Weeping Iveron Icon from Hawaii due at 108th Pilgrimage to St. Tikhon’s Monastery

23/5/2012

The Weeping Iveron Icon from Hawaii will arrive at St. Tikhon’s Monastery for Memorial Day weekend for the 108th annual pilgrimage to St. Tikhon of Zadonsk Orthodox Monastery in South Canaan.

This year the Sunday, May 27, pilgrimage route will follow the one used more than 100 years ago, according to organizer Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak.

The myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon the Theotokos will be greeted by Igumen Sergius, abbot of St. Tikhon’s, the monastic seminary community, at the monastery archway Friday after the 3:30 p.m. official opening of the pilgrimage, according to spokesman the Very Rev. John Kowalczyk. The icon, to which many healings from cancer, blindness, and other ailments have been attributed, will be available for veneration throughout the Memorial Day weekend in the Monastery Church, Father John said.

Vespers and matins will be held at 4 p.m. Friday in the Monastery Church. Dinner for all pilgrims will follow in the monastery dining hall.

A Hierarchical Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in honor of the conclusion of the academic year at St. Tikhon’s Seminary on Saturday, at 9 a.m. Metropolitan Jonah, archbishop of Washington, D.C., and primate of the Orthodox Church in America, will preside with Archbishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania and rector of St. Tikhon’s Seminary and the Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Atty, dean of the seminary, other visiting Hierarchs and local clergy. The seminary commencement exercises, featuring Bishop John of Worcester and New England, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, are scheduled at 1 p.m., with a luncheon honoring the graduates following at St. Michael’s Center in Jermyn.

On Sunday, May 27, a 9 a.m. Hierarchical Divine Liturgy will be celebrated followed by a meal for all pilgrims at the monastery dining hall. A 9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Mayfield, followed by a luncheon hosted by Archpriest John Sorochka and the parish faithful, also is scheduled Sunday. The faithful will then set out for the 3½-hour procession to the monastery following a service of prayer following the 1905 procession route for the formal opening of St. Tikhon’s Monastery. Vespers and Matins will be conducted at 4 p.m.

Divine Liturgy is 7:30 a.m. on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28 at the Monastery Church. A 10 a.m. Hierarchical Divine Liturgy is scheduled at the open pavilion church. Hierarchs planning to serve include Metropolitan Jonah of Washington, D.C.; Archbishop Tikhon of Philadelphia, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey, Bishop Mathias of Chicago and Igumen Sergius. More than 26 archpriests and priests are expected to serve and participate. The combined Choir of St. Tikhon’s Seminary and Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordinville, N.Y., will sing the responses. Also on Memorial Day, a 1:30 p.m. Akathist to St. Alexis will be sung at the church and at 2 p.m. service of Thanksgiving to the Most Holy Theotokos and anointing of the sick, infirm and of all pilgrims is planned at the Monastery bell tower. A 4 p.m. vespers will conclude the pilgrimage.

Tickets for Saturday’s seminarian commencement luncheon at $25/adults, free/children under 12 are available by contacting the seminary office at 561-1818, ext. 101, or olga.atty@stots.edu. For details, contact Father John at 561-8696 or 876-1241.

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