ROCOR Remembers the Guardian of the Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God

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On Saturday, the ROCOR marked the anniversary of the death of José Muñoz-Cortes, the guardian of the miraculous Montréal Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. Hundreds of believers from all over the USA and Canada gathered at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville NY (the ROCOR’s main monastery). Clergy served pannikhida and an akathist at the monastery cemetery in honour of Brother José, murdered 20 years ago in Athens. Believers put dozens of candles that burned for several hours at Brother José’s grave. One of the ROCOR’s main holy objects… the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God… was present at all the services. Amongst the believers was Angela Muñoz-Cortes, the sister of José Muñoz-Cortes. In an interview with us, she said:

In October 1982, I witnessed how the icon of the Mother of God began to glow in my brother’s house. I saw the miraculous flow from the icon, which happened at night. It woke up José with its strong odour. He didn’t know what it was. José thought that a friend who lived with him at that time used some cologne. Then, he saw the oily stains on the icon and thought that his friend carelessly poured oil on it. José wiped the icon, but soon the spots reappeared, then he realised that it was myrrh. My brother took the icon all over; it became one of the main holy relics of the Russian diaspora for fifteen years. He was very fond of the people that he met in parishes throughout the world. He was open to everyone and tried to help everyone.

José Muñoz-Cortes was a Chilean who converted to Orthodoxy in his youth at the Russian church in Santiago. In 1982, monks on Mount Athos gave him the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, which in a few months began to exude myrrh, and continued to do so regularly for almost fifteen years. Brother José was brutally murdered on 31 October 1997 in Athens, then, the icon disappeared. Presumably, the day before his death, he gave it to friends. Believers believe that the icon returned to Athos. The ROCOR Eastern American Diocese has set up a commission to collect documents for the glorification of Brother José. Ten years after the disappearance of the Montreal icon, in 2007 in Hawaii, a smaller copy, the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, appeared, which exudes myrrh to this day. Believers believe that in this way the Montréal image returned to them.

29 October 2017

Dmitri Zlodorev

RIA Novosti 

https://ria.ru/religion/20171029/1507761157.html

See also:

Metropolitan: ROCOR Commission collects documents for the glorification of José Muñoz-Cortes

First Hierarch of the ROCOR: We don’t sense problems from ordinary Americans

ROCOR thinks that the meeting of the Patriarch and the Pope of Rome didn’t bring together two churches

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21 June 2014. Some Things for the Centre to Mull Over Before Accepting Paffhausen at Face Value

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I’d posted some quotes of mainstream media offerings earlier that the Centre would do well to consider before allowing JP to go to the ROCOR. Indeed, Vladyki Hilarion Kapral would do well to read n’ heed ‘em, too. In fact, youse guys would do well to read ‘em, as well. It tells you much about Potapov, JP’s sponsor (and “co-chairman” with Lyonyo of the OCA/ROCOR First Family duopoly). Here they are:

https://02varvara.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/washington-post-oca-head-metropolitan-jonah-dismissed-over-alleged-rape-cover-up/

https://02varvara.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/philadelphia-inquirer-oca-exec-fired-for-not-removing-rapist-priest/

https://02varvara.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/ap-leader-of-us-orthodox-church-quits-amid-rape-claim/

https://02varvara.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/16-july-2012-holy-synod-released-a-reason-for-jps-dismissal/

https://02varvara.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/24-september-2011-interesting-intel-about-a-disgraced-oca-priest-i-got-from-some-greek-informants%E2%80%A6/

However, do note that JP’s going nowhere fast. Partly, it’s his own doing. My intel tells me that he’s holding the lumber over the OCA for beaucoup money after he jumps, so, the OCA is retaliating by not giving him a release. Partly, it’s because he’s made influential enemies at the Centre. JP is part of the cabal around the Blunder and Shevkunov. That means that he’s on the outs with the group around Mark Golovkov and Vsevolod Chaplin. To top it, Fatty refuses to stop dallying with Far Right Russophobes in the District such as George Weigel. That’s dumb, as the Centre has a veto over Fatso going into the ROCOR. Finally, El Gordo pals with weirdos such as Nathanael Kapner… I saw the two schmoozing at Jordanville on Pentecost. Potapov, thankfully, isn’t “the All-Powerful Oz”… indeed, he’s more like the scene near the end of the movie than he cares to admit… “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” HH, NOT Potapov, DOES have the last word…

My view? The Centre would do best to avoid all known cow pats. This is one such. Let Paffso take the schema and go to the Mountain… now, THAT would write a proper ending to all this.

BMD

17 June 2014. Zacchaeus Wood “Trial” Today… Fatso Wants to Found “Monastery” Near the District

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Today was the “spiritual trial” for Zacchaeus Wood. I think that the poor sod’s been punished enough. He lost his position at the Centre and they publicly humiliated him. For what he did, that’s sufficient… he didn’t commit heresy or schism, he just did stupid acts. He did nothing to harm the Church as “Church”; he’s alleged to have had his hand in the till and enabling a crank starosta. That’s not the same as the Unia of Brest or the Raskol or Arius’ heresy! He got bounced from his job and he got bad-dogged; now, everyone knows what he’s accused of, his cred is in the shitter. If you were to ask me, I’d stick him in a small parish in the Midwest so that he could attend to his elderly mother. He’d be no further trouble to the Church at large (much as how the Church dealt with Puhalo… he’s watched, so he isn’t going to do anything overly gnarly… ditto for Wood).

A Cabinet member sent me this:

Fatso is trying to establish a monastery @50 miles (@90 kilometres) from DC. It’d be under ROCOR; Metropolitan Hilarion has blessed the endeavour. So far, he does have 2-3 monks willing to go with him. Now, he’s looking for the money to do this. He needs 400 Gs (13.94 million Roubles. 435,000 CAD. 429,000 AUD. 296,000 Euros. 236,000 UK Pounds) to buy an old Methodist Church that’s for sale, for conversion into a residence.

Hilarion Kapral isn’t a “free agent”… he has to get Peredelkino’s permission to bring Fatso in and to install him as “abbot”. That hasn’t come… until it does, all the talk is just that… talk. Someone at the Centre doesn’t like Paffso… otherwise, it would’ve been a done deal. Also, the Centre’s putting none of its money into this boondoggle. However, it does show that Hilarion Kapral isn’t rebellious. We’ll have to wait and see what the Centre has to say on this.

I believe that Fatso’s project is a crock from stem to stern… if he wants to found a monastery, let him start it in an area that’s more affordable. Hey, such an area would be more “isolated”… but that’s GOOD if you’re a monk or nun… you ARE trying to flee the “World”, after all. He’s really trying to found a “retreat centre” for Potapov, Freddie M-G, Mattingly, et al… we should NOT be encouraging that. Let him go off to the Maine North Woods, the Adirondacks or the Northeast Kingdom… he wouldn’t need 400Gs for that! After all, did Frs Joseph and Panteleimon need 400Gs to found Jordanville? NO SIREE… they did it on a hell of lot less. Fatty wants to swan about and pose as “Metropolitan”. As for his “monks”, is one of them Nathanael Kapner? Perspirin’ minds wanna know…

BMD

16 June 2014. Is He In Or Is He Out? … Fatso’s Hegira Continues

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A Cabinet member sent me the following:

The OCA still hasn’t released Paffhausen to the ROCOR, although he’s telling people he has been.

Well, first I checked the official OCA and ROCOR websites… nada. Then, I got in touch with a couple of priestly contacts… they’d heard nothing either. In fact, one said:

Don’t put too much stock in him being at Jordanville… they’ve never accepted their loss of status after ’07. They’re two wounded fighters dressing each other’s wounds. As for Nathanael, don’t worry about him either. [Archbishop Kyrill Dmitriev] has his number, and he’s going nowhere fast.

There’s NOTHING official, and there’s not even any plausible scuttlebutt out there. As for my opinion, Fatso’s forgotten that the Centre has the final word on him, and they know all about his dalliance with anti-Orthodox shits like George Weigel. In short, don’t believe Fatso. Remember, he lied egregiously to the OCA Holy Synod and he refused to live within his budget… this is just more of the same.

Pass the jug… some things are just too depressing…

BMD