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St. Tikhon of Moscow's Gift to America: The Monastery of St. Tikhon of Zadonskst
On September
26/October 9, the Orthodox Church commemorates the 1989 glorification of New
Hiero-confessor Tikhon (Bellavin), patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. St.
Tikhon is of course best remembered as the first Patriarch of Russia, elected
in 1918, since the 1721 abolition of the patriarchate by Peter I. He guided the
Church as a firm and steady anchor during the early years of the communist
regime, suffering imprisonment in Donskoy Monastery from 1922 to 1923 for
opposing the government’s confiscation of Church property. He entered into
repose on the great feast of Annunciation in 1925 and is considered a confessor
of the Orthodox faith.
Before taking up
the yoke of arch-pastor for the entire Russian nation, St. Tikhon served as a
missionary bishop in the burgeoning American mission. He was appointed as
bishop of the Aleutians and Alaska in 1898 and he traveled throughout America,
visiting parishes, comforting the faithful, and consecrating new parishes. In
1905 he was raised to the dignity of archbishop and he relocated the center of
the diocese to New York, before being called back to Russia in 1907.
St. Tikhon of
Moscow and St. Tikhon of Zadonsk holding the monastery church at St. Tikhon's
One of his great
and lasting achievements in America is surely the founding of St. Tikhon’s
Monastery in South Canaan, PA in 1905, named for his own patron, St. Tikhon the
Wonderworker of Zadonsk. St. Tikhon’s is the oldest Orthodox monastery in
America and throughout its 110 years, while it has known highs and lows, it has
become a center of Orthodoxy in America, offering up countless liturgies and
prayers as sweet incense before the throne of God, enjoying the presence of
many saints, and, along with the seminary established in 1938, molding and
refining innumerable servants of Christ’s Church in the form of monastics,
clergymen, and hierarchs. Every year the monastic, seminary, and parish
community of St. Tikhon’s commemorates the Sunday nearest to St. Tikhon’s
October 9th feast as its “Founder’s Day” with a festive liturgy and
meal, to which all are warmly welcomed.
St. Tikhon’s is
home to a rich history and a great many “treasures” of Orthodoxy, some known,
some relatively unknown, which stand as a testament to the prayers and labors
of our American apostle, St. Tikhon, and his continuing heavenly protection.
Relics
St.
Alexis Toth
The relics of St.
Alexis Toth
St. Alexis was a
Uniate priest from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, assigned to serve a parish in
Minneapolis in 1889. Upon arrival in America he found the Latin bishop quite
hostile to Catholics of the Byzantine Rite, and found himself without a parish.
By God’s providence this led to his reception into the holy Orthodox Church on
March 25, 1891, after which he worked tirelessly, delivering fiery sermons
throughout all of America to bring thousands of Uniates into the true Church.
He reposed in 1909, being laid to rest in the monastery cemetery at St.
Tikhon’s. Seven years later his body was relocated to a special crypt built
behind the Church. Today his relics lie in a reliquary on the right kliros in
the monastery church, where all are welcome to venerate and pray to this
faithful missionary of Orthodoxy in America.
Archbishop
Arseny
The idea of
founding a monastery on American soil belongs actually to Hieromonk Arseny
(Chagovtsev), later the archbishop of Winnipeg, Canada. He arrived in America
in 1902 to serve the parish of St. John the Baptist in Mayfield, PA, just a few
miles from the future site of St. Tikhon’s Monastery. He envisioned a monastery
to serve the spiritual needs of the monastic clergy serving in America, and he
eagerly promoted the idea to all who would listen. In 1905 he sought out land
with St. Tikhon and they eventually purchased the present property in South
Canaan, PA, with Fr. Arseny becoming the monastery’s first superior. St. Tikhon
provided the necessary episcopal oversight and spiritual guidance, as well as
financial support, while credit for the concept and physical labor in
establishing St. Tikhon’s Monastery belongs to Archbishop Arseny.
After more service
in America, Canada, Russia, and Serbia, Archbishop Arseny returned to Canada as
the bishop of Winnipeg in 1926. In 1937 he retired to the monastery which he
had founded, and the following year he founded the pastoral school which became
St. Tikhon’s Seminary.
Archbishop Arseny,
locally venerated as a saint in the Canadian diocese, is buried in a simple
grave next to the chapel in the monastery cemetery.
Metropolitan
Leonty
***
St. Tikhon’s
Monastery also knows the blessing of the relics of many other saints, including
its revered founder St. Tikhon of Moscow, its patron St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, St.
Panteleimon, St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, St. Raphael (Hawaweeny),
and many others, notably including a piece of the True Cross.
Miraculous Icons
She Who
is Quick to Hear
The monastery church
is home to a miraculous icon of the Mother of God “She Who is Quick to Hear”
which hangs on the left side of the iconostasis. Upon its founding in 1905 the
monastery was gifted with a copy of the miraculous icon of the same name of
Dochariou Monastery on Mt. Athos, which is commemorated on November 9. This
copy has also become known as a miraculous icon, through which the Mother of
God especially deigns to help those couples who are unable to conceive. The
icon, radiant in its beauty, travels throughout America to bring comfort,
healing, and peace to the Orthodox faithful.
St.
Anna
We recently
published an interview on the miraculos icon of St. Anna with Fr. Athanasy,
conducted by Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green.
Where Saints Have Walked
In addition to Sts.
Tikhon, Arseny, and Alexis, St. Tikhon’s has been blessed with the ministry and
prayers of several other venerable American saints.
St.
Raphael of Brooklyn
St.
Alexander Hotovitsky
St.
Nicholai of Zhicha
The seminary chapel
of St. Nicholai of Zhicha
St. Nicholai is one
of the greatest saints of the twentieth century. Known as the New Chrysostom
for his penetrating preaching, St. Nicholai brought much comfort to the
suffering Serbian Church during the years of the Second World War. He too
suffered, being imprisoned for two years at the Dachau concentration camp. St.
Nicholai also served the Church in America, living at St. Tikhon’s Monastery
from 1951 until 1956 and teaching at the seminary, for which he served as
rector in the 1955-1956 school year. It was in the St. Tikhon’s Seminary
building that this giant of Orthodoxy reposed on March 18, 1956 under suspect
circumstances. The seminary chapel is dedicated to his memory.
Fr.
Vasily (Philipoff)
One of St. Tikhon’s
Monastery’s most intriguing “treasures” is the monk Archimandrite Vasily
(Philipoff) who lived the quiet monastic life there from 1934 until his repose
on March 29, 1986. Fr. Vasily seems to be mostly unknown—it is nearly
impossible to find any information about him on the internet, but those who
knew him in his decades of prayer and struggle at the monastery remember a
saintly man. He served in various obediences but is best remembered as the
bread baker for the monastery and for the orphanage that used to function also
at St. Tikhon’s. He communed as often as possible and always gave simple and
direct advice: pray, work hard, be faithful in Church attendance, obey God’s
laws, and never hold anger against another man, and by all accounts, he lived
his life thusly.
Igumen Gregory
(Zaiens) who lived several years at St. Tikhon’s with Fr. Vasily recalls:
As to his spiritual life, Fr. Vasily could be
described as a pillar of Orthodox piety—blagochestie. He held that which was
God's in honor; he had a holy, blessed, humble, fearless fear of God. He had
assimilated this as a natural, organic part of his being. To live with such a
person is a great lesson in the Orthodox way of life even if one is never given
a word of instruction. There are a few small words which I remember that I
could pass on. One time I asked Father: “What is the meaning of humility of
wisdom?” He replied, “When you repent, you become humble and then God gives you
wisdom.” He once said in a sermon, “Some people say that if you read the Bible
too much you will lose your mind. That is true. You will lose your carnal mind
and get a spiritual one.”
Once after the evening service I was going to venerate
the central icon in the Church. Fr. Vasily who had served was approaching the
icon so I waited. As he neared the icon and I looked at him his physical
appearance changed so that he physically looked somewhat smaller than he
actually was. He looked extremely humble and it seemed as though he was on fire
with prayer.
Archimandrite
Vasily is buried in the cemetery at St. Tikhon’s where pilgrims can come to
seek his intercession.
Museum and Icon Repository
St. Tikhon’s is
also home to a great many beautiful artifacts in its museum and icon
repository, which traces the history of Orthodoxy in America and houses icons,
vestments, and other Church items that date back several hundred years. The
oldest of the 400 icons is from the fifteenth century.
Among the most
notable articles in the museum are the a Gospel book gifted by Tsar Michael
Romanov to a convent in Russia which dates to 1636, the mantia of St. Tikhon of
Moscow from his time as the metropolitan of Moscow, vestments of St. Nicholai
Velimirovich, and hand-written letters of St. Alexis Toth.
The museum is an
evangelical effort as many non-Orthodox come out of an interest in art or
history and learn about our holy Orthodox faith. The museum is open by
appointment to all who are interested.
***
The monastery
brotherhood, which has known sixty bishops, currently under its sixteenth
abbot, Schema-Archimandrite Sergius (Bowyer), is growing and continues to serve
the Church in America and beyond through its many endeavors including the St.
Tikhon’s Monastery Press and Bookstore, iconography, and support of the
training of new clergy in the seminary through providing several professors as
well as the church in which the seminary community prays and is shaped.
Of course the main
task of a monastery is always to pray, which is a constant emphasis of Abbot
Sergius. Perhaps the greatest treasure the monastery offers to America and to
the world is the daily serving of the Divine Liturgy since 1905. Few places in
America offer the holy Eucharist daily, and certainly none for as long as St.
Tikhon’s. The grace and power of the Divine Liturgy is inestimable, and the
presence of Christ that is manifest in holy Communion sustains the world.
St. Tikhon’s
Monastery and Seminary sits on a quiet property in north-eastern Pennsylvania
surrounded by nature ideal for fostering prayer, humility and love for God. St.
Tikhon’s is indeed a center of Orthodoxy in America, ever being offered for the
benefit of others who are always welcome to go on pilgrimage to experience the
grace and many “treasures” of St. Tikhon’s—St. Tikhon of Moscow’s offering to
America.
By Jesse Dominick
Source: http://orthochristian.com/86627.html
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