An Appeal from His Eminence
HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern
America & New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia
To archpastors, pastors, deacons, monastics, and all of the faithful
children of the
Eastern American Diocese on the occasion of the
1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’
Beloved in the Lord Right Reverend archpastors, reverend presbyters
and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!
The
feast day of the enlightener of the Russian people, the Holy
Equal-of-the-Apostles, Great Prince Vladimir (July 15/28), a day
dear to the heart of every true son and daughter of the Russian
Orthodox Church, draws near. The name of St. Vladimir is connected
to the greatest event in the history of our homeland – the Baptism
of Rus’, as a result of which our people resurrected unto new life.
Thanks to St. Vladimir, our ancestors, having thrown off the
darkness of paganism and base idolatry, adopted the
Light of the Christian Faith,
and became an Orthodox Christian nation. Once more, by the grace of
God, We call upon all of you to gather at the foot of the Memorial
Church to the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus’ for the annual St.
Vladimir’s Day celebrations. This year’s celebration is very
special, because we will mark the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism
of Rus’ and 75th anniversary of the founding of St. Vladimir
Memorial Church.
But why is this needed? It is needed so that, at least for a short
while, we might tear ourselves away from our hectic everyday lives
and spend several days in a spiritually enriching environment – so
that, united in common prayer in church, in instructive discussions,
and in brotherly interaction, we might feel and acknowledge
ourselves to be sons and daughters of the great Russian Orthodox
people. As history attests, a pure and unadulterated Orthodoxy has
always been the primary and most fundamental treasure of the Russian
people, for which they were willing to lay down their lives.
Many of our clergy and faithful come from various non-Russian
backgrounds, and have whole-heartedly embraced the sacred customs
and traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church. Let us not fall into
the temptation of segregating our Diocese into cultural groups,
because as sons and daughters of the Russian Orthodox Church, we are
all citizens of Holy Russia. When we speak of Holy Russia, we are
not talking about the Russian Federation or any civil society on
earth; rather, it is a way of life that has been passed down to us
through the centuries by such great saints of the Russian Land as
the Holy Great Prince Vladimir and Great Princess Olga, Venerable
Sergius of Radonezh, Job of Pochaev, Seraphim of Sarov, and more
recently, the countless New Martyrs and Confessors of the 20th
century. These saints are our ancestors, and we must look to them
for instruction on how to bravely confess the Faith, even when
facing persecution. There is no achievement in simply calling
oneself "Russian:" in order to be a genuine Russian, one must first
become Orthodox and live a life in the Church, as did our forebears,
the founders of Holy Russia!
The
Russian Church was the first to send missionaries to America, and
today we must continue their salvific work, so that the Light of
Christ may continue to shine ever brighter in this great American
land. The only way that we can become worthy heirs of the Holy
Hierarchs Tikhon and Innocent of Moscow, Venerable Herman of Alaska,
the Holy Hierarch John of San Francisco, and other American saints,
is to return to our roots and draw inspiration from the past. Living
in the 21st century, we may think that progress only happens when we
look forward, consigning the past to irrelevance. In the Orthodox
Church, this is absolutely and unequivocally false! If we truly wish
to spread the Orthodox Faith in America, we must look to our roots
and drink of the pure fountain of Sacred Tradition that is Holy
Russia.
Today, America has need not just of Russia, but of "Holy
Russia," for it is only this Russia that represents true
spiritual wealth; we have no need of a "renovationist," modernized
"Orthodoxy," but of the true, Apostolic Orthodoxy, the Faith of the
Fathers: the Orthodoxy lived by the Holy Church for almost two
thousand years, and which that great cloud of witnesses, "All the
Saints who Shone Forth in the Russian Land," connects to the ancient
Christian martyrs, monastics, hierarchs, and other God-pleasers.
This pure, unadulterated, incorrupt Orthodoxy is dear to us as the
one true and salvific Faith, which guides us to eternal life; and
Russia is necessary to us and dear to our hearts as a firm bulwark
of the true Faith on earth.
The annual St. Vladimir’s Day celebrations in Jackson are a time for
our Diocese to come together and proclaim to America and the rest of
the world that we are Orthodox Christians and that, indeed, "God is
with us!" In the past,
the faithful were united in their prayers for the salvation of Holy
Russia, and monuments, such as St. Vladimir Memorial Church, bear
witness to the testament and resolve of our ancestors. Now that
communism has collapsed and Holy Russia is rising from the ashes, we
must reanalyze the role of the Russian Church Abroad and the purpose
of our traditional pilgrimages and celebrations. Today, when the
Orthodox jurisdictions in America have restored canonical ties with
one another, we must thank God for this newfound unity, while at the
same time being mindful of the fact that many people are looking
toward the Russian Church for an example of spirituality, piety, and
unity. The purpose of this year’s St. Vladimir’s Day celebrations is
to provide that example to America!
We
appeal to all of our clergy and faithful to make every effort to
participate in the festive services at St. Vladimir Memorial Church
on July 27-28. We are expecting the arrival of three miraculous
icons of the Mother of God – the Kursk Root Icon, Protectress of the
Russian Diaspora; the myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon; and the
Pochaev Icon from Jordanville. The services will be bilingual, with
the participation of five hierarchs and many clergy. His Eminence,
Metropolitan Onouphry of Chernovtsy & Bukovina, will participate in
the divine services as a representative of His Beatitude,
Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, while His Eminence, Archbishop
Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, will represent His Holiness, Patriarch
Kyrill. Upon completion of the Divine Liturgy, a grand procession
will be held around the church property, followed by the blessing of
the waters and a new monument to Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko),
Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky), and Metropolitan Laurus (Skurla).
Several days prior to the celebration, on the feast of St. Olga
(July 23-24), we will perform the Great Consecration of the lower
church at St. Vladimir’s in honor of the Great Princess Olga. On
Friday, July 26th, the celebrations will begin with St. Vladimir’s
Ball, which will be held in the Rodina Russian House in Howell, NJ.
Years ago, parishes in the New York and New Jersey area would cancel
services on St. Vladimir’s Day and meet in Jackson. Each parish
would bring their choir, banners, and parish icon to use in the
grand procession. We understand that it is difficult today for us to
make this kind of commitment, but we nonetheless appeal to all of
you in the hope that you will be able to attend. This feast is not
just for the parishes in New York and New Jersey; rather, it is an
all-diocesan celebration,
and all of our clergy and faithful are invited to attend. Let us
make haste to Jackson and mark the monumental 1025th anniversary of
the Baptism of Rus and the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of
our Memorial Church,
in a manner worthy of the historic millennial path that has led our
ancestors to the shores of this nation with a sincere desire to
spread the Orthodox Faith!
May our All-Merciful Lord, through the prayers of His saint, the
Great Prince Vladimir, help fortify us in His salvific commandments!
With love in Christ,
+HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York
First Hierarch of the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese
