About Us
His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Born in Trenton, NJ in 1974, Metropolitan Nicholas graduated from Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY in 1998. He served as cell attendant to Metropolitan Laurus and accompanied the First Hierarch on official visits to Russia. In 2010, he was appointed guardian of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, and in 2014, he was tonsured as a monk and consecrated as Bishop. Following the repose of Metropolitan Hilarion, Bishop Nicholas was elected First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in September 2022 and enthroned as Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York.
His Eminence, Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen)
Born in Chicago, IL in 1959, Metropolitan Jonah was received into the Orthodox Church in 1978 while studying at the University of California, San Diego. He graduated from St. Vladimir's Seminary with Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees. After spending a year in Russia, he joined Valaam Monastery and was ordained to the priesthood in 1994, receiving the monastic name Jonah. He established a monastery under the patronage of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco and worked to establish missions throughout California and Hawaii. In 2008, he was consecrated Bishop and later elected Metropolitan of All America and Canada for the Orthodox Church in America. Metropolitan Jonah was released to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in 2015. Today, he serves as the Abbot of our Monastery, overseeing its daily operations and spiritual life.
Father Anthony
Former Abbot who reposed in the Lord in 2003. Alongside him served Hieromonk Sylvester, a graduate of both the Theological Seminary and the Theological Academy in Moscow, Russia, who dedicated many years to the Chinese Mission of the Patriarchate of Moscow. The monastery community also included two subdeacons and one Reader (ponomar), and maintained the Kellion (Podvorie) of St Anthony the Great, a hermitage in the desert of southern New Mexico. We humbly invite all who visit the monastery to light a candle in his memory and offer a prayer for the repose of his soul.
Holy Stavropegial Monastery of Saint Anthony the Great
Saint Anthony the Great Orthodox Monastery was founded in 1983 as a monastery for men, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Nektary of Seattle (Vicar Bishop to St John Maximovich and later to Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco). The monastery is located in central Phoenix Arizona and is custodian of the miracle-working "Phoenix-Bogorodskoe" Icon of the Theotokos.
Many precious relics are housed in the monastery including portions of St Equal-to-the-Apostles, Helen the Empress Mother of Saint Constantine the Great, St Therapontos of Cyprus (attended 1st Council of Nicea), St Joseph of Arimathea, Holy Forerunner and Baptist John, New Martyrs of St Sava Monastery in Judea, New Martyr of St Theodosius Monastery (between Jerusalem and Bethlehem), and New Martyr of St George Hozebite monastery. Also preserved here is a Gospel (in Japanese) belonging to St Nikolai of Tokyo, and other antiquities of the Holy Orthodox Faith.
Today, our monastery remains humble and modest. We are not in the best outward condition, and our property and temple are small. Yet we warmly invite you to come and visit, not for what is seen externally, but for what the Lord offers inwardly.
We ask those who come to do so with the desire to draw nearer to Christ, seeking a place of prayer, repentance, and spiritual quiet. The monastery is not meant to be a social gathering or a place to look for worldly companionship, but rather a refuge where the soul may turn its attention toward God.
May your visit be centered on prayer, on stillness, and on the sincere search for communion with the Lord, keeping the mind and heart focused on Him above all else.