Joseph Muñoz-Cortez: mysteries of the life and death of the keeper of the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary

Childhood in Santiago

Joseph, or Brother Joseph, as many believers call him, was born in May 1948 in the capital of Chile, Santiago. We know very little about his childhood, as well as about his personal life in general: they say that he did not like to talk about himself, preferring to focus on spiritual issues in communication. He also bequeathed to his close friends not to tell anything about his relatives. But what do we still know?

Once, when Joseph was 14 years old, he “accidentally” walked in his native Santiago past the Russian church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. But with God, as you know, there are no accidents. Through the open doors the young man heard the singing of a choir, which struck him to the core. He went inside and saw Archbishop Leonty (Filippovich) of Chile there.

The atmosphere in the church, although solemn, was modest, since this parish, like most parishes in the Russian Abroad, was quite poor. The Bishop received the young man very kindly. As they say, Joseph thought then: “If this bishop is so poor, but there is so much love in him, then this is the true Church of Christ.”

View of the church in Santiago before the 1960 earthquake

Finally, Archbishop Leonty invited Joseph to come again. “My boy, it was no coincidence that you came here. Come back again! - he said.

The young man took the advice. Some time after meeting Bishop Leonty, young Joseph wished to convert to Orthodoxy. However, two more years passed before his baptism, in which he was named in honor of the righteous Joseph the Betrothed, guardian of the Virgin Mary.

Joseph accepted Orthodoxy deeply and with all his soul. He began to carefully study the works of the holy fathers. Later, he became especially interested in icon painting: while still in Santiago, he began to study the traditions and symbolism of the Orthodox icon, and then the desire to deepen his knowledge led him to Montreal, Canada. He eventually became a lecturer in art history at the University of Montreal.

Meeting on Mount Athos

A new turn in the path of Munoz-Cortez’s ministry occurred in 1982 during the most ordinary, at first glance, trip to Mount Athos. He went there with two friends, one of whom decided to stay in the monastery during the pilgrimage - there he later became a monk.

With another comrade, Joseph continued on his way. They really wanted to find one monastic cell, but they spent the whole day wandering along rocky paths and paths, but never reached their goal, completely exhausted. Suddenly they saw a poor monastery below and decided to go to it, since they had to look for an overnight stay somewhere.

The rector of the skete in the name of the Nativity of Christ, Archimandrite Clement, received the travelers very cordially. Subsequently, this elder would play a huge role in Joseph’s life and become his spiritual father.

Schema-abbot Clement († 1997), Abba of the Nativity of the Nativity Skete on Athos (photo 1994)

The monks of the monastery, as it turned out, were engaged in icon painting. From the first glance, Joseph paid special attention to the image of the Iveron Mother of God. He asked the brethren to sell the image, but was refused. As it turned out, this icon was the first one painted in the monastery, and the monks were not going to part with it.

Joseph repeated attempts to obtain a wondrous image several times, but to no avail. The monks even offered to write an exact copy and send it to Montreal. But Joseph wanted precisely this image, and not a list from it.

“When we entered the house, I saw this icon of the Blessed Virgin above the door in the icon-painting workshop. I will never be able to explain what I felt when I saw this icon. I think my heart turned over in my chest. I became very attached to this image,” he said in one of the rare interviews he gave to the magazine “Orthodox Rus'” in 1983.

Myrrh-streaming Icon of the Mother of God “Iveron-Montreal”

The next day at the liturgy, while singing “It is Worthy to Eat,” Joseph knelt down and with tears prayed to the Mother of God that She would go with him, if that was Her Holy Will. After the service, he and his companion prepared to leave the monastery to continue their journey. Archimandrite Clement was not among those who saw them off. He called out to the travelers when they began to descend the mountainside. In his hands was some kind of package.

“The Most Holy Virgin wants to go with you to America,” the elder said and gave Joseph the icon that he had so dreamed of.

When Joseph again offered money, the archimandrite said that money cannot be taken for such a shrine.

Notes

↑ 12
Inna Simonova. [www.rusk.ru/st.php?idar=112167 Montreal tragedy] // “Russian Line”
[www.rpac.ru/article/83/ Hegumen Feofan. The last martyr of the Church of Christ, part 1]
[vos.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200003906 Professor Vladimir Voropaev. We must not fear death for Christ]
↑ 123
[www.verapravoslavnaya.ru/?Iverskaya_Monrealmzskaya_ikona Orthodox Faith - Iveron Montreal Icon]
↑ 12
[www.rpac.ru/article/84/ Hegumen Feofan. The last martyr of the Church of Christ, part 2]
This was the Skete of the Nativity of Christ in Katunaki, which belonged to the Greek Old Calendar “Matthewian Synod” (see [www.rpac.ru/article/83/ Hegumen Theophan. The Last Martyr of the Church of Christ, part 1])
[mcdiocese.com/eparxiya/ Russian Church » Diocese]
Foundation in Memory of Brother Joseph (Society House of Icons).
Montreal Myrrh-Streaming Icon and Brother Joseph. - Montreal, Moscow: Pilgrim, 2003. - 477 p. — 10,000 copies. — ISBN 2-9807705-0-7.
[azbyka.ru/tserkov/chudo/5g14_11-all.shtml The greatest miracle of the 20th century: the miraculous Iveron Montreal Icon of the Mother of God]
[eadiocese.org/News/2014/oct/lkwdjose.ru.htm Howell, New Jersey: The memory of Bro. was honored at the diocesan center. Joseph]
Inna Simonova. [rusk.ru/st.php?idar=112246 Pilgrimage to Jordanville]
[www.eadiocese.org/News/2012/dec/metphilaret.ru.htm Jordanville: Metropolitan Hilarion led a memorial service at the tomb of Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)]. Retrieved March 9, 2013. [www.webcitation.org/6F39NeM52 Archived from the original on March 12, 2013].

The Miracle of Myrrh Streaming

The miracle happened on the night of November 24, 1982 - on the eve of Thanksgiving, perhaps one of the most beautiful American holidays, when everyone traditionally gathers together to thank God for all His blessings.

“At three o’clock in the morning I woke up from the strong aroma of roses - the whole room was filled with it,” Joseph said.

At first he thought that it was his friend, who was living with him at that moment, who had spilled some incense, then he decided that the smell came from perfume.

“But when I approached the icon, I was amazed! The entire icon was covered with fragrant oil - fragrant oil! I froze in place from such a miracle!” - he admitted.

Joseph took the icon to the Montreal Cathedral. Archbishop Vitaly wiped the myrrh off her and kept her for several days in a closed altar on the throne to verify the authenticity of the miracle.

Bishop Vitaly wanted the miraculous image to remain in the Montreal Cathedral permanently. However, Joseph believed that the icon was given to him in order to bring it to the world. At the same time, he deeply regretted that in this way he was showing disobedience to the hierarchy. After all, obedience was for him one of the most important components of church life...

Beliefs

He believed that modern youth have a very difficult and difficult life, which forces them to study, to work, to earn money to acquire material wealth, that is, to live in the material world, forgetting about the spiritual. Joseph considered television a real disaster, a drug that destroys people's lives and leads to the loss of the ability to distinguish between good and evil (and did not allow a film to be made about the miraculous icon). Joseph believed that children should be taught by example, since they too often see their parents tell them one thing and act differently. He revered Saint John of Shanghai because he cared only about the spiritual in “this rotten material world”[10].

The news of the miracle spread in the blink of an eye

Almost 40 years ago there was no Internet, no one had yet heard of social networks, with the help of which news spread around the world in a matter of seconds. But this did not stop the believers from learning about everything very quickly: the news of the miracle that had occurred instantly spread throughout the Russian Abroad.

“Someone called us and said: “Did you hear that in the apartment of an Orthodox Spaniard in Montreal the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God was filled with myrrh?” Of course, we wanted to know more about this,” recalls the rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington, Archpriest Viktor Potapov.

Archpriest Viktor Potapov

He began calling his friends and eventually found Joseph’s phone number and invited him to come to the American capital.

For many years I wondered why our parish was the first to receive the miraculous icon - of course, not counting the cathedral in Montreal. Everything turned out to be very simple: the abbot and his flock really wanted to see the amazing image.

This meeting took place in April 1983. Many hundreds of people came to venerate the icon, which is a lot for non-Orthodox America and for the small number of Orthodox residents of Washington.

“During the first akathist, I simply could not take my eyes off the icon. I had to read the text, but I kept looking at the icon and was amazed at how this wonderful myrrh flowed from it,” admits Father Victor.

According to him, after the service, Brother Joseph opened the icon case and took out a roll of cotton wool soaked in myrrh. They anointed everyone who came with it, and gave people small pieces of cotton wool.

Icon without salary

“The whole temple had an unearthly smell, it was amazing. It had to be seen to be appreciated,” says the priest.

When he was the host of the Voice of America religious program, Father Viktor Potapov prepared a special episode of the program dedicated to the myrrh-streaming icon, thanks to which thousands of believers in the former USSR learned about the miracle. The text of this program was then published in the Parisian newspaper “Russian Thought” and in the magazine “Orthodox Rus'”.

Memory

On November 23-25, 2007, a memorable spiritually significant event was solemnly celebrated in Russia Abroad: exactly 25 years ago, Brother Joseph was called by the Lord to a special ministry. The dates prayerfully marked at the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville are the 25th anniversary of the appearance of the Montreal Iveron Myrrh-Streaming Icon and the 10th anniversary of the murder of Its guardian[11].

On December 14, 2012, with the blessing of the First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Metropolitan Hilarion, the diocesan commission of the Eastern American Diocese for canonization was created, the task of which is to collect information and raise awareness about the righteous life of Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky), as well as Brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortez[12 ].

Brother Joseph's life's work

From that trip to Washington began the special ministry of Joseph Muñoz-Cortez. He traveled to different parishes, visited not only North and South America, but also Europe. In 1995, in Bulgaria, thousands of believers stood in line in prayerful silence for hours to venerate the shrine - all donations, at the request of Brother Joseph, were then used to complete the construction of the majestic cathedral.

Joseph immediately made a vow that the icon would never become a source of enrichment for him. He will keep this vow in full. I heard many times that he was repeatedly offered money for visits. He refused to accept funds for personal needs and gave donations to the monastery on Mount Athos, acquired shrines, and helped those in need. He was unmercenary, lived poorly and firmly believed that the icon goes where it wants, and he is just a servant of the Mother of God who carries out Her will. Sometimes he returned the tickets he had already purchased and went somewhere completely different, and people were offended at him because he “forgot” about their arrival.

Jose Cortez at the shrine of St. John in San Francisco. Mid 80's

I have seen many photographs and videos from different places, and often it is difficult to find Joseph in them: here he is somewhere behind everyone, far from the icon, here he humbly stands with a miraculous image in his hands, his head bowed.

During one of his trips to Mount Athos, Joseph was secretly tonsured a monk by Schema-Abbot Clement. When he was tonsured, he was named Ambrose - in honor of Saint Ambrose of Optina.

As Father Victor notes, Brother Joseph did not live in a monastery where monks pray for many hours a day, but did the same in the world. They say that during his nine-hour prayer rule, he commemorated several thousand people every day who asked for the help of the Mother of God.

“He did not close himself off from people and carried the icon everywhere and to everyone, to the detriment of his own health,” says Father Victor.

Joseph did have health problems, he suffered from diabetes and because of long travels it was difficult for him to stand for long periods of time, but he endured long services, rarely allowing himself to leave.

The guardian of the icon was also painfully wounded by the suspicious attitude towards it on the part of some representatives of the clergy of the Russian Church Abroad. In this regard, the example of the highly respected Archimandrite Cyprian (Pyzhov), who is called “the icon painter of all foreign countries,” is typical. He did not believe in a miracle until he saw everything with his own eyes.

Archimandrite Cyprian (Pyzhov)

One day, after a service at the Synodal Cathedral in New York, Father Cyprian anointed the believers with myrrh from the Montreal Icon. The icon itself was not present at the service. The greater was the archimandrite’s surprise when, during the anointing, the cotton wool not only did not dry out, but on the contrary, as if “by itself” it became even more moist. According to eyewitnesses, Father Cyprian entered the altar and with tears in his eyes began to ask forgiveness from the Mother of God for his cowardice.

“Of course, the icon brought healing and consolation to many sick people, but Brother Joseph always said that the most important miracle lies in the power of attraction with which it covers many people and opens the path to God for them,” emphasizes Father Viktor Potapov. “Many who were lukewarm in faith came to God after praying in front of this icon and received Holy Baptism.”

In this regard, the priest recalled the words of the late Bishop Vasily (Rodzianko) that “the invoking grace of the icon led to sanctifying grace through the sacraments of the Church.”

As Father Victor recalls, over the years of service Joseph did not change at all: the same as he arrived for the first time, he remained the same at their last meeting - shortly before his death. And when I ask the priest to characterize Muñoz-Cortez, he first of all speaks of his devotion to the Mother of God.

“He knew his place in this world. And the fact that he deserved a martyr’s death testifies that the Lord found him worthy of such a crown.”

Putin's plan: Chinese version with a Jewish accent?

Discussion: 19 comments

Michael:
08/27/2009 at 00:00
I would like to respond to this paragraph: “One of the priests of the Moscow Patriarchate, speaking at an event of the International Slavic Foundation, said back in the late 1990s that he knew the whereabouts of the icon and that it would return. Perhaps the icon will finally be revealed as proof of the correctness of the entry of the Church Abroad into the Moscow Patriarchate,” the author of which is simply pitied, for he is in grave delusion. To write such a thing would mean to be in the same corrupting spirit and apostasy recklessness in which he is the author of this libel. A certain “clergyman” said that he supposedly knows WHERE THE ICON is, which means that MP adherents are to blame for this abduction, and most likely the murder of Joseph. It is impossible to understand this mysterious phrase in any other way. AND EXACTLY AFTER ENTERING THE Moscow Patriarchate, ALL THE LAWNESS THAT IS NOW GOING ON IN THE CHURCHES OF ALL COUNTRIES IS A CONSEQUENCE OF THIS CAPITULATION OF FEAR FOR THE SAKE OF THE JEWS. But you won’t see the icon of the Lord Judas! It’s not given to you, unless you hid Her like this.
Oleg, +stmvl.org+:
10/19/2009 at 00:00
Yes, to be honest, the last paragraph is strange... Who is the author?
MVN (calendar compiler):
10/19/2009 at 00:00
The article was not signed by me, because... it contains generally known data. I don’t understand what’s strange about the last paragraph and the question posed there. I also don’t understand the last three confusing sentences (“NAMELY”... and further) in the response signed by michael.
Read also: 60 questions that Christians “cannot” answer
MVN:
10/29/2009 at 00:00
And one more addition. If I’m not mistaken (my memory deteriorated after a stroke in 2003), that priest was from the Ivanovo region and perhaps a hieromonk or even an abbot? It seems that this evening was somehow connected with RISO and the Weimarn brothers? The name of this clergyman was, perhaps, in P. - ? It would be desirable if those present at that evening at the Slavic Foundation would respond. Someone also filmed the video.
KGO SRN:
01.11.2009 at 00:00
There is a video recording, this is a Black Hundred priest from Ivanovo. At the RGS RNC on October 18, the Kyiv department distributed disks dedicated to the 80th anniversary of RIS-O, which was just in October. And exactly 10 years ago, the 70th anniversary of RIS-O was recorded, which we placed on a commemorative DVD. As for the ever-memorable hieromartyr Joseph, he was an immaculate sacrifice, offered in the name of the Resurrection of Tsarist Rus', new, according to the old model. It will be erected by the Victorious Tsar, who will first cleanse the Russian Church of false bishops, leaving the faithful, of whom there will be only a few. And, of course, among them there will not be a single adherent of the false merger, which even Rafail Berestov condemned, and Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov) anathematized in absentia all the conductors of such a takeover.
r.B. Roman:
06.11.2009 at 00:00
Does anyone else, especially those from abroad, really believe in the LEGITIMATE (I emphasize) restoration of the Orthodox Monarchy in Russia? That book “Prophecies of Russian “saints” about the future of Russia” is stupid at the very least and completely heretical. In fact, there are no legitimate Romanovs (the Kirillovichs, of course, don’t count), the Godunovs and Rurikovichs after the Council of 1613 do not have the right to the Russian Throne. You are adults, but you believe some “monks” Berestovs and other young people......
LLL:
10/21/2010 at 00:00
A curious and at the same time strange story. Perhaps the author did not present it very well. And regarding the passage “R.B. Romana, well, I believe in the legitimate revival of the monarchy and not only that. Just think, there are no Romanovs, but what about the Zemsky Sobor? Will and Spirit are above matter.
Announcement:
10/25/2010 at 00:00
10.25.2010 (Monday) in the building of the Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture there will be an evening in memory of Joseph Muñoz Cortes, the keeper of the Montreal myrrh-streaming icon of the Iveron Mother of God, who accepted a martyr’s death. The host of the evening is Mikhail NAZAROV. See more details: https://rusidea.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=2640
Alexander:
01/31/2011 at 00:00
Merry Christmas and Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ! pray for us and everyone around us. R.b. Alexander and Mariana should have given a response from the consul a long time ago with the issuance of a visa, but there was a delay, please help with prayer. Akathist to Seraphim Rose and All the Saints who have shone in the lands of America is available on the website https://www.rousserafim.narod.ru
The International Charitable Foundation, Brotherhood, and Mission of the Holy Venerable Seraphim of Platinum (Rose) were created in 2002 through the intercession and prayers of Fathers Seraphim (Rose) and John of Shanghai and San Francisco. With the blessing and prayers of brother Father Seraphim, Abbot Herman (Podmoshensky), with the prayers of the Brotherhood of Herman of Alaska and the suffering Orthodox prisoners and homeless people of Russia, Ukraine, America, Canada, Australia and other countries of the world. Our goals: missionary work among prisoners, homeless people, drug and alcohol addicted fallen criminals, providing them with all possible assistance with food, medicine and basic necessities, spreading the teachings of Christ throughout the world, publishing an Orthodox newspaper and magazine, creating documentaries, opening rehabilitation centers. <<It’s later than you think, so hurry up to do God’s work>>. The Brotherhood, the Foundation, the Mission will accept any donations, no matter what they are expressed in: prayer or material support and cooperation with us in work for the glory of Jesus Christ. May the hand of the giver never fail. Our addresses: 693000 Russia Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Chekhova street 3/49 mobile phone 8-924-282-48-39 49068 Ukraine Dnepropetrovsk Trudovaya street 29/1 mobile phone +38-063-562- 42-81,+38-097-628-21-37 USA 3102 S. MT Vernon 7 WA99223 tel. 8-101-509-534-10-53 brother Alexander and sister Mariana Portnenko https://WWW.ROUSSERAFIM.NAROD .RU https://WWW.SERAFIMROUS.NAROD.RU E-Mail [email protected]
Anastasia:
07/20/2012 at 00:00
The story is very strange... I feel a little sorry for him. Only I still don’t understand where the icon went???
Tatiana:
10/31/2012 at 00:00
God bless you, brothers and sisters. Martyr of Christ, Joseph, pray to God for us sinners...
Vladimir:
10/31/2013 at 00:00
Roman. The restoration of the monarchy is possible and will be given to Russia by God if the people in the country are worthy of it. For now, he is worthy of the occupation power that has lasted since 1917. May God rest the soul of the murdered brother Joseph. And through his prayers have mercy on us
Alexander:
11/17/2013 at 00:00
Some strange comments here. And the text of the article itself.
What kind of Romanovs? What kind of monarchy? Who here opposes the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which has united with it - you yourself are not in the Church of Christ! What are you listening to here? Horror…
But in essence: the icon is certainly revered. May God return to us. And brother Joseph - pray to God for us...
The icon was found a long time ago, it is in the RTOC:
10/29/2016 at 00:00
https://ps.vk.me/c633516/v633516367/47609/EZJqtZLVBhQ.jpg
MVN:
10/29/2016 at 00:00
Can you be more precise: how, when and where did she end up in RTOC? And why is she in your photo without her previous salary? Is this the same icon or a list from it?
Alexei:
10/30/2016 at 00:00
Michael, that icon. Miraculous!
I think Fr. will answer your questions more competently. Victor Babitsyn. Here is his website https://www.fr-victor.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=28
there, in the “Question to the priest” section, he will definitely answer. The setting may have disappeared during the theft of the Icon.
MVN to Alexey:
10/31/2016 at 00:00
On your advice, I turned to Fr. for clarification. Victor. He answered me: “The Montreal icon disappeared, and after the death of Brother Joseph, the only copy of this icon remained, written by Brother Joseph himself, and he transferred this icon written by him to the RTOC, the icon, unlike the Montreal Myrrh-Streaming Icon, was written in the Russian tradition and simply fragrant with an unearthly aroma, for which it is called Fragrant.” Thus, RTOC does not contain the Montreal Icon, but a list of it.
MVN:
03.11.2017 at 13:20
Bishop Andrey (Erastov): Who were the murderers of Brother Joseph? https://rusidea.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=53092#p53092
MVN:
04/01/2021 at 18:40
It is strange that the Synod of the ROCOR did not give any information about the whereabouts of the icon, although it should have taken care of the search and preservation of such a shrine. And if she returned to the Athos monastery, there would certainly be evidence of this from pilgrims. So far, all the information about it “being in good hands” comes from people in one way or another connected with MP.

Crown predictions

When Brother Joseph last visited the monastery on Mount Athos in 1996, Father Clement predicted to him that 1997 would be a fateful year in his life. This prophecy came true exactly. In addition, a year before his death it was revealed to him what would happen to him, but even then he did not turn away from the path.

Here is what Dmitry Mikhailovich Gortinsky, regent of the Ascension Church in Sacramento, California, wrote about this in a private letter to Mother Maria Potapova dated December 25, 1997:

“...What I will describe was, according to Joseph himself, not a dream at all, but completely in reality. He woke up at night and felt that he was tied hand and foot. His mouth was also gagged, and he could neither speak nor scream. He tried to free himself, but could not, and only prayed to himself. He knew that this was an evil spirit and it kept him like that all night. Joseph himself told this in Spanish to my wife a year ago, and she then translated it to me, and now she has retold it again so that I can write it down accurately.”

Everything described happened on October 31, 1996, exactly a year before his martyrdom.

Death in Athens

Joseph's way of the cross ended in Athens - not far from Athos, where it once began. For some reason, it seems to me that this is not an accident: it’s as if a circle has closed that was destined to close this way.

Joseph went to Greece on October 12, 1997. On the eve of his departure, he talked with Elena Sergeevna Golitsyna-Navarre, one of the founders of the House of Icons society, created specifically to help images travel around the world. Joseph told her that he would go to Athos together with the icon, which he would take without an icon case, in a special suitcase lined with cotton wool inside. As a rule, during such trips the image flowed a little myrrh, and therefore he could travel quietly without attracting undue attention to himself.

Usually Joseph did not take the miraculous icon on such trips. He guarded the shrine with great trepidation and responsibility, and in such cases he left it with trusted persons. But that visit had one distinctive feature. Initially, Muñoz-Cortez was going to visit the Nativity Monastery at Athos - the same one where the miraculous image was painted. There he wanted to meet Father Chrysostom, who became the head of the monastery after the death of Elder Clement.

Schema-abbot Clement with the monk Chrysostom (Tsanis) who painted the icon

However, Joseph did not take into account that in Thessaloniki, where it was necessary to obtain permission to visit the Holy Mountain, the largest exhibition of Athonite icons was taking place at that time, many people gathered there, and he simply was not able to complete the documents.

Joseph, who arrived in Greece on October 13, 1997, went to the island of Aegina, where the relics of St. Nektarios of Aegina, and left the icon there. From there he called Elena Golitsyna-Navarre, and on October 16 he met at the Athens airport the Russian priest Alexander Ivashevich from South America, whom he wanted to help in purchasing church utensils.

Father Alexander thought that the icon was in Canada. He knew that Joseph was going to go to Aegina for a couple of days before returning to Canada, but he could not even imagine that this was supposed to be a trip for the icon - after all, Joseph did not say anything about it.

On the eve of the tragedy, they visited the monastery of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on the island of Andros. When the monks opened the doors of the temple, right in front of them in the vestibule on one of the ancient frescoes of the Virgin Mary, tears flowed from her eyes. The monks explained that such signs occur immediately before some fateful events in the Church. Joseph very calmly said that he felt that something terrible would happen to him very soon, but he did not know what exactly.

Andros Island

On October 30, Muñoz-Cortez escorted Father Alexander to the airport, and we can only guess what happened after that.

What is known is that Joseph was killed by three people. As the specialists who conducted the investigation later reported, the “work” was carried out very professionally, everything was done in such a way as to cause the greatest suffering to the victim. They beat him on the head, on the neck, broke his Adam's apple, tore his cheeks with ropes, and then left him to die alone, hiding through the balcony. A certain musician guest in the next room heard groans, but did not come to help...

“At the trial,” recalls Father Victor, “we were shown terrible photographs showing horrifying traces of torture. It’s impossible to forget!”

The news of the death came as a shock to those who knew Brother Joseph.

“I remember that at night priest Pavel Ivashevich (father Alexander’s brother) called me from California and told me this terrible news,” recalls Archpriest Viktor Potapov. “I was shocked to the core.” I knew Brother Joseph quite well, I knew how devoted he was to the Mother of God and how seriously he took his service. He loved martyrs and often said how good it would be to give his life for Christ. I think he was prepared for this, and I had no question why the Lord took him to Himself.”

After Joseph’s death, Father Victor found a prayer written in his own hand in the sufferer’s diary. According to the priest, this recording, dated 1985, is valuable because it sheds light on the state of his soul and shows us how difficult it was for him to bear the difficult obedience of the custodian of the myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God. This prayer read:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Who came to earth for our salvation and was voluntarily nailed to the Cross and suffered passion for our sins, let me also endure my suffering, which I accept not from my enemies, but from my brother. God! Don’t hold it against him as a sin.”

Parishioners of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington organized a funeral and a monument in the cemetery of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York.

Joseph Muñoz-Cortez was buried in mid-November, two weeks after his death...