Category: Early Converts
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Fr. Kyrill Johnson, 1897-1947
A lot of us at SOCHA happen to be really busy right now (personally, I’m in the middle of law school exams), so rather than leave you without much to read this week, here’s an article we originally published back in August 2010. Fr. Kyrill Johnson was one of many fascinating early American converts to…
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Author & Hollywood screenwriter Elliot Paul converts to Orthodoxy
On March 5, 1958, the New York Times ran the following article: AUTHOR ADOPTS FAITH Elliot Paul, in Hospital, Joins Greek Orthodox Church PROVIDENCE, R.I., March 4 (AP) — Elliot Paul, author, became a member of the Greek Eastern Orthodox Church today in bedside ceremonies at the Veterans Administration Hospital here. Mr. Paul is seriously…
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Two Memorials served for Colonel Philip Ludwell III – Tuesday March 14/27
Tuesday, March 14/27, 2012 marked the two hundred and forty fifth anniversary of the repose of Colonel Philip Ludwell III, a native of Williamsburg, Virginia. The metrical books of the Russian Orthodox Church in London, England record that Ludwell died at his home in London at 5p.m. on March 14 O.S., 1767, having previously been…
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This week in American Orthodox history (March 19-25)
March 25, 1886: The future Greek Archbishop and later Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras Spyrou was born. Athenagoras led the Greek Archdiocese from 1930 to 1948, when he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople. He served in that position for nearly a quarter-century, until his death in 1972. March 25, 1891: St. Alexis Toth and his Greek Catholic…
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St. Patrick’s Day with Fr. Patrick Mythen
We here at SOCHA would like to wish you and yours, Irish or not, a happy St. Patrick’s Day! And who better to portray those wishes than a figure we have written quite extensively about, Fr. Patrick Mythen. A proud descendent of the Irish political figure Henry Grattan, Mythen spent a good portion of his life working…
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ROCOR to offer an annual memorial service for Philip Ludwell III
Today being a Monday, I normally would publish the next edition of my “This week in American Orthodox history” series (in which I would say, among other things, that today marks the 97th anniversary of St. Raphael Hawaweeny’s repose). But that will have to wait until tomorrow, because I need to report on a pretty…
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Nicholas Chapman’s new lecture on Philip Ludwell now available
Nicholas Chapman recently gave an hour-long talk on Philip Ludwell III, the first Orthodox convert in American history. The lecture is now available for purchase, and you’ve got two options: an MP3 download for $4.95, and a boxed CD for $9.95. The boxed CD includes a newly-discovered portrait of Ludwell as a young man, and…
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This week in American Orthodox history (January 16-22)
January 16, 1924: Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow — former Archbishop of North America, and future canonized saint — issued an ukaz removing Metropolitan Platon Rozhdestvensky from his post as primate in America for “public acts of counter-revolution.” Of course, Tikhon was under pressure from the Soviet government. Really, “pressure” is an understatement; I have no…
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The mystery of Irvine’s funeral
I’ve written more words about Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine than about any other historical figure. Irvine was an Episcopal priest who converted to Orthodoxy in 1905, was ordained by St. Tikhon, and played a major role in American Orthodoxy until his death in January 1921. He was a trusted assistant to St. Raphael Hawaweeny, and…
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A Virginian Apostle: The First Orthodox Catechism in the Americas?
Editor’s note: We’re extremely pleased to present another article by Nicholas Chapman, who continues to excavate the very earliest origins of Orthodoxy in America. To read more about Nicholas and his exciting research, check out the upcoming edition of the journal Road to Emmaus, which features a lengthy interview with Nicholas. Also, if you’re coming…