On Saturday, November 2, 2024, during the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of St. John of Kronstadt Memorial Church in Utica, NY, and the 7-0th anniversary of the Memorial Fund, Fr. Ephraim WIllmarth, Director of Admissions, Asst. Dean, and Registrar at Holy Trinity Seminary was awarded the right to wear the Gold Cross by His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. 

Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid America reposed in the Lord unexpectedly on Friday, November 8, 2024. His Eminence was an alumnus of Holy Trinity Seminary, class of 1971, and a member of the monastic brotherhood of Holy Trinity Monastery. You can visit the ROCOR website to view Archbishop Peter's biography:
https://www.synod.com/.../20241108_enarchbppeterrespose.html
 

The Rev. Protodeacon Nicholas V. Lukianov Memorial CTS Scholarship has been established and funded beginning for the current 2024-25 academic year by Fr. Nicholas’ wife, Matushka Anna Lukianov, his daughters, Marina, Sophia, and Tatiana, and members of the Lukianov family. This scholarship is being made available exclusively to clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Church who do not have a formal seminary education and are interested in enrolling in the Certificate in Theological Studies (independent study - distance learning) program at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, the program which Fr. Nicholas himself graduated from.

October, 2024
 
Your generous support of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is making a difference. Whenever we think of you and your fellow seminary supporters, our hearts are full of gratitude. Thank you for your continued partnership in the sacred task of forming those whom the Lord has called to serve His Holy Church.

The new academic year has begun at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. After a few days of orientation for new students and the traditional Labor Day pilgrimage to the monastery, the annual convocation was held on Tuesday, September 3 at 2:00pm in the PVL hall. The faculty members introduced themselves to the new students, explaining which classes they taught and recounting their backgrounds and current academic work. Then it was the new students’ turn to introduce themselves. One by one they briefly explained where they were from and what had motivated them to come to seminary.

Our Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia is multifaceted. Here one can see parishes consisting of the descendants of those who founded the ROCOR, parishes founded after the collapse of the USSR, and parishes consisting of those who, while living in their own native countries, have been converted to the Orthodox Faith. The vast majority of parishes of the Southern Deanery of the Eastern American Diocese fall into the latter category.

The Summer Youth Program at Holy Trinity Monastery was created to introduce young men to the deep spiritual traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

On Monday, July 8, His Grace, Bishop Jerome (Shaw), arrived at Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack, NY, to celebrate Divine Liturgy and officiate the funeral of Archpriest George Larin, pastor emeritus of that parish and one-time diocesan secretary, who reposed in the Lord on July 5.

On Monday afternoon, April 15, Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America & New York arrived in Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY to officiate the funeral of newly departed Protodeacon Joseph Jarostchuk, who reposed in the Lord the Thursday prior.

On the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, His Grace, Bishop LUKE of Syracuse, ordained Hierodeacon Ignacio (Matzschke-Brull) to the Holy Priesthood.

At the invitation of His Eminence, Archbishop KYRILL of San Francisco and Western America,  a delegation from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY, headed by His Grace Bishop LUKE of Syracuse, Rector of the seminary, and Dr. Nicolas Schidlovsky, seminary dean, together with the seminary choir, under the direction of Deacon Nicholas Kotar, traveled to Holy Virgin Cathedral Joy of All Who Sorrow in San Francisco, CA to participate in the 30th anniversary celebration of the Glorification of St John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco, the Wonderworker on June 28-29, 2024.

Rev. Hierodeacon Methodios (Pranić), Senior Lecturer in the Department of Liturgics, Sacred Arts, and Music at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville (NY), and a clergyman of the Diocese of Novi Sad-Bačka in Serbia, participated in the Ninth International Conference of the Society for Oriental Liturgy, held in Washington, DC from May 26-30, 2024. Father Methodios presented his insightful paper, “Temporal Harmony: Integrating Circadian Rhythm, Byzantine Timekeeping, and Eastern Orthodox Monastic Practices.”

On June 9, 2024,  the 6th Sunday of Pascha -  the Sunday of The Blind Man, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary held commencement exercises at the conclusion of its 76th academic year. The day began with a Hierarchal Divine Liturgy concelebrated by His Eminence, Archbishop GABRIEL of Montreal and Canada and His Grace Bishop LUKE of Syracuse, rector of the seminary.

At the invitation of His Eminence, Archbishop KYRILL of San Francisco and Western America, a delegation from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY will travel to Holy Virgin Cathedral – Joy of All Who Sorrow in San Francisco, CA to participate in the 30th anniversary celebration of the Glorification of St John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco, the Wonderworker on June 28-29, 2024.

Fr. Seraphim Baltic, HTOS Alumnus, class of 2008, was elected as an Episcopal candidate in the Serbian Orthodox Church in America. AXIOS!

At the invitation of the Archpriest Victor Potapov, Cathedral Rector, on the 5th weekend of Great Lent, April 20-21, 2024, the seminary choir, under the direction of Deacon Nicholas Kotar, traveled to The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington D.C.

Honor our past by supporting our future.

Consider donating monthly and become a Holy Trinity Seminary Patron today! 

Learn more about “Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary Patrons” at https://www.hts.edu/patrons.

The Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sitka and Alaska held its annual clergy retreat in Anchorage from Friday March 8th through Sunday, March 10th hosted by His Grace ALEXEI, Bishop of Sitka and Alaska. As a special guest, His Grace LUKE, Bishop of Syracuse and Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, led our retreat meditations, speaking on the theme “Confessing Holy Orthodoxy.”  

Holy Trinity Seminary Dean, Nicholas Schidlovsky, M.F.A, Ph.D presented a scholarly talk at the 2024 COLLOQUIUM ON LITURGICAL MUSIC IN EASTERN ORTHODOX EDUCATION. This conference was held at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY on March 13 - 14, 2024.

Beloved fathers and brothers in the Lord!
Great Lent is approaching – a time set aside for delving into ourselves, for examining our lives, for repentance and correction. Great Lent is not only a time to refrain from certain types of food; it is a time for asceticism of the mind and senses, when we abstain from impure thoughts, separate ourselves from our habitual sins, entertainments, and harmful routines, when we fast, as St. John Chrysostom says, "with the mouth, the eye, and the ear, and the feet, and the hands, and all the members of our bodies."

On Monday, February 12, the Orthodox Church celebrated the feast of the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. These three great hierarchs and luminaries of the Church are considered patrons of every Orthodox seminary, and therefore this feast is recognized as the patronal feast of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary.

On Zaccheus Sunday (5/18 February), Deacon Alban Illingworth, a distance learning student at HTOS, was ordained to the Holy Priesthood.

A Message from Dean Nicolas Schidlovsky, PhD.

In that 2023 was the 75 th anniversary year of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY, the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR, in a meeting of the Synod during September, 2023, discussed encouraging ROCOR clergy who do not have and formal theological formation/training to look to pursue this.

2023 marked the centenary of the founding of the monastery of St. Job of Pochaev in Ladomirová, Eastern Slovakia. I would not have known about this anniversary, had it not been for Dr. Daniil Černý, Director of the Slovak Institute in Rome, who invited me to speak at a conference dedicated to this centenary, an important cultural event for Slovakia.

On October 13th and 14th, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary’s own Canon Law professor, Rev. Protodeacon Andrei Psarev, along with one of his Canon Law students, John Keller, traveled to Boston, MA, to Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) for the inaugural “Orthodox Canon Law Society of North America'' meeting.

This summer, from mid June through mid August, 2nd-year seminarian John Kurr followed through on an invitation to live in the St. Job of Pochaev monastery in Munich, availing himself of the chance, first, to get to know this Bavarian capital as well as numerous other parishes within the same ROCOR diocese, then to go farther afield and explore parts of ultimately six European countries.

As we approach the end of our 75th anniversary year, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your continued support. Thank you for your unwavering commitment. Your past gifts have played a vital role in enabling Jordanville’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary to address the countless facets of pastoral formation, especially for the parishes in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

On Giving Tuesday 2023, as we approach the end of our 75th anniversary year, we want to begin by expressing our heartfelt gratitude for the unwavering commitment of our many supporters of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary! 

This past summer, second year seminarian Aiden Harrington spent six weeks in the Western European Diocese of ROCOR, visiting numerous parishes in the United Kingdom and participating in the rich life of our church there.

Each year, the Byzantine Studies Byzantine Association of North America holds an interdisciplinary conference that attracts scholars from the United States, Canada, and Europe. On each occasion, the conference is held in a new location. This year’s conference was hosted
on October 26-29 by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. A total of 63 papers were presented on topics in history, archaeology, paleography, art history, cultural studies, and theology.

A Pilgrimage to honor the memory of Brother Jose took place on Saturday-Sunday, October 28-29.

This past summer, seminarian Reader Timothy Zelinski (M.Div 3rd year) interned at St. Tikhon Russian Orthodox Church in Blountville, Tennessee.

It is with immense joy and deep gratitude to God that we share with all of you the recent ordinations to the diaconate and priesthood of students and graduates of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary.

On the weekend of September 15-17, 2023, a three-day celebration took place between Cooperstown and Jordanville, NY to mark the 75th anniversary of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, having been founded in 1948 by Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) of blessed memory.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is pleased to announce that Holy Trinity Publications through the Holy Trinity Seminary Press published the English translation of 'Foundations of Russian Culture.'

On Saturday, October 7th, the faculty and seminarians of Holy Triniy Orthodox Seminary hosted a group of pilgrims from Tennessee.

Orientation for the new students took place on Monday, September 5 and Tuesday, September 6. On Thursday, September 7, at the conclusion of the 6am daily Divine Liturgy, a Moleben was served by the seminary’s rector, His Grace, Bishop Luke, together with monastery clergy. The 7th annual convocation then took place on Tuesday, September 12 at 2:15pm in the PVL hall.

On the morning of Thursday, September 28, 2023, the Seminary administration discovered an anonymous electronic communication which made the claim that there was a bomb placed in the Seminary.

In the past month, three current or former HTOS seminarians have been ordained to the Diaconate to continue their service to the Orthodox Church.

The seminary administration is pleased to announce that, during this 75 th anniversary year, and on the eve of the celebration, by vote of the diocesan council and with the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, the Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia has assisted in establishing a scholarship at Holy Trinity Seminary in memory of Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko), of blessed memory.

It has come to the attention of the administration that various social media sites and blogs are publishing mis-leading information about the status of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary’s accreditation. The following is intended to publicly set the record straight and to dispel false rumors that seem to now exist in the public domain.

This summer, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary sent some of its seminarians on placements in different parts of the world. Some were attached to parishes in the United States, some went to our parishes in England and Germany, while others went to our mission in Grenada. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be sharing their stories and reflections on the seminary website.

To mark the 15th anniversary of its foundation, Protodeacon Andrei Psarev’s website Historical Studies of the Russian Church Abroad (www.rocorstudies.org) is offering a subscription to daily reports about selected dates in Church history with an explanation of their significance. Besides ROCOR History these reports also cover general Church history and essential figures in it in an understandable and engaging manner.

We are now less than one month away from the Seminary’s 75th anniversary weekend celebration, which will kick off with the Anniversary Concert just four (4) weeks from today on September 15 in Cooperstown, NY.

Throughout the weekend of June 16th - 18th, HTOS Deputy Dean of Students, Hieromonk Theodore (Stanway), delivered a series of lectures at Saint Tikhon Orthodox Church in Blountville, TN.

On May 28, 2023,  the 7th Sunday after Pascha -  the Sunday of the 318 Holy Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary held commencement exercises at the conclusion of its 75th academic year.

On Friday, June 16, Hieromonk Theodore (Stanway), Deputy Dean of Students and lecturer at Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY, will deliver a lecture entitled "Living a Christ-Centered Life in a Secular World" at St. Tikhon Church in Blountville, TN.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is excited to host the second of two lectures by noted art historian Joachim Pissaro, Ph.D., the Bershad Professor of Art History and Director of the Hunter College Galleries, Hunter College, New York.

On Friday, March 10, Holy Trinity Seminary launched a new seminarian-run podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, and YouTube. Entitled Light of the World, this podcast aims to tackle topics ranging from theology and philosophy to liturgics, Church and ROCOR history, and daily life at the seminary.

Protodeacon Andrei Psarev returns to St. Nektarios of Aegina Parish in Lenoir City (Knoxville), Tennessee.

For more information, visit the rocor studies website...

On Cheesefare Saturday (12/25 February), a group of HTOS seminarians visited Saint Herman of Alaska Western Rite Orthodox mission in Bovina, New York.

The feast of the Three Hierarchs, the patronal feast of the seminary, was celebrated on Sunday February 12, 2023 at Holy Trinity Monastery Cathedral in Jordanville, NY.  With 2023 marking the 75th anniversary of the seminary, this feast day also began a year-long celebration that will include commencement 2023, as well as several feasts throughout the year, culminating in the main anniversary event from September 15-17, 2023.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary’s administration, faculty, and students are excited to announce that this year marks the 75th anniversary or Diamond Jubilee of the seminary: 1948-2023! All alumni, friends, and benefactors of the seminary are encouraged to make a pilgrimage to Jordanville at least once during 2023.

Fr Joseph Farooq, priest from the Orthodox mission in Pakistan visited Jordanville from January 23 through February 8. During his visit, he participated in the divine services and in the daily life of the monastery and the seminary.

We have recently been made aware of yet another attempt to build a windmill project in our backyard. While the previous plans were dismissed a few years back, now the companies involved are taking advantage of the New York State Energy Plan and its incentives to build renewables that will by-pass the environmental review and local input that put a halt to the previous windmill projects.

NATIVITY EPISTLE OF HIS EMINENCE NICHOLAS, METROPOLITAN OF EASTERN AMERICA & NEW YORK, FIRST HIERARCH OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA
 

On Monday, December 19, the feast of Holy Hierarch Nicholas, Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia, His Grace Bishop Luke of Syracuse celebrated the festive hierarchical Divine Liturgy in Holy Trinity Monastery.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is excited to host a lecture by noted art historian Joachim Pissaro, Ph.D., who is the Bershad Professor of Art History and Director of the Hunter College Galleries, Hunter College, New York.

His Grace, Bishop Luke led a seminary delegation to St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on the weekend of December 10-11, 2022. His Grace also brought The wonderworking Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God from Jordanville to be present for the divine services.

The Russian Orthodox Youth Committee and ROCOR’s Fund for Assistance (FFA) are both assisting in and adding to the celebration of the seminary’s 75th anniversary by dedicating their annual calendars to Holy Trinity Seminary.

AXIOS to Priest Peter James (M.Div. Class of 2022). With the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan NICHOLAS, First Hierarch of ROCOR, Subdeacon Peter James was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on Saturday, November 19, and to the Holy Priesthood on Sunday, November 20 at St. John the Russian Orthodox Church in Ipswich, MA by His Eminence, Metropolitan JONAH. May our Lord grant Fr. Peter and his family many years of service in Christ’s Holy Vineyard!

Why should you support the seminary? And in particular, why should you make it a priority today on November 29 (Giving Tuesday) 2022, since there are likely many other charities and not-for-profit organizations asking for your help today?

Reader Nicholas Chapman, Publications Director of Holy Trinity Publications, traveled to Ohio State University earlier this month to present a paper at a conference of the Association of Eastern Christian History and Culture. The conference took place from November 3-5. 

On October 7-9th, Jordanville seminarians participated in the Fall 2022 retreat of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary movement at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania.

Year-End appeal for the Jordanville Seminary Annual Fund is launched with the goal of raising $500,000 by December 31.

Seminary Professor travels to Belgrade to participate in the 25th International Congress of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches

Late July (28-29) this past summer, over a dozen educators gathered at St. Tikhon's Seminary in South Canaan, PA to discuss contemporary pastoral training in Orthodox educational institutions across the country. 

The seminary administration is pleased to announce that two recent alumni have begun teaching in the seminary this fall.

His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS of Manhattan (HTOS class '98) was elected on August 31/September 13 by the ROCOR Synod of Bishops to serve as the seventh First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The First Hierarch also serves as the Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York (the EAD's ruling bishop). Axios Axios Axios to Metropolitan-Elect Nicholas!

With the arrival of the new academic year, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is pleased to announce the beginning of its new AXIOS Program.

Jordanville’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary opened the 75th academic year 2022-2023 on Monday, September 5.

Memory is eternal to Protodeacon Christopher Birchall, HTOS Class '75, who passed away in Vancouver, BC, on August 20, 2022.

On June 5, 2022,  the 7th Sunday after Pascha -  the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council, Holy Trinity held commencement exercises at the conclusion of its 74th academic year. The day began with a Hierarchal Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Grace Bishop Luke of Syracuse, Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of the Seminary. During the sixth hour, His Grace tonsured undergraduate senior, Jorge Luque-Martin a Reader.

This Sunday, June 5, 2022 will mark commencement at the conclusion of the seminary's 74th academic year. The moleben will begin in the monastery cathedral at 2:00 pm., followed by the commencement ceremony. This year's Commencement Address, titled "The Orthodox Seminary Curriculum in North America: Growing the Seeds of Classical Christian Education" will be delivered by Rev. Deacon Anthony (Gaelan) Gilbert, Ph.D. All are welcome to attend!

Christ is Risen!

We are pleased to be sharing this year’s first appeal for the Jordanville Seminary Annual Fund 2022. This is toward the much-needed unrestricted support that regularly sustains the normal operations of our beloved institution.

Please visit our donor page at https://hts.edu/support to see the different ways by which you can send along your contribution. In advance, thank you for your generous support!

On Sunday 9/22 May, Metropolitan Hilarion was laid to rest at Holy Trinity Monastery.

Christ is Risen! It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the Falling Asleep in the Lord of our beloved First Hierarch and ruling bishop of the Eastern American Diocese, His Eminence, Metropolitan HILARION.

On May 8, 2022, the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, two MDiv students were ordained.

Holy Trinity Publications and Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary are excited to host noted patrologist and author Dr. Jean-Claude Larchet as part of a rare visit to the United States.

The Eastern American Diocese of ROCOR is holding its Northern Lenten Clergy Retreat at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville from March 28-30, followed in several weeks by the Southern retreat at St Mary of Egypt Church in Roswell, GA, which is scheduled to run from April 12-14. Protodeacon Andrei has been invited to give the main lecture at both retreats entitled; “Pivotal Points of the History of the Russian Church Abroad”.

On Saturday, Jan 30/Feb 12, the Holy Orthodox Church celebrated the Feast of the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs; SS Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. These three great hierarchs and luminaries of the Church are considered as the patrons of every Orthodox Theological Seminary, and therefore this feast is recognized as the patronal feast of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary.

On January 30/February 12, the Feast of the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs, at Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in DesPlaines IL, Deacon Nicholas Lochmatow (HTOS ’11), son of Protodeacon Victor Lochmatow (HTOS ’67) was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Eminence, Archbishop Peter (HTOS ’71) of Chicago and Mid America.

With sadness, we announce that Subdeacon Michael Bartosh, HTOS Class of '69, reposed in the Lord on the Great Feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple; Tuesday, February 2/15, 2022. May Subdeacon Michael's Memory be Eternal!

On 12-6/19, the Holy Church celebrated the Feast of the Holy Hierarch Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, the Wonderworker. The monastery community was also blessed to celebrate important milestones of three of Holy Trinity Seminary’s very own alumni.

During the fall semester, HTOS Deputy Dean of Students Hierodeacon Theodore (Stanway) (HTOS '17, '21) travelled to several different locations to deliver lectures.

On the weekend of December 11-12, commemorating the Martyr Paramon and  the 370 martyrs with him, at the invitation of cathedral rector Mitred Archpriest Serge Lukianov, the seminary choir traveled to St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell (Lakewood) NJ  to sing the responses to the Divine Services. Also present during the Divine Services was the miracle-working Icon of the Mother of God; the Softener of Evil Hearts.

Thanks to many of our wonderful benefactors, we are pleased to announce that the final amount raised for Giving Tuesday was $27,485.77!

And thanks to several other generous donors, we can now add to that the match of an additional $25,000, bringing the amount raised for Giving Tuesday overall to $52,485.77.

Therefore; for the Jordanville Annual Fund 2021 Year End Appeal, we have presently raised $70,000.00 on the way to the overall goal of $250,000.00 by 12/31/2021.

Many thanks to those who have already donated to this Year-End Appeal, and if you have not, please give generously! 

With the blessing of the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church and His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Deacon Andrei Psarev, Professor of Russian Church History and Canon Law at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, is organizing a conference “Links between Times: Conclusions and Perspectives. On the Centennial of the Russian Church Abroad” in Belgrade, Serbia, this November. Fr. Andrei is collaborating with Dr. Radovan Pilipović, Director of the Archive of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

On the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary,two graduate students were ordained to the Holy Diaconate, and to the Subdeacon. AXIOS to Deacon Romanos and Subdeacon Peter!

Jordanville’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary opened the 2021-22 academic year on Wednesday, September 1, reaching the exciting milestone of having a total of 40 students on campus. This student body includes nine (9) new graduate, and five (5) new undergraduate students. Thirty-Two (32) of our students are from ROCOR, and eight (8) are from other Orthodox jurisdictions.

From May 26–28, 2021, a regular plenary session of the Inter-Conciliar Assembly of the Russian Orthodox Church took place in Moscow, in the Church Council Hall in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

On June 29/July 12, the Feast of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, His Grace, Bishop Luke of Syracuse, Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of the Seminary (HTS Class ’78) was honored by the monastery brotherhood, and the seminary and local communities for celebrating 40 years since His Grace’s ordination to the Holy Priesthood in 1981.

From May 26–28, 2021, a regular plenary session of the Inter-Conciliar Assembly of the Russian Orthodox Church took place in Moscow, in the Church Council Hall in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

I am very pleased that Archpriest Andrei Sommer, dean of the main church of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia—the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign, agreed to speak with me and answer all my questions, telling me about the pillars of ROCOR, and about his own spiritual path. Here are his stories.—Olga Rozhneva

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia celebrates two anniversaries this year connected with one of the most venerated saints of the diaspora: St John of Shanghai and San Francisco. June marks the 125th anniversary of his birth, and the 55th anniversary of his death is this July.

Archpriest George Larin, the Rector Emeritus of Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack, NY, is a treasure-house of the history of St John. He met Vladyka as a boy in his native Shanghai in the early 1940’s, and has felt his patronage his entire life. This is the second part of a two-part series.

On Sunday, June 6, the Sunday of the Blind Man, commencement was held to mark the conclusion of Holy Trinity Seminary’s 73rd academic year.

Holy Trinity Seminary announces that commencement exercises for the class of 2021 will take place this Sunday, June 6. A Molieben of Thanksgiving will be served in the monastery cathedral beginning at 2:00pm EST, followed by the academic procession and commencement exercises for the conclusion of the seminary’s 73rd academic year. The ceremony will be held outdoors under a large tent this year, and is open to the public.

On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the third anniversary of the falling asleep in the Lord of Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov, a delegation from Holy Trinity Seminary traveled to Lakewood to participate in the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy and the blessing of the permanent monument at Fr. Valery’s grave, which is located directly behind the beautiful cathedral which he designed and built.

On the Great Feast of the Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady, Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary,  HTOS Alumnus Daniel Semenov, class of 2016, was ordained to the diaconate in the church dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” (Moscow, Russia) by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk.

On Sunday, Mar 8/21, the first Sunday of the Great Fast, the monastery celebrated the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the triumph over the heresy of iconoclasm. The Divine Liturgy was presided over by His Grace, Bishop Luke of Syracuse; Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary. Vladyka was co-served by the monastery clergy. With the blessing of the Synod of Bishops, during the Small Entrance, Igumen Theophylact (Clapper-DeWell), HTOS class ’86; longtime cleric of the monastery and teacher in the seminary, was raised to the rank of archimandrite. Axios-Axios-Axios to Archimandrite Theophylact, and may he be blessed with many more and healthy years of monastic labor in Christ’s Vineyard, and salvation!

On Sunday, Mar 8/21, the first Sunday of the Great Fast, the monastery celebrated the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the triumph over the heresy of iconoclasm. The Divine Liturgy was presided over by His Grace, Bishop Luke of Syracuse; Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary. Vladyka was co-served by the monastery clergy. With the blessing of the Synod of Bishops, during the Small Entrance, Igumen Theophylact (Clapper-DeWell), HTOS class ’86; longtime cleric of the monastery and teacher in the seminary, was raised to the rank of archimandrite. Axios-Axios-Axios to Archimandrite Theophylact, and may he be blessed with many more and healthy years of monastic labor in Christ’s Vineyard, and salvation!

Holy Trinity Publications is pleased to announce its forthcoming publication of the first detailed examination in English of the challenges to Orthodox ecclesiology that have arisen following the intervention of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the affairs of the Ukrainian Church in 2018. The Ecclesial Crisis in Ukraine and its Solution According to the Sacred Canons will be published on July 1st, 2021, under the Holy Trinity Seminary Press imprint.

By God’s ineffable goodness, we enter once more into the joyous days of the great feasts of Christ’s Nativity and Theophany. I sincerely greet you all with this world-saving joy! The feat of faith and its fruit in life must be this joy: from the triumph of the Theophany ‒ God’s manifestation and incarnation ‒ and the sound of the Heavenly doxology and otherworldly peace being sung over Bethlehem.

Holy Trinity Seminary announces the beginning of a brand-new initiative to invest time, resources, and energy into the creative teaching of music and liturgics.

The Administration of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is pleased to announce the following promotions and appointments within our faculty.

On the weekend of December 5-6, His Grace Bishop Luke traveled with the Jordanville Pochaev Icon and the Seminary Choir, under the direction of Deacon Nicholas Kotar, to St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell (Lakewood), NJ at the invitation of the rector, Archpriest Serge Lukianov.

It is with deep respect and admiration that Holy Trinity Seminary acknowledges the transfer of an esteemed and beloved colleague to St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary this last fall.

At the invitation of Archpriest Serge Lukianov, Rector of St Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral, His Grace, Bishop Luke of Syracuse, Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary, will lead the Divine Services this coming weekend in the presence of the Jordanville Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God. Jordanville’s Holy Trinity Seminary Choir, under the direction of Deacon Nicholas Kotar, will sing the responses. The schedule of services is as follows: 5:00 pm Saturday Vigil and Sunday 9:00 entrance of His Grace, Bishop Luke. We hope to see you there!

Jordanville’s year-end goal is to raise $165,000 by Dec 31. Your donation on #GivingTuesday will go a long way… We urge you to help us now!

As you may recall, last July’s mailing for the Jordanville Annual Fund 2020 opened with the following wonderful words by Bishop Luke: “I greet each of you with great joy in the name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!”  —Yes, many things have continued to be difficult during these months, even to this very moment… But I’d really like to keep up the spirit and simply let you know: to complete this year successfully, we need to raise an additional $95,000 toward our goal of $200,000 by December 31. 

—Would you consider helping us get there as soon as possible?

Nicolas G. Schidlovsky Speaks with the HTS Alumni.

Holy Trinity Seminary Press is pleased to announce the publication of Healing Humanity: Confronting our Moral Crisis. This collection offers the perspectives of fifteen Orthodox Christian scholars and writers, drawn from their presentations at a conference hosted at Holy Trinity Seminary in March of 2019, Chastity, Purity, Integrity — Orthodox Anthropology and Secular Culture. The conference and this publication were spearheaded by Dean Emeritus of Holy Trinity Seminary, the V. Rev. Archpriest Alexander F.C. Webster.

As we eagerly approach the commemoration of Holy Trinity Seminary’s 75th Year (2023), we are planning an inspiring array of activities and forward-looking initiatives such as the creation of a new liturgical arts library and the rescheduling of the international conference entitled “Russian Ecclesial Identity in a Changing World: Pathways, Thresholds…Formative Encounters” (originally announced for October 2020). Successful completion of housing for our church’s future clergymen will provide a fitting start to this anniversary celebration! 

Jordanville’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary opened the 2020-21 academic year with a series of events which took place during the first two weeks of September.

Jordanville Annual Fund 2020 appeal has just launched

Seminary’s Associate Professor Deacon Andrei Psarev’s participated in the Inter-Council Assembly between Dec 2019 & March, 2020.

The Faculty and Staff of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville regret to announce that the conference -- "Russian Ecclesial Identity in a Changing World: Pathways, Thresholds...Formative Encounters" -- will not take place this October 28-31 as originally planned. We look forward to announcing an alternative schedule just as soon as the conditions change for optimal accomplishment of this exciting public undertaking. Please stay tuned!

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary announces that on Sunday, May 31, 2020, Priest Daniel Franzen became the first candidate in the seventy-two-year history of the seminary to be awarded the graduate level degree of Master of Divinity, summa cum laude. Because of well-known restrictions, a limited format was used this year in place of the annual commencement.

Important pastoral message from Bishop Luke relative to public attendance at the Divine Services at Holy Trinity Monastery

In light of the Coronavirus outbreak, His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, has strongly encouraged all of the faithful to adhere to health and safety restrictions currently being put in place by local authorities. Unfortunately, this means that some parishes are closed to the public, with services being performed by the clergy and choir alone.

For those who wish to observe the divine services and pray, several parishes are offering Internet live-streaming. Some parishes are permitted by their state governments to remain open, but – either to maintain attendance within the current allowable maximum or for the benefit of those who cannot attend for their own health reasons – are also streaming their services online.

Dear in the Lord fathers, brothers, and sisters!

I sincerely greet you with the very warmest well-wishes for the blessings of God, good health, spiritual calm, and the patience so needed in this trying time! I especially greet the doctors, nurses, and all who work in the hospitals, sincerely wishing them increased strength and Heavenly aid! I wish for those who are sick - and for their friends and relatives - comfort in the hope of God’s will, which always directs man toward the good. Our prayers are with all of you.

Suggested reading during the Covid 19 Coronavirus Pandemic

Message from His Grace, Bishop Luke relative to the Coronavirus pandemic

As we enter the fourth week of Great Lent, may the "invincible and incomprehensible and divine power of the precious and life-giving Cross" bless and protect you!

On the weekend of February 22-23, the Sunday of the Last Judgement, and with the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Luke of Syracuse, seminary rector,  Jordanville’s Holy Trinity Seminary Choir traveled to St. Panteleimon’s Russian Orthodox Church in Hartford, Connecticut.

On February 21-22, four representatives of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary attended the conference Byzantine Monasticism Past and Present, hosted by the Institute for the Study of Eastern Christianity at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

On Wednesday, Jan 30/Feb 12, the Holy Orthodox Church celebrated the Feast of the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs; SS Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. These three great hierarchs and luminaries of the Church are considered as the patrons of every Orthodox Theological Seminary, and therefore this feast is recognized as the patronal feast of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary.

Thank you to our dear friends and benefactors for donating to the Jordanville Annual Fund and supporting our seminary in 2019. Our Year-End appeal was launched on November 1, and continued until January 14, 2020 (December 31, 2019 O.S.).

This Wednesday, Jan 30/Feb 12, The Holy Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of the Synaxis of the 3 Hierarchs;  Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY, is pleased to announce a landmark conference in recognition of 100 Years of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and 90 Years of Holy Trinity Monastery.

Due to the relatively recent launch of our final appeal for Jordanville’s Annual Fund 2019 on Nov. 1, we are extending our year-end deadline by a few days until midnight Monday, Jan. 13th (O.S. Dec 31!)

Bishop Luke, Pochaev Icon and Seminary Choir visited St Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral

#GivingTuesday December 3, 2019; donate to the Jordanville Annual Fund and support our Seminary

#GivingTuesday December 3, 2019, ‘Jordanville Annual Fund’ is the way our donors can support the mission of the Seminary.

On Saturday, November 9 and Sunday November 10, with the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Luke, and at the invitation of Archpriest Victor Potapov, cathedral rector, the Jordanville seminary choir, under the direction of Deacon Nicholas Kotar, sang the responses for the divine services at St John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC. 

The Jordanville Annual Fund is your opportunity to support all that we strive to accomplish daily. It is mainly the generosity of donors like you that makes it possible for us…

October 21-23: Holy Trinity Monastery & Seminary in Jordanville hosted the EAD’s annual fall clergy conference and a PaTRAM master class for male choir. These events coincided with the EAD’s celebration of the 35th anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion’s consecration to the episcopate.

October 21-23: Holy Trinity Monastery & Seminary in Jordanville hosted the EAD’s annual fall clergy conference and a PaTRAM master class for male choir. These events coincided with the EAD’s celebration of the 35th anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion’s consecration to the episcopate.

The 28 th annual ROCM (Russian Orthodox Church Musicians’) Conference took place this year from October 2-6 at Holy Epiphany Parish in Boston, MA. The theme of this year’s conference was “Continuity and Growth: Ensuring the Future of Liturgical Chant in Our Parishes”.

From August 19 to 24, 2019 many patristics scholars from around the world gathered at the University of Oxford (Oxford, UK) for the 18 th International Conference on Patristic Studies. Created in 1951, this conference meets every four years and assembles hundreds of scholars from Europe, North America, Australia, Russia and other countries who present papers and communications on various aspects of the study of the Fathers of the Church. This year, aside from a few plenary papers, the conference featured more than five hundred scholarly communications and more than three hundred workshop papers. The conference traditionally includes many Orthodox participants, including the faculty members of Orthodox seminaries.

Rev. Demetrios Harper, Ph.D, is Holy Trinity Seminary's newest faculty member, hired as Assistant Professor of Church History and Moral Theology. Although occupying that position, Fr. Demetrios' talents are much more far-reaching, including Byzantine & contemporary philosophy, patristics and dogmatics. Therefore, the Holy Trinity community is thankful to God for this addition.

On Saturday, September 28 and Sunday September 29, with the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Luke, and at the invitation of Fr Valery Sukholobov, parish rector, the seminary choir, under the direction of Fr. Deacon Nicholas Kotar, sang the responses for the divine services at Our Lady "Joy of All Who Sorrow" parish in Philadelphia, PA.

The 2019-20 academic year opened at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary with a series of events during the first two weeks in September.

This Saturday, September 28 and Sunday September 29, with the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Luke, and at the invitation of Fr Valery Sukholobov, parish rector, the seminary choir, under the direction of Fr. Deacon Nicholas Kotar, will sing the responses for the divine services at Our Lady "Joy of All Who Sorrow" parish in Philadelphia, PA.

The 2019-20 academic year opened at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary with a series of events during the first two weeks in September.

From June 18th to the 19th, 2019 Deacon Andrei Psarev, Associate Professor of Canon Law and Russian Church History at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, participated in two sessions of the Inter-Council Assembly held in Moscow. An Inter-Council Assembly was founded in 2009 to develop position papers on a wide range of topics from the participation of the faithful in the Eucharist to the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception.

Nicolas Schidlovsky, PhD, began his tenure as the new Dean of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary on August 15, succeeding Archpriest Alexander F.C. Webster, PhD, who has retired as Dean and Professor of Moral Theology (See his profile in a previous posting.)

Nicolas Schidlovsky, PhD, began his tenure as the new Dean of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary on August 15, succeeding Archpriest Alexander F.C. Webster, PhD, who has retired as Dean and Professor of Moral Theology (See his profile in a previous posting.)

After two whirlwind years as Dean of Holy Trinity Seminary, Archpriest Alexander F. C. Webster, PhD, has retired and returned to his home and family in Virginia. During the annual Commencement exercises on June 2, the Seminary’s Faculty Council bestowed upon Fr. Alexander the title of Dean and Professor of Moral Theology Emeritus effective August 15, 2019.

Seminary Rector, His Grace, Bishop Luke, the Seminary Dean, Archpriest Alexander FC Webster, and the Seminary Director of Admissions & Registrar, Priest Ephraim Willmarth joined the liturgical weekend at St Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, NJ, on June 27-28, that also marked the conclusion of the “Summer Academy” of the PaTRAM (Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music) organization.

Seminary Rector, His Grace, Bishop Luke, the Seminary Dean, Archpriest Alexander FC Webster, and the Seminary Director of Admissions & Registrar, Priest Ephraim Willmarth joined the liturgical weekend at St Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, NJ, on June 27-28, that also marked the conclusion of the “Summer Academy” of the PaTRAM (Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music) organization.

In a meeting of the Episcopal Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which took place June 14/27, 2019, heard: a short report of Archbishop Gabriel about the current situation in Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville and in the seminary situated there.

It was decided:

1) To confirm as dean of the main theological school of the Russian Church Abroad N. G. Schidlovsky, elected by the Council of Trustees of the Holy Trinity Spiritual Seminary.

2) To call upon the parish priests of the parishes of the North American dioceses to buy candles from the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, pointing out the difficult financial situation of this monastery.

Professor Nicolas Schidlovsky, M.F.A., Ph.D., traveled from Princeton, New Jersey, on May 15 to present a public lecture in Seminary Hall to the Seminary’s students, faculty, and administration, as well as the monastics and members of the local community.

The Commencement exercises began after a Hierarchal Liturgy, celebrated by Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and His Grace Bishop Luke (Murianka) of Syracuse. After a procession of all Seminary administrators, faculty in residence, seminarians, and the bishops from the Monastery to the Cathedral, the clergy offered a moleben in thanksgiving for the Seminary's successes and in supplication for divine blessings on all those who help to perpetuate the institution.

The two-day celebration of Pentecost and Holy Spirit Day at Holy Trinity Seminary & Monastery on June 15-17 (see the Holy Trinity Monastery website for liturgical details) included significant personal moments for one current seminarians and two alumni. 

The two-day celebration of Pentecost and Holy Spirit Day at Holy Trinity Seminary & Monastery on June 15-17 (see the Holy Trinity Monastery website for liturgical details) included significant personal moments for one current seminarian and two alumni.  

With God's grace, Holy Trinity Seminary had the joy of graduating three seminarians in the Class of 2019:

Milan Dragisic- Valedictorian
Milos Bozic
Dragan Vujicic

The 2019 commencement at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary will take place this Sunday, June 2, 2019

May 25, 2019 marked the one-year anniversary of the repose of Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov, the beloved pastor of St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, NJ.

May 25, 2019, marked the one-year anniversary of the repose of Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov, the beloved pastor of St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, NJ.

An enthusiastic amateur historian from Michigan, Andrei Alekseevich Lyubimov, began compiling in 1996 an annotated database of the departed who are buried in the cemeteries of Holy Trinity Monastery.  The results of his research were published in the journal Letopis’ Russkogo zarhubezh’ia (no. 2, 1996 and no. 3 for 1997). ...Each video is accompanied by a reference to the book, Dzhordanvil’skii nekropol’, and may be viewed here: http://www.rocorstudies. org/jordanville/.

Christ is Risen! Христосъ воскресе!

With God's grace, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary has celebrated another glorious and joyous Pascha, this year for the first time with His Grace Bishop Luke (Murianka) officiating as a bishop!

Christ is Risen! Христосъ воскресе!

With God's grace, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary has celebrated another glorious and joyous Pascha, this year for the first time with His Grace Bishop Luke (Murianka) officiating as a bishop!

The exhibition “Last Days of the Last Tsar” at Jordanville’s Russian History Museum closes in less than a month. The exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the tragic death of Tsar Martyr Nicholas II and his family. We encourage you to visit the “Last Days of the Last Tsar,” which has been extended until May 17 due to popular demand.

Grateful for the profound, consistent, ongoing financial support of the Seminary by the Lukianov Family Foundation, including full funding of Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov Scholarships and providing additional financial support as needed, the Rector and Dean of the Seminary are pleased to announce that, on Saturday, May 18, 2019, the main hall in the Dean Nicholas N. Alexandrov Seminary Building will be named the “Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov Hall” in perpetuity.

On March 14/27, 2019, 'The Divine and Holy Liturgy of St Gregory the Dialogist', more commonly known today as the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts, was celebrated by His Grace, Bishop Luke of Syracuse, in the Dormition (cemetery) Chapel at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY.

With Bishop Luke, Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary and abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery presiding and offering all prayers, distinguished Orthodox clergy and scholars from across the country gathered at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary from March 7 to March 9.

On behalf of our seminarians, faculty, and administration, I would like to thank each and every donor for your contribution, no matter the amount, to our fall/winter fundraiser, which concluded on 2/28/19.... - Bishop Luke (Murianka), Rector

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary invites applications for the position of an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology for a two-year appointment, beginning September 1, 2019, with a possibility of renewal, depending on the results of an annual review.  ...The review of applications will proceed as the applications are received.  Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is accredited by the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York with the Absolute Charter granted in 1962.

On the seminary’s patronal Feast of the Three Hierarchs (SS. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom) our rector, Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), was elevated to the dignity of the episcopate and consecrated as the Bishop of Syracuse, Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese.

On the seminary’s patronal Feast of the 3 Hierarchs; Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, our rector, Archimandrite Luke  (Murianka) was elevated to the dignity of the episcopate, and consecrated as the Bishop of Syracuse, Vicar of the President of  the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR. On Monday evening, February 11th, the eve of this feast, Our First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America & New York led the Rite of Nomination. Participating in these joyous services as co-consecrators were His Eminence, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye & Melitopol, His Eminence, Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal & Canada, and His Grace, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan.

The Seminary community congratulates Deacon Andrei Psarev for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation (“thesis” in Europe) titled, Chasing Canon 15 of the First and Second Council in Constantinople (861): A Study of the Limits of Communion in the Byzantine Church (861- c.1350), on November 21, 2018, at Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

A generous benefactor has, with God’s help, just pledged a dollar for dollar match until February 28. Just prior to this, we have surpassed the $100,000 mark, and are now 2/3 of the way to our goal of raising $150,000. Any monies donated to HTOS between now and February 28th will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $25,000.
Please spread the word and help us achieve our goal by raising an additional $25,000 over the course of the next six weeks. For those who have already contributed to this campaign, thank you once again for your generosity and continuing support, and may God bless each of you in this new year!”

On December 28, 2018, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church made the following decision regarding the election of Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) as Bishop of Syracuse of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia:

We are grieved to announce the sudden repose of HTOS Alumnus (1998) and beloved professor Dmitry Pavlovich Anashkin on Thursday Dec. 27, 2018.  Dmitry Pavlovich died in his home of a sudden stroke in a Pushkino, a suburb of Moscow.  He is survived by his father Pavel, and his wife Irina. Please offer your prayerful support.  Dmitry Pavlovich taught Russian History, Byzantine History, and Church History.  A Facebook group has been established "to preserve memories of the great character and scholar..." https://www.facebook.com/groups/1930965326958973/

The Seminary choir travelled to Lakewood, NJ, during the weekend of December 15-16, with the blessing of Archimandrite Luke, Rector, and at the invitation of Mitred Archpriest Serge Lukianov, Dean of St Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral. The choir sang the responses for both the Hierarchal All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy under the direction of Deacon Nicholas Kotar, Seminary Choir Director and Lecturer in Church Music. Priest Ephraim Willmarth, Director of Admissions and Asst. Dean, and Deacon Michael Pavuk, Director of Development, led the delegation, which was accompanied by Hieromonk Felipe (Balingit), a first-year student in the Seminary’s new Master of Divinity degree program.

We left a dark and snowy Jordanville early in the morning to begin what would appear to the outside observer to be the most unlikeliest of journeys: one to the New York/New Jersey area to gain a greater understanding of the long history of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary invites applications for the position of the Dean of the Seminary, for a three-year term to begin on August 15, 2019, following the retirement of the current Dean, Archpriest Alexander F. C. Webster, Ph.D.

Deacon Photie Erdman became the first student in the new Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program to be ordained to the Holy Priesthood on Sunday, November 4, 2018. A poignant sign of divine providence, Father Photie’s ordination corresponded with the visit to Jordanville of the Wonderworking Myrrh-Streaming Iveron Icon from Hawaii.

This lecture is presented in conjunction with the Russian History Museum’s current exhibition, Last Days of the Last Tsar.

Discover the fascinating story of a long-lost album containing remarkable photographs of Russia’s last imperial family. Coming to light during the filming of “Antiques Roadshow” in Wales, the 66 photographs in the Lintern Archive show Tsar Nicholas II and his family before the revolution and their life in exile in the Siberian city of Tobolsk. Many of the images have never been published and are new to scholars.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary welcomes two new faculty members who began teaching for this fall semester of 2018.

Fr John Boddecker is the part time Lecturer in Old Testament.

Miss Elizabeth Purdy has replaced Dr Elena Nelson, who has taken a fellowship position in Moscow, Russia, as the full time Instructor of Russian and Church Slavonic.

The entire community at HTOS welcomes Fr John and Miss Purdy.

The Seminary building has, for many years, been named in honor of the first dean, Nicholas N. Alexandrov. In the coming months, a ceremony will be scheduled to name the main hall as ‘The Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov Hall’.

On September 10, 2018, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary celebrated its Second Annual Fall Convocation as well as its 71st year of operation. The entire student body and all available faculty gathered together to launch the new school year and meet together for the first time. The sense of collegiality and fellowship resonated among all present.

It is with tremendous gratitude and joy that we announce that on Friday, August 24, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary successfully reached our most recent fundraising goal of $50,000 to fund 5 scholarships for our new Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree program.

An exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of the Holy Royal Martyr Tsar Nicholas II and his family opened on July 17, 2018, at the Russian History Museum housed in the Dean Nicholas N. Alexandrov Seminary building, co-located with Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. 

The three-week Summer Youth Program completed its most successful year at Holy Trinity Monastery on July 15. Twenty high school students from 15 to 18 years of age, the largest group in the camp's history, gathered from across the United States and Canada to experience a unique schedule of daily liturgies, lectures, work alongside the monastics, nightly reflections, and recreational activities in beautiful, rural upstate New York.

Archpriest Alexander F. C. Webster, PhD, Dean and Professor of Moral Theology at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, offered a multimedia presentation at the inaugural Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute (PaTRAM) “Summer Academy” for church choir conductors and singers. The conference sessions were hosted for four days on the campus of the Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ.

On June 3, 2018, the Sunday of All Saints, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2018.  The graduating class included six seminarians who received the degree of Bachelor of Theology and two recipients of the Certificate of Theological Studies.

Text from the article on the EA Diocese website: On Friday, May 25, the leave-taking of the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, senior-most cleric of the Russian Church Abroad, Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov, reposed in the Lord. Fr. Valery’s clerical service spanned 55 years. In the course of his service to the church, Fr. Valery designed and oversaw the construction of the magnificent St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell, NJ where he served as rector for many years.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary's 2018 commencement will take place on the Sunday of All Saints, June 3. The day will begin at 9am with the entrance of his Grace, Bishop Jerome followed by Hierarchal Divine Liturgy. After lunch, commencement will begin at 2pm with a procession to the monastery cathedral for a molebien of Thanksgiving, followed by the academic procession to the main hall in the Dean Nicholas N Alexandrov Seminary Building for the commencement exercises themselves, which will be followed by a reception for those in attendance. This year's commencement speaker will be Reverend Fr Patrick Viscuso.

Once again, five seminarians (Milos Bozic, Milan Dragisic, George Luimes, Dragan Vujicic, Christian Watts) represented Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (HTOS) at the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) hosted by St. Tikhon's Seminary during the weekend of May 11-13.  Promoting congeniality and fellowship, this event brings together students from all Orthodox jurisdictions to "commune from a single chalice," as fourth-year HTS seminarian George Luimes describes the spirit of his experience.

As the culmination of their first or second year at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (HTOS), students Ivan Gryaznov, Mykola Ivanchuk, Evan Nalitov, James Racz, and Lazarus Sparandera, accompanied by two professors, Deacon Andrei Psarev and Dr. Vitaly Permiakov, drove four hours to New York City on Friday May 11, for Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary's annual field trip. Always an eagerly anticipated excursion, this trip not only supplements our Seminary's history courses with a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but also extends our spiritual mission through an evening with Bishop Nicholas.

Deacon Michael Pavuk, Director of Development, traveled to the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign on April 26 for a presentation to the Synod of Bishops on the “State of the Seminary” on behalf of the Board of Trustees, Administration, Faculty, and students of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville.

The HTOS choir traveled to Holy Trinity Cathedral, Toronto, on the weekend of April 21-22, 2018, at the invitation of the Cathedral’s rector, Mitred Archpriest Vladimir Malchenko, cathedral rector and with the blessing of Archimandrite Luke, Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary.

Jorge Luque Martin, our 2nd year seminarian from Spain, is dealing with an aggressive form of cancer. Please consider donating by following this link to his GoFundMe page.

The HTOS choir, with the blessing of Archimandrite Luke, Rector, will travel to Holy Trinity Cathedral, Toronto, on the weekend of April 21-22, 2018. Mitred Archpriest Vladimir Malchenko, cathedral rector, has invited our choir to sing the responses for the All Night Vigil on Saturday evening and at the Divine Liturgy on the 3rd Sunday of Pascha commemorating the Myrrh-bearing Women.  Deacon Nicholas Kotar, Seminary lecturer in church music and director of the Monastery / Seminary Choir, will lead the musical responses.  Accompanying the choir will be Priest Ephraim Willmarth, Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions, and Deacon Michael Pavuk, Director of Development, both of whom will sing with the choir.

... Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, New York, will, by the grace of God the Holy Trinity and the approval of the New York State Board of Regents, begin a new Master of Divinity degree in Fall 2018...

The Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) is the standard graduate professional degree for clergy in North America. It entails a rigorous, advanced, comprehensive, full-time three-year course of study in the various theological and pastoral fields for students who already hold a bachelor’s degree. Our M.Div. degree curriculum will also include four 1-credit “field education” practica where seminarians can learn how to apply their theological knowledge and newly acquired pastoral skills in practical ministry settings including parishes, college campus ministry, prison ministry, humanitarian service, evangelism, and public moral witness...

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary invites applications for the position of an Assistant Professor of Church History for a two-year appointment, beginning January 1, 2019, with a possibility of renewal, depending on the results of an annual review. ...The successful candidate will be expected to teach to teach both the survey and elective courses in the history of the Orthodox Church in the new HTOS Master of Divinity program. The expected teaching load will be 2-3 courses per semester. The appointed professor is expected to possess broad knowledge of early, Byzantine, and Orthodox Church history in the modern era, as well as the history of Orthodoxy in North America and the history of the Western Church before the Schism of 1054 AD, and of the Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations. A completed Ph.D. in the field of his or her teaching is required for consideration. 

An early Pascha and an unusually long winter combined this year to frame a snow-white Paschal celebration.

Beginning with Great and Holy Thursday's foot-washing service conducted by our Rector, Archimandrite Luke, the final days of Lent were filled with liturgical services, including Passion Matins (with the readings of the Twelve Gospels), Royal Hours, Great Friday Vespers (with the procession with the Holy Winding Sheet), Holy Saturday Lamentations at 2:00 a.m., the reading of the entire New Testament book of Acts of the Apostles on Holy Saturday evening followed by Midnight Office. Since heavy snow fell as a backdrop to these services, monks were clearing the snow as priests, other monastics, seminarians, and the faithful were processing around the Church for the 2:00 a.m. Lamentations!

To link the beginning with the end, Holy Saturday 2018 marked the rare correspondence of the Great Feast of the Annunciation with Holy Saturday, a juxtaposition inspiring mystical contemplation of the beginning of the Son of God’s economy of salvation in the womb of the Theotokos and the culmination of His earthly ministry His death on the Cross and Resurrection from the tomb.

The wintry weather made a poignant ending to Great Lent and a delightful Pasha!

After the rigors of Passion Week with its intense but prayerful focus on the sacrifice of Christ, Pascha broke forth into joyful triumph at precisely midnight on April 7. Following the procession around the church, we celebrated the Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy for the Feast of Feasts, proclaiming “Hristos Voskrese!” and “Christ is risen,” and singing the Paschal troparion repeatedly. The Pascal breakfast that followed around 4:30 a.m. was festively complete with kulich, holodetz, and cheese paskha.

We thank the Risen Christ, and we thank you, our supporters, during this Bright Week!  

Hristos Voskrese!  Christ is Risen!  Christos Anesti!

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the repose of our beloved Met. Laurus (Škurla), clergy from across the United States and Canada joined Bishop Nicholas at Holy Trinity on Friday, March 16, 2018, for a Hierarchal Presanctified Liturgy & Pannikhida.

After the Liturgy, monastics, clergy, seminarians, and guests continued the commemoration with a shellfish feast in the trapeza. That special, festive meal was followed by a two-hour Pannikhida in the cathedral.

A decade ago, Vladyka Laurus reposed on the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, a symbol of his life-long struggle to preserve the true faith while maintaining harmony within the Church. That difficult and delicate work culminated with his successful efforts to bring ROCOR back into communion with the Moscow Patriarchate through the Act of Canonical Communion, which he and Patriarch Alexei II signed in Moscow.

Vladyka Laurus served as dean of our Seminary, as well as the First Hierarch of ROCOR and the abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery. In fact, he was so beloved by the students that a majority of the clergy who came to Jordanville for the weekend's festivities are Seminary alumni, ranging from the class of 1964 to the class of 2014.

Click here to read reflections on the life of Met. Laurus

Christ is in our midst!
 
I am delighted to announce that Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, New York, has met our goal of raising a record $91,000 in contributions to our Giving Tuesday campaign! 

The Seminary choir travelled to Washington, DC, during the first weekend in March, with the blessing of Archimandrite Luke, Rector, and at the invitation of Mitred Archpriest Victor Potapov, Rector of St John the Baptist Cathedral in DC. The choir sang the responses during both the English and Church Slavonic Divine Liturgies under the direction of Deacon Nicholas Kotar, Seminary Choir Director and Lecturer in Church Music. Priest Ephraim Willmarth, Asst. Dean and Director of Admissions, and Deacon Michael Pavuk, Director of Development, led the delegation, which was accompanied by Dr. Vitaly Permiakov, Asst. Professor of Dogmatic and Liturgical Theology.

Elena Nelson’s recent book, Tradition and Innovation in Russian Church Slavonic Hymnography, was published by Academica Press in November 2017. The publisher designated it a Featured Book.  

A delegation from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (HTOS) traveled to St Basil’s Orthodox Church (OCA) on February 25 to participate in a Pan-Orthodox Vespers to commemorate the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The delegation was led by Archpriest Alexander F. C. Webster, Dean and Professor of Moral Theology.

Following Russian tradition, monastics, faculty, seminarians, and staff began their Lenten purgation with an intensive week saturated with between 9 and 10 hours of church services each day, including Midnight Office, Matins, a Panikhida for all the names submitted to the Monastery for memorials, the four Canonical Hours, Vespers, Typica, and Great Compline with the Canon of St. Andrew, spiritual readings and councils.

The HTOS choir, with the blessing of Archmandrite Luke, Rector, will travel to St John the Baptist Cathedral, Washington, DC, on the weekend of March 3-4, 2018. Mitred Archpriest Victor Patapov, cathedral rector, has invited our choir to join the cathedral’s choir at the bi-lingual All Night Vigil on Saturday evening and invited our seminary choir to sing the responses at the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil on the second Sunday of the Great Fast commemorating our Father among the Saints, Gregory of Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica.  Deacon Nicholas Kotar, seminary choir director and lecturer in Church Music, will lead the Seminary Choir at both the English and Church Slavonic Divine Liturgies. Accompanying the choir will be Deacon Michael Pavuk, Director of Development, who will assist the cathedral clergy at the services and speak to the faithful on behalf of the Seminary.

With the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Basil (Essey), Deacon Michael Pavuk, the Seminary’s Director of Development traveled to Wichita Kansas in mid-February to address the attendees at the clergy retreat of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid America of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.

With God's grace, the help of our generous benefactors, and the diligence of our faculty and staff, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary was once again blessed to celebrate our patronal feast day of the Three Hierarchs: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. On February 11 and 12, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, the monastic community, the seminarians, faculty, staff, and friends gathered to praise God the Holy Trinity, honor those great saints of the fourth century, and extol the virtues of the Seminary.

On February 26, 2018, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary will host a presentation titled, “The Many Hats of Alyona Kojevnikova: Reflections on Russian Orthodox Life Around the World”. The presentation was arranged and will be moderated by Rev Deacon Andrei Psarev, Assistant Professor of Canon Law and Russian Church History at HTOS and editor of the ROCOR Studies website.  Ms Kojevnikova’s biography may be found at

http://www.rocorstudies.org/ 2014/08/17/invariably-the- russianness-is-going-to- dissipate-with-every- congregation/

This event will be live-streamed on both the HTOS and ROCOR Studies Facebook pages, and a Q & A will follow. Please join us for this unusual presentation.

At 5:00 pm on Sunday, February 25, 2018, the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary Choir, directed by Deacon Nicholas Kotar, will sing the responses at the Pan-Orthodox "Lenten Mission" Vespers for the Albany, NY, area hosted by St Basil’s Russian Orthodox Church (OCA) in Watervliet, NY.  Archpriest Alexander F.C. Webster, Ph.D., Seminary Dean and Professor of Moral Theology, will lead the HTOS delegation and preach the homily.  Deacon Michael Pavuk, Director of Development, will accompany the delegation. The entire free-will offering will be donated to the Seminary fund. We thank the host rector, Archpriest Peter Olsen, and Priest Matthew Markewich, Rector of Christ the Savior Orthodox Church (OCA), Ballston Lake, NY, for coordinating the even and extending the invitations.

Deacon Michael Pavuk, HTOS Director of Development, brought the Jordanville Pochaev Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, with the blessing of Archimandrite Luke and at the invitation of Archpriest Serge Lukianov, Rector, to the parish of the New Martyrs & Confessors of Russia on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, for their patronal feast, which occurred this year on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son.

WASHINGTON — Fifty-six Orthodox Christian clergymen and lay leaders, including the heads of two leading Orthodox seminaries in the U.S., have issued a public statement calling on church leaders to defend Orthodox teaching on the creation and calling of man as male and female by opposing the appointment of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church.

On Tuesday, December 27/January 9, 2018, the third day of the Feast of the Nativity of our Savior Jesus Christ and the Feast of the Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen, Bishop Nicholas (Olhovsky) of Manhattan paid an Archpastoral visit to Holy Trinity Monastery & Seminary.

On the weekend of December 16-17, 2017, the Feast Day of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, a large delegation from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, Jordanville, NY, traveled to St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell, NJ, to honor Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

Fr. Deacon Andrei Psarev (Ph.D. Cand.), Holy Trinity Seminary's Assistant Professor of Russian History and Canon Law, traveled to Moscow again in October to share his academic research to local churches and conferences in the region.

The annual St. Herman’s Youth Conference began on Saturday, December 23, at Holy Dormition “New Divievo” Convent in Nanuet, NY, with a molieben, followed by a greeting from Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada.  His Eminence called attention to the two major commemorations in 2017: (1) the tenth anniversary of the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church, and (2) the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in Russia and the subsequent election of St. Tikhon (Bellavin) as the first Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia after more than 200 years.

Born in 1929 in Hilar (Manchuria), Archpriest Alvian Smirensky reposed in the Lord last Sunday, December 10, 2017. Amazingly, Fr. Alvian was joined in his departure by his Matushka Helen.

Schema-Archdeacon Ambrose, who graduated from Holy Trinity Seminary in 1982 and fell-asleep-in-the-Lord in San Francisco on Sunday, November 26, was buried in the Monastery cemetery on Friday, December 1.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary has not only preserved the spirit of Russian Orthodoxy but has been optimizing its ability to offer "Traditional Orthodoxy for the 21st Century" unapologetically and effectively to a world that so desperately needs it. Therefore, on this Giving Tuesday (11/28/ 2017), we ask for your generous assistance as we continue to provide rigorous training for the future leaders of the Church and to improve the quality of that education.

With your support, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary has not only preserved the spirit of Russian Orthodoxy but has been optimizing its ability to offer "Traditional Orthodoxy for the 21st Century" unapologetically and effectively to a world that so desperately needs it. Therefore, on this Giving Tuesday (11/28/2017), we ask for your generous assistance as we continue to provide rigorous training for the future leaders of the Church and to improve the quality of that education.

In the early hours of the morning of Sunday November 13/26, on the day of commemoration of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom Archbishop of Constantinople, after an enduring and trying illness the long-standing cleric of the Diocesan Cathedral in honor of Her Icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Schema-Archdeacon Ambrose (Taratuchin) reposed in the Lord.

November 18, 2017 marked the 100-year anniversary of St. Tikhon's elevation to Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. Thus we remember the saint whose meekness and humility earned him the love and devotion of all. On that day 100 years ago, St. Tikhon (Bellavin) quoted the scroll eaten by the Prophet Ezekiel, on which was written "lamentations, mourning, and woe" (2:10).

Some Orthodox Christians today are trying to re-institute the ancient Church order of “deaconess,” despite the uneven history of that female office in the Church, as well as that of the male diaconate.

Deacon Andrei Psarev’s public lecture in Seminary Hall on Thursday, November 9, 2017, titled “The Inter-Council Presence: The Patriarch of Moscow's ‘Think Tank,’” generated vigorous discussion on a wide range of questions.  

On Wednesday, November 08, 2017, at 5:30 EST, Mitred Archpriest Wsewolod Drobot (HTOS 1965) reposed in the Lord. Fr. Wsewolod was the retired rector of the Nativity of the Mother of God parish in Albany, NY, and presided as the new church building was completed.  Fr. Wsewolod was born on April 1, 1930 in Zaporozhiye, Ukraine.  He was a clergyman for 57 years from the time of his ordination to the diaconate.  He was a graduate of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and lived in a house near the monastery with his family.  Predeceased by his matushka Nadezhda in 2015, Fr. Wsewolod is survived by their seven children and seven grandchildren.  May God grant Fr. Wsewolod the Heavenly Kingdom!

Today, when the Holy Church commemorates the memory of the Holy Apostle James, Brother of the Lord in the flesh, as has been customary in the monastery, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was concelebrated by the monastery and seminary clergy.

The Inter-Council Presence (ICP) is a permanent consulting body whose members have been appointed by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow to draft and discuss position papers on diverse aspects of theology and praxis. Conventional wisdom suggests that Orthodox Christians in the "First World" have little to learn about the organization of Church life from the Orthodox in Russia. Explaining the history, structure, and significance of ICP, Fr. Andrei challenges the triumphalist myth of the superiority of the Orthodox in the Wwest over their Russian counterparts. 

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Director of Development.  Rev. Deacon Michael Pavuk will officially begin his service to the Seminary on November 1, 2017.  The Director of Development is in charge of the overall fundraising plan and coordinates all aspects of fundraising, particularly major gifts and planned giving, and public relations efforts at HTOS.

The Myrrh-Streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon will be visiting Holy Trinity Monastery from the night of October 25th until October 30th, 2017. The icon's arrival accompanies the clergy conference of the Eastern-American diocese. The greeting of the icon will take place at 5:00pm on the Wednesday night of the 25th, just prior to the hierarchical All-Night Vigil at 7:00pm. The icon will also be in the main chapel for Thursday morning's hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 9:00am as well as Friday morning's 6:00am Divine Liturgy. At 9:00am that morning, the icon will be brought to St. Elizabeth Skete down the road from the monastery for a moleben with akathist service. On Saturday the 28th, there will be a pannikhida for Br. Jose at the cemetery at 3:30pm, and then a hierarchical All-Night Vigil in the main chapel at 7:00pm. The next morning, the hierarchical Liturgy will begin at 9:00am. A final pannikhida will be held for Br. Jose that afternoon at 3:00pm, and the icon will stay at the monastery for one last liturgy the next morning at 6:00am before its scheduled departure at 11:00am of the 30th of October, 2017.

From the Western American Diocese: "On the 24^th of June, 2017, Archpriest Mark Gomez, a beloved cleric and spiritual father of the Western American Diocese, peacefully reposed in the Lord."

Some Orthodox Christians today are trying to re-institute the ancient Church order of “deaconesses,” despite the uneven history of that female office in the Church, as well as that of the male diaconate. Protodeacon Patrick Mitchell surveys the Church’s early experience of both male and female “deacons” and concludes that they were never the same order, that the female order was inherently problematic for the Church because it appeared to elevate women over men, and that the “ordination” of women as deaconesses made less and less sense as the Church’s understanding of holy orders evolved. That explains why much of the Orthodox Church never had deaconesses, and why even those segments of the Church in antiquity and in the Byzantine era where they did serve eventually abandoned the order.

On Monday, October 9, at 5pm in the Seminary Hall, a film on the life and struggles of Archimandrite Antonine Kapustin will be shown.  Archimandrite Antonine is largely responsible for acquiring the properties held now by the Russian Mission in the Holy Land. The film is in Russian.

Traditionally, the Seminary’s academic year has commenced with the Divine Liturgy, followed by a molebin and a talk (beseda) by the HTOS Rector, currently V. Rev. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka).  This year, building upon our legacy, HTOS’ new dean, the V. Rev. Archpriest Alexander Webster, organized a more robust and definite beginning to the academic year with a convocation in Holy Trinity's mode of celebration. Thus, on the first day of classes, the entire Seminary administration, a number of faculty, and all students gathered in the Seminary Hall for presentations and fellowship.

Traditionally, the Seminary’s academic year has commenced with the Divine Liturgy, followed by a molebin and a talk (beseda) by the HTOS Rector, currently V. Rev. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka).  This year, building upon our legacy, HTOS’ new dean, the V. Rev. Archpriest Alexander Webster, organized a more robust and definite beginning to the academic year with a convocation in Holy Trinity's mode of celebration. Thus, on the first day of classes, the entire Seminary administration, a number of faculty, and all students gathered in the Seminary Hall for presentations and fellowship.

Holy Trinity Seminary graduate, Nathan Williams (HTOS 2005), was ordained to the priesthood on September 10, 2017, the feast day of St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Richmond, Maine.

In the 91^st year of his life, Subdeacon Evgenii Iosifovich Klar reposed in the Lord, surrounded by his family, at home in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he lived with his wife, Lidia Mikhailovna, after retiring from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in 2005.

With God's grace, this year's Summer Youth Program has been the most successful yet, having grown to accommodate 20 pious Orthodox high schoolers. For three weeks, these young men participated in the rigorous Church life of the monastery, attended daily lectures and spiritual reflections, and engaged in recreational activities around the monastery and in the nearby communities. After this intensive regimen, everyone inevitably comes out transformed.

With God's grace, this year's Summer Youth Program has been the most successful yet, having grown to accommodate 20 pious Orthodox high schoolers. For three weeks, these young men participated in the rigorous Church life of the monastery, attended daily lectures and spiritual reflections, and engaged in recreational activities around the monastery and in the nearby communities. After this intensive regimen, everyone inevitably comes out transformed.

With God's grace, another school year has been successfully completed. This Sunday, May 28, 2017, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary celebrated its 69th Annual Commencement with a Service of Thanksgiving, commencement exercises, and a reception. We graduated six students, four receiving honors ranging from cum laude to summa cum laude.

Along with opening and closing remarks by the Rector and Abbot Archimandrite Luke, the Most Revered Irenei (Steenberg), bishop of Sacramento, provided the commencement address. A newly elevated bishop of the Western American Dioceses with a doctorate from Oxford in Patristics and experience in higher education, he delivered a very powerful speech about how to bring the light of Christ into the world after receiving a theological education.

The Rector, the Board of Trustees, and the Faculty of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary are glad to announce that the Commencement Exercises for the HTOS Class of 2017 will take place on Sunday, May 28, 2017. The celebrations will begin with the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 9 a.m., presided by His Grace, Bishop Irenei.

On May 3, 2017, at a regular session of the Synod of Bishops, V. Rev. Archpriest Alexander Webster was confirmed by the Synod as dean of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, having been nominated by the Board of Trustees of HTOS. 

On March 11, 2017 Assistant Professor of Canon Law and Russian Church History, Deacon Andrei Psarev concelebrated at the All-Night Vigil with Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, rector of the Church of the the Renewal of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem  (in the Briusov Pereulok) in Moscow, in the church’s main side chapel, and at the Divine Liturgy on the following day.  This was followed by a talk in the parish house on Pivotal Points in History of the Russian Church Outside Russia accompanied by infographics.  Fr. Nikolai, formerly secretary of the Commission on the Restoration of Unity in the Russian Church, added to the talk with living recollections of the process of restoring relations, of which he was a direct participant.  This was already the third appearance by Deacon Andrei before the hospitable parish family of the Voskresenie Slovushchego Church na Uspenskom vrazhke over the past year.

The planned alumni reunion from May 2-4 will l be postponed on account of the time and resources applied to the accreditation effort.  HTOS, in conjuction with Alumni President Mitered Archpriest Stefan Pavlenko, is considering dates in early October.  This would allow alumni to become acquainted with HTOS' newly-appointed dean of the Seminary.

Details are forthcoming.

On the fifth Sunday of Great Lent (April 2-3, 2017), HTOS students of Russian Church History went on their annual field trip to the Church of the Nativity, an Old Rite parish in Erie, PA. An interesting and vibrant blend of old and new, this parish is unique in its almost exclusive use of English while simultaneously preserving the precise rituals of the Russian Church prior to Patriarch Nikon’s reforms in the 17th century. In 1983 under the direction of Archpriest Pimen Simon, this group of Old Believers, a movement usually considered radically isolationist,opened itself to the full life of the Church when it was received into the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The community also recognized a pastoral need to make use of the English language in its services.  This parish has received American converts also.

After a six-hour van ride, the seminary group reached the parish and was immediately impressed by its location overlooking Lake Erie. On time for the Saturday all-night vigil, the seminarians were able to fully immerse themselves in the various peculiarities of the Old Ritualists’ liturgical style- an experience facilitated by the fact that this evening service is 4 hours long! Following the service, the rector opened his home to the group, offering dinner and answering students’ questions. On the following morning, Deacon Andrei Psarev concelebrated with Fr. Pimen and local clergy, and the seminarians served in the sanctuary.

Among the differences between the Old Ritualists and the contemporary Russian Church Outside of Russia, some were primarily cultural, as illustrated by the traditional Russian clothing worn by the men in the choir and by the prayer rugs (podruchnik) used when the faithful prostrate themselves (there are prostrations on Sunday in the Old Rite). Some were important remembrances of the pre-Nikonian practices, such as the two-fingered crossing, the Eucharist received with a spoon given three times, and the two Alleluias sung with the psalmody. Other differences included use of monophonic Znamenny Chant, a commentary accompanying the gospel reading during the matins service, and the 900 prostrations during the Canon of St. Andrew, which had been read on the Wednesday prior to our visit.

After a very edifying time at this Old Rite parish, the seminary group drove home to Holy Trinity Seminary, passing through Niagara Falls to give the students a glimpse at the glory of God’s creation. Archpriest Viatcheslav and Matushka Elizabeth Davidenko from ROCOR Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto joined the group for several hours on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Their son Seth, a third year seminarian, was part of the group, and his parents enhanced our discussions by sharing their wisdom and insights on various topical issues of church life.

Overall the seminarians were enjoyed this trip and through it learned more about the Church and Church traditions.  The visit to Niagara Falls inevitably left those who saw it in awe, giving glory to God for His ineffable wisdom.  The Seminary intends to continue this annual visit for future seminarians to experience this unique parish of ROCOR and its rich traditions of the Old Rite as a part of HTOS’ robust history curriculum, for the Glory of God.

On these last three days of Holy Week, the depth and poignancy of the period descended upon the monastics and seminarians, and a profound spirit of silence and contemplation filled everyone and everything. Beginning with Great and Holy Thursday and the Liturgy of St. Basil that culminated with the foot-washing service, these days were festive with services, including the Matins with the readings of the 12 gospels, Royal Hours, Vespers with the Holy Winding Sheet, 2:00 am Lamentations, the Reading of the Book of Acts, and the Great and Holy Saturday Midnight Office. After being slowly enveloped in the ethos of Holy Week with a complete cycle of Lenten services, everyone was even more moved by the triumphant and joyous arrival  of Pascha at midnight. Truly, Christ’s Resurrection was worthily glorified! Christ is Risen!

To complete the Paschal service, the monastics, seminarians, and all the faithful pilgrims proceeded into the trapeza for the Paschal breakfast. We thank Christ for His saving Resurrection and gathering His faithful for this blessed and Great Feast. We also pray that all our friends have had an equally edifying Lent and Pascha!

Archpriest Peter Heers recently delivered a presentation at the Lenten Clerical Retreat that took place at St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell, New Jersey.  The retreat began on March 20th and ended on March 22nd--the feast of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste. The retreat took place under the aegis of two wonderworking icons--The Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God and the Myrrh Streaming Icon of the Mother of God “Softener of Evil Hearts.” The event was presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion who was also accompanied by Metropolitan Jonah, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, and Bishop Irenei of Sacramento. More on the retreat can be found here:

http://eadiocese.org/news_170322_2.html        

http://eadiocese.org/news_170323_1.html

Fr. Peter Heers is currently the instructor of Old and New Testament at our seminary and his the translator/publisher of many books, some of which include his most recent book The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II and other well known titles such as The Life of Elder Paisios, The Epistles of Elder Paisios, and The Truth of Our Faith.

Fr. Peter Heers, in his presentation, discussed the recent Council of Crete that took place in 2016.  In his Lecture, Fr. Peter Heers addresses the problems that preceded the council and the secrecy surrounding the pre-conciliar text that were released just a few months before the council itself; he also addresses the implications of the decisions and actions of the Council of Crete.

To download a copy of Fr. Peter Heers' speech click here.

This week, Archpriest Alexander Webster of St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church in Virginia gave an edifying lecture to our seminarians entitled “To Think as a Moral Philosopher / To be a Moral Theologian.” A former army chaplain, published author, professor, and priest for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Fr. Webster connected the methodology of philosophy with the content of theology.

He used the words of Christ, St. Paul, and the Church Fathers to develop a concept of absolute morality derived from our final goal (teleological orientation) toward relationship with the Trinity, an ever-deepening journey from glory to glory as we try to love, comprehend, and live with our God. As Christ is the Logos of the universe, His traces are intimately felt in the reasonable order of the world that He created, and as such, we are to read the book of nature to discover the truth within it. To live according to this truth is one way of approaching moral philosophy.

From this foundation, Fr. Webster used philosophical thought puzzles to problematize simple morality with concrete, particular situations when moral solutions are ambiguous. He used the example of the execution of Socrates, who was condemned to death by the laws of the state and compelled to drink poison hemlock. Should he have drunk the hemlock of his own will? Should he have fled? Should he have fought back? Similarly, Fr. Webster invoked the famous moral question of hiding the Jews from Nazis. Should one lie to protect a life? After a lively and engaging debate with the students over these questions, Fr. Webster drew important distinctions within moral choices between motivation, the act itself (the matter/means), and the end.

With this very informative and pastorally-relevant lecture, we thank God to have had such an accomplished speaker spark intellectual curiosity in our seminarians.

Read an article by Fr. Webster by clicking the link: Transfigure or Die Trying

On February 12, Holy Trinity Seminary celebrated its annual patronal feast day of the Three Hierarchs, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom.

Our First Hierarch Metropolitan Hilarion was the main celebrant with his Grace Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan co-celebrating. The seminarians added to the uniqueness of the event by honoring the patron saints of the seminary with Greek reading and chant, which they interspersed with the traditional Russian melodies. The seminarians had been practicing for this liturgical event throughout the year.

After the liturgy, hierarchs, monastics, faculty, staff, seminarians, and visitors reconvened in the Seminary Hall for a reception and to be edified by greetings from the Metropolitan, Bishop Nicholas, and a talk by Holy Trinity's newest faculty member, the Very Reverend Archpriest Peter Heers. Fr. Peter connected the work of the Three Hierarchs to the labors of our seminary, as we are not merely an academic university that reduces existence to rationalizations and facts but a mystagogical institution that uses truth to initiate students into the full mystery of Christ and the Church. Having actualized the fullness of their God-given personhoods, these students, then, have the experience necessary to initiate the world.

This celebration also marked the opening of our new study lounge in the library, giving students a convenient place to work, surrounded by the books they need to assist in their research.

We thank God for His grace as we continue to successfully train seminarians with traditional Orthodox pedagogy, and we pray to the Three Hierarchs for their intercessions! We would also like to thank our benefactors and friends, whose financial assistance and prayer contribute to the success of our institution.

On Friday, February 3rd through Sunday, February 5th the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) held a gathering at Holy Trinity Seminary. OISM is a movement founded to promote greater fellowship between Orthodox seminaries in America, and to give seminarians the opportunity to experience life at their sister schools. Seminarians representing multiple Orthodox jurisdictions travelled to Jordanville from St. Tikhon's Seminary in South Canaan, PA and St. Vladimir's Seminary in Crestwood, NY to join in the event. Throughout the weekend all of the participants took part in the full liturgical cycle of the monastery, thus providing a prayerful context for fellowship. On Saturday morning, after a tour of the Monastery and St. Elizabeth's Skete, a talk was given by Igumen Seraphim Bell, cleric of Holy Trinity Monastery.  He spoke at length of his recent missionary efforts in Nepal, giving many insights into the spiritual and cultural life of the Nepali people. As the first and only Orthodox missionary to Nepal, he said that the time is ripe for Orthodoxy there, and issued a challenge for another missionary to continue the work he began. After lunch another talk was given by Protopresyter Peter Heers about the differences between Orthodox and heterodox approaches to missionary activity. He used the life of Fr. Cosmas of Gregoriou to show the ascetic aspect of mission work which is essential in the Orthodox context. Following the talks an OISM business meeting was held in which the future of OISM was discussed. Christian Watts of Holy Trinity was elected president of OISM, Joseph Clark of St. Tikhon's appointed secretary, and George Luimes of Holy Trinity appointed treasurer. Later in the evening the seminarians enjoyed an informal pizza dinner followed by a lengthy vigil in honor of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee and the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. On Sunday morning after receiving the Mysteries at the Liturgy and one final visit to the bookstore, the guests returned to their respective seminaries.

From January 26-28, 2017, a group of students from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary traveled to Washington D.C. where they met with thousands of people who participated in the annual March for Life. When they arrived in D.C. they were greeted with hospitality from the parish of St. John's Cathedral, where they resided for the evening. The next morning they began the day at the Divine Liturgy with His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen), after which a short meal was served. Then they left to participate in the March. When they arrived at the March, A short molebin was served and then they began to sing hymns and chants as they made their way down the streets of D.C. At the completion of the March they were invited to a delicious dinner hosted by the parishioners St. Nicholas Cathedral.

In January 2017, two Holy Trinity Seminary Professors, Deacon Andrei Psarev and Dr. Elena Nelson, were in Moscow, giving presentations and engaging in professional development. 

At Holy Trinity Seminary, we realize the necessity of travel beyond a classroom. Therefore, in the summer of 2015,students of Byzantine History went to Istanbul in the summer of 2015, and this spring, they joined students of Liturgical Theology to explore Byzantine liturgical art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City.

At its Fall meeting of 2016, the Board of Trustees of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary has resolved to open the search for the vacant position of the Dean of the Seminary, and formed a Search Committee for this purpose, under the chairmanship of the Very Rev. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), Rector of the Seminary.  Please read the announcement below.

On Thursday, October 27th, 2016, Dr Alexis Klimoff, Emeritus Professor of Russian Studies, Vassar College, and one of the foremost experts on Alexander Solzhenitsyn, delivered an illustrated lecture titled "Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Overview of Life, Works and Influence." in the seminary hall.
Dr. Klimoff portrayed the life of Solzhenitsyn and his works in that context.  Of particular mention was how his work "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," which gave a vivid illustration of life in Stalinist prison labor camps, was actually published in the Soviet Union with the express approval of Communist Party Secretary Nikita Krushchev.  The lecture was recorded and is now available for viewing. 

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary welcomes the V. Rev. Protopresbyter Peter Alban Heers as the Assistant Professor of Old and New Testament for the Bachelor of Theology and Certificate in Pastoral Studies programs. 

A native of Texas, Fr. Peter studied theology in Greece, receiving his Doctor of Theology degree from Aristotle University in Thessalonica in 2013.  Fr. Peter has contributed to Orthodox theological and spiritual works through his translations of the writings of Elder (St.) Paisios the Athonite and a monograph, "The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II: An Orthodox Examination of Romes Ecumenical Theology Regarding Baptism and the Church." 

Fr. Peter will begin with the spring 2017 semester at HTOS. 

A message from our Alumni President: Mitered Archpriest Stefan Pavlenko:

Dear HTS Alumni and Friends,

The call for donations was very successful!  It is with great joy and gratitude that I greet all who responded to the call to support our beloved Holy Trinity Seminary.  I also humbly remind everyone to make support for your Alma Mater a part of your regular donation budget as often as you can.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stefan

Dear Friends,

With God's grace and your generosity, we did it! We succeeded in raising $52,789, which becomes $152,789 when all donations up to $50,000 are tripled!

May the Lord reward you a hundredfold for your support of Holy Trinity Seminary. Your gifts help provide the resources necessary for the pastoral and theological formation of the future leaders of our Church. 

From our Alumni President, Mitered Archpriest Stefan Pavlenko:

It is not too late for all Alumni and those who realize the importance of Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville, for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and for Orthodox everywhere, to make a fair share donation on this Giving Tuesday, to ensure that the ideals and traditional manner treasured by our Church is preserved for generations to come! We the Graduates should feel that it is our show of gratitude to this hallowed institution that has given us the Rock of Faith and guides us and our spiritual family to Salvation.

Update: we made it! Thank you all for your incredible generosity!

This year marked the 25^th Anniversary of our Summer School of Liturgical Music, Holy Trinity Seminary's fully-accredited certificate program in liturgical music. Interested participants came from throughout the country to strengthen their musical skills and scholarship in pursuit of the art of directing choirs in the Russian Orthodox Church. They took courses in musicianship, singing, liturgics and Russian music history, learning such chants as Znamenniy and contemporary polyphony. This year's 25^th Anniversary was celebrated with a marvelous gala in Chicago's Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral, where the director of the music program, Archpriest Andre Papkov, serves and functions as dean of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska...

It was so successful that we filled our dormitory with 17 open-minded young men who made a commitment to learn the truths of God and to explore the life of the Church in the setting of Holy Trinity Monastery! There was so much interest that some applicants, unfortunately, had to be turned away. We are hopeful to be able to expand this unique program that incorporates liturgical life, religious education, service to the monastery, and fellowship. We are very excited about this development!...

           Edmund Louis Underwood                                               

                       James Racz

                       Michael Bell

Adding to the musicality of this past summer, Holy Trinity Monastery hosted the First Annual Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music Institute (PaTRAM) Young Singers' Conference to coincide with its Labor Day Pilgrimage of St. Job of Pochaev. This three-day conference focused on two Hierarchical Divine Liturgies under the capable direction of Dr. Peter Jermikov and in conjunction with the combined Holy Trinity Monastery/Seminary choir. For the first time in many years, the antiphons of the Divine Liturgy were sung with two choirs with the mixed youth choir on the left and the Monastery male choir on the right. Participants also had time to enjoy a barbeque and late summer afternoon at the scenic Glimmerglass State Park on Lake Otsego.

From September 21 to 25, 2016 the solemn celebrations took place in Moscow, dedicated to the 1000-year anniversary of Russian monastic presence on Mount Athos. Our Rector and Associate Professor of Patrology, the Very Rev. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), was invited to take part in the celebrations, which included an academic conference, as well as a meeting of all abbots and abbesses of the Russian Church. On September 29, Deacon Andrei Psarev, a member of our faculty, interviewed Fr. Luke in the abbot’s office in Jordanville, asking him to share with our readers his impressions from this solemn event...

On Friday, October 7, Deacon Andrei Psarev, Assistant Professor of Russian Church History and Canon Law at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, presented the results of his doctoral research at the 42nd Annual Byzantine Studies Conference, which took place this year at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY...

HERKIMER, NY - Herkimer County Community College will host a presentation on the traditions and history of Russian Orthodox iconography on Wednesday, September 14 at 5 p.m. in the Cogar Gallery. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Reverend Alexis Duncan of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Colonie, NY will discuss the use of icons in religious worship, the techniques, materials and symbolism employed in icon painting and how the tradition of icon painting has been preserved. The program coincides with "Sacred Images: Icons from Holy Trinty Monastery," an exhibit of Russian Orthodox icons and religious objects currently on display in the Cogar Gallery.

The Cogar Gallery, located in the Robert McLaughlin College Center, is open to the public free of charge, 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday when the College is open. For more information, visit www.herkimer.edu/cogar.

The fall 2016 semester began on the Feast of St. Alexander Nevsky by celebrating the Divine Liturgy and a molebin for the beginning of the school year. HTOS Rector, Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) gave an address to all students and blessed the new students to wear the cassock and belt.

Over 50 Russian Orthodox icons and religious objects from the collection of the Foundation of Russian History and Holy Trinity Monastery will be on display at Herkimer County Community College’s Cogar Gallery. The exhibition Sacred Images: Icons from Holy Trinity Monastery, running from August 12 to September 23, introduces viewers to the art and history of icon painting, the symbolism of icons and their role in Orthodox worship, and various styles and methods of producing icons. It also explores the work of iconographers at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY where traditional icon painting has been practiced for decades.

The exhibition features icons in a variety of media and techniques: painted with egg tempera, cast in metal, carved from wood and mother-of-pearl, painted on enamel, engraved on silver, embroidered, and printed. The icons are supplemented with religious objects – vestments, chalices, liturgical Gospels, and blessing crosses.

A closing reception will be held on Friday, September 23 from 5 to 7 PM. The reception is free and open to the public.

Where: Cogar Gallery, Herkimer County Community College
100 Reservoir Road, Herkimer, NY 13350
When: August 12 – September 23
Hours: Monday–Friday 8am to 5pm
Additional Information: www.foundationrh.org
Admission: Free

Выставка «Священные изображения: Иконы из Свято-Троицкого монастыря»

Более 50-ти русских православных икон и богослужебных предметов из коллекции Фонда Русской Истории и Свято-Троицкого монастыря будет демонстрироваться в CogarGallery при Herkimer County Community College на выставке «Священные изображения: Иконы из Свято-Троицкого монастыря». Выставка будет открыта с 12 августа по 23 сентября текущего года и познакомит посетителей с историей русской православной традицией иконописи, расскажет о символизме икон и их роли в православном богослужении. Будет уделено особое внимание теме деятельности иконописцев Свято-Троицкого монастыря, где иконопись практикуется на протяжении десятилетий.

На выставке будут представлены иконы различных школ и техник изготовления: роспись яичной темперой, литые, резные иконы из дерева, на перламутре, иконы с росписью по эмали, гравированные на серебре, вышитые иконы на специальной канве.  Будут представлены иконы, изображенные на облачении священнослужителей, церковной утвари, Евангелиях и крестах.

Все желающие приглашаются на торжественное закрытие выставки в пятницу 23-го сентября с 17.00 до 19.00 часов.

Адрес Herkimer County Community College:
100 Reservoir Road, Herkimer, NY 13350

Часы работы:
С понедельника по пятницу 8.00 – 17.00

Телефон:
315.858.2468

Вход бесплатный

On June 30- July 1, 2016 the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) has gathered for its regular meeting in San Francisco, CA under the presidency of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. The hierarchs were assembled in San Francisco on the occasion of the celebrations marking the 50^th anniversary since the repose of Holy Hierarch John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco. During the meeting, Archbishop Gabriel was added to the Holy Trinity Seminary Board of Trustees. The Synod also approved new seminary statutes.

The 2016 session of the Summer School of Liturgical Music (SSLM) at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary will take place from July 10-23.  Sign up now at sslm.hts.edu!

On Sunday, May 29, 2016 Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary concluded the 2015-2016 academic year with the Commencement Ceremonies celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2016. His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, presided at the Hierarchal Vigil Saturday evening and at the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of Samaritan Woman in concelebration with the clergy of Holy Trinity Monastery. ...

The spring 2016 HTOS exam sessions have begun.  Students are released from most obligations in order to study exclusively for exams.  In most cases, one exam per day is assigned.  Students in their final year will take comprehensive exams in the last week before graduation.

On May 10, 2016, Metropolitan Hilaron made his Paschal Visit to Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary. During the Hierarchical Liturgy, Metropolitan Hilarion tonsored first-year seminarian Michael Storozhev a reader, ordained him to the Sub-Diaconate, and then ordained him to the Diaconate after the Anaphora. We wish Fr. Michael and his wife many years!

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary invites applications for the position of an Assistant Professor/Instructor in Holy Scripture for a one-year appointment, beginning September 1, 2016, with a possibility of renewal, depending on the results of annual review.

The successful candidate will be expected to teach introductory courses to Old and New Testament in the undergraduate program, with the teaching load of four (4) courses a year.  Successful candidates should be able to teach Holy Scriptures from the perspective of the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church and therefore, are expected to have a strong background in Biblical and patristic studies. A completed Ph.D. or ABD in the field of his or her teaching is a preferred qualification.  If the candidate has not yet completed his or her doctorate, he or she will be appointed as Instructor and promoted to the Assistant Professorship upon completion of the terminal degree.   The unique character of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary as a pastoral academic institution requires deep familiarity with the Orthodox Christian tradition, and for this reason the candidates with the background in the Orthodox tradition will be given preference...

On April 9-10, 2016, on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, a group of the second year seminarians attended the divine services at the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church of Nativity in Erie, Pennsylvania and enjoyed the hospitality of this unique community of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, led by the Very Rev. Archpriest Pimen Simon.

In the Orthodox Church bishops are not only required to defend canons, but they are the ones who decide how and when to apply them.  Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for Canon Law students to have an opportunity to meet with a proper canon law practitioner - a bishop.

During the two hour-Skype seminar on April 13 with His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) students were able to learn about variety of pastoral questions related to canons, and not the least among them, "why do we need to study canons if at the end of the day a bishop will decide how to implement them?"

The Seminary administration, course instructor Deacon Andrei Psarev, and the students of Canon Law thank His Eminence for making himself available to share his expertise with the future priests and lay leaders of the Russian Church Abroad.

On Thursday, March 31 and Friday, April 1 a group of HTOS students travelled to New York City in order to view the Byzantine art collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The group included the seminarians enrolled in the courses of Byzantine History (B.Th. 2^nd year) and Liturgical Theology (C.P.S. 2^nd year), and was accompanied by Dr Vitaly Permiakov who teaches liturgical theology at the Seminary.

On Thursday, March 24, Dr Dimitri Korobeinikov, Assistant Professor at the Department of History at the University at Albany, SUNY, presented a lecture in the Seminary Hall entitled “The First Crusade (1096–1099) as observed through Byzantine and Muslim sources: Anna Comnena, Matthew of Edessa, Bar Hebraeus, Ibn al-Athir.” Dr Korobeinikov is a renowned specialist in the history of the Byzantine Empire, who recently published a monograph “Byzantium and the Turks in the Thirteenth Century” (Oxford UP, 2014) and more than thirty articles in books and scholarly journals. The lecture attracted seminarians, faculty, and the members of the community, interested in Byzantine history. The 45-minute presentation was followed by a lively Q & A session.

On Saturday, March 26, 2016, Dr Alexander Pavuk delivered a lecture on scientism and mythologies of progress in modern 'science-religion' debates...

On the weekend of February 26-28, 2016, six seminarians from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary attended and participated in the Spring OISM (Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement) gathering hosted by St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY.

On Monday, March 7 at 5:00pm Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary will present a lecture by the Very Reverend Protopresbyter George Dragas on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of representatives from the Orthodox Christian Autocephalos churches.  The purpose of this lecture is to explore the history of how this council was planned, what issues are being considered for a decision, and much more.

From February 10 -  12, Holy Trinity Seminary celebrated the Feast of the Three Hierarchs, the seminary's patronal feast day. On Wednesday evening, the celebrations began with a festive meal in the summer kitchen with visiting alumni. The meal was full of fond recollections about each alumni's time as a seminarian. On Thursday morning, alumni gathered in the seminary hall to hear about current programs at the seminary and meet with faculty. Rector Archimandrite Luke discussed the announcement of the now 4-year Bachelor of Theology program, the creation of an Alumni Association, and plans to implement an Masters program. On Wednesday night, all gathered in Holy Trinity Cathedral for a Hierarchical Vigil served by Archbishop Gabriel, Bishop George, and Bishop Nicholas.

In the morning, a hierarchical liturgy was served followed by a festive reception in the seminary hall with alumni, students, faculty, and brothers of Holy Trinity Monastery. During the reception, Assistant Dean Fr Ephraim Wilmarth handed out scholarships to students.

HTOS has received approval from New York State Department of Education to change our Bachelor of Theology from a 5-year bachelor program to a 4-year bachelor program.  The revised program is scheduled to begin with the Fall 2016 semester.  For a full description, see our Bachelor of Theology page.

The four-year Bachelor of Theology features all of the same subjects as the five-year program.  Some courses have been condensed from four semesters to two semesters.  HTOS plans to offer advanced courses in those subjects in the near future, thereby distinguishing between a basic survey or overview of a subject, and deeper studies of key aspects or periods of a subject that especially pertain to pastoral preparation and theological education in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

After Christmas Liturgy on January 7, 2016, winter break will begin at Holy Trinity Seminary

On January 25, the spring semester of Holy Trinity Seminary will begin.

On December 24, 2015, the St Herman Youth Conference spent the day at Holy Trinity Seminary. In the morning, about 100 youth listened to a lecture about addiction. Following the lecture, everyone enjoyed a casual meal in the Seminary Hall while listening to a visiting priest from St. Petersburg speak about youth conferences in Russia. After lunch, the youth spent time viewing the museum, visiting the convent, seeing the cemetery, hearing about the monastery publishing office, viewing the bell tower, and enjoying a bonfire by the St. John of Kronstadt Chapel. 

On December 21, 2015, the end of semester exams will begin at Holy Trinity Seminary.

On December 23, 2015, the St. Herman Youth Conference will visit Holy Trinity Seminary. Youth will have the opportunity to hear a lecture, visit the museum, and speak with seminarians.

Join your fellow Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary alumni for the Second Annual Alumni Reunion on the eve of the Feast of Three Hierarchs, the patronal feast of our seminary. Come to Jordanville to meet old friends, get reacquainted with your alma mater, experience the liturgical services as you remember them with the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary Choir, and to meet current faculty, staff, and seminarians.

For applicants who desire to enter into the Certificate of Theological Studies program for Spring 2016, the application deadline has been extended to December 14, on the condition that the applicant use the Seminary's online application form.

HTOS now has separate online application forms for each program.  Start an application, come back to it if you like, and pay your admission fee at the end.  This simplifies the application process.  In addition, the application form has been revised and customized for each program.  All forms are available and downloadable directly from the application form. 

See http://hts.edu/admissions.html

We are thrilled to announce that the Holy Trinity Seminary Giving Tuesday fund drive was an overwhelming success! Thanks to you, our generous donors, we were able to reach our goal of $50,000, which was matched for a total of $100,000. Watch the video below for a message from our Rector Archimandrite Luke.

All donations made today will be matched up to $50,000 by a generous donor.

On Wednesday, November 18 at 5:00pm Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary presented a lecture by our abbot and rector, Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) titled "Material, The Soul, Relics, and the Transfer of the Remains of Bishop Konstantin From Texas to Jordanville." 

В среду, 18 ноября, в 17 часов, в Свято-Троицкой Духовной Семинарии состоился лекция наша настоятелья и ректора Архимандрита Луки о Епискорпе Константине.

On Wednesday, November 18 at 5:00pm Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary will present a lecture by our abbot and rector, Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) titled "Material, The Soul, Relics, and the Transfer of the Remains of Bishop Konstantin From Texas to Jordanville." 

Attendance is required for seminarians.  The lecture will be in English.

This lecture is open to the public.

At Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, we believe that all of our graduates should have parish life experience. In the final years of seminary, students travel to parishes to understand the inner workings of parishes. Recently, our students have been traveling to the Nativity of the Mother of God parish in Albany, New York. Every week, seminarians teach Sunday school classes, serve in the Altar, sing on kliros, deliver sermons, and attend parish council meetings.

From October 9 to 10, 2015, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary held its second annual academic symposium, entitled “Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow (1865-1925): His Life and Times.” The Symposium was dedicated to the Saint’s “double” anniversary this year: 150 years since his birth, and 90 years since his blessed repose.

Mr. Roman Shliakhtin delivered this presentation entitled "Representations of the Byzantine Empire in the Russian Popular Culture and the Problems of the Historical Perception in the Twenty-First century" on October 8, 2015 to the Byzantine History students.  Other members of faculty and administration also attended. 

Mr. Shliakhtin is a Junior Dumbarton Oaks Fellow (a Harvard-affiliated institute in Washington, D.C.).  Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is pleased to have been given the privilege of hosting Mr. Shliakhtin's first presentation here in the United States.

Mr. Shliakhtin showed how Byzantine History has been used in public media in Russia and abroad, and gave perspective on the historical accuracy of those presentations.  Mr. Shliakhtin's work underscored the value of  Byzantine History in contemporary times, that the enormous contribution of the longest-running empire in history is still relevant today, and a proper understanding of it is valuable in many ways.  Students of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary study Byzantine History in preparation for Church History studies, in order to understand the basic historical framework and context of major Church events, such as the Ecumenical Councils.

The symposium celebrates the 150^th anniversary since the birth, and the 90^th anniversary since the repose of Saint Tikhon (Bellavin), the first Patriarch of all Russia since the restoration of the patriarchate in 1917, who also served as a missionary bishop in North America from 1898-1907, and became a confessor of Orthodoxy during the time of the Bolshevik persecutions.

On Thursday, October 1, 2015, Rector Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) and fifteen seminarians visited the well-known Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts. The museum was founded in 2006 and contains over 1,000 icons from pre-revolutionary Russia. This is the largest collection of icons in North America, as well as, one of the largest private collections of icons outside of Russia.  Currently, the museum is exhibiting three special collections: 30 rare feast day icons, rare Royal Doors from a 16^th century church outside of Moscow, and twelve festal row icons.

On behalf of Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), the faculty, staff, and all at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, many of whom knew Fr. Deacon Nikolai personally, we would like to express our deepest sympathies to the Triantafillidis family and greater Russian Orthodox community of San Francisco and the Western American Diocese for the passing of the beloved and memorable Protodeacon Nikolai.  May his memory be eternal! 

How did most of our bishops, priests, and deacons learn the complex liturgics of the Orthodox Church? The answer is that they were seminarians at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. Studying at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary offers each seminarian the unique opportunity to participate daily in the full cycle of services. Students attend Liturgy every day allowing them to experience first hand the full liturgical cycle of services.

From October 10-15, 2015, HTOS professor Deacon Andrei Psarev took part in the twenty-second Congress of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches, held in Thessaloniki. The SLEC academic forum was established in 1971 at the University of Vienna to study the canon law of both Orthodox churches and those allied with Rome. 

On October 1, 2015, students will have the opportunity to travel to Clinton, Massachusetts to visit the Museum of Russian Icons. More information about the museum can be found here: http://museumofrussianicons.org/en/ 

n appeal was made to Holy Trinity Monastery to assist with refurbishing the roof on the church in Ladomirova, Slovakia, where many of the monastics of our monastery resided before the advance of the Soviet Army. A donation was sent, and the reply was an invitation from His Beatitude Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, to Archimandrite Luke to take part in their celebration of the feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. A large portion of the Holy Head is enshrined at the church. Father Luke arrived on the eve of the feast day itself and attended the services there, the celebration being transferred to the nearest Sunday. Immediately after the Liturgy, Father Luke began his extensive tour of all the local parish communities.

On Wednesday, September 23, 2015, The Right Reverend Bishop John (Abdalah) of Worcester and New England (Antiochian Archdiocese) visited Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary to give a lecture entitled “Pastoral Care in a Complex Time” for seminarians and faculty. Bishop John has both theological and psychological education, with a Master of Divinity and a doctorate in counseling.

On Thursday, September 17, 2015, Rector Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) gave his opening talk to the seminarians. He spoke about the importance of improving oneself spiritually and intellectually while at the seminary and throughout life. Following the talk, the seminary had its annual opening BBQ with the seminarians and faculty behind the dorm.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is pleased to welcome His Grace, Bishop John (Abdalah) of Worcester and the Northeast, Antiochian Archdiocese, who will present a lecture titled “Pastoral Care in a Complex Time.”  
Bishop John (Abdalah) holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Care from Pittsburgh Theological School, a Master of Divinity from St. Vladimir’s Seminary, a Master’s equivalency certificate in Pastoral Counseling from Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. Throughout Seminary and following his studies, he also studied Arabic.
Bishop John is a clinical member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He taught Pastoral Counseling in the graduate program at the St. John of Damascus Institute at the Balamand in Lebanon. For 33 years, he served as a priest of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America; he has been Dean of St. George Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the past 16 of those years. Before that, he served 16 years in New Kensington, and one year in Little Falls.

Dr. Elena Nelson was awarded a Fulbright-Hays fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the 2015 American Councils Summer Russian Language Teachers Program. Dr. Elena Nelson teaches Russian I, Russian II, Advanced Russian, and Church Slavonic II at Holy Trinity Seminary. She reflects on her experiences in this write-up. Dr. Nelson received her M.A. and Ph. D from the University of California, Berkley.

The keynote address delivered by Dr. Scott Kenworthy will be at 10 a.m on Saturday, October 10, 2015. 

This lecture will be in English and FREE TO THE PUBLIC. All are invited.

Following the lecture, the new Foundation of Russian History Museum will be open and tours of Holy Trinity Monastery Cathedral will be conducted.

This lecture is part of the St. Tikhon’s symposium hosted at Holy Trinity Monastery from October 9 -10. For more information about the symposium or the lecture please email events@hts.edu.

About the speaker:  Dr. Scott Kenworthy is an associate professor at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), His research interests focus on the history and thought of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, particularly in modern Russia. His first book was The Heart of Russia: Trinity-Sergius, Monasticism and Society after 1825 (Oxford University Press, 2010), which won the 2010 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize of the American Society of Church History.  Dr. Kenworthy was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Romania; he has also had fellowships with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Kennan Institute (Woodrow Wilson Center), the International Research and Exchanges Board, and the Social Science Research Council.

New and returning seminarians and faculty were greeted with a brand new welcome sign officially ushering in the new school year.

On Monday, September 14, 2015, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary will begin the 2015 - 2016 school year with a Moleben and short meeting with the Rector following the morning Liturgy.

Выпускники Свято-Троицкой семинарии несут свое служение в разных условиях и качествах. Мы главным образом знаем о тех, кто служит в епископском и пресвитерском сане. Меньше о диаконах и совсем ничего знаем о тех кто не принял священный сан. К этой категории относятся те, кто трудится на приходах, в тюрьмах и просто на светских работах. Записанная по Скайпу беседа с Константином Сегргеевичем Ноговицыным (выпускником 2007 г.) должна послужить началу восполнения этого пробела.

Holy Trinity Seminary graduates carry out their ministry in a variety of places and capacities. The ones we know about the most tend to be our graduates in the episcopal and priestly ranks;  we know less about the deacons and hardly anything at all about those who have remained as laymen. These include both parish and prison workers and men in ordinary civil employment. This Skype interview with Constantine Sergeevich Nogovitsyn, our 2007 graduate should begin to redress this imbalance.

From July 14 to 21, 2015, two instructors from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, Rev. Deacon Andrei Psarev and Dr Vitaly Permiakov, and two second-year students, Hegumen Constantin (Churchin) and Novice Angelos Stanway visited historical sites in Istanbul (Constantinople) and Iznik (Nicaea). On July 18, the group from Jordanville paid a visit to the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Phanar district of Istanbul.

In the summer of 2015, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary Professor Deacon Andrei Psarev led an excursion to Istanbul with members of his Byzantine History Class. 

Registration is still OPEN until June 30 for the Summer School of Liturgical Music at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. Instructions are given in English and in Russian. The full course of study consists of three summer sessions, at the end of which graduates are certified as Church Choir Directors and/or Readers. For more information visit http://sslm.hts.edu/

On May 24, 2015 Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary had its 67th Commencement and marked the end of the 2014-15 academic year and the conclusion to the years of seminary studies for the Graduating Class of 2015. Metropolitan Jonah (OCA) presided at the hierarchical vigil and liturgy.

And so, on this day, when we no longer shall see our beloved Lord in the flesh, on earth, we rejoice. The disciples returned from Mount of Olives with great joy and in the troparion for Ascension we sing that Christ ascended in glory and granted joy to his disciples.   Why?  Should we not be sad when we part from someone whom we owe everything, whom we try to love with all our heart?  But we rejoice, because by raising our nature, the Lord shows us that our citizenship is in heaven – and we rejoice because after our Lord’s ascension we as the Church are ever in expectation of him coming again in glory on the last Day, because we know that our Lord will return in the same way in which he departed.

The publishing work of Holy Trinity Monastery is expanding into the academic field with the creation of a new imprint. Under the editorship of Dr Vitaly Permiakov, Holy Trinity Seminary Press will publish studies of the theology, history, and liturgy of the Orthodox Church. Liturgical texts and guidance for the spiritual life will continue to be the mainstays of Holy Trinity Publications’ flagship imprint, the Printshop of St Job of Pochaev

Your donation is an investment in the future of the Orthodox Church. I would like to thank you for your continuing support of the seminary and I encourage you to visit the seminary, meet with students and faculty, and attend services at Holy Trinity Monastery.

Rector Archimandrite Luke

The 67th Commencement at Holy Trinity Seminary will be on Sunday May 2014. Metropolitan Jonah will be leading the Hierarchical Vigil on May 23 and the Hierarchical Liturgy on May 24. The Commencement Molebon will begin at 2 pm at the Holy Trinity Monastery Cathedral.

On account of the recent approval by ICE-SEVIS to allow international students to apply for admission to the Certificate in Pastoral Studies program at HTOS, the deadline has been extended for all applicants including those applying for admission to the Bachelor of Theology program to August 1, 2015

Holy Trinity Seminary's new Certificate in Pastoral Studies, a two-year on-campus-only program consisting of much of the core theological courses of the Bachelor of Theology, has been approved by SEVIS for international students.  Applicants who are accepted will receive an I-20 form with which they can apply at the American Embassy in their respective countries to receive an F-1 student visa.  The deadline for new applicants has been extended to June 1.

A rare visit and opportunity to meet and become acquainted with Nikolai Igorevich Sikorsky, whose father developed the first working helecopter and founded the famous company in Stratford, CT.  Igor Sikorsky helped to found St. Nicholas parish in Stratford.  Holy Trinity Monastery's founder Fr. Panteleimon was the first rector of St. Nicholas parish.  A lecture at 2pm will be open to the public.

For the first time ever, four incoming students will be awarded the Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov Scholarship at $1500 each, which amounts to half of the $3000 charge for annual tution.  For more details, contact the Office of Admissions at (315) 858-0945 or contact Fr. Ephraim Willmarth.

On Friday, March 27^th, 2015, students of pastoral theology, along with HTOS assistant to the dean Rev. Ephraim Willmarth and instructors Rev. Deacon Andrei Psarev and Dr. Vitaly Permiakov made a three-day visit to the St. John the Baptist parish in Washington D.C. The trip, part of Holy Trinity Seminary’s pastoral theology curriculum, focused on the growth of the seminarians’ pastoral knowledge and exposure to parish life, events, and divine services.

files/Audio-Lectures/VP-Lecture-on-Lazarus-and-Palm-Sunday.m...

For the second Sunday of Great Lent, the feast of St. Gregory Palamas, Holy Trinity Seminary Choir made a historical first visit to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto, Ontario. The octet came at the invitation of Holy Trinity Cathedral rector and HTOS graduate Archpriest Vladimir Malchenko (1973). 

On March 7-8, the Russian Church history classes at Holy Trinity Seminary made a trip to the Russian Orthodox Old Rite parish of the Nativity of Christ in Erie, PA. After the visit, the faculty and students went to Niagara Falls.

For The Triumph of Orthodoxy, Bishop Jerome served the Hierarchical Vigil and Liturgy at Holy Trinity Monastery. The Rite of Orthodoxy service followed Sunday's Liturgy

For the First Week of Lent, Seminarians join Holy Trinity Monastery for the full cycle of services.

Archbishop Gabriel, a graduate of Holy Trinity Seminary, served the Hierarchical Vigil and Liturgy for the Feast of the Three Hierarchs. This is the patronal feast day for the seminary. After Liturgy, students, faculty, and alumni celebrated the feast with a reception in the Seminary Hall.

In May of 2010, Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary received an order from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that it is necessary to comply with new regulations, forcing HTM/HTS to remove and replace single-walled underground heating oil and fuel tanks, among other regulations

Nativity Troparion:

Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath shined the light of reason upon the world; for thereby they that worshipped the stars were instructed by a star to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee.

On February 10, 11, 12 the Seminary Patronal Feast of the Three Hierarchs, will hold the first annual alumni gathering at Holy Trinity Seminary. If you would like to take part in this event, please let us know of your intention to come by email events@hts.edu, NO LATER THAN JANUARY 30, 2015.

Archimandrite Luke
Rector

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HTOS graduate and instructor Deacon Andrei Psarev took part in a meeting at the Department of External Relations in Moscow on November 19, 2014 with other reperentatives of ROCOR.  The discussions concerned newly-glorified saints who are celebrated in ROCOR and the possibilites of adding them to the menalogion for the whole ROC.

On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Mr. John Hudanish met with HTOS seminarians to share highlights and insights from  more than 30 years of experience working closely with a group of Old Believers in the Wilamette Valley in the state of Oregon.  This fascinating presentation gave an unusually intimate and comprehensive view of the current state of Old Believers today, focusing on possibilites of pastoral work and reconciliation.

Mr. John Hudanish will deliver a lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 5pm in the Seminary Hall to the students of Russian Church History.  Mr. Hudanish worked closely with several groups of Old Believers in the Wilamette Valley in Oregon for 30 years.  He will present both his research and personal insights into the recent history of the Old Believer groups. This lecture will be in English and is open to the public.

On Friday, November 14^th, and Saturday the 15^th, the St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, New Jersey, celebrated the 30^th anniversary of the episcopal consecration of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, and the 80^th anniversary of the founding of the Eastern American Diocese.

Taking part in the celebrations was the Holy Trinity Seminary choir, consisting of an octet that included the seminary choir’s conductor, Reader Nicholas Kotar. After singing at the Panichida and All-Night Vigil, the choir was joined at the following morning by the church community to partake in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. All of the festal divine services took place under the protection of the highly venerated icons of the Russian Diaspora – the wonderworking Kursk Root and myrrh-streaming Iveron-Montreal "Hawaiian" Icons of the Mother of God.

For further information, please access the following link to the Eastern American Diocese’s article: http://www.eadiocese.org/News/2014/nov/mh30.en.htm

On Wednesday, November 5, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary marked the feast of St James the Brother of the Lord and the first bishop of Jerusalem with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy attributed to the apostle at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. On Friday, November 14, on the feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, the Rector of the Seminary, Archimandrite Luke, celebrated the Liturgy of St James in English at the Dormition cemetery church

On Sunday, November 9, 2014  Rev. Deacon Andrei Psarev, HTOS Instructor in Canon Law and Russian and Byzantine History, delivered a lecture at Holy New Martyrs and Confessors Orthodox Church in Norwich, CT, a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.    

On November 10, 2014, at 5 pm, Fr. Peter Heers will be giving a lecture on "Secularism and Family Life" in the Seminary Hall. All are invited to attend.

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From October 25 - 26, 2014, Holy Trinity Seminary graduate Archpriest Victor Potapov and about 100 parishioners from St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC made an annual pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Monastery to visit the grave of Jose Muñoz-Cortes, keeper of the myrrh-streaming “Montreal” Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. Joining the pilgrims for their annual pilgrimage was His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah (retired-OCA), and the myrrh-streaming "Hawaiian" Iveron Icon of the Mother of God.

On Friday and Saturday, October 10–11, 2014, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary hosted an academic conference entitled “The Brightest Luminary of the Russian Land”: The Life and Legacy of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. 

On October 8, Holy Trinity Monastery celebrated the feast day of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The Feast Day is the official beginning of the St. Sergius Conference hosted at Holy Trinity Seminary. 

On October 7, Archimandrite Luke, Rector of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, together with seminary professors, Deacon Andrei Psarev and Vitaly Permiakov, met with Jelisei Heikkilä, an Orthodox canon law scholar from Finland.

On September 30, Holy Trinity Seminary held its first monthly informal faculty luncheon with the Rector of the Seminary. The luncheon was held in the newly renovated monastery summer kitchen. All faculty were invited to enjoy a seasonal Fall meal with Rector Archimandrite Luke (Murianka). Fr. Luke Murianka helped in the preperation of the meal by cooking the butternut squash soup.

On Sunday Septemeber 28, Holy Trinity Seminary had a BBQ for the students to kick off the 2014 - 2015 school year. The BBQ was held in the back of the Seminary dorm. Seminarians led the BBQ by cooking sausages and hamburgers. Rector Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) and the Student Inspector Fr. Cyprian were both at the BBQ to celebrate the new school year.

Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada served the Hierarchical Vigil for the the Exaltation of the Cross. After the Great Doxology, the Cross was brought out and Archbishop Gabriel led the service of the Exaltation of the Cross. On Saturday morning, Archbishop Gabriel led the Hierarchichal Liturgy for the Feast Day.

September 15, 2014, was the first day of the school year at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. After the morning's Liturgy, Rector Archimandrite Luke (Murianka) led a moleben for the students and faculty. Following the Liturgy, Fr. Luke spoke to the students and faculty about the upcoming school year and blessed the new seminarians to wear the cassock and belt.

On September 1^st, 2014 Holy Trinity Publications released a new translation of spiritual talks delivered by the ever-memorable Archbishop Averky of Syracuse and Holy Trinity Monastery.

On July 26, students in the Summer School of Liturgical Music at Holy Trinity Seminary finished their final exams. Five graduates of the program were required to lead the choir in a few selected pieces of music. The Summer School is a three year long program that takes place for two weeks each year at Holy Trinity Seminary. Gaduates are certified as church choir directors and/or readers. Academic credit is given after successful completion of the third summer. For more information about the school click here.

On July  17, 2014, Fr. Ephraim Willmarth was ordained to the Priesthood by His Eminence Gabriel, Archbishop of Montreal & Canada. Fr. Ephraim is a graduate of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and currently is the Administrative Assistant at the Seminary. 

May 25, 2014 was graduation day at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. Bishop George of Mayfield served a Hierarchel Vigil and Liturgy and offered opening remarks at the Seminary's Commencement. The Commencement Speaker was Archpriest Serge Kotar. The Foundation of Russian History Museum also officially opened to the public during Commencement. Following the Liturgy, Archpriest Vladimir Tsurikov was given a citation from Metropolitan Hilarion for his work with the new museum at Holy Trinity Monastery.

The Foundation of Russian History Museum at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary will be officially opening to the public on May 25, 2014. Normal museum hours will be Wednesday through Friday 2-5 pm and Saturday and Sunday 1-4 pm and by advance appointment.

On May 18, 2014, the Foundation of Russian History hosted a rededication of the Foundation, and a preview of a new exhibit entitled "The Russian Word and Image: Four centuries of books and art." At the event, the Foundation also unveiled the new Russian Nobility Association Reading Room. The museum and reading room are located at Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary in Jordanville, New York.

From May 17-18, Metropolitan Jonah lead a Hierarchal Vigil and Liturgy at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. Metropolitan Jonah visited the Monastery and Seminary to take part in a preview of The Foundation for Russian History Museum. The museum official opens to the public on May 25 on Holy Trinity Seminary's graduation day.

By decision of the Rector, Archimandrite Luke, the application deadline for Holy Trinity Seminary has been extended to June 1 for international students and to August 1 for students with residency in the United States.

"On May 6, 2014 Archimandrite Luke delivered a lecture at St. Mary's Cathedral (OCA) in Minneapolis, MN. The talk was part of an annual Saint Alexis (Toth) lecture series sponsored by the St. Mary's Boriss-Hansen Committee. St. Alexis is one of the great missionary confessors of the Orthodox Church and was lauded as such in Father Luke's talk."

For Radonitsa, Seminarians joined the brethern of Holy Trinity Monastery and the community to pray for the departed including those buried in Holy Trinity Monastery Cemetery.

It is the day of Resurrection; let us be radiant, o ye peoples; Pascha, the Lord's Pascha; for Christ God hath brought us from death to life, and from earth to Heaven, as we sing the triumphal hymn.

He who closed the abyss lies before us dead; and as a corpse the Immortal is wrapped in linen with sweet spices and laid in a tomb. The women came to anoint Him with myrrh, weeping bitterly and crying: "This is the most blessed Sabbath on which Christ sleeps, but on the third day He shall rise again."

​"Noble Joseph, taking down Thy most pure Body from the Tree, and having wrapped It in clean linen and covered It with spices, laid It in a new tomb."

"O Lord, Thou hast vouchsafed the wise thief Paradise in one moment. Enlighten me also by the Tree of the Cross, and save me."

The Icon of the Mother of God "Softener of Evil Hearts" will be visiting Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary from Wednesday, April 16 to Sunday, April 20.

On April 15, 2014, an Unction Service was served at Holy Trinity Monastery. Abbot Fr. Luke (Murianka) led the service with six other priests to administer the Sacrament to the faithful.

"O Christ God, enthroned in Heaven and on earth riding a donkey's colt, You have accepted the praise of the angels and the hymns of the children who were crying out to You: "Blessed are You who come to restore Adam."

Today is the beginning of our salvation, The revelation of the eternal mystery! The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin As Gabriel announces the coming of Grace. Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos: Rejoice, O Full of Grace, The Lord is with You!

The 2014 Holy Trinity Monastery Summer Youth Program gives the opportunity for young men ages 15-18 to become acquainted with life in Holy Trinity Monastery.  The program is limited to twelve participants. Applications are received on a first-come, first-served basis.  For more information, visit http://jordanville.org/summer.html

On Friday, April 4, 2014, following a matins service and akathist to the Mother of God, Holy Trinity Seminary graduate Priest Nicholas Olhovsky was tonsured a Monk by Abbot Fr. Luke (Murianka). Fr. Nicholas has been elected to be the next Bishop of Manhattan. 

From March 24 -26, 2014, the clergy of the Canadian Diocese held their Lenten retreat at Holy Trinity Monastery. On Tuesday, clergy met in the Holy Trinity Seminary Hall with discussions lead by His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada. Archbishop Gabriel is a graduate from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. Following supper, clergy and seminarians attended Great Compline together.

On Wednesday morning, clergy attended all the Lenten services including a Hierarchal Presanctified Liturgy. Seminarians participated in various aspects of the Hierarchal Presanctified Liturgy.

From March 12 -14, the Northern Lenten Retreat for the Eastern American Diocese was hosted at Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary. On March 13, Metropolitan Hilarion opened the retreat by speaking about the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Eastern American Diocese. In the afternoon, a round-table discussion was held for clergy and seminarians. On March 14, a Hierarchal Presanctified Liturgy was celebrated by Metropolitan Hilarion and Bishop George.

From March 24 to 26, 2014, the Diocese of Montreal and Canada will have a Lenten retreat in Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville.

With the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, the Northern Retreat of the Eastern American Diocese will be held at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY this March 12-14.

This conference will be bilingual, and the HTOS seminarians will participate. Wednesday the 12th is a travel day. The conference officially begins on Thursday morning, and will end on Friday after liturgy. 

For the schedule of events, click here.

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, Bishop Jerome celebrated the Triumph of Orthodoxy Vigil and Liturgy at Holy Trinity Monastery. Seminarians were involved in many aspects of the service.

For the first week of Great Lent, Seminarians join the brethren of Holy Trinity Monastery in attending all of the services. Services include Midnight Office, Matins, Vespers, and Great Compline with the Canon of St. Andrew.

From Monday, February 24 to Thursday, February 28, a group of church singers and directors gathered in Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary to rehearse and study with Maestro Vladimir Gorbik, choirmaster of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra Dependency in Moscow.  This was an official event of the newly-formed Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute (PaTRAM), which is dedicated to training the next generation of Russian Orthodox Church musicians as well as enhancing the ability of the current generation to “positively improve the prayerful sound and quality of Orthodox Church singing.”  This particular event created a male-voice choir to pray in Holy Trinity Cathedral.  

From February 21-23, Holy Trinity Seminary hosted the Spring Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement Conference. Many Orthodox seminaries from around North America came to Holy Trinity Monastery to participate in lectures and attend services together. The keynote speaker Rev. Kevin Kalish, Ph.D. on “The Language of the King James Bible.” Seminarian Nicholas Kotar also gave a lecture about Orthodoxy and culture.

From February 23 -27, Holy Trinity Monastery will host the Patriarch Tikhon Master Class. For the culmination of the class, Metropolitan Hilarion will serve a Hierarchal Vigil and Liturgy. Many Seminary students will attend this class.

To learn more about the PaTRAM Institute visit http://patraminstitute.org/

From February 21 - 23, Holy Trinity Seminary will host the spring 2014 meeting of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement, featuring keynote speaker Rev. Kevin Kalish, Ph.D. on “The Language of the King James Bible.”

From February 11-12, Holy Trinity Seminary celebrated The Feast of the Three Hierarchs with Metropolitan Hilarion, Metropolitan Jonah (OCA) and Archbishop Gabriel. The Seminary had a reception following Wednesday's Liturgy.

From February 1 - 2, a few seminarians and instructors visited the Nativity of Christ parish in Erie, Pennsylvania. Seminarians were given the opportunity to see services performed according to pre-Nikonian liturgical regulations. 

Metropolitan Antonii (Khrapovitskii): Archpastor of the Russian Diaspora
ISBN/SKU: 9780991198207

This new, well-illustrated book studies the life and works of the first First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, the Blessed Metropolitan Antonii (Khrapovitsky).

This new, well-illustrated book studies the life and works of the first First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, the Blessed Metropolitan Antonii (Khrapovitsky).

During the first week of Final Exams, the Seminary Choir, led by Choirmaster Nicholas Kotar, made a recording of selections from Holy Trinity Monastery's repertoire of hymns from the entire liturgical year.  Having prepared for a long time in advance with multiple rehearsals, the choir sacrificed up to five hours per day of their time for exam preparation and rest for four days.  The sound engineer is a talanted choir director and member of the ROCOR family himself, Ilya Dubestein.  A release date is not available yet, but it is hoped to come out in 2014.

In 2014, St. Tikhon's Orthodox University of the Humanities in Moscow plans to open a new interdisciplinary master's program titled "Religious aspects of Russian culture of the XIX - early XX centuries." The program is primarily designed for those students who specialize in the field of Russian History and the history of Russian literature, philosophy and culture.
The details can be found here : http://pstgu.ru/faculties/theological/entrants/magistracy/

On December 23, 2013, four seminarians gave a presentation at the Saint Herman’s Youth Conference in Sea Cliff, New York. The Saint Herman’s Conference is a yearly conference which began at Holy Trinity Monastery, where Orthodox youth come together for a few days at the time of the Julian Calendar feast of St. Herman of Alaska, which falls on the Gregorian Dec. 25, in order to attend relevant lectures, enjoy the Divine Services together and meet other Orthodox youth. The presentation was attended by a large audience and included His Eminence, the Very Reverend Gabriel, Archbishop of Montreal and Canada.

Four seminarains from HTOS traveled to Glen Cove, NY for the Eastern American Diocese's annual St. Herman's Conference, which began Sunday, Dec. 22 and will finish Thursday, Dec. 26.  Artem Siss, Danill Semenov, Stefan Stoyanov, and Nicholas Williams took part.

The fall 2013 exam session began on Monday, December 16, and will continue until Saturday, December 28.

Bachelor of Theology and Certificate of Theological Studies students take exams together in the Seminary Hall.

On December 9 (Nov. 26 OS), Holy Trinity Monastery celebrated an All-Night-Vigil for the Kursk-Root Icon.  On the following day, (Dec.10/Nov.27) the Divine Liturgy was followed by a pannykhida for all of the reposed Romanov family. 

At 1:00pm in the Holy Trinity Seminary hall there was a special presentation, including a lecture with PowerPoint presentation and a choir concert in honor of the Romanovs.  Refreshments were provided.

On Monday December 2 at 5 PM in the Seminary Hall, author, professor, and еntrepreneur Alexis Sukharev met with the students of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary to speak about his book “Life and Death of Priest Ilya Popov”. The book was published in Russia in 2013 with the blessing of The Most Rev. Mercury, Metropolitan of Rostov and Novocherkassk.

V. Rev. Archpriest Vladimir von Tsurikov presented a paper on the topic “Preservation of Russian Literary and Cultural Legacy in the Russian Diaspora” on November 21, 2013, at the Russian Literary Assembly. This large-scale meeting of the literary community was held in Moscow at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Fr. Vladimir presented his paper during a panel entitled “Issues Concerning the Preservation of Literary Heritage: The historical context of the literary process, specific issues in the ‘transmission’ of literary works to subsequent generations, and the preservation of digital heritage (archives, museums, and libraries)”.

On the evening of November 7, 2013, V. Rev. Nikolai Kolyada, from Vitebsk, Belarus spoke to the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary students about temperance (alcohol abstinence).

Announcements are to highlight upcoming events or information items which are not news.

On October 29-30, 2013, Archpriest Vladimir von Tsurikov took part in the conference “Global Thematic Conference of Compatriots”, held in Moscow on the same dates. Fr. Vladimir presented a paper on the “Cultural Legacy of the Russian Diaspora”. The conference was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and was attended by delegates from all other the world.

Rev. Father John Bartholomew, on a visit to Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary, spoke with the students concerning his research in preparation to publish a new book on St. Nicholas of Japan.  Having converted to Orthodoxy while in Japan, Fr. John later studied at St. Vladimir’s Seminary and wrote a thesis on St. Nicholas.

On October 15, Holy Trinity Seminary’s library was awarded a donation of books from the House of Russian emigre Alexander Solzhenitsyn which is part of the State Institution of Culture in Moscow.  HTS was represented by His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, first Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Rev. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), the rector of Holy Trinity Seminary, and Rev. Archpriest Vladimir Tsurikov, director and curator of the Russian History Foundation as well as HTS trustee. All three are graduates of HTS.  Fr. Luke officially signed the papers for the donation of the books at the Russian Consulate in New York City.

HTOS trustee and director of the Russian History Foundation, Archpriest Vladimir vonTsurikov, delivered a speech at the first international conference titled “Fundraising in Russia: Bringing in resources for social and religious projects,” which took place in the High Monastery of St. Peter (Vysokopetrovsky) in Moscow. 

On September 24, 2013, His Grace, Bishop Mstislav of Tikhvin, Russia, visited Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary as part of a tour of Orthodox Christian churches, monasteries and holy sites in the United States. At six o’clock that morning, a Hierarchal liturgy was served in the Holy Trinity Monastery Cathedral, in which students served in the the altar and sang in the choir.

On September 20, 2013, V.Rev. Archpriest Vladimir von Tsurikov met with undergraduate students at Amherst College, who study Russian literature.

At the invitation of Professor Stanley Rabinowitz, Professor of Russian Literature, Fr. Vladimir spoke on "Dostoevsky and the Russian Monastic Tradition”, in order to provide additional background on one of Dostoevsky’s greatest novels, “The Brothers Karamazov”.

In his comments, he  introduced some of the cultural and religious background that serve as an important part in Dostoevsky’s novel.

On Tuesday, September 17,  Nicholas Chapman, director of Holy Trinity Publications, interviewed priest John Strickland concerning his own work and HTP’s latest publication titled “The Making of Holy Russia: The Orthodox Church and Russian Nationalism before the Revolution” This book is a critical study of the interaction between Russian Church and society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The Society for the Study of Canon Law of the Eastern Churches was established at the University of Vienna in 1971. It is a purely academic and non-ecclesiastical body that aims to gather into one place the academic research of those Catholics who have a special sui juris (non-Western) Canon law focus and the Eastern Orthodox. There is currently no other comparable academic conference concerning canon law. The Congress is held every two years.

On September 13, 2013, Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), spoke to students and visitors about his role serving as the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. Fr. Roman is a graduate of Holy Trinity Seminary (Class of 1984) and lived at Holy Trinity Monastery for 30 years as a hieromonk, conducting the monastery choir, and teaching classes in Liturgics, Church Music and Typikon at the seminary.

The new academic year began on Monday, September 9, 2013 with a service of intercession (moleben) after the 6 a.m. Divine Liturgy. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), HTS rector and acting dean, and the Monastery clergy served the moleben. Recent graduate (HTS 2013) Deacon Peter Markevich, now also teaching Liturgics, also served. Before the moleben, Fr. Luke gave some brief remarks: “Today we’re just planting the seeds, but they need to be watered and cared for. This is done by going to church every day, and throughout the day, and praying, ‘God, help me.’”

On Sunday, May 26, 2013, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary celebrated its 65th annual commencement. Candidates who had successfully completed all requirements were awarded Diplomas of the Bachelor of Theology Degree and the right to wear the seminary ”znachok,” or badge. These together signify the culmination of years of successful study, examinations, participation in Holy Trinity Monastery’s Divine Services, and labor at monastery obediences.

From April 1–3, the Eastern American Diocese sponsored a Northern Lenten Retreat at Holy Trinity Monastery. Clergy from both the diocese and the Moscow Patriarchate parishes participated in the retreat. His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion (HTS 1972) and His Grace Bishop George of Mayfield (HTS 1980) came for the conference, and there were over eighty attendees.

The focal point of the Holy Trinity Seminary course “History of the Russian Church-326” is the study of the tragic events connected with the liturgical reforms of the seventeenth century and the subsequent split. Therefore, it has almost become a tradition to visit the Nativity of Christ parish, a former Priestless Old-Believer parish which was received into the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1983.  The parish is located in Erie, PA, and services are performed according to pre-Nikonian liturgical regulations.

On Monday, March 24, His Grace Bishop Jerome of Manhattan met with instructors and students of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville. The meeting took place within the coursework of Canon Law, the subject that strongly demands guidance from an Orthodox bishop. 

On Saturday, March 16, on the feast of the Commemoration of all our God-bearing Fathers who shone forth in asceticism, the fifth anniversary of the repose of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Laurus -- fifth First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad -- was prayerfully commemorated at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY.

On Thursday, March 14, 2013, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary hosted a lecture on the concept of the person in Orthodox theology, presented by Alexis Torrance, D.Phil. (Oxon.), a patristics scholar and the author of a recent monograph "Repentance in Late Antiquity: Eastern Asceticism and the Framing of Christian Life" (Oxford University Press, 2012), who currently is a Research Fellow at the University of Thessaloniki (Greece).

Father Yaroslav covers a range of sensitive topics concerning marriage and couples seeking marraige.

On March 3, 2013, singers from Holy Trinity, St. Tikhon’s, and St. Vladimir’s Seminaries joined together for the first time to sing a concert under the direction of Vladimir Gorbik, the choir director at the Moscow Representation Church of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra. The concert commemorated the 75th anniversary of St. Tikhon’s and St. Vladimir’s, and well as the 65th anniversary of Holy Trinity Seminary.

St. Jonah Orthodox Church, a parish of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America, sponsored an exhibit of historic Russian icons and a Liturgical Choral Concert in the English language, March 1-3, 2013 in Spring, Texas. Guest speakers were the Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), Dean of Holy Trinity Seminary and Abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery, along with Dr. Kurt Sander, composer of Orthodox Liturgical Music and Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition and Music Department Chair at Northern Kentucky University. 

On February 16, Rev. Vladimir von Tsurikov, Director of the Foundation of Russian History, presented a paper at a conference at Columbia University devoted to the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanovs. Fr. Vladimir’s paper, titled “New Discoveries of Russian Imperial Materials in Exile,” provided an overview of materials of Romanov provenance in Holy Trinity Seminary’s and Monastery’s library, archive and museum collections.

On the weekend of February 22–24, 2013, four students from Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary attended the Spring General Assembly of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) hosted by Christ the Savior Seminary (Carpatho-Russian Diocese) in Mercer, Pennsylvania. OISM is composed of representatives of Orthodox seminaries in the United States who meet twice a year for inter-jurisdictional fellowship and pastoral education. The delegates from Jordanville this semester were third-year students John Martin and Srdjan Puskar and second-year students Stanislav Matveev and Stefan Stoyanov. John Martin and Srdjan Puskar also serve as this year’s OISM Secretary and Vice-President, respectively.

On February 21, 2013, Archpriest David Straut, rector of St. Elizabeth the New Martyr parish in Rocky Hill, NJ, and chaplain of Somerset County Jail, came to HTS to speak to the seminarians about one of the more sensitive and poorly-understood topics of pastoral ministry.

On the eve and day of February 12 (Jan. 30 by the Old Calendar), the students and faculty of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary gathered for a hierarchical All-Night-Vigil and Divine Liturgy to commemorate the feast of the Three Hierarchs, St’s Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. Metropolitan Hilarion, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, officiated. 

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary presents a lecture by the Rev. Protodeacon Serge Arlievsky on the Julian Calendar:
"Shattering Orthodox Unity: Motivations behind the Calendar Reform in the Orthodox Church"

The fall 2017 Eastern American Diocesan clergy conference was held in the Holy Trinity Monastery from October 23-26. The Hawaiian Myrrh-streaming icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was present from October 26 through the weekend, when the annual pilgrimage from Washington, D.C. took place.