July 22,
2010
Jackson, NJ: St. Vladimir’s Day –
the Day of Russian Unity
This
year, the national celebration of St. Vladimir’s Day will take place
on Sunday, July 25, in St.
Vladimir Memorial Church to the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus,
several days prior to St. Vladimir’s Day itself.
Local parish clergy and faithful will arrive before the start of
the Liturgy at 9:00 AM, as will representatives of several national
and scout organizations. The Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God will
arrive from Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville prior to the start
of the Liturgy.
The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated by a multitude of clergy, led
by the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, His Eminence
Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York. His Eminence
will be co-served by Eastern American Diocesan Vicar Bishop, His Grace
George of Mayfield. After the Liturgy, there will be a moleben with
procession and blessing of the water. There will then be a festal
banquet in the parish hall.
On the very day of the Holy Great Prince Vladimir, Wednesday, July
28, the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated by Eastern American Diocesan
Vicar Bishop, His Grace Jerome of Manhattan. After the Liturgy, a
procession and luncheon will be held.
St. Vladimir Memorial Church is one of the most significant and
historic churches of the Eastern American Diocese. It bears witness to
the sorrowful history of the Russian people in the 20th century. The
builders of this magnificent church, Archbishops Vitaly (Maximenko)
and Nikon (Rklitsky), dedicated their lives to the growth and
preservation of the holy Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. In
the most terrible years of the 20th century, they summoned people with
all their hearts to prayer for the salvation of the suffering Russian
land.
Thanks be to the Almighty Lord, the Russian Church has united, and
the wounds of the many years of division are being healed. Today, St.
Vladimir Memorial Church is a symbol of our unity; St. Vladimir’s
Day, the day of Russian unity. All faithful children of the Eastern
American Diocese are invited to prayerful participation in this bright
and joyous feast.
On the threshold of the St. Vladimir’s Day festivities, we offer
our readers two wonderful articles by the ever-memorable Archbishop
Nikon (Rklitsky – formerly of Washington and Florida, ruling bishop
of the Eastern American Diocese), on the history of St. Vladimir
Memorial Church and on one of the first divine services served at the
walls of the church while it was under construction in 1948.
Historic
photographs of St. Vladimir's Day
St.
Vladimir Memorial Church
Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky)
In
1938, during the celebration of the 950th anniversary of the Baptism
of Rus, the decision was made at the behest of Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko)
to mark this jubilee by erecting the majestic St. Vladimir Memorial
Church in the town of Cassville, soon after renamed Jackson, at ROVA
Farms (ROVA: Russian Mutual Aid Society), where many Russian people
typically congregate in the summer months. The original architectural
design was done by the talented Russian architect R.N. Verhovsky. In
1940, the triumphal laying of the cornerstone was performed by
Metropolitan Theophilus (Pashkovsky), Archbishop Vitaly, and Bishop
Makary (Ilyinsky), hierarchs of the then-united Russian Church in
America, which later divided into three parts: the American Church,
the Church Abroad, and the [Moscow Patriarchate]. St. Vladimir
Memorial Church remained under the authority of Archbishop Vitaly. The
Second World War halted construction. In 1948, the rector’s
responsibilities were assigned to Hieromonk Anthony (Medvedev) and
work on the lower church was completed by V.I. Vishnevsky and M.I.
Yazykov, with the technical assistance of the engineer A.E. Boldakov.
In
1951, Archpriest Vasily Musin-Pushkin was assigned church rector, and
work on the church under his leadership took on a new character of
intensity – the church walls and apse were completed under the
supervision of architect V.G. Glinin, after which supervision over the
construction of the church was undertaken by N.D. Popov. On May
28/June 10, 1959, Archpriest Vasily Musin-Pushkin died suddenly, and
the church’s deacon, the newly ordained to the priesthood Fr. Vitaly
Faktorovich, became the rector, soon after becoming a monk with the
name Vasily, in honor of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince
Vladimir, who took the name Vasily in Holy Baptism. Local architect
S.N. Padyukov took over supervision of church construction. Upon
Archbishop Vitaly’s death on February 21/March 8, St. Vladimir’s
Society and the Building Committee for the Construction of St.
Vladimir Memorial Church were led by Archbishop Nikon of Washington
and Florida.
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 peel 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 said, "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, 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 would rise for prayers at two or three in
the morning, he would serve 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 Ghost 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 24 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
Media
Office of the Eastern American Diocese
See
Also:
July
28, 2010
Jackson, NJ: Bishop Jerome celebrated the Divine Liturgy in St.
Vladimir Memorial Church
July 25,
2010
Jackson, NJ:
The First Hierarch of ROCOR led the national St. Vladimir’s Day
celebrations
July
24, 2010
Jackson,
NJ: Metropolitan Hilarion celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Holy Virgin
Protection Church
