OCF greets new students
In eary September Fr. Alexander and Fr. Daniel welcomed returning OCF undergraduate and graduate students as well as the many new students joining in worship at the Weekly Divine Liturgy. This active group of 13 + has been participating in weekly Liturgy, coffee hour!, weekly Bible study, etc. A good number enjoyed getting to know each other as they joined Fr. Alex, Matushka Cathy and their daughter Stephanie doing apple picking at Terhune Farm - an annual event begun many years ago by Fr. Daniel.
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Easter - 05/05/2024
Student participation in the services and events of Holy Week and Pascha was at an all-time high, as close to 25 undergraduates and grad students were actively involved.. Some served in the altar, some sang in the choir, others read from the 15 prophesies at Saturday’s Liturgy. Others read excerpts from the Paschal Gospel which totalled 16 foreign languages. And everyone joined in the Paschal procession and then the blessing of Easter baskets after liturgy. One generous family prepared Paschal food for all the students, and the meal lasted until 4:00 ! It must be mentioned that all the services and festivities were carried out peacefully, despite the fact that our Chapel in Murray-Dodge was surrounded all week by student protests.
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Chapel of Transfiguration - 03/24/2024
On Sunday, March 18th, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, Archbishop Michael visited our Chapel of the Transfiguration and presided at the Divine Liturgy, the Icon Procession and the traditional reading of the Synodikon. His Eminence was accompanied by Deacon Stefan Karlgut and Subdeacons Mark Federoff and Zachary Parisi. After the service, a reception for chapel members and guests was held at the facilities of Campus Club on Prospect Street including Lenten dishes prepared by our members and by the catering service of Olives.
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Archbishop Michael visits - Greeting and Entrance - 03/24/2024
The Archbishop was greeted at the Chapel doors with the traditional Bread & Salt by senior Andrew Tutuc and with a bouquet of flowers by Vivian Gilman PU ’27. Father Daniel PU'66 welcomed His Eminence with the Cross and words of appreciation for His presence, prayers, and continuing archpastoral care for our Chapel and OCF.
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Divine Liturgy with Archbishop Michael - 03/24/2024
Father Daniel and Father Alex were the priestly celebrants. Choral responses at the Liturgy were splendidly offered by our Chapel Choir under the direction of Matushka Tamara Skvir. The Prokiemenon and Epistle were read by Andrew Tutuc PU’24. Altar servers included our Yacoub PU’26 and Irakli, assisted by visiting John Federoff. His Eminence gave an inspiring homily on the history and importance of icons and the Church’s defeat of the iconoclasts.
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Procession of Icons - 03/24/2024
The traditional Procession of Icons took place in the rooms of Murray-Dodge. chapel members bearing their favorite icons, some self-written. One unusual icon included in the procession was carried by Archbishop Michael: an icon from Romania, written on glass, a gift from chapel member Elisabeth Badea.
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Turkevich Awards presented - 03/24/2024
The event continued with Archbishop Michael presenting the Fr. John Turkevich Memorial Awards to undergraduates Andrew Tutuc PU'24, Catherine Grygorenko PU'27, Yacoub Kahkajian PU'26, and Jamil Fayad PU'26 (in absentia). Activities concluded with pictures taken of the participating clergy and servers, award recipients and the entire congregation on the stairwell of Murray-Dodge.
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2024 Winter
February welcomed the return of students to campus. Fr. Alex celebrated his 5th year as a Priest. Many Years. The celebration happened to coincide with a festive Super Bowl coffee hour. Vivian's family joined her in church. As it turns out, Vivian is the 5th member of her family to be a part of PU's OCF (Aunt Genie and several cousins preceeding her.) Andy also has an interesting connection to our Chapel of the Transfiguration. Fr. Daniel baptized him in our Chapel in 2002 when his parents were grad students. Andy now reads the Hours and Epistle while others serve in the altar (Jamil, Yacub) or sing in the choir (Julia, Katya, Allison). Yacub also is enjoying Fr. Daniel's PU band jacket - which no longer fits Fr. Daniel, but does fit Yacub!
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Mt. Athos Experience - 02/04/2024
Following Divine Liturgy, Ioan Nicusor-Iancu shared with fellow members of the Chapel of the Transfiguration and OCF students his experiences while visiting his uncle a resident monastic on the Holy Mountain.
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Gifting Project - 12/10/2023
On December 10 following Liturgy the OCF participated in the traditional Advent outreach program. Thanks to the generous donations from the Chapel Family, children (and parents) from several nearby families in need will receive Christmas gifts these year. Matushka Cathy Smida along with daughter Stephanie gathered together all the toys. The OCFers were responsible for wrapping, organizing and packing the boxes for transport.
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Apple Picking - 10/08/2023
Some members of the OCF participated in the annual fall outing: Apple Picking at Terhune Farms.
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Coffee Hour - 10/14/2023
Coffee Hour, supplied by members of the Chapel of the Transfiguration, offers students and townspeople alike to enjoy fellowship. Often the students have their meeting with Orthodox Chaplains Fr. Daniel Skvir and Fr. Alex Smida at this time. It is also a time to do outreach projects together and to hear presentations by visiting clergy, scholars.
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On September 10, 2023 Princeton University's Orthodox Chaplains Fr. Daniel Skvir and Fr. Alexander Smida celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Chapel of the Transfiguration (Murray Dodge Hall.) It marked the 59th anniversary of weekly (during the academic year) Orthodox services on campus. Fr. Daniel and Fr. Alex welcomed those returning from vacations and those new to the Princeton community. OCF gathering and coffee hour followed Llturgy.
Congratulations and God's Blessings! - 06/20/2023
On June 20, 2023 earliest Chapel member Veronica Dolenko celebrated her 100th birthday! The event was marked with a small luncheon in her home attended by Fr. Daniel and Tamara Skvir, Fr. Michael and Leslie Sochka, faithful friend Mary Reiling, Veronica's brother Denis Mickiewicz and his wife Ellen from North Carolina, and devoted caregiver Bunmi. During the course of the day other Chapel members dropped by. Veronica, a longtime member of Princeton's Slavic Department, is remembered by us for the many vestments and altar covers sewn in our earliest years.
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Congratulations to Fr. Daniel! - 03/05/2023
On March 5, 2023 His Eminence Archbishop Michael celebrated the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy in the Chapel of the Transfiguration on the campus of Princeton University. Serving with His Eminence were Archpriest Daniel Skvir, University Chaplain, Priest Alexander Smida, Assistant Chaplain, Deacon Stephan Karlgut, along with students and visiting Sub-Deacons and Altar Servers. The Chapel Choir was prayerfully conducted by Carmen Mateiescu, retired professor of composition at Westminster Choir College. The traditional procession of icons and recitation of the Synodicon concluded the service. Afterwards, Chapel members and guests enjoyed a splendid repast of Georgian Lenten delicacies prepared by Marina Nozadze. Also, the Fr. John Turkevich Memorial Awards were presented by the Archbishop to OCF members Jamil Fayad ’26 and Yacoub Kahkajian ’26 for their faithful attention to responsibilities as Altar Servers.
The celebration also included the awarding of this year’s OCA Order of Saint Romanos the Melodist to Father Daniel for his many years of service as choir director (East Meadow NY and Jersey City NJ), musical arranger and keeper of the Orthodox musical legacy, especially that of old Russia. The 400+ piece Skvir-Buketoff Liturgical Music collection was donated to the library of St. Vladimir’s Seminary by Father Daniel and Matushka Tamara for use by present and future musicologists and practicing choir directors. The bulk of this collection contains printed scores of pre-revolutionary Russian composers, in particular those of Pavel Chesnokov.The Skvirs were particularly blessed to be the preservers of Passion Week, a collection of magnificent hymns by Maximillian Steinberg written in 1923, but never performed due to restrictions imposed by the new Communist regime. A copy of this music was entrusted to Igor Buketoff who in turn entrusted it to Matushka Tamara, his niece, with the instruction “see that this gets performed.” It is not a piece written for a typical parish choir, but by the Grace of God, Alexander Lingas, founder and conductor of the renowned Cappella Romana, spent a sabbatical semester at Princeton and sang in the humble chapel choir. When told of the piece, he excitedly agreed to tackle the project with his choir. In 2014 in the Pacific Northwest, Passion Week had its world premiere, some 90 years after its composition, the Skvirs’ task fulfilled. A professional CD was produced a year later. (More details available in the Summer/Fall 2014 issue of Jacob’s Well.)
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PU OCF President Tonsured Reader - 02/20/2022
The highlight of Archbishop Michael's visit to our chapel February 20, 2022 was the Tonsuring of loyal OCF President and Altar Server Aidan Hintermaier '22 as a Reader. Aidan's parents from Macon Georgia were also in attendance.
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This past week (January 9-12) the inaugural conference of the International Orthodox Theological Association [IOTA], opened in Iasi, Romania. Hundreds of papers were presented, covering Patristics, Theology, Church History from its beginnings to present day situations, music, iconography, etc. Voices came from “the ends of the earth”, sharing thoughts and research on these topics of the Orthodox faith.
In perusing the abstracts of the presentations, I couldn’t help but notice how many of the speakers were active in our Chapel and OCF at some point. Here is a list:
…. The keynote address was delivered by His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Timothy Ware) who spent two years at Princeton as a Post Doc in the early 60’s .
…. Alexander Lingas
…. Marcus Plested
…. Fr. Cyril Hovorun
…. Dr. Kevin Kalish
…. Sotiris Mitralexis
…. Petre Guran
…. Alexis Torrance
…. Peter Bouteneff
…. Fr. Ciprian Burlaxioiu
How many do you remember ?? While these names are part of our Chapel’s fifty-four year history, one name leaps out as an integral part of our present. Our own Ioana Patuleanu was another participant, presenting a paper entitled Suffering and Orthodoxy in theTwentieth Century: Seeing the World Transfigured with Nicolae Steinhardt. Kudos to Ioana for her work, especially
for getting the word Transfigured into her title. Be sure to ask her about about her paper and the event when we next see her !
Father Daniel