St. Augustine of Hippo Orthodox Church
A Western Rite Parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Welcome to the Orthodox Church.
Let's Meet!
Fr. Demetrios
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Service Times
Sunday:
Confession By Appointment @ 8:00 am
Lauds/Terce @ 8:30 am
Mass @ 9:15 am
Social Hour @ 11:00 am
Other days: see Sunday Bulletin
Monday Family Nights:
5:30 pm Mother’s Coffee Shop Meet at the Church then walk over to a local coffee shop
6:30 pm Vespers/Discussion/Kids Activities
Holy Feast Days: High Mass @ 7:30 pm
Confessions: Sunday Mornings and by appointment
Stations of the Cross: Lenten Fridays @ 7:00 pm
Please check weekly bulletin & calendar for variations
We are not Jewish, but we are Orthodox. We hold to the traditions and faith of the early Christians, without change. We have preserved the original Christianity as was practiced in the first millennium.
We are not Roman, but we are Catholic. This is the church for all people, in all places, at all times. This is the universal church. We are united, and have maintained a direct line to the earliest Christians.
We are not Protestant, but the Bible came from us. Have you heard of Athanasius? He was the first man to write down the list of the New Testament as we know it today. We hold him, and the others involved in putting the Bible together, in high respect.
We are not a Denomination, but we are Pre-Denominational. Before there were denominations there was one Church and one Faith. The Orthodox Church calls all people, from all walks of life, to return to our heritage and get to know our Maker.
We represent and are a part of an expression of Christianity most of America has never heard of or experienced, despite having over 300 million members throughout the world. The Orthodox Church, as it has come to be known in the last few hundred years, dates back to Jesus and his initial followers. We have never changed our beliefs, because we believe that truth is a constant.
If you are aching for medicine of both soul and body, then come visit us and see what we have to offer.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Theodore, Abbot of the Western Rite Orthodox Monastery of Our Lady & St. Laurence
So, who are we?
A little more about us...
We welcome you to St. Augustine of Hippo Orthodox Christian Church! Holy Orthodoxy is as old as Christianity itself. Indeed, the Church was founded on the first Pentecost by the twelve apostles gathered together awaiting the Spirit, the Comforter. From that time and that place, the Church has spread globally. Orthodoxy, both in her Eastern and Western forms of worship, is "pre-denominational." Christ founded One Church and Orthodoxy stands in unbroken succession of faith and practice to that Church founded in Jerusalem in 33 AD!
At St. Augustine's, the form of worship is unapologetically Western. When the Roman Church separated from Orthodox unity in 1054 her Latin Rite (style of Worship) was perfectly "Orthodox." She maintained that Apostolic Rite up until the mid 1960's when the forms of worship of the Western Church were radically and tragically altered. In the 19th century, the Western forms of worship were restored to Orthodox Christians who desired to use them.
English is the primary language of worship, but sometimes the ancient language of the Western Church-Latin-is used particularly in the liturgical music sung by our excellent choir. Join Today!
St. Augustine Orthodox Christian Church is a varied community of believers; almost all of whom are converts to Orthodoxy, united in the traditional Christian faith. We worship using the ancient Western liturgy (know as the "Tridentine Mass" by many) and are joined to 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. We affirm the traditional doctrines and practices of the Apostolic Church, including the forgiveness of sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Holy Trinity, and the sacrificial and sacramental life.
St. Augustine belongs to the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, which is affiliated with the Assembl of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America (assemblyofbishops.org) and is in communion with all canonical Orthodox churches.
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We invite YOU to become a member of this family of Faith!
A GREGORIAN LATIN-RITE PARISH of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese www.antiochian.org
Diocese of Wichita and Mid-AmericaWestern Rite Vicariate
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Fr. Demetrios
Pastor
Fr. Ed Hughes
Western Rite Vicar General
His Grace Bishop John
Auxilliary Bishop of the Diocese of Worcester
His Eminence
Metropolitan Saba
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America
The Liturgical Rites
Saint Augustine Parish uses the ancient Roman Rite of Saint Peter the Apostle commonly called the Rite of Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540 –604) (who codified it during his pontificate as Orthodox Pope of Rome.). This Rite would be very familiar to Roman Catholic Christians and Anglo Catholics before the massive and devastating changes of the Second Vatican Council in 1964. (This rite is also called among some the “Tridentine Rite” as its use was codefied and made mandatory throughout the Western Patriarchate at the Council of Trent in the 16th Century.) The Liturgy is celebrated in the vernacular (that is a liturgical form of English) and Latin. The orientation at Mass is ad patrem—“towards the Father.” In other words the priest and the people all face liturgical east together, rather than the celebrant “chatting over the breakfast table” to everyone in a familiar and common manner. This was the normative way of celebrating the Eucharist in ALL liturgical Rites before the upheaval or liturgical revolution of the 1960s in Western churches. Just like our counterparts in the Eastern Church, we all face God during the Liturgy.
The Office or the Liturgy of the Hours is also a part of the liturgical expression at St. Augustine’s Church. Regular Vespers—evening prayer—is held on all Saturday evenings. These are all taken from the Brevarium Monasticum, the ancient Benedictine Office Books. These are the oldest and purest forms of the Breviary (Western Book of the Hours) coming down to us from the time of St. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 AD – 547 AD), the founder of Western Monasticism.
There are various devotional practices common to Orthodox of the Western Rite. The Rosary, Stations of the Cross, Lenten devotions to the Mother of Sorrows, a pre-Pentecost Novena to the Holy Ghost, to name but a few are also a part of the rich devotional life of our parishioners.
The Church Building
The Church of St. Augustine is a lovely Edwardian Gothic structure built in 1912 by German Lutherans. It is richly appointed with beautiful altars, Stations of the Cross, statuary and Iconography. There are some fine pieces of original artwork by noted Denver artist, William Joseph, namely the bronze plaques of the four evangelists on the Great Doors to the Church and the communion rail. The stained glass window over the Main Entrance is also by Mr. Joseph and represents the symbols of our patron, St. Augustine of Hippo.
The Church has two organs; a fine Custom Rodgers three manual organ in the Choir loft and a Hilgreen Lane pipe organ in the Sanctuary loft.
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Due to the use of materials that trapped moisture, the current plaster has been peeling off. Efforts are underway to fund the removal and replacement of the plaster and to beautify our beautiful Gothic church. To learn more and if you are interested in supporting this project speak to Fr. Demetrios.
Stewardship
All Christians but especially Western Rite Christians have a special duty to support their churches in that they are preserving the Western Rite within Orthodoxy for posterity. It would be very selfish for us to think only of ourselves. Our Rite must be preserved and it is preserved not as an idea—cerebrally—but as a reality within our living, breathing, functioning church communities. We have been given this special gift born out of sacrifice, and we must support it sacrificially.
Saint Augustine’s Parish is funded by the tithes and offerings of its members. It is seen as a theological principle and way of life that one would support the work of God in his parish. To this end all members are expected to pledge each year to the upkeep of their parish church.
It is a time-tested principle that the depth of our love can only be quantified by what we allow it to costs us. The Holy Scripture enjoins the tithe upon us. While that is the ideal, we realize that in our modern secular and demanding world, we might not all be able to begin with the tithe (10% of our income). To this end, a real sacrificial gift of some percentage—for example, 2% to start with is given “off the top” each pay day to the work of the Church. After a year, perhaps the gift can be increased by one or two percentages. Thus in a few short years one arrives at the Biblical injunction in a relatively “painless” way.”
While the services of the Church are never denied to one because of his inability to support the Church, it is a very serious spiritual matter that one sacrificially gives to the building up of the Body of Christ in his or her own parish.
St. Augustine of hippo
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After seeking the truth among many religious schools of thought, including the Manicheans, Augustine was turned to faith in Christ though the counsel and fervent prayers of his mother, St. Monica. After having heard in a vision some words of St. Paul and having heard the eloquent words of St. Ambrose of Milan, Augustine was baptized. The story of his early life and conversion is beautifully told in his Confessions. He lived for seventy-six years. The last thirty-five as bishop of Hippo in North Africa. Here it was that he wrote a rule of life that was to guide many in the monastic life in the West. He died at Hippo in a barbarian attack on the city.
St. Augustine is commemorated according to the western calendar on August 28, the day of his heavenly birthday and on May 5 the day of his conversion. In the East he is commemorated along with his mother, St. Monica, on June 15.
In recent years, a few Orthodox writers have tried to deny that Augustine is a Saint of the Orthodox Church. This is mostly due to some theological errors in his writings—the saints are never held as infallible and in many of the patristic writings we find things not received by the Church! This is largely because the theological errors have been played up in the dissident West particularly in the writings of the 16th Century Reformers. These claims regarding the status of St. Augustine however are false; from the time of his canonization he has been held as a saint in the East and the West. The Ecumenical Council gave him the title “Blessed,” very much like St. Bede is know as “Venerable”.
"Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility"
St. Augustine of Hippo
Who is St. Augustine
of Hippo?
Contact Us
Fr. Demetrios, Pastor
EMAIL: frjpax@gmail.com
PHONE: (303) 807-7772
Or you can fill in the form and we will respond as soon as possible.
55 West Third Ave., Denver, CO 80223
Saint Augustine’s is centrally located in the Historic Baker Neighborhood of Denver at West Third Avenue at Acoma Street—one block West of Broadway on Third Avenue.
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Coming from the North, take I 25 south to the Speer Blvd (south) exit and travel south on Speer to Broadway, take a right turn on Broadway and turn right on Third Avenue to Acoma Street.
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Coming from the South, take I 25 north to Lincoln. Go right on Lincoln to Third Avenue and turn left. Cross Broadway and on to Acoma. The Church is on your right (Northeast corner of 3rd Avenue at Acoma Street)
Parking
Street parking is available at 3rd and Acoma and along Broadway.
We are located at 55 West Third Ave., Denver, CO 80223
