The Antiochian House of Studies (AHOS) joyfully opened its 2025 Residency Program with an orientation session at the Antiochian Village, gathering faculty and students for a week of prayer, study, and fellowship.
The residency began with words of blessing and encouragement from the President of AHOS, V. Rev. Fr. Michel Najim, and the Academic Dean, Fr. Fadi Rabbat.
In his welcoming address, Fr. Michel reminded students that their presence at the Antiochian Village is not incidental but a manifestation of divine providence. He emphasized that theological study at AHOS is not simply an academic exercise, but a sacred journey of transformation:
“Every lecture, every text, every prayer, is not merely a means of instruction, but an entrance into the mystery of the Word made flesh. True theological study is not the memorization of theories; it is the cultivation of a soul capable of discerning God’s presence in all things and of abiding in His uncreated light.”
[Read the full remarks of V. Rev. Fr. Michel Najim here below ↓]
Following Fr. Michel, Fr. Fadi Rabbat addressed the gathered community with words of vision and pastoral care. He reflected on the mission of AHOS as an expression of the ancient School of Antioch, a living witness of Orthodoxy in North America:
“Our curriculum is not a ledger of topics to check off; it is a path we walk together—learning how to think with sound doctrine, how to worship with integrity, how to act with compassion, and how to relate to one another with honesty and mercy.”
[Read the full remarks of Fr. Fadi Rabbat here below ↓]
With these words, the 2025 Residency began under the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Saba, with the guidance of His Grace Bishop Thomas, and the faithful support of faculty, staff, and directors.
The Antiochian House of Studies continues its mission to form faithful clergy and laity in the Orthodox tradition, uniting rigorous academics with spiritual formation, community life, and the living witness of the Gospel.
Full Welcome Remarks
Fr Michel Najim – AHOS President
Dear students, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
Welcome to the dawn of a new academic year—an auspicious threshold in the unfolding of your sacred pilgrimage: the pursuit of divine knowledge and the transformation of your soul into the ineffable likeness of God. Whether you return once more to the blessed grounds of the Antiochian Village or cross its threshold for the first time, know with certainty that your presence here is not incidental. It is a manifestation of divine providence—a thread in the tapestry of your salvation, woven by the hand of the Almighty.
How precious and joyful is this gathering under the auspices and blessings of our beloved Metropolitan Saba, and the guidance of His Grace Bishop Thomas our spiritual advisor! Before even a single step is taken on the path that lies before you, I greet you not merely as students, but as fellow pilgrims, as heirs of a venerable and sacred tradition. You are being summoned by God into a mystery—into the living stream of Holy Orthodoxy, flowing directly from the Fathers, those luminaries and pillars of the Church. Our school follows the definition of the eight ecumenical council: “We embrace with mind and tongue and declare to all people with a loud voice the definition of the most pure faith of the Christians which has come down even to us from the beginning through the Fathers, subtracting nothing, adding nothing, changing nothing, falsifying nothing.”
This is the teaching of the school, this is the teaching of the dean, this is the teaching of all your esteemed professors. I rejoice and thank God for them and for you. It is only fitting to acknowledge and honor in advance all of you who have been called to bear this sacred task and receive its surpassing dignity. I rejoice with solemnity and gladness in the honor that awaits you—an honor not temporal or symbolic but enduring and eternal.
All the professors and staff are ready to help you towards receiving the inheritance of the saints—the patristic treasury of divine wisdom. For what lies ahead is not the accumulation of human ideas or the repetition of theological formulas, but the reception of that which “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man”—those spiritual wonders God has prepared in abundance for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9).
What you will encounter is not the invention of professors, but the sacred and ineffable gift that has been passed down from generation to generation. The professors are here to initiate you into the mystery of purification, illumination, and ultimately, theosis.
Every lecture, every text, every prayer, is not merely a means of instruction, but an entrance into the mystery of the Word made flesh. True theological study is not the memorization of theories; it is the cultivation of a soul capable of discerning God’s presence in all things and of abiding in His uncreated light.
This is your calling: to take your studies seriously. For when you truly perceive what has been entrusted to us, gratitude ignites zeal, and zeal bears the fruit of transformation.
Let this, then, be your vision as you embark—or continue—on your theological journey to love God and His saints. Theology is not about theories—it is about Him. The Living God, who calls us not to ease but to glory through the Cross.
Therefore, with joy and holy fear, I welcome you on behalf of His Eminence Metropolitan Saba, the academic dean Father Fadi, and the director of residency Father Elias and all the professors the staff of both AHOS and the Antiochian Village, into this sacred place. I urge you to strive for excellence, but never apart from the humility that gives knowledge its light.
May the wisdom and power of our Crucified and Risen Lord guide your footsteps, illumine your minds, and enlarge your hearts. May this year be one of superabundant grace, spiritual deepening, and true communion with Him who has called you to this sacred path.
May it mark not merely a new beginning, but the beginning of your ascent into the Kingdom. And may you be strengthened in grace and truth to receive the glorious and ineffable gifts which await those who love Him.
Welcome, beloved brethren, to this sacred and transformative journey. May the grace of our Lord sustain you at every step.
Fr. Fadi Rabbat – Academic Dean
AHOS ( The Antiochian House of Studies ) Residency Orientation Program 2025, Week One welcoming words by Fr. Fadi Rabbat
Your Grace Bishop Theodore, Patriarchal Vicar of Rio de Janeiro
Your Reverence Great Economos Fr. Michel, President of the Antiochian House of Studies,
Your Reverence Fr. Elias, Director of the Residency,
Dear Colleagues, Faculty, Staff, Students and members of our AHOS family,
As I speak to you today, I am moved by the sense of possibility that fills our house—the quiet confidence that comes from being part of a lineage that spans centuries and stretches into North America with a clear, hopeful purpose. I speak to you not as someone standing apart but as someone who has learned, through many seasons, that education is most powerful when it is lived in intimate companionship, when scholarly rigor is braided with prayer, and when our shared life becomes a witness to the Gospel in all its tenderness and challenge.
AHOS carries the ethos of the historical School of Antioch—the heart of a missionary tradition that has welcomed many languages, many cultures, and a vast diversity of gifts. This is not merely a banner we display; it is a living conviction that truth is better pursued together, across differences, with humility and courage. We are here to offer a distinctly Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Christian education that invites clergy, laity, and all seekers to experience the Orthodox way of life in a way that is deeply relational, profoundly rooted in worship, and boldly engaged with the world around us.
In the hours and days ahead, you will be asked to bring your whole self to this work: your questions, your longings, your stories, and your sincere desire to serve. Our curriculum is not a ledger of topics to check off; it is a path we walk together—learning how to think with sound doctrine, how to worship with integrity, how to act with compassion, and how to relate to one another with honesty and mercy. And because we hold the Apostolic Tradition as our compass, we strive to be faithful in word and deed, to bear witness to Christ’s life in every corner of our day.
I want to offer three commitments that come from the core of who we are and what we hope to become, not as rules, but as invitations to transformation.
First, I commit to being a companion in your scholarly journey. I know the academic road can feel steep, and I also know its rewards are immense. Here, you will be invited into rigorous study, into questions that pierce the surface, and into conversations that test our assumptions with grace and patience. I pledge to meet you where you are, to challenge you with care, and to celebrate with you the moments of clarity and wonder that emerge when ideas illuminate life. Whether we gather in person or share space across a screen, may our minds be rigorous and our spirits generous.
Second, I commit to fostering your spiritual formation and your sense of belonging in the household of faith we call AHOS. The Orthodox way of life—worship, doctrine, action, and relationship—cannot be reduced to a set of practices or a checklist of duties. It is a way of being that shapes how we pray, how we treat one another, and how we respond to need in the world. In every discipline we pursue, may we listen for the movements of the Spirit, may we seek guidance from our spiritual directors, and may we cultivate a rhythm of personal devotion that sustains us and deepens our leadership as we serve others. In this house, even as we grow individually, we grow into a common life that nourishes, heals, and challenges us to witness with integrity.
Third, I commit to welcoming the fullness of our diversity and learning to carry the Gospel with humility and courage into every context we touch. Antioch teaches us that strength arises from the beauty of many voices and stories united in shared faith. Let us honor one another’s backgrounds, listen with patience, and practice justice and mercy in our daily actions. We are called not to uniformity but to unity in mission—to bear light into the world through acts of hospitality, truth-telling, and service that reflect the heart of Christ.
As we continue our shared life, I invite you to entrust us and our community with your hopes and even your doubts. I invite you to lean into the times when our differences become occasions for deeper understanding, not division. I invite you to participate openly in the disciplines that help form character—the habits of study, of worship, and of service—that will sustain you long after any single course or assignment.
Welcome to AHOS. Welcome to your House. Welcome to a life of learning, prayer, and service that is bigger than any one of us, yet made whole by each one of us, abiding in Christ, abiding in truth, love, and service. Thank you, and may God bless our shared journey. Amen!
