My apologies for the long absence from blogging! But I’m back and excited to share this recording of my setting of the “Byzantine Hail Mary.” I started with the melody from the Ruthenian prostopinije tradition, and harmonized it in 4 parts, following my own principles of composition – a Germanic style, as I’ve been told. It was a nice piece to write, but I wasn’t sure it would ever be sung. However, I happened to show it to some of my friends at a party I had, and we decided to give it a try. After tweaking the lineup (first I tried covering the alto and had my friend on bass until we switche ..read more

Wisdom Hath Builded Her House See links to previous segments below: Part IV Part III Part II Part I Introduction Life’s been crazy and it’s been a while since I’ve written much, but now I’m back again to type up the fifth and final installment of my series on Integralism! From the notorious “hijacking” of the Second Vatican Council (I will not debate here exactly when this took place) emerged the infamous “Spirit of Vatican II.” The heretics used ambiguous phrases in the conciliar texts to turn the orthodox understanding of how the temporal and spiritual orders are related on its head. Thus, i ..read more

Christ the King, by the hand of DJ Shulick After many alterations and revisions, I at last now feel satisfied with my effort in depicting the image of our divine Savior. After I finished the icon of our blessed Lady, it was only proper to turn my hand to the One to whom she always points. The inspiration for this icon came from several different versions of this subject. I took certain elements from each of these that stood out to me and then wove them back together in my own unique way that still remains faithful to tradition. In this icon, Christ stands in majesty surrounded by the golden li ..read more

The Greek and Latin rite Catholic churches of Patton, PA, built right across the street from each other – a visual example of brothers dwelling in unity. The Second Vatican Council occurred at the heyday of the Liturgical Movement, which ideally sought to inspire a renewed appreciation for the Roman Mass and correct modern abuses that distanced Latin practices from those of the East.[1] But instead of re-harmonizing Latin practices with Greek and Syriac customs, for example by restoring the Sung Mass and its musical repertory to widespread use, the post-conciliar “reformers” rather chose the r ..read more

The Greek and Latin Rite Catholic Churches of Patton, PA, a visual example of brethren in unity. My father grew up attending the Divine Liturgy at SS Peter and Paul Byzantine on the left. On the right is Queen of Peace Roman Catholic Church, which celebrates some Masses in the Extraordinary Form (TLM). Part I Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. (Ps. 132:1 DRV) Ecumenism is an often invoked but infrequently understood term in the Catholic Church today. The word comes from the Greek oikumene – the inhabited or civilized world – specifically, the area g ..read more

Wisdom Hath Builded Her House By contrast, the Latin model saw a strong distinction between the clerical and civil powers develop early on in the Middle Ages with the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne and his successors attempted to exert influence and sometimes even directly control the clergy in the manner of the Eastern Roman emperors. But unlike the East, the Western clergy under the banner of the pope were able to resist what they viewed as imperial usurpation of the ecclesiastical authority. And this centuries-long struggle culminated during the High Middle Ages with a papal triumph over th ..read more

Wisdom Hath Builded Her House The development of Eastern Christendom was characterized by the gradual perfusion of the existing pagan society with Christianity, rather than a rupture. Even during the Latin Middle Ages when the ecclesiastical and political powers were most closely connected, the West distinguished the roles of each realm. And after the close of the medieval era, this distinction hardened into a rigid separation as the civil power asserted its independence from religious values. But in the East, the strict dialectic of sacred vs. secular that developed in the West following the ..read more

Wisdom Hath Builded Her House Read the Introduction It has been a while since I first wrote on this subject, but as promised, I am finally back to it again, and here is the next post in my series on “integralism.” Even long before the present crises, there was a growing tendency in Western Christendom back to the Renaissance, Ockham, and the general substitution of Aristotle for Plato, of taking an extremely analytic view of reality. Here, instead of approaching things as unified wholes with respect for their ultimate mystery, they were broken down into their parts reduced to what we can under ..read more

Trinity A deeper issue behind the Filioque debate is the question of divine simplicity. Latin Catholics who follow the Thomist school assert that there is not only a lack of composition in God – that is, He cannot be divided into parts – but in His being there is really no distinction among discrete qualities we attribute to Him. So, for example, in this view there would ultimately be nothing different between God’s wisdom and power in His own nature, only in our understanding of Him. Because He is infinite and we are not, our limited minds must tease out various aspects to try and grasp what ..read more

Trinity Yes, I’m going there! But I don’t want to add yet another argumentative voice to this debate. Instead I’d like to non-confrontationally bring up some factors on both sides of the issue that can lead to misunderstandings from the other side. For it is my position that on this topic, as in so many others, Latins and Greeks don’t ultimately disagree on the underlying substance of the doctrine which is held, just the different particular ways in which each side chooses to profess it. From my experience, I think that in asserting the Holy Spirit’s procession from the Father and the Son, the ..read more