Celebrations in honour of Archbishop Joasaph in Quebec

Russian Church Outside Russia

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.

Source: