January 4, 2011 Wayne, WV: "Today the
Sretensky Monastery Rejoiceth..:" The First Celebration of the
English Service to St. Hilarion of Verey in Holy Cross Monastery
"O Hilarion, warrior of Christ, glory and boast of
the Church of Russia, thou didst confess Christ
before the perishing world, hast made the Church steadfast by thy
blood, and having acquired
divine understanding, hast proclaimed unto the faithful: Without the Church there
is no salvation!" - Troparion to St.
Hilarion of Verey
On
Tuesday the 27th and Wednesday the 28th of December, the historic
first celebration in the English language of the service to St.
Hilarion (Troitsky), Archbishop of Verey, was held at
Holy Cross Monastery in Wayne, WV. The divine services were led
by His Grace, Eastern American Diocesan vicar Bishop George of
Mayfield, co-served by monastery dean Hieromonk Alexander
(Frizzell), Priest Ilia Marzev (dean of St. Sergius Cathedral in
Cleveland, OH), and monastery clergy: Hieromonks Andrew (O’Leary)
and Nektarios (Merry), and Hierodeacon Sergius (Wilson).
The monks of Holy Cross Monastery share a
special connection with St. Hilarion, many of whose writings have
been translated into English and are extremely helpful for converts
because they deal with issues that pertain to Catholics and
Protestants.
"Many of the questions that we began to ask
when we were looking for the historic Christian Church are addressed
in St. Hilarion’s writings, for instance, the place of Holy
Scripture in Christian history and Christian Tradition," said
monastery dean Hieromonk Alexander (Frizzell).
"I recall having read ‘Holy Scripture in
the Church’ by St. Hilarion, and in this wonderful essay he places
the Bible in context as the possession, the property, of the
Orthodox Church, not as something separate from the Church."
St.
Hilarion is also dear to the monks of Holy Cross Monastery, because
as one of the new hieromartyrs of Russia, he served Christ under
circumstances that were far from normal. Before the revolution, many
bishops such as St. Hilarion had all of the material things that
they needed, thanks to the ruling Orthodox monarchy. A large
cathedral, many parishioners, several staff members and government
support were some of things that made life easier for Russian
Orthodox bishops during the rule of the Tsar. The tribulations that
overcame Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution removed all of these
external supports for any bishop or clergymen, who now found himself
living in a completely foreign world.
"Here at the monastery, we are often
tempted to complain about conditions not being exactly what we want
them to be," explains Fr. Alexander. "It’s very easy for us to think
that, in order for us to be saved, in order for us to have a
successful monastic or spiritual life, or Christian life in general,
we need the right conditions to live in, the right church to pray
in, the right financial stability, the right order to our lives and
our prayer. However, oftentimes these conditions are not present,
much like today when we as Orthodox Christians are a minority in
America. We have to make a choice just like St. Hilarion – will we
stay faithful to Christ, or will we make excuses for ourselves and
in doing so neglect to carry the cross that He has provided us for
the sake of our eternal salvation?"
In St. Hilarion's time, many people fell
away from Christ and gave in to the Communist regime and its
propaganda. St. Hilarion is an example of someone who, long before
these trials, gave his heart to Christ, and nothing that happened
externally affected his interior spiritual life.
"Finding themselves in the difficult
conditions of prison camps, jails, interrogations, transport to
faraway sites in the Russian North, St. Hilarion and others like him
didn’t complain about this new and difficult way of life that God
had allowed for them," said Bishop George (Abbot of Holy Cross
Monastery and Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese). "They
interpreted all of the new conditions under which they lived as
Providential opportunities for the salvation of their souls. St.
Hilarion very quickly adapted to life in the camp and began to see
these difficult conditions as a school of virtues where, by being
surrounded by all types of people, some of whom were known to be
hardened criminals, he began to live out the Gospel commandments in
a completely pure and inspired way."
For
this reason, the monks at Holy Cross Monastery commissioned an
English translation of the Slavonic service to St. Hilarion, which
they received from their brother monks at Sretensky monastery in
Moscow. Three days before the feast day, Reader Isaac Lambertsen, a
well-known translator in the Russian Church Abroad, translated the
entire service into English, thus giving the monks the opportunity
to glorify St. Hilarion in English, for the first time in history.
The service was conducted before an icon of St. Hilarion containing
a piece of his relics, which was given to Bishop George in 2004 by
the Abbot of Sretensky Monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov).
"It was a tremendous honor for us to
fulfill this small labor of love in honor of the new hieromartyr
Hilarion," said Fr. Alexander. "Looking at his life, we’re
encouraged not to complain about our sometimes difficult external
conditions. His life and struggles are proof to us that no external
conditions can prevent us from fulfilling the Gospel commandments
and working out the salvation of our souls, if we will only give
ourselves over completely to the will of God and give our hearts in
the most sincere way to our Savior, no matter what His will may be
for us or what He will allow for us externally."
Republication of materials must include a reference to:
"Eastern American Diocesewww.eadiocese.org."
