Our Story

Orthodox Divine Liturgy St Iakovos New Studion.jpg — Who We Are

The Sacred Monastery of St. Iakovos “New Studion” is a monastic community of Orthodox Christian monks in the Patriarchate of Georgia, under His Grace Bishop Saba of the North American Diocese, located in Piedmont, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City.
Canonically established by the Holy Patriarch of Georgia Ilya II in 2018, the Monastery belongs to the North American Diocese of the Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church.

History

Our journey began over 40 years ago, when His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, began contacting the Athonite Abbot and Elder Aemilianos.

The Great Sacred Monastery of Saint Iakovos “New Studion” was conceived by His Eminence +Iakovos of Blessed Memory, to fulfill his vision of a Monastery modeled after the Studion Monastery in Constantinople, renowned for ecclesiastical arts, spiritual literature, hymnography and the typicon, and cradle of many saints, most notably, St. Theodore the Studite. His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos requested Elder +Aemilianos of blessed memory, to send him our Elder, Archimandrite Dionysios, and charged him with this task in 1982.

In response to many years of requests from native Oklahomans, that their Elder, Archimandrite Dionysios, found monasteries nearer to them, he sent Archimandrite Athanasios to our Bishop Saba, in January of 2019, for this purpose. Our Bishop Saba also ordained Protopresbyter Centurian, native Oklahoman, chaplain of the new monastery being formed, under the tutelage of Archimandrite Athanasios. His Eminence, our Bishop Saba, brought the Antimension blessed by His Holiness, our Catholicos-Patriarch, and visited Oklahoma in June of 2020, celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the initial, temporary housing of the Brotherhood in Tulsa.

St. Iakovos “New Studion” has now expanded and in November 2020 we moved into a property formerly owned by Roman Catholic Carmelite nuns.

Our patron saint is St. Iakovos - St. James - the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are known as “New Studion” to honor the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner at Studion, founded in 462 in Constantinople.

In this harbour to anyone desiring a place of spiritual sanctuary, and for those who are called to the monastic life, the Brotherhood prays the full cycle of daily serves and celebrates the Feasts of the Liturgical year. Our prayers and liturgies are combined with hospitality to visitors, caring for the gardens and chickens, making prayer ropes, creating mosaics, baking Prosphora for the Liturgy, and transforming our new building.

Our doors are always open to everyone, and no one is exempt from a warm meal and a ready made bed.