MINNEAPOLIS, MN [MW Diocese Communications]– His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, visited the Twin Cities the weekend of the Veneration of the Cross, April 6-7, 2013, where he presided at services at Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Minneapolis. According to the cathedral dean, Archpriest Andrew Morbey, the celebration marked the historic anniversary of the first hierarchical visit to Minneapolis on the Sunday of the Cross on April 7, 1892 by His Grace, Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov), then Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska (1891-1898). This date also marks the commemoration of the Repose of Saint Tikhon the Confessor, Patriarch of Moscow, the heavenly patron of Metropolitan Tikhon. In 1906, Saint Tikhon, as Archbishop of the Aleutians and North America, consecrated the new Saint Mary’s temple. During the Divine Liturgy, Archpriest Gregory Krutchek was awarded the palitsa.
Joining the cathedral choir in singing the liturgical responses at the Sunday Divine Liturgy was the Georgian ensemble “Zedashe,” on the first leg of their North American tour. Metropolitan Tikhon welcomed and blessed the ensemble’s members. Earlier in the week, Zedashe opened its 2013 US tour with a concert of the ancient chant of the Georgian Church.
On Sunday evening, April 7, at the invitation of His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, Metropolitan Tikhon presided and preached at the Pan-Orthodox Lenten Vespers sponsored by the Minnesota Eastern Orthodox Clergy Association at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church, West Saint Paul, MN. Priest Thomas Begley, host pastor, warmly greeted Metropolitan Tikhon and welcomed clergy and faithful from the Twin Cities’ OCA, Antiochian, Greek, Russian, Romanian and Serbian communities.
For additional photos of Zedashe’s concert, visit stmarysoca.smugmug.com/Category/Zedashe. A gallery of photos of the visit to Saint Mary Cathedral may be found at http://stmarysoca.smugmug.com/Category/Visit-of-Metropolitan-Tikhon, while photos of the Pan-Orthodox Vespers are available at stmarysoca.smugmug.com/Category/Visit-of-Metropolitan-Tikhon/Pan-Orthodox-Vespers.
A reflection by Archpriest Andrew Morbey on Metropolitan Tikhon’s visit and Saint Tikhon’s involvement with Saint Mary Cathedral may be accessed here.
