Detailed Lineage

(TL;DR:  Our church traces apostolic succession through three independent traditional lines—the Thục line, the Vilatte line, and the Celtic/True Orthodox priestly and monastic lines—giving it a broad and historically rooted foundation. It was established through a council intended to unite a small True Orthodox jurisdiction with an even smaller Western Orthodox jurisdiction, bringing both streams together. The result is a body that maintains True Orthodox theology, discipline, and Old Calendar commitments. At the same time, we express the faith through Celtic Western liturgical traditions, making it essentially a Western True Orthodox church.)

We trace our apostolic lineage through the wider Independent Sacramental and Zealot traditions, drawing from the Thục and Vilatte successions as well as the historic paths of the Celtic Orthodox Church and the Russian Church Abroad. Our Thục line flows through Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục to Bishop Pancratius—originally an Eastern‑rite Catholic who later embraced Orthodoxy—and from and to (was an independent Florinite before this and joining the group), Vicar Bishop Dmitry, a Ukrainian Old Calendarist, in their ordination of Bishop Michael, whose succession continued through John Pius (Elliot) and into our present clergy; during his early ministry, John Pius (Elliot) spent a short period serving as a monastic priest in a small church overseen by Bishop Freeman before communing in Western Rite Orthodoxy. A parallel Vilatte line comes through Bishop Jonah, Archbishop Eros, and Archbishop Kyprian, and to Bishop Gregory, forming a complementary branch of our heritage. Over time, these streams converged with the wandering bishops and monastics of the Celtic Orthodox and True Orthodox traditions, uniting with the Society of Saint Arsenio and the Orthodox Outreach Ministry, the latter having once functioned as a small ROCOR‑connected brotherhood (under Met. Vitaly but later independent). The Society of Saint Arsenio itself emerged from a community devoted to preserving ancient Celtic Christianity through monastic life, the Revised Stowe Missal, and the Liturgy of St. Germanus, a path we continue today in safeguarding ancient Celtic Christian practice and the living American Orthodox‑Catholic tradition. Through the union of these four historic branches, our lineage maintains an unbroken continuity that we hold to originate with the Holy Apostles themselves. Because of this apostolic foundation, our sacraments are celebrated with full validity and integrity within the tradition we have received. Although these branches once stood apart and at times found themselves in schism, we now stand in a shared communion shaped by reconciliation and mutual recognition. The wounds of past divisions have become the very places where unity has taken root, allowing us to gather our diverse histories into a single ecclesial life. In this restored concord, we affirm that our present unity is not merely organizational but spiritual, grounded in a common commitment to the apostolic faith we have received. Following this path today, we remain committed to safeguarding ancient Celtic Christian practice and the living American Orthodox‑Catholic tradition, upholding the faith with humility, apostolic continuity, and devotion to the fullness of Orthodox Christianity. In our daily life, this apostolic inheritance is expressed through a deeply reverent and disciplined manner of Christian living, shaped by the quiet steadiness of Western Rite devotion and the ascetical spirit of the ancient monastic fathers. We order our days around the sanctifying rhythm of the Divine Office, offering Lauds and Vespers with humble fidelity, and keeping the lesser hours as our state in life allows, so that prayer becomes the steady pulse of our existence. The Holy Mass stands at the heart of our week, approached with fasting, confession, and a spirit of profound recollection, for we believe that the altar is the place where heaven bends low to touch the earth. Our homes are kept as small domestic oratories, with candles, icons, and crucifixes reminding us that every room is a place where Christ may be welcomed. We keep the traditional fasts of the Church with seriousness, embracing simplicity in food and conduct so that our hearts may remain free for God. Sacred reading—especially the Gospels, the Fathers, and the writings of the Western saints—forms the foundation of our spiritual nourishment, and we strive to weave the Jesus Prayer and other short aspirations into the quiet moments of the day. Acts of mercy, manual labor, and the offering of our daily tasks are united to the Cross, for we hold that even the smallest work, done with love, becomes a prayer. In all things we seek to cultivate a spirit of humility, penitence, and gentle charity, walking the narrow path with the hope that our lives may reflect, however faintly, the holiness of the apostolic tradition we have received. The Orthodox Outreach Ministry, once a small brotherhood rooted in traditional ROCOR spirituality, carried forward a spirit of missionary asceticism expressed through simple liturgy, pastoral care, and fidelity to the Old Calendar, and its clergy and monastics preserved a quiet but steadfast Orthodoxy that in time joined our present body, bringing with it a deep love for prayer, fasting, and the sober beauty of traditional worship; the Virtual Catholic Church emerged as a pastoral effort to provide sacramental life and catechesis to those scattered or without access to a parish, maintaining a Western‑Catholic liturgical ethos while upholding Orthodox faith, and though modest in size, it cultivated a reverent devotion to the Mass, the Hours, and the sacramental life, its clergy—now united with us—contributing a distinctly Western Rite sensibility marked by dignity, solemnity, and pastoral gentleness; the Global Orthodox‑Catholic Ministry served as a bridge for clergy and faithful seeking a home that honored both Eastern and Western patrimony without compromise, upholding the apostolic faith with a missionary heart and gathering believers across continents into a shared sacramental life, and its union with us strengthened our commitment to a universal yet deeply traditional expression of Orthodoxy, one that honors the breadth of the Church while remaining anchored in ancient practice; the Covenantal Orthodox Church, shaped by a desire to restore early Christian discipline and communal devotion, preserved a strong ascetical identity rooted in covenantal fidelity, sacramental seriousness, and a life ordered around prayer and repentance, and its clergy and faithful brought to our present communion a spirit of intentional Christian living and a profound respect for the continuity of apostolic tradition; together with the apostolic lineages carried by our clergy, these former branches have now converged into a single ecclesial life—a harmonious union that draws from True Orthodoxy and Western‑Rite Orthodoxy yet transcends both, forming a tradition uniquely our own: a careful preservation of Celtic‑American Orthodox‑Catholicism, a heritage once nurtured in the British Isles and the Appalachian mountains, now carried into Texas and cultivated with even greater reverence, where the ancient Celtic spirit—monastic, ascetical, liturgical, and deeply rooted in the land—has found a home in which it can flourish with dignity, sobriety, and devotion, becoming a living tradition that honors its past while sanctifying its present. Our identity stands distinct from Roman Catholicism not out of hostility, but because we have chosen the narrow and ancient path that preserves the fullness of the Orthodox faith as it was handed down by Christ and His Apostles. We hold the same theology, sacramental life, and doctrinal integrity that characterized historical Orthodoxy across the centuries, grounding ourselves firmly in the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, and the Holy Scriptures as preserved in our 78‑book biblical canon, which reflects both the ancient Western and Celtic traditions. Our liturgical life is centered on the Revised Stowe Missal, a more reverent and ceremonially enriched rendering of the original Stowe text, preserved exclusively within OCTX; it employs the High Mass of St. Germanus and retains the full structure of the historic Stowe Missal—now in English, expanded with additional blessings, and celebrated in a solemn form lasting about an hour and forty‑five minutes. Alongside Scripture and liturgy, we uphold Sacred Oral Tradition, the living memory of the Church passed through the saints, monastics, and faithful across generations. Our canons, while historically connected to the older Byzantine corpus, have developed into a body of discipline uniquely our own, shaped by our Celtic‑American Orthodox‑Catholic identity. Likewise, our confessions and vows arise from the ancient Irish monastic tradition, emphasizing humility, repentance, fidelity, and the sanctification of daily life. In all this, our focus remains firmly fixed on Christ Himself and on the living traditions He entrusted to the Apostolic Church on earth, preserving the faith not through innovation but through continuity, reverence, and devotion. We draw profound strength from the saints of the British Isles and Ireland—the holy men and women who lived the Gospel with a purity and fervor that shaped the Celtic Christian world. Saints like Patrick, Brigid, Columba, Aidan, Cuthbert, and the great monastic fathers of Iona and Lindisfarne form part of our spiritual ancestry, and their devotion, simplicity, and missionary zeal continue to guide our way of life. Likewise, we honor the American saints—those who sanctified the soil of this land through prayer, sacrifice, and steadfast witness. Their lives remind us that holiness is not confined to one culture or era, but blossoms wherever the apostolic faith is lived with sincerity. In uniting these lineages, we see ourselves as heirs to a living tradition that bridges continents and centuries. The Celtic saints teach us how to pray with the heart; the American saints teach us how to sanctify the land we inhabit; and the Apostles teach us how to remain faithful to Christ above all. Through them, we remain connected to the great cloud of witnesses who walked this path before us, and we strive to continue their legacy with reverence, devotion, and unwavering fidelity to the true faith. In all things, our desire is simple and unwavering: to remain faithful to the tradition entrusted to us, to walk the ancient path with humility, and to worship and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ † with reverence of heart and purity of life. We seek no novelty, no departure from the faith once delivered to the saints, but only the quiet joy of serving God in the fullness of the Celtic‑American Orthodox‑Catholic heritage we have received. We also affirm, with a spirit both ancient and forward‑looking, that the heart of our life together is love—love for God, love for one another, and love for every person made in His image. In this, we promote a spirit of unity and fellowship that reflects the earliest Christian communities, where believers were known not by power or prestige but by the depth of their charity and the sincerity of their discipleship. We strive to follow Christ’s original teachings with integrity and compassion, seeking to heal divisions rather than deepen them, to welcome the seeker as readily as the saint, and to cultivate a community where humility, mercy, and mutual support are lived realities. In this way, our tradition remains firmly rooted in the ancient faith while embracing the Gospel’s call to love without measure and to walk together as one body in Christ. In this spirit, we open our doors and our hearts to all who hunger for the apostolic faith, inviting them to share in the beauty, discipline, and holiness of this way of life, that together we may grow in grace and draw ever nearer to the Kingdom of God. 

This was written by the Society of Saint Arsenio on December 2025 and January 2026. All Rights Reserved

To clarify, our jurisdiction is not entirely made of young clergy, we have older clergy aswell, every clergyman is ordained with valid apostolic succession and all can therefore also administer the sacraments validly. If you feel that is not right, you are free to have such opinions, but we will continue to practice our faith in our apostolic lineage. God's blessings be upon you who read this.