Dewdney, British Columbia, Canada, February 18, 2020
Photo: archdiocese.ca
His Grace Bishop Varlaam (Novakshonoff), Former Bishop of Vancouver of the Orthodox Church of America, reposed in the Lord on Thursday, February 13, reports the OCA’s Archdiocese of Canada.
The vigil over his body will be served on Friday, February 21, with his funeral being served the next day. He will be buried at Heritage Gardens Cemetery in Surrey, British Columbia, with a memorial meal to be held at the monastery afterwards.
His health began to weaken last year, and it was clear that the situation was terminal. He suffered a fall from a minor stroke and was hospitalized with severe pain in early February. On February 6, Orthodox Canada reported that he was in Palliative Care section of the Abbotsford Cancer Clinic. He reposed in the hospital on February 13.
Photo: orthodoxcanada.ca Bp. Varlaam was a monk of All Saints of North America Monastery together with the abbot Archbishop Lazar (Puhalo), Former Archbishop of Ottawa, from its founding in 1968. Having been tonsured, ordained, and consecrated in various schismatic Serbian, Greek, and Ukrainian jurisdictions, Bps. Varlaam and Lazar were received into the OCA in 2003 as retired hierarchs.
Bp. Varlaam was linguistically gifted and is known for his translations of the Life of St. Theophil the Fool for Christ of the Kiev Caves, and the Life of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg, which were published by Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York, as well as various works of Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky), the first primate of ROCOR.
He also prepared a series of children’s books for catechetical purposes.
His Grace “began in the decade following 2010 to suffer from cancer. He was given various treatments, and he was feeling stronger again for a substantial amount of time,” until his health again weakened in 2019, and he finally reposed in the Lord after much suffering on February 13, 2020.
May his memory be eternal!
