVIEW WITH
HIS BEATITUDE
Patriarch Elias and the seminarians.
Without you, the clergy and faithful of this Archdiocese, the history of Antioch would be incomplete.
Your God-given unity on this continent is your
greatest asset. In the past, I have said on numerous
occasions that "Antioch must live." Now that I have
had the experience of visiting with and living among
you, I can joyfully proclaim that Antioch is alive! I
am confident that Antioch will remain alive in the
New World because it lives and flourishes in you. It
hovers over this Archdiocese on wings of Love and
Peace.
I humbly greet this holy Love and Peace, conveying to you my sincere appreciation for your gracious hospitality. I thank all of you: my beloved
Brother in Christ, Metropolitan PHILIP, members of
SOYO and Teen SOYO, AOCWNA, the Order of
Saint Ignatius of Antioch, the Archdiocesan Board
of Trustees, and to the clergy and laity. Your explosion of love has overwhelmed me, and your sacrifice
in behalf of the Balamand Orthodox Theological
Academy of Saint John of Damascus* is indeed a
manifested sacrifice of Love. I pray that this sacrifice
will never be in vain, and I am confident that your
sacrificial gift of love for the Balamand Academy
will bring forth new blossoms for Antioch. Antioch
will continue to play a vital role in the world, and
your Archdiocese will continue to play a vital role in
Antioch. You have given the Church something for
which you can never be truly thanked. In the past
you erected the stones of Balamand; today you
breathe into it lifegiving spirit. This is the first Archdiocese to accomplish such a great and praiseworthy
achievement.
I will return to the See bearing your love, and will
pray to Our Lord Jesus Christ every morning and
every evening that He may lengthen your days, pre-
* Metropolitan PHILIP announced at the Archdiocesan
Convention in Washington, D.C. the establishment of the
Patriarch ELIAS IV Foundation" In the amount of one
half mlllion dollars for the Balamand Seminary, due to the
generosity of the faithful of this Archdiocese.
Religious and Civic leaders at the banquet (Biltmore
Hotel) May 22, 1977 (I to r) Gazi Chidiac, Consul Gen 1
of Lebanon, Bishop ANTONIO of Mexico City A erah
• h op MC
' re·
b 1s
I HAEL, Bishop IRENEI of the Mose
Patriarchate, Metropolitan IL Y AS of Tripoli, Mouwaf~~
Allaf-Ambassador
of Syria to the UN, Archbisho
IAKOV AS of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Hip
Beatitude, Metropolitan PHILIP, Edouard Ghorra,' Am.
bassador
of Lebanon to the UN, Archbishop
ATHANASIUS of the Syria Orthodox (Jacobite) Church
Bishop ELIA, Zehdi Tarazi, PLO Observer at the U1'.
Bishop Zaven of the Armenian Orthodox Church, Bishop
DMITRI of the Orthodox Church in America.
serve your children, and fill your hearts always with
the spirit of love and unity, shepherded by Metropolitan PHILIP, the blessed of God, who has dedicated his very being to Christ and His Holy Church.
God bless each of you.
44
With the Dean, Father Alexander Schmemann, at
Vladimir's Seminary.
Sl,
YOUR BEATITUDE,
DURING
YOUR
ELEVEN WEEKS OF
TRAVEL
THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA YOU HA VE HAD
THE OPPORTUNITY
TO GAIN AN INSIGHT
INTO OUR CHURCH
LIFE. HA VE YOU NOTICED A DIFFERENCE
IN THE ATTITUDE
WHICHPREVAILS IN THE CHURCH HERE AND
IN THE CHURCH ABROAD?
Generally speaking, the attitudes here and
abroadare the same. Men and women, regardless of
their age or social standing or cultural milieu, are
seriouslyattempting to live the Life in Christ. Particular avenues of approach are, of necessity, differentin North America than they are in the Middle
East.For instance, in the Middle East the Church is
activelyinvolved in providing social welfare for the
unfortunate. In North America the State has
a sumed the responsibility to build and maintain
orphanages, homes for the widows and poor, and
hospitalsfor the infirm. In the Middle East we have
numerous Church societies which deal with these
affairs.Every Parish Council in the Middle East has a
special committee which deals with social welfare
forthe community. This is a most important facet of
our Christian mission and witness. But, as I said in
the beginning, here and abroad we find Orthodox
Christiansliving the same Gospel and applying it as
theparticular cultural and political milieu demands.
WHAT CHANGES DO YOU FEEL THAT WE
IN NORTH AMERICA NEED TO MAKE IN
ORDER TO MORE CLOSELY ALIGN OURSELVES WITH THE TEACHINGS OF ORTHODOXY?
Our Church in North America is already
tr~velling the road of Orthodoxy and perfectly
ahgnedwith her precepts. Since you are free to avoid
externaland variant theological and political trends
you
. _can1·
1ve the Orthodox experience to its fullest. I'
re1~•c~that your leadership, hierarchs and clergy,
a~etnt~matelylinked with the moral and spiritual life
0 th 1
e r communities.
cptember 1977
Page 6
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT WILL BE THE
IMPACT OF THE UPCOMING GREAT COUNCIL
OF ORTHODOXY
ON THE ECUMENICAL
CHURCH? WHAT ROLE WILL ANTIOCH PLAY
AT THIS COUNCIL?
I believe that the most important thing to come
out of the Great Council will be the united voice of
Orthodoxy. This unity on important issues will
permit the Church to touch and influence the lives of
all humanity. The Great Council will also offer our
Church the opportunity to rise above varying
political trends and proclaim that Orthodoxy is the
Church of Jesus Christ, and that He alone is our
criterion for perfection.
Antioch will continue to play the role that she has
historically played throughout the centuries. She will
be the peacemaker and mediator between the
varying spheres of influence. Antioch can do this
because, by the Grace of God, she remains free from
outside influences. Her faithful are stili free to
believe and to express this belief.
WHAT DO YOU FORESEE FOR THE
FUTURE OF ORTHODOXY IN THE DIASPORA,
PARTICULARLY FOR ORTHODOXY IN NORTH
AMERICA?
In preparation for the upcoming Great Council,
the Antiochian Holy Synod has studied in depth the
situation of Orthodoxy in the Diaspora. Our position
is clear. There must be established independent
At Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity In
Manhattan.
Page 7
�major role in the civil political process. Do
misunderstand my words. The Church must ne00
become a political party. Her role is to stand for a e~
preach the necessity for morality and human righn
She must always stand firm against injustice a d
corruption. The Church must educate her people~
the Gospel precepts of justice, freedom, mercy lovo
and charity. In this way the Church can and rnue
influence the political process, but only by influencing individuals and bringing them to a kno\\.
ledge of Jesus Christ. The political and social situation of a country, even of the world, will be changed
when the Church makes her members better
Christians.
Saint Elias in Dhour Shweir. Cognizant of the tense
political climate in Lebanon, we unanimously v~i~ed
our support for a revision of the Lebanese poh_ti_cal
system. In my message on the Feast of the Dormitton
in August of 1975 I called upon the Lebane~e
government to reorganize itself along democratic
and non-sectarian lines to insure justice and human
rights for all peoples. Unfortunately our Christian
plea went unheeded by those in authority and the
result has been disastrous for Lebanon and an affront
to all humanity. Our Church was the first body to call
for a fully democratic Lebanon, structured upon
non-sectarian lines, where all men are treated as
equals. We continue to stand behind this decision.
Our Christian commitment will permit us no other.
IS THERE ANYTHING WHICH YOU HA VE
LEARNED ABOUT US AS AMERICAN ORTHODOX . . . . . SOMETHING OF WHICH YOL
WERE NOT A WARE BEFORE YOUR VISIT THIS
SUMMER?
There is one particularly striking phenomenon
which I never anticipated experiencing here. Thisis
the beautiful sense of oneness among your young
and old. There is a total unity among all believer
My most memorable impression is the work being
done by the Youth Movement . . . SOYO and Teen
SOYO. I am deeply impressed by their true Christian
spirit. They are serious in their desire to live i·
Christ, as demonstrated by their in-depth studies o
the Great Fathers of the Church ...
St. John
Chrysostom, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. John of
Damascus, and others. There is a seriousness of
purpose in this Archdio':e~e. '"-!'he~oots of .Antio
chian Christianity are thnvmg m this Archdiocese.
These fruits whose seeds were planted and tende.
by Metrop~litan
ANTONY and Metropolitan
PHILIP are the results of hard work and lovin
sacrific~. The voice of this Archdiocese is heard
throughout the Ecumenical ~hurch b~~au~e you
have maintained concord of mmd and spmt with our
Ancient See.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE TO BE OUR
GREATEST STRENGTH AS AMERICAN ORTHODOX? WHAT ALSO IS OUR GREATEST
WEAKNESS?
Your strength, as I have said before, is that you
are a free, living Church. Your greatest weakness, I
believe, is your lack of vibrant monastic communities. The creation of monastic communities is an
indication of the spiritual maturity of the faithful.
You have excellent parochial clergy. However, they
necessarily are limited in their witness to the visible
Kingdom of God. I mean by this that to reveal the
fulness of the Kingdom, the Church needs both the
parochial clergy and the monastics. A Churc_h
without the complimenting effect of both of these is
incomplete. Monasticism is that beautiful garden
which radiates the high calling of moral and ascetical
life, where all is sacrificed to the will of God. It is a
concrete expression of the Heavenly Kingdom. Since
you have no monastic communities, your spiritual
and ascetical direction depends almost solely upon
your bishop. So far, God has blessed this Archdiocese with good and sincere hierarchs. But as a
I
At a reception hosted by SCOBA (I tor) Front row: Archbishop IAKOVOS of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese,
Chairman of SCOBA; His Beatitude; William Cardinal
Baum, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC;
Second row: Bishop PHILOTHEOS of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese; Metropolitan PHILIP; Bishop HERMAN of the Orthodox Church in America; Metropolitan
IL YAS of Tripoli; Archbishop VICTORIN of the
Romanian Orthodox Church; Metropolitan JOSEPH of
the Bulgarian Orthodox Church; Bishop JOHN of the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church; Bishop SILAS of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
Churches in W estem Europe, in North America, etc.
The possibility for such an autocephalous C~u!ch is
greatest in North America. However, the dects1on to
create such a Church must be done with the blessings
of all the Mother Churches which have dioceses on
this continent. As difficult as this might sound, l
firmly believe that this is indeed t~e easiest step. '"-!'h~
second step, and by far the most important and dif~icult, is to solve the problem which the C~ur.ch m
North America has created for herself. This is the
power of jealous ethnici~m_. It is divisive and
presents you with the most difficult problem to solv~.
The Churches abroad can decide to grant you this
autocephaly, but it would be use_le~s, a?d even
dangerous, to do so unless the jurisdi~tions m North
America can transcend these jealousies. We are_ all
well aware of the canons of the Church which,
among other things, say that. the~e cann~t be many
bishops in one city. The Antiochian See ~s re~dy to
do her part to rectify the 1;1nfortunate ~ituat10n ?f
Orthodoxy in North Amenca. We affirm that m
North America there should be an autocephalous
Church with its own Patriarch and Holy Syno~.
However, all Mother Churches mus! agre~ on this
point, and more importantly the fait~ul m North
America must do their part to make independence
and unity a reality and not just a written Tomos.
WHAT ROLE SHOULD THE CHURCH PLAY
IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS?
As the Body of Christ, possessing the whole of
revealed truth, the Church can and must play a
Page 8
R eiving the key to the City of Englewood from Mayor
ndra Greenberg
WHAT ROLE IS THE LAITY TO PLAY IN
HE CHURCH?
Through the sacraments of initiation, baptism
chrismation, all Orthodox Christians become
~izensof the "holy nation" and are ordained in!o
"royal priesthood." All men an~ women sha~e m
tlus one Priesthood of Jesus Chn~t. The ordam~d
riesthood differs from the lay pnesthood only m
function. The ordained priesthood deriv~s its
authorityand function from the body of believers.
The ordained priest is the tangible symbol of the
piey and priestly charact~r of his community. Thi~ is
at St. Ignatius of Antioch meant when he said,
'The bishop is the center of the Church." Not that
the bishop is the administrative or legal head, but
that he represents in his person the sanctity and
priesthoodof the entire Body of Christ. Laity, therefore,share in all but the sacramental character of the
priesthood.They have a responsibility to pray, to
fa t, to study and preach the Gospel, to minister to
he needy, to visit the sick, to witness to Christ in
e ery aspect of their life.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION OF ORTHODOXY
IN PARTICULAR AND CHRISTIANITY
IN
GENERAL IN LEBANON FOLLOWING THE
RECENTCIVIL WAR?
Our Church in Lebanon shares the same fate as
the Lebanese people themselves . . . there exists a
reatdeal of uncertainty. During the war our Church
. as under great pressure because it refused to align
1
elfwith either of the warring factions. By so doing,
Orthodoxydemonstrated that it was not a religious
ar beingfought between Christians on one side and
1uslimson the other. Throughout the war, Orthooxymaintained herself as a mediator and peacemaker.
~wo years before the civil war erupted, the
ntiochian Holy Synod met at the Monastery of
At a luncheon at the U.S. Senate.
The oru
ember 1977
Reception hosted by Ambassador Ghorra of Lebanon.
Page 9
�of the same. He must not let himself be a lav
anything except to the Person of Our Crucified L do
As a good and effective pastor, a priest must bor_
this world, but not of this world. He must know a
be concerned with the things which cause his fl n
to wander from Christ's green pasture. In order
teach, he must know, but not be a slave to these
cems. A priest's calling is to incarnate the messag •
0
Jesus Christ, to counsel His flock in His way, and
0
lead all to the knowledge of the Truth.
"TO HIS
BEATITUD
OUR
PATRIARCH
ELIAS IV
At the White House with President Carter (I tor): Father
George Rados, Archimandrite Antoun Khouri, Senator
James Abourezk, President Carter, Patriarch ELIAS IV,
Metropolitan PHILIP, Metropolitan ILYAS.
good bishop leads his spiritual children to the good,
so too a bad bishop, without a check, will lead them
to the bad. This is where the importance of
monasteries comes in. They have historically acted
as the safeguard and criteria for Orthodoxy. y OU, as
yet, lack this important witness and safeguard.
WHAT, IN YOUR ESTIMATION,
IS THE
GREATEST
CHALLENGE FACING PRIESTS
TODAY?
The greatest challenge, without do_ubt, i~ a~
internal one . . . one that must be fought m a priest s
personal life. He must combat eg.oism, selfishness,
pride, and so forth. He must maintain ~s pu~ty in
order to be a worthy messenger of God 3 Wtll. To
adequately face the forces of evil outside his person,
a priest must have first faced and. conquer,ed the
forces of evil within himself. He must conquer Satan
within himself.
A priest must always be a preacher of the Truth,
without having fear of any power or person ... be
he rich or poor, powerful or weak. He must not only
preach the Good News of Jesus <?hrist to t~e people,
he must first and foremost be an icon of this message
before them.
Today's priest, like all humanity, is s~rrounded
by a deluge of temptation. He_ m_ust.re~fftrm every
second of his life that Jesus Christ ts his first and only
consideration. The Priesthood is not a job, but a
totally sacrificial way of life.
No one can expect the married priest to make the
same sacrifices made by the monks and ~uns_.However even the married priest must ma1~tam that
Jesu; Christ is always his first con_siderat10!1. Love
and concern for his wife and children will be a
natural result of this devotion to Christ.
An unbelieving or uncertain priesthood is of the
greatest danger to the Body of Christ. Everyone,
including priests, has the right to the good ~nd
blessed things of God's Creation. However, a_priest
must never permit himself to set these g<?od_things as
his final goal, and he must remind those m hts charge
Page 10
MONTREAL
CANADA,
MAY, 197,.,
It was about a century ago.
That our forefathers migrated to Canada, and lo ...
By the "grace of God", we have in numbers grown
With clear perception of the early hardship, toil, ana
Lonely tears that they had known!
With awe, and "Trust in God", they built their
churches then ...
Giving "All Glory to God" ... and good will to'ards
men!
And now ...
their dreams, and visions have
become our legacy . . .
To guard our church in future years, and our young
from fallacy!
Our venerable Patriarch, "Elias IV from ancient
Antioch" ...
Has come to bless this western dedicated flock!
We . . . Orthodox descendants, and extractions
from the Holy Land . . .
Welcome him who represents Our Lord .
And respectfully kiss ... "his anointed hand!"
For in this era of a sad and troubled world• • •
Where massacres, hate, and wars have been unfurled. . •
k H'
Depend on Christ Who said . . . "Upon this roe is
Church would stand!"
. .
Believing this thro' centuries, we shall proclaim him
in this land!
· IV
W e pray "G o d" . . . health , and wisdom to Ehas •
and that
· h leaf"
The sacred crown he wears "be green wit
forevermore!
diving
We pray for peace, and guidance from the eve
word •• •
.
of Our
"For blessed is he who cometh m th e name
Lord!"
Ruby Shoo/ey Courey
TheW;
r ligious news service article ...
Campaign AgainstPornographyWidens
As Efforts Continue To Pose Problems
the march were the casts of two dozen Broadway
including the costumed players of "Godspell."
\\ •1·ng along were 8,000 members of matinee
" \\
.
. e and other interested peop 1e. I twas the wmdup
udien
•
h'
S
•
b
three-day campaign t 1s prmg y a group ca 11e d
1 mp Out Smut."
hat ew York City effort against pornography has
llel in several other U.S. cities and foreign countries
p r uizens' groups - including major religi~us leaders ea ingly react strongly to what Cardmal Terence
m rke, Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, calls
"dehumanizing" but "prosperous trade in filth and
· nity."
e"eral days before the actors' march, Cardinal Cooke
t',. personally ~o the Times Square area for an ~pen
mmunity meetmg on pornography. There he v01ced
the exasperation and indignation of millions of good
itizen as they watch a small number of men tum New
rk City and its suburbs into a near moral sewer of
pornographyand other sex-related exploitation."
Pornography "blasphemes,"
the cardinal said. "It
r duces the minds of young persons to destructive sen• ·y; it robs sex of all meaning and beauty, and dwells
n penersions so sick that we fear for the emotional
ealt· of those who are exposed in their formative years to
ch traumatizing materials and actions."
There are similar calls in other cities.
B1hop Eugene Marino, auxiliary of the Roman
holic Archdiocese of Washington, called on the city
ourdi to "clean up" the capital by taking "immediate
ergency action" to deal with "undesirables (who) force
em elves upon our communities, bringing with them
rvices which lower values in our neighborhoods and
·1ceour youth to engage in activities which can only aid
inde troying their moral values."
In Salt Lake City, Utahans Against Pornography held a
Rallyfor Decency. Endorsed by an interdenominational
alition, it attracted close to 10,000 people. Nevadans
ainst Pornography and Las Vegas officials have joined
u a city cleanup drive. "It's time somebody said 'Stop it;
eve had enough,'" said the group's president.
In the Northwest, several Seattle-area and Washington
·e church leaders endorsed an anti-pornography drive
: ear by Decency in Environment-Education
Today
D.ET).In mid-America, Iowa's Roman Catholic Bishops
lied for a concerted drive to "battle against porraphy in all its forms." Three hundred South Texas
. mbly of God clergy meeting in Houston authorized
eirleaders to speak out on their behalf on the issue.
1:he Rev. Harry Hollis Jr., director of fam.ily and
cial moral concerns for the Christian Life Commission
the Southern Baptist Convention, urges "economic
nct1onsthrough group actions" to "effectively combat
10
ember1977
pornography"
and
church
supplements
to antipornography legislation in the form of "wholesome sex
education, based on biblical teachings and the best
scientific insights." Also, he says, "announcing the good
news about the Christ, who offers an abundant life" will
help because "the gospel makes the crutch of pornography unnecessary."
In Canada, Roman Catholic Archbishop Philip Pocock
of Toronto used an "open letter of concern" as a paid
advertisement in the three dailies of his see city to
denounce pornography as "gravely wrong." Parish priests
were to read the letter at masses and preach against
obscene entertainment, literature, and conduct.
"Can you imagine," the archbishop wrote, "if just 50
people were to visit a neighborhood store where they
shopped to register their concern how much could be
accomplished? We have tested this approach and know
that it works."
Early this year, Venezuela's Roman Catholic bishops
said pornography is making "alarming inroads" in their
country. Last year, Poland's Roman Catholic bishops
issued a strongly worded condemnation of "sex scenes and
nudity" in Polish entertainment which "verged on pornography" and "offended Christian morality."
In Great Britain, the (Presbyterian)
Church of
Scotland set up a film-monitoring unit because of concern
about
violence
and pornography. • T.F. Torrance,
moderator of the denomination, said that "permissive
society under the cover of 'the natural' or 'free artistic
expression' or 'freedom' allows evil to entrench itself in
human and social structures."
Also in the United Kingdom, the Nationwide Festival
of Light has grown from a 1971 rally denouncing immorality into a focus of the British anti-pornography
movement. A related group - the Australian Festival of
Light - last year announced a national campaign to
"revive Australia - not simply economically, but morally
and spiritually."
Recent alarm about pornography has added items to
the traditional list of concerns. The Rev. Jesse Jackson of
PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) says the
proliferation
of songs such as "Sometimes,"
"Living
Together in Sin," "Let's Make a Baby," and "Shake Your
Body" is an example of commercial exploitation of young
blacks and he wants soul and other music stations to ban
the songs.
Before the PUSH effort, WWV A, a major countrymusic station in Wheeling, W.V., announced that it would
"not air suggestive or profane lyrics," and subsequently
banned such songs as "The Pill," "Would You Lay with
Me in a Field of Stones?" and "Sometimes"-(a song about
extra-marital affairs).
Concern about the use of children in pornographic
Page 11
�magazines and films led 86 members of Congress to introduce legislation to ban the use of children under 16 in
"outrageously obscene and degrading portrayals of sexual
activity," as one described them.
There are other concerns - reports of pseudochurches serving as fronts for pornographic
activity
(coupled with a tax exemption), and what many consider
obscene as viewer fare on the public-access channels of
cable television systems.
The Clarion Herald, weekly of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of New Orleans, said a study of pornographic
magazines by one of its writers showed vicious attacks on
and mockery of religion and ethnic groups.
Television critic John J. O'Connor, in a New York
Times article headlined "Soft-Core Porn is Sneaking into
Prime
Time,"
observed
a growing "pornographic
presence" on television which is "more a matter of tone or
atmosphere
than of specific incident." He said themes
bordering
on the pornographic
"have become commonplace on the evening schedule, usually in the sincerity-laden guise of social concerns."
Translating
public complaints and outrage about
pornography into legislation is tricky in the United States
because of the First Amendment guarantee of free expression.
In a 5-4 decision last Spring, the U.S. Supreme Court
upheld the constitutionality of a Detroit ordinance which
controls sex-oriented
theaters, bookstores,
bars, and
hotels, by the use of zoning.
Said Justice John Paul Stevens for the majority, "The
city's interest in attempting to preserve the quality of
urban life is one that must be accorded high respect.
Moreover, the city must be allowed a reasonable opportunity to experiment with solutions to admittedly
serious problems."
But a member of the minority, Justice Potter Stewart,
warned that "if the guarantees of the First Amendment
were reserved for expression that no more than a 'few of
us' would take up arms to defend, then the right of free
expression
would be defined and circumscribed
by
current popular opinion."
Attempts in some cities to make certain areas "combat
zones" where sex-related business is permissible, while it is
banned elsewhere, have brought outcries from r ·ct
1
and non-sex-related enterprises in the propo ed z n n
object to the concentration of such activit wh r
are.
Some urge regulation and legislation which would
more controls over what can be broadcast than hat p
be printed. However, late this Winter, in a 2-1 de i 1
panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Wa hin n,
reversed a 1976 ruling against radio station WBAI in t
Yark because it broadcast a comedy sketch b G 0
Carlin in the afternoon. Judge David Bazelon, a mem
of the majority, said "the impact of television and ra •
1
has grown at an astonishing rate, and broad a ·j
0
promises to become by far the most influential medium
communication in our society. As its power continu
grow, preservation of free speech will hinge large!\ 0
zealously protecting broadcasting from censorship." •
The U.S. Supreme Court has evolved a three-pan 1
for obscenity based on whether: The average p r 0
applying contemporary community standards, would fr d
the subject matter, taken as a whole, appeal to t
prurient interest; the subject matter depicts or de cnb
sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; the subj 1
matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, arti ti
political, educational, or scientific value.
But rarely do all agree on what material flunk the
so that the state should act. After Larry Flynt, publisher
Hustler magazine, was convicted in Ohio on charg 0
engaging in organized crime and pandering pornograph}
a United Methodist/ United Presbyterian publi a·ion,
New World Outlook, said the conviction was rn r
threatening to free speech than "dirty pictures ever wer .'
The editorial objected to an "unfortunate tenden
human nature to wish away difficult moral problem tpassing a law."
Similarly, the rigorous application of a little-heed
state obscenity law by a district attorney in Wichn.,
Kans., brought widespread misgivings of civil righ
violations.
A U.S. Supreme Court justice once said of hard o e
pornography, "I know it when I see it." Most people 1
agree with him. Where they disagree is what to do ab t
it.
subscription
to THE WORD
) $8.00 for U.S. & Canada
THIRTY-SECOND ANNUAL GENERAL CONVENTION
OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
HEME:
Ble ed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord
heraton Hotel
ngton, D.C.
D fES:
Jul 24-31, 1977
HO T PARISH:
aint George Orthodox Church
\ a hington, D .C.
HOSTPASTOR:
1chpriest George M. Rados
HILRARCHS IN ATTENDANCE:
'I.JiBeatitude, Patriarch ELIAS JV
HisEminence, Metropolitan PHILIP
Hi Eminence, Metropolitan ILY AS
< Emmence, Archbishop MICHAEL
Hi Grace, Bishop ELIA
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Carter meets at the
White House with His Beatitude Elias IV, Patriarch of
Antioch and all the East, on July 15.
Continuing Pastoral Education and Spiritual Vocations,
"The WORD" magazine, Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Women of North America (AOCWNA), Near East and
Arab Refugee Affairs, Project Loving Care, Finance,
Sacred Music, Christian Education, Convention Planning,
Legal Affairs and Resolutions, Society of Orthodox Youth
Organizations
(SOYO and Teen SOYO) and InterOrthodox Youth Relations, Stewardship, and the Order of
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
CLERGYIN ATTENDANCE:
110
NAC Teen SOYO "Spread THE WORD" campaign
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Name ____________________________
CELEBRATED:
he first visit of His Beatitude
ntiochand All the East
_
Address
ELIAS IV, Patriarch
of
ntiochianHoly Year
City __________________
_ State _____
Zip --HEARD:
THE WORD
Mail this form with remittance
to:
358 Mountain
Engelwood,
;~or~s from the Departments of Information and Press
'nt
atiFo~s,Liturgics and Translations, Inter-Orthodox and
1
er- aith R 1 •
In
e attons, Architectural Commission Clergy
urance• Miss1·onary A ct1v1ties
• . . and p ansh
. Development,
'
Roe;ld
N.J. 07631
TheW
Page 12
Ptember1977
the Address of Patriarch ELIAS IV in which he:
1. expressed his love for Metropolitan PHILIP;
2. praised the Antiochian
unity achieved in North
America
under the leadership
of Metropolitan
PHILIP and Archbishop MICHAEL;
3. said, "What has impressed me first and foremost in my
travels through this Archdiocese is the faith of your
little children;"
4. admired the discipline and structure of Archdiocesan
organizations;
5. expressed his joy at the Antiochian spirit maintained
in the Archdiocese;
6. expressed thanks to the Hierarchs, SOYO, AOCPage 13
�NEW YORK RECEPTION FOR PATRIARCH
NEW YORK - A New York reception was given by
Archbishop Iakovos, primate of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America, and the
Members of the Standing Conference of Orthodox
Bishops in the Americas to honor His Beatitude Patriarch
Elias IV of Antioch, leader of Arab Eastern Orthodoxy,
who is on a two-and-a-half month visit to North America.
Shown during the gathering which was held at the
Greek
Orthodox
archdiocese
were,
from left,
Metropolitan Ilyas of Tripoli, Metropolitan Philip Saliba,
Archbishop lakovos, the Patriarch, and Bishop John
Maury Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in
America.
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
WNA, Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Archdiocese Board of Trustees, and all clergy and faithful
for sacrificing in behalf of the Balamand Academy;
7. promised to pray for the faithful of this Archdiocese
every morning and every evening.
the Address of Metropolitan PHILIP in which he:
1. welcomed His Beatitude with these words from the
Matin Service, "Rejoice with gladness, 0 Chief
Shepherd, as thou beholdest thy children's children
around about thy table offering branches of good
deeds;"
2. reviewed his visit to the Moscow Patriarchate in the
fall of 1976, saying, "I hope that when I return to
Russia, the bells of the Kremlin will be ringing again
and the Name of God will be praised in all the
churches which were forced to close; otherwise, the
soft tears which we saw in the eyes of the Russian
people will become mighty rivers which will sweep
away all indifference to God."
3. reported on the extraordinary session of the Standing
Conference of American Middle Eastern Christian
and Moslem Leaders hosted at the Archdiocese
Headquarters in March, 1977;
4. reported on a meeting between the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the
Americas (SCOBA) and the Orthodox Christian
Education Commission (OCEC) hosted at the Archdiocese Headquarters in March, 1977;
5. announced
that three new missions have been
established during the past year: Annunciation in
West Hempstead, NY; St. Ignatius of Antioch in
Windsor, Ontario; and St. Basil the Great in New
Orleans, Louisiana;
Page 14
6. announced the canonical reception of the 200-f .
Church of the Incarnation in Detroit MI · amt!~
Archdiocese;
'
' into th
7. called for the establishment of an Orthodox Rad'10
Television Foundation;
and
8. reported on the consecration of three new h
• the past year: St. George in c· ur h
b m'Id.mgs d urmg
Falls, NY; St. Mark in Youngstown, OH; and St iagans
in Livonia, MI;
• a~
9. highlighted the visit of His Beatitude to
America during 1977, Antiochian Holy year·
Orth
10. proclaimed the actualization of the "Patriar~h ELIA
IV Foundation
for the Balamand Orth d
Theological Academy of St. John of Damascus" io t~x
amount of one-half million dollars;
n
11. refe17ed to the upc?°!'i~g Great_ Synod of Orthodox
placmg the potent1aht1es of this Archdiocese in th
hands of His Beatitude as he struggles to bri e
Orthodox unity to North America and Orthod~
cooperation throughout the world;
12. thanked Archbishop MICHAEL, Bishop ELIA hi
office staff, the Archdiocesan Trustees, the D~ans
the clergy, the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch, th~
AOCWNA, SOYO and Teen SOYO, Department
Chairmen, and the faithful of the Archdiocese for
their outstanding support and cooperation for tht
realization of the goals of Antiochian Holy Year.
13. thanked His Beatitude, praying, "Among the first be
mindful, 0 Lord, of our Father, Patriarch ELIA
whom do thou grant unto thy holy churches in peace,
safety, honor, and length of days and rightly dividing
the word of thy truth."
\ LCOMED:
\ Eminence, Jean Jadot, Apostolic Delegate of Pope
Ht I I in the United States
~,-~IiarnCardin~l Baum, of the Roman Catholic Arche e of Washington
~ Excellency, Archbishop Joseph Tawil of the Melkite
1
holic Eparchy in the United States
H~t Grace, Bish?P Papken of the Armenian Orthodox
hurch in the Umted States
Jrnam Dr. Muh~mmad Abdul Rauf, Director of the
\ 'a hington Islamic Center
nited States Senator James Abourezk
C ited States Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar
:ba sador Najati Kabbani of Lebanon, Dean of the
rab Diplomatic Corps
mbassador Abdul Aziz Bouali of Bahrain
mbassador Ashraf Ghorbal of Egypt
mbassador Hamed Al-Madfah of United Arab Emirates
mbassador Ahmad Matki of Oman
mbassador Sabah Kabbani of Syria
H.B. with Senator James Abourezk and Chaplain of the
.S. Senate in Washington, D.C.
alimDabagah, Charge d' Affaire of Algeria
AhmadKasrawi, Charge d' Affaire of Jordan
JamilAl-Hassani, Charge d' Affaire of Kuwait
Abdel Jalil Hamarah, Minister of the Embassy of the
YemenArab Republic
MissHelen Thomas, White House Bureau Chief for UPI
Dr.Hatem Hassani, Director Arab Information Center
\fr. Joseph Baroudy, President
of the National
Associationof Arab Americans (NAAA)
\fr. Michael Saah, President of the American Ramallah
Federation(ARP)
\fr.
~usef Farsah, President of the Washington
Associat10nof Arab American University Graduates
AAUG)
\ifwem?ers
of the Orthodox Clergy Association of Greater
ashmgton,DC
'!
PRESENTATIONSMADE:
At NY City Hall with Mayor Abraham Beame on Ma
1977.
The
241
or
Mr. Gary Younes, immediate past President of NAC
SOYO, was presented the Archdiocesan Certificate of
Meritorious Service
one hundred laymen and laywomen received the Cross of
the Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch
VOTED:
Mr. John Roman of Tucson, Arizona, as President of NAC
SOYO
Mr. Thomas Hier of Washington, DC, as President of NAC
TeenSOYO
Mrs. Elsie Kaleel of Youngstown, Ohio, as President of
NABAOCWNA
Mr. Albert Joseph of Chicago, Illinois, as Chairman of the
Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch
PASSED:
a record budget of $390,000.00
RECEIVED:
greetings from President Jimmy Carter
greetings from U.S. Senator James Abourezk
greetings from Washington, DC, Mayor Walter E.
Washington
greetings from Yasir Arafat, through Zuhdi TaraZI
Permanent
Observer to the U.N. for the Palestine
Liberation Organization
Press Conference in NYC.
e~ator James Abourezk was presented the Cross of the
0
; er of Saints Peter and Paul by His Beatitude
Cerrt.
'f~eorgos Lampathakis received the Archdiocesan
I icate of M 't
•
Serv1ce
. and a sliver
.
medallion
en onous
Holy Year
ANNOUNCED:
theme for the 1978 Archdiocesan Convention "Go Ye
Therefore and Teach All Nations"
'
theme for the 1978 Regional SOYO Parish Life Conferences, "Go, Preach the Gospel"
1978 Convention site: Houston, Texas
1978 Conference sites: Lake George, NY; Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida; Akron, Ohio; Vicksburg, Mississippi; Portland.
Oregon; (New England undecided)
1979 Convention site: Miami, Florida
RESOLVED TO:
proclaim by acclamation "Many Years" to His Beatitude
ELIAS IV
~ ~
extend to Metropolitan
~
IL Y AS a special expression
of love and gratitude by
assuring him of continuing
prayers that God will grant
him Many Years
establish a Relief Fund for
the
benefit
of
the
parishioners of St. Mary
Church in Johnstown, PA,
who have suffered the
disastrous loss of home and
property, requesting that each of the parishes and/ or
organizations of the Archdiocese conduct fund raising
drives for the funding of same
recommend to all other Christian communities
United States and Canada their establishment
in the
of in-
cptember1977
Page 15
�formational programs about Islam and the Muslim people
and their initiation of mutually beneficial ChristianMuslim dialogue
condemn the present and all other previous illegal settlements by Israel on Arab lands as a serious obstacle to
peace in the Middle East; and to call upon the government
of the United States to persuade the State of Israel to
abolish these settlements
and any further illegal encroachment upon Arab Territories
call upon President Carter and Secretary of State Cyrus
Vance to (1) use their influence with the State of Israel to
assure that State's adherence to U.N. resolutions and its
respect for the human rights of the Palestinian Christian
and Muslim people; and (2) enforce United States
declared policy that economic and military aid not be
given to any nation which violates human rights
call upon the media in the U.S. and Canada to s~op being a
part of the insideous campaign to defame or misrepresent
the Arabs and to "publish the truth" about the
Arab I Israeli conflict
deplore the actions of those who hinder and retard the
movement of the government and of the people of
Lebanon toward a peaceful settlement of their proble~s
and the rights of self-determination
whether they be m
Lebanon or outside of it
urge all combatants, be the~ Lebanese or ~alestini~n, to
lay down their arms and to hft them up agam only m the
legitimate defence of the national integrity of Lebanon
and the Lebanese people and urges the Arab go':ernments
and all political parties in Lebanon to re-activate and
adhere to the Cairo Agreement o;;;.;;f;....::...19~6.;..;9
______
_,
urge the U.S. and Canadian
governments
to
relax
immigration
laws and to
open their arms in the
name of humanity to those
refugees from the strifetorn land of Lebanon who
are now living in the U.S.
and Canada and in other
countries
and who are
seeking entry and refuge
in to one or the other of
these two great nations.
extend to the pastor and
parish of Saint George
Church in Washington, DC, heartfelt thanks
preciation for an outstanding Convention
RECOGNIZED:
NAC SOYO's and AOCWNA's selection as its project
commitment for 1978 the Missionary work of the Archdiocese.
The 1977 Convention theme, "Blessed is he who comes
in the Name of the Lord," was developed in the hom~lies
which were presented
each ~orning
and e~enmg.
Homilists and topics were: Archpnest Gregory ~fies~ 01;1;
"St. Paul's Pastoral Epistles on Marriage and Famlly Life,
Father Olof Scott on "On the Road to Martyrdom - St.
Ignatius of Antioch," Father Gabriel Barrow on "St. John
Page 16
Chrysostom and His Concept of the Priesthood,"
chpriest Dr. Joseph Allen on "The Penitential Prayer of
Ephraim the Syrian," Archpriest Antony Gabriel on .. l
Isaac the Syrian and the Meaning of his Ascetical trh int
for the Modern Christian," Father Joseph Shaheen
"The Concept of Stewardship According to St. Joh~
Chrysostom," Father Gerasimos Murphy on "St. John of
Damascus and his Defense of Holy Icons," Father Dr. Paul
Nadim Tarazi on "1:he Importance_ of ,,Theological
Education to the Patnarchate
of Antioch,
Archpri l
George S. Corey this quote from His Beatitude "Our
mission is to resurrect the glory of the See of Antio h.
What have we done and what are we now doing for thi
purpose? Are we serious in our love for our Christian
heritage?"
Thousands of faithful attended the daily Ve p r
Service and received the Eucharist at the daily Divin
Liturgies. The climax of the Convention was the
Hierarchical
Divine Liturgy on Sunday, July 31.
celebrated
by His Beatitude,
Metropolitan
PHILIP
Metropolitan
IL Y AS, Archbishop MICHAEL, Bishop
ELIA, and many clergy.
The combined choir of several hundred voices offered
the responses to all services, under the direction of Mr
Raymond George, Director of the Department of Sacred
Music.
To the Reverend Clergy, Esteemed Members of the
Parish Councils, and Beloved Faithful of the
Antiochian
Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of
North America:
Grace and peace to you and your communities
from Our Lord Jesus Christ.
During the General Assembly_ at the recent 3~nd
annual Archdiocesan
Convent10n, a resolution
submitted by NAC SOYO was unanimously adopted
by your delegates. The resolution ca_lls. for the
establishment of a relief fund for the pansh1oners of
our Church of Saint Mary in Johnstown, Penn·
sylvania, who have sustained losses during the recent
catastrophic flood. Thanks be to God, n?ne of our
faithful lost their life. However their pastor,
Reverend Father Joseph Shahda, informs us that
many have been affected materially and several have
lost all of their earthly possessions.
Mindful of our corporate Christian obligati~n,
we call upon all individuals, parishes and parochial
organizations to render financial aid to our brothers
and sisters in Johnstown. Please make checks
payable to H Antiochian Orthodox Christian A_rc~~
diocese" and earmark them for "Johnstown Rel~ef•
The need is not only great but also immediate,
therefore we ask that all checks be submitted to the
Archdiocese
Headquarters
in Englewood, New
Jersey before September 30.
Trusting in your Christian commitment, and
asking for your prayers for the people of Johnstown,
we remain
Yours in His Service,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
The Word
THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX
EPISCOPATE ANNUAL CONGRESS
The 45th Annual Church Congress of the
R manian Orthodox Episcopate of America was
~d at its national headquarters, Vatra Romaneasca
~: Grass Lake, Michigan from July 1-4. Clergy and
delegates from the parishes throughout the
1
a. ·ted States and Canada heard, discussed and
ntroved reports
of the various Episcopate
app
. ·1· .
d partments and Aux1 ianes.
e This year's Congress took on special significance
d importance in that it coincided with Archbishop
analerian D. Trifa's 25th anniversary of spiritual
leadership. Over 2000 Romanian Orthodox from the
nited States and Canada
... were attracted to Grass
Lake for the special fest1v1t1es.
.
.
Besides the clergy conference, vanous meetmgs
d business sessions, a special festive program was
~:ld at a nearby auditori~m to hail the Archbish'?p's
Anniversary. Folk dancmg groups fr?m Regm_a,
askatchewan, Canada; Canton, Ohio; Detrmt,
Michigan and Chicago, Illinois presented a beautiful
program of authentic Roma~ian dance~. The ~~ans
of the Episcopate and presidents of its Aux1hary
expressed congratulatory
remarks and presented
Archbishop Trifa with portfolios of letters from their
respective constituents.
Highlights of the Testimonial Program and the
\arious other special anniversary events was the
surprise visit of the A_rchbishop's father: Mr.
Dionisie Trifa, 83, who arnved the same day d1rectly
from Romania.
All the arrangements
for the dinners and
preparation of the food were handled by a committee from St. Mary's parish of Chicago, Illinois.
The business sessions were short, so that more
time could be given to consideration of the 25 year
activity report of Archbishop Trifa. The many
DECEASED:
AM E, Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Gabriel, in New Castle,
PA,onMay 11
-1ICKEL,
Khouriyeh Anna, in Grand Rapids, MI, on July
l
lAALOUF,Mother Mary, on Saturday, April 16; Abbess
of the Patriarchal Convent of the Theotokos in Saidnaya,
ria.
0 LEAVE:
ADAK.A,Rev. Basil, from the pastorate at St. George in
llentown,Pa. and from the Archdiocese.
GRADUATED:
BLA KENSTEIN, Rev. Paul, from St. Vladimir's
TheologicalSeminary
L-HA
YEK, Dn. Hans, from St. Vladimir's Theological
eminary
'OBBS, Nicholas from St. Vladimir's Theological
eminary
'
Pember 1977
achie ements were gratefully noted and the
problems pondered. As a result, the Congress issued
a document of the State of the Episcopate with
guidelines for the future.
The Congress reiterated that during the past 25
years, the Romanian Episcopate has actively participated in the Ecumenical Movement. As a
founding member of The World Council of Churches (WCC) and The National Council of Churches
of Christ in the United States (NCCC-USA) the
Episcopate, insofar as was possible, was represented
in a number of Ecumenical Assemblies, Conferences, Commissions and Boards. In spite of the
fact that the Ecumenical Movement has often gone
beyond its initial intent and purposes, having altered
them, the Congress still considers their presence and
witness as an Orthodox body necessary in the
Ecumenical Movement. Nevertheless, the Congress
did not hide its indignation and disappointment in
the way the present leadership of The National
Council of Churches of Christ in the United States
has handled recently the case of Archbishop
Valerian D. Trifa. Under physical and psychological
pressure by an extremist minority group, the
Executive Committee
of NCCC has blatantly
disregarded the constitutional rights of a man to be
considered innocent until proved guilty. Through
public statements, the Executive Committee of
NCCC has helped to prejudice a case pending before
a Court of law, thus making a farce of its own
constitution and the pretention that it is dedicated to
the advocacy of justice and fairness towards those
wronged and persecuted for their ideas. It is almost
incomprehensible that while the NCCC-USA is on
record for encouraging and financing some extremist movements, its Executive Committee did not
find the time nor the means to investigate the facts
or defend an Orthodox bishop.
ORDAINED:
DAHDAL, Nicholas (Suheil), to the Holy Diaconate at St.
George in Washington, DC, on July 31 and to the Holy
Priesthood on August 14 at the Church of the Virgin Mary
in Yonkers, N.Y.
McLUCKIE, James (Douglas), to the Holy Diaconate at
St. George in Allentown, PA, on June S; to the Holy
Priesthood at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Los Angeles, CA,
on July 3
TRANSFERRED:
DOYLE, Rev. Paul from the pastorate at St. Elias in
Atlanta, GA, to the pastorate at St. George in Portland,
OR
NEMR, Archpriest Paul from the pastorate at St. George
in Wichita, KA, to the pastorate at St. Elias in Atlanta,
GA
SCOTT, Rev. Anthony from the pastorate at St. George in
Portland, OR, to the pastorate at St. George in Wichita,
KA
Page 17
�ASSIGNED:
McLUCKIE, Rev. James, to the assistant pastorate at St.
Nicholas in San Francisco, CA
BLANKENSTEIN, Rev. Paul to the pastorate at St. Mary
in Iron M-0untain, MI.
POSITIONS ACCEPTED:
ALLEN, V Rev. Dr. Joseph, Professor of Pastoral
Theology at Holy Cross Orthodox Theological School in
Brookline, MA
BOOJAMRA,
Dr. John, Visiting Professor of Church
History
at Saint Vladimir's
Orthodox
Theological
Seminary in Crestwood, NY
TARAZI, Rev. Dr. Paul, Professor of Old Testament at
Saint Vladimir's
Crestwood, NY
Orthodox
Theological
emina 11
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THE PRIEST'S GUIDE, containing the Priest G
Ecumenical Guidelines, Archdiocesan and Model pui~
Constitutions,
listing of Annual Feasts and
ar.
Observances of the Archdiocese; by the Departm pe
Publications. $2.00
ent
THE CONFERENCE SEl_{VICE BOOK, containing t
order
o! V esp~r~, K_a1ron, Proskomedia,
e tin
Metalyps1s, and D1vme Liturgy for celebration at Reg·
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.
. an dT rans 1at1ons.
•
Ill
L1turg1cs
LIFESTYLES X
h mil by father james c. meena
"Students-¥
SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH RESPONDS
TO DEFAMATORY ANDERSON
AND WHITTEN A TT ACK
The Central Executive Board of the Serbian
Orthodox Church in the United States of America
and Canada met on Thursday, July 14, 1977 in
Chicago, Ill. and issued the following pronouncement with re-gard to the syndicated column of Jack
Anderson and Les Whitten printed in newspapers
throughout the country on June 14, 1977.
PRONOUNCEMENT
The Central Executive Board of the Serbian
Orthodox Church in the United States of America
and Canada, in response to the most regrettable and
irresponsible attacks made upon Her through the
instigation
of the dissident element within our
Church, deplores and denies the charges made in the
column of Jack Anderson and Les Whitten. The
column, appearing throughout the country in the
various
major
and minor newspapers
which
regularly carry the Anderson-Whitten
syndicated
column, was obviously the result of the last effort of
the schismatic group to attract attention to their
hopeless cause to break with the Tradition of the
Holy Serbian Orthodox Church.
The bishops and members of the clergy who have
come to this continent have all been granted
citizenship in the U.S.A. upon request, having, of
course, passed through in-depth investigations which
'are routine for applicants for citizenship. Can these
same American Citizens be those "spies in cassocks"
to whom the authors of the article refer? It is highly
unlikely.
In a lengthy meeting of the representatives of the
Serbian Church with the authors to discuss precisely
such
questions,
it was revealed
that these
"documents" to which the authors alluded, were no
more than excerpts from government agency files,
presented out of context to a national readership.
The "documents" represent not the conclusions of
these government agencies but rather reports of
allegations made by our schismatics, who themselves
then supplied these selected and edited reports to
Messrs. Anderson and Whitten. This type of action
was nearly predictable on the part of the defeated
schismatics. The tragic element here is that the
nationally known columnists did not make an effort
to check these sources. Drawing conclusions in this
manner is most irresponsible, and for such well
known and influential
figures, even immoral.
Through their article and their lack of energy in
following up these "sources," Anderson and Whitten
have done more to discredit the integrity of the
Serbian Orthodox Church than any other person,
group or association in the eyes of the public.
Defeated by the solidarity of the whole of
Orthodoxy, the American judicial system, and by
their
corrupt
and self-serving purposes, the
schismatics sought to poison the American public;
to gain support among the American people by
arousing suspicion upon our Holy Church. Instead
we have seen here the triumph of true justice;
neither the Orthodox world nor the American public
have yielded to this wholesale blackmail, and the
courts and our faith stand firm in their quelling of
the fires of insurrection and disunity in the Holy
Orthodox Church. The hierarchical principle is
upheld and our prayers continue for the return of
our lost brethren.
As for Messrs. Anderson and Whitten, we
anxiously await an open apology for their gr~ve
disservice. Otherwise we may have no alternative
but to turn to the American courts to clear the
reputation of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Central Executive Board members:
/ s / Sam Milanovich
/ s / Dmitar Rakich
/ s / Luka Pecel
/ s / Rt. Rev. Bishop Sava
I s I Bishop Firmilian
/ s / Bishop Gregory -
Today we pay tribute to our college students who are
returningto the academic world.
\ii beloved sons and daughters, how shall we send you
the world? In ancient times it was customary that
. en a clan member sojourned to a strange land, he took
so that, in the new land,
1 -h him letters of commendation
·e ponsible people would receive and recognize him. But
. don't send you into the world with letters of recommendation because, as St. Paul says, "Unlike other people
e need no letters of recommendation, because you are
,our elves our letters, written in our hearts ... and it is
plainthat you are a letter from Christ, drawn up by us and
~Tittennot with ink but with the spirit of the living God,
not on stone tablets but on the tablets of your living
harts". (II Cor. 3:1-3) You are the credentials that we
end into the world to bear witness of who and what we
are. Those credentials aren't written by hand, with scroll
dndink, but are embossed on the emotions of the faithful.
Youare our letter 0f recommendation to the world.
•
10
"And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like
mirrorsthe brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and
•ighter as we are turned into the image of that which we
reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is the Spirit".
3:18) As we grow brighter by our spirituality, we ourelves are transformed into that which we reflect. Think
about that. If we reflect negative things, we are tranformed into negative things. If we reflect evil, we are
transformed into something evil. Unlike a mirror, which
remainspassive, we are changed by that which we reflect.
If we are mirrors of Christ, then we are transformed into
Hi image.
"I charge you then not to be backwards or embarrassedabout your faith. On the contrary, we will have
none of the reticence of those who are ashamed, no
Cleceitfulnessor watering down of the word of God . . .
but the way we commend ourselves to every human being
ith a conscience is by stating the truth openly in the sight
if God, for it is not ourselves
we are preaching but Christ
Jesusas the Lord". (4:2-6)
When you are engaged in dialogue about our faith,
rememberthat we do not express our own opinion, but we
reflectthe Word of God, based on Orthodox foundations
The V ord
Page 18
ou Are Our Letter"
tptember 1977
of eternal and absolute truth. If we depend on our own
ideas of what truth is then we are basing our attitc<i ~s
upon the fallible, the shakeable, the unreliable. But if the
things that we preach are not of ourselves but are the
Word of God, then we are unshakeable .
Just as my parents sent me into the world, just as I have
sent my children into the world, so also are you sent out by
your parents and your Church to manifest those holy
things that you have learned in your Godly households
and in these segments of the family of God. "So you are
ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in
Christ's name is: 'Be reconciled to God'". (II Cor. 5:20)
It is not sufficient to say, "Yes, I believe that God
exists", and then do nothing about it except to alienate
ourselves day after day from the reality that is God. God
makes His demands of you now, for He says: "At the
favorable time, I have listened to you; on the day of
salvation. I came to your help. Well, now is the favorable
time, this is the day of salvation". (II Cor. 6:2 & Isaiah
49:8)
How is it possible to become Godly, now? ~~we prove
we are God's servants by our purity, knowledge, patience
and kindness, by a spirit of holiness, by a love free from
affectation, (free from phoniness), by the word of truth
and by the power of God". And more, by being armed
with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in
the left", not with weapons that destroy but with weapons
that uplift and build, "righteousness in the right hand and
in the left. Prepared for honor or disgrace, prepared for
blame or praise, taken for imposters while we are genuine,
obscure yet famous, We will be taken for people having
nothing, though we have everything". (II Cor:6:6-10)
You take with you our blessings, our best wishes and,
above all, you take with you our name, our history and our
reputation. I charge you not to tarnish them but to return
them to the next generation, shining like new with the
brightness of your own faith and integrity, so that they
may receive them in better condition than you did, just as
we have tried to give them to you in better condition than
we received them.
Page 19
�Communities
In Action
t. G orge-Montreal
.. _...,r1.,,r:,udY
St. George
Church-Terre
The pa~ish of St. George Orthodox Church in Terre
Haute, Indiana recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of
!he church. The celebration took place May 13-15 and
mcl~ded dignitaries of the Orthodox Church and the commumty. Among the dignataries included in the celebration
were: Archbishop Michael Shaheen, V. Rev. George M.
Rados, Rt. Rev. George Ghannam, Father Samuel David
Mayor Wil~iam Brighton and Congressman John Myers'.
The orgamzers
of the celebration were Mr. Michael
Maloof and George Azer, Parish Council Chairman, as
well as many others who contributed their time and effort
on this occasion.
~he church in Terre Haute began in May of 1927 when
dedicated
Orthodox
immigrants
of Syrian-Lebanese
heritage set out to form a church. These persons purchased an obsolete school building in order to have a
place of worship for the many Orthodox that had already
arrived in Terre Haute. The church existed in this school
building until 1957 when Joe Malooley, the then President
of the Board of Trustees located a site at the present
location of 1900 South 4th Street. The church was erected
and in the years that followed a parish house, and a new
social center was added to the church grounds. The
grounds are estimated to be worth about $400,000.00.
The weekend began with a question and answer
session with participants
quizzing Fr. Ghannam and
"
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r'l
I
1
'i1 ! /l'.,
1,
.,
,
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11
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tiil}1
.
FINAL MORTGAGE
PAYMENT
St. George
Orthodox Church Parish Council president George Azar
receives a check of Sl,000 from Ladies Society treasurer,
Mrs. Joseph C. Sabb, Sr., which represents the final
payment toward the mortgage held for many years on the
social center. The golden anniversary celebration May 1315 marked the official "burning of the mortgage"
ceremony. Beaming their approval are parish priest, Rev.
Samuel David and Ladies Society president, Mrs. Abe
Malooley.
House of Photography Photo
(St. George -Terre Haute)
Page 20
Haute, Indiana
Father David. The Saturday happenings tarte
breakfast at the home of Mrs. Abe Maloolev Pr i
the Ladies Society, with co-sponsorship b\ Geor
President of the Parish Council. The atur a a t r
schedule included an open house at the ho i of r.
Mrs. Woodrow Corey and was followed by upper 1
Saratoga Cafe and the viewing of a ctocume tarv n
Local Orthodox Church, filmed by WTHI T . .r"th
The evening festivities were capped off by
H 1
featuring two out-of-town musicians, accompc:nyin
local talent of Joe Sabb Jr., and Farns Shahade .
The Sunday celebration began with 1-Jierarh"
Divine Liturgy with Orthodox clergy rom th
present. Regular Chanter Joseph Sabb Sr. was a
Mr. Woodrow Corey, who read the same Ep1 tie
read 50 years earlier. Sunday after liturgy sa
"BRUNCH" sponsored by the local priest, Father
David.
The climax of the celebration began at :30 p.m.
a Prime Rib Dinner was attended by over 250 peopl
"topping" of the evening came when 10 people h n t
represent the parish "struck a match" to the m rt
held on the properties.
The celebration was a huge success and wa enj )
by all those in attendance.
.
Father George Rados, who served the congre u
for over 15 years concluded his remarks by a m_ ..
matter how far one goes, one should never re t a I n
he has the breath of life in him, for there is much m r
be done". He continued saying: "Let us now build
instead of buildings."
..
It is noteworthy to mention that the onl on 1
Board member still living, Mr. Sam Corey wa applau .
and was heard saying, "Thanks to the present gener U
for keeping the faith strong." Uncle Sam, than,.
you and those dedicated pioneers _that "cau ed
golden anniversary to become a reality. God
many years. GOD GRANT ORTHODOX
YEARS!
GEORGE AND RAY
The
i
tting inv lved at t. George, Montreal
~ , :tion of the Cross ~ith Archbishop Micha~l
th h n a chief elebrant maugurated a new era m
h
n h. During the liturgy, our new pastor, the
, rend Antony Gabriel was officially installed.
hurch Archbishop Michael, St. George's
1
• f.nen d s at a get~toget h er
rmr r p tor, i ited with his
. th
hurch Hall where many memories were
in Ii, d. The occasion alsoyrov~ 'd e d an opportumty
• f or
th r ntony, his charmmg wife and children, to get
u int d with the parishioners.
i J vent of the weekend included a reception at
h h m of Parish Council President, Hector Zakaib
1
nd a
cial hour hosted by Archdiocese Trustee,
r nk Haddad.
t b r
ur annual oyster party organized by the Parish
un il was as successful as ever!! Businessmen and
th ir gue t look forward to this event every year.
h m nth of December was welcomed with the Feast of
Barbara. The celebrations included the serving of
e boiled wheat with raisins and nuts), and the
nnual bake sale by the Ladies' Society. Our ladies
r ught forward their traditional display of homemade goodies - amongst the best in the Archdiocese,
are ure! !!
were fortunate to witness a newly inspired Sunday
hool. Under the talented direction of Khouryah
L}r •, it has been expanded to a new and enthusiastic
t nage group. Miss Kerba, former superintendent,
wa given special thanks for her several years of hard
·ork and dedicated efforts. Mr. Nick Kattas and Mrs.
Elaine Betros took on the task.
ne\\- 'irection was taken at Christmas
rather than receive." Children brought canned
d and money which were distributed to the needy
and to help the Middle East Aid Society's Charitable
work.
t nding room only at the Christmas Eve Service r ceiving inspiration of Yuletidings by the senior choir
and a new children's choir - The Church was
decorated with pines and poinsettias which were
donated by members of the parish.
T e ew Year was brought in by the "Circle's" gala celebrations, an annual tradition, giving many members of
our community the opportunity to welcome 1977
" gether.
e piphany services were co-celebrated by Father
Jo eph Shaheen and Father Anthony at St. George
hurch.
F bru_aryset off to a good start with the Ladies Society's
~ m~ and Cheese party - a great time for all tarting from the Arabic Debka to the Limbo.
L ·nn Gabriel was formally welcomed to her new position
if Khouryah of St. George by our Ladies Society's
afternoon tea, attended by over 125 women.
0
Marc.~ 26, Lynn's busy teenager group presented a
pla God's Favorite" by Neil Simon. This most
~rofe ional performance by amateurs was enthusiasically received! A "standing ovation" was reward for
The picture was taken at a Parish Reception honoring
Archbishop Michael and Father Antony. From left to
right - Mrs. Lynn Gabriel, Father Paul Nemr, Father
Antony Gabriel, Father Joseph Shaheen, Dr. Pierre Ziade,
Archbishop Michael, Gladys Rossy.
St. George, Montreal
many months of weekly rehearsal. This promises to be
the first of a series.
In addition to his influx of many ideas to the various
church organizations, Father Antony and his family
have successfully completed a move to their new home
in Mount Royal - lots of elbow and breathing room.
The Gabriels' have been hosted at various dinner parties
including one at their new neighbor's the Consul of
Lebanon, Dr. Pierre Ziade.
Father Antony was guest speaker at St. Nicholas Men's
Club. He also delivered the sermon at the St. George
Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Sunday of Orthodoxy.
On April 17, a lecture was given by Father Antony the topic, "The Transfigured "I"".
Included in a very busy schedule are services twice a
month at the Cedars Home for the Aged - during the
Christmas season, the Choir accompanied Father on
his visit to the Cedars - to sing and bring cheer to our
aged.
The Choir is planning a reunion and a thirtieth celebration
of their existance. Also on the choir scene, Mr. Alain
Nonat has been engaged as assistant choir director to
the "Venerable" Mr. I van V oronkoff who has taken on
the new responsibility of the formation of a children's
choir.
United SOYO of Montreal has been quite busy with their
social and religious projects. Their activities included:
A Wine and Cheese party to welcome Father Antony
and Khouryah Lynn to Montreal. Over 125 young
people were present. This evening was sponsored
anonymously by one of the parishioners. The Easter
SOYO Project - "Food for the Hungry" - where
Easter baskets were sold and proceeds given to the
poor.
A feasibility study was recently initiated by the Parish
Council to study the future expansion possibilities of
the Church. A committee has been set up to present its
findings at the next meeting.
Father Antony and the Parish Council were pleased to
announce the appointment of Sub-Deacon Anatasy
Dickson as religious educational and youth director
for the parish. This is a joint project between St.
Nicholas and St. George churches.
ember1977
Page 21
�St. Anthony
Church-Tulsa,
It was ~estarted on June 3, 1976, at Nimitz Jr. High
School. With 50 enthusiastic people - and no comfortab_le trapping~ - began a church with love and joy. The
pnes,t, Fr_. Michael Keiser, declared St. Antony Church
Gods child and under His protection, and that it would
grow with God's care.
. St. Antony's~
a na~e ~e took for ourselves - grew
mto a wor_sh1pp~ng family m a climate of creativity and
openn~s_s,_m which each person was urged to offer his or
her ab1ht1es for the common good. We strive to remain
that way today.
The parish moved from the junior high to a shopping
~ente~ for Sunday Liturgy. Weekday services; evening
hturg1es, Presanctified
Liturgies, even baptisms, were
~one in the homes of the parishioners. Parish organizations began a full round of activities. In November, a very
successful Hafli was held and there have been two successful garage sales. An Adult S.O.Y.O. was formed, the
core of which was a study group meeting each Tuesday
evening. The Sunday School began using an organized
curriculum, with an enrollment of 30 children.
The great hope, however, was for a church of our own.
God was good. Through the generosity of the Cedar Club
of Tulsa, an old building was given to the parish. From
December to March, work continued on the building.
t. Mary's Building
Page 22
Island
P .A.C.T.
the afternoon of April 17, 1977, the bells of St.
? Antiochian Orthodox Church of Pawtucket,
.r~ I land rang joyously_. By a favorable vote of 1?~ to
~h ihe parishioners h~d Just approve_d a $1.1 _m1lhon
: d' proposal submitted by the Pansh Council and a
u1l.,ng
• Comm1ttee.
•
A V esper serll appointed P 1anmng
1
.
1 d b our Pastor, Rt. Rev. Athanasius Saliba, was
1
~· i:mediately following announcement
of the good
1
Parishioners ripped out partitions and painted wall 0 .
11
Holy Thursday, when the first Divine Liturgy wa h~~d!
the 3:ew_St. Ant'?ny's .. Easter services marked the offi 1:~
movmg-m. Services m the homes and offices hap 11
ended.
p
~ut the heritage of meeting challe1:ge_screati ely tay .
It will be a future as full of growth, bmld1ng and change a
the past; a future full of challenge, love and learning fo
the family of St. Antony's.
r
Saint George Church-New
The consecration of a new altar on March 27 by His
Eminence
Metropolitan
Philip, assisted by the Rt.
Reverend Antoun Khouri, and Rt. Reverend Paul Saliba
marked the completion of a task of joy long awaited by.
the parish of St. George, New Kensington, Pennsylvania.
The new marble altar, purchased by the Senior SOYO in
honor of beloved Pastor Emeritus Very Reverend
Nicholas Ofiesh, replaced a "temporary" wooden altar
table that had been installed during the erection of a
beautiful new church some twenty-three years ago, under
the loving and watchful supervision of Father Ofiesh. The
consecration
service involved a ritualistic cleansing,
anointing, and arrangement of the Holy Items by the celebrant clergy, enabling its use in the subsequent Divine
Liturgy. One can think of no more appropriate tribute
than the sacrificial table to a man whose entire life has
been a sacrifice to his Church and his God.
While the consecration of the new altar constituted the
highlight of the weekend, the March 25 arrival of Metropolitan Philip accompanied and initiated a flurry of other
Lenten activities. Friday evening saw the concluding celebration of the seasonal Madayeh Services. Saturday afternoon the New Kensington Teen SOYO prepared and
hosted a luncheon I discussion session with Metropolitan
Philip, to be later followed by the evening Vespers. Celebrants included Metropolitan
Philip, Rev. James Deep
(Butler, Pa.), Rev. Anis Elias (Monesson, Pa.), Rev.
George S. Corey (Pittsburgh), Rev. George M. Corry
(Greensburg, Pa.), Rt. Rev. Antoun Khouri, Rev. Joseph
Shahda (Johnstown, Pa.), Rev. Joseph Antypas (Bridgeville, Pa.) and Rt. Rev. Paul Saliba (New Kensington).
The Saturday evening Vespers were followed by a
parish Lenten banquet, which became the vehicle for the
presentation of yet another tribute: the awarding of the
Pawtucket, Rhode
Oklahoma
Kensington,
Pa.
Teen SOYO of New Kensington.
Archdiocese Certificate of Meritorious Award by Metro·
politan Philip to the Parish Council President George J
Elias. The presentation, which came as a complete sur·
prise to all in attendance, not the least Mr. Elias, was ghen
for his "exemplary leadership, dedication, and genera it1''
to the Church of St. George. Mr. Elias, while acceptin
the plaque, expressed his gratitude to the Church, and
paid further homage to Father Ofiesh and the me~~ry of
his own deceased father, who had also dedicated his hfe to
the St. George Parish. The banquet ended on an e~u~a·
tional note, as the attendants viewed slides depictin
Metropolitan Philip's recent journey to Russia.
The weekend as a whole will long be remembered b\
the St. George Parish as one of historical importance • a
well as that of homage to a cornerstone of Orthodox
Very Rev. Nicholas Ofiesh.
The
ord
h a proposal has been long awaited by many of our
. ~i ners. When the parish was originally organized
. •,~,·ears ago, a beautiful church was constru~ted, wit~ a
h ii below which could accommodate meetmgs, social
thenng , and other_ church related activities. ~!though
h hurch itself contmues to serve us well, and 1s a cont nt ource of pride and inspiration
to all of us, the
1
ur h hall has become severely inadequate in recent
r . At present, ten Sunday School classes are crowded
ii.0 the hall on Sunday mornings, separated only by
m , able partitions; office space and kitchen facilities are
n , adequate; social gatherings are limited because of
e. Several years ago, the Parish Council recognized
need
for new facilities, and began to investigate possi1
le olutions. In 1976 the Parish Council learned that the
p .vtucket Redevelopment Agency was considering the
qui ition of a large parcel of land adjacent to St. Mary's
Church for future redevelopment.
In response to this
led by Dr. Joseph
10 )rmation a Planning Committee,
amra, was appointed by the Parish Council to develop a
planfor utilization of this land, should it become available
to u through the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency.
A lengthy report, detailing the needs of our parish and
t, • pattern of growth over the last ten years, as well as
projected growth during future years, was compiled by the
lanning Committee. This report, and a proposal for
onstruction of new facilities, was submitted to the
rari hioners for their consideration in March, and the
pr)posal was accepted by the parishioners on April 17.
ccording to the terms of this proposal 57,000 square feet
I land to the left of the church would be developed. A
two-level building would be constructed, with Sunday
chool facilities on the lower level and an Assembly Hall
\\hich~?uld accommodate 500 persons on the upper level.
In addition, off-street parking for 100 to 125 cars would be
provided. A lot directly opposite the church, presently
wned by the parish, would be held for construction of a
rectory sometime in the future. The present church hall
\\ould be converted to office space. The projected start of
thenew building is 1979.
eedl~ss to say, the plans have generated a great deal
f enthusiasm within our parish. A contest was held to
determine the name of the building program and St.
\far Y's BUI'Id'mg P .A.C. T. (Program Affecting ' Church
T
omorrows) was selected. The program will be funded by
a t~n-_yearplan which will include: 1) pledges from
panshio~ers; 2) social activities sponsored by the parish;
~n~,3) m_come which will derive from rental of the new
;b after 1~s completion. An executive committee and five
p A·~mmittees have been organized to administer the
• .T., and they are already hard at work getting the
program underway. The executive committee is comcptcmber 1977
prised of: Fr. Saliba; Joseph Samra, Chairman; Sandra
Abdelahad, Secretary; Charles Abdelahad, Pledges; Philip
Ayoub, Engineering and Construction;
William Catelli,
Finance; Mary Chiaverini, Publicity; and George T.
Matook, Social Activities. The Pledge Committee began
distributing pledge cards and soliciting pledges from
parishioners starting July 1. The Publicity Committee has
already begun a monthly newsletter which will keep
parishioners informed of all the latest progress. Hopefully,
within the next few months all parishioners will become
involved in some aspect of the program, as we strive
together to make St. Mary's Building P.A.C.T. a success.
Joanne M. Josephs
Southeastern
Deanery
News
Father Hamatle On Television
For three years now, the Southeastern Deanery of the
Archdiocese in cooperation with St. George Orthodox
Church of Orlando has produced one of the only weekly
Orthodox television programs in the Uuited States. "The
Orthodox Word" hosted by the V. Rev. Fr. John E. Ramatie deals with Orthodoxy and its relevancy to contemporary man in the United States. The response to the program has been overwhelming. Many thousands of people,
who heretofore had not known of the Holy Orthodox
Church have come into contact with Her through this
media of television. In addition to a regular sermon
~ormat, Fr. Hamatie has interviewed religious notables,
IConographers, Orthodox monks, local religious leaders
and political candidates, always attempting to relate each
interview to the Orthodox perspective.
"The Orthodox
Word" is aired locally by NBC and has a potential viewer
audience of almost one million people. The impact of the
program on the Central Florida tourist influx has aided the
local church effort in particular and the Orthodox Church
in general. Many tourists after viewing the program, attend St. George Orthodox Church and encounter
the
Orthodox worship service for the first time. Quite a
number of people have returned to their home cities and
become converted Orthodox in the local Church. "The
Orthod~x Word". has been cited for its originality and
production techmques. Archpriest Hamatie, who is the
D~an of th_e Southeastern Deanery produces the program
with the aid of some local dedicated Orthodox. Among
these is Brother Peter, an Orthodox Monk, who designed
the set for the program, and is technical advisor.
Page 23
�Southwest
Clergy Retreat
On May 11, 1977, the clergy of the Southwest Region
(made up of the Kansas-Oklahoma
and the TexasMississippi Deaneries) met at St. George parish of
Wichita, Ka., for the first annual clergy retreat. The
retreat lasted for three days and had as its theme,
"Mission". Fr. Gabriel Ashie, head of the Archdiocese
Department of Missionary Activities, was invited to be our
retreat master. The basic scriptural meditation for the retreat was the Great Commission, "Go therefore, and make
disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . . ". (Matt.
28: 19)
The retreat, which included discussion and feedback
from all participants, centered around three main points;
the theology of mission (why it is necessary), the priest as
missionary, and the parish as missionary. Very practical
aspects of missionary endeavor were covered, such as the
use of advertising media. One of the more important
points brought out by Fr. Ashie and discussed at length,
was outreach to the unchurched. Traditionally in this
country, Orthodox missionary endeavor has been aimed at
recovering lapsed Orthodox Christians. But we must
remember that many in this country do not know Christ at
all. We must proclaim Him to everyone, not just our
traditional ethnic groups.
We were fortunate to have with us for the retreat, Fr.
Michael W elbourne, pastor of our newest mission of St.
Basil's, New Orleans, La. Fr. Michael was able to relate
some of his experiences in starting a new mission. His
presence helped point up the vital necessity of our topic.
An Evening Divine Liturgy was con-celebrated by all
the clergy in our host parish, giving us the opportunity to
meet many of the members of St. George, who were so
kind to us during our stay. A special thanks to the ladies
who fed us, all too well, during the retreat. All the priests
returned home refreshed and strengthened by our fellowship together.
Women's
Conference
Orthodox women of all jurisdictions shared ideas
about the image of the Christian woman at a conference
April 30, at St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y.
The conference, planned by women seminarians at St.
Vladimir's, was entitled "Woman in God's Creation."
About 50 women from New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut attended. Discussion groups were stimulated
by talks concerning the scriptural, patristic and liturgical
images of womanhood within the Orthodox Tradition.
The talks were given by Nadine Eskoff, East Meadow,
N.Y.; Valerie Goekjian Zahirsky, (graduate of St. Vladimir's), Crestwood,
N.Y.; and Elizabeth Vinogradov,
Bronxville, N.Y., respectively.
According to student organizer Susan Ketz, the conference was called so that area Orthodox women known
to be active in their home parishes could share experiences relating to their functions and spiritual lives
within the Orthodox Church. By so doing, the women
could gain a better perspective on the needs of the
Church, as well as a better perspective on their function
within the Christian community.
By the end of the conference, there already were plans
for establishing a resource center which would carry
Page 24
Holy Spirit Church-Huntington,
On June 4, 1977 five Orthodox Priests gathered in
untington, W.Va., to bless the newly completed
tasis and remodeled Sanctuary. Pictured left to
O
. ht are: Fr. Olaf Scott of Charleston and Dean of the
n\' t Virginia Dea~ery; . Fr. Antony ~~ssoline of
Philadelphia and Pansh Priest of Holy Spmt Orthodox
hur h for six months, Fr. Alexander Vukovich, parish
•e t· V. Rev. Anthony Spirtos of St. George Greek
Pn ,
.
H
.
thodox Church
m
untmgton
and V. Rev.
; himandrite Athanasios Emmert, organizer of the
Parish,now in Chicago.
Holy Spirit Orthodox Church held a one day
lebration on June 4th with a Moliben-Thanksgiving
ervice with all five Priests blessing the new Iconostasis
nd anctuary. After the service, an informal Dedication
Dinner was prepared where brief, but enlightening (and
humorous) speeches were given. Gifts were presented to
the isiting clergy and all the non-Orthodox who helped in
the building of the iconostasis and the remodeling of the
anctuary.
The Iconostasis is a 40 foot long maple and walnut
pure) iconostaisi with Byzantine Icons painted by Fr.
f mmert and Rohn Byzantine Studios in Pittsburgh. The
h:onostasiscontains 25 beautiful icons in acrylic.
The parish also celebrated the near-completion of the
anctuary which was 90 per cent remodeled to date. A
newceiling was installed with Byzantine Lighting Fixtures,
n interior paint job, work on the floors, altar, etc. In the
near future, we also hope to install new Byzantine stain
glass windows . . . perhaps in two years. A new altar,
prothesistable, memorial table, icon stands, etc. are also
on order as are more icons being painted for the Sancary and Vestibule by our parishoner, Carol Boarman.
Holy Spirit Orthodox Church is unique in many ways.
It was founded in July of 1968 by Fr. Emmert under the
ponsorship of Metropolitan PHILIP. It all began with less
than 20 families imd has grown to over 160 souls to date.
Almosthalf the parish is made up of converts to the faith,
~ith many parishioners of pan-Orthodox background such
as Russian, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, etc. The rest
are made up of mostly Lebanese, most of whom were born
inAmerica.
Fr. Bassoline followed Fr. Emmert for a short interim
period and Fr. Alexander Vukovich arrived in July of
1974.The parish has been much blessed in that it is
growingmon!hly, mostly by conversions. Despite the fact
that we are m the so-called "Bible Belt", converts are
constantly seeking out the Orthodox Faith. Convert
Cla~sesare held regularly. In the past three years, the
parishhas almost doubled in size.
. Holy Spirit Orthodox Church is also unique in that its
h
•1
nancia
support is purely voluntary. There are no dues
feesf
or sacraments, fees for Church use fees for candles '
etc• Many P1edge, some give
• 10 per cent ' and most use the'
e_n~~lope
system. All work very hard in fund raising ac1
\ ties such as our monthly submarine sandwich sale
E ere we sell about 12,000 subs a year. Our annual Middle
aSfer~Dinner attracts over 1,000 yearly.
g !etdes an active Parish Council, we also have a very
00
hurch School from Nursery age to adults (almost 30
pleard_cen
t of the parish is made up of Church-School age)
tes 0 rgamzatton,
• •
Teen SOYO, College Group, Choir '
W. Va.
r
WOMEN'S CONFERENCE - Participants of the con.
ference gather for a photo in front of the Seminary's main
entrance.
educational materials concerning Christian womanhood·
and a filmstrip about the Theotokos which could be circu
lated to parishes nationwide. In addition, it was sugge ted
that some of the course work within the Continuin
Education Program at St. Vladimir's center on the imag
of the Christian woman and Mariology during the 1977-7
school year.
At the beginning of the conference, Rt. Re\.
Alexander Schmemann, dean of St. Vladimir's, sanctioned
the day with a prayer of guidance and protection to he
Theotokos.
However, the pinnacle of the conference was reache
in a summary speech by Mrs. Sophie Koulomzin, of South
Nyack, N.Y., during the closing remarks. (Mrs. Koulomzin
is author of the book, "Our Church and Our Children.")
Mrs. Koulomzin emphasized the function of women in
Christian education and also Christian spirituality. "Such a
conference as today would never have been possible
twenty years ago," she said. "When I was younger, I wa
not even permitted to teach church school. But the education of our children depends on women. I find that the
most touching part of the service of Churching (performe
after an Orthodox Christian woman returns to chun.
after giving birth) is when the priest lays the child at my
feet for me to pick up and gives him or her to me to
educate within the Orthodox faith."
"The woman is the instrument of spiritual cleansing for
her whole family; she purges the sins of the family by her
own spirituality."
Mrs. Koulomzin also said that the Orthodox Church
was in need of spiritual renewal, which could be accomplished perhaps by a renewed interest in the monastic
vocation.
In s·'..lrr~mary,women of St. Vladimir's community also
reported on the results of a smaller women's conference
held in October, 1976, at the seminary. A faculty member.
Constance Tarasar, also reported on an Ort~od~x
Women's Consultation held in Agapia, Roumama, 10
September, 1976.
.
The pilot conference of April stimulated ~ontmued
interest in meetings to share experiences and d1sc~ssthe
Church's needs. Questionairres concerning the April con.
•
f t
ference are being reviewed by women semmanans 0
Vladimir's in order to formulate plans for another
women's conference in October, 1977.
Debby Malack)
The Wor
(we also have Congregational singing), Charity Committee, Missionary Committee plus numerous other active
Committees and Organizations.
We also try to maintain an active Liturgical Life with
weekly Vespers,
Matins, Evening Vesper-Liturgies,
Moliben on Wednesday Evenings, with all services in the
E~glish Language. Our weekly attendance is very good
with almost 85 per cent of the parish attending every
Sunday.
Fr. Alexander Vukovich came to us three years ago
from California, is married and has two little girls. Father's
wife is a convert also. Fr. Alexander has just recently been
appointed Teen SOYO Spiritual Advisor of MidWest
Teen SOYO.
Holy Spirit Orthodox Church is a living example that
Orthodoxy is for everyone. In a few years, this Parish will
be made up of more than half converts to the faith. The
future lies with the English Language, Pan-Orthodoxy, and
God willing, Orthodox Union in North America.
In October of 1978, Metropolitan PHILIP will arrive to
Consecrate our newly remodeled parish and to celebrate
its Tenth Anniversary. In the near future we hope to
remodel the kitchen, install stain glass windows, build a
new front (Byzantine) for the Church with a dome and bell
system and perhaps make plans to build a new social hall
. we have been blessed and we are indeed thankful.
Availablefrom YourArchdiocese
BackandAdditionalCopiesof
THE WORD
$1.00 Each- IncludeRemittance
Order from
Antiochian
Archdiocese
358 MountainRoad
Englewood,
NewJersey07631
Ptember1977
Page 25
�THEPEOPLESPEAK •
DAILY DEVOTIONS
• •
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
an attempt to encourage our faithful
to study Holy Scripture through
daily liturgical readings-
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 11
Gal.6:11-18
John 3: 13-17
Mon.: Gal. 4:28-5:10
Mark 6:54-7:5-16
Tue.: Gal. 5:11-21
Mark 7:5-16
Wed.: 1 Cor. 1:18-24
John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-35
Thu.: Eph.1:1-9
Mark 7:24-30
Fri.: Heb. 3:1-5
Luke 7:36-50
Sat.: 1 Cor. 10:23-26
Matt. 24:34-44
,1,
Sun.:
Gal. 2: 16-20
Mark 8:34-9: 1
Mon.: Eph. 4:25-32
Luke 3: 19-22
Tue.: Eph. 5:20-26
Luke 3:23-4: 1
Wed.: Eph. 5:25-33
Luke 4:1-15
Thu.: Eph. 5:33-6:9
Luke 4:16-21
Fri.:
Eph. 6: 18-24
Luke 4:22-30
Sat.:
1 Cor. 15:39-45
Luke 4:31-36
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 25
Sun.:
Mon.:
Tue.:
fin
~Ii~
m
Page 26
The fact is that Latin is still a large part of the church's
. hip through the beautiful Latin hymns that will always
\\Of
•
•
•
b classic and well-loved. Th e aut h or gives
t h e impression
: t the only music during the services is by guitars. The
~ atholic Church is geared toward a large laity and most
:urches offer several services or "masses" during the
'- eekend. Therefore,
there are masses which are geared to
1
different groups, such as families with small children
here the youngsters participate in only one part of the
hturgy, guitar or folk masses that are geared to the young
people who also participat~ and sing very pretty ~nd
appropriate songs to the praise of G?d. And wh~t mcer
wayof bringing youth to church of their own free will?
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 18
Sun.:
Wed.:
Thu.:
Fri.:-
~
Sat.:
2 Cor. 9:6-11
Luke 5: 1-11
Phil. 1: 1-7
Luke 4:37-44
Phil. 1:8-14
Luke 5:12-16
Phil. 1: 12-20
Luke 5 :33-39
Phil. 1:20-27
Luke 6: 12-19
Phil. 1:27-2:4
Luke 6: 17-23
Acts 10:9-16
Luke 10:16-21
Dea~ :tarticle was published in the Serbian Orthodox
~ in Sacramento a few months ago, and in response
1
bul er~~priest Joseph J. Allen, '":ho wrote "The_ Settling_ of
1
h •c Dust," in the February issue, I would hke to pomt
Cat o11clarify some o f t h e mism
•• formatlon.
•
0 utan d
He mentions only two_"good ch~nges" that occurred in
h Catholic Church smce Vatican II, such as the
1
e eration between the laity and the clergy, and the use
•
ofop
the "colloquial language " use d. mstea d o f on 1y L atm.
Archpriest ALLEN SARCASTICALLY MENTIONS
THE "intimacy" that occurs when the priest faces the
people, when in fact, that so-called intimacy is simply a
closer participation of the people in the liturgy itself
throughobservance, corporal prayers and singing.
In spite of what Father Allen says, the Catholic Church
is very much a passage between God and man, which is
evident in the attendance of at least five masses each
Sunday. As far as attending Saturday night masses which
Father Allen seems to think to be a poor time for
meditation, isn't it better to off er a sacrificial offering on
the night before, than for various reasons not honor the
Lord's Day at all? There are many people of different
faiths who don't go to church on Sunday because of
certain rules, committments or excuses, but are willing to
fulfilltheir weekly obligations on another day. Would God
object to that kind of worship? I think not.
t
WEEK OF OCTOBER 2
Sun.:
Mon.:
Tue.:
Wed.:
Thu.:
Fri.:
Sat.:
We are all brothers and children of one God. We may
worship in different ways, not always suitable or appropriate to every person, but I am sure pleasing to God.
Therefore, we should not criticize our brothers' means of
serving the Lord, or even compare religions, but rather
lookinto our own hearts and church if necessary, and to
better ourselves in the eyes of the Almighty.
2 Cor. 11 :31-12:9
Luke 6:31-36
Phil. 2: l2-16
Luke 6:24-39
Phil. 2: 17-23
Luke 6:37-45
Phil. 2:24-30
Luke 6:56-7:1
Phil. 3: 1-8
Luke 7: 17-30
Phil. 3:8-19
Luke 7:31-35
2 Cor. 1:8-11
Luke 5:27-32
. There has been much "dust settling" in our modern
limesof many events; perhaps the results will emerge as
constructive for our modern age where changes are
constantlytaking place.
At the final moment it is He to Whom we will have to
answer, and when that time comes He will not ask us
whetherwe are black or white, Catholic or Orthodox.
Irene Fiori (Matulich)
The Word
September1977
Dear Sirs:
In 1960 our Archbishop Iakovos began the American
Orthodox movement toward unity, when he called for a
cooperative "Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in
America." And on the Sunday of Orthodoxy 1977,
Metropolitan Philip (Antiochian Archdiocese) went the
logical step further. In his Vespers sermon to all the
Orthodox bishops, clergy and laity, he urged that the
Standing Conference be transformed soon into a fully
confederated American synod of bishops, to represent all
Orthodox in America. Each jurisdiction, he said, would
keep its own basic governing bodies, but the new confederation would formally work together and would
develop
regular
autonomy
(self-government)
for
American Orthodoxy. Probably there would be a continued link with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, it was indicated.
Metropolitan Philip's suggestion is, actually, the only
lawful and realistic solution, because Orthodox laws from the first days of Christ's Church - insist that each
Church in an overall geographical area is to be one, not
many. Each Church must be basically self-governing, yet
in unity with the whole Church. The crazy-quilt system we
have in America - with over 15 different dioceses,
dependent on 'Old World' Churches - is really unlawful.
That is why the strange situation of Orthodox in America,
Western Europe & Asia is top on the future All-Orthodox
'Great Council' agenda. It's high time we did something
serious about it!
However, certain groups in Greece, Eastern Europe
and America have attacked Metropolitan Philip, Archbishop Iakovos and other Orthodox leaders. These groups
make it clear: they don't care whether it's right, lawful or
Orthodox in any way. For the newspapers ETHNIKOS
KERUX (New York), ES TIA and KATHEMERINE
(Athens) and certain influential clergy and officials, we
Greek Orthodox in America have no right to govern
ourselves as a normal Church. For them, we are little more
than a Greek ethnic colony, or "an extension of the
Fatherland." The fact is, for 55 years our Archdiocese has
been a part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and in no way
are we answerable to Greek ecclesiastical or political
authorities. Slowly but surely, we have been moving
toward autonomy as an Archdiocese and toward the
confederated American Orthodox Church which our own
clergy-laity councils call for.
Twice in the Church's history - at the Apostolic
Council of Jerusalem and at the 1872 Council of Constantinople - Orthodox Christians have formally condemned purely ethnic church-ism as a serious error, as a
poisonous tribalism. We in America are witnesses in
Christ's Holy Name for His Gospel, for His Holy Church.
That is our responsibility, whatever our national origin.
Father Gregory C. Wingenbach
Assumption Greek Orthodox Church,
Louisville, Kentucky
Page 27
�Dear Sirs:
~rs. Yvonne Shia Klancko of Woodbridge, Connecticut has created two special Russian-Ukrainian Easter
Eggs to commemorate the visit of his Beatitude Patriarch
E~IAS IV: to the United States of America. One egg is for
His Beatitude
and the other is for His Eminence
-Me~ropolitan Philip, Primate of the Antiochian Orthodo~
Christian Archdiocese of North America.
The design of each egg is unique and no duplicates
ha:e been made. Traditional symbols and Mrs. Klancko's
Middle Eastern interpretation
have blended to create
each jewel.
Mrs. Kl~ncko is a Lebanese-American whose parents
were born m ~ahle, Lebanon. She has been writing eggs
(the art work is called Pysanky, a term derived from the
Slavic word pysat, to write) since 1971. Recently Mrs.
Klancko received acclaim for the Easter Egg Tree that she
donated to the 1976 Festival of Trees held at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
She has
lectured the art and has appeared on television.
In addition to being an artist and mother to three small
children, she is a certified reading consultant, a partner in
the Consulting firm Klancko & Klancko and is a member
of the Arab American University Graduates.
Sincerely,
Robert John Klancko
Dear Editors:
As an Eastern Orthodox Military Chaplain (U.S. Navy)
serving with the Marines here at Parris Island, I am writing
to you in an endeavor to obtain much-needed Orthodox
literature
for distribution to our Orthodox men and
women who are serving in the military.
We Orthodox often speak of our concern for mission
which seems to be high on our list of priorities. However,
it is my contention that our established archdioceses and
dioceses are not meeting the crucial obligation of
disseminating information on Orthodoxy to their communicants in the military and to other interested nonOrthodox military persons as well. As we all know too
well, the vineyard of Christ has far greater dimensions
than our own parishes.
In the three years I have served on active duty as Navy
Chaplain, I have been amazed to find a real hunger and
thirst for Orthodox literature, which has resulted in my
not being able to keep our racks filled. Recently, I was
delighted to learn that the Greek Archdiocese has made a
real effort in confronting this issue by offering pamphlets,
tracts, etc., free of charge to our chaplains. The Orthodox
Church in America has also sought to at least partially
deal with this problem by sending me 20 copies of The
Orthodox Church newspaper monthly for distribution.
Other faith groups and religious organizations have
been providing an abundance of publications to their
military personnel
for decades .. Our_ own. pe<;>ple ~re
reaching out with a dire need for ties with th~ir faith while
serving their country, and _I am total~y-~onvmced that we
too, must finally meet this responsibihty. Can the true
Church of Christ afford to do any less?
Page 28
Ther.e~ore, I am officially inquiring a t th p
of r~ce~vmg regularly, copies of our ffi 1
pubhcat10n, The Word be it only ne or t
m_ake t~ese available for our people. hould
with this request, please be ad i ed that thi
would be placed in conspicuous area
u hm
Chaplain's Office, libraries, reading ro m
Visitor's Center.
The
Orthodox
Thanki~g you in advance and expressing m
a~d most s.mcere appreciation to you for your
this most vital matter, I remain
Your in l ri t
Father Paul
World
ARCHBISHOP MAKARIOS DIES AT 63
JC0 IA, Cyprus Archbishop Makarios, 63,
e ident of Cyprus since it gained independence from
B:.t in in 1960, died Aug. 3 following his second heart
. kin four months.
go ernment spokesman said the prelate, who had
ted that he had survived 15 Greek governments, an
r rt to defrock him and several assassination attempts,
·fereda miocardial infarction similar to another attack
pril3 of this year.
Editor's Note: Several Issues of THE WORD will b
monthly to the Chaplain -
Lt. Paul Pyrch, CHC, USNR
Religious Activities Center
MCRD P.O. Box 476
Parris Island, South Carolina 29905
Dear Editors:
Enclosed is a change of address card for our ub•
scription to The Word. I thought it also would be a v
good time to let you know what a great job you are d >in .
We look forward to each and every issue, as it i ulm t
totally the only way we have of being informed ,n
Orthodoxy.
I agree wholeheartedly with your editorial in the a
issue where you stress the importance of involvement
being the key to the success of church conference . l
regret that there has been a certain amount of da
e
done, in past years, to the image of our church, here ·1d
other neighboring cities where our conventions ha e met.
Too often the cocktail hour and haflis have ta en
precedence over church related matters. And going a
Family has not been the complete answer - often yo •n
people have been permitted by permissive parent
1d
spiritual leaders as well, to participate in the social affair
right along with the adults. I often wonder what would
happen if everyone that attended the conferences came
dressed in a black "jibbee" to be worn to all meeting and
social affairs. At least there would be no distraction • I'm
no prude - I like a good time and nice clothes as much a
anyone, but we sometimes tend to overdo and o erem·
phasize material things.
GREEK CYPRIOTS MOURN AT
ARCHBISHOP MAKARIOS' BIER
ICOSIA, Cyprus - Weeping Greek Cypriots pay
• last respects to Archbishop Makarios, president of
Cypru, at his bier in St. John's Cathedral, Nicosia, on
g.3.
After the prelate became seriously ill on Aug. 2, all
binet ministers were called to his palace within the
ed city of Nicosia. Under the island's constitution,
en the President of the Republic is unable to perform
1 duties, he is replaced by the president of the House of
Rep·esentatives,who becomes Acting President.
The government announced
later that Spyros
' rianou, the leader in the assembly, would be acting
ad of state until presidential elections are held in
F
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
I would also like to tell you how much we enjo and
look forward to reading "Lifestyles" by Father Jame • H
certainly has a way with words that few people posse
read and re-read each and every one of them and hope h
continues to supply The Word with his homily. B th
parent fathers and spiritual fathers would benefit if the •
applied the words of his June sermon, "Father's Ta Communicate." I save each and every one of them ~nd t
to apply them to our daily lives. May God bless bun an
each of you in your work for God's Church.
.
1
Sincere}
Name Withheld Upon Reque t
The\
d
lIGJOUSNEWSSERVICEPHOTO
• rnber1977
ROMANIAN ORTHODOX NAME
SUCCESSOR TO PATRIARCH
BUCHAREST - The Romanian Orthodox Church has
a successor to Patriarch Justinian, who died in March.
An announcement
by Bucharest Radio said Archbishop Justin Moisescu will be enthroned as head of the
18-million-member Church June 19. He had been locum
tenens (interim head) since the patriarch's death.
The_ full ecclesiastical title of the head of the
Romaman Church _is "Patriarch of Romania, Locum
Tenens of Caesarea m Capadocia, Metropolitan of U ngoVlachia, Archbishop of Bucharest."
Page 29
�The Metropolitan, who is dean of the Orth d
served as intermediary in the exchange.
In his letter to Patriarch Demetrios, th p p
.
• • f h'
•
v1s1t
o 1s representative,
Metropolitan Melit n .. htd
clearly that the bonds of brotherhood, which are· nt i
anew and ever more tightly, between the Old and th
Rome (Constantinople)
are now such that ,
h.
• h concerns t h e l'f1 e of one of the two sister hu nt•h I
w h 1c
lived by the o~her in c.ommunion.with the sam pi~t ,,
The pontiff reaffirmed the mtention of the
th
Church to make progress "in harmon
\J.ith·
Ecumenical Patriarch "along the road whi h ould 1
us to celebrate the Eucharist of the Lord tog th r."
Patriarch Demetrios, in his letter, echoed th
hope and intention. "We hope," he said, "that hri 1
is his i~~ff~ble love has given us the strength and J ,
reconc1hation, may bless our future efforts until
r•
perfect communion in the same chalice of the L rd."
The spiritual leader of the world's Eastern Orthod
fait~ful also presented to the P~pe, through Metr p Ii
Mehton, a plaque commemoratmg the 10th anni er n
Paul's visit to Istanbul and Ephesus.
•
On July 25, 1967, Paul flew to Turkey to meet - f
the third time - with the late Ecumenical Patri r
Athenagoras I and to visit the ancient city of Ephe u t
site of the Ecumenical Council of 431 which ratifi d 1
Virgin Mary's title, Mother of God (Theotokos).
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
NEW CHURCH LEADER CHOSEN
ANTELIAS,
Lebanon
Archbishop
Karekin
Sarkissian, 45, above, has been chosen by members of the
Armenian Church under the jurisdiction of the Catholics
of Cilicia to be the new Coajutor-Catholicos,
to succeed
ailing leader Catholicos Khoren I, 62, who has retired
because of heart trouble.
The new leader had been the prelate of the Armenian
Apostolic Church of America, and his consecration as
coajutor-catholicos
was scheduled for Pentecost Sunday,
in the Cathedral
of St. Gregory the Illuminator
at
Antelias, Lebanon.
POPE, ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH EXCHANGE
LETTERS ON HOPES FOR EVENTUAL UNION
VATICAN CITY - Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical
Patriarch
Demetrios
I of Constantinople
(Istanbul),
spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodoxy, excha~ged lette~s
of best wishes and good will on June 29, Vatican Radio
reported.
. .
The exchange took place on the occasion of a vlSlt to
the Vatican by Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan Meliton of
Chalcedon, president of the (Orthodox) Syn?dal Commission for Relations with the Roman Catholic Church.
Page 30
STEP TOW ARD COMMON EASTER OFFER I
BY EASTERN ORTHODOX CONSULTATIO
CHAMBESY,
Switzerland A consultation
Eastern
Orthodox
heirarchs,
historians, canoni
sociologists and astronomers has recommended
tep
which would lead generally to the celebration of
common Easter by Eastern and Western Christian
The step, however, would first have to be apprO\ ·
a second pre-synodal conference and by the sub e 1 n
Great Synod of Eastern Orthodoxy, the first sin e th
Second Council of Nicaea of 787.
Currently, East and West celebrate Easter on the m
date on the average of once every four years.
The first pre-synodal conference, preparing the Gr
Synod agenda, met last Fall and requested the Ea t r
consultation.
The Great Synod is not expected to convene for o
years, and actions on proposals must be unanimous if th
are to be accepted by the several autocephalou ( If·
governing) and autonomous Eastern Orthodox Churche •
Some jurisdictions have indicated there_ would be
pastoral
difficulties in making changes m curren
Orthodox practice. This in effect makes Easter dep
dent, among other things, on the vernal equi~
(beginning of Spring, about Mar. 21) in the_ Juh
calendar. That calendar is now 13 days behmd th
Gregorian calendar in common use.
The general principle used in calculating Easter tra_
back to a decision of the First Council of Nicaea of 32fthat Easter should fall on the first Sunday after the 1
full moon after the vernal equinox.
od
The consultation
urged the second pre· n
conference to have a body o f astronome rs calculate l be
date for many years into the future. The date would no:u
dependent on the Julian calendar, but rather on the a
equinox.
ult in many ca es would be an earlier Easter
he r t rm of the Julian calendar - and one which
1
l ~
ide for the most part with that celebrated by
10
ul
•
nd a minority of Eastern Ch·nstians.
1
h:n n ultation discussed a .Greek phra_se in the
d i ion which warns agamst celebratmg Easter
1• anh Je
." This is often understood to mean a
1
Jl~
• n against celebrating
Easter before the Jewish
hi ill
.
r in a gt en year.
' . the consensus of the consultation's historians
It "
• an mJunct10n
• •
• not to
ni t that the phrase rea 11y 1s
h n al ulation of the Passover of the "New Israel" (the
1 e Ea ter) to the Jewish calculations of Passover.
O
hould make an independent calculation of the
hrl II n
.
r Easter celebrat10n, they held.
p 'p al to celebrate Easter on a fixed Sunday (the
dr, after the second Saturday of April is commonly
ui. • d) ere not received favorably.
r :r h
n ultation. said in ~ statement th~t. "past~ral
prevailed to discard this ...
proposition which
ruld ri k provoking schisms in certain Orthodox
r he ." In addition, it would "betray the letter of the
•
ition of Nicaea and all the Orthodox tradition."
0
1
'Th ugh a theological connection would remain, a
d a ter date would remove the calendar connection
1
1 een Easter and Passover, a movable observance
rding to a "lunar calendar.)
he ent at the consultation were observers from the
B \CK PROTESTANT AND EASTERN ORTHODOX
RELIGIOUS LEADERS
HOLD FIRST CONSULTATION
York, N.Y., - Eleven Black Church leaders,
enting several Protestant denominations, met with
· · entatives of Eastern Orthodox Churches in the U.S.
r r 1~eir first consultation, at the Greek Orthodox
h dquarters in New York City.
The session was jointly chaired by the Very Rev. Nicon
P trinacos, Ecumenical Officer of the Greek Orthodox
•diocese, and the Rev. L. Maynard Catchings, inI rpretative relations assistant to the General Secretary,
tional Council of Churches.
Introductory remarks were made by Father Paul
hneirla, Antiochian Orthodox Church; and the Rev. Dr.
ReubenSpeares of the United Church of Christ. An open
di loguefollowed for more than three hours.
The primary purpose of the consultation, which was
. ted by the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops
m the Americas, was to facilitate better understanding
een Black and Orthodox Christians in America,
dmg to an increase in communication and mutual
ppreciationbetween the faithful in both communities.
During the dialogue many differences and similarities
t ·een the two groups were discovered and discussed
nd muc~ i?formation was exchanged to fully familiarize
h participant with the history and development of the
Bl· k and Orthodox Churches.
.
the session drew to a close it was agreed that an
r •n~ co~mit~ee would be formed to develop some
tical gmdehnes for further cooperation and to foru1ate a future consultation on some specific area of
n ern.
mong the suggested areas of cooperation
were: local
Vatican Secretariat for Christian Unity, the Church of
England, and the World Council of Churches, all of whom
were invited to comment during the proceedings.
Participants
from the U.S. were the Rev. Nicon
Patrinacos, director of interchurch relations and social
concerns of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North
and South America, and John Ericson, a member of the
Orthodox Church in America on the faculty of St.
Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood,
N.Y.
European and Asian participants
came from the
Ecumenical Patriarchate,
the Patriarchates
of Antioch
and Jerusalem, the Churches of Greece and Finland, and
the Serbian, Russian, Romanian and Bulgarian Churches.
The consultation's
statement said Orthodoxy must
take account of "present day pastoral demands of
Orthodox in the West" as well as "pastoral difficulties
existing in certain local churches"
with regard to
proposals to make any changes in Easter calculation.
The result should be a "balanced vision of the matter
and to avoid a hasty pan-Orthodox decision."
The statement also urged that no Orthodox Churches
take unilateral action on changes in Easter calculation,
though the practice of the orthodox Church of Finland in
celebrating Easter on the Western date was not the
subject of negative comment in the statement.
It also urged "collaboration with all Christians" in
decisions about the date of Easter.
educational
exchanges;
theological
dialogues;
and
visitations to Orthodox countries.
Other representatives
of the Black churches were:
Rev. David Licorish, National Baptist Convention U.S.A.;
Rev. John Collier, African Methodist Episcopal Church;
Rev. Harold Clement, African Methodist Episcopal Zion
Church; Rev. William Jones, Progressive National Baptist
Convention; Rev. Frank Turner, The Episcopal Church;
Ms. Ruby Sims, Lutheran Church in America; Dr. C.
Guita McKinney, African Methodist Episcopal
Zion
Church; Rev. Woody White, United Methodist Church·
and Rev. 0.B.J. Burson, National Baptist Church of
Brooklyn.
Representatives of the Orthodox included: Fr. Leonid
Kishkovsky, Orthodox Church in America; Fr. Alex
Karloutsos, Emmanuel Hatziemmanuel, Ernest Villas, and
Alexander Doumouras, Greek Archdiocese;
and James
Couchell, Orthodox Observer.
ember1977
Page 31
�ANTIOCHIAN HOLY YEAR
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL
OBVERSE depicts His Beatitude superimposed on the
outstretched
wings of an eagle, which not only
stands for the Hierarchical office of the Patriarch but
is also a symbol of our great American culture.
In commemoration
of the first visit to North America of our beloved Patriarch ELIAS IV, Mr. Yeorgos Lampathakis, Art Director of the Educational Films and Television Division of the National Geographic Society and
parishioner of Saint George Church in Washington, DC, was commissioned by Metropolitan PHILIP to design
and strike this solid bronze Antiochian Holy Year medallion. This medallion was created as a limited edition and
as such should become a valued collectors' item and keepsake. A thoughtful gift for loved ones or as a family
heirloom to hand down to your children and grandchildren. A truly beautiful piece. A limited quantity still
available from the Antiochian Archdiocese - 358 Mountain Road - Englewood, NJ - 07631.
* Solid bronze
* Attractively packaged
in a handsome protective
Order yours TODAY!
keepsake case
$10.00, plus $1.00 for postage and handling
REVERSE bears the Seal of the Patriarchate of Antioch. The great Apostles Peter and Paul, found~rs_of
the Ancient See, carry between them a radiating
temple that we have come to know as our Holy
Orthodox Church. The Arabic inscription above the
Church reads "The Patriarchate of Antioch and All
the East." Below the Church is the scriptural
reference to Antioch the Great City of God, as the
place where the disciples were first called Christians.
(illustration
enlarged to show detail)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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kalemat_19770901_21_7
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 07
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 21, Issue 7 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated September 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 Sep
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
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Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Format
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Text/pdf
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/025608ff2e681a97f4191455d07e1125.pdf
c114283875cacb64cbb825b592159751
PDF Text
Text
flae Word
JUNE1977
PATRIARCH ELIAS IV
�-<;HRIST/9~
lt,ptl'
7'✓,:;
a
a
THE WORD
The Most Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The Most Reverend
Archbishop Michael, Auxiliary
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kalimat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
VOLUME 21
mam-11~~
OF NORTH
358
NUMBER6
3
Primate's Welcome to Patriarch Elias IV
4
Editorial
5
Reflections .....
by Patriarch ELIAS IV
11
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S.
Archpriest Joseph J. Nlen
June, 1977
J\ntindpan ®rt~obox QI~ristimt J\rc~bhtrese
ENGLEWOOD.
201
His Beatitude,
Patriarch
07631
- 871-135!5
Metropolitan
The Resurrection - Fact or Fiction?
by Antony Bassoline
ELIAS IV
"I and the children whom God has graciously given me."
(Genesis 33:5)
HOSTS:
PHILIP, Primate
Archbishop MICHAEL, Auxiliary
Your Beatitude,
Archdiocese Clergy
13
St. Ignatius of Antioch
by Constantine Nasr
Achdiocese Board of Trustees
Parish Councils
14
Archdiocesan Office
16
Liturgy and Life
by Gabriel Barrow
17
Lifestyles X
by James C. Meena
18
Dialogue
by Michael Buben
20
Department of Christian Education
by the late Donna Bo bin
21
AOCWNA
23
SOYO Digest
27
Who Are The Others?
by James Kenna
Teen SOYO
AOCWNA
Order of St. Ignatius
In honor of your historic visit to North America, we have proclaimed the year, 1977, "Antiochian Holy Year." Our Archdiocesan organizations have worked tirelessly to make your visit
spiritually rewarding for you and for all of us. During your visit our children will have the opportunity, for the first time, to kiss your hand and receive your blessing. Surely, this beautiful experience will linger in their memories for the rest of their lives.
As we welcome you to our midst, "I and the children whom God has graciously given me,"
joyfully shout from the depth of our hearts, "Blessed is He who cometh in the Name of the Lord."
(John 12:13)
Orthodox Christian ru-cnru1:>ce1;e.
29
The People Speak
32
Communities in Action
39
The Orthodox World (Religious News Service)
1
of Antioch
Your Beatitude,
Review
1111:'lill1~1
~if:~\lli1il
. , .··.
• B •
With much love and reverence, we welcome you to the New
Antioch. After many years of expectation, God has willed that
Your Beatitude bring to this continent the blessings of the most
ancient Church in the world. It was in Antioch where the disciples
were called Christians for the first time in history. (Acts 11:26)
Being the one hundred sixty-fourth successor of the Heads of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, you
bring to us two thousand years of spiritual experience. We see in you the faith of Peter, the zeal of
Paul, the spirit of Ignatius, the eloquence of John Chrysostom, the brilliance of John of Damascus
and the suffering of millions of saints and martyrs. Those who study the turbulent history of our
Patriarchate are amazed that Antioch is still alive despite centuries of oppression and persecution.
28
ISSN 0043-7964
ROAD
JERSEY
Honoring
THE WORD, publi:A:a -- ......,... ='"'·-AJuly and August,
of North America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office,
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135,.
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Entered at
second class matter: and postage. paid
at the Post Office af Pittsburgh~ Pa>
15219.
NEW
1977
ANTIOCHIAN HOLY YEAR
Senior SOYO
Publication Office:: •
3400Dawson
Pittsburgh,
AMERICA
MOUNTAIN
.. .·.·.
?
•..••.•.·
❖❖
__
--
• and most holy Father, p atriarch
H1s eatltude ELIAS, the most reverend
... of
Antioch, the Great City of God of Syria Lebanon Arabia, Cihcdsia,
'
'
'
r
Mesopotamia and All the East; Father
of Fathers,
Shepherd
of Sheph~hief
nd
Master of_Masters, and Thirteenth of the Holy Apostles, our Father a
Shephera:
May God Grant Him Many Years.
Metropolitan PHILIP
Prima"te
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America.
''BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD"
June 1977
Page 3
�REFLECTIONS• •
AN OPEN LETTER
• •
By His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV
To His Beatitude, Patriarch
Antioch and All the East.
ELIAS IV, Greek
Orthodox
Patriarch
0
Translated by Fr. Athanasios Bitar
Dear Father In Christ,
During your sojourn with your Orthodox
children in America
implore you to teach us what the great leaders of Antioch fro
Sts. _P.eter and Paul, through St. John Chrysostom, and up until you
own honored person, have always known: to live the Gospel 0
Jesus Christ.
We implore
a=
1--
Q
Ill
you specifically
in the following
ways:
BE PATIENT:
-with
our youthfulness
as Orthodox
Christians in this re/a.
tively "new land", struggling
for holiness in the midst of on
economic, technologic and secular milieu.
PRAY FOR US:
-that
in our new land where education,
food, privileg ,
clothing,
medicine,
liberty,
possibility-where
all th·
abounds, pray that we may not be blinded to the needs
those who are the forgotten
"have-nots.
11
PRAY WITH US:
-that
together we may continuously
discover the truth that
theology
is not just an abstract, intellectual
acrobat - that
it is rather a sacred enterprise
rooted in a living and v;.
brant faith, conditioned
by a probing
disciplined
mind n
COURAGEOUS CONQUEST, passing from light to light, in the
restless search for the everlasting
light.
UNDERSTAND US:
-that
we Americans
are not cynics at heart-we
are basico
idealists,
perhaps
easily disappointed,
but also greatly aspiring, with a perseverance
in those aspirations
which offer
hope not only to this country, but to so many countries of the
world.
LEAD US:
-that
we may see that way envisioned by so many lead~rs
including
our own Metropolitan
PHILIP, toward overcom 1n.g
the sad dividedness
of the One, Holy,· Orthodox,
Catholic
and Apostolic
Church in this new land, amongst Arabs
Greeks, Russians, Serbs, Ukrainians, etc.
We implore you, Your Beatitude,
that when you return to yod
Ancient
See of Antioch,
after you have seen, listened, hea~
BEEN, you will direct us, your children in Christ, toward a matu:.iY
which every parent in Christ wishes for his children, that they
no more children
. . . (that) they may grow up into Him ,n a
things, which is the Head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4)
f
11
Joseph Allen
George Corey
Editors.
TbeWo
Page 4
TODA Y'S SITUATION
Today there
are
anxieties
everywhere;
·olutions, wars, killing and destruction. It seems
r1h:t the world emptied itself of love, justice and
quality. The divine image wit~in dus, no lon~er
·numinates, and moral compunction
oes not exist.
~atred becomes the basis of life. Intellectual
dimensions do not exist. Man becomes engulfed by
l: sins and a servant to them.
He has enshrined his sins and erected statues to
them. Sin becomes a source of the philosophy of life,
literature, art, poetry and music. Religion has lost its
purity; it has been transformed into a static form of
lik. Religion has ceased to be the forceful power
beyondthe boundaries of death. Religion has ceased
be a source of intellectual illumination; a stimulus
to our sentiments and the golden oars of the boat of
our souls. Religion becomes ritual, custom and
tradition.
We revolve around it. Through it we expose our
i erests, and march to our goals and desires. We use
it as a servant for our destructive selfishness. God is
the source of the healing oil which is a combination
ofvirtues. These virtues make the faithful man closer
God and transfigure him.
Love, justice, humility, freedom, forgiveness,
mercy, and righteousness are methods of transfi uration of the soul, born in the Manger of Light.
They are living streams from the stream of Divine
Grace,sanctifying the children of God.
It only appears that God's streams are flowing in
the wrong direction. In reality God's streams make
man meek; anoint him with the oil of gladness,
implant in him wisdom and enrich him with
guidan~e.They make of him a Man and take away
fro~ him all self-centeredness. God's streams open
mans heart to another World and instill in his eyes
e er~ pure light. If he speaks, his lips utter praise;
and if he praises, humanity is included in his prayer.
He ~oes_not distinguish between men, because he
eesin himself every man, and in every man himself.
The Word of God did not become incarnate to
e eal His divinity. He became incarnate to return us
the state of perfection which was lost. We were in
a ~!ate capable of Divine Communion but we
1
. ingly fell from that state and became attach~d to
pnde.
J
C
The Word of God became incarnate to say: "I am
the Way, the truth and the life. I am the Way to your
truth, I am the Door through which you enter the
lost Paradise. I came to make you children of the
New Kingdom; I came to recreate you to be the New
Creation; to be born of Grace through the Holy
Spirit; to be elevated to the rank prepared for the
Children of Eternity. I came from my Father to bring
you His Kingdom; I came to walk with you; to live
with you; to be the Word. I came to dwell with you
and you with me; so that when you plant good, your
harvest overflows in abundance with goodness."
Why have we destructive impulses today? Why
all these conflicts, killing and destruction? Every
kingdom divided against itself will be destroyed.
Why are these desires combatting each other? Is it
not because man who was created of love and
freedom went astray from God; opposed Him; and
exalted himself over his creator? We only see God
through our selfishness. We grasp Him as we wish;
not as He wishes us to experience Him. Our desires
create their god and they worship him. As a result of
our destructive drives, we ask for God's help when
we are in despair, not to repent in order to be
renewed in the Truth, but to return to our evil deceit
and deception. God wants us to be the leaven for
good; but, we desire that He permit us to remain in
our evil. We kill, and we steal in His name.
When we love our brothers we know we are
transformed from death to life. The one who does
not love remains dead. The one who hates his
brother is a killer. Love is the fruit of Incarnation
which satisfies, enriches and brings back harmony
to our organism which is in strife. Love alone leads
us in the way which is opened by the Incarnate Lord.
As St. Paul says, "Without love we accomplish
nothing (1st Cor. 13).
THE NEW CREATION
If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the
old has passed away, behold the new has come. II
Cor. 5:17.
The Old World passed away by the coming of
Christ, even the world of sin, pride, ambition, malice,
and self-worship. By Christ man has put off the
clothes of darkness and has put on the clothes of
Light, made by humility, love, meekness. peace,
1977
Page 5
�His Beatitude following his election and enthronement,
with the members of the Antiochian Holy Synod.
His Beatitude with President Anwar Sadat of the UnJt
Arab Republic (Egypt).
holiness, patience, longsuffering, and forgiveness;
and all things shall become new.
The night is passed, and the day is come. The
outlooks, and directions of thoughts are changed.
The finality of time is made ineffectual by virtue of
eternity;
brotherhood,
freedom,
equality, and
goodness become the sources of thinking. The
Kingdom
is liberated
from the servitude of
corruption; it becomes a Heaven for the Children of
Glory.
If any one be in Christ, he is a new creation. If
you are living in Christ, you are new. You are not
new unless you put on both of Christ's natures; the
Divine and the Human. You are not new unless you
participate in His Suffering, Crucifixion, Death,
Resurrection,
Transfiguration and His Ascension
into Heaven. You are not new if you do not carry the
Cross and crucify yourself upon it; die, have your
side pierced with a spear, have water rush out from
your side, let your thirsty lips be watered by a sponge
filled with vinegar. You will not be new if the Human
and Divine life of Christ does not flow mystically in
your life. You will not be new if you combine your
old and new worlds; this combination is like the
mixing of honey and gall, or old wine and vinegar. If
you want to be new, you must put off the clothes of
darkness and put on the clothes of Light.
The Newness of Life in Christ signifies the
freedom which man possesses by his free will
directed by his love. This in turn signifies openness
of our image to the springs of Divine Grace. The
Newness means a self-uplifting to liberate humanity
from the causes of death and to consumate it in the
ways of Eternal Life. The Newness is to squeeze
yourself on the Cross like a ri~e bunch of grapes,. its
juice being purified by suffenng wherem the ~me
shall effect revival of your soul. The Newness is to
revolt against falsehood, and to catch by power of
the Truth the Life from the mouths of death, and to
rise with Christ in order to see the painted dimensions made by the Divinity through the Resurrection
by which to lighten the Human Sight.
The Newness of Life in Christ is to see God Ii e:
you and to accept Him in your depths residing _
your heart as on His Heavenly Throne surrounded t
His serving angels singing the Resurrection Song·th
Newness is to roll away the weight of sin from you
chest and from the chest of humanity; the Newne s
a state wherein you increase the brightness of th
morning when you behold it. Your fingers will
transformed into a creative power to bring Life into
the dust and make of it a Heavenly Meal filled \\ t
Eternity.
The Newness is to become a Redeemer gi i
your body as food and your blood as drink and totu
your eyes on a Sun which does not set, and your
heart on a bush burning with mysteries, and yo r
imagination on a sail filled with life, supported by the
masts of a ship crossing the ocean of eternity, and
destroy the corruption which leads you ink
nothingness in order to translate non-existence i •
existence triumphantly.
The Newness is to return to the creation •
meaning, to become a kingdom of good, and not
place where the selfish quarrel and the powers of eL
·combat that their desires be fulfilled; those desire
which keep man in his old world deprived o
freedom, truth and justice; the Newness is to become
God incarnate, to have love emanate from the eye
and to have meekness of spirit embrace the forehead
and justice dominate utterance. It is to drink from
the springs of Resurrection every newness of life and
to put it on as a shining garment.
..
The Newness is to be identified with others, it is to
replace sadness with joy and instill meekness in their
beings, it is to be as a morsel for an empty stomach
as a drink for a thirsty tongue, or to be like a hand•
kerchief to wipe the tears, the oil to heal.th~ woun~e
it is to be a brother to every man, and life m the
of every creature.
u
If you live in Christ you will be that man. If 0
10
Participate in His Resurrection you will share
whatever belongs to God, and in the tramp lin g do
if nf
of death and causes of death. If you live the L e 0
Page6
The
R rrection you will live God's Life with the
. r nu of Light. When . you participate_ in the
hild
tion of Christ you hve the passover hfe. You
• from yourse If mto
•
.11, urre ns ant transformation
th e
.
.
1 f others, into God Hrmself.
he Rt>surrection is t~e greatest (expenen~e)
. h ust happen in the hfe of every man. The hfe
• a se If-resurrection.
•
Th e
fht v m man must end m
urre tion of the human self is the true seal of
life coming from the Hand of God and the
Ctive challenge to the power of hell.
tru
• we Ioo k at
On the blessed day of the Resurrection
h tomb. We see it ?pen and empt~ except for the
H liness which empti~d death from its contents ~nd
away the corrupt10n from our souls and bodies;
:h Holiness emptied the to_m~, t~e human !emple
fr m its perishable state ~o fill it with t~e actions of
th Holy Spirit and move it toward Etermty.
The open tomb which is filled with Holiness is the
r ·ingexample of what man can do if he is willing. If
''roan has will and faith he can liberate himself from
rruption of death. This is not difficult especially
f r those who are invited to the Mystical Banquel.
THE SPOKEN WORD
The spoken word which comes from our depths
anu i uttered by our tongue to be the link among us,
i an embodiment of our intellect, mind and feeling;
it an expression of our affection, hope, joy, sorrow,
mockery, tragedy, love and hate. Through the
poken word we build and we destroy; through it we
to· the tears and we make a river of tears; through
it e move the heart to love or we provoke it for evil;
through the word we plant peace in the soul; and
rough it we choke every beat of goodness' beats.
The word is ourself in its different images, in its
and sorrow, security and trouble. It is the Light if
depths are enlightened, it is the darkness if we
h1rein darkness. "If the light in you is darkness, how
eat is the darkness." (Matt. 6:23). The word is the
fruit of the tree which grows within us. "Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." (Matt.
~
If B I
H eat tude with His Majesty King Khaled at the Ala raPalace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
J
C 19 7
His Beadtude In Athens with the Prime Minister of
Greece.
7:16). The heart plunged in mire does not see the
shining beams, and the soul filled with madness sees
the ghosts as heavenly beings. The proud mind looks
at the deserts as oases for truth. The greatest
sickness is the sickness of pride. If the mind is
dominated by pride then man's word becomes a
heavy weight which destroys. And if the soul is
consumed with conceit, man's word becomes a whip
unto himself and others; and if emotions dominate
the heart then love is choked and the heart dies.
The word is the result of our undergoing and
living through experiences to reach knowledge and
utter it. All of our undergoing and experiencing
reflect the word which we speak. Everything in us
expresses our truths which is reflected on our outer
world. The outer world is an image and extension of
the inner one. Its beauty is an image of the beauty
arising from our depths. There is no significance
outside of man; every significance and truth comes
from the inner man. The inner man is the truth,
knowledge, beauty, love and freedom. Without the
inner man there is no creature. It is the wholeness
while living in Grace; the nothingness, if it leaves
him. If man lives in Grace, he lives in Life. Man is the
dimensions of Grace, it is his ornament and life. It is
the spirit of his freedom and love. Grace is the
resurrection where there is no death, it is the word
which revives man and man and the life which makes
the word creative.
There is no separation between man and his
word, as there is no separation
between
the
Heavenly Father and His Word. The word which
comes from us stays with us as long as we are abiding
with the true Word. If we deviate from this truth, we
become like animals and have no Life and existence
within us; the sin dissipated us and is dissipating us.
Sin is the word which exalted pride of man above the
will of God. The will of God is that man has to be
Page 7
�t
Those who believe in God speak only th
of Grace, and they utter only the tongue 0 n·or
1 1
Knowledge. When we have the wholeness off • ~
dwell in the supreme Knowledge. Wh ait \I,
en far
d ecreases, our word reflects doubt, causes t
.
.
M
.
.
roub
an d sk ep t 1c1sm. an 11ves m a world of confl'1 •
Truth forsaken on account of pride, revolts
freedom to overcome this darkness. The strug le r
freedom is an eternal struggle of the soul. Theg
·11
•
Wor
WI not improve as long as freedom is suppres d.
.
h
b'
.
se
se If1s am 1tions.
The day will come when the word will b .
daughter of Divine Freedom. The day will ~ t •
when this word will
dominate.
Its dominations pe
om!
.
.
p~ace an d secunty; 1t means that the glory of G
Will meet the peace of man to form the Kingdo .
Truth and Justice.
mo.
Gra~e is the_ w~ole Knowledge, because it is th
w~ole Life. Chnst 1s the Goal of our inner world. H,
Wishes us to be reborn anew and change our way f
thinking. He made faith the base of our life a:
Himself a f'?undation to us. He did not give the min~
m?re than \t deserves. He knew the sickness of our
mmd and made faith its medicine. Faith is th
medicine which melts pride of man so that the mind
stays humble and accepts the light of faith which
makes him receptive to the mental vision. The
mental vision occurs when the mind and heart me
to form a trinity, and through Grace blossom wit
love.
When we speak about faith, we speak about a
united man, united with God through Jesus Christ
Faith gives the heart and mind eyes, and makes ou
word a prayer and music attuned to the ears of the
Lord.
The faithful word is different from that built on
mental process. The word which comes from
believing heart is used as a foundation for buildin
the human entity; but the word which comes from n
unilluminated mind which rejects Grace stays as
stone which is thrown and is unfit to be a cornerstone in the building of the Lord. Christ is the
Word, our heart and mind must be magnetized by
Him. He came to us with love in order that we
become a word of love, to create, invent, build and
establish peace in the soul and security in the spirit.
t·
His Beatitude In Lahore, Pakistan with the country's
Prime Minister.
receptive to His will. If every word does not come
from His will, it serves nothing but death. It leads to
waste and disintegration.
"Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of
men, after the elemental spirits of the universe, and
not after Christ." Col. 2:8. The word which separates
man from the love of God and motivates him not
after Christ, is a result of a disorganized intellectual
and lost mind. There is a great difference between
those who trade with the word and those who believe
in it. The first dies when it comes from the lips, and
the second goes to the heart and dwells there.
Some individuals fascinate others by their word,
especially those who love the ornamental word. This
is because their soul lacks depth. This deception will
not endure in front of the enlightened word. There is
no trustworthy word unless it comes from a belief in
God. Christ is the cornerstone for the human
thinking. Belief in God means devotion for truth.
The Divine Truth illuminates and those who are in
the Light see the truths and follow them. They
behold Knowledge as a vision face to face. The
movement of the heart and mind are changed
through this vision. Thinking is inspired, logic is
filled with truth, and the heart becomes a center for
Knowledge from which Love emanates. The greatest
knowledge is the love of God.
Excerptsfrom His Beatitude'sSpeeches
ON THE CHURCH . .. "The world today needs
the Church. The world today is an empty oasis and
nothing will fulfill it except the Truth that the
Church
of Christ offers. This troubled
and
bewildered world, which is lost in the gloom of vast
emptiness, is overshadowed by an immeasurable
expanse of nothingness. Therefore, during these
difficult and uncertain times, the Church of Christ is
more than ever called upon to rise and help shatter
Page 8
the old forms of the past which have strangled her
breathing, and to courageously reshape the brok~n
image of this fallen world and to restore it to It
Creator. The world will never correct and straighten
its complex problems, except by love and faith, nor
will it regain a lasting peace, except by justice and
sacrifice."
"The Orthodox Church is tired of contradictin
wills and opinions. The Orthodox Church muSt be
TheW
i-renewed, that she may enjoy a unity whose
. fl nee on the world would be strong and positive.
~ h must lead the way toward the realization of
piritual, practical and intellectual goals. If we
th rk for peace, love and understanding, God will
and incre~e o_ur_effo~ts so that_ the ,~acred
1
rchodoi Christian m1ss10nmight be fulfilled.
0
10
o
THE SEE OF ANTIOCH . .. "Antioch must
Antioch needs people who are ready to sacrifice
th • orld for its sake. He wh o Ioves renews the
rid for the world cannot be renewed except by
, e. Antioch must live and we are her life and her
1
uength. Antioch cannot be renewed by weak souls,
hildishtalk and absurd arguments. There is a sacred
rn· ion which we must fulfill. Our mission is to
r urrect the glory of the See of Antioch. What have
w done and what are we now doing for this purp e? Are we serious in our love for our Christian
heritage?Have we given of our money and our souls
t preserve it?"
.
I1'
ON ORTHODOX
UNITY
IN NORTH
. ERICA . . . "As Antiochians our hope for
O thodox Unity in North America is that it be
realizedwith the blessings of the Mother Churches
hich have branches on the North American
ontinent. A unity achieved in this fashion will be
lid, strong and productive. This is our conviction
and we shall continue to work for its actualization.
nilateral decisions do not bring forth anything
e cept dispute, chaos and misunderstanding. The
m st important thing is the manner in which this
• ity is to be realized. What is the use of a unity
hich does not fulfill our aspirations? We should
ever forget that Antioch must play a great role in
peace,love and goodwill."
ON ANTIOCHIAN UNITY
IN NORTH
A_MERICA
... "We firmly believe that this unity
will _be the catalyst for an enthusiastic
spiritual
renaissance."
the full
Orthodox
countries
land, and
solidarity
especially
significance of the name Christian. We
are Christian Arabs. The future of our
concerns us because we are bound to this
we agree to no external alliance. We are in
with all who live on this same land and
with those who suffer."
ON JERUSALEM AND THE PALESTINIANS
. . . "As Christian Arabs we believe that the loss of
Jerusalem affects the Arab cause in general. We shall
not spare any effort to insure that Jerusalem remain
an Arab city, open to all believers and to the entire
world. How can we be forgetful of Jerusalem, the
place of Man's ascent to God, where descended
Truth through His Incarnation, and the meeting
place of the faithful who have embraced Peace. The
Palestinian plea is for a Jerusalem returned to its own
people. For it is in men, not stones, that existence
obtains true meaning and purpose. The Palestinian
character of Jerusalem is the human and universal
face which the Holy City offers to the world. For
what the Palestinian seeks is no more than a comingtogether of people of diverse creeds in a quest,
through consultation, for knowledge and truth. The
holy places will not mean anything unless the faithful
live around them, for they have prayed in them and
have been close to them for two thousand years
without interruption. In the absence of the people,
these shrines will be reduced to empty relics. The
exiled and dispersed Palestinians are the symbol of
all human suffering."
ON LEBANON
"Lebanon is for the
Lebanese, all Lebanese, and not for one particular
group. We shall do everything possible for the unity
of the Lebanese and the progress and evolution of
Lebanon. We affirm that the Orthodox Christians are
not and will not be implicated in confessional
fighting no matter what means are used to compromise them. We Orthodox will always work for the
unity and evolution of Lebanon and its system."
ON MAN AND HISTORY . . . "Man was
created to accomplish great achievements. Man was
cre~tedto be the whole of history. The entire cosmos
15 hidden in him. History is always connected with
Man.There is no history without Man. Man creates
hi tor~ and gives it weight. Insignificant people do
?0 t ~rite except an insignificant history. Real history
1
wntten by great and idealistic people."
~t.NTHE ARAB CA USE . . . "The Orthodox
Po~mn in support of the Arab cause has always
been very cle It •
•
our
. . ar. Is motivated
by the very nature of
C:nsttan presence in the Arab world. We were
p;~~l efo~e Isla~! Our sensitivity to the national
·ery e{:1~is not circumstantial but derives from our
Chr' t' eing. Those who wish to represent the
lS ians of the Arab East should represent them in
J
C
19 7
Page 9
�The Patriarchs
THE RESURRECTION
of Antioch
from St. Peter to the present
time
Fact or Fiction
No.
Name
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
The Apostle Peter
Euodius
Ignatius
Heros
Cornelius
Heros II
Theophilus
Maximianus
Serapion
Asclipiades
Philetus
Zebinus or Zenobius
Babylas
Fabius
Demetrian
Amphilochius
Paul of Samosata
Domnus
Timaeus
Cyril
Tyrannion
Vitalius
Philogonius
Paulinus
Eustathius
Paulinus
Eulalius (5 months)
Euphronius
Placentius
Stephanus
Leontius
Eudoxius
Meletius
Eudoxius
Annias or Ammianus
Euzoius
Dorotheus
Paulinus
Vitalius
Flavian
Porphyrius
Alexander
Theodotus
John
Domnus II
Maximus
Basil
Acacius
Martyrius
Peter the Fuller
Julian
Peter the Fuller
JohnII
Stephen II
Stephen III
Year
No.
Name
Year
No.
Name
y
53
68
100
127
151
169
188
192
212
220
232
240
253
256
263
267
270
273
277
299
308
314
324
325
332
332
333
334
341
345
350
354
354
357
360
370
371
376
384
404
408
418
427
443
450
459
459
461
465
466
474
475
490
493
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
Callan di on
John Codonatus
Palladius
Flavian II
Severus
Paul II
Euphrasius
Ephraim
Domnus III
Anastasius the Sinaite
Gregory
Anastasius the Sinaite
Anastasius II
Gregory II
Anastasius III
Macedonius
George
Macari us
Theophanes
Sebastian or Stephen
George II
Alexander
Stephen IV
Theophylact
Theodore
John IV
Job
Nicolas
Simeon
Elias
Theodosius
Nicolas II
Michal
Zacharias
George III
Job II
Eustratius
Christopher
Theodorus II
Agapius
John IV
Nicolas III
Elias II
George Lascaris
Macarius the Virtuous
Eleutherius
Peter
John VI
Aemilian
Theodosius II
Nicephorus
John VII
John IX
Euthymius
Macari us
495
495
497
505
513
518
521
526
546
561
571
594
599
610
620
628
640
656
681
687
690
695
742
748
767
797
810
826
834
840
852
860
879
890
902
917
939
960
966
977
995
1000
1003
1010
1015
1023
1028
1051
1062
1075
1084
1090
1155
1159
1164
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
•119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
Athanasius
Theodosius III
Elias III
Christopher II
Theodore IV
Joacim
Dorotheus
Simeon II
Euthymius II
Theodosius IV
Theodosius V
Arsenius
Dionysius
Mark
Ignatius II
Michael II
Pachomius
Nilus
Michael III
Pachomius II
Joacim II
Mark III
Dorotheus II
Michael IV
Mark IV
Joacim III
Gregory III
Dorotheus III
Joacim IV
Michael V
Joacim V
Dorotheus IV
Athanasius III
Ignatius III
Cyril
Euthymius III
Euthymius IV
Macarius III
Cyril III
Neophytus
AthanasiusIV
Silvester
Philemon
Daniel
Anthemius
Seraphim
Methodius
Hierotheus
Gerasimos
Spyridon
Meletius II
Gregory IV
Alexander III
Theodosius VI
Elias IV
11
11
11
11
11
11
understood from the very beginning. Thus St. Paul
states in his first letter to the Christian Community in
Corinth: "If Christ has not been raised, then our
preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." (I Cor.
15:14).
Is Jesus actually risen from death, or is the
message of the Resurrection
a terrible hoax or
possibly a delusion on the part of the little band that
followed Him, who in their grief convinc~d themselves that He was still alive? Where do we find the
proof of the Resurrection?
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
13
13 1
13
13
13C,
1401
14
1411
142
14Jo
144
1476
14"
14 3
151'
1524
15
156'
15 •
15
161(
161"
1629
1631
164"
16 6
16
1 00
172
176
1 6"
1 93
1 13
1823
18
1 •
1892
1899
1
19
19
19""0
The Word
Page 10
by antony bassoline
I?
Not too very long ago we all stood in church
filledwith anticipation, joy and peace as we eagerly
awaited the moment when the Priest, in his most
brilliant vestments, came out of the Royal Doors in
the completely darkened church to offer us "the
nconquered Light" and to invite us to "glorify the
Christ risen from the dead." How thrilling it was
• iking the New Light, singing "Christ is Risen," and
participating in the bright Paschal Matins and
Liturgy. Later in the day the participation of our
hildren,in their Easter finery, was highlighted at the
Agape Vesper Service, and the Gospel was
pro~laimed in as many languages as possible.
Curiouslythough, one wonders how many people are
aware of the fact that our grand and soul-stirring
Easter celebration ends every year on a sour note!
fter all the shouts of "Christ is Risen " after all the
victoriousResurrection hymns, the Go~pel on Easter
Dayends with a tremendous "thud" -Thomas
is not
presentwhen Jesus appears to the other ten, and we
are l~ft after our fabulous paschal "high" with his
negativestatement: "Unless I can put my fingers in
th_e~oles of the nails; unless I can put my hand into
His side, I WILL NOT BELIEVE." (John 20:25)
ChriB_eli~fin the Resurrection of Jesus is crucial to
Stlamty. If Christ is not alive, then there is no
need or purpose for the Christian Religion. This was
FatherAnto
st
ern
ACCOUNTS OF THE GOSPELS
Let us look into the account (or rather accounts)
of the Resurrection
and post-resurrection
appearances as presented to us by the Four Gospels.
Even the most superficial reading will make one
thing obviously clear the details of the
Resurrection as they are reported to us are EXTREMELY CONFUSED. For example, is it one
young man in radiant apparel or two sitting on the
slab where the body of Jesus had been laid? Where
are the disciples first to see Jesus in Jerusalem, or in
Galilee? Even more basic than this we are faced with
the question of who was the first to see the Risen
Christ! According to John, Mary Magdalene, according to Matthew, several women, according to
Paul and Luke, Peter is the first! Now this leads to
other questions - If we assume that the women
(except for Mary Magdalene, different names for the
women present are given by Mark, Matthew and
Luke) are the first to receive the announcement
of
the Resurrection, we must ask ourselves what were
they doing at the tomb in the first place! According
to Mark they came to complete the process of burial
interrupted by the Sabbath (very unusual when we
consider the Jewish Law of uncleanliness associated
with contact with a corpse). According to Matthew
they came to "sit shiva" (mourn at the tomb by
Jewish custom). Also, did the stone roll away in front
of them, or did they find the stone already rolled
away - again the accounts differ. Do the Apostles
first see Jesus on a mountain in Galilee, as St.
Matthew reports (Matt. 28: 16), or behind closed
doors in Jerusalem, as St. John reports (John 20: 19)?
It is precisely this confusion and contradiction
•
R ~y is pastor of St. George Orthodox Church of the Greater Philadelphia Area and is-Teen SO YO Advisor
egwn.
in
J nc 1977
Page 11
�which point to the reality of the event. No attempt is
made to harmonize the versions and thus they can
hardly be called contrived. Many people whose faith
depends on the literal word for word interpretation
of the Bible have attempted to put all the accounts of
the Resurrection
together
as one continuous
narrative,
e.g., the women first hear the news
(Mark), Mary Magdalene stays behind weeping at
the grave and sees Jesus, whom she thinks is the
gardener (John), meanwhile the other women, still
running, see Jesus on the road (Matthew), etc. If
anything is hopelessly contrived and artificial, it is
just such attempts as this. We know that the Gospel
message was originally transmitted by oral tradition.
As is natural in such a process, in time the details
began to differ. But this in no way can be used to
prove that the basis of the tradition is untrue. As an
example of this we can use the illustration of several
witnesses to an accident. All are called to court a
year after the accident, all were direct witnesses, all
have different versions of what happened at the
accident! What does it prove? That there definitely
was an accident.
If not, what provoked
the
testimony of the witnesses, as conflicting as it might
be? We can use the same reasoning in regard t-0 the
Resurrection
something had to initiate the
preaching of the Resurrection!
Some basic facts emerge from the tangle of the
accounts. On these all the accounts seem to be
based. (1.) the empty tomb (2.) the testimony of the
women.
ISITA HOAX?
Now let us address ourselves to the question of
whether or not the story of the Resurrection is a
hoax. If we believe that the teaching of the
Resurrection was a fraud, we are already in trouble
since we will have to explain the very core of the
story - the testimony of the women. Why would the
primitive Church, which was completely Jewish, use
the testimony of women as the basis for something as
crucial as the story of the Resurrection?
THE
TESTIMONY OF WOMEN WAS INADMISSABLE
IN JEWISH LAW! (this probably explains, by the
way, why Paul, a rabbinic scholar, mentions the
appearance
to Peter and avoids mention of the
women). Further, if the story is contrived, why do
the apostles have themselves portrayed as cowards?
If the story is fiction, they certainly could have
presented themselves in a better light. On the very
practical level, how do we explain the empty tomb?
One of the troparia we sing at Saturday evening
Vespers contains the statement: "Who has ever seen
a corpse, naked and embalmed being taken from the
tomb . . ." the question is a valid one, especially
when we consider that the followers of Jesus were all
pious Jews. If they did not finish something as important as the process of burial for fear of breaking
the Sabbath, we can hardly imagine that they would
Page 12
break the Law by handling
unclean corpse!
and tran p rtin
Is belief in the Resurrection
the re ult
delusion or hysteria ca used by excessi e gri f
despair? First of all, it is possible to belie e n
1
practical level that one or two people could c nvi
themselves that Jesus was alive, but are we to b it
that the whole group of His followers suffered fr
mass hysteria! Let's look again into the Gospel .
accounts give us several important clues cone rni
the reaction of Jesus' followers. (1.) the w
certainly were not expecting to find Jesus ali an
thus were not approaching the tomb with an pr .
conceived hopes. The Greek words used by t. Mar
very vividly describe their reaction. The lit
translation
is: "They left the tomb SHAKI G
UNCONTROLLABLY
FROM FEAR ... " Mar
16:8) Is this the reaction of people who are deludin
themselves into believing that Jesus is alive? h
would they have brought ointment in the first pla
if they expected a resurrection? (2.) The apo tl
themselves
are presented
as incredulous. The
remain locked away in secret for fear of their Iiv •
Note the reaction of Thomas. In fact the apo tl •
accused the women of suffering from delu ion.
("They did not believe the women; the tale seem d
to them to be utter nonsense.") (Luke 24:ll)Ifthi
•
the case, and we insist on saying that th
Resurrection was a delusion, then when and ho di
the disciples acquire faith in the Resurrection?
RESURRECTION CONVERSION
What are we left with then? We find a group
simple and cowardly peasants from Galilee sudde .
becoming wise and brave; the ignorant are suddenl
found preaching and winning converts to the poi: t
where their message is now proclaimed in all
corners of the earth. It is a preaching which St. Pa I
says is "a scandal to the Jews and ridiculous to the
Greeks." (1st Cor. I:23). On the surface it seemed t
have no appeal to anyone, yet it caught on.
We find a man, Saul of Tarsus, a hater of th
followers of Jesus, become Paul, early Christianit •
greatest teacher. We find the apostles and their
successors willing to undergo hardship and even
death for the sake of the message. For the pa
nineteen hundred years the lives and hearts of men
have been changed and touched by this message.
illogical as it is, as unexplainable as it is, as un·
believable as it is, it has a power. No one sa th
actual Resurrection of Jesus, but the power of th
Resurrection
was felt and brought into being th
Christian Church. That power is still being felt .
those who open themselves to it. One thing is cer·
tain, myths and delusions do not have the abilit to
last so long a time or to change the course of histor '.
In the stillness of that first Easter da\\ 0
something was found - and the world hasn't been
the same.
The \
intsof antioch
T.IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
s
Bishop of Antioch, was most
I n \1ub ro in Syria in 35 A.D.; he was
• b ·n origin, and a perse~utor Aof
. .
before his conversion.
c.-.-..-'""'"''"//'
n. ll n Origin he was the third Bishop
r in t
'
b t hi
nti h. Little is kn'?wn. a ou ts
rh life except for his Journey do
rivrd m from Antioch to ~ome, un er
u. rd of ten Roman soldiers.
.
. the year 107 A.D. that TraJan,
10
It"
Emperor came back victorious
R man
,
.
h
war against the Dacians and
fr m .I and as he entere d th e g1O n·ous
rthian '
Ch • •
it . f Antioch, he let the
ristians
" that the persecution against them
0
n t yet over.
I natiu , voice was heard throughout
nti h, "Keep on praying.for those who
ute you. Return their bad temper
~-ith gentleness, their b~a st s. with
umilit , and their violence wi th mildness. NeGvedr
?,eTea~er
r t,diate.Try to please not yourselves but o • raJan
mm ned Ignatius and condemned him to death.
u u his journey to Rome, Ignatius was received with
eat honor at Smyrna by St. Polycarp, a nd was visited by
e bersof the many neighboring Chri stian communities.
I ,natius wrote to the Churches of th e Ephesian s ,
fagnesians,Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrnan , and to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. In all of th ese
I ·•ter 'Ignatius expressed his steadfast love to his Faith in
J I Christ, so he writes "Jesus is th e one who for our
uffereddeath, that we might believe in Him, so that
e capefrom th is ear th ly wori d • Jesus is our hope, a nd if
Ii e in union with Him now, we shall gain eternal life."
Heproceededto say, "Be imitator of God as I had been."
Ignatiuswas not a foolish man, nor did he doubt the
t achingsof the Apostles and the Disciples. Rather, he
t d firm in defending the Church against the heretical
te chings which appeared during his time; especially
cetism,which means "appearance or representation of
•methingnot existing in reality."
Hedid not exaggerate or generalize the true reality of
hri t, but he believed in Him and accepted to endure the
C'.ain and the cruelty as a prisoner fighting the beasts
• ·: all this was not in vain. His purpose in life was to
enlightenthe local churches to stand like the rock
teadfastloveto their Faith no matter what obstacles the;
ma have to face.
'"-.#:'.l'""'WIL/~
HRI TOLOGY AND ECCLESIOLOGY
Oneca_nnotignore the Christology of St. Ignatius in his
ter againstthe heretical movement of Docetism. In his
t~r he affirmed his belief against those who denied the
h.h~_ofChrist's life, death, and resurrection. "In faith
ic IS the flesh of the Lord, and in love which is the
, d of}esus Christ." (Trollians XIII:I). He continued to
• • • Jesus was really born, ate, and drank, was really
herh~onstantineNasr is pastor of St. George Orthodox
re tn Cedar R ap,·asand 1s
· Dean m· that area.
C 19 7
by fr. constantin~
_nasr
persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was really crucified afid
died in the sight of heaven and earth, ~ho ":as rea. y
raised from the dead, when His Father rai~ed Hi~ up, m
the same manner His Father shall raise up m Chnst Jesus,
for us who believe in Him, for without whom we have not
true life."
t d
The Christology of St. Ignatius cannot be separa e
from his Ecclesiology. For him, the Church, or th.e local
church, represents Christ Himself. ~h~ Churc~ is co~sidered to be the center of all things; m it the fait~ul will
E h
t The
gather for worship and for partaking of the uc ans •
Church i·tself reveals to us the birth, the death, an.d the
h
resurrection of Christ. To Ignatius, the Churc
isCh0 ?e
J
t
because it has one Lord, Jesus Christ; "Where esus
ns
is, there is the Catholic Church."
UNITY IN THE HIERARCHY
The central theme of his teaching is that the unity of
the faithful present in the Church must have one prayer,
one petition, one mind, and one hope domi~ated by love
for Jesus Christ. He believed in the Bishop as the
representative of Jesus Christ. In turn, the Bishop is the
center of the Church, for he is the one who celebrates the
Eucharist. He states, "That there is one Bishop with the
Presbytery, and the deacons, my fellow servants." He
continues to say that the faithful must be obedient to the
Bishop. "Let no one do any of the things appertaining to
the Church without the bishop, see that you all follow the
Bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the
Presbytery as if it were the Apostles, and reverence the
deacon as the command of God."
Besides the sacramental emphasis on the Church, the
responsibility of the Bishop towards his flocks and the
obedience of the flocks towards their Bishop, one finds
another theme pertaining to St. Ignatius' Christology: the
ethical and moral teachings of the Church. Faith and love
are the key words for St. Ignatius' ethics. It is by faith and
love that Christians become new creatures (Trollians
VIII:8). Faith, love, and obedience are the foundation of
his teaching. It is through his faith for Jesus Christ that he
wrote his Epistles; it is through his deep love for the Incarnate One that he accepted martyrdom; it is through his
obedience to the teachings of the Church that he wanted
to warn the Christians to be ready on guard against false
teachings.
Finally, to St. Ignatius, to be a Christian is to be
liberated from the fear of death, and this comes about by
acceptance of the Cross and by self-giving. The reality of
the Cross can be found alive in the Church, in the Bishop,
and in the congregation as one organic unity, and above
all, in the Eucharist itself.
St. Ignatius' memory is celebrated on December 20th
and with grateful hearts the Orthodox Faithful chant th~
Troparion, "Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius, you lent yourself
to the Apostles' way of live and succeeded them on their
throne. Inspired by God, you found the way to contemplation through practice and prayer; wherefore you
became a perfect teacher of truth, fighting for the faith
unto the shedding of your blood. Intercede with Christ
that He may save our souls."
Pa~e 13
�ARUHDI
OUESAN
OFFICE
IN MEMORIAM
RT. REV. GABRIEL SAMNE
The Rt. Rev. Gabriel A. Samne, 69, of New Castle, died
May 11, 1977, in the Jameson Memorial Hospital after an
illness.
Father Samne was born in Damascus, Syria, on July 15,
1907, to the late Amin G. and Nazriah K. Eddy Samne. He
was the retired pastor of St. Elias Orthodox ChurcJ:},
retiring on Jan. 1, 1973.
Father Samne began study for the priesthood at the
age of 13, at Balamand Seminary near Tripoli, and later
attended
and finished at the Lycee Orthodox
in
Damascus, a college where he taught for two years. He
was ordained a deacon in 1927 by Metropolitan Gerasim us Masarra in Beirut, and then attended St. Athanasius
Greek
Theological
Academy in Alexandria,
Egypt.
Returning to Damascus, he entered the Law School of the
Syrian University.
In 1933, Father Samne was elevated to the rank of
Archdeacon
of the Antiochian
See by Patriarch
Alexander Tahan III, and ordained to the priesthood by
Patriarch Tahan in 1936. For the next 20 years, he served
ANTOUN H. MUDARRI
BORN NOVEMBER 17, 1914-DAMASCUS,
SYRIA
DIED
SEPTEMBER
17, 1976
CAMBRIDGE,
MASSACHUSETTS
At age 20 migrated with his parents to Boston,
Massachusetts.
During World War II served with the United States
Armed Forces in the European Area in the Military
Intelligence Unit. After this war ended he was elected
president of the Military Intelligence Association of New
England.
In addition to being a successful businessman, he was
very active in his local church - the church of St. John of
Damascus, Boston, Massachusetts and in local community
affairs.
In early 1960 he became a member of the Board of
Trustees of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and served on this Board up to
the time of his death. During these years of activity in the
Archdiocese and his local church he was awarded many
honors for his devotion to their welfare in time and
effort, amongst which were the Knighthood of the Order
of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Knighthood of
the Order of St. Mark of Alexandria. He always was loyal
to the Patriarchate of Antioch and contributed generously
to the Monastery and Orphanage of Saidnaya, Syria.
He is amongst the first - if not the first, to remember
the Archdiocese in the planning of his will. He was a most
devoted son to his widowed mother until she passed on.
Page 14
as first secretary and executive representati e bef
religious and civil authorities for Patriarch Tahan, and
the same time served St. Mary's, the Patriarchal Cathed·
of Damascus, as First Arabic-Byzantine Chanter. He a:·
served 15 years as Judge of the Patriarchal
pint .
Private Court. Upon request in 1953, Father Samne "
released from the services of the Patriarch Tahan to c
to North America.
In North America, he was temporarily assigned to t.
George Church in Montreal, Canada, and in 19 6 "
transferred to St. George's Church in Canton, Ohio, whe
he served.14 years. On July 16, 1969, he was transferre.
St. Elias Church in New Castle by the Metropolitan.
He is survived by two sisters, Mary and Josephin i
Syria. The body lay in state in St. Elias Orthodox ChurLh,
New Castle, Pa. Trisagion Services were held b t
Thursday and Friday by His Eminence, Archbis·
Michael and clergy from the Western Pa. and Oh.
Deaneries, and of New Castle, Pa. Burial was on Saturd ,
May 14.
May his blessed soul rest in eternal peace.
\ MI SIONS OPENED:
ORLEANS, LA: Three Hierarchs
Orthodox
n, under the direction of Rev. Father Michael
rn. Contact Father Michael at 7102 Freret Street,
e" rleans, LA, 70118.
\ D OR, ONTARIO, CANADA:
St. Ignatius of
i\nti h Orthodox Mission, under the direction of Arch. t John Badeen. Contact Father John at 2760 East
r 1nd Boulevard, Detroit, MI, 48211.
it.GREE A WARDED:
Ph.D. in Pastoral Theology from General Theological
minary, New York, NY, to Archpriest Joseph Allen,
pa or of St. Anthony Church in Bergenfield, NJ.
The ICON BOOK
ANTOUN MUDARRI
1914-1976
Having been blessed in his efforts, he shared some of the
blessings with others and I never knew_ him to sa kl:o
unkind word about anyone. He was so smcerely loo -.
forward to share his responsibility with joy the even: 0
the Patriarchal Holy Year before he was suddenly t . e
away. He was a good friend and a decent human betn'
and shall be remembered by many for years to come.
1
MONSOUR H. LAil
Boston, Massacbuet
The
Icons hold an absolutely unique place in the life and
experience of the Orthodox Church. They are not
r ·ligious art in the traditional sense; they are rather a
theological and liturgical art whose understanding
is
fundamental to an understanding of our Orthodox faith.
Icons seek to portray a new reality, a new creation which
• a gift of God's Incarnation. The ICON BOOK seeks to
introduce both children and adults to the nature content
t le, and history of icons. Such an underst;nding
i~
rundamental to every Orthodox Christian.
~i_ththis educational need in mind, the Department of
Chn lian Education of the Antiochian Orthodox Arch1
ce e has published some twenty-five of the most
equ~ntly observed icons. The icons are presented in the
t. tconogr~~hic style by line drawings and in great
eta~l.In ad?1hon, each of these icons is accompanied by
brief and mformative descriptive account of the theme
nd con~ent of the feasts and persons portrayed, with an
e planatton of the traditional symbolisms.
The ICON BOOK is published in an 8½" by 11" format
rd
has the appearance of a coloring book. Don't be
m·tak . • •
•
n en'. it •s. not Just a coloring book in the ordinary
f
It is destgned and published rather in the tradition
e ail~ current!~ popular historical
coloring books
th· g th e artistic characteristics
of the Medieval
, tc, Tutor and C0 1 • 1
. d
.
.
,
c Heer
'
oma per10 s. The icons m the
ton may, however, be colored with either fine
~h
J
1977
Seminarian Joseph Purpura of Norwood, Massachusetts
being ordained to the Diaconate at St. George Cathedral
of Worcester during Metropolitan Philip's visit there on
Palm Sunday, April 3, 1977.
crayons, fine point felt-tipped markers, or colored pencils.
This approach will be especially appreciated
by the
doodlers among us who enjoy working with the fine
details of line drawings.
The ICON BOOK will provide a convenient and enjoyable means to introduce both adults and young people
to the essential style and content of the major icons of the
Church.
Order from: Antiochian Archdiocese
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
Price: $3.00 per copy
�LITURGYAND LIFE
IFESTYLES X
THE FAST OF THE DORMITION
h mil by father james c. meena
OF THE HOLY THEOTOKOS
AUGUST 1st through 14th
"FATHER'S TASK-COMMUNICATE''
by fr. gabriel barrow
During the first fourteen days of August during each
year, the Holy Orthodox Church enters into a strict fast
period in honor of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary.
The eminent
Orthodox
theologian,
Father
Sergei
Bulgakov, beautifully expresses the high regard which the
Orthodox Christians have for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the
Mother of God, for her special role in the salvation of
mankind, when he affirms, "The warm veneration of the
Theotokos is the soul of Orthodox Piety." St. John of
Damascus, one of the great Orthodox fathers, pointed out
that when the Blessed Virgin Mary became the Mother of
God and gave birth to Christ, the Redeemer of Mankind,
she became the mother of mankind. We call the Virgin
Mary "Theotokos", from the Greek, which means "The
Birth-Giver or the Bearer of God." This is the highest title
that can be bestowed upon any member of the human
race.
The Theotokos,
the Virgin Mary, was "blessed
amongst women," and she was chosen "to bear the Savior
of our souls." We, therefore, as Orthodox Christians,
consider her to be the Queen of all the saints and the
angels.
Knowing that she holds such a high place in the
Kingdom of Heaven and that she is eternally present at the
throne of God interceding for mankind, we, as good
Orthodox Christians, must pray for her love, guidance,
and protection. We must never forget to ask for her intercessions in times of sickness and danger, and we must
constantly thank her for her care and her prayers in our
behalf.
Every year the Orthodox Church sets aside the first
fourteen days of August in honor of the Virgin Mary. This
fast period is climaxed on August 15th, when the Church
gathers to celebrate the Great Feast of the Dormition
(Falling-Asleep) of the Theotokos. During this fourteen
day fast period, the Orthodox Church prescribes that the
Paraclesis Service be held in honor of the Mother of God.
The word "paraclesis" has two different meanings: the
first is "consolation," from which the Holy Spirit is called
Page 16
the "Paraclete,"
or "Consoler"; the second is "supplication" or "petition". The Service of the Paraclesis
the Theotokos consists of hymns of supplication to obtain
consolation and courage. It should be recited in times 0
temptation, discouragement or sickness. It is used more
particularly during the two weeks before the Dormition
or Assumption, of the Theotokos, from August 1
August 14. The theme of these Paraclesis Services center
around the petition . . . "Most Holy Mother of God, sa,
us."
If you have a problem or if something is burdening
your soul, if you feel spiritually uneasy and if you are not
at peace with yourself and with those around you, then.
you should come to the Church during the first fifteen
days of August and ask for the intercessions of the Mother
of God. Even if you are fortunate enough to be one
those very few who are at peace with themselves and with
God, then those blessed ones should come to these se
vices and thank God and His Blessed Mother for th
blessings that they have bestowed upon you and your
family.
Since these Paraclesis Services to the Theotokos are
primarily petition for the welfare of the living, let the
whole Church pray for you during the first fifteen dar~ of
August and especially on the Great Feast of the Dorm~aon
of the Theotokos on August 15th. Don't let your lazme •
and your apathy cause you to miss this great blessing and
inspiration that the Church can bestow upon you. Let ~e
peace and holiness that only the Mother of God can gw~
you enter into your life. ''Let us lay aside all eart~Y_care:
and let us truly, during these fifteen days, participate in
the fasting and prayer life of the Church so that we can
"taste and see that the Lord is good" and so that we ma
fully experience the spiritual blessings that the Churc~
offers to us at this holy time. "Blessed is he whom He_sha
find watching." Come and pray to the Theotokos Wl~ u
and with the Church and by her prayers and intercesS100S
may our souls be saved!
MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS,
SA VE US!
The
When the Creator of all things required anything of His
telligent creatures, He communicated Hi~ _expecta~i<:ms
hem by one device or other. He was specific m advismg
dam and Eve of that which He expected of them and
th t which they could expect from Him in return. He
pelledout wit~ great care t~e thin?s He expect~d of No~h
nd his family m the days immediately precedmg and m
t e ears following the Great
Flood. The eyes of
braham, Isaac and Jacob were always opened to God's
hes.
The Scriptures make it clear that the relationship
between father and children is clearly established by the
relationshipof God to His creatures. Our Heavenly Father
d l not allow us to grow by accident nor did He take us for
ranted but He always spelled out with great care how we,
a His children, should comport ourselves in every area of
ur lives, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and intellectually.
Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that one of
he fundamental tasks of a human father who considers
m elf to be a son of God, in his concern for raising his
off pring as children of God, is to communicate with them
ovinglyand as patiently as possible. A father should not
an? can not expect the moral and godly up bringing of his
hildre~to be successful if he ascribes this upbringing to
he accidents of fate and makes no positive contribution
to that upbringing. If a father relates to his children
honestl_y,
with integrity and with love, communicating to
them his hopes and expectations yet never imposing upon
them to the extent that he stunts thei growth or strives to
moldthem into character patterns which are inconsistent
th their personalities, if a fathe communicates to his
h1ldren
•
.
. a genume
sense of awareness, compassion
exre SIons O f pleasure and approval when merited ' and
0
• cerned disapproval when it is called for if a father is
111
In
t '
·
.
'
. g O instruct his children to praise them and to
punishthe
h
•
' .
m w en praise and pumshment are called for
Ut never t •
'
•
f . 0 impose praise or punishment in a manner that
un au-or la k. • • ·
e peciall . c mg m Justi_ce, mercy or compassion, and
c"·lct Y ~ a father re-mforces these lessons to his
w ren pnm il
b
.
ous
ar Y Y his example as he relates to his
e and to 0 th er members of society,
.
. then have
he will
J ne 1977
successfully emulated the loving concerns of the Original
Father Who established the patterns of fatherhood for us
all.
The Book of Proverbs is filled with advice and admonitions to fathers as to how they should relate to their
children. Some of this advice applies literally today.
Others must be applied in the context of our modern
society. I should like to emphasize that none of these
proverbs is based on action alone, but they grow out of an
implied example which is to be set by fathers for their
children. It is emminently unfair for any parent to impose
disciplines upon his children that he is not willing to
impose upon himself and it is equally unfair for a parent to
expect his children to live up to standards in childhood
which the parent has only been able to achieve in
adulthood.
The idea that children are little adults is
fallacious and it might be more accurate to say that adults
are really grown up children in many areas of their personalities.
With the increase
of "peer pressure",
we are
discovering that young people are most easily influenced
by the standards, rules and morals set by their "friends"
and by their idols in the world of entertainment
when
fathers abandon their roles as pace-setters, fail to communicate their expectations and are either overly-strict or
overly-permissive, thereby transmitting an " don't really
love you" message to their children and receiving a similar
reply, usually in the self-destructive or uncreative actions
we see abounding in our youth today. This process will
change only when the process of positive communication
between parent and child becomes a realit .
So many fathers I know do not bother to equip
themselves to have even an elementary dialogue with their
kid~. Wh~le they might teach their sons to play sports and
spml their d~ughters with all sorts of "goodies", they
cannot exp lam even the most basic matters of life and
living such as love, morality, respect and sex. When asked,
they too often hedge or side-step the issue one way or
other.
. Father's job communicate!
If you love your
children, tell them so and show them. Raising your kids is
not "Mama's" job or an accident of fate ...
You are the
main man!
Page 17
�DIALOGUE
• • •
questions to father buben
QUESTION: "I trust you will forgive me for making
this question so lengthy. However, upon what does our
Holy Orthodox Church base her belief that the Theotokos
remained "ever Virgin"? The Old Testament says: "Now
Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore
Cain" (Genesis 4:1 RSV) and again ''Cain knew his wife,
and she conceived and bore Enoch" (Genesis 4:17 RSV).
St. Matthew says in his Gospel: "When Joseph woke from
sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he
took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son;
and he called his name Jesus." (Saint Matthew 1:24-25
RSV) Both of the Old Testament illustrations indicate that
the word "knew" must be interpreted in terms of sexual
union since the phrase "and she conceived" follows. If this
interpretation of "knew" is correct, then how is one to
interpret the same word in Saint Matthew's Gospel and
still believe In the fact that the Virgin Mary was "ever
Virgin." This question has been asked of me several times
by Protestant acquaintances and I simply have not been
able to locate the Orthodox Church's reasoning." Gregory Barricklow, Seattle, Washington.
ANSWER: First, you are catering to the heretical
tradition of self-interpretation
of the Scripture. This fact
alone has caused the division of Christianity into over two
hundred sects. Next, you are using the RSV of the Bible
which falls flat in many ways when compared with the
original Greek texts of Scripture.
The Orthodox Church is infallibly the guardian and
interpreter of all written and unwritten Revelation. "What
does the Church say?" should be the guide in all dogma
and doctrinal investigations. The Virgin Birth and the
Ever-Virginity of the Theotokos was the subject defined at
a number of Ecumenical and Local Synods of the
Undivided early Church. These Synods guided by the
wishes of the Holy Spirit revealed and interpreted many
facets of our doctrine. Specifically, the Third Ecumenical
Synod at Ephesus in the year 431 A.D. defined and interpreted the Theotokos as Ever-Virgin.
Joseph was Mary's guardian and never lived in
wedlock with her either before or after the Birth of Christ.
Like all heretics, your friends will jump from their first
conclusion to the second, namely, that Joseph begat from
Mary the brothers of the Lord referred to in the Bible James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (Mt. 13, 35; Mk. 6, 3).
Here's where you stop them.
All the Evangelists concur that Clopas and not Joseph
was the father of James and his brothers. Clopas had a wife
whose name also was Mary. This Mary was not the
Theotokos
who gave Birth to God - Jesus Christ.
However, Mary the wife of Clopas was a cousin to the
Virgin-Mary a~d for this reason the sons of Clopas and
Mary (the othe,r) were called brothers of the Lord. The
Lord's cousins are called brothers in the Bible: (Mt. 10, 3;
Mk. 3, 18; Lk. 6 16; Mk. 15, 14). Mary the wife of Clopas
1
PB-ge18
was known as the other Mary and it was she who stood b
the Cross with Mary Magdalene etc. (John 19, 25) Tr.
Bible nowhere designates any brothers of the Lord a~ on
of Joseph, but they are called the sons of Clopa .
Zebedee-Alphaeus as he was also known.
On the Cross, Christ gave the care of the Theotoko 1
St. John the Divine. If the Theotokos had other childre
why didn't they take her home? The other Mar
specifically pointed out as the mother of the brothers_
"among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary th
mother of James the younger and of Joses" (Mark 15:40).
The root of the Incarnation stems from the fact 0 r
Christ being eternal God who took flesh of a Virgin according to Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah e
Everything in Orthodoxy is co-related. From the Incarnation we go to the facts of Original Sin, Salvation throu
the Person of God etc .. Heretics, instead of co-relating,
take a word like knew and write volumes of false ideas.
QUESTION: In the June 1976 issue of The Wordon
page 35 you stated that: "The Russian usage of the O
Testament differs somewhat from the Greek since the
Russians always list the apocryphal books with the
Canonical. I have an R.S.V. Bible but it does not contai
the apocryphal. Is this the way the Greek usage of the
Bible differs from the Russian?
My R.S. V. Bible without the apocryphal howeverI
approved by the National Council of Churches of Christ
and I understand that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese o
Antioch Is a member. Is this Bible without the Apocrypha
alright for Orthodox Christians to use?
I am asking this because you seemed to have implied
that it would be completely unorthodox and protestant
not to include the Apocrypha in the Old Testament. In
Timothy Ware's Book The Orthodox Church (Published
by Penquen Books) pages 208-209; he states that the
Deutero-Canonical Books, although part of the Bible
stand on a lower footing than the rest of the Old
Testament. - J.D.I.
ANSWER: It's perfectly alright to read the R.S_.•
Bible, although I personally prefer the King James verswn
or the Vulgate. However, for those who understan~ 3
foreign Orthodox language, i.e. Greek, Arabi~, R~ssia:
etc. it's most wonderful to be able to read a Bible m t_h
language of one of the ethnic Orthodox countne
especially the original Greek in its entity.
.
if
The fact that you read the Bible is heartwarming. But
you want the Apocryphal in English you'~l have t~ goa~e
some Roman translation. The Orthodox m Amertca
still talking about an English translation.
QUESTION: "How can we imagine the Lord God on
81
our icons~ when the Bible says; "No man hath seen God
any time; (?)11 - Joe Toney
The\ o
ER: We depict God in those images which He
m If re ealed to mankind, and which He blessed
. u h His Own appeara~ces.
.
1 r
d the Father is depicted as a very old man followmg
0
. .
of the Prophet Daniel: "I beheld 'till the thrones
1 1 0
I
'
•
• wh ose
t down, and the Ancient
o f d ays d'd
i sit,
r ~ as white as snow, and the hair of His Head like
~u~ wool." (Dan. 7:9). Some schools of thinking have
f d to depict God the Father in any way. These
u r feel that the Orthodox who do so depict Him,
l 10 e
.
, largely been influenced by Um_ates.
.
od the Son is drawn as a man m the dawn of middleb ause Our Lord Jesus Christ; "being in the form of
' thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but
' Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the
f rm of a servant, and was made in the likenes~ o~ men."
Philippians 2:6-7). Our Lord Jesus also left His hkeness
n ronica's Veil, the Prince and other places. If you
b
e icons and even Roman statues of Christ, you will
n ti e a similarity of facial features. The shroud of Turin
i th original Winding Sheet a copy of which is used
during Holy Week now in every Orthodox parish. The
)riginal was believed stolen from Constantinople. The
r i.1turesare remarkably similar in all ethnic parishes.
God the Holy Spirit is depicted as a Dove. This is how
I e descended on Our Lord when Christ was baptised by
1 John in the Jordan River. "And Jesus, when He was
baptised, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo,
1 e heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit
f God descending like a Dove, and lighting upon Him."
fatthew 3:16)
These are only a few of countless examples revealed
throughHoly Scripture.
QUESTION:"Our Church teaches that at the last day
our bodies shall be reunited to our souls. Could you
ummarize some aspects of this resurrectional body?" ziz Bashara
ANSWER: It will be a God-given body, a body which
God in His sovereignity will bestow upon us, not bound by
e laws of this world, but made by the direct action of
by the body of the
gra e. (1 Cor. 15-38; 2 Cor. 5:14).
It will be "this body of our humiliation fashioned
anew." Therefore, it will be the body as to personal
identity(Phil. 3:21 ).
. It will not be pure spirit, but will have flesh and bones,
h. e _theresurrection body of our Lord, who said to His
Disciples after His Resurrection, "Behold my hands and
m feet, that it is Myself: handle Me and see for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as you see Me have." (St. Luke
24:3 ). The Body which He had then, and still has, is a
pat~ernof the body we are to receive in the resurrection
(Phil.3:21; 1 John 3:2).
L It will be immortal and incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:52-54;
uke 20:35, 36). Immortality may be predicated of the
dy alo_ne; of the body of the believer alone; of the
re ;rre~tion ?ody of t~e be_liever ~lon_e. The resurrection
th . will be mcorruptible, m that 1t will not be subject to
e lllroads of di
d
•
•
and
exemptfrom all b sease • or ecay. It will be immune
•
.
actena
and
germs
or
viruses
of disease.
1
eat_will be a powerful body, not subject to weakness or
rmess' not t 0 th e 1·umtahons
• .
ct·
of our present physical
ies, but be
d
..
hich
possesse of powers and capacities of
we have n o experience
•
•m our present form of
G d, but so made as to be conditioned
J
C
1977
existence (1 Cor. 15:43; John20:19; Rev. 7:15).
It will be a heavenly body; i.e. a body adapted to the
environments of the heavens and suited to heavenly uses
and purposes (1 Cor. 15:47-49; 15:40).
It will be a shining, luminous, glorified body. This is
shown by the direct statement"It is sown in dishonor; it
is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in
power." (1 Cor. 15:43 on). It is shown also by those
passages which teach that our resurrectional
bodies will
be like our Lord's. An illustration of tlte luminous, shining
appearance of His Resurrectional Body is the record of
the Transfiguration
(Matthew 17:1, Luke 9, 29. This
harmonizes with the statements in Phil. 3, 21 and 1 John 3,
2. It is intimated in St. Matthew 13:43 and Daniel 12:3.
(Svit).
Send questions to:
V. REV. MICHAEL BUBEN
103 Pleasant Street
METHUEN, MA. 01844
CREATIVE ACTIVITIES
I
The Department
of Christian Education
of the
Antiochian
Orthodox
Christian
Archdiocese
has
published an extensive guide to the use of creative activities - dancing, audio-visuals, banner-making,
painting, acting, etc. in the Orthodox church school. The
manual has been especially developed so that each of the
activities dealt with is geared to the subject matter and the
specific lessons in the curriculum
of the Orthodox
Christian Education Commission.
Creative Activities I is intended as an invaluable
reserve bank of ideas and inspirations which can be
referred to as needed. A well run church school is not the
result of a dependency upon whatever spasms of inspiration may hit the teacher a few minutes before the
class begins, but is the product of good preparation and an
openness to the various possibilities which exist for the
teachers' benefit to enliven their lessons. The goal of
Creative Activities I is to assist the teacher in integrating
activities into the church school lesson.
1:he first stage of the manual is composed of approximately 100 pages, including a detailed introduction
to the use of the materials in the guide.
Creative Activities /includes the following sections:
Introduction
Integrating Lessons and Activities
Inspiration in Art
Word Power Expressing Our Faith in Words
Sociodrama: Acting to Learn
Celebrating OUR Faith with Banners
Audio-Visuals: Recommended Aids
Children's Literature
The Creative Activities I is published in a looseleaf
format and each of the different sections is conveniently
color coded to allow for orderly future addition of related
~ections as they _become available. The guide is available
m a sealed plastic container which includes an attractive
gummed title page for adhesion to any standard vinyl
covered looseleaf notebook.
Cre_a~iveActivi~ies I is available from the Department
of Chnstlan Education at $4.50 pet copy.
Pae
19
�Department of Christian Education
VACATION VENTURES
Vacation
Church
School.
Association, 1974.
SERIES. A Course for
Cooperative
Publication
For those parishes that are planning to or have been
considering
the possibility of conducting a vacation
church school, the Vacation Ventures Series provides a
coordinated program and coordinated resources that are
easily adapted to Orthodox church schools. Although not
Orthodox in origin, the series focuses on the development
and clarification of Christian values that are a valuable
supplement to the regular church-school year. The series
also provides Bible study geared to the abilities of each
grade level. An added bonus is that all grade levels focus
attention for a time on Psalm 104, used in Orthodox
Vespers service. Available in this series are Leader's
Guides and Student Books for Nursery, Kindergarten,
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-4, Grades 5-6, and Junior High.
The Vacation Ventures Series runs on three-year
cycles; each year deals with choices from a different
perspective. The theme of the first year is "God, Me, and
Where I Live" and presents an environmental emphasis:
how we make choices in finding our place in God's
creation and in taking responsibility for our environment.
Year 2 emphasizes the choices we make as individuals,
and Year 3 focuses on choices in interpersonal
relationships. The theme of this year's Vacation Ventures
Series is the first one: our place in God's creation and our
responsibility for it.
Each of the six grade-level courses is developed in five
"focuses" and includes both plans for 5-day schools and
plans for longer schools in addition to a "Great Ideas"
section with suggestions for additional excursions, etc.
Each course also deals with an aspect of the theme that is
appropriate to the age level. The printed resources are
easy to obtain and relatively inexpensive (Leader's Guides
for all except Junior High cost $1.95; Student texts range
from 75 cents to 95 cents each; and Resource Packets for teachers - are $5.95; the exception is the Junior High
program which has a combined Student/ Leader Guide
for $1.25 and no Resource Packet).
The Nursery program, "I Can Choose," not only
presents the child with a view of the variety of God's
creation but also helps the nursery-age child (3 years old)
learn to make choices. The Leader's Guide provides plans
for as few as five or as many as twelve sessions, revolving
around ideas such as "Who Am I?," "I Am Growing,"
"God's plan for Growing Plants," "God Planned for
Animals," and "Working Together in God's World." In
addition, the Guide also contains an excellent introduction to the world of the three-year-old child along
with songs, stories, poems, creative activities, and a list of
books and records that can be used with three-year olds.
The 16-page student book centers on choices open to
three-year olds, for example ways of helping parents at
home. The Nursery program is a delight, partly because
exploring God's creation is a delight, partly because the
Program itself is well-done.
Page 20
,AntiocQian®rtQobox Qlf1rtstianlllomrn
of Nnrtq 1\mtrica
by the rate donna bobin
"God's _Worl~," the Kindergarten program (for 4_.
year olds), 1s designed to help young children appreciat
God's creation and develop a sense of themselves as n e
only enjoyers but also responsible caretakers of our gif~
from God. The five focuses in the Kindergarten progra
are: "We Discover," "We Explore," We Belong," "We A~
Responsible," and "We Celebrate." The Leader's Guid:
contains a special introduction to each focus called "The
Growing
Teacher,"
which
includes
brief Bible
backgrounds on Biblical verses to be used with the
children and a few paragraphs on the ideas to be emphasized in the sessions. The Guide also contains plans for
from five to twelve sessions, stories, poems, songs
creative activities, and games. Included in the Studen·
Book are i~lustrations of Bible verses, activities, and songs.
Featured m the Student Book are take-home ideas fo.
family activities that better acquaint girls and boys with
God's world.
"My Place in God's World," a program for Grades 1
and 2, also focuses on exploring God's world and being
responsible for it, but added in the idea of the interdependence of God's creatures and creations. The
"Introduction"
to the Leader's
Guide provides a
thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of Western
man's
misunderstanding
of God's
granting man
"dominion" over the earth, which many have taken to
mean that man can use the resources of the world solely
for his own purposes. Lessons in this program are Bible
study oriented; the Leader's Guide, however, provides a
special section in each session on "Bible Study for
Teachers," which is useful, and guidance on particular
verses to be used with the children. In addition, the Guide
presents detailed plans for from five to twelve sessions;
the five main focuses of these sessions are: "I Am
Special," "I Live on a Very Special Earth," "Life
Together,"
"I Am Responsible,"
and "Celebrate the
Earth." The Guide also contains stories, games, poems,
activities, and book and audio-visuals lists. Many of the
songs presented are Psalms set to music. Since many of
these same Psalms are used in Orthodox worship, the
teacher may choose to use traditional music rather than
that provided in the Guide. The Student Book uses a
fanciful idea - a visitor from another planet meets three
children and asks them to explain the Earth to th_em•.The
result is stories, games, poems, a play, songs, and htames.,.
The Grades 3-4 program, "Things Work Tog~ther,
also emphasizes not only the wonder of God's creation ~ut
the responsibility of people in caring for it. The five
focuses in the program are: "We Depend upon O~e
Another," "God's Creation is Dependable," "Our World d
Dependent upon our Care," "What Can We Do?,"~~
"Rejoice and Be Glad." Each focus presents Bibe
(Continued on page 25)
The Word
Dear Father George,
.
.
.
Enclosed you will fmd an article written by the
p ident of the Midwest Region of the AOCWNA. The
rembers of the Executive Committee of the National
~\rd decided at their las~ meetin~ that t~~~ wo~ld like to
feature the Midwest Reg10n and its a~t1v1ties smce they
have been very active and we thought 1t would be helpful
f r the other regions to see what their sisters in the other
regionare doing.
On behalf of the entire AOCWNA, the Executive
c mmittee of the National Board welcomes His Beatitude
MIDWEST
The present Midwest Regional Board began its year by
meeting about four weeks after the Cleveland Parish Life
Conference in June of 1976. We identified and established
our goals for the year. Our first goal was to improve
"ommunications between the local chapters and the
Midwest Regional and North American Boards. Our
econd goal was to provide spiritual enrichment and
mtellectual challenges for the women of the Midwest.
The first goal was accomplished by publishing a bimonthly newsletter, The Antiochian Orthodox Woman.
The newsletter is mailed to each local chapter president
(twenty to thirty copies depending on the size of the
: o1?en's organization) with a copy designated for the
pansh priest. Within its pages, it contains: a calendar of
events, n~ws from and to the local chapters, messages
from Reg1?nal an~ North American officers, and spiritual
messagesm. keepmg with the liturgical year. We would
vef'( much hke to see The Antiochian Orthodox Woman
~ailed_individually to each woman who is in good standingwi~hher ladies' group. We are in the process now of
~~queStlngmailing lists from each local chapter. The
w~~~n: to the newsletter ~as been highly gratifying. We
.
ghly recommend this form of communications as
a viablemeans f k
• •
.
.f . .
or eepmg m touch with grass roots and as
a,um yinginstrument in bringing the women of the Region
c oser together.
second goa 1• spmtua
• • 1 enrichment
•
ch Our
and intellectual
a11
enges to worn
•
reaso W
en, was arrived at for very specific
organ~!~t' e felt_ that women need to be a part of an
dtrectio l~ which would give them a purpose and
our wo:·
e want to help develop leadership qualities in
Ives and~n, so t~at th ey can become fulfilled in their own
to feel :~ serv1c~ to the Church. We do not want women
at their only contribution
to their ladies
June1977
Patriarch Elias IV to our country and our Archdiocese.
We are sure his visit will be an inspiration to us all and we
look forward to hearing his words and to breaking bread
with him, as one body, at the Archdiocese Convention in
Washington, D.C.
We are also happy to announce Mrs. Mabel Ellis of
Sioux City, Iowa as our Religious Director for the National
Board.
Sincerely yours,
Ruth Meena, Public Relations
AOCWNA
AOCWNA
organization is their cooking or manual labor, but they
need to develop mentally as well and contribute. In Luke
10:38-42, we read Jesus was paying a visit with Mary and
Martha. Martha was busy preparing food for their guests
while Mary sat at Jesus' feet to hear His Word. Martha
complained to Him, "Lord, don't you care that my sister
has left me alone to do all the work, bid her to help me."
And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha,
th?u ~rt careful and troubled about many things: But one
thmg 1s needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part
which shall not be taken away from her." We are no~
advocating that all women be only like Martha or that all
women be only like Mary. But rather a blending of the
two, to serve and be served, to give and also to receive to
use the gifts which God has endowed in each one or' us
wisely for the benefit of our Church, our families and
ourselves.
. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said, "Man does not
hv_e by bread alone." We all need to have our spirituality
remfo~ced and challenged, so that we can grow stronger in
our faith by experience. _One does not learn by sitting in a
v_a~~um, ~ut by becommg a participant in religious ac~1v1ties which su~ply us with much needed spiritual and
m~ellectual nou~shment.
One such activity offered to
M1~west women m 1976, was the Advent Lecture Series
entitled "For Women Only." The title was not chosen to
exclude men, a fe_w brave souls did attend, but it was
chosen _to emphasize topics which were about women.
The series wei:e held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on
four co~secuttve
Tuesdays, at St. George
Orthodox
Churc~ i_n Detr~it, Michigan. Coffee, pastries, and free
baby_ sitting services were offered as an extra added
ttractwn.
a
On November
16, Dr. Bronislaw
Bajon delivered
the
�first lecture on "The Contemporary Woman." Dr. Bajon
was educated in Poland and received his Ph.D. in Rome,
Italy. He is a professor in the Sociology Department at
Wayne State University in Detroit and his area of expertise is the family. He compared the American woman
to her European
counterpart.
The in-depth analysis
showed that women the world over face almost the same
common problems.
On November 23, His Grace Bishop Elia was our guest
lecturer. His topic was "Women and Religion." Sayidna
Elia emphasized the importance of women's role in the
history of the Church, from the beginning until today. He
gave a chronological and historical accounting of the
contributions and sacrifices women have given willingly,
because of their unceasing total convictions in their
loyalty to the Church, its principles and teachings. He
spoke of the Woman above all women, the Blessed
Theotokos, how we as women should use Her as our
model to emulate Her attributes, our icon.
On November 30, Reverend Father James Blomquist,
of the Albanian Orthodox jurisdiction, spoke on the
"Traditional Role of Women in Society." Fr. James, who
has a degree in sociology, traced the anthropological and
sociological development of women, from the hunting and
gathering stage until the present time. His academic
presentation stressed the fact that women were oppressed,
but that Christianity set them free. As Christians we are
taught, our Christian faith is based on love and equality.
On December 7, Mr. Bill Kardaras delivered the last
lecture of the series, "Woman of the F·uture." Mr. Kardaras is a Ph.D. applicant in sociology at Wayne State
University, and is an instructor in the department. He is a
fellow Orthodox
from the Greek Archdiocese.
Mr.
Kardaras began his lecture by indicating that there hadn't
been many studies done about the future of women, but
from the little data available, he felt that women do have a
future. He addressed himself to the women's movement,
its gains and losses. Women's roles are constantly
changing ·and according to Mr. Kardaras, they will change
even more significantly in the future.
This has been only a superficial description of what
really took place at the lectures. There were many interesting and thought provoking debates between the
lecturers and the women. It was most gratifying to us to
AOCWNA
witness this learning experience and t be a pan
The Midwest Region of the AOCW
p
Lenten Retreat for Adult on March 2 -27
Colombiere Retreat Center in Clark t n '
Retreatants from Detroit Toledo and a far a
Ohio worshipped together in a setting replet ..,.
1 th
manifestation of God's creation.
urrounded b r ll'
1
hills, tall majestic trees, and streams, it is a ttin
inspired solitude, meditation, and fellowship. h th
of the retreat was "Let Us Lift Up Our Heart " f u •
on individual and corporate prayer. Fr. athani l p p
Sharon, Pa., was the Retreat Master. The retreatant
moved by his humility, sincerity, and dedi ati n.
schedule
included
the Akathist,
morning pr \
Vespers, and the Divine Liturgy. Ample time wa gi\. ~
~~ditatio~, study, a~d c~nfession_. The ret_reatant r
t1c1pated m all the hturg1cal serVlces by singing in ..
choir, chanting or reading the appropriate prayers, h m
and scriptural passages. Each retreatant recei ed a p
upon their arrival. The packet included a
h du
morning prayers, the Lenten Prayer of St. Ephraim
Syria, and a booklet "Come Ye Apart - A Guid :
Orthodox Retreatants", prepared and published b •
Very Reverend John Badeen of St. George Orth d
Church of Detroit, Michigan, Spiritual Advisor to
North American Board. The booklet is an excellent gui
for retreatants and it will help to put them in the n
spirit for the retreat. The booklet is available to h
persons in the Archdiocese who are planning a ret ·.
They may be obtained by writing to V. Rev. John Bad·
St. George Orthodox Church, 2760 E. Grand Blvd.
Detroit, Michigan, 48211.
On Sunday morning after breakfast, the retreatan
were asked to fill out a questionnaire. The in tru n
asked for their opinions on all aspects of the retreat. Th
results of the questionnaire will help us to determine th
ways in which we can improve on our future retreats.
retreatants were then asked to take what they had learne
or experienced with them back into the world.
"The Lord has done great things for you Here
Go and do great things for him There."
"Come Ye Apart - A Guide for Orthodox Retreatan
Jean Sam, Pre ideot
AOCWNA - Midwest Regi
1
ANTIOCHIAN
ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCES
PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT
358 Mountain Road, Englewood, New Jersey 07631
--
jun 1977
INSTRUCTIONS
0 Trades or Discounts.
k all checks payable to this Archdiocese.
La onlv this form for your order by filling
By now all dues and Charity Project monies should have
been mailed to Mrs. Adele Abraham, our A.O.C.W.N.A.
Treasurer. If for some reason your womens' group has not
sent your project funds in as yet, please do so TODAY! A
complete Treasurer's report must be presented at the
Archdiocese meeting of A.O.C.W.N.A. We know you all
want to be a part of the anticipated successful drive. By
100 per cent participation, we will achieve our goal of
$25,000.
Your Officers of the North American Board invite you all
to break bread with and hear the inspirational words of
Bring your new, constructive ideas and suggestion for our
1977-1978 Charity Project with you so that aur ~~eu~
and the A.O.C.W.N.A. can continue to grow spmtua •
charitably and organizationally
throughout the Ar •
diocese. We pray that this Antiochian Holy Ye~r
0
ference in Washington, D.C. will be a source of JO
spiritual renewal for all of us.
your Sister in
Ruth .
Public Relations, A.O.C.
The
Page 22
in the last two
Prices are Nfl
columns.
Keep a copy
ot one ot thE·
1()1
t()rfll
, cord
.
L \ YS include your Zip Code for faster handling.
dd 7% to the total to cover postage and handling.
dd 50c for orders under $10.00.
o
---,---------:---:--:----:---:--------7----,=~-Tll
Df
Church School Curriculum
PR In
QL'
NURSERY
p 1
2
The Little Child in Church (teacher t parent)
Teaching Aid Packet No 2 (<;tudent)
Coming to Jesus-Student
take-home cdrrb
KINDERGARTEN
p
f5
Together With t.od (c;,tudent)
To~ethPr With God (teat hn -1- pc1re'lt l
Happy Tn~f'ther I tudf>rt)
Bir~h me Soyho1,d o+ JE'S'h f hri-,t f I u r
GRADE ONr
I i\ n ,
11 f
,
1, 1
I ~r 1p
1\
1 (}")
'f,)
I
f----
~--1
June Message
His Beatitude Patriarch Elias IV at our planned lunche
in Washington, D.C. as one large, loving unified bod •
can be an example of Womens' Christian Witne
Orthodoxy in America.
AND TERMS
flll RFMITTANCE with your order. NO C.O.D.s and NO BILLING.
( Rt\
June has arrived and we are now in the "home stretch" of
our Bal am and Seminary Drive!
June 1978
CATALOGUE
1 -; )
t
I \I
cc) •
(
-+--
)'
I
t
�----
CATALOGUE
CODE
North American
Church School Curriculum
PRICE
TOTAL
COST
QUAN.
Off1,_
l.Jse
MUSIC BOOKS (continued)
20
21
22
23
23A
The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,
Arranged by Father G. Abboud
Vespers, Arranged by Father G. Abboud
Holy Matrimony, Arranged by Father G. Abboud
Standard Divine Liturgy, by Father J. Meena
Sunday Matins, 8 tones, Byz. Melodies, B. Kazan
24
25
Orthodox Catechism
The Orthodox Christian Year
INSTRUCTION
CODE
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
$ 1.00
1.00
1.00
2.00
10.00
News and Views ...
.50
.50
Other Items
PRICE
Orthodox Church History
Twenty Parables
Beginner's Lesson Book
Primary Lesson Book
Junior Lesson Book
Intermediate Lesson Book
ABC Lesson Book (teachers)
ABC Coloring Book - Beginners (student)
ABC Coloring Book - Primary (student)
TOTAL
COST
QUAN.
--
)o\i of t'1e Soul MPt
Jr,drrt''\ ot ('reat l t
r
r '.:) r
h•r
1)t
, If
R.A
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,~
\II
0
Eastern
,.+'
IUl
Of Oil
1, ...
1.11
...,,.,
,
-
3.50
3.00
2.00
.25
.25
$2.00
.50
2.00
WHAT'SA FESTIVAL?
WHAT'SA C.E.O.Y .L.A. FESTIVAL?
ACRYAROYEOYAFR0C-
-GOYA
VESPERS
-SOYO
EIGHT CONVENTIONS
-SSF
ORTHODOX FELLOWSIDP
-UOL
FESTIVAL OF ORTHODOXY
1977
LaborDay Weekend - September 3, 1977
Civic Arena - Pittsburgh, PA
-+----
)1
[ )
I
)
PhilirJ
1t ,.,
• 1 t
'
I
I
p .. ll 11
\ ()()
I •( r r
,
>
As an expression of unity and strength amongst the
I
8 00
10.00
0
I -
--
Ir
,:_
t
r
~-
'
--+---
-
i -~
--
-
Eastern Orthodox faithful, a festival of Orthodoxy is
scheduled for Labor Day weekend, 1977. Pittsburgh, Pa.,
has been selected as the site for this historical gathering
because of the concentration
of Eastern Orthodox
Churches in the Greater Pittsburgh area, its central
geographical location, and the availability of facilities to
accommodate eight national conventions.
The C.E.O.Y.L.A. Festival is designed to bring
together members from the various Eastern Orthodox
C~urches. A schedule of religious and cultural activities
~U culminate with a church service celebrated by the
Hierarchs from each member organization. The Festival is
prog_rammed in conjunction with the National Conventions of the eight member
organizations
of
C.E.0.Y.L.A.
b The_First C.E.O.Y.L.A. Festival (1963) held in Pitts. urgh, m the planning stages for nearly ten years resulted
m ~4,000 faithful attending an awe inspirin~ church
ervi~e at the Civic Arena. The Festival ended with the
open~g of the dome ceiling and the singing of "God Bless
Amenca" b h
•
. and all in attendance.
Th
Y ~ e ~ombmed
chorrs
e 1977 Festival IS planned in a similar fashion.
T~
o19RTHODOX CHRISTIANS
77 FESTIVAL.
Council
of
Orthodox
Youth
of the Americas
C.E.O.Y.L.A.-
Festiva1 of Orthodoxy -
V
MISCELLANEOUS
)rl
II',
"Unity in Orthodoxy"
The Word (in US A. and Canadc1,
The Word (Abroad)
r tI
(>✓
Use
MAGAZINE
()C]',f'
•o
/4 ---r.-
Office
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
$
Studies in the Greek Church, 340 pages, cloth
The Papacy, A. F. Guettee, 380 pages, cloth
The Orthodox Companion, Father Abramstov
The Date of Easter, Father G. Abboud
Duties of Church Members
The Priest's Guide & Arch and Parish Constitutions
Altar Server's Guide
Metropolitan
Antony's Jubilee
(
SOYO
Digest
BOOKS
GENERAL BOOKS
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Council
ARE WELCOMED TO
Leaders
1977, Planning Committee
PROGRAM
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1977
8:00 P .M.
SOYO HAFLEE, HYATT HOUSE HOTEL,
CHATHAM CENTER
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1977
SOYORALLY AT
10:00A.M.-12:00NOON
HYATT HOUSE HOTEL
LUNCHEON (Hierarchs, CEOYLA
12:30-1:30
P.M.
0 ff ice rs , and National Presidents)
2:30P.M.
DOORS OPEN - CIVIC ARENA
3:00P.M.
CHOIR SELECTIONS
3:30P.M.
PROCESSIONAL (Hierarchs and Clergy)
4:00P.M.
VESPERS
5:30P.M.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
-Address by CEOYLA Chairman
-Introductions
-Presentation:
Award Citations
to past CEOYLA Chairmen
-Finale: "God Bless America"
RECESSIONAL (Hierarchs and Clergy)
6:00P.M.
PROGRAM ENDS
C.E.O. Y .L.A. MEMBER-ORGANIZATIONS:
AMERICAN
CARPATHO-RUSSIAN
YOUTH
(A.C.R.Y.)
AMERICAN ROMANIAN ORTHODOX
YOUTH
(A.R.O.Y.)
EASTERN ORTHODOX YOUTH ASSOCIATION
(E.O.Y.A.)
FEDERATED
RUSSIAN
ORTHODOX
CLUBS
(F.R.O.C.)
GREEK
ORTHODOX
YOUTH OF AMERICA
(G.O.Y.A.)
SOCIETY
OF
ORTHODOX
YOUTH
ORGANIZATIONS (S.O.Y.O.)
SERBIAN SINGING FEDERATION (S.S.F .)
UKRAINIAN
ORTHODOX
LEAGUE
OF THE
U.S.A. (U.O.L.)
lune 1977
Page 23
�THE SOUTHWEST
What is it that holds Orthodoxy together? Is it Our
Bishops, Priests, SOYO Presidents or is it something else?
Well the way the Southwest Region has stayed together is
truly through LOVE. As we come closer to the historical
event when His Beatitude ELIAS IV will bless our continent, we work and grow with LOVE. LOVE the most
magnifying thing in the world and the Orthodox people
have it.
As we all know by now the Patriarch will step foot on
the ground of North America and will bless us all. The
Southwest Region has been working very hard. Our two
Co-Chairmen
Benny Homsey and Ray Cohlmia are
spending every minute on the success to the betterment of
the Conference in June. When asked on the progress of
the Convention Co-Chairman Ray Cohlmia reported:
"The Southwest Region SOYO Parish Life Conference is going to be one of the most inspiring,
educational and privileged opportunities we've ever
experienced in the Orthodox Church. Oklahoma
City is looking forward to your visit so that together
we can have this fulfilling blessing where we'll all
pray and go forward together in Orthodox history."
Our Teen SOYO Regional President, Cyndi Day, has
had her hands full and has visited each Chapter. Austin
and El Paso have become active and have formed a Teen
SOYO. Beaumont, Tulsa our new Chapter, Oklahoma
City the host Parish, Vicksburg and Wichita. When I
asked her feelings on the Southwest Region Teens and the
coming Conference in June at Oklahoma City, she replied
very happily by saying:
"The Southwest Region has grown immensely in the
last five years and I feel we're building a great
pyramid that will always rise to reach a peak of Teen
SOYO. Everyone has been working extra hard for
the visit of His Beatitude and I feel these teens are
looking forward to this occasion with love in their
hearts and smiles to be extended to all. This year
we're adding four non-active Chapters and along
with the Holy Antiochian Year, I feel our teens will
REGION
GREEK ORTHODOX
be better Christians by their learning experienc
love they have established between each other.
could ask for no better group to work with."
As Bill Essey, our Youth Director, said in his ear]i
news letter, His Beatitude is the successor to Saints Pet r
and Paul and added a hymn from the feast of Saint Pet r
and Paul:
"With what hymns of praise shall we crown Peter
and Paul separated in the body but united in the
spirit, the one foremost among the proclaimers of
God, the other because he labored more than the
others? These two were crowned with the crowns of
incorruptible glory, as is truly meet, by Christ our
God who possesseth the Great Mercy."
I feel as though Metropolitan PHILIP describes it all
the best as he did in one of his earlier news articles to the
teens:
"This spiritual awakening, this real dedication to
God and His Church, in such a materialistic and
complicated society, is an indication of your attempts to climb the ladder of perfection and to reach
the possible level of sanctity. His Beatitude will see
in the life of our faithful the real reflection on the
holiness which he represents. He will see the
Orthodox Faith and Tradition of Antioch manifested
in you, and the Holy Year of his visitation will be a
great link in the chain of your Holy Orthodox Life."
With LOVE let us look forward to the coming
Conference
with His Beatitude ELIAS IV with the
Convention theme, "Blessed is he who comes in the Name
of the Lord," and he who comes in the Name of the Lord
truly has the LOVE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Respectfully submitted,
Harvey Homsey
Public Relations Chairman
Southwest Region Teen SOY0
Page 24
Shroud of Turin". The retreat was held at Holy Face
Monastery in Clifton, NJ. The retreat center ~as ~ituated
far enough from city life to offer space for meditat10n, ~ut
close enough to Saint George Church to allow us to dnve
there for Great Vespers at the end of the day.
. .
Being limited to one day, cost was kept to a mmimu_m.
Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning at our respective
parishes brought us to a second day giving the affect of a
full weekend. The retreat, held during the middle of Great
Lent gave us a chan·ce to recommit ourselves to the fa5l
and ' gave us added strength to continue. Wh en_ we
.
repeated the glorious cry of this Paschal season, "Christ 15
risen", some added joy this year was the result of the day
we spent together on retreat at Holy Face Monastery.
Diane Nahas
The Word
OF NEW ZEALAND
KOREAN ORTHODOX
424-1 Ahyun Dong Mapo Ku
C.P.O. Box 1473
Seoul, Korea
w from the Korean Orthodox Church
u know about the Korean Orthodox Church of St.
h la ?
.
·
s
The lamp of Christ in the Repubhc of Korea is t~e t.
. h las Korean Orthodox Church of Seoul, the capital of
1
rea. The Orthodox C~~ch c~me to Korea in 1896 with
h
arri al of Russian Miss1onanes and by 1905 there were
1
e hurches established, with the largest in Seoul, the
·tal of Korea. During the 12 years that followed, the
a~~ dox Church in Russia provided support for the
v rung church and translated_ t~e liturgy an~ sen:ices into
K rean and copies of the ongmal papers still exist. After
h Russian Revolution in 1917, this support stopped, but
:h churches were still able to survive despite the perutions of Korean Christians. After World War II the
.ivi ion of Korea placed the majority of the Orthodox in
orth Korea, and only the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
1 eoul was free to grow and develop. The Korean War
hich destroyed the country also decimated the Orthodox
Church, and those Orthodox who were still living were
reatly helped by the Orthodox Soldiers in the U .N.,
rmies of Greece and the American soldiers who have
een in Korea since the War's end.
With the reconstruction of the country after the war,
1
TEEN SOYO OF NEW JERSEY
The Teen SOYO groups of Saint George Church in
Little Falls, NJ, and Saint Anthony Church in Bergenfield,
NJ, held a very successful one day retreat during Great
Lent. The retreat was conducted by Economos Michael
Simon of Saint George, Archpriest Joseph Allen of Saint
Anthony, Bill Essey-Archdiocesan
Youth Director, and
Seminarians Nicholas Kobbs and John Abdalah of Saint
Vladimir's. Studying about Saint Mary of Egypt, we came
to better understand the nature of sin and the importance
of repentance.
The format was not straight lecture, but rather group
discussion. The schedule of lecture, discussion, Great
Vespers and Confession set a rhythm that reached its peak
at Divine Liturgy the next morning. The schedule was not
overbearing though, as it was laced with free time, lunch,
quiet time, and an audio-visual presentation on the "Holy
ST. NICHOLAS
i
ARCHDIOCESE
CHURCH
the Church also grew and now there were about 3,000
Orthodox in Korea, and about 500 in the city of Seoul. In
1967 a new Church Building was constructed and is highly
visible in the surrounding area.
In 1975 with the arrival of the Very Reverend
Archimandrite Sotirios Trambas from Greece, the Church
has been revitalized. A program of evangelism and growth
has begun, and in 1976 the Korean people have learned of
the existence of the Korean Orthodox Church in Seoul
and 57 people were baptized.
Today in our Church we have a Youth Group, a school
boys Group, a Sunday School, a Bible Church Study for all
after the Sunday liturgy and other charitable programs.
The church also has a nursery school which helps to
support the church, and its charitable work among the
poor, orphans and those with physical and mental handicaps.
The members of our youth group would like to hear
from other Orthodox Youth Groups who can tell us about
their church and its activities and want to correspond with
us.
May the Lord's love be ever near and may He grant
you special blessings throughout your life. Remember us
in your prayers and Church also.
Your Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Apostolos Jang for youth group of
St. Nicholas Korean Orthodox Church
Department of Christian Education
(Continued from page 20)
pass~ges essential to the focus (the Leader's Guide also
provides a "Bible Helps for Teacher" sections). The
Lea?er's G~ide has detailed plans for sessions (5 to 13
ess~ons- mcluding "A Program to Share with Parents")
tones, creative activities, games, and a bibliography. Th~
~udentB_ookhas pictures, stories, activities, songs, and
B1blestudies.
"Handle with Care," the Grades 5-6 program is easily
the most impressive
•
•
•
·
' to help
o f the senes.
Designed
tudents learn some ways of handling the earth with care
the Lead er •s G mde
• presents an absolutely mind-boggling '
array of ac t·ivities,
• • especially in the "Great Ideas for You
to Do"
•
.
h
_section. The five focuses of the program indicate
~ e maJor themes: "God, Creator and Sustainer" "Man
enant and Caretaker , " "Th e W e b o f L"f
Pe
i e, " "P'rop h ets, '
0
pble,
_and
Pollution,"
and
"Life
Is
Change
- Life Is
Ce1e rati " E h
Althou hon.
a~ focus is based on Bible verses.
he ~ th e session plans are not as detailed as those in
1
-re /~ ~es for earlier grades, sufficient material is
hi hne so that the teacher has an abundance from
c to choo
o
.
se. ne reservat10n that should be voiced
Oneerns th "P
e
rophets, People, and Pollution" section.
June1977
After focusing on Biblical prophets, the author moves to
"present day prophets" who warn against the effects of
pollution. Orthodox teachers using the program should
point out the difference in usage of the term in the second
instance. The Student Book also focuses on students'
discovering their Christian responsibility to care for and
be responsible for the world God created. The book
focuses heavily on Biblical passages and tries to relate
them to everyday life.
"Responsible before God," the Junior High program,
uses the same book for both leader and students, emphasizing the idea that both are learners and both should
be involved in planning the course of study. Also arranged
in the five-focus format, the focuses of the program are
"Being Responsible," "In the Beginning, God!," "What in
Creation Is Going On?," "To Style a Life," and "Our
World - and God's." The sessions suggested are quite
varied - from Bible study to exploration of one's own
community in terms of its pollution problems. It is,
however, the one program in the series I would not
reco?1mend. Although the intentions of the program are
admirable, I somehow doubt that teenagers will be as
enthusiastically interested in ecology as the author of the
manual seems to expect.
Page 25
�WHO ARE "THE OTHERS"?
~~-<:.\\.\.~U-\:HRIST
.,;
.~ .
0
26th Annual
..
... . . . ...
Eastern Region SOYO Parish Life Conference
~
Seven Springs Mountain
Champion,
Pennsylvania
A Study in Comparative Religion
Resort
by james kenna
15622
Conference Headquarters
Rev. Fr. George M. Corry Ch
601 Wirsing Ave.
' m
Greensburg,
Pa. 15601
Phone 412-837-5 l l 3
1977
ANTIOCHIAN
HOLY YEAR
Honoring
His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV
1977 EASTERN REGION PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE
SEVEN SPRINGS RESORT, CHAMPION,
PA.
JULY 6-10, 1977
CONFERENCESCHEDULE
Wednesday, July 6, 1977
Clergy Retreat
9:00a.m.
Golf Outing for Laymen
10:00 a.m.-Aftemoon
Clergy Luncheon
12:00 N-2:00 p.m.·
Conference Registration
7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Welcome Reception (Hafli)
8:00p.m.-1:00 a.m.
Thursday, July 7, 1977
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
10:.15 a.m.
11 :00 a.m.-1 :00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
9:00p.m.-1:00 a.m.
Friday, July 8, 1977
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
10:15 a.m.
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
8:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
9:30p.m.-1:00 a.m.
Page 26
Divine Liturgy
Conference Registration
Clergy Coffee Hour
Senior SOYO General Assembly
Teen SOYO General Assembly
AOCWNA Assembly
Senior SOYO General Assembly
Teen SOYO General Assenbly
AOCWNA Assembly
Vespers
Foundation Reception
Foundation Banquet
Hafli
Divine Liturgy
Conference Registration
Clergy Coffee Hour
Oratorical Contest
Catechism Bowl
Preschool Workshop
Combined Choir Rehearsal
Vespers
Choir Festival
Hafli
Saturday, July 9, 1977
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
10:30 a.m.-12:00 Noon
12:00 Noon-2:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
5:00
7:00
7:30
9:30
p.m.-6:00
p.m.-7:30
p.m.-9:30
p.m.-1:00
p.m.
p.m.
p.m.
a.m.
Sunday, July 10, 1977
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
10:00a.m.
Divine Liturgy
Registration
Awards Brunch
Family Enlivening Session
Preschool Workshop
Sacred Music Workshop
Church School Workshop
Ladies' Society Workshop
Parish Council Workshop
Vespers
Head Table Reception
Grand Banquet
GrandHafli
Matins
Hierarchical
Divine Liturgy
Adult and Teen Discount Books will be sold and will
include:
.
1. Welcome Reception & Hafli Wednesday evening
2. Haflet on Thursday & Friday nights
3. Awards Brunch
4. Grand Banquet
5. GrandHafli
Adult Discount Book $37 .00 - Regular price 45.00
Teen Discount Book $27 .00 - Regular price 36.00
Plus $3.00 Registration fee for all who attend.
TheWord
THE LUTHERANS
The Lutheran world federation is the result of the
a tual separation from Roman Catholicism of Dr. Martin
Luther, a German Papal Catholic monk; and, the subequent development of his teachings by his disciples and
their students. Luther began his rebellion when he was a
professor at the univ~~sity in _Witte~berg. !fe o_ffered to
debate church authont1es on mnety-f1ve topics with which
he had taken objection. These 95 theses he nailed to the
hurch door in Wittenberg. Like the American revolution
in Concord, New Hampshire - this shot was heard around
the world. This moment, in 1517 A.D., marks the actual
beginning of the Protestant separation from Western
Catholicism, popularly called the Reformation. (Note:
This religious phenomenon was confined to the Wes tern
Christian Church in its development and the subsequent
religious upheaval it caused. The Orthodox East was not
ever involved organically in this. In later centuries, there
were contacts between Orthodox Churches and even
ome infiltration of Protestant thought into Orthodox
Catholicism which was fostered by individual Orthodox
theologians who had studied at Western universities.
Protestantism per se has never found a fertile seed bed
within Orthodoxy nor Orthopraxy.)
Luther's teachings stressed assurance of Salvation and
Election by the Holy Scriptures (Sola Scriptura). He
propounded the teaching that we are saved by faith alone,
good works notwithstanding. Luther went further and
c?ticized the sale of indulgences, which were blessings
dispensed for spiritual exercises performed, and the
Catholic Church's teaching about good works, the
Sacraments and that the Papacy operated contrary to the
Gospel. Creedal statements and all other formulas were
subordinated. Luther taught that Faith alone reverses the
los~ of original righteousness by Man's Fall from Grace
whichwas restored by Christ's Redemption.
. The movement prospered in Germany as the barons
eized upon the religious cause to break the power of the
Ro_m_an
Catholic Church there. A system evolved, where
religious questions were settled by secular legislation or
government consortiums. The clergy were consolidated in
one order and "bishops" being relegated to duties of
general superintendents (the American Lutheran Synods
have not perpetuated the term "bishop" at all). There
~rose synod~ of clergy and laity. Their teachings placed
Leavy emphasis on education. This has persisted and
u\heran bodies are noted for their parochial schools and
~o1eges. Most German universities today have both a
oman Catholic and Lutheran faculty for Theology.
Luther himself was finally excommunicated
from
Roman Cath o1·1c1sm
• at the Synod at Worms in 1521 when
he refused t
•
o recant. Spreadmg
from Saxony' the
m0 ement
•
'
gamed strongholds in the rest of Germany,
June1977
Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and
Iceland; and, in the 19th Century, to North America. The
several Lutheran Synods and federations of them number
some 6 million in the U.S.A. - making them one of the
largest Protestant denominations here. They are aligned
principally into two groups: the National Lutheran
Council and the Lutheran Synodical Conference. Most
feel that unity in worship is unessential. They use mostly
traditional liturgical forms and church decor. The great
legacy of Luther was his translation of the Scripture into
German and the development of the chorale - a stirring
musical form.
The HOL V CROSS SOCIETY
A complete adult Christian education program for
Or_tho_dox parishes. To help to fill the almost complete
vmd m Orthodox educational materials for the adult
members of the parish, the Department of Christian
Education is making available a study workbook which is
the basis of the Holy Cross Society program. The workbook was compiled by Father George Corey of Pittsburgh.
. The_ Holy ~ros~ ~ociety is more than a simple
d1scuss10n o_utlme, 1t 1s a program designed to bring
Orthodo_x faithful together on a regular basis of study,
fel!owsh1p, and prayer. It is the goal of the program to
heighten our consciousness as Christians in today's world
and encourage a maximum involvement in the Life of the
Church.
The organization of the Society is based on the study
of several different areas of Orthodox life - Tradition
Scripture, and Service - all of which are integrated into~
series of study outlines. The key to the program is the
suggested readings, which accompany each study outline
and J?rovide the basis for open discussion of the study
questions.
Every member of the Society should purchase or be
provided with a copy of the Workbook, which is available
for $2.00 from the Department of Christian Education 358
Mountain Rd., Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
'
Features
1. Details for the organization of the local parish study
group
2. Outline for monthly meetings
3. Suggested worship program
4. Twenty study units for a s_uggested two-year period
5. A bibliography of Orthodox literature in English
6. Recommended readings for each unit
Page 27
�re
view
Visiliki Eckley, Eastern Orthodox Manual of Methods for
New Church School Teachers. Brookline, Massachusetts:
Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese
of North and South
America. Department of Religious Education, 1976. Pp.
78. Paper. $3.50.
Mary Pantas, Audio-Visual Aids Eastern Orthodox
Manual. Illustrations
by Alice LaGrou. Brookline,
Massachusetts:
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North
and South America. Department of Religious Education,
1976. Pp. 100. Paper. $3.95.
The publication of two manuals directed at Orthodox
Church School teachers within one year is indeed a happy
sign that at long last the unselfish services of those
teachers have been recognized and that these two aids will
serve to help those dedicated teachers carry out their
duties with greater expertise and a more knowledgeable
methodology.
Vasiliki Eckley, a 1976 graduate of Holy Cross School
of Theology in Brookline and an experienced teacher with
special preparation
for teaching Human Development
through junior college level in the State of California, has
put together this compact manual to introduce new
church school teachers to the problems and situations that
will confront them in the actual teaching situation and to
reinforce and support the experienced Orthodox Church
school teacher.
The eleven clearly and straightforwardly
presented
chapters dealing with the role of the teacher in the parish;
the challenge of the teaching role in today's church
school; developing a personal identity as a church school
teacher; being the teacher of the three to five year old;
teaching children in primary grades; teaching in the intermediate grade; teaching seventh, eighth, and ninth
graders; teaching people in the late teen years; the
educational responsibility of the Church for young adults;
organizing and working with adult groups; and planning
for excellent teaching in the Orthodox church school.
Each chapter suggests how to deal with students as
developing human beings within the context of their
particular stage of physical and spiritual growth and in
relation to their religious awareness and the Orthodox
tradition.
Because Presvytera Eckley rightly recognizes that
teaching in the Church is an ancient, honorable, and
charismatic kind of work, she also e~phasizes that such
teaching is shaped by its purpose, which is the Christian
understanding of the perfectibility of humankind and, for
Orthodox teachers, a sensitivity and commitment to the
Orthodox Christian tradition.
Mary Pantas's audio-visual manual is an excellent.
supplement to Vasiliki Eckley's handbook and constitutes
Page 28
THEPEOPLESPEAK •
the first professionally prepared manual on audio-visual
aids by an Orthodox Christian teacher for Orthodo
Christian church schools in America.
x
Mary Pantas is a professional educator from the
Webster (New York) School District who has taught
supervised, coordinated curricular programs, and lectured
extensively during the past two decades on audio-visual
aids. !n her manual she ~ri~gs to bear her wide teaching
expenence and her specialized knowledge. She includes
ample illustrations - both visual and verbal - to help the
neophyte as well as the hesitant but experienced teacher.
The use of the Bible, blackboard, bulletin boards and
posters, charts and diagrams, dioramas, films and film
strips, flannelgraphs or feltboards, the lecture, object
lessons, maps, models, the overhead projector and trans
parencies, pictures, drymounting, puppets, the sand table,
storytelling, slides and tape recordings are precisely and
concisely illustrated in terms of Orthodox church instruction. A bibliography and a list of audio-visual
available from the Department of Religious Education o
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese complete the volume
and make possible the putting into practice of what has
been learned about the use of audio-visual materials.
Both Vasiliki Eckley and Mary Pantas have made
significant contributions to Orthodox Church educational
materials - each in her own way - and have shown
persuasively that contemporary materials can be used
effectively to produce a methodologically
productive
approach to teaching in Orthodox Church schools.
John E. Rexine
Colgate Universit}
Availablefrom YourArchdiocese
Backand AdditionalCopiesof
THEWOBD
$1.00 Each- IncludeRemittance
Order from
Antiochian
Archdiocese
358 MountainRoad
Englewood,
New Jersey0763
De r \r~e Orthodox Chaplain in Korea, I find myself in
d f Orthodox publications
to send to over 40
11 eh dox personnel in this country. I would like to have
O O
rt
•
dm
• "The W or d" an d wou Id l"k
losed letter prmte
i e
he
enc
• o f "The
. b ble to receive some comp 1·imentary copies
ea
.
y ou may sen d t h e copies
•
\ ord"to send to our soldiers.
Chaplain (CPT) NICHOLAS A. CZARUK
HSB, 3rd Battalion 81st Field Artillery
APO SF 96301
•
Send this information to: Chaplain (CPT) Nicholas A.
Czaruk, HSB, 3rd Battalion 81st Field Artillery, APO SF
96301.
With your help, the Orthodox Chaplain can provide an
enlarging ministry to the Orthodox Personnel in Korea.
Yours in Christ,
NICHOLAS A. CZARUK
Chaplain (CPT), USA
ORTHODOX CHAPLAIN
r am also enclosing a letter from the Youth Group of
the Orthodox Church in Seoul that I hope you can publish
in TheWord.
Yours in Christ,
NICHOLAS A. CZARUK
Chaplain (CPT), USA
ORTHODOX CHAPLAIN
Dear Friends,
Has your Religious body on a national, state, or local
level, done any research on, made any effort to inform, or
tried to help reduce or to prevent the Battering of Wives,
Abuse of Children, and Violence in the Home?
ditor'sNote:
Copiesof The Word have been sent to Father Nicholas
for distributionto Orthodox personnel in Korea.
This situation has been hushed, ignored, and swept
under the rug by society for far too long. The time has
come for all humanitarian groups to come to grips with
this great social evil. It is wide spread and occurs in all
areas of America and in all levels of society, and is
frightening.
I'm enclosing a stamped-self-addressed
envelope.
Please write and let me know if your group has been in volved in any way in this matter. Would your group be
willing to help?
DearEditor:
For the past 25 years that the American Armed Forces
have been in Korea, there have been Orthodox Chaplains
or only a period of 6 to 7 years and there has been little
continuity established because of a lack of Orthodox
Chaplains and misunderstood needs of Orthodox servicemen.Now however I wish to change that policy and to
et up programs for Orthodox throughout Korea, that can
be carried on by Chaplains who will be continually
a igned in the future. Because of the 12 month tour in
Korea, the difficulty in getting personnel rosters of the
namesof Orthodox servicemen, lack of travel funds, and a
~a~kof the continuous presence of an Orthodox Chaplain
1l 1svery difficult to get names of Orthodox in Korea. If
the Orthodox serviceman would ask for help in finding an
Orthodox Service or Chaplain, the average person in
Kon~a, would not know what he was talking about, includmgsome Chaplains. The answer he would get is "We
don't have any Orthodox Chaplain or service in this
Country"or 6-Venthe Army.
0 I need the help of you the reader. Please send me
information, names and addresses of American Orthodox
rvicemen and American civilians working for the
go .~rnment in Korea. This will help me to create a
maili_ng
list, and get in touch with the Orthodox soldier to
proVIdeservices which he can understand and participate
Ul.
Toe Wor
•
June 1977
Suggested Ways:
Educating member churches
Counseling the families
Public speak-outs
Work Shops or seminars
Crisis hot lines
Women I Children's Shelters
Set up task forces to enlist
the cooperation of law enforcement,
medical, social services, the Media,
religious groups, and the
concerned citizens
Because I have a strong personal interest I'm giving of
my time, talent, and (limited) treasure to work for this
cause.
Suggested Reading, study, and resource material:
Battered Wives by Del Martin
Violence in the Family, edited by S. Steinmetz & M.
Straus
The Violent Home by Richard Gelles
Scream Quietly or the Neighbors will Hear, by Erin
Pizzey
Children subjected to violence
become violent adults.
Thank you for your time.
in the home
often
Dorothy Harvey
Page 29
�Communities
St. Anthony-Bergenfield,
N .J.
Francis De Bellis & Sandra Eliopoulos
Start out with the construction and completion of a
new Fellowship Center on the projected target date.
Add the joy of witnessing the elevation of a dedicated,
beloved parish priest to the rank of Archpriest, in his 10th
year as a priest.
Mix in the pride of knowing that one of your fell ow
parishioners has been chosen to be awarded the Antonian
Gold Medal of Merit.
Picture all of this happening on your Patron Saint's
Day, when His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip, was there
to dedicate the new facility, to do the conferring and the
sharing in celebration.
Imagine a whole parish joining forces to commemorate 20 years of existence as a parish, through
memorabilia
displays,
variety shows and a First
Dedication Dance in the new Fellowship Center.
Punctuate all of this with the presence of esteemed
fellow clergy, members of the Archdiocese Board of
Trustees, NAC officers and delegates, friends and relatives
from far and near, all ready to share in a joyous time in the
life of your parish, and you have THE MAKINGS OF A
DEDICATION WEEKEND!
We are still riding high on a cloud at St. Anthony's of
Bergenfield, New Jersey, from our "Dedication Weekend"
- January 21, 22, 23, which reached its culminating point
on St.Anthony's
Day at the Testimonial
Banquet
Cathedral of St. GeorgeToledo, Ohio
The Orthodox community of Toledo, which
comprises
two parishes that are St. George
Cathedral and St. Elias Church, is making elaborate
plans for the Patriarchal visit on the Feast of Sts.
Peter and Paul, the annual Feast of the Antiochian
Patriarchate, which falls on June 29, 1977.
His Beatitude Elias IV, Patriarch of Antioch and
All the East, will come here from Detroit, where the
SOYO Parish Life Conference will be held on June
23-26. Parishioners will receive the visiting dignitary
at the State-border and escort the Patriarch to St.
George Cathedral for Patriarchal Vespers on June
28. Following the worship service a grand banquet
will be held for His Beatitude, the Metropolitans and
Archbishops
accompanying
the Prince of the
Church of Antioch.
Toledo is the current Seat of the Auxiliary of the
Archdiocese,
His Eminence, Archbishop Michael
Shaheen. History will mention Toledo as the first
site of an archdiocese meeting dating back to 1924,
when the late Archbishop Victor presided and the
late Archbishops Antony Bashir and Samuel David
attended as priests.
In Action
Celebration in honor of the newly elevated Very Rev
erend
Father Joseph J. Allen, and Mr. Theodore R. Ma k
recent recipient of the Antonian Gold Medal of MeJt. out
Our prayers were answered; our hopes were realize
our efforts were rewarded!
d.
The Dedication Weekend was launched on Frida .
January 21, 1977 when St. Anthony's "Family" as well y
fri~nds were able to r~vie;;7 the 20 y~~rs of the church~
existence by an extensive Memorabiha Display". Und
the capable direction of Mrs. Stella Vagias and her
committee, slides, films, tapes, models, pictures, paste er
exhibits, murals, puppets, etc ... , highlighted our par~h
life during that time.
The second half of the evening was a variety sho\\
entitle? "Memories With Love." Under the co-direction of
Khouna Joan Allen, well known for her expertise in thi
area (among many) and Mrs. Susan Delaportas, an old
hand at play production, our show featured songs, dances
live music, provided by some of our musically talented
parishioners, and fun and frolic - all centered around ou
20 years of memories with love at St. Anthony's. This
musical variety was a project of participation and per•
formance for all parts of our parish - the Church School
Ladies' Guild, Youth Group, "College Kids", Choir'
Fellowship and St. Anthony's Players, so that ou·
"Memories" included the past, present and the future S1
Anthony's.
The past presidents of the Church Council and of the
Ladies' Guild were the honored guests of the evening
Among those present were Ed Deeb, George Hatab
George Shamyer, Ted Maloof, Spiro Black of the Church
Council and Nellie Mackoul, Alice Zawie, Pauline
Maloof, Virginia Ziffer, Carrie Demas, Kay Giordano,
Thekla Litsios and Lilly Shipp of the Ladies' Guild.
As a culminating event to the evening the Ladies
Guild presented Father Joseph with a beautiful set of ne
vestments and altar cloths in honor of his forthcominl '
elevation. To Khouria Joan Allen, in appreciation of the
gift she gives us so graciously - the sharing of her
husband with our Church Community - our gift couldbe
only a token of that appreciation.
Emotion and tears of joy and love flowed freely. It was
a most enjoyable evening filled with fond memories of
people who have loved St. Anthony's, who have wor~ed
toward creating an atmosphere of love and cooperat10n
among peoples of all nationalities - a "Family" night that
surpassed everyone's expectations!
.
.
Saturday evening, January 22, marked the first publ!c
event in our new Fellowship Center. Under the leadership
of Mrs. Thekla Litsios, our "Dedication Dance" was we~
attended and very successful. A "giving-over-of-the-keys
ceremony turned out to be a comical event at tbe
microphone with the builder and the architect of our ne~
center present to join in the fun. Allison Deeb ~ave Hts
Eminence her traditional box of homebaked cookies.
On Sunday, January
23, 1977, His Eminen~e,
Metropolitan
Philip, dedicated
our new Fell?ws_~
Center. During the hi_erarchical Divine_Liturgy Sem~:~:r
David Atty was ordamed to the Sub-diaconate and
The Word
Page 32
Axlos!"Very Rev. Joseph J. Allen.
Jo eph Allen was elevated to the Archpriesthood. It was a
beautiful, joyous occasion for all those present. "Axios!"
rangthroughout our Church.
And a well-deserved "Axios!" it is! In his 10th year as a
priest, with a Masters in Sacred Theology (STM) on the
, •rge of a PhD in Pastoral Theology, Very Reverend
JI eph J. Allen has contributed much to his parish and to
the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese.
Through his writings for magazines of all sorts; his
service as editor of Upbeat and presently as co-editor of
The Wordwith Very Reverend George Corey; through his
organizingand running of retreats for youth and adults of
manyparishes in the Antiochian Archdiocese; through his
organizing and chairmanship
of adult study groups;
throughhis writing and production of audio-visual aids for
u e by Orthodox Church Schools and adult groups;
'hrough his membership and leadership in the Orthodox
ClergyAssociation in Bergen County, N.J. (of which he is
presently the secretary); through his work with fellow
clergy, organizing pastoral workshops, as Director of the
Commission for Continuing Pastoral Education; through
lus concept of family involvement in our Conferences;
through the youth group mission Liturgies, teaching
rmons, family enlivening sessions, innovative ideas and
practices of all types, he manages to succeed in reaching
many Orthodox Christians across the country to spread
the Gospel. He doesn't hide his light under a bushel, but
rather, lets it so shine that all those who see it are warmed
byit, enlightened by it and inspired to do the same.
W~• as _hisparishioners, have a weekly opportunity to
har~ m this light, as he guides us through the Liturgy servmgGod, serving us and himself - in a total way. We
were grateful and proud to witness and share in his
~le~ati~,n t~ the Archpriesthood,
and to voice the
~xios. which we all feel is an expression of "tribute
Wlt~out end" to a gifted parish priest who chose to
dedicate h"is life to servmg
•
.
God, and all mankmd,
as a
result• ff_18 Jo
• b is
• further enhanced by the support of his
1
ovely wife, Joan, and their two sons Phillip and Joey a
er d't1
.
,
,
e and mspiration to us all.
B At the ensuing Testimonial Banquet at the Tammy
T~oo~ Country Club in Cresskill, New Jersey, Mr.
B eodore R. Mackoul, Tr~asurer of the Archdiocese
a~ard of Trustees, and parishioner of St. Anthony's, was
ed the Antonian Gold Medal by His Eminence
1e~rropolitan
Philip.
'
June 1977
Being the highest award that a layman can receive
from the Antiochian Archdiocese in North America, Ted
Mackoul was a likely candidate. Mr. Monsour Laham was
the first Orthodox layman to receive this award in 1969
when it was initiated by His Eminence, Metropolitan
Philip, named in honor of the late Metropolitan Antony
Bashir, and bestowed
upon those persons
whose
dedication, energy, leadership and love have led the
Antiochian Archdiocese to its distinguished and secure
position today.
Mr. Monsour Laham spoke in behalf of Ted Mackoul
at the banquet and attested to the fact that Ted has served
on the Archdiocese Board of Trustees for the past 17 years
as financial advisor. He has been the Comptroller of the
Archdiocese since 1966, and Treasurer for the past four
years. In all this time, his expertise as financial advisor has
been invaluable - his efforts tireless.
Being Vice-President of an investment banking firm
and having been in private practice for sixteen years as a
financial consultant and advisor to corporate enterprises,
it is small wonder that the Archdiocese and St. Anthony's
Church as well have benefited so markedly by his
guidance and knowledge.
Fellowship has always been a strong interest of Ted's.
He organized and was the first president of Tau Phi
Fraternity at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, New
York, when he and Nellie were members of St. Nicholas'.
This Fraternity was the precedent to SOYO, in the
Brooklyn Cathedral.
Fortune smiled upon St. Anthony's when Ted, Nellie
and family became members in 1958. Serving on St.
Anthony's Parish Council as financial advisor since 1959,
His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip awarding Theodore R.
Mackoul the Antonlan Gold Medal. "Axlos!"
�Ted was Chairman of the Council in 1961. He proceeded
to organize a St. Anthony's Fellowship Group of which he
was one of the first presidents. We are still going strong
today, and Ted and Nellie are still vital members.
It was especially striking during our Dedication
Weekend that St. Anthony's Church and the Antiochian
Archdiocese are indebted to Ted for the gift he has given
so willingly, sincerely and with love. Nellie is right there
beside him also giving her gift to her Church in all of the
many ways that she does.
We, at St. Anthony's, were honored to add our voices
to the "AXIOS" again, in tribute to Theodore Mackoul as
we witnessed the bestowing of the Antonian Gold Medal
by His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip.
Present at the witnessing as well, and adding the aura
of a mini-convention to our Dedication Weekend, were
His Grace, Bishop Elia, Right Reverend Archimandrite
Antoun Khouri, Very Reverend and Mrs. John Chromiak,
Right Reverend John Namie, Very Reverend George
Corey, Reverend Father George Corry, Very Reverend
and Mrs. Paul Schneirla, Very Reverend Basil Kalekas,
Very Reverend and Mrs. John Nehrebecki, Reverend
Father and Mrs. Socrates Tsamutalis, Reverend Dr. John
Johnson and Seminarian Nicholas Kobbs, among the
clergy. Conspicuous because of their absence, due to
illness, were Very Reverend Economos and Mrs. Michael
Simon.
Among the Archdiocese Board of Trustees members
present were: Mr. Monsour Laham, Mr. and Mr A
Abraham and family, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dowd
Joseph, Dr. Anthony Bashir, Mr. and Mrs 'c r. Al
• eorg
Koury, Dr. and Mrs. John Dalack and family
Edward Kassab, Mr. George Karram, Mr. and'
Robert Laham.
I\
We were also pleased to have NAC officer
nd
delegates present, amongst which were NAC Presid a
Mr. Gary Younes and Eastern Region SOYO Presid::~
Dr. Alan Matook.
A host of family and friends joined us so that we wer
over 400 strong at the banquet. Mr. Joseph Baldow k
1
Chairman of the Dedication Weekend, was our abl
master of ceremonies, and entertainment was provided b
St. Anthony's Choir under the directorship of Mrs. Luc 1}
Paspalas, do!,ng a medl~y ?,f Father Alle~'s fa_voritepop
tunes. The College Kids, under the direction of r
Vagias and Leila Paspalas, did a concluding numt
entitled, "Father, Hear Thy Children's Call."
er
In tribute to Ted Mackoul, Didi Vagias sang, "Teddv
My Love," a parody about Ted to the tune of "Freddy, Mv
Love," from the Broadway show "Grease," and was a~companied by Khouria Joan Allen, Stella Vagias and Fran
De Bellis as backup voices.
As Father Joe put it so well, " ... this Dedicatioi
Weekend is not an ending, but a new beginning for
us ... " It was a weekend we shall never forget as a parish.
Truly," ... our cup runneth over ... "
M
oedi ation Banquet held at the Ramada Inn late that
fcern°00 •
The same weekend'. our local chapter of the Canadianerican SOYO Region hosted the Fall meeting. The
; 0 delegates were welcomed by Metropolitan Philip
Friday night at the Ramada Inn. On Saturday, a lun0
n with the Metropolitan for all the children was held;
he~uncheon was sponsored by the Ladies' Society.
11
aturday evening, there was a reception in the Church
Hall for Metropolitai:i Philip honoring ~im on his Tenth
i ersary as the Primate of our Archdiocese, and on his
n:;e day, St. Philip's Day which is ~elebrated November
-t in the Orthodox Calen~ar. This. followed a dinner
hich was held for the Pansh Council members, visiting
pie ts and guests at John's Motor Inn.
r The overall achievements in the parish could not have
been accomplished had i_tnot been for the enthusiastic,
on cientious, and effective support of the parishioners.
The Parish Council members
are George Shahin,
Chairman; Daniel W. Bishara, Vice Chairman; Habeb
Kinan, Treasurer;
William Sargent, Corresponding
ecretary; Miss Clara R. Bishara, Recording Secretary;
Thomas Slaiman, Financial Secretary; Mrs. Norman D.
hara, Douglas Fadel, Robert Fadel, Joseph George, Sr.,
MitchellMokhiber, George Poulos and Amel Slaiman.
The parishioners of St. George face the future with
unswervingresolution and pray to the Almighty for His
ontinuedBlessings.
St. George-Canton,
St. George Church 1926-1976 Fifty Years! Such beautiful
and
productive years for the first St. George Church in
Niagara Falls, New York.
Almost to the day, on November 14, 1976, fifty years
later, the new St. George Church on Saunders Settlement
Road was dedicated by His Eminence, Metropolitan
Philip. The presence of His Eminence for the ceremony
was such a wonderful and glorious way to climax one era
and start the parishioners of St. George on the next fifty
years.
The leaving of the old St. George Church was indeed
an emotional day for all, as there are so many memories,
sad and happy, connected with the church.
With His Eminence is the Bulld.ing Committee - from left
to right are George Shahin, Rev. Fr. George Aswad,
Robert Fadel and Daniel W. Bishara.
Page 34
Niagara Falls, New York
On October 31, Divine Liturgy was sung for the last
time in the old church. On Saturday, November 6 :\
Vesper Service was sung at 7:00 p.m. - this was the las
service in the Orthodox tradition at the old church and
confessions were given immediately after the Vesper
Service. The next day, the Orthros Service was sung and at
10:30 a.m., there was a procession led by the priest, Re,
Fr. George Aswad, and the Altar boys carrying th
Gospel, Antimins, Crosses, Lanterns, Fans and Icon of St.
George to our new site. An automobile procession of the
parishioners followed the priest and the Altar boys.
The arrival at the new church was a beautiful sightto
behold! The first Divine Liturgy in the new church wa
sung, and this was followed by a community breakfast in
the new, spacious Hall.
The following Sunday will always be dear and
memorable to the Niagara Falls parishioners. The Matin
Service started at 10:00 a.m. and the Hierarchical Divine
Liturgy followed immediately at 10:30 a.m. with Hi
Eminence, Metropolitan
Philip as celebrant. Rt. Rev.
Archimandrite
Antoun Khouri, our Rev. Fr. George
Aswad, V. Rev. Stephen Upson from Batavia, V. Rev.
Michael Shahin from Syracuse, Rev. Fr. Daniel Griffith
from Albany, and Fr. Theodore Wasiluk from the Ho!
Trinity Russian Orthodox Church assisted Metropolitan
Philip.
A moving Blessing of the Church was witnessed by the
congregation and visitors on the great day. The presence
of His Eminence marked the beginning of an excellent
start. Immediately after, a Coffee Hour was served in lh:e
Church Hall to enable everyone to meet with ~
Eminence.
The full program was climaxed by I e
The Word
Ohio
For the annual feast day of its Patron Saint, The St.
George Church of Canton held a two-day celebration,
April23-24,sponsored by the Ladies of St. George.
It began with Vesper Services and social hour on
aturday evening, and continued with Hierarchical Divine
Liturgyon Sunday, at which the honored guest was the
vfost Reverend Archbishop
Michael Shaheen. His
Eminence presided at both services and was assisted by
Rev. Nicodeme Joseph of the Holy Cross Orthodox
Church, and our parish priest, Rev. Theodore E. Ziton.
The choir chanted the complete services in Arabic,
. rected by Dr. Loyd Shaheen, and with Mrs. Nicholas B.
haheen at the organ. Deeb Turk and Labib El Bardawil
served as the Arabic chanters. The Ladies "pinned" the
congregationwith roses.
_OnSunday evening, a Grand Banquet was held in the
ocial ha~l, with prime rib prepared by Bruce Esber and
crew. N~cholas H. Shaheen,
Jr., witty Master of
Ceremomes was introduced by the General Chairman
\1 F
,
rs. aye Shaheen, who also recognized all members of
her capable committees. The speakers for their various
~I~~ affiliations were: Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. Shaheen,
airman of the Parish Council and the Ladies Club
rehspectively;Dr. Loyd Shaheen for the Choir- Cathy'
~
h
,
OYgn, t e President o_f Canton OYA Chapter of
th
F th ' e Khoureya RaheJe Shaheen of Arne, Syria, and
a e~sJoseph and Ziton.
the evenmg
• ' s activities
...
recClunaxing
..
was the annual
bei~gnto? of His ~minence's birthday, the actual date
a g h pril 27. A birthday cake with the "crown" decor
.
. ovation
.
allsthw eeled out , an d h e was given
a standmg
as
He e guests sang for him the traditional birthday song.
was presented with many gifts, one of which was a
Fr. Ziton, Archbishop Michael, Fr. Joseph
check for $4000.00 for the Patriarchal Fund from the St.
George Church of Canton.
A hafli with Arabic music and dancing, featuring the
pop_ular Emil Kassis and Paul Salem, completed the
festive weekend.
Helen Shaheen
New Jersey Orthodox
Institute
What does it take to attract over two hundred adults to
a weekly Church study group? Ingenuity on the part of the
planners and a sincere interest and commitment on the
part of the participants is apparently the key! This important blend was successfully achieved by the New Jersey
Orthodox Clergy Association when it sponsored its third
"Orthodox Institute". The Institute is an adult Christian
education program for clergy and laity throughout northern New Jersey.
B?ldly abando~ng the successful format employed for
the first two Institutes (a single clergyman delivering a
lecture to the group), the steering committee, which is
composed of both clergy and laity, set up an innovative
program whereby eight separate courses would be offe_red. These classes, which would meet simultaneously
with each other, would meet for two hours on five consec~ti:e Monday evenings. It was thought that with the
participants free to choose a topic of particular interest to
t~em, ~here would be more opportunity for meaningful
discuss10~s. The new foi:mat would also allow for in-depth
presentat10ns of the particular subjects.
On the first evening of classes, the educational center
at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Little
Falls, NJ, the site of the Institutes, resembled registration
day at a university . . . signs on the various classrooms
listing c~urse and ~nstructor, crowds of anxious people
surroundmg the registrars. The change in format was not
re~eived without some criticism: "We had a good thing
gomg, so why should we take a chance on change?" "What
can I as a layman offer in a discussion? I just want a priest
to tel_l me a~o~t the Church and not be put on the spot
to discuss it. Whatever the emotions, the people
registered and dispersed to the classrooms. Courses and
instructors were:
Holy Scripture, Father Eugene Tarris and Father
Con~tantine
Costello;
Church
History,
Dr.
John
BooJamra;
lune1977
Page 35
�"Students" at the Orthodoilistltute
In New Jeney.
Basic Principles, Father Paul Kucynda and Mr. Bill
Essey; Canon Law, Father David Vernak;
Marriage and Monasticism, Father James Moulketis
and Mr. Charles Brand; Liturgy and Sacraments, Father
John Nehrebecki and Jacqueline Delarato; Orthodox
Family Life, Father Joseph Allen and Father Konstantine
Tsigas; Open Questions, Father John Maheras and Mr.
George Johnson.
As the weeks went by, the skepticism and fear was
replaced by enthusiasm. Classes were filled to overflowing, growing each week as word of the Institute
spread through the parishes. People travelled fr m a {
as two hours away to attend the classes. The time all
•
d.d
for the c 1asses Just
1 not seem to b e enough. A clou
were hesitantly adjourned, discussions continued int~
1
coffee socials which ended each evening. On the
evening of the Institute, each class adjourne~ earl O l
everyone could assemble together to review the
format and offer suggestions for the next Institute. Thn
who had been hesitant about registering on that f'
evening were now praising the format and asking that~
Institute be ex~anded from fiv~ to ten weeks. Anoth
suggested that 1t be held four times per year in tead
only twice annually as is the current practice.
The experiment had worked. Orthodox Christians
varying cultural and sociological backgrounds could
together to learn and dialogue about their sole commo
denominator, the Orthodox Faith. Our people do ha,e
strong desire to learn of Christ and His Church, if only 1 .
opportunities are offered. The New Jersey Orthod
Institute was a tremendous success, but it is al
challenge for the Church leaders to respond to adequate)
meet the need for adult education and satiate the hunger
for knowledge.
Archpriest Joseph Allen, director of the Orthodox
Institute and pastor of Saint Anthony Antioch1 •
Orthodox Church in Bergenfield, NJ, has announced th 1
the next session of the Institute will be scheduled for t~
fall of this year.
a Melham, Co-Chairmen, and Alex Xanthos and
. rnB
ady. At the luncheon program, Mr. Michael
Ir
enChairman of the Parish Council, related his own
• h h 'es in Orthodoxy when he and his wife embraced
Penen
F · h fi e years ago. He served as M aster o f
he an ies and introduced Dr. George Dibs, Arch. r~rn n Trustee from St. Luke's, Mr. George Hanna, Mr.
de;;orey, Parish Council Vice-Chairman, ~nd George
rt:
, Choir Director, who had also prev10usly been
B r ~) the Certificate both under Metropolitan Antony,
dr e ain by Metropolitan
Philip. Dr. George Dibs
0
. agd the award during last year's visit of Bishop Elia to
ene i h for his service smce
•
•
• of the
a 1most t h e mcept10n
th
par
· now servmg
• m
• excess o f f our
p n-Orthodox
commumty
hundred families.
..
.
Dunng the program a solo rend1t10n was given by
D b rah Joseph, of Colton, and a piano selection by
ma Baba, of Irvine. Both Father Gabriel Ashie, and
iate Pastor, Father John Matthiesen recalled the
it of love and devotion which permeates the growing
• ~ h. Bishop Elia recalled the eight hundred or more
·~0 received Holy Communion on the Consecration
day
r the parish and which he stated he would never forget.
H 1.:ommendedthe community on its achievements and
p ke of the coming of Patriarch Elias IV to this country
in fay, and how the blessing of the Narthex inscription
aring the theme of Antiochian Holy Year from the
d
Scriptures, would remind them always of their love for the
house of the Lord, as well as this historic visit .
Laminated Icons of the Mystical Supper were awarded
to each of the recipients of the Certificates on behalf of
the parish. At this same program it was announced that
Joseph Eurich, Treasurer, of the parish, and Harry
Morissey, past Vice-Chairman of the Council, had been
chosen to the Building Committee for their loyal and
consistent service and would ably assist in projects for the
future.
In addition to the circular Icons of Sts. Peter and Paul,
Ms. Molchanov has completed Narthex arched wall Icons
of the Lord and Theotokos & Child complimenting those
on the Iconostasis. A permanent installation on the wide
Choir loft steps in the Narthex of the Icons of Sts. George
and Nicholas has been completed. At this time this
dedicated Orthodox Iconographer is completing two large
Icons of Sts. Chrysostom, Basil & Gregory depicting the
Byzantine contribution to the Faith, and flanking this to
the right of the Iconostasis area the Icons of Sts. Cyril &
Methodius, apostles to the Slavs, and that of St. Vladimir.
In this manner both traditions of Orthodoxy will be
represented in the Pan-Orthodox parish. Added Icons will
be painted during the year so that all the Iconographic
needs of the parish will be met. The Furnishings program
in which Living Memorials or Gifts of Gratitude are offered, covered the costs of the varied Icons.
St. George Church-Cedar
St. Luke's Church-Garden
The Third Anniversary of the Consecration of St.
Luke's Orthodox Church of Garden Grove, California,
was highlighted by the blessing of a forty foot long, goldleafed Narthex inscription at the church bearing the
theme of Antiochian Holy Year . . . "Blessed is He that
Cometh in the Name of the Lord".
His Grace, Bishop Elia, on a Lenten visit to parishes of
the Western States, blessed the Icons of Saints Peter and
Paul, Patrons of the Church of Antioch, in ceremonies
following the Hierarchical Liturgy served at the parish he
consecrated on March 31, 1974. The Icons and inscription
were painted by Irene Molchanov, of Pacific Palisades, a
talented young Iconographer
of Holy Virgin Mary
Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles.
The inscription faces all those entering the N arthex of
the 650 seat church dedicated in 1974, and which was
built by the parishioners in a program that has been hailed
as, "The Church that Love Built." The building program,
which includes a Fellowship Centre dedicated to the
memory of Metropolitan Antony Bashir in 1968, was
completed by parishioners led by George Hanna, and the
building committee and countless donated hours of labor
by those of the parish community.
The highlight of the Lenten Luncheon held in the
Fellowship Centre following the Liturgy, was the awarding
of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
Certificate of Meritorious Service to the remaining four
members of the committee, many of whom have served
the parish since 1959 when it was founded in this rapidly
growing area of Southern California. George Hanna, who
had previously been awarded the Certificate upon the
dedication of the Church, assisted in presenting the
members of the committee, who included Alex Decko and
Page 36
Grove, California
;°1
His Grace, Bishop Ella, blessing the gold leafed forty1
inscription In the Narthex of St. Luke's Church in Gar en
Grove, Calif., with the theme of Antiochian Holy Year,
The\\ •
The weekend of March 25th, 26th, and 27th marked
he first visitation of Archbishop Michael Shaheen to St.
GeorgeChurch, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The schedule of events made the weekend quite acti\'t'. but very enjoyable for all who attended and parti ipated.
Friday evening began with the 5th Mediah Service,
followed by a 'get to know you' reception in our
ellowship Hall. Saturday, Archbishop Michael visited
1 1r sister church,
St. John's, and that evening a Vesper
ervice was celebrated, assisted by Fr. Constantine Nasr,
pa tor of St. George. Following, a Grand Banquet was held
•.the Roosevelt Royale Hotel in honor of Archbishop
11chael.Master of Ceremonies for that evening was Mr.
George J. Kacere, and speakers were Mr. Steve Yuza,
ParishCouncil Chairman of St. George, Mr. Tony Nassif,
Parish Council Representative of St. John's, Fr. Contantine, and Archbishop Michael. Mr. Abe Kacere,
Treasurer of St. George, presented Archbishop Michael
llh a check for $5,000, St. George's contribution to the
BalarnandOrthodox Theological Academy of St. John of
Damascus, saying, "Saidna, we believe in this worthy
~u~e,and are proud to be able to make this little connbution." Un?er the direction of Mrs. Loretta Raddy,
nd accompamed by Mrs. Libbie Kohl, St. George Choir
~e ented . the following program of songs: Finlandia,
~nna Budd a Mountain, Battle Hymn of the Republic
n ' God Grant Thee Many Years.
'
d a~ morning, a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was
cele~~aSurr
·h ted'. ~Ith an attendance of more than 300 people
o Iater Joine d H'is E mtnence
•
for a 'coffee hour' Later '
at day
•
•
• a social hour and meeting were held in St
George Re
t
f
.
.
•
or Archbishop Michael and the Parish
Coinc1.1 whic ory
.
'
ch was f o 1lowed by a dmner.
J
C 1977
Rapids,
Iowa
To end this enjoyable and successful weekend, an
informal sabra was held at St. George Fellowship Hall,
where a question, answer, and discussion period took
place on the following topics,: ecumenism,
abortion,
ordination of women to the priesthood, etc. . .
Archbishop Michael's visitation brought best wishes to
the Cedar Rapids Community from His Eminence
Metropolitan Philip. We were very pleased to greet and
meet Archbishop Michael, and hope he had an enjoyable
time at the community in Cedar Rapids.
Sharon Nasr
Archbishop Michael and Fr. Constantine
team of Altar Boys who served with them.
with a special
�The
Orthodox
NEW BISHOP CONSECRATED
NEW YORK - Bishop Anthimos (Draconakis) of
Christopholis was consecrated on April 17 at the New
y ork Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral. Participating in the consecration
service were Archbishop
Iakovos, primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
orth and South America, Bishop Silas of Amohipolis,
Bishop Philotheos of Meloa and other hierarchs of the
Church.
Bishop Anthimos came to the U.S. in 1969 from
Germany where he had served parishes in Berlin and
uremburg. His first parish in the U.S. was St. Nicholas
Church, Clinton, Mass. He served there until 1971 when
he was named dean of the cathedral.
Archbishop's
Cotillion in California
His· Grace, Bishop Elia Saliba, presided at the Archbishop's Cotillion on Saturday evening, April 16, in the
Garden Court of the Sheraton-Palace. 15 debutantes were
presented to His Grace.
The debs are: Joan Lise Barakett, daughter of Dr. &
Mrs. Roland Barakett; Dolores Louise Habeeb, daughter
of Mr. & Mrs. Elias Habeeb; Carolyn Jaleelah Tawasha,
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Ibrahim Tawasha; of San Francisco; Shirley Ann Addes, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Fred
Addes, of Richmond,
Calif.; Debbie Lynn Dudum,
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Audie Dud um, of Kentfield,
Calif.; Rula Farradj, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Alfred
Farradj, of El Cerrito, Calif.; Dale Ann Romley, daughter
of Mr. & Mrs. James Romley, of Lafayette, Calif.;
Kathleen Victoria Jajeh, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Shihadeh
Jajeh; Rana Qirreh, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Emile
Quirreh, both of Daly City, Calif.; June Katherine Dud um,
Page 38
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Dudum; Carol Barbara
Malouf, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Albert Malouf, both of
Hillsborough; Elizabeth Mousa, daughter of Mr. & Mrs.
Shawky Mousa; Lisa Carol Wilson, daughter of Mr. &
Mrs. Robert Wilson, both of Millbrae, Calif.; Sandra
Diane Gedeon, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Fred Gede?n,
Rose Mary Naify, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Howard Naify.
both of San Mateo, Calif.
The St. Nicholas Antiochian Church of San Francisco
and the Bay Area hosted this bi-annual social event. The
Cotillion has been 12 months in the planning under t~e
guidance of co-chairmen Mrs. Marshall (Valerie) Naify
and Victor Habeeb.
Many social affiars preceded the affair climaxed by a
Silver Tea held on Mar. 12, at the home of Mrs. Albert
Malouf of Hillsborough.
The woro
CWS ASKS St00,000 TO ASSIST
CHURCHES HIT BY EARTHQUAKE
NEW YORK - Church World Service, relief arm of
the National Council of Churches, has appealed for
$100,000to aid the Romanian and Bulgarian Orthodox
Churchesin recovering from the recent earthquake.
The Rev. Paul McCleary, United Methodist clergyman
whoheads CWS, said it is hard to determine the specific
~eeds of the Churches because priests are working
lite~.ally
day and night conducting funeral services.
. We have been informed," he said, "that much of the
office and administrative equipment of the Romanian
Orthodox Church is destroyed that most church· struct
•
'
ures ID Bucharest suffered a possible 30 to 40 per cent
damage,and that the seminary was severely hit with five
Slude~tskilled." He indicated that the appeal a~ount may
be _raised when a more complete estimate of need is
available.
the1he C".V~appeal is being coordinated with an effort by
S .0 mm1ss1onon Inter-Church Aid, Refugee, and World
erviceof the World Council of Churches in Geneva.
June 1977
World
EASTERN AND ORIENTAL
ORTHODOX CHURCHES
MAKE PLANS TO START TALKS ON REUNION
PRINCETON, N.J. - The world head of the Coptic
Church says plans are being made for a meeting the first
part of next year to being "negotiations" to restore
communion between Eastern and Oriental Orthodox.
In North America on a six-week visit to Coptic
parishes, Pope Shenouda III stressed Christian unity
during an address at an ecumenical chapel service at
Princeton Theological Seminary here.
"Every day we move closer to Christian unity," he said,
during his talk on "the contributions of Middle Eastern
Christendom to Christian unity."
(Following the Council of Chalcedon of 451, the
Oriental Orthodox were separated from the bulk of Christianity because they would not accept the council's
definition of the two natures and one person of Jesus
Christ.)
Bishop George Ahr, head of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Trenton, and the Rev. James McCord, a United
Presbyterian and president of the seminary, participated
in the service with several Coptic bishops travelling with
the Pope.
Later in the day, Pope Shenouda received an honorary
degree from Bloomfield (N.J.) College, a United Presbyterian school.
Commenting on his unprecedented appointment of a
woman to a Coptic theological faculty, the Pope said he
does not favor ordination of female priests.
ABOUREZK AMENDMENT INCREASES
UNRW A CONTRIBUTIONS BY U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States Senate
today adopted an amendment offered by Senator Jim
Abourezk (D.-S.D.) which would restore $28 million for
the United States' contribution to the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency (UNRW A.)
The original amount was cut during the hearings of the
Foreign Operations
Sub-committee
and would have
drastically reduced the amount of assistance available to
over one million refugees who live in the countries in the
Middle East. The money is for the resettlement
of
Lebanese and Palestinian refugees.
"The tragedy," Abourezk said, "is that if UNRWA
receives no more funds, its operations would effectively
cease in August or September. Severe reductions are
already taking place and there is the added burden of
twelve thousand Palestinian refugees displaced in the
Lebanese civil war and with no place to go."
Previous
experience
has shown that continued
American support is necessary to induce other nations to
contribute to UNRWA further, and this has been shown to
be true in the past.
Page 39
j
�"UNRWA's contribution to the unfortunate situation
of refugees in the Middle East is of utmost importance to
the search for peace in the area and I am pleased that the
Senate has recognized this responsibility, to provide
humanitarian assistance for this part of the world so involved
with so many overwhelming
difficulties,"
Abourezk said.
TURKISH TROOPS DEPORT MONKS
NICOSIA, Cyprus - It was reported here that three
old monks of the Monastery of the Apostle Barnabas have
been deported to Nicosia by Turkish troops occupying a
portion of this island.
The 82-year-old abbot and two monks aged 82 and 79
had lived at the monastery and painted icons since the
second decade ·of this century.
The abbot said "the soldiers stole all the furniture of
the monastery, its beehives, the icons of the monastery's
chapel as well as all the sacred church utensils."
RELIGIOUS LEADERS BACK NEW YORK'S
DRIVE ON PORNOGRAPHY, STREET CRIME
NEW YORK - New York City religious leaders have
agreed to rally the support of the religious community
here in the campaign against street crime and pornography.
One of the major goals of the religious community will
be to "express a community standard" of what constitutes
pornography so it can be successfully prosecuted in court,
according to Msgr. Eugene Clark, director of communications for the New York Roman Catholic archdiocese.
He said members of the New York City Committee of
Religious Leaders plan to meet to prepare specific
• f c,r t h ere 1·igious
.
.
cour
o f ac t ion
community.
Under the U.S. Supreme Court guidelines th
1
Prosecutor's office has the authority to pros~cu: oca
nography under "local community standards" 0 Por
constitutes obscenity.
Wha
Msgr. Clark said there are "obvious" cases of
•
pornograp h y th at are not b emg successfully prosecut d
New York City because law enforcement officials de in
•
h ave a tangi'bl e expression
o f community standardo no
f
obscenity.
or
t
was that "there is no such thing as a victimless
lerg for even if one individual does not suffer, that does
rune, an the commumty
• as a w h o 1e does not feel the
n t me
-rnp~c\~id the Committee of Religious Leaders planned
rneeetApril 25 to develop specific recommendations for
tion.
Representatives of Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewi h
and Greek Orthodox members of the Committee f
0
Religious Leaders met recently with Mayor Abrah
Beame at his request and agreed to help legal authoritm
rally public support.
ie
The clergy criticized what they considered th
lenie1:1cy_of the courts in dealing with pornography an~
prostitution.
~~ong religious leaders attending the meeting, in
add1t10n to Msgr. Clark, were Dr. Dan Potter, executive
director of the Council of Churches of the City of e"
York; Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York; Rabbi
Harold Gordon, executive vice president of the New York
Board of Rabbis; Archbishop Iakovos, Primate of tl e
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of North and Soutr
America; Roman Catholic Bishop Francis J. Mugavero of
Brooklyn; the Rev. Kenneth Folkes, president of the
Council of Churches, and Father George J. Bacopulos,
chancellor of the Greek Orthodox archdiocese.
Msgr. Clark said that the general consensus of the
ARCHBISHOP MAKARIOS REPORTED
MAKING A 'STEADY RECOVERY'
ICOSIA, Cyprus -Archbishop
Makarios, the Greek
Cypriot President of Cyprus, is making "a steady
ecovery"from the heart attack he suffered on April 3, his
officeannounced.
A brief communique said that the archbishop, who is
,3years old, was receiving visitors and taking short walks,
but would remain under doctors' care for "several more
days."
The prelate, in addition to being head of state of the
islandrepublic, is spiritual head of the (Eastern Orthodox)
Churchof Cyprus.
He suffered what official sources described as "a mild
coronaryepisode" as he was officiating at a Palm Sunday
religiousservice.
COPTIC POPE VISITS NEW YORK
NEW YORK - During the first visit of a reigning
Coptic Pope to the U.S., Pope Shenouda III, spiritual
leader of 22-million Coptic Orthodox Christians in Egypt,
Ethiopia, the Middle East, and of 85 thousand in North
America, is shown worshipping in an ecumenical service
Page 40
(left) at New York's Interchurch Center, and after meed,
(right panel, left) with Dr. Claire Randall, genera
secretary of the National Council of Churches, and ::
Rev. Charles Long, executive secretary of the Wo
Council.
The Word
BURIAL SITE OF 5TH CENTURY SAINT
BELIEVED FOUND BY ARCHAEOLOGIST
JERUSALEM - The Department of Antiquities, in a
cautiousannouncement, said that "what is believed to be"
l~e cave and burial site of St. Euthymius the Great, the
fifth century Armenian-born founding father of Judean
desertmonasticism, had been uncovered.
The department said the discovery was made by Dr.
YannisMeimaris, a Greek archaeologist, in an area east of
Jerusalemnear the road to Jericho.
St. Euthymius was born at Melitene, Armenia, in 377
:d di~d in Palestine in 473. He became a priest in
tl mema and was made a supervisor of monastic setementsthere.
When he was about 30 years old he migrated to
June1977
Palestine, where he lived a solitary life in various places,
usually in a cave, finally settling in the desolate country
between Jerusalem and Jericho.
A number of recluses gathered around him. He undertook being their spiritual director without giving up his
own solitary mode of life.
One of the most revered of the early Palestinian
monks, St. Euthymius gained influence among the Arabs
by his healing of the paralytic son of an important Bedouin
chieftain.
A large monastery, built on the area where St.
Euthymius died and was buried, was destroyed by the
Persians in 614. Rebuilt, it was again destroyed after the
Arabs seized Jerusalem in 638.
Dr. Meimaris' dig uncovered the skeletons of hundreds
of monks in a large burial chamber, mosaic remnants, and
an inscription presumably referring to St. Euthymius'
nomad friend, the Bedouin chieftain.
RELIGIOUS LEADERS URGE CONVENTION
TO CONSIDER HUMAN LIFE AMENDMENT
BOSTON - Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox
and Jewish leaders went on record here in favor of a
legislative resolution calling upon the U.S. Congress to
hold a constitutional convention to consider a human life
amendment.
Proponents of the resolution who testified before the
Massachusetts legislature's judiciary committee included
Mrs. Katherine Healy, president of the Massachusetts
Citizens for Life and Dr. Joseph Stanton, president of the
Value of Life Committee.
Others who submitted statements in favor of the
proposal included the Rev. Stanley S. Harakas, dean of
the Brookline, Mass., Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School
of Theology, the Rev. J. Robert Nelson of Boston
University School of Theology, and the Rev. Albert Outler
of Dallas, Southern Methodist University's School of
Theology; Rabbi Samuel Fox of Boston who represented
the Massachusetts Council of Rabbis, and Father Paul J.
Murphy, S.J., of Campion Center, Weston, Pa.
The call for a constitutional convention must be approved by two-thirds (34) of the state legislatures and
enactment of an amendment would require ratification by
three-fourths (38) of the states. Seven states have adopted
a resolution calling for the convention.
Dean Harakas noted that his opposition to abortion
"arises out of the faith, tradition, doctrines and practice"
of the Orthodox Church.
"In addition," the Greek Orthodox dean stated that he
was "convinced by rational argument and scientific
evidence, that the developing fetus is human and as such
deserves the protection of life, accorded to all human
beings in a well run political commonwealth."
ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE RUSSIA
LOSES IN ISRAELI COURT RULING
JERUSALEM.,_ Israel's Supreme Court has rejected a
claim by the so-called "White" Russian Ecclesiastical
Mission in Jerusalem to extensive Russian Church
property, within the "new city" areas of Jerusalem.
It said the property belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate.
The mission is currently associated with the Synod of
Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia,
with headquarters in New York City.
Page 41
�Some years ago, it instituted legal action to take over
control of all Russian Church property in Israel from the
rival Russian Ecclesiastical Mission of the Moscow
Patriarchate.
Both missions claim to be the legitimate successor of
the ecclesiastical mission established by the Russian
government in the 19th Century.
The "White" Russians assert that the Moscow Mission
is not canonically constituted, but rather an instrument of
the Soviet government.
When Israel, after the Six-Day War of 1967, took over
East Jerusalem and the Old City, and occupied the West
Bank of the Jordan River, it recognized the existing status
quo in respect to Russian Church property and administration by the "White" Russian Ecclesiastical Mission.
In rejecting the mission's claim to ownership of the
Russian Church property in other parts of Jerusalem, the
Supreme Court said the appellant had no legal basis for its
claim, since the state of Israel had from 1948 recognized
the Moscow Mission as the legal owner of the property in
dispute.
MIDDLE EAST COUNCIL
OF CHURCHES
Following the general assembly of the Middle East
Council of Churches held in Lebanon last February on the
theme "He Gave Us The Ministry Of Reconciliation", the
newly elected Executive Committee held its first regular
meeting at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut,
Lebanon from March 28-30, 1977. The committee took
final decisions on the program priorities and the restructuring of the council and programmed their implementation. In this respect the committee maintained
the following departments: radio (a decision was made to
explore alternative broadcasting stations to RVOG in
Addis Ababa), literature, inter-church and development
service, Christian education and the Department
on
Dialogue and Witness has been renamed Department on
Theological Concerns. The service to the Palestinians is
continuing
through the Department
on Service to
Palestinian
Refugees.
As to information
and interpretation,
it has been restructured into an office of
information for the MECC and a commission on human
rights, justice, and peace. New concerns such as women
and youth work were given shape in relation to the
Department on Christian Education. Also an Office of
Resettlement and Social Services was established to carry
on, in collaboration with the World Council of Churches,
the social services that the WCC Office for Refugees in
Beirut has been undertaking. Departmental committees
were appointed to plan and supervise the activities of the
various departments.
The last action taken by the
executive committee was the election of Mr. Gabriel
Habib as a new general secretary for the council. Mr.
Habib is a lay member of the Orthodox Church of Antioch
and of Lebanese nationality. He served as ·WCC youth
department and WSCF joint Middle East secretary from
1963 until 1973 when he was asked to be the acting
director of the Near East Ecumenical Bureau of Information and Interpretation.
Since 1965 he acted as a cosecretary with the Rev. Albert Isteero for the OrthodoxProtestant negotiating committee towards the formation
of the Middle Council of Churches in Cyprus in 1974 when
he was invited to be the executive secretary of the
Page 42
Department of Information and Interpretation and a .
tant general secretary.
•
As general secretary elect Mr. Habib was a ked to,. i
the member churches and to help prepare the
executive committee meeting to be held in Jordan Jun
1977. However he will take office within the com inn .
1
months. At the closing session MECC pre id
.
I
.
H
.
nt
Metropo l1tan gnatms
az1m expressed heart
predation
to the Rev. Albert Isteero, who pla dapremarkable role in the foundation of the Middle
Council of Churches. The Rev. Isteero, welcoming th
action of the committee, reiterated his deep belief in th
ecumenical movement and the Middle East avair
himself to its progress and its fulfillment and offering g ind
wishes to the new general secretary. In responding _1
Habib payed tribute to his friend and colleague the Rer.
Isteero and in addressing himself to the executi e co':
mittee he said, that "if our past was one of division 0
future should be one of unity to be achieved throug'h a r
adventure of love in humility, similar to that of Je •
Christ Who loved the world until the cross. Only throu •.
such an experience the world will know that He ha
•
us and made us servants of reconciliation."
SOURCEBOOK
PRESIDINGHIERARCHS•••
For Youth Work
One of the woefully neglected areas of Christian
education is the high school years. The needs of th.t
group, both spiritual and emotional, do not correspon I
with those of young people of the elementary school
years; these needs are universally recognized as difficul
to meet in the normal church school setting using a
traditional text-book approach. Because of the rapid
changes taking place in the students and their world, a
more flexible and open-ended approach is required. The
SOURCEBOOK is designed to encourage this approach ·o
youth work among young Orthodox.
The SOURCEBOOK in the truest sense is a guide for
youth leaders and is designed for use with groups either:·
the parish or on the high school or college campus.
Although the contents and principles on which it is bu I
may be applied to any church group at almost any age
level, it is specifically designed and geared for use by
either an adult advisor to youth groups or by the young
people themselves seeking direction.
The SOURCEBOOK is filled with great ideas for
organizing new groups where none existed before, for
revitalizing old groups, or for simply enabling established
groups to function
more effectively as Christian
organizations. The SOURCEBOOK assumes that groups.
especially those with the Christian objectives of fellowship
and service, do not simply happen; they must rather be
enabled by the participants themselves; they must be
planned, cultivated, and constantly renewed. There are, 1n
short, no magic solutions for achieving a successful y~uth
group; on the contrary, the SOURCEBOOK offers field·
tested and concrete procedures for getting a group started
and for keeping it moving.
.
Father Matusiak and Ms. Bobin have combined their
experience and talents to produce a highly readable aod
compact guide to meet the functional needs of Orthodox
youth groups.
The SOURCEBOOK is available from The Depart·
ment of Christian Education at $5.00 per copy.
The W>rd
"Without them there
can be no such thing
as a church"
St. Ignatius of
Antioch
. . . AT
THE 32nd ANNUAL ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION
A dedicatedpeople working together and modvated by a love of God are the necessary ingredients to insure
continuedgrowth."
!he visit of His Beatitude ELIAS IV to North America and to the six SOYO Parish Life Conferences will
1
cunfmmate
during the 32nd Annual Archdiocese Convention in our Nation's Capital. This Convention will be an
uHolorgettabl
• expenence
·
·
F
e re rig~ous
and hi~tory-maki~~
event. We will experience the coming together of the
h'
ather and Bishops of our Church with the anticipated attendance of the President of the United States
bigb ~ov~rnment officials, the international diplomatic corps and the people. Our faith, our "love of God" wili
e~ ~nging us together with our Spiritual Leaders as we gather each morning for Divine Liturgy and ~ach
ce~~tngat Ve~pers. ~ome to Washington and see history being made in this the first year of our Nation's third
ury - this Anttochian Holy Year 1977.
?
lune 1977
Page 43
�•
u
•
-c
·-f,lj
..c
tU
~
PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL PARKSERVICE
32nd annual convention
antiochian
orthodox
christian archdiocese
ju ly 25th-31st
st. george orthodox church
4335 16th street n.w.
washington, d.c. 20011
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
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kalemat_19770601_21_6
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 06
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 21, Issue 6 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated June 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 Jun
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Format
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Text/pdf
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/24eca72e4d3f406fb69a8ee29c417bf9.pdf
b084e2a76fe915bea07d028687743d15
PDF Text
Text
flae Word
AY 1977
TROPARION OF ASCENSION
Thou hast ascended in glory, 0 Christ our
God, and gladdened Thy disciples with the
promise of the Holy Spirit, having become
confident of the blessing. Verily, Thou art
the Son of God, and deliverer of the
world.
TROPARION OF PENTECOST
Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who
hast revealed the fishermen as most wise,
having sent upon them the Holy Spirit,
and through them Thou hast fished the
universe, 0 Lover of mankind, glory to
Thee.
�THE
WORD
The Most Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The Most Reverend
Archbishop Michael, Auxiliary
THE WORD
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
P~hburgh,Pa. 15213
Subscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
U.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 10.00
SINGLE COPIES, 1.00
.
3
Editorial
4
Antioch and its Patriarchate
by Stephen Upson
7
Orthodoxy's Greatest Need Today
by Archbishop Michael
9
A Dynamic Church in a Changing World
by Ellis Khouri
10
St. John Chrysostom
by Constantine Nasr
11
Archdiocesan Office
15
Lifestyles X
by Jarnes C. Meena
-
• •
Numbers
IN THIS ISSUE
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S. Corey
Arch priest Joseph J. Allen
ISSN 0043-7964
May, 1977
Volume 21
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kalimat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
THE WORD, published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Entered' as
second class matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa.
15219.
A TIME TO SPEAK .
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
16
Chanters for Orthodox Music
by Raymond George
17
Architectural Commission
by Louis J. Courey
20
Daily Devotions
by Gerasirnos Murphy
22
SOYODigest
25
Communities in Action
29
AOCWNA
30
Review
31
The People Speak
32
The Orthodox World (Religious News Service)
-
COVER
A M~y, 1977 presents the Orthodox Church with two major feast days.
H sc~ns~on Thursday (May 19) reminds us that our Lord now sits on the right
w~:ld ~ th \:a th er after having ascended, promising His disciples that He
"d e wdi us even unto the end of the ages. Pentecost Sunday (May 29) is
cons1 ere the "birthd
f th Ch
,,
of the Hol s irit
ay O . ~
urch , but more importantly, the descent
th
ff N
Y P
up~n e disciples who were given the authority to speak in
p::est ~~~:~~~ ndat10Cnhs.
The_ icon pr!ilts are by Father John Matusiak, a
0 ox
urch m America.
As is usual for our Archdiocese, this summer being no exception,
thousands of our faithful will flock to one or more of our SOYO Parish
Life Conferences an~ t~e Archdiocesan
Convention to worship,
study, deliberate, socialize and break bread. For over thirty years,
our beloved hierarchs have molded these meetings into familyoriented gatherings
where men, women and children can safely
come together to effectively witness to Christ and His Holy Church.
How beautiful it is to see small children praying in Chapel with their
parents, workshops and seminars on various religious and secular
matters, clergy meetings,
family enlivening
sessions, creative
writing and arts competition,
oratorical
contests, departmental
meetings and general assemblies where any member of this -Archdiocese, be he man, woman, teen or child, can rise to the podium and
speak out on any issue of importance to the Church. In fact, our Archdiocese is almost unique in this respect. Orthodox jurisdictions
elsewhere are either restrictive in who can speak, or are not familyoriented, or are limited to two or three day business meetings
without the opportunity of much socializing.
..I
It:
The temptation,
of course, in our system is that some people
will attend the convention /ust to soclallzel This does irreparable
damage to our image as the Church and defeats the purposes for
which conventions and conferences were created in the first place,
and that is, to do God's bidding on earth. It would be better for the
"socializers" to vacation elsewhere I
Our annual gatherings then are a time to speak. We need to
listen, to pray, to put our words into action to be sure, but this is the
opportunity to speak. We have gotten the impression during the
past three Archdiocesan
conventions that we are not coming to the
general assemblies and departmental
meetings prepared enough.
Wecome expecting something to happen there. It often does, thanks
to God, but there needs to be preparation on our part.
Therefore, we call upon our Deaneries, Parish Councils and
Archdiocesan auxiliaries
such as Senior SOYO, Teen SOYO, AOCWNAand the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch to meet prior to these
annual gatherings and to prepare resolutions of vital importance to
our Faith and life as Orthodox Christians. The Resolutions Committee
has the sole responsibility
to determine which motions will eventually reach the floor of the General Assembly.
Involvement is the key to the success of our co~ferences.
Involvement without proper preparation can be devastat,ng. Let us
open ourselves to the Spirit of God who makes all things possible to
those who believe. Let us use our conventions as a time to speak.
George S. Corey
Joseph J. Allen
Editors
Page3
May,1977
�. away from the city of Rome, because the
Ernpir:sbecoming more and more important. In the
EaStw 03 there was a final persecution under
3
y~arletian and within twenty-five years the Emperor
Dioc antine
' built
• there a f amous c h urc h, w hi c h he
t
C
ons
• p ower
d d' ated in 327 to "H armony, t h e n·1vme
w~i~~ unites the Universe, the Church, and the
Antioch
AndIts Patriarchate
by archpriest stephen upson
The city of Antioch was founded three hundred
years before the birth of Christ by Seleucus, one of
the princely successors of Alexander the Great, and
named after his father Antiochus. Located near the
mouth of the Orontes River in northwestern Syria, at
the juncture of three important trade routes, it was a
large and sophisticated city when Christianity began.
The population at the time has been estimated as
perhaps a half million, and not less than three-fifths
of that amount; although it was a Greek speaking
Hellenistic city, there were large numbers of every
kind of Near-Eastern nationality, and just as many
different kinds of religions. There was also a large
Jewish community, as might be expected in a
metropolis which has been called "the Paris of the
ancient world". In many ways, it was more like New
York, but it was the third great city of the
Mediterranean
world, after Rome in Italy and
Alexandria in Egypt.
The Christian message came early to Antioch;
after the martyrdom of Stephen in Jerusalem about
35 A.D., many Christians left that city to go to
Cyprus, to Phoenicia (Lebanon), and Antioch. The
apostle Barnabas was in Antioch in A.D. 38, and he
Page4
brought the apostle Paul from Tarsus to help him
They stayed in Antioch a year, having made man;
converts. According to one of the oldest and
strongest of traditions, St. Peter was the actual
founder of the Christian church in Antioch, carrying
out there his first mission among the Gentiles. He
s~ayed thr~e years, and returned twice more, the last
time on his way to Rome and eventual martyrdom.
When Peter left Antioch, his chosen successor
was Bishop Evodios, who is sometimes credited with
giving his people the name of "Christians". No one
knows for sure, but they were being called that in his
day. Their numbers grew continuously, enough so
that they became an object of suspicion and dislike
on the part of some of the pagan citizens of Antioch.
Because of its fine climate, its wealth and worldly
attractions, the city was a favorite of the Roman
~mperors. It was governed by an imperial legate,
mstead of a proconsul, and while law and order was
maint:iined, civilized life flourished. At Daphne, a
beautiful suburban resort some five miles from the
city, there was a famous oracle and grove sacred to
Apollo and the memory of the nymph Daphne; the
ancient religions remained strong in Antioch for
three hundred years after the first apostolic visits.
~t. Ignatios, the third bishop of Antioch, was sent
to his martyrdom because of pagan dislike for the
Christians. According to the tradition Ignatios was
the disciple of St. John the Evangelist, and was the
child whom Jesus called to Himself (Matthew 18:2)
and used as an example in one of his sermons. At any
rate, Ignatios was an outstanding bishop, and is
credited with teaching his people to make the sign of
the cross with three fingers, to illustrate the Holy
Trinity. In the year 115 a severe earthquake hit
Antioch, and the pagans publicized as the cause the
spread of the Christian religion, which had angered
the gods. Ignatios was finally sent to Rome, to
receive there a welcome martyrdom in 116;
Christians in Antioch did not cease to increase, and
earthquakes still disturb the area.
Under the Emperor Decius, there was a persecution of Christians in Antioch, and their bishop
Babylas became a famous martyr; two years later in
253, the Persians captured the city, and there were
more Christian martyrs made. Later in the century,
the Romans got the city back, and the Emperor
D~ocletian maintained a palace there; he liked the
chmate, and the atmosphere of the city. Actually,
the later Roman emperors mostly governed the
The Word
Empire".
This church was an important building; it stood
d' cent to the imperial palace on an island in the
~iintes river, part of an official complex which
• luded palace, church, and hippodrome. The
:~lding was finished in 341 by his son the Emperor
Constantius, and was the pr?totype. of the famous
hurch built later at Kalat S1maan, m honor of St.
~imeonStylites, the famous pillar saint. It was built
in a large open area surrounded by a portico, with an
opensquare in front. Within the enclosure there was
a guest house for strangers, kitchens and dining
rooms for feeding the poor, and the widows and
orphanscared for by the Church. T~ere ~ere schools
to instruct converts and to tram smgers, and
residences for the attached clergy. The church was
octagonal in shape, with a two-story narthex and
galleries for women; it had a central domed roof,
which was gilded and ornamented with gold and
bronze. The church was called "The Golden
Church", and this style and general set-up was
followedmore or less for centuries afterwards where
important churches were concerned. This church
stood until destroyed by a colossal earthquake in
526, in which half the population of the city was
killed, including Patriarch Euphrasios. The ruins of
the church stood for two years, until a second quake
in 528 destroyed it completely. The city never
recovered from this disaster.
As a place of great importance, Antioch was
always a center of controversy: it was where the
action was. This in tum created problems for the
Patriarch and his Church. When the Arian heresy
spread abroad, Antioch was affected; when the
General Council of Ephesus was held in 431, condemning the views of the former Patriarch of
Constantinople Nestorius, many Christians of the
Antiochian Patriarchate agreed with Nestorius and
fell_~way from Orthodoxy; a century later the
dec1S1ons of the Fourth General Council of
Chalcedon in 451 alienated the Christians who later
became called "Monophysites". In 553 the Fifth
Council, held at Constantinople, tried to patch up
t~e. quarrels, and succeeded in creating another
dtss1d~ntgroup, the Monothelites. It was at a slightly
later ttme, about 641, that the Maronite Church left
Or!hodoxy, through faithfulness to the Imperial
Edicts. The emperors were not always theologically
Orthodox, and Orthodox bishops did not always
occupy the throne of Antioch.
d No~ only did these theological troubles cause
efecttons from the Christian body of Antiochian
May, 1977
faithful; when in 451 the General Council of
Chalcedon raised the sees of Constantinople and
Jerusalem to Patriarchates, it was the Patriarchate of
Antioch which suffered the loss of members and
jurisdiction. Originally, it had under its authority all
the provinces of the East: Asia Minor, Syria,
Palestine, and all the vast expanse eastward to the
Caspian Sea, and Persia even to northwest India. The
inhabitants of these regions were not Greek, and
they did not feel as close a bond to the Byzantine
Empire as those who lived closer to the center of
things. The eastern frontier of the Empire was
subject to attack at all times: at first by the Persians;
then in the seventh century by the Arabs, and in the
eleventh by the Turks. It is a wonder that the ancient
Church was not completely overwhelmed by its
troubles!
The Moslem conquest of the East was rapid; by
653 the city of Damascus was in their hands,
followed by Jerusalem in 636, and soon after, Antioch. Arab attacks on Constantinople were made in
672, but were repulsed; the Byzantine government
protected the capital and most of the provinces of
Asia Minor, but Syria and Egypt were lost. The
Arabs were in Antioch from 637 until about 968. The
Patriarch Alexander II was martyred in 701, and
after him there was no occupant of the see for forty
years. In 742 the Caliph Moawiyeh allowed the
Christians to elect a Patriarch, and there was a
comparatively peaceful period until about 968, when
the Arabs suspected the Patriarch Christopher of
having secret dealings with the Byzantine Emperor
Nicephoros Phocas, who was advancing with an
army to take the city; Christopher was killed and his
body thrown into the Orontes, from whence the
Christians obtained it for burial.
In 1098 the Crusaders from the West arrived and
set up a Latin Patriarchate of Antioch for fifty-five
years. In 1154 the Emperor Manuel Comnenus came
to Cilicia with an army, and proceeded to Antioch,
where he got the Crusaders' representative to allow
the presence of an Orthodox Patriarch in the see.
The situation was difficult and precarious until the
Egyptian Mamelukes conquered Syria in 1268; they
permitted the Orthodox Patriarchs to be chosen and
function more normally.
In 1516 Syria was added to the Turkish Empire by
Selim the Bold, and a new chapter in the history of
the Patriarchate began. Although the Near East had
been opened up to the Latins by the Crusades, and
Latin pressure on Eastern Christians never ceased,
the change in political power also changed the shape
of church life. The Roman Catholic Church in the
sixteenth century was shaken by the Protestant
revolt from Rome; having enlisted the new and
zealous Jesuit Order in the struggle against
Protestantism, Rome decided to use these trained
missionaries in the East also. They became active in
Eastern Europe, and in Constantinople.
Other
PageS
�religious orders were sent into the East, and were
aided by the French, who considered Catholicism a
good way to spread their influence. There was endless intriguing with the Turkish government, with
the use of every kind of pressure, financial and
political. The Turks extorted all they could from
every Orthodox Patriarch, Bishop, and Christian, and
encouraged
any friction
that might weaken
Christianity in their realms.
All through
the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries the struggle was carried on; at the
beginning of the eighteenth century the Latins at last
got a break, as a result of a domestic quarrel in the
Patriarchate
of Antioch. Before the death of
Patriarch Athanasius IV in 1724, he recommended
as his successor his former deacon Sylvester, who
was currently a monk on Mt. Athas. Since Sylvester
was regarded as the candidate of the Aleppo faction,
a pro-Roman group in Damascus elected a candidate
of their own, Serafim Tanas, who had been educated
at the Propaganda College in Rome. The Patriarch of
Constantinople
consecrated
Sylvester,
who,
although he was temperamentally the wrong man for
the job, was recognized as Patriarch by part of the
Orthodox and by the Turkish government; the proCatholics and the papacy recognized their candidate,
who took the name Cyril VI. The present line of
Melkite Patriarchs springs from him. Sylvester died
in 1766, and from that time on the Patriarchate was
reserved to Greeks, and continued in that wise until
the election of Meletios Doumani in 1898.
In the course of their struggle against Rome, it
occurred to some of the Protestant reformers that
the Eastern Churches, which had broken with the
papal Church centuries before, might be enliste? in
their behalf. Accordingly, they began to look mto
the history and teachings of the Orthodox, and send
out feelers to learn if there were grounds for accord.
For the British, this began in the seventeenth century, just as commercial contacts began to be made
with the Turks
and others in the eastern
Mediterranean. It was not long before the Protestant
inquirers found out that their form of ~hristianity
was alien to that of the East, but they contmued to be
interested. Early in the nineteenth century, British
and American Protestant
missionaries began to
appear in Syria. There was talk of converting
Moslems but when they discovered that this was a
practicaiiy impossible feat, they turned their attention to the Christians, to bring them to Protestant
"enlightenment."
More than a hundred and fifty years have passed
since the first Protestant missionaries came to Syria
and Le ban on; the value of their work has been
differently assessed, but the extent of its impact is
visible. An element of competition with Catholic
agents was introduced from the beginning; both
Protestants and Catholics were well financed, and
they had tl:ie protection of external powers, which
Page6
native subjects of the Turks did not. They acquir d
larger understanding of the various types of 1e a
. . .
Chr 1st1amty,
an d pro fessed not to be forming a oca•
Church, but that is what happened. They ;ev.
completely
convinced
that their version ere
Christianity was superior to that of the people wi
were native Christians in the land where Christianit
began. They were aware of the degradation whic~
centuries of oppres~ion under Tur~ish_ rule had
brought about, but mstead of helpmg mdigenou
Christianity, they simply brought back old heresies in
new dress. Whatever the value of the social service
they initiated, they simply created more problem
for the historic Patriarchate. What the status of
evangelical Protestantism would have been after
four hundred years of Turkish Moslem oppression i
hard to say, but it never had that problem. Orthodoxy did, and it survived.
The nineteenth century was one of great changes
in Syria and Lebanon, and greater ones are now in
process. The Arab lands have the wealth of oil, and
will have it for a long time to come. There is
resurgence of Islam and a feeling of pride in the
tradition, but this is combined with a new outlook
What all this will mean to Orthodox Christians is not
yet clear. In 1939 the city of Antioch was turned over
to Turkey; it is now an unremarkable place of 60,0
inhabitants,
very few of whom are Christian
Religion is not encouraged
in Turkey; Kem..
Ataturk was a great reformer, but he did not foresee
a great future for religion in his country. New
mosques continue to be built from time to time in the
Turkish Republic, but not Christian churches.
The impact of Israel and the Palestinian refugees
upon Lebanon has been severe; there has been
great change in the numerical balance between
Moslems and Christians. The widespread destruction
caused by the recent disastrous war poses anotk
problem: reconstruction. The war forced the closin~
of the Theological School at Balamand, to whid
Americans of the Patriarchate
so largely con·
tri buted. Balamand can be repaired and can reopen,
so that higher theological education in th~ ~eva~t
can be resumed. The eyes of Orthodox Chnst1anslil
the East are turned upon the Patriarchate of ~tioch, since the Theological School of the Patnar·
chate of Constantinople at Halki in Turkey is closed
because of governmental pressure.
.
The outflow of Christian population from sra
and Lebanon in the nineteenth
and twentieth
centuries might be thought to have weaken~d the
Patriarchate by reducing the numbers of the faithful
but the emigration has actually strengthened it. ~he
emigres have prospered in North and South America
and Australia, in Africa, and wherever they wen~
Their industry and native capabilities, when allow~
to operate normally, have brought them prospen~
ORTHODOXY'S
GREATEST
NEEDTODAY
Archbishop
we celebrate the
undayof Orthodoxy here
in Miami, Orthodox
• tians the world over
.
Chns
in similar
serv1ches
ommemorate
t e
Triumph of Orthodoxy
o, er heresy,. and_ the
re toration of icons m our
hurches. The attempt to
modifyOrthodoxy was an
attack against the Doctrine of Incarnation, our
belief that God became
ir. Jn in
Jesus Christ.
n1wever, the ancient
( rthodox dictum
that
"THE VOICE OF THE
• EOPLEIS THE VOICE OF GOD" prevailed and
icons continue to adorn our churches everywhere.
Patriarch Methodius of Constantinople composed
thisservice for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, and it has
beenobserved by Orthodoxy since the 9th Century.
Today, in this 20th century, Christianity at large
and Orthodoxy in particular face new forces and
challenges that must be met and dealt with. In a
pluralistic society where major religions and
ggressiveideologies are competing for the mind of
man, there is a pressing need for a united Christian
·oice. The charge of the Church to bring "THE
TRUTH, THE WAY, THE LIFE" to mankind is
hinderedand weakened by the divided Church. Even
·he missionary efforts of the more aggressive
churches are grievously impaired.
What chances has a divided Church before the
overwhelming and threatening
forces of Communism, Secularism, Humanism, etc. . . . not to
mention Atheism and Agnosticism? We cannot
speak in the language of St. John Chrysostom while
our contemporaries are more receptive to the
argumentsof Darwin, Marx, Freud and Einstein. We
can_notsurvive long on the glories of our rich
hentages in this 20th century. We must meet our
problems and face the challenging issues with action
today. In a world population of 4 billion, only one
fourth claim to be Christians, many of whom are in
name only and not fully committed. How can we
presentany meaningful expression of the great truths
of Christianity in a divided voice?
. Sermon delivered at the Greek Orthodox Church in
'\,fiami,Flon'da.
(continued on page 27)
The Wo·
1a 1977
Michael
There is no doubt that these factors prompted the
religious leaders of Christendom to call for unity,
aside from the clear mandate of our Lord Who asked
"that all be one." Leading figures like Pope John and
Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras led the way by
calling for self-renewal in preparation for Christian
unity. While Orthodoxy's 'First among Equals' called
for a Pan-Orthodox Council in 1961, Pope John
convened Vatican II, which brought many changes
and created friendly relations among all Christian
bodies. Listen to the golden words of Pope Paul at an
opening session to which all Christian bodies were
invited:
AFTER
SO
MANY
YEARS
OF
SEPARATION,
AFTER
SUCH
PAINFUL
POLEMICS, WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO BUT
AGAIN LOVE ONE ANOTHER, PRAY FOR ONE
ANOTHER."
The warmth of Pope John, the great love of
Patriarch Athenagoras and the humility of Pope Paul
have generated a miraculous change of attitudes
among Christians. Thanks to them, Christendom
today is witnessing warm and profound relations that
are without precedence in almost 2000 years.
Orthodoxy is now in the process of convening a
Pan-Orthodox Council and hopefully this will be held
within the next two years. This will be the first since
Nicea in 787 A.D. (now named Iznik in Turkey). The
preparatory conferences have taken about 15 years
and require at least two more to complete the
agenda.
Orthodoxy at large feels the great need for selfrenewal. Only a Pan-Orthodox Council has the
authority to institute changes and decide on the
many issues that trouble the Church in this day and
age. The Council will deal with matters which are of
secondary nature, that is ecclesiastical matters that
regulate the practical aspects of Christian life.
On primary matters of Faith, (Dogma and
Doctrine) Orthodoxy cannot change. Our Orthodox
Faith is like Christ, "the same yesterday, today, and
tomorrow." God does not change; Christ is the Son
of God; Mary is the Mother of God; the truth of the
Gospels as preached by the Apostles has been
delivered once and for all. This has been confirmed
by the Church Fathers and decreed
by the
Ecumenical Councils during the first eight centuries
of Christianity.
But it is the secondary and ecclesiastic matters
that are long-due for review, study and change to
better serve the faithful in these modern times.
There is an urgent and pressing need to update the
Page7
�Church on worship, fasting, marriage laws, customs,
traditions and the complex and antiquated Canons of
Orthodoxy.
Speaking of canons, let me cite a few examples
that will illustrate how difficult, if not impossible
today, it is to abide by the canons. These rigid and
severe laws apply to both clergymen and laymen: It
is forbidden Being friendly
and associating
with nonChristians,
Praying with or attending services of heretics and
schismatics,
Using the medical services of a Jewish doctor,
Marrying a non -Orthodox,
Playing cards or even hunting,
Painting artistic works or gazing at the same,
Clergymen using female house-keepers,
Not observing the four main fasts of the year, plus
every Wednesday and Friday all year long,
Attending banquets where females are present.
If one were to observe the canons on fasting, it
would mean not eating meat on about two-thirds of
the year. No wonder a distinguished Orthodox
theologian
remarked:
"THE
ORTHODOX
CHURCH IS GOOD AND HOLY; HOWEVER, ITS
FLOCK
IS PRACTICALLY
UNDER
EXCOMMUNICATION."
Thank God for the Doctrine of Economy in
Orthodoxy that provides shelter and some flexibility.
Otherwise, we would all be under the ban of
suspension or ex comm uni cation.
Such is the dilemma of world-wide Orthodoxy,
not to add many new problems and moral issues of
this 20th century. Orthodoxy must remind the world
of its teachings on abortion, mercy-killing, homosexuality, capital punishment, social injustice, and
world-poverty.
Our Lord Jesus said: "THE SABBATH WAS
MADE FOR MAN, NOT MAN FOR THE SABBATH." Moreover, was not St. Paul the first
reformer who fought to free the human conscience
from the regulations of the Old Law? Let us pray and
hope that Orthodoxy will move at a faster pace for its
own sake in this jet-age as well as the sake of its
loving and obedient children.
In America, Orthodoxy has added peculiar
problems of its own that must be resolved sooner or
later. Several million Orthodox Americans, united
by one and the same Faith, are divided into several
jurisdictions and separated bodies that function
independently
of one another. Each national
jurisdiction is linked to its Mother Church of origin.
Thus we have two or more authorities in the same
cities and land. Such over-lapping jurisdictions is a
direct violation of Canon Law. Furthermore, it is
against the Apostolic and Patristic norms of Orthodoxy. It has been tolerated only because no PanOrthodox Council has been held to deal with the
scandalous situation.
Page8
Our greatest need in America is to unite all the
separated national bodies of Orthodoxy into o
GREAT
AMERICAN
ORTHODOX
CHURCH
which will automatically gain national recognitio
and equal status with the three other major faith
One united Orthodox Church would mean a more
effective voice and a greater impact in the e
World. One united Orthodox administration would
end all wasteful duplication, similar projects in th
same areas, identical efforts that are now limited anc
costly. Finally, more efficient leadership and
supervision would be available across this va .
continent, rather than a concentration in some area
and the lack of any spiritual leadership in others.
Orthodoxy must be placed above nationalism
regardless of our rich heritages and ethnic origins of
which we are all equally proud. Each national bod
could maintain its own customs, traditions and
preferences within this united American Orthodox
Church. The glorious days of the Byzantine Empire
are now history and we are now living in an age tha
has placed man on the moon.
Orthodoxy must speak in the language of the Ian
if it expects to be heard and understood. OrthodoX}
must address this generation in their own language
and style if it is to be meaningful and of any religious
value to them. It must speak on the crucial issues and
current problems of this age and day.
We need a St. John Chrysostom to address this
generation on the dominant subjects of this con·
temporary age. We look for another St. John of
Damascus to provide a fresh explanation of th
Orthodox Faith.
One united Orthodox Church in America, one
endorsed and approved by a Pan-Orthodox Council,
would usher in the "Golden Age of Orthodoxy
Only in this free land is the Church safe from inter
ference and political pressures. If world Orthodo
suffers from external oppression and political
pressures, we suffer from internal divisions and
weakness.
The time has come for all true Orthodox
Christians to support and encourage the establish·
ment of ONE GREAT CHURCH IN AMERICA. If
Jerusalem is the holy city of our Lord and the Mother
Church of all, and Antioch the great city where we
were named Christians for the first time, and Rome
the Imperial Capital of the Roman Empire and Seat
of the Pope, and Constantinople the New ~ome all d
former capital of the Byzantine Empire, then
America has a new role and place in this 20th
century. America could become the cap1·ta1 of
Christendom in this 20th century. After all, who else
in the world could place the Cross of Jesus ao<lf
a
0
church if the' need be on the moon? Thank Gd~
'
America' thank God for
Orthodoxy and than ks beW
h
all who have vision and foresight to dream of all t e
possibilities that unity can generate. Amen.
TheWorJ
On The Eve of the Patriarch's Visit ...
•PiSHtR
OfMf;N
•
A Dynamic Church
In A Changing World
by ellis khouri
It is certainly a troubled world. We are facing now the
mo t crucial era in history. Civilization is on the brink of
ata trophe.
This being the situation, the only kind of church that is
l'kely to gain the ear or win the allegiance of people is a
~ namic church. There is no longer any room in the world
f r a merely external, shallow form of Christianity based
n a shaky, sandy foundation. The world is entering upon
a period of catas!rophe when we _are force~ ~o tak: side_s,
and in which a higher and more mtense spmtual hfe will
be demanded by genuine Christians.
What sort of church is a dynamic church? It is a
Lhurch whose members have a sense of conviction. They
know what they believe. Their beliefs are personal, clearcut, passionate. They are dealing with facts. They have
·ound that in the business of fighting one's character
through to something like decency, Jesus is a dependable
factor. They are sure that for humanity's hurt there is
healing; and that for its weakness there is power; so sure
that The Church as an agent for the healing of the nations
is the central fact in their lives. They are resolved to
promote its enterprises.
Not all churches are dynamic in that sense. Far too
many are lacking in distinctive Christian conviction and in
knowledge and experience of the Christian faith. They are
eak, not because of want of an adequate place of
worship, and not because
of want of efficient
organization. There is a deeper, more basic deficiency.
These faiths have little hold on its members. They assent
to it, but they do not really believe in it.
It does not kindle their enthusiasm. It does not issue in
commitment, self-surrender, or in any sacrifice of time or
effort or money. This is plain speaking, but these are days
for plain speaking. There is no longer any room in the
world for a merely external form of Christianity or for
churches that are virtually religious clubs where people
com~ together on Sunday mornings simply out of conformity to long established convention.
A dynamic church is a church with a sense of direction. It knows where it is going. Do I exaggerate when I
ay that there are churches which convey the impression
that they are merely going through the motions, churches
that have lost the sense of mission and vocation?
These are not great days for The Church. What its
members need to recapture is a grasp of essentials a sense
of· 1 • • •
'
mtiat1ve, a directness of decision the uplifted face and
~hefl~shing eye which characterize ~hose who have a star
Ywhich to steer, a cause to serve, a leader to follow.
Father Ellis is the Protosyngelos of the Archdiocese
t:an °1.the clergy) and Pastor Emen·tus of St. Nicholas
urch m Grand Rapids, Michigan.
(i
~
~
Since we are speaking of a dynamic church
a
dynamic leader - let us ask ourselves - do we have such
a church and such a leader in North America? The answer
is definitely yes.
Our church has all the undisputable facts, characters,
history, traditions, martyrdom
and apostolicity
that
uphold and confirm her as the only true church of The
Lord Jesus Christ, and His kingdom on earth.
The church that can survive and outlive all the
heresies, destruction and persecution through the ages and still persecuted in many parts of the world - is
certainly that true Church of The Lord who said, "This is
My Church, and the gates of Hell shall never prevail
against it."
Those of us who have been following the events of
time realize what has befallen the other (non-Orthodox)
churches of bewilderment and chaos - the crisis that is
bringing them back to the ancient practice and ritual of
The Orthodox Church.
Do we have in our church that dynamic star, cause and
leader? The answer again is yes - in the Orthodox Faith
in general, the Antiochian Archdiocese in particular and
in the person of our most esteemed and beloved
Metropolitan Philip who, in these ten short years of his
episcopacy, has proven himself beyond any shadow of a
doubt to be that dynamic and wise spiritual leader.
To the Mother Church of Antioch, he is proclaimed to
be her benefactor and compassionate son. To the Holy
Synod of Antioch, he is considered one of its most articulate and influential members.
In this western hemisphere he emerged a champion of
Orthodoxy.
In the Arab world he is acclaimed as "The Bishop Of
The Arab."
To the faithful in this great and vast archdiocese he
became their father in Christ and friend.
To the clergy he is their esteemed father in The Lord
and their refuge.
To the youth of this archdiocese he became their
banner and hero.
To the other American Orthodox Churches he became
their counselor and conciliator.
Yes, my friends - we have this dynamic church and
dynamic spiritual leader. Pray with me then, that the
Prince of Peace, the invisible head of this church, protect
and strengthen us in trust and love to both the Orthodox
Church and to Metropolitan Philip, especially on the eve
of the Patriarch's visit to North America. May we be
worthy of this apostolic blessing!
May, 1977
Page9
�saints of antioch
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM(347 A.D. - 407 A.D.)
by constantin
In the Ea tern Orthodox Church, St.
John hry
tom is considered our most
fam u prea her. He i identified as an
interpreter
f the Word of God, a
teacher, a true admoni her of his people,
friend and helper of the poor and oppre ed.
John was born in the year 347 A.D., in
the city of Antioch, where the first
disciples were called Christians (Act
11:26). The son of an army general, John
was cared for by his widowed mother
Anthusa from an early age. In his early
youth he felt the calling to enter the
monastic way of life. Being prevented by
his mother,
he disciplined
himself
towards that life, and entered at a later
date.
His early education in rhetoric had
been with the leading pagan orator
Libanius, and in theology he studied
under Bishop Diodore of Tarsus, who is
known as an outstanding theologian in the Antiochian
School. It was from him that John learned to value and
explore the New Testament as the source of all truth.
At the age of eighteen, John was baptized. Three years
later he was ordained a reader, making this the beginning
of his religious career. In 373 A.D. he became a hermit,
following the "Pachomian Rule." In 381 he was ordained a
deacon and served in Antioch under Bishop Flavian, who
later elevated him to the rank of priesthood in the year
386.
While serving as secretary to Patriarch Meletious of
Antioch, John devoted special attention to the work of
preaching, a task in which his ability gained him the name
of Chrysostom, meaning "Golden-mouthed."
During the years 386 to 398 his fame spread all over the
East. His great power of oratory was directed especially
towards the instruction and moral reformation to the
Christian city of Antioch. He delivered his series of
Homilies on Genesis, Matthew, John, Romans, Galatians,
Corinthians,
Ephesians, Timothy and Titus, which
established his title as the greatest of Christian expositors.
Preaching he said "makes me healthy; as soon as I
open my mouth, all tiredness is gone." His sermons were
usually well prepared, even though he could digress and
speak extemporaneously. He preferred to write his sermons, and good examples are the series of sermons "On
the Status", and his Easter sermon, which is still read in
every Orthodox Church on Easter Sunday.
When Bishop Nectarius of Constantinople died in 397,
the court, then dominated by the eunuch Eutropius,
decided, after four months of hesitation, to kidnap John
from Antioch and make him Bishop of the capital.
Confusion,
ecclesiastical
struggle and protests
by
Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria fail d to h mp r
con ecration. John became the leading Bi hop f th
the piritual ruler of Con tantinople, the preach
dutie
ere to preach before the Emper rand hi
court.
Again t his wishes, he became Patriarch
stantinople in 398, and immediately et ab ut th w r
reforming the city where corruption of the court, 1 r
and people alike had been encouraged by the c mpli n
and self-indulgence of his predecessor. Hi h n
a ceticism and tactlessne s could not overcome th hatr
of Theophilus and Empress Eudoxia, which cau d him
be condemned on 46 charges at the "Synod of the Oa ...i
403. John was removed from his seat, but re-en tat d aft
the horrible experience of Eudoxia's mi carriag .
believed that this act was a judgement from hea en.
Within a short time, John once again br u
displeasure to the Empress, and his enemies aw thi a t
opportunity for securing his banishment on ch r e
unlawfully reassuming his duties of a see, from hich
had been canonically deposed. Even with the supp n
his faithful in Constantinople, the efforts of Pop
I, and the entire Western Church, all failed
sav hi
At first, John was exiled near Antioch, then
Arabissus, and finally to Pontus. This constant movem n
was meant to torture and kill John. According to h"
admission, nothing tired him out so much as tra ellin
and as an ailing man, he was forced to march to hi la tin
exile near the village of Comona.
On September 14, 407, as he neared the out ki t
Comona, he collapsed and was given the Holy Sacramen
of Communion for the last time. He crossed him elf
died with a word of praise for his whole life: "Glor)
God for everything! Amen."
Chrysostom's posthumous fame was immense.
writings of no other Father of the Church were read
much or disseminated in such a wealth of manuscript H
works were translated into Latin and various Orient
languages. Even today John enjoys the lo e
veneration of all denominations.
Apart from his personal holiness, his fame rest on h
preaching, his exegesis, his liturgical reforms, (the L1tur
of St. John Chyrsostom), his work "On the Priestho
and his example of simplicity and non-lavishness earne
him to be one of the three stars of the Eastern Church ( 1
John Chyrsostom, St. Basil the Great, and St. Gregor} the
Theologian).
.
In the year 438 the relics of this saint were entered mt
the Apostolic Church of Constantinople and each ear
November 13th the Chur~h celebrates the Feast Da of
John Chrysostom.
The Fathers of the Greek Church, translated b
Godman, 1955.
Father Constantine is pastor at St. George Orthodox Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and is Dean of his region.
Page 10
\RCHD
IOUESAN
OFFIUE
nu r
The
0CEC MEETS WITH SCOBA
th in itation of His Eminence, Metropolitan
JI ~p Primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
hdi • e f orth America, the Standing Conference
r
01 al Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA)
nith the Orthodox Chrisitan Education Commission
. Metropolitan PHILIP, who is both the Vice
irm n of COBA and the President of OCEC, hosted
thering at his residence in Englewood, New Jersey.
E i the educational agency of SCOBA, and the
wa designed by the Metropolitan to keep the
of the Conference informed of its work in behalf
: 1xChristians throughout North America.
Th :neeting was presided over by His Eminence,
hbi hop IAKOVOS, Chairman of SCOBA and Primate
h
r ·ek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South
r1
and was chaired by Metropolitan
PHILIP.
ent ii.so were Their Graces, Bishop MARK of the
I nian Orthodox Diocese, and Bishop THEODOSIOS
r th 0. thodox Church in America. In addition to these
1 r r h , the various dioceses
of SCOBA were
•:1tedby clergy and lay delegates. Representing the
were the Executive Board members, Father
1llia Conjelko - Chairman of the Board, Miss
n tar. e Tarasar - Executive Secretary, Father Paul
• ..·nda- Executive Manager, Dr. John L. Boojamrah irman of the Curriculum Department,
and Mr.
dore Bobosh - Editor of "UPBEAT" Magazine.
fter some opening remarks
of greeting
by
ietr politan PHILIP, each member of the OCEC
uti e ~oard presented a report covering his area of
n ern. Miss Tarasar opened with an historical sketch of
mmission ~nd what it had accomplished in its
nt ears of existence. She highlighted the cooperative
ture of the venture and the sponsorship by SCOBA as
n those reasons for the OCEC's outstanding success.
pre sect hope that this cooperation would continue
he looks forward to further meetings with the
rarch .
he E
•
re r xecuti~e Ma~ager, Father Kucynda, presented
. ~ e _entat~ves with an overall view of the Com1
• • out that more research
d d n ftnancial st a t us, pomtmg
1
·ine-.e o~ment of programs would be possible only with
rea em the
•
•
r Bo .
momes available for capital investment.
rric I OJ;mra presented his report on behalf of the
u u~ epartment which was created at the May
::e;iihng hofthe Board of Trustees of OCEC. Since
• a departnt and'e te bl"ash"been oc cupie• d wit• h f ormmg
tion of a is mg .procedures for review, revision and
epartm°:; :atenals. Th~ first priority' however' for
. B ojamra re as an analysis of the present curriculum.
ported that the present curriculum had
'
I 7
been turned over to an outside educational
agency to
determine how well the material was meeting stated goal ,
how it was being used in the parishes, and how it might be
improved upon in the future. In addition he commented
that the OCEC would have to strengthen those weak area
of its curriculum, especially in ethics, adult edu ati n,
pre-school home education, and youth ministry.
Mr. Bobosh, editor of "UPBEAT" Magazine f r
un
adults, commented on new staff arrangement
and th
need to increase the subscriptions
through
di c an
subscription drives. He added that "UPBEAT" is an ideal
open-ended tool for use with youth groups and upp r
grades in the Church School.
Father Conjelko closed the reports with hi
i i n f
the futu~e possibilities for the OCEC, given the pr p r
cooperation
among the various Orthodox
dioce e in
North America and funding from SCOBA.
_Following the presentations of the several report , Hi
Emmence,
Archbishop
IAKOVOS
commented
n
specific items, pointing out that in spite of our ob i u
accomplishments,
we still have far to go. He urged th
benefits of a unified program among all Orthodox in
rth
America ~nd ~~pointed a committee, consisting of Fath r
George Nicozism and Father Alexander Karlout O f th
Greek _Archdiocese, and several members of the OC e
Executive Board, to meet and to formulate some tru _
tural changes so that the religious education work f th
Greek Archdiocese might be more closely tied in with th t
of the O~EC. Followin~ a lenten luncheon,
ho ted :
Me~ropohtan PHILIP, this coordinating committee met t
begm its work. It was suggested that another joint meetin
of th.e SCOBA and OCEC membership be held in the fa~
of this year .
In addition to those previously
present at this meeting were:
mentioned,
th r
�lia atr
nt un
lb nian
h uri nti
hn irl
-
nti
x Archhian Orth dox Archr
n
i
l
ria Tr
erhij P
k Orthodox
Arch-
Ar hdioce e
h in America
Church in America
Orth dox Church
Orth dox Church
rainian Orthodox Church
PATRIARCH JUSTINIA DIES AT 76
HEADED ROMANIA ORTHODOX CHURCH
B Religious ews Service
B CHARE T - Patriarch Ju tinian Marina of the
R manian Orth dox Church ha died here at the age of
7 .
He had been head of the 1 -million member Church
ince June 6, 1948.
Ecumenism was a major concern of his 29-year term of
office. He visited se eral church leaders abroad when the
Romanian Communist regime adopted a softer policy
toward the Churches in the early 1960s.
He and Pope Paul regularly exchanged greetings on
Christmas and Easter.
Patriarch Justinian was born Feb. 22, 1901, in the
illage of Suitesti-Cermegesti, in the province of Oltenia.
He married and was ordained priest in 1924. After four
years of parish work, and teaching elementary school
classes, during which time he also studied theology, he
received his degree in theology from the University of
Bucharest.
In 1932, he was named director of the theological
seminary at Rimnicu-Vilcii, and the following year was
assigned to parish work in the area, where he engaged in
forms of social work.
After the death of his wife, he was ordained Bishop in
1945 and became vicar to the Metropolitan of Moldavia.
Two years later, he became the Metropolitan of Moldavia.
Patriarch Justinian is survived by a son, a physician in
Bucharest.
ORTHODOX LEADER REPLIES TO CHARGES
THAT HE'S PAID 'ARAB PROPAGANDIST'
By Religious News Service
NEW YORK - An Antiochian Orthodox leader has
denounced
as "totally false" comments made about
himself and Archbishop Philip Saliba in a memorandum
circulated by an American Jewish Committee official.
Dr. Frank Maria, chairman of the Department of Near
East and Refugee Affairs for the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America, commented on
statements made by Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, national
interreligious affairs director for the American Jewish
Committee.
In a memorandum
on the National Council of
Churches' involvement in Christian-Jewish relations,
Rabbi Tanenbaum wrote that "the presence of Arab
churchmen on the NCC's General Board - as typified by
Arab propagandists. Archbishop Phihp Saliba and Dr.
Frank Maria, both of whom represent the Syrian
Page12
Orthod x Church and are kno n t be ub idized
g vernment
to carr
out anti-I rael and pr
pr paganda within the entire CC in tituti nal
imply mean that there i built into the
Ca
anti-Je i h lobb ."
Dr. Maria retorted that "the
ational C un ii
Churche i till more responsi e to the pr -Isra l Z 1
l bb in the nited States than to the plight of Chri t
and Mo lems in the Middle East."
Dr. Maria declared that "not only are Rabbi Tan
baum' charges and labels totally fal e, but he even rr i
identifying our Church as the 'Syrian Orthodox
hur
instead of the Antiochian Orthodox Church."
According to the Antiochian Orthodox leader, th
Antiochian Archdiocese "has always been committed 1
ecumenical activity with Christians, Jews, and Mu lim
the fundamental thesis that we are all children of God.\\
do, however, as most American Christian organizati n
do, distinguish between Judaism and political Zioni man
between Jews and the political State of Israel."
Dr. Maria explained that "we are for better understanding and appreciation of Judaism and for impr ,e
relations with the Jews, but we reserve the right to
critical of aggressive and oppressive policies of the tat
of Israel against Christians and Muslims and the right 1
take issue with the excesses of political Zionism, whe 1er
practiced by Jews or Christians."
He maintained that "in criticizing the violati n b,
Israel of human rights of Christians and Muslims we •
reflecting Judeo-Christian ethics and are reminding o r
country - the U.S. - of its moral obligation to take 1 sue
with all countries who violate human rights."
Dr. Maria said that "if two members of a Governin
Board of 271 people constitute a lobby of any sort with
the NCC, that surely is a superlative compliment. One
thing is certain: Metropolitan Philip and I are not an 1
Jewish and that falsehood we consider as slander."
2 EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCHES PLAN I G
MESSAGE TO 'DISTRESSED' EPISCOPALIA
By Religious News Service
CRESTWOOD,
N.Y. Two Eastern Orthodo
jurisdictions
are preparing to issue a statement to
Episcopalians distressed by their denomination's appro\al
of the ordination of women and other changes. Orthodo '
strongly opposes women's ordination.
. .
Theologians of the Antiochian Orthodox Chn tian
Archdiocese of North America and the Orthodox Churcr
in American (OCA) met with about a dozen Episcopa
priests and laity at the OCA's St. Vladimir's Orthodo
Theological Seminary here and decided to prepare tht
document.
Guidelines previously released by the OCA for
Wes tern Christians who wish to become Orthodox in·
dicate that they would have to worship using Eastern
Christian eucharistic liturgical forms.
The Antiochian Archdiocese has a small Wes tern Rne
in which parishes use Orthodox eucharistic form (Ip
English) similar to those used by Roman Catholic tin
Latin) before the Second Vatican Council.
Earlier this year, Antiochian Metropolitan Pbihp
Saliba lamented the decision of some Churches of the
(continued on page 35)
TbeW
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
Fiscal
RIBUTIONSFROM INDIVIDUALS
0
GeneralFund
I. Archdiocese Trustees
\,fetropolitan Philip
RalphAbercia, Houston, Texas
Dr. orman Bsharah,.
. .
Charleston, West V1rgmta
Dr Anthony Bashir, Boston, Massachusetts
Dr. John Dalack, Staten Island, New York
Ch~rlesDowd, Worcester, Massachusetts
J.J.Farah, Flint, Michigan
RudyGeorge, Cleveland, Ohio
Frank Haddad, Montreal, Canada . . .
PhilipHaddad, Charleston~ W~st V1rgmta
lbert Joseph, Chicago, Ilhn01s
EdwardKassab, Detroit, Michigan
George Koury, Irwin, Pennsylvania,
MonsourLaham,
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Robert Laham,
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
\,fr . Rose Merhige, Miami, Florida
-mest Saykaly, Montreal, Canada
$1,000
500
1,000
200
450
1,000
500
1,000
1,000
1,000
3,000
1,000
1,000
1,000
1,000
1,000
3,000
-· Others
rs. Viola Ayers, Decatur, Georgia
Tom Betor, New Kensington, Pennsylvania
ElizabethBoosadha,
Worcester, Massachusetts
Frank Camera, Hazelton, Pennsylvania
Estate of Catherine Cassis,
Grand Rapids, Michigan
LucilleColeal, Lancaster, California
Dr. Samuel Cross, Kittanning, Pennsylvania
ElieCook, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
In Memoriam, Michael Ganim
George Ghiz, Phoenix, Arizona
E.S.P.Farah, Beaumont, Texas
In Memoriam, Fred Geha
Taft A. Hanna, San Jose, California
EvelynJamhoor, Atlanta, Georgia
In MemoriumHabibHaddad and Albert Deranay
KaleelBros., Youngstown, Ohio
In Memorium, George Khouri, Damascus
In_Me~orium, Albert Majdall, Montreal
Victoria Kassis, Carlstadt, New Jersey
te en Kargotis, West Carolton, Ohio
Jacob Malta, Doylestown Pennsylvania
lames Monsur, Lowell, Massachusetts
'
ng~laSaad, Dotham, Alabama
•
y adm Wardi , New K ensmgton,
Pennsylvania·
enus M. Tzangas, Canton, Ohio
0
Eeborah Touma, London, Ontario
Rrnest Younes, Toronto, Ontario
ose Zrake, Brooklyn, New York
fa '19 7
$
100
700
25
10
300
60
400
10
25
2,000
400
35
25
100
100
500
60
15
40
5
200
10
100
25
so
10
1,000
15
Year
Ended
January 31 • 1977
B. Other Funds and Charities
( 1) Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
$1,000.00
Rose Merhige, Miami, Florida
1,000.00
Edward Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
1,000.00
George Abodeely, Worcester, Massachusetts
1,000.00
Frank Haddad, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1,000.00
Dr. Norman Bsharah, Charleston, W. Va.
500.00
Ralph Abercia, Houston, Texas
500.00
Frank A. Bitar, Portland, Oregon
500.00
Robert A. Bitar, Portland, Oregon
1,000.00
George Ghiz, Scottsdale, Arizona
500.00
Lewis Ghiz, McFarland, California
500.00
Charles Dowd, Worcester, Massachusetts
500.00
William Farha, Wichita, Kansas
500.00
George Farris, El Paso, Texas
500.00
David Shaheen, Canton, Ohio
Michael N. Abodeely,
500.00
Westboro, Massachusetts
500.00
Thomas Kaleel, Youngstown, Ohio
50
Ernest M. Kaleel, Youngstown, Ohio
50
Nespo Kaleel, Youngstown, Ohio
Carl Shaheen, Canton, Ohio
I
Philip Haddad, Charleston, W. Va.
1,
Anonymous Priest
'
George Koury, Irwin, Pennsylvania
1
Richard 0. Joseph, Toledo, Ohio
1
Sam Kouri, Wichita, Kansas
Robert Laham,
I,
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Monsour Laham,
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Albert Attiyah, Lynwood, California
Naseeb Saliba, Encino, California
Abe Abraham, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Wade Abraham, Grand Rapids, Michigan
James Abraham, Grand Rapids, Michigan
George Karram, Hawthorne, New Jersey
George Dar any, Redford, Michigan
Charles Darany, Royal Oak, Michigan
Joseph Darany, Grosse Isle, Michigan
Ronald Majdell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Ernest Saykaly, Hampstead, Quebec, Canada
C.F. Milkie, San Marino, California
Ernest Assaly, Ottawa, Ontario, Candad
Ferris E. Shaheen, Abilene, Texas
Ann N. Shaheen, Abilene, Texas
Adeeb Saad, Van Nuys, California
John Sajem, Atlanta, Georgia
Lyla (Mrs. Saleem) Andrews,
Holtsville, California
Alfred Deratny, Warren, Michigan
*
*$400.00 received after end of fiscal year.
(2) Archdiocese
Seminarian Fund
Ivan and Helen Abdouch, Omaha, Nebraska
Dr. Norman Bsharah, Charleston, W. Va.
E.S.P. Farah, Beaumont, Texas
Ann Gabreal, Omaha, Texas
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
�Edward Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
In Memorium, Julia Shahda
Alfred Sununu, Detroit, Michigan
Anonymous Priest
St. Mary's Sunday School, Omaha, Nebraska
100.00
1,040.00
100.00
450.00
15.00
(3) St. Vladimir's Seminary
Robert Andrews, Los Angeles, California
Juanita Dowd, Worcester, Massachusetts
George Farris, El Paso, Texas
In Memorium, Fred Geha
George G hiz, Phoenix, Arizona
Rudy George, Parma, Ohio
Edward J. Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
Elias Metry, Detroit, Michigan
William Rouady, Washington, D.C.
$7,500.00
50.00
100.00
150.00
250.00
100.00
100.00
10.00
100.00
(4) Project Loving Care
$ 135.00
John Ameer, Ridgewood, New Jersey
250.00
George G hiz, Phoeniz, Arizona
1,000.00
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
200.00
Edward Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
500.00
Monsour Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Anonymous
100.00
George Karakos, Atlanta, Georgia
Monsour Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Robert Laham, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Rose Merhige, Miami, Florida
Adam Mosier, Waterloo, New York
John Wawee, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Edward Zrake, Brooklyn, New York
100.
100,
I
2.
so.,
2.
25.
25.
$1,000.00
100.00
450.00
for College Students who are parishi
of St. Nicholas Cathedral, of Los Angeles, California one
COME,MOTHERS, TO THE EMPTY TOMB"
What is a mother, I ask you,
Is it the pangs of birth in this world askew?
Or is it the normal flow of evolution,
That brings with it a change, a revolution?
No, a mother is the love akin to GOD,
That HE so chose, by his calculated nod,
A love that springs forth ever eternal,
And spreads its cosmic seeds universal.
It is a love that supercedes all pain,
It is a love that conquers all strain,
A love that cannot be fully measured now,
But only a love that a HOLY GOD can endow.
(6) For NAC SOYO and Teen SOYO
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
forNACSOYO
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
for Teen SOYO
$2,000.00
1,000.00
(7) The Needy Within The Patriarchate
Scholarship for Needy Students - Lebanon
(from Sam Hamra, Sr. Fund)
$2,000.00
Archdiocese of Zahle, Lebanon
In Memory of Saleem Andrews
from Robert Andrews, Los Angeles, California
1,000.00
Charitable Institutions in Syria
From Dr. J. Touma, Huntington, W. Va.
750.00
Archdiocese of Tripoli, Lebanon
From George Nasif, Hollywood, Calif.
200.00
John Ameer, Ridgewood, N .J.
25.00
(8) Jacqueline Shaker Memorial Fund
Mrs. Mary Shaker, Ridgewood, N.J.
John Ame er, Ridgewood, N .J.
Miscl.
(9) Special Contributions for the WORD
($25.00 and over)
George Abodeely, Worcester, Massachusetts
Michael Abodeely, Worcester, Massachusetts
Robert Andrews, Los Angeles, California
Dr. Norman Bsharah, Charleston, W. Va.
George Farris, El Paso, Texas
George Ghiz, Phoenix, Arizona
Rudy George, Parma, Ohio
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
Edward Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
Page 14
$100.00
25.00
10.00
$100.00
25.00
* 148.00
100.00
25.00
100.00
100.00
1,000.00
100.00
h mily by father james c. meena
* Subscriptions
( 5) Missionary Fund
Albert Joseph, Chicago, Illinois
Edward Kassab, Detroit, Michigan
Anonymous Priest
LIFESTYLES X
Yes, a mother is all that and more,
Like a battery being charged from GOD'S holy store,
Thru faith, thru prayer, and never ending hope,
She manages each crises and is able to cope.
A mother is the link between heaven and earth,
And GOD has given her this duty of birth,
For HE so loved HIS work of creation,
That HE gave to mothers the birth of nations.
Our HOLY GOD has blessed their work,
Our HOLY SAVIOR has raised them from this earth,
The HOLY SPIRIT has guided them to everlasting life,
Leaving behind all this evil strife.
Mother, you have entered into wisdom supreme,
You can surely fathom the words of my dream,
The love that you have given with abundance and ease,
Has ascended to GOD, who is very pleased.
The crown of LIFE is your eternal reward,
Your life was full and with GOD'S accord,
We await the day for our SAVIOR'S return,
To be with you forever, is our chief concern.
To you mother, who has held your faith so dear,
Always embracing the blessed SAVIOR so near,
Regardless of all your faults and I'm sure no vice,
OUR LORD, this day, has placed you in paradise.
WOODROW A. HASBA )
El Paso, Texas
TheWor
FL SHBACK - Christmas ~s a . time wh~n w~ a~e
·nded that had it been God s desire to rescmd Hts gift
r m1
h
b
•
f free will and choice, He would not ,ave_been om man
b ure cave, hidden from the worlds view. Rather, He
w uld have shown Himself in magnifice~t glo~y, in a
manner by which no one c~ul~ have demed Him, t~us
aking back His gift and adm1ttmg to an error . . . which
1
annot be a part of God. So, it appears, in the case of the
Re urrection. Jesus did not burst forth from the tomb so
hat the whole world could marvel at His power over
death, for this would have had the same effect of
t: cinding free will and choice.
His resurrection was
almost as quiet and as limited in its exposure as was His
ativity.
He revealed the Resurrection
first to the MyrrhB aring women by showing them the empty tomb. The
first persons to be made aware of the Resurrection could
not believe what they saw and heard. Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices
with which to anoint and preserve the body of their
beloved Master. One of them had been among the most
corrupt of women and had been cleansed by Jesus (Mark
16:9), yet she became one of His most faithful disciples
and Mary Magdelene was the first to kneel at the feet of
the Resurrected Lord. It was in that moment that the
women of the world, formerly subject in all things, were
hown to be liberated and made spiritually equal to men.
While we read in Genesis 3:16 that woman was placed
under the lordship of man, in the ministry of Christ we
witness a change of attitude and an equalizing of the
relationship between men and women. Disciples were
oved equally, gender notwithstanding, without nullifying
the natural differences between them. And Jesus made an
especially empathetic case for those who would become
His women disciples when He chose women to bear the
glad tidings to the Apostles.
In Orthodox Churches,
and especially in our
A~tiochian Churches, women of the faith have paid
tnbute to these Myrrh-Bearers by striving to follow their
examples of love for Christ in the service of His Holy
Body, the Church. Many of our Church Societies bear
their name. These are the women to whom we refer as our
isters in Christ, women who always bless and grace our
congregations not only by their service, but by their pious
prayers also.
The people of the United States pay tribute to mothers
annually. We Americans who are Orthodox Christians pay
a ~~uble tribute, to the mothers of our flesh and to our
pintual mothers, our Myrrh-Bearing
Women. We
acknowledge them with homage and gratitude in behalf of
a~lwho benefit by their loving ministrations, and not only
t ose who still serve and respond to every call of the
Church, who work joyously in a labor of love for the Body
of their Master, The Church . . . not only all those
mothers who live and move among us now, but those who
have fallen asleep before us in the sure hope of the
Resurrection unto life eternal . . . all the mothers who are
known to God because they stand as shining examples of a
willingness to give without thought of receiving.
Having paid proper tribute to them, let me now turn to
those who stand by idly on the perimeter of dedication
... who are content to be only mothers of the flesh but
who give nothing to being spiritual mothers . . . There are
areas of our mission to which you also may bear sweetsmelling spices of service with which to preserve the Body
of Christ, areas that are a part of our Christian concerns in
which every woman may find fulfillment. So much that
can and must be done . . . to visit the sick, to teach the
young, to spread the Word ... and so much that cannot
be done without the active blessings and involvement of
our spiritual mothers in each parish.
I would normally be sad on Mothers' Day, having lost
my earthly mother some years ago, were it not for my
conviction that in the Family of God, among our faithful
sisters in Christ, a maternal spirit exists and provides many
surrogate mothers who extend the earthly love of my own
mother and preserve in me the spirit of love for God
which she instilled in me while she lived in the flesh, which
love abides always within that Family of God so long as
our spiritual mothers function.
I pray that each of you, mothers young and old, will
always visit the empty tomb of our Savior with the MyrrhBearing Women to anoint the Body of Jesus against mortal
decay, only to find Him not among the dead but among
the living.
May,1977
Page 15
�ARCHITECTURAL
COMMISSION
DEPARTMENT
OF SACRED
MUSIC
CHANTERS (SOLOISTS)
FOR ORTHODOX MUSIC
CONCERN FOR ELDERLY HOUSING
by raymond georg)
Are our Liturgical Choirs enough to accomplish the
necessary
music that is demanded by our many and
complex services? ...
The answer to this question is
certainly "no". Because of the many special hymns that
are used once a year or some at the most twice a year it
has become necessary to take a good look at our young
soloists and start to prepare them for this great task. It is
no secret that we have lost many good voices to other
churches where they are given a chance to apply their
skill. We are confronted with a real problem and the time
is getting closer when we will no longer have chanters who
are capable of doing what is needed. The professional
work that was put into the Byzantine Projects, the "Great
Vespers" and the "Matins" by Mr. Basil Kazan are now
crying for someone to put them to use. People who have
been trained to sing or who read music and have a good
voice are first-class candidates for replacing a shrinking
breed of chanters. The word Chanter and the word Soloist
in my mind is one and the same, the byzantine chants as
they are often referred to are really byzantine melodies
and in this western world soloists are the answer. I cannot
overstate the challenge that exists and how anxious I am
to hear the interpretations
that these melodies will be
given by our young people here in North America. I have
been exposed to some renditions over the years and have
found them to be very appealing and very meaningful. The
soloists who have sung some of these Troparia and
Kontakia found them to be very challenging and enjoyed
singing them. Parishioners have accepted them and also
find them very meaningful because they understand them.
This transition can be accomplished in a very smooth
manner but we must give it our very best. There are many
ways to do this and the soloist idea is only one. These
monophonic
melodies can be sung by an entire Choir,
male voices, female voices, trios or quartets. The object
at this time is to start training people to continue the
dedicated
work of our present chanters. They could
currently sing with the present chanters using the newly
published Vesper and Matin services picking up much
valuable information, a sort of on-the-job training.
We hope to make cassette tapes available on the
Vesper and Matin music, thus enabling these young
people to have some idea of what is expected. It _still
remains a creative project because of interpretation,
quality of voice and individualism. One thing that we are
Mr. George is the Chairman of the Department
Church in Detroit, Michigan.
Page 16
now assured of, since !he music and notes are no
recorded on paper we will not have so many variatio
There is an established melody line and we are sure t:a
Mr. Kazan has captured the authentic. We are no
waiting for our good voices to come forth and sing the
melodies.
USE OF ARCHDIOCESE MATERIALS
of Sacred Music th 1
the Regional Chairmen will find time during tb •
workshops to devote to the use of all materials mad•
available by the Archdiocese. It is surprising that man} f
our Choirs do not know what materials are available. Th
regional chairman should be prepared to explain the u e
of the Choir Director's Guide, and most especially Secti
2 which deals with variations in the Liturgy. All materi
should be discussed and explained, such as the Vesper
Services in the eight tones, the Matin Services in the eigh
tones, the use of the Great Friday Service and the Grea
Rush and Resurrection Service, the Hymns of Praisea·
yes, even the Three Divine Liturgies that were prepared
by the late Professor Michael Hilko. The yellow b
published by the Archdiocese that contains three Divin
Liturgies should be a must for beginning or small Choir.
The department
is now taking a look at prepan
something that will guide the regional Chairmen
presenting
a workshop based on materials availa;
through your own Archdiocese, however we are sure tha
our current chairmen are capable to present some sort o
workshop that will cover this subject until a more ex·
tensive format can be written. I have found that manyo
our Choirs still need basic help in service procedure
what things are available to expedite some of th
Liturgical variations and where these things can be found
Some of our much newer Choirs need a starting place ano
as mentioned above there is no better place than the Hilk
work.
Any Regional Chairman who is having a problem tn
regards to Choir Workshops can contact the Sacred Mu 1_
Department for advice and I am sure that we can be
great service to many Choirs. Let us hear from yo
Contact: Mr. Raymond George
Dept. of Sacred Music
2222 W oodingham
Troy, Michigan 48084
It is the hope of the Department
of Sacred Music of the Archdiocese and Choir Master of the st • Geo
The Vr d
dequate housing for the elderly is getting _~ore acute
·h ear. It is a proven fact that humans are 11vmg 1onger
he ranks of the elderly is getting larger. In the
I ,e~o
• th
u t 21 per cent of the popu. 1at10n
• 1s
• 55
ensus
. y_ears o f age
J Ider. A great portion of t~1s_gro~p ts m _need of
1
h u ing. Consider t~ose t~~t are hvmg with relat~v~s a~d
fe I they are an 1mpos1tton; ~h<;>se!hat are hvmg m
• dequate housing because of hm1ted mcome; those that
1
:e in need of better living conditions, but are too proud
1 sk; those that are alone.
\,e also seem to have overlooked the fact that
ltl ough during these days of high inflation most inco_mes
ha, t: mcreased to some degree, but not for those o~ ft~ed
inc mes; making ends meet for these persons 1s imp ible. Let's con_sider ~hat _can be don~ for them,
pe ially in housmg which 1s an effective area of
tance and a major expense.
In recent years, numerous requests have been received
b\ me as to the availability of government housing
p~ogramsfor the elderly. Unfortunately, we have had over
( ur ears of restricted federal funding caused by former
Pr ident ixon's building moratorium
(which many
riuc believe was the instrumental cause of the recent
ce ion.)
In 1973 moratorium stopped federal money for most
1bidized building programs, such as the Elderly Housing
1ng others. There is every reason to believe that
President Carter will be lifting that moratorium
to
·1mulatethe economy, especially in the building industry.
In o doing, the funds that were allocated in the last admmi tration are still available and can be released
romptly without congressional action.
Those close to HUD and various local housing
uthorities believe that the former programs on subsidies
lo low income and elderly housing will have few changes,
therefore, enabling the programs to move ahead prom,J.
?uring the turmoil of high unemployment and inna11onthese past years, we have been so busy with our
n problems that we have overlooked a problem that has
e 1 ted for many years - housing our elderly. Inflation in
•
.I~e bUl·1a·
mg industry
has been staggering to the point that
1
H_ ~lmost impossible to build elderly housing with rents
, thm the reach of the elderly without federal assistance.
1. bring this information to your attention because of
~heInterest of some church parishes in providing housing
or It elderly people.
d
e strongly recommend that if there is an active
. ire by your church council NOW is the time to get
invol ed. Exactly how much funds Carter will add to this
existing program is not known; but we do know it will be
on a first-come first-serve basis. Which means, get your
feasibility study (proposal) done and organize your information for early filing, remembering that filing does
not commit you to anything, except putting your name on
a "list" and leaving you the right to withdraw, if you wish,
when your request comes up.
Federal funding programs generally work the same
way: you acquire the property; obtain your financing; and
construct your building. Then the government will subsidize an amount to reduce the interest rate to 1 per cent,
then assist the elderly renter an amount sufficient to
allow you to charge a market rental.
Review your requirements now. Organize a special
committee to assemble the necessary data. The property is
the key, i.e., church owned property adjacent to the
church, a vacant site, or a new site. Determine how many
units would serve your needs. Perhaps you wish to use the
hall in conjunction with the housing units, and who will
manage the facility, etc. This can be accomplished with a
church organization
acting as a non-profit sponsor,
recognizing its interest in furnishing adequate housing for
the aged, thus, becoming the non-profit sponsor.
If you prefer, send me a plot plan of your property
showing existing buildings and obstructions, then a feasibility study for your consideration can be arranged by me.
Housing for the elderly should not have that institutional appearance, but should create a pleasing environment. The design should endeavor to attain an atmosphere of simplicity and safety. Include a central
lounge and other social and recreational spaces, such as
library, hobby room, and perhaps exercise rooms.
Our elderly have been very patient and undemanding
of us ... NOW, the challenge is given to you.
The Architectural
Commission will be meeting on
Wednesday of the Archdiocese
Convention
Week in
Washington, D.C., with your assigned parish representatives.
If enough interest is shown in these programs by the
parishes of the Archdiocese,
I would be delighted to
include this topic in the departmental
meeting on
Wednesday, and may be able to invite governmental
experts in HUD programs to meet with us.
So please do not delay your action.
Louis Courey - Architect
Chairman
Archdiocese Architectural
1374 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Commissiont
iay.19 7
Page 17
�Washington
THREE WAYS
Welcon1es You
A journey to Washington, D.C. holds the promise of
many opportunities to visit monuments, to wander about
innumerable museums, to travel up Embassy Row, to
catch a glimpse of famous political figures while visiting
the White House and the Congress. But for those Antiochian Orthodox Christians who gather in Washington for
our 32nd Annual Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Convention, this week will be a very special time. A time
not just for visiting places but for being with people. A
time for renewing old acquaintances, making new friends,
seeing new sights, but most of all for renewing the spirit of
Christ in our lives. All our spiritual fathers will be here:
Our Patriarch, His Beatitude, ELIAS IV, Metropolitan
PHILIP, Metropolitan !LYAS, Archbishop MICHAEL,
Bishop ELIA and all the priests of our Archdiocese. Our
faith will be bringing us together and each morning at
Liturgy and each evening at Vespers we will reaffirm that
religious bond.
The visit of His Beatitude ELIAS IV, to Ameri a'
Capital city, will be the first time in history that th
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East will ha e ev r
visited and- celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Washingt
D.C. To mark this historic occasion, the conven!t
committee at St. George Church, your host parish for 1..
32nd Annual Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdioce ..
Convention, has been hard at work putting together
varied program of educational, recreational, social a:id
spiritual activities to make your convention week in
Washington a week to remember.
Check the Savings
ADULT
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Hospitality Night kicks off a week of unprecedented activities for adults and youth. You ar
invited to this official reception and cocktail party to meet with old friends and make new one.
Arabic entertainment with Washington's own Fred Hassan, Eugene Slyman, and David Farrah
will follow.
Tuesday
His Beatitude, ELIAS IV, will hold a General Audience for government officials, the diplornati
community and you. Be blessed by the beautiful voices of the Washington Orthodox Choirs. The
Patriarch will bestow Patriarchal Awards to an outstanding layman. Please remember to dre in
a proper manner for this occasion. The evening will be completed with Arabic entertainmeni b
Fred Hassan, Eugene Slyman and David Farrah.
Wednesday
Antiochian Convention Night at the Kennedy Center with a gala performance
Seats are limited - act now and avoid disappointment.
Friday
The incomparable Hanaan at the Grand Hafli accompanied by Emil Kassis, George Shaheen
Hakki Obadia, John Mirhige, Nadim Dlaikan, Mohamed El Akkad.
Saturday
Grand Banquet and Ball - His Beatitude, ELIAS IV, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, the
164th successor to the Throne of Saints Peter and Paul will be the main speaker. Following the
banquet and climaxing the week's evening activities will be the Grand Ball with the Ambassador·
one of Washington's finest orchestras.
Sunday
Matins and Patriarchal Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Beatitude, ELIAS IV, His Eminenc~,
Metropolitan Philip; His Eminence, Metropolitan Ilyas; His Eminence, Archbishop Michael; Hi
Grace, Bishop Elia; and the Clergy of the Archdiocese. The Patriarchal Divine Liturgy, a. ~II
liturgical services, will be celebrated in the specially designed chapel for the Patriarch's "1 11•
Choir members from throughout the Archdiocese will sing the responses to the Divine L~tur..,'.
The Patriarchal Divine Liturgy will be the highlight of the 32nd Annual Antiochian Archctioce e
Convention of North America, an event YOU should not miss.
TheW
Early
Bird
Book
N/C
.00
Sir~gl<>
Book
Single
Ticket
Early
Bird
Single
Ticket
fonday
Hospitality Night
N/C
4.00
5.00
N/C
N/C
Tuesday
Official Reception
4.00
5.00
10.00
N/C
N/C
Square Dance
3.00
4.0
Ved.
Kennedy Center
Helen Reddy in
Concert
15.00
15.00
15.00
15.00
15.00
Disco Night
4.00
5.00
7 .0(
T ursday Arabic Cultural
Festival
7.00
9.00
15.00
N/C
N/C
Dance & Breakfast
8.00
9.00
1 2.(
Friday
6.00
7.00
15.00
N/C
N/C
Teen Hafli
5.00
.00
.(
Grand Banquet
21.00
22.00
25.00
21.00
25.00
Grand Ball
5.00
58.00
7.00
69.00
10.00
95.00
NLC
N/C
40.00
Teen Ball
36.00
5.00
25.00
7.00
34.00
aturday
TOTAL
Arabic Cultural Festival - a three-hour musical and drama production featuring Hanaan, The
Arabic Folklore Ensemble of Pittsburgh and well-known musicians from the U.S. and Canada.
TEEN
CLERGY
Early
Bird
by Helen Redd,.
Thursday
Page 18
'·
on Early Bird Specials.
Event
enmg
Monday
of the Adult Activity Book (or $22 off the price ?f t~e
Teen Activity Book) is available. However, to obtam_ t~s
discount
you must register and purchase your Actl_ ity
Book before June 1st. The schedule listed ?elow outh~e
the full complement
of social entertamment
bemg
planned for the convention.
.
the greatest flexibility in planning for your
'f gi e Yh~ut O n the convention committee has put
.
Was mg
,
•
y
lrtP to
ys for you to go to the convent10n.
ou
h
three
wa
.
I er ase "Individual Tickets" for the various eve?ts
l
n P.~:/ ular Activity Book" for all scheduled evemng
r
g .
But for those of you who plan ahead, a
•1 I functions.
1
•
.
"E I Bird" discount of $37 off the regu ar pnce
pe ial ar y
Convention week in Washington will be b th
religi~us experience a1;1da hist~ry-making event. Com l
W ashmgton and see history bemg made again in thi fi
year of our Nation's third century - this Antiochian H 1
Year 1977.
•
TO GO
Grand Hafli
Event
Hospitality
Night
rick<:>t
>
.00
.0 )
10.
l7.0(
)
Italicizeditems are separate Teen events.
EARLY BIRD PRICES VOID AFfER
JUNE 1st
Tickets will only be sold to those persons who have paid their $3.00 registration fee.
Te~ns wishing to attend the HELEN REDDY Concert and the Grand BanquPt may purcha
tickets which will be honored at all TEEN events.
Even for th
f
nl~a
. ose O you who may be planning to go to
1
E;rly;i;~,!ion ~f _the events planned, it pays to buy the
e co
. Activity book. For example, if you come to
lb rsdnve~i?n and purchase individual tickets for the
ayinga~'s. ~~?/nd Sat~rd,~y e_vening affairs, you will be
Early Bird pnce of ALL events is only
}, 1977
an adult
o >k uf
$58. This $58 price includes a ticket t th Helen R dd ,
Concert at the Kennedy Center on W dne da
\ nm;_
PLAN AHEAD. Purchase
your "Earl
Bird;.
tivit:
Book before June 1, 1977.
A re~i~tration fee of $3.00 is a prerequi ite for purcha
of Activity Books or Individual Ticket .
�North American
·
uch as clearing up problems with Eastern
Other topics
· t s chapter assessments, NAC De 1egates to
s,
Re 1• n proJeC
ct·
e Convention "Spread the W or d" , c h ap t er
h 10ces
'
•
the _r .
monthly reports from chapter presidents
t1tut1ons,
•
n
·ttee chairmen
and the settmg up o f a
d
comm1
'
.
0 .
•
committee were discussed.
n rni_nati1i°g
there was much discussion on the Eastern
~ma { · h Life Conference
to be held in Seven
1
Re_ion p:~ ~n July 6-10. His Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV
prtng ' . •t·ng us at the Conference. We as Orthodox
II be v1s11
•
" 1
fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity
y uth are . Beatitude v1s1t
..
our country. The Conference
I ha e His
.
. . 1
•
Id ove to be a rewardmg sp1ntua expenence.
h u pr
Rick Ferris
Council
SOYO
Digtst
News and Views
WESTERN REGION SOYO
St. Nicholas Church, San Francisco, hosted a most
successful Western Region Delegates' Meeting, Feb. 1113.
Delegates from throughout the Region arrived in the
"City by the Bay" on Friday evening, and were greeted at a
welcome reception held in the Church Auditorium. Old
friends embraced and talked about good times. New
friends were introduced. An excitement lit the room
igniting an enthusiastic mood for the days to follow.
'
The business meeting began Saturday morning and
carried on into late afternoon. Committee, Chapter, and
Officers' reports were shared. The SOYO Chapter at St.
Michael's, Van Nuys, reported that it held a (are you
ready for this) "Teeter-Totter Marathon." They teetertottered continuously for more than 80 hours, raising
$2,000, which will help pay toward St. Michael's mortgage.
A _dynamic Senior SOYO Spiritual Adviser's Message
was given by Father Gregory Ofiesh. Fr. Ofiesh outlined
n~~ p~ograms for the 1977 year, which included: A prison
v1S1tatlon program, and a series of seminars dealing with
contemporary problems young people face in America
today. He also stressed the importance and significance of
the visit of His Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV, to all SOYO
Parish Life Conferences in 1977.
Mr. Dick Tamoush, Chairman of the SOYO Conference '77, flew in Saturday from Los Angeles to deliver
an extensive report on the annual gathering.
Father Anthony Scott, Parish Priest of St. George's in
Portland, Oregon, presented what had to be one of the
highlights of the Meeting, a slide presentation on the
SOYO Conference spot for 1978. He joked as slides of an
ice skating rink, men holding newly caught fish, and a
blurred aerial view of the city of Portland flashed on the
s~reen. Randomly mixed with these aesthetically-pleasing
pieces of photo art, flashed pictures of the SOYO Conference spot, the luxurious Thunderbird Hotel.
The Meeting was adjourned and a closing prayer was
given by Fr. Elias Bitar, Assistant Parish Priest at St.
Nic~olas Cathedral in Los Angeles. Teen SOYO Spiritual
Adviser Fr. John Ocana led a very provocative session on
"Dating" to end the afternoon.
The 40 Delegates in attendance were housed by the
local church parishioners. At the conclusion of Fr.
Ocana's session, the Delegates went to their assigned
homes for dinner. Later, they returned to the Church
Center for a "Disco Dance," hosted by "Disco Duke."
At about 10:00 p.m. everyone filed into the Church
Auditorium to participate in the Region's 1st Annual
Page 22
Youth Rally. The Delegates were split into two tea
North and South, and played games similar to th:s.
played in Television's own "Battle of the Network Stars_,,se
Sunday, after the Divine Liturgy, the second half of th
Youth Rally and picnic were staged at Gear/
Christopher Park. A come-from-behind surge by the North
was just a bit too much for the South to handle, as the
South lost its grip on the tug-of-war rope and gave wayto
the North team. The final score was 86-82. The North\.\:
awarded the Perpetual Trophy, which the North team
captain shall keep until the next Youth Rally.
The originator of the event hopes it will be implemented as a regular part of all future SOYO Regional
Meetings.
All the SOYO Delegates left San Francisco with ne\l
information, a re-charged enthusiasm, and anticipation
the next time all shall be together. That's what it's all
about!
Michael Habeeb-Senior SOYO Presiden
Barbara Dibs-Teen SOYO President
EASTERN REGION TEEN SOY0
The Eastern Region Teen SOYO Spring Delegate
Meeting was held in Washington D.C. on March 18-20.
Teen SOYO had a long and productive meeting that was
very well attended. A total of 33 delegates representing 14
Chapters were present at the meeting. Here are a fe\\
highlights:
It was decided to adopt the proposed budget for the
1976-77 year. This will be the first time that Eastern
Region Teen SOYO has worked under the restraints of a
budget.
Rules have been created for judging the most active
chapter award. In the past, the judging of the most active
chapter was based on the Scrapbook entries at the Parish
Life Conference. It was decided that the Lay and Spiritual
Advisers judge the chapters according to their spirit~al
involvement, communication,
social awareness, charity,
and projects, with spiritual involvement being weigh~d
heaviest. This gives smaller chapters an opportunity to wm
the award.
At the meeting, the Format Committee (JohnstoW~,
Pa.) distributed the new guideline booklets. The booklet 1
to be a guide in helping chapters when writing minutes,
letters, and reports.
The Word
''CHRISTIANITY MAKES US
A DIFFERENT PEOPLE-HOW?"
, am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh
1
unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6). Just as our Creed
"Jesus came down from heaven for us men and our
tat es,
1 d h
·1· •
l tion." He suffered the most crue an
um1 iatmg
. v;h on the cross and bore our sins in His body in order
;at His shed blood might be a covering for our sins. We
1
:uld be declared holy and righteous in God's sight, if we
wouldreceive Him as our Lord and Savior.
When Christ comes to live within us, we become whole
and those people who have not found Jesus, live in a void;
hey 1 e with confusion and inner co~flict. Tho~e who_ar:e
b ptized are reborn so they ..may begm a new h!:· Th•~ ts
tated in Galatians 5:20: I have been crucified with
Chr'st, and I live not my own life, but with the life of Christ
who lives within me." Thus, Christ lives in us and His Holy
pirit teaches us so that we may live a good Christian life,
I mg, and worshipping the Holy Trinity. "Therefore, if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new." ((II
Corinthians 5: 17). When we commit our lives to Christ and
He comes to live in our hearts and lives, He comes into
our personalities.
As Christians we receive many fruits of the Holy Spirit,
uch as victory over sin, strength, courage, and God's
ove. We receive material blessings. True peace of mind
and comfort from God in our daily problems makes us a
differentperson.
I will always be grateful for being a member of God's
Holy Family. With Him as my Heavenly Father, I will
never be alone. Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you, always",
and"I will never leave you nor forsake you.
DEBORAHCOREY, a 12th grader at St. Elias Church in
Toledo, Ohio (Midwest) won first place in the NAC
CreativeWriting Contest.
"CHRISTIANITY
MAKES
US
A DIFFERENT PEOPLE-HOW?"
'Yhen a person is baptized into Christianity, he
receives
fa . . "gt•ft s" w h"1ch no other religions have. From this
f ct 1t is possible to interpret Christianity as being diferent from other religions.
The greatest of these spiritual gifts is "Love." This is
stated in the thirteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians. God's
gift of love never divides Christians. It _o~ly breaks down
barriers between them and draws Chnsttans together to
worship our Lord. This supernatural ~o~e - Christ's love
- should be seen in every real Chnsttan. (John 3: 16-18
says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His onlybegotten Son ... ".) So, because God the Father loved us
so much that He sacrificed His only Son on the Cross, we
Christians, as His children, should willingly obey our God
out of loving, thankful hearts.
.
Secondly, as members of His Holy Family, we are
God's children. This is mentioned in the Book of John.
"But as many as received Him, Jesus, to them gave He
power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His name." Other people who are not of the
Christian faith, do not have Christ in them. But it is said,
when Christians are baptized, they have put on Christ and
Christ lives within them.
One more fact of importance is that as God's children,
we receive the promise of eternal salvation. When our
parents die, we may inherit their estate. It follows
therefore, that Jesus died for us so we may receive His
eternal inheritance.
This is prophesied
in the ninth
chapter of Hebrews .
Being a Christian does not make you better than the
next person or put you higher on the social scale. But, it
does have a spiritual difference which separates the
Christian from people of other religious persuasions.
GEORGE SHEMAS, an 11th grader at St. Elias Church in
Toledo, Ohio (Midwest) won first place in the NAC
Creative Writing Contest.
CEOYLA
(continued from page 21)
Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. A Public Relations
Officer is appointed.
The timely significance of CEOYLA is that of considering the current issues and needs which have great
implications for the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is
indicative of the consideration given to "the three most
important needs for Orthodox teenagers and how each
organization
can meet these needs" as the topic for
discussion at the Fall 1972 and Spring 1973 meetings. And
in 1975, major concern centered on the great need for
inter-Orthodox
activities at the local and regional levels.
The Council endeavors to offer assistance to the Eastern
Orthodox Church through the cooperative efforts of the
various Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions.
For further information contact:
Dr. Stephen Sivulich
465 College Station
Easton, Penna. 18042
Plan to attend CEOYLA's "Festival of Orthodoxy" in
Pittsburgh on Saturday, September 3, 1977 at the
Civic Arena.
May,1977
Page 23
�Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations
MIDWEST
Communities In Action
REGION
30th Annual Parish Life Conference
ST. MICHAEL OF LOUISVILLE, KY.
ANTIOCHIANORTHODOX
CHRISTIANARCHDIOCESE
HOSTPARISH:ST. GEORGE
ORTHODOXCHURCH• 2760 EASTGRANDBLVD.,DETROIT,Ml. 48m
Situated in the center of Detroit's spectacular new Renaissance Center, the 73
story Detroit Plaza Hotel will be the
headquarters
for the 1977 and also 30th
Anniversary
of the Midwest Region
Parish Life Conference June 22-26, 1977.
ROOM RATES: SINGLE $32.00, TWIN
2 persons, 2 beds, $38.00, DOUBLE 2
persons,
1 bed $38.00. Send all reservations to the DETROIT PLAZA HOTEL - reservation dept. Renaissance Center Detroit, Mich. 48243 or
phone (313) 568-8000.
The Conference will open Wednesday evening with
THE GONG SHOW featuring acts of SOYO members
from the region.
Thursday morning His Beatitude ELIAS IV Patriarch
of Antioch and all the East will arrive in Detroit. All
Business Meetings will also begin Thursday morning and
continue thru the day. That evening the St. George Choir,
Detroit, under the direction of Ray George, will take you
on a nostalgic trip into the musical past. This will be a real
fun night of snacks and a musical show that will take you
from the great New York shows of the past and present.
You will hear songs from Oklahoma, South Pacific,
Camelot, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, The Music Man
and also Fiddler on the Roof. A memory trip you won't
want to miss and a real fun night for all conventioneers.
See you at THE CABARET!
Friday after Divine Liturgy we will have the Oratorical
Presentations.
TOPIC:
GREAT
SAINTS OF THE
CHURCH OF ANTIOCH AND THEIR MESSAGE FOR
TODAY. Friday afternoon schedule is Catechism Bowl,
Vespers and evening HAFLI, featuring international star
TONY HANNA and his band.
AOCWNA-The
women of the Midwest are looking
forward to doing their share to make this Conference a
memorable one for all. In addition to all the marvelous
events planned for the whole family, from Wednesday
evening through Saturday night, the highlight of the week
for the women will be Friday, a luncheon with His
Beatitude,
Patriarch
ELIAS IV, Metropolitan
Philip,
Archbishop Michael and other Hierarchs. It will be a
luncheon with excellent food, lovely surroundings, and
good company. The Midwest AOCWNA will have their
business meeting on Thursday June 23, 1977 from 12:005:00 p.m.
Saturday morning Divine Liturgy will be followed by
Awards Brunch, all SOYO winners will receive awards
from His Beatitude, Metropolitan Philip and Archbishop
Michael.
This includes creative writings, arts, etc.
Numerous workshops are scheduled in the afternoon: also
Choir Festival, Vespers and Grand Banquet.
Judge
George N. Bashara will be the Master of Ceremonies at
the Banquet. The ONLY speaker at the Banquet will be
His B_eatitude Patriarch ELIAS IV. Following the Ban
we will h~ve the Grand Ball and Cotillion Showcase.
Co-eds will bow before and be presented to His Beatit d
Metropolitan Philip and Archbishop Michael to the m~ •
of GREGG PURCOTT and ORCHESTRA, featun·
singer LISA BIRCH.
l
l,Ulll niglJts
TONY HANNA - better
known as the "GOLDEN
VOICE of the MIDDLE
EAST" will be the entertainer
for the Friday
evening HAFLI, entitled
"1,001 NIGHTS."
Tony is presently on a
performing
tour in the
United States and Canada.
Recently, in December of
76 Tony was the Guest Star
at the DANNY THOMAS
Testimonial Banquet in Las
Vegas. He has become a protege of Danny's, and ap·
peared December 17, 1976 at the Alladin Hotel in Vega
in the Middle East nite club.
Mr. Hanna is a TV and Recording star of Internation..
Stature. He is originally from Lebanon but his art took h
all over the world. He performed throughout the Middl
East, Europe, Africa, and America. He has also perform
at the Baalbeck International Festival.
His show is a great deal out of the ordinary. He plan
his programs himself from start to finish; this include
light comedy and choreography.
...
~
We would like to introduce an exciting entertainmen
band named MELTING POT ... Music that cooks wll
soul . . . from disco grooves to mellow moves.• • •
special dance for the young at heart followmg th
Saturday evening Co-ed Presentation Ball. This group h .
performed in clubs in Canada and just completed a tour •
Texas and other parts. They have also played at numerous
cabarets, disco parties and concerts.
The following are Adult and Teen Prices (book and tn·
dividual) for all events.
ADULT BOOK - $42.00 plus $3.00 registration fee.
TEEN BOOK - $29.00 plus $3.00 registration fee.
(continued on page 27)
Thew
Page 24
. ld like to take the time now to update the hap\\\ ~t t. Michael of Louisville through !he WOR~.
nt ~
tart back in August of 1976 with the assignLet me
y
nt f Fr. George Shaheen of Syracuse, N. . to
me . -11 and the transfer of Fr. Antony Beauchamp to
Ul \l e
.
a . As in every church and with each change of
M
11
Lrie\e t •there are mixed emot10n_s.
•
Th
• so mhu.ch 1ove,
. e~e 1s
n
respect
and
appreciation
m
our
et me group
mpa 1 e 'transition as an easy one. We miss
. F r. A ntony,
th
l en
•
h er
hi wife Patty and their• two beautI 'f u 1 sonsh, Ch rd1st<:>Ph
nd \1i hael. We appreciate the years they s are wit us
nd thank them and above all wish them good health and
m O fruitful years regardless of where they may be. God
le ·them!
Fr. George Shaheen came here, and as typical of our
• h was faced with the numerous activities already
p hed~led in addition to those not planned. However, his
miabt 1t , and qualifications enabled him to join in the
pur uit His spiritual obligations _were fulfilled firs!, _t~en
hi w1 dom simplified our promotmg the secular activ1ties.
F . George's lovely wife Marguerite, their four wonderful
hil 1., Christina, Lorraine, Michael and Freddy, cert inl added to the beauty of his coming. Immediately the
htl en joined their respective
organizations
and
participated in their activities, and Khoureyee Marguerite
a a sisting in the kitchen with the cooking and baking
and 'working with the Christmas Bazaar committee. The
Ch tmas Bazaar, a first for us, under the cormanship of Rosemary Simon and Nora Mike,
e ulted in a very successful function.
In eptember, 1976 Waj-el Hajar and Hamat, Lebanon
\\.ere invaded by the Leftist Group in a most savage and
eless Mid-Eastern war. Our parish was stung. The two
, 11lagesstruck were the native villages of the majority of
the parish. Something had to be done immediately for the
y ical survival and support of those in need in these
rucial times. With this in mind and the drive behind this
mportant cause, a competent committee was formed
nder the spiritual leadership of Fr. George Shaheen with
nthony Thomas as Chairman and Richard Meena as coha1rman. The whole Lebanese community and their
friendstook part in this most worthy cause. As means for
financial assistance a Banquet was planned for October
19,I?76. The Ladies Auxiliary prepared one of the most
ehc1~us meals for all to enjoy. Attendance
was to
~p~clt~ amongst whom were the greatest number of
digmtanes ever to assemble at one particular function
0
n ored at St. Michael Church. Some of them included
1
e Lt. Governor of Kentucky, the County Judge, the
fayer of Louisville, the Commonwealth Attorney, four
J dge from the Criminal Court Division and the Police
urt members of the Court of Appeals, three Senators
1
rom the State of Kentucky, the County Sheriff and
e~bers of the Board of Alderman. Representing the
1
·h' h Community was Rabbi Diamond and his wife.
er .d enommations
• •
were represented by their clergy.
Following
th e d'mner c h osen speakers gave their. bnef
.
f
Knobby Metry, Fr. George
Bishop Elia at banquet.
Shaheen,
Lee Farah and
deliveries concluding with Chairman Anthony Thomas,
who explained the tragic situation, bringing tears to the
eyes of all. He was given a standing ovation for his untiring
efforts in pursuing this well worth cause. We were then
assured by these prestigious dignitaries that whatever is
possible would be done for peace of mind and heart of all
those directly or indirectly involved. Thank God for all
who backed this dire needed cause which proved to be
THE AFFAIR OF OUR TIMES. A total of $25,354.50 wa
raised in those few short weeks. Congratulations
to this
outstanding Lebanese Relief Fund Committee consisting
of parishioners
and non-parishioners,
who not only
planned this beautiful affair, but also donated the entire
expenses of the food and entertainment.
May God grant
them and theirs and all who helped whether financially,
physically or spiritually, many, many years.
The Fall Style Show, which the Ladies Club sponsors
annually, was held three days before the Relief Fund
Banquet and was again a very enjoyable and profitable
occasion.
This brings us up to our annual St. Michael Day observance on November 5, 6 and 7, 1976. Knobby Metry, as
chairman of the entire weekend, revitalized interest and
enthusiasm, drawing the biggest crowd to attend in many
years.
The official beginning was the arrival of His Grace,
Bishop Elia on Friday evening, when he met informally
with the parishioners for a social evening. Saturday afternoon His Grace, with Fr. George and Eli Simon Jr.,
chairman of the Parish Council, visited the sick and
bereaved families of the parish. Saturday evening the
beautiful Vesper Service, attended by many, was officiated by His Grace and assisted by Fr. George Shaheen.
Following Vespers was the Hafli where Laurice Peters and
her ensemble performed to make it an unforgettable
evening. Need it be mentioned of the beauty transpired by
a .19 7
Page 25
�th~ Hi~rarchical Liturgy celebrated by His Grace, Bishop
Eha with Fr. George assisting on Sunday morning? GOD
GRANT THEM MANY, MANY YEARS!
Su~day evening t~e Grand Banquet was preceded by
a delightful cocktail hour and concluded with the
customary procedure of speakers, at which time His
Grace and Fr. George were made Kentucky Colonels quite an honor for two most deserving persons. The
'Auction of Roses' a tradition since the beginning of St.
Michael in 1934 was repeated this year. It is always difficult to find words to express the generosity, faithfulness
and determination of our parish, but this year exceeded
all. After supporting the Lebanese Relief Fund in October,
between the organizational and personal donations, the
profit for the Building Fund from the Auction of Roses
surpasses $107,000.00.
The annual parish Christmas Party was held December
18, 1976 at which time the Sunday School children
presented a most enjoyable Pageant. Closing the year 1976
a record attendance shared commemorating the Birth of
Christ with Fr. George celebrating the Divine Liturgy,
Wes tern Pennsylvania
Deanery
On March 12th St. George's Church of New Kensington, Pa. hosted a workshop for Sunday School
Teachers,
sponsored
by the Western Pennsylvania
Deanery. Dr. John Boojamra was the guest speaker.
More than twenty-five teachers and clergy attended
the workshop. The main topic of discussion was "lesson
planning and the curriculum." Worksheets and sample
lesson plans were given to the teachers. Dr. Boojamra
stressed that a lesson plan should have a student-oriented
approach. Sometimes we as teachers try to present too
much - too fast - in a limited amount of time! Every
lesson plan should also have a clearly stated aim and some
well defined objectives. All goals should aim toward the
ultimate integration of the child into the life of the Church
and the life of Christ in terms appropriate to his age. You
do not necessarily have to adopt the lesson aim in your
teacher's guide, but can and should adjust it to meet the
particular needs and interests of your students.
The quality of the teacher's life is important to the
students. Also, we as teachers should know something
about our students' background and their interests. Try to
make sure that they are wanted and comfortable in your
class. The "stage" we set in the classroom determines how
well they will learn. Remember an exciting teacher will
have an exciting class - a boring teacher a boring class.
Be enthusiastic - it's "catchy".
Of course, no lesson plan should end without an
evaluation. The children should always know what they've
learned. At the end of each lesson we can evaluate with
MIAMI, FLORIDA-THE
eral issues of interest to the young. The
s; answer session was truly educational and
u ti n _an
• h1ening.
·
•
nII
G d Banquet was held on Saturday evemng m
h H 11
ran the Church aud1tonum
• •
b
·f
11
was
eautl u y
h
da 'There was a total sell-out days in advance.
r te ·•hes J.oined St. George, hea d e db y t h elf• pastors:
• r pans
.
1 1 Rev. Peter Tayah, Our Lady of Lebano~ Maromte
1• h· Rt. Rev. John Haddad, St. Jude Melch1te Church;
hur e~ Rev. D. Mekras, St. Sorhia Greek Ortho~ox
nd h Mr. David Nimer, Chalfman of the Pansh
h r . • welcomed the record crowd. Very Rev. Michael
11
un 'thanked the Sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Pete Thomas
Hu ; Ladies' Society, with its President, Pearl Arida,
1
n: eoked the food. In his address, Archbishop Michael
ude; this great land of America, which made life for i_ts
1. •
0 worthwhile, and expressed hope that others m
JIIZ 0
lh world would some day reach the same levels of
bundance, freedom, and equality of Americans.
On unday morning, bright and sunny, the Cathedral
fll d up early for the Hierarchical Liturgy of the Sunday
Orthodoxy. St. George Choir chanted the responses of
the Liturgy of St. Basil, celebrated at this time of the year.
r hbishop Michael delivered the sermon on the use of
I i in Orthodoxy and thanked the choir for their harm nious responses. The Archbishop
called for more
humble workers in the Church, and cited the current
chairman of the Parish Council, David Nimer, cJ_san ideal
Churchman.
On Sunday evening, the Great Vespers for the Su~day
of Orthodoxy were held at the magnificent and spac10us
Church of St. Sophia. Twelve parishes of Florida and ni~e
priests assisted the Archbishop in an impressive worship
service and procession with the Icons.
Archbishop Michael spoke on "Orthodoxy's Great_est
Need in America." In a timely and thought-provokmg
appeal, the Archbishop called for a united Orthodox
Church in America, that would embrace all separate
national jurisdictions in the New World. Such a united
Church would grant Orthodoxy an equal voice to the three
other major religions in America, and put an end to
duplication of projects, waste, and last but not least the
plurality of projects in some areas and the lack of churches in other areas. Finally, a united Church in America
would adhere
to the economical
requirements
of
Orthodoxy, and end the scandalous violations of its own
rules and laws.
The Archbishop
predicted
a "Golden
Age" for
Orthodoxy,
once several million Americans
of the
Orthodox faith could speak with one voice, and the
Church could take a united stand on contemporary issues.
He seemed to be stressing the great need to be attuned to
the problems of this day and age.
Chris Husson
AtiochAndIts Patriarchate
visit his spiritual children in lands undreamt of when
his See was founded. In his presence will be seen and
heard and felt the presence of the Holy Apostles who
were his predecessors, a living witness to the perpetuity of the Patriarchate of Antioch, where the
disciples of Jesus were first called Christians.
1h
P
O
'r
(continued from page 6)
questions, discussions, and direct observations. Assign·
ments for the following week can also be given during thi
time. And don't forget the teacher evaluation! Was your
teaching aim accomplished? Were the students activel'
involved? Did your questions stimulate discussion?
During the afternoon session the curriculum wa
discussed. Curriculum is "the whole body" of experience
that composes a church's educational program. Dr.
Boojamra stated that curriculum is not just material .
People, relationships, environment, listening, exploration
planning, resources, discovery, training ... all contribute
to planned educational experiences.
The teachers would like to thank Dr. Boojamra and
the Western Pa. Deanery for sponsoring this very
enlightening and informative workshop. We feel sure that
those in attendance now know much more about lesson
planning and the curriculum.
Mary Lou Bitar
and fame, and rewarded the lands which received
th m. They in turn have not forgotten their origins
and traditions, so that in many ways their ancient
P triarchate is more vigorous than ever.
All of the ancient Patriarchates of the Orthodox
Christian Church have suffered great vicissitudes,
and in material ways are but a shadow of their
ormerselves; but their spiritual influence continues
er vast areas. They represent a most important
part of Christian civilization, an idea which cannot
be allowed to perish. Of all the Patriarchates, those
of the East, as well as that of Rome in the West
Antiochis undoubtedly the eldest in point of time a~
faras Christian organization is concerned. Rome on
theTiber_claimed Saints Peter and Paul as martyrs,
nd_special status for her Church, as being in the
capitalof the Empire; but Antioch did not make
martyr~of the Apostles - she listened to their
prea~hmgand let them organize their church. For
onsiderable periods of time, the Empire was
erned from Antioch, inasmuch as the Emperors
1
f ed there by preference. Even Constantine
the
?under of ~ew Rome, built a great church i~ Anioch, au<l hnked it with the imperial palace such
·as it •
'
~ l~portance in the world both secular and
I
cc esiastical in his day
Thi
•
rei . s year_ of 1977 will see the first visit of a
gmngPatnarch of Antioch to North America, to
°
CATHEDRAL OF ST. GEORGE
The St. George Cathedral was an overly-active
spiritual oasis during the weekend of February 25-27,
1977. The parish had planned its 24th Annual Banquet and
here to preside was the Auxiliary of the Archdiocese, His
Eminence Archbishop Michael.
Archbishop Michael presided on Friday evening at the
Page 26
emphasizing and reminding u of the true m anin
CHRISTmas.
In February, 1977 Anthony Thoma
Lee Farah
Craig Naiser isited Lebanon to ur ey the conditi n an
report back to the Relief Fund Committee as to h
a
how the relief money would be best used and di tri~ a
.
. gi en us
Ut
0 n th elf. return, f.1rst h and mformatlon
property was destroyed and just very ad to
.
than this, much fear was instilled in the Citizen
Lebanon caused by the brutal and sa age attack a a·
their fellow man. On their departure from Leban n t~n
went to Damascus, Syria where they were grant d
aud~ence with His Beatitude Elias IV, Patriarch a f
Atmoch
and all the East.
The best description of th •lr
.
.
meetmg was expressed m a few words by Craig ai r:
"He was so humble -he acted like one of us!"
In conclusion, the Relief Fund committee is to meet
the next few days to review their report and finalize th
distribution of the funds raised. We pray their deci ion b
guided by God Almighty to be the most worthy and
beneficial one.
Jean Thom
Laudation Service, assisted by our pastor Father Mich_ael
Husson and chantor, Dr. George Fawaz. After the im·
pressive service of praise, His Eminence spoke on the role
of Mary in the Church.
On Saturday morning, the SOYO Chapter held 3
breakfast at the hotel and chatted freely with the Arch·
The
or
, 1977
SOYO
Oigtst
(continued from page 24)
INDIVIDUAL PRICES
(For both Adults and Teens)
WEDNESDAY
DINNER/ SHOW
THURSDAY
CABARET
FRIDAY
HAFLI
SATURDAY
AWARDS BRUNCH
SATURDAY
GRAND BANQUET
SATURDAY
GRAND BALL and
COTILLION
TOTAL
7.00
$10.00
$10.00
$ 7.00
$25.00
$
$10.00
$69.00
NOT IN BOOK OF TICKETS:
THURSDAY
EVENING FOUNDATION
FRIDAY AOCWNA - LADIES LUNCHEON
DINNER
conference chairman
general chairman
Edward J. Kassab
George Darany
publicity chairman
Vivian Gabriel
Host Pastor: Very Rev. Fr. John Badeen
Page 27
�AntiocQian®rtQolloxQlQristianl!lomcn
of Nort11America
MEMBERSHIP
.
Archdiocese Convention held in Mo~treal, Canada on August 21st, 1974, an Organization
Dunng the
. . w
f North Amenca was created.
t
Anti~~:~:~~~:~f ;h~:i:;::fizf a i:t;hs tpoadnedve;oJe::~!'::n~e;.~~~~;:g
:~gs::::di:::~::r 0:~;~
~~c"o~~l:~rthse~e
• still a sense o e 11ows i
h
charity::!~~/;ncourage
more women to become active_members of o~:;~::cc:~·rch.
However, our tasks have become
goal~omen have always found many usef~l anld rewa:~~npgr:s:l~gtoTs:erefore we must be creative in inspiring increased
. g and the need for greater mvo vemen
•
'
more cha11engm
re women to become active members.
.
.
f
t potential
interest to encoura~e mo uch as charitable and social affairs can prove very interesti~g and gihve m~en iv~ od sense of
Various fun~tions s
d
t
. b longing to a Church besides spiritual fulfillment; t ere is a game
There is another a van age m e
members.
•
h
wth f our Church
p •h
accomplishment in helpmg_ t e gro
oh"
this gro~th would be through personal contact. Therefore, each ans
One of the most effective ways _to ac ieve
h
·11 b . an all-out drive for more Church members. Some
a Membership Committee of women w o wi
egm
t
should se1ec
suggestions would be:
NEW ADULT DOME OPENS
SS. Cosmas and Damian Adult Home, a deluxe
residential facility, opened recently. Located at 2099
Forest Avenue in Staten Island, New York, it is owned and
operated by SS. Cosmas and Damian Human Services
Center, a not-for-profit corporation of the Orthodox
Church in America. Licensed by the New York State
Board of Social Welfare, it is the first project of its kind in
the United States.
The modern six-story fire proof building is on a
beautifully landscaped three-acre site on the north shore
of Staten Island in the midst of one of the Island's
residential neighborhoods. It is within easy access of New
York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The building, just
two years old, had never been occupied until the SS.
Cosmas and Damian Human Services Center put it into
operation. Built by the same builders as a prominent
national motel chain, the facility is spaciously designed,
has a brightly decorated interior, with wall to wall carpeting and all new furniture throughout. Single and
double occupancy rooms are provided, each with private
bath and in-house phone.
The 300 resident facility was purchased through the
efforts of Very Rev. Alexander Warnecke, Chancellor of
the New York-New Jersey Diocese of the Orthodox
Church in America. Father Warnecke has been active for
many years in church-related and community service
organizations in New York State. The idea of establishing
the Ad ult Home grew out of a recognized need to provide
Americans of Eastern European and Middle Eastern
ethnic backgrounds with high quality, culturally and religiously oriented, human services during their golden
years. With a bilingual staff, and experienced ethnic food
chefs, the Church can now offer this care with an emphasis on promoting the dignity, well-being and independence of each resident. All this in a sheltered atmosphere with food, recreation, fellowship, and spiritual
concern being provided.
Page 28
'::!::~i!;i
called the
k f
. ·t nd welcome new residents to the community and Church.
f
Ch
h
r
h d
•d t who are not already members o our
urc •
d
2. Visit and invi~e estab is e resi ~n s d Ch
h-related function or program. Have welcoming hostesses to greet an
3. Invite potential members to a p anne
urc
introduce new members.
·u
activity of her choice to keep her interested and involved.
4. Assign a new member to a commi ee or
.
·
f
and athletic programs will draw the mterest of the younger
youth group centers with classes m arts and era ts, games
h 1 la s a si nificant role in the lives of our children. It
membersin a clean, fulfilling and heal~hy atlmosphte!et. Sunt~agy!~d ~:fir:ative
~lasses for it is our children who will one
. .
th t
continue to provide p easan 'meres m
' ..
Ch
h
is important a we
.
The will carry on the religious heritage and traditions of our
urc •
day bSeu::!~~:~~/:r~:t~~gi:;~~':~h
wili be the direct result of your full support. We need you.
Helen Sahadi,
1. Vis1 a
Planned recreational activities include, arts and crafts
classes, special interest clubs, films, trips and outings,
guest speakers, and cultural performances and concer:
being provided by Church-related groups. Since a spiritual
ministry is part of the over-all program, an Orthodox
chapel is an integral part of the facility. In addition to
providing liturgical services for Orthodox Christian
residents, the clergy on staff will make any necessary
arrangements with clergy of other faiths in the area to
insure all residents the spiritual ministry they desire.
SS. Cosmas and Damian Adult Home welcomes
elderly persons who no longer want to, or are able to, care
for their own home. It welcomes people who want the
stimulation of other self-reliant individuals in a secure
environment, those who are able to care for themselves,
are in reasonably good health, and do not require con·
tinuous nursing care. The facility has access to hospitals
and visiting nurse services in the area. An attending
physician visits weekly and is on 24-hour call. Plans are
presently being made to include an infirmary and nursing
supervision as part of the over-all program.
Those interested in applying for admission are urgedto
call the Social Services Coordinator of SS. Cosmas and
Damian Adult Home, Mr. Bouteneff, at (212) 720-8800.In
addition to private paying residents, financial arrange·
ments based on Social Security income, and state and
federal reimbursements programs can be arranged on an
individual basis for those who qualify.
The formal dedication of the home is being planned
for
June.
FOR
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATIO
REGARDING THIS RELEASE, CONTACT:
Father Paul Kucynda, Assistant Director
SS. Cosmas and Damian Human Services Center
2099 For est A venue
Staten Island, New York 10303
Telephone (212) 720-8800
The Word
Former Chairman - Membership Committee
CULTURAL
CULTUREis defined as: "The training of the moral or
intellectual faculties."
The National Women's Organization has created
cultural guidelines to assist the Regional and Local
Women's Organizations to become aware of all the
knowledge, crafts, arts, literature, beliefs and customs that
stem from our rich heritage. We hope that these
guidelines will enlighten and instill among its members
and community-at-large a sense of fellowship and more
significant understanding of its cultural heritage, and to
enhance our faith and traditions.
"FOR A GOOD TREE BRINGETH NOT FORTH
CORRUPT FRUIT, NEITHER DOTH A CORRUPT
TREE BRING FORTH GOOD FRUIT."
LUKE 6:43
NationalLevel:
The second Sunday after Easter is known as "Ointment
Bearer's Sunday" (Myrophoric Women). The women of
~he Church are encouraged to sponsor a luncheon, and
mvite a guest speaker to lecture and iterate the "Women's
Place and Role in the Church."
ationaland Local - Educational:
1. Equip and open for display a Cultural Room or rooms
May, 1977
GOALS
at the Family Life Conference (clothing, literature,
jewelry, style of dress, show movies, food of the land,
music, etc.).
2. To promote the study of our various. et~ic cul:ures,
spotlight the many valuable contributions
o o~r
people to the world, and act as patrons for music,
theatre and literature.
Community and Local Level:
1. Participate in all Pan Orthodox Programs. • • Local
and National.
.
2. Participate in and belong to the International Institute
in your area.
3. Sponsor Style Shows (ethnic~.
4. Sponsor Dinner Shows (ethnic).
s. Sponsor a Cultural evening of song, dance and food
(as a Fair).
6. Have several guest speakers during the year to lecture
on our heritage.
We hope that through the use of these Cultural
guidelines, our Orthodox people will be enlightened and
enriched.
Gladys Laham,
Chairman - Cultural Committee
Page 29
�re
view
Youth Worker's Portfolio by Nido Qubein Associates,
Box 536] High Point, N.C. 27262
Reviewed by Fr. George A. Alberts
Everyone who is involved with the Church School,
teen groups, or the Church in general is aware of the widespread problem of keeping the youth in the Church. Those
who have tried to research the subject are immediately
met with a stack of material giving the why and what can
be done treatment of the subject. There is also a great deal
of material which treats the youth who are still active,
those who are dealing with them, and guidelines for
dealing with them. One such volume is the Youth Worker's
Portfolio.
The Portfolio is published by Nido Qubein Associates,
a non-profit organization founded in 1972 and dedicated
to serving youth leaders. Members of this group travel
throughout the country, at the request of parishes to
present workshops for youth directors and anyone involved with youth work.
There are probably thousands of volumes dealing with
the subject of youth. More and more we are seeing
cassette tapes being used as a method of teaching. The
Youth Worker's Portfolio is a combination of both printed
material and cassette tapes. The Portfolio comes with a
loose-leaf binder which holds eight cassettes (included
with the Portfolio). The Portfolio's 239 pages cover a
variety of ideas, games, songs, information, all of which is
designed to be used by the youth workers of a parish. I will
examine each section of the Portfolio and its accompanying cassette and share some brief comments on
each with you.
Section C is entitled "Games and Crowd Breakers."
The ideas are designed to help bring people together and
loosen them up by putting them at ease with each other.
Many of the ideas in this section are more appropriate for
pre-teens. Some appear to be childish. One example of
this is the "Indoor Shot Put" which consists of giving
everyone a balloon to blow up and release to see whose
will go the farthest. This section will work well with
elementary children. Only a few will be interesting to
teens, but older groups such as high school and college
students would have a hard time enjoying them.
The second section is entitled "Creative Program
Ideas." This section is on an older age level and deals with
the relationship of the individual to the group. The success
of these exercises depends greatly on the participants.
They require a great deal of openness. If your people are
not willing to respond openly and honestly they will most
certainly flop. A good leader who is willing to prepare
these ideas before trying them with a group is also
required. The ideas in this section are of a more spiritual
or biblical nature, so they can easily be used at conferences or retreats. One suggestion is to place a "stalled"
Page30
car along th~ road to a camp or retreat area and ob er..
how many, if anyone, stops to help out. This is a m .
better section than the first one as far as usefulne :
ideas for teens and older groups.
Section E is "Retreat
Ideas." There are 0
suggestions for planning a retreat, but the schedules:
have to be changed to fit the needs of an Orthodox retre .
I think in this respect the Youth Sourcebook put out~·
the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese fits tr
purpose much better. Some of the project ideas found .
this section as well as other things to do are very go •
but, again, they require much openness in order to ;•.•
successful.
The fourth section of this manual is entitled "Workin
with Apathetic Church Members." As the title implie .
does not have anything to do with youth work, but it doe
deal with a problem that plagues all parishes no matte·
what the denomination.
This section contains man.
research ideas but is hard to apply in practical usage. I
does give some insight, leads and reasons for the problem
yet each parish must examine them and use them as the,:
relate to their particular case.
•
"Counselling Young People" is the title of the filth
section. Many good points are stated in this section. I• j
very good for setting up guidelines in counseling as well
looking at the role of youth in today's world. The thoughts
in this section can be shared not only with youth leaders
but also with the parish as a whole.
The last section, "Miscellaneous," is, in spite of its title,
very good. It covers some of the reasons for youth leavin
the Church. It talks about what a youth worker should t
and what kind of person should or should not take on this
responsibility. Other parts deal with music and publicit,
and can be used at the discretion of the pastor or youth
director.
The printed section of the Youth Worker's Portfolio
contains many useful ideas collected in one manuc
Although some suggestions are for younger children and
some of the ideas need to be adapted to fit the Orthod •
practices, it is a very useful sourcebook which provide
room to expand through its loose-leaf format. The further
usefulness of the Portfolio is enhanced by the casset
tape section.
The eight cassette tapes housed in the rear cover of the
Portfolio are a second library of information. In some
cases they follow the manual and show how to implement
the ideas found in it. They are courses in themselves and
can be played for groups or taken home by individuals and
studied there.
The cassette entitled "Philosophy of Youth Ministry
is excellent. Nido Qubein speaks of the needs of a youth
ministry and how to plan for a year combining the aspect
of worship and study, fun and fellowship, and service ~o
others. He deals with planning in advance, pubhc
relations, leadership, ongoing training and sources of
ideas. This is a very helpful tape that can be used for
leadership retreats or simple workshops.
The second
cassette
deals with "Inspirational
Discussion Starters". It contains six five-minute segment·
Each segment consists of a brief comment on a religio~
theme or Bible passage followed by a hymn relating to tl
THEPEOPLESPEAK •
DearFr. Joseph,
.. nd behold! I send the promise of My Father upon
A B t remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are
JOU•h
clot e
duwith power from on high" Luke 24:49
ay your efforts to breathe !ife into th~ B o~idpro_ve
.
I have great empathy with your artlc 1e
entity
1
fruit~ ance". Our prayers are that you persevere in the
nd O edrthatthe Holy Advocate will truly clothe you and
L rd an
•
our people with that promised
power. O n 1y bwh e!1 we_are
•
d with the spiritual arsenal can we e victorious
full arme
.10 the spiritual warfare.
We will elevate your desire before the holy throne of
the LivingLogos.
.
.
A most spiritually movmg lenten period.
In Christ,
Fr. Boris Zabrodsky
Harvey, Illinois
i
0t'ar Sayidna,
.
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ! We
pe this letter finds you enjoying the best of health.
During the weekend of February 4-6 the Washington
Teens held a Retreat. Among the 32 people present, were
eminarians Gary Geha and John Abdalah. For the first
tim··we saw Our Church through the eyes of seminarians,
nd it was a most enlightening experience. Through the
manydiscussions, presentations, and prayers shared with
them the youth of our Church have grown closer to our
OrthodoxFaith. We are very grateful to Gary and John for
taking this time out of their busy schedule to be with us.
Ve can easily see why you made your choice of Gary
Geha, as our NAC Teen SOYO Seminarian. Believe us
when we say, with young men such as these Our Future
hurch will be in good hands. We remain,
Yours in Christ,
Mariana Souri
Washington, D.C. Teen Advisor
Kenneth M. Y azge
Washington, D. C.
Teen SOYO President
DearFather Corey:
I was very sad about the news item in The Word about
lhe co~straints placed on Mr. Argentov's life because of
his beliefs. I understand why a proletarian dictatorship
fea
•
. rs po1·
1t1cal
dissent, but for a state as powerful as the
•.•S.R. to feel threatened by the Church, an institution
ht_chseems to coexist with the state in many other
~ation~,is somewhat absurd. It is tragic that a man has to
0
e his legal sanity and his freedom because of such
paranoia.
On occasion I write poetry and I've written one for Mr.
rgentov in support of his courageous determination to
(continued on page 35)
The Wor
• •
believe in his Church. Unfortunately he will never know of
this meager acclaim but I wanted to tell someone his belief
has reinforced my own. The poem is enclosed.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Kathleen A. Brackett
Lansing, Michigan
Editor's Note: Your beautiful poem has been taken to Mr.
Argentov through ''proper channels."
"For Mr. Argentov"
"There is no God," the doctor said.
I felt cold inside to think such men
Must rule the earthly universe.
He saw my pain and smiled as if to
say,
"The world will still revolve without
your superman
To guide her through the night.
"How do you know for sure about this
God in whom you believe,
Your sacramental ravings are more than
the state can bear."
Confronting him, I said, "You cannot
take away my faith with all
Your simple words.
God's blood is in my own,
His hand uplifts me when I fall."
He shook his head and said I had no
right to live.
"You are ruining a great historic plan,
You scatter the pieces of man's hope
for survival
Everytime you kiss a golden cross
Or fall down to your knees."
All I knew to say was, "I believe."
"I cannot take the risk of letting you
run free
Among the crowds, genuflecting and singing
On every city street."
His eyes turned kind as he patted my head,
"We'll put you in a hospital to prevent
The spread of this disease and maybe we'll
effect a cure."
But, at Easter I hear the rhythm of feet marching,
Marching to the churches, more each year,
More and more will come.
It spreads despite the doctor's work to hold me
in.
I still believe.
Kathleen A. Brackett
fay.1977
Page 31
�CA of complicity in Nazi war crimes in his native
f the O
The
Orthodox
land·h commission chronology makes no judgments
T ~h accuracy or truth of various charges. The Synod
aboU~ t:e commission to "continue monitoring the
a ke ment of the case and reiterated confidence in
1
devebophopValerian and his flock," according to an OCA
Arch is
nouncement.
an M t opolitan Ireny was born John Bekish in the Lublin
. ere of southwestern Russia. A priest since 1916, he
.
Provine
d in Poland after World War II and as a refugee m
t~vr~dWar II, in Belgium. He came to the United States in
Worl
t
195
MANY CHURCHES STRESS ECUMENICAL
KELA TIO NS IN OFFERING ITEMS
FOR GREAT SYNOD AGENDA
CHAMBESY, Switzerland - The relations of Eastern
Orthodox Churches with the rest of the Christian world is
the agenda item for the proposed Great Synod of Eastern
Orthodoxy listed as important by the greatest number of
the World's Orthodox Patriarchates and Churches.
The office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
here
released results of responses to the agenda proposed at a
presynodal preparatory conference last November.
The seven bodies listing ecumenical relations as an
important
agenda item are the Patriarchates
of
Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow, and Bulgaria,
and the Churches of Greece and Finland.
Other agenda items and the responding bodies are:
-Revision
of rules for fasting: Patriarchates
of
Antioch, Serbia, Bulgaria; Churches of Cyprus, Greece,
Poland.
-Autocephaly
(self-governing status) and autonomy
of Churches, and the manner in which they are
proclaimed:
Patriarchates
of Alexandria,
Jerusalem,
Moscow, Romania; Church-of Greece. The Ecumenical
Patriarchate listed only autocephaly.
- The Orthodox diaspora (believers living outside
traditionally Orthodox areas): Ecumenical Patriarchate;
Patriarchates of Antioch, Moscow, Romania; Church of
Greece.
-The
new (Gregorian) calendar: Patriarchates
of
Alexandria and Bulgaria; Churches of Greece and Poland.
Another planning session for the Great Synod is expected later this year.
ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA PRIMATE,
METROPOLITAN IRENY, SETS RETIREMENT
SYOSSET, N.Y. - The primate of the Orthodox
Church in America has announced his retirement, effective Oct. 25.
Metropolitan Ireny, 84, said in a message to the OCA's
Holy Synod meeting at OCA headquarters here that my
"physical strength is abandoning me."
Since 1973, Archbishop Sylvester of Montreal and
Canada, has been the OCA's temporary administrator. His
tenure in that position also ends on Oct. 25, the opening
day of the OCA's Fifth All-American Council, in Montreal.
At the council meeting, the equal number of parish
clergy and lay delegates will each write one name on a
ballot for metropolitan. If one person receives a two-thirds
majority on the first vote, the Holy Synod would receive
the name for its concurrence.
Page 32
was Eastern Orthodox Bishop of Tokyo from 1953,
d ;ishop of Boston and New England and assistant to
~~s redecessor Metropolitan Leonty from 1960.
~n Sept. 23, 1965, he was elected successor to MetropolitanLeonty, who died earlier that year.
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
ANTIOCH ORTHODOX CONSECRATE
FIRST PUERTO RICAN CHURCH
SAN JUAN, P.R. - The Eastern Orthodox Patriarl,hateof Antioch has consecrated its first church in Puerto
Rico.
Bishop Anthony Chedraoui,
patriarchal
vicar of
Mexico,consecrated the building in a town adjoining the
capital. The Rev. George J. Owen is Antiochian adminiStrator for the island.
About 150 Puerto Rican families are estimated to be
Eastern Orthodox, and a second church is planned for the
SanJuan metropolitan area.
If no one receives a two-thirds majority, a second vote
is held among the priest and lay delegates. The two
candidates with the highest number of votes are submitted
to the Holy Synod, which chooses among them by
majority vote.
Theoretically, any OCA member - clergy or lay could be chosen metropolitan, though it is most likely the
choice will be one of the current bishops.
In other action, the Holy Synod:
-Reiterated
its March 1976 announcement that it is
"sincerely interested in extending encouragement and
support to all who desire to live the orthodox-catholic
Christian faith and are coming to believe that this is
possible only within the Orthodox Church."
The statement is aimed especially at "Episcopalians
who are opposed in conscience to the official policies and
actions of their church," notably the ordination of female
priests.
"Our present fear," says the latest statement, "is not
that the divisions between us of human and historical
making are insurmountable in the Lord and can continu_e
to keep us apart if we are in fact one in Him. Our fear is
rather that we are staying apart for human, secular,
cultural reasons; or that we are, on the contrary, all too
often attempting to be united by means which are unworthy of Christians because of their lack of honestY•
humility, clarity and candor."
-Received
a detailed chronology of the controve~sy
surrounding Archbishop Valerian (Trifa) from a spec_ial
commission of three Holy Synod members. Some J~wis~
groups have accused the leader of the Romanian panshe
The Word
ORTHODOX AND METHODISTS MEET
INSTANBUL, Turkey - Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey,
were United Methodist Bishop William R. Cannon of
Atlanta, Ga., president of the World Methodist Council;
the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Demetrios I,
and the Rev. Joe Hale, general secretary of the World
Methodist Council. They explored ways of increasing
communications between the two church bodies.
World Methodist Council officials reported a cordial
r~ception from Orthodox leaders who accepted an invitationfor further conversations.
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
CLARK CLIFFORD VISITS CYPRUS
NICOSIA, Cyprus - U.S. presidential envoy Clark
Clifford hands a message from President Carter to Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus, during recent
meeting. Following visits to Greece and Turkey, Mr.
Clifford spent three days in Cyprus, the final stop on his
eastern Mediterranean mission.
FREEMASONRY IS CONDEMNED
BY ORTHODOX METROPOLITANS
HERACLEON, Crete - The eight metropolitans of
the semiautonomous
Eastern Orthodox Church on this
eastern
Mediterranean
island
have
condemned
freemasonry,
and urged "all faithful children of the
Church of Crete to abstain from any Masonic activity."
The hierarchs said masonry is "a religion because it is
made up of sacraments," is "opposed to the faith in Christ"
and "incompatible with Christianity."
ORTHODOX CHAPLAIN RECEIVES MEDAL
Kaiserslautern, West Germany - Father Gregory H.
Pelesh, Chaplain, Captain, United States Air Force was
presented the Meritorious Service Medal, First Oak Leaf
Cluster
(second
time
received)
for
outstanding
achievement on 28 January 1977 at Ramstein Air Base,
West Germany.
The medal was presented to Father Pelesh by General
Richard H. Ellis, Commander-in-Chief, United States Air
Forces in Europe. The citation accompanying the medal
read as follows:
"Chaplain, Captain, Gregory H. Pelesh distinguished
himself in the performance of outstanding service to
the United States as Base Assistant Installation
Chaplain, 7400th and 601st Combat Support Group,
Sembach Air Base, Germany from 4 November 1974
to 30 July 1976. During this period, the exemplary
ability, diligence and devotion to duty of Chaplain
Pelesh were instrumental factors in the development
of an effective family rehabilitation program for the
601st Tactical Control Wing. In his role as both
individual and group therapist, he has been invaluable in helping people resolve complex and
frequently
obscure
problems.
The
singularly
May,1977
Page 33
�distinctive
accomplishments
of Chaplain Pelesh
reflect great credit upon himself and the United
States Air Force."
A family rehabilitation program has been needed for
some time for parents and dependents searching for
alternatives in solving family and individual problems in
the European theatre. Chaplain Pelesh gathered a group
of professionals with the aid and support of the Base
Commander
and channeled their skills and resources
toward people experiencing, moral, criminal, and social
conflict. In so doing, the amount of vandalism and overt
family crisis were drastically reduced. The character of
this unique program was to see each family adjust to their
environment
within the European community without
conflict.
It has done just that. It is a model for other Air Force
Bases in Europe to follow. General Ellis commended
Chaplain Pelesh for a job well done.
ORTHODOX,LUTHERANSSET
A THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE
GENEVA - The Pre-Synodal Pan Orthodox Conference, held last November, unanimously agreed to a
world-level theological dialogue with Lutherans and an
inter-Orthodox
theological committee is expected to be
established, the Lutheran World Federation learned here.
Dr. Carl Mau, LWF general secretary, said he was so
i~formed by Metropolitan
Meliton of Calcedon, conference president,
and Metropolitan
Damaskinos
of
Tranopoulos, leader of the secretariat for preparatio~ of
the Synod. He also received a letter from Ecumemcal
Patriarch Demi trios I which said the decision to open talks
was made because of progress in previous OrthodoxLutheran talks.
The Patriarch expressed hope that the dialogue would
have a good beginning and would progress "with God's
blessing."
The
Pre-Synodal
conference
represented
all
autocephalous and autonomous Orthodox churc~es_, with
the exception of the Orthodox Chur~h of Georgia i~ t~e
Soviet Union. The estimated combmed membership is
about 150 million.
Dr. Daniel
Martensen,
LWF secretary
for interconf essional dialogues, welcomed the step as "important." He indicated that _LWP offici~ls will examine t~e
Orthodox proposal in detail at a meetmg, Feb. 20-26, m
Divonne,
France.
Support for increased
OrthodoxLutheran contacts had been voted by the LWF executive
committee in 1976.
NCCJ LEADER HAILS CARTER'S STAND
ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES ABROAD
NEW YORK - Dr. David Hyatt, president of the
National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ), has
hailed President Carter for putting "human values ahead
of political expediency and economic advantages."
Referring to Mr. Carter's comments to reporters_ that
he intends to speak out periodically on human-rights
issues involving other countries, Dr. Hyatt declared,
"Your courageous championship of human rights deserves
the everlasting gratitude of the American people as well as
of the millions of ensiaved and imprisoned persons beh
1
the Iron Curtain."
nd
In a letter to the Chief Executive, the NCCJ lead .
suggested that it would be appropriate to invite exile:
Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn, now living~Vermont, to the White House "and bestow upon him 1~
highest award that can be given to such a person by the
President of the United States."
e
Dr. Hyatt told Mr. Carter, "I applaud the new day yo
have ushered into our foreign policy and the breath 0~
fresh air you have brought to our diplomatic relations
Your decision to speak frankly about injustice wherever.:
occurs - including the Soviet Union - cannot help b~have a deterring effect upon Moscow and Prague as well
as other governments now harassing the civil rights force
within their boundaries."
The NCCJ leader commented that "in so forthright!,·
upholding the Helsinki Agreement of 1975 to 'respec
human rights and fundamental freedoms,' which was
signed by both Moscow and Prague and which therefore
cannot be called interference with internal affairs, you
have brought a new moral force to bear upon international politics."
According to Dr. Hyatt, "the impact of world public
opinion undoubtedly spared the life of Solzhenitsyn, and
the impact of your stance may likewise save the lives o·
Dr. (Andrei) Sakharov and many other freedom fighters
behind the Iron Curtain."
Noting that Dr. Sakharov has said that "only the
Christians of America can liberate the Jews of Russia,'' the
NCCJ president stressed that "the Christian silence in th·
face of the Holocaust must not be repeated by this
generation in the face of similar persecution."
He told Mr. Carter, "You have put human values
ahead of politicnl expediency and economic advantage.
Your forthright stance has made millions of American.
prouder of their country as well as proud of its President."
In proposing that Mr. Solzhenitsyn be honored at the
White House, Dr. Hyatt said, "This, too, would make
millions of Americans prouder of our country and proud
of our President."
MIXED MARRIAGES MAJOR THEME
OF ORTHODOX-CATHOLIC TALKS
BROOKLINE, Mass. - Eastern Orthodox-Roman
Catholic dialogue resumed here at Holy Cross Greek
Orthodox School of Theology as scholars prepared_ to
consider mixed marriages and the theology of ecumemcal
councils.
.
Under the title "Orthodox-Roman Catholic Marnages
Revisited," two presentations were planned, one by_the
Rev. Ralph Besendorfer, associate judge of the marriage
tribunal of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, the
other by Dr. Lewis Patsavos, associate professor of canon
law at Holy Cross.
.
een
Two themes of the sessions are marnage betw
• m
• a Roman
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catho 1ics
.
.
f
h
Catholic settmg, and development o a ea ling process
rather than simple acceptance of divorce or annulment. d
In November 1971, the consultation issued an Agrehet
•
•
Statement on Mixed
Marnages
t h_at reco~ mendedwtathe
"the Catholic Church, as a nonnative practice, allo
•
"th
Orthodox,
Catholic party of a proposed marr~age w1_ . a1_1 ,,
to be married with the Orthodox priest officiatmg.
The Word
Page 34
tatement reasoned that since for Orthodox, the
h
• R oman
. T es
• the minister of t h e sacrament, w hil e m
pne:~l~~theology, the marriage p~rtners are the ministers
Cat h priest or deacon the witness on behalf of the
aod t e ity the Orthodox understanding
could and
cornrn
Idunbe ' accommodate d . "Th"1s proce d ure sh ou Id ,
boU
take place only after consultation by the parbowever,
,, .
d
with both pastors, 1t adde .
tnerAs ther part of the statement indicated that it would
no
. d
.
ferable to avoid mixe marnages.
be )~eis possible the meeting wil! release a new agreed
taternent covering the themes discussed at the current
e sions.
.
.
f h f"
A second agenda item 1s a report o t e 1rst prePan-Orthodox Conference
last November at
~oad 1
.
Cbambesy, Switzerland.
The Ve~y Rev. Maximos
Aghiorgoussis, professor of systematic theology at Holy
re/.
1v1ew
(continued from page 30)
It can be used as a discussion starter with or without the
hymns.
The third cassette, "Games and Crowd Breakers,''
corresponds with the section in the Portfolio. It is very
good in that it provides the listener with some idea as to
how the games should be carried out. One drawback is
that we cannot see what is being done and in some cases it
isimportant to see the actions.
The fourth and similar cassette deals with "Creative
Group Exercises." It too seems to follow the manual and is
helpful in applying the written word to actual use. It also
contains some pointers as to how to do these exercises and
what to be conscious of while doing them.
Tapes five and six deal with music. Tape five, "Youth
Group Songs,'' teaches the music to songs that appear in
the miscellaneous section of the manual. The songs are
simple and easy to learn from the tape. The sixth cassette
is "Convention Vespers Service." This contains a series of
songs,some of which are familiar, and a short talk given at
a vesper service and recorded live. These two tapes should
be used with discretion by youth workers and only after
consulting with the pastor. They may be used for group
songsat retreats or conferences but should not be used in
place of vespers.
The seventh cassette, "Counselling Young People,'' is
excellent. Subjects covered include roles we play,
rela~i~nship of the pastor and his people, the parish
Christian education director and his role, and peer group
pressure. The second side contains questions about the
talk ?iven on side one. This tape can be used at any
meeting of people interested in working with youth or
alreadyassociated with them in a church environment.
C The cassette concerning "The Apathetic and Bored
hurch Member" compliments the section found in the
manual. Although not concerned with youth, it is a
pro_blemfaced by every church. The tape deals with the
active member, the less active member (those falling
away),and the inactive member. It is very good for study
Cross, and Dr. George Bebis, professor of patristics at
Holy Cross, were to report on their experiences at the
sessions as advisers to the delegation of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate. Following that, a discussion of the theology
of ecumenical councils was scheduled.
Chairing the consultation are Archbishop Iakovos,
primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and
South America, and Cardinal William W. Baum, Archbishop of Washington.
The secretaries
are Father
Aghiorgoussis and the Rev. Edward Kilmart,in, S. J.,
professor of systematic theology, Weston School of
Theology, Cambridge.
Eastern
Orthodox
participants
come from the
Orthodox Church in America, and Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America, and the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese.
or use at parish council or membership committee
meetings.
These eight cassettes comprise a small library of study
in themselves. They compliment the written sections and
at the same time can be used separately. Each of these
recordings is done live. Because of this, one gets the
feel of being there along with the sense of how ideas are to
be applied.
The Youth Worker's Portfolio is a library in itself.
Many parishes spend large sums of money buying
multitudes of books concerned with youth. This Portfolio
is a combination of material covered in many smaller
books with the added extra of hearing the material live on
a cassette. If one is interested in youth, counselling, new
ideas and crowd breakers, the Portfolio may be just what
you are looking for. It can be purchased for $34.95 from
Nido Qubein and Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 5367, High
Point, North Carolina 27262, or it can be borrowed from
our Department of Youth Affairs, 358 Mountain Road,
Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
Aruhdiouesan
Offiue
(continuedfrompage
12)
Anglican Communion to ordain women, or to accept in
principle that possibility.
"Orthodox disappointment," he said, is "greater at this
ultimate defeat of those with whom, it was hoped,
common ground might be attained."
Archbishop Iakovos, primate of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America, said in January
that he is "chagrined, really, over the abuse of the high
qualities and dignity of women and the disservice we do to
them when we clergymen . . . belatedly raise our voice in
any hypocritical upgrading of women, some of whom we
admit into the order of the pastors (priesthood) of a deeply
divided and secular-minded and oriented church, as it
seems to have recently become."
Not ordaining women "echoes what the Church
Universal believed and practiced for 20 centuries,'' Archbishop Iakovos said.
Page 35
�JULY 6-10, 1977
26th Annual
Eastern Region SOYO Parish Life Conference
Seven Springs Mountain
Champion, Pennsylvania
Resort
15622
1977
ANTIOCHIAN HOLY YEAR
Honoring
His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV
VESPERS
PATRIARCH
ELIASIV
RECEPTION
& BANQUET
WORKSHOPS
FAMILYENLIVENING
SESSION
OIRFESTIV
ANDBANQU
HUFFLEE
WED.-THURS.-FRI.
NIGHTS
FEATURING
EUGENE
SLYMAN
FRED
HASSAN
DAVIDFARRA
GRAND
HUFFLEE
SATURDAY
NIGHT
FEATURING
AMERKADAJ,VOCALIST
JOSEPH
BUDWAY
LEOBUDWAY
PHILSAHADI
EDDIEKHOREY
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
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1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
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For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
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kalemat_19770501_21_5
Title
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The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 05
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
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Volume 21, Issue 5 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated May 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 May
Creator
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Format
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Text/pdf
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/3664b9c2a762da53f7982033ce63e15c.pdf
41e642ea0e962720726071bcd8f606a4
PDF Text
Text
The Word
April 1977
CHRIST
IS
RISEN
�THE
WORD
The Most Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The Most Reverend
Archbishop Michael, Auxiliary
THE WORD
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
Volume 21
April, 1977
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S. Corey
Archpriest Joseph J. Allen
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
Subscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, NJ. 07631
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
U.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 10.00
SINGLE COPIES, 1.00
THE WORD, published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office,
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135,
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Entered as
second clas.s matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa.
15219.
ISSN 0043-7964
3
Editorial
5
In Anticipation of the HGreat Synod"
by Metropolitan PHILIP
8
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Resistance to Communism
by Alexander F .C. Webster
12
Christ is our Passover
by Elias G. Karim
13
St. John of Damascus
by Joseph Antypas
14
Archdiocesan O_ffice
17
A Capella Singing
by James E. Meena II
18
The Teenager in the Church School
by the late Donna Bobin
19
Dialogue
by Michael Buben
AT THE GATEWAY
Number4
IN THIS ISSUE
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kalimat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
THEPROPHETSTANDS
20
Lifestyles X
by James C. Meena
21
Communities in Action
25
SOYO Digest
27
Dally Devotions
28
The People Speak
29
The Orthodox World (Religious News Service)
COVER
Easter in Jerusalem. For Orthodox Christians, the services of Holy
Week are a preparation for the Glorious Resurrection of Christ. In the top
photo, Patriarch Benedictos of Jerusalem washes the feet of twelve
clergymen in the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the
middle photo, clergy and laity carry a life-size cross in procession thro_ugh
the streets of the Holy City. In the lower photo, an Orthodox Bishop brm_gs
the "Light of Christ" to the faithful from the traditional Tomb of Christ
during Holy Saturday services. These photos were taken in 1960 when one
of the editors spent Holy Week in Jerusalem.
Ringing out during this Easter Season ore two poignant scripture phrases: from Jeremiah 33, "The days are coming, says the
Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of
11
Israel and Judah,
and from St. Luke 2 1, "Jesus said to his disciples, 'There will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars
... Men will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great
power and glory. 11 These cries must accompany
our "Christ is
Risen", reminding us of the two realities in which we live: this time
and the time to come!
The years poss, one by one, and the Savior as prophet stands at
the gateway of Great Lent, the gateway of that other and forgotten
time, the gateway of the year of salvation.
Perhaps we do not like such serious thoughts during our Easter
celebrations.
Nevertheless,
the prophet
still
stands,
crying
apocalyptic visions in the midst of the Easter happening:
visions of
poor and crushed lands, visions of nuclear holocaust,
visions of
swollen bellies and seemingly over-sized eyes on skinny little faces.
Year ofter year, Jesus tells of the signs which point to the
ment of Jeremiah's earlier forecast: of the sun and moon and
and the earth in anguish. He is telling of signs of this world,
point to that Other World, a World which was inaugurated
Resurrection.
fulfillstars,
which
at the
These ore the realities
of Easter and Christianity
- our world
and that world!
Television
can sweeten
the "folklore"
and the
"miracle story" of Jesus' Resurrection,
but the Orthodox Church can
allow us to escape neither the reality of our own world nor of the
world to come! "And He shall come again to judge . . . "
Jesus stands at the gateway, more like a ragged outcast than a
culture hero. Telling of such signs, He stands forever
at that
gateway that we somehow do not enter.
Jesus stands at the "endtime",
because Jesus is the Mon of the
ulti~ate radical option to the workings
of this world, the option
wh,ch transforms human community
at its very roots. Jesus stands
at the "endtime" because He died the death that is crossing over into life, a life which is, at once, a promise and on invitation.
Yes, it is true, wipe away all the sweetness of Easter baskets
and bunny rabbits, look at the reality of our world, and one finds
Jesus precisely at the gateway toward that endtime !
..I
a::
1-Q
Ill
The question
in all this is really not where Jesus is ( our
q~estion addressed to Him), but rather, where we ore (His question
dressed to us). That is the question issued by all the cold, the
ung~y, the oppressed,
and the crucified of this world. They were
Phom,sed a shore in the world to come, but they hove not received a
5
ore in the world that we build as we proclaim
the promise.
I
guess that means that the question is also to be issued by us!
h
April1977
Page3
�This doesn't seem like the best year to think of such thin
it's been a difficult
year, and we hardly can find time to breat~s
Last year was also like that, and the year before, and the one be
fore that.
e.
OrthodoxySunday, 1977
IN ANTICIPATION OF
THE "GREAT SYNOD"
The figure of Jesus as prophet
stands at the gateway ,
0
salvation and asks the horribly personal question:
when will the (
be a year not like that? When will we finally come to know t{
Easter compels us to take an honest look at our world and the wo
to come-and
then, to do and be something
because of it?
re
f'
Year after year, the prophet
Metropolitan
stands at the gateway.
Joseph J. Aller
Co-Editor
....
9
"t
&
-:Tt1~K~S·
THE
ri·
RESURRECTION
I
\\\
hrist is risen, and the tomb
C
is emptied
Christ,
having
of the dead;
risen
for
from
the
dead, is become the firstfruits
of
those that have fallen asleep. To
him be glory and power for ever
and ever. Amen.
~'
• ~ if
.:.,1.,.-)'\ ~-
If
,\i
J
r.--J
I ~
0~.
• <J'-..ul}I ;J~\
u:-1,J
~I
~)'
.
...,L....,
;__;,..11_,
~I
~
0::-91 (f..~l...ul
f.>
c)I
&RIST
Page4
IS ~SEN
At the last Annual
Meeting of the Standing
Conference of Orthodox
Bishops in the Americas,
it
was
unanimously
decided that all members
of SCOBA con-celebrate
the Divine Liturgy on the
Sunday of Orthodoxy.
Thus, we are gathered in
this beautiful cathedral
to commemorate
the
triumph of Orthodoxy
over the iconoclastic
heresy, to express our
oneness in the Holy Orthodox faith and to discover
together new horizons and new visions for the future.
We owe a deep sense of gratitude to the
Church of the iconoclastic era for her responsiveness and courage in defending the "faith which was
once and for all delivered to the saints," (Jude 3).
ames such as John of Damascus, Theodore the
Studite, Patriarch
Germanos
and Patriarch
Nicephorus will always shine, in the history of the
Church,like the stars of heaven. I do not intend today
to elaborate on the historical circumstances which led
to the iconoclastic heresy nor will I attempt to present
a new theology in defense of the Holy Icons. The Holy
Fathershave written extensively on this subject and I
doubt if any of us can add much to their brilliant
thoughts. I hope you don't get the impression that I
amminimizing the past. Those who have no past have
no present and will have no future. We Orthodox,
however,have a strong tendency to always glorify the
past and bask in its glory. We seem to know so much
about ~hepast but so little about the present while the
futurets constantly pressing upon us.
I was delighted last November, to read about the
pro~osed "Great Orthodox Synod." The last Ecumemcal Council was convened in 787. This means
that one thousand one hundred and ninety (1,190)
years have elapsed since the last ecumenical council
Philip
which dealt mainly with the problem of iconoclasm.
Many religious, moral, political and socio-economic
events have taken place since 787 and deeply affected the life of the Church. One might ask: Why
didn't the Church meet since 787 to respond courageously and effectively to these challenges? Has the
Church lost that dynamism and responsiveness
which distinguished her life during the first ten
centuries? There is no doubt that the Church has
experienced very difficult times since the last
ecumenical council, however, this does not excuse
the stagnation which has marked her life for the past
1190 years. It is indeed strange that while we are
active in the ecumenical movement attending World
Council of Churches Meetings in America, Europe,
Asia and Africa we have had very insignificant interOrthodox activities both on the national and international levels. When we heard of the pending
"Great Orthodox Synod," we thanked God that at
long last and after many centuries of silence, a
"Great Synod" will convene to respond to the many
challenges of our time.
A REQUEST TO PARTICIPATE
At the last meeting of SCOBA, we unanimously
authorized the Chairman of the Standing Conference, His Eminence, Archbishop IAKOVOS, to
contact His Eminence, Meliton, Metropolitan
of
Chalcedon and Chairman of the first Pre-Synod PanOrthodox consultation for the purpose of inviting
our conference to participate, in some capacity, in
all future Pre-Synod Pan-Orthodox
consultations.
Our request was well received and in a communique
addressed to His Eminence, Archbishop Iakovos,
dated December 4, 1976, Metropolitan
Meliton
wrote: "In reply, I wish to inform you and through
you the Standing Conference that your petition,
being of special significance, will be conveyed to the
Church, so that she may define the way by which the
participation of our Orthodox brethren in America
in the next Pan-Orthodox
consultations
may be
effected and their voice may be clearly heard."
Mletropolitan PHILIP delivered this sermon at the Greek Archdiocese
Great
ent 1
d
.
Cathedral in New York on the First Sunday of
.
ance were members of the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops
of America (SCOBA). This
per presents some challenging ideas for the future of Orthodoxy in North Amen·ca.
pa
The Wore
• n atten
April 1977
Page 5
�Subsequent to the Pan-Orthodox consultations in
Switzerland, in which thirteen Patriarchates and
churches were represented, a proposed agenda of
ten points was approved for the "Great Synod."
Needless to say I was not much impressed with the
agenda especially after 1190 years of expectation
because some of its topics were outdated and irrelevant. Missing from the agenda, for example, are
important contemporary issues such as abortion,
homosexuality, euthanasia, the ordination of women
and lesbians to the priesthood, etc. Although the
teachings of our Church are clear vis-a-vis such
issues yet the Church must again and again reaffirm
her position and constantly proclaim the truth in
order to eliminate any possible confusion in the
minds of the faithful.
One of the topics, however, which concerns us
very much as Orthodox in this hemisphere is ''The
situation of the Orthodox diaspora (believers living
in areas which are not traditionally Orthodox) as a
result of different waves of migration from East
Europe, Russia, Greece and the Middle East;
Eastern Orthodox in this hemisphere, Western
Europe and Australia exist in many geographically
overlapping, largely ethnic jurisdictions, a situation
considered canonically and theologically indefensible as a lasting arrangement." I am indeed delighted
stated: "The Divine Liturgy was first sung on th
continent three decades before the America~
Revolution by O~thod~x pione_ers w~o _were swift!.
followed by Russian missionartes bnngmg the fair
of Jerusalem, Antioch and Byzantium to the nath~
Americans who still cherish it." There is no doub
whatsoever that our faith is deeply rooted in th~
American soil. We will be forever indebted to ou
fathers and forefathers who have planted and nu;
tured the seeds of Orthodoxy in America but ou
Mother Churches must realize once and for all tha
we are no longer a church of immigrants. Our Orthodox children have died on the battlefields of man,
wars defending American principles and ideals. ou·
Orthodox people have contributed generously to the
realization of the "American Dream" in business
education, art, entertainment,
science, medicine
law and government. The crime rate among ou
people is almost non-existent, and I challenge youto
show me an Orthodox family on welfare. Our variou
Orthodox jurisdictions have done much to preserve
Orthodoxy in this land. The "Orthodox Observer
published by the Greek Archdiocese on January,
1977, carried the following news item entitlec
"Greek Leader Praises Church," which I would lik
to share with you. "I will become in Greece a ferven
supporter of all I saw in the Greek Orthodox Church
Individually we have done much for our respective jurisdictions but collectively, we
have not yet begun to explore our tremendous potentialities if we were administratively united under one jurisdiction.
that our Orthodox situation in America will be
discussed at the "Great Synod" which I pray will
convene. I wonder, however, how much the
venerable hierarchs of the Church in the Old World
really know about our Orthodox situation in
America. It is therefore our sacred responsibility to
provide our Orthodox brethren across the ocean
with a true and clear picture about our successes and
failures especially during the current century. Our
brethren in the Old World must realize that Orthodoxy on this continent is no longer a child. In his
book, "The Individual and His Orthodox Church,"
Father Nicon Patrinacos states: "The American
Orthodox of today, having come of age as regards his
personal religious experience and that of the group
within which he moves, seeks a more definite and
convincing articulation of his faith and a way of
practicing it to which he could fully subscribe
without hesitation or reservations and without fear
of being severed on account of it from his American
environment."
WE HA VE MUCH TO CONTRIBUTE
The first Pan-Orthodox encyclical in the United
States which was released to the press last December
Page 6
in America." This statement was made here by
Chrysostom Karapiperis, the former Minister of
Education in Greece, prior to his departure for
Athens on December 28th.
"Karapiperis,
a well-known Greek politica
figure, was in America for more than one month and
visited, with his wife, many Greek Orthodox
parishes. Speaking of the Archdiocese, he referr~d
with enthusiasm to the Greek Orthodox faithful 1D
the Americas. He expressed his great admiration for
the organized life of the Church here. He expressed
also the hope that the Orthodox Church in Greecedisorganized today and confused, not even having3
church constitution at present - having as a proto·
type the organization of the Greek Orthodox Arch·
diocese in the Americas, will proceed to its own
reorganization. Karapiperis attributed the pr?greS!
and organization of the American Archd1?cese
primarily to the person and leadership of Archbishop
Iakovos, and the ability of the church here to
organize itself without political influence."
What Mr. Karapiperis said about the progret
and organization of the Greek Archdiocese of No;
and South America can also be said about the ;:
thodox Church in America, the Antiochian Arc
TheW0'
.
of North America and the rest of our
dt ceset.e J·urisdictions. I have traveled in the
pee 1v
.
re. dl East and walked m the footsteps of the early
_id.e ries. I have visited Greece and saw the glory
rn1Ss1ona '
. . d R .
d
h ast centuries; I have visite
ussta an was
ft ehpelmedby the piety of the Russian people, but
overwhonestly say that despite
• t h e gory
1
o f t h e past,
I ctthe spiritual depth of the suffering church in
an • Orthodoxy in the New World stands unique
Russia,
.
If h M h
in its vigor, vitality and dyfnamh
ism.
t_ ~ hot er
h hes are not aware o t ese specia1 c aracc ~rt~cswhich distinguish the life of the Church in
tens
hi hemisphere, we say tot h em " come an d see. ,, y es,
t s e and see our organizations, our institutions, our
com
•
liturgical and theologic~• 1 pu bl'icattons,
<;>ur
theological schools, our dedicated clergy, our faithf l laity and our youth movements. Where in the
\ole world today can you find six million free
w
• ?
Orthodox except in N ort h A mertca.
Beloved in Christ,
I am not suggesting at all that all is well with
Orthodoxy in this hemisphere. Despite our rootednessin the American soil, despite the success which
wehave achieved during this century and despite the
unityof faith which we enjoy as brothers and sisters
in Holy Orthodoxy, we are still living in our ethnic
ghettosand we very seldom see each other except on
the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Individually we have done
much for our respective jurisdictions but collectively, we have not yet begun to explore our
tremendous potentialities if we were administratively
united under one jurisdiction. How much can we
contribute to the ecumenical movement if we don't
first put our house in order? We Orthodox are
fortunate that we represent two thousand years of
theologyand spirituality. But where is our spiritual
impact on the life of this nation? Who is articulating
our Orthodox theology for the benefit of our
Christian brethren who have been victimized and
confused by all kinds of theological innovations?
Where is our presence in the media? Where is our
moral influence on our national and international
politics?We used to delight in seeing His Eminence,
Archbishop Iakovos taking part in the inauguration
~f presidents. This year we were even denied this
simple right. Orthodoxy, despite her past glory,
remainsthe best kept secret in this land because of
our failure to understand the missionary dimensions
of the Church. America does not understand us
becausewe are still talking to her in languages which
she d?es not understand. We are still talking to
America as Greeks, Arabs, Russians, Serbians,
U~r~nians,Romanians, etc. No wonder then that six
millionOrthodox have no presence on the American
scene. Is it difficult for six million Orthodox to
t
eS ablish a television and radio foundation
in order
0
~. pr,?ach Orthodoxy to this nation? The answer is
yes, as long as we remain divided moving in our
own ethnic orbits.
'
Left to right: Bishop Silas - Greek Archdiocese - Bishop
of Amphipolis; Bishop Sava - Serbian Orthodox Diocese
of Eastern America and Canada; Metropolitan PHILIP;
Archbishop lakovos, President of SCOBA; Metropolitan
Joseph Bulgarian Diocese; Bishop Victorian Romanian Diocese; Bishop Philotheos of Meloa, Greek
Archdiocese - Dhector of St. Basil's Academy Garrison,
New York.
A SYNOD IN AMERICA
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not advocating here a revolution against our ethnic cultures. I
am proud of my heritage and I am sure that you are
proud of yours. I am just trying to share with you a
vision for the future, especially in anticipation of the
"Great Synod." If we will be invited to participate in
the Pre-Synod Pan-Orthodox consultation according
to Metropolitan Meliton's letter, what are we going
to say to the Mother Churches? I believe that the
problem of the diaspora; this tremendous exodus of
millions of Orthodox Christians from their native
countries, constitutes a major and unprecedented
experience in the history of the Church. The multiplicity of jurisdictions in one given territory fundamentally contradicts our canonical and ecclesio·
logical teachings. No one can deny that we are
dealing here with a very complex problem. This
multiplicity of jurisdictions is deeply connected with
the self-evident reality of our various ethnic cultures.
Such cultures cannot be eliminated by a statement
from SCOBA or by an edict from some Patriarch
somewhere. Only time can take care of this problem.
Despite this reality we cannot consider this present
Orthodox situation in America as final because by so
doing we will betray Orthodoxy and her basic
principles. I believe that we can achieve administrative unity despite our cultural diversity. The first
step toward this goal would be the elevation of the
Standing Conference - which has already served its
purpose - to the rank of a Synod with the blessings
of the Mother Churches. Such a Synod will be able to
(continued on page 26)
April1977
Page7
�A new prophet with an old message
ALEKSANDR
SOLZHENITSYN
and
RESISTANCE
TO COMMUNISM
by alexander frederick c. webster
The spectre that Karl Marx perceived hovering
over Europe in 1849 has since become the incarnate
Antichrist of Communism! Naturally in this period of
"detente" and enlightened political and ecumenical
liberalism such a statement appears most assuredly
heavy-handed and ludicrous as well. For Western
businessmen and governments are trading with the
Soviet Union and its satellites as though they were
fellow capitalists,
and the Western Christian
Churches are engaging in broad ecumenical
dialogues and activities with their sister Churches
behind the Iron Curtain which are surviving after all.
Surely Communism is not the bogey-man that we in
the West have considered it for all these years!
But out of the East there has come a latter-day
John the Baptist, a lay prophet of immense stature,
to expose his stupefying modern Pax Romana and to
restore us in the West to our reason and spiritual
senses. Out of the morally desolate wilderness of
Communist Russia has emerged albeit not by his own
free will Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Noble Prize
recipient for literature, former laborer, ex-political
prisoner, persistent critic of the tyranny of his
nation's governing authorities, champion of liberty
and human dignity, and devoted layman in the
Russian Orthodox Church.
The last item is particularly significant though
generally unknown in the West, for it provides the
basis for much of Solzhenitsyn's life and work. His
prophetic role is thoroughly grounded in his
Christian identity as well as in his more secular sense
of human dignity. As an Orthodox layman he shares
the ministry of Christian witness that is imparted to
all Orthodox through their baptism. In the orbit of
the Soviet Union where such witness has been almost
universally silenced, Solzhenitsyn's
undaunted
profession of faith in God and man and his ominous
apocalyptic warnings to the West recall the divinely-
the Baptist also will be largely ignored. Now
Johnhe has lost direct contact with his homeland,
t~~henitsyn has become just an?ther exile, a man
. h ut a country, whose authonty may now seem
wi_t~aced. Yet the words of Christ in Mk 6:4 sound a
ansp hopeful note: "A prophet is not without honor
roore
.
. '
t in his own country, and among his own km,
P
exce·n his own house. "P er h aps th"is R ussian
• ex1·1e will
•
dl
an
d.
•
h
W
find a far greater au ience m t e
est - at least
ongthose who have not already succumbed to the
aIIl
•
Huringbut deceptive
p Ieasures o f " peace f ul coa istence" with the forces of darkness. Though a
ex
• a prop h et with
. an
roan without a country, h e is
unshakable faith, a~d. his true citi~enship is that of
the world-wide Chnstian commumty.
his second AFL-CIO speech Solzhenitsyn compared
this traditional view to the relativistic Communist
perspective whereby the end justifies the means and
to the increasingly popular ethos in the West which
disdains the use of "good" and "evil" as real or absolute terms. The empirical evidence of unprecedented Communist atrocities on a grand scale
and even the more subtle violations of human
liberties, especially the freedom to worship unmolested by the governing authorities, have led
Solzhenitsyn to the inescapable conclusion that the
Communist rulers of Russia collectively represent
Antichrist, as he suggested to the Russian Orthodox
in Exile. To the assembled dignitaries of the AFLCIO he said in less overtly Christian terms:
A PLEA FOR FREEDOM
... we have to recognize that the concentration of
World Evil and the tremendous force of hatred is
there and it's flowing from there throughout the
world. And we have to stand up against it und not
hasten to give to it, give to it, give to it everything
that it wants to swallow.
The chief issue that this "public minister" of the
Gospel of Christ promotes is freedom, especially
freedom from evil oppressions. As an Orthodox
ChristianSolzhenitsyn is particularly concerned with
the witness of Russian Orthodoxy for that freedom.
Atthe same time he recognizes the dire need for the
Western World to realize the full extent of the
Communist menace both to Russians and to the
people in free countries and to stand firm in uncompromising opposition to this threat. His most
salient writings with respect to the roles of the
RussianOrthodox Church and the Western World in
the struggle against Communism are not his several
great novels but rather a few expository pieces
addressedto the principles involved: first, a lenten
letterto the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow
writtenin April, 1972; second, a letter to the Third
Sobor, or general convention, of the dissenting
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia which
occurred in September, 1974; and two speeches
beforeassemblies of the AFL-CIO in June and July of
1975.2
The theological and ethical premises that form
thefoundation of the appeals in these addresses are
neither numerous
nor
profound:
after
all
Solzhenitsynis a layman unschooled in the niceties
The same ethical imperative to resist this evil
Solzhenitsyn voiced to the ostensible leader of his
Church when he declared,
... The true, profound/ate of our country ultimately
depends on whether the rightness of force will finally
become rooted in the understanding of the people or
whether the force of rightness will emerge from its
eclipse and again shine forth. Will we succeed in
restoring in ourselves at least some Christian
characteristics, or will we lose all of those that still
remain to us and surrender ourselves up to the
calculations of self-preservation and personal advantage?
Thus, for Solzhenitsyn the sides are clearly drawn
and the course of action obvious. Condemned by
their own actions and proclamations the Communist
demigods of Russia must be exposed for the evil
beings they are; they must be opposed unrelentingly
by the West and by the Church which heretofore in
Though a man without a country, he is a prophet with an unshakable faith, and his
true citizenship is that of the world-wide Christian community.
anointed endeavors of such spiritual prophets as
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and John, and also the similar more
recent admonishments
of secular prophets like
Winston Churchill and the politically conservative
novelist Allen Drury .1 The voices of all these figures
save John fell upon deaf ears, however, and the
danger persists that the ministrations of the Russian
taiththeological
wisdom and discourse. It is his simple
and piety, however, that have deeply moved
Mr. Webster is a student at Harvard Divinity School, a recent convert to Orthodoxy and a member of our Archdiocese.
We welcome this interesting study.
~e, an Orthodox convert who has been able to delve
into those niceties in the relative comfort and
s~curityof America. Morality for Solzhenitsyn is
~sol~te and not subject to the legalistic, relativistic
nking that would reduce it to an inchoate and
amol
rphous level. Good and evil are not only "very
rea and
.
.
th
,,genume concepts . . . from a sphere higher
an us, they are also "indisputable categories". In
Page8
April1977
The Word
Russia has sought a modus vivendi with a government whose ultimate plan for religion is to annihilate
all forms and traces of it. The Orthodox patriarchs
have preserved the Church, to be sure, but at the
cost of forfeiting the right freely to proclaim the
Gospel, indeed at the cost of forsaking its divine
mission and integrity. In short, atheistic, God-hating,
freedom-destroying Communism epitomizes the evil
of Antichrist and such evil must be fought by
Christians and free men everywhere.
Page9
�the proud b?asts and pre_dictions of Marx, Lenin, anc
f ts to destroy religion will not stop with the mere
Khruschev which few m the West seem to tak
efbo_r
gation of the Church as in tsarist days?3 Inu JU
•
•
•
seriously anymore, the sad story of one capitulatiot
The militancy and courage of his posture are
d the present s1tuat10n 1s unprecedented
in
after another by the West t~ the Communists, anc
mitigated only by two realizations. First, ordinary life
~e~h,odox history.
Fortunately,
however,
the sorrier arguments v01ced today by lefth·
usually endures periods of persecution and acrl henitsyn's prophetic voice of freedom has its
Americans in favor of increased cooperation With 0 zursor in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's apocalyptic
comodation, chiefly because the majority of people
the Communists. Solzhenitsyn_ is understandabh
are neither saints nor miserable cowards. Not every
precningsdecades before the October Revolution in
anxious when he compares this trend to the su~. war7. Dost~ye_vsky foresaw essentla• 11y the same
Russian can stand firm for his rights as he himself has
191
cessful examples of defiance and opposition to
done; on the other hand, the Russian Orthodox
theistic-sociahst upsurge and the threat posed to
Church with its millions of faithful is not "fallen,"
Communist oppression, especially that of the Polish ~-toric
Christianity and to human freedoms both
1
and the "sins of submission and treachery committed
Catholic Church, Finland in 1939, President Ken. • ~ividual and collective to which Solzhenitsyn
by the hierarchy . . . are not widespread in the main
nedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and, 01
~:stifiesfrom experience. As for the kind of state
body of the Church, among the large number of
course, his own life. He concludes that the result 01
worthyof respect and cooperation by Christians, the
Johannine witness in the New Tes~ament serves as a
reliable guide. As the representative of the Roman
The Communists, however, are aggressive atheists: can any pact be made with rulers state the tormented, equivocating Pontius Pilate only
had to remain neutral with respect to the "prisoner"
whose unrelenting efforts to destroy religion will not stop with the mere subjugation
3
brought
before him. When he instead relativized
of the Church as in tsarist days?
truth and submitted to the pressures of "the Jews"
and of fear for his own security in office, Pilate
became
the enemy of Christ. Any political governsincere clergy, among the mass of worshippers in the
the years of capitulation to and retreat before
ment,
therefore,
need only adopt a neutral posture
churches - and they can never be communicated to
Communism is the dangerous,
neo-isolationist,
toward
Christianity;
when it actively persecutes the
the church people." Solzhenitsyn thus considers it
morally reprehensible attitude that favors "peace
Church,
then
it
brings
divine condemnation upon
necessary to admonish the Russian Orthodox Church
and quiet" at any cost - the attitude that seems to
itself
and
merits
the
opposition
of Christians. There
in Exile for its mistaken underestimation of the
be sweeping America. But even this realization does
can
be
little
doubt
that
the
Soviet
state has indeed
Christian masses who, while not triumphantly going
not dampen Solzhenitsyn's hopes. Although he begs
assumed
the
role
of
Pilate!
to their graves presently as martyrs, are neither
America to interfere in the so-called "internal af•
The traditional Orthodox concept of evil entails
groveling before the Soviets for the sake of mainfairs" of the Communist countries, he would bt
"an
attraction of the will towards nothing, a negation
taining their positions and status, however corrupted
satisfied if the Western democracies would "at least
of
being,
of creation, and above all of God, a furious
these may be. Indeed, a Russian risks possible
slow down that process of concessions, if not stop11
hatred
of
grace against which the rebellious will puts
penalties and discrimination of a social and
all together - and make it possible for the processof
up
an
implacable
resistance."4 Evil is not the mere
economic nature merely for attending liturgical
liberation to continue in the Communist countries."
absence
of
good;
it
is a powerful force with its own
services, baptising his children, or identifying himself
That is quite a comedown from uncompromising
identifiable
being.
But
it becomes manifest in the
as a Christian believer. The future resurrection of the
opposition to godless Antichrist, but it proves that
world
only
through
.the
human will. Although the
Russian Orthodox Church depends not so much on
this prophet is not too much of a visionary to have
attraction
toward
God
far
surpasses the attraction
those who have become exiles as on those who shall
his feet firmly established on earth.
for
evil,
man
has
been
graciously
granted a free will
continue to defy the Soviets from within the Russian
by
God
which
enables
him
to
choose.
Thus, man
borders by proclaiming their faith in God, the
CAN WE REMAIN NEUTRAL?
alone
is
responsible
for
the
manifestation
of evil. In
Church, and human freedom. The former can assist
terms
of
Communism
whose
negation
of
God and
by terminating their ecclesiastical conflicts and
Despite
the simplicity
of Solzhenitsyn's
truly
anti-human
atrocities
clearly
expose
its evil
repenting for past sins, the weight of which, actheological and ethical premises, they give rise to the
nature,
this
means
that
men
have
freely
succumbed
cording to Solzhenitsyn, providentially has brought
same conclusions that a more sophisticated Or·
the Communists into power: the unified witness of
thodox Christian perspective supports. To be sure, to_it~ illusory benefits, that men in their desire to
ehmmate God and religion in favor of a socialist
the Russian Orthodox abroad would encourage
the historical tradition of Orthodox church-state
those in the Soviet Union to work toward a free
relations might suggest otherwise. Submission ~o "p_aradise"have brought down upon themselves a
society. This will take considetable time and sufByzantine emperors, Russian tsars, and Islamic reignof ungodly terror. Since God has not imposed
Communismon Russia and elsewhere it remains for
fering but that time will come when the suffering will
overlords may be an enduring Orthodox legacy that
men,
end.
capitulation to Communist commissioners merely th not God, to divest themselves of it as freely as
ey have chosen it. Thus, there is no point in waiting
Second, the West has demonstrated a marked
perpetuates. But there are also numerous examples
for
God to "punish" the Communists by casting them
tendency to cooperate in its own self-destruction.
of active, sometimes even violent, resistance to the
from
the face of the earth: we -those of us under its
The process of concessions to Communism which
excesses of non-Christian political tyranny. Th.e
tyranny
and especially those of us in freedom began with American recognition of the Soviet State
Greeks eventually liberated themselves from their
st perform the necessary actions to eliminate the
m~
in 1934 has been accelerated to the point where
Turkish shackles as did the Russians from the
Western nations are competing vigorously, as Lenin
Mongol yoke. If it is true that the Russian Orthodox evil of Communism.
predicted, to supply the Soviets with food, material,
allowed the tsars to ride roughshod over their ec·
and comfort, while they give us the rope with which
ORTHODOXY,BY NATURE, CAN RESIST!
clesiastical independence, it is also true that the ts~
we are hanging ourselves. In his speeches to the
were at least nominally Christian emperors. T e
~oreover, the Orthodox liturgy of baptism
AFL-CIO Solzhenitsyn chronicled the atrocities of
0
Communists, however, are aggressive atheists: ~an
7des the keynote for the resistance to evil or the
the Communists (some of which are still happening!),
any pact be made with rulers whose unrelenung
evi, that James 4:7 urges. The exorcisms contained
A CHOICE IS TO BE MADE
r
Page 10
TheWor
in that rite entail an uncomprom1smg, unqualified
renunciation of Satan and all his angels, works,
services, and pride. Thus, as one Orthodox
theologian concludes, "No one can be Christ's until
he has, first, faced evil, and then become ready to
fight it."5
How does one fight the evil of Communism? Here
Solzhenitsyn's wise observation that the ordinary
Christian is not a hero provides a useful reminder.
Just as there are many members in Christ's Church
and many gifts of the Holy Spirit, there are many
ways to fight this evil. The controversial example of
the anti-Nazi German Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoeffer
comes readily to mind, but few Christians, especially
Orthodox, are prepared to engage in political
conspiracies or assasination attempts. The way of
martyrdom is particularly honorable as is the willing
acceptance of suffering that many Christians in
Russia continue
to demonstrate.
The barest
minimum, however, would involve (1) a recognition
of the Communist evil (which relatively few of us are
disposed to do), (2) a refusal to cooperate with its
minions in effecting its goals and activities, however
disguised or innocuous these may seem, (3) a vigilant
inspection by those in the West of Western
democratic societies, Churches, and governments to
ascertain Communist infiltration and influence, and
finally (4) a willingness to witness to the Christian
faith and to proclaim the same message that
Solzhenitsyn has brought to the West.
Endnotes
1The penultimate novel in his six-part series on
American and international political life - Come
Nineveh, Come Tyre - actually describes fictitiously the eventual Communist takeover
of
America of which Solzhenitsyn has warned this
country to beware!
2The texts can be found in the following:
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, A Lenten Letter to Pimen
Patriarch of All Russia (Minneapolis, Burgess
Publishing Company, 1972): "Letter from Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn to the Third Sobor of the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside Russia," Eastern Churches Review, VII, No. 1 (1975), 40-51; Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn, "America, We Beg You to Interfere,"
AFL-CIO pamphlet;
"Speech
by Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn at the New York Americana Hotel by
Invitation of the AFL-CIO, July 9, 1975," AFL-CIO
Department of Public Relations News Release.
3Steven Runciman, The Orthodox Churches and
the Secular State (Auckland University Press, 1971),
pp. 96-97.
4Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the
Eastern Church (London: James Clarke & Co. Ltd.,
1957), p. 129.
5Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the
World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (St. Vladimir's
Seminary Press, 1973), p. 71.
April1977
Page 11
�•aintsof antioch
CHRIST Is Our PASSOVER!
by archpriest
"As the Paschal Lamb, CHRIST our PASSOVER is
sacrificed for us!"
(I Con'nthians 5: 7)
"Christ is our Saving Passover! Christ is our Noble
Passover! Christ is our New Passover! Christ is our Holy
Passover! Christ is our Mystical Passover! Christ is our
Transcendent Passover! Christ is our Blameless Passover!
Christ is our Great Passover! Christ is the Passover to
believers! Christ is the Passover Who has conquered
Death and has opened for us the Gates of Paradise! Christ
is the Passover sanctifying all the faithful!" (From the
Easter service).
HISTORIC HEBREW PASSOVER
The Jewish Passover which commemorates
God's
deliverence of the Hebrews from Pharoah's oppressions, is
annually celebrated
for a twenty-four
ho_ur period
beginning at sundown on the 14th day of N1san (co~parable to our April) which is the first month of the Judaic
year (cf. Exodus 12:2). "In the fourteenth day of the first
month at evening is the Lord's passover." (Leviticus 23:5;
Numbers 9:3,5). Note: The liturgical day begins at sunset,
therefore the eve of the 14th is actually the 15th of Nisan.
CONFUSION OF DA TE
A discrepancy
in this annual date, however, is
recorded in Exodus 12:3, where it speaks of the "tenth"
day of the month. Also, to add to the confusion, is the fact
that the feast of the Unleavened Bread, in memory of the
hasty baking of the "bread of affliction" (cf. Deuteronomy
16:3) by the Hebrews on the eve of their departure from
Egypt (cf. Exodus 12:14-28), was attach~d to the da~~ for
the Passover, thus making it a double festival (cf. Lev1t1cus
23:5-8). When added together, there is a total of ~ight
days: 24 hours for the actual day of the Passover ~nd s_even
days for the other feast. Present day practice 1s to
celebrate the two feasts as one for a period of only seven
days instead of eight.
HISTORICAL CALENDAR ALTERED
Furthermore, in recent hisotry, the Jewish calendar
has been altered, and the dates now universally published
for the Jewish Passover are not in keeping with the
original ancient calendar which the Orthodox Christian
Church continues to use in the calculation formula for
setting the date for the Feast of the Resurrection (Holy
Easter). Also, because th~ Judaic calendar is a lunar year,
the 15th of Nisan does not always fall on the same date
when applied to the present day civil or Gregorian
calendar.
IMPORTANCE OF PASSOVER
As Christians, we are primarily interested only in the
actual date for the Passover itself because of its importance to us, not only in calculating t~e date ea~h year
for the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection of Chnst, but
most important, because of its significance in prophesying
to us, and to all the world, that as believers in Him, we are
the Chosen People of God (cf. St. John 15:16, 19; St.
Fr. Karim is pastor of St. Elijah Church in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma.
Page 12
elias g. kari,n
Matthew 20: 16, 22: 14; Ephesians 1:4; I Peter 2:4, 9, I
Revelation 17: 14), and that through the Sign of His Crot
Christ is our Passover leading us through the Gates 0.
Paradise into the spiritual Israel, the Promised Land.
which is Life Eternal with Him!
PROPHESY OF MOSES
The Biblical account of what Moses did when partin
the water of the Red Sea tells us that "Moses stretched ou,
his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to g1
back . . . and made the sea dry land, and the waters wert
divided." (Exodus 14:21) And again, "Moses stretchec
forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned''
(Exodus 14:27)
INTERPRETATION OF THAT PROPHESY
Tradition relates to us that the first time Moses raisec
his staff to divide the water, he made a very natura,
horizontal motion ("out ..... over") to part the waters.
Later he made a natural vertical motion ("forth .....
over") to have the divided waters return upon the ensuinL
enemy. In doing so, Moses prophesied that through the
"Sign of the Cross" we will be delivered from the bondage
of Sin and Death, and using the Cross as a bridge, we will
be led by Christ Himself into the Promised Land!
An Orthodox Christian hymn for the Feast of th·
Cross, celebrated annually by Orthodox Christians or
September 14th, verifies this prophesy. The hymn ve1;
clearly and emphatically states:
"When Moses cleaved the Red Sea by striking his
staff in a horizontal motion, allowing Israel to cross
on foot, and then motioning traversely to bn'ng it
together over Pharoah and his chariots, he did in·
deed, trace the Sign of the Cross, thus symbolizing
that invincible weapon. Wherefore, do we praise
Christ our God, for He hath been glonfied!"
THE FEAST IS A TIME
Now, because the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ:
not a calendar date, but a time, which is regulated by t_he
full moon of the vernal equinox; the date for the Jew1Sh
Passover; and the first Sunday following the Passover, the
date on which it is celebrated varies from year to year.
CANON LAW NUMBER SEVEN
Accordingly, the Seventh Apostolic Canon of the Hol}
and Renowned Apostles, which tells us when to celebrate
this Glorious Feast of the Resurrection of Christ our God.
very clearly states: '1F A BISHOP, OR PRIEST, OR
DEACON CELEBRATES
THE HOLY DAY OF THE
RESURRECTION (Holy Easter) BEFORE THE VERN~
(spring) EQUINOX, OR WITH THE JEWS, LETHIMB
DEPOSED!"
COUNCIL DEFINES CANON
.
During the First Ecumenical Council held in Nica~a1~
325 A.D., this Apostolic Canon was more clearly define
by the following regulations:
tea
A) "Holy Resurrection MUST ALWAYS
be celebra
on a SUNDAY!" (The First Day of the Week)
.
B) "Holy Resurrection
MUST NEVER be celebrateu
(continued on page 16)
St.JohnofDamascus
andhisTheology
ofHoly
Images
by father joseph
On the theology of the Holy I_mag~s,
f St. John of Damascus 1s qmte
the P1ace O d far-reachmg.
•
V ery 1·
•
1ttIe 1s
an
t
·mportan
1
bout the life of St. John of
known a
.
d
He was born m the secon
oamascuS•
halfof the 7th century (about 675), o~ a
. . ui'shed family in Damascus, whtle
d1unq
•ty was under the Moslem C a 1·1ph a,
ihe c1 succeeded his father as t h e c1v1
• ·1
and he
I .
h d of the Christian popu atlon.
eaAbout 716, for the Faith, John of
Damascus gave up his position and
·red to a monastery of St. Sabas, near
re!1
d . d
Jerusalem, where he was or ame
a
. riest.He died at St. Sabas, very probably
;n"➔9 and certainly before 754.
t. John of Damascus treated not only
of dogmatic, historical and asceticomoral questions, but wrote excellent,
·xegetical and homiletic commentaries,
composedliturgical chants of permanent
\·orth,and became the Orthodox leader
Controversy. One of his most im1: the Iconoclastic
portant writings is On the Orthodox Faith (De Fide Orthodoxa).It consists of four principal and most valuable
books:Book I dealing with God and the Trinity, Book II
withcreation of the world, angels, and man, Book III with
the Incarnation, Book IV with Resurrection,
Ascension,
images,saints, mariology, and eschatology.
In replying to the attacks of the Iconoclasts against the
practice of venerating the material images, John of
Damascus writes "Since some find fault with us for
adoring and venerating the images of our Saviour and
Lord, and of the Saints, and the Servants of Christ, let
themrealize that in the beginning God made man to His
own Image." (De Fide Orthodoxa IV).
John of Damascus maintains,
furthermore,
that
throughthe material signs man penetrates to the spiritual
reality.The image, he writes, is simply a material symbol
of an intelligible re?Jity destined to elevate the mind
1?wa~dthe divine. On the other hand, matter itself is glorified m the person of Jesus Christ. Hence, the artist, in
repres~~tingChrist, makes an 'image of God' by painting
~-edeified humanity of Jesus, hypostatized in the Word
imself.In so doing, according to John, he witnesses to
lb~ fact that "matter is God's creation and he confesses that
ll is good." (De Fide II )
F
•
urthermore, John of Damascus rejects any attempts
to ~_ake an image of the Almighty God since God is
invisible
• f' •
•
.
. .
.
, m mite, mcomprehens1ble,
and ' hm1tless.
He
1
t
~SIS s that one cannot reproduce
an image, a portrait, a
daetchor a form of the invisible divinity. And "If someone
•
" o f t h e 1mmatena
•
• I an d
incres make an ima ge, " h e wntes,
orporal divinity, we repudiate him. The Logos himself,
before the·
•
.
incarnation, could not be reproduced; he 1s the
antypas
image of the Father, but the image cannot be materially
reproduced." John of Damascus, in this respect, emer~es
as one of the great Byzantine theologians who dealt with
the doctrine of the invisibility of God. St. John asserts the
fact that we can represent God, the Invisible One, not as
invisible, but insofar as he has become visible for us by
participation
in flesh and blood. Hence, the relative
divinity of images is linked necessarily
with the Incarnation of the divine Logos.
St. John of Damascus considers the Incarnation of the
Son as a manisfestation of love, not a work of nature.
Therefore, since God has appeared on earth in the flesh,
and who, in his ineffable goodness, lived with human
beings and assumed the nature, the thickness, the shape,
and the color of the flesh, then we can represent what is
visible in God, and respectively, we can venerate, not
matter, but the creator of everything, who became matter
for our sake, who assumed life in the flesh and who,
through matter, accomplished
our salvation. (De Fide
Orthodoxa II.)
The writings of St. John of Damascus on the theology
of the holy images
have
revealed
his humble
acknowledgment of his indebtedness to his predecessors,
his eloquent and oft-repeated professions of faith, his
glowing praises of our Lady, his loving descriptions of our
Lord and Saviour - these and many other features of his
writings indicate the countless ways in which he deepened
our understanding of the place of the theology of the Holy
Images in relation to man's deification, salvation, and
worship. Therefore three concluding points follow.
First, the image of the incarnate Word is considered as
a witness to the deified human nature of Jesus, a central
soteriological notion in earlier patristic theology. Hence,
if this human nature is "indescribable"
it is also inaccessible, and, therefore, the salvation of our human nature
is not achieved.
Second, John of Damascus, has successfully shown us
that man was created for deification, moving towards
union with God. The perfection of our first nature lay
above all in this capacity to communicate with God, to be
united more and more with the fullness of the Godhead,
which was to penetrate and transfigure created nature.
Third, the Image of Christ, venerated
by the
Christians, bears witness to the reality of the Eucharist.
The angels, writes John of Damascus, do not partake of
the divine nature, but only of the energy and the grace,
but men participate in it, they are in communion with the
divine nature, at least those who are in communion with
the Holy Body of Christ and receive His Blood; for the
Body and Blood of Christ are hypostatically united to the
divinity and in the Body of Christ, with which we are in
communion, there are two natures inseparably united in
the hypostasis. We are thus in communion
with both
natures with the body, corporally,
and with the
divinity spiritually, or rather with both in both ways.
Fr.Antypas is a recent graduate of St. Vladimir Seminary and is now pastor of St. George Church in Bridgeville,
TheWor
Pa.
Pnl1977
Page 13
�ARUHDIOUESAN
OFFIUE
GREAT LENT 1977
To the Reverend Clergy, Esteemed Members of the
Parish Councils, and the Beloved Faithful of the
Antiochian OrthodoY Christian Archdiocese of North
America:
"The Lenten Spring has come! The Light of Repentance
has dawned!" With these words, Orthodox Christians
throughout the world have ushered in the holy season of
Great Lent, inaugurating our common spiritual pilgrimage
to the glorious Resurrection of the God-Man, Jesus Christ.
Although an aura of penitential solemnity now pervades
our lives, the brilliant light of Pascha already dawns in the
distance. It is this light which encourages us in our Lenten
efforts, promising rest and peace in Christ.
To become partakers of this Paschal joy requires
preparation
on our part, for how can we experience
feasting without having first fasted. Our Mother, the
Church, teaches us that preparation consists of an increase in our personal and communal prayer life, ab-
ON SABBATICAL:
BUSS, Rev. David from the pastorate at St. Mary m
Cam bridge, MA.
ORDAINED:
BLANKENSTEIN, Rev. Paul to the Holy Priesthood at St.
George in Danbury, CT, on February 20. Father Paul is a
student at St. Vladimir's Seminar in Crestwood, NY.
ACCEPTED:
DEMSHUK, Rev. Vladimir from the jurisdiction of the
Moscow Patriarchate.
ASSIGNED:
DEMSHUK, Rev. Vladimir to the pastorate at St. George
in Keraney, NB.
KHOURI, Rev. Dimitri to the pastorate at St. Mary in
Cambridge, MA.
METROPOLITAN SALIBA APPLAUDS VATICAN
DOCUMENT ON THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN
By Religious News Service
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. - Metropolitan Philip Saliba,
primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, has hailed the recent Vatican
reiteration of the teaching that women cannot be priests.
He described it as a "welcome witness to the Orthodox
Page 14
stinence, and the performance of charitable works, each
individual observing what is possible and profitable for his
frame. Hear these words· taken from the Matins of Pure
Tuesday, and let them be imprinted in our hearts and
minds:
"Let us begin, 0 people, the pure Fast which is the
salvation of our souls. Let us serve the Lord with fear. Let
us anoint our heads with the oil of good deeds. Let us wasi
our faces with waters of purity. Let us not use empty
phrases in prayer, but as we have been taught, let us en
out: Our Father Who art in heaven, forgive us our
trespasses, for Thou art the Lover of Mankind."
With prayers that we may all be accounted worthy tc
sing the glorious "Christ is Risen," we remain
Your Intercessor in Christ,
Metropolitan PHILIP
Primate
Catholic Tradition of the faith at this time when the an
cient and unbroken teaching is challenged."
The metropolitan said ordination of women as pries!
is "destructive of the Christian family and the life o
consecrated celibacy. Not only Holy Scripture and the
unbroken Tradition but the order of Creation is violateL
by this moral and dogmatic failure."
Calling the Declaration
on the Question of the
Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood a
"definitive confession," Metropolitan Philip said it "gi,es
the overwhelming majority of the Christian world ~ne
voice on a paramount issue and cannot but have tm·
portant ecumenical results."
The Antiochian
leader's statement
laments the
decision of much of the Anglican Communion to ordain
women, or to accept in principle that possibility.
"Orthodox disappointment," he said, is "greater at tlu
ultimate defeat of those with whom, it was hoped
common ground might be attained."
Speaking of Anglican preservation of "much that_wa
capable of an orthodox and catholic understanding,
Metropolitan Philip said "Orthodox appreciation of ,th::
congenial elements undoubtedly led many to overestun h
1
the size and strength of the Anglo-Catholic party thoug
1
th
to be faithful to Orthodox tradition. We have learned :
our sorrow is shared by many Anglicans who shared t e
Catholic faith with us."
TheWor
OPOLITAN CHORNOCK IS DEAD AT 93;
\iCTREASTERNCATHOLICS INTO ORTHODOXY
LED
•
, Religious News Service
B
BRIDGEPORT,
Conn.
I
·'·~'- A leader in the switch of
_;,•
some American Carpathoi!
Russian
Christians
from
Roman Catholic to Eastern
Orthodox jurisdiction died
here at 93.
Metropolitan
Orestes
Chornock
was the first
bishop of the American
Carpatho-Russian
Orthodox
Greek
Catholic
Diocese, begun in 1936. It
currently
has about 65
parishes and priests in the
east and midwest with
60,000 commmunicants.
In the 1930s, Father Chornock was a leader of Eastern
Catholics who objected to attempts to force on them
certain practices of the dominant Roman Catholic Lati
Rite, such as required celibacy of priests. Other points at
1 sue were the church calendar and the rights and powers
of the Eastern congregations.
In 1936, Father Chornock was chosen administrator
for the establishment of a new jurisdiction by parishes
\\h1ch opposed continued allegiance to the Pope on
grounds that the agreements of Brest-Litovsk (1595) and
tzhorod (1646) under which some Eastern Orthodox
accepted papal jurisdiction were being violated by the
Roman Catholic authorities.
As a result of their activities, Pope Pius XI excommunicated Father Chornock and five other priests in
December 1936.
At a second gathering in Pittsburgh, in November
1937, delegates from the parishes named Father Chornock
their bishop. His election was accepted and he was
consecrated by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to head the
new jurisdiction. He received the title of metropolitan in
December 1965.
Bishop Chornock was born in Ortutova in the Carpatho-R ussian district of the former Austro-Hungarian
Empire, July 11, 1883. After serving as a parish priest in a
Carpathian village, he immigrated to the United States in
November 1908, serving Eastern Catholic parishes in
Chicago, Cleveland, and Duquesne, Pa. In 1911, he
became pastor of St. John's Greek Catholic parish,
Bridgeport, Conn., where he remained for 45 years.
The metropolitan's successor is Bishop John Martin,
diocesan auxiliary since 1966. Surviving the metropolitan
(whose wife died in 1937) are his son, two grandchildren,
and three great-grandchildren.
In his eulogy, Bishop Martin likened Bishop Chornock
to the Apostles Peter and Andrew, with their "simple faith
and an easy manner" and "strength of spirit to live and to
die a martyrdom for the teachings of the Church as Christ
founded it. Like them also he was called to be a bishop
and a father of a people: Andrew of Greece; Peter of
Antioch; Orestes, of the Carpatho-R ussians."
Headquarters of the diocese are in Johnstown, Pa.
THE STANDING CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN
MIDDLE EASTERN CHRISTIAN AND MOSLEM
LEADERSMEET AT ARCHDIOCESAN OFFICE
new President, Elias Sarkis, as he works to bring
complete peace to Lebanon.
3. We call upon the United States Government to
take a prominent role in the humanitarian
and
reconstruction aid for Lebanon. A fully restored and
independent Lebanon is in the interest of the United
States, the Middle East and all the world.
4. We applaud President Carter's moral stand for
human rights, and we look forward to his application
of that moral creed to all the peoples of the Middle
East (Jews, Christians, and Moslems).
5. Recognizing that the root cause of the conflict in
the Middle East has been the injustice done to the
Palestinian Christian and Moslem people and that
the Palestinian people as primary parties to the
ENGLEWOOD, NJ
At the invitation
of
Metropolitan Philip Saliba, Primate of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, an historic meeting of
the Standing Conference of American Middle Eastern
Christian and Moslem Leaders was held at the Archdiocesan headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey. The
membershipof the Standing Conference was joined by the
leaders of cultural, social and political bodies in an
"extraordinary session" to discuss unity among all persons
of Arabic heritage residing in the United States, the unity
andindependence of ~he Republic of Lebanon, the speedy
reconstruction in the Republic of Lebanon, and the
conti~uing Palestinian problem. Those present at this
meetmg, representing more than two million Americans
of Arabic-speaking heritage unanimously endorsed the
followingstatement.
'
"The Standing Conference
of American
Middle
EaStern Christian and Moslem Leaders meeting in extraordinary session unanimously declares the following:
1. W~ c~ll for unity among all persons and
org_amzationsof Arabic speaking background in the
Umted States.
2- We are for the unity and independence
of
Lebanon. Our position is non-partisan
with deep
conc_ernfor all the people of Lebanon,' and for the
~intm~ed independence,
unity and integrity of a
vereign Lebanon. We support the efforts of the
Front row (I to r): Imam Mohamad Jawad Chirrl, Bishop
Francis Zayek (Maronite), His Eminence Metropolitan
PHILIP, Archbishop Karekin Sarkissian (Armenian
Apostolic), and Archbishop Joseph Tawil (Melkite).
April1977
Page 15
�conflict should participate in any peace negotiations
in fulfillment of their right to self-determination, we
call upon our government to support all efforts
toward that desired end.
Finally, we ask for the prayers of all God-fearing
people in the United States and in the Middle East that
this year, 1977, may initiate those actions by all the parties
concerned that will at long last bring justice and peace to
the land which gave to the world the three great
monotheistic
religions Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam."
The above statement was unanimously endorsed by:
Metropolitan
Philip Saliba, Primate of the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese and Chairman of the
Standing Conference; Bishop Francis Zayek, Primate of
the Diocese of Saint Maron and Secretary General of the
Standing Conference; Archbishop Joseph Tawil, Primate
of the Melkite Exarchate and Treasurer of the Standing
Conference; Imam Mohamad Jawad Chirri, Director of
the Detroit Islamic Center and Vice-chairman of the
Standing Conference; Archbishop Karekin Sarkissian,
Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America;
Reverend
Joseph Hourani,
representing
the Arab
Protestant Community; Mr. Rafic Rasamny, representing
the American
Druze Society; Father John Meno,
representing
Archbishop Mar Athanasius
Y. Samuel,
Primate
of the Syrian Orthodox
Church;
Father
Athasnasis
Yousif, representing
Bishop Mar Aprim
Khamis, Primate of the Assyrian Church of the East;
Archimandrite
Antoun Khouri, Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese; Dr. Frank Maria, Director of the
Department of Middle Eastern Affairs of the Antiochian
Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese;
Monsignor
Elias
·Shaheen and Father John Namie, Diocese of Saint Maron;
Archimandrite Elias Skaff, Melkite Exarchate; Dr. Elias
CHRIST Is Our PASSOVER!
(continued from page 12)
before or on the same date as the Jewish Passover!"
C) "Holy Resurrection SHOULD NEVER be celebrated
on or before the vernal (spring) equinox of any year/"
The first mandate was adopted because at the time of
that First (and truly) Ecumenical Council, there were
some Christians in various parts of the known world who
celebrated the Feast of the Resurrection on a different day
of the week each year, depending upon the date for the
Jewish Passover (i.e. the day immediately following the
Passover). In following that procedure. The Resurrection
Feast would be held on any day of the week, and would at
times fall on a Friday (the sixth day of the week), which is
the day of the Crucifixion, rather than on the First day of
the week, our Sunday, the actual recorded Day of the
Resurrection! (cf. St. John 20:1; St. Matthew 28:1; St.
Luke 24:1; St. Mark 16:1).
The second mandate was adopted because according
to the Holy Gospel, Jesus Christ was crucified during the
week of the Hebrew Passover; was taken down from the
Cross on the eve of the Sabbath, Friday, and given a
hurried burial. (cf. St. John 19:31-42; St. Matthew 27:57Page 16
DEPARTMENT
OFSACRED
MUSIC
A CAPELLA SINGING
by james e. meena II
U.S. Senator James Abourezk and Metropolitan PHILIP
Saadi, William Bazzy, and Paul A. Corey, representing the
American Lebanese League (ALL); Charles Gehron
representing
the National Association
of Maronite~
(NAM); Minor George and Joseph Baroody, representing
the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAAi
Easa Ghannam,
Aziz George,
and Fred George.
representing the American Ramallah Fede~ation (ARF);
Sarkis Khoury, Tony Sayegh, and Nactf J. Hache
representing
the World Lebanese
Cultural Union
(WLCU).
Also present at the meeting were United States
Senator James Abourezk and Monsignor John G. Nolan
who is Director of the Catholic Near East Welfar..
Association and Consultant for the Standing Conference
A special committee was appointed to continue
coordination of efforts. This committee is composed of
the chairman Paul A. Corey (ALL), Easa Ghannam
(ARF), Charles Gebron (NAM), Minor George (NAAA
Joseph Baroody (Melkite Exarchate), Dr. Frank Maria
(Antiochian Archdiocese), and Dr. Elias Saadi (ALL).
Other groups will appoint representatives
to this committee in the near future.
60; St. Luke 23:52-56; St. Mark 15:42-46). Jesus rested in
the Tomb on the Sabbath (cf. St. Luke 23:56), thereby
giving us emphatic example that we, as Christians, are to
ignore the passover of old, and recognize and accept Him
as our New, Holy, Great, Mystical, and Transcendern
Passover (cf. I Corinthians 5:7); and because it was early
in the morning on the First day of the week (after the great
Sabbath when the day of Passover coincided with
Saturday) that Christ the Lord Resurrected from the dead!
The third mandate was adopted because if the Feastof
the Resurrection is celebrated on or before the vernal
(spring) equinox, the Feast might be celebrated twicein
the same year, and should this occur, it would naturally
not be celebrated at all in the following year.
ORTHODOX DATE FOR THE RESURRECTION
This year of 1977, the Jewish Passover (original
calculation) falls on Sunday, April 3rd. Therefore, the
First Sunday after the first full moon in spring, after the
Jewish Passover is Sunday, April 10th, which is the date on
which more than 300 million Orthodox Christians the
world over will celebrate the Great and Glorious Feast of
the Resurrection of Christ the Lord; our Passover, Who
has conquered
Death (for us) by His death a~d
Resurrection, and grants Life Eternal to all who believeIll
Him! (This year Western Christians will celebrate Easter
with us!)
The Word
. ce the beginnings of J udeo-Christian worship, music
S10
h
d.
•
ha been considered t he me ht~m mohs_tappropnate for
sing God. Throug out t ts vast 1story many styles
addres
d
. 1·
. I
.
• d forms have come an gone m 1turg1ca mustc; from
an
Byzantine chant to the setting of choral
ear1Y
.
ngements in 19th century Russia, to present choral
a;~ngs in both Slavonic an~ Byzantine styles. This is not
\'en mention the great history of the Western Church
toe
G
.
h
sic which extends from
regonan c ant, the western
muunterpartof our Byzantine chant, to ..the 16th century
co
Palestrinas,to the 18th century compos1ttons of Bach, to
the modern folk masses. All these styles were spawned
rromthe desire to supplicate God and to praise His Name.
The roots of our Church music can be found in the preChristiantradition of the Hebrew faith. Songs of Praise to
the Lord were presented in a linear chant style, A Capella.
very much as is done today. This tradition of unaccompanied singing was adapted by the early Christian
Church.
The use of instruments in the early Church arose in the
West,while pure unaccompanied singing remained in the
Eastern Empire. As the use of instrumentation grew in
popularityand use in the West, a concern for the validity
of instrument usage also grew. The Apostolic Church
Fathers held the premise that Songs of Praise to God
should be submitted by the most perfect of instruments,
the human voice; and considered the use of instruments in
the Church a vulgar practice. This controversy was one of
the many indications that the One Apostolic Church was
headed towards a confrontation between East and West.
With the Great Schism the controversy of instrument
usagewas solved; the West, whose own musical traditions
both sacred and secular were developing independently,
would use instruments,
while Byzantium
and its
surrounding Christian regions would hold to unaccompaniedsinging.
In Byzantium the musical style of the chant expanded
and_evolved into a complex system of vocal art, including
a highlysophisticated system of notation. However, with
the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the submersion of the
Orthodox Church in the Eastern Empire, the center of
~rthodox culture shifted to the Slavonic countries, and it
is here that the styles which we are accustomed to in
presentOrthodox music solidified.
~he roots of Slavonic, and particularly Russian music
are 10 Byzantine chant which evolved in its new Slavonic
e~vir?~ment into styles centering around Russian principahttes,such as Kievian chant. It was· not until the 19th
c~~ury, however, that the music which we are familiar
~t today was written. The great Russian composers are
a products of the 19th century Romantic movement. The
April1977
same Smolensky who wrote so many settings of Orthodox
hymns, some of which can be found in the Blue Book
publication of our Archdiocese, was a musicologist and
professor of Western music theory at a Russian conservatory. The same Gretchaninoff whose setting of the
Cherubic Hymn in D major is so familiar to us also wrote
piano works for children in a late Romantic, early
Expressionistic style, which had little or nothing to do with
the Byzantine roots from which it came. The same
Tchaikovsky who wrote the setting of the Divine Liturgy
which is in common use throughout the Archdiocese, also
wrote the 1812 Overture, Pathetique Symphony, Nutcracker Suite, and hundreds of other works, all in this 19th
century Romantic style. The list of composers is quite
impressive; Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Borodin, Archangelsky,
Bortniansk y, Tchesnokoff,
Rimsky-Korsakoff,
Rachmaninoff are all products of the same era which began
with Beethoven and influenced composers for the entire
19th century.
The reason for this heavy European influence is
simple. Where the Ottoman Empire which, until the 18th
century, closed the near and middle east to European
nations; the Russian Empire was in cultural and economic
rhythm with Europe, and thereby being influenced by the
same socio-economic pattern which influenced Europe.
These influences are evident in literature and architecture
as well as music; and it was only natural, therefore, for the
music of the Russian Orthodox Church to be influenced
by European musical conventions.
Although the great tradition of Byzantine music was
lost to Slavonic Orthodox Christians, the ancient tradition
of unaccompanied singing remained. Coupled with the
deep pathos of the Russian people, these Russian
Romantic composers produced music of dynamic expression and inspiration.
Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakoff described Slavonic music
of this period in his treatise on orchestration as being
coloristic, and emphasizing the sound of individual instruments and the resulting sound from the correct
combination of instruments. The sound is all important.
So too is the sound produced by the combination of rich
voices in the correct harmonic order found in the performance of Slavonic music by a Slavonic choir. RimskyKorsakoff and his contemporaries went even further in
their preeminence of sound. The composer would absorb
the text of the hymn to be set, and find the musical means
to portray those words through the music to the point that
the words became unnecessary to the expression of the
hymn. Such total reliance on musical expression is called
(continued on page 24)
Page 17
�Department of Christian Education
DIALOGUE
The Teenager In The Church School
questions to father buben
by the late donna bobin
For those church-school teachers who are looking for
a magic formula for achieving success in teaching
teenagers, I have some good news and some bad news.
The bad news first: there is no magic formula; no one,
sure-fire approach that always works, that always keeps
teenagers interested, involved, participating. Now the
good news: although there is no magic formula, there are
some methods or approaches that work better than
others; and by adding these to his or her teaching
repertory, the church-school teacher has a better chance
for success.
The approaches and methods that work better take
into account some mental and emotional factors evident
in the growth and development of teenagers. Mentally,
teenagers have reached a point at which they are able to
think abstractly: they can deal with abstract ideas such as
justice, mercy, etc., and they can evaluate ideas and value.
Emotionally, teenagers have an enormous desire to be
independent. To them, independence means being free
from adult authority and being able to make their own
decisions. Their ability to evaluate coupled with their
intense desire for independence makes them supersensitive about making their own decisions. They don't
want to be told what to think, what to believe, what to do;
they want to make these decisions for themselves. (Having
the ability to make judgments, however, doesn't mean
teenagers will always make rational judgments or ones
that are not self-destructive or harmful to others.) Teenagers also tend to be supercritical of adults. Adults, to
teenagers, are the people who tell them the n·ght way to
behave without themselves behaving in the way they
recommend. Teenagers also have a great desire to know
themselves better, to know better the roles that they are
expected to assume with adulthood. Since they experience
many new and often rapid physical and emotional changes
in their adolescent years, teenagers are often in the
unenviable position of really not knowing themselves very
well at all.
What sort of teaching methods take into account these
characteristics of teenagers? Because teenagers tend to be
turned off by a teacher who lectures to them and expects
them to memorize and recite back the contents of the
lecture, teenagers usually respond better to approaches
that stress exploration and discovery by the student with
the teacher acting more as a guide than the source of all
truth, values and judgments. Discussion formats, for this
reason, tend to work better than lectures because they
allow teenagers to participate, to share their ideas, and to
put into words their feelings and values. In addition,
teenagers are interested most in ideas and values that are
relevant to their own lives. Consequently, personal application and relevance of material to students should be
uppermost in the teacher's mind when planning class time.
However, simply telling teenagers that Christian values
Page 18
are relevant to their lives is not as effective as allowi
teenagers to discover
this . themselves
through discussion
.
. .
n.
personal observat10ns, activities, etc.
Activities that help students know themselves bett
.
b
er
are generally well received
y teenagers. Such activitie
are especially useful when
they
are fitted
into a Christians
. .
.
.
framework. Value clanflcat10n exercises are examples of
activities that fall into this category. For example, the
teacher can list certain values (love, freedom, happiness.
security, etc.) and ask students to rank them in order of
importance to them (giving the number "1" to the most
important, etc.). This can be followed by a discussion of
why the students ranked the values as they did and ho\l
these values would be ranked from a totally Christian
perspective, e.g., how important would "security" be 0
this latter scale?
Generally speaking, then, a more open format that
allows teenagers to explore, to express their ideas, to see
personal relevance in ideas and values, and to get to know
themselves tend to work better than closed formats in
which students are asked only to accept what they are to!1
and retain the information so they can respond with the
correct answer when questioned.
Recognizing a method is good, however, doesn't enable
a teacher to use it successfully. Conducting discussion
groups successfully, for example, depends not only on the
skill of the teacher but also on the topic, the kind of
questions asked, the classroom atmosphere, etc. It maybe
argued that any subject can be made interesting by the
right approach, but not many people have the talent for
making all subjects interesting. Allowing the students to
help select discussion topics may provide a partial answe1
for teachers, but it can also lead to endless discussion
about what to talk about with actual discussion of the
topic never taking place. One solution might be for
teacher and students to enter into a contract: the teacher
selects three topics and the students select three topics.It
may also be wise to limit discussion on student topics toa
particular time period, to list all suggested topics near the
end of the discussion time so students can vote on them.
and to have students agree that they will accept majorit}
rule.
Teachers conducting discussion groups must be aware
of the different kinds of questions that exist in order to be
able to initiate discussions with questions and to keep the
discussion going. A question such as "Who led the
He brews out of Egypt" really asks for only a one ~or~
answer; after someone answers, "Moses," there really 1snt
very much left to discuss. When planning discussion
questions then, teachers should think less in terms of
"fact" questions and more in terms of interpretive.
evaluative, and judgment or problem-solving questions
(continued on page 28)
The Word
• • •
QUESTION: "As briefly as possible could you please list
where each one of the Apostles travelled and how they
were martyred? I am in charge of our Sunday School
and think our children should have some knowledge of
each Apostle after the Ascension of Our Lord."
sWER: Among the first of the thousands of early
Christian martyrs were eleven of the twelve Apostles.
Only St. John the Divine of the original Apostles died a
natural death after having been miraculously saved
from boiling oil. Briefly:
St. Andrew - is often called the Apostle of the Russians,
because he foretold that the land North of the site of
his early travels would become holy land. In about 60
A.D. he was crucified on an X shaped cross. He was
tied to the cross with ropes, that his suffering might be
prolonged. His relics were buried in Constantinople by
edict of Constantine the Great at the Cathedral
honoring all Apostles. In 1453, before the Turkish
conquest, they were removed to Rome where they
reposed until the year 1964 when Pope Paul had them
returned to Constantinople during the Vatican Council
II. The Patriarchs of Constantinople
trace their
succession to St. Andrew. Icons of this Saint look
exactly like pictures of the relic recently published.
St. Peter - called Simon, he was a brother of Andrew,
and historians differ as to whom was the elder.
Orthodox believe that although Andrew was the 'firstcalled', Peter was the chairman of the Apostolic
College because of his age . . . Peter was the first
Bishop of Antioch, Syria where he lived for seven
years until the Church was firmly established. Peter is
linked to the great convert Saul who became St. Paul,
"equal to the Apostles." St. Peter may have been
crucified at Rome - head downward, feeling unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as Our
Lord. Until the Vatican Council of 1964, Roman
Catholics acted as if St. Peter was the only Apostle.
Since then they are taking the Orthodox attitude about
ALL apostles receiving equal spiritual powers.
St. James - the Great, Son of Zebadee, and brother of
John, was the first to be martyred after about ten years
of suffering. This apostle was always among the trio
who accompanied Christ our Lord when He performed
some miracle (i.e. Transfiguration). He was slain by a
sword under orders from Herod Agrippa at Jerusalem.
St • James- the Less, was distinguished for his work in the
Churc~ at Jerusalem. He presided at the first Apostolic
Council (Acts 21), which decreed that the ritualistic
Mos~ic Laws (circumcision, etc.) were unnecessary for
Gentile converts to Christianity. James was the first to
be referred to as Bishop. He was stoned to death by the
Jews.
April1977
St. Philip - whose name is of Greek origin is known as
the apostle who introduced Christianity to the Greeks.
After founding churches in upper Asia, he was hanged
from a pillar in Phrygia, where he had destroyed an
idol serpent and converted many to the Christian
Faith.
St. Thomas - preached in Parthia and then travelled to
India. The Thomas Christians of India were founded
by him. Known as the doubting apostle who gave us a
great lesson in faith, it is generally believed that he was
speared to death.
St. Bartholomew - also known as Nathanial spent many
years in Eastern Asia. He gave Philip a Christian burial
at Phrygia and was saved from crucifixion by a group
of repenting pagans who later became Christians. He
was skinned alive in Armenia, fighting idol worshippers, but his death became the seed of the faith in
Armenia.
St. Matthew - or Levi, was a tax-collector and author of
what became first in order of the four Gospels. He
travelled through Arabia, Macedonia, Syria and was
murdered by the sword in Ethiopia.
St. Jude - also known as Thaddeus or Lebbeus, he is the
least known of the twelve, and is only briefly mentioned in Scripture. Tradition says that he may have
been shot to death by arrows in Mesopotamia.
St. Simon - the Zealot, travelled through Egypt, Cyrene,
Africa and was crucified in Persia.
St. Matthais - replaced the betrayer Judas Iscariot. He
helped establish the Church at Judea before being
stoned and beheaded at Jerusalem.
St. John - the Divine, was the youngest and most beloved
apostle. He went to Patmos Island in the Aegean,
wrote the fourth
Gospel, three Epistles,
and
Revelation. He was plunged into a caldron of boiling
oil, but survived to become the only one of the twelve
to die a natural death.
QUESTION: Why can't a layman touch the altar or
anything thereon? - Trustee
ANSWER: Every Altar has the Reserved Gifts on it.
(Throne). Anything that comes in contact with the
Altar such as the Holy Vessels, Gospel, Cross etc., can
be touched or used only by the clergy consecrated for
these works and services. At times, however, a good
trustee or faithful parishioner may be allowed to carry
the Gospel in procession (during Holy Week), but his
hands must be covered by a cloth.
In order to have reverence and holiness we must try
always to be reverent and holy in the church and
especially in the altar area. There are countless
(continued on page 26)
Page 19
�Communities In Action
LIFESTYLES X
ST. GEORGE -
homily by father james c. meena
"A MYSTICAL JOURNEY"
Come on a journey through time and space, into a
marvelous reality that transforms time and causes
tangibles to become intangible, a mystical journey that
lasts for seven days by man's reckoning, yet is immeasureable by eternity's yardstick for it transports us to
infinity. Come with me on this wondrous journey through
Holy Week in which day becomes evening and darkest
night becomes brilliant morning.
On the first evening, the second and third, when the
sun has set, we offer prayers of morningtide as though that
luminary of the day were just peeking over the East's
horizon. We stand before the Son of Righteousness, Who
illumines the whole universe, Who calls on us to dredge up
the memories of lessons taught once and for all time as
holy icon's held up before our recollection, that we might
recall the fig tree and never wither and be fruitless; that
we might utilize our talents with diligence for His glory
and wait at the outer gates with the wise virgins and enter
with the Bridegroom where we will experience the most
moving and earthshaking events in the history of mankind.
Having been reminded of the things we were and the
things we ought to become, we shed the burden of guilt
and iniquity at midweek repenting in the heart of this
timelessness as we are bathed in the forgiving oil of
gladness and our forgiveness is assured.
Four times we have seen night transformed into
morning, but on the fifth day of this journey without days
we stand in the brilliance of the morning sun and witness
the Creator make sport of nature, for the daytime is
dismissed by the mighty hand of her Maker as we are
transported to where we shall share the Supper of the
Lord. Our usual joy in the Eucharist is made sad by anticipation of that which is coming, for no sooner have we
rejoiced with Him in the Passover feast than we begin to
witness his battle with His own humanity, His betrayal and
submission, His trial, mocking and scourging. Standing
again in the midst of His Temple, we are surrounded by
the gloom of darkness and blanketed by the voice of the
Evangelists who recount His passion. Weeping bitterly,
follow Him as He bears His cross to that hill of skulls. The
voice of the past calls to us, "Today He is hung from a tree
Who suspended the earth from the waters".
We stand our vigil at Golgotha. With Joseph and
Nicodemus we remove His body and tenderly hand it to
the weeping women who anoint and wrap Him in linens
for burial ... Only yesterday we saw Mary wrap Him in
Page 20
swaddling cloths and lay Him in a manger ... yesterda,
we heard the Angels' sing, "Glory to God in the Highe;t
and on earth peace ... "
Weeping before His bier we offer lamentations of
grief mixed with hope for the Christ who promised He
would rise again. Despair, anxiety and fear threaten us as
gloom overshadows the earth which trembles for th.
terrible deed it has witnessed.
We wait and watch. We pray before the altar throne of
God on a bright new day which is turned into night asa
verperal messenger stands at the Holy Doors . . . "YE
SEE JESUS - HE IS NOT HERE - HE IS RISEN1
Rushing to our homes to tell the joyful message as di
those women disciples, we bring our loved ones back to
the place where the mortal remains of the Immortal One
were lain for what we thought would be all time ... to
that empty tomb ...
not yet realizing that as we stand
transfixed and earthbound,
we are transformed and
heaven bent.
In this dim-lit Church, we wait to hear what has
happened to our beloved Nazarene ...
A flame glimmers, small and furtive at first, uncertain yet unwaivering
until its brightness compels the darkness to retreat before
its blinding rays and a voice from behind that brilliance
beckons: "COME, TAKE LIGHT FROM THE LIGHT
THAT IS NEVER OVERTAKEN BY NIGHT. COME,
GLORIFY THE CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD!"
Taking the undiminishing light and following where it
leads we stand at the gates of Paradise to witness the
defeat of Satan and the doors of God's Kingdom thrown
open. From behind them the brilliance of eternal radiance
pours out over the universe and engulfs all those who love
Him ... and the resounding, joyous, heavenly song ...
"Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered, and those
who hate flee from before His face". And our symphony of
everlasting hope rises to respond to the heavenly an·
tiphonies, "THIS IS THE DAY WHICH THE LORD
HATH MADE, LET US BE GLAD AND REJOICE
THEREIN".
Back inside that unique place, the House of Worship,
the faithful know that for a time of seven days, measured
by man's finiteness but for a timelessness in God's eternal
calculations, we have walked in the way with Christ not
simply to His end but to His beginning, and ours. We have
received the eternal message of truth and promise CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY, HE IS RISEN!
The Word
CHARLESTON, W. VA.
n January 16, 1977, the parish of St. George Church
O
ton W Va. honored Mr. Nicholas Howard with
1
lil c:~:~ioc~se
•Certificate of Meritorious Service. The
the d as presented to Mr. Howard by the Reverend Fr.
awar w t following The D.ivme
•
L.iturgy. The entire
Olaf ScOtion
' was very moved by the presentation
•
and
ongregat
.
ere very few dry eyes m the church. Mr. Howard
,~er~:oted over 55 years of faithful and dedicated service
hah' e church, many times leaving a sick bed in order to
IO ishis Lord. Only illness could keep him from attending
erve
•
Th e pansh
•
. • Liturgy or any specta• 1 c h urc .h service.
.
D1vme
cil of the church also honored him and presented him
~~: a beautiful gold cross as a token of the affection and
wit em of the entire congregation. A reception was held
es
. t h e service,
•
• t h e c h urc h activity
..
• e ediately followmg
m
:;ding hosted by his family. An assortment of home
uadeLebanese pastries and a huge cake baked especially
~r the occassion and decorated with a Cross and Chalice
\\lth the inscription "God grant thee many years,
. icholas" which was served to the congregation. It was
a memorable event and will long be remembered by his
familyand all those who attended. Present for the occasion besides his son, Dr. George Howard, daughters,
Mary Frances and Gladys of Charleston, were Mr. and
Mrs. Ernest Kaleel (nee Laurece
Howard) from
Youngstown, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. Wade Abraham (nee
Margaret Howard) of Grand Rapids, Michigan also
daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Howard. The grandchildren
attending were Kenneth Kaleel and Mr. and Mrs. David
Vaillincourt (nee Marilyn Abraham)
of Dearborn,
ST. GEO_RGE After more than 150 years of fragmentation
the
Orthodox Church in the United States is starting to put
itselfback together.
And the uniting trend is evident in Lawrence.
St. George's Church in Lawrence has opened its doors
toformer parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The church was forced to close recently due to a
declining membership caused by old age and apathy
a_mo~g
the young. Two weeks ago, it gave away its burial
site m Methuen because it could no longer care for the
grounds.
. St. George's, at its annual meeting last week, "Noticed
with sadness and regret the closing of the local Russian
~r~hodox parish due to dwindling attendance, and the
givmgof their cemetery land to the Town of Methuen."
The meeting resolved "to welcome any Orthodox
~hristian of any ethnic tradition" to come and participate
tn t~e parish life of St. George's.
C .S~. George's Church is open to all Orthodox
. hristtan_sand hopes for the day when all national groups
Ill American will be united in their common Orthodox
April1977
Michigan. Due to the inclement weather, Nick Kaleel of
the University of Louisville dental school, Elyse Kaleel of
Ohio State University and Diane Abraham of Michigan
State University, were unable to attend. Mr. and Mrs.
Howard and all of their family are faithful Orthodox
servants of their respective churches, and active in their
local parishes as well as on the Archdiocese level. Guests
were received at the Howard home following the
reception at the church by the family.
LAWRENCE, MASS.
Faith," the meeting resolved. "Orthodoxy is not limited to
any nation, time or place. It considers itself the Mother
Church of all Christians and traces its roots to Antioch,
Syria, where the disciples were first called Christians."
Unfortunately, according to the Very Rev. Archpriest
Michael Buben of St. George's, many people believe the
various Orthodox churches in America - Greek, Russian,
Rumanian and others, are different.
"Some people don't realize that the Orthodox faith is
the same faith regardless of what background it has," said
Father Buben. "All Orthodox churches have the same
doctrine, creed and history."
He pointed out that when the Orthodox Church was
founded in the United States, all churches were under the
jurisdiction of the Russians. The outbreak of the Russian
Revolution in 1917 changed all of that, however.
"When
the
Orthodox
Church
was
originally
established in the United States all churches were under
the jurisdiction
of the Russians," he said, adding,
"however, the war of 1917 caused great turmoil in Russia
and funds were cut off, causing the Orthodox Church to
Page 21
�fragment. With their funds cut off, each jurisdiction
became independent.
The Orthodox Church is once again trying to unite
itself, Father Buben said and church leaders currently are
meeting in committee to discuss how the church should be
put back together. The Council of Bishops, representing
each of the various jurisdictions or nationalities hopes to
meet in 1980 and once again consolidate the church.
Father Buben admitted there are still some problems
which must be overcome before the church is united, such
as language. According to Father Buben the Orthodox
Church has never had one official language because
churches were allowed to adopt the language of the
countries they were built in. Nevertheless, he remains
optimistic about the church's drive toward unificiation.
"We open our church to anyone who wishes to see the
ancient church," said Father Buben. "We are the only
Christian church which has never changed its service or its
traditions and we delivered the service long before the
Roman Catholic Church started doing it."
In discussing the problems of the Russian Orthodox
Church, Father Buben contended the parish declined
because church leader were too involved in trying to teach
their children to be Russian, rather than Orthodox.
"The Trouble with the Russian Orthodox Church is
that the old-timers tried to make the children Russians,
rather than Orthodox," said Father Buben. "The children
went elsewhere
because they wished to become
Americanized and they were confused by their elders who
were teaching them Russian history, language, and
music."
Father Buben was not sure about how many
parishioners from the Russian Orthodox Church would
respond.
"At one time 40 families wanted to join us," he said,
"but that fell through because we hesitated to see their
sincerity. They may come through again, but I don't
know."
Fr. James and Ruth Meena honored at Testimonial
Banquet given in their behalf by their parish in Cleveland,
Ohio on their 25th anniversary of priesthood.
Page 22
ST. MICHAEL CHURCH -
BEAUMONT, TEXAS
rish of St. Michael's has truly been blessed over
The pa
h
·
ast months by s_o~e o~ t e most d~dtcated and inth~.P Orthodox Christians m our Archd10cese. The first
spiring is our priest, Father Joseph Olas, who continof thes;lls us with hope and renewed spirit. He has helped
uo_uslybi
ck a unity to our parish for which we are all
bring a
•
h a d v1s1ts
• • from Bill
· Essey,
grateful.
We feel fortunate havmg
Bishop Elia ordaining Albert J. Azar a sub-deacon (Father
Kenna behind Bishop).
St. Philip's Parish Ft. Lauderdale
Bishop Elia reached the hearts of the parishioners of
St. Philip's when he lunched with the youngsters, chatted
with teenagers, met with the Council and visited with Sr.
SOYO during a three-day weekend in February.
During the Sunday Liturgy, Albert J. Azar was blessed
Sub-Deacon Philip by Bishop Elia in a church filled with
worshippers chanting "Axios!" The new Sub-Deacon has
been a devoted assistant to Father James Kenna. His
brother George is Chairman of the Parish Council this
year.
The popular hierarch was feted at a Testimonial
Banquet bearing the theme "Christian Love." A highlight
of the affair was the surprise presentation of a special
plaque to Russell Watt, in appreciation for his extra·
ordinary services to St. Philip's. His wife Libby (nee
Secabe) is also a generous and constant worker.
Father Michael Husson, Dean of South Florida, spoke
of the progress of the Ft. Lauderdale parish and offered
his assistance. Other out-of-town guests included Mrs.
Rose Merhige of the Archdiocese Board, David Nimer,
Chairman of St. George Cathedral Parish Council, Miami,
and Father Nicholas Neyman, of West Palm Beach, with
members of his congregation. Mr. Albert Coury recited an
original Arabic poem for the Bishop.
Entertainment at the banquet was provided by Terry
Mackool singing two songs, and an Arabic ballet choreographed by Margaret Cagle. Both Sr. and Jr. SOYO
celebrated Bishop Elia's birthday with an appropriate
cake and gifts.
As always, at this time of year in Ft. Lauderdale, St.
Philip's Parish is visited by many tourists and friends who
consider it their church away from home. Father James
Kenna does his utmost to welcome guests, with the able
assistance of Sub-Deacons Damian and Philip. Lenten
dinners on Wednesdays
following the Presanctified
services provide an atmosphere of warm hospitality.
Barbecue luncheons following Sunday Liturgy are also
well attended.
The major event underway is the Eastern Regi~n
SOYO Parish Life Conference to be held in 1978 in Bahia
Mar Hotel, Ft. Lauderdale. Into its teen years, St. Philip's
will have come of age in hosting this huge conference.
Elaine L. Azar
The Word
h Director of the Archdiocese,
and Dr. John
You~ ra Director of Christian Education. Bill spoke of
BooJamonsibility
'
•
··
to our chtldren,
o f the truth and stab1hty
our resP
h l
.
.
he are seeking, and how we can e p them ftnd 1t
t y h our example. John conducted an all day lecturethroug
.
.
workshop on chtld psychology and different aspects of
ChristianEducation. Ev~ryone at the ~orksh~p _learned to
make film strips and shdes as a creative activity for the
hildren to express what they have learned.
c Beautiful music was the order of the evening when our
· hbors from Houston joined us in a choir workshop led
neig
•
1 ct·
b Dr. Bill Attra, reg10na
irector. T oget h er he and
P~tricia Schmidt, St. Mich~el's talented d_irector, helped
our choirs give each other gifts of new music to take home
withthem.
Father John Namie also traveled from Houston to
bring us a slide presentation and lecture on the Orthodox
Church in Russia. Father John was among the delegation
who recently traveled to Russia with Metropolitan Philip.
It was a very informative and inspirational evening.
The workshops and lectures were sponsored by our
SOYOwho decided to have this type program every other
meeting. They have been well accepted and attended.
One of our fun projects of the year is the Arabian
Night's Hafli complete with kibbeh, tabooleh, and _Syrian
bread. It is a popular way to share our culture wtth our
community in a spirit of love and pride.
-Linda Haddad
ORTHODOX CLERGY OF
NORTHERN OHIO
Priests from the comm unities of Greater Cleveland,
Akron, Lorain and Canton met at Holy Trinity Church in
Parma on December 13, 1976, to evaluate and to share
understandings regarding human sexuality within a
Christian context.
Among the concerns were: relating the standards and
values of the holy scriptures and the traditional Orthodox
Christian cultures of history to the present, so-called
"liberated" society of today; sexual problems that may
arise within the context of marriage; problems of the
unmarried, especially
adolescents;
homosexuality;
personal values within marriage and the family; attitudes
~nd activities which express and enhance growth in the
image and likeness of God.
Special guest among the Orthodox clergy was ~r •
Ernest Hepner, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Counsehng
and Moral Theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Cleveland.
~he Orthodox Clergy of Northern Ohio have been
holding biannual retreat-conferences
since 1969, to
promote inter-Orthodox fellowship and mutual enlightenment.
April 1977
Father Olas, John Boojamra, BUI Essey, Father Namie at
Beaumont.
"Epiphany
Day In Orlando"
For the third consecutive year, St. George Orthodox
Church of Orlando has sponsored "Epiphany Day in
Orlando" for all the people of this Central Florida city. As
has been the custom, the Holy Liturgy was celebrated in
the bandshell of Lake Eola Park in the heart of Orlando.
St. George Church is directly across the street from the
park, which is the city's finest. While it would have been
possible for the Divine Liturgy to be celebrated within the
confines of the church, it has always been the tradition of
St. George's that this service be celebrated at the Bandshell in order to witness Holy Orthodoxy to those nonOrthodox in the Orlando and Central Florida area.
As V. Rev. Fr. John E. Hamatie, Pastor of St. George's,
intoned the opening words of the Divine Liturgy, hundreds of people in attendance witnessed, some for the first
time, the timeless worship service of the Holy Church. As
the Divine service proceeded the original worshippers
were joined by others, drawn by the beautiful words of St.
John Chrysostom, author of the Divine Liturgy. The day
was a clear and warm one, with the beautiful Florida sun
shining overhead. Even the normally strong winds that
blow in from across the lake were calmed and subdued, as
if awed by the ancient service of Christian worship.
As chanting and incense rose heavenward, so did the
prayers of the faithful in attendance. However, the news
cameras from the local CBS and ABC television stations
were able to only capture the outward manifestations of
faith and adoration. At the conclusion of the Holy
Eucharist service, Archpriest John together with the two
church Sub-Deacons and Altar servers moved toward the
font containing the water to be blessed. As the Troparion
of the Feast was chanted, the precious Cross was dipped
up and down into the water. Following the blessing of the
water, Holy Water was sprinkled on the faithful and the
waters of Lake Bola.
Archpriest John gave a short talk about the Holy
Theophany of Our Lord and the need for Christian
Page 23
�committment among all peoples. After welcoming the
Assistant Mayor of Orlando to the Service, Father
Hamatie asked that the divers for the Holy Cross assemble
at the side of the lake, for the Holy Procession was about
to begin. Archpriest John was preceded by lampbearers,
the Holy Cross and censer in the procession to the waters
of Lake Eola. Slowly the group moved toward the lake as
the Feast Day Troparion was chanted in Greek and
Arabic. Upon reaching the shore of the lake, Father
Hamatie asked if the many divers were ready to attempt to
retrieve the Cross of Christ. When all indicated that they
were ready, with television cameras recording this holy
moment, Father Hamatie sent the specially prepared
Cross flying into the lake. With a leap, all the divers dove
into the waters of Lake Eola. Mike Cuvolo of Orlando was
the lucky retriever of the Cross. Upon bringing the Cross
back to Archpriest Hamatie, he was blessed and received
the traditional good fortune for a year that is bestowed
upon the one who retrieves the Holy Cross. Following the
blessing of all the divers, the faithful in attendance were
all blessed and received Holy Water.
In the evening, St. George's held its annual Epiphany
Day Dinner-Dance at the Longwood Village Inn. The
dinner consisted of delicious Prime Ribs with all the
trimmings. The people danced all evening to the sounds of
Greek Bouzouki music as well as American and Continental music. Most appreciated by all in attendance
however, was the feeling of togetherness and Christian
DEPARTMENT
OFSACRED
MUSIC
(continued from page 17)
"tone painting", where the music paints the idea of the
words. The chapel choir, performing A Capella, therefore,
must shape their tone to fit the "tone painting". A choir
must be well skilled in vocal technique to be able to
portray the music sucessfully, as well as being intellectually aware of the music's expressive potentials.
Such a task is difficult to fulfill, but when the goal is
finally accomplished
the result is an unequalled,
spiritually-uplifting Liturgy.
While the musical tradition of the Slavonic churches
was allowed to evolve undisturbed, the musical tradition
of the Byzantine churches, notably the Greek and
Antiochian, was interrupted and nearly stagnated by the
conquest of the Ottoman Empire. To attempt an analysis
of Byzantine music would take us beyond its limits; and
therefore, the material herein contained will deal with
Byzantine choral singing.
The Byzantine choral tradition which exists in our
churches today is the product of the 20th century.
Although choral singing has existed in churches in
Greece, the syle which is present in American churches is
dominantly American originated. The primary characteristic of this music is that of harmonized melodies,
Page 24
North American
Council
SOYO
Digest
News and Views
ST. ANDREW'S
Love that permeated the room. Before giving the blessing
for dinner, Father John was pleased to announce to allin
attendance that the long worked for Shrine of Our Lady01
Saydnaya would soon be a reality, in that the building to
house it had been purchasejl. The Shrine of Our Ladyof
Saydnaya is the Southeastern Deanery's (of which Father
Hamatie is the Dean) project for Antiochian Orthodox
Holy Year. This announcement added jubilation to the
evening and seemed to be the proper ending to a most
beautiful and Holy Day.
where an arranger will take a pre-existing melody; for
example the Kontakion for Christmas "Today the Virgin":
place that melody in a respective voice, most likely the
soprano, and provide traditional European harmonies,
somewhat modified to fit the appropriate tone of the ,
hymn, for the bass, tenor, and alto voices.
A primary difference between Slavonic and Byzantine
settings is the presence of the "tone painting" previously
discussed, and the preeminence of the text. Where in
Slavonic music the music will generally dominate, the
converse is true for Byzantine music. Being primarily
linear in character, due to the presence of a fixed, pre·
existing melody, the music becomes subservient to the
text. Therefore, the music does not have the thickness
found in Slavonic settings, and is most often simple in
form and style.
In rendering a piece of Byzantine music the A Capella
choir must be conscious of pitch relationships, the _ar·
ticulation on individual words and phrases, and keeprng
the integrity of the chant melody.
The choir director, therefore, finds himself/ herself
with a very difficult task; that of training a choir who ca_n
adapt their sound to fit the style of music to be sung. ~his
ability will come through an understanding of the musical
styles and an awareness of the need to render a piece ~s
the composer or arranger had planned when he set it. Itis
hoped that this article has provided an initial basis f~o~
which a deeper understanding of our Orthodox mustca
traditions have risen.
The Word
CAMP OFFERS 1977 SUMMER
This summer, St. Andrew's Camp will again offer an
ortunity for boys and girls ages 7 to 13 to participate in
opp
.
L
an-Orthodox summer campmg program.
ocated on
~hf shores of Oneida Lake in Upstate New York, St.
Andrew's Camp strives to combine the excitement of a full
esident camping program - sports, swimming, hiking,
~orseback riding, cookouts, campfires, field trips, arts and
crafts, and many other special and varied activities - with
regular participation in the liturgical and spiritual life of
the Orthodox Church including daily Vespers, Matins, and
religious instruct_ion as well as t~ice '"_'eekly Divine
Liturgies. All services are conducted m English.
The work at St. Andrew's is guided by the words of St.
John Chrysostom: "With us everything should be
secondary compared with our concern with children and
their upbringing in the instruction and teaching of the
Lord." All who work and teach at St. Andrew's share a
mutual commitment to bring this experience of the
Church to the children by participating with them in all
aspects of camp life. This interaction provides both
campers and staff with a special opportunity to grow, both
in the knowledge and practice of the Orthodox Faith.
The camp will run this summer in eight one-week
sessions from July 3 through August 28. In addition to this
Regular Camping Program there will be a special oneweek Teen Program at the end of August. The Teen
Program, designed for high school aged young people will
include special trips, discussions and lectures as well as
participation in many of the regular camping activities.
The recently inaugurated Staff Assistant Program will
CHRISTIANITY
PROGRAM
again be offered this year. Staff Assistants are young people
15 to 18 years old who come for the summer as volunteers
to assist the senior staff with various aspect of the
camping program. At the same time, the Staff As istants
will participate in a special program of religious and social
activities under the supervision of the Camp Director.
The staff at St. Andrew's Camp is chosen on the basis
of their active participation in Church life and their
sincere interest and experience in working with children.
In addition to the college and graduate school students,
seminarians and teachers who fill the majority of the
senior staff positions, there is also a full-time priest,
registered nurse, and Red Cross certified life guard and
instructor in residence all summer. Senior staff must be at
least 20 years old, or 18 with one year's experience as a
Staff Assistant.
St. Andrew's Camp truly offers a unique opportunity
both for campers and staff to come together in a healthy
envigorating environment where they can live, work and
play as part of a Christian community whose activities
center on the worship and teachings of our Orthodox
Church. Parents interested in the Regular Camping
Program or persons interested in the special Teen week
should write to the camp office at 303 1 / 2 Tompkins St.,
Syracuse, NY 13204 for further information and application forms. Persons interested in working at St.
Andrew's as part of the senior staff or as volunteer staff
assistants should contact the camp director, Deacon
Christopher York, 72 Kennedy Place, Crestwood, NY
10707.
MAKES A DIFFERENT PEOPLE -
HOW?
To me, Christianity is accepting Christ into our hearts,
and most importantly, living the way He wants us to live.
We must choose God's way instead of our own. I now
realize that it is the faith that Christ gives us that enables
us to believe God, and to live as He wants us to live.
Instead of living to please ourselves, we are living to
please God, because we love Him.
Although we do not see the change that takes place in
ourselves we see the effects of the change. We are happy,
satisfied and life has a definite purpose. We are secure
because of our faith in God. Christianity makes us a
different people by showing us God, and allowing us to
live His way.
God is the only one who can fill the empty space in
your heart, for without Him, no life is complete.
When we have God in our hearts, we are able to
understand love, beauty, sadness, and other things on this
earth. By understanding them we are able to appr~c~ate
them to the fullest extent. We find a new reason for hvmg.
LISA AJAY is a 10th grader at St. Mary's Church in
Johnstown, PA (Eastern). She won 1st place in the NAC
Creative Writing Contest.
Why are we continually looking for something else?
Why is it, that even though we have so much, we are still
not satisfied? Obviously something is missing from our
lives.We do not have God in our hearts.
April 1977
Page 25
�DAILYDEVOTIONS
GREAT MEN IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
All through history, men and women have been inspired by the Holy Spirit and testified to the power of
Christ in their lives. Many have even suffered the ultimate
- death - for their Christian faith.
In time, the Church began appointing days for commemorating certain saints. With the passing centuries, the
Orthodox calendar became full of saint days. In fact, more
than one saint may be commemorated in a day. These are
the known saints.
However, there are many men and women who are
practically unknown. These are the faithful who led pious,
simple lives. They prayed, fasted, loved Christ and neighbor, but were unknown outside a very limited circle. It is
to remember these saints that the Church set aside the
"Sunday of All Saints." This day is the first Sunday after
Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. On this day is
noted the outcome and fruit of Pentecost, the bringing
forth of the saints of the Church.
The saints came from all conceivable walks of life.
There were bishops and priests, such as St. Basil the Great
and St. Athanasius; writers, such as St. Gregory
th
Theologian and St. Ephraim the Syrian. Among the · e
we include princes - St. Vladimir, prince of Kiev ~a~:ls
St. Theodora, Empress of Byzantium; also included· Sd
. .
Th
IS I
Luke, w h o was a p h ys1cian.
ere were slaves, reclu •
paupers ...
the list is endless. There were great ~~s.
ferences between these people, but they all had one thiif.
in common: they loved Christ and served Him faithfull ng
The Apostle Paul recounted the deeds of the saint/
.
d t h elf
. memory. Th ey serve as examples for uand
rev1ewe
.
their patience, their perseverance in times of persecutt in
their virtues, their contempt for sin, and their turn~:·
away of temporal goods.
g
These saints are called the "fulfillment of the Gospel."
The Gospel was more than a book to them, it was a way01
life.
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
an attempt to encourage our faithful
to study Holy Scripture through
daily liturgical readings-
ELIZABETH ANN ATTRA, a 9th grader at St. George
Church in Houston, Texas (Southwest) won 1st place i
the NAC Creative Writing Contest.
n
WEEK OF APRIL 10:
Sun:
Mon:
DIALOGUE ...
(continued from page 19)
horrible examples from Scripture dealing with those
who attempted to touch disrespectfully altars or items
dedicated to God's Service.
When the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the
Philistines and brought into their Temple, their idol Dagon, fell over and the entire city was punished. The
Gethites carried the Ark from one place to another,
and everywhere thousands died. The Bible says:
"There was a fear of death in every city." (1 Kings 5). It
is recorded that a man who put his arms to uphold the
Ark was struck dead immediately.
When Belshazzar drank from the Holy Vessels which
were captured in the destruction of Solomon's Temple,
handwriting on the wall foretold his doom that very
night.
Heliodorus
intended to plunder the Temple at
Jerusalem. When he was about to grab the holy vessels
the Bible says: "There appeared to them a horse with a
terrible rider upon him, adorned with a very rich
covering and he ran fiercely and struck Heliodorus
with his forefeet. Moreover, there appeared two other
young men beautiful and strong who stood by him on
either side and scourged him without ceasing with
many stripes. And Heliodorus suddenly fell to the
ground." (1 Kings 6).
Please send questions to:
V. REV. MICHAEL BUBEN
103 Pleasant Street
METHUEN, MA 01844
Page 26
IN ANTICIPATION OF
THE "GREAT SYNOD"
Tue:
Wed:
Thu:
(continued from page 7)
speak to America and the world with one voice and
one accord. This Synod which will truly represent six
million free Orthodox will be able to respond effec·
tively to the moral and social challenges of our time,
Why should we issue, for example, ten Orthodox
statements vis-a-vis abortion? The most important
task for this synod, however, will be the preparation
for the establishment of a future Orthodox Patriar·
chate in America which will reflect both our organic
unity and the richness and diversity of our ethnic
cultures. I want to make it clear here that th~
Patriarchate can only be established by a common
decision of all Orthodox Churches.
Fri:
Sat:
Sun:
Mon:
Tue:
Wed:
Thu:
Fri:
Sat:
Acts 5: 12-20
John 20: 19-31
Acts 3: 19-26
John 2: 1-11
Acts4:1-10
John3:16-21
Acts 4:13-22
John 5: 17-24
Acts 4:23-31
John 5:24-30
Acts 5: 1-11
John 5:30-6:2
Acts 5:21-33
John 6: 14-27
WEEK OF APRIL 24:
Sun:
Mon:
Tue:
Wed:
Thu:
Fri:
Sat:
Sun:
Mon:
Tue:
Wed:
Thu:
Fri:
Sat:
April1977
Acts
John
Acts
John
Acts
John
Acts
John
Acts
John
Acts
John
Acts
John
9:32-42
5:1-15
10:1-16
6: 56-69
10:21-33
7:1-13
14:6-18
7: 14-30
10:34-43
8: 12-20
10:44-11:10
8:21-30
12:1-11
8:31-42
Acts 6: 1-7
Mark 15:43; 16:8
Acts 6:8-7:5, 47-60
John 4:46-54
Acts 8:5-17
John 6:27-33
Acts 8: 18-25
John 6:35-39
Acts 8:26-39
John 6:40-44
Acts 8:40-9: 19
John 6:48-54
Acts 9:20-31
John 15:17-16:2
WEEK OF MAY 8:
WEEK OF MAY 1:
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Chair·
man of SCOBA, my beloved brother in Christ, Arch·
bishop Iakovos for giving us the opportunity to
worship with you on this Sunday of Orthodoxy
hoping and praying that he will respond coura·
geously to the many challenges facing Orthodoxy in
this hemisphere because he represents the most
powerful Orthodox Archdiocese on this continent. It
is not enough to romanticize the past and bask in the
glory of yesterday, "for yesterday is already a drearn,
and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived,
makes every yesterday a dream of happiness au<l
every tomorrow a vision of hope."
The Word
Acts 1: 1-8
John 1: 1-17
Acts 1:12-17, 21-26
John 1: 18-28
Acts 2: 14-21
Luke 24: 12-35
Acts 2:22-36
John 1:35-51
Acts 2:28-43
John 3:1-15
Acts 3: 1-8
John 3: 16-21
Acts 3: 11-16
John 3:22-33
WEEK OF APRIL 17:
Sun:
Mon:
Tue:
Wed:
Thu:
Fri:
Sat:
Acts 11: 19-26, 29-30
John 4:5-42
Acts 12:12-17
John 8:42-51
Acts 12:25-13:12
John 8:51-59
Col. 3: 12-16
John 9: 1-39
Acts 14:20-27
John 9:39-10:9
Acts 15:5-34
John 10: 17-28
Acts 15:35-41
John 10:27-38
Page 27
�The People Speak
Dear Father:
Because of my very long and active participation in
Ecumenical affairs here and abroad and, especially, of my
close friendship with Eastern Orthodox churches in this
area, a friend of long standing has given me a subscription
to The Word. I had the privilege of close acquaintance
with the late Metropolitan Antony Bashir who, in 1958,
introduced
me to the Patriarchate
of Antioch at
Damascus, just before the election of His Beatitude
Theodosios VI. I have a beautiful Byzantine Cross which
was the personal gift to me of the late Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Athenagoras I.
This long introduction is prompted by the shock I
received this morning when the February 1977, issue of
The Word was delivered to my home. I have had it only an
hour and I interrupted some writing to glance through it.
The shock came from reading "Who Are The Others?" by
Father James Kenna. Apart from two small errors in
grammar it has no less than a dozen errors in theology and
fact. I concentrated on the last part - the "Note on the
Term 'Protestant"'
which starts out with an improper
interpretation of the Latin word, protestari, first used (as
Father Kenna says correctly) at the Diet of Speyer,
Germany, in 1529. I can find no Latin dictionary which
translates protestari as meaning "to fight against" (sic). It
was and is a positive verb, indicating a pronouncement for
a belief. "pro" means for, not against. If I am "proAmerican" or "pro-Labor" or "pro-Life" it means I support
those principles. That is the real meaning of Pro-testant.
To say that "Protestants ... do not accept the Church
as the arbiter" applies only to some Protestants - but not
Presbyterians, among others.
The most surprising statement, near the bottom of
page 27, is the one which says of the Ecumenical
Movement that "until recently there has been no active
participation by Orthodox or Roman Catholics." Greek
Orthodox theologians were present at the first Faith and
Order Conference at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1927 and
have been represented at all such meetings since.
One of my very good friends is the Rev. Fr. George X.
Gallas, Dean of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in
Pittsburgh. At his request I wrote an article for his parish
magazine, "Ecclesia."
I participated in the groundbreaking of St. George's
Antiochian Orthodox Church in Albany and have been
there often. For the past 25 years I have regularly participated in the Good Friday Lamentation Service in St.
Sophia Greek Orthodox Church in Albany and have twice
preached in that Church.
Although I am just now receiving a much appreciated
subscription to "The Word" I have read many previous
issues with interest and satisfaction. It is an attractive and
well-edited magazine and I shall continue to follow it with
interest.
Faithfully yours,
Rev. Carlyle Adams
Presbytery of Albany
Page 28
The
Orthodox World
• • •
Dear Father:
Many thanks for printing "Point". I am very ap.
preciative of that and your note.
Recently I had the pleasure of reading in The w d
. l
b
.
or
your very interesting artlc es a out your tnp to Russia I
.
·l
R
was heartening to learn that many uss1ans are still ve .
fervent in their ~hristian bel~efs despit~ very powerf~l
deterrents. I also hked the feehng of sharmg your journe
in that distant land.
y
Thanks again for publishing "Point" and sending mea
copy of The Word.
Most sincerely
Lorice Fiani Mulher~
Department of Christian Education
(continued from page 18)
which are better designed to stimulate discussion.
Interpretive questions such as "What do you think the
point of this parable is?", evaluative questions such as "Do
you agree or disagree with the idea that . . .?", or
judgment questions such as "If you were faced with the
choice of ...
, what would you do?" at least contain the
possibility of generating discussion. They must, of course,
be followed up with reasons for the answers given.
Finally, the classroom atmosphere is an important
factor in the student's willingness to take part in
discussions. Teenagers, like most human beings, are
rather sensitive to being criticized, ridiculed, or laughed
at. Consequently, it is usually wise to set up some
discussion guidelines. Students should understand that
discussions must be carried out in the spirit of Christian
community - with love, courtesy and respect for those
sharing their ideas with the group. Mocking speakers,
laughing at them, attaching words like "Stupid" to ideas
expressed by speakers, etc. are out of place in a Christian
community. Students should also feel free to express their
ideas, values, doubts, even to challenge ideas and values,
without fearing they will be mocked, ridiculed or treated
unsympathetically. For this reason, teachers should stress
early the difference between being acceptant of the
person's right to speak and be treated with respect and
being accepting of ideas. In other words, students should
be made aware that they have the freedom to speak and will
be listened to courteously, but their ideas or values can be
questioned and challenged, hopefully, however, in the
spirit of Christian love.
Classroom atmosphere is ve;y important not only
because it may help or hinder discussion but also because
it teaches
students
something
about interpersonal
relations. At this time in the lives of teenagers when they
are searching for their identities, when they are putting on
and discarding roles to see how well they fit, it is ex·
tremely •important that they find a supportive and non·
threatening place where they can try on the role of
Christian to see if it can actually work in the real, adult
world.
The Word
GREEKHOLY SYNOD FORMS
SUPREME
CHURCH COURT
ATHENS The Holy Synod of the (Orthodox)
Ch rch of Greece has decided to make the whole
h. uarchy a Supreme Church Court, to which all clergy
ie\ppeal sentences imposed by the Synodical Court.
canIn addition, the " ecc 1eton " (b'ts h ops ' ng
• h t o f appeal of
h rch sentences to the Ecumenical Patriarchate) will
c : be extended to bishops in all parts of the country.
no During the Synod meeting verbal sparring continued
between the minority of hierarchs led by Metropolitan
Augustinos Kantiotis of Florina, and the majority supporting Archbishop Seraphim of Athens and all Greece,
Synodhead. .
.
.
.
The dissentmg bishops were chosen durmg the penod
of rule by the Greek military, 1967-73.
In a letter to his fellow bishops, Archbishop Seraphim
hascriticized the minority bishops for helping create "very
sad conditions ... which are really unbearable," in part
because of "predatory" insults against the hierarchy,
especially by Metropolitan Augustinos, who has reportedly said its recent actions "were taken under the inspirationnot of the Holy Spirit but of demonic spirits."
In another development, representatives
of the 20
monasteries on Mount Athas have issued a unanimous
"Declaration of the Holy Community of Mount Athos
Against the Establishment of a Concordat between the
Vaticanand Greece."
(A report in the Orthodox Observer, newspaper of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of North and South
America, said the monasteries pledged "to toil with faith
and courage to prevent the implementation of such an
undesirable agreement
and
its detrimental
consequences," which, the declaration said, would include
recognition of the Pope as a temporal as well as spiritual
leader, and support for the few Eastern Catholics in
predominantly Eastern Orthodox Greece.)
Last Summer, Archbishop Seraphim said "the subject
of signing an agreement for diplomatic relations is a
subject which concerns the Greek government only. As
long as this diplomatic agreement does not touch the
sacred interests and the life of the Orthodox Church, and
~nthis point we are very sensitive, we are not disposed to
mterfere... "
REFORMLEADER IN SOVIET GEORGIA
SUBJECTEDTO MYSTERIOUS THREATS
. KENT, England - An attempt has been made on the
lifeof Zviad Gamsakhurdia, a human rights advocate and
leader in reform efforts in the Soviet Georgian Orthodox
Church,it was reported here.
Dr. Gamsakhurdia's car "was tampered with in what
April1977
was clearly an attempt to engineer a fatal accident,"
according to the Centre for the tudy of Religion and
Communism, at Keston College.
The Keston report said earlier attacks came in eptember 1975 when he and his family "were subjected to
mysterious attacks by poisonous gas in their. .. home" in
Tbilisi and last December when "intruders rummaged
through papers in his home."
Dr. Gamsukhurdia has been among dissenters lr,"elling
accusations of bribery, corruption and immorality against
officials of both the Georgian Republic and the Georgiu ..
Orthodox Church. In recent years hundreds of Communist
Party members and government officials have reportedly
been dismissed from their posts in the midst.of political
turmoil.
The Keston report recalls other suspicious car accidents involving other religious dissenters, including one
in which the Rev. Dmitri Dudko, a dissenting Russian
Orthodox broke both his legs, and a near accident with
two other cars involving the Rev. J. Zdebskis, a Lithuanian
Roman Catholic.
Another Keston report notes an appeal for the release
of the Rev. Georgi Yins of the unregistered Baptist
movement, in which the leader is referred to as "bishop."
"It is significant," Keston comments, "that unregistered
Baptists are now using the word 'bishop' ... to describe
their imprisoned leader."
The report also mentions a letter thought sure to be
from Mr. Yins which includes a moving description of the
Fall beauty of the area of near-Arctic Siberia in which he
is in prison, and urging those who send parcels to include
garlic and vitamins, to supplement the camp diet of
porridge and salted fish.
PATRIARCHATE POSTPONES REORGANIZATION
OF GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE
NEW YORK - The administrative reorganization of
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South
America has been indefinitely postponed
by the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, the archdiocese's ecclesiastical
superior.
As an archdiocesan committee was on the verge of
leaving for Istanbul to present detailed and f~nalized plans
for the reorganization
and seek their approval,
Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios dispatched this telegram
to Archbishop Iakovos, head of the archdiocese:
"Because the whole question of the reorganization
requires considerable study by the ap~ropriate commission, we urge your much loved and highly esteemed
Eminence to postpone the departure of the delegation
concerning this matter until further notice."
Page 29
�GREEK PRIMATE HAILS VATICAN STAND
BARRING THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN
BOSTON - The primate of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America has issued a
strong statement of support of the Vatican's recent
reiteration of its ban on ordination of women to the
priesthood.
The Vatican Delaration on the Question of the
Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood
"echoes what the Church Universal believed and practiced for 20 centuries," Archbishop Iakovos said in a
statement released here.
"I am chagrined, really," he said, "over the abuse of
the high qualities and dignity of women and the disservice
we do to them when we clergymen - servants of Christbelatedly raise our voice in an hypocritical upgrading of
women, some of whom we admit into the order of the
pastors (priesthood), of a deeply divided and secularminded and oriented church, as it seems to have recently
become."
Archbishop Iakovos said "a Christian can in no way
ignore the explicit text of the Scriptures or knowingly
misinterpret them in order to accommodate his or her
views and lightmindedly update an unchanging historical
reality such as Christ, Who is the same today, yesterday,
tomorrow and unto the ages."
"The publicity-seeking clergymen of our time," said
the Greek Orthodox leader, "would do better to attempt
to understand the nature of Priesthood, as well as that of
their own Church. For if the Priesthood is nothing else but
pastoral directorship of the Church and not the mystical
Body and continuation of Christ, but a type of religious
institution, then we serve neither Christ nor His People, but
our own glorified and narrowed views that devoid the
Church of its divine mission and defrock the Priesthood of
its essential character, reducing both the Church and
Christ to conventional commodities that may please, but
at the same time deceive the ambitious seekers of a unisex
Priesthood."
Archbishop Iakovos called the Vatican document "an
exhaustive study of the biblical theology of Priesthood and
as s_uch, regardless of the degree that it is heeded, it
constitutes and provides the basis for the theological
discussion which may help those who have erred to
rediscover both their faith and the value of scriptural and
ecclesiastical tradition, as well as the ability to appreciate
and live in Christian truth."
ORTHODOX
PRELATE
WOULD
WELCOME
CHANGE TO PERMIT MARRIAGE TO BISHOPS
VANCOUVER - The leader of Canada's Greek
Orthodox, Bishop Sotirios, says he would welcome a
change in Orthodox practice to allow married bishops.
"I am a sworn celibate myself," he said here, "and
would find it very difficult personally to marry because of
the pledge I made to God back when I was 25 years old in
C?reece to_ stay single. However, I would fight for the
nght for bishops to marry. It does not seem right to me
that_ a ~riest should be den~ed the right to move up ecclesiastical ranks because he 1s married."
Orthodox bishops are chosen from the ranks of unmarried priests.
Page 30
Reacting to the ordination as priest of a f
homosexual by Episcopal Bishop Paul Moore 0 t~ale
York, Bishop Sotirios said he is "horrified and disgustee~.
He said any homosexual Orthodox priest he found d,
about would be defrocked immediately.
out
"Homosexual behavior cannot be condoned b
th
Church, it is not more acceptable than fornicatioJ
e
adultery," he said.
and
The bishop also reiterated the Orthodox pos·t·
•
• o f any women. "T here is no deml Ion
agamst
t h e or d"mat10n
nd
for women to be ordained as priests in the Orth ~
tradition," he said. "Women are satisfied with ~h~x
position. They have ~. hig~ posit~o~ no~ in the chur:~r
They have equal pos1t1on m_a_dmu~1strat1onwith laymen·
they can preach, teach rehg1on m schools and in th·
pulpit, but they cannot administer any of the sacrament .~
On the question of lotteries, Bishop Sotirios c:·.
demned them as "completely immoral," and said ;
forbids bingo in any Orthodox parish.
e
He said it is important for Christians to live simply. Th
40-year-old bishop, youngest of the district bishops
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and Sout~
America, drives a 1969 Malibu, has no chauffeur and ha
his office and bedroom in the same building. Based i~
Toronto, he is responsible for the Canadian parishes of the
archdiocese.
Saint George of Washington Ho t
A MEETING
of
CHURCH and ST A TE
- ••..
f
32nd Antiochian Orthodox Chri tian
Archdiocese Convention
July 25 -31, 1977
~-~e;~~~~~
, ... "1111\:i
•
I,
~\,
-~~
.,, -
2
t
I
;
·~
:1
-· >..
Week At A Glance
t
• Hospitality Night
Welcome to Washington
Monday
• Audience with the Patriarch and
Choral Selections by the fine
Orthodox Choirs of the Washington Area
Tue dav
• Antiochian Night at the Kennedy Center
with Helen Reddy
ABOUREZK PRAISES CARTER
FOR CONCUSSION BOMB DECISION
\YASHING TON, D.C. - Senator Jim Abourezk (D,.
S.D.) today praised President Carter for his decision notto
sell the sophisticated and controversial CBU-72 weapon to
Israel and to ban its sales throughout the world. "I am
extremely gratified that the President has halted this sale,
not only because it would have upset the delicate balance
of power in the Middle East, but also because this clearly
is one of the most lethal and barbaric anti-personnel
weapons produced in the United States," Abourezk said.
Abourezk had conducted an extensive campaign to
defeat the sale of the CBU-72 to Israel. The campaign
included showing films of the CBU's destructive capacity
to press people and a series of protests to the
Administration.
Abourezk
had
pointed
out
to
the Carter
Administration that previous anti-personnel bombs had
been used by Israel in raids on Southern Lebanon in
violation of an agreement between the government of the
United States and the government of Israel prohibiting
such use.
The CBU-72 works by spreading a cloud of aerosol fuel
close to the ground which is then detonated leaving large
areas completely devoid of oxygen. The effect on human
beings is to asphyxiate them to death or to tear them
apart.
"There is no justification for the distribution of these
concussion bombs to Israel or to any other country,"
Abourezk said, "and President Carter's decision indicates
to me that he is serious about the control of U.S. arms
sales overseas."
Abourezk said he hopes this step will make a
significant U.S. contribution
toward progress on a
peaceful settlement of the Middle East conflict.
The Word
A:s;TIOl HIA~ HOI \ YIAI{
1977
HOST PARISH
St. George Ort hod ox Church
433516th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20011
HOST PASTOR
V. Rev. George Rados
10810 Meadowhill Rd.
Silver Spring, MD 20901
(301) 593-2131
GENERAL CHAIRMAN
Nick Hamaty
1007 Loxford Terrace
Silver Spring, MD 20901
(301) 593-3655
Wednesday
Thursday
• The Arabic Folklore Ensemble of Pittsburgh
featuring Hanaan, Emil Kasses, George Shaheen,
Hakki Obadia, Nadim Dlaikan, Mohamed El Akkard,
John Mirhige and more, In Concert With Hanaan
• Grand Hafli with Hanaan
Friday
• Grand Banquet and Ball
Saturday
Sunday
• Patriarchal Divine Liturgy
SHERATON PARK HOTEL & MOTOR INN
2660 Woodley Rd., N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20008
32nd ANNUAL ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION, WASHINGTON, D.C.
July 25 - July 31, 1977
Triples: $36.00
Singles: $26.00
Quad: $40.00
Twin/Double: $32.00
If rate category requested is unavailable, room in next open category will be a<;~igncd. To
enable us to confirm your request, RESERVATIONS
MUST BE RECEIVED not later than
THREE WEEKS prior to opening date of th~ convention. Your room will be held until 6:00_
p.m. unless guaranteed. Guaranteed reservations must be cancelled by 4:00 p.m. on date ol
arrival or you will be charged for that night.
NAME ________________________
ADDRESS
_______________________
CITY _______
DATEARRIVING
_
STATE _______
Name(s) of other occupants
_______
DA TE DEPARTING
April1977
_
ZIP CODE
___
_
___________________
l9 ____
19
_
ARRIVAL
HOUR
CHECK
__
OUT TIME I P.M.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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kalemat_19770401_21_4
Title
A name given to the resource
The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 04
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 21, Issue 4 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated April 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 Apr
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Coverage
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/36e126c795b735d61a6feea67e199450.pdf
3eb61261f514f31e5aef805ccae9f4ce
PDF Text
Text
The Word
MARCH, 12!7
~
I"'
f
" '\\
1
I
•
"8tf ort ThyCrossWt Bow
DownIn Worship,0 Lord,
AndThyHolyRtsurrtction,
Wt Glorify."
�THE
WORD
The Mo t Re erend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The Mo t Re erend
Archbi hop Michael, Auxiliary
Founded in Arabic as
Al Kalimat in 1905
b Bi hop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S. Corey
Archpriest Joseph J. Allen
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
ubscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
A UAL SUBSCRIPTION:
U.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIG COUNTRIES, 10.00
SI GLE COPIES, 1.00
THE WORD published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of orth America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Entered' as
ccond cla matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa.
15219.
THE WORD
-
A MATTER OF LIFEI
OFFICIALPUBLICATIONOF THE
ANTIOCHIANORTHODOXCHRISTIANARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTHAMERICA
March, 1977
Volume 21
Number
3
IN THIS ISSUE
3
Editorial
5
Balamand Theological Academy
8
Neo-Iconoclasm
by Bishop Elia of Salamia
I
11
Some Reflections on Fasting
by John Boojamra
14
Archdiocesan Offi~e
15
Lifestyles X
by James C. Meena
16
Who Are HTheOthers?"
by James Kenna
17
AOCWNA
18
Feast of the Annunciation
by Gabriel Barrow
19
The Orthodox World
by Religious News Service
20
SOYO Digest
24
Communities in Action
29
Daily Devotions
by Gerasimos Murphy
30
The People Speak
COVER
ISS 0043-7964
ANcountry painting of the mid-Sunday of Great Lent in Old Russia by
M .V . estorov.
As we approach the third month of "Antiochion
Holy Year",
observing the summ~r visit to this continent of His Beatitude, ELIAS
IV Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, let me shore with you
o'me thoughts concerning
our spirituality.
We need to know more
5
bout the place of TRADITION in our everyday lives as Orthodox
~hristians. When we think of Tradition,
we often hove in mind
eople who are reluctant
to accept something new, who do not
~ant to think, or who are afraid of progress. Tradition for most
eople is a sacred thing from a frozen past.
p ts this however,
the true meaning and thus the Orthodox
meaning of Tradition?
The word itself, which comes from the
Latin verb tradere,
signifies,
in the first place, the process or
action of transmitting
and communicating
something
to others,
and, in the second place, the thing itself that has been transmitted
and communicated
through this action. Thus tradition applies not
only to unimportant
things, but to life itself, for there is no life
which is not transmitted
from generation
to generation
and communicated from person to person. Life itself is Tradition.
When we speak of the Tradition of the Church, we must not
think of old customs, practices and beliefs that we keep simply because we consider them as sacred. Tradition is more than that. It is
keeping Christ olive through
the centuries.
Christ, who is "the
same yesterday, today and forever", promised to be with us, "always, even unto the end of the world".
Indeed, unless He continues to be present with us, among us, and in us, our salvation is
impossible. For we are saved only by being incorporated
into Him
and sharing
His life.
Transmitting
and communicating
Christ
through the centuries is a matter of life for every Christian. This is
Tradition.
For Middle Eastern people who lived under the Turkish yoke,
Christ was kept alive through the Liturgy and the Eucharist. Today,
within the Soviet bloc, Christ is indeed kept alive through the
Liturgy and the Eucharist. Thus the Liturgy and the Eucharist are
Tradition par excellencel
Tradition, whether
oral or written,
needs both preservation
and interpretation,
i.e., proper understanding.
We, as Orthodox
Christians, living in this Hemisphere,
blessed with religious freedom, are being called upon to preserve,
interpret
and properly
understand this Tradition
and pass it on to future generations
unadulterated. And here we are concerned as religious leaders,
because we are not so sure that w,e are doing it properly.
We are concerned when we enter the home of a parishioner and do not find there the family icon in a conspicuous
place for veneration.
We are concerned when the children in our church
schools tell us that the only time prayer is said at their
home table Is at Thanksgiving,
Christmas and Easter, or
when the priest is Invited for dinner.
We are concerned
that fewer and fewer families partake of the Holy Eucharist together
as a family and frequently.
We are concerned
that parents allow their children to
let school and social activities
interfere
with the religious
services and holidays.
March197?
..I
a::
tQ
Ill
Page3
�We are concerned that responsible
'!dults socially en~er.
tain in their homes during church services, thus competing
with the Church.
We are concerned that fewer and fewer Orthodox Christ.
ions are keeping the traditional
last days ol the Church,
•
II
Wednesdays
to commemorate
of
espec,a y
.
I the
I c betrayal
·1· ·
Christ, and Fridays to commemorate
His aw u rue, ,x,~n.
We are concerned that a large segment of our la,thlu/
feel it is only necessary to pay one's ~ues annu_ally to. insure
membership in the Church, and not_h!ng ';lse. 1s req~11red of
them--not
the sacraments, not part1c1pat10? ,n services, not
oneness with the rest ol the church commun,ty.
We are concerned because we see us as the Church and
as Nations, compromising our moral values and rationalizing
truth in order to get certain benefits.
We are concerned that we are passing on to future gen.
erations a watered-down
version of Holy Tradition, Tradition
that suits our convenience, tastes and un-Christian lifestyles.
If we are to be faithful to our heritage and to the past that
gave us the great martyrs, confessors, ascetics a~d communion ?f
saints, Tradition must and should play a more important
role 1n
our private and corporate
lives .. If :raditio_n is to be the vehicle
through which Christ becomes alive m our lives, then we must and
should preserve it properly, as our venerable fathers ':md _mothers
have given it to us. Let us not betray that !rust! An!1och1an Holy
Year is upon us. It is an excellent opportun,ty
to_ rediscover_ C!rthodoxy in its truest and purest forms and expressions.
Not mm,mal
but maximal efforts on our part are required.
When Patriarch
ELIAS IV comes to us this summer, he brings in his person almost
2000 years of traditional
Christianity.
Let us show him and ourselves that Orthodoxy
in North America
has preserved
its integrity, its life and order, its faith and deeds; that we have not
been influenced by new fads and fashions that have infiltrated
other faiths. Tradition will then become for us all, a matter of life.
George S. Corey,
Co-Editor
ANTIOCHIAN
HOLYYEAR
THEBALAMAND
THEOLOGICAL
ACADEMY
OFSAINTJOHNOFDAMASCUS
THEPAST
From the earliest days of Christianity the See of
Antioch has been a thriving center of spirituality and
issionary endeavors. During the golden era of
~tristic development Antioch was recognized as a
~ajor center of theological thought. With its loss of
territory to various invading hordes, Antioch's
richness was greatly reduced. After nearly two
thousand years of history, this ancient Patriarchial
See jealously guards today its only remaining
theological academy,
the Balamand Orthodox
TheologicalAcademy of Saint John of Damascus.
Historians have not recorded the date when the
firstmonastics settled on this majestic hill near the
northern shore of Lebanon. The written record of
Balamand begins on May 30, 1157 when Roman
Catholic monks of the Cistercian Order, who had
accompanied the invading Crusaders to the Middle
East, occupied the site and added to an ancient
Byzantine ~tructure. When the Arab armies finall
defeated the Crusaders in the thirteenth century, the
Cisterciansabandoned Balamand and withdrew from
Sundays
of GreatLent
PRINTSBY FATHERJOHN MATUSIAK
&tPoRC
·Tt-1~·
CROSS·
WC·
·DI
UCHT
Icon of Christ at the Dormition Monastery
~ow
D
Page 4
Courtyard
at the Oormition Monastery
The Word
March1977
the Middle East with the retreating forces. The
monastery remained vacant for the following three
centuries until Metropolitan JOACHIM of Tripoli
re-establi~hed it in 1603 for Orthodox monastics an
consecrated it to the Dormition of the Theotokos.
In 1833 His Beatitude Patriarch METHODIOS
charged Archimandrite Athanasios the Dama.scene,
Ab bot of Dormition Monastery, to superVIse an
ecclesiastical school (minor seminary) for the
adequate training of priests for the Patriarchate.
Since its opening 144 years ago, the Balamand
Seminary has educated countle~s laborers for
Christ's Vineyard:
lay theologians,
chanters,
deacons, priests, bishops and patriarchs. Balamand
Page 5
�for the new Balamand Orthodox Theological
Academy of Saint John of Damascus. Our Archdiocese fulfilled Metropolitan ANTONY's pledge by
contributing the necessary $300,000.00
The dedication of the new Academy took place
on November 7, 1971. The dream was fulfilled. No
longer would Antiochian students be forced to leave
the Middle East in order to obtain an education in
Orthodox theology. The future spiritual leaders of
the Church of Antioch could now study theology in
their own milieu, where proper emphasis would be
placed on Antiochian spirituality and history. To
sustain the Academy, the North American Archdiocese has annually budgeted funds to assist in the
operating expenses.
Classroom
THEFUTURE
The year 1977, proclaimed "Antiochian Holy
Year" by Metropolitan
PHILIP, will long be
remembered in the history of the Church. For the
firsttime in the history of Christendom, the Patriarch
of Antioch and All the East, the 164th successor to
the Throne of Saints Peter and Paul, will visit the
North American continent. He comes to bless the
faithful of this Archdiocese,
physically and
spiritually uniting them with the Throne which
nurtured such Saints as John Chrysostom, John of
Damascus, Barbara,
Ephrem the Syrian, and
Romanus the Melode. We pray that he will be
pleasedwith our spiritual harvest, the seeds of which
wereplanted less than a century ago.
In tribute to this historic occasion and in
recognition of our spiritual bonds with Antioch,
wherethe disciples were first called Christians (Acts
11:26),Metropolitan PHILIP and the Archdiocese
Boardof Trustees has established the "PATRIARCH
ELIAS IV FOUNDATION"
for the continuing
suppo~tof the Balamand Academy.
~1th your assistance a $500,000.00 fund will be
reahzed, the principal of which will remain in North
America.The annual income from this fund will be
forwardedto the Patriarchate specifically earmarked
for the operating expenses of the Balamand
Cloister at the Dormition Monastery
has indeed produced the life-blood for Orthodoxy
throughout the Middle East.
Although its impact on the Church is immeasurable, Balamand's years of active service for
Christ's Church are few. Because of wars and their
resulting financial difficulties the Balamand
Seminary has only been open for a total of fifty-five
years! Here is the tragic record:
1840-1899 CLOSED 1940-1944 CLOSED
1914-1935 CLOSED 1975-?
CLOSED
Metropolitan PHILIP with the seminarians
In 1965 the late Metropolitan ANTONY of North
America saw the need to build a school of higher
Orthodox theological education, a theological
academy, to create a spiritual renaissance in the
Pat~iarchate. To make this dream a reality His
Emm_ence pledg~d the func:ts necessary for its
erection. ~ollowmg the death of Metropolitan
ANTONY m February, 1966, Metropolitan PHILIP
was consecrated for the See of North America on
Augu~t. 14, 1966. The following day, the Feast of the
Dorm1tlon, Patriarch THEODOSIOS broke ground
Student choir in Chapel
Academy. In this way the only school of Orthodox
theology in the entire Middle East will be selfsufficient, having its own source of a guaranteed
annual income.
_Through your prayers and generosity the centunes-o~d dream of our spiritual forebears will finally
be_ reahzed a~d the future of Orthodoxy in the
Middle East will once again dawn brightly. This taxdeductible contribution
should be channeled
through the local parishes of the Archdiocese. For
further information contact:
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
"PATRIARCH ELIAS IV FOUNDATION"
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, New Jersey 07631
The new Academy
~
THE PRESENT
'tudent body with Metropolitan PHILIP
?rt~odoxy in the Middle East is again ex·
penencmg a dark hour. The Patriarchates
of
Alexandria and Jerusalem have no seminaries. The
reno~ned Theological Academy on the island of
Halk1 (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople)
has been forced to close by the Turkish authorities.
Th~ Balamand Academy remained the only foun·
datton _of Orthodox theology in the Middle East. It
closed m 1975 because of the civil strife in Lebanon.
The co!lapse of the ~ebanese economy precludes its
reopenmg unless assistance is rendered.
Model0 f th e new Academy
March1977
Page 6
The Word
Page 7
�NEO-ICONOCLASM
Bishop Elia of Salamia
Today •s called "Orthodoxy Sunday" as a
1~emorial of the victory of the Orthodox Church
er iconoclasm. Iconoclasm did not die ...
it
ntinues to affect the various aspects of our life,
c uding Orthodox unity in North America. It is
with this ubject that I will deal.
- onoclasm is known in history as a war against
•cons. This war took place in the seventh and eighth
centuries, lasting more than 120 years and affecting
the religious life of the period as well as the political.
'"'heologians and historians are still in disagreement
concerning the main causes and goals of this violent
ispute
which
precipitated
great
suffering,
destruction and bloodshed. Through the course of
the events, it assumed a theological character.
"Icon" is a Greek word which means "image."
Icons represent the image of Christ and the Saints,
all of whom appeared in this world to accomplish the
mission of Man's salvation. Icons go beyond matter
nd art. They reflect Christian virtues and divinity.
The dogmatic basis of the icon lies in the Incarnation. The icon of Christ reflects the Incarnation,
he God-Man, Jesus Christ Who united in His person
he Divine nature and the human, in Whose body lies
j}e fullness of Divinity. In this respect Saint John of
amascus said: "The indescribable Word of the
Father has been made describable by incarnating
itself in the Theotokos for our salvation. God appeared in the flesh and lived among men. When I
venerate the icons, I do not venerate matter, but the
Creator of matter Who became matter for my sake,
Who assumed life in the flesh and Who, through
matter, accomplished my salvation."
Meaning of Icons
The icons of the Saints are related essentially to
the Christ icon, to the incarnation, and are
recognizable as such regardless of differences due to
mdividual artistic expressions. In every icon, we can
el in the person of the Saint depicted, the presence
t God the redeeming work of Christ, and the Grace
, the Hol pirit. Every icon unites the two realities
.. ne material (wood, paint) and the spiritual (the
resence of Divinity). This understanding is related
the nature of the Church itself. The Church as the
atic. Through icons and other material and
. h
1 •
Pnuetn
. tic objects whic we emp oy m our personal and
artlsmunal rituals, we reach God and the doctrines
cf%e Church. In other words, through our Orthodox
0
d·ti·on and liturgical life, we transcend the
tra ndaries
1
of this• eart hl y world to ascend to the
boUvenly to God. Saint John of Damascus wrote:
hea
• d ?ws to h eaven. " s·
• present
"Iconsare' wm
i?ce G o.d is
. every icon, iconoclasm then is considered as a
intuggle against God Himself. As human beings, we
sare
r the true icon
•
o f G o d , we possess wit• h'm us His
. age. We are more than flesh and bone; we have
~:e soul which is God's presence within us. We are
T~is tension will continue to exist and to plague
creation as long as Man exercises his free will and
chooses to remain in imperfection. Saint Paul the
Apo.stle gave touching expression to this inner
tenswn when he wrote: "I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, but I see another law in my
m:m?ers warring against the law of my mind, and
?nngmg me into captivity to the law of sin, which is
m my members. 0 wretched man that I am "
(Romans 7:22). If a saintly man like the Apostle Paul
admits to this tension, how much more must we do
likewise and admit the same.
The struggle caused by this tension continues to
In this pr_esent day, it is represen_ted ~Y t~?se who deny God and in turn deify the
humanmmd as a consequence of its sc1ent1f1cand technological achievements.
the temple of the Living God and the Holy Spirit (I
Corinthians 3: 16; 6: 19). Therefore, every challenge
againstthe human being, the icon or image of God,
is essentially iconoclasm.
Through
the Course of History
From the beginning, iconoclasm in all forms, has
been a challenge to the human being. It has been
presented, through the course of history, by all types
of crimes against God and Man. In this present day,
it is represented by those who deny God and in turn
deify the human mind as a consequence of its
scientific and technological achievements. In such
circumstances, matter dethrones God as the source
andaxis of all life. Abortion, world hunger, adultery,
homosexuality, drug and alcohol abuse, gambling,
hate, greed, envy ...
all of these are the result of
ourchallenging God and moving away from Him. All
of these are the result of a new iconoclasm under a
newguise. Presently, we are facing this new form of
exist because Man acts with a God-given free will.
Iconoclasm runs parallel with this struggle. From the
beginning, Man declared iconoclastic revolution
against his fellow-man and against himself. Cain
killed his brother Abel, Judas Iscariot took his own
life. Iconoclasm has been existing to this pre-sent day
and will continue to exist as long as the contradictions and tensions exist within us individually.
It is true that this antinomy is relaxed by faith in God
and His redeeming work, but Man is continuously
threatened from within by the inclination to do evil
introduced by the Fall of Adam. Iconoclasm will
continue to exist until the Kingdom of God is
established, where God's government is made efficient and deficiency will find no place. In this
Kingdom, the contradictions and tensions between
God and Man within Man himself, will be
eliminated. The Kingdom of God begins in this
present world and will be established in fullness in
the coming world. Iconoclasm can be victorious or
defeated in accordance with our own victory or
Iconoclasm will continue to exist until the Kingdom of God is established, where
God'sgovernment is made efficient and deficiency will find no place.
Body of Christ, also unites these two realities .. ,
the human and the Divine; the visible and the in·
visible; the historical, terrestrial reality and the
Grace of the Holy Spirit; the reality of God and that
of the World. The reason for the existence of icons is
precisely to witness to these two realities. For this
reason, the icon is distinguished from other images
a~d. pai~ting_s just as the sacred writings and arts a~e
distmgmshed from all other literary and artistic
works.
In sacred writing and art the material is
subordinate to the spiritual; the somatic to the
thieshOoprtEhloidaogavCel
this sAermo~at~the Sunday of Orthodoxy Liturgy celebrated this year in Cleveland Ohio by
X
ergy SSOCla wn.
'
The Word
P?l_itical,economic and ideological iconoclasm. The
c1vt1unrest and bloodshed in scattered areas of the
world. . . Northern Ireland, the Middle East, China,
South Africa, Rhodesia . . . is the result of this
iconoclasm. Communism
and other atheistic,
ideological philosophies
are among the most
dangerous and destructive
forms of this neoiconoclasm.
N eo-iconoclasm
like
classical
iconoclasm, is a revolution 'against God. This
revolution began with the Fall of Adam, with the
corruption of human nature and the creation of that
gulfbetween God and Man and the contradictions
WithinMan himself the cre~tion of antinomies and
tensions between ~ur responsibilities toward God
andour own ego.
March1977
defeat in this earthly struggle. The entire problem is
dependent on our own relationship with God and on
our unity with Him.
We Relate to Others
Unity with God grants victory over the
iconoclastic challenges, whatever they may be and
under whatever guise they exist. We must be another
John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite, John
Chrysostom, Basil the Great, in defense of God and
Orthodoxy.
Orthodoxy
itself is facing
neoiconoclastic challenges throughout
the world,
especially in the form . of political and . eth~ic
ideologies. You are certamly aware of the situation
Page 9
�f Orthodoxy in the Soviet Union and in other_Iron
urtain countries, and in Europe and the Middle
Ea t where she is undergoing pressures and perecutions in a continuous struggle. Some of the time,
thi struggle takes place within the Orthodox
Church, such as the differences between the
autocephalous Churches in regards to. the many
uni ersal problems as is the preparation of the
cheduled Great Synod of the Orthodox Chur~h.
nfortunately, you can see here in North Am enc a
the reflection of this struggle. The situation of
rthodoxy in North America is an extension of that
in the Old World. We are still under the influence of
ur ethnic, political background. We are still divid~d
•n to many "jurisdictions" although we are one m
Faith. The reason we are celebrating here today this
Orthodoxy Sunday is to witness to this unity of Faith
... but only once each year. It is true that we are
one in Faith, but divided "jurisdictionally." It seems
that we are attracted by nationality more than by
rthodoxy. Our Orthodoxy must come first. We
must realize that we are the One Body of Christ,
nited by Faith regardless of our individual
nationality, race, sex, etc. "For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek, for there is the same Lord
of all, rich towards all who came upon Him"
Romans 10: 12). "There is neither Jew nor Greek;
us. If we are in unity with God and ourselves, we can
conquer any type of dichoto~y a~d d~vision in our
eccesliastical life. As we are umted m faith, so too we
need to be united in administration in order to
convey our Orthodox mi_s~ion, Being pow~rful and
rich in theology and trad1t1on, Orthodoxy 1s able to
provide us with all the ~ean_s necessarr t~ accomplish the conveyanc~ of its nchn~ss, wh_1ch1sthe
result of twenty centunes of expenence mherited
from our Holy Fathers, who , guided by the Holy
Spirit, gave us this great ~nheritance. We must
defend it against any type of 1conocl~sm and keep it
pure as we received it, and convey it to the world,
Our Orthodox tradition, with its somatic and
pneumatic richness, with its sacre~ art, icons, music
and other materialistic features, 1s able to play a
major role in the life of th~ American people. The
Americans, under the influence of this materialistic
era are thirsty for such Orthodox spirituality and
tradition which touches the heart and the minds and
is able to bring a new and interesting life to them. It
can provide a witness of rich ritual behavior for the
new American generation which falsely believes the
Church to be unable to offer them anything.
Orthodoxy has plentiful nourishment to satisfy their
hunger and their emptiness. Orthodoxy is provided
with all conditions to influence the American
Orthodoxy is called to play her role in the New World, to convey its richness by
angible impressive and influential ways, to face the challenges of today's neoiconocl;sm. This mission will be more effective and successful if the Orthodox
Church in North America is united administratively.
there is neither male nor female; there is neither
slave nor free man. For you are all one in the Christ
Jesus." (Galatians 3:28).
Deciding on our Priorities
Can you imagine the power and strength of an
administratively united Orthodoxy on this continent?
Because of our administrative disunity, we have
made Orthodoxy unable to accomplish her mission
properly. She cannot play her role in the various
fields of American life. Presently, we keep
Orthodoxy absent from the American scene,
pos essing no power, no influence, no voice, and no
role. Unity is power. If we were united we could
perform miracles here in North America! Unity can
be achieved through faith in God and devotion to
rthodoxy. Faith is the power by which we can
ontrol ourselves from within, and protect ourselves
from without. It is that power by which we can
eliminate our internal contradictions and tensions
hich are the source of abnormality and dissention
in our life. I strongly believe that one of the major
. actors of this administrative jurisdictional disunity
m our Orthodox Church in North America, is attributable to this contradiction and contrast within
lifestyle. Orthodoxy has many potentialities to burst
forth in this New World. America is the most
developed country in the world. The role of matter is
so influential in this country. Orthodoxy gives matter
serious consideration and spiritualizes it in the most
artistic and tangible ways. Orthodoxy uses matter
and art in a very touching way to reach God. We
know from history that the rich Orthodox tradition,
which comprises both realities ...
spiritual and
material ... was the cause of the Christianization of
the Slavs.
Orthodoxy is called to play her role in the New
World, to convey its richness by tangible, impressive
and influential ways, to face the challenges of today's
neo-iconoclasm. This mission will be more effective
and successful if the Orthodox Church in North
America is united administratively. This unity, as I
have said, can be accomplished only if we control
our egotism and eliminate from within us every
antinomy and contradiction and unite ourselves with
God.
We are indeed called to sacrifice every means to
realize this internal and spiritual unity, and con·
sequently the external and administrative. This is not
only a dream for which to hope, but a goal to be
realized.
Page 10
The Wocd
SOMEREFLECTIONS
ON FASTING
by john boojamra
Fasting, or more correctly, the practice of ab( ance for certain days and certain periods of the
s tnr has long caused difficulty in the minds of many
yea,
.
E
very year, as the
0 thodox in North Amenca.
E:ster lent approaches, _Orthodox ?egin to wonder
hat if anything, to do m preparation for the feast.
~er; little direction has come from the hierarchs of
the Church by '":'ay of_guidelines or explanatio~s and
each parish pnest, 1f he does more than s1mpl
announce that the fast is beginning, will say
something different.) In general, I think it is safe to
say that the practice and idea of fasting is largely
ignored. Many people ge~era~~y ~is~iss fasting ~th
the rather simple and naive This 1s the twentieth
century; those rules were made for the past and
simplerdays."
Nonetheless, in spite of practice of most people,
we must take the practice of fasting seriously, if for
no other reason than other people, throughout
Christian history, have taken it seriously. It is
valuablehere to consider not so much "how" to fast,
as "why" fast. This deeper understanding of the
reason for this practice in Christianity will help us in
determining our own fasting practices.
We must first admit that fasting has a firm
foundation in the Scripture and Tradition of the
Church, as well as the practice of the Jewish communitywhich gave birth to the Church. We know for
instance that Jesus fasted, that the disciples of John
the Baptist fasted, and that Jesus said that prayer and
fastingwere necessary for casting out certain evils.
way separated voluntarily from the love and life of
God, its Creator. Fasting must be seen in this light "Seek first the kingdom of God and all else will be
added." It is a matter of priority. Fasting cannot be
separated from a struggle for the Kingdom of God
and from a realistic appraisal of what the world is.
There is something about fasting, something about
refusing, as it were, to make a total investment in the
world as it is, that is associated with the struggle to
build the Kingdom of God.
Before discussing what fasting is, perhaps it
would be beneficial to say a few words about what it
is not. This is a valuable approach since there is a
great deal of misunderstanding regarding the nature
and function of fasting, both as an idea and as a
practice.
God, we must admit first, is not simple-minded;
He has no need of our fasting. Our efforts do not
affect Him in any way. We cannot buy His love or
His grace. This immediately takes fasting out of an
legalistic framework and puts it on the level of
personal spiritual growth and struggle. For instance,
because one person fasts more strictly than another
does not mean that God loves the first more or gives
him more grace. It is as unimagineable that yo
could get more grace from a greater effort as getting
more grace from a larger portion of the Eucharist.
-:T~~PRODIG~L
SON:.-::-:_:.~
FASTINGAND THIS WORLD
To this emphasis we must add a certain otherworldly emphasis in Jesus' teaching. Perhaps the
mostrealistic treatment of this is in Matthew (6:1921).
Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where
moth and rust consume and where thieves break in
and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and
where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be.
In spite of the great love which Jesus and His Church
have demonstrated for the world and life in the
world,there is in Christianity a reservation about th_e
worldand human life as it is now. The Church calls it
a "fallen world," a world in all its aspects in some
Ed Dr•.Bo?Jamra is head of the Dept. of Christian
ucation m our Archdiocese.
March1977
/_}/
__
Page 11
�Yet many people think of it in strictly legalistic
terms. God's love is always given freely and the
degree of participation in that love is conditioned by
our ability to receive it and be changed by it. This is
the brilliant Orthodox idea of cooperation or synergy
- we must open ourselves to the love and strength
that God offers freely. Fasting is a way of achieving
this openness.
Another view of fasting, which, like the previous
one contains an element of distortion, is that which
sees it as a means of voluntary suffering, a way of
atoning for sins. Indeed, there may very well be an
element of this in fasting, but this cannot be a
predominant one. This would bring the practice to
the level of individual pathology. Again, we cannot
pay God back for our sins and fasting as a means of
atoning for sins must be seen in the light of trying to
reshape our spiritual lives in a more positive
direction.
A third view of fasting is common among both
Christians and non-Christians. This view mistakenly
sees fasting in the history of the Church as an expression of a pathological morbidity with regard to
the world, which is based on a dualistic view - the
world, the body, sex, all created and material things
are essentially evil; all spiritual things are good.
Hence, fasting is an effort to disconnect the self from
the use of matter - food, sex, etc. There has indeed
been a tendency towards this in the Christian history,
but it has been consistently condemned by the
Church when it expressed itself. The Church has
always affirmed that the created world is essentially
good, though suffering from a profound distortion
and misdirection.
FAS TING AS PREPARATION
What fasting is will necessarily involve us in a
discussion of the nature of maa and the nature of the
world. Fasting is, as the Church uses it, a
preparation. Every time we encounter a fast it is
prior to a feast. We all know the fast before the
Eucharist as preparation for the Eucharist and the
elationship to God. Since the world is in effect
:eparated from God, freely, t~e? it can not be fully
normal and the Church says hm1t your participation
in the life of the world, not because it is evil but
because it in itself is limited.
'
Food is th~ most obvious example. Everyone
agrees that eatmg, after the proce~s.of breathing, is
the most necessary and normal activity of our life. It
is in this area which is regarded in a worldly sense as
normal that the Church says stop! think! question
everything which the world calls normal and
necessary, because the world itself is "abnormal."
That is, it is abnormal as it now exists apart from
God's love. But fasting is only a beginning and this
questioning must be our approach to all the values
that the world regards as necessary and even virtuous - victory, self defense, getting ahead, accumulating wealth and property,
competition
popularity, self-aggrandisement. All of these are the~
signed with a question mark.
FASTING AND
preparation.
Now, the nature
of Orthodox
preparation is no mystery. The Church has taught
that man is a unity, he is not a being which has a
body and which has a soul; rather, he is a body and
he is a soul. The Christian vision is that of a total and
unified personality - body and soul. Hence, the
Church calls on the entire being to share in the fast
and the feast. A season changes in Church - the
colors change, the music changes, the services get
longer, the icon changes. How does our body share
in this except through fasting, except through
initiating a change in its normal procedure. Now this
description keeps the nature and degree of fasting
open. It can involve food, entertainment, sex, in fact,
any aspect of our daily and routine lives. It is clear
that we Orthodox are not spiritualists or in·
tellectualists, we are Christian "materialists." The
Church's emphasis on fasting is precisely a reflection
of this materialism.
God, we must admit fi~st,. is not simple-minded: He has no need of our fasting. Our
effo~ts do not affect_ Him m any way. We cannot buy His love or His grace. This im·
mediately t_a~esfastmg out of any legalistic framework and puts it on the level of
personal spmtual growth and struggle.
fast ~efo!e ~as~er as preparation for the great feast.
othmg m hfe Just happens; that is obvious; all sorts
of things require a variety of preparations. The
Church rec<?gnizes ~he fact that part of getting
son_ie_wh~reis th_e ~np and more than the trip, the
ant1~1patlon. This Is a basic human psychological
quaht~. Perhaps children understand this ex~e~tat~on and anticip~tio~ best of all. Full partic1pahon demands this kmd of expectation and
Page 12
A CLEAR
IMAGE
OF THE
WORLD
Our Lord says, "lay not up treasures on earth"
and fasting is in effect the reminder that our heart
cannot be invested like our money in the world. We
all know_the feeling we have for something when we
hav_e~n mvestment in it. People always try to protect
theu mvestment. This is natural. That is what our
Lor~ meant. Here we find a rejection of the world,
not m an absolute sense, but in a relative sense. The
world in itself is valuable only when it is seen in its
The Word
Mind you, this is not a rejection of the world it is
a questioning of the values which the world as it 'now
exists, and human societies which characterize it
hold as valuable. Inasmuch as the world is treated a~
normal, because this is in fact all we know and
inasmuch as it is not normal or truely worldly in the
Christian sense, then it is a deception and a lie and
we must tell it as it is. In a real sense the Church in
asking her people to fast is declaring a moratorium
on the world. Remember the various moratoria
against the Vietnam war? The same idea is implied.
Th~ war ~ad been going on for almost ten years on
an mcred1bly brutal level characterized by My Lai,
ret e_veryone went about his business, apart from
1~flat1onwhich was blamed on pay raises, no one's
hfe was really affected. We bought our food,
celebrated all those little occasions, there was no
shortage
butter or meat or autos. The very normalcy of hfe here at home, at the same time that
wholes~le death swept Southeast Asia, was a
deception. On a cosmic level, the fast is this effort to
put the _world and life in the world in its proper
perspective. To accept the present patterns of the
world as normal is a deception! There is no hate for
the world in this and it recognizes that something has
happened to the worldliness which God created .
. I think we must then see fasting never as a
reJeet'ion of food or the world but as ' a search for
true worldliness; a search which must necessarily
pass through the stage of preferring something else
t~ the _world. "Seek first the kingdom of God and all
; se will be given to you." In the same way we fast
t~omall food before liturgy so that we might receive
e hone true food in the Eucharist. It is in the
•
EUC anst
that we can get a glimpse of the true
nature of food. There is no judgment on food as
o!
March1977
such. The same is true of the world. As food completes itself in the Eucharist, so the entire created
world completes itself in the Kingdom of God.
The world is ours, it belongs to us and needless to
~ay we wer~ not meant to be slaves to its pleasures.
its categones, and its values. Fasting is then a
declaration of independence from the world and a
proclamation of victory over its limitations and evil.
Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world "John
16:33
•
. _Itis a recognition that the values of the world are
l~m1ted and often perverted. Here we are freed
hberated in a real sense, not only from sin but fro~
the fears that characterize life, free to act without
fear of criticism as God wants us to act in our
eve~da~ life, in politics, in business, in social affairs.
~o!hmg m human society, the fast declares, is sacred
m itself and can demand our loyalty, no form of
government, no regime. We are freed to conform to
the patterns of the Kingdom of God here and now love, charity, justice, faith. To those for whom the
world is the ultimate reality and the ultimate value it
is _essential to buy the love of the world and the world
will only love those who accept its values. Our Lord
assures us that the world will hate us; it has to,
because !he Christi~n is the on-going judgement on
an on-gomg corruption that infects human relations
and human societies.
For us Christians who live in the world we are
offered a choice: we can consume the world 'or allow
the ~orld to consume us. The first is the only
creative al?~roach. !he second is psychological and
personal ~hsmtegration. The fast is what gives us this
opportumty.
-:~Xrl!LSl~N
PR~M
Pc'JRijDfSC:-
Page 13
�LIFESTYLES X
ARUHDIOUESAN
OFFICE
ORDAINED:
A GWIN, Joseph to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop ELIA
on January 8 at St. Mary in Brooklyn, NY; to the Holy
Priesthood by Metropolitan PHILIP on January 9 at St.
~ Iary in Brooklyn, NY.
RECEIVED INTO THE ARCHDIOCESE:
The Church of the Incarnation in Detroit, MI.
ASSIGNED:
ANG WIN, Rev. Joseph to the pastorate at the Church of
the Incarnation in Detroit, MI.
ELEVATED:
ALLEN, Rev. Joseph, pastor at St. Anthony
field, NJ, to the rank of Archpriest.
homily by father james c. meena
ANTONIAN MEDAL PRESENTED:
Mr. Theodore Mackoul of St. Anthony in Bergenfield, NJ,
(gold)
NEW PUBLICATION:
"A History of the Patriarchate of Antioch" (pamphlet) by
the Department of Press and Public Relations.
ANTIOCHIAN
ORTHODOX
ARCHDIOCESE
RECEIVES
ANGLO-CATHOLIC
PARISH
NEW YORK (RNS) - The Anglo-Catholic Church of
the Incarnation, 200-member, 100-year-old parish in
Detroit, and its priest, the Rev. Joseph L.W. Angwin, have
been received into the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America.
The parish, which existed for several years independent of the Episcopal Diocese of (eastern) Michigan
before joining it in 1885, left the diocese in mid-1975, with
the approval of Bishop Coleman McGehee and the
standing committee and steering committee.
Father Angwin said the parish's decision to join the
Antiochian Archdiocese was like "coming home". The
congregation is part of the archdiocese's small Western
Rite. In English and with small changes to reflect Eastern
Orthodox doctrinal positions, the rite's liturgy is otherwise
very similar to that used by Roman Catholics before the
second Vatican Council.
The parish left the Episcopal Church in large measure
because it was displeased with the prospect of liturgical
changes and the ordination of women, both of which were
approved by the 1976 Episcopal General Convention.
Study of a possible change of church body affiliation
began in 1971, Father Angwin says.
Discussions with other bodies, including the Polish
ational Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside of Russia, were held before the decision
to join the Antiochian Archdiocese. During a transition
period, the parish's eucharistic rite will not have to
conform completely to that for the Antiochian Western
Rite.
At a Sunday divine liturgy at St. Mary's Orthodox
Church in the New York's Borough of Brooklyn,
Page 14
Forgiveness
in Bergen-
Metropolitan Philip Saliba of the Antiochian Archdiocese
placed his hand on Father Angwin's head and spoke the
words of the Orthodox ordination rite:
"The grace divine, which always heals that which is
infirm, and completes that which is wanting, elevates
through the laying-on of hands Joseph the most devout
deacon to be a priest."
The previous day, Father Angwin went through the
Orthodox ritual for ordination to the diaconate.
In a discussion with RNS, Father Angwin indicated
some doubt as to the extent to which historic Anglo·
Catholic parishes in the Episcopal Church remain true to
their principles. He said the possibility of his parish joining
the Roman Catholic Church had been "out of the
question" because of the "papal claims" and because of
changes which have come and which he sees coming in
that Church.
Metropolitan Philip suggested that the archdiocese's
Western Rite could be a suitable home for some
"dissatisfied" Episcopal parishes.
Last year, the Rev. John William Henry Powell,
another former Episcopalian, was received into the
Antiochian Archdiocese without his parish. He is now
pastor of a small congregation, St. Michael's, in Seattle.
In 1975, the Rev. M. Joseph Hirsch and a portion of his
former Episcopal parish became St. Theodore of Tarsus
Church, a congregation of the Orthodox Church in
America, in the suburbs of Kansas City, Mo.
Unlike the Antiochian Archdiocese
the Orthodox
Church in America does not allow eucharistic worship
according to a Western Rite.
The Word
-
Doorway To Great Lent
"I'm sorry" - "I Beg your pardon" - "Excuse me".
Expressions we use almost daily yet which we take so
much for granted often have no real depth of meaning.
Such expressions have a way of taking on airs of
casualness much like "a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal".
But the Church gives us a day of emphasis before we begin
the Great Fast to remind us of the importance of
forgiveness as a prerequisite for our spiritual growth.
Cheese Fare, the doorway to Great Lent, is that day, for
it is also Forgiveness Sunday. Great Lent has little
meaning or purpose without it. The Gospel lesson that day
states: "If you forgive men . . . your Heavenly Father will
forgive you" and thereby we are reminded of a basic truth
of Christ's love, that without forgiving there is no
relationship with God and no really worthwhile
relationship with each other. (Matt 6:14)
I believe that there is no way for human beings to
interact without sometimes giving offense or injury. The
best way not to hurt each other is to have no personal
relationships at all. Certainly, there is no relationship of
love that does not have built into it the potential for giving
and getting injury. It is for this reason that He teaches us
the need for quickness in forgiving and in seeking to be
forgiven. This is the highway He paves for our redemption, for this is an expression of love.
Taking forgiveness for granted, making it as shallow as
those common terms we toss off so handily in everyday
conversation, is risky for us because we then divorce
ourselves from God's mercy. In the "Our Father", we
pray: "forgive us ...
as we forgive". This is basic to our
Christian lives.
During Lent and through the year, we can pray, fast,
do all sorts of goody goody things, proclaim our love for
God and man from the rooftops, but if we don't forgive
and seek forgiveness, it is all for nothing, all a vanity
unless we pardon genuinely and honestly seek pardon, not
onlyfrom God but from those we have offended.
Some people are hung up about apologizing and if you
are that type, consider how the words, "I'm sorry", sincerely spoken, can melt the heart of someone you love but
wh~se affection for you has cooled because you were out
of hne. Consider the relationship of parents to children for
~xample. If an offending child turns to parents and says,
Dad, Mom, I'm sorry!", parental hearts so recently as
hard as stone now turn to mush as love overwhelms anger
and displaces it.
March1977
Forgiveness overrides the anger and frustrations that
grip us, and this, we have come to understand, is how God
relates to us as well - this vengeful, angry God, so vividly
protrayed in the Old Testament. This God of wrath, this
jealous God has been more accurately and repeatedly
described by His Only Begotten Son as the God of mercy
Who requires mercy and as a Father Who literally melts
when his prodigal, sinning child turns to Him with sincere
repentance and says, "forgive me".
Through this doorway we enter into the Great Fast and
having entered faithfully, having forgiven and sought
forgiveness from all, we can get down to the other serious
disciplines of this holy time, fasting, praying, almsgiving,
communal worship and all with the knowledge that we
have shed the greatest of our burdens, we have been
forgiven and even more, we have rid ourselves of the
weightiness of guilt and grudge-bearing.
We travel the journey through Lent as a model of how
we should sojourn through life, knowing that just as at the
end of the fast is the glorious Resurrection, so at the end
of our human life is the joy of hope fulfilled in the promise
of our own eternity with Christ. Every journey has a first
step . . . for both of these journeys, the first step for
Christians is FORGIVENESS in all it's facets.
Suhscrih·ers
To The Word
Starting with this issue, all subscribers will be
billed according to the month in which our
records indicate they first began their subscription. Henceforth all subscriptions will be
billed this way. The Subscription Office appreciates your cooperation and prompt response.
The Editors
Page 15
�WHO ARE "THE OTHERS"?
AntiocQian ®rtQohox C!1Qristian
Bomen
of Nnrtlt l\mtrica
A Study in Comparative Religion
by james kenna
THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON YOU!
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION-THE
A Message
ANGLICANS
TO: ALL ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WOMEN
Out of the severed Western Christian Church of the
P pes (Roman Catholicism) great abuses and differences
in theology, Church order and Church life grew. In the
centuries following the Great Schism in 1054, there were
sporadic flare-ups of groups of Catholics who in good
conscience, objected to what they believed were abuses or
unwarranted changes of the faith and practice they
maintained since separation from eastern Christendom
(Orthodoxy). The largest such movement was the birth of
Protestantism in Western Europe in the 16th Century.
Simultaneously, in the island kingdom of Great Britain,
the Catholic Church there underwent a series of reformations. The first was shocking to the European Catholic
people since it predated Martin Luther's separation by
several decades.
The reigning Catholic sovereign, Henry VIII, decided to
sever the ties of the Church in England with the Papacy.
Regardless of Henry's reasons or his methods, he did not
entertain becoming a Protestant or having the English
Church become so, or have it given over to the Reformers
against whom Henry debated theology. Unfortunately,
after Henry's death, those Reformers were able to make
severe inroads into the newly independent Catholic
Church of England. By the time Queen Elizabeth secured
her throne, the die was cast for the Church of England
(Anglican). A settlement (The Elizabethan Settlement)
was reached between the Anglican Catholics and the
Anglican Puritans or Separatists (as the English
Protestants were called). In this Settlement the Queen
tried to have the Church embrace the best of both
dogmas. Paradoxical as this may seem to Orthodox
Believers, the Anglicans have tried diligently to perpetuate this precarious balance until the present day.
They believe that it has worked. Sometimes better than
others, but mostly effectively. Naturally, this unique
situation created unique problems. One has been the
studied avoidance of ever pronouncing what is Anglican
theology. The answer given is that they have no theology
but that of the ancient and undivided Catholic Church. If
that were so, they would be Orthodox - which they are
not, and in fact they are removed from any continuity with
the Orthodox Churches. Individual Orthodox Churches,
hierarcbs, clergy and laity have maintained close relations
with Anglicans, both here and abroad, and we have a
special respect for their ideals and their dilemma.
Having come out of Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism
is steeped in all of the Latin additions and diminutions of
the Orthodox Faith. They have purged some; such as
Page 16
Purgatory, indulgences, forced celibacy of the clergy and
the Papal monarchy. There ate also many continuing
points of contact with the Anglicans. They, too, have
National Churches, the Bible in the language of the people
and available to them, vernacular services and service
books, a traditional eucharistic liturgy, married clergy,
and the acknowledgement of Christ alone as the Head of
the Church.
Throughout the Anglican Church's history it has been in
constant tension from within in its struggle to be both
Catholic and Protestant. The question of how many
Sacraments answered differently by various schools of
thought within Anglicanism. It ranges from 2 to 7. One of
the many results of this has been the formation of the
Anglican Comm union - a loose federation of former
Church of England dependencies throughout the world.
Each independent sister Church has broad latitude in
ordering its own national life and its beliefs and
teachings. As a result, vast changes are encountered
as one travels from country to country and parish
to parish in the Anglican world. The central core of ad·
herence to the faith of the undivided Church has never
been more ~nder fire than it has been in the last decade,
especially in the Episcopal Church (the U.S.A. member of
the Anglican Communion). One prominent bishop, a few
years ago, publically stated that he doubted the
Resurrection as an historical event. A great stir arose,
there were charges made, but no heresy trial was then
carried out (nor could one well be as no one seems able to
organize or sustain one). The result was that the con·
troversy died out, some devout members with troubled
consciences had to withdraw, and finally that cleric died.
Most recently, the disobedience of Episcopal bishops
(reflecting the lack of discipline among their clergy in
general) came to a head in the uncanonical and schismatic
"ordination" of 11 women to the priesthood of that
Church. This stirred up a huge academic debate which
was just recently resolved by the official action taken by
the body of bishops and the national Church to ordain
women to the priesthood and episcopate. Two parties, one
for and one against, have clearly emerged. Though the
Episcopalians have been able to persevere with their
anomalous divergencies in the past, this present dilemma
could cause a major schism and possibly the collapse of
Anglicanism in this country, if not worldwide. We
?rthodox Christians grieve for our Anglican friends who,
m good conscience, are trying to save their faith and
preserve its truth.
The Word
MARCH is a "special honor" month - the month during Great Lent which is set aside for all Antiochian Orthodox
Womento call attention to the work they do all year!
During this special Lenten month let us show a special interest in all levels of church proceedings. Set an example for
the future by:
1. Volunteering to read the Epistle during that month.
2. Offering to take up the Sunday collection.
3. Organizing religious retreats.
4. Planning a Lenten meal.
s. Helping to "shine" your church for the Great Feast of the Resurrection.
6. Remembering the needythe sick - and the aged.
7. Rounding-up your Projects and sending in your contributions for the Balamand Seminary so that our $25,000
commitment can be met.
A special request: On March 20th, 1977, won't you please all rise and move toward the Altar for a corporate communionwhen your Priest presents the Chalice and says "With fear of God, and faith and love, draw near", so that we all
maybe partakers of Life Eternal. Let us all be one spiritually in prayer, in faith, and in love of God.
Also, on March 25th, the Church celebrates the Great Feast of the Annunciation honoring our Blessed Mother. Please
askfor her intercession so that we may realize a strongly unified, successful and meaningful year - "for with God nothing
shall be impossible". (Luke 1:37-38)
This message is from ALL the WOMEN on the Executive Board of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of
NorthAmerica. Women rise - and stand in the SPOTLIGHT of Holy Orthodoxy!
Lest we forget - "THE MYRRH-BEARING WOMEN."
Mrs. Elsie Kaleel
President - AOCWNA
A.O.C.W.N.A. March-Charity Month
Many works of charity will be acco.mplished with t~e dedicate? faithful women of our archdiocese! In this the
Antiochian Holy year _ 1977 and particularly this, our Chanty Month, let us concentrate our efforts toward
achieving the goal of $25,000 for the Balamand Seminary.
As
unified Orthodox Christian women let us remember and honor the beloved Mother of GD4 on the Feast of the
Annunciation and also the Myrrh Be~ring Women by partaking _corporately in the Body and Blood of our Lord on
March 20, 1977, praying for success and guidance from our Lord mall our works.
Remember
that your local and regional org~izations ~re as good as you wa~t the~ to ?e· Give of yourself, share
your ideas, join hands with your sisters in Chnst and stnve for a successful charity dnve this year.
Call
·
ff
"f
d help They are willing to assist in any way possible. Please remember that
yo upon yourf re~ona 1 ~ icers 11{o~;ee May 1• 1977 This date is important as all reports must be prepared for the
19;; t:~:e~~n::s sa:~\h~~~~h~i~~es:~onvention
in.Washington, D.C. with His Beatitude in attendance.
H
G 0 d's help and the dedicated women of our
1
old your regional and national officers in your prayers. W"th
Archdiocese, we will realize success. God Bless Our Women!
Your Sister in Christ, Ruth Meena
A.O.C.W.N.A. P.R.
March1977
Page 17
�~The
LITURGY AND LIFE ...
THE FEASTOF THE ANNUNCIATION
OF THE THEOTOKOS
MARCH 25
It is good that as we have accomplished half of this
Holy Lenten period that we approach the Great Feast of
the Annunciation of the Theotokos with great awe and
with a deep spiritual insight into its meaning for us and
for our salvation.
For indeed, when the Archangel Gabriel went to the
Virgin Mary to proclaim to her the purpose of the
Incarnation, that was before the ages, she was terribly
frightened. To fully understand her fear, we must picture
this pure and innocent maiden alone in her room. For the
Archangel Gabriel, the captain of the bodiless hosts,
chose to appear, in the body of a man, and to announce to
Mary superhuman things. For how could a virgin give
birth to a son? Can we truly imagine the fear that the
young maiden had when the great Archangel Gabriel, in
the form of a man, came to her and told her that God,
whose throne is in heaven, would be contained in her
womb? For in fear, Mary accused Gabriel of deceit. For
indeed, how could she bear a son when she had known no
pleasure with a man and had not even considered
marriage? Yet her doubt was put to rest when Gabriel
assured her that "Whensoever God willeth, the order of
nature is overcome, and that which is superhuman is
Page 18
by father gabriel
barrow
accomplished! For with God nothing shall be impossible"
Gabriel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon h~
and the power o~ the Highest would overshadow her, an~
thus the holy child that would be born of her would be
called the Son of God. He told lier that she should call Hi
Name, Jesus, and that He would reign over the house 0;
Jacob for ever and that His Kingdom would never come to
an end.
Even Gabriel, himself, did not fully understand the full
impact of that holy moment. He was confused and
wondered how God, who is incomprehensible,
would
want to be born, in the flesh, from a virgin. How could
God, whose throne is heaven, and whose earth is His
footstool, be contained in a woman's womb? How could
God be happy to take flesh from the Virgin Mary by onlya
word, the same God whom the Cherubim and Seraphim
cannot even gaze upon? Yet, in his obedience Gabriel
finally accepts that the One who is coming is iddeed the
Logos or the Word of God. Therefore, the humble maiden
Mary, can tru!y be called Full of Grace, Spotless Virgin,
Gr?omless Bnde, and the Mother of Life. For truly is the
fruit of her womb blessed, for God the Lord is with her!
Thus when all of the doubt, fear, and confusion settles,we see emerge the great condescension of God. Truly
!he Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin Mary. For
m Mary, God. and man unite in to one being, our Lord and
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And as a reward for her
obedience to God on our behalf we must ex~ult and
praise eternally the Virgin Mary a~ the Lady Theotokos,
the Bearer or Mother of God, for it is she who "is more
honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond
compare than the Seraphim."
For truly it is the Virgin Mary who is our ladder from
earth to heaven. It is only through her gift to mankind the
human_ body of Christ, that we can have any hope~ of
ascendmg that ladder to heaven. For she is indeed the
et~~a!, Virgin, as the Church proclaims her as "ever·
Vrrgm , and as the Prophet Ezekiel proclaims: "This gate
shall be ~hut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass
through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath en·
~!e~ in by it, and it shall be shut." Thus through the
irg~n Mary, God has become one with man and man has
o~tamed the possibility to become one with 'God. It is for
thi s r~ason. that our Lord became like us in all things.,
even _m takmg o~ our flesh, so that He might become our
m~rciful and faithful High Priest before God, that He
might a~pease God_by atoning for the sins of His people.
For Just as Chnst came in the flesh and suffered and
was tempted, so too, when we ask Him, He will be able to
help us m our sufferings and in our temptations.
(continued on page 31)
The Word
~Orthodox
World
URVIV
AL OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
iffROUGHCOLLABORATION CITED IN BOOK
MINNEAPOLIS - The Russian Orthodox Church
experienced "a g~eatdr~vivahl" uSnd~r GUer~an occupation
d it has persiste
m t e oviet
mon during the
~hruschev and Brezhnev eras, according to a new book
writtenby two local ~pecialists in Russian Orthodoxy.
Despite persecut10n,t~e body of Orthodox believers is
ontinuing to grow both m numbers and quality, says the
cuthors,Wassilij Alexeev and Theofanis G. Stavrou.
a Their book, "The Great Revival," (Burgess, $21.95),
contends that World War II gave the Russian Orthodox
Church"a badly needed opportunity to reemerge as a
significantreligious and social institution."
"Th Church's supportive role during the war years was
undoubtedly largely responsible for the Soviet regime's
willingnessand, indeed readiness, to accommodate the
churchon a more respectable basis than had been the case
sincethe Bolshevik revolution," it says.
The "merciless and ruthlessness" of that revolution
wasapparent in two sets of figures, reported in the book.
In 1917, it says, there were 46,487 Orthodox churches,
50,960priests and 130 bishops. In 1941, the totals were
4,225churches 5,665 priests and 28 bishops.
"It is clear" the authors write, "that in 1943 the
government needed the Moscow Patriarch to lead the
officialbranch of the Russian Orthodox Church, which
had organized church life on occupied territory, into a
controllablechannel . . .
"The 'strange alliance' between church and state,
understandable perhaps during the war and early postwar
years, became less so during the early Sixties when
Khruschev unleashed his attacks on religion."
But despite attacks on the Church by Khruschev and
his successors, the church-state alliance continues pretty
muchalong earlier lines, the authors say.
The close collaboration
has been a source of
disillusionment and embarrassment
to some sensitive
Orthodoxbelievers, both lay and ecclesiastic, they note.
They cite as the most articulate critic of the Church
AlexanderSoltzhenitsyn, who has left Russia.
The Russian Church has had no choice but to compromise if it wanted to survive, the authors maintain.
Despite collaboration by its leaders, the story of the
Chu_rc~'ssurvival is "Probably the greatest story of
Christiantriumph in the 20th Century," they say.
They estimate the number of Russian Orthodox
believerstoday as between 25 to 40 million.
. _T~ebook is based largely on accounts of numerous
Individuals who had witnessed the religious revival in
ierman-occupied territories and who emigrated to the
eSt after World War II. It is the result of years of
research,-reflection and consultation, the authors say.
Mr. Alexeev, who was born in Russia, came to this
~o~ntry_
after World War II and taught many years at the
mversityof Minnesota.
E Mr. Stavrou is professor of Russian and Modern Near
aStern history at the university
and has visited Russia
annuallyfor the past 10 years.
March1977
ROMANIAN ORTHODOX INSTITUTE
HONORS 10 LEADING CHURCHMEN
: • -~UCHAREST -The Romanian Orthodox theological
m stitute here has given honorary doctorates to 10 people
for "Th eir
• actlVIttes
• • • and achievements in the field of
theolo_gical research, the life of the Church and in in temattonal Christian organizations."
Th e f'i~st Romaman
•
theological honorary doctorates
aw~rded _sm~e 1949, they were referred to by Prof. Mircea
Chialda, institute rector, as "a modest contribution of the
Romani~n theology to the strengthening
of the
ecumemcal relationship."
The 15-million-member Romanian Orthodox Church
has another theological institute in Sibiu, with a combined
total of 1, 150 students. The seven seminaries enroll 1,400
stu~ents. About 11,000 priests and monks serve in 10,000
parishes.
Honored at the ceremony, which was attended by
Gheorghe Nenciu, president of the state religious affairs
department, were Patriarch Justinian, head of the
Romanian Church since 1948: Dean Macdonald Allchin,
Canterbury Cathedral; Prof. Olivier Clement, St. Serge
O~thodox Institute, Paris; Bishop Gordon Hill, Anglican
Diocese of Kingston, Ontario; Metropolitan Meliton of
Chalcedon, dean of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.
Also, Prof. Nikos Nissiotis, dean of the theological
faculty, Athens Univerdity; Msgr. Wilhelm Nyssen,
professor at the University of Cologne; Anglican Bishop
Mervyn Stockwood of Southwark; Archbishop Olof
Sundby, primate of the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden, and
Dr. Philip Potter, general secretary of the World Council
of Churches.
During their Romanian Stay, the doctorate recipients
lectured in Bucharest and Sibiu.
GREEK ORTHODOX PRIMATE REPORTS
WOMEN'S ORDINATION SLOWS DIALOGUE
MARLBOROUGH, Conn. - The primate of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of North and South
America says he objects to the ordination of women
priests on theological and sociological grounds.
Archbishop Iakovos said he would "prefer to show
apathy" to the Episcopal Church's decision to ordain
women, but said the decision would badly damage
ecumenical relations between the two Churches.
"The dialogue becomes more difficult," he said.
The push for equal rights for women has created a
"terrible crisis" in society, he said, that "in no way" is
helped by ordaining women priests.
Archbishop Iakovos was interviewed at a dinner in his
honor at St. George Greek Orthodox Church of Hartford,
where he began his career as a priest in 1940.
HOLLYWOOD, CA ... Eastern Orthodoxy's Media
Missionary, Nicholas Royce, has been re-elected for the
third consecutive term of religion in media association,
vice president of motion pictures. The announcement was
made by Dr. Karl E. Kniseley, D.D., the associations
president.
The religion in media association is the liaison between
(continued on page 31)
Page 19
�North American Council
To: Parish Priests, SOYO Leaders
Trustees.
SOYO
Oigtst
. Susan Shatilla, NAG Coordinator, Food/or Hungry
from-
1977 ORATORICAL PRESENTATION TOPIC:
GREAT SAINTS OF THE CHURCH OF ANTIOCH
AND THEIR MESSAGE FOR TODAY"
11
related to the contemporary scene.
Of necessity the parish priest will have to direct the
students to good books dealing with the saint or containing the actual works of the saint.
The following are some which may be consulted:
Patro~ogy, by J. Quasten; Antioch in the Time of
Theodoszu~ the Great, by~- Do~ney; Forty Saints; They
Walked With God, by Lydia Kesich; The Nicene and Post
Nicene Fathers Series; Ancient Christian Wn"ters Series·
specific books about the particular saints. Also, do no~
forget the newly published Harvest of Antioch: A
Selection of Heroes of the Orthodox Church of Antioch,
by the Department of Christian Education.
Two age groups are eligible for participation:
Junior Group: 13-15 years of age.
Senior Group: 16-19 years of age.
1ST PLACE
GREAT MEN IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
We have many great men in the history of our Church
and we must not forget to start with the Prophets of the
01_~ Testament such as Moses, Abraham, Isaiah and
EhJah. These Prophets forewarned us of the coming of the
One who tops them all, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who
was both man and God.
Jes_uschose and taught twelve men to carry on for Him
and His C_h_urch.They were Peter, Andrew, the two James,
John, Phihp, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Simon,
Judas (brother_ of James) and Matthias, who took the place
of Judas Iscanot, the betrayer of Christ. He taught them
the Word of God.
Under the leadership of the twelve Apostles th
East~rn Orthodox Church traces an unbroken line ba~k t~
the first churches they founded. They began the O d · ··
f ·
•
r ammg
o pnests, bishops and deacons, they preached the word
of God, performed the Holy Sacraments and formed an
LARRY BERTINO, won first place in the NAC C t·
W •• C
rea ive
. ntmg ontest. He is an 8th grader at St. Mary's Church
m Johnstown, PA. (Eastern).
Page 20
p
Peopfe.
News and Views .
The topic, "Great Saints of the Church of Antioch and
Their Message for Today," was chosen with the intention
that the participants should both learn and instruct
concerning one aspect of our Orthodox Antiochian
spiritual heritage.
Hence, the treatment of the topic should emphasize
both the historical and personal elements of the life of the
selected saint or the lives of several saints. The nature of
the topic is such that the participants will have to do
research. The priest must assist the students in this process
and help them to distil holy peculiarities from universal
spiritual messages. In addition, the priest should caution
the participants to limit their material to one or two
~u~standing ~aints; there is no problem if several participants decide to deal with the same personalities. The
presentation should draw lessons from both the teaching
and personal lives of the saints; these lessons should be
and Archdiocesan
Apostolic Council to perfect the Christian doctrine. All
the Apostles but John were martyred for their faith in
God.
_John ~he Baptist was Jesus' cousin. He baptized
behevers m the River Jordan and was the Forerunner of
Jesus Christ.
The four Gospels, which are the stories of the life of
C~ist, are in the New Testament of the Bible. They were
wntten by the four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John.
. It wasn't until the fourth century that Christians were
given fr~edom
worship. When the Roman Emperor
Con_st~nt~ne received a sign from God, he converted to
Christlamty and established Christianity as a state religion.
We have three beautiful Divine Liturgies in our
Orthodox Church. They were written by St. Basil the
Great, St. John Chrysostom, the golden mouthed
preacher, and St. Gregory the Great. The Divine Liturgy
of John Chrysostom is used almost every Sunday.
These great men have laid the foundation for our
Church ~th their love for others and their desire to follow
the teachmgs of our Savior Jesus Christ.
o!
The Word
1"
. ..
.
"food for Hungry eop e was imtlated m 1975 during
Lenten season by the North American Council of
he
tsoYO
f.
d
•
as part o its awareness an commitm~nt program.
r twelve thousand dollars has been raised for this
0 ve
. h
worthyproject mt e past two years.
Members of the SOYO chapters and parishioners
throughout the Archdiocese are e~couraged to set aside
nies throughout the Lenten penod. These monies are
~~en to the church and placed in an alms box provided by
t~e church. After Easter, th~ m_oni:s collected are forwarded to NAC SOY O for distnbutton. The monies are
thenforwarded to His Eminence for distribution both here
and abroad. All parishes regardless of size are invited to
participate in this program. If you r_equire additional
information, please contact Susan Shatilla, 2249 Fleming
Road,Montreal, Quebec H3P 2N2.
Following the Feast of the Resurrection, April 10,
pleasesend one check for the total amount collected to:
"Food for Hungry People"
c;0 Mr. Mike Evans, NAC Treasurer,
1940S. Woodlawn, Apt. 111
Wichita, Kansas 67218
THE YOUNG
CHURCH
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
havecommanded you. Lo, I am with you always even unto
the end of the world."
These were the words that the Apostles heard as they
sat in the upper room at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit had
comeupon them as tongues of fire, and like a miracle they
wereable to speak different languages.
Soon they would travel by land and sea to the nations
throughout the known world at that time, preaching and
baptizingin the name of the Lord.
These early Apostles would suffer greatly in their
effort to spread Christianity. They were imprisoned,
tortured and even hung to death on a cross.
The Apostles'
effort
at converting
people to
Christianitywas a slow process. They suffered ridicule and
muchphysical and mental stress.
The word of God was not always understood or
followedby the people who were being taught. Thus it was
necessary for the Apostles to make many return trips to
far away lands in order to clear up these misunder~tandings.Often times letters were sent to these places
ms~eadof actually going there. These letters were called
Epistles.The most famous letter writer of all the Apostles
wasSaint Paul, whose Epistles can be heard every Sunday
of the year in the Orthodox Church prior to the reading of
the Gospel.
. As you can see the early Apostles suffered greatly and
did not give up easily trying to spread Christianity. Can we
as Orthodox Christians living in today's world make such
t ~~E
PETERS won first place in the NAC Creative
. ntmg Contest. She is a 7th grader at St. George Church
in Worcester, MA. (New England).
March1977
gre~t. sacrifices and dedication? We may not be in a
position to make such great sacrifices as the early
Apostles ~~de, but using them as our examples we must
work, sacnftce and contribute to heights we once thought
we could not extend ourselves.
The end results of our work and labor, no matter how
great or small in the eyes of inan, will look great in the
eyes of God, for He will know that we have tried our best
to follow what He has taught using the early Apostles as
our examples.
SOUTHWEST
REGION TEEN SOYO
As the Public Relations Committee chairman, it is my
pleasure to compile all the Southwest Region events
together in a news article, so with great honor I bring you
the Southwest Region Teen SOYO News.
And God said, "Let there be Light," and the children
of the Lord were born.
The Southwest Region is really rolling since we will be
hosting the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, His
Beatitude ELIAS IV. The Oklahoma Chapter will be the
host parish for the 1977 Conference. The Co-Chairmen.
Benny Homsey and Dr. Ray Colhmia, have been working
on the Conference since the day they left Wichita from the
1976 one. When Mr. Homsey was asked to comment on
the Conference he replied with an invitation:
You are cordially invited to attend the Southwest SOYO
Conference, June 8 thru 13, 1977. Oklahoma City is being
honored by His Beatitude ELIAS IV, first time ever in
America, first time ever in Oklahoma City, to preside over
the South west Conference.
We promise you a beautiful week and the best time of
your lzfe. Plan to bring your families and receive the
Blessings of His Beatitude, ELIAS IV.
God Bless you all.
We'll see you in June.
Benny Homsey
Co-Chairman of South west
Conference in Oklahoma
The teens too, have been working extra hard in
preparation for the historical event of the arrival of His
Beatitude ELIAS IV. We started early by participation in
the Liturgy in accordance with The Feast of the Nativity of
the Theotokos. The teens were to read the Epistle, usher,
sing in the choir and serve in the Altar. A few of the
chapters even had one of the teens to give the Sermonette
for the day and sing "The Lord's Prayer." There was to be
some kind of money raising project also to help the
regional treasury. Such events as dinners, car washes, and
Saturday Night Socials were held to raise the money which
was sent to the region. Cyndi Day, our regional President
appointed someone from each Chapter to see that all of
this was done and to send in a report to Father Olas, our
Spiritual Advisor, on what was done.
Each Chapter and Committee of the Southwest Region
has its own little unique characteristic.
President Cyndi Day is the tops. She has kept us
working for two years. Her Vice-President is Tim Boolos.
He is in charge of all the Regional activities. Our
Recording Secretary is Lynda Murr. Mary Kathryn
Abercia is our Treasurer.
Robin Colhmia is our
Corresponding
Secretary. Our adivsors are Adeline
Abercia and Rev. Fr. Joseph Olas.
Page 21
�The Chapter Beaumont is one of the five active
Chapters of the Southwest Region. The President is David
Debes. Their advisors are Eddie Monsur and Reverend
Father Joseph Olas. They have been very busy with money
raising projects, hot dog dinners and selling refreshments
to the children during the Sunday School movies. For
their Religious Involvement Father Olas holds a Spiritual
discussion after each meeting.
President Elizabeth Attra heads the Houston Teen
OYO. Their advisors are Vickie Dean and Rt. Reverend
John amie. In August they held a car wash. Ice skating
was the event for September and October a party at the
home of the President. They are planning two retreats,
one during Christmas with Beaumont and one during
Easter with Beaumont.
The third active chapter is Oklahoma City. Their
President is Ned Shadid and the advisors are Virginia
Shadid and Very Reverend Elias Karim. A car wash
started off the year with a splash after which great work
was put in on the October project, a carnival, planned in
the S0's day. Spiritual Involvement meant extra effort in
Sunday School.
Vicksburg follows President David Abraham and gets
advice from Mrs. Timmie Fedell and Very Rev. Nick
Saikley. Spiritual Involvement began right away with
reading a different Bible verse every week which was
picked by one of the members. They are planning several
things, a church supper and talent shows, and a Bazaar
where hand made items are sold.
Robin Cohlmia is President of Teen SOYO of Wichita.
The advisors are Mrs. Vi Farha and Very Rev. Paul Nemr.
A successful car wash and a Lebanese dinner started their
year with a bang. Youth month meant sermons and extra
participation by the teens. Spiritual Involvement came
while Father Nemr explained a Bible verse chosen by a
member, at each meeting.
The committees also serve a great importance for the
Southwest Region. Project Loving Care, headed by
Mickey Fedell, has been under way for four years now and
is doing great. Spiritual Involvement headed by Kathleen
Moses was organized to keep the Religious aspects of
SOYO alive forever. Sophia Mafrige keeps the Scrapbook
Committee on their toes, and is planning a great scrapbook. She will have help from all chapters. Public
Relations headed by Harvey Homsey, is a committee
which keeps everyone informed with a combined news
article, of all the chapters events.
So as one can plainly see the Southwest is working
away, for the historical event, which by the Grace of God
we will attend, to make the event, a most memorable one.
As Bill Essey said,
"Patriarch Elias represents in his person two thousand
years of spirituality, a spirituality of which we are also
possessors. As the successor to Saints Peter and Paul, His
Beatitude will bring to our continent, the Faith which is
for all people of all ages."
Metropolitan Philip said:
"The winds of time have scattered the seeds of the Church
of Antioch to every corner of our continent. The seeds
were lovingly tended and cultivated by our grandparents
and parents. The time of harvest is at hand and we look to
our youth to willingly become the reapers."
Harvey Homsey
!lihwest @,@I®
Jaris4 1ilife<!tnnferenre
"BLESSEDIS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD"
F.R.O.C. CHOIR CONFERENCE
An event of major magnitude took place at the Annual
National F.R.O.C. Choir Conference held at the Ohio
F.R.O.C. Camp on August 9-12. A long-playing Stereo
Recording, "HYMNS OF PRAISE", was cut during the
three day Conference and has just been released! The
taping was completed at a nearby high school music room
on the last day of the Conference after two long and arduous days of painstaking rehearsals.
Over 100 Singers and Directors, from throughout the
country, were involved in this unique experience and
ambitious project. A majority of the Conferees were
young people, many singing in Church Slavonic for the
first time. Many of the selections used for the Recording
were introduced to the Singers for the first time as wellat
this Conference. Along with this project, the Divine
Liturgical Services were held as usual with all of the
Singers partaking of the Divine Gifts at the climactic
Divine Liturgy. Time was squeezed in, wherever possible.
for folk singing, recreational
activities,
camp-fire
gatherings and informal rap sessions.
The Chairman of the Choir Conference, Fr. Igor
Soroka, coordinated this unusual project and conducted
the large group of singers at the general rehearsal sessions
as well as the final taping. Assisting Father Soroka in the
section rehearsals were: Andrew Cvercko,
Sergei
Boldireff, John Sutko and William Kraftician. Father
Vladimir Lecko served as Camp Chaplain.
Most of the hymns used in the Recording are taken
from the "Psalms" as well as from the Hymns to the Holy
Theotokos. The hymns are prayerful and inspirational in
character and moving in their spiritual meaning. The
Recording begins with the brilliant melody of the 135·
136th Psalm "Praise the Name of the Lord" set to the
ancient Znamenny Chant and ends with the ~olemn and
stirring hymn "Divine Praise". (Kol Slaven)
Among the composers included in the Recording are:
Kalinnikoff, Zaitzev, Kedrov, Rachmaninoff, Chesnokov,
Ledkovsky, Y aichkov and Bortniansky.
For orders and information on the Recording write to
F.R.O.C. Choir Conference, Mrs. Sandra Bazil, 8503
Silvery Lane N., Dearborn Hts., Michigan 48127.
Plans are now being made for the 1977 Conference
which will be held again at the Ohio F.R.O.C. Camp,
August 8-12. Because of the many requests, especially
from the young people, this Conference
is being
lengthened to five days. The two themes of the Con·
ference will be "The Place of Folk Music in the Choir
Progra~" and "Antiphonal Singing in the Orthodox
Church • Professor Sergei Boldireff, well known Con·
R serve June 22-26th 1977 for the 30th Annual Parish Life Conference. Make plans
toejoinus for a very historical, enlightening and memorable week. LET US ALL BE
INVOLVED TOGETHER!
Situatedin the center of Detroit's spectacular new Renaissance Center, the 73 story
DetroitPlaza Hotel will be headquarters for the 1977 Midwest Region Conference.
Thiscircular glass hotel tower is the tallest building in Michigan. There are 1,404
guestrooms, all with 180 ?eg~ee views of the surro.unding a~ea including Lake St.
Clair,Belle Isle, the Detr01t River, downtown Detr01t, and Wmdsor, Canada.
Insidethe hotel will be many facilities for use by attendees and their families. The
hotel features 13 food and beverage outlets including cafeteria, 24 hour coffee
shop, sidewalk cafe (overlooking a one acre lake at the center of the lobby),
Japanese restaurant, the world's largest rooftop restaurant, 24 hour room service,
andmuch, much more. A circular glass domed swimming pool is available for your
useat qur sun deck Health Club and game room facilities. Escalators, 26 elevators,
anda staff of 1,800 people await your use.
The Renaissance Center is actually a city within a city. The unique hotel is
surrounded by four 39 story office buildings as well as shops, restaurants, and other
recreational facilities, all linked by area walkway.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
WEDNESDAY EVENING
Moonlight Special
Jnurnal
To commemorate this historic visit of His Beatitude, Patriarch Elias IV, it is our
hope that you will assist us by placing an ad or contributing towards the Patron's
pagein our Journal. We are certain no one will want to be left out. The cost of the
ads are as follows:
F~ll_pageis $200.00; Half page is $100.00; One-Fourth page is $50.00; and Patron's
L1stmgis $10.00.
Pleaseremit payment and designate the ad of your choice to St. ~eorge Orthodox
Church, 2760 East Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48211, Attention: Mrs. Alfred
Shamess, Souvenir Journal.
CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN
-
Edward J. Kassab
GENERAL CHAIRMAN
-
PUBLICITY
(continued on page 27)
George Darany
CHAIRMAN -
Vivian Gabriel
THURSDAY
SOY O Assemblies
Family Enlivening
Cabaret featuring
St. George Choir
Foundation Banquet
FRIDAY
Oratorical Presentation
Catechism Bowl
HAFLI-featuring
International
musical starTO NY HANN A
SATURDAY
SOYO Awards Brunch
Christian Education
Choir Festival
Grand Banquet
Grand Ball and
Co-Ed Cotillion
Page 22
The Word
March1977
Page 23
�Communities In Action
St. George Church
During His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP'S annual
isit to the Parish of St. George in Pittsburgh, Pa., the end
of October the Archdiocese Certificate of Meritorious
Award wa~ presented to three parishioners for their
outstanding contributions to the propagation of the
Orthodox Faith:
Mrs. Laila Corey in the field of sacred music.
Besides being the Khoureeye of a very busy parish, the
mother of four active sons and the wife of a priest who
cannot say "no" to his Metropolitan, Laila found time to
teach and direct the St. George Liturgical Choir for the
past six years, served as Choir Coordinator for the Eastern
Region SOYO and as a member of the Sacred Music
Department of the Archdiocese. Through her leadership,
the Choir was transformed into a real "liturgical" group,
adding their voices to the prayers of the faithful at almost
all church services. Her interpretation of church music
added a new dimension to the spirituality of the
sacramental life of the Church. On several occasions, the
St. George Choir represented Antiochian Orthodoxy in
the Greater Pittsburgh community and elsewhere at
conferences, hospitals, homes of the elderly and panOrthodox programs and services. This was her way of
serving Christ and His Church and she has done it in a
most exemplary way.
Dr. S. Joseph Nassif in the field of adult religious
education and public relations.
Since Joseph came to our community from Cedar
Rapids, Iowa some nine years ago, his pastor, Father
George S. Corey, commissioned him to direct and teach,
for the first time in the history of the parish, a weekly adult
religious education class in the Church Hall. This has been
most successful with as many as 75 to 100 "students"
participating each week. In addition, Joseph has lectured
at the teenage class of the church, been Master of Ceremonies at many parish programs, represented Orthodoxy
in the community on various occasions and was instrumental in organizing the Orthodox Council of
Churches of Greater Pittsburgh (for clergy and laity).
In addition to his teaching abilities and serving for a
three year term on the Parish Council, Joseph's real talents
are in public relations. While working for a local television
station, KDKA-TV, Joseph directed the hierarchical
liturgy live during the 1968 Archdiocesan Convention in
Pittsburgh (a 1½ hour program). He has been responsible
for other such "contacts" to propagate the Orthodox
Faith. Nor has the Arabic culture escaped his attention.
He has collaborated during the past two years with Miss
Kweilin Nassar of the parish to produce and direct live ~n
stage a 3½ hour Concert of Arabic music, dance and
poetry. This cultural activity has become the social event
of the year in our community. In a time when public
opinion tends to be against the Arabs, Joseph and his aids
are doing their best to present the beauty of the Arabic
world and its various cultures.
Pittsburgh,
Pa.
Edward
·Kassabreceives Antonian Medal.
St. George Church -
Recipients of Archdiocese A wards
Miss S. K weilin Nassar in the field of public relations
and cultural activities.
Besides being an active member of the parish, a past
member of SOYO and the Liturgical Choir and par·
ticipating faithfully in church services, Kweilin used her
talents and love for Arabic culture to direct a group of
some thirty young people in Arabic precision dancing and
then staged an incredible Concert of the Arabic per·
forming arts. She was responsible for the choreography
and along with Dr. Nassif, proved with patience and
fortitude what can be done when people work in harmony
for a common good.
While secretary for a local radio station program
director, Kweilin was able to get a weekly Sunday mor·
ning slot for Orthodoxy. Thus "Orthodoxy Now" came
into being on Station WWSW, with Father George S.
Corey as the weekly host. When transferred to KDKA
Television, Kweilin went to work to get Orthodoxy
represented
on the religious
programming.
Thus
Orthodox clergy in the area were invited to deliver
"Sermonettes", after an absence of a few years. Interviews
of Orthodox personalities on various programs were made
possible and an attempt is being made to have a wee~ly
Orthodox program on this TV station. This will be a first
in our community and possibly in the nation.
Laila, Joseph and K weilin are truly deserving. Th~Y
have used their talents to spread our Faith and our ethn!C
culture, stewards in the true sense of the word. We
congratulate them for their unselfish deeds.
Page 24
The Word
Detroit, Mich.
Something new for the St. George Church of Detroit
was instituted by Jean Sam, president of Midwest
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America
(AOCWNA).This was an Advent Lecture Series '76, with
the theme "For Women Only", which was very well attended and very well received. The lecture schedule was
asfollows:
November 16, "THE CONTEMPORARY WOMEN"
- Dr. Bronislaw Bajon; November 23, "WOMEN AND
RELIGION" - His Grace, Bishop Elia; November 30,
"TRADITIONAL ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY" Rev. Fr. James Bloomquist; and December 7, "WOMAN
OF THE FUTURE" - Mr. Bill Kardaras. The ladies
asked the lecturers many questions regarding woman's
role in politics, business, religion, etc. and each was answered honestly but gallantly by these gentlemen. The
ladiesare hopeful that this series will continue each year.
Another "first" - "An Evening With Father" began in
October. Father Badeen
spends an evening with
parishioners in various locations throughout Metropolitan
Detroit twice monthly. The Church, church business,
plans and other points of interest are discussed. This
means of frank discussion seems to be bringing about a
closercontact and communication between the priest and
the laity of the parish.
The St. George Parish welcomed Fr. Athanasius Bitar
as Assistant Pastor. Fr. Bitar came to Detroit from St.
George Church of Danbury, Conn. with his mother, Mrs.
Wedad Bitar. We sincerely hope that their stay here will
be most pleasant.
On the weekend of November 20-21, 1976, His
Emine~ce Metropolitan PHILIP, accompanied b~ ~r~himandnte Antoun Khouri, made an archpastoral v1s1tatton
to the parish of Saint George in Detroit, Michigan, where
Archpriest John Badeen is the pastor. His Eminence
attended the annual Fall Dinner Dance hosted by the
parish on Saturday evening to present to Edward J.
March1977
Kassab, a member of the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees,
the Antonian Silver Medal. Eddie and his wife Peggy (the
former Marguerite Zahloute) are members of Saint
George Church in Detroit, and the parish of Saint Philip in
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where they maintain their second
residence.
The life of Eddie Kassab reads like a novel, an
"American success story." The second of five children
born to immigrant parents, Elias Kassab and Marie
Romanos of Beirut, Eddie began his business career at the
age of seven, cleaning and packing potatoes for 35 cents
per week. Now, fifty-six years later, he is one of America's
most respected businessmen as the owner of the Stainless
Equipment Manufacturing Company. When recalling his
early years as a child of a humble and deeply religious
cabinet-maker, Eddie wrote, "Only one thing was definite
in our life. We always went to church every Sunday. This
was a must in our home. My mother would get up at five
a.m. to cook, never knowing how many people my father
would invite for dinner that day. My father always took
special pride in watching his five children walk down the
church aisle in front of him to the pew in which we sat
every Sunday." As one of those who struggled for the
establishment of a parish where his Faith would be passed
on to his children, grandchildren,
and great-grandchildren, Elias Kassab impressed upon his family the
necessity to serve God and His Orthodox Church. In 1970
his second child, Eddie, became a member of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees, a position he continues to hold
until today. Surely Elias and Marie Kassab, like all of our
early immigrants, were directed by the biblical proverb
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is
old he will not depart from it."
Guests who travelled to Detroit to honor Eddie upon his
reception of the Antonian Silver Medal were: Rt.
Reverend Archimandrite Ellis Khouri-Protosynkellos
of
the Archdiocese; Archpriest John Estephan-Dean of the
Antiochian parishes in the Michigan Deanery; and his
fellow Trustees, Abe Abraham, Jerry Farah, Richard
Joseph, and George Karram. To Eddie, his wife Peggy,
and their children Gregory, Carol, Robert and Thomas,
we wish Many Years. Axios!
The entire staff and student body of the Church School
enacted the Nativity of Christ as a Christmas Pageant on
December 19. Each Sunday School child from the Nursery
School through the twelfth grade had a part in the play.
All animal, angel, wise men, and shepherd costumes
were made by the mothers and every child looked and
behaved like an angel for at least an hour. Much credit for
this beautiful spectacle goes to Dianne Farah, Vivian
Nader, Jeanette Nader and Gladys Davis as pageant
coordinators and to Mary Holwey as Jr. Choir Director.
And now may we quickly offer congratulations and
best wishes to Teen SOYO's newly elected officers:
President, Sue Bsharah; Vice President, Dwayne Ayoub;
Treasurer, Sue Shaheen; Secretary, Joe Abud; Secretary,
Fadia Akery. And also to Senior SOYO's newly elected
officers: President, Steve Gabriel; Vice President, Susan
Lakis; Secretary, Chris Holwey; Corresponding Secretary,
Sam Nagher, Jr.; Treasurer, Kathy Holwey.
And now to all our friends throughout the Archdiocese
may we extend our best wishes for a Blessed New Year,
with health and peace to all.
Ilhamie Hackem
Page 25
�St. Michael's Parish, Beaumont,
Members of the Sunday School at St. Michael's
Orthodox Christian Church, Beaumont, Te~as, presented
Christmas gifts to The Journal Empty Stocking Fund. The
children decided to present the gifts to less fortunate
children rather than exchanging gif!s among !hems~lves.
Those bringing gifts and representmg St. Michael s are
front row: Samira Bitar, Belynda George, and Cody
ekaly. Back row: Effie George, Rose George, and Darold
Goodwin.
The Sunday School Department has trie~ ~ery_hard t_o
motivate the children through family p~rticip,atio~ this
year. This summer, the Daddies of St. Michaels bmlt an
almost life-size ark for our Bible School. The Mothers cut
out life-size animals and the children painted them_. We
had every type of animal imaginable. There were pair~ of
elephants, giraffes, donkeys, cows_, sheep, bunmes,
alligators, pigs, squirrels, turkeys_, chickens, and snakes.
The only animal missing as our pnest, Father Joseph Olas,
pointed out were camels. Family night was ver! successful
with the Moms bringing meatless covered dishes. After
the meal, we all enjoyed a full-length Disney film, complete with cartoons.
On Halloween, we had a party complete with games,
movies, and dunking for apples. We wanted to involve our
children with church rather than trick or treat.
Advent was observed by our department with each
class presenting a talk on the observance of that week, and
lighting a candle on our Advent Wreath.
.
During the Christmas season, we had a Christmas
pageant. Everyone had a part in either singing: acting,
dancing, or set decorating. It was a very busy, active, and
happy time for us at St. Michael's. We hope to keep t~e
momentum going throughout the year. Sunday school is
not just for children, but for families.
Lynda George
St. Anthony Church BRITAINACCEPTS
DR.JACKMAKARl'S
90-SECOND
CANCER
TEST
A 90-second cancer test, which its inventor Dr. Jack
George Makari, claims can pick up cancer three to four
years before other methods, has been approved for sale in
Great Britain.
The approval was announced last month by the
Ormont Drug Co. of Englewood, which has worldwide
rights for the skin test developed by Dr. Makari, also of
Englewood. The firm expects approval for sale in this
country by the Federal Drug Administration will be
granted sometime next year.
Ormont claims the test is 80 to 90 percent accurate,
and Makari maintained it could double the cancer cure
rate through early discovery.
He has developed an antigen extract of three types of
cancer tissue. The antigen is combined with serum from
the patient's blood, and then injected under the skin on
the patient's back.
According to Lebanese-born Dr. Makari, within 90
seconds a physician can determine from the degree of
Page 26
ed patients to determine advanced and possibly
diagnos
terillinalc~ses_.dalthough the preparation is made from
~,{kan sai
. 1
1na .
the chemical and Physica treatment needed
tumortissu~h extract renders it pure and safe. He said it
to prepar~ . :ted into mice and other animals to test its
has been
shown some tendency to help protect the
safety,an .a st future cancers, an effect which is now
animalsagam
understudy. believe we have sufficient evidence to prove
"Wenow
• is
• not toxic• an d t h at it
• is
• a
d that it works, that it
to anybo Y ai·d to early and intelligent diagnosis," said
tremendous
J klow president of Ormont. H e sai"d t h e test
• h ospita
• 1s m
•
Jerald J• ac der 'study for several years m
has been un
.
f
and in Pennsylvama.
Bufa1ok, . ai·d in Britain the test will probably first be
Ma
. an ser institutes and by cancer specia• 1·ists, b ut hi s
ed
m cane
• a test t h at wou ld
us . d loping it was to come up with
goalm eve
.
ff
besimpleto use by a doctor m the o ice.
Texas
::ts
Makari said when the antigen test was first tried there
was a number of false positives in patients who had peptic
ulcers, and cirrhosis of the liver, and the test would not
distinguish between those who had non cancerous tumors
and those with malignancies.
He said the test has been further refined and those are
no longer pro bl ems.
Jacklow said that in a trial using 100 patients and five
doctors, all of the physicians got the same results in interpreting the tests by determining the degree of redness
around the injection site.
As a control, patients are injected with the antigen
mixed with their own blood serum, and also with serum
alone, so the two injection sites can be compared.
Dr. and Mrs. Jack Makari and their children reside in
Demarest, NJ, and are active parishioners at Saint
Anthony Church in Bergenfield.
St. George Church-Allentown,
The Sunday School chi~d:en experienced
bot_h
· ·
nd the 3·oy of givmg of themselves this
receiving a
"ld
Christmas Season. On Saturday, Dec. 18, our chi ren
weretreated to the yearly Christmas Party sponsored by
h s 1 mon Family in memory of Sam Solomon. Mrs.
kr:n:/Hanna mesmerized the childr~n with a delightful
puppet show and then Santa made his usual appearance
withcandy and goodies for all.
front row: Samira Bitar, Belynda George, and Cody
Sekaly. Back row: Effie George, Rose George, and Darold
Goodwin.
Bergenfield,
N.J.
redness around the injection site whether the test is
positive for cancer.
He said in a test of 824 patients in New York State and
Pennsylvania studied for five years after testing, a number
of cancers were diagnosed from three to four years before
they were detected by any other methods.
Because the test works for all kinds of cancers and
gives positive results very early, when no other detection
methods work, there is a problem in pinpointing exact~y
where the cancer is developing. Makari said research ts
continuing on tests to pinpoint cancer sites.
While large scale screening of apparently healthy
people is not yet practical, the test has a number of ap·
plications, Makari said:
Diagnosis of suspected cancer, such as a woman witha
suspicious lump in her breast. The skin test could be used
to help determine if the lump is cancerous or benign.
Management of known cancer cases. After surgery,
radiation or drug therapy, a negative result would indicate
the cancer is gone and treatment is successful.
Prognosis of known cancer cases. In very advanced
cancer cases where there is little hope, the test proves
negative. Makari said it can therefore be used with already
The Word
The children had all earned 50 cents and ha~
collectivelybought Fr. Basil Sadaka a gift and presented it
to him at the party. After the party, the childr~n went up
to church and received confession from Fr. Basil.
As a Christmas Project, our Jr. SOYO Teens ~sk~d if
the Sunday School children could bring a toy ~nd give it to
the underprivileged children at The Wiley House
Orphanage. On Sunday, Dec. 19, the children made a
processioninto church bearing their gifts for the underprivileged.They presented their gifts for the orphanage to
the Superintendent, Mrs. Ellie Cr?ss, w~o carefully place d
themin a beautifully wrapped foil box m front o! the H~ 1Y
Doors.The spirit of the children was just beautiful, q1:1ite
befittingthe true Christmas Spirit of g_ivin~ ~nd not JUS~
receiving.The children felt very special gi:mg to thos
whodon't have anything. Our Jr. SOYO President, Sharon
Koury, and her group of teens, took the box to _the orphanage later in the week and witnessed what_ gifts_can
mean to an underprivileged child; their faces JUS t ht up
andthe children just couldn't thank them enough.
The Sunday School children received Comm union and
thenwent down to the church hall where they were served
punch,doughnuts and cookies.
Our Christmas Eve service was very special. We were
hon?red to have Bishop Elia and Bill Essey ~ith us. T_h~
choirdirector Ron Hanna, who had worked diligently ~t.
the choir and the children got the entire parish in th e spmt
of Christmas with a beautiful Christmas Carol program at
6:30p.m.
March1977
Pennsylvania
The children sang a couple of carols separat~ly. A trio
from the Sunday School, Michael Abraham, Lisa Cross,
and John Hanna, sang the beautiful "Drummer Boy" song
with the St. George Choir humming in the backgro1:1nd.
The choir thrilled everyone with the great and glorious
song of all "The Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's
Messiah.
Hierarchichal Divine Liturgy began at 7 :00 . p.m.
Bishop Elia delivered his pastor_al message to t~e faithful
and everyone received the blessmg and then a~Journed to
the church hall where a reception was held. Pizza, coffee
and Syrian pastries were served in memory of Charles
Kayal and our beloved District Attorney, George Joseph.
The preparations for all these festivi!ie~ kep~ all the
organizations very busy and working happily m um~y.
Elhe Cross
SOYO
Digest
(continued from page 19)
ductor from Detroit, will be in charge of the Folk Music
Program.
· c f
Through these F .R.O.C. sponsored Choir on erences,
t service is being performed, not only for the Church
:Jle:he local choirs, but for the indi:7iduals as well who
annually attend these large gather!ngs. Many of the
·
have been inspired to contmue on and become
Begmners
t Th 1 • al
Choir Directors and in some cases, to en ~r
eo ogic
·
· f r further study. Above all, their awareness of
Semmaries o
.
. 1M •
d
·ng power of Orthodox Liturgica
usic an
the trans for ml
s·
. ·
t pon the Faith has made them better mgers
its impac u
'
·
•
h •
and Directors and deeper and m?re smcSe:e m t e1~
. . 1 ommitment and experience.
mgers an
spiritua
c
• • d
•
f m Antiochian churches are mvite
to
Directors
ro
participate in next year's conference.
Page 27
�1977
ANTIOCH IAN HOLY YEAR
DAILY DEVOTIONS
compiled by fr. gerasimos murphy
HONORING
PATRIARCH
ELIASIV
HI BEATITUDE
an attempt to encourage our faithful to study
PATRIARCH
OFANTIOCH
ANDAll THEEAST
Holy Scripture through daily liturgical readings-
WHOWILLPRESIDE
OVERTHE
TWENTY-SIXTH
ANNUAL
EASTERN
REGION
SOYO
PARISH
LIFE
CONFERENCE
i
1
',ii/ITTln.a-~
I,,
• I.
I
1
I1
••
\II
I:
:
:B1~
SEVEN
SPRINGS
MOUNTAIN
RESORT
~
CHAMPION, PENNSYLVANIA
I
I
•
._ 11
JIII
:
•
JULY6-10,1971
.
1
,,i
!
I
t
HOSTED BY
WEEK OF MARCH 13:
SUN:
Heb. 4:14-5:6
Mark 8:34-9: 1
MON: Isaiah 14:24-32
Gen. 8:21-9:7
TUE: Isaiah 25: 1-9
Gen. 9:8-17
WED: Isaiah 26:21-27:9
Gen. 9:18-10:1
THU: Isaiah 28: 14-22
Gen. 10:32-11:9
FRI:
Isaiah 29: 13-23
Gen. 12:1-7
SAT: Heb. 6:9-12
Mark 7:31-37
Heb. 1: 10-2:3
Mark 2:1-12
MON: Isaiah 8: 13-4:7
Gen. 6:9-22
TUE: Isaiah 9:9-10:4
Gen. 7:1-5
WED: Gen. 7:6-9
Prov. 9: 12-18
THU: Isaiah 6: 1-12
Gen. 5:1-24
FRI:
Isaiah 13:2-13
Gen. 8:4-21
SAT: Heb. 10:32-38
Mark 2:14-17
,'
---•I~- --~j
WEEK OF MARCH 6:
~
WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA
DEANER
SUN:
OF THE
ANTIOCHIAN
ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN
ARCHDIOCESE
OFNORTHAMERICA
SUN: Heb. 6: 13-20
Mark 9: 17-31
RESERVATIONS
MANAGER-
RESERVATIONSTO BE SENT TO:
SevenSpringsMountainResort,
Champion,
Pennsylvania
15622
PLEASE BE CERTAIN OF YOUR ROOMMATE'S RESERVATION AS THIS CARD WILL
MAKE A RESERVATION FOR BOTH OF YOU.
SEND ONLY I RESERVATION CARO
PER ROOM.
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT IF YOUR PARTNER CANCELS YOU WILL BE
ASSESSED THE SINGLE RATE UNLESS YOU CONTACT OUR RESERVATIONS DEPARTMENT SO THAT WE CAN PLACE YOU WITH ANOTHER CONFERENCE PARTICIPANT.
Arrlva
DepartuN
Date: ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Date:
Total No.
••••••••••••························
CONFEREE
Name ••• ··········--········------ ·············-··
111Party: ·································
ROOMMATE
..
······-···
Na111e
Addrfll . . .. .. ... . . ............. -............................... .
Adclreu
........................................................
.
...... ···········-··· ............................. .
SOYO- PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE
SEVEN
SPRINGS
-
.... ·········
* 3rd Peno ......................................................
PhoN .... .................................................
.
• . . • • . . . .. -.... -... ---. --.. -. --...... - --... -. . .. . . -. . . . . . . - .
PLEASE CHECK ONE OF THE CATEGORIES IELOW:
C
I PREFER A SINGLE ROOM
0
I WILL BE ACCOMPANIED
BY MY WIFE/HUSBAND
I AM WILLING TO SHARE A ROOM WITH ANY OTHER CONFERENCE
PARTICIPANT
0
I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE A
( NAME & ADDRESS ABOVE l
ROOM
.
WITH
NAME
JULY6 - 10, 1977
MON: Isaiah 37:33-38; 38:1-6
Gen. 13:12-18
TUE: Isaiah 40: 18-31
Gen. 15: 1-15
WED: Isaiah 41 :4-14
Gen. 17: 1-9
MAIN LODGE ACCOMMODATIONS:
(Lodging Only!
$18.00 per person per night, double occupancy
$26.00
per person per night, single occupancy
$ 5.00 per night, child 12 years or older in same room
with parents
N /C
child 11 years and younger in same room with
parents
MAIN LODGE SUITES:
(Limited Number Avallablel
$40.00
per day for parlor; bedroom at above rates,
SMALL
LARGE
Plloae •••••••••••••••••••••••••··•·•·•············
WEEK OF MARCH 20:
$125.00
$ 25.00
$200.00
$ 30.00
CHALETS:
for first 2 nights;
each additional
night
for f:rst 2 nights;
each additional ni1ht
CONDOMINIUMS:
2 BEDROOM $200.00
first 2 nights.
$ 30.00
each additional
night
3 BEDROOM $225.00
first 2 nights;
$ 30.00
each additional
nisht
3 BEDROOMTOWNHOUSE
$250.00
first 2 n·1hts;
$ 30.00
each additional nisht
'I BEDROOMTOWNHOUSE
$275.00
first 2 nl1hts;
$ 35.00
each additional nlrht
A deposit will be requested to confirm a reservation.
Reservations must be processed by card only NO PHONI CALLS PLEASE!
►I•
fifl
~\\~\\~
1111
~
THU: Isaiah 42:5-16
Gen. 18:20-33
FRI: Heb.2:11-18
Luke 1:24-38
SAT: Heb. 9:24-28
Mark 8:27-31
WEEK OF MARCH 27:
WEEK OF APRIL 3:
SUN: Heb. 9:11-14
Mark 10:32-45
MON: Isaiah 48:17-49:4
Gen. 27:1-41
TUE: Isaiah 49:6-10
Gen. 31 :3-16
WED: Isaiah 58: 1-11
Gen. 43:26-31; 45:1-16
THU: Isaiah 65:8-16
Gen. 46:1-7
Isaiah
66: 10-24
FRI:
Gen. 49:33-50; 50:26
SAT: Heb. 12:28-13:8
John 11: 1-45
Phil. 4:4-9
John 12:1-18
MON: Job 1:1-12
Math. 24:3-35
TUE: Job 1: 13-22
Math. 24:36-26:2
WED: Job 2:1-10
Math. 26:6-16
THU: 1 Cor. 11:23-32
Math. 26:1-27:2
1 Cor. 1: 18-2:2
FRI:
Math. 27:1-61
SAT: Rom 6:3-11
Math. 28:1-20
SUN:
Page 28
The Word
March1977
Page 29
�The People Speak
Dear Father:
aturally I have a more than usual interest in The
Word and I have been very pleased with the general
thrust, level and content. In the December issue, however,
you outdid yourself with the travelogue and Editorial on
the Russian Church.
We Orthodox have been sadly remiss in failing to
witness to the plight of the Church in Russia. The reasons
are numerous: many of us are so ethnic we do not realize
emotionally that the Church in Russia is our Church.
Orthodoxy has been so successful in relating to local
cultures that its members normally lose the vision of the
Church Catholic; even on the theological level the socalled eucharistic ecclesiology threatens to canonize this
heritage of our darker centuries. In a world shrunken by
modern modes of travel and communication, we Orthodox cling to a decentralization that was rapidly becoming
obsolete when the Roman Empire collapsed. The agenda
of the recent Pro-Synod Conference at Geneva was
already out of date in 1905.
We cannot expect the Russian hierarchy to contribute
to the further liquidation of the Church, but we, in the
west, must not echo their statements, passed by the Soviet
censor. They are crucified for the Church, let us not drive
the nails deeper nor deceive our people by parroting the
Party Line. Even the WCC saved a shred of credibility at
Nairobi by recognizing, at long last and hesitantly, the
hyprocrisy of Russian ploys in that body.
It is not the Russian Church we see, it is our Church in
Russia. Your forthright evaluation of its suffering state a commonplace of every honest study ever published was refreshing and all too infrequent among us.
Further, your concluding analysis of our Church in the
west, badly crippled by the corruption of our western
materialism, was equally excellent.
Let me congratulate you on saying what should be
said, in the manner in which it should be said. Keep it up.
Fraternally in Christ,
Father Paul Schneirla
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Dear Father:
We have just received the December issue of The
Word_ Magazine and I cannot go beyond Page 9 without
s~op~mg to thank you for your excellent Editorial and the
first mstall~ent report on your visit to Russia as part of
the delegation which accompanied His Eminence. It is
beautiful and inspiring and very touching and corresponds
almost exactly, as I would expect, with the statements
made by His Eminence while he was visiting us here in late
November.
I ~ ust remark that
am deeply impressed by
everythmg that you have said and took special note of the
p~otogr_aph on_ Page 6, lower left hand corner, in which
His Emmence_ 1s making _commemorations in preparation
of the Holy Gifts, of the immense size of The Chalice and
the large Host on The Paten. In your estimation roughly
!
Page 30
r Father, if there would be any possibilities for
.
of J·ointly-funded proJect (SCOBA?) to send a
rt
rneso
.
so . h-speaking representative from North America on a
spants
d
..
.
Tour of Ortho ox commumttes m Central and
Youth America, and coor d'mate d wit• h events such as the
south
?
ChileanCongress.
Peter Mikuliak
Orthodox Campus Commission
JWOnde •
• • •
how many people received the Sacraments at the Liturgies
that you celebrated? It must have been a tremendou
number to justify the use of such a large Sacred Vesse~
and so large Host.
Once again please accept my commendations on your
excellent work.
Father James Meena
Cleveland, Ohio
Gentlemen:
Allow me to offer my congratulations
on your excellent December issue. The Pilgrimage to Russia -Part
On~ was be~uti~ul_ly ~itte~ a~d. wonderfully inspiring
while yet mamtammg its obJect1v1ty toward the difficult
position of the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union.
I liked very much Father James Kenna's informative
historical article and Gene Attal's Public Relations and
the Orthodox Parish. The latter initiates a welcome public
approach, for the benefit of vestries and the laity, to those
parish affairs which are necessarily secular, and which will
benefit most from businesslike and up-to-date analysis and
treatment.
The whole issue, the regular columns, the assortment
of regional articles and news, the book reviews and the
calendar of daily devotions all seemed to me to be
superior both in content and in editorial selection and
arrangement.
Sincerely,
James R. Manley
Taos, New Mexico
Dear Father:
Copies of recent correspondence with Dr. Jose Eliasof
the Archdiocese of Chile are enclosed. I understand that
Fr. Antoun has spent some time in South America, and
perhaps he would be interested to provide you with an
exact translation, if needed. Meanwhile, his main points
are:
a. The youth movement of Chile is in a reorganization
stage. Until recently, it was very limited to the Arab
Orthodox, but a double-characteristic exists in Chilean
communities which requires a distinct treatment.
Usual activities consist of religious education, cultural,
choral and social-benefits.
b. Although no regular publication is available from
Chile: the~ co-participate
in the magazine Voces
(pubhshed m Argentina). A section of the newspaper
Periodico Mundo Arabe is dedicated to the Orthodox
Church. They intend to launch a mimeographed
bulletin, irregularly, which they will send to us.
c. In September, 1976, they held the first Orthodox Youth
Congress in Chile. They are interested in international
Orthodox youth meetings, and will cooperate with
Syndesmos relations in the Americas.
The Word
DearEditor:
On Sunday, July 4, 1976 The Wichita Eagle & Beacon
ied an advertisement which pictured a flag and the
carrtion read "Happy B'1rthd ay, A menca.
• '"
capThe article appeared in the New York Times, The
ChicagoSun, Dallas Morning News, and other large city
ewspapers across the nation. The words take on added
~gnificance when we realize that the writer is William F.
Farhaof Wichita.
J felt that the article had a great deal to say. Some
peoplemisse~ it, and oth~rs ~ould enjoy reading _it a~ain.
Please print 1t for the benefit of all of us as this bicentennialyear is about to become history.
Gratefully yours,
Harold Steinbach,
Pastor of The Mulvane
United Methodist Church
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!
1776 BICENTENNIAL 1976
"I thank God in being an American. I also thank God
that my family 81 years ago left Lebanon to come to
America. Who knows? If we hadn't come to America we
could have been killed or injured within the past 14
months of senseless fighting. Where else in the world
could you have the freedom, justice, mercy, and opportunity for every American regardless of what country
you came from or what race, color, or creed you belong
to? Where else in the world will you ever find over $25
billion that last year was given to charities by the
The Orthodox World
(continued
from page 19)
the religious community and the mass media. As an interreligious organization it produces and/ or distributes
more than 400 programs monthly on radio and television.
Executuvedirector and producer and hostess is Mrs. Mary
Dorr.
During the past seven years with Rim, Nicholas Royce,
has devoted great time, effort and expense without
remu~eration, to project orthodoxy in its true meaning in
America. His great dedication
initiative, energy and
resourcefulness, has made Eastern
'
Orthodoxy more
understandable to members of other faiths. He serves as
consultant for Eastern Orthodoxy and arranges the
Orthodox participation on the various programs. Royce
has obtained more than 18 programs per annum for the
lastthree years.
March1977
American people? We always seem to condemn our
peopl~, our country, in our society. I'm not saving that the
American people are perfect, but certainly the majority of
!he people love mercy, and are courageous enough to
Justly remove even the person of the highest office and
walk humbly with God. To me this is the American spirit.
I believe the intention of the American people is to be
good citizens and to be free in thought and deed. And to
be creative and useful with our minds hands and above
all, to believe in one God as our Fa~her and always to
remember the Biblical verse stating, "Blessed is the nation
whose God is the Lord." Psalms 33: 12. "If my people who
are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal
their land." 2 Chronicles 7: 14.
William F. Farha
Wichita, Kansas
LITURGYAND LIFE...
(continued from page 18)
Yet, just as He will help us in our sufferings and in our
temptations, because of the Incarnation, He will also
judge us more severely on Judgment Day. For He,
Himself, having gone through this earthly life, in the flesh,
knows earthly temptations and sufferings and He will be
able to be a True and Just Judge in judging how we
overcame or did not overcome the temptations of this
world and how we or how we did not nobly and honorably
accept the sufferings of this temporal life.
For through the Incarntion of Our Lord, the Virgin
Mary became the Living Tabernacle of God. Yet, we too,
as Orthodox Christians, through our lives and especially
through partaking of the Holy Eucharist can also become
Living Tabernacles, having God, Himself, living and
dwelling in us.
Therefore, let us not take lightly this Great Feast of the
Annunciation of the Theotokos. Let us spiritually understand it as the beginning of our salvation. For it is
through the Annunciation, and Mary's obedience to the
will of God, that Christ came in the world to save
mankind. And it will be through our obedience to the will
of God that we will be able to obtain that salvation that
was begun on that great day. Yet if we do not participate
actively in the Life of His Church and if we do not partake
frequently of His Body and His Blood, then this great
mystery and manifestation of the announcement of His
Incarnation to the Virgin Mary will have little or no effect
upon our daily lives. If we live our earthly l_ives ab_sent
from Christ and His Holy Church, then we will con tm ue
this type of existence in the life hereafter, when we will
live a life absent from the sight of God in eternal torment
and damnation in Hell. To deny and abandon Christ in this
world means that He will deny and abandon us in the next.
Therefore we must glorify God and thank Him for
beginning our salvation in the Virgin Mary on this Holy
Day. We must eternally thank Him that He so loved the
world and mankind that He gave us "His only Begotten
Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but
have everlasting life."
Page 31
�1J77
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip
The Most Reverend Archbishop Michael
Reverend Clergy
Members of the Archdiocese Board
The Very Reverend George Rados
Parishioners of St. George Community -
Washington, D.C.
To attend the 32nd Annual Antiochian Archdiocese Convention of North America to be held at the Sheraton Park Hotel,
Washington, D.C., July 25 - July 31, 1977.
1977 has been proclaimed the Antiochian Holy Year in honor of the first visit to the United States and Canada by our
Father in Christ, His Beatitude ELIAS IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.
Many elaborate and exciting plans are in progress to make the forthcoming convention a tremendous success with the
thought and expectation of attending convention goers in mind. Since final arrangements have not been contracted at this
time, we will withhold our future programming plans until our next announcement.
Indications as of this writing, lead us to believe, that the attendance will break all records. It is with this in mind that we
encourage all of you to make your plans and arrange for early reservations. Only 1250 rooms are available at the Con·
vention Headquarters Hotel.
Outstanding dignitaries, entertainers, American and Arabic, are under consideration. Activities heretofore not possible to
think about are a strong possibility this year.
~t u~ remind you that of all the cities in America, Washington, D.C., our Nation's Capital, has more to offer both
h1stoncally, as well as, culturally, than other cities. It is our hope to make the best of our Capital available, by in·
corporating them in our convention plans for YOU.
32nd ANNUAL CONVENTION Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
JULY 25-31, 1977 Sheraton Park Hotel
Washington, D.C.
HOST PARISH St. George Orthodox Church , 4335 16th Street , NW
. ., Wa sh.1ngt on, D .c . 20011
HOST PASTOR, V. Rev. George Rados
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
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Arabic
English
Identifier
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NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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kalemat_19770301_21_3
Title
A name given to the resource
The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 03
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 21, Issue 3 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated March 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 Mar
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Coverage
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3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/e942ab563c5aaa9c24337eb75ccfb19f.pdf
fb644c6822f69bf89bef5bfa5ba3ab17
PDF Text
Text
The Word
FEBRUARY,
1977
PAN-ORTHODOX
CONFERENC
�THE WORD
The Mo t Reverend
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
The M t Reverend
Archbi hop Michael, Auxiliary
F unded in Arabic as
Al Kalimat in 1905
by Bishop Raphael Hawaweeny
Founded in English as
The Word in 1957
by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
Co-Editors:
Archpriest George S. Corey
Arch priest Joseph J. Allen
THE WORD
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
ANTIOCIDAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE
OF NORTH AMERICA
VOLUME 21
Subscription Office:
358 Mountain Road
Englewood, N.J. 07631
A NUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
.S.A. and CANADA, $8.00
FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 10.00
I GLE COPIES, 1.00
ISSN 0043-7964
1977
1
3
Editorial
Antiochian Holy Year
6
Identity and Tolerance
by Joseph J. Allen
7
Reflections of a Priest's Wife
by Nancy Nice
Parishes of the Archdiocese
"Utica" by Shacker Haddad
10
Lifestyles X
by James C. Meena
12
Planning for Great Lent
by John Boojamra
13
Open Letter from a Child
by Dianne S. Farah
Dept. of Middle East Affairs
by Frank Maria
14
15
Who are the Others?
by James Kenna
16
19
SOYO Digest
Daily Devotions
by Gerasimos Murphy
Archdiocesan Office
20
22
THE WORD, published monthly except
July and August, by the Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of orth America at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Business office,
377 McKee Place, P.O. Box 7135,
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Entered as
second clas.s matter and postage paid
at the Post Office at Pittsburgh, Pa.
15219.
FEBRUARY,
NUMBER 2
IN THIS ISSUE
9
Publication Office:
3400 Dawson Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
The Settling Of Catholic Dust
Communities in 'Action
25
The Orthodox World
28
Dialogue
by Michael Buben
Review
29
COVER
PRE-SYNOD PAN-ORTHODOX CONFERENCE
Repre~entati':'es of 13 Orthodox Patriarchates and Churches pray during
the worship service opening the Pan-Orthodox Conference at Chambesy,
Switzerland. Attending the service were representatives of the World Council
of Churches and other ecumenical organizations.
The co~ference, a planning session for the first Great Synod of Eastern
Orthodoxy smce 787, approved a 10-point agenda for the Synod and agreed
th at at le~st one other pre-synodal meeting will be necessary to decide on date
and locat10n for the Synod and to work out other procedural matters. Story
on back cover. RNS Photos.
There is certain/'( much for we Orthodox to learn by looking at
the recent trends ,n the Roman Catholic Church, post Vatican II.
Some trends good; others bad. It helps us to look honestly, and NOT
cynically.
Good, of course,
is their attempt
to overcome
the radical
"clericalism,"
i.e. to develop
a greater
sense of synergy and
cooperation between the laity and clergy - something with which
the Orthodox
hove always lived. Couple this with other changes
such as using the colloquial
language, e.g. English or Spanish, instead of only Latin, and we can see much good.
But now that "the dust has settled" after the 60's and early 70's,
we can also see some of those negative developments;
we Orthodox cannot, and in fact, do not remain aloof from these outcomes.
Let's be honest. Attending
the liturgy or as they say, the "mass"
is something
different
than going to the supermarket,
or
hearing your neighbor's radio through the walls. The changes which
brought the "secular ethos" can be seen in many other ways: the
priest began facing the people, (it's more "intimate"
that way),
guitar music, instead of remaining with the fellowship gatherings
where it can't be beat, was entered into the mass as the "people's
choice," and the Church became, not a passage between God and
man, but a sentimental
appeal to the solving of my problems!
What happened hos dismayed many serious Roman
in all the contemporary
enthusiasm
for instant
charisms, the Church lost its internal
discipline,
( asceticism), and its spiritual endeavor to cauterize
tance and God's Groce!
Catholics, for
healing
and
its askeslssin by repen-
Strange: sociologists
tell us that, after the dust has begun to settle, fewer Catholic Americans
attend weekly mass. Wonder why?
Perhaps they want the following (and by the way, lest we Orthodox
be arrogant, remember
that some of these following points could
well apply to some of our Churches!):
a service less akin to an amateur
being a distracted stage manager.
theatrical
with the priest
music which deals with the spiritual and mystical life; folk
music (which/
love in its proper perspective!)
of Peter, Paul
and Mary was popular in the 60's, and it w?s only aft~r they
wove it into the ancient liturgy, that they discovered it wasoutdated as the Beatles came along. "A little louder", cries
the musician to the spiritually numbed parish.
n=
1-
Q
Ill
a liturgy which still retains a bit of "here-1-stand-be~ore-God"
and less of a social function. Going to Saturday night mass
is surely O poor time for meditation and sacrificial offering, .
February 1977
Page 1
�but there are more attending than on the Lord's Doy; many
feel the mass is a double-bill with Mary Tyler Moore. Were I a
Roman Catholic, I'd rather be home with St. Augustine
and
my angst (fear)!
ANTIOUHIAN
HOLY
YEAR
But don't be fooled, fellow Orthodox.
Of course, we must con.
tinually attempt to make the teachings of the Church relevant ( not,
relative!),
but keeping equilibrium,
let none of us forget the basic
tenents without which the Church is no longer the Church! Par.
ticularly for our Archdiocese, with the advent of the Antiochian Holy
Year and the presence of Patriarch Elias IV, we are reminded ol
those ancients truths; let us love and live by those ancient truths.
Then when we DO make pastoral and responsible changes, we will
avoid this dangerous condition.
Indeed, the "settling of Catholic dust" can remind us.
HISBEATIT
ELIAS
IV
PATRIARCH
OFANTIO
AND
ALL
THE
EAST
Joseph J. Allen
Co-Editor.
Feastof tht Month
FIRSTOFLENT-
SUNDAY
OF ORTHOOOHY
-· FEBRUARY
27, 1977
The first Sunday of Lent is called, "The Sunday of
Orthodoxy" which is celebrated in honor of the return
of the Sacred Images (Icons) to the Church. This day
has a deep significance; it encompasses the entire
Orthodox Church and proclaims that Jesus Christ
became man for our salvation through the Revealed
Truths of the Gospels and our Sacred Traditions.
Orthodox Christians the world over are called upon
to rededicate themselves to the True Faith and to be
living witnesses of these Revealed Truths on this day.
They must understand the mission of the Church which
is the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the salvation of its
faithful. It is the mission of Orthodox faithful to
proclaim these Truths with one voice to the rest of the
world.
The Church is the respository of faith, through its
theology, music, art, architecture, and worship. It is
through the Church that the Divine Truths of Our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, are proclaimed, unchanged
and unaltered with the passing of time.
Orthodox Christians are inheritors of the True
Faith. Tested by fire and blood and preserved by the
Holy Spirit; the Prophets, Apostles, Confessors, and
Hierarchs, guardians of these Revealed Truths,
sacrificed themselves in order to present us with a
Church, "not having a spot or wrinkle."
Modernization and innovation have no place in the
Church with regard to dogma. Truth is unchanging;
Jesus Christ is the same today as He was yesterday and
as He will be tomorrow. Innovations of revealed Divine
Truths have caused the Church to be split and rent with
controversies that have lasted for hundreds and
thousands of years. It was for this reason the
Ecumenical Councils were called to proclaim with one
mouth and one heart the Divine Truths of the Orthodox
Faith.
Rev. Fr. Basil Kalekas
St. George Church
Flint, Michigan
Page 2
His Beatitude ELIAS, the most reverend and most holy Father, Patn·arch of Antioch, the Great City of God, of
Syria, Lebanon, Arabia, Cilicia, Mesopotamia and All the East; Father of Fathers, Shepherd of Shepherds,
Master of Masters, and Thirteenth of the Holy Apostles, our Father and Chief Shepherd: may God grant him
Many Years.
For the first time in history these words of the
Patriarchal Phimi will resound throughout North
America as His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV
makes a visitation to our Archdiocese. To emphasize
the specialness of the occasion, 1977 has been
proclaimed "Antiochian Holy Year" by our Primate,
Metropolitan PHILIP. It gives us extreme pleasure
to introduce to you His Beatitude ELIAS IV,
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, the 164th
successor of Saints Peter and Paul.
His Beatitude was born in 1914 in Arsoun AlMatn, Lebanon, the son of Diab Mouawad. He
received his primary education at the Monastery of
Saint George Al-Harf, and continued with secondary
education at the Orthodox schools in Homs and
Damascus, Syria. In 1927 during the reign of
Patriarch GREGORY IV he received the monastic
tonsure. Patriarch ALEXANDER III recognized his
Ltnttnpraytrby St. Ephraim
tht Syrian: scholastic abilities and in 1934 sent him to the Halki
The~logical Academy of the Patriarchate of Con"O Lord and Master of my life, deliver me from the
spirit of indolence, meddling, ambition and vain talk, st_anttnople, from which he graduated with the
Bestow Thou upon me Thy servant the spirit ol Licentiate in Theology in 1939.
Upon his return to the Patriarchate of Antioch,
chastity, meekness of mind, patience and love. Yea,
he
was
appointed Dean of the Balamand Orthodox
Lord and King, grant that I may know my sins and
faults, and not judge my brother, for Thou art blessed ;heological Seminary. In 1941 he was ordained to
unto ages of ages. Amen."
he Holy Priesthood and elevated to the rank of
The Word
February 1977
Archimandrite.
Thereafter
he taught Arabic
literature at the Orthodox College of Assiyat in
Damascus. Six years later, he was assigned to serve
the spiritual needs of the Antiochian community of
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, until his election to the
Metropolitan See of Aleppo, Syria in 1950.
As Metropolitan of Aleppo, His Beatitude
worked diligently, and substantially improved the
spiritual, administrative and economic life of the
Archdiocese. Being a very pious and strong-willed
individual, he championed the cause of truth during
the crisis of the Antiochian Throne during the years
1960 through 1970, and thus preserved the integrity
of the Throne from self-serving foreign influences.
On Saturday, September 19, 1970, His Beatitude
THEODOSIOS VI fell asleep in the Lord. In keeping
with the Constitution of the Patriarchate, the Holy
Synod elected Metropolitan ELIAS of Aleppo as the
Locum Tenens. Under the provisions of the Constitution, it was his duty to call for the election of a
new Patriarch within eight days. On Friday, September 25, just two days after the burial of Patriarch
THEODOSIOS, Metropolitan ELIAS of Aleppo
summoned the Holy Synod to convene at the
Patriarchate in Damascus.
The Synod discussed the needs of the Church and
Page 3
�His Beatitude with the Archbishop of Athens
and All Greece and members of the Holy
Synod of the Church of Greece.
their collective responsibility to fill the vacant
Throne of Antioch. They proceeded
to the
Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition of the
Theotokos. The laws of the Patriarchate stipulate
that at the election of a Patriarch, the Holy Synod
must assemble within the Patriarchal Cathedral, the
doors are to be locked, and only after prayer within
the Holy Place, can the election of the Patriarch take
place.
At 11:30 a.m. the faithful which had gathered
outside the locked doors of the Cathedral, heard the
voices of the Metropolitans within, singing the·
Troparion of Pentecost"Most blessed art Thou, 0
Christ our God." Soon after, the ancient cry of
"Axios" was heard; the doors of the Cathedral were
thrown open; and the world caught its first glimpse
of ELIAS IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East,
164th successor of Saints Peter and Paul.
for the election, said: uw e felt as if we were one
completely united with a most solemn and serio·u;
purpose." Never in the history of the Patriarchate
was the Holy Spirit so manifest in the election of a
Patriarch.
On Sunday, September 27, the Patriarch-elect
was officially enthroned as the Chief Shepherd of the
See of Peter and Paul. At the conclusion of the
Divine Liturgy he was led to the High Place behind
the Altar Table, and for the first time the Phimi ol
the new Patriarch was proclaimed from the Hot,
Doors by the Proto-Deacon.
The Phimi was then chanted by the members ol
the Holy Synod. Then the ancient affirmation ol
"Axios" (Greek for "He is worthy"). The response,
"Axios! Axios! Axios!" thundered
from the
thousands gathered to witness this historic event
His Beatitude following his election and enthronement,
with the members of the Antiochian Holy Synod.
Light" (An-Nour) the periodical of the Orthodox
Yo_u~hMovement, and "Grace" (An-Ni'amat) the
official publication of the Patriarchate.
His Beatitude when Metropolitan of Aleppo
pictured with the late Patriarch THEODOSIOS
VI and members of the Antiochian Holy Synod.
Then the Patriarch was led by the Metropolitans
to the Patriarchal Throne in the Cathedral nave. In
his address to the overflowing congregation, His
Beatitude professed anew his Orthodox Faith. He
calledfor a unified and committed response from all
who voiced their allegiance to the Ancient See of
Antioch, "where the Disciples were first called
Christians" (Acts 11:26).
Referring to the election of Patriarch ELIAS IV
an editorial in the Beirut newspaper "Lissan-ul-Hal':
said:
"This election is a great event for the entire East
. . . because Patriarch ELIAS is a direct man
sturdy of spirit, with a vision of the future . . :
The Holy Spirit has always surrounded him."
The Pastoral Staff was presented to His Beatitudf
amid waves of deafening applause and cries o
"Axios," with these words from the Office of Con·
secration:
"Receive thou the Pastoral Staff, that thou
mayest feed the Flock of Christ entrusted unto
thee; and be thou a staff and support unto those
who are obedient. But lead thou the disobedient
and the wayward unto correction, unto gen·
tleness, and unto obedience; and they shall
continue in due submission."
His Beatitude with Patriarch Antoine, spiritual
His Beatitude in the Cathedral Church of Nicosia
Cyprus with Archbishop MAKARIOS (left) and
Patriarch NICHOLAS (center) of Alexandria.
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
His Beatitude has represented the Antiochian
Patriarchate at the following Pan Orthodox Conferences: Rhodes 1961, 1963, 1964 and Geneva 1968.
Since his election and enthronement he has made
official visitations to the Patriarchate of Moscow and
the Church of Greece in 1972, and to the Patriarchates of Moscow, Romania and Bulgaria in 1974. In
February, 1974 he made history by being the first
Christian leader to attend and address the Pan
Is!amic ~ummit in Lahore,Pakistan. In May, 1975
His Beatitude made another historic visit, this time
to Saudi Arabia where he met in audience with His
Majesty King Khaled at the Al-Hamra Palace in
Jeddah. His Beatitude was the first Christian leader
to meet with the Protector of the Moslem Holy Cities
of Mecca and Medina. As a result of this visit, King
Khaled granted permission for Orthodox parishes to
be officially established in the Saudi Kingdom to
minister to the spiritual needs of the many faithful
now residing there. In February, 1976 His Beatitude
again visited Greece and was awarded an honorary
doctorate from the Theological School of the
University of Thessalonika.
leaderof the Maronite Catholics.
His Beatitude in Moscow with Patriarch PIMEN.
The Cathedral, which only a few days before had
been the scene of sorrow and tears, was transformed
into a place of joy and jubilation. The faithful, who
had been waiting outside, rushed forth to greet the
new Patriarch and receive his blessing. The long
silent bells of the Cathedral pealed the good news,
and it spread from parish to parish, until bells were
ringing throughout Damascus. Within an hour, the
P~triarchate was ~illed with throngs of overjoyed
faithful. Metropohtan PHILIP, later, in describing
his feelings as the Holy Synod entered the Cathedral
Page 4
LITERARY WORKS OF HIS BEATITUDE
In addition to his native Arabic His Beatitude
His Beatitude, Patriarch ELIAS IV and His
Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP.
The Wo1
speaks Greek, French English Portuguese
'
and
T
k'
'
'
pur ish. Among his many books are Modern Greek
;/~'
The Way of Grace translated from English to
abic, The Life of Saint Paul translated from Greek
to Arabic.
t His ~ost outstanding literary contribution is his
/a~slatton from Greek to Arabic of the voluminous
eries ~he Apostolic Fathers.
dHe is also the author of numerous monographs
an pamphlets and many articles published in "The
February 1977
His Beatitude being
greeted by Patriarch
JUSTINIAN
in
Bucharest, Romania.
Page 5
�IDENTITY
ANDTOLERANCE:
Reflections Of A Priest's Wife
Pastoral
Thoughts
ontheAntiochian
HolyYear
by Nancy Nice
Joseph J. Allen
Before we all get taken up with the historic visit of our
venerable Patriarch Elias IV, and all that rightfully accompanies such a great moment for Orthodoxy in
America, we had better get our heads and hearts in order.
If the theme of this year is, indeed, "Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord," we cannot neglect the
pastoral question: "To whom does he come?" In other
words, it is a time for us in America to ask: "WHAT
REALLY ARE WE AS ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS?" It
is a veritable "identity" question in which we address
ourselves, and it is crucial for us, in a land of tolerance, to
turn our attention to the Orthodox Identity.
We should say, from the beginning, that this question,
"Who are we as Orthodox Christians," refers to no one
particular person; not a child, parent, teacher or priest.
We can, furthermore, say that our Orthodox Identity
depends not on the DENIAL of any national identity; it
verrides nationality for reasons which we will soon see,
but this Orthodox Identity needs not one to deny that he is
an Arab, Serb, Russian, Greek, Ukranian, convert - or
anything! This is certainly continuous with the nature of
our Antiochian Archdiocese.
The Orthodox Identity, then, is a FAITH identity; it
has a CONTENT, and the content is basically this:
Jesus Chn"st is the Saviour, God the Son, Who came
out of God the Father, Who lived amongst men (even
though He also existed BEFORE the creation of the
world, although not in "the flesh"), Who died on the Cross
in order to pass through death, and to bring life out of
death in the Resurrection. he was born of God through the
human womb of the Theotokos, and when He Ascended,
he promised the Holy Spin't to the Church, of which that
Holy Spirit was received at Pentecost, and which makes
the Church his Living Body throughout all ages!
Thus, in His Body, we are ORGANICALLY LINKED
with Him; we are NOT followers, but we live in Him. This
all has to do with the Orthodox Identity; it forms up most
of our Creed, so it is nothing so strange!
OUR AMERICAN PROBLEM
... Now, our Identity problem happens because we as
Americans, want to be TOLERANT of others - and that
is a wonderful thing - tolerance. We are blessed to live in
a country where there is such tolerance. But we must
know this: TO BE TOLERANT IS NOT TO LOSE ONE'S
OWN IDENTITY! In fact, there is no need to be tolerant
if there are no differences.
'
It is easy to be confused here; we wish to be "sociable"
Page 6
with others, not to "offend" them, not to appear to be
"arrogant" - and we can all understand that!
Indeed, it surprises nobody that there are many point1
of continuity with all religions - with both Christian ano
NON-Christian (Thus, I am bothered when someone says
"What is your 'religion,"' since every man has some
"religion," even if it is himself, or the gold in his bad
pocket! I much prefer to speak of what is my FAITH!)
So then, given these points of continuity with al!
religions, what precisely makes the difference? It is Chris.
who makes the difference,
and what we KNO\\
about Christ! It is Christ who makes it all DIS - con
tinuous - and it is upon Christ that our distinct Identit,
rests! You see, ultimately, "Who am I," depends on how
see things, what I believe, what I will live my life as, witt
whom and with what I will live - what values, wha·
visions, what hopes, what faith, what trust. We can neve:
separate the Identity question "Who am I," 'rom these
qualities.
IMPORTANT AREAS FOR ORTHODOX IDENTIT1
... Now that seems quite elementary. However, a problem
of tolerance arises, and this problem must be facec
honestly and with courage. You may say, "Okay, no~
what? What does all this have to do with secular
tolerance?" There are seven distinct areas in whici
Identity and Tolerance cross, and we will list them now.
1) To be a member of a Church is not to be a member ofi
secular club in which we pay our dues and get our
name on the books and vote! You know, "pay 'n pray!'
Secular clubs are one thing, the Body of Christ quitf
another. Elias IV, Greek Orthodox Patriarch ol
Antioch and All the East, is not visiting a secular club!
2) Yes, there IS one God! But "faith" has to do with wha·
happens BETWEEN God and man - and once we sai
"Yes, there is a God," the next question must be asked
"What about it? What is it that we believe aboul
God? What about this relationship between God anc
man?" THIS is a question of faith and this is DIS
continuous.
3) Jesus is not only a good, pious, humanitarian man, a,
some other Christians and NON-Christians would have
us believe. Jesus the MAN, was Christ the SAVIOUR
divide Jesus from Christ, and you have changeo
everything!
4) We are a TRINITARIAN Church; God is the Father
(Continued on page 24)
The Wor(
You're different! As much as you would sometimes
like to be like everyone else, you're not. Is it because of
the way you dress? Net necessarily so. Is it your personality? Maybe. Could it be your looks, i.e. your hair, the
way you wear your make-up? Probably not. Is it the way
you talk? That can sometimes give you away, but not
always. No, it's none of those. Actually, if no-one knew
your hair grow long, it was so much more stylish short.
And the "natural" color is what God intended for you to
have. Contact lenses are for the wealthy. You wear those,
and Father's making too much money.
A black dress is the real you! A slit in your evening
gown? Are you trying to look sexy? Priests' wives' legs are
supposed to be walked with and not shown. Plunging
It's a struggle. You love your husband and your faith, but you sometimes
break out of a stereotype and be a regular human being. What stops you?
your name, or your husband's name, you might melt into
the crowd. But your name ...
that's it! Your name, or
more specifically, the title you bear through your
husband's title, puts you into a special "class" or station in
life. You're the priest's wife . . . his helpmate, friend,
advisor, emissary and sometimes shadow. You're a public
figure by virtue of your marriage. You can do whatever
you want, but you always reflect his image. It's a struggle.
You love your husband and your faith, but you sometimes
want to break out of a stereotype and be a regular human
being. What stops you? His job depends on the way he
serves the people best. A man of God has to have a
woman of God at his side . . . not behind him, nor in front
of him.You and your actions reflect your husband's image
to the people. If you don't fit the "mold", he's no longer
effective. What is the "mold"? Just ask anyone who isn't a
priest's wife what that is! And why aren't you a regular
human being? Let's take note:
neckline? That's for the teen-agers and everyone else's
wives. "Isn't your dress a little short?" "Another new
dress?" "The same dress?" Better give Father a raise.
PERSONALITY
2) Your personality runs a close second.You start out
as an eager-to-please Orthodox Christian, full of life, a
constantly bubbling fountain of joy with "jack-in-the-box"
feelings: once pushed down you keep springing back.
You're supposed to be quiet, reserved-in-opinion,
charming. You're GAIL GRACIOUS .. always smiling
and with a never threatened,
"sticks and stones"
character. (Names will never hurt you!)
You accept everyone else's opinion graciously, and
when it comes to the Church, everyone is an expert at
giving advice. "Don't you think you should direct the
choir, be Superintendent of the Church School AND run
for president of the Ladies' Auxiliary?" "Tell Father that
You accept everyone else's opinion graciously,
everyone is an expert at giving advice.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
. 1)_Physical appearance
(including age) is a distingmshmg feature, and deserves the number one spot. If
you're young that can be a problem because you don't
know "enough"; too old and you don't relate well to the
younger set.
If you're attractive you can be a threat to some
~males. You're supposed to look "nice" . . . NANCY
ICE · • . with not too much make-up, medium length,
average-color hair, glasses and hidden figure. If you have
your hair cut short, it looked better long. If you're letting
February 1977
want to
and when it comes to the Church,
he forgot to bless Mrs. Nevercare's house." "Your children
act as if they own the Church!" "What do you really think
about abortion?" "As a friend, honey, don't you t'iink you
should visit the sick with your husband?" "Did I offend
you?" "Get on the phone and call Father, and tell him to
turn the heat up next time for our meeting." "I saw Father
going into Sarah Sweetly's house last night. Is she having
problems again?" "Do you know what Father did to me?"
GENERAL HEAL TH
3) General health must be good, and deserves some
thought. A priest's wife, like a good horse, needs solid
Page 7
�teeth (for gritting), good breeding habits and the ability to
keep running at a steady pace. You must look rested,
glowing and well! WENDY WELL. "Are you feeling_ all
right? You look tired." "Sick . . . AGAIN? You were Just
sick, it seems!"
Anyway, you need to be in "track" condition to keep
your house spotless for the White Glove Brigade; even if
the kids have been sick for a week and your husband
decides to invite a "small" group of thirty people to your
house for an informal gathering at an hour's notice.
You'd better be a good driver, too, for those times
when parents don't feel like picking up their teens from
the Church, and your husband is busy counseling after the
youth group meeting. Don't forget the lawn work or
shoveling when your husband is busy . . . in between
cooking with the ladies and entertaining relatives passing
through the neighborhood.
opportunity to touch more peoples' lives than perhaps any
other person with influence.
In order to be loved, you first have to love. And You
have adopted the Church community and learned to love
them as your family through God. When your husband
became married to the altar, you had an inkling of your
future. You knew what your husband needed to do. And
your great love for that man and the Ch~rch, has allowed
you to sacrifice yourself to keep you gomg and growing,
Life hasn't been easy, but you'll continue to do what you
can with it. You give what you can . . . not for any human
but for yourself and for Christ's sake. (You have gotten
out of your life as a priest's wife exactly what you have put
into it.) If it can be lived with love and devotion; if it can
be looked at with humor and open-mindedness; if it can be
faced with thanksgiving and forgiveness, you can find
happiness in your difference.
When your husband became married to the altar, you had an inkling
You knew what your husband needed to do.
And keep your weight down, or you'll get the side
glances and, "Are you pregnant ... again?"
INTELLIGENCE
.. .4) Fourth
and lastly comes intelligence.
You're
supposed to be BRENDA BRIGHT when you really feel
like DOREEN DODO. You keep wondering how much
intelligence it takes to be able to sit with your mouth
closed and unable to offer any suggestions or opinions.
You may have the perfect answer to enable the ladies to
make enough money to help pay off the Church debt, but
that title "Khouria" gets you an indifferent nod or a pat on
the head instead, and they'll go back to, "We always do it
this way!" And you can't be too bright if you don't roll
your grapeleaves to look like everyone else's! If you have
too many good suggestions, you may be stuck with
chairing the functions with, "I told you so," excuses for
not helping you.
FINALLY!
Finally, the real morale booster comes: you're invited
to dinner and all night your hosts want your husband's
opinion on everything. You're absolutely bursting inside,
but have to contend with sitting like a "lady" with the man
next to you who's filling your ear with his investments and
the reasons his kids don't go to Church. Your conclusion is
that Father may very well have brought a stuffed elephant
to the dinner and no one would have noticed the difference!
SO WHERE IS THE HOPE? LOVE!
Alas, these characteristics of a Super Human have only
brushed the surface of your life as a priest's wife . . . old
Nancy, Gail, Wendy and Brenda all rolled into one. But if
you followed closely, you'll notice that you only
sometimes want to break out of that stereotyped image,
because you do have a place of "honor" beside your
husband. You do share the joys as well as the sorrows.
You are sometimes treated with more respect than
perhaps you, as an individual, deserve. And you have the
Page 8
Parishes of the Archdiocese
Saint George Orthodox Church Utica, New York
by Sluicker Haddad
of your future.
This is the beginning of a New Day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or grow in its light,
And be of service to others.
But what I do with this day is important because
I have exchanged a day of my lzfe for it.
When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever.
I hope I will not regret the price I paid for it.
(Author Unknown)
THE DIVINE LITURGY:
a flip chart for the church school
Illustrations
1. We Take Part in God's Love
2. The Iconostasis
3. Deacon - Bishop - Archdeacon
4. Priest's Vestments
5. Holy Vessels
6. The Priest
7. The Holy Altar
8. The Priest Reads the Holy Gospel
9. The Great Entrance
10. The Consecration
11. We Recite the Creed
12. We Receive Holy Communion
13. The Faithful Receive the Antidoron
14. Holy Baptism
15. Holy Orders
16. The Sacrament of Confession
Features
1. Usuable for all age groups
2. Sixteen illustrations of the Divine Liturgy and the
Sacraments
3. Each Design is 17" x 32"
4. Ring binder for easy turning
5. Mounted on hard backing for permanency
Available from the Department of Christian Education
at $5.00 per copy.
The Word
The Exterior of St. George Church
As an introductory to the establishment of our church,
we would like to enlighten our readers as to a brief and
basic history of the city of Utica. The text of history
commences in the year of 1500 when the region was
inhabited by the Iroquois Indians. It was not until 1614
that the white man arrived in this region and it was later
named Fort Sehuyler.
The name of Utica was
unanimously adopted on April 3, 1798. By 1832, there
were 8,323 inhabitants and about 50 homes, in comparison
to 90,000 inhabitants at present. Utica's two famous
waterways, the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River helped
pioneer American westward movement. Utica also lies on
the New York State Thruway which runs the entire length
of New York State. Utica is also surrounded by the
beautiful Adirondack Mountains extending far beyond the
Mohawk Valley.
Our city government is presently administered by the
Honorable Mayor Edward A. Hanna, one of our own
people.
As time has progressed, since 1890, when Utica's
major industry was textile manufacturing, Utica has been
endowed with a great wave of Syrian and Lebanese immigration. Our ancestors, who migrated to America,
brought with them the true Christian faith and a deep love
for God in their hearts despite the numerous obstacles
which confronted them. With this love and sincerity in
their hearts they pursued their actions and administered
their religious services with several visiting priests
commuting from the Russian Orthodox Monastery in
Jordanville, New York. They held their services in various
homes. With the strength and coordination of this handful
of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants striving in a joint
e!fort and the Divine support of the Holy Spirit, these
pioneers were not to perish. With love for their Orthodox
February 1977
Faith, they congregated with determination,
collected
funds and finally purchased the land for two buildings on
Blandina Street in Utica. This was accomplished after
many devout Orthodox pledged to the building fund. With
the many alterations already in progress, on October 7,
1921, one dwelling was transformed into a church. With
their intentions firmly molded, in 1923, the church was
consecrated by Bishop Aftemios Ofiesh of Brooklyn, New
York. At this time, the Reverend George Trad's services
were obtained as a result of the successful efforts exercised by the congregation of Saint George Church.
As time went on, and many hardships confronted us,
the parishioners held their first outdoor outing at Kelly's
Grove, Riverside Drive in Marcy, New York. It is
noteworthy to add that this event was the first among
those of the Syrian Lebanese Community. In addition to
facts most significant to our institution, is the fact that the
Arabic-speaking people of Saint George constitutes the
minority of those of Utica's Melkite and Maronite
Churches which were built in the early 1900's.
After the retirement of Father George Trad, now of
blessed memory, Metropolitan Antony Bashir intervened
with his love for his flock and obtained the services of
Father George Karim. Under the spiritual leadership of
Father Karim, and with the aid of Mr. Abbott Betard, the
parish scored a period of advancement
with the
organization of Sunday School and the Church Choir.
During the years in which most Orthodox Churches of our
Archdiocese were flourishing by leaps and bounds, our
Saint George congregation,
however
humble
and
generous in its faith and financial accomplishments,
experienced much sorrow with the passing of its most
devout members. The spiritual welfare of Saint George
continued with the undying tradition of Orthodox unity
(Continued on page 11)
The Interior of St. George Church
Page 9
�I don't care how ~uch money we send to feed starving
ople abroad, I don t care how much money we raise to
r:ed the poo_r in our neighb<;>r~ood, if we. are not comssionate with one another 1t ts to no avatl whatsoever.
pa
• hb or ts
• preferred over
We say in Ara b'1c, "Y our near ne1g
your brother who is far away", but that is a contradiction
. terms because your brother remains your brother, your
m
• your ne1g
• hb or and the relationship of
neighbor remams
the two never ch~nges and the need for us to show
ompassion to both ts never altered.
c But your brother who is far away from you cannot feel
your ire, your pettiness, your smallness. Your neighbor
who is close to you can. If you show compassion for your
brother who is far away from you but have no humility in
the presence of Y<;'urneig~bor who is n.ear to you what good
is your compassion? With all of this St. Paul indicates
that we are clothing ourselves with a new garment, and are
LIFESTYLES X
homily by father james c. meena
"LORD, HAVE MERCY?"
Just prior to the reading of the Epistle Lesson, you may •
hear this statement, "Thou O Lord, shall preserve us and •
keep us from this generation. Save me, 0 God, for the
godly man doth perish".
Many of you have noticed that the Church never
presents a reading from the Scriptures without this type of
supplicative declaration, usually paraphrased from the
Psalms. This particular "Prokeimenon" is taken, at least in
part, from Psalm 12. In it the Church is drawing the attention of the faithful to the realities of the Old and New
Testaments and their oneness. In the Matin service,
before the Matin Gospels are read a "Prokeimenon" is
announced from the Psalms. At every Liturgy, before the
reading of the Epistle, a Prokeimenon is announced
praising God, calling upon God for His help.
This Prokeimenon asks God for His redeeming Grace,
to preserve us from the temptations of the generation in
which we live, to save us because in this generation "the
Godly man perishes" . . . a Godly man cannot exist. Even
back thousands of years ago, when Israel was at the height
of its glory and David as King was at the apex of his power,
he called out to God, "Save us from this corrupt
generation", because in this corrupt generation a man who
worships God just cannot get along.
Jesus said it another way, "You are in the world, but
you are not of the world", a very important distinction for
every Christian to understand. When we become upset
because our faith is being chided and derided by the
society in which we live, we ought to know that is not
something new to the people of God. Godly men have
perished in one generation after another because of the
corruptibility of mankind and because of man's desire and
willingness to sink in the mire of sin.
The world is not our kingdom. "My kingdom is not of
this world", said Jesus, (St. John, 18). But if His kingdom
were of this world, He said He would do something about
it. "Do you not think that at this moment I could summon
armies of hosts and angels and archangels to save me from
this hour?", he said to Pilate. "But My kingdom is not of
this world". When we Christians become so concerned
with what the world thinks about us that it affects the
lifestyle that we ought to be manifesting as Christians,
then we have succumbed to the wiles of this generation
and indeed we have fulfilled the prophecy of David who
said "and the godly man doth perish".
Page 10
It's time for you to realize that, "You are God's chosen
race, His saints. (Colossians 3: 12) He called us for a very
special and particular function. In his letter to the
Ephesians. St. Paul pleads: I implore that you lead a life
worthy of your vocation". (4:1) St. Paul begs us to be
worthy of our high calling, because we are a chosen race.
. . . God's saints".
He goes on, in Colossians and says, "He loves you!",
What a simple statement! "He loves you, and you should
be clothed in sincere compassion". And what is com·
passion? Compassion is the ability to feel with someone
else. To feel the pain of someone else. To anticipate
before you say or do anything, the effect on other people,
This is compassion. For too long we have been led to
believe that "Christian compassion" has to do only with
helping "hungry Armenians", thousands of miles away, or
sending money to Syria and Lebanon where our people
need help, or even giving to the relief of the poor in our
neighborhood.
Compassion goes farther than that
Compassion has to <lowith the way we relate to each other
. . . to 0ur parents . . . to our children . . . to our
families, our brothers and our sisters, our co-workers, our
fellow students.
St. Paul demands that we be compassionate,
charitable, kind, humble, gentle, patient, because the
Lord loves us. What good is it, for us to show compassion
to people who are suffering tens of thousands of mile!
away from us or even in houses removed from our own
households, if we do not show compassion and gentlenesi
and kindliness toward one another? If we are abrupt with
our parents or if parents are overly impatient with theu
children or if we in this family of God, this part of God'i
chosen race, do not relate to each other with compassion,
anticipating how our actions or our statements will have
an effect, either adverse or positive, on the person with
whom we are relating. Is it not about time that we realize
that this tremendous ministry is laid upon us as Christians,
to be compassionate with one another?
I allude to our quickness to criticize. I allude to our
ability to transfer mis-statements that have been made b)'
our brothers or our sister's in Christ in their weakness: to
misinterpret, mistranslate and misrepresent the intentiolll
of other people. This is because we are lacking in sulficient compassion to realize the harm that we do to the
family of God and to one another.
The Woro
able to do this becau e 'the Lord has forgi en you",
(Colossians 3:13). Isn't that fantastic? The Lord ha
forgiven us, but now we must do the same. The e are not
just words. These are instructions! Directive !
If we got a Presidential message from the White House
today saying, "Readers of The Word you must" . . . and
~hat Must was followed by a directive, we would be awemspired and impressed because it was sealed and signed
by the President of the United States. And here we have an
admonition signed and sealed by an Apostle of God saying
"You must forgive one another". That's compassion.
. All these things are new garments: compassion,
ktndness, humility, gentleness, patience, but all of these
are completed by love. With love, compassion is possible,
gentleness has meaning, humility true and sincere.
SAINTS OF THE LORD, SMILE, FOR GOD LOVES
YOU!
Parishes of the Archdiocese
(Continued from page 9)
with the mortgage burning on November 5, 1950. The
congregation was honored
with the presence of
Metropolitan Antony Bashir. The Grand Banquet
highlighting this momentous occasion was held in the
Hotel Utica with the presence of the Honorable Mayor
Boyd Golder and several dignitaries sharing in these
festivities.
ANEW ERA
During the next few years, Saint George experienced a
profound period of transition with the arrival of Father
George Kazaka in 1954. In 1956, the Right Reverend
Michael Khallouf served Saint George. In 1959 Father
Khallouf was elevated to the rank of Bishop and assigned
to administer churches in South America. In August,
1959,our faithful parishioners again began with an era of
transition with the presence of Archimandrite David
Cassis, now of blessed memory. Under the spiritual
guidance of Father Cassis and with his devotion and
humility, he launched a membership drive bringing back
to the fold many estranged and negligent individuals of the
preceding several years. With the utmost support and
dedication of Mr. Solomon Haddad, the effort of carrying
ou_t_thismembership drive resulted in a revival of renewed
spmtual fellowship. Thus, the organization SOYO was
successfullyorganized.
It is difficult to enumerate the drastic and intensive
changes the congregation has experienced. One such
c~ange came in 1967 when it became apparent in the
minds and hearts of all those concerned that larger
facilities for worship were necessary. The impossible
dream became a glorious reality when our Father David
Cassisand the Board of Trustees, under the leadership of
Mr. Shacker Haddad, focused with a coordinated effort
and_~ determination to succeed, however great the opposition appeared, to purchase St. Paul's Lutheran Church
on South and Brinkerhoff Streets in Utica. Renovation
and alteration began immediately upon the acquisition of
the new facility with a display of a joint effort. On October
February 1977
5 and 6, 1968 the new Saint George Church was consecrated and dedication ceremonies commenced with a
Hierarchical Liturgy. The congregation was honored by
our Most Beloved Shepherd in Christ, Metropolitan
Philip, assisted by Archimandrite David Cassis and the
Very Reverend Michael Shahin. Combined choirs from
Saint Elias of Syracuse and Saint George of Utica under
the most able direction of Saint George's own Miss Marie
Hyder, accented the ceremony. These services were
concluded with a Grand Banquet and Rafla. At this time,
the ordination of Sub-deacon was bestowed upon George
Brunish, who later assisted in the sacrificial duties at Saint
George.
OUR GOLDEN JUBILEE
After many years of hopeful and triumphant victory,
this small parish conquered many of the obstacles which
had prevailed since the time of its modest beginning and
pursued many efforts, finally celebrating its Golden
Jubilee in September of 1973 with the presence of His
Grace, Bishop Elia, assisted by Archimandrite David
Cassis, the Very Reverend Michael Shahin, Father George
Brunish, Father George Aswad, and Father Gabriel
White. During the tenure of Father Cassis' sunset years of
serving Saint George, there became a need for an assistant
priest. It was therefore fortunate for the parish to have
had Father Michael Shahin to fulfill these duties.
However, it became apparent to the congregation that a
full time resident parish priest was necessary to revive and
restore the vigor which is necessary to our religious
survival. Having experienced and accomplished
the
inevitable succession of events down through the years we
were finally blessed with the arrival of the Very Reverend
Nicholas Habib on November 24, 1974.
It is our fervent hope and prayer that we may continue
to achieve the roll of success as it was the theme and
tradition of our ancestors. May God bless all those before
us who have brought us to what we are today and all those
who will carry on our work and our dedication to the
Orthodox Faith.
Page 11
�AN OPEN LETTER
FROM A CHILD:
Department of Christian Education
YOU ARE MY CHURCH-SCHOOLTEACHER
Planning For Great Lent
In The Church School
by John Boojamra
Great Lent is rapidly approaching (February 21) and
this is perhaps a good opportunity to consider some
possible ways in which the church school might encourage
the observance of this period as a time of preparation.
Lent has only one object- Easter or the Resurrection
of our Lord. In this sense it is a preparation for something
beyond itself. Unhappily, preparation implies postponing
or putting something off and this delay is not terribly easy
to make real to a so-called NOW generation which seeks
immediate
satisfaction
and
immediate
answers.
Nonetheless the church school teacher must help the
student to answer the questions "where is lent taking us?"
and, more immediately, "how might we share in the lenten
journey?" The teacher's presentation of the lenten
journey must, therefore, emphasize both the long range
goal and the immediate and daily satisfaction of a struggle
well-fought.
Lent is a period during which the Church calls on us to
do more and to do less - more prayer, more worship,
more good works; less T.V., less eating, less entertaining.
In a real sense we are asked to slow our lives down so that
we might open them up more fully to the opportunities
God presents us to be with Him. All of the extras that the
Church prescribes for this period - prayers, services,
charity, fasting - can be presented to the students for
their immediate attention and so satisfy this need for
NOWness. In this latter category the teacher might
emphasize the personal, as well as the communal, nature
of the lenten preparation. Not only are we called to
worship at longer and more frequent services but to fast
(individually) and do good works (individually). Hence,
there are four areas to stress - the long range and the
short range nature of lent and the personal and communal
nature of lent.
Lenten preparation might be encouraged in three
spec_ific areas - liturgical participation, fasting, and
service.
There is a distinct change in the number, nature,
length, and even color of the lenten services. Most notably
there are simply more services; the Akathist services and
the Presanctified liturgies are examples of this and all
students should be encouraged to participate at these
weekly services. In addition, the biblical lessons of the
S~nday services might be gone over in detail, especially
~th the older students. The teacher might effectively start
with the moral lessons of the three Sundays preceding
lent. Be careful that all of the lessons are presented within
a context that children at different age levels can relate to.
With younger children, the teacher might emphasize the
visible changes in the church building as in the liturgical
colors and actually relate these to the changes in the
Page 12
natural world about them - the appearance of the robins
the flowering of the early daffodils, etc. The older childre~
and youth group members might be encouraged to
sponsor special discussion groups after the Friday evenini
services and perhaps a modest pot-luck dinner after the
Presanctified Liturgy.
Children at all ages can be encouraged to initiate
changes in their social and moral behavior by sharing in
service projects - visiting hospitals, assisting older
members of the parish in getting to church. Whatever thef
undertake, it should involve their giving something o!
themselves. With younger children the theory of sharin~
and giving to others need not be gone into. Rather the
teacher should just encourage them to initiate modes!
projects or suggest that they agree among themselves to
secretly perform kindnesses every day of lent for some
one other than a member of their family, but withom
telling that person about it. The children will love the
prospect of keeping a secret from their parents.! A~
projects should have the reasonable expectation o!
producing immediate satisfaction as, for instance, seein~
the visible pleasure of their parents when they do certain
household chores willingly. The mite box is okay, bu!
collecting money (usually mommy's or daddy's) 11
singularly unexciting. More than this can be done.
Fasting has been part of the Church's life and the lifeol
Christians since the very beginning. It is a fundamental
part of an Orthodox
understanding
of life ano
preparation. Every major feast is preceded by a fast. The
point to be made to the students in encouraging them to
fast is that they must produce some visible change in their
eating habits. Fasting is concerned not so much with the
quantity (how much?) or the quality (what?), but the
regularity of whatever degree of fasting they decide upon
With older children, it might be valuable to outline thi
fasting rules of the Church and allow the students to fino
their own pace within the Church's rules. Again, em
phasize regularity and exhausting their limits; always asktl
they have chosen the maximum of their own potential.
In closing then, I would remind the teachers of em
phasize the communal and personal nature of the Lenten
period as well as the future goal (Easter) and the im·
mediate ways of participation-daily. For further reading!
would like to suggest the following books:
Great Lent by Father Alexander Schmemann
The Passion of Christ by Vesselin Kesich
Holy Week by Father Alexander Schmemann
The Art of Prayer an Orthodox anthology
All of these works are available from St. Vladimir'!
Seminary Bookstore, 575 Scarsdalle Road, Tuckahoe,
New York 10707.
The Wor,
you are my church-school teacher. You are different
from my teacher at school. My teacher at school only has to
tell me how two and two make four, and all that stuff I need
to know to grow up smarter. But you teach the whole me.
What my teacher tells me at school I only have to
remember. What you tel! me at churchschooll have to live.
That's what makes you different.
you are someone I know because you're a person from
my parish church who thinks I'm important. You want me
to grow up to be a good Christian.You want me to be sure I
know why I'm Orthodox and what being Orthodox means.
you want to show me how to be a Christian in a world
grow. It's funny thinking about myself as a field, but you
can plant anything you want in me. I know that you'll plant
good seeds, so that God will make them grow. I know that
you're not doing it for yourself, but for God.
Some of the Kids at school .....
Before I can be a good Christian, though, I have to know
all sorts of things. I don't really know very much right now.
So~e. of the kids at school say things that aren't very
Christian at all. Sometimes when I tell them what we
learned in church school, they tell me that that's nut right or
they tell me that only little kids believe what they learn in
church school. I don't always know what to say back to
I watch you a lot more than you think I do.
where people sometimes don't act very Christian.You want
to be a person I can trust because, through you, I'll learn to
trust in God and depend on Him.
When I see you ...
HOW can I learn about God through you? I watch you a
lot more than you think I do. I learn from what you do as
well as from what you say to me. I think you're trying to
learn, and grow, and love God more each day- just like I
am. You try to be Christian. In class you act nice to us and
reallytry to help us understand. When I see that you believe
in what you tell me, when I see that you live the way you
want me to live, that helps me to understand things like
obeying God and being a good Christian.
When I see you depending on God, I learn to depend on
God. When I see things happen to you that make you cry,
I'm sad. But then when I see that you don't give up on God,
them because I don't know enough about the Church.
Sometimes I think that if I don't have enough reasons to
make them believe that what the Orthodox Church teaches
is right, that Christianity is the best way of life for
everybody then maybe they might be right. But now I want
to know all about the Church, and how it began, and about
the Sacraments, the Bible and what Jesus taught about how
to live. My mom says I better learn a lot because when I go
to college she doesn't want me to leave the Church because
I can't defend my faith. So you have to tell me alot about the
Church and a lot of other things so I can defend my faith.
I hope you feel good about teaching us because I like
you as a teacher. You're excited about us about our
questions, and about the Church. You don't always teach in
the same way either. You give us projects and activities to
do that help us express what we learn in class. I wasn't too
When I see things happen to you that make you cry, I'm sad. But then when I
see that you dont give up on God, I know that I shouldn't either, even when
things seem terrible.
I k~ow that I shouldn't either, even when things seem
terrible. What you do makes me think that Jesus is stronger
than anything or anyone. You make me think that He's
alwaysright with us always, right in the center of our hearts
- as long as we make room for Him. I think, too, that if sad
thingsor even bad things happen to me, it won't be the end
of the world - if I don't let it be and if I don't turn away
from God like some people do when things are bad.
You told us the other day about a letter St. Paul wrote.
He talked about teachers in it. He said that he did the
planting, his friend Apollos did the watering, but God
~akes things grow. He called the people he was writing to
God's field," but he said they were all partners working
together for God. You said we were like God's field, too.
you do the planting, but it's God who makes the seeds
February 1977
crazy about the research p!oject, but my friend Charles
said he really learned alot from it. I liked doing the poster
best. Finding those pictures in magazines showing how
people share and care for each other really made me think.
But I guess me and Charlie like different things and learn in
different ways. Anyhow we hope that your class will be
filled with all sorts of things for both of us.
I was thinking that maybe when I grow up I'd like to be a
teacher, too. Maybe I can be a little bit like you. You said
you pray for us, that we will gain in the Holy Spirit and
become the kind of people who follow God's will. I hope
you keep praying for me so that I can grow up to be a good
teacher and teach the kids about God and the Church and
help the Church grow a little bit stronger.
Dianne Scott Farah
Page 13
�Department
of Middle
fast Affairs
WHO ARETHEOTHERS?
James Kenna
TO: Leaders in the American and Canadian Christian
Churches.
FROM: Frank Maria, Chairman, Department of Near East
and Refugee Affairs.
RE: Middle East Issues of Concern to American and
Canadian Christians.
Since 1973 the United States seems to be moving toward
a "more evenhanded" policy and a pro-just peace policy in
the Middle East. Domestic political pressures, especially
during the recent presidential campaign, may impede U.S.
initiatives toward a just resolution of this priority world
problem. The Middle East crisis is a primary challenge to
Christian churches and by meeting this challenge
Christians can contribute to the achievement of ·a long
overdue, but vitally needed just and lasting peace in the
Middle East.
I. The Issue of Peace and the Issue of Survival
Another Arab / Israeli war could expand into World
·war III with its horrible prospect of nuclear holocaust
due to the confrontation of the two nuclear giants,
U.S.A. and Russia and due to the recently revealed
fact that Israel has developed a nuclear capability.
The tinder box of the Middle East could blow up the
whole world. At stake is man's very survival.
In order to help our countries withstand partisan,
"hawkish" pressures and to withstand shortsighted
domestic political pressures, the Christian Church
which stands for justice and peace must intensify its
support clearly and courageously of our government's efforts toward a just and enduring peace.
II .. The Issue of Terrorism
The unresolved conflict in the Middle East has given
rise to terrorism. The creation of a Jewish state by
terror and violence at the expense of non-Jews, the
indigenous Palestinian Christian and Moslem people,
and the expansion of this state by violence at the
expense of Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian
Christians and Moslems has been followed by
Arab/ Israeli wars and Palestinian terrorism. Even
the current tragedy in Lebanon has roots in the
chronic Arab/ Israeli conflict. As in other parts of
the world, failure to relieve oppression and to render
justice has given rise to terrorism.
III. The Status of the Holy City of Jerusalem
This will probably be the toughest problem in any
final peace negotiations. Sacred to 900 million
Christians, 700 million Moslems and 16 million Jews,
Jerusalem involves issues of religious shrines and
historic sites, sovereignty and property rights, human
rights and international law (Geneva Convention, UN
Resolutions, etc.), relations between Christians, Jews
and Moslems, and peace and justice.
IV. Human Rights and Brotherhood
Although the Christian establishment
(National
Council of Churches and the U.S. Catholic Conference) affirms the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and has spoken out
against violations of human rights in other countries it
has been silent on the violations by Israel. Although
Page 14
no other state has complied a record equal to that of
Israel in violations of human rights and international
law, NCC and USCC have not as yet "come to grips''
with this issue. Involved are such other issues as
liberation, self-determination, equality and justice as
over against racialism, inequality, aggression and
discrimination.
Violations of human rights and international law by
Israel within Isreal and in the occupied territories and
with regard to her neighbors have long called for
courageous Christian witness in the United States and
Canada.
V. The Future of the Christian Church
The survival and growth of the Christian Church in
the Holy Land and in Asia and Africa is at stake in the
Arab/ Israeli conflict (Christians have been fleeing
Jerusalem and Palestine - and now Lebanon-;
and
Christians in the Middle East have been disillusioned
with Christianity's reluctance to face up to the moral
and spiritual issues).
Also, the Christian Church's integrity in the United
States and Canada is being jeopardized by the
pressures and restrictive influence of political
Zionism.
VI. The Issue of Ecumenism
The Middle East controversy bears directly on the
challenge of ecumenism. Within NCC it involve!
relationships
between
Protestants
and Eastern
Orthodox; within USCC it involves relations with
Arab Catholic churches. Also, Christian relations with
Arab Moslems, relations with 10 million Christians in
the Middle East, and relations with Judaism and Islam
are all aspects of the ecumenical challenge.
With regard to Christian relations with Jews, there isa
critical need to distinguish between political Zionism
and Judaism and between the State of Israel and Jews.
Even if and especially because non-Zionist and anti·
Zionist Jews are a minority, their views should be
heard.
With regard to Christianity's relations with Islam (700
million adherents largely in the developing nations o!
Asia and Africa and their number increasing
gradually in the United States and Canada, dialogue
needs to be promoted and a structured relationship
established in the long range interests of all the
parties. Certainly with regard to the Middle East crisii
we should have Moslem input, since the Arabs are
mostly Moslems and the Islamic world supports the
justice of the Arab cause.
VII. Corruptive Influence of Political Zionism on our
Democratic Procedures and Integn·ty
This tremendous, challenge for the American ano
Canadian Christian Church involves many issues,
These include the problem of a one-sided press, the
defamation of Arabs, the conflict of interest involveo
when Christian leaders take free trips to Isra~l, the use
(Continued
on page 21)
Toe Wo~
NOTEON THE REFORMATION
The term "Reformation" indicates a series of events
nd changes in the structure of Western Christendom
~etween the 14th and 17th centuries. This began with the
attacks of the Lollards on Clerical celibacy, Transubstantiation, Indulgences,. P~lgrimages, valid priestly
acts dependent upon the priests personal morality; and,
that endowments of the Papacy and the Hierarchy were all
un-Scriptural. They followed the teaching of John
Wycliffe, an English reformer. They predated the actual
Protestant Reformation by 200 years. Their ideals were
espoused among the Czechs led by John Hus. Their
primary targ~t was the hierarchy in t~e W est~rn Church,
and in particular, the Papacy. Until the time of the
Protestant Reformation, there were individuals and small
groups who continued to oppose the concept of Papal
Monarchy and the development of a Papal State as a
political power.
The opposition of Martin Luther, the initiator of the
Protestant Reformation, and his later open defiance and
subsequent separation from the Roman Catholic Church,
was not really opening new ground. Most of the Reformation movements did not stress innovation, but rather a
return to previous ideals of what they termed the
Christianity of the "Golden Age". Zwingli of Zurich was a
SwissReformer who carried Luther's objections further
throughout Switzerland and southwestern Germany. He
was backed by the civil authorities which gave him
considerable power. He died in a civil war between the
Catholic Cantons and Protestant ones in 1531. At this time
the leadership of the movement transferred to Geneva.
The movement was later developed and controlled by
John Calvin, a prominent lawyer turned theologian, who
established an elaborate view of a theocracy which
eliminated the episcopate entirely. Calvin's teaching was
more revolutionary and doctrinal. He centered upon the
concept of Predestination, which is a divine decree that
determines only a body of Elect who may be saved.
Therefore, Calvin rejected the Catholic dogma that it is
God's Will that all should be saved. He also taught that the
Sacraments and death redeem only members of the Elect,
not everyone. Calvin summed up all of his teaching in a
large volume entitled "The Institutes of The Christian
Religion" which was published in 1536. This became the
main force of the Reformation movements in West
Germany, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The
~dherence to these teachings raised serious civil conflicts
m the above named nations such as the Hugenot
massacres in France, the revolution of the Netherlands
from Spain and the Thirty Years War. Attempts of the
Calvinists to gain supremacy within the English Church
were not successful. The Calvinists were supporters of the
Puritan revolution (reformation) of the Mid-Seventeenth
Century, but this failed to sway the National Church or
capture the body of the populace.
. .
The English Reformation was quite different m its
development than the Continental Protestant Reformation. •The British Isles were separated from the
February 1977
mainstream of Europe, not only geographically but also
religiously. They were greatly influenced by the political
situation and social forces in the development of their
reform. The reigning sovereign at the time was Henry
VIII, who was a staunch Catholic and not without some
accreditation in theology. He had been awarded the title
"DEFENSOR FIDE!" by the Pope for his defense of the
Faith against Lutheran teachings. In England, however,
Henry cut off Papal power, but left the structure of the
Church and its teaching within the tradition of Western
Catholicism. One evil aspect of Henry's interference was
his persecution
and eventual dissolution of the
monasteries, the dispersement of the monks and nuns and
the confiscation of the properties. The King did struggle
to prohibit the influence of the Continental Reformers and
their doctrines within the English Church, but eventually,
humanist Biblical trends did infiltrate into Anglican
teaching. The great achievement of the King in the
preservation of the English Church was the retention of
Holy Scripture, the Sacraments and making available all
of these in the vernacular and the production of the Book
of Common Prayer.
Upon the death of Henry and the accession of his
daughter, Mary ("Bloody Mary", so-called for her violent
prosecution and persecution of non-Romanists), the
official Church returned to the Catholic fold under the
Pope and a new Papal Legate was appointed, Reginald
Cardinal Pole. After Mary was overthrown and Elizabeth I
succeeded, religious peace was brought to the realm by
combining
the
Protestants
and Anglicans
and
disestablishing the Romanists as one Church in a loosely
federated
theological
postulation
knmyn as the
Elizabethan Settlement ("something for everyone"). To
date, the Roman Catholics in England have remained
aloof and outside the Established Church of England.
From this era, the English National Church developed
along very different lines than the other Churches of the
reformation. It has remained the official religion of the
kingdom and is inextricably bound up in its history and
tradition.
NOTE ON THE TERM
"PROTESTANT"
The term "Protestant" denotes a system of Christian
belief and teaching which is based on the principles of the
Christian religion. This movement began in Europe and
developed along different lines in Great Britain. The term
evolves from the Latin verb "protestare" which means "to
fight against". Its original use emphasized the Protestant
fight against what they considered to be abuses and un-.
scriptµral developments in the Christian faith espoused by
an unworthy institution - the Papacy. The term was first
used at the Diet of Speyer in 1529 in Germany, where the
delegates objected to a decision made by the Catholic
majority. The term has always connoted an anti-Roman
attitude. Contrariwise, the term has always been
(Continued on page 27)
Page 15
�North American
Council
2nd Place Marlene Matook,
ew England
SOYO
Digest
1977
To the beloved Clergy and Faithful of the Archdiocese:
Grace and peace to you from Our Lord Jesus Christ at
the beginning of our common Lenten pilgrimage to the
Glorious Resurrection.
As we read through the writings of our Church Fathers
we find countless passages in which they oppose the
hardheartedness
of the non-believers with the genuine
agape• of the Christians. As an example, hear these words
of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, the God-Bearer:
"Faith and love are everything, and there is nothing better
than these. Mark those who hold strange doctrine with
regard to the grace of Jesus Christ, which came unto us,
how opposed they are to the mind of God. They have no
thought for love, nor for the widow, the orphan, the afflicted, the prisoner, the hungry nor the thirsty."
(Ep. Smyrnaeans, 6)
The Orthodox Faith compels one to undertake acts
of charitable love; indifference to the less fortunate,
according to Saint Ignatius, is a sure sign of one who is not
committed to the Truth of Jesus Christ. During this season
1977 CREATIVE ARTS AND
WRITING CONTESTS
DEADLINES: Regional-April
1, 1977
National - May 1, 1977
TOPICS:
Grade 1, We Live in God's World: "God gives us gifts
in a beautiful world".
Grade 2, Discovering God's Way: "We return to God's
love by doing good works".
Grade 3, We Worship God in Church: "We pray for the
needs of the world".
Grade 4, The Bible Lives in the Church: "God teaches
us about Himself in the Bible".
Grade 5, Our Life in the Church: "We share in God's
life through the Holy Sacraments".
Grade 6, God With Us: "Jesus lived with the people and
blessed them".
Grade 7, The Young Church: "The Church carries
God's message into the world".
Grade 8-9, Heroes for Truth, New Frontiers: "Great
men in the history of the Church".
Grade 10-12, Christianity makes us a different people
-How?
Page 16
I
RI
•
•1
Grade6
st Place David Haddad, St. Luke, Garden Grove, Ca.,
1
Western
nd Place Jessica Attra, St. George, Houston, Tx., South2
west
Grade7
News and Views ...
GREAT LENT
St. Mary, Pawtucket
of fasting, prayer and penitence, our Archdiocese through
NAC SOYO offers each of us the opportunity to incarnate
this love for the world's hungry. "FOOD FOR HUNGRY
PEOPLE", NAC SOYO's annual Lenten project, is the
vehicle for such concern. Therefore, we expect that a
clearly marked alms box will be placed in a conspicuous
location in the narthex of every church for the duration of
Great Lent and Holy Week. We urge our clergy and faithful, young and old, rich and poor, to contribute alms, each
according to his means, to be used to feed the world's
hungry.
With prayers that Christ, Whose Cross brought joy into
all the world, may accept our Lenten efforts as heavenly
treasure, we remain.
Yours in His Service,
. .
1st Place Chnstme Haddad, St. Nicholas, Los Angeles,
ca., Western
2nd Place Chris McLotta, St. Mary, Johnstown, Pa.,
Eastern
Grade8
1st Place Eric Farha, St. George, Wichita, Ka., Southwest
2nd Place Matthew Davis, St. Luke, Garden Grove, Ca.,
Western
Grade9
1st Place Tim McCloota, St. Mary, Johnstown, Pa.,
Eastern
2nd Place Elizabeth Attra, St. George, Houston, Tx.,
Southwest
Grade10
1stPlace Houda Al-Amir, St. Mary, Pawtucket, R.I., New
England
2nd Place Joseph Bockman, Holy Resurrection, Tucson,
Ax.,Western
Grade11
1st Place Paul Davis, St. Luke, Garden Grove, Ca.
Western
Grade12
Metropolitan
Primate
1st Place Laura George, St. George, Cleveland, Ohio,
Midwest
2nd Place Douglas Bayouth, St. George, Wichita, Ka.,
Southwest
PHILIP
TEEN SOVO RETREAT
On Sunday, December 19, the Teen OYO of aint
George Church in Little Fall , J, held a er ucce ful
Advent Mini-Retreat. Following the Divine Liturgy, the
Teens se~ved 'Coffee And' to the entire parish. The retreat
b~gan with a prayer offered by Very Re erend Mi hael
Simon, pastor at Saint George. eminarians John Abdalah
and Mark Zara from Saint Vladimir'
eminary gave brief
presentations on the Biblical me age of the ativity, the
impact of the Incarnation, the role of 'Santa' in the
con!emporary Christmas celebration, and the bringing of
Chnst back into Christmas by bringing ourselves back to
Christ.
A lively discussion followed, the succes of which was
a result of the frankness and honesty of all involved.
Looking critically at our American life-style, it was clear
how far away we are from being one with and for Christ. A
teen pointed out now much we make of 'Santa' during this
season and how little we speak of Christ. Another expressed concern over the fact that everyone is so busy
with Christmas shopping that we don't have time to even
think about Christ. Without Christ's Incarnation there
wouldn't be any salvation!
The Teens agreed that the Retreat had given them a
new meaning for Christmas and the experience
of
'Emmanuel' - God With Us - was felt by all.
After the discussion the Teens prayed together and
read lections for the Feast from both the Old and New
Testaments. Members of St. George Senior SOYO then
served a light lenten meal to the Teens. The remainder of
the day was spent in cleaning and decorating the church
and social center for the Feast. Other retreats are being
planned for Great Lent and Pascha.
-Seminarian John Abdalah
1976 CREATIVE ARTS WINNERS
The winners are as follows:
Grade 1
1st Place Lauren George, St. John of Damascus, Boston,
Mass, New England
2nd Place Samuel Lammers, St. Thomas, Sioux City,
Iowa, Midwest
Grade 2
1st Place Matthew Joseph, St. Mary, Johnstown, Pa..
Eastern
2nd Place Theresa Hogan, St. George, Norwood, Ma.,
New England
Grade 3
1st Place Steele Abeeny, St. Nicholas, Brooklyn, N.Y.,
Eastern
2nd Place Michael Heinemeyer, St. Luke, Garden Grove,
Ca., Western
Grade 4
1st Place Stephen Kouri, St. Michael, Greensburg, Pa.,
Eastern
2nd Place, Damon Baine, St. Michael, Beaumont, Tx.,
Southwest
Grade 5
1st Place Darold Goodwin, St. Michael, Beaumont, Tx.,
Southwest
SOYO PARISH LIFE CONFERENCES
REGION
CAN/ AM
May 26-29, 1977
Montreal, Quebec
HOST
St. George & St. Nicholas Churches
C/o 80 De Castelnau St., E.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Rl T8
REGION
Midwest
June 22-26, 1977
Detroit, Mich.
HOST
St. George Church
2760 E. Grand Blvd.
Detroit, Mich. 48211
Southwest
June 8-12, 1977
Oklahoma City, Okla.
St. Elijah Church
2101 N.W. 16th Street
Oklahoma City, Okla. 73107
Western
June JO-July 3
Los Angeles, Calif.
St. Nicholas Cathedral
2300 West Third Street
Los Angeles, Calif. 90057
New England
June 16-19, 1977
Boston, Mass.
St. George Church
C/o 933 W. Roxbury Pkwy.
Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167
Eastern
July 6-10, 1977
Seven Springs, Pa.
Western Pa. Deanery
C/o 601 Wirsing Avenue
Greensburg,Pa. 15601
ARCHDIOCESECONVENTION
JULY 24-31, 1977
WASHINGTON,D.C.
St. George Church
4335 Sixteenth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20011
The Word
February 1977
Page 17
�YOUTH MONTH
MESSAGE
Our world today is swiftly making strides and changes
as never before in the recorded history of mankind. When
society attempts to adjust to one sociological, econo~ic
or religious turnover, it must prepare itself to cope with
new and more promises and threats.
The more numerous and stronger these changes occur,
the strain becomes almost intolerable, soon to be replaced
by fear. This fear of our fellow man leads to contempt, and
contempt breeds hatred.
"Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upo_n
your wrath". Ephesians, V. 26. Let us respond to this
scriptural call and attempt with the help of God to
alleviate the tensions that engulf us. Let us not forget that
today, various societies hold the capabilities to ?es troy
what Almighty God has created, and what mankmd has
developed. For when we destroy our peers, we only
destroy ourselves. Could we live without each other?
In today's Gospel, the message is related to those wh_o
have lost their faith in their ability to express theu
willingness to love and aid others than themselves,
whether they wish us well or ill. The essence of our survival depends upon the welfare of others, for if we wish to
be befriended, we must show our friendship. But to
possess the power to assist others, we must do for ourselves so we can help others do for themselves.
For those in the ghettos around our Nation, and those
in the bonds of misery around the world, we not only offer
our love and material favors, we offer our prayers.
For those in the Middle East, lest we forget we are
brothers, we shall perish together. Let us not forget the
common cause of returning our brethren to a just and
peaceful homeland, where Jew, Christian and Moslem can
co-exist peacefully.
•
When united there is much we can do; divided there is
little we can do. The unity of mankind can evolve from our
search to find solutions to the issues we cohere to, not the
issues that divide us. Working as a union, we can produce
results that previously seemed unattainable.
On June 24, 1975 an agreement was signed by
Metropolitan PHILIP and Archbishop MICHAEL, effecting a bond ending a 40 year schism between sister
churches in America. Our hierarchs set the path of a solid
and glorious future for our Archdiocese. Since that
historic tie, we have accomplished much more than what
is tangible. As one, we are now striving for solutions to the
issues we both faced. Common goals such as peace in the
Middle East, unity among our spiritual brothers and the
survival of Christianity, where Catholicism and Orthodoxy
must meet to combat any common opponent of a common
view.
Let us work hard to achieve what is inspired from our
spiritual beliefs. Let us grasp the challenges that confront
us. And when we cannot act as we wish, we must act as we
can, remembering that if our cause is just, we shall see it
through.
It would be easier to deter from any extra burden by
not contributing our time and effort to the support of
those in need. Any attempt to help another is better than
no attempt at all. If you feel your efforts are futile, that is
reason for incentive. The harder the effort, the more
satisfying the result. Don't fear to take a first step to cooperate with those who without your help, may not make
Page 18
it. An old Chinese proverb says "a journey of 1,000 miles
must begin with one step." And that 1,?00 mile journey
will lead us to better times, where fear will b~ replaced by
trust and unity will rule over war and discord. That
jour~ey of 1,000 miles can and will_ ~egin when we are
ready to take the first step. Are we wdlmg to walk, to help
others learn to crawl?
-Michael Bsharah, Detroit, Michigan
DAILY DEVOTIONS
compiled
St. Elias, Atlanta, Georgia
by fr. gerasimos
an attempt to encourage our faithful
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 6
lCor. 6: 12-20 (Prodigal Son Sunday)
Luke 15:11-32
1 John 2: 18-3: 10
Monday
Mark 11 : 1-11
1John 3: 11-20
Tuesday
Mark 14:10-42
Wednesday 1 John 3:21-4:6
Mark 14:43 15:1
Tim 2: 1-10 or 1 John 4:20-21; 5: 1-21
Thursday
Mark 15:2-14
:2 John 1: 1-13
Friday
Mark 15; 22-25, 33-41
1 Cor. 10: 23-28
Saturday
Luke 21 :8-9, 25-27, 33-36
Sunday
Sub-Teen SOYO
In September 1975, SOYO of St. Elias, Atlanta,
Georgia, introduced a unique and challenging addition to
its membership. It is called Sub-Teen SOYO and is made
up of young people between the ages of seven and twelve
years.
The motivating force behind the creation of this group
was Mr. John S. Sharpie, then President of Senior SOYO,
who wanted to develop the Atlanta Chapter more full}
into a "family affair." Mr. Sharp le chose as the group's
sponsor, Ethel Milligan, and co-sponsor, Omar Kassem.
The purpose of Sub-Teen SOYO is primarily to create
an interest in the work of SOYO at an early age, and to
better prepare our pre-teens to enter Teen SOYO as individuals who are experienced in working together as a
group, and who will be willing to accept and carry their
future responsibilities. There is also the objective o!
encouraging more regular Sunday School attendance
through an appreciation of the fun and fellowship experienced in Sub-Teen SOYO.
At our first meeting, officers were elected and the}
were: Mary Elizabeth Karafotias - President; Kiersten
Andrews
Vice President;
Tommy
Sharpie Treasurer; Emil Beshara - Secretary. Other members:
David and Deidre Azar, Sara Bashara, Ricky Gursky, Lisa
Khoury, Brian Morris, Jill and Lorie Naddra, Helen
Poulos, Ann Marie and Lisa Sophy and Rachel Williams.
Georgie Sophy and Joseph Siffri recently joined.
Sub-Teen SOYO has been quite active since its incep·
tioni We have joined with Senior SOYO in visiting the
Shearith
Israel Congregation
Synagogue;
Christmai
caroling at a local nursing home; decorating the Churcn
Hall and Christmas tree. We had a picnic at Grant Parx
where we visited the Cyclorama and the zoo; organizeo
and had a Valentine Party; visited Six Flags Over Georgia
Amusement Park; swimming party at the home of Mr. ano
Mrs. Parks Harris, and visited the Monastery of the Hol~
Ghost. Our most recent project was a bake sale to raise
money for a yearbook.
Sub-Teen SOYO has, on the whole, exceeded the
expectations of its sponsors and has proved to be a most
valuable opportunity to introduce children in this ag~
group to SOYO. We are looking forward with much confr
dence toward having an outstanding Teen SOYO at St.
Elias as these young people continue to grow in an atmos·
phere of good Christian fellowship as members of SOY0.
to study Holy Scripture through
daily liturgical readings -
11[,
•
I
i111
\11
I
'
:
I
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 13
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1 Cor. 8:8-9:2
(MEAT FARE SUNDAY)
Math. 25: 31-46
3John1:l-15
Luke 19:29-40; 22: 7-39
Jude 1: 1-10
Luke 22:39-42; 45-23:1
Open
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 20
Sunday
Monday
Jude 1: 11-25
Luke 23:1-34, 44, 56
Open
Tuesday
Romans 14: 19-23, 16:25-27
Math 11 :27-30
Thursday
Wednesday
Friday
Saturday
Rom.13:11-14:4 (Cheese Fare Sunday)
Matt 6: 14-21
Isaiah 1: 1-20
(Pure Monday)
Genesis 1:1-13 (Great Fast begins)
Isaiah 1: 19-33, 2: 13
Genesis 1: 14-23
Isaiah 2:3-11
Genesis 1:24-2:3
Isaiah 2: 11-21
Genesis 2:4-19
Isaiah 3: 1-14
Genesis 2:20-3:20
Hebrews 1:1-12
Mark 2:23-3:5
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27
Sunday
Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2 (ORTHODOXY SUNDAY)
John 1:43-51
Monday
Isaiah 4:2-5:7
Genesis 3:21-4:7
Isaiah 5:7-16
Genesis 4:8-15
Isaiah 5: 16-25
Genesis 4: 16-26
Tuesday
.---.
OMAR KASSEM
Co-Sponsor, Sub-Teen SOY~
St. Elias, Atlanta, Georgia
The Wore
murphy
February 1977
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Isaiah 6:1-12
Genesis 5: 1-24
Isaiah 7:1-14
Genesis 5:32-6:8
Hebrews 3:12-16
Mark 1:35-44
Page 19
�In addition to the normal over?urdening study load of
seminary, ou~ stu~ents study_~ab1c, B~zantine Music and
Antiochian ~1turg1~s. In :1dd1tton to this they serve five of
our Antiochtan panshes m the New York-New Jersey area
Chanters and Sunday School teachers. In spite of this
::ry rigorous s~hedule all seminaria?s at Saint Vladimir's
are requi~e~ six hours _of commumty se:vice work per
week. This mcludes mamtenance of Semmary buildings,
kitchen, bookstore, library, and grounds. Three of our
Seminarians went beyond the 'call of duty' last month and
built in their free time a display case for the bookstore.
These Seminarians are Gary Geha, Joseph Purpura and
John Abdalah of Saint George's of Detroit, Norwood and
Nicholas Kobbs, Mr. and Mrs. Gary Ganim, Elias Nasr Boston respectively. This project did much to 'liven up'
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Perpura, Krasen V anchev, Bernar the bookstore area. Of course it was fitting that the first
Yatsko, Najat Saliba, and Amal Saliba.
( display be for Arabic books and materials produced by
The evening began with Vespers celebrated in th! our Archdiocese.
Chapel of Saint John Chrysostom. Father Joseph was th;
celebrant while the seminarians, led by His Eminence
offered the responses. We then were invited to the dinin
1
room where we were served a most delicious Arabic meal
After some informal discussion over coffee and <lesser
we adjourned to the living room where Father Joseph gm·t
an excellent presentation on the pastoral aspects 0
theological education. A lively discussion on this topi,
followed. It was the unanimous opinion of the seminarian
O, Lebanon, lush rich coast of the Middle East,
that such topics be discussed with Father Joseph on
Land of beauty, poetry and endless charm,
frequent basis during the academic year.
After each seminarian met privately with Metropolitar Of old Phoenician history and modern, stream-lined
designPHILIP, His Eminence and Bishop ELIA gave us thei·
Now
blackened and ravaged by massive crime.
blessings and assured us that they would continue tod,
everything within their means to assure the Archdiocex
Who, yes who planned this widespread bloodshed, this
of clergy who have received the best education possible.
heinous loss?
We take this opportunity to thank His Eminence fo:
And
pretended complete absolution of all fault?
his gracious hospitality and for his constant concern fc'
our welfare. And we thank you, the faithful of our Arcn Who supplied the weapons, the ammunition, the giant
tanks
diocese, who have always supported us not only finan·
And
watched brother kill brother in the huge holocaust?
cially but more importantly by your encouragement an1
prayers.
Gary G. Geh Who never let the conflagration subside
NAC Teen SOYO Seminarian, 1976-" But kept stoking the flames of dissent time after time?
Who?The Moslems, the Christians, or the harassed PLO
Who sought but peace and justice for their righteous
cause?
Many are the years they lived and worked together
Ashappy, peaceful brothers.
ARUHDIOUESAN
OFFIUE
ORDINATION:
RAZOOK, Slaman to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan PHILIP on December 5, 1976, at Saint John of
Damascus in Boston, MA
SEMINARIANS ACTIVITIES
"not alone can we conquer
and not alone shall we fall.
In each loss or triumph,
lose or triumph all.
Bound by God's purpose
in one living whole,
move we on together
to that shining goal!"
"Move we on together", in our estimation, is Metropolitan PHILIP's highest goal for our Archdiocese . . .
hierarchs, clergy, laity and seminarians. On December 16
His Eminence once again hosted the seminarians at a
dinner and reception at the Archdiocese Headquarters in
Englewood, New Jersey. Those in attendance for the
evening were: Metropolitan PHILIP, Bishop ELIA, Father
Antoun Khouri, Father Joseph Allen, Father Gregory
Samaan, Bill Essey, Kathy Meyer, John Abdalah, David
Atty, Deacon and Mrs. Paul Blankenstein, Jason Del
Vitto, Suheil Dahdal, Deacon Hans El-Hayek, Gary Geha,
Point
Again and again the haunting question returnsWho has turned this land of peace
Into a blazing, raging battlefield?
Howmany pawns enflamed and zealous dupes
And witnessed the slaughter of innocents to fulfill their
evil schemes?
Who? Well who supplied the ammunition, the weapons
and the tanks?
And truly- what and who benefited?
Surely,not the once beautiful cities,
Surely not the maimed, the wounded and the dead
Cruelly splattered upon their homeland.
I know who and so do you, as the guilt just cannot die,
It screams its truth in the quietest silence
When lies find no place to hide .
Lorice Fiani Mulhern
Page 20
The Wor
February 1977
Three of our Seminarians built this display case at St.
Vladimir's.
Otpartmtnt
of Middltfast Affairs
(Continued from page 14)
of the charge of "anti-Semitism" to silence constructive opposition, the use of campaign funds to
promote pro-Israeli policies, the problem of dual
citizenship and loyalty, the illegal and unethical use of
tax-free funds, the difficulty to get books critical
of Israel published in the United States, the use of
American savings bank deposits for investment in
Israeli bonds, the massive diversion of funds to aid a
foreign state when these funds are critically needed at
home and do not serve the cause of justice and peace,
and the energy crisis which threatens the very
foundation of our economy, the quality of life, and
our relationships with other countries and with each
other.
There are many compelling reasons why the American.
and Canadian Christian Church should "come to grips"
with the Middle East crisis as a pirority challenge. There
are many benefits for the Christian Church, the United
States, Canada and for the world, if we move affirmatively
and courageously toward a "more evenhanded" policy in
the Middle East, one which reflects ou democratic
tradition and Christian ideals.
Page 21
�The Antiochian
Communities In Action
St. Mary Church,
Johnstown,
Pa.
On August 1, 1976 Fr.
Joseph Shahda assumed the
pastoral responsibilities of
t. Mary's
Antiochian
Orthodox Church, Johnstown, Pa., following the
retirement of Rt. Rev.
Archimandrite
Alexander
Curry.
Fr. Shahda was elevated
to the rank of the holy priesthood by the Most Reverend
Metropolitan Philip, Primate of the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese.
Fr. Joseph was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and spent the
first twelve years of his life there. His parents, the late
Joseph and Julia Shahda moved to Allentown, Pa. where
he completed his high school education in 1951. He
received his B.S. from Millersville State College in 1960
and his Master of Education from Lehigh University
majoring in Guidance and Administration in 1962.
In 1964 he married Anita L. Sam of Bridgeville, Pa. He
continued teaching and coaching in the Allentown School
District until 1966 when he took a job as Department
Chairman in the Penn-Delco School District in Suburban
Philadelphia. In 1967 he assumed responsibility of
Director of Guidance at the Patton School for Boys in
Elizabethtown, Pa.
In 1971 Fr. Joseph embarked upon a new career in the
field of Industrial sales and was appointed as sales
manager of Western Pa. for Achorn Sales Co. In 1973 he
joined Kennedy Mfg. Co. as District Manager of W estem
Pa. and Eastern Ohio.
Fr. Joseph was always a diligent worker in the Church.
He was a member of SOYO for more than twenty-five
years and was Vice President of Eastern Region SOYO in
1Q55-56.He served as convention chairman of the 1966
SOYO Conference in Allentown, Pa. His membership as a
choir member was long standing and he also served as
Church School Superintendent and as a member of the
Church Council.
He was ordained a sub-deacon in 1974 at the Eastern
Region Family Life Conference in Seven Springs while
enrolled as ~ s!u~en_tin the Late Vocations Program under
th_e OCA Junsdictlon .. He _was ordained to the Holy
D1aconate at the Family Life Conference in Paterson
.J. i~ J_uly,1975 and was ass_igned_toassist Fr. Curry at St'.
Mary s m Johnstown, Pa. His duties there were to direct
the Youth and Church School activities. He also attended
C~st the Saviour Seminary in Johnstown. Upon comple!1on of ~~e year ~s a Deacon he was notified by Metropo_htan Philip of his pending ordination into the Holy
Priesthood.
On July 4: 1976 ~e was ordained by the laying on of the
hands of_ His E1:11mence,Metropolitan Philip anq His
Grae~, Bishop Eha and other clergy during the Hierarchical Liturgy at the Family Life Conference in Philadelphia.
Fr. Joseph's sponsors were Fr. Joseph Allen of Bergenfield, N.J. and Fr. George M. Corry of Greensburg, Pa,
Fr. Joseph celebrated his first Divine Liturgy in St.
Mary's on July 11, 1976. A dinner was held in his honor
immediately following Divine Liturgy by all the organizations of the church. Mitchell Azar, Council President
was toastmaster for the dinner.
-Josephine Azar
St. George Cathedral
Worcester, Mass.
The Finance Committee of the St. George Orthodox
Cathedral of Worcester held on October 27th its Third '
Annual Corporate and Professional Men's Dinner, an
annual fund raising event. The Dinner was used this year
to launch an eight year endowment program. William J,
Abodeely, chairman of the Committee announced that the
Cathedral hoped to establish a Fund of over $100,000. The
Committee felt that such a program could be met without
hampering various Cathedral improvement and develop•
ment projects currently underway.
The dinner was highlighted by guest speaker, Mr.
Albert Joseph, member of The Archdiocese Board of
Trustees and President of Hunter Publishing Company of
Chicago, Illinois. In attendence,
also were leading
members of other churches in the New England region.
Mr. Joseph urged a higher degree of sophistication in
Fund raising activities to improve responses, greater use
of Archdiocese committees for planning by individual
churches and encouraged greater involvement in local
parishes by Corporate heads and Professionals. He briefly
summarized the purpose of The Order of St. Ignatius of
Antioch of which he is chairman. Mr. Joseph displayed an
eloquence which will not soon be forgotten in Worcester.
Orthodox
Christian
Th Antiochian Orthodox Christian Churches of New
ed proudly presented their Archbishop Antony
0
En~1a.
at the Chateau
de Ville in Randolph
Cott11ion
.
'
husetts on Saturday evenmg, 4 December, 1976 in
Massac
t
d
H'
E
•
. h forty Debutantes were presen e to 1s mmence,
whtcM st Reverend Metropo 1·1tan Ph'l'1 1p.
TbeAmoong
the distinguished guests was His Grace, Bishop
Eliaof Salamia.
The Debutantes and their mothers formed two
• 1·ng lines along the circular staircase surrounding the
rece1v
.
tiful fountain and chandeher to welcome the guests.
~al~ght snow fell, as over 7~0 relatives and friends
thered to witness the presentat10n.
ga The 1976 Archbishop Antony Cotillion was under the
·nnanship of Miss Judith Howard of Norwood. Mr.
Chfil
f
.
R bert J. Bethoney was master o ceremomes and The
V~ryReverend Nifon Abraham made the presentation of
Churches
of New England
debutantes. They are from St. George Orthodox Church,
Norwood.
In preparation for the Cotillion, a very elegant Tea was
held for the Debutantes and their mothers at the beautiful
Endicott Estate in Dedham. Mrs. Dolores Elias of Norwood was chairman of the Tea. A cultural program
consisted of post-deb Miss Joyce Awad playing Brian's
Song and Joy on the piano, and Miss Judith Howard
playing Fuer Elise by Beethoven and Tschiakovsky's The
Arab Dance from the Nutcracker Suite. Miss Linda
Thomas recited Friendship by Kahlil Gibran.
Throughout the year, several get-togethers, hosted by
the Cotillion Committee and some of the Debutantes'
parents were held for the Debutantes and their Escorts.
The 1976 Archbishop Antony Cotillion was a delightful
and memorable affair.
FIRSTROW LEFTTO RIGHT
~:;:r~~
1. Doreen A. Warfield 2. Elaine M. Warfield 3. Adale M. Kearny 4 • Leila\AL!::m~
\ 1
Eminence, Metropolitan Philip 7. Paula J. Jabbour 8. Doreen A. Ka~aly. •
•
11. Sharon A. Maloof 12. Cheryl A. azook 13. Rosemary Saba 14. Victoria K. Shalhoup
~-a!:rr~~
.
ta~:~
SECONDROW LEFTTO RIGHT
B d 4 Camille M Shagoury 5. Patricia A. Nackel 6. Audrey A.
l._Judith A. Rizkalla 2. Gail M. Teebagy 3. Rose M. ee de • H A
b •10 Mary Jane David 11. Patricia M. Faysal
Ktlsey7. Marion J. Khouri 8. Debra M. Hamaty 9. San ra • you
•
12. Diane M. Hamwey 13. Diane B. Trahan
THIRD ROW LEFTTO RIGHT
T~e ~roup picture, from left to right:
Wilham J. Abodeely, Chairman, Finance Committee
Edmund N. Haddad, President, Parish Council
Albert Joseph, Hunter Publishing, Guest Speaker
Very Rev. Father Paul W. Moses, Pastor
· ·
H
4 Shirley A. Ash 5. Sharon A. Faysal 6. Joanne M.
l. Vanessa Mackoul 2. Ellen M. Deraney 3. Chr 1stme All. tnn~ • n lO. Judith A. Ansara 11. Claudia A. Haddad
Buben 7. Sheryl A. Bourisk 8. Carol A. Laham 9. E en • usso
12- Lorraine K. Howdy 13. Renee L. Maloof
NOTPRESENT: Judith A. Saba, Lowell, Massachusetts (Due to Illness)
Credit: Nocca Studio Inc., of Boston
Page 22
The Word
February 1977
�St. George-Cleveland,
Ohio
Communion is thus a FAITH experience and af.
firmation. It is NOT medicine, n~t mag~c, n?t only
social. It is not separated from the Liturgy (m which one
walks in the back door an~ gets _in line. t~ receive Holy
Communion - that makes 1t magic!). If 1t 1s a ONENESS
of Faith - a COMMON UNION of all those who are of
one faith, it cannot be for those who are not of that same
faith. That is illogical. Nor can the Orthodox be in
common union with those that he is de facto not in
common union with! That is improper orthoproxis
(practice) which does not go with Orthodoxia.
What all that means is that we are to receive only
Orthodox sacraments and give Orthodox sacraments only
to Orthodox Christians. It is NOT a dis-respect to others
- in fact, it is the greatest respect for both, one's own
identity and the other's own identity.
Recipients of Certificates of Meritorious Service
Left to right:
Richard Farris -Treasurer15 years
John P. Simon - Parish Council President - 6 years
Ethel George - Church School Superintendent - 18
years
John Simon, Sr. -Chanter-30
years
Karim Gantose- Chanter-20 years
6) The Orthodox vision of what is the Church L NOT an
extreme individualism in which NOBODY BETTER
TELL ME WHAT TO DO-No
priest, no bishop, no '
deacon! I believe what I want - and it is all personal
only! The next question, of course, is, What does it
mean to belong "with one mind, one heart, one accord" to the Church?
7) During this Antiochian Holy Year, we as Orthodox
parents and teachers must teach our children that
Orthodoxy has a CONTENT, and that that makes a
difference. We must teach them that they are NOT the
same as everyone else (and that doesn't mean that
others are bad and that we are arrogantly judging
them). But we must teach them that they are indeed
different as Orthodox Christians. They are not "half
Protestant and half Catholic." They are not a sect of
Judaism. They are not "religious" in some sort of
"general" sense.
IDENTITY
ANDTOLERANCE:
WHAT WE MUST LIVE FOR
(Continued from page 6)
S~n and .Holy Spirit, and if anything changes there, our
faith changes!
5) The Orthodox Christian is not one who "conveniently
picks" what he "likes" about the Church, and scraps
t~e _rest! '!he Protestant Reformation is built upon
pickmg this and scrapping that, depending on what
"suits'_'one's arb~tra~ wish. (Let us not forget that the
Amencan Constitution is basically derived from one
such Protestant Ethic- thus, let everyone "do his own
~hi~g~").The B?dy of Christ, in which we are certainly
md1viduals, with our own uniqueness, emotions
thoughts and bodies, is a COMMUNION ~
~OI~ONIA - a community, through which one lives
his hfe -and to which one surrenders in love. This is
NO~ a mass "collective"_whic~ wipes out individuality,
~ut is,,rath~r a_c?mm_umty which gives "contour" and
form to mdividuahty. There is a tremendous difference between collective and communion.
We must clarify this last point.
~his ~eans that when we commune, we are commu_nmg with each ~ther, the Priest, the entire Orthodox
!aithful who have lived and died in that same Faith Thi
1 the "Catholicity" of our Church.
•
s
Page 24
In short, we must come to realize that we are an
"inheritance" - a p~ople - we are indeed Orthodox: "Oh
Lord save thy people and bless thine INHERITANCE!"
And that Orthodoxy is not only to be bearded - or
black. It is not dress or diet. It has NOT to do with a
cuisine or various brands of incense.
It has NOT even to do with priests' vestments, or
IKONS, or olive oil.
"
It _is not a m?sq~en:,de, or costume party. It is not
blowing of the mmd with mystic avowals or any artificial
drugs.
_It is not_ an arbitrary picking of what we want - "I
beheve and 1t doesn't matter what I believe - just as long
as I believe."
What it is, indeed, is the faith of the Creed the faith of
!,he Catholic ,,mind (and not the papist' type, but
KATHOLIKI ), the faith of our Fathers.
T It is the faith for which millions have died: under the
urks, the Moslems, the Communists, and the Romans.
':fh_ey. would NOT surrender one ounce of what
Chnstiamty really was, of the Trinity, of the Faith.
. That _is ~hat they died for - and that is what we, in
this Antiochian Holy Year, must live for.
The Word
The
Orthodox World
ORTHODOX SCHOLAR: REVIV AUST MENTALITY
MAYBE ONE OF SECULARISM'S ~TRIUMPHS'
RICHMOND, Va. - A revivalist mentality may be
" ne of the triumphs of secularism," according to an
0
1 .
EasternOrthodox theo ogian.
Dean Alexander Schmemann of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, N.Y ., said here
that secularism puts the church and Christian faith in a
categoryby themselves instead of allowing them to be part
ofeveryaspect of life.
The "real apostasy" among Christians, he said, is the
"divorcebetween the church and the rest of the world."
As a result of secularist thinking, he added, Christians
sometimes speak of alliances between specific groups such as America and God, instead of the sacramental
attachment of all of humanity to God.
Dean Schmemann said the essence of secularism is an
"antisacramental world view." It is "that mysterious
cancerby which the faith dies and which cannot be cured
bymassiveshots of religion.
The antidote to this, the Orthodox Church in America
theologian said, is an understanding of the sacraments particularly the eucharist - as a sign of God's connection
withall of creation.
"The church every Sunday is not a framework for
some sort of a relationship with sweet Jesus and then we
go home. It is a beautiful and tragic realization of the
creation,"he said.
"And a sacrament doesn't mean that you push a
button here and so much grace drops down from heaven.
It's a symbol of the world transformed into the kingdom.
Andit is to this that the world objects," he added.
Dean Schmemann said the eucharist is not "something
that we can see only every Sunday in a sort of sick escape
from the world." Rather, he said, the eucharist is "in the
worldas a starting point to build that glory" of God.
EASTERN ORTHODOX HIEARACHS RELEASE
ENCYCLICAL ON U.S. MERITS AND ILLS
NEW YORK - Eastern Orthodox bishops in the
United States have issued a bicentennial message which
givesgreat thanks for the United States, but also suggests
that in some ways the country does not measure up to
Christianstandards.
Released by the Standing Conference of the Canonical
?~thodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), it is the first
~omt encyclical from leaders of several U.S. Orthodox
Jurisdictions.
!he hierarchs' message says in part:
.
We look to this nation with its freedom of conscience
and openness to progress for ever new victories of the
February1977
human spirit under God. We call upon the faithful to
reflect upon the contributions of this, their nation, to
human growth, to consider how hospitable many of its
ideals have been to our precious Orthodox faith.
"We further ask that, illumined by that faith, they
resolve to witness to those truths which are imperfectly
understood or even yet distorted in our land, that they be
not blinded by false ideals of unbounded material progress
but rather realize in their lives the eternal dimension of
Christian existence.
"Great as she is, rich as she is, democratic as she is, our
United States must be continually sustained and judged by
the Christian heritage that brought her forth and that finds
its completion in the Orthodox faith ...
"As we set out with our fellow-citizens on a third
century of common life, let us continue to be witnesses to
our most precious possession, the Orthodox faith, for the
continued growth, purification, and preservation of our
United States of America . . . "
SCOBA member bodies are the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America, Albanian
Orthodox Diocese of America, Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church
of America, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Exile, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of New York and
all North America, Serbian Eastern Orthodox 'Diocese for
U.S. and Canada, Romanian Orthodox Missionary Archdiocese in America, Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church,
and Orthodox Church in America.
'FAT CHRISTIANITY OF THE WEST'
COMPARED TO SUFFERING OF THE EAST
WACO, Tex. - An Anglican priest who is a specialist
on Christianity in Eastern Europe says that the Western
Churches have much to learn about suffering from
Christians in Communist countries.
The Rev. Michael Bourdeaux, director of Keston
College, Kent, England, spoke of the insights that Western
Christians can learn from those in Eastern Europe in an
interview on the December Catalyst, a cassette resource
for Christian leaders issued here by Word, Inc.
In Mr. Bourdeaux's view, there is a danger "that the fat
Christianity of the West will be less long-lasting than the
lean Christianity, the suffering Christianity, of the East."
He suggested that "there's already a very, very clear
indication that the longest-term future for the Christian
faith which we can see in the world in 1976 is not in the
West at all; it's in the East."
The Keston College director asserted that "we have
already witnessed, although the world hasn't really
learned about it yet, a major miracle - the resurrection of
Page 25
�the faith in a situation of total suffering, in the Soviet
nion."
According to Mr. Bourdeaux, "the Christian faith was
to all intents and purposes eradicated, as a visible organization at any rate, ... say, by 1941 in the Soviet Union,
and we now in the 30 years, have seen a rebirth of that
Chri tian faith."
The Anglican priest predicted that "there will come a
time at which American Christianity needs Russian Christianity injected into it in order to survive at all ... The
materialist outlook of Christianity in the West gives it a
oft center which does not give it the inner spiritual
reser e that the suffering Christianity of the East has."
Mr. Bourdeaux acknowledged that "one cannot simply
go out and become a Russian Christian." But, he said,
"one has to be spiritually aware of what that message of
the Russian Christian is, and here is something where we
have not even begun to prepare ourselves."
The Keston College director commented that "when
that leap of imagination is made, then something of the
spiritual experience of a suffering church will come back
into our message, our Gospel message, and we shall be
then, I think, somewhere nearer a total Gospel than we
are at the present time."
He predicted that "when the story is ultimately told,
we shall be writing about not how we with our great
capitalist heritage helped them, the poor underdogs, we
shall be talking about how they - having emptied themselves of everything, really being deprived of physical
well-being in every sense - how they in Eastern Europe
were yet left with the essential of the Christian message."
10 BULGARIAN PARISHES JOIN
ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA
SYOSSET, N.Y. - A group of 10 Bulgarian Orthodox
parishes located primarily in the Middle West and Canada
are joining the Orthodox Church in America.
A d?cument signed at OCA headquarters here gives
the panshes, under Bishop Kirill Yonchev, status as a
diocese_ within the OCA, similar to the SO-parish
Romaman and 15-parish Albanian dioceses.
There are abo~t 400 parishes in the remaining dioceses
of the OCA, which was granted its autocephaly independence by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1970.
_In a letter to the Bulgarian congregations, Metro~oh tan Ireney, OCA primate, says "the unanimous tradition of the holy canons of our common Mother the
?r_tho~ox Church, requires that all Orthodox Christians,
hv10g m one country, be members of One Church which
ca~ ~hen be fully faithful to its mission of saivation,
brmgmg the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to all."
~he Bulgarian parishes had been associated with the
Russia~ Orthodox Church outside of Russia since their
~eparah~n from the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church
m the mid 1960s. The parishes charged then that bee
of th B l • . . d. .
ause
e u ganan Juris ~ch_o~'sconnection with the (Orthodox) Church of Bulgaria, it is "entirely within the powe 0 f
the communist atheistic rule."
r
The Ch_urch Ou~side of Russia has condemned the
OCA for its association with the Russian Orth 0 d
Church.
ox
"
In ~is letter, Metropolitan Ireney said the OCA is
co~mitted to promote the Orthodox faith in this land in
full mdependence from foreign political interests."
'
Page 26
6 ORTHODOX CHURCHES WILL COORDINATE
REPRESENTATION IN NATIONAL COUNCIL
NEW YORK - The six Eastern Orthodox members of
the National Council of Churches plan to coordinate and
unify their representation
on the 30-denomination
council.
At a meeting of the Standing Conference of Canonical
Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) here, representatives of five of the bodies formulated the plan, which
involves Eastern Orthodox caucuses, sharing of information, and the appointment on a rotating basis of a person
to speak on behalf of the six bodies in relation to the NCC.
The six NCC members are the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America, the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, the
Orthodox Church in America, the Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church, the,Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America
and the Patriarchal Exarchate of the Russian Orthodo~
Church.
The exarchate is not a member of SCOBA. It is made
up of those parishes which chose to remain under the
jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church in the
Soviet Union when the Russian Church granted the OCA
its autocephaly (independence).
In other decisions, the Standing Conference meeting
decided to:
-Call
for a gathering during 1977 of all North
American Eastern Orthodox bishops, including those who
are not members of SCOBA. This would reportedly include invitations to such groups as the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside of Russia whose statuses are considered
non-canonical by most Eastern Orthodox.
-Issue before Christmas a pan-Orthodox encyclical
on the U.S. Bicentennial.
-Revise SCOBA "ecumenical guidelines."
-~onvene
a March 1977 consultation on religious
education,
stressing coordination
of materials and
resources.
. -~iscuss
theological education, particularly relat1onsh1ps among the two principal U.S. Eastern Orthodox
theological schools, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School
of Theology, Brookline, Mass., and St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, N. Y.
. -~eelect
its ~fficers: Archbishop Iakovos, Greek
Arc~d10_cese, chairman; Metropolitan
Philip Saliba,
Ant10ch1an Archdiocese, vice-chairman; Bishop Dmitri,
OCA, general secretary, and Bishop Andrey, Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of America, treasurer.
-Meet next April 20 in Syosset, L.I.
. Other SCOBA members are the Albanian Orthodox
Diocese of America, Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek
Catholi~ Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Exile,
Romaman Orthodox Missionary Archdiocese in America
and Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church.
'
POPE'S MESSAGE TO ORTHO-DOX EXPRESSES
HIS HOPE FOR REUNION OF THE CHURCHES
" CHAMBESY, Switzerland - Pope Paul says he hopes
the day may soon come" when Roman Catholics and
Ea st er~ Orthodox "can all finally celebrate the one
eucharist together."
The Pope sent a message to Metropolitan Meliton of
Chal_cedon, dean of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, to mark the ten-day pre-synodal conference
The Word
ring for the Great Synod of Eastern Orthodoxy.
pref: reply, Metropolitan
Meliton, presiding at the
ence,
said
the
Orthodox
leaders assembled here are
contfer
ful for the pontI •ff' s prayers. Th ey expressed hope
gra/their meeting would be a step towards promotion of
~~istian unity and a ha~tening of the day in which
Christiansin full_ c_om~umon could thank the Lord and
offerthe world a JOtnt witn~ss of comm~n. faith ..
Pope Paul prayed that the Holy Spmt may illuminate
d guide your assembly for the best service of the
a\erable Orthodox Church" and "that this conference
:ay contribute to establishing full communion between
ourChurches and that _the day may so~n come when after
breakingdown all barriers, we can all fmally celebrate the
oneeucharist together."
In December 1975, in a surprise gesture, Pope Paul
kneltand kissed the feet of Metropolitan Meliton during a
service at the Sistine Chapel. At the time the pontiff
expressedhopes for speedy Orthodox-Catholic reunion.
The Orthodox Church of Georgia delegation, expected
to be one of 14 at the conference, did not arrive, because
ofdifficultieswith visa processing it was said. The Church
isbasedin one of the Soviet republics.
According to a conference agenda worked out by
delegationheads, discussion covers four main points the desirability of convening the Great Synod as soon as
possible,a limit to its duration, an emphasis at the Synod
on "theological and ecclesiological thought . . . while
dealingwith current problems," and the need for other
meetingsafter the Great Synod.
Also on the conference agenda are intra-Orthodox
relations, the Orthodox position in the ecumenical
movement,and an effort to obtain agreement among all
Christianson setting the date for Easter.
The conference, held at the Ecumenical Patriarchate's
conference center here, opened with a solemn religious
serviceincluding approximately 30 bishops.
REBIRTH:
JOURNEY OF GREAT LENT
-New Sound Filmstrip
-New Educational Format
-Exciting Blend of Sight and Sound for Teens and Adults
REBIRTH is the first filmstrip in the series entitled
LIT_D~G Y AND LIFE produced by the Department of
Christian Education.
Take a filmstrip composed of rich, full-color
photography. Add voices and a variety of musical styles
• • • and you've added a sense of drama and excitement
• • •. anot~er dimension to a lesson or an adult study
~ess1on. It 1s a dimension in which students can get more
mvolved because it strikes more of their sense and
commands their attention.
_REBIRT!f is a scriptured-centered presentation of the
vanous services and rites of the Orthodox Church as they
unfold dramatically throughout the period of Great Lent.
Using traditional Orthodox iconography, famous Western
masterpieces, modern symbolic art forms, along with
photos of actual liturgical rites, the viewer is carried
through our Lord's Preparation and Passion the
Journey leading to the Rebirth of Easter.
REBIRTH consists of two filmstrips and one prerecorded tape cassette commentary which makes this a
completely self-contained presentation, including a study
guide for use with teens and adult discussion groups. The
program is packaged in a permanent box for convenient
self storage. The filmstrip is a must for every church
school library and will prove itself a valuable resource
year after year.
Available from the Department of Christian Education
at $25.00 per copy.
WHOARETHEOTHERS?
(Continued from page 15)
repudiatedby those who minimize their differences from
RomanCatholicism; principally, the Anglicans and some
Lutheranadherents.
!he principle original segments within the Protestant
orbit are: Lutherans
Calvinists Zwingliists and the
Church of England. Note:
'
'
The inclusion
of the ' Church of
England is vehemently protested by certain parties,
notably the Anglo-Catholics, within this Church. The
cen_tralbeliefs which are common to all Protestants are
basicallythat the Bible is the only source of revealed
tr~th, that one is justified only by faith, that there is a
umversal priesthood
of all believers. Additionally,
Prote t •
. s antism stresses the Transcendency of God as over
artinst His Immanency, and places great emphasis on the
e e~tsof the Fall of man and Original Sin. Therefore, the
• 1lect 1s
. unable to perceive
•
G od .
punaided h uman mte
st
h;ot~ ants limit the liturgy and elevate the preaching and
(Sanng of the word before participation in the Mysteries
acraments). Protestants reject asceticism and did not
February1977
espouse monasticism, yet placed strong emphasis on
austere personal morality. Also, they propounded
teaching of the private judgment of Holy Scripture is the
right of every person, and they do not accept the Church
as the arbiter .
Since the Nineteenth Century, there have emerged
strong movements within Anglicanism, Lutheranism and
among some Calvinists, for the re-establishment
of
Patristic faith and traditions. This has lent support to the
development of the modern "Ecumenical" Movement,
which is a desire for Christian unity. This movement has
been principally a Protestant forum for the discussion of
issues and the encouragement of common solutions to
common problems. Until recently, there has been no
active participation by Orthodox or Roman Catholics. For
any real progress to be made, the movement will have to
seriously concern itself with theology and heresy.
Orthodoxy would be seriously endangered if it did not
proclaim the faith once delivered to the saints without
addition or diminution. Our role within this movement is
vital and symbolic of the leaven in the loaf.
Page 27
�DIALOGUE
re view
• • •
questions to father buben
QUEST/ON: "Where and what is Heaven ?-Elaine 0.
SWER: Heaven is an abode of everlasting JOY.
Christ gave His Apostles on Mount Tabour some
foreta te of the joys of heaven (Matt. 17). The heavens
opened al the Baptism of Christ (Matt. 3, 16). St. Stephen
aw the hea ens open (Acts 7, 55). St. Paul was rapt into the
third heaven (2 Cor.).
Heaven is both a place and a state. Many divines teach
that it is somewhere beyond the stars; though this view is
not of faith, yet it has some foundation, for Christ came
down from heaven, and ascended again to heaven. Heaven
1 also the state of the soul; it consists in the vision of the
Godhead (Matthew 18, 10), and in the peace and joy of the
Holy Spirit (Rom. 14, 17). Christ is the King of Heaven. He
called Himself King before Pilate, although He maintained
that His Kingdom was not of this world. He was
acknowledged as King by the repentful thief on the Cross:
"Lord remember me when Thou comest into Thy
Kingdom" (Luke 23, 41 ); in heaven the angels worship
Christ. Heaven is our true home; on this earth we are but
trangers (2 Cor. 5, 6).
QUESTION: "Will the joys of heaven be the same as on
earth? How will we know the happiness of heaven zf we
cannot measure it against earthly unhappiness?
A SWER: Because each individual soul will continue in
heaven where it left off on earth, it will very easily be able to
measure the joys of heaven. Only in heaven, there no
longer will come unhappy events to cause sorrow. Sorrow
and its causes shall be no more, no more diseases, sickness,
no more pain. The blessed in heaven are free from even the
lightest pain; they enjoy the vision of God and the
friendship of all the inhabitants of heaven.
St. Paul wrote the following about the joys of heaven:
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered
into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for
th m that love him" (Cor. 2, 9).
"This happi~ess may be felt, but not described," says
Blessed Augustme. And David addresses God: "They shall
be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house, and Thou shalt
make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure" (Psalm 35
9).
'
"Th~ present life," says St. Gregory the Great, "in
companson of everlasting bliss, is more like death than
life."
. We shall enjoy in heaven the same delights as God
hims~lf, for we shall be made partakers of the divine nature,
~nd l~e to ~od. We shall be transformed in heaven like the
~r~n.m the. fire. In heaven there are many mansions; also,
1t like a big banquet where Our Lord Himself waits upon
the gue ts.
Page 2
QUESTION: "Are the joys of heaven varied or eternally
stable?
ANSWER: Blessed Augustine said: "If, 0 my God, thou
dost give us such beautiful things here in our prison, what
will Thou do in Thy Palace!" The joys of heaven are not
sensual and believe it or not, there is no sex. The blessed are
free from all suffering. "It is easier to name the evils from
which the blessed are free than to count up their joys,"
wrote Blessed Augustine, "they shall neither hunger nor
thirst; death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor sorrow;
and night will no more be."
The blessed always see the face of God; that is they see
God as He actually is, and face to face (so to speak), not as
an image, but He is as present to the understanding as a
visible object to the eye which sees it.
The vision of God is the source of untold happiness.
The blessed souls of heaven also love one another
without any blemish or hypocricy. They are as one. "The
love of the elect in Paradise is so great that souls removed at
an infinite distance from one another love with a greater
affection than that which exists between parent and child.
What happiness to meet again our relations and friends
after a long and painful separation!"
The joys of heaven last forever. The joys are not stable.
The happiness of the blessed varies according to their
merits. Only those souls enter heaven which are absolved 1
from sin, and from the penalty due to sin. "Nothing defiled
can enter heaven."
Heaven is won by suffering and self-denial and obeying
the Church.
The greater efforts we make to seek heaven (helping
your parish or our Archdiocese; living Orthodoxy and
proclaiming it), the greater the joy will be.
While we seek eternal life, we already enjoy it.
QUESTION: "Could you tell me briefly, what you mean by
the word tradition? June Carter
ANSW~R: In the early days, immediately after Christ's
Ascension, there were no written Gospels; no Epistles; no .
part of the New Testament was yet written. In fact, the
Apostles themselves had no formal education. And so all
the news about Christ, all the prayers and hymns, were
spoken from one person to another. The fathers and
m~thers taught their children; the children told it to other
chtldren; and so on. This manner of teaching is called
Tradition. (Holy Tradition).
Send questions to:
V. REV. MICHAEL BUBEN
103 Pleasant Street
METHUEN,MA.01844
The Word
DemetriosJ. Constantelos, Marriage, Sexuality and
Clibacy:A Greek Orthodox Perspective. Minneapolis
;innesota:Light and Life Publishing Company, 1975. Pp:
93,Paperback.SJ.95
"A theology, an attitude, or an institution must
correspondto current needs and experiences if it is to
continueacross the generations,
constructive and influential"(p. 86). These are the concluding words of Father
DemetriosConstantelos in his latest book but they could
verywell have been the very first words of the book and
certainlyconstitute the underlying motivation for the
publicationof this lucidly written and well thought out
survey.
Father Constantelos, as a married Greek Orthodox
priest and historian-scholar-teacher,
brings both his
pastoraland scholarly experience to bear some very basic
issuesthat have faced and continue to face the Church in
thecontemporary world in ways that affect the personal
livesof every Orthodo
Christian. Dr. Constantelos has
striven"to provide the fact nd the evidence, the historical
framework,and let he reader draw conclusions for
himself"(p. 8) and not necessarily pro ide "a pattern of
behavior"or "gmdelines for pastoral ministry." What he is
particularlyinterested in doing is examining how marriage,
sexuality,
and celibacy have been dealt with by the Church
in the course of history. Fully aware that there will be
churchmenand laymen alike who will take exception to
someof his observation , interpretations, and suggestions.
FatherDemetrios is interested in furnishing the grounds
andcontext for a constructive discussion of these basic
humanas well as religious issues that the Church must
co~e to grips with if it is to maintain its credibility, effectiveness,and fundamental mission in the contemporary
world.
r
T?ough revised and rewritten, part of what appears in
Marnage,Sexuality and Celibacy has been published in
;~eJurist,vol. 31, No. 4 ( 1971) and Concilium, vol. 8. No. 8
( 72);the chapter on marriage was read before members
~f the_Orthodox-Catholic Theological Commission in
Crookhne,
Massachusetts; the portion on sexuality was Dr.
Sonsta_ntelo'sresponse to a paper on "The Distortion of
exuah~yby Religion" at a symposium sponsored by
0
Y::uc Springs Institute and the Academy of Religion
a~ ental Health; and the chapter on celibacy of the
~ erg~wasread at symposium of the Canon Law Society of
s merica at Cathedral College in Long Island. Conh:queruy,despite some productive statements, this book
crist·
~ ready been subjected to considerable testing and
ic1smandd
.
.
eserves a wider appraisal.
comTh~
nine basic chapters of this beautifully printed book
byt~ ng~t do~n to the issues: the problem as confro~ted
e Pnest himself and his superiors and congregation;
the _theological foundations and the purpose of marriage·
sex m m_arriage; the historical and theological developmen~
of m~rnage; marriage as a religious and civil rite; mixed
mamag~s; divorce, birth control, and abortion; marriage
and cehbacy of the clergy; and the problem of celibacy
today. Dr. Constantelos does not avoid the issues nor does
he attempt to gloss over them. He confronts them directly,
honestly, and realistically in terms of their historical
development and on the basis of Biblical Patristic
can_onic~l, and historical sources. Though disclaiming an;
soc10logi~al or psychological expertise, his work is
charactenzed by Christian compassion, love, and understanding and an insistence that human life and human
relations demand love and respect and that human
sexuality is not to be shunned or demeaned but has a highly
favored position in Orthodox Christian theology and
religious life.
Father Constantelos has put his knowledge of history
and his experience as a priest to work in the Orthodox
Christian comm unity and in Marriage, Sexuality and
Celibacy has offered every Orthodox Christian a well
documented, well thought out analysis to think about on
some of the most fundamental and most personal issues of
human existence that are demanding attention in our
contempor_ary world.
John E. Rexine
Colgate University
AvailablefromYourArchdiocese
BackandAdditional
Copiesof
THE WORD
$1.00Each- IncludeRemittance
Order from
AntiochianArchdiocese
358 MountainRoad
Englewood,NewJersey 07631
�THE
ORTHODOX
WORLD
IO-POINTAGENDA APPROVED
FOR EASTERN ORTHODOX SYNOD
CHAMBESY, Switzerland - Representatives of 13
Patriarchates and Churches have unanimously approved a
10-point agenda for the first Great Synod of Eastern
Orthodoxy since 787.
The representatives agreed that at least another preynodal meeting will be necessary - within a year, it is
hoped - to decide on date and location for the Synod and
to work out other procedural matters.
The conference expressed agreement in principle with
a proposal that Orthodoxy and other Christian groups
should end centuries of difference over the way in which
the date of Easter is determined, which usually results in
"two Easters" each year. Next year is an exception in that
Easter falls on the same date, April 10, in both East and
Wet.
However, because of the long Orthodox practice and
the pastoral problems which some expect in some parts of
Orthodoxy if there is a change, the conference decided to
call for a consultation of Orthodox hierarchs, canon
lawyers, historians and sociologists, which would report to
the next pre-synodal conference on the question.
The agreed Synod agenda includes:
-The situation of Orthodox diaspora (believers living
in area not traditionally Orthodox). As a result of different waves of migration from East Europe, Russia,
Greece, and the Middle East, Eastern Orthodox in the
Western Hemisphere, Western Europe, and Australia
exist in many geographically overlapping, largely ethnic
jurisdictions, a situation considered canonically and
theologically indefensible as a lasting arrangement.
-Procedures
for
granting
independence
(autocephaly) to Orthodox Churches.
-The situation of the "autonomous" Churches, which
have ome independence but are not fully self-governing.
The Churches of Finland, Japan, and Sinai are in this
category.
-Ranking of the Churches. While there is no dispute
about the order of the ancient Patriarchates - Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem - the rank of
later Churches sometimes causes protocol problems
during liturgical celebrations.
e of the Gregorian calendar, rather than the
traditional Julian calendar, now 13 days behind the rest of
the Christian world. The Russian Orthodox Church and
me other Orthodox bodies still use the old calendar. As
a result, Orthodox in different jurisdictions celebrate
special days of fixed date at different times._
.
-Marriage impediments (such as degrees of kmdred).
-Rules
for fasting (now rather strict, at least of•
ficially).
-Relation
of Eastern Orthodoxy to the rest of
Christianity.
-Orthodoxy in the ecumenical movement.
-The contribution of Orthodoxy to Christian ideals of
peace, liberty, fraternity, love among peoples, and the end
of racial discrimination.
The conference urged an intensification of theological
dialogue with Roman Catholics, Old Catholics, Anglicans,
Lutherans, and Oriental Orthodox.
The Oriental Churches - Armenian, Coptic (Egyp·
tian), Ethiopian, Syrian and Malankara (Indian), became
separated from the rest of Christianity because they were
unable to accept the doctrinal formulations about the two
natures and one person of Jesus Christ by the Council of
Chalcedon of 451 A.D. The conference urged special
efforts toward these Churches since the dialogue with
them "had fallen behind."
In stating support of Orthodox involvement in the
ecumenical movement, the delegates spoke of the need to
intensify Orthodox participation in the World Council of
Churches "so that the Orthodox contribution which gives
to this council its ecumenical character be reflected
particularly at the level of personnel at the headquarters
of the WCC by the inclusion of Orthodox theologians" and
so that WCC documents "in particular those touching on
the subject of the theology of Christian unity," take ac·
count of the Orthodox view "and do not bear exclusively a
Protestant character."
The conference passed a resolution in favor of work
with non-Christians "to eliminate fanaticism and to work
towards bringing about liberty, reconciliation
among
people, and peace throughout the world in service to
mankind without distinction of race or religion."
On behalf
of the
Ecumenical
Patriarchate,
Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon, dean of the Holy
Synod, presided.
There were delegations from 12 other Churches Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Romania,
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and
Finland. The delegation of the Orthodox Church of
Georgia (a Soviet Republic) did not attend - because of
visa problems, it was announced.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Newspapers--United States
Arabic Periodicals
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-2013
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
For a list of all the volumes and issues of Al-Kalemat held by the Khayrallah Center please see <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/uploads/NS0021/Inventory_of_Al-Kalemat_Issues.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here.</a>
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Processed by Celine Shay, Laura Lethers, Allison Hall, and Anna Maria Hester, 2022 November-2023 April. Collection Guide written by Laura Lethers and Allison Hall, 2023 April.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to make these materials available for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials. <br /><br />These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/historical note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCA), headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, oversees seven dioceses with over 250 parishes in the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>The AOCA is one of 24 archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East across the world. The editorial office for their publication <em>The Word</em> is in Brooklyn, New York. AOCA founded the periodical as an Arabic language publication in 1905, which ran for 16 volumes. The final issue of the Arabic <em>Al-Kalemat</em> appeared in 1933, and the English iteration <em>The Word</em> began anew in 1957.</p>
<p>The original copies of the periodical are housed at the Antiochian Heritage Library in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. The Antiochian Heritage Library was founded in 1987, and its collections focus on information about early Christianity, the theology of the Orthodox Church, and religious and cultural themes in Middle Eastern history. </p>
<h4>Scope/content note</h4>
<p>The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Newspaper Collection includes both Arabic-language volumes of Al-Kalemat and English-language volumes of <em>The Word</em> (also called Al-Kalemat, Al Kalimat, Al Kalimah, and الكلمة), covering the years 1905-1993. The periodical focuses on current events and debates from an Antiochian Orthodox perspective. </p>
<p>The periodical is written and published by The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and continues to be published monthly excluding July and August. Some years and issues are not included in the collection, and there are some years that the publication did not run.<br /><br />The collection also includes various parish commemorative booklets from Antiochian Orthodox churches in different regions of the United States, including but not limited to, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.</p>
<p>The English-language volumes are located here on the KCLDS Archive's website. The Arabic-language volumes are located on the Khayrallah Center’s <a href="https://arabicsearch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabic Newspapers database</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kalemat_19770201_21_2
Title
A name given to the resource
The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة] Volume 21, Issue 02
Alternative Title
An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.
Al-Kalemat
Al Kalimat
Al Kalimah
الكلمة
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 21, Issue 2 of The Word [Al-Kalemat, الكلمة], dated February 1977.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1977 Feb
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Newspapers--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
3400 Dawson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Rights Holder
A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
Antiochian Heritage Library and Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
1970s
Antiochian Orthodox Church
Newspapers
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/dc77b09e8615debc8f35e6bf203fd921.pdf
40f27e2bfbe2839bd4760987c5956535
PDF Text
Text
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Collection of Lawrence Public Library Materials
Subject
The topic of the resource
Emigration and immigration
Correspondence
Education
Legal Documents
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>In the first decades of the 20th century, Lawrence, Massachusetts was home to one of the largest populations of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants in the United States. These individuals were drawn to the industrial town to find work in its textile mills. The community in Lawrence created several charitable societies and was involved in the establishment of the St. Joseph's Melkite Church and St. Anthony's Maronite church. Additionally, the <span>Zahley Association published the Arabic-language newspaper <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/62" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>al-Wafa</em></a> in Lawrence.<br /></span></p>
<p>The birth, school, and immigration records included in this collection were provided by children and their families in order to verify the ages of young immigrants. This was necessary in order for teenagers and young adults to prove they were old enough to work. Though nationwide laws regulating and restricting work for children 16 and under were not ratified in the United States until 1938, Massachusetts was the first state to create child labor laws in 1836. By the early 1900s, when many families settled in the booming mill town of Lawrence, various state legislation governed the ability of minors to work. Not only were children under 16 prohibited from working in factories, the state also issued fines to people who employed minors who were illiterate in English. This led to the growth of night schools and schools dedicated specifically to teaching immigrant children to speak, read, and write English. Thus, work permits were typically issued by schools. Once age and literacy were verified, teenagers would be issued a work permit. Whie it is unknown how many youth and factory owners circumvented these laws, these records indicate that many attempted to conform.</p>
<h4>Scope/Contents Note</h4>
<p>This collection contains materials housed at the <a href="https://queencityma.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lawrence Public Library Special Collections</a> that were originally kept by the Oliver School. They were digitized and provided to the KCLDS Archive by archivist Louise Sandberg in fall 2017 as part of a research project into the substantial Syrian/Lebanese population that lived in Lawrence, Massachussetts. To view the project visit <a href="https://lebanesestudies.ncsu.edu/explore/projects/lawrence/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"Legacies of Labor"</a> on the Khayrallah Center's website. </p>
<p>The Collection of Lawrence Public Library Materials contains documents relating to the civic and religious activities of Syrio-Lebanese immigrants in Lawrence. It also includes birth, school, and immigration records for children and young adults who immigrated from Greater Syria (particularly the areas encompassing modern-day Lebanon and Syria) and lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in the early 20th century.</p>
<p>This collection displays the variety of records that Syrian and Lebanese immigrants used to prove their age. Because many did not have birth certificates, a large number of the proof of birth records consist of correspondences with clergy in Greater Syria, who consulted baptismal records to confirm age. Other records are from the process of immigration, and include documents from both Marseilles, France, and Ellis Island, New York. Some records were requested from officials or individuals in America, and consist both of missives from immigration officials and from private individuals.</p>
<p>The collection also includes records issued by schools, which verify age through years of schooling. Included among some of these school records are short documents handwritten by young immigrants to prove their literacy in English. In addition to records proving age, some individuals have additional documents including work permits and physician's certificates of health.</p>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://queencityma.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lawrence Public Library Special Collections</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Relation
A related resource
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/62">Al-Wafa</a>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lawrence Public Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910-1940
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
These records were digitized by the Khayrallah Center in collaboration with the Lawrence Public Library Special Collections.
Processed by Claire A. Kempa and Marjorie Stevens, 2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 October.
Language
A language of the resource
English
Arabic
French
Turkish
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
GR 0007
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Oliver School, Lawrence, Massachusetts
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LPL_BRR_DarowishRosie001_wm
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosie Darowish Birth Record
Description
An account of the resource
A typed letter certifying Rosie Darowish's birthdate as August 10, 1895, in Boro, Shanandoah, Pennsylvania. It lists the name of her father, D. E. Darowish, and his residence, 134 E. Coal St., Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. It bears a seal and was signed by both Darowish and the Justice of the Peace on June 13, 1916.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916 June 13
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
County of Schuykill, Pennsylvania
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
D.E. Darowish
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Subject
The topic of the resource
Correspondence
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Lawrence Public Library Special Collections
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1910s
Births
Letters-English
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/72ce984dde62184a73c292b81a7d6879.pdf
02986397443add3ccca88441231af85f
PDF Text
Text
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Collection of Lawrence Public Library Materials
Subject
The topic of the resource
Emigration and immigration
Correspondence
Education
Legal Documents
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>In the first decades of the 20th century, Lawrence, Massachusetts was home to one of the largest populations of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants in the United States. These individuals were drawn to the industrial town to find work in its textile mills. The community in Lawrence created several charitable societies and was involved in the establishment of the St. Joseph's Melkite Church and St. Anthony's Maronite church. Additionally, the <span>Zahley Association published the Arabic-language newspaper <a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/62" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>al-Wafa</em></a> in Lawrence.<br /></span></p>
<p>The birth, school, and immigration records included in this collection were provided by children and their families in order to verify the ages of young immigrants. This was necessary in order for teenagers and young adults to prove they were old enough to work. Though nationwide laws regulating and restricting work for children 16 and under were not ratified in the United States until 1938, Massachusetts was the first state to create child labor laws in 1836. By the early 1900s, when many families settled in the booming mill town of Lawrence, various state legislation governed the ability of minors to work. Not only were children under 16 prohibited from working in factories, the state also issued fines to people who employed minors who were illiterate in English. This led to the growth of night schools and schools dedicated specifically to teaching immigrant children to speak, read, and write English. Thus, work permits were typically issued by schools. Once age and literacy were verified, teenagers would be issued a work permit. Whie it is unknown how many youth and factory owners circumvented these laws, these records indicate that many attempted to conform.</p>
<h4>Scope/Contents Note</h4>
<p>This collection contains materials housed at the <a href="https://queencityma.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lawrence Public Library Special Collections</a> that were originally kept by the Oliver School. They were digitized and provided to the KCLDS Archive by archivist Louise Sandberg in fall 2017 as part of a research project into the substantial Syrian/Lebanese population that lived in Lawrence, Massachussetts. To view the project visit <a href="https://lebanesestudies.ncsu.edu/explore/projects/lawrence/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"Legacies of Labor"</a> on the Khayrallah Center's website. </p>
<p>The Collection of Lawrence Public Library Materials contains documents relating to the civic and religious activities of Syrio-Lebanese immigrants in Lawrence. It also includes birth, school, and immigration records for children and young adults who immigrated from Greater Syria (particularly the areas encompassing modern-day Lebanon and Syria) and lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in the early 20th century.</p>
<p>This collection displays the variety of records that Syrian and Lebanese immigrants used to prove their age. Because many did not have birth certificates, a large number of the proof of birth records consist of correspondences with clergy in Greater Syria, who consulted baptismal records to confirm age. Other records are from the process of immigration, and include documents from both Marseilles, France, and Ellis Island, New York. Some records were requested from officials or individuals in America, and consist both of missives from immigration officials and from private individuals.</p>
<p>The collection also includes records issued by schools, which verify age through years of schooling. Included among some of these school records are short documents handwritten by young immigrants to prove their literacy in English. In addition to records proving age, some individuals have additional documents including work permits and physician's certificates of health.</p>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://queencityma.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lawrence Public Library Special Collections</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Relation
A related resource
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/62">Al-Wafa</a>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lawrence Public Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910-1940
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
These records were digitized by the Khayrallah Center in collaboration with the Lawrence Public Library Special Collections.
Processed by Claire A. Kempa and Marjorie Stevens, 2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 October.
Language
A language of the resource
English
Arabic
French
Turkish
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
GR 0007
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Oliver School, Lawrence, Massachusetts
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LPL_BRR_DarowishAlice001_wm
Title
A name given to the resource
Alice Darowish Birth Record
Description
An account of the resource
A typed letter certifying Alice Darowish's birthdate as April 12, 1900, and birthplace as Boro, Shanandoah, Pennsylvania. It lists the name of her father, D. E. Darowish, and his residence, 134 E. Coal St., Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. It bears a seal and was signed by both Darowish and the Justice of the Peace on April 27, 1916.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916 April 27
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
County of Schuykill, Pennsylvania
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
D.E. Darowish
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania
Language
A language of the resource
Arabic
English
Subject
The topic of the resource
Correspondence
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Lawrence Public Library Special Collections
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1910s
Births
Letters-English
Pennsylvania
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/f42e3f25ba52f0a66c6fd8f0bd0b5085.pdf
947380e907c77888d5601baec424c67b
PDF Text
Text
R.D.3 BOX 451, LINSOL RD.
KUTZTOWN, PA 19530
(215)683-6513
9:00am to 10:00pm
STUDIO OPEN BY APPT.
tL[gi
LE EAST
QUALITY, ONE-OF-A-KIND COSTUMING with
COMPLETE SERVICE AND PERSONAL ATTENTION
~~~~-
READY-MADE COSTUMES
Take it home today - Dance in it tonight. Complete
outfits, co-ordinated sets, separate costume items - from traditional to "the latest" in styling, in an imaginative assortment
of fabrics with various trims & details. Skirts, veils, capes,
harem pants, bolero tops, headdresses, sleeves, caftans & more ~
All are one-of-a-kind, designed to fit a wide range of sizes, and
constructed to look great and wo rk well through many years of
dancing. We also stock a s election of imported veils, scarves
and harem pants.
FABRICS, SUPPLIES
&
ACCESSORI ES
A large as s ortme nt of fa bri cs - satins, taffetas,
chiffons, polyesters , meta l lics , l ac e s , knits, cottons - all at
reasonable prices . Trims , coins, pa i l ette s, tassels, appliques,
hooks, jump ring s , etc . Will mail samples of a particular item
or fabric currently i n stock . Al so - b ras , torso covers, capes,
zills, zill bags, c o stume bags, tape s , novelty items & more.
CUSTOM-MADE COSTUMES
SOME of the thi ngs we wi ll make for you:
BELTS
&
BRAS: lavishly beaded out fits, "budget" beaded, coins on
fabric base, fabric/trim combina tions in glittery and ethnic
looks, inexpensive "practice" belts, remake/recondition, belt
base & covered bra ready for you to decorate, "bead it yourself"
designs with instructions. BEADED ACCESSORIES: headdresses,
neckpieces, arm-bands, arm fringe, ankle & wrist cuffs, handmade
sew-on fringe by the inch or by the yard in many styles, beaded
decoration on vests, beledi dresses, etc. SKIRTS: 3 & 5 panel
cabaret, petal/swirl, "40's flare", ruffled styles, wrap-around,
straight styles, hanky-cut, scarf and accent skirts. HAREM
PANTS: slim to full cut widths in regular, slit, cuffed, tiered &
ruffled styles. VEILS: 21/2 to 31/2 yard regular cut, l/2 circle
& full circle. SLEEVES: of all kinds. BELEDI dresses and
blouses. CAPES: various styles & lengths. BOLERO/midriff length
blouses and tops. VESTS: fitted and loose. HATS and headdresses. SCARVES, hip shawls, tassels, tasseled ropes. ALSO
CAFTANS for men and women, costume "cover-ups", evening outfits.
ETHNIC & SPECIALTY designs: Pharonic, Ghawazee, Indian, Spanish,
Gypsy, African, etc. COSTUMES for male dancers & troupes.
PERIOD GARB/costumes, etc., etc., and so forthl
ALL ARE QUALITY-MADE
&
ONE-OF-A-KIND
�CUSTOM SERVICES featuring HANDBEADING by
~"-.JA\../"~Kathleen A.
Y\l
DESIGNING, SEWING
&
Dicku.::l
BEADING
Whether you know exactly what you want in a costume or
haven't the slightest idea where to start, call or write to discuss your project. Everything - from just one skirt to a complete outfit.r-r~s given personal service and attention.
L,~ill work with you to develop imaginative design
ideas, as well as practical solutions, especially for you. Every
order is expertly fitted and custom styled to flatter YOUR image.
Our quality craftsmanship features details such as
finished seams, full linings, and even hems (that stay even).
All hand-beaded work is guaranteed for two years. We can
generally provide all materials for custom orders, or we will
work with materials that~u supply. If you prefer to make parts
of a costume yourself,
wi ll help with advice and instructions
- even custom made pattern .
PLEASE NOTE: We usually have custom work scheduled 2 to
4 months in advance on a fi r st-come fi r st-served basis. PLEASE
CALL EARLY to have time r e served on the s chedule for your project
and let us know WHEN y ou need i t. We make every effort to
accommodate our cu s t ome rs a nd will comp lete your order ON TIME.
CONSULTATION
If you enj oy maki ng your own costumes, [~offers ideas,
practical tips, inspi ration, and an objective, experienced eye.
A "consultation session" helps you evaluate, organize and plan
your dance wardrobe to create the complete "looks" you want with designs especially fo r YOU and YOUR dancing. No obligation
to buy, only a consultation fe e .
REGISTRATION
-
Your purchases from G~are "on file". This means that
they are registered under your name with your measurements, a
fabric swatch, and other descriptive information. You may therefore call at any future time for assistance in finding fabrics or
costuming to match or co-ordinate.
WORKSHOPS
G,6s available to conduct costume workshops.
Schedule a 1 or 2 hour class; a morning, afternoon or an entire
day; or, consider a short "costume break" as an added attraction
to a dance workshop. Topics can include practical construction
techniques, proper fitting and figure problems, developing design
ideas, or anything else that you and your group would like to
explore.
GIFT CERTIFICATES are available and may be used for ready-mades,
supplies and custom work.
�A SAMPLING OF PRICES
Whereas every item we make is one-of-a-kind, the price
for each is calculated individually - based upon costs of materials and time/labor. The prices quoted below are included here to
give you a general idea as to the costs of both ready-made and
custom items. For custom orders, we can usually provide all
materials or will work with fabrics, fringe, appliques, bra, etc.
that you supply.
The following prices are for LABOR ONLY and DO NOT INCLUDE costs of fabrics, trims, additional details or special
handling for some fabrics.
3 panel cabaret skirt ..••• $28.00
petal/swirl skirt ••••.•••. $38.00
basic 40's flare skirt .... $30.00
wrap skirt, unlined .••.•.• $14.00
beledi dress, no sleeves .. $25.00
basic harem pants •••.•• $18.00
cuffed harem pants .•••• $25.00
elastic wrist sleeves •• $18.00
rectangular veil ..••..• $ 8.00
hanky accent skirt .•••• $14.00
The following are AVERAGE prices INCLUDING costs of ALL
MATERIALS AND LABOR.
3 panel cabaret skirt • •• • • $5 0. 00
basic harem pants .••••• $26.00
basic 40's flare skirt .. . • $40. 00
e l astic wrist sleeves •• $24.00
fully beaded belt, b ra , a cce ssori es •• • •. •.•••••••• $500.00-$700.00
"budget" beaded b el t & b r a .• •• •• •• • • •• •. • ..•••••.• $350.00-$475.00
coins on fabric be l t & b r a .••...• • • • • •• ••• • ••••••• $225.00-$375.00
fringed beaded a rm b ands ( pair) ••• . • •••••• •••••••• $ 35.00-$ 45.00
belt base, covered b ra , st r aps, l ini ngs & hooks r e ady for you t o decorate ..••••••••• $100.00
THE "FINE PRINT"
~provides a wr itt en f orm for each custom order with
itemized costs for labor and ma te rials, description of services
and delivery date all clearly s tated. A deposit of 50% of the
total cost is required to start work on a custom order.
Completed costumes can be mailed (1st class, insured) or picked
up upon receipt of balance due. Payments on beaded costumes may
be budgeted over a 6 month period. Requests for alterations must
be made within 10 days of delivery. We accept cash, check or
money order. Layaway can be arranged. Pennsylvania residents
are subject to 6% sales tax.
Look for G.(_at workshop bazaars - call or write for custom work,
fabrics & supplies, consultation or personal showing at the
studio.
and - we also hand out a lot of FREE advice.
call with any costume questions you may have.
January, 1992
Do
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Joseph Family Papers
Subject
The topic of the resource
Belly dance
Lebanese Americans
Marines
Photographs
World War II
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Genevieve Rose Joseph
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Genevieve Rose Joseph
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1931-2015
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Inventoried by Amanda Forbes and Celine Shay, 2022 May. Processed by Allison Hall and Rachel Beth Acker, 2023 April-August. Collection Guide created by Allison Hall, 2023 September.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Language
A language of the resource
English
Arabic
French
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KC 0062
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Digital material in this collection is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Physical material in this collection is also available to researchers. For questions or to access a collection, please contact us at kcldsarchive@ncsu.edu. Please give at least 48 hours for responses to any inquiries regarding the materials.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Genevieve R. Joseph, also referred to in the collection as Genny, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on February 6th, 1963. Genevieve R. Joseph has three siblings, including an older sister Beatrice Ann Joseph (1947-2008) and two older brothers, one of which is Michael James Joseph (born October 16th, 1954). She earned an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts Honors and Communications and Media Arts in 1983, a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from SUNY Albany in 1985, and a Master’s degree in Sociology with a concentration in Race and Ethnicity, also from SUNY Albany, in 1988. She then <span>worked as a social science researcher for the State of New York. </span>Genevieve R. Joseph took up Middle Eastern belly dancing as a hobby and was a member of the </span><span style="font-weight:400;">Yallah Dance Ensemble based in Albany, New York in the early 1990s. In 1996 she moved to North Carolina and became involved with the Triangle Lebanese Association; she coordinated the first Lebanese Festival at the North Carolina state fairgrounds in 1999. In North Carolina, she <span>worked as a nonprofit program manager for global education and cultural exchange, and fundraiser for visual arts and conservation of nature. </span>Genevieve R. Joseph married Philip White in 200</span><span style="font-weight:400;">6.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Genevieve Norman Joseph (1924-2011), Genevieve R. Joseph’s mother, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to Sam Norman (1883-1972) and Rose Nader Norman (1889-1955). Rose Nader Norman ran a neighborhood grocery store and the couple managed their home as a boarding house. Genevieve Norman Joseph, also known as Gen, married Charles Michael Joseph (1918-2002) of Wendell, North Carolina on March 2, 1946. Genevieve Norman Joseph was a member of the Lebanese American Daughters, an organization closely related to the </span><span style="font-weight:400;">Lebanon-American Club of Poughkeepsie. She also </span><span style="font-weight:400;">worked as a Nursing Aide. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Charles “Charlie” Michael Joseph, Genevieve R. Joseph’s father, was born in Connecticut to parents Namy </span><span style="font-weight:400;">Yusef Becharra</span><span style="font-weight:400;"> and Julia Asmer in 1918 and was raised in Wendell, North Carolina from the age of eight months. He had nine siblings: Lucy, Eddie (Naim), Mamie (Thmam), Charlie (Khalil), George (A'Eid, Geryus), Evelyn (Jamila), Helen (Thatla), Abe (Ibrahim), Joe (Yusef), and Dolores (Julia).</span><span style="font-weight:400;"> His father, Namy Joseph, ran a store on Main Street and another one beside the family home. </span><span style="font-weight:400;">Charlie Joseph served in the US Marines during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a corporal. He was stationed in Recife, Brazil and Guam during the war. In Poughkeepsie, Charlie Joseph ran a luncheonette and was active in the Lebanon-American Club, serving as its president from 1962 to 1966. Upon their daughter Genevieve R. Joseph’s graduation from SUNY Albany in 1985, Genevieve and Charlie moved from Poughkeepsie to Wendell, North Carolina, Charlie’s hometown.</span></p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">The Joseph Family papers contain materials related to three generations of the Joseph family as well as families related to them. The collection focuses on the lives of Genevieve Norman Joseph, her husband Charles Joseph, and their daughter Genevieve R. Joseph. The collection also includes materials related to Genevieve R. Joseph’s grandparents and their extended family, both in Lebanon and in the United States. </span><span style="font-weight:400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Much of the collection consists of photographs from the early twentieth century to the twenty-first century. The photographs primarily include family photographs and portraits, as well as photographs from Charles Joseph’s deployment during World War II in Brazil and Guam. Also included in the collection are materials related to Genevieve R. Joseph’s dance career, newspaper clippings, articles from the </span><span style="font-weight:400;">American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, materials related to Charles Joseph’s time in the Marines, event pamphlets and flyers, prayer cards, obituaries, academic materials, correspondence, and some physical objects.</span><span style="font-weight:400;"></span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ellen Laincz Middle Eastern Designs Costume Advertisement
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lebanese Americans
Belly dance
Description
An account of the resource
Flyer with information about Ellen Laincz Middle Eastern Designs costume company out of Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ellen Laincz Middle Eastern Designs
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Genevieve Rose Joseph
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1992 Jan
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kc0062_1_8_032
1990s
Dance
Pennsylvania
Textiles
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/515de0940808e8acb0ade8fa8bc38d1d.pdf
748f5b8d292e73b3635ccdfe01e3865d
PDF Text
Text
�������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Domit Family Papers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Moussa Domit was born May 24, 1932, in Mazraat al Toufah in Zgharta, Lebanon to Majed Moussa Domit and Jamili Yousef (Khoury) Jreige. His grandparents had spent time in Pennsylvania, and both his father, Majed and his aunt, Margaret Domit (called Aunt Peggy), were born in the United States. In 1953, Moussa immigrated to Columbus, Ohio, to complete his high school education. He then returned to Lebanon where he met Yvette Baini. Yvette was born in French Senegal, West Africa. Her parents returned to Lebanon when she was a child; she attended a French school in Tripoli.</p>
<p>Moussa Domit and Yvette Baini married on February 11, 1960, an the following year moved to Columbus so that Moussa could attend college. Moussa earned a BA in History of Art at Ohio State University in 1962 and an MA in Art History at Southern Connecticut State College in 1967. The became an American citizen the same year. During this period, the couple had four children, Maggie, Majed, Mark, and Matthew.</p>
<p>Domit conducted postgraduate work at Yale University before serving as Associate Director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from 1968 to 1970, and as Curator at the National Gallery of Art from 1970 and 1972. In 1972, Moussa became Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, a position he held until 1981. In this position, Domit developed the museum's collection, providing exhibit space for international and multicultural artists and historic art pieces. He led the campaign to move the museum away from its original location in downtown Raleigh to a new facility on Blue Ridge Road. In 1981, the Domit family left Raleigh for Memphis, where Moussa took a position as Director of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens before moving to the Appleton Art Museum in Ocala, Florida, in 1986. Towards the end of his life, Domit spent time in Lebanon, where he worked to restore his family’s summer home. Moussa Domit passed away in 2005.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p>The Domit Family Papers contains documents and articles related to Moussa Domit's career in the art field, family photographs, and early letters from Domit's time in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, the collection contains genealogical information through family trees and an oral history. The collection also includes a diary and an autobiographical narrative written by Maron Domit Barkett, a great-uncle of Moussa Domit.</p>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Maggie Domit Bennett
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-circa 1986, undated
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Relation
A related resource
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/23">Saleh Family Papers</a>
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Khayrallah Program staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 November.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lebanese--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Arabic
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KC 0022
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kc0022_023
Title
A name given to the resource
Diary of Maron Domit Barkett, 1905-1915
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lebanese--United States
Description
An account of the resource
Handwritten diary entries of Maron Domit Barkett providing an account of the early years following immigration of to America, arranged chronologically by date. Subjects include the birth of his children, health of his family, and his search for work.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Maron (Myron) Domit Barkett
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Maggie Domit Bennett
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-1915
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
1900s
1910s
Baptisms
Diaries
Families
Immigration
Labor
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Syria
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https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/58171e08ec8f8efbf8d05e87ab9a2205.pdf
6387f3985fb9e7a3b7167eb24864e5ad
PDF Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Domit Family Papers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Moussa Domit was born May 24, 1932, in Mazraat al Toufah in Zgharta, Lebanon to Majed Moussa Domit and Jamili Yousef (Khoury) Jreige. His grandparents had spent time in Pennsylvania, and both his father, Majed and his aunt, Margaret Domit (called Aunt Peggy), were born in the United States. In 1953, Moussa immigrated to Columbus, Ohio, to complete his high school education. He then returned to Lebanon where he met Yvette Baini. Yvette was born in French Senegal, West Africa. Her parents returned to Lebanon when she was a child; she attended a French school in Tripoli.</p>
<p>Moussa Domit and Yvette Baini married on February 11, 1960, an the following year moved to Columbus so that Moussa could attend college. Moussa earned a BA in History of Art at Ohio State University in 1962 and an MA in Art History at Southern Connecticut State College in 1967. The became an American citizen the same year. During this period, the couple had four children, Maggie, Majed, Mark, and Matthew.</p>
<p>Domit conducted postgraduate work at Yale University before serving as Associate Director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from 1968 to 1970, and as Curator at the National Gallery of Art from 1970 and 1972. In 1972, Moussa became Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, a position he held until 1981. In this position, Domit developed the museum's collection, providing exhibit space for international and multicultural artists and historic art pieces. He led the campaign to move the museum away from its original location in downtown Raleigh to a new facility on Blue Ridge Road. In 1981, the Domit family left Raleigh for Memphis, where Moussa took a position as Director of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens before moving to the Appleton Art Museum in Ocala, Florida, in 1986. Towards the end of his life, Domit spent time in Lebanon, where he worked to restore his family’s summer home. Moussa Domit passed away in 2005.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p>The Domit Family Papers contains documents and articles related to Moussa Domit's career in the art field, family photographs, and early letters from Domit's time in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, the collection contains genealogical information through family trees and an oral history. The collection also includes a diary and an autobiographical narrative written by Maron Domit Barkett, a great-uncle of Moussa Domit.</p>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Maggie Domit Bennett
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-circa 1986, undated
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Relation
A related resource
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/23">Saleh Family Papers</a>
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Khayrallah Program staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 November.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lebanese--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Arabic
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KC 0022
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kc0022_025
Title
A name given to the resource
Birth Certificate for Margaret Domit Moses
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lebanese--United States
Description
An account of the resource
Birth certificate for Margaret "Peggy" Domit Moses, issued June 30, 1911, in Creighton, Pennsylvania.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Maggie Domit Bennett
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1911 June 30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Format
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Text/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Birth Certificates
Pennsylvania