The Monastery of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite is a monastic institution of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, located in Saint James, New York. His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, First Hierarch of ROCOR, is the ruling Bishop, under whose Omophorion the Monastery serves. The Monastery consists of the Abbot, Vasileios (Willard), and the clergy and monastics under his direction.
As a Monastic institution of the Orthodox Church, the principal purpose is for the salvation and edification of the monastics who hold daily worship services, together with the married clergy and laypeople, and any pilgrims or visitors who worship with the monastics, as one family in Christ. Our monastics, visitors and regular congregants have diverse backgrounds as both cradle and convert Orthodox Christians, and are of a wide variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds.
Furthermore, as Orthodox Christians, we seek not only to transform our lives and the lives of those with us, but also to reach out to the surrounding communities where, by God’s Providence, we presently live and serve, so that others may join us in the worship of God in the Orthodox Faith. For more information, please reach us through our contact form.
Our Patron
Saint Dionysios the Areopagite is famed for his conversion by St. Paul recorded in the book of Acts, Chapter 17, when St. Paul preaches on Mars Hill (in Greek, the Areopagus). St. Dionysios later became bishop of Athens, after his mentor, St. Hierotheos of Athens.
The Dionysian corpus of writings has been of paramount importance in the life of the Orthodox Church and in the writings of the Holy Fathers.
His writings recount the Dormition of the Theotokos, give us the teaching of apophatic theology, and of the celestial and ecclesiastical hierarchies. May our heavenly protector St. Dionysios protect and guide us in this new location and new home!