Moscow, Russia

The delegation’s last full day of touring in Moscow started with a fraternal visit to St. Catherine the Great Church, the Metoxion (representation church) of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Fr. Zacchaeus warmly greeted the group and immediately began with a tour of the church, now under renovation. Fr. Zacchaeus says that has been a challenging and restrictive process. The church is covered in scaffolding from the ceiling to the floor so that the iconographers can restore the frescoes on the walls; some were covered in paper-mache to be protected from Communists seeking to destroy them. Whatever gets restored has to match or come close to what originally existed to meet Russian government laws, not to mention it costs about $200 per square centimeter to bring the frescoes and other art work back to life.

Fr. Zacchaeus then hosted the delegation for a light breakfast, and presented His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH with a beautiful icon and the rest of the delegation with a photo book of St. Catherine’s activities and visitors. The Metoxion grounds also boast a shop where vestments, fabrics icons and other church items are sold. Fr. Zacchaeus presented Sayidna with more gifts: an exorasson (large black outer cassock) and two skufiyas (clergy hats). The delegation remarked afterwards that the visit to St. Catherine was one of the most memorable and heart-felt of the pilgrimage.

Next, the delegation went to the famous Donskoi Monastery, home to the relics of St. Tikhon, martyred Patriarch of Moscow and “Apostle to America.” St. Tikhon served as an archbishop in America, along with St. Raphael Hawaweeny, bishop of Brooklyn, at the turn of the 20th century. He also founded the monastery and seminary that bear the name of his patron saint, St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. St. Tikhon was elected Patriarch of Moscow in 1917, right as the Communists that took his life came to power. Like so many visits to whole-body relics of Russian visits, the monks guarding St. Tikhon’s lifted the glass over his sacred head so that Sayidna and all the delegates can venerate them directly—a rare gesture that so few are privileged to.

After Donskoi came a visit to the Tretyakov Art Gallery, perhaps the finest treasure house of Russian religious and non-religious art. Brothers Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov started the collection in the 19th century, which has grown to over 40,000 works dating back to the 11th century. Perhaps the most famous is the Trinity Icon of Andrei Rublev, dating back to the 15th century. It depicts the three angels that represent the Holy Trinity in an ascetic, simple way yet displays full mannerism as a Byzantine icon would. Thus, the Trinity Icon is one of the golden standards in all of Orthodox Christian iconography.

The delegation’s last stop for the entire trip was another enjoyable visit to His Grace, Bishop NIPHON at the Antiochian Metoxion. Vladika gave the delegation a tour of his chancery (residence and office) and treated the group to dinner around his dining room table. At Sayidna JOSEPH’s request, Vladika NIPHON sang “O Come Let Us Worship” from Great Vespers in his beautiful basso-baritone voice, much to the delight of everyone in his salon. Vladika regaled the group with stories of his travels and official trips on behalf of IGNATIUS IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.

By: Subdeacon Peter Samore