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OUR BELOVED SAINT AFTIMIOS
Patron Saint of the Falsely Accused
Last Sunday of July
During St. Aftimios lifetime he suffered at the hands of the ethnic orthodox jurisdictions in the New World. After his death the calumnies
continue by the ethic jurisdictions in our country.
Following the untimely death of St. Raphael of Brooklyn in 1915, Archimandrite Aftimios (Ofiesh) was elected to serve as his replacement in
caring for the Arab Orthodox faithful in America under the Church of Russia's canonical authority.
He was consecrated by Archbishop Evdokim ( Basil Mikhailovich Meschersky), hemisphere of the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia)
as an auxiliary bishop in 1917 with the title of Bishop of Brooklyn. In 1923, in recognition for his work in America, he was elevated by
Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York to the rank of archbishop.
In 1924, in the canonical chaos of American Orthodoxy following the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the Orthodox faithful split
into two factions, one which wished to go under the canonical authority of the Church of Antioch and another which beginning the official
presence of the Church of Antioch on American soil.
In 1927, St. Aftimios was commissioned by the Russian diocese in America to form an "English-speaking " American Orthodox Catholic
Church. During this time St. Aftimios consecrated the following Bishops:
 | Bishop Emmanuel (Rizkallah) Abouhatab (Abo-Hatab) on September 11, 1927, as the American Orthodox Church Bishop of Montreal. | |
| Bishop Sophronios (Beshara) of Los Angeles and the West on May 26, 1928. | |
| Bishop Joseph (Zuk) for the Ukrainians on September 25, 1932. | |
| Bishop Ignatius (William Albert) Nichols in September of 1932 as his auxiliary bishop of Washington. | |
| Additionally, in 1931 the Society of Clerks Secular of St. Basil, a Western Rite group, was established under the auspices of this |
We truly believe that Saint Aftimios and the Bishops with his succession are the only canonical Orthodox bishops in the United States since
1917. Saint Aftimios died at age 85 in 1966. His heritage lives on in the all the Bishops with his succession in America.
Troparion to St. Aftimios
Rejoice, O Father Aftimios, Adornment of the Holy Church! Thou art Champion of the True Faith, Seeker of the lost,
Consolation of the oppressed American Church, Father to orphans, and Friend of the poor, Peacemaker
and Good Shepherd, Joy of Orthodoxy, Son of Lebanon, Boast of America, patron Saint of the falsely accused
intercede with Christ God for us and for all who honor thee.
@2013 by The Holy Byzantine Catholic Orthodox Church.
All right reserved
THE HOLY BYZANTINE CATHOLIC ORTHODOX CHURCH Le Saint Église Bizantine Catholique Orthodoxe La Santa Iglesia Bizantina Catolica Ortodoxa |
SAINT AFTIMIOS
