Relics of patron saint to be venerated at St. Vladimir’s Seminary
The relics the Holy and Great Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, will be available for public veneration at Three Hierarchs Chapel on the campus of Saint Vladimir’s seminary here on Saturday and Sunday, November 13-14, 2010.
This will be the only opportunity in the US for Orthodox Christian faithful to venerate the relics. During October, the relics had been on pilgrimage across the Orthodox Church in America’s Archdiocese of Canada.
“We are deeply honored to receive these relics of the patron saint of our school,” said Archpriest Chad Hatfield, Chancellor and CEO of the seminary. “During this extraordinary occasion, we anticipate welcoming thousands of pilgrims to our campus.”
Three Hierarchs Chapel will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 13, so that the public may venerate the relics. At 9:00 a.m., His Eminence, Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 9:00 a.m. At 6:30 p.m., His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, will preside at the celebration of the Vigil.
On Sunday, November 14, the chapel will open at 8:00 a.m., with the Divine Liturgy slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. The relics will remain available for veneration through the conclusion of the Liturgy.
The choirs of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary and Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, will sing the liturgical responses antiphonally.
According to Protodeacon Nazari Polataiko, episcopal secretary of the Archdiocese of Canada, the relics of Saint Vladimir were discovered by Saint Peter Mohyla, who served as Metropolitan of Kyiv from 1633 until his death in 1646.
“Because of wars and invasions, by the time of the Communist Revolution only the head of Saint Vladimir [in Ukrainian ‘Volodymyr’] remained,” noted Protodeacon Nazari. “When Kyiv’s Tithe Church was closed, the head was moved to the Dormition Cathedral in the Kyiv-Caves Monastery. First, however, a portion of the head was given to the Diocese of Rostov. During World War II, the Dormition Cathedral was blown up, and all in it, including the relics, was lost. So, it was only about 12 years ago that Kyiv was able, at the request of His Eminence, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to receive a part of this relic, now enshrined in the Ukrainian capital.
“It is this part with which we have been entrusted for this period of time,” Protodeaceon Nazari added.
For additional information and possible schedule revisions, please visit the seminary web site at http://www.svots.edu.www.svots.edu.