[VYholden]

The head of St. John Chrysostom is being sent to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, in New York City, from the Church of Christ the Saviour, in Moscow, for a week, early in February. This Cathedral is located at 75 East 93rd Street in Manhattan, in the Headquarters of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and is often referred to by the faithful as "Synod."

Apparently, the Head of St John Chrysostom has not left Russia since it arrived there during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, in the early 1600s. This happy event is a gesture of gratitude on the part of the Church of Russia toward the Russian Church Abroad for our sending the holy relics of the New-Venerable Martyrs Elizabeth the Grand Duchess and the Nun Barbara to tour Russia a couple years ago.

The sacred head will not be touring America, but will remain at Synod until the final day of its stay, when it will be taken to St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Russian Patriarchal Cathedral a few blocks away.

When services are not being celebrated, the head will be available for the faithful to venerate. Priests and choirs may schedule time to sing services of supplication (molebens) before the relics.

Details may be accessed at the following link:

Official Website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia


NEW YORK: January 26, 2010
The Schedule of the visit to New York of the Honorable Head of St John Chrysostom

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, on February 6, 2010, the honorable head of the great teacher and hierarch St John Chrysostom, which is kept at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, will be brought to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign in New York. Here the holy relic will be displayed for veneration by the faithful until February 11, when it will be taken to St Nicholas Cathedral in New York. The delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate accompanying the relic will depart for Moscow on February 12.

Saturday, February 6
All-night vigil at 6 pm.
During “Praise the Name of the Lord,” the reliquary will be brought into the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign.
From this time on, it will be available for veneration by the faithful.

Sunday, February 7
Divine Liturgy will be performed in the hierarchal rite at 9:30 am.

Monday, February 8
All-night vigil at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign at 6:30 pm.

Tuesday, February 9, the feast day of St John Chrysostom.
Hierarchal Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign will begin at 8:30 am.

Wednesday, February 10
All-night vigil at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign at 6:30 pm.

Thursday, February 11
Divine Liturgy will begin at 8:30 am, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, along with the members of the Synod of Bishops. At the end of the service, the relic will be taken to St Nicholas Patriarchal Church, where it will remain until the departure of the Moscow delegation on Friday, February 12.

Clergymen of the Russian Orthodox and other Local Orthodox Churches who wish to perform a prayer service before the head of St John Chrysostom should contact the Senior Priest of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, Protopriest Andrei Sommer, at: rev.a.sommer@synod.com or by telephone at: (646) 320-7382.