Community Contributed

Christian Greek Orthodox Monastery near Levin

Kete Horowhenua2020-03-23T16:54:48+00:00
The Holy Archangels Monastery is located in New Zealand in a valley at the northen end of the Taraua Mountain Ranges near a town called Levin. It is about one and a half hours north of the capital, Wellington. . The Priest-monk is Fr. Meletios.
Contact email addresstaxiarhis@xtra.co.nz
Contact phone number(06) 3672555
Contact postal address495 Gladstone Road, Levin

In 2009 this beautiful building - the Monastery - was built on 104 acres in Gladstone Road, east of Levin:


According to Orthodox Christianity blog this is not the first monastery in New Zealand.

"The first monastery in this country was founded by the Serbian Orthodox Church in the late 1970s. It was located on rural land only an hour's drive from the new monastery and I had the honour to be part of it after monastic formation in Serbia. It comprised a beautiful wooden church, a house for the monks and a guest house. It existed for only seven years when the demands of parish life all around the country compelled the monks to spend virtually all week either driving or flying to the parishes. At that time neither the Russian nor Serbian parishes had their own parish priests and we had to fill in.

Fr Nicholas from this first monastery died two years ago, at only 59 years of age, and your prayers for him are requested.

Now we come to the amazing serendipity part where the hand of God is evident.

When I first went to visit Fr Meletije at the new monastery in a valley behind Levin, 90 minutes drive from Wellington, my brother and I were actually in Levin to visit Fr Nicholas (Morgan's) grave for his 2nd anniversary. So off we beetled and we decided to go and visit the Greek monastery also.

I was astounded when I saw where they are building the monastery. I said nothing about this to Fr Meletije at first because I wanted to check the facts with Fr Nicholas' family.

They confirmed that the new monastery is on the property which was once their family property. In fact they are building on the exact spot where Fr Nicholas was born.

That is an amazing coincidence and it must have some meaning in God's eternal plans!!

The land is primarily steep and forest clad hill. Fr Nicholas's family were not wealthy. They brought up 7 children there; Nicholas was number 3. The father had a job with the local Council as well as milking a few cows on the land.

The Greeks have built a 2-storey house with four bedrooms. While at present it is just Father Meletije they hope other monks will arrive. When it warms up in a month or two a church will be built. I've seen the plans. It's very nice.

We are planning to shift Fr Nicholas remains for reburial on the monastery land when Fr Meletije has been able to get local Council approval for a cemetery.

Obviously we are walking in our lives as on a path of prayers of -who knows how many- people who were and are praying to God for us. I am thinking about Fr Nicholas' parents, and I am wondering how much this unique happening has been through their prayers. For a monastery to arise on the spot where Nicholas was born and spent his young life - what are the odds?!"

In a blog post of Saturday, October 2, 2010, the people at the monastery are described:

"An hour and a half away are the monks at the Monastery in Levin. When called upon, the come into Wellington. There are three there, Father Meletios who is originally from Serbia, Father Thadeos who is experienced from Mount Athos too, and the one we all know so well, Father Christodoulos, who is also in charge of youth ministry for the Archdiocese. There is also a nun Gabrielle, who is a "principal player" for the mission house in Fiji. She takes on any task that the Elder request. She is also a very good photo journalist. When you look at the photos on the web page, many of them are hers. Last but not least there is a young lady there, still a teen who reads and sings the services in the most pious and traditional, and professional ways, very talented and brave. No Byzantine jazz in her repritoire."

There are several videos of the monastery on the Internet:



Laying foundation of Greek Orthodox Monastery near Levin - 2009 - Part 1
Laying foundation of Greek Orthodox Monastery near Levin - 2009 - Part 2

Baptism at Greek Orthodox Monastery near Levin - mid 2010


Service at Greek Orthodox Monastery near Levin - late 2010

With the development of monasticism in the Church there appeared a peculiar way of life, which however did not proclaim a new morality. The Church does not have one set of moral rules for the laity and another for monks, nor does it divide the faithful into classes according to their obligations towards God. The Christian life is the same for everyone. All Christians have in common that "their being and name is from Christ" This means that the true Christian must ground his life and conduct in Christ, something which is hard to achieve in the world.

What is difficult in the world is approached with dedication in the monastic life. In his spiritual life the monk simply tries to do what every Christian should try to do: to live according to God's commandments. The fundamental principles of monasticism are not different from those of the lives of all the faithful. This is especially apparent in the history of the early Church, before monasticism appeared.

In the tradition of the Church there is a clear preference for celibacy as opposed to the married state. This stance is not of course hostile to marriage, which is recognised as a profound mystery , but simply indicates the practical obstacles marriage puts in the way of the pursuit of the spiritual life. For this reason, from the earliest days of Christianity many of the faithful chose celibacy. Thus Athenagoras the Confessor in the second century wrote: "You can find many men and women who remain unmarried all their lives in the hope of coming closer to God"