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Instructions and Teachings
St Tikhon of Moscow, Russian Orthodox American Messenger, 1898–1905
Address on First Entering the Once Cathedral Church at Sitka (19 June 1899)
It is not without deep emotion that I, this day, enter for the first time this holy temple, and this emotion will not, methinks, be unintelligible to you, my brethren. This was once a Cathedral Church. Here, in Sitka, lived the pastors of the Aleutian fold,— chief of them the Metropolitan Innocentius of undying memory. Here was the centre of a diocese’s church life and church government. Here, too, was the seat of the country’s civil administration. But, in the Preacher’s words, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Eccles. 3, 1). And so, here in Sitka, things are not as they were thirty years ago. True, Sitka is still the seat of the country’s civil administration, but the ruling power is no longer Russia’s, but America’s. And what of the Orthodox Church? Will she endure and stay in the face of so many changes, amid so many conflicting currents? There be prophets who would predict that, in twenty five years from now, there will remain no trace of Orthodox Christianity in Alaska...
The destinies of the world, of empires and nations, are in the hand of God. He, the Almighty, “exalteth and abaseth, maketh rich or poor, giveth life or death.” In His hands also lies the fate of the Orthodox Church in Alaska, and all that is left for us is to “humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and cast all our care upon Him, for He careth for us.” (I Peter 5, 6-7).
But, while we place our hope in the Lord, my brethren, let us not ourselves be remiss and infirm of spirit.
Ye have heard in to-day’s Gospel Lesson that the Church of God is founded and built upon the firm rock of professed faith in Christ, the Son of God (Matth. 36, 18). And wheresoever the faith in Christ abideth firmly in men’s hearts, there, in spite of circumstances and any disasters, the Church of Christ will stand firmly. Whether we let our thoughts carry us back to the first ages of Christianity, or to a more recent period,—one century back, when Christianity was being introduced in wild Alaska, we shall find that through men poor in substance, but rich in faith, love and endurance, the Church of Christ grew, throve, and waxed strong. Bearing this in mind, do ye also, brethren, lay within your hearts a firm foundation for the Church of Christ to stand upon, be ye even as strong and living stones (I Peter, 2, 5)- Having tasted in the Orthodox Church the good Word of God, and having there laboured in love, do ye, in the Apostle’s words, shew the same diligence unto the end (Hebr. 6, 5, 10-11). Therefore. brethren, be watchful, guard against open or concealed attacks against your faith, quit ye like men against your enemies, stand firm in the faith which ye have received from your fathers as a sacred and precious heirloom, guard and treasure it sacredly, more than the apple of your eye, and stablish yourselves in it more and more firmly. Then, though the enemy arm himself against you, ye shall not fear nor shall ye be troubled, for within you the foundation shall stand firmly—the holy Orthodox Church; and the gates of hell, sayeth the Savior, shall not prevail against it (Matth. 16, 18). Sitka.
19-th of June 1899.