Moscow, April 8, 2025
Photo: patriarchia.ru
Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the great Holy Hierarch and Confessor Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, a beloved saint for the churches in both America and Russia.
That his feast not be eclipsed by the great feast of the Annunciation, it was moved to the day prior, April 6. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the main celebration was held at Moscow’s Donskoy Monastery, where he endured imprisonment and where his precious relics lie. The Liturgy was led by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, report Patrarchia.ru.
The Russian primate was concelebrated by 11 hierarchs and a host of clergy from throughout the Russian Church. They were joined by the representatives of the Churches of Serbia and the Czech Lands and Slovakia and the Orthodox Church in America who serve in Moscow as well as the dean of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
The service was also attended by various public officials. Special petitions were offered during the augmented litany and Pat. Kirill read the prayer for Holy Rus’.
Before Communion, Patriarchal Archdeacon Konstantin Bargan read the Patriarch’s address on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the repose of St. Tikhon (see below).
At the end of the Liturgy, His Holiness read a prayer at St. Tikhon’s reliquary at the front of the church.
“In a sense, our present Church is the spiritual legacy of Patriarch Tikhon, which has overcome schisms and divisions and, I hope, will also overcome the remnants of these phenomena that torment the spiritual life of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine,” Pat. Kirill said. “I hope that through the prayers of the holy Patriarch Tikhon, our Church will be strengthened, its unity, and God’s grace will extend over our people.”
Then the Patriarch led the solemn transfer of a reliquary with a particle of St. Tikhon’s relics to be carried to cities of Russia and Belarus for the blessing of the faithful, saying:
Today we begin an All-Russian procession, and I’m transferring to its participants a particle of the relics of the saint, so that as many Orthodox people as possible, to whom this procession will be directed, can venerate these holy remains. Through the prayers of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, may the Lord preserve the Orthodox faith in our people, piety, purity, and strength of spirit.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
Representatives of the Serbian diaspora in Moscow then presented Pat. Kirill with a portrait of St. Tikhon, and icons of St. Tikhon were distributed to the faithful.
The service was broadcast live:
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Patriarchal address on the 100th anniversary of the repose of St. Tikhon of Moscow:
Photo: patriarchia.ru
The year 2025 is especially memorable for the Russian Orthodox Church, which prayerfully marks the 100th anniversary of the repose unto the Lord of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia—a primate who, by God’s lot, endured severe trials through revolutionary upheavals, civil war, and the beginning of cruel persecutions against the faith.
Ascending to the cathedra of the First Hierarchs of Moscow, St. Tikhon foresaw the immense weight of the cross placed upon him, as evidenced by his words: “How many tears will have to be swallowed and groans let out in the forthcoming Patriarchal ministry!” (Address of Metropolitan Tikhon upon receiving news of his election). All this indeed came to pass, and his primatial work truly became for him that prophetic scroll on which are written the terrible words: lamentations and mourning and woe (Ezek. 2:10).
The restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Church in the autumn of 1917 coincided with the rise to power of militant God-fighters who aimed to completely eradicate religious faith among the people and who raised unprecedented persecutions against the Church of Christ. While boldly denouncing the crimes of the Bolsheviks who carried out bloody reprisals, St. Tikhon also testified: “The Church does not bind itself forever to a specific form of government, for such has only relative historical significance. The Church carries another ministry—it is and should be the conscience of the state” (Address on the feast day of the Holy Martyr Patriarch Hermogenes, March 2, 1919).
With humility and meekness, combined with zeal for God’s work and spiritual fervor, His Holiness Tikhon carried out the ministry entrusted to him, imploring his flock not to depart from the path of the cross and to preserve faithfulness to the Orthodox Church.
Only the Lord knows the heavy thoughts and heartache that Patriarch Tikhon experienced, witnessing the collapse of old Russia and the destruction of Orthodox holy sites. Only the Lord knows the fervent prayers that the saint offered for the flock entrusted to him, while being in confinement at the Donskoy Monastery, effectively cut off from the actual governance of the Church. But, in all things approving [himself] as a minister of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses … in labours, in watchings … by the Holy Spirit, by sincere unfeigned (cf. 2 Cor. 6:4-6), the Holy Hierarch earned the Confessor’s crown and became an example of courage and spiritual strength.
With special feeling, the Orthodox people flock to the holy relics of St. Tikhon, which are being brought to cities and villages of Holy Russia. This touch of the holy relic helps us strengthen our faith and find hope in the power of St. Tikhon’s intercession before God for our fatherland and our people. We believe and hope that St. Tikhon will answer the petitions of the faithful children of the Russian Church, for which he had constant care during his earthly life, and, standing now before the throne of the Almighty, will not cease to intercede for us before God.
Let us therefore offer our special prayers to St. Tikhon, that faith may not diminish among our people, that the Lord, through the intercession of His glorious saint and “zealot of Apostolic traditions,” may bless our Church and country with “tranquility” and “God’s peace” (troparion to the saint), strengthen us in fulfilling the evangelical commandments and in courageously following Christ our Savior.
Through the intercession of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, may the Merciful Lord protect all of you, my dear ones!
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