Diocese of West faithful celebrate Fourth of July at Fort Ross
His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West, presided at the annual pilgrimage of clergy and faithful from the Diocese of the West to Fort Ross State Historic Park on Saturday, July 4, 2015.
Situated north of San Francisco on California’s coastal Highway One, Fort Ross flourished during the first four decades of the 19th century as an outpost of the Russian-American Company. Faithful have been gathering at the site every year since July 4, 1925 for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and fellowship at the first Orthodox Christian chapel in the lower forty-eight. Following the Liturgy, the faithful went in procession to the cemetery of the 19th century Russian settlement, where they celebrated a memorial service.
Originally built in the mid-1820s, the Fort’s Most Holy Trinity Chapel was the first Orthodox Christian house of worship in North America outside of Alaska. Although the colony had no resident priest, Father John Veniaminov — glorified in 1977 as Saint Innocent of Alaska — visited the settlement, where he celebrated the sacraments and the Divine Liturgy. Father John later became the first resident Bishop in North America, where he was engaged in extensive missionary work throughout Alaska until his appointment as Metropolitan of Moscow in 1868. [Read the life of Saint Innocent.]
“The chapel is constructed from wooden boards,” Saint Innocent wrote in his 1836 Journal. “It has a small belfry and is rather plain; its entire interior decoration consists of two icons in silver rizas. The chapel at Fort Ross receives almost no income from its members or from those Russians who are occasional visitors.”
The original chapel was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake; only the roof and two towers remained intact. Between 1916 and 1918, the chapel was rebuilt with timbers from the Fort’s Officials’ Quarters and the Warehouse. On October 5, 1970, the restored chapel was entirely destroyed in an accidental fire. Again it was rebuilt in 1973. The chapel bell also melted in the fire, but was recast in Belgium using a rubbing and metal from the original Russian bell. The bell’s Church Slavonic inscription reads, “O Heavenly King, receive all who glorify Him,” while a second inscription along the lower edge reads, “Cast at the foundry of Michael Makar Stukolkin, master founder and merchant at the city of Saint Petersburg.”
“Bay Area Orthodox Christian faithful worked with the State of California and other benefactors in the 20th century to preserve the Fort and the Chapel,” according to Archdeacon Kirill Sokolov of San Francisco, CA. “The annual Fourth of July pilgrimage to Fort Ross offers a beautiful opportunity for the faithful of the Diocese of the West to gather and to offer thanksgiving to God for those who brought the faith to this land and for the United States, where we are free to worship the Most Holy Trinity in the Orthodox manner.”
Similar gatherings are held at Fort Ross on Memorial Day and other occasions.
A gallery of pilgrimage photos, courtesy Matushka Sophia Sokolov, may be viewed here.