Part 1 of 2 By Brother Theophan " I am seventy years of age, and the whole study of my life has been to find out what it is that is in myself; what is this thing we call life, and how does it operate? " - George Inness, 1894 Living around the Hudson has stimulated me to return to the Hudson River School of painting and enter more deeply into this 19 th -century American art movement. Exploring local art museums such as the Clark and the Albany Institute of History and Art, which houses a large collection of Hudson River paintings, along with a recent trip to Olana , has deepened this involvement. Several artists from this school have moved me, but George Inness, in particular, has had the greatest impact on me lately. The Clark Art Institute houses a large collection of his works, available for viewing. Many of the themes that have deeply resonated with me—such as the continuity between waking and dreaming consciousness, the visible and invisible, nature and...
Father Paul
Nicholas Harrilchak,
priest of Holy Trinity Parish (OCA), Reston, Virginia, and long-time friend of
New Skete’s Communities, gave an evening lecture during his visit, accompanied
by Mrs. Sharon Lefchik of College Park, Maryland, for the monks, nuns, and
members of our parish Tuesday, November 5. He spoke very entertainingly and
most informatively about the thematic and calendar unfolding of the celebration
of the Nativity of Christ in the Orthodox East from the time of St. John
Chrysostom. The Eastern tradition has no Advent except in the adoption of a
forty-day fast to mirror the Great Fast in preparation for Pascha, but it is
nonetheless rich in biblical mysteriology expanded by the related theophanies
also brought to the fore by the Church from the original new year on September
23 (the empire’s commemoration of the birth of Caesar Augustus) up to the
Encounter on February 2. In the course of his discussion, there were ample
instances to refer to a book he has just published in its 20th edition, The Divine Liturgy. This revision is
replete with details of liturgical and biblical history embedded in the texts.
Father
Harrilchak with Brothers Peter and John, Stavros and Marc. The latter two were
classmates with Father Harrilchak at Saint Basil’s Ukrainian Catholic
Seminary in the early sixties. He was also familiar with Fr. Laurence at
Holy Protection Monastery of the Byzantine Franciscans in adjoining towns in
southwestern Connecticut. Fr. Paul and Br. Stavros and the deceased Br. Elias
were also together at the Catholic University of America at St. Josephat’s
Ukrainian Seminary in Washington, D.C. in 1964 and 1965. He preceded the monks in
becoming part of the OCA after his years at St. Vladimir’s and friendship with
Fathers Schmemann and Meyendorff [the founder of the Reston parish.]
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