In Memoriam: Archimandrite Luke (Majoros) (1949-2026)

Very early on 12 February, 2026, Archimandrite Luke (Majoros) fell asleep in the Lord at Saint Vincent’s Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario.

Archimandrite Luke was predeceased by his parents.  He leaves behind his sister Klara (Nigel), his niece Katleya, and his fellow Monk Viktor (Eryomin).

The Funeral Service for the Burial of a Monk : at the Annunciation to the Theotokos-Saint Nicholas Cathedral (15, Eccles Street, Ottawa, Ontario) on Tuesday, 17 February, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.  This service will be led by Archbishop Irénée (Rochon) of Ottawa and Canada, and by the Dean, Archpriest James Giggs.

The Memorial Divine Liturgy with a final, brief Memorial Service : at the Annunciation to the Theotokos-Saint Nicholas Cathedral on Wednesday, 18 February, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.  Both services will be led by Archbishop Irénée (Rochon) of Ottawa and Canada, and by the Dean, Archpriest James Giggs.

Whelan Funeral Home of Ottawa was entrusted with arrangements. 

Interment will be in the spring at the Saint James Anglican Cemetery at Maitland, Ontario.  Graves for three monks had been purchased there many years before. 

On 4 November, 1949, Rudolf Majoros was born in Novi-Sad, Yugoslavia, to Laszlo and Katya Majoros.  They had one daughter, Klara.  Rudolf was born into a Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking family, and he and his sister grew up speaking both Hungarian and Serbian. 

As a teenager, he left Yugoslavia with his family, and they emigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His father had gone there a year earlier. 

Rudolf completed his secondary education in Toronto. 

After this, he entered Saint Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. 

For some years, he worked as an airline steward on Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPAir).    This was, in fact, his first permanent employment.  This employment meant that he was exposed to many different cultures, since he served on some international routes. 

During his travels in the 1970s, when he would often stop and visit in Vancouver, British Columbia, he met the man who would become his Orthodox sponsor and guide, Professor Demetrios Economou.  It was he that guided Rudolf into the Orthodox Church, and to his baptism in Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Vancouver.  He was given the name Gabriel.  Later, Demitrios enabled the newly-illumined Gabriel to make a visit to Mount Athos for the first time.   

A consequence of this visit was his decision in 1977 to return and to live permanently on the Holy Mountain at Chilandar Monastery. 

In about 1980, at Hilandar Monastery, Rudolf Majoros was tonsured to be a monk of the Lesser Schema, and he was given the name Luka (Luke).  This occurred on the Feast of the Holy Apostle Luke 18 October/3 November. 

The unforgettable Father Luke belonged to the generation of monks who arrived at the Hilandar Monastery in the 1970s, alongside the late Archimandrite Pajsije (Tanasijević) (1957 - 2003), Hieromonk Avakum (Medić) (1956 - 2006), Hieromonk Gavrilo (Vučković) (1944 - 2017), and Archimandrite Hrizostom (Stolić) (1939 - 2012), the last being the Bishop of Žiča.  Another of his contemporaries, and nearer in age, was the monk Andrej (Ćilerdžić), who later became a bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church. 

Father Luke served for many years as the “Archondar” (hospitality officer) at Hilandar Monastery, and he was the closest cell attendant (“kelejnik”) to the late Elder Nikanor (Savic) of Hilandar (who was later recognised to be a saint).

At Hilandar Monastery, in about 1980, the Monk Luka (Majoros) of Chilandar  was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop Chrysostomos (Anagnostopoulos) of Rodostolon.  He was a bishop of the Patriarchate of Constantinople who gave archpastoral care and service to the monasteries of the Holy Mountain.

In 1985, he returned to Canada to see his family with Monk Pierre (Vachon).

Afterwards, for some reason, he felt unable to return to the Holy Mountain.  Instead, in January, 1986, he went to Jamaica, where he lived for about 3 years.  His sister had moved there, and had married her husband Nigel.  There, he taught English, and did other work. 

In 1989, he returned to Toronto, Ontario, where he found a job, and where he was received into The Orthodox Church in America by Bishop Seraphim (Storheim) of Edmonton. 

Upon coming to the Archdiocese of Canada, and upon his being received, Hierodeacon Luke (Majoros) was attached first to Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Toronto, and then to the Annunciation to the Theotokos-Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Ottawa, Ontario.

Then he and Monk Pierre (Vachon) sought out a site in Québec to make an attempt at eremitic monastic life in 1992.  He live in the Protection of the Theotokos Hermitage in Saint-Eusèbe de Témiscouata, Québec.

On 12 March, 2000, at the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint-Benoît de Nursie in Montréal, Québec, the Archdeacon Luc (Majoros) was ordained to the Holy Priesthood.  He was attached to the Communauté Monastique de Saint-Séraphim de Sarov, while he remained at Saint-Eusèbe de Témiscouata, Québec.

Later, he was transferred to the Monastic Brotherhood of Saint Silouan of Mount Athos at Johnstown, Ontario.  From there, he served for a period of time at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in London, Ontario, “on-loan” to Metropolitan Sotirios (Athanassoulas) of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada). 

Then, in 2003, he was sent to serve at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Sudbury, Ontario. 

Afterwards, he returned to the Archdiocese of Canada in late 2006, and he began to serve as Priest-in-charge of Saint Gregory of Nyssa’s Church in Kingston, Ontario.  While he served at Kingston, he lived at the Hermitage of Saint Anthony at Westport, Ontario. 

In 2010 and 2011, he received from the Holy Synod of Bishops the blessing to wear a Gold Cross, and he was elevated to the dignity of Igumen.

In 2012, Igumen Luke was released from his responsibilities in Kingston, and he was transferred to the Monastery of Saint Silouan in Johnstown, Ontario.  There, he served in the Chapel of Saint Silouan the Athonite, and he travelled often to Potsdam, New York, USA, where he nurtured the beginning of the Mission of Saint Olympia. 

In 2015, Igumen Luke (Majoros) was elevated to the dignity of Archimandrite by the Holy Synod of Bishops.

In 2016, the Monastery of Saint Silouan was closed.  As a consequence, Father Luke and another monk moved to Kilmarnock, Ontario, where they continued as the Hermitage of the Protection of the Theotokos.  Father Luke served in the Domestic Chapel of Saints Cosmas and Damian.

Father Luke was fluent in speaking English, French, Hungarian, Serbian, and Greek. 

At the end of 2024, because of the pending sale of the property where they had lived, Father Luke and Father Victor (Eryomin) moved into an apartment in Ottawa.  They prayed at home, and they attended services at the Annunciation to the Theotokos-Saint Nicholas Cathedral, and Saint Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church.

In 2025, Father Luke began to feel very ill, and he received various treatments, which culminated in a surgery.  Despite the surgery, which was followed by chemotherapy, Father Luke’s health had deteriorated sufficiently that his body could not tolerate treatment, and he remained in a hospital for a lengthy period of time.  Then, in February, 2026, he was admitted to the Saint Vincent Hospital in Ottawa’s palliative care ward.