Bishop Peter of Cleveland (Loukianoff)
"Such are our First Hierarchs, Such is our Russian Orthodox Church Abroad."

From the Editors: On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the passing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Anastassy, we present to our readers a word spoken by then-Archimandrite Peter (Loukianoff) in the cathedral of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville on the 30th anniversary of his repose on May 9/22, 1995, during his time as Inspector of the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary.

Christ is Risen!

In the history of the Church, there are phenomena that do not lose their significance, even when these phenomena pass. Such phenomena can be attributed, for example, to Byzantium, with its glorious world capital - Constantinople, which the Slavic peoples justly called Tsargrad [“City of the Emperor”—Ed.]. Byzantium has long ceased to exist, and the regal city of great Constantine has been under the yoke of the Turks for over 500 years now. But despite this, how much the names alone - Byzantium, Constantinople - speak to the Orthodox and, in particular, to the Russian heart; Byzantium hosted the Ecumenical Councils with their champions of holy Orthodoxy, the memory of one of whom - St Nicholas - we celebrate today; Constantinople is the Church of Hagia Sophia, the Wisdom of God. How much the names alone convey: Constantine the Great, Empress Helen, St John Chrysostom, Patriarch Photius, and others; how much it means for us Russians that the wisest of our women - Princess Olga - was baptized in Constantinople.

All this is because Byzantium was not just a state, and Constantinople was not just a city. Both Byzantium and Constantinople represented and continue to represent an idea; they were, and continue to be, symbols of the flourishing and greatness of Christianity.

Recently, we have been hearing more and more criticism and complaints about our Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, but we are not troubled by this. We are not troubled because the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is not just some grouping of Russian emigrants. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is, first of all, a Church; the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is a certain ideology; the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is a symbol. And this idea, this symbol, has already entered the history of the Church.

But just as the glorious names of Constantine the Great, St John Chrysostom, and many others are inseparable from Byzantium, so the names of its glorious founders and first hierarchs: the Most Blessed Metropolitans Anthony and Anastassy are inseparable from the Russian Abroad Church.

Today marks thirty years since the death of Metropolitan Anastassy. Apostle Paul writes: remember your guides. Following the call of the great Apostle, we too today prayerfully and with gratitude to God remember the departed saint.

Alexander Gribanovsky, future Metropolitan Anastassy, was born in 1873 on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the Tambov Province, in the family of a humble rural priest, Father Alexei, and Matushka Anna. The future hierarch, Anastassy, remained humble throughout his life. He is, we might say, our contemporary, but we know little about his childhood. We know that he studied in the Tambov spiritual schools and graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, where he was a pupil of Metropolitan Anthony.

In 1898, Archbishop Alexander of Tambov tonsured Alexander Gribanovsky into monasticism with the name Anastassy, in honor of St Anastassy the Sinaite, and three days later, on the feast day of St George the Great Martyr, he was ordained as hierodeacon. From that day on begins the ministry of the hierarch Anastassy, which lasted a whole 67 years, 59 of which were spent in the episcopal rank.

The archiepiscopal consecration of Vladyka took place in 1906, on the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow (I remember how during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the archiepiscopal ministry of Metropolitan Anastassy, while he was in California, he recounted the story of his consecration during a meal. He remembered Moscow, he recalled how a special place was designated in the Assumption Cathedral for his mother). As a vicar bishop under the newly canonized martyr Metropolitan Vladimir, Vladyka Anastassy was already gaining fame as an eloquent preacher. At the celebrations honoring the canonization of the Holy Martyr Ermogen, Patriarch of Moscow, he, being a relatively young bishop at that time, was entrusted with delivering a speech.

In Moscow, the acquaintance and rapprochement of Bishop Anastassy with the new martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna took place. The bishop later honored her memory in a sermon. The Russian second Time of Troubles found Archbishop Anastassy in Bessarabia, where, despite pressure from the revolting separatists, he remained loyal to the Russian Church, for which he is forced to leave Kishinev and move to Constantinople. This was followed by a 10-year stay in Jerusalem, and after that - Belgrade, where, after the death of Metropolitan Anthony in 1936, he became his successor (today, Archimandrite Mefodii from the Holy Land is with us; he was ordained a hierodeacon by Bishop Anastassy at the Life-Giving Tomb of the Lord).

For 29 years, Metropolitan Anastassy wisely steered the ship of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia through the terrible storms of war and resettlement. We consider it a great honor that the bishop chose our monastery as the place of his eternal repose during his lifetime and instructed that he be buried next to his beloved Archbishop Tikhon of Western America and San Francisco, who passed away in 1963. We believe that our deceased hierarch, standing before the Throne of God, prays for us, his overseas flock.

Such are our first hierarchs, such is our Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

Amen.

Orthodox Russia, 1995.