+His Beatitude Ignatius IV (1920-2012)
It is with great sadness that we report that His Beatitude Ignatius IV (1920-2012), Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, fell asleep in the Lord today, December 5th, 2012, at St. George Orthodox Hospital in Beirut Lebanon, after having suffered a stroke earlier this week.
Read a biography of His Beatitude’s remarkable life of service and leadership.
Access Arabic language resources at the website of the Patriarchate of Antioch.
Listen to Ancient Faith Radio interview Fr. Thomas Zain on the passing of His Beatitude.
Read a tribute to His Beatitude from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.
Read about His Beatitude’s October 2012 visit to the United States.
We ask the Lord to grant rest to the soul of His servant Patriarch Ignatius IV – May His Memory be Eternal!
Update: Below are listed scheduled events in Lebanon and Syria.
Funeral Arrangements for Patriarch Ignatius IV
In Lebanon:
Viewing, St. Nicholas Church, Beirut, 12/6 (12pm to 7pm), 12/7 (11am to 6pm), 12/8 (11am to 6pm)
Archbishops Receive Condolences, Balamand, 12/7 (12pm to 7pm)
Funeral Service, St. Nicholas Church, Beirut, 12/9 (12pm)
In Syria:
Viewing, Mariameh Cathedral, Damascus, 12/9 (arrival to 7pm)
Funeral Service, Mariameh Cathedral, Damascus, 12/10 (12pm)
Burial Service, Mariameh Cathedral and Patriarchate Cemetery, Damascus, 12/10 (2pm)
Receiving Condolences, The Holy Cross Church Hall, Damascus, 12/11 (3pm to 7pm) and 12/12 (3pm to 7pm)
Source: Antiochian Archdiocese
May his memory be eternal
May his memory be eternal!
At times I wonder about a few people … when a person like Fr. Peter Preble and then Helga say simply “May his memory be eternal” and someone rates this as a negative – thumbs down. Huh? Is there something here I don’t understand? I’d sure love to hear this explained … maybe there is a point, I don’t know. Come on people, step up and let’s hear what there is to say. I am interested, genuinely. There is always room for me to learn, I admit it.
Sean, Most contributors here always get several “ad hominem’ thumbs-downs, no matter what they write. For example, I could post the following: “God is love”, and I would get thumbs-downs from some who are somewhat obsessed with me and determined to some way any way, make a “score.” Let them have those thumbs-downs. They’re a kind of surrogate argument anyhow.
Here is a GetReligion post focusing on coverage of the death of the patriarch. It includes a link to the ENGLISH version of the Patriarchate’s website.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/getreligion/2012/12/memory-eternal-a-giant-of-orthodoxy-has-died/
http://youtu.be/DWKGQStYLVI
http://youtu.be/GMJ3qCSSyAY
verses: http://youtu.be/j-JDZB-rHFU
sheet music: http://www.antiochian.org/sites/antiochian.org/files/sacred_music/Memory%20Eternal-Arabic-T6.pdf
service and music: http://www.antiochian.org/sites/antiochian.org/files/sacred_music/Funeral-chant-complete.pdf
Here is a Youtube video of one the Divine Liturgies celebrated during the funeral services for His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV. It is interesting that they used Greek, Arabic and English. The service is at St. Nicholas Church in Beirut. The priest using English is Archpriest Anthony Gabriel of Montreal. I believe that I saw Archbishop Joseph of Los Angeles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_NxD_2RQuFo
There is another video of the Memorial Service for His Beatitude presided over by His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch. I notice that His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of the Moscow Patriarchate is also participating.
It is on Byzntine Texas.http://byztex.blogspot.com/2012/12/funeral-for-patriarch-ignatius-iv-of.html
It’s a pity I did not know much about Patriarch Ignatius prior to his blessed repose. Apparently he touched many lives in his neck of the woods and beyond.
Eternal Memory Holy Father!
Memory Eternal!!
I join with the others who pray that his memory be eternal. I also pray the new Patriarch is able to bring some peace and stability to this troubled region.
Bishop Basil (Essey) devoted his homily Sunday to the life and example of Pat. Ignatius. I found out much new and much to admire and be thankful for. He will be missed. Memory Eternal indeed!
Met. Sava has been elected Locum Tenens although he is among the youngest of those on the Holy Synod. He, too, is an amazing man. I’ve had the great good fortune to meet him personally prior to his being elevated to the Episcopate. He spent a little over a year here in Wichita with Bishop Basil learning English. He endeared himself to the entire parish with his humility, his gentle love and good humor.
Since becoming a bishop he has been the Met. of the Diocese of Houran. Founded in Apostolic times in what is now southern Syria, it is one of the poorest of the diocese in our Church.. Yet Met. Sava has found the means and the grace to begin to rebuild it both materially and spiritually. They were allowed to rebuild under Assad with little interference.
Now the churches and ministries (for both Chrisitan and Muslim) Met. Sava labors over and his people are under attack, martyrs are being made. Bishop Basil made reference to one priest, whose name I did not catch, who was recently killed and had his eyes gouged out.
The Church there in that land has endured such, off and on, for centuries. Yet, as Met. Sava’s work shows, they are still faithful given the right pastor. We will be quite blessed indeed to endure half as well if our time comes. We are far too prone to live in snide comfort.
I am concerned that whoever is elected our new Patriarch is likely to blessed with a cross of martyrdom.
Two Orthodox Priests have been martyred by Islamic radicals since the troubles began in Syria. Please pray for the Holy Synod of Antioch, I understand that they will meet Monday at Balamand Monastery in Lebanon to elect our new Patriarch.
Father can you give us their names?
The two martyred priests are Fr Fadi Haddad, the parish priest of the Church of St Elias in Qatana, who was kidnapped and killed in October while attempting to ransom a kidnapped parishoner and Fr Basilios Nassar, a young priest from Hama who was killed by a sniper in January while attempting to aid a wounded man.
More about them can be found here:
http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.com/search/label/Fr.%20Fadi%20Haddad
http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.com/search/label/Fr.%20Basilios%20Nassar
Thank you for the context behind the deaths of those two men. You maintain a truly superb blog.
Two Orthodox priests were murdered. I think it is fair to question whether they were actually killed by Islamic radicals or murdered by a hit team from Assad’s security forces charged with making it look like Islamic radicals.
The Assad regime definitely has a concern of losing the support of the Christian minority, because, presumably, “the Church of the Martyrs” eventually has a breaking point where realpolitik can’t handle the strain of such things as indiscriminate use of cluster munitions in residential areas and deliberate targeting of hospitals and public infrastructure in areas where the government has lost control.
Given those concerns, if I’m running ops in one of the internal security organs and my desk has a brief to try and keep the Christians with the devil they know, one of the obvious plays is to whack a couple cassocks and make it look like the Islamists.
Amusingly, Hamas wasn’t falling for this misdirection when somebody assassinated Kamal Ranaja.
I am aware of serious issues regarding Christian populations in various areas of Syria, and the potential for grave complications in the post-Assad shakeout. This does not mean I am also naive about the logic behind ruthlessly practical targeted political assassinations.
True, Mr Trost Assad has turn on his own people, on the other hand, the rebels could have done this as well since reports show Muslim Brotherhood connections. A deadly and nasty civil war not certain whose better in this.
The Holy Synod of Antioch has chosen Metropolitan Youhanna al-Yaziji better known as Metropolitan John of Paris and Central Europe as the new Patriarch of Antioch. He will be known of as John X. His Beatitude was born in Syria in 1955 and has supervised the Antiochian parishes in Great Britain, France, Germany, and northern Europe. This is a very good choice, because he is well aware of the situation of the Orthodox Church outside of traditional Orthodox lands.
AXIOS! MOUSTAHIQ! HE IS WORTHY! His Eminence the Metropolitan Archbishop of Western and Central Europe has been elected Patriarch of the Great City-of-God Antioch and all the East, succeeding the late Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim) who reposed at the age of 92 on December 5th. His Beatitude JOHN X (Yaziji) was elected by the members of the Holy Synod earlier today, December 17th, during a special session held at the Balamand Patriarchal Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Patriarch John Yaziji elected a successor to late Greek Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim in Balamand, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. (The Daily Star/Antoine Amrieh)
Patriarch John X of Antioch.
Born in Syria in 1955, His Beatitude received his primary, secondary and university education in Latakiya, Syria graduating with a degree in civil engineering. He earned a degree in theology in 1978 from the St. John of Damascus School of Orthodox of Theology at the Balamand University and a doctorate in theology (emphases in liturgy and Byzantine music) in 1983 from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. He was tonsured a monk at the Athonite Monastery of St Paul on the Holy Mountain, was ordained to the holy diaconate in 1979 and to the holy priesthood in 1983, and in 1981 became professor of Liturgical Studies at the St. John of Damascus School of Orthodox Theology at the Balamand University. He assumed the position of dean of that theological school from 1988-1991 and again from 2001-2005. He was elected and consecrated to the sacred episcopacy in 1995 with the title Bishop of al-Hosn. He has served as superior of the Monastery of St George al-Humayrah in the Christian Valley (Wadi al-Nasara) in Syria, superior of the Our Lady of Balamand Monastery, and spiritual father to the Convent of the Dormition in Blemmana, Syria. In 2008 he was elected and enthroned as the Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Western and Central Europe. The date of His Beatitude’s Enthronement has not yet been announced. Eis polla eti!