Barbara wrote:Back to Bp Daniel for a minute. So he was allowed to continue as an Old Believer through his 5 years of Jordanville ? How did he manage to attend services, then ?
Assuredly, it's better that this Old Believer, formerly known as Dmitri Borisovich Alexandrov, joined Rocor than elsewhere. But I thought I read what you wrote, NCYet, earlier, as saying that he was allowed to stay in the Old Rite UNTIL
graduation, when he would have been expected to join the Nikonian Church.
Bp Daniel's case is puzzling indeed. Then there is his student, a relatively recent Bp John, consecrated in 2008 and given the title of 'of Caracas'.
Caracas was where St John Maximovitch's parents lived. As an aside, why were they not allowed to come to America, especially after St John was named Acting and then Ruling Archbishop of San Francisco ? Another puzzling aspect to Rocor history. Did they repose in Venezuela ? Does anyone visit their graves and take care of the site ? Do priests serve pannikhidas for them, the noble parents of the Wonderworker of the age ?
Another connection between St John and Old Believers is in the fact the iconographer Pimen Sofronov - who taught the future Bp Daniel of Erie and worked with him on various churches - was selected to fresco the Saint's crypt underneath Holy Virgin Cathedral. Personally, I would have much preferred that Nikolai Zadorozhny, an émigré from the Harbin region, had been awarded this honor, as I vastly prefer his style.
Why would an Old Believer - no matter how skilled an iconographer - been chosen ? Again puzzling.
I don't even care for Pimen Sofronov's icons adorning the walls and ceiling of St John's original burial place. They are OK but rather cold. One does not feel quite right looking at them ; rather, a little alienated. To me, it dimmed a little of the light in that holy room, now fixed up as a proper chapel. That is only my reaction ; doubtless many others like Sofronov's work.
I've got to be honest Barbra, I am having a difficult time understanding your confusion. Why are you fretting over these things?
Allow me to use an illustration. Let's same, for some reason, all of the Russians left Orthodoxy for a few hundred years. But, at the same time, all of them maintained their traditions exactly as they are today. The some of them joined Orthodoxy again. Would they be considered a whole other religious system, operating within Orthodoxy like the Trojan House? Of course not! It would simply be the Russian practice of Orthodoxy.
In the same way, the Old Believers which have re-joined Orthodoxy are first and foremost Orthodox Christians who have maintained some older traditions. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Bishop Daniel was a bishop for those who used the Old Russian Rite, as Greek bishops were once ordained by Russians here in America for the Greeks. (The "until" part wasn't there.) While at Jordanville he would attend the normal services (though he probably behaved within the services as someone of the Old Rite would), but he would remain someone of the Old Rite - in other words, they wouldn't make him go anywhere that used the New Rite, making him a New Rite clergy member himself. Hopefully that makes sense.
Your side thing regarding St. John Maximovitch and his parents, along with other things related to him, is odd. It's not even relevant, nor do they really matter.
Fr. Pimen Sofronov is one of the best iconographers of the 20th century, and he was personally responsible for bringing well over a thousand Old Believers and other individuals into the Orthodox Church. Not sure why you criticized him being chosen to work on a project. I've been at a parish he worked on, and while unfortunately it needs some repair work due to water damage, the iconography is masterfully done and traditional. What's hilarious, quite frankly, is your accusation of the icons being "cold". Old Russian iconography is famous for having lots of life and being more animated (due to exaggeration of various features, like the beard in the icon of St. Maximus the Greek), despite being rather traditional in style, in comparison to later developments.