|
|
|
Published
by the Orthodox
Church in America,
March 2005
NORTH AMERICA'S OLDEST ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
MONASTERY MARKS CENTENNIAL |
 |
 |
SOUTH
CANAAN, PA [OCA Communications] -- While it is
estimated by some
observers of the American scene that many churches
and religious institutions have a life-span of
less than a century, North America's oldest
Orthodox Christian monastery has not only survived
for a century, but continues to expand its work
and witness.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, primate of the
Orthodox Church in America [OCA], will preside at
the centennial celebration of Saint Tikhon of
Zadonsk Monastery, South Canaan, PA, at a
pilgrimage to be held Memorial Day weekend.
"Founded by the Priestmonk Arseny Chagovetz in
1905 with the blessing of then-Archbishop Tikhon
Bellavin of North America, the monastery church
was consecrated on May 30 of the following year,"
said the Very Rev. John Matusiak, OCA
communications director. "Built with donations
from hard-working central and eastern European
immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania's coal and
steel regions and throughout the northeast, the
monastery has served as a center of Orthodox
Christian spirituality and education for a
century."
The original monastery community consisted of
several monks and an orphanage. In 1938, the
adjacent Saint Tikhon's Seminary was established
by the Church's Holy Synod of Bishops. Today, the
seminary boasts an enrollment of nearly 70
students from across North America and abroad,
double the number of seminarians studying just a
few decades ago.
Over the years, Orthodox Christian faithful have
flocked to the monastery during its annual
Memorial Day weekend pilgrimage for worship and
fellowship and to pray at the gaves of their loved
ones interred in the monastery's cemetery. Dozens
of additional buildings and shrines have been
erected on the monastery grounds over the years,
including a new bookstore and museum honoring the
OCA's former primate, Metropolitan Theodosius, who
retired in 2002 after suffering a series of
mini-strokes.
"The centennial pilgrimage is expected to attract
thousands of faithful and visitors," Father
Matusiak added. "The entire episcopacy of the OCA
will be joined by guest hierarchs, hundreds of
clergy, and a mass choir of hundreds of voices for
the pilgrimage services, which will begin on
Friday evening, May 27 on the monastery grounds."
The pilgrimage will end on Monday, May 30, with
the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy by
Metropolitan Herman, members of the OCA
episcopacy, and numerous other hierarchs, and a
number of other liturgical services. A set of
bells marking the centennial will also be blessed.
The Orthodox Church in America traces its roots to
the arrival of Orthodox missionaries in Alaska in
1794. Today, the OCA embraces over 700 parishes,
missions, and institutions across the US, Canada,
and Mexico. The Church also maintains some 20
other monastic communities.
Additional information and a schedule of
pilgrimage services and events are available on
the OCA web site at www.oca.org, or may be
obtained by contacting the OCA communications
department at
info@oca.org.
|
