November 25, 2009
Jordanville: Great Consecration of the Church of St. Job of Pochaev at
Holy Trinity Monastery
On
November 22, 2009, for the first time in its fifty-year history, the
full consecration of the lower church of Holy Trinity Monastery,
dedicated to St. Job of Pochaev, the patron saint of the monastery and
the brotherhood’s printshop, took place. This event coincided with
the 350-year anniversary of the opening of the relics of the saint.
The life of Holy Trinity Monastery is closely bound up with the memory
and heavenly protection of this great God-pleaser, whose veneration
was brought to Jordanville by its ever-memorable abbot, Archbishop
Vitaly (Maximenko), who lived for many years in the Pochaev Lavra.
The great consecration was performed by His Grace, Bishop George of
Mayfield, accompanied by all the clergy of the monastery. Students of
the seminary who had not left for the fall break before this great
event helped in the altar and on the kliros. The Sunday services began
with the meeting of His Grace, Bishop George, who was vested with the
white apron and white cuffs necessary for the consecration over his
hierarchal vestments. Then in the altar the new Holy Table was
constructed and the antimens consecrated. The divine service was
conducted with special prayer and singing in which the grace and help
of God were asked for this church. The consecration was completed with
a procession around the monastery cathedral, after which the Divine
Liturgy began.
In his sermon upon the completion of the solemn service, Archimandrite
Luke, abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of Holy Trinity
Seminary, remarked: “Today’s event witnesses to the fact that the
inheritance of the Pochaev brotherhood is indeed alive. We have the
hope that St. Job will not leave us and will continue to hear our
prayers to him in the future as well. In a country located thousands
of miles from the homeland, the memory of St. Job continues to be
glorified to the present day, and this clearly witnesses that the
zealous activity of spreading the faith, begun by the saint in Volynia
in the seventeenth century, continues to bear fruit.“
In the near future, with God’s help, a new iconostas will be erected
in the newly-consecrated church, prepared in Russia and gifted by a
graduate of Holy Trinity Seminary’s external program, Ekaterina
Vladimirovna Anisimova and her husband, Vasilii Vasilevich Anisimov.
The brethren and all inhabitants of the monastery, as well as the
faculty and students of the Seminary, wish to express their sincere
gratitude and recognition for their labors in the decoration of the
monastery and seminary.
Great thanks go also to Vladyka George for not refusing to be with us
to lead the divine services on this historical occasion for the
monastery. Himself a graduate of our monastery and seminary, he has
not ceased to show us his archpastoral care.
Official
website of Holy Trinity Seminary
www.hts.edu
