Annunciation: Address of Met. Nicholas (ROCOR) at St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral

New York City—The following homily was delivered by Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, following the Divine Liturgy in St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral on Monday, March 25/ April 7, 2025. It was originally posted on eadiocese.org...

Your Beatitude, Most Blessed Master!
Your Eminence and Grace!
Beloved in the Lord fathers, brothers, and sisters!

I am especially overjoyed to greet you all with the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in this majestic and historic Patriarchal Cathedral, abiding among the heirs of the work of the hierarch, missionary, and Holy confessor Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow & All Rus' — I, firstly, express our heartfelt gratitude for your love and for the truly fraternal feelings toward us!

It is a great, profound joy for us today, on this festal and auspicious day on which Saint Tikhon reposed, to have prayerful fellowship with His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon; His Eminence, Archbishop Ireney; His Grace, Bishop Matthew; the clergy and the Orthodox people faithful to the Church of Christ, with whom we are bound by the bonds of a single Faith — this solid foundation of our fraternal friendship.

If we turn to history, we will see how deep and strong are the roots of our familial ties, cemented by the incredible deeds of the Holy Equal-of-the-Apostle Innocent (Veniaminov), Metropolitan of Moscow & Kolomna; Holy Hierarchs Raphael of Brooklyn and Mardarije of Chicago, Venerable Herman of Alaska and Sebastian of California, Righteous Alexis Toth, the Holy Martyrs Alexander Hotovitsky and John Kochurov, headed by the great Patriarch Tikhon, who leads this council of prayerful intercessors for this country and its Orthodox believers.

Following the example of the Holy Apostles and continuing the traditions of the Holy Hierarch Innocent, the future Patriarch Tikhon made transcontinental missionary journeys from California to Alaska and from the West Coast of the United States to the East. His first missionary journey lasted 78 days, during which he covered more than 11,000 kilometers. The love of the ascetic archpastor for the people and for establishing the work of the Church was so strong, that neither the great distances, nor the dangers of the journey, nor the threat to his own health and life hindered it in the least.

With his active participation, many churches, one monastery, a seminary, shelters, and schools were built, including Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago, St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, and this magnificent Patriarchal Cathedral. In his multifaceted missionary service, Bishop Tikhon relied on the selfless work of his contemporary saints, not only those aforementioned who served with him in North America, but also those like the Holy Hierarch Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan, with whom he corresponded and consulted. Thanks to their labors and exploits, the Orthodox Church in North America has shone with new saints and, glory to God, continues to bear good fruits of Christian life in the eyes and deeds of the clergy and faithful and in the service of its monasteries and parishes, thus casting nets to catch into the Faith of Christ those around us who thirst for "hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11).

May Holy Orthodoxy flourish in North America and may our brotherly love in Christ and in honor of the blessed memory of our common father, the Holy Hierarch Tikhon, be strengthened! May the Lord bless us to serve the further building of the Church here, so that through the blessed influence of the shared labors of the Orthodox, divisions among us and in society may be overcome, so that people may find the path to peace, well-being, and eternal salvation!

In memory of today's historic event, we ask His Grace, Bishop Matthew, the clergy, parishioners, and pilgrims of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral accept from us this gift — the icon of the Mother of God "of the Sign" with the Saints Tikhon of Moscow, John of Shanghai, and Jonah of Hankow standing before her, the new martyrs, confessors, and ascetics of the Russian Diaspora, painted for the centenary of the Russian Church Abroad, with the prayer that the Most Holy Theotokos preserve us all. Amen.

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