 The following year, Nasri became a novitiate before becoming a monk in 1889, upon which he assumed the name Elias.Elias was ordained priest in 1892 by Peter IV, and during the Massacres of Diyarbakır in 1895, Elias gave refuge to approximately 7000 Armenian refugees in the Monastery of Mor Quryaqos.After this, Elias was appointed Chief of the Monastery of Mor Quryaqos and Monastery of Mor Hananyo.