Who is Hegoumen Ignatius Raksha? - A brief look at his life through the new book by Greek Orthodox Pilgrimages

 Evil triumphs only in the eyes of men of little faith. The True Orthodox Christians of these last days are defeated on every front: mocked by the world and threatened by Ecumenism, despised, persecuted. And yet for one thing they are unconquerable: they stand in the truth. And thus, as our God is Truth, their ultimate victory is certain.

Hegoumen Ignatius Raksha

Condensed Biography

First Published in October 2020 by Sofia Kioroglou and Greek Orthodox Pilgrimages

2nd Edition November 2020

Cover by Petros Papadopoulos

Sofia Kioroglou asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. No part of this publication may be reproduced. stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my Spiritual Father for blessing me and encouraging me to continue my authoring pursuits and

all those who have supported me tangibly and intangibly to complete this publication.

Finally, and most importantly, a huge thank you to my husband, Petros, for his undiluted support and, also the Almighty God for His grace in me.

I am also indebted to Mrs. Sofia Kouna and Mrs. Sofia Gerali for granting me the courtesy of an interview and proffering valuable insights into the life of Father Ignatius Raksha.

Saint John Maximovitch in the foreground with Fr Ignaty

Ignatius (Raksha)

Father Ignaty Raksha emanated from the Crimea. He had a sister, named Nadezhda Raksha and a brother Yevgeny Igorevich Raksha. Ivan Raksha was an immigrant who received a monastery near Munich and received the name, Ignatius. He was sent from the Diocese of foreign Orthodox churches in Palestine to Hebron, to the Oak of Mamvrian in Palestine in 1938. There were 14 monks led by Abbot Ignatius who was very beloved by all Palestinian Orthodox, a native revered old man. In the years of the mismanagement of Russian lands in Palestine, he built near the eternal Oak (from savings, the pennies he collected from pilgrims around the world) – a church. Since 1964, Abbot Ignatius Raksha (Ivan in the world) was in charge of the Russian site under the Mamvrian Oak and was the rector of the church of Sts. The forefathers, where for many years in the postwar period he served practically alone. The elder devoted almost a whole day to prayer, his names consisted of 25,000 names that he remembered at each Liturgy, and proskomidia lasted several hours. People who knew the old man from the Russian Diaspora tell that the Holy Light always descended and ignited his candles. “He didn’t know Greek but shortly before the Greek pilgrimage groups departed from the Monastery, he gave each a piece of paper with the solution to the problem written on it. Sophia Kouna his spiritual daughter relates how gifted he was with the Grace of the Holy Spirit as he saw through people and understood the spiritual standing of each pilgrim. In the following paragraphs, we will endeavor to unravel the high spiritual standing of the Hegumen of tears as some people call him.

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