Issue 25, 2006 The Faithful Steward A Newsletter of the Holy Orthodox Church in North America “We are all called to be faithful and wise stewards, ever waiting for the coming of our Lord.” LUKE 12:40-46 A Short Biography of Bishop Demetrius of Carlisle ishop Demetrius was born in Demetrius’ life who had a particular impact on his decision; three “living BToronto on November 28, 1974, examples.” and was a parishioner of St. Nectar- The first is his maternal grandmother, the recently tonsured Nun ios Cathedral in the same city. His Paraskevi. Until the age of ten, Bishop Demetrius had a lot of contact with ancestors came from a village outside her since they lived very close to each other. He recalls that “everything of Florina in Macedonia, Greece. we ever talked about with my grandmother was centered around God. From his youngest years he had a She would always special love for the things of God and bless, always pray, our holy Orthodox Faith. When and always bring to asked what motivated him to make mind her sinfulness. the decision to become a monk, he More often than not, answered: “There were many things she would even come which affected me in my decision to to compunction follow the monastic way of life. In while doing so. She fact, I always viewed it as the Christ- was a very simple ian way of life par excellence. On a soul. After those ten daily basis one is able to attend the years we moved, and Divine Liturgy, partake of the holy both my grandpar- mysteries, hear the lives of the saints, ents would very learn the services, learn the theology often spend weeks at of the Church which the holy services a time at our house. teach us, etc. This is the best form of My grandmother education, even though we fall short would always sleep of our calling, and is the ‘art of arts in the same room as and science of sciences’ as St. me, but her sleep was Nicephorus the Solitary calls it.” extremely minimal. I There are three people in Bishop would wake up once, twice, three times in CONTENTS the middle of the Short Biography of Bishop Demetrius . 1 night and there she Nothing Wrong With Cremation. 3 would be, on her knees with uplifted The Church that Souvlaki Built . 6 arms in prayer and Axios! . 8 streams of tears Monasteries as Missions . 10 falling down her Income and Expense Statement . 11 Bishop Demetrius, Consecrated on August 21/ September 3, 2006 face. With no excep- Report From the Bahamas . 12 tion, it was always like that with her.” The second example was the holy Tarso, a Fool-for-Christ’s sake. Friends of Ugandan Orphans Walk . 14 When he was thirteen, Bishop Demetrius visited his relatives in Keratea, Opening of Toronto Diocese House . 15 Greece. Tarso had a little hut in the fields by their home. “That was an New Learning CDs for Chanters . 16 awesome experience. The superhuman asceticism of a Fool-for-Christ’s The Faithful Steward sake makes it obvious how they score ‘10 points more,’ “After my visit to Mount Athos, I also visited (as related in the life of St. Symeon the Fool-for-Christ’s Archbishop Auxentius and spent hours talking to him. sake). It was a great blessing for me to see her, speak to This was just a few months before his blessed repose. her, spend time with her, and receive her blessing.” She He also left a deep impression on me, more so than reposed shortly thereafter and became well known in when he visited our parish in 1989. When I left his con- Greece for her miracles. vent, I was deemed worthy to receive his skoufaki as a The third example was the holy Elder Joachim of blessing. The Archbishop also said to me, ‘If anyone Mount Athos. For about five years they corresponded were to come to ask for a blessing to enter a monastery, via air mail. Bishop Demetrius states that he actually I would send him to Boston.’” had his mind set on becoming a monk on Mount Athos After entering the monastery, Bishop Demetrius and it was mainly Metropolitan Makarios who dis- spent almost 12 years living in obedience. At the age of suaded him from doing so. “A few months prior to my 25 he was ordained deacon at Holy Transfiguration entering Holy Transfiguration Monastery, I spent some Monastery, and under obedience has served with its precious and valuable time with the holy elder in the founder, Archimandrite Panteleimon, in Greece and at desert area of Mount Athos, near the cave of St. Nilus Holy Theotokos Convent in Newmarket, ON. In 2005 the Myrrh-streamer. Elder Joachim had me follow the he was ordained a priest at St. Nectarius Cathedral in typicon of his hesychasterion (in honor of St. Toronto. His consecration as Bishop of Carlisle took Euthymius the Great) as a novice. For example, if any- place on August 21/September 3, 2006 at St. Mark’s one came to visit, I would not speak without a blessing. Cathedral in Roslindale, MA. I believe that I made my first steps in monasticism as a Bishop Demetrius concludes by saying, “I remem- novice with Elder Joachim. It was also a nice blessing ber how embarrassed I was after being ordained a dea- to wear the skoufaki and use the prayer-rope of St. con. I was the only one with a black beard. All the Nectarius the Wonderworker of Pentapolis, which they other clergymen had grey hair. Then I realized that I treasured at the hesychasterion.” The hesychastic spirit was the youngest deacon of The Holy Orthodox of Elder Joachim left a deep impression on Bishop Church in North America (HOCNA). When I was Demetrius. “Those vigil services, and especially the ordained priest, I was still the youngest clergyman, Divine Liturgy with Elder Joachim, were out of this until Fr. Michael Knox was ordained deacon. And now world. They were unforgettable, as was the sanctity I am the youngest bishop! This means one thing: we which showed forth from the Elder during them. need to start ordaining young men to the diaconate and priesthood. May God grant us worthy candidates!” Bishop Demetrius blessing the faithful Capturing a moment with newly-consecrated Bishop Demetrius and Metropolitan Makarios Issue 25, 2006 2 The Faithful Steward Sad to say Most Christians Now See Nothing Wrong With the Practice of Cremation By Mike Christopulos Slightly edited from The Sword, January 2006 uring the first 1800 years of a lone voice calling for cremation; yet, went even further in its capitulation DChristianity, and even before a century and a half later, in the mid- when in Canada the Holy See granted that during Old Testament times, 1800’s, a seismic shift occurred in permission to have the cremains of most people strongly opposed the Western culture as advocates of cre- the body brought into the church dur- practice of cremation. mation publicly began questioning ing a church funeral.” That’s no longer true. Most Christianity’s burial-only policy by Pope Paul VI’s 1963 pronounce- denominations and clergy now see seeking to replace it with cremation.” ment gave the cremation movement a nothing wrong with this revolting act. In terms of a Christian response big boost. Alvin J. Schmidt makes that perfectly to this modern cremation movement, Christian clergy usually tell their clear in his fact- laden, 123-page the Roman Catholic Church was the members that the Bible is essentially book, Dust to Dust or Ashes to only Christian denomination that for- silent on cremation, or that it does Ashes? mally opposed the practice when it not forbid it according to Schmidt’s Schmidt carefully examines cre- was reintroduced in the West, book. mation from a biblical and Christian Schmidt wrote. Greece is the only country in the perspective. In his tome, Schmidt lays European Union in which cremation out a very strong and compelling case Throughout the is not practiced. that Christians should not cremate “Christ Himself was buried, not their loved ones once they die. entire Old Testa- burned,” Bishop Theoklitos Koumar- Even though modern cremation ianos, an Orthodox spokesman told began to assert itself in the late ment, cremation, the the New York Times in an article 1800’s, wide acceptance didn’t take published in the Christian News, July place for a number of years, Schmidt act of destroying 14, 2003. wrote. deceased humans by Orthodox churches, contrary to In 1900 there were only 2,414 most other denominations, do not (.003 percent) deceased persons cre- fire was never pleas- permit cremation. mated in the United States. Even in “But upon closer examination, 1960, the American cremation rate ing to God. one finds a certain amount of was relatively low when 60,987 (or ambivalence reflected in some of the 3.56 percent) were cremated. By It condemned the practice on five Orthodox literature,” Schmidt wrote. 2001, the number of cremations in different occasions, 1884, twice in He cited an article “Cremation” the U.S. had risen to 27.25 percent. In 1886, 1892 and as late as 1926. in A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy Canada the rate has increased even However, Schmidt pointed out (1984) that states, “there is no defi- more rapidly, to 46.5 percent in 1999, that the Roman Catholic Church in nite dogmatical basis on which the and in England about 85 percent of 1963 essentially ignored its five previ- stand of the Church against crema- all deaths are presently cremated.