House Bound

Bishop Frederick Fick MSJ will be representing the Society at Nashotah House this week. See the story immediately below. May the Lord bless the participants as all seek to do His will.

In the Footsteps of Tikhon and Grafton

"In the Footsteps of Tikhon and Grafton" — Nashotah House to Host Anglican-Orthodox Ecumenical Conference with St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary Partnership between two schools marks new step in ecumenical relations Nashotah, WI, September 1, 2009 – An ecumenical conference between scholars of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox traditions will be held at Nashotah House Theological Seminary on October 8-10, 2009. Entitled “In the Footsteps of Tikhon and Grafton - Anglican and Orthodox Identity, Ministry and Mission in the 21th Century,” the Anglican-Orthodox Conference will feature discussions and addresses by representatives of Nashotah House and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY, together with several worship services representing the spiritual riches of both traditions. The conference will conclude with the signing of a “Covenant Partnership,” pledging continued prayer, fellowship and ecumenical cooperation between the two schools. Speakers will include the His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Orthodox Metropolitan of All America and Canada, who is President of the St. Vladimir’s Board of Trustees, and the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, an alumnus of Nashotah House who is now Chancellor of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. The Conference is free and open to the public but advance registration is required. For more information, telephone Fr. Steve Schlossberg, Director of Communications, at (262) 646-6506. “St. Vladimir's Seminary is committed to working out a new relationship with Nashotah House that honors our common legacy and heritage,” says Fr. Hatfield. “Together we can take the work and witness or our forefathers and reclaim the voice of Christian orthodoxy that this world is starving to hear once again. Not to do so would be to fail to build upon the foundations of both seminaries and the two traditions that they represent. Now is the time to act boldly, and together we will in common witness to the truth of the Gospel of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. May it be blessed.” The Very Rev. Dr. Robert S. Munday, Dean and President of Nashotah House expressed his conviction that this new relationship between the two seminaries “is an important step in furthering a renewal of Anglican—Orthodox ecumenical dialogue, which is the oldest ecumenical dialogue between Christian traditions." Dean Munday added, "It is particularly appropriate that Nashotah House should resume the ecumenical efforts begun over 100 years ago by Bishop Charles Grafton (2nd Bishop of Fond du Lac and Chairman of the Nashotah House Board of Trustees) and Saint Tikhon of Moscow (who was archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America, and who was made an honorary Doctor of Divinity by Nashotah House in 1905, later becoming Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church)." Bishop Frederick Fick, MSJ will be attending this conference on behalf of the Society.

New Favorite Hymn

Ok, so it isn't new, but it is new to me. Last week, while at Nashotah House, the evening high mass was packed out and the Nashotah Hymn was sung with rafter rattling gusto. I was moved and maybe it was because I was seated directly next to the organist, who also happens to be the contributing composer of this hymn, but this hymn will live on in my heart for a very long time. +Frederick G. Fick

Here is a link for an mp3
http://www.nashotah.edu/audio/Nashotah_Hymn24bit.mp3

Here is the text to sing along.


1. Firmly I believe and truly
God is three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.

Refrain:
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
de profundis oro te,
Miserere, judex meus,
parce mihi Domine.

2. And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as He has died.

3. Simply to His grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong,
And I love, supremely, solely,
Him the holy, Him the strong.

4. And I hold in veneration,
For the love of Him alone,
Holy Church, as His creation,
And her teachings as His own.

5. Adoration ay be given,
With and through the angelic host,
To the God of earth and heaven,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Paraphrase of the Refrain:
Holy mighty, Holy God,
from the depths I beseech thee,
have mercy, O my judge,
spare me, O Lord.

Text from The Dream of Gerontius
John Henry Newman, 1801-1890