We offer for your consideration the following excerpts from an article by Jean Beys, entitled "Joseph Munoz-Cortes: Monk and Martyr." The article was published in the Parisian weekly Russkaya Mysl’ [Russian Thought] , No. 4216-2-8 April 1998.
"On the threshold of adolescence, Joseph discovered Orthodoxy. This happened in 1962, when Joseph was barely 12. The boy got lost on the streets of Santiago. He was trying to catch up to relatives who had left before him to go to Mass. By mistake, he entered the Cathedral Church of the Most Holy Trinity, of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. That day, 14/27 September, was the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of Our Lord. The beauty of the icons and the singing amazed Joseph. The rite of veneration of the Holy Cross made a profound impression upon him. Joseph was shaken to the depths of his soul, and from that point on, began to regularly attend the Church of the Most Holy Trinity. In 1964, with the permission of his mother, who was surprised by such a decision, he became Orthodox.
Later, having moved to Canada, Joseph hoped to become a monk. He studied iconography and completed courses at a school of decorative arts. He taught the history of iconography at a Montreal university. In 1982, still a layman, Joseph departed on a pilgrimage to the holy places of Greece. He entrusted himself to the Theotokos, and asked the Most-holy Lady to illumine his journey. Just as the Mother of God had brought him into the Orthodox cathedral in Santiago, so she again answered Joseph’s prayers, but in an even more miraculous way.
During his pilgrimage to the "Garden of the Most Pure One," to Holy Mt. Athos, Joseph spend some time in the little scete of the Nativity of Christ. Here, in the icon-writing studio, he saw an icon of the Mother of God which profoundly amazed him. Joseph earnestly requested that they sell the icon to him, but he was refused. During the Vigil, the young pilgrim fervently prayed that the Theotokos might permit him to take her image to America. While already outside the monastery gates, he saw the abbot running towards him. The abbot gave the icon to Joseph, and said "The Most-holy virgin must leave with you."
On board the ship headed for Daphne [an Athonite port - ed.], he heard a voice directing him to go to the Iveron monastery and touch his icon to the renowned, miraculous Portaitissa [Keeper of the Portal] Icon of the Mother of God, the protector of Mt. Athos. His icon had been copied from that icon. After a long wait, he received permission, and fulfilled the direction which he had received from above. Returning to Montreal, he installed the Portaitissa icon in his room, and every night read an akathist before it.
On November 24, 1982, Joseph awoke about 3:00 AM and noticed a strong aroma of roses. After a thorough search for the source of the fragrance, he noticed that there was oil on the icon of the Theotokos. He decided that oil must have spilled from the oil lamp. However, upon wiping off the icon, he was astonished to discover that the oil was the source of the fragrance. Subsequently, a priest who took the icon into the church saw that myrrh was pouring from it during the service.
Many miracles have been wrought through this icon. A paralyzed child was healed. A person suffering from cancer of the spine, a child with severe case of rickets which physicians could not treat, and many others…However, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn has written, the miraculous icon heals not only people’s bodies, but also, first and foremost, their souls. Wherever Joseph Munoz would bring it - whether to America or Europe, to Mt. Athos or to the Holy Land - everywhere it inspired the faithful to confess, to commune, to be reconciled with one another and to weep over their sins. It is a fountain of such things, of a mystical and peace-endowing grace, causing people to forget their burdens and all of their secular concerns. It is a grace which brings something akin to Paschal joy. The miracles began on 11/24 November 1982, and to this day continue - except during Great Thursday and Great Friday of each year…
"Joseph was certain that the flow of myrrh was tied to the recent glorification of the New Martyrs of Russia. In 1982 Russia was still completely under the yoke of communism….
The years passed. Joseph came to understand that the remarkable fate of his icon was inseparably bound to Russia’s passion and resurrection. For this reason, he painted a copy of the image, and as soon as the iron curtain fell, he sent the copy to Russia. On August 19, 1991, the date a communist coup was attempted in Moscow, he first noted tears on the cheek of the Theotokos. This seemed to him to be a sign of the spiritual unity of the entire Russian people, those living in Russia and those in diaspora.
Joseph spoke plainly: "Undoubtedly, this icon appeared in our Church Abroad not because the Lord was especially pleased with us, but because of the blood of the New Martyrs of Russia… Unfortunately, it often seems to me that, when we talk of repentance of the Russian people, we distinguish those who remained in Russia from those who live outside its borders. As if only they should repent, while we have everything in order. Acting accordingly, we destroy our spiritual unity. It is equally unfortunate that many completely misunderstand the significance of the miraculous icon’s appearance in the Russian Church Abroad. They think that she appeared in order to show the Moscow Patriarchate that the Lord is here, with us... No, the icon appeared in a free country, so that the entire world might learn of this miracle… Here is how a quite pious maiden explained this to me: ‘The Myrrh-bearing Women came to anoint the Body of Christ before His Resurrection. In like manner, the Mother of God today is anointing the Russian people in anticipation of the resurrection of Russia.’
Joseph firmly believed that the Church Abroad has retained her grace because of one single meritorious act – the glorification of the New-martyrs of Russia. It is because of his loyalty to her that he did not act upon his fervent desire to take the miraculous icon to Moscow or to Rome. It was his wish that the entire Christian people, no matter how little it venerated the Theotokos, might taste of the fruits of this remarkable miracle, of which he himself had been the first witness…
Joseph did not accept the assertion that mysteries performed by priests of the Moscow Patriarchate were without grace. He did not turn anyone away. Once, while returning to Paris from Geneva, he made a side-trip to Burgundy in order to venerate a miraculous icon in the Russian monastery in Boussy-en-Othe, although that monastery was under the Patriarchate of Constantinople rather than the Church Abroad. Joseph was both open and firm. Remaining faithful to his bishops, he nonetheless saw himself as simply Orthodox. As a true "hidalgo" [Spanish aristocrat], he detested schemers. This was the quintessential mark of his innate nobility.
Joseph quickly came to understand that the Theotokos had placed a heavy cross upon him by choosing him to be her witness. With the permission of the Church hierarchy, he took the icon from parish to parish, from diocese to diocese, from continent to continent. These endless travels not only deprived him of income but seriously weakened his health.
Joseph lived a profound inner life. The miracle of which he was the first witness deepened his pre-existent striving for prayer and brought him close to the world above. His tiny apartment in Montreal was filled with holy relics. Some he received as gifts, others he had kept from destruction, when, shortly after Vatican II, a Catholic priest hurried to get rid of them.
Once, upon entering his studio in the monastery of the Lesno Mother of God, I sensed some aroma, distinct from that of myrrh, which was unknown to me. I mentioned this to Joseph, and in answer he pointed to an icon of St. Elizabeth [Fyodorovna] which contained a fragment of her relics. He added "The Grand Duchess and Martyr was here just before you arrived…she visits me from time to time. You see, I have her relics. Sometimes they give forth a pleasant aroma after the Grand Duchess departs." Listening to him, I remembered the famous words of the Danish writer and historian Johann Jurgensen: "Christianity from its very beginning was a religion of revelation and visions. The most ancient Christian literature, the Epistles of the Apostles and the Gospels leave not the slightest [room for] doubt in this regard. After the crucifixion of Christ there followed the Resurrection, and subsequently the Teacher continuously appeared to His disciples… Communion between God and men continued even after the Ascension….At the hour of his death, the Proto-martyr Stephen sees the heavens opened and Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father. Saul, amazed by the blinding light on the road to Damascus, hears a loud voice saying "I am Jesus, Whom you persecute." Jesus is always present behind the thin curtain of events, and during visions and apparitions that curtain is torn asunder."
Joseph rarely spoke of his internal life. Yet upon being in his presence, people physically would sense that before them stood a person of great purity. Without question, and without the slightest bit of sentimentality, one might say that he was the earthly lily of the Queen of Heaven. Each day, standing before the miraculous icon, he would read (usually in French) the Akathist to the Theotokos and to the saint whose memory the Church celebrated [on that date]. During church services he behaved very humbly, and never drew attention to himself. He stood quietly in the back, unnoticed, like a true monk.
Joseph greatly loved the skete on Mt. Athos in which at the beginning of the 1990s he received monastic tonsure – doing secretly, to avoid receiving honor (his monastic name is Ambrose – in honor of the Optina Elder – ed.). Moreover, the Russian monastery of the Lesna Theotokos in Normandy was dear to his heart. He would joyously and frequently make visits there, including during Great Lent. When he first brought the miraculous icon to the monastery, he noticed that it began to stream myrrh especially copiously. From that point on, he often brought it there. "You know," he said to me, "The Most-holy Virgin likes to be here. Moreover, she brings it peace; all of the little disagreements abate." Learning of a nun’s serious illness, Joseph began to come unexpectedly and more frequently to the monastery, bringing with him his precious burden. Together with the icon, he remained at the deathbed of the great abbess Mother Magdalena (Grabbe), who reposed in 1987, throughout the final bright weeks of her earthly life.
Joseph had promised Mother Magdalena that for the Millenium of the Baptism of Russia, he would paint a new iconostasis for the monastery’s winter chapel. "This will be my part in the celebration," said Joseph. However, his endless travels interfered with his completing that work.
Joseph’s iconography was bright and vivid. He took as his pattern the best works of medieval Rus’. He executed details with the greatest care. Each individual depicted lived with a distinct, radiant life. All of the symbolic elements in the icon acquired under his brushstrokes their true meaning and spirit. Grinding stones for pigments, Joseph sought to achieve bold tones and an incomparable play of colors. A subtle and light, truly heavenly harmony emerged through these contrasts. This was also facilitated by his work with gold, symbolizing the never-ending day, for the halos and background. The four icons of the Holy Fathers on the Royal Doors of the Lesna monastery iconostasis, and especially the Archangels depicted on the side doors, are among the brightest examples of his style…"
Did Joseph sense beforehand that his life would be crowned with martyrdom? Now such a supposition appears to be entirely tenable, especially if one remembers the unexpected words which he spoke in the Lesna Monastery during his final visit. Several weeks later he perished. Judging from his bloodied but incorrupt body, his death was preceded by torture. On 18/31 October, 1997, on the day of commemoration of the Holy Apostle Luke, first patron saint of iconographers, the humble and smiling monk Joseph (Ambrose) was united to him in the heavenly choir which glorifies Christ, and was accepted by His Most-pure Mother into the bosom of Abraham. Through the icon which he took throughout the world for veneration, from Canada to Brazil to Euruope and Australia, Joseph reminded poor people seduced by hedonism of the true cost of purity, chastity and sacrifice.
He died, murdered by thieves for whom he continues to pray. To his very death, he remained faithful to the One Whom he had encountered in 1982 in that scete in Her Precious Garden. He was truly a chosen one, a soul predestined for a special mission. Let us take care! It was not without reason that this angel in the flesh appeared to us now, during the era of perversion and greed. This providential sign has given us an image of repentance in the touching image of holy myrrh, which eases and cauterizes our spiritual and physical wounds. The Mother anticipates her Son’s return into the den of thieves (Matthew 21:13), with a scourge of small cords (John 2:15). It is no coincidence that the Mother of God appeared to Joseph in our era through the Iveron icon, her visage wounded by the sword of the iconoclast, and that her humble curator died a martyr’s death. Here is the sign (Matthew 12:38), a greater [sign] than Jonas…a greater [sign] than Solomon (Matthew 12:41, 42).