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I recently stumbled across an Orthodox monastery in Austin, TX called St Hilarian's. However, they are "Milan Synod". What is this and are they recognized?

love in Christ,
Marshall

Dear Marshall,

The Milan Synod is "irregular" (Reader Sergius might just call them "Vagante").

They were in union with the Kyivan Patriarchate at one point, as I recall.

They are former Old Catholics under Arnold Matthews.

They are Western Rite and have done an excellent job in publishing and promoting their Sarum Rite missal. Another branch of their monastery publishes the old Benedictine Offices - I have a copy of one and it is superb!

Their Calendar is second to none, they list the Eastern and Western Orthodox saints in two separate columns and their 2002 Calendar (which is on its way to me as we speak) lists all the Russian New Martyrs glorified in August 2000.

Their prayerbook includes all the great Catholic devotions of Old England, including an old Way of the Cross, rosary, Little Office of the Virgin Mary and the Divine Liturgy of St Gregory.

Apart from their canonical status, they publish excellent work and are very serious and spiritual in following the Rule of St Benedict.

Alex

The Synod has published many things in Spanish and their diocese in Argentina has a very good site, Pro Ortodoxia, but unfortunately this site has been closed due to the sad events in Argentina. They have some Western parishes but most of them are Eastern and it's true, they are a little bit "vagante". They were in Communion with the Vetero-calendarist Synod of Greece, they received the Apostholic succesion by this synod and also by the Polish Orthodox Church. Then they became independent and tried to be recognized by Constantinople, but Constantinople didn't want to do this because of their tides with the disident Greek church and because Constantinople has always been very careful and didn't want to establish a church in the cannonical territory of the Holy See.
Despite their irregular status, their ordainations are valid and priests that came from that Synod have been received in patriarchal dioceses and churches.

Anyone with connections to the KP must be fishy. It looks like their church is one of those that is bigger on the internet than in real life.

Apart from that, they look interesting.

Daniil

Dear Daniil,

Why is anyone with connections to the Kyivan Patriarchate "fishy?"

Are they any less fishy than the Orthodox Churches, including Moscow, that declared their Patriarchy that was acknowledged by world Orthodoxy hundreds of years later?

How else was the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to divest itself of years of Moscow's hegemony and colonial grip over it?

Was Moscow going to agree to it? The real question here should be what kind of "fishy" business continues to afflict world Orthodoxy amidst the politics between Moscow, Constantinople and Rome.

I am with the under-dog and with my under-dog people.

If that makes me "fishy" too, then I never want to let go of my net.

Alex

Dear Remie,

This Synod does indeed have Eastern Rite parishes, but in the U.S. they are mostly Western, following the Benedictine tradition.

They even have Western Rite parishes in Serbia conducted in Serbian!

Alex

Dear Forum Confreres,

To set the record straight about the Synod of Milan,

1. It is not nor has ever been Old Catholic. Its consecrations were received from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia when it was still a diocese of the Greek Old Calendarists, prior to the splitup of the Florinites.
2. The parish and monastery in Austin, Texas, were formerly Old Catholic.
3. It was not that the Autocephalous Church of Poland consecrated hierarchs for our Synod, but that some Bishops leaving the Synod of Milan were received by Poland in their rank by simply assigning them new dioceses.
4. The Milan Synod entered into relations with Kyiv from 1991 or 1992 until 1997, but after Moscow anathematised Patriarch Filaret, broke all ties with him. The M.S. was never a Ukrainian Church, but had relations with Kyiv, then.
5. Even in the U.S., most of the faithful are Eastern Rite, though small W. Rite missions have been begun in many places and there are two old, established W. Rite monasteries, both of which publish W. Rite service books. The largest church in the U.S. is Sts. Paraskevi and Charalambos, in Maspeth (New York City).
6. St. Hilarion Press, which is associated with the M.S., publishes a prayer book which, in its 3rd edition, does not contain the devotions of the way of the cross and "golden psalter of Our Lady" (an early form of rosary), but does contain about twice as many services and prayers as earlier editions did.

For those who are interested in our monastery's publications, they can be perused online at www.odox.net. [odox.net.]

I hope this has been of some help and ask for your good prayers.

Fr. Hieromonk Aidan+ a sinner
St. Hilarion Monastery & Press
Austin, Texas

Dear Fr. Aidan,

The Moscow Patriarchate anathematized (Patriarch or whatever you want to call him) PHILARET (Mykhail Denysenko) before 1997. Probably around 1994. Is the "golden Psalter of the Mother of God" the one by St. Demetrius of Rostov (aka Tuptalo)? Pslam 1 is "Blessed is the man who honours you, Mother of God,..."?

Alex, Hahahahahahahahaha. I am also for the under dog (I am Ukrainian too!). I cheered for the Patriots in the Super Bowl from the very beginning. Sorry. I din't want to sound negative about the KP, but with Philaret at the helm, the ship is going nowhere fast. I completely agree with a Patriarchate for Kyiv, since Ukraine, correct me if I'm wrong, has more Orthodox Parishes than Russia -- or an equal amount. Something like that. Philaret, aka Agent of the KGB and married to a "nun", is not the man the man for the job. He is great politically because he is getting all of the government on side with him, but that's not how it should be done.

Daniil

Bless me a sinner, Father Aidan Keller!

We spoke way back when on the phone a few times and I've never hid my admiration for you!!

I have your early edition of the Prayer Book which contains the Stations of the Cross and the Golden Psalter. They are wonderful devotions that I continue to use privately!

Yes, I was referring to the Austin Monastery as formerly "Old Catholic." And the first edition of your prayer book is also called "Old Catholic."

(I too, as a Catholic, am getting up there in years!).

Kissing your right hand, I again implore your blessing,

Alex

Dear Daniil,

Yes, I strongly suspected you are patriotic .

The Golden Psalter you mentioned in Fr. Keller's prayerbook is not the Psalter of St Dmitri (a remake of Bonaventure's Psalter of Our Lady).

It is a five decade Rosary with a meditation point for each "Hail Mary."

I don't disagree with you about what you said about the KP.

You should also know that numerous Russian bishops have also taken wives under communism.

And if membership in the KGB brought automatic excommunication, why is His Holiness Alexey still Patriarch? His KGB ID number has been published.

I don't want him defrocked. But I only suggest that before you go criticizing your own "hnizdo," realize that what is wrong with us is also wrong with others, especially "Big Brother Moscow."

Have a great day!

Alex

Yes, I know. The reason I am not criticizing Agent Drozdov or Adamant? (Alexei II) is because he is a lost cause. He was just as bad as Philaret, if not worse. You know how it is, you criticize those you care about or you see potential in. The KP has some hope.

Daniil

Dear Daniil,

Yes, you are right.

At least the KP invited their membership to attend the Papal liturgies in Ukraine and welcomed the Pope.

But I think we need to put all this behind us and the Orthodox Church needs to move ahead.

It deserves our support to do so in every way.

No need to respond, I know you agree!

Alex

[ 03-07-2002: Message edited by: Orthodox Catholic ]

Nice to see you're also here Fr Ajdan. I participate in the Orthodox Group in Spanish and I really apreciate the wonderful job that the Press and the monasteries do, publishing Orthodox texts for Spanish speakers.
I can see that there's been a "boom" of Western rite parishes (most of them non-cannonical) and it's interesting that the Milan Synod and the Antiochian Vicariate are also interested.
But my question is about the "rescue" of western rites (sarum, tridentine, galican, mozarabic) and about how good this is for the churches. I see some disadvantages because some of these recreations of rites seem to be a bit artificial and jurisdictions that are doing this, don't follow an order (it's just a personal view) and it'll be a mess if a lot of "new" rites are used (this is what happenned when the Anglican parishes in Britain that joined the RC asked to preserve their BCP).

Dear Alexander,

[QB]Bless me a sinner, Father Aidan Keller!

The Lord bless us.

>We spoke way back when on the phone a few times and I've never hid my admiration for you!!

Thank you for these very kind words. Are you Dr. Roman?

>I have your early edition of the Prayer Book which contains the Stations of the Cross and the Golden Psalter. They are wonderful devotions that I continue to use privately!

I'm glad that the prayer book is being put to good use. People getting the 3rd ed. of the prayer book could miss those somewhat later devotions, but they would be comforted tenfold by the wealth of material in the 3rd edition which was not in the first 2 editions. There is now even a discussion list which serves as a "support group" for St. Hilarion Press customers by giving publications news, corrigenda, previews of material in upcoming publications, and so forth. Email me privately if interested.

>Kissing your right hand, I again implore your blessing,

The Lord bless us.
Prayerfully Yours,

Fr. Hieromonk Aidan+
a sinner
hilarion@austin.rr.com

Dear Remie,

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Remie:
[QB]Nice to see you're also here Fr Ajdan. I participate in the Orthodox Group in Spanish and I really apreciate the wonderful job that the Press and the monasteries do, publishing Orthodox texts for Spanish speakers...

Thanks for your kind words. We are trying to find a webspace now for Pro-Ortodoxia since its host became a pay-host, and Fr. Gorazd cannot send dollars outside Argentina. If anyone has some good idea on this tragic situation (Pro-Ortodoxia was one of the most complete Spanish language websites on Orthodoxy and Eastern Christianity, and even was commended in "Cristo Hoy," the Catholic weekly in Argentina; now Pro-Ortodoxia is no longer up on the web), do email me.

>I can see that there's been a "boom" of Western rite parishes (most of them non-cannonical) and it's interesting that the Milan Synod and the Antiochian Vicariate are also interested.

It's a situation which could be very valuable, and is also fraught with difficult questions.

>But my question is about the "rescue" of western rites (sarum, tridentine, galican, mozarabic) and about how good this is for the churches.

1. Eastern Orthodox Saints of our times have supported this very effort and none have opposed it;

2. Western Rite (at least the Roman Rite) never was completely absent from the Eastern Orthodox Church, being present in some form or other all the way from 1054 to the present;

3. The Church and its unity was never hampered in the centuries when there was tremendous liturgical diversity; people simply enjoyed another tradition if they found themselves in the midst of one. This may not be bad for the idea of universality in the Orthodox Church. The Church has never been limited to a single rite.

> I see some disadvantages because some of these recreations of rites seem to be a bit artificial...

Some are; ours isn't, so that shows you that a firm historic footing is quite achievable.

> and jurisdictions that are doing this, don't follow an order (it's just a personal view)...

Some don't; we do, so it shows again that liturgical order and propriety is quite achievable under these circumstances.

> and it'll be a mess if a lot of "new" rites are used ...

It's true that there is a liability having such diversity, because of less interchangeability. However, the possibilities for mission seem to outweigh these drawbacks.

Thanks for an interesting discussion.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Hieromonk Aidan+ a sinner
St. Hilarion Monastery & Press
hilarion@austin.rr.com