| Inside the Dormition Cathedral (Uspenskiy Sobor) in the Kremlin, the Patriarch presents new Russian president Vladimir Putin with an icon of St. Alexander Nevsky at the latter’s presidential inauguration, 7 May 2000. As this photograph shows, Putin began his first term as president with the Church’s full symbolic (and literal) blessing. How did church-state relations develop in Russia to the point that in 2015, to all intents and purposes, the Church has become the unquestionably leading religious institution in Russia, whose Paschal and Nativity services the President and Prime Minister publicly attend each year at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral? One of the watershed moments was the 19 May 2007 signing of the Act of Canonical Communion between the MP under Patriarch Aleksey and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) under Metropolitan Laurus at the Cathedral in the presence of then-President Putin and then-Prime Minister Medvedev. All Orthodox bishops I have talked with about the Act reported that the President had taken a keen interest in the restoration of communion (all these hierarchs likewise hold the President in high regard, including ROCOR’s present First Hierarch, Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral, and the OCA’s former reigning Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen, now a retired ROCOR bishop). It is impossible to know for certain whether Putin’s behind-the-scenes involvement in the reconciliatory Act is an example of his calculating politically to use the rupture between the Russian Church in and outside of Russia to solidify his political appeal among Orthodox around the world and Russian Orthodox in particular living abroad, or the genuine desire of a devout Orthodox believer who happens to be the Russian president to help facilitate the historic reconciliation. It is entirely possible that both political calculation and genuine piety informed Putin’s role in supporting the Act. The extent to which, by 2008, Church and state had become firmly intermeshed and intertwined is evident with the Kremlin’s reaction to Patriarch Aleksey II’s death in December of that year. |
| The Working Group on Church Unity Meets as the Fifth Anniversary of the Signing of the Act of Canonical Communion Approaches November 17, 2011 On November 17, 2011, the first meeting was held in Moscow by the working group on Church unity as the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion approaches. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate hosted the meeting, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Ilarion of Volokolamsk. This body was formed by His Holiness at the request of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Participating in this meeting were the following group members: His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin, Germany and Great Britain, Vice President of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia; His Eminence Archbishop Feofan of Berlin and Germany; His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR (via internet link); His Eminence Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA; His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Egorievsk, Head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administration of Institutions Abroad; His Grace Bishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe (ROCOR); Protopriest Nikolai Balashov, Vice President of the DECR; Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff, Head of the Office of Inter-Orthodox Relations of ROCOR; Protopriest Serafim Gan, Chancellor of Administration of the Synod of Bishops and Personal Secretary of the First Hierarch of ROCOR; Hegumen Savva (Tutunov), Vice President of the Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate, Director of the Deputy Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, and Protopriest Andrew Phillips, member of the Diocesan Court of Great Britain of ROCOR. Opening the meeting, Metropolitan Ilarion noted the enormous significance of the reunification of the Church in the Homeland and Abroad which took place on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord in May, 2007, for ecclesiastical and national life. The names of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus of ROCOR, the archpastor added, will always be preserved with gratitude by the people of God, and they will enter history as those who reestablished unity within the Church after decades of separation. |
| The rite of consecration concludes with the entrusting of the new bishop with a staff. This occurs at the end of divine services, with all the clergymen emerging from the altar to the center of the nave. Metropolitan Hilarion then delivered a sermon: Your Grace Bishop Nicholas, Dear in the Lord Brother and Concelebrant! By Divine Providence and through your election by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, you embark upon a new path in life and service. Through the laying on of hands, your personal Pentecost has taken place. On the day of the celebration of the saint whose uncorrupt relics abide here, St John the Miracle-worker, you have joined the host of hierarchs of our dear and great Mother—the Russian Church. The Lord has prepared you for this important event since your childhood. You learned piety through the examples of your father and your late mother, who displayed for you a living image of life in Christ, rearing you in the spirit of the Church, in love for God and His saints. They infused you with love for the church and for divine services. From your youth, you came to love to make pilgrimages to holy sites, and especially to Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, whose seminary the Lord led you then to study in, and to serve Metropolitan Laurus of blessed memory. Here you became a witness not only of his personal monastic podvig, but his glorious victory over the many years of division within the Russian Orthodox Church. During today’s solemn services, St John, who, just before his departure into eternity, had held in his hands the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign,” was called the “faithful servant of the Most-Pure Hodigitria [Protectress— transl .].” After the repose of your spouse, God was pleased to place you in the service of the Most-Blessed Virgin, and you accompanied the Kursk-Root Icon, the Guide of the Russian diaspora, to the parishes, hospitals and homes of clergymen and believers of many dioceses of the united Russian Church. I believe that this obedience has brought you to the priestly service, and then to monasticism. These God-pleasing obediences—those of the priesthood and of monasticism—should be revealed fully in your archpastoral service through self-sacrificing love for your neighbor, the mortification of your “self,” the frequent pious celebration of divine services and prayer with your flock, through your care for your clergymen, parishes and parishioners, support of monastics, the preservation of the legacy of the Holy Fathers and of the traditions of the people, “that ye receive not the grace in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). |
| Photo: http://eadiocese.org/ Also taking part in the ceremony of the blessing of the monument were the Consul General of the Russian Federation in New York City, Igor Golubovsky, a delegation from Kursk led by deputy Vladimir Kharin of the Regional Duma, and members of the Kuban Cossack Voisko. “Today we saw a long-awaited event that had to happen in the American land,” said the Consul General of the Russian Federation Igor Golubovsky, addressing those gathered. “This monument is not only a memorial to the Reunification that took place eight years ago, but also a spiritual unity of parts of sacred Moscow with the bearers of the Russian spirit and Russian culture, who by the will of fate have found themselves outside of Russia. I look at this monument, at the figures of these two visionary men, and I see that their gaze is directed toward the future. The great deed that they accomplished was done not only for us, but for future generations.” On behalf of the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, members of Russia’s diplomatic corps in America, and himself, Golubovsky thanked all those who dedicated even a small portion of their labors toward the installation of the monument to the Reunification. Photo: http://eadiocese.org/ Metropolitan Hilarion also addressed words of thanks to those who labored to design and complete the sculpture. Architect Anatoly Kuznetsov, director of the “Tserkov’” Fund, thanks to whom the idea of the monument was brought to life, was awarded the Russian Church Abroad’s highest honor: the Order of the Kursk Root Icon, 1st Class. Diocesan gramotas were awarded to the sculptor, Evgeny Korolev, to Kursk Duma deputy Vladimir Kharin, and to Valery Balakirev. The Russian guests will relay the remaining gramotas to those awarded who were not able to attend. “In the five years during which we were developing this monument, it became dear to us, and we wanted to give it into good hands,” said sculptor Evgeny Korolev. “Here, in America, we saw how the Russian people approach the Orthodox Faith with trepidation, and we were very glad to see the monument put in its rightful place.” Korolev expressed particular words of thanks to Metropolitan Hilarion, who during the development of the sculpture found the time to come to the workshop and support those who were laboring to create the monument. |
| For seventeen years our brotherhood wandered in the wilderness, but by the Grace of God we finally saw the light: We understood that Fr. Herman had not been unjustly persecuted, and that it was in fact we who had unjustly attacked the good name of Archbishop Anthony and the Russian Church Abroad. Together with this, we realized that, contrary to the false ecclesiology we had been led to believe, we were in fact outside the canonical boundaries of the Church. We realized that no schism from the Church is justified, and that we had to find our way back home to the Church. Thanks be to God, this realization occurred while Archbishop Anthony of blessed memory was still alive, though he was then sick and near to death. After Fr. Herman had stepped down as abbot, our next abbot, Fr. Gerasim, and I went to San Francisco to personally apologize to Archbishop Anthony. Archbishop Anthony wasn’t able to receive us in person due to his failing condition, but he received our apology via His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill. Shortly thereafter, when Archbishop Anthony’s friend Bishop Jovan, our first bishop in the Serbian Orthodox Church, asked Archbishop Anthony’s blessing to receive us into the Serbian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Anthony graciously gave his blessing, adding, emphatically, “Do whatever you can to save their souls!” Also, by God’s mercy, we were able to apologize via letter to the then-First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus of blessed memory. Finally, we were able to apologize in print, first by publishing a revised version of Fr. Seraphim’s biography with the faults that marred the first version removed, and then by publishing an apology and retraction in The Orthodox Word. However, it’s not until today that we have had the opportunity to apologize, in person and at a public event, to the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad for our sins against the Russian Church Abroad. Your Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, we express our deep and heartfelt repentance for these sins, and ask forgiveness from you and from all who have been hurt by our words and actions. |
| We sometimes see the term ‘the Russian Saints’, only to find that these saints include St. Olga and St.Vladimir and many others who lived long before Moscow became established as a small town, let alone as the capital of a country now called ‘Russia.’ The problem is that English has no translation for the word ‘Rus’ – the nearest being ‘the Russias’, as in, ‘Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias’. For ‘Rus’ means not only ‘Great Russia’, but also Little Russia (now officially called the Ukraine, even though this only means ‘the borderlands’), White Russia (the translation of Belarus) and Carpatho-Russia (often known in Western history as ‘Ruthenia’). However, in geographical terms, the concept of ‘Rus’ includes not only these four Russias, but also all those places affected by the Russian Orthodox way of life. This includes firstly the one seventh of the earth which is known as the Russian Federation, stretching right across Siberia to the Pacific. Secondly, it includes all those who in various countries accept Russian Orthodoxy. This is ‘Orthodox Rus’. Whether it is in Latvia and Estonia, Japan and Alaska, Venezuela and Brazil, England and France, Russian Orthodox of all nationalities are also part of ‘Rus’. Thus, the Canadian-born Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, can talk quite legitimately of ‘American Rus’ and ‘Australian Rus’. Therefore, although the holiness of the geographical Four Russias ends at the present Belorussian border, some 900 miles from the eastern coasts of England, in a spiritual sense it does not end there at all, but continues right into England, where 1,000 years ago there walked saints who were part of the One worldwide Church and fifty years ago there walked St.John of Shanghai, become Archbishop of Western Europe. Furthermore, in historical terms, since 1917 the holiness of the Russias has become not a matter of over a thousand canonised saints revealed to the Church, but also a matter of tens of thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors. At present theses number over 31,000, though this figure grows monthly and may reach well over 100,000. For the twentieth century was the most fruitful in terms of the numbers of saints – holy martyrs, born out of the Four Russias. As the ever-memorable Metropolitan Laurus of New York and Eastern America said, ‘The whole land of Rus has become an antimension’ - that is a place filled with the relics of the holy martyrs. |
| After a common prayer over the relics of the holy martyrs on the plain of Butovo, where tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians gave their lives for Christ, it became apparent that the time had come “to overcome the tragic division of our people, which arose as a result of the revolution and civil war, and the desire to achieve the reestablishment of Eucharistic communion and canonical unity within one Local Russian Orthodox Church, an indissoluble part of which the Russian Church Abroad always sensed itself. Our goal,” states the document adopted during Metropolitan Laurus’ visit, “is to draw nearer that day when with one mouth and one heart we might glorify God.” For the sake of eliminating obstacles to full church communion, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy and His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus called upon the flock to pray fervently for the blessed success of the path taken. The negotiating Commissions established by decisions of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia were given instructions to “develop a common understanding on the following matters, based on the historical experience of the Russian Church and the problems facing the Church today: Over the course of eight joint meetings of the Commissions, held in Moscow, Munich, Paris, New York and Cologne since June 2004 through October 2006, a series of documents were prepared expressing a common understanding of these matters of principle. All of these documents have now been approved by the Hierarchies of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The document “On the Relationship Between the Church and State,” declares: “The Church is called upon to exert spiritual influence on the state and its citizens, to confess Christ, to defend the moral foundations of society. By interacting with the state for the good of the people, the Church, however, cannot assume civil functions for itself. The state must not interfere in the inner structure, administration or life of the Church. The Church must support all good initiatives of the state, but must resist evil, immorality and harmful social phenomena and always firmly confess the Truth, and when persecutions commence, to continue to openly witness the faith and be prepared to follow the path of confessors and martyrs for Christ.” |
| On Friday, December 4, the great feast of the Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, a multitude of clergy, faithful, and guests from the U.S. and Russia gathered at St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, NJ. Prior to entering the church, many inspected the monument to two of our most distinguished contemporaries: His Holiness, Patriarch Alexey II, and His Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus, which was installed opposite the cathedral. On this bright, sunny day, the feast at the Eastern American Diocesan Center was twofold. Celebrating the festal Divine Liturgy was Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. His Eminence as co-served by diocesan vicar Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, and clergy of the Diocese and Patriarchal Parishes in the USA. The divine services were conducted under the aegis of the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora: the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God. Prior to the start of Liturgy, cathedral cleric Reader Peter Lukianov was ordained a subdeacon, while altar server Aleksei Roschko was awarded the right to wear the orarion. Before the communion of the faithful, Archpriest Victor Potapov, rector of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC, addressed the gathered worshipers with a sermon. Fr. Victor spoke about the history of the radiant feast of the Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, reminding the Orthodox that " this day calls to mind for us not only of the childhood of the Most Holy Theotokos, but also the significance of raising our children and grandchildren in church, because there is no better place for children than the House of God. " " If we will instruct our children from infancy, if we will overcome our spiritual indolence and bring them to church; if from their mother’s breast they will be accustomed to regularly commune of Christ’s Holy Mysteries, then this will be the surest defense for the next generation against the pernicious influences of this world. And even if they later fall from the path, rest assured that the seeds sown in their infancy will make themselves known later in their lives, " concluded Fr. Victor. |
| Restoration of Canonical Unity within the Russian Orthodox Church. Celebration in Dioceses Outside of Russia At the blessing of His Holiness, Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and all Russia, an official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by His Eminence Isidore, Metropolitan of Ekaterinodar and Kuban, will be participating in a celebration of the restoration of unity in the Russian Orthodox Church. The delegation, which includes the Sretensky Monastery Choir, will be participating in Divine Services in churches and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. These guests from Russia will be carrying a holy miracle-working icon treasured by all Orthodox Christians—the “Reigning” icon of the Mother of God. The delegation will also be participating in the celebration of the forty-year anniversary of the hierarchical consecration of His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus of New York and Eastern America and First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. The Sretensky Monastery Choir’s program includes Divine Services in Jordanville, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Washington D. C., San Francisco, Melbourne, Sydney, Geneva, Berlin, London, and Paris. They will also be appearing in foremost concert halls of these cities with their choral program entitled “Masterpieces of Russian Choral Music.” The miracle-working “Reigning” icon of the Mother of God The miracle-working “Reigning” icon of the Mother of God The miracle-working “Reigning” icon of the Mother of God The miracle-working “Reigning” icon of the Mother of God was found the same day on which Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II abdicated the Russian throne— March 2/15, 1917. The Russian Orthodox people accepted this occurrence as a witness that the ultimate authority over and care for Russia had passed to the Heavenly Queen Herself. On Febuary 13, 1917, the Most Holy Mother of God appeared in a dream to the peasant girl, Eudocia Adrianova, and spoke to her these words: “There is a large, dark icon in the village of Kolomenskoe. It must be taken from there; the people must pray.” On February 26, in a second dream, the girl saw a white church and a majestic Lady within it. The peasant girl decided to search for the church she had seen in her dream. On March 2 in the village of Kolomenskoe, near Moscow, she recognized the Church of the Lord’s Ascension as that very church. A diligent search by the girl and the church’s rector revealed a large, dark icon of the Mother of God—the very image that had revealed itself to Eudocia in her dream. |
| — Where can we find the schedule of where the holy relics will be? — The official website of the Metropoliate District of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Further information will be on other diocesan websites and in churches. — Your Eminence, have you ever personally had any connection with the martyrs of Alapaevsk? — Over the course of twenty years, I served as archpastor in the Kostroma Diocese, the main holy item of which is the miracle-working Feodorovsky Icon of the Mother of God. In 1613, within the walls of Holy Trinity-Ipatiev Monastery, this icon blessed the reign of the young boyar Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov. According to tradition, German princesses who married dukes of the Romanov House and converting to Orthodox Christianity received not only a new name, but a new patronymic—Feodorovna, in honor of this icon. On April 13, 1891, on Lazarus Saturday, the Grand Duchess converted to Orthodoxy and took the name Elizaveta Feodorovna. Holy Martyr Elizabeth twice visited Kostroma, from May 18-20, 1913, the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty, and July 8-9, 1916. She had a life-long friendship with Abbess Susanna (Melnikova) of Bogoyavlensky-Anastasia Convent of Kostroma. The “Abbess’,” or Eastern building of the restored convent housed the Kostroma Diocese administration. My office was in the same residence, where Elizaveta Feodorovna would stay during her visits. In memory of her visits to the convent, a memorial plaque was put up on the Eastern building. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the name of St Elizabeth is included in the list of heavenly patrons of the Kostroma region. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the relics of Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna and Nun Barbara were brought to Kostroma on February 7-8, 2005, as part of its tour throughout Russia. I personally have a small portion of the coffin of St Elizabeth and a portion of her monastic garb, given to me in 1992 by Protopriest Victor Potapov, a renowned clergyman of the Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. |
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