Moscow, June 27, 2023
Photo: stsl.ru
Last Thursday, June 22, His Grace Bishop Nikandr (Kovalenko) reposed in the Lord.
Vladyka Nikandr was the former Bishop of Zvenigorod of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was 69 years old when he reposed, reports the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra.
His funeral was served by His Grace Bishop Thomas of Sergiev Posad on Sunday, June 25, in the Lavra’s Holy Dormition Cathedral. Bp. Nikandr was buried in the fraternal cemetery in Deulino, outside Sergiev Posad.
May his memory be eternal!
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Bp. Nikandr was born on September 22, 1954, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
He graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in 1984, then became a novice at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra and began studying at the Moscow Theological Academy.
On February 25, 1985, he was tonsured a monk with the name Nikandr in honor of St. Nikandr of Pskov. On March 17, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and on April 7, 1986, a hieromonk. On April 4, 1987, he was elevated to the rank of igumen.
On July 19, 1988, he was appointed Bishop of Zvenigorod, vicar of the Moscow Diocese and representative of the Russian Church to the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. He was elevated to the rank of archimandrite on August 5 and consecrated as bishop on August 7.
On February 17, 1997, Bp. Nikandr was retired for health reasons.
According to Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev of the Russian Orthodox metochion in Jaffa, Bp. Nikandr later taught philosophy at a university in Los Angeles.
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