His Beatitude John X was born in the city of Latakia, Syria, in the year 1955. He was raised in a home known for education, virtue and faith. His father, Manah Yazigi, a Syrian, was a teacher of Arabic and a poet. His mother, Rozah Moussi, is of Lebanese origin. His Beatitude has three siblings, one of whom is a Metropolitan and another a nun.

His Beatitude attended the schools of Latakia. He enrolled in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Techrin, in Latakia. He has studied church music and excelled in it, forming choirs and training them in traditional church chants. He is a notable leader of young people and has worked with them in various social and spiritual programs.

He received the degree of Bachelor of Theology from the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology at Balamand in 1978. He then studied at the University of Thessaloniki in Greece
 and received the degree of Doctor of Theology with Distinction in the year 1983.

His doctoral thesis, which was written in Greek and carried the title The Service of the Holy Baptism: A Historical, Theological, and Liturgical Study, was published. While in Greece, he also studied church music and received a Diploma from the Higher Institute of Byzantine Music in Thessaloniki.

His Eminence, the Most Reverend Saba Isper is the Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East and the Holy Synod of Antioch elected His Eminence to lead the Archdiocese during its extraordinary session on Feb. 23, 2023, in Balamand, Lebanon.

His Eminence will lead and oversee the Archdiocese’s parishes, missions, departments, institutions and organizations in the United States and Canada from the headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey. The auxiliary bishops aid him in his administration across the continent.

Metropolitan Saba was born in Latakia, Syria in 1959. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Tishreen in Latakia, and a bachelor’s degree in theology from the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand. His Eminence is fluent in Arabic and English.

Prior to his election as Metropolitan of North America, His Eminence cofounded The Hauran Connection with the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America. This charitable project enhances Orthodoxy in this ancient Christian land in the face of strife. More than $1 million has been raised since 2007.

Developmental projects and charitable endowments for the Bosra Archdiocese under Metropolitan Saba include a medical clinic in As-Suwayda, dormitories for 150 university students in As-Suwayda and Daraa; 48 studios for retirees in The House of Love; the Bethany Spiritual Retreat Center in Kharaba; Bread for All that distributes food to the poor regardless of religion; ongoing agricultural projects; and The Good Samaritan, a multifaceted charitable organization for parishioners displaced or affected by the recent Syrian war.

His Eminence was ordained on Nov. 29, 1984. He was ordained a priest in 1988 and elevated to the dignity of archimandrite in 1994. He pastored St. Michael the Archangel Church in the Archdiocese of Latakia until 1998. During that time, Metropolitan Saba edited and published the Orthodox Christian magazine Farah geared toward children and families.

In 1998, Metropolitan Saba was elected and consecrated as an auxiliary bishop to His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV of thrice-blessed memory. In 1999, His Beatitude and the Holy Synod of Antioch elected him as metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Bosra, Hauran and Jabal Al-Arab in Syria.

Simultaneously with his pastoral and episcopal duties, from 1995-2006, His Eminence served as instructor of Pastoral Care and Introduction to the Old Testament at the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand.

His Eminence established a publishing house in the Bosra Archdiocese, the Al-Arabiya magazine for adults, and continued issuing Farah for children. An English version has been produced since 2010. Metropolitan Saba authors weekly articles on his Facebook page and has written on various topics in Al-Noor, Patriarchal and Al Arabiya magazines. He has authored a number of books in pastoral life and theology.

Metropolitan Saba has also translated a number of titles from English to Arabic, including works by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev and Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko.

His Eminence’s patron saint is St. Saba (Sabbas) the Sanctified, commemorated on Dec. 5.

His Grace Bishop Alexander was consecrated to the Holy Episcopacy on December 5, 2004. His consecrating bishops included His Beatitude Ignatius IV at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Damascus, Syria. He was enthroned as the first Diocesan Bishop of Ottawa, Eastern Canada, and Upstate New York at St. Elias Cathedral in Ottawa on June 12, 2005.

Bishop Alexander served as priest of St. Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Hunt Valley, Maryland from 2000-2004.

Bishop Alexander was born into an Orthodox Christian family in north Lebanon in 1956. He attended Tripoli Boys’ School and after passing the Lebanese Baccalaureates I and II, he enrolled in the American University in Beirut. Due to fighting in Lebanon, he was unable to continue his education there and instead moved to the U.S. to attend the University of North Texas. He graduated with a B.A. in 1978 and an MBA in 1980. He returned to Lebanon, where he worked from 1981 to 1985 for a company that imported raw materials for factories.

In October 1985, he returned to the U.S. and found work as a supply manager at Prince George’s Hospital in the Washington, D.C. area. After eight years in that job, he worked for a local company that exported medical supplies to the Middle East and then in 1995 was hired by Federated Stores to work as a sales associate for Bloomingdale’s in Rockville, Maryland. While there, he wrote to Metropolitan Philip requesting his blessing to enter seminary. He was directed to attend St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York, from which he graduated in 2000.

Bishop Alexander was ordained to the Diaconate on January 9, 2000 and to the priesthood on April 9, 2000. He was elevated to the Archimandrite on July 4, 2004. On December 5, 2004, he was consecrated to the episcopacy by Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim) of Antioch in Damascus, Syria, and he has served as the Bishop of Ottawa, Eastern Canada, and Upstate New York since that time.

Bishop Alexander’s namesday is August 30 (St. Alexander, Archbishop of Constantinople).

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