Divine
Service at the Walls of St. Vladimir Memorial Church
Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky)
The scorching sun in
the torrid July days sinks below the evening horizon. A cool breeze
blows, filled with the aroma of pine trees and green fields. It becomes easy to breathe.
The
silver peal of a bell from St. Vladimir’s Mount at ROVA Farms calls
Orthodox Christians to the All-Night Vigil with its slow, resounding
blows, in the old Russian tradition. Answering its call, diligent
faithful flow from every corner of the Farms, freely spread across a
thousand acres. The divine services are performed in the open air on a
complex edifice prepared by our skillful experts, engineers V.I.
Vishnevky and M.I. Yazykov, for the pouring of the reinforced concrete
walls. The massive structure is connected and covered in countless
struts and clamps, and bears witness to the zealous and sacrificial work
of the builders. They have also built the basic metal latticework of the
ceiling. So it is that the builders of this church work for the glory of
God.
At the
bottom of St. Vladimir’s Mount is a sea of automobiles – guests at
ROVA Farms, gathered here for the three days of the feast to recover
from life in the big city. Not far off, the lake glistens, and the new
arrivals gravitate toward it, looking to relax from the hot sun and the
oppressive heat.
The
reverent priest Fr. John inspiredly performs the divine service on St.
Vladimir’s Mount, having recently arrived from Europe, to the
harmonious and orderly singing of the churchgoers, under the direction
of the tireless laborer, Hieromonk Anthony. The cover of night gradually
descends on St. Vladimir’s Mount, converted for now into a church of
God.
The
next day, Sunday, in the bright rays of the morning sun, the hierarchal
service of the Divine Liturgy is performed. A large choir of singers
gathers from Lakewood and from New York, participating amicably
alongside the natives of ROVA and other friends of St. Vladimir Church.
On
this day, the Gospel is prescribed wherein a new law of life is
established: "Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What
shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (Matt. 6:31). Can it really be true – that
we can live thusly, not worrying about that of which we have become
accustomed to thinking as the most important? In another instance, the
Lord says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of
God" (Luke 4:4).
But
how can we free ourselves of these cares for food and shelter?
The
Gospel calls us not to be carefree or idle, but to carry the center of
our interests from the base province of the material to the higher
spiritual: "But seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you" (Matt. 6:33). If I am able to focus the interests and
cares of my life on questions of a spiritual nature, on the Kingdom of
God, on true life, then in the measure of my perfection I will be freed
from the material cares that oppress me. Everything I need for my
physical life will come to me without trouble or care, and if I should
undergo the most unbearable hardships, I will face them calmly,
joyously, and light-heartedly. If you will possess nothing save the
richness of your soul, that will bring joy to those around you – they
will take you into their homes, clothe you, feed you, be your father or
mother, brother, sister, or friend. You will be a magnet, a source of
light; rather, Christ’s light will shine through you. You will create
a world of loving hearts around you. But even if such ones are not to be
found, God will find another path by which to care for His servants. In
order to achieve this, you must have the grace-filled aid of Christ’s untainted
Church. It is necessary that I, not with words or external actions, but
in deed and earnest, seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness with
the same fervor and persistence as the saints, or as shallow people seek
material wealth. Then I will have nothing material to worry about. It is
impossible to imagine, for instance, Fr. John of Kronstadt fretting
about what he must eat or drink, or what to wear, or where to live. And
with no worries on his own part, he was offered the most expensive and
highest quality foods and clothes, and all were happy to serve him. But
oh, how he cared for his spiritual life. Daily he arose for prayers
at two or three in the morning, served daily liturgies,
crucified himself for others, accommodated everyone in his heart, all
the while humbly and meekly counting himself among the worst and most
careless of Russia’s forty thousand priests. His life was truly a life
in Christ, as he called his journal. For that reason, he could afford not
to care what he should eat or drink or wear.
Does
that mean that this Gospel commandment applies solely to the perfect?
No, it
applies to all, because any improvement of my spiritual life is a
relief, and removes from me the weight of life’s cares.
If the
Lord were simply to have removed from us our life’s cares and sorrows,
then this external freedom would necessarily bring us to grave internal
servitude, to an increase of the passions, to pride, and to ultimate
destruction. But the Lord wishes our salvation, and leads us to true
life not only through joys, but through sorrows, as well. That is why
the Holy Apostle Paul, called the "mouth of Christ," rejoiced
not only "in hope of the glory of God," but rejoiced "in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and
patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed;
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us..." (Romans 5:2-5).
These
apostolic words are read on this very day, and explain that law of
spiritual life, by which in Christ’s true Church, in the Kingdom of
Grace, the transfiguration of man from the terrestrial to the empyreal
takes place, thereby making him capable of praising God not only for
joys, but for sorrows… This is the lesson we learned on this day in
St. Vladimir Memorial Church.
On
July 4, American Independence Day, we served a thanksgiving moleben at
these same walls, asking the Lord that America flouring and prosper, and
thanking Him that we live in this country. What a young, yet simultaneously rich and powerful land! It
is but 172 years since the declaration of its independence. And here
stands our memorial to the 950th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus. We
had millennial independence, marvelous culture, might, and now we have
been deprived of it all. Our nation has fallen into the worst kind of
slavery that can exist. Internal freedom and external independence were
given to us in Christianity by the Holy Prince Vladimir, and we must
restore this freedom and independence. St. Vladimir Memorial Church must
be a symbol of this, must be our spiritual standard.
July
28 is St. Vladimir’s Day. Let all those in whom beats a Russian heart,
who love spiritual freedom, who thirst for the rebirth of our Christian
life, gather at the memorial church on this day.
1948
Historical
photographs of St. Vladimir Celebrations
