It's official. I was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Grace Bishop ANTOUN of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in a hierarchical service of the Divine Liturgy at St. George's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Jacksonville, Florida. The mystery (sacrament) of ordination is an amazing thing. You could definitely sense the presence of God in this holy gathering, and as the bishop laid his hands upon me and blessed each item of my vestments, two other priests put them on me as the clergy and people all shouted, "Axios!", "Mustahek!," and "He is worthy!;" first in Greek, then in Arabic, and finally in English. Not that I am worthy of my own accord, or that I earned this in some way, but that I was made worthy by God's grace in Christ, and I responded to that impartation of His grace in faith. Now it's up to me to maintain my Christian dignity by remaining "faithful," and to serve in a manner that is "worthy" of this great calling. Again, in keeping with the theme of this blog, our effort works hand in hand with God's grace in this great gift called salvation. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" Hebrews 2:3.
To read more about my experience and see more pictures, check out our other blog entitled: The Pelikan Brief at: http://tpelikan.blogspot.com/
5 comments:
As another who was: 1) Received into Orthodoxy at All Saints in Raleigh, 2) ordained to the diaconate by Bp. THOMAS and 3) ordained to the priesthood by Bp. ANTOUN... I say welcome and congratulations! May God grant you and your family many years.
A warm and heartfelt congratulations to you and your family for your ordination as a priest in the AOC! I am so glad to see that the Lord has you and your family in a safe and good place. "God grant you many years, many, many years!"
Sincerest regards from our family to yours!
Robert & Lorinda Fortuin
Bonsall, Calif.
Dear Father Philip-
I guess you could say - The “Pelikan” has landed! You and your family are safe in the Orthodox Faith and we rejoice with and give thanks for you and your whole family. We have not ceased praying for you all ever since learning about you from Fr. Peter Gillquist . Axios indeed! May God grant you & yours many years!
Fr. John Denny Roland, Pastor
Sts. Peter & Paul Orthodox Church
Hot Springs, AR
Fr. Pelikan,
It was a please to be present for your ordination. I had only wished that I was Orthodox at the time so that I could receive Communion from you... oh well, there will have to be a next time. Keep posting!
Matt Cuthbertson
Most excellent, Chaplain! Good to see a faithful man in the Uniform!
Investigating Orthodoxy & Ordination myself, so thanks for the testimony.
Please tell me- are you of any relation to that great historical theologian, Jaroslav Pelikan?
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