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July 5, 2010
Jacksonville, FL: Abbot Augustine (Whitfield) has reposed in the Lord

cross.lg.jpg (51250 bytes)On Sunday, July 4, Dom Augustine (Whitfield), Abbot of the Congregation of Mt. Royal in Jacksonville, FL, reposed in the Lord.

His Grace Jerome, Bishop of Manhattan, told the Diocesan Media Office about the life of the newly departed Abbot Augustine:

"Fr. Augustine came of a very old American family stretching back to Scotland, and is distantly related to the Scottish Royal House. The 17th century Whitfield House that appears in architectural books on Connecticut was built by his ancestors. He was from the Southern branch of the family, and his grandfather, Judge John Whitfield, was well known in Jacksonville.

Raised in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church, Fr. Augustine first became interested in the Old Catholic movement, and was often taken to Jordanville by the late Archbishop William Henry Francis Brothers, with whom he converted to Orthodoxy in 1961. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Dositheus of the Moscow Patriarchate, and received into the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia by Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky) of Washington and Florida, during Holy Week of 1975, at St. Vladimir Memorial Church.

Fr. Augustine always worked towards reviving Western Orthodoxy and seeing the resurrection of the Western Orthodox Church, which existed until 1054. He lived a monastic life according to the Rule of St. Benedict, and influenced many people of Western background to join the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. He had a great veneration for St. John Maximovitch, and also for Archbishop Nikon.

During his last years, he also became close to Metropolitan Hilarion, who was a great source of moral support, and who visited him in Jacksonville a few months ago."

We ask all clergy of the Eastern American Diocese to pray for the repose of the newly departed Abbot Augustine.

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese