6. Report to the Council of Bishops in 1931.

 

At the Bishops’ Council held in Yugoslavia in 1931, Bishop Nicolas gave the following report.  One is struck by its positive tone, thanking God for what had been achieved, rather than dwelling on difficulties and hardships:

 

“Orthodox life in London is developing well.  It is centred on the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, which is situated in the building of the Anglican Church of St Philip’s.  In addition a church has been opened near London, in Prince Galitzine’s house.  On Palm Sunday [of 1931] the church in the Podvoria was consecrated. 

 

“As a bishop’s residence (podvoria) I have acquired a four-storey house, in which a splendid church has been established, in ancient Russian style. The work on the inside of the church has been done by our own young people, and we have ordered an iconostas from Paris.  At the Podvoria there are two priestmonks and one hierodeacon.  Church services are conducted daily according to the monastic rule (typicon), and the monks fulfill other obediences in the house.  The Podvoria church is attended zealously by the congregation, on whom the monastery services and the monastic order of life in the Podvoria are having a beneficent influence.

 

“At our parish church we have the sisterhood of St Xenia with the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna [sister of the holy Tsar-Martyr Nicolas II] as President;  Mrs V. N. Volkoff and Princess Meshchersky are active members.

 

“At the present time a brotherhood of young people is being organized.  One of its purposes is to give talks on religious and moral questions.  These talks will be given by me and by the young people themselves.  The most active members are Messrs Evgeny Moloff, Knupffer [George] and Vasilisin [Anatoly].

 

“The last parish meeting showed that our life had passed without a deficit in the material sense, and is in fact developing with great success.  Prince Galitzine was chosen as the new churchwarden, G. F. Val’neff was chosen as honourary trustee, General Gafter as Chairman of the Parish Council and V. P. Ampenoff as treasurer.

 

“As we were establishing our new Podvoria, church services books were sent to us from Mount Athos; vestments and other items were acquired through the generosity and efforts of parishioners, and from Metropolitan Dionysius in Warsaw we have received some very fine sacred vessels and four icons.

 

“Every Summer we gather together about 40 to 50 Russian children, rent a house for them somewhere outside the city, and there organize a school where we teach them subjects they do not learn in the English schools, such as religious instruction and the Russian language, so that the rising generation retains its links with Russia.

 

“Besides this, a Russian educational society is currently being organized under the presidency of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, which will have various divisions - lectures, artistic and so on.  This society will be dedicated to questions of the study of Russian life and its creative aspects.

 

“Generally speaking, our life is developing calmly and quietly, with a profound conviction that we are following the right path, and with faith in God’s help.”

 

Bishop Nicolas was a great friend of the Ampenoff family, and the following recollections, recounted by their daughter (Abbess Elisabeth) testify to his spiritual nature.

 

7. Bishop Nicolas - a Spiritual Portrait.

 

“In 1928 when Father Nicolas came he brought new life.  He had a very joyful, encouraging personality, with a keen sense of humour.  But he was very strict and uncompromising in Church matters.  At St Philip’s, the altar was blessed every time before the service, due to its being shared with the Evlogian group.  It was very soon after the schism.  He gave talks for the adults and, separately, for the young people.

 

“My friends & I sew the analoi covers & other items for the church.  The iconostas was painted in Paris by Princess Lvov (a relative of Bishop Nathaniel).  The Podvoria was always spotlessly clean.  The bishop and his two assistant priests, Father Kallistos and Father Zossima, cleaned whenever they noticed ‘more of that London dust.’  Incense from Mount Athos was used in the church, & as soon as you went into the house, it was not like being in London at all - people said it was like Mount Athos. [Footnote in the original: Perhaps the steep staircases & rooms perched on different levels over four storeys added to that impression.]

 

“He worked hard at learning English, but found it difficult.  Sometimes shopkeepers would not give him change, thinking he would not know the difference.  So he would muster his few words of English and say, ‘Yes, I Russian, but ... ha’penny, ha’penny!’

 

“Every Great Feast we felt it was different, he put so much into it.  He served with great concentration and intensity.  I remember one occasion when he was reading the Gospel, he suddenly went very pale and stopped reading, as if all the blood had drained from his face.  Then the colour returned & he continued reading.  God alone knows what he saw or understood in those moments.  Another thing that was quite remarkable about him was that he loved to serve the pannikhida (or memorial service).  He would pray reading the names as if they were his own mother, his father, or his sisters, with so much love & feeling.  So that when he was buried, Metropolitan Antony said that, as he loved so much to pray for the deceased, God had sent him such a death - quiet and peaceful.

 

“He had a great power of prayer.  Through his faith and prayers there were some wonderful healings.  I know of one healing which a young woman told me about.  She had a very bad inflammation of the middle ear.  The doctor said she must have an operation. She had a very high temperature and atrocious pain, so bad that she could not sleep.  The doctor gave her some drops.  Then Bishop Nicolas came and served a moleben.  He put his epitrachilion (stole) on her head.  While he was praying the pain went and she fell asleep.  After an hour her mother came up to see her.  The pain had gone and all the pus that was inside was coming out through her mouth and nose.  When the doctor came, he said he could not explain it.

 

“Another time, my father had an operation.  Nobody knew he had an ulcer - duodenal - and after the anaesthetic he started terrible internal bleeding.  The doctors decided that he was dying.  It was the first week of Lent, and that week I was in church.  Vladyka Nicolas was there.  And suddenly I felt worried about my father.  So Vladyka Nikolai agreed there and then to serve a moleben to St Panteleimon.  He had a great reverence for St Panteleimon.  The doctor couldn’t understand what happened.  My father was actually dying, he was bleeding to death.  Then it stopped.”