Father Gavril, abbot at thе monastery of St Prohor Pcinski, Donnybrook AUS
Father Gavril, there has been a long time since you have been appointed to a noble mission in the Australian and New Zealand diocese of MOC. (Macedonian Orthodox Church). Seen from such a distance, how do you see the situation among the Macedonian community there, above all in the spiritual field?
To this question you can get a best answer by His Holy Grace Petar, who is he current bishop and spiritual father of this diocese. I can give you an appropriate answer only in regard to my monastery. According to me, the spiritual life in our diocese is improving. There are more and more people who fast, confess and take Holy Communion. A great number of the people return to our Mother Church.
I came to Australia on 26 January 2006 (which is a national holiday in Australia). When I left Macedonia it was winter with a temperature of -15˚С, and when I arrived at the airport in Melbourne it was +43˚С (that’s 58 degrees that make a big difference). I said to myself: “Where have I come to?”
In the beginning it was hard to me to get accustomed to some of the things, but gradually I came to love this country. Wherever I may go, I will remain an orthodox Macedonian. Being monks, we are strangers everywhere and everywhere we feel at home. I see my stay here as God’s Providence and this makes me feel filled with joy, especially with the fact that I somehow found myself here. Australia taught me to a lot of things and above all it taught me to view life in a more realistic way. I thank to my bishop Petar who trusted me. I will do my best to justify his trust in me.
The beginning was not easy at all. We started humbly. Before I came here, I was informed that bishop Petar made a decision that Liturgy is to be served at the monastery at least once a week. Knowing the importance of the Holy Liturgy I was happy to know that. The Liturgy had been served in the presence of several people but it was served regularly. For instance, at the Easter Liturgy there were only five people: the priest, the host of the place, Tode Siljanoski, who sang during the services and now maintains the monastery and several other people.
I thank to father Tone Gulev for his openness, his brotherly love and his awareness of the importance of this mission. He simply directed his spiritual children (the younger ones) to me and that is how we started. The first thing that we changed was the way of singing. We improved it and as much as we could, we learned the Byzantine Macedonian chant. Since it is difficult for our young generation to understand Macedonian and since Liturgy is a “mutual work”, I learned to serve the Liturgy in English, so that I still say some of its parts in English. We also hold regular synaxes with the youth group and that is how the group gradually enlarged. Now, for exampla, at the Sunday Liturgies there are about 50-70 worshippers. They are mostly family people who live a true life with the Holy Mysteries in the Church.
The life of the economic migrants from Macedonia has been a bit estranged from a true knowledge of the faith, and they also knew nothing of the monkhood. It was necessary that we put some effort to educate them. In the meantime we reconstructed the buildings that we had, the guest room and the little church. Then, with a lot of patience, through contacts, lectures, sermons, the web page of the monastery and through personal experiences the people came to know the secrets of the spiritual and monastic life, so that the monastery gained a look of a true orthodox monastery. I cannot say that everything is finished and perfect – there a still a lot of things to be done – but in comparison to the beginning I am happy and I thank to God for all these improvements.
I have been in Australia for five years now. When I think about the time that passed and the things that happened I get more and more convinced in the Evangelical words: “One day is with the Lord as thousand years and thousand years are as one day” (2 Peter 3,8). This means that time passes very quickly and if we do not take advantage of it in a correct manner, i.e. if we fail to wake up communed with Christ, then our life will lose its essence and will resemble a dream, while we ourselves would live in the deadly shadow. Only the Godman Jesus Christ gives meaning to time and to our life in time, only He offers values and eternity and if we are with Him, then our lives are valuable and eternal; we live as persons in community with those that we love.
Some of the efforts of your mission are directed towards building the monastery of St Prohor of Pcinja.
To build something in Australia today is very difficult, especially a building such as an orthodox monastery. A lot of preparations are needed, a lot of questions and conditions must be fulfilled, even trivial ones, but thank to the persistence of f. Tone, who was in charge of the monastery before I came, when I came here came th good news that “we got a license for the plans of the monastery”.
When we started to build the only thing that we had was faith. The building licenses were not ready yet, as well as the necessary funds. Bishop Petar gave his blessing to consecrate the foundations on 09.09.2006, at the day of St Poemen and Fanurius. Several days before that, we had received the official license. At the consecration came a lot of people although it was raining, and thus we started to build the monastery church.
The project of the monastery is made by the example of the old Macedonian monasteries and thus it is difficult to realize it here. Honestly, in the beginning I feared a lot and only prayed. God found people and funds and gave us strength to endure. Thank God, although with some difficulties and perhaps not at a very great speed, the building is going on. All of this time we are witnesses to God’s help and the intercessions of St Prohor of Pcinja.
Some time ago the domes were molded in concrete, and the monastery gained its form and beauty. There is still a lot of work to do: the outer facade needs to be built in the klauzone style with stones and bricks in rich Byzantine ornaments; the inner facade is also to be built; fresco painting needs to be done and a lot of other work which are in progress. For example, today I was informed that they are starting with the iconostasis, which will be in marble carving in Byzantine style.
The greater part of the work is conducted on a voluntary basis, by people who literally built themselves in this mutual good work. The monastery also organizes activities to collect money for the building. Thank God we receive donations and anyone willing to donate can do this on this account:
Commonwealth Bank
MOCDANZ Donnybrook
BSB: 063 590
ACC: 1027 0136
All in all, I thank to God and I can testify that our Lord is great in His deeds.
Recently there has been formed the Macedonian Orthodox Youth of Australia (MOYA). How was the idea of its foundation born, what is its purpose; can you present us the aims of Your holy Mission?
MOYA, or the Macedonian Orthodox Youth of Australia, officially began after my arrival in Australia. I had the impression that everyone was waiting for me to start this youth association. Bishop Petar, who is always open to a mission among our young people, gave his blessing and from the very start he has been helping me with his advice to realize this project as successful as possible.
The future of the Church are its young members, and that is the main reason why we should feel compelled to pay more of our attention to them, especially in these times of lost values. I gathered them one day in the monastery and told them: “The Church is alive and eternal when based on love. You are the ones that God has chosen to start the good work. It all depends on your readiness. If we are ready to sacrifice ourselves out of love to our neighbor, then our effort will bring a good fruit. It will pass on to the generations to come and it will help them in their salvation and it will help them to overcome the temptations of this world. The greater our sacrifice is the deeper the root will grow and the more generations will be able to taste its fruit. If we have love towards them, if we have love towards our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, then we are ready for this sacrifice.” They understood and that is how we began with MOYA. At first we only had a few children, and now we have a MOYA group in Sydney as well. We are also working on organizing a MOYA group in Geelong.
Its role is above all to educate the youth in orthodoxy and help them get closer to each other, i.e. to be united and not divided. It also promotes the cooperation with the youths of other Orthodox Churches and it also has a mission among the young people of the world. So far, we have succeeded in several activities within MOYA, the most important of which is the annual seminar held every year at the monastery; the activities around our religious and national holiday Ilinden and certainly, here is the school of iconography.
How much are our Australian youths interested and take an active part in the spiritual matters which you bring through this association, if known that the life of a young person today and especially where you are, is very dynamic and centered to the material and existential needs. Do the young search for the spiritual?
Australia is a land of opportunities which at the same time are temptations for each person, and of course the young ones. You are right when you speak about the dynamics of the life here and the material and existential needs which I would say are mostly of conformist nature. Australia is also a secular society, God has been “thrown out” from the schools, the media are full of tempting content, criminal and morbid films, even the cartoons and the video games share these characteristics, so that the only place where a child can hear about God is at home. On the other hand at home the adults are again preoccupied with material things and they “don’t have the time” for God, so very few of them search for God. However, if people forgot about God, God does not forget them and discovers Himself in various ways.
Macedonians, although well accustomed to the Australian society, they still have in themselves the Macedonian orthodox gene. They mostly gather in Macedonian associations and choose their future partners from their nation and religion, they get married in the Macedonian church, and baptize their children in the Macedonian church…
Our responsibility as shepherds here is very big. Unfortunately, the time is over when we could preach the word of God from the pulpit and get heard by everyone. Nowadays young people do not go to church that often. The contemporary world of high technical achievements has contributed to this to a great extent and the young people can be most often found at the social networks. We need to find a modern way to sparkle the ember in them that is nearly dying. The time has come for us to exit our circle and find a way in the modern society to get closer to the young people.
About the relationships with the other Churches?
Catholicity is the main characteristic of the Church. It is what makes the Church what it is – the body of Christ. The stronger its members stay together as one, the stronger the Church becomes. This is very important in our lifetime when the demon is oppressive to take the rule. Unfortunately, here we are also an “unacknowledged” Church, but there are, thank God, spiritual persons that are not infected with ethnophiletism and do not negate our existence. On a personal level I have a very good relationships with monks, priests and bishops from all of the other Orthodox churches, especially the Russian orthodox church and its metropolitan Ilarion, who is really a great spiritual leader whom a respect a lot.
Father Gavril, throughout history there has not been a period without great temptations. What the temptations of this time, how are we to fight them, how can we accept them and surpass them? Where is the world heading to, where are we heading to, what are we like…?
This question is very much essential and appropriate. We could write an essay to answer it, but because of the lack of space I will try and answer as short as possible. Very recently I have been to Dalesfort, a city that used to be a city of churches and monasteries, but today it is a city of homosexuals. This is very sad indeed. The monastery has been transformed into a museum and art gallery where art works with immoral content can be seen, From the altar of what used to be a chapel came a very loud worldly music. The abomination of desolation has sit in a holy place. (Mark, 13,14).
We should ask about the reason why; after all WE had a persecution of the church, not THEY. I think that the secular spirit, the capitalism and the conformism have put Christianity to the margins. When the Church, instead of saving and deifying the world, became a part of it and lost its power to save and deify the man. When the ascetical and hesychastic spirit is abandoned, then the narrow road of salvation is also left while we start treading onto the wide path of eternal death. I would like to emphasize this for everyone in our native Macedonia. Do not get deceived by “the beauties and conformities” of the western civilization, since they are rotten and fake. Keep to the orthodox spirit and Macedonian culture, since they are much more richer and better that the Western ones, which are without furute.
Among all obligations, how do you find time for your own spiritual practice necessary for a monk and how do you view the possibilities for other people to tread on the path of monasticism in the far away Australia?
How? – I ask my self the same question. I serve Liturgy every day and keep in front of me a small icon of St John Of Shangai and San Francisco, and ask the saint how he succeeded in his struggle. To live monastically in the West is similar to living in a desert, even worse – I would call it an urban desert. But God is great and leads me and keeps me by the prayers of my spiritual father. I think that most important in spiritual life is obedience, prayer and the humble spirit of repentance.
God said: “For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” (Mat, 24, 28; Luke 17, 37). That is, where the spiritual father is, who attracts the “eagles” with his grace gifted by God, there are the monks and the spiritual children. If I do not succeed in it, I have missed my mission. Thank to God, the offshoots are seen…
