"Well done, good and faithful servant... enter into the joy of your Lord..."

Five years since the Falling Asleep of the late Metropolitan of Etna, Chrysostomos, Founder of the Holy Monastery of St. Gregory Palamas, the Center for Orthodox Traditionalist Studies, and the St. Photios Seminary in Etna, California.

It has now been five years since the repose of the late Metropolitan of Etna, Chrysostomos, on February 3, 2019 (commemoration of St. Symeon the God-receiver), during a pastoral journey in the United States. The late Hierarch had given strict instructions to his traveling companion, disciple, collaborator, and fellow bishop, then Bishop of Photiki, His Grace Auxentios, not to notify anyone about his funeral service and for it to follow the simple rite of monks, without publicity, eulogies, or any form of honorary display. His spiritual children honored this command...

However, the Providence of our Lord willed that on the very day of his funeral, February 6, 2019 (feast of St. Photios the Great, Patron of the School, of which the late Hierarch was the visionary, founder, and professor), the decision of the Association for Biblical Higher Education be issued, granting candidacy for state accreditation to the Seminary.

Of noble lineage, the late Metropolitan displayed from childhood a great inclination toward learning and mastered five languages (Greek, English, German, French, and Catalan). He studied and earned degrees in History, Byzantine History, and Psychology (a doctorate from Princeton University in 1975).

At precisely that moment, when an enviable academic career lay open before him, he decided to make a profound change and enter the "University of the Desert": he was tonsured a monk in 1975 and, together with one of his former students from Princeton, now Bishop of Etna and Portland, His Grace Auxentios, founded the Holy Monastery of St. Gregory Palamas.

His zeal for missionary work convinced him to accept ordination as a hieromonk in 1976, while his evangelical desire to multiply the talents given to him drove him to dedicate his academic achievements to the faithful witness of the Genuine Orthodox Faith. In 1981, he founded the Center for Orthodox Traditionalist Studies, and in 1984, he guided the revered Abbess Elizabeth in founding the Holy Convent of St. Elizabeth the New Martyr, Grand Duchess of Russia.

In 1984, he was consecrated a bishop and worked tirelessly for the support of his flock until the end of 2014, when he requested to retire from his active duties.

Alongside his pastoral activities, Metropolitan Chrysostomos remained engaged in the academic field, occasionally delivering lectures and seminars, and publishing articles in journals of theological, historical, and psychological content.

The founding of St. Photios Seminary in 2015 was the fulfillment of a long-standing vision of the late Metropolitan: to prepare new generations of clergy for the service of the Church in America.

While his genuine love and profound sense of responsibility drove him to so many initiatives and made him internationally known in ecclesiastical and academic circles, he took care to cultivate humility through his diligent weekly confession, philanthropy, forgiveness, and at times even with "foolishness for Christ"...

He tended to it until the end, seeking to journey as a simple monk toward the One he loved...

Greek source: Ὀρθόδοξος Παρέμβασις, Holy Metropolis of Oropos and Phyle, Issue No. 29, August 2024, p. 19.