The 10th Anniversary of the Episcopal Consecration of Metropolitan Tikhon

SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – 16/2/14

It is with deep love and respect and heartfelt thanksgiving that we mark the Anniversary of the Episcopal Consecration of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, who was consecrated at Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk Monastery Church, South Canaan, PA ten years ago today—on February 14, 2004.

He was elected to the episcopacy by members of the Holy Synod of Bishops at their October 2003 session.

Metropolitan Tikhon was born in Boston, MA on July 15, 1966, the son of Francois and Elizabeth Mollard. After brief periods living in Connecticut, France, and Missouri, he and his family settled in Reading, PA, where he graduated from Wyomissing High School in 1984. In 1988, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, after which he moved to Chicago.

In 1989, he was received into the Orthodox Church from the Episcopalian tradition and, in the fall of the same year, he began studies at Saint Tikhon Seminary. The following year he entered the monastic community at Saint Tikhon Monastery as a novice.

After receiving his Master of Divinity degree from Saint Tikhon Seminary in 1993, he was appointed instructor in Old Testament at the school. He subsequently served as Senior Lecturer in Old Testament and taught Master level courses in the Prophets and the Psalms and Wisdom Literature. He also served as an instructor in the seminary’s Extension Studies program, offering courses in the lives of the Old Testament saints, the liturgical use of the Old Testament, and the Old Testament in patristic literature.  He collaborated with then-Igumen Alexander (Golitzin) in the publication of The Living Witness of the Holy Mountain, published by Saint Tikhon Seminary Press.

In 1995 he was tonsured to the Lesser Schema and given the name Tikhon, in honor of Saint Tikhon, Enlightener of North America and Patriarch of Moscow. Later that year, he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate and Holy Priesthood at Saint Tikhon Monastery. In 1998, he was elevated to the rank of Igumen, and in 2000 to the rank of Archimandrite. In December 2002, he was appointed Deputy Abbot of Saint Tikhon Monastery.

After his consecration to the episcopacy, he served as Auxiliary to the Metropolitan.  He was nominated to fill the vacant See of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania at a special diocesan assembly on May 25, 2005.  Two days later, he was elected to that ministry by the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops. He was installed as ruling hierarch of the Diocese at Saint Stephen Cathedral on October 29, 2005.  He served as Bishop and later Archbishop of the Diocese until his election as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America at the 17th All-American Council, held in Parma, OH on November 13, 2012.

We pray that our Lord, Jesus Christ, will continue to bless, guide and strengthen His Beatitude in his ongoing ministry “in behalf of all and for all” now and for many years to come!

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