Representation of the Orthodox Church in America
to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate

News | 06-10-04 His Eminence, Metropolitan Corneily of Tallinn and All Estonia visits St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church

On Wednesday evening, October 6, following the singing of the Akathist hymn to St. Catherine the Great Martyr, the clergy and faithful of the parish were able to welcome His Eminence, Metropolitan Corneily of Tallinn and All Estonia to the church.

Following the brief visit to the church, where His Eminence was able to venerate numerous relics of saints and pray before the icons in the temple, Archimandrite Zacchaeus was able to share information about the parish and the Representation of the Orthodox Church in America to the Moscow Patriarchate. One of the most pleasant things to share with the Metropolitan was the fact that the parish recently received the "trapeznaya" portion of the temple back from the Grabar Art Restoration Institute for liturgical use. His Eminence was able to see the new area which is currently undergoing major renovations.

A dinner was hosted in honor of His Eminence's visit in the parish house. During the dinner, the Metropolitan spoke at length about the situation of Orthodox Church life in Estonia, its clergy and especially its well known "Pukhtitsky" women's monastery.

In prayerful memory of this visit, His Eminence was offered several books about Orthodoxy in North America, Sermons by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, and an icon of the Holy Hieromartyr John (Kochurov) - a saint who served both in North America and Estonia, and who eventually returned to his homeland of Russia where he was called by God to be the first priest martyr who died at the hands of the godless Bolsheviks following the 1917 revolution.