December 29, 2013
Jordanville: Holy Trinity Monastery & Seminary Celebrate 400th Anniversary of the House of Romanov

On Tuesday, December 10, Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary in Jordanville, NY celebrated the feast of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, Protectress of the Russian Diaspora. But for the monastic and seminary community this year, this feast was also chosen as an occasion to mark the conclusion to the year-long commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the accession to the throne in 1613 of the Russian Imperial Dynasty of Romanov.

The celebration began with the festal Divine Liturgy in Holy Trinity Cathedral, celebrated by monastery abbot Archimandrite Luke (Murianka). After the communion verse, a homily was given by Reader Vitaly Permiakov, professor at Holy Trinity Seminary. At the end of the Liturgy, the monastery clergy served a full memorial panihida, remembering in prayer all of the ruling tsars, emperors, and empresses from the House of Romanov, which reigned in Russia from 1613 to 1917.

Following the luncheon in the monastery refectory, the monastics, faculty, students, and guests gathered for the festal reception in the Seminary Hall. As the members of the community were gathering, their attention was drawn to an exhibit from the collection of the HTS museum, which contains items that once belonged to various members of the Romanov family. Some of these items came from the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where the Royal martyrs were held for last several months of their lives, and where they were executed on July 17, 1918.

After words of introduction from Fr. Luke and Archpriest Vladimir Tsurikov, Director of the Library & Archives, HTS librarian Michael Perekrestov gave a presentation concerning the activities of the HTS Museum & Archives throughout the year dedicated to the memory of the ruling House of Romanov. Mr. Perekrestov described the new items, which belonged to the members of the Romanov family and are in the possession of the museum or were recently acquired, and spoke about the museum’s participation in various exhibitions celebrating the 400th Anniversary in the United States and in Russia. The presentation noted the positive impression left on the U.S. and Russian publics by these exhibitions, which challenged previously widespread negative perceptions of the person and reign of Russia’s last Tsar.

Following the presentation, the members of the Seminary Choir, under the direction of Reader Nicholas Kotar, performed hymns from the services to lesser-known saints who were canonized during the reign of the Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II (1894-1917): Holy Hierarchs Theodosius of Chernigov and John of Tobolsk, the Venerable Grand Duchess Euphrosynia of Polotsk, and others.

The presentation and the concert were followed by a reception in the Seminary Hall.

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