SVS Chancellor Archpriest Chad Hatfield (left foreground) celebrated the services of the Nativity at Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala City, the home of the 115 orphans and the nuns of the Orthodox Monastery Lavra Mambré. Abbess of the monastery, Mother Inés (center background) will be the commencement speaker at SVS in May 2009.

St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Chancellor Archpriest Chad Hatfield marked a joyous Nativity 2008 at the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala City, celebrating the festal liturgical services for the monastic women and 115 children who live and pray at the facility, known as the “House of Mercy.” Fr. Chad, who is also Vice-President of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) and who had led mission teams to the orphanage in both 2001 and 2004, exuberantly expressed his delight in sharing in the holy days of the Nativity at the orphanage, and noted the growing relationship between the Hogar and SVS.

“It had been several years since the nuns and orphans had had a priest for Christmas, and I was honored and overjoyed to have been able to serve there this year,” commented Fr. Chad. “Also, Mother Inés, the abbess of the monastery connected to the Hogar, has welcomed me graciously."

“Additionally I met with two potential seminarians for SVS, and astonishingly, I also learned more about the people in a group of nearly 70,000 who are interested in moving into canonical Orthodoxy. Lastly, it may also be possible for SVS seminarians to take a summer mission team to Guatemala, if plausible dates can be found for such an exchange.”

A citizen of Guatemala, Don Rafael Ayau, founded the home fororphans in 1857. In the year 1996, under the administration ofPresident Álvaro Arzú and the First Lady Patricia Arzú, Hogar RafaelAyau was given back to private stewardship, to the Orthodox Church, anda new chapter in its history was written. His Eminence, MetropolitanAntonios Chedraoui, Archbishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Church ofMexico, Central America, Venezuela, and the Caribbean, officiallyreceived the neglected orphanage from the Guatemalan authorities. OnAugust 9, 1996, the feast day of St. Herman of Alaska, his Eminence,Metropolitan Antonios entrusted to Mother Abbess Inés and the nuns ofthe Orthodox Monastery Lavra Mambré the administration and financialresponsibilities of the Hogar.

More about the history and current operation of Hogar Rafael Ayaumay be found on its Web site:http://www.hogarafaelayau.org/history.shtm

Click here to visit a gallery of photographs from Fr Chad's visit to Guatemala.