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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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Divine Liturgy returns to campus following summer break.

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

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