SaintElias.com -> The Clergy

Subdeacon Tibor Turi

Dr. Tibor Turi, Ph.D., was ordained by kheirothesia for Ministry in the Holy Subdiaconate of the Church by His Grace, Bishop CORNELIUS, Eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada.

The kheirothesia ordinations to minor orders (such as the subdiaconate) take place outside of Altar in the middle of the Sanctuary at the Kathedra.

Kheirothesia to the minor orders takes place after the vesting of the bishop but before he washes his hands.

In the Orthodox Tradition of our Church, the Minor Orders (Subdeacon, Reader, Candlebearer) or the diaconate for that matter are not just a stepping stone onto being priests. Rather they are valid and very important ministries in and of themselves. And usually people ordained to these offices devote their lives to this service of God and the Church.

Just as Priests really find it necessary to have Deacons, so also Deacons and Protodeacons really appreciate subdeacons whose service makes for a smooth and prayerful celebration of the Liturgy.

Both the Subdeacon and his wife have Ph.D.s in metallurgical engineering!

So it's "Dr. & Dr. Turi", in case anyone asks. (or is it, "the Doctors Turi"?)

Besides serving and singing at Church and keeping full time jobs, they are raising their lovely young family: Tobias and Sophia.

Tobias is a little Diak (Cantor in the making). He may be only 3 years old, but he can really belt out the Tropars (really!) His parents have been bringing him to Great Vespers, Matins, and Divine Liturgy since, since, well...since before he was born!

So He's been singing Psalm 103 for almost a year now, and the Canticle of St. Simeon too. He knows Boh Predvichnyj, the Tropars for Christmas, Theophany, and Pentecost, and of course, "Christ is Risen". He also sings the Our Father, Hail Mother of God, and the Trisagion.

His mom (Dr. Turi) claims, "I didn't even have to teach any of this to him, he just picked it up." Actually, I believe it since one day, Dr. Turi comes up to me, more than a little frustrated in the childcare disciplining department and complained that trying to punish Tobias by making him sit in the corner totally backfired one day when the toddler burst out chanting hymns!!! (What can you say to him after that?)

But lest you think that the Turis are raising some sort of Church-geek, Tobias also likes Mozart, who has been his favourite composer since he was 1. (sigh of relief!)

And it's not that the Turi kids (like any other kids) aren't sometimes more than a handful. But in Church everyone shares in the childcare of everyone's kids, so the parents get a chance to pray too! As Dr. Turi says, "We are grateful for the help of other people in watching over our active children. The family-friendliness of St. Elias is one of the many reasons we drive so far. We want our children to grow up learning the True Faith, in a truly Orthodox church. St. Elias is also very relaxed and unpretentious. People are there to pray, to praise God..."
Dr. Turi says, "The kids have learned all this simply by attending Divine Services - Vespers, Matins and Divine Liturgy. People think that Tobias isn't paying attention because he's always on the move, but he is. If the deacon hesitates during the Divine Liturgy, Tobias often pipes in! [yaw-zah! {sorry about the editorial interjection...}] He knows exactly what is coming up. We envy the kids - they will never have to struggle to learn the tones, or any other music. They are learning by osmosis, just by being there."

The Turis say that Tobias' music competency isn't that unusual at our church. "Most of the older kids at St. Elias know at least as much as Tobias does. This gives me great hope for the future of our church. This is such a part of the kids, that they will always carry this with them, throughout their lives, where ever they go."

Tobias, at the tender age of 3, is already able to sing the Tropars in a loud voice and actually on key! [talk about "from the mouths of children and of babes"]

Little Sophia is learning to venerate the Icons. She kisses them now, instead of licking them, so we're making progress. She has also learned to walk (a mixed blessing, church child-care-wise), but has the sweetest smile.

Dr. Turi (the Mrs. Dr. Turi that is), besides being one of our leading sopranos, juggling the childcare of the kids, and inventing new and fantastic steels, for use in cars - trying to make them safer, stronger, and lighter. (One of her pet projects is rust-proof & self-cleaning car - neat! Or one that doesn't heat up inside even when it is hot out!) But I digress, as I was about to say, she is also one of the major contributors to the websites Fast Food Recipe pages - check it out (on the Recipes section).

(Where does she find the time!?!?).

Of course, by "Fast Food" I mean Fast food, as in "Fast food", not "fast Food" [if you know what I mean]).

Dr. Turi (the Subdeacon, that is), besides being one of our basses, designing super ingots & i-beams etc., etc. has charge of the Servers and the training of new Servers, the care of the lamps and lampadas (a major job in a church light entirely by candles & oil lamps), in addition to facilitating the various Services.

Not only can he serve, but he can cant (or is it "cantor"?) in Ukrainian. As well he is fluent in that most melodic and phonetically precise of languages, Hungarian!

The Subdeacon and his young family live 3 cities away from our parish! It takes them a full 60 minutes of highway driving to get to Church, but they still make to almost every service.

I (the intrepid Web-reporter) asked them, why they come so far, just to go to Church?

Dr. Turi (the Mrs. Engineer) replied, "A couple of weeks ago, I heard a sermon (not at St. Elias) about encounters with God and the Holy Spirit. The priest talked about those "rare moments" when we feel God's presence; he said it could be seeing something beautiful, hearing beautiful music, an interaction between people, feeling stillness and peace, or he said, perhaps sometimes when you go to church you will experience a closeness with God.

At that moment, I knew why we drive so far. Each and every time we go to a Divine Service at St. Elias, this is what we experience.

"The beauty of the temple, the Icons that tell us the story of Salvation, the candles and oil lamps illuminating the dark, the sunrises on our way to Matins, sunsets over the church and the stars out after Vespers, the way it is decorated with greenery at Pentecost, and flowers on Feast days, the care and reverence with which the Gospel and the Precious Gifts are carried, the careful and reverent Sign of the Cross, bows and prostrations stimulate us visually to encounter God, and know that He is indeed present.

The music here is done with such reverence, beauty, balance, and prayerfulness, that we are often moved to tears.

"The Divine Services are all done with such careful attention to detail, reverence and dignity, there is no doubt that God is present.

Two of the most moving moments for us were watching Fr. Roman carry Tobias up to the altar after he was baptized, touching him to the four sides of the altar, and when he brought Sophia to the Holy Doors, while the congregation sang the Canticle of St. Simeon. It is such a symbol of hope and faith.

"It is never boring; boredom is a huge impediment to encountering God.

By attending different services, you prevent boredom, which can easily happen if you only go to one service (usually Divine Liturgy) and experience the same thing over and over again.
The other services, particularly Vespers and Matins, also teach us so much about the particular feast day, and give us the opportunity to reflect on the lives of the Saints, things that don't happen as much if you only attend Divine Liturgy.

"I could go on; the point is, that we experience that encounter with God each time we go. It isn't something that happens a few times in our life, as that priest indicated. God fills us to overflowing each time.

Why would we want anything less? Why wouldn't we want to go to as many services as we can? Why would we just go to Divine Liturgy on Sundays, and not take every opportunity to fill ourselves with God by going to Vespers, Matins, Parastas, Canon of St. Andrew, Jerusalem Matins, etc.

How can we stand in such a place and not be moved, not participate, and not feel lost when we can't go?

"This is why we, and many others, come from so far. Here, we are touched by God each time we enter into His Holy Temple."

We thank God for their ministry and presence in our Church.

Ukrainian version
Українська версія

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