Hieromonk Alexis (Lisenko) fell asleep in the Lord on Friday, June 12, 2026.
Father Alexis was born in Paris, France, on March 31, 1947, to a Russian mother and a Ukrainian Father. At the age of 4, his parents immigrated to the US, first to San Francisco, CA and then to Berkeley, CA. After graduating from high school in 1964, he went on to study at the University of California-Berkeley receiving a degree in Sociology in 1968. He then studied taught Russian at the US Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. He graduated from Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in 1978.
He was ordained at Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco, CA, in 1979, and was assigned as a priest in Santa Rosa, CA. In 1980, Father Alexis was assigned to Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral in Los Angeles, CA, where he served for the next 15 years. From 1995 on, he served parishes in Desloge, MO; Wheaton, IL; and San Diego, CA. Eventually, he was tonsured as a priest-monk in Manton, CA, at Saint John of Shanghai Orthodox Monastery. In 2019, he moved back to the Chicago area to be closer to family and to receive much needed medical care.
Father Alexis was widely read. He loved history, literature, and poetry. He was an accomplished pianist. He spoke Russian, Ukrainian, French, and English fluently. He was an excellent translator and worked for many years with Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press, translating works from Russian into English. He assisted the OCA’s Department of History and Archives on many projects. His most famous work was the 2014 monumental 2 Volume translation from Russian into English of “My Life’s Journey: The Memoirs of Metropolitan Evlogy” (SVS Press). This was the fruit of many years of work. At the time of his death, Father Alexis was working on translating into English the diary of His Beatitude Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich).
Father Alexis was humble, gentle, soft spoken, and loved the liturgical cycle of the Church, serving all the services up until the last week of his death with the Archpriest Paul Jannakos at Saint Luke Orthodox Church in Palos Hill, IL.
He is survived by his family, two sons Daniel and Timothy, a daughter-in-law Remy, grandchildren Christian, Isabella, and Sofia.
Funeral services for Father Alexis will be held at Saint Luke Church, Palos Hill, IL.
Thursday, June 18
6:00 PM Funeral for a Monastic
Friday, June 19
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy
May Father Alexis’ memory be eternal!