Hieromonk James (McLuckie)

Hieromonk James (McLuckie) (1945-2009)

Early life of Douglas McLuckie

Douglas McLuckie came from a typical Canadian dual-ethnic background. His maternal great-grandfather and great-grandmother and their children emigrated from Western Ukraine in 1890, and they homesteaded in the Beausejour area of Manitoba. His maternal grandparents were Joseph and Mary Owsianski.

However, his father, James Cunningham McLuckie, was born in Scotland ; and as a young boy, he emigrated to Canada with his family in 1929. He married Violet Muriel Owsianski in 1944.

Douglas McLuckie was born in 1945 in Trail, British Columbia, after which his parents moved 32 km (20 mi) to Castlegar, where he spent his school years, where he graduated from high school, and where his family home remained. Douglas also had 2 sisters, Dawn and Debora.

Higher education

Having received his B.A. in Sociology with a Philosophy minor from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, Douglas continued his theological studies in that institution.

He further noted that throughout his formative years due to his Ukrainian heritage, he acquired a continuing and growing interest in Eastern Orthodoxy, especially in iconography. He slowly began to write icons. During his seminary years, James travelled extensively in order to study Early Christian and Byzantine art.

The interest that Douglas showed in Eastern Orthodox iconography was to some extent nurtured by his awareness of the Ukrainian element in his family history. Moreover, the study of this iconography is closely interwoven with the Orthodox Christian theology that is portrayed in the icons.

Reception into the Orthodox Church

Shortly after receiving the degree Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology (STB) (and after having found the Orthodox Christian Faith), Douglas was received into the Orthodox Christian Church by chrismation in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in 1971. It was at this time that he received the name James.

James D McLuckie continued his post-graduate studies at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York until 1973, through the Antiochian Archdiocese. During those years, he taught in a high school in Washington DC, and he did a considerable amount of voluntary work in Orthodox Christian education at his home parish in Washington, DC.

Ordinations, 1977

James D McLuckie was ordained first to the Holy Diaconate ; and then he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Patriarch Elias IV of Antioch on 3 July, 1977.

Pastoral service

The Priest James D McLuckie was assigned to serve as an assistant pastor in San Francisco, California. Later on, he founded the Saint John the Evangelist and Theologian Orthodox Church, in Orinda, California, near Oakland.

Father James was transferred into The Orthodox Church in America in 1989.

In the same year. he was asked to establish another community, the Saint Innocent Mission community, which later became the Church of Saint Christina of Tyre in Fremont, California. (In this very spot, Saint Innocent (Veniaminov) had visited the Mission San José in 1836, and he had served regular services.)

He studied the Russian language and Russian culture at San Francisco State University for some years.

Father James was an accomplished iconographer, muralist, and restorer. He was also 1 of 4 persons who collaborated in producing “The Icon Book”, a “classic” published by the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese in the 1970s, and which is still in use today.

A stroke ; return and transfer to Canada, 1995

On 2 July, 1995, Father James suffered a sudden, unexpected massive heart attack, following a surgery. There were some post-operation complications, which were then followed by a stroke. Father James returned to British Columbia, where he passed through rehabilitation therapy, and other treatments. In the following years, despite his physical limitations, he did active volunteer work with recovering addicts and alcoholics in the Prince George area until he moved to Vancouver.

By the time he had moved to Vancouver in 1996, he had also been officially transferred from the Diocese of the West to the Archdiocese of Canada (on 16 May, 1995).

He was at first attached to the Bishop's Chapel of Saint Silouan the Athonite in Johnstown, Ontario.

On 15 June, 2000, the Priest James McLuckie was attached to Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Sobor in Vancouver.

After the next heart attack in July, 2006, Father James spent a long time at Saint Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. However, both before the heart attack, and afterwards in the hospital, as an element of his therapy, he attempted to do some iconography, and he made Crosses with a mosaic on the front surface, which he gave to various people. All this was extremely difficult to do with one hand alone. From October, 2006, until 2008, he lived in the Haro Park Centre (a home for the elderly) on Haro Street, Vancouver, until January, 2009. He was then transferred to a retirement home in Kamloops, which was nearer to his family.

On 8 April, 2007, Father James McLuckie was elevated to the dignity of archpriest.

Monastic tonsure, 2007

Not long after this, at his own request, the Priest James McLuckie was tonsured by Bishop Seraphim (Storheim) to be a monk. He was given the name James (after a different saint).

In July, 2009, the health of Father James began to deteriorate noticeably, and both his family and the clergy were informed of this development.

Repose, 2009

On 22 July, 2009, the Hieromonk James (McLuckie) fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 64.

A week before his repose in Christ, the Archpriest Michael Fourik, rector of Holy Resurrection Sobor, had visited Father James in hospital in Kamloops for 2 days. During this time, Father James had received the Sacraments of Confession, Holy Unction and Holy Communion. He also had an opportunity to talk to Vladyka Seraphim, to Father Andrey Somow, and to Raisa Kolesnikoff by phone (thanks to Father Michael's assistance).

The Funeral Service for Father James, with the Rite of Burial of a Priest, was served on 23 July, 2009, at the local funeral home in Kamloops by the Archpriest Michael Fourik and the Priest Mykhaylo Pozdyk of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kamloops. Matushka Elena Fourik sang the responses.

The family of Father James invited everyone to a memorial dinner at the close of the services.

Grave-marker

Reflections

The Hieromonk James (McLuckie) was a serious Orthodox Christian, the fruit of whose missionary labours remain until the present.

It was he only amongst his family members who had embraced the Orthodox Christian Faith.

There are many persons and parish Temples which retain the fruits of his gift for iconography.

Father James was a loving pastor by nature, and people responded to his Christian love in a constructive way. This relationship was very evident during the time he spent at Holy Resurrection Sobor in Vancouver, British Columbia. He had to have help in order to vest when he arrived at the Temple in order to concelebrate the Divine Liturgy with the main priest who would be serving, and he would need this help also to unvest. He laboured to descend the stairs to the hall afterwards for the regular post-Liturgy meal, and he had many warm conversations with parishioners at such times. Parishioners also invited him to participate in private meals that marked important moments in the lives of families. He was a meek, kind, generous person.

Reference

Original article, parish web-site

Additional information :

“The Icon Book – A Study of the Liturgical Art of the Orthodox Church for Children and Adults” by Fathers James McLuckie & Basil Essey (Englewood, NJ : Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, 1981). ASIN : B00NRELO74.

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Vancouver, British Columbia

Parish site : birthday visit 2006

Message to Holy Resurrection parishioners from Kamloops, 2009

Archdiocese obituary

OCA obituary

Findagrave reference for Father James Douglas McLuckie

Findagrave reference for James Cunningham McLuckie

Legacy.com obituary for Violet Muriel McLuckie

Castlegar News obiturary for James Cunningham McLuckie

Findagrave reference for Violet Muriel McLuckie

Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer 1986-7 in Los Altos Hills, California

Saint John the Evangelist and Theologian Orthodox Church in Orinda, California (history)