Bishop Matthew of Sourozh Participates in Annual Pilgrimage to St. Tikhon Monastery »
28-05-2026 
On Monday, May 25, 2026—the seventh week after Pascha and the national observance of Memorial Day—the traditional commemoration of the monastery’s founders took place at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania. This annual event draws a multitude of pilgrims from various Orthodox jurisdictions across the United States.
The Divine Liturgy in the All Saints Chapel was presided over by His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America & Canada. Concelebrating with His Beatitude was the Interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh; the Rector of St. Tikhon’s Theological Seminary and Administrator of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, Archbishop Michael; the Administrator of the Albanian Archdiocese, Bishop Nikodhim of Boston; the Abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Sergius (Boyer); the Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary, Archpriest John Parker; the Acting Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Abbot Nicodemus (Balyasnikov); Head of the Chancery, Priest Mark Rushkov; as well as resident clerics of the monastery, seminary faculty, and visiting clergy among the pilgrims.
For the festive divine services, and with the blessing of the First Hierarch of the Russian Abroad, Metropolitan Nicholas, the wonderworking myrrh-streaming Hawaiian-Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to the monastery. The icon was brought by its custodian, Priest Nectarios Yangson, rector of Our Lady of Iveron Church in Honolulu, HI. Following the reading of the Gospel, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon addressed the faithful with a homily. During the Liturgy, fervent prayers were offered for the repose of departed hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laypeople who labored for the sake of Orthodoxy in America.
At the conclusion of the divine services, His Beatitude warmly greeted all those participating in the festivities and presented certificates of completion to the graduates of the inaugural class of the Faculty of Church Music.
Metropolitan Tikhon extended words of greeting to Bishop Matthew and the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA, requesting that they convey his most sincere good wishes to His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Rus', who had celebrated his namesday the previous day.
Bishop Matthew conveyed greetings and congratulations from His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill to His Beatitude and his entire flock; he also expressed his gratitude to Metropolitan Tikhon, Archbishop Michael, the Abbot of St. Tikhon’s Monastery Archimandrite Sergius, and the Dean of the Seminary, Archpriest John, for their unwavering fraternal relations and cooperation with the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA. As a gift to the monastery, Bishop Matthew presented an icon of Saint Patrick—the Patron Saint of Ireland—who is especially venerated among the Orthodox faithful of America.
Subsequently, at the grave of Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich)—First Hierarch of the North American Metropolia from 1950 to 1965, who is buried behind the altar of the monastery’s main church—Metropolitan Tikhon and the concelebrating clergy performed a memorial litia, during which they commemorated the departed Primates, hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laypeople interred in the monastery cemetery. After the divine service, the hierarchs, clergy, and pilgrims continued their fellowship over a fraternal meal.
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