Australian and New Zealand Diocese (ROCOR)

The Orthodox Monastery of the Archangel Michael was established in Sydney in 1995. It was cofounded by Hieromonk Kosmas (Vasilopoulos) and Hieromonk Justin (Petrovic). The monastery is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia, of which the ruling hierarch is His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion.

The brotherhood consists of three members – two hieromonks and one monk. The monastery is closed to the public due to a lack of space and, most of all, a desire for solitude.

The monastery has two chief objectives: to maintain a simple monastic cycle of daily services, and to produce Orthodox materials, both in printed and audio format, in the English language.

In addition to the talk series, the monastery has also produced several new publications, the most popular being The Kursk-Root Icon: A Miracle in Our Times, published in 2008. This 224-page colour publication is the first comprehensive book on the Kursk-Root Icon ever produced in English.

Talks by Father Kosmas

Contact Details

Physical address

Marrickville, NSW
Australia

Mailing address

P.O. Box 554
Marrickville, NSW 2204
Australia

Contact info

Parish Phone: +61 (2) 9558 2207
Fax: +61 (2) 9558 6751

Clergy

Abbot Kosmas (Vasilopoulos)
Hieromonk Justin (Petrovic)

Service languages

English, Greek

Notes

The Monastery is not open to the public and does not accept visitors.
Please respect the monastery’s desire for isolation.

A Short Biography of Hieromonk Kosmas

Hieromonk Kosmas was born of Greek parents in Sydney in 1958. He graduated college as a teacher in 1980 with a major in high school mathematics and an additional qualification in teaching adolescent slow learners. He taught in a number of high schools for ten years until 1990. During this period, he also privately tutored a considerable number of students in elementary and high school mathematics.

In 1987, as a layman, he began giving Orthodox talks in English, especially in Melbourne. These talks were well attended, especially by the youth, many of whom were drawn back to their Orthodox roots. In addition, again as a layman, he taught Church-organised “Orthodox scripture classes” on a volunteer basis at a number of state high schools. In one of these schools he taught four groups of one hundred students aged twelve to sixteen – four hundred students in total.

In 1991 he was tonsured and ordained a hieromonk in Serbia by His Grace Bishop Artemios, a spiritual child of Saint Justin (Popovic). Soon after his ordination he returned to Sydney and served in various parishes, ministering especially to the young adult community.

Apart from his desire to preach the word of God, Father Kosmas had another desire – to produce printed Orthodox materials in the English language.This desire was realised in 1993, when the production of publications in English commenced. Approximately fifty booklets were produced on the lives of the saints and various other topics. Initially, these publications were distributed free of charge to the majority of parishes in the Australian and New Zealand Diocese of ROCOR. Because of their great popularity, these publications were later sold, especially in the U.S. and Canada.

In 1998, with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Hilarion, Father Kosmas established the Holy Dormition Sisterhood in St. Marys, Sydney. Although originally intended to become a monastic community, the sisterhood found its calling as a lay sisterhood, and gradually took upon itself the publishing work initiated by Father Kosmas. To this day, Father Kosmas continues to guide and support the sisterhood in their publishing and missionary activities.

Since 2007, with the blessing and support of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, Father Kosmas has been giving regular talks every six to eight weeks, at Saint George Russian Orthodox Church in Carlton, Sydney. These talks are recorded and are made available for purchase on CD.  Before each talk a service in English is held, such as Holy Unction, the Blessing of Water, molebens and akathists, supplicatory canons, vespers, and services for the sick. These services are sung by the sisterhood and are included on many of the audio CDs. Click here for the complete catalogue of Talks and Publications.