ROCOR Announces Annual Fort Ross Pilgrimage for Memorial Day

Photo: wadiocese.org

FORT ROSS, CA — With the blessing of His Eminence Kyrill, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) Diocese of the West announced its annual Memorial Day pilgrimage to Fort Ross, scheduled for May 25, 2026, drawing clergy and faithful to one of the most historically significant Orthodox sites in the United States.

The pilgrimage will take place at the Holy Trinity/Saint Nicholas Chapel at Fort Ross State Historic Park, regarded as the first Russian Orthodox church in the contiguous United States and a site associated with St. Innocent of Alaska and the Holy Martyr Peter the Aleut, as well as with visits by St. Tikhon and St. John of Shanghai. His Grace Bp. James of Sonora will preside over the Divine Liturgy.

Following the service, participants will process to the cemetery for a Litya for the Departed before traveling to the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God for lunch. On the website linked above, the diocese has outlined logistical instructions for parking, access, and preservation of the historic site.

Previously, the UOJ reported that bishops of the OCA, ROCOR, and the Moscow Patriarchate concelebrated at Fort Ross.

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