On April 7, the anniversary of the repose of St. Tikhon the Confessor, Patriarch of All Russia, at the invitation of His Beatitude Tikhon, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, and with the blessing of Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, the clergy of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York, Hegumen Nikodim (Balyasnikov) and Priest Mark Rashkov, visited the spiritual and administrative center of the Orthodox Church in America in Syosset, New York.
In the St. Sergius house chapel, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon celebrated the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, at which the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, Archpriest Alexander Rentel, the acting Secretary, Priest Alessandro Margheritino, representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate and chancery staff prayed and received Holy Communion. At the end of the service, a glorification was sung before the reliquary with a particle of the holy relics of St. Tikhon, after which those present congratulated His Beatitude on the anniversary of his monastic tonsure.
The clergy of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral greeted His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon and conveyed congratulations from the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, and from Bishop Matthew, Temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA.
The guests’ fellowship with His Beatitude and the staff of the administration of the Orthodox Church in America continued over tea, during which the parties discussed matters of mutual interest and exchanged views on the life of parishes during the pandemic. Given the rapidly changing situation, it was decided to maintain constant contact between the administration of the Orthodox Church in America and the chancery of the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate to coordinate the festive events marking the 50th anniversary of the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America, which were canceled last year because of the unfavorable epidemiological situation.
