His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, accompanied by His Grace, Bishop Alexander and members of the OCA delegation, visited the Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra in Sergiev-Posad on Friday, December 5, 2014.
The delegation was hosted by the Lavra’s Vicar, His Eminence, Archbishop Feognost of Sergiev-Posad. [His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill is the Lavra’s Abbot.] Metropolitan Tikhon and the delegation were met at the entrance gate by members of the monastic brotherhood. Immediately they were taken to the Church of the Holy Spirit to venerate the relics of Saint Innocent [Veniaminov], who prior to becoming Metropolitan of Moscow had served in North America as a missionary priest and later the Mission’s first ruling hierarch. They then were taken to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, where they venerated the relics of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. The frescoes in this cathedral are the work of Saint Andrei Rublev and Daniel Chorniy, two of medieval Russia’s most prominent iconographers.
After visiting the main Dormition Cathedral and the other Lavra churches, the delegation made its way to the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, located on the monastery grounds, where they were greeted by the student body in the Academy chapel. They then viewed exhibits in the Academy Museum that provide a comprehensive overview of iconography, vestments, liturgical items, and related applied arts, as well as personal items of some of the former Patriarchs.
Archbishop Feognost hosted the delegation as his private residence and chapel, where he presented Metropolitan Tikhon with a five-foot tall icon of Saint Tikhon of Moscow. Metropolitan Tikhon, in turn, presented him with relics of Saint Herman of Alaska and an icon of Saint Juvenaly.
