The word patristic means ‘of or pertaining to the Fathers of the Church.’ It is an adjective that describes the essence of the Holy Orthodox faith and life. By following the Holy Fathers, we are walking down the well-trodden and sacred path that leads to Paradise.
Nectar is a sweet fluid secreted by plants, especially within flowers. It is collected by bees and made into honey. It also encourages pollination. In Greek and Roman mythology nectar was the drink of the gods. The teaching of the Holy Fathers is sweet to the taste of earnest Christians, and strengthens and transforms them in their quest for eternal life.

Our Logo-Seal
St. Basil the Great teaches that Christians are to be like bees and birds that alight on beautiful flowers (the Holy Fathers) and drink the nectar (patristic teachings). They are not to be like flies, which land on filth and dung.
The Christian is depicted in the seal as a bird, stretched out within the Cross of Christ, looking upward and straining towards the Kingdom of God, and drinking deeply of the salvific teachings of the Holy Fathers, which facilitate the Christian’s ascent to heaven. At the bottom of the logo is an open book representing the Holy Scriptures upon which the teachings of the Holy Fathers and the Christian life are founded. As the teaching of the Holy Fathers is drawn from the God-breathed Scriptures, the flower carrying the nectar of the Holy Fathers is depicted as growing directly from this holy and life-giving soil.