New York, December 6, 2010
The discussion acknowledged that work initiated during the summer of 2009 has served as a good base for this important project. In a spirit of cooperation, the group discussed a phased approach to broaden the effort initiated in the main building, to improve all structures, and to create architectural plans and drawings for further development. Addressing fundraising, the group spoke of a variety of approaches to donors and of identifying potential financial support.
The New Kursk Root Hermitage was founded on a rural property forty miles from New York, donated by the well known philanthropists, Prince and Princess Belosselsky-Belozersky for the purposes of sheltering the Kursk Root icon. The icon, now a symbol of the Russian Church Abroad, was brought in 1951 to the U.S.from Germany. The hermitage functioned at first as a Synodal podvorye, under the abbacy of Bishop Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago. The monastery housed a printing press, a bakery, and a hotel for pilgrims. On the lands are chapels, a pond, and a small Russian cemetery. The Kursk Root icon was later taken to the Synodal residence in New York City. The Hermitage did not endure as a monastery, and the property fell into disrepair. A fire in 1995 did further damage. In 2004 the property was re-established as a parish dedicated to the Nativity of the Mother of God.
