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

#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.

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.

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.)

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.

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 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. 

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.

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!

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 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: