Metropolitan Tikhon presides at the Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Russian Cathedral in New York City on the 100th anniversary of the repose of St. Tikhon
On Monday, April 7, the feast of the Annunciation according to the Julian Calendar, as well as the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the repose of Saint Tikhon the Confessor and Patriarch of Moscow, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, and at the invitation of His Grace Matthew Bishop of Sourozh and Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA & Canada, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon presided at the Divine Liturgy at New York City’s Saint Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral.
Concelebrating with His Beatitude were His Eminence Nicholas, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York and First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, His Eminence Irénée, Archbishop of Ottawa and Canada, His Grace Irinej, Bishop of Washington-New York and Eastern America, and Bishop Matthew.
Also concelebrating were Archpriest Alessandro Margheritino, Acting Chancellor and Secretary of the Orthodox Church in America, Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, Rector of St. Nicholas Russian Cathedral, Archpriest Thomas Zain, Vicar-General of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America, Archpriest Serafim Gan, Chancellor of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and several other priests and deacons.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Bishop Matthew greeted His Beatitude and the concelebrating hierarchs to St. Nicholas Cathedral, and congratulated Metropolitan Tikhon on the occasion on his name day, thanking him for presiding at the festal Divine Liturgy.
In response, His Beatitude expressed his gratitude for the invitation and remarked the following:
“Today, as we celebrate the feast day of the Annunciation, and as we also celebrate the centennial anniversary of the repose of the holy great hierarch Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, Enlightener of North America, it is my great joy to be here at St. Nicholas Cathedral, a temple built with seed money from St. Nicholas II and consecrated by the hand of St. Tikhon himself. For half a decade, St. Tikhon governed the church in America from this cathedral. Though he was engaged in tireless missionary journeys, this was his headquarters. Hence it is appropriate that, on this day, in this place, bishops of the Orthodox Church in America stand and celebrate alongside bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church. St. Tikhon’s legacy is our shared inheritance, a bright guiding star for both of our autocephalous Churches, the Moscow Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church in America. As the bishop of New York, he laid down the blueprint for an American Church; as the first patriarch of Moscow in over two centuries, he profoundly shaped the ethos of the Russian Church, setting a direction for the Church to follow through the era of Soviet persecution and beyond.”
At the conclusion of the liturgical celebration, His Beatitude and concelebrating clergy were welcomed to the parish hall to share a festal meal with the Cathedral’s community.