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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Obit Diaconus Polycarpus, RWRV

From Pastoral Vicar Father Anthony (Bondi)

Dear Fathers,

It is with profound sadness that I convey to you the death of Father Deacon
[Polycarp] Robert (Sherwood) who passed away suddenly, about 1 p.m. this afternoon.

Father Deacon is survived by his wife Lillias. At the present time we do
not know more than this. As information becomes available I will pass it on.

Fraternally,

Father Anthony
Pastoral Vicar

=========================

From Dom James, Abbot of Christminster:

The official funeral and internment of our beloved friend, brother and benefactor Robert Sherwood will take place on Thursday, 9 June 2011, at
St. Mark's Orthodox Church in Denver, Colorado.

On Saturday, at a time and place in Hamilton to be announced, there will be a non-religious memorial testimonial for him.

On Thursday at 10:00am, at Christminster, in the monastic church of Our Lady of Glastonbury, a Sung Mass of Requiem will be celebrated by Abbot James and the monastic community for the repose of his soul. We invite all his friends and colleagues to join us as we remember and pray for our departed brother and friend.

For further information on the Saturday memorial, please contact us later in the week.

In our Saviour,
Fr. James
Abbot of Christminster

=============================

Fr. Polycarp died of a sudden heart attack at his home in Barrie, Ontario, on Saturday, June 4, 2011 (new style).

Requiescat in pace! Vale, frater reverendissime.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

RWRV Ukaz -- Father Anthony (Bondi)

An "ukaz" in the Russian Orthodox Church means an official decree from a Bishop. Here is the Dec. 18, 2010 ukaz which appoint Fr. Anthony (Bondi) as Pastoral Vicar for the Western Rite.

Click the image to see greater detail:

Parable of the Western Rites

Some have expressed either dismay, or dissatisfaction, or disapproval, regarding the fact that so many different forms of Western rite are currently permitted by the RWRV. Therefore I have thought to set down the following parable for prayerful consideration.

THE PARABLE OF THE WESTERN RITES

Once upon a time, there was a lady, and she was rich. She fed many poor, each day, from the abundance of her luxuriant fields. One day it came to the lady's attention, that some Oriental folk lived beyond the bridge, just past the hill. How they hungered for rice! But no rice grew in her fields. And the lady said to herself, "I know what I will do! I will plant rice in my fields, and the Oriental folk shall be as well-nourished as all the other folk whom I feed, each day, from my plantings." And having gone to buy seedlings, she found basmati, white, and brown. Long-grain and short-grain did she find. And as she hesitated, there approached an Oriental fellow, crying, "Basmati! Only basmati!" The lady nodded, and besought the seller of seeds for basmati. But in that very instant another fellow arrived, and he cried, "Brown! Only brown!" Soon came another,
"Long-grain only!" And others came, and cried aloud in like manner. Then the lady said (for she was a rich woman), "My dears, I will buy of each kind of seedling, and will plant. Yours it shall be to cultivate and to reap, and to seed again. The years of many harvests shall reveal, in the sight of all the town, which rice is most beloved by you and best feeds you. Only keep a constant peace amongst you." But no sooner had she said it, than the first fellow gnashed his teeth and cried out, saying, "I said basmati only, and what is this!" But she answered and said to him, "Dear sir, grow your basmati, and the Lord of the fields send good rain." Thus, therefore, after a moon of years, it happened that the rice fields were flourishing, and their cultivators were well-sated, and there was abundance and contentment. And the kind of rice which sprouted in all the fields, and refreshed all its growers, in those days, was..."

(to be continued)

Joseph DelGiorno Ordained Deacon for RWRV

On May 28, 2011, at Christminster (the monastery of Christ the Saviour) in Canada, Dom Joseph DelGiorno was ordained to the sacred diaconate, in a Western rite ordination service, by Bishop Jerome of Manhattan, who assists Metropolitan Hilarion in administering the ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate (RWRV).

We declare him "dignus," and we pray that Fr. Joseph will receive grace and strength from Our Lord in the coming years to fulfill the loftiness of his sacred calling.



Ad multos annos, pater!



Reading of the Holy Gospel



At left is Bishop Jerome in Western rite vestments.



Ordination banquet



Future of Western Rite Orthodoxy