The 50th Anniversary of the Repose of the “Apostle of South America,” Protopresbyter Konstantin Izrastsoff

The eve of the Nativity of the Lord 2002 (6 January 2003 according to the new calendar) marked the 50th anniversary of the repose of the “Apostle of South America,” Protopresbyter Konstantin Izrastsoff of blessed memory. After all-night vigil, the clergy and parishioners of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Buenos Aires descended into the crypt of Fr. Konstantin. The grandsons of Fr. Konstantin, Yurii Georgievich and Nikolai Georgievich, were present, as was his great-grandson, Ivan Nikolaevich Izrastsoff. We bring you a short biography of Fr. Konstantin:

Protopresbyter Konstantin Izrastsoff, the son of a priest in the town of Zadolye, Kashin uezd, Tver guberniya, Fr. Gabriel Alekseevich Izrastsoff and his wife Anna Petrovna, nee Uspenskaya, was born on 24 February 1865.

He studied Russian grammar at home under the supervision of his parents. In 1872, he was placed into Krasnokholm Theological School in Vesyegonskiy uezd in the same guberniya.

In 1878, Konstantin Gavriilovich enrolled in the 1st year of Tver Theological Seminary, one of the biggest of such schools in Russia, where enrollment sometimes reached over 800 students.

Upon the completion of the 6-year seminary program, Konstantin Izrastsoff proved to be one of the best students, and he was send on a government stipend to St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. In 1888, Konstantin finished the Academy with a Masters of Theology degree.

While still a student of the Academy, he met a girl, Elena Iosifovna Bouhe, the daughter of Belgian parents, who was herself born and bred in Russia.

At first, Konstantin served as a psalm-reader in the Orthodox church at the Russian Imperial Mission in the Hague, Holland. Elena Iosifovna accepted the Orthodox faith in 1881, and married Konstantin Gavriilovich.

Konstantin Izrastsoff was that same year ordained as deacon by His Grace Anthony, Bishop of Vyborg, Rector of St. Petersburg Theological Academy.

At the same time, there was a vacancy for priest in Buenos Aires, and the young Fr. Konstantin was ordained to the priesthood and assigned to that church.

At the time, there were no more than a half-dozen Russian Orthodox believers in Argentina, scattered throughout the country in various cities, and the parish in Buenos Aires consisted exclusively of Greeks, Syrians and Yugoslavians (Serbs, Montenegrans, Dalmatians, Herzegovinians and Bosnians). Later they were joined by Bulgarians and Rumanians. The city of Buenos Aires itself was home to few Orthodox Christians, but there were many more in the countryside: peddlers and merchants lived there, farmers and sailors, workers and tradesmen. It was among them that Fr. Konstantin’s missionary work began. He often traveled to different cities and to the provinces, to visit the Orthodox living there.

With God’s help, church life in Argentina established itself, but the Russian church, housed in a rented building, frustrated the rector and parishioners. Fr. Konstantin directed an appeal for funds to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Ministry and the Diocesan Administration refused him out of hand, pleading a lack of funds. But the Chief Procurator of the Synod of Bishops, K.P. Pobedonosets, sent 18,100 rubles from the Synodal treasury. This sum went almost entirely into the purchse of land on Europa Street. Later, using donations collected by Fr. Konstantin, another parcel of land was purchased on Calle Brasil, across from Parca Lezama, where the church now stands in its glory.

Due to a lack of funds, Fr. Konstantin personally traveled to Russia and undertook collecting donations in various cities, asking the appropriate permission from the ecclesiastical and civil authorities.

Upon his return from Russia, Fr. Konstantin immediately began the construction of the church. The construction was completed by Fr. Konstantin entirely on donations he collected himself.

A school was established at the church, where children were taught the Law of God and prayers. Subjects were taught in the childrens’ own language: Greek children were taught in Greek, Syrians in Arabic and Slavs in their languages.

In July 1926, Fr. Konstantin was appointed by the Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia as Administrator of South America, but in 1937, due to health reasons, Protopresbyter asked the Synod of Bishops to release him from this post, leaving him responsible for Argentina only, which was granted.

It is worth noting that the Synod of Bishops offered Fr. Konstantin the first-ever Russian Orthodox See of Argentina. Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) wrote to Fr. Konstantin that, as an apostle of Orthodoxy in Argentina, he should be consecrated bishop. But for various reasons, Fr. Konstantin declined this offer with great gratitude.

The Orthodox church established in Buenos Aires by Fr. Konstantin was his favorite child, but he also gave material support to the Cathedral in Sao Paolo in Brazil and the church in Vila Alpina, the churhc in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Asuncion in Encarnacion in Paraguay, in Los Pratos in Rio-Grande Sul in Brazil, Santiago de Chile in Argentina in Misionese and Chaco in Machagai.

Fr. Konstantin reposed in the Lord on 6 January in Buenos Aires and is buried next to his life companion, matushka Elena, in the first Orthodox church in all of South America, Holy Trinity Cathedral, owned and subject to this day to the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

Priest Alejandro Iwasjewicz