Metropolitan Tikhon to participate in Moscow celebration of 100th Anniversary of St. Tikhon’s Enthronement
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon will be among the other Primates and Heads of the Local Orthodox Churches gathering in Moscow for celebrations marking the 100th Anniversary of the Enthronement of Saint Tikhon as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the reestablishment of the Moscow Patriarchate.
It was in 1917—on the eve of the Russian Revolution—that the All-Russian Council, which was meeting in Moscow, elected Saint Tikhon to the Patriarchal Office, thereby reestablishing the Patriarchate which had been abolished in the early 1700s by Emperor Peter the Great.
Metropolitan Tikhon and the other members of the Orthodox Church in America’s delegation—His Grace, Bishop Daniel of Santa Rosa; Archpriest Daniel Andrejuk, Rector of Saint Tikhon of Moscow Church, Anchorage, AK; Melanie Ringa OCA Treasurer; Archdeacon Joseph Matusiak; and Subdeacon Roman Ostash—departed for Moscow on Thursday, November 30, 2017.
“Our participation in the celebration of Saint Tikhon is very personal for us as he is a living connection to our own Church inheritance and to the longstanding relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and her faithful and the faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,” Metropolitan Tikhon said shortly before his departure. “At a time when the political divides seem daunting and at times insurmountable, the relationships that exist between the Russian Church and the Orthodox Church in America are signs and even evidence that better days are surely going to come.”
On Saturday, December 2, Metropolitan Tikhon will address the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which opened in Moscow on Wednesday, November 29. The following morning, Metropolitan Tikhon will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at the Representation Church of the Valaam Monastery, Moscow and attend a dinner hosted by Patriarch Kirill for the Primates and Heads of the Local Churches.
On Monday, December 4, he will be among the other Primates and Heads of the Local Churches concelebrating with His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and the other Primates in Christ the Saviour Cathedral at the Divine Liturgy marking the 100th Anniversary. The relics of Saint Tikhon, which are enshrined in Moscow’s Donskoy Monastery, have been transferred to Christ the Saviour Cathedral for the celebration. [See related video.]
On Wednesday, December 6, Metropolitan Tikhon will meet privately with Patriarch Kirill. That evening, he will preside at the celebration of the Vigil at the OCA’s Representation Church of Saint Catherine, Moscow, where he will celebrate the Divine Liturgy on Thursday, December 7.
While in Moscow, Metropolitan Tikhon also will meet with the Ambassador of Canada, John Kur, and the newly appointed US Ambassador, Jon Huntsman.
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