Changes

Jump to: navigation, search

Holy Dormition Convent (Nanuet, New York)

396 bytes added, 12:13, June 24, 2013
Tried to improve expression.
The concept of a Russian [[convent]] in America was formulated in 1946 by the newly-arrived Bishops [[Nikon (Rklitski) of Florida|Nikon (Rklitzky) of Florida]] and [[Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago|Seraphim (Ivanov)]] of [[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity]] as a home for displaced female monastics in the Russian Diaspora. The [[Diocese of Eastern American and New York (ROCOR)|Diocese of North America and Canada]] prepared measures for its implementation, but nothing concrete occurred until the arrival of a group of Russian and Ukrainian refugees led by [[Archpriest]] [[Andrei (Rymarenko) of Rockland|Adrian Rymarenko]] on August 31, 1949 in Rockland County, New York via the [[Tolstoy Foundation]]. The flock included such notable figures as Prince Dmitry Vladimirovich Myshetsky, Dr. A.P. Timofievich, choir director P.P. Didenko, and [[Subdeacon]] [[Nektary (Kontzevitch) of Seattle|Oleg Mikhailovich Kontzevitch]]. Before the Revolution, Fr. Adrian had studied at the St. Petersburg Polytechnical Institute in Russia, and was the son of an industrialist. [[Archbishop]] [[Vitaly (Maximenko) of Jersey City|Vitaly (Maximenko) of Detroit]] blessed him to work under the supervision of Bishop Nikon to create the new spiritual center and to serve as its spiritual father. Bishop Seraphim styled it Novo-Diveevo (New Diveevo).
Upper Nyack resident and renowned yogi Dr. Pierre Arnold Bernard (better known as The Omnipotent Oom or Theos Bernard) took pity on the refugee's plight, and offered his empty elephant stable , known as the Elephant House at the Clarkstown Country Club for their uses, known as the Elephant Houseuse. The expansive structure allowed for Fr. Adrian set up a temporary church and construct [[cell|monastic cells]]. The [[iconostasis]] was built out of cardboard and the only [[icon]] hanging on the wall was an original portrait of St. Seraphim of Sarov that Fr. Adrian had recovered and taken with him into exile from Kiev. The first service held was the [[Divine Liturgy]] on the [[Feast]] of the [[Protection of the Mother of God]].
The parish savings added up to 50 cents, but as word spread of a new spiritual center being built north of New York City, volunteers began arriving on a regular basis to help in any way possible. The arrival from Germany of [[Abbess]] Emilia with a group of elderly nuns and her novices the Countess Golovina and Yulia Popova began signaled the beginning of monastic life in the convent. Soon , Russian émigrés began settling Nyack and bolstered the number of volunteers. One of the first secular residents was established immigrant K.N. Maleev, who donated his entire $5,000 retirement fund to the convent's cause. Fr. Adrian moved the community into a large house on Midland Avenue, paying $200 a month in rent. This property still did not meet the needs of the convent, so a daily [[akathist]] and other prayers were said before St. [[Ambrose of Optina]]'s copy of the [http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/7424.htm Vladimir icon of the Mother of God], which had been rescued from destruction by Fr. Adrian.
===Establishment===
===Expansion and Influence===
Through the generous donations of the churchwarden Prince Sergei Sergeievich and Princess Florence Beloselsky-Belozersky, A.A. Pashkov, and others, Fr. Adrian was able to build a cemetery for the Russian Diaspora, divided into five tracts and able to fit approximately 5,000 graves. On August 24, 1952, Metropolitan Anastasy led the blessing of the cemetery before the [[Kursk Root icon]] of the [[Mother of God]], co-served by Archbishop [[James (Toombs) of Manhattan]], Bishop Seraphim of Holy Trinity, Bishop Nikon of Florida, Archimandrite [[Averky (Taushev) of Syracuse|Averky (Taushev)]], Fr. Adrian, and Priest [[Serafim Slobodskoy|Seraphim Slobodskoy]], among others. An [[antiphonal]] liturgy was served, with the monastic choir under the direction of P.P. Didenko and neighboring Nyack choir under M.M. Rodzianko. Approximately 500 faithful attended the services, travelling anywhere from as far away as Washington DC to and Seattle. The rite was researched by Abp. Vitaly through Serbian sources.
After the festal celebrations, Fr. Adrian saw a need to build a larger, freestanding church dedicated to St. Seraphim of Sarov. He enlisted [[Protodeacon]] Cornelius Chigrinov as head architect, whose occupation was house painting, as head architect. The impoverished émigré artist Nicholas Alexandrovich Popkov painted the frescoes and designed the iconostasis and chandelier, asking only for a roof over his head and a bowl of soup in return. After the completion of St. Seraphim Church, Popkov became a well-respected [[iconographer]] and was invited to fresco many more ROCOR churches.
On October 3, 1963, [[Protopresbyter]] Adrian Rymarenko's wife Matushka Eugenia Grigorievna fell asleep in the Lord, and was buried in the Novo-Diveevo Cemetery. On October 14, he was tonsured a monk with the name Andrew and elevated to later consecrated and appointed Bishop of Rockland in 1968, all the while continuing to reside in the convent next to the new church. That same year, the New York Transit Authority had publicized their intent to transform Ramapo Valley Airport, a neighboring flight school and small airport, into a hub for jet planes and other large air taxi services. The Transit Authority's plan included the requisition of a sizable chunk of monastery property, which would have made it near impossible to live in a monastic fashion. The invested financiers had made it very clear that the convent grounds could not be extricated.
A court battle between the NY Transport Authority and Novo-Diveevo Convent ensued. Bishop Andrew rallied Rockland County locals, and both church ecclesiastical and secular circles of Russian society, through which eventually came . Eventually support from from within these circles, including influential figures in New York City, providing provided the convent with the ability to hire expert lawyers. Under their experienced advocacy, the New York State Assembly unanimously agreed to kill the project in 1970. The influence and prestige of Novo-Diveevo and Bishop Andrew had grown from this event to such a degree that a stream of letters and congratulations came to them from New York State assemblymen, Rockland County locals and officials, and as did celebratory and interest interesting articles written in local newspapers. The amount number of nuns grew to 40, and as many as 50,000 Orthodox made the pilgrimage to Novo-Diveevo a every year. During this time, Mother Mikhaila reposed in the Lord in 1969 and her assistant , Mother Christina was appointed superior and elevated to the rank of abbess.
By this time, Russian Émigré society experienced a growing population of elderly people left without family. In 1972, Bp. Andrew took to erecting a main building for Novo-Diveevo, with an attached old peoples ' home. The structure of the complex would allow for the nuns to live on one side, and the elderly on the other. The cost of the center would cost $600,000 dollars, most of which was borrowed from local banks, though much was accumulated by the deaness. The convent fell short of the price, but the contractor agreed to complete construction on credit. For his accomplishments, Bp. Andrew was raised to the rank of Archbishop of Rockland, and was congratulated by President Richard M. Nixon and Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, who remembered his accomplishments in preserving Novo-Diveevo. In 1973, P.P. Didenko succumbed to illness and Boris I. Mitrohin was appointed to temporarily fill the position of choir conductor, which he did until his death in 2012.
In 1975, Novo-Diveevo was visited by the exiled Soviet activist [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]. Archbishop Andrew of Rockland fell asleep in the Lord on [[July 12]], 1978. A second wing of the old peoples ' home was constructed in May of 1982 under the supervision of Fr. Alexander Fedorowski. Plans for the addition had been drawn up but never realized in Abp. Andrew's time. The current superior, Abbess Irene (Alexeeva) was appointed in 1992.
===Today===
Novo-Diveevo was selected as one of three hosts for the first Joint Pastoral Conference of the Eastern American Diocese (ROCOR) and [[Russian Orthodox Church in the USA]] in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia#Rapprochement with Moscow|Reunification of the Russian Church]] and appearance of the [[Myrrh-streaming]] [[Orthodoxy in Hawaii#A Miracle in the Islands|Hawaiian-Iveron icon of the Mother of God]] from October 11-13, 2012. Participants in the conference celebrated the All-Night Vigil before the Hawaiian icon at Novo-Diveevo on the evening of [[October 12]]. The service was led by Metropolitan [[Hilarion (Kapral) of New York]], who was co-served by Archbishop [[Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Naro-Fominsk]], Bishops [[George (Schaefer) of Mayfield]] and [[Jerome (Shaw) of Manhattan]]. Metropolitan [[Pavel Paul (Ponomarev) of Ryazan]] was also in attendance as a representative of His Holiness, [[Patriarch]] [[Kyrill (Gundyayev) of Moscow]]. The service was sung by a combined choir from [[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary]], [[Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary]], and the Eastern American Diocesan Youth Choir.
==Relics==
*[http://www.eadiocese.org/News/2012/oct/confschedule.en.htm Program of the Joint Pastoral Conference of the Eastern American Diocese & the Moscow Patriarchate (October 11-13, 2012)]
*[http://www.eadiocese.org/News/2012/sept/hawicon.en.htm Visitation Schedule of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God within the Eastern American Diocese] ''Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese'', September 28, 2012.
*[http://www.russian-inok.org/page.php?page=monastery1&dir=monastery&month=0903 УДEЛ ПРEПOДOБНAГO СEРAФИМA СAРOВСКAГO В СEВEРНOЙ AМEРИКE] Инок Всеволод (Филипьев). ''Монастырская Хроника'', №13 (176). Сентябрь, 2003.
==Further Reading==
599
edits

Navigation menu