Monasteries are the heart of our Orthodox life

In the first part of the 20th Century, Canada had a number of active monastic communities, primarily in the three Prairie Provinces. No doubt Archbishop St Arseny was involved with most of them, during the course of his missionary labours. With the increase of inter-ethnic divisions, and of the division with ROCOR, the communities dwindled, and most disappeared by 1970. Only a few monks and nuns of ROCOR remained.

By 1980, some solitary monks had begun to appear, and there developed some small groupings, also. Later, in the 1990s, there appeared first three, then only two, Greek Orthodox coenobitic monasteries. The two, of women, are today thriving outside Toronto, and Montreal. The historic women's community of Bluffton, Alberta remains, but now in schism. There are no other sizeable communities. However, in this Archdiocese, we have "seeds", and "seedlings", planted across the country. In BC, there are two small men's communities. In Nova Scotia, there is one, as there is each in Quebec, and Ontario.

Besides this, there are still solitaries, living from Newfoundland, through BC. Because monks ought officially to belong to a community of some sort, and because these solitaries are, in a manner of speaking, missionaries, we organised two communities to serve as their homes. The Francophone Community, focused on Rawdon, Quebec, is that of St Seraphim of Sarov. The Anglophone Community, focused on the Archdiocesan Chancery near Johnstown, Ontario, is that of St Silouan of Mt Athos.

Unlike the more ideal method, found possible in the Greek Metropolis of Toronto, we have not been able to import experienced monks from abroad. Our monks have gained personal experience in longer, and/or shorter stays in various existing, larger, monasteries, both in North America, and abroad.

Monasteries are the heart of our Orthodox life, and people like to visit monks, to be renewed in their commitment in Christ, to find help in repentance. Because our monks are struggling in their solitudes across this country, they provide an encouraging sign to the struggling faithful, and give them hope, and courage to persevere. It is important that we visit them, support them, and pray for them.