Sunday of the Cross
Saint Innocent Cathedral
Anchorage, Alaska
March 27, 2022
Your Grace, I am filled with joy at your enthronement as the Bishop of Sitka and Alaska, the mother diocese of the Orthodox in America.
Saint Herman, the patron saint of our Church and our land, resides bodily in his relics on the territory of this diocese, territory which he sanctified through his missionary and ascetic struggles.
And as the new bishop of Alaska, you become the occupant of the see founded by Saint Innocent, the great apostle to America.
Though Alaska is a far northern state, at the edge of North America, it is the heartland of American sanctity.
May you have constant recourse to the prayers of both Saint Herman and Saint Innocent, and all the other saints of Alaska, in your new ministry.
Following the steps of that great apostle Saint Innocent, today you take up the mantle of a truly apostolic legacy: apostolic in the sense of evangelization, and apostolic in the sense of pastoral care for the evangelized.
Like Saint Herman, you have been prepared for this evangelical ministry through many years of monastic formation: in your case, in America, on the Holy Mountain, and in Greece.
Saint John Climacus, whom we shall celebrate once week hence, says that, as angels are the light of monks, so should monks be a light for the world. We see this principle made real in the life of St. Herman. May you make this principle real here in Alaska today.
Though the monastic life is often characterized by its outward expressions—rigorous vigils, strict fasts, long hours of prayer, obedience to the abbot and to the brethren, and the wrestling with temptations—the goal of all these labors is the training of the heart in the love of God and love of neighbor.
Our love for God and our love for our neighbor take place, not in the abstract, but within concrete circumstances. So now, Your Grace must trust that your own heart, trained and nurtured in the crucible of the monastic tradition, is now ready to encourage, inspire, and lead your flock along the path that leads, through the Cross, to the resurrection.
Of course, the Diocese of Alaska will provide plenty of challenges, plenty of opportunities to shine upon the world with the light of the monastery, which is none other than the light of Christ. Always beg the one whose light enlightens all that he would enlighten your mind and heart as you face these challenges.
The Forerunner was a burning shining lamp, according to the words of Our Lord. But he burned with the fire of self-immolation, the divine fire, because he remembered that he must decrease so that Christ might increase: Christ, the Light of the world, the enlivening Fire of God.
Amid all of these challenges and opportunities, always remember that the light is not yours, but Christ’s: you have been taken out from under the bushel of the monastery to bring the light of Christ to the whole house of the Diocese of Alaska.
And remember, too, that you are not alone. There is the great cloud of witnesses, of Alaskan and ecumenical saints, to help you. And there is the wider Church in America. All of the faithful of America feel family pride and family concern for our mother diocese, and we stand ready to support you, the shepherd of Sitka and Alaska, and your flock, amid the joys and difficulties of Alaskan life today.
With that said, I now bless you to:
[Here follows the prayer of the bestowing of the Pastoral Staff]
Receive this pastoral staff that you may lead the flock of Christ entrusted to your care. May the Lord Himself be your strength and support in your exercise of the archpastoral ministry in this God-Protected diocese. We ask you now to ascend the Episcopal Cathedra and give your blessing to those who have taken part in this celebration and to all Christ’s flock.