Antiochian Church establishes its first male monastery in Canada

A hierarch of the Antiochian Church blessed the ground for a future monastery. Photo: the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Metropolitan Sawa, head of the North American Archdiocese of the Antiochian Church, performed the ground blessing ceremony in the village of Ennismore for the future monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This was reported by the website of the North American Archdiocese.

The hierarch blessed water in a chapel arranged in one of the existing buildings and blessed the grounds of the future monastic complex on the shore of Pigeon Lake. The project is being developed on a plot with approximately 230 meters of shoreline, which was purchased and donated to the Church by anonymous benefactors.

Members of the building committee presented the hierarch with a concept for the development of the territory, envisioning the construction of new residential quarters for the brotherhood and pilgrims to replace the temporary structures.

During his visit to Ontario, Metropolitan Sawa also presided over the celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of St. George's Church in Richmond Hill. Members of the Canadian Parliament and regional authorities attended the festive reception.

Addressing the faithful, the archpastor called on the community to support the construction of the first Canadian monastery, noting that "great dreams begin with small steps."

As the SPJ previously reported, the Antiochian Church launched an online map of all its parishes worldwide.

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