April 24, 2013
Jerusalem: Hieromonk Roman (Krassovsky) Confirmed as Chief of the
Russian Ecclesiastical Mission of the Russian Church Abroad and
Elevated to the Rank of Archimandrite
On
Saturday, April 20, the feast of the Laudation of the Most Holy
Theotokos, His Eminence Mark, Archbishop of Berlin, Germany, and
Great Britain, elevated Hieromonk Roman (Krassovsky; former cleric
of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY) to the rank of abbot
during the Divine Liturgy in Holy Ascension Convent on the Mount of
Olives. The Synod of Bishops confirmed Fr. Roman as the Head of the
Russian Church Abroad’s Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, April 21, the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, Archbishop Mark
officiated at the Divine Liturgy at St Mary Magdalene Convent in
Gethsemane; he was joined by Abbot Roman and Archimandrite Isidor
(Minaev), Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission of the Moscow
Patriarchate, as well as other mission clergy and visiting clerics.
During the Little Entrance, His Eminence elevated Fr. Roman to the
rank of archimandrite. Also praying in church were Abbess Elizabeth,
rectress of the Gethsemane Convent, and Abbess Moisseia, rectress of
Holy Ascension Convent and member of the Russian Orthodox Church’s
Inter-Council Presence.
Archbishop Mark congratulated Fr. Roman on the occasion of his
elevation to the rank of archimandrite, and presented him with the
abbot’s staff. "You must take care," said Archbishop Mark, "that
your flock does not stray one step away from Christ, from the
straight and narrow path that the Lord has indicated and that the
Holy Fathers have showed us. A great duty is being laid on your
shoulders, the Synod of Bishops has entrusted you with this
obedience, the Synod of Bishops elevated you from Acting Head to
Head of the Mission. We rejoice for our flock, for our monastics and
pilgrims, that in your person they will have a wise leader who will
guide their steps, thoughts, and feelings, and will protect them
from false teaching and beliefs.
"I
also wish to thank Fr. Isidor for having accepted Fr. Roman as his
brother from the moment he arrived, and I ask him to continue to
help him, so that in all that we do there may be unity, and that our
two Missions may cooperate with each other.”
In turn, Fr. Isidor congratulated Fr. Roman on his elevation to the
rank of archimandrite and presented him a silver cross.
In his address, Fr. Isidor noted that "the existence of two Missions
in the Holy Land does not demonstrate division, as it might seem,
but speaks of the overall size, both spatial and spiritual, of
Russia, the Russian Church, and the Russian Diaspora. The fact that
the Holy Land has not one, but two, Mission Heads speaks to the fact
that this is a great and large Church and this is a great and large
Mission; it does not speak to a division in conflict, because we
conduct joint divine services, we commune of one Chalice, and we
help each other."
