Tonsure of Ryassaphore-monk Ioann at St. Herman Monastery, Platina
On the Sunday of Orthodoxy, March 4/17, 2019, Novice Andrew was tonsured as a ryassaphore monk at the St. Herman Monastery. A family of friends and pilgrims — Deacon Ignatius, Diaconissa Xenia, Lydia, Ioan, and Silouan Strange — came from St. Gabriel’s Orthodox Church (OCA) near Ashland, Oregon, in order to attend the service. The tonsure took place before the Epistle and Gospel reading during the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, which was celebrated by Abbot Damascene, Hieromonk Paisius, and Deacon Ignatius.
Fr. Damascene performed the tonsure, giving the new monk the name Ioann, after the seven-year-old Chinese Martyr Ioann, the son of Hieromartyr Mitrophan (reposed 1900, commemorated June 10/23). He then spoke words of exhortation to Ryassaphore-monk Ioann, describing both the struggles and the joys of monastic life in Christ.
After the Divine Liturgy, we continued to celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy — the restoration of the holy icons — by carrying icons in procession, first around the church, and then to Fr. Seraphim’s grave.
At the meal in trapeza, Fr. Damascene spoke about Ryassaphore-monk Ioann’s new patron saint. The account of St. Ioann’s martyrdom, he said, has many details and is greatly inspiring, much like the accounts of child martyrs from the early centuries of Christianity.
