The Metropolitan Church
Historic Background
In 1968 the Patriarchate of Alexandria, by Synodal decision, established the Metropolis of Good Hope, with Cape Town as its seat. There already existed an organised Orthodox parish in the region, which fell under the Metropolis of Johannesburg, founded in 1925. The first Metropolitan of Good Hope, Pavlos Varnávas, who came from Pretoria where he served as parish priest for several years, wished to create appropriate conditions for the Metropolis to function as a spiritual body. For this reason he sought to procure, at the very minimum, a worthy residence for himself as well as offices to serve the needs of the faithful. Considering, therefore, the importance of the role which a properly equipped building complex would play for the Orthodox Church locally, he set about finding a suitable property in order to fulfil his vision. After strenuous attempts, a house on a double property in Milner Road, Rondebosch was identified. With a small deposit contributed by friends, he secured a loan repayable over several years and acquired the property. He immediately set about making the necessary modifications to the existing structure.
His intention was, at a later stage, to build a church on the property which would fulfil the needs of the Metropolis. The only existing church in Cape Town at that time did not totally meet the requirements and, although his proposals to construct a new church fell on deaf ears, the late Metropolitan was more determined than ever to construct a new church. The years went by and not only was there no improvement in the tough conditions he had faced since his arrival but things became even more difficult, to the extent that it became impossible for him to repay the loan; furthermore, his health problems isolated him from his friends and co-workers, most of whom lived outside Cape Town.
It is understood that the R5 000 donated by G. Georgiou (well-known in the city because of his involvement in sport and his association with the well-known Waldorf Café in Burg Street, on Cape Town’s St George’s Square) for the construction of the church was used to extend the cathedral in 1983, so that any intention by the Metropolitan to carry out his plan remained stillborn. After many years of illness and with the last year of his life spent in an old-age home, he died with his vision unfulfilled.
When the new Metropolitan arrived in 1999, amongst the many issues requiring attention was the Metropolis building, which was in an appalling condition. History repeated itself with the quest for funds for renovation, as yet again the invitation by the Church to collect funds for its undertakings went largely unheeded. Friendly entreaties and various suggestions were made, the worst of which was that the property should be sold and an apartment bought as a residence, as though the problem were simply that of accommodation. With God’s help and that of the faithful, within a few months the renovation was completed so that the mission of the Church could be accomplished under new conditions. Nowadays the cathedral has a large capacity and, in terms of security, all areas are either in a similar or worse situation, so, with missionary and other considerations requiring the existence and operation of another church, the matter of the Metropolis church came to the fore again.
Despite the fact that the title deed allowed for the construction of a second house, for the construction of a church, permission to this effect had to be sought from the Municipality and, furthermore, all the neighbours needed to give their consent. The neighbourhood is an established English suburb comprising mainly traditional upper-class Victorian homes set in large properties.
Today, it may be added, the suburb has a mixed population consisting of Whites, Coloureds and others, of different religions - Christians, Jews and Moslems - a typical example of contemporary South African society. Everyone was entitled to reject the Church’s request to build a church. and those whose properties adjoined the Metropolis received the a copy of the plans from the Municipality. Only two of them requested clarifications and, having received satisfactory answers, they gave their consent.
There was, however, a group of people sensitive to the protection of the architectural character of the area who submitted objections pertaining to the size and shape of the proposed church. The architect, Yiannis Hatzis, after many meetings with the authorities and the members of the group, managed to secure their consent.
All this undoubtedly prolonged the approval process, yet it allowed time for the conditions to mature for consent to be granted by the Orthodox of our city, especially by those who argued that it was an unnecessary outlay inasmuch as for years the Metropolitan did not have furniture for the Metropolis.
For the Metropolitan there was also the important issue of the Saint to whom the church should be dedicated. Initially, the thinking was that it should be named in honour of the All-Holy Virgin of Kykkos, the monastery where the Metropolitan was based, or of his protector Saint George but, with the cathedral already dedicated to Saint George, this was not an option. The names of many Saints featured on the list of possibilities, prominent amongst which were the names of the New Martyrs Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, martyred in Lesbos during the Turkish Occupation. Of course the objection to this was that such a choice might be construed as a ploy intended to change the attitude of the Greek community members, most of whom originate from Lesbos.
"No one can hurry me down to Hades before my time, but if a man's hour is come, be he brave or be he coward, there is no escape for him when he has once been born. No man or woman born, coward or brave, can shun his destiny."
- Homer
Another matter of conscience was the excessive tendency which had emerged of honouring the Saints and under no circumstances should the naming appear to be strengthening such a tendency to the detriment of the faithful. A further reason for the possible exclusion of that choice was that the Greek origins of the saints might appear to be an attempt to impose our local saints on non-Greek or future Orthodox believers resulting from missionary work. With considerations and reasonings of this order, the days passed until events took a turn which imposed the final decision.
Months after his enthronement, the new Metropolitan, driving through a local seaside suburb with Archimandrite K. Oik. from the Johannesburg Metropolis, in Cape Town to visit an old friend who had just undergone a kidney operation, was informed of an unexpected suggestion that the proposed church should be named after Saint Raphael. It transpired that a particular family who had made a vow some time before to build or help build a church in South Africa had been informed by a friend of theirs who had recently visited the Metropolis under renovation that there were plans afoot to build a church on the property. The Metropolitan felt that there was no reason for the family to make any commitment, since nothing had been finalised regarding the project and because the renovation of the Metropolis building was still underwau. A further consideration was the considerable financial pressure which existed at the time as well as the fact that the building permission had not yet been granted. He nevertheless promised that, if God allowed it and with a sign from the Saint, he would inform them at a later stage. Some months later the Metropolitan, in a telephonic conversation with the interested lady, heard details about the vow in question. She suffered from cancer and, having prayed to Saint Raphael a few years previously, her illness had remained in check. So, together with a friend of hers suffering from a similar problem, they set themselves the objective of building a church to the grace of God.
Years went by and unfortunately they did not fulfil their wish because their local church was not interested; furthermore, with the passing of time, the amount they had in mind was no longer sufficient for that purpose. Hoewever, the small sum they had promised as well as whatever they had managed to collect amongst friends could contribute to the building. The Metropolitan once more stressed that, for the moment, there was no haste and that, when he would have to make a decision, he would inform them.
It was some time later, in 2001, while the Metropolitan was talking to a co-worker, that reference was made to the lady and her vow; and later that very day, the Metropolitan coincidentally received a phone call from her to enquire about his intentions and whether any progress had been made regarding the plan to build a Metropolitan church. That day the lady received the assurance that, thanks to her perseverance, the future church would definitely receive the name of Saint Raphael. She would, however, have to wait for the procedures for the granting of building permission to be finalised, after which she would receive an official copy of the permit, thus enabling her to raise money for the project amongst her friends and acquaintances.
In the meanwhile, the plans were modified in accordance with municipal requirements and one fine morning the architect was notified that the objections had been overcome and the reservations of the committee for the protection of the area’s architectural character withdrawn. The Metropolitan, overjoyed that at last the way was open to attaining his objective and wishing to give the good news to the Saint whose feast day it was, realised to his astonishment that the ninth of April was the feast day of Saint Raphael, which fell on Bright Tuesday, the day customarily celebrated by the Church in his memory.
Unexplored are the wishes of God! He causes things to happen in a way we cannot comprehend so that His will is done. Thus it was that, after quite some time, the Metropolitan received a phone call from the lady interested in the church. Unfortunately she was very ill with cancer and needed to travel abroad in a hurry for special treatment, so she would be unable to fulfil her duty; her family too had to return to their homeland. She requested forgiveness for her weakness. The Metropolitan emphatically reassured her that her promise was fulfilled and that it was not an issue of money, seeing that she was the reason for the church under construction to bear the name of Saint Raphael, which would in essence constitute the fulfilment of her vow. He greeted her and wished her an improvement in her health.
Even before the completion of the church, the Metropolitan had accompanied Patriarch Theodoros on an official visit to Russia early in October 2007. The trip had been cancelled repeatedly but finally, within the heavy programmes of the two Churches, time had been set aside to schedule the “Eirinikì” (i.e. first official visit). The date for the co-celebrated Liturgy was set for 8 October to coincide with the great feast day of Saint Sergios of Radonezh, the patron saint of Russia. The Metropolitan’s joy was great indeed as it was his first visit to the place where his protector Saint had lived and led an ascetic existence, and he would furthermore be afforded the opportunity, on his name day, to celebrate the liturgy together with the two Patriarchs. After the jointly celebrated liturgy, which took place with the participation of dozens of Bishops and thousands of worshippers, the Metropolitan received the icon of Saint Sergios as a gift. On the following day the Synod was in the city of Diveyevo, 800 kilometres from Moscow, where the Monastery of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, one of the great hermits of Russia, is situated and where, after a series of spiritual emotions, he received as a memento of his pilgrimage the icon of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, to which was attached a small piece of the Saint’s body.
On the strength of this great blessing and after discussing it with Patriarch Theodoros, whose protector Saint he is and who coincidentally was celebrating the third anniversary of his election to the throne of Alexandria that day, he decided to dedicate the two lateral sections of the Metropolitan church to the two Russian Saints.
There were, needless to say, further strange and amazing things which happened in the course of preparing the church plans as well as during the building period, but this is not the place to recount them. What is significant is that the operation of a church in South Africa bearing the name of Saint Raphael is not a random occurrence nor the result of anyone’s personal ambition but the fruit of God’s divine providence, where the troubled person in today’s world may find support in his or her life through his or her unsullied faith and unconditional trust in our Creator, who through His Saints continues to give us strength in many manifold ways, in our small and big preoccupations “in faraway lands” and in the farthest corners of the earth, where we are called to bear witness through our way of living.
The initial plans were drawn up between 2001 and 2003 by the architect Yiannis Hatzis. The construction work went out on tender and was awarded to Yiannis Vlissides. Although construction began in February 2005, after the foundation stone was laid by Patriarch Theodoros and Metropolitan Sergios, it was from 2006 to 2008 that building work was undertaken in earnest. The marble iconostasis was installed in November 2008.
The first service, which was the Vespers of Forgiveness, was celebrated in the half-finished church walls on Cheesefare Sunday in 2006. Even before the dome was enclosed, the first Vespers service was celebrated in memory of Saint Raphael on 9 April 2007, while the first liturgy took place on 7 October 2008, on the day dedicated to the memory of the Great Martyr Saint Sergios and one day before the feast-day of Saint Sergios of Radonezh.
Description Of The Church
The domed church is built according to the model of a three-kliti basilica. Two large arches supported on rows of columns join to form a cross. The lateral kliti are built lower and are made of continuous domes which again form crosses (cross-vaults). The iconostasis comprises works of art created in Greece by the artist Savvas Kakkalìs using traditional hand-carving techniques and is made of Dionysian marble – the same used in Ancient Greece for the Parthenon, except that then it was referred to as Pentelic marble, after the name of the place it was quarried. The marble floor was laid by local artisans. In the Solea is a marble mosaic created by the Greek artist Kopsahilis depicting an ancient Greek ship surrounded by wave-like ornamentation, symbolising the Church of Africa surrounded on either side by two great seas, the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, and by the Mediterranean Sea. The capitals of all the columns bear a hand-carved paleo-Christian-type cross. The same carved cross, entwined with the anchor to symbolise the link between faith and hope, appears on the arch of the Royal Entrance.
Externally the dome is octagonal, while on the inside it forms a half-orb ending in a tympanum with eight windows. There are arch-shaped windows to the right and the left, and two smaller windows on the West wall. In the socket of the Holy Altar section is one small window, allowing limited light to enter.
Youth Braai Hosted By Archbishop
