Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, October 23, 2020
Photo: oca.org
His Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius, the former primate of the Orthodox Church in America, will be buried at the Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania today.
Met. Theodosius, who headed the OCA for 25 years, reposed in the Lord on October 19 at the age of 86, following an extended illness.
Services for the repose of his soul began on Wednesday at St. John the Baptist Church in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and a hierarchical Divine Liturgy will be served today in the outdoor chapel at the Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration, to be followed immediately by his internment.
The services are being livestreamed on the OCA’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Watch the panikhida served by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All American and Canada for the repose of Met. Theodosius’ soul on Wednesday:
Following the panikhida, Met. Tikhon said of his predecessor: “From his earliest days, Metropolitan Theodosius faithfully and consistently served Christ and the Holy Orthodox Church, offering his talents on the highest levels of the ministry of administration in the Church: as hierodeacon, hieromonk, diocesan bishop, and most eminently, as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America for a quarter of a century, or half of her existence as an autocephalous Church.”
The Office for the Burial of a Hierarch was served on Thursday by Met. Tikhon with the participation of Archbishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh, Archbishop Michael of New York, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco, and Metropolitan Savvas of Pittsburgh of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese:
The hierarchical Divine Liturgy and internment of Met. Theodosius will begin today at 10:00 AM Eastern, and will be livestreamed on the OCA’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
