The Falling Asleep in the Lord of Archimandrite Benjamin (Vozvyuk) of Chile

In glorious memory of Father Archimandrite Veniamin (Voznyuk) 1926-2025.
On Saturday, May 25/June 7, 2025, on the eve of the Great Feast of Pentecost, Father Archimandrite Veniamin Voznyuk passed away peacefully in his monastic cell in the Chilean suburb of Arrayan, Santiago, Chile, in the 99th year of his life.
The Lord, in whose power it is to appoint the hour of death, decreed that his faithful and humble servant should die exactly on the tenth anniversary of the shameful eviction of the church he had built on Holanda Street. This tragedy was planned and carried out by Bishop Juan of Caracas, together with members of the Cemetery Society. The elderly archimandrite and his companions were not allowed to enter the church, under threat of police intervention. He was unable to serve in his church on the feast day and was not even allowed to remove his vestments; from then on, he officiated only in the monastery.
The faithful and humble servant of the Russian Church Abroad was born in Zhitomir on January 27/February 9, 1926.
He first entered the church as a teenager during the week of the Prodigal Son and heard the chant “Father’s Embrace” (also sung during monastic tonsure). From then on, he loved this prayer so much that it was often sung to Batiushka by Mother Juliana and the sisters and children of the Chilean orphanage.
At 17, he was tonsured by Bishop Leontius (later Archbishop of Chile), who gave him the name “Benjamin” because he was the youngest of his brothers. From then on, they became companions, compassionate ones, and confessors of the faith during the atheist persecution. Many times the Lord miraculously saved his faithful servants from inevitable death.
Father Benjamin himself often recounted instances of having to flee from KGB officers in his cassock while already in exile.
He arrived in South America in 1952 and traveled to Paraguay, briefly to Argentina, before settling in Chile in 1953.
With Bishop Leontius, he built a church in honor of the Holy Trinity and the Kazan Icon on Holland Street in Santiago, Chile, a church in Lima (Peru), and the Dormition Monastery with an orphanage in honor of Saint John of Kronstadt and a home for the elderly. He founded the Holland Cemetery in Santiago, Chile, and the Dormition Monastery with an orphanage in honor of Saint John of Kronstadt and a home for the elderly. He founded the Cemetery Society.
A hardworking, prayerful, strict, and modest monk, he kept his monastic vows, liturgical rules, and traditions. He fulfilled monastic obedience only in the eyes of the Almighty, as others do when they are looked upon. Our beloved South American prayer leader was little celebrated and unpretentious.
We are unable to compile a complete biography of the Venerable Father Benjamin. We will do so later.
After Metropolitan Laurus’s concrete subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate, Father Benjamin lost the trust of the episcopate. He did not mention any authority by name during divine services, but only the “Orthodox Bishopric of the Persecuted Church of Russia.” He allowed few people to concelebrate with him, even among his acquaintances and asked to be buried simply, without the participation of any clergy. (He became stricter on this issue after false reports about his and Mother Juliana’s alleged passage under the protection of a particular jurisdiction.) Therefore, this last of his wishes was fulfilled. But they say that funerals show what a person was like before God. This is what it was like, according to Mother Juliana:
They washed Father’s body. They dressed it in monastic and priestly robes and placed it in a coffin ordered by his relatives in the monastery church. They sang the farewell hymn and read the Gospel in turn. The Father spent the Feast of the Trinity in his last earthly home. And on Monday, the Feast of the Holy Spirit, from morning onward they gathered in the church to sing and read the requiem prayers. People began to gather and filled the church to such an extent that they had to leave the doors open. Faithful parishioners and spiritual children, Arabs, Chileans, former children from the orphanage, acquaintances, and strangers came to pray and say goodbye. It was time to leave for the cemetery.
Several cars accompanied the hearse. When they arrived at the cemetery, there was a large group of his former parishioners who had abandoned him since they were expelled from the Church of the Trinity. They approached the Mother and, after learning how everything would be, were told to do as Mother Juliana said. They did not enter the chapel. The prepared grave next to Archbishop Leonty’s was sprinkled with holy water. They sang responsive prayers and buried him slowly with small shovels. There was a surprisingly large number of people, just like at Pascha! Both faithful friends and traitors. The latter, perhaps, were saying goodbye, asking for forgiveness….
The ninth day coincides with Sunday. This is how the Omniscient Creator has arranged everything.
In South America, we felt safe thanks to the prayers of Father Benjamin. With the passing of this humble archimandrite and great guide of prayer for all who loved and hated him, the last sparks of the spirit of the Church Abroad are slowly fading. It remains for us to follow the archimandrite’s example and, without judging anyone, do our work to the best of our ability. We live in a time when “those who kill us think they are offering a service to God.” But God is the Judge of all! And here He has revealed His truth to all through the death and burial of His faithful servant. Let us believe in the power of our dear Father’s prayers now before the Heavenly Throne!
May your memory be eternal, Our Venerable and Memorable Father Benjamin! May your memory be eternal!

https://rocor-observer.livejournal.com/273000.html