December 13, 2011 New York City:
Historic Joint Concelebration by Hierarchs of OCA & ROCOR in the
Synodal Cathedral of the Sign
On
Saturday, December 10, on the feast day of the Icon of the Mother of
God of the Sign, hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) held an
historic concelebration of the Divine Liturgy on the patronal feast
day of the
Synodal Cathedral of the Sign.
His Beatitude Jonah, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All
America & Canada, celebrated the Divine Liturgy, co-served by His
Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York. The
first concelebration of the Primates of the OCA and ROCOR was held
this year on the feast of Sts. Cyril & Methodius at St. Nicholas
Patriarchal Cathedral, and the joint service by the Primates in the
Cathedral of the Sign fortified their renewed liturgical communion.
The Primates were co-served by the following hierarchs of the OCA,
the Moscow Patriarchate, and ROCOR:
- His Eminence Mark, Archbishop of Berlin,
Germany, and Great Britain - His Eminence Kyrill, Archbishop of
San Francisco & Western America - His Eminence Justinian,
Archbishop of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal
Parishes in the USA - His Eminence Gabriel, Archbishop of
Montreal & Canada - His Grace Michael, Bishop of Geneva & Western
Europe - His Grace Peter, Bishop of Cleveland, Administrator of
the Diocese of Chicago - His Grace Tikhon, Bishop of Philadelphia
& Eastern Pennsylvania - His Grace Benjamin, Bishop of San
Francisco & the West - His Grace Melchisedek, Bishop of
Pittsburgh & Western Pennsylvania - His Grace Michael, Bishop of
New York & New Jersey - His Grace Matthias, Bishop of Chicago &
the Midwest - His Grace George, Bishop of Mayfield, Vicar of the
Eastern American Diocese - His Grace Jerome, Bishop of Manhattan,
Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese
Upon
completion of the Liturgy,
His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, addressed His Beatitude,
Metropolitan Jonah, saying:
"Your
Beatitude, beloved in Christ Metropolitan Jonah, on this most
radiant and grace-filled day, I greet you and your brother bishops
and clergy and faithful with the feast of the Icon of the Mother of
God of the Sign, whose Kursk Root copy, the Protectress of the
Russian Diaspora, was discovered over 715 years ago. Today is a day
of great joy, when under the protection and the blessing of the
Mother of God we gathered together and celebrated the Bloodless
Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ together, after many years
of regrettable separation. Today, we have the concelebration of the
bishops of your Synod, and the bishops of our Synod: this is a very
joyful and historic day. We recall the words of King David, "How
good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity!" (Psalm
132:1).
And we give thanks to God for bringing us together in concord, in
brotherly love, and we pray that we will always be able to
concelebrate and participate in Church life together for the glory
of God and for the propagation of the Orthodox Faith on this
continent and throughout the world."
Bearing
in
mind
his
zealous
efforts
and
labours,
Metropolitan Hilarion presented the Primate of the Orthodox Church
in America "The Synodal Order of the Sign of the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside of Russia, 1st Class."
In response, His Beatitude, Metropolitan
Jonah, replied:
"Your
Eminence, I am profoundly grateful for this high honor, and for this
opportunity to come together, to pray together, to serve together,
to celebrate our brotherly love and unity together as one Church.
Truly, there is only one Church! God has called us to that unity
with love and in communion with one another. It is my fervent prayer
that from now on we will work together and cooperate on many
different projects, supporting one another in our common paths. God
has seen fit over the past decades that there be two Churches, each
attending to different ministries, each working with different
communities of people, each bearing fruit for the Lord according to
His Will and in the Vineyards He had given to us to cultivate."
His
Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, presented the First Hierarch of the
Russian Church Abroad with the "Order of St. Innocent, Enlightener
of America." Metropolitan Jonah also presented Metropolitan Hilarion
with an icon of St. Jacob (Netsvetov) the Confessor, who labored in
Alaska and was glorified by the Orthodox Church in America. "This
icon
perhaps
most
expresses
the
spirit
of
the
Orthodox
Church
in
America,"
said
Metropolitan
Jonah.
"St.
Jacob
was
the
first Native American priest to be ordained in the territory of
North America. He was half-Russian and half-Aleut, and he was a
great missionary. St Jacob was one of the greatest of the saints of
Alaska, and his work is the cornerstone of so much of the Alaskan
Mission, which is the foundation of our common work. We are both
sons of the Russian Orthodox Mission, we are both the continuation
of that Mission, begun in 1794. We are both heirs of that common
legacy, and so it is with great joy that I present you this holy
icon."
As reported by the
official site of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, the Consul
General of the Russian Federation in New York, A.K. Yushmanov, then
greeted the Primates of the Russian Church Abroad and the Orthodox
Church in America, expressed his sincere joy and deep satisfaction
at the important event that had just taken place – the renewal of
prayerful communion between the two Churches.
"The
relationship between the Russian government and Orthodoxy in America
has varied greatly over time," noted Yushmanov. "There was a rather
long period when the Russian Empire generously aided the realization
of an Orthodox Mission among the native population of the Aleutian
Islands and Alaska, supporting the construction of churches and
parish schools for Russian émigrés in America, and providing a
salary for parish clergy. Such was the beginning of the Russian
Metropolia – now the Orthodox Church in America.
"The events of 1917 in Russia had as their result, in addition to
much else, the creation of the Russian Church Abroad, which became a
spiritual shelter and place of comfort for many hundreds of
thousands of Russian exiles. And so, both the Orthodox Church in
America and the Russian Church Abroad are no strangers to the
Russian people."
The Consul General of the Russian Federation expressed his hope that
today, when a large number of our compatriots receive spiritual
nourishment in the bosom of either the Orthodox Church in America or
the Russian Church Abroad, the Russian government will remain
invested in finding subjects for dialogue and collaboration between
the two Churches.
Republication of materials must include a reference to:
"Eastern American Diocesewww.eadiocese.org."
