St. Tikhon’s Seminary announces commencement speaker, schedule
The 72nd annual Saint Tikhon’s Seminary Commencement Ceremony for the graduating class of 2014 will be held on the grounds of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.
The guest speaker for this year’s ceremony will be His Grace, Bishop Sava [Urich].
Immediately following the Commencement Ceremony a banquet will be held in honor of the graduates and their families at Saint Michael’s Center, East Jermyn, PA at 3:30 p.m.
The schedule for the day is as follows.
- 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy in the Monastery Church. A meal for pilgrims will follow.
- 1:00 p.m. The 72nd Annual Commencement Ceremony.
- 3:30 p.m. Graduation Banquet at Saint Michael’s Center, East Jermyn, PA, for graduates and their families.
A detailed listing of services and activities during the Memorial Day Pilgrimage to Saint Tikhon’s Monastery may be accessed at https://sttikhonsmonastery.org/files/Pilgrimage2014.pdf.
Biography of His Grace, Bishop Sava [Urich].
Bishop Sava was born on February 27, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois to third generation Serbian/American parents, Anthony and Dokmana Urich. He was baptized later that year on June 21, 1942, at Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church in Chicago, IL.
Bishop Sava began his life as a monastic at the age of 18 when he was tonsured as a novice at Saint Sava Monastery in Libertyville, IL in 1958. From there he would move to South Canaan, PA in 1960 where he became for a time, part of the monastic community of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery as well as taking classes at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary. In 1964 he was tonsured first to the lesser Schema and then ordained a Hierodeacon in February of 1964 and later ordained as a Priest-monk at Saint John the Baptist Church in San Francisco, CA.
On December 18, 1988, Hieromonk Sava was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite at Saint George Cathedral, Cabramatta, Sydney, Australia, where he served as Chancellor to Metropolitan Iriney (Kovacevich) for the Australian-New Zealand Diocese.
On June 1, 1994, Archimandrite Sava was elected by the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade as Bishop of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the New Gracanica Metropolia. His consecration took place on June 17, 1994, at the New Gracanica Monastery by His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle. On May 14, 1999 he was elected to be the Bishop of the Diocese of Slavonia in Central Croatia, a diocese that was at the time quite devastated.
After 14 years of hierarchical service in the Diocese of Slavonia, Bishop Sava was granted a well-deserved retirement in November 2013.