Fr. Savvas Anastasiou (whose baptismal name is Matthew) was born on January 23, 1976 (n.s.) in Queens N.Y. to Constantine and Antonia.
Constantine Anastasiou was born and raised in Cyprus and emigrated to America at the age of 15. His mother took the tonsure to the Great Schema (after her husband\'s repose) in 1990. Antonia was born and raised in NY a Roman Catholic and converted to Orthodoxy at the age of 22. Constantine and Antonia raised their family close to the Church.
After graduating High School in 1993 Matthew pursued studied in Classical Music at the Manhattan School of Music from which he graduated in 1997. While studying music he became acquainted with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and he began to learn about the differences between the Old and New calendars. It was at this time that Matthew began applying for studies at the Holy Cross School of Theology with the goal of becoming a priest of the (New Calendarist) Archdiocese.
In the spring of 1997 he saw Fr. Pavlos Stratigeas\' television program on the Greek channel at that time and he discovered that there were Greek Old Calendarists in the United States and not just in Greece, as he had previously thought. He first visited the Cathedral of St. Markella in Astoria in August and met Fr. Pavlos Stratigeas to whom he began confessing during lent of 1998 (Fr Pavlos having just been ordained to the episcopacy).
Upon learning of the "re-ordinations" of two G.O.C. bishops by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in April of 1998 he made a firm decision to sever communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He entered into the newly-founded monastery of the Holy Ascension in September of 1999 as a novice and on Saturday December 26, 1999 (o.s.) he was tonsured a rassophore monk by Metropolitan Pavlos and given the name Savvas. On Sunday December 25, 2000 (o.s.) he was ordained to the diaconite and remained in this position for seven years assisting Metropolitan Pavlos at the Cathedral and on his various travels throughout the Metropolis.
On Thursday December 21, 2007 (o.s.) he was tonsured to the Great Schema and on Monday December 25, 2007 (o.s.) he was ordained to the priesthood. In September of 2008 he was sent to serve the parish of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Clearwater, Florida where he continues to serve to this day.
Fr. Savvas began to study Byzantine chant and the Greek language upon his entrance into the monastery. Fr. Savvas\' American background, his great love for his Hellenic heritage and his firm grasp on the current ecclesiastical situation has given him the ability to minister to young and old, Greek and American, convert and cradle-Orthodox alike.
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