Holy Trinity Eastern Orthodox Church

Feast Day of the Convent of Saint Elizabeth

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 09:33:28 -0700

On Sunday, July 3, 2010 (Old Style), the Convent of St. Elizabeth the Grand Duchess in Etna, California, celebrated its annual Feast Day, with a small group of eleven monks, fourteen nuns, and fourteen lay people in attendance. Archbishop Chrysostomos, Bishop Auxentios, Archimandrite Akakios, and Hierodeacon Nectarios from the Saint Gregory Palamas Monastery Liturgized with Father George Mavromatis, the married Priest who serves the convent, and Father John Abraham, who was visiting briefly from the St. John the Baptist parish in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, along with son, Reader Hunna Abraham, and his brother, Reader Jamil Abraham. The services were beautifully sung by the convent choir and were followed by a luncheon for the serving clergy, the faithful and clergy from the Etna parish, and Ms. Sophia Granger, visiting from Allentown, Pensylvania. (Below left to right, Procession after Liturgy;Abbess Elizabeth; Archimandrite Akakios and Bishop Auxentios; Archbishop Chrysostomos.)

Remembering Yakov Popov

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:07:01 -0700

It is been my privilege to serve Holy Trinity Eastern Orthodox Church two separate times. The first time was in the year 2000 and extending on into the early part of 2001, at which time His Grace, Bishop Alexander, of blessed memory, took over from me. I returned to Holy Trinity on Pascha of 2007, when I was invited to serve as Rector of the parish, and I continue, three years later, in that capacity. One of the unique blessings of both of those times is that I was honored to be able to serve Yakov Popov and to count him one of my spiritual children.

One meets many people during one's lifetime, numberless people. Some are especially memorable, so much so that one never forgets them, regardless of the time that passes. Their face, their form, their voice, their personality, their peculiarities, and all of their traits are permanently inscribed in one's memory. Though they may move away or may repose, one can never forget them, the vivid memories of them remaining throughout one's life. These are the special people that in some manner, touch the heart. Our dear Yakov was one such man. Moreover, I should venture to say that men of his rugged and resilient sort are a rare sight in this day and age, and so he is even more memorable.

Yakov survived the Bolshevik Revolution, he survived Stalin's terror and the Bolshevik murder machine, he survived the Second World War and German captivity, and he survived life in a displaced persons' camp after the war. Millions did not survive those events or places, but Yakov, by God's Grace, did. And at the end of all of these trials, he was blessed by God to come to the United States and to build a new life in this land that he loved. Here, he joined with others who had come to the United States from Russia to found this wonderful parish dedicated to the Holy Trinity. They built it with their own hands and paid for everything with their own money-an heroic effort by heroic men and women, genuine heroes of the Faith.

Yakov did not stop at helping to found this parish. Indeed, he very rarely missed Sunday Liturgy. Seeing him come into Church and remaining for the Divine Liturgy and for the fellowship gathering after Liturgy was a permanent feature, a fixture so to speak, of life at Holy Trinity parish throughout its entire history. Only during the last few weeks was he unable to attend, and he was much missed.

I recall an event a few days after the passing of Olga, Yakov's wife of seventy-four years. It was on Pascha, 2009, when Yakov arrived for the Paschal Liturgy. I saw him arriving and went out to greet him, and I recall that he told me "This is my last Pascha."
"No," I responded, "we all love you, Yakov, and want you to be with us for many years to come."
As it turned out, it was not his last Pascha. By the Grace of God he lived on to celebrate Pascha one more time.

Most Sundays, when I saw Yakov arriving, I would go out to greet him. He would always kiss me and tell me, "I love you, Father James" and I would reply, "I love you too, Yakov." One can never, never forget such things, one can never forget so sweet and kindly a gentleman, a true gentleman, of the old school.

It was a blessing for Yakov and for me that I was able to visit him last Saturday, when I arrived at his home unexpectedly. I had just completed a Baptism and I decided that I would stop to see him briefly, before I returned home. I was pained to learn upon my arrival that Yakov had taken a turn for the worse and was, in fact, then in the last hours of his life in this world. I gave him Holy Communion and I read the final prayers for him. He was only partly conscious, but before I left I leaned over close to his ear, and said, "Yakov, this is Father James. I love you." He nodded his head quite strongly, telling me, though he could no longer speak, that he heard and understood.

I feel real pain and a real loss at Yakov's passing, as I know all of you do as well. We shall not see men like Yakov again. They were an exceptional breed of men, shaped and strengthened by some of the most horrific times in history. How honored we are to have known him!

May his memory be eternal and may God take him into His loving arms forever!
May God bless all of you this day!

Father James Thornton

Byechnaya Pamyat'! Memory Eternal!

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:00:30 -0700

        Evlogia Kyriou. Gospod' blagoslovit. May God bless you. I am sorry to inform our clergy, faithful, and friends that I learned this morning of the repose, last evening, of YAKOV POPOV, one of the original founders of our Exarchate's Holy Trinity parish in Oxnard, California.
        YAKOV, 102 years of age, was a refugee from the Bolshevik Revolution and a dedicated Orthodox Christian. He was born in Kharkov, Ukraine, in 1908. He received his university degree in agronomy and did pioneering research in what was then the new science of developing natural rubber.
        Forced to do labor in Germany during World War II, he and his wife, Olga, whom he married in 1935, were placed in a camp for displaced persons in Germany, as were millions in the aftermath of the war. They were fortunate to emigrate to the U.S. in 1949, where they worked as citrus laborers until Yakov was finally employed in a professional capacity by the County of Ventura, California.
        In the difficulties of resettlement in the U.S., Yakov dedicated himself, along with other Russian refugees, to establishing an Orthodox Church in Oxnard, California. It is thus that he helped found the beautiful Holy Trinity Church, which he and others built at their own expense and with their own labors.
        Yakov was a remarkable example of a disappearing generation of people to whom we all owe an inestimable debt and whom we could not even hope to emulate. He leaves as his legacy a parish that was founded, as a plaque outside the Holy Trinity Church states, by Orthodox Christians who were "delivered...from oppression" and who with gratitude acknowledged that they were "blessed" by their "beloved new homeland, the United States of America."
        Yakov, whose wife reposed a year ago, is survived by two daughters, Victoria and Tania, a son Boris, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandson. He is also survived by all of us who love and find solace in the Holy Trinity parish, which is a haven for those of good spirit and good will.
        It is my hope and dream that what Yakov and his co-founders established will continue as a Church serving a pan-Orthodox community of believers who have been similarly blessed, as American-born Orthodox Christians, by this country and its freedom. I also hope that we will always call to mind how benefited we have been by these wonderful founders, who, emerging from the most horrible persecution in their former homeland, have left us a place to worship in freedom of conscience and free from foreign influence.
        Again, as I said, we owe men such as Yakov, a hero to our Faith, to his former homeland, and to this nation, a debt that can never be paid. May his reward be immense and inestimable in Life Eternal, as I know that it will be, and may we be made worthy to emulate, again, even in a small way, his great sacrifice and his indomitable spirit.
        I offer my condolences to Yakov and his family, asking that they remain always true and loyal to his example and to his spirit.

Byechnaya pamyat'. Aionia e mneme. Memory Eternal. How privileged we are to have known such men!

Least Among Monks,

+ Archbishop Chrysostomos