View source for Nicholas (Olhovsky) of Manhattan

[[Image:Olhovsky.jpg|right|thumb|Hieromonk Nicholas on the night of his tonsure into the Little Schema.|250px]]
Metropolitan '''Nicholas (Olhovsky)''' ({{lang-ru|Николай (Ольховский)}}) is the First Hierarch of the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia]] and Caretaker of the [[Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign]]<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2014/20140319_ensynodroc.html The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Confirms the Election of Priest Nicholas Olhovsky as Bishop of Manhattan by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad]</ref>.  He was nominated on [[December 9]], 2013 by the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR as a candidate for the vacant Manhattan cathedra of the [[Diocese of Eastern American and New York (ROCOR)|Diocese of Eastern American and New York]]<ref>[http://eadiocese.org/News/2014/march/bn.en.htm Moscow: Holy Synod of Russian Orthodox Church approves Election of New Bishop of Manhattan, Vicar of Eastern American Diocese]</ref>, and confirmed on [[March 19]], 2014 by the [[Holy Synod]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]<ref>[http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/3609112.html ЖУРНАЛЫ заседания Священного Синода от 19 марта 2014 года]</ref>.

Nicholas was elected First Hierarch by ROCOR's Council of Bishops on September 13, 2022, was formally [[enthronement|enthroned]] on [[September 18]], 2022.

==Life==
===Early Life===
Nicholas Alexandrovich Olhovsky ({{lang-ru|Николай Александрович Ольховский}}) was born on December 17, 1974 in Trenton, New Jersey to Soviet refugees Alexander Nikolaevich and Evdokia Grigorievna (née Rusinovich) Olhovsky fleeing the USSR during World War II. The Olhovsky family were parishioners of the Church of the Holy Dormition. He graduated from the St. Alexander Nevsky Parochial School in Howell, NJ, in 1991; and from Hamilton West High School in 1993. Nicholas received a [[:w:Bachelor of Theology|Bachelor of Theology]] degree from [[Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary]] in Jordanville, New York, in 1998, during which time he executed obediences in book-binding, iconography, and typography until 2002. In 1994, Nicholas was tonsured a [[reader]] by Bishop [[Hilarion (Kapral) of Manhattan]] on the feast of the [[Dormition of the Theotokos]] in Trenton. He received a Bachelors in Communication & Information Design from the State University of New York Institute of Technology in 2000.

=== Cell-Attendant ===
Reader Nicholas served as the cell-attendant for Archbishop [[Laurus (Škurla) of New York|Laurus (Škurla)]] of Syracuse from March 1999 to March 2008. He accompanied him in May 2004 on the first official visit of ROCOR to Russia, after which he married the granddaughter of [[Mitrophan (Znosko-Borovsky) of Boston]]<ref>[http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2010/9enreposeelizavetaolhovskaya.html Elizabeth Olhovsky Passes Away]</ref>, Elizabeth Panteleymonovna Shohov, on November 14. Metropolitan Laurus ordained him to a [[subdeacon]] on January 8, 2005<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/01newstucture/pagesen/news05/nativity.html His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus Officiates at Nativity Services at Holy Trinity Monastery and the Synodal Cathedral]</ref>. In May, they visited Metropolitan Laurus's homeland of Carpathian Russia in Slovakia<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/01newstucture/pagesen/news05/carpathi.html His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus Visits His Homeland]</ref>. In May 2006, Subdeacon Nicholas served as a delegate to the IV All-Diasporan Church Council and on [[Pentecost]] of that year, June 11, was ordained to the [[diaconate]]<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2006/6enjvtroitsa.html His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus Officiates at the Solemn Pentecostal Services at Holy Trinity Monastery]</ref> and assigned to [[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Monastery]] in Jordanvile, NY. Fr. Nicholas participated in the celebrations of the Act of Canonical Union with the [[Moscow Patriarchate]] in Moscow, Russia, and accompanied Metropolitan Laurus on a pilgrimage to the Diocese of Kursk and [[Church of Ukraine]]. He was awarded the double [[orarion]] on June 16, 2006.

===Kursk-Root Icon===
From July 9-11, 2008 he accompanied the reliquary of the hand of Sts. [[Elizabeth the New Martyr]] in the capacity of its caretaker to the [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Diocese of Australia and New Zealand]]<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2008/7enprausrelics2.html The Hand of St Elizabeth Continues Its Travels Throughout the Parishes of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand]</ref>. In September 2008, Fr. Nicholas was assigned to the staff of the Synod of Bishops in Manhattan, New York.

Fr. Nicholas was appointed in May 2009 to the organizing committee for the first return visit of the Kursk-Root Icon to Russia since the Revolution, and formed part of the official delegation with the icon in September. He again accompanied the icon in 2010, visiting Keiv and Sumy in Ukraine, and finally Kursk, Russia. On September 8, Matushka Elizabeth unexpectedly reposed in the Lord<ref>[http://eadiocese.org/News/2010/09/eolvsky.en.htm Matushka Elisabeth Olhovsky reposed in the Lord]</ref>, and a memorial fund was set up in her name to assist the frescoing of her home parish of St. [[Seraphim of Sarov]] in Sea Cliff, NY<ref>[http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2010/9enelizavetaolhovskayafuneralsched.html Schedule of Services For the Late Elizabeth Olhovsky]</ref><ref>[http://www.eadiocese.org/News/2012/sept/seacliff.en.htm Sea Cliff, NY: Work Continues on Iconography in the Memorial Church to the Re-Establishment of Unity in the Russian Church]</ref>.

In December 2010, Fr. Nicholas was appointed Caretaker of the Kursk-Root icon<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/engdocuments/enart_priestnicholasolhovskyinterviewkurskicon.html "Faith Lives in the People, Therefor the Nation Lives"]</ref>, and in January 2011, appointed a clerlic of the Synodal Cathedral of the Mother of God of the Sign in Manhattan and granted residence in the Synod building. He again accompanied the icon to the Diocese of Kursk and also the [[Metropolia of Kazakhstan]] in September 2011, traveling in November again to Australia, and on December 11 was elevated to [[protodeacon]]. Within a year on August 1, 2012, Fr. Nicholas was ordained to the [[priesthood]] by Metropolitan Hilarion at the dedication of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov as a Memorial Church to the Re-Establishment of Unity in the Russian Church<ref>[http://eadiocese.org/News/2012/aug/seacliff.en.htm Sea Cliff, NY: Metropolitan Hilarion led the Patronal Feast of St. Seraphim Memorial Church to the Re-Establishment of Unity in the Russian Church]</ref> and was awarded the [[nabedrennik]].

The Kursk-Root icon traveled a third time to Ukraine and Russia in September 2012 with Fr. Nicholas, visiting with Archbishop [[Mark (Arndt) of Berlin]] the Dioceses of Samara<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2012/20120917_print_enkurskiconsmara.html Samarans Venerate the Main Holy Icon of the Russian Church Abroad]</ref>, Kursk and Perm<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2012/20121001_print_enkurskiconperm.html The Kursk-Root Icon Will Visit the Perm Diocese]</ref>; and in December to Seattle and Hawaii of the [[Diocese of San Francisco and Western America (ROCOR)|Diocese of San Francisco and Western America]]. He was awarded the [[kamilavka]] and gold [[pectoral cross]] on January 6, 2013, by the Synod of Bishops, and a few months later accompanied the Kursk-Root Icon to the Montreal and Canadian Diocese. In November 2013, was a delegate accompanying the Icon to Japan and to the Primorsk Metropoliate of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2013, he accompanied Archbishop [[Kyrill (Dmitrieff) of San Francisco]] and the Kursk Root Icon to the Diocese of Montreal and Canada, the [[Church of Japan]], and the Metropolia of Primorye<ref>[http://www.vladivostok.eparhia.ru/society/publikazii/?ID=12409 "Люди открыли свои души..."]</ref><ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2013/20131120_endelegationuchilische.html A ROCOR Delegation Meets With Students of Vladivostok Theological School and Local Society]</ref>.

===Episcopacy===
After the retirement of Bishop [[Jerome (Shaw) of Manhattan|Jerome (Shaw)]] from the See of Manhattan on July 10, 2013, the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR deliberated during a meeting that December and on the eve of the feast of the Kursk-Root icon, decided upon the candidacy of Fr. Nicholas Olhovsky to become the next [[vicar bishop]] of Manhattan. On March 19, 2014, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church confirmed this election in Journal No. 10:
:''“HEARD: “The report of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, President of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, interceding for the confirmation of the election of Priest Nicholas Olhovsky, a clergyman of the Eastern American Diocese, to the cathedra of Bishop of Manhattan, Vicar of the Eastern America Diocese.

:''“DECREED: To confirm the election of Priest Nicholas Olhovsky, clergyman of the clergyman of the Eastern American Diocese, to the cathedra of Bishop of Manhattan, Vicar of the Eastern America Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.”

:''As it is known, on July 10, 2013, the cathedra of the Manhattan Vicariate of the Eastern American Diocese was vacated. On Monday, December 9, 2013, the eve of the feast day of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God "of the Sign," the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia made a decision on the successor to this cathedra. The Synod of Bishops decided that Priest Nicholas Olhovsky is a suitable candidate. As a result, the Synod of Bishops decreed: “To seek the response of the Eminent Members of the Council of Bishops with regard to the possibility of consecration, upon tonsure to monasticism, of Priest Nicholas Olhovsky as Bishop of Manhattan, Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese.”

:''The Synod of Bishops, having deliberated upon the results of the questionnaire sent to the Eminent Members of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia during its meeting on February 19, 2014, decided:

::''1) To deem Priest Nicholas Olhovsky unanimously elected by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia as Bishop of Manhattan.

::''2) In accordance with the Act of Canonical Communion, to send an appeal addressed to His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to confirm this election.

::''3) In case of a positive resolution by His Holiness and the Holy Synod, to consecrate, after the tonsure into monasticism and elevation to the rank of archimandrite, Priest Nicholas Olhovsky to the episcopacy in the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in San Francisco on Sunday, June 29, and on the eve, to perform the rite of nomination in the same cathedral.”''

On April 4, 2014, after co-serving an [[akathist]] before the icon of the [[Protection of the Mother of God]] containing a [[relic]] of the [[Theotokos]]'s belt, Fr. Nicholas was tonsured into the [[Monastic Ranks|Little Schema]] at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. He was given the name 'Nicholas' in honor of St. [[Nicholas of Japan]].<ref>[http://eadiocese.org/News/2014/apr/tonsure.en.htm Jordanville, NY: Priest Nicholas Olhovsky, elected Bishop of Manhattan, Tonsured a Monk in Holy Trinity Monastery]</ref>

The consecration took place during a meeting of the Synod in San Francisco celebrating the 20th anniversary of the [[glorification]] St. [[John (Maximovitch) the Wonderworker]].

==References==
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[[Category:Priests]]
[[Category:Monastics]]