Hidden Lives Podcast

Fr. Josiah Trenham is an Orthodox priest presiding over St. Andrew’s Orthodox Church in Riverside, CA. Father has a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Durham, England. He is married with 10 children. And he is the founder and director of Patristic Nectar Publications, an online Orthodox resource for the spiritually thirsty. In our conversation we speak about the Priesthood, ministry, and vocation.

Cynthia Damaskos is certified as a Holistic Health Coach through The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and specializes in Functional Medicine, Nutrition and Lifestyle Management following training through Functional Nutrition Labs Full Body Systems. As an internationally known health coach with global clients, she helps those who simply want to change their weight and lifestyle, to those with chronic illness. In our conversation we explore her journey towards healing and how that has influenced her Holistic Christian Practice. She is an extremely knowledgable woman and offers great resources.

Dr. Philip Mamalakis is an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Dr. Mamalakis directs the field education program and teaches classes on pastoral care, marriage and family, grief, death and dying, and topics related to pastoral counseling. He has a private practice in Newton, Massachusetts, where he works with individuals, couples, and families. Dr. Mamalakis has an M.Div. from Holy Cross and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in child development and family studies, specializing in marriage and family therapy. He has been offering parenting courses and writing on parenting for 21 years. He is the author of the excellent Orthodox Parenting book titled, “Parenting Toward the Kingdom.” Dr. Mamalakis is married to his wife Georgia and together have seven children.

Presbytera Alexandria Ritsi is an OCMC missionary in Albania alongside her husband Fr. Stephanos Ritsi, and two beautiful children since 2013. In our conversation we speak about how the pandemic has affected the lives of the people in Albania, her missionary ministry, and more.

Dr. Pete Patitsas is a medical doctor and works in Emergency Medicine at Holy Spirit Hospital and is the Author of the book “Athos Diet: Before There Was Atkins, There Was Athos.” We speak about Life and Death, reflections on this Pandemic, and explore his Fasting regiment philosophy from his new book.

Fr. Nick Metrakos is a married priest. He is married to Presbytera Anysia Metrakos and father to four beautiful children. While currently a seminarian at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, he has worked and lived in different parts of the world — Switzerland among them. Our conversation was one that I found spiritually uplifting. We focus around the themes of marriage, asceticism, discerning God’s will, and spiritual fathers.

With words and music, Presvytera Pat Tsagalakis generously shares her gifts and talents with her church and community. She is best known for her willingness to live the command in Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!” Presvytera Pat and her husband, Fr. Tom, serve as guest speakers and retreat leaders at marriage and family seminars throughout the country. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan. Pres. Pat teaches Elementary and Middle School Music at St. John School in Seattle. She is a youth group leader and directs both the choir and chant groups at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Shoreline. Pres. Pat coordinates communication / social media for the Family Wellness Ministry. She is also a contributor to Prez to Prez, an online ministry serving the National Sisterhood of Presvyteres. Pres. Pat has also been actively involved as a volunteer at Camp Agape Northwest, an outreach ministry serving kids with cancer and their families.

As an Orthodox Christian Psychologist, Dr. Xenia is deeply committed to a therapeutic practice that flows out of her Orthodox Christian faith and abides in the teachings of the Holy Fathers.She received her Ph.D. from Colorado State University. Dr. Xenia works with adult clients on a variety of different issues including depression, insomnia, anxiety and panic, PTSD, anger, relationships, parenting, and many other concerns. She truly loves her profession. She considers it an honor to journey with her clients as they strive to improve themselves, their life, and their relationships

Fr. Michael is originally from Boston, MA (home of Paul Revere, New England Clam Chowdah, and the Boston Red Sox). He and his wife Presvytera Catherine, along with their two children, Zoe and Isaac, migrated South to Marietta to serve at Holy Transfiguration in February 2019. He and Pres. Catherine met as kids going to Orthodox summer family camps, reconnected after college and got married in 2014. 

Fr. Michael served for seven years at Hellenic College / Holy Cross in Brookline, MA as the director of the CrossRoad Summer Institute (a high school program for Orthodox Juniors and Seniors, housed at Hellenic College). During that time he also served as a lecturer in the college and as Student Program Coordinator for the Office of Vocation & Ministry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative historical theology from Gordon College and a Master’s degree in Theology from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is currently working on a doctoral degree in dogmatic theology with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki focussing on St. John Chrysostom and his Homilies on Romans. 

Fr. Michael was ordained to the diaconate in January 2016 and to the priesthood in May 2018.

Timothy G. Patitsas has been the Interim Dean of Hellenic College since January of 2020 and the Assistant Professor of Ethics at Holy Cross since the Fall of 2005. Since the fall of 2006 he has held the main responsibility for the St. Helen’s Pilgrimage, which is the annual study abroad program for MDiv seniors in Greece, Constantinople, Mount Athos, Israel, and Palestine.

In 2019 he published The Ethics of Beauty, an attempt to recover one of the most ancient emphases of Orthodox spirituality, which is the firm priority given to combating the sensual rather than the intellectual passions. The book shows how this translates into a consoling and liberating Beauty-first approach to Orthodox ethics and life. The work also presents ethical, theological, and scriptural definitions of traumatic experience with a view to aiding recovery.