Orthodixie

I‘m a little late in getting this posted but, for the record and your edification, here are a couple pics of Bishop THOMAS at St George on the Sunday of the Cross — with a link to his sermon, below.

His Grace likes to preach from the Solea. Trouble is, there’s no microphone there — which wasn’t a problem for those in attendance, but the recording reflects a certain chamber echo. [Click here for the Sayidna’s sermon on the Sunday of the Cross at St George, Houston.]

This was not an hiearchical service; the bishop served the Liturgy “as a priest”.

I like this pic because everyone seems to be doing something different.

Now everyone’s in place.

The weekend prior to the Sunday of the Cross, February 26-28th, Houston played host to a Youth Retreat (Winter Camp, or WAMP) for the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America. The scheduled speaker, who was to fly down from up north, was unable to make it due to a snow storm. Bishop THOMAS, no stranger to youth work, just happened to be in the area and, with the blessing of Bishop BASIL, graciously agreed to serve as retreat speaker. The teens gifted him with this “retreat skufia“.

Much like you have introverts and extroverts, a friend of mine once theorized that there were Purple People and White People; that is, tipping his hat to the colors of the liturgical seasons, there were Lenten Christians and Paschal Christians.

Some folks really, really get into LENT. As a layman, I was one of those: I was Purple.

My sojourn as a Purple Person continued for about the first 10 years of my priesthood.

I have come to the conclusion, only realizing it during this Lent, that I’m not so much purple any more as I am, or am hoping to be, WHITE.

But I’ve still got a long way to go.

What caused this change?

Honestly, I think it dawned on me after receiving a few emails from some seriously Purple People over the past few weeks.

One complained of a perfectly good fasting recipe I’d posted on my blog; another one accused me of irreverence in [seemingly] making light of spiritual matters; one even chastised me for posting the traditional rules of the Fast because, as this person said, no one follows those anymore!

Sigh.

It just goes to prove the old adage, “You can’t please all of the people, all of the time – especially if they’re Orthodox!”

Not wishing to embarrass anyone, I have refashioned individual emails into one letter …

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Image Source

Forty-eight times a day Every now and then, I check the book stats on Amazon.

Imagine my surprise when, yesterday, I found that my new book’s cover had been replaced by the cover for Fr Peter Gillquist’s 25th Anniversary Edition of Becoming Orthodox.

I couldn’t decide if this should all translate to:

We Came, We Saw, We Covered

or

We Came, We Saw, We Recovered

We’ve put in for the fix but, at last check, it’s still wonky.

It must be Lent.

(Stolen’s more like it!)

UPDATE: Check this out —

In the meantime … We Came, We Saw, We Converted (and Becoming Orthodox, for that matter) can be purchased through Conciliar Press.

From the seminary website:

This year’s annual public Lenten retreat at St Vladimir’s Seminary will be “Southern Style” as we welcome Fr Joseph Huneycutt, author of the popular blog Orthodixie. Fr Joseph’s topic for this year’s retreat, to be held Saturday, March 20, 2010, is Paschal Fire from Spiritual Ashes.

Known for combining wit with wisdom, and satire with sobriety, Fr Joseph has authored several books reflecting his journey to and through the Orthodox Christian faith, including: We Came, We Saw, We Converted: The Lighter Side of Orthodoxy in America; Defeating Sin: Overcoming Our Passions and Changing Forever; and One Flew Over the Onion Dome: American Orthodox Converts, Retreads, and Reverts. He appears regularly on Ancient Faith Radio, and is a priest at St George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Houston, Texas.

Describing his approach to spreading the gospel, Fr Joseph said, “I find English works best; it’s also good to make the message sinner-friendly and open to all. Seriously, without encouragement toward perpetual conversion in Christ the Living God, our message is the same as any other: dead.”

The public retreat begins with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at 9 a.m. in Three Hierarchs Chapel, and will be followed by brunch at 11 a.m. Fr Joseph will present his talks from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building. A prayer service at 4:30 p.m. will close the retreat.

The retreat is free and open to the public. Participants planning to eat brunch after Divine Liturgy must register for the meal and pay a $10 fee at the door. Please click here for directions to the campus or call the seminary events coordinator, Tanya Penkrat, at 914-961-8313 ext. 351 for further information. And, please mark your calendars for this event!

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Winter in these parts has been, by Texas standards, pretty brutal this year. But, as I told Gerontissa Paraskevi: “The weather is always beautiful when I come here.”

“You should come more often,” she replied.

Today I had the blessing of taking Bishop THOMAS of the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic (Antiochian Archdiocese) to the women’s Monastery of St Paraskevi, Washington, Texas.

We also brought along St George parishioner, George Katrib. Gerontissa gave us a tour of the property — what a blessing!

Mama Goat had three babies during the first Friday Akathist (Pure Week).

As we were walking toward mom & kids, Gerontissa was gathering dried leaves from the ground — she said, “Like chips”, and had George to help Mama to a snack.

The kids started jumping — capriciously, wildly, delightfully; I tried to catch them in midair, to little avail.

This guy seemed amused.

The monastics are working on remodeling this barn for monastic cells and work rooms …

… beautiful.

As ever, the windmill and water tower serve to remind one that though it’s Orthodox and it’s Greek, it’s still … the Republic of Texas.

Bishop THOMAS used to work and serve at St George during the 80’s & 90’s — George grew up there. It was the first visit to the monastery for both of them.

[This week is also The Week of the Cross.]

Speaking of growing up, Gerontissa commented that these colorful windows help the [human] kids behave. That is, when children at services may need a break, bringing them out to the Narthex under this colorful display helps to allay the fidgeting.

Ah … do not be afraid! Looks are deceiving. Lunch at St Paraskevi Monastery on the Feast Day of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste [main course – here] was DELICIOUS!

St Paraskevi & Holy Forty Martyrs, pray to God for us!

Pics from previous visits to St Paraskevi Monastery may be found here, here, and here.