News

Celebrations in honour of Archbishop Joasaph in Quebec

12:09 PM

October 15th through 17th, 2010, in the parishes of the Canadian Diocese that are situated in the province of Quebec, and first of all in St. Nicholas Cathedral in Montreal, celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the consecration to the episcopate of Archbishop Joasaph (Skorodoumov), who is justly called the enlightener of Canada, took place. The ministry of the Very Most Reverend Vladyka Joasaph continued for two decades, from 1930 to 1950. During this time he founded forty parishes and two monastic sketes. In part, these parishes exist to this day. In any case, the ever-memorable Archbishop Joasaph, by the mercy of God, was the founder of the Canadian Diocese of the Church Abroad.

The Very Most Reverend Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, along with many guests from various places in Canada and USA, attended the solemnities.

On the first day of his visit to Quebec, on Friday, October 15th, Vladyka Metropolitan visited the church in honour of the “Kazan” icon of the Mother of God in Rawdon. In the afternoon, he visited Ss. Peter & Paul cathedral of the Orthodox Church in America and then, paid a visit to Montreal’s mayor’s office, where he left his signature in the Book of the honourable guests of the city. From the mayor’s office, the First Hierarch of ROCA went to the reception, held in his honour by the General Consul of the Russian Federation in Montreal His Excellency A.V. Isakov.

Next morning, on Saturday, Vladyka Metropolitan was greeted in the church of St. John of Sochava in Lachine, the parish that will celebrate its centennial anniversary next year. After the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy, the Metropolitan visited with the parishioners, and from Lachine he went to the meeting with the representatives of the Montreal Cossack Stanitsa named after ataman A.M. Kaledin.

In time for the all-night vigil, the wonderworking copy of the Pochaev icon of the Mother of God was brought to Montreal from the Holy Trinity monastery in Jordanville, NY, the copy that has been preserved by the brotherhood of the monastery for over half a century.

On Sunday, October 17th, at the St. Nicholas cathedral, at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy and a litia for the departed, a festive meal, prepared by the church Sisterhood, was offered to all present in the parish hall. After the meal, a lecture about the life and ministry of the ever-memorable Archbishop Joasaph was read. The celebration was concluded with a concert, in which a quartet from the Holy Trinity Seminary and the students of the cathedral’s A.S. Pushkin school shared their talents.

Please, look at the photos from the events in Quebec.

Additionally, three more albums are available for viewing on our site in the photo albumssection.

More information about the concert of the Holy Trinity Seminary choir may be read here.
Celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Russian Church Abroad

10:58 AM

ENCYCLICAL

To all rectors, clergy, and the flock of the Canadian Diocese.

ANNOUNCEMENT

In accordance with the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad regarding the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, this significant date in Russian History will be celebrated in our divinely protected Diocese.

The celebration of the 90th anniversary of the existence of our Russian Church Abroad will take place on November 7/20 and 8/21, 2010, at the Holy Trinity church, located at 23 Henry St, Toronto, Ontario. It was specifically in these days, on board a ship “Great Prince Alexander Mikhailovitch” by the shores of Constantinople, and then in the city itself, that the first sessions of the Temporary Highest Church Administration in the South of Russia, under the presidency of the Most Blessed Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitskiy), which served as the beginning of the Russian Church Abroad, took place.

Schedule of Festivities:

November 7/20, Saturday, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM – meeting with the youth of the Diocese. 7:00 PM – All-night vigil.
November 8/21, Sunday, 10:00 AM – Hierarchical Divine Liturgy (meeting of the Bishop – 9:30 AM). 2:00 PM – festive reception at the banquet hall located at 2110 Dundas St. East, Unit 4 (You may order tickets and get additional details from the sisterhood treasurer, Kaleria Antonovna Poroshina, at: (905) 884-0804).

During the banquet there will be festive greetings, a lecture on the history of the Church Abroad, and a concert by the Holy Trinity choir.

During the days of the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Russian Church Abroad, the holy Relics of the Baptizer of Russia – Equal-of-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir – will be brought from the Fatherland to the Holy Trinity cathedral. We hope that all, who shall have such an opportunity, will take part in the spiritual solemnity of the veneration of the Holy Relics.

I ask the rectors to distribute this announcement in their respective parishes.

Gabriel

Bishop of Montreal and Canada

October 14/27, 2010
25th anniversary of the repose of ever-memorable Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesenskiy)

10:12 AM

ENCYCLICAL

Notice

To all rectors and clergy of the Canadian Diocese.

This is to inform that on November 8/21 it will be a 25th anniversary of the repose of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesenskiy), who was the 3rd in the line of the First Hierarchs of our Russian Church Abroad, the 90th anniversary of which we celebrate this year, notably, on the very same day.

In order to honour the memory of the Very Most Reverend Vladyka Metropolitan Philaret, I request that a panikhida, or litia, would be served in all the parishes of the Canadian Diocese on this day, after the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy.

Gabriel

Bishop of Montreal and Canada

October 14/27, 2010
Parish Feastday at the Protection of the Mother of God Memorial Church in Ottawa

09:28 AM

This year the Protection of the Mother of God Parish in Ottawa celebrated its parish feast on the 9th and 10th of October. His Grace, Bishop Gabriel presided over the services, assisted by the rector of the parish, Fr. Stelian Liabotis, the second priest Fr. Alexis Pjawka, and the parish Protodeacon Fr. Vasily Milonow. In addition, the parish welcomed visiting clergy representing every diocese of the Russian Church Abroad in North America: Fr. Peter Perekrestov (San Francisco, CA), Fr. Paul Bassett (Cincinnati, OH), Fr. Protodeacon Victor Lochmatow (Jordanville, NY) and Fr. Deacon Mark Luimes (Niagara Falls, ON). The choir sang under the direction of the Reader Elias Dubelsten.

During the small entrance, Fr. Alexis was awarded the right to wear the nabedrennik (shield). A moleben and procession took place after the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. In his congratulatory remarks, Vladyka Gabriel greeted the rector, clergy and parishioners with the feastday and also mentioned that this year Matushka Elena Liabotis retired as the choir conductor. On behalf of the congregation, Vladyka thanked Matushka for her many years of service to the parish.

After the service, everyone was invited to the parish hall for a festive lunch prepared by the sisterhood.

You are invited to view photos from the event, taken by Vladimir Damjanovic, parishioner of the Protection church in Ottawa.
September 14/27 – The Elevation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross

12:00 PM

“From the first days of the preaching of the apostles, already persecution of the Church of Christ began… The very places of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of the Lord were covered with a multitude of stones and garbage in order only to take away from Christians the access to them and the ability to recognize them” (G. Lavrentiev. Twelve great feasts of the Orthodox Church, St. Petersburg, 1862). Yet, these holy places, keeping in memory the voluntary passion of the Saviour of the world, continued to draw the faithful.

In the beginning of the second century A.D. the roman emperor Hadrian completely rebuilt the Holy City and took away its ancient name; from then on Jerusalem was called Aelia Capitolina. Among other things, a decision was made to fill the hollow between Golgotha and the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. Later on, the entire plot of land adjacent to the place of the sufferings of the Lord on the cross was levelled; in order to do that, the top of Golgotha had to be cut and the cave of the Holy Tomb had to be filled. On this levelled place, the emperor erected a temple of Venus and Cupid.

As the result, exactly the opposite of what the enemies of Christ wanted took place: by the providence of God, the building of Hadrian as if marked the holy place, thus, excluding the possibility of loss of the knowledge that was preserved by the early Church.

Therefore, from 135 A.D, (when emperor Hadrian allowed Christians to return to Jerusalem) and until 326 A.D. (when St. Helena, the elderly mother of Equal-to-the-apostles Constantine, arrived in Jerusalem) the topographical history of the Gospel events, preserved in the original community of the faithful, managed – in the expression of the Greek Orthodox Encyclopaedia – “without dark spots”. St. Helena was able to find the Tomb of the Lord and the Trembling Golgotha. “They removed layer after layer, – describes the dig the contemporary of the finding, “the father of Church History” Eusebius Pamphilus. – And suddenly, in the depth of the earth, beyond any expectation, there appeared an empty space, and then – the precious and all-holy sign of the saving Resurrection”. That was the cave of the tomb.

In 351 A.D., St. Cyril of Jerusalem addressed the heir of St. Constantine – emperor Constantius – with a letter, where it is said exactly that “in the days of your father Constantine, may his memory be blessed”, near the Holy Tomb, the Life-giving Cross of the Lord was found. According to ancient tradition, the place, where the Holy Cross was buried, was pointed to – under duress – by someone named Judah, called “prophet’s son”.

But the unconquerable power of the Lord’s Cross reached him as well: seeing with his eyes the wonders from the unearthed instrument of a shameful death, Judah, along with others, his fellow countrymen, believed in the Crucified One “and was baptized, and in the holy baptism he was called Cyriacus; later on he became patriarch of Jerusalem. In the time of the emperor Julian the Apostate, he was tortured for Christ and having received a martyr’s wreath, was numbered among the saints”. (Lives of Saints, Word about the Elevation of the Cross of the Lord).

St. John Chrysostom says that it was possible to distinguish the Cross of Christ from those of the robbers, that were similar, by the table with an inscription made by the order of Pontius Pilate. In the description of the historian Sozomenus, that was included in the Lives of Saints, it is said that the tablet was found lying separately. It was possible to identify the Cross of Jesus only thanks to the miracle of the healing of a gravely ill woman and of the resurrection. “When the Patriarch with the Queen and the people, who were carrying the crosses out of the house of her that was healed, they met a large funeral procession of a certain Jew. Filled with faith, the Patriarch stopped the procession and having come up to the bier, placed all three crosses upon the dead man…; only the Cross of the Vanquisher of death and the Source of life broke the bonds of death and the dead man returned to life!”.

The discovered Tree, as is said in a letter of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, spread throughout the entire universe, for its parts were given to churches. People say that, to this day, requests go to the Jerusalem Patriarchate, to give to this or that local church a piece of the Holy Cross, but it is, of course, impossible to fulfill them: exactly this way, little by little, the portion of the Cross sent by St. Helena to Constantinople, vanished, ceased to be.

In 1799, during the reign of the Emperor Paul Petrovitch, the Ist, once he received the title of the great master of the Malta order, a portion of the Lifebearing Tree, along with other holy objects – the right hand of St. John the Baptist and the Icon of the Mother of God of Philermos – were brought from Malta to Russia, where they were kept in the Gatchina palace, then in the Winter palace, and when a cathedral in honour of Ss. Peter and Paul was erected in Gatchina, they once again returned to that town. The feast of the Philermos icon, in memory of the bringing of the wonderworking image to Russia, was set in 1800 on the 12th of October, Old Style.

After the October revolution of 1917 the holy objects ended up in the vestry of the Archangels’ cathedral of Moscow Kremlin, then in Estonia, Denmark, Germany, and finally, in Serbia. During World War II the relics were preserved in the Montenegro monastery. Almost ten years they were hidden in the monastery of St. Basil of Ostrog, but when in the beginning of the nineteen fifties, communists seized the power in Yugoslavia, they were taken and placed in a museum. Only in the summer of 1993, on the day of the feast of the nativity of St. John the Forerunner, the right hand of St. John the Baptist and a piece of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord were returned to the Church and given to the Cetinjski monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.

When the Holy Objects left Russia, a copy of the icon of the Mother of God and a painting of the right hand of St. John the Forerunner were made in Gatchina. In the nineteen nineties, Gatchina Ss. Peter and Paul cathedral received as a gift a piece of the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord.
Nativity of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

12:00 PM

The Eastern Orthodox Church starts the count of the yearly circle of the feasts with the Nativity of the Mother of God and closes it with Her Dormition.

“She is the flower that budded forth from the barren and old womb of the dry tree, – is said of the Mother of God in the Lives of the Saints, – the flower that withers not, ever blooming with virginity, a fragrant flower, giving birth to the sweet fragrance of the One King, the flower bringing forth the fruit – Christ the Lord God, the only sweet smelling apple” (September, day 8).

The details of the Nativity of the Ever-Virgin, adopted by iconography and the order of the festive service, are contained in the Sacred Scripture, the essence of which is transmitted by the so called “Protevangelium” of James the brother of God. The content of “Protevangelium” is found in the Lives of the Saints of St. Demetrius of Rostov.

“In the records of the twelve tribes of Israel was Joachim, a man rich exceedingly,” – says the “Protevangelium” of James. When the feast arrived once again, and he brought before the Lord generous gifts and offerings, one from the tribe of Ruben stood before him and reminded that Joachim, as a man with no offspring, should not come with first offerings because “he didn’t produce a first born in Israel”. Joachim was exceedingly vexed; he didn’t return to his wife Anna, but went into the desert and there set up his tent. Then, he fasted for forty days and forty nights, saying to himself: I shall neither turn to food nor drink, until the Lord my God will look upon me. Prayer shall be my food”.

Meanwhile, Anna’s maid tried to comfort her bitterly weeping mistress, but having heard: “Leave me!”, herself got offended: “Who am I that I should hear such a thing from you?! The Lord shut your womb, willing that your offspring be not accepted in Israel”. As we can see, the Lord’s choice demanded that the righteous couple humble themselves in the face of scorn, – for, in the words of the One, Who will soon come and be their Daughter, the Creator “sent the rich empty away”, however He heard the tearful and broken prayer of Joachim and Anna.

As the most ancient – partly written – sources, that mainly came to us from the apostolic century, state, the parents of the Most Holy Virgin owned a home in Jerusalem not far from the Sheep’s Pool, where, later, the Lord healed the paralytic, who was bound to his bed for thirty eight years.

A great basilica was erected at the place of this home, the memory of its location was passed down by the Palestinian Christians from generation to generation, during the Byzantine times; according to many archaeologists, this church at once covered both the home of the righteous God-parents and the Sheep’s Pool.

After the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus, when the tradition regarding the Nativity of the Ever-Virgin enter the service books of the church, the home of Joachim and Anna became known to the majority of the communities of the faithful. The Council took place in the year 431 AD, and by the end of the fifth century, the Nativity of Mary began to be celebrated in Jerusalem: specifically in the church at the place of the home of the holy God-parents, St. John of Damascus gave his Divinely inspired Homily: “The Day of the Nativity of the Theotokos is the feast of joy for the entire world because the entire race of men was renewed through the Theotokos… She is entirely the abode of the Spirit, entirely the city of God, entirely good, entirely God’s neighbour”.
60th Anniversary of the Saviour Not Made with Hands Parish in London (Ontario)

10:23 AM

This year, the parish feast of the churh of the Icon of the Savior Not Made with Hands, celebrated as the third feast of the Savior, fell on the 60th anniversary of the parish.

On Sunday, August 16/29, with a large group of the faithful, His Grace, Gabriel, Bishop of Montreal and Canada, served Divine Liturgy assisted by the rector of the parish, Protopriest Vladimir Morin, Protodeacon Vasili Milonow (Protection Memorial Church, Ottawa, Ontario), and Deacon Alexander Morin (Holy Trinity Cathedral, Toronto, Ontario).

There was a cross procession with a prayer service. His Grace, Bishop Gabriel, blessed a memorial plaque, especially prepared for this feast day in honor of Ivan Vasilievitch Gavrilik, who in 1958 donated to the parish the plot of land, upon which the current church of the Icon of the Savior Not Made with Hands is erected. The plaque is for the eternal memory of the gracious benefactor’s son – Alexander, who died in a car accident at the age of 22.

After the cross procession and moleben everyone was invited to a meal.

Предлагаем читателям праздничный фоторепортаж, подготовленный Андреем Звонковым, прихожанином храма Нерукотворенного Спаса.
Celebration in honor of Archbishop Joasaph

10:02 AM

Thursday 14 October

m. Hilarion arrives late in the evening

Friday 15 October Rawdon

Church of Holy Virgin of Kazan Rawdon
- Greeting of m. Hilarion (10am)
- Panehida at Russian Cemetery (11 am)
- Meeting mayor of Rawdon
- Visit environs
- Trapeza
Friday 15 October Montreal

Visit Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral (2:30-3:30 pm)

Friday 15 October Montreal

Montreal City Hall (3:30-4:00pm)

Friday 15 October Montreal
- Matins (6pm)
Saturday 16 October Lachine

Church of St. John
- Greeting m. Hilarion (9am)
- Liturgy
- Trapeza
Saturday 16 October Cathedral
- Cossack Stanitsa Reception (2-3pm)
Saturday 16 October Cathedral
- Vespers (6pm)
Sunday 17 October Cathedral

Liturgy
- Greeting m. Hilarion (9am)
- Panehida
Trapeza Activities (12:30-15:30)
- The Enlightener Photos & Life
- Concert Quartet
- School
August 15/28 – Dormition of our Most Holy Glorious Mistress, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

06:52 AM

After the ascension of the Lord, the Mother of God remained in the care of St. John the Theologian, and in his absence, she lived in the house of his parents near the mount of Olives. She planted and confirmed the Christian Church by Her presence, Her word, and Her prayers. During the persecution, initiated by Herod against the young Church of Christ (Acts 12:1-3), Most Holy Virgin Mary together with the apostle John the Theologian, in the year 43, moved to Ephesus, where it was his lot to preach the Gospel. She was also on Cyprus, visiting St. Lazarus the Four-days-dead, who was the bishop there, and on the Holy Mount Athos, of which, as says St. Stephen of the Holy Mountain, the Mother of God said prophetically: “This place shall be my lot, given to me by my Son and my God. I shall be a protectress of this place and an intercessor for it before God.”

According to the tradition preserved by the church historian Nicephoros Callistos (XIV cen.), the Mother of God “was of medium hight, or as some say, somewhat taller than medium; had golden hair; quick eyes, as though of olive color; brows bowing and somewhat elongated, elongated nose; flourishing lips, filled with sweet speeches; face neither round, nor sharp, but somewhat elongated; long hands and fingers… In speaking with others, She preserved pious appearance, didn’t laugh, didn’t become indignant, and especially didn’t get angry; perfectly natural, simple, She did not think anything of Herself, and far from being pampered, was distinguished by complete humility. Regarding the garments that She wore, She was satisfied with their natural colors, a fact to this day testified to by Her sacred head covering. Shortly speaking, in all Her actions a special grace was manifest”. (Nicephoros Callistos borrowed his description from St. Epiphanes of Cyprus +May 12, 403).

The circumstances of the Dormition of the Mother of God are known in the Orthodox Church from the apostolic times. In the first century hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite wrote about Her Dormition. In the fourth century, St. Epiphanes of Cyprus points to the tradition regarding the Dormition of the Mother of God. In the fifth century, St. Juvenal, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, said to the holy right-believing Greek empress Pulcheria: “Even though there is no narrative about the circumstances of Her passing in the Holy Scriptures, still, we know about them from the most ancient and most true tradition”.

For the time of Her blessed Dormition the Most Holy Virgin Mary once again came to Jerusalem. She spent days and nights in prayer. Often, the Most Holy Theotokos came to the Holy Tomb of the Lord, offered incense there and bowed Her knees. Many times, the enemies of the Savior attempted to prevent Her from visiting the holy place and asked high priests for guards to watch at the Lord’s Tomb. Yet, the Holy Virgin, unseen by anyone, continued to pray before it.

According to the testimony of the byzantine Church historian George Kedrin, the falling asleep of the Theotokos was preceded by somewhat of a second Annunciation: “Once, the Most Holy Virgin, was praying on Her knees at the very place, where Her Son was praying about the Divine Cup, – then, suddenly, Archangel Gabriel stood before Her, and giving Her the sign of victory over bodily death, a branch of date palm from paradise, – announced Her imminent passing, that would come about in three days”. George Kedrin writes that this branch, after Dormition, was carried before the bier of the Theotokos by St. John the Theologian.

On the third day after Dormition of the Theotokos the unconsolable apostle Thomas came to Gethsemane and weeping bowed before the cave of the tomb. Taking pity for his sorrow, the other disciples agreed to move the stone, covering the entry into the tomb, away, however, the Most Pure Body was no longer in it because the Most Holy Theotokos “fell asleep in death for a short time as though for a short sleep, and soon as though from sleep, arose and shook off the death in the tomb as sleep from Her eys, and saw in the light of the Lord’s Countenance eternal life and glory” (From the canon for the feast of Dormition).

Testimonies remain that at the end of the seventh century there existed over the underground church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos a church, from the tall bell tower of which one could see the dome of the church of the Resurrection of the Lord. Now, there are no visible signs of the existence of this church. In the ninth century, next to the underground Gethsemane church a monastery was built, that was inhabited by 30 monks.

In 1009 the church suffered great damage from the persecutor of the holy places, calif Hakim. Significant changes, traces of which remain to this day, were made by the crusaders. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a portion of cut stone, upon which the Lord prayed on the night of His betrayal, disappeared from Jerusalem. Until the sixth century, this portion of the stone was in the Gethsemane basilica.

Yet, despite destruction and changes, the general initial cross-shaped plan of the church is preserved until today.

Wondrous was the life of the Most Pure Virgin, wondrous also was Her Dormition, as the Holy Church chants: “The God of the universe manifests in Thee, O Queen, wonders above the laws of nature. At the time of Nativity, He preserved Thy virginity, and in the tomb He preserved Thy body from corruption” (Canon 1, Ode 6, Troparion 1).
2010 Fall Pastoral Clergy Gathering to be Held in Vancouver, BC

09:23 PM

The annual fall Pastoral gathering of the diocesan clergy this year will take place at the Holy Trinity church in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event will be held from October 5/18th until October 7/20th, 2010. The program of the meeting will be published in the nearest future.