108th Memorial Day Pilgrimage to Saint Tikhon’s Monastery begins Friday, May 25
The official opening of the 108th annual Pilgrimage to Saint Tikhon’s Monastery here will take place on Friday, May 25, 2012, at 3:30 p.m. with the greeting of the Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Iveron Icon of the Theotokos at the Monastery Archway and the celebration of a Molieben. Vespers and Matins will follow in the monastery church at 4:00 p.m., after which all pilgrims are invited to a dinner in the monastery dining hall hosted by the brotherhood.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah and members of the Holy Synod of Bishops will be present throughout the pilgrimage.
On Saturday, May 26, the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, followed by a meal to which all pilgrims are invited, will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. The 70th annual Academic Commencement of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary will be held at 1:00 p.m. The Resurrection Vigil will be celebrated in the monastery church at 4:30 p.m., after which all pilgrims are invited to a dinner in the monastery dining hall.
The Hierarchical Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in the monastery church on Sunday, May 27, at 9:00 a.m., followed by a meal. Vespers and Matins will be celebrated at 4:00 p.m.
Also on Sunday morning, Metropolitan Jonah, with the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at Saint John the Baptist Church, Mayfield, PA, at 9:30 a.m., after which Archpriest John Sorochka, rector, and the cathedral faithful will host a luncheon. Following the celebration of a Service of Prayer, faithful will depart in procession for Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, following the same route taken by pilgrims at the first pilgrimage in 1905. It is anticipated that the 11-mile procession will take approximately 3.5 hours.
[Further details on the procession from Mayfield to the Monastery may be found on the OCA web site and on the web site of ROCOR’s Diocese of Eastern America.]
The schedule for Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, is as follows.
7:30 am
Divine Liturgy – Monastery Church
10:00 am
Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
1:30 pm
Akathist to Saint Alexis Toth in the Monastery Church
2:30 pm
Molieben to the Most Holy Theotokos and Anointing of the Sick, Infirm and all Pilgrims at the Monastery Bell Tower
4:00 pm
Vespers and Matins in the Monastery Church
Additional information may be found on the monastery web site.