Orientale Lumen XIII
Washington, DC - June, 2009

Metropolitan Jonah celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at his Cathedral of Saint Nicholas during the Orientale Lumen XIII Conference with Bishop Hlib Lonchyna and other conference participants attending.

Orientale Lumen XIII Conference Participants gather at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Bishop Hlib Lonchyna with Metropolitan Jonah attending in the Ukrainian National Shrine of the Holy Family.

The OL XIII Conference participants visited St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Fairfax , Virginia for Vespers and dinner.

Father Christopher Zugger stops for a photo with three students studying for the priesthood from the Blessed Theodore Romzha Ruthenian Greek Catholic Seminary in Uzhorod, Ukraine who participated in the OL XIII Conference – (L to R) Michael Pazukhanych, Father Chris, Sergi Sabov, and Augustin Sokol.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

OL XIII 2009
"Monastic Spirituality for Everyday Life"

Metropolitan Jonah - "What is monastic spirituality from an Orthodox perspective … there is the liturgical and sacramental disciplines, community life itself, contemplative prayer, the evangelical virtues of poverty, chastity, obedience and stability. It’s easy to isolate various elements and say they constitute “monastic spirituality,” such as hesychast use of the Jesus Prayer and contemplation, the liturgical cycles of the services and hours, daily confession of thoughts, and frequent communion of the Holy Mysteries, and so forth. But it is a falsification to do so. Monastic spirituality is essentially integrative and holistic. It includes all these elements and it is the synergy of all these things that creates the real context of monastic life."

Metropolitan Kallistos - "Saint Basil’s approach to monasticism is that the monk or nun takes seriously the promises that they have made in baptism, and tries to live them out. We should strive to see monasticism as central to life in Christ. If we say “what is life according to the Gospels, then we may think of the basic description that Christ gives: you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your heart, with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself. There is the heart of the Gospel – love for God, love for our fellow humans. So if monasticism is life according to the Gospel, then we may say that monasticism is a sacrament of love."

Sister Barbara Jean Mihalchik - "I am calling my presentation today “To Seek God in All Things, To Share God in All Ways by the Power of the Holy Spirit.” For me, this summarizes the Christian life as taught by our Holy Father Basil the Great. His incredibly rich life and ministry was all about integrating and expressing these two realities. So it is on these two concepts that I wish to center – discerning the presence and activity of God in all things through body, mind and spirit, and expressing this love generously and wholeheartedly to others."