St. Zoticos is an Orthodox community of the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Blessed in 2018 and under the Omophorion of Metropolitan Gregory of Nyssa, it is the heart and lungs of Good Neighbours Scarborough Drop-In.

We follow the new calendar. Most of the services are in English but we warmly welcome other languages such as Arabic, Malayalam, Tamil, Malankara and Ethiopian.

St. Zoticos is an Orthodox community that along with Scarborough Good Neighbours Drop-In seeks to live out in the everyday the beauty of the gospel calling. We are centred on liturgy as the presence of Christ among the people of Scarborough.

Through prayer, ascetical life and works of mercy, we seek to enter more fully into His divine life. Sharing in God’s compassion and love for each person, we desire to be open to all but especially those who suffer and don’t belong to any church or social community.

We hold in esteem religious academic learning but also believe it can’t be separated from a down-to-earth practical love of real concrete people. Thus we offer the opportunity to be introduced to the Orthodox faith through opportunities of study and also of humble service to the community.

St. Zoticos also holds regular retreats at St. Mary of Egypt Refuge as opportunities to grow in the spiritual life and experience the Orthodox faith.

“In the gospel of Judgment Day, Christ does not tell us that we have to heal the sick, but to visit them. He does not tell us that we need to solve the problem of inequity in the world, but to share with the one that comes our way. He does not tell us that we need to change the justice system, but to reach out to those whose freedom was taken away, by sharing with them the freedom of being together. The care and the good news of the gospel are personal.”

The Liturgy before the Liturgy: “The journey toward the world is not simply the result of the Eucharist; it is also the pre-condition for it. In other words, we do not need only a ‘liturgy after the Liturgy’ but also a ‘liturgy before the Liturgy.’ The ‘liturgy before the Liturgy’ is the sacrament of love. If solidarity, the journey towards the Other, and inviting the Other into the Kingdom, are not conditions and constitutive elements of the Liturgy, then the Liturgy risks lapsing into the sheer ritualism, meaning a conviction that the performance of rites and cults without further conditions automatically produces salvific results.”

“Not long ago in the Church everything was provided for and we could remain passive. From now on, history requires us to be active and inventive and to search out new reforms of ecclesial life that pertains to all Christians. Don’t be afraid because as St. Paul says, ’I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’”

Join in our regular Bible-study classes – click the image to see the PDF poster (~110 kb)