On December 21, 2009, the funeral of the newly departed Archimandrite Ioasaph (McLellan), Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, took place at Holy Trinity Monastery. The body of the newly departed was brought to Holy Trinity Monastery from Holy Epiphany Parish in Roslindale late in the night to be buried in the place which was dear to his heart.

Fr. Ioasaph was a graduate of Holy Trinity Seminary (class of 1985); he completed his M. A. and Ph. D. in Slavic Languages and Literature at Brown University. Subsequently he taught at Brown University, the University of Missouri-Columbia and, most recently, at Princeton University. He was a founding faculty member and assistant director of the Summer School of Liturgical Music, held annually at Holy Trinity Seminary. In the past, he served as choir director of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Epiphany in Boston, MA, and at Saint Basil the Great Orthodox Church in Saint Louis, MO.

At the request of the late Metropolitan Laurus (Skurla), Fr. Ioasaph decided to leave his position at Princeton and entered the monastic vocation on October 10, 2008, at Holy Trinity Monastery, where he was tonsured by Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. The following day he was ordained to the diaconate, and shortly afterwards, on December 7, 2008, to the rank of hieromonk. The ordination was preformed by the newly consecrated Bishop George of Mayfield. Fr. Ioasaph was appointed as Head of the Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem and elevated to the rank of archimandrite. He served at the Holy Ascension Convent on the Mount of Olives and at the Gethsemane Convent, both in Jerusalem. He was diagnosed with cancer in August of 2008, while visiting family in Boston and reposed on Friday, December 18, 2009, at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Many relatives and friends came to the monastery to pay their respects to Archimandrite Ioasaph. The Pannykhida was presided over by His Grace, Bishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada, who was joined by His Grace, Bishop Peter of Cleveland, and His Grace, Bishop George of Mayfield. Numerous clergy partook in the prayers for the newly departed servant of God. Archpriest Andrei Papkov offered a eulogy in memory of Fr. Ioasaph, with whom he had cooperated on many projects over the past decades, including in the Summer School of Liturgical Music.

Archimandrite Ioasaph was buried in the brotherhood’s cemetery behind the Holy Trinity cathedral, after a procession around the cathedral.

Memory eternal and God's mercy to the newly departed Archimandrite Ioasaph!