The Shepherd, October 2009
“However, while remaining a Christian and a Russian patriot you will, of course, be far from that sinful chauvinism which now afflicts all peoples calling themselves Christian, even, alas, Orthodox peoples.
“We can boldly assert that only the Russian people, in the person of its best representatives, is able to combine an œcumenical, universal love with patriotism, and regards these two exalted concepts not as mutually exclusive, imposing limits one on the other, but as interpenetrating and complementing each other.
“An example of this wonderful combination was shown by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who was Himself the Good Samaritan, Who, while He was the Saviour of all peoples, yet remained a Jewish patriot, Who lamented for Jerusalem and exclaimed, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not’ (Mt. 23:37).
“The Lord has sent you the destiny of beginning your archpastoral service in the land of a people which has many enlightened sons, with a heartfelt love for our people and our Faith. I have become convinced of this while spending a few days in the newly established Anglican monastery of Nashdom Abbey.
“There I was consoled to observe the profound and fervent piety of the young monks and was convinced that, for them, prayer is not just an accepted ceremonial, but a profound cry of the soul, fervently striving towards God and towards spiritual purification. We are further convinced of this by the very fact of the establishment of Anglican monasteries in recent years, at a time when, in other countries, even Orthodox countries, monasteries and monasticism are rapidly declining in numbers.
“So, show particular pastoral concern for those souls, mostly young, in the Anglican Church, who would wish to become acquainted more closely, and in a more heartfelt manner, with the Orthodox Faith and the Orthodox Church.
“Accommodate them in your pastoral heart and pray to God for the salvation both of your own Russian people and of those English people who are drawing near to the Orthodox Church - so that you also, in the measure of God’s gifts to you, may be able to say, ‘I have become all things to all men, that I might save some.’
“This, of course, should be the confession of every Orthodox bishop, and of you personally in particular, as one ordained for the sons of the Orthodox dispersion living in a country which is not Orthodox, but friendly towards Orthodoxy.
“May you be strengthened in this holy intention by the saints pleasing to God, who are glorified today throughout the whole world. May you be strengthened in particular by the Holy Hierarch John of Tobolsk, a saint whom you, as a true Russian and a sincerely Orthodox clergyman, honour with a special reverence, and at whose Glorification you were accounted worthy to participate. [St John of Tobolsk’s secular surname was Maximovitch, and he was of the same family as, and was the name saint of, St John of Shanghai the Wonderworker (+ 1966), who later served in London & founded the Convent of the Annunciation there - ed.] Run ceaselessly to him for the help of God’s Grace, while at the same time honouring all the saints of God, and may their prayers protect you from the temptations of life and from all troubles.”
4. Chessington.
The first problem facing the new bishop was that St Philip’s Church was only available on alternate Sundays, so half the time his congregation had no church at all. To alleviate the situation temporarily a chapel was set up in Prince Vladimir Galitzine’s house in Chessington, (about 20 miles south-west of London). This was a favorite gathering place for the Russian community during the 1920’s and 30’s. Mrs Sophie Goodman recalls as follows:
“In Chessington, in Surrey, was a house which my aunt - my mother’s sister - and her husband, Prince Vladimir Galitzine, rented, near where the zoo is now. She was a very pious person and knew everyone in the church, so in Summer the whole choir would come down after the service - it acted as a church hall and meeting place. Many people would go down by train to Chessington and sit around in the garden there. It was quite wild, not a proper garden. I remember sitting down at a table with about twenty people round it. There was an old colonel with one leg; he was supposed to give Russian lessons to my aunt’s three sons, but on the whole he just went around and fed the chickens - that sort of thing. There was always a mixture of people, because my aunt spoke four languages. She had a great variety of friends in London, so you’d have people from the Austrian Embassy mixed up with somebody from the Russian choir who was driving a taxi somewhere in London..... it was a real mixture, and they all got on very well. So the place had a tremendous spirit about it, and it was closely bound up with the Church and with the congregation.
“It was a very big, rambling, tumble-down farmhouse, so there was plenty of room, and people sometimes used to stay the night. I remember, as a little girl, waking up and checking who was in the house, because people would be sleeping on the carpet and on camp beds. The bishop was often there. Bishop Nicolas baptized me, but I was too young to remember his visits. There are photographs with him always in the middle, surrounded by the children. This whole period he certainly used it as a place where people could meet and he held services there until they bought the Podvoria [see below].
“Later my aunt and uncle moved from there; it became too much to keep up. They had a small antique gallery in a basement in Berkeley Square, which was supposed to provide funds for it, but the income was inadequate, so in the end they moved to Dulwich, and then the Chessington era came to an end.”
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