January2017

No.122

TheOrthodoxParish
oftheHolyandLifeGivingCross,
Lancaster,U.K.

TheStavronian

amonthlymagazine&newsletterpublishedbythe'HolyCrossSynodia'

TheParishoftheHolyandLifeGivingCross,
belongstotheAntiochianOrthodoxChristianArchdioceseoftheBritishIslesandIreland.
ThePatriarchateofAntiochisthirdsenioroftheOrthodoxChurches.
ThePatriarchisHisBeatitudeJohnX.

ThediscipleswerefirstcalledChristiansinAntioch
(Acts11:26)

LIFE,LIGHTANDLOVE
,
,
.
.
.
.
.
, .
.
Iamthelightoftheworld,cominginthis
darkagetogiveyouthelightoflife.
HavepeaceMychildren.IofferyouMy
peace.IofferyouthegiftofMylove.
CometoMeasyouare.Donotwaituntil
youbecomesaintstocomenearMe.
Gerontas(elder)Fr.EusebiosMamakas
The Christian is in a different position
from other people who are trying to be
good.Thelatterhope,bybeinggood,to
please God if there is one; or if they
thinkthereisnotatleasttheyhopeto
deserveapprovalfromgoodmen.Butthe
Christianthinksanygoodhedoescomes
from theChristlife inside him. He does
notthinkGodwillloveusbecauseweare
good, but that God will make us good
becauseHelovesus;justastheroofofa
greenhouse does not attract the sun
because it is bright, but becomes bright
becausethesunshinesonit.
C.S.Lewis,MereChristianity

JOURNEYTOORTHODOXY:
InterviewwithTravis
Dumsday,Orthodoxconvert
fromCanada
1. With your permission, Iwouldliketo
focusfirstofallontheideaoforthodox
philosophy, which in my opinion is so
important,foratleastthreereasons: the
rebirth of Orthodoxy in the secular and
postmodern society; a rightminded
understandingoftheOrthodoxcivilisation;
and of course the cultural importance of
Orthodoxy evenfortheWesternsocieties,
which are based mainly on Catholic or
Protestant identities. Talking about any
orthodox philosophy could be something
challenginganddifficultbutitisamoral
dutyforustohighlightthephilosophical
tasks of Orthodoxy. From this point of
viewIwouldliketoaskyouifyouconsider
thatthemaincharacteristicofOrthodoxy
could be metaphysics. And when I am
saying metaphysics I especially make
referencetotheworksofHolyFathersof
the Church such as St Maximus the
Confessor.
The issue of the relationship between
Orthodoxy and philosophy is of course
veryoldandverycomplicated.Itiswell
knownthatthedialoguewithGreekphi
losophy (Aristotle, Plato, the Stoics, the
neoPlatonistsetc.)hadanimportantset
ofrolestoplay inChurch history,from
theapostoliceraonwards.Theseinclude
edrolesintheunderstandingofChurch
dogma, e.g. the use of concepts like
substanceandessenceindiscussionsat
theearlyEcumenicalCouncils,andinthe
defenceofthatdogma.
Thesefactsapplyhistoricallytoallof
the main subdisciplines of philosophy,
including:ethics(thestudyofmorality);
epistemology (the study of knowledge
andofrelatedconceptslikeevidenceand

rationality); and, as you rightly note,

metaphysics(thestudyofthenatureand
existence of things). In each case, the
Holy Fathers made considerable use of
Greekphilosophicalideas.
That having been said, one of the
interesting features of the relationship
specifically between Orthodoxy and
philosophyisthegreatdiversityapparent
intheTradition.Orthodoxthinkershave
been influenced by a variety of philoso
phical schools (again, Aristotelian, neo
Platonic etc.), and there is no one phi
losophical school which could be consi
dered as the official philosophy of the
OrthodoxChurch.Thisinternaldiversity
distinguishes Orthodoxy somewhat from
Roman Catholicism, which has histori
callytendedtotreatThomismasasortof
semiofficialphilosophicalsystem.
2.Weknowverywelltheevolutionandthe
foundations of contemporary American
philosophical approaches and, if I'm not
wrong,IthinkbytheAmericanphilosophy
we may understand first of all analytic
philosophydefinedespeciallybythephilo
sophyoflanguageanddifferenttheoriesin
logicswhichare,ofcourse,essentialforour
philosophical background. I would also
takeintoaccountthecontemporaryAmeri
canpolitical philosophy influenced especi
ally by the idea of global justice, well
knownbecauseofThomasPogge.Givenall
Ihavementionedabove,whatwouldbethe
placeofOrthodoxphilosophyamongthese
Americanphilosophicalapproaches?
Its certainly true that in the English
speaking world, the analytic approach
remainsthedominantwayofdoingphilo
sophy. Being an analytic philosopher
myself, Im glad! Moreover, I think that
Orthodox theology fits very nicely into
analytic modes of thought. Analytic
philosophyischaracterizedinpartbyits
great emphasis on logic and clarity of

argumentation.Thisfocusonclearargu
mentisabsolutelyevidentinmanyofthe
HolyFathers.Lookforinstanceatsome
oftheargumentsemployedbySt.Atha
nasiusorSt.JohnofDamascus;indeed,
justlookattheoverallstructureoftheir
majorworks.Theyareclearlyorganized
andlogicallystructured.SoIthinkthere
is a natural sympathy between analytic
philosophyandOrthodoxy.
That having been said,there areof
courseothermajortraditionsincontem
porary philosophy besides the analytic,
and Orthodox thinkers cannot afford to
ignore them.Ithink forinstance ofthe
continental, pragmatist, and Scholastic
traditions. These too can be productive
dialoguepartnerswithOrthodoxthought
(inparticulartheScholastictradition).
Im afraid Im very poorly read in
Americanpoliticalphilosophy,soIwont
trytosayanythingaboutProf.Pogge!
3. Iwould bevery interested to find out
howyouunderstandorthodoxspirituality
inNorthAmerica,particularlyinCanada,
withitsownheritage,traditionsandparti
cularities.Let'stalkabout,forexample,the
contributions of John Meyendorff to the
evolution of American Orthodoxy and its
scholarship. I wouldn't forget Seraphim
Rosetoo,whoisdeeplyappreciatedespeci
allyinEasternEurope.So,tellmeplease,
how would you characterise American
Orthodoxy?
God alwaysworkstobringgoodoutof
evil, and a wonderful example of this
providential work can be found in the
intellectualtraditionsparkedbytheRus
siandiaspora.Afterthecommunistrevo
lutionof1917,manyimportantOrthodox
intellectualsleftforParisandothermajor
centresofscholarship,including,eventu
ally,centres inNorth America.Manyof
the most important North American

Orthodoxscholarsaretheproductsofthis
diaspora,evenifsecondgeneration.
Ofcourse,Orthodoxywaspresentin
North America even before the commu
nisttakeoverinRussia,asevidenced,for
example, by the inspiring history of
Orthodox missionaries in Alaska. And,
livingasIdoinAlberta,Imustmention
toothehugewavesofUkrainianimmigra
tiontowesternCanadabeginninginthe
late 19th century. That prerevolutionary
diaspora has also bequeathed a remark
ableOrthodoxheritagetoCanada.
I am pleased to hear that Fr. Sera
phim is being widely read in Eastern
Europe. I have certainly benefited from
his writings, though I do disagree with
someofhisideas,forinstancehisviews
oncreationism.

encourages the pursuit of distinctly

Christianscholarship.

4. What does it mean for you to be an

Orthodox Christian? And what does it
meanforyoutobeanOrthodoxphiloso
pherinCanada?

Ithinkitwoulddependontheparticular
versionofpragmatismunderdiscussion.
Personally Iamsceptical ofmany ideas
coming out of pragmatist schools of
thought,butsomeversionsarefriendlier
to Orthodoxy than others. For instance,
the works of C. S. Peirce are, in large
part, broadly compatible with many
Orthodox ideas. By contrast, someone
likeRichardRortyisverymuchantitheti
caltoChristianwaysofthinking.Some
thing similar could be said of post
modernism; there are certain strands of
thought in postmodernism that are
compatible with Christianity and can
even provide new insights to Christian
thinkers (a point emphasized by the
AmericanphilosopherJamesK.A.Smith),
but much of it seems to me deeply
problematic.

TobeanOrthodoxChristianis,inpart,to
havetheamazingprivilegesof(a)access
tothefullnessoftruthand(b)accessto
valid sacraments.OtherChristianbodies
do of course teach a great deal of the
truth,butitismixedinwitherror.And
while other Christian bodies do have
somevalidsacraments(notablybaptism),
only in the Orthodox Church can we
confidently partakeofthegenuine body
andbloodofChristintheeucharist.
I love the philosophical scene in
Canada;wehaveanenergeticphilosophi
calcommunity and avariety ofphiloso
phicalassociationsthatactivelyholdcon
ferencesetc.
RegardingbeinganOrthodoxphilo
sopher in Canada, I do try to bring my
faith to bear on at least some of my
philosophical work. In fact Im very
fortunatetobeteachingataninstitution,
ConcordiaUniversityofEdmonton,which

5.Oneofthedeepestspiritualideaswhich
impressed me much and influenced my
thinking remains, and always will, the
hidden holiness, idea which belongs to
MichaelPlekon.Iwouldlikeyoutotellme,
how do you understand the hidden holi
nessfromyourownorthodoxperspective?
To my discredit, Im not very familiar
withtheworksofPlekon.
6. Which would be in your opinion the
most important roleof Orthodoxy inthe
postmodernandpragmaticworld?Could
there exist any common denominator
betweenOrthodoxyandpragmatism?

7. GivenyourentireOrthodoxexperience,
andIwouldsaywayofliving,whatisthe
mostrelevantandthedeepestideathatwe
can find in Orthodox spirituality and
theology?Woulditbecorrecttosaythat

Orthodoxy represents the highest and the

deepestwayofliving?
I think the deepest idea we can find in
Orthodoxtheologyisinfactthedeepest
ideawecanfindinChristianitygenerally:
God loves us so much that He sent his
onlybegotten Sonto dieforus.Thatis
absolutelymindblowing,andifaperson
reallybelievesit,itwillhaveaprofound
impactoneveryareaofhisorherlife.
8.Ifyoushouldrecommendonebook,just
onebook,tosomeonewhowantstobetter
understand Orthodox spirituality, which
woulditbe?
Tough question! Im not really sure;
however, I am fond of Metropolitan
AnthonyBloomslittlebooktitled Living
Prayer. Thats certainly a good place to
start.
TudorPetcu,Romania
TudorPetcuisawriterandagraduateof
the Faculty of Philosophy, University of
Bucharest, Romania. Part of his work
focusesontheevolutionofOrthodoxspi
ritualityinWesternsocieties.Thisarticle
ispartofhisnewbookofinterviewswith
Western converts to Orthodoxy, to be
publishedinthenearfuture.

THOUGHTSFROMTHE
CELTICFATHERS
From the life of Saint Findchu of
Munster,Ireland:Itwasanascetichabit
ofFindchutolaybesideeverycorpsethat
was brought to the church in the first
night.Hewasaskingasarewardforthis,
everymanwhowouldcallforhishelpin
hishourofdeathnottobecapturedby
thedevilandgotohell.
ChristosVasilopoulos
Kozani,Greece

NAMESOFDEPARTED
LOVEDONESTOBE
REMEMBEREDTHISMONTH
Jan.6:Fr.MichaelHarper
Jan.16:Fr.JacobMyers
Jan.30:Ioannis
MEMORY ETERNAL!
Pleasesendusthenamesofyourdepar
ted loved onesand dateoftheirdepar
tureinorderforthemtoberemembered.

OLDSTAVRONIANCORNER
We are so very grateful to those who
remember usintheir prayers and show
theirloveasgenerousbenefactorsofour
Parish. We would like to thank Tatiani
Rapatzikou from Thessaloniki, Greece,
forsendingcandlesandcharcoal,aswell

as Nikolaos Georgopoulos from Athens,

Greece, for the beeswax candles and
incensetobeusedinthechurch.Maythe
Lordgivethereward!

MAJORCELEBRATIONSTHIS
MONTH
st
1Jan:St.BasiltheGreat,Archbishopof
CeasareainCappadocia
th
6Jan:TheTheophanyofOurLordand
SaviourJesusChrist
th
9Jan:St.AdrianandSt.Brithwald,
ArchbishopsofCanterbury(710and
731A.D.)
th
17Jan:St.AnthonytheGreat
th
18Jan:St.Athanasius,Patriarchof
Alexandria
th
20Jan:RighteousEuthymiustheGreat
th
24Jan:St.Xenia,theFoolforChristof
St.Petersbourg(1803)
th
25Jan:St.GregorytheTheologian
th
28Jan:St.EphraimtheSyrian
th
30Jan:SynaxisoftheThreeHierarchs:
BasiltheGreat,GregorytheTheologian&
JohnChrysostom

For the lives of Saints please visit the

CalendaroftheGreekOrthodoxArchdi
oceseofAmerica:www.calendar.goarch.org

HomeblessingatTheophany!PleasecontactFr.Jonathan

ServicesatStMartin'sinJanuary*
Sun.1st
Sat.7th

10:00 HoursandHolyLiturgy
12:00 GreatBlessingoftheWatersforTheophany
13:00 Memorial,Confessions,SynaxarionandGreatVespers
th
Sun.8
10:00 HoursandHolyLiturgy
Sat.14th
13:00 Memorial,Confessions,SynaxarionandGreatVespers
Sun.15th 10:00 HoursandHolyLiturgy
Sat.21st
13:00 Memorial,Confessions,SynaxarionandGreatVespers
Sun.22nd
10:00 HoursandHolyLiturgy
Sat.28th
13:00 Memorial,Confessions,SynaxarionandGreatVespers
Sun.29th 10:00 HoursandHolyLiturgyfollowedbyParishlunch
*Helpsettingupthechurchisgreatlyappreciatedandstartsfrom9.30a.m.

Godcaresforeveryone.Despairisineffectalackoffaith
St.GeorgeKarslides

Forfurtherinformationpleasecontact:
FatherJonathanHemmings
67SibseyStr.,Fairfield,Lancaster,LA15DQ
Tel:+441524840759,+441524580600
Email:frjah@yahoo.co.uk
www.orthodoxlancaster.org.uk
www.antiochianorthodox.co.uk
ThefollowingblogsofOldStavroniansareavailableinRomanian,ConstiintaOrtodoxa,in
English,Orthodoxcityhermit,andinGreek,Orthodoxyrainbow.

TopandbottomsketchesarecreatedattheHolyMonasteryofTheAnnunciationoftheTheotokosChios,Greece,courtesyofFrTheodosiosDendrinos,Ithaca,Greece.
ThesketchofChristbyPhotisKontoglouwasscannedfromtheOrthodoxcalendaroftheApostolikiDiakoniaoftheChurchofGreece.