In the 1880’s, Montreal received the first Orthodox immigrants from Syria and Lebanon, who established themselves in what is now called “Old Montreal”.
At that time, Fr. Raphael Hawaweeny (now St. Raphael of Brooklyn) was also leading the Syrian Mission of the Orthodox Church of Russia to gather the ‘Antiochians’ in North America. He was sent to the Arab Orthodox community in Montreal to shepherd them, and in 1896, he blessed the founding of the Syrian Orthodox Benevolent Society.
On his following pastoral visit in 1899, he established St. Nicholas Church (our parish) although there was no permanent Church building at that time, the faithful worshipped together in homes with visiting Orthodox Priests from the Middle East.
Finally, on June 4, 1910, our parish was granted from Quebec, Charter 100: “An act to incorporate the Syrian Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas of Canada”. The first Church building for our parish was located at 454 Notre Dame Street East in the heart of the community. The cornerstone of the Church was blessed by Bishop Raphael. Our community remained at that location until October 1949, when we relocated to 80 de Castelnau and built a Church there, which is our current location. The cornerstone was blessed in September 1950, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir and Metropolitan Samuel David, and they later consecrated the Church building on November 4, 1951. A new charter was obtained in 1970 to rename our parish to the current name: Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church.
Fr. Raphael Hawaweeny was the first Orthodox Bishop of any nationality to be consecrated on North American soil in 1904. After consecrating his first mission of St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn (the mother parish of our Archdiocese), he consecrated his second mission -our parish- making us the second oldest parish in the Archdiocese! He reposed in 1915 in Brooklyn and was canonized as St. Raphael of Brooklyn in March 2000, and is the intercessor for our Antiochian Archdiocese. His tomb was relocated in 1989 from New York to the Antiochian Village in Pennsylvania. A piece of his holy relic was gifted to our parish by the late Metropolitan Philip Saliba, and was embedded into an Icon of St. Raphael, which is available for veneration in our Church.
Several priests were sent from the Middle East to temporarily serve our parish until 1910, when St. Raphael appointed the first official Pastor after the consecration of our first Church building. The following is a complete list of the Pastors who served our parish:
St. Raphael of Brooklyn
Fr. Ephraim Deeb (1898-1901)
Fr. Meletios Karroum (1901-1903)
Fr. George Mahfouz (1903-1906)
Fr. Aftimios Ofiesh (1906-?)
Fr. Agapios Gholam (1910-1917)
Fr. Michael Zarbatany (1917-1957)
Fr. Theodore Ziton (1957-1962)
Fr. Gibran Ramlaoui (1962-1963)
Fr. John Nicholas Israel (1963-1969)
Fr. Joseph Shaheen (1969-2000)
Fr. Peter Shportun (2000-2007)
Fr. Mark-Arsenios Wyatt (2007-Present)
After the repose of St. Raphael of Brooklyn in 1915, his missionary work quickly became divided. Some communities desired to remain under the jurisdiction of the Russian Church, while others (including our parish) opted to be received into the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch (Syria). It took another 60 years for total jurisdictional and administrative unity to be restored to the Church of Antioch in North America. In 1975, the two camps reunited under the leadership of the visionary Metropolitan Philip, who reposed in 2014 and is buried next to St. Raphael at the Antiochian Village. His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui) succeeded Metropolitan Philip, wisely leading our Archdiocese interested in saving souls. He also serves as a respected member of the Holy Synod of Antioch.
Special mention must be made about Fr. Michael Zarbatany, who has so-far served the longest period of time as our Pastor. He was an active son of our parish who had his own large family. He was chosen by the community to lead them, and in November 1917, he was ordained a Priest by Metropolitan Germanos (Zahle, Lebanon) and began to lead the parish for 40 years, earning from the people the title ‘Apostle to Canada’ for his extensive pastoral work throughout Quebec and Ontario. He was the Pastor when the parish relocated to the present location, and until today, the elderly members of our parish can recall stories about Fr. Zarbatany and how well-connected, influential, and beloved he was in Montreal. He is buried at Mt. Royal Cemetery.
Over the years, both our Church & Parish Hall have been beautified and greatly renovated to preserve the community’s legacy for future generations. We have grown to become a healthy mix of families born both in Canada and in the Middle East. The use of English & Arabic is balanced appropriately for all aspects of parish life. Major demographic changes have impacted our parish life, with many new young families joining the community, and city-growth, where the majority of parishioners no longer live in the Church neighbourhood itself like it used to be. Our families are all over the Greater Montreal landscape.
Fr. Mark-Arsenios Wyatt, is our first Canadian-born and convert Pastor. He is also our first Pastor to have graduated Seminary from Balamand Monastery, the heart of Antioch. He is fluent in both English & Arabic, allowing him to serve both cultures of our parish. To read more about Fr. Mark, please click on his biography.
In 2019, we celebrated the 120th Anniversary of our rich history. We remain a vibrant parish and a healthy Orthodox witness in Montreal, through the intercessions of St. Raphael of Brooklyn.