Tributes to Priest-Scholar Fr. Matthew Baker Pour In

It’s been about 36 hours, but we’re still stunned at the death of Fr. Matthew Baker, the promising and brilliant priest-scholar who somehow seems to have been the friend of so many, beloved by so many, and called “the next Florovsky” by so many.

With so many who connected so deeply to him, there have been many tributes being written in remembrance of him, and I wanted to collect all the ones I could find here so that they can all be seen, if possible.

Before I list them, though, I want to draw your attention to a practical way that you can pay tribute to Fr. Matthew: Support his family. Fr. Matthew leaves behind his wonderful, hard-working, sacrificial wife Presbytera Katherine, along with six children. Father and Presbytera also just mourned the loss of a stillborn son Alexis who was born just a couple weeks ago.

A fund has been set up, and all the donations received will go directly to Katie and the kids. It’s amazing how much has already been raised—hundreds of thousands in just a day and a half—but even the amount that has been raised is not enough, not yet. This is not a wealthy family (indeed, they were basically on the edge of poverty while Fr. Matthew was completing his schooling), and Presbytera Katherine will be raising these beautiful children on her own. Think about how much you need to support your family every year. Now think that it will be 16 more years before their youngest child is of age.

Now give. Any amount is appreciated. Thank you.

And if you are able to attend his funeral services, details have been posted by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston. He will be buried this Saturday morning.

Here are the tributes to Fr. Matthew (in alphabetical order by author’s last name):

• Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Mourns the tragic death of Fr Matthew Baker, from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
• Vacant Chairs, by Richard Barrett
• The Church is Love: More on the Legacy of Fr. Matthew Baker, by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
• “Offerer and Offering”: Remembering Matthew Baker, by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, for First Things Magazine
• “We had the one, and we lost him”: Fr. Matthew Baker’s Significance in Orthodoxy, by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
• “We need more spiritual brothers”: Losing Fr. Matthew Baker, by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
• Fr. Matthew Baker Leaves Behind Wife and Six Children: How You Can Help, by Seraphim Danckaert
• And so it begins…, by Fr. Michael Ellis
• Fordham Mourns Theology Doctoral Student, from Fordham University
• Memory Eternal, Fr. Matthew Baker, by Daniel Greeson
• Death and Birth, by Phil J
• Prayer and Grief, by Prof. Cyril Jenkins
• The Injustice of Death: In Memoriam of Fr. Matthew Baker, by Eric Jobe
• Memory Eternal!, by Fr. Kevin Gregory Long
• Remembering Matthew: On the Death of a Man, by Fr. Joseph Lucas
• The Life of Fr. Matthew Baker is a Triumph of Orthodoxy, by Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak)
• God Did Not Create Death, by Gabe Martini
• The Unique Life, Tragic Death and Legacy of Father Matthew Baker, by Terry Mattingly
• On Spiritual Brothers — In Memoriam, by Nathaniel McCallum (quotation from St. Ambrose of Milan)
• Associational Support in a Digital Age: In Memoriam of Fr. Matthew Baker, by Dylan Pahman
• A Simple Wooden Table, by Fr. Adam Sexton
• From which the purpose breaks only when it is fulfilled, by Fr. Jonathan Tobias
• Memory Eternal to Fr. Matthew Baker, by Fr. Nicholas C. Triantafilou of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
• On Lightning Rods, by Matushka Maria Weir
• Love Amid Ideas, by Donna Witek

News Stories:

• Greek Orthodox priest, native of Cranston, killed in Conn. crash, from the Cranston Herald
• Grieving friends recall Orthodox priest who forged a singular path , from The Day
• Norwich priest killed in car crash; leaves behind wife and 6 kids, from FOX Connecticut
• Norwich Church ‘Devastated’ By Priest’s Death In Accident, from the Hartford Courant
• Norwich Parish Mourns Priest Killed in Norwich Crash (VIDEO), from NBC Connecticut
• Greek Orthodox Priest Killed in Norwich Crash (VIDEO), from NBC Connecticut
• GALLERY: Father Matthew Baker remembered at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, from the Norwich Bulletin
• Online fundraiser for Norwich priest killed Sunday tops $439K, from the Norwich Bulletin
• Norwich parishioners remember young priest as ‘light to follow’, from the Norwich Bulletin
• Priest Leaves Six Children, Wife Financially Defenseless, from Plethora Media Group
• Greek Orthodox priest from Cranston, 37, killed in Conn. crash, from the Providence Journal
• Greek Orthodox priest killed in Norwich crash (VIDEO), from WTNH
• Online Fundraiser Nets Nearly $450,000 for Family of Priest, from WTNH

If you find any more tributes or news stories posted, will you share them here? We will add them to this post.