October 23, 2014
Harper Woods, MI: Metropolitan Hilarion leads Anniversary Celebrations at St. Sabbas the Sanctified Monastery

From Friday the 10th to Sunday the 12th of October, His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, paid an archpastoral visit to St. Sabbas the Sanctified Stavropegial Monastery in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods, MI, and led the festivities there in honor of the 15th anniversary of the monastery’s founding. At the invitation of the monastery’s deputy abbot and administrator, Archimandrite Pachomy (Bellkoff), also visiting the monastery were Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen; Primate of the Orthodox Church in America from 2008-2012), Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco & Western America, Eastern American vicar Bishop George of Mayfield, and Bishop Irénée of Québec City (OCA).

The monastery was founded in 1999 with the blessing of Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov, +2006) and was built to be an American Midwestern "copy" of Russia’s Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. The monastery is designed in Old Russian architectural style, but includes some elements of Jerusalem, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, and Serbian styles, as well. The divine services are performed in English with some Church Slavonic. The services are sung by the monastics, though weekends and feast days are sung by a mixed choir (director – Amy Belkoff).

The monastery was originally imagined as a quiet monastic community comprised of a few monks, with daily services. But its founder and abbot Archimandrite Pachomy, who had previously been serving in a parish, could not abandon the faithful, who wanted to pray at the divine services according to the old (Julian) calendar. They became the first parishioners of the monastery, which today sees up to 20 Americans convert to Orthodoxy every year. In this way, the monastery developed a missionary orientation, and today is one of the largest parishes in Michigan.

The monastery hosts weekly lectures on Church history, the history of iconography, and church architecture. Two days a week, aficionados of Russian and European cuisine can dine at the Russian restaurant located within the monastery, the proceeds from which go to support, expand, and adorn the monastery grounds. The monastery is home to a marvelous garden and a church museum, as well as a monastic library with over 6,000 titles: Patristic works, books on theology, art, history, gardening, and horticulture.

After Metropolitan Vitaly’s retirement and owing to uncertainty in the canonical situation in the Church, the monastery spent several years under the omophorion of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the USA. In the spring of last year, it reentered the jurisdiction of the Russian Church Abroad.

The festivities began with the All-Night Vigil on Saturday evening, October 11, led by Metropolitan Hilarion, who was co-served by the hierarchs and clergy from ROCOR, the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, the Orthodox Church in America, and the OCA’s Canadian Diocese. Upon completion of the service, the deputy abbot invited the guests and parishioners to a bountiful supper. The following day, Metropolitan Hilarion celebrated the festal Divine Liturgy, co-served by the above-mentioned hierarchs and Fr. Pachomy, as well as: Archimandrite Maximos (Weimar; abbot of Holy Cross Brotherhood in East Setauket, NY), Archpriest Roman Star (rector of St. Innocent Church MP in Redford, MI), Archpriest Martin Swanson (rector of St. Basil the Great Church in St. Louis, MO), Archpriest Emilian Hutnyan (rector of St. Andrew Church OCA in Maple Heights, OH), Archpriest Gregory Nimigan (Canadian OCA), and Deacon Dionysius Lvov (cleric of the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City). Singing in the monastic choir was Hieromonk Zosimas (Krampis; cleric of Holy Cross Brotherhood in East Setauket).

Upon completion of the service, Metropolitan Hilarion presented the monastery with an icon of the Konevets Mother of God.

Archimandrite Pachomy led his guests on a tour of the monastery, including a viewing of the construction of new cells for the brethren and the monastery museum and library. The guests took part in a jubilee reception, including clergy and longtime parishioners, benefactors, and trustees of the monastery.

Throughout the years of its existence, the monastery has received up to a thousand pilgrims annually, and is always open to new pilgrims and worshippers.

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese