The monks have to pay Roman Catholics or atheists to publish the books, because the monastery doesn't have it's own professional printing equipment . . . yet . . .
*UPDATED 02/22/2022*
So far $1500 was collected out of the $5000 goal. Please, take part in this missionary effort.
Orthodox Christian editors in Brazil must pay Roman Catholics or atheists to publish their books, because there are not any Orthodox publishing companies in Brazil or Portugal. There are over 270 million people in the world who speak Portuguese, who have little or no access to Orthodox Christian books, because — until now — there have not been any Orthodox Christian publishers. Thankfully, an Orthodox monastery in Brazil is trying to change that.
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity needs a professional printing machine, so that in Brazil they can become the first Orthodox Christian publishing house — able to print books at reasonable prices, and without having non-orthodox publishers meddling with the editing process. To purchase this machine, this monastery needs $5000 USD in donations.
If you would like to support this cause, your donations will go directly to purchase printing equipment and supplies needful for accomplishing this work by the monastery. Please, DONATE NOW.
(It is a non-profit fund/tax deductible)
Account name: Brazilian Monastery Fund
Address: PO box 70
Platina, CA 96076
Account No. 5994130523
Bank: Wells Fargo
Address: 1515 Pine Street
Redding, CA 96001
Bank Routing Number for wire transfers: 121000248
BIC (SWIFT code) WFBIUS6S
On a volunteer basis, the monks are already engaged in the work of editing Orthodox books and translating them into Portuguese, but until now they have had to rely on the services of third parties for publication — at great expense to the monastery. There is so much more they could do to serve existing Orthodox Christians, and to help bring more Portuguese speaking people into the Orthodox Church, if it were possible for them to purchase this professional printing equipment.
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity is located in an Atlantic Forest reserve in the state of Pernambuco in the northeastern region of Brazil.
The monastery's Abbot, Archimandrite Pedro Siqueira, was tonsured a monk in 1997 in Portugal, and was made a priest some time later. Eager to acquire the genuine experience of Orthodox monasticism, Fr. Pedro was sent to the St. Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina, California (founded by Fr. Seraphim Rose). His years of stay in the Brotherhood of St. Herman not only equipped him to replicate an authentic monasticism in Brazilian lands, but also transmitted to him a missionary love through the spreading of Orthodox literature — a celebrated tradition of the Brotherhood under the figures of Fathers Seraphim and Herman.
Upon completion of his time in the USA, Fr. Pedro was sent to Brazil with the goal of establishing the first Serbian monastery in Brazil. Although the task was arduous, divine grace was felt on several occasions. In 1986, property in a secluded region suitable for monasticism was granted to the Orthodox Church by Rev. Archpriest Elias Cavalcanti Lima, on which a temple (Holy Trinity Church) and a bishop's house were initially built. In 2010, His Excellency Mitrophan Kodich granted his blessing for the establishment of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Monastery in these existing buildings, and he himself visited the site of the future monastery the following year.
In May 2011, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Serbia created the Diocese of South and Central America, with headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, making the region independent of the Eastern America Diocese. Elected to the newly created ecclesiastical structure was Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovitch of Montengero, of blessed memory, who visited Holy Trinity Church the same year, celebrating the Divine Liturgy.
Clergy gathered during the visit of Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovitch). From left to right, the second is Bishop Kirilo (Bojović) and the third is Abbot Pedro Siqueira, 2019
Metropolitan Amfilohije, with his missionary vision and drive, closely exercised the pastoral role towards Abbot Peter and the other Brazilian faithful, having visited the site of the future monastery several times, encouraging and instructing everyone in the arduous work of construction. A few years later, in 2016, Met. Amfilohije finally signed the canonical establishment of the Holy Trinity Monastery. It was on his last visit to the Monastery in 2019, together with Bishop Kirilo (Bojović), that he elevated Abbot Peter to the rank of Archimandrite. One of his projects for the expansion of Orthodoxy in Brazil was the publication in Portuguese (in 6 volumes) of the Prologue of Ohrid — a task he entrusted to Abbot Peter, along with his blessing.
Holy Trinity Monastery, 2020
In the year 2016, the first volume of the Prologue was finally published. However, since there is currently no Orthodox publishing house in Brazil (nor even in Portugal or the rest of the Lusophone world), the high cost of book production has served as a major obstacle to the missionary intent that the Monastery inherited from its blessed archpastor.
In an act of faith, Abbot Peter officially established the St. Savas Publishing House in 2020, with the blessing of the current Bishop Kirilo (Bojović). Although newborn, the publishing house — which operates exclusively through volunteer work — has not been idle for an instant, and has been instrumental in the publication in Portuguese of the book "Surprised by Christ" by Fr. James Bernstein, and has two more titles ready to be published this year: "The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation", by Dr. Christopher Benjamin, and the second volume of the Prologue of Ohrid — with the promise of new titles for 2022.
The fraternal ties that developed between Abbot Peter and the brothers of the monastery of St. Herman during his stay in Platina, ties that proved to be unbreakable, strengthened by mutual visits between both Abbots and other monks, are also a powerful and providential tool for the evangelization of the Portuguese-speaking world. This is due to the fact that the young publishing house, St. Savas, was granted the right to translate and publish any work from the Brotherhood's vast catalog.
One can say, echoing the words of the Savior, "the harvest indeed is great, but the harvesters are few" (St. Matthew 9:37). All the work is done by a few volunteers associated with the monastery, and the high costs have to be absorbed by the monks. If the publishing house were at least equipped with the necessary machinery to work independently, without having to outsource the production of its books, the volume of Orthodox literature in Portuguese would certainly grow exponentially.
Watch below this short video in which Abbot Peter addresses the Orthodox brethren for the cause of Christ:
VIDEO:
You can visit St. Savas Publishing House crowdfunding page here.