With the arrival of the world-renowned Sretensky Monastery Men’s Choir to Washington, DC, on Thursday, October 4, 2012, a four-day spiritual celebration by Orthodox Christians of the nation’s capital began.
On Friday, October 5, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) presented an English translation of his book, Everyday Saints, at the Library of Congress. The book has become a best-seller in Russia (1.1 million copies sold so far).
Fr Tikhon noted that all proceeds from the sale of his book will go towards the construction of a church on Bolshaya Lyubanka dedicated to the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
“We want to build a beautiful, bright church, marking the victory of good over evil and brutality,” said Fr Tikhon. “We want to complete this church by February 2017, the centennial of the beginning of those fateful days. Today there are many memorials devoted to the period, but many of them are gloomy, dark, depressing. This is not the way to view its history.”
On Saturday, October 6, Sretensky Choir sang Divine Liturgy at St Nicholas Cathedral of the Orthodox Church in America. Officiating were His Eminence Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, and His Grace Bishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania of the Orthodox Church in America, along with representatives of many other Local Churches.
At the end of the service, St John the Baptist Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was given a gift of a portion of the relics of St Herman of Alaska from the OCA. The relic was thankfully received by the Cathedral’s rector, Protopriest Victor Potapov.
That evening, James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, hosted a reception in honor of Fr Tikhon, the Prior of Sretensky Monastery in Moscow. Among the guests was Fr Victor. After dinner, Sretensky Choir performed their first concert of liturgical music on the present tour in an overfilled auditorium of the Library of Congress. The audience was moved to tears by their performance.