On August 20, 2023, the feast of Hieromartyr Alexander Hotovitzky, the clergy and parishioners of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York offered prayers to the builder of this church.
In his sermon, the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, reminded those gathered that Fr. Alexander Hotovitzky was for many years an Orthodox missionary on the North American continent, a co-laborer in this of St. Tikhon, who was later elected Patriarch of All Russia at the Local Council of 1917–1918.
It was Fr. Alexander who initiated the construction of a Russian Orthodox cathedral in the center of New York. To raise funds he traveled to Russia, where he met personally with the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, who became the first donor to St. Nicholas Cathedral, consecrated in 1902.
Having returned to his homeland in the turbulent times of the 1917 revolution, Protopresbyter Alexander Hotovitzky served as sacristan of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which in the era of persecution of the Church by the godless authorities unequivocally meant the path of martyrdom. Fr. Alexander was a steadfast confessor of the Orthodox faith for 20 years, until he was shot in 1937.
We believe, concluded Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, that prayer offered at St. Nicholas Cathedral to its builder, Hieromartyr Alexander, will always be heard.
After the service and the traditional Sunday meal, a screening of the documentary film “Hieromartyr Alexander Hotovitzky” was organized for the cathedral parishioners.