One hundred years ago today, early in the morning, our father among the saints, Raphael
of Brooklyn, fell asleep in the Lord. After several days of suffering without
complaint, this missionary and bishop in the American Church rested in peace. And
in his life, he left an example to those who wish to lead godly lives.
As with every saint, St Raphael of Brooklyn is a model of
piety and holiness. Yet, as with every saint, his holiness takes its own unique
direction. And, as with every saint, we can learn from him what shape our own
holiness may take. In this case, our holiness take this shape: the will to
serve others not by compulsion but freely, not for the praise of men but
eagerly, not to hold something over others but to give without hesitation and
without counting the cost. In short, we learn from St Raphael that we should give
a “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over”
always remembering that “with the same measure that you use, it will be
measured back to you.”
This pious man, whose parents were cared for and ministered
to by the holy martyr Joseph of Damascus, was still within his mother’s womb
when they fled Damascus for Beirut while extremist Muslims, with the aid of
Turkish police, were murdering over 2500 Orthodox Christian men and destroying
nearly every Christian church. Despite this tragic beginning, St Raphael grew
to love the Lord and his fellow man deeply and selflessly. He was raised in Lebanon, schooled in Greece, ordained a deacon and priest in Russia, and became
the first Orthodox bishop consecrated on American soil. As such, St Raphael was
well prepared by God to serve the Orthodox Christians in America, most
especially those of Arab descent. While he was in America, St Raphael was
offered several opportunities to minister in his homeland as a bishop. However,
his heart was where he was first placed—here, in the United States.
And this is the first lesson in holiness that this saint can
teach us; namely, that serving others means that we must be willing to
sacrifice our own ambitions—what we want and where we want to be.
How often is it, however, that we would rather be somewhere
else? That we would help others, but only under the conditions we have set? How
often is it that we place self-serving limits on our mercy—and so limit our
holiness?
If we can learn anything from this holy father, let us learn
to be content with where we are now, even as we strangers yearning for our
heavenly home.
Yet we should never crave to attain the kingdom of heaven
simply for our own sake. We should also want to entice, cajole, lead and
encourage as many as we can to realize this same goal. And that also is what St
Raphael can teach us.
During his 20 year ministry, first as an hieromonk and later
as an auxiliary bishop, St Raphael labored tirelessly as a missionary. In the
days when most travel was by bus or train, he traveled at several times across
the country and into Mexico, usually stopping for no more than four days, working
to gather together the Orthodox Christians in various cities. While his eyes
were aimed primarily on immigrant Arabs, his heart was not motivated by
building ethnic communities but rather by building the holy Church of Christ.
So, at nearly every stop, he busied himself with preaching, baptizing, performing
sacramental marriages and serving the Divine Liturgy. His goal was to build a
community centered not around a particular language or culture, but centered
around Christ and his altar. And so he was about building churches into order
to build up the American Church.
How often it is, though, that we see our church not as the
place to gather with Christ and his saints, but instead a place to gather with
friends and family? There is nothing wrong in being with friends and family in
church; however, should not our greater rejoicing be that we are with the
friends and family of God? And should not our goal, then, be to extend that
family by inviting all we know—co-workers, neighbors and unchurched relatives—to
be part of our communion by praying with us and receiving next to us the holy
mysteries?
St Raphael of Brooklyn had this as his chief desire: to extend
the kingdom of heaven by bringing all he could find into Christ’s holy Church. And
so off he went, here and there, without concern for his own health or welfare,
without complaining about weariness. Eventually, his constant travels would
take its toll and wear him out. But this holy father rejoiced that his labors
would result not the praise of men, but rather rejoicing in heaven with those
whom he had won for Christ!
In this way, St Raphael put flesh to St Paul’s admonition to
“do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless
and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast
the word of life.” And why? “So that [with our holy father] we may rejoice in
the day of Christ that [we] have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
Running and laboring in vain only happens when we think our
holiness adds up to the number of good things we have done. But if we put away
such foolish mathematical thinking, and instead focus on the well-being of
others—especially the salvation of their souls—then we are truly following in
the footsteps of St Raphael and the other saints.
Yet, finally, to follow in his footsteps also means to find
joy in nothing other than standing before the Lord. For where else did this
single man find strength? He had no family in this country to comfort or
console him; no wealth to ease his way. Instead, he drew his comfort and riches
and strength from his daily communing with God in prayer. As with all the
saints, one cannot see the story of this holy saint unfold without seeing him
always standing in prayer before the icons—whether in church or at home or on
the road. Feeding on this life in God, our holy father certainly became a
fruitful vine which produced, in the lives of others, great and abundant fruit.
Let us also, then, be found where St Raphael is now; where
all the saintly men and women are to be found. Let us, with them, “come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need.”
Holy Raphael, Good Shepherd and faithful Confessor, pray for
us!
27 February 2015