The Orthodox Monastery of the Archangel Michael

The Orthodox Monastery of the Archangel Michael was established in Sydney, Australia, in 1995 by Hieromonks Kosmas and Justin. The monastery is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, of which the ruling hierarch is His Grace Bishop George.

The monastery has two chief objectives: to maintain a simple monastic cycle of daily services, and to produce Orthodox print and audio materials in the English language.

The brotherhood consists of three monks, two of them priestmonks. Due to both a lack of space and, primarily, a desire for solitude, the monastery is closed to the public.

In addition to the talk series, the monastery has also produced several new publications, the most popular being The Kursk-Root Icon: A Miracle in Our Times, published in 2008. This 224-page colour publication is the first comprehensive book on the Kursk-Root Icon ever produced in English.

A Short Biography of Father Kosmas

Hieromonk Kosmas was born of Greek parents in Sydney in 1958. He graduated from Sydney Teachers’ College in 1980 with a diploma in high school mathematics and an additional certification in teaching adolescent slow learners. He taught in a number of high schools for ten years until 1990. During this period he also privately tutored a considerable number of students in elementary and high school mathematics.

In 1987, while still a layman, Father Kosmas began presenting Orthodox talks in English, especially in Melbourne. These talks were well attended, especially by the youth, many of whom were drawn back to their Orthodox roots. All of these talks were recorded and made available on audio cassette and video, and were distributed primarily free of charge. In addition, again as a layman, Father Kosmas taught church-organised “Orthodox scripture classes” on a volunteer basis at a number of public schools. At one of these schools he taught four groups of one hundred students aged twelve to sixteen – four hundred students in total.

In 1991 he was tonsured and ordained a priestmonk in Serbia by His Grace Bishop Artemios, a spiritual child of Saint Justin (Popovic). He was named after Saint Kosmas of Aetolia Equal-to-the-Apostles whose feast is celebrated on 24 August. Soon after his ordination he returned to Sydney and served in various parishes, ministering especially to the young adult community.

Apart from his desire to preach the word of God, Father Kosmas had another desire: to produce printed Orthodox materials in the English language. This desire was realised in 1993, when the production of publications in English commenced. Approximately fifty booklets were produced on the lives of the saints and various other topics. Initially, these publications were distributed free of charge to the majority of parishes in the ROCOR Diocese of Australia and New Zealand. Because of their considerable popularity these publications were later offered for sale, especially in the U.S. and Canada.

Since 1997, Father Kosmas has been a very strong supporter of homeschooling. He continually encourages parents to homeschool their children instead of sending them to schools where immorality and unbelief are a norm. Using his skills and knowledge as a teacher, he helped and supported parents who sought his aid in homeschooling their children. After some years, he was unable to continue this ministry but he continues to encourage parents to homeschool. 

In 1998, with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Hilarion, Father Kosmas established the 
Holy Dormition Sisterhood (HDS) in St. Marys, Sydney. Although originally intended to become a monastic community, the sisterhood found its calling as a lay sisterhood, and gradually took upon itself the publishing work initiated by Father Kosmas as well as assisting him in all his missionary activities, including the production of the talks. 

In 2007, with the blessing and support of Metropolitan Hilarion, Father Kosmas began presenting regular talks every 6–8 weeks, at Saint George Russian Orthodox Church in Carlton, Sydney. These talks were recorded and made available for purchase on CD at a number of monasteries and parishes, especially in North America. 

In June of 2013, again with the blessing of the metropolitan, this website was established in order to offer these talks for purchase on CD and in downloadable MP3 format.

In the middle of 2015, Father Kosmas suffered a stroke, and the talks had to be suspended. By the grace of God, one year later he was able to resume the talks, although reduced to four times a year. It was during this time that he began the “Upbringing of Children” series.

In July of 2018 it was decided to make all downloads of the talks on our website available free of charge. In January of 2019 the entire series of talks was published on YouTube. After this, the talks were no longer produced on CD. 

In May of 2020, Father Kosmas had to cancel his scheduled talk due to COVID-19 restrictions. He decided not to resume any public talks until the faithful were permitted to attend the services and the talks without masks and social distancing. He especially believed that the faithful should be permitted to kiss the cross, icons, holy relics, and the priest’s hand when receiving a blessing. 

In July of 2022, with the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions, Father Kosmas was able to resume the talks. In that year, he presented two talks (82 and 83) with the title: The Importance of Reading the Lives of Saints When Dealing with the Heresies of Ecumenism and Covidism in two parts. A few days after Part 2 was uploaded onto YouTube, the talk was removed, supposedly for “medical misinformation”.

For some years, Father Kosmas was concerned that YouTube could remove certain talks or even shut down the whole Orthodox Talks YouTube Channel. He was advised during this time to upload his talks to Rumble and to several podcasts. However, due to frequent illnesses and lack of knowledge to do this, he kept putting it off. After YouTube removed Talk 83, Father Kosmas decided it was time to upload the talks to the abovementioned platforms. Once he made that decision, an Orthodox Christian from the US, who had no knowledge of Father Kosmas’ intentions, contacted him and offered his experience in the world of social media. Within a month or so, all the Talks were uploaded to Rumble and made available on over 10 podcasts. Father Kosmas often says: Thanks, YouTube, for making all this possible! You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

In 2023, Father Kosmas saw the need to raise the awareness of both the clergy and laity that certain contraceptives cause abortions. The ignorance in the Orthodox Church regarding this matter was difficult for him to watch. He could not sit back and say nothing regarding the hundreds of millions of children that were being aborted due to these abortion-causing contraceptives. He therefore began writing a book on this important topic titled, Did You Know That Certain Contraceptives Cause Abortions and Serious Side Effects? Knowing that this book could take some years to finish, and seeing the urgent need for this message to be spread, he decided to make the content of this book available in stages.

At the same time, Father Kosmas published a pamphlet and icon (in different languages) on this topic - see here. This pamphlet and icon are being distributed throughout Australia and overseas, to Canada, USA, UK, New Zealand, South Korea, and soon to Greece and other countries. By the grace of God, over a hundred thousand icons and pamphlets have been distributed free of charge (including postage costs) to date. This was made possible through the donations of some Orthodox Christians who strongly believe in the spreading of this message and those who repented that they were involved in any way with these abortion-causing contraceptives.

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Photo Gallery

Services and talks at Saint George Russian Orthodox Church, Carlton, Sydney, Australia

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Reviews

Father Cyprian, Dean of Students, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, Jordanville, New York:

The talks in English by Hieromonk Kosmas aim to present the teachings of the Orthodox Church as they relate to our daily spiritual struggles, in a manner that is both simple to understand and practical to apply.  His approach is conversational and direct, simple and sincere, pious and humble. One can sense the responsibility he feels to avoid introducing his own ideas while presenting the views of the Church.

I hope that these talks, given with love for the benefit of Orthodox Christians, will provide support and encouragement to the many who are struggling to lead a pious Orthodox life in today’s materialistic world, and that they will see that Christ’s commandments are as applicable today as they were in the first centuries of Christianity.

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Father Geoffrey Korz, Dean of Ontario, Canada, and Rector of All Saints of North America Orthodox Church in Hamilton (www.asna.ca):

I was delighted to learn of the long-awaited downloads of the Orthodox Christian talks by Hieromonk Kosmas of Australia. Father Kosmas offers an approach that is often talked about in Orthodox Christian parishes, but too rarely seen: a practical guide to everyday life, applying the spiritual experience of Christ's saints.

Touching on the countless ways in which we might live a shallow (and false) Christian life, Father Kosmas' words place his listeners in front of a kind of spiritual mirror, forcing each of us to confront our own self-deception, in the light of Christian Truth. With his guidance, one cannot help to experience a real change of perspective.

Without doubt, the topics on which Father Kosmas' talks touch are a treasury of Christian formation that is much needed in our confusing times. They are well worth the cost, whether in download or CD format, and considering the millions of dollars spent annually on pop culture drivel, they are an investment in the good of the human soul.

As one who spends much time in the car, the spiritual words of Father Kosmas have become for me a welcome and familiar voice, taking me away from the noise and chatter of the secular world, recapturing what might otherwise be lost moments in transit. As my daughter says, Father Kosmas has become my best friend, through the car stereo.

It's my hope that he can become the best friend to thousands of others who are seeking Truth.

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Father Peter Alban Heers, Founder, Uncut Mountain Press, Host of Postcards From Greece internet-radio program:

The lectures of Fr. Kosmas are a God-send to us poor, embattled Christians of these last times! They are accessible without being shallow, learned without being patronizing, and traditional without being reactionary. They enlighten the mind while enlivening the soul! In short, in this is their great value: the attentive listener is freed from the shackles of ignorance and misinformation and initiated into Eternal Wisdom Who is Christ our Lord. The ultimate aim of every Orthodox guide and catechist is that their disciple have the mind of Christ. Now that these lectures are on-line, Orthodox Christians everywhere can more easily access the path to this end!