The mission statement for the Antiochian Orthodox Women of North America (AOCWNA) reads:

"To develop a spirit of Christian leadership, awareness and commitment in the Holy Orthodox Church...to foster a genuine expression of love and service through works of charity and to instill a sense of fellowship and a deeper understanding of the heritage and traditions of the Antiochian Archdiocese and the Orthodox Church."

Though officially formed as an organization in the early 1970s, the women of this Church have been doing the work of discipleship and diakonia (service) for as long as there have been women and a people gathered as "Church."

Women have been answering Christ’s call to discipleship from the beginning of His ministry. The women indeed were

active participants in the emerging Church. Their houses were offered as house churches; they held leadership positions in the earliest Christian communities; they assisted Paul in his missionary efforts (he referred to certain of the women as his ‘co-workers’); they were teaching, prophesying, and sometimes baptizing converts.^{1 [0]}

The ministries of women throughout the history of Christianity have been as varied and unique as the women who have served in them. We can see this so clearly chronicled in the lives of the saints that document the women’s variety of work and their many different spiritual gifts. This variety deepens our understanding of the multiplicity of God in His Creation and the vastness of the mystery of the human person. As we grow in relationship with God, we will continue to grow in our understanding of these things. No disciple will ever fulfill her particular call to discipleship in the same way that her sister will. Each woman will respond to Christ’s call in the person she is at the time she is given. Just as no two women are the same, no two disciples are the same.

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From the collection of Rose Haddad

Virgin Mary Society 1943
St. John of Damascus Orthodox Church

Our great and holy women ancestors did not belong to an organization bearing the acronym AOCWNA, nor did they strive for the glory that sometimes accompanied the fruitful and good works of their hands. They simply did what was asked of them, and they did it with all their hearts. One such woman is Minnie Abdun-Nur, a simple yet brilliant gem that shines on the crown of Christ’s Kingdom.

Minnie Abdun-Nur was born in 1906 in Douma, Lebanon, to Joseph and Helen Abdun-Nur. Her father, well known by many, was the only blacksmith in their village, so people came from all over to make use of his services. Raised in the Orthodox faith, Minnie was taught that God comes first in life and that others and their needs come before one’s own. She tells us that Douma was a town of fifteen-hundred people and had five churches: three Orthodox, one Catholic, and one Maronite. Her church, Mar Elias (Saint Elias), was comprised mainly of Abdun-Nurs: "Our family was the church." Minnie was accustomed to attending the morning and evening worship services during the week, as well as services on Saturday and Sunday. These services and koinonia (communion) helped to nourish Minnie in the Orthodox faith and to nurture a life of service to Christ and His Church.

Minnie is named after her paternal grandmother whom she describes as "very religious." Attending daily worship services and ministering to the needs of their community, Minnie Sr. was the strength of the family that kept them together during wartime struggles. Minnie Jr. witnessed her grandmother lighting the oil lamps in church and praying in front of their icons. The oil used to light these lamps came from the olive orchards on their own land. But because of the war [WWI-independence from Ottoman domination], the olive crop was wiped out. This did not stop Minnie Sr. from being vigilant in prayer at church. During the war the churches were locked and the faithful were deprived of worshipping as community in their churches. Minnie Sr. had a set of keys to the church and did not relinquish them to the authorities. She would sneak into the church and pray before the icons holding a match. Minnie Jr. recalls that Minnie Sr. managed to hide a one-gallon jar of oil, but when it was nearly empty, she told her family that she prayed to God to supply them. She was told in prayer, "Don’t worry, you won’t run out." This same gallon jar continued to be replenished with oil by the grace of God.

This kind of faithfulness was the food that nourished Minnie’s family. Minnie Sr.’s philoxenia (hospitality) allowed relatives and neighbors to thrive despite the ravages of war. Minnie’s family lived at Minnie Sr.’s during the war: "twenty-two people in one big room with the kids in mattresses across the floor." Minnie Sr. took in three neighborhood girls whose parents were killed, and four nieces, in addition to housing her own family. "When I was sick with the chicken pox my grandmother had a room set up like a hospital with twenty-five to thirty people," whom she nursed. Minnie’s mother, also a strong religious figure in her life, sought to provide for her children by selling her clothes for money. She walked a twenty-five mile round trip for food. "You know what comes from wheat? Our pillows were stuffed with it. We had to open the pillows and eat the stuffing for food."

The hardships of war did not embitter or harden the hearts of these people. Rather they took up their crosses and followed Christ by serving, ministering, and praying. Their faith did not waver in adversity but flourished for the upbuilding of the Body of Christ and the glory of God. This Godly formation is what shaped Minnie’s character and helped to prepare her for the life of service, both in her marriage and in the Church.

In New Jersey in 1919, where malaria forced her to move to the United States for a change of climate, Minnie met her husband, Dr. Assad Abdun-Nur. He was a second cousin to Minnie’s father. Assad’s mother and Minnie’s uncle accompanied her uncle on this trip. Assad and Minnie were married five years later. She speaks with great love for this man who was twenty years her senior. "I married the best man in the world." They shared forty-seven blissful years together, raising two children, a son and a daughter. She has been widowed for thirty-five years and says, "I had my chances to remarry, but I’ll never find another one like him. The hardest part is when you lose them."

In 1924 they settled in Los Angeles, where there was no Antiochian Orthodox church. For a while they attended a local Roman Catholic church until the Antiochian Metropolitan, Archbishop Antony Bashir (of thrice-blessed memory) encouraged them to attend an Episcopal church. "He said Episcopalian was closer to Orthodox than Catholic was." Desiring to worship and to belong to a worshipping community, they joined an Episcopalian church. This would not satisfy them for very long, however. Minnie says, "My husband wanted a[n Orthodox] church so bad." With Metropolitan Antony’s blessings and encouragement, Dr. Assad and Minnie put their energies into establishing an Antiochian church in the Los Angeles area.

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Minnie with now
Metropolitan Philip Saliba

Metropolitan Antony, also from Douma and very close to the Abdun-Nur family, affectionately called Minnie, "Metranieh" (the feminine form of the word bishop in Arabic) because of her love for the Church and her hard work in building it up. Metranieh is what she was called and how she was known throughout the Antiochian Archdiocese. Minnie Metranieh; the title alone should suffice to explain the role she had in establishing a church. However, Minnie tells of many people who were responsible for the establishment of what is now known as St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral of Los Angeles. She is reluctant to name them, however, for fear she would inadvertently forget some important ones. "I love everybody, and I don’t care if my name is in the [local news]paper or anywhere. As long as God has my name with Him, that’s all I want." This is the way she tells the story of how the church was built - without telling what work she did to help. Only with much prodding does she relinquish a few details about her part in this work. "Whenever someone said they were going to take a picture, I’d run the other way." Consequently, there are very few photos taken at church functions where we actually see Minnie Metranieh at work.

Minnie reluctantly shares that she served as the Ladies’ Society president for four years and as a parish council member for eight. During that time, the church community held functions two or three times a month over the course of six years in order to raise money for the building of a church, and to nurture the faithful, both spiritually and socially. "God was with us, dear. We were like one family. The ladies would come to me and say, ‘give us a job, Minnie.’ There’s nothing we didn’t do at that time [to build the church]. There weren’t a lot of people who had money, but they worked hard."

Their hard work paid off. Dr. Assad went from door to door to the Orthodox people in Los Angeles, soliciting time, talent, and money for the church.

St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Christian Cathedral of Los Angeles was completed in 1950. Prior to this date, two or three failed attempts were made to form a church. A small group of people had formed a church on the east side of Los Angeles (St. George), but there was a need for a "larger church to serve everybody." Dr. Assad and Minnie were able to convince some of the St. George parishioners to join their efforts to build St. Nicholas Cathedral. They also convinced the people of the Inland Empire (an area near Los Angeles) to sell their church building and to contribute the funds toward building St. Nicholas. In 1959 Metropolitan Antony blessed Dr. Assad with two awards conferred on him by the Patriarch of Jerusalem for his work in establishing the cathedral.

Minnie does not seek recognition or glory for her work. She would never call it "her work," deferring first to God, then to her husband, and finally, to others. At ninety-three she is lucid and articulate. She lives alone and drives only locally. She is able to attend Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Cathedral about once a month when her good neighbor, Alex, drives her there. Most of her time is spent with her grandchildren; "They are my life."

Amazingly enough, Minnie’s family name, Abdun-Nur, is a shortened version of Abdul-Nur, meaning "servant of light." Abdul-Nur, like Metranieh, is such an appropriate name for Minnie. Just as Minnie Sr. and Minnie’s mother helped to keep the light of Christ aflame in their worship and daily lives amidst the darkness of war, so also Minnie has fueled that light in her work to assist the building of a church. Indeed, Minnie Abdun-Nur has been, and continues to be, a good servant of the Light, Christ our God. She so aptly fulfills Christ’s call of discipleship and His command to "let your light so shine before people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). In this way she epitomizes the essence of the AOCWNA’s mission - to be the Church.