WATCH: Metropolitan Hilarion serves with OCA primate at St. Tikhon’s Monastery (+VIDEO)

South Canaan, Pennsylvania, November 15, 2021

mospat.ru

His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, visited St. Tikhon’s Monastery and Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania over the weekend, after his visit to St. Vladimir’s Seminary.

During his visit, His Eminence had the opportunity to serve with His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada in the monastery’s Church of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.

St. Tikhon’s is the oldest Orthodox monastery in America, founded by the future Patriarch St. Tikhon during his time serving in America. It has been connected to many of the great saints who served in America, and is home to the relics of St. Alexis Toth, as well as the miraculous She Who is Quick to Hear Icon of the mother of God and a miraculous icon of St. Anna.

Met. Tikhon, the primate of the autocephalous Orthodox Church in America, is a monk of St. Tikhon’s Monastery.

Following the service, Met. Tikhon greeted Met. Hilarion and briefly recounted for him the founding of St. Tikhon’s Monastery by St. Tikhon and the venerated Archbishop Arseny of Winnipeg, as well as the first Divine Liturgy at St. Tikhon’s celebrated St. Raphael of Brooklyn, St. Alexander Hotovitsky, and St. John Kochurov.

Met. Tikhon then gave Met. Hilarion an icon of St. Nikolai of Žiča, who was rector of and reposed at St. Tikhon’s Seminary, and relics of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, St. Isaac of Syria, and St. Hilarion the Great.

In turn, Met. Hilarion noted that this was his first visit to St. Tikhon’s, but that he deeply venerates St. Tikhon as an apostle in America. He also noted that he especially venerates St. Nikolai as both a hierarch and theologian. Met. Hilarion then presented Met. Tikhon with an episcopal Panagia.

Watch the full service below:

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11/15/2021

Comments

Editor11/18/2021 9:34 pm

To Herman and Sherlock: We are not going to get into any more discussion here about vaccines and all the conspiracy theories surrounding them. For some reason, even articles that have nothing to do with vaccinations manage to evoke comments about vaccinations. So, don't be offended but we won't be opening such comments anymore. Let's remember that this is a site about Orthodox Christianity, and not vaxxer vs. anti-vaxxer forum.

sherlock_holmes11/17/2021 9:48 pm

@ Editor...But according to the official data from the most or fully vaccinated countries, it is getting worse there too, so it is not about vaccination rate ( herd immunity ) or unvaccinated people, but about good treatment in general and protective measures. The link:...https://www.globalresearch.ca/trends-in-mortality-and-morbidity-in-the-most-vaccinated-countries-twenty-one-proven-facts/5761773

Editor11/17/2021 1:17 pm

Herman: Just curious--doesn't the illness itself worry you? It is getting worse. Why do you feel compelled to write off all the deaths as an "official narrative"? And what about the survivors who have long COVID and have to go through costly rehabilitation? And we're telling you that there is not such a panic about vaccines in Russia as you are imagining from the one-sided media you're reading. There are many people who simply don't want to be told what to do. It has little or nothing to do with Bill Gates. But when those people are dying in the hospital, they wish they had been vaccinated. Met. Tikhon, who goes to commune them (he can do so because he's vaccinated) has seen with his own eyes how these people "repent" that they didn't take a very simple step that could have saved them and prevented their children from becoming orphans.

Herman11/17/2021 5:54 am

Editor: I'm aware of the official narrative, however, it's becoming increasingly clear to most Russians, and most people around the world as well, that we're being lied to, and that none of this is about a pandemic, but is about creating a totalitarian world order. Of course we have faith in God, because He told us what to watch for in the end times, and we see it happening, and slowly but surely being fulfilled. We need to be faithful to Him, and Him alone, and not to a group of globalist internationalists such as Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, and so on and so forth who are dictating policy to our once sovereign nations. Many of us in America, Austria, Australia, etc. also do not want to get vaccinated, and we didn't live through communism - we saw it from afar, and we see it now coming towards us rapidly. I think this certainly should worry us (if not for the sake of our children?), although we should not give in to despair, but I feel that it is our Christian duty to oppose evil, and we should do all we can to resist it.

Editor11/16/2021 11:21 pm

Herman, et. al.: We do live here, and can say the following about the news you are reading. The Russian Ministry of Health is trying to do anything to get people in the Russian Federation to get vaccinated, short of true mandates. This is because of the current dire COVID-related death rate. There is also serious suspicion among OB-Gyn doctors that COVID is causing infertility and a high rate of birth defects. This is being seen in young women who had the illness but were not vaccinated. The QR system will not affect the churches, alarmist news aside. It may affect how people get to church, because of requirements for transportation. Russians still don't want to get vaccinated, for various reasons, including inertia, and an innate fear of totalitarianism because many of them lived through the soviet era. But as you noted, for the same reason, they are experts at getting around things. However, in some provinces they are giving QR codes for having been sick and recovered, and having antibodies. This is also a possibility that is being reviewed on the federal level. But church-goers here in general have faith in God, and try not to get overly worried about what they see in the news.

sherlock_holmes11/16/2021 7:50 pm

There is a scary article on RT news called "Most vaccinated " place on earth cancels Christmas...the same places ( 100% vaccinated or a bit less ) get record high cases and deaths...Time and truth work against the false beliefs, some people will go through hard times when finding out...PS. No need to post it ! Thanks !

Herman11/16/2021 7:09 pm

Ioann and Antiochene Son: in case you are not aware, Russia is setting up a QR code-based vaccine passport system in which you will not be able to enter many establishments without presenting your digital QR-code vaccination status pass. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova announced this last week, that these restrictions will come into effect 1 February 2022. Presenting negative test results will not be allowed - you will literally need to present your state-issued QR code. This is a very serious issue that is affecting the lives of the Russian people quite intensely right now. Only maybe 30-40% (that's a high estimate) of the Russians are vaccinated, so this system will exclude the majority of people. There is a major controversy right now, as I said, being aired frequently on Russian TV, about whether or not the Church should utilize this system, which would exclude the majority of Russian Orthodox Christians from entering parishes and cathedrals, and subsequently from receiving Holy Communion. We are being told that the Church will not require it. Perhaps the Church will be exempt, at least for now, but we don't know for sure yet. I know about this because I speak the language, and can watch the broadcasts from Spas TV, I watch the Russian news, I watch Metropolitan Hilarion's TV addresses, and I speak with a number of people that live there (although I do not live there) and are dealing with this situation in various towns and cities across the country. I can tell you that many of the Russians have no intention of complying, and are intending on setting up black market networks as they did in Soviet times, especially regarding distribution of groceries, and alcohol, or simply resorting to home delivery. Bishop Savva of Zelenograd recently made public statements of concern on this matter, asking the question if this is a disproportionate response, and whether or not this system will be scrapped after 80% of Russians are vaccinated - is this permanent, or yet another "temporary" restriction? If you think that this is all just "business as usual" then I don't know what else to say at this point. May God protect them, and all of us.

sherlock_holmes11/16/2021 7:07 pm

@ Antiochene Son...I don't live in Russia, maybe Herman was talking about the proof of vaccination through QR codes, at the churches doors, meaning that the unvaccinated can not enter them anymore ( hypocrisy dressed in virtue signaling ).If this is the case, it is something to fear about.

Robert Wilkin11/16/2021 5:03 pm

Antiochene Son and Ioann, it seems Herman is more up on the news than you guys. Of course, the fear is not simply about the existence of QR codes. They're considering a bill in Russia that would require a QR code to travel or enter nearly any establishment in Russia, which would extend through June next year. To get a QR code you have to get vaccinated or constantly take PCR tests proving you don't have COVID. So basically it's an attempt at coerced vaccination withouth blatantly saying that. You really think Russians, including the business owners, aren't worried about such a prospect? It's all over the news.

Ioann11/16/2021 3:14 pm

Antiochene: Yes, I agree. Although I doubt Herman knows what "all the the Russians" are afraid of. Pure speculation on his part.

James11/16/2021 8:58 am

Great article, thank you. It's wonderful to see such a preeminent bishop serving with Met. Tikhon. My spiritual father himself met Metropolitan Hilarion some years back when one of his classical compositions was being played in Washington DC. Perhaps I'm biased because of this, but I've always admired Met. Hilarion and his work. An extremely knowledgeable and friendly bishop.

Antiochene Son11/16/2021 5:47 am

@Herman - Met. Hilarion is the head of external relations for the Russian Church. It's his job to meet with people. Doing so does not approve of them any more than an ambassador does between countries. As for QR codes, it's literally a machine readable way to encode a website address. No different than typing in a web URL. It mystified me why "Russians" (all Russians?) should fear such a thing. It would be better to fear smart phones altogether, but who does?

Herman11/15/2021 7:04 pm

From reading your coverage of Met Hilarion's activities you would think he was the greatest living bishop in the Church, but you don't report on his meeting with Rabbi Schneier (a man at the absolute forefront of globalist ecumenism) at the Park East Synagogue during this same visit. You also do not report on his incessant berating of the Russian people, and his relentless promotion of the vaccines on TV (which, along with his constant ecumenism, has earned him the extreme ire of the Russian Orthodox population as of late), which he did yet again just a couple of days ago. He is promoting the QR code system which is terrifying the Russians right now. This is absolutely the biggest question in the Church right now, whether or not the Church should utilize the QR codes at the doors of the parishes. It seems that every day this issue is discussed on the Spas channel (Russian TV) for example, but you have not even mentioned it once. Why is this? Even if it creates controversy, we need to discuss this as members of the Church, because it has serious consequences for many people.

Rufus11/15/2021 4:47 pm

I noticed that there were no diptychs read at this service. I'm assuming that this was done so as not to embarrass Metropolitan Hilarion.

WATCH: Metropolitan Hilarion serves with OCA primate at St. Tikhon’s Monastery (+VIDEO)

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