Nicholas Denysenko


Nicholas Denysenko 2011 Nicholas E. Denysenko
Assistant Professor of Theological Studies

Department of Theological Studies
Loyola Marymount University
1 LMU Drive, Suite 3700
Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659, USA
University Hall 3764
Email: ndenysen@lmu.edu
Phone: 310-568-6235


Academic Background
B.S., University of Minnesota, 1994
M.Div., St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, 2000
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America, 2008

Current Areas of Research
Currently researching contemporary Orthodox architecture in America. Revising book manuscript on history and theology of blessing of waters in the East. Researching Byzantine rites of initiation, especially Chrismation, and collaborating with others in comparative liturgy. Ongoing research projects include Mariology and Mary in the liturgy, Orthodox Ecclesiology in Ordination Rites; Contemporary Pastoral Liturgy; Heortology; The Christmas and Lenten Liturgical cycles; the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, theology and faith. Beginning projects in Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical dialogue.

Courses Currently Teaching
Dr. Denysenko specializes in the area of liturgy and sacraments. He is teaching Water, Word and Wine in Fall 2011; Eastern Christian Traditions and Liturgical Theology in Spring 2012; and he taught Introduction to Christian Theology and Sacraments & Sacramentality in Spring 2011.

Professional Bio
Son of post-World War II immigrants from Ukraine, he is a native of Minnesota, he has studied and worked in New York and Washington, DC. Dr. Denysenko was a full-time music director at St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral in Minneapolis, and worked as a marketing professional for Augsburg Fortress and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Dr. Denysenko has taught at The Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (summers). He is an ordained deacon of the Orthodox Church in America.

Selected Publications

  • "Rituals and Prayers of Forgiveness in Byzantine Lent," Worship, forthcoming.
  • Review of Maxwell Johnson, ed., Issues in Eucharistic Praying in East and West: Essays in Liturgical and Theological Analysis (Liturgical Press, 2010), Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, forthcoming.
  • "Baptismal Themes in the Byzantine Blessing of Waters on Theophany," Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, forthcoming.
  • "The Revision of the Roman Missal: An Orthodox Reflection," Worship, forthcoming.
  • Review of R. Kevin Seasoltz, God’s Gift Giving: In Christ and Through the Spirit (Continuum, 2007), in St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 55 (2011) 110-113. "Towards an Agenda for Byzantine Pastoral Liturgy: A Response to Peter Galadza," Bolletino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata 7 (2010) 45-68.
  • "A Proposal for Renewing Liturgy in the Twenty-First Century," Studia Liturgica 40 (2010) 231-259.
  • "Psalm 81: Announcing the Resurrection on Holy Saturday," Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 50 (2009): 55-88.
  • "The Life in Christ by Nicholas Cabasilas: A Mystagogical Work," Studia Liturgica 38 (2008) 242-260.
  • "The Soteriological Significance of the Feast of Mary’s Birth," in Theological Studies 68 (2007) 739-760.
  • "The Revision of the Vigil Service," in St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 51 (2007) 221-51.

Latest News
Dr. Denysenko is currently serving as the Director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at Loyola Marymount University.

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