View source for Alypy (Gamanovich) of Chicago

His Eminence, Archbishop '''Alypy (Gramanovich) of Chicago''' was a retired Bishop of the [[Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America (ROCOR)|Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]]. He was appointed to the [[see]], succeeding the reposed Archbishop [[Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago|Seraphim (Ivanov)]] in 1987 and was granted retirement in 2016, due to his advanced age at the time (89 years).  

==Life==
Nikolai Mikhailovich Gamanovich ({{lang-ru|Николай Михайлович Гаманович}}) was born on [[December 19]], 1926 in the village of Novaya Mayachka of Kherson Province of the U.S.S.R. the site of which is now within the nation Ukraine. His father, Mikhail, was a blacksmith. His mother’s name was Lumilla. The family included five younger siblings: three younger brothers and two younger sisters. While his parents had him [[baptism|baptized]], he was not able to attend many church services because the Soviets had closed most of the churches near them. In the face of the Soviet programs of collectivization and expropriation of property from prosperous owners, Nikolai’s family left their village to wander until they settled in the village of Fedorovka. Here Nikolai attended a four year school before going on to an eight year school in the village of Kucheryvo-Volodimirov.

As an aftermath of the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi forces in 1941, Nicolai became a victim of the Nazi practice of taking young men to work as forced laborers in Germany. At fifteen years of age, Nicolai was one of fifteen young men from his village sent to Germany as an ‘’ostarbeiter’’ (east-worker). In Germany, he initially worked in Berlin in a truck factory where he was under constant guard. Later, he worked on a farm and then at a cemetery. When he was assigned to working at the cemetery, he was transferred to a ‘’Ostavsky’’ labor camp that was free of guards and where the workers were required to use public transportation to work assignments. During this time Nicolai was able to attend church services from time to time. In 1944, during a visit to church, Nicolai met Hieromonk [[Kyprian (Pyzhov)]] of the St. Job of Pochaev Brotherhood.

Fr. Kyprian was in Berlin as the Pochaev Brotherhood had fled Slovakia before the advancing Soviet Red army. Having read some books of the Lives of the Saints that belonged to his grandfather, Nicolai expressed the desire to join the brotherhood. On [[February 3]], 1945, Nicolai left the labor camp, illegally, and was accepted [[Archimandrite]] [[Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago|Seraphim]] to begin the spiritual labors of [[monasticism|monastic]] life, Five days later Nicolai and his monastic companions fled Berlin for southern Germany, going to an area that was taken by the American army. From southern Germany he and his monastic companions proceeded to Switzerland in August 1945. 

On [[September 23]], 1946, Nicolai was [[tonsure]]d a [[Monastic Ranks|rassaphore]] [[monk]] and given the name Alypy in honor of the icon-painter of Pechersk. Later in 1946, Alypy and his companions traveled to the United States, to the [[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Monastery]] in Jordanville, New York. At the monastery, monk Alypy undertook the study of [[iconography]] under the tutorship of Fr. Kyprian who was renowned as an [[iconographer]].

On [[March 19]], 1948, Alypy was among a group of three monks, the other two rassaphore monks were [[Laurus (Škurla) of New York|Laurus (Škurla)]] and [[Florus (Vaňko)]], who were tonsured mantia monks by Abp. Vitaly (Maximenko). On [[December 3]], 1950, monk Alypy was [[ordination|ordained]] to the [[diaconate]] by Metr. [[Anastasy (Gribanovsky) of Kishinev|Anatassy (Gribanovsky)]]. On [[July 4]], 1954, hierodeacon Alypy was ordained to the [[priest]]hood by Abp. Vitaly.

Graduating from [[Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Seminary]], Fr. Alypy remained to teach. Among the several subjects he taught were [[Church Slavonic]] and Greek. He also wrote a grammar on Church Slavonic that was published by the Monastery in 1964. This book has been subsequently been reprinted and translated for English language students. Fr. Alypy continued his education at Norwich University, graduating in 1970 with a Master’s degree in Russian language. During this period Fr. Alypy was very active as an iconographer. His work covered many churches including the iconography of Holy Trinity Cathedral at Jordanville, the Cathedral of the Mother of God of the Sign in New York City, St. Sergius Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, and later, the new Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1974, [[Hegumen]] Alypy, was nominated to the episcopate by the [[Synod]] of Bishops of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, and on [[October 20]], 1974, he was consecrated Bishop of Cleveland, [[vicar]] of the [[Diocese]] of Chicago, Detroit and Mid America. The [[consecration of a bishop|consecration]] of Bp. Alypy was led by Metr. [[Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York|Philaret (Voznesensky)]] and assisted by Abp. Seraphim (Ivanov), Abp. [[Vitaly (Ustinov) of New York|Vitaly (Ustinov)]], and Bp. Laurus (Škurla). During the few years before Abp. Seraphim’s death in 1987,  Bp. Alypy administered the Diocese of Chicago. After his death Bp. Alypy was appointed as ruling Bishop of Chicago. In 1991, Bp. Alypy was elevated to Archbishop. 

In 1994, Abp. Alypy was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Sydney, Australia, and New Zealand. However, The Australian government was reluctant to grant Abp. Alypy a permanent resident status due to health issues. Also, the faithful of the diocese, especially from his Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral, petitioned earnestly appealing to keep Abp. Alypy as their bishop. Considering these conditions, the Synod of Bishops decided that Abp. Alypy would remain as Bishop of Chicago.

During the ensuing years, Abp. Alypy led the revitalization of the life of the diocese that he had begun earlier with the construction of the new Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in 1990. He led a diocese of three cathedral parishes and some twenty parishes in the mid-west area of the United States, as well as five monasteries, three male and two female. 

On April 28, 2019, Archbishop Alypy reposed in peace at his residence in Chicago, IL.

{{start box}}
{{succession|
before=&mdash;|
title=[[Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America (ROCOR)|Bishop of Cleveland]]<br>([[ROCOR]])|
years=1974-1987|
after=[[Peter (Loukianoff) of Cleveland|Peter (Loukianoff)]]}}
{{succession|
before=[[Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago|Seraphim (Ivanov)]]|
title=Archbishop of [[Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America (ROCOR)|Chicago, Detroit and Mid-America]]<br>([[ROCOR]])|
years=1987-2016|
after=[[Peter (Loukianoff) of Chicago|Peter (Loukianoff)]]}}
{{end box}}

==Sources==
*[http://www.roca.org/archbishop_alypy.htm   Life of Archbishop Alypy (Gamanovich)]
*[http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2016/20160705_ensfsynodmeeting.html Synod of Bishops report, July 5, 2016]

[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-21st-century bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Cleveland]]
[[Category: Bishops of Chicago]]
[[Category: Bishops of Detroit]]