primary sources Archives - Page 23 of 27

One city, two churches: New York, 1894

Oct 9, 2009

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The first Greek Orthodox church in New York City — named for the Holy Trinity — was formed in January of 1892. It was organized by a group called the Society of Athena, which, as the name suggests, was composed mainly of Greek immigrants from Athens. The community’s first priest, Fr. Paisios Ferentinos, was sent by the…

The First Greek Church in New York

Oct 8, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Firsts, Orthodoxy in the Americas

From 1870 to 1883, Fr. Nicholas Bjerring operated a Russian chapel in New York City. At the time, there were very few Orthodox Christians in New York, and Bjerring’s parish was always small. As we’ve discussed before, in 1883, the Russian government decided to pull its funding and close the chapel. Bjerring responded by leaving…

Dabovich’s Miter

Oct 5, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Orthodoxy in the Americas

If you read one of the many articles on the life of Fr. Sebastian Dabovich, you might run across a story about his miter (that is, his archimandrite’s crown). Dabovich had been elevated to archimandrite by St. Tikhon in 1905, and Tikhon gave Dabovich a miter on the occasion. According to St. Nicholai Velimirovich, the crown was…

More on Fr. Vladimir Alexandrov

Oct 2, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Orthodoxy in the Americas

A few days ago, we discussed the tragic story of Fr. Vladimir Alexandrov, the early 20th century Russian priest whose life reads like (as Fr. Andrew Damick has suggested) a Russian novel. Very briefly: Alexandrov accidentally killed his son; his wife had an affair with his assistant priest (and took the family’s $19,000 savings); he…

St. Alexander Hotovitzky on St. John of Kronstadt

Oct 1, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Global Orthodoxy, Saints

St. Alexander Hotovitzky was the rector of St. Nicholas Church (and then Cathedral) in New York City from his ordination in 1896 until his return to Russia in 1914. For almost all of that time, he was the highest-ranking priest in the Russian Mission. Of course, he was dean of the diocesan cathedral, but…

The tragic story of Fr. Vladimir Alexandrov

Sep 29, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Orthodoxy in the Americas

Fr. Vladimir Alexandrov was a priest in the Russian Mission in the late 19th and early 20th century. He began his career in 1896, as the choir director of the multiethnic St. Spiridon Church in Seattle, Washington. After his ordination in 1898 (or ’99), he remained in Seattle as the pastor of the church. It…

Irvine’s responds to Hapgood’s “Musical heresy”

Sep 21, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Early Converts, Orthodoxy in the Americas, Westernization

Last week, I posted Isabel Hapgood’s 1915 article in which she begged Archbishop Evdokim, “Please let us have a splendid choir!” She said, in part, “The Cathedral Choir, propertly constituted large enough, is immensely more important to your Church and Mission in this country than twenty little new parishes.” The whole article is well worth…

“Please let us have a splendid choir!”

Sep 18, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Orthodoxy in the Americas, Westernization

On Wednesday, I posted a collection of quotations from Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine. Among them was this, on the famous translator Isabel Hapgood: “That vixen Miss Hapgood. What a liar — she has damned the Church for years.” Over on our Facebook page, Michael Beck asked the very reasonable question, “What was his deal with Isabel…

The Prophet of American Orthodoxy

Sep 16, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Early Converts, Orthodoxy in the Americas, Westernization

Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine, the great convert priest who was ordained by St. Tikhon in 1905, may well be the most quotable figure in American Orthodox history. You can expect lots of Irvine-related material on this website well into the future, but I thought that today, I might offer some particularly great quotations from the…

Robert Josias Morgan visits Russia, 1904

Sep 15, 2009

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Matthew Namee

in Early Converts, Orthodoxy in the Americas

It’s been a while since we talked about Robert Josias Morgan, the black Episcopal deacon who became an Orthodox priest in 1907, taking the name “Fr. Raphael.” In the past, I’ve mentioned that, prior to his conversion to Orthodoxy, Morgan visited Russia in 1904. Upon his departure, he wrote a letter, which was reprinted in…

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