There is a tradition among some Orthodox bishops not give a blessing for newly ordained priests to hear confessions. Presumably this is in recognition of the tremendous harm even well-meaning but ill-formed confessors can do (and have done, as with the "mladostartsi" or "young elders" in the p … [Read more...]
On Christmases, the Accumulation of Rituals, and the Gravity of God
I love the rituals of Christmas. The home ones are especially nice: hanging stockings (made by my Mom for my Pani, each of my kids, and me), putting up the Nativity banners, setting up the Nativity creche (are they statues if all the figures are pillows?), putting out the Advent candles, hanging up … [Read more...]
On Reader’s Services (with thanks to Fr. John Whiteford)
St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary On Services without a Priest Presentation for Distance Learning Residency, Autumn 2016 Modified from Fr. John Whiteford's excellent site to match local practices. +++ In case a priest is not available, with his blessing or that of his bishop, deacons, … [Read more...]
On Personal Preparedness (i.e. the prepper priest)
When you have four hundred pounds of beans in the house, you need have no fear of starvation. Other things, delicacies such as sugar, tomatoes, peppers, coffee, fish, or meat, may come sometimes miraculously, through the intercession of the Virgin, sometimes through industry or cleverness; but your … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode #17: Advice for Preparing For and Dealing With Parish Disasters
Good Guys Wear Black Podcast (Ancient Faith Radio), 19 December 2016 Fr. Anthony Perkins On St. Michael's Day of 2012, the parish of St. Michael the Archangel (UOC-USA) in Woonsocket, RI suffered tremendous damage from a fire. In this podcast, Fr. Anthony, the priest of St. Michael's at that … [Read more...]
Three Traps for New (and Old) Priests
There are many traps that new priests fall into (nor are the more experienced immune). Today I want to warn them away from three that occur all too frequently; choosing sides necessarily, blaming the former pastor for current problems, and making friends with parishioners. The Temptation of C … [Read more...]
Parish Boards, Truncated Sample Bias, and Parish Reform
Studies in the self-help genre are notorious for their bad science (i.e. for their poorly constructed research designs) - even when they seem to rely on good data. One of the most common traps is to rely on truncated or "survivor" samples. To see how easy it is to fall into that trap, let's do s … [Read more...]
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