The Prayer of the Heart

[Unseen.Warfare]

The abbey was a part of the Moscow Patriarchate until 1997. Elder Theodore reposed in 1997. You know, we often criticize World Orthodox for appropriating our saints, maybe we shouldn't try to claim World Orthodox "saints" as our own.

I can assure you from actual memory that the Abbey was NEVER part of the Moscow Patriarchate at all. This is incorrect.

That’s not what the article says anyways. It doesn’t say they were in the MP until 1997. They had left the MP in the 70s and joined with the Ukrainians. If I’m not mistaken Elder Theodore was apart of the push to go into communion with Milan. It’s something like that.

[SavaBeljovic]

I do not wish to speak out of turn, or for the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia -- which I am not part of -- but I was under the understanding they were previously organized as a group of Old Catholics who had been taken in by Abp. Palladiy (Vidybida-Rudenko), who had been one of the UAOC Bishops in the old country during WW2, and later went with Girgori Ohychuk in 1947, but then broke from him.

On Bishop Lazr of Niagara's website (triumphantcrossmonastery.ca) they have a history, and while Met. William was under the MP briefly in the 1960s, he broke to go to Abp. Palladiy, according to the history written there. As far as I'm aware from what Met. John and Vladyka Enoch have told me, they were never part of the MP. It also worth noting when they joined Milan they had their orders corrected as they did not recognize the orders that came from the Ukrainians.

[Unseen.Warfare]

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The quotes you provided didn’t say what you are saying. Wouldn’t matter anyways would it? You’ve made up your mind. If he’s not a Matthewite he’s not Orthodox right?

HIEROMONK SERGIUS AND HIS CELL

1. A former Valaam novice, Priest-monk Sergius Irtel was drawn to Alaska from Paris by the hope of being involved in the establishment of a New Valaam Monastery. At the request of his bishop, Fr. Sergius was instructed to order Fr. Gerasim to leave his cell, and then he was to occupy Fr. Gerasim's place. Fr. Gerasim refused to leave the post to which he had been assigned by St. Herman. The people of Ouzinkie and Kodiak gathered a petition of 250 signatures (nearly everyone in the village), demanding that Fr. Gerasim be allowed to stay in New Valaam. Seeing that church politics had unfortunately put them at odds, Fr. Sergius went to live in the beach house on Monks' Lagoon. It was there that he penned his sketchy memoirs of life on Valaam in the 1920's and '30' and the monks' struggle to defend the Old Calendar against the renovationists. He compiled a contemporary Valam Paccicen and corresponded with Valam monks in Finland. He bequeathed aim work to the St. Herman Brotherhood.
   Later his cell attendant built him a small cabin calling it the St. John the Baptist Skete of "New Optina"- on the south shore of Spruce tana.
   When Fr. Sergius saw the location of the cell, he insisted that the cell be moved some thirty or so yards from the beach to higher ground. He was quite insistent on it, and the laboring brother had no choice but to rebuild the cel on the higher site. Fr. Sergius act later proved to have prophetic insight for in the tidal wave of 1964, had the cell remained where it was, it would have been washed away and claimed by the ocean. However, having been moved to the higher site, the cell remained untouched by the flood, and to this day it remains standing. In this cell can still be seen the coffin in which he slept and the monatic inscriptions on death written on the walls in just such a manner as he had previously seen in the cells of the desert-dwellers on Valaam. He thus transported that monastic fervency to this Alaskan island.
   Fr. Sergius continued here in a severe ascetic life of intense fasting and prayer until, having contracted tuberculosis, he was forced to move to a warmer climate. The rest of his life was spent in Mexico, as a fool-for-Christ.
   He died as a Schema-bishop on November 8/21, 1996, having taken the name of his Valaam elder, Hieroschema-monk Theodore (+1939).

What this book leaves out is he came to live and he passed away at the Abbey. They did get the Year correct. You are right Sava, they left the MP in the 60s and Elder Theodore wasn’t involved in all that at that time and the Abbey hadn’t even been acquired yet. He was with ROCOR and he wasn’t happy where he was and Vladyka John visited Elder Theodore when he was in Texas and asked him if he wanted to come with him since he didn’t like where he was. Elder Theodore immediately said yes.

ROCOR tried to have social services take him away at some point and the doctor who examined him said he was in perfect health and was saying he wanted to go back home. Which he did and lived out the rest of his years here. He actually told Vladyka John that he seen the direction ROCOR was heading… Meaning towards capitulating to the MP… So, to say he was a “World Orthodox/Sergianist” is absurd.

I have spoken to multiple people who personally knew Elder Theodore not to mention the Orthodox Word and this Book Monks Lagoon from Platina all affirm him to be a great ascetic and a Holy person. He was a contemporary of some of the greatest Saints of recent times and was highly respected. I don’t understand why anyone would have this attitude towards him and be so quick to be scandalized. Are we Orthodox Christians Or Pharisees?

[Unseen.Warfare]

"Prior to its entering into the Holy Synod of Milan, in 1997, the churches connected with the abbey constituted the Western Rite Exarchate of the Russian Patriarchal Church under Exarch William."

"The Blessed Elder (Schema-Bishop) Theodore (Irtel) of Old Valaam lived the last 7 years of his life at the abbey and reposed there on November 21, 1997."

There's the quote. It's from the abbey's own website: https://abbeyoftheholyname.wordpress.com/our-history/

The abbey was a part of the Moscow Patriarchate until 1997. Elder Theodore reposed in 1997. You know, we often criticize World Orthodox for appropriating our saints, maybe we shouldn't try to claim World Orthodox "saints" as our own.

I’m a monk at the abbey of the Holy Name. Elder Theodore wasn’t apart of the MP. You don’t know the context and I’m not giving you it.

Well, if you aren't able or willing to give the "context" then I have no reason to believe you. The quotes I provided were taken from the abbey's own website.

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It doesn’t say they stayed with the MP until 1997. As Sava has already said they left in the 60s.

[Suaidan]

Well, if you aren't able or willing to give the "context" then I have no reason to believe you. The quotes I provided were taken from the abbey's own website.

Unseen Warfare is in fact a monk at the Abbey. This can be confirmed by calling Vladika Enoch at the Abbey, who is more in charge of online communications.

This is their official website.
https://abbeyoftheholyname.org/

And this is the Synod's official website.
https://orthodoxmetropolia.org

This is a diocesan journal.
https://OrthodoxStandard.blogspot.com/

[Suaidan]

Pump your brakes. I might be a Matthewite, but I recognize that there are other True Orthodox synods in the world which have grace besides mine (GOC-K, BOSVR, OCOCB, ROAC, and others). If the Abbey was a member of one of the autocephalous Ukrainian churches up until 1997, then that might be a step up from being a part of the Moscow Patriarchate, but the independent Ukrainian churches were (and are) all schismatic. Also, where are you getting that Elder Theodore was EVER a member of the ROCOR? What dates?

The Milan Synod was in communion with Patriarch Volodymr of Ukraine until his death. Our Synods became dioceses of Milan in 1997. Before that, the Abbey was part of an independent group called the "Synod of Orthodox Bishops of the Western Rite" which began really in the 1960's and were regularized by Milan in 1997. Most of the work they did on the ancient texts was independently, and they would often call the ROCOR Synod for guidance on questions, priest John Shaw would occasionally hep them. So when the land for the Abbey was first bought, I want to say that was 1974.

The Moscow Patriarchate has nothing to do with this except that both Metropolitan William and Fr Augustine (Whitfield) were part of the ill-fated Moscow Patriarchate Western Rite under John Wendland. Metr William became increasingly suspicious of the Moscow Patriarchte Bishop and decided to work independently. The MP "Western Rite" project ended when Bp John Wendland was called back to the Soviet Union in 1967.

Neither the Abbey nor Abp Palladius (Rudenko) were part of the Moscow Patriarchate. That all would have been part of the time at the Woodstock monastery (which burned down, leaving only the Holy Transfiguration on the Mount Church, and led then-Fr John (LoBue) to search for a property which would become the Abbey.

I hope this clears everything up on all sides!

[Suaidan]

Not really. Look, I don't want to offend anyone at the Abbey or in the Autonomous Metropolia, but Patriarch Volodymr of Ukraine was the predecessor of Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate, correct?

The most common understanding of the death of Patriarch Volodymyr was that Filaret Denisenko probably had him killed to take over.