Archimandrite Damian (Hart)
Great Schema Archimandrite Damian, aged 77, reposed in the Lord on March 7, 2009, at St. Silouan the Athonite Russian Orthodox Monastery, Ben Lomond, CA, after a courageous struggle with cancer. At the time of his repose, he was abbot of St. Silouan Monastery under the omophorion of His Grace Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
Archimandrite Damian was born William King Hart, December 18, 1931, at Rocky Mount, NC, the son of Floris and Mary Corbett Hart and brother of Mary Orpha Hart, all of whom preceded him in death.
Archimandrite Damian was a U.S. Army veteran, having served in Salzburg, Austria, in the mid-1950s. He was a graduate of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ (Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance, 1956), General Theological Seminary, New York City (Master of Divinity, 1959), and United States International University, San Diego, CA (M.A. 1966; Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, 1969). He was headmaster of Saint John’s School, Chula Vista, CA (1963–1966), All Saints’ School, San Diego, CA (1966– 1970), and president of St. Michael’s Farm for Boys, Picayune, MS (1970–1980). A lifelong teacher, Archimandrite Damian was also a talented linguist and musician, playing both piano and organ.
Archimandrite Damian was instrumental in founding several Orthodox mission churches in the South and also two monasteries: the Congregation of St. Augustine, San Diego, CA (1966), which later became the Orthodox Monastery of the Glorious Ascension in Picayune, MS (1977), and later Resaca, GA (1980); and St. Michael’s Skete, Cañones, NM (1992). From 1977–2005, he was abbot of the Monastery of the Glorious Ascension, and then following several years in retirement, was appointed abbot of St. Silouan Russian Orthodox Monastery in Ben Lomond, CA.
A pioneer of Orthodox monasticism in America, Archimandrite Damian converted to Orthodoxy in 1977, along with Hieromonk Michael Adams (+1984), Hierodeacon David (Colburn), and Igumen John (Harwell), the co-founders of the Monastery of the Glorious Ascension. Fathers Damian and Michael had been fellow-students at Westminster Choir College and General Theological Seminary and co-founded a teaching order of monastics in the Episcopal Church, the Congregation of St. Augustine. Archbishop Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas and the South, at that time the Bishop of Hartford, Orthodox Church in America, ordained Archimandrite Damian as an Orthodox priest on September 23, 1977. Archimandrite Damian was tonsured to the Great Schema, the most advanced level of Orthodox monasticism, by a representative of Abbot Parthenios and the elders of Saint Paul’s Monastery, Mount Athos, on October 23, 1996.
Archimandrite Damian fell asleep in the Lord surrounded by his Brotherhood of St. Silouan and many brothers and
sisters in Christ and spiritual children. Funeral services will be served by Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco at St.
Lawrence Orthodox Christian Church, 6192 Highway 9, Felton, CA: Vigil at 4:00 p.m., Monday, March 9; funeral at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 10, with a meal following. Thereafter, Archimandrite Damian’s remains will be transported to St. Mary of Egypt Russian Orthodox Church, 1765 Woodstock Road, Roswell, GA, for a Panikhida (Orthodox memorial) service at 10 a.m., March 12. Interment will follow immediately at Holy Resurrection Cemetery, Monastery of the Glorious Ascension, U.S. 41 (just north of the Whitfield County line), Resaca, GA, with V. Rev. John Townsend of St. Mary of Egypt Russian Orthodox Church officiating. A memorial meal will follow at St. Mary’s Church at 4:00 p.m.
In accordance with monastic tradition, mourners are requested not to send flowers. Memorial gifts may be made either to the St. Silouan Monastery Bell Fund or to the fund for Archimandrite Damian’s tombstone. Tax-deductible gifts may be sent to: St. Silouan the Athonite Russian Orthodox Monastery/One Brooks Road/Ben Lomond, CA 95005.
May the Lord grant rest eternal in blessed repose to the Great-schema Archimandrite Damian, and may his memory be
eternal!