Sunday 4 June 2023 

Trinity Sunday

Year A

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Collect

Almighty and everlasting God,

you have given us your servants grace,

by the confession of a true faith,

to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity

and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:

keep us steadfast in this faith,

that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

or

Holy God,

faithful and unchanging:

enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,

and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,

that we may truly worship you,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Isaiah 40.12-17, 27-end

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
   and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
   and weighed the mountains in scales
   and the hills in a balance? 
¹³ Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
   or as his counsellor has instructed him? 
¹⁴ Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
   and who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge,
   and showed him the way of understanding? 
¹⁵ Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
   and are accounted as dust on the scales;
   see, he takes up the isles like fine dust. 
¹⁶ Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,
   nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering. 
¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before him;
   they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. 

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,
   and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
   and my right is disregarded by my God’? 
²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
   his understanding is unsearchable. 
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
   and strengthens the powerless. 
³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary,
   and the young will fall exhausted; 
³¹ but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
   they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
   they shall walk and not faint.

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Psalm 8

1  O Lord our governor, •
   how glorious is your name in all the world!
2  Your majesty above the heavens is praised •
   out of the mouths of babes at the breast.
3  You have founded a stronghold against your foes, •
   that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
4  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, •
   the moon and the stars that you have ordained,
5  What is man, that you should be mindful of him; •
   the son of man, that you should seek him out?
6  You have made him little lower than the angels •
   and crown him with glory and honour.
7  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands •
   and put all things under his feet,
8  All sheep and oxen, •
   even the wild beasts of the field,
9  The birds of the air, the fish of the sea •
   and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.
10  O Lord our governor, •
   how glorious is your name in all the world!

2 Corinthians 13.11-end

11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell.Put things in order, listen to my appeal,agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. ¹²Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

AllGlory to you, O Lord.

Matthew 28.16-end

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

AllPraise to you, O Christ.

Post Communion

Almighty and eternal God,

you have revealed yourself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

and live and reign in the perfect unity of love:

hold us firm in this faith,

that we may know you in all your ways

and evermore rejoice in your eternal glory,

who are three Persons yet one God,

now and for ever.

Pentecost / Ordinary Time

Year A

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Collect

God, who as at this time

taught the hearts of your faithful people

by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:

grant us by the same Spirit

to have a right judgement in all things

and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;

through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

or

Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,

ignite in us your holy fire;

strengthen your children with the gift of faith,

revive your Church with the breath of love,

and renew the face of the earth,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Acts 2.1-21 †

2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ ¹²All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ ¹³But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
¹⁷ “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams. 
¹⁸ Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy. 
¹⁹ And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 
²⁰ The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 
²¹ Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

† The reading from Acts must be used as either the first or second reading.

or Numbers 11.24-30

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent.²⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.

26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷And a young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’²⁸And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, ‘My lord Moses, stop them!’ ²⁹But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’ ³⁰And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Psalm 104.26-36, 37b

26  O Lord, how manifold are your works! •
   In wisdom you have made them all;
      the earth is full of your creatures.
27  There is the sea, spread far and wide, •
   and there move creatures beyond number, both small and great.
28  There go the ships, and there is that Leviathan •
   which you have made to play in the deep.
29  All of these look to you •
   to give them their food in due season.
30  When you give it them, they gather it; •
   you open your hand and they are filled with good.
31  When you hide your face they are troubled; •
   when you take away their breath,
      they die and return again to the dust.
32  When you send forth your spirit, they are created, •
   and you renew the face of the earth.
33  May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; •
   may the Lord rejoice in his works;
34  He looks on the earth and it trembles; •
   he touches the mountains and they smoke.
35  I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; •
   I will make music to my God while I have my being.
36  So shall my song please him •
   while I rejoice in the Lord.
37  Let sinners be consumed out of the earth
      and the wicked be no more. •
   Bless the Lord, O my soul.
      Alleluia.

[or Psalm 104.26-end]

26  O Lord, how manifold are your works! •
   In wisdom you have made them all;
      the earth is full of your creatures.
27  There is the sea, spread far and wide, •
   and there move creatures beyond number, both small and great.
28  There go the ships, and there is that Leviathan •
   which you have made to play in the deep.
29  All of these look to you •
   to give them their food in due season.
30  When you give it them, they gather it; •
   you open your hand and they are filled with good.
31  When you hide your face they are troubled; •
   when you take away their breath,
      they die and return again to the dust.
32  When you send forth your spirit, they are created, •
   and you renew the face of the earth.
33  May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; •
   may the Lord rejoice in his works;
34  He looks on the earth and it trembles; •
   he touches the mountains and they smoke.
35  I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; •
   I will make music to my God while I have my being.
36  So shall my song please him •
   while I rejoice in the Lord.
37  Let sinners be consumed out of the earth
      and the wicked be no more. •
   Bless the Lord, O my soul.
      Alleluia.

1 Corinthians 12.3b-13

³Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

or Acts 2.1-21 †

2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ ¹²All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ ¹³But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
¹⁷ “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams. 
¹⁸ Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy. 
¹⁹ And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 
²⁰ The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 
²¹ Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

AllGlory to you, O Lord.

John 20.19-23

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

AllPraise to you, O Christ.

or John 7.37-39

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

AllGlory to you, O Lord.

37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, ³⁸and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ ³⁹Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

AllPraise to you, O Christ.

Post Communion

Faithful God,

who fulfilled the promises of Easter

by sending us your Holy Spirit

and opening to every race and nation

the way of life eternal:

open our lips by your Spirit,

that every tongue may tell of your glory;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I am about to finish my biblical counseling, masters degree and my doctor in ministry from north central theology seminary. They are not accredited however, they are working on it and I have both B’s from these courses so far.

Today is very special day back in 1917 to three children from Portugal claim to have a vision of our Lady. Telling the people God was not please by the world behavior this when World War One was about to close. There was great scare for the communism that was coming out of the Soviet union. Our lady was telling us to repent and to change. Lord Jesus was not Pleased with us. We need to repent and change. We are born sinners, and we need to repent and change our ways.

There is st Augustine prayer book that explains all the different sins and how we’re almost guilty of all of them so you should look at them and contemplative them and see what once you could change you do your best to follow Christ. Remember, Jesus came and died for us

So let us trust in our heavenly father and follow his commandments. Do the best we can, and hope for his mercy.

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The Story of Our Lady of Fatima

Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children–Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia dos Santos–received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia.

Mary gave the children three secrets. Following the deaths of Francisco and Jacinta in 1919 and 1920 respectively, Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927. It concerned devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell. When Lucia grew up she became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97.

Bishop of Rome John Paul II directed the Holy See’s Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000; it spoke of a “bishop in white” who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this vision to the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930; it was added to the Church’s worldwide calendar in 2002.

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Reflection

The message of Fatima is simple: Pray. Unfortunately, some people—not Sister Lucia—have distorted these revelations, making them into an apocalyptic event for which they are now the only reliable interpreters. They have, for example, claimed that Mary’s request that the world be consecrated to her has been ignored. Sister Lucia agreed that Pope John Paul II’s public consecration in St. Peter’s Square on March 25, 1984, fulfilled Mary’s request. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prepared a June 26, 2000, document explaining the “third secret.”

Mary is perfectly honored when people generously imitate her response “Let it be done to me as you say” (Luke 1:38). Mary can never be seen as a rival to Jesus or to the Church’s teaching authority, as exercised by the college of bishops united with the bishop of Rome.

How exactly does the Orthodox Church view the sinlessness of Mary? In the Liturgy it is said, “One is Holy, One is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the Glory of God the Father” and in other places that Jesus is the only sinless one. Also, in reference to 1 John 1:8 where it says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” How can these be reconciled? Is the Theotokos all-pure, all-holy, all-blameless because of her deification through her Son, so that she is those things because her Son is, as we are holy, pure, etc. through our union to Christ?

Also, how is it that she is referred to as the only refuge for sinners, and various phrases like this? Isn’t Christ our only refuge and the salvation of sinners?

This is the main stumbling block I have with Orthodoxy right now. There seems to be varying beliefs within the Orthodoxy on the Theotokos. Didn’t St John Chrysostom teach that Mary had sinned at least once? When I read the earliest Church Fathers there seems to be little focus on Mary apart from the Christological issue of whether she was the Mother of God, or only of Christ. Doesn’t the teaching that Mary was sinless from birth state the same general concept, that Mary is more than the rest of humanity, as the Immaculate Conception (apart from the idea of original sin) except that it moves the moment of the supernatural grace of God to birth from conception? 

I am not trying to answer my own questions, but am simply not understanding how these contradictions, at least seemingly, can be resolved.

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Answer

While I would love to be able to fully answer your question, it is far beyond the scope of an email, especially because full understanding of the Orthodox position, based on the tenor of your question, on the Virgin Mary requires a thorough explanation of some of the secondary issues to which you refer, such as original sin, the Immaculate Conception, supernatural grace, etc. As such, I would highly recommend that you meet in person with the parish priest at the Orthodox Church you have been visiting—he will no doubt be glad to answer the question at some depth.

I can say, in short, that the Orthodox Church believes that Mary, as a human being, could indeed have sinned, but chose not to. In the Roman Catholic understanding, it seems that Mary, who according to Roman doctrine had been exempted from the guilt of original sin [the Orthodox do not accept that humans share the guilt of the first sin but, rather, only the consequences] before all eternity, and thus could not have sinned. This is where the complexity comes in on a number of levels and which puts your question beyond the scope of an email.

Jesus Christ is Mary’s Savior, as well as ours, as testified in her own statement in St Luke—the Magnificat—where she says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” If Mary had been “sin-proofed,” so to speak, from all eternity, the Orthodox would argue as to why she would need a Savior.

Mary is the “new Eve” who said “yes” to God where the first Eve said “no.” She did have a choice, and you may wish to ask your local parish priest to share with you the text of the Kanon from Matins for the Great Feast of the Annunciation, in which you will see a beautiful dialogue between Mary and the Archangel Gabriel in which she debates whether or not to accept the archangel’s news, only in the end accepting that which he announced.

While much that the Orthodox say of Mary “sounds” similar to that which is taught by Roman Catholicism, there are serious differences on many levels. You are correct in saying, however, that the Orthodox Church does not seem to have such a highly developed mariological tradition as the Christian West; it is, at least in my experience, only in recent times, with the growing interest in Orthodoxy especially among many evangelicals, that we have had to delve so deeply—and sometimes deeper than we should—into the role of Mary. Sometimes our answers seem somewhat lame, but in reality there is only so much one can say before one must acknowledge that, while there are certain things we simply cannot fully understand about this, reasoned faith, as defined in St James, becomes the only recourse.

Standing center in Orthodox tradition concerning the Virgin Mary is a singular concept. She is the Theotokos, the woman who bore the life-giving God into human life. Any other title or characterization of this woman, who bore Christ, has to stand on this core truth.The major feasts of the Church, those which celebrate the events of Christ’s life, all have a Marian element. In the traditional liturgical year’s cycle of these events, there is always a “synaxis” on the day that follows an event of salvation history. For instance, the synaxisof the Feast of the Nativity celebrates the motherhood of Mary. Within the Divine Liturgy, Mary is always granted esteem because she is the Theotokos. Immediately following the Anaphora (lifting up of gifts) and the Consecration in the Divine Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, the famous hymn Axion Estin is always sung, recognizing Mary’s role in the miracle of the Eucharist:

It is truly right to bless you, Theotokos,
ever blessed, most pure, and mother of our God.
More honorable than the Cherubim,
and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim,
without corruption you gave birth to God the Word.
We magnify you, the true Theotokos.³

Mary, a young Hebrew woman, is the one human being to be praised by the angels of Heaven, who is ever blessed (filled with joy), most pure (filled with God’s presence and holiness), and mother (one who bore, nourished with her breasts, and raised up the man Jesus.) What can the believer do but magnify her, which is to raise her in esteem above all the inhabitants of Heaven.

Other than the many icons which celebrate Mary’s involvement in the life and work of Christ, in particular the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Crucifixion, the Ascension, and Pentecost, there are a host of other icons that magnify her cooperation with God’s plan of redemption and exemplify her life as a promise to all the faithful of God’s goodness, in particular the icon of the Dormition. Tradition teaches that at her death, Mary’s tomb was found empty. Most believe that she was taken from her burial site by her son to be with Him in Heaven. Others believe that perhaps she, too, awaits the final days to experience resurrection, but this is often the minority opinion. In every icon, there is a fathomless depth to the mystery of God that can be experienced in prayer and through contemplation of the icon.

No one knows the actual appearance of the Theotokos, but there is a strong, legendary tradition that she was painted by St. Luke. Whether or not there is truth to this legend, most Byzantine iconography portrays her with a characteristic appearance which involves: a narrow Semitic face, a long and slender nose, and dark brown eyes. Look for these features in ancient Byzantine icons, mentioning for example “the Mother of God, Salus Romani,” an 8th century icon found at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.⁴

Orthodoxy does believe, as do western Christians, that miracles can occur in connection with an icon. To delve into the history of miraculous icons of the Theotokos, is to open a search into the mystery of God that stretches far back into history and includes literally hundreds of icons. An illuminating article on this subject is found in Mother of God, Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, a publication of the Benaki Museum in 2000. Alexei Lidov described the inherent academic difficulty in studying miracle-working icons:

A study of the stories about miracle-working icons could become a special sphere of research requiring the joint efforts of historians, art historians and philologists. Promising research areas are the study of the structure of these stories and of the interrelationship between archetypal, legendary, literary and real historical motifs. One of the difficulties is that archetypal models are sometimes not invented by the author, but are an integral part of the actual event.⁵

Lidov does, however, point out the value in studying the miracle-working icons of many centuries: “We immediately discover the important fact that a great deal of valuable historical information often not to be found in other sources has accumulated around the miracle.”⁶

Two well-known feasts reporting a miraculous aspect in Mary’s work and which also are associated with important liturgical feasts in most Orthodox traditions (especially Greek and Russian) are interesting to the ecumenical discussion of Mary as Mediatrix. They represent spiritual gifts that come to the faithful through the Theotokos, demonstrating a tradition of supplication to the Virgin Mary long before church divisions. The first feast, Theotokos of the Life-Giving Fountain, recalls an event in the 4th century in the environs of Constantinople. A young man who was to become the Byzantine Emperor, Leo the Great, was out for a daily walk when he heard the cries of a blind man with a critical thirst for water. At first, not finding any water to help the blind man, the young man then heard the voice of a woman calling him to a place of water. The place became a place of healings. The tradition of the Theotokos who gives Life-giving water, or she who metaphorically is the “Source of the Source” — that is she who is the source of Christ’s healings as represented by water, became an important feast celebrated today on the Friday following the Great Pascha, Easter. The Friday after Easter in “Bright Week” in most Eastern Orthodox churches is a surprisingly joyful celebration of Christ providing life and sustenance, physically and spiritually, to all the faithful, through his mother. The Fountain shrine is still present today, just outside modern Istanbul, having been built, destroyed and then restored many times throughout the centuries. The feast of the Theotokos of the Fountain, like all other Marian feasts, signifies a significant theological truth, in this case how Christ is the well of life, and his mother is but the fountain.⁷

ICON: Theotokos of the Fountain – See how Virgin Mary represents a fountain within a fountain, a source flowing with the waters of life which in reality flow from from the Source, her Son.⁸

A beloved title for the Theotokos in the Orthodox tradition is that of “the Panagia.” This term theologically relates most closely to the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception. In the sense of this title, Mary is completely holy, truly blessed and pure. The difference in the theological concepts concerning mankind’s nature and the result of sin as they relate to Virgin Mary, “Panagia” for Orthodox theology and “Immaculate Conception” for Roman Catholic theology, rests mainly on two terms that are commonly used in the ecumenical discussion between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism – that of the theological understanding of “the Fall” for Orthodox theology and that of “Original Sin” for the Roman Catholic theology. Additionally, a further theological distinction has been discovered in the ecumenical exchange, that being that the Orthodox theologian prefers to speak of “the Fall” in terms of “justice or more specifically justification” and the Roman Catholic theologian tends to speak of the “juridical effects” of “original sin.” In over-simplistically stated terms, this means that the Orthodox view the salvific work of Christ more from a point of view of “justification,” where the Roman Catholic theologian views the salvific work of Christ as a satisfaction for the sin of mankind in a juridical way. In 1986, in an ecumenical discussion between Roman Catholic theologian Edward Yarnold SJ and Orthodox theologian Bishop Kallistos Ware, at an Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary meeting in Chichester, England, we find that these two theological positions may not be as untenable as we think. Bishop Kallistos agreed that he did not find himself “so very far apart from [Father Yarnold].”¹¹ Father Yarnold described the human condition, after Adam and Eve sinned against God, to mean that humans come into the world with a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” that “the sin of the race causes each to come into this world with this God shaped hole unfilled, with this capability of receiving the Holy Spirit unrealized … an inherited spiritual defect.” However, “because of the work for which God destined Mary, that God shaped hole was never left unfilled, there was never in her a lack of original justice.”¹² Bishop Kallistos stated he believed Virgin Mary was “from the very beginning of her existence … filled with grace for the task which she had to fulfill.” He responded affirmatively to Fr. Yarnold in saying: “Do I, as an Orthodox accept that, from the very beginning of her existence the Blessed Virgin Mary was filled with grace for the task which she had to fulfill? My answer is emphatically, Yes, I do believe that. But I also believe that she was given a fuller measure of grace at the Annunciation,”¹³ referring to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to Mary at the moment of her fiat.

Bishop Ware explained that the Christian East sees a “continuity of sacred history” throughout the ages, putting the Mother of God in a line of humans who were seeking God in a prophetic and holy way, in a kind of growing closer and closer to the coming of salvation for humanity. Mary was “involved in the total solidarity of the human race, in our mutual responsibility”¹⁴ for the Fall.

Simply said, Orthodox theology thinks of the young Hebrew woman Mary of Galilee as a human like any other human who was or has ever been born. Her all-holiness was not a privilege, but truly a free response to God’s call. She was filled with the Holy Spirit and answered a total “yes” to the call of God’s plan for salvation.

Orthodox theology considers that humanity “fell” from God in the sin in the Garden, but that humanity continues to be born in the “image of God, (GN 1:27)” throughout the subsequent ages with the same integrity of human nature as Adam and Eve before their disobedience. The world, however, in fact the cosmos, into which subsequent human beings are born, is broken. They are whole and made in the image and likeness of God but come into a world that is filled with sinfulness. The Theotokos came into the world embracing a beautiful “imago Dei,” and received a fullness of God’s grace at the Annunciation that prepared her for her task. The fullness of the Holy Spirit came upon her with her agreement and for the subsequent Incarnation (Lk 1:35): “And the angel said to her in reply, ‘the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’” In yet another ecumenical paper, Bishop Kallistos wrote:

Mary is an icon of human freedom and liberation. Mary is chosen, but she herself also chooses. Luke’s narrative speaks not only of divine initiative but also of human response, setting before us the entire dialectic of grace and freedom. Mary was predestined to be Mother of God, but she was also free.¹⁵

Orthodox theologian Dr. George S. Gabriel, in his book about the Theotokos entitled Mary the Untrodden Portal of God, contrasts the concepts of the all-holiness of Mary and Mary as Immaculate Conception:

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception severs Mary from her ancestors, from the forefathers, and from the rest of mankind. It marginalizes the preparatory history and economy of the Old Testament as well as the true meaning and holiness of the Theotokos herself. By severing her from fallen mankind and any consequences of the fall, this legalistic mechanism makes her personal holiness and theosis nonessential in the economy of salvation and, for that matter, even in her own salvation. Moreover, “it places in doubt her unity of nature with the human race and, therefore, the genuineness of salvation and Christ’s flesh as representative of mankind. [Qutoing, A., Yevtich, TheTheotokos: Four Homilies on the Mother of God by St. John of Damascus, 3].”¹⁶

For many Catholics, this theological debate concerning “Immaculate Conception” versus “the Panagia” is upsetting. However, in the ecumenical world there are three steps that have been discovered for churches to move forward together: 1) all must repent, 2) all must listen, and 3) all must reflect. In the Orthodox mind, words can bind down the mystery of God and words of dogmas about the Virgin Mary can become a problematic division. Ultimately, it will be those theologians, both Orthodox and Catholic, who approach these theological questions in the spirit of repentance, who pray, and who listen intently to each other, who will enlighten us further and perhaps find a ground of union. The experience of the mystery of God in liturgy and iconography of the ancient eastern tradition may help to resolve this conflict.

On another theological issue, which Protestants often question, can we say that Mary, the mother of Christ, is to be called “ever Virgin”? Undeniably, it is the Patristic heritage that upholds this truth of faith in the affirmative. The title “ever a virgin,” aeiparthenos, dates probably in its terminology to the 4th century. Origen refers to this idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary, and St. Athanasius clearly upholds it. From patristic times, Joseph is considered to be a widower who took on the responsibility of young Mary, as chosen to do so by his temple community. The brothers and sisters of the Lord, as mentioned in the New Testament, are consequently considered, in Orthodox tradition, to be Joseph’s children.

There are two special liturgical prayers of significant length that are important in the Orthodox tradition – the Akathistos (translated as “not sitting”) and the Paraklesis(Supplications to the Virgin). Again, there is a strong connection between these liturgical prayers and an iconographic tradition. The Akathistos hymn which is, in itself, a service prayed weekly throughout Great Lent, centers on the mystery of the Incarnation. Authorship is attributed to 5th-6th century hymnist Romanos the Melodist, but scholars find that his sources for the magnificent chanted poetry may have actually derived from more ancient Syriac poetry. The hymn, probably popular for many years for supplication to the Virgin Mary, was sung at a moment of crisis in the 10th century when Constantinople was menaced by invading marauders, the Avars. The legend is told that the people stood and sang the hymn all night long and the city was subsequently saved, thereby giving the title to the hymn, “Not Sitting.” In the Akathistos, a deeply mystical response is sung to repeated greetings of joy regarding the Theotokos. The greeting is a paradoxical phrase repeated over and over in the Akathistos, showing Orthodox regard for the mother of Christ to be awe-filled and beyond any kind of absolute comprehension. It is a phrase that portrays Mary, the mother of Christ, as one who experienced a betrothal with God, a spousal relationship that represents God’s offer of love and hope for response that is actually deeply biblical. The hymn represents a series of salutations to Mary, such as “Rejoice, To You through whom joy shall shine forth. Rejoice! To You through whom the curse will vanish. Rejoice! The recalling of the fallen Adam. Rejoice! The redemption of Eve’s tears. Rejoice! O height beyond human logic. Rejoice! O depth invisible even to the eyes of Angels. … Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.” Each section ends with the remarkable, “Rejoice, bride unwedded (Chaire, nymphe anymphete).” In the paradox, lies a remarkable mystery of spousal love that God offers.

In the ancient centuries of the Eastern Church, icons were connected with the singing of the Akathistos hymn. Most often, long processions would wind through narrow streets from shrine to shrine, with faithful singing the many verses of the hymn while carrying an iconographic banner or icon on stands.

The Service of the Small Paraklesis to the Most Holy Theotokos, is a liturgical service sung in the two-week Lenten period before the Feast of the Dormition, (paraklesis refers to a kind of salutation and petitioning set of prayers.) It is one of the most popular of Marian hymns and obviously demonstrates, that from ancient times Mary, the mother, is considered the mediator of the love and care of Her Son. The concluding verse of the Small Paraklesis in itself demonstrates the importance of her mediation as well as the humility of her motherhood:

I have you as Mediator
Before God who loves mankind;
May He not question my action
Before the hosts of the Angels,
I ask of you, O Virgin
Hasten now quickly to my aid.

You are a tower adorned with gold,
A city surrounded by twelve walls,
A shining throne touched by the sun,
A royal seat for the King,
O unexplainable wonder,
How do you nurse the Master?¹⁷

To enter an Orthodox Church building is to enter into the tradition of an ages-old spiritual culture where the faithful can prayerfully encounter Mary and her Son in liturgical prayer and iconography. Such an experience is discovered in liturgical chant and icons. One lights a candle and brings his or her own living light into the place of prayer. Then, it is the custom that one regards the icon of the Theotokos, bends, kisses the Child in her arms thus revering the Mother who bore Him. One then enters the community and joins the voices of joy and petition that abound, offering a sacrifice of one’s heart and one’s hands. One can’t avoid the icon of the Platytera offering her Son from the holy altar. One receives the Body and the Blood of Christ as Mary, Christ’s mother, received the body and blood of God’s son. One prays for those departed to God’s hands. On leaving the church building, one sees the icon of the Dormition above the departure way. One reflects. It is time to live the rest of one’s life with hope that Mary’s Dormition is the promise, the promise of a life with Christ that will never end. This is the Orthodox way, living with Mary.

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© Virginia Kimball, Adjunct Professor, Department of Theology, Merrimack College, North Andover, MA September, 2006

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[1] John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes (New York: Fordham University Press, 1979), 8-9.
[2] These three icons, Hodegetria, Eleousa, and Deesis are found on Orthodox Photos, http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/Icons_and_Frescoes/Icons/Mother_of_God/index.shtml
[3] “Online Chapel,” Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/liturgical_texts/liturgy_hchc.asp (Accessed July 20, 2006.)
[4] Image found on website, http://www.iconsexplained.com/iec/00351.htm (Accessed July 20, 2006.)
[5] Alexei Lidov, “Miracle-working Icons of the Mother of God,” in Mother of God, Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, edited by Maria Vassilaki (Skira Editore, Milan, Italy, and Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, 2000), 49.
[6] Lidov, 47.
[7] Virginia Kimball, Liturgical Illuminations: Discovering Received Tradition in the Eastern Orthros of Feasts of the Theotokos, Doctoral Dissertation, International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio, 2003.
[8] Icon Gallery, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, http://www.goarch.org/en/resources/clipart/icondetail.asp?i=95&c=Theotokos&r=lifegivingfountain
[9] Icon of the Theotokos of Protection, privately owned by author.
[10] Platytera icon, apse and iconostasion, St. George’s Antiochian Church, Lowell, MA, http://www.saintgeorgelowell.org/photo14.html
[11] Bishop Kallistos T. Ware and Edward Yarnold SJ, “The Immaculate Conception, A Search for Convergence,” Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ESBVM Congress, Chichester, England, 1986, 11.
[12] Ware and Yarnold.
[13] Ware and Yarnold.
[14] Ware and Yarnold, 6.
[15] Kallistos Ware, “Mary Theotokos in the Orthodox Tradition,” The Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1997, 14.
[16] George S. Gabriel, Ph.D., Mary, the Untrodden Portal (Thessalonica and Ridgewood, NJ: Zephr, 2000), 68.
[17] The Service of the Small Paraklesis (Intercessory Prayer) to the Most Holy Theotokos, translated and set to meter by Demetri Kangelaris and Nicholas Kasemeotes (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1984), 37-38.

Introduction to Archbishop Alfred DeLeo

Archbishop DeLeo’s calling by God to the Christian Family in the mission field started at an early age, but he did not act upon it until the late 1970’s.  Starting in the late 1970’s, Archbishop DeLeo began a long, arduous and tumultuous journey with his relationship with God.

In an Independent Catholic Church, in April, 1981, Archbishop DeLeo was ordained a Deacon, and in May, 1984, ordained as a Priest.  In August, 2000, Archbishop DeLeo was consecrated as a Bishop.  Then in December, 2002, elevated to the position of Archbishop.

His zealousness for fighting against prejudices and discrimination, advocating for the less fortunate and poor, fighting for unpopular but necessary causes, challenging his government to improve the quality of life for its citizens, became the driving force of his desire for the Priesthood.

Archbishop DeLeo is currently residing in Europe and is serving in the Christian Mission field in Europe and Eastern Europe for his Church working to improve the quality of medical care in poor countries.

Archbishop DeLeo is in Good Standing with the The Saint Francis of Assisi Mission Church (of the Old Catholic Orthodox Church of Cluj-Napoca Synod Diocese); The Old Catholic Orthodox Bishops of the Western Rite; The Roman Catholic Church; The Eastern Orthodox Churches; The Christian Orthodox Catholic Church; The Old Catholic Orthodox Church, Cluj-Napoca Synod; Grace Church of Miami Shores; the Anglican Church; Independent Catholic Churches; and their affiliated Churches and Missions world-wide.

Archbishop DeLeo is currently the acting, Presiding Archbishop-Primate and Apostolic Administrator of The Old Catholic Orthodox Bishops of the Western Rite; The Christian Orthodox Catholic Church; and the The Old Catholic Orthodox Church, Cluj- Napoca Synod.

To work with the people on the local level, he takes time out of his busy schedule to devote time as the Parish Priest at The Saint Francis of Assisi Mission Church (of the Old Catholic Orthodox Church of Cluj-Napoca Synod Diocese) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and when visiting his home in Florida, he assists as Parish Priest at Grace Church of Miami Shores.

As part of his primary duties, Archbishop DeLeo oversees all of the world-wide mission projects for the Church.  Archbishop DeLeo is the former Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and India.

Archbishop DeLeo is consecrated “Sub Conditione”.  As such, under the Sub Conditione rule, Archbishop DeLeo’s Valid Order is in the Line of Succession of the Apostles (Apostolic Succession)

Though Archbishop DeLeo is the top-ranking Archbishop of his Church, and at present there is no Office of Cardinal in his Church, his equivalent rank-in-standing to other Catholic Church jusrisdictions is as follows: he is recognized as a Superior\Major (Cardinal) Archbishop in the Roman line under the Roman Catholic Church and the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, and a Metropolitan or Patriarch under the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) line by the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) Catholic Churches, and all Old Catholic, Independent Catholic and Anglican Churches.

During the week of March 10 – 17, 2006, in his love for and dedication to God, Jesus Christ, and the Catholic Faith, Archbishop DeLeo re-committed his life to God and Jesus Christ and was re-confirmed, re-ordained, re-consecrated and sub conditioned as a Bishop, and again, elevated to Archbishop under Sub Conditione.

Sub Conditione consecration is a procedure in which two already consecrated bishops consecrate each other, thereby sharing their apostolic lines. In that way, each of their churches recognizes without question the apostolic succession of the other. This has been used, for example, to remove doubts about the validity of Anglican and Episcopalian successions by adding the universally recognized Old Catholic line.

During and after the Second World War, Mar Georgius I, Patriarch of Glastonbury and Catholicos of the West began unifying the various strands of Old Catholics and independent Catholics. By 1956, through sub conditione consecrations, he had accumulated all sixteen lines of Apostolic succession known to exist: Syrian-Antiochene, Syrian-Malabar, Syrian-Gallican, Syro-Chaldean, Chaldean-Uniate, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian-Uniate, Order of Corporate Reunion, Old Catholic, Mariavite, Nonjuring, Anglican, Russian Orthodox, Russo-Syrian Orthodox, Greek-Melkite, and Liberal Catholic.

Bishop William Donovan who consecrated Bishop Bowman on April 18, 1996 was in the direct line of Archbishops Wadle and Aneed.  The Principal Consecrator, Bishop Donovan, was, at that time, the Primate of the American Catholic Church. Bishop Orlando Lima y Aguirre,  in the Old Catholic line of Bishops Vilatte, Mathew, De Landas, and Carfora was a second consecrator.  Bishop Grant Cover, an independent Anglican bishop, was Bishop Bowman’s third consecrator

Later in 1996, Bishop Bowman was consecrated sub conditione by Archbishop Maurice McCormick.In 1998, Bishop Bowman was again consecrated  sub conditione by  Bishop John Reeves, the pastor of St. Peter the Apostle, and Bishop of the Catholic Church of The Americas, Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, who is in the Bishop Vilatte line and also has a succession from Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa of Brazil, a Roman Catholic bishop who broke with Rome.

In 2006, Archbishop Alfred DeLeo re-affirmed and re-dedicated his life to God.  He was re-confirmed in the Catholic Faith, re-ordained, and re-consecrated sub conditione by Bishop Robert Bowman, thus bringing him in line with true Apostolic Succession.  

[Go Up]Lines of Succession

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
&
BRAZILIAN CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH
1. Scipione Rebiba, Auxiliary Bishop of Chieti, Titular Patriarch of Constantinople, was elected Titular Bishop of Amicle and Auxiliary to  Gian Pietro Cardinal Carafa, Archbishop of Chieti (who later became  Pope Paul IV) on March 16, 1541. Rebiba consecrated Guilio Antonio Santoro.

2. Guilio Antonio Santoro, Archbishop of Santa Severina, was consecrated on March 12, 1566 in the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican Apostolic Palace. His co-consecrator’s were Annibale Caracciolo, Bishop of Isola and Giacomo de`Giacomelli, Bishopemeritus of Belcastro.  Santoro consecrated Girolama Bernerio.

3.  Girolama Bernerio, O.P., Bishop of Ascoli Piceno, was consecrated on September 7, 1586 in the Basilicaof the Twelve Holy Apostles, Rome. His co-consecrator’s were Guilio Masetti, Bishop of Reggio Emilia and Ottaviano Paravicini, Bishop of Alessandria. Bernerio consecrated Galeazzo Sanvitale.

4. Galeazzo Sanvitale, Archbishop of Bari. He was consecrated April 4, 1604 in the Chapel of the Apostolic Sacristy, Rome. His co-consecrator`s were Claudio Rangoni, Bishop of Piacenza and Giovanni Ambrogio Caccia, Bishop of Castro di Toscana. Sanvitale consecrated Lodovico Ludovisi.

5. Lodovico Ludovisi, Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna, was consecrated on May 2, 1621 in the private chapel of  Sanvitale, near St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Assisting  Sanvitale were Cosmo de Torres, Titular Archbishop of Hadrianopolis and Ottavio Ridolfi, Bishop of Atiano.  Ludovisi consecrated Luigi Caetani.

6.  Luigi Caetani, Titular Patriarch of Antioch, was consecrated on June 12, 1622 in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. Assisting Ludovisi were:  Galeazzo Sanvitale, Archbishop emeritus of Bari and  Vulpiano Volpi, Archbishop emeritus of Chieti.  Caetani consecrated Ulderico Carpegna.

7.  Ulderico Carpegna, Bishop of Gubbio was consecrated on October 7, 1630 in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace of the Quirinal, Rome. His co-consecrator’s were Antonio Ricciulli, Bishop emeritus of Belcastro and Vicegerent of Rome, and Benedetto Landi, Bishop of Fossombrone. Carpegna consecrated Paluzzo Cardinal Paluzzi Altieri Degli Albertoni.

8. Paluzzo Cardinal Paluzzi Altieri Degli Albertoni, was consecrated on May 2, 1666 Bishop of Montefiascone e Corneto, in the Church of San Silvestro in Capite, Rome. Assisting  Carpegna were Stefano Ugolini, Titular Archbishop of Corinth and Giovanni Tommaso Pinelli, Bishop of Albenga. Altieri consecratedPietro Francesco (Vincenzo Maria) Orsini de Gravina, O.P..

9. Pietro Francesco (Vincenzo Maria) Orsini de Gravina, O.P., Cardinal Archbishop of Manfredonia (who later became Pope  Benedict XIII), was consecrated on February 3, 1675 in the Church of SS. Domenico e Sisto, Rome. His co-consecrator’s were Stefano Brancaccio, Archbishop-Bishop of Viterbo e Tuscania and Costanzo Zani, O.S.B., Bishop of Imola. Orsini consecrated Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini.

10. Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, Titular Archbishop of Theodosia, who became Pope Benedict XIV in 1740, was consecrated on July 16, 1724 in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace of the Quirinal, Rome. Orsiniwas assisted by  Giovanni Francesco Nicolai, O.F.M.Ref., Titular Archbishop of Myra and  Nicola Maria Lercari, Titular Archbishop of Nazianzus. ( **Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini and those previous to him, are in the Episcopal Lineage of His Holiness,  John Paul II – Karl Wojtyla**). Lambertini consecrated Carlo della Torre Rezzonico.

11. Carlo della Torre Rezzonico, was consecrated on March 19, 1743 and became Pope Clement XIII in 1758. His co-consecrator’s were Archbishops Scopio Borghese and  Ignatius Reali. Pope Clement XIII (Rezzonico) consecrated Bernadinus Giraud.

12. Bernadinus Giraud, was consecrated on April 26, 1767 and became a Cardinal in 1771. Assisted by Archbishop  Marcus Antonius Conti and Bishop Iosefus Maria Carafa, Cardinal Giraud consecrated on February 23, 1777 Alexander Matthaeus.

13. Alexander Matthaeus, who became a Cardinal in 1779, was consecrated on February 23, 1777. Assisted by Bishops Geraldus Macioti and  Franciscus Albertini, Cardinal Matthaeus consecrated Pietro FrancescoCardinal Galeffi. 

14. Pietro Francesco Cardinal Galeffi, who became a Cardinal in 1803, was consecrated on September 12, 1819. Assisted by Archbishops Ioannes Franciscus Falzacappa and Iosephus della Porta Rondiana, Cardinal  Galeffi consecrated Giacomo Filippo Cardinal Fransoni.

15.  Giacomo Filippo Cardinal Fransoni was consecrated on December 8, 1822 and became a Cardinal in 1826. Assisted by Patriarch Joseph Valerga and Bishop  Rudensindus Salvado, Cardinal Fransoniconsecrated Carlo Cardinal Sacconi.

16. Carlo Cardinal Sacconi was consecrated on June 8, 1851 and became a Cardinal in 1861. Assisted by Archbishops Salvator Nobili Vitelleschi and Franciscus Xaverius Fredericus de Merode, Cardinal Sacconiconsecrated Edward Henry Cardinal Howard.

17. Edward Henry Cardinal Howard was consecrated on June 30, 1872 and became a Cardinal in 1877. Assisted by Archbishops Alessandro, Sanminiatelli, Zabarella and Bishop Guilio Lenti, Cardinal Howardconsecrated Mariano Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro.

18. Mariano Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro was consecrated on December 8, 1882 and became a Cardinal 1887. In Brazil, Cardinal  Rampolla del Tindaro consecrated Joaquim Cardinal Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti.

19. Joaquim Cardinal Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti was consecrated, for the Roman Catholic Church, on October 26, 1890 and became a Cardinal in 1905. Cardinal de Albuquerque Cavalcanticonsecrated Sebastião Leme Cardinal da Silveira Cintra.

20. Sebastião Leme Cardinal da Silveira Cintra, was consecrated on June 4, 1911 and became an Archbishop in 1921. Assisted by  Dom Alberto Jose Goncalves and Dom Benedito Paulo Alves de Souza, Archbishop de Silveira Cintra consecrated Carlos Duarte Costa.

21. Carlos Duarte Costa who had been ordained a Roman Catholic priest on April l, 1911. Costa was consecrated a Roman Catholic bishop on December 8, 1924 and remained such until he retired in 1945. Costa retired because Rome refused to take a stand against the relocation of War Criminals from the Nazi regime to his homeland of Brazil. He served as the Patriarch of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church from 1945 to 1961. Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa consecrated Milton Cunha. 

22.  Milton Cunha was consecrated on June 5, 1960.  Bishop Cunha consecrated  Propheta and Giuseppe Santo Eusebio Pace. 

23. Giuseppe Santo Eusebio Pace was consecrated on October 3, 1968. Bishop Pace consecrated Ignazio Antonio Teodosio Pietroburgo.

24.  Ignazio Antonio Teodosio Pietroburgo was consecrated on October 15, 1978. Bishop Pietroburgoconsecrated Donald Lawrence Jolly-Gabriel. 

25.  Donald Lawrence Jolly-Gabriel was consecrated on June 25,1980 and he consecrated Denis Martel. 

26. Denis Martel was consecrated on July 8, 1995. Bishop Martel consecrated John Robert Reeves. 

27. John Robert Reeves on September 29, 1996. Bishop Reeves consecrated:

28. Robert M. Bowman in 1998.

29. Alfred DeLeo was re-confirmed in the Catholic Faith, re-ordained, and re-consecrated between March 10 – 17, 2006, sub conditione by Bishop Robert Bowman, thus bringing him in line with true Apostolic Succession..

30. Jerry Stephenson was consecrated on March 27, 2009, sub conditione by Bishop Alfred DeLeo, thus bringing him in line with true Apostolic Succession.

[Go Up]

It took me about a year but I am finally an ordained priest. I’ve been

wanting to become a priest since I was 14 years old and I was thinking

this probably would not happen anymore until I learned about the

independent Catholic and Orthodox churches. I really wanted to be in a

mainline denomination I really felt home with the Episcopal Church

but that was not in the cards for me. I also tried with the Lutheran

ELCA it took me about a year but I am finally an ordained priest. I’ve

been wanting to become a priest since I was 14 years old and I was

thinking this probably would not happen anymore until I learned about

the independent Catholic and Orthodox churches. I really wanted to be

in a mainline denomination I really felt home with the Episcopal

Church but that was not in the cards for me. I also tried with the

Lutheran ELCA and United Methodist Church but they also have no

place for people with learning disabilities to be clergy. No I know I’m

not the smartest or the brightest but I know my passion for Christ is

very real and I am truly grateful to the Archbishop Alfred Deleo who

has given me this chance. I learned that he is Registered sex offender

and people said because of this my ordination was a ballot and no one

would do anything with my church because of that. Many in the

independent Catholic Church are very petty individuals who make it

very hard to become clergy and some of them will make it way too easy.

Many clergy do not even have a college education let alone a seminary

education. I have a seminary education and I am very proud of that

because I was told that I wasn’t smart enough or good enough to go to

college to let alone get my masters in divinity. I am also working on my

doctors of ministry which I hope to accomplish in the next two years.

So maybe I’m not good enough for the Episcopal Church or the

Lutheran Church or the Methodist Church I have found a home with

the independent Catholic Church. I cannot speak for others but I

promise you if you come to my church to worship and allow me to be a

pastor for you I will do my best to represent you and teach you about

the gospel. And I would never allow register sex offender to be alone

with children ever. I’d like to practice the Episcopal church policy

where you never meet with anybody alone and you only meet with

children with their parents there. There’s nothing more that show their

safety is paramount to the ministries. I sometimes will screw up with

my worthy because I like social Grace and I have dysgraphia but I

promise you I will give you the very best I can and I thank you for g

Giving me a chance. I will try not to let you down by also no I will not let you down.