Now with starting this blog, I believe it would be appropriate to first start off my posts by telling the audience who I actually am so they can finally get to know who it is that they are reading from, as I have never really made my identity publicly known online. With that being said, my name is Yosip Pithyou, and I currently serve as a Sub-Deacon for the Mar Gewargis Cathedral Parish in Chicago IL. I am also engaged with the love of my life, someone who really motivated me to take on the role of the diaconate, and has influenced me in many ways to serve Christ and his Church, whether it be on youth committee’s, and on the Holy Altar. From my earliest years, I have loved the Holy Church and cherished the faith handed down by the Fathers of the Assyrian Church of the East. This love has grown deeper through prayer, study, and active spiritual discernment which ultimately led me to feeling called to the Diaconate. I was ordained by His Grace Mar Paulus Benyamin, Bishop of the Eastern Diocese of America on the 14th of February, 2026, along with 4 others who have received the Holy Orders of being Lectors, 1 other Sub-Deacon, and 13 Deacons whom I have had the privilege to call my friends and ultimately brothers in Christ and his Holy Church.
Throughout my life, I have sought to live in obedience to Christ
and to contribute to the life of His Church in every way possible.
I felt called to the diaconate as a path of humble service, and believed it is my ultimate goal to serve in assisting the clergy in the sacred liturgy,
guiding the faithful, and strengthening the life of the Church. My desire till this day remains to serve God with faithfulness, and to proclaim His truth, and to use my knowledge and abilities for the spiritual growth
of the Church. By God’s grace and under everyone’s blessings and prayers, I hope to dedicate my life to this ministry for the glory of Christ and the building up of His Holy Church.
Most of where I would say, this all began, is around 2022 when I first started to really study and have a deeper understanding of the faith of The Assyrian Church of The East. By doing so, naturally I began going to the only place I knew I could try and find information, which was on the internet, by googling the questions I had, naturally just as anyone else would. The issue that was presented to me however, was that by doing so, I only came across sources and information that were secondary, and what others had to say about what we believed. This immediately posed a problem to me, as the information that I was studying from, were mostly polemical and arguments against us as a Church, and nothing substantial of what our forefathers themselves have taught and believed.
This is now kind of where my instagram page plays a role into this. Since I found it hard to access information, or at the very least I was ignorant and did not know where to go or start, I wanted to then make it easier for those who were like me, and wanted to study the Faith of our Saints and Fathers, and create an online presence of the ACOE, and share information from the words of the Fathers themselves. That is what led me to establishing @acoefathers on Instagram on March 12, 2025, after a few years of studying. I deeply believe that the tradition of what many call, the “Persian Church” is as rich as it can get, in Theology, Philosophy, Art, Music, Poetry, and History. Likewise I have also established an Archive, where I have documented all the books I have read and will continue to read, to get a strong understanding of what we believe, and to again, preserve what we have now in the modern age of internet. Due to the years of persecution, I believe it is vital for us to do this, as alot of works we have had in the past have been lost and or destroyed, and in order to preserve this richness in tradition and faith, I have made this a mission for me personally to do. To access the Archive, you can go to the link below, and as well it is linked on my Instagram page bio:
https://archive.org/details/@assyrianricflair
My goal thus still remains the same ever since I have embarked on this journey, and that is, to educate, to provide resources, and to preserve that beauty and richness of faith that has been held onto for 2000 years now, and will continue to be preserved by the guidance of The Holy Spirit, and I hope and pray that this blog will remain a source for that, and inspire others to take a deep dive into their faith. I will then conclude this with a verse from Christ himself in the Book of Matthew, along with a commentary from one of our most beloved saints (and my personal favorite) Saint John Chrysostom:
“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16: 13-19
“What then says Christ? You are Simon, the son of Jonas; you shall be called Cephas.
Thus since you have proclaimed my Father, I too name him that begot you;
all but saying, As you are son of Jonas, even so am I of my Father.
Else it were superfluous to say, You are Son of Jonas;
but since he had said, Son of God,
to point out that He is so Son of God, as the other son of Jonas, of the same substance with Him that begot Him, therefore He added this, And I say unto you, You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church;
Matthew 16:18 that is, on the faith of his confession. Hereby He signifies that many were now on the point of believing, and raises his spirit, and makes him a shepherd. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And if not against it, much more not against me. So be not troubled because you are shortly to hear that I shall be betrayed and crucified.
Saint John Chrysostom Homily on Matthew 16:18
Let us then all make it our missions to Glorify Christ in our faith, for even He himself says, let this rock be built upon our confession of Faith.
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