wfn.org | NORTH AMERICA'S OLDEST ORTHODOX MONASTERY MARKS CENTENNIAL

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

MEDIA RELEASE / ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA
PO Box 675
Syosset, New York 11791-0675

Contact: The Very Rev. John Matusiak
OCA Communications Director
630-668-3071
info@oca.org or tocmed@aol.com
www.oca.org

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NORTH AMERICA'S OLDEST ORTHODOX MONASTERY MARKS CENTENNIAL

SOUTH CANAAN, PA [OCA Communications] -- While it is estimated by some 
observers of the American scene that many churches and religious 
institutions have a life-span of less than a century, North America's 
oldest Orthodox Christian monastery has not only survived for a century, 
but continues to expand its work and witness.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, primate of the Orthodox Church in 
America [OCA], will preside at the centennial celebration of Saint Tikhon 
of Zadonsk Monastery, South Canaan, PA, at a pilgrimage to be held Memorial 
Day weekend.

"Founded by the Priestmonk Arseny Chagovetz in 1905 with the blessing of 
then-Archbishop Tikhon Bellavin of North America, the monastery church was 
consecrated on May 30 of the following year," said the Very Rev. John 
Matusiak, OCA communications director.	"Built with donations from 
hard-working central and eastern European immigrants who settled in 
Pennsylvania's coal and steel regions and throughout the northeast, the 
monastery has served as a center of Orthodox Christian spirituality and 
education for a century."

The original monastery community consisted of several monks and an 
orphanage.  In 1938, the adjacent Saint Tikhon's Seminary was established 
by the Church's Holy Synod of Bishops.	Today, the seminary boasts an 
enrollment of nearly 70 students from across North America and abroad, 
double the number of seminarians studying just a few decades ago.

Over the years, Orthodox Christian faithful have flocked to the monastery 
during its annual Memorial Day weekend pilgrimage for worship and 
fellowship and to pray at the gaves of their loved ones interred in the 
monastery's cemetery.  Dozens of additional buildings and shrines have been 
erected on the monastery grounds over the years, including a new bookstore 
and museum
honoring the OCA's former primate, Metropolitan Theodosius, who retired in 
2002 after suffering a series of mini-strokes.

"The centennial pilgrimage is expected to attract thousands of faithful and 
visitors," Father Matusiak added.  "The entire episcopacy of the OCA will 
be joined by guest hierarchs, hundreds of clergy, and a mass choir of 
hundreds of voices for the pilgrimage services, which will begin on Friday 
evening, May 27 on the monastery grounds."

The pilgrimage will end on Monday, May 30, with the celebration of the 
Eucharistic Liturgy by Metropolitan Herman, members of the OCA episcopacy, 
and numerous other hierarchs, and a number of other liturgical services.  A 
set of bells marking the centennial will also be blessed.

The Orthodox Church in America traces its roots to the arrival of Orthodox 
missionaries in Alaska in 1794.  Today, the OCA embraces over 700 parishes, 
missions, and institutions across the US, Canada, and Mexico.  The Church 
also maintains some 20 other monastic communities.

Additional information and a schedule of pilgrimage services and events are 
available on the OCA web site at www.oca.org, or may be obtained by 
contacting the OCA communications department at info@oca.org.

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