Litany Spring Meeting

On June 5, 2007 Holy Trinity Seminary hosted the Spring Meeting of LITANY. LITANY (Libraries Interested in Theology Across New York) is a consortium of libraries and librarians in Upstate New York that is devoted to the promotion of theological librarianship and collaboration for the sake of enhancing the services and collections of its member libraries ( http://litany.sbu.edu ). Representing Holy Trinity Seminary were Rev. Deacon Vladimir Tsurikov, Director of Archives and Library Service, and Rev. Cyprian Alexandrou. Other libraries were represented by Jim Mancuso of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Paul Spaeth of St. Bonaventure University, Bill Kanalley of Siena College, and Joy Niswander and Elizabeth Siekawitch of Elim Bible Institute.

The meeting began with a presentation by Rev. Deacon Vladimir Tsurikov on the history and significance of Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary. Specific attention was devoted to the Seminary's role in the preservation of Russian Émigré collections, followed by an introduction to the Seminary's scholarly resources.

The visitors had the opportunity to visit the Seminary's Museum. On exhibit were sacred and liturgical items, as well as items of imperial provenance. Of specific interest to the visitor was the Monastery's print shop of St. Job of Pochaev, which since its establishment in the early 1940's has seen the publication of hundreds of titles of religious and historical nature both in Russian and English. After viewing the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the tour ended with a visit to the Monastery's icon studio where the iconographic tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the theology of the icon, were explained by resident iconographer Monk Theophan, and the techniques of depicting an image described.

The day concluded with a business meeting; LITANY members came to an agreement to share resources with member libraries and elected a new treasurer. Holy Trinity Seminary looks forward to the next meeting, scheduled for the fall of 2007.