Moscow, February 22, 2017
Photo: Official website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
A piece of the relics of Patriarch St. Tikhon of Moscow will be brought to America this year, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 1917 reestablishment of the patriarchate in Russia and of the atheist communist revolution in Russia, which also occurred in 1917 under the reign of the newly-enthroned St. Tikhon.
At its February 21 meeting, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia resolved to establish a committee for planning the visit of the relics to various parishes throughout the US, reports the ROCOR press service.
To bring St. Tikhon’s relics was first proposed by the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation. The fund has several projects, the most well-known and longest running being the “Pray for Peace of Jerusalem” program which brings the Holy Fire throughout the world on Pascha.
The reliquary will visit parishes both of the Russian Church Abroad and of other jurisdictions in America. A detailed schedule is forthcoming.
At the same meeting, the Holy Synod blessed the transfer of a piece of the relics of St. Elizabeth the New Martyr from Jerusalem to Russia, also in honor of the centenary of the Russian revolution, which led to St. Elizabeth’s martyrdom. Her relics lie in the Martha and Mary Convent in Jerusalem, under the jurisdiction of ROCOR’s Spiritual Mission. A reliquary containing relics of the New Martyrs and Confessors is to be created for the centenary, to be used in consecrating antimensia and altars in parishes which do not yet have relics of the New Martyrs of the twentieth century.
