St. Andrew Western Rite Church in Oklahoma City's New Home (And More)

A new picture of the interior of St. Andrew Orthodox Church (Western Rite).

Fr. Mark Wallace of St. Andrew Orthodox Church, a member of the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, has posted a number of photographs of the church's new location. Fr. Wallace writes, "On Christmas Eve, 2008, the congregation of St. Andrew Orthodox Church was blessed to begin services in its own rented space at 6444 N.W. Expressway in Oklahoma City."Congratulations and Godspeed to St. Andrew's, Fr. Mark Wallace, and all its faithful!

The site has also added a Daily Lectionary. (The church celebrates the Liturgy of St. Tikhon.) Finally, you can read or listen to Fr. Wallace's sermons (and you should). Enjoy.

Update: Ooops! I changed the title to reflect the correct church name, St. Andrew, not "St. Mark." I had a rare Freudian slip, or I may well have had a prophecy about its priest. It was none other than Fr. Mark Wallace who pointed out my error. (Blushing.)

Western Rite Slideshow

I've been saving these for...a very long time.

For those unable to attend a Western Rite Mass in a canonical Western Rite Orthodox Church but want to have some idea what it looks like, here is an uplifting sight: a slideshow of Fr. Edward Hughes celebrating the Liturgy of St. Gregory at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Of course, this is no substitute for worshiping in a real Orthodox Church, whether Western or Eastern, but it's nice to see. Enjoy.

Western Rite Easter Photos

St. Michael Orthodox Church in Whittier, California, (part of the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate) has posted an online photo album of their paschal celebrations. St. Michael's is perhaps best known for its Oblates program, including the (slightly) simplified office it produced for Oblates to follow.

It may be gluttony, but I'm particularly fond of the picture showing the blessing of Easter eggs/baskets.

View the whole album.

Christus surrexit!

Another Picture of Bp. Charles Grafton, with the Orthodox

The "Fond du Lac Circus," with Bp. Grafton, and Sts. John of Chicago and Tikhon (Bellavin).

Thanks to Fr. Matthew for this pic.

St. John of Chicago (Kochurov) is the beardless sainted priest in the back row wearing a pectoral cross, third from the right. St. Tikhon (Bellavin) is the vested Orthodox bishop on the right. Also, standing on the far-left is Bp. Anthony Kozlowski of the Polish National Catholic Church, another communion that naturally belongs in the Western Rite Vicariate. (The PNCC holds to the Orthodox view of Original Sin and celebrates Mass without the filioque. Unfortunately, they, too, bought into grand visions of reunion with Rome, which have likewise proven elusive.)