December 13, 2013
New York City: Head of Romanov Royal House attends Patronal Feast
Day Celebrations of Synodal Cathedral of the Sign
On
Tuesday, December 10, on the feast day of the Icon of the Mother of
God "of the Sign," the divine services in honor of the patronal
feast day of the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City were
led by the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, His Eminence
Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York. His Eminence
was co-served by his brother hierarchs, who had, on the eve of the
feast, just concluded a session of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops:
Archbishop Mark of Berlin, Germany & Great Britain, Archbishop
Kyrill of San Francisco & Western America, Archbishop Gabriel of
Montreal & Canada, Bishop John of Caracas & South America, Bishop
George of Mayfield (vicar of the Eastern American Diocese), and
Bishop Jerome, as well as hierarchal guests ‒ Archbishop Justinian
of Naro-Fominsk (Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the
USA) and Bishop Mitrophan of Eastern America (Serbian Orthodox
Church). A multitude of clergy from the parishes of the Eastern
American Diocese co-served at the All-Night Vigil on December 9 and
concelebrated the Divine Liturgy.
The choir sang the divine services under the direction of Synodal
choir director Peter Fekula.
At the Little Entrance, Priest Stephanos Shagoury (rector of St.
Nicholas Church in Endicott, NY) was elevated to the rank of
archpriest, and after the Eucharistic Canon, Subdeacon Dionysius
Lvov (former cell attendant to the First Hierarch) was ordained to
the diaconate.
Archbishop Justinian, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in
the USA, addressed the faithful with a sermon on the subject of the
feast day.
Greeting
the gathered clergy and faithful in the House of the Most Holy
Theotokos, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad said, in
part: "Within the great list of miraculous icons of the Mother of
God, which church historians continue to study and supplement, the
Kursk Root Icon holds a special place. Tartars hacked this icon in
two, but the pieces later miraculously grew together, foretelling
the reestablishment of unity between the two parts of the Russian
Orthodox Church. Godless terrorists tried to destroy the icon with a
bomb, but her image survived. In this recent time of troubles, a
special mission was entrusted to this holy icon that lies before us
‒ to bring consolation to Russian Orthodox Christians who had lost
their Homeland and yearned for her rebirth. Visiting all corners of
the Russian Diaspora, continuing in the same spirit even now, she
blesses the process of the rebirth of the Church in the Fatherland,
where hundreds of thousands of the faithful have prayed before her
image." The full text of the Metropolitan’s address can be found
here.
The Synodal festivities concluded a year in which Russian Orthodox
people both in Russia and abroad celebrated the 400th Anniversary of
the Romanov Dynasty. On the eve of the feast, the head of the Royal
House, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, arrived in New York City to
celebrate the jubilee with her countrymen. Metropolitan Hilarion
greeted Her Imperial Highness at the airport. On the very day of the
feast, the Grand Duchess prayed at the Divine Liturgy in the Synodal
Cathedral. The Kursk Root Icon has always held a special place in
the Royal Family: the icon was present for the baptism of Her
Highness, her wedding, and the baptism of her Most August son, the
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich. Each time, the icon was brought
either to the home of the Royal Family or to the place where the
service was held. The holy image has blessed the Dynasty’s path even
through the most difficult and, it would seem, hopeless moments
throughout the history of Russia, the Church, and the House of
Romanov.
In honor of the feast, the head of the Royal House established two
commemorative medals. One ‒ "The Anniversary of National Triumph" ‒
depicts the summoning of Michael Feodorovich Romanov to claim the
Russian throne. The second, by tradition, depicts the portraits of
the founder of the Dynasty and its current head, just as it was 100
years ago, when the Tsar-Martyr established a similar medal for the
Dynasty’s 300th Anniversary. The silver jubilee medal was awarded to
the First Hierarch and all the bishops of the Russian Church Abroad,
as well as to Archpriest Serafim Gan (secretary of the Synod of
Bishops), Archpriest Andrei Sommer (senior priest of the Synodal
Cathedral), Priest Nicholas Olhovsky (guardian of the Kursk Root
Icon), Protodeacon Eugene Kallaur (Synodal staffer and assistant
archivist), Subdeacon George Schatiloff (building manager of the
Synodal Mansion), Nicholas Ohotin (Communications Director of the
Synod of Bishops), Sergei Yakushin (warden of the Synodal
Cathedral), and Eugene Hrihoriak (assistant treasurer of the Synod
of Bishops). Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna also donated several
copies of two unique publications to the Holy Trinity Seminary
Library in Jordanville, NY:
Athos: The Holy Mountain, the Orthodox Church, and the House of
Romanov in Exile, and a book on the history of the House of
Romanov in Russian and English:
By the Grace of God.
In
recognition of her labors and in honor of the 400th Anniversary of
the House of Romanov, Metropolitan Hilarion awarded Her Imperial
Highness the Synodal Order of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of
God, 1st Class. For their services to the Church, Archpriest George
Larin (dean of New England and rector of Holy Virgin Protection
Church in Nyack, NY ‒ marking 45 years of service before God’s
Altar), Synodal Protodeacon Nicholas Mokhoff, and Reader Isaac
Lambertsen were awarded the Synodal Order of the Sign, 3rd Class.
Gramotas from the President of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops were
awarded to Alevtina Taris and Diana Stroev.
On the occasion of the fifth anniversaries of their episcopal
consecrations, the First Hierarch congratulated Bishop John of
Caracas & South America, Bishop George of Mayfield, and Bishop
Jerome (the fifth anniversary of whose consecration fell on the
feast itself – December 10). Bishops John and George received
commemorative panagias, while Bishop Jerome received blue hierarchal
vestments.
Upon completion of the triumphal divine services, the bishops, Grand
Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, the clergy, and many of the Orthodox
faithful of New York and neighboring states proceeded to the Synodal
hall, where a bountiful festal luncheon was provided by the
cathedral sisterhood in the presence of the Kursk Root Icon.
Cathedral warden Sergei Yakushin announced to those in attendance
that, in accordance with the Metropolitan’s directive, the lesser
Synodal hall is from henceforth to be named in honor of the family
of Prince Vladimir Kyrillovich Galitzine ‒ who faithfully served as
the cathedral’s warden for over 40 years ‒ in recognition of their
service to the Synodal Cathedral and the Russian Church Abroad.
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