News
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Children’s Charity Luncheon in Ottawa.
09:35 PM
On the third Sunday of Great Lent, April 7th 2013, which was also the feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, in the Protection parish in Ottawa a benefit lunch was organized to help the orphanage attached to the Ascension Monastery in the Ukraine. This Lenten fundraiser has been held for many years and has become a good parish tradition. This year, like in the past, Archbishop Gabriel attended to offer his support to this good deed.The orphanage at the Ascension Monastery was founded only 17 years ago. Today over 250 children are cared for at this monastery. Many of the children have special
needs or are seriously ill. Bishop Longin, the superior of the monastery, who himself was raised in an orphanage, cares for all of the children and relies only on God for help. Мercy and love for one’s neighbour are truly exemplified by this orphanage. The children and young people of the parish were responsible for this fundraiser. They helped buy the food, prepare and serve it. They ran a lottery and after the meal washed the dishes and cleaned up the parish hall. Everyone is happy that the event collected a large amount of money (over three thousand dollars) which will be sent to the Ascension Monastery for the needs of the orphans. The children thank all of the parishioners for their generous donations. They are also happy that despite the distance that separates Ottawa and the orphanage, they could help their Orthodox brothers and sisters in the Ukraine.Sofia Vozzhova
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Pastoral Retreat & Assembly Of the Priests & Clergy of the Diocese of Montréal & Canada April, 2013
07:09 PM
The Lenten Pastoral Retreat
In the Diocese of CanadaFrom Monday, 8 April/28 March through Wednesday, 10 April/28 March 2013, the annual pastoral Lenten retreat and convocation of the clergy of the Diocese of Canada took place at St. Nicholas Cathedral (Montréal, Québec). Its meetings, sessions and liturgical services were presided over by the Most Reverend Gabriel, Archbishop of Montréál & Canada. During the course of the second day of the convocation, as always questions concerning the affairs of the Diocese, as well as questions of a general ecclesiastical nature, were discussed. The course of deliberations also included the regular session of the Diocesan Council, and the new roster of its members was confirmed. On Wednesday, 10 April/28 March, the feast day of St. Hilarion the New, a hierarchical Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was celebrated, after which a fraternal farewell meal was provided. With the blessing of Vladyka Gabriel, participants in the meeting in Montréal adopted the following resolution:
Resolution
Of the Pastoral Retreat & Convocation
Of the Priests & Clergy of the Diocese of CanadaWe, the clergy of the Diocese of Canada, having assembled for the annual lenten retreat and convocation at St. Nicholas Cathedral in the divinely saved city of Montréal, under the presidency of the Most Reverend Gabriel, Archbishop of Montréal & Canada, note that this fraternal meeting, despite the poignancy of the questions discussed, proceeded in the spirit of concord. Hence, our fellowship enabled all of its participants to find strength of heart in anticipation of the approaching greatest Feast of Feasts—that of the Holy Resurrection of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.
This year, the whole Russian world, both in the homeland and in the Diaspora, marks an important date for our history: the 400th anniversary of the accession of the Romanov Dynasty. This is not simply a noteworthy historical landmark, but one of the key events in Russia’s spiritual history. The Orthodox Church, the true savior of Rus’ during the Time of Troubles, at whose summons the first of the sovereigns of the Romanov Dynasty was called to the throne of Muscovy, marks this date as such. After this day we Russians did not take up the interpretation that Russia is a mere state, Russia is an empire: in the Romanov era it was formed, by the will of God, as an Orthodoxy whole (in the words of the remarkable ecclesiastical thinker of the Russian Diaspora, Archimandrite Constantine [Zaitsev]) It can be nothing else, and only from this vantage point ought one to view Russia, if we are to discover the key to clarifying its historical purpose. The participants in the meeting were delighted to learn that that the main celebrations of the “Romanov Days” will take place within the Diocese of Canada, at Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Toronto—the largest parish of the Russian Church Abroad. The celebrations will conclude in September, when the session of the Synod of Bishops will be held in Toronto.
In our Diocese other memorable days will also be marked this year, perhaps not so noteworthy for all of Russia, but of particular value to us here. We are speaking of the 75th anniversary of the Alexander S. Pushkin Russian Church School, attached to St. Nicholas Cathedral in Montréal, and of the 50th anniversary of the Church of the Kazan’ Icon of the Mother of God, in Rawdon, Québec. The participants in the meeting also extended heartfelt congratulations to their Ruling Bishop, the Most Reverend Vladyka Gabriel, on the 5th anniversary of his appointment to the now united see of Canada.
The churching of Russia is unthinkable without constant care for the Orthodox upbringing of the youth, its preservation within the bounds of the Church, which is particularly difficult in the Diaspora. Discussing the work of the Diocesan Youth Committee, the participants in the meeting called upon the flock to support in every way the efforts toward the successful organization of the St. Herman Youth Conferences, and never to forget that precious corner of Canadian Rus’: the Ruskoka Youth Camp, with its beautiful wooden church dedicated to the Royal New Martyr, the Tsarvich Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov. We also hope that the Orthodox youth of the Diocese of Canada will attend the St. Herman’s Conference and, of course, the Ruskoka Camp.
We were informed that this year the Church Musicians’ Conference will again be held within the Diocese of Canada, and it is our hope that singers and conductors from our choirs will take part in it.
In the course of our discussion of the affairs of the Diocese, Archbishop Gabriel reminded everyone that the restoration of our St. Nicholas Cathedral, which had suffered the affects of a destructive fire, is far from complete. The self-sacrificing generosity of its parishioners and well-wishers throughout the Russian Diaspora has permitted us to raise the church building literally from the ruins, but much work remains to be done: in particular, it is essential to repair the outer walls, not to mention the sanctuary and the interior appointments. The collection of funds to help our cathedral has now been taken up by the Diocesan Finance Committee, and this will be set forth in a special appeal.
From information provided by Archbishop Gabriel, we learned with spiritual joy that the miraculous Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, the Directress of the Russian Diaspora, will soon visit our Diocese. We also anticipate that, by the mercy of God, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, “The Softening of Evil Hearts”, which was present at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2009, where His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow & All Russia, was called to his present ministry, will finally visit us in autumn.
At the meeting in Montréal we also spoke of how the restoration of the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church has been providential: it has united us to the entire multitude of the new martyrs of Russia, who without ceasing intercede for us before the throne of the Lord. We hope that all who suffered for the Faith of Christ during the years of persecution will be venerated in the homeland and the Diaspora without exception, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” (I Cor. 2: 11).
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Archbishop Gabriel’s visitation to the Church of All Saints in Calgary
11:14 AM
On March 28-31 His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel visited the Parish of All Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Calgary. His Eminence led the Sacrament of Holy Unction, in which, beside him, took part His Grace Bishop Iov, The Administrator of the Patriarch Parishes in Canada, and also the reverend priors of the Church of All Saints and The Church of John Chrysostom in Calgary: archpriest father Peter Shashkov, priest father Svyatoslav Dubanenko, as well as the reverend prior of the Church of the Holy Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God in Lethbridge – priest father Antony.
An unbelievable amount of people gathered for this Service; our hierarchs and priests were anointing everybody with a special oil mixed with wine and were bestowing on the praying people their episcopal and priest’s blessings. It seemed also that all heavenly angels came down unseen to the small church of All Saints in order to worship God with us… Many people were holding candles; many were standing on their knees, praying and crying at the same time. How many souls received true relief and consolation in that evening! How many people, while leaving after the service, were carrying in their hearts the fortified faith and love to God! How many faces were full with God’s light! How touching it was to hear the words of love addressed to the old friends and absolutely strange or hardly known people! It is indeed that “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone!”
After the Sacrament of Anointing with Holy Oil everybody was experiencing something close to the sense of flight: when one wants to be kind to others and do only good deeds, because the soul of a person at this time is ruled with the Holy Spirit that secretly descends into it. This elevating feeling was multiplied also by the realization that the Service that we were attending, was also an outstanding historical event: for the 80 years of the existence of our Parish it was the first time when the two hierarchs were serving a Divine Service in it together, and beside His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel was standing His Grace Bishop Iov, the Administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in Canada. This unusual Service was very warm and reciprocally friendly.
In the following two days of his visit His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel also headed two Hierarchal Divine Liturgies at the Church of All Saints: on Saturday and Sunday mornings. On Saturday the Memorial Service- the Universal “Panikhida”- took place as well, because the 29th of March was also the so-called “Parent’s Saturday”, on which we commemorate those that have already reposed.… On that Service not only the relatives and friends of our parishioners were remembered, but also those white Kazaks that perished during the period of red terror in Russia after the bolshevik revolution. Coincidently, on the very same day the recently organized Kazak Society in Calgary was celebrating their Name-day: the Day of their Heavenly Protector- Saint Alexis, the Man of God.
On Sunday the parishioners of the Church of All Saints prepared a special feast-“trapeza”- for Vladika Gabriel. His Eminence thanked everybody in His Speech for the care and efforts to make his visit a memorable event; His Eminence also expressed hope that the parishes of the Western Canada, and of our Province of Alberta in particular, will gradually be filled with the newly come immigrants from Russia and from the countries that recently became independent from Russia, but where the percentage of the Russian population is still very high. Vladika also noted that if the number of the parishioners of the two Russian Churches in Calgary increases dramatically in the future, we can consider the possibility of which people in our city have recently been dreaming of: building a new and bigger Russian Orthodox Church or a Cathedral. His Eminence also announced that at the beginning of June we may expect the arrival to Calgary the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora, and in September, possibly, – the arrival of another Miracle-working Icon of the Mother of God from Russia, which is called the “Softener of Evil Hearts.“
After the lunch, Vladika Gabriel spent some time talking with the families of the clergy of the Church of All Saints, with the active parishioners and the members of the Parish council and the Sisterhood, as well as the teachers of the Sunday school. His Eminence had for everybody a kind and encouraging word, paid attention to everybody’s problems, and bestowed on everyone his Archbishop’s blessing. He knew many of the parishioners of the Church of All Saints from his previous visits to Calgary and gave his blessing to many of them for either singing in the choir, or painting icons, or studying in Jordanville Seminary.
The Archdeacon father Alexander, who was accompanying His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel in the trip, also took part in all Services and, according to the tradition that he started on his previous visits in our Church, he, while standing on the ambo, was conducting the singing of the two main prayers, sung during the Divine Liturgy by everyone: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty…” and “Our Father…”
It was sad that the time of the visit of His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel passed so quickly; everybody wished Vladika could stay longer, for it is a boundless blessing to be under the direct Archbishop’s benediction, and everybody clearly sensed that… The parishioners of the Church of All Saints will be eagerly waiting for the next visit of our ruling Hierarch. -
The Fifth Anniversary of the Blessed Repose Of the Ever-Memorable Metropolitan Laurus, Fifth First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad
01:10 PM
Saturday, 2/16 March, the day when the Holy Church commemorates all the saints who shone forth in asceticism, will mark the fifth year since His Eminence, Vladyka Laurus departed from us, taking “the path that all the world must take.”
We will permit ourselves to recount in brief several instructive events from his biography, where all is now presented as full of particular significance, but which, in the days when the meek archpastor was among us, in themselves appeared as almost ordinary to those who understood them.
He Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus (Vasily Shkurla before his monastic tonsure) was born on January 1st, 1928, in Ladomirova, in the Preshov region (now part of Slovakia). This area formed the western border of what had once been Ugorskaya Rus’, and which prior to the Great War had formed part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Vladyka was a scion of that heroic part of the Russian Orthodox people who dwelt in the Carpathian Mountains—the ancient homeland of the Slavs, which, despite the many centuries of the heavy yoke of unbelievable oppression by non-Orthodox and non-Slavs, had kept firmly to its Holy Orthodox Faith, even under the union with Rome that had been violently imposed, and their own national Russian self-awareness.
The infant Basil’s baptism was performed by the eminent missionary, Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko), later a prominent bishop of our Russian Church Abroad. There, in Ladomirova, was the Monastery of St. Job of Pochaerv, which had been founded by the future Vladyka Vitaly “the Elder”. Under the shelter of this monastery, and under the spiritual guidance of Vladyka Vitaly, the future First Hierarch passed his childhood, of which he himself was later to say: “From the years of my childhood, the Lord led me to the Monastery of St. Job of Pochaev in the Carpathians. There, in the monastery, I received my primary spiritual upbringing.”
The ever-memorable Seraphim (Ivanov), Archbishop of Chicago & Detroit (+1987), writes in his memoirs:
“Vasya grew up before my eyes. At age 5-6 he was already serving as an altarboy on feast days in our church. I remember how at age 8-9 he came to me (I was by that time was already the abbot of the monastery) and asked to be received as a novice. I smiled, patted his head and said that it was good that he had desired, from early chldhood, to dedicate himself to the service of God, but that the consent of his father was necessary.
“The next Sunday, Vasya came with his father, who quite readily agreed to give his son over to be brought up at the monastery, the moreso because he was very poor and had three other children.”
The education of Vasya, like that of the other youths then living in the monastery, was guided by Fr. Cyprian (Pyzhov), the famous iconographer of the Russian Diaspora.
Vasya was twelve years old when he was introduced to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Anastasy (Gribanovsky +1965), First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. Vasya’s spiritual father, Fr. Cyprian, brought him up to the metropolitan to receive his blessing, and Vladyka Anastasy said prophetically: “God bless you. You will be a pastor.”
In 1946, Vasily Shkurla, who had become a monastery laborer, arrived at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville from post-War Europe.
During those difficult times, Vasily had at his side two reliable spiritual guides: Archimandrite Cyprian (Pyzhov) and Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko). Vladyka Vitaly presented him with his own portrait, which he inscribed prophetically: “To my spiritual son from the baptismal font, who will carry on my ministry to the Orthodox Church and the Russian people. 20 December 1946.”
In 1948, at Holy Trinity Monastery, Vladyka Vitaly tonsured the young novice to the riassa. At the tonsure, Vladyka Vitaly gave him the name Laurus; he later ordained him a hierodeacon (14 January 1950) and a hieromonk (27 June 1954). In general, the influence of Vladyka Vitaly upon Fr. Laurus was constant and beneficial. “Under his guidance, my spiritual upbringing and education took place. I thank God that He placed me in obedience to such a great ascetic and champion of Orthodoxy as the ever-memorable Archbishop Vitaly,” remembered Vladyka Laurus.
It is understood that Holy Trinity Monastery itself exercised an inestimable influence on Vladyka Laurus: “I grew to maturity, one may say, in that monastery.”, Vladyka Laurus was to say. Both monasteries—that of St. Job in Ladomirova, and Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville—fused, as it were, in his mind, and the latter became the direct heir of the former.
In 1954, the future Vladyka successfully completed Holy Trinity Seminary. Prominent among the other seminarians because of his personally abilities, even before completing the full course of study (at that time the course of study lasted six years) he undertook the teaching of several general educational subjects in the lower grades, and after graduation became instructor of Old Testament and Patrology, which he taught until the final years of his life.
Thus, over nearly thirty years, beginning from the age of twelve, the servant of God Vasily passed through all the stages of monastic growth—from simple novice of the Monastery of St. Job of Pochaev in the Carpathians, to the rank of archimandrite of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville.
Those who knew him from those early, childhood years noted in him something rare—in him the proximity between spiritual growth and high ecclesial administration effected no perceptible change in the monastic qualities established in him from an early age. In the rank of archimandrite he was the same as he had been in the rank of hierodeacon—always ready to be or service to everyone, prepared to undertake any obedience. When he was already prefect of the Seminary and was delivering lectures on one of the most serious of subjects, he, if the matter required it, would dig a grave in the monastery’s vast cemetery, and in the order of monastic obediences he worked as cook in the kitchen and labored in the cow-barn. All the correspondence in the monastery office was placed on his shoulders; he himself conducted, if circumstances required it, the packing of the monastery’s publications for mailing to those who ordered them. There was no task that he considered beneath his rank or position.
On Saturday, August 12, 1967, in accordance with the directive of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad, the nomination of Archimandrite Laurus as Bishop of Manhattan took place. We will cite passages from his words at the nomination: “During this present, sacred moments, so terrifying to me, when, by the will of god, you, holy Masters, and the Sacred Council of the Russian Church Abroad are calling me, the unworthy, to the hierarchal ministry, what can I, a great sinner, say? Fear and trembling are come upon me.” In his concluding words, the nominee humbly asks: “Divinely wise archpastors! Pray that the Lord help me to be a steadfast, incorruptible preserver of the life-bearing commandments and the Traditions of the Orthodox Church, not only in word, but, most importantly, in deed. I beseech you never to cease strengthening me, who am inexperienced, by your edification.”
The love and gratitude of the flock followed Vladyka Laurus wherever he conducted his often difficult ministry.
After the death of Vladyka Averky (Taushev), the brethren of the monastery unanimously chose Vladyka Laurus as their abbot. It was not easy for the clergy and parishioners of the Synodal Cathedral in New York to part with their bishop. Yet it was also difficult for Holy Trinity Monastery to imagine itself without Vladyka Laurus. When, in the 1990s, he was visited with a grievous illness, prayers were offered up for him not only in the monastery, but all throughout the Russian Orthodox Diaspora. Countless expressions of sympathy were sent from all the ends of the Russian dispersion.
In June of 2001, Archbishop Laurus was appointed by the Synod of Bishops to be Deputy to the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, who had gone into retirement. And later, in accordance with the resolution of the Council of Bishops of 2001, Archbishop Laurus of Syracuse & Trinity was elected First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad.
“It is providential that the repose of His Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus, coincided with the days on which the Church celebrated the ‘Reigning’ Icon of the Mother of God (15 March) and the Triumph of Orthodoxy (3/16 March 2008). One may say that these two feasts outline the life of Vladyka and his primatial activity,” the reader Tikhon Thompson wrote in his comments.
We recall that in 2008, the feast of the “Reigning” Icon (the last day of Metropolitan Laurus’s earthly life) fell on the Saturday before the Triumph of Orthodoxy. On the Sunday of Orthodoxy the Church celebrates the triumph of unity, righteousness and peace. The life and ministry of Metropolitan Laurus took place in an era when our Church was undergoing a period of division, turmoil and troubles. We believe that, by his supplications, the Lord crowned this period with a great triumph of Church unity.
Eternal memory! -
Over $200,000 has been collected for Jordanville Monastery
04:44 PM
Dear friends and supporters,
So far, thanks to your generosity, we have collected over $200,000 for Holy Trinity Monastery. $130,000 has already been disbursed.
The First Hierarch of ROCOR, His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, expressed his deep concern over the critical condition in which Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY – the oldest monastery in the Russian Church Abroad – finds itself.
The monastery is in dire need of new wiring in the cathedral, the construction of a new seminary dormitory, construction of a new kitchen, bringing the whole complex into compliance with NYSDEC standards, and replacing all of the plumbing in the monastery building. The pipes are currently in such a deteriorated condition that the monks are unable to use the washing machines, while the seminary dormitory has begun to lean several degrees.
“Every person who is part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia needs to contribute to help the monastery so that it may be preserved for years and centuries to come,” said Metropolitan Hilarion.
To donate to Holy Trinity Monastery, please click here
Holy Trinity Monastery abbot, Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), sent a note expressing gratitude to all those who donated to the monastery through the FFA. To see the note in Russian, please click here.
www.fundforassistance.org
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New books published at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville.
09:55 AM
Holy Trinity Monastery, in Jordanville NY, has published a new book about Saint Herman of Alaska entitled: Herman, A Wilderness Saint.
Written by Sergei Korsun, this book has been translated from Russian by Priest Daniel Marshall and contains material not previously available in English that only became accessible in Russia after the fall of communism.
This new work brings to light primary sources that illuminate the story of St Herman and the wider context of the history of Russian colonization in the Pacific northwest. It reveals new fascinating biographical details such as his connection to St Seraphim of Sarov. The reader will encounter interesting texts on the attitude of the Russian Orthodox missionaries to a kind of same sex marriage practiced by some Alaskan natives, and the story of the legendary Novgorodians who were believed to have established a colony in Alaska during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. A detailed account is also offered of his canonization in 1970, by both the Orthodox Church in America, and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
The memory of St Herman has spread well beyond Alaska, and he is now one of the most venerated saints of the North American continent, with parishes dedicated to his memory in many states, conferences organized in his name, and his icon gracing many prayer corners and churches.
Further information about the book and how to order it in either print or digital formats can be found here.
The monastery also published an earlier edition of this book in Russian, details of which may be found here.Holy Trinity Publications is proud to announce its newest release, a new edition of Indication Of the Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The book was written in 1833 by the then Priest John Veniaminov, who would go on to become the first Orthodox Bishop in America, and is now known throughout the entire Orthodox world as St. Innocent of Moscow and Alaska. St. Innocent, at the time, was a missionary priest among the Aleut peoples of Alaska, and his book was published first in their language. Following in the footsteps of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and countless Orthodox missionaries before him, St. Innocent was quick to appreciate the need for people to hear about the Word of God in their own language. Since that time, it has been translated into many different languages and never been out of print, continuing to touch the souls and open the hearts of those eager and ready to hear God’s message of love.
St. Innocent, in his introductory words, reveals the ultimate truth of our existence here on Earth, “People were not created merely to live here on earth like animals that disappear after their death, but to live with God and in God, and to live not for a hundred or a thousand years, but to live eternally.” With these heartening words St. Innocent sets his readers off on their own personal search for salvation
This new edition includes points of reflection at the end of each chapter, making it an ideal text for catechesis, church schools, and group studies.
Further information on how to order it can be found here.
O Holy Father Innocent, Pray to God for Us!!
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