Metropolitan Herman, OCA Hierarchs celebrate 10th Anniversary of Representation Church of St. Catherine

His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia and His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman stand at the high place during the feast of St. Catherine the Great Martyr.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA [OCA Communications]—His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman and three other hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in America joined His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia for the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the OCA Representation Church of the Great Martyr Catherine here December 6-7, 2004.

The celebration coincided with the parish’s patronal feastday.

The delegation from the OCA included His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Grace, Bishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada; His Grace, Bishop Nikon of Boston and the Albanian Archdiocese; Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, OCA chancellor; and the Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, Assistant to the Chancellor for External Affairs.

On Monday, December 6, Archimandrite Zacchaeus [Wood], dean of the parish, welcomed the hierarchs and other members of the OCA delegation. After Metropolitan Herman blessed the church’s newly installed iconostasis, the festal Vigil was celebrated, during which the congregation joined voices in singing the Akathistos Hymn in honor of Saint Catherine. At the conclusion of the Vigil, Archimandrite Zacchaeus welcomed Metropolitan Herman to the parish and presented him with a triptych icon of Saint Catherine and the parish’s other patrons, Saints Nicholas of Myra and Alexander Nevsky.

Metropolitan Herman presented Synodal citations to Mr. Alexander Bugaevsky and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown and the Order of Saint Innocent, Silver Class, to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Chmelev for their loving concern for the parish.

On Tuesday, December 7, Patriarch Aleksy concelebrated the festal Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Herman and the OCA hierarchs and His Eminence, Archbishop Arseny of Istra; His Grace, Bishop Nifon, Representative of the Patriarchate of Antioch; and His Grace, Bishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad.

Other concelebrants included Archimandrite Zacchaeus; Archimandrite Antony, Representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church; Archimandrite Ignaty, Representative of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church; Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, OCA Chancellor; and guest OCA clergy. Also present for the Liturgy were His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Archangelsk; His Grace, Bishop Feofan of Stavropol; Mr. Georgy S. Poltavchenko, Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Region; Mr. Milan Rochen, Ambassador of Serbia and Montenegro; and Mr. Sergei Mannik, member of the Synod of the Estonian Orthodox Church.

Following the Divine Liturgy, Archimandrite Zacchaeus presented the Primates with panagias bearing the image of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. In his remarks, Patriarch Aleksy congratulated Metropolitan Herman with the celebration of the parish’s patronal feast and the 10th anniversary of the parish as the OCA’s Representation Church. Patriarch Aleksy mentioned the important role that the Representation plays in maintaining good relations between the two sister Churches and its vital mission as a bridge linking Russia with the United States of America.

Metropolitan Herman offered words of thanks to Patriarch Aleksy for the loving concern he has displayed for the parish during its 10-year history and asked for his ongoing prayerful support. After thanking Archimandrite Zacchaeus for his labors in the building up of the spiritual life of the parish, he presented him with the Order of Saint Innocent, Silver Class, and presented the parish with a Synodal citation marking the anniversary.

During the festal banquet that followed, Patriarch Aleksy presented Orders of the Russian Orthodox Church to Metropolitan Herman, Archbishop Nathaniel, Bishops Seraphim and Nikon, Father Kondratick, and Archimandrite Zacchaeus.

Also during the banquet, Metropolitan Herman presented a Synodal citation to Mr. Alexander Vershbow, the Ambassador of the United States of America.

Others present at the banquet included the Ambassador of Ethiopia, representatives of city and state government, and several senior priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, including the V. Rev. Nicholas Balashov, Secretary for Inter-Orthodox Relations of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Prior to the anniversary celebration at Saint Catherine’s, Metropolitan Herman and the hierarchs met privately with Patriarch Aleksy and other officials of the Moscow Patriarchate to discuss matters of mutual concern.

On Saturday, December 4, the hierarchs concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Patriarch Aleksy in the Kremlin’s Dormition Cathedral. Later the same day, they celebrated a Service of Thanksgiving at the Monastery of the Don Icon of the Mother of God in honor of the anniversary of the enthronement of Saint Tikhon of Moscow in 1917. That evening, they attended the Vigil service at the Novo-Spassky Monastery, where His Eminence, Archbishop Aleksy hosted the delegation. On Sunday, December 5, Metropolitan Herman and the hierarchs accompanying him concelebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Epiphany.

On Thursday, December 9, Metropolitan Herman and the OCA hierarchs and delegation began a four-day official visit to the Orthodox Church of Finland at the invitation of His Eminence, Archbishop Leo of Karelia, the Church’s Primate.

Click here for photos of the 10th anniversary celebrations.