www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Eparchial & Parish Events Two-Day Symposium Prayer & Church Fathers w/Met Kallistos, SF &

A number of our parishioners took part in the Institute's first symposium a year ago "Liturgical Symbolism" [forums.catholic.com] and found it very worthwhile.

One of our parishioners currently is part of the Institute's first cohort of students in the "Certificate in Orthodox Studies" program. A second cohort of students in the Certificate Program is beginning soon, and the Institute is accepting students now [sforthodoxinstitute.org] to "begin their Distance Learning-based studies in December 2012 and January 2013".

I've been in the Institute's "Liturgical English: Developing an Orthodox Language" Study Group.

If my wife (who is due a few weeks after the Riverside talk) allows me I think I am going to go to the talk. Riverside is an hour drive from my house and if she goes into early labor I can be home ASAP.

The Symposium was excellent. You can see the topics covered each speaker here [sforthodoxinstitute.org] .

Photos are on the Institute's Facebook [facebook.com]. You can check there without being logged in to Facebook. They did record and video all the talks so hopefully the audio will get up on Ancient Faith Radio eventually.

If you are in So Ca there may still be a few spaces available for the Riverside sessions [sforthodoxinstitute.org].

Of the Eastern Catholics I was aware of there were 5 from our parish and one from St Basil's Byzantine in Los Gatos.

We had many friends there, including a number who were at the Liturgical Singing Seminar last weekend. Someone we'd had lunch with was commenting on how wonderful it is to connect with people from so many different parishes. I was thinking in the last session, for me these Orthodox events are like a kind of reunion with family you are close to, but who live in another region so you can't be with them all the time, but when you're together there is that kinship. I'm grateful to have such good relations with Orthodox from various parishes and monasteries here. Even thought Met Kallistos is Greek Orthodox I didn't see there any of the Greek Orthodox clergy I know. Met Gerasimos is very "ecumenical" so I expected to see him there but it could be he was out of town. I know our assistant pastor from Oakland's Cathedral was out of town.

Something very special to me was in Vigil last night the children for the St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy were singing with the choir, and were chanting the psalms.

Also, we were sitting near the back yesterday and I got up at a break to stretch and was looking at nearby holy icons and there was the exact same print we have of our much loved St. Paraskeva the Great Martyr, whom folks here helped identify a couple of years ago. Our print has not yet gotten hung up in our new space so it was a special treat to be able to see her again and venerate her there.

I am glad you enjoyed it!

We also had him at out church a few years back. Not that many came from the surrounding churches or from St. Vladimir Seminary.

In the case of the Seminary, I was told by a seminarian, that he had spoken there before.

In the case of the surrounding G.O., perhaps it is because not everyone takes their faith seriously enough to even KNOW that he is a giant in today's Orthodox Church, or they are young parents with other weekend obligations.

As I said in a previous post today, *in my experience*, I have found that it is mostly (but not exclusively) the converts to the G.O. Church that care to read the books and really practice and learn about the faith and take it seriously enough to take the time to attend lectures and seminars....

On a side note: didn't you just love listening to his Oxfordian British accent?

In this day one can hear Met Kallistos speak on the internet in many different podcasts and Youtubes. Still, there is always the opportunity for more, and especially for worship together. I had to choose to miss both the Divine Liturgy at (new) Holy Virgin Cathedral Friday morning, and at Old Holy Virgin Cathedral yesterday because of my own limitations of energy, trying to conserve it for the symposium and the Sat. eve Vigil, a couple of hours, in Slavonic and Greek. I felt certain pangs of sadness for missing these hierarchical liturgies but as exhausted as I was Sat. night I think it was the right choice. Such is life.

I was in Fr Irenei's "Liturgical English: Developing an Orthodox Language Study Group" last year and had through that experience come to have great admiration of his own teaching, and his leadership/administrative skills. He was a student of Vladika Kallistos at Oxford before becoming a teacher there and at Leeds. I like him very much and suspect he will continue to rise. He's done an extraordinary job pulling together this new Sts. Cyril & Athanasius Institute for Orthodox Studies. One of our parishoners is in the first cohort of the Certificate of Higher Education in Orthodox Christian Studies [sforthodoxinstitute.org] and is very pleased with the program.

Fr Irenei's and Fr Sergei Sveshnikov's presentations both was excellent and would have been a solid symposium even in the absence of Met Kallistos. It looks like neither Fr Irenei nor Fr Sergei will be in Riverside, but I would trust Fr Irenei's judgement to have excellent speakers joining Met. Kallistos there. [sforthodoxinstitute.org]


He definitely is delightful to listen to. Fr. Irenei seems to have kept the accent he aquired during his years studying and teaching in English and is likewise easy on the ears.

That is a good point.

We were fortunate to have him officiate for Palm Sunday on the weekend he came to speak. It was indeed a blessing.