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The His Grace, the Right Reverend '''Constantine (Essensky)of Richmond''' was the Bishop of Richmond a [[bishop]] in the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia]]. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Bishop of Brisbane within ROCOR's [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Diocese of Australia and New Zealand]] between 1967 and 1976.

{{stub}}==Life==Bishop Constantine was born Emmanuel Essensky in 1907 in St. Petersburg, Russia. His family moved to Riga, Latvia during the first year of the Bolshevik revolution. His father, who had worked in the Imperial Chancery, was arrested by the Bolsheviks and executed. His mother died of grief following her husband's death, leaving their son, Emmanuel, an orphan. Emmanuel finished school while also studying [[iconography]] under the Old Rite iconographer Pimen Sofronov.  In 1928, Emmanuel entered the [[seminary]] in Riga with the blessing of [[Archbishop]] John of Riga. After graduating in 1930, Emmanuel moved to Paris, France where he continued his theological education as [[St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (Paris, France)|St Sergius Theological Institute, graduating with a doctorate degree. Entering the [[Holy Orders]], Emmanuel was [[ordination|ordained]] to the [[priest]]hood by [[Metropolitan]] [[Eulogius (Georgievsky) of Paris|Eulogius of Paris]] and was assigned to the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in Berlin, Germany. After serving for two years as the second priest, Fr. Emmanuel was assigned as [[rector]] of the Church of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow Church in Leipzig, Germany, serving also at [[parish]]es in Kassel, Dresden, and Einbeck. In 1938, Fr. Emmanuel moved to the [[jurisdiction]] of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. During World War II, he studied medicine at Berlin University, finishing four semesters, before moving in 1945 to Bad-Hartzburg, in the American Sector, due to ill health. In 1949, Fr. Emmanuel moved to the United States, where after temporary assignments in Washington, D. C. and Trenton, New Jersey, he was assigned as rector of the Church of the Ascension in Glen Cove, New York, which he transformed with his talent for iconography.  In October 1967, Fr. Emmanuel was [[tonsure]]d a [[monk]] with the name Constantine by Abp. Averky at [[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Monastery]] in Jordanville, New York. Two month later Hiermonk Constantine was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] bishop and assigned as [[vicar]] Bishop of Brisbane within ROCOR's [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Diocese of Australia and New Zealand]] where he served from 1967 to 1976. Between 1976 and 1978, Bp. Constantine was in retirement. He returned to the United States in 1978 where he served as vicar Bishop of Boston and Eastern America and New York from 1978 to 1981. He was then assigned as Bishop of Richmond and Great Britain from 1981 until his retirement due to poor health in 1985. In 1991, Bp. Constantine moved to the Christ of the Hills Monastery in Blanco, Texas, a place that proved a better climatic for his health. Bp. Constantine reposed on [[May 31]], 1996 after a brief struggle with pneumonia and was buried at Christ of the Hills Monastery. ==Sources==*[http://www.roca.org/OA/141/141f.htm Grant Rest, O Lord, Unto Thy Servants, obituary in Orthodox America].*[http://gnisios.narod.ru/bisrocor.html Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]