Russian President Praises Old Believer Hierarch for Service to Church, Society

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has praised the first hierarch of the main Old Believer ('Belokrinitsy') accord in Eastern Europe, Metropolitan Cornelius () of Moscow, on the occasion of the latter's birthday for "[his] fruitful work as primate of the Russian Orthodox [Old Ritualist] Church," noting his service to his church as particularly valuable in its "contribution to the maintenance of time-honored spiritual traditions, the preservation of the rich cultural and historical legacy of our people, [and] the strengthening of peace and harmony and the moral climate in [Russian] society." More here.

St. Alexandra of Diveyevo

Joyous feast!

Today we commemorate St. Alexandra (Melgunova), founder and first abbess of the Diveyevo Monastery of the Holy Trinity. Born a noblewoman in Ryazan, early in her marriage St. Alexandra (then named Agafia) was widowed and decided to dedicate her life to God, becoming a nun at St. Florus' Monastery in Kiev.

After receiving visions from the Mother of God and the death of her only child St. Alexandra moved from Kiev to Diveyevo, where she began the building of the monastery with funds from the sale of her lands. The first cells for the future sisterhood were built around the Monastery's Church of the Kazan Icon with the blessing of the Sarov elders, among them St. Seraphim of Sarov.

After Mother Alexandra's repose St. Seraphim told pilgrims to visit her grave and ask for her prayers, prophesying the later uncovering of her relics and her glorification by the Russian Orthodox Church. Of the Saint he said, "She was a great woman, a saint; her eyes were fountains of tears, her humility was inscrutable, her prayers to God were pure, and her love for everyone was unfeigned!"

More on St. Alexandra's life can be found here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Nicholas of Japan

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father Nicholas the Equal-to-the-Apostles and Enlightener of Japan. Born to a deacon in what today is western Russia in 1836, the future missionary pursued theological studies that eventually took him to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he was tonsured a monk and ordained to the priesthood at the age of twenty-four.

Not long after his ordination in 1860 Hieromonk Nicholas was assigned, per his request, to serve at the Russian consulate in the Japanese city of Khakodate. He went to Japan with the desire to convert its people to Orthodoxy, but made little headway his first eight years in the country as he learned the Japanese language and studied Japanese culture. In those eight years only twelve Japanese were converted to Orthodoxy. Nevertheless, due in part to a report to the Holy Synod submitted by Fr. Nicholas in 1869 a Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical mission to Japan was organized under his leadership.

Not long after the organization of the mission and his elevation to the rank of archimandrite Fr. Nicholas moved from Khakodate to Tokyo, where in 1873 he established a church and ecclesiastical school that was upgraded five years later to become a seminary. Both the Tokyo and Khakodate parishes established multiple schools, whilst the ordination of native Japanese Orthodox to the priesthood in 1874 gave added impetus to the growth of the Orthodox Church in Japan, which by 1878 had over 4,000 members.

The results of Fr. Nicholas' missionary labors led to his consecration to the episcopacy in 1880 at St. Alexander of the Neva's Lavra in St. Petersburg, after which he returned to Japan to continue his ministry there as head of the ecclesiastical mission to the country. Under his guidance the Cathedral of the Resurrection (commonly known as the Nikolai-do or 'House of Nicholas') was built in Tokyo while the work of translating the services and Orthodox theological works into Japanese continued. Although significantly effected by the Russo-Japanese War the Church's mission in Japan continued, and after the war Bishop Nicholas was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

Archbishop Nicholas fell asleep on this day in 1912 after 51 years of service in Japan. By the time of his death the Japanese Orthodox Church included some 266 parishes and missions with approximately 35,000 members. Fifty-eight years later the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Archbishop Nicholas as a saint, recognizing him as an equal to the apostles because of his labors in Japan. More on St. Nicholas' life can be found here and here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Juliana of Lazarevo

Joyous feast! С праздником!

Today we commemorate our Holy Mother Juliana of Lazarevo. St. Juliana is a saint of the world, a relatively ordinary woman - a wife and mother in 16th century Rus' - who went about her day-to-day tasks of raising a family and managing a household with such holiness and love and with such care for the poor of her community that she continues to shine to this day as an example of a life of love lived in Christ.

A full account of St. Juliana's life can be found here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Seraphim of Sarov

Joyous feast! С праздником!

Today we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father Seraphim of Sarov, a light to many both during his life and after his death. Books could (and have) been written about his life and the many wonders St. Seraphim has worked, so I won't attempt a summary here.

For those interested an account of St. Seraphim's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Igor of Kiev

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we commemorate the Holy Great Prince Igor of Kiev. St. Igor came to lead Rus' during a time of great internal division within its royal family, and only served briefly as great prince before his overthrow and banishment to a monastery. The Saint embraced the monastic life and was eventually tonsured to the great schema.

After a short time in the monastery a mob of his family's opponents sought St. Igor out, dragging him out of the monastery church during the Divine Liturgy and murdered him. When the Saint's body was later recovered and taken to St. Michael's Monastery the candles near it lit of their own accord. The Saint was buried at another monastery on the outskirts of Kiev.

In 1150 St. Igor's relics were translated to the city cathedral of Chernigov, whilst the wonderworking Igorov Icon before which he had been praying prior to his martyrdom was enshrined in the catholicon of the Kiev Caves Lavra. More on his life can be found here. May St. Igor's blessing and prayers be with us all!

Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev

Joyous feast! Today marks the 75th anniversary of the repose of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev, a onetime contender for the patriarchal cathedra of the Russian Orthodox Church and the founding first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) after the triumph of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.

The future Metropolitan Anthony was born in March 1863 to members of the eastern Ukrainian nobility from the area of Kharkov as Aleksey, so named after St. Alexis of Rome. As a child Aleksey desired to live the monastic life and became closely involved in the divine services, even meeting, while serving in the sanctuary, the future missionary St. Nicholas (Kasatkin) of Tokyo in St. Petersburg. While still a child the future metropolitan even composed a Slavonic-language service to Sts. Cyril and Methodius that was later approved for use by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

After finishing his primary education Aleksey entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and at the age of twenty-two, having finished his theological studies, was tonsured a monk with the name Anthony and ordained first to the deaconate and then to the priesthood. Fr. Anthony served as an inspector at his alma mater, but was exiled to the Kholm Theological Seminary in the western reaches of the Russian Empire when he refused to denounce the seminarians under his care to the authorities.

Fr. Anthony remained in Kholm for a year before being recalled to St. Petersburg to teach at the Academy. During his time as a professor Fr. Anthony strongly defended the movement calling for the restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church's patriarchate and attracted many of the seminarians, among them the future Patriarch St. Tikhon (Bellavin), to the monastic life through his example. At the age of twenty-seven Fr. Anthony was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector of the Academy, becoming its youngest rector ever and a year later being transferred to serve as rector of the Moscow Theological Academy.

Due to the dislike of the newly enthroned Metropolitan of Moscow Fr. Anthony was transferred from the former imperial capital to Kazan, where he taught at the Kazan Theological Academy before being elected to the episcopate at the age of thirty-four as Bishop of Christopol' and auxiliary of the Eparchy of Kazan. Within three years Bishop Anthony was elected ruling Bishop of Ufa, where he soon doubled the number of parishes in his diocese and ordained many non-Russians to the priesthood to minister to the area's native pagans and Muslims.

In 1902 Bishop Anthony was transferred to the Eparchy of Zhytomyr in Volhynia in the western reaches of the Russian Empire. During his twelve years in Volhynia Bishop Anthony did much to uproot the corruption that had been prevalent in the diocesan administration and amongst the Eparchy's clergy while also renewing the spiritual life of his flock and strengthening its witness to the area's many Ukrainian Catholics, Roman Catholics, and Jews. Despite the political tensions of the times Bishop Anthony, who was elevated to the rank of archbishop in 1906, protected Volhynia's Jews from pogroms by ultranationalists while also defending the institution of the monarchy during the revolutionary fervor of 1905. Archbishop Anthony also oversaw the renewal of the Pochaev Lavra, which built its great Cathedral of the Trinity during Archbishop Anthony's episcopate.

Archbishop Anthony remained unpopular in government circles for his support of the patriarchate and prevention of pogroms in Volhynia, but remained in Zhytomyr until Austria-Hungary discovered his involvement in missionary work amongst the Ruthenians living in northeastern Hungary as exarch of Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III, at which point Vienna had pressure applied to have the archbishop transferred to the Eparchy of Kharkov in 1914.

When World War I began Archbishop Anthony became involved in caring for the wounded in local hospitals, visiting soldiers regardless of their nationality thanks to his command of the German language. He also took refugees from Serbia, among them the future Patriarch Barnabas, into his diocese, forging ties that would later be of vital importance to the survival of the ROCOR. Following the March Revolution in 1917 Archbishop Anthony was expelled from his diocese by the revolutionaries and retired to the Valaam Monastery for several months before being called back to Kharkov by his flock.

In late 1917 Archbishop Anthony arrived in Moscow to take part in the All-Russian Council then being held. When the patriarchate was restored and elections held Archbishop Anthony was the leading candidate of those proposed, receiving over a third of the votes in the first round of voting. When a lot of the top three was used to chose the next patriarch the archbishop's former pupil, St. Tikhon (Bellavin), was chosen by God to be the first restored Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

Following the election Archbishop Anthony was elevated to the rank of metropolitan and, in 1918, transferred to the Eparchy of Kiev to replace the martyred Metropolitan St. Vladimir of Kiev. In Kiev he was imprisoned first by Ukrainian nationalists and then by the invading Poles before being liberated by the Whites in 1919. When the Soviets began occupying central Ukraine Metropolitan Anthony wanted to remain in his diocese, but was persuaded to board an evacuation ship to serve a thanksgiving for the capture of the Hagia Sophia by the Greeks (which had not taken place), with the ship weighing anchor as soon as the metropolitan was aboard.

In the huge Diaspora that formed following the end of the Russian Civil War Metropolitan Anthony initially thought that the refugees should submit to the Local Orthodox Churches on whose canonical territories they found themselves. Taking the precedent of the exiled Cypriot Orthodox Church, however, Metropolitan Anthony was persuaded in late 1920 to participate in Constantinople in the organization of a 'higher church authority,' with both the Church of Constantinople and Patriarch St. Tikhon approving the move that December.

In 1921 the headquarters of the 'higher church authority' were established in the former seat of the Orthodox Church of Austria-Hungary in Smreski Karlovci, Yugoslavia, and at the end of that year the first All-Diaspora Council took place there. In 1922 the authority was reorganized on the instruction of Patriarch St. Tikhon as the ROCOR with its own permanent local synod to direct its internal life until the Russian Orthodox Church in the USSR would be free again.

Metropolitan Anthony was recognized as the First Hierarch of the ROCOR and courageously led it throughout its early years, seeking to prevent the schisms of Metropolitans Eulogius of Paris and Platon of New York and also highlighting the war crimes committed by the Soviets both within the USSR and in northern China. In 1934 the aging Metropolitan Anthony together with St. Nicholas (Velimirovich) of Zhicha consecrated his spiritual son in monasticism, Archimandrite St. John (Maximovich), to the episcopacy as Bishop of Shanghai.

Two years after the consecration of St. John Metropolitan Anthony, then wheelchair-bound, reposed peacefully on this day in 1936 in Serbia. Three days later Patriarch Barnabas of the Serbian Orthodox Church together with six other hierarchs served Metropolitan Anthony's funeral in Belgrade's Cathedral of St. Michael, after which the metropolitan was buried in the city's new cemetery beneath the Chapel of the Icon of the Mother of God 'the Gatekeeper.'

More on Metropolitan Anthony's life and labors can be found here. May his memory be eternal!

St. Herman of Alaska

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today is one of the few fixed feast days that share the same day on both the Julian and Gregorian calendars as we commemorate the simultaneous glorification of St. Herman of Alaska by the American Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which took place on this day 41 years ago. A full account of St. Herman's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Today is a special day for me as it's the day I became a catechumen in 2002. I coincidentally noticed St. Herman's icon in the local parish bookstore and bought it shortly before I was made a catechumen and have felt a connection with him since, though unfortunately not strong enough of one for me to have been baptized as Herman or Germanus. (I get enough weird looks from my family as it is ;-).) St. Herman is truly the father of every Orthodox Christian in North America - I hope his blessings are with you in a special way today!

"O Blessed Father Herman of Alaska, North Star of Christ's Holy Church! The light of your holy life and great deeds guides those who follow the Orthodox Way! Together we lift high the holy cross you planted firmly in the Americas! Let all behold and glorify Jesus Christ, singing His Holy Resurrection!

Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God

Joyous feast! С праздником! On this day we commemorate one of the best known icons of Rus', the Pochaev Icon from Volhynia's Pochaev Lavra of the Dormition. The Lavra was founded as a monastery in 1340 by two monks and has been associated closely with the Mother of God since its founding as she appeared to the monks and a herdsman on a nearby hilltop, leaving behind an imprint of her foot on one of the hilltop's rocks.

In 1559 a traveling Constantinopolitan Orthodox metropolitan visiting Volhynia gave a local noblewoman an icon of the Mother of God from Constantinople as a memento of his stay in the region. With time a radiance began to be noticed coming from the icon, and in 1597 the noblewoman's brother was healed by the icon, after which it was given in thanksgiving to the Pochaev Monastery, which enshrined it in the Church of the Dormition.

This icon, the Pochaev Icon, has resided at the Pochaev Lavra for 414 years and has been glorified by many miracles. In 1675 the Icon delivered Pochaev from invading Tatars, who saw the Mother of God together with angels brandishing swords and St. Job of Pochaev over the Church of the Dormition as they prepared for their final assault on the Lavra. As a result the Tatars fled, while others who were captured embraced Orthodoxy and even the monastic life.

In 1721 the Pochaev Monastery was occupied by the Ukrainian Catholic Church, but the Pochaev Icon remained and continued to be glorified by miracles. When Pochaev returned to Orthodoxy in 1832 the Icon was further glorified by the healing of a blind woman who venerated it. The Icon remains a treasured relic of the Pochaev Lavra alongside the imprint of the Mother of God's footprint and is kept in the Lavra's Cathedral of the Dormition to this day.

More on the Pochaev Icon can be found here and here. May the Mother of God's protection and intercession be with us all!

Russian Orthodox Archbishops Participate in 199th Anniversary of the Founding of Fort Ross

In honor of the 199th anniversary of the founding of Fort Ross this past Thursday Archbishops Kyrill (Dmitrieff) of San Francisco of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the American Orthodox Church, visited the northern Californian fort to take part in the anniversary celebrations as well as planning for the upcoming 200th anniversary.

As part of this year's celebrations Archbishop Justinian served the Divine Liturgy in Fort Ross' Holy Trinity Church with Archbishop Kyrill and other clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church and the ROCOR in attendance. More (in Russian) here.

St. Vladimir the Equal-to-the-Apostles of Kiev

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we commemorate Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev, known as 'the Equal to the Apostles' for his baptism of all of Rus' in 988 following his own conversion to the Orthodox Faith. Although the son and grandson of the pagan Grand Princes Igor and Svyatoslav of Kiev, St. Vladimir was also the son and grandson of Orthodox Christian women - Grand Princess Malusha and Grand Princess St. Olga the Wise.

At his birth St. Vladimir was named by his mother 'the peaceful ruler' (Volodymyr in old Slavonic and modern Ukrainian). Despite his Orthodox ancestry St. Vladimir was strongly pagan, at the time of his succession to his father in Novgorod (Rus' having been divided between Svyatoslav's three sons) fiercely campaigning against his Orthodox brother Grand Prince Yaropolk of Kiev in 1978 and overthrowing him to become the sole ruler of Rus'.

St. Vladimir continued to reign as a pagan until the late 980s when Emperor Basil of the East Romans appealed to Rus' for help in putting down a rebellion against his rule. When St. Vladimir demanded in return that Basil's daughter Anna be sent from Constantinople to be his wife the reluctant emperor agreed on the condition that the grand prince be baptized, and so St. Vladimir was baptized as Basil and married to Anna in the Crimean city of Chersonessus (today Korsun) in 988.

After his return from the Crimea St. Vladimir ordered the baptism of his capital and of all of Rus'. The inhabitants of Kiev consequently went down to the Dnieper River and were baptized there by Metropolitan St. Michael of Kiev and the city's clergy. After the country's baptism pagan idols, temples, and shrines were torn down, often being replaced by churches and, later on, monasteries. In Kiev itself St. Vladimir built a church dedicated to his patron, St. Basil the Great, on the site of a temple to the god Perun, whilst at the place of the martyrdom of some of Kiev's Orthodox he built the Church of the Tithe dedicated to the Dormition.

So it was that Rus' was baptized and transformed into the largest of the nations belonging to the Orthodox Catholic Church. Thanks to St. Vladimir's influence leaders of the Bulgar Turks living on the Volga, the Pechenegs, and even the distant Norwegians were also converted to Orthodoxy during his reign. Having labored throughout his life to unify Rus' as an Orthodox nation, St. Vladimir reposed on this day in 1015 after ruling for 37 years.

May St. Vladimir's blessing and prayers be with us all! More on his life can be found here.

St. Olga the Wise

Joyous feast! С праздником! St. Olga the Equal-to-the-Apostles, was the wife of Grand Prince Igor of Kiev and grandmother of Grand Prince St. Vladimir of Kiev. Already during Grand Prince Igor's reign Orthodoxy was becoming widespread in Rus', although neither Igor nor the Saint embraced the Faith at that time. After her husband's death St. Olga became the regent for her son Grand Prince Svyatoslav of Kiev. During her regency St. Olga regularly traveled throughout Rus' to ensure the peace and development of the realm.

In 954 St. Olga, having entrusted the government to Svyatoslav, left at the head of a large diplomatic mission to Constantinople. Awed by the beauty of the city and its many churches, St. Olga accepted baptism at the hands of Patriarch Theophylact under the name Helena, with Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrigenitus becoming her godfather. Despite this close spiritual relationship the emperor refused St. Olga's request to have a metropolitan elected for the Orthodox Church in Rus' and she left the imperial city in disappointment.

Despite her failure to have a shepherd sent to Kiev for the Orthodox there, upon her return from Constantinople St. Olga set about energetically strengthening the life of the faithful in Rus' by sponsoring the construction of a number of churches, the most famous amongst them the future Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom. During this time paganism also rallied, with some of those newly baptized being martyred and a bishop sent to Rus' from the Church of Rome being chased out of the country.

St. Olga ultimately died in sorrow in 969 having served in effect as co-ruler with her son and having failed to have Rus' converted en masse to the Orthodox Faith. Her funeral was served by Kiev's clergy, after which she was buried in one of the city's churches. Her relics were soon glorified by miracles and after the Baptism of Rus' St. Olga became even more widely venerated throughout newly Orthodox Rus'.

More on St. Olga's life can be found here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

Sitka Icon of the Mother of God

Joyous feast! The Sitka Icon of the Mother of God is one of the oldest of North America's wonderworking icons. The Icon was painted in the style of the Kazan Icon by Vladimir Borovikovskiy in the 18th or early 19th century, with a portrayal of God the Father blessing included above the Mother of God and the Christ Child. In 1850 the employees of the Russian-America Company purchased the Sitka Icon and donated it to the newly completed Cathedral of St. Michael in Sitka, Alaska.

Since its arrival in North America the Sitka Icon has had numerous healings and miracles attributed to it by the local Orthodox faithful. The Mother of God is portrayed especially peacefully in the Icon, but the artistic elements of the Sitka Icon aside faithful entering churches where the Icon has rested have been immediately struck by the imminence of the Mother of God, of her peace-giving presence amongst those coming to venerate her image. This peacefulness is apparent even to some Evangelical Protestants, who have been known to keep a copy of the Sitka Icon despite their rejection of the veneration of the saints and images.

Although originally placed on the iconostas of St. Michael's Cathedral the Sitka Icon is now enshrined in another part of the cathedral and regularly visits the faithful in Alaska and other parts of the United States. More on the Sitka Icon's history can be found here. May the Mother of God's protection and intercessions be with us all!

St. Elizabeth the Royal Martyr

Joyous feast! Today we commemorate the martyrdom in Alpayevsk of St. Elizabeth the Royal Martyr and her companions, the Royal Martyrs Sergius, John, Constantine, Igor, and Vladimir and the New Martyr Barbara.

St. Elizabeth, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England and the older sister of St. Alexandra the Royal Martyr, was a German princess who converted to Orthodoxy after her marriage to a member of the Russian imperial family. Following her husband's assassination she withdrew from the world to found the women's Community of Sts. Mary and Martha, which was dedicated to caring for the sick and poor.

During the October Revolution St. Elizabeth was arrested by the Bolsheviks and exiled to the Ural Mountains, where she together with her companions in martyrdom were killed by being thrown down into an abandoned mine shaft. The survivors were finished off with grenades through into the shaft by their murderers. St. Elizabeth could be heard singing the Cherubicon as she died.

More on St. Elizabeth's life can be found here. May her blessing and prayers be with us all!

Holy Royal Martyrs of Rus'

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we commemorate the Royal Martyrs of Rus', the passion-bearing Tsar-Martyr Nicholas, his wife Tsaritsa Alexandria, their children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexis, and their companions in exile. More on their lives can be found here. A homily delivered by St. John of San Francisco after a memorial for the imperial family served in 1934 can be found here. May the Royal Martyrs' blessings and prayers be with us all!

St. Juvenaly of Alaska

Joyous feast! С праздником! St. Juvenaly, the Protomartyr of the Americas, was born in the late 1700s in Siberia and trained as an engineer before entering a monastery in St. Petersburg following the death of his wife. Three years after his tonsuring in 1791 he traveled to Alaska to serve as a missionary there. In Alaska the Saint traveled extensively, preaching the Gospel and baptizing many of the local peoples.

It was during one of his missionary journeys, in 1796, that St. Juvenaly came across a hunting party and was murdered by them. Although why the hunting party killed the Saint is unknown, it was later reported to St. Innocent, then Bishop of Sitka, that St. Juvenaly did not try to escape or defend himself, instead begging the band not to attack the newly baptized faithful nearby. Although left for dead, St. Juvenaly rose up and followed his attackers, urging them to repent. After several instances of this happening the hunters hacked St. Juvenaly to pieces to ensure that he would not follow them again.

More on St. Juvenaly's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Rue Daru Cathedral to Celebrate 150th Anniversary of Consecration

The Russian Orthodox Exarchate of Western Europe under the Ecumenical Patriarchate is preparing to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the consecration of its diocesan seat, the Cathedral of St. Alexander of the Neva in Paris. The cathedral has long been a center of the large Russian community in the French capital and was the first Orthodox church to be built in the city. The upcoming anniversary of the cathedral's founding will be commemorated this September, with Archbishop Gabriel (de Vylder) of Comana leading the celebrations. More (in French) here.

Sts. Sergius and Herman of Valaam

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we celebrate the memory of our Holy Fathers Sergius and Herman (or Germanus) the founders of the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration on Valaam Island in Lake Ladoga.

When St. Sergius, a Greek-speaking monk from the East Roman Empire, first arrived to live in the caves on Valaam in the late 900s the island was the site of pagan worship and sacrifices. Through his preaching and holiness of life, however, St. Sergius gradually converted the island's inhabitants to Orthodoxy and built up a monastic community in the caves around him.

St. Herman, a Karelian from the area of Sortavala, later came to Valaam to take up the leadership of the monastic community there. Like St. Sergius, St. Herman became known for his work in converting the native peoples of what today is northern Russia, especially the Karelians, to Orthodoxy and confirming the Valaam Monastery's preeminence as the spiritual center of the Karelian Orthodox faithful.

More on the lives and labors of the founders of the Valaam Monastery, as well as more of the history of the Monastery itself, can be found here and here. May the Saints' blessings and prayers be with us all!

Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God

Joyous feast! The Tikhvin Icon is said to be one of the icons of the Mother of God written by St. Luke the Evangelist. In the 400s the Tikhvin Icon was translated from the Holy City of Jerusalem to Constantinople where the Blachernae church was built to enshrine it. Several hundred years later, in 1383, the Tikhvin Icon disappeared from Blachernae and appeared over the waters of Lake Ladoga in northern Russia, eventually settling near the city of Tikhvin, where it was enshrined anew in a monastery dedicated to the Dormition.

The Tikhvin Icon remained in northern Russia for many years, at one time helping the Russian armies defeat the invading Swedes. During the upheaval of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union the Icon was taken from Tikhvin to the Latvian capital, Riga. When the Soviets began to approach Riga towards the end of World War II the Tikhvin Icon was again translated, eventually settling in Chicago with its caretaker and remaining there until its return to Russia in 2004.

More on the Tikhvin Icon can be found here. May the Mother of God's protection and prayers be with us all!

Sts. Peter and Febronia of Murom

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today we commemorate Prince St. Peter and his wife St. Febronia. St. Peter was born the second son of the Prince of Murom in central Russia and eventually ascended the throne of the principality in 1203. Prior to this he was stricken with an incurable form of leprosy. After suffering in this way for several years the Saint had a vision directing him to the daughter of a beekeeper, Febronia, who would be able to heal him.

When St. Peter met his future wife he was struck by her piety, virtue, and wisdom and vowed to marry her, which he did after she had healed him of his leprosy. Despite St. Peter's great love for his wife the nobility of Murom disapproved of the marriage and eventually were able to have the couple banished, returning only after the people of Murom suffered a disaster for their sin of casting the Saints out.

Throughout their marriage Sts. Peter and Febronia were renowned for their piety and charity. When they reposed they fell asleep at the same hour on the same day, having been tonsured beforehand as the Monk David and the Nun Euphrosynia, and were buried in a shared grave. More on their lives can be found here. May their blessings and prayers be with us all!