Venerable Karion (Cyrion) and his son, Venerable Zachariah, of Egypt

Commemorated on December 5

Orthodox Church in America

Icon from here (st Zachariah)

Saint Karion lived in Scetis in Egypt during the fourth century. He became a monk and left his wife and two children behind in the world. When a famine struck Egypt, Saint Karion’s wife brought the children to the monastery and complained of their poverty and difficulties. The saint took his son, Zachariah, and the daughter remained with the mother.

He raised his son at the skete, and everyone knew that Zachariah was his son. When the lad grew up, the brethren began to grumble. The father and his son then went into the Thebaid, but complaints about them arose there, too. Then Saint Zachariah went to Lake Nitria, immersing himself in the foul-smelling water up to his nostrils and he stayed there for an hour. His face and his body were covered with welts, and he looked like a leper. Even his own father hardly recognized him.

The next time Saint Zachariah came for Holy Communion, it was revealed to the Saint Isidore the Presbyter what Zachariah had done. The holy priest said to him, “Child, last Sunday you communed as a man, but now you receive as an angel.”

After the death of his father, Saint Zachariah began to struggle together with Saint Moses the Black (August 28). “What must I do, to be saved?” asked Saint Moses. Hearing this, Saint Zachariah fell to his knees and said: “Why do you ask this of me, Father?”

“Believe me, my child, Zachariah,” Saint Moses continued, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down upon you, and that is why I ask you.”

Saint Zachariah then took the koukoulion (cowl) from his head, trampling it under his feet. After putting it on again he said, “If a man is not willing to be treated this way, he cannot be a monk.”

Saint Moses asked Zachariah just before his death, “What do you see, brother?”

“Isn’t it better if I keep silent, Father?” Saint Zachariah replied.

“Yes, child, remain silent”, agreed Saint Moses.

When the soul of Saint Zachariah was leaving his body, Abba Isidore lifted his gaze toward the heavens and said, “Rejoice, Zachariah my child, for the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven are opened to you.”

Saint Zachariah died towards the end of the fourth century and was buried in Skete with the Fathers. 

You can see more here.

Troparion — Tone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile, / and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance. / By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe! / O our holy fathers Karion and Zachariah, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Saints Mark of Athens and Mark the Ascetic, two Great Hermits in the African Desert (March 5)

St Mark of Athens: "Mountain, go back to your place!"

St Mark the Ascetic: "Sell all that you have, and buy Mark."

 Click here please!...

Saints Mark of Athens and Mark the Ascetic, two Great Hermits in the African Desert (March 5)

City Desert

March 5 is the Feast of Saint Mark of Athens and of Saint Mark the Ascetic, both Hermits.

St Mark of Athens: "Mountain, go back to your place!"

“St Mark of Athens (4th c.) was born in Athens of pagan parents, but believed and was baptized, and, forsaking everything, lived as a hermit in the desert beyond Egypt. He did not see another human being for ninety-five years, and we would know nothing of his life had not the monk Serapion come upon him. Mark was about to depart this life, and lived only long enough to tell Serapion his story. Serapion then gave him burial.”  
Abba Moses

“Saint Mark was born in Athens. He related his life to Abba Serapion who, by the will of God, visited him before his death.
He had studied philosophy in his youth. After the death of his parents, St Mark withdrew into Egypt and settled into a cave of Mount Trache (in Ethiopia). He spent ninety-five years in seclusion and during this time not only did he not see a human face, but not even a beast or bird.
The first thirty years were the most difficult for St Mark. Barefoot and bedraggled, he suffered from the cold in winter, and from the heat in summer. The desert plants served him for food, and sometimes he had to eat the dust and drink bitter sea water. Unclean spirits chased after St Mark, promising to drown him in the sea, or to drag him down from the mountain, shouting, “Depart from our land! From the beginning of the world no one has come here. Why have you dared to come?”
After thirty years of tribulation, divine grace came upon the ascetic. Angels brought him food, and long hair grew on his body, protecting him from the cold and heat. He told Abba Serapion, “I saw the likeness of the divine Paradise, and in it the prophets of God Elias and Enoch. The Lord sent me everything that I sought.”

During his conversation with Abba Serapion, St Mark inquired how things stood in the world. He asked about the Church of Christ, and whether persecutions against Christians still continued. Hearing that idol worship had ceased long ago, the saint rejoiced and asked, “Are there now in the world saints working miracles, as the Lord spoke of in His Gospel, ‘If ye have faith even as a grain of mustard seed, ye will say to this mountain, move from that place, and it will move, and nothing shall be impossible for you’ (Mt.17:20)?”
As the saint spoke these words, the mountain moved from its place 5,000 cubits (approximately 2.5 kilometers) and went toward the sea. When St Mark saw that the mountain had moved, he said, “I did not order you to move from your place, but was conversing with a brother. Go back to your place!” After this, the mountain actually returned to its place. Abba Serapion fell down in fright. St Mark took him by the hand and asked, “Have you never seen such miracles in your lifetime?”
“No, Father,” Abba Serapion replied. Then St Mark wept bitterly and said, “Alas, today there are Christians in name only, but not in deeds.”
After this, St Mark invited Abba Serapion to a meal and an angel brought them food. Abba Serapion said that never had he eaten such tasty food nor drunk such sweet water. “Brother Serapion,” answered St Mark, “did you see what beneficence God sends His servants? In all my days here God sent me only one loaf of bread and one fish. Now for your sake He has doubled the meal and sent us two loaves and two fishes. The Lord God has nourished me with such meals ever since my first sufferings from evil.”
Before his death, St Mark prayed for the salvation of Christians, for the earth and everything in the world living upon it in the love of Christ. He gave final instructions to Abba Serapion to bury him in the cave and to cover the entrance. Abba Serapion was a witness of how the soul of the one hundred- thirty-year-old Elder Mark, was taken to Heaven by angels.
After the burial of the saint, two angels in the form of hermits guided Abba Serapion into the inner desert to the great Elder John. Abba Serapion told the monks of this monastery about the life and death of St Mark.”

MYSTAGOGY

Mark of Athens was one of the Bosci or Boskoi; the Grazing Hermits and “lived in this way till his body was covered with hair like a wild beast’s”. 

St Mark the Ascetic: "Sell all that you have, and buy Mark."

“St Mark the Ascetic (5th c.) was a disciple of St John Chrysostom, tonsured a monk at the age of forty by St John himself. He then withdrew to the Nitrian desert and lived for sixty years as a hermit, devoting himself to fasting, prayer, and writing spiritual discourses. Saint Mark knew all the Holy Scriptures by heart. His compassion was so great that he wept at the distress of any of God’s creatures: once he wept for the blind pup of a hyena, and the pup received its sight. Though he lived alone in the desert, it is said that he received Communion from an angel. The holy and scholarly Patriarch Photios held his writings in the highest esteem, and at one time there was a saying, ‘sell all that you have, and buy Mark.’ Some of these beautiful and profound writings may be read in English in the first volume of the Philokalia. “
Abba Moses

“Marcus Eremita or Markus the Ascetic was a Christian theologian and ascetic writer of the fifth century. Mark is rather an ascetic than a dogmatic writer. He is content to accept dogmas from the Church; his interest is in the spiritual life as it should be led by monks. He is practical rather than mystic, belongs to the Antiochene School and shows himself to be a disciple of John Chrysostom.
Various theories about his period and works have been advanced. According to Johannes Kunze, Mark the Hermit was superior of a laura at Ancyra; he then as an old man left his monastery and became a hermit, probably in the desert east of Palestine, near St. Sabas. He was a contemporary of Nestorius and died probably before the Council of Chalcedon (451).
Nicephorus Callistus (fourteenth century) says he was a disciple of John Chrysostom. Cardinal Bellarmine thought that this Mark was the monk who prophesied ten more years of life to the Emperor Leo VI in 900. He is refuted by Tillemont. Another view supported by the Byzantine Menaia identifies him with the Egyptian monk mentioned in Palladius, who lived in the fourth century. The discovery and identification of a work by him against Nestorius by P. Kerameus makes his period certain, as defended by Kunze.  
En.wikipedia.org

See also https://oca.org/saints
  http://www.innerlightproductions.com

In our blog

Dream Team of the Desert 
Monasticism  
The holy anarchists... in the Egyptian Desert
The Invisible Naked Ascetics of Mount Athos

Deification - The Uncreated Light
"Partakers of Divine Nature" - About Deification & Uncreated Light in Orthodox Church  
Theosis (deification): The True Purpose of Human Life
Theosis, St. Silouan and Elder Sophrony

The Kingdom of Heaven, where racial discrimination has no place

Saint Pambo of the Nitrian desert, whose face shone like lightning (July 18)

Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong & South East Asia

 

Icon from here

An Egyptian ascetic on the Nitrian mountain, Abba Pambo was a contemporary of St. Anthony the Great and himself great in monastic asceticism.  

Born about A.D. 303, he was one of the first to join Amoun in Nitria.  He was illiterate until he was taught the Scriptures as a monk and ordained priest in 340.  He had two characteristics by which he was especially known; by long training, he sealed his lips, so that no unnecessary word passed them, and he never ate any bread other than that which he gained by his own labour, plaiting rushes.  

He was like an angel of God and, in old age, his face shone as did the face of Moses in ancient times, so that the monks could not look on it.  He did not give a quick answer even to a simple question, without prayer and pondering in his heart.  At one time, Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, was visiting the Nitrian monks.  

The monks begged Pambo to “give a word” to the Patriarch.  The silent Pambo replied, “If  my silence is of no help to him, neither will my words be.”  Abba Pambo was once traveling around Egypt with some monks.  When they came to a group of people who remained seated as the monks passed them, St. Pambo said to them: “Get up and greet the monks, and ask their blessing, for they converse unceasingly with God and their lips are holy.”  

This wonderful saint had clear discernment into the destiny of the living and the dead.  He entered into rest in the Lord in the year 374.

Feast Day: July 18.

HIS TEACHINGS:

There was a monk named Pambo and they said of him that he spent three years saying to God, “Do not glorify me on earth.”  But God glorified him so that one could not gaze steadfastly at him because of the glory of his countenance.

— Two brethren came to see Abba Pambo one day and the first asked him, “Abba, I fast for two days, then I eat two loaves; am I saving my soul, or am I going the wrong way?”  The second said, “Abba, every day I get two pence from my manual work, and I keep a little for my food and give the rest in alms; shall I be saved or shall I be lost?”  They remained a long time questioning him and still the old man gave them no reply.  After four days they had to leave and the priests comforted them saying, “Do not be troubled, brothers.  God gives the reward.  It is the old man’s custom not to speak readily till God inspires him.”  So they went to see the old man and said to him, “Abba, pray for us.”  He said to them, “Do you want to go away?”  They said, “Yes.”  Then, giving his mind to their works and writing on the ground he said, “If Pambo fasted for two days together and ate two loaves, would he become a monk that way?  No.  And if Pambo works to get two pence and gives them in alms, would he become a monk that way?  No, not that way either.”  He said to them, “The works are good, but if you guard your conscience towards your neighbor, then you will be saved.”  They were satisfied and went away joyfully.

— Four monks of Scetis, clothed in skins, came one day to see the great Pambo.  Each one revealed the virtue of his neighbor.  The first fasted a great deal; the second was poor; the third had acquired great charity; and they said of the fourth that he had lived for twenty-two years in obedience to an old man.  Abba Pambo said to them, “I tell you, the virtue of this last one is the greatest.  Each of the others has obtained the virtue he wished to acquire; but the last one, restraining his own will, does the will of another.  Now it is of such men that the martyrs are made, if they persevere to the end.”

— Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, of holy memory, begged Abba Pambo to come down from the desert to Alexandria.  He went down, and seeing an actress he began to weep.  Those who were present asked him the reason for his tears, and he said, “Two things make me weep: one, the loss of this woman; and the other, that I am not so concerned to please God as she is to please wicked men.”

— Abba Pambo said, “By the grace of God, since I left the world, I have not said one word of which I repented afterwards.”

— He also said, “The monk should wear a garment of such a kind that he could throw it out of his cell and no-one would steal it from him for three days.”

— They said of Abba Pambo that as he was dying, at the very hour of his death, he said to the holy men who were standing near him, “Since I came to this place of the desert and built my cell and dwelt here, I do not remember having eaten bread which was not the fruit of my hands and I have not repented of a word I have said up to the present time; and yet I am going to God as one who has not yet begun to serve him.”

— He was greater than many others in that if he was asked to interpret part of the Scriptures or a spiritual saying, he would not reply immediately, but he would say he did not know that saying.  If he was asked again, he would say no more.

— Abba Pambo said, “If you have a heart, you can be saved.”

— The priest of Nitria asked him how the brethren ought to live.  He replied, “With much labor, guarding their consciences towards their neighbor.”

— They said of Abba Pambo that he was like Moses, who received the image of the glory of Adam when his face shone.  His face shone like lightning and he was like a king sitting on his throne.  It was the same with Abba Silvanus and Abba Sisoes.

— The said of Abba Pambo that his face never smiled.  So one day, wishing to make him laugh, the demons stuck wing feathers on to a lump of wood and brought it in making an uproar and saying, “Go, go!”  When he saw them, Abba Pambo began to laugh and the demons started to say in chorus, “Ha! Ha!  Pambo has laughed!”  But in reply he said to them, “I have not laughed, but I made fun of your powerlessness, because it takes so many of you to carry a wing.”

— Abba Theodore of Pherme asked Abba Pambo, “Give me a word.”  With much difficulty he said to him, “Theodore, go and have pity on all, for through pity, one finds freedom of speech before God.”

Abba Pambo’s “Life” is from Bishop [saint] Nilolai Velimovic (from Serbia), “The Prologue From Ochrid,” (Birmingham:Lazarica Press, 1986), pp. 77 – 79.

Abba Pambo’s “Teachings” are from Sr. Benedicta Ward, “The Desert Christian,” (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975), pp. 195 – 198. 

Saint Pambo, icon from here

Venerable Pambo the Hermit of Egypt

Orthodox Church in America

 

Saint Pambo lived the ascetic life in the Nitrian desert in Egypt. Saint Anthony the Great (January 17) said, that the Monk Pambo by the fear of God inspired within himself the Holy Spirit. And the Monk Poimen the Great (August 27) said: “We beheld three things in Father Pambo: hunger every day, silence and handcrafts”. The Monk Theodore the Studite termed Saint Pambo “exalted in deed and in word.”

At the beginning of his monasticism, Saint Pambo heard the verses from the 38th [39th] Psalm of David: “preserve mine path, that I sin not by my tongue”. These words sank deep into his soul, and he attempted to follow them always. Thus, when they asked him about something, he answered only after long pondering and prayer. He would say, “I must think first, and perhaps I can, in time, give an answer, with God’s help.” Saint Pambo was a model of a lover of work for his disciples. Each day he worked until exhausted, and lived by the bread acquired by his own toil.

The disciples of Saint Pambo became great ascetics: Dioscorus, afterwards Bishop of Hermopolis (this Dioscorus, bishop of Hermopolis, is distinguished from another Dioscorus, an arch-heretic and Patriarch of Constantinople. He lived rather later and was condemned by the Fourth Ecumenical Council), and also Ammonius, Eusebius and Euthymius, mentioned in the life of Saint John Chrysostom. One time Saint Melania the Younger (December 31) brought Saint Pambo a large amount of silver for the needs of the monastery, but he did not leave off from his work nor even glance at the money that was brought. Only after the incessant requests of Saint Melania did he permit her to give the alms to a certain monastic brother for distribution to the needs of the monastery. Saint Pambo was distinguished by his humility, but together with this he highly esteemed the vocation of monk and he taught the laypeople to be respectful of monastics, who often converse with God.

It was said that sometimes Saint Pambo’s face shone like lightning, as did the face of Moses. Yet, speaking to the brethren who stood about his deathbed, Saint Pambo said: “I go to the Lord as one who has not yet begun to serve Him.” He died at the age of 70. 

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Saints on July 18

Hymn to the African Saints

The holy anarchists... in the Egyptian Desert

Theosis, St. Silouan and Elder Sophrony
Theosis (deification): The True Purpose of Human Life  
"Partakers of Divine Nature" - About Deification & Uncreated Light in Orthodox Church 
The Uncreated Light

 

Dream Team of the Desert (tag)

Orthodox Monasticism

Monasticism (tag)

African Saints, Saints, Saints (another), Watakatifu, Santé, Santos, التأله

 

OBSERVING THE FEAST DAYS OF THE AFRICAN SAINTS  

Ancient Christian faith (Orthodox Church) in Africa  
How “White” is the Orthodox Church?  
  

New orthodox christians bishops in Africa (November 2015)

 

 

Patriarchate of Alexandria & all Africa

 

The Holy Synod of the patriarchate of Alexandria convened today, 24th November 2015, under the Presidency of His Beatitude Theodoros II Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria in the Session Hall of the Holy Synod.

Prior to the Session, a Divine Liturgy was conducted in the Patriarchal Chapel of Ss Theodori followed immediately by memorial prayers in memory of the late Patriarch Petros VII, who on this day would celebrate his name day. The meeting began immediately thereafter. The start of the deliberations was opened by His Beatitude, addressing greetings to the Members of the Synod. His Eminence Makarios of Kenya replied to His Beatitude on behalf of their Eminences and Graces of the Throne. His Beatitude then briefed the Holy Synod extensively regarding the work done during the year in all departments of the ecclesiastical ministry of the Patriarchate.

Next, His Beatitude, by Patriarchal Synodal Decree awarded the title of “Honorary Patriarchal Vicar General” to the Elder Metropolitan Petros of Aksum, honouring his many years of contribution to the Patriarchate of Alexandria and promoted to Elder Metropolitan His Eminence Gabriel of Leontopolis, appointing him as Patriarchal Vicar General, and in Patriarchal gratitude he rewarded His Eminence Nikodimos Metropolitan of Memphis for his ten years of service as Patriarchal Vicar in Cairo. Also, through the publication of Patriarchal and Synodal Voolumes, two new Dioceses were created: “Nyeri and Mount Kenya” and “Kisumu and West Kenya” which were cut from the Holy Metropolis of Kenya which is renamed as “Holy Metropolis of Nairobi”. The Holy Metropolis of Central Africa has been renamed “Holy Metropolis of Kinshasa” [see 3 Orthodox Dioceses in Kenya]. 

 

 

 Fr Athanasios Akunda

The following elections then took place: Elected as new Metropolitan of Zambia and Malawi is His Grace Ioannis Bishop of Mozambique. Having accepted the resignation of His Eminence Savvas Metropolitan of Accra, His Eminence Narkissos Metropolitan of Noubia [see here] was elected to the post, and elected as Metropolitan Noubia was the former Metropolitan Savvas of Accra. Subsequently the Diocese of Mozambique was filled through the election of His Grace Chrysostomos of Berenice. New Bishop of Nyeri is Auxiliary Bishop of Nitria, Neophytos and new Bishop of Kisumu the Very reverend Athanasios Akunda, both from Kenya. Finally, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Nikodimos Boulaxis, till now Chancellor of the Holy Metropolis of Johannesburg was elected as Auxiliary Bishop of Nitria and appointed as Patriarchal Vicar of Alexandria.

The deliberations of the Holy Synod continued in the afternoon of the same day with the presentation of the account of activities by the Hierarchs, while His Eminence Sergios of Good Hope briefed the Synodal members regarding the Pre-Conciliar Conference as well as the general progress of Pan-Orthodox Dialogue ahead of the Great Synod in Constantinople.

At the end of the Evening Session the newly elected Metropolitan Ioannis of Zambia and Malawi, Narkissos of Accra and Savvas of Noubia, gave before His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa the Great Message in the Holy Patriarchal Chapel of Ss Theodori. 

 

  

Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa 

 

Natives Africans bishops in the Orthodox Church

Olders

Christopher Reuben Spartas (Bishop Christopher Nilopolian)

Orthodoxwiki

Christopher Reuben, also known as Christopher Reuben Spartas and Spartas Reubuen Mukasa, was an African convert bishop to Orthodox Christianity during the early part of the twentieth century who through his own efforts, after learning about the African Orthodox movement in America, introduced Orthodox Christianity to East Africa. His search and conversion were instrumental in the continued expansion of Orthodoxy in East Africa.

Life 

Reuben Mukasa Mugimba Sobanja was born about the year 1900 in Uganda in East Africa. His father was Yakobo Damulira Mugimbalume and mother, Maliza Mukomutibwa, a Christian woman. A member of the Muganda ethnic group, Reuben was baptized and raised in the Anglican Church. As a teen, Reuben adopted the name "Spartas" because he had been told that he exemplified the spirit of ancient Greek Sparta. Spartas received his education in the Anglican mission schools before continuing his education at King's College in Budo, Uganda where he discovered that the Anglican Church was an offshoot of the older, true church. After his graduation in 1920, Spartas joined the Kings African Rifles where he met a fellow Muganda, Obadiah Basajjakitalo. In 1925, the two left the Rifles to found the Anonya Private School, near Degeya.
Also in 1925, Spartas learned about the African Orthodox Church movement that grew out of the 1921 religious movement in America by George Alexander McGuire. Attracted by the goal and ideals of the AOC to become a universal black church affiliated with the ancient Christian Church which was not known for racism or colonialism, Spartas wrote to George McGuire. In 1928, McGuire replied and referred Spartas to Daniel Alexander who was the archbishop of the AOC in South Africa. After meeting with Bp. Daniel, Spartas left the Anglican Church in January 1929 and began an AOC presence in Uganda. During the years 1931 and 1932, Abp. Alexander visited Uganda and ordained Spartas and Basajjakitalo to the priesthood.
During a visit by Abp. Alexander to Spartas, a Greek expatriate named Vlahos asked Alexander to baptize his children. Having noted that the baptismal service conducted by Alexander did not follow proper Orthodox form, Vlahos advised Spartas to contact Nicodemos Sarikas, an Orthodox archimandrite, serving the Greek community in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). This Spartas did. After Sarikas visited Spartas in Uganda, Spartas broke his relationship with Alexander and sought, under advise of Sarikas, recognition by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. Since his letters were not answered, Spartas and his friends, including Irenaeus Majimbi and Theodoros Nankyamas, journeyed to Alexandria. There, they spent several years learning what Holy Orthodoxy was and, ultimately, being ordained and sent back to Uganda.
In 1942, Metropolitan Nicholas of Axum visited Uganda as a representative of the Patriarch of Alexandria. Ethnically an Arab, Metr. Nicholas was more concerned about ministry to people beyond the Greek community than had been the Greek hierarchs. Thus, he recommended the reception of the African Orthodox into the Patriarchate, an action that was delayed until 1946, after World War II ended.
In a visit to the Patriarchate in Alexandria in 1946, Spartas was named vicar general for Uganda. In September 1953, through Father Spartas' efforts, the African Greek Orthodox Church was registered in Uganda, and in 1959 the Patriarchate of Alexandria established an archdiocese in East Africa that encompassed Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, led by Metropolitan Nicholas (Valeropoulos) of Irinoupolis.
With recognition, the labors of Fr. Spartas and his friends began as they recognized that spreading the faith also meant educating the people. He began teaching English language in the school he founded that was officially private and belonged to the Church. Teaching English in Uganda at that time ran into the opposition of the colonial British government that tried to maintain its monopoly on education with a law that allowed teaching English only in state schools. This did not stop Fr. Spartas, for which he spent five years in prison.
To gain support of the new churches in East Africa, Fr. Spartas and some of his fellow priests traveled the Greece and the United States to ask for missionary help and financial aid. In 1972, the three native Ugandans were elected to become bishops, Fr. Spartas as Bishop Christopher Nilopolian, Theodore Nankyamas, and Arthur Gatung’u was Gathunna.
17 December 1972 he was consecrated auxiliary bishops of Neilopoleos and appointed vicar bishop of Metropolis of Eirinopolis.
Bishop Christopher reposed in 1982. 

More in The Orthodox Church in Uganda, an outgrowth of indigenous self discovery

George (Gathuna), bishop of Nitria

In June 1937 he was ordained as a priest by Bishop Daniel William Alexander. In the 1930s a spontaneous movement of indigenous Africans towards the Orthodox Church began in Uganda under the leadership of a former Anglican, Reuben Spartas. In 1946 the fathers Spartas and Obadiah visiting Kenya. On their own autonomous motivation the "African Orthodox Church of Kenya" came into communion with the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the head of this Church Arthur Kaduna was ordained the first Kenyan Orthodox priest named George. Also in the 1950s, fought, along with many orthodox priests in the movement for independence from colonial Kenya (At the same time, the protestant and catholic priests called the uprising a rebellion of pagans and savages). Kaduna spent 10 years in prison, along with leader of the Kikuyu tribe and country's future president Jomo Kenyatta. The Orthodox communities in East Africa that had been founded under his leadership were organized into the Metropolis of Irinoupolis with headquarters in Nairobi in 1958. He was first Bishop of Kenya and the first Kenyan Missionary to the people of Bunyore. In 1972 he was elected titular Bishop of Nitria, Assistant Bishop of the Metropolis of Eirenoupolis. He was consecrated on 25th February 1973 at st. Paul, Kagira.  
In 1974 Bishop George Gathuna, hence the split in the Orthodox Church into African and Greek Orthodox. On 30th November 1979 Bishop George (Gathuna) was defrocked, caused by what he called a problem of leadership and authority. However, the Patriarchate accused him of a lack of vision. Following his defrocking Bishop George (Gathuna) joined a schismatic group under a bishop in Greece that followed the old calendar (Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili - Holy Synod in Resistance). Several other Orthodox Christians in Kenya followed him. 17th November 1986 he was was reconsecrated as the Bishop of the African Orthodox Church of Kenya, Given the name Niphon Kigundu. On July 16, 1987, the defrocked Bishop George Gathuna reposed, and his burial was attended by Metropolitan Cyprianos from the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Greece. Eventually however, the schism was healed, and on November 1, 2006, Bishop George Gathuna of Nitria was reinstated posthumously by Patriarch Theodoros II and the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

Sources

• http://o-nekros.blogspot.ru/2012/12/blog-post_7434.html
• Amos Masaba Akunda Orthodox Christian dialogue with Banyore culture
• GEORGE (Gathuna), Bishop of Nitria. Orthodox Research Institute. Retrieved: 2013-04-19.
• Memorial service of the late Bishop George Athur Gatung'u Gathuna  

More in The Orthodox Church in Kenya & the Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III
News & articles from Orthodox Kenya here.

Theodore (Nankyama) of Kampala

Orthodoxwiki

His Eminence Theodoros (Nankyamas) of Kampala was the Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda under the jurisdiction of the Church of Alexandria from 1995 to 1997. A native of Uganda, Metr. Theodoros was among the first three Ugandans consecrated to the episcopacy as part of the patriarchate's mission to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Photo from the holy liturgy for his soul, in Thessaloniki, Greece (see here)

Life

Metr. Theodoros was born in Tweyanze, Monde, Uganda about the year 1924. He became associated with Fr. Spartas and the group of Ugandans who had discovered Orthodox Christianity. At the age 21, he was sent to study at the patriarchate in Alexandria, Egypt, initially from 1945 to 1948 at the Kaniskerion School and then at the Photios II College from 1948 to 1954. In 1954, he entered the Theological School of the University of Athens. After his graduation in 1959, Theodoros studied for two years at Oxford University under a scholarship from the World Council of Churches. In 1961, Theodoros returned to Alexandria where he was ordained to the priesthood before returning to Uganda. In 1969, Father Theodoros was raised to the dignity of archimandrite. In 1972, Fr. Theodoros was elected bishop of Naukratis by the Holy Synod of the patriarchate of Alexandria as auxiliary bishop to the Metropolitan of Irinoupolis in East Africa.
In November 1994, Bishop Theodoros was elected Metropolitan of the newly established Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda that was formed from a restructuring of the Archdiocese of Irinoupolis. He established his see at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Namungoona[1], a suburb of Kampala. The first African elected metropolitan, his tenure as the ruling hierarch occurred during a time of great stress in Uganda from the rule of dictatorships and civil war. Through this chaos, Metr. Theodoros strove to improve the status of his faithful. Obtaining scholarships, he was able to send young Ugandans to Greece, Romania, and the United States to be educated in various fields. As these students returned to Uganda, they assisted in rebuilding and revitalizing the church.
After his repose, Metr. Theodoros was succeeded by Metr. Jonah (Lwanga) in 1997. 

Today

Jonah (Lwanga) of Kampala  

Orthodoxwiki

 

His Eminence, the Most Reverend Jonah (Lwanga) is the Archbishop of Kampala and All Uganda, in central Africa, part of the Church of Alexandria. His see is Kampala, with jurisdiction over all Uganda.
 
Biography  

The future Archbishop was born in Degeya in 1945 to an Orthodox family. Fr. Obadiah Kabanda Basajakitalo was his grandfather. From 1952 to 1964, he completed his general education in Bulemezi and Kyaddondo, Uganda and then departed that year to study at the Ecclesiastical School of Crete, until 1968. Immediately following graduation from the Ecclesiastical School he continued studies at the University of Athens, graduating in 1978 with a degree in Theology and Philosophy.
In 1981, he was ordained to the diaconate, followed the next year by ordination to the priesthood. He then served under Archbishop Anastasios (Yannoulatos) of Kenya as the dean of the Archbishop Makarios III Patriarchal Seminary. During this time, he was elevated to archimandrite. On January 27, 1992, he was consecrated Bishop of Bukoba. On May 12, 1997, he was elected by the Holy Synod as Archbishop of Kampala and All Uganda, succeeding Metropolitan Theodoros (Nankyamas).
During 1999, His Eminence Jonah made a lecture tour in the United States in which he described his experiences and struggles as a missionary in Uganda. He visited over 18 parishes throughout the United States. 

News & articles from Orthodox Uganda here.

Ieronymos (Muzeeyi) of Mwanza

Orthodoxwiki

His Eminence, the Most Reverend Ieronymos (Jeronymos) of Mwanza is Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Mwanza, part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. 

 

Life  

His Eminence Ieronymos was born on March 18, 1963 in Bulopa, Busoga, Uganda. He studied Theology at the University of Athens between 1986 and 1991. He continued with his post-graduate studies in Canon Law also at the University of Athens from 1992 to 1996. He was ordained deacon and priest during 1996. During 1996 and 1997, he served as Vicar General in the Archdiocese of Kampala followed by serving in the same position at the Diocese of Bukoba in Tanzania during 1997 through 1999. He was consecrated Bishop of Bukoba on November 23, 1999, and then was elevated to Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Mwanza on November 23, 2007. 

Metropolitan Jeronymos at the Bukoba Diocese Center overlooking Lake Victoria

From the website of the Orthodox Church in Tanzania

Born in Bulopa Busoga, Uganda on March 18, 1962 into an Orthodox family, Jeronymos Muzeeyi was raised within the loving arms of the Church. Yet surrounding him was the political chaos and bloodshed of the Idi Amin regime. Jeronymos attended Kasaka Primary School, Chwa II Memorial College and Kololo Senior Secondary School. He was very close to Metropolitan Theodoros (Nankyamas) of Uganda and stayed at the Mission Center in Namungona for seven years where he learned the Orthodox way of life as a young teen.
Jeronymos's dedication, his quiet demeanor and spiritual depth were obvious to all and he was sent by Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos, now the Archbishop of Albania, to study at the School of Theology of the University of Athens in Greece. Jeronymos graduated in 1996 with a B.Th. degree and then continued further studies in canon law. He was ordained to the diaconate on July 1, 1995 by His Grace, Bishop Theodoros Kyrineos, now the Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, and then to the priesthood on February 1, 1996 by Metropolitan Iakovos of Argos. He returned to Uganda where he served as the Vicar General of Kampala for a year and then was assigned to serve as Vicar General of the Diocese of Bukoba in Tanzania, 1997-1999.
Elevated to the office of Bishop to serve the newly established Diocese of Bukoba on December 11, 1999 by the late Patriarch Petros of Alexandria, Bishop Jeronymos has worked hard to grow the Orthodox Church in Tanzania. New churches continue to be built, a seminary has been established and regular youth and women's seminars enrich the faith of the new believers. Through this strengthening of their faith, people then reach out to bring others into the life of the Church. Fluent in Greek, English, Swahili, Kiganda and Kisogha, Bishop Jeronymos has been successful in building bridges with Orthodox Christians from all over the world.
In recognition of his pastoral and missionary work, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria elevated Bishop Jeronymos to the rank of Metropolitan of Mwanza on November 23, 2007. 

More in The Orthodox Church in Tanzania

News & articles from Orthodox Diocese of Mwanza here.

Innocent (Byakatonda) of Bujumbura

 

Οrthodoxwiki
Video from Istorie Religie Civilizatii TVR Romania

His Grace Bishop Innocent (Byakatonda) of Bujumbura, also Innokentios of Bujumbura, is the ruling hierarch of the Diocese of Burundi and Rwanda under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. 
At the November 21, 2012 Fall meeting of the Holy Synod of the Church of Alexandria Archimandrite Innocent (Byakatonda), an Ugandan Orthodox clergyman who had been serving at the Cathedral of Ss. Cosmas and Damian in Nairobi, Kenya, was elected Bishop of Bujumbura. 
Note of our weblog: The new bishop fights full of love for his tormented people. This is why the Orthodox Church in Rwanda and Burundi is growing fast.

See here for news & articles from the Orthodox Diocese of Burundi & Rwanda.
In Facebook here.

Neophytos Kongai, bishop of Nitria

In the Orthodox Vineyard of Africa

Photo from here

His Grace the Auxiliary Bishop of Vereniki Neophytos Kongai was born in 1970 in the village of Kesengei, in the Nandi district of Kenya. He holds a degree from the “Archbishop Makarios III” Patriarchal Academy in Kenya. He was ordained Deacon on 13 September 1998 and Priest on 27 of the same month from the then Metropolitan Seraphim of Kenya, now of Zimbabwe and Angola. He served in parishes in Nairobi and at the Patriarchal Academy there as Deputy Principal. On 27 February 2005, he was consecrated as Archimandrite by His Eminence Makarios of Kenya. 
In the same year he was awarded a post graduate title in Theological Studies from the Theological College of the Holy Cross in Boston. In 2007 he was tonsured a monk at the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration in Veroia. He is a candidate for a Doctorate in Pastoral Theology, with a scholarship from the Aristoteleian University of Thessaloniki. On 26 November 2014, proposed by His Beatitude, he was elected by the Holy Synod as Auxiliary Bishop of the once brilliant Diocese of Nitria. 

Note of our weblog: The "Auxiliary Bishop" has the same degree of priesthood by the bishop. But the area of his responsibility belongs to another, larger Metropolitanate. 

November 25, 2015:

3 Orthodox Dioceses in Kenya (see here)...

  Photo from here

... The Largest Archdiocese in The whole African Continent

African Orthodox Church of Kenya

"By the Grace of God the Pope and the Patriarch of all Africa Theodoros II and the members of the Holy Synod on 24/11/2015 unanimously elected Archbishop Makarios as Metropolitan of Nairobi and Ex arch of of the Whole of Kenya, Bishop Neofitos Kongai as Bishop of Nyeri-Eastern Kenya. In the same spirit Fr. Archimandrite Athanasios Akunda was elected Bishop of Kisumu-Western Kenya. We are humbled as we thank the holy Synod of our beloved Patriarchate for this great gift to the Church of Kenya and all Africa. we thank you for your prayers and support. Pray for us."

See also

About Metropolitan Narkissos of Nubia (from Jordan)

Curriculum Vitae of His Eminence Metropolitan Narkissos of Nubia (from here)

The Elected Metropolitan Narkissos of Nubia, born Samer Gammoh, was born in 1968 in Amman, Jordan,where he completed his schooling at the National Orthodox School. He holds a degree from the Theological faculty of the Universtiy of Athens (1988-1992), where he also completed post-graduate studies in Dogmatic History (1992-1994). He was tonsured a monk on 14/2/1994 by the late Metropolitan Iakovos (Gkinis) of Nicaea. He was ordained Deacon by the same Metropolitan on 15 February 1994 and as Priest by Metropolitan Vartholomaios of Megara on 11 June 1994 at the Holy Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Megara where he served for 16 consecutive years as Parish Priest and Preacher. Seconded to the ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa by His Beatitude Theodoros II Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria on 16/6/2009, he went on to serve at the Patriarchal Monastery of St Savvas the Sanctified where he lived and as Principal of the “St Athanasios” Pariarchal Academy in Alexandria. At the same time he was Secretary for Arabic issues at the Chief Secretariat of the Patriarchate, Preacher and in charge of the catechetical work of the Arabic speaking parishes in Alexandria. On 23rd November 2013 proposed by His Beatitude, he was unanimously elected as Metropolitan of Nubia. 

News & articles from Orthodox Diocese of Nubia here.

See also

Orthodox Mission in Tropical Africa (& the Decolonization of Africa)
KUTAFUTA IMANI LAKUNYOLOKA – AMA KI ORTHODOKSI
African Orthodox Priests