ORTHODIXIE ... Southern, Orthodox, Convert, Etc.

America demonstrates invincibly one thing that I had doubted up to now: that the middle classes can govern a State. ... Despite their small passions, their incomplete education, their vulgar habits, they can obviously provide a practical sort of intelligence and that turns out to be enough.

-- Alexis de Tocqueville, born on this date in 1805

Stolen from The Writer's Almanac.
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Normally, I don’t watch television; we don’t subscribe to cable or satellite at our house. But on a recent road trip I found myself lying on a hotel bed holding the old clicker and getting very, very sleepy.

You know how it is.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock …

You’re getting very sleep. Very.
Very.

Sleepy.

Anyway, I was dozing with one eye, and surfing the channels with the other, when I heard a great commotion. It was a woman squealing: “O My God! My Lord! O My God!” At that point I was thinking, “Yep, this is why we don’t watch television: all the swearin’ and stuff.”

As she ranted into delirium, I realized it was one of those extreme home makeover shows. You know where they take a perfectly normal looking lived-in room and secretly make it over to look like a cubby in a doll house – full of pastels, stainless steel, art deco, fringe and stripes and stuff. Then the “customer” returns home and acts like they have flat out lost their mind! They yelp something like: “Oh, a8dhaoghuaognehoehgeoirgbnlk!”

Returning to my TV-induced hypnotic state, I was listening to this woman scream “God” and “Jesus” and such, when she suddenly blurted out: “There’s an iconostasis in my living room!”

And the camera panned over and, sure enough, the make-over crew had installed an icon screen in this couples’ living room! I sat up, staring at the TV. I mean, has Orthodoxy become so mainstreamed that they’re now making television shows about Mission work? I tried to change the channel, but ...


Don't miss this week's "Best Of" episode --

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

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The seminarian, soon to be M.A.R.R.I.E.D.
 -- Dana Symeon Kees -- requests:

"I thought it would be interesting to make
a list of common or uncommon inaccuracies
that appear in press reports about Orthodoxy.
I just put an entry on my ... blog.  I would 
appreciate it if you could put  a link from
your blog to that entry, or you could copy a
similar entry onto your blog.  I would like
to produce something actually useful to somebody."

Click H E R E.

Help him out!  It's easy ... click the above
link and fire away.  No comments will be aired
here.

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Er ... I'll explain later.



Can you say campy? This was my official Camp Outfit. In case you missed it, Fr John Monto and I performed a song about it on last week's Orthodixie Podcast.



This guy? Well, this is Doctor Mark. In this photo, he is, believe it or not, preparing to Break Dance! Not bad for an 85 year old man. (I think that's right.) Anyway, Dr Mark receives an honourable mention (i.e., an "also ran") in this week's Orthodixie Podcast.



The chapel at Camp St Raphael. When asked by a camper about my favorite part of camp, I hesitated to sound trite but, I replied: "The services -- Orthros & Vespers -- with all the campers singing."



Ah, yes ... "Ask Abouna." This is where the campers get to ask any question, hopefully about the Faith. I believe this group, no doubt the less attractive portion at the other end of the table, asked: "What kind of car do you drive?"



Honestly ...



I have no idea.

One minute sanity reigned; the next, boys and girls were running around happily looking like the two goofy pics above.



Did I mention sanity? For the truly insane, there's mealtimes. (The rest of us just gotta eat.)



Dream Girls?



Bad dream girl.



Hippies ...



Rastas?

By now I'm sure you've all heard these guys. Just in case, they are the finale here and here.



The one in the middle calls me "Dad."



Hafleh!



It was Oklahoma. It was July. It was one million degrees. A Big Corp from up north sent down a male model to market their anti-perspirants and deodorants. Here he is demonstrating the fragrance for a young female participant.



A young lady paralyzed, no doubt, by the sweet smells of Yankee perfume.



Speaking of which ...

The boy = mine. The girl = his (in his dreams). Note, he has given her a flower.

Lord.

Speaking of which ...


This guy? Dead Man Walking. He's going to the chapel ...

Yo Camille! --Gonna get

There's less than

--married

30 days!

... the chapel of love.



Aha! You have figured it out! And, of course, you are right. That's Stevie Wonder to my right, and Toto (the dog in the tornado movie) behind me. That said, I probably look even more like Batman now! Dontchya think?


Truth is ...

It was Hollywood Squares. (Can you find Marge Simpson?)



The real Dynamic Duo. Fr James Shadid & Gayle Malone.

Glory to God for all things!

* I am away for a few weeks: Clergy Symposium at Antiochian Village and a spell in North Carolina. Posting and comment approval may be sporadic. Prayers coveted.

PS: Look for me in a movie near you. :)

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Years ago, back in the days before gidgy-Gidgy-Gadgie-GADGETS

TAKE TWO: Years ago, back before google -Googly- GOOGLEDY- gOoGlE

OKAY.

TAKE THREE: A long time ago, a friend of mine said, "You know, Tony Snow's a black guy."

"No way," I said, "he sounds so, so ..."

"I know," he replied, "he sounds like a white guy -- but he's black!"

Mind you, this was back when there was but a voice on the radio without a face on the tellie to fit. In those medieval times (known as the early 90's) I was a subscriber to a publication called "The Conservative Chronicle" (or some-such), which ran an article and an image -- a charcoal type sketch -- of Tony [white as] Snow. That same issue offered a caricature of Jesse Jackson. I clipped out the article with Tony's pic and pasted the Jackson image over it and sent it (via snail-mail) to my friend. No offense, Jesse.

Sophomoric? No doubt.

But it magnifies, even more, the class act that was Tony Snow. You see, my friend's a black man ... and he thought Tony was too. Yet, Tony's character had not so much to do with his color, but his creed. (Face it, Tony Snow was one white dude.) His character, fashioned by Christ, is succinctly reflected in this article by Terry Mattingly.

May God rest is soul.
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An historic concert commemorating the 90th anniversary of the murder of the last Russian Czar Nicholas II, the Czarina Alexandra, and their children took place in Moscow today, July 16th, in Christ the Savior Cathedral.

The text of the concert, composed by Bishop HILARION (Alfeyev), expresses the combined grief, repentance and hope of the Russian people. The complete libretto of the concert may be accessed on-line here.

Taken from the DOWAMA Clergy Brotherhood daily email.

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That's Fr John "Waylon" Monto on guitar, DJ Leigh in da house, and Fr Joseph "Willie" Huneycutt on the mic at Camp St Raphael, Session 2, 2008.

"DOWAMA Don't Let Your Campers Grow Up to be Clergy"

I'll post more pics soon but, for now, here's an audio snapshot of last week's CSR.2 ...


The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Oh! And, whatever you do, don't miss the final number - "Gotta Go to Camp Now!"

UPDATE: The video is now up on YouTube.

OOPS - CLARIFICATION UPDATE: The video is the Camp Video (not a video of two priests poorly imitating Waylon & Willie. I mean, thank God. :)
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While online a while back, I found one of these fun sights where all you have to do is list some nouns, verbs, and adjectives, then click a button, and Voila:

Official Camp Letter!

I don’t know why (maybe because he had just celebrated 25 years as Bishop and His name day), but I chose His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.

I entered his name, my name, and the words: confession, sorta, ugly, communion, tailgate, lie, swore, tired, hairy, stole, slippery, swim, and confession.

Here’s what I got:

An Official Camp Newsletter

Dear Bishop Antoun,

Camp is ugly and hairy.

I am sorta like it.

I have learned to swim the camp's communion.

The weather is really slippery.

I hope to lie the camp's tailgate tomorrow.

Please! -- swore my tired saint.

Love, Fr Joseph Huneycutt.

P.S. I stole your shiny confession!


I'm away at Camp St Raphael this week (prayers coveted!), but, just for fun, tune in for a rebroadcast of "Hello Jiddo, Hello Yaya" on ...

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.
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Is His Grace saying that the Patriarch of Constantinople offers a weak and poor witness of the Faith and that if the Russian Church withdraws from the World Council of Churches the Orthodox witness to the ecclesiastical world at large will be diminished?

Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria: Immediate withdrawal of the Russian Orthodox Church from the WCC should only weaken the Church's positions

Moscow, June 30, Interfax - Withdrawal of the Russian Orthodox Church from the World Council of Churches should weaken positions of Moscow Patriarchate in the inter-Orthodox dialogue, the representative of Russian Church in European international organizations Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria believes.

"This withdrawal may only weaken our positions today in defending the Church teaching which we consider traditional, which for many centuries was the basis of relations among the Orthodox Churches, and which is now challenged by the Patriarchate of Constantinople," Bishop Hilarion said Monday to Interfax-Religion.

He also mentioned that the last Bishops' Council discussed "the claims of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the jurisdiction of the whole diaspora" and the Patriarch of Constantinople's seeking to receive the position "which is somewhat equal to that of Pope in the Catholic Church."

"Today, the Russian Orthodox Church is the major opponent of Constantinople, therefore, the Patriarchate of Constantinople is interested in weakening its influence and participation in any organizations with representatives of other Orthodox Churches, including the World Council of Churches," Bishop Hilarion said.

"I believe that in this specific situation we should think twice before taking any steps to withdraw from the World Council of Churches and any other organizations representing all Orthodox Churches or their majority," Bishop Hilarion said, reminding us that the World Council of Churches "is currently one of the few platforms where the representatives of different Orthodox Churches meet."

According to Bishop Hilarion, "the difference between traditional Christianity and its liberal version becomes increasingly sizeable. Again and again, we address the question of whether or not do we need such dialogue where we express our stand on women's priesthood or one-sex marriages, and at the same time, Protestant communities in the West and the North encourage such processes which make us sever our relations with them," Bishop Hilarion said.

According to him, the Russian Orthodox Church "is going to break off relations with those Protestant communities which will decide in favour, for example, of same-sex marriages."

Bishop Hilarion also mentioned that the last Bishops' Council had no serious discussion about the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in WCC, although several participants raised the question of its further presence in the ecumenical movement.

"I, therefore, think that this issue remains open and will depend only on the development of this organization and those Protestant communities which now have the majority in it," Bishop Hilarion said.

Taken from Europica 151 (to subscribe click here).

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New York Times article – September 15, 1895

MINISTER FOR SYRIANS
----

Christian Church to be Filled by a Damascus Preacher.
---

WILL ALSO VISIT OTHER CITIES
---

[The photo, above, shows St Tikhon, center, with his two vicars - left Bishop Innokenty and right St Raphael]

Bishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands Asked the Emperor of Russia to Make the Appointment.

Among the foreign colonies the Syrian colony is one that is attaining importance, as it has been steadily growing in numbers for several years past. The number of Syrians at present residing in this city is estimated at 10,000, and in the United States at 150,000. Of course nearly all of them are Christians, either Maronites or members of the Orthodox Church, and should they keep on coming to this country at the rate they have been it will not be very long before only few Christians will be left in Syria. The natives will all be Mohammedan and Druses. To what extent the industries and trade of that country will be affected by the loss of this thrifty population can hardly be determined at present, for the Christians of Syria have certainly been the mainstays of industry and commerce there, as well as of agriculture.

Many Syrians of the better classes have of late been coming to the United States, among them representatives of commercial firms in Beyroot, Damascus, and other cities. The great majority, however, come from the working classes, and there are now here shoemakers, weavers, spinners, and farmers, not a few of whom have gone to California where they are engaged in the cultivation of the vine, figs, oranges, apricots, olives, and other fruits. There was talk some time ago of going into the silk-raising business, which the mountainers of the Lebanon understand so thoroughly, but it was decided that that industry could not well be conducted on a large scale, and small farmers were not forthcoming who could afford to wait several years until the mulberry trees should grow large enough to yield leaves for the silkworms. In the Lebanon the work of feeding the worms is given to the women and children, and the utmost cleanliness, care, and proper ventilation, and temperature are required, for without these the worms either sicken and die or their silk becomes coarse.

In New-York, Syrian Arabs live all over the city, but the headquarters where old residents have lived for years, and where the new-comers go, is in the lower part of Washington Street and cross streets. A good many of them are easily distinguishable by a rather dark complexion, and might by some be taken for Italians or Frenchmen from the South of France, but not a few are of quite light complexion, with light-colored hair. Some of the girls that come from Damascus and certain parts of the mountains are of amazing beauty, and some of the darker beauties have strikingly bright-looking black eyes that retain their lustre until old age.

As a rule the Syrians discard their native dress after their arrival here, not, perhaps, because they dislike it, but principally to avoid annoyance from the tough elements in the streets. Even the fez, or tarboosh, as the Syrians call the red Turkish cap, has generally been abandoned, and is rarely seen except on the newcomers in the stores and houses in the Washington Street colony.

They preserve, however, their native habits and customs, and favor Syrian dishes as much as they are able, and to accommodate those who have no settled homes, several Arab restaurants have been opened, where the Syrian can eat the same dishes on which he was brought up at home. They much resemble other Oriental cookery. Hard boiled rice, so prepared that the grains separate, and yakhny, a delicate, savory stew, is a favorite dish. A weakness of the Arabs is stuffed vegetables, called mahshee. The inside of a tomato or cucumber is taken out, and it is then stuffed with finely-chopped meat, spiced, and sometimes mixed with rice. Some sweetmeats, a small cup of strong, fresh-made coffee and a cigarette, or a nargilah, or water pipe, winds up the dinner--the Asha--and then the Arab is ready to sip more coffee, and smoke and tell stories or play backgammon, which game they call tawla, and of which they are passionately fond. An Arab "sport" will play tawla as long, and with as much earnestness and zeal, as a New- York "sport" will play poker.

The Syrian loves water, trees, and flowers, and perhaps one great reason that keeps Syrian colony in the lower part of Washington Street is its nearness to the Battery, where they can have a view of the bay, and see the fine trees and grass in the park. Many Arab mothers and their children can be seen about the Battery in the afternoon as and the men also go there toward evening to sit and talk and look. In Syria they will go miles to sit and smoke by the side of a streamlet. In the Arab quarter many of the Arab houses can be distinguished by plants that are reared on the fire escapes and window sills. Climbing plants are favorites, and the convolvulus, and even the cucumber vine, can be seen winding their tendrils about the fire escapes. The rehan, or sweet marjoram, is a great favorite with all.

There is a great deal of affection in the family circle among the Syrians, and respect for parents, especially for the mother, is the universal rule, and the children who do not honor their mother through life, and care for her in her old age, are considered worse than heathens. Such rules are universal, both among Mohammedans and Christians.

Many of the Syrian mountaineers who have come here have gone into the peddling business. They first started with religious trinkets that they sold to Roman Catholics, and then they gradually traded in other wares sold by peddlers. Several enterprising Syrian merchants started peddlers' supplies stores and are doing a large business. Others work in silk embroidery, make stockings, wraps, pocketbooks, suspenders, pearl beads, and perfumery, and one Syrian has recently patented a waistcoat button with a receptacle for perfumery.

The Syrians here are not slow in learning the English language for the purposes of general business, and among them are a number of gentlemen in the learned professions-physicians and editors. They support a few newspapers printed in Arabic, the principal one of which is published in this city and called Kawkab America, (The Star of America) edited by Dr. Abraham J. Arbeely, who has lived here many years and married an American woman, Miss Lafetra, and has several charming children who speak English better than they do Arabic. Dr. Arbeely furnishes his countrymen with a great deal of news from Syria and the Levant, and makes them acquainted with American institutions, customs, and manners. He is also preparing an English-Arabic grammar and pronouncing dictionary to facilitate the learning and pronunciation of the English language by Syrians. It will have about 500 pages.

Several months ago the Syrians of the Greek Orthodox Church in this country organized a benevolent society which they called the Benevolent Syrian Orthodox Society, and have just chosen Dr. Arbeely as President of the society. This society does not restrict its benevolence to members of the Greek Church only, as it has given assistance to Maronites and also Mohammedans in distress in a foreign land.

The Russian Bishop of Alaska, whose Episcopal See comprises all the United States, has been taking a great deal of interest in the Syrians of the Orthodox Greek Church who are in this country, and has quite recently prevailed upon the Russian Emperor and Synod to appoint a Syrian priest who studied in Russia as a pastor for orthodox Syrians in this country under the supervision of the Russian See. The success of the Russian bishop of Alaska was first published in the Syrian colony yesterday, and has created a great deal of rejoicing. The name of the Syrian-Russian priest is the Rev. Archimandrite Raphael Hawawini, native of Damascus, and he is expected here next month.

The following is a translation of the letter of the Chief Secretary of the Synod of Russia to the Bishop of Alaska informing him of the action of the Synod on his request to have Archimandrite Raphael Hawawini appointed and to fix salaries for him and a Syrian deacon of his own selection:

Charge of the Most Holy Governing Synod of the Russian Church,

To the Right Rev. Nicholas, Bishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands:

By command or his Imperial Majesty, the Most Holy Governing Synod has heard the report of your Right Reverence of the 15th or June of the present year, together with the presented petition of the Archimandrite Raphael, native of Damascus, in Syria, asking to be accepted in the service of the Alaskan diocese, with an appointment to the Church of New-York for the Arabians, emigrants from Syria, who live in America, and that he, Archimandrite Raphael, together with a Deacon—Syrian—who is to arrive, be granted a subsidence of 1,800 rubles in gold annually. And upon examination, it has come in order to consider:

Whereas the Archimandrite Raphael, a. native of Damascus, in Syria, in his petition to your Right Reverence explains that the orthodox Syrians-Arabians, in divers cities of the United States of North America, whose numbers exceed 10,000 souls, have not one sacred minister who should administer to their spiritual needs, and in the worship of God in the Arabian tongue, and they request him to be their religious pastor.

Whereas the Archimandrite Raphael desires to extend spiritual support to his kinsmen, he beseeches your Right Reverence to accept him in the service of your diocese, and to obtain for him from the Most Holy Synod an appointment to the Church in New-York for the orthodox Syrians, (Arabians,) who live there, as also for those who live in other American cities, and that if his request be granted he should receive besides traveling expenses an annual income of 1,800 rubles in gold, of which 1,200 rubles are to be for his personal support, and 600 rubles for the support of the Deacon.

Your Right Reverence reports that the appointment of the Archimandrite to service in the diocese entrusted to you is considered by you most desirable, and that the amount he names for his support you find to be not quite sufficient on account of the higher cost of living in America, and you ask for an increase of the salary and that 500 rubles in gold more be allowed for expenses in missionary visitations.

Having examined the above, and, bearing also in mind the answer of the Most Blessed Patriarch of Antioch in regard to the advisability of transferring Archimandrite Raphael to the service of the diocese in America, it is therefore re solved by the Most Holy Synod:

First—That your Right Reverence be allowed to receive the aforesaid Archimandrite into the diocese entrusted to you, with an appointment, together with a Deacon selected by him from Syria, to one of the churches of the diocese at your discretion.

Second—That for the support of the Archimandrite and the Deacon 1,800 rubles in gold will be annually appropriated, of which 1,200 will be for the Archimandrite and 600 for the Deacon, and 500 rubles more for traveling expenses.

Third—That in accordance with the statute concerning passage money granted to those who officially leave Russia to serve beyond the borders and imperially confirmed on May 1, 1867, the regularly appointed sum of 150 chervonets [chervonet, about $3.85] for passage money, and 150 chervonets for the expenses of moving and settling, the total of 316 chervonets be assigned to the Archimandrite Raphael, this sum being credited to the account for American churches and missions.

ALEXIS ZAVIALOV

Acting secretary in chief.

Acting Secretary Ser. Kamenski

July 17, 1895

When the Russian Bishop of Alaska received the letter, he wrote: "I am happy that God blessed this, my long desire, to give to the American Arabians a native Arab pastor! The diocesan office will send a copy of this charge to the rector of the church in New-York, and another copy to the Arabian newspaper for the information of the Syrians in America. Further, Archimandrite Raphael will annually, during two Summer months and two Winter months, visit the cities of the United States in which Arabians are more numerous, viz., Chicago, San Francisco, &c.

BISHOP NICHOLAS

"24 July, 1895, in Novgorod.''

Thanks to a FWD from Bishop THOMAS (Joseph) who acknowledges: "We thank Vera Acker, secretary of St. Philip's Church in Souderton, PA, and the wife of our deacon there, for her kind effort in transcribing this piece of history."

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Sometimes just plain ol' reality is far better and more "creative" than fiction. For example, my interview with the "Big Banana" was priceless -- though the Big Yellow One probably thought it was right on the money.

I'm hoping to one day get a report that the Small Town Heroes came to play some Byzantine Bluegrass at an Orthodox Tent Revival.

This story (Choir Eye for Retired Guys), parading as an actual story, is also worth a try.

Then there's things that just happen, which are totally subjective, and hard to explain.

Finally, in the midst of the Don Imus controversy, innocently enough, there was Cap'n Hoe.

Award Host
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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