Abbot Gavril – Interview: “We need to transcend ourselves, to forgive and to give a hand”
- Father Gabriel, would you like to tell us how you chose your religious mission?
I love my country and my people and I would feel grateful if I am useful to them and contribute to their own good and the good of mankind. Same as any young man who tries to find themselves and see where they belong, I did the same and searched where I belong. But God’s will for myself was the Church. When I started learning about God, especially about the monasticism I realised this is the place for me.
Towards the end of 1996, in the monastery of Vodoca, one evening my spiritual father asked me to attend a synaxis of the father monks. During the synaxis (gathering and discussion about God) there was a talk about the struggle to purify the passions and to open the heart to God, about the continuous noetic prayer and the worship of God. When I heard the words: “We should not deal with discovering who is wrong and who is right. This is a matter of the secular law; we should be seeking God’s righteousness. How did my heart react at the time of temptation? Did I go into spiritual darkness? Did my love reduced towards the one who hurt me? Did I get angry? Did I respond to someone with a bad thought, word or deed..?” At that moment it was as if the heavens opened and I thought to myself: this is an enormous field for me to work on myself and a vast area of research. This is infinity. Here, no matter how much you progress you are always at the beginning and you have much more ahead. Here I felt the first freedom. Here for a moment I saw perfection… At that point God helped me realize that this is what I have longed for and searched my whole life. In fact, Him, The Only One we need – God.2. In which monasteries have you served thus far?
As needed by the MOC-OA (Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric) I have served in a number of monasteries in Macedonia and here in Australia. After all, me and most of my brothers and sisters come from the generation during the transition from old to new, in many aspects of society, including the rebuilding of the Chruch and monasticism. With the arrival of father Naum, then monk of Mount Athos, and today the Metropolitan of the Strumica Diocese, the monasticism was renewed in MOC-OA. With his blessing and spiritual guidance I was tonsured a monk in the monastery of the Protection of Holy Mother of God, at that time called St. Leontius, in Vodocha. Even as a novice, and later as a young monk, I was sent to participate in the establishment of the monastic life in the monastery of St. Archangel Michael in Varosh near Prilep and in Lesnovo, at the time when hieromonk Ilarion, today’s Metropolitan of Bregalnica, moved in.
When the capacity in the monastery Vodocha was to its fullest and there were not enough rooms for all of us, as a member of the brotherhood headed by Abbot Pimen, today the European Metropolitan, I moved to the monastery of St. Fifteen Tiberiopolian Hieromartyrs in the city of Strumica, where I was later made an Abbot. Whilst living in this monastery and later when we returned to Vodocha again for a period of 3 years I served daily in the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos Eleusa in the village of Veljusa.
On September 1, 1998, monastic life was also founded in the monastery of St. Nicholas in the village of Ljubanci in the region of Skopska Crna Gora near Skopje and I was sent there where I served temporarily, as well as at the other female monastery in the Skopje Diocese, the monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, in Matka. After this, the monastery of St. Kliment and St. Naum of Ohrid was built and founded in Hamzali, and then the monastery of St. Anthony in Novo Selo of Strumica, which was my last monastery in Macedonia.
In 2006 I was invited to establish the monastic life here, in Australia. In the monastery of St. Prohor Pcinski I lived for ten years. After Bishop Peter turned it into a female monastery, we were moved to a monastery of St. Naum in Rocklyn, so today, with God’s blessing, we have moved to the oldest monastery in the Diocese, the monastery of St. Kliment of Ohrid in King Lake.
Currently, I serve in the church of Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, at 340 Sydenham Road in Sydenham together with Reverand Archpriest Ephraim Betinski. Here I feel happy and fulfilled. I sincerely thank the people who accepted us and made us feel at home, with our own kind.
If someone would ask me today, which is your favourite monastery and where do you hold the most beautiful impressions, it would be difficult to single one out, because they are all beautiful in their own special way and I have experienced wonderful moments in every place. But still I consider myself as one belonging to Vodocha and I would single out my very first monastery, where I was tonsured a monk and where I gave my promise that I will serve God. It is interesting that here, when in conversation I think of Donnybrook, I often spontaneously say “Vodoca”. What Vodocha meant to me in Macedonia, that is what Donnybrook means to me here in Australia.
3. You have conducted a strong affirmation of monastic life in Australia for which you received acknowledgment from the prime minister of this country. How many MOC-OA monasteries are there in Australia and how are they organized?Due to Godly providence, I am the first monk of MOC-OA in Australia, and the monastery of St. Prohor Pchinski is the first living monastery of MOC-OA in this diaspora. This means that our people here had no knowledge of monasticism and there were no conditions for normal functioning of the monastic life in our monasteries. It was my blessing (at the same time a cross) to organise them. With God’s help, I worked as much as I could, before all to teach people by example. Our people are pious and loving towards monastics, so very quickly they learnt what monasticism is and how a monastery should function. People that came to the monastery in Donnybrook recognised and respected that.
Living in the local conditions and circumstances, I found that to establish a real monastery according to the criteria and rules of monastic typikon, would take time, and appropriate conditions needed to be created for that. Therefore, my attention was directed first to teach people to create a habit of going to church, to get to love the Orthodox sacramental lifestyle with fasting, prayer, confession, communion, to dissociate themselves from the world and keep away from sin. With time, a community was created in the monastery of St. Prohor Pcinski, one family in which children were born spiritually. There they grew up and got educated in that sacramentally-liturgical and ascetical-hesychastic lifestyle, so that, one day, when they are old enough, they could be able to become future monks, priests and bishops of our holy MOC. Thus they become a solid foundation of the Church.
I believe that for the mission of the Church to be properly and efficiently performed, the future missionaries need to originate from these areas, because they know best the mentality of this society and the time in which we live. They would therefore best understand and help those who would approach them in need.
Along with the monastery of St. Prohor Pcinski in Donnybrook, which is now a female monastery, there are two more in Victoria. The First Macedonian monastery in King Lake, dedicated to St. Kliment Ohridski, and a male monastery dedicated to St. Naum Ohridski.
MOC-OA has one more monastery in Illawarra, NSW, dedicated to St. Petka, which will become a female monastery.4. You have formed a new relationship between our monasteries and the faithful, here in Australia, who have started to approach you in large numbers. How do you imagine these relationships in the future?
Since I was a student of Theology, I realized that the modern person lacks love, especially in this country, where we live in an insensitive and cruel race for the acquisition of earthly assets, coldness in relationships and great individualism, and therefore loneliness and lack of love. The weary people of today need someone to show them such love, especially to our people, who are like a transplanted tree struggling to adjust to the new soil in order to survive. The struggle is hard and comes with great risks. If we, as priests and ministers of God do not offer and witness that love of God, then we have missed our calling, not to mention – we failed our life.
In our monasteries we learned to love, to forgive, to humble ourselves in front of others and to respect each other. We should love God first, and then our neighbour, as ourselves. To love and to serve others. Honesty is the most important factor in establishing a healthy and interpersonal relation. This acquires trust, and people recognize it and respond in the same way. Here, the grace of Gods acts, which attracts more people. And God’s blessing seals it and keeps that in the Church.
I think we should pay attention to this and work on it and the rest will come on its own.
5. Do you, after the accreditation of the two Macedonian dioceses in Australia, expect that the differences will be eliminated and an era of cooperation and coexistence will begin?
That the registration of the second diocese of MOC-OA in Australia was much needed, shows the decision that was made by unanimous consent of all the prelates. With the registration of the Australian-Sydney dioceses, the overcoming of the longstanding separation and disagreement has finally been enabled for the Churches in Australia, as now we have two canonical dioceses under the MOC-OA.
The Holy Synod made the decision, now the rest is up to us. We need to transcend ourselves, to forgive and reach out to each other. Let us leave behind all differences and let’s live and create together.
I believe that now is the time where the decisive and historical moments for our Church in Australia are taking place. Now is the time when there is a change of generations, when the fourth generation of Macedonians in Australia is born. Until now, through the elders, we managed to continue our Macedonian Orthodox tradition. Now, when the elders are slowly leaving, there is no one to teach the younger generations, and to speak to them in Macedonian. So I say that we need to show the most courage and overcome ourselves by showing more humility, patience and understanding and be together again in the Church, as the Church is the one who sustained us for centuries, and will continue to do so.6. In your opinion, is there a possibility for the MOC to be accepted by the family of Orthodox national churches in the near future?
My opinion on this issue is that we, above all, should strive to please God so God can recognize us. The administrative acceptance of the MOC – OA is just a formality which will happen one day. Today our (Orthodox) greatest enemy is the nationalism. When a nation identifies itself with the Church and even disrespects the church for the benefit of the national interests, the result will be misunderstandings and division amongst the people. As long as such individuals exist in our sister churches, our recognition and acceptance will not be easily achieved.
From the moment we are baptized we become Christians, members of the Church. We are not baptized in the name of our nation, but in the name of God, and that we were born as Macedonians should not be a reason not to be accepted in the assembly of other Churches.
Our MOC- OA is fulfilled with its own Synod (Synod of Bishops), Orthodox clergy reverend monks and the faithful people. We serve Holy Liturgy and communion, confess the Orthodox faith, while everything else is a human factor and can not be an obstacle to our union with God. The answer to the question of when we will receive administrative recognition depends on how quickly the other local Orthodox Churches realize the danger of keeping us in isolation, which is not helping anyone.
7. How well do you know the multi-religious life in Australia and how do you rate the success of the Macedonian believers who have built an impressive number of temples over the last half a century.I cannot say that I have completely understood the so called “multi-religious life in Australia,” but I will say that I have learnt enough. In my ten-years of active life in the Church and my involvement in the Macedonian community in Australia I have learned a lot. This has helped me to understand everything that has happened, so I can say what might happen in the future in our community.
I can say that our people are hardworking and devout. They are good people who have contributed not only to the construction of our many churches but also to the entire societal and religious life in Australia.
Unfortunately, the eternal enemy of man, the devil, has succeeded in many things, including changing the way we treat each other therefore creating division amongst people, courts, intolerance and even hatred, which contributes negatively to our progress. I think it is time to overcome this and have more faith in God.
It is time to rebuild the fallen bridges, to overcome our disagreements and to reach out to one another. It is time to stop going against one another and work together for our common good. There is no need for divisions and hatred. We all speak the same language, we all believe in One God and as I often say there is only one Macedonia where we all originated from.
I stand behind that for all who have contributed to the construction and organisation of the churches and the religious life should be given a worthy recognition. I have heard that people have re-mortgaged their houses, have donated almost all of their earnings in the construction of the temples, worked voluntarily, fought with those who obstructed the organization and recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Macedonian people. Simply, everyone helped as much as they could in an honest and wholehearted way to assist the Church. I am a witness to the existence of such devout Christians, Macedonians in present times that give all and truly help the Church. I sincerely hope there will be such believers in the future and that we will achieve even more and have more success in the construction of new churches, centres and halls, and the organisation of new parishes, associations and organizations and we will deservingly witness our holy Orthodox faith and our Macedonia.I believe in this, I pray to God, and I sincerely hope that, with God’s help, we will succeed!
