Memory Eternal, Metropolitan Vitaly

[spiridon]

Memory eternal !!!

[Sean]

Memory Eternal to Vladyka Met. Vitaly.

[尼古拉前执事]

Metropolitan Vitaly, born Rostislav Petrovich Oustinow in St Petersburg, Russia, in 1910, was the son of an officer of the Black Sea Fleet, Peter Oustinow and Lydia Andreevna, nee Stopchansky, daughter of a gendarme general who served his whole life in the Caucasus.

In 1920, during the Civil War, Rostislav was sent to the military school founded in Feodosia by General Wrangel. When he joined the White Army and evacuated, the young Rostislav found himself in Constantinople, and from there he went to Yugoslavia, where he studied in the Cadet Corps of the White Army.

In 1923, the mother of the future First Hierarch sponsored her son to come to Constantinople and from there, she moved with him to Paris, where he was enrolled in St Louis College in Le Mans. Upon graduating, he joined his mother in Cannes.

In 1934, he was called upon to fulfill his military obligations, which he did by joining the 9th Cavalry Regiment, but the young Oustinow had no wish to remain in the world - his only desire was to withdraw to a monastery.

In 1938, he entered the Monastery of St Job in the Carpathians.

In 1939, trudnik Rostislav was tonsured to the rassophore with the name Vitaly, and a year later, he was tonsured to the minor schema.

In 1941, in the city of Bratislava, Fr Vitaly was ordained by Metropolitan Seraphim of Berlin and Germany to the rank of hieromonk and assigned to minister to two towns on the Polish border.

World War II forced the monastic brotherhood to flee from the approaching Re d Army. Fr Vitaly found himself in Berlin, where, together with Archimandrite Nathaniel, he developed a broad mission among the Russian refugees and prisoners of war. The second onslaught of the Reds forced the two young clergymen to move to Hamburg, where another field of activity opened up for them: to save thousands of refugees from forced repatriation to the USSR. A good knowledge of various languages, especially of English, along with tireless energy, allowed Fr Vitaly and Fr Nathaniel to save the lives of many Russians.

Settling in Hamburg, Hegumen Vitaly began to establish church life at the Displaced Persons camp Fischbeck. A barracks church was immediately set up there with a daily round of services, psalm-reading courses and even a year-long theological course for 12 youths. At the same time, Hegumen Vitaly gathered together a small monastic group, which began to publish church service books and even a newsletter, Pochaevskije listki .

From 1947 to 1951, Archimandrite Vitaly was the rector of the London parish; in 1951, on the feast day of SS Peter and Paul, he was consecrated bishop and sent to Brazil. Soon the young bishop opened his own print shop and established a small orphanage for boys, where they were taught them the daily cycle of services.

In 1955, Vladyka Vitaly and his brethren moved to Canada.

As Bishop of Montreal and Canada, Vladyka established a skete in Mansonville.

In Montreal, Vladyka acquired and refurbished the large St Nicholas Cathedral. Not far from the Cathedral is the Synodal podvorie.

It can be stated with confidence that there is no place where Vladyka Vitaly settled where he did not organize a small monastic brotherhood and active publishing concern. The Council of Bishops in 1986 chose Vladyka Vitaly as the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

In 2001, the Russian Church Abroad celebrated the 50th anniversary of His Eminence's service as bishop.

May the newly-reposed Vladyka Vitaly be granted the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal memory!

[Priest Siluan]

My humble translation from ROCiE Official Website:

MEMORY ETERNAL +

Today, September 25, at 10:45 am have rested in the Lord, the First
Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, His Beatitude
Metropolitan Vitaly.

The funeral will take place on Thursday, September 28, after of the
liturgy that will take place at 9 am in the Church of Holy
Transfiguration Skete in Mansonville, Canada.

http://www.russianorthodoxchurchinexile ... 00614.html

[Priest Siluan]

Pictures of the funeral of Metropolitan Vitaly

http://portal-credo.ru/site/?act=news&i ... &topic=466

[Kybihetz21]

A friend of mine wrote this account about Metropolitan Vitalii's funeral:

"I was there too. I had succumbed to the temptation and convenience of believing all the slander against him. I believed the accusations that he was an inept administrator, arbitrarily changing his rulings. I had believed, despite the psychiatric evaluation performed that he was incompetent to rule the church. I was scandalized as were most by the presence of the notorious Liudmila, secretary and controller of his life.

All of these misconceptions because of the prolific campaign to persuade the flock that this was so. Yet, I was compelled, after much prayer to attend the funeral of this mysterious man. And I was greatly rewarded.

For seeing the pious priests and faithful who earnestly prayed and surrounded him in his death, and seeing the wretched, fading figure of the old grey-haired woman outside her wits, I realized that he had been manipulated, slandered and dispossessed by the church organization of which he was the father. All because of his staunch position against the Moscow Patriarchate.

I realized that he had been subjected to all of this because it was not in line with the new intention to join with the M.P. In the church, any of his shortcomings could have been overcome and supplemented by the support and love of his flock. We had only to surround him and protect him as did Noah's faithful sons. We had only to rely on his prayers and wisdom.

But instead, he was undermined, exploited and eventually cast out because he would not waver in his stand against the union with an apparatus which is not ready for union with the Truth. I laid three prostrations before his coffin, asking his forgiveness. As I stood up to kiss his hands, I noticed that they were oddly life-like, not stiff in appearance, and I naturally stretched out my hand to hold them. How surprised I was to feel that they were supple, like those of one asleep, and quite warm. I even wondered if he were truly dead. And this after being dead since Monday!

The realization overcame me, that in his Christian life, he had attained a sanctity that is unusual for our days. Of late, Metropolitan Philaret has been found incorrupt, as well as Archbishop John. He had followed the same path as had they, despite the human shortcomings which had been broadly propagated and exaggerated, and became a policy of the new church leadership. I am ashamed that I wavered in doubting this man.

I am ashamed that I judged him. I am appalled as I now realize that he was consciously destroyed, so that the new plan for unification with Moscow could go forward. As we watched his ROCIE disintegrate with the temptations which plagued it, I was ready to believe the rash accusations of a schism gone bad. As he stood for the truth and those who understood this rallied around him, he was unjustly labeled a schismatic, but in the meantime, he was towing the line of our glorious predecessors and we were allowed to be convinced that somehow he was wrong, and the rest of the new ROCOR was right.

Before the funeral, a call was received from Jordanville, demanding that his body be delivered to Jordanville. Yet the faithful followers of Vladika Vitaly refused. Indeed, his wooden casket was encased and locked into a metal sarcophagus and a concrete slab will be poured on top to prevent its removal. Just as the tomb of the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna has been required by Russia as an endorsement of its communist history; just as the ROCOR is required by the MP to justify its communist past, similarly now the body of the Most Blessed Confessor Metropolitan Vitaly is required to endorse the actions of ROCOR.

How many will continue to remain silent in the face of the atrocious undermining of truth? I came to the funeral as a skeptic and left a complete believer, seeing where the real truth lies. This man, no matter how inadequate as we all are, was leading the Church on the right path, the path of the predecessors, and for this he was martyred and received his crown."

[尼古拉前执事]

Rememberances Of Metropolitan Vitaly's Funeral
By Fr Andrew Kencis

Early in the morning of September 29 2006, the clergy entered the church to prepare for Divine Liturgy and the Funeral Service for Metropolitan Vitaly. We then locked the door to the church so as not to be disturbed until the church would be open "for the public." From our experiences over the past five years, we have come to expect almost anything! The suspended ROCiE Bishop, Anthony Orlov, appeared with his entourage complete with a multitude of cameras. I was standing by the side door with the main Deacon, Fr. John Kochergin, when we heard a faint knock.

Then again after a moment another knock, slightly louder, and the deacon asked "Who is there?" At first there was absolutely no response just the gentle quiet knocking as if an old babushka was trying to come in. Fr. John once again asked in Russian, "Who is there please?" The reply came in a demanding voice, "This is the Deputy First-Hierarch of the church! I have come to serve! Let me in!" The deacon replied as I instructed him, "We are preparing for Liturgy, the church will be open to the general public at 9:00."

Anthony Orlov's demand was then repeated many times over in various forms and with much louder knocking. The demands overheard by a few people where mixed such as, "I am the Chief Hierarch!" And, "Let me in!" And other demands made in this same vein.

At 9 A.M. we started letting people in, not knowing what to expect from past occurrences with Anthony Orlov. At the first, we filtered who was allowed in at the front door, until we were certain that there was not to be a scene, and were sure that the measures we had taken to prevent any disturbances, were in place. Anthony Orlov's people were with him at the side door, so only those who we knew to be peaceful we allowed to come in at first.

Finally some of his entourage, which included Irene "Mitze" Vinogradov, realized what was occurring and came to the front door. I asked them, "Who are you with?" And the response was that they were with Orlov. I told them calmly to wait a few more moments. I was then accused of being and acting as "KGB" in excited language to which I replied in a calm but firm voice, "No, you are quite mistaken. We just will not allow any disturbances in the church as we are here to pray and bid farewell to our beloved Metropolitan. If this is your intention then come in." At that point, making sure that the doors of the altar were secured with altar servers, we then opened the church doors for all to freely enter.

At the Altar the clergy were already vested, and we began the Liturgy. Once the Liturgy started, all sense of caution left us, even though we remained vigilant. The services from then on were full of the most profound joy coupled with poignant sadness.

Bishop Vladimir delivered a beautiful and moving sermon full of the magnitude, dignity, and legacy of Vladyka Vitaly, saying of him, "A true monk who took his call to be a Hierarch as an "obedience" from the Church — that is from Our Lord Himself. And as such he devoted himself to the salvation of his fellow man." Truly as Fr. Elia, of Burning Bush Monastery, recently wrote, "Vladyka Vitaly was a representative of a lost and fading time in history."

Anthony Orlov placed himself on the left Cliros Stand and was not allowed to enter the Altar. A parishioner was stationed at the door who simply blocked his attempt, or anyone else’s attempt who were not authorized, to enter. Orlov was visibly displeased the entire time and it was reported that he did not even cross himself during the entire service. Instead, he scowled and glared as he is wont. After the Liturgy, he and some of his people departed from the church and the monastery grounds. The pity of it all is that even in such a time of humility and prayer, even this could not soften his heart.

In the interim between Liturgy and the actual funeral we had a surprise. Father Flor of Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, New York, entered the Altar, prostrating himself before the Holy Table, venerating it, and then going to Bishop Vladimir for his blessing and kissing his shoulder. They then exchanged very warm greetings and some words. I was told later that Fr. Flor has rejected the proposed union with the MP and has isolated himself at the monastery, being disgusted with the brotherhood's proposed course. I learned that Fr. Flor had recently visited with Metropolitan Vitaly and Archbishop Sergei at least on three occasions.

To sum up, all went very well. No one in my sight was upset, only focusing on the matter at hand. We loved and still love our Vladyka Vitaly with all of our hearts. And through his prayers, and the prayers of all of the holy Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church who preceded him, may peace and unity soon come to our much suffering church."

Priest Andrew Kencis,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada