Monk Arsenije of Ostrog in Melbourne
On Saturday December 20th after Vespers in the Holy Trinity parish in Brunswick a crowd of more than 100 people gathered to listen to the talk of Fr. Arsenije (Jovanovic), who is well-known for his book: "God and Rock 'n' Roll" and who is currently a part of the brotherhood in the Ostrog Monastery in Montenegro. His Grace Bishop Irinej, together with Head Priest Fr. Miroslav Popovic and Fr. Petar Damnjanovic and a large crowd of predominantly young churchgoers heard the first of Fr. Arsenije's talks titled: "Orthodxy in the modern world".
At the end of the talk Fr. Arsenije was asked questions and donations collected for the Holy Ostrog Monastery, which amounted to 1,230AUD.
On Monday, December 22nd at the Greek Orthodox church of St Eustathios in front of 150 – 200 people His Grace Bishop Ezekiel, H.G. Bishop Irinej and Head Priest Fr. Chris were present as well as members of the Greek, Antiochian, Serbian and Russian Orthodox communities as well as non-Orthodox. Fr. Arsenije talked about his personal experiences in his younger days; his temptations, his search for success in the hustle and bustle of New York City and a chance meeting that would lead him to God and his current monastic life in the Ostrog Monastery.
At the end of the talk H.G. Bishop Ezekiel and H.G. Bishop Irinej expressed their heartfelt thanks to Fr. Arsenije for his sincere words from his personal experiences which touched everyone present. Indeed, it was an honour to listen to Fr. Arsenije speak and the silence during the two hour talk in the church was a testament to this.
On Tuesday, December 23rd, H.G. Bishop Irinej together with Fr. Arsenije and members of the Serbian Orthodox Youth Association (SOYA) visited the Hellenic Museum where exhibits from the illustrious Bennaki Museum in Athens were on display. They then met with members of the Greek media Ta Nea and Radio Hellas and familiarised themselves with their work. A short interview with H.G. Bishop Irinej concluded the meeting.
Fr. Arsenije's visit in Melbourne generated so much interest that additional smaller, more open forums were organised where attendees could not only ask questions but also engage in discussions. The first of these was in Keysborough at the parish of St. Stefan the Archdeacon (23 Dec) and then at the parish of the Holy Trinity (24 Dec). Finally on December 25th, Fr. Arsenije travelled to the St. Sava monastery in Elaine to meet all the youngsters taking part in the annual summer children's camp, where he told them about the history of St. Basil of Ostrog and the miracles that have happened and continue to happen there.
Source: soc.org.au
